“By the way, I saw Jim Butler is the new Chief of Staff. I always liked that guy. Is he a player?”
Black’s face split into a wide grin. “Best thing to happen to the White House since Washington. He is one smart son of a bitch. Between him and Hammond, they are coming up with the ideas and getting things done. If you really want to know how the President thinks, talk to Butler. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can bullshit him. Play with an open hand. They both like it that way.” Black took Johnson’s hand. “I’m glad you’re here, Perry. Let’s shake the tree a little.”
The CNO walked the Chairman to the door. It had been a short but productive meeting. Johnson had been given a green light and almost carte blanche to get things done. As Johnson closed the door, dismissed the mess specialist there to assist him, and made his way to his bedroom. On the way he looked at some of the paintings on the wall of the mansion. Almost all of the portraits were of naval heroes. He stopped at one of John Paul Jones. After gazing into the eyes of the figure in the portrait, he looked around at the others. “Gentlemen, I intend to go in harm’s way,” he said to the silent portraits. It was strange. Somehow, as he made his way up the stairs, he could almost sense them smiling at him.
Chapter 7
“It is going well, Comrade Chairman,” said Lu Chen, Deputy for Defense. Chen had been raised to this level by Chairman Kim nearly six months before when he came up with the idea for reuniting Korea through military force. He was a slightly built man whose uniform seemed to almost hang from him. His face looked almost like death itself, but his black eyes burned with the thrill of conquest. He used a pointer to show the progress on the wall map. “Since we invaded, our forces were able to extend over 100 miles in just the last three weeks. Our surprise and preemptive actions were very successful in keeping our enemies off guard and unsure. The only holdout in the north is Seoul. Our forces have surrounded the city. They stand no chance,” he boasted.
Kim Sung Nua had taken over as Party Chairman upon the death of his uncle Kim Sung Il. He was selected because, like his uncle, he did not worry about other countries and their opinions of his own. North Korea would make its own destiny and nothing could now stop that. Even his party was praising how he was defeating the Imperialists and finally uniting North and South. Best of all he was doing it with a standing army, not terror tactics. This would give him even greater prestige.
Kim did not hesitate to use a heavy hand in the process. If the people of the South needed some discipline in their lives, he would be the one to do it. If they need persuasion to help them understand what was best for them, he would do that too. More prisons could always be built. He looked with pride at what had been accomplished in just a few short weeks. Lu had done a great job. He was dedicated and loyal. Once this was complete, Lu would be allowed to keep his job. Perhaps they could move into some neighboring countries — something his predecessors had not done. “When will we take their capital?”
“It is just a matter of time. We have them completely surrounded and there is no way to get anything to them. Our forces are in total control. It may even be possible to simply starve them out,” Lu said. “It might set a good example,” he added dryly. He pointed farther down the line. “The enemy has strengthened its resistance along the line here. We have seen some massing of older armor and additional fortifications. There is also some indication that a few reinforcements are coming in from surrounding areas. I have ordered our air force to down any aircraft trying to make its way in and our submarines to sink any ships. That should effectively hamper their resistance,” he said. “They are fighting well, but we expected much more difficult opposition before now and have taken this into account in our planning. This last ditch effort to save them will not work,” he said confidently.
Kim nodded in agreement. “This is good. Have the teams been effective in retraining the populations?”
“They are making progress,” Hu Te Wan, the political officer said. It was a lie, but there was no way anyone could verify what he was saying. The population in the occupied lands had continued to resist in what ways they could. His people were being killed off when no one was looking. While the people attended classes as they were directed, he was not so sure they were listening. “Of course there will be some difficulties getting all the poisons out of their minds, they will all come to understand the benefits of the party and the state. I am sending more teams down every day to help out,” he said with a straight face.
Kim nodded again. It had been planned perfectly and everything would go by the plan. He called the meeting to an end and made his way to his office. He now had to make plans on where he would take his country once this action was complete.
“Dang it!” Ricks said softly in disgust. For a week since picking up Lee they had been moving through the brush trying to find a way back to the American lines. But as they got closer, it became much more difficult. This was the last bridge Lee remembered and it too was nothing but a pile of rubble, blown up by the South Koreans and Americans.
Lee sat in the back of the Jeep and simply closed his eyes. Hufham shrugged his shoulders. “I guess I should have figured they wouldn’t leave any place untouched. Beats the hell out of me where we can go. This place is swarming with bad guys. Lucky we still have gas and food,” he said. Hufham looked back at Lee. “Anybody for a picnic at the beach?”
The men were near exhaustion. Progress on the ground had been painfully slow. They had camouflaged the Jeep as best they could and had done the same for their uniforms and faces. Despite this, two patrols stumbled on them the previous day. The short but intense hand-to-hand ended up in their favor both times. Hufham stressed knives only. A gunshot would bring Democratic People’s Republic forces from miles around and they didn’t need that kind of attention.
There was one exception. Early on the first day after Lee joined them, the men had come upon a small farm and heard rifle shots and screaming. The farm was out in the middle of nowhere but when they got closer they saw three DPR soldiers beside a small dirt house. Through their binoculars they saw a family lying dead on the ground where the soldiers killed them. Only a teen-aged girl remained. She was naked. Her clothes were in tatters around her and she was being held on the ground forcibly by another soldier. She was struggling hard — her legs and arms thrashing wildly. One of the soldiers had lowered his pants and was standing in front of her. A third soldier watched as the first soldier began showing himself and making crude gestures. All three men were laughing.
Scanning the area, it appeared these were the only soldiers around. Ricks watched Hufham pull out his weapon and he did the same. Even Lee brought up the trusty M-1 and put a round in the chamber. “Ricks, you take the one holding the girl. Lee, take the one watching. I have the one with his dick out,” he said in a tone that made Ricks shiver. “On the count of three. One — two…”
At three all three rifles discharged at once. They were over 150 yards away, but the aim was true. The soldier holding the girl and the one standing dropped first due to the higher muzzle velocity of the M-16. This just meant that the third one realized he was in trouble before his bullet struck.
Hufhan, Ricks, and Lee quickly made their way to the now hysterical girl. The first two men had fallen on top of her, bleeding out all over her. She had been too weak to push them off. When the three got to her she was wild eyed and hyperventilating. They dragged the bodies off of her and she quickly backed against the wall of the house covering herself up with a scrap of cloth that had once been her clothing. Lee told her to get up, but she was scared to death of him. Then Hufham reached down and offered her his hand. She could see he was an American and as Hufham spoke softly to her in Korean she eventually reached out and took his hand.