“Air Wing Commander, to maintain the façade, launch a Greyhound to the nearest land base, the Republic of the Philippines, where we have an embassy, to inform CINPAC (Commander-in-Chief-Pacific). Request the intelligence officer send it via code of an electronic attack and to warn other carrier battle groups and go up the chain of command.
“I will address the ship over the intercom. Thankfully, someone had the good sense to hardwire this ship and shield many of its electronic suites from non-ionizing radiation. That’s all for now. Let’s get busy, people.”
The yeoman blew his whistle into the intercom. “Now hear this, now hear this. The Admiral will address the ship.”
The Admiral stepped up to the microphone. “Sailors, marines and airmen of the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan, this is the Admiral. The flash of light and sudden gust of strong wind that those of you above deck felt was the result of an electronic attack on this carrier battle group. A nuclear device, tailored for a bust of electromagnetic pulse was detonated directly over us at an altitude of approximately fifty miles. For those of you who were on deck, the Medical Officer will issue information and instructions in a matter of hours. It is extremely unlikely that anyone will suffer any harm whatsoever from radiation. Do not report to sick bay unless you have actual physical symptoms. All of you have received basic training in nuclear, biological and chemical warfare. This attack should come as no surprise.
“The result is that much of our electronic equipment and weapons systems have been seriously, but only temporarily, degraded. I have ordered immediate repairs and a complete blackout of electronic emissions of every kind. When communications are restored, no one is to send any signal, e-mail, or phone call, even from personal cell phones, from this carrier battle group. Our intent is to let the enemy believe that he has completely crippled all of our communications and weapons systems in the hope that he will expose his intentions and himself. When he does, we will engage him and kill him. Until otherwise indicated, consider us at war from this moment on. Be prepared to man your battle stations at a moment’s notice. That is all.”
The Electronic Warfare Officer approached the Admiral in the wardroom, with a grin and salute. “Admiral, our electronic capabilities were fully restored in sixty-three minutes. No overt attack has been detected. We are still standing down on emissions. Is there any change in the orders of emissions blackout?”
“No change in orders, Commander. Well done.”
The hastily called press conference was broadcast on all networks, interrupting all programming. Roger McCall was standing grim-faced before the cameras when he announced that nuclear war had broken out on the Korean Peninsula.
“The only knowledge we have at this time is that there has been a nuclear exchange of atomic weapons. So far, indications are that they are all smaller than those used against Japan in August of 1945. Unfortunately, these nuclear blasts have also crippled our communications satellites, so that there is a dearth of information forthcoming. We have no further details at this time. I cannot take any questions as we have no other information. Thank you.”
McCall pivoted on his heel and abruptly left the room with reporters shouting questions after him. The broadcast was played and replayed every fifteen minutes over all the networks. America wondered what would be the nation’s reaction.
Marge Talbott sent a secure telex to the American ambassador in Japan for information on the Japanese reaction. Later that evening, television reports came in of demonstrations and rallies that approached riots in numerous Japanese cities. The ambassador’s response came in at 23:00 that night. “Japan is transfixed. It doesn’t know what to do. It now realizes that its lack of militarization might, probably will, result in Chinese dominance over Japan. Korea is most likely ruined as any kind of entity, politically, militarily or economically. Japanese observation aircraft flying at high altitudes off the Korean peninsula have recorded numerous small tactical weapons being deployed. Japan is now concerned about their own physical and economic survival. The Chinese ambassador to Japan has said nothing. The only good note is that the Prime Minister has suddenly offered to share its latest anti-submarine technology with us. Apparently, they are much farther ahead than we realized. I have been told that they know where we are, and that they are at least five years ahead of us in research but have not fielded any weapons, only tested them on various platforms. The Diet wouldn’t support their deployment.
“There is a bonus here, Mr. President. The Japanese Prime Minister informed me today that they want to purchase a dozen DDX destroyers and want to build two dozen more in Japan under license. He assures me that there will be no difficulty with the Diet funding the purchase and their building their own under license. Not only that, but he strongly suspects that they will also fund purchase of several dozen new Joint Strike Fighters. He hasn’t discussed that aspect yet with the appropriate leaders in the Diet and his own cabinet, but he personally is all for it.”
Jason Thornton’s smile just increased about one meter: American jobs and rejuvenation of the American shipbuilding industry, American aircraft ruling the skies, and above all, American jobs. Just what the economy needs. For decades, the American shipbuilding industry languished, with most American ships purchased from shipyards overseas. South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Norway, Denmark, and even Poland built ships for the U.S. merchant lines.
“You tell the Prime Minister we will sell him all we can. We will build them as fast as we can. We will pull out all the stops and put workers going on them around the clock. We will work with them on the latest technological information for anti-submarine warfare, anti-mine warfare, undersea unmanned vehicles, and any other damned thing he wants. They smell war coming, and so do I. Have him contact the appropriate companies and write the contracts; tonight, if he wants. Pass this on to Jim Neville. Have him get right on it with his Japanese counterparts. Let’s rebuild our Navy and our anti-submarine capability.”
Curtis Matthews had never been so tired in his life. He thought he would never quit walking. He had seen the mushroom clouds, small ones, on several occasions. He felt the strong machstem winds that they generated. He was hungry. He could not remember when he had last eaten. The nights were getting cooler, but the days were still warm and muggy. He had trudged southwards with the mass of refugees. No one would share food with him. He was drinking water whenever he could find any that looked halfway potable. He was thirsty enough that even ditch water looked good. He knew it was full of urine and feces, and it was all he could do to restrain himself from drinking it as he witnessed hundreds of others drinking it.
Corpses lay all along the route of their march. The young and the old, as in most cases of such severe societal disruption, were the first to collapse. Hunger, dehydration, and now radiation poisoning was adding to their distress. He observed many corpses with no obvious physical wounds. Many others had radiation burns and flash burns from tactical nuclear weapons. Others, he attributed to infections, particularly bacterial meningitis by Neisseria meningitidis. He scratched his head only to notice that a number of scalp hairs came away with his fingertips. He recognized it as a sign of radiation poisoning. The sound of battle was never far away and often continuous for hours, first in one direction, and then another. He surmised that it was mostly small units, patrols, squads, platoons and companies that were skirmishing, but at other times, it was apparent that at least battalion-sized operations were under way. He left the roads and headed south across the countryside, guided only by the sun and stars. Each night, he would find the North Star as he was taught in the Medical Department Basic Course and orient himself due south. It was about all he remembered of the extremely meager field craft they were taught at Camp Bullis. Sometimes, he would just lie down wherever he was and sleep. In some fields, there were still a few vegetables that he would dig out with his hands, wipe the dirt off them and eat them raw on the spot. He had no means to make a fire, no pot to boil anything, no means of washing his food, so he ate it raw.
Sometimes when he found more than one Chinese cabbage, he would put a few in his shirt, at least what was left of his shirt. Chinese cabbage is one of the mainstays of kimchi, the horrendously hotly seasoned national dish of Korea. He had tried fresh summer kimchi, which is the mildest variety, in a Korean restaurant just before the war started, and couldn’t get the fire out of his mouth. The Koreans learned to hide their food from the Japanese by burying it in large earthen crocks. To keep it from spoiling, they would add large quantities of hot peppers and vinegar-like solutions. In time, it became the national dish and referred to as winter kimchi. In summertime, it was made fresh daily. Winter kimchi, however, was fermented with terribly hot peppers. Koreans who ate it reeked of it for days. When the Japanese occupied Korea after the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, they raped the entire peninsula in every respect to the maximum extent they could. Hardly a tree was left standing. School girls of all ages were raped coming and going to school. That gave rise to the national dress for women. They all dressed as if they were in the last trimester of pregnancy to avoid being gang raped.
Curtis Matthews, MD, recognized that he was suffering to some degree of radiation poisoning. He just didn’t know to what extent. Masses of people were now moving in all directions, attempting to get away from areas impacted by nuclear fires. North Koreans had observed him on several occasions, since he was taller and a different shade of skin and an obvious Occidental. More than one threatened to shoot him, and then laughed as he ducked and ran. One did fire several shots at him but missed and hit civilians that were around him. He witnessed human predator-prey reactions around the periphery of the masses, as several gangs of young South Koreans robbed others for whatever food or valuables they could find. On one occasion, the mob reacted to the beating of an elderly Korean. They caught one perpetrator and chased the remaining would-be bandits away, throwing whatever they could find at them. The mob beat, stomped, and kicked the bandit, breaking bones and causing internal injuries until he was unconscious and left him for dead, which he nearly was. The perpetrator did not live through the night.
“Mr. President, we have formulated a plan of operation to take out the Mexican raiders’ base of operations in Chihuahua. The SECDEF told me to give you a call whenever we’re ready. We are ready to present your briefing any time you like. The Service Chiefs suggest we get this operation underway immediately, given the international situation. We don’t want anything to interfere, one with the other.”
“I agree, General Craig. Have Peggy schedule it in as soon as possible. I’ll send your call back into her.”
A few minutes later, Peggy Parsons walked into the Oval Office. “We can have that briefing tomorrow morning, Mr. President, as part of the usual tri-weekly meeting. There should be enough time. General Craig tells me it will take about thirty minutes.”
“Schedule it in, Peggy. I am anxious to get it on the road.”
The next morning at 08:00, General Robert Anderson, Chief of Staff, Army, initiated briefing the President and his Secretaries. “Mr. President, Secretaries, this is the operational plan to launch a surprise raid into Chihuahua, Mexico to capture or kill the Mexicans who have been raiding into our southwestern states. It will utilize two maneuver battalions, one of the 82nd Airborne, one Ranger battalion, and one transportation battalion. There are many political considerations that we have not addressed, but which I will mention as we progress through the briefing for your consideration and decision.
“Both maneuver battalions will be delivered by Hercules C-130Hs out of Fort Bliss, TX. Our cover is that it will be a routine desert training exercise. The officers and noncommissioned officers only will be briefed on the operation twenty-four hours before deployment. They will have a low-level static line jump that is from 500 and 700 feet, in order to achieve complete surprise. The flight plan calls for the aircraft to drop below radar level before crossing the Mexican border. The 2nd battalion, 82nd Airborne, will cover the northern half of the drop, with the 1st Ranger Battalion covering the southern half. They will drop 500 meters into a complete perimeter around the camp. Apache gunships will provide covering fire if it is necessary. Our information is that they have the older variety of Stinger missiles. We don’t want any of our aircraft shot down, so they will have a free fire zone at any possible target that might deploy a shoulder fired anti-aircraft missile.
“The transportation battalion will be accompanied by four Bradley infantry fighting vehicles to provide fire support and security screening. The transportation battalion will also have a company of Military Police attached to arrest those captured and transport them in two- and one-half ton trucks back to the United States. This brings the first political question to mind. Mexico will be howling mad that we raided into their country and, I am sure they will call it “kidnapping” of their citizens. The second political question here is putting them on trial. In what state or federal court will they be tried? The third question is, will the death sentence be invoked? Those are questions we cannot answer, Mr. President.
“We anticipate minimal to moderate resistance, with the possibility of two hundred prisoners. We have initiated building a compound to hold them at Fort Bliss for trial or whatever dispensation.
“The transportation battalion will also collect and transport back to the U.S. all weapons, explosives, personal goods of their American victims, and any information that is found. The transportation battalion will travel as a convoy out into the desert, using the same underwater bridge the raiders use in a remote location to cross the Rio Grande River. They will depart several hours earlier, such that they arrive on site fifteen minutes after the parachute drop. Estimated time from the parachute drop to vacating the site is four hours, with a maximum of six hours, Mr. President. Unless you object, we will destroy the premises.”
“General, as I understand it, this is also truly a working farm that produces a considerable quantity of vegetables and has a feedlot. Are you sure you have the right place?”
“Yes, Mr. President. This is a working farm that produces a considerable quantity of tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, broccoli, peppers, and other vegetables. They have a small feedlot that variably contains 200 to 500 head of cattle. We have had this place under surveillance for several months now. We have aerial photographs from unmanned aerial vehicles of them training in small arms, explosives, and company sized tactics. There is no doubt that this is a terrorist camp of some sort. The working farm presentation is perfect cover.”
“Then let’s not destroy anything that can produce food. If you find something that has strictly military application, then by all means, blow it away. Perhaps we can make a gift of it to the Mexican government as a work camp or something, to assuage their ruffled feathers. I hope you can find a lot of intelligence information on this operation as a result of this raid. Why are they doing this? Is it strictly for money, glory, to finance a revolution, or something else driving this train? Is there an Islamic connection? I trust you have selected a commander for this operation. Who is he?”
“It is the Commander of the 2nd Brigade of the 82nd, Mr. President, Colonel John Paterson. He is a tough old bird at forty-three years of age, Mr. President. He has well over one hundred jumps and a third Dan black belt in Ai Ki Do. He can show the kids a thing or two as well as keep up with them. He leads from the front. The 2nd Battalion of the 82nd is part of his routine outfit. The transportation battalion is also part of the 82nd and has worked with the 2nd Brigade in the past. The Rangers had a little heartburn working for the 82nd, but they decided they could do that when the choice was not to participate, with the 1st Battalion of the 82nd going instead of them. Colonel Paterson wasn’t too happy about taking the Rangers, preferring to have two of his regular battalions, but he appreciates the Rangers’ skills and desire to participate. The Ranger battalion has an integral sniper platoon which was an excellent selling point. They will set up around the perimeter. Those soldiers can take out an enemy on the run at 800 meters as a matter of routine. Their mission is to prevent escapees making it into the hills.”
“What about innocent farm workers on this place? They are going to scatter like quail.”
“Mr. President, we can assume that everybody there will claim to be an innocent farm worker without any knowledge of any raids ever occurring. We have to assume, therefore, that they are knowledgeable and all raiders. We sent a team down there to snoop around as braceros, but they wouldn’t hire them for whatever reason.”
“How soon can you go after I give the word?”
“Mr. President, we can launch this operation within twenty-four hours of your OK.”
“Alright. Mr. Attorney General Hugh Collier, what do you say, other than it is as illegal as hell?”
“That says it all, Mr. President. I also say that we have a more fundamental obligation to protect our citizens by any means necessary, including invading another, even friendly, country, to remove a threat to life, liberty, and limb, not to mention economic destruction that these raids have cost. The Governors of the southwestern states are still hopping mad. Some of our Mexican American citizens have been shot down without cause, and shootings of the illegal aliens crossing the border have been increased twenty times over since the first raid. Sales of firearms in the Border States have increased a thousand percent in the last year, and the Hispanics of those states are up in arms. The La Reconquesta movement is making all kinds of noise about the shootings, especially through their representatives, most of whom are members of the opposite political party.”
“Can we take the political heat on this with our Mexican friends, Marge?”
“I have seen the light; we don’t have any Mexican friends, Mr. President. We have only acquaintances. The façade is paper thin. We all realize that secrecy is paramount here. That place used to be a major producer of marijuana and could easily be so again. If we let the Mexican government in on this, that operation down there will be closed down in hours and all evidence removed. Mexico is so close to being a narco-government that it is difficult to draw the line anymore. Other Central and South American governments will, of course, side with Mexico. There’s no love lost there, either. Their big fear is the precedent this sets; that they might be next. As for the United Nations, I wouldn’t be surprised if Mexico filed an official protest with them. I think we can defend our actions on the floor of the UN. If we can’t, and are sanctioned, what is that worth?”
“Jim, what do you think of the operation?”
“Mr. President, as Secretary of Defense, I think it is a go. It is time to remind certain elements around the world that we still have some fangs, and maybe a little venom.”
“Let me put it this way. Is there anyone here who objects to this military operation, or thinks it is a bad idea? If so, speak up now.”
Nobody said a word.
“General Anderson, the word is go, and I will leave it to you as to when you go.”
The phone on Jason Thornton’s desk rang. “Good news, Mr. President. The South Korean Navy is doing pretty well against the North Koreans. We just found out that they have sunk a half dozen of their submarines off both coasts and taken a pretty good toll of some of their surface craft.”
“That is good news, Jim. How come they are doing a better job than I have been led to believe than we can do?”
