Sweetness in the Dark (30 page)

They had timed their breakout in order to hit the Pacific Ocean after dark. They weren’t sure where the U.S. Navy was stationed, but by the sounds of the jets overhead, it wasn’t too far away. The skipper kept a close course along the Olympic Coast. With no electric lights on shore, they would run the risk of hitting land in order to make their escape.

The night sky and partial moon offered just enough light to avoid the headlands and keep their course south. The prevailing easterly winds gave them a broad reach. The Navy didn’t bother them.

* * *

The commanding officer of the 12th Infantry Division was ready before sunrise. General Fuller had operational command of the 1st and 2nd Battalions. The 3rd battalion reported to the East Force and the 4th Battalion was to hold the line in the north.

The twelve thousand men of his division had been waiting for this day since arriving back in the States. Along with General Gale’s troops from Idaho and Montana and the other assorted personnel that had returned from Afghanistan, almost thirty thousand troops were ready to advance.

The Chinese troops had retreated from British Columbia before the UAS forces had arrived. With all the Chinese concentrated in Seattle, Ed estimated that the Chinese had approximately twenty thousand troops in one full Infantry Division and an Armored Brigade. There were a few irregulars that had been looting the Northwest, but General Fuller didn’t expect them to put up much resistance.

The Chinese troops were another matter. While China hadn’t fought in any wars of late, they were still regular troops. Fuller knew that troops that had seen combat were vastly superior to troops that hadn’t. Most of that difference could be attributed to eliminating bad officers.

Peacetime armies took the hardship of war to eliminate the political officers that tended to control soldiers as a politician would. Wars needed warriors at the head of armies to make them most effective. And the Chinese definitely had the political officer problem. General Fuller was about to see how bad the Chinese Army had the disease.

“Sir, advance scouts are moving out. We are engaged,” came the telephone report.

“Very good. Carry on,” Fuller said. He just had to wait now. News would start to come in and he would make the command decisions to keep the enemy under pressure

Routine reports flowed in, but nothing causing concern. Fuller listened as his subordinate commanders made their decisions.
The sign of a good unit is good officers
, he thought.

“Sir, we have a strange report from H Company. They’re currently by Renton closing in on Boeing Field. They’ve met up with elements from 3rd battalion. When the bridges blew, 3rd Battalion split and headed for their land routes,” the radioman reported.

“What’s the strange report?” the general asked.

“White flags, Sir. The Chinese are surrendering. H Company commander reports he needs help handling the number of prisoners. It’s getting dangerous controlling all the hostiles but he doesn’t want to stop the surrenders.”

“Tell him I’m on my way with help. Be there in thirty minutes,” Fuller said.

General Fuller grabbed his gear and headed over to General Gale’s headquarters. He would need some of Gale’s troops to lend support. He didn’t want to tie up his frontline units with guard duty.

“Ed, I need your help.”

“I heard. Seems that our air campaign had the same effect that it did in Iraq. I’ll contact my commanders and load up,” Ed said.

“Good. I’ll meet you in Renton,” General Fuller said as he left in his Jeep.

As he headed north on Interstate 5, General Fuller soon ran into the column of Chinese prisoners heading south. His driver continued on as prisoners marched by, guarded by his men.

Reaching Boeing Field, General Fuller found his company commander.

“General, I’m glad you’re here. I have another force that wants to surrender, but I don’t have any men left to guard them.”

“I saw your men on the Interstate. We should have some relief guards when they reach the Sea-Tac Area. We’ll bundle them up in the hangers there for now. Only place big enough to hold them. Meanwhile I’ll get on the horn and get adjacent units to move in support,” Fuller said.

Soon other units of the 12th Infantry showed up and the surrendering process continued. As the general stood watching, hundreds of Chinese soldiers went into captivity. He wondered why there was such a weak response from the enemy.
The air attacks hadn’t been anywhere near as devastating as Iraq
, he thought.

As he watched the process, a captain with B Company came over. “Sir, we just pulled in an officer. He speaks English. Figured you might want to talk to him.”

“I do, Captain. Have him placed away from any other prisoner so he can speak freely,” Fuller answered.

As Fuller was about to interrogate the officer, a truck pulled up with the returning H Company personnel. General Gale was right behind.

“Thought I’d personally return your Company. My troops have taken over guard duty.”

“You’re just in time. I have a Chinese officer who seems to want to talk. Join me?”

The two generals with their bodyguards headed to a building next to Boeing Field. A guard saluted and indicated that their prisoner was inside.

As Fuller opened the door, he turned to the bodyguard. “You men can wait here.” As he and General Gale walked in, Ed took up a position against the wall while Fuller sat down in front of the prisoner.

“General. In fact two generals. I feel honored,” the Chinese prisoner said.

“Name and rank.”

“Colonel Lee. Commander of the 3rd Battalion. 68th Infantry Division of the People’s Liberation Army of China,” Lee answered. “And you may ask what you please. I choose to surrender today.”

Fuller looked up at General Gale standing to the side of the table. “Well, my first question is, what are you doing in my country?”

“As your President said upon our arrival, we came to offer security and food to your distressed citizens. He was very explicit in his thanks for a mercy mission that obviously your country could not provide,” Lee answered.

“OK. We’ll leave that matter for now. Tell me why you’re laying down your arms?” Fuller asked.

“General, you have placed a naval blockade on us and you have air superiority. We have a hopeless situation. And we only came in peace to offer humanitarian aid. We did not come as invaders. Surely your people told of our work saving your citizens from starvation,” Lee said.

“Oh yes. We heard. We’ll also leave that for later. Can I expect the total capitulation of your troops then, sir?” Fuller asked.

“That may be a bit confusing General. It seems our commissar has disappeared and that our political control has broken down. Our forces rely on direction from the Party. Therefore, I can’t answer your question for other units,” Lee offered.

Ed grabbed Fuller’s attention and nodded toward the door. The two stepped out of the room.

“He’s full of it. Humanitarian aid, my ass,” Ed said. Fuller agreed that the Chinese colonel was blowing smoke up their asses, but they needed to know how to handle the other units. They didn’t want their troops getting complacent that all the Chinese were ready to surrender. The first thing that would happen would be a Chinese unit determined to fight.

The two generals agreed that they would proceed cautiously. The Division Intelligence Officer showed up and Fuller put him to work on the prisoner. He would issue orders that all units would continue to accept prisoners, but to remain alert for resistance at any time.

The Chinese troops continued to surrender as soon as the Americans showed up in their area. Thousands of prisoners happily went into captivity. Only one unit showed any sign of resistance, but that was quickly ended when the Chinese troops shot their officers. This unit then went quietly into captivity.

The real problem came in the next couple of days. With thousands of new mouths to feed, the logistical support was strained to the limit.

The big trouble that the Americans faced in the whole operation was when they ran into their fellow Americans. The units made up of criminals knew that their fate was sealed. Their resistance caused a delay in rounding up all the Chinese.

Finally Ed announced the agreement he had worked out in Idaho to get the thugs there to surrender. A ‘no death penalty’ policy to all who surrendered was broadcast. Resistance then generally collapsed and the criminal gangs nearly all turned themselves in. A few holdouts tried to escape through the American lines but they were quickly tracked down and killed.

The report of the capture of Seattle was acclaimed in Cheyenne where the governors continued to meet over the future of the country. Their enthusiasm was dulled when the next messages arrived.

It appeared that once they were away from their officers, most of the Chinese prisoners were asking for asylum. They indicated that they had no wish to return to a Communist China and that they were willing to live the rest of their lives in America.

“Seems that last message you sent has their tail in a twist,” Ed said.

“It was little shocking to me, too. What do we do with that many immigrants? And now word is getting around. The officers want asylum, too,” Fuller said.

“We have a problem there. We have locals coming forward making reports on their treatment under the humanitarian Chinese. There are some accounts to be settled there,” Ed said, “but we need to sit on all of it for now. It might help us in clearing out California.”

“I agree. The more Chinese troops who think they can stay in America if they surrender, the easier the job will be,” General Fuller said.

Hamilton, New Zealand

After the fight on the Bombay Hills, the Leffingwell Family stock rose substantially. Not with the Kiwis, because they already knew why they had joined Connor Leffingwell and marched off to war. But the Americans now moved around Noel and his great-grandfather with a new respect.

While Noel enjoyed the new status accorded him by the Yanks, it didn’t change his great-grandfather’s attitude one bit. In fact, Noel noticed that it made him crankier with all the attention metered out suddenly.

“Bloody hell. A bloke can’t be alone around here. I wish these sods would just bugger off,” GG admonished to no one in particular.

“My arm is feeling much better. That Yank medic did a good job stitching me up,” Noel offered.

“I’m just glad that bayonet didn’t catch something major. I wouldn’t be allowed back in the house by your mother if something happened to you,” his great-grandfather said. It was the first time since setting off from Aorere that his grandfather had shown concern about his well-being. At least GG had stopped talking about fighting to the last to defend New Zealand.

The American arrival had helped put some hope into the situation. In fact there was more than hope. With all the different Kiwi patrols reporting on the ‘Indo’ positions in the hills, it was apparent that the commanders were making preparations to advance.

This was fine with Noel. The sooner the invaders were thrown out, the sooner he and his great-grandfather could return home.

“Noel, how’s the arm?” Major Smith asked. “I want you ready to shove off tomorrow before daylight. We have the information we need. The ‘Indo’ position is untenable if we attack right now.”

“Yes, Sir. We’ll be ready,” Noel answered.

* * *

Things began before sunrise, as the men were stirred from their sleep by the non-commissioned officers. Noel and his great-grandfather would continue to provide liaison between the Kiwi and American forces.

Noel packed their gear as his grandfather made tea. He separated out what they might need for the coming battle with things he could leave behind to be collected after the fight. Noel knew that they would be carrying mostly ammunition today and that the day-to-day things of life in the field would just slow them down.

Noel stuffed the extra things in a duffle bag that would remain at headquarters. Picking up his entrenching tool, he began to stuff it in with the extras. He hadn’t used it since their original defensive position up on the Desert Road.

“Hold on there, Noel. We don’t leave the infantryman’s ‘Best Friend’,” GG said. He reached for the entrenching tool and handed it to Noel. “You pack this for today. We don’t ever go anywhere without this.”

“But Grandfather, we haven’t used it in months and the major said we’d be moving forward today,” Noel offered.

“And when we stop, it may not be real friendly. You may learn to love this little thing today.”

“Yes Sir,” Noel said. He would humor his great-grandfather. But with the bandoliers of AK-47 ammunition he carried along with a rain slicker and a little food for both of them, he was going to be weighed down.

After a breakfast of Marmite on toast cooked over their camp stove, followed by a cup of tea, the two Kiwis were ready. At the sight of the Marmite, the Americans around them turned up their noses. The ones who had tried it never did again. The others took their buddies’ word on the culinary experience.
They don’t know what they’re missing
, Noel thought.

Noel watched as the Yanks finished up their Spam in a can with a cup of coffee. He had tried some of the ‘Meals Ready to Eat’ and concluded that Marmite was superior. And coffee versus tea wasn’t even close.

English Breakfast Tea with milk and sugar was what had carried the British troops through World War II. If it was good enough for his Limey cousins, it was good enough for him.

“Noel, GG, we’re moving out. We’re responsible for taking and holding the ridge you did your recon from. The Marines will be covering our right flank with the 1st Battalion of the 24th Infantry on our left. Our spot is critical as it will be the hinge on which the other forces will pivot to envelop the ‘Indos’,” Major Smith said.

“‘Bout bloody time you blokes got off your backsides. Noel and I could have taken and held that ridge with a squad last week. By now those buggers will have recognized the importance of that spot and dug in,” GG said. The major shook his head and walked off to get his battalion moving.