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Who did that bastard think he was? He said he was going to strip me naked and beat me like a piñata?
“Santiago, get in here,” the Comandante called out. “We have plans to make for our enemy.”
“You called me Comandante? What is it you wish of me?” Santiago asked.
“I want all of my officers here for a meeting pronto!” the Comandante ordered.
“I will send for them at once my Comandante,” the body guard promised as he walked away.
In short order the men were standing around the room waiting for their commander to speak.
“I have watched the approaching clouds and have watched as the wind whipped the trees. I know from the past that a violent storm is approaching us. We must use this storm as a veil to hide our movements. We will wait until the storm is ready to pass us and get most of our troops into the forest unseen.”
“Comandante,” one of his officers interrupted. “Didn’t you have Cortisone go for help?”
“Cortisone has been killed by the Americans. But before he died he killed Carlos Estaban.”
The men in the room were talking among themselves. It was unbelievable that Cortisone had been killed.
“I will have silence,” their Comandante ordered. “How are our food stores?”
“We have enough to last four or five days. After that we need supplies brought in,” his supply officer reported.
“As of now everybody is on half rations until we get in more supplies,” the Comandante ordered him.
“How many men do we have left inside our fortress?” he asked his assembled officers.
“According to this morning’s roll call we have 450 officers and men,” the duty officer reported.
“Major, I want you to hand pick a second in command and assemble 350 men to leave the fort as the storm ebbs. Your first objective is to take over their radio communications. Make a call to Havana for the help we need. Next I want you to position your men a half mile outside of Bayarno. They are to be concealed in the forest along the trail that leads to this fortress.
When the storm ends the enemy will organize their forces and get back on station outside our gates. Let the column of men pass between you until they are fully within your trap. Once they are cut the dogs down. Do you understand your orders?”
“Yes sir Comandante, but what of the others? I’ve heard that Cortisone reported as many as 2,000 were against us.”
“They are a rag tag bunch. After you’ve taken out hundreds of them they may be demoralized. You are highly trained Cuban soldiers. What training have these guerrillas had? Take a walkie-talkie along with you so we can communicate with one another.”
The storm hit with a ferocity that was unexpected. The men hunkered down inside their barracks cleaning and checking their equipment. They already knew what was expected of them. They were also surprised when the storm suddenly ended. The Comandante ordered the men out of the fortress during the break in the storm.
The major sent forty men with his second in command to assault the radio shack. The men found it empty, totally empty. No radio, no power and no teletype.
“They must have been expecting it Major. They didn’t leave anything for us to use.”
The major called the fort and reported the development and was ordered to complete the rest of his mission. The storm returned with a ferocious vengeance. The men huddled down miserably in the torrential rains. Already they’d received a half a foot of rain with no end in sight.
The second in command shared the shelter of a large tree trunk with the major. “You know major I could have become a lawyer.”
“Right now captain I’d have to say you really screwed up. You should have picked a field that had a better opportunity to retire.”