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  “Prime Minister Khatri,” Landover said cheerfully, extending his hand, “I’m Secretary of State Landover, and this is Supreme Allied Commander General Bennet. It’s good to meet with you. If you would please come with us, we have a room set up nearby for us to talk.”

  Khatri followed his hosts to the small room that had been set up. Some stewards offered everyone cold water and other assorted drinks. After some obligatory small talk, everyone began to take their seats. The mood was somewhat somber. Khatri realized that the decisions reached in this meeting would determine whether calmer heads would prevail or whether thousands more men and women would die in a futile attempt to resist the Allies.

  Opening the discussion, Secretary Landover said, “Mr. Prime Minister, it’s sad that world events have led us to this meeting today. I truly hope that today, you and I can put this matter behind us and allow our nations to move forward together in peace.”

  Khatri was a bit taken aback by the statement but quickly recovered his composure. He wondered what sort of terms he was going to have to accept to bring about the peace his nation demanded he achieve.

  “I agree, Mr. Secretary,” Khatri offered. “It was unfortunate that our two nations, once strong trading partners and friends, found ourselves on the opposite sides of this terrible war. Now it’s time for us to set aside our differences and work toward peace.”

  Landover nodded. General Bennet, who appeared unmoved by the Prime Minister’s statement, continued to stay silent. Secretary Landover shuffled a few pieces of paper in front of him. “I agree, Mr. Prime Minister. Let us begin then,” he said. Landover seemed to find what he was looking for and composed himself. “Many months ago, President Foss offered your country the opportunity to end the war and leave the Eastern Alliance. The terms of surrender were generous. The terms I am authorized to present to you now are much less generous, since your continued war against the Allies, and in particular America, has caused us great harm. Your nation’s cyberattack on our financial institutions cost the jobs of hundreds of thousands of people in our country and destroyed the wealth of millions.”

  Khatri shifted uncomfortably in his chair. The PM had been hoping his nation would be presented with the same terms of ending the war as they had been offered prior to the cyberattack on JPMorgan and the ground invasion of India.

  “The terms being offered are this—complete and unconditional surrender of your armed forces and complete denuclearization of your country. You may retain your nuclear power capabilities, but your weapons labs and current nuclear inventory up to this point will have to be surrendered. Upon the acceptance of these terms, the 91,000 prisoners of war we’re currently holding will be released back to your country.”

  Khatri swallowed uncomfortably but said nothing.

  Secretary Landover continued, “Just as in the case of Russia, a small occupation force will remain in your capital and here in Chennai to ensure your government is honoring the terms of the surrender. Your nation will also no longer be allowed to continue war production or provide any sort of economic or financial support to the Eastern Alliance.”

  Landover sat back in his chair. “Are you ready at this time to agree to these terms, Mr. Prime Minster?” he asked.

  Khatri had felt like an hour had passed as the secretary read the terms of surrender. The bile in his stomach slowly made its way up his throat to the back of his mouth. By the time Landover had finished, he wanted to vomit. What had been presented was a long list of humiliations he’d have to accept if he wanted to end the war. Khatri reached for the glass of water in front of him. He needed to calm his stomach before he responded and buy himself a few moments to think. After taking a couple of gulps of water, he shook his head as he looked up at Landover.

  “Mr. Secretary, I’m afraid some of these terms are not acceptable,” Khatri finally said. “While I can concede the points on providing financial and economy aid to the Eastern Alliance, I can’t abide by the dismantling of our nuclear deterrent. India has not threatened to use these weapons against the Allies, but these weapons are imperative to our national security and protection against the Pakistanis, who also have nuclear weapons. If we’re forced to hand our weapons over, we will be subject to attack from our unfriendly neighbors to the north. That’s simply unacceptable.” Khatri puffed his chest out defiantly. He felt he’d made a strong case.

  General Bennet, who had remained quiet up to this point, spoke up. “Mr. Prime Minister, with all due respect, I know where your nuclear weapons are at this very moment. If I have to, I’ll order their complete destruction and be done with it. If your government opts to use them against my forces, I’ve been authorized by the President to turn your country to ash. These terms are not up for negotiation—these are the terms being offered, and either you will accept them, or within the hour, I’ll order my armies to begin tearing your country apart. I have many more divisions from Europe heading this way, and I can occupy your country before the end of summer if I choose to. Secretary Landover is giving you an opportunity to save tens of thousands of lives before it’s too late. Please don’t force me to destroy your country.”

  Khatri recoiled. “We are a nation of over one billion people, General. You cannot occupy our country like you can Russia—there are too many of us,” retorted Khatri.

  “And how did that mighty civilian uprising you proclaim work out for the militia forces at Arakkonam? Your armies have been defeated. Please don’t force my men to slaughter untrained and ill-equipped civilian militias,” General Bennet shot back, anger and determination burning in his eyes.

  Raising his hands to calm everyone, Secretary Landover stepped in. “Gentlemen, please. Arguing and threatening each other isn’t going to resolve this situation.” Turning to look at Khatri, he added, “You’re correct, Prime Minister. The Allies, America, can’t occupy your country like Russia. I personally don’t believe that’s either necessary or required. However, the President is clear that India can’t retain its nuclear weapons as part of the unconditional surrender. President Foss does recognize the unique security challenge your country faces with Pakistan; as such, he is willing to make the same security guarantee to India that we made to Russia. India will fall under the protected nuclear umbrella of the United States, and we will make that publicly and privately known to the leaders of Pakistan. A nuclear attack on India will result in a nuclear response against the attackers by the United States. Just as we agreed to in Russia, America will sign a twenty-five-year military defensive guarantee to that effect.”

  Khatri returned Landover’s gaze. “What happens when we move past the twenty-five-year mark? Our issues with Pakistan are deep and long-standing. These issues may still remain well past your security agreement. Will India be allowed to openly pursue a nuclear weapons program then, or are we going to be under continued military threat if we move in that direction?”

  Landover had known this might be a problem. He had mentioned it to the President prior to flying out here. However, no one had had a really good answer for him. “Prime Minister, let’s hope that twenty-five-years from now, nuclear weapons will be a thing of the past.” He paused. “I wasn’t given specific guidance that India couldn’t acquire nuclear weapons at the end of the agreement, so I believe that it would be safe to say your country would not face any threat from the United States if it pursued that course of action at that time.”

  Pausing for a moment, Landover asked, “Do you need a few moments to confer with your advisors?”

  Khatri shook his head. He knew he wasn’t going to get better terms. As humiliating as the offer was, part of him was just glad the US wasn’t seeking financial reparations in addition to the dismantling of their nuclear arsenal. “How many Allied forces would remain in my country, and what would be the process of ending the fighting?” he finally asked, deflated and defeated. More than anything, he just wanted the killing to stop. So many young people had already died in this pointless war.

  General Bennet leaned f
orward to take his turn to speak. “I will order the fighting to cease across the Allied lines immediately, and I request that you order your military to do the same. A forty-eight-hour cooling-off period will go into effect to make sure everyone in the field knows what’s going on. Then I’ll ask that the head of your armed forces meet with General Morrison here to work out the details. For the time being, we’ll leave four divisions of Allied troops in India until the war in Asia is over. Once we can be assured that there will be no further problems within your country, and there are no overt acts of aggression being made by the Pakistanis toward India, we will look to draw down further Allied forces. If we detect any increase in military forces by the Pakistanis near your border, then I’m going to request that you agree to a redeployment of Allied forces to your shared border and allow our forces to be given any support and assistance they require. Our Air Force may also need access to your northern airbases as well.”

  While Khatri felt like he was drinking from a firehose, he was pleasantly surprised to see how quickly General Bennet had gone from threatening to reduce his nation to rubble and ash to aggressively defending the territorial integrity of his country should they be threatened by Pakistan. While he hated the terms of the surrender, he felt some peace now that Bennet appeared to be an honorable general and sincere in his effort to end the killing and honor the terms of the agreement, even if that meant fighting the Pakistanis.

  “Mr. Secretary, General, I agree to your terms of surrender,” Khatri said, calmly and in a calculated tone. “If we may, I would like to invite you both to New Delhi in forty-eight hours, where we can formalize the end of this terrible war. Would you do my nation the honor of holding a public signing ceremony to formally end the conflict between us? I believe it will greatly aid in the healing process between our two nations.” He hoped he could at least manage this meager face-saving act before his parliament and people.

  General Bennet looked a bit uneasy with the commitment, but after a moment prodding by the Secretary of State, he reluctantly agreed.

  *******

  Following the meeting with the Indian Prime Minister, General Bennet held a separate meeting with his generals. They needed to iron out the details of the occupation and which units would be staying on. While they had to make sure they left sufficient combat power in country to keep the Indian government honest, they also needed as much firepower as they could muster for the coming summer offensive into China. The President had given him clear guidance that he wanted the war over within the next twelve months. Like his predecessor, Foss didn’t want the war to be a deciding factor in the coming 2020 election. If he didn’t win reelection, he didn’t want another president changing the course of the war and eroding the gains they had made.

  Chapter 3

  Mongolia

  Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

  Standing on top of the highest elevation above Ulaanbaatar, General Tony Wilde looked off to the east of the sprawling capital of Mongolia. Most of the snow had finally melted, though traces of it remained on peaks off in the distance. Warmer air was finally moving in from the Gobi Desert, drying everything out, which was good, considering his army would need to get moving soon. His grand army was spread out across a number of camps, and as he observed the men and women from afar, they looked like a well-organized troop of ants as they rushed about, completing their morning physical training. Others hurriedly worked on repairing and maintaining the immense number of vehicles and equipment needed to support such a large force. He put his hands on his hips and leaned back, straightening out his spine, admiring his soldiers like a beekeeper marvels at the inner workings of a beehive.

  Turning to look back at the city, General Wilde saw the railyard. It was as busy as ever. Soldiers and local nationals steadily unloaded fuel and other necessary supplies. Next to the main yard was a series of new track lines his engineers had built, filled with flatbed train cars that were fully laden with a battalion of tanks, Stryker vehicles, munitions and fuel trucks. These flatbeds were going to be one of the key ingredients to capturing his next set of objectives.

  Having seen what he needed to, General Wilde turned to his driver and signaled that he was ready to head back to his headquarters. It took them nearly thirty minutes to navigate the twisty turns of the road, and Wilde did his best not to admit that the journey made him just a little carsick.

  The nausea subsided fairly quickly once he had his feet on the ground and could breathe fresh air again. He strode over to his office, a cavernous room that had been commandeered from the international airport. As he walked in the door, he was met by the familiar sight of the large map board hanging on one of the walls. On it were the outlines of the camps spread out around the Mongolian capital, color-coded supply lines, and arrows marking the most likely approaches they’d need to take to capture their overall objective, Beijing.

  Next to the map stood a Dutch colonel, freshly arrived from the European front. “It’s quite the logistical challenge, isn’t it, General?” asked the colonel matter-of-factly.

  Raising an eyebrow at the newcomer, Wilde replied, “That’s an astute assessment of the situation. You must by my new logistician.” The corner of his mouth curled up in a half-smile.

  The colonel stuck his hand out. “Yes, Sir, I am,” he said warmly. “The name is Colonel Johan Willem, and it’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I’ve heard great things about the man who defeated the Indian and Russian armies of Siberia.”

  General Wilde nodded approvingly. “Colonel Willem, General Cotton sent me an email a week ago about your transfer to my Army group,” he responded. “He told me you were one of the most capable officers he’d ever worked with. He said if anyone could handle this logistical quandary, it would be you.” He paused for just a moment, then his tone changed. “I’m eager to get things moving, and we don’t have a lot of time.”

  The two of them turned back to the map board, and Wilde brought him briefly up to speed on what he had done up to that point.

  Colonel Willem scratched his chin in thought as he absorbed the information. “If I could, General, I believe your biggest challenge is going to be keeping the Army group properly fueled and maintained,” he offered. “Armored vehicles unfortunately need a lot of love; they tend to break down if they’re not properly taken care of, and this harsh environment out here will make maintaining them a lot harder.”

  Wilde nodded.

  The Dutch colonel seemed to suddenly remember something. “Last night I took an unannounced tour of the railyards, and I must say I’m impressed. Having your engineers build a series of rail lines off the main line and loading them up with flat cars to move your heavy armor is brilliant. I’m not sure I would have thought of that. If I may, what is your objective with them? How do you plan on making use of the rail lines? I have to assume the Chinese are actively sabotaging them, no?” Willem inquired.

  “You would be correct on that count, Colonel. I have near-constant drone cover of the rail lines, and we routinely hit small raiding parties with drone strikes. As a segment gets blown up, we replace it quickly.” Wilde sighed. “The road infrastructure in Mongolia is crappy at best. I can’t move most of my armor across these roads without further destroying it. My goal is to use the rail lines as much as possible to move my army as close to the front lines as I can.”

  The general pointed on the map to the city of Baiyinchaganzhen. “Right now, my goal is to capture this city, just across the border in Inner Mongolia, China. It’s a major railhead connecting the two countries. Once we take control of this city, we’ll be able to start transporting my Army group across nearly seven hundred kilometers of empty wasteland. I’ve had Baiyinchaganzhen under surveillance now for five months—the Chinese have it garrisoned with a mechanized infantry battalion and a battalion of light infantry. I don’t believe the Chinese think we’re a threat because of how far away we are, or they would have started to build up some defenses. Heck, they haven’t even torn the railyard up.”

/>   Colonel Willem nodded in approval. “This is brilliant, General, but how are you going to seize the railyard and the city before the garrison destroys it?”

  “I spoke with General Bennet about this problem. What I need is an airborne force. Sadly, I cannot currently have any of the airborne forces from Europe or elsewhere in Asia. He’s got them committed elsewhere. However, now that the Indians have officially surrendered, he’s granting me control of the 2nd Battalion, 75th Rangers for the mission. While he won’t let me keep the battalion for long, he said we can use them to capture the city and the railhead. My question to you, Colonel, is how should we have the Rangers capture the city? Should we have them go in overland or through a direct airborne assault?” Wilde had his own views, but he was interested to see things from a logistician’s perspective.

  “Does the enemy have a lot of air assets or air defenses in the vicinity?” asked Willem.

  “Nothing of note,” Wilde responded. “There’s a handful of antiaircraft guns and a couple of SAMs in the area, but we’d take them out in advance of the attack.”

  “I’d do both, then,” Colonel Willem asserted. “Have some of the Rangers parachute in behind the city and set up on this ridge here. That would draw the enemy out, away from the railhead and the border. Then you can have some of the Rangers move in overland here, dashing in quickly to secure the railyard and this major road junction. If you can arrange for some good air support for them, they should have no problem holding the position long enough for additional reinforcements to arrive and relieve them. I would make sure you move one of your Stryker units to be within at least a four-to-six-hour drive of the city. The Strykers can move relatively fast, so that would be my choice of units to send in first.”