Part 9 (1/2)
”Right, Pop. I'm gone.” She kissed him on the cheek and ran yelling for her teams to link up.
Ben turned to Corrie. ”We've got to punch through and establish a toehold, Corrie. Order main battle tanks in and have them b.u.t.toned up tight.
I'll use the outside phone.”
When the tanks lumbered into position, Ben ran to the side of one and opened the phone box. ”Lower your muzzles and blow me a hole through this c.r.a.p,” heordered. ”Then form a protective line for us to follow. Use HE.”
Half a dozen of the steel monsters lined up, lowered the muzzles of their main cannon, and blew a hole large enough for an aircraft carrier to move through.
The tanks moved forward, the Rebels following.
The creepies, hoping to swing around and trap Ben, did exactly what Ben wanted them to do.
They swung around and closed off the rear comor thought they did.
”Order the LAV'S and Dusters up,” Ben said to Corrie. ”A and C Companies face the rear, B and D to the front.”
The Rebel companies swung around and caught the creepies in a box. The LAV Piranhas and Dusters pulled out from hiding and went to work. Heavy cannon fire caught the creepies by surprise as Rebels poured out of the LAV'S and added automatic-weapons fire to the carnage. When the creepies tried to retreat to the north, they ran into Ben and his rear-facing Rebels.
The Rebels then turned the littered streets into a slaughterhouse.
Over the rattle and boom of battle, Corrie said, ”Tina met heavy resistance in the college complex. She punched through and is almost to the Interstate.”
”Okay. We've got a toehold. Dan?”
”Colonel Gray is on Highway 92 and is driving hard toward the Pacific.”
”Tell him once there to push on up to Moss Point and secure Half Moon Bay airport so we can resupply him at that location. We've got to secure the San Carlos airport, and we've got to do it by tonight. Tell all units to start laying incendiary charges in the buildings behind us.
Torch it all down but leave us a rathole in and out. Then get me Ike.”
Corrie gave the orders, then handed the mike to Ben.
”Ike here.”
”What's your twenty, Ike?”
”Sittin' on the north side of the Golden Gate.”
”Can you cross it?”
”That's ten-fifty, Eagle. The creeps have it all wired to blow.”
”Just as we thought. They're so single-minded they don't realize that by doing that, they're trapping themselves. Stand by, Ike. Corrie, get me Cecil.”
”On the horn, General.”
”How's your bridge looking, Cec?”
”Heavily mined.”
General Striganov reported. ”No way across, Ben. It doesn't leave us many options, does it?”
”No. I'm afraid it doesn't, Georgi.
Stand by.”With the rattle of gunfire, the crackle of flames, and the thunder of artillery in the background, Ben muttered, ”One of the greatest tributes to engineering ever built.”
”Sir?” Corrie asked.
”The Golden Gate Bridge, Corrie.
We'll not see the likes of it again in our lifetime.
Get me Ike, please.”
”You don't want to do this, do you, General?”
Corrie asked.
”No, I don't, Corrie.”
”General Ike on the horn, sir.”
”Ike, blow the bridge. Cecil, Georgi, blow them. Cut the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds off, then swing around and link up with me.”
”That's ten-four, General,” the commanders reported in, none of them liking the decision anymore than the man who gave the orders.
The sh.e.l.ling began almost immediately. The exploding rounds activated the charges placed by the Believers. The charges blew, rocking the morning with destructive thunder. Huge spans of the bridges shattered, breaking off, then slowly dropping into the Bay, sending wild geysers of water high into the air.
”Get me a report from Tina, Corrie.”
”She's in position, sir. Blocking the Interstate at Woodside Road.”
”Did she report finding anything of value left at Stanford University?”
”Negative, sir. The place had been virtually destroyed. Indications are that all the books were burned.”
Ben shook his head in disgust. ”Naturally. The first to go are the intellectuals, then the books. Control the minds, and you control the ma.s.ses. Corrie, tell Georgi and his people to pour on the coals and get in behind us here. When he gets into position, have him spread his people out from 101 to 280, and then give the orders for this command to move out. We've got to take the airport at San Carlos.”
Ike intercepted the orders and was on the horn immediately. ”G.o.dd.a.m.nit, Ben!” he yelled. ”If Georgi and West get in a bind, you and your people could be trapped over there.”
”Possibly. But not for long,” Ben radioed back. ”You and Cec burn it all, Ike. Start your push south and search and destroy.
Anything left, the ... bombers,” he said with a smile, ”can napalm it.”
”That's ten-four, Ben,” Ike radioed. He didn't like it, and Ben knew it, but Ike would do it.
”We've hit heavy resistance, Ben!” the Russian called in. ”For your safety, you must hold what you have until we can punch through and get in behind you.”
”That's ten-fifty, Georgi. We've got to have the airport under our control and the runways cleared by late this afternoon. I'll see you when you get here.”