A rumbling noise behind him said that the trains were still running, which was good. That meant more replacements, even if they were poorly armed and barely trained farm boys or clerks from the cities. As a result, too many new guys died in the first skirmish.
He heard people moving quietly behind him, or at least they were trying to be quiet. He turned and saw a file of men coming towards him. What looked like an officer in a pie tin helmet detached himself and walked up to Tovey, staying in a crouch. Smart man. The Mexicans had snipers, too.
“You General Tovey?”
“Yeah, who wants to know?”
The officer grinned, and Tovey saw stars on his collar. “Tovey, I’m Major General John Lejeune, U.S. Marine Corps, and now commanding the Twelfth Infantry Division. If you don’t mind, I’ve got an advance party of about four thousand Marines who’d just love to join your little party. The rest of the division, along with some other fine young men, will be along shortly after they complete an assignment I’ve given them.”
Tovey nodded mutely. He was afraid he was going to cry. He watched as long columns of grim-faced Marines filled in the far too many open spaces in his trenches. There was soft and easy banter between his men and the newcomers, especially when the old defenders saw the machine guns and mortars the Marines had brought.
For the first time in a long time, Tovey eagerly awaited the dawn.
“I will not go with the refugees,” Kirsten said firmly. “When there are no more refugees, that’ll mean the battle’s right around the corner and then I will volunteer for hospital work. They will need all the help they can get.”
Luke and Kirsten were walking along the waterfront after taking a cable car ride just for the sheer pleasure of it. It was early evening and the sky was clear, and there was a hint of spring in the otherwise cold air. It was so nice they could even ignore the omnipresent dark spots far out in the ocean that were the blockading German warships.
Luke was perplexed by Kirsten’s reluctance to even consider leaving for safer places. “Have you ever seen the blood in a battlefield hospital? Do you really think you can handle it?” He immediately realized it was the wrong thing to say as she glared at him.
“Have you ever gelded a bull?” she snapped.
“Not recently.”
Kirsten laughed. “I haven’t either, but I’ve seen it done often enough. And no, I’m not giving you a choice, I’m staying. Even if you pick me up and put me on a train, I’ll find a way to get off and come back. As long as you are here, Luke Martel, then I will be too.”
Luke felt a surge of pride and affection. Yeah, he wanted her to stay. He never wanted her to leave. After thinking he’d lost her in the train attack, sending her away was the last thing he wanted to do. Still, he wanted her safe and he was torn by the dilemma. Letting her make the decision wasn’t just the easy way out for him. She had every right to do as she wished, not as he wished. Okay, he thought, she would stay.
“Luke, I was married at eighteen and widowed at twenty-three. I never thought I’d get over the loss. I wasn’t really certain I even wanted to.
“I realize now I was quite content living my life and feeling sorry for myself. Then came the Germans who destroyed my home, my cousins, and every tangible object I had to remember him by, except for the wedding ring, of course. And some money,” she added with a smile.
“He was very prudent and put some money aside in the form of a life-insurance policy. When he died, I collected ten thousand dollars. I used the money to pay off some debts and saved the rest. I’m not rich, but I’ll get by.”
“Don’t worry,” Luke said wryly. “I’m not after your money. I’ve managed to save a little myself.”
“On a soldier’s pay?” she said, incredulously.
“And the ability to play a really good game of poker.”
Kirsten laughed. “Well, I guess there are savings plans and there are savings plans. But can you see why I’m reluctant to commit? Right now, Elise and Josh are making like almost bunnies back in the apartment. I think it’s incredible that she won’t let him go all the way with her when they both want it so much.”
“She trying to make him marry her?”
“Why, of course.”
“I guess that was a silly question. Fortunately, we’re both adults and unless your marriage was a sham, neither one of us is a foolish virgin.”
Kirsten blushed slightly. “We loved each other in every way imaginable.”
Now it was Luke’s turn to blush. “I just hope you can consider me as part of your future.”
She squeezed his hand. “If I didn’t think so, I would be on the next train to Seattle.”
She pulled him to her and kissed him on the lips and the hell with what anybody thought. There was a war out there and living for tomorrow might be living for a fantasy. Luke returned the kiss and pressed her body against his.
She looked up and saw him laughing. “What’s so funny?”
“I was just thinking we should go back to your apartment and throw those young puppies out.”
The crown prince, the man who someday would be Kaiser Wilhelm III, gestured to a chair. Major General Oskar von Hutier did as directed and sat stiffly in the presence of his commanding officer and future kaiser. He thought he knew why he’d been summoned to the prince’s headquarters, but would not even think of broaching the subject himself. It was far too sensitive.
But the prince smiled warmly and dove right in. “General von Seekt is being promoted to a staff position back in Berlin where I am certain his experiences as a field commander here will enable him to excel. He will leave immediately and you will take over his corps, which, of course, represents the left wing of my army.”
“I am honored,” said Hutier who currently commanded a small corps in Mackenson’s army. Taking over from von Seekt would give him almost an independent command.
Honored but not surprised, Hutier thought. Von Seekt, a solid and professional senior staff officer had requested a field command and been given it. He’d been in charge of the two division corps moving up the California coast and, until a few days ago, had been doing a credible job. However, he had stopped short at the Salinas River and hesitated to cross it until he’d brought up boats and heavy artillery. This delay had taken the better part of a week. The crown prince, on the other side of the mountains, had no reason to doubt the need for the halt until it was pointed out that the river was only about a hundred yards wide and could have been waded. Von Seekt quickly became the butt of numerous jokes from both the Germans and the Americans; thus, his “promotion” to Berlin.
“There are those who think I am too cautious,” the prince said, “and they are at least partly right. I am seriously constrained by the fact that my army must be fed and equipped and that those supplies must come a very great distance. And we all know that a defeat on the field could be catastrophic; hence my desire to progress slowly and cautiously. Although,” he shook his head and laughed, “not quite as cautiously as von Seekt.”
The prince rose and stood before a map. “We are now only a hundred miles from San Francisco and what the Americans are developing into a formidable series of defenses, and those defenses must be taken. General Hutier, you have quite a reputation. It is said you are aggressive and wish to strike, like a panther. Correct?”