„Hukushuu II“ and „Hukushuu V“ left the radio station, leaving their dead and wounded comrades behind. Meanwhile, the strategic main base of the southern invasion army of the GCF was only five kilometers distant. Everything had to go fast. The two platoons rushed forward and tried to hide as good as they could. „Hukushuu I“ and „Hukushuu III“ had already followed them.
„A large GCF airport is nearby the radio station. I`m sure that they have heard us”, worried Bäumer.
„We are surrounded by outposts and camps. This is nothing but a fucking suicide command, Alf!”, whispered Frank and continued to creep forward.
They entered a narrow piece of woodlands, while they heard a helicopter roaring above their heads. From a distance, they heard some screams too. Platoon leader Oda had meanwhile become ashen and appeared very nervous. Nevertheless, they steadfastly groped forward through the jungle. Madsen came from behind now and clapped Frank on the back.
„We can still play another last chess game. Maybe you will win this time...“, he tried to joke.
Kohlhaas just gave him a tormented smile. They needed two further hours to reach the big military base. Finally they could recognize a true fortress.
“Look at this! Killing general Williams? What a nonsense!”, ranted Bäumer and crawled behind a bush.
“How shall we get in there? And how – get out again?”, growled Frank.
They huddled in the morass and it started to rain heavily. Bäumer pushed a few leaves to the side and examined the
military camp. His heart missed a beat, when he saw all the fences, gates and sentry towers in front of him.
“The Japanese high command doesn`t care, if we survive that mission. They just want us to kill general Williams, so we don`t need to get out of this camp again”, said the tall man from Dortmund.
Frank had to admit himself that Alf was probably right. The military base was surrounded by a high fence which was additionally secured with barbed wire. Furthermore, it was an electrified perimeter fence with an infrared scan zone of 100 meters. Whoever came into this zone from the outside, caused immediately alarm.
Nevertheless, most of the soldiers in this camp seemed to sleep and only a few guards were outside the large barracks. Apparently, the GCF calculated on its hightech security system.
In the meantime, platoon leader Oda was talking with another officer and appeared quite helpless. It was 3,38 o'clock in the morning and still dark.
But what should they do now? Just jump out of the jungle and shoot?
That was no good plan. So they just waited in the thicket, while more and more soldiers started to become nervous. Behind them, officer Oda slowly became louder and tried to explain something to a group of Japanese.
„The main building, where general David Williams is sleeping, is in the center of the camp - according to Oda”, said Frank and scratched his head.
„The planning of that operation is nevertheless fucked up. What`s up now? “, whispered Bäumer angrily.
Shortly afterwards, the Japanese platoon leader came to the foreign volunteers and examined them. Then he said: „We need non Japanese soldiers to infiltrate the military base. One of you must get in there and get a GCF uniform. Then you must open one of the gates!”
Kohlhaas and Bäumer did not trust their ears. He actually wanted that one of them crept somehow into the camp and opened a gate! Oda showed them a layout of the base and pointed at a red spot.
„Someone has to open it! Understand?”
„Damn! What is with that infrared scan zone?“, hissed Kohlhaas.
The officer tried to explain it. He talked about a small stream which was supplying the military camp with fresh water from the outside. It was at the other end of the camp and the electrical fence was not charged up there.
Someone had to dive through the water to destroy the underwater barrier. The infrared system could not function under the water surface, as Oda assured. Meanwhile, also Madsen and four other foreigners had gathered around the officer.
„We need a foreign soldier, who does not look Japanese!“, explained the platoon leader. Alf groaned and let his head sink downward. The Japanese sharply looked at him and finally pointed at Frank.
„You must do this job!“, he ordered.
Frank winced and was not delighted by this idea at all. He stared at Oda and asked: “Why me?”
„Because you are the hero of Paris. I know about you!” answered Oda vigorously. “This is an order! Kill a GCF soldier and take the uniform. Then open this fucking gate!”
“Hero of Paris...”, whispered Kohlhaas to himself and cursed quietly.
But he could not ignore this instruction. Moreover, Oda held a gun in his hand and seemed to be ready for everything.
„This is an order, soldier! You must obey! You are part of the Japanese army, understand?”, hissed the officer and gave Frank a bolt cutter. “Follow me! Now!”
Takeo Oda crawled away, huddled briefly behind a tree and finally crept through the jungle. Frank followed him.
The rest of the unit slowly moved afterwards and hid in the deep thicket. Time pressed now, because the enemy soldiers were still in their beds, except for some guards. But all this could change from one minute to the next.
After half an hour, they had reached the small river which flowed under the fence into the camp. On the way they encountered another platoon, that was already waiting tensely for the attack. Now they had to improvise.
„Demnächst plant ihr eure Aktionen besser, ihr dämlichen Reisfresser!“, scolded Frank quietly.
Oda turned around: „What?“
„Nothing! It`s all good!“, returned Frank and rolled his eyes.
His heart hammered and the inner tension increased with each step. Now they stood beside the stream which gurgled between some big jungle plants. It was pitch-dark here.
Frank took the bolt cutter and the flashlight and finally jumped into the water. His weapons, except for a knife, he had given to Oda.
„Good luck!”, he still heard from his platoon leader, then the Japanese disappeared again.
„Hero of Paris? Fuck you!“, thought Frank and swam towards it.
The electrical fence was still over hundred meters away, enemy soldiers seemed not to be in the proximity of the small river, which was surrounded by high plants and trees. This part of the large military camp was probably an “outlying district” and was not sentineled all too well. Frank took a deep breath, dived and was totally desperate. Only the glow of his flashlight could betray him now under the water surface, but he had not yet seen any watchtowers or guards in this area.
Kohlhaas recognized dirt and rotted pieces of wood before his eyes, otherwise the water was just a brown swill. He was careful and tried to stay underwater, because at some places the dirty water was hardly a meter deep.
The current helped him to get faster into the proximity of the fence. But then it was necessary to take breath. Frank pushed his mouth only a few centimeters out of the water and drawed the cool air into his lungs. At this moment, he was close to lose his nerves.
“Control yourself!”, he thought and dived again.
The infrared scan system did not react on him. So he moved forward and finally reached the barrier, which was covered with creepers and mud. Again, he briefly cut surface, in order to breathe, while he hoped that nobody would see the glow of his flashlight underwater. But the jungle plants protected him with their broad, green roof of leaves which was expanding till the electrical fence.
It took some minutes, then he had cut a hole into the barrier and dived to the other side of the fence. Now the was inside the military camp and crawled out of the river. His head pounded and Frank felt dazed.
Shortly afterwards, he heard voices. Two GCF soldiers approached and walked toward the fence. A tall, dark-skinned man called something at his comrade, then they disappeard again.
Now he had reached the outermost part of the camp and hoped that nobody had seen or hea
rd him. He did not know it and became more and more nervous.
„Where can I get a GCF uniform?”, he asked himself, whereby the answer was already clear. He had to kill someone. Oda had meant nothing but that. So he crawled under a big wooden pallet with some crates on it. Frank felt that an insect was crawling over his face and tried to shake it off somehow. Finally, the two soldiers came back and were still talking. They spoke a strange language which Frank couldn`t understand, although, it was actually only allowed to speak English in the GCF army.
The young volunteer waited. He had no gun anymore and felt quite helpless under the wooden pallet. Kohlhaas just cursed the whole situation.
The two men stopped and one of them laughed loudly, then they came still nearer to the pallet and started to smoke. Frank confessed himself, that this opportunity was not too bad and crawled loudlessly out of his hiding place. He looked around, carefully, like a predator, otherwise he could not see any other enemy soldiers somewhere.
Meanwhile, the two men, probably Africans, chatted ever louder, while the German took his knife and jumped out of the shadows.
The first soldier got a stab in the neck and roared out loudly. His comrade was paralysed with horror, and the cigarette just fell out of his mouth. A few seconds later, Frank attacked the other soldier.
A hard strike hit the second man under the chin and he tumbled back. Kohlhaas kicked his opponent in the head with all his might and the soldier became silent. Meanwhile, his comrade tried to pull a gun, but Kohlhaas jumped at him like a panther, ramming his blade deeply into his chest. Finally the GCF soldier collapsed. The young man cut his throat and the dark-skinned man gasped quietly.
A moment later, Frank`s face petrified, because he heard further men, shouting from a distance. He pulled the two motionless enemies into a dark corner, whereby he suddenly heard a quiet, painful moaning. His first victim was still moving and tried to grab his leg with his bloody hand. Kohlhaas stabbed again in his neck until the man made no more sound.
Once again, soldiers came along and crossed the place, where Frank had attacked their comrades. But they did not notice the blood-soaked grass under their boots. They had probably heard wrongly or one of the guards had just made a joke by crying through the night, he heard them say in English. Finally the voices vanished, and Frank breathed again.
“Sorry guys...”, he said softly as he took one of the uniforms and a gun. “What have you done here in Japan? These rats of the World Government have just wasted you...”
After several minutes, he left his hiding place in the clothing of the international forces. Now he had to find the gate in the northern part of the camp.
Some soldiers passed him and greeted him in bad English, Frank just nodded and tried to smile. His heart pounded and he clutched the Scanchip of the dead GCF soldier in his pocket which would allow him to open the gate.
The military base was really large, two tanks and several jeeps stood a few meters away from him in the shadow of a big building. Soon, huge billets surrounded him and Frank felt safe for a few minutes. From afar, he saw the main building of the military camp, where general David Williams was probably sleeping.
“All hell will breake loose – in some minutes...”, he said quietly to himself.
Frank finally reached the northern entrance of the camp, where about a dozen soldiers were standing in front of a gate. He walked quickly in their direction and said gently: „We must open this gate! It`s an order of the leading officier!“
The soldiers hesitated and looked at him: „From which unit you are, soldier? What order?“
„I`m from the…“, he paused. “A jeep has to leave this camp...through this gate. Open it!”
Without thinking, he went to the gate and pulled the Scanchip of the dead soldier through the laser scanner. The gate opened immediately. At that moment, two of the soldiers came to him.
„What order? We don`t know anything about such an order!“
„An order from general Williams himself! He has sent me!”,
murmured Kohlhaas, becoming increasingly nervous.
Frank thought about running to the nearby forest, but the soldiers had already surrounded him and one of them quickly grabbed him at the shoulder.
„What jeep? What order?“, asked the man, still staring at Kohlhaas. „Give me your personal number!“
Frank's anxiety grew more and more. Presumably he was mentally disturbed, in the eyes of the guards, who stood around him. Meanwhile, one of the soldiers had gone to the gate and wanted to shut it again. But he still hesitated, turned around and looked at Frank, waiting what would happen next.
“Give me your personal number, soldier Mgabe!”, growled his comrade and pointed at the nameplate on Frank`s uniform. Another soldier stared puzzledly at the traces of blood on the collar of his uniform jacket.
Kohlhaas reacted within seconds. Like a flash, he pulled his gun and shot the men in front of him in the head, then he fired wildly around. The GCF soldiers jumped screaming to the side and tried to find cover. Frank ran toward the jungle, while some bullets flew after him.
„It is open!“, he roared at the top of his lungs.
A moment later, he saw many dark shadows, jumping out of the thicket and running towards the gate that was still open. The Japanese came and immediatley opened fire on the group of GCF soldiers in front of them.
„Pttt! Pttt! Pttt!“, it hissed through the night, while the first GCF soldiers were hit by bullets. This was the start of the attack.
The “Hukushuu unit” stormed through the open gate and killed the small group of enemy guards within seconds. Kohlhaas could recognize Oda`s black face in the distance.
The 370 men swarmed out and infested the still sleeping camp like birds of prey.
However, they had triggered the infrared alarm and a loud howling tore the silence of the night. The order of the Japanese high command was clear: The elite unit had to move straight towards the main building to kill general Williams, every other enemy should be ignored.
Now the lights were switched on in the barracks, while Frank tried to follow his comrades. Bäumer recognized him and waved him nearer.
Within minutes, a wild chaos broke loose. The Japanese fired at everyone in their way and killed numerous enemies. The searchlights of the surrounding guard towers were turned towards to the mass of the attackers and the first bursts of fire came from above.
Frank, Alfred and a little later even Madsen stayed together as a group and hurried from one cover to the next. Some GCF soldiers in front of them jumped into a jeep and tried to start the engine, but Bäumer`s MG mowed them down.
Meanwhile, a great number of enemies returned fire from the watchtowers and billets. More and more Japanese were killed, but the rest of them still charged towards the main building, driven by fanatical hatred
Now the first GCF soldiers ran to their emplacements which were protected by sandbags, and started to shoot back. A Japanese officer shouted something behind Frank and a group of his soldiers attacked the opponents with machetes and bayonets.
“The main building!”, roared Madsen and dodged a grenade.
A brutal shooting and stabbing broke out everywhere. Frank heard the war cries of some Japanese who slaughtered a group of enemies, dozily tottering out of their billet, with samurai swords. Meanwhile, they had to hurry up, because more and more enemies came out of the barracks and took arms.
The main building was already in sight and a terrible burst of gunfire came from the upper floor. The Japanese continue to rush forward, while many of them were torn by bullets. Officer Oda hurled a hand grenade through a window and a loud bang followed. Rubble and splinters rained down.
Frank and Alfred closed up to the others, firing wildly. Then they ran zigzag through the shadows between the houses to escape the hail of bullets, coming out of the main building.
Some of the Japanese ran fearlessly to the main entrance of the house and attached an limpet mine at the front door
. Shots from all directions hit them and only a few of them survived this suicide action. Suddenly a loud explosion tore the entrance door and with it a part of the exterior wall of the house.
The Japanese stormed into the building and the first of them were shot down. Their comrades answered with an angry backfire and killed a few soldiers and a GCF officer.
Frank, Alfred and Madsen followed them and threw some hand grenades into the adjoining rooms.
“Where the hell is Williams?”, shouted Kohlhaas and clutched his gun nervously.
“I don`t know!”, screamed Madsen.
Meanwhile, the Japanese had reached the upper floor and suffered heavy casualties. Outside the main building their remaining comrades were massacred by an increasing number of GCF soldiers. Finally Frank came to the upper floor too. Officer Oda had been shot in the stomach and was screaming in pain, while the German tried to find general Williams.
The young man from Ivas ran through a cloud of smoke to a broken window and looked down. Below him, a group of officers tried to escape from the building and bolted towards an army jeep.
”I will get you!”, yelled the volunteer and mowed them down with his assault rifle. Frank fired until he had no more ammunition. Then he left the room with a triumphant scream.
A moment later, a Japanese soldier jumped into the room, uttered a curse in his language, and also shoot at the already dead enemies.
”Have you hit them?”, called Alf from behind.
“I don`t know, if it was Williams. But I think he was one of them!”, answered Frank, pushing him aside. “We have to get out. The whole camp is awake now. If we don`t hurry up, nobody will survive this!”
The GCF soldiers had meanwhile killed almost all attackers, who had reached the main building, and now, they were in the majority. Some of the Japanese had already escaped, hoping to make it to the jungle alive.
“We can no longer get out through the main entrance. Follow me!”, called Frank and jumped out of the window on a porch. Bäumer, Madsen and some Japanese looked nervously after him. Finally they jumped too.
They ran with all their might. Behind them, the men heard the sound of rifle fire, while numerous searchlights tried to catch them. Alf got a shot in the upper leg and three Japanese were hit in the back. They did not return fire anymore and just ran with the last of their strenght. After a few minutes, the gate appeared in front of them. It was still open and nobody had closed it during the bloodbath, that was finally over now.
“The Jeep!”, shouted Alf, pointing at a vehicle which was behind a hut near the exit.
They jumped into the jeep, and luckily the ignition key still stuck. Five Japanese followed them and climbed fastly into the rear end of the army vehicle to find cover.
Frank started the car and hurtled off towards the exit. Several bullets rattled against the rear and a Japanese was hit in the shoulder. The onrushing GCF soldiers who had already killed all the Japanese around the main building, did not get them anymore.
Frank raced with murderous speed over the muddy access road and after about two kilometers, they jumped into the thicket of the jungle. Meanwhile, countless enemies and even helicopters were upon their heels, while the sound of gunfire could still be heard in the background for a while.
Bäumer limped with his bleeding leg and his friend tried to help him as good as he could. The Japanese spurred the two Germans to follow them faster into the dark undergrowth to escape the GCF soldiers.
One of the freedom fighters moaned quietly, clutching his shoulder. Who had survived the perilous assault on the military base and had left the scenario alive, Frank and Alf could not say at that time. Madsen seemed to be dead too.
The sun rose slowly on the horizon behind them and sent some of his rays through the treetops. Around them, they heard the animals of the jungle wake up, chirping, screaming and hissing everyhwere. This night had been a true horror and they just thanked God to be still alive.
“We have to make it to Arume! I hope that they really wait for us there”, gasped Kohlhaas and ran through the thicket. He wished that at least the five surviving Japanese would know, where they were now at all.
There and Back Again