Technology is not the only issue. Saudi Arabia, for example, has spent vast sums of money on buying everything from modern tanks to aircraft. It has one of the largest defence budgets in the world. And yet, the Saudis are quite unable to protect themselves against a peer power. The Saudis have spent so much time coup-proofing their military and setting up rival units that their actual fighting power is quite low. Even basic maintenance is a non-issue. It is true the Saudis did better than their critics expected, during the Gulf War, but the bar was not set very high. Modern militaries require more than giving a man a rifle and pointing him at the front. They need training in how to handle and maintain their weapons, then training that draws directly from real-life experiences. It is all too easy, when there is no sense of urgency, to allow standards to fall by the wayside.
The belief that the West will maintain its superiority tends to breed complacency. The planners of Operation Iraqi Freedom overlooked a number of factors that made the invasion and occupation a great deal harder than it could have been. Their mindset refused to allow them to grasp the nettle and admit that they would have to make hard decisions and yes, there would be casualties. In a sense, the complacency continues to pervade American and Western military thinking. Our governments are often more interested in looking good than actually making hard decisions and sticking to them, because they believe - deep inside - that total defeat is simply not a possibility. This is, unfortunately, untrue.
There are three basic possibilities that must be acknowledged, considered and prepared for:
First, we may face another paradigm shift in wartime. Instead of a major invasion, we may see insurgencies and uprisings within major cities, particularly in districts dominated by ethnic and religious groups hostile to the government. This would present us with a legal and ethical quandary, as we would start by treating the matter as a police issue rather than calling on the military. The insurgents, in such a scenario, would try to play on this as much as possible, alternatively claiming to be a rival government or demanding the protection of the law depending on the exact situation. This would rapidly lead to hardening attitudes, particularly if the government refused to commit itself to defending the country until it was too late. If this happened, our values as a society would be effectively dead.
Second, we might face an enemy force that outnumbers us so badly the tech advantage is effectively meaningless. China, for example, might throw hundreds of primitive cruise missiles at a carrier battle group and count it a victory; Russia might launch a massive invasion of Europe, accepting the loss of ten Russian tanks for every European tank and coming out ahead. If this happened, the world order would be completely reshaped.
Third, we might face a different paradigm shift. The Russians or the Chinese might manage to gain effective control of space, allowing them to bombard the United States from orbit until the United States surrendered. This would not require (much) additional technological development, merely the will to invest money and resources and the determination to overlook early failures. If this happened, the world order would be shattered beyond repair.
***
In these books, the Terrain Marine Corps met - for the first time in centuries - an opponent that matched them in technology and came close to them, although not completely, in training. The marines had problems handling the challenge because they assumed, even though they should have known better, that they were the best. They were too used to enemies who were unable or unwilling to match them in a straight fight.
In the real world, the results might not be so kind. The world is not a safe place. The current global order has its problems, some of which are easy to see, but it is far better than the alternative. There is no reason to believe - and quite a few reasons to disbelieve - that a world dominated by Russia, China, Iran or Islamic State’s successors would be any better. We must ready ourselves for battle, for being ready to fight is the only way to prevent a war.
And now you’ve read the book, I have a favour to ask.
It’s getting harder to earn a living through indie writing these days, for a number of reasons (my health is one of them, unfortunately). If you liked this book, please post a review wherever you bought it; the more reviews a book gets, the more promotion.
Christopher G. Nuttall
Edinburgh, 2020
Table of Contents
Prologue I
Prologue II Onge ( Inconnu ) , Shortly After the Invasion of Hameau
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty - One
Chapter Twenty - Two
Chapter Twenty - Three
Chapter Twenty - Four
Chapter Twenty - Five
Chapter Twenty - Six
Chapter Twenty - Seven
Chapter Twenty - Eight
Chapter Twenty - Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty - One
Chapter Thirty - Two
Chapter Thirty - Three
Chapter Thirty - Four
Chapter Thirty - Five
Chapter Thirty - Six
Chapter Thirty - Seven
Chapter Thirty - Eight
Chapter Thirty - Nine
Chapter Forty
Afterword
The Halls of Montezuma Page 41