The Jungle of Fear : part 2 - The Raid

The helicopter soared over the jungle majestically for an hour, before winching us down through the tree canopy.



This was not our endpoint. Jeff explained: 'We're going on walkabout. That's South Aviana over the river. We're not invited, we're not welcome, and we're going to let ourselves in.'
'First trick is getting past the border post. Yatesy, you like a bit of fancy dress?'

Puzzled, i discovered we were disguising ourselves as natives, to slip through the border crossing. Jeff and Mike had perfected the look, but i was struggling:



Bemused, they quickly spotted the problem
'Marmite? You're using Marmite. Pommy slop - throw that out, you need this'. Vegemite. Revolted as i was, i slathered it all over myself.

We passed through the border post untroubled (even with Jeff calling out 'gidday' to the guard).



Further into South Aviana, we slipped into the jungle to find a weapons cache and return to our jungle greens.
'It's a bush bash from here. Hard going'



That was no boast - every step was a struggle, slashing through thick vines, sharp bladed leaves, mud underfoot, and a constant face full of insects. All the while baking in a sticky heat that sweat only made worse.



I was ready to collapse when the men called time to setup camp for the night. Exhausted and hungry, i discovered starvation may also be a possibility - as the Aussies pulled out tins of 'pizza flavour baked beans'.

'I'm not eating that?... it's absurd - pizza flavour??? which pizza flavour? and not with ... baked beans???'
'Oh dear! let me consult with my sous chef to see what else we might have on the menu... Michael?'
With comic aplomb, Mike gestured around his kitchen 'well sirs, alternative options from the larder this evening, i can offer... mmmm.... dung beetle fricassee... with sauteed banana leaves... and a garnish of ivy'.

I ate the beans.

It was a sleepless night under a mosquito net, listening to the sounds of the jungle, and loud digesitive replies from the antipodeans next to me. How i missed my soft bed in Tomerton already.
Whatever they had found in this jungle to show Tomerton intelligence - it had better be good.



+++++

The next day we set off in the same gruelling way.
The Aussies had perfected the art of communicating almost entirely by swearing - using intonation to give the same word different meanings. It was mid-afternoon when Mike uttered a particularly bold...
Jeff echoed the same term quizzically.
Mike restated definitively.

I crawled over to where they lay. In the valley beneath, natives herded by soldiers were ferrying boxes:



I had suspected as much. Since independence,
South Aviana had been a troublesome neighbour to the North - a weak and corrupt central government unable to manage a growing communist insurgency in the countryside. The Aussies, intruding from the North, weren't simply here to bushwalk.



Between themselves they whispered:
'Haven't seen them moving that much gear before'
'It's a big one. Mine the trail, shoot and scoot?'
'If we weren't carrying baggage, Mike. Have to let this one pass'

Baggage was i ? Incensed, i made a rash interjection.

'Gentlemen, if your standing orders for these type of incursions are to attack enemy formations, i would consider it a dereliction of duty to ignore what we see beneath us - irrespective of whether you
are also accompanying an intelligence officer from Tomerton. I think you'll find an intelligence officer from Tomerton could be well placed with the LMG to help you clear up the mess when their convoy walks into your mines.'
Grimly, Jeff warned 'You sure Yatesy? Once we hit them, these dogs will be chasing us all the way home.'
I nodded.
The Aussies grinned - the raid was on.
+++++

Backtracking along the path we had taken, we were able to intersect the trail the mountain trail convoy would soon reach. Mines were placed, firing positions established, and we waited.

The ambush with brief and brutal. We had chained the mines, so the first triggered a line of explosions. We poured gunfire into the smoke. With the vanguard destroyed, we slipped back into the jungle - knowing that from here, we were hunted men!



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Behind the lines and on the run - how will Yates complete his mission? What mystery do the Aussies have to reveal? Part 3 of 'The Jungle of Fear' on newstands soon!