1920: America's Great War

by Robert Conroy

  As his vision faded, he saw the bridge rise up and disappear in clouds of debris.

  * * *

  Fifty-seven Gotha V bombers were lined up in neat rows. There had originally been sixty. Two had been shot down and one was thought to have crashed due to engine failure or pilot error, but there were no survivors so no one would ever be certain.

  It was the middle of a clear and starry night and only a handful of guards were about. The airfield had the look of a temporary facility. As soon as the stubborn city of San Luis Obispo fell, the German lines would move forward and the bombers would be stationed ever closer to San Francisco. It would not be an easy move. The rugged Albatros fighters could take off and land from any field that was fairly smooth, but the great bombers were more fragile and needed an airfield that had been specially prepared for them.

  In the meantime, they were basically grounded. Two additional attacks on the city had exhausted their supply of bombs and much of their fuel. No matter. More supplies were en route. Then they could pound the city into surrender.

  At least that was what Captain Helmut Krause hoped. He was in charge of maintenance and security for the planes and it galled him that his beautiful and magnificent bombers were on the ground. However, it had given him the time to have his crew perform additional maintenance on the behemoths. And they were huge. Their length was nearly forty-one feet, their wingspan almost seventy-eight. Fully loaded, they weighed in at more than four tons. Sometimes he held his breath as they tried to leave the ground and, so far, they all had succeeded in defying gravity. And the next time there would be no mechanical failures. All fifty-seven would attack or he would have somebody’s head.

  Even well maintained, the Gothas had their problems. They were underpowered by Mercedes engines that were too small and, as a result, the bombers could only do a rather ordinary ninety miles an hour. Still, they were fearsome things once aloft with their deadly cargoes. It never ceased to amaze him that man had first begun to fly less than twenty years earlier when the Wright brothers had taken the pathetically small steps at Kitty Hawk that signified mankind’s first controlled flight. He thought it was a shame that the first flier hadn’t been a German. Perhaps the Wrights were of German descent, he thought and chuckled.

  Krause was alone except for the handful of guards on the perimeter of the base. The pilots and the mechanics, their day’s work done, were a couple of miles down the road, drinking and whoring. Helmut Krause had a wife and three children at home. A drink he didn’t mind, or even several, but whoring? Nein. So many of the whores were Mexicans, uglier than sin and a lot of them had the clap to boot. Get the bombers bombing and end the war so he could go home was his plan. He was a reservist who’d been called up for the Mexican venture. Only later had it turned into an invasion of the United States.

  He caught motion to his left. A column of horsemen was coming down the dirt road towards the gate. Now what? Krause was delighted to see one of his four young and inexperienced guards actually get up and challenge the newcomers. There was hope for the boy yet. Whatever was said must have been satisfactory. The gate was unlocked and the riders entered. Krause noted that the two leaders were Germans and the others Mexicans. One of the leaders was a major, the other a sergeant. He drew himself to attention and saluted the superior officer. He was mildly puzzled by the fact that the riders were fanning out.

  “How may I help you, Major?”

  Luke returned the salute and responded in German. “It has been decided to give you more security. There are rumors that the Yanks might try a raid. Where are the rest of your guards? Please call them in so we can coordinate our efforts.”

  Krause was a good German and automatically obeyed the man with the higher rank. As his few men gathered, he tried to place the major’s accent. He had obviously not gone to a good school, and Krause wondered how he’d gotten a commission. Within minutes his men stood behind him.

  The major smiled. “Take their weapons.”

  A score of rifles were pointed at the astonished Germans. Within seconds they were all disarmed and hands bound behind their backs.

  “You seem like a decent sort, Captain, so if you don’t make trouble, nothing will happen to you or your men. Otherwise, we will be forced to slice your throats.” He gestured to one of the Mexicans, who pulled a large knife and grinned wickedly. Krause suddenly knew overwhelming fear and tried not to wet himself. He failed.

  He watched sadly as the dismounted riders raced from plane to plane, setting charges. His great beautiful beasts were going to die and there was nothing he could do about it. Worse, he would bear the brunt of the blame and rightly so.

  “Major, leave me a gun so I can shoot myself.” Krause spoke in English to what were obviously American raiders.

  “That would be too nice,” the American sergeant said with a wide and engaging smile. “You and your planes have killed more than a thousand innocent civilians, women and children, and wounded many more. You should all be hanged as the barbarians you are.”

  Krause’s head slumped in despair. Eisenhower, the “sergeant,” looked on him with contempt. Luke directed the preparations for the planes’ demolition, which included removal of the several 7.92mm machine guns they carried. Ike commanded the column with Luke as his second. Luke, however, wore the rank of a German major because he spoke German fluently. Ike’s German was miserable at best, which both men considered ironic considering his ancestry. Montoya led the Mexicans.

  When they were done, the Americans pulled back. Ike grinned infectiously. “Care to do the honors, Luke?”

  “Your show, Major.”

  Fuses were lit and fires snaked across the field. One by one, the bombers exploded. Their fuel tanks were almost empty, but what was in them and the accumulated vapors ensured the fiery destruction of each plane. The plywood-framed behemoths quickly became torches.

  “Like the Fourth of July, only better,” Joe Flower laughed.

  The nearly empty fuel storage tanks followed. The sky was lit by scores of fires, large and small, and man-made thunder rolled about them.

  On the other side of the base, facing the road leading to town, Tomas Montoya and his men awaited. They had four machine guns propped up and ready, along with their own rifles.

  They didn’t have long to wait. Scores of men from the beer halls and whorehouses down the road came running to see what was happening to their precious planes.

  At fifty yards, the machine guns and rifles poured bullets into them. The Germans fell like scythed wheat. In a moment, the massacre was over. The road was filled with the dead, the dying, and the badly wounded. Not only were the Germans without their bombers, but many of their pilots and skilled mechanics had just been slaughtered.

  Payback for the people of San Francisco, Luke thought as he observed from a distance.

  Montoya’s men mounted their horses, took the machine guns and what ammo they could carry, and joined up with Eisenhower and Martel. “A very good night’s work,” said an elated Eisenhower. It was his first time in combat. He would have something to tell Mamie. Perhaps news of this victory would take her mind off their son’s illness, at least for a few moments.

  It had been fairly easy to get through the German lines. As before, the Germans couldn’t be everywhere and gaps weren’t that difficult to find. Going back, however, would be more difficult. The Germans would be thoroughly pissed as word of the destruction of their bomber force spread. The soaring flames and explosions had doubtless alerted every German within twenty miles. The fact that he and Luke had worn German uniforms would entitle them to a firing squad if they were caught.

  “Captain Martel.”

  “Major?”

  “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

  * * *

  The battleship Arizona led. Behind her came the Pennsylvania with the smaller Nevada bringing up the rear. Two destroyers patrolled in advance of the battleships. They did not want to blunder into the German fleet in the dark and the rain. That w
as not the plan.

  Normally the battleship division was commanded by Rear Admiral Edward Eberle, but Admiral Sims had decided to be in on the adventure. He’d told Eberle to ignore him, which was, of course, impossible. Eberle was half amused and half frustrated, but the battleship division was his and he would lead as best he could, by God.

  Pride of the squadron was the Arizona, BB 39. She had a crew of nearly eleven hundred, displaced more than thirty-one thousand tons, and she carried a dozen fourteen-inch guns in four turrets.

  Next came the Pennsylvania, BB 38. She had a slightly smaller crew but displaced the same tonnage as the Arizona. She too carried twelve fourteen-inch guns.

  The Nevada, was the smaller and older of the three, displacing just under twenty-two thousand tons and carrying only ten fourteen-inch guns.

  All three had a top speed of twenty-one knots.

  Lieutenant Junior Grade Josh Cornell wished he was elsewhere, in particular he wished he was in the slender and pale arms of the beautiful Elise Thompson. Along with missing Elise he was shocked to find himself in yet another combat situation with a real possibility of getting hurt once more. The three battleships were on a mission to probe the German fleet’s readiness and to act as a screen for additional endeavors.

  As occurred so often, the weather was a cross between mist and rain. Visibility was poor and he was quietly freezing on the open portion of the Arizona’s bridge. The power of the Pacific Ocean was manifesting itself in the form of giant rollers that tossed the mighty warships like toys. Josh wondered just how the Germans on blockade duty were faring.

  For Josh, being on the battleship had enabled him to renew acquaintance with Annapolis classmates. To his surprise they were impressed, even jealous, by the fact that he’d not only seen the elephant twice but had also been wounded. That he was Sims’ aide hadn’t hurt either, nor had the fact that he hadn’t gotten seasick. He’d noticed some of his old friends looking more than a little green around the gills as the battleship rocked and pitched.

  Sharp cracking noises from ahead jolted him back to reality. The lead American destroyers were shooting at something. Roaring thunder counterpointed the destroyers. The German battleships were firing back. But were the Germans moving, and in which direction? Were they distracted enough? Josh prudently stuffed cotton and wax in his ears and opened his mouth to minimize the effect of the Arizona’s guns which were about to respond.

  Eberle gave the order and the three battleships opened fire in the general direction of the German ships. The roar and concussion of the great guns nearly knocked Josh to the deck. He managed to steady himself although it did cause his shoulder to hurt.

  He looked over at Sims, who was grinning like a little kid. Sims was a gunnery expert, but also a man who’d never been in combat. During the Spanish-American War, when so many officers had made their careers, he’d been the naval attaché in Paris. His specialty back then was espionage.

  The Germans returned fire, but they too were largely blind. Still, a couple of shells landed close enough for him to see immense geysers roaring skyward.

  Eberle turned to Sims. “Enough?”

  Sims nodded, although with reluctance. The three American ships were not going to challenge five Germans. Their job was to taunt them and distract them. The American ships turned and steamed back up Puget Sound. German shells chased them and the Germans doubtless thought they’d won a minor, albeit largely moral, victory. When all was said and done, no ships had been hit and no one had been hurt on either side. Josh was singularly delighted that he hadn’t been scratched either.

  Sims was pleased. Initial reports said that his distraction had worked. The three American light cruisers and five destroyers had made it out into the open sea. They would stop off at Catalina with additional fuel and torpedoes for Nimitz’s submarines and then set out as commerce raiders.

  Josh caught the admiral laughing at him. “I told Elise I’d bring you back in one piece and so I will. It was a good night’s work, Lieutenant. The next time, though, we shall stay and sink them.”

  CHAPTER 12

  “Be seated,” said President Lansing, and the other attendees in the Oval Office sat. “May I assume, gentlemen, that the news is a mixed bag?”

  “It usually is,” said General March. “However, that is much better than all the news being dolefully bad.”

  “Then begin with the bad. What in God’s name happened in the mountains? Have our efforts been undone by one man?”

  March sighed, “Pretty much. One German officer, a Captain Wulfram, managed to drop the bridge over the Columbia River into said river. It will take at least two months of concerted effort to repair it once the weather eases. Sadly, we had pretty much cleared the snow out of the passes and were going to commence sending trains through again. Hundreds of men on both sides of the mountains had been shoveling night and day.”

  “The man must have been exceptionally brave, or foolish,” the president said. “What is his status?”

  “He is very seriously wounded,” March continued. “He is on his way to a hospital in Chicago. Frostbite has claimed both of his feet and he may lose a leg to wounds and infection. And this poses a question, sir. Since he was not in uniform, shall we hang him?”

  Lansing paused. He had not been prepared for the question. Nor was he quite prepared to hang someone, in particular someone who was so bravely and obstinately doing his duty. “No, at least not yet. We will hold him as a possible future bargaining chip. Although,” he smiled, “if we should decide to hang him we will do so from a railroad trestle.”

  The others laughed grimly. Nothing like a little macabre humor to brighten the day, Lansing thought.

  General March interrupted. “The weapons and ammo are beginning to come off the assembly lines in quantity from Detroit and elsewhere. The original plan was to ship them by rail through the northern pass to Washington State and then down to California. With this out of the question for the foreseeable future, can we plan on using Canadian rail lines as a substitute?”

  An interesting question, thought Lansing. He turned to his Secretary of State, “Any thoughts, Mr. Hughes?”

  “We have spoken with both the governor general and the prime minister of Canada and they are reluctant to have large quantities of supplies shipped directly through Canada. They are afraid of retaliation from the German fleet if they are found out. However, they will allow humanitarian aid, such as food, and will assist us in evacuating civilians and wounded.”

  “Better than nothing,” Lansing muttered.

  Hughes continued. “I have directed our railroads to try to rent line space from the Canadians in the form of a detour north from the broken line, into Canada, and then south. If it is done as a private venture, without the direct collaboration of the Canadian government, we might get away with it until the bridge is rebuilt.”

  “Will that happen?” Lansing asked.

  “Not until the Canucks and the Brits are certain we can win and they’re on the right side, and right now they can’t be confident of that.”

  Railroads were something always taken for granted. One could take a train from virtually anywhere in the United States to any other place in the large and sprawling nation. And, since the highways and roads were generally quite miserable, going by train was virtually the only viable way to travel any sort of distance. The disruption of the lines between California and the rest of the world had shocked everyone. Someday there would have to be paved highways connecting at least the major cities of the United States. Right now, most roads outside major cities were little more than the same dirt trails pioneers had traveled on in the previous century.

  “And I’m sure you’re aware of the success we had in destroying their bomber fleet,” March said proudly. “I am recommending Major Eisenhower and Captain Martel each for a medal. It was exceedingly well done.”

  Lansing beamed. “It indeed was.” The name Martel sounded familiar. Then he recalled the young officer who’d been
with him that fateful night when he became president.

  “And what of the Navy’s foray?” he asked.

  “Successful,” said Navy Secretary Daniels. “Shots were exchanged, and the German fleet got stirred up and aggravated. They chased our ships back to the sound while the cruiser squadron slipped out unnoticed. After resupplying our subs at Catalina, the cruisers will sail forth as independent commerce raiders, while the destroyers will work in conjunction with the submarines.”

  “Excellent,” said Lansing, “but too slow. We need something to inspire the American people. The delivery of supplies, however critical, is too prosaic. We need something dramatic.”

  General March smiled. “Will you take Texas?”

  * * *

  “Sarge, what the hell did that sign say?”

  Tim Randall yawned. He’d been sleeping soundly, something that hadn’t been happening all that much lately. The rocking of the train, however, was calming and helped him forget his personal agonies.

  “What the hell do you think it said?” he answered grumpily. He had to teach these children who thought they were soldiers that you just don’t go around waking up sleeping sergeants. “You can read, can’t you?”

  “Actually, he can’t read all that well, Sarge,” said one of the other men. “He’s from Poland. But the sign did say we’d just entered Texas, and that’s where we’ll be fighting, right?”

  “It is,” Tim said, “but don’t get your knickers twisted. For those of you who’ve never seen a map, Texas is larger than most countries.”

  “Jeez, Sarge, does that mean it’s larger than Camden?”

  Tim stifled a grin. Every group had at least one smartass, and it looked like he had several. “Your sergeant requires sleep, so you do whatever you want. Just stay out of trouble, Private Asshole.”

  Tim still couldn’t believe he was on a train, one of scores of them, rolling south through Texas. He had a squad of men and he was part of the Twelfth Infantry Division, which consisted of two Marine Corps regiments and two infantry regiments that had been cobbled together out of units from Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The regiments were all understrength as a result of the flu. A normal American division consisted of twenty thousand men. He’d heard that the Twelfth had fewer than fifteen thousand, all lightly trained and still lacking heavy weapons.