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The Scorched Europe Policy
 

By the time the French government, on New Years Day, announced its reaction to the recent events in Britain, France was in chaos. It seemed that the entire French population had taken to the streets in one huge protest against the British. Nonetheless the French government had to discuss things, not only amongst themselves, but they had to contact various European governments in order to develop a united European reaction as well. This was necessary because France would have to call upon the resources of the European Defence Organisation (EDO).

The EDO, over the last few years, had been stretched to the limit. However, this had not been for military action. Rather it had been for humanitarian efforts. Considering the chaos caused by the sudden influx of Russian refugees, the EDO had been busy looking after those sorry souls in every way possible. This humanitarian mission, thanks to events in Britain, though, was about to be forgotten.

France, with the blessing of its partners in Europe, announced that Britain was to undergo a sea & air blockade until the country’s leaders came to their senses. Furthermore, Britain was ordered to release all French citizens under arrest. But the number one demand was that Britain had to hand over all those troops involved with the Channel Tunnel killings for trail in the European Court. Although France was prepared to negotiate on the demands, Europe was clearly angry over recent events & was prepared to force the issue if necessary.

The British response was, unfortunately, predictable. The British government rejected all the demands of the French & furthermore warned that any blockade would equate to a war like situation. It was tough talk coming out of Westminster & the Prime Minister made it clear that the Royal Navy & Royal Air Force would fight their way through any blockade if that was required. There seemed little room for diplomacy on this issue.

Drache immediately backed up the fighting words of the British Prime Minister by announcing that the United States & the CN would support any action undertaken by Britain. Furthermore, Drache announced at the same time that the United States Navy would also participate in breaking the European blockade should that be required. To prove that Drache meant business, he immediately ordered the Atlantic Ocean & Mediterranean Fleets to full alert. The Royal Navy & Royal Air Force followed not long afterwards.

If this show of force by the CN was meant to scare the Europeans, they were mistaken. In response to the actions of the Americans & British, the EDO navy & air force began the blockade. On the seas, little took place as it would take some time before naval assets could get into position, but in the air it was a different matter. To begin with, European airspace was closed to everything coming in or out of Britain. For their part the British did not push the issue, but the few European counties in the CN, like Poland & Portugal, were quick to protest the blockade. They, however, were ignored by the others. Flights across the Atlantic Ocean, though, were harder to stop.

Nonetheless, long range French & German fighters began patrolling the airways off the coast of Ireland. For its part Ireland declared neutrality over the crisis, but still demanded everyone keep out of its airspace. This was usually observed, but when violation of Irish airspace did take place there was nothing which Ireland could do anyway. Having said that, the Europeans did observed Irish demands, whilst the Royal Air Force were pragmatic on the subject. Yet, few cared about Irish sovereignty whilst EDO jets began intercepting passenger & cargo airliners leaving Britain. As a gesture of good will, however, incoming jets were permitted entry as it was more or less impossible for a 747 to turn around off the coast of Ireland & head all the way back to North America.

Inevitably, though, several airliners refused to be bullied by the EDO fighter patrols & ran the blockade. Such scenarios had been feared by the EDO planners. The policy thus implemented was, when an aircraft refused to turn back, a shot across the front of the aircraft took place. Hence for most pilots, after such a warning, turned around. A few, however, continued only to be "bumped" by the EDO fighter. These pilots, nonetheless, got the message & turned back like the others. The EDO, though, only had control of the skies for one day. After it had become obvious that the Europeans actually meant to enforce the blockade, the Royal Air Force went into action.

The second day of the blockade would, thus, witness the beginning of combat. EDO fighters, as they did on the previous day, took up their patrol stations off the coast of Ireland. As they did, they were met by several RAF Typhoon & Eurofighter interceptors. As a result, the EDO aircraft were outnumbered by two to one. The RAF were out to make a statement. Pilots then began to announce warnings to their opposite number, which were naturally rebutted. Frantic radio conversations then commenced between squadron commanders & their respective ground controllers. In the chaos in the air, though, pilots were far too busy to listen to orders coming from afar. No one really knows who fired first, but the first casualty was a RAF Typhoon. Soon fighters from both sides, whether they be French Mirages, German Eurofighters or British Typhoons & Eurofighters, were in pitched battles. War had begun.

The next day, whilst the air war continued, combat began on the seas. Even though the EDO had not gotten any of their ships into position yet, new orders came through to forget about the blockade & attack the Royal Navy before American help could arrive. Dealing with the Royal Navy would not be all that difficult, but the American navy was another matter altogether. The EDO planners were well aware of the powerful American fleets & had no idea how to deal with them. The American naval chiefs, however, were not all that keen to get involved in this European conflict. As a result, regardless of what Drache ordered, the Mediterranean Fleet remained off the Israeli coast for the duration of the European war. Only the Atlantic Fleet sailed to support the British. It, however, would arrive too late.

But this business with the air & sea surface war was to be trivial compared to what came next. As part of their war plans, the Royal Navy were not going to joke around. Although they knew that the EDO surface fleet was rather formidable, especially with the two French carriers, it was the four French SLBM armed nuclear submarines which truly concerned the Admiralty. As the French had handed over control of these boats to the EDO a few years back, now that war was well & truly on, these nuclear armed boats were, needless to say, on full alert. Thus the Admiralty’s orders went out to its fleet of hunter/killer attack submarines - sink the French SLBM boats.

On the other side of the equation, the French/EDO navy was totally professional. They were also well motivated considering the reasons why the war started. As a result, not only were all four SLBM boats at sea, they were also on full alert. Furthermore, they were also on full nuclear alert as the EDO navy was even more fearful of a possible nuclear strike than the British were of a French one. In a similar fashion, then, not only were the French SLBMs on nuclear alert, but the EDO had ordered its hunter/killer attack submarines to track down & sink the British SLBM submarines.

The Royal Navy SLBM submarines, however, enjoyed one major thing which their French counterparts did not: namely the American built Trident II missile. This permitted the Royal Navy to station their boats in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, if need be, & still target & hit a far off city like Moscow. Thus targeting Paris was well within the range of the British SLBM fleet. The French, on the other hand, deployed an indigenous missile system with a much smaller range. Thus the French could not venture too far from European waters. And this meant that the Royal Navy could find the French boats much faster than the French could find theirs.

It was in this situation, hence,  that HMS Trafalgar came upon the French SLBM boat L’Inflexible whilst lurking off the coast of Brest. The captain of the Trafalgar knew his orders well, but was reluctant all the same to carry them out. After a council of war among the senior officers, though, the Trafalgar got ready to attack. At the optimum moment, then, the Royal Navy submarine fired two Spearfish torpedoes at the French SLBM boat. The only problemwith the Spearfish torpedo, though,  is that it is noisy & is easily detectable once fired. As a result of this, the L’Inflexible heard the torpedoes coming, even though she did not detect who fired them. Nonetheless, it did not matter. The L’Inflexible had her orders too, one of which was if she was at full nuclear alert & came under attack, she was to launch her full load of 16 missiles immediately. This was achieved just before the two Spearfish torpedoes hit sinking her in the process.

The horror had begun & the captain of the Trafalgar immediately radioed his naval controller to report the situation. Alas, even before the British Prime Minister could do much about it, the French warheads had almost reached their targets throughout Britain as it took a mere six minutes for them to complete their journey. All the Prime Minister could do was order a nuclear counter-strike against military targets in Europe. Added to this list was Paris & Berlin. Yet, by the time the Prime Minister had completed the necessary procedures to give the order, he had little time left to live. By the time the Royal Navy’s four missile submarines received their orders, London & several other British cities, had been destroyed in nuclear flames.

Now, however, it was the European’s turn to suffer nuclear death. Although the Royal Navy’s SLBM boats only had 64 missiles between them, there were 196 warheads all told thanks to the MIRV delivery system. In other words, much of Western Europe was about to suffer destruction far greater than World War II. Yet, it would not end here for the British missiles, which had to travel further, giving the EDO more time to react. As a result, thanks to a French spy satellite, which was watching the Atlantic Ocean at the time, the launches of the British SLBMs were clearly spotted & the European leaders were alerted accordingly. Thus, long before the first European target was destroyed, the three remaining French SLBM boats had also launched their missiles at Britain. Added to these were the 18 missiles stationed in silos within France itself, each armed with a 2.5 megatonne thermonuclear warhead. At around the same time, then, hundreds of nuclear detonations took place across Britain & Europe. And with that the Second World Nuclear War had finished with no victors.

Although the nuclear exchange between Britain & Europe was not on the scale of that of the First World Nuclear War, it was nonetheless just as horrifying. Furthermore, it came as a complete surprise to the civilian populations as no warning was issued. What was even worse was the high density of the land mass involved. Instead of the vast regions of Russia or America, the nuclear explosions were restricted to Britain, France & Germany, although Brussels was also destroyed as a one off target as it was the headquarters for the EDO.

All the same, the civilian populations of all three countries were basically halved in a handful of minutes. Close to 35 million humans were killed as a result of the nuclear explosions. Added to that, a further 5 million in each country would further die as a result of contamination. The nuclear fallout would drift across the rest of Europe, but those European countries effected by the fallout had good civil defence programs & thus casualties were low. Again another major factor were the post-nuclear rescue teams. These went immediately into action & borders soon meant nothing as Italian, Swedish, Finish, Spanish, Greeks, Danes, Dutch, Poles & Norwegians soon arrived to help the survivors. Nevertheless, the human race had just endured another great tragedy & holocaust. Alas, such mindless events would not end just yet.
 

One More Time For The Stupid
 

At the same time as Europe was blowing itself apart, another conflict was taking place on the other side of the planet. The struggle in Korea, which at first had been basically ignored by Drache, now got his attention. This was partly due to the fact that the UN, & more importantly Japan, refused to get involved & help out the South Koreans & Americans battling the North. But the thing that really made him get involved was the European blockade of Britain. Although Drache suspected that the UN was plotting against him in Korea, the blockade of Britain convinced him that the UN was hatching a world wide conspiracy against him.

As a result of this, Drache gave his full support to Britain by sending the Atlantic Fleet to help the British break the blockade. As we have seen above, it arrived far too late to do that. Instead, like several surviving European countries, it provided post-nuclear assistance & humanitarian aid to the British survivors. Back to Korea now, & the fighting along the border was as intense as when the war began late last year. Yet, even with a million men to throw at the South, North Korea had almost gotten no where. Its furthest advance was a mere 20 kilometres. The CN forces had defended against the invader brilliantly, although it too had suffered high casualties, like the North, as a result of the battles.

As one would expect at a moment like this, Drache demanded that the Northern forces cease-fire & withdraw back across the border. Naturally, the North ignored Drache’s demands & commenced a new round of offensives. Although these new attacks were extremely intensive, even more so than the first days of the war, which seemed impossible, the Northern armies were still restricted in their advance. Up until now, though, the Second Korean War had been fought using conventional weapons. But, in an act of desperation, the North Koreans decided to go nuclear in an attempt to smash a hole through the CN defences. Knowing full well that it would gain the full attention of the world, the North Koreans wrongly believed that the United States had used up all, or most, of its nuclear arsenal. It was a colossal mistake.

Since the First World Nuclear War, the United States took out of storage its last remaining 200 ICBMs, all Minuteman IIIs, & had recommission them. Drache wanted to recommission more, but the Russian nuclear attack had destroyed hundreds of missiles in storage, not to mention the actual silos themselves, thus limiting the number of ICBMs which the Americans could redeploy. Nonetheless, the military chiefs had advised correctly that 200 missiles were more than enough for defending the United States. Now that Russia had gone, only China remained with some 80 ICBMs of its own. And as the American Anti-ICBM Weapons Systems had demonstrated, it could well handle 80 incoming warheads. All of these arrangements were, however, thanks to the current global situation, handled with the utmost secrecy. Not even America’s close ally, the British, were aware of  American’s nuclear rearmament. And if Britain did not know, you can be rest assured North Korea did not either.

Thus it was, in total ignorance, on the same day when Europe blew itself to pieces, that North Korea exploded a small nuclear devise over the CN lines along the east coast. Interestingly they chose the east coast rather than the west due to the close proximity of Seoul. Apparently Seoul was considered an extremely important asset & it was not to be destroyed or damaged by a nuclear devise. Having said that, shelling the South Korean capital with artillery was another matter altogether & already some 7 000 rounds had hit military targets in & around the city so far in the war.

The CN forces long the eastern coast of the Peninsular were thus hit hard by the nuclear attack. The North achieved the breakthrough which it had been looking for & quickly sent three divisions through the gap in the CN lines. Events in Europe, though, soon overshadowed the Korean War & Drache was thus focused elsewhere. It was left to the Chinese, hence, to take a stance, one which would have dire consequences.

The Chinese, although reluctant to cross the border into North Korea, nevertheless demanded from all parties that no more nuclear weapons were to be used on the Peninsular. This demand was issued to both the embattled CN forces as well as the North Koreans. The North agreed immediately to this, for obvious reasons, but as the CN leadership were concentrating on Europe, no acknowledgment came from them. By the time Drache refocussed on the Korean Peninsular, events had already overtaken China’s warnings.

The military situation for South Korea now looked grim. With the Northern forces streaming though the gap in their lines, there appeared little could be done to stop them. The only tactic available was extreme, to say the least, & one which the Chinese had demanded not to be used - a nuclear weapon. Furthermore, the South Koreans were not at all keen on the idea of having another nuclear weapon dropped on their soil. Furthermore, the drastic American plan called for four tactical nuclear weapons. This even more so upset the Southern government, but after it was explained to Drache it was either that or have 80 000 Americans become captives to North Korea, he decided that it had to be done as there was no other alternative.

Two hours later,  four American F-15E fighter-bombers dropped their payloads, consisting of four tactical nuclear bombs, on the east coast North Korean army. Instantly it ceased to exist. Immediately afterwards, Drache announced that if North Korea did not surrender unconditionally, nuclear weapons would rain down on the North until nothing existed. China’s dire warning was thoroughly ignored.

Needless to say, China was far from happy over the situation. With its first warning having been ignored by the Americans, & totally unaware of America’s ICBM rearmament program, China reissued its warning & added that whoever used another nuclear weapon on the Peninsular would themselves come under a nuclear attack by China. It goes without saying that Drache replied that America was still strong & could, as it had with Russia, also destroy China. These harsh words were far too much for the Chinese government upon which they cut all ties with the Americans. Furthermore, they then showed that they meant business by going on full alert. It seemed that the tragic events of the past, whether it be in Europe or Russia, had all been forgotten in an instant.

In the middle of the nuclear showdown between China & America, the North Koreans refused to surrender. Although the loss of their east coast army had been a major blow, the CN forces in the South were in no condition to counter-attack. Instead they did what they could in order to hold back the Northern forces. This, however, would soon be almost impossible as the North brought up reserves to continue their offensive along the eastern coast. Believing that the Americans would not dare undertake another nuclear attack, due to the position China had taken, the North thought that they were not far from victory. They were wrong. Within a few minutes of the reserve army crossing the 48th parallel, the Americans exploded another nuclear weapon above them, thus destroying most of this Northern force like the first.

The Chinese, though, were not bluffing & Drache did not think they were either. At the same time that the North Korean Reserve army was destroyed,  the American ICBM force went on full alert just in case the Chinese did anything. 30 minutes later, after the Chinese were able to confirm that the Americans had indeed exploded another nuclear weapon in Korea, the Chinese fired all 80 of their ICBMs at the United States. But instead of targeting military assets, the Chinese simply targeted the largest remaining cities including Washington. American surveillance satellites were quick to see the Chinese missile launch & soon Drache was informed of the news. Unlike with his decision to attack Russia, Drache had no regrets about his decision to reply to the Chinese attack. All 200 Minuteman III ICBMs were soon on their way to China.

Instead of the Americans being surprised by the Chinese, it was the reverse. Not one Chinese warhead got through the Anti-ICBM barrier which the Americans enjoyed. All 80 Chinese missiles were destroyed before they could reach their targets. The Chinese , however, were far from lucky. Most of the American warheads found their targets. Although the physical destruction caused was not as great as that which befell Russia, well over 80 million Chinese died on this day called The Third World Nuclear War. Alas the after effects would mirror that of the Russian experience, even though the Chinese had developed a much better post-nuclear war program. Nonetheless, 35 million more people would die as contamination, radiation sickness, starvation, illnesses & the elements all took their toll on the survivors. Needless to say, the North Koreans surrendered the next day.
 

The Genesis Of A World War
 

"We’ve descended into Hell" observed the UN General-Secretary to the Security Council, or what was left of it, which was now in daily emergency session. No one in Geneva, or anywhere else for that matter, understood what was happening to the world around them. All of a sudden, after years of peace, everyone had gone mad. Nuclear weapons were flying about & being let off like fireworks on New Years Eve. Deaths were being counted in the millions in a manner as casual as counting money at a bank. Humanity, it was feared, would not survive for much longer. Furthermore, no one knew what would happen to the planet’s environment &, in all honesty, few really wanted to know.

Discussion on the latest round of nuclear warfare, however, got some of the diplomats at the UN trying to figure out whether there were any more nuclear weapons actually left. Although India & Pakistan grudgingly admitted that they were holding onto about 100 each, it appeared that no one else had many left. Certainly Russia had none, China may have a few free fall nuclear bombs left, but Britain & France had nothing more. Only the United States may have had some free fall nuclear bombs still , but, after doing their calculations, it was realised that, unless America began manufacturing more from scratch, it had used up all of its remaining ICBMs in its latest attack. Finally, Israel was forced, when it had joined the CN, to destroy all of its nuclear weapons. As far as anyone knew, this was done years ago. For the first time in years, it actually looked like a ray of hope had finally appeared.

Nonetheless, discussion soon went back to the business of war. It appeared to be never ending & always appeared to involve Drache somehow. Furthermore, the concerns of the past, in which it was feared that Drache was picking off the remaining UN powers one by one, appeared as valid as ever. What remained of the UN seemed a weak & dying animal - one not far from death. Meanwhile, although battered & bruised, the CN seemed ready to go in for the kill. And as America had only just demonstrated with China, it showed no reluctance in doing just that.

The outcome of these discussions would, however, see major reforms akin to what was discussed the year before. Now convinced that the CN was only about world domination, the UN finally agreed to form a centralised military organisation among its member countries. This would replace, until now, the almost pointless ad-hoc arrangements of the previous year. Yet this was, for the moment, still a token gesture. The CN had a powerful military organisation backed up by the strength of America. The UN had nothing in comparison, even though, technically speaking, both Russia & China were still represented at the UN.

When the surviving military leaders, however, of China & Russia heard of the military reforms at the UN, they immediately placed their forces at the disposal of the UN. Although the Chinese army would be able to do little, as it was extremely busy cleaning up the mess of nuclear destruction, the Chinese Navy, on the other hand, had little to do. Soon it was joining up with the Japanese Fleet learning, along with the Japanese, how to fight together. Along with several frigates & destroyers, the Chinese also brought along an old Russian aircraft carrier somewhat similar (although larger) to the Japanese ones. The major difference being that it flew Mig-29 fighter-bombers instead of the newer F-35s. Australia would also add its fleet of small carriers & four Kidd class destroyers to this UN Pacific Fleet. Thus, out of seemingly no where, the UN had a formidable fleet to challenge the CN in the Pacific region.

As important as this combined UN Pacific Fleet was, although not realised at the time, the addition of the Russian "Lost" Army to the UN was extremely important. Having been forgotten by just about everybody, except for maybe the Iranians, the 500 000 Russian troops had finally left Iran & settled in Georgia. Classified as refugees by the Georgian government, they nonetheless kept their jobs as Russian soldiers. As they had been originally employed by the Georgian government, the "Lost" Army continued to patrol the border with Iran to ensure that the Iranians did try any revenge attacks. In doing so, the Russians had retained their military prowess & kept their equipment fully operational. It was an unusual circumstance, but then again these were unusual times.
 

Rebellion
 

Although numerous things may have suggested otherwise, attitudes in Israel had not settled down since the American crackdown on the religious extremists of that country. Even though the government was not willing to challenge American authority at the time, dissatisfaction within Israel continued to grow. This dissatisfaction, especially after the recent nuclear wars, grew to open hostility by the time Israel’s national elections were due. Few were surprised by the results.

Even though the Israeli Labour Party at first wholeheartedly supported the "Holy Treaty", like most other Israelis, they too had turned against it. Hence, now campaigning against it at the election, no one in Israel was surprised when Labour won the election with a majority of seats. For the first time in years, thus, an Israeli government was not made up of a coalition of small parties. Not that it would matter in this instance anyway, as most members of this new parliament, regardless of party, supported the new government on this issue. Once the new government was sworn into office, it made the announcement that Israel would be withdrawing from the "Holy Treaty" & the CN. It then made it clear that it would join the UN. Having said that, it also reassured its neighbours that it meant no aggression towards them. Fundamentally, however, it wanted the American forces out of Israel.

Not surprisingly, Drache refused to accept these demands from Israel. Nonetheless, he was prepared to negotiate a better deal for Israel to ensure they retained their sovereignty. He even acknowledged that circumstances in the past had infringed upon Israel’s independence in an unjust way & made new assurances that such infringements would never be repeated. This was a very different Drache than in the recent past. He put it down to the wars & the millions of deaths that had taken place. Drache argued that war & death had never been his intention anywhere above all in Israel. Furthermore, Drache pointed out that Israel had been spared from the recent horrors unlike the United States.

Underlying Drache’s position, though, was the fact that Israel was the all important cornerstone to the CN. It always had been so as far as Drache was concerned. Without Israel, Drache was convinced that the CN would fall apart. Just as importantly, that would mean that the Middle East would fall back into anarchy & war. America’s control of the oil economy, & hence the world’s economy, would thus be lost. More to the point, America would quickly become isolated in a world which had very much turned against it. Given the strategic world position then, if Israel left the CN, there would be no future for President Drache.

Because of the diplomatic approach of Drache, however, the Israeli’s were prepared to negotiate. If they could get all the changes which they wanted without leaving the CN, then Israel would accept this. They were even willing to allow the Americans to stay, provided they kept only to the border patrols. The sticking point, however, came over Jerusalem. Although Israel gave guarantees that it would remain an open "Holy City", Jerusalem would once more become Israeli territory. Drache refused, citing the fact that it was now the capital of the CN & that it must be neutral ground owned by no single nation. And it was over such an issue which ensured there would be a breakdown in the talks.

In the middle of the negotiations, though, MOSSAD had been given a free hand by the Israeli government. Ordered to discover everything about Drache’s motives, it did not take long before MOSSAD gained an incredible piece of luck.  Although Drache’s office’s in Jerusalem were supposed to be thoroughly secure from surveillance,  MOSSAD nonetheless were able to hack into the computer in the President’s office & use the computer’s microphone to hear the conversations in the room. It was clear that Drache was far from happy about the situation. After another frustrating meeting with the Israeli diplomats, Drache ordered that the American forces in Israel, namely the 4th Armoured & 55th Mechanised Divisions, be placed on stand-by. It appeared for all intents & purposes that Drache was ready to take over Israel for himself.

The Israeli government was outraged at the double dealing by Drache. Although they kept  the information supplied by MOSSAD a complete secret, they nonetheless alerted their own defence forces for possible combat. This was to be done as quietly as possible, but such an alert could not go unnoticed. By the time the talks had broken down in Jerusalem, most of the Israeli Defence Force were ready for a war. It was just that no one had told them who they were at war with. Needless to say, local media speculation did not help either, nor did the obvious extra activity taking place at the American bases.

Of cause nothing had really happened yet. That was once again about to change. A week after Drache had walked out of the talks with the Israeli’s, Israel’s parliament passed the necessary legislation implementing the government’s original policy on leaving the CN; having US forces leave Israel; & reclaiming Jerusalem as part of Israel. At the same time the government made an application to the UN to rejoin the old international body. This was immediately accepted, although Israel was instructed that there were new rules to abide by. But before the new "rule book" even arrived at the Israeli Embassy in Geneva, though, fighting soon broke out in Jerusalem. It seemed that before another year had even begun, the chance of peace had already been lost.

On to the Final Year

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