“Jake was my son.”
“He was a good tank commander.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
“I’m sorry, sir.” Simon’s lower lip trembled. “I panicked. I took off too soon. It must have upset the calibrations of our last shot.”
Stan almost patted the boy’s arm. He was in obvious misery about something. “What happened to Jake?” Stan asked softly.
“Jake?”
“He was your commander. It says here you slept beside him for a while.”
“Oh, yes, Jake. I woke up one morning and he was gone. He died.”
“You’re sure of that?”
“Poor Jake,” Simon said. “He was a good tank commander.” Simon frowned, and he looked up at Stan. “I’m sorry I panicked.”
“God be with you son. He forgives you. Don’t worry about it anymore.”
“Really?” Simon asked.
“Yes.”
“Thank you, sir, thank you.”
Gingerly, Stan patted the soldier’s arm. Then he got up and slowly walked outside. This damn war. Those damn nukes. They had killed his boy. A hollow sensation in his heart gave Stan an empty feeling.
He wanted to sit down and weep. His boy was dead. What was he going to do now? Stan shook his head. With blurry vision, he headed for his jeep. The Chinese had killed his boy. He wanted to hate them with a vengeance, but sorrow and sadness filled him. A part of him died, and his shoulders slumped.
His boy was dead.
From Military History: Past to Present, by Vance Holbrook:
The Red Dragon Cruise Missile Strike
A fundamental shift in the war took place as American armor threatened to engulf the PAA First Front in Oklahoma. Chairman Hong’s notorious “tactical” nuclear strike order destroyed two-thirds of the Behemoth tanks and immediately annihilated approximately 233,000 US soldiers. As the days progressed, that number rose to well over one million casualties including the wounded and radiation poisoned.
This did not free the encircled PAA and SAF forces as anticipated by the Chinese, but rendered most of them impotent. SAF morale sank to zero and entire divisions surrendered to the Americans without another shot fired in anger. A small number of Chinese brigades fought their way into Texas, marching to the new PAA front in the middle of the Lone Star State. The rest of the nuclear shocked divisions surrendered after McGraw hurried reinforcements south. Colonel Stan Higgins rose to national fame in those dark days, skillfully maneuvering the remaining armor in conjunction with McGraw’s moves.
During the six weeks that followed, each side hastily reorganized and refitted their fronts with new levies and equipment and as the US attempted to decontaminate large portions of Oklahoma. The unofficial armistice benefited the Americans more, as US submarines and THOR missile took their toll against the Chinese merchant marine along the PAA Pacific Ocean route.
In retrospect, the nuclear attack helped the American war effort and its diplomacy in a number of vital ways. One, it devastated the morale of the remaining SAF troops in North America. Two, it dismayed the ruling junta in Brazil. They began to drag their feet, reluctant to send more soldiers into a possible atomic meat-grinder in Texas and New Mexico. Three, it angered many Mexican citizens as fallout drifted into the northern half of the country. That in turn began to shift the puppet government away from China as revolt and rebellion simmered. Four, Japanese leaders protested the nuclear usage, further souring relations with Beijing. Five, Berlin, Paris, London and New Delhi drew up plans for PAA economic sanctions.
Premier Konev of Russia played a cagier game. As his military beefed up the armies in western Siberia, he began secret talks with Chairman Hong, offering neutrality for massive food shipments. Russians had been tightening their belts for quite some time, and needed Chinese rice.
However, it would be wrong to suggest the strike did not have positive value for Greater China and Chairman Hong, at least in several areas. The Iranian Hegemony leaders congratulated him on his fortitude in facing the Americans. This helped cement relations between Beijing and Tehran. In an ancient Assyrian sense, it also shocked many people by the ruthlessness of the action, and it gave them pause. Brutality often engendered passivity in others, and possibly Hong had counted on this effect. People understood that one did not trifle with him lightly. Many American troops now began to show severe signs of strain, as the thermonuclear attack blunted the edge of their aggressiveness.
That said, except for most of the Pan-Asian Alliance countries and the ayatollahs of Iran, the world recoiled in horror at the act. Not since Adolf Hitler had the majority of the planet agreed on a leader’s villainy.
American Leadership
President Sims’ heart attack and subsequent illness meant he was bedridden and often delirious for the rest of 2041 and throughout 2042.
Disregarding the Constitution, a triumvirate of personalities took over presidential duties. The senior partner was Director Harold, with the full backing of Homeland Security, including the entire Militia Organization. General McGraw provided inspirational military leadership, while Chairman Alan of the Joint Chiefs of Staff brought the full force of the US military behind the triad.
Director Harold proved more adroit at the political and domestic maneuvering, although General McGraw caught the public’s eye as the hero of the hour. The interim triumvirate governed as the President recuperated. Harold led the country through this time with one phrase: “We will have our revenge.”
Americans—particularly those on the home front—burned with fierce resolve and determination, longing to strike back at China. Not since WWII against Japan had such animosity so fully exhibited itself in a social and cultural sense.
The conditions of the Summer Offensives
The nuclear strike with its immense casualties had a debilitating effect on the morale and fighting stamina of each side. SAF troops could garrison quiet areas, but proved unequal to any form of heavy combat, often fleeing or surrendering as the first artillery barrages fell. Non-Chinese PAA units would fight to defend their sectors, but they could no longer be relied on to advance against the enemy. Elite Chinese units could still attack with vigor, although their commanders noticed what they termed quick fatigue syndrome. It meant that any Chinese offensive would have to be of short duration.
American forces became notably more cautious. The most grueling battles were fought with Militia penal battalions, where the savagery of the MPs became infamous. Instead of dashing armor exploits, Army tankers tiptoed into enemy rear areas. The phenomenon accelerated the American trend toward extreme artillery dependency. US industry finally gave the Army mountains of munitions, and the commanders expended them at a prodigious rate.
The shaken formations on each side found bold or even aggressive endeavors beyond their capacities. It turned the summer battles into shoving matches, where weight of shells and political maneuvering often gave greater gains than any hard fighting.
From An Idiots Guide to the Sino-America War, by Robert E. Wagner:
After a six-week refit, America finally won the jackpot from Colonel Valdez of the Mexico Free Army. His soldiers had fought courageously throughout the war, and his freedom fighters had played havoc with the Chinese and their puppets in Mexico.
In June of 2041, Colonel Valdez secretly entered southern California. He met with the Mexican Army generals garrisoning SoCal for the Pan-Asian Alliance. They represented three hundred thousand Mexican Army soldiers. Valdez’s impassioned speech combined with American guarantees and cash bribes won over the generals, who claimed to burn with hatred against the barbaric Chinese nukers.