“Oh hell,” Ryan said, thinking about the map of the area. There were only three routes over the line of ridges between them and Asheville or Knoxville. U.S. 23 went over Balsam Gap and straight to Asheville. U.S. 19, which crossed 441 in Cherokee, more or less paralleled it, crossing the ridges at Soco Gap. And 441 crossed the ridges at Newfound Gap, then descended into the Cumberland Valley. The forces could head for 19, but that route, and 441, were narrower and thus slower. And pushing all the gathered groups through that single road would be, in his professional opinion, impossible. And there was no way for vehicles to “filter” out as they had from the Gap; the ridges in this region were so steep and high that there were no other roads crossing the mountains.
“What’s responding?” he asked.
“There’s a division moving up from Asheville,” Anderson said. “But they’re having a bit of trouble getting their act together; they’re pretty green and they had to pull out of the line around Asheville to head this way. They might be able to force them out of the Gap. But the reports are that these Posleen were last seen digging in. And the C-Dec was giving them covering fire during their assault. I… don’t think they’re going to be able to force the pass in any short time.”
“Damn, damn, damn,” Ryan said. “Do you know what you’re going to do?”
“More or less,” Anderson said. “I’ve had a few minutes to think about it. I’m going to take all the really nonessential personnel and equipment and push them up 441; that’s the worst route and it won’t help us when they’re in friggin’ Pigeon Forge, but they’ll be out of the way.”
“And the ones we really need you’re going to push up U.S. 19, right?” Ryan said.
“Yes,” the captain confirmed. “All the supply vehicles. Gas trucks, ammo, food. All of that. Nothing slow, nothing not strictly necessary. I’m even going to send all the commo and intel up 441.”
“Concur, what about the combat forces?” There were a few of those who had made it out of the Gap, a small group of M-1E1 tanks, some artillery and Bradleys as well as a small group of infantry that had walked or ridden trucks.
“I’m going to push them up to Balsam,” the captain said coldly.
“That’s… suicide,” Ryan replied after a moment. “They’re not even a formed unit.”
“The unit on the far side isn’t into position yet and attacking from that side won’t be any easier than this,” Anderson said with a grimace. “We have a little artillery and a fair amount of infantry. It… won’t be easy, but I’m sure we can do it. The local militia snipers are still slowing the Posleen up in the Savannah Valley. But if we get caught in between the forces… we’ll get wiped out. So taking out the force in the pass, and retaking it, has to be a high priority.”
“Oh, my yes,” Ryan nodded after a moment. “We really don’t want them linking up.”
“We might be able to hold them off,” Anderson said dubiously. “We’ll try anyway.”
Ryan looked up at the sky and rubbed his chin in thought. “I… have a thought.”
“Yes, sir?” the captain said.
“We have a SheVa, and it has been reloaded.”
“Oh, ow,” Anderson replied. “Does it have area denial rounds?”
“Yep. You still have commo with Eastern command?”
“Yep,” Anderson said. “Heck, we’ve even got video.”
“Good,” Ryan said with a grin. “I want to see General Keeton’s face.”
General Keeton nodded in the jerky manner that denoted a slow internet connection. To Ryan it always reminded him of a cartoon his dad loved called “Max Headroom.”
“Major Anderson, still got your finger in the dike I see.”
“Yes, sir,” the captain replied. “And it’s captain, sir.”
“Not anymore,” the general said. “Who are these other gentlemen?”
“Sir, I’m Major William Ryan, Corps of Engineers. I was the corps Assistant Corps Engineer.”
“And I’m Major Robert Mitchell, Commander of SheVa Nine.”
“That the one with the great big rabbit painted on it?”
“Yes, sir,” the major replied with a slight sigh.
“Indications are that you’ve been blasting the shit out of the whole valley for the last couple of days, Major,” the general said severely. “Care to comment on that?”
“Yes, sir,” the major replied. He suspected he was just about to get an ass-chewing which, all things considered, didn’t seem fair. On the other hand, the military was like that sometimes. “It was, in my position as responsible for air defense of the corps, necessary operations of war.”
“Get any?” Keeton asked.
“Sir, our records will indicate over the last two days we have eight confirmed kills of Lampreys and C-Decs and we estimate an additional nine to ten that were too damaged to continue. Those are all on camera. Frankly, I think that we might have stepped on twice that, but that will require an evaluation after we have retaken the valley.”
The general considered that for a moment and then nodded his head. “So, what you’re telling me is that, as usual, Bun-Bun’s been kicking ass and not even bothering to take names?”
Mitchell paused and blinked. “Yes, sir.”
“I’m going to do something here, and if you fuck with Anderson because of it I’ll have your ass, understand?”
“Yes, sir?” Mitchell replied.
“You’re a light colonel. Everybody in your crew is bumped one grade. We’ll talk about the medals later.”
“Yes, sir,” the colonel said with a slightly choked tone. “Thank you.”
“Don’t get all teary on me, you realize you’re probably fucked. There’s no way to get that big bastard out of that valley. And according to all the intel I have you have about a billion Posleen about to butt-fuck you.”
“That’s what we’re here to discuss, sir,” Major Ryan interjected.
“Ryan, you’re that hotshot who blew up the Lincoln Memorial, right?”
“Yes, sir,” Ryan replied.
“You in charge of the bridge now?”
“Yes, sir, about that…”
“Don’t blow it up until we’re done talking, I’m not sure I want it down.”
“Yes, sir,” Ryan paused. “I… I think we’re in agreement here, sir. Sir, we have a plan of action we need to discuss with you.”
“Go ahead.”
“Sir, you’re aware that Balsam Gap has been taken?”
“I’ve got a shitload of forces on the way,” Keeton replied. “Unfortunately, getting them down to you will require Balsam Gap. And they’re mostly trained in positional defense. Which means they’re gonna be lousy in the assault. It may be a while before you have any friends in the area.”
“Sir,” Major Anderson replied. “I’ve started an evacuation of the forces in the pocket, using secondary routes. But we think we can clear the Gap.”
“Go ahead.”
“Sir,” Colonel Mitchell chimed in. “We’ve mated up with the reload teams for two SheVas…”
“I’ve got multiple reloads and the best SheVa repair battalion in the U.S. on the way,” Keeton interjected. “Don’t get Bun-Bun blown up and ruin all that work.”
“I appreciate that, sir,” Colonel Mitchell replied. “But it’s going to take a while for them to mate up with us. The nearest SheVa repair batt was in Indiana last time I checked.”
“Not if you can retake Balsam; they’re both in Waynesville. I got them moving the minute that I heard about the Posleen taking Rabun Gap.”
“Oh.”
“Sir,” Major Ryan said again. “Bun-Bun has four area denial rounds available in his reload team, two from his reloads and two from SheVa Fourteen.”