“You don’t know how much I have looked forward to seeing you again,” she said. They stood staring for a few seconds.
“Do politicians always affect you that way?” Butler said. They heard whistles and applause around them. It seemed like half the ship turned out when they heard the Mayor was coming aboard. The decks were crowded with sailors and Marines.
Both the Mayor and Hammond blushed a deep red and she waved as he led them to his cabin. Refreshments were served and they sat down to get reacquainted.
“Roger, you’ve done a lot to make this woman proud. It seems like every other day I am hearing something about Iowa and her crew. We even brought you a present,” Butler said. The young man who came with them produced a box and gave it to Hammond. “That box has every article, recording, and video news article about you or this ship since you left Vallejo. As you can see, it’s rather thick. We thought you might want your print shop to duplicate it for the crew to read and see.”
Hammond rifled through the myriad of articles and DVDs. “Thanks, Jim. We don’t get to hear a lot around here. I know the guys will appreciate this.”
“Don’t thank us. My boss thinks you are a living saint. He says he can’t wait to get you back to DC.”
That brought a laugh. “That’s okay, I think I like it right here. You guys didn’t have to throw in the star.”
“Perry Johnson’s idea. You made the Navy almost a household word and he has plans for you. Not the least of which is what you will do right after this is over.”
“OK, I’ll bite. What does he have in mind?
Butler chuckled. “That can wait. You know the Boss, he gets some wild ideas sometimes.”
“How’s he doing?”
“Not bad, Roger. The war seems to be going just right and the public got the biggest kick out of him not giving the media a free hand. His popularity is about 72 % which is something that really gets in the opposition’s craw. He’s not too pushy, but not a pushover either. Even I’m enjoying it,” Butler said.
“More than the sea?”
Butler rolled his eyes. “Ahhh, much more civilized than what I’m used to.” They all laughed before Hammond turned to Mayor Crowell. “And how have things been going at home? Your letters have kept me going, but it’s nice to hear things first hand.”
“Well, Jack Latham says hello. His shipyard has been buzzing since he finished with you. The city throws a party with every news article they see. We are revamping the visitor center at the museum as a stand alone facility until your return. There’s even a petition to change the name of the city to Hammond when you get back,” she said with a grin.
“Oh no,” Hammond groaned.
Crowell laughed again. “Well, everyone is so proud of you and what the ship has done. It sure has brought the city to life. There are other things, but we can talk about those later. Tell us about the ship. How is everyone doing?”
“Why don’t we walk around and let you guys see for yourself?” Hammond said.
They stood and followed him out the door and down into the ship. From the moment she stepped out the door, crewmen wanted to greet her and say hello. They had grown quite attached to her before the commissioning and she of them. Everywhere they went crewmen stopped to show the Mayor around. For Butler, it was the first time he had seen a crew so attached to a city official. More than that, it was the first time he had seen a crew so proud of their ship. He couldn’t wait for Steve O’Bannon to step foot aboard.
The North Korean military command center was in chaos. There were no communications with anything south of the former border. Word had come that Seoul had fallen to the enemy and there were troops moving into North Korea, but they didn’t know where. Some areas of the border reported in and reported no activity. They were told to observe and report. But the worst news was the nuclear detonation in Yuktae-dong. No one knew if it was from a North Korean weapon or one from the United States. The propaganda ministry had already accused the United States of using nuclear weapons against Korea. They figured that would generate support from other communist and non-aligned nations.
Yuktae-dong had been the last of the naval facilities still operational. They knew about a few boats still there. Two days ago, the ministers boarded a train to take them somewhere secret to launch their own nuclear weapons. The place had been kept secret from all except a very few people. The ministers had not been heard from since. Surely they were not involved in that explosion. Even Chairman Kim was gone. With the war going badly, someone needed to make decisions, but no one there was willing to do so. The decisions were never made.
A call went out for all commands to report available troops. Slowly they were coming in. The Air Force had 18,000 troops, but they were aircraft maintenance technicians for the most part. The Navy reported having another 20,000 sailors, mostly station personnel to handle ships and boats. The Army units were very slow to respond. There were 12,000 border guards along the Chinese border, 8,000 troops in various provinces, 3,000 still around Pyongyang and another 4,000 along the former border at the control points. There was no telling how many were still in South Korea. With the losses in transportation and fuel, none could be moved easily.
One senior officer walked to the People’s Palace and tried to speak to a party official to get guidance. Office workers were plying back and forth as usual, shuffling papers between departments and offices. When he tried to speak to one of the deputies, however, they were not in. A second was ‘in a meeting,’ and a third was on a fact finding trip to the People’s Republic of China. For three hours he roamed the halls only to find no one was actually there. The bureaucracy was operating solely on its own.
Dejected and tired, the officer went back to the ministry, told the people there not to worry about any decisions that day and went home.
It was a no-win situation. His supplies had been cut off and he could not communicate with his superiors. A week before, the army lost over 160,000 people in one battle alone. The reports from his units indicated they were surrounded and the enemy was using far superior weapons. Already the food was beginning to run short. He could make one last daring attack, but he doubted it would make any difference at all.
North Korean General Moa felt helpless. He knew he could surrender and save his men, but he would be marked as a traitor and shot by some assassin in the future. North Korean leadership had long arms. They expected everyone to die in a blaze of glory. Just to be thinking those thoughts would brand him a traitor. He sat in his tent and looked at the maps before him, trying to find a way out.
A soldier appeared at his tent door. “Comrade, there is a voice message coming in asking for the Commanding General.”
“Finally. Our communications are back. Is it the Defense Ministry?”
The soldier looked very afraid. “No Comrade General, it is from a South Korean General.”
Moa felt the twang of fear run through him. So the time had finally come. Something terrible must have happened and all hope lost. The South Korean was going to demand his surrender. Nothing in his training had prepared him for this. Politically, he must refuse. But as a soldier he knew things were hopeless. He nodded his head and stood. Straightening his uniform, he placed his hat on his head and moved outside toward the communications truck.
When he arrived inside the mood was somber. Everyone knew what was happening. He sat down beside the microphone. “This is the Commanding General of the Forces of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. You wish to speak?”