"William W Johnstone - Ashes 22 - Chaos in the Ashes (txt)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Johnstone William W)

Everybody knew who Ben Raines was. And he and his team were the only
Rebels that wore the old French-style lizard BDUs.

There was little banter between Ben and the men and women who made up
the Rebel Army-not this time. This time the Rebels had their backs
against a wall and they all knew it There was no doubt in anyone's mind
that the Rebels would be anything except victorious in the upcoming
fight-no one had ever defeated the Rebels -but, to a person, they knew
this fight was going to be the worst they had ever fought-in more ways
than one.

This was going to be a full-blown civil war.

But it was still not clear in Ben's mind why Simon Border did what he
did. There were other ways he could have carved out his own little
empire. Ben would not have made any effort to stop him, and Blanton's
armed forces had been so under-strength he would have been unable to
prevent it.

As Ben walked die long lines of Rebels and equipment, acknowledging a
salute here, a wave there, and a nod here, he concluded that Simon must
want to be king of America.

A roar of incoming planes brought Ben's attention back to the present.
The recon planes were returning from another photo op. The pictures
would be ready for viewing in minutes.

Ben turned to Corrie, a step behind him. "Have the battalions move to
their staging area. All batt corns at my HQ."

Ben would be taking his 1 Batt and two other battalions and moving
direcdy west, to reclaim the territory originally known as Base Camp
One, then he would cut north and start the move up to the Missouri border.

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The other battalions, in groups of three, would head straight north,
staying east of the Mississippi River, eventually clearing out the
squatters all the way up to the old SUSA's northern boundaries, from the
Mississippi River running west to east.

Everything that was necessary had been packed up and moved out, ready
for the road. In a bare office, Ben faced his commanders. "We've
bombarded the squatters with leaflets for three days now. They certainly
know we're coming. Scouts report that they finally got it through the
squatters' heads that we mean it, and have begun moving many of the
non-combatant women and kids out." Ben sighed audibly. "But many have