little farther north, or returning directly to their carrier, once they had, so to speak, justified their presence in the area to the enemy.
“You were saying, Mr. McCoy?” Taylor said.
“We don’t know if those guys either (a) saw the panels, or if they did, could make sense of them, or (b) were taking pictures,” McCoy said. “Or, (c) if they were taking pictures, that they got a shot of the panels clear enough to be read by the photo interpreters, or (d) if they saw them, and could read them, that the pictures’d wind up in the hands of someone who can do us any good. As I just observed to Mr. Zimmerman, Mr. Taylor, it’s a long shot, a very long shot.”
“What the hell, Killer, we gave it a shot,” Zimmerman said. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”
“I don’t like the idea of just sitting here waiting for the other shoe to drop,” McCoy said.
“Meaning what, Ken?” Taylor asked.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, Major Kim, but your best guess of the North Korean strength on Taemuui-do is thirty people, under a sergeant, with their heaviest weapons a couple of machine guns?”
“That’s my best information,” Major Kim said.
“And on Yonghung-do?”
“There were a total of twenty-six men, including the lieutenant in charge and his sergeant. But we also learned that they’ve put people on Taebu-do—”
“Which is the little island to the south?” McCoy interrupted.
“From here, moving north, the nearest island is Taemuui-do, then Taebu-do, and then Yonghung-do. I would guess—if I were the lieutenant, it’s what I would do—that he probably sent six, seven, eight men, under his sergeant, to the smaller island. That would leave him sixteen men, plus himself. And he’s got two machine guns—”
“He probably sent one of them to the little island,” Zimmerman chimed in.
“That’s a total of fifty-six NK soldiers, give or take, right?” Taylor said. “We have ten Marines, counting you two, and fifteen national policemen, including the major . . .”
“And, of course, you,” McCoy replied. “And the local militia . . .”
“Cut to the chase,” Taylor said. “What are you thinking, McCoy?”
“That if the NKs have a radio, or had one, it—and the generator for it, and fuel for the generator—would probably be with the lieutenant,” McCoy said.
“And if they lost theirs, too, in the storm?” Taylor asked.
"Then we’re no worse off than we are now,” McCoy said.
“Let me make sure I understand you,” Taylor said. “What you’re suggesting is that—”
“We get off the dime,” McCoy interrupted. “And it’s not a suggestion, Dave.”
Taylor ignored that, and continued:
“—we load our twenty-six people in the lifeboats, and try to take Yonghung-do—the most distant island—first—”
“Because that’s where their CP and their radio, if they have one, is.”
Taylor ignored that, too, and went on:
“—to do that, our little invasion fleet would have to sneak past both Taemuui-do and Taebu-do, which means we’d have to do that in the dark because if we did it in the daylight, two lifeboats and three fishing boats under sail—”
“I guess you weren’t listening when I said this is not a suggestion, Dave,” McCoy said.
“It’s not?”
“No, it’s not,” McCoy said, evenly, but there was a steely I will be obeyed tone of command in his voice.
Taylor met his eyes for a long moment.
“Can I ask why Yonghung-do first?” he asked, finally.
“If we took Taemuui-do first, the lieutenant on Yonghung-do would know it. If nothing else, he would hear the gunfire. And we’ll probably have to use grenades if they put up much of a scrap. If he has a radio, he’d report that to the mainland. And then would probably try to send help to Taemuui-do, whether or not he got orders from the mainland. This way, we’ll knock out the radio, if there is one, and the lieutenant, too. And from what I’ve seen of the North Koreans, the sergeants on the other islands aren’t going to do anything without orders.”
“Moving the Koreans over there without getting spotted is going to be tough, Killer,” Zimmerman said. “Taylor’s right. You can see a sail a long way off, and if they see two sailboats headed even for Taemuui-do, they’re going to know something’s up.”
“Your militia’s our second wave, Ernie,” McCoy said. “They won’t even put out from here until daylight. By then we should have taken Yonghung-do. They go ashore there and garrison it, and we head back this way, bypassing the little island, and take Taemuui-do. Then the Koreans garrison that, and finally we take the little island.”