by Ira Tabankin
General Lubvick is leading the 300 tanks, and 400 APC s into Texas. Unknown to the General, his advance is being watched by two US Air Force and one US Army forward observers. Sergeant Johns asks his Air Force counterpart, “Do you want them? Otherwise, I’ll call it in for an artillery mission.”
“Sergeant, I think the A10s would like some Russian Bear meat before they’re retired. The A10s were designed to fight Russian armor in Europe, of course it never got the chance. Now they’ll get to use their main gun for what it was designed for,”
“Have at it LT, if you leave any, I have the artillery standing by to mop up whatever crumbs you leave us.”
“Pounder lead, you’re cleared in hot, repeat, cleared for entry into the kill box, your weapons are free, repeat weapons free. Pounder lead, show these ground pounders how’s it’s done.”
“Roger, Pounder One confirms, weapons free, cleared into kill box, no friendlies around.”
When all of the Russian armor has crossed into the USA, small dark spots are seen in the sky; coming out of the east early in the morning, the A10s are hard to see. When the A10s are five miles away from the Russian armor, they start firing anti-tank missiles. The missiles are ‘fire and forget,’ they’re self-guided to the Russian armor. The missiles arrived before General Lubvick knew what was happening. Each of the eight A10s launched eight missiles. Sixty-four missiles are aimed at individual targets. One moment the sky is clear, the next, missiles arrived tearing into the Russian armor. 60 tanks were destroyed in the A10s first pass. The violence of the surprise attack caused the Russian advance to pause, this pause allowed the A10s to attack the Russians with cluster bombs and the A10's milk bottle sized depleted uranium shells. The second pass took out another twelve tanks, and one A10, one of the Russians got a shoulder-fired anti-air missile off which surprised the A10s.
As the A10s turned to make another pass, four B1 bombers make a pass just under the speed of sound; each dropped twelve bombs that split open releasing ten small anti-armor warheads. Thirty additional tanks are taken out. The irony was lost on everyone that the weapons designed to stop a massive Russian armor attack in Europe are being used to stop a Russian attack on America soil.
General Lubvick is dead inside a burning T90 tank. His second in command is also dead. When the Russians try to regroup, 155mm and 105mm artillery shells arrive pounding the survivors. Thirty minutes after the battle started, two tanks and twenty-four APCs turnaround heading back to Mexico.
@@@@@
Two Russian freighters loaded with everything that was in the Trident Submarine base head out to sea. They’re bringing the missiles, warheads and tools back to Mother Russia. The freighters think they’ll have an easy voyage. They’ve been told the American navy is tied up in the Atlantic. The freighters don’t know they’re being followed by the USS Boise, an improved Los Angeles class nuclear-powered attack submarine. “Captain we have both freighters locked they are designated sierra one and two. Both are making 12 knots.”
“XO, wait until they're in deep water, I want both hit by two Mark 48s. I want to make sure both of them are sunk very quickly, in water so deep no one will ever find them.”
“Yes sir, they should be in the correct position in two hours.”
“XO, bring the boat to battle stations in 90 minutes. I’m going to catch a cat nap. Wake me if they change course or if anything happens.”
“Aye sir.”
@@@@@
“President Brownstone, the Secretary of Defense is online one.”
“John, what’s going on in Texas?”
“Sir, we decimated them, out of 300 tanks, only a handful are returning to Mexico.”
“Will they try again?”
“Surely, Puten wants to take over the Pantex plant. He has to take it over or destroy it.”
“They have a long road to travel from the border to Amarillo. What do you think they will send in the next wave?”
“Mr. President, my guess is, Puten will send paratroops to capture the plant while he sends armor across the border. This time, I’d guess he’ll send over 500 hundred tanks spread out across the grasslands versus a road march in a line which made it easy for us to attack them. He won’t make the same mistake twice.”
“How do we stop them?”
“Mines and more A10s and B1s.”
“What if they bring anti-air missiles?”
“The navy is sending three F/A 18G electronic warfare planes. They should be able to jam any of the Russian radar signals.”
“John, go get them, leave the desert covered with their burnt out carcasses.”
“Yes sir.”
@@@@@
The US Army is hiding among the rolling low hills of Southwest Texas. Two hundred M1A2 Abrams main battle tanks are hidden in the low hills, only their camouflaged turrets are visible above the hills, and these are covered in a thermal sight defeating mesh. They’re waiting for the Russian tanks to arrive. Mixed in with the tanks are Avenger anti-air vehicles to protect the tanks from any Russian attack helicopters. There are three hundred Bradley APCs armed with a 30mm chain gun and four anti-tank missiles. Hidden further back are two platoons of 120mm mortars. They’re waiting for the Russians to cross the border so the party can start.
@@@@@
The USS Ohio and the USS Florida arrive in the Persian Sea. The USS Florida and USS Michigan arrived in the Red Sea eight hours earlier. Each submarine carries 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles. These four submarines are SSGNs, (nuclear-powered cruise missile armed submarines) the only four in the USA’s inventory. In total, the four submarines are loaded with 616 missiles; all are targeted at OPEC’s oil terminals and tanker ports. At 0430 local time, the submarines start launching missiles. Tomahawks fly 550 MPH only 100 feet above the ground. They fly a zig-zag pattern to their targets. Some of the missiles are armed with a single warhead, some with small softball sized explosives, and a few are armed with penetrating warheads that dig out and destroy buried pipelines.
When the dust settles, all of the oil terminals in the Middle East are destroyed. Fires from burning oil and gas engulf the port areas, including six supertankers that add their hundreds of thousands of oil to the fires. Dense oily smoke covers all of the oil ports. Some of the missiles left behind are time delayed warheads so when the repair and rescue crews arrive, the delayed warheads explode creating additional chaos. The local first responders refused to enter the burning terminals for three days, afraid of the time-delayed bombs. Their delay allowed the fires to turn into a firestorm destroying everything in the terminal areas. The appearance of the army, who threatened to kill the first responders, gave them the backbone to enter the ports. On the fifth day after the attack, Prince Azaid toured the destroyed ports and oil terminals. Shaking his head, he told his aide, “Destruction, they knew exactly where to hit us to hurt us the most, this is the third oil terminal I’ve visited, all are totally destroyed. We can’t export any oil. The damn Americans shut down our economy; they’ve cost us hundreds of billions of dollars. In a couple of months, our people will be unemployed, the oil money which has built our country has just been shut down. If we don’t rebuild the terminals quickly, and we can’t, it’ll take us many months to clear the damage before we can begin to build new terminals. We have to turn off the flowing oil, clear the damage and rebuild everything. I think we’re looking at a period of 18 to 30 months without any oil revenue.”
The staff around the Prince looked shocked, they all knew that without oil revenue the country would implode. There may not be a Saudi Arabia, or Kuwait, or Qatar in a year. A key aide of the Prince asked, “Your Highness, is there nothing we can do?”
“Look around you, what do you see? I see fires burning out of control, sunk super tankers, oil flowing out of broken pipes, buildings, warehouses and all of the port facilities destroyed. They left nothing of value. It’s not just us. Every country in OPEC got hit. I spoke with the oil minister in Venezuela; they got hit with 500 1000Kg bombs and forty cruis
e missiles. Their entire oil industry has been destroyed. It might take them years to recover if they can rebuild. They’re not sure yet because many of the parts they need come only from the USA. They’re still dealing with the out of control fires.”
“My Prince, we offered a reward for the head of the American President, we should have considered they wouldn’t take kindly to our actions.”
“Yes, we did consider the repercussions, we thought they might freeze our assets, most of which we moved out of America, we thought they might stop buying our oil but this is something we never thought they would do. How did they do it?”
“My Prince, we have many reports of cruise missiles, we think they launched over 500 of them at us. They flew very low, so out radar didn’t see them coming. We had no notice.”
“In a single attack America broke our back. They ended the OPEC’s power. They also put a lot more pressure on Russia who now has to produce enough oil to supply Europe and their own needs. Pray to Allah we find a way to clean this up and get back into business quickly or the people will rise up an overthrow us.”
“My Prince, what about the American’s oil needs?”
“America is now producing more oil and gas than they need. They’re now a net oil exporter. With OPEC taken out of the picture, they’re now the largest oil and gas producer in the world.”
“My Prince, is there nothing we can do?”
“I plan on asking Allah for guidance. Only Allah can show us the way now.”
@@@@@
The US Army waited for the Russians to cross the border into Texas. They weren’t aware the Russians were flying very small drones giving the Russian General a clear picture of where the American forces were hiding. The drone lacked enough computing power to see through some of the Army’s camouflage, however, General Voldodin, the overall commander, saw enough to alter his invasion plans. “Colonels, look at these images from our drones, do you see the Americans waiting for us? We’re going to change our direction of attack. The Americans are in a perfect ambush location if we’d followed our original plan. I want us to split our forces and attack the Americans from their flanks; they won’t be expecting such an attack. If we can move our forces using the natural cover, we should be able to give the Americans a very nasty surprise in return for the one they thought they would give us.”
“Sir, how can we move without the Americans seeing us?”
“Colonel, we’re not, we’re going to send some forces right up the middle where they expect us to be, most of these troops will be our esteemed allies. Give them our uniforms to wear. The Americans will see what they’re expecting to see. They’ll prepare to hit us head on, however, when they attack; they’ll be killing the under armed allied troops who can’t even march in a straight line. While the Americans are pouring everything they have against our allies, we’ll hit them from their flanks. I want to wait a couple of days, let the Americans sit in the desert and sweat.”
@@@@@
Far left wing progressives organized tens of thousands of concerned citizens who started a march from Spokane, Washington, to Minot, North Dakota, the protesters, carrying signs saying, “Ban The Bomb," cross the border between the LSA and USA marching on I 90. They closed the eastbound traffic lanes as they spread out on the highway. Their numbers increased with every small town they passed through. They tweeted and emailed pictures of their group to the press and on social media. They were determined to reach one of the largest missile bases in the USA where they planned to occupy the Minuteman missile fields forcing the Americans to deactivate the missiles. Following the group are supply trucks filled with food and water and a small medical team. When the group reached the border, there were 20,000 people marching towards North Dakota. The forced their way across the border and into the United States; the protesters simply pushed across the border. Many Americans joined the protest group agreeing with their message to “Ban the Bomb.”
The going was hard; the trip was 990 miles long, much longer than any of the protesters thought. Most never checked a map to see how long the journey really was. Walking an average speed of 3 miles an hour, the trip in the best conditions was going to take 330 hours, four weeks of walking in some very hard territory. The organizers rent twenty busses. When they get close to a town, the protesters march through the town, once on the other side of the town, the protesters re-board the buses. By the time, the protesters reached Minot, ten thousand of the protesters left the march, returning home. The distance was too far, the mountains too high, the walk to difficult. Many of the ten thousand who turned around never made it to their homes, they were either attacked on the road, or they gave up and settled in one of the small towns along interstate 90 or in many cases simply disappeared. No one knew what happened to them.
When the protesters reach the missile silos they tore the fences down, they split up, many sitting and camping out on top of the silos waiting for the police and the Air Force security teams to arrive. They wanted to be on the news, so they had a method to get their message out. The media fully cooperated, by having press and camera crews waiting for the protesters. The leaders were interviewed; they were given their fifteen minutes of fame.
When the police and Air Force security arrived at the silos, they’re met with the press following their every move. The Air Force security captain holds a portable loudspeaker, “Attention, may I have you attention, please. You are violating and trespassing on Federal Land. We’re giving you ten minutes to vacate the land inside the fence. You are sitting on a live missile silo cover. If the missile needs to launch, the cover will, with you on it or not, slide back very violently, the missile will launch whether you’re in the area or not. If the missile launches, you will all die. I’m asking you all move at once. If you don’t vacate this space, you will be forcibly removed. You will be arrested and jailed in a federal penitentiary. Those of you visiting from the LSA will be arrested for entering the United States without proper documentation, plus trespassing on Federal lands.
The protester's yell at the police and security forces, “BAN THE BOMB," BAN THE BOMB.” They refuse to be moved. The Security captain contacts the two Air Force officers in the launch capsule buried one hundred feet underground, “This is Captain Smithfield, Air Force security, we have a situation developing up here on top of the silos. We think you’re going to have to remove this section of the missile field offline.”
“Captain, I’m sure you know, we can’t do that. We can’t take a missile offline unless it’s down for maintenance. These birds are live so we can’t down-check them.”
“What happens if you guys have to launch?”
“If we get a valid order to launch, it most likely means there’s incoming missiles targeted on the silos these people are sitting on. When we do fire, the cover will slam backwards, anyone in between the cover and the backstop will be crushed, when the bird flies, anyone around it will be a crispy critter.”
“Thought so.”
“Captain, you really need to get those people off of the silo cover.”
“I called for a couple of fire trucks to spray them down with high-pressure cold water; I’m hoping that will get them to leave the area.”
“Good luck, if it doesn’t work, we’ll get authorization for you to use gas. That will disperse them.”
“We don’t want it on the news we gassed these people.”
“They’re sitting on top of a nuclear-armed missile silo.”
@@@@@
President Brownie addresses the LSA, “My fellow citizens of the LSA; I’ve come before you today to discuss the issue that’s been causing many of you serious concerns. I’m speaking about the food and fuel rationing. As I’m sure, you know we in the LSA don’t have any domestic sources of fuel. We have to import everything we use from either the Middle East or the United States. Two days ago, the United States destroyed the oil terminals and pipeline the countries in the Middle East use to load tankers with their oil. The Middle East oil producing countr
ies have had their exports shutdown. The world’s lost over 60% of the exportable oil supplies. We have no choice but to reduce our use of fuel, as such I’ve had to start gas rationing. Those with even-numbered plates will be able to purchase up to 10 gallons of fuel on even days, those with odd plates can purchase 10 gallons on odd days. Those of you with vanity plates whose first letter is A~M or a number will buy fuel on even days, those with a first letter starting with a N~Z or a symbol will be able to purchase 10 gallons on odd days. I know you want to know how long this will keep up, right now, I’d estimate at least one year, I’m hoping the Middle East will be able to repair their oil transport facilities quicker than a year, frankly we just don’t know when they will be able to make shipments again.
“Farmers, of course, may purchase whatever fuel they require any day of the week. As the second item being rationed is food. We import 50% of our food; with a reduction in fuel, the cost of food is going to go up, our experts’ project the cost of food can double over the balance of this year. As such, I’m increasing the Federal minimum wage by 30% to help those with low-income pay for the fuel they’re going to need. We, the government of the LSA are asking President Brownstone to increase the amount of fuel and food he’ll sell us. If the United States increases the amount of fuel they sell us, we’ll be able to restore the ability to every one of purchasing fuel every day. However, we’re going to maintain the ten gallon limit.
“I’m also ordering all LSA federal agencies to change the temperature settings to a high of 62 in the winter and a low of 75 in the summer. We have to work together to make this work. I know it’s not fun. I realize this isn’t what you thought you were signing up for. We’ve made enormous progress. We started a new country and most of you never noticed a change in your lives. We need to continue that same can-do attitude we started with. We can overcome these minor bumps in the road. I thank you, and good night.”