Battlefield Pacific

Pyrrhic Victory

“This is great news, Jim. We defeated the Chinese Navy and sank their fleet!” the President exclaimed jovially.

Castle was a bit more subdued. “Yes, Mr. President. As of three hours ago, our Allied fleet sank the last of the Chinese warships in the South China Sea. We’ve officially cleared the waterways around the Philippines, Taiwan, and most of the South China Sea for the next phase of our operations. However, it was a pyrrhic victory, Mr. President.”

The President went from elated to a bit more somber. While the Allies had defeated the Chinese naval forces in the Pacific, it had come at a terrible cost in lives, treasure, and ships.

McMillian, the National Security Advisor, chimed in, “What was the finally tally on our losses, Jim?”

The SecDef sighed as he walked around the couch in the Oval Office and took a seat opposite McMillian. He then opened his folder and placed his reading glasses on the bridge of his nose as he began to look over the numbers.

“We lost the Nimitz, and the Eisenhower was also taken out of commission. The Stennis took a number of missile hits but is still operational; however, she’ll need a lot of repairs once she returns to port. The Japanese lost two of their light carriers, and a third was heavily damaged. Those are just the carrier losses.”

He paused for a second to let that sink in. “We also lost seven Ticonderoga guided-missile cruisers, twenty-three Arleigh Burke destroyers, two Virginia-class attack submarines and four Los Angeles attack submarines… All told, 13,000 sailors lost their lives, and roughly 14,000 were injured. We won the battle, Mr. President, but it has largely devastated our Navy. It’ll take us decades to replace the number of ships lost, let alone reach our original goal of a 600-ship Navy. The loss of the Nimitz makes three carriers that have been completely destroyed and three more that will need to be taken out of action due to battle damage.”

Gates sat back on the couch as the gravity of what the SecDef said began to set in. In less than a year, the Navy had lost nearly one-third of their vessels, with very little chance of replacing them before this war would be over. However, what really tore at the President was the loss of life. This was a horrific loss for the Navy and their country.

“What do we do next?” asked Gates.

“We continue to prosecute the war, Mr. President,” Castle answered. “We will work to isolate the enemy and systematically destroy his will to fight. As terrible as our losses are, the Chinese suffered worse, and those losses aren’t going to be hidden from their public. In the Philippines and Taiwan, we’ll move to interdict their supply ships and systematically destroy their capability to defend the islands until our Marines are ready to move forward with their invasion.”

Pausing for a second, the SecDef took his reading glasses off and placed them on the table. “This is going to be a long war, Mr. President. Nothing has changed. We continue with the current plan we have, and we defeat the enemy.”

The following morning, as the President prepared his remarks, he tried to keep in mind that the country had been reeling from one crisis to another. The nation still wasn’t over the vicious attack in Ohio by the Russian Spetsnaz, and now they were learning about the horrific loss of life in the greatest naval battle in the Pacific since World War II. There was only so much the people could handle before they just became numb to it.

“Are you ready, Mr. President?” asked Press Secretary Linda Wagner.

“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. Let’s go talk to the American people. I’ll try to do my best not to take too many questions from the wolves and to stay on message,” he replied, knowing his press team hated it when he went off script.

A couple of minutes went by with Linda briefly talking with the press before she motioned for one of the aides to open the side door for the President, letting him know that it was time.

Gates instantly heard the electronic shuttering of dozens of cameras as they took pictures of him entering the press briefing room. The President stopped as he walked through the entrance and just paused for a second, as Linda looked at him, willing him to come to the podium. Knowing he needed to speak to the country, he drew up some inner courage and walked up to take Linda’s place in front of the reporters and the cameras that had all zoomed in, ready to capture what he would say next.

He pulled a few notecards out of his front jacket pocket and placed them on the podium before turning his attention back to the cameras, doing his best not to look at the individual reporters for the time being. He wanted his focus to be on the cameras, which would be beaming his image to the country, and the families who had lost loved ones in yesterday’s battles.

“My fellow Americans, I come to you today with a heavy heart, and news to report to you of the war. Yesterday, our gallant sailors and airmen went into battle against the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy and were victorious.” Before the President could say another word, several of the reporters applauded, and then a few more joined in until everyone was clapping. He raised his hand to get them to stop so he could resume speaking.

“There’s a bit more that I need to say, and not all of it is good news. Our forces fought side-by-side with the brave sailors of Japan as we jointly fought against the expansion of the Eastern Alliance being led by the Russians and Chinese. While this battle was ultimately a victory, it came at a high cost to our nation. During the grueling battle that stretched on for many hours, the supercarrier USS Nimitz was sunk.”

Audible gasps filled the room. Reporters frantically scribbled down notes and began sending texts and tweets of what the President had just said.

“The supercarriers USS Eisenhower and USS John Stennis also suffered major damage and loss of life. During the conflict, thirty other US naval warships and six submarines were also lost. Our Japanese allies lost two of their own carriers with a third heavily damaged, along with eight destroyers. Loss in lives and ships from this battle was high, and each soul that was lost was a brave hero for our nation — but make no mistake, the Allies defeated the Chinese Navy, and they have been removed as a threat to the world. Yesterday’s battle was the first step in the eventual liberation of the Philippines and the restoration of the democratically elected government of the Republic of China.”

The President paused again, looking down at a few bullet points on the three-by-five card he had in front of him. When he looked back up again, he saw the faces of the reporters. A few of the women had cried, and they were trying to hide the fact that their mascara was smearing as they tried to dab away the tears. A male reporter also wiped away a tear and was trying to look stoic as he waited for the President to continue.

“As a nation, we the people of the United States of America long for peace. For more than two centuries, our nation has been a beacon of hope and a bastion of freedom that has welcomed with open arms those looking to flee oppression and persecution. Since the end of the Second World War, America has stood as the standard-bearer of freedom. We stood up to the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and we stood up to the savage terrorists who sought to destroy our way of life during the War on Terror. In all of these struggles, America has never sought conquests, nor have we sought to subjugate the nations of the world, but rather, we’ve come to the aid of those in need and given shelter to those being persecuted.”

“This war was thrust upon us — started as a surprise attack by the Russian Federation on US and NATO Forces in Europe. They came at us like thieves in the night and attacked us without a declaration of war. Within months of the war in Europe starting, the People’s Republic of China encouraged the North Korean regime to attack South Korea and US forces. When we found out about the timeline for the war, we were left with no options other than to launch a preemptive attack in hopes that we could destroy the Lee regime’s nuclear weapons before they could be used. While our gallant forces were successful in destroying a vast quantity of the regime’s nuclear weapons, Lee Pak was still able to launch a series of ICBMs at our country, ultimately leading to the destruction of Oakland and most of the San Francisco Bay Area.”

Gates paused and looked down as he mentioned California. It tore at him that he wasn’t able to do more to protect the country from such a devastating weapon. He often wondered if ordering the preemptive attack had ultimately led to the city’s destruction.

“With the resumption of the Second Korean War, the Chinese launched a brutal surprise attack on our naval and ground forces in Asia. They then went on to invade the Island of Taiwan and the Philippines. Even now, they threaten our other allies, Australia and New Zealand. The Russians and the Chinese have openly stated that they won’t end this war until America and the West have either surrendered or are defeated. They’ve gone so far as to create the Eastern Alliance and convinced the nations of India, Iran and many others to join them in their global conquest for world domination.”

Anger burned in his eyes. “I, like many of you, wish it hadn’t come to this. I long for peace with our enemies, but I won’t accept defeat and the subjugation of the American people at the hands of the Eastern Alliance. Our nation has suffered, and we’ve sacrificed too much to give up now. I ask that you continue to unite together. We cannot give up. We must not give into their demands, and we must continue to fight on until victory has been achieved.”

He took a deep breath. “With that, I will take some of your questions,” he concluded.

“Mr. President! How many service members died yesterday in the naval battle? When will the official numbers be released, along with a more detailed description of the battle?” shouted a reporter from one of the major networks.

“I won’t give out the exact number yet as many of the loved ones are still being notified as we speak. What I can say is that more than thirteen thousand sailors were killed in action, and close to fourteen thousand more were wounded during the battle,” the President answered. Many in the room gasped or looked bewildered by the numbers of those lost. “The details of the battle will be released by the Pentagon, but suffice it to say, it lasted for more than twelve hours and involved over a thousand warships and aircraft on both sides. Next question.”

“Has the Chinese fleet been officially defeated? Do they still have a fleet that can pose a threat to our forces in the Pacific?” asked another journalist from the Washington Post.

“The Navy successfully sank all three Chinese aircraft carriers and their supporting ships. We also sank an additional eight Chinese submarines. More specifics can be obtained from the Pentagon, but yes, we’ve officially destroyed the Chinese Navy as a fighting force, and they’re no longer able to project naval power beyond their shore,” Gates responded.

“Mr. President, do you feel at all responsible for the North Korean regime launching nuclear weapons at American cities in retaliation for you ordering a preemptive attack on their country? Don’t you feel that if you hadn’t done that, that the people of Oakland and the Bay Area would probably still be alive? Don’t you think you should be held accountable for that action?”

Gates tried very hard to control the innate reaction to roll his eyes whenever that particular reporter started speaking — he was the prima donna of the press room and was always trying to bait the President with incendiary questions. Anger billowed up inside Gates, and he had to take a deep breath and calm himself before he said something he and his staff would regret.

“Jim, our preemptive attack saved the city of Seoul and millions of other people in South Korea and Japan. The only ones responsible for the destruction in Northern California are the Chinese government, who provided the Lee regime with the missiles capable of hitting our cities, and the Lee regime, who launched them. Next question,” the President said, trying to move past the bloviating idiot who often seemed to be advocating for the enemy above the interests of his own nation.

“Mr. President, more than one hundred thousand military members have died in this war in less than one year. More than a million civilians have died since the start of this war. How much longer will this war last, and how many more people will have to die?” asked another reporter from one of the more progressive news outlets.

Gates retorted, “Are you asking when will America surrender?”

“That’s not what I said. Our readers want to know how many more people need to die before this war ends,” she replied.

“I suppose it could all end tomorrow, if America were willing to surrender and submit to being ruled by the Eastern Alliance, and while I’m sure many of your readers would welcome that, the rest of the country wants to remain an independent nation. This war is about the survival of our nation. We need to keep that in mind and realize that if we don’t fight for our country now, we may not have a country to fight for later. With that, I’ll turn the remainder of the questions back over to Linda,” the President replied. He turned and left the podium.