Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.
Let's get to it.
Chapter 34- Chaos
(July 4, 2021)
"Well, this is a terrible way to be spending the Fourth of July," President Trump says as he throws a set of files down on the table in the situation room. During the elections at the end of the previous year, Trump had won his second term by the biggest margin seen since 2008 election. Experts attributed his victory in the election due to him having led the United States through the war with Morgoth so far, and people seeing it as beneficial to keeping him in office until the war was done. Trump was perfectly fine with this, of course, but never anticipated facing a situation like this.
Trump looks around the table, where the Chiefs of Staff and several other pertinent individuals are all sitting, so far in silence. "I hope you all are able to explain exactly what situation we have in Arda," Trump asks the men around the table.
"Mr. President, all of what we know has come from what General Abrams has passed onto us, but with the chaos in Arda right now he may not have been able to pass on everything, so it is likely we don't have a full read on the situation," General McConville responds.
"Well, what do we know?" Trump demands.
General Milley answers the question. "What we know is that, for some time at least, Morgoth has had this massive force of winged dragons within Angband. He's clearly been keeping them in reserve as his last roll of the dice. While we don't have a lot of info on them yet, what is clear is that they are far more powerful than any dragons we've faced so far, and not just because they have wings. Morgoth bred them far stronger than other dragons, and with more abilities. Even the Maiar among the Host of Valinor weren't strong enough to hold them off for long."
"Casualties?" Trump asks.
"Among the dragons…very few. Maybe a dozen. Among our armies…primitive reports suggest casualties over 140,000 among our troops, and maybe around 80 thousand among the Free Peoples. The 28th Infantry Division in particular has already sustained over 50 percent casualties, and one of the Spanish brigades has almost been wiped out. The casualties are still continuing to mount. We've doubled our casualties for this war in the space of just a few days," General Milley says.
"What's the status of our forces?" Trump asks.
"Scattered, Mr. President. We no longer have any forces in Anfauglith, and most of our forces have retreated a fair distance, forced to give up territory that took us months to capture," General Milley says. He then stands up and gestures to a man manning the projector, who pulls up a map of Beleriand. It's dotted with circles and logos.
Milley takes out a pointer and begins gesturing to spots on the map. "The 8th Motorized Division and the 26th Infantry is currently cornered in the north-western corner of Anfauglith, up against the Ered Wethrin and the Iron Mountains. The 10th Mountain Division has moved into the Ered Wethrin just north of the pass of Eithel Sirion. The VI Corps, along with the 25th Infantry Division, have retreated over the Ered Wethrin and hunkered down here in Mithrim, while the 9th and 24th Divisions retreated through the Ered Wethrin as well and retreated to north eastern Hithlum. As we already stated, the 28th has suffered massive casualties. The division has broken up. Its commander and the most significant portion went with the VI Corps, while the rest of the division has scattered."
Milley now moves to the south west, to the 6th Army's area of control. "The 6th Infantry Division has broken away from the rest of the army and secluded themselves in a small indent in the Ered Wethrin just south-west of the pass of Sirion. The 1st Infantry and 49th Armored Division have made a break for the ruins of Nargothrond, while the entire XII Corps has retreated to the forest of Brethil with about half of the Host of Valinor, while the rest of the host has retreated to the south west. The 82nd and 101st Airborne divisions have scattered into the Ered Wethrin and the western mountains of Dorthonion for shelter. However, the last unit attached to the 6th Army, the 77th Infantry Division, was not able to retreat fast enough and was separated from the 6th Army. They have been cut off and surrounded in the eastern portion of the Fen of Serech. The dragons have mostly bypassed them, but they are now surrounded on the ground, and all but about 20 of their tanks have been destroyed by the dragons."
Milley now moves on to the Marines and NATO troops. "The Marines and our Earth allies have been hit hard, and scattered very badly. The 1st and 4th Marine Divisions, along the British 16th Airborne Brigade and what remains of the Spanish forces have retreated to the vale of Tumladen and are attempting to take shelter in and fortify the ruins of Gondolin. The rest of the Marine forces have retreated to the region of Dimbar and are attempting to prepare defenses, but are still suffering heavy attacks by the dragons. The British 3rd Division and the italian Division Vittorio Veneto have retreated and joined the XII Corps in Brethil. The French forces, including the 3rd Division and 4th Airmobile Brigade, are dug in south-eastern Dorthonion, just outside the radiation zone from the prior nuclear attack in Dorthonion. The 10th Panzer Division has been forced to take shelter in the region of Nan Dungortheb, where they face not only the dragons, but also the aftereffects of the region being inhabited by those foul giant spiders. The South Korean 8th Mechanized Division has retreated into Doriath and is making for the ruins of Menegroth, intending to fortify them."
Milley moves on to the east. "The 10th Army and 1st Armies have at least managed to stay together in corps formations. The V Corps, along with the Polish units deployed to Beleriand, have retreated to Himring, while the XV Corps has retreated to Himlad. The VII Corps is attempting to take shelter here in Thargelion at the foot of the Blue Mountains. The VIII Corps has retreated south to Estolad. Finally, the I Armored Corps and the XI Corps have retreated to northern Lothlann and dug themselves in. The fact they have over 2,700 tanks has allowed them to hold their positions for now, but once the dragons turn their attention to them, they will fare little better." He pauses for a moment, then says, "In all of these places, troops not assigned to division commands have either scattered or retreated with the various divisions."
Milley pauses, allowing the other men attending to digest what he's just told him about the state of the ground forces. Then, he says, "The sky is now almost empty of our aircraft. The dragons succeeded in destroying five fixed wing aircraft and 18 helicopters in their initial attack. General Wolters recalled all aircraft from Beleriand. All fixed wing aircraft retreated across the ocean to Valinor and our air base there. The flight line of that base is now crowded with aircraft parked wingtip to wingtip with virtually no room left for more. About 90 percent of our helicopters fled back through the portal to our world. Of those that refused to leave, most have been destroyed by the dragons."
Everyone is quiet, digesting everything they've been told. Finally, the Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper, asks, "What word do we have on the progress of the dragons' attack?"
"That's where we are a little lucky. The dragons seem to be making their attacks in waves, taking breaks to rest near Thangorodrim. In his report, General Abrams theorized two reasons for this. The first is to ensure we don't attempt a counterattack towards Angband. However, Morgoth has released new armies from Angband, and so General Abrams believes that the dragons were intended to launch an initial wave of attacks to drive us out of Anfauglith, and they are now waiting until the rest of Morgoth's forces are prepared to launch a coordinated attack to fully drive us from Beleriand and destroy our forces. I am inclined to believe him," Milley says.
"Alright. What can we do about it?" Trump asks.
"Well, Mister President, the dragons are not our only major problem, and may not necessarily be the worst. General Wolters is preparing a plan to attack the dragons with every fighter we can muster, and it may be enough to at least hold them at bay. We have another major problem," Milley says. He then gestures to the pass of Eithel Sirion and says, "As we said, Morgoth has begun releasing his reserve armies he held still in Angband. Some of those armies are among those who have surrounded the 77th Infantry Division at the Fen of Serech. However, an army of almost 700,000 have crossed the Ered Wethrin here."
Milley then moves his pointer across the map. "The majority of the army, over 400,000, has moved here to Mithrim and laid siege to our forces dug in in Mithrim. However, the rest, numbering almost a quarter of a million has continued marching across Hithlum. However, instead of moving north to attack the 9th and 24th Divisions, they have moved here," gesturing to the area around Annon in Gelydh, "the pass of Cirith Ninniach. Their continued course suggests their goal is to come through the pass and attack us in Nevrast."
This sends a feeling of fear throughout the room, and General McConville mutters, "It's like the damn Battle of the Bulge again." The comparisons, between the fierce attack of the enemy, retreat of the US, and the goal of the enemy, is clear to everyone.
General Milley, wanting to make it clear the danger they are in, explains, "As you know, Nevrast is home to our temporary port, our biggest airfields, and the biggest portals to our world. It is our main supply base and the source of our supply lines. If the Orcs can overrun Nevrast and destroy our facilities there, we will be unable to supply or reinforce our forces, and the war effort in Beleriand will crumble very quickly. Any chance of our troops being able to recover and win this war will be lost if we lose Nevrast."
"What do we have in the region?" Trump asks.
"Very little, Mister President. The Dutch 43 Mechanised Brigade is currently in eastern Nevrast, defending the region from smaller groups of Orcs beginning to come over the Ered Wethrin. The only other force we have is the 2nd Canadian Division, which numbers about 15,000 troops and about 30 tanks. The Dutch can't move from their current position. And we have no forces that can reinforce Nevrast. The only one that possibly could is the 6th Infantry Division, but they are already fighting off attacks on their current position, and in the time they would need to safely make it across the mountains and move into a position to hold off the Orcs, Nevrast would already be overrun," Milley explains.
The room is quiet for a few moments before Esper asks, "How long do we have?"
"The 2nd Canadian Division has already begun moving to defend the approach into Nevrast. According to General Abrams, we have between 48 and 60 hours before the Orc army makes contact with the Canadians. At that point, it depends on how long the Canadians can hold off the Orcs," he says.
"Well, at least they're Canadians," General Eric Smith, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, says in an effort to ease the tension, which does draw a few slight smiles for a few moments.
"Mr. President, we are in a very grave situation, and stand every chance of losing this battle if we can't come up with counters to this attack and protect Nevrast," General Milley says.
Trump, having already come up with several ideas, says, "Alright. At this point, I believe we have no choice. I will be contacting NATO command and attempting to fully invoke Article 5 and request troops and aircraft from all NATO countries."
General McConville speaks up and says, "I'd like to point something out, Mr. President. The timing of the situation in Nevrast means we need forces that can get through the portal quickly. Any forces we ourselves deploy must move very quickly. Any troops coming from other nations will have to be limited to light infantry that can be flown to the US quickly with all of their gear. We don't have time to wait on any heavy units and armor."
Trump nods in response, then says, "Alright. This is it. This is where we have to make our stand. We have to stop the dragons here and protect Nevrast." He looks at General McConville and says, "General, I want as many divisions as possible made ready to move into Nevrast in the next three days." McConville nods.
Trump then looks at General Brown, the Air Force Chief of Staff, and says, "I want as many fighters as possible in Arda, and prepped for one massive attack on the dragons." Finally, he turns to Admiral Gilday, the Chief of Naval Operations, and says, "Admiral, I want as many ships as possible made ready to deploy to defend Nevrast and assist the Canadians."
Trump looks around and says, "Gentlemen. We have to hold the line."
(Fen of Serech)
In what remains of the Fen of Serech, the 77th Infantry Division is in chaos. The division, long cut off from the 6th Army and surrounded by Morgoth's forces, has already lost 7,000 of its 32,000 troops, and the division is trying its best to hold its position.
On the ground, a platoon commander, 1st Lieutenant Jeremy Havens, ducks back into a trench as a hail of arrows come flying at his platoon. He pops back up a second later and fires his carbine, killing an Orc.
"Medic!" Havens hears a shout from somewhere down the trench. Looking down the trench, he sees two of his buddies lying in the trench with arrows in them, and two more soldiers crouching over them to try and provide first aid.
Havens curses under his breath. Right then, he looks up and sees a winged dragon diving on their positions.
"DRAGON!" Havens bellows. The call is echoed through the trenches before the dragon opens its mouth and breathes fire, killing dozens of American troops and setting several more on fire.
Havens ducks back into the trench, breathing heavily. They're trying their best to hold against the assaults by Morgoth's forces. However, if something doesn't happen soon, the 77th is going to be doomed.
All they can hope for is that the rest of the military can come up with something quick and come to their rescue.
And, I'll end the chapter there.
So, next chapter will show the Allies still trying to hold against the dragons and prepare for the attack on Nevrast. It'll be up in the next few days. Until it's up, please leave a review, and stay tuned!
