As 1st Lieutenant Chantilly approached Sgt. Nelson’s position, it became clear he was the target of the LT’s attention.
“Evening Lieutenant — uh, Captain Chantilly,” Nelson said.
The Captain waved off the stumble over his new promotion. “I’m only Captain because all the other officers are dead. Here are your new stripes… you are now Sergeant First Class Nelson, so congratulations on skipping a rank,” announced the Captain, handing Nelson his new stripes.
“I take it I’m the platoon sergeant now?” asked Nelson nonchalantly.
“Until another officer shows up, you are in charge. You need to get the other NCOs squared away with you running the platoon and me as the new CO. The Air Force is finishing their last bombing run in the valley, and Headquarters wants us to move in and mop up just before dawn. All I’ve been told is we are to move through Route 60 and head towards Hebron.” He showed Nelson the directions on their tablets before syncing the route with the rest of the platoon’s heads-up display (HUD) in their helmets.
“That’s a long walk with no wheels, especially if we hit any resistance,” asserted Nelson.
The Captain shot Nelson a disappointed look before replying, “Are you really expecting there to be much in the way of resistance after the complete Bar-B-Q the Air Force just laid on them? There will be a few infantry vehicles, and even a couple of Pershing’s on point — our company is to follow on foot and assist where needed, so get a few hours’ sleep and have your men ready to move. We push off at 0600 hours.”
In an abrupt change of pace, a NUCFLASH message suddenly came across the battle net to all soldiers. They were being ordered to shelter in place and prepare for a potential nuclear strike. Within seconds, everyone was donning protective gear and standing by for further orders.
Captain Chantilly looked at SFC Nelson before saying, “You heard the new orders. Get your platoon ready. I need to get back to the Company Command Post (CP).” He did not stick around to make sure his instructions were followed. Instead, he turned quickly and ran off in the direction of the CP.
Time ticked on nervously, slowly and quickly at the same time. After nearly three hours of sheltering in place, no further update about the NUCFLASH message had been received. Then, finally, new orders came on the wire; preparations for a possible nuclear attack were cancelled, and they were to resume with their original mission.
Then, a short message from General Gardner himself was broadcasted across the battle net to all US Forces. “It is with a deep heaviness that I am called upon to inform you that New York City and Baltimore have been hit with a nuclear device. We have confirmed that the nuclear weapon originated in the Islamic Republic, and was delivered via freighters entering the Hudson River and the Baltimore Harbor. We have received no further information indicating that the IR was preparing to launch any additional weapons in our AOR. Military operations are to continue as previously planned. No enemy prisoners are to be taken, unless they are of high intelligence value. May God have mercy on our country, and may we be a part of bringing justice to the world today.”
0530 hours came quickly, and most of the platoon had gotten little if any sleep. They all knew someone who lived in one of the two cities that got nuked.
“So what’s the plan, Sarge?” asked one of the soldiers as he approached SFC Nelson.
“First of all, that’s Sergeant First Class (SFC) now, and second, we are moving out — so get your stuff together,” Nelson said as he replaced his old stripes with the new ones.
“Now I need to get with the rest of the NCOs and make sure the platoon is ready. I don’t care what the Captain says; some of those Jihadis will have survived that Bar-B-Q the Air Force just gave them,” he thought to himself.
The group rolled out promptly at 0630 with the armored vehicles. After two hours of patrolling, the platoon had only seen a trail of burnt and twisted bodies, smoldering ruins of armored vehicles and shattered homes and buildings littering the landscape. There had been some sniper fire further ahead, but nothing that slowed the advance of the Battalion on their way to Hebron.
“—Sergeant Nelson,” called Captain Chantilly over the HUD that was built into each soldier’s helmet.
“Yes sir.”
“Battalion wants us to move off the road and spread ourselves out as we near Route 317. They want our Company to head towards Rafat and Samu’a with Bravo Company. Delta and Echo Company will be to our right as they head towards Susya if we need them, or vice versa. I’m sending the new directions through the battle net.”
The new route was instantly highlighted on the HUD. In the map mode, the HUD could display not just the instructions and waypoints designated by the platoon or company commander, it could also display the individual identification frequency (IIF) of each soldier in the platoon. This information could also be relayed to one of the tablets each squad and platoon leader carried, allowing for better coordination.
“I’ll pass it over to the rest of the platoon. We’ll start moving in that direction now,” Nelson said, signing off.
The Army’s new battle helmets had come in to service with the Army and Marines at the end of 2039, so their use was still relatively new. The battle helmets (or BHs as they were being called by the grunts wearing them) had a number of new improvements and technology woven into them. They were incredibly light compared to the traditional ballistic helmets, and unlike their predecessors, the BHs could truly stop a bullet. They also sported a ballistic visor that protected the soldier’s eyes, only exposing the individual’s mouth and jawline. As the platoon marched out into the Jordan Valley, their visors were adjusting from night vision mode to clear as the sun rose; when the rays of sunlight became high enough to begin affecting eyesight, the visors automatically adjusted to darken into sunglasses. It created an incredible advantage for the U.S. and IDF Forces.
The air in the Jordan Valley smelled of scorched flesh, burning rubber, and refuse as the battlefield continued to smolder. As the Company moved through Rafat and into Samu’a, they started to meet some resistance, but the fighting was coming from small uncoordinated pockets and the men had no trouble dispensing with the ruffians they encountered. The automated targeting system in the BHs could provide a 5x zoom on any mark, and would place a red dot in the visual field, indicating exactly where their weapon was aimed at any time. There was also a mini camera and mic built into the BH, allowing commanders to see what their soldiers were seeing. This tech made one U.S. soldier worth at least ten of the IR forces because of the capabilities it provided to the individual soldier and unit.
The truth is there wasn’t much left after the bombing campaign in the Jordan Valley. The IR had massed together a large group of about 400,000 infantry and armored vehicles across the area, gathering their forces for a final push to divide the country and destroy the IDF and Americans… but they were all so clustered together that it had made one giant easy target. The goal of the bombing mission was to destroy everything within a 675 square mile kill box, and between the 7,650 individual bombs hitting synchronized targets per bombing wave, the strategy had been highly effective. The Navy had also added their weight into the fight, firing 1,200 cruise missiles into the kill box. It should be no surprise that the forces on the ground were largely obliterated.