Soldiers and Marines Saga, page 32
“Our air force and our drones and cruise missiles have the ability to destroy those bridges, Mr. President. And we must destroy them or the Warsaw Pact’s troops and armor will be able to keep coming and coming and coming until our forces are ground down and we lose.
“Moscow knows this, of course, and is packing layer after layer of anti-air missiles and conventional artillery defenses around each of those bridges and on the approaches to them. You can see their intentions in the satellite photos of the site preparation construction which has been going on for the past several years.”
“Our air force is good, Mr. President. Excellent, in fact. If our air force and those of our allies attack those bridges they will destroy them. But the Russians know our air and missile strength and have taken steps to offset it. They expect to destroy thirty or forty of our planes at each bridge and all the drones and cruise missiles we send against it. We’ll lose most of NATO’s planes and drones and cruise missiles but the bridges will be gone.
“Our problem, Sir, is that the loss of all those planes without the Warsaw Pact losing any of its planes will give them air superiority as well as outnumbering us on the battlefield. It means they will not need the follow-on supplies and reinforcements to win.
“Alternately, of course, we can pass on attacking the bridges and save the air force. Our planes and pilots are really good, much better than theirs, and if our air force is intact we will undoubtedly establish air superiority over the battlefield.”
“Exactly so,” interjected the Air Force Chief of Staff with a great deal of self-satisfaction.
“But,” I continued. “That will leave the bridges up. If the bridges remain up the Russians and their allies will just keep pouring more and more men and equipment into Germany until NATO’s ground forces are ground down and defeated despite our air superiority—just as the Russians ground down and defeated Germany in World War Two. It means they’ll win.
“The answer, of course, is to destroy the bridges without using up our air force and other airborne weapons in the process. That’s what I’ve quietly set up and have ready to go without anyone at NATO or the Russians finding out—so while the Russians and East Germans are looking up at the sky and waiting for our planes and drones and cruise missiles, I’ve arranged to put swimmers in the rivers upstream from their air defenses and have them swim down underwater and blow the bridges.”
“That’s a job for the Navy’s SEALs and Britain’s Special Boat Service,” interrupted the Defense Secretary, “Can they do it?” Shaking his head he answered his own question.
“No. There aren’t enough of them.”
“Yes Sir,” I responded. “You are right. There are not enough of them and there are other more important things for the SEALs and the men of the Britain’s Special Boat Service to do.
“That’s why, very quietly, without even NATO or the navy finding out so there’d be no chance of a leak, I had my men train up two sets of alternatives the Russians have never paid much attention to because they’ve never been assigned to Europe—the Marine Swimmers and the Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers.
“They both quietly added demolitions and night operations to their curriculums several years ago, and they’ve both got enough men capable of going in the water upstream and swimming down underwater to blow the bridges.”
“That sounds like a good idea, General,” said the President. “But won’t it take too long to set it up?”
“No Sir, Mr. President, it won’t. NATO and the Russians don’t know it but we’ve got everything already set up and ready to go on a moment’s notice. I’ve got the explosives, swimming gear, and men in hand and ready to go for every bridge. Even the flight plans for our pilots to follow to get the swimmers to their upstream drop-off points; and even the individual operations plans and explosives to hand to each team of our swimmers before they set out for each bridge.
“Mr. President, you give the word and I can blow those goddamn bridges within 48 hours of getting your okay—without losing a plane or a drone or a cruise missile.”
Everyone was silent. Then the Air Force Chief of Staff pushed back his chair and looked at me incredulously.
“Jesus H Christ. We can win.”
******
Things got more and more enthusiastic and a bit more relaxed as I went through the details and timing of all but one of the various special operations we prepared at the Detachment and have ready to immediately launch.
I didn’t tell them about one operation because we actually launched it several years ago. It involved a small strand of computer code. We developed it at the Detachment and an old friend from Sandhurst, now in British Intelligence, arranged for it to be inserted it into Russia’s military communications system several years ago. If it works, it will sense the Russian communications system is being used for a real war against NATO and send a different message to certain Russian artillery units—they’ll start firing four hours and four minutes early—when we are ready to fight and they are not.
I saved the Marine Corps for last and never mentioned the possibility we might be able to trick the Russian artillery into starting the war at a time of our choosing.
More than an hour and a half later, while everyone was munching sandwiches and drinking coffee, except me who seemed to be doing all the talking, I put the Marine Corps on the table.
“There’s one more big operation I’ve got ready to go whose announcement might trigger so much uncertainty that it just might, all by itself, cause the Russians to back off.”
Then I took a deep breath and told the President and the Security Council all about it.
“NATO needs the Marine Corps assigned to it. The entire Corps. Every single Marine. Right now. Today.”
The former congressman serving as Secretary of Defense disagreed.
“It won’t be believable because the Russians know it will take too much time to set it all up and get the Marines and their equipment to Germany. It would take months. We don’t have months.”
“Uh, no Sir, I’m pleased to report that’s not the case.”
Then I explained in some detail how every Marine was superbly trained as a combat infantryman so that we could rush them all to Europe and have thirty heavily armed brigades of Marines in action within ten days of their being assigned to NATO.
The President and the council members were stunned when they heard that our base near Riems had several hundred big civilian moving vans loaded and ready to go with all the equipment and ammunition needed to make thirty newly-established Marine brigades combat ready—including all the communications gear they would need and sixty-three hundred Israeli-made anti-tank missiles and SAMs.
“My boys can get everything each Marine brigade needs to its assembly point in Germany within twelve hours. The German and other NATO divisions can provide all the food and support services the Marines will need.
“Even better, in terms of preventing the war,” I continued, “As soon as the first Marines begin arriving, the Russians and their allies will know we are much stronger than the KGB and their other intelligence services have led them to believe. That may introduce enough uncertainty to deter them.”
I took a deep breath to steady my nerves and continued in an effort to close the deal.
“Mr. President, if you give the order and activate the civilian airliners in our reserve fleet, our Marines can start pouring into German as early as tomorrow afternoon. That’s important—because knowing we will be much harder to defeat than they initially expected might cause the Russian leadership to reconsider going to war.”
There was a long silence. No one spoke. Then the President put both hands on his desk and pushed to help himself stand up,
“General, I’ve heard enough. Within the hour I’m going to address the nation and announce your appointment as the new Commander of the United States forces in Europe, which makes you, as I’m sure you know, the NATO Commander.
“I don’t know what I expected to hear when this meeting started but this is better than I dared hope. Now let’s get you over to the Marine Commandant so you can tell him what to do. I’ll call him and tell him you’re coming and that, effective immediately, the Corps is assigned to NATO and every Marine belongs to you.”
Chapter Two
I don’t know what the President said to the Marine Commandant but whatever he said it worked. The Commandant himself, Pug Murphy, and a group of Marine officers were waiting at the front door of the Marine Barracks when our fast moving convoy of black Lincoln Town Cars pulled into the driveway and literally skidded to a stop in front of the entrance.
General Murphy was more than a little curious about who I am, and rightly so. Out of the corner of my eye I could see him taking in my ribbons as we briskly walked into the building and down the hall to his office with a gaggle of senior Marine officers bringing up the rear. Well at least he knows I’m not a bureaucrat.
“Commandant you don’t know me but I really do know how good your Marines are. I had Marines in my units when I was fighting in the Korean War and in Afghanistan after that. They are the best of the best and I know it.”
“Here’s the way I see it,” I said as we settled into chairs at his conference table and I leaned forward to speak. He and his senior staff clustered around the table were eyeing me intently. So was another Marine, a three star who eased himself into the chair next to the Commandant as I began to speak, obviously his deputy.
I pulled no punches.
“It is almost certain that the Russians are coming and there’s gonna be a war in Europe, a big war. And they’re likely to attack in the next week or so, maybe sooner. Whether we win or lose is going to depend on the Marines.”
Some of the Marine officers standing behind the Commandant seem shocked at what they were hearing. That’s no surprise—he probably hasn’t had time to tell them that the entire Marine Corps has just been assigned to NATO.
Then I laid it all out. The equipment they will find waiting, the German kasernes where each brigade will be based, what the Marines should and should not bring with them, the arrival airports where each NATO division will collect the men of its Marine brigade as they arrive, everything. I hope.
“It’s gonna be close, real close.” I told them.
“The Marines are likely to be the difference between winning and losing, just like the Paris taxicabs which got the final French battalion to the Battle of the Marne, the men who tipped the balance and saved France in 1914.”
I was almost emotional as I leaned forward with my left elbow on the table and waved my right hand at the Commandant and the men around him.
“France was saved by the officers who quickly organized their men and their transportation to the front and led them into the battle. They saved France from being defeated; now it’s up to you and your officers to get your men organized and to the front in time to save the United States from being defeated.”
Yes! They get it and they like it. I can see it in their eyes and faces.
It took almost an hour to brief the Marine brass on what I expected them to do and how they were going to do it. They were as astonished as the President had been when they heard about the equipment waiting for them in Germany.
Then we took a ten minute break to watch the President address the nation and announce the calling up of all our reserves and National Guard units, the assignment of the entire Marine Corps to NATO, and my appointment as NATO commander.
The President also announced the immediate activation of the Civilian Reserve Air Fleet, the civilian airliners from American, United, and all the other airlines that will carry our soldiers and Marines to Europe. They will, the President told the nation, immediately commence carrying the first thirty brigades of Marines to the pre-positioned equipment waiting for them in Europe.
I bet that causes a lot of people in Moscow to sit up in surprise and a lot of travelers to worry about their travel plans.
After the President’s speech I handed the Commandant a thick folder with all the lists and details.
“Here’s what your Marines must do. You, by the way, will be in Germany with me as the Commander of all the Marines…. And do you have a latrine around here and some kind of sandwich?”
******
I worked and ate and drank coffee at Marine Headquarters all night long as the tempo of the activity around me grew and grew and grew. There were periodic meetings with the Commandant, numerous calls back and forth to various NATO commanders, and several calls from the President, the Secretary of Defense who wants to talk about his role in the decision making, and with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, my old friend Dick Spelling.
By the time the sun rose in the morning, Pug and I are on a first name basis and he is well into the process of immediately promoting all the active duty Marines and Marine reservists by one rank and finalizing the names of the thirty Marine officers who will command the new brigades.
I also managed to get a call through to Dorothy to tell her to pack one suitcase and be ready to leave for the States on thirty minutes notice. Someone will come for her and please don’t forget little Chris’s stuffed fox, the passports, and the checkbook.
She said French television carried the President’s speech live and that Dave Shelton had already sent a truck full of ferocious looking Marines with painted faces to guard the house.
“Please be careful my love,” she begged. “We need you too.”
I also used the Commandant’s secure phone to call Dave and tell him he was now in command of the Detachment and would he please immediately assign Lieutenant Riley to serve as my aide. That was our code for fully activating all of our special operations in the expectation of an imminent war.
“One more thing,” I told Dave. “Please ask Mrs. Ross to give you the big envelope in her safe marked “grin and bear it.”
Dave doesn’t know it yet but the paperwork inside the envelope promotes him to lieutenant general, seven other of the Detachment’s officers including three of our current and past German colonels to brigadier, and Mike Morton to rear admiral. They and the four German brigadiers heading up the special operations will work at NATO’s war headquarters and will need weight to get things done.
Even wars don’t deter the Military’s bureaucrats from continuing in a peacetime mode when a war starts, only direct orders.
And they’ll have a lot to do—Dave will be in command of NATO’s airborne troops and special operations with Davy, Dieter, and Mike as his deputies for air, ground, and water.
******
About the time the sun came up I returned to the White House in another convoy of fast moving black Lincolns. This time I was escorted straight to the Oval Office. The President was already there. He was standing by a sideboard covered with food and coffee cups talking to his Chief of Staff as I walked in. The President was visibly tired and tense. He’s been up all night too.
“I’ve been working the equipment and supplies list you gave me,” was the first thing the President said as I walked in and saluted. He gestured with his coffee cup to acknowledge the salute and then nodded towards a sideboard covered with food and coffee cups. So I helped myself to a toasted bagel and spread strawberry cream cheese on it and we talked. It was delicious; I’d never had strawberry cream cheese before.
The list the President mentioned was the constantly updated and always evolving list of the weapons, particularly anti-tank missiles and helicopters, the guys at the Detachment thought the President might be able to get from each of our major non-NATO allies such as Australia, South Korea, Taiwan, and Israel.
So far so good. The President apparently spent the entire night calling the presidents and prime ministers of our non-NATO friends to ask each of them to immediately airlift specific items to our air bases in Germany. The list even included the airports where we wanted the various shipments to land and which hangars were to receive the cargos.
Israel’s Prime Minister was at the top of the list and he, the President reported with a great deal of satisfaction, instantly agreed to the immediate airlifting of everything the President requests including several hundred of their new Merkava super tanks and all the attack helicopters the Israelis can spare—complete with full “load outs” of ammunition and, if possible, “advisors” to operate them.
The Commandant will be pleased when he hears the news. Almost everything coming out of Israel is destined for the Marine brigades.
Basically the same response came from the Australians, South Koreans, and Taiwan. The President told them what we needed and they not only agreed to provide it but wanted to know what else they could do to help.
That’s good news I responded and reported that things are going equally well with the Marines—they’ll be ready and waiting when the planes begin arriving later today to carry them to Germany.
Then, at the President’s invitation, I accompanied him as he briskly walked down a long hall to a National Security Council meeting. They were regularly scheduled every morning at this time.
******
The members of Security Council were already in the room and talking among themselves as they waited for the President. Every one stood and waited for the President to sit, and then sat down quickly as soon as he sat. Then he nodded and someone from his National Security Advisor’s staff began providing us with a summary briefing of the world situation.
The briefing lasted ten minutes and can be summed up as “there’s going to be a really big war and it’s going to start within days if not hours.”
One look around the table at the Council members and it was obvious that most of them had spent a sleepless night just as I had. Even so, despite their obvious lack of sleep, everyone seemed determined and ready to go.
After the briefing the Secretary of State, former Massachusetts Senator Barbara Hoffman, reported she’d been called last night by one of her predecessors who apparently had been contacted by a Russian representative. All we need to do to appease the Russians and get them to back off, Secretary Mannheim announced triumphantly “is make a concrete gesture of peace such as returning our submarines to port and announcing that we’ll consider taking some of their refugees.” Russia will then respond favorably, she’s been assured, by proposing peace talks. Her diplomacy, she implied rather proudly, will prevent the war.
