by James Rosone
“Each week, a new class of 5,000 recruits would start training, and as the pipeline of trainees starts to fill, the bases would churn out 5,000 new soldiers at the end of ten weeks and each week thereafter. At this pace, it would take six months to train the 600,000 soldiers for the expeditionary force once the training begins. We would frontload the training for the soldiers who will need additional military training in the US so that they would complete their advanced training by the time the rest of the force is ready. Following the six-month train-up period, the expeditionary force would receive thirty-days of leave and then report back for a series of two-week training exercises. After that, they would then be prepared for deployment.”
The President and his military advisors continued to examine the information Secretary Clarke presented before the Brazilian Minister of Defense asked the question, “Where would this expeditionary army be deployed to?”
“Right now, we are not 100% sure yet. It will be the middle of August before they are ready to deploy. A lot will depend on what the situation looks like in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. They could be deployed to the Middle East as an occupation force so that we could transfer the American Third Army to Europe or Asia, or they could be deployed to Europe to assist NATO. We will have a clearer picture as we get closer to that timeframe. President Stein is also open to suggestions for where you would like to see them deployed as well,” the SecDef said.
“Let me ask a more practical question. How is Brazil and the rest of South America supposed to equip or pay for this expeditionary force?” asked the Minister of Finance.
“The President has authorized me to provide the export/import and manufacturing licenses to build the myriad of armored vehicles and other military equipment that will be needed; this will create tens of thousands of high-end manufacturing jobs for your country. In addition, because of the cost required to support and sustain this expeditionary force is substantial, the US Department of Defense will be responsible for paying the salaries of the force and will purchase the required military vehicles and aircraft being produced by Brazil at 15% above cost,” Clarke finished.
“I assume there will be a similar training program for the pilots for these aircraft as well?” asked the Chief General of the Brazilian Air Force.
“The individuals identified for pilot training will be sent to the US for training at our facilities; they will be integrated into the American Air Force for the duration of the war and will be transferred back to Brazilian national control once the war is over. We will not train a separate Air Force or Naval Force in addition to the ground force. The ground force will receive all of its air and naval support from the US. Essentially, Brazilians who want to join the air or naval arm of the expeditionary force can do so; they will just be integrated into the American air or naval forces for the duration of their enlistment or the length of the war, whichever comes first,” Eric Clarke said, hoping this addressed their concerns.
“How long will this expeditionary force be required to serve?” asked the Minister of Defense.
“They will be required to serve for the duration of the war, or for four years, whichever is shorter,” Secretary Clarke answered.
“Is this same offer being made to the other South American countries as well?” asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
“Yes, we are seeking a total of one million soldiers to form the South American expeditionary force. We will be asking the other countries to contribute a similarly sized force, though most of the manufacturing of the equipment needed would take place in Brazil, pending your joining the Coalition.”
“So, if we do not join and Argentina does, then the manufacturing goes to them?” asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
“That would be correct. Brazil is our biggest supporter, and we wanted you to have the first chance at this offer,” said Jim Wise.
“Gentlemen, we need some time to discuss this privately. I would like to ask that you take a break to freshen up or get some sleep, and then meet us for dinner in four hours. We will have an answer for you after the meal,” said the President, concluding the meeting.
*******
As Secretaries Clarke and Wise left the room, they walked to an outside patio so that they could soak up some sun while they drank a glass of fresh tea. “Do you think they are going to join?” asked Eric, looking to get another perspective.
“I believe so. That is, unless the Chinese have already approached them and made a better offer. However, I believe that at this point South America is too heavily tied to the American and EU economies to just cut ties and join the Axis powers,” Jim replied, though it sounded like he was trying to convince himself.
“If they do, it’s going to be a herculean effort to get this expeditionary force trained. Not only do they not have the facilities built, they would still have to draft the needed soldiers,” Eric said, not sure if they had bitten off more than they could chew.
Jim thought for a moment before responding, “We can bring in more PMCs to help augment your soldiers.”
“That only works to a certain extent; besides the PMCs are already stretched thin. It’s not like people’s enlistments are ending while the war is going on. We’ve stop-gapped everyone for the time being,” said Eric.
“You know that is going to become very unpopular if this war continues for several more years,” Jim retorted. He remembered what it was like during the Iraq War in the 2000s when the Bush Administration put a stop loss in place to keep the army numbers up.
“I know. Our plan is that for anyone whose eight-year active and inactive reserve enlistment is up, we offer them a $50K tax-free bonus per year that they re-enlist for, plus a one grade promotion. The number of people who are nearing or are at that actual enlistment mark is actually rather low. Several years ago, we phased out the two and three-year enlistment and went to a four-year enlistment with four-years in the National Guard or Reserves. The Guard and Reserves activations have also been increased from eighteen months to thirty-six months, until we have enough active duty units to fully replace them.” Eric as he took a long drink of his tea before he added, “This was a problem during the Iraq War in the 2000s as well. Too many National Guard and Reserve units were being activated, and it was seriously impacting the families of these men and women, not to mention their employers. The situation is not lost on us. As a corresponding active duty unit completes his/her training and receives their combat equipment, we are rotating those citizen soldier units back to the US. It’s just going to take some time, like everything else.”
“I’m glad to hear that you are taking this issue seriously. My grandson, Tyler, is in the Wisconsin Army National Guard; my son says he is doing good, but he is not sure when their unit will be rotating back to the US.”
Eric looked at the man sitting next to him as if for the first time. “Jim--I had no idea your grandson was in the military. Where is he currently stationed? What does he do?” Eric asked, genuinely concerned.
“He’s a Staff Sergeant in the 126th Field Artillery Battalion, part of the 57th Artillery Brigade. They are currently deployed in Israel right now. His unit arrived there a few weeks after the war started,” replied Jim with pride in his voice. He pulled out his cell phone and began to show Eric several pictures of Tyler. There were a number from his wedding and a few of him with some of the soldiers from his unit in Israel.
“Do you talk with him much?”
“He called me once a few weeks back to say, ‘Happy birthday,’ and to let me know he’s doing OK. I offered to help him get reassigned back to the US, but he said he couldn’t leave without his unit. He said it would look bad, and he couldn’t just leave them when they needed him.” Jim eyebrows furrowed while he talked; he just could not hide his concern.
“If you want, I can look into having his unit reassigned. Since they are an artillery unit, I’m not sure I could pull them off the line entirely. We are desperately short when it comes to artillery.” Eric sat there t
hinking for a few minutes. “Tell you what--if the Brazilians do join the Coalition, we are going to need to pull some combat units to do all of the training down here. I could arrange for his unit to be one of the ones pulled if you would like me to have him moved to a less dangerous place.”
Jim sighed before responding, “I appreciate the offer…maybe. You know the President has been pretty adamant about making sure special favors are not being pulled for senior officials and their family members. I would hate for him to find out I had my grandson’s unit pulled for my own selfish reasons,” he said.
“He certainly has not been making friends with the ultra-wealthy and politically connected people in the country. He had me personally ensure that every member of the Congress and Senate who has an eligible son or daughter was drafted and placed in a line unit. During one of our planning meetings, he said this would be unpopular but he was determined that every eligible citizen, including the wealthy and politically connected, must serve in this war. You should see the emails and phone calls I get from some of my friends who still work in banking and business. They all ask if I can get their son or daughter a deferment or at least ensure they won’t see combat.”
“What do you tell them?” asked Jim. He was curious now.
“I tell them what the President told me; everyone must serve, especially the wealthy and politically connected who have benefited so much from our country. The President promised that this war would not be fought on the backs of the low and middle class of the country.”
“I’ll bet that goes over really well,” said Jim as he chuckled.
An aide walked up to Jim and Eric and asked if they could please join the President and his staff in the library again. They both got up and followed him back into the mansion and to the library.
“Secretary Clarke, Secretary Jordan, please come join us for a drink, a toast if you will. We have discussed your offer, and though some of my ministers and advisors disagree, we have come to the conclusion that you are right. It is time for South America to do their part and join the Allies. We also want to thank you for choosing Brazil to head up the Coalition. We are honored to be a part of this chapter of the world and on the side of the Americans and those who love Freedom,” President Rousseff said with a smile on his face as he raised a glass of champagne.
*******
The Secretaries of State and Defense flew on to meet with the Argentinians, Peruvians, Chileans and Columbians, gaining their acceptance to join the Coalition and participate in the newly created South American Expeditionary Force (SAEF). In time, this expeditionary force would swell to a little over one million soldiers and could grow significantly larger if need be. It would take close to ten full months before this new army was ready to deploy.
Crash Course
Day Thirty
28 December 2040
Southern Israel – US Marine Positions
Gunnery Sergeant Thornton had just finished cleaning his M5 AIR when one of his junior sergeants walked into the tent with a handful of new replacements. “Sergeant Thornton, I was on my way back from headquarters when I was told these ten Marines were our replacements. This is Corporal Lewis; he’s the senior guy with the replacements. The rest are outside the tent, if you want to speak with them,” Sergeant Miller said, introducing the corporal to his new platoon sergeant.
Sergeant Thornton sat there for a moment, looking over the corporal and trying to mentally assess him. “Corporal Lewis, have you or any of the other guys with you seen any combat?”
“No, Sergeant. I’m a reservist; the rest of the guys are either fresh from boot camp or were working some sort of non-infantry positions before we were all shipped out,” Corporal Lewis said, knowing that was not the answer Sergeant Thornton was hoping to hear.
“I appreciate your candor Corporal. Take a seat and I’ll bring you up to speed a bit before handing you off to one of the other sergeants. I’m going to filter you replacements evenly among the squads. I’m not sure if you know or not, but our platoon had a 63% casualty rate. We were part of the first wave to hit the Suez, and then we spent the next three weeks fighting the IR north of Eilat.” Corporal Lewis’s face looked nervous, and a bit scared. Sergeant Thornton remembered that same look on his own face, right before they left the troop carrier for the Suez.
“The most important thing that I can tell you is to stay alert and listen to those who have been here longer. These IR guys are not taking any prisoners, and neither are we. They attack in massive human waves when they do attack, so be ready when that happens. Now they say we are facing the Chinese. Well, I’ve never fought the Chinese before, so I can’t give you any words of wisdom with them. Just remember your training; fight like a man possessed, and remember, there is no surrender. They will crucify you,” Sergeant Thornton said in an icy tone. He could see on the face of Corporal Lewis that he was still digesting what he had been told and did not care for it one bit.
“Word has it we are going to be moving back to the frontlines around midnight. There is supposed to be a possible Chinese assault sometime tomorrow, so they want us to reinforce the Israeli positions. Once you get to your assigned squad, get your fire team ready for action and try to grab a couple of hours of sleep. If you have any further questions, ask your squad sergeant; he’ll provide you with whatever information he knows,” Sergeant Thornton concluded. He dismissed the newly arrived Corporal, who was still in a state of bewilderment.
By 0500 the following morning, Gunnery Sergeant Thornton’s platoon had been filtered into a short network of trenches and foxholes that the Israelis were using. His group of fifty-four Marines had been integrated into an Israeli company holding this part of the Eilat line in the ruins of Aqaba (most of the city of Aqaba had been turned into rubble with the back and forth fighting between the Israelis, Marines and IR forces). When the Chinese had attacked, the allied forces fell back to the ruins and turned them into a defensive network and trap to prevent the Chinese from moving into Eilat or the rest of Southern Israel.
At 0530, the Chinese began to bombard the ruins of the city and the allied positions with artillery and rocket fire. The explosions were kicking up a storm of dust and smoke; however, through the haze, Gunny Thornton could see Chinese infantry units moving forwards towards their lines. When his eyes focused a little harder, he could make out that the advancing infantry was fortunately not equipped with the new exoskeleton combat suits; he breathed a sigh of relief knowing that at least they were going up against the regular PLA infantry. Those suits would have given the advancing horde a huge physical and technical advantage over the Allies; luckily, only a limited number of the Chinese Naval Infantry units had them, and so far they had only been used in the Pacific. Gunny Thornton found himself wishing that he had an exoskeleton suit; rumor had it that the Army and Marines were going to be bringing their own suits to the fight soon.
Thornton began issuing orders to the rest of his men. “Standby to engage the enemy. We need to wait until the new targets have been acquired in our HUDs.”
The Gunny linked the images his heat imaging scope identified with his HUD so that the rest of the platoon could see what he was seeing.
Grabbing the attention of the appropriate Israeli counterpart, he instructed, “There is a pending infantry attack. Follow our lead when we start to engage the enemy; since you guys don’t have the HUDs; we will be showing you where the targets are.” Although the IDF was starting to receive the same HUD and M5 AIRs that the US was using, not all of the units had them yet.
“Acknowledged,” was the only reply. This particular IDF fighter was not exactly the conversational type.
There were a few tense moments of waiting. As the Chinese infantry came to within 200 meters of their positions, Gunny Thornton shouted, “Open fire!”
Within seconds, 60+ Chinese infantry collapsed dead in their tracks. The M5 Advanced Infantry Rifle (AIR) was an incredible killing machine; it had a range in excess of 2,000 meters, and fired a .25mm projectil
e at speeds of Mach 5. It was the only tactical infantry railgun rifle in the world. The power pack (which was attached to the buttstock of the rifle) could provide enough power to fire 2,500 projectiles, or ten magazines, and had a digital number counter on it that could help a solider keep track of when the battery pack needed to be replaced. The projectiles travelled at such a high speed that they were able to penetrate all forms of body armor and lightly armored vehicles.
Once the Marines opened fire, the Israelis joined in, adding their own weapons to the fray. While dozens of Chinese soldiers were being mowed down, half a dozen light drone tanks started to move forward from around the rubble of what used to be the Radisson Blue hotel. The tanks stopped briefly, and began to fire high explosive rounds at the Marines and IDF, while more Chinese infantry moved forward.
Gunny Thornton saw in his HUD that several of his Marines were killed by one of the light drone tanks. “Someone get those Anti-Tank 6s or AT6s, and take out those tanks!” yelled Thornton to his anti-tank team. The AT6 was the sixth generation of anti-tank rockets used by American infantrymen; it was three feet in length and fired a one shot, High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) rocket. It could destroy most main battle tanks, and was extremely effective against light drone tanks and infantry fighting vehicles. It was the perfect anti-tank weapon for the light infantry.
Wooossshhh…three rockets raced away from the Marine lines and headed straight for the Chinese light tanks.
