THE TOCABAGA CHRONICELS: (BOX SET PART II - BOOKS #6-8)

by Thomas H. Ward

  The Korean people are friendly and very trustworthy. For the most part they are non-violent because of Confucianism teachings and Buddhism. However, if threaten, they will defend themselves.

  I recall that during the Vietnam War only one other country fought on the ground with the United States and that was the South Korean Army. They were feared by the enemy because they were so ruthless. The South Korean soldiers are some of the best in the world. They should be because our special forces trained them.

  “I’ll send your picture and prints to SOCOM. Maybe someone from there will contact General Park at the KIA to confirm your story. Colonel, I’m honored that you know so much about me. We however, know nothing about you.”

  “Yes, of course, but I’ll tell you everything,” Park said.

  “Ok, that’s great. After we talk, we’ll interrogate General Chen to confirm your story.”

  “That will not be possible because he’s dead. I killed him when he was sleeping. Don’t worry, I know everything about the invasion plan. Chen trusted me fully. I know every detail about his plan.”

  “Why did you kill him?” I was very concerned and sat on the edge of my seat waiting for his reply.

  Park started to ring his hands together. I noticed his right eye was twitching as he replied, “There was no need to keep him alive. We have a saying; the only good commie is a dead commie. He would have lied to you anyway. You can trust me to tell the truth.”

  “Do you or General Chen have GPS bugs in your bodies?”

  “You mean these?” Park pulled out of his pocket two tiny metal devices and gave them to me. “I cut them out after I killed him.” Colonel Park took off his shirt and raised his arm showing a small bloody hole. Park was lean but very muscular. His upper body had a lot of scars from years of fighting. Judging by his body odor he needed a shower.

  “How did you cut those out?”

  “I used a plastic bottle cap. I scraped it on the cement floor, making a little blade.”

  “Doc, put something on Park’s cut so it doesn’t get infected.” Doc reached in his bag of tricks, pulled out some type of cream, and applied it to the seeping hold. Then he covered the wound with a band aid.

  Holding the bugs in my hand I looked at them. They were larger than other devices I had seen. “What’s the range of these bugs?” I asked.

  Park advised, “They can be picked up from twenty miles away if the weather is right. Put them in a metal box or wrap aluminum foil around them and that blocks the signal.”

  I asked Mike to send Lisa and Trini to get us some food, and beer. We were all hungry and needed to recharge. The sun was just peeking through the window shade. I had to decide what to do with Colonel Park.

  “Let’s move to the mess hall and wait for the chow,” I told everyone.

  We sat down in the empty mess hall and Park commented, “This is a typical Army mess hall. Do you have any troops here?”

  I replied, “Yes, we do, Mr. Park. Army Rangers are based here.”

  “My Father is called Mr. Park. Just call me KD. It’s short for Kang-Dae. Where are all the Rangers?”

  “Sorry, that’s confidential information. KD, tell us how you became a spy.”

  “To make a long story short, I just put on a North Korean Captain’s uniform, walked across the border and asked to join the Chinese Army with my men. We told them we were once security for the Great Leader of North Korea. Of course we all speak fluent Chinese and English. We spent years training for this mission.”

  Park took a deep breath and continued. “After a few years in the Chinese Army we were assigned as security for General Chen. He was not very well liked by his men so he preferred to use Koreans for his security. He was worried about getting killed by his own men while sleeping.” We laughed a little about that.

  “Let me get this straight. The men on the beach with you, are also spies?”

  “Yes, those are all my men. Where are they at now? I would like to see them.”

  “KD, I don’t know how to tell you this, but we left them on the beach tied up. We thought you were all commies. We left them for the Roamers to kill.”

  “Who are these Roamers?”

  “The Roamers are small groups of men who kill and steal from the helpless. They have no special training and aren’t military. They were the men chasing you down the beach.”

  “I wouldn’t worry about my men. They can take care of themselves, even with their hands tied behind them. Can we find them after we eat?”

  “Sure we’ll find them. Tommy, arrange to have two Hummers with four men in each one. We’ll need a pick-up truck to bring back his men.”

  “Ok, I’ll be back in a flash. Just save some food for me,” Tommy told us.

  I asked Park. “Why didn’t you tell me who you were sooner?”

  “I didn’t know who you were and besides, who would believe me. When you told us your name, I searched my memory. I knew I heard your name before. Then it hit me who you were while I was sitting in the cell. It’s amazing that I ended up here.”

  “Yeah, it’s a small world alright.”

  Trini and Lisa came in the room and placed plates of hard boiled eggs, smoked fish, oranges, and six beers on the table. Lisa looked at Park sitting there and asked, “Isn’t this guy a Chinese prisoner?”

  I laughed and said, “It’s a long story, but I think he’s a friend. Before you report for duty on Tocabaga take a picture of General Chen and get his fingerprints for me. Then dump his body into shark channel. You’re dismissed.”

  Trini asked, “You mean the other guy is dead.”

  “Yeah he’s dead.”

  The Warriors left the room without saying another word, but I could tell by their facial expressions they were disappointed and wanted to stick around. They wanted to find out what was going on.

  It’s a Korean custom to give your guest a drink first. I opened 2 cans of beer, and while handing him one, said, “Geonbae.” We clinked cans together and he repeated Geonbae which means cheers.

  “Maekju mas-inneŭn! (The beer is delicious.),” Park commented.

  “Ok, tell us what the Chinese are planning. Help yourself to the food.”

  He grabbed a greasy chicken leg. Stuffing his mouth full of food, KD began to speak. “Excuse me, but I haven’t eaten in a few days. On the ship we ran out of food supplies the day before you sank us. We pulled into this harbor to find food.”

  As he spoke pieces of food flew from his mouth. “One problem the Chinese Military has is a shortage of food. Their logistics is terrible.” Koreans aren’t much on proper western eating etiquette.

  “Yeah, I can imagine their logistics aren’t the best,” I replied.

  “Jack, you already know the Chinese want Florida for the oil reserves. They plan to drill on-shore and off-shore for oil. They don’t care about the environment and will turn Florida into one big dirty oil well.”

  Doc commented, “That would create a real disaster. It would affect the drinking water.”

  In Florida the drinking water comes from underground springs or rivers. If they’re contaminated with chemicals and oil then everyone will suffer.

  Park continued, “The two boats you sunk were the tip of the spear. General Chen was in charge of the whole operation called Lotus Flower State. The Chinese plan was to explore the coasts and map out good landing locations. We were dropping off teams of men who would provide intelligence on the local areas. Their jobs were to locate any hot spots or areas that have a high degree of local militia that could cause resistance.”

  Park stopped talking, peeled an orange ever so gently, and took a bite. “Florida oranges are really good.” He wiped his hands off on his shirt after eating. “If you look at the map of Florida you can see what they want to do. The northern border is Interstate 10 which runs across north Florida. They will secure the northern border and all major highways. Troops will land in the north at Jacksonville and Tallahassee. Then they’ll move south on the Interstate Routes. Tro
ops have already landed in Key West and will move up Route 1 and Interstate 95 and 75 after securing the Keys.

  “Most of your population is in the coastal areas and Central Florida. Troops will be landed in Tampa and Daytona. They’ll move across the state using Interstate 4 and converge in the middle of the state around Orlando. Once the invasion is completed then all the Green Zones will be handed over to the Red Army. Any people living there will be under Chinese control.”

  “What’s the time table for this invasion?” I inquired.

  “Well, technically it has already started since troops are in Key West now. The other troop landings may take place in about two months. General Chen hadn’t set an exact date because he was awaiting the arrival of the main force from China. No one knows when that will be. They’ll stop in Cuba first for a little R&R before coming to Florida. It’s a long boat ride from China.

  “Our group was doing exploration of the west coast. We were testing and probing the area for any hostile actions. Your President promised the Chinese that U.S. people would gladly surrender if the Chinese promised a fair and just government. We all know that the Red Chinese aren’t going to be fair and just.

  “They didn’t count on such a high level of resistance. The General was shocked that you sunk two gunboats with no problem. He didn’t even have time to send a complete message. He only stated we were under attack. Any questions?”

  “So far it makes a lot of sense. How many troops do they plan to use for the invasion?” I asked.

  “There are 1,000 in Key West now. They’ll land another 5,000 in Miami. In the north they’ll land 5,000 near Tallahassee and Jacksonville to close the border. Landing in Tampa there’ll be about 3,000 and the same for Daytona Beach. I guess about twenty two thousand total troops.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “Yeah, but they’ll also have some armored vehicles for ground support operations.”

  I took a swig of beer and asked, “What about naval and air support?”

  “They have or had ten gunboats and five landing ships. Other than that there is no naval support. As far as air support they have twenty chopper gunships based in Cuba. They’re old and are always breaking down. I don’t think they’ll present too much of a problem. You can easily shoot them down with your missiles or RPGs.”

  “What’s their biggest weakness?”

  “Oh, that’s easy. Like I told you, they don’t have enough food. The Army will be put ashore with two days of supplies. After that they have to forage and loot for food. They have to live off the land so to speak. You can be sure the Army will kill and loot to obtain any necessary supplies.”

  “Now that General Chen is dead who will replace him?”

  “That’s a good question. Probably his second in command General Lim who is based in Cuba. Personally I don’t think Lim can handle the job.”

  “Why not?”

  “Lim is not the sharpest pencil in the box. China has a lot of problems and he won’t receive the necessary support. They have food shortages all over the country. A silent revolution is taking place. Shortages of heating oil and gasoline are upsetting the people.

  “There are Islamic extremists in western China along the Kazakhstan border. They have problems along the Russian border. Red China is at war with India over the Tibetan Plateau for control of the water. Then they need to keep troops in Cuba to prevent any revolution there. Red China can’t spare anymore troops or resources to invade Florida.”

  “That’s good for us. They’re stretched to the limit.”

  Tommy walked in and advised us the trucks where ready. I was recording everything that Park told us on my cell phone. I needed to send this information to Captain Sessions. We finished eating and mounted up to search for Colonel Park’s men. It was almost 10 o’clock.

  Leaving the Fort, we passed by the camp ground and farming area. KD asked, “Do you grow your own food here?”

  “Yes, we do. We’re pretty much self sufficient,” I informed him.

  We crossed over the bridge at shark channel which had two guards on duty. Moving on to Tocabaga Island we came to the downtown area. KD said, “Wow, you have a nice set up here. Is this an island?” I stopped the truck to let Park look around and let off Doc Scott.

  “Yeah, Tocabaga and the Fort are both islands,” Mike told him. “We have guards posted 24-7 around the whole thing. It’s impossible for anyone to breach our security.” Park nodded his head with a smirk on his face.

  “How many guards do you have?” Park inquired.

  Tommy butted in and replied, “We have enough to protect everyone.” I could tell that Tommy didn’t necessarily trust Park. I also had some reservations and didn’t want to tell him too much information until I had his story verified by SOCOM.

  I emailed Captain Sessions all the information that Park had told us. We moved out over the Tocabaga Bridge. Nine men were posted on guard duty. I am sure Park made a point to count them. Reaching the old dilapidated condos Park stated, “I can tell you’ve had some big battles here.”

  “Yeah we’ve had a few,” I advised. Park looked at everything. He took in every detail because he was a trained spy.

  We approached the top of the beach bridge and stopped to survey the situation before proceeding. Yesterday we left 10 dead bodies on the bridge and now all that remained was some torn clothing along with a few half eaten body parts.

  I was driving the lead Hummer with Park riding shotgun. In the back was Army Mike with Tommy in the gun turret. We dismounted and had a meeting to discuss our next steps. I put the American Flag on the antenna so we wouldn’t be mistaken for Red Chinese. Even the Free Roamers know better than to mess with us.

  We drove to the beach where we left his men. I would radio the others when we found the Koreans or if we ran into trouble. I really didn’t expect to find Park’s men alive.

  When we reached the beach Colonel Park started yelling out his window, “Annyŏunghaseyo (Hello).” I drove slowly down the beach and stopped at the location where we left his men. Park and I jumped out and found the plastic flex cuffs laying in the sand. I counted eight of them which meant all his men had somehow removed the cuffs. Doing some quick math in my head, I recalled that originally there were eighteen men that came ashore. We captured ten which included Park and Chen. That left eight from the captured group and eight from the original group for a total of sixteen missing men.

  I commented to Park, “Originally we saw eighteen men come ashore with you. There were ten of you at the beach. What happened to the other eight men? Do you know where they went?”

  Park advised, “We split into two groups. I’m sure they’re all around here somewhere, but they could be dead. Maybe those Roamers did get them.”

  Park started yelling in Korean again. After a few minutes he stopped and said, “Maybe they followed us to the Army base.”

  “How could they do that?” I asked.

  “Believe me they could.”

  “You’re telling me they could be at the Fort right now or on Tocabaga.”

  “Yes, that’s right and it could be very dangerous for your people.” I wanted to say something, but I knew these Korean Special Forces were some of the best trained warriors in the world. Park was right; my men could be in real danger.

  I said, “Well if that’s true then let’s drive back over the bridge and slowly go down the road looking for them. Park, yell out along the way, because they could be hiding anywhere.”

  I told Jim Bo to stay on the bridge with his crew to keep an eye out for Park’s men. We proceeded back over the bridge with the pickup truck following.

  Park said, “Let me out. I’ll walk on foot so they can see me.” I stopped and let him out. He yelled, “Lieutenant Lee! Annyŏunghaseyo!” We followed in the Hummer about 30 feet behind him. I started yelling out the window towards the other side of the road.

  Passing by the old destroyed buildings we reached the intersection of Bayway South which is the only road lea
ding to Tocabaga. Park walked over to me shaking his head and stated, “No luck so far.”

  “Maybe they’re in a building around here waiting for night. We can’t check them all. That would take days and it’s dangerous,” I told him.

  Park said, “If you don’t mind, let’s sit here a while. Let me think a little.” Park sat down on a block of concrete that was at one time the cement corner of a building. We all dismounted and I pulled out a smoke to take a break. I then walked to the other side of the road closer to Tom.

  Tommy came over and said, “Man, it’s a hot one today.” There wasn’t a cloud in the bright blue sky. He took a drink of warm water.

  I asked Tommy, “Well, what do you think?”

  “I don’t trust Park at all.”

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t know exactly, but there’s something about him that makes me feel uneasy. I can’t put my finger on it.”

  “I agree with Tommy,” Mike commented. “It seems a little weird that this guy knows who you are.”

  “I agree with you both,” I stated. I pulled out my phone and called Captain Sessions to make sure he received my previous message. I told him the whole story and sent Park’s picture to him. Sessions advised me he would pass this on to SOCOM and check out Park’s story. I stressed we needed to know ASAP if Park is really working for the Korean Intelligence Agency.

  Park started walking over to us and Tommy whispered, “If his men are as good as he says they won’t move around until it’s dark.”

  Park walked up and said, “My men must be hidden and won’t come out until it’s dark. I’d like to walk back to the island to obtain a first-hand view of the terrain.”

  “Ok, let’s go,” I replied. I radioed Jim Bo to withdraw from the beach bridge and return to Tocabaga.

  Park and I walked down the concrete road full of potholes from cannon fire as the sun beat down. I was carrying all my gear and sweating my ass off. Park looked at me and said, “If you like I can carry something.” He reached for my M4.