“Right away Senator Lake. He has been expecting your call,” she.
“Hi Mary, so how are things going?”
“Excellent. Marty and Wilma are coming to your party next week. Marty was glad to be invited. He said he always did love your Bar-B-Ques.”
“Well, the more the merrier,” Folly replied.
“Are their kids invited?”
“Hell yes. What’s a couple of more? I got a whole pig to roast. There is always room for good people.”
“I know Scott is coming but I don’t know about Neil. He isn’t sure he can make it at this point.”
“That’s fine. This is a fun occasion with no pressure on anyone. No speeches or arm twisting,” Folly replied.
“My mouth is watering already. Do you know how long it’s been since the last pig roast I went to?”
“What? In Texas?”
“All we ever have is damned old beef roast. Pigs are kind of a no-no here,” she said laughing.
“Humm...I think I see the problem. Well tell Robert I said hi and thanks for everything.”
“Will do. See you at the cook out,” she said ringing off.
Folly didn’t know for sure if his phones were bugged or not but he was not stupid enough to believe that they weren’t. He had brought in an expert and he had found nothing but he still wasn’t one hundred percent sure. No way was he about to take chances at this stage of the game.
****
More than a hundred people were spread out on the lawn and around the two pools at Senator Folly’s house. Two huge pigs were roasting on spits. Three bars were set up with all the booze they could drink for free.
Mounds of food were stacked on tables around the lawn with servers in shorts and polo shirts circulating. It was Florida after all. The temperature was in the mid-eighties with a slight off shore breeze. He couldn’t have picked a better day for the cookout.
“Might fine party,” Senator Peel from Virginia said.
“Why thank you Marty. I’m so glad you could make it. You know we don’t do this kind of thing often enough. I mean we do party affiliation stuff but just letting our hair down and enjoying each other’s company,” Zack Folly said.
“That’s a great sentiment but I doubt that it will happen anytime soon, I sorry to say.”
“Yeah, me too. It’s just wishful thinking on my part I guess,” Folly answered and finished his drink. “I need a refill, you all set or would you like me to bring you back one?”
“Well to tell the truth, I was hoping to have a word with you.”
“Marty. It’s a party. No politics.”
“Listen, it won’t take a minute. Just a few things.”
“Ah shit Marty. Okay, what is it?”
“Rumor has it you are getting states to join you in trying to secede from the United States.”
“Huh. Hadn’t heard that one. Must be something someone started as a joke,” Zack said.
“It’s no joke. Zack, if it is true, you can count Virginia in as well.”
“Oh come on Marty. We have brandished around that rumor to get Quasim to back off this second amendment kick. Hell you know how the game is played. You start a rumor and it gets bigger and bigger until people start thinking it’s the truth. If you really think about it much, it can’t really be done in today’s world. We have no clear cut north against south like the Civil War. You've got more states and instant communication now days. Sometimes I wish we could, but not in the world today. It can’t be done. Hell, I think a couple of states have made that threat in the past, but where did it get them?” Folly said.
“So it is a ploy to unnerve the President.”
“Yep and I think it is working. I haven’t heard much being said about the second amendment, have you?”
“Now that you mention it, not really,” Senator Peel said.
“I think the rumor has done its job. Now, I need that drink,” Folly replied and walked off to the bar.
He knew that Marty Peel and Senator Longman from West Virginia had been talking to some of the other Senators. They were obviously there to report back to Quasim. That is exactly why he had invited them in the first place.
****
“Did they pump you?” Folly asked.
“Yeah. Both Longman and Peel took a run at me. I told them I thought it was a big bluff on your part. I said who in the hell in their right mind would try to pull something like that.”
“Oh thank you. Thank you very much.”
“I had to sound realistic.”
“Yeah I know. Mary?”
“Oh heavens yes. Peel needed to talk about an urgent item he had picked up. Said you had filled him in on the states attempting to break away, as he put it.”
“Little shit.”
“There is more. He said you had tried to get him to go along.”
“Well, I guess we see how he got elected,” Zack said.
“Ah hell, that’s how we all get elected. He was just doing his job for the President.”
“Hey, on another note. The food was incredible,” Mary Lake said.
“Nothing like an outdoor pig roast.”
“Except for the fact that I probably gained ten pounds,” Senator Jane Farley from Mississippi said.
“Oh, like that would show on you. I swear, how you do it is a total mystery to me. I just put it on my plate and gain at least two pounds,” Beau Zimmerman lamented.
“Metabolism,” she answered.
“Thank goodness it isn’t exercise,” Folly said.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The plan seemed simple enough. General Erickson, Admiral Swanson, and General Winfield had devised a three pronged attack. The USS Vella Gulf (CG72) would be stationed just off the mouth of Port Royal Sound.
The attack would come from the ship's VLS system that can launch up to sixty-four missiles. The Vertical Launch System on the Vella Gulf is the most advanced system on any cruiser in the American Fleet. They would also attack with their Mark forty-five inch guns that can shoot rounds at the rate of sixteen per minute.
While that was taking place, the Special Forces would be inserted on the east and west sides of Paris Island, South Carolina by SOC-R’s, a Special Operations Craft – Riverine. The thirty-three foot long boats only need eight inches of water to operate.
As deadly as this was, it was not the main battle. Even more firepower would be brought on the Marine MCAS Air Base which is just a few short miles from Paris Island.
The air craft carrier the USS Stennis CVN-74 would send the ship's air wing, CVW-9, in as first strike. All three fighter squadrons; 146, 147 and 154 were to be used in wave attacks. As soon as they had finished, the USS Bunker Hill would launch its cruise missiles.
To prevent being caught off guard, nine Destroyers and two cruisers would protect the carrier. The hunter killer submarine USS Virginia SSN 774 was already on station and looking for any submarines lurking in the area.
A detachment of Marines from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina would then attack the base as a mopping up action. On paper it looked like they would overwhelm the Marines at Paris Island and the MCAS AIR BASE.
This time the President’s most trusted inner circle were the only ones that knew about the upcoming attack. General Erickson had also sent in a team of LRRP’s. Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols had one primary mission. It was to gather information without being spotted and report back. They are the eyes and ears of a planned mission. They are the shadows and ghosts that move without being seen. This time they would know if an ambush was in place.
****
Two LRRP teams consisting of four men each had been watching the two bases. Keeping transmissions to a minimum, they had reported nothing unusual. They were just about ready to move back to the pick-up point when suddenly they found themselves completely surrounded.
“Easy fellows. We don’t want to have to kill you,” the soldier said, dropping down out of a tree. Ten others came in from the tree lines with their weapons pointed at t
he four LRRP’s.
“I know. It’s a real bummer. We have been waiting for you to get ready to bug out. We knew when you came ashore. I know you guys are just doing as ordered but I’m sorry to say, you’re our prisoners.”
“Man, you are going to get your asses blown all to hell in just a few hours. If we don’t report in they are going to know something is up. You’re screwed either way,” the leader said.
“Well, I guess you could be right but what the heck, we've got to play the cards we were dealt. You just come along with us, you can meet up with the group from Paris Island. We took them just a little while ago.”
“You may have us but it isn’t gonna’ change anything. They are still going to pound the hell out of you.”
“We’re quite aware of that. Sometimes things just aren’t exactly like they seem. Of course you helped us with that illusion.”
“That’s what you think. They are going to cut you traitors into little pieces. You are going to get exactly what you deserve,” the leader replied.
“I guess we will just have to see how it all goes down.”
****
“You waited until they got off their last message?” General Amblin asked.
“Yes sir. They had already completed the transmission and had pulled up their booby traps before we took them down.”
“Good work Sergeant. Tell your men I said ‘well done,” the General said.
“Thank you sir. I’ll pass it along,” he said saluting and heading back to his men.
“So I guess it is time. We can start rolling out the troops immediately. They have been sending the observation drones over every four hours. We can get the first group out and then wait until the drone departs the area,” the General said to his executive officer.
“I’ll have them start immediately,” he said and hurried off to get the trucks rolling.
Every available truck had been pressed into service. They were loaded with troops and as much military hardware that they could carry. Even the civilian trucks had been pressed into service. Wives and children had already begun moving as soon as they found out they were to be the target.
Like moving the military personnel, it had been done in stages. Now time was running out and they had less than eighteen hours to evacuate the entire base.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“General Erickson, Sir. The LRRP teams didn’t make it to the pick-up zone.”
“Crap. Either they were caught or something kept them from making the rendezvous. Tell ops that I want a drone up and over the area in thirty minutes. If we spot additional activity, we will have to call this off.”
“Call it off?” General Ascot said, coming out of his chair, “We can’t call it off now. Everyone is in place.”
“And we could walk into another ambush. I don’t intend to go through that again. We screw this up and we will be looking for a new job,” Erickson replied.
“Look. We have Intel right up until now. They can’t get an ambush in place that fast. We have the firepower to flatten them. If we crawl back to the President and say we ‘think’ they may be setting up an ambush, all hell will break lose,” General Winfield agreed.
“So it's damned if we do and damned if we don’t. Does that about sum it up?” Erickson said.
“Look, they cannot possibly react fast enough. They were able to get one over on us with the sub taking out the Truman. We have all the assets in place this time. We have a killer sub just waiting for a boomer to show up or even another fast attack. Choppers will be in the air in force and searching for anything that is out there. We have to go. We can’t just pull out now,” Admiral Jean Swanson told Erickson.
“So, you all agree we should proceed?”
“Absolutely.”
“You bet.”
“I agree. We need to get the show on the road.”
“Maybe I should bring the President into this,” Erickson suggested.
“Why? What can he offer? He is the last person I want giving advice about a military operation. The man has never served his country in any capacity. What the hell could he suggest?”
“A way to save our asses if this fails?” Erickson replied.
No one said anything for several moments.
Finally Admiral Swanson said, “I’m willing to just go. I don’t need the President’s blessing to do my job.”
“I’m with Jane,” Ascot added.
“Arthur?”
“Yeah. I’m still ready to go along. We need to show we mean business. You can’t succeed at anything unless you try. I’m willing to give it a shot.”
“Alright then. We will get the drone up, and after we analyze the material we will start the countdown,” General Erickson told them.
****
“How’s it going?” General MacMillan asked.
“We had to stop for a while because the drone was looking us over. We made sure we had people walking around like it was a normal day. Even had one of the planes moved like it was going to be worked on.”
“Excellent. Get as many out of the area as you can in the next couple of hours. They may make one more pass overhead. It will come in the early hours so once the IF drone goes over, the last people will have to really haul to get out of the area. I don’t want anyone to get caught in the fire once it starts.”
“Will do. We are still tracking their Marines. They broke into two groups. One is situated on the northeast side and the other on the southeast, divided by the two main runways.”
“Make sure to remind them to take 21 north and that we will meet them at Garden's Corner.”
“Believe me, they know. They will be using the MP SUV’s so they can use the lights and sirens.”
“Excellent. Then all we can do now is keep moving.”
****
The drone using infra-red came in over the base from the south. It did a full three-hundred and sixty degree circle around the base.
The men watching via the wireless transmission were analyzing the data stream in real time.
“There is a car moving toward the control tower. It's probably a shift change.”
“I see eight heat sources. One is moving toward one of the hangers.”
“See anything that looks out of place?”
“Not really. Its 0400 so you wouldn’t expect much. We know there are people there and there isn’t anyone around the perimeter. No ambush waiting. We would see the heat signatures if there were.”
“Okay, let’s tell the General that everything looks normal.
“You want to go?”
“You go. I can’t stand the bastard. He creeps me out.”
“Gee thanks. I have no fondness for the man either,” he said and headed over to the General's office.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
As soon as the drone headed off toward the east the last twelve men jumped into the MP SUVs and took off with lights flashing. They figured they had thirty minutes at the outside before the attack.
They only missed it by a few minutes. The Vella Gulf unleashed the missiles in the VLS stacks. The Cruise Missiles came in over the base destroying almost anything. Almost immediately after the last Cruise Missile the first Predator Drones came in and immediately released their missiles.
Huge explosions rocked the base from one end to the other. Large chunks of the runway and taxiways were destroyed. Shrapnel buzzed through the air slicing into planes, trucks and buildings.
Very few were left undamaged. Most of the ones remaining were crumbling into piles of smoldering rubble.
The USS Vella Gulf and the USS Bunker Hill sent round after round to the base from their remote controlled deck guns. So much smoke and dust was in the air it was decided to wait a few minutes before sending in the air wing from the USS Stennis air craft carrier.
****
“Let’s send in another observation drone before we commit the air wing,” General Erickson said.
“Yes sir. It’s still pretty obscured but with FLIR we should get som
e solid Intel.”
“Then get one up,” the General replied.
Within fifteen minutes the observation drone was looking down on the devastation. Nothing was left untouched. Most buildings were destroyed and it would be a long time before the runways would be usable again.
“Any movement on the screens?” Erickson asked.
“Nothing so far. Probably a lot of people trapped under the rubble but none on the tarmac that we have detected.”
“What do you think?” Erickson said turning to Admiral Swanson.
“Looks pretty devastated to me. We know they haven’t set up an ambush so I guess I would launch the planes but not commit them until the ground troops report in.”
“Good. Good. Exactly what I was thinking. Alright have the carrier launch the planes and just stand by. Do not drop bombs until they get the command from you directly,” Erickson told her.
“I’ll have it done,” she said and picked up the ship to shore phone and gave the order.
“What do you think Arthur?”
“I think we kicked their butt’s big time. When we release the footage of the remains of the base the others will fall in line pretty damn quick.”
“Sir,” a Marine Sargent said, coming to attention and saluting.
“Yes Sargent.”
“We have some civilian casualties.”
“What? How?”
“Sir. One of the Cruise Missiles came down in a housing development in Beaufort. First report is twenty-one killed and sixty injured.”
“Son of a...anything else?”
“A round from one of the ships overshot Paris Island and landed in Port Royal. Two people were killed and a dozen injured.”
“Alright Sargent. Thank you.”
“Yes sir,” he said and saluted.
“Well that’s going to cause some problems.”
“Maybe we can find a way to blame it on MacMillan’s people.”
“That’s a thought. We could say one of their planes went down in Beaufort and one of its bombs landed in Port Royal. We can tweak it a little so it sounds reasonable,” Erickson said enthusiastically.
“We’ll let the President’s people take care of that. Spinning is what they do best,” Winfield said.
A NATION AT WAR - The Second Civil War Book II (The Second Civil War - BOOK II 1) Page 5