Breakthroughs

A few more Reds blundered out of the undergrowth and died before the rest realized the sort of trap they were in. That was too late. By then, from the sounds of the gunfire, Tom’s men had drawn a good semicircle around them. The only way out lay to the south-and that was no way out, either.

A

But the men of the Congaree Socialist Republic had tried to create using men’s lives as their canvas, too. Now, realizing what sort of obstruction barred them from breaking free of their pursuers, they tried once more.

In their own way, they were also veterans, and veteran bushwhackers to boot. That made them too wily to charge headlong at their foes’ position. But they had to get through it, or they would never go anywhere again. At a shouted word of command-was that Cassius’ voice?-they attacked the trench line.

“Damnyankees couldn’t have done it better,” a veteran said admiringly, once the shooting was over. The Negroes advanced by rushes, one group firing from cover to let another leapfrog past them, then moving forward in turn.

A man next to A

For a few minutes, the fighting was very hot. The Red rebels battled for escape with desperate courage. A

The Negroes got into the trenches. They did not get past them, not anywhere. The veterans and militiamen outnumbered and outgu

Cautiously, her men began showing themselves. They drew no fire. She went up and down the trenches, inspecting Negro corpses. She did not find Cassius’ body. Cursing, she blew out the brains of a black who wasn’t quite dead. Had the revolutionary leader slipped through her net again?

Halfway through the afternoon, the veterans who’d slogged down from Gadsden began coming out of the swamp. They had no prisoners with them. When Tom emerged, so filthy she hardly knew who he was, she cried, “Cassius got away again!”

“Oh, no, he didn’t.” Her brother gri

All she felt was envy bitter and poisonous as prussic acid. “God damn you!” she shouted. “I should have done it.”

“Jacob was my brother, too, A

A

“Cassius was the big fish,” Tom agreed. “He’s feeding the fish now.”

“It’s over,” A

TheGreatWar: Breakthroughs

Books by Harry Turtledove

THE GUNS OF THE SOUTH

TheGreatWar: Breakthroughs

The Great War is over but the conflict continues…with

American Empire: Blood Iron by Harry Turtledove

The Great War has ended, and an uneasy peace reigns around most of the world. But nowhere is the peace more fragile than on the continent of North America, where bitter enemies share a single landmass and two long, bloody borders.

In the North, proud Canadian nationalists try to resist the colonial power of the United States. In the South, the once-mighty Confederate States have been pounded into poverty and merciless inflation. U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt refuses to return to pre-war borders. The scars of the past will not soon be healed. The time is right for madmen, demagogues, and terrorists.

At this crucial moment in history, with Socialists rising to power in the U.S. under the leadership of presidential candidate Upton Sinclair, a dangerous fanatic is on the rise in the Confederacy, preaching a message of hate. And in Canada, another man-a simple farmer-has a nefarious plan: to assassinate the greatest U.S. war hero, General George Armstrong Custer.