Golikov laughed. "Pearl Harbor? Three thousand dead? Trifling. I piss on those numbers. We suffered that many each day during the battle for Stalingrad. Or was it each hour? I forget. And please do not tell me that all your generals want only to defend your nation. Or have you never heard the rantings of General LeMay and of Patton before him? LeMay has all those bombers and all those nuclear weapons. He could start and end World War III on his own and it would be over before anybody realized it."
"We don't work that way."
"At least not yet, and that is not a chance Moscow can take."
Enough, Kraeger thought as he walked along a row of graves. "What do you want? Why did you call this meeting?"
"Just for you to once more remind your president that taking out Castro could have grave consequences far beyond Cuba. I know he knows that, and I know that you and others have been telling him, but it must be said again. The best case for continuing world stability lies in keeping Castro in charge. Let us decide when he is no longer needed, as well as easing the changeover from Khrushchev to whoever follows him."
Kraeger paused, startled. "Comrade Nikita's on his way out?"
Golikov nodded solemnly. "Back in Moscow, it is considered very likely. A growing number of the Politburo think he has royally fucked up this whole Cuban situation. He will be replaced sooner rather than later."
"And then what? Siberia or a bullet in the head?"
Golikov laughed. "Didn't I tell you we don't do that anymore? No, he will be allowed to retire to a pleasant dacha where he will be totally ignored and find himself bored to tears. He will be allowed to count trees, but nothing more substantive."
"I will tell my people."
"Please do that," Golikov said. "For me, if you don't mind I will wander this wonderful Arlington and enjoy its peaceful dignity. Did you know that some of the dead from the battleship Maine are buried here? That sinking in 1898 started the war with Spain that gave you Guantanamo in the first place. Ironic isn't it?"
Romanski had them all fan out as they walked through a field of waist high straw-like grasses. He was at one end of the short line and Ross at the other. Cathy stayed about a hundred yards behind. She was clearly in harm's way but refused to let the others out of sight.
Romanski's leg was causing him great pain and he kept swearing under his breath as they walked. He was now certain it would have to be broken again and re-set. He swore at Morton's shortcomings as a medic and wondered how long he could keep up.
The answer came suddenly. He stumbled and fell forward and it felt like hot irons were being jammed into his leg. He rolled over and got up with great difficulty. He signaled to Morton who nodded.
Damn it, Romanski thought. Now it looked like the leg wouldn't have to be re-broken. It probably just happened. At least he could still walk a little bit, although once again with something for support, so maybe it wasn't quite broken.
Cathy walked past him and looked quizzically. "You need help, don't you?"
The colonel tried to make light of it, even though it hurt so badly he thought he might pass out. "Even if I did, young lady, I wouldn't admit it, because I'm airborne and immune to pain. You go ahead and I'll cover everyone's rear."
Which, he thought, is what I should have been doing in the first place. He was too old and too banged up to keep up with the young tigers. Cathy nodded grimly and moved forward. Her mind was fixed on where Andrew Ross was and what he was doing.
The men of ExComm looked pleased with themselves, and with good reason. The Cuban forces were collapsing and victory in the Guantanamo area was virtually assured. The retaking of the base and the liberation of the prisoners held at Santiago was a matter of hours, a couple of days at most. Even Air Force General LeMay looked pleased, although still his usual belligerent self. He seemed annoyed that he was running out of bona fide targets.
"Sir, we've been bombarding them with napalm and leaflets with a very simple message. Either surrender or get killed. I'm happy to say that it's proven very effective. Several thousands of Cubans have given up and we think others are simply disappearing into the jungle. Many of the militia appear to be stripping off their uniforms, abandoning their weapons, and simply going home."
LeMay gestured towards the map. "However, some are still fighting. Those armies seem to have broken off into two groups. The first is retreating south towards Guantanamo and Santiago and continues to fight, and we are pounding it along with bombs as well as dropping leaflets. The second group is retreating westward in the general direction of Havana. They seem to be paying little attention to leaflets and we are going to continue to hit them as hard as we can."
Kennedy nodded. The Cuban troops retreating towards Gitmo and Santiago were still threats, but the ones heading away from the battle? He took a deep breath. It was time for ExComm to learn what some, like LeMay, might consider an unpleasant truth.
"General, I don't wish to slaughter men who cannot fight back. I agree that the ones in the south need to be taken out, but the troops heading west are no threat. Let them go. No massacres."
The army's General Wheeler looked puzzled. "But sir, if we let them go we will only face them later when we approach Havana."
Kennedy didn't answer. He looked down at the table. Yes, it was time for everyone to face reality, to bring out in the open what they all were thinking.
He looked up and took in all their expressions. "We aren't going to Havana."
There was stunned silence. Finally, Curtis LeMay stood up, his face red with anger. "This is bullshit, fucking bullshit. This is Korea all over again, isn't it? We have victory over the commie bastards right in our grasp and you're going to let them off, aren't you? Sir, if you do that, millions of Americans are going to hate your guts and we're still going to have a commie nation ninety miles from Florida."
Kennedy glared at him, his own temper threatening to get the best of him. "First of all, general, sit down. Second, don't ever talk like that to me again. Like it or not, and like me or not — and I do know how many of you feel about me — but I am your president and commander in chief. And yes, we are going to let them go for the simple reason that we don't want a nuclear or even a conventional confrontation with the Russians. Or have you forgotten that there are upwards of forty-thousand well-armed and well-trained Soviet soldiers with tanks and heavy weapons sitting around Havana? Or have you forgotten that they have dozens of tactical nuclear weapons at their disposal, and their doctrine, as we now understand it, is to use them first and ask questions later? How many of you want to be responsible for the bloodbath that would ensue, and what do you think the Russians would do in retaliation?"
LeMay sat, but remained furious. "They'll think we're weak, just like Korea. They'll stomp all over us somewhere else, like Korea or Berlin. Or maybe that fucking pigsty, Vietnam."
Kennedy sighed. The Korean War had ended as a stalemate to almost everyone's dissatisfaction. Hawks like LeMay and Douglas MacArthur felt that the war should have been carried to the Chinese mainland and that nuclear weapons should have been used early on. That former General and then President Dwight Eisenhower had agreed to a limited solution had puzzled the hawks. They felt that wars are fought to be won, not left as ties.
"Gentlemen," Kennedy said firmly, "our goal was the recapture of Guantanamo and the release of our prisoners. Very shortly we will have accomplished those goals. Taking Havana and toppling Castro are not worth the cost in additional American lives, especially if the Soviets fight alongside the Cubans and begin the use of nuclear bombs. And, like you said, General LeMay, let's also not forget that we are vulnerable in Berlin and Korea. I know that some don't think the Russians exert much control over the Chinese and the Koreans, but I don't think we're ready to take that chance.