A NATION AT WAR - The Second Civil War Book II (The Second Civil War - BOOK II 1)

by Marshall Huffman

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  The Marines advanced on both targets. This was old fashion grunt work. No tanks or armored vehicles. The men broke slowly out of the tree line and advanced to the air strip.

  “Alpha One, Alpha Six. What have you got?”

  “Alpha Six, One. So far nothing. No shots fired.”

  “Okay one. Keep your men spread out and take it slow. We have all the time in the world. Six, out.”

  “Copy Six, One out.”

  They continued, stopping at buildings and what was left of the hanger bays. Nothing. No bodies in the hangers or anyplace that they explored.

  “Alpha Six, Alpha One, over.”

  “Go One.”

  “Sir. This is strange. We have no bodies. Not a single one. It’s like the place was empty when the attack came.”

  There was a long pause.

  “Alpha One. Hold your position. I’ll be there in ten.”

  “Roger Six. One out.”

  ****

  It was closer to twenty minutes when a Hummer with stars on the front plate came roaring up. Two Generals and a Major climbed out of the vehicle.”

  “Sir, Lieutenant Dawson, team leader, sir.”

  “Lieutenant. Relax. Tell me what you have found.”

  “Sir. Nothing. By that I mean pretty much everything is destroyed but we haven’t found a single body or wounded person. It’s like no one was here.”

  “Have you checked the hangers and any buildings standing?”

  “Yes sir. Only a few buildings are still passable but we have checked each from top to bottom.”

  “Did you check in any of the cars and trucks?”

  “Yes sir. Everyone single one. Which brings up another interesting thing. We found no Hummers on the base. Even more strange, not a single truck of any kind.”

  “Not a one? They had six with mini-guns, six with 50 cal. machine guns and four with tow missile launchers attached. They were all new.”

  “They aren’t here now sir. Now that I think about it, we didn’t hear any secondary explosions when you were attacking.”

  “At either base?”

  “No sir. I just talked to Captain Farragut at the Marine Air Base and he is finding the same thing. No bodies, no trucks.”

  “That is impossible. We know they were here just a half hour before the attack. They couldn’t have just vanished,” General Erickson said exasperated.

  The Lieutenant decided this was a good time to just keep his mouth shut.

  ****

  The last men to leave the base raced along State Road 21 until they came to Garden’s Corner. There they found two Hummers waiting for them.

  “Sounds like they are pounding the hell out of the place,” one of the men said as he walked up to the SUV.

  “Yeah. We almost cut it too close. We weren’t five hundred yards out of the gate before the first drones flew over. We could feel the shock waves buffeting the cars.”

  “Well, glad you made it. The rest have headed up SR-17. You guys can follow us. We are going to jump on I-95 and head north,” he told them.

  ****

  HEADLINE NEWS – BEAUFORT, SOUTH CAROLINA

  “American forces attacked two of the rogue bases in South Carolina early this morning. The Marine Base at Paris Island was rocked by drones, guns from the ships Valle Gulf and Bunker Hill, and Cruise Missiles. At the same time, The Marine Air Base near Beaufort, South Carolina also came under attack.

  The attack lasted for nearly two hours and the bombardment broke windows and shook houses in the city of Beaufort and the surrounding area.

  General Erickson was in command of the operation and has not made any comments about how many were killed or injured. He did confirm that none of his troops had been injured or killed during the two hour bombardment.

  Reports of twenty-three civilians killed and over seventy injured have been brought to light. When asked, General Erickson said he was not aware of any injuries or casualties. He did say, “If anyone was killed or injured it was not from his troops. We did shoot down one plane and perhaps it crashed in the town.”

  He resolved to launch a full investigation as soon as all of the facts were in.

  President Quasim said that he would issue a statement after General Erickson had a chance to brief him on the operation.

  ****

  “Good evening Americans. I am Brigadier General Adams of the American Revolutionary Militia. Tonight we want to tell you the real story about what the Administration is trying to shove down your throats.

  First is the attack on Eglin Air Force Base. President Quasim flat out lied to the American people. It was a blatant fabrication to mislead you. The attack was initiated by the administration when the USS Harry S Truman launched an all-out strike on the base to regain control.

  Our fighter planes were aware of the strike due to having surveillance aircraft in the air and launching planes to meet the attack. We stood by and waited for them to initiate the attack by dropping bombs before we retaliated. One of our submarines was watching and could see a second wave being readied to strike and launched four tomahawk missiles at the carrier. Two did get through the defenses and struck the carrier. It sank thirty-six minutes later.

  No matter how much the Administration tries to spin the facts, it was an unprovoked attack on Eglin Air Force Base without any warning being given.

  Secondly, the Administration ordered General Erickson to retake the Marine Base at Paris Island and the Marine Air Base, both in South Carolina. Once again it was to be a sneak attack but our Intel had managed to find out about it beforehand. We started evacuating the base several days before the date of the attack, leaving only a handful of volunteers to keep the surveillance drones off track. Everyone was fully evacuated long before the first bombs fell.

  One of their Cruise Missiles malfunctioned and fell in a housing development in Beaufort. A long shot from one of the ship’s deck guns fell just outside of Paris Island killing two innocent civilians.

  The American Revolutionary Militia has been formed to fight against the illegal and immoral orders issued by the President of the United States. People of America, we cannot afford to have a government that wants to control every aspect of our lives. The only protection we have to preserve the Constitution is the second amendment. Once that is gone, it is easy to get rid of the Bill of Rights. The first ten amendments will go out the window and no one will be able to stop it.

  Anyone that believes in this country, cherishes their freedom, and is willing to fight for it, is welcome to join the ARM. It is time to stop sticking our heads in the sand and stand up for freedom and the Constitution of the United States.

  A later broadcast will give those interested in joining the American Revolutionary Militia directions to find a recruitment location.

  God Bless America and my fellow citizens. Goodnight.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  “Mr. President. You heard what Brigadier General Adams said on the radio. How do you respond to that?” the TV announcer asked.

  “It seems fairly obvious, the man is delusional. First, he is a retired, General. Not on active duty as he was trying to get people to believe. This so called army of his is nothing more than a ragtag bunch of misfits."

  “So none of what he said was true?”

  “That they sank an American fighting ship, the USS Harry S. Truman, that part was true. A treasonous act of cowardness. What he basically said was that he is responsible for the loss of the lives of American sailors and airmen and women aboard the ship.”

  “What about the attacks on Paris Island and the Marine Air Base?”

  “What about it? It’s back under American control. Mission accomplished.”

  “What were their losses?”

  “We will release the final number after verification. At this point it would be premature to give a number.”

  “We have heard that there was no one at the base.”

  “Tell that to our fighting men and w
omen that captured the base. I think you will get a far different story. For actual numbers I suggest you contact the proper people. General Erickson, General Ascot, Admiral Swanson, and General Winfield can certainly set the record straight.”

  “And the civilian causalities?”

  “I have no information on that. I believe General Erickson has addressed that. If I recall, something about shooting down one of their planes,” the President said.

  “Sir. We have verified through independent sources that it was indeed a Cruise Missile that hit the subdivision in Beaufort, South Carolina.”

  “Well, that’s certainly news to me. I think it would be best if you didn’t believe any unnamed or unverified sources until we have had a chance to authenticate the findings.”

  “So you still believe it was an aircraft not a missile?”

  “I have no reason to believe otherwise.”

  “Any comments about the American Revolutionary Military?”

  “Such as?”

  “What kind of problems they present.”

  “They are like flies. They are bothersome but hardly dangerous. We are in the process of bringing them under control and this very moment.”

  “Really? All six hundred thousand of them?” and announcer said.

  “What? Where did you get that figure? It’s a total fabrication. There are no more than a few hundred at most.”

  “It seems militias from around the country have joined in with the six military bases that refused to follow your commands. The number is over six hundred thousand. That is the low estimate. The high is closer to one million.”

  “I don’t know where you are getting your numbers but they are flat wrong,” Quasim said.

  “One last question Mr. President. What is the true intent of revising the second amendment and Operation Clean Sweep?”

  “I would think that is obvious. To reduce crime. Get the guns off the streets so our children will be safe. Too many people feel that grabbing a handy gun is the answer. We need to make sure that anyone that has a firearm has a legitimate need for it.Guns sitting around the house are accidents just waiting to happen,” he said looking somberly into the camera.

  ****

  HEADLINE NEWS – In a shocking development seventeen states have announced that they are seceding from the Union. Senators for all seventeen states signed the declaration stating that they would no longer answer to the US Government or abide by any ruling of the US Supreme Court.

  They have formed their own government. They have named former Vice President James Jason as the new President of the American Republic States. The former Vice President said that he could no longer tolerate the policies of the current administration nor the direction in which President Quasim and Secretary of State Hanna Cole were leading the nation.

  “For some reason they believe that they are above the law, not accountable to the American people, and can do whatever they please, including rewriting the US Constitution. Not all Americans can or will accept that. I am one that will not. I was asked to join the American Republic States and am honored to serve as their President,” Jason said.

  Reaction from around the world has been shock and unbelief. Russian President Michaela said that he never thought that America would go the way Soviet Union did. “I suppose there is a certain poetic justice to it,” he is quoted as saying.

  President Quasim has not made a statement but White House Spokesperson Kendra Cox said that the President is considering all options. Obviously sanctions would be immediately imposed but he is not ruling out decisive military action.

  The seventeen states are:

  Florida Georgia

  Texas Mississippi

  Louisiana Indiana

  Wyoming New Mexico

  Oklahoma South Dakota

  South Carolina North Carolina

  Kentucky Tennessee

  Arkansas Missouri

  Nebraska

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  The President was in a total meltdown. His face was red and he was breathing so heavily that the others in the room were afraid he might have a stroke.

  “Mr. President. We will handle this. It’s a ploy more than anything,” Adam Little said.

  “Ploy,” he almost shouted, his voice breaking.

  “Sir, they can’t exist with all of the sanctions we are imposing. Nothing shipped into the seceding states. Cutting all power and water supplies that are controlled by us. No flights in or out. We have started setting up border patrols. Sir, they can’t possibly pull this off.”

  “Can’t? They are. They have set up a government and that traitor Jason knows everything about us. Have any of you stopped to think about where our largest gold supply is? Fort Knox, Kentucky. You think they are going to hand it over? Weapons. Where are most of our medium and short range missiles stored? In the isolated states in Montana, Wyoming and New Mexico. If we don’t take stronger action than just sanctions they will have the upper hand.”

  “Mr. President. We can’t just start dropping bombs or sending missiles. We need to find a way to negotiate with them,” the Secretary of Defense said.

  “Negotiate,” the President shouted, his voice cracking, “Negotiate with traitors? I’ll negotiate with them alright. I’ll have them bombed back into the stone age.”

  “Sir. I know you’re upset with them now but give it time. They just can’t pull this off. At some point they will come crawling back,” Secretary of Navy Kellerman replied.

  “We will be lucky if we aren’t the ones crawling. The only way to stop this before it spreads is to hit them and hit them hard. I am not going to negotiate with those traitors. We are going to take military action,” the President said forcefully.

  Only Secretary of State Hanna Cole was smiling when they left the Oval Office.

  ****

  At 0300 the first bombs fell on Atlanta. B-52s dropped their deadly cargo on the sleeping city. Using I 75 as a marker, the beginning point was the huge Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Tons of bombs were dropped as the planes slowly worked their way north. One of the heaviest concentrations was in the downtown area. Buildings crumbled under the intense bombing. The second wave started just north of I-20 and continued all the way to Marietta, Georgia on Atlanta’s far north side.

  Fire trucks raced around the city trying to put out the burning inferno but to little avail. Fires raged through the close packed houses around the Philips Arena and the Georgia Dome.

  The forty B-52H bombers unleashed over one million, four hundred thousand tons of bombs.

  At the exact same time another squadron off fifty B-52H bombers were attacking Houston, Texas. They started their run near Baytown in the eastern suburbs and cut across the heart of the city. Using Minute Maid Park as a waypoint, they broke into two groups, one heading south and the other north.

  Like Atlanta, the fire and police were overloaded and most of the fires burned out of control. By the time they had closed their bomb bay doors, they had dropped almost one million seven hundred tons of iron bombs on the inhabitants.

  Only one B-52 was lost and that was due to a mechanical problem. None were shot down or destroyed by aircraft.

  ****

  HEADLINE NEWS – Houston, Texas and Atlanta, Georgia were attacked by B-52 bombers last night. Ninety bombers took off from several air bases in the early hours and dropped bombs on the two cities.

  President Quasim said that he would continue the strikes until the seventeen states returned to the Union.

  “This response is just the beginning. We will continue to step up our attacks until the traitors are overthrown. No state will be allowed to secede from the Union,” he said.

  Secretary of Defense Roland Clarke said that this was just a warning. Full military operations will be brought to bear on the rogue states until they return to the fold.

  “This is the United States of America. No one or collection of states will ever be allowed to break away from the Union. We will simply not stand for i
t,” he said.

  General Adams of the American Revolutionary Militia said that this unprovoked attack was done by cowards occupying the White House. They have shown what kind of leadership Americans are following. Bombing American cities and killing civilians shows what kind of evil the American people are dealing with.

  “They have proven themselves to be nothing less than murderers of innocent civilians. Women and children perished under an unprovoked hail of bombs from a megalomaniac,” President Jason of the new American Republic States, said at a news conference.

  ****

  The American Republic States launched a retaliatory missile attack the next night. The submarines USS Virginia SSN-174 and the USS New Hampshire SSN-175 attacked Richmond, Virginia. Each submarine fired twelve BGM-109 Tomahawk Cruise Missiles. They had been programed to explode mostly on the west side of the Jefferson Davis Highway and north of I-85. The area was primarily a high industrial area. They made sure that nothing near high population residential areas were targeted.

  The second attack was against Buffalo, New York. Fifty MGM-109 ATAc missiles were fired. While not as devastating as the Cruise Missiles they are powerful nonetheless. The missiles were aimed for the middle of the city. Most of the city center was left smoldering by the time it was all over. Fewer than two hundred were killed combined and another four hundred reported injured.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  “It could have been a lot worse,” the TV commentator said.

  “They didn’t have to do it at all,” Senator Felix from Virginia replied.

  “It could have been New York City and Washington D.C. just as easy. The number killed would be much greater.”

  “Tell that to the people of Richmond as they bury their dead,” the Senator shot back.

  “Did you think that nothing would happen after the bombings in Houston, Texas and Atlanta, Georgia?”

  “They are traitors to this great nation. They got exactly what they were asking for.”