Read Online Dragon of the Mangrooves by Yasuyuki Kasai - Free Book Online
Authors: Yasuyuki Kasai
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mountain.
Despite the tropical climate, a night in the mountains was chilly and wrapped in sheer silence, interrupted only by sudden, uncanny birdcalls. The Sumi rescue party was quietly ascending a game trail. It was a forced march, because they had to advance as far as possible by dawn. When they came to a fork, Sumi shone his flashlight at the map. The left trail should lead to the position where some part of Fifth Company had held fast, with their only precious twenty-five PDR field gun, since the end of January.
Shimizu came to him. “What should we do, Lieutenant? Do we go there?”
“No, even if we go now, we’ll find nobody but enemies there,” Sumi answered, and he took the right trail in the fork, closer to Yanthitgyi.
Going through Hill 306, this pass would merge into Payadgi-Ramree Road, connecting Ramree Town, the second largest in the island, and Payadgi Plain.
This road would have been widened by construction of the enemy airfield, since their troops would be using it heavily. Sumi could tell that crossing that road would be one of the operation’s hardest tasks.
The party advanced again.
Sergeant Shimizu and several other crew members had fought in the 1937
China Incident. That battle had led to this long war. In the winter of that year, they all had been fighting hard in North China against Chiang Kai-shek’s Chinese Nationalist Army, while Japanese parallel forces had been slaughtering many civilians in Nanking or Shanghai. The Chinese Army had already been combat-hardened and even equipped with modern cannons, quite ironically imported from Germany, the alliance of Japan. Shimizu and others had gotten beaten up by the Chinese there, so they knew how to move amid enemies. Without Sumi’s order, everyone changed into sandals to avoid having their boots make noisy footsteps.
Sumi and his men couldn’t hear any gunshots. Their own soft treading were the only sounds in the weird tranquility, making them wonder whether any battle had taken place on that island.
When daybreak came near, the soldiers heard clamorous sounds from a clump of trees. Something was crying eerily, and it echoed through the forest. Sumi had no way to tell whether it was a monkey or a bird. Then he noticed a white streak lighting up the lower eastern sky. Shortly, the game trail through Hill 306 went gently downhill to Ramree Plain.
He thought of the physical strength of his crew. They had taken a nap the previous morning, but some of them vomited badly on the way due to fatigue from seasickness and the forced march. Clearly they had to take a rest.
The trail joined a meandering dirt path and continued to descend. After a while, a brook not drawn on the map appeared to their right. It was a tributary of one of the rivers draining into Kalaidaung Creek. Its water was dark and stagnant. A broad marsh spread out everywhere on the right bank, except for thin mud streaks that hemmed the water. Sumi looked around carefully. He could see clearly through the marsh. Even if any enemy should approach, he would be easy to spot. Besides, surrounding trees protected them from being seen from the air.
It was suitable for making a stop. “We’ll make a long halt here. Have a bite and sleep a little, all of you,” ordered Sumi.
Released from the long march at long last, the crew breathed freely again.
They found a dry part of the ground and sat. Immediately, everyone rummaged his haversack and crammed a rice ball into his mouth. However, Pondgi set out walking along the mud bank alone and inspected the ground.
“What’s up, Pondgi? Do you want to crap here? Are you searching like a dog?”
Yoshitake asked.
Everyone giggled. But Pondgi didn’t crack a smile, even a bit. Then he
returned to face Sumi in a determined manner. “Master Sumi. Here is no good.”
“Why?” Sumi asked with a laugh, but he soon became serious. “Why do you think so?”
“Crocodiles are coming,” Pondgi said.
“Crocodiles?” It didn’t make
Despite the tropical climate, a night in the mountains was chilly and wrapped in sheer silence, interrupted only by sudden, uncanny birdcalls. The Sumi rescue party was quietly ascending a game trail. It was a forced march, because they had to advance as far as possible by dawn. When they came to a fork, Sumi shone his flashlight at the map. The left trail should lead to the position where some part of Fifth Company had held fast, with their only precious twenty-five PDR field gun, since the end of January.
Shimizu came to him. “What should we do, Lieutenant? Do we go there?”
“No, even if we go now, we’ll find nobody but enemies there,” Sumi answered, and he took the right trail in the fork, closer to Yanthitgyi.
Going through Hill 306, this pass would merge into Payadgi-Ramree Road, connecting Ramree Town, the second largest in the island, and Payadgi Plain.
This road would have been widened by construction of the enemy airfield, since their troops would be using it heavily. Sumi could tell that crossing that road would be one of the operation’s hardest tasks.
The party advanced again.
Sergeant Shimizu and several other crew members had fought in the 1937
China Incident. That battle had led to this long war. In the winter of that year, they all had been fighting hard in North China against Chiang Kai-shek’s Chinese Nationalist Army, while Japanese parallel forces had been slaughtering many civilians in Nanking or Shanghai. The Chinese Army had already been combat-hardened and even equipped with modern cannons, quite ironically imported from Germany, the alliance of Japan. Shimizu and others had gotten beaten up by the Chinese there, so they knew how to move amid enemies. Without Sumi’s order, everyone changed into sandals to avoid having their boots make noisy footsteps.
Sumi and his men couldn’t hear any gunshots. Their own soft treading were the only sounds in the weird tranquility, making them wonder whether any battle had taken place on that island.
When daybreak came near, the soldiers heard clamorous sounds from a clump of trees. Something was crying eerily, and it echoed through the forest. Sumi had no way to tell whether it was a monkey or a bird. Then he noticed a white streak lighting up the lower eastern sky. Shortly, the game trail through Hill 306 went gently downhill to Ramree Plain.
He thought of the physical strength of his crew. They had taken a nap the previous morning, but some of them vomited badly on the way due to fatigue from seasickness and the forced march. Clearly they had to take a rest.
The trail joined a meandering dirt path and continued to descend. After a while, a brook not drawn on the map appeared to their right. It was a tributary of one of the rivers draining into Kalaidaung Creek. Its water was dark and stagnant. A broad marsh spread out everywhere on the right bank, except for thin mud streaks that hemmed the water. Sumi looked around carefully. He could see clearly through the marsh. Even if any enemy should approach, he would be easy to spot. Besides, surrounding trees protected them from being seen from the air.
It was suitable for making a stop. “We’ll make a long halt here. Have a bite and sleep a little, all of you,” ordered Sumi.
Released from the long march at long last, the crew breathed freely again.
They found a dry part of the ground and sat. Immediately, everyone rummaged his haversack and crammed a rice ball into his mouth. However, Pondgi set out walking along the mud bank alone and inspected the ground.
“What’s up, Pondgi? Do you want to crap here? Are you searching like a dog?”
Yoshitake asked.
Everyone giggled. But Pondgi didn’t crack a smile, even a bit. Then he
returned to face Sumi in a determined manner. “Master Sumi. Here is no good.”
“Why?” Sumi asked with a laugh, but he soon became serious. “Why do you think so?”
“Crocodiles are coming,” Pondgi said.
“Crocodiles?” It didn’t make
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