“I doubt this is a trick,” David said.
“Sir,” McGraw said. “I think you both have a point. We have to keep the pressure on, but we must move the Militia formations with great care. I suggest there is a way to throw a monkey wrench into the Chinese timetable without risking the Militia. Once we unbalance the Chinese a second time, then we could move the Militia to forward positions, but always in junction with brother Army units and always to prepared defenses posts.”
“I’m listening,” the President said.
“St. Louis is the key,” McGraw said.
“I hope you’re not going to talk about Army Group South again,” Alan said.
Anna perked up. Army Group South was the carefully built-up “fire-brigade” stationed in northern Mississippi near the Tennessee border. Over the months, Militia formations had taken over Regular Army positions along the eastern bank of the Mississippi River. Army Group South was supposed to be the reaction force if the Chinese ever made a strong invasion across the Mississippi River into the Deep South.
“That’s exactly what I’m going to suggest we do,” McGraw said.
“We’ve been over that before,” Alan said, angrily. “If you move Army Group South, we’re essentially defenseless if Marshal Wen decides on a cross-Mississippi River attack.”
Big Tom McGraw laughed. “Do you hear yourself? Marshal Wen make an attack into Tennessee or Mississippi now? I don’t think so. The Aggressors are on the ropes and frantically attempting to free formations to fix their essential problem. Look, we’ve encircled the bulk of Third Front. The SAF forces are backing up from the north. The Fourth Front is also backing up and sending units west to help Marshal Liang. Gentlemen, I say that now is the time to make the Aggressors crap their pants. We’ve encircled one front, why not another?”
“Because we don’t have the manpower or the materiel to beat the Aggressors on two Fronts,” Alan said.
“You know we can’t do that,” McGraw said. “Does that mean the enemy knows the same thing? No. He’s running like a rabbit now, frightened at what we’ve done. They’re reacting to us. We have the initiative for the first time in this bloody war. We must keep the initiative until we’ve driven them back into Mexico.”
“I’m well aware we have the initiative,” Alan said. “But that doesn’t mean one goes hog wild. We have to practice caution so we don’t overextend as the Chinese have done in Wyoming. We can’t let them do to us as we’ve just done to them.”
McGraw banged the arm of his chair and thrust his huge torso forward. “That’s where you’re wrong, dead wrong. ‘Audacity, audacity, always audacity’.”
“Who said that?” the President asked.
“Frederick the Great of Prussia,” McGraw promptly answered.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs shook his head. “You have your facts wrong, General. That’s a misapplied quote to Frederick the II. Actually, Danton, a radical of the French Revolution, said it.”
“Either way,” McGraw said. “The quote still applies to us. Now is the time to take calculated risks.”
The President appeared thoughtful.
“Sir,” Alan said, “if we moved Army Group South to St. Louis in order to launch an attack—” He turned to McGraw. “You do mean to attack with the Army Group, right?”
“Yes!” McGraw said. “I think Army Group South should attack hard out of St. Louis. It’s our bridgehead over the Mississippi River. The objective for the attack would be to pin down the Fourth Front where it is. Let Marshal Wen, and Chairman Hong for that matter, believe we’re trying to encircle the Fourth Front. That will keep Wen from sending needed soldiers to Marshal Liang.”
“But you would not try to encircle Fourth Front?” the President asked.
“No sir,” McGraw said. “We can fake it, but we don’t have enough troops to actually do it.”
“What about the Mississippi River Line?” the President asked. “Taking Army Group South away from there opens us up to an attack across the Mississippi River into the Deep South.”
“Firstly, the Militia guards the Mississippi River in strength.” McGraw said. “They’re not going to be blown away unless the Chinese attack with overwhelming force. Secondly, as of now, you don’t have to worry about the Mississippi River because the Chinese are focused elsewhere. Sir, they’re worried about two different fronts—if we make the attack out of St. Louis that is. By the time the Chinese realize the St. Louis assault was a feint, we’ve sewn up Third Front and turned their soldiers into POWs. The idea of this is to keep needed reinforcements out of Marshal Liang’s hands.”
“I see,” the President said. “Yes, your idea has merit.”
“It also has grave risks,” Alan said.
“This is war,” McGraw said. “Great victories come to the men who are willing to take the big risks. We’ve caught the enemy off balance and out of position. As the President says, now we have to keep the Aggressors upset until we’ve destroyed Chinese Army Groups A and B: Third Front. Actually, that would be approximately two thirds of Third Front.
“Destroying that many soldiers takes time,” McGraw said. “Soon, the Chinese in the encircled area are going to be short of food and munitions. That’s when we begin chewing into them. Until that time, we have to hold on to what we’ve taken. To do that, we have to keep the pressure on. Director Harold is right about the Militia. They’re sorely needed troops, but they’re fragile if used wrongly. Wrongly means putting them out in the open. My idea puts the burden squarely on Army soldiers who are trained to attack. Hell, maybe we’ll even get lucky in St. Louis and destroy more Chinese.”
“Sir,” General Alan implored the President. “I beg you, don’t do this. It’s too risky. We need Army Group South where it is. We can’t risk any more of America to the enemy.”
“You’re wrong,” McGraw said. He raised his hand and almost scratched the burn mark. He glanced at his hand as if seeing it for the first time. He put the hand in his lap. “You can’t afford to let Army Group South sit on its butt. We have to use everything now and keep the Chinese on the defensive. The greatest risk is to let the Aggressors concentrate against us in the west. We can’t let them regain the initiate. That’s the greatest risk to us.”
The President scowled as he stared at the floor. Looking up, he asked the Director of Homeland Security. “What do you think, Max?”
Director Harold was slow in answering. “Sir, I’m with General McGraw this time. I’m sorry, Alan. I think McGraw is right. I like the quote by the way,” he told McGraw.
“Anna?” the President asked. “What’s your take on this?”
She’d been waiting for him to ask her. “General McGraw came up with a winner the first time,” she said. “I think you should keep doing what he suggests until he fails.”
President David Sims put his chin on his chest, deep in thought. He pursed his lips. He sat like that for a time. Finally, he raised his head, glancing at each of them in turn.
“It’s a big risk,” the President said. “Yet I believe it’s what George Washington would do if he were in my place. Yes. Let’s get started on a new offensive. Let’s get Army Group South to St. Louis as fast as we can.”
Soldier Rank Zhu accompanied First Rank Tian into the captain’s office.
Everything was in disarray: the radio equipment, the computers and masses of paper. Bai Hu HQ Denver was moving out to join the others for the breakout attempt.
The captain of the Eagle Teams was an ordinary-looking Chinese officer. He didn’t seem like the leader of the most elite soldiers in Third Front. But then, Zhu didn’t seem like the highest-rated sniper, either.