Cyber Warfare and the New World Order

No Hotel California

Captain Thornton and his company had been fighting Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian and Indian soldiers in the city of Los Angeles for nearly three months. In that timeframe, most of the suburbs that make up LA and the downtown had been torn to pieces by the block-to-block and house-to-house fighting. The enemy knew their situation was hopeless; they were effectively cut off from reinforcements and supplies, yet they would not give up. Many of the Japanese forces his company encountered were surrendering, but the others fought on with a fanatical zeal his Marines had not seen since the battles in Israel. The Chinese knew they had lost this battle, but they were intent on destroying as much of the city and its people as possible.

As the Chinese soldiers lost a block or key portion of a city, they would destroy the sewer system on their way out of the area. In doing this, the enemy was effectively destroying the critical infrastructure of the city. The sewer systems allowed the city to transport water, sewage, and run-off from the rains. This disruption was designed to create an enormous mess for the Americans once they recaptured the city and began the process of rebuilding.

Because of the density of the city, it was difficult to make use of tanks and armored vehicles; they could be used on the roads, but when it came to clearing buildings and houses, the option was to either level them or send soldiers in to clear the structures and then move on. Often homes and buildings were being rigged with booby traps and explosives, which required a lot of engineers to clear them. If a unit clearing a house or building was not cautious, they could end up setting off an explosive, killing or injuring everyone in the squad. It was a terrifying experience for the soldiers having to perform this task.

Captain Thornton was sitting at his Tactical Operations Center (TOC), which was one of his Wolverine armored vehicles that had been converted into a command center. He was watching some drone footage of one of his platoons circling around a small group of enemy soldiers. They had finally cornered this group of fighters after they had ambushed and destroyed one of the Army’s tanks. As the platoon encircled the enemy, he radioed to the lieutenant in charge of the platoon, “LT, hold your men back, we are going to call in a couple of artillery rounds and flatten that building. Once the dust settles, send your men in and make sure they are dead,” he directed.

“Roger that, Captain,” replied the platoon leader.

Several minutes later, multiple artillery rounds flew in and hit the small apartment building, flattening it. The shell of the edifice was still there, although the roof and most of the walls had been blown out. Slowly, he could see his Marines moving forward, sifting through the rubble, making sure the enemy soldiers had been killed. After a few more days of cleaning out the enemy holdouts, the city was largely declared secured. There had been several engagements between the Marines and the enemy soldiers in the sewers, and though most of the enemy had been killed, it was suspected that some may survive and continue to fight sporadically. As far as Thornton was concerned, the city was effectively locked down. The few holdouts would be found and dealt with in time.