INVASION USA (Book 2) - The Battle For New York (17 page)

“Here on U.S. soil, we have the three F-4s as our first line of defense or attack. They can still be refueled in-flight with one of our Vietnam-era HC-130 fuel tankers. Our second line of attack or defense will be the three P-51 Mustangs and the P-38 Lightning. All four of these aircraft can be fitted with 500-pound bombs, and their .50-caliber machine guns are fully operational. The P-38 can carry two 1,000 pounders—she has pylons that we can modify and fit two sidewinder missiles on each wing, and all her cannon and machine guns are operational. Behind the second line, are the three Huey helicopters, which we can arm with four air-to-ground rockets and a 20mm Minigun each, if needed. It is not a lot, but it’s a start.

“I will be meeting with the Army and Navy this week, as well. I believe the best we can expect from the Navy is six operational submarines and four destroyers—all World War II era. The army has a lot more potential with artillery than the Navy. The only Army weapons, apart from the men and their carbines, will be manually controlled artillery pieces, which is still a powerful force to be reckoned with for sea and harbor defense. We believe they have dozens of older trucks, or troop carriers to drag these old howitzers by the dozens to defend against any sea attack. The range of some of these weapons is as good as five miles out to sea, and any Chinese ship’s intricate missile systems could be blocked by hundreds of ingoing artillery rounds from bridges, beaches, and even the tops of buildings. We can lift these howitzers anywhere with the larger lifting helicopters that I must still locate. I saw them in operation less than a year ago, in San Diego, I believe. The Coast Guard will have a couple of old C-130s and, in total, our potential to drop paratroopers at a moment’s notice in a dozen C-130s will be a maximum of 900 troops and I will be preparing for this.

“The last thing I want to get to is what Ms. Wallace mentioned—civilian aid. We have been primed for a year now to send maximum numbers of supplies overseas. Our, now defunct C-17s have been working around the clock to take food supplies and ammunition to the vast numbers of troops over there. Our bases, especially on the east and west coasts are full to overflowing with rations and could potentially keep a large number of our American population alive. We must set up distribution centers at Bragg and Seymour Johnson to deliver quantities of food on a regular basis in this area. We can use all of our aircraft, which aren’t needed for troop movement and firepower in this endeavor.

“Can we help the whole country? No, not for a few months, it’s not possible, but we must help as many people as we can. Survivors from the north will logically head south over the next couple of weeks, and we must help people in rural areas with military supplies which we will also fly in on a regular basis. I’m thinking that we should deliver to an area of the country that is below a specific line across the country, say from Washington D.C. to Salt Lake City and then down to Edwards in California. Under this line there will be a greater chance of survival than further north.

“We cannot go and get the people—they must first migrate south, where we can provide some food and use large buildings for shelter. If the remaining American population can hold out until spring, then I believe the United States of America has a chance of survival. Any questions?”

“What are the chances of our current Air Force going up against the best of the Chinese fighters, if they are flying?” Preston asked.

“Suicide if we attack China, since about 80% of their military is for defense and not offense,” answered the general. “The Chinese have a very small Blue-Water navy. ‘Blue-Water’ navy refers to the ability to travel over any ocean and attack a foreign country. I believe that they only have five to seven ships that can legitimately be called ‘Blue-Water’ capable. Our understanding is that the Chinese military was never expected to cover global action until 2009 when more ambitious programs went into build mode, and as far as we know everything is still in build mode except for their one aircraft carrier purchased from the Ukraine.

“We were told last year that this aircraft carrier was nearly operational. In other words, they have very few aircraft or naval ships that can travel over the Pacific and attack the United States and then fly all the way back again. Actually, no aircraft in the world can do that. All aircraft must either refuel in the air, or refuel on land for their return flights, or land on an aircraft carrier. Our only real defense is non-guided rockets or missiles, and I believe we still have a lot of those that are still operational. I’m hoping that the Army can come up with enough old rockets to fire from batteries on shore to keep the Chinese anti-missile machines busy long enough for us to either drop bombs on them, or sneak up and attack. I will let you know about that tomorrow.”

The general stopped for a moment. There was so much information to present and review that he was worried that the mixed crowd in the room might be on overload.

“Now I believe everybody in this room is as prepped for war as the president. Our main question is where they will attack first. Of course, the West Coast or Hawaii would be the closest, but Washington D.C. will be the real prize. I’m sure that they think we are already on our knees and on the verge of begging for mercy, but this country will not go down without a fight. Everyone knows that. This weather rules out any attack from the north or around our northern cities. The attacking force would need to bring in too much gear.

“Maybe they will attack in the spring, after more of us have starved or frozen to death. They don’t want us—they more likely just want our land. The Russians and the Chinese have enough people to transfer over and start a new life. Americans will just get in the way. Hence, I don’t expect a full-scale attack during the coldest time of the year. The weather will do more damage than they ever could.

“I would like to get tomorrow’s hostilities over with first, hopefully capture a few of their satellite telephones, and then we can get Carlos and Mr. Wang to tap into their communications and figure out their future plans. Then I want to destroy their building in Nanjing. It will show them that we still have guts. Ghost Rider, Easy Girl and the tankers are the only aircraft that could make the trip at this moment, but I believe a third gunship is operational. I just have got to find her. Ghost Rider, two other gunships and several normal C-130s were especially prepared to be refueled in flight during the later days in Vietnam. These aircraft have the same refueling nozzles as the Vietnam Hueys and F-4s have, and I’m lucky we planned to keep a few around.

“The United States needs to get every ship we can over to the Middle East and bring as many troops back here as possible, much like the retreat of Dunkirk during World War II. Then, I want to destroy the people, who have caused the deaths of millions, and maybe billions of the world’s population— even if we have to declare war on China, Mr. President. A declaration of war would be our last resort, and only upon your orders.”

The room was deathly silent as General Allen then walked over to the radio and called up Ghost Rider to return for a “sitrep.” Nothing had changed. The enemy convoy seemed to be holed up in the city for the time being and Ghost Rider would be landing at the Strong AFB in 15 minutes. Preston automatically went over and turned on the runway lights already repositioned for maximum runway length.

“I would like Mr. Wang and family, the newcomers, all non-American citizens, and all Air Force personnel to leave the room for a few minutes, if you don’t mind,” the general instructed. “I believe that what I’m about to say is not for your ears yet.” People, including the ambassador, got up and shook the hand of the president. Pam Wallace escorted them into the house and Martie suggested they make fresh coffee while they waited. The soldiers left to go back to their duties, a guard was placed outside the side and front doors, and the general continued. “The reason for talking with you separately, is that if we are able to break into communications in China, Carlos, Mr. Wang might need to interpret on our behalf and I don’t want him to know our all our details. Also, this would normally be just between the president and me, but in these circumstances, I need you to be aware of more than you would normally be authorized to know. What I’m about to say cannot go further than the walls of this hangar!” Everyone in the room nodded affirmatively.

“If we find out that all of China is planning to attack us—in other words, if this situation is directly attributable to the Chinese Ruling Party—we have an old set of Bay of Pigs/Vietnam war-era active nuclear missile silos in the Dakotas. If I am right, they are still active, purposely forgotten through all the disarmament treaties with the old Soviet Union. Much like Japan and the Second World War in the Pacific, a couple of these dropped on Moscow, Nanjing, and Beijing could end this attack on us and the rest of the world.”

“If I do not return from our trip to China, we will initiate this last scenario. If Carlos can get us in touch with the Russian or Chinese governments first, then we can introduce them to the fact that we are still a country with a mean bite and if we are going to go down, we will make sure that we take as many of them as we can. We have a total of six atomic weapons on quality rockets that I believe can still reach any targets we provide for them, without any modern satellite guidance.”

There was silence as the truth dawned on them that there was little chance that the world would ever be the same again, and that Armageddon might still be possible. Unfortunately, nobody had much to lose here anymore, and being Mr. Nice Guy was not going to be part of the procedure.

“Thank you for your time,” the general wrapped up. “You are as up-to-date as the president, and by the way, I like Ms. Wallace’s idea. Preston, get with the Southwest captain when you can, and commandeer any private aircraft you wish to, to begin organizing the distribution of food under direct orders from the President of the United States.”

The president stood to add something.

“I completely support the ideas stated here in this room and I give all of you the authority of my position as Commander-in-Chief to commandeer anything you need from the military, National Guard, and civilian organizations to assist the American people in any way you deem fit. I will get a letter drawn up for you as soon as I get back to my office,” added the President, facing Preston and the group.

There were many words of thanks and best wishes as everybody rose and the departing president got ready to leave.

Twenty minutes later, Preston watched as the AC-130 left the airfield, with Sally flying, a full crew, and Buck aboard as a passenger to fly the president back to the White House, if need be, from the air base. The ambassador, Manuel, and the three bodyguards were also aboard, since the ambassador wanted to get back to his staff at the embassy to sort out their safe passage south for the remainder of the winter. Preston felt that the president actually wanted to stay and be part of the action here, and he was pretty sure that the Commander-in Chief would be back pretty quickly. The president was that kind of a leader.

Preston turned off the runway lights and switched his focus to preparing for the incoming attack.

The First Attack

As detailed in all military textbooks, just before dawn is the best time of day to attack an enemy camp. In the book “The Art of War,” Sun Tzu describes how attacking at that hour has an immediate benefit for the attackers. The writing also states that surprise is a key element and, unfortunately, you cannot tell if surprise has been achieved until you actually attack the enemy camp.

Surprise was not to be on this cold morning in North Carolina. The convoy of Chinese men from New York, with no lights and travelling under blackout conditions, passed the outer point of the Air Force troops at 5:30 am. They had driven slowly and quietly, undetected by anybody, and with the airfield’s coordinates on their maps, they followed US 64 west.

The Air Force troops on guard were cold and frustrated with the weather, and were ready for anything to happen. Better to be in a hot fight than lying around under cold, damp plastic bivouacs and trying to get some sleep while others were on guard.

“Highway Vanguard to base, we have incoming,”
whispered the dozens of radios around the airstrip, and everyone moved, stretched, and prepared themselves for their part in the drama.

“Ten vehicles, one man standing up through the sun roof with shoulder unit in each of first four vehicles, no gas masks, around 40 enemy, looks like four to a vehicle, traveling west at about 10 miles an hour. ETA to the turn-off, three minutes. We are about to move towards the feeder road. Have fun. Out.”

“Forest checkpoint, here. Ten vehicles about to turn into the farm road, but have stopped,”
whispered the guard post on the other side of the road in the trees to the private road entrance off the feeder road, several minutes later.
“They are discussing something. It sounds foreign from here. They are grouped together and I think planning their next move. One has a flashlight and they have a map out on a hood. I can see automatic weapons, and shoulder rocket launchers in each vehicle. It looks like one man in each vehicle has a rocket launcher, modern RPGs by their silhouettes, and all the other men seem to be armed with AK-47s. They have 30 round ‘banana’ magazines strapped back-to-back. They are ready to fight. Boy, these night goggles are good! Now they are pointing a flashlight down the dirt road and they have a second flashlight directly lighting up our fancy new private airport sign. The one who looks like the commander just got into the front vehicle and is standing through the sunroof. He has the shoulder rocket launcher ready. I confirm now that they all look Chinese, or Asian at least. A second car is moving into position next to the first one. It looks like they are planning to come down the farm road two-by-two. Now, eight vehicles have moved into position two abreast and the last two are positioning themselves to block off the road in front of us. They have turned around 180 degrees and are facing us. Over.”