by Cliff Deane
Ben agreed and asked what Scott thought.
“Oh, I totally agree with the Sgt Major. I have no doubt that they will try for a breakout. Where is not important; we’ll have every exit fully covered. My question is what ruse they will use to get clear of the Bunker for close in combat? Have no doubt, my friends; each of these men is well versed in close combat. We must keep them at arm’s length.
*
30 September 2315
ROA MOTOR POOL
The Bunker
Levi’s convoy limped into the Regimental Motor Pool. By this point, the electronics on the ailing LAV III were in danger of catching fire. Levi told the Maintenance Sgt to wait until morning to get to work on replacing the damaged components.
“Sergeant, we’re all way too tired. I do not want you working on this monster until the morning. Get some sleep before you tackle the problem, and the wiring cools down. Roger that?”
“Yes sir, and thanks, it’s true, we’re all beat. We’ll be on it first thing in the morning right after breakfast.”
“Sounds good, Sergeant, now pack it in and get some rest.”
As Levi turned, he saw the big five, Lt. Colonel Scott Eldridge, Major Gus Murtaugh, Major Ben Smith, Captain Mike Guyardo, and Sgt Major Bradley Cobb walking toward the Motor Pool.
Levi met them just inside the parking area. They each shook hands and said hello to Kate. Sergeant Jones led her to Colonel Levins’ tent.
Scott then guided Levi to the FTOC briefing tent to give the 1st Cavalry Regimental Commander, Colonel Levi Levins a thorough briefing on the events of the day. “Sir, shortly after we arrived on site we began inspecting the manned positions guarding the exits when we discovered that the Mechanized Battalion of Mercenaries had departed the Bunker just hours before.
Our ambush team guarding the inner door of the Greenbrier opened fire on a patrol exiting the portal…”
As the briefing team concluded their individual portion, Levi said, “Well, you gentlemen have certainly had an interesting day. Maybe we’ll get lucky and resolve this situation much sooner that we initially thought.”
“Yes sir,“ said Scott, “that would be a good thing. I have to tell you, sir, that I have no wish to sit here in the snow while they are all warm and toasty inside that damnable bunker.”
*
1 October 0300
The Bunker
Simon entered the amphitheater to inform the civilians that the hostile force outside the Bunker had agreed to a ceasefire and surrender at 0417 hours.
Most of the crowd was thrilled with this news, but several, beginning with the Pretender to the Throne, President Clanton were outraged at the possibility of surrender.
Clanton leaped to his feet and shouted. “Surrender? Who authorized this? I am in command here, and my order is we remain here until they tire of sitting out there in the cold of winter and leave. Then we can depart and deal with these usurpers. I am the President, and I make the decisions.”
Simon walked up the Clanton and said, “My name is Lt. Colonel Simon Titlow, and your name is nobody. Now sit down like a good little boy, and you may live long enough to make your case to whoever that is on the outside.”
Clanton harrumphed a couple of times before sitting down like a good little boy.
“Thank you, so just for clarification, if I see you out of your chair or even notice you are speaking, to anyone I will personally shoot you between the eyes.”
Clanton didn’t say a word, but he did look around for his Secret Service detail. They each seemed thoroughly engrossed in whispering to each other.
Simon then said, “I would advise you to get a few minutes sleep. It will help with the anxiety. Just relax; everything is going to be fine.”
*
1 October 0300
Communications Room
Bunker
Again using the loudspeaker, Lt. Colonel Mathers said, “May I speak to the Officer in charge, please.”
Ten minutes later the audio came on. A voice asked if they were ready to surrender.
Mathers replied, “President Clanton has decided that we will all come out at 6:00 a.m.”
“How many people are in the bunker?”
“We have approximately seven hundred souls, men, and women, no children. The President has asked for assurances that you will not open fire when we surrender.
The Secret Service requests permission to retain their weapons.”
The reply came with crisp, no-nonsense tone, “We will shoot anyone exiting the Bunker with a firearm, as well as anyone failing to follow the order to lay down on the ground, there will be no exceptions.
Why the delay until 0600?
Mathers smiled to himself and said, “Understood, unconditional surrender, no weapons, hands high in the air. Why the delay? Easy answer, Clanton is a complete asshole.
He convinced the President’s Secret Service detail to assassinate the President, his Vice, all of his staff, and anyone known to be a supporter. One of the freezers holds the bodies.
Our Bunker Security Team was unaware of what was going on until the Secret Service briefed us on the arrests and executions. We had nothing to do with these killings.
No one in line to replace the President dared to accept. Acceptance was a death sentence.
We will exit at 0600 hours. One question, please; who are you? What nation…”
Communications were summarily broken without a response.
*
Outside the Bunker
ROA, FTOC
Scott shared a sinister grin as he said, “Well boys, whada’ya think?”
The Sgt Major said, “Bullshit, well except for that part about Clanton being an asshole. The mercs were in on the coup up to their eyeballs. There is no way those murders could have happened without the, at least, consent of three battalions of mercs. No, I just don’t buy it. I think they will come out before 0600, and come out shooting.”
Ben agreed and said, “The Sgt Major is right on the money. We had better be ready for anything.”
“I want those LAVs cocked and locked and ready to open fire at the first sign of any deception,” said Scott.
“Captain Guy, you have been very quiet during these sessions. Come on, what are your thoughts?”
Captain Guyardo looked down and said, “Gentlemen, I agree with your analysis. I also intend to ensure that the troops are ready for anything. What worries me the most is that the mercs have taken command and will have the women come out first, screaming for us not to shoot. They will be coming out in a mix of civilians and mercs. I have no doubt that there will be bloodshed tonight, and much of it will be female.”
Scott’s head snapped around as he said, “Yes, that’s it! The mercs don’t plan to surrender. Once they are out of the door, they will open fire. Oh, shit, this is bad. Guy, will our troopers open fire?”
“Yes sir, but it will not be easy for them. The enemy here is not a bunch of murderous drug dealers, but possibly innocent civilians.
I have spoken with each trooper down to squad level and told them how I think it will go down. Our men know that if they fail to fire, 1st Cavalrymen will be condemning, at least some of their fellow troopers to death. I have also told them that most of the women are the concubines of these rat bastard politicians who left their families behind to die. I only hope I was right.”
“Well done Captain, well done.
Ben, Sgt Major, we need to make the rounds of every position to bolster morale and slam home the point that they are fighting for their fellow soldiers, as well as for the men, women, and children of the Republic of America. Drive it home, gentlemen, drive it home. I do not want dead troopers because someone failed to do their duty.”
“Sir,” said the Sgt Major, “that’s not all they are lying about.”
“Yes, Sgt Major, please go on.”
“Yes sir, their numbers don’t add up. They just told us that there are only around seven hundred or so people in the Bunker. We pretty much kno
w that there are about four hundred combatants in an Infantry Battalion whether it’s straight leg or mech. We also know that three battalions went into the Bunker. Maybe my addition is old school, but these numbers come up about one battalion not accounted for.”
Scott looked at Ben and said, “Holy shit, he’s right. Now, what the hell do you think that is all about?”
“Sir, these guys are nefarious bastards. They are obviously trying to hide an entire battalion. Crap, this is going to take some deep thinking.
One thing is for certain; I do not believe it to be a good idea to send any troopers into the Bunker. The question is; how do we make sure the Bunker is clear after the surrender?”
Scott said, “Make sure, hell, the plan is to seal the Bunker, so if some don’t come out, well, I guess that’s just hard cheese for them. I hate to do it, but I think I need to wake Colonel Levins and get his read on this development.”
Everyone agreed though they knew how tired the boss was.
As they passed the FTOC, they could hear the Old Man and the B Troop 1st Sergeant talking.
The group entered the tent, and the Sgt Major said, “Sir, we thought you were going to get some shuteye.”
Levi smiled and said, “Yeah, well, that was the plan, but I got to thinking about this surrender thing, and I think there will be gunplay tonight, and a lot of civilians are going to die.”
Scott told Levi about the Sgt Major’s concern that the count given was a full battalion of Infantry short.
Levi looked to his Sgt Major and said, “Good catch Brad, good catch.
Okay, here’s what I think is going on. I am positive that the shooters have no intention of surrendering, nor do I believe they will come out at 0600. My best guess is between 0400 and 0530. They also won’t come out at the top or bottom of the hour, but somewhere else around the dial, hoping to catch us when we may be least expecting an attack.
I expect them at an odd number on the clock face. If it were me, I would come out around 0418, or 0447, or the same during the five o’clock hour.”
Each member of the Command Staff was in awe at the logic of their Colonel’s timetable. It just made such perfect sense. Each man filed these strategic insights away for future reference.
*
1 October 0400
Inside the Bunker
Mathers and Titlow were making last minute preparations for the planned breakout from the Bunker. The plan before them had developed into a solid possibility of escape. The only concerns centered around surprise and hesitation Success required brutal overwhelming violence without regard for any collateral damage.
The women had been instructed to scream, “Don’t shoot, help us!” while running toward the ROA defensive position. The follow-on stampede of men with hands held high as they also rushed toward the 1st Cavalry Troopers. The mercs would have their weapons hanging loosely across their stomach to avoid visual detection from the defenders.
The two commander’s plan needed seven to ten seconds to clear the doorway and break to the right into the tree line and safety.
The primary flaw in their plan was their inability to gather intelligence about the weaponry they would face as they exited the Bunker. Their expectation was primarily just small arms.
Incomplete intelligence assessment often leads to disaster.
*
1 October 0400
Westside Bunker Exit
Outside of the Bunker
A LAV III with a 30 mm cannon and two machine guns, flanked by two sandbagged machine gun positions provided security from an attack coming from the Bunker.
Three 1st Cavalry Troopers, two Corporals, and one Private manned sandbagged machine gun position five Bravo. Anxiety washed over Private Olsen, who had just finished his advanced Infantry training and was now facing his first combat mission. His thoughts centered around the question of whether he could perform his duty and not fail the men on each side of him.
The two Corporals had seen combat in Tarboro, and against the Death Dealers Motorcycle Gang. Still, they were tortured by the thought of firing into the onrushing civilian horde.
At each exit, the prayer was that the attempted breakout would not come at their post.
The troopers had been told to shout to those fleeing the Bunker to drop to the ground in the hope that this might save some innocents.
The one unifying cohesion was that no trooper would cause the death of brothers.
At 0417 speakers surrounding the Bunker came to life saying, “Help us, it’s gotten crazy in here.” The ROA FTOC radio speaker emitted the sound of sustained gunfire in the background as voices cried out, “Don’t shoot, we’re coming out, for God’s sake, please don’t shoot.”
The exit door to the Bunker began to move, women and men started squeezing out as the door continued to be pushed open. Within three seconds the door was completely open and hundreds of people became a rushing tsunami of humanity.
The troopers began to yell for them to stop and drop down but held their fire. The flood continued toward the troopers in a pleading frenzy of terrified men and women. At the six second mark, the first women crossed the mandatory free fire line. At seven seconds the LAV III opened up with their 30 mm and machine guns. Those in the sandbagged revetments also opened fire.
Now riddled with bullets, men and women began falling to the ground. The carnage was brutal and unrelenting. It appeared that all were killed or wounded, but, as so often happens in the fog of war, one man made it unnoticed to the tree line. He had positioned himself just behind the first three rows of women and was able to dash to the right mere seconds before the carnage began.
He fled deeper and deeper into the woods until he could no longer hear the clatter of machine guns.
Now, exhausted and terrified, but unwilling to stop to rest, Lt. Colonel Simon Titlow made his way toward Checkpoint Charlie where he hoped to rendezvous with other survivors.
Once the firing stopped, and the silence of the night returned, medics immediately began treating survivors. To everyone’s amazement, there were over one hundred who suffered survivable wounds, and of these, twenty-five were found to have only superficial injuries. The survivors had followed directions and dropped to the ground, their injuries stemmed from being trampled by those rushing forward to their deaths.
Still, nearly seven hundred lay dead in pools of blood that stained the ground as it seeped into the earth.
President Clanton was among the survivors as his Secret Service detail pushed him to the ground and covered him with their bodies.
The Reaction Force was immediately dispatched to relieve the troopers on the revetments and begin the cleanup.
Those being relieved were quickly moved to the aid station where they were given a sedative and ushered to bed. Dr. Tom’s treatment was new and unproven, but the Doctor thought that even if it didn’t help, it certainly couldn't hurt.
Those not involved in the onslaught were mightily relieved to have missed this engagement. Even though relieved at not being involved in the shooting, every trooper realized that those men might have saved the ROA, and for this they were grateful.
Clanton was taken into custody and held on suspicion of murder and treason against the United States of America. No one mentioned that had Clanton’s mercenary force defeated the ROA; they would face the same charges. There are only two constants in the universe; change and the simple fact that history has, and will, always been written by the victors.
Many of the survivors knew of the ruthlessness of the coup and of the depth to which the mercenary leadership was involved and provided depositions for the Military Court. There was no evidence that the Secret Service detail had complicity at any level; something that Colonel Levins found to be beyond his ability to comprehend
Knowing that there was a full Infantry Battalion of mercs still in the Bunker; the ROA made numerous attempts to contact them to end the hostilities. Sadly, these efforts failed to yield any results.
*
/> 1 October 1500
ROA, FTOC
Outside of the Bunker
Colonel Levins called a meeting to discuss the Bunker situation, and with everyone seated Levi asked for ideas on resolving this standoff with the Bunker mercenaries.
Lt. Colonel Scott Eldridge suggested that rather than have ROA personnel go into the Bunker to root them out; why not seal the mercenaries inside. If they didn’t want to come out, then they could just stay and rot.
Levi said, “Scott, tell us how you think we should go about this task. If, and I am not crazy about the phrase if we can seal them inside the Bunker, I will agree with your plan. There is not one single Trooper of the 1st Cavalry that I would be willing to lose in combat with mercenaries.”
Scott said, “Yes sir, it has occurred to me that we might use acetylene torches to create an initial seal on the doors. Sir, we already have explosives in place to drop the hotel onto the Bunker, so if we weld the door first, and then drop the hotel, I don’t see how anyone could use that exit.”
Levi said, “Good idea, so far, but I we need more than acetylene welds to be sure they stay right there.”
Sgt. Major Cobb asked to speak, and he said, “Sir, all along the highway we passed many state-owned road graders, dozers, and the like. Since the road graders and dozers don’t have sophisticated electronics, it should be simply a matter to get them running by hotwiring.
I think it would be wise to bring some of them here to place against the doors. If we trench a stretch of ground, oh, say, 12” deep immediately adjacent to the outside tires, or tracks, and just three inches wider than the tires. Even if by some miracle they were able to move these near immovable objects, when the wheels fall into the trench they will become totally wedged and locked into position. Using this tactic, the most the doors would ever open would be a couple of inches. They’d be permanently stuck.”