Artillery rumbled in the distance and the crown prince cursed. He’d told his generals to fire only at viable targets and not to just shoot an area because it looked suspicious. They could not squander precious supplies shooting at shadows.
More artillery thundered and the prince swore again.
He heard the sound of a train whistle and grinned, his good humor returned. He urged his horse over a low rise to where he could see a long train on the tracks and it was headed west. He thanked God that the United States had such a fine railroad system. Not as good as Germany’s, of course, but very good indeed when the great size of the United States was considered. When he’d realized that it was nearly three thousand miles from San Francisco to Washington, he’d been aghast. But now he and his army could move over the smallish mountains and into San Diego without further delay. Some of the men on the train saw him and waved. He laughed and waved back. The world was good. And it was becoming a German world. Pax Germanica.
On returning to his desk at the Presidio, Luke decided to take a few moments to catch up on news and events. First, he was delighted to see that the United States had formally declared war on Imperial Germany. Apparently there was some thought that an official declaration would not be made because of possible repercussions, but transcripts and recordings of the last meeting between President Lansing and the German ambassador had been so inflammatory that anything else was impossible.
The attacks on California and Texas, coupled with the German ambassador’s arrogance had galvanized the nation. Reports said President Lansing was cheered by Congress and that the vote in both houses was unanimous. Even the diehard pacifists couldn’t deny that the United States had been invaded, and that the invader, Imperial Germany, had declared its intention to siphon off four states from the Union.
A confidential report said that California wasn’t quite as cut off from the rest of the world as was first feared. Trans-Atlantic cables ran from San Francisco and Seattle to points west and then around the globe where they wound up in Washington D.C. It took several hours to get there, but it was far better than several weeks, or even months. Better, the telegraph and rail lines from Seattle eastward had not been destroyed. Luke and the rest of the army’s intelligence community wondered why not and concluded that a spring thaw might find a group of German saboteurs where they’d frozen to death when a sudden storm hit them. So much for German infallibility and omnipotence, he thought. Luke did not feel sympathetic to the thought of a bunch of frozen Krauts.
National Guard troops from Washington and Oregon were moving into the northern passes to rebuild the telegraph lines and protect the one open railroad from a second German try. The destroyed rail lines would not be rebuilt before spring—if the Germans let them, that is. Colonel Nolan felt the Germans would garrison the passes and glumly said that only a few men would be required to hold them against any American advance.
National Guard troops in California had been activated by the Republican Governor of California, William Dennison Stephens. It had been rumored that Stephens was going to order the poorly trained and inexperienced guard to attack the Germans, but prompt action by President Lansing had put an end to that suicidal nonsense. The California National Guard was now under the control of General Liggett.
There was fighting in Texas between Mexican Army units and Texas National Guard, but that was not Luke’s immediate concern.
“Welcome home, soldier.”
Luke looked up and saw the friendly grin of Major Ike Eisenhower. “Good to be back and gather my wits,” Luke said, “but I’d much rather be down south gathering info than reading about it.”
“Couldn’t agree more,” Ike said, pulling up a chair. “Here I am, supposed to be making plans and I have nothing to plan with. I even envy Patton. He gets to ride around and actually try to accomplish something, even though it might result in his getting his butt kicked every now and then.”
“So what’s going to happen, Major?”
“Nothing that isn’t all that obvious,” Ike said. “The Krauts will very shortly take San Diego, if it hasn’t fallen already. Then they will move north and into the Central Valley where it’ll be easier for them to march. They will then keep on north until they can turn west and fall on San Francisco. Before that, however, I’m certain one prong will continue to move along the coast and take Los Angeles, which will give them a second major port.”
“San Francisco is their goal, isn’t it?”
“In my opinion, yes,” Ike said. “Does Colonel Nolan agree?”
“Yes, and again, it’s fairly obvious.”
“At least General Liggett and Admiral Sims have agreed to try to agree on strategy,” said Eisenhower, “Although it would be nice to have one overall commander.”
Luke laughed. “Not in this man’s army and navy.”
“Speaking of navies, Luke, you are aware that three of our new battleships did make it to Seattle, along with a handful of cruisers and destroyers, and maybe a few submarines before the Germans hit Mare Island and destroyed the three older battleships. Apparently our surviving ships were chased by the German fleet which then decided not to enter Puget Sound because so much of it is British and they don’t want to antagonize the Brits, at least not yet. Since the Krauts destroyed our coastal forts in Puget Sound as well here, there wouldn’t have been much we could have done to stop them. Sims told Liggett we actually have what he called a ‘fleet in being’ that we can use to tie down German naval units.”
“Wonderful,” Luke said. “I wish we had an army in fact instead of a fleet in being.”
He was about to say something further when an enormous explosion struck the building and sent both of them to the floor. Smoke and dust filled the room. They scrambled to their feet, astonished to be unhurt, and ran outside through where part of the wall had collapsed.
Another explosion rocked them as a second shell impacted near them. They hit the ground again as more debris fell on them. In the nearby city proper, people were running and screaming. Several civilians, including women and children, lay in bloody heaps, some unmoving.
Ike and Luke ran to where they could see out into the ocean. Off in the distance, silhouetted gray shapes lay just under the horizon. The German fleet had returned to San Francisco. Lights twinkled from them, almost merrily, but each twinkle was a naval gun firing and a shell being hurled on its way. The German Navy was bombarding the city.
After a few more minutes, the bombardment stopped and the Germans steamed off, headed south. There had been no return fire from the American coastal forts.
“Son of a bitch!” Luke said. “There was no reason to bombard a helpless city!”
Ike shook his head. “Just like there wasn’t any reason for the Germans to bombard and burn cities in Belgium in 1914.”
Horse drawn ambulances had begun to pick up the dead and injured, and fire engines were fighting the fires that the shelling had begun. Ironically, the earthquake and fire of 1906 had resulted in San Francisco having very efficient emergency services. Luke thought this would not be the last time they were needed.
Kirsten felt very nervous riding into Raleigh. She was in a horse-drawn carriage with an equally nervous Maria at her side. Kirsten was dressed demurely in a long skirt, wore no makeup, and her clothes were intentionally baggy and worn. Of course, as a result of the Germans burning her home, her choices of clothing were few. She didn’t think she’d have any difficulties with the Germans in the town, but she was not taking any chances. What happened to Ella might have been a fluke caused by Leonard shooting at the Germans, but she would take no chances.