Chapter 16

We formed up the unit on the company street at 0900 hrs, and marched off in a column of platoon shortly following that. The march to the exercise area required more than an hour before we reached the location where we dropped off the First Platoon to begin their portion of the exercise. The other platoons followed in order. Captain Prawit and his assistants would be grading the First and Second Platoons initially, while Sergeant Chung and I would have the Third and Fourth Platoons. We would switch assignments around noon of the third day, so that there were different eyes to check each platoon and grade them.

After dropping Fourth Platoon in their area, Chuang and I went to check on the Third Platoon, which should have started on their first assignment by this time. Checking on the progress of the two platoons kept Chuang and me very busy that day, since we needed to do it very quietly so they weren't aware of when we were observing them.

By late afternoon, Third Platoon had reached their first objective and had spent some time observing it for activity according to their orders. Their objective was a small clearing with a wooden post in the ground with their platoon number painted on all four sides of it.

Chuang and I arrive there early enough to observe their approach and the security precautions they had taken before settling in to observe their target. They had done very well. After a time, I moved into the clearing and called their Platoon Leader to join me while the remainder of the platoon remained concealed. During the critique, we discussed how he and his men had performed, and what I believed they needed to work on to improve their performance. Chuang and I departed then to check on the Fourth Platoon while Third Platoon prepared for their next mission.

Closer to sunset, we intercepted the Fourth Platoon looking for their first objective. I again counseled their Lieutenant on their performance and made suggestions for how to find their objective. They eventually arrived there, somewhat late, and I again counseled not just the Lieutenant, as it wasn't entirely his fault, but the entire platoon, and again made suggestions on how to improve their performance, since it was only a few simple things that they needed to do better. Chuang and I left them then to prepare for tomorrow's missions. Because of a lack of moonlight and compasses for the men, we were unable to do night movements with any precision at present.

By that evening Chuang and I were hot, sweating, and tired. We picked a small clearing for a camp and laid out our ground cloths. We had small mosquito nets which we strung up between a couple of trees, since we didn't dare to burn anything to keep the mosquitoes away for fear of being spotted. We only had a small candle lit for light.

We had found some fruit growing on our route this afternoon and had it for lunch. We were preparing for our evening meal, but when Chuang opened the small rice pot that we had, he found that the cooked rice that we had been issued to us that morning had already gone bad in the heat.

"It is best not to eat this rice, Guardian, as it will make us sick We will need to survive on the few vegetables that we found and a bit of fruit that I saw near here," he told me in a disappointed voice.

"Yes, we'll need to bury that rice and find enough water tomorrow to wash that pot out very thoroughly along with our bowls," I told him just before a banana leaf wrapped bundle appeared between us, startling us both.

"What is that? Where did it come from?" he asked in shock on seeing it.

"I guess the only way to know is to open it," I told him, as I reached for the bundle. The banana leafs were quite warm, and I began to suspect what it was as I started to open it. Inside was not just hot rice, as I had first suspected, but sweet-and-sour pork with rice. Chuang's eyes popped on seeing it.

"But who could... ?" he started and stopped as a suspicion arose in his mind.

"Who else but the Amulets?" I asked with a smile.

"You're sure?" he asked quietly, and my amulet warmed up.

"Certainly, who else do you know who could do something like this?" I asked, as I started emptying the contents of the bundle into our bowls.

"I'll save the vegetables for the morning," Chuang told me before we began to eat.

Following our meal, he set the open rice pot and the banana leaves over on the far side of our camp to be dealt with in the light of morning. We were both soon asleep on our ground covers under out mosquito nets.

We were awakened in the morning by the animals in the area coming back to life with the return of the sun. Chuang went to clean out the rice pot and bury its contents along with the banana leaves after we had taken care of our morning business. To his surprise, he found the rice pot all but empty and the banana leaves licked clean.

"Guardian!" he whispered loudly to alert me. "Something was here during the night. Something hungry," he finished, as I approached, and he showed me the all but empty rice pot and the clean banana leaves.

"Yes, some animal, and a very quiet one," I said seeing the evidence.

"Do you think it's dangerous?" he asked looking around sharply.

"No, if it wanted to attack us, it could have last night, but I don't think it's a wild animal either," I told him.

"Not wild?"

"I doubt that wild animals are used to eating rice or the remains of sweet and sour pork either," I told him, and he appeared to consider that for a few seconds.

"You are correct, Guardian," he said after thinking about it, "but a domesticated animal like a mah (dog) or a meeo (cat) would."

"I don't think there are too many house cats out here in the jungle, but a dog is a very likely suspect," I told him, before adding, "at least we will have less to bury."

We moved out after having some of the nearby fruit for breakfast. Eventually, we found a stream that appeared clean enough to wash out our rice pot and our bowls.

Things went better this second day of the exercise. The men were gaining experience and were learning the ropes, but they still had a ways to go, but that was understandable, of course.

We cooked our rice this afternoon while taking a break for a lunch of fruit and some very tasty vegetables. We were sure that the rice would still be good this evening. We had picked enough fruit and vegetables along the way today for both lunch and dinner.

At noon on the third day, we met Captain Prawit and his assistants and exchanged platoons, taking the First and Second Platoons for the final two days or so of the exercise, while Prawit and his people took the Third and Fourth Platoons.

First and Second Platoons proved to be very good and there were only a few minor details to bring up to the Platoon Leaders during our critiques. The exercises would be over with the completion of the final problem on this the afternoon of the fifth day. The final problem for us was having Second Platoon ambush the first Platoon on the way to their final objective. It is a tribute to both Platoons that their scouts and lookouts detected each other, and the problem was declared a draw.

It was nearly 1700 hrs on the fifth day of the exercise, as I led First and Second Platoons back to our unit. We were just emerging from a thick area of trees when I observed a storm moving in our direction. The area in front of us consisted of many acres of very tall grass (about 7'-0'' high) with a few trails leading through it. We would be more vulnerable out in the grass, so I called a halt and moved the men back into the trees. I knew from experience that these late afternoon storms in Korat normally only lasted 15 to 20 minutes but could be intense, so a short halt under the protection of the trees would be fine.

Lieutenant Chatchai and I watched the storm approach from the edge of the forest, and it appeared to be just over 12 Sen or about 500 meters (1 Sen = 40 meters) or so from us when there was a huge lightning strike followed almost immediately by a second, and both were followed by a tremendous double clap of thunder just ahead of the storm or at about 10 Sen (400 meters) from us out in the field of grass. The fast moving storm moved into the area of the lightning strike immediately following that, and it started to hail.

"Let's get the men well back into the trees, Lieutenant. That hail can be dangerous," I told him, and we had quickly moving the men further back into the trees just before the storm hit us. It poured rain for a good 20 minutes, but the hail only lasted for the first eight minutes or so.

The men were ecstatic and had quickly spread their ground cloths out under the trees to collect the free ice. The hail was about the size of an ordinary man's thumb in size and would really hurt when it struck you. We were all quite wet by the time the rain stopped, but the men definitely enjoyed eating the hail balls that they had gathered. Even I enjoyed what I had acquired, and we would all dry out as we finished the march, which we still needed to do before it became too dark.

After a bit when most of the ice had been consumed, I called everyone to attention and got them back in formation. We hadn't gone far, about 5 Sen or 200 meters, when Lieutenant Chitchai had a question.

"Do you smell smoke?" he asked in a worried voice. I sniffed and sensed something burning but not smoke. Corporal Wiwan hurried forward then.

"Krup, there is something burned ahead of us," he told us.

"Could be from the lightning strike," I suggested.

"And if it's a fire, it will be dangerous in all of this tall grass," Lieutenant Chatchai seconded.

"Yes, let's get the men spread out and see if we can discover what is burning or has burned. I would have thought that the rain and the hail would have put out any fire, but it's best to make sure," I told them.

The Lieutenants and their Platoon Sergeants quickly spread the men on either side of the trail and out into the grass, and we advanced toward the area where the lightning appeared to have struck. Shortly, word was quickly passed to us from the right side of the trail that the smell had increased there as we moved forward.

It wasn't long before there was more shouting coming from the right side of the trail well before we reached the area where the lightning strike appeared to have been. Lieutenant Chatchai, with Sergeant Chuang who had moved up from the trail position, and I quickly moved ahead to where we could hear all of the shouting coming from. As we neared that area and broke into the tall grass we came upon a horrific sight in a clearing.

There were what appeared to be 35 to 40 soldiers on the ground. There was a totally blackened body and several badly burned bodies as well as those still dazed by what had happened. It appeared that the lightning strikes had hit them killing several of them and burning or knocking out the rest.

"We're going to need more help than we currently have," I told both Lieutenants and the Sergeants. "I'll signal Captain Prawit to bring his part of the unit here."

"How will you signal?" several of them asked.

"With my pistols, also Sergeant Chuang load your carbine and every minute or so after I finish firing my pistol, fire the carbine in the air to give them some sound to hone in on," I told them.

"Meanwhile, I want First and Second Platoon to start first aid for those men," I finished.

"What can we do for those burned?" one of the Platoon Sergeants asked.

"Collect what ice is left on the ground and cover them with it as much as possible. It appears to have hailed heavily here," I told all of them, before moving back out onto the trail, drawing a revolver, and firing six shots spaced about ten seconds apart in the air with it. Sergeant Chuang had followed me and remained there to fire his carbine as a signal to the other group.

On returning to the clearing, I gathered the two Lieutenants to me for a quick discussion.

"While the men are working on the soldiers, we need to gather some information on who these people are and what they are doing here," I told them. "Check with your men and see if any of them recognize any of the injured. Also talk to any of them who seem conscious and rational. We need to learn what was going on here before we get them back to camp and they disperse. There are going to be questions about what happened and why they were here. We need to know the answers first," I finished, and we split up to check on our men and see what we could learn.

About 15 minutes later, Captain Prawit arrived with the Third and Fourth Platoons. Chuang had alerted me to their pending arrival, and I met them on the trail.

"What's happened?" Prawit asked first thing on seeing me. He and those with him appeared to be relatively dry.

"Didn't you get caught by the storm?" I asked.

"No, we heard the thunder, but didn't receive any of the rain," he told me looking around for the other platoons.

"There was a double lightning strike here on some soldiers but not ours. I need your Platoon Leaders to move their platoons into the clearing past the grass to help our people with the wounded, as there are a lot of them. I also need the Operations Lieutenant and his Sergeant here with us, and I'll explain what we saw and have found," I told him in a hurry. The platoons quickly moved in to help the other Rangers and I met with Prawit and the operations people. After quickly going over what had happened, I had orders for them.