The Battle for Houston...The Aftermath Read Free Page B

and find out where the video satellite was focused because he wanted it to focus on the area where the base was situated.
    Carlos also didn’t know where Randolph was so the president immediately phoned General Patterson in China. He got the answer that it was Joint Command in San Antonio, Texas, and a now pissed-off General Patterson would be back as soon as possible.

Chapter 2
     
    Flight from China – May
     
    Colonel Patterson headed downwards to the underground level stepping over three bodies his grenade must have taken out. There were lights, and he carefully stepped into an empty corridor which smelled badly of explosives. He backed into the stairwell and watched a line of guys looking at him from the stairs above.
    He didn’t want to leave the surface, but he knew that the Marines would follow his orders and fight until there was no more opposition. What worried him down here was not only meeting the enemy but coming face to face with American soldiers who shot first and asked questions later.
    There was nothing else to do, but bite the bullet and go forward. He grabbed his third grenade and slung his M-16 over his shoulder and took his pistol out of its holster.
    He looked back into the empty corridor and decided that to the right was the correct way to proceed and it should take him towards the rear of the base. He silently headed to the next left hand corner and peeked around it. Again the short corridor was empty and it turned right again twenty feet ahead. Also there were two doors on either side of the corridor.
    The general reached the next corner and peeked around. It opened into a large cavern, but he couldn’t see anything past the entrance. He nodded to the Marines to open the side doors and they loudly crashed the doors open.
    “Who’s there!” shouted an American voice from the cavern around the corner. “Show yourselves or we send in grenades, we have dozens of guys, so make my day!”
    “U.S. soldiers, Air Force and Marines checking out these doors,” shouted out General Patterson and he peeked around the corner to see three Chinese-American Marines dressed in red army uniforms ready to blow his head off. “OK men, it’s me, General Patterson. We are checking these doors.”
    “Um, sorry, Sir!” stated one Marine as the general showed himself and the three men saluted. “You shouldn’t be doing this special work; it’s far too dangerous down here. We are making sure no enemy pass this point. We have several other squads guarding other entry points so you’d better let us guide you. Those doors were locked and we didn’t bother to open them, it would have made too much noise.
    “Two store rooms with cleaning equipment,” added the Marine captain coming around the corner. Again the three men saluted.
    “We heard you guys blasting the hell out of the enemy up there,” continued the Chinese-American Marine sergeant taking off his Red Army outerwear to show his U.S. camouflage. “I suppose we can get rid of this borrowed gear,” and he and his two men discarded the enemy clothing. “Unfortunately we have had only a little fishing down here, caught only three fish since you guys arrived. Come see.”
    The general followed him and found three Chinese soldiers tied up and gagged. One had the rank of major and the other two looked like sergeants. General Patterson asked the Marine to take off the major’s gag and he ordered Major Wong to ask the man if the man knew where Colonel Zhing was.
    “He was blown up and killed on the wall sir,” Major Wong translated, getting a quick answer out of the man. “This man is his second in command.”
    “Ask him why he was coming underground,” commanded the general.
    “There are systems to activate if they were ever attacked and with the colonel dead it was his duty to make sure that the underground sections were closed and made secure. Unfortunately, it seems that he was too late and he can’t understand where these soldiers came