This new nongovernmental organization graciously offered to perform citizen and consular services, as well as serve as a point-of-contact for trade issues in America. Not in the USA or URA, but simply in “America,” according to their website. That this company employed double the staff in their sprawling office park as the official embassy in DC surprised no one.
That the onsite manager of this firm was not a high-ranking Chinese bureaucrat, but a senior Chinese military officer was surprising, though. Oh, the general resigned his post to work “in the private sector,” but the deputy operations officer of the Chengdu Military Region Special Forces doesn’t walk off the job without official sanction. In fact, the company had a strange habit of recruiting almost exclusively from ex-military, intelligence and foreign ministry workers in the PRC. All mundane administrative details were outsourced to some local US company.
Washington’s reasoned response to this insult was to return the PRC ambassador’s passport. At the urging of Congress, the president reluctantly ordered all PRC missions in loyal areas closed. Two weeks later, a terrified Taiwan received the official recognition from a spiteful US Senate they always wanted…just as all US military forces were being withdrawn from the Pacific. Mainland China’s outrage was epic. Who cared though? What could they do way over there?
The greatest annoyance for the California led republic was how helpful the PRC’s were. In Beijing’s eyes, the only thing better than one giant export market like the US were two markets. They were supposedly the communists, but man oh man, did they have a lot of ideas on how to profit from the crisis.
From day one, they’d been proposing one scheme after another to increase military cooperation between the two countries, in order to strengthen “mutual defense.” Proposals to trade military technology fell through when it was clear they had little to offer. Their hopes to sell arms to the provisional government likewise fell on deaf ears.
Never mind that there were good reasons the Chinese government stole weapon designs from the US and not the other way around. The big driver behind the growing military buildup in the URA was as much economic as political or strategic. Too many jobs had already been lost in the economic devastation of the last few months. Sacramento officials tactfully, but firmly made it clear that these new defense contracts would go to domestic sources.
Undaunted, their representatives persevered with one creative scheme after another. The solution they pushed the hardest, though politely rejected every time, involved getting Chinese troops stationed in the new country. With foreign peacekeepers on hand, the USA would never dare attack for fear of starting World War 3. The Chinese seemed genuinely interested in the security of the new government. They were even surprisingly frank about their rationale. A hot war would be a disaster…but an inter-American Cold War would be pretty damn good for business.
To be fair, that last point was echoed by many movers and shakers throughout both Americas.
Fort Myers Beach, Florida
Three federal MRAP 4x4 trucks coasted lazily along Estero Blvd. Thirteen soldiers on board scanned their sectors just as casually. Between the stunning view of the Gulf Coast a hundred yards away and the bikini-clad girls playing volleyball, they were far from alert. Their “patrol” was more in an armed Baywatch style than the expected wet version of Iraq. Which suited the men just fine.
The lead truck’s gunner enjoyed the best view. “Dude, all these years I bitched about the Army sending me to shitty, dusty places. I always hoped we’d invade somewhere with a beach! I just joined the Service too soon.”
His driver was equally impressed, but less enthused. “Except that these are fucking Americans, man. I got an aunt who lives in some retirement village around here. How crazy is this shit?”
“What ain’t crazy about the military? At least this time the craziness is hot…” Their sergeant lost track of his thought as he admired some hot pants wearing chicks rollerblading past them and waving.
Seemed a lot of people around here had respect for the US Army. Just as many flashed thumbs up at them everywhere they went as glared with unshielded hatred. Of course, the majority in this town didn’t give a damn one way or the other. Things were way different farther north, where the real combat took place, but down here, you felt on vacation rather than on duty.
The gunner stuck his head into the truck. “No bullshit, Sergeant, how long you think we can milk this? How long until they send us to the front?”
“Hell if I know. I am but a mushroom. Same as you. Kept in the dark and fed shit.”
The know-it-all driver already had everything worked out. “As soon as they figure out where the ‘front’ is. Remember Kansas? They were staging a whole shitload of gear and troops there when the state just upped and joined this ‘New America’ thing. No referendum, no speech making, just called out their Guard and closed the border to everyone except those Western militias.
“Most of the armored vehicles and heavy equipment were surrendered in exchange for allowing the trapped troops to leave unharmed. It was a huge disaster, and all over the real news. We lost, like, a division or so of gear without hardly firing a shot. How do you invade a country that has no fixed border?”
“Yeah, I heard about that, but you forgot about all the guys that didn’t leave. Even the liberal news outlets admitted that thousands stayed behind and joined the enemy.”
The sergeant’s voice cut in with deadly seriousness. “It’s best to forget about them. Nothing good can come from discussing this. You hear about these desertions all over the country…but they’ll start cracking down on them at some point. I don’t mean a slap on the wrist either; I’m talking real bad shit.”
The new specialist in the back finally pitched into the conversation. “I know what you mean, Sergeant. In my last unit, they were chaptering people out of the Army left and right. Make one joke that some officer takes the wrong way and you’re gone.” He snapped his fingers and laughed. “I’ve never seen anything like it. There used to be no way out of the military once you raised your right arm, and now people have to fight tooth and nail to stay in!”
He suddenly stopped laughing. “At first, I mean, that’s all they did. Just kick you out. The day before I was transferred here I heard about some rough shit going down.”
Everyone was all ears. “A bunch of guys being kicked out hit up the armory on their last night. Made off with most of a company’s worth of small arms and machine guns. No one knows if they went out west or what. Several guys still on active duty were arrested for ‘aiding and abetting the enemy.’ The colonel even talked about executing the highest-ranking one! I transferred out the next day, but I hear the whole base is on lockdown still. No one can trust anyone there.”
The driver’s voice oozed skepticism. “I didn’t hear about that and I read every issue of the Army Times cover to cover.”
The sergeant threw up both hands. “A lot of stuff gets conveniently left out of the Times. It used to be pretty good, mostly independent, even if cheesy. In the last couple of weeks though, Christ, it’s like some propaganda piece out of World War Two.”
“How fucking old are you, Sergeant?”
The NCO bit off a comment about being old enough to knock up the driver’s mother. He had to get these dumbasses to pay attention. As usual, they weren’t taking things seriously enough.