Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter. Sorry it has taken so long to post this. My life is getting really busy.
Anyways, here we are. Let's get to it.
The pig: To answer your questions in order: 1) No, because Morgoth has no maritime capability. 2) The US still has plenty of forces on Earth. 3) B-52s will be used plenty in Arda. 4) There will be nukes used at some point. But no spoilers when.
Chapter 12- The Landings
The sun is just starting to rise over the sea to the west of Beleriand. Aboard the bridge of the battleship Wisconsin, Admiral Andrew Lewis looks out with his binoculars at the shoreline ahead. At last, the war that the United States has been preparing for almost a year and a half is about to begin.
The US is about to launch the opening strike of the war. This will be an amphibious landing just north of the abandoned city of Vinyamar in the region of Nevrast.
Two US fleets will be conducting the invasion. Admiral Lewis is commanding the 2nd Fleet, which comprises the Wisconsin, a cruiser, and 8 destroyers, as well as 12 amphibious assault ships and all of the transports carrying the landing troops. This also includes Teleri ships that are also carrying Marines to land on the beaches.
The second fleet supporting the invasion is designated as the 1st Fleet, which has just recently been reactivated, is commanded by Admiral Robert Burke. It comprises 5 cruisers, 20 destroyers, 4 submarines, and the center of the fleet, four supercarriers; the Nimitz, the Theodore Roosevelt, the Carl Vinson, and the George H W Bush. The carriers will be providing air support for the landings. The two other carriers currently in Arda, the Kitty Hawk and John F Kennedy, both having been recommissioned a few months earlier, are further south launching air strikes to try and keep Morgoth's attention from the impending invasion.
Burke and Lewis are commanding the individual fleets. However, all US naval forces are under the overall command of Admiral Philip Davidson, who has been named commander of the US Arda Fleet.
The landings will be massive. The Wisconsin and its escorts will conduct an extensive bombardment of the landing beaches for about an hour. Then, the 1 Amphibious Corps, comrpising the 1st and 3rd Marine Divisions, will be the first ashore, with Marine tanks going ashore in the first wave. The 2nd, 4th, and 5th Marine Divisions will be ready to follow the first two divisions ashore once they've secured the beaches. All the while, aircraft flying from the carriers will be attacking Morgoth's forces inland while the aircraft flying from the amphibious assault ships will be flying close air support for the landings.
Lewis lowers his binoculars as the sun peaks over the horizon. This will be the largest amphibious invasion since the landings on Okinawa in 1945. He still can't believe he's about to lead a landing on a foreign world, but knows the rewards both for Middle-Earth and the US if Morgoth is defeated.
"Fleet status?" Lewis asks.
"Sir, the fleet is ready to go. All bombardment ships are ready to fire," one of his aides replies.
"Good. It's time. Order all ships to open fire," Lewis orders.
The order is quickly relayed across the fleet by radio. Then, at long last, the 16 inch guns of the Wisconsin open fire, firing in anger for the first time in almost 27 years, sending a full broadside of nine 16 inch high explosive shells at the landing beaches. The shells fly beyond the beach, exploding just off the beach and killing several Orcs on the coast.
The Orcs near the landing beaches descend into chaos as the bombardment begins, none of them having been paying attention to the sea, and therefore not realizing that there was a large fleet approaching the shore. Then, they start to notice Hornets, Super Hornets and Lightnings flying over the coastline, heading inland. At the same time, Harriers and Lightnings fly in from the amphibious assault ships along with Viper attack helicopters.
As the sixteen inch shells from the Wisconsin, as well as five inch shells from the battleship and its escorts, crash down on the landing beaches and their surroundings, the Harrier, Lightnings, and Vipers start their attacks. The Harriers and Lightnings head in first, dropping 500 and 1,000 pound bombs, as well as cluster bombs. A series of explosions tear through the ranks of the Orcs near the landing beaches. However, thankfully, because Morgoth and his commanders were not expecting an amphibious landing in this region, the numbers of Orcs within 20 miles of the landing site was actually quite minimal.
The fighters and attack helicopters continue their attacks with bombs and rockets, hitting any Orc position that they can see, then coming in to strafe with their guns. Hundreds of Orcs are torn apart by the explosions and cannon rounds.
However, some of the smarter Orcs who can see the attacks happening decide they have to send a warning. Some Orcs take off on Wargs to spread the word, while several Bats are also dispatched to send a warning.
The bombardment and air strikes at the landing site continues for almost half an hour. At the same time, the air wings of the 4 carriers continue air strikes further inland, hitting any concentrations of Orcs or other dark creatures they can find. However, the warnings sent out by the Orcs near the landing sites start to reach other Orc units, and several tens of thousands of Orcs begin making their ways towards the landing site to reinforce the Orcs already there.
Aboard the Wisconsin, Lewis watches as the battleship's latest salvo hits beyond the beach, the huge explosions tearing up the ground. He's been informed on the status of the bombardment by radio calls from the close air support aircraft and from images beamed back by the Wisconsin's drone. He's become aware that the area was much less defended than expected. He now makes the decision that the bombardment does not need to continue to its previously ordered timespan.
"Contact General Berger. Tell him to start the landings," Lewis says.
General David Berger is the Marine General in command of the Marine forces, which are classified into the I Amphibious Corps and the V Amphibious Corps. He's currently aboard the cruiser USS Anzio, which is attached to the 2nd Fleet, from where he will be commanding the invasion itself. Upon receiving the word from Admiral Lewis, General Berger orders the landings to begin.
The forces of the I Amphibious Corps, including the 1st and 3rd Marine Division, accompanied by a few other smaller units, begin their advance towards the beaches. The initial wave of landing craft, mainly hovercraft, make their way away from the amphibious assault ships and a number of other transports, carrying 3,000 Marines, 14 M1 tanks, and a dozen other vehicles.
As the landing craft approach the beach, the Marines clutch their weapons tightly, knowing the scope of what they are about to undertake. None of them have taken part in an invasion like this since joining the Marine Corps
In the leading landing craft, Marine Corporal Stan Freeman looks over the edge of the landing craft at the beach ahead. He knows for sure this is going to be a very different landing than he's been trained for. There's going to be no return fire for a while, and when it does come, it will be arrows. It's going to be very strange having to engage enemies at such close range. Because of the fact they will be likely facing Orcs at such close range, each soldier and Marine being deployed to Arda will be equipped with larger fighting knives and even some swords. Stan himself has been equipped with a thin, short Elvish made sword in addition to his M4, pistols, and grenades.
"500 yards!" the landing craft's driver calls out loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Gear up, men!" the platoon's leader, 1st Lieutenant Jack Rigby, calls out. Every man in the platoon checks their gear and arms their weapons while the crew of the tank resting in the hovercraft prep the tank to roll out.
Finally, the landing craft hits the beach, and front of the craft opens up. "Go! Go!" Lieutenant Rigby yells out.
The M1 leads the way, rolling out of the landing craft and onto the beach, the Marines charging after the tank and onto the beach. The M1 moves along the sand at about 20 mph, the gunner keeping the tank's main gun trained beyond the beach. However, there are no signs of any Orcs near the beach.
Corporal Freeman races up the beach, keeping his carbine raised in a ready position, the other men of his company charging along with him. All around them, along about a half mile stretch of beach, 3,000 men and 14 tanks are coming ashore. At long last, the main American forces are arriving in Beleriand.
Freeman's company reaches the back of the beach. Still seeing no Orcs, Lieutenant Rigby gets on the radio and calls out to the regiment commander, "This is Lieutenant Rigby of Company Bravo. We've reached the back of the beach and no sign of the enemy."
"Copy that, Lieutenant. Establish a defensive position and prepare for follow on forces to reach the beach," the regiment commander responds over the radio.
"Copy that," Rigby responds. He then calls out, "Alright, men. Let's dig in right here until we get orders to advance."
"Copy that, Lieutenant," Freeman and a number of other Marines respond. The Marines start moving to find places to take cover or where they can dig foxholes.
However, as they get to work, the Marines suddenly hear something. Strange screeching and shouting. They all start to realize what the sound is before the Marine tank gunner, currently poking his head out of the turret so he can act as lookout, shouts, "Orcs!"
Everyone turns in the direction of the rocky crags just ahead, and see a small group of Orcs rushing towards the beach, waving their weapons around and screeching.
The gunner on the tank drops back down into the tank and shouts, "We got incoming."
The tank commander looks through his sight, and sure enough, spots the incoming Orcs. "Yep, we got Orcs. Orcs, direct front. One round HEAT."
The gunner quickly loads a HEAT round into the 120 mm gun. A second later, the tank commander orders, "Fire!", and the gunner pulls the trigger. The HEAT round lands in the middle of the Orcs and explodes, killing about 20 Orcs and wounding many more.
Some of the Orcs turn and scurry away in panic. However, most press on towards the Marines. However, they find no relief. The gunner in the M1 loads another HEAT round and fires, killing about 20 more Orcs. Then, several Marines charge towards the Orcs, firing their carbines. Rounds from the M4s begin to tear into the Orcs, which begin to fall like flies, especially once the gunner on the tank joins in with the machine gun on top of the turret.
The Orcs quickly break into a rout, having lost two thirds of their numbers and not even having gotten close to the Marines. However, before they can escape, a Viper attack helicopter from the USS America flies in and blasts the retreating Orcs with a volley of rockets. The M1 joins in with another HEAT round, leaving only two Orcs as survivors.
The Marines cheer as they watch the Orcs retreat. Although they know it was only a small group, they defeated the Orcs with great ease in their first taste of combat with Orcs.
(12 hours later)
Aboard the Anzio, General Berger watches reports coming in from the shore. The Marines are starting to bed down for the night, but remain on high alert.
The landings had gone better than anyone ever expected. Save for isolated groups of Orcs, none of which numbered more than a few hundred, there had been no real resistance until about 7 hours after the first Marines hit the beach, when a small army of about 8,000 Orcs arrived on the scene. However, by then, over 15,000 Marines were ashore, and the Wisconsin was still in perfect position off the coast. The Wisconsin shelled the Orc army until it was too close, at which point about 6,000 Marines from the 1st Marine Division attacked the approaching Orcs. The Orcs were slaughtered, with only 8 Marines wounded.
The entire 1 Amphibious Corps is now ashore, with the first Marines from the V Amphibious Corps beginning to land now. The beaches are fully secured, and Marines have advanced about 7 miles inland to establish a defensive perimeter around the beach.
The entire V Amphibious Corps should be ashore by sunrise. At sunrise tomorrow, the Marines will begin their advance further inland.
At the same time, the airstrikes throughout the day have wreaked havoc on Morgoth's forces. Extensive airstrikes from the air wings of the 4 carriers, as well as by B-52s flying from Valinor and Tomahawk cruise missiles launched by warships off the coast, have killed upwards of 12,000 Orcs across Nevrast and disrupted supply lines.
General Berger feels a smile come over his face. This campaign is off to a fantastic start. And berger feels a sense of confidence that if the rest of the war is this easy, it will be over in no time.
And, I'll end the chapter there.
Hope this was a good chapter. Next chapter should be up within a week. Until it is, please leave a review, and stay tuned!