Operation Red Dragon and the Unthinkable

Tipping Point

The President and his advisors had been monitoring the political situation in Asia and Europe intensely since Stein had ordered an overwhelming nuclear response against the IR. The Chinese media came out with an official statement, insisting that the war remain conventional and agreeing to no longer use nuclear torpedoes or any other form of nuclear weapons. They also said that if the US hit China with a neutron bomb, they would respond with their own colossal nuclear response. The war of words continued to heat up as President Stein had the Secretary of State convey that any nation who used nuclear weapons against the United States would face a similar response to the retribution the IR had just received.

The leaders of the European Union were still in a state of shock at the sheer destruction that the IR had inflicted on New York and Baltimore. They were then further aghast at President Stein’s response; over one hundred and ten million people had been killed, and more than a hundred cities were decimated. They felt that the Americans had responded too harshly in retaliation, not to mention the environmental catastrophe they had just unleashed — thousands of tons of dust particles were being thrown into the upper atmosphere. In an effort to keep his allies appeased, President Stein made it clear that the United States would refrain from further use of nuclear weapons in the war, unless one was used against America or American Forces again.

In addition to the continued possible use of nuclear weapons, the President was still very concerned with the domestic attacks. The IR had masterfully infiltrated Special Forces and intelligence agents into the country, who had, in turn, recruited thousands of American Muslims and Muslim immigrants to conduct terror attacks against the country. This had unfortunately led to more American Muslims joining in to be a part of what they thought was a real chance at a revolution in the country. As a result, hundreds, if not thousands, of reprisals began against American Muslims, the vast majority of whom had absolutely nothing to do with the terror attacks. The violence between the Muslim and non-Muslims in the country had risen to a point where the President had addressed it directly in several briefings. He was hoping to get the American people to calm down and to trust the justice system to handle the threats. Stein encouraged those who were concerned to report suspicious activity to the authorities and let them deal with it.

In the HIVE, the senior advisors were meeting to discuss the recent developments. The President sat down across from the DHS Secretary and jumped right into business. “Director Perez, have we identified any additional IR or Chinese cells in the last couple of days?” The President was hoping they had finally rooted out the last of them.

“Within the first two hours of the Trinity Program going live, we apprehended forty-six suspected IR operatives in Dearborn, MI. We caught them prior to their execution of a massive attack. One of the prisoners said their goal was to encourage a Muslim uprising in Dearborn and Detroit and then support them with weapons and explosives. We captured over 1,200 assault rifles, nearly 8,000 lbs. of Semtex, 14 MANPADs and three dozen Explosively Formed Penetrators (EFPs) — the kind that punch right through our armored vehicles. It was a huge success for DHS and the Trinity Program,” reported Director Perez.

Breathing a sigh of relief at finally catching a big break, the President replied, “This is a big deal; I want this brought up during the press briefing. See if there is some footage we can release as well. The public needs to know that we are apprehending these terrorists and seeing real results. Has the Trinity Program identified any other significant threats yet?”

Secretary Perez continued saying, “We have. There were sixty-seven Chinese nationals identified that had been working in a variety of jobs in the energy and utility sector. We now believe they may have been directly involved in the massive communications blackout with the Uninet routers and switches. The program also identified 1,385 military officers and NCOs across all branches of the military that have ties in one fashion or another to the PLA, Russia and the IR. All of these individuals had Top Secret clearances and worked in sensitive areas within the military—”

General Branson interjected, “—We are going to place them on trial for treason as well. Sorry for the interruption, Director Perez.”

The Director nodded and continued, “In addition to the military members, 3,456 government civilians and 856 government contractors have been arrested. Not all of these individuals had ties to the PLA; some had ties to the Russians and the IR. Everyone detained is going to be charged and tried for treason once all the evidence has been collected.” Director Perez smiled; he had sense of pride, feeling vindicated for having pushed so hard to make this controversial program operational.

“Where do we stand on getting the communications grid fully restored?” asked the President’s Chief of Staff.

Director Perez brought up another slide with some additional information regarding the various status updates and explained, “As of right now, we have about 75 % of the grid back to being operational. There are still some issues with data speed, but that will get resolved as more of the routers are replaced and upgraded. We are finally starting to get the parts we needed from the UK; it’s now more of an issue of replacing the burnt out switches and routers throughout the grid. It’s going to take some time. The aerial drones and aerostat blimps are helping to plug the holes and gaps in the grid for the time being.”

The President smiled. He was impressed by the ability of his staff to see the problem and find a way to quickly solve it. This close collaboration between the private sector, allied and partner nations was key to getting the country’s communication system back in operation. Leaning forward, the President praised his team. “Director Perez, your team has done an outstanding job getting the communications network back up and running. I am also glad you put forth a strong case for going live with Trinity. I was skeptical about using such an intrusive surveillance program, and I know others in the room were as well. However, no one can dispute the results, or the speed in which it found these traitors within our midst. I want this program to stay ‘Eyes Only,’ and keep the circle of people that know about it small. The less people that know about this the better.”

The President’s Chief of Staff asserted, “We need to get these successes in the press. Lord knows the people need something; they are still reeling from the destruction of New York and Baltimore. That said, people are pretty pumped up about our nuking the living daylights out of the IR. Everyone knew someone who died in the vicious attacks,” Monty said, surveying the group.

“Jim, how are the Europeans taking all of this?” asked the President wanting to get a sense of the political situation with his allies.

“Like everyone else, they were shocked and surprised by the IR nukes in New York and Baltimore. They were also horrified at our response. They are saying we went overboard and should have shown some restraint. They are also crying foul about the environmental damage this is going to cause,” Jim said, knowing the President would have gone further if the others had not insisted on limiting the conventional nuclear attack. Stein had wanted to unleash more than a thousand nukes, hitting the entire Islamic Republic from North Africa and the Middle East to Asia.

The President was concerned about the environmental damage the nukes had caused, but found himself saying, “Perhaps they can show restraint when one of their cities is nuked. Are they mobilizing their forces yet? Will they be able to provide any sort of defense?” The President was clearly not expecting a satisfactory response.

General Branson moved to answer the question. “Mr. President, they have mobilized their entire reserve force. Germany is really stepping up. They just announced the conscription of three million additional soldiers, not that they will make a difference for at least six to twelve months.”

A holographic image of General Wade came to life. From his European post, he had been participating in the meeting via conference call. Now he interjected, “The EU is still in the process of pulling their active forces out of the cities and reequipping them with their combat equipment. The only units that are ready right now are the German 10^th and 13^th armored divisions and the Polish Army. Both German divisions have the latest Leopard 3C model tanks, and will be more than a match for the Russians. The Germans are also mobilizing three infantry divisions to begin setting up defensive positions in and around some of the major Polish cities. The Pols, for their part, are moving most of their armor and mechanized forces to the north and trusting the Germans to hold the center. The EU forces in Poland, Hungary and Romania have all been placed on alert and moved to their marshalling points. For the first week, they will be on their own until the Fifth (and then later the Sixth)Army are ready.”

The President butted in to ask, “Will the German divisions be enough?”

“These are their two best divisions. General Schoen is the area commander, and he is by far their best field general. I am confident they will hold the Russians for a few days, long enough for us to get at least part of the Fifth Army to the German border and ready to fight,” General Wade replied, his face set like flint.

Changing maps on the holographic display, General Branson began showing the North Atlantic and the British sector. “The Brits are going to secure Iceland and Norway. They will focus heavily on interdicting the Russian Navy and ensuring the sea lanes between North America and Europe continue to stay open. They are also going to be providing a large portion of the air support over Europe, since most of our airpower is still in the Middle East.”

Eric Clarke, the SecDef, interrupted to add, “We have 1,200 fighter drones, fresh from the factory. They are being formed into new fighter wings and will be sent to Europe within the next three days. It’s still going to be close to a month, maybe two, until we have most of the aircraft from the boneyards ready to go. Even then, we lack trained pilots. We’ve shortened the training period for our pilot program, but that means our pilots will be less trained and experienced when they go into battle. We are also calling back into service a lot of retired pilots who used to fly these aircraft when they were still on active duty.”

General Branson was used to the SecDef adding information during his brief, and continued on as if it never happened. “They will get their experience, just like the infantry will — through direct combat. The additional fighter drones and aircraft from the boneyards will help, especially the 500 A-10s. Those are incredible tank busters. My concern is that we have heard rumors that Russia has a new fighter, the MiG40. We are not sure of its capabilities, but from what we have heard, it uses some sort of new technology that makes the aircraft virtually invisible to the naked eye. If that is the case, then this new fighter is going to cause us some major problems.”

Sighing deeply, the President felt another migraine coming on. “Gentlemen, what I need to know is — do we have sufficient forces to hold on to our gains in the Middle East and prevent Russia from capturing Europe? If not, then this is the time to bring up any issue.”

Everyone in the room sat silently thinking for a moment about what the President had just asked. It was a good question that needed to be addressed before hostilities with Russia really started. Eric sat back in his chair and exhaled forcefully, and then leaned forward surveying everyone at the table before continuing.

“Mr. President, we are at a tipping point right now. We have just stabilized the situation in the Middle East, and that could change quickly if the Russians or Chinese decide to throw more troops into the mix. We have North Africa and the Straits of Gibraltar that still need to be secured, and then we have Europe.”

The world was finally at a critical moment where the dictatorial regimes finally had the military and economic advantage over the Democratic governments of the West. The decline of the US as a global influencer, and the rise of China, Russia and a united Middle East had given them the edge they had longed for. After nearly 70 years of planning, China finally had the technological and military might to not just challenge the US, but potentially remove them from their superpower status. As China secured Southeast Asia, their attention would likely turn to mineral rich Alaska and the fertile farmlands of the American West Coast.

The Secretary of Defense spoke up for the group, saying, “Unless some miracle or an act of God happens, and the EU army is able to mobilize and stop the Russians, I do not believe we will be able to hold Europe for more than six months. It is going to take us close to twelve months to field an army strong enough to defeat the Russians, and that assumes those forces will not be needed to reinforce the Middle East, Australia or our own West Coast.”

The President knew Eric was right; there was only so much the US could do with the current forces and equipment they had at hand. The military boneyard near Tucson, AZ was already being scavenged for equipment that could be reactivated and so too was the Navy’s Ghost Fleet. The President needed time… time to allow the American economy to deliver the tools of war needed to win. However, it was time that the democracies of the world did not have.

“You bring up some good points Eric. We can only defend and win if we prioritize our theaters of operation,” responded the President. He looked down at his tablet for some information before continuing. “What we need to do right now is to determine which combat zones we will divert most of our resources to, and then focus on establishing a delaying action in the others.”

General Branson saw this as his opportunity to step in and provide his military opinion. “Mr. President, I recommend we finish operations in the Middle East. The Russians and Chinese have forces there, but that theater is not going to be their main area of operations. Let’s secure and stabilize that region so we can relocate those forces to Europe.”

“Next, I recommend that we move Asia to the backburner. I hate the idea of abandoning Asia, but until our carrier forces are built back up and Japan joins in, we are not going to be in a position to take China on and win. With that said, I recommend we continue to build up a defensive force in Australia and move to withdraw all forces from Japan and relocate them to Alaska. The Klondike is incredibly vulnerable to both Russia and China, and those forces in Japan could be the difference in deterring or preventing an attack there.”

“I also recommend that we begin a full evacuation of the Hawaiian Islands. The Chinese will certainly make a move for them. Once cut off, the civilian population on the island would begin to die off. The island also has limited military value because the naval and air facilities there have been wrecked by the Chinese sneak attack there. We are preparing our military forces to fight a guerilla war on the island and establish a continuous surveillance operation of the facilities once they do fall to the Chinese, but there is nothing we could do for the civilians. I recommend we begin a forced evacuation of the residents immediately, while we still have time.”

Secretary of State Jim Wise spoke up, “This is not going to look good in the public eye, Mr. President. I understand the need to prioritize the various theaters of operation, but it will appear that we are abandoning Asia and essentially surrendering to China. Is there some way we can continue to keep some sort of military pressure on the Chinese?”

Eric understood Jim’s concern as well and added, “He is right, Mr. President. It will appear that we are surrendering to China and ceding Asia to them. However, if we keep our submarine forces and the navy involved in Asia sinking Chinese shipping and going after other soft targets, then we can keep the public and the Chinese from believing we have ceded Asia to them.”

General Branson concurred. “These are good points Mr. President; I have to agree with their assessments. It is important we make the Chinese believe we have not completely surrendered the fight to them, especially in light of our withdrawing from the Hawaiian island, if we do in fact move forward with that plan.”

The President knew the next two weeks were going to be critical to the direction of the war and its outcome. The decisions being made right now would have a profound impact on the future history of the world. “Then it is settled. Asia will be moved to the backburner until we can defeat the IR and Russia. I want everything done to secure Israel and knock the IR out of the war immediately. Find a way to cripple them — starve them into submission if need be — but make sure that we bring that war to an end, or at least to a point where they are no longer a threat.”

“I also want a decision from the Japanese. Are they going to honor their defense pact with us and get involved in the war or not? If they choose to not honor the agreement, then I want General Branson to move forward with the full withdraw of US Forces from Japan to Alaska. We will not protect Japan from China if they are not willing to honor their defense agreement, nor will we allow the Japanese to intern our forces for the duration of the war,” the President said emphatically.

Following what was probably the most important meeting of the war, the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs immediately began to get things moving. Sixty thousand soldiers who had just completed training were being transferred to Australia to add to the 48,000 troops already stationed there. They would comprise the bulk of US Forces in Australia. 11,000 Marines were sent to Alaska to aid the Army in defending critical naval and land points that could be used by either Russian or Chinese forces, and they began to build a host of defensive forts and positions all throughout the Klondike. All other US Forces shipped to Israel to assist General Gardner’s Third Army.