Soldier

 

 

1.

 

13 April 2350

 

Emergency military conference, Day Two of the Invasion of Japan Sector: 1.19 P.M.

 

Participants: Enkov, Hawthorne, Kitamura (Field Marshal, Japan Sector) Ulrich (Air Marshal, Strategic Command East), O’Connor (Admiral, Pacific Fleet) Green (Colonel-General, Replacement Army East).

 

Enkov: You misjudged them again.

Hawthorne: I don’t think that’s the correct analysis, Director. Strategically this invasion makes no sense. From Australia, they launched the Papua/New Guinea Campaign, which, I might add, has bogged down in the treacherous mountain terrain.

Green: Even Highborn have their limits, it seems.

Hawthorne: Exactly. But to address your question, Director, let me point out that they’ve captured twenty percent of the small Pacific Islands from Japan to the Hawaiian Islands to Australia. It seemed clear until two days ago that they planned to build a Pacific Basin Stronghold. Now their supply lines from Australia to Japan stretches past Indonesia, the Philippines and Taiwan.

O’Connor: Over four thousand kilometers.

Hawthorne: Granted they rush supplies and troops in well-armed convoys, but our ability to intercept and destroy them has now—what are those numbers again?

O’Connor: Their transports are thousand-ton Vickers Hovercraft, a rugged prefab design that we believe is already in mass production, with Destroyer Class Hovers serving as escort. Fast V-Boats range as perimeter guards, while VTOL Hover Carriers provide fighters, bombers and their dreaded HK-Leopards. Those search out our submersibles with uncanny accuracy.

Hawthorne: Yes, thank you, Admiral. But what are the improved odds regarding our ability to sink them along this four thousand kilometer route?

O’Connor: A sixty-percent increase.

Enkov: I’m delighted to hear it. As will be the other directors. How much tonnage have you destroyed since the Japanese Invasion?

O’Connor: Ah… none yet, Director. It’s still early in the invasion and we have only a few boats along the route. But we believe a pattern has emerged, one that indicates—

Enkov: Here we go again. It’s always about holding back to study their pattern, to make sense of these swift moves that seems to paralyze my military men. Yet you just said, General Hawthorne, that attacking Japan lacked strategic sense. What you really mean is that the Highborn have upset your precious pattern concerning their intended behavior.

Hawthorne: They are unpredictable.

Enkov: Or perhaps they are simply more subtle that you, General.

Hawthorne: I take that as a given, Director. Yet I believe they’ve finally overstepped themselves.

Enkov: Not in terms of sea-borne supply, it seems.

O’Connor: It takes time to reposition our fleets, Director. The bulk of our submarine squadrons lie in Java Strait and the South China Sea, in the southern region off Malaysia. It was anticipated that the Indonesian Islands were their next target. We could have bloodied them well there. The surprises we had in store for them…. Well, it’s moot now. Presently, the Highborn supply-line from Australia to Japan brushes near the extreme west of the Philippine Sea but not quite over the Mariana Trench.

Enkov: I fail to see your point.

O’Connor: We must move our submarines carefully, Director. Highborn detection devices are incredibly sensitive. But if we could slip into the Mariana Trench—

Enkov: What difference does that make?

O’Connor: Depth, Director. If we can slip deep enough even their detection devices can’t spot our subs, or if they do spot them, short of nuclear depth charges we’re safe from attack.

Enkov: Safe, yes, but neither can you attack from the great depths.

Hawthorne: We’ve developed a new pop-up buoy that will be able to—

Enkov: Correct me if I’m wrong, General Hawthorne, but developed means on the planning screen, not yet aboard the submarines.

Hawthorne: Yes, Director. And therein is our chief problem. The former Directorate agreed to the creation of the Highborn because Earth seemed incapable of producing proficient soldiers. This new breed of warrior was supposed to do all of Social Unity’s soldiering. Because of it, Earth defenses were allowed to deteriorate. We are the heirs of their errors.

Enkov: More history, General?

Hawthorne: Sir, the truth is large military vehicles such as submarines and spacecraft take several years to construct, at least under peacetime conditions. Planes also have a lag time, but not as great. As you know we’ve accelerated production, but as of now, our space and water-borne fleets are only as large as we had at the beginning of hostilities. Fifty-three percent of our submarines were targeted and destroyed the day Geneva and the old Directorate was destroyed. Since then, Admiral O’Connor has only lost eighteen submarines.

Enkov: And shown little for it.

Hawthorne: I’m not certain I can agree with that analysis, Director. Premature moves only hand the Highborn further chances to complete their original destruction. We must husband our forces until an opportunity of enough worth and one that we can win presents itself. I believe the Invasion of Japan is just such an opportunity. Admiral O’Connor has moved his fleets into position or is in the process of moving them. Yet we must not allow the Highborn the free destruction of our fleets. Rather, I am timing for one sudden swoop upon every aspect of the invasion. Admiral O’Connor will cut their supply lines. Air Marshal Ulrich, who repositions his fighters and bombers along China’s coast and slips replacement fighters when he can onto Japan, will sweep the sky of enemy craft. Colonel-General Green has already ordered a mass transshipment of replacement troops from Vietnam to Korea. Once in Korea the bulk of them will be shipped onto Japan and there provide needed ground forces to sweep and destroy the trapped enemy units. It’s a bold and audacious plan, Director—Operation Togo.

Kitamura: Named in honor of the Japanese Admiral who destroyed the Russian Baltic Fleet over four centuries ago in a surprise attack in the Tsushima Strait.

Hawthorne: Yes, thank you, Field Marshal. The Highborn have once more struck with surprise. But we’re reacting faster than ever and have a plan that has every chance of blooding them much more than they’ve planned for. This, Director, is why we’ve been husbanding our irreplaceable fleet units.

Enkov: What about the troop build-up in Indonesia?

Hawthorne: We’ll leave them there for the moment.

Enkov: A week ago, you said they were our best men.

Hawthorne: Second only to Field Marshal Kitamura’s soldiers.

Enkov: Report on that, Field Marshal.

Kitamura: Honored Director, Japan will never fall. Our soldiers have dedicated their lives to Social Unity and promise to hurl back these Supremacist invaders. Three assaults have struck the home islands, at Kobi, at Tokyo and at Sendai in the north. Battle rages hottest in Tokyo—

Enkov: I’ve received reports they dropped nuclear bombs.

Kitamura: Tactical nuclear explosions of one and two kilotons, yes, Honored One—Precision nuclear strikes that destroyed our “deep-space” laser batteries.

Hawthorne: Beam weapons, Director, capable of hitting spacecraft in near-Earth orbit.

Enkov: Yes, thank you so much, General. I had assumed that’s what the “deep space” appellation meant.

Kitamura: Honored One, although they destroyed the laser batteries, they failed to destroy our Merculite missile battery. Six orbital fighters have fallen to our launches.

Enkov: Why didn’t they strike that with nuclear fire?

Hawthorne: They did after we scored the kills. But because of our new clamshell shielding—four thousand tons of blast-concrete—the nuclear strikes were shrugged off. Incidentally, several cities have the new Merculite missile bases, Tokyo among them. They were installed six months before the civil war and are among the few innovations the Highborn lack.

Enkov: They’ve attacked with nuclear weapons. Now we must retaliate likewise.

Hawthorne: I’m not convinced—

Enkov: You’ve wavered from the first, General. But now I insist we launch nuclear strikes at their main concentrations.

Hawthorne: Dedicated orbital laser stations protect their main troop concentrations, at least if they’re true to form. Any missiles or cruise missiles fired at those formations will surely be intercepted. Besides, as long as we refrain from nuclear launches we maintain the moral high ground or at least we’ll keep the propaganda value in our court. Most Outer Planets governments have stressed their wish for each of us to refrain from nuclear strikes. If we wish to woo Outer Planets—

Enkov: Meaningless if we’re defeated before then. In any case, that’s a political decision and well beyond your scope, General.

Hawthorne: Understood, sir.

Enkov: Now a moment ago you said something very interesting, Admiral. You said that the fleets will not be in position for a week. Is that correct?

O’Connor: It could take longer than a week, Director.

Enkov: Then we must strike their convoys with nuclear missiles now. I don’t believe they have dedicated orbital stations protecting all four thousand kilometers.

Hawthorne: Perhaps to initiate Operation Togo a few selected targets might be—

Enkov: No, General Hawthorne, before Operation Togo. These nuclear strikes will be made before. I want their supplies and troops stopped now.

Hawthorne: What you suggest is risky, Director.

Enkov: How do you mean risky? They’ve already struck with nuclear weapons.

Hawthorne: I wish to point out with very limited nuclear strikes. With clean, as far as radiation is concerned, weapons. Large nuclear exchanges between us could easily lead to an irradiated planet.

Enkov: Better that than fall to the Supremacists.

Hawthorne: We are not yet defeated, Director. So I beg you to reconsider this most dangerous process.

Enkov: Field Marshal Kitamura, please continue your report.

Kitamura: Most Honored Director, if you would look at the map. The fiercest fighting takes place here, in Greater Tokyo. Samurai Divisions have hurled the enemy from the nearest underground entrances and advanced a thousand meters. Tokyo volunteers even now stream into battle as Kamikaze squads.

Enkov: Explain that.

Kitamura: Brave men and women and even children are strapped with high explosives. They crawl near or among the enemy and detonate.

Enkov: Incredible! Such dedication must be rewarded. I want lists of all volunteers. Mark them down as Heroes of Earth.

Kitamura: A wise decision, Director.

Enkov: Please, continue with the report, Field Marshal. This is fascinating.

Kitamura: Our casualties are heavy, but our blood flows to oil the path for the rest. Social harmony fills their hearts and others sup at their selfless dedication to the future. In the north, Sendai fell after an hour’s battle, but the lines have stiffened here and here. My commanders have assured me that the arrogant invaders will not get past our Fukushima strongholds without massive losses. In the south, Kobi residents have begged my commanders to arm them and let them enter battle. My air fleets have taken sixty-percent losses, but we have destroyed five troop carriers and ten V-Boats. Give me more fighters, Honored Director, and Japanese pilots will score even more victories. Our deaths do not matter, just that we may save our social unity.

Enkov: Splendid, yes, inspiring. Air Marshal, have you rated success by nationality?

Ulrich: We have, Director. Japanese pilots have scored twenty-eight percent of all known successes. Next are the Germans, at twenty-five percent. American and Israeli pilots each accounted for ten percent. A word of caution is in order, however. While the Field Marshal is correct at the heroics and ability of his former pilots, they were also his best rated. It would be a mistake to ship too many fighters into Japan until the beginning of Operation Togo.

Kitamura: I am sorry, but I cannot agree, Air Marshal.

Enkov: General Hawthorne, has a troop’s nationality shown any difference in terms of ground performance?

Hawthorne: Most definitely.

Enkov: Japanese troops do well?

Hawthorne: Very.

Enkov: Then perhaps the Highborn actions become clear.

Hawthorne: You detect a pattern, Director?

Enkov: The Highborn do not hew to your strategies, General, because they do not think like you. Land is not paramount. Men are. Consider. Why strike at Japan? Might it be because the Japanese make better soldiers than the neighboring peoples do?

Hawthorne: Perhaps. Yet a conquered Japan also aims a strategic arrow at Beijing. While I don’t see how invading Japan at this time fits into their overall strategy, it is by itself not an unbalanced move.

Enkov: I believe they’re more concerned with taking out our best recruiting grounds, then taking those captive peoples and retraining them as Highborn surrogates.

Kitamura: The Japanese will never serve the hated Highborn. We are dedicated Social Unitarians.

Enkov: So did the Australian generals assure the Directorate, as did those holding New Zealand, Tasmania and Antarctica before them. Yet now these nationalities flock to the Highborn standards. You’re so fond of history, General Hawthorne. Didn’t the Japanese lick the American’s boots easily enough after World War Two?

Hawthorne: As the Field Marshal indicated, Director, Social Unity cures many ills.

Enkov: How refreshingly bold of you, General. Are you actually assuring me the Japanese won’t join the Highborn?

Hawthorne: I don’t intend on letting Japan fall to find out.

Kitamura: We will never fall! On this, I stake my life and reputation.

Enkov: I accept your pledge, Field Marshal.

Kitamura: Thank you, Honored Director. You will see that Japan loves you and honors your socially approved leadership. Even now new armies of volunteers train in the cities’ depths. We will boil out and overwhelm them!

Enkov: That, gentlemen, is the kind of zeal we need. Now, General Hawthorne, how soon until this grand assault of yours occurs, this Operation Togo?

Hawthorne: Your timetable, Colonel-General?

Green: Nine weeks at the earliest.

Enkov: Too long, much too long! The Highborn run circles around us because they move. By the time we’re ready for them, our men are marching into their holding pens or being buried in the field. We have to match their speed, their ability to shift from one spot to the next. You have four weeks, and then you will commence Operation Togo with whatever’s ready.

O’Connor: I need those four weeks to slip my submarine squadrons into position. On the fifth week, we might be ready.

Enkov: Fight your way into position!

O’Connor: Without surprise—

Enkov: To insure success we will immediately submarine-launch nuclear strikes against their sea-lines.

Hawthorne: Director—

Enkov: My mind is made up on this. I have not struck first with nuclear weapons. But I refuse to sit idly by and allow them to bombard us with impunity.

Hawthorne: Very well, Director. But I cannot guarantee Operation Togo with only a four-week lead-time.

Enkov: Four weeks and I demand that you guarantee it for me, General.

Hawthorne: Perhaps if the Directorate rescinds its policy on the habitats.

Enkov: Negative. They must remain open habitats. Frankly, I find the Highborn agreement to this unbelievable. If they stopped all food shipments earthward, we would face half rations for everyone on the planet.

Hawthorne: They want Earth intact, Director. So unless we change policy I don’t believe they will change their open space-farm habitat policy. At least they won’t change it as long as they’re conquering— As long as they’re making advances.

Enkov: Then why ask for Directorate policy to be rescinded?

Hawthorne: Because I’m beginning to wonder if that isn’t the place to break them. If we can’t break their battle fleet maybe we can destroy one or two Doom Stars.

Enkov: You think that’s possible?

Hawthorne: With surprise… maybe. If our new proton beams prove—

Enkov: No! Maybe is not good enough. We will stick to saving Japan. Four weeks, gentlemen, to gather what forces you can and then strike against their invasion. And you must immediately disrupt their four thousand kilometer long supply-line, Admiral. Your submarines are to move now! They are to launch nuclear sea-strikes as close to the enemy as possible. If they own space, we can still use the oceans. I want you especially to target their transports. Until then, Field Marshal Kitamura, you most hold Tokyo. You must defend the Merculite missile battery, no matter what the cost. If that means frontal assaults with your newly trained levies then you must do it.

Kitamura: Agreed, Honored Director. But we will take massive casualties.

Enkov: That doesn’t matter. Engage the enemy. Make him bleed until we’re ready to drive him off Japan. Then everyone will see that the Highborn are not invincible.

Hawthorne: Shouldn’t our objectives be studied in greater detail, Director?

Enkov: You have just been given your objectives, General. Now I want them carried out. If, that is, you can guarantee me success.

Hawthorne: Director, I—

Enkov: Give me victory, General Hawthorne, or we will fall back onto Carthaginian strategies.

Green: Director?

Enkov: Take it up later with General Hawthorne, and consider yourself under the same terms, all of you. Gentleman, the emergency meeting is adjourned. Now, to your tasks!