Deadly Force Read Online Free Page B

and the driver crumpled over the wheel.
    The men were finished at the trucks. They pulled the canvas down over the backs and the rest of the men jumped on board.
    â€œLet’s get out of here,” Mojombo said, and stepped into the cab of the first truck. At the south gate, the guard flagged them down.
    â€œBeen a little trouble on base, sir,” the guard said. “I’ll need to see your transit papers and orders.”
    Gabu shot the guard twice in the throat, and stormed the truck out the gate and down the road. The second truck followed closely behind them.
    Mojombo looked at his watch in the truck’s faint dash lights. “Almost three A . M . Time we head for the river. No chance that we can get to the President tonight. Maybe on the next trip.”
    â€œA good night’s work,” Gabu said.
    â€œYes, we did well.”
    Gabu looked at the blackness of the roadway. They were outside the town now and well into the countryside. There was only one road north, so they had to take it. “We expecting any trouble up the road?” Gabu asked.
    â€œProbably. We didn’t cut any telephone wires. Somebody will report our raid. They know we always go north.”
    â€œProbably around Tambacounda. They still have an Army post there?”
    â€œThey’ve rebuilt it since we burned it down a month ago,” Mojombo said. “Yes, my guess is they’ll have every man on the post out to the road to stop us. They for sure will get a telephone warning.”
    â€œSo how do we surprise them?” Gabu asked.
    â€œThey know we’ll be coming in by truck. So, we stop a half mile from their roadblock and take them on the ground. We get behind them if we can so they won’t have any protection, and we take them out. Then we can clean out their supply room as well and be gone.”
    Gabu smiled. “How about my taking half the men to go around them and hit them from behind while you’re engaging them from the front?”
    â€œYes, Gabu, yes. How much farther to Tambacounda?”
    The driver checked out the window. “Maybe six or seven miles.”
    Mojombo settled back in the seat, his submachine gun over his knees. Yes, he remembered the small village well. Maybe three hundred souls. Extremely poor. Only one road through the town. At this side the road went over a small river. The attack would come at the bridge. Yes. They would stop a mile from the bridge and advance on foot, half on each side of the road.
    Twenty minutes later the cammy-clad men with their submachine guns and AK-47’s moved cautiously up the road toward the bridge. When they were a half mile away, they angled into the light brush and trees at the side of the blacktopped road and moved slower. A scout out in front came back quickly.
    â€œYes, there are soldiers at the bridge. On both sides of the road.”
    Mojombo nodded. Soon he and his men would have the radios operating and would be able to coordinate their efforts better. He sent a runner to the other side and told Gabu to continue. They would both attack when fifty yards away. A call of the nighthawk would be the signal to open fire. Mojombo had heard about night-vision goggles. He wished he had some. Then he could see where to shoot.
    They moved up slower now. Soon their scout dropped down, and the rest of them went to ground. He crawled back. “I can see them. Most of them are smoking and talking. Maybe ten or fifteen on this side.”
    Mojombo thanked him and went up to look himself. They were thirty-five yards from the bridge. He brought his men up to form a rough skirmish line five yards apart, and cupped his hands and made the eerie sound of the nighthawk’s call.
    Then he lifted his weapon and opened fire. The twenty guns caught the defenders in total surprise. Half of them dove behind protection and fired back at the muzzle flashes. The attackers had the benefit of selecting cover first, and now kept up the firing