Colonel Franks nodded his head. “Yes sir, there is another whole division making its way to the Polish border. They should arrive later this afternoon along this road here,” he said pointing to a highway in southeastern Poland.
“We won’t have the units to stop them,” said General Pol. “Our lines are pretty thin. The idea was to surround them and simply cut off their supplies. Taking on a division of tanks might jeopardize that mission,” he said.
“I agree, but what if we pulled back and just let them come through?” asked Hammond.
“This is insanity,” proclaimed General Eves LeMonde, leading the French forces. “Then what good have we done to push around them in the first place. You wish to talk about being wasteful,” he exclaimed.
“Actually, I am thinking about controlling the situation,” said Hammond calmly. “We pull back and let them through. All the way we pound them with our Predators, then close back in once they have passed. We still cut them off, but now there are more to feed and equip. If we can continue to cut out their supplies, pretty soon they will start getting pretty hungry,” he explained.
Dortmund nodded his head. “That makes sense. The more they pour in, they might be good for a few days, but it just means they run out of things faster. I like it,” he said with a wink. “They have concentrated their supply caravans down these major roads,” he said pointing to several highways on the map. “If they keep it up, it will be much easier to get our planes and drones in to stop them.”
General Pol pointed to some highlands along the route. “What if we drop in artillery along these hills? We could rake any convoy coming through and still be mobile enough to move them out of range if the Russians get wise. With our intelligence and satellites, we can surround any small forces sent in to take them out and cut them up. It would also serve to keep the Russians guessing and constantly having to react instead of concentrate their forces. It could work to our advantage,” he pointed out.
“Why don’t you and General Dortmund work this out and we’ll try and make it work. In the meantime, our drones will be operating all of tonight and every night. We must all be ready to press forward just before dawn to take advantage of it. That means the American, British and French forces all go at once. We made ten miles today. I want double that tomorrow if we can,” Hammond said. “Remember, we are all working together on this. The better we coordinate, the fewer we lose.”
After a few minutes the meeting came to a close. Everyone filed out of the room, but Hammond stopped LeMonde.
“General, can you help me understand why your forces were late this morning? If there are reasons, it will help me know our limitations,” Hammond said.
LeMonde shrugged. “I cannot put my forces in jeopardy until we are totally ready. I refuse to sacrifice my people for the sake of scheduling. I am responsible for my people,” he said.
“I understand, but you should realize that yes, they are your people, but these are all my people. Your delays cost lives in other areas. It slowed the advance. Then your pilots, who were also late, bombed British soldiers who had advanced beyond where you thought they were. I must insist that when we make these plans, they be carried out on time, otherwise, there will be more losses and more delays. You know we cannot afford these things,” said Hammond firmly. “I am relying on you to make this happen. If you can’t, let me know so we can make other arrangements,” he said. The insinuation was clear.
LeMonde looked him square in the eyes. “You do not have the authority to relieve me. That comes only from my head of government,” he said with a swagger.
“General, I do not wish to relieve anyone, however, either you become a member of this team or you don’t,” Hammond said calmly.
LeMonde shrugged. “It is for you to say,” he said. “I shall prepare my troops,” he said dismissively, then turned and left the room. He passed Sir Richard Thomas on the way out without even acknowledging he was there.
“You ready to shoot the bugger yet?” Thomas asked.
“He does have a way of making things difficult. I wish I knew why he was so defiant,” Hammond sighed.
“Part of it is he is one of their aristocrats. He thinks France is everything and we are nothing. It’s a part of the old European order. Even I thought people like him were long dead,” said Thomas. “But he is right. Only his government can remove him. I believe the next move will be to make a trip to Paris. I have met the President and he’s nothing like LeMonde. I have also been talking to LeMonde’s second in command, General Gagne. He’s as frustrated as we are. I mentioned to him that others might need to know. Gagne’s a loyal guy, but he doesn’t like incompetence. Let’s see what settles and go from there,” Thomas assured him.
Hammond let out a breath. “Well, tomorrow will tell,” he said as the two left the room.
Petyr came back late from school. The pharmacy had been stocked back up with what they could get, but with the windows boarded up and people running back and forth scared to death, there were few customers after the initial rush. The air raids had been reduced to twice a day, yet school had met and children told what to expect and do when the air raid alarms sounded. But that wasn’t why Petyr was late. He had made a stop on the way home. Just as he entered the store, the air raid alarm sounded again and everyone rushed to the basement. As the families huddled in the dark under the one dim light, Petyr handed his father a paper.
“What is this?” Mister Kursov asked.
“It is permission for me to enter the army at seventeen,” Petyr said calmly. He heard Anna gasp in the corner.
Kursov grunted and tried to hand it back. “You aren’t going anywhere.”
“I didn’t ask you, Father. I need you to sign it,” Petyr said firmly.
Kursov became angry. “You do not tell me. I will decide what happens in this family.”
Now Petyr became angry. “Just like you decided to become a traitor to our country?” he asked.
Anton Kursov stood up. “I am no traitor,” he nearly shouted.
“Oh no? Then why did I see you at that last demonstration? Freda and I were there and I saw you running in and out of the crowd doing the bidding of our tenant. I saw you carrying things into the crowd while your leader sat back and watched from a safe distance. You were responsible for people getting killed. It made me wonder how many other demonstrations you were a part of,” Petyr cried out.
“Petyr, what are you saying?” his mother asked.
He turned to face her. “I am saying father has been a part of this. Remember all those evenings he was away? Shortly afterward was a demonstration somewhere. I finally saw him!” Petyr exclaimed. He turned back to his father who looked stricken. “You always told me to be proud of our Russian heritage. But how can I be now. You forget, I was born here. I was raised here. My friends and family are here and I consider myself a Pole, and as a Pole, it is my duty to serve my country,” Petyr said proudly.
“You won’t do any such thing,” Kursov said.
“Oh yes I will. Up until now I was proud of my family. I was proud of my father. Now I am so ashamed I cannot face my friends anymore. I cannot tell Freda how much I love her because of all the shame that would come with that love. So I will do the only thing I can do. I will join the army and defend my country. Only then will I be able to hold my head up again,” he stammered. “Now sign it,” he demanded.