“The Marshal has no idea what we are fighting there, but I did give him a copy of the recommendations following the attack and I hope that works to sooth his anger. Your Captain Georgiy made some very important and accurate statements in that report.”
“That he did. Moscow must stop sending us complete units made up of new Privates right out of school or off the farm. I am afraid the violence here shocks the hell out of them and if we can get a mix of new and experienced people, we will do much better. The fight has changed, especially since the Chinese are in the game.”
“Have any of their troops been used yet, other than those flying aircraft?”
“Negative as far as we know. I would not be surprised to see a Chinese tank in the field these days, manned by partisans. The resistance is suddenly better armed, but I hear their grenades have faulty delays and can explode early or late, or not at all.”
“Well, old friend, that is the second reason for my call. Satellite images show hundreds of Chinese Type 59-I tanks being shipped and we both know where they are headed. I suggest, very strongly, that you start issuing anti-tank weapons to your squads effective today. The image I saw was an old one from about six months back, but our intelligence thinks the resistance are now ready to use them.”
“Sir, they cannot seriously use tanks until they get more air support, and each tank would need to have enough partisans around to defend it. Where would they refuel them or do maintenance on the vehicles? However, I will follow your advice about the anti-tank weapons, because it would be like them to send a few out just to raise hell. I can tell you our anti-aircraft efforts are moving along smoothly with guns and missiles being installed daily.”
“Other than Captain Georgiy's loss of his company things in Moscow are quiet, and while the war is more or less a stalemate, no bad news is out either. I want the dates and times for the gas delivery moved up by a month. This is being done because of the capture of Colonel Denisovich and the fact that every POW talks eventually. A man can only take so much isolation and torture, Elin.”
“We will be ready, sir.”
“Goodbye, and if you need me, you know how to reach me. I think the Marshal has his eyes on you for a star. God knows I have tried to help you get promoted as much as I can. I will know in about a week when the promotions come out. Enjoy your day, Elin, because I have a staff meeting to attend.”
The phone line went dead.
“Me, a General?” he said aloud, chuckled, and then thought, I never thought I would make Colonel when I entered the Army, but this will please Tyoma a great deal. I think if I make General, she will be a very proud wife.
Pushing the intercom button on the phone, he said, “Glasha, I want all company commanders at a meeting at 1300 today, and I want the names of all who fail to attend. Tell all of them it is mandatory, unless they are in a hospital bed or in the field, for the actual commanders to be here. Tell them I want to see no representatives at this meeting, but the actual commanders. And, when you finish contacting them, I, uh, need you to come in and take some dictation.”
Glasha smiled, because dictation was the code word they used when the Colonel was interested in sex. She smiled, unknowingly, and then said, “Oh, yes, sir. I hope we have a long dictation session this morning. Some days my dictation is better than others.”
“Your dictation is always excellent. Now, see to arranging the meeting and then come into my office.”
Captain Ilik Georgiy was assigned a new unit, and the Russians began to blend the seasoned troops in with the new recruits as a result of him losing his company. While he still had nightmares of the slaughtering of his troops, they were less frequent than the first week. All his squad leaders and the Lieutenant were combat veterans with about half of them having served two or more tours in America. He turned the training of his company over to the Lieutenant and experienced line Sergeants.
Each morning and night he received a briefing on the progress of the unit, and they were putting in twelve hour days. The troops were looking better and seemed more confident, but Georgiy knew the ultimate test was combat. In three more weeks he'd lead them into the field and see what they were made of. Right now he was talking with the First Sergeant.
“Our numbers for sick call are the lowest for the battalion. We are averaging a soldier every 3 days, where some units have twice that many every single day. I think the training is being taken seriously by everyone. I have spotted no problems of any serious nature, and they all seem to be fast learners. I think in six months this will be one of the best conventional units in the Army.”
“In three weeks we will see how good they are. Now, I was warned at a staff meeting last night that the partisans may start using tanks, Type 59-I. How this will be done by the partisans I have no idea, but the Chinese are suspected of giving them a large number of the big beasts. I want us armed with four 9M133 Kornet missiles, one for each squad, and for two men to be trained to be our primary team, but make sure others are trained on the missile too. The more that know how to use the missiles the safer we will be if the primary users are wounded or killed.”
“I agree. I will pass the word and then get training started, sir.”
“Good, now go see this happens.” Georgiy said, and then grinned.
Near noon, Romanovich and his people met with a Russian T-90 tank, along with two squads, out looking for partisans. So far, they'd seen no one and they even had a helicopter in the air to help them locate targets. Thinking the tank would provide them with not only increased security, but also some valuable training, they asked to come along. The tank commander was more than happy to say yes. As far as the tank crew was concerned, they never had too many foot soldiers around, which offered them a great deal of additional safety.
It was near dusk when the Russian troops stopped for the night. Foxholes were dug, machine-guns positioned and NON-50 mines were placed. Romanovich and his men mingled with the other troops as they discussed the coming darkness. The other smaller group was led by a Senior Sergeant. Between the Sergeant and Romanovich, they'd each been in the army longer than most of the soldiers had been alive.
“Hush!” the tank commander yelled, “I hear something.”
“I hear the blades of a helicopter, but all the aircraft out here are Russian.”
“Not true.” Romanovich said, “There are some Chinese helicopters around, too. I have seen them.”
Suddenly, the tank was struck by a missile and burst into flames. Cannon shells followed and the tank was torn to scrap iron as the soldiers moved to their holes. The explosion of the fuel was loud, and some of the flaming diesel splattered on some of the troops who'd dug in too close to the tank. The turret of the tank flew into the air, flipping end over end, until it ran out of momentum and then fell to earth a good 50 meters from the burning hull. Flames shot up higher inside the turret ring as the compressed gases and ammunition exploded. The three crewmen died instantly.
The Chinese attack helicopter, a CAIC Z-10, was a known tank buster, and it hovered near the burning wreckage firing the 30mm swivel gun in the nose. Then the grenade launcher, mounted on exterior pods, began to work the infantry over. Romanovich began to scream into his handset as he tried to get air cover.
“Uh, a pair of MiGs can be there in a few minutes, Cobra Three.”
“Get something here or you will be flying bodies out! This CAIC Z-10 is turning us into hamburger, Base.”
The MiGs will be there in a little over a minute.”
“Uh, Cobra Three, this is Bear 19 and I understand you are having problems with a Chinese attack helicopter. I have your night position, so where is the aircraft located right now? I am showing him on my radar to your west.”
“That is affirmative, Bear 19, to my west.”
“Get your heads down, because I will be using my cannons on this run.”
Romanovich, yelled, “Everyone down, and now!”
The Sergeant didn't hunker down in his hole because someone had to tell the fast movers ho
w well they did. He was sure the body of the Chinese helicopter was mixed with ground clutter on the jet's radar, so he prayed this one pass would do the job.
The helicopter suddenly began to move away at a fast rate of speed and every gun on the ground fired. Tracers from the machine-guns were seen striking the aircraft, and then there was an explosion near the tail. Cannon shells began to walk the length of the chopper, and smoke began to pour from the engines. A man was suddenly thrown from his foxhole as a cannon shell struck him in the chest.
The helicopter wobbled a bit and then slowly moved for the ground.
“Cobra Three, looks like the sensors on the Chinese bird failed to alert them of our attack, or they were not paying attention. I see the aircraft going in for a crash landing.”
“It is going down, but the crash will be controlled from what I can see.”
“Base to Cobra Three.”
“Go Base.” Romanovich said.
“Try to capture the crew. The commander said you will be well rewarded if this capture takes place. Copy?”
“Copy, capture the crew.” he replied and then thought, That may be hard because those Chinese just killed some of our men. I am sure most of our people are not in the mood to take prisoners.
“Cobra Three out. Listen to me, men, we need to take the two Chinese in the helicopter captive. If we do, the commander has promised to reward us well.”
“We need to get nearer then, because it is slowly moving away from us.” Private Nikitovich said, and pointed.
“Bear 19, thanks for the assistance and you can paint a Chinese kill on your jet. Now we will try to capture the crew. Cobra Three, out.” He handed the headset back to his radioman and yelled, “Let us move toward the helicopter, but do not approach it from the front.”
As they ran, the helicopter was seen to land in a small open field and the canopies immediately popped open. Romanovich sent a line of Bison bullets just over the glass and saw the two crew members raise their hands.
Chapter 12
I was notified an hour later that “Dennis” had died, and his body would be dumped a few miles from Fort Leonard Wood on the highway. I washed my hands of the man, and I'd spent all the time since he'd been taken away confirming Carol was okay. It scared the hell out of me to walk into my tent and see him holding her with the pistol in his hand. Neither of us had a scratch, but it was by the grace of God alone.
“Colonel!” Sergeant Parsons walked into the first part of the tent and yelled, “You're wanted in the communications tent. Something about a Chinese Chopper going down.”
“I'm coming. I need you to see Captain Stas and make sure Sergeant Grant gets a worthy funeral. He was a good man.”
“I'll see to it, sir, but you'd better hurry to the tent, they're all going nuts.”
When I entered the tent with Dolly at my side, Captain Eller said, “A CAIC Z-10 was just shot down by a MiG, oh, maybe 30 minutes ago, and the crew captured. The last communications we had with them was they were having problems with their electronic warfare (EW) system and knew a jet had a radar lock on them. Shortly after, there were three weak mayday calls and they disappeared. Right now the Russians should have them prisoner, unless they were pissed and shot them. Pilots who come down near men they've just shot at seem to always be killed instantly.”
“What was their mission, and what were they doing when they went down?”
“They had just taken out a Russian Tank and were working over about a company of infantry when a MiG locked onto them. They heard the warnings, but none of the EW systems were working properly.”
“Send this information up channel to the top. It's a given that the Russians will use images of the downed chopper and the crew to throw in the face of the United Nations. This will perhaps get the Chinese to provide even more supplies to us. I'm not sure how they think about politics and world opinion.”
“Yes, sir. I'll see they're notified in a couple of seconds.”
I walked to the rear of the tent and waited.
Ten minutes later, the Captain neared and said, “The Chinese want us to take out the two prisoners, if in fact they're still alive. Headquarters said they can deny the helicopter was theirs, but not the two crew members. They also said all Chinese aircrews are warned to not be taken alive.”
“We have no idea where they're being held or if they still live.” I said, and wondered if Headquarters had any idea of how little we knew of the fort. Most of our attacks on the fort were done using old maps handed out to visitors to the base before the fall.
“Headquarters is working on that, and they said the Chinese will launch a huge air attack to cover the killings once we know where they are located if they survived. Since the Russians have Mongolians and some look Chinese, just having two dead Asians bodies will prove nothing.”
“I don't like this at all. Those two men have done nothing to warrant their being taken out except be captured, and that could happen to any of us. Once we know where they're being held, why don't they just bomb the place?”
“Sir, take it to the General, because I was just talking to him. He, in turn, had a Chinese General sitting right beside him.”
“Well, get the General on the horn and let me talk to him personally. What he's asking me to do is out and out murder, and I don't like it at all.”
“Okay, but I told you all he said and now he'll have your ass for lunch.”
I laughed and then replied, “Son, he'll get no virgin. I was being chewed on by Drill Instructors before you were even born. Now, get him on the radio.”
I'd argued with the General, both Generals actually, and lost the fight. I was ordered to determine, if I could, where the two men were held. While I tried to gather that information, the Chinese would use their satellites to see if they could find the men. Once they were found, I'd have 48 hours to get in under the cover of an attack, kill the two men and then get out. I didn't care for the mission at all and knew it was almost suicidal, but the orders were legal. The Generals were afraid the two crew members would be shown all over Russia and the world as proof of direct Chinese involvement in our war. They had intercepted some Russian radio traffic that stated the two captured fliers would be sent to Russia in six days, thus my 48 hours window of operation. Right now the Chinese were still at the crash site with their Russian captors. They were already here fighting, so how long could the Chinese continue to deny that fact? Sooner or later other crews would be lost, so what were they really upset about and why did these two need killing? I could think of nothing.
I left the tent and walked to my intelligence section to speak with Stas about all of this and to check on the burial of Staff Sergeant Grant. Normally, I'd let the OIC handle it, but in this case, I'd really liked the Sergeant and I felt I owed a good funeral to his memory. He'd been a good man and an excellent soldier.
I walked in the door and said, “Remain where you are, I'll be in the area a while. Stas, can we talk in your office for a few minutes?”
“I've yet to say no to a Colonel all day.” he said in an attempt to be funny, but I felt the grief in the tent the minute I entered. Even his smile was forced.
Once in his office, I asked, “Do you have any idea what happened to Grant and how he was killed?”
“Apparently as he escorted Dennis here, he slipped and fell. The Russian wrapped the chains around his neck and choked him to death. But, he wasn't satisfied with that, he had to cut Grant's throat too. The rest, as they say, is history.”
“From now on, when escorting a prisoner, we use two guards.”
“Already have that in place, but no prisoners.”
“What do you know about Fort Leonard Wood and the Chinese supporting us? I was just ordered to find two captured Chinese fliers, who may have been take prisoner alive, and to kill them. I want to know all I can about the Chinese and the fort.”
“Makes sense to me.” He stood and said, “Let me pull some files and maps, but I'm sure headquarters will have more infor
mation. I was stationed on the fort prior to the fall, so I can help you a lot by using a map. As for the Chinese, I have very little information on any of them and suspect you know more than I do. However, I'll pull that file too.”
A couple of hours later, I knew where the fort brig was, where headquarters for the Russians was, near the flagpole I remembered, and some areas to avoid in the event of an attack. I wanted to stay in the bushes most of the way in and out, and to avoid any fuel or oil storage areas. I didn't like the idea of going into the fort with a small group to kill two men and then trying to get away. I just didn't think it could be done. I'd do my best, but I didn't think anyone could pull this mission off and survive.
That night I tossed and turned in bed and finally got up and made my way to the communications tent to see if the night in the field was quiet too. Nothing was going on in the tent, but Major Eller was on duty and said we were having a package delivered to him in the morning. He was told in code via the radio that it contained all they knew about the two pilots and photos taken by satellite. Headquarters said the images showed the two being taken into the fort brig. All images were blown up as large as they could be and not turn grainy. We talked a bit and discussed the funeral of Staff Sergeant Grant, which would be held a few hours after the package was to be delivered. By noon, I would have all the information I needed, or at least all I was going to get from any source.
I finally fell asleep sitting in a chair in the communications tent, and Eller woke me at 0200 when he went off shift. I moved to my tent and was asleep in minutes.
I woke at my usual time, 0500, and showered and then shaved. We had no real dress code, not really, but most of us tried to keep our hair short to avoid fleas and lice. I wore my salt and pepper hair cut close on the sides and had about an inch on top. I had a full head of hair and I didn't think I'd lose any of it before I died, which could be in the next few days.
They must know the odds are against me to complete this mission, I thought and then wondered, Surely they must know most, if not all of us, will die in the attempt. I could use one of my snipers to take them out if I knew the date and time of their movement to vehicles, but I don't. Too many loose ends to please me. I was shaving, and I saw no way to pull this mission off as a success.
The Fall of America | Book 6 | Call Sign Copperhead Page 13
