Kirkuk would probably be the last, in this campaign anyway. The back of the resistance up here was broken. That wouldn't end his usefulness, Model thought, there was plenty more work to be done. His troops were the trump card of the Caliphate. Any competent Western army could cut the Caliphate's levies to pieces and his troops were far more than just competent. So, when there was resistance to Caliphate rule, he could put it down, fast and bloody. In a very real sense, he had the only really effective military force in the Caliphate.
That was deliberate policy of course. Each of the once-independent countries that was now part of the Caliphate was a province ruled by a Satrap and the districts forming the country were ruled by lesser officials appointed by the Satrap. Officially, ruling a province entitled the ruler to be part of the Ruling Council. In fact, it Worked the other way, only members of the Ruling Council were entitled also to become a Satrap of one of the provinces. The whole structure of the Caliphate Council actively encouraged the Satraps to intrigue against each other and changes in Satrapy boundaries achieved by such intrigues made the map of the Caliphate a fluid and changing thing.
It was not uncommon for Satraps to gain control of territories not actually in their Satrapy. Of course, the Satraps required official approval once such changes had been made. The more capable and effective the Satrap, the greater his influence on the Caliphate Council - which meant the gains of the Satraps were more likely to be approved. But, if one of the members of the Caliphate Council gained too much power, the rest could combine and order Model's Janissaries to cut him down to size. Obedience to the verdict of the Caliphate wasn't optional, and there was a point when the wise backed down. Because the other option would be facing Model's troops or an assassin. It was a brutally Darwinian system and Model approved of it as it stood. What it would become still remained the problem of the future.
It wasn't as if religious or ethnic differences were the only ones that impacted the constant shifts in power and influence that made up the Caliphate's political geography. Anybody could have anticipated that. Nor was the Ruling Council the only center of power no matter how much they liked to pretend otherwise.
The Caliphate's central dogma might be provided by the theocrats in the Ruling Council, but the country was actually run by the surviving economists and technocrats. They had their heads down at this time, restricting their involvement with the interplay of politics and the intrigues between the Satraps to a minimum but they were there. One day, their time would come, one day the constant intrigues and outward pressure would result in a blunder that would fatally reduce reduced the ruling council's power and influence. Then, they would fall or be reduced to impotence, and that would also bring down Model's Janissaries. No matter which way Model looked, his options were running out.
So where would his men be sent next? Saudi Arabia was a possibility. The old king, Ibn Saud, had sired a huge number of children in his lifetime. Not surprising, he had over 900 wives and concubines. Model thought about that for a second and mentally raised a glass of schnapps to the old goat. Despite the best efforts of the Caliphate, it had proved impossible to wipe out the Royal Family, the country was covered with wandering princes with a claim to the throne who had shown they could rally traditional support in the tribes. Saudi Arabia was a turmoil of low-grade civil war between the tribes now, with the effort against the Caliphate taking a second place.
The Caliphate wasn't that worried, for every tribe fighting against the Caliphate government, there was another that saw the opportunity to pay off some old grudge or other, and regardless of their opinions on the Caliphate, thus allied with it to help get their revenge. Divide and rule worked well in the endless tribal conflicts simmering under the region but the danger was that Saudi oil production would be affected. Oil was the Caliphate's life blood. If oil production stopped, then disaster beckoned. So, Model thought, that might be his next job. Secure and protect the oil fields, then the rest of the Saudi population could continue slaughtering each other - and good riddance to them all.
There was a respectful knock on the door of his command caravan. Model gave permission to enter and one of his guard stepped in. Before he could speak, a black-turbaned mullah pushed past him with a message scroll in his hands. That was one of the affectations of the Caliphate; they wrote their messages and records on scrolls, not pages. The fastidiously clean Model wrinkled his nose, the mullah had the 'odor of piety' around him. If one of Model's soldiers had smelt that badly, his squad mates would have scrubbed him clean with sand and floor-brushes. The messenger thrust the scroll at Model and left, without saying a word.
"An accident waiting to happen, that one." Model said absently. His guard grinned and nodded before leaving. Model guessed that if he listened hard enough, he'd hear the "accident" before too long.
The scroll contained Model's orders from the Caliphate. Once the cleansing of Northern Iraq was completed, he was to take his entire force, families included, to Gaza in Palestine. That would be his new base of operations for the future. Model thought about that. Palestine had been thoroughly cleansed already so his troops weren't required for that. No, it was more likely that the Caliphate was about to expand again. Egypt was the obvious target and Model's troops would be on hand to eliminate any resistance once the expansion took place. After all, if Egypt became part of The Caliphate, Sudan would fall soon after and then the whole of the North African Littoral would be opened up.
Conference Room, The White House, Washington DC
"Mister President, the House/Senate Budget Conference has completed its deliberations, reconciling the differences between the House and Senate versions of the FY66/67 Defense Budget and has sent the reconciled version to you for signature. If we leave out the points on which House and Senate were in agreement with your original budget proposal we are left with the following.
"Dealing with the Navy first. The House authorized the construction of two new aircraft carriers, CVN-69 and CVN-70. The Senate authorized only CVN-69. The Conference has authorized the construction of CVN-69 and the procurement of long-lead items for CVN-70 with full funding for this ship and CVN-71 to follow in FY67/68. In addition, Conference notes that, with the scrapping of the last battleships in 1965, state names are no longer the source for a specific class of warship. They therefore mandate that all aircraft carriers from CVN-67 shall bear state names. Subject to Navy approval, the propose that the four carriers building or authorized should bear the following names. CVN-67 USS Texas, CVN-68 USS Oregon, CVN-69 USS Maine and CVN-70 USS Massachusetts. Conference also proposes USS Ohio for CVN-71.
"Conference agreed upon the construction of six CGN-166 improved Long Beach class missile cruisers with the first pair to be ordered this year along with long-lead items for the rest. A Senate proposal to build two enlarged versions of this class with enhanced aviation facilities aft was deferred until next year. The CGN-166s will replace the CA-139 Des Moines class cruisers, that will mean the last heavy gunships will have gone from the Navy.