Sims nodded. “I’ve kept this one close to my chest. If it went the wrong way, news of it might have destroyed what morale our people and armies still possess.” He took a deep breath. “You may or may not know that Ms. Chen met with Chancellor Kleist in Reykjavik, Iceland several days ago.”
The three men gazed at Anna, and she had to work to keep from squirming.
“I learned through trustworthy channels that the Chancellor had an offer to make,” Sims told them. “I decided to gamble and find out what it was. It turns out the Chancellor is a clever negotiator, quite a sly fox. He offered us neutrality—”
“I would take it, Mr. President,” Director Harold said.
Sims nodded. “Of course. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. The offer comes with an expensive price.”
“I’m thinking it must be a very stiff cost,” Alan said. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t need our opinions.”
The President scanned the three men. After a pregnant wait, he said, “Chancellor Kleist wants Quebec. He wants to add the French-speaking part of Canada to the German Dominion just as he’s added much of North Africa to it.”
General Alan frowned. “We don’t own Quebec. As you said, it is part of Canada. It’s not ours to give.”
“Yes, that makes the problem much worse,” Sims agreed.
“Suppose we thought the idea a good one,” Director Harold said. “How would you explain the situation to the Canadians so they would agree?”
“There are several problems with the offer,” Sims said, sidestepping the question. “It’s why I need expert advice. Explaining the situation to the Canadians would be hard, and they might not agree to it right away.”
“Are you suggesting we make the Canadians agree?” General Alan asked.
“I’m not sanguine concerning such a situation,” Sims said. “We’re talking about dismembering their country. Without Quebec, Canada would essentially lose its Eastern seaboard. The four small Maritime Provinces would be cut off from the rest of the country. Their only eastern port directly linked to the rest of Canada then would be Churchill in Hudson Bay, which is icebound during much of the year. No, even if they readily agreed, they wouldn’t be happy with the situation or pleased with us.
“One of the bitterest aspects of this war is that we lack allies,” Sims said. “The Canadians are it—well, and the Mexico Home Army. The Canadian military proved invaluable in Alaska and we’re looking forward to their entry again in the very near future. Forcing them to give the Germans Quebec is a lousy way to pay back our only friends in the world. One, I don’t want to lose our Canadian allies and two, I don’t want the world to see that we shaft our friends, which accepting this offer will make us do.”
“Maybe we’re looking at this from the wrong perspective,” Director Harold said. “Quebec wants to separate. We know the separatist movement ties down Canadian formations. If the Canadians gave up Quebec, it would free them from occupation duty and maybe free them from the headache of living together with the French-Canadians. It might be that the Canadian Government could use this as a way to escape a hopeless situation. Their countrymen wouldn’t look at them as traitors or weaklings, but as having no choice in the matter.”
“Possibly,” Alan said. “One problem automatically comes to mind. The Canadians would likely feel a need to militarize the border with Quebec.” With the loud crack of his neck stretching, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs turned to Sims. “Kleist wants to send GD troops into Quebec, right?”
“Unfortunately true,” Sims said.
“That’s bad,” General Alan said, while shaking his head. “To have the GD poised in Cuba and Quebec—”
“The Chancellor said he would move the forces in Cuba to Quebec,” Sims said.
“Meaning he’d have them on the continent,” General Alan said. “I don’t like it at all. It smacks to me of a trick, a way to get his military onto the continent without having to pay the cruel costs of an amphibious invasion.”
“You could be right,” Sims said. “Yet even in that case, it would give us time to reorder our armies on the Great Plains. Suppose, however, it causes the Germans to drop out of the Chinese alliance. That would be a tremendous boost to us. It would be worth the loss of the Canadians, as painful as that would be to us.”
“That’s a big if, Mr. President,” General Alan said.
Sims breathed deeply. “Gentlemen, we badly need reinforcements in the Great Plains. We need them there before the rains stop and the winter cold freezes the ground hard enough for full mobility. If Kleist is genuine in his offer and the Canadians agree to it, we could strip the Eastern coast defenses. Those troops would head north onto the line in the Great Plains. That would add hundreds of thousands of highly trained soldiers to our beleaguered armies. It could save the situation for us.”
“Or we could be selling the future to hold the present,” General Alan said. “As you suggest, sir, it could solve some of our problems in the Great Plains. The question is—could we move the East Coast soldiers into position fast enough? It would take time to move that many men. It would also take the Germans time to move from Cuba to Quebec.”
General Alan took off his glasses, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He put the glasses back on. “Mr. President, what if this is an elaborate ploy? Maybe the Chinese and Germans have concocted the scheme. We’re fighting hard, inflicting massive casualties onto our enemies. If we entrain the East Coast troops west to the plains and the Germans land on the East Coast afterward, it would be a disaster. Our entire defense might collapse. By accepting Kleist’s offer, we could be risking our freedom as Americans and lose in one fell swoop.”
“The risks are great,” Director Harold said, “but so are the possible rewards. This offer could split the enemy alliance. If the Germans sell out the Chinese, why would Chairman Hong trust Kleist again? Isn’t the reward worth the gamble?”
“No,” General Alan said. “The risks are too great and too varied. We could lose the Canadians by trying to force them to give up Quebec. They’re poised to move now, dashing down to the front lines with us. What happens if they refuse to move to our aid and the Germans gain Quebec? In six months, we’re staring at the German military sitting to the north of us. Then we’re stretched beyond the breaking point, no matter how well we hold on in the Great Plains.”
“You can see my dilemma,” Sims said. “I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t. Frankly, the offer bewilders me with its possibilities. On the surface, it seems like a brilliant solution for us. It gives us desperately needed troops, but at a severe cost.”
“I would keep talking with the Chancellor,” General Alan said. “This could be an opening offer. We should counter-offer something, with the idea of splitting the enemy alliance. Surely, we could work out something.”
The President turned to Anna. “What do you think about that?”
She watched David. He didn’t seem upset or worried. He had something up his sleeve. She faced the others.
“Chancellor Kleist was very insistent,” she said. “He wants Quebec and it’s the only thing he wants from us. He made that very clear. However, he is worried the Chinese will defeat us and grab most of the prime agricultural land. That makes him hesitant to help them win big now. He doesn’t want them to get the lion’s share of the spoils. I did get the feeling that he would help them if we didn’t agree to his offer. He would attempt to get as much as he could of the United Sates, maybe by bargaining with the Chinese for certain guarantees if he invaded Florida or Georgia.”
The weight of her words struck the others, and the talking ceased for a moment.
Director Harold ran a hand over his bald dome. “I still think by agreeing to the deal we weaken China by shearing away one of her allies. To me, that’s’ the best part of the offer.”
“We should consider this,” General Alan said. “If the Germans attack on the East Coast as they’ve been poised to for many months, it would actually help our overall situation. The tro
ops in Cuba threaten our entire Eastern and Gulf coastlines, tying down needed formations. Once they attacked, we could concentrate there, possibly defeating them. At that point, we could send those troops to the Midwest.”
Director Harold bristled. “I don’t think you’re seeing this in the correct light. Firstly—”
“Gentlemen, please,” the President said. “I want everyone’s opinion. General McGraw, we haven’t heard from you yet. What do you think of all this?”
David and McGraw have spoken together before this, Anna thought. The way David is asking, I think this is a setup.
Big General McGraw picked up his suitcase, placing it on his knees. Without a word, he snapped it open and withdrew a large folded piece of paper. First setting aside the briefcase, he spread out the sheet, revealing a map of the United States. He put the map on the coffee table between them.
“Mr. President,” McGraw said in his deep voice, “I think this might be exactly what we need.” A massive index finger pointed at the red of enemy occupation. The area stretched from the Rocky Mountains to the Mississippi River, starting at Mexico and heading up past Kansas City.
McGraw stared up at the others. He had magnetic eyes, and they seemed filled with something dangerously powerful.
He’s either a lunatic or a zealous champion, Anna thought. The man both repelled and excited her. He certainly wasn’t normal, not in any sense.
“General Alan, you said it best: we’re selling the future to hold the present,” McGraw said. “That means we have to do more than hold the present. We have to take this opportunity and defeat the Chinese, and by defeat, I meant send them stumbling back into Mexico a bloody and defeated wreck of an army.”
“It can’t be done,” Alan said. “We’re barely holding our own. No.” The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs glanced around. “Let’s admit it to ourselves. We’re losing this war. We’re on the brink of total defeat. This offer gives us a chance of holding on a little longer. I can agree to that. It gives us the hope of that but at great risk, possibly our destruction as a free nation. Even if brought onto the plains before the freeze hits, the extra East Coast troops won’t give us the needed margins to beginning driving the Chinese and Brazilians back. It would probably give us enough men to hold, though. That means we’ve lost Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, Oklahoma—”
McGraw raised one of his big fists, holding it before his mouth and coughing loudly, causing Alan to pause.
“Mr. President,” McGraw said, “I respect General Alan. But in this instance, he’s wrong. As things stand now, he is of course correct. But the truth is we’re going about this campaign the wrong way. I tell you, sir, with this influx of East Coast troops, I could trap the Chinese and hand them a decisive defeat.”
“You’re spouting madness,” Alan said. “You’ve been on the front too long and it has broken your mind.”
Bent as he was over the map, McGraw stared up at Alan. “You said it yourself, General. We’re losing this war. I agree with that.”
“Then how are you going to defeat the enemy?” Alan asked in a scathing tone. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs faced Sims. “Mr. President, the Chinese have surrounded General McGraw twice. People think he’s a hero because he managed to extract his trapped troops each time. I’d like to ask why he let them be surrounded in the first place. That isn’t gifted generalship.” The Chairman faced McGraw. “Fighting out of a trap is hardly driving the enemy back into Mexico. Now you’re talking about going over onto the offensive?”
“Yes,” McGraw said.
“Bah!” General Alan said. He turned to the President. “He’s a wild man, sir. I recommend that you—”
“Hold it, General Alan,” Sims said in a soft voice. The President glanced at McGraw, and he seemed to measure the huge man.
This is pure theater, Anna realized. David and General McGraw have set this up.
“I see you brought your map with you,” Sims said.
“Yes, Mr. President,” McGraw said.
“Go on then,” Sims said. “Tell us what you’re thinking. I haven’t had anyone tell me we can defeat the Chinese for several months now. Why do you all of a sudden think it can be done?”
General Tom McGraw began outlining his grand plan. He spoke about the Russians luring Napoleon deep into their country, about burning Moscow and sniping at French stragglers with partisans and Cossacks. He said now was the time to bring about a Battle of Borodino, using the Militia and extra troops on strongly built defenses. At the same time, with this influx of soldiers, it was time to create an offensive army. It was time to trap and annihilate Chinese formations and show them the U.S. still had plenty of fight left.
“Sir,” McGraw said, toward the end of this talk. “A critical aspect of my plan is surprise. The Chinese still have numbers and they have a better air force. We have to surprise and trick them, just as a smaller judo fighter tricks and trips his bigger opponent.”
“What if we lose the Canadian Army?” Sims asked. “What if the Canadian Government deserts us and we’re out of our last ally?”
“No,” McGraw said. “We can’t afford that, sir. “To pull this off, we need the Canadians and we need those East Coast soldiers. We can’t just rely on the Militiamen to hold. General Alan is right about the Chinese and South Americans having mass; almost too much mass for us. We’re going to need everything. If you would allow me sir to add a point concerning political maneuvering?”
“Yes?” Sims asked.
“I would explain to the Canadians the dire situation concerning our country. If we fall, they will fall. I would point out that we both need time and we both need to face our enemies one at a time. Give the Germans Quebec for now so we can face the Chinese and South Americans. Once we defeat the enemy coalition, then and only then, would we turn against the Germans and drive them out of Quebec. Then the Canadians have their lost province back.”
“We practice deceit, General?” Sims asked.
“The old saying holds true, sir. All is fair in love and war. We’re fighting for our existence. You don’t worry what you have to do to defeat a tiger in your living room. You do whatever it takes, even if it means feeding it a poisoned steak. That’s how I feel about these three power blocs ganging up on my beloved country. Screw them each and to the wall, sir.”
A wild light had appeared in the President’s eyes, and there was a grim smile in place.
“And if this grand scheme fails?” General Alan asked. “If we try to bite off more than we can chew and if we lose our carefully built Tank Army Group?”
“Sir,” McGraw said, “we’re losing this war. We’re selling the future to defeat the enemy hard enough so we can turn around later and beat the Germans, if that’s what we have to do. Sometimes, the smaller risk is taking the bigger risk when you still have the numbers to change the outcome. If we wait too long, we won’t have those numbers.”
“So you would take the German offer?” Sims asked. “Even knowing it could be a trick?”
McGraw grew thoughtful. “Send observers to Cuba and to the GD military. If the Chancellor refuses to let us observe his army moving out of Cuba, refuse his offer. Then we’ll know he’s a liar. But I think Ms. Chen has it right. Kleist is clever and he doesn’t like the idea of the Chinese grabbing all our choice land. I can see that. The thing is, Mr. President, I doubt Kleist thinks we can send the Chinese running. Nobody does, not even our own generals.”
“If the truth be told, General,” President Sims said, “I don’t think we can send the Chinese running.”
“Maybe running is the wrong word,” McGraw said. “We’ll trap their best troops and starve them of food and munitions. They’ll try to fight their way free. There’s no doubt of that. But we’ll be waiting in powerful defensive positions, stretched across their escape routes. That’s one of the beauties of the plan, sir. Strategically, we move aggressively, tactically, we’ll fight defensively. Remember, Mr. President, defense is the stronger form of warfare.”
> “Are you still against it, Alan?” the President asked.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs stared at the map like a zombie. “I don’t know, sir. In theory, it sounds brilliant. In actuality and in play, too many things could go wrong.”
“Harold?” Sims asked.
“We’re hoping for a miracle, sir,” Director Harold said. “Is McGraw a General Lee? I have no idea. He’s a fighting general. That’s for sure. I would risk it. We have to do something different and this plan sounds like the best thing going.”
“Anna?” Sims said.
It surprised her he asked. She thought for a moment.
“I’ve heard you speak about force multipliers before,” she said. “Maybe this force multiplies the Chancellor’s offer. He thinks we’ll use the freed troops to hold off the Chinese until the German Dominion is in a position to make a better land grab later. Instead, we hand the Chinese and Brazilians a stunning loss, strengthening our position. Undoubtedly, this is a massive risk. General McGraw said it will be a race against time. Mr. President, I would prefer a chance to win than to simply wait and slowly die.”
President Sims stood up and marched to the window overlooking the Rose Garden. He put his hands behind his back and began shaking his head. “I feel cold inside,” Sims said. “This decision—it gnaws at me. At first, the possibilities tremendously interest me. Then the dangers Alan speaks about makes me tremble. I’m not sure what to do.”
The President turned to regard the others. His eyes kept moving as he gazed at each of them in turn. “Gentlemen, Ms. Chen, I appreciate your advice. I’m going to sleep on this. I want all of you to sleep on this, too. Then… tomorrow… we will decide what we’re going to do.”
-5-
Reports
BEIJING, PRC
Guardian Inspector Shun Li stood at attention before Xiao Yang of the Ruling Committee.
The Police Minister was lean and wore a black uniform. He had extra-thick lenses in his glasses and had strangely protruding eyes. Those orbs measured her as he sat behind his desk. He didn’t smile or blink, but watched, perhaps weighing her worth and trustworthiness, with her life in the balance.
Invasion: Colorado ia-3 Page 14
