Part 34 (2/2)

Almost all the weight gain came from the new turret. It was bigger than the old one. Its armor was thicker and better sloped. And it had been upgunned. Instead of a 37mm gun-an inch and a half to a gunner-it now carried a 60mm piece-a little less than two and a half inches. That still didn't match the three-inch monster the new Confederate barrels used, but it was big enough to make any enemy barrel say uncle, where you had to be d.a.m.n good or d.a.m.n lucky to hurt the new C.S. machine with the 37mm cannon.

And the 60mm gun was absolutely the biggest one that would fit on the turret ring of the old cha.s.sis. A new, improved body took a lot longer to turn out than a reworked turret. The Confederates must have been planning their Mark 2 while the Mark 1 was just starting production. The USA hadn't done that. And so, instead of a proper Mark 2, the United States had to make do with Mark 1.5, more or less.

”Ugly beast,” Pound said, laying a hand on its armored flank. He didn't see how anybody could argue with that. The new turret went with the old cha.s.sis about the way a rhino's head went with a cow's body. Everything on the Confederates' new barrels fit together with everything else. They had a grim, functional beauty. The Mark 1.5 was just grim.

”Well, Sergeant, Featherston's f.u.c.kers will think it's ugly, too, especially after it bites them a few times.” That was Cecil Bergman, Pound's new loader. He was a skinny little guy, which helped him do his job-even though the new turret was bigger on the outside, it had even less room within than the old one.

”That's a fact. The new gun will make them sit up and take notice. About time, too,” Pound said. ”Maybe we have a chance of holding them out of Pittsburgh now. Maybe.” He sounded anything but convinced.

He sounded that way because he was was unconvinced. The U.S. Army hadn't been able to stop the latest Confederate push, any more than it had been able to stop the Confederate drive up through Ohio the summer before. If you couldn't stop the enemy, how the devil were you supposed to win the war? Pound saw no way. unconvinced. The U.S. Army hadn't been able to stop the latest Confederate push, any more than it had been able to stop the Confederate drive up through Ohio the summer before. If you couldn't stop the enemy, how the devil were you supposed to win the war? Pound saw no way.

He could have elaborated on the many failings of the U.S. War Department, but Bergman hissed at him and jerked a thumb off to the left. ”Here comes the lieutenant,” he warned.

Second Lieutenant Don Griffiths was typical of the breed. He was young, he didn't know much, and one of the things he didn't know was how much he didn't know. He had blond hair and freckles and couldn't possibly have bought a drink without proving to the bartender that he was over twenty-one.

Sergeant Pound and PFC Bergman saluted him. He returned the gesture. ”Men, we have our orders,” he said.

He sounded full of enthusiasm. It was too early in the morning for Pound to feel enthusiasm or much of anything else except a deep longing for another cup of coffee. But Griffiths stood there waiting expectantly, so Pound did what he was supposed to do: he asked, ”What are they, sir?”

”We are going to drive the enemy out of Pennsylvania,” the lieutenant said grandly.

”What? All by ourselves?” Pound said.

Don Griffiths wagged a finger in his face. ”I've heard about you, Sergeant-don't think I haven't,” he said. ”You haven't got the right att.i.tude.”

”Probably not, sir,” Pound agreed politely. ”I do object to being killed for no good reason.”

”Don't get smart with me, either.” Griffiths' voice didn't break the way the late Lieutenant Poffenberger's had, but he still sounded like a kid. ”I'll bust you down to private faster than you can say Jack Robinson.”

”Go ahead, sir,” Pound answered, politely still. ”I'll never get rich on Army pay no matter what my rank is, and if I'm a private again I'll get out from under you. Besides, how likely is either one of us to live through the war? Why should I get excited about whether my sleeve has stripes on it?”

Lieutenant Griffiths gaped at him. The gold bar Griffiths wore on each shoulder strap was the only thing he had going for him. He couldn't imagine anybody who didn't care about rank. In fact, Pound did, very much, but the best way to hang on to what he had and be able to mouth off the way he wanted to was to pretend indifference. ”You are insubordinate,” Griffiths spluttered.

”Not me, sir. Bergman is my witness,” Pound said. ”Have I been disrespectful? Have I been discourteous? Have I been disobedient?” He knew he hadn't. He could be much more annoying when he stayed within the rules.

Griffiths proved it by spinning on his heel and storming away. PFC Bergman chuckled nervously. ”He's gonna get you in Dutch, Sarge,” Bergman predicted.

”What can he do to me? Throw me in the stockade?” Pound laughed at the idea. ”I hope he does. I'll be warm and safe in a nice cell back of the line, three square meals a day, while he's stuck up here with unfriendly strangers trying to shoot his a.s.s off. The worst thing he could do to me is leave me right where I am.”

Bergman shook his head. ”Worst he could do is bust you and and leave you where you're at.” leave you where you're at.”

Pound grunted. That, unfortunately, was true. He didn't think Lieutenant Griffiths had the imagination to see it; if he'd had that kind of imagination, he would have been a real officer, not a lowly shavetail. Pound proved right. The next time Griffiths had anything to do with him, the barrel commander pretended their last exchange hadn't happened. Pound played along. He watched the way Griffiths eyed him: like a man watching a bear that might or might not be ready to charge.

Their barrel moved out the next morning. Several platoons of the new machines rumbled north and west from the cla.s.sically named town of Tarentum. Tarentum lay northeast of Pittsburgh; the barrels wanted to knock in the head of the Confederate column sweeping past the industrial center. Another enemy column was pus.h.i.+ng up from the southwest. If they met, they would put Pittsburgh in a pocket. That had happened to Columbus the summer before. If the Confederates brought it off here, they could smash up the U.S. defenders in the pocket at their leisure.

Pittsburgh was the most important iron and steel town in the United States. If it fell, how could the country go on with the war? If it fell, would the country have the heart to go on with the war? Those were interesting questions. Michael Pound hoped he-and the USA-didn't find out the answers to them.

”This is pretty good barrel country, sir,” he remarked to Lieutenant Griffiths after they'd been rolling along for a while.

”It is?” Griffiths sounded suspicious, as if he feared Pound was pulling his leg. ”I thought you wanted wide-open s.p.a.ces for barrels, not all these trees and houses and other obstructions.”

Anyone who used a word like obstructions obstructions in a sentence was bound to have other things wrong with him, too. ”You do, sir, if you're on the attack,” Pound said patiently. ”But if you want to defend, if the enemy's coming at you, having enough cover to shoot from ambush is nice.” in a sentence was bound to have other things wrong with him, too. ”You do, sir, if you're on the attack,” Pound said patiently. ”But if you want to defend, if the enemy's coming at you, having enough cover to shoot from ambush is nice.”

”Oh.” The lieutenant weighed that. ”Yes, I see what you mean.”

”I'm glad, sir.” Now Pound sounded-and was-dead serious. ”Because the point of the whole business is to kill the other guys and not get killed ourselves. That's the long and short of it.”

Griffiths didn't disagree with him. The young officer opened the cupola and stood up in the turret to see what he could see. Pound just got glimpses through the gunsight-which was also improved from the one in the earlier turret. The Confederates hadn't got here yet, so the landscape wasn't too badly battered. That didn't mean he would have wanted to live here even if no one had ever heard of war. Coal mines, tailings from coal mines-he'd heard the locals call the stuff red dog-and factories dealing with coal and steel and aluminum dotted the landscape. Some of the factories belched white or gray or black or yellowish smoke into the sky even though the enemy was only a few miles away. They were going to keep operating till the Confederates overran them.

Michael Pound scowled. When they shut down, all the workers would try to get away at once. He'd seen that before. They'd clog the roads, U.S. troops would have trouble going around them or through them, and the Confederates would have a high old time bombing them and shooting them from the air.

Not five minutes after that thought crossed his mind, the barrel slowed and then stopped. Lieutenant Griffiths shouted from the cupola: ”You people! Clear the road at once! At once, I tell you! You're impeding the war effort!” Pound wouldn't have moved for anybody who told him he was impeding anything. This crowd didn't, either.

And they paid for not moving. No a.s.skickers screamed down out of the sky to pummel them, but they were in range of Confederate artillery. So were the advancing U.S. barrels. That didn't worry Pound very much-except for the rare unlucky direct hit, long-range bombardment wouldn't hurt them. He did tug on Griffiths' trouser leg and call, ”Better get down, sir. Fragments aren't healthy.”

”Oh. Right.” The lieutenant even remembered to close the cupola hatch after himself. He was faintly green, or more than faintly. ”My G.o.d!” He gulped. ”What sh.e.l.lfire does to civilians out in the open . . . It's a slaughterhouse out there.”

”Yes, sir,” Pound said, as gently as he could. ”I've seen it before.” He'd got glimpses through the gunsight here, too, and was glad he'd had no more than glimpses. Shrapnel clattered off the sides and front of the barrel. There were times when sitting in a thick armored box wasn't so bad, even if it was too d.a.m.n hot and n.o.body in there with you had bathed anytime lately.

Griffiths spoke to the driver over the intercom: ”If you can go forward without smas.h.i.+ng people, do it.” The barrel moved ahead in low gear. Pound didn't like to think about what it was running over, so he resolutely didn't. The lieutenant peered through the periscope: a far cry from sticking your head out and looking around, but n.o.body would have done that under this kind of sh.e.l.lfire. Well, maybe Irving Morrell would have, but officers like him didn't come along every day.

Suddenly, Griffiths let out an indignant squawk. ”What is it, sir?” Pound asked.

”Our men,” Griffiths answered. ”Our soldiers-retreating!”

Pound got a brief look at them, too, and liked none of what he saw. ”We'd better find an ambush position pretty quick, then, sir,” he said. ”We're going to have company.”

Griffiths didn't get it right away. When he did, he nodded. A stone wall that hid the bottom half of the barrel wasn't perfect cover, but it was a lot better than nothing.

”Have an AP round ready,” Pound told Bergman. The loader tapped him on the leg to show he'd heard.

”There's one!” Griffiths squeaked with excitement. ”Uh, front, I mean!”

”Identified,” Pound confirmed. ”Range six hundred yards.” He added, ”Armor-piercing.” Bergman slammed the round into the breech. With quick, fussy precision, Pound lined up the sights on the target: one of the new-model C.S. barrels. Now to see what this new gun could do. He nudged Lieutenant Griffiths. ”Ready, sir.”

”Fire!” Griffiths said, and the cannon spoke.

Here in the turret, the report wasn't too loud. The empty casing leaped from the breech and clattered down onto the deck. Cordite fumes made Pound cough. But he whooped at the same time, for fire spurted from the enemy barrel. ”Hit!” he shouted, and Griffiths with him. The old gun wouldn't have pierced that armor at that range.

”Front!” Griffiths said again, more businesslike this time. ”About ten o'clock.”

”Identified,” Pound replied. He scored another hit. Whatever the Confederates wanted today, they weren't going to buy it cheap.

Out of the line. Armstrong Grimes knew only one thing besides relief: resentment that he'd have to go back when his regiment's turn in reserve was up. For the time being, though, n.o.body would be shooting at him. He wouldn't be ducking screaming meemies. He wouldn't wonder if the stranger in a green-gray uniform was really a U.S. soldier, and worry that that unfamiliar face might belong to a Mormon intent on cutting his throat or stabbing him in the back and then sneaking away.

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