Jungle insects and other nocturnal creatures resumed playing their exotic music. The earlier infiltration of their habitat no longer posed a threat; it was safe again to seek out mates. Their activity and sound provided a calming effect on those humans nearby in the Listening Post.
Polack suddenly stiffened, turned his head slightly and tried to focus in the darkness. Listening intently, he waited for the specific sound to repeat itself. The symphony continued at full tilt; crickets and monkeys seemingly making the most noise. He heard the faint fluttering of a bird overhead as it flitted from tree to tree. Then, all at once, the bird called out in the darkness, “REEEE-UP... REEEE-UP... REEEE-UP”. It sounded like the deep baritone croak of a frog – nothing like a bird. It moved to another location and repeated its mating call. There was no response, but nevertheless, Polack smiled broadly, glad to have the bird to keep him company.
One specimen of lizard in the jungle had an unusual mating call that sounded like a bathtub floating toy when squeezed. Its call was high-pitched and completed in two parts. The first, sounding like “FAAA” was sort of a whistle, a sharp trill that rose in octaves. The second sounded more like a sigh, “CUE”, as if the lizard were exhaling. Together, its mating call sounded like “FAAA-CUE... FAAA-CUE.”
On some occasions, these two creatures were both nearby and called out to one another. The bird called out, “REEE-UP” (an acronym for re-enlisting in the military) and the lizard responded with “FAAA-CUE.” Sometimes it would go on for hours and it was hilarious.
Both the Blue Eared Barbet bird and Tokay Gecko Lizards are plentiful in the jungles of Vietnam; each call out to mates during the still of night, and would often keep American soldiers company during their nightly watches. Their croaks and whistles were well known to the men. However, both creatures were better known by their slang names: “re-up bird” and “fuck you” lizard. That night, both serenaded Polack.
A mortar flare suddenly popped overhead, close to the treeline and near the LP position, interrupting Polack’s symphony. Hearing this noise, LG awoke instantly and joined Polack in watching the bright light nearby. It burst in the sky right where the treeline and the east trail intersected. An hour ago, it would have caught the enemy platoon by surprise while they took their break.
Every creature immediately stopped its chatter once the flare exploded, remaining still while the light pulsated over the area. The breeze continued to blow from the west and soon carried the parachute over the LP’s position. Both men froze, knowing full well that movement in the flickering light is exaggerated and would be bound to expose them. The flare, like a spotlight, showered both men with throbbing beams of light. Their only choice was to keep still and continue watching their front, riveted until the light went out. Everything appeared surreal and shifted under the floating torch, opening the door to their imaginations. The parachute soon snagged on a treetop and burned itself out. Although the harrowing experience lasted just a few minutes, it felt like their lives had been suspended for an hour.
It was now 0045 hours. LG decided to stay awake since his watch was starting in another fifteen minutes anyway, and he urged Polack to take his break. However, something still wasn’t right. Several minutes had passed since the spotlight went out, and the jungle creatures should have been singing again. The quiet concerned both men, who quickly returned to a guarded posture. They remained silent and still, both wishing they had super powers to help identify any threat. ‘Why did the firebase fire the flare in the first place when nobody radioed in to ask for illumination? Did they see something? Were they looking for the enemy platoon?’ Both asked themselves the same questions and then paused as if some higher power was going to answer them. ‘Why didn’t the enemy column run into Rock’s ambush by now? It was highly impossible that the enemy platoon passed undetected. They are still out there somewhere between the LP and Rock’s position.’ Polack and LG’s sense of foreboding moved up a few notches. They fidgeted some to get more comfortable and tried desperately to spot anything in the pitch black darkness.
Suddenly, they heard the sound of a mortar tube firing some distance away: “Thunk... Thunk... Thunk.” Without knowing the target, both LP’s buried themselves into the ground and prayed that the rounds weren’t heading their way. Polack reached up and grabbed ahold of the good luck charm hanging from his neck, squeezed it tightly in the palm of his right hand, then said a silent prayer for his protection. After what felt like an eternity, three back-to-back explosions sounded from within the firebase, “Crump – Crump – Crump.” The blasts were loud and violent, sounding much larger than 60 mm rounds, and were most likely 82 mm mortar rounds. Polack and LG breathed a sigh of relief and then raised their heads skyward in thanks. Just then, the Red Alert alarm in the new firebase began wailing, and sounding like a fire engine siren in slow motion, the tempo became faster as the seconds passed. Several rounds of illumination launched from the firebase, popping high above the camp perimeter, focusing more on the eastern side. All at once, LG and Polack heard the enemy mortar fire again: “Thunk... Thunk... Thunk”, from the same location meant three more rounds on the way. Seconds later, “Crump... Crump... Crump,” announced the rounds impacting deeper into the firebase perimeter.
Polack had informed Thunder 3 right after the first three rounds were fired. He provided an azimuth from the LP and estimated the distance at 300 meters, possibly more. Rock had also heard the firing and forwarded the direction and distance from his position. Once the information was received and plotted, a single 105 mm round fired from the battery, erupting some distance to the front of the LP. Rock quickly made a correction: “add one-hundred, left one-hundred.” The artillery group was still calculating the new trajectory when the enemy mortars let loose with another volley of three rounds. The cannon fired once more before the artillery crew took cover – the mortars landed just outside the battery’s sandbagged enclosure. While the cannoneers recovered, Rock saw that the 105 mm shell landed right where he wanted, and called into the handset, “On target, fire for effect!” Seconds later, the entire battery of six cannons fired in unison; the sound almost deafening to the men downrange as the large guns fired in their direction. The projectiles passed overhead and sounded like an express commuter train rushing past a platform. Their detonations reverberated across the ground and lifted the two men into the air after each volley. The battery fired four more times, sending a total of twenty-four high explosive rounds overhead. Small adjustments between volleys allowed the gunners to move the detonations around and saturate the general area. The enemy mortar crews were silenced after the first full-battery volley.
The LP could see flickering flames in the distance as small fires erupted in the vicinity of the detonations. There was plenty of dead wood laying about and the chance of them burning out quickly was not going to happen. From this distance, the dense vegetation made the glowing flames look more like a handful of flashlights or small camp fires. They were also glad that a giant forest fire wouldn’t engulf them in a few hours – no need to be concerned about that due to the moist, verdant foliage. One less thing to worry about!
Thankfully, the brass opted not to send out a patrol into the area looking for bodies. The officers there were more concerned about the safety of their people instead of sending them out to count bodies and collect souvenirs. ‘Moving through this pitch black jungle at night would be suicide... how can Charlie continuously do it? Oh, that’s right... this is his backyard!’
Thunder 3 informed everyone tuned into the frequency that the enemy mortar crew must have had a spotter with a radio somewhere near the camp perimeter, as the placement of the enemy rounds was just too accurate for chance hits.
‘Fuck... fuck... fuck!’ Hearing this new information, Polack and LG understood that changes would need to be made in their position. Earlier, it wasn’t a big deal to keep tabs on the area behind them because it was assumed the firebase monitored it. Now that there was a possibility that someone might be sneaking around behind them, it was necessary to watch a full 360 degrees around their position.
Both men scooted around to the side of the trees they’d been using as backrests; one man now faced north and the other south. When looking east now, both men could see a lighter backdrop about 200 meters away, due to the small fires still smoldering here and there. They weren’t bright enough to lighten the jungle, but would make it possible to spot a silhouette in that direction, in the event that the enemy was lurking nearby.
This was where the jungle ended and the bulldozed clearing began. Everything was still dark when looking over that way, but at least, trees, branches, and hanging vines were now able to be identified. Both men were now confident that if an enemy soldier with a radio dared to cross against the lighter backdrop, he’d be easily recognized.
‘What do we do if we see him? Too far for a grenade, can’t shoot at him from the LP, bunkers can’t open fire without putting us in danger. We’ll have to call it in and let the powers that be decide. They’ll probably use mortars. Maybe a sniper. Maybe a gunship. Shit... Shit... Shit!’
About thirty minutes later, the jungle creatures began stirring again and celebrating, their calls excited and urgent this time. Even though the full symphony resumed a few moments later, Polack and LG still felt uneasy and remained on one hundred percent alert. The enemy spotter, mortar crew, and missing enemy platoon were still out there, all were intent to kill Americans under the cloak of darkness.