Washington DC

(continued)

Sighing deeply, Allen felt another migraine coming on as the SACINDOPAC began his main update on Taiwan.

"Taiwan has fallen, but their people are still fighting." Everyone is the room was already aware on multiple atrocities by Chinese PLA against the Taiwanese population, thanks to smuggled videos from multiple sources, including one defected PLA Ground Force major. Marquez showed multiple attacks including by unmanned systems conducted by groups under the banner of "National Resistance Front of the Republic of China" especially in the more mountainous eastern part of the country.

"The Soviets in Afghanistan back in the 1980s had particularly difficult engagement with mujahideens in Panjshir Valley, and basically that's what the PLA currently learning by blood, here in East Taiwan." Marquez pointed out. "Neither their mountain capable forces were available in good number, as those forces, largely stationed on the Western Theater Command are heavily engaged with the Indians in the Himalayas. Added with our ongoing operations to keep them (NRF of ROC) armed and fed" the admiral was referring to ongoing operations where UAVs and high altitude transport aircraft in addition of unmanned submersibles dropped food and med packages, mini satellite terminals and comm gears, as well as components useful for arms and explosives. Such missions along with regular strikes on PLA's command and control nodes in Taiwan were causing the Chinese a major headache; tying up forces that could be useful elsewhere.

"Very well, we should ensure we and our allies keeping their fight on, while preparing their folks here to one day liberate their country" replied the President.

The President then went to his chief military advisor. "General Meliala, before we go for Europe, I want to ask you about our space domain situation."

"That will be the purview of General Banks, Mr. President." Just as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Felix Meliala, an Indonesian-American USAF officer concluded his answer, one of the displays changed to the office of the Chief of Space Operations, General Mark Banks, from his HQ in Petersen Space Force Base Colorado Springs, Colorado.

"With production of Blowgun and other warheads are gaining speed, we are continuing our bombardment operation against Mainland China. At the same time, we are still finding any ways to take out the Tiangong completely, not just jamming, snatching it's support assets, or spoofing it when we're launching the Gyrfalcons, with the fact that a straight up satellite on satellite attrition battle won't be sustainable in the long run, hence there were multiple space ceasefires to allow cleanup of any debris." Banks continued.

"Oh, before I forget, the Tiangong had been modified to allow it's lasers to intercept some of our missiles. Bottom line; we won't be unopposed forever in term of reusable rocketry and suborbital bombing. I expect that two months from here, the Chinese will be able to perfect their equivalent to the Gyrfalcon."

The President sighed a little before replying.

"With amount of things are on track so far, I can't be more grateful, a lot of reason to do so everyday... Now, how our NATO European allies are doing, so far?" asked the President to the CJCS, wanting to get a sense of the current situation, military-wise in particular.

"Mr. President, as there are more and more Chinese operatives and IAIB recruiters being uncovered and rooted out inside European soil, they were stepping up, not only for overseas service but also for home service particularly against the terrorist guerillas of many stripes plaguing the continent and an always possible direct involvement of Russia with Chinese war effort later on, they have began calling up their reserves and some were even reinstated their own draft. Britain, France, Poland are really stepping up. Each country had announced a draft of total 500 hundred soldiers while the Germans and the Italians are drafting 300 hundred more. Protests are many, but they kept it under control. The rest, is here" Meliala pointed on the corresponding slide.

Then, a holographic image of the EUCOM commander, dual-hatted as Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR), General Samuel Matchison, US Army, came to life from his European post in Brussels.

"There are also continuous progress of our overseas international training program for selected Asian allies here - Japanese, South Koreans, Free Chinese, Vietnamese, Free Burmese, etc - in the European soil specially in British, French, German, Italian, Greek, Turkish, and Polish training areas, separate with their own recruits... including pilot training. We estimated that this month, we would have up to 50 to 100 new free Asian pilots for various platforms..."

Looking at the short videos from Europe, the air of anything but pride radiated inside the room, especially from the President.

"On the other hand, even with the Russians are keeping themselves quiet so far with Ukraine after their last large scale exercise as well as last year's cross border clashes and artillery duels, the EC won't take any chances as they are ramping up their military-related production such as the latest German Leopard 2A7, British Challenger 3, Turkish Altay, and French Leclerc XLR as well as much newer Franco-German-Italian-Spanish Tiger fourth generation MBT, the latter will be more than a match for Russian T-14 Armatas and Chinese ZTZ-99A2 and upcoming ZTZ-23s. I have to put a special note to the Ukrainians, while neutral, they also participated in supplying some of their Russian-heritage arms and tech to select allies of ours [with experience of operating Soviet systems] like Vietnam, Malaysia, and India. Even the Serbians, of all people, allowed their munitions to be sold to private intermediaries that we know are doing their part."

Matchison continued. "The Polish, of all people, had proudly announced that they are the first NATO European country to reach 1 million 155mm artillery shell productions per month as well as 500 thousand small drones. This is a competition we all want to see..."

"About status of forces deployment" continued the general. "The Germans had their 9th Armored Brigade en route to Korea while France had also prepared their combined arms battalion task forces of the 2nd Armored Brigade to sail in order to reinforce and relieve their existing forces in Korea - the 1st Korea Brigade... supported by the following air unit: a composite squadron of Luftwaffe Typhoons and combat drones, a joint Franco-German squadron of upgraded Tiger attack helo, and C-130J Super Hercules squadron, for start. A curiosity will be Spain. Instead of Korea or Japan, they opted for a deployment to the Philippines. Intel said the China want to keep their foothold in that area as well in Japan as long as possible to eventually allow the full breakthrough through the Second Island Chain and beyond, into Hawaii..."

"From the sea, the Germans announced that two latest UUV-capable Type 218 submarines are to be delivered to the Singapore Navy in addition to two similar model for their own use."

"Let's hope for the best about the Russians. General Matchison. I hope President Kuznetsov and his generals and admirals keep their pledge." replied Meliala. "But I won't be surprised if Russians do have their part in aiding the Reds further, not just in trade."

Then the Secretary of Defense took his turn. Maj. Gen (retd) Marek Sikorski, a former career paratrooper and Green Beret. "Mr President and ladies and gentlemen, I have just received a good news for everyone; our first batch of fully unmanned F-42 Buzzard fighters has been put into service with two fighter wings bound for Korea and one for the Philippines soon. We're also ramping up production of the optionally-manned F-36 Kingsnake fighters that will replace the F-16 as well as the development of the F-45 Warhawk II, the actual cornerstone of the NGAD (Next Generation Air Dominance) Program itself as well as the Navy/Marine Corps own NGAD; that everyone had already know as the F/A-38 Phantom III..."

Allen smiled at his SECDEF; both men as well as the USAF Chief of Staff knew the real truth about the usage of the new fighters.

"On one side, we do have working birds ready to deploy with new techniques (of production). On the other hand, It's still going to be close to a month, maybe two, until we have most of the aircraft from the boneyards ready to go in support of the new ones. Even then, we are gradually losing pilots faster than the replacement process. We've shortened the training period for our pilot program, but that means our pilots will be less trained and experienced when they go into battle. We are also calling back into service a lot of retired pilots especially in training capacity as well as defectors and willing POWs from China..."

Admiral Marquez took his turn in response.

"...They will get their experience, just like the rest will - through direct combat. Those fighter drones came just in time, and aircraft from the boneyards will surely help. My concern is that intel have viable leads about the Chinese's upcoming new fighter, the J-37. and from what we have heard so far, it uses some sort of new technology that makes the aircraft much less visible than ours, even the B-21s. If that is the case, then this new fighter is going to cause us some major problems."

Allen then asked. "Now, what is the state of the cargo haulers, Ship, planes, etc?"

"Another good news from that department is that we had phased in 10 Liberty Lifter seaplanes, wish we got its kinks figured out earlier when Taiwan needed it the most." bemoaned the SECDEF. "and five more on construction."

Then came the verified report on the state of merchant cargo ship production in the US as well as Europe - including Turkiye - and friendly Asian countries. Then Sikorski spoke, with news that aired an aura of grave peril.

"Mr. President, on one hand, we are keeping our fight in the Pacific, but we are closer to a tipping point. With the Middle East will always require our presence, our allies are showing it's worth. However, the Chinese can still break through our defenses by throwing more troops and their foreign legionnaires into the mix added by the mention of their suborbital strike capability by General Banks. On the other hand, I hate any idea of abandoning Europe as well as the Middle East completely except of some naval escort against uncooperative Yemeni pirates, especially with the fact that our supply lines to India and mainland South East Asia are using the Suez route as well as to keep our eyes on the Pakistanis, as they will soon or later join the Chinese anyway thanks to Kashmir...

Sikorski regained his composure. "But with our pressing need so far, it has to be done. The Israelis know that and were ramping up their defenses just in case, especially with Hamas and Hezbollah are still around despite their weakness as well as the recent resurgence of the left-leaning PFLP."

Sikorski let the Director of National Intelligence William Crowe took over for quick explanation about Israeli situation, about how multiple recent attacks inside Israeli territory were attributed to the PFLP, with multiple lead of possible Chinese sponsorship.

Then, Sikorski continued where Crowe left off. "Even with their war-footing, they helped us a lot in terms of equipment as well as our allies, by licensing a lot of their tech. Some will cry war profiteering, but as those things work as intended, we can't be more grateful than that. In fact, we used them to consult about Statesman, even with the increasing reports that Israeli weaponry are ending up in the possession of those communist foreign legion."

The steady decline of the US as a global influencer thanks to it's constant wars in the Middle East and the rise of China had given the latter an opening they had longed for. After nearly 70 years of planning, China finally had the technological and military might to not just challenge the US nearly alone, but potentially remove them from their superpower status.

"I believe in miracles, however, with the fact that Chinese military productions as well as recruitment for their foreign legion were increasing despite our sustained sub-orbital bombing and cyber ops campaign, as well as their overall good harvest, highest of the decade, in fact, I do not believe that we will be able to hold our presence in Asia for more than a year, in a most pessimistic scenario."

The President knew Sikorski was right; there was only so much the US could do with the current forces and equipment they had at hand especially with the ongoing insurgency inside the home soil. The military boneyard near Tucson, AZ was already being scavenged for equipment that could be reactivated and so too was the Navy's reserve fleet ever since the war broke out. Even with current increase of production rate of materiel and new production techniques, especially for aircraft and missiles, that was enough for a new NATO-wide Lend-Lease program that's currently underway, Allen and his people were still longing for more time to allow the full potential of the American economy to do it's magic. However, it was time that the Free World did not have.

"You bring up some good points Secretary Sikorski. We can only defend and win if we prioritize our resources in the best manner," responded the President. He looked down at his tablet for some information before continuing. "What we need to do right now is to determine the plan of action."

General Meliala saw this as his opportunity to step in and provide his military opinion. "We might as well retain the V Corps HQ with one division as well as a SFAB (Security Force Assistance) for training our Asian allies there alongside the Europeans while the rest - and this will include the 173rd Airborne BCT - will head for Australia and Indonesia, as well as accelerating redeployment of our air assets from bases in the Middle East such as from the Ali al-Salem Air Base to the Indo-Pacific area. In other words, we move the Middle East and for the lesser extent Europe to the backburner, or as a transit/staging area with lesser priority compared to strategic bastions in the Pacific."

"Your wish had came true now, Mr. President." said the Chief of Staff Hayward, invoking one of the President's campaign promise to further reduce American presence in the Middle East, with the increasing public opinion including some of the ruling party's factions that believed it as the main cause of the incessant violence in that region.

"We must be grateful also for the British who filled us up since the last decade, particularly in Bahrain and Oman; a return to the East of Suez. That's also explained why the Royal Navy and Air Force had reported being engaged by Pakistani drones around the Persian Gulf; even when Pakistan is not yet officially at war. Certainly Chinese operated."

"The Emiratis and the Omanis are particularly furious with the recent provocations. Expect a call soon from their Foreign Ministers to us as well as a stepped up opening of their potentials for our collective effort."

"Back to Indo-Pacific, until we substantially increase the number of our carriers and transport assets, we are not going to be in a position to take China on and win in the long run, in light of their ballistic missile capability resilience that had been mentioned before, even with our suborbital missiles, new aircraft, and our submarines were targeting them routinely. With that said, I recommend that we focus on increasing our presence in Australia. We will still send boots to Philippines, Korea or Japan, but it will be relatively minor compared to what we are going to do here in the American soil. We have just receive substantial intelligence showing that Alaska and the entire West Coast is incredibly vulnerable to China and possibly Russia, and a beefed up presence could be the difference in deterring or preventing an attack there. We have to thank our partners, particularly Japan, who pointed this out."

The said info showed that after sometime, many in the Zhongnanhai had figured out that might not need to capture the whole Southeast Asia or Japan or India after all despite it's resources and it's territorial claim, as it could quickly do a Hail Mary towards mineral rich Alaska and even Texas, the technology hub in California and Washington State, and the fertile farmlands of the American West Coast as well as Hawaii, the latter was pointed out as a possible bargaining chip.

"I also recommend that we begin a full mandatory civilian evacuation of Hawaii and Samoa, Guam and the Marianas as well. The Chinese will certainly make a move for them, proven by the fact that they once occupied Solomon Islands, before being driven out by primarily Australians, French, and Indonesians. The point is, they will come back with a vengeance. Once cut off, the civilian population on the island will begin to die off."

Meliala continued "Furthermore, as the strengthening of Hawaii continued, the Governor of Hawaii had long since reactivated their State Defense Force under the name Hawaii State Guard or HSG. We had supported them in preparation for guerilla war on the island and to establish a continuous surveillance operation of the facilities in case they fall to the Chinese, but there is nothing we could do for the civilians. I recommend we begin evacuation of the residents immediately, with options of letting volunteers to stay especially those with guns or emergency services and military service experience that the HSG will surely need as well as civilian workers essential for war effort... while we still have time."

Liu took her turn, "This is not going to look good in the public eye, Mr. President. I understand the need to prioritize our resources, but it could appear that we are abandoning our allies and essentially surrendering to China. I believe with the Russians are keeping their neutrality, we are free to reduce some of our forces in Europe, for example, and relocate them to Asia. Is there some way we can continue to keep our cordon intact?"

Sikorski understood the Chinese-American concern as well and added, "She is right, Mr. President. Some will interpret that that we are surrendering to China and ceding Asia to them. However, right now, with our remaining carriers are keeping the Chinese busy in the vicinity of the First and Second Island Chain; thanks to our drone tankers in support of interdiction operations against Red shipping as well as supporting our Japanese, Korean, Free Chinese, Indian, and other Asian allies. in particular the mining ops against their ports, as well as the continuous flow of supplies to them, we can keep the public and the Chinese from believing we have abandoned Asia."

Meliala concurred. "These are good points Mr. President; I have to agree with their assessments. It is important that we make the Chinese believe we have not completely surrendered the fight to them, especially in light of our planned evacuations from the Hawaiian island, if we do in fact move forward with that plan. Also, let me be clear here why I will still send our boots to Korea and Japan or even Taiwan if we found a window of opportunity... is because that I personally believe in an idea of riposte shall any American soil be invaded as well as to finally break through Red defenses from Korea, hence I planned to send the 1st Cavalry Division there while the new 9th Infantry Division will be the Army standby force for Taiwan, along with existing and new Marine Divisions."

The President knew the next months were going to be critical to the direction of the war and its outcome. The decisions being made right now would have a profound impact on the future history of the world. "Then it is settled."

Following what was probably the most important meeting of the war, the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs immediately began to get things moving. Twenty four thousand Army soldiers who had just completed training were being transferred to Australia and Indonesia to reinforce Army's 23rd Infantry Division "Americal" guarding two batteries of ground based long-range hypersonic missiles already stationed there while existing element of 2nd Marine Division was redeployed to either Manus Island or Northern part of Malaysia.

Newest equipment, including those produced in converted Japanese and Korean-owned heavy equipment and automotive factories in the US and Canada, such as the M1A3 Abrams Main Battle Tanks and 50mm cannon-armed M6 Truscott Infantry Fighting Vehicles - designed by German company Rheinmetall and named after World War II era General Lucian Truscott - were prioritized for the home service troops so fewer of these were earmarked for overseas units mostly to replace losses suffered by, for example the Korean-based 2nd Infantry Division.

Meanwhile, elements from the recently raised 5th Marine Division has been sent to Alaska and Canadian West Coast to aid the Army in defending critical naval and land points that could be used by either Chinese, and possibly Russian, forces, and they began to build a host of defensive forts, minefields, and ground-based missile positions in cooperation with the Canadian Armed Forces as well as the British who had military presence in the said Commonwealth realm. In addition, more Marines under active 1st Division as well as activated reserve 4th Division were deployed to Philippines and outlying Pacific islands, subjected to reinforcement by Australian or Indonesian-based forces with flexible roles; in defense, they could be used as part of delaying action against a possible Chinese naval offensive, while in offense, liberation of islands including Taiwan.

China had solid presence in Laos, Cambodia, and in the Military Junta-controlled areas of Myanmar as it also faced the Indian Armed Forces that were fighting side by side with pro-NUG civilian government People's Defense Forces and allied ethnic minority groups. Meanwhile, while the entire former North Vietnam area including the nation's capital Hanoi were either occupied or a gray zone, and down south, the Chinese were still heavily engaged with the Vietnamese in it's southern major cities like Hue and Da Nang, as well as with the Thais from the direction of Laos and Cambodia.

Even with the loss of it's South China Sea man-made islands and it's supporting facilities by primarily sub-launched Tomahawk and CONUS-launched Blowgun missiles and subsequent long range strikes from the Philippines and Malaysia as well as missile batteries in Australia mentioned before, it proceeded to expand it's holding at northern areas of Luzon, in the Philippines.

The economy was one of the few bright spots. The US had reached as close to full employment as possible with the massive expansion of Armed Forces since the Second World War and the thousands of infrastructure, agricultural, transportation, and construction projects across the country for many purposes such as shelters for Americans displaced by the latest round of natural disasters or voluntary exodus from major cities, as well as to house refugees for Asian nations affected by the war and detainment camp for suspected fifth columnists, derogatorily called "FEMA Camp" by both far left and far right elements.

In light of the new revelation by the intelligence community that the communists had directly put United States territories on it's sight to expedite the end of the war, the US Northern Command (NORTHCOM) were increasing it's ranks with 750,000 new soldiers, sailors, Marine, airmen, and guardians, not include the auxiliary regulated civilian militias/State Defense Forces, to the point that in case of the ground component, a second field army was created to handle the surge, the Tenth U.S Army, responsible in handling the Eastern part of the country in defense as well as relief.

Throughout this period, the US government continued to operate underground until possible threats were satisfactorily addressed, especially cyberattacks as well as drone attacks. With agreements on both parties to keep the war conventional, it's time to start relocating back to White House and the Capitol. However, as the relocation was underway, several companies of PLA Special Forces and allied units, later identified as Cuban Army's "Avispas Negras" Black Wasps special forces units backed by UAVs began to attack older Presidential bunkers and government residential areas, and even managed to kill a number of high ranking Congressional leaders and other officials. In addition, two separate attempt to crash the Wall Street and Nasdaq was registered and repelled, as well as numerous plain old bank robbery attempts nationwide.

The Chinese-led insurgency and attacks on officials and civilians in general only served to fuel American public's willingness to carry firearms openly from farmers and fisherfolks to multiple Congressmen and women, making it more challenging for law enforcement to determine if an attack was about to happen or there was just a group of armed citizens who are doing their best protecting their loved ones as they were doing their daily activities. With assistance from the Statesman program, the offending PLASOF and Cuban SF teams were hunted down. Few surrendered but most of them were killed. With the receding threat, the President wanted the government to return to the surface as soon as possible, which happened three days afterwards.