tc.redstormrising-第115部分

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's　hurt　and　they　won't　let　her　in　the　hospital。　Cheer　up；　I　watched　mine　sink。〃
It　made　no　sense　to　grumble；　Morris　knew。　The　man　was　right。　If　Pharris　hadn't　sunk　during　the　tow；　she　was　safe　enough　alongside　the　pier　for　a　day　or　two。　The　pilot　was　an　expert。　His　trained　eye　measured　the　wind　and　the　tide；　and　he　gave　the　proper　orders　to　the　tug　captains。　Within　thirty　minutes　the　frigate　was　secured　to　the　cargo　pier。　Three　TV　news　crews　were　waiting　for　them　behind　a　screen　of　sailors　in　shore　patrol　livery。　As　soon　as　the　brow　was　rigged；　an　officer　hurried　aboard　and　came　right　to　the　bridge。
〃Captain；　I'm　Lieutenant　mander　Anders。　I　have　this　for　you；　sir。〃　He　handed　over　an　official…looking　envelope。
Morris　tore　it　open　and　found　a　standard　Navy　dispatch　form。　The　message　ordered　him　in　terse　Navy　prose　to　Norfolk　by　the　quickest　available　transport。
〃I　have　a　car　waiting。　You　can　catch　the　shuttle　to　D。C。；　then　hop　a　short…hauler　to　Norfolk。〃
〃What　about　my　ship？〃
〃That's　my　job；　Captain。　I'll　take　good　care　of　her　for　you。〃
Just　like　that；　Morris　thought。　He　nodded　and　went　below　to　pack　his　gear。　Ten　minutes　later　he　walked　without　speaking　past　the　TV　cameras　and　was　taken　to　Logan　International　Airport。

STORNOWAY；　SCOTLAND
Toland　went　over　the　satellite　photographs　of　Iceland's　four　airfields。　Strangely；　the　Russians　were　not　making　any　use　of　the　old　Keflavik　field；　preferring　instead　to　base　their　fighters　at　Reykjavik　and　the　new　NATO　base。　Occasionally；　a　Backfire　or　two　were　landing　at　Keflavik；　bombers　with　mechanical　problems　or　running　short　of　fuel；　but　that　was　it。　The　northerly　fighter　sweeps　had　had　their　effect；　too…the　Russians　were　doing　their　tanking　farther　north　and　east　now；　which　had　produced　a　marginal　but　nevertheless　negative　effect　on　the　Backfires'　range。　The　experts　estimated　that　it　cut　twenty　minutes　off　the　time　they　had　to　search　for　convoys。　Despite　the　searching　done　by　the　Bears　and　satellite　reconnaissance；　only　two…thirds　of　the　raids　actually　launched　attacks。　Toland　didn't　know　why。　Was　there　a　problem　with　Soviet　munications？　If　so；　could　they　find　a　way　to　exploit　it？
The　Backfires　were　still　hurting　the　convoys；　and　badly。　After　considering　Navy　prodding；　the　Air　Force　was　starting　to　base　fighters　in　Newfoundland；　Bermuda；　and　the　Azores。　Supported　by　tankers　borrowed　from　the　Strategic　Air　mand；　they　were　trying　to　maintain　a　bat　air　patrol　over　those　convoys　they　could　reach。　There　was　no　hope　of　actually　breaking　up　a　Backfire　raid；　but　they　could　start　thinning　the　Bears　out。　The　Soviets　had　only　about　thirty　of　the　wide…ranging　Bear…D　reconnaissance　aircraft。　Roughly　ten　flew　every　day　with　their　powerful　Big　Bulge　radars　turned　on　to　guide　the　bombers　and　submarines　in　on　the　convoys；　which　made　them　relatively　easy　to　find；　if　a　fighter　could　be　put　out　there　to　find　them。　After　much　experimentation；　the　Russians　had　fallen　into　a　predictable　pattern　of　air　operations。　They　would　be　made　to　pay　for　that。　Tomorrow　the　Air　Force　would　have　a　two…plane　patrol　over　six　different　convoys。
The　Russians　would　be　made　to　pay　a　toll　for　basing　aircraft　on　Iceland；　too。
〃I　make　it　a　regiment；　say　twenty…four　to　twenty…seven　aircraft。　All　MiG…29　Fulcrums；〃　Toland　said。　〃We　never　seem　to　see　more　than　twenty…one　on　the　ground。　I　figure　they're　running　a　fairly　steady　bat　air　patrol；　say　four　birds　aloft　almost　around　the　clock。　They　also　appear　to　have　three　ground…based　radars；　and　they're　moving　them　around　a　lot。　That　probably　means　that　they're　set　up　for　ground…controlled　intercepts。　Any　problem　jamming　the　search　radars？〃
A　fighter　pilot　shook　his　head。　〃With　the　right　support；　no。〃
〃So　we'll　just　have　to　flush　the　MiGs　off　the　ground　and　kill　some。〃　The　manders　of　both　Tomcat　squadrons　were　with　Toland；　examining　the　maps。　〃Want　to　keep　clear　of　those　SAMs；　though。　From　what　the　guys　in　Germany　say；　the　SA…11　is　very　bad　news。〃
The　first　Air　Force　effort　to　flatten　Keflavik　with　B…52s　had　been　a　disaster。　Follow…up　efforts　with　smaller；　faster　FB…111s　had　harassed　the　Russians　but　could　not　put　Keflavik　totally　out　of　business。　SAC　was　unwilling　to　part　with　enough　of　its　fastest　strategic　bombers　to　do　this。　There　still　had　not　been　a　successful　mission　against　the　main　fuel…storage　site。　It　was　too　close　to　a　populated　area；　and　satellite　photos　revealed　that　the　civilians　were　still　there。　Of　course。
〃Let's　get　the　Air　Force　to　try　another　B…52　mission；〃　one　fighter　jock　suggested。　〃They　e　in　like　before；　except　。　。　。〃　He　outlined　some　changes　in　the　attack　profile。　〃Now　that　we　have　our　Queers　with　us；　it　might　work　out　all　right。〃
〃If　you　want　my　help；　mander；　you　might　at　least　be　a　little　polite　about　it。〃　The　Prowler　pilot　in　the　room　clearly　didn't　like　to　have　his　forty…million…dollar　aircraft　referred　to　by　that　nickname。　〃I　can　knock　those　SAM　radars　back　some；　just　keep　in　mind　that　SA…11　has　a　backup　infrared　tracker　system。　You　get　within　ten　miles　of　the　launchers；　they　have　an　even…money　chance　of　smoking　your　Tomcat　right　out　of　the　sky。〃　The　really　nasty　thing　about　the　SA…11；　pilots　had　learned；　was　that　it　left　almost　no　exhaust　trail；　which　made　it　very　hard　to　spot；　and　it　was　even　harder　to　evade　a　SAM　you　couldn't　see。
〃We'll　stay　clear　of　Mr。　SAM。　First　time；　gentlemen；　we　got　the　odds　on　our　side。〃　The　fighter　pilots　started　putting　a　plan　together。　They　now　had　solid　intelligence　of　how　Russian　fighters　operated　in　bat。　The　Soviets　had　good　tactics；　but　they　were　also　predictable。　If　the　American　aircraft　could　contrive　to　present　a　situation　for　which　the　Russians　were　trained；　they　knew　how　Ivan　would　react　to　it。

STENDAL；　GERMAN　DEMOCRATIC　REPUBLIC
He　had　never　expected　it　to　be　easy；　but　neither　had　Alekseyev　expected　NATO　air　forces　to　have　control　of　the　night　skies。　Four　minutes　after　midnight；　an　aircraft　that　had　never　registered　on　their　radar　had　obliterated　the　radio　transmitter　station　for　CINC…West's　headquarters。　They'd　only　had　three　alternate　stations；　each　more　than　ten　kilometers　from　the　underground　bunker　plex。　Now　they　had　one；　plus　a　mobile　transmitter　that　had　already　been　bombed　once。　The　underground　telephone　cables　were　still　being　used；　of　course；　but　advances　into　enemy　territory　had　made　telephone　munications　unreliable。　Too　often；　the　cables　strung　by　Signal　Corps　troops　were　being　destroyed　by　air　attack　and　badly　driven　vehicles。　They　needed　the　radio　links；　and　NATO　was　systematically　eliminating　them。　They'd　even　attempted　an　attack　on　the　bunker　plex　itself…the　decoy　site　set　exactly　between　two　transmitter　stations　had　been　hit　by　eight　fighter…bombers　and　liberally　sprinkled　with　napalm；　cluster　munitions；　and　delay…fused　high　explosives。　If　the　attack　had　been　on　the　real　plex；　the　ordnance　experts　said；　there　might　have　been　casualties。　So　much　for　the　skill　of　our　engineers。　The　bunkers　were　supposed　to　withstand　a　near…miss　from　a　nuclear　warhead。
He　now　had　a　full　fighting　division　across　the　Leine…the　remains　of　one；　he　corrected　himself。　The　two　reinforcing　tank　divisions　were　trying　to　cross　now；　but　the　ribbon　bridges　had　been　bombed　overnight　along　with　the　advancing　divisions。　The　NATO　reinforcements　were　beginning　to　arrive…their　road　advances　had　also　suffered　from　air　attacks；　though　at　ghastly　cost　to　the　Soviet　fighter…bombers。　The　tactics　。　。　。　no；　amateurs　discuss　tactics；　Alekseyev　thought　wryly。　Professional　soldiers　study　logistics。　The　key　to　his　success　would　pivot　on　his　ability　to　maintain　bridges　on　the　river　Leine　and　to　run　traffic　efficiently　down　the　roads　to　Alfeld。　The　traffic…control　system　had　already　broken　down　twice　before　Alekseyev　had　dispatched　a　team　of　colonels　to　handle　things。
〃We　should　have　picked　a　better　place；〃　Alekseyev　muttered。
〃Excuse　me；　rade　General？〃　Sergetov　asked。
〃There's　only　one　good　road　into　Alfeld。〃　The　General　smiled　ironically。　〃We　should　have　made　our　breakthrough　at　a　town　with　at　least　three。〃
They　watched　wooden　counters　march…creep…down　the　line　on　the　map。　Each　counter　was　a　battalion。　Missile　and　antiaircraft…gun　units　lined　the　corridor　north　and　south　of　this　road；　and　the　road　itself　constantly　swept　to　rid　it