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“Gentlemen I feel it would be beneficial to take a look at what we've come up with in regard to the mission you're planning for the Marines of June company. I think you may want to change those plans if we can show why it's a bad idea to send them rather than just allowing us to handle it in the first place,” Jason said.
“General Talbot I hope what you've got is worthy of delaying this mission. That is a prime operation and if we delay it long we could lose the opportunity all together,” General Strong said.
“Excuse me General Strong, but if the information General Talbot has is accurate sending in the Marines will only succeed in getting a lot of men killed who don't need to die,” I said.
“Would you care to explain yourself Captain?” General Strong asked.
“Sir are these aerial photos the latest available? They're a little different then the ones we have, but I believe ours might have been newer,” I questioned.
“They were taken yesterday Captain,” someone said.
“And ours were taken this morning. Anyway I believe I can still show why I believe sending in the Marines is the wrong thing to do,” I said.
I started showing how for the Marines to get to the target they would either have to make a wide swing through terrain that would make it hard to make any kind of speed, or go straight through a line of enemy that would out number them not one hundred to one, but closer to one thousand to one.
I then showed how if they moved that same company of Marines into a better defensible position, and started the other two Marine companies in that same direction, it would most likely distract the enemy from the real target allowing one of the special forces recon units to go in via chopper and strike the target and be back out before the enemy even knew the target was in trouble.
“You give a very good argument Captain, but I'm still not convinced it's the best way to go. This whole plan of yours seems to hinge on these small recon units to be able to do what entire companies of Marines can't do. I'm just not buying it,” General Strong said.
“I wouldn't discount what Captain Waters is saying so fast Mark. I've seen Captain Waters in action with his little recon unit. In fact it was due to Captain Waters and his unit I'm able to be here today,” General Long said coming in the room.
“General Long it's so good to see you. It's hard to tell you were wounded now. How is your wife doing?” I asked.
“She's doing very well Captain. You seem to be recovering very nicely from that bug or whatever it was that had you down,” General Long said.
“I'm not at a hundred percent yet, but I am doing much better,” I said.
“You were ill Captain? How can you be sure what you're saying is the best way then?” General Strong asked.
“I'm fine General, somehow I became severely anemic like I had lost a lot of blood. I should be at one hundred percent in another week,” I said.
“We don't have a week to make this decision. We have a three day window of opportunity, if you haven't noticed there are at least five more divisions of enemy troops moving in that direction. If we can't knock out that communications center we might just as well write off every soldier we have on the other side of the DMZ,” General Strong said.
“I wasn't suggesting my unit be the one to go in sir. Colonel Andrews is one hundred percent as are his men. The beauty of the recon units sir, is we can move fast and know how to be invisible. If you were to try matching a division of Marines against a special forces recon unit your Marines wouldn't stand much of a chance, and that's if every member of the recon unit were wearing tracking devices,” I said.
“So you're trying to tell me that our special forces are that much better trained then the rest of our troops?” General Strong asked.
“I don't know sir, what I do know is, my unit has been called on more than once to rescue regular Army and Marine companies who were trapped behind enemy lines with no clear way out. The fact that I am standing here means I have succeeded in every one of those missions,” I said.
“And just what did it cost for you to manage such feats Captain? Just how many of your men have you lost in these missions?” General Strong asked.
“None sir. Of my original unit I've only had to replace two men and that was because they were assigned to other units. The most serious injury sustained by any of my men was two of them cut themselves opening a box of C-rations,” I said.
“And how many of the men from those companies were lost, since I am guessing you managed to use some of them as well?” he asked.
“General it would be so much easier if you would just look at my file and the file of my unit. If you want a blood bath send those Marines in to do the job. If you want the job done with a minimal amount of blood being spilled, I suggest you use the plan General Talbot, Colonel Andrews, and I came up with. Also, General if you'll let us know which plan you decide on before we head back to our base it will help us to know whether or not we will need to plan a rescue operation,” I said knowing this General didn't give a dam about the lives of the troops doing the actual fighting.
This man seemed determined to get as many people as he could killed, and I didn't see anyway of stopping it. I laid out the plan I knew would work and get the fewest people hurt, but since I wasn't the one calling the shots there was very little I could do aside from filing a complaint which would have to go through Jason then up to this General, unless Jason was willing to risk taking it over this guys head to the brass in Washington.
I knew protocol said I should wait until I was dismissed, but I couldn't stand there with this man looking at me, with his I'm better than you gaze. I turned and headed for the door not caring if anyone said anything.
I heard the door close behind me and stood there knowing I couldn't go back in and even if I did there was noway I could give an apology for having walked out as I had.
The Hidden Rose Page 58
