The Fall of America: Winter Ops (28 page)

“Yo!”

“Gather up all the fighters you can find, pull some Claymore mines and be ready to move in an hour.”

“Yes, sir!”

“That's taken care of, and now I need to sleep.”  he said and moved toward his cot.

“Colonel, as soon as the ambush is over, I'll let you know what happened.  It may be, and I think it will, we'll have to move again, but further.”

The Colonel, now suddenly looking old and worn out, sat on his cot, ran his fingers through his hair and said, “Once we move, if need be, I'll turn command over to you. My legs feel heavy, I have trouble breathing, and I have little strength.  I can't keep moving like this and maintain a clear head to run things.  Each move costs me both mentally and physically.”

“I fully understand, sir.”

“See to the ambush and I wish you good hunting.”

I knew I was being dismissed, so I said, “Thank you, sir, and I'll keep you in my prayers.”  I walked from his office.

The ambush was ready, and if things went well, we'd kill all in the group. But in combat, things rarely go as planned.  I grew nervous as their point man walked by us, scanning as he moved, but my folks lived in the woods and were experts at camouflage.  A good fifty yards later the whole group showed up and there were a shit-pot full of them. I looked, but didn't see any officers but suspected they'd mingled with the private solders, so they'd not stand out.

Just when the first of the group neared our last Claymore, I clicked the clackers in my hands and blew a wide path in the middle of the group and then heard three more mines explode.  Bodies flew apart, as screams and shrieks filled the air as men were knocked off their feet.  A cloud of bright red floated over the trail and then our other individual weapons opened up.  A machine-gun raked the trail up and down a number of times throwing clumps of dirt and body parts high into the air.  Periodically the gunner would shoot a few long bursts into the grass around the path. More screams were heard and overall there was little resistance.  Three grenades exploded on the trail and then silence, except for the moans of the dying and the screams of the wounded.  I waited almost an hour, and during that time, an occasional shot was heard from my side as a wounded man tried to crawl into the brush.

“Jonas and Burns!”  I yelled finally.

“Yes, sir?”

“Yo!”

“Take your squads, go slowly, and check them out. All of us will cover you as you move forward.  I want no survivors, understand?  Now, move!”

“Just don't shoot my ass.” Jonas said, laughed, then added, “Come on guys, let's check 'em out.”

Silverwolf asked, “What of the point man and the drag man?  Those two that got away.”

“Take Washington's squad after the point man and have Airhart use his squad to find the drag man. Tell him to try to bring his man back alive, but take no chances. If we get lucky, maybe we can find out what they were looking for, if anything.”

“Yes, sir.”  Silverwolf replied and then disappeared into the trees to find Washington and Airhart.

From the trail I heard gunshots, screams, and then a loud yell, “They're getting away!” Followed by a hell of a lot of gunfire.  It grew quiet once again and at times I'd hear a pistol shot.  I suspected wounded Russians were being shot.  I heard a shout, “To the right!” Then a grenade exploded and someone yelled, “Got 'em.”

Twenty minutes later, Jonas appeared and said, “All are dead, with the exception of two and they're both wounded.  From the bright red blood we found, fatally too. We can track them if you want.”

“Do that, because I want no survivors.  Was the radio in good shape?”

“Sure and Private Baker has both of them now.  But why?”

“Some of our electronic gurus have found a way to change the radio frequencies, so we can use them on a different frequency than the Russians.  Radios will make our lives safer and missions much easier.  Get on the trail of those two Russians and now.”

“Will do, and I'll meet you back at headquarters.”

There sounded a single shotgun blast some distance away.

Jonas said, “I think one of the wounded Russians now has a new injury.”

“Get right on it, Jonas,” I said with a slight grin. I like the man immensely.

I watched as he left with his squad, heading for the sound of the blast.

“Everyone move forward and strip the dead of any gear we can use.  We need to hurry, people, because the Russians will come looking for these troops.  Once they find them, they'll want our asses; now, move!”

Early the next morning, just as the sun was coming up, Jonas, Airhart and Washington returned, looking rough and missing a woman from Airhart's group. The three leaders walked to me, as their troops moved to find a placed to eat and then sleep.

“We killed three out of four, but one, a Sergeant, got away from us.”  Airhart said.

Jonas laughed and said, “The sonofabitch must have been an Olympic runner too, because the boy was fast.  The way he moved through the trees and brush, I know he's torn to hell and back.  Plus he's wounded, but I can assure you, he wasn't injured in his legs.”

“I need everyone's attention.  One Russian survived the ambush, so we need to pack up and get ready to move.  We need to hurry too, because if this Russian is picked up by a chopper, we're all dead meat.” I yelled, not angry at all, but needing them to understand how important moving from here really was.

“Sir, Colonel Lee wishes to speak with you.”  one of the administration troops said.

“Tell him, I'll be right there.”

“Yes, sir.”

Turning to the three leaders, I said, “Get your people up and ready to go.  I can't risk all these lives by staying here and while I know your people are tired, it beats dead all to hell.”

All nodded and Airhart said, “We tried to catch him, sir.”

“It's not your fault, or anyone's, it's the way the cards fell. Now, get your people ready.” I said and then walked to the Colonel's office.  He looked weak and pale, and his eyes were closed.

“Sir?”

“J . . . John, take command.  I'm afraid I don't, uh, I don't have as much time . . . left as I thought. I want explosives, uh, explosives placed . . . around this house and under . . . my cot.”

“Why?”

“When I go, I'll . . . take some . . . of them with me. Do it.”

“Yes, sir.”  I said, and then yelled, “Sergeant Morgan!”

“Yo!”

“Come to me, I have a task for you.”  I looked down at the shell of the man he used to be.  Colonel Lee, like his ancestor, was one hell of a man and I was proud to have served under him.  

“Yes, sir?”  Morgan asked.

I explained about the explosives and he asked, “I suppose Colonel Lee wants to be able to detonate the whole thing, right?”

“Yes, he does.”

“I'll be done in a few minutes.”  He moved from the room and was gone close to ten minutes before he returned. He slid something under the Colonels cot, and handed the man something that looked like an on and off switch.

“Sir,” The Sergeant asked, “can you hear me?”  He was squatted by the bed.

“I hear . . . you . . . fine.”

“See this toggle?  If you move it in the other direction, this whole place will go up in flames and smoke.  Do you understand?”

“Damn, son, I'm . . . weak, not stupid.”

I said, “Thank you Morgan, I appreciate you doing this for the Colonel.”

Ignoring me, Sergeant Morgan snapped to attention, saluted the Colonel and said, “It's been a real pleasure to serve under you, sir.”

Lee smiled and said, “Dismissed.  Get the hell out of here!”

When Morgan left, I saw the old man wipe the tears from his eyes.

“Is that all, sir?”

“Yes, it is and John, kill as many of those Russian sonsofbitches as you can.  See to your troops.”

I turned and left the room, made sure the house was empty and hurried to catch up with my people.  I'd gone about a quarter of a mile when I heard a loud explosion and saw a small mushroom cloud behind me, reaching for the clouds.  I stood for a couple of minutes, with Dolly at my side, and watched the smoke.  Colonel Robert E. Lee was no more.

In the next few weeks, we grew quiet and I pulled most of the squads in and kept them from bothering the Russians. They hunted for us and more than once they flew over our safe house, but most of my troops were resting indoors, using the barn or house.  By keeping them inside, I reduced the chances of anyone being picked up on infrared gear. I met with my leaders and we discuss potential targets of opportunity or some that would hurt or cripple the Russians.  I'd noticed since our attack on Edwards Air Base, there were less choppers in the air.  We must have put a lot of hurt on them.

Now, I'm more like Willy than Colonel Lee, and I would be going out with my men and women to see how various attacks worked.  I feel a good commander should participate in attacks at times, to know what the troops experience.

Also, as the most experienced man, Silverwolf was promoted to Captain and given the responsibility of four squads.  I was happy for the man and while it provided no pay, there was respect given by me and others.  He was an intelligent man and his Native American bloodline gave him a great advantage in the field.  Once he entered the woods, he was one with nature and the man moved like a ghost, especially at night.

I was standing by a table, glancing at a state map, when Dolly suddenly growled, and looked toward the door.  Corporal Hale came in and said, “I just got word from a man who works on Edwards that Moscow has ordered one thousand people from the gulag killed in retaliation for our attack on the base.  He claimed they're pissed, mainly due to the number of aircraft lost and personnel killed.”

“They should know by now, mass killings won't stop us.  Did he have any other information?”

He lowered his head and eyes and then said, “Yes, he did.  He said all those murdered would be women and kids, no older than twelve.  He added that three others selected to die were Colonels in the resistance too.”

“The Colonels I'm unconcerned with, they knew the risks, but killing women and kids is barbaric.  How are they to be killed?”

“He said they were to be transported to an empty school or warehouse and then the whole place was to be soaked with gas and then burned down, with them inside.”

“Is Edwards the only base doing the killing?”

“Actually, the killings will be done close to Jackson Air Base, but the prisoners will come from different gulags.  The reason we learned of it is the Russians are sending a few hundred from the gulag at Edwards.”

“Good God, what a hideous death!  We need to prevent this, if we can.”

“Colonel,” Hale said, “that's not all.”

“Oh, so you have more good news?”

Shrugging, he said, “They have transport aircraft landing there now, night and day.  According to our source, they're gearing up to use chemicals, most likely nerve agents, in the whole state. They have no concern about killing innocents and figure if they kill just five of us, it's worth the expense.”

Dolly liked Hale and moved to the man, who stood scratching her head.  

I thought for a moment and then said, “Lawdy, I don't think this chemical attack report is accurate. They just tried this shit a couple of months back, so I don't think they'll try it again this soon. I can see it's just as Willy once said, 'Russians are brutal in war and they're like animals.'  The killings using fire may very well happen.”