Anti-assimilation army: A Spark

Chapter 5

Tyrant of Vancouver

As they strolled past the posh hallways of the Vancouver Art Gallery, General MacMillan spoke raspy, as his throat was just starting to heal. “Ghhhoood thhhing bhhhombs dhhhidn’t hhhit hhhhere.”

As he walked alongside the General, Sigmund nodded his head in agreement, admiring the great works of art on display. He looked intently at the painting of the Plains of Abraham, and he drew assurance from it that Canada’s defences weren’t impenetrable, and that invasion of the stubborn nation is feasible. The English beat the Canadians ancestors in New France before and the Americans can certainly do it again. While their ancestors may have failed to take Canada in the war of 1812, the Major was certain they would not fail again, even if history tends to repeat itself.

As they exited the gallery, the two men discussed strategy on how to dislocate the Canadians from their entrenched positions on the North Shore, while ensuring minimal casualties among American troops. The Major was in favour of aerial bombardment by drones, but the lack of intel over the positions and bunkers of the Canadians, would make targeting difficult and would be literally wasting bombs by blindly obliterating and carpet bombing everything in sight. The General also wanted to keep intact as much infrastructure as possible, to ease the rebuilding efforts after the US takes over the metropolitan area and to ease transportation efficiency of troops and resources. The annihilation of major suburbs of Vancouver would dampen the prize of capturing the city, as there would be little left to claim as their spoils of war. After studying the geography and history of the North Shore, MacMillan had hoped to save cultural landmarks such as the Capilano Suspension Bridge as well as the Grouse and Cyprus mountain resorts. Important infrastructure such as the Seymour-Capilano Water Filtration Plant was also deemed of high importance and was to be kept intact at all costs.

They then got into an armoured truck, and headed back for the hospital where the medics would doe their routine checkup on MacMillan’s neck wound. Beckoning his Major to come closer, the General instructed him on what was to be the most crucial part of their mission. 

“Shhhhwwwwippe ouhhhhht thhhhhe Chhhhanaddddian Ahhhrmmy. Lhhheeevee nhhoone thhoo eschhhape. Immphhhrrison thhose yohhh dhhon’t khhhilll.”

Giving his General a salute, Sigmund drove back to the headquarters to relay his message to the other commanders, and to devise a plan to accomplish all that MacMillan wanted. Entering the high command tent, he found the other majors and lieutenants arguing over which tactics they should utilize. 

“I say we relocate the residents of Richmond to somewhere safer within our borders so they stop getting in the way.”

“Hogwash, if the Chinese hear you forcing their fellow countrymen from their homes, you’re basically inviting China to get involved in this war.”

“Well, our intel suggests that the Chinese in Richmond are helping the Canadians, perhaps not directly but by supplying them with food and weapons.”

“And how do you suppose they are doing that, huh? We control the entire Burrard inlet, not to mention the Fraser River, which cuts off Richmond from Vancouver and the North Shore. I don’t know where you’re getting that intel but I think you need to find yourself some more reliable sources. Oh, hello Major, I hope the General is doing well?”

“He is recovering still. It will be several more days before he can resume command of our army. But he made it very clear what he expects us to do while he is absent. We are to flush out the Canadian Army with limited damage to the infrastructure and critical installations, and kill or imprison every last Canadian resisting our invasion and prolonging this war. Now I know that’s a tall order, but you must understand, every minute that those Cariboozers keep successfully repulsing our attacks gives them confidence and hope, which are dangerous beliefs to give to an enemy. I want a full-fledged attack planned and ready by tomorrow night, and I want the army ready to move out at first light the day after.”

Back at the Canadian camp, the looming preparations made by the American did not escape their notice, and soon, the entire North Shore was bristling with armaments, soldiers and barricades, all meant to keep the invaders at bay.

General Choi seemed to be in three places at once, organizing reservists, preparing
anti-armour units and assembling what defences they had against what looks like a massive amphibious assault. 

“I want mortar teams targeting those ships shelling us, to keep them busy. Squadron Alpha, you’re in charge of preventing any enemy troops from landing on our side by any means necessary. Don’t light up the shore unless they are just about to break through our defences. Air units one through ten, I want drone attacks on the main enemy camp as soon as the fighting starts. Aim for important targets such as ammunition caches, artillery, petrol and their headquarters. Use every last drone that we have, that way we’ll have a better chance of breaking through their antiaircraft defences. Alright folks, this is the moment we’ve been waiting for. Let’s show these Yankees a proper Canadian welcome, eh? For Canada!”

“For Canada!” thundered the response.

Watching from their surveillance cameras, Choi held his breath as countless soldiers began piling onto tens upon tens of amphibious craft, prepared to cross the last barrier before coming into contact with the Canadians.

“The sleeping elephant finally awakes. They’ll soon find out why elephants are afraid of mice.”

Counting nearly a hundred transports ready to ferry American soldiers into the North Shore, Choi waited till the last boat was on its way over before showing the trick he had up his sleeve. “Diving unit, surface and take aim at the boats. Be ready to fire on my command. And now!” 

Dozens of soldiers in diving gear fired multiple rounds into the unprotected backs of the transport ships, as most of the boat’s armour was in the front. As chaos ensued among the floundering assault, Choi gave another signal and camouflaged artillery units bombarded the Americans from the front, just as they were turning around to deal with the divers. 

Hit from both sides, the Americans tried to keep going and establish a beachhead, but by turning their backs to the divers, who opened fire and many US troops were lost as they tried to find what little protection there was on the boats. As the first amphibious craft began to land on shore, Choi had yet another surprise for his unwanted guests. When there were about twenty men landed and defending their beachhead, the General gave yet another order and this time, a Molotov cocktail was thrown close to where the Americans had landed and it burst into a ball of flame. More importantly though, it ignited the ground around the invaders, as they had been doused with gasoline for the past few days in preparation. Many troops jumped into the inlet’s waters to escape burning to death, while others sought a route around the wall of burning fire.

Meanwhile, while the Navy was busy bombing the Canadians or taking cover from the retaliating mortar fire, some shadowy figures swam close to the five medium sized vessels parked at the entrance to Burrard Inlet. Attaching several explosives to the hulls of the ships, the strike team melted back into the forests, completely unnoticed by the US Navy, who were preoccupied with the invasion plan.

General Choi held a radio microphone and was about to enact another surprise he had for MacMillan. Ladies and gentlemen, prepare yourself for the fireworks! Team Islanders, you are clear to detonate the explosives.”

Everyone watched via the cameras set up, as ship after ship seemed to be engulfed in a shocking fiery explosion. With sizable holes in the hulls of the ships, they began to slowly sink; slowly to the casual eye, but far too fast for those trapped in the lower decks, unable to get out. Within minutes, three of the five vessels were sunk, and it seemed the two surviving boats would be under water soon as well.

At the American camp, blame was flying back and forth among the generals, majors and lieutenants. Their lightning invasion had failed to even establish a workable beachhead, several hundred men had been lost in the seemingly useless fight and all their naval vessels had been sunk or severely damaged by an attack that originated from Vancouver Island. 

Clearing his throat to get everyone’s attention, the Major outlined the main problems that they had encountered in their invasion tactics. “Well, it seems we have underestimated the tenacity, ingenuity and courage the Canadians have with them, and it saddens me to hear that many American lives had been lost in what seemed to be an ineffective and unsuccessful assault. More dangerously thought, I assume, is that the Canadians are building up hope that they can stop the US army. They have tasted success and once—” 

Boom!

An explosion suddenly shocked the entire camp and soldiers were running towards the ammunition tent, trying to dose it out with water.

“Lookout! More drones on the way!”

Seeing one of the Canadian bomb carriers heading straight for their command tent, the Major quickly ushered the command staff to leave the tent, and not a moment too soon as a bomb quickly blasted apart their entire headquarters. Thinking quickly, the Major called for the two prisoners to be brought to him, and he instructed the guards to tie them to a post with one in the newly set up command tent and the other at the ammunition tent. Sending a single soldier forward with a megaphone and a white flag of truce, the man recited word for word what the Major had written down as a warning to the Canadians.

“We will let you know that the two men we have imprisoned are being held at either the headquarters and ammunitions tents, so if you bomb those structures again, the blood of your own countrymen will be on your hands.”

A response was quickly relayed back to the Americans listening, and much of the language was vulgar and derogatory at best. “Only cowards use unarmed prisoners as a shield. Is it because you don’t have what it takes to fight us? Or did our little surprise yesterday catch you unawares? Your army can take away our homes from us, but in our minds, we will always be free. Free from your tyranny, your greed, and your authority. Canada may cease to exist someday, but we will always be Canadian.”

After hearing the strong reply to the American messenger, a loud cheer rang out among the defenders, motivated by the speech to fight all the much harder and to protect the values and beliefs that had been nurtured in Canada for hundreds of years. They fought for the differences that made them distinct from the Americans, the traits that defined a person as Canadian. 

As he stood among cheering staff at his headquarters, Choi let out a rare smile, glad to see that his troops were in good spirits, and that the speech had mustered their bravery to fight for their country. 

“Sir, there’s a small ferry approaching West Vancouver, and it flies a Canadian flag!”

Looking at the radar showing the approaching vessel and the surveillance camera showing its flag, Choi quickly ordered a squad to meet with the boat’s occupants and to see whether they were friend or foe. 

As Choi’s squad reached the boat, they were greeted by several seamen who clarified who they were and why they were here. “We’re Canadians from the island. We heard about the explosives team from the island helping take out the navy vessels and we’ve been watching the whole situation eager to bring supplies for you guys. There’s several large crates of food, ammunition and weapons on our boat and we’d be glad to restock your supplies. But we must act hastily, before new navel reinforcements are called in from the Pacific.”

Docking their vessel on a small pier, they began transporting supplies to hastily gathered vehicles, which then drove back, resupplying the major encampments in the North Shore. 

As he monitored the Canadians restock their larders and armouries with dozens of crates full of food and ammunition, Sigmund estimated that with the extra resources, the Canadians could hold out an extra two more weeks or so from the planned capitulation. 

Meanwhile, in the American headquarters, all was not well in the General’s tent; MacMillan, who was officially discharged from the hospital was briefed on the latest intel. 

“General, the fleet from Seattle just started heading towards us. They should arrive by nightfall. But I’m afraid it’s too late to stop those supply shipments that came in from the Island and resupplied the Canadian garrison.”

Bang!

The General smashed his fist onto the table, scattering unit markers across a sprawling map of Vancouver. Using a speech app on his phone, he typed out his message for the Major and the phone read it out in a monotonous tone. “You’re meaning to tell me that a mere handful of Cariboozers and militia are holding back the advance of fifty-thousand armed units, sank five of the US Navy’s best vessels and successfully carried out drone strikes past our anti-air defences? Gentlemen, we are not playing a game here, we have already lost over five-hundred men, and for all intensive purposes, the Canadians are effectively winning this war of attrition!”

After rearranging the unit markers, MacMillan outlined his plan to thwart the Canadian’s defence plans. Using the app, he ordered what was to be done: “Once the Seattle fleet makes it way here, we will try another amphibious assault, but this time from the west. They have a ferry terminal there, which we can utilized to unload troops quickly and efficiently. I’m told there’ll be several frigates and destroyers, along with several amphibious war vessels to carry the troops. If we cannot dislodge the Canadians soon, I’ll have to call in for reinforcements by sea, and perhaps we can bring in a dreadnaught or aircraft carrier to make work a little…easier.” 

***

As the Canadians waited for the Americans’ next move, Choi was getting nervous about the lull in battle. “I’m certain they have spotted our convoys of supplies, but why won’t they attack?” 

“Perhaps they are either waiting for reinforcements or they are planning something out of left field,” suggested one aide.

“Maybe a bit of both?” 

One of Choi’s lieutenants showed them a radar screen, revealing several seacraft heading through the Salish Sea towards Burrard Inlet. 

“Well, now we know who the reinforcements are, we just need to know where they will attack and when. Any luck deciphering that naval code Major?”

McGilvery shook his head and informed Choi that it may take weeks, if not months to break the sophisticated code, which rivals the Nazi Enigma used in the Second World War. “It’s like cracking a code that changes very twenty-four hours. Unless we are able to retrieve one of these machines, it’s almost a lost cause.” 

Ruffling his thinning hair in frustration, Choi was genuinely worried that the Americans were planning a surprise attack unbeknownst to them. Up to this point, Choi and his soldiers had always been one step ahead of the Americans, but, for the first time, the US army had the element of surprise. Not to mention he had two of his own being held deep in the enemy camp, in need of being rescued.

“Sergeant, keep an eye on those navy vessels heading north. If we can predict where they will land, it will tell us where to deploy our mobile tactical units.” 

Taking the Major aside to have a chat, they discussed the secret covert operation to rescue the two imprisoned Canadian snipers.

“Did you manage to obtain an American uniform?”

“Better, I found a lieutenant’s uniform near the beachhead they had tried to establish.”

“Good, good. Now here’s what I want you to do. Infiltrate the American camp posing as one of their personnel, find the two Canadian prisoners and bring them to the water’s edge at nightfall where a craft will be ready to bring y’all back to our base. Now I don’t want to force you to do anything dangerous if you don’t want to Major. I’m not going to lie, there’s a large probability that you might be captured or exposed on this mission.”

“Nothing I can’t handle General. Leave it to me.”

Choi patted his Major on the back, making light of the atmosphere by joking around at how easy it would be to snatch their prisoners back under the American’s noses. “I wouldn’t be surprised if those buffoons don’t even know what hit them when they realize their precious prisoners are gone. It’ll be easy as picking daisies on a summer afternoon!”

“General please, I have hay fever, don’t mention flowers when I’m around. Nasty stuff that pollen.”

As the Canadians prepared to buckle down for the night, MacMillan had been ordering his troops to secretly start boarding the newly arrived sea vessels, and with a total force of roughly twenty-five thousand, or about half his total military strength in the area. With all lights off on the ships and radio silence among the entire invasion force, it would not be long before they set sail for Horseshoe Bay in their surprise sneak attack.

When the last soldier walked aboard the transport ships, MacMillan gave the signal and a bright signal light blinked twice, telling the ships to embark on their mission. 

“General Choi! We have movement in the water. Several ships heading north towards our position.”

Rushing over to the radar station, Choi pounded the desk in annoyance. “I knew they were planning something. That radio silence that occurred all of a sudden was suspicious to say the least. Any idea where they might land?”

“Hard to say sir, but they’ll be within range of our artillery in a few minutes. Shall I give an order for the artillery units to shoot?”

“Negative, we’d be shelling randomly in the dark hoping for a hit. What we can do is divert some units from our core to West Vancouver and shore it up. We’ll need to do that quickly as I can see they are already sailing past the UBC Endowment Lands. Lieutenant! I want two brigades to reinforce our defences in Horseshoe Bay. That’s the most logical drop off point they would pick for another amphibious landing.”

“General Choi! There’s another general on line four waiting to speak with you.” 

Saluting the messenger, the General walked into a more private room before dialing in to the call. 

“This is Choi here,”

“General Choi, glad to hear your voice brother. This is General Davis from the Alberta division. I’m sure you may have heard that Alberta and the rest of the Prairie provinces have surrendered to their American counterparts.”

“Yes, I’ve heard of those reports. A sad day for the Canadian forces that was.”

“Well, let’s just say it wasn’t a full surrender, and most of our troops are still alert and ready to get back into action. I’m sending you a platoon of soldiers to help shore up against the US General besieging Vancouver. They should be arriving in the next day or two from the east. I figured you boys would like some help from a couple of red-necks.” 

“You are a lifesaver brother!”

“From what I’ve heard, you boys haven’t been doing too shabby yourselves. Holding off against an American force twice your size and without naval and aerial superiority. Quite impressive if I might say so myself.”

“Well, the war ain’t over yet. Not to mention some of our boys got caught by the Yankees and will be waiting for us to extract them back home.”

“Looks like you got your work cut out for you buddy. Okay, best not chat so long. Stubborn Americans like to tap all radio frequencies to check for military intel. Best of luck there General.”

Choi walked casually back into the control room and hailed down a messenger before quicky writing down instructions to his units to the east towards Deep Cove. 

Colonel Smith,

We are expecting reinforcements from the Albertans in the east. But for a precaution, ask them to sing the Canadian anthem before letting them join our ranks. It might be possible the Yankees will pose as Canadian troops. 

General Choi,

As he patted the back of the adolescent messenger, he handed the letter to him and made him promise to guard it with his life.

The boy nodded his head and got into a transport truck above the bunker and drove to the far eastern portion of the war front, keeping the letter close to his chest inside an interior pocket within his uniform. 

As he arrived a short time later at Deep Cove, the boy surprisingly observed the condition of the detachment sent to defend the area; it seemed everyone was in a lax state of mind, with some men and women fishing, while others made snowmen with the freshly fallen snow. One or two guards strolled around with their rifles at hand, but it seemed to the boy that they were the only ones ready to defend their assigned territory. Walking into a tent with some guards playing dice in the corner, he spotted a large man who looked every-bit like a colonel. As the man stood up with his impressive tall stature and formidable frame, he smiled and greeted the boy, politely asking how he was doing. The boy gulped down his nervousness and handed the written letter to its intended recipient. 

Opening the letter, the colonel thanked the boy and strolled out to where the watch guard was sitting in a crudely built outpost. “Yo Reimer! We’re expecting some red-necks to join us in the fight. Make sure they can sing Oh Canada before letting them through. If there’s any trouble, sound the warning.”

“Yes Sir!”

Turning around back to the messenger boy, he ushered him towards the barracks, explaining why his troops seemed so carefree. “It’s been quite peaceful here for the last while, and not a shot has been heard for weeks. But I assure you, don’t be fooled by the lazy appearance of our detachment. Every person here is ready to fight at a moment’s notice. We just like to keep things a bit casual, that’s all. Well, you’d best get going back to headquarters. Give my thanks to General Choi for the heads up.”

Escorting him out, the Colonel went back inside the barracks and entered a locked room in the back where piles of gold and jewels were being stockpiled.

“Colonel Smith, we’ve unlocked another safe from one of the banks. There was mostly cash but with some gold bars and plates.”

“Currency is worthless now, but at least we found some gold. Stash it away then report back to me with the final count from today’s findings.” 

As he picked up a four-hundred-troy-ounce golden bar, he admired it as the light reflected off its shiny exterior and cast golden rays on the walls of the room. He had been collecting rarities and valuable metals in the area ever since he was promoted to colonel in charge of the eastern region of the North Shore. Finding the location of the hundreds of safes and storage lockers was fairly easy, but the difficulty was in not letting high command find out about his treasure hunting activity. Many of his henchmen, who helped him transport the valuables, got a cut from the findings, and for now it was enough to keep them from blowing the whistle.

It didn’t matter to him who won the war, but he figured, whichever way the coin falls, he would be a rich man no matter what, having stored up enough to live a comfortable life for the rest of his years.

All was quiet among the American troops riding the tumultuous waves on their transport ships. Relying solely on radar so as not to crash into one another, the ships navigated past Burrard Inlet, with the small port of Horseshoe Bay in their sights.

A captain of one of the ships had a quizzical look on his face, mystified as to why the street lights near the port would be on with no one around. “Seems suspicious to me too sir, but the General’s orders are to drop off the troops onto the dock as quickly as possible. Guiding the boat alongside the pier, one-by-one the soldiers exited the boat and rushed forward to get some cover. Hearing a loud click, everyone froze, not wanting to be caught unawares, and unsure of what caused that sound. After a second click, there was a huge explosion as the pier exploded into a thousand splinters of wood, throwing the entire operation into chaos. Suddenly, all the lights went off, plunging the confused Americans into further panic, unsure of who and where their enemy was coming from. Turning on all search lights on the Navy vessels, they continued to land troops onto the site, but with ramps this time rather than a pier. As they formed a beachhead with some cover from the enemy fire, more and more soldiers piled into the defender’s territory, and slowly but steadily they began to push the Canadians back. 

Once news of the successful landing reached the American headquarters, there was much cheering and celebrating as their plan had seemed to work, catching the Canadians off guard. Now would be the final push, to oust the Cariboozers out of Vancouver for good, and successfully capture Canada’s third largest city.