Prelude to World War III: The Rise of the Islamic Republic and the Rebirth of America

by James Rosone

  “Mr. President, the rioting is starting to get out of control in some cities. Just as we believe things are starting to calm down, some nut job starts shooting Muslims or Christians or Jews, and once again the situation is a boiling cauldron of fury and rage. The National Guard is still mobilizing and getting into position in the major cities, but something has to give,” said FBI Director Jane Smart.

  “We need to give it some time, Director. Order is not going to be restored immediately; the National Guard needs time to get in place, DHS is still getting the detention processing camps established and so on. I just authorized curfews, as well as the use of deadly force with the rioters; if things do not calm down over the next 48 hours, we’ll look at the situation again.”

  “I understand, Mr. President. We have more than just a detention problem. There are literally hundreds of cities experiencing this problem; the gangs in some of the major cities are also taking advantage of the situation. On top of it all, I have the ACLU breathing down my neck crying foul everywhere,” complained the Director of DHS.

  “This war is almost 48 hours old; I do not give a crap what the ACLU says right now. We are under martial law and under the 2015 and 2039 Defense Authorization Act, I am operating within the legal bounds of the law. Let’s move on to a status update on the war--where do we stand, General Branson?” asked the President, clearly frustrated.

  “Mr. President, everyone is aware of the atrocities the IR has been committing against our Forces. I’d fire and replace General Gardner for destroying the Al Aqsa Mosque, but right now he is in the thick of it and I think pulling him out would cause more problems than it would solve,” said Branson.

  “I agree, but as you said, it would cause more issues at this moment, so we are stuck having to turn a blind eye to it at the moment. Please continue.”

  “The 1st ID is less than two miles from Jerusalem; in some locations, the IR forces are even closer to the city. Our forces have been getting mauled and they have been in almost continuous combat for nearly 48 hours. General Gardner has ordered the rest of the 3rd ID in to reinforce them; the 1st armored division broke through the IR lines and quickly advanced to the outskirts of Damascus. Gardner has ordered them to swing south and try to put more pressure on the IR forces in the Jordan Valley.”

  “The 2nd MEF has secured the Sinai and the SCZ. The 6th Fleet is reporting a massive troop movement from Cairo heading toward the SCZ; the Marine Air Wing is engaging them along with the 6th Fleet. I’ve directed Admiral Todd to do what she can to assist our troops in the valley. We still do not have air supremacy, but the more pressure we can put on the IR air forces, the better,” said Branson.

  “Where is the rest of the Air Force in all of this? When will we have control of the skies and start to pound these guys into the dirt?” asked the President.

  “Soon, Mr. President. We are moving the USS Intrepid to the Mediterranean. Their battlegroup should be on station in four days; they are sailing at flank speed,” said Admiral Juliano.

  “The 81st Fighter Drone Wing has arrived in Sigonella Naval Airbase, Italy. The Wing consists of 1,000 F38 air superiority drones and 600 FA38 ground attack drones. The 80th Fighter Drone Wing has arrived at Aviano Air Base, Italy; they consist of the same number and type of aircraft. The 80th is engaging the IR Air Force in Turkey and their naval assets left in the area. The 81st is going to focus solely on providing support to our forces in Israel once our forward airbases in Crete are back to being operational. As soon as air superiority has been achieved over Israel (or as close as we can get to it), the ground attack drones will move to their forward bases so they can provide quicker ground support.”

  “The 80th ground attack aircraft will also move to Israel as soon as possible. I’ve ordered two additional JF35 squadrons to the region, and our cyber guys are wreaking havoc on the remaining US aircraft they have. So far we’ve managed to keep them grounded, so I’d call that a win,” declared General Adrian Rice, the Air Force Chief of Staff.

  “How soon until additional reinforcements are going to arrive?” asked the President.

  “We lost two transports carrying reinforcements a few hours ago. Once the Air Force can provide additional air cover, we have another 3,000 troops waiting in Italy. Most of the XVIII Airborne Corps is still in Mexico, so they are not going to be available for at least another week. The issue we face is getting enough troops mobilized and deployed to Israel to make a difference.”

  “The troops we would traditionally have available are either tied down in Mexico, already deployed in Israel, or conducting anti-terrorism activities here in the US. We have one brigade from the 82nd that is en-route to Italy and will be ready to jump into Israel as soon as there is an opportunity,” said General Jeremiah Smith, the Army Chief of Staff. A worried look covered his face. “With your permission, I would like to prepare Fifth Corps to head to Israel as quickly as possible.”

  “How soon could they get there?” asked the President.

  “I have the orders drafted and the Corps has been placed on ready alert for deployment; we can start to have them move to Norfolk for embarkation immediately. They should arrive in nine days with their full equipment load,” said General Smith.

  “Before we deploy more troops to Israel, we need to secure the Straits of Gibraltar. The British are holding their end; the issue is the IR side. At first, they posed no significant problem once our aircraft from Britain paid them a visit, but I am concerned that this may change now that we are going to need to move a lot more ships through there,” posited General Tyler Black, the Commandant of the Marine Corps. General Black looked like your typical Marine; he had a bulldog of a face and could stare down just about anyone. His first concern was his Marines, then his country.

  “I suppose you have a plan, General?” asked the President, raising an eyebrow at the General.

  “I do, Mr. President. I have the 4th MEF about a day away from the Straights as they move to reinforce the 2nd MEF in the Sinai and the SCZ. I would like to drop a battalion and their equipment to secure the area; the British Forces on Gibraltar have said they would provide air support for the battalion and, if needed, medical support.”

  “All right, General. Secure the area, and then get the rest of those Marines to the 2nd MEF. General Gardner has ordered one of your Brigades there to retake our base at Eilat. The situation around Jerusalem is only getting worse, so the more Marines we can get in country, the better.” The President looked exhausted, practically haggard from lack of sleep and immense pressure.

  “Mr. President, we need to make a decision about Jerusalem and whether we want General Gardner to hold it or withdraw to a more defensible position,” interjected General Branson, pouring himself a refill of his coffee.

  “I’m afraid the IR has already made that decision for us, General. If we surrender the city, they are going to kill everyone in it and destroy any Jewish and Christian historical sites. We need General Gardner to hold the city at all cost, even if it means house to house fighting. The civilians need more time to evacuate. I spoke with the Israeli Prime Minister, and he said they are evacuating as many civilians as possible out of Israel to Italy.” The President let out a heavy sigh. “Generals, you all have your orders…continue to manage the war as we have discussed, and have your updates ready for our next meeting in…four hours.”

  “Henry, you need to make another address to the nation soon. The people need to be reassured that things are OK and we are in control. The COG has really spooked a lot of people; there are lines of people fleeing the major cities, heading to the countryside. People are not showing up for work and basic services are starting to break down,” explained Monty.

  “You are right as usual. Please schedule a broadcast for 5pm today. When is our domestic briefing?”

  “In a couple of hours. You have some time to catch a short nap, if that is what you were thinking.”

  “Thank you, Monty. You know, aside from my wife, you probably know me better
than anyone else.”

  *******

  The President made his third address to the nation in a few hours, this time to reassure the American people that things were fine and they should return back to their homes and jobs. The President informed the public that the National Guard would remain on the streets with the police to help maintain law and order. The best thing people could do for the war effort was to return back to their homes and their businesses as the country and the soldiers in the Middle East needed their support.

  In this same period, the FBI and DHS had apprehended 74 individuals prior to them being able to carry out further attacks. This brought the total number of captures to 329 terrorists. Four hundred and sixty-two thousand people had applied to join the military in the first 48 hours of the war. People were angry, and they wanted payback.

  Despite large numbers of people wanting to leave the big cities after the initial use of nuclear weapons by the IR and the attacks on the Senate and Capital buildings, American nationalism was at an all-time high. Riots and demonstrations both for and against the war, along with pro-Muslim and anti-Muslim rallies continued. Some turned violent, and there was a lot of vigilante justice going on; local and federal law enforcement was doing their best to maintain law and order, though they fell short often.

  *******

  02 December 2040

  Day Four, World War III

  IR Underground Command Center

  “Caliph Mohammed, I bring good news, General Muhammed has finally captured Jerusalem. The American and Israeli forces have fallen back to less than ten miles from Tel Aviv; General Hamza believes his forces will be able to secure Tel Aviv within the next three days.”

  “Our Air Force has taken a terrible beating, Caliph. We have lost nearly 1,200 aircraft since the start of operations, and 4,000 fighter drones were destroyed. We still have 2,300 fighter drones, but these constitute the last of our operational Air Force,” said General Ishmael Malik, the Commanding General of the IR Air Forces.

  “General Hamza, I am pleased that we have finally secured Jerusalem. General Malik, you bring up a major concern. Have we been able to get our laser defense systems operational yet?”

  “Yes, we have about 40% of them back online. The Americans were able to destroy ten of our sixteen ground-based sites with cruise missiles. The majority of our mobile defense systems are at the frontline, leaving us vulnerable. We have started to pull some of them to help protect our critical infrastructure. The Russians are helping by connecting their power transmission nodes into ours. As they are able to provide more electricity, we should have the rest of our laser batteries operational,” explained General Malik with an optimistic look on his face.

  “It was a smart move on the Americans’ part to destroy our power plants. Aside from shutting down our laser defense systems, it has plunged most of the Republic into the dark.”

  “Fortunately, we also have a lot of industrial grade generators and two Russian nuclear powered ships in port; they are providing a substantial amount of power,” said Admiral Mustafa.

  “Their attempt to take out the reactors at Fordo failed, though we are letting them believe they destroyed them. We have that weak idiot President Obama to thank for giving us the time to reinforce it beyond their capability to destroy it so many years ago,” said General Malik.

  “The American cruise missiles are really starting to cause some problems aside from electricity shortages; they are attempting to destroy our infrastructure, making movement across the Republic incredibly difficult. It is making it hard to move additional reinforcements and supplies to the frontlines.”

  “We have over two million volunteers in Mecca and Medina right now that need to be transported to the front. A lot of them are being moved by commercial busses, which is helping; once they arrive, we are providing them with basic small arms rifles and a minimal amount of ammunition. General Muhammed is having them formed into shock brigades--he plans on using them as human wave attacks and then his professional units will follow in behind them,” said Malik.

  “Let us hope that with these numbers we will be able to overwhelm their defenses and finally crush the Jews.”

  “Caliph Mohammed, if I may--I would like to discuss our operatives in the US. The Americans have captured 90% of our remaining operatives; it is going to be difficult for us to carry out the final attack once the nuclear packages have been delivered,” said Huseen ibn Abdullah the Director of IR Intelligence.

  “Abdullah, your agents have exceeded our wildest dreams in attacking the Americans. Over 20,000 of them have been killed, and you have struck fear in their hearts. I would like all operations there to stop until we are ready for the final attack. Let’s conserve the few remaining agents we have for our final act of destruction,” replied Caliph Mohammed, smiling broadly at the thought of detonating two nuclear bombs inside the US.

  The Dragon Awakens

  02 December 2040

  Day Five

  Beijing, China

  Premier Zhang Jinping was on his way to a meeting with the Central Military Commission (CMC) to discuss the plans to finally acquire their lost province Taiwan and to become the supreme power in Asia. The war in the Middle East was becoming a bloodbath; the Islamic Republic had hurt the Americans bad when they destroyed the American 5th Fleet. The destruction of the 5th Fleet had given China a few new options that they previously did not believe were possible. With the Americans sending the USS Intrepid battlegroup to the Mediterranean, that meant the US 7th Fleet with the USS Ronald Reagan would only have the USS John F. Kennedy to rely on, which was located in the Pacific Northwest. With only one US Aircraft Carrier down near the Indonesian Islands, hammering the Islamic Republic, they would not be able to intervene with Taiwan or Guam.

  “The only real concern is the American submarines,” thought the Premier.

  As the Premier walked into the room to meet with the CMC, he noticed several of the generals in various heated discussions. If there was one major weakness within the Chinese military, it was the various rivalries and the desire for each branch of the PLA to be the dominant branch.

  “General Wanquan, are we ready to secure the rest of Asia?” asked the Premier. He took his seat at the head of the table while the rest of the CMC members took their own seats.

  “The Army is ready to cross the border and secure Southeast Asia. When the attack begins against Taiwan, our forces will cross into Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. Once these countries have been overrun, our forces will continue south and west until we have Thailand and Singapore. We are ready,” said General Wanquan, the Commander of the PLA.

  “My Naval Infantry are ready to secure Guam as soon as you give the order. Our sources have reported that the Americans have not reinforced Guam and appear to be fully occupied with the Islamic Republic. Two battalions of Marines left the Island yesterday to join the battlegroup near Indonesia,” said Admiral Wei Shengli, the Commander of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).

  “Premier, our original timetable was to attack Taiwan and Guam around the New Year. With the Americans involved in Mexico and now the Middle East, they are stretched thin. My advice is that we move our timeline forward by at least three weeks. With the Americans sending more troops to Israel, they will not have the option of also intervening in Asia, or have the ability to challenge us with the loss of their two supercarriers,” said General Zhang Yang, the Minister of Defense.

  “You bring up a good point, General Yang. We will move the timeline forward by two weeks. We should capitalize on their precarious situation before it changes. In the meantime, I want our cyber forces to begin their attacks against the American military and economy. The more problems the Americans are forced to deal with now, the less resources they will have later.

  *******

  03 December 2040

  Day Five

  Be’er Sheva, Israel

  Sgt. Joe Thornton joined the Marines four years ago, looking for adventure and a chanc
e to serve his country like his father, grandfather and great-grandfather had done before. They had been jarheads, so it was becoming a family tradition for the Thornton men to join the Marines out of high school or college. Joe had done well, and was promoted to Sergeant just prior to the deployment to the Middle East.

  Now he had a squad of leather necks he was responsible for, and within five days, half of his platoon was already dead or wounded. His squad had been flown into the Sinai on one of the Marine Corps new Razorback assault helicopters to secure the city of Ismailia (which was a critical city on the Suez). His company met minimal resistance upon landing, and with support from the Razorbacks, they had quickly secured the city and their portion of the Suez. Securing the SCZ was critical to the defense of Israel as it blocked any possible reinforcements from Egypt and North Africa. It also provided the Navy with several port facilities which could be used to offload more equipment for the Marines.

  The newest aerial addition to the Marines was the Razorback assault helicopters. They were a cross between the V-22 Osprey and a Cobra attack helicopter. They sported the same tilt rotary system the Osprey had, except there were two smaller rotors per side, one behind the other, and they were enclosed in an armored ring protecting them from ground fire. They were also considerably smaller and very quiet in comparison to a traditional helicopter.

  The Razorbacks’ armament included eight anti-tank Hellfire III missiles and forty-six 2.6 inch anti-personnel rockets on each side, and a front mounted 30 mm railgun that delivered an incredible punch and fire support. It had a crew of two pilots and two crew chiefs, and could carry twelve soldiers into combat. The Razorback was the first fully armored assault helicopter that not only replaced the venerable Cobra gunships, it also replaced the Ospreys as the primary assault helicopter for the Army and Marines. It was a beast of an aircraft, the V22 was 57 ft. in length with a wingspan of 45 ft. and the Razorback was 68 ft. in length and had a 40 ft. wingspan. Being in service for barely a year, there was a limited number of these helicopters available for the Army and Marines, so they were in high demand.