Another Captain walked up to the General. “Sir, the SecDef is on the video conference for you,” he said pointing to a computer monitor.
Bennet walked over to the desk and sat down in front of it. “It’s good to see you, Sir. What can I do for you?”
Jim Castle leaned in, which made his face appear larger on the computer screen. “I’ll get right down to it John. How soon can you mop up operations in Korea?”
General Bennet sat there, not sure what to say for just a moment-that question had kind of caught him off guard. “That is hard to say right now. I have over 80,000 Chinese soldiers moving down the Peninsula, and we still haven’t finished off the North Koreans yet,” he replied, knowing that wasn’t exactly the answer the SecDef was looking for.
“How many prisoners have you taken in the last five days?” Jim asked.
“Last count was somewhere around 162,000. I can’t tell you for certain how many of them are left. We wiped a lot of them out during the ‘Shock and Awe’ campaign, and then a lot more when we nuked them. The Japanese are moving 65,000 ground forces to our new beachhead at Hamhung once its established. That will strengthen our position there as we move to sever the country in half.”
Bennet took a quick swig of water and then continued. “The ROK is moving the vast majority of their forces to meet the Chinese head on. My plan is for US Forces to support the ROK while they lead the way in battling the Chinese. How many reinforcements are coming my way, and when will they arrive?”
Jim Castle leaned back in his chair. “John, I don’t have any reinforcements I can send you right now. Nearly everything we have is heading to Europe. The Russians are throwing everything they have at NATO right now, and we are so close to turning the tide of that war. The President wants me to focus all of our efforts on finishing off Russia; then we can pivot everything to the Pacific.”
“The President said the Pacific was going to be a Marine war. When will additional Marines start to arrive? Will I stay in command of ground forces in the PACOM area?” asked General Bennet, hoping to get some good news this time.
Smiling for a second, Jim replied, “In January, the first batch of 20,000 Marines will start to arrive. Once they do, 20,000 more will arrive each week from then on. You are going to remain the overall commander for allied forces in Korea. We’ll be appointing a new Marine Commander to take over as the PACOM Commander. As the President said, the Pacific is going to be a Marine war, at least until the war in Europe is finished,” he said with a smile on his face.
“The Marines are coming,” thought Bennet with a smirk. “God help the Chinese once the new Pacific army is fully formed up.”
Beyond the Beachhead
The USS Bataan, Iwo Jima and Makin Island amphibious assault ships had finally moved to within a couple of miles from the shoreline of Hamhung as the Navy and Marine airwings continued to pound the beach areas and any visible troop concentrations they spotted. The North Koreans knew the Americans might attempt a landing in this area, and had gone to great lengths to ensure the beach had been heavily-laced with concertina wire and landmines. The KPA’s objective was to bleed the Americans dry on the beach and then contest every inch of ground they tried to secure.
As the amphibious assault ship slowly rocked with the waves of the ocean, Sergeant Tim Long placed his final thirty-round magazine in his front ammo pouch on his body armor. He then grabbed a bandolier that held another eight more thirty-round magazines, and slung it over his shoulder.
“I think we are going to need all the ammo we can carry,” he thought.
Tim grabbed four hand grenades from the crate nearby, placing two of them on each side of his ammunition pouches on his body armor. As he finished getting his own personal gear and weapons ready, he turned to make sure the rest of his squad members were ready as well. He especially wanted to make sure the two machine gun teams had their extra barrels and gloves with them, as well as the extra ammunition. As he walked down the line, each machine gun crew was carrying four 100-round belts, just like he had planned. Six other members of the squad carried an additional 100-round belt to help supply them. In addition to the extra ammo, four of his squad members were bringing four anti-tank rockets, in case they encountered a fixed machine gun bunker that needed blowing up.
After nearly an hour of getting themselves ready, their lieutenant walked by and said, “It’s time to start loading up in the vehicles, Marines. This is happening, so get psyched up! This is what we live for! NCOs, move your squads to the vehicles, and let’s get rolling!” he shouted, adrenalin clearly pumping through his veins as he tried to whip up his platoon into a fury.
Sergeant Long echoed that sentiment. “Grab your gear and let’s go Marines! It’s time to earn our keep and go kick those communists where it hurts.”
The Marines from his squad began to place their individual body armor on and grabbed their patrol packs, which were also fully loaded with ammunition and two days’ worth of food and water, and threw them on their backs as well. In a somewhat orderly process, they headed down to the lower well deck, where they would load up into the Assault Amphibious Vehicle (AAV) that would carry them to the beach.
The AAV had a crew of three Marines to drive it and man its various weapon systems. In the rear, 21 Marines were crammed into quarters so tight it would make a person with claustrophobia hyperventilate. As they sat in anticipation, they could smell diesel fumes wafting into their compartment, along with the overwhelming scent of sweat; sea water seeped in through the seals. This uncomfortable journey somehow filled the men with adrenaline. When they arrived, they would be ready to hit the beach and advance to contact as soon as the rear ramp had been dropped.
Because of the number of Marines involved in the landing operation, and the fact that this would be an opposed landing, the AAVs would be needed to transport more than a few waves of Marines, so once the first load exited, the vehicles would return to the ships to bring in the next load of Marines. Fortunately, some of the LCACs (which are essentially large hovercrafts) would be accompanying them, but they would hold off on hitting the beach for 30 minutes to give the initial batch of Marines some time to get things cleared. When they landed, the LCACs would be bringing a number of Abrams main battle tanks and their light armored tactical vehicles for armored support.
As everyone settled into the vehicle they had been assigned too, they began to do a final once-over on the weapons and equipment. While this was being done, the loading deck began to move slowly, and the conveyor belt moved the vehicles to the back of the deck to be dropped into the water and begin their watery drive to the beach. Sergeant Long’s driver slowly revved the engine, making sure they were ready as their vehicle got closer to the water’s edge. Then, the vehicle slipped off the loading deck, and for a brief moment, went beneath the waves until the buoyancy of the vehicle forced them to pop up to the surface like a buoy.
As their vehicle broke the surface of the water, the driver revved the engine and began to build up speed, joining the formation of other AAV’s now heading towards the beach. As the first wave of AAVs began to approach the coast, enemy artillery rounds began to land in the water around them, throwing up geysers of water intermixed with shrapnel. From time to time, the scraps of metal would ping or clang off their armored shell.