“Tell them the Chairman is coming,” John ordered.
Henry nodded and drew in a deep breath. “I’ll do my best.” He activated the mic and spoke, trying to mask his voice since it wouldn’t be another minute before he had to play the role of the Chairman as well. John crossed his fingers, praying the Chinese would buy it.
After several moments of tense silence, the radio crackled to life and a short reply came back.
“What’d they say?” John asked.
“I think they said to tell him to hurry up.”
Henry’s hands were shaking when he gripped the mic again and held it to his lips. “Well, here goes nothing. Это председатель. Продолжай.”
Long static, then: “Что такое слово безопасность?”
Henry looked up at John. “They want the security word.”
John’s heart was beating in his chest, his mind racing a million miles a second. “Ah, nuts, that could be anything.”
They sat there for a minute before Henry spoke into the mic.
The enemy’s reply came shortly after that and the fear that bloomed on Henry’s face made one thing perfectly clear. The enemy wasn’t buying it.
“What’d you tell them?” John asked.
“This whole time I kept picturing that scene from the 1965 war movie with Henry Fonda.”
“You mean The Battle of the Bulge?” John said.
“Yeah, it kept ringing in my head the whole time, so when they kept asking for the password, I said the first thing that popped in my mind. I told them ‘nuts’.”
The entire town swung into high alert after that. Reinforcements were rushed to each of the major choke points. Others were ordered to beef up the various perimeter rings around Oneida. A handful of spotters were positioned a few hundred yards past the main defensive line along major roadways to warn of enemy movement. The army had brought a number of tactical radios to supplement the few John and the others were already using. Spotters on the cell tower would also play a crucial role, acting as the commander’s eyes. Rodriguez arrived just as Captain Bishop sprinted out to join his unit over on Alberta Street.
“General Brooks is on his way to coordinate the defense from here,” John told Diane. “I need you to lead as many of the non-combatants as you can down into the storm drain. Take some food and warm clothes with you.” He turned to Emma. “Go with your mom and help her.”
Emma’s eyes started to water with fear.
He cupped the side of her face. “Don’t worry, honey,” John said, feeling the lie begin to press against his lips. “We’ll be fine.”
John went outside and watched as they faded away in the distance, praying silently they would be safe. Making empty promises before a battle was like holding the hand of someone suffering from a grave illness. You didn’t wanna lie, but hope and faith were all they had.
Then, from out of the early morning mist, an impossibly tall figure moved quickly in his direction. A moment later John saw that it was Reese arriving on horseback.
“You certainly cut it down to the wire,” John said when the sniper reached him.
Reese dismounted and withdrew his Remington 700 from the saddle bag, slinging it over his shoulder. “I’m real sorry I wasn’t able to get them back, John.”
“No need to apologise. At the end of the day, those kids are my responsibility, not yours.”
“Well, now that that’s out of the way, let me tell you, things ain’t pretty in the occupied zone. If you thought the Chairman was a bully, try picturing millions just like him tearing people from their homes.”
“What’s happening in those camps has to be stopped.”
Reese raised a knowing eyebrow and nodded. “In time, if we can survive that long.”
“We just got off the radio with Chinese troops who were looking for the Chairman,” John said. “They’re on their way to take back the town. And they should hit the outer defenses any minute now.”
“So that’s why everyone’s running around like headless chickens?”
“That’s right.” John motioned to the cell tower in the distance. “Think you can head up to the top platform and work your magic?”
“Not sure if I’d call it magic,” Reese said. “But I’ll be happy to do my part. What direction you expecting them from?”
“General Brooks thinks they’ll be hitting us from the west.”
“But you don’t?”
“I’m not a fan of putting all my eggs in one basket. All I can say is be ready for anything.”
Chapter 43
The call came in from a forward observer along Highway 27 South at 6:05 AM. Concealed along the crest of a small hill and outfitted with a radio, he was meant to give advance warning of any threats heading toward Oneida from the south.
“Overmountain, this is Dragonfly, over.”
Rodriguez was in charge of communications from the walkie-talkies. “Read you loud and clear, Dragonfly, go ahead.”
“Tell the boys manning the Cecil bridge they’re about to have company.”
“Roger that,” Rodriguez replied. “Can you give us any details on strength and composition?”
“Must have been at least five mechanized platoons. Maybe a dozen Type 99 and 96 tanks and twice that many ZBD-08s.”
John and General Brooks were in the room, listening intently.
Rodriguez got back on the radio. “Dragonfly, this is Overmountain. Let us know the minute you see anything else.”
“Will do,” came the reply.
“We’ve got the artillery ranged for that whole area,” John said, his heart beginning to hammer in his chest. He felt the desire to be in those foxholes right alongside the men there, and would have been if he wasn’t needed at headquarters to help coordinate the defense.
Rodriguez radioed in to the other spotters to the west, north and east. Each of them reported back that the coast was clear. Already it was starting to look as though the Chinese forces had been south traveling along I-40 heading toward Knoxville when a few platoons were diverted north to ensure that part of Tennessee was still in enemy hands. When moving entire divisions, it made far more sense to utilize interstates rather than the much smaller highways that crisscrossed the country. The forces moving up against them now might only be the tip of a much larger spear.
The radio crackled again. This time the voice on the other end belonged to a young, but experienced lieutenant named York in charge of the Cecil bridge. “Enemy spotted,” he said. “I don’t think they’ve seen us yet.”
General Brooks moved in and snatched the mic out of Henry’s grasp. “Listen here, Lieutenant, if you can hit that first tank on the bridge and stop it dead, then the artillery on Owens Ridge can knock them out one by one.”
“Understood.”
A series of tense minutes went by. John felt his hands bunch into tight fists. No one said a thing. Then word came back.
“Sir, we got a problem,” York told them, sounding nervous and a little rattled. “Our AT-4 guy got taken out by one of the fighting vehicles in the rear before they could get a shot off. The enemy’s about to cross the bridge. Do I have permission to blow the bridge?”
Brooks swore. Their best chance was to block the column of tanks and kill them one by one.
“We’re taking heavy fire now, sir.”
“Blow it,” Brooks shouted. “Blow it now.” He turned to Rodriguez. “I want artillery three hundred meters on either side of the bridge, right away.”
“Calling it in,” Rodriguez replied.
“Wait a minute,” John protested. “That’s awfully close to our men, isn’t it?” Horrifying images of Nasiriyah were bubbling back to the surface.
Rodriguez paused, unsure what to do.