The Fall of America: Winter Ops (33 page)

“Moscow thinks it would be impossible.”

“Let me remind you sir, before the fall, this country had some very well trained scientists and engineers.  Where have they all gone?  Why have we found so few of them? I honestly feel the only thing that will keep them from being able to arm the weapons, maybe, is the lack of tools or equipment.  I know they have men and women with the knowledge.”

“Shit.”

“So, the question is, do we call Moscow and report this, or keep it between us?”

Slamming his open palm down on the flat of his desk hard, Vasiliev's face turned ruddy and he asked, “Have you lost your damned mind?  Hell no, we are not calling Moscow over this! I want all personnel on 100% alert.  I want choppers in the air, I want teams on the ground and I want those partisans found!  Do you hear me, Major!'

“Oh, I hear you, sir, but I suspect if the resistance can get within five miles of this base and detonate one of the nuclear warheads, we will all be blown from the face of this earth.  So, sir, it matters little if we call Moscow or not, eh?”

“Sit down, Major.”  the Colonel ordered as he moved to his desk, sat, and then opened the top right drawer.  He pulled out a quart of vodka and two glasses.  He filled two glasses and handed one to the other man.  Borisovich noticed it was a fresh bottle and not the one he'd drank from the night before.

After they both took a healthy drink, the Colonel said, “We are two smart men, are we not?  Surely there must be a way to keep the Americans at bay. Oh, and by the way, you have just been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, Sambor.”

Careful
, Borisovich thought,
he is using your first name.
 He thought for a moment and then said, “Well the promotion is a great surprise to me, and my wife at home will love the increase in pay.  Colonel, there is always a chance no one can read the Russian words on the note or by the time they find someone, we will have detonated our own nuclear weapons.”

“What you say is true, but what if they
can
read it?”

“First, authorization does not mean you will use the weapons, only that you may if you choose to do so.  I do not think they will expect you to detonate one in a town and the other near where we last saw the partisans.”

“That's true. Yes, very true.”

“However, sir, we must assume they will come for us, and I am serious.  I have a bad feeling about this situation and think all non-essential personnel need to be evacuated to Jackson, just to be safe.”

“I disagree, mainly because if we pull a lot of troops out, the partisans will know, so they'll attack without nuclear weapons.  Everyone will stay where they are, all of us.  Nevertheless, after further consideration, remove the 100% alert, because they do not need to get close to us, not if they can detonate a nuclear weapon, now do they?”

“Within five miles is what I know of the weapons.  If you wish, sir, I can have a weapons expert prepare a briefing for us.”

“It would be a waste of our time.  Look I want everything that flies in the air and I want as many teams out looking for them as you can put together.  We must find them, before they find us.”  the Colonel said and then threw back the remainder of his vodka.

Newly promoted Lieutenant Colonel Borisovich knocked the rest of drink back, stood, saluted and said, “Will do, sir.”

Three hours later a helicopter contacted the base and reported seeing hundreds of partisans on the ground, slowly moving north.  Both Vasiliev and Borisovich were contacted and then the Lieutenant Colonel had an idea. He called the Colonel and requested an immediate staff meeting, so Vasiliev told him to be in the briefing room in thirty minutes.

A Senior Sergeant yelled from the pit of his stomach, “Tennn—huuut!”

Borisovich entered the room, cleared this throat, and said, “Is there anyone in this room that does not have a top secret security clearance?  If so, you need to leave now.”

Two young officers stood and left the room.

The two senior officers made their way to the podium. Colonel Vasiliev said, “Gentlemen, I have dependable intelligence that the Americans are on their way here to detonate a small tactical nuclear weapon. I will now turn the rest of this briefing over to the head of my intelligence section, newly promoted Lieutenant Colonel Borisovich.”

The Lieutenant Colonel then said, “Gentlemen, we have reliable reason to believe the Americans have found a way to explode one or both of the Russian made nuclear weapons they have in their possession.  Approximately 45 minutes ago a force of more than a hundred partisans were seen moving toward this base.”

“Sir, surely it would not take that many men to detonate a nuclear weapon.”

“Excellent observation, Captain, and you are correct.  It would only take two men, or even one, if in a pinch, to kill every man in this room and on this base.  We feel the other men are along to provide security for the nuclear weapons and to insure it reaches it's intended target, which we feel is this base, as I said before.”

“What are our options, sir?”  a nervous looking Major asked.

“We have a plan, and we are sure it will work.  At their present location and even their projected advance movement, they are too far away to be a threat to us right now.  Also, the wind currents, if they stay as they have been for the last six months, offer us protection too.”

“Protection from what,” a young lieutenant asked and then added a late, “sir?”

“Nuclear fallout, Lieutenant.”

The young officer suddenly looked confused and said, “Oh.”

“Tonight at dark, after 1730 hours, some of our men will be loaded on a chopper, along with a tactical nuclear weapon.  After making a number of false landings, the men and weapon will be unloaded and the chopper will leave, to continue making false landings. This will make it impossible for the partisans to know when the two men get off the aircraft.

They will move to the last known position of the partisans, arm the nuclear weapon and then clear the area.  This weapon will be set to detonate at midnight, gentlemen.”

Smiles were starting to show around the room and even a few cases of nervous laughter were heard.  Feeling confident now, Borisovich asked, “Is the Weapons Commander and his Sergeant here?”

“I am filling in for the Colonel, sir, he is overseeing the arming of aircraft.” a tall and lanky Master Sergeant said.  He then added, “I am Master Sergeant Luka Milan.”

“Sergeant, what is the blast distance for a small nuclear weapon about the size of a suitcase.”

“It depends on the type, sir, and there are many in our inventory.”

“Uh, how about an RA-115?”

“A little over 16 kilometers, sir.”

“Oh, that far, huh?”

“Yes, sir and it is a dependable weapon too.”

Colonel Vasiliev stepped forward and said, “Sergeant Milan, you will remain after the briefing, and the rest of you are excused, but remember, this meeting has been classified Top Secret.”

After everyone left the room, Colonel Vasiliev asked, “Can you arm this weapon?”

“Oh, sure sir, it is simple.  All I need is the key and a code. I insert the key and it unlocks a console that pops up, type in the code, and then run like hell.”

“Can it be easily turned off?”

“No, it takes a different key and a new code which is written only to disarm the weapon.”

“How many men will you need to go with you?”

“Go with me?  What does that mean, sir?”

“It means Master Sergeant, you are about to become a hero, get a big medal, and a promotion to Captain, which will double your retirement pay.  But if needed, you can consider this an order.”

Realizing he was screwed, the Sergeant said, “Five men, including me. I want four to provide security for me while I arm the bomb.  I will set it for midnight, but I want a helicopter to pick us up and return us to base on my call.  Agreed?”

“Not a problem, and we will issue you three radios and five of the small portable ones, one for each of you.  I would suggest you find your men now and get ready.  I want you in the air at 1730 hours.”

Grinning, the Master Sergeant said, “When we return, sir, I am sure my men and I would love a case of premium vodka.”

“It will be in your quarters, and Sergeant?”

“Yes sir?”

“When you get on that helicopter, I want you to climb on as a Captain, understood?  Your promotion was immediate, so you are out of uniform, sir.”  the Colonel said and then smiled.

S
ergeant Belton was on point and it was already dark.  He was wearing Russian night vision goggles and loved them. As far as he knew, they were to move to about five miles from Edwards under the cover of darkness, and then turn east and travel to a spot near Jackson.  He also knew most of the units were meeting there for some reason.  He figured it was to attack another Russian base.  He liked being a Sergeant, because he knew enough about what was going on to keep him happy and he didn't have enough rank to have to worry about a lot of troops.  He had his squad and that was it.
With rank comes responsibilities
, he thought.

It was then he heard a chopper. He pulled out his poncho, so that if it got close he'd cover himself and maybe avoid infrared detection.  It wasn't running with lights on, which told the Sergeant it was on a mission.  Against the overcast sky, he saw it land in a field, close to a hundred meters away.  He watched closely, saw no one get off and then it went back into the air.  He heard the chopper do the same thing four or five more times.  
Now,
he thought,
what in the hell was that about? It was either a fake landing or they may be having aircraft problems.

He quickly returned to the main group and reported to Colonel Smith what he'd seen. The old Colonel looked at the oldest member in the group, Sergeant Major Henry, and asked, “Have you ever heard of that before?”

“They may be inserting a team to follow us.  In Vietnam we did it all the time against the NVA and Cong.  It makes it much harder for the enemy to discover where the real insertion was made.”

“I'm not going to worry about it then. They know we're here, hell, they been flying over us all day.  Belton, get back on point.”

“Yes, sir.”  the Sergeant replied and then moved forward.

Almost three hours later, there came a burst of fire and Belton fell to the snow screaming in pain.  Corporal Dupuy moved forward under covering fire and pulled the injured man to safety behind a tree.  From what he could see with his NVG's, Belton had been shot in both legs and while it must have hurt like a bitch, he'd live.

“Sergeant Haney!”  the Colonel yelled.

“Yo!”

“Take your squad and flank them.”

Haney and his men no sooner neared the Russians than a mine, similar to the American Claymore, exploded and all but the Sergeant was instantly killed. He had been struck in the chest and was having trouble breathing.

The battle continued, and finally the Colonel ordered the men to pull back so they could go around the small pocket of Russians.  He suspected they were some of the squads the Russians had out looking for them.  It had taken time to administer to the injured and when Colonel Smith glanced at his watch, it was five minutes until midnight. He started moving and waved the men on to continue the march. Belton was being carried on a stretcher, along with Haney, who had been struck in the lungs, and they'd been given a shot of morphine for their pain.

No one saw Captain Milan and two other men moving off to the east. They left one dead and one too badly hurt to move. From his watch, it was about an hour before the explosion. He pulled the handset from the radio and called for a helicopter extraction. Twenty minutes later he was in the air moving for the airbase.

At exactly midnight, there was a super bright light to the south of Edwards Air Base and slowly it dulled. Most didn't realize the light signaled the death of over a hundred and fifty-three partisans in the first nuclear attack on the continent. The Russians had just gone too far.

“Colonel Vasiliev, I think that ends our partisan problem, at least for a while.” Captain Milan said, and then laughed.