Firebreak by Richard Herman

Author:Richard Herman [Herman, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Suspense, cookie429, Kat, Extratorrents
ISBN: 9780688106683
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 1991-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

16

The corridor outside the National Military Command Center (NMCC) in the Pentagon was jammed with lieutenant colonels and full colonels wanting to get inside to witness firsthand the reports from the Middle East reaching the command levels of the Pentagon. Most were there because they were professional warriors with an intense interest in combat. But the rumor that the President was inside had spurred quite a few to think of a reason why they should be on the main floor. It was a golden opportunity to shine.

The NMCC was the closest thing in the Pentagon to the popular conception of a “war room,” the inner sanctum from which a war was supposedly conducted. Bill Carroll shrugged his shoulders when he realized he would never work his way through the crush of bodies in the hall and was about to leave when he ran into General Cox, his old boss from the DIA.

“Come on, Bill,” the general said, “let’s try the Watch Center. Not so much dust being kicked up by the high rollers.” They descended into the basement and found room at the rear of the main floor of the Watch Center where they had a clear view of the computer-generated situation boards. Both men felt much more at home in the Watch Center because it was essentially a fusion point that processed and evaluated incoming intelligence for forwarding to the National Military Command Center. Without the Watch Center, the higher levels of command would be inundated with irrelevant information.

Cox and Carroll were in time to hear the latest situation update briefing on the outbreak of fighting in the Middle East. “This is going to be bigger than the Yom Kippur War of ‘73,” Carroll predicted as the latest intelligence reports were covered and their significance analyzed.

“I don’t think so,” Cox replied. “So far it only looks like an attack by the Syrians, and the Arabs can’t take on Israel without Egypt.” He pointed out how the surprise attacks by the Syrian Air Force on selected Israeli targets had not knocked out the Israelis’ Air Force or command and control structure. The center board flashed and a new map appeared that showed the latest disposition of the three Syrian armored tank corps that had been positioned on the northern flank of Israel. All three had stopped their withdrawal back into Syria and were now moving southward, directly at the Israeli border. The Israeli Air Force had struck at the three columns but had taken heavy losses.

“I don’t like it,” Carroll said. “The Syrians have got their sierra stacked in neat piles to pull that one off.”

“What are you saying?” Cox asked.

“Look what they’ve done. Stopping a withdrawal of that size and immediately reversing is a complicated maneuver for armor. They didn’t do it with one army corps but three, and it had to be coordinated with the Egyptian exercise in the Sinai. This was well planned and rehearsed. And we haven’t heard from the Iraqis yet.”

“But the Egyptians are not fighting and the IDF can concentrate on the Syrians,” Cox argued.

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