“We are not Republicans or Democrats; we are Americans. We must unite together as one people, under the cause of freedom, defend our country, and fight for the allies who are depending upon us. I ask for your prayers and the Lord’s guidance to help me make the right decisions and guide our nation through this perilous time. Thank you for your time today. God bless the United States of America and her people.” With that, the red light on the camera turned off and the transmission ended.
There was a collective sigh of relief as the speech ended. Several people in the room came up to the President to shake his hand and congratulate him on a rousing speech.
Secretly, the President thought to himself, “I just hope this draft will be enough and the Chinese will not seek a confrontation with the U.S. I’ve been pressing the Chinese ambassador hard lately to keep them from attacking any American allies, but I just don’t know how much good that is doing. The last time I spoke to President Xi, it did not go well…”
The Marines are Coming
Once Lieutenant General (LtGen) Roy Cutter got off the phone with the Secretary of Defense, he let out a soft whistle. His executive officer and the rest of his staff stopped talking amongst themselves. All eyes were on him.
“Well, we are deploying to the Pacific…” Cutter announced, “… the entire Marine Expeditionary Force. The SecDef says he wants us deployed to Japan immediately.” He knew that his entire staff would have to get to work immediately if they were going to make the deadline they had just been given.
“What is the timeline for when he wants us to be in Okinawa?” asked his G3, the head of his operations staff.
LtGen Cutter smiled the half-crazy grin of a man who is on the verge of maniacal laughter. “We have a week, but we are not going to Okinawa. He wants us deployed to Japan proper and be prepared to move out from there, to either South Korea or to Taiwan. So, once we get to Japan, we will need to stay packed and ready to ship out. We will be essentially acting as the United States’ quick reaction force for the Pacific.”
“What about the third Marine Expeditionary Force? They are already in Okinawa. What will they be doing?” asked the G2, his intelligence officer.
“The SecDef plans on having them ready to deploy to Taiwan or South Korea, depending on how the situation evolves.”
Cutter leaned back in his chair, reflecting. A more genuine smile spread across his face. “The Pacific is going to be a Marine war, if and when it happens,” he said proudly.
“It does seem like a bit of karma, doesn’t it, Sir? The Marines originally made their name in the Pacific during World War II, and now they will be the main fighting force there again,” said the G2.
“One more thing before we break and start to get the ball rolling on our deployment,” announced Cutter. “As you know, the President has initiated a draft. The Marines are going to be growing by roughly one million. That’s nearly eight times our current size, even with the reserves. I am going to need you to identify two sergeants from each platoon and one officer from each company who can stay behind. They will be assigned to the Marine Recruit Depot and will assist in the training of this new force.”
Sensing that there was about to be some push back, he held up a hand to stop the questions. “I’ve also been authorized to give any sergeant who volunteers for this duty two bumps in grade, and the officers will get one bump in grade. We are going to need a lot more sergeants and officers as our force grows, so start identifying your up-and-comers and get them ready to fill in when the time comes. As these new recruits complete training and start to fill out our ranks, a lot of people are going to start receiving promotions and new assignments,” he concluded.
Suddenly, everyone in the room was smiling. It had been getting harder to get promoted in a shrinking Marine Corps, so an increase of this size meant a fast track to the senior ranks.
Greater China
Chairman Zhang did not usually attend the secretive meetings of the CMC, but President Xi had been including him in them since the start of Operation Red Storm. Zhang was responsible for State Security and was the lead facilitator between China and Russia; he was also a shrewd political operative as the Chairman of the National People’s Congress, and someone Xi wanted to keep a close eye on.
As the military leaders of China began to take their seats for the meeting, Chairman Zhang took his seat next to the President. As the stewards brought everyone their drink, President Xi brought the meeting to order. His bodyguards quickly led the stewards out of the room, so the location was completely secured. No electronic devices were allowed in the room, aside from what the security service had already inspected and deemed secured. Any presentations that were to be given first had to be cleared first by the information technology security group, to ensure the files did not potentially have any malware or other spy software attached to them. The IT department under Zhang’s State Security was completely paranoid about the NSA’s spy capabilities and scrutinized everything.
“General Wei Liu, please bring us up to date on the progress of the annexation of Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar,” President Xi requested, as a way to open up the meeting. He had been briefed on the progress a couple of hours ago by the Defense Minister, General Kuang Li Jun, but for the sake of everyone else, he felt it important to reiterate the information.
General Wei cleared his throat before he began, then signaled for his aide to begin the PowerPoint presentation. The first slide showed a map of Myanmar, with various unit symbols and arrows pointing in different directions. The military incursion there was now in its second week and was showing some real progress. Already, a third of the country had been occupied to include the Capital. Naypyidaw, the capital city, had been captured the first day by PLA Airborne Forces.
“Mr. President, our airborne forces were officially relieved two days ago by elements of the 31st Army. We have traditionally had good relations with Myanmar prior to our incursion, and we have used that relationship to our benefit. Our social media campaign was very effective in painting our forces as saviors to the needy of the nation, and as our troops have moved across the border, we are distributing food and offering free medical clinics in each of the villages and cities our forces enter.”
“Before our invasion of Myanmar, we liaised with their military and informed them that as long as they do not resist, we will integrate their army into the PLA as a colonial army, and even offered to pay them in Chinese dollars in accordance with their ranks. This has proven to be exceptionally effective, to the point that we have only had eight armed confrontations. Three of our soldiers have been killed, while close to one hundred have been injured, but this was mostly from a bridge that collapsed when several troop transports crossed what they thought was a stable bridge. Aside from these few engagements, the majority of the military and the political leaders of Myanmar have welcomed us with open arms.”
The other members of the CMC asked a variety of questions about the operation, but otherwise appeared content with the progress being made in Myanmar. In less than a month, the rest of the country would be occupied by the PLA, and then the integration of their economy and armed forces would begin. One of the first priorities would be to bring in a vast amount of specialized farming equipment to increase the country’s rice and other agricultural production to maximum capacity. China would also begin a series of massive infrastructure projects, connecting the rail lines in western Yunnan province with the ports in Yangon and the other major cities in the country.