by Peter Nealen
There was dark amusement in his eyes. “Turkish Special Forces. One of the bodies has been positively ID’ed as a known OKK officer.”
“Holy shit.” The curse just slipped out. The Turks hadn’t been especially secretive about their support for several of the jihadi groups in Europe, but that had been something of a sideshow to the rest of the war so far. “Any formal statements?”
“Not from our side, and not from them.” Hartrick looked like he wanted to spit on the floor. “Seems there are too many more important things to talk about.” He stabbed a finger toward the map. “About half of the ‘New European Council’ survived.” He sneered. “They’re blaming us, the French are blaming us, the Germans are yelling at everyone, and in the meantime, Nouveau Gallia has taken Marseille, jihadis are rioting unchecked in Brussels and Paris, and the DDSB just tried to surround the Reichstag. But that’s not all.”
He pointed to a cluster of red pins in Germany. “The EDC 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Divisions have refused orders to stand down, and now hold Chemnitz and a good chunk of its surroundings. They’ve issued a statement claiming that the New European Council is illegitimate, and that the EDC Continuity Plan is in effect, whether the former member governments like it or not. They haven’t trotted out their new Council—our guess is that they don’t have one, but that their generals are either pushing this themselves, or they have some sponsor in the background. Either way, this ain’t over.”
“No.” That sick feeling of vague dread that I’d had before was back. When Hartrick had said that about a sponsor, all I could think of was the Chinese operatives we’d killed in Neubrandenburg, months before.
“No, it’s not.”
THE STORY CONTINUES IN:
AREA DENIAL
MAELSTROM RISING BOOK 7
From the Author
I hope you’ve enjoyed this sixth chapter in the Maelstrom Rising series. Trying to balance the irregular nature of modern war and politics with the broad spectrum of high-tech combined arms operations was interesting. And hopefully, there was a bit of a surprise—though perhaps not as much of a surprise to my readers as to some of the characters in the book.
The next book, Area Denial, will return to Hank Foss and his section. They’re shifting AOs to the Pacific, as hinted at in the conversation Hank had with Colonel Santiago at the end of Fortress Doctrine. To keep up-to-date, I hope that you’ll sign up for my newsletter—you get a free American Praetorians novella, Drawing the Line, when you do.
If you’ve enjoyed this novel, I hope that you’ll go leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Reviews matter a lot to independent authors, so I appreciate the effort.
If you’d like to connect, I have a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/PeteNealenAuthor. For those who have departed FB, I’m also on MeWe at www.mewe.com/i/peternealen. You can also contact me, or just read my musings and occasional samples on the blog, at https://www.americanpraetorians.com. I look forward to hearing from you.
Also By Peter Nealen
The Maelstrom Rising Series
Escalation
Holding Action
Crimson Star
Strategic Assets
Fortress Doctrine
Thunder Run
Area Denial
SPOTREPS – A Maelstrom Rising Anthology
The Brannigan’s Blackhearts Universe
Kill Yuan
The Colonel Has A Plan (Online Short)
Fury in the Gulf
Burmese Crossfire
Enemy Unidentified
Frozen Conflict
High Desert Vengeance
Doctors of Death
Kill or Capture
Enemy of My Enemy
War to the Knife
The American Praetorians Series
Drawing the Line: An American Praetorians Story (Novella)
Task Force Desperate
Hunting in the Shadows
Alone and Unafraid
The Devil You Don’t Know
Lex Talionis
The Jed Horn Supernatural Thriller Series
Nightmares
A Silver Cross and a Winchester
The Walker on the Hills
The Canyon of the Lost (Novelette)
Older and Fouler Things