Fem War II - Chapter Two

The front has settled into a Phoney War, developments are going on, our principal characters find their space in the War....

20. Chapter Two

 

Colonel Grappler kicked his left ankle with his right foot to remind himself to curb his tongue, and sat quietly as Major General Brad Nelson looked over a couple of papers, then looked up over his glasses, with a chucking sound of pursed lips.

 

“Well, Peter - I can see what happened here.  Sometimes you’re just a little bit outspoken.”

 

“Yeah, I know, Brad, but honestly - I mean - who would have expected the Secretary of State, Nellie Chamberman, to do something that stupid!  I mean there she goes, heading off to the Mukden Conference with “President” Adelpha Hilter from that damned Empire of the Rising Moon, and next thing we’ve signed away all rights and treaties with Japan and just let’em go down the toilet!  Then coming home talking about ‘Peace in Our Time”!  More like peace from our CRIME, or PIECES of our time, you ask me!  And look where it’s got us!”

 

“You’re doing it again!  I sorta get the feeling that your comments about "some dumb broad making stupid decisions” - let me just check that quote - yep - well, I guess that might have had something to do with your retirement.  Georgette doesn’t take too kindly to that sort of talk these days.”

 

“I know that, Brad, but even Georgette, I mean General Martial, knows I just say things out loud that everyone’s thinking, and it doesn’t mean I won’t do my damned job!”.

 

“Look, Pete, if it was up to me, I’d have you and your team back on board right now, but I can’t make that decision, old friend or not.  We’ve got a heap of young people coming into service right now and a lot of reservists to process.”

 

“I’M on reserve! So’s Jess and a coupla others.  Process me and them!”

 

“Sorry, Pete, orders from the top.  Gotta do like The Woman says.  You guys’ll just have to wait your turn.  Sorry, but orders are orders.  I gave it my best shot, but you’ll have to live down that comment.. and a couple of  others.”

 

Colonel Grappler sucked in a breath, and shook his head in disappointment,

 

“OK, Brad.  I get your point, and I do thank you for trying.  I don’t know what I’m going to tell Jess and the rest - they’re itching to get into this thing, and so am I!”

 

“Sorry, Pete - I’m truly sorry - but that’s how it is right now.  Wait a while and see how things pan out.”

 

“Yeah - if the whole damned thing isn’t over by then. OK, Brad, I’ll get out of your hair and let you get on with your work.  Thanks again.”

 

They shook hands, and parted, still friends.  Grappler walked down the aisle towards the Pentagon entrance - he knew the way, which many didn’t, some even needing a guide - hands in coat pockets and deep in thought.

*     *     *

 

 President Rubin Carter was heading a conference and keeping it under firm control despite the obvious rising stress in the room.

 

“Gentlemen, Ladies!  We really need to get some things settled.  Right now, as General Martial has advised me, the Empire is sitting pretty along the borders of California and not doing very much.  They have moved North and taken over Oregon and Washington State as far as the Canadian border, and we have been in no position to oppose that move across the barrier of The Rockies. We have our Border Exigency Force in place, and they report very little in the way of action, and the Mexicans and Canadians are remaining neutral awaiting the outcome of this whole shebang.

 

Let me stress that at this time there are NO diplomatic solutions in sight, and we are still awaiting some move by The Empire to remove its troops from California and the Pacific Islands in compliance with our ultimatum

 

Our biggest problem is, as you all know, our relative lack of POL - petroleum, oil and lubricants, to keep anything remotely mechanized moving.  Of course, everyone else in the world is at least as badly off in this regard, and most are much worse off.  Them old dinosaur guts only went so far!”

 

A chuckle went around the room, and Carter waited until it had quieted again then went on,

 

“Our railroad network is our best mover of large bodies of troops and of materiel, but we are near totally lacking in any long range air power.  Air Force Colonel Doolittle will now address us on this issue.”

 

Colonel Eliza Doolittle rose, and marched to the huge screen at the Northern end of the room,

 

“Ladies, Gentlemen - we are all aware that with our dire lack of petroleum resources, we have little to no way of exerting any air power against any move by the Empire.”

 

She paused as the faces in the room registered near boredom - they all knew that.

 

“I believe, with the help of a railway engineer and input from a few highly intelligent officers, all under the management of the rather brilliant Professor Henry Higgins, that we may have reached a solution!”

 

The room stirred up - they all knew that Doolittle and Higgins were a lot closer than that and even shared living quarters - and the room sounded for a moment or ten like a bee hive, very unbecoming conduct for a host of senior officers but a clear indication of their surprise, amazement and disbelief, until President Carter called them to order again.

 

“Please, please.  Let us hear Colonel Doolittle out.”

 

The room fell silent again…  Doolittle touched a button and the screen lit up with a series of pictures, she focused on one first,

 

“This is our standard railroad flat-bed truck.  This is the same flatbed in a long string.”

 

Low mumbles were starting again….and Doolittle spoke loudly and firmly..

 

“And THIS….. is a series of flat bed trucks joined between trucks to form… THIS….and this is an aerial shot of……a railroad mobile runway for aircraft!”

 

The room was agog with excitement, kept under control, but palpable,

 

“This, ladies and gentlemen, is the product of some of the finest minds that this country could bring together in this time of crisis.  We call it the Temporary Railroad Aircraft Carrier!  TRAC for short.”

 

She paused to give the now thoroughly aroused room full of brass a chance to digest this piece of information and arrive at the positive conclusion she knew they would.  When she detected a positive note creeping into their whispered exchanges, and with a nod from President Carter, she called the room to attention again.

 

“Ladies, Gentlemen!  We hold a near monopoly on the manufacture of railroad cars within the continental United States.  The Empire may well be able to field a few of these TRACs, but with a bit of luck and some damned good bombing, we should be able to establish air superiority over the battlefield in a relatively short period of time.

 

We are able, almost immediately, to field only three of these TRACs, since much of the existing rolling stock was in California at the time of the Invasion, and we lost much of it to the Empire, but we are making up the difference rapidly.   We are aware that the Empire can currently field at least six TRACs. I will pause for questions.”

 

General Martial, senior officer present, spoke first,

 

“Thank you, Colonel Doolittle!  It may well be that this inventiveness from Professor Higgins and his team have created what will be the turning point of the war!  If we can exert sufficient air power over the battlefield, we will inevitably prevail.  However, I do note that these.. TRACs.. are somewhat narrow and short.  There must be some limitations.  Could you outline those for us all, please?”

 

“Yes, Sir!  As you stated so clearly, the TRACs ARE somewhat limited, and we are able only to use small aircraft from them.  However, we believe this disadvantage can be offset by their mobility and their ability to carry a large number of such aircraft, many of which are small propellor driven civilian models currently undergoing modification.”

 

Some looks of doubt began to creep onto faces in the room again, so she went on..

 

“These little aircraft may be slow and vulnerable, but we are able to arm them with a minimum of 500 lbs of bombs each”…

 

A couple of heads shook negatively ….500 lbs each?  Might do nothing unless right on target .... with a civilian clunker aircraft?

 

“We have the best trained and the most motivated pilots in the world, Ladies and Gentlemen, and I can assure you they will acquit themselves well when the time comes!  Mr President, General Martial, if I may, could I bring one of our pilots in?”

 

Carter signaled the room for silence with an upheld hand,

 

“By all means, Colonel Doolittle.  Bring us someone at the coal face, and we’ll see what he has to say before we jump to any conclusions!”

 

*     *    *

 

Captain Steve Reeves, known as ‘Windblown’ for his exploit in crossing the Pacific against the Trade Winds in a single engined Grappler Special, a product of Colonel Grappler’s family’s long-standing aviation business, rose nervously when the aide opened the door and asked him to come in.

 

‘Nervous’ was pretty unusual for Windblown, who was alleged to have ice cold vodka in his veins, and he was a teensy bit surprised at his own nervousness at this moment, but entered the room full of heavy brass with an outwardly confident stride.

 

Eliza Doolittle announced him,

 

“This is Captain Steve Reeves, US Air Force, and short-listed as CAG for one of our TRACs, the Yorktown, when it becomes operational.  Captain Reeves - you have the controls!”

 

“Thank you, Colonel, and thank you ladies and gentlemen, for this opportunity to address you on the capabilities of our TRAC Striking Force.  Er.. call me Windblown. Questions?”

 

A titter went around the room, and Major General Georgina Patton raised her hand for a question.  Georgina, known as “Floodgates” Patton for her famous comment that any attempt by the Empire to cross into US-held territory would open the floodgates to a sea of Empire blood and guts, went straight to the point.

 

“Windblown - hell of a name you got there, son!  Windblown - can you guarantee my people air cover when we get out there and start ripping the enemy apart?”

 

“General, I can guarantee you that our air people will be wherever they are needed, and will supply air cover for as long as it is sustainable - at any cost!”

 

Patton considered this in silence for a few moments, then nodded,

“Not quite what I asked, but it’ll do for now.  When can we have them and when can you build up numbers?  You’re going to take losses out there, son, and I figure the sooner you can start training people up to speed the better.  How’s that training going?”

 

“General, Ma’am, we have as many pilots in training and online right now as we can handle.  It WILL take time to get numbers up, but we are getting there.  I can promise that we will give 200% effort for as long as we can.”

 

Patton nodded, rolling her tongue around in her mouth for a few seconds,

 

“That’s good enough for now!  When you run out of steam, we can handle those damned Empire pantywaists on our own for a while!  Thank you!”

 

A Colonel from Services of Supply raised a hand, and asked when the TRACs would be available for sure, and how much materiel would they be requiring and where they were needed to - err - get them off the ground.

 

“Sir”, said Windblown, “The Yorktown is ready now and just needs fuelling and victualling, the Enterprise is nearly ready, and Hornet is right behind.  We need your supplies to start flowing now.  I have a list of where and what we need!’

 

He handed over the list, and the colonel nodded, and looked up to President Carter, who nodded, and the colonel took his hat and left to make a few phone calls.

 

Admiral ‘Boats’ Rickover, now an Admiral without a fleet apart from a submarine one - and no fuel to run any but the nuclear anyway - raised a hand.

 

“I just want to know, Captain - those flat tops of yours look a little short for takeoffs and landing - and I see no facility for installing a catapult.  How can you guarantee your aircraft will even get airborne under full combat load?  And then land again.  You need to recover those pilots!  You can lose aircraft - we can replace those - but we need those people to handle the reins on those things - and we need them back at all costs.”

 

“Admiral - we can operate the TRAC in several ways - we can run it at full speed on a straight stretch of track - damned near - excuse my language " around 60+ miles per hour, which will give us a far shorter takeoff run and also a much shorter landing run after touchdown.

 

That’s one way.

 

Under reduced combat loads, we can fly our planes off a stationary deck, just like any airfield. That will reduce combat loads and possibly our mission radius, meaning we need to be closer to the action, and more vulnerable since we'll be stationary, but we can still operate!  The trade-off is in fuel for the planes as against fuel for the trains! As for pilot rescue, we have a limited number of helos available for pickup and we have a number of pick-up teams trained and ready.  We may be a bit short on fighter cover, but we can do the job.”

 

Rickover settled back in his chair, hands folded behind his head, and said,

 

“Well, sounds like you’re on the ball, as much as you can be in these early days.  Let the Navy know if we can help out in any way.  We’ve had a little carrier experience and it may just help.”

 

The room was filled with laughter for a brief second or two, and Rickover continued,

 

“I’m sure we can dig up some liaison officers in zero time for you - if we just get the word!”

 

General Martial nodded,  “Take this as The Word, Boats!”

 

“Ma’am!” snapped Rickover.

 

*    *    *

 

 

A White House aide rushed down the corridor, causing the Secret Service and Marine guards to automatically reach for their weapons, and then relax as they recognized the young intern…

 

“Morning, Monique.”, said the head of detail, opening the door after the mandatory body search…

 

Monique Levrinsky nodded briefly, still out of breath, and entered to give the news.

 

President Carter looked up, and saw on her face that this was important, so yielded the floor to the young intern, now suddenly thrust into the spotlight.  She caught her breath and spoke clearly and lucidly for all to hear.

 

The Empire had broken the neutrality of both Canada and Mexico and had invaded both, rapidly pushing back token forces and forcing a turning of the flanks of the Border Exigency Force, which, outnumbered and outgunned and tormented by Empire aircraft from Empire TRACs and without close air support or fighter cover of their own, was in full retreat across the Great Plains and the Western Desert.

 

As if that wasn’t enough, the Empire had pushed into Korea, and the Chinese had pushed south to meet them - but instead of a huge confrontation, apart from a few random mistakes on both sides, they’d all halted at the 38^th Parallel, shaken hands all round, and then sat down to a quiet time of trading.

 

So much for the Chinese watching the Western Pacific Front!

 

*     *     *

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author's Note

Does anyone feel I should be getting into some Ground Zero combat, as well as the broad sweep stuff going on at the moment? Problem is that ideas always keep coming up, and I feel I should go back and correct...