1920: America's Great War (2013) by Robert Conroy

Author:Robert Conroy [Conroy, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Alternative History, War & Military, Time Travel, Fiction
ISBN: 9781451639315
Publisher: Baen
Published: 2013-12-03T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 12

“Be seated,” said President Lansing, and the other attendees in the Oval Office sat. “May I assume, gentlemen, that the news is a mixed bag?”

“It usually is,” said General March. “However, that is much better than all the news being dolefully bad.”

“Then begin with the bad. What in God’s name happened in the mountains? Have our efforts been undone by one man?”

March sighed, “Pretty much. One German officer, a Captain Wulfram, managed to drop the bridge over the Columbia River into said river. It will take at least two months of concerted effort to repair it once the weather eases. Sadly, we had pretty much cleared the snow out of the passes and were going to commence sending trains through again. Hundreds of men on both sides of the mountains had been shoveling night and day.”

“The man must have been exceptionally brave, or foolish,” the president said. “What is his status?”

“He is very seriously wounded,” March continued. “He is on his way to a hospital in Chicago. Frostbite has claimed both of his feet and he may lose a leg to wounds and infection. And this poses a question, sir. Since he was not in uniform, shall we hang him?”

Lansing paused. He had not been prepared for the question. Nor was he quite prepared to hang someone, in particular someone who was so bravely and obstinately doing his duty. “No, at least not yet. We will hold him as a possible future bargaining chip. Although,” he smiled, “if we should decide to hang him we will do so from a railroad trestle.”

The others laughed grimly. Nothing like a little macabre humor to brighten the day, Lansing thought.

General March interrupted. “The weapons and ammo are beginning to come off the assembly lines in quantity from Detroit and elsewhere. The original plan was to ship them by rail through the northern pass to Washington State and then down to California. With this out of the question for the foreseeable future, can we plan on using Canadian rail lines as a substitute?”

An interesting question, thought Lansing. He turned to his Secretary of State, “Any thoughts, Mr. Hughes?”

“We have spoken with both the governor general and the prime minister of Canada and they are reluctant to have large quantities of supplies shipped directly through Canada. They are afraid of retaliation from the German fleet if they are found out. However, they will allow humanitarian aid, such as food, and will assist us in evacuating civilians and wounded.”

“Better than nothing,” Lansing muttered.

Hughes continued. “I have directed our railroads to try to rent line space from the Canadians in the form of a detour north from the broken line, into Canada, and then south. If it is done as a private venture, without the direct collaboration of the Canadian government, we might get away with it until the bridge is rebuilt.”

“Will that happen?” Lansing asked.

“Not until the Canucks and the Brits are certain we can win and they’re on the right side, and right now they can’t be confident of that.

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