Read Online Last Night Another Soldier by Andy McNab - Free Book Online
Authors: Andy McNab
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a chance to do anything to you. Aim for the centre of what you can see of him. His bones and kit will resist a little, so keep your body weight behind the weapon. Take him down, leave him dead or alive, and just keep moving on. Fight your way out of the field and take cover in the ditch.’
Flash spoke quietly but urgently. ‘It’s first light, Toki.’ He was right. The eight-foot-high maize field was beginning to take shape.
‘You ready?’ Toki fixed his eyes on Flash, who took a gulp of air before he answered slowly and steadily, ‘Ready.’
Toki then checked out Si, although to be honest, when his reply came he sounded less sure.
Toki then fixed his eyes on me. ‘You ready?’
My mouth was so dry I couldn’t get the words out.
‘Briggsy, you ready?’ he repeated.
I swallowed hard and tried to sound confident. ‘Ready.’ It was more of a squeak than an answer.
Toki started to move through the maize, ‘Single file, behind me.’
Chapter Fifteen
Flash and Si fell in and I followed behind, each of us a couple of metres behind the other. We needed to be spread apart as much as possible to prevent a burst of Tali fire taking all four of us down at once, but not so far apart that we couldn’t see the next man in front.
The maize rustled as we pushed ourselves through. I held the pistol-grip of my rifle with my right hand. My left was around the barrel, keeping the bayonet raised, ready to take on anyone who came near. I desperately hoped they wouldn’t. With just a few rounds each, staying hidden was going to be our greatest weapon.
As I inched my way slowly through the field, a head of corn banged against my shoulder and made me jump like a startled rabbit. Even a snap of straw under my feet made me flinch. I could still only see about two metres ahead of me, but I could hear all four of us breathing heavily.
Every so often the Taliban would let out one of their bloodcurdling screams and a whole load of them would open fire with their AK47s. We would duck down automatically every timeit happened, praying that the rounds weren’t heading our way. Toki kept us moving forward as quickly as we could .
All of a sudden, Si screamed out, ‘Contact right! Contact right!’ All four of us turned. I could just make out the shape of two men as one of them fired wildly in our general direction. We all fired a few puny rounds into the thick maize as they zipped past us then quickly disappeared.
‘Out of ammo! RV. Get to the RV!’ shouted Toki and we broke into a run. I was still last in line, huffing and puffing, sweating in my body armour and helmet, terrified I might get left behind.
There was a burst of fire from the Taliban to my right, then an ear-piercing scream stopped me in my tracks. It came from one of us.
‘Man down! Man down!’ I crashed through the maize to try to reach whichever one of us had been hit, but I still couldn’t see through the thickness. Toki’s voice hit me from about five metres ahead. ‘Keep moving! He’s dead. Go, go!’
More fire came from my right as I carried on running, jumping over Flash’s body on the way. He was face down, soaked in blood. More fire followed from the left, and then from behind. I still couldn’t see anything except maize.Another round of fire burst out from ahead of us. I started to panic. ‘Toki!’
Before I could decide which way to run, Si was screaming at me. ‘Briggsy! Left. Tali, left! Look left!’
There was a Taliban just a metre to my left. Dark eyes wide open, teeth bared, his beard glistening with sweat. There was nowhere to run.
I don’t know who screamed the louder, but both of us yelled at the top our lungs as we hurled ourselves towards each other. I gripped my weapon and lunged as hard as I could. The bayonet made contact with his chest. His dark eyes took one last look down the barrel of my weapon as his shirt and skin resisted for a second before giving way under the bayonet’s blade. I heard a squelch as the cold, hard
Flash spoke quietly but urgently. ‘It’s first light, Toki.’ He was right. The eight-foot-high maize field was beginning to take shape.
‘You ready?’ Toki fixed his eyes on Flash, who took a gulp of air before he answered slowly and steadily, ‘Ready.’
Toki then checked out Si, although to be honest, when his reply came he sounded less sure.
Toki then fixed his eyes on me. ‘You ready?’
My mouth was so dry I couldn’t get the words out.
‘Briggsy, you ready?’ he repeated.
I swallowed hard and tried to sound confident. ‘Ready.’ It was more of a squeak than an answer.
Toki started to move through the maize, ‘Single file, behind me.’
Chapter Fifteen
Flash and Si fell in and I followed behind, each of us a couple of metres behind the other. We needed to be spread apart as much as possible to prevent a burst of Tali fire taking all four of us down at once, but not so far apart that we couldn’t see the next man in front.
The maize rustled as we pushed ourselves through. I held the pistol-grip of my rifle with my right hand. My left was around the barrel, keeping the bayonet raised, ready to take on anyone who came near. I desperately hoped they wouldn’t. With just a few rounds each, staying hidden was going to be our greatest weapon.
As I inched my way slowly through the field, a head of corn banged against my shoulder and made me jump like a startled rabbit. Even a snap of straw under my feet made me flinch. I could still only see about two metres ahead of me, but I could hear all four of us breathing heavily.
Every so often the Taliban would let out one of their bloodcurdling screams and a whole load of them would open fire with their AK47s. We would duck down automatically every timeit happened, praying that the rounds weren’t heading our way. Toki kept us moving forward as quickly as we could .
All of a sudden, Si screamed out, ‘Contact right! Contact right!’ All four of us turned. I could just make out the shape of two men as one of them fired wildly in our general direction. We all fired a few puny rounds into the thick maize as they zipped past us then quickly disappeared.
‘Out of ammo! RV. Get to the RV!’ shouted Toki and we broke into a run. I was still last in line, huffing and puffing, sweating in my body armour and helmet, terrified I might get left behind.
There was a burst of fire from the Taliban to my right, then an ear-piercing scream stopped me in my tracks. It came from one of us.
‘Man down! Man down!’ I crashed through the maize to try to reach whichever one of us had been hit, but I still couldn’t see through the thickness. Toki’s voice hit me from about five metres ahead. ‘Keep moving! He’s dead. Go, go!’
More fire came from my right as I carried on running, jumping over Flash’s body on the way. He was face down, soaked in blood. More fire followed from the left, and then from behind. I still couldn’t see anything except maize.Another round of fire burst out from ahead of us. I started to panic. ‘Toki!’
Before I could decide which way to run, Si was screaming at me. ‘Briggsy! Left. Tali, left! Look left!’
There was a Taliban just a metre to my left. Dark eyes wide open, teeth bared, his beard glistening with sweat. There was nowhere to run.
I don’t know who screamed the louder, but both of us yelled at the top our lungs as we hurled ourselves towards each other. I gripped my weapon and lunged as hard as I could. The bayonet made contact with his chest. His dark eyes took one last look down the barrel of my weapon as his shirt and skin resisted for a second before giving way under the bayonet’s blade. I heard a squelch as the cold, hard
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