"A country will only be viable if it's citizens share largely the same values - if not, the nation, the country, will fall apart." - Viktor Orban, Prime Minister of Hungary.

Iwakuni, Iwakuni Prefecture, Japan

2nd Lt. Arima Kaori

3rd (Mechanized) Platoon, 3rd (Kirin) Company Team, 11th Tank Regimental Combat Team, 5th Mechanized Brigade, 1st Infantry Division

"Is that?" my observer called on his position, the shopping mall's rooftop, which also housed a portable anti-drone jammer. "ZTZ-96 and -99 tanks and their supporting ZBDs. How come they actually managed to land those heavies here?" In a quick response to what our drone swarm had shown us, an order to my signaller was in place.

"Get us more supply run, hayaku!"

With only two spare LMAT left for the anti-tank missilemen it won't be enough, despite two tank platoons on our vicinity. When the company task force network showed that my husband has been hit, it seems that my blood was freezing, only for next SITREP (situation report) confirmed that despite his tank was later out of commission, Kousei and his crew were still around, a welcoming development for Tsubaki as well but also a new source of concern as they had been forced to bail out.

However we have our duty here and now...

"Fire!"

Morishima's squad managed to seize an opportunity to chip off the Chinese from it's infantry support by the virtue of one of his troopers Carl Gustav fire. On the other hand, we got a company of Red infantry were trying to break through. We're not alone, through, with the Americans on our immediate flanks.

"Sniper!!" shouted a soldier. "Man down!"

Then a sharp crack went on from behind the Japanese lines. "Enemy sniper has been eliminated." Our Type 24s put on a synchronized ballet-like dance on movement as it traded fire with their Chinese counterparts, including two hostile FPV drones. Two of our tanks went on to reinforce us, firing two rounds at faraway targets before pulling back.

"Here it come again, people." On her right flank, Tsubaki, covered on an abandoned shop, was haranguing her boys and girls as the drones began falling back while still firing their miniguns along with a hum of vehicles that she recognized as hostile.

Then come a creak of treads that turned out so as a pair of ZBD-04 tracked infantry carriers that were rolling down from the city's outskirts into my position. Before I could react, however, one of the IFVs had already been knocked out by one of the Americans, judging from the position of where the AT rocket came. One managed to return fire with it's dreaded 100mm main cannon on the American position before one foolhardy Japanese Guardsmen embedded with our forces disabled it with his Swedish-supplied AT4.

But in it's place, came two more and now with a pair of ZTZ-99 tanks on tow.

Without delay I dived to my command tablet and called for assistance from nearby heavy Type 23, and we're lucky as two of those robotic "tanks" managed to close in, autonomously, at the oncoming Chinese IFV and holed both troop carriers from the side, but not before both vehicles managed to disembark most of it's infantry aboard.

Flanked by robot tanks, pounded by kamikaze and munition-dropping UAVs despite it's losses, and taking our small arms fire from the front, the exposed Chinese infantry was persistent, through. I could hear Morishima on my left flank calling names at the oncoming reds.

"Come on, you commies! We are arranging you a dinner date with Marx, Lenin, Stalin, and Mao!"

"Our drones, baby, our drones." The surviving Americans rallied on their surviving NCOs and officers around us, while evacuating their dead and wounded.

In response, a Chinese accented English were put on for all to listen, as his call was broadcasted on the open channel.

"Come out and fight us, Show us your Bushido, or does American protection had caused you to be soft??"

We answered them by giving the one who had just challenged me a bullet between the eye, and I was the one who got the kill.

"Bullseye, chuuchou (lieutenant)!" exclaimed Morishima. "Taste some Nippon lead, baka (idiot)!"

"Dang." My eyes went on for the second wave of Chinese infantry, then one drone transmitted a priority list of targets for the platoon to engage. "Target that RPG!" My command was responded by Mizutani and a couple of seconds later, the Chinese soldier who was aiming his rocket from the houses facing the commercial area had his head holed.

I had also ordered my ATGM crew, freshly resupplied, to ready their missiles for launch upon acquiring the oncoming ZTZ-99s. To overwhelm the Chinese tank's APS, I decided to let our ATGM-carrying Type 23 medium and heavy variant to assume fully autonomous mode as well as troopers with Panzerfausts and Carl Gustavs as backup.

To my surprise, however, the first hit was from the American position, with two AT4s who weren't intercepted by the GL5 managed to break one of the ZTZ's tracks. Then a bigger bang that disabled it's turret for good from the side, forcing it's crew to bail out. My command tablet showed that those responsible was one of our tanks in the vicinity.

The Chinese were persistent with the frontal assault, however, and proceed to feed more vehicles into the attack. "More ZBDs... shit they got one with jammers." The sudden scrambling of drone feeds - both from the ground and the air was enough to alert the Japanese that the Chinese were attacking with a bigger force, now backed with Sharp Claw ground drones.

With the fact that our friendly drones were often withdrawn after short engagements, I whispered the following; Glad that I paid attention to how our instructors told us that UGVs are not so much expendable at all.

Using the alternate frequency I called the 24s that proceed to separate the Sharp Claw IIIs from the infantry. "Pick your targets, people!"

From their position at the nearby shoe store, my third squad, reinforced by a National Guard one plus one Type 24 was not to be left behind by Tsubaki and Morishima's own. Under Sergeant Yuta Takami, their enthusiasm made up the fact that all of his squad are reservists plus two draftees instead of regular servicemen. His machine gunner in particular, a testament of rigorous training, was credited in stopping a Chinese squad that survived our drone onslaught and was about to breach the store alongside Lieutenant Watanabe and his men.

"Banzai!!" Suddenly a clear, friendly war cry echoed behind us. "The 100th Foreign was here!" exclaimed Morishima. I ordered Uesaka to give a couple of radio pings to the oncoming two rifle companies; one filled with Afghanis and one predominantly European in looking - in this case Spanish speaking, in order to let them know that friendlies exists in the vicinity. Along the intermittent jamming from the Reds, the Afghan company signaler which I thought was a former US military interpreter acknowledged our presence.

Then their Japanese and few retired US military officers re-enlisted in the Foreign Volunteer Corps soon ordered them to spread out and occupy any empty premises in front of our position. Unfortunately two troopers didn't make it when a Sharp Claw opened fire at them with it's machine guns and grenade launchers.

"The Gaikokujins had left a company on the hill as reserve, After their 1st and 2nd Company, 3rd (South East Asian) Company is standing by." quipped Uesaka. In the meantime, one medium Type 23 responded in kind with it's remotely-mounted 30mm autocannon.

"Damn, the ground is shaking!" exclaimed Takami for the whole platoon to be aware on what comes next, then creaking of treads that was clearly identified as belong to whom.

"Uesaka, call our armor now!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

Two Chinese ZTZ-99s rolled down the street with a fresh platoon of infantry and a recovery vehicle.

In support of the latter who were clearing the street from ruined armor, it ran into an ambush from our friendly foreigner. The first tank managed to open fire, while the second was unlucky enough to be ambushed, hit by what I thought was a Type 16 on it's side and burst to flames.

The first tank opened fire again, this time at the 14th Rapid position, screams and curses crackled over the radio, before it proceed towards my position backed by infantry. However from an alleyway, before I could order my always ready AT missile crew to fire, two LMATs flew over the utility poles from different directions. One was intercepted by the tank's APS along with one Carl Gustav round fired by Tsubaki's squad. However the second LMAT plunged straight into the ZTZ-99's weakly protected roof armor as it's rocket interceptors went empty. I swallowed my saliva in a bid to put down the dread creeping inside me while looking at the burning Chinese tank and the cry of it's dying crewmembers.

"Eat it, you red bastards!" Tsubaki exclaimed, as she continued to fire at targets of opportunity. "Watari will be proud of me!"

The Reds won't quit and sent a flight of flying wing-like combat drones assisted by strike fighters. Upon warning from the regimental command; "Uesaka, call the fighters!"

Despite our dense air defenses, the drones managed to knock out two tanks of ours, which I hope one of them isn't Kousei's. The drones' loitering time was short, however, as suddenly they maneuvered high and low and some were pumping out chaff and flares, followed by a roar, multiple flashes of lights, and some of the Chinese GJ-11s went down in flames signalled the presence of IADF's F-15JSI (Japan Super Interceptor) with their MQ-90 drone companions - developed jointly with South Korea's Korean Aerospace Industries alongside America's Lockheed Martin involvement.

"This is Hoshi Leader," quipped a female voice from one of the F-15s. "We'll continue our engagement. Ground forces, do your duty! Ganbatte!"

Following the F-15s was a flight of Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoons also with their own companion unmanned craft that they called "Mosquito". Guide books in weapon identifications are really helpful.

"This is Bagpipe leader, commencing attack." called the lead British pilot in a slight Scottish brogue. Japanese F-15s engaged air targets with their Mitsubishi-made AAM-6 Joint New Air-to-Air Missile radar guided long-range jointly developed with Britain and AAM-5 IR-guided short range air-to-air missiles while the Typhoons ripple-fired it's payload of MBDA SPEAR 3 land-attack and jammer/counter air defense missiles.

"Friendlies are coming!"

A better organized group of National Guardsmen, thanks to their uniform and helmet, knocked in.

"At ease" Before they could even salute me, I already acknowledged them.

"We'll take over from here."

We exchanged brief glances and Banzai greetings to the uniformed Guardsmen with old Howa Type 64 and 89 rifles but also few M4-type Carbines, M249 machine guns, as well as a couple of Carl Gustavs and captured Chinese anti-tank rockets and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles as they took position inside the commercial area.

For the dead and wounded, before we head to our troop carriers to cross the Phase Line Fujiwara, the guard commander had confirmed that ambulance is already on it's way.

We expected heavier resistance across that river, despite our extensive - while precise - use of artillery and airpower.

.........................................................

Sgt. Sawabe Tsubaki

The crossing was, well, opposed, especially with their attempt to break through Coalition jamming, but with our tanks provided fire support against Chinese occupied stores ahead, the foreign volunteers managed to cross first as dawn approaches to seize and occupy it despite the artillery shelling, followed by two companies of the 14th Rapid then Team Kirin ourselves.

Our F-15 and British Typhoons had given way for stealthy ones and more unmanned crafts, in this case, US Air Force F-35s and their UCAV companions which went deeper into enemy lines. Two JSFs and two drones went down but the remaining managed to break through and released their ordnances. The Valkyrie wingman drones were the first to enter and the last to withdraw from the combat area.

"All the way from Misawa." I could hear Morishima's opinion on where those jets were coming.

"But I think it was knocked out?" one of his soldiers asked. "Never mind."

A Daiso merchandise store was our next stop. In front of us was a severely damaged residential area. Then we got new mission, to clear houses and buildings that were bypassed by the earlier units around the vicinity of the store as Chinese holdouts were particularly persistent.

For this kind of mission, our ground drones are going to play a pivotal role, including in dealing with Chinese drone swarms that could come anytime and anywhere, and that's what happen a mere second we're in the open streets.

They better work again, or we're all dead. I murmured, referring to counter-drone variant of Type 23 Heavy as well as the larger one in our Type 89s as well as our hackers.

"Take cover!"

As the squad exchanged fire over the streets, I took attention on the radio with a fresh call from Kaori. "Company command had ordered an assault engineer squad (detailed) from regiment with flamethrowers and tear gas launcher to our position, all squad, use it at your disposal."

A few minutes later I looked at my back, as two Type 23 Heavy rolled down the street, but unlike existing UGVs, these pair of vehicle had a modified grenade launching turret with a machine gun for self -defense.

"All mask up." commanded Kaori on the net.

Gas masks were on, just as the engineer drone operator piped in. "Cover yourself, we're smoking them out." With a long thud, white smoke puffed out from 40mm grenades, covering buildings, especially those being used as firing positions by the Chinese.

Compared to what we often saw on TV when demonstrations got dispersed, including few cases in Japan, the thicker cloud of the CS was enough for the whole platoon to know about how much gas is actually used.

"Ma'am, are we going to shoot them in the back?" asked Private Yoshiro Misawa, my squad machine gunner as the gas was too much for the Chinese troops despite their own gas mask use.

"Fire. That's an order."

A few blocks later and assault engineers were discharged from one Type 89 that was accompanying the UGV launcher.

"We'll take care of these."

Along with Type 23 Heavies, the assault engineers were also allocated two Type 23 Mediums with its turret were replaced with Carl Gustav launchers.

"All squad provide cover fire." I laid down fire first followed by my squad. Bounding house by house were Morishima's squad and later Takami's.

Gunfire and screech of RPGs from occupied restaurants and shops soon changed into screams in Chinese as rockets from the assault engineers and combat robots made contact. The special fuel-air warhead from Carl Gustav launchers reacted by either fiercely burning anything inside the hit radius or sucking every available oxygen from it, and there were not only one building who received it.

"What a mess, Watari and Kousei will surely be happy as we are clearing their nemesis..."

Then, "Sniper! We lost one robot."

"Everybody get to cover!" followed by a loud crack came from behind our lines - BANG!

The radio crackled with "target eliminated" The Japanese snipers had once more saved the day.

Even with the extensive usage of gas and fuel air explosives, with few invaders remained a threat, the old-fashioned room-clearing ops were here to stay.

"Frag and clear, Yashio!" I barked at the nearest soldier behind me, one of the oldest in the unit among my batch of draftee. He pulled out a frag and not long, a BOOM.

"Move!"

I was the first to enter and was immediately greeted by two men armed with QBZ rifles exiting one of the offices, which I dispatched before they even managed to open fire. To my surprise, they did not look East Asian at all.

I would never forget my encounter with one American-accented Caucasian man who at first managed to overpower me in a hand-to-hand combat. However, before he could finish me off, my right hand managed to reach a bayonet on the floor. In one strike, that man gasped with pain in his chest and neck, then collapsed to the ground, gurgling as life were leaving his body from blood loss.

Sensing that his comrade has fallen, out from one of the office tables, an African-looking man raised his Kalashnikov-pattern rifle, but my left hand had already reached for my service handgun. Two 9mm shot on the neck stopped his life.

"Rest in pieces." I cursed.

"Great work, Sergeant. And thanks for saving me." said one of my trooper. The man, Corporal Daichi Kurosawa, stood behind Private Yashio and PFC Wang-yu Chen, continued. "That commie was about to aim at me."

"Good to know. You're welcome, shichou." I replied before heading out from the office building.

"How on earth the Chinese got foreign volunteers for it's cause..." I could hear two of my troopers' questioning about what the entire squad had just encountered. As much as I want an immediate answer, there will be better time for it. But I had my part to do, in this case by cutting off unit patches from the dead soldier to be given to my commanding officer.

"75th (American) Battalion named Ajamu Baraka of the 109th International Anti-Imperialism Brigade, anyone had the idea who is this man they used as namesake?" I asked after reading the name of the unit out loud.

"No idea, sarge." answered Kurosawa, while two other privates closest to me were shaking their heads.

...........................................

A/N: Yes I know the tear gas is actually not to be used in international warfare, legally speaking. However, in this story, CS gas is not included in the forbidden list of chemical weapons to be used.

Glossary

1. Recovery vehicle or to be exact Armored Recovery Vehicle (ARV) referred to a specialized vehicle using a tank or armored personnel carrier modified to do towing and repair work for battle-damaged, stuck, or inoperable armored fighting vehicles. Most vehicles of this kind had powerful cranes and winches to do the job, as well as bulldozer blades.