General Bennet, who had remained quiet up to this point, spoke up. “Mr. Prime Minister, with all due respect, I know where your nuclear weapons are at this very moment. If I have to, I’ll order their complete destruction and be done with it. If your government opts to use them against my forces, I’ve been authorized by the President to turn your country to ash. These terms are not up for negotiation — these are the terms being offered, and either you will accept them, or within the hour, I’ll order my armies to begin tearing your country apart. I have many more divisions from Europe heading this way, and I can occupy your country before the end of summer if I choose to. Secretary Landover is giving you an opportunity to save tens of thousands of lives before it’s too late. Please don’t force me to destroy your country.”
Khatri recoiled. “We are a nation of over one billion people, General. You cannot occupy our country like you can Russia — there are too many of us,” retorted Khatri.
“And how did that mighty civilian uprising you proclaim work out for the militia forces at Arakkonam? Your armies have been defeated. Please don’t force my men to slaughter untrained and ill-equipped civilian militias,” General Bennet shot back, anger and determination burning in his eyes.
Raising his hands to calm everyone, Secretary Landover stepped in. “Gentlemen, please. Arguing and threatening each other isn’t going to resolve this situation.” Turning to look at Khatri, he added, “You’re correct, Prime Minister. The Allies, America, can’t occupy your country like Russia. I personally don’t believe that’s either necessary or required. However, the President is clear that India can’t retain its nuclear weapons as part of the unconditional surrender. President Foss does recognize the unique security challenge your country faces with Pakistan; as such, he is willing to make the same security guarantee to India that we made to Russia. India will fall under the protected nuclear umbrella of the United States, and we will make that publicly and privately known to the leaders of Pakistan. A nuclear attack on India will result in a nuclear response against the attackers by the United States. Just as we agreed to in Russia, America will sign a twenty-five-year military defensive guarantee to that effect.”
Khatri returned Landover’s gaze. “What happens when we move past the twenty-five-year mark? Our issues with Pakistan are deep and long-standing. These issues may still remain well past your security agreement. Will India be allowed to openly pursue a nuclear weapons program then, or are we going to be under continued military threat if we move in that direction?”
Landover had known this might be a problem. He had mentioned it to the President prior to flying out here. However, no one had had a really good answer for him. “Prime Minister, let’s hope that twenty-five-years from now, nuclear weapons will be a thing of the past.” He paused. “I wasn’t given specific guidance that India couldn’t acquire nuclear weapons at the end of the agreement, so I believe that it would be safe to say your country would not face any threat from the United States if it pursued that course of action at that time.”
Pausing for a moment, Landover asked, “Do you need a few moments to confer with your advisors?”
Khatri shook his head. He knew he wasn’t going to get better terms. As humiliating as the offer was, part of him was just glad the US wasn’t seeking financial reparations in addition to the dismantling of their nuclear arsenal. “How many Allied forces would remain in my country, and what would be the process of ending the fighting?” he finally asked, deflated and defeated. More than anything, he just wanted the killing to stop. So many young people had already died in this pointless war.
General Bennet leaned forward to take his turn to speak. “I will order the fighting to cease across the Allied lines immediately, and I request that you order your military to do the same. A forty-eight-hour cooling-off period will go into effect to make sure everyone in the field knows what’s going on. Then I’ll ask that the head of your armed forces meet with General Morrison here to work out the details. For the time being, we’ll leave four divisions of Allied troops in India until the war in Asia is over. Once we can be assured that there will be no further problems within your country, and there are no overt acts of aggression being made by the Pakistanis toward India, we will look to draw down further Allied forces. If we detect any increase in military forces by the Pakistanis near your border, then I’m going to request that you agree to a redeployment of Allied forces to your shared border and allow our forces to be given any support and assistance they require. Our Air Force may also need access to your northern airbases as well.”
While Khatri felt like he was drinking from a firehose, he was pleasantly surprised to see how quickly General Bennet had gone from threatening to reduce his nation to rubble and ash to aggressively defending the territorial integrity of his country should they be threatened by Pakistan. While he hated the terms of the surrender, he felt some peace now that Bennet appeared to be an honorable general and sincere in his effort to end the killing and honor the terms of the agreement, even if that meant fighting the Pakistanis.
“Mr. Secretary, General, I agree to your terms of surrender,” Khatri said, calmly and in a calculated tone. “If we may, I would like to invite you both to New Delhi in forty-eight hours, where we can formalize the end of this terrible war. Would you do my nation the honor of holding a public signing ceremony to formally end the conflict between us? I believe it will greatly aid in the healing process between our two nations.” He hoped he could at least manage this meager face-saving act before his parliament and people.
General Bennet looked a bit uneasy with the commitment, but after a moment prodding by the Secretary of State, he reluctantly agreed.
Following the meeting with the Indian Prime Minister, General Bennet held a separate meeting with his generals. They needed to iron out the details of the occupation and which units would be staying on. While they had to make sure they left sufficient combat power in country to keep the Indian government honest, they also needed as much firepower as they could muster for the coming summer offensive into China. The President had given him clear guidance that he wanted the war over within the next twelve months. Like his predecessor, Foss didn’t want the war to be a deciding factor in the coming 2020 election. If he didn’t win reelection, he didn’t want another president changing the course of the war and eroding the gains they had made.
Chapter 3
Mongolia
Standing on top of the highest elevation above Ulaanbaatar, General Tony Wilde looked off to the east of the sprawling capital of Mongolia. Most of the snow had finally melted, though traces of it remained on peaks off in the distance. Warmer air was finally moving in from the Gobi Desert, drying everything out, which was good, considering his army would need to get moving soon. His grand army was spread out across a number of camps, and as he observed the men and women from afar, they looked like a well-organized troop of ants as they rushed about, completing their morning physical training. Others hurriedly worked on repairing and maintaining the immense number of vehicles and equipment needed to support such a large force. He put his hands on his hips and leaned back, straightening out his spine, admiring his soldiers like a beekeeper marvels at the inner workings of a beehive.