'Yes, sir. I'm afraid that a city like New York provides lots of protection from helicopter gunships and even from the limited air strikes we're able to carry out under our current rules of engagement. It's also a very dangerous environment for close air support. We've lost four jets to shoulder-fired missiles and-' He checked a piece of paper on the table in front of him. '-and thirteen helicopters so far.'
Kipper felt his head reeling at the numbers. They simply could not bear those losses for very long.
'Were they all taken down by missiles, General? Surely we could find out where those things came from.'
'Some of them were ours, sir. And no, most of the choppers were killed by very low-tech means. Rocket- propelled grenades, often fired from skyscrapers. As I said, sir, it is a very challenging battlespace.'
Jed leaned across his wall of ring binders. 'We have discussed this, Mister President. We can use men or we can use ordnance. But at the moment we're not using enough of either. Is that what you're saying, General Franks?'
'Yes, Mister Culver.'
'How many troops do we have on the island right now, General?' Kip asked.
'Close to twenty-four thousand regular army, marines, and New York militia, Mister President. The militia element forms the majority of our combat power, probably close to sixty percent. But their effectiveness is mixed depending upon their local commanders,' the chairman said. 'If you are amenable, I would like permission to deploy an additional marine expeditionary brigade into New York.'
'Where would these marines come from?' Kipper asked. The U.S. Armed Forces were a lot smaller than they had once been. You couldn't just go tossing marine brigades around like confetti.
'I'd probably pull them from California. Los Angeles and San Diego. Stripping them down to MCRD San Diego,' Franks said. 'Things are secure enough that the corps felt they could move boots back to San Diego. At least secure from outside interference at any rate, and using marines there is probably overkilling the issue of zone runners and scavengers. We're scheduled to transfer more of that mission over to the local militia, anyway. May as well move it up.'
Jed Culver riffled quickly through a sheaf of papers until he found what he wanted.
'Couldn't we send forces from Missouri and strip units from the garrisons along the Seattle-Kansas City rail line? They're a lot closer, and they're not busy. It's mostly wilderness out there.'
Franks shook his head. 'I know it looks as if those troops aren't doing anything, Mister Culver, but they keep the rail line secure from interdiction and sabotage.'
'Sabotage?' Kipper asked.
'The incidents have been relatively small in number and not coordinated, but all it takes is one train derailment to cause considerable disruption to reconstruction efforts in the Midwest,' Franks said. 'The Second MEB is vital, but with a third one in-'
'Who the hell's been sabotaging my railways?' Kip asked. If Franks noticed his sudden surge of interest, he didn't react to it, continuing in the same gruff voice as before.
'The bureau is investigating, Mister President. They're not ruling anything out. There's some indication it could be a Deep Green thing or one of the Earth First splinters. But the strikes were pretty far into the interior, well beyond the reach of a bunch of tree huggers and vegan whack jobs. Latest theory is Fort Hood, possibly using a bogus Green front to mess with our supply lines. They do have the capability and motive,' Franks said, notably omitting Blackstone's name. It was known that Franks had been part of the effort to oust Blackstone from uniform. Kip understood that he didn't care for the man in the least.
'That Blackstone asshole again?' Kipper exclaimed with a passion that surprised even himself. 'This guy is like Satan's own jack-in-the-box the way he keeps popping up. How bad is it, General? And why wasn't I informed?'
Franks didn't look at all uncomfortable with the question.
'It's not as bad as it could be, Mister President, precisely because we have those garrison forces along the line, constantly patrolling. And that's why you weren't informed. Compared to some of our other problems, this one is small potatoes and easily managed as long as we keep those forces in place and on alert. I'd add, though, that the fact they haven't caught anyone does tend to bolster the case that it's not amateurs operating out there.'
Kip got his runaway temper under control again. He'd come forward in his chair, and the knuckles on his clenched fists stood out white against the suntan he'd picked up visiting so many reconstruction sites.
'Okay,' he said. 'But General, and Jed, too, if this sabotage gets out of hand or even if it starts ramping up, I want to know. That rail line is the single most important transport corridor we have.'
'Will do, Mister President,' Franks said.
'I think you were about to give us a few options for redeploying troops to New York,' Culver suggested, moving the discussion forward again.
On screen, Franks nodded.
'We should also be able to redeploy the marines from Kennedy since the cav has now totally secured the airport. Navy is moving some of their assets up from Puerto Rico to seal off access to the city from the sea. At least as best they can. These 'assets' consist of two destroyers and an oil tender. It will be a big help if Secretary Castellato can secure some assistance from the British, Mister President.'
'That's why she's there, General,' Kipper said. He was due to call Castellato in two hours for an update but saw no point in wasting time speculating on progress until he'd heard from Alida herself.
Franks leaned toward him on the screen, almost filling it.
'I should warn you, sir, that casualties are certain to increase over the course of the next month.'
'I'm sorry,' Kipper said, certain he'd misheard. 'A month? This battle could last a month?'
Franks nodded. 'Easily, Mister President. We could deploy two to three times as many troops without changing the duration of the engagement.'
Oh, man, thought Kipper. This was getting worse by the minute.
'I see,' he said aloud. 'General, did you receive a copy of Admiral Ritchie's brief concerning the possible use of nuclear and/or chemical weapons in New York?'
'I did, Mister President.' Franks replied. 'And I concur with Ritchie's opinion. We should be very, very careful about going down that path for all of the reasons he outlined. I can understand the attraction of a technological fix, Mister President. I don't like losing precious lives any more than you do.'
'Well, then give me some options, General,' Kipper said plaintively.
Franks nodded slowly, as if considering the issue for the first time, which was obviously not the case.
'If you are willing to write off large sections of New York City,' he suggested after a moment, 'we could send a flight of B-52s over.'
'What? Conventional bombing?' Kipper asked.
'A massed conventional bombing run would certainly break the will of the irregular forces we face there. The pirates and whoever has been coaching them. Also, it would place the rest of the world on notice that whether or not we actually stand on a given piece of U.S. territory, it is ours and we will do whatever it takes to keep everyone else out.'
'Cost,' Culver chimed in. 'Just how much will this bombing run cost us? In human and capital terms.'
'Well, you do the job properly and you'll kill everyone needs killing, Mister Culver. Thousands of them. As for damage, the areas targeted will look a lot like pictures you may have seen of cities that were bombed during World War Two. If you like, I can have a member of my staff send over a brief.'
'Jesus, we'd be better off just throwing a nuke at the place,' Culver said to himself mordantly.
'To borrow a line from history, we will have to destroy part or all of the city in order to save it,' Franks said. 'New York is too valuable as a port of entry and a strategic location on the eastern seaboard to let anyone else take over there, even if we cannot take full advantage of it. Mister President, we have to give serious consideration to the reality on the ground. We can retake this city, hold it, restore it, but it won't be the New York we remember.'
Kipper leaned back in his chair and stretched his back, which was feeling cramped. He poured himself a glass of water and pondered the options.
He knew as a basic tenet of his profession that occasionally you had to demolish something in order to rebuild. But such demolitions were neat, orderly affairs and never hurt anyone. Not on purpose, at any rate. Over the last four years he had proved, he hoped, that he wasn't squeamish about killing America's enemies when necessary, but the senseless destruction of all that property… New York City had such a long history… museums, galleries, Central
