Glimmer of Hope (Book 1 of the Land of Tomorrow Post-Apocalyptic Series)
Page 55
Chapter 1 – Continuing On
It was several days since the Tennessee invasion force pushed north despite Joshua’s team’s best efforts to delay them. They had tried to stay with them as long as possible, taking out as many soldiers as they could, but even running along the ridgeline they couldn't keep up with the boats on the river.
The team faced a decision, should they continue on with the reconnaissance mission, or go back to the JP? Joshua gathered everyone together and sought counsel, the decision was pretty evenly split with logical reasons on each side.
"We should stay behind enemy lines and continue to gather information," said Henry his remaining team chief. "It will be more difficult for other patrols to get out now."
"Why not get a boat and go after them? We can snipe at their rear some more," said Aaron one of his two snipers.
Joshua shook his head, "It doesn't serve much purpose at this point other than to kill a few more soldiers. We want to stop or delay the invasion. Shooting at their rear will only delay a few boats and maybe even speed them up."
Kyle, their big medic, and the oldest member of the team at twenty cleared his throat, "Our mission is to gather and report intelligence. If we have no way to report information, we can't do much to help in this fight."
"We have good info," answered Henry, "troops strengths, equipment, capabilities-"
"Yes, but no way to tell our leadership," Kyle looked at Joshua, "to tell Colonel Taylor."
Everyone else looked at Joshua. They expected him to make a decision now he realized. "It doesn’t make any sense to continue to collect information when we have no way to report it, but Henry is right about the fact that other recon elements may have trouble getting out now." Joshua thought for a moment visualizing a map of the lakes region, "We'll head back north to report what we've learned, but go through WTR territory and gather as much intelligence as possible on the way."
They all nodded understanding and gathered up their gear again.
The team found boats and crossed the Cumberland River, turning north to travel between the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. Their course would bring them to the southern edge of the Land Between the Lakes Park. Because the park wasn't well settled, Sampson's forces were expected to attack via this same route.
Joshua and his team proceeded cautiously, not wanting to come upon any enemy or civilians who might compromise their operation. Joshua began to worry when they saw no soldiers. Either the enemy was very well hidden or were already invading northward at that moment. Joshua wanted to query a civilian, but he couldn’t risk one of the locals getting suspicious and reporting them, so he played it safe and avoided contact just as Sergeant Major Carter had taught them.
Joshua made a conscious decision to stay off of the major highways so that their chances of being seen would be less, but he remained near enough to spot an enemy force. They only saw lone vehicles occasionally on the single major highway running from Tennessee north into LBL. It was nothing like what they expected so close to the border on the eve of an invasion.
The fifth day after crossing the Cumberland River they finally reached the border and couldn't fathom what they saw.
"Are we too late?" asked Kyle.
"No, I don't think so," answered Henry looking through binoculars. "The JP border is still intact and I can see our troops over there looking a little nervous."
"Let's move in for a closer look," said Joshua.
They found what appeared to be a large invasion force on the Tennessee side of the border. There were nearly a hundred parked vehicles and probably that same amount of large tents. Countless lights hung from the trees connected to generators. They heard the busy sounds of a large camp, drilling and shouted commands.
"Something is not right with this," said Joshua.
After a few minutes Aaron smiled, "The camp is nearly deserted. I see about a dozen soldiers, but no more. See those boom-box radios?"
They saw numerous stereos spread around the camp with extension cords running to the generators. These camp sounds were coming from the radios.
"The whole thing is a sham!" exclaimed Henry a little too loudly.
"Shish!" hissed Joshua. "You know what this means, right?"
Kyle nodded, "It means this is a ruse to convince our forces to the north that they face an imminent invasion. In reality, they face only a hollow shell."
"Why go through all this trouble?" asked Aaron. "Their invasion is on the lake, maybe both lakes."
Joshua thought and then smiled, "Because they want to keep our forces here facing south instead of moving north to help defend against the invasion. But, they've also left the back door open and they know it."
They looked at him not understanding and Joshua had to stop himself from chuckling.
"They've gambled on this invasion," he explained. "There is no one here to protect the WTR's eastern flank, our forces could push it back like a pillow."
"We have to tell Colonel Taylor," said Henry.
"Let's just walk up to the border," said Aaron, "those few WTR boys are spread so thin they likely wouldn't even see us, much less get in our way."
Joshua thought for a second and then shook his head. "We can't risk them knowing that we know. If that happens they might pull other troops from the west to reinforce here and we would lose our opportunity."
"Opportunity for what?" asked Aaron.
"To win the war," answered Joshua.