“That’s why I’m here,” he replied, not taking his eyes away from his binoculars.
Chase admired the fact that the general, now the first American promoted to the five-star rank in half a century, had come to the front lines. But Chase also recognized when a senior officer was letting bravery overcome logic.
General Schwartz peered through his set of binoculars, ignoring the call to evacuate. “What happened on the raid?”
The CIA man said, “Sir, it wasn’t him last night, but we have a few other possible locations. We’ll need to task a different SOF team, however. The DEVGRU team has new tasking.”
General Schwartz turned to face Chase and the intelligence officer.
“Why were they recalled? What’s more important than retrieving that hypersonic scientist?”
Chase said, “Sir, the Silversmith team specifically requested DEVGRU for a special assignment.”
General Schwartz grunted and looked back through the binoculars. “All right. Get another Tier One team on it. We need to find this damn guy…”
A flight of A-10s roared overhead, banking sharply over the mountains and leveling out in the direction of the city. Even from miles away, he could hear the brrrrrrtttt of their GAU-8 Avenger 30mm cannons. A stream of yellow tracers fired out from each A-10’s nose-mounted weapon, heading toward ground targets. This was followed by popping sounds and explosions in a distant tree line across the Panama Canal. Yellow and black balls of flame burst through the green jungle canopy that had been hiding Chinese armor.
General Schwartz wiped the sweat off his brow. “Well, gentlemen, there it is. The battle has started.”
The staff officer, still holding the headset to his ear, said, “Sir, J-2 is reporting Chinese air mobilization. We have to get you out of here, sir. I must insist.” The staff officer glanced at a pair of special operations troops nearby who were acting as the general’s personal bodyguards.
Now Chase could hear gunfire erupting throughout the city. He turned to see a group of Chinese infantry vehicles parked across the canal. They opened up with their chain guns, and a pair of American Stryker vehicles began taking fire.
General Schwartz said, “Tell the forward air controller to call those A-10s down on that position.” He pointed toward the Chinese infantry vehicles.
“Roger, sir,” the staff officer called, relaying information into his radio.
The A-10s looped around, resembling flying crosses as they made their way in for another pass.
Then they were gone.
A pair of Chinese surface-to-air missiles shot up from somewhere in the city and detonated next to the aircraft. Chase watched in horror as pieces of the A-10s fell to the earth.
One of the special forces men walked up to the general, tapped him on the shoulder, and said in a calm voice, “Sir, we need to evacuate.”
The beating of rotors overhead caused Chase to glance to his left. A flight of Apache gunships hovered only half a mile away, masking themselves with the terrain before popping up for their attack. The Apaches’ yellow tracer rounds began firing down toward the Chinese ground units, followed by streaks of rockets, which exploded into the Chinese infantry vehicles.
This time Chase saw the surface-to-air missiles. Barely, as they were impossibly fast.
The Chinese SAMs scored direct hits on both of the Apache helicopters. The army aircraft exploded into balls of flame and black smoke, their wreckage falling hundreds of feet to the ground only a football field distance from where Chase stood.
“Get all further air support out of here, now!” General Schwartz shouted.
One of his staffers relayed a series of commands on a radio.
Another section of Apache helicopters appeared over the mountains, heading toward the city. They fired a slew of missiles and rockets, scoring multiple hits before they began banking and diving away, letting out bursts of chaff and flares as they went. Chinese anti-aircraft guns were firing at them as they departed.
“Sir, Chinese air is a few miles away. There, at your one o’clock.”
“In sight.” General Schwartz picked up his binoculars again, and Chase followed his gaze. A group of Chinese attack helicopters was approaching from the south. They flew north over the beach, heading toward the Bridge of the Americas, just outside the Panama Canal Zone.
Chase watched as the Chinese helicopters began exploding, one by one, as American surface-to-air missiles launched from a nearby hillside. The CIA man next to him pumped his fists wildly.
The city was now alive with the rattle of heavy machine gun fire. Buildings smoked as troops and military vehicles from both sides began moving through the area. First-world urban combat leveling city blocks with weapons meant for the enemy.
A nearby hill where the American air defense missiles had launched burst into smoke and flame. The sound wave of the bombs detonating on their position hit Chase soon after, followed by a roar of jet engines overhead. Chase looked up, ducking instinctively. He could barely make out the dark shadows of what he assumed were Chinese attack aircraft ten thousand feet overhead.
Another shadow chased the first two. Soon the lead pair of aircraft were transformed into smoking fireballs as an American fighter jet scored two kills.
The battle was coming alive all around him. A war like he had never witnessed before. Two first-world militaries destroying each other with the latest generation of weapons technology. It was sensory overload.
A series of explosions from the Panama Canal lit off in the distance, followed shortly by the sound waves.
“Sir, the EOD team just detonated the Panama Canal locks.”
“Roger.” General Schwartz’s face was grim.
The fighting had reached the bridge. Several Chinese tanks had formed up on the far side and were firing at American units to the north.
“Sir, we’re in range of those tanks.”
The general nodded. “Shit. All right, let’s go.” He began walking toward the Stryker command vehicle parked nearby. Chase and the CIA man joined him, and they headed to the north.
The Battle for Panama had begun.
24
David stood on the watch floor of the Silversmith operations center, now located in the old Blue Angels building. Several rows of computer monitors were manned by Silversmith team members, a mix of military and intelligence types monitoring the start of combat operations in Central America.
“Morning, David,” Susan Collinsworth said. She was standing with her arms crossed near the center of the room, watching updates on multiple screens.
“Morning, Susan. This just happen?” He pointed to a screen to his right showing video imagery from one of the American ground units. Tracers fired from across the Panama Canal at Air Force attack aircraft.
An Army officer on a computer terminal nearby said, “It’s less than thirty minutes old.”
Susan nodded. “China is attempting to move their forwardmost infantry divisions across the canal. Fighting has erupted in Panama City.”
David blew air out of his mouth. “I wish we had more time.”
The Army officer turned to Susan. “25th Infantry Stryker Brigades have troops in combat now. Air assets are having a hard time getting close due to heavy Chinese air defense coverage.”
“Thank you, Major.”
Susan and David stepped away from the watch floor to speak privately. She said, “This is going to get ugly fast. It’s turning into urban warfare in Panama City, and jungle warfare in the surrounding hills as American and Chinese units try to outflank each other. Our big moves over the next day will happen fast. But the aftermath won’t be quick. Our military experts believe there will be a months-long ground standoff.”