Operation Red Dawn and the Siege of Europe (World War III Series Book 3)

by Rosone,James

  “We’ve sustained 93,000 KIAs in Alaska, another 191,000 wounded. These kinds of casualties are not sustainable in a defeat. If we had pushed the Chinese out of Alaska, then this would have been acceptable, but as it stands, we have only weakened our position there significantly. What is our next course of action Eric?” asked the President pointedly.

  Pulling up a holographic map from his notepad, Eric began to point to several mountain ranges and national parks. “We are beginning construction of two new defensive positions; one at the Denali National Park Preserve, and the second at the McKinley Park Reserve. These positions are all along Route 1, and are stationed at strategic locations to provide us the best possible defensive situations. There are very few routes in and out of Alaska because of its treacherous mountain ranges and the heavy snows.” Eric sighed deeply before continuing, “I have also ordered the construction of a series of defensive positions in the Yukon and upper parts of British Columbia. It may become necessary that we fall back further before the end of winter or next summer.”

  The President made eye contact that was almost aggressive, and pointedly said, “That is unacceptable. Our soldiers are now better equipped; they have better tanks and body armor, and we finally have an aircraft that rivals the MiG40. We cannot continue to lose more ground like that. What about the new recruits we are training?” Henry was clearly not happy, and was fishing for alternatives.

  “We have thirty military training schools operational right now; each is turning out 1,000 troops a week. We are essentially training a new division every week. It is going to take time to get the men we need. The Chinese started this war with a six-million-man army; our sources now say they have drafted another ten million. The DoD is just not capable of fighting a war against both China and Russia at the same time. We really need the Europeans to fight their own war so we can pull our troops back home where they are desperately needed.” As the SecDef spoke, he was not very confident that even bringing all the troops back from Europe would be enough.

  The President knew Eric was doing all he could; he also knew that the DoD had been extremely depleted when he took office, and despite four years of heavy funding, they were only just now starting to get up to speed. His next response was a bit calmer, more measured. “Here is what I want to have happen then. Tell General Wade that the force he has is what he has. No more reinforcements are going to be sent to Europe. As units dwindle in strength, he is to combine them with other units, because there will be no more replacement soldiers sent. Second, all of the wounded that return from Europe are to be filtered into the new basic training facilities to help train up the new units and provide them with much needed experience and expertise. Third, I want us to expand the military training facilities. I want to ramp up training; we need to move it up from 30,000 a week to 50,000. I don’t care how many National Guard and Reserve facilities need to be federalized and reactivated. Make it happen…and construct new basic training facilities if needed. I don’t want to resort to forming militia units, but if we lose Alaska and they start to threaten the rest of the country, that may need to happen.”

  Eric could see that Henry was returning back to his normal self again as he began to dictate orders. The President was, if nothing else, an organizational genius. He surrounded himself with people who possessed the same quality, which was probably why America had not collapsed from the challenges that had been thrown at it.

  “I’ll get on it right away Mr. President. Have we heard anything new yet from the Japanese about them joining the war effort?” asked Eric.

  “Secretary Wise said he does not believe they are going to come to our aid or join the war effort. As a matter of fact, the only assistance they have offered is jack and squat. They are happy to keep selling their cars and other goods in America though…at least they are ordering tens of millions of tons of food products through the Grain Consortium. We believe they may be stocking up in case the Chinese decide they want to start a blockade of the West Coast,” Stein answered dejectedly.

  Despite the Navy introducing the SUDs to the Pacific, the Chinese Navy remained dominant in the North and Central Pacific. The Navy was slowly destroying the Chinese submarines, which had been a priority to clear out; now they were starting to shift focus to the shipping container ships and fuel tankers. This would hopefully hurt the PLA’s logistical efforts and slow their progress down in Alaska.

  The President expanded the holographic map of Alaska to include most of Asia, and then clicked on India. “What concerns me most, Eric, is India. I just read an intelligence report (and also received some cables from Jim Wise at State) about what India is up to. They have agreed to assist the PRC economically; they have begun to manufacture their fighter drones, and to transport ships and other war materials that they are having a hard time replacing quickly. To further add to this, the Indian government--which already maintains a two-million-man army--has just announced an increase in their military force to nearly four million. That means that they are doubling their army. The question is why?”

  “Perhaps they are just concerned about China--I mean the PLA did gobble up all of their neighbors, and the IR is now an occupied country,” Eric responded, hoping this might calm the President’s concerns.

  “You may be right. In any case, the Indian army is incredibly outdated. Thank you for your efforts Eric. It means a lot to have people I know I can count on right now in these trying times.

  The meeting ended with Eric heading towards the door and Katelyn Williams and Jeff Rogers walking in for the next meeting.

  “Good afternoon Eric” they said as he left; he returned the greeting.

  Motioning for them to sit, the President wanted to get down to business quickly. He had a telecom with the Prime Minister of Britain and Chancellor Lowden of the EU in a couple of hours, and he still needed to eat lunch.

  Peddling a Pan Asian Alliance

  10 October 2041

  Beijing, China

  Central Military Committee Meeting Room

  Premier Zhang Jinping was reading over the final proposal for the Pan Asian Alliance that the Chinese government was going to pursue with the remaining countries in Asia, along with India, Japan and Russia. The trick was how to arrange a ruling committee that incorporated senior officials from all of the members (India, Russia and Japan with China) that everyone could agree on and accept. The Pan Asian Alliance was a dream of Premier Zhang’s for many years. It was not until the start of World War III that he saw a real opportunity to make it a reality. The combined armies, economy and people of these nations would rule the world and lead it in to the 22nd Century and beyond.

  The Americans had made it easier to form this alliance after their brutal use of nuclear weapons against the Islamic Republic. It was rather ironic that the IR detonating two nuclear devices in America had worked to China’s advantage like nothing else could have. The nuclear hot war had shaken the military and political alliance between Japan and the United States. It had also created a rift between the Indians and Americans; since both Japan and India had been on the receiving end of a nuclear war, they were aghast at the complete disregard for human lives displayed by the American leader. In a single day, President Stein had ordered the death of over half a billion people in response to the death of six million Americans.

  India had just recently agreed to support the PRC economically by providing China with various materials they needed for the conflict, and opening their manufacturing up to produce the machines of war needed to win. Premier Jinping was close to securing an agreement with India to join the Pan Asian Alliance. Even after their losses in their own nuclear war, India still had a massive population that could add strength to the union; India had nearly 1.4 billion people and an army of two million soldiers. Of course, once they joined, their military would be greatly enhanced and expanded with state-of-the-art equipment and additional soldiers.

  Japan was still gearing up for war; they had thus far stayed neutral, though it app
eared that they may join the war against China. That, however, changed when America unleashed hundreds of nuclear missiles on civilian targets all across North Africa and the Middle East. Publicly, Japan continued to relay to their American allies that they were still months away from being able to join the war, but secretly, they had been meeting with the Chinese. PM Jinping had special plans for Japan, pending they joined the alliance.

  Zhang looked up from his papers, and saw General Fan Changlong, the vice chair of the CMC, and the man in charge of the PLA. “General Changlong, what are your thoughts on the Pan Asian Alliance?” asked the Premier.

  Knowing this was a political test of his loyalty, the general thought about the question for a second before responding. In theory, he liked the idea, but in practicality, he was against it. It would be hard to get the other generals of the PLA on board with it, unless some sort of major concession was made. No one would want to relinquish power. With these conflicting thoughts racing through his head, he responded, “I believe it has merit. The question is--how do we get the others in the government to go along with it?” By responding this way, the general was also sort of fishing to see if there would be a concession offered that he could support.

  “That is a good question. I had thought that we would run the alliance much like we run the CMC, by establishing a ruling committee. The smaller countries would each have one member on the committee, and India, Japan and Russia would each have three members on the committee—and of course China would have four, one more than the others. Decisions would be made through majority vote among the committee members, as it is done now through the CMC,” the Premier said, believing this should be enough of a compromise to gain the support of the PLA.

  Thinking briefly about what Jinping had just said, General Changlong realized this would completely marginalize the current CMC and the PLA. “What about the PLA? How would you handle them with this new committee?”

  Knowing this would be a critical question to answer, the Premier had his answer ready. “Ah, yes. Two of the four members from China would be members of the PLA, the third position would be my responsibility as the Premier, and the fourth would rotate between the directors within the PRC. This would still give the PLA a heavy voice in the committee, while letting the civilian government still have equal power. How the other countries would choose their members is of no concern to China.”

  As Jinping spoke, he saw a slight smile on his general’s face. In that moment, he knew he had the backing of the PLA to move forward with this proposal to the other countries. Of course, no one would know about Japan joining until the last minute…Japan was going to be China’s Trojan horse.

  Bait and Switch?

  13 October 2041

  Tokyo, Japan

  Office of the Prime Minister

  The Prime Minister of Japan, Yasuhiro Hata, was in a tough position. Their strategic ally, the United States, had suffered a string of military disasters in the Pacific, culminating with the loss of their military base in Guam, the destruction of the Seventh Fleet, and the loss of the Hawaiian Islands. South Korea had ended their war with the North and had united the Peninsula; then they quickly received a non-aggression treaty with China in exchange for staying neutral in the war. Of course, Korea could not offer the Americans any real military support of significance, so their non-involvement would not turn the tide of the war in the Pacific. That, however, was not the case with Japan. PM Hata struggled with the decision of who to support.

  Since the start of the war, the PLAN had maintained a strong naval presence around the Japanese waters. The PLAN had threatened to attack the American bases on Japanese soil again if they did not intern the U.S. forces. It pained the Premier to do so, but he ordered all American Forces in his country to be interned, and he did not come to the aid of his allies when they needed Japan the most.

  During the opening hours of World War III, when the Chinese had initially attacked America, they began by disabling the American air and naval stations in Japan; they had shown how easily they could penetrate the Japanese air defenses. A lot of changes had been made to ensure this did not happen again, but it had already rattled the military leaders of Japan. They were no longer as confident as they once were that they could prevent the Chinese from dominating the skies above Japan.

  Still, the PM had Japan prepare for war, conscripting one million additional men in to the Japanese Defense Force (JDF). The navy had just completed construction of two additional aircraft carriers, bringing the total number to five. Albeit, these carriers were small by American and Chinese standards; however, they could still carry four dozen aircraft, which was more than enough to threaten a carrier battle group. The real strength of the Japanese Navy though rested with their modern day battleships, which could carry 600 missile interceptors and 550 land and sea capable cruise missiles. These ships were designed with the sole intention of defeating the PLAN supercarriers and providing the Japanese Navy with a versatile weapons platform. The Japanese had three of these behemoths in service, with no additional ones scheduled for construction.

  Today was a day that the PM had been dreading for some time; he would attend a meeting with the Chinese Foreign Minister and a virtual meeting with the Chinese Premier Jinping to discuss what would ultimately be the future of his nation. This was the day he would have to decide which path his nation will ultimately take--stand with America in her greatest hour of need, or join the Chinese juggernaut and finish the U.S. off.

  PM Hata was shaken from his world of deep turbulent thought as the Chinese Foreign Minister, Fang Yung, walked in to the room. He bowed towards the PM at an appropriate depth to indicate his respect before walking over to him. “Prime Minister Hata, it is good to see you. Thank you for agreeing to meet with me,” said Fang.

  The Prime Minister returned the bow before speaking. “I hope your covert travel here was not too inconvenient.” He attempted to muster up all of the genuineness he could in that statement, although he did not mean a word of it. In all reality, he hoped it was a terrible trip in to Japan, having to sneak his way across the border so as to not be seen by the American spies.

  “This is an important meeting, so it was no trouble at all. Please, let me set up the secured holographic device so I can connect us with Premier Jinping. He is eager to speak with us.”

  Hata tried very hard to conceal the sigh he let out before he responded. “Yes, let’s get him connected. We have much to discuss.”

  Within a couple of minutes, the holographic device came to life, and the image of the man who was possibly the most powerful man in the world, the Chinese Premier, appeared.

  “Prime Minister Hata, it is good to see you. Thank you for agreeing to meet with us, even if it is in secret for now,” said Premier Jinping. “I will get straight to the point. We are moving forward with the creation of the Pan Asian Alliance. I can tell you that Indonesia, Russia and India will be members; we would like to add Japan to that list. Our collective populations will now exceed four billion people; our combined military forces are in excess of twelve million soldiers, with another eight million more in training.” The Premier let PM Hata in on this bit of military intelligence, hoping that the sheer enormity of those numbers would sink in.

  After pausing for dramatic effect, the Premier continued, “As you know, the PAA will be run in a similar manner to how we run the CMC here in China; each primary nation (which, of course, Japan would be one) would have three members on the central committee. The committee would, of course, control and run all of the countries that are part of the PAA. Decisions would be made by majority vote of the committee members, and would be binding to each member country. The smaller countries that join the PAA would only have one member represented on the committee.”

  Premier Jinping stopped for a minute to see if PM Hata had any questions. As he did not, the Premier continued, “We are forming this confederation to better coordinate our economies, our currencies and our military organizations. We are als
o going to be moving to a crypto-currency, similar to Bitcoin, which will help us regulate our currencies a lot better. As you know, we would like Japan to be a part of this greater confederation--you are, after all, an Asian nation. What questions do you have that I may be able to answer?” asked the Premier. He wanted to get down to the meat of the negotiations.

  Hata thought for a minute before responding, “I understand the proposal, and I agree in principle that a Pan Asian Alliance would benefit all of Asia. That said, you are asking us to not only turn our backs on our ninety-year alliance with America, but to launch a surprise attack on the West Coast. Even if I wanted to agree to this, I am not confident I could get my military leaders to agree to your proposal. I would have a revolt within the defense force.” PM Hata had a slight tremble of concern in his voice.

  “I appreciate your situation, and I understand this would be a hard sell. Can we agree that joining the PAA and Confederation would be in Japan’s best interests at this junction in the war?” the Premier asked, wanting to start establishing some common ground with the Japanese PM.

  “America is down, there is no denying that. Between your efforts and the Russians, you have really crippled the Americans. I will say this; if it is one thing the Americans are extremely good at, it’s finding a way to come from behind and win. They have been known to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat on more than one occasion. Why do you believe so strongly right now that America can be fully beaten? They are conducting a massive retooling of their economy and the rumors we have heard of their advanced weapon systems are amazing, if true.”

  Jinping was ready with a response. “For a moment, let us put aside the argument of honor; as we know Japan has already betrayed America when you cast aside your initial defense agreement. In that situation, you made the best possible choice, considering the circumstances. I will be as direct and blunt with you as I can--if any of the information I am going to share with you makes its way to America, I can assure you there will be some severe consequences. That said, we have nearly two million soldiers on Alaskan soil, and we have another three million more waiting to be transported to North America. We also have another six million more men and women in military training right now who will be ready for service over the next twelve months. It is true that the Americans are starting to edge ahead of us in some weapon systems, but it comes down to numbers. For every eleven Chinese soldiers an American kills, there is a twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth soldier to take their place. We are also going to open up a second front in North America by launching an invasion of the West Coast. As you can see, the Americans are going to die a death by a thousand cuts.” As he spoke, the Premier shared a video slide of the potential military operations that were planned.