The Siege of Jadotville Page #2

Boys, you're supposed

to rehydrate. It will be fine.

Lads.

Picture.

Cheese!

You're gorgeous.

Calling it a compound is a joke.

We've got exposure on three approaches.

Overlooked from the south.

And there's a road splitting it in two.

We're wide open.

Okay.

Do we have shovels?

We do.

Have the men up for drill at 0600.

Yes, sir.

Dr O'Brien, how was your flight?

Very pleasant, thank you, General.

We have a lot to talk about.

We do. May I introduce General Raja?

- Welcome to the Congo, sir.

- Good to meet you.

Tshombe has crossed the line.

We need to stop him.

We're beyond the point of no return.

You are therefore authorized to implement

Operation Morthor immediately.

I have decided

we should take aggressive action

to reclaim key buildings held by Tshombe.

There's a time for talking,

a time for being tough.

This is the latter.

Your soldiers have the distinction

of being the only troops

with any real military experience.

The others will be looking to them

to set an example.

Show them how decisive you can be.

This place is amazing.

This is some job.

Yahoo!

Wakey-wakey!

Rise and shine, boys! Whoo!

Up and at 'em! Come on!

Get off, Cooley, will ya?

Keep digging.

F***! F***! Jesus! Oh, Christ!

What? What?

It's a f***ing snake!

Snake!

These ones aren't poisonous.

Did you not read the info packs?

With all due respect, boss,

are you sure they're not poisonous?

- Get out.

- Look out!

Out, you f***ers!

St Patrick himself.

Back to it.

Weapons are state of the art.

For World War II, anyway.

These things... plastic.

Useless.

COMS says we have food provisions,

enough for two days.

The men have their own rations, but mostly

biscuits you wouldn't feed to your dog.

Time to hunt and gather.

Let's go.

Yes, sir.

How can I help you?

I'll take as much

as that truck outside can carry.

Yes, sir.

Where's the best bar in town?

At the end of the street.

I don't think you will find

any of the bars here to your liking.

Why is that?

I don't mean to be rude,

but you do know

that you're not welcome here, don't you?

I'll take one of these.

The people around here

are not particularly happy

with how things are working out.

They didn't like Lumumba taking over.

But he was elected by the people.

Who didn't put a lot of thought

into what would happen to the mines

when he took over.

Nationalizing the minerals,

throwing out the mining companies.

What did he expect to happen?

I don't suppose

he expected to be assassinated.

I love this country,

but you don't tell the companies

that have been making money here

for decades

that they're suddenly out of business.

I didn't tell them anything, madame,

but...

sorry that we're not welcome here.

Thank you for your time.

Let's get a drink.

Three beers.

Won't you have a real drink?

What would that be?

French cognac.

Perhaps you'll have one with me?

Why are you here, Commandant?

To protect the locals

from a man who stole power

from the legitimately elected

prime minister.

Why are you here?

To protect the interest of the mines.

Plus Paris is freezing this time of year.

To Paris.

To Paris.

These people you're here to protect...

are you sure they want you?

I have my doubts.

But I also have my orders.

You follow all orders?

I'm a soldier.

That's how it's done.

I looked up the Irish army

to see how many wars they have been in.

You know what I found?

None.

And as for you, Commandant...

you have never been in battle.

I'm not sure about that.

I've been married for ten years.

Do you have a plan?

Just to pray there's no need for us.

Because no plan

survives contact with the enemy.

That's a Rommel saying.

I never liked Rommel.

Not many Frenchmen like German tacticians.

It only took them two weeks

to take over your entire country.

You work your men too hard, I think.

All of this digging.

Nobody else felt the need to dig trenches.

Thank you, Commandant, for your visit.

Thank you for the drinks.

His mercs look good.

I'm not sure why he'd have such good mercs

here in the middle of nowhere.

Finish and get back to the compound.

Are you worried, sir?

I'm worried about a lot of things.

I need a house with a working phone.

There's a big house beyond the compound.

Things are hotting up in Africa.

Civil war is raging

in the new Republic of the Congo.

But United Nations peacekeeping troops

show they mean business.

Here they are

moving in on rebel-held

government buildings in Elisabethville...

capital of the province of Katanga.

The world waits

to see what General Tshombe will do next.

Madame.

Would it be possible to use your phone

to place a call to Ireland?

I'll pay, of course.

I'm afraid my phone

is not for military use.

It's a personal call.

I need to speak to my family.

Of course.

Everybody's been talking about you.

It's been on the news.

We're so proud of you.

I'm very happy to hear that.

How are you?

I'm well.

It's hard to know what's going on here.

There are a lot of unknowns.

Don't worry, love. You'll figure it out.

You always do.

You're right.

I must go.

I love you.

I love you, too.

Goodbye.

How is your family?

All fine.

I'm glad to hear that.

Do you have any?

I have two daughters.

But I'm a widow.

This place killed my husband.

Radiation.

The two bombs that America used

on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

came from the mines here in Jadotville.

Uranium.

The largest seam in the world.

That explains a lot.

Nice to meet you.

And you.

Take the jeep to Elisabethville

and tell McEntee in person

there's a strong force of mercs here.

Tell him to find out how many we're

dealing with and send reinforcements.

Be nice about it.

Sir. Reporting from A Company.

Commandant Quinlan.

Thank you, Sergeant. Take a seat.

Yes, sir.

Sergeant.

So your commandant's

getting nervous, is he?

Sir, he believes that, strategically,

Jadotville is very important

to General Tshombe,

and it's certainly more isolated

than any other UN compound.

Might it be fair to say

that Commandant Quinlan is overreacting?

Well, sir. The presence of mercenaries

would suggest that a plan is underway.

A small number of mercenaries

hired as security by the mines.

They would never dare attack

a United Nations company.

This will all be over

before your commandant gets a suntan.

I'll go and tell him that right now, sir.

Thank you, Sergeant.

As you were, Sergeant.

Well, look at all of you.

Oh-ho!

F***.

There's this girl at chapel.

Mary Brannigan.

I swear, she was built on springs.

You should see her at Communion.

Taking the Holy Ghost

between those sturdy lips.

Oh, Jesus, it's amazing!

Cooley, that's a sin.

It's all right,

we're going to Mass tomorrow.

Yeah, this is worse than

my mother making me go.

Reidy...

what's your mother like?

She's nice, yeah. Loves a good Mass.

I mean what does she look like?

Oh. Uh...

Oh, blonde hair, blue eyes.

Oh, no! F*** off, Cooley!

To the escalating civil war in the Congo.

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