Author's Note

Hi and Merry Christmas

Sorry it took longer than expected for me to finish this. I've been all over the place recently, but thankfully, I'm back home now. School is over and I now have more time to write, at least until the next semester starts. I'm looking to finish Okinawa sometime soon, perhaps in twoish chapters and then starting writing the final arc.

Leave a comment if you enjoyed the chapter

Ch.20: Incompetent

Ch.20: Incompetent

SPLOOOOSH!

Luna threw out her hand and grasped at the sides of the landing craft, steadying herself from their sudden deposit into the ocean. James softly gripped her hand in an effort to help her up. The cables, which had let them down the port side, unhooked and the steady cranking could be heard on the deck as the sailors wound the heavy steel cables back up.

The engine roared to life, the boatswain taking hold of the wheel, and they inched their way towards the island.

This was it. The final landing.

From the way the men around Luna were speaking, this was going to hurt to watch. She didn't expect many of those around her to survive, much less make it off the beach. Much like Peleliu, she could almost feel the palpable anxiety emanating off the Marines, most wearing either worried or determined grimaces. The replacements, in particular, gripped their rifles harshly, their heads darting around at the slightest crack or bang of the metal. One looked as though he would throw up, the sea and the stress of battle getting to him all at once.

Mad Dog and some of the senior NCOs stood resolutely in the back. To an onlooker with no history with these men, they seemed to be quite nonchalant about what they were headed towards, most looking quite unconcerned. But Luna could see the quiet tells on their persons betraying their true feelings. Such is the life of a leader.

James himself looked better than he did during the landing at Peleliu. A few errant mortar shells landing in the sea didn't faze his impassive demeanor unlike the 'green' new guys. The rough sea smacked against the metal, letting out horrid whines and screeches, but this too had no effect on him.

Despite his detachment from their situation, silent tells showed his true emotions. His shoulders were tense, raised slightly and flexed. He fidgeted with a pack strap with his fingers and had his Thompson gripped tightly on its chestnut, smooth pistol grip. His eyes were far-off, the eyes of a man who had accepted whatever might happen to him.

"Load 'em up, gentlemen!" the order came from Mad Dog.

Each man gingerly picked out a magazine or a clip from their bandoliers, gracefully inserting them along their guides. A chorus of metal racking bashed into her ears as each man pulled the charging handles on their weapons.

Just then, a brave private stepped up on a little protrusion in the ship, peeking his head over the rim of the boat. This was enough to snap James out of whatever trance he was in. He reached out with his left hand, ready to pull the foolish Marine down and smoke him for his mistake. Just as he was about to grip his collar, the private shouted, "The landing is unopposed!"

That got the attention of every man, "Unopposed?" a machine gun crewman responded.

"Yeah, the 1st Marines are just strolling on. They ain't even gettin' shelled!" the private enthusiastically yelled over the surf and loud engine.

Now, other Marines were clambering up to get their own views, Luna following in their example. With the help of James giving her a boost, sure enough, she spied the shapes of Marines calmly walking onto the loose sand. Other larger landing crafts were depositing olive green Sherman tanks with no urgency whatsoever, leading the way through the forest.

A proverbial sigh of relief went through all the Marines onboard, knowing that death was thwarted another day. Tension spilled out of them in nervous laughter, sighs, and a gentle relaxation of their tense muscles. Luna overheard only snippets of lighthearted banter between two privates, something about this campaign being easier than they thought.

The craft lurched to a stop and the metal cranking of the door signaled their departure. It hit the sand with a muffled BAM.

"B company, let's move out! Out of the craft!" the Skipper commanded as the men spilled out of the boat speedily.

Each squad began to form up with their respective squad leaders and received their orders from their sergeants or corporals. In the confusion, Luna found that she had lost James amongst the crowds of men and equipment. After a bit of searching, she was able to spot the tall man listening to Mad Dog talk to a few officers and NCOs.

"Corporal Douglas, you've got the west sector of the forest as we push north. Intel doesn't expect much resistance from the Japs, but take a flame crew with you in case you run into some pillboxes. Lieutenant, you've got 1st and 5th squad. Your orders are simple. Engage the enemy and push forward. Hopefully, we'll be done by the end of the week and we can be off this place. Any questions?"

He was met with only silence from his men.

"Alright, let's get to it," the Captain grabbed his carbine and began to move out, each NCO and officer going off to their respective units.

She followed James closely as he found his way back to Howard, as she had come to expect.

"So, what's the dope?" Howard muttered as they adjusted their gear.

"We're pushing north, not much else to it," James shrugged, lifting his pack up on his shoulders more comfortably and adjusting his bandolier strap.

"What's the intel on that sector?" Howard asked, settling the buttstock of his rifle softly into the dirt.

"Don't know. But, it's the Japs, so I'm sure they're in there," James remarked. He shook his head in confusion as he gazed into the singed, bombarded forest, "Something's not right, Howard. I got a bad feeling about this whole thing."

"I think I know what you mean," the two began to move towards their Lieutenant who was about to brief his soldiers, "Why are the Japs just letting us waltz right on the beach? Specially when it's so close to the home islands."

"On the head there, Howard," James smirked, but it quickly went away, "I'm just saying. If they were comfortable enough to not even oppose our landing, I got this sinking pit in my stomach that whatever they have prepared for us is going to be the worst we've seen yet. I just can't shake it."

"I get ya, Jim. But, let's just focus on the now and we'll cross that bridge when we come to it," they reached the briefing circle, catching the tail end of the lieutenant's speech.

"Alright boys! Let's get out there and kick some Japanese ass!" the lieutenant finished with way too much enthusiasm. His tone, Luna remarked to herself, resembled more that of a hoofball coach trying to motivate their players than that of an officer briefing his soldiers of an attack. It was strange to her to see a man who walked with such unafraid swagger among the dreary, battle-hardened enlisted men. Talk about not reading the room.

"What do you think of the new lieutenant? Think his name is Cal," Howard muttered to James, moving himself into formation with the other Marines as they moved out, with James to his right.

"I'm not impressed. The guy has all the leadership skills of an inexperienced Scoutmaster. I'm not even sure he realizes he's in a war," James scoffed.

"Typical of those OCS cadets. Least they could have done was send us a prior enlisted Officer," Howard agreed, adjusting his rifle on his shoulder by the strap.

"Hey, here's hoping I'm wrong. All I'm saying is right now, he ain't coming close to being like Lumberjack," he shrugged.

"Did you find out what happened to Lumberjack? I was out on patrol by the Five Sisters when I heard he got hit," Howard asked.

"He got shrapnel to the stomach and broke a few ribs. They evacuated him after I brought him in. My guess? He probably got sent to Australia or Guadalcanal," James imparted. He made a deep grimace, "Shrapnel also got his balls. Guy was screaming at the top of his lungs clutching the family jewels."

"Owwww, oof. That is not a man I envy," Howard screwed his eyes shut and grimaced along with the corpsman.

"Yeah, I hope he can still have kids. Didn't look too good though. Maybe he made it back to the States," James offered, stepping over a large looking rock on the ground.

"Yeah, hopefully."

The column fell into a soft silence, the eeriness only broken by the thumps of boots on the ground, cracks of tree leaves, the sizzling embers of fire on the tree branches. The air reeked of smoke and napalm, the pungent odor penetrating into each man's nostrils. Even stranger, there was still no resistance from their enemy, not even a stray sniper or pillbox. There was absolutely nothing from them.

Luna's eyes soon fell upon her coltfriend who was marching along beside her. Her gaze followed his, finding that he was studying the new lieutenant intently, analyzing him with a scrutinizing look.

"If you looked at me as much as you looked at that man, I'd die a happy mare," she jested, nudging him in the side with her elbow.

Her jab broke him out of his thoughts, "Hmm?"

"You've been practically dressing down your commanding officer since we left the beach. What gives?" she asked.

"Oh, my apologies. I was just lost in thought," he shrugged.

"What were you thinking about?" she smiled, stepping over a large tree root.

"Our old lieutenant, 'Lumberjack'. The conversation I had with Howard just reminded me of him and I guess, I was wondering what ended up happening to him," he grunted, kicking a pebble into a tree, none of the Marines noticing it, "I wish I had tried to contact him after I got back to the States. He was a good man - and I'm sure he would have been a good friend outside of the military."

She nodded, her gaze shifting to his new lieutenant, Cal, who looked as if he was leading a troop of Mare Scouts on a camping trip rather than soldiers through a war zone, a big grin on his stocky face. He was a big man, striding confidently through the woods at his full height, while others kept their heads down and 'slouched' a little bit. She could make out Gunnery Sergeant Salt's exasperated face next to Cal, quiet annoyance plain to see, "It seems this one is not living up to his expectations," she joked with soft sarcasm.

"Aye, you're a perceptive lass," he inflected a horrible Scottish accent in a poor attempt at humor, though it still prompted a chuckle out of Luna, more out of its terribleness, "Yes, 2nd Lieutenant Calvin, or 'Cal' as we nicknamed him, was less than stellar when we first met him, as were most of the 'butterbars' we got shipped in as replacements. And like most OCS graduates, he was eager for guts and glory, and as I'm sure you've seen, didn't quite grasp the severity of his situation yet."

They got a little closer to the front, passing a few men in formation, and were able to pick up the conversation he was having with Salt, "Yes, those dirty Japs are done for. As soon as one of our guys gets hit, I'll grip my KABAR between my teeth and charge them with my .45. They won't know what hit 'em."

Salt, on his part, was excellent at concealing his frustration with his green lieutenant's cockiness, "Respectfully sir, it would be better if you stayed and commanded if we engage the enemy."

The veterans among the unit looked worriedly at one another, while the new men seemed completely unconcerned with their commanding officer's gung-ho attitude.

"Ah, you're right. Wouldn't want to leave you unprepared to do an officer's job!" Cal loudly pronounced while Salt, and many of the veteran NCOs, gritted his teeth.

"You know, I think you guys were just kidding us about the Japs," one replacement private to a veteran PFC. Luna's ears flicked backward to better eavesdrop on the conversation, "We've been on this island for hours now and there ain't no Nips in sight. Hell, boot camp was harder than this shit."

"Don't let the landing lull you into a false sense of well-being, boy. Them Japs are out there and when the shit hits the fan, this ain't gonna be easy no more. It's hell," a rugged, salty corporal answered for his PFC.

"If you say so, Corporal," the reply came, still sounding unconvinced.

The column came out of the forest to the sight of a well-kept, clean-looking Okinawan farm with open fields all around it. The house was painted a sandstone tan with straw, thatched roofing on top. The barn to its right was painted a similar color and showed no signs of tampering, activity, or sign of the enemy.

Immediately, the veterans of the unit crouched down a little bit, their heads on a swivel. The new men, noticing their change in behavior, were slower to mimic them, but soon followed in their example. Slowly, the Marines inched forwards toward the farmhouse, which in everyone's mind, was surely hiding a Jap sniper.

BANG!

A loud shot caused every man to dive for cover, each one hitting the deck. Frantic cries of "Where is he? Where is he?" came from Luna's left as the veteran riflemen hectically looked around for the perceived sniper.

Only one man was remaining standing, "Lieutenant! What are you doing? Get down!" the shout came from Salt.

Cal was completely unconcerned with the possible threat on their lives, lowering his rifle down from his shoulder and a boyish grin on his face. A thin, translucent waft of smoke came from the barrel of his rifle as he relaxed himself. Seeing that their CO was the one who fired, most of the Marines began to get up cautiously.

"What is it, sir? What did you see?" one private asked.

"I just wanted to see if I could hit that," he smiled back at the private, pointing out into the field.

The platoon followed his finger to find a Okinawan scarecrow standing in the field about 50 yards away, a puff of straw floating lazily in the air behind its head. A scowl fell on some veteran's faces behind the lieutenant while Gunnery Sergeant Salt struggled to maintain a neutral composure.

"Sir, we thought that a Jap shot at us. Respectfully, please refrain from firing unless you see a Jap," Salt said with extreme restraint. He turned to the Marines behind him, "Alright, Howard, Dandridge, take some men with you and clear the barn. You others, clear out that farmhouse. If we're clear, we'll take 20 before moving again. Fall out!"

The men swiftly followed the order, silently and cautiously approaching their objectives.

"I'll give him 5 days," James said of his CO to Howard.

"Three."

"You're on."

Howard gestured towards the barn with his head, James silently nodding in agreement.

"You, you, and you. You're with me and Dandridge," Howard picked out a few privates from amongst the group and crept towards the barn.

Thankfully and somewhat perplexingly in Luna's opinion, no shots were fired as they reached the barn door. The six men cautiously fanned out on the sides of the door with Howard and James ready to breach. Listening into the barn, Howard nodded again to James in a silent exchange, the two forming a plan for breaching instantly.

After a few seconds of waiting, Howard sprang up and whipped the door open, James scrambling in and sweeping the room. The other five quickly followed behind and swept above and in their corners.

"Clear!"

"Clear here!"

"Nothing here!"

Each man sounded the all-clear and they lowered their weapons, their muscles relaxing from the minor tension build up.

"The barn is clear Gunny!" Dandridge reported.

Each man began to explore through the barn, shifting around for any valuables or something else interesting. Two of the privates climbed up a ladder to the second floor and sat down, resting their weary muscles from the march.

Just then, a minor ruckus came from outside, behind the barn, which sounded like a shifting of mud and the stomp of something large. Immediately, Howard and James raised their weapons, rifle and Tommy at the ready. Creeping to the back doors, James spotted a small hole in a piece of dilapidated, semi-rotten wood, large enough to peek through. Tepidly, he peeked out the hole and spotted where the commotion was coming from.

"Come on, Lu. I want you to see this," James appeared at her side, his sudden appearance causing her to flinch.

"Goddess, for such a tall man, you sure are quiet on your hoov... feet," she shot him a disapproving look.

"Sorry. I'll wear a bell next time," he jested, gesturing to the now open barn doors, Howard and James already outside.

The two quickly caught up with the men, finding a most peculiar, yet familiar, creature. Coming up on James' side, she spotted an incredibly large, four-legged creature stuck in thick, heavy brown mud. Its snout was pointed, like hers, but only more pronounced. Its ears were larger than her own, but retained an extremely similar shape to her own. A faded deadgrass was its coat color, speckled with flakes or mud on its long, muscular back. Powerful nostrils blew out anxious, terrified breaths as the creature noticed the presence of the two men.

It began to panic, its legs frantically pulling at the mud, head whipping around, tail lashing, and eyes rolling back in its head.

"Easy! Easy there, boy!" Howard slung his rifle over his shoulder and threw his hands out to calm the beast.

Luna had an idea of what this creature was, but still couldn't put a name down to it. She had a sneaking suspicion that it was one of those 'coincidental similarities' James' and her own world shared.

"What is this thing?" she asked.

"That there," the man pointed at the hysterical beast, "Is a horse. And no, that's not with a 'wh' like you weird folks spell it, just an 'h'. That's just the name of the creature."

"Its face looks oddly similar to a pony's, just, longer I suppose," she reasoned.

"Well, in my world, a pony is just a smaller version of a horse, so I guess you're not far off," the beast let out a panicked whinny, making some of the men recoil back. But gradually, the equine was becoming calmer and calmer, back to a more docile state.

"And your people, they, 'ride' these things?" she cringed, angling her head down tepidly where the beast's penis would be.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, woman. Course we didn't do that. No, we would sit on its back and it would shuttle us around. Yuueck, hurts my mind just thinking about that," he grimaced a disgusted scowl, "You'll see what I mean."

She turned back to the group of men with a most peculiar predicament in their hands, "Damn, he's stuck in there good. How you think we're gonna get him out?" Howard inquired of the group.

"Get him out? He isn't our problem. It's the Okinawan's horse. They can get him when they come back," a city man grunted.

"He'll starve if we just leave him here," James shot back, slinging his Tommy over his shoulder and inspecting how deep the horse was.

"Hey, if you want to get him out, be my guest. Just don't rope me into it," the city private replied.

"Well shitface, if you're not gonna help, fine. You got any empty cartridge belts?" Dandridge gestured to the private, grabbing an empty bandolier off of him. Realizing the idea that Dandridge had, James and Howard gathered a few empty cartridge belts off themselves and another private.

Slowly and carefully, Howard slipped the thick belts underneath the horse, working his hands under its barrel through the viscous mud, until a strap was on either side. James and Dandridge did the same, working a total of four belts around the horse.

Gripping the ends of the belts, the three men readied themselves to lift, "Alright, on three. 1... 2... 3!" Dandridge gave the count.

The three men struggled to lift the heavy equine, their faces grimacing with exertion and their knuckles white from the force of their grips. They were able to budge the horse a few inches, causing it to work its front legs out. It frantically kicked up dirt as it tried to pull itself out, caking more mud onto its saturated fetlocks.

The city boys watched, offering useless advice in an half-baked attempt to be helpful. Their points were ignored, as the three adjusted their straps near the end of its barrel by the back legs and heaved once more.

Finally, the horse worked itself out of the muddy ditch, free at last. It shook itself, flecks of mud flying in all directions and painting the cheeks of the Marines with spots. Wiggling its ears and letting out a puff of air through its nose, it walked off, finding an adequate spot to graze and began to eat.

Satisfied with their work, the three sat against the barn, reveled in a job well done, and enjoyed their rest.

The order eventually came to move out, all the men around grumbling over their interruption of relaxation. The Marines grabbed their weapons, formed up near their inexperienced CO, and marched onward.

Howard and James brought up the rear this time, neither man saying much to each other, and continued their grueling march. Luna's ears, however, flicked behind her, picking up the soft thumps of hooves on packed dirt, similar to her own. The two men also picked up this noticeable discrepancy to the march cadence, looking behind them to find the deadgrass-colored horse following a few meters behind them.

"Huh, well I'll be. That little horse is following us," Howard muttered to James, their pace slowing a bit.

"Should we shoo him away?" James queried.

"I guess," Howard waved his hand at the creature, "Shoo! Shoo horse! Go on back home. It ain't safe,"

The horse, of course, didn't listen to Howard's commands. Because it doesn't know English, and it's a horse.

"I'm noticing it ain't leaving there, Howard," James chuckled at his friend's half-hearted attempts to dissuade the creature from following them, "Well, if he's gonna follow us, I'm sure he wouldn't mind carrying a few things for us."

And so, when they called ahead and informed their officers of the situation, the horse was incorporated into the march. The mortarmen, laden with heavy loads of ammunition and equipment, were noticeably thankful for the equine's presence, each man rubbing its snout gently and promising sugar for its troubles. It followed gently behind, barely even registering the weight on its back.

Seeing enough, James ended the memory and put them into the deep void of his mind once more.

"I missed that beast. He was a good horse, a dumb horse, but a good boy," he smiled retrospectively.

"Did he stay with you the whole time? It seems a little dangerous for that beast to be out in a warzone," Luna questioned.

"No, we had to part ways with him once we were ordered to the Southern section of the island, where the real fighting was. But, we had him all throughout our easy, pleasant stay in the North," he scratched at his beard, a hair falling off of it, "We eventually gave him a name, Mudpie, since we found him in the mud, but eventually, we just started calling him Dumbass," he laughed.

Luna gave him an incredulous look, folding her arms and raising her brow.

"What? He WAS a dumbass. Got himself stuck in so many things and nosing around in things he shouldn't have been nosing in," he chuckled in remembrance, "But then again, he was just a horse. Can't blame him for doing some stupid things here and there."

He sighed, "He loved attention, 'specially when he rubbed his snout. Very affectionate and happy to carry some weight for us if we needed the help."

"Guess it goes to show you how easy North Okinawa was for us when we had the luxury of a pack horse. It was so pleasant and comfortable that it lulled us into a false sense of well-being, even the veterans. We had fun camping out in the cool, warm spring weather of Okinawa and enjoying our leisurely duty. But soon, our pleasure cruise came to an end. The Army, and not to discredit the Army, was getting pummeled on the Shuri Line and we were ordered to the front to reinforce the line. And it was there where I witnessed some of the most horrible things the Japanese Army ever did.