Civil War

Chapter 30

Chapter 30

(February 25, 2027)

As the sun rises over Washington DC, President Davidson heads to the Oval Office for a major meeting with his generals. Today's meeting is going to be an important meeting in regards to the future of the war gripping America.

The last few weeks have seen a dramatic escalation of the crisis. The secession of Utah and Idaho and formation of the Republic of Deseret had only been the beginning. Just a few days later, on February 9th, North and South Dakota had together declared their independence from the US. Despite one of the largest exodus' of loyalists to date coming from the Dakotas following the secession, they had united together into one country, which, after a vote on the subject, had been renamed to the Sioux Nation, in honor of the Native Americans who once lived there.

The Sioux Nation had added an extra layer of complexity to the situation. Except for the few remaining B-2s at Whiteman, and a B-1 and B-52 at Edwards, the Dakotas had been home to the rest of the US' bomber fleet. Following the secession, the Sioux Nation had declared their intention to remain out of the war, and for that reason, sold most of their bombers and other military equipment to Texas, Deseret, and the UAR. The one big exception was the ICBM base at Minot Air Force Base. Sioux had taken full control of the missiles at Minot, and basically announced to the world that although they would be staying out of the war, they would use the missiles under their control to defend themselves if necessary.

This had been a huge game changer for the United States. They had lost almost the entire rest of their bomber force and one third of their ICBMS, with the bombers all ending up in the hands of Texas, the UAR, or Deseret. And the US couldn't risk an attempt to return the Sioux Nation to the Union without a full scale nuclear attack in return. With minimal gain other than regaining the missiles, President Davidson had decided not to make any attempt to launch an attack on the Sioux Nation.

On the political front, things had continued to go downhill. The five countries that had already recognized Texas and the UAR had expanded their recognition to Deseret and Sioux. Israel had finally taken the step of granting recognition to the rebels, giving official diplomatic recognition to Texas, the UAR, Deseret, and Sioux. In addition, two more countries had joined the movement to grant the now four rebel nations official recognition and begin diplomatic relations: Denmark and Tonga. Finally, although there was no official word on it, the CIA had alerted Davidson that they had reason to believe that Saudi Arabia had begun informal relations with Texas. If this was true, it made Texas all the more dangerous.

However, what was one of the most concerning issues for Davidson was happening in the West. There had been a lot of talk in the northern parts of Arizona, parts that were generally regarded as being part of the "Mormon corridor", about seceding from Arizona and joining Deseret. This was seriously concerning for Davidson because, if the sentiment spread and Deseret expanded, it could cut the West Coast off from the rest of the country.

That's what he's called the meeting for today.

Davidson enters the Oval Office to find the Joint Chiefs waiting for him. They all stand to welcome him in, and Davidson waits until he gets to his desk before he tells them to take their seats.

"Gentlemen, I've called you here to discuss advancing plans for the campaign against the so-called Republic of Deseret. You all have heard the reports of people from other states wanting to join Deseret. If this is allowed to continue, it could sever the West Coast from the rest of the country. Our timetable for retaking Utah and Idaho needs to be accelerated," Davidson says in a calm tone. The military had already been planning and preparing for a military campaign to put down the rebellion in Deseret, with units already being moved into position around Deseret, but now Davidson wants it launched much sooner.

"Sir, we are already moving ground units towards Utah and Idaho, but it will take some time to get them into position and ensure supply lines are properly set up," General George, the Army Chief of Staff, answers.

"I understand such things take time, General, but we can't afford to wait much longer. The rebels are getting more popular by the day out there. And despite the size of Utah and Idaho, they have little in the way of ground forces. If we can keep their air force occupied, can this operation be carried out with fewer ground troops?" Davidson responds to the general's comments.

There is quiet for some time before General George responds, "We have the 4th Infantry Division in Colorado that are already moving into position for the operation. Combined with National Guard units from Arizona and units from the 40th Infantry that we have moving into Arizona, along with the mercenaries that have signed on, that should be more than enough to overwhelm the army units in Utah and Idaho. But that depends entirely on being able to overwhelm their air force and keep them from using air strikes to offset that numerical inferiority."

Davidson looks over to General Allvin, the Air Force Chief of Staff, expectantly. General Allvin is quiet for a moment before he responds, "With the location of air bases around Utah and Idaho, we have the bases and logistics chains we need, but it will require the movement of several fighter wings into the region to give us the numbers we'll need to overwhelm the rebels. However, we're already stretched with the aircraft needed in the east to combat the UAR and Texas. If we are going to achieve the numbers required to overwhelm the defenses in Utah and Idaho, I recommend pulling back a fighter wing we have stationed overseas. I recommend either the 8th Fighter Wing in Korea or the 48th Fighter Wing in England."

"Pull back the 8th," Davidson orders after considering the options for a moment.

General Allvin hesitates for a moment, but quickly responds, "Yes, Mr. President."

"Gentlemen, I want this campaign to begin within the next week. I want Deseret dealt with, and soon," Davidson says firmly.

"We can begin moving the first troops into Utah on March 4th," General George says.

"Good. General, I don't want a repeat of the disaster when we tried to take back Texas. I want our troops in Salt Lake City as soon as possible, and then on to Boise by the end of March," Davidson orders.

General George nods, but he also knows it won't be as easy as Davidson expects. Even though Deseret has no armor in their army and little artillery, the vast number of armed civilians, combined with the geography of Utah, is going to make the ground assault more difficult than would appear at first glance. The question is really if the Air Force can do its job to keep the casualties from getting too high.