General Powell thought of
the new casualty list just in from Cuba, 1732 dead, 3567 wounded. That was in
addition to the 782 dead and 1377 wounded suffered in the Soviet Far East and
the staggering 34,569 dead, 55,213 wounded lost in Europe. The navy reported a
further 5,890 dead and 10,063 wounded at sea and forty-two ships lost overall.
Powell tried not to dwell on the casualties. President Johnson obsessed over casualties
during the last war. Still Powell looked at the new numbers everyday. It
reminded hm that he was not pushing markers across a map, but thousands upon
thousands of men. Powell looked across the table at his boss and thought, I
wonder if he does the same?
Secretary of Defense Paul
Wolfowitz said, ‘Shall we begin, General Powell?’
‘Yes, sir. First in the
Soviet Far East there is little enemy activity on land. We hold Petropavlovsk.
The USN and JSDF maintain a cordon of the Sea of Okhosk.
‘They and we should be
planning for a move on Vladivostok.’
‘We are doing so, Mr.
Secretary. The Japanese are reluctant to enter the war in such a way.’
Wolfowitz shook his head.
‘To the South Australian
forces are ashore in Vietnam and have won a battle against Vietnamese forces.’
‘Are they going to
advance on Hanoi?’
‘They don’t have the
manpower, Mr. Secretary. Also, the New Zealanders had great trouble around Cam
Ranh Bay. The Vietnamese counterattacked, but the New Zealanders held them off.
They’re standing pat for now.’
‘So, There will be no
more trouble from Vietnam.’
‘I would not imagine so,
Mr. Secretary. In Africa, South African forces have soundly defeated Cuban and
Angolan forces. They now occupy Cuito Cuanavale.’
‘That
is good news.’
‘In
Cuba every major city is under allied control. The Brazilians have Havana, we
have Santiago. The Jamaican regiment occupies Camaguey, and a Mexican task
force just entered Pinar Del Rio.’
Wolfowitz
was not pleased, Powell knew, about the Brazilians beating US forces into
Havana, but there was nothing to be done.
‘Still
no sign of Castro?’
‘None,
Mr. Secretary. Of more concern right now is this bourgeoning insurgency. Two
more attacks last night.’
Wolfowitz
moved on. ‘What about Nicaragua?’
‘The
UNO and Honduran military have expelled all Nicaraguan forces from Honduran
territory. The UNO want to organize a drive to Managua.’
Wolfowitz
nodded. ‘Good. I want plans in place to assist them. Special Forces, air
support.’
Powell
nodded. ‘We can certainly do that, Mr. Secretary. Now as to Europe.’
‘Yes,’
Wolfowitz said impatiently. Powell could tell that this was the secretaries’
main focus.
‘The
Warsaw Pact is destroyed. We occupy Czechoslovakia. Warsaw has switched sides.
Romania is in a state of anarchy. The East German government has collapsed.’
‘Now
is the time to deliver the final blow to the Soviet Union, then,’ said
Wolfowitz...
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