Repulse: Europe at War 2062-2064 Read online

  Repulse

  Europe at War

  2062-2064

  Published by

  Chris James

  www.chrisjamesauthor.com

  Also by Chris James

  Science fiction novels:

  Class Action

  The Second Internet Café, Part 1: The Dimension Researcher

  The Second Internet Café, Part 2: The Cascade Annihilator

  Short story collections:

  Stories of Genesis, Vol. 1

  Stories of Genesis, Vol. 2

  Stories of Genesis, Vol. 3

  available in print from Lulu and Amazon, and as e-books on Kindle, Smashwords, and from all other reputable e-book retailers

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  Copyright © Chris James, 2016. All rights reserved.

  Chris James asserts his moral right to be identified as the author of this work, until the purported author, Am Aust, is in a position to reclaim his or her copyright, which is not anticipated until 2095 at the earliest.

  Kindle edition. ASIN: B01IL7G6JM

  Foreword

  Although my name appears on the cover of this work, the following text is not mine.

  The manuscript which came into my possession carries the signature of the improbably named Am Aust, and purports to describe the history of a war yet to be fought. The climactic engagement of this war, Operation Repulse, took place (will take place?) from August 2063 to February 2064, and as the author is at pains to point out, was the most significant clash of arms to occur on European soil in some four hundred years.

  There is a further complication: Am Aust claims to be writing this history more than three decades after the conflict. He or she makes numerous references to and uses quotes from other titles published since this war ended, and the text concludes with comprehensive ‘Notes on Sources’ of these histories, memoirs, and interviews the author conducted with veterans and witnesses.

  The individual who gave me the manuscript and requested me to publish it insisted on maintaining their anonymity. I pointed out to them that I am merely one unknown self-publishing author among many millions, and that if I published the manuscript, it would be certain to attract no more than a handful of readers. In doubt of this person’s grasp of the current publishing landscape, I thus suggested that they attempt to secure a traditional publishing house to be assured of a wider readership. To make my point, I declined their request to publish the manuscript.

  The individual became agitated and insisted that they did not have the luxury of time to explain the issue fully. Furthermore, the number of readers was of absolutely no concern. All that mattered was that this manuscript was published to the general public in the year 2016. On seeing the individual’s obvious distress, which appeared to increase with each passing second, I felt a twinge of sympathy which matched the pitch of my curiosity concerning this history of a future war. I therefore relented and gave them my word that I would publish the manuscript in exactly the condition I received it.

  However, when I read the text I felt strongly inclined to edit it in places to remove certain ambiguities. Many of the battlefield technological advances (and regressions) developed and employed by the combatants are difficult to believe, and the apparent geopolitical situation which existed by the mid-twenty-first century stretches credulity to the breaking point. Alternatively, if true it is disheartening in the extreme to think that this could be the desperate future which awaits Europe.

  Nevertheless, I have decided to keep my word to the strange individual to publish this text in its entirety as it came into my hands, so that the reader may make up his or her own mind concerning the veracity of the events it describes.

  Chris James

  Warsaw, Poland, September 2016

  Repulse

  Europe at War

  2062-2064

  Am Aust

  University of Europe

  Contents

  Introduction

  Glossary

  Prelude: The View from the West

  I. SLEEPWALKING TO CATASTROPHE

  II. THE NATURE OF WARFARE

  III. DISTRACTIONS

  Prelude: The View from the East

  I. RISING EMPIRES, WANING EMPIRES

  II. THE THINNEST DEFENCES

  III. THE COMING STORM

  Onslaught

  I. THE DESTRUCTION OF THE NAVIES

  II. THE RAPE OF TURKEY

  III. HEADLONG FLIGHT

  IV. ISRAEL IMMOLATED

  V. SHOCK

  The Caliphate Enters Europe

  I. CONFUSION SPREADS

  II. THE SEARCH FOR ANSWERS

  III. THE ASSAULTS BEGIN

  IV. THE DEMOCRACIES FRAGMENT

  V. THE WAR IN EARTH ORBIT

  Invasion

  I. THE FOUR FRONTS

  II. SACRIFICE

  III. SOUTHERN EUROPE OVERRUN

  IV. THE RANKS SWELL

  V. REACTIONS

  VI. THE ‘TENSE SPRING’

  VII. IRREGULAR RESPONSES

  VIII. FLEEING THE STORM

  IX. THE ATLANTIC CONVOYS

  X. THE WAITING ENDS

  The Battle for Europe

  I. A FIGHTING RETREAT

  II. THE EASTERN FRONT

  III. THE IRRESISTIBLE ADVANCE

  IV. A PICTURE OF THE ENEMY

  V. THE RELENTLESS REVERSE

  VI. DISASTERS MULTIPLY

  VII. THE DELTA WORKS

  VIII. THE WORLD REACTS

  IX. EASTERN BARRIERS

  X. OPERATION FOOTHOLD

  XI. THE CALIPH DECLARES VICTORY

  The End Game

  I. FACING THE INEVITABLE

  II. A DESPERATE DEFENCE

  III. THE CALIPH DITHERS

  IV. A LAST ESCAPE

  V. EUROPE SUCCUMBS

  The Race against Time

  I. PLANNING A STRATEGY

  II. AMERICA INUNDATED

  III. AN AUDACIOUS PLAN

  IV. THE LONG WINTER OF 2062/63

  V. AN UNEXPECTED RESPITE

  Operation Repulse: Preparation

  I. REARMAMENT

  II. NEW WEAPONS FOR NEW TIMES

  III. REPULSE COMPROMISED

  IV. THE ‘MEDWAY INCIDENT’

  V. A SENSE OF URGENCY

  VI. CONCERNS AND COURAGE

  VII. READYING THE ARMIES

  VIII. THE ORDER IS GIVEN

  Operation Repulse: Execution

  I. BATTLE IS JOINED

  II. THE EASTERN SPEARHEAD

  III. INITIAL OBJECTIVES ACHIEVED

  IV. RELIEF ARRIVES

  V. COUNTERATTACK

  VI. OPERATION THUNDERCLAP

  VII. PARIS LIBERATED

  VIII. THE BATTLE INTENSIFIES

  IX. HASTINGS ATTACKS

  X. WRECKAGE

  XI. A QUESTION OF MORALITY

  XII. A CHANGE IN TACTICS

  XIII. PROGRESS SLOWS

  XIV. A NEW THREAT

  XV. FRIEND OR FOE?

  XVI. REPULSE AT RISK

  XVII. THE TURNING POINT

  XVIII. NATO ADVANCES

  XIX. DEFENDING GAINS

  XX. FINAL RECOVERY

  Operation Repulse: Aftermath

  I. COUNTING THE COST

  II. TIMES SINCE

  Acknowledgements

  Notes on Sources

  Introduction

  When such a wealth of literature already exists describing the 2062-2064 war between NATO and the New Persian Caliphate, it is reasonable to ask if another, single-volume history has a place. I believe this is the case for two key reasons: firstly, after more than thirty years since the war’s end, there is a need to reassess the reasons and motives which underpinned th
e initial and devastating assault on Europe. New data and documents have recently come to light which cast a subtler complexion on these events and the characters that shaped them. Secondly, those who lived through the war now have a deeper perspective on the most demanding, shocking and violent period in their lives.

  Thus, this is a book primarily about people; people who found themselves snatched out of calm, ordered existences and thrust into a conflict of unimaginable horror. Human experience in the war saw a range of upheaval and dislocation comparable with anything previous generations of Europeans had endured in the preceding four hundred years, with one vital difference: when the war began in February 2062, Europe had enjoyed over a century of peace.

  I have interviewed a number of witnesses for this book, and, with many, their reactions which recollections of their experiences provoked surprised me. Middle-aged mothers recalled times in their early twenties, suddenly thrown into the midst of a conflict they never anticipated. Elderly men described heroic deeds, some with a bitterness in their voices which added weight to their recounting of the events in which they participated.

  In addition to interviewing survivors and affording them an opportunity to speak before time takes its toll, I also draw on numerous unpublished memoirs, diaries, and fragments of conversations which have survived the intervening years. From young Turkish engineering student Berat Kartal, whose handwritten, paper journal detailing his odyssey across Europe in the midst of chaos was discovered a mere year ago after remaining hidden for three decades, to London nannies and Kansas police officers, I have endeavoured to allow as many people from modest backgrounds as possible to speak, as I believe they deserve an equal voice with the generals, prime ministers and presidents. Millions of these citizens would join their countries’ armed forces and learn the true cost of freedom in a protracted and vicious struggle for their homelands. For a considerable number, their experience would end fatally, not knowing whether the fight was won or lost.

  I also acknowledge the range of literature which already exists, by quoting extensively from well-known titles published during the last thirty-two years. In particular, I make use of G. K. Morrow’s The Great European Disaster, as this multi-volume book details faultlessly the extent of the suffering the people of Europe endured, and remains the ultimate account of the pain and disruption Caliphate forces inflicted on innocent civilian populations. In addition, I also draw on General, then Field Marshall, Sir Terry Tidbury’s seminal post-war memoir In the Eye of the Storm, as it gives an exact insight into the mind of the man tasked by his political masters with recovering Europe.

  At the same time, I have striven to avoid repeating in great depth those events which have been exhaustively chronicled by others. For example, although the disaster which crushed Israel at the beginning of the war has its rightful place here, many volumes already exist which depict it in harrowing detail. Similarly, I merely summarise General Hastings’ daring and heroic raid inside Caliphate territory, as Dixon’s account of the mission, Sightseeing in Tazirbu, remains the definitive record of the one adventure which did so much to aid Operation Repulse. As the deterioration in the relationship between US President Coll and English PM Napier has also been analysed thoroughly elsewhere, I avoid repetition and confine myself to previously unknown facets of its degradation which have recently come to light. In particular, these include the previously unpublished diaries of one of Napier’s aides, Crispin Webb.

  Where it has seemed expedient to do so, I also draw on some of the many other histories of the war. However, with this book I intend to re-examine and shed new light on important events in the conflict. In particular, last year the English government released a number of previously secret documents and other files under its thirty-year rule. These often add to or contradict broadly accepted opinions. By combining existing and new resources, my hope is that this book brings into sharper focus the most punishing misfortune to befall the European peoples for some four hundred years.

  Glossary

  ACA: Autonomous Combat Aircraft, a generic term which covers all unmanned, super-AI controlled military aircraft, whether armed with missiles or lasers, deployed by all combatants during the war

  Blackswan: NATO reporting name for the most common ACA deployed by the Caliphate, each of which was armed with fifty Spiders

  Caliphate: also known as the New Persian Caliphate and the Combined African, Saudi and Persian Caliphate, the isolationist political entity first formed in 2042 after the civil wars in the countries formerly known as Iran, Iraq and Syria

  Falarete: NATO anti-Spider single-shot portable missile system (a combination of the ancient Greek word for ‘shining’ and the Latin for ‘net’)

  Footie: NATO troop colloquialism for the FT-23/D anti-personnel smart-mine

  Lapwing: NATO reporting name for the Caliphate’s primary laser-equipped ACA

  Moose: NATO reporting name for the only autonomous battle tank the Caliphate deployed during the war

  NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

  PeaceMaker: inferior combat ACA with which NATO forces began the war

  Pickup: NATO troop colloquialism for the PKU-48 smart assault rifle

  Pulsar Mk. III: NATO’s main offensive laser weapon, fitted to surface ships, vehicles, and ACAs

  SACEUR: Supreme Allied Command Europe

  Scythe: the range of ACAs developed by NATO during the war, and including the X-7, X-9, Omega and Alpha

  SHAPE: Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers, Europe

  Siskin: NATO reporting name for the improved ACA which the Caliphate deployed in the closing stages of the war

  SkyWatcher: inferior, low earth-orbit battle management ACA with which NATO forces began the war, superseded by the SkyMaster

  Spider: the Caliphate’s autonomous cylindrical bomb with eight articulated claws

  Squitch: NATO troop colloquialism for the SQCH-77B super-AI controlled battlefield management system fitted to each soldier

  Super AI: super artificial intelligence

  Tawny Eagle: NATO reporting name for the Caliphate’s main warrior air transport craft

  Prelude: The View from the West

  I. SLEEPWALKING TO CATASTROPHE

  For more than thirty years, historians have argued over when the war with the New Persian Caliphate became inevitable. Although at first glance the issue may appear pedantic, the analysis of certain events before hostilities broke out yields important indications of the disaster that was to overtake Europe, but does little to aid identification of a precise date on which the war became an immutable certainty. The Caliphate made no formal declaration; the suddenness of the attack on Europe was superseded only by its ferocity.

  In his history The Great European Disaster, G. K. Morrow asserts: ‘Informed individuals understood when the Third Caliph announced his accession in 2055 and the talk of peace and compromise took on darker undertones, that, sooner or later, there would come a reckoning with the West in general, and Europe in particular’. He goes on, unfairly, to lambast the political and military leaders of NATO member countries for failing to realise the seriousness of the situation and reacting accordingly.

  However illuminating hindsight can be, it is vital for any student of history to consider the context of events: the people who lived through that period had to base their assessments and judgements on the information they had to hand. In all cases bar one, the data were woefully incomplete, and it cannot be the role of posterity to judge the rightness of these individuals’ actions in the light of subsequent knowledge to which they had no access. We are each of us subject to human fallibility, and determine our actions with the information available in the instant we are obliged to cast our decision. Thus it was for those involved in the most brutal conflict Europe had experienced in nearly four centuries.

  In The Rise of the New Persian Caliphate, David Benn attempts to prove the Caliphate’s genesis in the first decades of the twenty-first century; but, again, this is disingenuous.
The final defeat of Daesh in 2020 paradoxically did much to undermine Western credibility, as the campaign had been handled with the utmost political incompetence. Nevertheless, despite the widespread unrest and terrorist outrages of the time, it is no more reasonable to claim the inevitability of the New Persian Caliphate’s rise than it would be to insist that the Treaty of Versailles led directly to the Second World War. In the three decades which preceded the war, there were many personalities who directed events instrumental to the onslaught Europe would eventually suffer. But at no time until the day before the Rape of Turkey could it be claimed that the New Persian Caliphate’s intentions would not adjust to prevailing circumstances. As is well established, the Caliphate chose its moment to attack based on military expediency: superior weaponry and an overwhelming numerical advantage in both arms and warriors.

  Knowledge among the NATO allies of the Caliphate’s armaments programme was at all times subject to intentional obfuscation and faulty intelligence. The Third Caliph found himself in a remarkably fortunate situation: as the first brutal dictator of the new technological era, he utilised scientific advancements to mask the extent of his domain’s industry. For example, thousands of workers in the Caliphate’s military, technology and other key sectors had implants put into their bodies which were geo-sensitive. If the subject strayed more than twenty kilometres outside the borders of the Caliphate, the implant released nano-bots which made their way through the subject’s bloodstream to the heart, where thousands of them bound together to shred the tissue. When rumours of this incentive reached other affected workers, it is little surprise that defectors to the West became more than scarce.