“I’ll let General Peeler know it’s time to release the Devil Dogs in the south. I know they are itching to get some payback for that Marine company that was crucified the other day,” said Williams.
“We all want some payback for that atrocity,” responded Gardner.
It was getting close to midnight, and the energy in the bunker was kind of quiet as various people throughout the room were taking a moment to refill their coffee in order to stay awake for the rest of the night shift. Suddenly, an NCO manning one of the communication terminals stood up and said in a loud voice, “Someone just nuked New York City!” That announcement quickly got the attention of everyone in the room. An officer walked over and grabbed the FLASH message from the Joint Staff and began to read it aloud to everyone in the room:
NUCFLASH! NUCFLASH! NUCFLASH!
Confirmed Nuclear Detonation in Hudson River near the I-75 Bridge.
Manhattan completed destroyed, surrounding boroughs being consumed by firestorm.
Unknown who is responsible for nuclear device, will have confirmation within the hour.
CONUS and OCONUS Forces are to disperse and prepare for additional nuclear attacks.
All air traffic is being grounded until further notice.
Full Combat Air Patrols of all CONUS and OCONUS facilities are to begin immediately.
DEFCON Status has moved from 2, to DEFCON 1. All Strategic Nuclear Capabilities are to be readied for immediate use.
All Commanders standby for further orders from POTUS.
Message Ends.
NUCFLASH! NUCFLASH! NUCFLASH!
General Gardner stood there for a minute, digesting what had just been read. He signaled for the message to brought to him. He needed to read it himself. “General Williams, send a FLASH message to all units in the field to immediately prepare for a nuclear attack and disperse their forces as best they can. Have their soldiers dig foxholes quickly and don their full protective suits.” Gardner did not want to waste any time preparing his forces for what may come next. There would be anger, horror and sadness, but not today; this was the day to respond.
Sgt. Jordy Nelson’s Platoon from the 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, otherwise known as the “Big Red One,” had been slugging it out with the IR since the start of the war twenty-one days ago. Their company had set up a defensive line in the Jordan Valley near Jericho to act as a blocking force in case the IR tried to make a thrust towards Route 1. Everyone knew the IR would ultimately try to take Jerusalem; the question was how best to defend the Holy City and prevent the IR from taking it.
The original plan fell apart within the first forty-eight hours; thousands of IR tanks and over two hundred thousand soldiers crossed the Jordan-Israeli border and rushed their positions. At the outset, the 1st ID had to fall back to Mitspe Yerihom; before long, the group was pushed back to Ma’ale Adumim, which was less than three miles from the Western Wall in Jerusalem. After sustaining 40 % casualties in the first two days, the division was being mauled and pressed to its breaking point.
Four days of bloody house-to-house fighting in Jerusalem had left everyone in the platoon exhausted and on edge. Sgt. Nelson’s platoon was once again forced to fall back to their final position in the Neve Ilan Forest, where they received enough reinforcements from the 4th ID to stop the IR from dividing the country in half. In one last move to push the Israeli and American Forces out of Jerusalem, the IR started using massive human wave assaults until they overwhelmed the defenders. Had it not been for the Air Force finally establishing air superiority over Israel, the 1st and 4th ID would have been slaughtered like so many of their IDF counterparts who refused to fall back or surrender Jerusalem.
At the start of the war, the IR army invaded through the West Bank with a ground force of nearly 350,000 troops and 2,200 Main Battle Tanks (MBT)s. A pretty substantial force proceeded from the Golan Heights and Lebanon — around 250,000 ground troops and 1,300 MBTs. From the south, near Eilat, around 150,000 troops hit the IDF; out of the Gaza Strip and the Sinai, an additional 110,000 troops joined the fray. The sheer amount of manpower drawn to this fight was unparalleled. During the following two weeks of the war, 800,000 IR reinforcements began to arrive and filtered into the different sectors.
With nearly 1.7 Million troops invading Israel, the situation appeared hopeless for the IDF and American Forces. The IDF had 176,500 active duty soldiers and 445,000 reservists to defend Israel; the American Third Corps had a scant 48,000 troops, and the 2nd MEF consisted of 20,000 Marines just off shore in the Mediterranean. The American Fifth Corp was a few days away with their 42,500 troops.
When the IR destroyed the American 5th Fleet with three nuclear missiles as they were exiting the Red Sea, they nearly succeeded in crippling the US Navy. However, the quick retaliatory strike of ten nuclear cruise missiles against the IR power grid reminded them (and the world) that any further use of nuclear weapons against America would not go unpunished or unchallenged. Those ten cruise missiles nearly knocked the IR out of the war altogether; had the Russians and Chinese not intervened and begun to provide the IR with power, they would have effectively been moved back in time several hundred years. The Chinese had several nuclear-powered ships in various ports, and the Russians connected the IR power grid into their own. This breathed life back into the IR’s fighting campaign.
It was quick thinking and luck that saved Vice Admiral Lisa Todd’s 6th Fleet from the same fate. Call it women’s intuition; Admiral Todd believed the IR was up to something as her fleet approached Israel and the Suez Canal Zone (SCZ), and ordered her air wings to provide additional cover for the fleet. Her air and missile defense ships moved into a picket position between the coast and the fleet. When the IR did launch their attack, the Fleet saw it coming before it was able to get organized and immediately engaged and destroyed the oncoming forces.
With the war now on, the 6th Fleet began to pummel the IR air and naval bases in Egypt and Libya before turning the entire fleet’s attention to the capture of the SCZ and assisting the IDF in the Sinai. The 2nd Marines made their landings and quickly secured the SCZ, blocking any retreat or reinforcements to the IR forces in the Sinai and the Gaza strip. They quickly engaged the IR forces (despite being outnumbered six to one), destroying the entire IR army in the Sinai. It was the immense air support and the use of a new ground attack and troop helicopter, the Razorback, that turned the tide of battle.
The Razorback ground attack troop helicopter was a cross between a V-22 Osprey and the old Cobra gunship. The helicopter had two small rotors encased in armor on each tilt wing, providing the helicopter with incredible speed, lift and maneuverability. Near the joint where the tilt wings connected with the frame of the helicopter was a rack of forty-two 2.6 inch anti-personnel rockets, eight hellfire III anti-tank missiles, and two short-range air-to-air missiles on each side of the helicopter. Under the nose of the helicopter was a twin 30mm magnetic railgun to give the helicopter added punch. The Razorback carried a crew of four, with two pilots and two crew chiefs, who each manned a .25mm magnetic railgun that could spit out 450 rounds a minute to cover the soldiers as they boarded or dismounted the aircraft. A completely new type of armor was showcased in this work of art, made from a top secret polymer that was lighter than traditional steal armor yet five times as strong. The Razorback’s shield could sustain direct hits from a 30mm machine gun without taking any critical damage. It was also impervious to current Russian and Chinese MANPADs, making this helicopter the most in-demand frontline asset in the war. It had also been in service for less than eight months before the outbreak of World War III, so it was in short supply and heavy demand.