The US struck the Islamic Republic’s power generation plant at Ras Tanura on the Arabian Gulf, the Abqaiq plant in the same area, and also the Ar Riyad plant, destroying 13,391 Megawatts of power production and effectively disrupting 60 % of the power generation capability in the heart of the IR. The city of Buqayq was completely destroyed in the nuclear attack, along with the city of Ras Tanura, Al Khobar and its oil terminals and port.
Several power generation plants in Iran, Iraq and Egypt were also destroyed, along with the cities they were near. The IR government denounced these attacks, citing the hundreds of thousands of civilians killed, and demanded the US be sanctioned by the United Nations. The Russian government immediately denounced this blatant attack against civilian targets by the US, as did China.
The European Union asked that all parties refrain from further use of nuclear weapons and asked for a pledge to keep the war conventional. The President of the United States announced that any further IR use of nuclear weapons against US Forces or Israel would result in a substantial nuclear response by the US.
General Gardner had been awake for nearly 30 hours as reports from the frontlines continued to pour in. The 1st Armored Division had gone from being on the defensive to taking the fight to the enemy. They had broken out of the Golan Heights and were pushing the IR forces back to Damascus. Because of the success of 1st Armored Division, the IDF had been able to rout out the IR forces in Lebanon and began to shift forces from that front towards Jerusalem.
One of the Colonels running the J3 or Joint Operations group for Third Corps gave an update on the situation on the ground. “The 1st ID has been in constant contact with IR armor and IFVs for nearly 24 hours; they had to fall back past Jericho and found themselves less than four miles from Jerusalem. The IDF moved two additional battalions of light infantry just before dawn to reinforce American/Israeli forces and took up positions throughout the hills approaching Jerusalem.”
“Tell General Twitty I need him to commit the rest of his division to the defense of Jerusalem. Unless the Israelis tell us otherwise, we are going to turn Jerusalem into a meat grinder,” said LTG Gardner. He was reading from one tablet and then another, each with up-to-date aerial reconnaissance and reports from the front.
“General Twitty is already on it. He moved his HQ to the west side of Jerusalem so he could be closer to the battle. I also have that report you asked for and photos of that platoon from 1st ID that had been captured yesterday. It would appear the rumors are true. The IR crucified all of the prisoners to motivate their own forces, showing that even the Americans can be beat,” said Brigadier General Peter Williams with a look of anger and disgust on his face.
“This is getting out of control. They are not only killing those who are wounded or captured — they are now crucifying them? How many prisoners of theirs do we have?”
“A few thousand. Most of them are from 1st Armors AO,” said General Williams.
“Hmm…I’m not going to kill their prisoners, at least not yet, but since they are making this a religious war, then let’s hit them where it hurts. Tell General Twitty he is to destroy the Al Aqsa Mosque near the Temple Mount; I want it flattened as soon as possible.”
“I am not sure the Israelis will let us blow it up sir. They currently protect it right now,” said Williams.
“I will take full responsibility for this, and if the President or the SecDef wants to relieve me of command, then so be it. I will not let our soldiers be crucified by these jihadists and not retaliate.”
“I believe we should coordinate this with the IDF; perhaps we can arrange to have a film crew on scene to video its destruction.”
“Make it happen.”
The Israeli cities were being devastated from the almost constant missile and artillery barrages. The IDS was extremely effective, but even it could be overwhelmed given sufficient firepower. Multiple power plants had been taken offline from cyber-attacks or from damage sustained from the barrages, and this was starting to have an impact on the IDF’s ability to sustain its rocket and missile defense systems. The IDS was running out of missiles; the railgun and laser systems were running out of power. Their own self-sustaining power generation could provide enough power for air defense but with a continuous barrage all across the country for more than 18 hours, they needed additional power to sustain their defensive effort.
Word spread quickly through the American and Israeli ranks about the crucifixions, which only spurned them to fight harder. As the fighting continued, the 1st ID stopped taking prisoners and killed any wounded or surrendering IR soldiers they saw. Without informing the Israeli Prime Minister or his own higher command, the IDF Major, who was in charge of the soldiers guarding the Al Aqsa Mosque, let soldiers from the 3rd ID place explosives throughout the Mosque and stood by as they detonated them.
Within seconds, the entire building collapsed and was nothing more than a smoking ruin. The people that had not fled Jerusalem could not believe the Mosque had just been destroyed. No one knew if it was an errant missile that destroyed it or if it was intentional. It did not take long for pictures and video of its destruction to spread across social media.
A BBC news crew who had been filming the fighting from a vantage point near the Mosque was reporting on the battle that was taking place a few miles from Jerusalem when they saw a number of soldiers entering the Mosque, then leaving just as quickly; a couple of minutes later the Mosque was completely destroyed. Every Muslim around the world saw the destruction of this Holy site and many began to take to the streets shouting, “Death to Israel and America!”
The Israeli Prime Minister was quick to denounce the destruction, saying the IDF had no part in its demolition and quickly blamed the Americans. General Gardner provided a short statement to the media saying that he had authorized the destruction of the Al Aqsa Mosque of his own volition in retaliation for IR units crucifying captured American soldiers, of which there was plenty of video evidence. Had the situation on the ground not been so precarious, the Israeli Prime Minister would have insisted on General Gardner being replaced. As it was, Jerusalem might have fallen within the next day if the 3rd ID were not able to stop the IR.
General Abdullah Muhammed could not believe the success his army was having against the Americans and Israelis. Admiral Jaffa Mustafa had come through and destroyed the entire 5th Fleet! Two aircraft carriers and all of their support ships — if only he had been able to destroy the carriers in the Mediterranean, his victory could almost be assured. Those two carriers had destroyed his Sinai force, which would have placed additional pressure on the IDF.
The campaign in the Jordan Valley was going swimmingly; the American 1st ID had put up a fight, but ultimately they had to fall back. Even with the American 3rd infantry division coming to their rescue, it was only a matter of time before Jerusalem would fall. He had two hundred thousand light infantry moving into the valley to begin the final assault to take Jerusalem.