“There are better targets than Baltimore, General Hamza. Demolishing Philadelphia would destroy a naval yard, along with one of their oldest and most notable cities,” Zaheer Akhatar said, questioning the strategic significance of attacking Baltimore.
“Zaheer, the drive to Philadelphia is further than the drive to Washington, so the chances of the device being detected are much higher. Philadelphia does have the naval yard, but Baltimore has one of the largest deep water ports on the East Coast. With New York Harbor reeling from the destruction of the first device, extinguishing the port of Baltimore will hurt the American military far more than the demolition of one of their naval yards,” General Hamza said with a bit of annoyance at being challenged by Zaheer. Despite Zaheer being the senior advisor to Caliph Mohammed, Rafik did not like or trust him.
“Enough. You both bring up good points; I believe General Hamza is right. Destroying a second East Coast deep water port is going to cause more problems for the Americans. Our Russian brothers have not attacked yet; the destruction of a critical deep water port will not only aid our war in Israel, it will aid the Russians’ attack against the EU. Huseen, issue the order for the LNG ship to destroy the Panama Canal immediately. Twelve hours after the canal has been destroyed, issue the order to deliver Allah’s Sword to Manhattan. Then, I will issue the Americans their warning to surrender and withdraw from Israel or we will deliver a second Sword of Allah.”
“Caliph, once we do this, we have to expect the Americans to respond with their own nuclear weapons. We saw what they did to us when we used tactical nuclear weapons on the 5th Fleet. They hit us pretty hard, with over a dozen nukes. We are only just now beginning to restore power to the country, and we lost nearly 60 % of our laser missile defense systems. I fear the use of a nuclear bomb in New York City is going to destroy us,” said Talal bin Abdulaziz, the IR Foreign Minister.
“I understand your concern Talal, and the Americans will most likely respond with more nuclear weapons. This is our chance to hurt the Americans at home; for nearly a century and a half, the Americans have waged war in our lands and killed our people by the millions. This may be the Muslim world’s last chance to really hurt the Americans bad, and I intend to take it.”
“Caliph, we are grinding the American military down in Israel; the Chinese have just entered the war and are hitting the Americans hard. The Russians will launch their attack soon. We need only to stay the course and we will achieve our victory without nuclear weapons.”
“You speak wise words Talal; however, we already have Allah’s Swords in place—”
“—If we do this, we will lose the Republic. The Americans will destroy everything in retaliation, and even if we do win with Russian and Chinese help, we will not have a functioning country for our people to enjoy our hard won victory,” said Talal, almost pleading with Mohammed.
“If I may, Caliph — as the senior military commander for the Republic, I have to agree with Talal. I want to nuke New York City just as bad as you, but I also want to live to enjoy our victory, and my soldiers will want a country to return back to. With the Chinese and soon the Russians entering the war, it will not be long until we have destroyed Israel and permanently removed the Americans from the lands of Allah. Then we should let the Russians and Chinese destroy America for us,” said General Hamza with a somber look.
Caliph Mohammed sighed deeply. “…You both have given me pause. Huseen, continue with the attack on the Canal. Have our operatives continue to hold on to Allah’s Swords. We will wait and leave them in place for the time being.”
“Generals, the Islamic Republic has been battling the American and Israeli forces for sixteen days. How can they possibly have lost 13,000 fighter drones and over 60 % of the aircraft that we sold them and the pilots that we trained?” asked President Mikhail Fradkov.
“The American anti-aircraft, anti-missile railgun systems have proven to be far more effective than we believed possible. Their new Pershing main battle tank also has this technology and completely destroyed our frontline battle tanks we sold to the IR. They were able to engage the IR tanks at maximum range, never allowing the IR tanks to get close enough to fire a shot. When a few of the tanks were able to get a shot or two off, the rounds just bounced off their new armor,” said General Gerasimov with a look of anxiety.
“General Sergun, the GRU assured us that the Americans had not been able to produce these new railgun weapon systems in sufficient numbers to be a problem; yet, they are completely destroying entire drone armadas, and our state-of-the-art tanks cannot get close enough to fire a shot at their tanks. What do you have to say for yourself?” asked the President, clearly irritated.
“Mr. President, the Americans only have one division of Pershing tanks with the new railgun systems. That group is currently bogged down in Israel. They do not have another division of these tanks that can be deployed to Europe. Their mobile and fixed anti-missile, anti-aircraft railgun systems are also limited in number. They have deployed the bulk of these units to their military forces in Israel and now in Asia to fight the Chinese—”
“—Yes, but they are mass producing these weapons, are they not?”
“Yes, Mr. President. They are, but it will take time before they have sufficient numbers.”
“This still creates a problem for us. Have they shared this technology and the plans with the EU? Are they now producing these weapons as well?”
“Our sources have confirmed the Americans have provided this information to their European partners, and yes, the EU is now starting to produce these weapons. Again, this is a very advanced technology; it is not something that can be mass-produced and deployed quickly. It took the Americans nearly three years to produce enough tanks to field one division. We have time on our side, but only if we act soon,” said General Sergun with a look of confidence.
“If we were facing the Americans and the EU at full strength, then these new weapons would pose a significant problem for us. As it stands, the Americans are heavily engaged in Israel, Mexico and now they have to deal with China. They are not going to be a factor in Europe,” said General Dmitri Putin, who had recently returned from Central Asia.
“General Putin, how soon could the First and Third Shock Armies invade the EU?” asked the President.
“I need three days for both army groups to be ready once you give the order. The Third Shock Army will cross into Western Ukraine and then travel to Romania and Hungary. The First Shock Army will cross into Poland and drive towards Germany. The EU army is not large enough or prepared enough to stand against two experienced combat army groups.”
“Do you agree with General Putin’s assessment, General Gerasimov?”
“I do, but we should wait until Christmas Eve. Let’s see what the Chinese do these next two weeks.”
“The destruction of the Panama Canal sure caught the Chinese by surprise. They had originally wanted to capture it.”
“They should have worked that out with the IR,” said General Putin with a smirk on his face.
“Prepare your forces, General Putin; the attack will commence on December 24th. It will make for a warm present to the EU and America from Russia.”
“Mr. President, I have one last question before I leave to prepare my forces. Will the MiG 40 be ready?” asked General Putin, determined to get a truthful answer.