The Wrath of God

by Jim Balzotti

  He quickly rose through the ranks of the Black Tigers, demonstrating a brilliant mind for military strategy and a ruthless willingness to carry out whatever the mission required. By the time he was thirty, he was the sole leader of the operation, and was granted unprecedented latitude in planning and executing operations. Such singular decision making was unheard of at that time. In 2013, at the young age of fifty three, Xi was asked to become one of only seven members of China’s Standing Committee, a select group that dealt in affairs that went beyond China’s borders and governed the other ruling factions.

  Previously, in 2011, China was faced with a population explosion of 1.3 trillion people, compounded by a high birth rate of 12.29 per 1,000, while life expectancy climbed to 74.68 years; China was running out of natural resources, especially land. Although stewards of 3,600 million square miles, most was too mountainous, and the Gobi desert to the north was unfit to homestead. Eight hundred million rural peasants lived on the equivalent of less than three hundred US dollars annually. Considering at the time the world’s population was 6.7 trillion, 20 percent of the world’s citizens were Chinese; a staggering one in five. To further complicate matters, China’s close ally North Korea was in a never-ending famine, with millions dying of starvation. More ominous, China had a hostile Russia on its border.

  Something had to be done.

  In 2015, Xi put forth a white paper to his committee proposing that China begin to aggressively export some of its more technically trained people to other countries, especially students in good standing with the Chinese Communist Party. This would serve two purposes: It would open up avenues in the future for more Chinese to inhabit foreign territory; and second, and more nefarious, it would set up a base of operations for espionage and infiltration. His suggestion was unanimously accepted, and Xi was elected as chairman of the Standing Committee.

  At the time, China had a robust economy, with a national debt of only 15.6 percent of its GNP, or roughly 2.2 trillion yuan, the national currency. This was mainly due to the fact that most European countries and America took advantage of the cheap Chinese labor—relaxed environmental and human rights conditions. These countries built factories in China in which to manufacture their designer goods to be shipped back home. All of this accounted for the Chinese having a large surplus of hard currency.

  That year China invested millions of dollars in Cuba, building a state-of-the-art technological center, and with it thousands of Chinese to staff it and implement a training program for the Cubans. The Cuban economy, having suffered through an ill-advised boycott by the United States and the subsequent loss of Russia’s financial aid, eagerly accepted the trade. With eleven million Cubans inhabiting this island just seventy miles south of the US shores, the influx of Chinese was barely noticed by the American government, and was not deemed a threat.

  China took this model and expanded it. Most countries welcomed the Chinese money and the technology that came with it. So the Chinese infiltrated the Bahamas, Argentina, Venezuela, Central America, Africa, and what would be the most devastating in years to come for the United States, Mexico.

  The Red Terror had begun.

  Five years later, in 2020, China was faced with a devastating drought that lasted for three years. The drought dried up the rivers and decimated the rice crops. Mass starvation began to occur in rural areas, and China was pushed to the brink. They sought help in purchasing grains, especially wheat from the United States and Canada, but had a shortfall of hard currency due to the unwise policies of the previous Central Committee that lent the United States over 17 trillion dollars. China approached the United States to arrange terms to purchase the grains necessary to feed their people, and was shocked to learn that for all practical purposes, the United States could not pay back but a small portion of the trillions borrowed. Worse still was that the president of the United States, Richard P. Mann, recognizing a way to exploit the Chinese famine and decrease the amount of debt owed to them, said that the United States would sell China 500,000 metric tons of both wheat and corn, but at 400 percent above the world commodity’s going rate. China, as well as the rest of the world, was shocked by this action but could do nothing; their people were starving in the streets. So the Paramount Leader Li Wanquan reluctantly accepted the deal.

  The acceptance of this deal sent shock waves through the Central Committee. Xi Chang was neither shocked nor angry. Xi had little respect for America, nor was he surprised when they held a gun to China’s head. The United States used her military might to interfere in other nations’ governments, and preached moral responsibility and conservation yet consumed almost half of the world’s natural resources. It forbade other nations to develop nuclear weapons yet had an arsenal of its own that could destroy the world many times over. He knew that China would never be accepted as an equal by the United States, Canada, Britain, or the rest of the Western world. China would always be viewed as a vassal unless something drastic was done. Xi knew that the average American stereotyped a Chinese citizen as a maker of trinkets or fireworks, or a purveyor of take-out food.

  That would change.

  In 2022, as the chairman of the Central Military Commission and the ranking member of the Standing Committee, Xi led a military coup and took sole command over the People’s Republic of China. The People’s Liberation Army, sickened by the weakness of their political leaders and their hatred of America, rallied around the nationalism Chang espoused.

  Chang wasted no time in arresting the ruling party, and in one bold move charged them with treason against the People’s Republic of China, sentencing them to death. They were dragged out into the main square in front of a howling bloodthirsty crowd, and to the sounds of jeering, were executed by firing squad.

  The war with the United States began to formalize in Xi’s mind.

  Winter 2028

  Washington DC

  Xi left the balcony and entered the White House Situation Room. He had summoned his team of advisors for the early-morning strategy session, and they were already waiting for him. Although he made all his decisions independently, he did respect what the members of his team had to say; however, he never ruled by consensus. He walked over to the wall where various maps of the world were hung, his eyes taking in the numbers and red arrows marking the location of the deployed Chinese military troops. On his desk an ornate white opaque ivory carved bust of Genghis Khan that had once sat on his father’s desk was now surrounded by military position papers and graphs indicating current troop strength and Chinese causalities; the numbers of the dead foreigners meant very little to him. With this information he decided future pending military actions.

  He poured a steaming hot cup of tea from a centuries-old porcelain pot. It was inlayed with red dragons over a green background surrounded by a delicate gold border, brought from China to America. Raising the hot liquid to his lips, he began to address his men.

  “Comrades, China is on the verge of fulfilling its true destiny as the sole world leader. We are an ancient civilization, the first civilized nation. The T’ang dynasty brought the world painting, sculpture, and poetry; the invention of wood block printing, which allowed the first mass production of books, and thus education for the masses. Yet our nation was brought to its knees time and time again by invading foreign interests. Our religion made us weak. It practiced peace and enlightenment, yet when our enemies brought death and rape to our doors, it had no answers other than to pray and meditate! Still, our leaders, woefully mistaken and weak, sought peaceful solutions. We opened up our markets to the Americans, and they became our largest trading partner. When America needed to borrow trillions to sustain its wasteful capitalistic government, our leaders lent it to them. Trillions to a country with no moral spine!”

  Xi paused and took a sip of his tea, his face impassive as he gazed at his people.

  “When our own economy began to slow down in 2020 and we suffered a devastating drought, we requested a partial amount of our money be returned to us. O
ur own cash flow had decreased with the global recession, and we were getting to a point where scarce funds inhibited our ability to purchase wheat, corn, oil, and other commodities on the world market sorely needed to sustain our people. Over 17 trillion they owed us! Our money! Money we had lent them so their citizens could buy houses they could not afford, luxury cars, gold watches they did not need, jewelry to adorn themselves, luxury boats and vacations bought on credit, all on BORROWED money, while our farmers were forced to live on pennies a day! Money they GAVE to other countries that hated them! Iraq, Iran, Syria, Egypt! OUR MONEY! BORROWED FROM US! And what was the United States’ response? They REFUSED US! They said they didn’t have it! The most powerful nation on Earth was BROKE!”

  Xi slammed his fist on the table.

  “Our leaders failed its people, and that is what led to our overthrow of the weak Central Committee government by the People’s Liberation Army. What the politicians failed to realize was that lending vast sums of money time and time again to the Americans was like lending money to a degenerate opium user. You must know, sooner or later, you will not get your money back.

  “We had almost two trillion people facing starvation. Two trillion! In the countryside, people who were unable to get to the cities resorted to eating grass and bark to fill their stomachs while the Americans grew fat. So we took matters into our own hands. We realized that China was provided a historic opportunity to solve critical problems including our lack of living space and food for our people, as well as much-needed raw materials. We began to develop military plans to protect our ancient nation. While we negotiated with the US for grain, our scientists, the best in the world, developed new software for a prototype of computers accessible only to us. We knew the extent of the US spying on us and countered by developing a new satellite uplink system that would provide security and privacy in all communications. A power source hidden deep within our mountains supports this technology. Our engineers developed computer software that would not interface with the existing systems utilized by the rest of the world. Thus our military communications and war plans remained covert. We constructed our navy, especially the twenty nuclear-powered fast-attack submarines, each capable of launching sixteen intercontinental missiles tipped with nuclear explosives. As you are now aware, our most devastating weapon in the war with the US was the development of the most powerful NEMP, or nuclear electromagnetic pulse bomb. Now let us talk about the present.”

  Xi walked over to the wall and pointed to the United States. Red Chinese flags were over every major US city and population center. Every major airport was under Chinese control. Any small American plane that dared to attempt to fly anywhere to escape was identified by radar, tracked, and shot down. On every major highway Chinese checkpoints had been established. In addition, war ships and smaller armed boats patrolled the waterways.

  He called on Wang Sheng Kun, his domestic advisor to the United States. “How many Americans are left alive?”

  “Sir, when we attacked America three years ago, there was a population of a little over three hundred and fifty million. The majority, as you know, were living in populated cities on both coasts. I’m pleased to say with the implementation of our forced labor camps—and to a much lesser degree, our executions—the population now is estimated to be somewhere around one hundred and fifty million.”

  “Very good. Have you a targeted goal?”

  “Yes. We require about 800,000 to 900,000 to keep as a slave labor force. No more than that. Our people have been taking over all the normal functions of the US. We now have about two million of our citizens relocated throughout the grain belt, and we’re mastering all the variables of the farming operations here and in Canada. We of course anticipated the time needed to repair the damage done by our NEMP attacks, and that is also ahead of schedule.

  “Our fishermen have repaired and subsequently commanded all the American super-trawlers operating on both coasts, and the harvest is already enough to feed our people.”

  “The remaining Americans…?” Xi asked.

  “Still on starvation rations, as you stipulated. We allow them about eight hundred calories per person daily, which is just enough to keep them alive and able to labor. Most of their food comes from our scraps. None of the grains or fish we harvest is diverted to them for sustenance.”

  “No food riots or problems?”

  “None, sir. Any man or woman—or child, for that matter—who causes a problem is publically executed, a consequence that deters rebellious activity. For the most part, the Americans are cowering in their homes.”

  “Excellent! In five years’ time, the American population will be decimated. We’ll have no further use for them. Very good. We need America. Not the Americans.”

  Turning back toward the map of the United States, Xi asked, “Now where do we stand on crushing the rebellion? Yang?”

  Yang Keqiang, military advisor for the United States, answered, “Sir, the United States collapsed as you predicted. When we arrived, there were breakaway factions of the military which refused to surrender. Lack of communication between those factions, and lack of real leadership, enabled our troops to mop those up fairly easily. Again, sir, your edict proclaiming that to resist and refuse to turn in their weapons would result in the execution of families worked perfectly. The Americans, as we anticipated, had no stomach for rebellion once we began shooting their wives and children. As for the famed militia, they were scattered, unable to communicate with one another, allowing us to pick them off one by one. I must confess they fought valiantly, but again, they were just not formidable opponents for our crack troops.”

  “So we’re in complete control?”

  “Apart from a few roving hunter-kill squads left over from the military and some smaller militia outfits operating in the more remote areas of the country, yes, sir. We do have Apache helicopter gunships tracking and destroying some of them. It’s just a matter of time before we eliminate them all. We are monitoring their transmissions via ham radios, and some other groups were content to slip away anonymously into the wilderness areas, but they pose no problems to our plans.”

  “I want them all destroyed. Our troops are to kill them on sight. Make an example of them. And what of my edict forbidding religion?”

  “Interesting enough, sir, while it’s true that America was founded on its Christian faith and a strong belief in God, over the centuries the people moved away from it on their own. The religious moral fiber of Christian values was weakened by their own unbridled selfishness and greed. America became a country of the very rich and the very poor. The wealthy had the best access to health care while the poor languished and died in the streets. Americans turned away from their God long before we took over, so enforcing the edict about worship and the destruction of their churches was a fairly simple task.”

  Chang responded, “Still, we must be vigilant about a resurgence. Karl Marx wisely said religion was the opium of the masses. Enforce the rule with brutal force. Anyone caught praying in a church we haven’t destroyed yet is to be flogged until their skin peels off and then crucified…publically. I plan to stamp out religious worship globally. That was the first thing I did when I assumed power in China, and we need to make an example of the Americans to the rest of the world. When we take this myth of God away from them, they have nothing.”

  Pausing to command the full attention of his military leaders, Xi went on to say, “Our priority is singularly focused on controlling the world’s resources and expanding the living area for our citizens. We now have complete control of all the resources in North America and Central America. Our position to the world is simple: join us, and live; resist, and be destroyed. For this we will emulate the great Genghis Khan. He too was driven to conquer for environmental reasons. As his people’s food and resources became scarce, he did not ask, he took. He was a fearless warlord, piling the skulls of men, women, and children who opposed him in large pyramidal mounds. Khan attacked his enemies with unstoppable sa
vagery. They would rather surrender than suffer his attacks, and that is exactly our military plan.

  “We have the only viable economy remaining in the world. When we destroyed the dollar, the Euro and the Pound collapsed. Capitalistic countries that treated us as a third-world nation reverted to bartering as they did five hundred years ago. We have outlawed and replaced their currency with our yuan. The people of those nations no longer have weapons. We took those away. Apart from a small standing army, their populace relied on America to keep them safe. After we detonated a nuclear bomb over Scotland and another over Sri Lanka, any thoughts of military opposition ceased. We required all nations to accept the dismantling of their nuclear arsenal or risk immediate annihilation. We do allow them to maintain a small local defense for police purposes, under our jurisdiction of course, but all standing military had to be dismantled. Now European countries may think of themselves as our trading partner, but they are ruled by China and tread lightly.

  “Our simultaneous NEMP attack on Russia was also a complete success. Most of what they had in the way of nukes was dismantled in a joint peace treaty with the United States years ago. When we offered to share in North America’s bounty with them, they knew it was better to become our vassal than oppose us. They do have a large standing army, but that too is being dismantled. Russia was compelled to allow us to share in their vast oil and coal reserves. We’ll keep a close eye on the Russians, but I don’t expect any problems. The savagery we showed upon the Americans was not lost on them.”