The men looked skyward again. They were used to seeing A-6s and F-4s making attack runs, but the F/A-18s shot across the sky heavily laden with ordnance. The aircraft had been grounded because their technology no longer functioned, but now they were back and itching for vengeance. The men watched as two of the aircraft dropped their bombs just a short distance from where they stood and felt the ground shake with the explosions.
As the F/A-18s flew on, they were followed by another welcome sight. From behind the troops came the sound of rotary winged aircraft and two squadrons of Apache attack helicopters flew over their positions and through the enemy lines. The men watched as some stopped and fired at something on the ground, then moved on. More helicopters were seen farther down the line doing the same thing.
“OK, let’s go, let’s go!” shouted someone in one of the lead trucks. The trucks along the line started and the men hunkered into the backs. Bradley fighting vehicles led off down the road, followed occasionally by an M-1 and trucks full of troops.
Ricks was now allowed to sit in the front of a vehicle instead of the rear. At least he had a cushioned seat. The guys in back were sitting on wooden benches. As he climbed into the front, he glanced over at a truck in the second column. Hufham was looking back at him and gave him a wave. Ricks smiled and gave a wave back at his friend, silently wishing him luck.
The truck bounced roughly on the pockmarked road they were using. More of a trail than a road, it led through the valley and eventually met up with a little more stable surfaces if the artillery and bombs didn’t ruin it. The line of vehicles moved quickly through the sparse undergrowth along the line into what Ricks could only describe as a Martian landscape. Korea was usually lush and green. But here the trees were practically gone and the scrub denuded. In spots human bodies and wrecked equipment were lying in the rubble. Most noticeable were the thousands of pot holes that covered the land. Like some sort of brownish moon, they covered nearly every inch of soil and were dotted with things that were either burning or already burned to cinders. Ricks had never seen destruction like this.
One of the attack helicopters patrolled along the front of the line and occasionally moved back to make sure all was well. As it came past their truck, Ricks waved. He was surprised when the guy in the upper seat waved back. Just a simple gesture but making Ricks feel a little better about being out there. He looked over at the speedometer. The trucks were moving along at around forty-five miles per hour.
The farther they traveled from their lines, the less desolate the surrounding landscape looked. Occasionally the line stopped as something was engaged farther up the line, but soon the trucks started moving again. Twenty minutes into the ride the scenery changed again. As the trucks rounded the top of a hill Ricks gasped in awe as he saw what was beyond. It looked like someone had taken a lawnmower and cut a row of grass through the next valley. A mass of burning vehicles sat to one side with some fires farther on, but it was only in a column with set boundaries.
“What the fuck did this?” asked the stunned driver.
“Beats the shit out of me,” Ricks said. “But I bet we won’t see many troops here,” he said. Neither had ever seen the results of B-52 carpet bombing. Thirty of the giant planes had been used in this run.
The column breezed through and on into the next valley. Richardson’s plan had worked well.
“The situation is dire, Comrade Chairman, one of the ministers said quietly. He had been chosen by the others to give the bad news and was expecting to be shot almost immediately. “Last night the Allied forces destroyed a majority of our food, ammunition, and fuel supplies. Somehow they found our underground storage facilities and were able to destroy them,” he said solemnly.
“How? Did they use their nuclear weapons? We have been told this was the only way to do it,” Kim seethed.
“No, Comrade Chairman. The few who survived, reported massive explosions from inside the facilities. We still do not know all the facts.”
“Then it must be sabotage! We have traitors assisting the enemy! I want them weeded out now!” he demanded.
“It is underway even now, Comrade Chairman,” said one of the Party officials.
“At the same time the Americans attacked and destroyed the fortified naval facilities at Wonsan and, in Nampo, the rail lines to the People’s Republic and our forces along the former border. But this is not the worst,” he said with some dread. “The Americans have struck twelve of our hydroelectric dams all inside our borders. All twelve have been destroyed. Because of this, we no longer have the electrical capacity to operate the remaining underground facilities that produce our munitions and critical supplies. Even our trains cannot run. To correct this situation, we have ordered four of our old coal fired plants brought back on line. This will provide adequate electrical supplies and should have our facilities operating in just a few weeks.”
Kim was seething with rage. Everyone could see it in his face. It looked to the men in the room as if he would explode at any second. “And what of the antiaircraft weapons at the dams?” he spat out.
“Comrade Chairman, as you recall, you ordered us to move what systems we could to provide protection to the capital and other vital facilities. This has been done and they are around the city even as we speak. The few gun systems left on the dam sites fired at some air targets, but they are using optical systems that are not very useful at night.”
Kim’s face was a deep red. “What other bad news do you bring?” he asked, glaring at the men in front of him.
“None, Comrade Chairman. Our forces are firmly in place in the south and the plan is to begin fresh attacks against the American lines within the hour. There are reports of artillery fire and bombing along the eastern sector of our advance, but our intelligence feels this is a diversion to try and keep us from attacking where we are. We have a division of troops and equipment in that sector. If anything does happen, they should be adequate to the task. The main goal is to maintain our primary offensive operation in the South and take Pusan as quickly as possible.”
The Chairman’s face lightened. Once Pusan was taken, the rest wouldn’t mean much. Dams could always be replaced and supplies restocked. They had several hundred thousand troops in the South. That was a reality and that was the mission at hand. He looked down at the map with all the places marked that had been destroyed. It was impressive that the Americans had been able to destroy so much in one night, but there was also the massive collection of troops and material in their land to the south. That far overshadowed the few pinpricks they had received.
“Comrades, you have done well to have our forces moving in accordance with the plan. They are poised to do the people’s business. I realize we cannot expect to remain unscathed in our efforts. However, we must be vigilant against saboteurs. I am convinced people within the government have provided aid to our enemies. They must be brought to justice,” he said firmly. “I want our forces to step up their attacks and bring this war to a conclusion. Do what you must to achieve the goals you are assigned. I shall deal with the traitors,” he said.
Kim turned on his heel and stormed out of the room, leaving the men standing shocked at the prospects. The mention of the word “traitor” meant there would be purges that rivaled Stalin’s in the Soviet Union. On the way out he grabbed two men and they followed him to his office. After closing the door he turned to the Defense Minister.