by King, Ryan
*******
Nathan ordered the vehicles to stop and the soldiers unloaded well before the dam. He could hear the explosions and see the smoke so he knew they were late, but maybe not too late. Time was key, but it wouldn’t do to bumble in and get themselves killed or captured. He had the units form up on line facing north and set out at a cautious pace while several small patrols ran ahead to gather information.
It didn’t take long for one of the patrols to return. He reported that the defenders at the dam had been completed overwhelmed and there were no sign of them. The WTR position ahead contained several hundred troops and a half dozen mortar tubes. The scout was emphatic that security in their direction was non-existent. The enemy, for whatever reason, was gathered silently near the shore staring at something the scout couldn’t see. There was also no sign of boats. All fighting had ceased.
That doesn't make any sense, Nathan thought. He called Captain Carter and his three remaining platoon leaders to him. Without hesitating, Nathan took control of all the troops at his disposal. He tried not to think about the fact that David was over there somewhere, perhaps bleeding and hurt, maybe dead already.
He directed two platoons to advance parallel to each other until they spotted enemy. They were to take up positions while the headquarters platoon remained behind to cover their rear and serve as a reserve if needed. Nathan would personally initiate the attack and ordered no one to let their soldiers get out of hand and start firing before his signal.
Nathan directed Harold to stay back while he and Captain Carter went forward to oversee the positioning of the troops. He found a small hill where he could get a good view of the situation. What he saw amazed him. He suddenly understood why the enemy was standing silent on the shore.
The first thing Nathan noticed was the fact that both lakes appeared to be draining away. The water was running north, fast as rapids, carrying branches, logs, trees and other debris in its wake. He saw the open lock, into which all the water was rushing in a wild and chaotic display. The lock doors were only partially opened, maybe about twenty feet, but it was enough to cause the pent up water in the lakes to rush wildly through the hole. The current had been strong enough to pull in all of the enemy transports and most of the smaller craft. These ships were piled up in the opening, crashing and crushing each other under the immense pressure. Portions of the ships were torn apart, thrown through the opening, and carried downriver while other boats were pushed further and further under the water down to the bed of the lake. The sight was unbelievable. Both Nathan and Captain Carter stared silently for at least a minute before they regained their senses.
Nathan realized they had the perfect element of surprise now and did not want to waste it. Although they were heavily outnumbered and overmatched in weapons, Nathan thought they just might be able to pull this off.
He passed the order to the platoon leaders to have their machine gunners take out the mortars first. They couldn’t afford to let those be turned against them. When Nathan judged the time was right, he gave the signal, and fire erupted nearly simultaneously along the entire line.
The shock and surprise was complete. Men were mowed down in bloody clumps. There was no cover on the bare beaches and the men trying to escape into the water were quickly sucked away with the boats. Others tried to hide behind their comrades, dead or alive.
The slaughter was complete, and Nathan did not see a single WTR soldier return fire among the hundreds on the beach. They simply died where they stood. Nathan was shocked by the speed of the slaughter. These were recently their fellow Americans. Many were relatives or friends and they were past resistance.
He began running up and down the line ordering men to cease fire. In addition, to wanting to spare as many lives as possible, he wanted prisoners to question, and at this rate there wouldn’t be a soul left alive on that deadly patch of ground.
He and Captain Carter finally succeeded in getting the firing stopped, and each platoon sent out several squads to round up and secure the survivors while the other squads provided cover. Thankfully, there were more enemy left alive than Nathan initially thought, but there were also scores of gruesomely wounded men for whom they could do nothing. All the survivors appeared to be in some sort of shock or tears. Some refused to be separated from their dead friends and had to be pried away by force. Many of the JP soldiers looked stunned.
Nathan found the sight was making him physically nauseous, and he had to turn away. He had seen many battlefields, and his share of death, but it never failed to sicken him.
Nathan looked out over what had once been beautiful Kentucky Lake. All he saw was a muddy bare ditch nearly a quarter of a mile across. The fading sun glinted on the shiny surface. Hundreds of fish flapped about in the mud, totally confused as to what had happened to their world.
Something made Nathan look over at the dam, its concrete surface and edges torn and wrecked. He saw a lone figure there who seemed to be looking directly at him. The distance was far too great to recognize him, but Nathan somehow knew it was David. The figure raised its hand to him and Nathan did the same in return. The figure then turned away and walked out of sight.
Nathan strode through the woods back towards the rear position. He smiled to himself in relief over David and took a moment to pray for Joshua, who was also somewhere out there. Nathan had to stop and get control of himself, thinking for a minute that he was going to break down in tears. He finally got control saying, “He’s alright too.” He started walking again, but took only a few steps before he had to bend down and spit the awful taste out of his throat.
He straightened and whipped his mouth on his sleeve. Harold was running towards him through the woods, his face pale and ghastly. He stopped in front of Nathan, bending over to catch his breath.
“No need to look so bad,” said Nathan, “it worked out, we’re okay.”
Harold shook his head, his expression growing worse, “Word just arrived. President Phillips has been assassinated.”
Part III
A Time for War
Chapter 1 – Continuing On
It was several days since the Tennessee invasion force pushed north despite Joshua’s team’s best efforts to delay them. They had tried to stay with them as long as possible, taking out as many soldiers as they could, but even running along the ridgeline they couldn't keep up with the boats on the river.
The team faced a decision, should they continue on with the reconnaissance mission, or go back to the JP? Joshua gathered everyone together and sought counsel, the decision was pretty evenly split with logical reasons on each side.
"We should stay behind enemy lines and continue to gather information," said Henry his remaining team chief. "It will be more difficult for other patrols to get out now."
"Why not get a boat and go after them? We can snipe at their rear some more," said Aaron one of his two snipers.
Joshua shook his head, "It doesn't serve much purpose at this point other than to kill a few more soldiers. We want to stop or delay the invasion. Shooting at their rear will only delay a few boats and maybe even speed them up."
Kyle, their big medic, and the oldest member of the team at twenty cleared his throat, "Our mission is to gather and report intelligence. If we have no way to report information, we can't do much to help in this fight."
"We have good info," answered Henry, "troops strengths, equipment, capabilities-"
"Yes, but no way to tell our leadership," Kyle looked at Joshua, "to tell Colonel Taylor."
Everyone else looked at Joshua. They expected him to make a decision now he realized. "It doesn’t make any sense to continue to collect information when we have no way to report it, but Henry is right about the fact that other recon elements may have trouble getting out now." Joshua thought for a moment visualizing a map of the lakes region, "We'll head back north to report what we've learned, but go through WTR territory and gather as much intelligence as possible on the way."
They all nodded u
nderstanding and gathered up their gear again.
The team found boats and crossed the Cumberland River, turning north to travel between the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. Their course would bring them to the southern edge of the Land Between the Lakes Park. Because the park wasn't well settled, Sampson's forces were expected to attack via this same route.
Joshua and his team proceeded cautiously, not wanting to come upon any enemy or civilians who might compromise their operation. Joshua began to worry when they saw no soldiers. Either the enemy was very well hidden or were already invading northward at that moment. Joshua wanted to query a civilian, but he couldn’t risk one of the locals getting suspicious and reporting them, so he played it safe and avoided contact just as Sergeant Major Carter had taught them.
Joshua made a conscious decision to stay off of the major highways so that their chances of being seen would be less, but he remained near enough to spot an enemy force. They only saw lone vehicles occasionally on the single major highway running from Tennessee north into LBL. It was nothing like what they expected so close to the border on the eve of an invasion.
The fifth day after crossing the Cumberland River they finally reached the border and couldn't fathom what they saw.
"Are we too late?" asked Kyle.
"No, I don't think so," answered Henry looking through binoculars. "The JP border is still intact and I can see our troops over there looking a little nervous."
"Let's move in for a closer look," said Joshua.
They found what appeared to be a large invasion force on the Tennessee side of the border. There were nearly a hundred parked vehicles and probably that same amount of large tents. Countless lights hung from the trees connected to generators. They heard the busy sounds of a large camp, drilling and shouted commands.
"Something is not right with this," said Joshua.
After a few minutes Aaron smiled, "The camp is nearly deserted. I see about a dozen soldiers, but no more. See those boom-box radios?"
They saw numerous stereos spread around the camp with extension cords running to the generators. These camp sounds were coming from the radios.
"The whole thing is a sham!" exclaimed Henry a little too loudly.
"Shish!" hissed Joshua. "You know what this means, right?"
Kyle nodded, "It means this is a ruse to convince our forces to the north that they face an imminent invasion. In reality, they face only a hollow shell."
"Why go through all this trouble?" asked Aaron. "Their invasion is on the lake, maybe both lakes."
Joshua thought and then smiled, "Because they want to keep our forces here facing south instead of moving north to help defend against the invasion. But, they've also left the back door open and they know it."
They looked at him not understanding and Joshua had to stop himself from chuckling.
"They've gambled on this invasion," he explained. "There is no one here to protect the WTR's eastern flank, our forces could push it back like a pillow."
"We have to tell Colonel Taylor," said Henry.
"Let's just walk up to the border," said Aaron, "those few WTR boys are spread so thin they likely wouldn't even see us, much less get in our way."
Joshua thought for a second and then shook his head. "We can't risk them knowing that we know. If that happens they might pull other troops from the west to reinforce here and we would lose our opportunity."
"Opportunity for what?" asked Aaron.
"To win the war," answered Joshua.
*******
Joshua led the team across the water by cover of night. They placed their boots and clothes in their rucksacks, inflating the waterproof bags inside into makeshift one person rafts just as Sergeant Major Carter had taught them. Joshua led everyone down to Kentucky Lake on the Tennessee side of the border.
After their weapons and ammunition were strapped safely on top of their floating rucksacks, Joshua whispered, "Wade out carefully. No noise. The last thing we need is to take fire midstream from enemy or friendly."
They swam directly out into the lake in a file for perhaps a hundred yards and then turned north. It was slow and clumsy going with one arm dragging the raft for the next half hour. Joshua noticed that the lake seemed much shallower than normal with a stronger current to the north. They were all winded by the time Joshua swung them toward shore.
His hand signal stopped them. Aware of their danger, they searched the dark wood line. No signs of life were detectable. They climbed out of the water and redressed before heading in toward the Trace. Joshua thought it would be the safest way to approach the tense JP soldiers at night.
Finding a path in the under growth where briars tugged at their clothing with every step was difficult. Finally, they came across an old cleared firebreak and turned west, making much better time. They jogged and walked about an hour, hit the Trace and turned southward on the road till they saw lights and heard voice.
Joshua stopped them in their tracks. He was wrong earlier. This was the most dangerous part of their journey. He could very easily get killed by friendly troops after surviving weeks in the heart of enemy territory.
Joshua left his men in the tree line giving them his weapons much as his father had so often before. He approached as near to the edge of the friendly perimeter as he dared. Then standing in the center of the road, he took the flashlight off his belt, raised his arms, and shined the light downward so that it illuminated him from the head down.
“Hello, friends!” yelled Joshua. The sound of his voice even spooked him, coming out much louder than he intended and cutting through the night.
He heard men scrambling, equipment dropping, and then cursing before a bright light was shone on him. “Who goes there!” yelled an obviously frightened voice.
This isn’t good, thought Joshua. His father had taught him that frightened people were the most dangerous and unpredictable.
“Take it easy there,” he said in what he hoped was a soothing tone. “I’m Lieutenant Joshua Taylor. Colonel Nathan Taylor is my father. I’ve just returned from a patrol and need to speak to your commander.”
“A patrol?” asked a voice, “from where?”
“I’m really not at liberty to discuss that right now,” said Joshua apologetically. “But I’ll tell everything to your commander if you would just take me to him.”
“Why are you coming from this direction if you were on patrol?” asked the voice again.
Joshua tensed. The man seemed to be getting more edgy instead of less. He was afraid if he told him the truth, it might occur to him that the enemy could do what they had done just as easily. He didn’t want that thought to occur, and he had never been good at lying. “Again, I’m sorry, but that is a discussion that I need to have with your commander.”
There was silence for a time and then whispering while the light stayed in his face preventing him from seeing anything.
“Maybe we should just shoot you to be safe,” said the voice with calculated bravado.
“That would be safe if I were lying about who I am, but I’m not,” said Joshua. “You shoot me and I guarantee my father will have you killed…or worse. He’s very protective.”
“I’ve heard that,” said another voice.
“Shut up!” said the first voice again. More silence. Evidently he was thinking…slowly. Finally he made up his mind. “Stay there and don’t move! I’m going to get the commander. One wrong move and you’re a dead man!”
Joshua could tell the man still stood there after saying this, expecting an answer of some sort, but when he finally figured he wasn’t going to get one, he ran off.
All was quiet for a few minutes before Joshua heard the second voice say, “Lieutenant Taylor?”
“Yes?” said Joshua.
“We’re real sorry about all this, sir. Everyone’s pretty tense after the attacks to the north and with what happened to President Phillips. Hope you don’t hold it against us,” said the man apologetically.
Joshua frowned.
He knew about the attack north, but what had happened to Reggie Phillips? Probably best not to get into it now. “I certainly don’t, you’re just doing your job, but do you mind if I lower my arms? They’re pretty tired.”
“No problem, sir,” answered the man. “Just please raise them back up again when you hear Jimmy come back. He’s keyed up and we don’t want him to get any more riled than he already is.”
“We certainly don't,” said Joshua as he lowered his arms. He stood there for perhaps ten minutes before he heard men approaching and raised his arms up again. The light was back in his eyes and before he knew it a man actually walked right up to him.
“You can put your arms down, lieutenant,” said Captain Green in a low voice. “I apologize for the inconvenience. These are my newer troops and they get a little spooked. I have my active guys on the border.”
“I understand, sir,” said Joshua. “They were only doing their job, and doing it quite well I might add.” Joshua said this part loudly for the benefit of the soldiers nearby. He saw Captain Green smile knowingly. “Sir, I need to talk to you and my father about what I saw out there. Do you have any way to contact him?”
“As a matter of fact I do,” said Green. “And I would be interested in whatever you have seen. Your father put out the word to be on the lookout for you. He’s been mighty worried and will be glad to hear you’re okay.”
Joshua smiled and started to ask about bringing his men in but the Captain grabbed his arm and drew him close. “I also wanted to say that was a damn fine job holding up those Tennessee men while sending your guys to spread the word. Probably saved a lot of lives and maybe even kept us from losing everything. Good work, lieutenant.”
Joshua thanked him and asked to bring in his men. He suddenly noticed that he was dead exhausted with relief. It was good to be back.
Chapter 2 – The Reckoning
Walter Beale’s physical pain was immense, but nothing compared to the agony of disappointment. After waking up, the brutal thugs explained in detail what happened between punches to the face, stomach, and groin. Instead of shooting President Phillips, he shot his wife Janice who snuck up behind him hitting him with a cast iron skillet, crushing his face. He heard his shot shattered her left femur and they had to amputate her leg above the knee. That helped take some of the edge off his disappointment.
