Civil War

Chapter 31

Chapter 31

(March 4, 2027)

In the Western United States, in Ogden, Utah, at Hill Air Force Base, Air Force personnel are watching a series of radar screens. It's not yet sunrise, but a lot of personnel on the base are awake and on duty.

The men are on duty to provide early warning of any US airstrikes inbound to Deseret's territory. Radar sets along Deseret's borders are continually scanning the airspace in bordering states and sending the data back to Hill, watching for any aerial incursions. Spies have confirmed the numbers of US combat aircraft assembling in the neighboring states, and the new country's military leadership knows that it's only a matter of time before the US launches a campaign to reclaim Utah and Idaho. These men are responsible for sending out the order to scramble Deseret's aircraft when any air strike can be detected. There have already been a number of cruise missile strikes over the last few days that have targeted industry and smaller military installations, but no large scale air or missile strikes have been launched as of yet.

As they are watching the screens, the men start to notice dots appearing on their screens, still a fair distance from the border of Deseret, but approaching. As more and more dots continue appearing, the men all look at each other as one says, "I think this is it. Send out the scramble alert."

The men hurry to send out the warning. Within 90 seconds, the information has been confirmed, and an official order has been issued to scramble all aircraft at Hill. Orders are also issued to Mountain Home Air Force Base, Salt Lake International Airport, Gowen Field Air National Guard Base, and St. George Regional Airport (where a handful of fighters had been stationed as a precaution to protect the southern border) to scramble all aircraft possible. All fighters that could be scrambled would be used to fend off the attack, while all other aircraft would simply get off the ground and fly to areas out of the way to try and avoid being shot down.

Most of the fighter pilots are already on alert, and are quickly racing to their aircraft as ground crews race to ready them for takeoff. Although they still have a fair bit of time before any US aircraft or missiles reach their bases, they don't want to risk getting caught on the ground.

Within 8 minutes, the first F-35s and F-15Es take to the skies at Hill and Mountain Home. The first handful of fighters don't stay to wait for any more, and start racing for the borders to head off the incoming US airstrikes as more aircraft are scrambling from the bases.

All along the borders of Deseret, a wave of cruise missiles are racing in towards Deseret. Since the US has almost no bombers left, the cruise missiles are all JASSM cruise missiles dropped from C-17s under the Rapid Dragon weapons program. The cruise missiles are targeted on known radar sites and the runways and hangars at the airfields Deseret is using for its military aircraft. Most of the missiles haven't been picked up by radar and are flying serenely over the landscape towards their targets, with no defenses in their way to shoot them down.

Following on behind them are over 200 fighters, armed to the teeth and ready for battle. Some of them are assigned to hit targets at the airfields not destroyed by the cruise missiles, while the others are to hit other military targets, the Utah Capitol Building, and various bits of infrastructure critical to maintaining Deseret's military. President Davidson had also thought about ordering some of the fighters to destroy the famous LDS temple in Salt Lake as a way to demoralize the Mormon population of Deseret and as a warning to them about defying the government, but his generals talked him out of it by persuading him that destroying the building would have the exact opposite effect and would only generate a lot of anger from not only Deseret, but also Mormons living across the world, and could cause some serious international outcry and generate rebellions by other Mormons living in the US.

The first few flights of Deseret fighters get within missile range of the incoming US fighters, and both sides begin launching air to air missiles at each other. In the opening volley, Deseret loses 4 Strike Eagles, while the US loses 7 fighters.

As a series of air battles begin along Deseret's borders between Deseret fighters and a handful of US fighters, the cruise missiles are beginning to find their targets. In the Salt Lake valley, missiles begin to dive down onto Hill Air Force Base and Salt Lake International Airport, with no air defenses in place to defend against the incoming missiles. Missiles slam into the runways, leaving large craters in the runway and leaving them virtually useless. More missiles slam into hangars, destroying not only the hangars but also a few aircraft left on the ground. Several airliners of foreign airlines that are still on the ground in Salt Lake are destroyed or damaged beyond repair when missiles explode near them. Thankfully, the airliners are all empty, so the only civilian casualties are from a missile that accidentally hits one of the terminals instead of the runway it was supposed to, killing several dozen employees and civilians there for flights. Also, two KC-135s that were not able to take off in time are destroyed on the ground by the wave of cruise missiles.

At the same time, several missiles hit roadways and infrastructure close to the Kennecott Copper Mine. The federal government wanted to hamper Deseret's ability to use the mine for commerce, but didn't want to risk attacking the mine itself and subsequently losing it as a resource after retaking Utah.

As the minutes pass, more missiles hit St. George Regional Airport, Mountain Home Air Force Base, and Gowen Field, cratering the runways and destroying hangars and fuel tanks and more aircraft that were left on the ground. In a matter of minutes, Deseret's air force has been dealt a critical blow to its ability to operate.

However, as the air battles are ongoing between Deseret's fighters and US fighters, the ground campaign is beginning too.

In the south and east, loyalist ground forces are moving into Utah. The 4th Infantry Division has separated into two forces, with one moving to seize the small city of Vernal in north-east Utah, while the other force is heading to seize the small city of Price, with both forces then to move across Utah and through the Rockies to make a pincer assault into Utah Valley within the next 5 days. Meanwhile, more US troops and small forces of mercenaries hired by the US government are crossing into southern Utah, with some forces crossing the Navajo reservation with the intention of seizing Bluff, Monticello and Moab, while the rest are crossing the border west of Page, with the intention of seizing St. George before moving north to rendezvous with the 4th Infantry.

In the south, Deseret has only a handful of troops. A few hundred troops are defending St. George, with the rest of the southern border mostly defended by local militias. And with the Air Force occupied in defending Deseret's airspace, they have no air support.

US ground forces cross into Deseret with no initial resistance. The first ground action occurs when a single battalion of US troops marches into the small town of Kanab in southern Utah, and is met with rifle fire from local armed civilians. However, the militia is hopelessly outnumbered, and the battle ends within 15 minutes, with the US troops taking control of Kanab.

The campaign to return Deseret to the United States, and already, it's not going good for the rebels.