by Unknown
Richardson sat back and admired the young man. He had used his training and knowledge to put together a masterpiece for a project and was humble enough to let you know that it was just something he dreamed up. She smiled at the man. “Maybe that’s the way we should do things in the future. People get conservative when they think people might die getting the job done. They stop taking chances and as a result, we get the same old thing all the time. Mounting this objective will stretch us as well as the Russians, but with other nations involved, we can make it happen. I understand you thought I was the one to lead the southern incursion. Mind telling me why?” she asked. The smile on her face told Jeffers it was okay.
“Every army needs a Patton,” he said. “In Korea you and the First Marines swept through Korea like spreading butter. Admiral Hammond told me one night he could sit on his ship and see your lines change every day. He told me you were so flexible that it really didn’t matter what the bad guys did, you always got around them. Down south, we need someone who can get around those mountains and move through their oil fields. That’s also their breadbasket. I figure it will be like closing a set of pliers. I don’t know anyone else that we have right now who could do it. And I’m not doing this to suck up,” he emphasized.
Both Hustvedt and Richardson laughed. “Actually, she was the first person I thought about too,” said Hustvedt. “I guess you have to live up to our high expectations,” he said to Richardson.
“Oh you make a woman feel wanted,” she quipped. “But at least you got me out of a desk job and back on the playing field. I guess I really have Hammond to thank for that.”
“Yep. He added his recommendations early on. Nobody else was even considered. I thought Black would shed a tear when he heard it. Of course the President had the final say,” said Hustvedt.
Richardson grinned. “Nice to have friends in high places.”
Hustvedt turned back to Jeffers. “Davis told me about you and a guy named Chambers getting people together to play music. You play a banjo?”
Jeffers’ smile broadened. “Yes, sir, been playing since I was about five. My whole family gets together and plays during the year. Lieutenant Chambers plays the guitar. You know, he is the only guy I ever came up against that could pick it like a banjo. Some of the guys on the ship would get together with us and play. Chambers could tear that thing up. When I got aboard the America I was walking down a passageway when I heard a guitar playing a piece he always played. Turns out he was transferred aboard for his second division officer tour. Looks like we will be playing again pretty soon,” he said with some joy.
“I love bluegrass. Let me know and I’ll come up and see just how good you two are,” said Richardson. I may even bring out something I play,” she said.
Jeffers leaned forward. “Don’t tell me you play too. What instrument?”
Richardson smiled. “I used to play the meanest fiddle you ever heard. It’s been a while, but with a little practice I’ll give a hard lick to the old Orange Blossom Special.”
Near Leluchów, Poland
The small border crossing had been quiet since the borders had been closed. Barricades were up along the highway from Slovakia to Poland ever since the small country had been annexed by Russia. Several cars were parked across the roads and men could be seen in the lit crossing posts casually drinking coffee and smoking. Not far away just before the river was the only set or train tracks from Slovakia to Poland for 100 miles. A small barricade had been set up at an old short steel bridge over a creek. Several railroad ties had been placed between the steel sections of the bridge to derail anything that came along. On occasion, the border guards would patrol the tracks just to make sure everything was in place. In the dead of the winter, the guards almost never ventured out of the crossing post buildings.
Anton Bugayev and three other men made their way along a narrow tree lined road toward the crossing. It was nearly midnight and all the local villagers were staying warm in their beds. An earlier look had told Bugayev that at most there would only be four guards at night. The phone and electric lines had been buried long ago but Bugayev knew which junction boxes to hit in order to cut off the crossing from the outside world. Snow was falling and the four men made their way just behind the tree line so that even if someone came along the road, they could be behind cover. They didn’t have much time.
Upon reaching a spot just under the crossing station, the four men climbed a snow covered embankment until they were at some bushes against the crossing fence. Peering through the bushes, they could see the four guards in the station house. Two were seated in chairs while one perched against a desk and the other stood looking out of the windows toward the highway barriers. The road toward Slovakia was well lit, but there wasn’t as much light on the Polish side. The men were no more than ten feet away. Using silenced pistols, the men pointed them through the brush and took aim. The silenced shots pierced the thin windows and killed all four men in their place. Bugayev bolted over the fence and added another shot at close range to each of the guards before dashing to a small junction box outside the office. He pried off the cover and used his knife to sever the telephone lines inside.
Bounding back over the fence, Bugayev and his men ran toward the train tracks and the small bridge. By the time they reached the old bridge, the others were gasping for air. Bugayev looked at the makeshift crossing barricade. The wooden ties had been stretched between the bridge girders and simply left there. Getting his men together, they began grabbing one end and simply shoving the wooden ties off one side of the bridge. In the distance, Bugayev could hear the rumble of a train approaching. Urging his men forward, they shoved off the last tie and ran back to the other end of the bridge. They stood to the side a little down from the edge and watched as the now fast moving train sped past them in the dark. The lights of the crossing dimly showed the train as it sped past. Onboard were battle tanks covered with some sort of wooden roof. The train seemed to stretch for miles and it took several minutes before the end went past. Bugayev and his men began making their way back to the car they had parked about half a mile up the old road. About half way there they heard a second train speed by. The men reached their car and climbed inside as a third passed. In just a few minutes they were on the main highway headed north. As they drove along, the fourth train seemed to travel with them as the tracks led along the highway. Bugayev stepped on the gas. Despite the snow, he and his men had to reach the outskirts of Krakow to make sure everything was ready.
Berlin
The G650 landed at Tegel Airport and taxied to a small military terminal on the far side of the runways across from the main terminal. A car was waiting for them. Three very tired people entered the car and were driven to the Bundeswehr, the German defense headquarters. It was quite a ride through Berlin. Jeffers looked out of the windows in wonder at the sprawling city. He was particularly impressed at the mixture in architecture from old Germany to new modern glass structures along the way. They passed the Tiergarten, a massive park in the city, where people were walking back and forth almost as if nothing were happening in the world. Upon entering another district, the car turned left and followed a river until they came to a huge stone structure, several stories tall surrounded by a fence. The car pulled in through a gate where they showed their IDs and were checked on a list before the car deposited them at a set of doors. A young German officer met them.
“Welcome to Germany. I have been asked to escort you directly to the Supreme Commander’s office. If you will follow me please,” the young man said with a smile. He gave some orders in German to the driver. “He will be taking your bags to your quarters. If you need anything, please get it.”
Jeffers already had his briefcase and laptop with him. With a wave, the driver drove off. The three followed the officer into the building.
Inside the bustle was almost like it was at the Pentagon. People were going everywhere. Entering an elevator, they were whisked up three levels and entered a paneled area.
Two doors down, they entered a set of heavy wooden doors.
“Claire! It is good to see you again,” said General Dortmund standing in the room. He shook her hand and slapped her arm.
“The same here. I was hoping I would see you again, Helmut. Let me introduce you to Admiral Chris Hustvedt and Lieutenant Commander Rod Jeffers,” Richardson said.
Dortmund’s eyes opened wider. “Well! I certainly wanted to meet this young man,” he exclaimed, shaking Jeffers’ hand. “This plan of yours has even my people in awe. It is good to meet you.”
“I’m just happy to be helpful, General,” said Jeffers.
“Some of our Kriegsmarine officers have been anxious to meet with you as well, Admiral. We are very glad you have come. I regret that Admiral Hammond isn’t here to greet you, but we have a small crisis going on and he asked me to bring you to the war room. I hope you don’t mind,” said Dortmund.
“Lead the way,” said Richardson.
The four made their way to the war room while Dortmund briefed them. “It seems we had an incursion onto Poland last night that was somewhat unexpected. You are about to see where all the decisions are made, but I must caution you. What you are about to see is highly classified. You all have the clearance to see this, but you cannot discuss what you see with anyone. It is some technology which even I do not believe is real. It must be witchcraft,” he said with a wink.
They were escorted into the darkened room where people were issuing orders and trying to counter the threat. Rod Jeffers could not believe his eyes. The three dimensional images filled the middle of the room. He could see everything, from aircraft making their attack runs to tanks on the ground. Hammond was standing in the far corner surrounded by military men and women. They almost appeared to be talking at once. Seeing the three, Hammond grinned and made his way to them. He gave Richardson a hug. “I am so glad you are here. I need some sane people around me,” he joked as he shook Hustvedt’s hand. Then he turned to Jeffers. “Rod. It sure is good to see you again,’ he said, shaking his hand and placing the other on his shoulder.
“Same here, Admiral,” Jeffers said smiling. “Looks like you have a problem.”
Hammond gave a sigh, “Yes, take a look at this,” he said as he led them to where he had been standing. He gave a quick brief of what had happened so far. “They got to the outskirts of Krakow before the train was finally stopped. They disguised it to look like a simple freight train and we bought it. Then when they couldn’t get farther, they simply pulled up to a siding and the tanks and equipment rolled off the damn thing. The first thing they did was scamper into these towns and are now in between the buildings. I’m having a hard time getting at them with air power and most of my armor is over here on the front. We have some light units moving in, but they can’t do very much. My other troops and equipment are down here in Vienna. It’s going to take some time getting them back up here,” he said.
Jeffers was looking at what looked like a mass of tanks and vehicles just outside Vienna near the Slovakian border. “What are your advisors saying?” he asked.
“They want to put them on trains and get them to Krakow. It’s going to take a couple of days,” he said.
An intense look came over Jeffers’ face. Richardson noticed it. “Tell us what you’re thinking, Rod,” she said quietly.
“Slovakia was attacked the same time as Poland,” he said.
“That’s right,” said Hammond. “Now the whole country is in the hands of the Russians.”
“Yes, but I’m not seeing any major forces in this area. I see some up here near the Czech border, but this looks a little barren,” Jeffers said.
Dortmund looked along the western border. “You know, he’s right. There is this one brigade down here near Samorin and a few here at the crossing near Bratislava, but the rest are up here mostly near Trencin near the border.”
“If you remember, the Slovaks pulled their troops and remaining equipment into the Czech Republic. It looks like a lot of stuff is up here around Straznice and these other two towns. Do we know how much the Czechs and the Slovakians have?” Jeffers asked.
“Not much. Between them they might come up with a short division. Right now they are trying to be ready if the Russians decide to move on into the Czech Republic,” said Dortmund, warming up to the discussion.
“Then why move the Italians and Spanish at all? Why not coordinate an attack from Vienna and from the Czech Republic at the same time? If they both drive in together, they could then move back up these highways here and retake Slovakia. That would cut off these new troops and make a lot of people very happy. With the supplies cut off, these people near Krakow can’t go far. Then we set up our defenses along the eastern Slovakian border and hold on. Once the main operation gets going we might be able to get through and cut off all this,” Jeffers said, motioning toward the southern countries.
“Bloody hell,” said Sir Reginald Kensington, Commander of British Forces. “We’ve been looking at this for two hours and couldn’t see this thing staring us in the face. Let’s think about this. If we did this, it would be like driving a wedge across to Ukraine. These southern countries like Hungary, Romania and Serbia might give up on their Russian allies and come back to our side. At least that would be one of my worries if I were Russian. It might even mean they have to pull back some troops to reinforce their hold down there. It would go right along with our planning. Not bad, young fellow,” he said.
“How long would it take to get the Spanish and Italians online? If they knew the Czechs and Slovaks would be coming in from up north to join up with them, they might be ready in short order,” said Hammond.
“I’ll contact them and get it set up. You may need to call down to Prague and get things started,” said Dortmund.
“I’ll place the call right now. Get me the facts and figures in two hours. If we can do this, I want to kick off in forty eight hours. Get your staffs to kick this in high gear,” ordered Hammond.
The men started rushing from the room as Richardson looked at Jeffers. “Rod, you are frightening. I thought your plans were amazing, but what I just witnessed is quite unbelievable. There were times when we were hung up for days on a problem. You just found a very viable solution in a matter of minutes.” She turned to Hustvedt, “Chris, would you mind if I had him for a while?” she asked with a grin.
“Not on your life. He’s staying with his own kind. I want him with me when we make those landings,” Hustvedt said slapping Jeffers on the back.
Hammond sat back and looked at Jeffers. Even he had not realized the mind that his friend possessed. “Good job, Rod. I’m proud of you. Now let’s get to the business at hand. This afternoon we brief the NATO commanders. This will include most heads of government and military leaders. Admiral McKennon and General Bryant will be going over the Pacific area and you will go over the Black Sea incursion. My staff will go over the European offensive. I will wrap it all up. I trust you have your presentation ready,” he said.
“All set,” said Hustvedt. “We went over it several times on the way over.”
“Good. I hope you realize you will be playing to only the highest hitters in Europe. Even the King of Great Britain will be there. It won’t do to have you freeze up on me,” said Hammond.
“You know better,” said Richardson. “I just hope he can keep up.”
“Oh, he’ll keep up. You’ll find he will ask the best questions of them all. Now let’s go over it right quick so that we can add or take some things out before the show,” said Hammond getting down to business. Jeffers pulled out the laptop. He had never seen a king before.
Tarnow, Poland
The trains had been forced to stop at a major rail yard in Tarnow. The tracks had been switched for expected incoming trains and they led directly to a large terminal in the heart of the city. There, a large concrete loading dock stood empty. It was the perfect place. The trains pulled up and the tanks simply turned on the cars and drove onto the dock. They were followed
by numerous trucks pulling artillery and carloads of troops disgorging from their transportation directly onto the trucks. Once empty, the train pulled away and a second pulled up, disgorging its military cargo in record time. Three trains later and the Russian mechanized divisions began moving down the four lane highway right beside the terminal toward Krakow. Local civilians could only stare as the Russians moved through their streets unopposed. One man tried to block the way with his truck loaded with groceries. The tanks didn’t even slow down. By the end of the day the truck was no more than a crumpled sheet of steel lining the road. In the end, only a small garrison of men remained. They went to the City Hall and took the mayor as prisoner. There had been no troops in the city to protect it.
Munich, Germany
“Pack it up! Training’s over. We have to get all this stuff to Krakow as fast as we can,” ordered Master Sergeant Ricks. “Get everything in the crates and make sure it’s got plenty of padding.”
