The Rangers Are Coming (10 page)

              Franklin was the first to respond, “How do you intend to turn a largely agrarian society into a massively industrialized nation that this plan would certainly require.”

              “Two words, Ben,” said Arcadia, “Steel and steam and you’re going to do it.  Beginning today, we’re going to show you a new way of producing high quality steel.  From that, you will be able to build huge plants that produce all the steel you’ll need to build tracks on which to run steam driven locomotives.  We are going to show you how to build them too.  In your lifetime there will be a transcontinental railroad and a lot more besides.”

              “What are you going to use for a power source,” asked Jefferson?

              “Our man Franklin here has already figured it out…electricity.  This entire camp is run by electricity from a modestly sized installation at a single source, the waterfall outside the Fort.  If you’ll think a little bigger and build larger generators, you can power the entire country.”

              “Where are we going to get the money to do all this,” asked Hamilton?

              “An excellent question and the reason you are part of this group.  You are the financial genius.  Your ideas of a central bank of the United States are correct.”

              Arcadia, motioned for the men waiting in the back of the room to come forward.  They were carrying two big boxes and it took four men to do it.  They set them down on the conference table in front of the Colonial leaders.  Arcadia opened one box and took out a handful of coins.  “We’re going to pay your soldiers, one of these every day.”  She passed them out and the men could see they were silver coins marked with the word “Liberty” and “In God We Trust” on one side, and on the other side, a stamp of a flag that was the Betsy Ross design, and the words, United States of America across the top.

              “This silver coin is called a quarter, because it is a quarter of a dollar, your principal unit of currency.  The coin is worth about two British Shillings.  Our soldiers will earn about 8 dollars a month, a very good wage for this age.”

              “But your dollars are worthless unless they are backed with something else of value.  Therefore, we will use this.”  She opened the second box and lifted out a large gold bar.  “This box has six gold bars in it.  There are 1000 ounces in each bar.  The British value gold at 19 dollars an ounce in the present day of 1770.  Therefore, this bar is worth $19,000.  Currently we are holding gold in a steel vault at Fort Independence with a value of 500 million dollars.”

              “Obviously money is not going to be a problem in financing the country,” said Hamilton.

              “But how do you expect to defeat the British Army with a single brigade of 3,000 men,” asked Washington, “Let alone the idea of occupying the entire continent.”

              “Well, General, you’re going to have to learn some new battle tactics, but once you have, you’ll be able to defeat the entire British force in no more than three engagements”

              “What do we do when the British send their entire fleet and thousands of reinforcements?”

              “They will never make it to an American Port,” said Arcadia, “We’re going to sink their ships.”

              “Amazing,” said Washington.

              “As a matter of fact, it’s not the war with the British we are worried about, or the war with the French or the Spanish.  The problem is the American people themselves.  Events must unfold as history records it for the next six years.  In that time, the people of this new country will have mostly developed an identity of their own and will support a break with England to establish an American nation.  You don’t have a majority who thinks that right now.  Moreover, when the war with England is won, we need to have the real Constitution ready to go and approved by all states, and not waste ten years with the unworkable Articles of Confederation.  This is going to be a tall order.  The biggest obstacle will be convincing the southern states to give up slavery.”

              “How do you propose to do that,” said John Adams speaking up for the first time, “Washington and Jefferson are from Virginia, and both of them hold slaves.”

              “All right,” said Arcadia, “Let’s deal with that right now.  “Why do you men hold slaves?”

              “Cheap labor,” said Jefferson, “I’m personally appalled by the idea of one man owning another, but it’s simply a matter of economics.  If we didn’t have the manpower to work the fields we wouldn’t show a profit on our crops.”

              “Do you provide housing, and food for your slaves?”

              “Of course.”

              “How much money would you save if you didn’t have that expense, or the expense of buying more slaves?”

              “I would have to do the numbers, but I doubt that the difference would mean a profit.”

              “Well, we have done the numbers,” said Arcadia.  “If we were to found a company, purchase all your slaves, emancipate them, and then offer them a paid job to work right in the same place they are currently living, don’t you suppose that most of them would take the offer of freedom AND a job for which they received money.”

              “Possibly,” said Jefferson, “maybe even probably, but you still haven’t solved the problem of room and board.”

              “Sell them their homes, set the price, and then let them make monthly payments against their wages.  Our new company will open a grocery store and sell them whatever they need from their wages.  The people will not have a lot of money left over at the end of the month, but they don’t need much.  However, the smart ones will save their money for things they want in the future.  You should also open a school and teach them to write and read and do arithmetic.  If you don’t have to pay for the school because the state is supporting education with property taxes our company is giving to the state, you’re still the hero.  I’ll tell you what.  I’ll purchase all your slaves with gold right now.  You keep the considerable amount of money from that, and we’ll come in and set up the exact system I’ve just described.  At the end of five years, we will run the books and see if our little company is making any money.  I’m betting it will.  You can use the example to convince all your other southern colleagues that they can do the right thing, clear their consciences, and still make a profit.”

              “I will accept your offer,” said Washington.

              “I will too,” said Jefferson.

              John Adams jumped up enthusiastically, “That is the most innovative idea for eliminating slavery I’ve ever heard.  My congratulations to both you gentlemen for your noble gestures, and to you, Arcadia, I wish you the best of fortune with your new enterprise.

       
10

Fort Independence, Virginia

              For George Washington it was a busy ten days.  He was working at least 10 hours a day, but he’d never felt better.  His new teeth took so much discomfort from his life, but he was finding he had more endurance, his thinking was sharper, and his overall health was the best it had been in years.  He was checked by the doctors twice more, but these were simple blood tests to insure, according to them, that no reactions to his full range of vaccinations were occurring.

              The day after the major briefing, he was picked up by another General, who introduced himself as Manny Compton.  Compton was a very pleasant, but professional officer.  At their first meeting, Compton told Washington, “General, in our army when we get promoted to General we normally speak to each other in private by our Christian names, mine’s Manny.  Would you object to me calling you George?”

              “Not at all, Manny,” said Washington, “we have much the same custom in our ranks.”

              “Great,” said Manny, “Let me give you a little background of me.  I am a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, that’s the Army College established on the Hudson River at West Point in 1789.  I’ve been a professional soldier for 35 years.  I’m a veteran of several American combat operations, and commanded a brigade for most of them.  I’m also a graduate of the Army War College, where the latest tactics are studied in comparison with the long history of successful combat tactics since before the Roman times.  My job is to acquaint you with the capabilities of the equipment you will command.  I’ve arranged an inspection for you, if that is convenient.”

              “By all means,” said Washington, “I’ve been eager to see all that equipment we saw in review in action.”

              “Then let’s start with a first-hand look at what we have.”

              Washington was growing more comfortable by the day in his new uniform.  It was strong and very practical, with pockets and pouches located all over.  He asked Manny about it.

              “You’re wearing the standard green camouflage fatigues.  The reason the uniform is designed in this way is to cause you and your troops to blend into the environment.  We are surrounded by green trees, so you can disappear into the forest and be very hard to be seen by the enemy.”

              The two men walked out of the VIP quarters and jumped onto an ATV.  “This vehicle is used for reconnaissance and advance patrolling.  It will go over rough ground, and on a flat road can go 50 miles per hour.  It’s powered by an internal combustion engine, as are all of our vehicles.  They run on refined oil, known as diesel fuel.”

              They roared off down the road, headed for the motor pool.  For Washington it was an exciting and exhilarating adventure.

              Their first stop was at the garage that housed the Humvees.  Manny came to stop inside, and an enlisted man, a sergeant with a patch that had three stripes up and three stripes down, came hurrying up.  He saluted the Generals sharply.  Washington was catching on to this acknowledgement of officers by the lower ranks, so his salute was a good deal crisper than it was the first time he saw it.

              “Good morning, First Sergeant,” said Compton.  “This is General Washington, the Commander of the Colonial Army.”

              “Good Morning, sir,” said the sergeant.  Washington returned his salute and then shook hands with the man.

              The Sergeant led the men over to the row of vehicles.  The Sergeant rattled off the features of the vehicle.  “This is the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, commonly known as the Humvee.  It is a four-wheel drive military automobile that can carry eight soldiers easily.  It has a wide number of uses.  All of our Humvee’s have 50 caliber machine guns mounted though the roof.  Since they don’t need to be heavily armored, they are capable of speeds of nearly 70 miles per hour and are designed to cross open country.  They can ford a body of water that does not exceed 2 and ½ feet, and are powered by a V-8 cylinder diesel engine.” 

              The next stop was the Bradley Fighting Vehicles.  Another sergeant was on duty to conduct the briefing.  “General Washington, The Bradley is designed to transport infantry or scouts with armor protection while providing covering fire to suppress enemy troops and armored vehicles.  There are several Bradley variants, including the M2 Infantry Fighting Vehicle and the M3 Cavalry Fighting Vehicle.  The M2 holds a crew of three: a commander, a gunner and a driver, as well as six fully equipped soldiers.”

              “The M2 model, which is what we have here, has primary armament of a 25 mm cannon which fires up to 200 rounds per minute and is accurate up to 2500 meters, It is also armed with a M240C machine gun mounted coaxially to the M242, with 2,200 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition.”

              Washington looked at Compton, “I suppose you are going to explain what all these terms mean?”

              “It will be a lot easier when we head out to the firing range and show you how all these weapons work,” said Compton.

              Next, they came to the artillery pieces.  At least this was something that Washington recognized, at least in principal.  Nevertheless, he was astonished with the explanation by the Artillery sergeant.

              “Sir, this is the M102 105 millimeter towed howitzer.  It is a lightweight towed weapon that provides direct support fire to light assault forces.  It can be towed by a Humvee.  It has a very low silhouette when firing and a roller tire attached to the tail assembly that permits the weapon to be rotated 360 degrees.  It weighs 3,000 pounds, has a maximum firing distance of about 7 miles, a crew of eight, and firing rate of 10 rounds per minute.  It fires standard high explosive ammunition with a kill radius of 75 feet, or it can fire controlled fragmentation anti-personnel ammunition.”

              “Did you say that this weapon can fire ten rounds per minute,” asked Washington?

              “Yes sir, for about the first three minutes.  Its actual sustained rate of fire is three rounds per minute.”

              “I’m beginning to understand why Arcadia said that we can defeat the British in no more than three engagements.  I can hardly imagine this kind of firepower.”

              “Neither can the British,” said Compton.  “But come along and let me show you the real strength of your army, the individual soldier.”

              They walked out of the garage and were met by a platoon of soldiers, standing at attention on the blacktop road.  Compton motioned for the soldier standing in front of the formation to step forward.

              “At ease, sergeant,” said Compton.  “We’re going to show General Washington you standard issue weapons and equipment.”

              Compton removed the helmet and handed it to Washington.  It was curved along the sides to provide protection for the ears.  “These helmets are made from an artificial component called Kevlar.  That makes them lighter, but they will stop most military bullets and especially British musket balls.”