“I married a German. Every night I dress up as Poland and he invades me.” - Betty Midler
From Author: I am really proud of this story, and its a huge short story bordering on a novella. Its chaotic and jumps around a lot, but that is intended. The European Union's fight in WWIII is a large and complicated one which this story attempts to shed light on. Many more future stories set in the European Union will be coming in the future. 29102010.
Shattered Citadel: Die Wacht am Rhein
Germany, European Union, Earth [Sol] 15072062
They dug into the hard earth with their shovels, digging trenches and fighting holes that would be vital to the defense of Europe. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers from every remaining E.U. member gathered between Hamburg and the Harz mountains. They were reinforcing the western banks of the Elbe river for the inevitable battle with the Hegemony invasion force. It was all part of “Plan Europa,” a series of last stands, tactical retreats, and defensive lines that was modeled after the American defense of their homeland and the old NATO defense plans against the Soviet Union. Plan Europa was set into motion immediately after the Communist Federated Republics invaded the eastern nations of the European Union. The Holy Islamic Empire joined the war soon after against the E.U., they invaded all along the tip of the Italian boot, and up from their holdings in the Balkans. Although the E.U. refused to join the war against the Hegemony and chose to stay neutral in the world war, they now found themselves facing the vast armies of the Hegemony.
Since the war began, a few E.U. nations studied the war abroad intensively, sending combat volunteers and “advisers” to assist the Allies in secret. Those advisers took note of the many failings of America as it attempted to defend itself. Their Intel proved vital in creating Plan Europa and spurred a few E.U. nations to modernize and mobilize their armed forces. Some went from having glorified police forces to real profession armies in under five years. Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Poland, and the United Kingdom did this all in secret and soon found themselves the only real E.U. nations capable of even slowing the Hegemony behemoth down. Plan Europa took the weaknesses of the European Union into account, and the E.U. had many of them. An aging population, members with weak or non-existent armed forces, homegrown Islamic populations in full revolt, and weapon platforms still in use that dated back from early in the century. Plan Europa would make the war a defensive one, along lines of defense that heavily favored the E.U. and saved as much of Europe's agricultural, manufacturing, and population centers as tactically possible.
“Leave it up to the Germans to come up with this bullshit plan.” A Greek soldier said as he wiped sweat from his brow. Taking a break from shoveling to light up a cigarette.
“At least its a plan. Much better then the what the Yanks had.” A British soldier said as he took a swig from his canteen and went back to work.
“Don't get me started on those pussies. Just three hundred Greeks held back all of Asia for three days at Thermopylae.” The Greek soldiers eyes lite up with pride at the though. He took in a big puff and let out a large smoke ring into the air.
“Cantos that was a thousand years ago, besides Greece didn't fare any better against the Hegemony then the Yanks. Didn't it fall in like twelve hours?” The same Brit from before said as he took another swig from his canteen.
“Eighteen.”
“What?”
“Eighteen hours. That's how long it took for those sonsofbitches to overrun Greece. That's only because it wasn't part of the plan to hold Greece. What was the phrase those Nazis used, 'Greece was tactically and strategically insignificant.'” Cantos spit on the ground and said something in Greek that was almost certainly an expletive.
“Well the Germans aren't exactly coming out of this without making sacrifices. They've abandoned Berlin and most of Eastern Germany. Not to mention that they've sacrificed entire divisions in strategic delaying actions throughout Poland.” The Brit said as he dropped his shovel and joined his Greek comrade in arms in a smoke.
“Those goose-stepping sauerkraut eaters only abandoned Berlin as a bribe, because they hope that by just giving it to them that they won't raze it to the ground.” Cantos tossed his cigarette to the ground and started marching around imitating a Nazi soldier to roaring laughter from the other Europeans. “We are Teutonic cowards, sieg hail!”
A pair of Germans shoveling not to far from them finally became agitated by the Greek soldier's insults and threw their shovels into the ground. They rushed him in mid Nazi salute and punched him squarely in the face. Blood spurted out of his nose as he staggered backwards into the trench he was digging. “Schwanzlutscher!” One of the Germans yelled as he jumped into the trench after him. The other Europeans stopped laughing and looked around dumbfounded at the suddenness of the attack.
“Bloody hell.” The Brit who was talking to the Greek before, tossed his cigarette and jumped in the trench to help his new friend who was now being pummeled by two burly Germans. The other Europeans jumped down into the trench and soon an all out brawl broke out as more Germans joined the fray from another dig site. The newly dug trench was now filled with dozens of soldiers from just as many nations slugging it out with bare fists and shovels. At first it was the Germans verses the rest of Europe, but that broke down into a full out “every man for himself” melee.
A long burst of machine gun fire shot over the trench as the soldiers of Europe fought amongst themselves. “What the fuck is the matter with all of you?” A man stood above them all at the edge of the trench, his blue armor bore the insignia of the house of Windsor. His red hair peeking from under his sky blue beret. He was unarmed, but the men flanking him, his personal body guard, were heavily armed and now had their weapons trained on the men in the trench. The men in the trench immediately stopped fighting amongst themselves, they stared up at the man with a mixture of starstruck awe and fear. “Everyone here needs to get back to work. While you waste time, thousands of Europeans are dying in Potsdam trying to delay the Hegemony advance so we can finish our defenses. Have you no shame?” He turned away from the men in the trench with a look of disgust in his face and continued down the line.
A long silence filled the trench when one of the men, a Pole, spoke out in heavily accented English, “Can you believe that shit? Its actually him.”
“Why's he here?” The Brit from before said as he tended to the broken nose of his Greek comrade. “It fills me with pride to see him here with us. This must be big. Lets get back to work.” The other men nodded and returned back to work.
Steinernen Saal HQ, The Hamburg Line, Germany, European Union, Earth [Sol] 17072062
They sat around a small table surrounded by staff officers and large maps of Europe. Those men and women sitting in the table represented the major generals of the European Union. All the seats were occupied except one, they sat and waited for the last person to arrive. The door to the room opened and the sentries saluted the man as he passed them and took his seat in the table. He took off his sky blue beret and wiped the sweat from his brow. “The Hamburg Line is completed well ahead of schedule.”
“Good thing, our spies within the CFR say that they are planning their big push within the next seventy-two hours.” An Ejército de Tierra Spanish General said as he passed out red folders to each person in the table. “Were learning from our engagements with the Hegemony. Plan Europa was based on American military equipment since our advisers in America had to use them, but now that we are actually using European weapon platforms we've had to make some changes to the plan. Some weapons work far better then others against the CFR war machines such as the Swedish RBS 90 Missile System. The Australian Metal Storm weapons system is also quite effective against the Islamist hordes, but we don't seem to have enough to go around. The vast number of different weapons used by each European nation has also caused major problems with ammunition.”
“That shouldn't be much of a problem, Germany has the plans to the Metal Storm system and were making dozens of them with each passing hour. Were also making hundreds of thousands of MP7A4's and their ammunition. It will fulfill the requirement for a standard rifle for all of the European Union.” The German Bundeswehr General said to nods of approval from the other people in the table.
“How long until we can get those rifles, ammunition and metal storms?” The Spaniard asked.
“Assuming we continue to get raw materials from Scandinavia, maybe a week.” The German replied with a smile on his face.
“The supply line cannot be cut, as long as we hold the ports of northern France.” The Norwegian Admiral paused then continued, “As we speak were stockpiling millions of tons of ammunition, food, war materials and medicine from all over the E.U. in northern France. It should supply the Hamburg Line for years to come.”
“That sounds dangerous to stockpile all of that in one place.” The Spaniard said out loud.
“We have other smaller stockpiles in Spain, the United Kingdom and Norway. As a backup.” The Norwegian Admiral said in attempt to relieve his comrades fears. “France is secure, the Hegemony hasn't even attempted to attack the Grenoble line.”
“That's odd. So the Holy Islamic Empire swept across southern Europe with little trouble and suddenly decided not to hit France?” The German said clearly angry. “Germany is being ravaged and the French don't even get one artillery bombardment?!”
“Well I've spoken with the French Commander and he pretty much said that the Hegemony is afraid to take on France.” The red headed Brit said as he rolled his eyes.
“Well then if the French aren't being attacked, then they could spare thousands of soldiers and armored vehicles to help us here in Germany.” The German said as he pointed to the Hamburg Line on the map of Europe overlooking them. “It makes me sick that they only sent 25,000 Legionnaires to support the Hamburg Line.”
“The French do make up the bulk of the Grenoble Line, they have a legitimate reason not to send more then they did.” The British Commander pointed out.
“Ich traue den Franzosen nicht,” the German said under his breath.
From Author: I am really proud of this story, and its a huge short story bordering on a novella. Its chaotic and jumps around a lot, but that is intended. The European Union's fight in WWIII is a large and complicated one which this story attempts to shed light on. Many more future stories set in the European Union will be coming in the future. 29102010.
Shattered Citadel: Die Wacht am Rhein
Germany, European Union, Earth [Sol] 15072062
They dug into the hard earth with their shovels, digging trenches and fighting holes that would be vital to the defense of Europe. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers from every remaining E.U. member gathered between Hamburg and the Harz mountains. They were reinforcing the western banks of the Elbe river for the inevitable battle with the Hegemony invasion force. It was all part of “Plan Europa,” a series of last stands, tactical retreats, and defensive lines that was modeled after the American defense of their homeland and the old NATO defense plans against the Soviet Union. Plan Europa was set into motion immediately after the Communist Federated Republics invaded the eastern nations of the European Union. The Holy Islamic Empire joined the war soon after against the E.U., they invaded all along the tip of the Italian boot, and up from their holdings in the Balkans. Although the E.U. refused to join the war against the Hegemony and chose to stay neutral in the world war, they now found themselves facing the vast armies of the Hegemony.
Since the war began, a few E.U. nations studied the war abroad intensively, sending combat volunteers and “advisers” to assist the Allies in secret. Those advisers took note of the many failings of America as it attempted to defend itself. Their Intel proved vital in creating Plan Europa and spurred a few E.U. nations to modernize and mobilize their armed forces. Some went from having glorified police forces to real profession armies in under five years. Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Poland, and the United Kingdom did this all in secret and soon found themselves the only real E.U. nations capable of even slowing the Hegemony behemoth down. Plan Europa took the weaknesses of the European Union into account, and the E.U. had many of them. An aging population, members with weak or non-existent armed forces, homegrown Islamic populations in full revolt, and weapon platforms still in use that dated back from early in the century. Plan Europa would make the war a defensive one, along lines of defense that heavily favored the E.U. and saved as much of Europe's agricultural, manufacturing, and population centers as tactically possible.
“Leave it up to the Germans to come up with this bullshit plan.” A Greek soldier said as he wiped sweat from his brow. Taking a break from shoveling to light up a cigarette.
“At least its a plan. Much better then the what the Yanks had.” A British soldier said as he took a swig from his canteen and went back to work.
“Don't get me started on those pussies. Just three hundred Greeks held back all of Asia for three days at Thermopylae.” The Greek soldiers eyes lite up with pride at the though. He took in a big puff and let out a large smoke ring into the air.
“Cantos that was a thousand years ago, besides Greece didn't fare any better against the Hegemony then the Yanks. Didn't it fall in like twelve hours?” The same Brit from before said as he took another swig from his canteen.
“Eighteen.”
“What?”
“Eighteen hours. That's how long it took for those sonsofbitches to overrun Greece. That's only because it wasn't part of the plan to hold Greece. What was the phrase those Nazis used, 'Greece was tactically and strategically insignificant.'” Cantos spit on the ground and said something in Greek that was almost certainly an expletive.
“Well the Germans aren't exactly coming out of this without making sacrifices. They've abandoned Berlin and most of Eastern Germany. Not to mention that they've sacrificed entire divisions in strategic delaying actions throughout Poland.” The Brit said as he dropped his shovel and joined his Greek comrade in arms in a smoke.
“Those goose-stepping sauerkraut eaters only abandoned Berlin as a bribe, because they hope that by just giving it to them that they won't raze it to the ground.” Cantos tossed his cigarette to the ground and started marching around imitating a Nazi soldier to roaring laughter from the other Europeans. “We are Teutonic cowards, sieg hail!”
A pair of Germans shoveling not to far from them finally became agitated by the Greek soldier's insults and threw their shovels into the ground. They rushed him in mid Nazi salute and punched him squarely in the face. Blood spurted out of his nose as he staggered backwards into the trench he was digging. “Schwanzlutscher!” One of the Germans yelled as he jumped into the trench after him. The other Europeans stopped laughing and looked around dumbfounded at the suddenness of the attack.
“Bloody hell.” The Brit who was talking to the Greek before, tossed his cigarette and jumped in the trench to help his new friend who was now being pummeled by two burly Germans. The other Europeans jumped down into the trench and soon an all out brawl broke out as more Germans joined the fray from another dig site. The newly dug trench was now filled with dozens of soldiers from just as many nations slugging it out with bare fists and shovels. At first it was the Germans verses the rest of Europe, but that broke down into a full out “every man for himself” melee.
A long burst of machine gun fire shot over the trench as the soldiers of Europe fought amongst themselves. “What the fuck is the matter with all of you?” A man stood above them all at the edge of the trench, his blue armor bore the insignia of the house of Windsor. His red hair peeking from under his sky blue beret. He was unarmed, but the men flanking him, his personal body guard, were heavily armed and now had their weapons trained on the men in the trench. The men in the trench immediately stopped fighting amongst themselves, they stared up at the man with a mixture of starstruck awe and fear. “Everyone here needs to get back to work. While you waste time, thousands of Europeans are dying in Potsdam trying to delay the Hegemony advance so we can finish our defenses. Have you no shame?” He turned away from the men in the trench with a look of disgust in his face and continued down the line.
A long silence filled the trench when one of the men, a Pole, spoke out in heavily accented English, “Can you believe that shit? Its actually him.”
“Why's he here?” The Brit from before said as he tended to the broken nose of his Greek comrade. “It fills me with pride to see him here with us. This must be big. Lets get back to work.” The other men nodded and returned back to work.
Steinernen Saal HQ, The Hamburg Line, Germany, European Union, Earth [Sol] 17072062
They sat around a small table surrounded by staff officers and large maps of Europe. Those men and women sitting in the table represented the major generals of the European Union. All the seats were occupied except one, they sat and waited for the last person to arrive. The door to the room opened and the sentries saluted the man as he passed them and took his seat in the table. He took off his sky blue beret and wiped the sweat from his brow. “The Hamburg Line is completed well ahead of schedule.”
“Good thing, our spies within the CFR say that they are planning their big push within the next seventy-two hours.” An Ejército de Tierra Spanish General said as he passed out red folders to each person in the table. “Were learning from our engagements with the Hegemony. Plan Europa was based on American military equipment since our advisers in America had to use them, but now that we are actually using European weapon platforms we've had to make some changes to the plan. Some weapons work far better then others against the CFR war machines such as the Swedish RBS 90 Missile System. The Australian Metal Storm weapons system is also quite effective against the Islamist hordes, but we don't seem to have enough to go around. The vast number of different weapons used by each European nation has also caused major problems with ammunition.”
“That shouldn't be much of a problem, Germany has the plans to the Metal Storm system and were making dozens of them with each passing hour. Were also making hundreds of thousands of MP7A4's and their ammunition. It will fulfill the requirement for a standard rifle for all of the European Union.” The German Bundeswehr General said to nods of approval from the other people in the table.
“How long until we can get those rifles, ammunition and metal storms?” The Spaniard asked.
“Assuming we continue to get raw materials from Scandinavia, maybe a week.” The German replied with a smile on his face.
“The supply line cannot be cut, as long as we hold the ports of northern France.” The Norwegian Admiral paused then continued, “As we speak were stockpiling millions of tons of ammunition, food, war materials and medicine from all over the E.U. in northern France. It should supply the Hamburg Line for years to come.”
“That sounds dangerous to stockpile all of that in one place.” The Spaniard said out loud.
“We have other smaller stockpiles in Spain, the United Kingdom and Norway. As a backup.” The Norwegian Admiral said in attempt to relieve his comrades fears. “France is secure, the Hegemony hasn't even attempted to attack the Grenoble line.”
“That's odd. So the Holy Islamic Empire swept across southern Europe with little trouble and suddenly decided not to hit France?” The German said clearly angry. “Germany is being ravaged and the French don't even get one artillery bombardment?!”
“Well I've spoken with the French Commander and he pretty much said that the Hegemony is afraid to take on France.” The red headed Brit said as he rolled his eyes.
“Well then if the French aren't being attacked, then they could spare thousands of soldiers and armored vehicles to help us here in Germany.” The German said as he pointed to the Hamburg Line on the map of Europe overlooking them. “It makes me sick that they only sent 25,000 Legionnaires to support the Hamburg Line.”
“The French do make up the bulk of the Grenoble Line, they have a legitimate reason not to send more then they did.” The British Commander pointed out.
“Ich traue den Franzosen nicht,” the German said under his breath.
HEGEMONY PLA
Special Task Force
Armor Type 2
"Gene Jack"
Special Task Force
Armor Type 2
"Gene Jack"
1
The Hamburg Line, Germany, European Union, Earth [Sol] 18072062
“What did you see Obergefreiter?” The Hauptmann asked his returning scout from the top of his Leopard 4 tank. The tank was one of the largest in the world, its black and gray angular armor stood almost two stories. It was equipped with dual nuclear powered 77mm pulse cannons on its turret that could disintegrate any armored vehicle currently fielded by any army and it had three automated .50 cal machine guns that was capable of accurately determining friend from foe and killing them. The automated systems allowed the Germans to man the Leopard 4 with only two crew members who focused only on running and gunning. Which it did with deadly precision, it could easily hit moving targets while zooming across at its full speed of 145 kpm. The tank also had numerous counter anti-tank technology, including EUSTAR Anti-Air missiles, smart flares, sheddable outer armor plates, and special armor coating that made it invisible to most forms of tracking systems. The Leopard 4 was the pinnacle of European military technology and the pride of Germany. Its very presence inspired awe and terror from the European troops from the other EU nations who had seen nothing like it. The Germans had created the Leopard 4 in secret and only unveiled the terrifying weapon of war when the Hegemony crossed into Germany itself where it proved extremely effective against the enemy. The only weakness of the Leopard 4 was that there weren't enough of them to make a big dent in the invasion. The Germans concentrated what Leopard 4's they had along the Hamburg Line where it could supplement the defense and do the most damage to the enemy.
“The enemy is assembling just beyond the range of our weapons. Hundreds of thousands of them. War machines, tanks, walkers, and ground troops.”
“Thank you Obergefreiter.” The Hauptmann slid down back into the inner compartment of his battle tank and sent out a transmission to Steinernen Saal, “Hauptmann Meier, 12th Armoured. We have enemy movement all along our section. I understand. Were moving into position.” The two story tank Hauptmann Meier was in rolled forward and then swirled hard to the south without any effort, its massive pulse cannons pointing towards the sky. Other Leopard 4's followed close behind in a staggered formation, heading down south to an unknown location.
Bunker 224, Germany, European Union, Earth [Sol] 20072062
“How long do they expect us to stay at full alert? Its been thirty-two hours.” The Danish Marine said with a yawn. He took a sip from his coffee mug and went back to scanning the horizon with his machine gun. He had a complete view of the “no mans land” in front of his bunkers position. The hastily built defensive line stretched from Hamburg to the Harz mountains, it had become a long line of trenches and support trenches with thousands of concrete pillboxes and reinforced bunkers along the full length of the line. These bunkers and pill boxes had interlocking zones of fire and were perfect rangefinders for the artillery support far to the rear of the Hamburg Line.
“As long as EUFOR COM thinks its necessary. Some German scouts claim the Hegemony was on the verge of attacking, troops amassing, walkers with their gun ports open, the Hegemony even shelled the line for a short time. Then nothing. No movement.” A British Royal Marine said in between bites of his cold fish sandwich.
“Why the hold up?” The Dane asked out loud.
“I think the Hegemony is spooked.” A Swedish soldier said without looking up from cleaning his rifle.
“Bullocks, the Hegemony spooked?” The Brit said holding back laughter.
“Just look at the Oslo Line. The Hegemony attacked and got slaughtered. They are probably rethinking their strategy. The Hamburg Line is four times larger then the Oslo Line and better equipped. They can't just attack us head long like at Oslo and there is no way around the defensive lines. Face it, we got them by the balls.” The men in the bunker roared with laughter and the Swed looked up and smiled.
“Well, this plan could actually work.” The Dane said to himself as he looked down into the “no mans land” with his machine gun. He knew that just beyond the horizon, across the Elba were millions of enemy soldiers. Just waiting. Plotting to kill them all. Only him and a few hundred thousand European soldiers stood between the Hegemony and his beautiful homeland. He shuddered at the thought and took another sip from his coffee mug.
Trench 217, Germany, European Union, Earth [Sol] 22072062
“Those sonsofbitches!” The Italian soldier tossed the newspaper across the small pillbox in disgust. A French Foreign Legionnaire picked it up and tried to read it.
“I can't read this shit. Its in Italian.” The French Legionnaire said slightly irritated.
“Those fucking goat rapers killed the Pope! God rest his soul!” The Italian said almost in tears.
“No shit?”
“I can't wait for them to come, I'm going to send them straight to hell!” The Italian said with his face red with rage.
“Guys shut up! You hear that?” An Estonian manning the machine gun said in a spooked tone.
“Hear what?!” The Italian shouted, the other Europeans gave him the international “shut up” sign and they all listened in silence for a sound. Any sound. After ten long minutes, they all began to laugh nervously to each other. “Well the thermo and motion detectors would have picked something up if it was the enemy.”
“Well I heard something.” The Estonian said mildly frustrated.
The Legionnaire stuck his arm outside of the pillbox armed with a flare gun and shot a flare into the night sky. It drifted down slowly and filled the entire area with a harsh red light. “There's nothing out there,” the Frenchman said to reassure the other men inside the pillbox.
“Are flares supposed to do that?” The Estonian said pointing towards the flare. They all turned to face the flare which was still burning and hovering in midair. The Estonian unleashed a long salvo from his machine gun towards the gravity defying flare and he heard the grotesque sound of metal ripping through bone and flesh. A cold chill swept the pillbox as suddenly a whole group of Islamist soldiers and a hulking CFR war machine materialized out of nowhere. The CFR machine raised its massive form to full height, shaking the flare off its metal body and released a single missile from its shoulder. The missile reached the pillbox before the men inside could respond. It detonated. Crushing the men inside and then burning their remains to ash in less then a tenth of a second.
Trench 87, Germany, European Union, Earth [Sol] 24072062
“Los Los Los!” The German tossed a grenade to his countryman who caught it in his hands and rushed up out of the trench. The Islamist soldiers raised their rifles to shoot him but the other Germans in the trench shot them down before they could. The Germans ran across the open moon cratered field and slapped the grenade on the leg of the CFR walker. The grenade latched against the metal using a powerful magnet and exploded. Its leg disintegrated and it fell over on its side. It kicked helplessly on the ground with one leg and shot blindly towards the trench. The German who had planted the grenade jumped back into the safety of the trench as his countrymen cheered.
The CFR walker was still a threat to the Europeans, its missile ports opened readying to fire. Just as the downed CFR walker was about to blow the Europeans to kingdom come, it exploded into a heap of molten metal. More massive explosions tore apart the advancing Hegemony troops, out of the European rear came the black silhouette of German tanks. The platoon of the Leopard 4's rained death on the invaders until they turned tail and retreated in a disorganized mob. The Germans made short work of the fleeing enemy soldiers, completely wiping out the attackers with artillery, cannon blasts, and small arms fire.
A stunned silence filled the trench. Only the heavy screech of German tanks moving into position could be heard. Suddenly the trench filled with jubilant singing as one man spontaneously broke out into “Die Wacht am Rhein.” The other Germans in the trenches joined in and soon even the non-German speakers were attempting to sing or even hum along to the catchy patriotic tune. Their voices echoed across the war torn “no man's line,” the groans of their dying enemies and the small explosions of unspent ammunition catching fire was completely overwhelmed by the voices of Europe singing in unison.
Steinernen Saal HQ, The Hamburg Line, Germany, European Union, Earth [Sol] 27072062
“Two major attacks on the Hamburg Line by the Hegemony and both have been disastrous defeats for the Hegemony. EUFOR estimates put their casualties around 500,000 dead or wounded on the Hamburg Line. The Oslo Line report nearly the same numbers. If we keep this up gentlemen the Hegemony will be begging for an Armistice by Christmas.” The Spanish Ejército de Tierra General said with a wide smile on his face.
“Armistice?! Never! We will fight them off of European soil and then take the war to them. We will liberate America, all of Earth and then the colonies!” The German Bundeswehr General said slamming his fists on the table.
“Fuck America!” The Spaniard said with scorn in his voice. “This is their war, not ours!”
The German stood up and flipped the table they were all sitting on. He moved towards the Spaniard and punched him in the gut. The Spaniard fell on his knees and quickly recovered, giving the German a swift jab to the genitals. The German staggered back and fell on top of the Spaniard. Both traded blows as the other senior European military leaders in the room pulled them off of one another. The British Commander stood before both of them and shook his head, he tossed his sky blue beret into the ground and immediately tore into them. “You two need to calm the bloody fuck down, what if the men saw this? Its hard enough keeping them all fighting together as one European army. The Yanks have nothing to do with this war, the Hegemony invaded us even with our neutrality. Like it or not the Yanks are ALLIES!”
The German and Spaniard were released from the holds of the other senior military leaders and straightened their uniforms. Both awkwardly nodded to each other and shook hands. The door to their room opened and a man was ushered in by the sentries at the door. He saluted the European military leaders in the room and began to speak, “Obergefreiter Bohm, 1st Eurocorps. You are all going to want to see this.” The young soldier took out a small disc from his uniforms trouser pocket and inserted it into the large flat screen hanging on one of the walls of the command room and left. The screen changed from a display of the map of Europe to the familiar face of the French president who was making a speech in french. He stood on a podium flanked by dozens of French flags and senior French military leaders. They immediately recognized the place where he spoke to be the ancient Palace of Versailles in the outskirts of Paris.
“I don't understand French, anyone know what he's saying?” The Norwegian Admiral said completely confused by the video.
“The French Republic must make a stand,” the British Commander said out loud. Translating the words of the French president as he spoke. “France must make a stand for peace. Even in the darkest of times. Peace can be had. France in its long proud history has always fought for liberty, equality and fraternity and today it is no different. Yet, France has never fought other people's war and will not do so now. We refuse to participate in another world war, especially one not of our creation, one against people we have no quarrel with.” The men in the command room looked at each other in disbelief as the Brit continued translating, “France will no longer participate in this unnecessary war and effective immediately will withdraw our forces from the war and become neutral. We ask that all like minded European nations join us in this peace.” The Europeans in the room cried out in anger.
“Hartgeldstricher! ARSCHKRIECHER!!!” the German shook violently in a blind rage and kicked his seat across the room. The other Europeans didn't mind, they were also yelling at the flat screen and tossing the worst insults in their native tongues towards the image of the French president.
“When the fuck were the French planning to tell us this?” The Norwegian Admiral asked out loud. “How long was this going on behind our backs?”
“Look!” The British Commander pointed back towards the flat screen and the entire command room became deathly silent as the French president left the podium and the camera panned outwards to reveal the leaders of the Holy Islamic Empire and the Communist Federated Republics sitting behind him in the dark. They stood up and warmly greeted the Frenchman with a handshake. The CFR Chairman removed a large leather bound book from his briefcase which the French president signed in six different pens. Each time he signed the book he would distribute the pen to one of his loyal generals in an elaborate photo-op ceremony. The head of the Holy Islamic Empire reached the podium and began to speak in a harsh metallic Arabic, his blue turban and black robe did little to take away the attention from his deformed face. His entire lower jaw was missing and was replaced by a jagged mechanical jaw that made him look more snake then human. His nose was caved inwards and his left eye was completely white and possibly blind. The man's very presence brought an audible gasp from the French press and heads of government, not just from his deformed face but also fear since he was well known the world over as a dyed in the wool killer. The screen went dark and the Europeans stood together in stunned silence.
“I say we nuke Paris. Kill all of those pantoffelhelds in one fell swoop.” The German said with a devilish grin on face.
“You know we can't do that. The fallout will contaminate other European nations and it could give the Hegemony a reason to use them against us. We only have a few dozen working nuclear missiles.” The British Commander said as he brushed off the dirt on his sky blue beret.
“The Hegemony can't possibly have any more nukes left, not after they nuked America back into the stone age.” The Norwegian pointed out.
“Do any of us know that for certain?” The Brit looked at the other men in the room and they all shook their heads. “We can't risk it. Besides, we don't know when this video was made. The leaders of the Hegemony could be safe back in Mecca and Moscow by now.”
“Well this explains a lot.” The Spaniard said as he bit his lower lip. “The French not being attacked along the Grenoble Line by the Hegemony, but there's something else. Something that didn't look at all suspicious at the time, but were... in... trouble.” The Spaniard dropped his head in shame and tried hard not to cry.
“What is it man? Spit it out!” The British Commander demanded.
“Our satellites have been picking up hundreds of ships ferrying people and vehicles back and forth from Northern Africa to Southern France for the last week.” The Spaniard said.
“Why wasn't I told?” The Brit said clearly angry.
“The French told us they were evacuating ex-pats, French troops and refugees from Africa. We took them for their word!” The Spaniard dropped to his knees and began begging for forgiveness in Spanish.
“So we may have hundreds of thousands of enemy soldiers and vehicles in France... possibly rushing north to seize our stockpile and flank our rear.” The red headed Brit stared at the large battle map of Europe and realized a cold hard truth, that their lifesaving plan was now dead. Along with possibly hundreds of thousands of European soldiers and god only knew how many civilians trapped between them and the Hegemony rushing up their rear from France. The Hamburg Line was designed only for frontal and flanking assaults, it had little to no defenses in its rear. Only support structures and artillery. The other Lines of defense were designed to do the same thing and were strategically placed around choke points in Europe to prevent the Hegemony from ever getting around them and attacking their rears. Now the Grenoble line to the south was gone and possibly millions of the enemy were crossing it unharmed. “We need to evacuate as many civilians, troops, and material to the British Isles and Scandinavia as possible. Every boat in the EU we can find a crew for must participate. We also need a new plan.” He pointed towards the German and gave him a respectful nod.
“This complicates things.” The German General said to himself.
Bunker 279, Germany, European Union, Earth [Sol] 04082062
“I fucking hate the French so damn much. Whats left in the food crate?” The Dutch soldier said as he smoked the last cigarette he had.
“Do you really want to know?” The Polish soldier asked.
“Yah, I'm hungry.” The Dutchman said in a whiny voice.
“We have to ration the food, our supply lines are cut and God only knows whens the next time were going to get more.” The Pole replied.
“I just want to fucking know what's left.” The Dutchman said as he looked out of the bunker into “No Man's Land,” with his machine gun. The Dutchman's long hair and pudgy face was normal for the Royal Netherlands Army, the only unionize military force in the world. The Dutch military had attempted to convert from a compulsory military service to a professional military force early in the century, but its union represented by the AFMP had blocked most measures that would make it an effective military force. The Dutch army was nothing more then a civilian club equipped with guns and the occasional light armor. The Dutch army was dispersed across the entire length of the line in an attempt to dilute their lack of discipline and training with other far more superior European forces. The Dutch were the only participating European national army along the Hamburg line without their own area of control and defense. The only element of the Dutch military that was of any real use to EUFOR was the Korps Commandotroepen, the special forces of the Netherlands which was behind enemy lines on a mission of sabotage and guerrilla warfare.
“Well there's about eight EUFOR ration packs and a whole unopened box of American MRE's.”
The Dutchman grimaced in disgust and said “MRE's? I'd rather starve.”
Amsterdam, Netherlands, European Union, Earth [Sol] 08082062
A loud explosion echoed across the ancient cobber stone streets as the locals ran in a panic away from the source of the blast. Hundreds of European soldiers pushed their way through the stampeding crowd and set up their heavy weapons along the now empty streets and shattered windows. They were setting up an ambush for the incoming enemy troops less then a mile away in the Amsterdam borough of Nieuw-West. These European troops had volunteered to stay behind and delay the invasion for as long as they could, just behind them stood the great docks of Oost, Amsterdam. Where hundreds of thousands of civilians and soldiers were being evacuated by sea to the relative safety of the British Isles and Scandinavia. These soldiers who had elected to stay behind knew that it was a suicide mission, but they felt honor bound to fight. Their country had betrayed the Legion's honor and the people of Europe by surrendering to the enemy and getting in league with them.
The last few stragglers passed the Legionnaire's entrenched positions in Centrum and an awkward silence descended in the once vibrant center of the ancient European city. The Legionnaire's waited anxiously for the enemy to walk into their ambushes, but the enemy was nowhere in sight. They could be heard far off into the distance, the sound of thousands of hard boots crushing the cobble stone underfoot and the unmistakable sound of metallic monsters jerking into position. A booming voice filled the entire area where the Legionnaire's had built their defenses, the voice spoke to them in French and the Legionnaire's instantly recognized it as their Général de Brigade. Their leader and commander of the entire French Foreign Legion. “Legionnaires, your fellow countrymen may have abandoned the cause of liberty and forsaken the honor of France for a sham peace, but we have not abandoned the cause. We will make our stand here, and die here defending this last free port of Europe. So great will our stand be, so great our sacrifice that history will redeem France's honor. History will note that the Legion stood and fought to the last man at Amsterdam. This will be our modern day Battle of Camarón, the battle future Legionnaire's will sing about. Even though the entire Legion is arrayed here in defense of the ports of Amsterdam, and should we all die... the Legion will live on. Others will take our blood soaked banner and carry it forth with pride. Legio Irus Actica!” The Legionnaire's listened to their commander's speech in silence and their hearts swelled with pride. None of them cheered or made any sound that would betray their presence to the enemy, but they were motivated and anxious to prove themselves.
The first Hegemony soldier approached Centrum Amsterdam with a white flag, he wore the characteristic gray and brown armor of the the Communist Federated Republics. The CFR soldier was unarmed and walked briskly down the cobble stone streets making a thunderous sound with each of his heavy steps. He stopped and removed his helmet, he looked around the deceptively empty streets of Amsterdam and spoke in impeccable French. “Surrender and we will spare you. Just like your fellow countrymen took our offer and now live in peace.” The CFR soldier repeated his message and got no response back. He became angry and his message became more threatening, “Surrender now or you will die!” The CFR soldier received his reply from the Legion when suddenly his head exploded from a snipers bullet. The streets of Centrum Amsterdam immediately exploded in a deadly rain of artillery shells from the Hegemony as a reaction to their emissaries death.
Steinernen Saal HQ, The Hamburg Line, Germany, European Union, Earth [Sol] 10082062
The lights flickered in the command room of the Hamburg Line with each artillery shell that exploded just above them. The staff officers were hurrying around the room destroying documents and sealing what ever they felt they could save into metal boxes for further transport. The walls were completely stripped of every map, projector and chart. Only a single European Union flag remained pegged up on the bare bunker walls. The senior military leaders of the European Union gathered around the central table of the command room and sat down for one last meeting together.
“I'm sorry about your brother, he was a good man.” The German General looked across the table towards the red headed British commander and continued, “We weren't able to recover the body in time from behind Hegemony lines. This was all that was left.” The German placed a torn black satchel on the table and slid it towards the Brit.
The British commander stared at the satchel for a moment and opened it. He reached in and pulled out a burnt seal of the House of Windsor. Under the seal were other personal items such as a picture of their mother who had died tragically young sixty five years before. His eyes began to tear up, but he pushed his emotions aside and became hard faced again. “I will mourn my brother another time.” He closed the satchel and continued speaking, “You all have your assignments now, the Hamburg Line is completely surrounded and it is imperative you all leave as soon as you can. All of the arrangements have been made. General Castillo I need you to head back to Spain immediately and help get the Barcelona Line ready for a long struggle. We need a base on mainland Europe from which one day, God willing, we will retake Europe.” The British commander got a respectful nod from the Spanish General as he left the room for his transport.“Admiral Strøm I need you to head back to Scandinavia and coordinate with Norway, Sweden and Free Finland to keep the sea lanes open and the raw materials flowing into the Iberian peninsula and the British Isles. You'd be getting the full support of every allied ship in Europe.” The Norwegian Admiral said nothing, but saluted the Brit and German as he left the table. “Herrmann, my old friend. I need you to go to Britain and take command of EUFOR and the divisions of German soldiers we were able to extract from Amsterdam. The German elements alone number 250,000 strong and were going to need the most capable man to lead it.”
The German General stared at the Brit and shook his head. “What about you? You aren't staying here are you?”
“Someone has to stay.” The red headed Brit said in a monotonous voice.
“I know, that someone should be me.” The German said pointing to himself.
“Europe needs your strategical genius. Plan Europa was your brain child. The new plan, Plan Hochwasser is doing a remarkable job in saving whats left of Europe from the French double cross.”
The German eyed his friend suspiciously and stood up from his seat. The German saluted and as he left the room he said out loud, “Do not add to the darkness of our calamity by a Kings death. Without that we have caused enough for tears.”
The Brit watched as his friend left and stood up in the now empty room with the black satchel in his hand. He stared at the lonely European Union flag and carefully removed it from the wall. He felt the outline of the twelve yellow stars and admired the flags simplicity and significance. He rolled the flag up and placed the flag in the black satchel as he left the command room for the last time.
Bunker 167, Germany, European Union, Earth [Sol] 16082062
The Poles machine gun had precious few bullets left so he shot in quick controlled bursts. He only shot at what he could kill, everyone within the bunker did also. It was the same everywhere along the Hamburg Line, no one had enough ammunition. Many bunkers and pillboxes had to be abandoned and its supplies distributed to more strategically vital defense points. The bullets finally ran out and he tossed the still smoking heavy machine gun aside and pulled out his 9mm WIST-94 pistol and carefully placed his bullets into the brains of the incoming Islamist soldiers. Without their machine guns to hold them back the bunker was now crawling with the enemy who had now reach the trenches around them and were engaging the hopelessly outnumbered European defenders. The screams of dying men filled the trenches outside the bunker and a loud bang took the bunkers rear door down. The Islamist soldiers rushed in with their bayonets fixed and skewered a poor Irishman who was still reloading his MP7A4 by the door. The other Europeans tried to fight the enemy but they had a unnatural energy and lack of pain that was inhuman. One European unloaded an entire clip of his pistol into the chest of the closest Islamist soldier and the enemy soldier still was able to shoot the man with his rifle and stab him with his bayonet. The Islamist soldier soon collapsed and died from his wounds, but after seeing this the Pole with his WIST-94 turned the pistol on himself. He prayed to God to spare him the hellish fires for his last sin he was about to commit. He breathed in hard and shot his brains out. The Islamist soldiers in the bunker paid him no attention as they continued bayoneting the bodies of the now dead defenders of Bunker 167.
Trench 56, Germany, European Union, Earth [Sol] 17082062
The surviving Europeans of the Hamburg Line were now centered around the German city of Braunschweig, there they were making their final stand. The entire line north and south of them was completely overrun by the enemy and they were surrounded by a force ten times their size. The last one hundred thousand European soldiers were crammed in this small area while constantly pressed from all sides by the enemy. Hundreds of Europeans soldiers died each minute from the relentless attacks by the enemy who stopped only for their daily prayers. Many Europeans in the center of this ring of death and maddening scene with no way out and death just hours away took their own lives. Without any ammunition to spare many simply waded into the Oker river and drowned themselves.
“In less then an hour we won't have anymore bullets left and then the real blood bath will begin.” A sickly looking German Major informed the red headed British Commander in command of the Hamburg Line.
“Our defense here is hopeless. Were going to launch a counterattack with everything we got. Were going to die like men, not wait around for death like docile cows.” The British Commander said as he removed his blood stained sky blue beret and touched the top of his head. He pulled out a clump of bloody red hair and flicked it on the ground. The German Major spoke on his radio and passed on the final orders to the last surviving European soldiers. “Major, do you remember that day when we first stopped the Hegemony here at the Hamburg Line?”
“Yes I do Commander.”
“What was that beautiful song that filled the trenches that day after our victory?”
“Die Wacht am Rhein?”
“Yes. That's the one. I want you to sing it over the radio.” The British Commander looked directly into the eyes of the German Major and smiled. “That is my final order for you.” The British Commander loaded his MP7A4 with the last rounds he had and the German Major began to sing over the radio. The Germans voice grew further and further away until it disappeared as the Commander walked towards the front line. He was followed by hundreds of European soldiers many of whom were armed with nothing more then a sword or a rifle with less then a clip of ammunition. All around the British Commander the sound of singing began to arise, at first it was meek and scattered, but then it exploded into a defiant war cry. All of Europe's children sang together the refrain from “Die Wacht am Rhein” as they approached the enemies guns.
“Lieb' Vaterland, magst ruhig sein,
Lieb' Vaterland, magst ruhig sein,
Fest steht und treu die Wacht, die Wacht am Rhein!
Fest steht und treu die Wacht, die Wacht am Rhein!”
Translations
Schwanzlutscher (German) Insult. Cock-sucker.
Ich traue den Franzosen nicht (German) “I don't trust the French.”
Obergefreiter (German) Rank. Private First Class.
Hauptmann (German) Rank. Captain.
Die Wacht am Rhein (German) Song Title. “The Watch on the Rhine.”
Hartgeldstricher (German) Insult. Hartgeld means coins, Stricher means a male prostitute. A male who sells his body for coins.
Arschkriecher (German) Insult. Ass-creeper. One who climbs up into other people's rectum to gain favors.
Pantoffelhelds (German) Insult. A man dominated by his wife; literally a master of slippers.
Legio Irus Actica (French) FFL Motto. The Legion is our strength.
Lieb' Vaterland, magst ruhig sein (German) Song. Dear fatherland, no fear be thine.
Fest steht und treu die Wacht, die Wacht am Rhein (German) Song. Firm and True stands the Watch, the Watch at the Rhine.
SC: Die Wacht am Rhein
Thu, 11th November, 2010
The European Union's frontier is invaded by the Hegemony and the EU makes their stand in Germany.
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