John Returns Page 10

  “No, you are right about Imelda, she just needs experience and perhaps some advanced strategic training to promote her to Major. Gus, I’m heading to Kentucky and will try to be there before midnight.”

  ***

  “The line is secure sir.”

  “Scott, how soon will you be landing?”

  “We’re three hours out, and I have four C17s with 400 troops and another with supplies.”

  “Good, I’m landing in 15 minutes and have planes with 200 more Rangers, and additional Helicopters heading your way with a hundred more plus a convoy of 40 trucks and heavily armed Humvees on the way.”

  “Is Gus sending any Combat Air Patrol, and an AWACS?

  “Yes, a wing each of F-22’s and A10s. I have six Apaches heading there to add support to those already in place.

  An additional two divisions, one Armored and one Infantry, will depart within 48 hours.”

  “Dad, what happened to require an all hands on deck response?”

  “The Admiral and that sly old fox Gus, gave me Kentucky and Tennessee knowing full well that the USA would take notice and attack.”

  “So Imelda’s force is the bait, and we’re springing the trap. That explains why I received orders to be ready to bug out with a day’s notice.”

  “When did you get notice?”

  “The same day you sent Imelda into Kentucky.”

  “Son, the USA will definitely attack Elizabethtown and Smyrna by air and probably send troops down from Indianapolis on Highway 65 through Louisville to attack Imelda’s force.

  The last satellite photos showed Louisville International’s runways to be clear.

  Could you divert to Louisville and ambush the USA forces before they get to Elizabethtown? I will send C17s with Humvees, and four Wombats with crew. Those are the new mini-rail gun vehicles. They can take out any armored vehicle or aircraft the USA has in operation.”

  “Roger that. Can you ask the Admiral get me some real time surveillance on Ft. Knox, the airfield, and Louisville?

  I’ll jump one company in to take the airfield and another to block all access to the area.

  Then we’ll be ready for your support. My XO says we’ll be over Louisville in 2 hours and 40 minutes.

  The satellite surveillance doesn’t currently show any preparation for movement from Fort Knox. I sure hope those big assed Abrams remain in their Tank Parks.

  There is also a small garrison in Indianapolis, but I don’t think they would be moved and leave the city and facility open to attack.”

  “Take a quick look at blocking the enemy before they get on any of the bridges over the Ohio. That would cut them off at the knees. If we can maintain air superiority they won’t be able to bridge the river, should we be forced to destroy them.”

  “I was already thinking the same. We’ll make the best of it.”

  “Let’s try not to destroy any bridges, if possible.”

  ***

  Imelda called her Officers and Senior NCOs together to bring them up to speed on the latest drone photos. She then moved out to the airfield to meet with John and his advanced team as they arrived.

  “John, we’re glad to see you made it up here in one piece. Gus says it’s going to get hot up here anytime.”

  “Yes, our best guess is that the USA will attack us at Elizabethtown and Smyrna with bombers and cruise missiles. We also expect they will send at least one armored division and two regular Army divisions to sweep down from Indianapolis through Louisville on the way to Elizabethtown and perhaps on to Smyrna.

  However, so far, we have seen no hint of movement out of Fort Knox.

  We plan to stop them before they cross the river at Louisville and shoot most of their planes down when they attack.

  Between the rail guns and our air assets, we should be able to wreck their attacking planes.

  Admiral Jones is trying to reach the Commanders of the Air and Land elements we expect to roll against us. I think the reason Ft. Knox isn’t gearing up is that General Starry has decided to remain in barracks. If he can be assured of support from his staff, and other commanders he may be able to bring them onboard. I heard that the General Staff is furious over the DHS taking control of part of the nuclear force.”

  “That would be great news and reduce our casualties.”

  “We currently have four of the Wombat Rail Gun vehicles unloading, and another eight on C17s in the air now. If they give us 6-8 hours, we will be in great shape.”

  Imelda looked at General Harris, and asked, “Do you think most of the attackers will be the newly trained DHS Force? They are still the DHS, right?”

  John smiled and asked, “Do you have someone reading my communication and intel logs?”

  “Sir, I am in total amazement that you would even consider asking me a question like that. Sir, I would never do such a thing, but the DHS?”

  Now, again smiling, John said, “Dear God, I hope so. I do not want to fight people that I know. The DHS is, however, another thing entirely.

  I will give you the most updated info as it comes in, and yes, there is a rumor that the Regular Military is considering defying the President after the Mobile bombing.

  All right, Captain, get your people ready to move. You know what to do, hold ‘em until the division assets arrive. Are your paratroops pumped?”

  Captain Payne laughed, “Are they ever! They can’t wait to hit the silk and do that airborne shit they do.”

  General Harris’ XO yelled, “We have a major launch of cruise missiles being prepared from several locations in the USA along with bombers being readied for flight. We also have info that troops are loading into transport planes. General, it appears that they plan to soften us up with the missiles and bombers, then drop a large contingent of paratroops down this way. My guess is to secure the bridges at Louisville.”

  “Will Scott beat them to Louisville?”

  “The troop planes by at least 60-70 minutes. Cruise missiles could hit them in 5-7 minutes from launch, which is the same for us. The alert order has been sent.”

  “Get the Wombats away from the airport and ready to fight. The Wombats must take out all of the cruise missiles and as many planes as possible.

  Tell Scott to use his Stingers and Wombats to take down any aircraft unlucky enough to fly close to his position.

  Let us know when the planes take off. The missiles will launch in time to be on target one minute after the missiles hit is my guess.

  They’ll try to hit us with a one two punch and then land the troops at the airport here and Smyrna. If we fail, blow the runways.”

  Time passed slowly, but finally, Scott called, “Sir we have secured the airport and are landing as we speak. As expected, there were several squads of DHS Force soldiers guarding the airport. They have been neutralized, and, sir, we will hold the airport and bridges.

  We are pushing vehicles onto the car bridges and have placed charges on the rails on the Indiana side. The bastards might try to send a train full of troops.”

  “Carl, check with Intel on any trains heading south out of Ft. Knox or Indy.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  John’s XO got back to him in a couple of minutes and replied, “Damn, there are two trains leaving Indy heading south, and one other is being loaded.”

  “Captain, send six Warthogs, and a flight of Raptors for CAP to Indy to take out those trains.

  Call the Admiral and ask for additional air support. These bastards are throwing everything at us they have in their arsenal.”

  John realized that he was facing a full-scale attack from the USA and the enemy forces were about to be caught with their pants down.

  “Gus, we can stop them from crossing the Ohio even if we have to blow the bridges, but we could suffer 50-60 percent losses. Would you consider firing missiles at Indy to scare them into backing off?”

  “John, we fired 25 Tomahawks five minutes ago, and half the Naval Air Service is on the way to your area. Keep those runways open, or
we lose planes.

  This has the look of a maximum effort by the U.S. Those bastards thought they’d catch us napping, and they fell into our trap.”

  “Gus, we knew this could happen, but I didn’t think we were setting a trap.”

  “Because you were too bullheaded to listen when we warned you about what could happen. The USA will never give up a chance to kill of capture you or to wipe out your team.

  The jaws of the trap are the rail guns. We expect to wipe out 80 percent of their aircraft and 100 percent of their armor. The enemy is about to see A10 Warthogs and our Specter Gunships that have mini-rail gun armament.

  Your regular A10s will slow them down while we wipe them out. Then we send Specters in to wipe out their ground pounders. This will be a turkey shoot. Do we have info on the ground forces? Are they regular army or DHS?”

  Scott spoke on his radio for 15 seconds then told John, “Sir, the Intel is that there is a mixture of regular and DHS.”

  “Damn, bellowed John, “I so hoped the regular military would not be committed. Well, it is what it is. Take ‘em out.

  Scott will plug the gap in Louisville and back up the armor and troops entering the kill zones and their aircraft will be shot out of the air by our Wombats, and Raptors.”

  “Gus, we only have four Wombats.”

  “No, you have 12 more that are now in place around your base in Elizabethtown that came in with the farm equipment.

  John, stop asking questions until the fight is over and don’t pass anything I just said to anyone, but Scott, your XO, and Imelda. I’ll explain everything later. Just kick ass and take names.”

  ✪

  Chapter 9

  Turkey Shoot

  Kentucky and Tennessee

  2022

  Elizabethtown, Kentucky

  Staff Sergeant Billings said again, “Remember to tell everyone that firing tens of thousands of steel pellets and sabot rounds at planes and missiles can destroy the targets, but …”

  “We know, you’ve told us ten times. The shit has to fall somewhere. We have told them to take cover.”

  “Colonel, an 18-ounce steel sabot will travel 10 miles straight up if it missies its target. It will fall back down and go through an inch of steel when it falls. A house or building’s roof is not going to protect your troops.

  The smaller slugs will put holes in every roof for miles. The fighters will shoot a round every 5 seconds, and those rounds explode into another 150 smaller slugs.

  If we shoot at planes above our position, it will rain death all around. The tanks have thick armor and may survive falling rounds.”

  “Captain, “order all command to have their troops to stage under bridge overpasses, drainage tunnels and anything with a concrete or thick steel roof.”

  “Sir, we will try to knock down as many aircraft and cruise missiles on the inbound leg as possible, but my orders are to not let a single one get by so we will continue firing until they are all destroyed, we run out of slugs, or they get out of range.

  Our guess is that the first wave of missiles will be heading to Smyrna and the next for us. Unfortunately, the ones headed for Smyrna probably will pass us by as much as 20-30 miles.”

  “Thanks for making sure we understand the dangers involved. The surface to air missiles should be able to take out a large percent of the ones that get by.”

  “Sir, the first targets will be in range in 30 seconds. Another wave of missiles follows the first wave in 12 minutes, and then the aircraft will follow one minute later. Take cover.”

  Only a few of the Tomahawks came close enough to Louisville to engage, but Scott’s team shot down two with Stingers. In desperation, the ground forces fired at three more, but at over 500 mph, the missiles were too soon out of range.

  As expected, most of the first wave of missiles would miss Elizabethtown by 5-10 miles on their flight to Smyrna. Grounds to air missiles were fired, and the Wombats on the far west side of town fired on the nearest two, but only destroyed one. The shoulder fired Stingers took out five more, not enough as another 14 continued their destructive path to Smyrna.

  At the Tactical Operations Center (TOC), the radar man shouted, “Two of the bogies dropped off radar. I think they are circling back to hit us. They will be coming back at us from the southwest.”

  F Troop’s Command radio reported to the TOC, “Romeo 6, Foxtrot 6, two cruisers just flew over us.”

  The two Wombats in the center of town fired just as the missiles came into line of sight, skimming the tops of the buildings. The slugs ripped into the Tomahawks tearing hunks of metal from the missiles and exploding the remaining fuel. Both missiles were destroyed, but the pieces caused damage upon crashing into the Court House Square, and a strip mall. There were no casualties.

  Imelda learned later that Scott’s team had destroyed two as they flew by Louisville. The enemy would send the next wave wide around Louisville. They had been caught by surprise, not knowing that the ISA had captured the garrison at Louisville.

  ***

  War Room

  Washington D.C.

  United States

  Screaming at everyone and everything, the President stood and began pacing around the Conference table, “What the hell is wrong? Why aren’t our missiles hitting their targets? Why aren’t the tanks from Fort Knox on the move?

  I want every officer on Fort Knox arrested, and shot immediately!”

  In an effort to calm the President, his Chief of Staff said, “Mr. President, we don’t know for sure how many of our Cruise missiles have gotten through their defensive perimeter.

  We need to remain calm and…”

  “CALM!” screamed the President for life. I’ll give you calm. GUARDS! Arrest every member of the Joint Chiefs! I’m taking personal command of our military. The military is, from this moment a part of the Department of Homeland Security!”

  Everyone in the room turned toward the President, mesmerized by his tirade. The Secret Service drew their weapons and arrested every military officer in the room.

  The military command structure immediately turned chaotic. The DHS. High Command moved into the positions previously held by regular military officers and attempted to regain order.

  Those operating the consoles quickly returned to their computer systems and tried to look busy, providing the appearance of order. Nothing could have been further from the truth, as most operators sent coded messages to their counterparts at all remaining U.S. military bases telling of the President’s rant.

  ***

  Headquarters Building

  The Commanding General’s Briefing Room

  Fort Knox, Kentucky

  The assembled planners and unit commanders sat in stunned silence as the decoded messages were read.

  The Post Executive Officer, General Anders finally stood and said, “General Starry, I must now say to all in this room that I will not support, nor take any orders from the insanity coming out of Washington. You, sir, shall have my resignation immediately following this meeting.”

  “Joe, shut up and sit down. It appears to me that the order for our arrest leaves us with little alternative, but to join the ISA. We must go to full alert and prepare to repel any attempt to wrest control of Ft. Knox from our control. Then if any of our team wants to stay with the USA, they can leave the base with only their side arms.”

  The Commander of the Armored School quickly stood and said, “Sir, I do not, for a second, believe that any knowledgeable officer on this Post could elect to stand with our Dictator for life, yet we must give them the option.

  Of course, I am assuming that we, in actuality, have but one option. We must elect to join the ISA, immediately. We have sworn to protect this nation against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Well, gentlemen, I give you the premise that the enemy this nation faces is domestic, and the only way to successfully fight this enemy is to join the Constitutional Republic of the Independent States of America. There simply is no other option.

 
Having said that, General, I herewith also submit my resignation and barring arrest, I intend to join the ISA to assist in their attempt to restore the Constitution and this nation.”

  Before resuming his seat, the General removed his stars and placed them on the table.

  General Starry sat in silent admiration as he watched every officer in attendance remove his insignia of rank and place it on the table. General Starry then removed his stars.

  “Well, gentlemen, I believe I know how this resolution will be met, but I am compelled to seek a vote. Anyone who supports staying with the U.S. may leave with our blessing.”

  No one rose or spoke. It was a historical moment, yet no one uttered any quote to endear this moment to history.

  General Starry finally rose, and in a soft voice said, “Gentlemen, let us all replace our insignia of rank, and order formations at every unit level on this Post. Every soldier or civilian on Ft. Knox must make this decision for him or herself.

  The proposal is simple: Return to the U.S. in peace, or join the ISA and stand with it in freedom to fight the tyranny of the USA.

  Men, let’s get the formations held and see if we have an Army at Ft. Knox. These formations are to be held immediately, and I want to reconvene this meeting at 2100 hrs. Let’s do it.”

  Two hours later the report was that only 200 of 70,000 chose to leave. Those in the stockade were escorted to the main gate where they were turned over to civilian authorities.

  During the intervening 2 hours, General Starry had been composing a letter to President George Washington of the Independent States of America, and to the President of the U.S.A. One sought asylum and the integration of Ft. Knox into the ISA. The other to inform the U.S.A. that Ft. Knox had joined the ISA in its fight to defeat the tyranny of the U.S.