"Robert A. Heinlein - Starship troopers" - читать интересную книгу автора (Heinlein Robert A)

looked us over and shook his head sadly. „What a gang of apes!“ he
growled. „Maybe if you’d all buy it this drop, they could start over and build
the kind of outfit the Lieutenant expected you to be. But probably not -- with
the sort of recruits we get these days.“ He suddenly straightened up,
shouted, „I just want to remind you apes that each and every one of you has
cost the gov’ment, counting weapons, armor, ammo, instrumentation, and
training, everything, including the way you overeat -- has cost, on the
hoof, better’n half a million. Add in the thirty cents you are actually worth
and that runs to quite a sum.“ He glared at us. „So bring it back! We can
spare you, but we can’t spare that fancy suit you’re wearing. I don’t want
any heroes in this outfit; the Lieutenant wouldn’t like it. You got a job to do,
you go down, you do it, you keep your ears open for recall, you show up for
retrieval on the bounce and by the numbers. Get me?“
He glared again. „You’re supposed to know the plan. But some of you ain’t
got any minds to hypnotize so I’ll sketch it out. You’ll be dropped in two
skirmish lines, calculated two-thousand-yard intervals. Get your bearing on
me as soon as you hit, get your bearing and distance on your squad mates,
both sides, while you take cover. You’ve wasted ten seconds already, so you
smash-and-destroy whatever’s at hand until the flankers hit dirt.“ (He was
talking about me—as assistant section leader I was going to be left
flanker, with nobody at my elbow. I began to tremble.)
„Once they hit -- straighten out those lines! -- equalize those intervals!
Drop what you’re doing and do it! Twelve seconds. Then advance by
leapfrog, odd and even, assistant section leaders minding the count and
guiding the envelopment.“ He looked at me. „If you’ve done this properly—
which I doubt—the flanks will make contact as recall sounds . . . at which
time, home you go. Any questions?“
There weren’t any; there never were. He went on, „One more word—This is
just a raid, not a battle. It’s a demonstration of firepower and
frightfulness. Our mission is to let the enemy know that we could have
destroyed their city -- but didn’t—but that they aren’t safe even though we
refrain from total bombing. You’ll take no prisoners. You’ll kill only when you
can’t help it. But the entire area we hit is to be smashed. I don’t want to see
any of you loafers back aboard here with unexpended bombs. Get me?“ He
glanced at the time. „Rasczak’s Roughnecks have got a reputation to
uphold. The Lieutenant told me before he bought it to tell you that he will
always have his eye on you every minute . . . and that he expects your
names to shine!“
Jelly glanced over at Sergeant Migliaccio, first section leader. „Five minutes
for the Padre,“ he stated. Some of the boys dropped out of ranks, went
over and knelt in front of Migliaccio, and not necessarily those of his creed,
either -- Moslems, Christians, Gnostics, Jews, whoever wanted a word with
him before a drop, he was there. I’ve heard tell that there used to be military
outfits whose chaplains did not fight alongside the others, but I’ve never
been able to see how that could work. I mean, how can a chaplain bless
anything he’s not willing to do himself? In any case, in the Mobile Infantry,
everybody drops and everybody fights chaplain and cook and the Old Man’s
writer. Once we went down the tube there wouldn’t be a Roughneck left
aboard—except Jenkins, of course, and that not his fault.
I didn’t go over. I was always afraid somebody would see me shake if I