The War After Armageddon

Harris reared up, making his back as rigid as if standing on a parade ground. “I will not accept bogus reports of collateral damage. You know what’s legitimate and what’s not. And I know it. We aren’t going to pull any punches on the battlefield. But when the shooting stops, our soldiers and Marines are going to behave with discipline… and decency.” He wished he could find another word, a stronger word than “decency.” But his mental arsenal was empty. “Questions?”

The 1st Infantry Division commander’s liaison officer raised his hand.

“Jim?”

“Sir… putting Nazareth off-limits… Sir, that makes it tough for us to support the 1st Cav in the Golani Junction push. It leaves a gaping hole in the road network.”

Harris nodded at Mike Andretti, his G-3.

The Three stood up and faced the liaison officer. “Orders are coming down on that. Units can conduct movement through Nazareth on the primary road and its northern branches. But no stopping in the city, unless it’s a legit breakdown. 1-18 Infantry has been placed directly under corps command, and for now, Pat Cavanaugh’s the sheriff of Nazareth. When any other unit’s inside the city limits, Pat Cavanaugh’s the boss. Rank immaterial.” Andretti shifted his eyes back to the corps commander.

“Problem solved, Jim?” Harris asked.

“Yes, sir. Thank you.”

Harris shifted his attention to his G-2. The intelligence officer looked as neatly pressed and well-scrubbed as ever. Maybe even taller and handsomer than the day before. Ready for a magazine cover. Except for the dark circles. Harris tried to enforce a sleep regimen, but it never worked.

“Talk to me, Val. Short and sweet, so everybody can get back to work.”

Colonel Val Danczuk cleared his throat. As if about to deliver a sermon to a multitude. “Sir, the Third Jihadi Corps has its A-Team in the fight. Re sis tance has stiffened markedly, with the J’s committed to a defense along the line of Highway 65 north of Mount Tabor.”

“So they gave us Afula and Nazareth. So to speak,” Harris interrupted.

“Yes, sir. General al-Ghazi sacrificed a good twenty percent of his best antitank systems, but the troops in Afula were reservists. Stiffened by one commando battalion.”

“And Nazareth was undefended.” Harris looked around the room again. “You all get the point. Took me until this afternoon to figure it out for certain, but it’s evident that the Jihadis are counting on us to give them an atrocity, to turn Nazareth into a butcher shop. That’s why they’ve crammed it full of professors and engineers and so forth. Figure it out: We slaughter their intelligentsia, getting rid of a noisy problem for the Muslim hardliners. And they then use our action to rally the Arab world against us. Just in case Arabs needed any more rallying, after what’s happened in Jerusalem. Okay, go ahead, Val.”

Danczuk traced his light-pencil over the map. “Al-Ghazi only has a division-minus as his corps reserve, dispersed across the Golan and curving around to the Metulla pocket. They’re out of artillery range but positioned for a counterattack. Intercept — what there is of it — suggests they’ve got a looming fuel shortage. They’re marshaling their supplies… to the extent that only the most gravely wounded are being evacuated beyond Quneitra. By the way, we’re increasingly certain Quneitra is their corps headquarters. If we had fixed-wing air support, we—”

“We don’t have it,” Harris snapped. “And we’ll discuss that later. Bring everybody up to date on the MOBIC situation down south.”

“Yes, sir.” The light-pencil went into action again. “The remnants of the Second Jihadi Corps, directly subordinate to General-Emir al-Mahdi, have abandoned Jericho. Al Mahdi appears to have split the corps, sending his 99th and 156th divisions east across the Jordan. We believe they’ll set up hasty blocking positions on the east bank after dropping the fixed and temporary bridges, but their primary mission will be the defense of Amman. Meanwhile…” the tiny spot of light traced northward on the wall map, “… al-Mahdi’s ‘September 11th’ Armored Division and the 40th Jihadi Commando Brigade have been withdrawing up Highway 90, paralleling the Jordan River, as you see here. Al-Mahdi’s reportedly with that force.”

“A fighting withdrawal?”

“Only when they have to fight. They seem intent on moving northward fast, with the apparent intent to consolidate forces with the Third Jihadi Corps in our area of operations. And the limited road network in the vicinity of the Sea of Galilee would explain why the Third is now so determined to hold onto Highway 65—or at least keep us off it.”

“Treatment of civilians?”

“By which side, sir?”

“Both.”

“Bad. The J’s have attempted to put refugee streams from Jericho between them and the advancing MOBIC elements. Buying time with lives.”

“MOBIC?”

“Sir, they’re killing everything in sight. Their engineers have been ordered to level Jericho.”