Vortex (79 page)

“Department of Defense sources have confirmed the detection of a nuclear explosion in South Africa, describing it as a ‘low-yield’ burst. Cuba’s foreign ministry, though quick to point out that it has no independent confirmation of this attack, strongly condemned the use of nuclear weapons as I an act of barbarism’ that ‘revealed the true nature of Pretoria’s racist and fascist regime.”

“The White House, while saying the President is ‘deeply concerned by recent developments,” is reportedly awaiting definitive information before releasing an official statement. ”

Another message slid across the desk. This time the anchorman took it in stride.

“In a new twist, South Africa has admitted that it has used a nuclear weapon. According to a statement released simultaneously by the South

African Broadcasting Corporation and by Pretoria’s embassies worldwide, “South Africa will use its special weapons at times and places of its own choosing -without regard for the hypocritical squeamishness of other nations. “

The screen divided-one-half still showing CNN’s Atlanta studio, the other showing a crowded, noisy room as reporters milled around a small, flag-draped dais.

“We’re going live to our Pentagon correspondent for a Defense Department briefing…”

NOVEMBER
24-
HEADQUARTERS
,
CUBAN
EXPEDITIONARY
FORCE
,
PIETERSBURG
,

SOUTH

AFRICA

Military traffic moving south filled Pietersburg’s wide streets-rumbling past burned-out homes, crater-choked public parks, and barren, blasted jacaranda trees. Smoking piles of charred blue and pale-purple blossoms littered the ground beneath each tree. Stray dogs, some unfed for days, roamed side roads and alleys in packs.

The advancing Cuban troops had appropriated a small, two-story brick office building as Vega’s new forward headquarters. Col. Jose6 Suarez walked into the splinter-scarred building past piles of discarded papers and wrecked furniture heaped outside.

The building’s outer offices had been taken over by the expeditionary force’s supply, communications, and other support sections.

Worried-looking staff officers bustled back and forth from room to room as they tried, sometimes in vain, to manage the advance of Cuba’s two remaining columns.

5″

Others sat stunned, still horrified by the split-second annihilation of the

Third Tactical Group.

Suarez knew the confusion he saw here was only a fraction of the chaos sweeping the dead brigade’s rear areas. A dozen different supply, maintenance, and medical units, working to support what had been a spectacularly rapid advance, now found themselves suddenly fighting for their lives against local Afrikaner commandos. At the same time, they were working hard to save those few dazed survivors found wandering back down the highway. Well, he thought sadly, there won’t be any survivors left by tomorrow. Heat, a lack of potable water, and Boer bullets will see to that.

He moved deeper into the building and knocked quietly on a closed door. No answer. He turned the knob quietly and peered inside.

Gen. Antonio Vega, Liberator of Walvis Bay, victor of a dozen battles, the man who held a knife to South Africa’s throat, sat staring at a map. He held a sheaf of papers in his hands, the air reconnaissance photos taken over the site of the Third Brigade Tactical Group’s destruction. Suarez knew what those photos showed. He had given them, and the rest of the data on the column’s death, to Vega over two hours ago.

Daylight had revealed a crater a hundred meters wide and fifty meters deep near what had once been the brigade’s lead battalion. Mounded debris spread far and wide past the rim of the crater itself, creating a scene that looked as though it belonged on the surface of the moon-not on earth.

Blackened vehicles and bits of equipment littered the gray landscape, mixed with the scorched remains of men, brush, and trees. For the most part, the vegetation had burned itself out, but some of it was still smoking, and a pall lay over the desert floor, dimming the harsh sun.

Only about fifty men had been found alive from the first four battalions, mostly extended scouts or pickets. All were hurt-burned or blasted and in shock. The fifth battalion, a Libyan motorized rifle unit, had lost ninety percent of its equipment and three-quarters of

its men. Only the brigade’s supply battalion, strung out fifty kilometers behind, had survived as a unit. Altogether, more than three thousand men were dead, and another thousand or so were badly wounded-emergency-room cases who weren’t expected to live out the week.

Winds from the southeast were pushing the fallout across a dozen small towns and villages scattered over the plateau. Lichtenburg, with its art museum, bird sanctuaries, and farms, would be the largest town to suffer.

It would have to be evacuated. Suarez smiled grimly. How the Afrikaner bastards were going to do that wasn’t his concern, but if they didn’t, many people were going to die slow, nasty deaths from radiation sickness.

Some of the fallout would fall in Bophuthatswana, as well, eventually fanning out into the unpopulated wilderness. Another nuclear bomb for the scientists to study, he thought.

The colonel shook his head. His musings were almost as bad as Vega’s.

He’d stood in the door patiently for several minutes now, waiting to be noticed. This had happened before when the general was working or thinking, and Suarez was sure they could stand like this the rest of the day.

“Comrade. General ..” He spoke softly, as if he were trying to wake

Vega, or avoid startling him.

Vega didn’t even look up.

“Colonel, I am a fool. You told me that South

Africa had nuclear weapons. I’d seen their order of battle. So what made me think they would not use them?”

“You stated that they would be unlikely to use them inside their own borders,” Suarez answered quietly.

“You also thought that the instability and confusion in their government reduced the odds of their successfully employing such weapons. ”

“Dry words to cover wishful thinking, Jose6. These people seem willing to do anything to stop us, even if they destroy their own lands in the process. I know that now.”

Vega suddenly stood up. He made a visible effort to master his dismay.

“We confront two related problems, Colonel. First, how do we continue our attack with only two-thirds of our forces? And second, how can we avoid being annihilated by South

Africa’s atomic weapons?”

Suarez looked uncertainly at his commander.

“Perhaps a reinforced air defense network could’ Insufficient Vega shook his head.

“All the SAMs in the world can’t guarantee the destruction of every attacking aircraft. No, Colonel, we must take measures that are more aggressive, more active. ”

Suarez knew his face revealed his bewilderment.

“Read this. ” Vega pulled a message form out of the papers in his hand and gave it to him.

The chief of staff read: President Castro shares your anger and outrage.

The South Africans have joined the United States, their bankrupt leader, as the only nations in the world ever to use nuclear weapons against other human beings. Use any means at your disposal, or any means you can obtain, to wipe this regimeftom the face of the earth.

Suarez looked puzzled. Stripped of the rhetoric, Castro’s message just said to fight harder.

“What can we do that we haven’t already done?”

“While you’ve been busy trying to bring order out of this mess, I’ve been talking with our socialist allies.” Vega’s voice turned grim.

“Two cargo aircraft are already in the air, en route to us. One is from Libya, the other from North Korea. By the end of this day, I expect to have enough nerve gas on hand, in 152mm artillery shells and aircraft bombs, to destroy a significant part of the South African Army. From now on, we’re making chemical weapons a part of our arsenal. ”

Suarez felt a hundred questions welling up inside him. Like their Soviet counterparts, Cuban troops were trained in the use of chemical weapons-up to a point. But, except for limited bombardments in Angola, they’d rarely used chemicals in combat.

For one thing, chemical weapons sometimes created almost as many problems for an attacker as they did for the defender. There were special protective suits for the assault troops, decontamination procedures, special reconnaissance vehicles

Vega reassured him.

“I know what you are thinking, Josd. Do not worry.

We will be using nonpersistent nerve agents, and every weakness we have in chemical arms is mirrored in the enemy twofold. They have no training and very little equipment. ”

Suarez spoke slowly, still troubled despite his commander’s sudden assurance.

“But this will simply escalate the war, Comrade General. Even if these weapons are effective, their use will only enrage the

Afrikaners. They may actually incite further atomic attacks on our forces.”

“I had thought of that, Comrade Colonel.”

Suarez shivered inwardly. He’d never heard Vega’s voice quite so cold and forbidding.

“For that reason, I want every base and higher headquarters moved immediately. We will plant our flags squarely in the middle of South

Africa’s own towns and cities. ” Vega stressed every word.

“I also want you to round up several thousand civilians-white civilians, they don’t care about blacks or other races-for use as shields around every unit headquarters above company level.”

The Cuban general’s face darkened with anger.

“If need be, we will send photographs to this madman Vorster-daring him to bomb our units under those circumstances. If they want to butcher tens of thousands of their own women and children, we will make it easy for them. This war has changed, Colonel. We will match these Afrikaners threat for threat.

Escalation for escalation.”

Suarez shook his head.

“These precautions may protect our men from nuclear attack, sir, unless our enemies are truly insane. But I still have reservations about using chemical weapons. Residues, decontamination, these are all things we are not prepared for. Our own casualties could be high.”

“For once we have had a little luck, Colonel. ” Vega smiled thinly.

“Our

Libyan comrades-in-arms have more experience in this than we do, so their troops will lead the assault.”

Suarez nodded sagely. The Libyans had used poison gas many times during their unsuccessful attempts to conquer Chad. By fights, they should know enough about such weapons to avoid killing themselves.

“Both cargo aircraft also carry technicians and extra protective equipment.” Vega faced his chief of staff squarely.

“Cheer up, Jose6.

These chemicals will help us break the back of South Africa’s remaining defenses. They’ll replace the combat power we lost yesterday. With luck, we’ll destroy the Afrikaner army in its foxholes!”

“Let us hope so, Comrade General.”

Vega stared at him, obviously unsure whether his subordinate’s flat, impassive tone signaled continued doubt or growing confidence. Vega walked over to the map and pointed to it.

“The planes are scheduled to arrive later this afternoon. Ensure that our best people are in the tower. We do not want a landing accident today.” He smiled grimly.

“I

want those munitions moved to our forward units tonight. Tighten security, both on the ground and in the air. Clear?”

Suarez nodded.

“Good. Tomorrow, at dawn, we will use the weapons in preparatory bombardments against the enemy’s main line of resistance.” Vega pointed to a spot south of their position on National Route 1. “There.”

HEADQUARTERS
, 1/75TH
RANGERS
,
HUNTER
ARMY
AIRFIELD
,
GEORGIA

Frowning, Lt. Col. Robert O’Connell flipped from page to page of the war game after-action report. Board games and computer simulations couldn’t predict real-world battle results with total precision, but they were useful tools. Done right, they could highlight unexpected glitches or weaknesses in plans. Sometimes, they offered valuable insights into possible enemy counter moves Right now, though, he thought, the battalion’s simulations were just depressing.

So far, each of the three mock battles fought using the I/ 75this initial attack plan had ended in unmitigated American disaster. Casualties over 75 percent, no objectives seized, complete loss of command and control-the list of foul-ups went on for more than four pages. He shook his head in frustration. It was pretty clear that the battalion’s command

team would have to rethink drastically the Brave Fortune operations plan all the way from landing to extraction.

Someone knocked on the doorframe.

“Come. 11

Maj. Peter Klocek, the 1/75this operations officer, poked his head through the open doorway.

“I just got off the phone with Cheyenne

Mountain, Colonel. It’s for real. No media hype. They’re already using those nukes we’re supposed to grab. 11

“God.” O’Connell had been praying it was all a mistake ever since he’d heard the first panicked reports from South Africa.

“But I’m sure you’ll be glad to hear that the world community is up in arms over this.” Klocek didn’t hide his cynicism.

“I understand there are reports of protest notes, peace demonstrations, and threats of further unspecified sanctions rolling in from all over.”

“Great. Just great.” O’Connell scowled. Sanctions, demonstrations, and protests didn’t matter a damn now. Not when the Afrikaners had already shown they were prepared to wage total war-nuclear war. The only real way to stop Pretoria’s madmen would be to take the bombs away from them.

He glanced down at the reports littering his desk. At the moment, that scarcely seemed possible.

NOVEMBER
25-
POTGIETERSRUS

The shattered remnants of several South African battalions held

Potgietersrus like a drowning man clinging to a rope.