Nimh Binh was the far better choice. From there, they had a real road network south. They could cut Hanoi off, take it at their leisure.
Everything they had done so far pointed south. Think of Shock and Awe — the big defenses were initially bypassed, then attacked at a time of the aggressor’s choosing. The Chinese would do the same here. The Vietnamese expected the attack around Hanoi — most of their forces were very close to the city, even north of it. So that would be the last place the Chinese would go.
The country would open up after Nimh Binh. There were real highways, and plenty of them. Plus, the satellites had shown some activity on Hai Ham on their last pass. The Chinese island off the Gulf of Bac Bo pointed like a fist to Vietnam’s midsection. It was the perfect place to stage an amphibious assault from.
A pincer from both directions, once Hanoi was cut off. The south was the real prize, and it lay nearly unprotected.
Slow the tanks down. That was the first job. Make the Chinese take their time. Even if meant steering them directly toward Hanoi. Hanoi was a battle that the Vietnamese were prepared to fight. They might not win, but they at least had defenses in place.
Or send the Chinese into Laos. Easy pickings, but it would upend their timetable. The roads there were even worse than in northwestern Vietnam, especially in rain. Plus, they wouldn’t be able to hide behind the PR line that they were invading Vietnam only to ensure their own safety.
As if anyone would believe that anyway. Anyone outside the UN, that is.
He needed a bottleneck, something more than just a road.
“General, I didn’t expect you here tonight,” said Christian as General Perry came into the room.
“Well, I am. Zeus, how are you?”
As the general walked across the room, Zeus flinched involuntarily. He started to salute, then realized Perry wanted to shake his hand.
“Good to have you aboard, Zeus,” added Perry. “Win has filled you in on the details?”
“Yes, sir,” said Zeus, though it had sounded more like a statement than a question. “I’m coming up with a strategy for the Vietnamese.”
“You have the problem solved yet?”
“If I could get some A-10As over there, sure.”
“I’m afraid that’s not going to work.” Perry’s smile disintegrated into a frown.
“No, sir.”
Did generals have to turn in their sense of humor when they took their first star? Or did the promotion board limit its review to candidates who never got a joke?
Christian was smirking behind Perry, as if to say,
That burned Zeus. Really burned him.
“I, uh, did have a little bit of an idea,” he told Perry.
“Let’s hear it.”
Zeus looked down at the map, hoping inspiration would strike.
“They’ll come down this way, the main attack, right down Route 6 to Moc Chau. All the intelligence points to it,” said Zeus.
Perry looked at the map. Zeus stared at it as well, hoping it would spark his imagination. It didn’t.
“How are the Vietnamese defenses there?” Perry asked.
“About on par with their defenses everywhere else except Hanoi,” said Zeus. “Almost nonexistent. But I don’t think they should take their stand there.”
“No?”
“They’d get creamed.”
“You’re not suggesting they run away, are you?”
“If it would work, definitely. But, uh, what they have to do is, uh, slow the tanks down, try and get some of the momentum back — they have to stop the tanks temporarily and get the Chinese commanders to have to think on their feet. The um, Shock and Awe, which is what they’re trying, is predicated on flexibility. Chinese doctrine isn’t flexible. It hasn’t been. Some units — their commandos are very good. But most of the infantry is very poorly educated and trained. Some of them are just basically farmers and, uh, in some cases criminals.”
“How does this help the Vietnamese?” asked Christian. “How do they stop the tanks?”
“What they should do is flood the plain here,” Zeus said, the idea coming to him as he saw the red line of the highway curling around the reservoirs at Song Da. “Divert the water from Song Da Lake south, destroy the road right before Routes 6 and 15. If they did a good enough job with the water, blew up the bridges, gutting the road — if they do that, the Chinese would have to stop. They’d have to stop.”
The idea blossomed full in Zeus’s mind. He saw the strategy now — cede Moc Chau, give up everything down to the M? River. Using the water from Song Da — the tanks would be forced through a narrow, slow passage. The Chinese might cut a road through the jungle — or they might do the next logical thing and divert eastward, going after Hanoi. In either case, their plan would be thwarted. They’d need days — maybe weeks — to reorganize everything. Time to get help to the Vietnamese.
General Perry said nothing as Zeus fleshed out the plan, possible strategies popping into his mind. It was all a big roll of the dice, but at this point anything the Vietnamese did was a roll of the dice.
“What’s to keep the Chinese from just blowing through Laos?” said Christian. There was a sneer in his voice. “They can slam right through there, bypass whatever the Vietnamese try setting up at the reservoir, then turn up in Saigon.”
“That’s mountainous terrain, mostly jungle, with even fewer roads than where they are now,” said Zeus. “I mean, they may try it — it may be an alternative for them, especially if they’re not planning an amphibious landing. But getting through those mountains with the tanks — they’ve done okay so far on paved roads, but Laos is a lot worse. Narrower — you can check the intel and — ”
“Amphibious landings are not their forte,” said Christian.
“That’s right. But intelligence shows a buildup of activity on Hai Ham.”
“A landing in Vietnam would give them practice for Taiwan,” said Perry drily. “Your thinking is very sound, Major. Do you think the Vietnamese would agree?”
“I couldn’t, uh, speak for them, General.”
“A rhetorical question, son. You’ll come with me to explain it to them. We’ll both find out together.”
“We’re going over to the embassy?”
“We’re going to Hanoi,” said Perry. “There’s an RT-1 waiting for us at Andrews. We’ll be there in a few hours. The Vietnamese want our help. Unofficially, of course.”
17
M? tugged at his hand.
“Yeah, we have to go. We have to — go,” said Josh, forcing the words out. He pushed his legs to move, walking stiffly to the next room, which had a wall facing the front of the house. Halfway to the window, he spotted soldiers outside, up near the road. They were just standing there, but they could easily see the window.
“This way,” Josh said, pulling M? backward with him. He fought against the panic trying to seize his chest and slipped into the scarred and battered room at the rear corner of the house. The soldiers hadn’t reached the rear yard yet.
Josh grabbed M?, holding her under his side as he skirted the hole and then climbed over the rubble. As soon as they were out of the building, he threw himself and the girl down to the ground.
“Crawl,” he whispered. Then he pulled her up and showed her how to go, on all fours, toward the rough
