Chapter 2: War, what is it good for?
It took a few seconds for Petunia to understand King’s meaning. “J-jungle? No! Mommy...Daddy…” she collapsed on the ground, crying, realizing she was far away from her home and parents.
“Did you have to say that?” Hoang scolded his friend, looking with sympathy at the crying foal.
“Sorry, just popped in there.”
The South Vietnamese took the filly in his arms, patting her back. “Shh, calm down, we’ll help you.” He wiped a tear out of Petunia’s eye. It surprised King that his ally was so good with children, he had never seen this kind of behavior from him before.
“Thank you. Where am I?” She calmed down.
“Vietnam, or better said the South of Vietnam.” The soldier explained.
“Vietnam. I read of it once back home. I’m no fan of it, but judging by your uniforms, you are soldiers, right?”
It was unpleasant for both soldiers to talk about it, so Ethan replied, “Yes but it’s a long story, can we tell you this when we get you out of here?”
“S-sure.” Petunia replied lightly scared, realizing she landed in a warzone.
“Don’t worry, we will keep you save. I suggest we get her to the rally point and escort her by Huey to base. She should be safe there.”
“I was thinking the same.” The US soldier smiled at him.
“What’s a Huey?” Petunia asked, confused, wondering what they meant.
“You will see.” Hoang replied, putting her down and reaching for his rifle. “Stay behind me.”
She obeyed as they moved out, the soldiers kept their eyes open for traps and Viet Cong.
Luckily, they encountered no traps or enemies on the way to the rally point, a glade. A squad of US Soldiers was waiting here already. One of them, a radioman, asked King, “What took ya so long?”
“Well…we found someone who got lost.” He stepped aside to reveal Petunia, who lightly trembled. “These are my comrades, they won’t hurt you.”
She relaxed and stretched her hoof out in a greeting gesture. “Hello, I’m Petunia Paleo. What’s wrong?” She asked as the other soldiers shook their heads.
“OK King, now you’ve went insane. A talking filly! Impossible!” The radioman exclaimed in shock.
“No, John, I’m not nuts yet. She’s real, otherwise you wouldn’t see her too, would you?”
“I guess you’re right.”
Suddenly, a loud noise rang in the filly’s ears. She thought it was the wind. It took Petunia a moment to realize the deafening racket blowing through the trees wasn’t caused by any wind.
She looked up.
It was in the air and steadily lowering down to earth, not exactly gliding, nothing so graceful. It was streamlined but very bulky, looking like some giant green gourd than anything else, topped with frantically rotating propellers which was causing the abnormal gusts. Through the giant glass window at the front, Petunia saw a human, his face obscured by a protective helmet, goggles and mask, gave them a thumbs-up.
On feet of metal frame, the Bell UH-1 Iroquois landed, the propellers still spinning above.
“There’s our ride. Get in.” King ordered and the soldiers streamed it, Petunia looked at the helicopter in awe as Hoang lifted her up and got her in too.
Petunia enjoyed the view as the Helicopter took off into the air. During the flight, King and Hoang told her without going too deep into it, what the Vietnam War was, which year it was and what they were. The Engine of the Huey was loud, but she could still understand what they told her and the radio played a fitting song. Edwin Starr – War.
“That’s terrible. War belongs to the past where I’m from.” Paleo whimpered.
“So, where are you from?” King asked, cirious.
“From Equestria. We have Soldiers where I’m coming from, called the Royal Guard. They protect the princesses who are ruling Equestria. We have also the Wonderbolts who are Flight acrobatics but have also military duties in case of an emergency. In Equestria, Earth, Pegasus and Unicorn ponies live together in harmony. The magic in Equestria allows us to understand several languages. I was born in Ponyville a small village.
My parents are both Earth ponies. The Cutie Mark presents the special Talent of a pony. Mine is finding remains of dinosaur.” She showed her flank, the picture there showing a skull and two bones. “The Cutie Mark Crusaders, a club of three fillies that are helping others to get their Cutie Marks, helped me with mine. I’m an archaeologist, Oh, before I forget, the Princesses are in control the Sun and the moon.”
The soldiers looked at each other, trying to understand, The Vietnamese smiled at the child. “Sounds interesting and fascinating. But archaeologist is wrong. An archaeologist deals with culture, paleontogy is your special talent. You’re a paleontologist.”
“Really? My parents must have confused it. At first, they were unsettled by it until I found a Dino skeleton in our backyard. They thought my Cutie Mark means that I would be a pirate.” She explained, trying to suppress tears as she already missed her family.
“Shh, calm down. We’re here for you. I must say, that sounds kinda funny that they thought you would be a pirate.” Hoang chuckled.
Petunia smiled “Yep, it was. As how I got here, due my Cutie Mark, some foals at school are afraid of it, some even call me freak. One of them, a filly named Ice Star, called me a witch and a Necromancer, thinking I would resurrect the dead! Ridiculous! She went even so far to insult my parents, calling them bad parents and that they should never have let me get my Cutie Mark!” She exclaimed in light anger. “We argued and she zapped me with her magic, yelling that I should have never gotten my Cutie Mark for everypony’s safety!” She cried out in tears, the ARVN soldier took her in his arms patting her.
“Shh, calm down. My condolences. Some people are just that stupid, not understanding.”
Petunia sniffed. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
“We’re here.” The pilot announced as the base was in sight. This base was special, it was build the same way as Khe Sahn Combat Base that was under siege by the NVA a year ago. Trenches, a land strip for US Aircrafts and some Warehouses for ammunition and Forces of the US Army, US Marines and the ARVN were stationed here together. A small force of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group, short MACV-SOG, a highly classified, multi-service United States special operations unit, was also stationed here. The Huey landed . “Don’t lose one word about her, got it?” Ethan asked the radioman and the others, they nodded as they got out before he realized something.
“Uhh, Hoang, got an idea how we can hide her from being seen?” Ethan tried to come up with something, not wanting to attract attention.
“Got it! Petunia, would you please get into my backpack? They won’t see you that way.”
“Sure.” It looked cute as she climbed in. She peeked out of the backpack as King and Hoang hurried to the tent they shared together. They were lucky to have this luxury, others had to share their tents with the entire unit.
The filly saw other soldiers wearing the same uniforms as King and Hoang, some of them were wearing casual camouflaged military fatigues and tank tops, showing how muscular they were compared to the Army soldiers.
She also noticed that some soldiers had other metal sticks, they had large boxes under them and belts, other had sticks that were made of metal and wood, some sticks had scopes on them.
Once in the tent, Petunia got out of Hoang's backpack, looking around. “Looks cozy. Those sticks you carry around, are those weapons?” She pointed a hoof to it.
Sticks? Both soldiers looked at each other until it clicked in their heads. She meant their rifles.
“Uh, yes. We both are armed with the M16 Assault Rifle. Standard Issue rifle for our soldiers. As the ARVN gets supplied by the USA, we use the same weapons. The M16 has low recoil, a high rate of fire, and medium damage, a very versatile weapon, twenty round magazine. As sidearm,” He pointed to his holster, “We use the Colt M1911 is a semi-automatic, magazine-fed, single-action .45 caliber handgun. It has a nine round magazine, medium recoil, medium damage and high accuracy.
Other soldiers use the M14 battle Rifle, selective-fire battle rifle derived from the M1 Garand which was the standard rifle for the US troops in the Second World War. At the beginning of the Vietnam War, they used mostly M14s, the M16 replaced it with the time but it’s still used as you can see.
The gun with the box and belt is the M60, our standard machine gun. Hundred rounds in one magazine, high recoil and rate of fire, medium damage and low accuracy but a good support weapon nevertheless.
The smaller guns are M3A1s, a submachine gun, thirty round magazine and with relatively low rate of fire, this weapon is easier to control than most submachine guns. Used by pointmans, Combat engineers and some Commanders.
Our Snipers either use the M16 with a scope or the M21, which is a marksman rifle adaptation of the M14.
The MACV has a different sidearm then we have. They use the Model 19 a .357 Magnum revolver, medium recoil, high damage, a medium rate of fire and medium-high accuracy and very powerful. As primary weapon, they use the CAR 15, which is short for Colt Automatic Rifle-15. It’s a compact, lightweight version compared to the M16, high rate of fire, moderate recoil, high damage, high accuracy and a magazine capacity of thirty rounds.”
“I’m no fan of weapons, but it sounds like you’re well equipped.” Petunia yawned as it was getting late.
“You should get some sleep.” King’s heart melted at the cute sight.
“Yes, Petunia. You can share my bed with me.” Hoang offered.
“Thanks.” Petunia said as she climbed into Hoang’s bed and fell asleep.
The young Asian took his boots and helmet off, pulling the sleeping filly close. “She looks like an Angel, doesn’t she?” He whispered as King took too off his helmet and boots, climbing into his own bed.
“Yeah, she does. Reminds me of my children. Goodnight.” He turned his light off and fell asleep.
Before Hoang turned his light off, he took one last look on Petunia. It was cute how she was curled up next to him, her chest gently lowering and raising. We will protect you from all harm, Petunia. And with that promise, he closed his eyes, falling asleep.
Both soldiers woke up in the night by whimpering. Petunia was shaking, small tears leaving her eyes. “I-I had a nightmare…” she buried her head into Hoang's chest, he patted her back.
“Shh…calm down.” The young child cried herself to sleep.
“Poor child.” Ethan had sympathy for her.
“Yes. I will protect her with my life if I have to, she doesn’t deserve to be here.”
“Agreed. You have my word, I will keep her safe too. Maybe, once I get on leave, I could take her to my home where she will be safe.”
“Good thought, Ethan.” Hoang wrapped his arm around her as both soldiers fell asleep again.
The next morning, the young Vietnamese woke up and stretched himself, seeing that King was already up and Petunia still asleep. He got up, careful not to wake her, and joined his American friend for Breakfast.
Petunia woke up with a yawn, stretching herself. A radio played.
“Good morning, Vietnam! This is the psychedelic music show at AFVN. I'm Army Specialist Zack Johnson, our APO here is 96309. If you send a request to that number, what we do is we open it like this...and when it arrives we read it, pull out that record and play it on the air. Like this one; 'Fortunate Son' by CCR.”
While this kind of music wasn’t her taste, she still enjoyed. As she opened the flap, she covered her eyes from the beautiful morning sun. Only now she realized that much of the land was covered in dirt and mud, although in the background were jungles, bush and grass. She didn’t mind the dirt at all, due her special talent, she was used to getting dirty.
The base was busy as it could be. Hueys and other larger helicopters flew around overhead, landing to get troops on board or to unload them, Soldiers patrolled, played cards, repaired vehicles or chatted. The young foal also saw some metal boxes on tracks driving around.
If my memory from school and the books is correctly, the humans call these tanks. Impressive machines. She thought as she looked around.
Petunia heard another sound of engines, seeing that Ethan drove some kind of vehicle with wheels, it reminded her of the carriages back home.
He stopped the vehicle next to her. “Morning, my dear. Slept well?” He smiled at her.
“Yes I did.”
“Glad to hear it. I bring you to the dining tent for breakfast.”
While she liked to have a good meal, she was uncomfortable with being in the dining tent for a certain reason. “Is this really a good idea? The others could freak out when they see me.”
“Don’t worry, we thought of that. Hop in.” He replied and she got on the passenger seat.
Petunia enjoyed the ride, feeling the wind brushing against her fur. She also saw more of the buildings and the airstrip as the dining tent was on the other side of the clearing.
“This is the M151 Military Utility Tactical Truck, MUTT for short, our standard light vehicle, light armor, high speed and high maneuverability. Ideal for recon, fast transports or to give support, as it can be armed with an anti-tank missile launcher.” He explained.
“The Helicopter we used to get there is the UH-1 Iroquois, also known as Huey. It’s our standard transport chopper, apart from the Boeing ACH-47 Chinook. The Huey is very useful for medical evacuation. As transport, it has 2 M60s mounted on the side doors for defense and fire support. There is also a gunship version, armed with missiles, although our actually gunship is the Bell AH-1 Cobra which also uses MGs and missiles.
For Air recon, the OH-6 Loach is our best bet as it is fast and easily maneuverable. Some commanders use it as a mobile command platform by riding in the back, leaning out of the window, overlooking the battlefield.”
“Interesting. I loved the ride in the Huey, I felt like a Pegasus flying in the air!” She exclaimed with glee.
“I can imagine that, my dear. Before I joined the army in 1963, I used to be a pilot. I quitted my job after an…accident.” He had a sad tone in his voice.
“Sorry to hear that. That was the reason why you joined the ground forces, right?”
“Correct. In a ground vehicle, fewer things can go wrong and end deadly than in a plane.” He replied, the tent was already in sight. “Here we are. End of the line.” He stopped in front of the tent.
The young filly jumped out, smelling something delicious coming out of the tent.
Stepping inside, she was surprised. The tent had several tables, they were all empty except for one where Hoang was sitting, enjoying some rice, a plate with pancakes on it next to him. The delicious smell came from them as they were still warm.
“Good morning, Petunia. I have ordered your breakfast. I hope you like pancakes.”
“And how!” She exclaimed in glee as she sat down on the chair, enjoying her meal, while Ethan ate some bread for breakfast.
The filly smiled as she chewed, enjoying every single bite. “That was delicious!” Her voice cracked after she was finished.
“Glad to hear it. Anything new, Ethan?”
“No, nothing to report. I suggest we bring her back to our tent and then we'll see.”
They got back to the jeep, Ethan took again the driver seat, Hoang the passenger seat, while Paleo took the backseat.
As they were about to cross the runway, a soldier yelled,” Clear the runway! Clear the runway! INCOMING!”
A wing of a damaged C-130 broken loose hurtled towards them, Petunia screamed in fear, King managed to dodge it but lost control of the MUTT.
The car rammed over a soldier as it went out of control, causing all three to fall out. Petunia was unharmed but disoriented.
“Hoang, over here!” King got up, his M16 ready, his comrade picked the filly up and they moved to the trenches. ”Get her to the bunker. GO!”
Artillery explosions all around them, a house got destroyed and several dead soldiers were scattered in the trench. A US Commander waved at them to get in before an explosion killed him. The bunker was connected to the trenches and was rumbling from the explosions. Hoang gently sat the child down in the bunker, two US soldiers, a Marine and a SOG operative were already inside. They looked at the filly with great shock, eyes wide.
“Keep her safe! Don’t let get her hurt!” King ordered, despite he was just a private but the soldiers nodded, acknowledging his order.
The young child now realized that they were under attack. “Wait! Hoang! King!” Both men could hear that she was crying as they left. Both men would comfort her but going out and fight in the trenches was the only way to guarantee her safety.
“Don’t worry, girl, we keep you safe!” The SOG operative fired his CAR 15 at the enemy, the NVA.
“Yes we will, by my honor as Marine!” The muscular soldier added as he fired too.
Hoang and King saw how the NVA attacked from a hill and in large numbers. The AVRN soldier had seen this before, he was one of the soldiers of South Vietnam that took part in the siege of Khe Sanh. King was a veteran of the Battle of la Drang Valley, the first major battle of the Vietnam War which took place in 1965.
An enemy soldier jumped into the trench to stab King but Hoang reacted quickly, killing the North Vietnamese with a headshot. He felt guilty and disliked it, as the NVA soldiers were basically fellow countrymen and one of those could be his older brother. If Hoang had to kill him, he would make sure it would be a quick death, he owed his brother that.
A Huey Slick gave support with his M60s, as the soldiers moved forward, taking more soldiers out. A hostile jumped from under a bridge, struggling with Hoang. He punched the NVA soldier into the face, then pulled the pin of the grenade. Pushing the attacker back, and crawling away, the explosion tore the North Vietnamese in half, only limbs and pieces of bones were left of him.
“I really pray that wasn’t you, brother.” Hoang whispered as he caught up with King.
“They’re using ladders to get across the trenches!” The Army soldier called as he fired his M16.
“Watch out, Flamethrowers!” Hoang warned him in return as the enemies tried to burn the Capitalist forces, a SOG Operative got hit, screaming in pain as he burned to death. Hoang took the soldier that wielded said flamethrower out, so he and King could move on.
“Incoming!” Another soldier yelled, the US Marines managed to get one of their M113 APCs into the battle, firing on the enemy. The M113 was only armed with one single M2 Browning machine gun, but was nevertheless effective in supporting and transporting troops.
“Roger that, Big Six, Red Rider is inbound. two minutes, please stand by.” An F-4 Phantom pilot reported.
King held his friend back as the APC got hit by RPGs, but was not destroyed by them. King moved first, in the moment Hoang did, the APC exploded and fell over the trench, forcing him to crawl under it.
Upon standing up, he saw how the Huey got and went down, the pilot screamed, ”Ugh! God dammit! Mayday, Mayday! Jesus Christ!”
The young Vietnamese looked shocked at the burning wreck. Just like Khe Sanh.
“Be advised, Red rider on station. Keep your head down.”
An explosion tore him out. Looking at the open area, it was burning, NVA soldiers screamed in pain as they burned. Hoang knew why.
Napalm bombs. Dropped by the F-4 Phantom, it was very effective against infantry and light vehicles, also providing area denial for a long time.
“High explosive ordnance on target. Have a nice day. Red Rider out.” The pilot spoke into the radio after he made his run.
Hoang made it up the hill to a bunker where King fired a mounted M60 at the remaining enemies. They both heard the sound of an engine. It came from the other side of the sea of flames. A quick flash out of the smoke hit the bunker, it was holding but both men were put into shellshock for a moment.
The reason, an enemy T-54 rolled in, the main battle tank of the NVA and some Viet Cong units.
“Tanks! No wonder they're getting bold...” Ethan mumbled as he got up.
A Marine with a M72 LAW joined them, taking aim at the tank. He fired and reloaded, the rocket seemed to have only limited effect as the Tank was smoking from the explosion but was still capable of fighting, aiming again at the bunker.
In the moment the US Marine aimed again, a stray shot from the co-axial machine gun hit him in the head, blood splattered from his wound as he fell to the ground, dropping his weapon.
“Damn it!” King took the LAW and prepared to take aim, only to hear an explosion. Looking outside, the T-54 was in flames, the turret blown off.
The cause of that was a M48 Patton, United States Army's, United States Marine Corps’ and Army of the Republic of Vietnam's standard tank, driving up, firing its cannon and coaxial machine gun at the NVA, keeping them busy, allowing King and Hoang to move to the end of the trenches, into a tunnel, which rumbled from artillery.
Before both entered it, they looked from the hill to the bunker, praying that Petunia would survive this attack.
The radios buzzed continuously. “One Seven, this is Red Rider, over. What's your status?”
“Low on fuel, inbound two minutes.”
“Stand fast, Two-Nine, you're covered.”
“Negative, I'm on final right now!”
“Six, Red Rider.”
“What's your position?”
“Just hang tight.”
“Okay, standing by.”
As the two came out of the tunnel, they regrouped with a group of Marines. King took cover and talked to the squad leader of the soldiers. Hoang saw how a medic tried to help a wounded soldier to his right, in the moment the medic knelt down to the wounded comrade, a bullet went right through his helmet and he fell dead to the ground.
“We're almost out of ammo. There's a weapon cache in that bunker on the right-“ Bullets flew over past him. “Damn!...but we can't get to it. They closed our right flank!”
Another Phantom bombed a treeline at the bottom of the hill, giving the South forces a chance to advance down the hill.
“They're making another push! South East side!” Another soldier yelled and they moved into a decaying forest that was burning.
At the top of the hill, Hoang got knocked down into shell shock by an explosion.
Petunia was scared, more scared than ever before in her life. She covered her ears from the loud gunfire, fearing she might go deaf, her eyes closed. “Get some!” The Marine yelled as he fired at the enemy.
“Man down!” His comrade yelled.
Petunia didn’t know why but for some reason, she peeked out of the bunker. What she saw next terrified her.
The young filly saw a badly wounded US soldier, Army by the looks of it. She couldn’t look away in shock as she saw that he was moving slowly in a zombie like manner, his helmet was missing, his eyes locked into a blank stare. The most shocking for her, was that the head of the soldier was covered in blood, the skull half missing, like a walking nightmare.
Petunia wanted to look away but she was frozen in fear, her body no longer able to move.
The wounded soldier eventually collapsed on his knees, dying, blood forming a puddle on the ground.
In her shock, she didn’t notice how the Marine picked her up, covering her eyes. “Don’t look.”
Hoang, still shell-shocked, saw how a comrade lunged at a NVA soldier, knocking him out before moving on, a North Vietnamese kicked a Marine into the gut, the soldier falling to the ground, the NVA soldier fired bullets into his chest without remorse or mercy.
Ethan got behind him, his M16 ready but it jammed, causing him to hit it lightly before the hostile noticed him and knocked him down by hitting the American with the butt of his AK. He took aim as Ethan was lying on the ground, trying to crawl away.
Hoang quickly drew his colt and shot the enemy into the head, saving King’s life.
The radio chatter was not stopping. “Do not, I repeat, do not engage.”
“Fire. Put it right there.”
“I'm coming around again, stay with me!”
“Belay that order, get your ass out of there!”
“Repeat your last!”
They entered another bunker. It was damaged, slightly burning. An AVRN medic took care of a wounded US Army soldier on the ground. A Marine removed blocks of wood off his body and got up to join the fight. A SOG Operative was coughing from all the smoke from the fire.
I hope the bunker where Petunia is hasn’t taken damage. Hoang thought with worry about her safety.
“More NVA moving in!...infantry and armor! They must have a damn division hidden out there!” A Army soldier reported.
Another Patton moved and a 551 Sheridan Tank, a light tank officially known as the Armored Reconnaissance/Airborne Assault Vehicle M551 moved up “Hoang! Get on the mounted machine gun of the Patton, I take the Sheridan!” King ordered.
The tactic was simple. Both soldiers used the mounted MGs to aid against the infantry, while the tanks destroyed the T-54. The Patton kept them busy while the Sheridan used its speed to flank the NVA tanks, firing on their weaker rear. Together, they destroyed six tanks before Phantoms killed the remaining enemies.
The friends got out of the tanks. “It’s over. That was a hell of an attack. Like Khe Sanh.” Hoang was relieved.
“Yes and I thought la Drang Valley was bad. Anyway, let’s check on Petunia, I hope she survived, she reminds me of my children.”
“Right.”
They walked back to the bunker. The damage by the attack was unbelievable. Destroyed vehicles, bodies of allies and enemies were everywhere. But the base itself was intact.
What they saw next broke their hearts. Petunia was held by the African American Marine with black hair and green eyes, patting her back as she cried her heart out, covered in dust. The SOG Operative had brown hair with matching eyes, wearing sunglasses.
Without a word, the Marine passed the filly over to Hoang. “Shh, it’s over.” She comforted her.
“I was so scared! The screams, explosions, I thought I would die! Everyone was shooting and killing each other! Why?! Why is everyone dying?!” She buried her head into his chest.
“Shh, calm down, it’s over now…” He whispered and she cried herself to sleep.
King looked at her, sad. “Poor girl but at least she has survived.”
“Yes. Thanks for keeping her safe.” The ARVN private thanked the Marine and SOG soldier.
“No need, it’s a matter of honor for me. Call me Dan.” The Marine introduced himself.
“I’m Jesper.” The SOG operative said, his brown eyes peeking at them over his sunglasses.
All were glad that the battle was won and the NVA pushed back. Petunia was safe.
For now.