Chapter 11: Thud Ridge
The night passed quickly for the girls of the 7th JSF, as the USS Midway gently rocked in the Indochinese waters. When morning came, they went up to the bridge and were surprised to find Kurosawa was not in her chair.
"That's odd. Captain Aiko is usually up here by now with her morning coffee." Danielle noted.
"Indeed. It's not like her to be late for morning briefing." Addison concluded.
Holly ducked into the pilot house and presented her question to the helmsman. "Sir, where is the Captain?"
"Oh, she's been down to see Captain Chambers in the medical bay. Poor girl is down there every day and night, hoping for a miracle that'll never come." The helmsman sighed. "I'd like to believe he'll come back, but… there's not much left to hope for."
As the girls proceeded below deck to medical, Aiko was kneeling by Chamber's comatose body. He was still breathing, and receiving nutrients via intravenous drip, but his eyes remained closed and he could not respond to her. The heart monitor beeped at intervals, denoting the rather slow heart rate.
"Larry… Are you ever going to wake up? I don't know how much longer this war can continue with my inexperienced hands at the helm. This job is too big for me, and I wasn't meant for this position so soon." Aiko firmly held his hand in hers, as tears began to run down her pale face. "Please… wake up, Larry."
Holly was wise enough to stop the other girls behind her and take a small peek into the room through the window. She motioned for the other girls to wait, as she quietly slipped in. Aiko heard her footsteps, and her hand darted for the holstered Colt Commando pistol on her thigh.
"Oh, it's you?" Aiko wondered. "Don't sneak up on me like that…" She muttered, her arms relaxing as she wiped her eyes again.
"My apologies, Captain. We couldn't find you on the bridge and wandered down here. I didn't mean to frighten you." Holly admitted.
"Ah, it is that time again. I'm sorry, just give me a quick moment longer with Larry." Aiko sniffled.
Kurosawa removed her hat, leaned over Chambers, and planted a small kiss on his forehead before replacing her hat. "I'll be seeing you soon, Captain." She smiled, beginning to stand up as Dr. Franklin walked in to do his routine inspections.
The girls lingered, taking a moment of silence for the comatose captain, before turning to walk back upstairs. As they did, the heart rate on the monitor began to increase steadily, the intervals becoming shorter as the beeping quickened. Aiko turned around as the intermittent beeping became even faster, and then the graph began to nose dive as he flatlined.
"No… No, no! NO! Get the paddles, he needs a defibrillator!" Aiko shrieked.
Dr. Franklin wasted no time in retrieving the paddles as he charged them up, ripped open Larry's hospital gown, shouted, "CLEAR!" and firmly planted the defibrillator on the captain's chest. The body jolted a little from the electric shock, but there wasn't much improvement. Franklin rubbed the paddles together again and charged them, preparing for a second go.
"CLEAR!" Franklin shouted, jolting the body once more. "C'mon Larry, don't die on us now…!" Franklin yelled.
Before he could make a third attempt, the heart rate normalized as Larry began to cough violently. Slowly, his eyelids lifted as the irises adjusted to the hospital lighting. Suddenly, he began to scream and frantically wave his arms. "HARD TO PORT, BRACE FOR IMPACT…!"
Everyone stared in shock, as he looked around the room and realized where he was. His breathing returned to normal, as the doctor stowed the defibrillator paddles and checked his vitals. Franklin began a low rumbling in his chest, which turned into a hearty chuckle.
"Welcome back to the land of the living, my friend." Franklin said, as Larry sat up and they shook hands, then pulled each other into a brotherly hug. "You salty seadog…" Franklin said, as tears ran down his face.
Aiko also rushed to his side, saluting proudly. "Captain on deck!"
"At ease, Kurosawa." Larry smiled. "How long was I in Davy Jones' Locker?" He asked curiously.
"Days, weeks even. I've been so worried about you…" Aiko cried, firmly hugging Chambers. "But it's ok, you're here now."
Once he'd had time to stretch and have a hot meal, Captain Chambers was fully dressed and walking up to the bridge, where Aiko, the bridge crew, and the 7th JSF stood at attention.
"Captain on deck!" Aiko hollered once again, as they all saluted him.
Larry smiled proudly. "At east, everyone. It's good to see you've kept our 'Midway Magic' shipshape. Especially you, Aiko – you held everyone together while I was out and for that, I thank you."
"Thank you, sir. Shall we begin the briefing?" Aiko inquired.
"Oh, not me. I've been out of the loop for a good while now. Besides, I'm a firm believer you should finish what you've started." Larry grinned.
Aiko looked disappointed, but then reached for the morning report from the radio operator. "Well then, I didn't disappoint you then and I will not now, sir. Let's move this party to the war room then." She motioned.
As Aiko and the 7th JSF moved into the war room, Larry decided to stay on the bridge and catch up with his friends at the helm.
In the war room, Aiko had all her pins in place on the map as they all huddled around. Everyone was silent, as they saw the red thumbtack sticking out of the city Hanoi.
"I was hoping I wouldn't be giving this briefing, as it belongs to more responsible hands, but… Here is your target for today. Ladies, you're going to Hanoi." Aiko said definitively.
"What is the scale of this mission?" Holly inquired.
"Full scale. Thanks to your efforts at Dragon's Jaw, the ground forces have been rushing through with the supply lines hot on their tail. The Teki know they can't hold out much longer, so they've retreated all their troops into defensive ground positions around Hanoi. They've got everything from tanks to self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, and possibly surface to surface missile platforms as well. Sixty kilometers to the northeast is Kep Air Base – the last aviation facility in Teki possession, and consequently where the last of their fighters are hiding. However, these are not your mission target – recent recon intelligence combined with infrared satellite scans suggest there may be survivors in the form of American POW's."
The room went silent.
"Prisoners Of War? Since when did the Teki take prisoners?" Candice's eyes widened in surprise.
"It's not very common, but if an airman is shot down over an enemy occupied area, they may be brought to Hanoi for torture and interrogation. We think this is how they discovered our bombing routes and moved their supply lines accordingly." Aiko said flatly.
Theresa suddenly lit up. "Do you think… Waltrud Draeger is down there?"
"There's no way to know for sure. What we do know is that there are three facilities where they are holding prisoners – the Hanoi Opera Hall, Hoa Lo Prison, and the US Embassy in downtown Hanoi. But the only way we could get them out of there is via a full-scale invasion of Hanoi. To minimize casualties this will be a two-phase mission: Phase 1 consists of the elimination of AA defense and defensive fortifications in and around Hanoi. During Phase 2, airborne infantry will arrive via UH-1 Huey's and CH-47 Chinook and drop into Hanoi, where they will advance under cover of the armored forces and storm Hanoi Opera Hall, Hoa Lo Prison, and the US Embassy. Getting them out… is another issue. We have no idea how many prisoners the Teki have taken exactly, and we may not have enough Huey's to get them out in one go. That said, we're going to bring them to Noi Bai International Airport, where we will have C-141 Starlifters waiting to pick them up. The Starlifters cannot get into Noi Bai until the fighters are destroyed, but you won't get any fighter support of your own until the AA defenses are down, so you'll have to be quick about it. Understood?"
"Yes ma'am!" The girls stood and saluted.
"Now, since you've completed the training missions with your instructor over the mountain ranges, you will be approaching through Thud Ridge. Running the valley is the optimal route going into Hanoi. It'll be filled with portable missiles and watch towers, but the mountains will shield you from more powerful and longer-range weapons in the city perimeter. Having been tried by fire, Dagger squadron's F-105's will be backing you up, and once the AA is silenced, F-4C's of Condor squadron will arrive to secure air superiority. Also be advised, one of our diplomats has arranged a deal with General Secretary Brezhnev of the Soviet Union – they have agreed to send several of their Ilyushin 76 cargo planes and T-72 main battle tanks from a base within southeast Russia, escorted by MiG-23 fighter jets south toward Vietnam. They will help us create a two-pronged offensive, but we must be cautious of ulterior motives. Above all else, do not let any harm come to the Soviet forces, or we might find ourselves in another war. Best of luck to you all." Aiko nodded, dismissing them.
Later, in the hangar…
"'Thud Ridge?' But that was weeks ago! And even then, we still didn't do that well…" Glenda sighed.
"It matters not now." Danielle muttered, checking the action on her gun. "We need to put on a good show for the newsreels back home."
"Good show?" Glenda raised her voice. "This isn't some game, Danielle."
"No, I mean it. Look around you." Danielle gestured, as she wiped down her weapon. "Our people - and the commanders for that matter - are getting real sick of this war. If we can't find a resolution soon, they may resort to something more… drastic."
"Heh. How would you know that? They wouldn't go dropping nukes… right Major?" Glenda asked, suddenly unsure of herself.
Holly deliberated, before answering. "It's not much different from WW2 if you think about it. In its origins, the use of nuclear weapons is a quick-gain solution with long term side effects."
"Bullshit!" Glenda kicked up some dust with her foot. "You mean to say that if we fail, all our work will be for nothing?"
"No, because we won't fail." Holly walked up to Glenda, getting in her face. "We can't allow any WMD's (Weapons of Mass Destruction) on this soil or who knows what will happen. They don't even know that it'll solve the problem - it may escalate a new problems. Those guys up there with LeMay, well… they're no better than the Teki sometimes. But that's why we're here, to be the deterring solution."
"Alright, let's cool it off a bit. Yeah?" Jane laughed nervously.
"One thing I'll tell you all – there better not be any bombs dropping near Hanoi Opera or the Embassy. If Draeger is alive, I'm going to find her." Theresa frowned.
"You can count on us, but the mission comes first." Denise raised an eyebrow.
"Denise is right, and the sooner you get into gear, the sooner we can find the POW's." Holly ordered, picking up her M60.
As the girls ascended to the flight deck and were catapulted into the sky, they noticed a considerable amount of UH-1 Huey's and AH-1G Cobra's on the deck, as the fleet steamed north to Haiphong – spitting distance from the capital Hanoi.
"Nerger, I'm going to need a preemptive strike when we approach Thud Ridge, got me?" Holly asked.
"You can count on me, chief." Jane smiled, readying her AGM-28 Hound Dog missiles. As she did, the other girls noticed a familiar rock and roll song beginning to play on the comm channel, and it was coming from Jane's tape deck. "Some folks are born, made to wave the flag, Ooh they're red white and blue. And when the band plays 'Hail to the Chief,' Ooh they point the cannon at you, Lord. It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no senator's son, no. It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate one." Jane sang.
For once, nobody objected to Jane's choice of music. The B-52 witch holstered her .50 cal guns and brought up a targeting interface to launch her cruise missiles. The faithful Hound Dog's roared to life as they dropped off her wing pylons and cantered through the sky. She had pre-programmed the coordinates into the astro-intertial guidance system, and retracted her targeting interface, pulling out her M45 Quadmount again. It was a strange defensive weapon for a bomber witch, being derived from a WW2 M3 GMC halftrack that had a quadruple .50 cal mount bolted to the truck bed. For the B-52D however, it was selected as the sole defensive – or offensive in this case – weapon that the plane could carry. Carrying two paired .50 cals in each hand, she looked like a predatorial creature with notorious claws. A steady beeping in her headset notified her that the Hound Dog's would be striking soon, and the intervals between beeps grew shorter as the missiles closed in. In the distance, the foremost Teki radar station atop Thud Ridge was engulfed in flames as an AGM-28 struck the building. The second was hit by the other cruise missile, blinding the enemy air defenses.
As the witches approached the valley, it was still littered with anti-aircraft guns on the ground which now had to rely on manual targeting in the absence of radar assistance. The morning sky was illuminated with tracer rounds that raced up to meet the witches, accompanied by semi-active portable missiles.
"Shields up! Let's rock n' roll!" Holly cried, as they all pooled their shield energy to create a massive iridescent magical barrier around the group and surged through the valley.
The girls returned fire against the Teki defenses, as the bullet casings rained from their formation. Hostile energy rounds bounced harmlessly off their combined shield power, as the witches traveled down the ravine. Every few meters there was an F-105D or F-4G carcass buried halfway into the grassy ravine, evidence of the carnage before them. They rounded the bend in the canyon and closed in on an old railway bridge that marked the end of the pass. An armored train was parked on the bridge, firing AA guns through the steel support girders as they approached. Danielle readied her Blue Steel missile, preset the range and launched it, detonating in between the supports and decommissioning the train. They increased speed, flying just inches between the crumbling concrete and alien steel debris until they were welcomed by the beautiful cityscape of Hanoi.
Or at least, it would be beautiful if not for the Teki. The once beautiful skyline was replaced by a miserable view of mutilated concrete, smoldering cars, and scorched skeletons huddled together in mass burial heaps. The girls hovered there in the air, surveying the scene in disbelief.
"Damn. I haven't seen anything this horrific since we saw the newsreels of postwar Berlin in school…" Danielle muttered.
"No shit." Glenda sighed. "And I thought humans were destructive…"
Denise continued looking around and noticed a massive solar panel farm connected to neon red power cables that ran down the main road. Her eyes followed the armored housings, until her eyes settled on a massive skyscraping monolith flanked by five smaller towers. The tallest building looked like the giant Paul Bunyan buried his mighty axe in the earth and left it there, and at the very top was an octagonal crystal that glowed eerily like a blood moon.
"Uh… girls?" Denise shuddered, pointing towards the monolithic fortress.
"Well, that must be how our recon planes got shot down." Holly frowned. "They said nothing could catch our best pilots, but if I'm not mistaken that is a laser-armed capital defense tower."
"…we can't outrun the speed of light." Glenda growled.
"Then we'll have to get creative." Holly grinned. "Listen up everyone," She said, as the girls all turned to face her. "This is our moment to shine and prove ourselves to the world. Having no intelligence on this weapon, we'll have to learn how it operates if we want any chance of defeating it. Approach from multiple directions and use the city buildings to terrain mask. Hailey, I need you to contact the airborne troops and tell them not to land until we have cleared the main aerial defense."
"Yes ma'am." Hailey saluted, retreating to a safe distance and activating her radio set.
"Candice and Glenda, you're going to collect information on the weapon. Examine the power sources, document firing patterns if it opens fire, and provide observation for fire support." Holly commanded.
"On it!" Glenda and Candice gave a thumbs up and thundered down the main street.
"Addison and Theresa, you'll be on suppressive fire duty. If we make a run on the firing position, you need to distract them until we're in range."
"Copy that!" Addison and Theresa saluted.
"I'm not sure how the armored groups will hold up, but in the meantime, I need Shannon and Denise to meet the incoming column and assist their advance into the city."
"We won't let you down!" Denise and Shannon shouted, roaring towards the interstate.
"Finally, Meryl, Danielle and Jane you're coming with me for the heavy strike team. If we find an opening, I want you to fill it with as many bombs as you can."
"You can count on us, ma'am." Meryl and Danielle said proudly.
Holly stopped and leaned over a bit, looking over at Jane who was busy fumbling with her cassette tapes.
"I gotta get some good tunes to set the mood…!" Jane pleaded.
"Well… hurry up." Holly encouraged, as she did one last check on her M60 machine gun.
Meanwhile, the 1st Armored Division was leading a column of M48/60 Patton tanks up the Ho Chi Minh Trail to Hanoi, accompanied by M163 Vulcan Air Defense Systems (VADS), M113 armored personnel carriers, and a couple of Willy jeeps pulling supply wagons.
Lt. Col. Rhodes signaled for the convoy to stop as Shannon and Denise landed near them.
"Fancy seeing you here again." Elizabeth smiled, as her A39 Tortoise units idled warmly.
"The feeling is mutual." Denise returned the greeting. "Our group is surveying Hanoi as we speak and… well it doesn't look good."
"Does it ever?" Erica chuckled, equipping her outer set of tracks for the T95 Gun Motor Carriage unit.
"Well, so far here's what we know – there's a giant laser defense tower in the city center, and we won't be able to get the choppers in here until it's taken down." Shannon concluded.
"Where do we come in?" Riley grinned, activating the stabilizer spade on her M12 GMC unit.
Denise slipped her a clever smile. "If you see anything that looks like a weakspot, you give them hell. Make them pay for Hanoi… and all the lives it's cost us to get here."
"Understood." Erica beamed bravely. "It's payback time."
"Easy, War Machine." Elizabeth put an arm around Erica. "We've all lost a lot, but you've got to keep your head on straight this time. I want you all to go home in one piece."
"Right. Thanks." Erica smiled back, loading her main cannon.
Back in Hanoi, the other Bomber Witches were flying covert, staying just under the protection of houses and shops as they glided down the streets. Candice and Glenda were examining the inner perimeter roads around Hanoi, keeping a watchful eye on the tower. Upon closer inspection, it was situated in the middle of Ho Tay lake at the epicenter of the city, with massive power cables linked to the artificial solar panel constructions.
"Blue Diamond to Memphis Belle II, what if we place timed explosives on the power cables? If we were to cut the power, we might reduce their ability to launch an attack." Candice radioed thoughtfully.
"Not a bad idea – use remote explosives though. And be careful, we have no idea what this thing can do." Holly warned.
As if on cue, Glenda began placing a detonator on the cable housing when the tower began to light up. She looked up as electricity danced in arcs up the monolith with intensely bright purple hues, collecting at what seemed to be a focal lens atop the building.
"GLENDA! MOVE!" Candice screamed, as a beam of light shot from the monolithic weapon and raced towards the witch.
Glenda dropped the charge and raced out of the way, as a beam of light incinerated the pavement. She glanced around, scowling as she checked her equipment. The beam narrowed as it faded out, and a considerable exhaust cloud vented from the main building as it shunted a stressed energy core onto one of the six cooling towers in exchange for a new one.
"Don't try your luck twice, Glenda." Holly started but was disregarded as Glenda charged into the air.
"This is probably the best chance I'll get, it's reloading…!" Glenda closed distance with the weapon, as it installed the new core and began to charge up again. At this proximity, the focal lens had difficulty tracking her, as the eye-like mechanism attempted to find her. It rotated a full 180 degrees, and Candice took note of the armored housings all around the turret.
"Glenda! Get back here so we can form a plan of attack!" Candice shrieked.
The lens was not catching up to Glenda at such close range, but then it suddenly stopped and reversed direction, opening with deadly laser fire. Not anticipating the attack, Glenda didn't activate her shield fast enough, as the blinding light fired right across her shoulder and nearly decapitated her.
"Gah! Fucking hell!" Glenda screamed, clutching her shoulder and retreating to Candice's position.
"Glenda?! Tell me where it hurts, I've got an IFAK (Individual First Aid Kit) with me!" Candice asked worriedly, running up to Glenda as she touched down and keeled over.
Glenda coughed violently from the pain. "Help! Medic! MEDIC!" She flailed helplessly, trying to tear the burnt clothing to reveal a horrific third-degree burn. The skin of her shoulder was bright red, and she began to cry desperately.
"Blue Diamond to Memphis Belle II. Glenda is hurt, her shoulder was almost incinerated by that thing. She needs medical attention." Candice radioed worriedly.
"I copy Blue Diamond, I will radio for a medevac chopper, but they can't land until that death beam is decommissioned. Tell me if you saw anything resembling a weak point." Holly answered.
"I didn't see much, but it seems like those cooling towers serve the main turret in offloading waste cores before replacing new ones into the chamber. It's like a ginormous bolt action rifle." Candice noted.
"Maybe we could shoot the cores before they're loaded into the chamber. Then they'll be unable to fire at full capacity." Theresa suggested.
"…don't you think that's equally dangerous?" Addison objected. "Those things could be nuclear bombs for all we know."
"Yellow Rose is right." Holly said. "We also can't wait for them to run out of cores, by that time our assault force will be right on top of us and they'll be a prime target for this thing. Stick to blowing up the power sources for now – then we'll try to go for the cooling towers. If the weapon loses power or builds up too much stress, the next time it fires it may damage itself." Holly concluded.
"The thing I'm wondering is, where are all their fighters?" Jane interjected.
"Come now Jane, the Teki are nobody's fool. They won't send fighters in while that weapon is active. That said, once it stops firing they're going to scramble every plane they have." Holly muttered dreadfully.
"Then we'll just have to shoot twice as fast!" Jane said gleefully.
Holly stared blankly, not understanding the logic in her words. "…ok, if you say so."
She was then distracted by a radio call from Hailey.
"Major Jones, the airborne cavalry is just on the horizon. They've already contacted me, Major Schwarzkopf of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team and Major Colin Powell of 23rd Infantry Division are inbound. What should I tell them?"
"Negative, they cannot land at this time! The LZ is still hot!" Holly flared up. "Tell them to terrain mask and stay in solid cover until we take down the aerial defense weapon."
"Ok, please hurry. I'm getting a radio message from the Starlifters, they're 100 klicks (km) out from Kep Air Base with F-4 escorts, but I don't think that'll be enough to protect them."
Holly was distressed, as all this information came flooding in simultaneously. She looked at the menacing weapon, as it loomed over Hanoi with no regard for human life. "We've gotta do something… but what?"
"Major, they can only target one direction at a time," Danielle pointed out. "If we can bait them into shooting and then attack all at once, we just might have our window."
"Even then, we'd need an army of angels for a proper saturation attack…" Holly muttered.