system up and running through it, even in mime, had taken all morning, and through the lunch break, and then they had rehearsed how they would assault Yonghung-do.
About 1700, McCoy had gathered everybody together and gone through what Major Kim had learned of the disposition of the physical characteristics of the island, the location of the North Korean troops on the island, and the plan: Yonghung-do was about three miles long, north to south, and shaped something like an hourglass. Each end of the island was about a mile wide, and each had a 250- to 300-foot hill in its center. About in its middle, the island narrowed to a few hundred feet.
“That’s where we’ll land,” McCoy said, pointing to a drawing he’d made of the island in the now-dried mud. “They won’t expect us, and we can land there without being seen. We’ll leave a four-man team there—the .30 Browning machine-gun team plus one BAR and one rifleman—plus eight of Major Kim’s men, under Mr. Taylor. Their job will be to keep the NKs in the village at the north end of the island, Nae-ri, from coming to help the NKs in the village, Oe-Ri, on the south end of the island.
“With a little bit of luck, the people we leave on the beach won’t have anything to do. If we can move that mile over the hill quietly—no one fires a round by mistake, or Mr. Zimmerman doesn’t fart—”
He got the expected laughter, waited for it to subside, and then went on:
“They won’t expect us, and we can take them without firing a shot. ‘Them’ is their lieutenant, one of their machine guns, probably the ammo supply for all the islands, and their radio, with maybe a generator we can use to power ours. We’re not going into that village shooting. If there’s a radio, or diesel fuel, I don’t want it full of bullet holes. There’s also about two hundred civilians. I will really have the ass of anyone who pops a civilian.
“Okay, once we have secured the southern village, we leave Major Kim’s people there, go back to the landing beach, pick up everybody except the machine-gun team and Mr. Taylor, head north, go over the other hill, and secure the other village, Nae-ri. Once we do that, a volunteer will run happily back over the hill to the beach and tell Mr. Taylor, who will then bring the boats to Nae-ri, and haul us—less Major Kim and his policemen, who will be staying until we can get the militia in there—out. Any questions? ”
There had been no questions.
“Well, in that case, before it gets really dark, I think we ought to have one more—maybe even two more—dry runs of the boat launching,” McCoy said.
There were groans. Once the system had been set up and tried and it worked once, and then twice, and then three times, it had become a flaming, stupid, pain-in-the-ass chickenshit exercise.
He waited until they had subsided.
“On the other hand,” McCoy went on, straight-faced, “maybe it would just be easier to put the boats in the water now, load the gear in them, put the camo nets over them, and then all we’d have to do in the morning would be get in them, take off the nets, and take off.”
There was a moment’s shocked silence, and then murmurs.
McCoy pointed his finger at one of the Marines, a technical sergeant who had been a Marine Raider.
“What did you say, Sergeant?”
“I didn’t say anything, sir.”
“That’s odd,” McCoy said. “I could have sworn I heard you say, ‘Oh, what a pity our beloved and brilliant commander didn’t think of that earlier!’ Or words to that effect. ”
“Yes, sir, words to that effect.”
“What happens now is that you, Sergeant, will run out to the end of the wharf, taking these with you . . .”
He tossed him his binoculars.
“. . . through which you will scan the sea. When you are absolutely sure there is nothing out there, you will make an appropriate signal . . .”
McCoy had put his arms over his head and waved them.
“. . . whereupon the rest of this magnificent Marine expeditionary force, having assembled by Boat One, will get the camo off and get it into the water as soon as they can, load the gear in it, put the camo back on, and then look at you again. If you are not making some sort of signal suggesting that there’s a boat out there, they will then repeat