Regional Update 03

The Middle East

War continued. The big news about aliens made no impact.

After the failed withdrawal attempt in 2014 by Americans in Iraq, to exit by transport ship, they organized into a mobile army and marched to Israel. Although less than 1000km the journey took months, with near constant battles on the way. Then once the troops reached Israel, they had difficulty exiting. It was not until early 2016 that the Americans were out and safe in Italy.

Meanwhile the Americans in Afghanistan had declared war on Pakistan. They marched right down to Karachi and took the port city. Of course they had the full support of the remaining navy forces in the Arabian Sea. In the end, a dozen nuclear strikes were exchanged, and many of the troops who survived had radiation sickness. They made it to safety in Australia in late 2015.

 The fate of these two American armies became something of a hot potato. Both were rogue in that they had no home authority they recognized. But both had a natural desire to go home. So in late 2016 the Iraq force sailed for Portland, Main. Once there, those who wanted to retire could, the rest would form the NEAF - New England Armed Force.  The Afghanistan force was in a more tricky situation. Clearly not friendly towards the Federalist government in Hawaii, who wanted them to integrate back into the US forces, they could not sail east across the Pacific with out potential trouble. So those who wanted to stay in Australia were dismissed. The rest sailed west, to conquer Madagascar. 

This is one of the most bizarre chapters in modern history.  It revolves around General Alex Gray, who was commander of the Afghanistan ground force and Admiral Perry Morgan, who was the acting commander of the Arabian Sea fleet. They had a very intelligent, if somewhat crazy, plan to carve out a tropical utopia. As veterans of an endless war, they also had strong views on how 'things should be done'. So the Madagascar invasion of 2017 was short and sharp.   

In the Middle East, Israel was ruined but had not surrendered, so fighting continued. The Muslim alliance had fragmented so the pressure war reduced. As expected, there was fighting between Sunni and Sufi.

South East Asia

In 2016 China backed off from its aggressive policy and started consolidating its position. Although there were calls in the UN for China to give up Taiwan, it refused. In other matters China was more agreeable, offering apologies to Japan for the damage it suffered. Most importantly there was an end to the trade war with the Americans.

 Korea was the big loser of the recent war. The North had been crushed after a near victory by the combined forces of the South, Japan and the Americans. ( Although Japan’s constitution forbid it from deploying troops away from home, neutralizing North Korean missile sites and air bases was acceptable. )  By 2016 the major fighting was done and the North had fallen. Unfortunately the nuclear exchange had left the South heavily damaged too.   

Of special note during the war is the Lesozavods incident. In Russia, north of Vladivostok, a commando team of power-armoured troops took out a supply base, which had been critical for shipping weapons to North Korea. This is the first known combat deployment of ‘mecha’.

The American Empire of the Pacific

During the war, US Command in Hawaii had aimed to grab key locations, many of them being the same as sites occupied in WW2 by the Americans. Of course now there was also the question of resources, the US needed to secure them by force or by trade deal. Japan stood as a close ally, Australia was a more reluctant friend. From 2016 to about 2026 the Americans consolidated their position. The fact that they held a dominant share in the Macross Project helped them greatly.

Rebuilding in Japan

It had suffered from both conventional air strikes and several nuclear hits during the war. Also the trade blockade had caused hardships for the people. With war’s end the government quickly pushed forward a reconstruction plan. From 2016 to 2020 there was a boom in construction of both civilian and military infrastructure. This included the building of three new utopian cities.