Operation Red Dragon and the Unthinkable

Saving Samson

The Russian offensive had finally been stopped, just south of the city of Haifa at the Carmel Mountain National Park and stretching to just north of Nazareth to the Sea of Galilee. The fighting was nearly constant and intense up until that point; all sides had lost tens of thousands of soldiers a day during the fighting. The Israelis were beginning to consider more drastic measures to defeat the Russians. The Israelis had made the decision that if the Russians broke through their last line of defense and reached Megiddo National Park, they would activate their Samson protocol, the use of nuclear weapons. Just as the Biblical character for which this protocol was named had garnered his last bit of super-human might to push out the columns of a Philistine building and collapse it upon all inside, this maneuver of last resort would destroy the enemy, but possibly also themselves in the process.

The Israelis knew that with modern day laser defense systems, ballistic missiles would have no chance of hitting their targets. So instead of conventional mines, the IDF had buried dozens of cobalt-laden nuclear devices along the Israeli border and several key points inside of Israel. If it appeared that the country was lost, then they could detonate these devices and forever eradiate the land. They also had their Jericho bombs, which were smaller nuclear devices in the 1 kiloton to 10 kiloton range. These bombs were buried all across Israel and could be detonated on enemy forces as the IDF continued to fall back.

General Gardner was aware of the protocols and the bombs in play; he had argued for time and patience with the Israeli government to not use such weapons. Entreating them, he pleaded, “The Americans are here in force and are not going to leave; we have time… we could grind the Russians and IR down. The US has already nuked the IR hard, so there is no reason to destroy the Holy Land with nuclear bombs as well.”

Ultimately, the IDF commanders heard what Gardner had to say, and he had won the argument, at least for the moment.

General Gardner called this new meeting of his division commanders to hear some ideas from them on how they could push the Russians back. “Generals, as you know, I have called you together to hear some of your thoughts for how we can dislodge the Russian positions. I am handing the floor to you, so please, let’s begin,” the General directed.

Major General Kennedy, the 3rd Infantry Division commander, was the first to speak. “General, I appreciate the opportunity to share some ideas. As you know, the Russians have dug in pretty good at this point. They made their lunges as far as they could, and then settled in while they consolidated for the next attack. I believe we need to find a way to get in their rear area and threaten their supply lines. Once their forces are drawn away to deal with their tail, we can launch our own counter-offensive across the entirety of Israel. We would hit the IR near Amman, the Chinese in the south and the Russians in the north. Then we could throw the entire Axis off balance with an airborne assault.” Kennedy had prepared a holographic map of his strategy, and displayed it for the room to view as he spoke.

After twenty minutes of discussing the idea, General Gardner said, “I like the thought, but I am not sure we have enough airpower right now to support that. Plus, the MiG40s are still causing a lot of problems for us. The JF35s are just now starting to take them on with the new radars. I’m concerned that if we sent airborne troops in to attack their supply lines, we might lose a number of transports before they even get over their drop zones. Do you have any ideas on how we make this work without losing a lot of aircraft to the MiGs?”

Kennedy thought for a moment before responding. “Sir, historically, during the invasion of Normandy and other airborne operations, we lost aircraft and men. Despite those casualties, we still managed to land a large enough force that we were able to cause significant problems. Perhaps if we used the Razorbacks to do the insertion (instead of cargo transports) we might be able to reduce our losses, at least in the higher risk areas. If we swarm the skies with drones and then the Marines joined in to conduct an amphibious assault, we could bring enough force to make a difference.”

Major General Lance Peeler, the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force commander, liked the idea. He put in his own two cents, “Sir, my Marines could make a landing north and south of Beirut, and capture the city and the highway leading to Chtaura inside Lebanon. This would place a 60,000 man blocking force in their rear area. If the 101st Airborne is able to land all around the Beirut area, that would cause enough of a distraction that my Marines might be able to capture the area with minimal casualties. Once 82nd Airborne captures Chtaura, then we have them cut off. That places 100,000 troops at their rear that are equipped with armor support.”

Before agreeing to move forward with this plan, General Gardner clarified, “Essentially, we’d be launching our own version of MacArthur’s Battle of Inchon, where he landed forces behind the Chinese and North Koreans to recapture Seoul and cut them off from their supply lines. Does everyone like this plan, or does someone else have another they would like us to consider?” He looked around the room for any dissent.

Major General Twitty, the 1st Armored Division Commander, spoke up; “I like the plan. If the Russians feel they are going to be cut off from their supply lines and encircled, they will pull back and perhaps we could even get them to fall back to Damascus. My only concern is that if we do this, we need to see it through to the end no matter how many casualties we take, and we may take a lot. This would be our one big chance to crush the Russians in the Middle East and knock the others out of the war as well.” He slammed his fist on the table for emphasis.

“Very well then. We will move forward with this plan and staff it through the chain of command. I will consult with the IDF and ensure they shift forces around to fill in the gaps as we advance. We will go for broke gentlemen. Make sure your commanders know that this is it; there will be no second chances. We are either going to win and finish them off, or this war is going to drag on a lot longer. We may even lose Israel if we take too many casualties and are defeated. I want you all to hit them hard and win. Dismissed!”

With that said, the group broke up and the various generals went back to their divisional commands to begin preparations. The invasion and offensive operations would take place in six days, which was not a lot of time considering all of the moving parts. Fortunately, the Navy had complete control of the waters in this area and had the amphibious assault ships needed already in port. The vessels were only moving about 55 miles up the coast to drop off the Marines, so it was not a long jaunt by any means. It was fortunate in this case that Israel was a small country geographically; it meant that shifting forces and aircraft around would not be nearly as big of a challenge if they were carrying out the same type of attack in Europe or Asia.

Major Lee looked at his company commanders as they stood in a circle under the helicopter flight deck of one of the many Marine assault ships off the coast of Lebanon. Sensing a momentous occasion on the horizon, he began to address them about the battalion’s assignment for the invasion. “Lieutenant Thornton, Alpha and Bravo Company are going to air assault in and secure the Beirut International Airport. You are the OIC for the airport operation. I want your Company to take the terminal, tower and the main section of the airport. Bravo Company is going to secure the southern end of the airport, which is where the Russians are encamped. Charley and Delta Companies are going to air assault in to the Golf Club of Lebanon, just north of your position, and secure it for a medical battalion that will arrive in the seaborne invasion group. The Brigade is going to set up their headquarters at your location once you have the airport secured.”

“I’m going to establish our battalion headquarters initially with Charley Company and will then transition to the airport once Brigade arrives. Because our two locations are less than a mile apart, Delta Company will be your Quick Reaction Force (QRF) if you need additional reinforcements. Charley Company will continue to hold the golf course and provide security for the medical battalion. Once you have established control of the airport, a few dozen air transports are going to land and offload a company of light drone tanks and infantry fighting vehicles. An aviation battalion will also arrive and get the airport ready to receive and launch a few squadrons of Razorbacks.”

“It’s imperative that you secure the airport as quickly as possible; those follow-on forces will arrive ninety minutes after you land,” Major Lee said, looking Thornton directly in the eyes. “This entire operation is a major risk; we have to secure the city, airport and seaport for the armored forces, or we are going to find ourselves in a world of hurt when the Russians turn their attention towards us. Remember, there are nearly 50,000 Russian soldiers in and around this area and another 150,000 in Damascus, not that far from our objectives.”

In addition to doubling the size of the MEF, each company was doubled in size, which meant a company could accomplish a lot more now than they used to be able to. “My men will get it done Sir. They are pretty wired up right now, and I’ll make sure they stay wound up. We all know this is the opportunity to knock the Russians out of the war,” Lieutenant Thornton said with conviction. The glint in his eyes showed an iron will and no lack of determination.

Two hours later, Lieutenant Thornton’s Company was in the air heading towards the Beirut airport. The Army Rangers were already in the city, securing half a dozen key bridges for the armor units and other strategic targets throughout the city. The 101st Airborne was landing airborne troopers east of the city via hundreds of Razorbacks, and was forming up to secure their corridors and targets. The 82nd Airborne parachuted in at Chtaura, hitting the Russian supply depots and blocking any reinforcements from Damascus. With nearly 60,000 airborne troops dropping from the sky and 40,000 Marines assaulting from the sea, this was the largest airborne assault since the Normandy invasion of France during World War II.

Lieutenant Thornton’s Company was coming into sight of the airport as they flew over dozens of Marine landing craft and vehicles hitting the beaches below. Dozens of green tracers started to reach out for his Razorback as they continued to fly towards the airport. The pilot began taking evasive action, and counter-fired a slew of anti-tank missiles and rockets at the targets that had been shooting at them. One of the crew chiefs swiveled his mini-gun towards several of the buildings as the aircraft got closer to landing, and he began to rake the buildings with bullets to keep the enemy heads down while they landed. As they neared the landing zone, the Razorback took several hits, jarring it a bit. Luckily, the Razorback was so heavily armored that the rounds bounced off the protective covering harmlessly.

The Razorback began to flare as it landed. Lieutenant Thornton yelled to everyone in the cabin. “Start identifying targets, and take them out fast! Shoot and move, and do it quickly!” he yelled as he readied himself to jump once the craft leveled out.

Within seconds, they were on the ground and coming under heavy enemy fire. One of Thornton’s men was hit in the face and fell to the ground in front of him, dead. Seconds later, an anti-tank rocket flew from one of the nearby buildings and struck the Razorback just as it was starting to gain altitude… it blew up instantly. The explosion threw Lieutenant Thornton to the ground, knocking the wind out of him. He laid on his back for a few seconds to regain his composure and breathe before getting back up and leading a charge with his men to the buildings where the rocket had originated from. They needed to get off the taxi-way; they were sitting ducks out in the open like this.

As Thornton ran towards the building, he had his rifle at his shoulder and was firing while moving. His HUD continued to identify new targets as it was able to distinguish friend from foe through the blue force tracker his men used. He continued to fire round after round as he and his men advanced to the buildings and then into the terminals. Once inside the terminal, they began to stack against the walls of one of the hallways. They then started to clear the rooms one at a time as the platoons made their way through the terminals, hallways, and other rooms they encountered. Russian soldiers were everywhere.

The control tower had a small hallway that connected it to the rest of the terminal. It also had an exterior exit, which is where the Marine team immediately headed towards. They wanted to avoid entering it through the terminal fearing that that entrance may be a trap. As the team headed for the control tower, they were met by heavy machine gun fire, killing several Marines.

While the remaining Marines were getting into position to breach the tower, a Russian soldier threw a satchel out of one of the windows in the tower towards the jarheads below. The Marines saw the bag charge, and immediately began to scatter, which enabled the Russian machine gunners to once again pummel the American forces. Then the satchel exploded, killing and wounding the rest of the Marines who had been in its vicinity.

The Russians had very cleverly set up several heavy machine guns and a couple of snipers in the tower at various levels. Despite the tower not being a very large structure, it provided the Russians with enough cover to cause the Marines a lot of trouble securing the airport. Having lost nearly two squads trying to secure this one objective, the platoon sergeant had three of his Marines pull out their AT6 rockets in order to destroy the tower.

The Marines were also coming under a lot of sniper fire from buildings next to the airport, forcing them to have to extend their perimeter farther beyond the airport than where they had originally wanted to attack. The dilemma for the jarheads was that they were operating under a short timeframe to secure the airport. Follow-on forces were on their way, and though the C17s could land under enemy fire, it would be better if they didn’t. The Russians were everywhere. They fired relentlessly, killing a number of Thornton’s men despite the losses they were taking.

After ninety minutes of continuous fighting, building to building, room to room, and expanding the perimeter beyond the airport, they finally secured the area. Lieutenant Thornton called the battalion headquarters and requested the QRF be sent to his position and for several medivacs. His company had taken heavy casualties capturing the airport and so did Bravo Company, which had the southern end of the airport that had housed most of the Russian Air Force personnel manning the airport.

In addition to securing the airport and the perimeter, they also had to move numerous destroyed and disabled vehicles from the runway and taxi-ways. The Russians had moved as many vehicles as possible to prevent aircraft from landing on the runways, in addition to blowing up several large holes in its surface. Fortunately, a couple of front-end loaders from an engineering unit were brought in by helicopter thirty minutes after the first Marines attacked the airport. They immediately began to move dirt to fill in the holes, and helped to move the numerous damaged and disabled vehicles blocking the runway, getting it ready to receive aircraft. A few dozen Air Force controllers and other personnel also arrived with the engineers and began to coordinate initial air operations.

Major Lee came on the radio and to give his congratulations. “Lieutenant Thornton, good job on securing the airport. Brigade has twelve Razorbacks in-bound to your location, with additional troops and equipment. That flight of transports I told you about is inbound as well, so look for them and make sure nothing happens to them,” he said, and he quickly signed off the radio. Thornton could hear a lot of machine gun fire over the radio and assumed the Major was still in the process of securing his own position.

“Sergeant Miller, get on the radio and let Bravo Company know we have transports and Razorbacks in-bound. He needs to make sure the runway is secured and protected, understood?” Thornton called to his radioman.

Ten minutes later, several medivac helicopters landed and began to evacuate the dead and wounded. Minutes after they left, twelve Razorbacks joined the tarmac, along with their aircrews and additional equipment. Thornton ran out to one of the Razorbacks and met the Brigade Commander Colonel Ladd and his staff. They spoke briefly before Thornton pointed in the direction of the terminals for them to head towards. “Sir, we’ve secured the terminals and the airport, Terminal B is the least shot up area for you to set up, if you would like.”

The Colonel nodded as his staff followed Thornton to the terminal. As they entered the corridor, the Colonel could see a number of dead Russian soldiers and spent shell casings from a mountain of gun fire. Clearly, this area had been fought over. Within ten minutes of landing, the Colonel was in charge and directing operations.

Several Air Force personnel joined the Marine Headquarters group, and began to direct several C17s as they began their final approach. The planes were taxiing to offload light drone tanks and munitions for the Razorbacks on one of the taxi ways, and then preparing to take off again and head back to Cypress to pick up the next load.

Once the light drone tanks were offloaded, they began to head towards the base perimeter, and linked up with a platoon from Bravo Company who was going to accompany them to their next objective. It was important to get the light tanks into the fight as soon as possible and get this area of the city and airport secured as quickly as could be. A lot of aircraft and equipment was about to start moving through this airport.

After the flight crews for the Razorbacks established their own air operations, several of them took off heading towards the city to provide additional close air support to the Marines, moving their way through it. There was continuous artillery and heavy machine gun fire emanating from the city center and the east side of the city as the Marines continued to move inland from the various beaches they had invaded from. The Russians were forcing the Marines to fight house-to-house and were turning the city into a meat grinder.

A fourth wave of Razorbacks landed, and offloaded a full battalion of fresh Marines along with a battery of 155mm Howitzers, which immediately began to provide fire support as soon as they were set up. The additional Marines relieved Bravo Company just as Major Lee and the Battalion Headquarters arrived at the airport. It was now time for the battalion to consolidate and await their next assignment.

The sky above Chtaura was abuzz with aircraft activity. Hundreds of drones and manned fighter aircraft were engaged in combat with dozens of MiG40s in an effort to provide cover and protection for the 60+ C17s carrying paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne (they were preparing to jump). Private First Class (PFC) John Mitchell stood up in the C17, getting ready to jump with the rest of his company, when the aircraft suddenly veered to one side and then descended quickly. The jump master yelled, “Everyone to get ready to jump!”

Then the pilot came on over the PA, and announced, “There are enemy MiGs in the area. Repeat, enemy MiGs are in the area. Everyone is to jump immediately!”

The jump light went from red to green, and then the paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne began to jump out of the plane, one after the other, as they passed the jump master at the door.

As PFC Mitchell began to fall, his parachute opened quickly and he dropped his pack below his feet to dangle until he landed. As the company was descending to the airport below, he saw hundreds of parachutes all around him. The C17 his company had just jumped out of took a direct missile hit from a MiG, and blew the left wing clean off. The aircraft caught fire, and began to spiral to the ground before crashing into the hills below, creating a huge fireball. It did not look like anyone from inside the aircraft was able to make it out before it exploded.

While PFC Mitchell descended steadily toward the ground, he grabbed his rifle and began to take aim at the Russians on the ground, who were now only a few thousand feet away. Several Russian soldiers began to aim their heavy machines up towards the paratroopers and began to open fire. Suddenly, the sky was filled with green tracers crisscrossing back and forth across the sky.

PFC Mitchell took aim at a cluster of soldiers manning one of the machine guns while he continued to float down to below 500 feet, and opened fire. He quickly dispatched the soldiers he had targeted at the helm of the machine gun, only to be cut apart by different machine gun crew. His lifeless body continued to drift to the ground, until it landed in a heap.

The fighting was intense during the first four hours of the battle for Chtaura. The Russians fought hard and gallantly, but were outnumbered by the airborne troopers. The M5 AIR and HUD system that the Americans used was perhaps the most superior combat rifle system ever developed. It provided the American soldier with the tactical advantage and gave him a rough average of 5:1 kill ratio. The Americans quickly captured the Russian supply depots and blew them up. They immediately began to establish multiple defensive positions along the major supply routes, highways, and air corridors that the Russian planes and drones were using, making it hard for the Reds to keep their forces in the surrounding areas supplied. They had established their blocking force, preventing Russian reinforcements in Damascus from being able to assist their brothers-in-arms in Beirut.

By the end of the first 36 hours, the Americans had secured an 18-mile-long defensive line from Beirut, Lebanon to Zahlah, Syria. This effectively cut the Russians off from their entire supply line system and blocked any reinforcements they may have been able to receive from Turkey and the Black Sea. As the Americans began to dig in to their new defensive positions, the Russians were left with some hard choices. They already had nearly 300,000 troops in Israel, along with 500,000 Islamic Republic forces. What should they do? If they stayed, they risked being surrounded; if they fell back to Damascus where their reserve force was, they would lose all of the hard fought ground they had gained so far.

With the successful invasion and airborne assault, General Gardner ordered an additional 90,000 soldiers from his reserves to be sent to Beirut, and an all-out offensive against the entire enemy line. The Israelis launched a massive assault from the Jordan Valley, and began to push the IR back towards Amman. The Americans had been equipping the IDF with the same M5 AIR and HUD system that the American soldiers were using, giving them the same tactical advantage that the American soldiers currently enjoyed.

The Chinese were caught off guard by the initial counterattack from the American and Israeli forces. They rushed their reserves forward, believing this was just another defensive ploy by the Allied forces. Unbeknownst to the Chinese, the Americans had cut the Russian supply depots and supply lines off from their main force. They were also unaware that the Israelis were attacking through the Jordan Valley with nearly 600,000 soldiers. However, the Israelis had no intentions of attacking Amman directly. Their goal was to cut deep behind the Chinese lines, and then swing south and behind the Chinese forces, surrounding them while they were fully engaged with the Israeli and American forces to their front. At that point, the Chinese would be forced to either surrender or be wiped out. The grand objective was to either capture or destroy the Chinese army, along with the Russians. Once that was accomplished, they could drive the IR out of Jordan and push towards Riyadh, Baghdad, and Kuwait City. So far, General Gardner’s plan was working.

The conflict in Mexico was not often mentioned in the media or widely talked about by the average person on the street. With the wars in the Middle East, Asia, and Europe raging on, the people generally did not have the attention span to think about another potential problem. However, some Islamic Republic Special Forces units were still operating in Mexico, and they were doing a good job of creating chaos whenever possible. By in large, the country’s conflict had tapered off; more and more people in Mexico were finding work, and many were being drafted into the American army. The government had already drafted 1.6 million Mexican young men and women, ranging in age from 18 to 38, into the U.S. military. Most of these draftees were being deployed to the conflict in the Middle East and Europe, with less than 200,000 of them being deployed Stateside.

More than 70 % of the population was on board with being a US territory, and enjoyed the benefits of being a part of America. While the conflict was winding down, the military continued to draw down forces and shift them to the other conflicts. The Private Military Corporations (PMCs) continued to stay, and provided security for the DOJ, DHS, FBI, and other government agencies as they continued to expand their footprints.

The cartels had been nearly eradicated during this time period. The few Special Forces units still operating in Mexico were hunting them down relentlessly; plus, the DOJ and DHS had placed a huge bounty on their heads. It was becoming hard for them to continue to hide, let alone run their operations. When it came to dealing with the cartels, there were no rules being followed. Unlike the old Mexican government that was powerless against the cartels (or in some cases colluding with them), the Americans hunted them down relentlessly.

The war in the Middle East had gone from bad to suddenly great. The Beirut invasion had proved to be a resounding success, similar to MacArthur’s landing of troops at Inchon during the Korean War. The Israelis had broken through the IR forces near Amman and swung around behind the Chinese army to the south. They cornered the Chinese against the Red Sea, and now had them completely surrounded. The Israeli artillery was giving the Chinese the fight of their lives, pounding them relentlessly 24/7. General Gardner believed the Chinese would be forced to surrender within the next day or two as they had nowhere to go and not nearly enough strength left to fight their way out of their position.

The Russians had initially chosen to keep their army in Israel and drive again towards Tel Aviv, relying on their forces in Turkey to engage the Americans in Lebanon. They broke through the American and Israeli lines once again, and came within eight miles of Tel Aviv, but ran out of steam and supplies. Unfortunately for them, while the main army was attacking Tel Aviv, General Lodz (the Russian commander) was seriously injured in an artillery attack. The extent of his injuries was such that he had to be flown back to Russia for medical treatment. The U.S. Navy and Air Force pummeled the army in Lebanon with massive amounts of air attacks, effectively stopping the Russian relief army group that had been attacking from Turkey.

Prior to the MiG40s being rebased to Turkey, they had scored over 253 fighter drone kills and 127 piloted aircraft kills, all while losing only 23 of their own number. Despite the enormous loss in aircraft by the Allies, they were able to destroy much of the Russian armored forces, and prevented their relief army from breaking through the American defensive lines. The Russians and their supply lines continued to stay cutoff. General Gardner was quick to seize on the tactical defeat of the Russians and absence of General Lodz, and moved to encircle the remaining Russian army.