course, is that when the 21st goes back into combat, very few, if any, of the men will have served—much less trained—together. Moreover, because many officers are among the dead and missing, many companies—perhaps most—will be commanded by lieutenants who were platoon leaders four days ago, and many platoons will be led by sergeants. In some cases, corporals.
“Early this morning, the 21st was trucked from Taejon to Okchon, here.” He pointed on the map. “That’s about ten miles east of Taejon. They have been ordered to set up positions here, on the Seoul-Pusan highway, about halfway between Okchon and Taegu. If the enemy elects to attack down the highway—or to take the high ground on either side of the highway—resistance to those sort of moves will obviously be hindered by the lack of artillery. In fact, I suspect that when the North Koreans attack, their assigned artillery will be augmented by the 105-mm tubes the 63rd Field lost.”
Again, the colonel paused to give McCoy time to absorb what he had told him.
“And there will, of course, be another attack. If not this afternoon, then during the night, or at the very latest, very early in the morning. The only question is where.” He paused. “That, Captain, is ‘what’s going on.’ I really hope you can find communications somewhere and get through to the Dai Ichi Building. Somehow, I suspect that they don’t know what’s going on.’ ”
“Colonel, your prisoners are from the 83rd Motorcycle Regiment. It’s one of their best—sort of an elite regimental combat team—normally attached to their 6th Division. Maybe if I—”
“If you know that, Captain, I have to presume that’s common knowledge around the Dai Ichi Building. I wonder why they didn’t think we would be interested to know that.”
“I’m not sure how common that information is around SCAP, sir.”
“So you—whatever organization you work for—had that information, but didn’t pass it on?”
There was a perceptible pause before McCoy replied.
“Colonel, I’m only a captain. I gather intelligence, not disseminate it. I can’t answer your question.”
“You were saying, about the prisoners?”
“Maybe I can learn something from them, sir, about their intentions. Because it’s highly mobile, I suspect that its officers have to be told more about the overall picture than officers are in standard units.”
“That would be helpful,” the colonel said. “Providing you do it quickly. I want you—especially the woman—out of here as soon as possible. I’m going to have enough on my platter without having to worry about her. Or you.”
“Sir, with respect. I have no authority over Miss Priestly. Even if I returned her Jeep to her, there’s no way I can make her leave, go back to Eighth Army. And I need that Jeep.”
“And if I order you to get in your Jeep and, taking Miss Priestly with you, to get the hell out of here?”
“Sir, with respect, I’m not subject to your orders.”
The colonel looked at him intently for a long moment.
“You intend to stay, then?”
“Yes, sir, for the time being. I really would like to talk to some more prisoners.”
“It’s occurred to you, I presume, that if you stay, you’re likely to become a prisoner yourself?”
“Yes, sir, it has.”
After a moment, the colonel nodded.
“Okay. I gave it my best shot. Will you need me, or any of my men, to deal with the prisoners?”
“No, thank you, sir.”
[THREE]
“The corporal speaks Cantonese,” Zimmerman reported outside the room where the prisoners had been held. “He was willing to talk, but he didn’t know much. But you’re right, they are from the 83rd Motorcycle Regiment, and the little guy is an officer.”
“Who speaks English?”
“And Russian.”
“That’s interesting,” McCoy said. “What’s his rank?”
Zimmerman nodded, in agreement with “interesting,” and then shrugged.
“The corporal didn’t know. He said when he got drafted to do a little reconnaissance—there were originally five of them, two of them got killed when they ran into one of our patrols, where they got caught—the little guy was already wearing the private’s jacket. But one of the others, one who got blown away, called him ‘sir,’ and he was obviously in charge.”
“What else did the corporal have to say?”
“He said that after they took Seoul, the regiment was taken out of action, and sent down the peninsula right behind the units on the line. Now they’re getting ready to go back into action. Soon.”
“No specifics?”
“No, but it can’t be far off, Ken. It looks to me as if this guy, the officer, is an intel officer. Maybe not even from the 83rd. He wanted a closeup of