"General Hayes," The President began, "if you're not too occupied I'd like a situation report."
The President could hear cheering in the background. "As you can tell, Mr.President," the General answered, "we're quite happy to hear your voice here, sir. We were quite concerned, and, mad as hell. Are you well, sir?"
"Recovering quickly," The President answered. That report, General?"
"We had just received word of the attack on The White House sir," the General continued, "when the enemy opened up on us with everything he had. They pounded us with aircraft and artillery for two hours! Then their ground troops began their assault. We drove them back, sir. They penetrated a few miles, then we counter attacked, and drove them back across the DMZ. It was hell for ten hours, but all is secure, now."
"Casualties, General?" The President asked.
"Among the ground troops incredibly light, Mr. President. But the Navy boys took a pounding. The enemy threw everything they had at them in one desperate effort. They chewed us up pretty bad, sir. I'm afraid I don't have the details on that. Things are pretty confused around here."
"I'll get a report from here," The President acknowledged. "For the present, General, hold the line. Repel any further attacks. But I'm not yet ready to take the enemy on on his own ground. He needs to be tenderized a little first."
"From the way he fought sir, today," the General answered, "he needs to be tenderized A LOT first! We can't discount their courage, Mr. President. They may be led by a madman, but they're as brave as hell."
"I will take your council into consideration," The President answered. "My well done to everyone there. We've got to gather some more help, then we'll get this thing done. Hold the ground, General!"
"Understood, sir!" Hayes answered.
The President hung up the phone and let out a sigh. "Where's my Naval Aide?" he asked.
"He was wounded in the attack on The White House," one of The Secret Service Men answered. "Admiral North is outside. He's been waiting for some time."
The President looked concerned. "The Commander Of The Navy should be at The Pentagon, not HERE."
"The Pentagon's rather a mess, sir," The Secret Service Man remarked. "Parts of it are still burning. The Admiral is carrying on his duties in a motel The Navy commandeered several blocks away, using remote communications equipment. The rest of the Joint Chiefs are doing likewise."
"Get him in here!" The President insisted.
"A few moments later a haggard looking admiral came in, followed by two aides and several men carrying chairs and portable desks. They quickly set those up. The Admiral and his aides seated themselves. As soon as the door shut behind them, The President snapped "Give!"
"They threw everything they have at us, Mr. President, from both coasts. They used conventional weapons and thousands of private planes converted to suicide bombs. They kept coming at our ships until they had expended all their ammunition, then they sank them."
"How many?" The President asked.
"We lost eight destroyers," the Admiral announced. "We've lost a cruiser, eight destroyers, and five support ships, plus 26 aircraft. The Kennedy is severely damaged but still operational. The Washington and The Enterprise are lightly damaged. But we haven't got an escort out there that isn't damaged, a supply ship that isn't banged up. Two of the ships lost were tankers. The carriers are very low on fuel for their aircraft."
"Casualties?" The President asked.
The Admiral looked down. "7,456, Mr. President. Miraculously few, considering the circumstances. 422 of them were on The Kennedy alone. Rescue efforts have been superb. If it wasn't for that effort our losses would have been far, far more.
The enemy's losses in comparison, are staggering. We estimate 32,000 dead, and we've taken nearly 18,000 prisoners. We're doing what we can for them, but we're going to lose a few thousand more. They got exposed to some pretty nasty toxin. It's not too pretty, sir.
We sank 470 combat vessels, 51 submarines, and 230 support craft they had converted to carry missiles. We believe they only have about 120 varying support craft left. They're sticking close to the coast now, under their air cover. Mr. President according to our figures the enemy only had 440 surface craft and 45 submarines. Some of these vessels that attacked us were NOT North Korean. We suspect some of them may have been Chinese, or even Russian."

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