“These are issues that we will continue to work through, Minister Maas,” Chancellor Schneider assured. “We’re only a few days into this newly created crisis. The Americans have given us a series of plans and solutions to put into place. I suggest we move forward with them and give them a chance to work. It’s not as if we have much of a choice; the Chinese, who are losing this war, have decided to cause as much chaos and disruption to the rest of the world as possible. We now have to adapt to that change. We can do this. We’re Germans…we will adapt.” She spoke with energy and defiance in her voice.
Schneider turned to her Minister of Defense. “Are our forces in Asia ready to do their part?” she asked.
Ursula Klöckner smiled. “Yes,” she answered confidently. “We have nearly 30,000 soldiers positioned in Taiwan for the next major operation, the capture of Shanghai. We have another convoy of soldiers and equipment arriving over the next two weeks, and it’ll add an additional 15,000 thousand soldiers to our contingent. The Americans have not asked for any additional German forces to be sent to Asia beyond what we’ve already committed. However, they have requested that we keep roughly 90,000 soldiers on permanent occupation duty in Russia for the next five years. At the five-year mark, another drawdown in occupation forces will take place, and at that point, we’ll learn how many soldiers the Alliance will release back to Germany.”
Chancellor Schneider shook her head in disgust. There had been some question as to how many soldiers Germany would keep in Russia for the occupation. Schneider’s government had campaigned hard not to have to keep a substantial force in Russia. Having to support and sustain a large force would be both costly and difficult to maintain when they returned their economy back to its peacetime status. She was not at all happy about keeping that many of her soldiers on duty.
“I’d rather send more forces to Asia and know they will come home at the end of the war than to have to maintain a substantial occupation force,” she huffed. “Did General Cotton provide an explanation for why he wants Germany to bear the brunt of the occupation duty?”
“You mean as opposed to the Americans?” retorted the Defense Minister sharply.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“No but it’s what you and the others were thinking. I spoke with General Cotton, and he told me that US is most likely going to have to maintain a larger occupation force in China. As such, he wants to focus most of the occupation duties in Europe, to be supported by Germany, France, and Poland as the main contributors.”
Schneider’s scowl loosened slightly. “What area of the occupation will Germany be responsible for?” she asked.
“Germany has been given responsibility for the territories just east of Moscow through to the center of the country, with a specific emphasis on improving the Russian rail and road infrastructure. I believe the overarching plan is to enable Russia to exploit more of its natural resources and to have a more diverse economy, less focused on oil and natural gas. In either case, it’s an enormous engineering task that’s quite suited to our strengths as Germans. The main drawback I see is that it’s a tremendous amount of territory to cover, and a lot of people who will be in need of help.”
“And what of the French and the rest of the alliance?” inquired Chancellor Schneider.
“France will be largely responsible for the Baltics all the way to the White Sea. Essentially most of western and northern Russia. They will be augmented by the Dutch. The Americans, for their part, are going to handle Moscow and most of central Russia and into Ukraine and Belarus. They will also be maintaining an occupation force of roughly 110,000 soldiers. Nearly all of their other forces have been sent to the Russian Far East or to Asia,” Klöckner explained.
“You left out the British. Where are they in all of this?”
Klöckner snorted. “The British have been excluded from the Russian Provisional Authority at the request of the Americans and the Russian government. Apparently, neither side trusts the British after the whole Chattem debacle. Right now, the British are relocating their military force to fight in Asia. They will likely participate in a similar occupation program in Asia, but their influence in postwar Europe has essentially been cut off at the knees.”
Some of the others in the room snickered at the situation the UK had found itself in.
“They are going to have to mend a lot of fences,” thought Chancellor Schneider. “Some fences cannot be fixed overnight.”
Chapter 14
Jillian Limpkey was exhausted as she silently slipped into a chair at one of the tables against the wall of the cafeteria. All she wanted to do was drink her cup of java and eat a banana. It had been a long and trying twelve-hour shift and she felt emotionally drained. Another wave of wounded soldiers from overseas had arrived at the start of her shift, and it had been hectic ever since. Trying to get the four hundred new arrivals in-processed and settled into their new surroundings and their families notified of where their loved ones were located was a daunting task. Yet it had to be done. The military hospitals were filled beyond their limits, the VA had to step in and help augment them as best they could. Even the VA system was starting to be overwhelmed, though. Some veterans were having to be given “Choice Cards” to see outside providers because of how maxed out the system was.
As Jillian sipped on her coffee and finally managed to eat a bite of food, she saw one of the doctors pay for his coffee. The two locked eyes for a moment. The physician smiled warmly at her and slowly walked in her direction. He stopped just in front of her chair.
“May I join you?” he asked.
She liked Dr. Stephen Payne. He was in his early forties, single, and attractive. He had a great bedside manner, too. His specialty was spinal injuries, which sadly made him in high demand with this war. Of course, the James Haley facility also had a spinal cord injury center and a new high-rise bed tower, giving the hospital a lot more bed space and specialty facilities to handle this type of care.
“Sure, Dr. Payne,” Jillian replied with a warm and inviting smile.
Jillian was one of the many nurses that worked with Dr. Payne. She’d been a nurse for six years now, four of them at the VA. She loved working for the VA; although she’d never had a personal desire to serve in the military, her job still gave her the opportunity to serve those who’d made that selfless decision. The last two years, however, had been incredibly difficult. Seeing all these young men and women return home from the front lines so injured had taken a toll on her. In her mind, so many of them were kids — not even old enough to buy alcohol, but they were old enough to be drafted and have an arm or a leg blown off for the sake of their country.
Sensing Jillian was having a tough day, Dr. Payne reached his hand across the table and gently squeezed hers. “It’ll be OK, Jillian. You did a good job today. I see you out there, reaching out to the families, getting people into their rooms. It’s obvious you give your patients a lot of care and attention.”
Jillian almost burst out in tears at that moment. While trying to maintain her composure, she managed to choke out, “I just don’t know if I can keep doing it. These guys are so torn up. I checked in one airman — in addition to becoming paralyzed below L2, she lost her left arm in the blast that sent her here. Can you imagine the struggle of living life with only one functional limb? And a few patients recently only made it to us after they’d graduated from the burn unit. I can just picture how many cruel people would shun someone in a wheelchair with scars on their face and hands.” She buried her face into her hands, sobbing uncontrollably.