K9LTW – a fiction by MKHurder part-2
CHAPTER 29 โ The Hinge Beneath The Canopy
The Reaction team
The Reaction team moved fast after the heavy weapon went silent. They skirted the edge of the draw, avoiding the main NVA force they had spotted earlier. The terrain was uneven, thick with brush and broken canopy. Donnie kept Bodie close, scanning for movement. Reyes and Rook were out front, Hale just behind them, leading the patrol through a narrow corridor of tangled vegetation.
The team moved in staggered formation, rifles up, eyes forward. The jungle was quiet, but not still. The enemy had pulled back, but they had not disengaged. Donnie could feel it in the way the birds stayed silent, in the way the air held its breath.
They reached a shallow rise that overlooked a dry creek bed. Reyes signaled a halt and dropped to one knee. Rook mirrored him, nose twitching, ears locked. Hale moved up beside them, scanning the far side of the creek. Donnie saw the shift in Bodieโs posture and raised his fist. Something was wrong.
The first rocket hit before anyone spoke. It struck the rise just behind Hale, throwing dirt and debris into the air. Reyes and Rook were caught in the blast radius. Hale went down hard, his rifle skidding across the ground. Donnie dropped flat and pulled Bodie in. The second rocket hit the far side of the creek, followed by a burst of small arms fire from the tree line.
The NVA had set a trap.
Three more grunts fell in the first volley. The rest of the team scrambled for cover, returning fire in short, controlled bursts. Donnie moved toward Hale, but the terrain was exposed. Bodie stayed low, eyes locked on the tree line. Reyes and Rook were motionless. Donnie could not reach them.
Merloni pulled Roger behind a fallen log and fired into the brush. Doc crawled toward the wounded, dragging his aid bag. The team shifted positions, trying to flank the shooters, but the enemy had elevation and cover. The firefight lasted less than two minutes. When it ended, the jungle was quiet again.
Donnie crawled to Hale and checked for a pulse. There was none. He looked toward Reyes and Rook. They had fallen where they stood, still facing forward. Doc moved from man to man, triaging the wounded. Several were hit. One was unconscious. Two were bleeding heavily.
What treatment could be given finished, Donnie signaled the team to move. They could not stay. The enemy had pulled back again, but they would return. He marked the location and pulled the team into a defensive column. Doc and Merloni carried the wounded. Donnie took point. Bodie stayed close. They had to get back to Bearcat.
The second explosion came from the direction of Bearcat. This one was sharper and followed by a burst of radio traffic that cut through the static. McCreadyโs voice came through in short, clipped bursts. The TOC had taken a direct hit. Communications were down. Jasper and his staff were inside.
Donnie felt the weight of that news settle in his chest, but he pushed it aside. They had to move. He split the team. Doc and the wounded would head straight for Bearcat. Donnie took Bodie and five grunts and peeled off to the right. He left sign on purpose. Broken branches. Footprints. A trail no trained soldier would ever leave unless he wanted to be followed.
The NVA squad took the bait.
He heard them closing in, their pace quickening as they tracked the obvious trail. Donnie led his team into a narrow draw and set the ambush. They took positions behind fallen logs and thick brush. Bodie lay low beside him, eyes fixed on the direction of the approaching squad.
The first helmet appeared over the rise. Donnie waited. The second man stepped into the open. Donnie waited. The third man moved into the kill zone.
He opened fire.
The team followed. The engagement was short and final. When the last echo faded, Donnie signaled the team to move. They had to get back to Bearcat. This fight was not over.
Inside Bearcat, having just RTB from the reaction force he left in Sgt Hale’s capable hands, McCready felt the second explosion through the soles of his boots before the sound reached him. He stepped out from behind the sandbagged wall of the southern command post and looked toward the column of smoke rising above the camp. The TOC had been hit.
He did not need confirmation. The plume was too large and too dark to be anything else. The main operations tent sat at the center of the compound, reinforced with sandbags and steel plates, but it was still canvas. A direct hit from a heavy rocket would tear through it without slowing down.
The radio operators scrambled to reestablish contact, but the primary net was silent. McCready listened to the static and felt a cold certainty settle in his chest. Jasper had been inside. His staff had been inside. The men who coordinated artillery, air support, and the defensive grid were gone in an instant.
He moved toward the blast site with a squad of MPs. The air was thick with dust and smoke. The remains of the TOC were scattered across the ground in torn sheets of canvas and twisted metal. The sandbags had been blown outward in a wide arc. The crater was deep and wide, the edges still smoking. There were no voices calling for help. No movement. No survivors.
McCready stood at the edge of the crater and took in the scene. The loss was immediate and absolute. Jasper had been a steady presence, a man who understood the weight of command without letting it crush him. His staff had been experienced and disciplined. Their absence left a void that could not be filled in the middle of an assault.
He turned away from the crater and forced himself back into motion. The base needed leadership. The perimeter needed reinforcement. The artillery crews needed direction. He pushed the grief aside and focused on the tasks in front of him. The enemy had struck the heart of Bearcat, and they were not finished.
The pressure on the south wall had been building since dawn. The first wave had tested the wire and the outer bunkers. The second wave had pushed harder, probing for weak points. By midmorning, the NVA had committed two full battalions to the assault. Their fire was coordinated and relentless. Mortars bracketed the defensive line. Machine guns swept the parapets. RPG teams targeted the bunkers one by one.
The wall itself was a mix of sandbags, timber, and earthworks. It had held through previous attacks, but the sustained pressure was more than it could absorb. The defenders fired steadily, but their ammunition was running low. The radio calls for resupply were answered with delays. The supply trucks could not reach the south wall under the current barrage.
McCready arrived at the sector just as another mortar round landed near the base of the wall. The blast shook the structure and sent a shower of dirt and debris into the air. The men on the parapet ducked and returned fire, but their line was thinning. Several positions were unmanned. The wounded had been pulled back, and replacements had not arrived.
The next barrage came in a tight cluster. Three mortar rounds landed in rapid succession, each one closer to the wall than the last. The fourth round struck the timber support beam near the center of the sector. The beam splintered and collapsed, taking a section of the wall with it. The sandbags spilled outward, creating a gap wide enough for a squad to pass through.
The NVA saw the breach immediately. Their fire intensified. RPGs streaked toward the opening, followed by a surge of infantry. The defenders fell back to secondary positions and fired into the advancing enemy. The air was filled with smoke, dust, and the sharp crack of rifle fire.
McCready grabbed a fallen soldierโs rifle and joined the line. He fired controlled bursts into the mass of enemy troops pushing through the breach. The men beside him did the same. They held the line long enough for reinforcements to arrive from the east sector. The additional firepower slowed the enemyโs advance, but the breach remained open.
The south wall had collapsed. The enemy had found their opening. The defenders fought to contain the breach, but the pressure was unrelenting. McCready knew they needed help. They needed air support. They needed armor. They needed the Cav.
Donnie led his team out of the draw and back toward Bearcat. The sound of helicopters grew louder as they approached the perimeter. The Cav had arrived.
The first formation of UHโ1s crested the treeline. The helicopters flew in tight formation, their rotors cutting through the smoke-filled sky. The lead helicopter banked toward the south wall, its door gunners firing into the enemy positions. The tracers cut through the smoke and struck the advancing NVA troops. The enemy scattered, seeking cover from the sudden aerial assault.
Behind the gunships came the troop carriers. They descended toward the landing zone near the east sector, where the ground was relatively clear. The infantry disembarked quickly and moved toward the sound of the fighting. Their presence bolstered the defenders and added fresh firepower to the line.
The artillery crews adjusted their fire to support the Cavโs advance. The howitzers thundered, sending shells into the enemy positions beyond the breach. The combined firepower of the helicopters, infantry, and artillery shifted the momentum. The NVA advance slowed, then faltered.
Donnie reached the perimeter and moved into position. He fired into the advancing enemy, his shots steady and controlled. Bodie stayed close, responding to every command. The team held the line until the Cav pushed the enemy back.
The NVA began to withdraw. Their attack had lost its momentum. The arrival of the Cav had turned the tide. The defenders held their positions and continued to fire until the enemy was out of range. The smoke began to clear, revealing the extent of the damage. The south wall was gone, but Bearcat was still standing.
When the firing stopped, Donnie felt the exhaustion settle in. He looked at the empty space where Reyes and Rook should have been. He looked at the wounded being carried past him. He looked at Bodie, who stayed close, sensing the shift in his handlerโs mood.
He asked McCready for permission to go back out and recover Reyes and Rook. McCready refused. Not until the all clear. Donnie wanted to argue, but he knew McCready was right. He nodded and walked away.
Back in the Philippines, Peggy finished her paperwork. Her request for III Corps was still pending. She had not been assigned. She waited for orders, hoping they would send her to Bearcat. Instead, she received new orders. She was being sent to I Corps. She was assigned to the 95th Evacuation Hospital in Da Nang. It was as close to the enemy homeland as she could get. It was not safe.
She wrote Donnie a letter. She told him about her orders. She told him she was coming to Vietnam. She told him she hoped they would be stationed close enough to see each other. She sealed the letter and sent it.
Back at Bearcat, Donnie sat on his bunk. The letter from Peggy sat unopened on his footlocker. He could not bring himself to read it. Not yet. Not after losing Reyes and Rook. Not after watching another K9 team fall. When the replacement handler arrived, Donnie kept his distance. He did not want to make friends. He did not want to feel that kind of loss again.
The call came the next morning. The Comms shack sent for him. It was a MARS call. Donnie picked up the receiver. He heard Peggyโs voice. She told him she was in Vietnam. She told him she was in Da Nang.
Donnie felt the weight of that news settle in his chest. Da Nang was not safe. Not in 1972.
He held the receiver and listened to her voice. He did not know what to say. He did not know what would come next.
But he knew one thing.
He had to bring Reyes and Rook home.
And he had to survive long enough to see Peggy again.
(to be continued) Chapter 30 – The Weight of the Return
Teaser – โThe jungle was quiet, but nothing felt resolved. The Reaction team moved out at first light, retracing the path that had taken Reyes and Rook. Donnie carried the weight of the day before, but he carried something else too. A promise. Behind him, Bearcat still smoldered. Ahead, the draw waited. What they recovered would mark the end of the fight, but not the end of the war. And what waited back at Bearcat would change everything.โ
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Bonus Fiction Feature:
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From Popi’s Tales & The Book of Wonders
More from Popi’s Collection of Facts & Fiction
- Burtt the Blade – fiction
- Doh-Rey-Me Book 1 – fiction – book – written here
- Doh-Rey-Me Book 2 – fiction – book – written here
- K9LTW Book 1 – fiction – book – written here
- K9LTW Book 2 – fiction – book – written here – in progress
- Mystery of Willow Woods – fiction – short Story – written here
- The Last Signal – part one – fiction – book – written here
- Rift Guardians – chapter#1 – fiction – book – written here
- Shorty’s Path – non-fiction auto biography book
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