The Iowa Sisters #2 The Red North

Chapter 7

INCHEON SOUTH KOREA MAY 1951 "NEW JERSEY"

Arriving in South Korea, I went to Wonsan where Missouri was conducting shore bombardment duties. "Glad you could make it!" She called as I approached. "Yeah, so am I. Missouri, you're to head back to the states for more training runs. I'll take over from here." I ordered.

"Yep, thanks sis." She said and nuzzling me briefly, headed back to Incheon. Taking over her spot as the flagship of the task force, I worked closely with South Dakota and North Carolina on shore bombardment duties.

"Let 'em have it New Jersey!" Valley Forge called. "They won't know what hit them!" I replied and fired away with my big guns. I watched as my designated target went up in flames.

"Hey Jersey, wanna play a game of battleship?" North Carolina asked. "Sure, you first." I said. "No, you." She replied. I rolled my eyes. "Fine." I replied.

I closed my eyes and imagined a grid in front of me. "E9." I said and fired. "Hit!" North Carolina called. I opened my eyes and looked. Sure enough, the target, a little foxhole, had gone up in flames. "That'll get 'em scurrying." She said.

"Now let's get these moles out of their little holes and catch 'em like the rodents they are." I hissed. "With pleasure." North Carolina replied and closing her eyes, she said "A5" and fired. "Miss." I reported. She opened her eyes to look. "You were several sectors off the mark." I explained.

She nodded. "South Dakota, your turn." She said. The big battleship nodded. "H8." She said. "Hit!" North Carolina and I said at the same time. "Nice shot!" I praised her. "Thanks." She said.

We continued like this for some time. It wasn't long before Wisconsin joined us. "Need some help?" She asked. "Absolutely." Valley Forge replied.

Wisconsin nodded and joined in the firing beside me. "Good to see you here sis." I said. She laughed. "What, you missed my big guns?" She asked. "Yes, I have. You can't expect me to do this on my own do you?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No, I suppose not." She agreed. I frowned, getting a closer look at her than I had in years. She was large, and I don't mean that in a good way. She was fat. Her head drooped and her tropical blue eyes were tired and dull, even her words seemed slurred.

"Sis, are you alright?" I asked. "Now what kind of question is that?" She snapped. "Of course I'm alright, if I wasn't I wouldn't be here." She replied. I shrugged, slightly hurt by her harshness.

Before I could say more, the Koreans decided to fire back. "Whoa!" Wisconsin yowled at the incoming shells. "Watch out, watch out!" I called. The task force opened up with defense weapons. It worked and the incoming weapons exploded over us. "That was a close one." I said, relieved.

"Yeah, too close." Wisconsin muttered. Then I noticed that she had several scrapes along her side. Two gunmen had been injured when she took a hit and were now being rushed to the hospital.

Her eyes blazed with fury, her previous tiredness gone. "They wanna play, I'll play." She hissed and opened fire. A few quick salvos took the offending dugout off the map.

"Temper, temper." I teased. She growled and took a swing at me. Laughing, I ducked. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" She asked. "If you're thinking about causing a big explosion on shore then do it!" I replied. "With pleasure, Showboat, Dakota help us out here would ya?" She said.

"Oh yeah!" North Carolina replied and opened fire. The three of us joined her. We watched with a mixture of fascination and satisfaction as the whole beachhead went up in flames and showers of dirt. "Dang, I wonder if they put bombs there." I muttered.