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Hell on Earth
 

In a way nothing short of the miraculous, the after effects of The First World Nuclear War appeared to be not as disastrous as first thought. Although the radioactive fallout had caused millions of deaths, the dreaded "nuclear winter" had not been as severe as first feared. Already, by the beginning of the new year, the clouds caused by the hundreds of nuclear explosions in Russia & the United States had already begun to disperse. Having said that, the nuclear mist remained in most parts of the northern hemisphere.

Still, the environmental damage done to the heartland of the United States, not to mention most of Russia, was horrendous. Even though the Americans had already begun a clean-up wherever possible, hundreds of square kilometres of land would remain unusable for generations to come. In a similar fashion, much of Russia would be uninhabitable for decades if not centuries. Some areas in Russia, however, were discovered by the UN rescue teams to be safe for human occupation. As a result, many of the survivors in refugee camps in Europe & Asia would be brought home as it were. Yet, of the original 200 million plus Russians alive prior to the war, only 40 million survived to be brought home. And not all of them were all that keen to be taken home after what they had recently endured.

Another option open to the survivors were the ex-Soviet republics which survived the nuclear holocaust. Not all, however, had survived. Like that which aflicted Russia, Belorussia, Ukraine & a few others, were also destroyed.  But others such as Georgia & Turkmen survived. These two countries, as well as the three Baltic Republics, were asked to accept whatever number of Russian refugees they could. Each country did what they could, yet they too had their own problems thanks to the war. Like China & Europe, they too had contamination hassles for their own respective populations & had little left to help unwanted refugees. Having said that, Georgia accepted 100 000 refugees over the year as did each of the Baltic Republics.

As the rescue teams  began to venture into the "hot zones", as the nuclear detonation sites were called, inevitably news crews journeyed with them to report the scenes. Naturally these reports were televised across the globe as the human race watched on in morbid fascination. It actually took some months, since the war, before such scenes could be seen, as there was far too much radiation around for the rescue teams, let alone the news crews, to get anywhere near ground zero. Even then, ground zero was far from assessable & months, if not years, would have to go by before such a journey would be possible. Nonetheless, that which the news crews could photograph was horrible enough indeed.

The most fascinating site,  if one could call it that all things considered, was such a news report from New York City. Having had one 2 megaton thermonuclear warhead destroy the city, unlike many other locations, it had become rather safe to enter, albeit with radioactive protection suits & the like. Needless to say the general public was forbidden to enter so the news report was highly anticipated. As the report was televised, pictures of various buildings, which had been ripped apart, filled the television screen. The most grotesque image, however, was that of the Statue of Liberty. Clearly having been damaged, parts of the famous Statue were missing, whilst other parts had melted. Furthermore, the arm holding the great torch had actually been buckled over at a sharp angle by the force of the explosion. A panorama of the skyline made the television announcer observe "it looks like Hell has come to Earth". Few watching disagreed with him.

Reports from other cities destroyed in the war showed similar destruction. Moscow  could not even be ventured into due to the high levels of radiation all around the city. The best that the news people could do was getting satellite pictures. Although these pictures of Moscow where nothing like those of New York, they still told the same story. In fact there was no trace at all of the Kremlin. All that remained was a huge crater where the famous building once stood. It was further reported that the Russian Presidential Bunker, although several hundred metres below the surface, was obviously destroyed along with President Putin.

All these pictures of buildings, however, only underlined the human tragedy of it all. Even though Putin was dead & beyond the vengeance of the survivors, Drache was not. He was alive & well back in Washington. But, even though there was much criticism of his actions leading up to the nuclear war, most Americans still supported him, especially as he did everything in his powers whilst America recovered from her wounds. Thus at home, with continuous public support, he was greatly isolated from the complaints coming in from Asia & Europe over the war. In fact the ongoing criticism seemed to swell furthermore American public opinion about Drache & the fact that these countries were far from being friends of the United States. Soon, Drache would be empowered, by such support, in order to do anything in the interests of the American People.
 

Regrouping
 

American interests, however, had quickly become counter to the interests of many other countries. Regardless of the wounds suffered recently by America, not only was China & Europe highly critical of Drache, but Japan & Australia came out at the CN demanding that the United States back away from, not only the leadership of the CN, but any further military actions. This also included the current military situation in Iran which had stopped since the nuclear war. The Russian military in Iran, however, were far from grateful of having their country destroyed, but were in no position to do anything. Having withdrawn to the northern region of Iran, they had dug in with no idea what to do.

Having said that, the Russian generals in Iran did not sit ideally by waiting to surrender. They, like every soldier in the army, wanted nothing more but seek revenge for what America had done to their beloved country. Being well armed & provisioned prior to the nuclear exchange, they decided to wait it out. In a similar fashion, the Iranians left them alone for now. Although far from happy that the Russians still occupied the northern region along the border, they were satisfied for now that the war had stopped & that the Russians had withdrawn. Fundamentally the threat to Iran had passed. The CN forces in Iran, on the other hand, did not quite know what to do. Having seen the Russians quickly withdraw, combined with the global confusion caused by the nuclear war, the CN forces had no orders to pursue the invaders. By the time Drache had things under control back in the United States, the Iranians had already persuaded the local CN commanders not to chase after the Russians.

As far everyone was concerned, the Russian Army would be left to sit it out. The Iranians then hoped that, due to eventual starvation more so than any further combat, the Russians would either surrender or leave. Either solution would suit the Iranians at this point. The local CN commanders agreed. The Russians, however, had no intention of surrendering, but leaving was one option considered. Another was gaining supplies from somewhere, but needless to say, none would be coming from Russia. Secret negotiations thus commenced between the Russian generals & the leadership of both Turkmen & Georgia. The President of Turkmen quickly said no to any plans with the exiled Russian army, but Georgia was keen on the idea. Although Georgia could only offer essential foodstuffs & little else, it would inherit an army of 500 000 troops fully armed & equipped. Furthermore, it meant that its border with Iran was secured. Thus any aftermath action by Iran seeking revenge on Georgia, for letting the Russians move through their territory to get to Iran, could now be avoided.

Such arrangements, though, were far from the mind of Drache. What with the current crisis at hand back home, Drache had quickly lost all interest in events in Iran. Furthermore, there were other global events taking place which needed his attention. The most serious at this point was the challenge being dished up to him in the CN by Japan & Australia. Since the nuclear war, Australia had had a change in government. The Labor Party had won office in a overwhelming victory based upon the foreign policy of breaking ranks with America & voicing an independent line in the CN. Now Australia joined in with Japan in criticising America’s resent activities. Heated debates soon began in the CN general assembly, where it became evident that several other countries shared similar opinions to Australia & Japan. Drache was soon calling these countries traitors, which only made relations worse between the parties involved.

Matters then got worse when the Japanese Prime Minister hinted at America’s resent nuclear experience as being akin to the Japanese one. Drache replied that if he "… had been President of American in 1945, several more atomic bombs would had been dropped on Japan". The Japanese were outraged at the slur intended by Drache & immediately resigned from the CN. In an act of support, Australia followed suit as did three South American & three African countries. All Drache could say in response to the protest by these countries was "See the traitors run!"

What was the CN’s loss, however, was the UN’s gain as all these defectors once more signed up to the UN. Needless to say, the UN was delighted to have these countries back. It now appeared that the CN may finally be falling apart. But that was not to be. Even though these were the first defections, France & Germany was hoping that Britain would follow suit & likewise defect. It was not to be. Although Britain had been involved with the diplomacy along side the rest of Europe prior to the First World Nuclear War, afterwards, Britain once again broke ranks with Europe. Instead of doing whatever it could to help the Russian refugees, Britain sent all the aid it could to the United States. This aid, although not necessarily needed, was nonetheless gratefully received by the Americans & none other so than Drache himself. Britain was making it clear who’s  side she was on.
 

New Thinking
 

Even though Britain had rejected once again the UN, not to mention Europe, that had not stopped various UN member countries from seriously discussing major reforms to the old organisation. Clearly the past had repeated itself, as in the Russian-Iran War, but the real push came from the recent nuclear holocaust. Although the humanitarian side of the UN had done wonders as usual, it was without doubt that the UN had nonetheless failed. All the same, many reflected on the point that, considering one of the sides was not even a member of the UN, the international organisation was powerless to stop the war. Clearly, it was time for a change as the American President seemed now more than ever to have his way. It would only be a matter of time before Europe or China was his next target.

Debates, as always in the UN, dragged on & on. Even though Europe was rather united on many things, the rest of the world disagreed. China was, in particular, sceptical of several of the reforms & furthermore did not trust the Europeans on military matters. India was in a similar mind-set to China, & the idea of a combined military under UN orders, scared off several other Asian countries as well. Only Australia & Japan initially accepted Europe’s ideas, but then even they began having second thoughts. This was furthermore reinforced when the United States issued several warnings in their direction about such military cooperation in the UN. Even more so, the Americans were quick to point out that much of Australia’s & Japan’s new military hardware was a "gift" from the United States. Any use of this hardware against "… friends & interests of the United States would mean intervention" or so warned the American Defence Department.

Still the Europeans continued to try to get reforms through the UN. Near the end of the year, a compromise was reached, & although far from satisfactory, it was nevertheless an major advance for the UN. Instead of peace keepers, the UN would gain a military which, although continued to be supplied & controlled by the member countries, command would be somewhat integrated in adhoc arrangements between the participating nations. In fact this was little different from what happened in the past, except one important distinction - no peace keeping. Instead they would become peace enforcers with a shoot first policy. In this respect the UN forces now became somewhat similar to their CN counterparts, except for the absence of one nation basically controlling the military of the others.

As a result of this UN reform, various nations quickly signed up under the UN banner to combine their military strengths. Europe had basically already done this a few years earlier, but several other regions had not. The most important new association, leaving others aside for the moment, was the Asia-Pacific one. Now with Australia & Japan UN members, they immediately approached other UN nations in the region in order to build up their military strengths. The result was, though, somewhat disappointing as most countries declined involvement, but New Zealand &, far more importantly, China agreed to the UN regional force. China’s involvement, however, was to be limited to its navy as it demanded that its land forces would remain within its territory at all times. Still, it was nonetheless a significant impact upon the region & one which the United States did not like.

The immediate result was, for the first time, concern on behalf of Drache. All of a sudden the politics of the Asia-Pacific region had swung significantly against him. The world balance had changed as a result. What with Japan & Australia gone, all that was left in the region were the Philippines & South Korea. But now that Japan had left the CN & was a potential enemy, the American forces in South Korea were virtually surrounded. This was far from a perfect position to be in & you did not need to be a military expert to realise this fact. What was worse, the North Koreans were quick to realised this fact too.
 

New fighting
 

It is said that peace is a marvellous thing. Or it was. For the next few years, peace would be seldom known to the people of the Earth. Already, a war had been fought in Iran, which officially was still not over. Again a far more devastating war had been fought which had killed close to 200 million people. Now another war would erupt which would again bring hardship & pain to humanity. This time, like the last, it would begin in one country then infect several others before peace would return to the planet.

The North Koreans, until now, had constantly gone on about threats of war for numerous decades. It had become so common that the rest of the world ignored them. But after The First World Nuclear War, the North Koreans had gone quiet just in case the Americans decided to target them just for the hell of it in response to the Russian attack. Thankfully, for the North Koreans at least, this attack never came. Nonetheless they remained quiet. Ironically it was this quiet which caught the attention of the South Koreans. As a result, they notified the Americans about their concerns, but Drache was far too involved in other matters to worry about the Korean Peninsular. This, the North Koreans noticed, but what tipped the scales into war was the Japanese split with the CN & its obvious opposition to Drache. Seeing their chance at unification by the gun, North Korea decided to invade the South as it had in 1950.

Things, however, did not go overly well for the North this time. Not only did the American force in the South respond quickly, but the fighting qualities of the Southern forces were more than a match for the North Koreans. Soon the war bogged down as it had back in the 1950s. By the time the world began to respond, the North had "unified" a mere 20 kilometres of South Korean soil.

The international response, though, was confusing & somewhat hypocritical. The CN, especially the Americans, naturally demanded that the North Koreans withdraw, which they refused. The UN, however, sent mixed signals. Even though they objected to the invasion of South Korea, they also announced that they would do nothing in the matter unless Japanese or Chinese territory was touched. The signal, which the North Koreans correctly interpreted, was they could do whatever they wished to the South. Drache, however, did & said otherwise. Unfortunately, due to Korea’s isolated location, now that Japan was no longer part of the CN, it would take some time before American help would come. The danger was, North Korea may be victorious before America could do anything practical.

Drache, though, was not overly concerned about South Korea. In fact he was more concerned by the politics employed, not only by the UN, but also by the Japanese & the Europeans. Clearly they were keeping out of it in the same manner in which the CN originally kept out of Iran. His observation was somewhat correct, although the UN more or less stumbled into this policy rather than having deliberately organised a conspiracy against Drache. In this respects, the UN was vastly different in its actions in respect to Drache’s actions with Iran.

Nonetheless, due to the non response of Europe & Japan, Drache decided to react against them even more so than against North Korea. Along with Britain, the United States banned all trade & communications with three specific countries, these being France, Germany & Japan. Calling them the "new axis of Nazi’s", which was far from the truth, Britain was the first to comply by closing the Channel Tunnel & all of its seaports. Furthermore, all flights to & from Europe & Japan were cancelled. America quickly followed suit. The UN, let alone the three countries targeted by America, could not believe this drastic action. Nor could many within Britain & America. Complaints soon flooded into the White House from everywhere, but Drache ignored them all.

Events, however, did not stop here. All this blockade really achieved was to anger the populations involved, especially the French. Regardless of who they were & their connection to Britain &/or America, the French population demanded action by their government short of war. Some even advocated that. The French government soon found itself in peril. Yes, they were as outraged as their citizens, but could do little except to denounce time & again the blockade. Matters, however, only got worse as French citizens soon grew tired of words & demanded action. After two weeks, their patience ran out. Other than several riots in the streets of Paris, numerous characters began to "hijack" ferries, & the like, & began crossing the English Channel themselves in order to take their protests to the British.

The great bulk of the British population shared similar feelings with the French & several protest marches in London soon turned into battles with police. After a few dreadful such street battles, the army was called out in an unprecedented move by the British government. This only ensured that matters got worse on both sides of the Channel, especially after the British army started shooting British civilians. But then, on Christmas Day, the inevitable took place in London. During one such street riot, several French citizens, who had managed to smuggle their way into Britain, were killed when the troops opened fire.

It was far too much for the French back home. The next day thousands of French protesters turned up at the French end of the Channel Tunnel & overpowered the guards. Then they started to march through the tunnel towards England. The British Army, well aware of the situation thanks to television news reports on the "English Invasion", as the BBC reported it as, rushed to defend the British end of the tunnel. After a few hours, the French protesters arrived to battle it out with the British troops. In the melee which followed, 82 French citizens were killed & hundreds more were wounded. The rest were arrested for various crimes. The French government met in emergency session the next day. It would announce its reaction to these alarming events in the new year.
 

On to Year Six

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