Then the skies over Texas came alive as aerial dogfights unfolded that were reminiscent of the battle for Britain in World War II. Archie Gladstone’s pilots fought as men fight who must win or die. The UP pilots fought like uninspired robots. Trails of smoke etched the sky as dozens of UP planes exploded and fell to earth.

Nothing the UP sent up ever got through. When the score was tallied, it was UP losses–49, Western Defense Zone–5.

The UP forces now had no radar surveillance, no air cover, and no possible air bombardment of the skillfully entrenched positions of Archie Gladstone’s ground forces.

When the Antichrist heard of the loss of most of his air wing, he raged in fury. Then, like Hitler before him, he refused the advice of his ground commanders to postpone the attack until a new air wing could be brought up. “They are weak, sniveling cowards!” he roared.

“Any general who fails to attack will be executed!”

Acting on the orders of their demonized commander in chief, the UP generals had massed their armor in a broad attack line. Behind it, they positioned the rocket launchers and the heavy artillery pieces.

Both sides had battlefield-nuclear capacity, but both rejected their use for fear of retaliation and the subsequent dangers of fallout.

Archie controlled the air and could have begun bombing and strafing runs over the enemy forces. He could not understand why Al Augustus had ordered him to refrain from doing so.

Archie and Al flew by helicopter to a high lookout post. Just before the order was given for the UP gunners to commence firing, the artillery pieces and rocket launchers went into action across the front, and suddenly there was a series of dramatic explosions! The breech of each gun had exploded when it fired its first shell. As the rockets and missiles started to leave their tubes and launch pads, but before they were airborne, they exploded.

From the initial salvo, not one field piece or launcher remained intact. All were destroyed.

Archie Gladstone was awestruck! That sly fox, he thought. Al Augustus is always three steps ahead.

“Al,” he said, “I don’t get it. What happened out there?”

“It seems, General,” he said with a smile, “that my friends in the Pentagon were successful. It was really very simple. Before I left for Babylon, I requested that a paper-thin coating of high-explosive Plastique be painted on the breech or in the barrel of every rocket launcher, missile launcher, and artillery piece that we turned over to the combined world forces. From the looks of things, I would say that they did their job quite well!”

“Sir, it is a pleasure to serve with a man like you. The UP ground troops are helpless before us. What do you suggest we do next?”

“General,” he said, “if you’ll look up at the sky, I believe you’ll have your answer.”