Episode 114

3rd Battalion, 67th Armor

Taechon, DPRK

Lieutenant Colonel Hernandez took his time reviewing the troops of his command. Of the 90 or so M1A2 tanks the Battalion brought into North Korea, about 60 were still combat effective. Hernandez told himself that was an amazing number considering what they had accomplished, but it still meant he was down a third of his combat strength. It also meant that he had soldiers hurt or dead. He carefully placed that thought aside until later.

On the upside, four more BCT’s had joined them in the far north which brought the total number of tanks up to over two hundred. This seemed an amazingly effective force until one considered that China had almost eight thousand MBTs ready to defend or attack.

Major Lucas found him staring towards the north. “Sir, we have the JSTARS report.”

This jolted Hernandez out of his reverie. “Thanks, Tom. Let’s take a look.”

The report was not good. JSTARS was an amazing sensor platform. It used airborne radar to track movement on the ground. It was able to analyze movement over time and was extremely accurate at plotting large scale vehicle movements. Which was exactly what the two offers were looking at.

“Jesus Tom, what is that like twenty divisions?”

“Intel says more like thirty on the move.”

“Damn. We pissed them off for real now.”

“No joke.”

Hernandez poked a finger at the map. “We gotta take out this bridge here.”

One of the reasons why the United States had chosen to be so aggressive in the North was the Yalu River. Most of the border between the DPRK and the PRC was formed by the Yalu. While crossing rivers was not impossible, crossing them without bridges was extremely difficult. This meant that the Yalu formed a natural protective barrier between mainland China and North Korea. The site of many battles over the years, it was the one constant in a changing strategic and tactical picture over the decades.

“Yes, sir. The bridges in Dandong are their best chance to cross.” While China was a modern industrialized country with excellent infrastructure, North Korea was not. Because of this, there were relatively few ways to cross the Yalu from China into North Korea.

“Do you think we can hold them?”

“No way. We can slow them down, but if they really want to come over, they will get over. We would need at least a full corps to defend.”

Hernandez sighed. He had to agree. The entire point of Long Snap was to create a situation that allowed a negotiated end to the conflict. There was no way five Brigades had any chance in hell of defending against half the Chinese army.

“OK. Let’s make this hurt for them as much as possible without cutting off our lines of retreat.”

101st Airborne Division

Two miles west Hà Giang, Vietnam

The Vietnamese Army Intelligence Captain looked uncertain as he faced the two generals in the command tent. General Tran felt pity for him and smiled. “You can begin your briefing Captain.”

The captain, who had also been chosen for liaison duty because of his excellent English paused for a few more seconds. “Yes, sir. We have confirmed that the Chinese 14th Army is now fully mobilized and in the field. As you know, they are based in Kunming and are currently moving south. We believe it likely that they intend to enter the Republic.”

While the terrain around Hà Giang was mountainous and heavily forested, an entire Chinese army group was a massive force. The 14th consisted of two full divisions and a number of specialized brigades.

Greene leaned over the table to examine the map. “That’s a tough opponent.”

Tran smiled ironically. “Oh, we know the 14th, General. They were here in ’79.”

Although little known to Americans, the Chinese had invaded Vietnam in 1979. Starting in February, the 14th Army Corps was able to push into Vietnam and ultimately seized the city of Lào Cai, securing a bridgehead across the Red River. It was not something that a Vietnamese army officer was likely to forget.

“We will defend here and here. General, we would appreciate your support here defending this bridge across the Red River. If necessary, destroy it as you withdraw.”

Greene nodded. “And the expected opposition?”

“At least Divisional strength. Heavy armor and artillery support.”

“Hmm. We can hold for no more than two days, even if we are heavily dug in.”

Tran nodded, impressed at Greene’s instant grasp of the realities. “Yes, twenty-four hours is sufficient. By then, we will be ready with phase two of our defense.”

The planning went on for hours. No mention was made of winning, only surviving and making life difficult for the Chinese. Neither the Americans nor the Vietnamese considered surrender but they also knew that victory would only come if the Chinese became weary and withdrew.