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

by Marshall Huffman

They all looked skeptical but no one said anything else.

  “Ready? Go, go, go.”

  They rushed out from behind the air conditioner units and the spotters were so intent on what they were doing they were within arm’s reach before they realized they were being attacked. The headsets were quickly ripped off the spotter’s heads. Hardly a blip went by before Allen’s men were calling in new coordinates.

  A minute later the shells started falling harmlessly toward the airfield. It would only be a matter of time before Kinkaid realized something was wrong and sent a team to find out why they had changed directions. Allen’s men took up defensive positions and waited for the inevitable confrontation.

  Kinkaid was slower to react than Allen had dared to hope for. Falkner, realizing that something had changed, mounted an all-out charge across the bridge. This time they were able to push Kinkaid’s fighters back far enough to establish a foothold.

  The battle was brutal with hand to hand combat taking place at various times. The battle raged for six hours with neither side willing to give an inch. Building to building, the fighting continued until dusk. At 1800 hours Ben Appleton’s fighters were able to break through and link up with the main force.

  Kinkaid’s men were trapped. The only means of escape was north but by that time, Bob Ricker’s militia was there to cut them off. Even then it didn’t end. Fighting went on for three more hours before what was left of Kinkaid’s militia was willing to surrender.

  Seth Kinkaid was seriously wounded but stood tall when he finally handed over his guns. He made no apologies for his men.

  “Mr. Kinkaid. I regret that it has come to this. A lot of American blood was shed here today. We will make sure your dead receive a proper burial.”

  “If you don’t mind, we would prefer to bury our own. They were my men, fighting under my leadership. I would like to see to their final rest.”

  “I understand Mr. Kinkaid. Would you permit us to help with readying the graves? It would go much faster that way.”

  “Yes. That would be satisfactory,” he said and bowed slightly.

  By the time it was over, fifteen thousand men and women had died and nearly twenty thousand were wounded. It was the bloodiest non-professional military battle to date. It would not be the last.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  President Quasim was beside himself with each newscast. While they were certainly not losing by any stretch of the imagination he wanted total victory. He wanted James Jason brought to justice and tried for treason.

  More than that, he wanted the so called American Republic States crushed. He would impose such strict sanctions that they would beg for forgiveness. He was the President of the United States and absolutely no one was going to defy him.

  “General Erickson, I want you to start drawing up a plan for a full scale invasion of the American Republic. I want to knock them on their butts. This has gone on far too long. I want this ended.”

  “Sir. I understand, but when you say a full scale invasion are you talking about bombing cities and dropping in troops?”

  “I don’t care what it takes. Use everything in your bag of tricks to make it happen. I want results. I am not going to sit here while they thumb their noses at us. I want you to go for a knockout punch.”

  “Mr. President you are talking about killing hundreds of thousands of American citizens. If we start bombing cities they will retaliate just like the last time.”

  “General, perhaps you are not understanding me. I want a plan to bring them to their knees no matter what it takes. Do you understand?”

  “Sir I do. I understand you perfectly but I cannot in good conscience obey that order,” Erickson said.

  “What?” the President said, jumping up from his desk chair.

  “Are you telling me you refuse to obey a direct order from the Commander-in-Chief?” he shouted.

  “Sir I have followed every order you have given me to the best of my ability. Many times I did not agree with the decisions but as a military officer I carried them out just the same. Now you are asking me to kill hundreds of thousands of civilians. Sir that I will not do.”

  “General Erickson, you are relieved of your command. You will be placed under arrest and tried for treason,” the President said picking up the phone and dialing. His face was covered with red blotches and his hands trembled.

  Within moments, three Military Police entered the Oval Office and placed General Erickson under arrest. The President glared at him as he was escorted from the room.

  “Well, that was certainly entertaining,” Hanna Cole said.

  “Don’t start on me. This is not the time,” he said.

  “I wasn’t going to ‘start’ on you. I think that was a very decisive move. You didn’t take any crap from him. That will send a clear message to the rest of the soldier boys that you mean business.”

  The President looked at her to see if she was mocking him. He decided she wasn’t.

  “So who do we replace him with?” he asked.

  “It’s certainly your choice, but I would suggest General Ascot.”

  “Why him?” he asked.

  “First of all he is a Marine. All they know is that when they are given an order they carry it out or die trying. It’s the way they are wired. Second, he is pretty darn sharp. If anyone can come up with a plan to squash the opposition it will be Phil,” Hanna replied.

  “What about Erickson? Do you think that will cause him concern?”

  “Why should it? You gave the order and he refused to follow it. What choice did you have? Maybe you should push Erickson’s trial ahead quickly and then have him shot for treason. They still shoot people that commit treason don’t they?”

  “Hell if I know but I’m sure it can be arranged,” the President said.

  “My second suggestion would be Admiral Swanson. I think she has the fortitude to pull it off but she has limited knowledge about how to fight anything but a war at sea. We are going to need more than that,” Hanna replied.

  “I agree. Ascot is the best choice.”

  “We should call in the Secretary of the Navy, Homeland, and Clarke from Defense. You need to make sure they are totally on board with your decision.”

  “Alright, I’ll call a meeting for later this afternoon,” the President said.

  ****

  General Joel Adams was now working with a militia approaching twenty thousand men and women. Colonel Ben Timmons was his executive officer and Colonel Brenda Yar was the intelligence officer.

  General Adams had a unique approach to each battle they fought. He would have his executive officer preside over the briefings. Colonel Yar would then give them all of the pertinent Intel that they had. The most unusual part was that the tactician team made up of Colonel Ashford, Major Knight, and Major Kerns would present the actual battle plans. The rest of the officers were encouraged to make suggestions or ask for clarification. A free flow of information was not only encouraged but sought out.

  Of the twenty-three battles they had participated in, there KIA rate was less than ten percent which is an amazing number considered they were out gunned by as much as five to one on many skirmishes.

  General Adams was smart enough to realize that the way wars were fought were much different during his time. He picked the top people and let them have the responsibility.

  ****

  Colonel Yar had just finished with her intelligence report on the upcoming battle that would take place near the North Carolina border. A major buildup of United Stated Army and Marines forces was being staged in a small town just a few miles across the border in a place called Danville, Virginia.

  Intelligence had discovered that the US had developed a plan to invade Greensboro, North Carolina and then split into two groups. The Marines would then head to Raleigh while the Army would go southwest to Charlotte. This would create a huge bulge into the American Republic creating a gap where they could funnel in additional troops and materials.

  CHAP
TER TWENTY-FIVE

  “They will most likely take this road just before they cross the border,” Colonel Ashford said pointing to a back road labeled Old 29. I believe they will favor that road instead of Rock Quarry Road because it goes west and would take them too close to the new four lane Highway 29. Old 29 would take them all the way to Greensboro,” he said stopping to bring up another map.

  “Obviously we can’t let that happen so we are going to let them come to us. They will be using drones, spy planes, satellites, and anything else they can think of to make sure the path is clear. We intend to accommodate them until they get to this point right here,” the Colonel said, pointing to a spot on the map where Old 29 and Goodman Road intersected, “We will use this area to hunker down in.

  He was pointing to a large wooded area just east of the intersection.

  “Sir,” someone shouted out.

  “Is that you Lieutenant Webber?” he asked.

  “Yes sir.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “Sir, did you really just say ‘hunker down’?” the Lieutenant asked and everyone cracked up including the General.

  “Yes, I’m afraid I did actually. It just popped into my head,” he said and another round of laughter went around the room.

  “Thank you for the clarification Major,” Lieutenant Webber said.

  “Yes, well getting back to it,” he said and went on to explain how the attack would take place.

  After a few tweaks to the plan, everyone seemed confident that the element of surprise would help them immensely. They needed it since they were going to be heavily outnumbered.

  They would have air support as well but they were pretty sure the US troops would as well so that would not be a major advantage. General Adams approved the plan and it was set into motion.

  ****

  “We have the element of surprise on our side. By taking this road, Old 29 we will be too far off the highway to be spotted. Two platoons will act as point and be in constant contact with the main body. Choppers will be in the air just over the border until we reach Pelham. At that point they will cross the border and land at the rock quarry. They will remain there until we reach the next waypoint and then move up again. I don’t want to call them in until we make solid contact,” General Ascot said.

  “Once Greensboro is taken we will split up and the Marines will take Raleigh and the Army will continue on to take Charlotte. As soon as Greensboro is taken we will notify General Winfield and he will start moving troops into the bulge. We will be well supplied and have reinforcements if needed,” he told his staff.

  “Any questions?”

  No one spoke up. It wasn’t a good idea to question General Ascot. He had been known to reduce an officer's rank for questioning his plans.

  ****

  “Thank you for coming,” President Quasim said as Hanna Cole took a seat.

  “What can I do for you Mr. President?”

  “I’ll get right to the point. I know we don’t see eye to eye on many things. Actually most things. You think I am too cautious and I think you are too aggressive,” he said pausing to look at her for a moment.

  “I see,” she said, her neck starting to get red.

  Here it comes, she thought. He is going to remove me from the Secretary of State position. Well, he was certainly going to get a piece of her mind before she left.

  “Having said that, I think it is time for me to make some changes to the Administration,” he said.

  “Meaning?” she said.

  She was getting wound up. Her voice was starting to climb.

  “Hang on Hanna. Don’t go blowing your stack just yet,” he said.

  “Sir. I’m not stupid. I can see what is coming.”

  “Hanna. This is exactly what I meant when I said you are too aggressive. You make decisions before you have all the facts. If you could learn to keep your emotions in check and your mouth closed until you have all of the details, you might find that you would make better decisions,” he admonished.

  She didn’t say anything for several seconds.

  “Alright Mr. President. I’ve been told that upon occasion but often too much information only clouds the situation as well.”

  “Listen Hanna. What I called you here for is to ask you if you would consider taking the Vice President position now that Jason has become a traitor to his country.”

  Her mouth almost dropped open and her eyes got wide. She must not have heard correctly. He was offering her the Vice Presidency? It made no sense to her. They were like oil and water. Why would he do this?

  “Uh...I hardly know what to say. I...mean we seldom agree on anything. Why would you want me to serve as the Vice President?”

  “Because as angry as I get with you at times, you tend to think outside the box and after you have left I will often think about what you have said. I still don’t always agree but at least it gets me thinking. We both have the same goal in reality. We have been going at it from different directions. Maybe together we can plot a course of action that will get the job done while compromising in a positive way instead of just butting heads,” Quasim said.

  “I hardly know what to say,” Hanna said.

  It was one of the rare times she didn’t have a sharp comeback.

  “Do you want some time to think about it?”

  “Yes...I mean no. No, I don’t need any time. I would be honored to take the position as Vice President,” she finally managed to get out.

  “Good. That’s excellent. I’ll inform the press and you can hold a press conference on your own if you wish,” he told her.

  “Wow. This is certainly one powerful demonstration of the problem of not waiting to get all the facts. I was sure you were going to fire me as Secretary of State,” she said, shaking her head.

  “Well, I guess in a way I did,” he said and chuckled. She laughed as well. That was maybe another first.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  “Captain, something is wrong with the drone,” the Sargent said.

  “What’s that mean exactly?”

  “We’re not sure sir. The temperature gauge and oil pressure readings suddenly spiked and then it started losing power.”

  “It crashed?”

  “Not exactly. I mean it’s like it doesn’t have enough power to climb. We can’t get it to come up but a few feet at most.”

  “But it is still sending back signals? Audio and video?” the Captain asked.

  “Yes sir. Everything is working except we can’t get it to climb.”

  “Okay. We will proceed as long as we are getting video. If we lose that, let me know immediately.”

  “Yes sir.”

  Captain Miller went through a mental checklist of what could have gone wrong with the drone but if the experts couldn’t figure it out there was no use for him to worry about it. Video was the only really important thing. He put it in the back of his mind and started the troops moving again.

  They had made it to the rock quarry without any trouble. Only two cars had come down Old 29 and they quickly stopped them and held them. He wasn’t going to let anyone sound the alert. Obviously they were not at all happy about it but there was nothing they could do.

  ****

  “You have control of the drone, right?”

  “Yes sir. We sent them a few fake readings but not enough to try to call it back and fix it. They are keeping it going and we are controlling how high it goes.”

  “Where is it now?”

  “Just about a mile ahead of Goodman Road. We will keep it below treetop level until it is well past that area”

  “Good. Let me know the minute it is safe to move into position. I’m going to send the flanking team now so they can be behind them when they go by.”

  “Yes sir. The minute they are past,” the controller replied.

  Fifteen minutes later the controller reported that the drone was safely by. They would wait until the main body of US troops were approaching Goodman road before they crashed
it.

  ****

  “Captain Miller,” the Sargent yelled, breathless after running to catch up.

  “Now what?”

  “The drone suddenly went up about twenty feet and then nosed straight down.”

  “It crashed?”

  “Yes sir.”

  “Any idea what caused it?”

  “No sir. I’ve been doing this for five years and I have never seen one act like that.”

  “Software glitch?

  “I don’t know sir. We need to get it back and see if we can figure out what caused it. Maybe the receiver failed.”

  “Okay. Take a Humvee and a couple of men and go retrieve the thing. I'll call for another one. I’ll give the men a break here until you get back.”

  “Yes sir,” he said and started running back down the line.

  “Listen up. The drone crashed. We are going to wait here while Sargent Primm goes to retrieve it. You can fall out but do not leave the road under any circumstances. Okay, fall out,” he yelled.

  The soldiers quickly found a shady place to drop their packs and most started to stretch out. Captain Miller didn’t like where they were situated. It was far too open but there wasn’t a lot he could do about it at the moment. He found a shady spot and sat down. He was hoping this wasn’t going to take too long.

  ****

  “Alright. As soon as we engage, you call in the choppers. We want to make sure our men are well back off the road because they will come in hot,” he told his radioman.

  “Yes sir. Once we are fully engaged,” he repeated.

  “Everyone. Get ready. On my signal we open fire, not before. Advance to the attack jump off point,” he ordered.

  The men began to silently creep forward until they could see the road. The US soldiers were lounging around, talking and laughing. Most were doing what soldiers usually do, catching some shut eye.

  “Pick your target, was the message spoken softly and passed down the line.

  “Ready.”

  He took one more quick look, “FIRE.”

  A hellacious barrage of automatic and semi-automatic weapons started expending shells. The US soldiers were sitting ducks. They didn’t know what was happening. Many stood up and started to run but were cut down immediately.