Eden's War (A Distant Eden) Read Online Free PDF

place they want to. Not only will this give them access to all the fuel they want, it also gives them a base to launch attacks on the rest of this hemisphere. It’s a simple plan, one that can’t fail for them. Their only true gamble in this is whether we will launch nuclear weapons against them. My guess is that once the ships are launched and on the way they’ll contact us with some kind of bargain. But it won’t be a bargain they intend to keep.
    “So, our only chance of maintaining our independence and our resources, is to win this war without using either our naval munitions or nuclear weapons. We have to win it with an unconventional approach. Think along the lines of how guerilla warfare against a large conventional military works. That’s the approach I’ve been thinking of.”
    The Admiral interrupted. “But… how? We’re not talking about a situation where hit-and-run tactics will make any difference. They are already willing to sacrifice as many of their ships and men as it takes. They’ll just keep coming and overwhelm us with numbers.”
    “You’re almost right Admiral… almost.” Adrian replied. He stood and began pacing again. “These sacrifice ships are commercial ships. They are not heavily armored, hell they’re not armored at all. They are fragile. They might mount some defensive weapons on them, but it won’t be much… and if my plan works it won’t matter what they can shoot. We’re going to come at them in a way they don’t expect, and will be hard-pressed to defend against…which will leave our Navy fully prepared and waiting for their Navy… assuming they don’t recall their Navy before we can get at them.”
    Adrian stepped up to the table and unrolled the drawing that Matt had made earlier that day, placing cups at the corners to keep it from rolling back up. “Take a look at this Admiral.”
    The Admiral removed a pair of reading glasses from his shirt pocket, put them on, and began studying the simple drawing. After a moment he said, “I see what you’ve drawn, but I don’t follow what you’re thinking.”
    “Guerilla warfare on the open seas Admiral. What you’re looking at is a representation of a typical outboard-powered small pleasure boat. About eighteen feet of boat driven by a one-hundred horsepower outboard engine. At the front of the boat is an improvised explosive device, made from one of the hundreds-of-thousands of field artillery rounds in warehouses around the country. Could be about any size round, but I’m thinking about a 120mm round set to explode on contact. Fill the rest of the boat with explosives, and send it like a missile against a commercial ship. We’d control it by a radio remote control, like radio-controlled airplanes.
    “There must be a million of these small craft up and down our shores. The radio control systems are easy to make and to operate. We also have thousands of commercial and fishing ships available. Get those ships operational, including their radars, load each ship with as many of these radio controlled artillery shell boats as it can hold, and sail forth. Using the radar, locate and close in on the Chinese craft… get within visual range and launch one or two of these boats. Then steer the boats into the Chinese ship by remote control and make a big hole in it. Aiming at the rudder would be the best… even if the ship doesn’t sink, it will be foundered where it floats.”
    Adrian was again pacing the room while everyone stared at him, listening intently. “If we can get enough of these in action soon enough, we can do serious damage, maybe even stop the invasion at sea without using up our munitions in the process. The challenge isn’t whether or not this will work; the challenge is getting enough boats on the water loaded with these radio controlled boats in time to get the job done.” Adrian sat back down, waiting for the reaction.
    “Damn.” The Admiral said quietly. Then he began to smile. Then he laughed.