Invasion: China (Invasion America) (Volume 5) (46 page)

“Keep pouring it on,” Stan said.

“We’re not going to have enough ammo left to deal with the Chinese tanks,” the XO said. “Our supply—”

“Let me worry about that,” Stan said. “Sink those hovers. Those are the real danger to our supply lines. This is a crazy place to use them. Let’s make them pay for their mistake.”

The Chinese lost over half their hovers before the fast machines began curving back, retreating.

“Now’s where we demolish them,” Stan said. “Their defensive fire will be much less because they have fewer machines.”

“Our rounds are dwindling fast, General.”

“We’re killing the hovers now!” Stan shouted.

General Higgins proved correct: only one in five hovers made it back to their side. He used some artillery to try to get those, and killed a few more. Altogether, it proved a stunning victory.

“Those infantry divisions are close,” the XO radioed.

“Exactly,” Stan said.

Stan Higgins had an idea. He didn’t believe the two infantry divisions would have much antitank weaponry, but mainly small arms. The next hour showed the Chinese how deadly the Jefferson tanks were against infantry. The American MBTs massed and attacked.

With their beehive flechettes and antipersonnel rounds, the Jeffersons murdered thousands of Chinese soldiers. Finally, the enemy broke and ran. Once again, his calculated decision proved correct.

“Unleash the artillery on them,” Stan said. “Let’s finish this.”

“Don’t you have any mercy?” the XO asked.

“Not here, not today,” Stan said. “They invaded us first. I mean to finish this war with an American strategic victory.”

“By the way,” the XO said, “we’re low on antitank rounds.”

“Well take the risk and remain here to deal death.”

The artillery rained on the retreating Chinese infantry. The Jeffersons together with the artillery decimated them. The waiting division of Type 99 tanks kept Stan from capturing the survivors, though. If this had been the first blitzkrieg phase of the invasion, those tanks wouldn’t have been waiting there as a final enemy reserve.

That’s the difference
, Stan told himself.
We’re still demolishing them. But we’re unable to exploit our victories to maximum advantage
.

If they were going to conquer China, they had to find a way to return to capturing tens of thousands of enemy personnel after each victory.

BIANGANGXIANG, JILIN PROVINCE

Once again, Jake’s battalion found itself cooperating with tanks. It was July 13 and the weather had turned unbearably hot. They attempted to clear the G1 Highway as the US army group surged toward Changchun.

Enemy soldiers from Xing’s Twelfth Army blocked the advance, defending in a forest to the southeast of Biangangxiang.

Since early this morning, Jake had been in the line of battle, waiting for the tanks to finish their job before the company attacked.

Jake had kept his eyes open. As a former Behemoth leader, he appreciated the current tank tactics. Once the armor arrived at the enemy position, the squadrons spread out fanwise, outflanking and encircling the Chinese. With a pincer movement, the tanks slowly closed up again. In this way, they forced the enemy into a progressively smaller area.

At that point, the infantry went over to the attack, methodically clearing the enemy zone…

In front of Jake were the woods and a few broken-down shacks from which came the violent banging of RPGs.

The company captain shouted at them, giving each lieutenant his objective. Wans’ platoon would attack the nearest huts as the others hit the forest.

Jake ran half bent, with the rest of his squad behind him. Wans deployed them in an arc, and everyone went forward without too much difficulty.

The other platoons had already reached the tree line. Incendiary grenades started fires as branches and thousands of leaves began to blaze.

The Chinese in the woods blasted away as if they had great mounds of ammunition at their disposal.

Then shells screeched, slamming against the ground and exploding with a sickening din. It felt as if giants dug their spades into the ground and threw dirt and clods everywhere.

“Are those from our guns or the Chinese?” Chet shouted from the ground.

Whoever owned them, fragments of shell hit seven Americans. This time, the body armor proved ineffective.

More shells plowed the ground. Mud rained down on Jake’s helmet, tossed up by the explosions. His face was buried in the earth.

“Get up!” Grant shouted. He’d lost an ear and blood covered the side of his face. “We can’t stay here.”

Jake knew he right. He scrambled to his feet. So did Chet. They sprinted through the belt of death, flattening themselves every twenty feet. More Americans lay dead on the soil, cut to pieces by jagged shrapnel.

One wounded man missing his legs crawled for the rear ranks. He shouted hoarsely for a medic.

Jake got up again, running. He and Chet reached the first houses. Their assault guns chattered. Incendiary grenades flew. The roofs burst into flames.

Chinese dashed out, yelling. One of them burned nicely. The soldier rolled on the ground, screaming in agony.

Red rage washed over Jake. He fired into the Chinese. So did others, including Chet and Grant. Jake reloaded, fired and reloaded once more. Everyone hurled grenades into the huts. Roofs collapsed and sparks billowed.

Through the smoke, Jake spied green shadows. Some of the enemy tried to escape through the woods.

He knelt, sighted and fired magazine after magazine. Each time a shadow flew onto the ground bought a grim sense of satisfaction to him.

The rest of the day turned into a hug mopping up operation. Jake, Chet and Grant swept the thickets and clearings, hunting with everyone else for Chinese soldiers. Many emerged with their hands on their heads. Battalion sent them off to waiting trucks. The Chinese would swell the numbers of growing POW camps.

From
Military History: Past to Present
, by Vance Holbrook:

The Invasion of Manchuria, 2042

2042, June 9-July 15. The Approach to Changchun
. The Russian 9th Army Group spread out through the Gobi Desert to reach the Khingan Mountain Range. Russian and German antiair units thickened, providing air cover while the logisticians laid down roads to aid the beginning of a vast movement of supply near the southern Khingan Mountains. During this time, the Manchurian-based Russian and American army groups strode toward Changchun. Both the defenders and attackers lacked their former air assets, as constant warfare destroyed the expensive fighters, bombers and drones.

At this point, Hong
finally unleashed the overseas units, having transferred them back to China. At the same time, Russian and American commanders appealed home for more of everything. The Allies advanced almost everywhere without halt, paying in blood but more in wear and tear. The offensive tip of their armies had weakened considerably since the beginning of the invasion. Too many units now garrisoned hostile cities or guarded the supply routes. The only Chinese victory came in the Changbai Mountains. The Russian assault out of Vladivostok halted before they could reach the Tumen River Valley. Marshal Timoshenko finally admitted defeat and retreated toward Vladivostok.

WASHINGTON, DC

Anna Chen wore a red hat, sunglasses
, a white blouse and skirt as she shopped at Macys. A red purse dangled from her left arm. She examined a pair of dress jeans, luxuriating in being out in public for once.

Most of time she stayed with David
Sims. At the director’s orders, the President remained drugged. Because of it, David had grown thinner than ever. Finally, she had prevailed on the doctors, who convinced Harold to let David wake up now and again. She spoke to David then, trying to cheer him up. Today, she looked for the perfect outfit to show him next time.

A small old man in a
black Berkshire hat with a feather sticking up from it cleared his throat. He used a cane, his arm trembling from seeming exhaustion. Clearing his throat again, the man appeared to want to walk where Anna stood. She squeezed aside, but he didn’t move, the ornery old man.

“I’m going to leave a chip in these pants,” the old man said in the clear voice of Doctor Levin.

Just barely, Anna kept herself from staring at him.

“Look
somewhere else,” he said.

Anna did just that. She’d never realized that Levin could playact as he did.

“I used to be a young man once,” Levin whispered, as if reading her mind. “In those days, I was a case officer and needed to resort to these sorts of antics.”

“Militia operatives are watching me,” Anna whispered, as she kept her mout
h aimed down.

“I’m well aware of that
, my dear. Is the President still alive?”

“Yes.”

“Is he still drugged?”

“Yes,” Anna said.

“After I leave, take the chip and study it later.”

Anna wasn’t sure
Levin would understand her next words. He had gone to great lengths and danger to do this. She hated to disappoint him…but she had a higher propose now.

“I’m not interested in conspiracies
against Director Harold,” she said.

She half-expected Levin to leave. Instead, he said, “
Once you read the transcript, destroy the chip. I’ll contact you when it’s time.”

“Did you hear me?”

“Of course, my dear,” Levin said. “I simply don’t believe you. Your President dies unless you help me.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“Please, Anna. You’re a smart woman. Harold needs David for now. But he won’t always need him. In fact, after a certain point, the President becomes a dangerous liability for Harold.”

Deep in
her heart, Anna knew that. It just seemed so impossible to fight all of Homeland Security and the Militia Organization. The CIA didn’t stand a chance.

“Anna?”
Levin asked.

“You said you’d contact me when it’s time.
Time for what?” she asked.

There was no answer
, but she heard the scuffle of shoes and a tapping cane. She didn’t look up, but she continued to examine a pair of orange pants. Finally, she moved back to where she’d been and now looked up. The director of the CIA was gone. Her arms felt weak and lifeless. She didn’t want to do this.

You don’t have to, you know. You can walk away. Yet what if Levin is right? Does Harold plan to murder David?

Anna jeered herself then as a coward and a fool. Harold kept the President drugged. She had to act. She had to help Levin and whoever worked with him.

Over time, she examined another pair of pants. There she found
the chip.

S
hould I really do this?

She knew the answer.
Without glancing around, she secreted the chip in her purse, slipping it into her change slot, and she bought the dress jeans.

The Militia operatives
trailing her must not have suspected anything. She went home. Her room was several over from David’s sweet. Anna knew very well that her house was bugged. They also monitored her with cameras, the creeps. She felt their stares every time she showered. So she waited.

Finally, late at night, wh
en she pulled the blankets over her, she took out a tablet she’d put under her pillow. Like a little kid, she slid the chip into the computer. Under the covers, she began to read Levin’s transcript of a meeting between the three dictators—Harold, Alan, McGraw—and several other high-ranking government people.

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA (TRANSCRIPT)

Strategic Conference, 1.12 P.M.

Participants
: Harold, Alan, McGraw, Levin, Caliato (Director of Industry), O’Hara (Admiral, Pacific Fleet), Danner (Air Marshal, US Strategic Command).

Transcript #1

HAROLD: We’re all extremely busy, I realize, but we’re going to have to come to a decision on this. The Chinese people have not risen up in moral outrage against Chairman Hong’s tyranny as we’d hoped they might. Even more important, the Chinese Army and Secret Police continue to support him. Perhaps most amazing of all, even though the Chinese have removed their garrisons from Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia, those nations continue to remain loyal to the Pan-Asian Alliance.

ALAN: It’s still too soon to expect any of them to defect. The Chinese Navy
still rules their local waters. Until we can use our submarines to challenge the Chinese hold on the Eastern Pacific—
HAROLD: I’m aware of our marine strategy. For several weeks now, no new reinforcements of any kind have reached Mexico.

ALAN: That’s a misleading statement, Director. Doctor Levin has already informed us of the new understanding. The South American Federation has agreed to supply the PAA Mexico-based army. Even now, Chinese army groups prepare themselves for a new offensive into Texas.

MCGRAW: We’re ready for them. I can assure you of that.

HAROLD: That begs the question. We invaded China primarily in order to pull their army out of Mexico. The Chinese military is in an even better situation in Mexico now that the SAF are entraining all supplies from South America. Our submarines cannot sink trains.

MCGRAW: Our
Texas-based troops will halt any—

HAROLD: General, this is a political matter
, not a simple military tactic. Opinion polls are quite clear on the issue. The American people presently support our invasion of China, believing as we do that it will solve the Mexico situation. The trouble is that Hong is outlasting us. We have to put an end to him or the war
now
, not at some later date.

ALAN:
I suspect this conference has to do with Premier Konev’s envoy meeting with you two days ago.

HAROLD:
That’s insightful. Yes, you’re right, of course. Gentlemen, we’re defeating the Chinese in Manchuria, but at too slow a rate. We’re giving them time to train new troops. We know the danger of that, because we did it to them.

MCGRAW: Three million soldier
s are too few to conquer China. They may not even be enough to take Manchuria.

HAROLD: As allies
with the Russians, we’re driving through Mongolia
and
Manchuria.

MCGRAW: I understand. This war looks like the long haul, though.
Doubling Allied numbers to six million won’t give us China, either.

HAROLD:
In that sense, I agree with you. We have to do more than simply militarily defeat over a billion people. We must stun their hearts and change their thinking about this. We must pulverize the Chinese so they lose faith in Hong or in any further foreign adventures. We must make them
yearn
to call their Mexico-based army back home.

LEVIN: Are you finally considering my suggestion, that we make peace with China?

HAROLD: Under the condition of their removal of their army in Mexico, and with the proviso of Colonel Valdez’s accession to the Mexican presidency, yes, I could accept that.

LEVIN: You mean
Valdez’s elevation through a national election?

HAROLD: I mean that he becomes the president. How he sugarcoats
his rise doesn’t matter to me in the slightest.

ALAN:
You raise interesting points. The key is this. Is Hong finally ready to negotiate and agree to our terms?

HAROLD: There are no signs
that he is. Thus, we must increase the tempo of our invasion of his country.

LEVIN: It is my understanding that Premier Konev is reluctant to incur massive Slavic casualties. The old GD equipment—the AI Kaisers and drones—have
also taken incredible losses. How much longer will the Russians attack? They desire Mongolia and Manchuria. I very much doubt they plan to drive deeper into China.

HAROLD:
You talk about the AI Kaisers as if they were human. Machines don’t take
losses
. They are
destroyed
.

LEVIN: Please forgive me my incorrect verbiage.

HAROLD: There’s no need to get touchy, Doctor.

LEVIN: My point is that Konev isn’t
likely to send massive reinforcements to Manchuria to engage in great battles of attrition. Besides, the Europeans are running out of Kaisers and don’t plan to build more. Konev might be satisfied with his present conquests. If we’re to convince him to do more, someone other than his Russians will have to take the brunt of losses needed for us to continue an offensive deeper into China.

HAROLD: You’ve hit the mark
of the matter and the need for this meeting.

MCGRAW: I hope you’re not suggesting America send
s more soldiers to China. I only agreed to help the Russians, not take over the brunt of the war on our shoulders.

HAROLD: Who else
besides us has the resolve to go on to victory?

MCGRAW: That isn’t what we’re talking about, but
rather, American losses, American dead.

HAROLD:
Gentlemen, we must defeat the Chinese. I hope no one here questions that. We have allies now. We must use them. We must entice and prod Konev into sending more Russians, Poles and Ukrainians into the fray. Together, we can smash China’s home front and force Hong to sue for peace. This isn’t about conquering the entire country, but showing Hong and his toadies the hopelessness of his position.

MCGRAW: How will we
entice
Konev into this?

HAROLD: There is only one method
that I know of. We must send more troops ourselves and show him he has a faithful ally.

MCGRAW: And if the Chinese attack out of Mexico
into Texas?

HAROLD: You will stop them
as you told us.

ALAN: Which troops do we send into the Manchurian meat
grinder?

HAROLD: If we’re going to win fast, we have to use the best we have.

ALAN: With Behemoths?

HAROLD: No. Those must remain in Texas and New Mexico to face the Chinese here.

MCGRAW: Why not send some Militia troops?

HAROLD: They never signed up for that, General. They’re only for use in America
. Besides, I think you’ll agree that…

End of transcript #1

NEW YORK, NEW YORK
(TRANSCRIPT)