Текст книги "The Battle for New York"

Автор книги: T. I. Wade

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Текущая страница: 24 (всего у книги 28 страниц)

The two remaining gunships and HC-130 tankers arrived back a day later, minus Ghost Rider. They were all refueled, and would wait for the memorial service to be held later that afternoon at McGuire for the 14 lost aircrew, including General Allen, who had been aboard the lost aircraft. Carlos had gotten a lift back to Preston’s farm to pick up his P-51, and all the people at Preston’s farm had flown up in Baby Huey and Lady Dandy to attend the service.

There weren’t many people left at the farm. Even Will Smart risked his life, choosing the helicopter over Lady Dandy. He sat on the floor of the helicopter, holding his kids’ hands as they and the president’s kids sat with him. The President and First Lady were comfortable in the upholstered chairs that had been reinstalled to make Baby Huey into Air Force One again. With Will’s eyes tightly shut, Baby Huey took off in a northerly direction towards McGuire under Buck’s steady hand.

Lady Dandy had flown directly in to McGuire with Barbara in the left seat and an excited Maggie as her co-pilot in the right seat. Joe and David wanted to attend as well, and they arrived with Captain Pierce and 20 of his troops in the DC-3. Mike, John, and Pam offered to stay behind to feed the dogs and get to as many people as possible with the Cargomaster, Pilatus, and Cessna 210 working most of the daylight hours. Preston flew up in the P-38 in formation with Martie’s and Carlos’ P-51s on either side of him.

Everyone wanted a flyover for the memorial service, so Preston organized a flyover and the 11 C-130s the general had carefully looked after and returned to perfect condition were all brought in for the short ceremony. Time, unfortunately, was running out.

Carlos had arranged for his uncle and father to be picked up from the Colombian Embassy in another Huey, and Vice Admiral Rogers and several of his naval personnel flew in on an old Coast Guard C-130 they had just refurbished and made air-worthy the day before.

Michael and Grandpa Roebels, as well as the base commanders of Edwards and Hill AFBs arrived from Edwards aboard a C-130 with Captain Jennifer Watkins in the pilot’s seat. In the last four days, Jennifer had visited 30 Air Force bases in the United States and had given out satellite phones. It was the first time since that busy day at Preston’s farm so many aircraft were in one place. Even the three refurbished F-4s had been flown in by pilots of the general’s direct command.

Just to spite the enemy, something General Allen would have done, every aircraft flew in with their transponders on just to piss-off the enemy, if they were still watching.

First, the president said a few words about the man he had only really gotten to know several days earlier. “Pete was an American who put his country first. I don’t even know if the general was married or had any children. He did his job for his country, not allowing anything, or anybody to distract him from saving this land. Thanks to him, the United States of America now has the opportunity to continue to be a free and democratic society for the long term.” He continued, explaining that this memorial service was also a tribute to all the American people, military or civilian, who had died since January 1st. “Don’t let us forget the millions of innocent people around the world who have died for nothing more than someone’s thirst for power and greed.” He silently took his seat.

The Colombian Ambassador stood at the podium and said that Pete Allen was one of the finest men he had ever met. He had helped Colombia overcome the drug war in the early years by providing U.S. aid and Air Force aircraft and helicopters to help with the effort to curtail gangs and drug lords from taking over Colombia. Thanks to Pete Allen, his country of Colombia was also still a free country.

Vice Admiral Rogers said a eulogy for his fallen friend. “I grew up with Pete Allen. We were at a high school military academy together. Nobody could out-think Pete Allen. He was a tactician. He lived for planning battles. Unfortunately, Pete was a straight-talking man and had been passed by for promotion by Air Force generals now long forgotten, when he wouldn’t stand down from verbal confrontation. He was not one to beat about the bush and he called a spade a spade and pissed off many. I knew Pete’s family well. He and I had both courted the woman who finally became his wife, and he definitely won the prize with Marge Allen. Unfortunately, she died of cancer in 1995 and he was pretty lost without her for a while. Marge and Pete Allen had had two sons—Captain Peter Junior and Lieutenant Joe Allen. One died in combat in Iraq and the other in a civilian car crash here in the United States. Both had been active-duty military and both were single when they died. His elder son Peter was shot down in an Apache helicopter in Iraq in 1996, and Joe had been a Navy Seal Team member for several years when he was killed in a car accident driving from Washington to North Carolina in 1998. In three years, this proud man lost his entire family, but he never shirked his duty to his country. He got through the turmoil in his life and moved on to the kind of greatness we saw in him over the past week. Hopefully, he is now reunited with his loved ones in heaven. General Pete Allen, as well as the entire Allen family, should always be remembered for their support of their beloved country, the United States of America.”

An hour later, the jets had been separated from the piston aircraft, and all the aircraft were taking off. A band played as the captured 747 transporter came in very low in formation with the three F-4s, one in front and one on each side. Then the second wave came over as a 21-gun salute was given to the general and his crew by Air Force troops commanded by Captain Pierce. Then the piston-engine aircraft came over low and slow at 500 feet. It was led by Preston in the P-38 with Martie and Carlos in the two P-51 Mustangs, followed by all 12 of the flying C-130s in an arrow-shaped formation. The formation had a hole in it right behind the lead aircraft flown by Sally and Jennifer, with the two gunships next in line. Between them was the hole where Ghost Rider should have been. Behind the hole was the latest addition to the fleet of aircraft—the Coast Guard C-130 of Vice Admiral Rogers.

The band played and the soldiers on the ground stood at attention as the aircraft passed overhead.

Chapter 17

Preparation for Invasion USA

Mo Wang didn’t know what to do. It had been an hour since he had spoken on the phone to America. Even his worst fears about what the Americans actually knew had been surpassed. Carlos Rodriquez had been upfront about everything they had done, how much they knew, and even that they knew where he, Mo Wang, was, he thought—in the middle of the Pacific with ten ships.

Of course they wanted the aircraft. It was the only way to transfer their troops back to American soil quickly. They wanted all the aircraft, but did they know where they were now, in the chairman’s secret military base in Harbin? That must have been where the missiles had come from. Now, Harbin was the most dangerous place to store an army and all the aircraft Zedong Electronics currently had in their arsenal.

Mo certainly wanted to get off the ship, but the middle of the Pacific was not a good place to do that. He also realized that he should not talk to the chairman anymore, or it could become extremely deadly for him.

Comrade Mo Wang knew that he did not want to be a part of this madness any longer, and decided that Panama could be a good place to start a new life. He had the small suitcase full of American $100 bills. All the Politburo members had received the same suitcase a year earlier as a joke from the chairman who said that they should spend it as soon as possible since it would be worthless after Z-Day. Maybe it would be worth something in Panama.

If he could become friendly with this Carlos Rodriquez, he would still have the cell phone and he could still be in contact with the New World after the chairman was destroyed in New York. Mo Wang felt dirty and used. Mo Wang hadn’t killed anybody of his own free will. His termination squads had been trained at a secret location—probably Harbin—by the chairman, and then placed under his control to destroy all the operatives he had found and trained. He was not a killer, and did not like the eagerness his first cousin Comrade Chairman Chunqiao exhibited when terminating people.

Yes, Mo Wang was part of the Chunqiao family. His father was the chairman’s youngest uncle. The chairman knew this well, and that was why Mo Wang had got away with so much. And, it was time to tell Lee Wang that he was also part of the Wang family– a first cousin to Mo Wang by marriage. Mo Wang had always known this. The chairman didn’t, nor did Lee. He had watched as the young Lee, always at the top of his class, had flown through his schooling, always the best in class and getting the highest grades.

Even in university, Lee Wang—fifteen years younger than he– had excelled, so much so that Mo Wang had made sure that young Lee had been given a chance with Zedong Electronics. In those days, it was the only company to work for before all this crap about taking over the world had become the reality.

Mo Wang reckoned that they could have taken over the world peacefully by just doing what they were doing—building every single electrical piece of equipment in the world. He had had a drink with the chairman a year or so before Z-Day and had suggested to him that the more peaceful route was just as good. It would only take another decade before the world was totally dependant on the products their 400 manufacturing companies produced, and then the sky was the limit for asking top dollar.

The chairman had laughed at him—yes, laughed in his face, and asked him what enjoyment was there in taking over the world peacefully? China had always been a powerful nation. Enemies were brought before Chinese leaders and dealt with, not chatted to like stupid politicians chat to each other. Kings and queens of enemy factions and countries were beheaded, and the people enslaved as worker bees for the most powerful dynasties. China had been slaves to the rest of the world for too long and it was time to show China’s power and bring the whole world to their knees to beg the most powerful dynasty in the world for mercy. And he was about to do that, starting with the most powerful country in the world—the United States of America.

From that day on, Mo Wang hadn’t slept much, and now he just really wanted to jump ship.

It took him many hours, but finally he gathered up the courage to pick up the phone. It was midnight, and he was about to sink his first cousin Chairman Chunqiao. He hoped that if he did, then maybe he could die peacefully in a place like Panama. “I would like to speak to Carlos Rodriquez, please,” Mo asked as the phone was picked up.

“Comrade Mo Wang, I presume?” replied Carlos.

“Am I calling at an inopportune moment, Mr. Rodriquez?”

“Not really, just having a cold beer,” replied Carlos taking a sip. “Lee Wang and his family and I and a few others have been memorializing our dead this afternoon. I’m just hanging out with Lee and a few friends of mine, like The President of the United States, and having a drink to remember our fallen. I’m putting you on speaker phone so that the 30-odd people around me can hear what you have to say to us, Mr. Wang.”

“You mean that the American President is there with you right now?” asked Mo. This Carlos person always backed him into a corner so quickly.

“Yep! He’s one of the boys and we are deliberating whether to take you out today, tomorrow, or the next day. We haven’t decided yet.”

“Today would be better, Mr. Rodriquez. Then I could also finally rest easy,” replied Mo Wang. “I have decided that I will be leaving Zedong Electronics in Panama in three days time. Lee Wang, are you there?”

“Yes, I am here,” replied Lee, bending toward the speaker phone. He didn’t really need to. The room full of people had gone so quiet that there wasn’t a sound. There were the U.S. President, five Air Force base commanders, Vice Admiral Rogers and three of his men, the Colombian Ambassador and Manuel, Colonel Patterson and the two new majors, Wong and Chong, Preston, Martie, Joe, David, Buck and Barbara, Will and Maggie, and Lin and Ling Wang. All the other pilots had gone back to duty, and every transport aircraft was back in the air ferrying in equipment from all over the eastern part of the country.

“Did you know, Lee, that you and I are related?” and Mo, in English, explained to Lee that he was family after all. Lee was shocked, but did not react visibly to the news.

“Carlos, I’m going to tell you everything I know. I have not been responsible for any deaths, but I am part of the overall picture, so I consider myself guilty. But this madman, my cousin, needs to be stopped before he destroys the whole world.” For another several minutes, Mo gave his new audience the rundown on the leader of Zedong Electronics.

“As you already know, we are two days out from the Panama Canal. Zedong Electronics has many troops in Panama, and has taken over the country so that we can pass through the canal without hindrance. We will spend the last day before we pass through the canal getting our naval ships refueled and supplied from tankers and supply ships. I believe that they will return to the coastal area around Harbin to refuel so they can return to resupply the ships coming back into the Pacific and then going in to Los Angeles. I was reminded about his secret base in Harbin this morning. Harbin is where the missiles originated. He has one left. He purchased four White Falcon missiles from Pakistan a year ago. He told me himself that the fourth missile is destined for Shanghai once he has all his 60,000 troops out of there. It is not meant to fly to the United States. He wants your country untouched because it will be his new base of operations.”

“What are your naval ships?” asked Carlos after receiving a written note from Vice Admiral Rogers.

“We have the aircraft carrier from which I am speaking to you, two modern destroyers, and the last two modern frigates made in China only last year. I don’t know much about ships, but their numbers are 85, 170, 171, 572, and 573. Your Navy will be able to tell you about them since Google no longer exists. I’m sure you will know more about them than I do. But, Mr. Rodriquez, much more important is your people. We are the escort for five of the world’s largest container ships. These five ships are full of billions of pounds of food that the chairman is expecting to use to bribe the women and children in America into accepting a red Communist passport. I’m sure that your people are now desperate for food and there is enough for millions of meals. They will go first to New York harbor, 24 hours after the aircraft you have not yet stolen fly into the three airports and drop in 12,000 troops. Those troops will walk to the harbor and fortify it. The number was meant to be 20,000, but you brought the numbers down when you stole the aircraft. Then those aircraft will take off and return the next day with another 12,000 troops bound for Washington, D.C. Two weeks later, they return again and land with another 12,000 troops in Los Angeles. By then, all your U.S. West Coast troops are expected to be travelling by road to New York to fight the East Coast battle, if there is one. I believe that there are 30 of China’s most modern and powerful fighter aircraft on this ship. Again, speak to your Air Force so they are ready for battle. You need the food, but I’m sure you don’t need the naval ships. If you do, then you will form a plan.

“The chairman expects to take over New York, fight any Americans that resist, take over Washington D.C., and then work on the West Coast. He has 60,000 well-trained troops. I’m hoping that the chairman doesn’t hear that I have spoken with you, because he will terminate me for sure. As you asked, I have told the rest of the termination squads to lay low and not get close to New York, or they will surely die. There are about 200 men left and once I get off the ship, I will tell them to disappear and wait to see who wins the war. These ships are fully armed and they will use our three satellites to work their armament systems.”

“Not anymore,” replied Carlos. “We control them now. We have controlled them since an hour ago. Your cousin Lee is the best you could have ever given us, Mr. Wang. I just don’t know why you employed him as a floor cleaner.”

“Sometimes a floor cleaner can get promoted into better positions,” replied Mo Wang. “Now, I’ve told you the story. Lee Wang, come and find me in Panama. I might look up your aunt who lives somewhere around that area. They say that the weather is warm this time of year. Carlos Rodriquez, good luck.” And with that, Mo Wang hung up, his job done and his destiny sealed.

*****

“What do you think, Lee?” asked the president after Mo Wang had hung up. “Do you think your cousin is setting a trap for us?”

“I don’t think so,” interrupted Mrs. Wang. “We know him well and we were all surprised to realize that this man was part of such a ruthless bunch of men. Remember, we also joined Zedong Electronics, much like he did, and at that time, in our part of China there was not much more to look forward to.”

“I agree,” added Lee. “I think he has been in a frustrating position. If he didn’t do as they expected, he would not be alive. But, I still do not trust anything anymore at face value. I think we must back up and prove that this attack will actually happen like he says it will. We can find the ships on the satellite before they reach New York, and I’m sure our aircraft can search for them. Without satellite communications, their ships cannot fire their very new and fancy missiles with any accuracy, and I believe that we can still win the battle for New York. And, I just might check out the Panama weather reports once the war is over.”

“General Allen knew a great deal about their plan already,” added Colonel Patterson. “Before he died, he gave me implicit instructions on how to defend New York. He didn’t know about the food ships, and I’m sure we can tweak the plan he gave me to make sure that the valuable food gets to those who need it most.” He then went about telling the group what the general had planned for the arrival of the invasion force.

*****

Colonel Grady was slowly making his way up I-95 as the group at McGuire discussed battle plans. The second convoy had caught up with him within a day of leaving Preston’s farm. The first convoy had reached the southern Virginia border when the second convoy reported that they could see the tail end of the convoy up ahead. They were getting low on fuel and the colonel got on the phone to Preston. “Good evening, Preston. Grady here. I’m going to need one of your tankers to fly in and refuel our tanks down here in Virginia. We will need about 6,000 gallons per day and the second convoy now just behind us will need about the same. Plain old regular gas will do—none of your fancy flying fuels now, just 50% unleaded and 50% diesel.”

“Hi, Colonel Grady,” replied Preston. “How are the roads? Can a 130 get down on the cleared highway?”

“Oh, sure. The navy has done a good job. We have increased our speed from 20 miles an hour to 30. We could go faster, but the old tanks have a maximum speed of 30 miles an hour. We have enough fuel for about three hours at this speed and I thought that I could send our tanker trucks forward several miles and then the Air Force can come in and fill them up. We now have eight tankers, all old M-49s from the 1960s. They hold 1,200 gallons each and I’m sure your 130 could fill up a couple of them at a time. I could send four of them forward 100 miles and they could be refueled and ready for us when we get there. Leapfrog the tankers, you know what I mean. I can refuel eight vehicles at a time so we could have both convoys refueled in four hours. I think that we can stagger the vehicles every couple hundred yards to head up to the next refueling spot as they are filled, which will give us a 100-mile convoy, but at least we won’t have hundreds of vehicles hanging around waiting for fuel.”

“Send your tankers up front,” replied Preston, “and I’ll get the Air Force to stage a refueling point every 100 miles until you get into New York—the quicker the better. Call me when you get your tankers forward and we will have our two 130 tankers refueled and ready to transfer your unleaded and diesel, Colonel.”

The HC-130 tanker aircrews were called, and Preston quickly explained to the base commander what Colonel Grady wanted. The Air Force set about flying in the two tankers to land on the cleared northbound I-95 highway, 100 miles into Virginia from the border. It would take the aircraft two hours to get there, and they could easily fill two of the trucks each. Another four road tankers would be positioned another 100 miles nearer, and the time the 130s took to unload their fuel, fly back for more and then return, the tanker trucks would be moved to a new forward location by the time the 130s arrived. They reckoned that the Army convoys would be in New York within 72 hours.

*****

Back in North Carolina, the supplies were going out as fast as possible. The crew of the Southwest flight worked hard on the empty farm with most of its aircraft gone. The Air Force guards were down to a dozen, and the hangar was quiet and empty now that the battle had moved north. With the smaller aircraft Mike, John, and Pam were using, they would never run out of food supplies from Seymour Johnson. The 747 transporter was now also flying into Seymour Johnson every day, often parking next to the smaller aircraft and also packing in food. The three little aircraft looked like flies compared to the massive 747, which loaded more in one flight than they could load in a year, but people were being fed and America needed to hang on for another week to ten days before all the aircraft could get involved with feeding the population.

*****

On January 13th, the Chinese engineers were gathered into a JFK terminal meeting room. Most of the engineers still had bumps on their heads from when they were captured.

Preston, Colonel Patterson, Carlos, Lee and Majors Wang and Chong flew in to meet with them. They had worked hard with their American counterparts and needed a little time off. The president was flying in to JFK in Baby Huey an hour later once the terminal was secure and the engineers seated.

He did so, and Buck brought Air Force One down gently where the first 747 had been captured. Guards had been posted all the way down the Van Wyck Highway and around the entire terminal area. Fresh snow covered the ground, and the wind was blowing a negative wind-chill factor as the Huey lowered herself onto the recently cleared terminal apron. The president and his Secret Service agents walked into the warm terminal building and each was handed a cup of steaming coffee as they arrived.

Colonel Patterson brought the meeting to order as Lee strode up to the platform. In Chinese, he began: “Does every person here speak decent English? If you cannot understand English, please stand up.” Nobody did. “So, we will now continue this meeting in English. The United States of America considers all of you prisoners of war. Does anybody not understand that?” Nobody moved. “The President of the United States has come here today to offer you amnesty if you would like to be a new citizen of the United States. You are not soldiers, you are engineers, and this country now needs your knowledge to repair what has been destroyed. We know that your job here was to get the airports and harbor operational for the invasion of the United States by the CEO and President of Zedong Electronics, Chairman Wang Chunqiao and the company you and I used to work for. We were all employed because we were the best in our fields. You are all expert engineers and what you do after the invasion is entirely up to you. I believe, as one of you but also as an American citizen, that you can either stay here or go home. Before you make that decision, I need to update you on China.”

Lee paused to formulate his words carefully. “Chairman Wang Chunqiao dropped three atomic bombs on China yesterday. One destroyed Beijing, the second destroyed Taiwan, and the third destroyed both Hong Kong and Guangzhou.” There was a loud murmur among all the engineers as they questioned the truth of that statement and spoke amongst each other. Lee allowed them a few moments to do so.

“Why would he do such a thing, and how do we know you are telling the truth?” asked one engineer.

“I have family in Beijing,” stated another, and Lee put his hand up for silence.

“We control the three satellites owned by Zedong Electronics,” continued Lee. “I’m sure some of you worked on them, or knew somebody who worked on them. Our commander, who was running our defense against Chairman Chunqiao’s attacks, was killed in Beijing. He had flown in to deliver satellite phones to the Chinese government so that they could communicate with America as well as Russia. He had just left Beijing International Airport when the first missile exploded. We could see the explosions on the satellite feed, but we had not mastered the satellite control codes at the time. There is a fourth nuclear missile in Harbin and Comrade Mo Wang told me yesterday that it is aimed at Shanghai and is meant to destroy Shanghai once the chairman has flown all his troops out of the Shanghai Pudong Airport. As you have seen, the American Air Force went into Pudong a couple of days ago and stole some of the chairman’s Air China aircraft so that America can begin to fly its troops back from all the wars they were involved with before this crisis. Many of you saw these aircraft fly into the three New York airports yesterday, and they are due in here again today with another 6,000 American troops out of Iraq. We know all about the attack here in New York next week, and we are preparing to destroy the leaders of Zedong Electronics before they destroy the rest of the world. How many of you come from the Shanghai area?” Most of the engineers raised their hands.

“You may thank the United States Air Force, my friend Carlos Rodriquez,” he added pointing to Carlos, “and me, because that fourth atomic bomb destined for Shanghai next week will not reach Shanghai. It will be redirected out to sea and destroy itself. For the rest of you who had family in the destroyed areas, I’m sorry for your loss and you may thank the chairman yourself when he arrives in America. You have two choices, and if you decide to become Americans, the president will forgive you. I will now let him explain.” Lee returned to his seat and the room was silent as the U.S. President came forward.

“Good Day. I know that you are the best in your fields,” the President started. “What Mr. Wang has told you is the truth. We have our own atomic weapons ready to fire on my command and we have the satellite, or shall I say satellites to guide them anywhere in the world we want. America has not unleashed a weapon of mass destruction to kill civilians since the Second World War, but the chairman of your country unleashed three of them minutes apart to kill his own people. This man needs to be stopped. Look what he has done to the world! He has taken humanity back 100 years and you could say that the world has gone back into a new form of the Dark Ages. Now you must each make a choice. You can either stay under guard and continue to be a prisoner of war, or you can help us fight this monster and begin to get the world working again. So far, we believe that it’s possible that two billion people have died worldwide and certainly another billion or two are going to die before we can get our planet back on track.”

“I promise you that once we have secured the destruction of Chairman Wang Chunqiao and his accomplices, we will fly you back to China to look for your families and bring them back to the United States. He cannot explode his fourth nuclear missile over Shanghai anymore. If you would like to stay there, you will have that choice, but the United States of America blames China and its people for this catastrophe and we will not look at China as a friend for many generations to come. We will probably never do business with China again. Now, make your choices and come and help us design and develop a new country and a new world. Hopefully we can learn to live in peace again and I hope that this destruction of our civilization is a turning point toward a better world.” The President left a totally silent room.

Now it was time for Colonel Patterson to complete General Allen’s plan for fending off the invasion force. Lee Wang was put in charge of discussing the engineers’ options with each of them, helped by his wife and daughter as well as Majors Wong and Chong. Baby Huey took off to fly north with the president on board, as well as one Secret Service agent, Colonel Patterson, Preston, Carlos, Vice Admiral Rogers, and the McGuire base commander. The weather was clear but cold, and several thermoses of coffee and snacks had been put on board for the flight over New York harbor.

Colonel Grady and his long convoy were doing well and would arrive within 36 hours. The biggest problem was the massive increase of starving people around the four airports. Over 100 troops were doling out a week’s supply of rations per person at each airport, and the 747 transporter was working nonstop to empty Seymour Johnson of supplies. The lone aircraft managed a flight into each airport once every 24 hours and 10,000 people per airport were receiving two week’s worth of rations every day and told not to come back because there was going to be a massive battle around the airports, on the highways, and in the harbor.