They should be back any minute now.

  Janet was staring at him again, obviously with more to say. She took a moment to collect her thoughts before she finally spoke.

  “Colonel… we heard the explosions just to the south of us. We know we’re at war. I know we’ve been lucky up until this point, but the EMP got us too this time. We may have had our generators and pick ups, but supplies stopped coming in weeks ago. I have close to 2000 people living in those houses up there that have been suffering.

  “Now everything we had left is gone, we have the Army at our doors and two giant warplanes in our front yards. I need to know what the hell is going on and what I can do to protect my community.”

  Bennet looked at the proud woman standing in front of him. He imagined that she wasn’t the sort to need help often and not at all accustomed to asking for it. She was obviously respected in her community and she had already earned his respect as well. He considered his response carefully before finally deciding to be honest with her.

  “Janet, there’s approximately 60,000 North Koreans on their way here right now. If they arrive before we can stop them, you won’t have a community left. At this point, I can’t imagine they’re more than a few kilometres away.

  “We’ll know more once my scouts return, but in the meantime, you should round up everyone that can walk or be carried and evacuate to the north. I’m sorry, but I can’t issue you a security detachment. I only have 11,000 fighting men and women with me and I can’t afford to lose a single one of them.”

  Janet lowered her head and asked a peculiar question.

  “Have you ever been to this part of the country, Colonel?”

  “Negative, Janet. I’m from out east.”

  “Well, around here, 80 percent of us are big game hunters. Bear, moose, elk, you name it, we hunt it. That’s how we’ve been surviving without our grocery store. I have a .375 Remington that would put that pellet gun on your shoulder to shame. Henry back there has a .460 Weatherby Magnum that makes even my rifle look like a peashooter. Last week, he nailed a big horn with it from 500 metres away.”

  “I’m in a bit of a hurry here, Janet, I…”

  “…My point, Colonel, is that we have trails all along these hills on both sides of this highway. They run parallel to it for five kilometres in either direction. From 300 metres up, we have a clear view of this entire highway.

  “You tell me that the assholes that caused us this misery are headed this way? I tell you that I have at least 1000 fighting men and women of my own… and we’ll be taking our rifles up onto those trails.”

  03:00 PST

  10 kms North of Leanchoil, B.C.

  Now only 10 kilometres south of the Canadian and British forces, the Americans continued their march towards the enemy on foot. They had only managed to cover half the distance that their allies to the north had, but getting through the carnage that JADE had left behind, had taken some effort. When over a quarter of a million kilograms of bombs are dropped on a two kilometre stretch of highway, the resultant terrain tends to be extremely challenging.

  The largest hold up of their journey had actually turned out to be an enormous stroke of luck. Half way through the destroyed enemy vehicles, a private had found a hand held radio that seemed to be intact. More out of boredom than actual curiosity, he had decided to pick it up to give it a try. When he pressed the transmit button, he was surprised to find that it actually transmitted a short burst of static. Seconds later, a North Korean voice had responded.

  After being made aware of the discovery, Major General Fielder ordered the entire corps to spread out and search the area for any others that might still work. If he had any doubts that the enemy had been counting on this EMP attack, they were gone now. The seemingly shielded radio in his hand was proof of that. Whatever country had fired those missiles was working with the North Koreans.

  He had no idea what else the enemy had that still functioned, but he was sure of one thing. He planned on taking every single functioning radio he could find and shoving them firmly up the enemy commander’s ass, figuratively if necessary, literally if the opportunity presented itself.

  In the end, his soldiers had managed to find 63 radios and two cell phones that still worked. The phones were useless for anything other than taking the occasional photo, of course, but they could still hold some intel. He kept one and gave the other to his aid, Corporal Eric Edwards.

  Faced with a decision to make, Fielder chose the one that would take a decided advantage away from his enemy. Instead of using them to coordinate the movements of his own Army, Fielder would use them to take that same ability away from the North Koreans.

  He handed the radios out to 63 privates and assigned them each a frequency. He then ordered them all to tap the transmit button repeatedly, anytime they heard a voice over their radio. With all frequencies covered, some twice over, anyone trying to carry out a conversation would quickly find it impossible. It was, what his son would call, ‘a serious dick move’ and his soldiers loved it.

  With that out of the way, Fielder had marched his corps onward, anxious to make up for lost time. He knew that they were falling behind in their pursuit of the enemy, but before they caught their stride, they would again find themselves with additional stops to make.

  They had to investigate the wreckage of several warplanes along the way. Each crash they searched, however, had obviously already been visited by the enemy as they marched north ahead of them. If any of the crew had survived the crash landings, they were all dead now. Many were found with multiple stab wounds.

  Without any other option, Fielder had marched onward, using the disturbing scenes as motivation for his troops. Motivation to show no mercy, to kill without reservation… to win.

  “Colonel Jarvis.”

  “Yes, Major General.”

  “Have another look at that map and figure out where the hell we are. We can’t be that far from the enemy now. I need to know the damn situation here.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  “Captain Phelps, I might need to send you out again.”

  “My Rangers are ready, sir.”

  A minute later, Colonel Jarvis returned with his report.

  “We’re approximately 30 klicks from Lake Louise, Major General. If the Canadians are still holding there, we could be chasing the enemy for a while yet, sir. If the Canadians marched forward after the EMP, they could have made it maybe… 20 klicks south by now. That would have the enemy somewhere inside of this 10 kilometre stretch of highway, sir.”

  “Any side roads or places they could hide?” Fielder asked.

  “Affirmative, sir. There’s a few small side roads. One parallels the highway and the others branch off to the west. The parallel road can probably be seen from the highway, so it shouldn’t be a problem for us. The branch roads all seem to end at a lake, basically taking them nowhere, sir.”

  “Unless we pass them by, allowing them to get behind us, Colonel.”

  “Yes sir. That is a possibility, Major General.”

  “This darkness is going to make tracking them difficult, especially on asphalt.” Captain Phelps added.

  “You want me to order the SEALs to take care of it, Captain?” Fielder asked, already knowing the answer.

  “Negative, Major General. Rangers lead the way, sir.”

  “Outstanding. Gather your company and get on with it then.”

  04:00 PST

  Five kms South of the Engagement Zone.

  “We have them, Major General.” Captain Phelps said as he came to a stop beside his commander.

  “Report.” Fielder ordered.

  “Those assholes were having themselves a little cookout about two klicks up the road, sir. No attempt to deviate from course at all. They remain on the highway, sir.”

  “Numbers?”

  “There’s no telling, sir. I’m sorry, but it’s just too dark to see that far up the highway. We stayed and watched until their commander ordered them to move out again. They’re not moving very quickly, though. We should catch up with them soon, sir.”

  “Excellent work, Captain. Take a short break and grab a meal with your company while we continue forward.” Fielder said. “Fall in to the rear of the column.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  This report was just what Fielder needed. The enemy was only about two kilometres ahead. If he pushed his soldiers to keep up a decent pace, they would catch up and engage in about an hour.

  Major General Fielder looked at his watch, thanking his wife silently again for buying him the still functional Seiko automatic. All he could think of was the enemy commander and how he had managed to stay ahead of him all night. He had even succeeded in killing four good U.S. officers, in the most despicable way imaginable.

  At 0:500, you die, you cowardly son of a bitch.

  03:15 PST

  Engagement Zone - Advance Guard Position.

  “What the hell do you mean, they already left?”

  “Once I told them what your scouts said, they knew there was no time to waste.” Janet replied. “Freddy led 600 hunters up to the trails on this side of the highway and Alice snuck another 600 up on the other side.”

  “And you never thought to let me know about that?” Colonel Bennet asked.

  “We’re not under your command, Colonel. I know you were considering leaving us out of this. We’re not going to stay behind while your soldiers fight our war for us. They’d end up getting lost up there anyway. Me and Henry here stayed behind to lead your men up.”

  “Well, isn’t that kind of you and Henry.” Bennet said. “Do your hunters know enough to not shoot my soldiers when they get up there?”

  “If my people can keep their shit together, when there’s a 200 pound cougar a few metres from them, I’m pretty sure they can handle a few nervous kids walking by. I doubt those soldiers of yours are as calm as my hunters are.”

  Colonel Bennet knew that Janet was right. Most of the soldiers under his command had never even fired a weapon in anger before. Hell, a week into this operation and half of them hadn’t even started growing a beard yet. He looked at his watch and realized that the time for debate was over. They needed to get moving.

  “Major Jenkins.”

  “Sir!”

  “I want you to take the British brigade up onto the trails on the west side of the highway. This gentleman will be showing you the way.” Bennet ordered, nodding his head towards Henry. “I’ll be taking the Canadians up onto the trails on the east side. I’ll leave 1000 soldiers here including the mortar teams and machine gunners.”

  “Aye, aye, Colonel.”

  “Henry, is it?” Bennet then asked, addressing the man with the enormous rifle on his shoulder.

  “Yes sir. Henry Wilson.”

  “Janet here tells me you’re quite the sniper with that beast of a rifle there.”

  “I hold my own.”

  “Can you pick out a single man and kill him from way up on those trails there?”

  “With this rifle and scope, I could kill him twice before his knees buckle.”

  “Good. That’s all I needed to hear. I’m going to have you start us off.”

  “Sir?” Major Jenkins asked, unsure if he had heard his commander correctly.

  “These people have more invested in this battle than any of us, Major. Those are their homes back there, not ours. Who better to kick off the festivities than the famous Henry Wilson, the man who shot a long horn from 500 metres away?”

  “As you wish, sir.” Jenkins said.

  “Major Jenkins, you and Henry are to position yourselves at the midway point of the line. Janet and I will do the same on our side. Make sure you tell them all to hold fire until they hear Henry’s first shot. Once those civilians learn that one of their own will have the honour, I’m sure they’ll cooperate. Have the hunters set up at the northern most end of the line, furthest from the enemy. Their rifles are far more powerful than ours. Let them take the long distance shots.

  “Major, it’s imperative that we let the North Koreans progress into the engagement zone. If we start this thing too early, too many will fall back and put us into a jungle warfare situation. The U.S. Army should be behind them, but we don’t know that for certain. Hold until the enemy has advanced into the trap. You’re to give Henry his first target.”

  “Aye, aye, Colonel.”

  Colonel Bennet checked his watch again, did a quick calculation in his head and looked back up at Major Jenkins.

  “The enemy will be here in one hour. That gives you 45 minutes to get them into position. You’d better hurry. Good hunting, Major.”

  “And to you, Colonel.” Jenkins replied, exchanging a sharp salute with his commander.

  As Major Jenkins and Henry ran off, Bennet addressed the two remaining soldiers that were still awaiting orders.

  “First Lieutenant Lowe. Sergeant Stryer.”

  “Sir!”

  “Lowe, I want you to set up our advance guard right here. As the highest ranking officer at ground level, I’m putting you in charge of this position. Your entire platoon of machine gunners, all mortar teams and an entire battalion of my infantry soldiers are to be spread out across this highway. Use the planes and whatever other cover you can find.”

  “Aye, sir!” Lowe replied.

  “Stryer, you will assist First Lieutenant Lowe in setting up the soldiers here. Make sure our mortar teams are positioned well behind the infantry.”

  “Aye sir!”

  “Gentlemen, make sure everybody knows not to engage until we begin firing from those hills. I know this is above your paygrades, but I haven’t got time to do it for you. Just organize it with the other unit commanders and get it done quickly. I want this position set up in 30 minutes.”

  “Aye, sir. We’ll get it done, Colonel.” Lowe said.

  Janet had been watching Colonel Bennet intensely and was seriously impressed with his command presence. The man was a natural leader and it was obvious that his soldiers trusted him completely. He had even acknowledged her people’s value and treated them with respect. The fact that he was about her age, tall and fairly good looking, had crossed her mind as well.

  Colonel Bennet looked at her and said, “Lead the way, Janet. You have 44 minutes to get 5,000 soldiers up there.”

  “We’ll only need 43.” She replied as she turned to begin her jog.

  Once everyone was in position, Colonel Bennet would have 5000 Canadian troops with him in the eastern hills while Major Jenkins had 5000 British troops in the west. They would each also have an additional 600 civilian hunters with scoped high powered rifles. They would all soon be spread out, overlooking a one kilometre stretch of highway.

  Another 1000 soldiers, including 50 mortars, would be engaging the enemy from ground level. As Bennet and Jenkins hurried to get into the hills, they were working feverishly to prepare their positions at the northern most end of the engagement zone by the airplane wreckage.

  Much like the defensive formation that he had set up at the railway bridge, the plan that Bennet had designed, would again create a ‘U’ shaped death trap for the enemy. The constant mortar bombardment and machine gun fire from their front would stall the enemy’s advance, giving Bennet’s division additional time to rain hell down on them from high above.

  Assuming that the Americans were still chasing them, it would be their job to slam the door shut behind them at the southern end. If there truly were 60,000 North Koreans on their way, Bennet knew that he would definitely have his hands full. Even with far superior positions and the element of surprise in their favour, they were still outnumbered almost five to one.

  As he jogged up the trail with his brigade, only one thought was on Colonel Bennet’s mind.

  Those Americans better show up.

  04:30 PST

  Engagement Zone – Eastern Flank.

  The trails that Janet had them set up on, were natural outcroppings that jutted out from the steep rock face. Although not technically a sheer drop off, at approximately 45 degrees, the slope was close enough. In most areas, they were just wide enough for two ATVs to pass each other, although Bennet was sure that the maneuver was always taken extremely carefully.

  Surrounded by large trees in front and in behind, Colonel Bennet was pleased with the position. It offered cover, elevation and most importantly, a clear view of the highway below. If he knew what type of rock that mountain side was made of, however, he may have reconsidered.

  Bennet and Janet had set up at the midway point of the line while Freddy had led the hunters back to the far north end. Of course, he had convinced them to move down the line by saying that he wanted to take advantage of their high powered rifles and massive scopes. The truth of the matter was actually that he was simply uninterested in having his elite soldiers fighting alongside a group of angry undisciplined civilians.

  After only 15 minutes, Janet spotted the enemy. With a gentle nudge of the elbow, she passed Bennet her rifle, so that he could take a look for himself. As Bennet put the massive scope to his eye, the world suddenly became clearer. As good as the Army’s mil spec rifle scopes are, they’re nothing compared to what’s available to the civilian market. He guessed that, at the moment, he was currently looking through at least 1500 dollars worth of premium optics.

  “I see them.” Bennet said. “I can’t believe how bright everything is through this thing.”

  “That a 2000 dollar Austrian masterpiece, Colonel. Amazing how much moonlight you can collect if you spend enough money. It’s only at 12X zoom, but you can place it on 18X, if you’d like.”

  “No, I don’t want to mess with your shot, Janet. Are the range markings I’m seeing in here accurate?”

  “They are, but I always have to adjust for slope. I don’t think I’ve ever shot a game animal on level ground, actually. I just need another minute to check my figures to make sure I’ve got it right.”

  “That’s excellent. Let me know when you have it and I’ll relay it down the line to my soldiers.”

 

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