The Grantville Gazette - Volume 4 Part 21

* * * Duke, after seeing to his mount and his own small needs, watched contentedly as the others quickly got the temporary rest stop organized. Captain Lennox had been a tough but skilled taskmaster and instructor. Take care of the horses first was something Lennox believed down to his bones. And that belief was now deeply ingrained in everyone. And, it had to be admitted, riding certainly beat the h.e.l.l out of marching. The horse herd, which the Scotsman Lennox had personally selected, was destined to become the Navy and Marine Corps' four-legged "motor pool" in Magdeburg. That last thought brought Duke's attention back to the cavalryman's special status.

When Simpson first approached him last December, seeking help in the formation of a new Corps to support his planned navy, Duke only expected to contend with one flavor of Marine. He was honest enough with himself to recognize that the Scotsman was an innocent bystander and not responsible for the "Horse Marine" gaffe foisted on everyone by the secretary of state, Ed Piazza. He even understood the rationale behind the decision. It just simply caught him, Simpson and most especially, Lennox, by surprise when President Stearns and General Jackson designated his new escort cavalrymen as Marines, too. It made a sort of sense as in the here and now-legations and emba.s.sies required protection by mounted troops and on the other hand American tradition and custom was that Marines guarded the emba.s.sies-but no one was happy with the decision. Although Claire had found the whole situation sidesplitting hilarious, just like the rest of the wives.

At least, Duke consoled himself, unlike Lennox, he didn't have to contend with the operalike dress uniforms that came with the Marine guard's duty. That had been another of Ed's great ideas. Throughout the preceding months, Duke and Lennox had had long conversations about what being in the Corps meant, usually over a cold beer at the Thuringen Gardens. In the process they had established a friendly working relationship. It had helped that Lennox had been favorably impressed with the Corps' basic philosophy that every Marine was first a rifleman.

Duke and Lennox had reached a compromise, of sorts. That compromise gave proof to the notion that two veteran NCOs could find acceptable solutions to any military problem-as long as there was the proper alcoholic lubrication. After the base and training organization was firmly established at Magdeburg, all of Lennox's new troops' initial training would be in Duke's hands. The plan was to start with the junior officers and then continue with the rest. That would provide every new Marine in both organizations with the same set of core competencies and values. Of course, Lennox would continue to run the specialized cavalry and diplomatic security escort training.

Overall, Duke was satisfied with the progress so far. The troops were shaping up well and had cemented the practical teamwork learned in their temporary boot camp at Grantville early in the year. Most of them would make excellent NCOs for the rifle company he needed to have in place by the end of the year. Duke watched as the group of men, following orders, sorted themselves into work details. Of course, security was quickly set up. Some things had not changed from the time of the Roman legions.

Other troops saw to the horses and wagons after a detail brought water from a nearby creek for the mounts. The men were soon preparing their rations, doing general cleaning, and the all-important coffee brewing over the newly lit campfire. The last two weeks on the road had sharpened their field craft, and most had former mercenary experience, so their actions were quick and precise.

Only after the immediate tasks were completed did some of the Marines, accompanied by their new entrenching tools, seek some privacy to answer the call of nature. On their return, they were received with humorous catcalls and an occasional joker making the twenty-first century hand signal for gas attack. Duke found it mildly surprising, but amusing.

"Looks like Wild Bill's handiwork," Dorrman commented as he approached Duke.

"Must be," Duke agreed. "Chemical warfare was not in their training curriculum. And, I can't tell you, Dave, just how very happy I am with that." Another of the surprises that the past months had brought was Duke's growing friendship with the younger man. Dorrman, as he was outside of the chain of

command and as senior as Duke, had a.s.sumed the role of confidant and sounding board for both Duke and Lulu.

"You were on Mike Stearns's side during that brouhaha in Congress, I gather."

"You bet," Duke said. "And I wasn't alone. As well, although he hated to admit it, the admiral supported

the President's stance and would have quit in support of it."

"You really like the old man?" Dorrman asked.

Duke, after thinking for a moment, replied. "Yes, I do. And I was as surprised as you are, Dave.

Simpson is not a man who is easily liked. Part of the problem is his own d.a.m.n fault, I think. But, I can sympathize with his position. When we ended up here after the Ring of Fire, his domestic situation with his son, which was barely under control, went completely off into the abyss."

Dorrman nodded. "Yeah. Poor guy. I agree with you, Duke, the admiral occasionally has control issues.

The sad part is that I can also see it from his point of view. Seventeenth-century Germany would not be the place I would have chosen for my forced retirement. Especially not in the company of a bunch of hicks."

Duke smirked before replying. "Then, of course, the hicks went ahead and formed an army. And, as a

Navy man through and through . . . suffice it to say, and pardon the pun, he was totally out of his depth."

After a hearty guffaw, Dorrman continued. "He wasn't the only one. Remember the strange look Mary Pat gave me the first time I called "attention on deck" at the Sanitary Commission?"

"Yeah," Duke grinned. "But she got over that really quick. And later she found great amus.e.m.e.nt in the irony that an air force brat, who is now an army officer, has a navy petty officer as her NCOIC. The same way that her best friend has a Marine NCO as her platoon sergeant. Lucky for us, there's only one Coastie in the whole town."

"d.a.m.n leatherneck humor."

"Dumb squid."

Their friendly banter was interrupted when Lulu arrived from her rounds. "Everyone's doing well so far

and . . . what you two are up to now?" she asked, curious at their caught-in-the-act guilty expressions.

Duke finally replied, somewhat sheepishly, "Nothing much, Lulu. Just thinking about our current situation."

Amused, Lulu snorted. "Right. Which part in particular? The lost in time part, the fact that we're

supposed to start a new military service or that we are getting too old to play Lewis and Clark? And, let's not forget all the good folks who would like to see us dead or back in whichever h.e.l.l we escaped from, hah?"

"Touche," Dorrman said. "I see that your new close relationship with Lejeune hasn't improved your

humor."

"Respectfully, Chief," Lulu said, "bite me. I don't know how Lennox seems to enjoy all this riding, day in and day out."

Dave snorted before replying. "He was born in the saddle, Lu. The folks here are a lot hardier than we are and things are definitely different in these times. But speaking about Captain Lennox, Duke, have you changed your mind about accepting a commission like he did?"

"No," Duke shuddered. "Like I told Mike and Jackson, I feel that I'm doing the right thing. The admiral and I agreed that having up-timers as senior officers was a losing proposition in an organization that was going to be composed of almost a hundred percent down-timers. Besides, you know we don't have any trained Marine officers in our ranks to do the job. And it will be a cold day in h.e.l.l before we tap the army for senior leaders."

The amused chuckles of his audience let him know that he was not alone on his low esteem for the army.

Duke smiled as he continued. "The training of good NCOs is going to provide the backbone for the new Corps and impact in their efficiency. Anyway, children, we get to recruit and train our own officers. I hope there are enough young whippersnappers in Magdeburg with the appropriate background to run through the Basic School. Still, it is going to require that we to find the right kind of leader to put it all together. We need someone who can be a disciplinarian but not a martinet, a people person, open to new ideas and concepts but still able to use his experiences and battle skills from this time effectively. In other words, we need an officer who is equally at ease on the battlefield or in the realm of academia. We

need someone who can be a diplomat, move easily in the social circles and command a rifle platoon. An Archibald Henderson-type organizer, more than a Chesty Puller-style warrior, at least in the beginning."

Lulu, momentarily taken aback with Hudson's long list of requirements, was left speechless. It was a few

moments before she was able to reply. "s.h.i.t, Duke. You don't ask for much, do you? I don't think Napoleon or Frederick the Great have been born yet, and Alexander and Caesar are long dead. Where do you think we're going to find this paragon of military virtue?"

Duke Hudson nodded as he considered the subject. Contrary to popular misconceptions, in the up-time American armed forces the Marines had been the true warrior intellectuals. The study of military history and other subjects was deeply encouraged and ingrained in their training. That was always surprising to those who considered leathernecks as simpletons who were always interested in the most destructive direct approach. One of Duke's personal deep-seated beliefs was that the origin of that curious inconsistency could be placed squarely at the feet of the constant bureaucratic inter-service warfare. The Marines had had to wage a hidden war for their survival every year since their formation. Actual war provided the occasional respite from the bureaucratic war that went on most of the time. The constant struggle for funds, material and missions with the much larger army, navy, and the air force had led to a

relatively small organization whose leadership, both in the enlisted and officer ranks, was extremely flexible and adaptable. How to find the same flexibility and intellectual agility in down-timers was going to be interesting to say the least.

"Beats me, guys," he finally admitted. "I talked to the admiral about our requirements on his last visit to Grantville. He didn't have a good idea, either. However, he told me that he discussed the matter with King Gustav, in his role as our captain general."

A clearly puzzled Dorrman asked, "So, what did the king . . . excuse me, our captain general have to

say?"

"Well, Chief, you have to remember that Gustavus Adolphus had a great reputation as a military thinker, according to our history. I expect that now, thanks to Julie, Baroness Sims, he's going to hang around to add to that image. One of his most remarkable qualities, according to the books, was his able selection of good subordinates. I'm sure he's got someone in mind."

"In other words, you don't know either, right?" Lulu asked.

"Not a clue, Lulu," Duke admitted. "And neither does the admiral. I asked him already. The king is keeping it close to his vest. He wants to wait to meet us first and do the introductions in person."

"Darn, I hate surprises." Lulu told him as she tried to dig a small rock with her boot.

"Take a number, Lulu. We are getting to the crunch now. I think we have a handle on the initial NCO

manning, thanks to our recruiting in Grantville. The bottleneck, in my opinion, is going to be in our officer recruitment and training. As it stands now, our plan still calls for a fully manned company by year's end and a battalion by the end of next year. Of course, that's only here in Magdeburg. We also need to think about Lennox's requirements, which weren't in our original plans. By next year, he's going to have the equivalent of a short battalion with two companies. So, yes, you could say that I am anxious to meet the king's candidates and get the ball rolling."

Dorrman shook his head. "That's a very ambitious plan, Gunny. Do you think we're going to have the

time to do it?"

"We don't have a choice in the matter, my friends," Duke said, grimly. "I don't have to read tea leaves to know that Richelieu and his friends are not going to give us the time we need for a leisurely build up. I wouldn't be too surprised that if by this time next year, we're right smack in the thick of it."

The nods of agreement and the silence that followed his statement proved that his two friends agreed

with his a.s.sessment. Oh, well as Wild Bill said, no one promised us a rose garden, he thought.

Finally, Lulu cleared her throat. "And on that cheery note, I'm going to check how everyone is doing and see if Kim has taught the pup any new tricks."

Dorrman snorted. "I thought that sum of her repertoire was the ability to piddle on folks at the drop of a hat."

Lulu smiled as Duke tried to stifle a laugh.

"Well, my dear Chief, I'm hoping that Kimberly can teach Puddles to attack unsavory characters, like navy men." Lulu concluded with an innocent smile as she walked away.

"Hey, I resent that," Dorrman called after her before turning to Duke. "What are you planning to do

now?"

"Do? Well Chief, it is my intention to sit down, wait and see if our company clerk can deliver lunch with the meager resources left. I left my NCOs to take care of business. I like to call that leadership. Don't

you have a wagon to get ready?" Duke asked.