Land of Promise (21 page)

Finding a supply of the caseless 30 × 250 mm ammunition for the RMK30 cannons required going through two intermediary nations, but eventually a large supply was obtained by Rick Akins, acting as agent for Harry Heston’s Isher Trading Company.

Just one of the piloted Cadre Moths was set up as a long-endurance VHF Relay aircraft. This plane was equipped with extra fuel tanks at the plane’s center of gravity, a sleeping cot atop the fuel tanks, a compact chemical toilet, extra rations, an electric ration heater, and a 20-liter drinking water dispenser. The plane was also retrofitted with a radar warning receiver (RWR), a laser warning receiver (LWR), and a rack of VHF radio repeaters. If cell phone service were ever disrupted a relay aircraft would need to stay aloft in Ilemi airspace for up to 20 hours at a time. There it could do some high-altitude loitering at a low cruise speed while flying semi-random patterns programmed into the Moth’s autopilot.

This plane was jokingly called “The Missile Magnet” by IRDF Cadre pilots, since flying for so many hours in a racetrack pattern at 38,000 feet was unlikely to go unnoticed by enemy air defense units. They would have preferred to create the VHF relay out of Moth UAV, but the Isher Trading agents couldn’t find one available on the secondary market and new ones were unaffordable. With both the range tank and the relief pilot cot available, the plane could also double as a long-range air ambulance.

All Moths were given multi-layer RAM coatings; once the Ilemis had a small fleet of Moths, they qualified to purchase, directly from Pilatus, replacement engines, various spare parts, specialized tools, A&P repair fixtures, and RAM coatings. The RAM coatings were applied in five layers: A gray base Jaumann Shell layer, then a rough layer which had split-ring resonators (SRRs) suspended in the paint. These tiny aluminum loops were open-ended, throwing radar off in random directions, so that the plane would present a smaller radar return. Next, there were two self-leveling layers to re-smooth the surface, and finally a semi-rough layer of camouflage RAM in six different colors. The undersides of the planes got a slightly bluish gray coat, but their sides and upper surfaces were in a mottled-color camouflage pattern that predominated in browns and greens. This same camouflage pattern was also soon adopted for all IRDF ground vehicles, storage CONEXes and fuel tanks.

Since neither the Ilemi government nor the IRDF had an aircraft registry, the planes’ only exterior identification markings were three digit alphanumerics -- letter, number, letter -- with the prefix
IFC
for Ilemi Flying Club. The markings were 50 centimeters tall on the wings and 30 centimeters tall on the fuselages, the minimum legal dimensions under ICAO standards. Most Ilemi private aircraft owners and the IRDF cadre mudged a bit by using paint colors for the club registry markings that only had slight contrast with the background color. These were similar to the U.S. Air Force and Navy’s “dark gray on gray” ident markings that had been used since the 1980s.

Chapter 19: Si Vis Pacem

“Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never — in nothing, great or small, large or petty — never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”
-- Sir Winston Churchill, 1941

Solus Christus, The Ilemi Republic -- May, Four Years After Declaration of the Caliphate

Mark Mtume asked Colonel Petrus Kamwi to meet him for a strategy session while he was on one of his stops in Solus Christus. Kamwi met him in one of the large IRDF tents being used until completion of the first underground barracks. It was late in the afternoon, the temperature was in the mid-90s, and light rain was falling, making a pattering noise as raindrops hit the tent. Kamwi was wearing his hydration pack, as was his habit, whenever he was out and about.

The month of May was well into the rainy season, so much of their field work was conducted in the rain. The NCOs would often comment, “Think of this as
character
building, trainees.”

Mark asked, “How do we put the Ilemi Republic Defense Force on an equal footing with larger forces attempting to raid or invade us? We’ll need a lot of firepower, but our budget is limited. And because it is very likely that there will be arms embargoes, we need to be able to use older-generation equipment that can “slip through the cracks.” If we try to buy the latest and greatest missile system, then that door is likely to get slammed shut in our face. So what will give us decent range, lots of firepower, good accuracy, at an affordable price, and also be available in abundance on the global arms market -- meaning interchangeable ammunition available in multiple countries?”

Without hesitating, Kamwi replied, “Mortars -- big ones, I’m talking 120mm or the old United States 4.2”, what is commonly called a Four-Deuce. Nearly all Western countries have moved on to sophisticated ground-to-ground missile systems or advanced technology in artillery, such as base-bleed or rocket-assisted shells. But in the Third World, mortars are still the queen of battle. Most countries have standardized with three mortar sizes: 60mm for light infantry, 81mm or 82 mm for organic fire support of most wheeled and tracked units, and 120mm for heavy support. But the old American 4.2-inch M30 is excellent, and because it is rifled, it is very accurate. The 4.2” mortar has a range of nearly seven kilometers.”

“Excellent.”

Kamwi took a sip from his hydration pack tube, and continued. “Many countries have made their 4.2-inch mortars obsolete and either switched to missile systems or 120mm mortars. So Four-Deuce mortar tubes and baseplates can be bought for scrap metal prices -- and I mean that literally. And there are truly
tons
of 4.2mm mortar rounds in deep war reserves in the U.S., Greece, Brazil, the Philippines, and Israel. The quantities stored in Israel alone are staggering. You see, for more than 50 years, both Egypt and Israel got $1 billion worth of military aid
annually
from the United States, all part of the 1973 Peace Treaty deal. Those were all use-it-or-lose-it ” annual funds, so Israel often rounded out each year their $1 billion spending with ‘
more
ammunition.’ So by the year 2025, there were more 4.2” mortar shells in Israel’s war reserves than in the U.S.”

Kamwi pulled out his MobDev and thumbed at it with practiced precision to reference his electronic library of military manual PDFs. He glanced up and said, “Okay, here in this manual is a good overview of the Four-Deuce: The M30 system weighs 307.5 kg including the complete mortar with a welded steel rotator, M24A1 base plate and M53 sight. I suggest we purchase M30s for fixed-position defense and either M320 towed mortars or the newer M327 mortars, if we can find some, for our maneuver units.”

“What types of 4.2-inch mortar rounds were made?”

Kamwi scrolled through the PDF and lapsed into quoting verbatim: “Here are the basic types: One, the HE M329A1, with a max range of 5,650 m (6,180 yd), weight 12.3 kg (27 lb.) Two,

the HE M329A2, with a max range 6,840 m (7,480 yd), weight 10 kg (22 lb). Three, the HE M34A1 -- max range 4,620 m (5,050 yd), weight 12.2 kg (26.9 lb), and Four, the WP M328A1 -- well, that’s white phosphorous, now banned in many countries -- max range 5,650 m (6,180 yd). And we have the illumination parachute flare round M335A2, which has a max range 5,490 m (6,000 yd.”

After seeing an appreciative nod, Kamwi added, “American 4.2-inch mortar rounds are designed to be drop-safe and bore-safe. As such, the fuses in the rounds for this rifled mortar do not arm unless the round is spun a certain number of times. That is to say that the round is not armed until it exits the barrel spinning and travels a safe distance from the gun emplacement.”

In the end, after checking for availability from surplus arms brokers, the IRDF opted for rifled 4.2” mortars rather than Russian 120mm mortars because the manuals were available in both English and Hebrew and there was a huge quantity of used mortar parts, sights, and shells available on the surplus market. With modern ballistic computer apps available for mobile devices and dedicated Kestrel weather monitoring devices, the FDC apps could combine current MET (meteorological) and elevation data from GPS, as well as the crucial Angle T and all other relevant data. This minimized the need to “walk” the mortar round to the desired target.

Chapter 20: The Settlers

“Quite an experience to live in fear, isn’t it? That’s what it is, to be a slave... I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in rain...”
-- Rutger Hauer as Roy Batty, in
Blade Runner
(1982); screenplay by Hampton Fancher and David Webb Peoples, based on a novel by Philip K. Dick

Solus Christus, The Ilemi Republic -- June, Four Years After Declaration of the Caliphate

Although they came from a wide variety of backgrounds and income levels, most of the settler families in the Ilemi Republic had two possessions in common within a week of arrival: At least one firearm, and at least one drone. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), also known as Remotely Piloted Vehicles (RPVs) and commonly called drones, were ubiquitous in the 2020s and 2030s. Although they were at first little more than just expensive playthings, by the 2040s they were mass-produced, inexpensive, and utterly practical. When integrated with late-generation lithium nanowire batteries, these drones could be recharged thousands of times before their batteries needed replacing.

The quadrocopter drone profile became a familiar sight worldwide, starting in the 2010s, and by 2020 many governments had legislated flight and size restrictions. But by then they were ubiquitous. The sweet-spot size for long-endurance electric quadrocopter drones was ½-meter diameter rotors. This gave a quadrocopter sufficient lift for up to a ten-pound payload. But if only a couple of pounds were needed for sensors, then the extra eight pounds of capacity could be used for extra batteries, giving UAVs of that size either long range or persistence -- the ability to hover or orbit for extended periods of time.

A parallel development was the Automated Landing Systems (ALS). ALS hardware and software gave second generation UAVs the ability to Return To Base (RTB), with just the touch of a button. There was no need to actively pilot a UAV when it was in RTB mode.

The variety of people who opted to move to the Ilemi Republic amazed Alan Pilcher. Often, they propitiously arrived just before they were critically needed, and Akins considered that providential. Among the early arrivals were:

- Martina Forti, a SIGINT specialist with the Italian AISE with a degree in electrical engineering. She turned down sales engineer job offers with both Marconi and Elettronica to move to the Ilemi. She was initially distrusted by some IRDF officers because of her background with a foreign intelligence agency. Martina later became a Deputy Director of the Ilemi Republic Intelligence and Security Service (IRISS.)

- Gideon Di-Nur, a former Israeli Defense Force mortarman from Eilat, Israel, who was an instructor with Israeli Krav Maga Association (IKM). He became the mentor and lead instructor for Krav Maga training for the entire Ilemi Republic Defense Force. He was also the militia’s first mortar trainer.

- Elise Van der Merwe, a trauma nurse and former SANDF medic from Windhoek, Namibia. She developed the first training curriculum for IRDF medics.

- Wayne Healey, a cattle brand inspector from Woodward, Oklahoma.

- Andry Boto, a shoe salesman from Madagascar, who volunteered to start a
Boots For IRDF
fundraising campaign to provide boots and uniforms for low-income IRDF recruits.

- Nate Raymond, a gunsmith, gun salesman, and firearms trainer from Arizona. He created a standardized training method soon adopted by the IDF for teaching novice shooters how to best shoot Glock.

- Sister Sylvia, a member of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth (CSFN). While serving at the St. Frances of Rome Convent in Tyler, Texas, she read about the Ilemi Republic. The concept captivated her. She was sad to learn there was no organized Catholic Church presence in the Ilemi Republic. But rather than encouraging Roman Catholics to emigrate to the Ilemi Republic, she saw her role as a helper in shepherding persecuted Catholics
through
the Ilemi, en route to extant Roman Catholic refuge nations. Her organization was called Catholic Refugees in Transit (CRIT). Working with an endowment from The Heston Foundation, she helped fellow Roman Catholics make their way to the Philippines, Mexico, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Chile. Sister Sylvia was a 66-year old dynamo. With just one assistant, a native Ilemi woman who had been raised at the Red Cross compound in Liwan, she spent countless hours lining up visas and jobs for CRIT refugees. The pair kept meticulous accounting records to assure that every Silmo provided by The Heston Foundation went to transition lodging, meals, and travel.

Heston’s foundation also funded Eastern Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Coptic Syriac, and Malankara Indian Orthodox church emigration to Poland, Russia, Ukraine, and to several other less hostile host nations. Many Eastern Orthodox went to the United States, settling particularly in Pennsylvania, Illinois, New York, and New Jersey. This also generated goodwill among a separate diaspora of Christian sects which would prove strategically valuable in the years to come.

From the very beginning, the philosophy of the IRDF was for its units to be a truly decentralized citizen militia and, keeping with the concept, for most militia equipment to remain privately owned and stationed at private homes. APCs, helicopter, tanks, and artillery pieces were often stored on site at greenhouse farms and ranches in dedicated buildings and, just as often, tucked into barns. Crews for vehicles and large weapons systems were recruited geo-locally, just as fire truck and paramedic crews for the rural volunteer fire departments had traditionally been recruited in the U.S. and Canada. Although the options were more plentiful in Solus Christus, the norm was that if an APC graced your neighborhood, your sons and daughters would train as mechanized infantry.

Many wealthy families bought large weapons systems, including helicopters, drones, and self-propelled artillery. Although the notion was downplayed, some considered such a purchase as much a status symbol as the 20
^th
century’s Lear Jet or Rolls Royce. Middle class families tended to buy APCs and light howitzers. Poor families usually pooled their resources to buy mortars and machineguns. Surplus 81mm and 4.2” mortar tubes, baseplates, leg assemblies, and sights were sold by Israel at scrap metal prices, and the IRDF Central Command provided inert mortar shells free of charge for training purposes, as well as high explosive and parachute flare mortar shells as war reserves to be stockpiled in sealed crates by individual owners.

Family settlement patterns led to some inconsistencies -- such as a large number of helicopters being located on the Mtume Plateau and a cluster of wheeled APCs in the Notch Valley where new cattle ranches were predominantly established by Afrikaners. There, the small market community of Midvale had more than a dozen APCs ranging in size from small Mamba and Nyala scout vehicles to 18-ton RG-35 six-wheeled APCs. The IRDF established depot maintenance facilities throughout the country leased or granted from settlers.

The Loitanet River Valley, commonly called the Notch Valley, between the Lorionetom Mountains (“Eastern Range”) and the Lokwanamoru Mountains (“Southwestern Range”) was roughly seven miles wide and stretched 16 miles south to the Kenyan border; to the northwest were the Kadingetom Mountains (locally called “The Northwestern Range”). The valley was once largely desolate, but the advent of water bores, photovoltaics, and earth graders turned much of the valley into irrigated hay fields and farmland.

The region west of the Lokwanamoru Mountains had very poor pasture and was quite hot and fairly barren of trees. Much like Israel’s southern Negev Desert, a large portion of the western third of the Ilemi Triangle became devoted to military training, with artillery ranges, bombing and aerial gunnery ranges, and APC maneuver areas.

The Ilemi Republic was a melting pot for cultural artifacts from around the world: The greeting “Howzit,” Braai parties, Bobotie (a sweet curried ground-meat dish), and Roibos tea from South Africa; Hummus, pita bread, peanut butter puffs, and
halva
from Israel; handshakes with simultaneous shoulder taps from South Sudan; the greeting “Karibuni” and
Chapatti
s wheat from Kenya; Three Gun shooting matches, voluminous home emergency food storage supplies, cowboy hats, and southwestern chili from The United States.

Rick found that the developing Ilemi culture was in many ways a throwback to what you’d find at a Texas ranch before the 1960s. There was plenty of hospitality and copious quantities of both barbequed beef and iced tea. Amusements for guests usually involved guns or horses, or
both
, since shooting from horseback gained considerable popularity. The standing joke was that the perfect horse for the Ilemi would be “as surefooted as a goat, as accustomed to the heat as an Arabian stallion, and as deaf as a post.”

A typical dinner party at an Ilemi ranch started in the late afternoon with some target shooting, went on until well after dark, and ended with a stroll for the gentlemen after the invitation, “Let’s go see Africa.” The ladies were not invited, because this typically involved watering some shrubbery. Enjoying a cigar and a single shot of some
aperitif
were considered acceptable at many private residences, but either of these would be frowned upon at any public establishment.

Large cattle ranches predominated in the more remote ends of the Ilemi. Because of difficult road conditions, many of these ranches were isolated for almost the entire rainy season. Most ranchers constructed a landing strip at least 500 feet long so that they could at least get emergency transport, via STOL aircraft.

Many of the Israeli aquaculture- and hydrogen-farmers settled along the Big Wadi that bisected the Kokuro Road 6.5 kilometers south of Liwan. Even though it was hotter at this elevation, they preferred this valley to the Mtume Plateau because it was truly level ground, which was crucial for aquaculture. This settlement became known as New Paran, named after Kibbutz of Paran in a valley in southern Israel. An angry split between the
Masorati
and
Meshichim
in Paran prompted a group of 60 Messianics to make Yoridah to the Ilemi.