Chapter 43

When I woke up around noon, I found the air clear of smoke and people going about their jobs and repairing what was damaged. The Cuban workers had come back but stayed far from us. For this to happen I assumed that our forces had started to bring some order to this area of the city. The fire was out and best of all, my two ships were in the harbour.

I called Calgary to get an update and found my wives very pissed off at me. They must have been looking through the satellite feed, because they talked about how I looked. I just looked into the sky and blew them a kiss. They went on about the stupid things I had done. After five minutes of being angry, they said they loved me and let me get on with the operation.

The six-ship Russian fleet had separated for their own objectives. Three were rushing to the northern shore. They must have heard about the fighting and planned to put an end to it.

One of the three Communist ships had arrived off Ceinfuegos; this was one of Cuba's southern ports. Another was off the sleepy town of Batabano and the last one made me think very hard about history. The last of the three had put into Buena Ventura on Bay of Pigs. The latter two craft, I saw from recorded data, had sent out a patrol each, to secure the small towns; then the ship would beach itself on the white sand and disgorge its load of war material and men. The disguise they used hid this purpose very well.

The Russian ships looked to displace about 5,000 tons. They were fairly large but not what would be common in later years. The satellite gave an estimate of 500 feet and a beam of 60. This would mean that they could carry a total of two thousand men, including crew. The cargo could be anything but I figured it would mainly be trucks and a few tanks, for they did not expect much opposition.

All this data would be stored and there was no way the Soviets would be able to deny that this was anything but an invasion. I asked and found that there was no group of Cuban revolutionaries waiting to greet or assist the Soviets.

The port of Ceinfuegos was not an overt invasion but the ship was soon being unloaded into a large warehouse. I assumed the same thing would happen there as had here in Havana. The two isolated towns would not be able to send out word, so they thought the secret would be effectively kept.

The United States was concerned about the fighting but thought all the fuss was about the revolutionaries fighting some of Batista's troops. There was no word yet that Batista was even dead.

The majority of Americans in Cuba had left. The debate in the United States now was, whether to send a force here to protect the small numbers remaining and their property.

I knew that one of the American-controlled satellites was overhead, because we could intercept everything they saw but this information had not been given to them.

There had been thirty-three men in Havana alone when the hostilities started. Seven were now dead and fourteen were in serious shape. The remainder were able to move but only a dozen were unscathed. I happened to be one of those and considering my present state, I thought of the book 'The Dirty Dozen' and considered writing the story with that name but make it autobiographical. The balance of our troops previously on the island were still with the groups they had been assigned to monitor.

I went around to see the men and they did more to cheer me up than I did for them. It took an hour and a half but I made it back to the compound. This time it was very different. The place was severely shot up. There had been six remotely controlled chain guns on the perimeter and two more on the roof. Most had been hit and some were completely gone. I was very surprised to see men in orange uniforms carrying their old weapons and patrolling, along with our own men.

When I got out of the car they stood at attention and saluted me. I looked at two of them and they seemed to smile a bit but that takes a lot for a German. I returned the salute and said, "I see that you must have joined a mercenary outfit."

One said in a loud voice, "Yes, we have, Sir!"

"I'll order some new uniforms, then."

"General Weever has already had us measured and has them on order, Sir."

"Good, you guys would make poor night fighters in those uniforms."

I had to quickly talk to Calgary and found the Generals Ford and Weever had decided to give the East Germans a chance. The generals had heard enough of the monitored conversations they had to come to a good opinion of them. The Cuban army would probably have overrun the base even with the remotely controlled weapons. Then it would have been debatable what would have happened to the Germans. With the way the Cuban army acted, I was glad the East Germans did help, for they would probably have been dead otherwise. This was working up to a three-way fight with each group taking on the other two.

Speaking of the Cuban army, I had to get a handle on them now before they did more damage. The three Communist ships sailing to the northern shore would probably put in at Havana. We had to begin ferrying enough supplies to take on the troops at the other three landings and fight a battle here as well.

Our cargo ship was being unloaded and the first to come ashore after the helicopters were the Challenger tanks. Our tank was not 70 tons like the future American main battle tank but only 63. The engines were not as powerful as I wanted them, either. I had the weapons underpowered, because I could only push technology so far with people learning as they went. I had really stretched the capacity of the thousand horsepower aviation diesel but if I could get a reliable supply of good fuel it could go to 1,200 horsepower. The copters had the fuel-hungry turbines.

All of them were very thirsty and I knew that a diesel engine for the tank was a much better option. It had a maximum road speed of 35 mi/h and a range of 150 miles cross country and 280 miles on the road. The lighter weight, though, made the tank fast; not as fast as the old Abrams but we did not have the years to tinker with it to make it even better. I was very surprised at what we had done in just five years.

Our second ship, the old destroyer was heavily modified with missile batteries, an elevator for a plane and a short deck to launch a fully loaded Harrier. The end was raised at 12 degrees and small rockets were used in place of the steam catapult. The ship could not carry many aircraft but it could manage six Harrier, two Apaches and two of the large Huey IIs. At the stern, there was even a small ship supported by cables to get into shallow waters.

I used the local telephone to call Señor Herrero, the Minister of the Interior. He was still alive. This made him lucky, or a very cautious person because he was a close associate of Batista.

"Hello Señor Herrero. This is Alex Kramer. Do you have a moment to talk with me?"

The man was silent for a moment, thinking hard, no doubt. "Yes I do, Mr Kramer. What is it that you would like?"

"Will you tell me if your President is still alive? I can't see the Russians coming to Cuba without being invited."

He thought just a few seconds and said, "He has died, Mr Kramer. It seems the people seeking to find a new president have disappeared as well. Do you happen to know where they may be?"

"I certainly do. They are in custody for breaking Cuban laws. I was going to execute them but I was going to let you do it, if you want."

"That is very good, Mr Kramer. Please keep them safe till things get sorted out here."

"I will be happy to do that. I have something that I would like you to do, if you would."

"What is that, Mr Kramer?"

"Batista had a goodly amount of cash and assets that may now be mine. His death brought a part of the contract into force that may absolve Cuba of some of the large cost of the work I am doing. I want the courts to seize all the bank accounts and prevent the movement of all of the former president's property."

"The President was married with children, Mr Kramer."

"I will see they are well cared for. You must have read many things about me and know that I keep my word."

"Yes you do, Mr Kramer. I will get the courts to act immediately."

"Tell me about the present state of the government. My contract stipulates that I control the Army if and when, the government is in such a state as it is now. They are not that good as a fighting force but they will stand up to the Russians well enough when they arrive here in six hours."

"What?" He yelled on the phone.

"The Russians tried to take the country from the Cuban people. I stopped them for now but there was a six-ship flotilla coming. Three may be induced to leave. I have a lot of equipment on hand that could be of use, if the army knows enough about them to make use of it."

"What is that?"

"The warehouses and ships are full of tanks, trucks, cars, guns and other weapons. The two ships still have supplies we may need. They also have a great many bodies and wounded personnel. They can still put up a fight, if they are not approached right."

"Are you going to do that, Mr Kramer?"

"Yes I am. I need a list of major officers and a way of reaching them soon. Please avoid General Serrano, for he is one of the group dedicated to Batista's overthrow but was specifically ordered to not show his colours."

"Oh." After a pause I he said, "I will work on this right away. I will send runners to the remainder of the forces who were attacking you recently."

"Please tell them that I am not too upset with them for their attempt. If they remain loyal to Cuba, then they will not be punished."

The minister said, "Cuba? Not you Mr Kramer."

"For Cuba, Señor Herrero. When this is done in a year, I will only be coming back here on simple business or for pleasure. The Cuban people will be led by Cubans but I may have to knock some sense into some of you first."

I paused a second as if adding a remark of no great importance, "Oh, the Russians have landed two contingents of men and tanks at two isolated villages on your southern shore. Currently the ships are offloading: artillery, tanks and a goodly number of troops. Each ship has about 1,500 infantry and the ships crew is about 500, too. That makes a total of 4,000 enemy landing on your shores already. The only thing slowing them down now is the tide." I heard a gasp from the other end of the line. "Another ship thinks the secret of the landings are safe and is unloading military cargo similar to what they unloaded here in Havana. The Port of Ceinfuegos will be the first of their four-prong attack."

"Are you sure of this information, Mr Kramer?"

"I have actual photographs of it, as well as live coverage by television. My people are actively monitoring the three areas."

There was a long pause then, "What are we going to do?"

"I think you have to help me get the army firmly behind me now, or you will have to give up all your riches for a life of egalitarianism. That is, if you are not shot for being part of the old order. Stalin had a way of getting rid of all those people."

The man said in panic, "I will begin right away."

The two ships in the bay were almost derelict. There were no radio masts and when somebody wanted to put some wire up, a sniper told them different. The shell, usually, only came close. The drifting ship was well within range. This was not necessary, for I was sure that the Soviets knew what was happening from people in Havana in their employ.

Two tugs pulled the ship into dock, while the Apaches kept anybody with guns away from the lines. General Weever worked on getting the ships to surrender, while I worked with the Cuban Army.

Six officers came to see me and two happened to be sporting fresh wounds. Instead of haranguing them, I stated the political environment of their small island. They were even led to see Jimenez and Alonso in bed after being operated on. I had actually done most of this work but it would be wasted, I was sure, for a firing squad was waiting for them.

I showed them the papers signed by their former president and the clauses stipulating I was now in charge till a government was formed. They were typical Spanish men and very proud. Instead of threatening right away I showed them the tanks and the three types of helicopters, including the much larger Huey IIs, which were more suitable for carrying troops.

This design was much larger than what had been built before and it even sported two separate rotors for the lift that was needed. Here, again, it had the turbine for the needed power.

I showed them the weapons they had faced last night and told them the number of people who had stood them and the Communists off, when three of my newly-arrived 'men' walked by in full gear. The lone woman with them stopped when asked and saluted. After asking her and the two men to help me explain their gear, she posed in a much more macho style. I explained how we were all in constant communication with our home base. I explained how they worked, mentioning the video, audio and textual information sent to us and sent to our home base for analysis.

The Cubans were stunned even more by the personnel because a sizable portion of our forces was female. Only a few were in combat positions and half of those were helicopter pilots or gunners.

The Cubans seemed to have great difficulty getting over the fact that the majority of their losses were to the new group, the new group that had women at the controls.

When I continued with the explanation and told them we could see in the dark and read any map projected onto our monocle they started to get an idea of what we were capable of. They were not even close, for I did not tie in the satellite coverage or the beacons that would be our substitute for a GPS on the island. We could simply see a target and artillery could home in on it if close enough. A missile or a fighter could do likewise. They did, however, see how much they were overmatched in fighting.

The best was saved for last and the men walked into our temporary headquarters and found a projection machine displaying live coverage of one of the landings. At my verbal request the camera zoomed in and I was able to show the uniforms and the name on the ship. We switched to the other location and similar information was displayed.

The computer now showed a colour map of Cuba with its original six provinces. Roads and even paths were added, then the probable direction of each of the invading armies.

We talked a few minutes about the timetable and I mentioned our assumption that they would offload the ship in Ceinfuegos before making any advances.

"It is possible they will try to make it look like a police action here in Havana when they come to help their people in the two ships. They may want an extra day to start offloading their own tanks and troops."

I promoted the highest-ranking man present and told him to go to one of the warehouses we had taken, for weapons superior to what was usually issued to the Cuban military. This, I guess, was the quickest way to a soldier's heart and they went off to do as I commanded. In a few hours they would have to defend the city from three Soviet ships and the island from three other groups of invaders.

The wounded from the two derelicts were coming ashore and were put up in a temporary field hospital. We used as many of their people as possible to help. Some doctors in Calgary used a medic's hands to work on some of the cases. The hearties aboard the ship were questioned one at a time and segregated after they answered our questions.

The rest were transported to a large, flat area out of town that would have to keep them till the fighting was over.

The wheelhouses of the ships had been one of our first targets and this meant that there were few officers present. This was not bad when they were Communists but the men needed structure from some of their own.

Our vessels were being unloaded as quickly as possible and then dispatched. Cuba had very little in the way of major defences and it should be assumed that with a successful coup the Communists would be in charge of the city. Now would be the time to distribute the nuclear bombs, before the Americans knew what was happening. In a way it was a brilliant manoeuvre that would keep the island from being liberated by the very strong army from the north.

I had to see what I could do about the three approaching ships and I didn't want all our forces here in this city if we had a nuclear incident. The Soviets thought that they had surprise on their side but I hoped that they would not be ready. I was gambling on hitting all the targets at one time. This meant that the three ships to the south had to be allowed to continue unloading, while we waited for the northern three.

This operation hinged on us getting some very important supplies off our own ships so they would be ready when the visitors came. There was no way this could be done but we worked frantically anyway. Not all were tanks and helicopters; there were also munitions and spare parts. One ship mainly had a cargo of the fuel we needed. Finding and securing good fuel in Cuba was not likely, considering our needs for purity.

At the bottom of number three hold was what we needed and this cargo was covered with all sorts of equipment from medical supplies to tents. In desperation I called the Cuban army in and used them as stevedores. Just thirty minutes from when the ships would be at the mouth of the bay, we reached the crates we needed. They were quickly taken out of their boxes and placed in their special-purpose receptacles. The missile was already encased in a disposable launcher that hid it from casual sight. We were limited because of their weight and this meant that only one torpedo could be fitted to each helicopter.

These were the ones invented by the Russians that were actually missiles that could fly through the water at 500 kilometres per hour. This was accomplished by it having a flat nose that formed a highly compressed sphere of air immediately in front of the moving missile. It took a while to gain enough speed to get into this mode of travel but it made up for it later.

These models had a prosthetic on the front that would allow it to be seen but would fall off in seconds after hitting the water. The range was over 12 miles and the explosive charge was a hundred pounds of high explosive. A portion blew up before striking the hull and this shaped charge made a large hole for the rest of the missile to enter and blow up within the vessel itself.

There was not enough time to get everything set. Three small ships of the Cuban Coast Guard went out with some of our men to slow down the ships' approach. There was no way we could actually get them to stay out without an overt threat.

We were greatly surprised when one ship had actually peeled off and their radio messages said it was going to Matanzas for a fifth point of attack.

The third coast guard ship did come along side to ask questions but in reality our sensors were hard at work looking for the unimaginable on each ship.

One of the other ships wanting access to Havana was the one holding Hell in its bowels. We found four distinct areas of radiation that were all fairly centrally located.

The captain of the Swedish-flagged Soviet freighter sounded to me much more like a Russian general than a Swedish sailor. We were able to stall them a half-hour, which was long enough to get the helicopters ready.

With the coastguard vessel out of the way the Prince Olaf headed into port. In an area just a hundred feet deep four helicopters approached, two at the bow and two at the stern. At four miles and well within Cuban territorial waters they released their burdens. The missiles had acquired their target and after igniting underwater quickly sped to where they were aimed. Three minutes and twelve seconds later the ship seemed to leap from the water and then fall back. Another torpedo was aimed at each of the other two ships at approximately the same time and within seconds of the first explosion the other two had explosions in their engine rooms.