Vaughn turned and strode back toward the island, the thump of each footstep muffled by die red carpet on the deck. What had the President been thinking when he dreamed this one up? The world might be a different place, the Russians might no longer be the threat they once had been . . . but so far as Vaughn was concerned, they still presented a greater threat to America and her interests man any ten Indias. Hell, Moscow had provided the Indians with their MiGs and Kresta Ils, their Bear reconnaissance aircraft and Foxtrot submarines in the first place.
They were the enemy.
CHAPTER 14
0709 hours, 26 March
Strike Ops, U.S.S. Thomas Jefferson
Tombstone sat in the folding metal chair with arms crossed, listening as Commander Neil gave the latest rundown on Indian forces along the coast. Using a large-scale map of the area, with crisp colored symbols marked onto a transparent overlay, he’d already covered the Indian naval squadron now gathering some three hundred miles to the southeast. Now he was using a slide projector to present TENCAP photos showing SAM sites and mobile antiaircraft batteries along the beaches and inland between Karachi and the Gulf of Cambay. The lighting was set midway between fully light and completely dark, so that the speaker could refer back and forth between the maps and the slides projected on the screen.
The personnel in attendance included all of CVW-20’s squadron skippers and XOs, though the briefing was obviously tailored primarily for the Hornet and Intruder COs. While all of Jefferson’s aircraft would have parts to play in the upcoming operation, it would be the strike aircraft, two squadrons of A-6 Intruders and two squadrons of F/A-18 Hornets, that would deliver the bombs and missiles to targets on the ground in Pakistan and India. Tombstone was sitting in even though he would not be flying. As a squadron liaison officer in CIC, he would need to know the overall tactical plan, call signs, and code designations to be used during the operation. He felt out of place, though, knowing that these men would be flying their missions while he remained safe on board the carrier.
It was strange having the Russian admiral and his three
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officers in the Strike Ops briefing room with them. Past sessions in the compartment had discussed hypothetical strikes on Russian targets, both at shore and at sea. Tombstone could remember one practice run directed at a hypothetical target: the newest Soviet aircraft carrier, Kreml, and her escort.
Looking at the faces of the other Americans in the room, Tombstone knew they were thinking the same thing. It would have been amusing if it had not been so serious.
That seriousness was underscored by the fact that the Russians were being permitted to see TENCAP intelligence material. He was sure that the OZ people had screened it all before the briefing, but he knew that Intelligence was always leery of letting the Soviets see just how good American spysat capabilities were.
“So, here’s the situation as of 0430 this morning,” Neil said, concluding his report with a summary. “Indian penetrations have reached as far as the Nara River throughout the soudiern Thar. Bridging and amphib tank operations last night at Mirpur Khas, here, and Khewari, up here, appear to have been completely successful in establishing bridgeheads across the river and canal barriers along the edge of the desert. Indian armor will most likely move against Hyderabad within the next six to twelve hours, though whether the Indians plan to capture or bypass the city is still anyone’s guess.” He glanced sharply at Admiral Vaughn, then snapped his pointer shut.
‘ ‘Pakistani forces in the region are digging in and preparing to defend the city, but satellite reconnaissance shows that they are badly outmatched. Pakistan has lost at least eighty percent of its air. They had one armor division here at Naya Chor, but that was overrun and largely destroyed in the fighting yesterday. With the other Pakistan forces tied down fighting Indian advances in the north and the threat to their capital, there isn’t much standing between the Indians and Hyderabad.
“Beyond that, well . . . Karachi is the next logical target, and that port is absolutely vital to Pakistan’s whole effort. If Pakistan loses Karachi, they will probably lose the war. Certainly they’ll have lost most of their capability for bringing in supplies and arms from outside. It’s a fair bet mat the Indian task force now putting to sea is headed for Karachi. They will blockade the port, and there is a good chance that they will launch an amphibious assault on Karachi itself.