“Three days ago our 'over the fence' electronical sensors turned themselves on in here, here and here”
Ortega's words were a lie, but a good one.
The tip had come from Trautman himself, but no one should know that.
“I am talking about sensors put in place by our intelligence teams” he added.
“I know. Go on” said Martinez.
“Well. We calculated an incoming attack here between 24 or 48 hours from now at max. If nothing happens during this amount of time, it means that the Vietcong battalion has taken a different route. The time at disposal is short, which is the reason my men have landed here already in operative status. We are going to stay on guard for the next 48 hours and if nothing happens at the end of that time, we are going to leave the same way we came here. But up to then, my men won't sleep, nor move or shift. Just give them a few hours to set a strategy up and put some traps in place”
Martinez's two officials looked at each other perplexed, then the base commander nodded.
“That's okay – he said -. Place yourselves as you wish”
“Excellent” Skorpio said. And then:
“I am relying on your collaboration. You have been are here at the front line for too long, and everybody can see it. Your hair is long, the bags under your eyes are scary and there are people going around bare chested. Most of you are dirty and stink.
On the contrary, we are rested and we know this job. With your knowledge of the surroundings and our help, we are going to do an excellent job”
“Yes, sir”
“Fine. You should now recall your external patrols. From now on, no one leaves the base”
***
In order to look like the base's personnel, the Baker team guys changed their uniforms with the usual olive drab ones, then they started to get the defences ready.
They dug four holes outside the perimeter of the base. They were barely wide enough to cover a crouched man. They then covered them with bamboos grates, which they then covered with leaves. All in all, the hole covers were barely one span tall and enough so that a man could take aim from the inside.
The remaining time at disposal was used by the Baker team to set traps all around the base.
All in all, Danforth needed four hours to get all of the Baker team ready and in place.
***
“What's that?” Martinez asked
Barry handed him a big, used bullet case.
Its calibre was unknown to Martinez and a nail had been put through its bottom.
“Let me show you” Barry said.
Then he picked out an M16 bullet and put it inside the spent brass.
The 5.56 bullet fit it perfectly and its primer ended up right over the tip of the nail.
“Then you stick it into the ground tip-up. When someone steps on the bullet, the nail acts like a hammer”
“Yep... Understood”
“It usually makes a hole through the foot, but the cool part is that its sound is very similar to that of an M16, so the Vietcong can take it for an unknown enemy”
Barry put his trap inside a hole as big as a fist, then he covered it with some grass.
“And after the battle, you can leave it there without many troubles, because it's not a real landmine: one month, some rainy days and it won't work any longer. So there's no risk that some years after the war it's going to sever a kid’s limb”.
Martinez nodded.