“What do we do about Shanghai? Or Guangdong? How are we going to liberate those cities and provinces if our rails and roads are constantly being bombed? How do we supply our forces with bullets when our factories are constantly being attacked?” Shaking his head, he concluded, “No, gentlemen, we have been defeated. Now it’s time to end this war and rebuild our nation.”
“Traitor!” shouted General Sun. He stood and immediately made his way to the door. Several of the generals looked a bit startled at his sudden departure. A few of the guards looked at Yang as if asking for instructions.
Shaking his head, Yang said, “Let him go. Let him cool down. This is clearly an emotional moment for us all. That’s why we must think carefully about our next move — tens of millions of our fellow citizens may die. We have already lost millions of people…can we truly justify continuing the war, knowing that millions more will die with no chance of victory?”
Having built up some more resolve, General Yang stood up, placing both of his hands on the table in front of him as he leaned forward slightly, allowing himself to look down on the remaining military leaders of China.
“Our nation has always held the long view when it came to policy, economics, and our military. We deviated from that view when President Xi led us into this war. Our nation was not only on track to be the dominant economic power in the world — we would have become the dominant military in a couple more decades.”
He paused to let some of that sink in. “We acted too soon,” he explained. “We rushed our plans and deviated from our long-standing policy of thinking long-term. The war is over. The sooner we can accept that, the sooner we can begin to rebuild our nation. This defeat has also given us the opportunity to reshape our country. To reshape our economy and remodel our military. It’s time we threw off the shackles of Maoism and Marxism and learned to fully embrace our own unique Chinese version of capitalism. We can’t let the economic revival of the last thirty years be lost by returning to the old order. It’s time we look to the future.”
It took a few minutes for his words to sink in, but once they had, many of the generals at the table nodded in agreement. They knew change was coming, and if they jumped on board with Yang, at least they’d have a guiding hand in where the country would go next. After another hour of talks, it was settled. They would accept the terms of surrender and bring an end to the Third World War and the Communist People’s Republic of China.
The official end of the war and surrender would take place in a ceremony at the Forbidden City on November 11, 2019, just two days away, exactly one hundred and one years after the end of the Great War, the War to End All Wars. Following the official signing, General Yang Yin would detonate a charge that would destroy Mao’s tomb, figuratively and symbolically ending China’s 70-year communist government and ushering in a new era.
Chapter 30
Characters’ Fates
Command Sergeant Major Luke Childers eventually went on to become the Sergeant Major of the Army six years following the end of World War III. He officially retired from the Army with thirty-four years of service as the most decorated Sergeant Major of the Army in history with the following awards: Distinguished Service Cross, Distinguished Service Medal, three Silver Stars, four Bronze Stars with a V device, four Purple Hearts, Meritorious Service Medal, four Commendation Medals and three Achievement Medals. Childers retired to his native home, Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas.
Lieutenant Colonel Tim Schoolman retired with twenty-one years of service following the end of the war. With the loss of his family at the outset of the war, he returned to an empty home and fell into a deep depression and alcoholism. Two years after retiring, he decided he could no longer go on with the loss of his family and no further war to fight. He committed suicide on the second anniversary of his retirement.
Captain Jack Taylor left the Army as a major after ten years of service, once his student loans had been fully forgiven. He went on to lead a quiet life with his family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as a certified public accountant.
First Lieutenant Ian Slater rose to the rank of major before leaving the Army after ten years of service. He did eventually complete his mechanical engineering degree and went to work at Tesla like his older brother. He would eventually retire from the California Army National Guard as a colonel twenty years later. A year after the war ended, the Silver Star medal he had been awarded in Korea was upgraded to the Medal of Honor for his gallantry during the battle of the Yalu River and subsequent escape from capture the following day.
Brigadier General Micah Tilman went on to become a four-star general and eventually became the occupation commander for Allied forces in Asia at the end of the occupation term. He was a Marines’ Marine and went on to work for many veterans’ organizations following his retirement after thirty-four years of service to the Corps.
Lieutenant Colonel Tim Long continued his distinguished career in the Marines, eventually rising to the rank of four-star general and becoming the Commandant of the Marines. He retired after thirty-six years of service as the most decorated Marine in the Corps’s history. Six months following the end of the war, he was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Fei-ts Ui Reservoir during the liberation of Taiwan.
Captain Bennie McRae rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel before he retired. The day after he retired, he won $3 million dollars on a scratch-off lottery ticket. He took his money and military retirement and moved to a quiet ranch in Wyoming, where he worked on perfecting his hobby of fly fishing.
Lieutenant Colonel Rob “Pappi” Fortney had a wild and tumultuous marriage to his copilot, Double D, which lasted all of three months. Though they truly were the only people in the world to have had the same unique experience, they processed it very differently. Daniels’ nightmares haunted her, and she fell into a deep depression, which she self-medicated with booze and excessive shopping. Fortney faced his demons head-on. He found support groups, attended therapy, and eventually received a specially trained dog to help him cope.
After getting out of the military, he felt that he needed to do something to give back to humanity, so he became a high school football coach in the inner city. Helping others gave him a deeper purpose and made it easier to get out of the prison of his own mind. Although he was never completely free of the dreams that pervaded his sleep, his life during waking hours helped him to find new meaning and move forward.
President Wally Foss felt elated that the war had finally ended, but utterly spent as a man. While he had taken over as President when Gates had been assassinated, Wally had never actually wanted to be President. He had been happy to be the Vice President, working his connections in Congress to help move the President’s agenda through the halls where he had once walked and worked himself. The immense pressure of leading the United States of America and knowing that fate of humanity hung on many of the decisions he made was more than he could shoulder. When the war ended, he made the decision that rocked his supporters and political party, and he opted not to run for reelection. Just like Lyndon Johnson during the height of the Vietnam War, the thought of four more years as President was just too much. He didn’t feel he possessed the strength to lead the nation and the world through the reconstruction and peace years that lay ahead.