After everyone exchanged pleasantries and had some appetizers, President Rousseff motioned for everyone to find a seat around the large table that had been brought into the library for their meeting. A technician finished setting up the holographic presenter in the center of the table, and Secretaries Wise and Clarke both uploaded their briefings.
“Gentlemen, I appreciate your traveling to Brasilia to speak with us. I know both of you are incredibly busy men. Please, if you can begin, tell us what it is President Stein and America is requesting from Brazil,” said the President graciously.
“Mr. President, Ministers and Generals. We appreciate your willingness to speak with us and thank you for all that Brazil has done to help the United States in perhaps our greatest hour of need. As President Stein has conveyed to you, we are in need of assistance once again, and we are turning to you as an ally and friend.” Secretary Wise gauged the room for their initial reactions to his statement, trying to identify those who may pose as potential obstacles.
“As you know, last week the Islamic Republic detonated two nuclear bombs on American soil. While you have likely seen the footage of the devastation on the news, there is still information about the extent of the damage that we have not shared with the American public. We will be explaining the following in a press conference this evening, but we have determined that the structural damage to most of the skyscrapers, harbor, bridges, and surrounding boroughs (both in New York City and in Baltimore), is completely beyond repair. For safety, the remnants of any structures will need to be torn down and bull dozed. There is no salvaging what was left.”
As the videos showed the extent of the structural and human losses, Jim could see on their faces the shock and horror of the damage that they were witnessing.
“The casualty numbers right now stand at close to four million dead, with nearly eight million more injured and homeless. As you can see, the damage is nearly catastrophic. The cities of New York and Baltimore will have to be abandoned and sealed off until the radiation can be cleaned up and cleared. This may take close to a decade or more to complete.”
President Rousseff interjected, “America has our deepest condolences on the loss of life. This truly was a barbaric attack against a civilian target. What can Brazil do to help America?”
Jim cleared his throat before continuing. “America cannot fight this war on our own any longer. As you know, Russia just declared war on the Allies the other day, and has begun a massive invasion of Europe. The Chinese continue to conquer one country after another in Asia, and right now there is little that can stop them. We are asking that Brazil, along with the other South American countries, join the European Union, Great Britain, Israel, Australia, Canada and others in this war against tyranny.”
The Minister of Foreign Affairs jumped into the conversation. “Brazil is already producing massive amounts of munitions, weapons and other materials that America and the Allies need for the war. What more can Brazil offer America that we have not already given?”
The Minister of Defense interjected, “Troops, the Secretaries of Defense and State are here to ask Brazil to start to participate militarily, am I right?”
Eric Clarke, the SecDef, answered, “Yes, that is what we are here to ask. We need soldiers, sailors and airman to help us defeat the Axis powers.”
President Rousseff nodded slowly and then surveyed his advisors and ministers before saying, “Secretary Clarke, while we certainly wish to assist you, Brazil does not have a large military right now. We also do not have the support structure to manage a large military right now. We could provide armed support, but it would be limited.”
“We recognize this, and we have a proposal we would like to make. First, we would like to request what forces you do have available be immediately sent to support NATO in Europe. Second, we would like to request that Brazil begin an immediate mobilization within your country for war—”
Before Secretary Clarke could finish his sentence, several ministers began to grumble, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs interrupted, “—Sir, the Axis powers are not directly threatening Brazil or South America. If we start a countrywide mobilization, they may perceive us as a direct military threat. Brazil does not live under the anti-ballistic laser missile defense bubble that America and Europe have.”
Eric tried to regain control of the meeting before he lost it completely. “We recognize that. We would immediately begin construction of over two dozen fixed site missile defense systems in South America, and would augment it with numerous mobile laser defense systems and a series of railgun defensive systems. America would extend our same missile defense technology to Brazil and South America.”
The President signaled for everyone to quiet down and let him speak. “Assuming we went along with this plan — exactly how many soldiers are you requesting of Brazil?”
“Mr. President, America is asking for an expeditionary force of 600,000 soldiers,” the SecDef said.
For a moment, the room was completely silent. Then, suddenly, it burst into loud conversation among the various minister and advisors, with the President trying to gain control of the room. After nearly ten minutes of a heated discussion, Secretary Clarke and Wise signaled that they would like to address the group again. “Gentlemen, we realize this is a large commitment, and that this represents a lot of young men and women we are asking your nation to place in harm’s way. This war is a turning point in history; the Axis powers have a military force of over twenty million soldiers. If we do not ban together now, then it may be too late to stop them. If the Allies in Europe and America are defeated, there will be no one to help South America when the Chinese and Russians come for you. We must unite now, before it is too late.”
“We understand the threat; this is just a lot you are asking of us. I do not believe we have the ability to train and support such a large force,” said the President, looking to his military advisors for support. They nodded in agreement.
“We have thought about that as well, and President Stein has some ideas on how to address that. The US would send you 7,500 military trainers and advisors to help establish five new military training bases here in Brazil. Each new training base would have 1,500 military advisors who would train this expeditionary force. We propose that the training for these soldiers would last ten weeks and be focused on training specific military professions. One base would be dedicated to training men and women who will be filtered into various military support functions. Upon completion of their basic training, they would be sent to the US to attend their specific military support duties (e.g. medical, supply, administration etc.). Three of the training bases would focus on training combat arms career fields. The fifth training base would be designated for officer and senior NCO training. They would attend the same combat training everyone else receives. However, their final three weeks would be geared towards leadership and command training.” While SecDef Clarke spoke, he was showing them via holograph the various types of training facilities that they had envisioned.
“Each week, a new class of 5,000 recruits would start training, and as the pipeline of trainees starts to fill, the bases would churn out 5,000 new soldiers at the end of ten weeks and each week thereafter. At this pace, it would take six months to train the 600,000 soldiers for the expeditionary force once the training begins. We would frontload the training for the soldiers who will need additional military training in the US so that they would complete their advanced training by the time the rest of the force is ready. Following the six-month train-up period, the expeditionary force would receive thirty-days of leave and then report back for a series of two-week training exercises. After that, they would then be prepared for deployment.”