The ambient light was visibly increased, albeit only slightly, and apparently one of the others had judged that the enemy was within fifty yards of us. As per my orders, whoever it was fired.

This time, the Chinese did not hesitate to fight back, retaliating with very little delay. They were uncomfortably close, and some soil just above my head exploded.. The air was thick with the cacophony of weapons fire. Then, for an instant, all was silent.

And then I heard a twing.

When an M1 Garand fires its last round, it ejects the clip. When it does so, there is an audible twing. By now the Chinese had figured this out, and they knew that the noise meant easy prey.

I peered out from the foxhole just enough to see that they were concentrating around Stimson and Rosenberg’s hole. They all prepared to get in a circle around the foxhole and fire. Time slowed.

Then there was a burst of fire from Stimson’s BAR, and the ring of Chinese dropped. I could hear him laughing.

“GRENADE!” somebody shouted. We ducked.