Cyber Warfare and the New World Order: World War III Series: Book IV
Page 25
There had been a lull in the bombing the past couple of days as the Americans shifted their bombing attacks to Taiwan. It was during this lull that Li had ordered 34 divisions to the Shanghai area. His gut was telling him the Americans were about to attack. When his aide had knocked on his door, he just knew that the Americans must have launched their assault. After he hurriedly got dressed, he followed his aide down the hallway, to the stairs that would lead to where his operations center was set up.
Several guards at the entrance to the operations center snapped to attention and saluted General Zuocheng as he arrived. He returned their salutes and continued into the nerve center of his command. What he saw when he entered was controlled chaos with officers on the phone obtaining status reports from various sectors, and others analyzing the dozens of live drone feeds being piped in from Rudong and the nearby ports and harbors. He stood there for a second looking at the drone feeds of the Rudong. He saw the sky was lit up with tracers, flying in nearly every direction. He also saw what appeared to be hundreds upon hundreds of helicopters arriving from the direction of the sea, landing in dozens of areas across the city.
One of his generals walked up to him asking, “General Zuocheng, I would like your permission to order the 14th Army to Rudong and Nantong to throw the Americans back into the sea.”
General Zuocheng just nodded his approval, leaving his subordinate to make it happen while he moved over to the PLAAF liaison. “General Feng, I need your forces to start attacking those American helicopters,” he said as he pointed to the drone feeds and radar screens showing hundreds of helicopters and aircraft over the city.
The Air Force liaison replied, “Yes sir. We are scrambling aircraft and drones from across the military district to head towards the Americans now.” The invasion was still in the first hours, so Li knew things were fluid and likely to change quickly. What he did not want to do was make the same mistakes the Germans did during the Normandy invasion. They had not rushed all of their forces to the beach, and by the time they had realized that this was the main Allied attack, the Allies had landed too many soldiers and tanks to be pushed back into the channel.
Zuocheng turned to one of his other generals. “I want the militia divisions rushed forward as well. Have them try and break through to the ports and interrupt the enemy operations.”
Before the general issued the order, he asked, “Sir, the militia units will probably be cut to pieces without armor support. Should we have them wait until the 14th Army is in position to support their advance?”
“No. They are quick and mobile, and we need to get them there now. I know they will be ravaged, but they will buy the 14th time to get into position and hit the Americans with our heavier armored and mechanized forces,” General Zuocheng replied. He had a huge pit growing in his stomach, knowing that tens of thousands of militia soldiers would probably be killed within the next hour.
Hold the Line
12 February 2043
Rudong, China
“Captain Thornton, Colonel Lee was looking for you,” said one of the sergeants as he walked into the operations room.
Thornton nodded and began to walk towards the door leading to the parking lot helipad. It had been three and a half hours since they landed in Rudong, and things were still very chaotic. His company had secured a suitable landing zone and expanded the perimeter enough to allow follow-on forces to continue to arrive. Helicopters were landing as fast as they could and offloading dozens of soldiers, munitions, water, food and other supplies that they would need. So far, two full battalions of Marines had landed at his landing zone (LZ), and were pushing further into the city. The eight Wolverines that arrived thirty minutes ago were already heavily engaged just a few blocks away.
As Thornton approached Colonel Lee, he could see that he was apprehensive about something. “Captain, there you are. I have some disturbing news….” he started.
Joe sighed. Then, sitting next to the colonel along the brick wall some of his soldiers had used for cover a few hours ago, he asked, “What’s coming our way?”
“Intelligence intercepted a message from the PLA district commander, directing the Chinese 14th Army to head to Rudong and Nantong. They also intercepted some additional orders to the local PLA militia units. I’m not sure why we were not warned earlier; apparently, they intercepted these orders three hours ago. The brigade recon team sent a FLASH message saying they had spotted a massive troop movement heading towards us. Here’s the video image they sent,” he explained, passing a tablet to Thornton.
Looking at the screen, he saw multiple side streets and alleyways crawling with militia. There had to be thousands of them. Thornton handed the tablet back and asked, “How far away are they?”
“They are approaching the brigade perimeter right now. We have several airstrikes inbound right now that will hopefully thin them out. I’ve asked for several additional Wolverines to be dropped. We are going to need a lot more firepower to beat back that mob. Their sheer numbers could overwhelm us if we are not careful,” Colonel Lee stated.
Thornton nodded. After a pause, he asked, “What do you want me to do, Sir?”
“I’d like you to have several heavy machineguns moved up to the roof of the surrounding buildings overlooking the LZ. See if you can’t get a few more barricades built near the perimeter and have them start placing a lot of claymore mines out there. I’m confident they won’t break through our main lines, but we need to be ready to hold the landing zones and ports. I’m going to move to Delta Company’s position next and make sure they are doing the same. You and Bravo Company have the two closest LZs to the frontlines right now.”
Before the colonel could leave, Thornton asked, “When are we getting some heavy armor from the ports?”
“Soon. They should be arriving with the next wave of transports, along with nearly 100 Wolverines. I would expect them to start showing up in a couple of hours, but until then, it’s going to get a bit dicey around here--so be ready,” Colonel Lee said as he got up and walked over to one of the armored trucks, hopping in.
Thornton quickly walked into his command center and began to look over the digital map as it was being updated with the data from the various drone feeds and intelligence reports. The colonel was right; it was not looking very good at the outer perimeter. He immediately called his platoon leaders and sergeants, gave them an update on what was coming their way, and issued new instructions to get their perimeter ready to repel the enemy should they break through the lines. It was imperative that they keep the air bridge into Rudong open.
They Are All Bad Choices
12 February 2043
Yokota Air Base, Japan
General Gardner’s Headquarters
As the reports continued to flood in from the Rudong and Nantong, it was becoming clearer that the invasion was not going according to plan. They had anticipated stiff resistance by the PLA, but what they were encountering was nothing short of madness. The PLA had started to throw multiple militia divisions at the invasion force while they positioned the 14th Army to join the fray. The battle for Rudong was turning into a complete slaughter--not of the US Marines who were spearheading the invasion--but of the militia forces that were attacking them.
The drone feeds from the battle and some of the videos they had been reviewing from the battle helmets of the Marines was brutal. The number of bodies piling up in the streets and parks was horrific. The Chinese kept throwing more and more militia soldiers at the Marines, despite the endless slaughter. At the same time, the wave-after-wave assaults were starting to inflict a terrible casualty rate among the Marines. What was worse, the PLA was not allowing the civilians to flee the city. They had blocked the roads, clogging the streets up and creating an even worse humanitarian crisis. The General was not going to be pleased with what was happening. The US had been working hard to avoid civilian casualties, but it appeared that the PLA was going to use the people of Rudong, Nantong and Shanghai as human shields.
A minute later, General Gardner turned to MG Williams and said, “I assume you’ve gotten caught up on the reports flooding in?”
MG Williams just nodded and waited to see what his friend would say next. Gardner began, “We are taking significant casualties, even though we are slaughtering their militia forces. It also appears the PLA is using the civilian population as human shields preventing them from fleeing the city,” he said, disgusted.
“I think we should revise our invasion plans and send the EHDs into Rudong,” Williams proposed, hoping Gardner would agree.
“I had wanted to save them for our summer invasion, but I think you may be right. This is a fight that is more suitable for the EHDs. What I’m not sure of is what to do with the civilians. If the PLA is not going to let them flee the area, they are going to get caught up in the fighting. I do not want to limit our ability to provide air or artillery support for fear of hitting civilians,” he stated.
“What are you going to do?” asked Peter, also very concerned about the situation.
“I have a call with the President and General Branson shortly. I am not going to do anything until I have clarity and support from the President.” Gardner checked his watch again; his telecom was going to start in five minutes.
*******
President Stein had been monitoring the progress of the invasion since it started, sifting through miles of information and data feeds in the bowels of the PEOC. Like the others in the room, he was appalled by what appeared to be the senseless slaughter of the PLA militia forces. Now they had to contend with the PLA’s blockading of the civilians from fleeing the cities.
Stein had tried to call President Jinping to implore them not to use civilians as human shields. Unfortunately, Jinping would not take his call. Instead, one of his functionaries told him, “China does not use human shields. We expect the Allies to not intentionally target civilians who are trying to flee the city.”
When General Gardner came on the call, he breathed a sigh of relief. “General, I want you to do whatever is necessary to support our forces on the ground. Obviously, Jinping has no value for human life, using his people as speed bumps and bait. Enough is enough.”
“What do you want me to do about the civilians, Sir?”
Stein responded, “This war has been dragged out long enough. I am not going to lose more soldiers because the PLA refuses to protect their civilians. If you have to kill every civilian in the area to defeat the PLA, then so be it. This war is going to end.”
Morally Reprehensible
12 February 2043
Rudong, China
Twelve hours into the invasion, several thousand PLA militia solders (supported by the PLA’s 14th Army group) had broken through the American’s outer perimeter and were quickly squeezing close to the U.S. foothold.
After his meeting with the President, General Gardner ordered the 32nd infantry division and their enhanced humanoid drones to move into Rudong to support the Marines. In addition to ordering the drones in, he also told the infantry division commander to have the drones’ combat AI turned on and programmed to kill every person who did not emit a friendly Individual Identification Frequency (IIF).
Typically, the EHDs were operated by a human, just like the drone tanks and aircraft. A human was always required in the loop because there was a concern about having the drones operate on their own and somehow going rogue. However, the American soldiers operating in the Shanghai area were being slaughtered by the sheer numbers of enemy soldiers that the PLA was throwing at them. The President had determined that something more extreme needed to be done.
The Marines conducting the fighting retreat from the outer perimeter were reporting that the PLA was forcing thousands of civilians to advance in front of their soldiers to act as human shields. The Marines were doing their best to not kill the civilians and focus on the enemy soldiers. However, it was becoming increasingly difficult to do. Then brigade had sent a FLASH message ordering them to engage and kill the civilians. Thornton read the FLASH message a second time, to make sure he fully understood what he was being asked to do. He felt a lump in his throat. He did not like this order one bit.
The orders also told them that the 32nd infantry division and their EHDs were being deployed shortly. Once deployed, they would take over the operation of clearing the city. A loop of endless thought ran through Thornton’s mind. “This is terrible; now they want us to kill any civilians being used as human shields? This is wrong on so many levels…but can we even survive if we don’t do something? Those PLA soldiers are a miserable excuse for humanity. How can they lead their own people to slaughter?”
Captain Thornton cleared his throat, and motioned for quiet. “Everyone, listen up. We just received a new set of orders from brigade. The PLA is not only deterring the civilians from leaving the area for safety; they are now actively pushing them out in front of their advance as human shields. The outer perimeter has already collapsed, and our forces are retreating. They will arrive our perimeter shortly. Brigade has just sent a FLASH message directly from General Gardner on orders from the President. We are to engage and kill any civilians being used as human shields.” There was an audible gasp in the room. “I know most of you may not like this idea; however, if we do not stop the PLA advance, we are all going to die. We need to hold our landing zone until reinforcements arrive.”
Pausing for a second to take a breath, he then continued, “I was just told the 32nd infantry division is being deployed to our position, which means they will be delivering thousands of those new enhanced humanoid drones. Once they arrive, we are to let them advance and deal with the PLA and the civilians being used as human shields. They should start to reach us shortly, and will continue to come in until the entire division is here. Our LZ will be one of the primary locations they will be landing at. I know this mess about killing the civilians is beyond horrific, but we have a duty to do, and I need everyone to remember that our lives and those of every other American involved in this invasion is depending on us doing our jobs.”
With his new orders issued and his officers and NCOs acknowledging that they understood, Thornton went back up to the roof of the building he had been using as a headquarters since they first landed. As he arrived at the rooftop, he moved quickly to one of the corners, where several of his men had a heavy machinegun set up.
One of the soldiers looked at Captain Thornton and asked, “Sir, are we really supposed to mow down any civilians we see rushing towards our perimeter?” he probed, clearly distraught with the thought of killing unarmed innocents
Sighing for a second, Thornton sat down next to the Marines and looked each of them in the eye before responding, “These orders are the vilest thing I have ever been tasked with--shoot, the orders are illegal, and against the Laws of War and every rule of engagement we have ever been given or told. If I had my druthers, I’d refuse the order, just as I am sure many of you are thinking of doing. But here’s the deal…the PLA is doing this intentionally. They know our rules of engagement and are trying to use them against us. They are trying to make us second guess ourselves and then overwhelm us with their sheer numbers. We can’t let that happen. If we do, then everyone is going to die and this invasion will fail. We cannot let that happen,” he said, trying to justify what would traditionally be an illegal order.
The Marines thought about it for a few minutes before a young black Marine spoke up for the group, “None of us like these orders, but like you said, Sir, if we do not do it, we are all going to die and this invasion is going
to fail. We’ll do it. We will follow your orders, Sir, and we’ll make sure the PLA does not overwhelm our position.” He spoke with such confidence and conviction that all of the other Marines nearby nodded their heads in agreement. This was the only course of action if they were to survive.
Captain Thornton got up slowly and left the machinegun crew to go talk with the other Marines in his Company. He wanted to make sure his soldiers understood the gravity of their situation. It took him close to thirty minutes to visit the majority of his men before the sounds of machinegun fire in the city began to creep closer and louder. Then, small clusters of Marines, first squads and then platoon size groups, began to fall back to their defensive line, shoring up Thornton’s position.
Less than ten minutes after the outer perimeter force fell back to Thornton’s location, the enemy soldiers started to show up. Looking down the street, Thornton’s stomach just sank as he saw throngs of people being forced forward by Chinese tanks, armored personnel vehicles and soldiers with bayonets on the ends of their rifles. It was disgusting to see how callous the PLA was in the treatment of their own people.
Thornton knew what needed to be done and knew he needed to lead by example if he wanted his men to follow such tough orders. While crouched down behind a barrier that his Marines were using, he raised his rifle, took aim and began to fire countless rounds on burst into the crowd of civilians being pushed towards his perimeter. He saw one, then two, then dozens of civilians drop to the ground, dead from his rounds. In seconds of firing his shots, the rest of his company and the Marines from the retreating group began to open fire as well.