Escape From Baghdad (© Luke Duffy)
Page 2 A series of loud cracks, like
the snapping of a whip, rang out as incoming rounds flew overhead, causing the
men to duck in their seats as they recognised the distinct snap of enemy fire. "Contact right!" Someone
screamed over the radio. Marcus spun his head around to
try to identify the threat. From his position in the commander’s seat, in the
second vehicle of the convoy, he heard the heavy 7.62mm machine guns begin to
fire from the turrets on top of their vehicles. Their distinct rapid thump as
they unleashed their deadly, heavy rain of fire at their targets was almost
comforting. Sini, the gunner in Marcus’ own vehicle, was firing in three to
five round bursts, never letting up the pressure on their attackers. His body
was juddering as the recoil shook the weapon in his hands. Green tracer rounds started to
pass over the front of the vehicle a second later, after the shooter had
adjusted his position, and were smashing into the side. Up and down the whole
length of the SUV, Marcus could hear the thwack as the rounds pierced the outer
shell of the vehicle and thumped into the hard armour plating beneath. The driver, a burly guy from New Zealand named Eddie, began to try to push forward to get them out of the line of fire. "All vehicles push through,
push through!" Marcus commanded. The turret gunners increased
the rate of fire, and all the drivers accelerated to clear the immediate
killing area. The fire coming in from the right had doubled. It was now more
concentrated and accurate, the insurgents becoming more determined not to allow
the team to get away from them. "Man down, Nick is down!"
Marcus heard through his earpiece. He looked back over his shoulder to see that
the machine gun in the third vehicle was no longer firing as Nick was pulled
back inside. By now, all four vehicles were taking heavy fire and with nowhere
else to go, the driver of the lead vehicle began trying to push his way through
the static traffic ahead of them. Civilian drivers had either
raced off, or abandoned their cars to seek cover from the bullets whizzing
through the air all around them. The Police had fled and the junction was now a
mass of vehicles blocking all three lanes. It was impossible to push through
and Marcus had to think fast. "Reverse back. We’re gonna have
to try and push back the way we came." He gave over the radio. All four
vehicles came to a sudden stop, and almost instantly began to back up, building
up speed by the second. Rounds continued to zip over
them and into them. The gunners were screaming target indications to each other
over the radios, trying to guide each other to the enemy positions, but for
every enemy neutralized, another position took up the firing. The incoming fire
never let up and soon the vehicles were beginning to smoke from heavy damage.
Tyres and windows, even though armoured, were blown out. Everyone in the
vehicles was being hit with shrapnel from the doors as they buckled under the
continuous impacts and splinters of glass as the integrity of the armour was
pushed to its limits. The noise was beyond deafening,
the continuous thunder of the machine guns above in the turrets, and the
high-pitched cracks and snaps as the vehicles took round after round. The smell
of cordite was thick in the air as the guns discharged their ammunition and the
spent brass casings fell on to the floor of the vehicle. Marcus’ eyes began to
sting and water. Marcus watched over his
shoulder as his driver did his best to reverse at speed. The third vehicle was
swaying as it tried to avoid debris in the road. A sudden ball of flame and a
large puff of pale grey smoke erupted from the right hand side of the road
between two buildings. It streaked across the open ground and smashed into the
fourth vehicle with a heavy thud, quickly followed by a huge bang and flash of
light. The SUV rocked from the impact and almost toppled onto its side. The
vehicle was torn wide open, and debris flew in all directions. It exploded
instantly and the three remaining vehicles slammed on their brakes. For a short moment, Marcus
watched in horror as a second rocket snaked in their direction. "RPG right," he
screamed and instinctively crouched in his seat. The rocket was high, and
passed over his vehicle. A third missile came at them, this time aimed at the
front vehicle; the insurgents were trying to block them off by disabling the
front and rear vehicles, causing them to be trapped in the killing area. It
punched its way through the rear of the lead SUV, passing through without
detonating but damaging the rear axle and drive capability in the process. [ Continue to page 3 ] |