The War for Profit Series Omnibus

by Gideon Fleisher

  The Interceptors circled high above and the helos patrolled up and down the line, providing cover for the task force. Last in line was the Mechanized infantry battalion, ready to block any enemy attack from the rear. Their vehicles, too, were overloaded, Marines riding on top, APCs pulling trailers or other APCs. The only vehicles left ‘naked’ were the four flak panzers near the very end, charged with stopping any artillery or air attacks that might threaten the convoy. Galen rode in his Lion tank, the very last vehicle. Turret to the rear, he stood in the cupola looking back.

  The convoy rode like that for eighteen hours, all the way back to the Jasmine Panzer Brigade compound. As they entered the main gate, Galen noticed that the area was eerily unscathed by the war; except for some overgrown landscaping, everything was just as he’d left it. The capitol of Mandarin, Mandarin City, was to the west. Galen noticed that a couple of its taller buildings were missing from the skyline.

  He told Trooper Bier, “Back it up to the building’s main entrance, just like before.”

  Bier backed up and parked the tank two meters from the main entrance doors of the Brigade HQ building, facing out across the parking lot. Galen then said, “Power down and get some rest.”

  Bier and Wine dismounted, walked toward their barracks with their bags slung over their shoulders. It was 0936 hours. Galen put out the word that command and staff call would be at 0700 in the conference room, climbed down off his tank, entered the building and made his way to his office. He removed his war gear and his boots, stretched out on the couch on the left and fell right to sleep.

  Chapter Twelve

  The next morning, Galen used the facilities in the HQ building’s mini-gym to clean himself up. On the way back to his office he saw Tad padding along the hallway in a bath robe and shower shoes. Tad said, “Morning boss.”

  Galen said, “Ready for command and staff?”

  Tad nodded. “Spike’s all over it. Breakfast?”

  Galen checked the time: 0544 hours. “Sure. Six?”

  “I’ll stop by your office.”

  Galen had his towel wrapped around his waist and was barefoot. He made a mental note to get himself a robe and some shower shoes. He went into his office and opened his duffle bag and dumped its contents out on the floor. He found a dry set of combat coveralls sealed in a zip lock bag, complete with undergarments. He looked but didn’t see dry boots, looked at his boots from the day before and brushed them off. Presentable. He dressed and sat at his desk and fired up the terminal and re-engaged its access. Nothing much, no comms beyond Mandarin space. The Mosh had it locked down pretty tight.

  Tad knocked. Galen stood and stepped into the hallway and walked with Tad to the chow hall. It was serving field rations but Galen didn’t complain. Four walls and a roof, that was luxury compared to the field. A sign stated that class-A chow would commence tomorrow.

  Tad said, “Feels good to be back in garrison.”

  Galen flexed his fingers. They felt a little rubbery. “I’m adjusting back to civilization one step at a time.”

  “Sleep in your office?”

  “Yep.” Galen sipped his milk.

  “Me too.” Tad got up and returned with creamer for his coffee.

  Galen said, “I got nowhere else to stay. Quarters stuffed full of Marines.”

  Tad said, “Fine with me. I like my office.”

  Galen looked up from his feed tray. “Lake house!”

  Tad said, “That’s off-base.”

  Galen said, “When things slow down we’ll gather up about fifty of the most senior leaders from the Marines and the Brigade and have a barbeque, at my lake house. Blow off some steam.”

  “Couple of weeks maybe. Lots of work to do.” Tad picked the last few crumbs of scrambled egg from his tray.

  Galen said, “That’s good, keep these guys busy so they don’t have time to wonder what a gun tastes like.”

  Tad said, “Two weeks of hard labor, that’ll suppress their whacko urges long enough for their minds to get right.”

  Galen stood, picked up his tray. Tad followed him out of the chow hall and back to the HQ building. Tad split off to step into the conference room to help Spike set up. Galen went back to his office and changed his socks. His boots were drying out slowly. He found Spike’s tentative agenda for the meeting and looked it over, printed hard copy on a single page. Then he dug around in his desk drawer for an ink stick. They were all non-functional, dried out from lack of use, so he grabbed a pencil and sharpened it with his bayonet. Prepared, he stood and went to the conference room.

  He strode in and said, “Keep your seats,” and sat at the head of the table. He looked around and saw sixteen battalion commanders and seven leaders of specialized units. Twenty three field grade officers. Some leaders were alert, fresh. Others…

  He stared at a battalion commander halfway down the left side of the table. The commander was hunched forward, hands balled into fists one above the other, resting on the table’s surface. His chin rested on his fists and his beard was unkempt. A scraggly five-day beard. Dirt smudged the tip of his nose. His eyes were closed tightly.

  Galen said, “Lieutenant Colonel Halverson, am I boring you?”

  “Nosir.” He leaned back in his chair.

  Galen saw another head down on the table, planted on crossed forearms. Galen leaned over to Colonel Baek and said in a low voice, “Be the last one out, and stay behind the formation to police up stragglers.” Baek nodded.

  Galen stood and said, “On your feet! Stand up! Follow me outside, to the quadrangle!”

  The leaders followed Galen outside. He stood at attention and bellowed, “Fall in!”

  The leaders formed up in four ranks to make a platoon-sized formation. Colonel Baek stood behind them, giving directions in a sharp voice to those who seemed confused.

  Galen said, “Some of my vocal commands may be unfamiliar to you but you’ll figure it out. Colonel Baek will echo my commands, translated into Marine talk. The rest of you should have no problem. Although you didn’t all attend the same military academies, you all did take a pre-commissioning course with the Brigade. Open ranks, march!”

  The formation opened up, the interval between ranks doubled.

  “Half right, face! Front leaning rest position, move! Do some pushups!”

  Colonel Baek stepped into the group and singled out leaders who seemed to lack motivation, knelt next to them and made corrections.

  Galen paced the length of the group as he spoke, “What we need is discipline and teamwork. We spent less than a month down range and you think that’s an excuse to kick it and act like a band of pirates or something. Wrong answer! Roll over onto your backs, do some flutter kicks!”

  Galen stopped, stared. Colonel Baek was doing a good job of encouraging the leaders to participate. Galen said, “You think combat experience makes you a professional? Training, discipline and teamwork makes you a professional, and that is what wins battles. Until now, half of you had never been in a real gunfight before and you did just fine. Combat experience should not be a training event. If you learned anything in combat it just means you weren’t trained well enough. We will not rely on the enemy to serve as our primary trainer. Recover! That means stand up. Good. Half-left, face!”

  The formation was now standing at attention facing Galen. “Closed ranks, march!”

  The formation closed back up. Galen said, “Combat experience is a spiritual matter, a severe emotional experience. Fine. You are all grown up and you now have a better appreciation for proper training, discipline and teamwork. And I am going to get back to the training base right now with some drill and ceremonies. Right face! Forward march!”

  Galen marched them around the quadrangle, kept trying more complicated movements. Smoked them when they screwed up, tried again. Soon the group performed each step correctly, fell into a rhythm where they moved as a team. Finally they learned to properly execute a counter-column movement, after jacking it up three times. Satisfied, Galen halted the
m near the entrance of the HQ building. He’d drilled them for nearly an hour.

  He said, “Hopefully we won’t need to do this again any time soon. You will go clean yourselves up and make yourselves presentable and come right back here, alert and ready to participate, in not less than one hour, for a proper command and staff call. Fall out!”

  The leaders dispersed. Tad grinned at Galen and Spike gave a somewhat dirty look. Galen winked at them and they turned away and went inside. Colonel Baek stepped up to Galen and said, “That was incredible.”

  Galen said, “That was necessary to set the tone. It will save lives.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Two weeks and three days later, Galen strode into the conference room. The assembled commanders and staff section heads stood at attention. Galen looked around the room at them and said, “Take your seats.” They sat. Galen then moved to his chair at the head of the table and took his seat and said, “Congratulations, Ladies and Gentlemen and Marines. Recovery is complete. Now for a brief of the overall strategic situation. S-2, the floor is yours.”

  Major Koa stood and cued the display. “About a week ago, the Mosh managed to take and hold Cherry Fork and pushed on from there and established a defense beyond the city. It was a nasty fight. The Mandarins lost forty eight divisions but the Mosh lost fifty nine. With that accomplished, the Mosh then began offensive operations farther to the south. It was a mad dash across the Western Province, against little or no resistance.

  “The Mandarin commander in charge of defense of the capitol city of the western province decided that it was such a beautiful city that he didn’t want it destroyed. He pulled out and declared it an open city. The Mosh rushed right in and captured it intact, space port, space shield, space guns and all. That made the hole in the Mandarin space defenses that much bigger.

  “Cherry Fork is already serving as a logistical center for the Mosh and they are massing forces there. We’re also seeing aircraft operating out of there. Fixed-wing, atmospheric flight only, ground-attack aircraft. Fighter-bombers. They patrol the skies over the western province. Although they are no match for our Interceptors, their greater numbers give them a decisive capability against ground forces. We’ve seen them primarily used as air support for Mosh ground units.

  “The Mosh have moved right up to the border of the central and northern provinces. In the process, they managed to pinch off forty three Mandarin divisions and they took them prisoner. This war won’t last as long as previous estimates had suggested. In light of that—”

  Galen cut him off. “Thank you Major Koa. S-3, your turn.”

  Koa sat, Tad stood. He cleared his throat and said, “Our next move is to the north to occupy an evacuated town. Its population was sixty five thousand, so there will be plenty of room for us. We all know that billeting here has been awkward, troops doubled up and Marines sleeping in tents or on gym floors or whatever. We’ve decided to re-locate to better accommodations.”

  Tad changed the display. “Here’s a map. It’s the city of Chong-gok op, on the east bank of the Gang-nam River. Ostensibly, our mission is to hold the bridge. But really, it’s a chance for us to spread out and rest up and prepare for later combat action. It places us facing the left flank of the Mosh armies and when they advance we’ll be positioned for a counter attack. In the north, the two Mosh armies are commanded by two Mosh Chiefs who are brothers, sons of the Mosh High Chief. They lost nearly a third of their strength taking Cherry Fork, so we expect them to lick their wounds for a while.

  “In the south and the center, there are three Mosh armies commanded by three Clan Chiefs who are cousins to the first two, nephews of the Mosh High Chief. They’ve had it pretty easy but now face a strong defensive line along the western border of the central province. It’s a river and a series of fortified towns. I don’t expect the Mosh to try to crack it, but they could and then make a stab at Mandarin City itself. Their next-best alternative would be a move to capture the industrial valley around Chong-gok op. That’s what we’ll prepare for. We’ll see.”

  Galen said, “Thank you.”

  Tad sat.

  Galen said, “S-4?”

  Major Polar stood. “Logistics will head up the transition to our new location. We will be accompanied by the Light infantry battalion, to ensure security is established. We’ll gain access to all the buildings and lodgings we need to occupy through a master code. After that, doors will remain unlocked. So, vigilance is key. Don’t skimp on security. Once we have the areas divided up and assigned, the Task Force can move in and set up shop. First out will be the Marines, generally established along the river front with a fantastic view of the water.

  “Following that, the heaviest armor will move first, followed by successively lighter units. The last ground unit to leave here will be the Cavalry squadron. The final part of the move will be the Interceptors. There is a civilian spaceport set aside for our use, exclusively. It doesn’t have hardened bunkers but it does have a medium space shield and an air defense network adequate to protect our air operations, to include the helos.

  “As we withdraw from here, each unit will emplace mock equipment so that it appears to the Mosh we are still here. Distribution of the inflatable dummy tanks and vehicles, along with a few transmitting devices, will coincide with the displacement of each unit. And that’s about it.”

  Galen said, “Thank you.”

  Major Polar sat.

  Galen said, “S-1?”

  Lieutenant Colonel Johnston stood and smoothed the front of her combat coveralls. “Replacement Battalion is below seventy percent and we project shortage in critical combat skills amongst our infantry units. Specifically, if trends continue, we’ll run out of troopers and privates. There are some recruitable indigenous persons, but it’s not certain if they can be successfully—”

  Galen raised his hand and said, “Let me do this.”

  Johnston gave a crooked, tight-lipped smile and sat.

  Galen stood. “Here’s the deal. Everyone in this room is expendable. Something happens to me, we have a whole ‘nother Colonel right here.” He pointed at Colonel Baek. “Every time a leader goes down, there is a troop or Marine willing, ready and able to step up and fill that slot.”

  Galen looked around the room, saw nods. Then he said, “But what about the bottom ranks? When leaders above them step up, some of them step up as well. Before too long, we’re all chiefs and no troops. Two things are going to happen while we’re screwing off in Chong-gok. We are going to reorganize. Cav, your Echo troop will be disbanded and the troops dispersed to fill vacancies across the Brigade. Marines, each of your three rifle brigades will lose its Kilo detachment, once again, to fill vacancies. Some leaders who have stepped up, will step right back down and serve under a new commander.”

  Galen looked around. No blank stares, no challenging looks. Good.

  “Now,” Galen pointed at the Flight commander, “I’m going to piss you off. I already know your feelings about this but I had to make a decision based on the best interest of the task force as a whole. I’m telling you this here and now so that your peers can understand and appreciate the sacrifice you are making on their behalf.”

  The Flight Leader took a deep breath and held it, balled his left fist and tapped it on the table once, breathed out slowly. “Yessir.”

  Galen said, “We will take on some indig volunteers and they will be assigned to the ground crews of our Interceptor and Helo units. After a reasonable amount of time, where the Indig volunteers are trained to perform ground crew duties, half of the regular flight crew troops will be transferred to the replacement battalion and trained to fill various duty positions across the brigade.”

  Silence. Galen said, “Enough of this talk. This evening, all Field Grade officers are mandatorily invited to join me at my lake house at 1800 hours for a cookout to bid farewell to the lovely Jasmine Panzer Brigade Compound. It is my intention for us all to eat too much, drink too much and then pass out on the lawn. Dismiss
ed.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Lance Corporal Stone stood on the flat roof of the home his squad had occupied and scanned the horizon beyond the river to the west. Chong-gok op was a storybook little town nestled on the East Bank of the Gang-nam River. It overlooked a wide suspension bridge with three levels for traffic. There were rail lines on the lowest level, heavy transport vehicle lanes above that and on top was an open, flat surface suited for pedestrian, bicycle and light vehicle traffic. It led into an industrial town on the other side, low-rent housing tenements and mega-sized shopping areas, with factories and their high stacks and collectors visible in the distance during clear days.

  But it was halfway through Lance Corporal Stone’s guard shift, the midnight to 0400 shift. Dark all around, with only an occasional muffled sound. The civilians were all gone from this town. Some still lived and worked across the river. The factories were still operating but had taken measures to blank out their detectible energy transmissions. Under the watchful eye of the Mandarin regular army units on the other side of the river, that town stayed dark at night, and quiet.

  At first it had been hard for Stone to stay alert for his entire shift but after nearly two months he’d gotten used to it and now stayed up no problem. He looked to the north and saw a tiny blink in the sky, a glint. Sunlight touching something in space, perhaps. He lifted his binos and peered at the piece of sky where the glint had come from, saw shadow blanking the stars that should have been there. He keyed comms and reported the vector to the Sergeant of the Guard. Stone watched, zoomed in on the anomaly. It shimmered now, a great blob, wide and oval-shaped, tiny gaps in its surface allowing starlight to shine through as though it were a sieve.