Of Bears, Eagles, Dragons and Lions: The Second Marshall Plan and the New Cold War
- Thread starter BgKnight
- Start date
Oh absolutely. History is full of ironies and TTL people won't remain blind to this one.
After all, that is the ultimate goal of the timeline. Make the world stinking rich. I have a scene later on that is supposed to show just that, China constructing infrastructure. A bit more interesting of course.
Before starting this scene, I have to apologize, this is more of a character development scene then anything else. WARNING, it includes sexy images of gay men, do avoid if that's not your thing. But I should also note that's not the main port of the post, it is just in there. Warn me if it is too much, I can edit it and remove potentially offensive parts.
The Executive Assistant to the Ambassador burst in the room, his round face was discolored and he was obviously furious. Notoriously short tempered, Jiang was despised by most of the Embassy staff, he believe himself to be the most important person in the embassy after the Ambassador. However, there was something unusual Lin noticed in those small black eyes of his. The Assistant threw a leather folder on the table. With a tilt in his head he invited Lin to read it, sliding his hands in his pockets. The agent always found his dramatics to be laughable, but curiosity was a cruel thing, so he opened the folder.
It had the Emblem of the People's Republic of China stamped on it. As the agent opened it, a fierce grin filled his face, displaying his little crooked canine tooth. Lin preferred to keep his lips pursed when smiling, he never liked that tooth, but in rare occasions like this, he just let it go. The agent had realized, even as the shooting was ongoing, that he would get a massive scolding from the Ambassador and thought Jiang was here just for that. And perhaps, initially, even Jiang thought that was the case, but after reading the news, Lin stared directly at Jiang's little ugly eyes.
"Thank you. Is there something else you want to tell me?" he said, with that fierce smile still there. He could see the Assistant was fuming.
"What you did was... unacceptable." he stuttered for a bit, he wanted to yell at the agent, but he couldn't, not anymore.
Lin lifted the folder he was holding "Clearly the Ministry doesn't agree."
"The Ministry didn't have to fix the mess you created. They just got their targets tracked and whacked, plugging the leaking information hole. We, on the other hand, had to buy off so many people, hide so many clues... and we still only barely managed to cover up your little run-in with the Russians."
"Thank you for your feedback, Assistant. Is that all?"
Jiang swallowed his anger and pointed towards the leather folder "Your tickets are inside. Your flight is later today. If there is one good thing out of this endeavor, its the fact that I will not see you soon."
Lin quickly shuffled through the pages of the documents inside, finding the tickets. Things were moving quickly now, almost too quickly for his liking. But the flight to Beijing and then to Fujian was a long one, he had enough time to introduce himself with his new task that was already put on his shoulders. They were rotating him out. Possibly to bring someone less prone to shoot up the place.
The whirl of the jet engines and the smell of the tarmac brought bad memories to Lin, the agent never liked airports and especially military airports. His two flights were smooth, however, he left the embassy a few hours after his conversation with Jiang, slept in the flight back to the capital, met with several local friends before transferring to a flight to Fujian. As the plain had landed, he stood up, got the luggage from the compartment above and queued behind the soldiers, all uniformed and slowly exiting the passenger jet that was used for the needs of the military. Lin was aware some of the boys were eyeballing him, it was natural. He was in a plain suit, with no particular military ranks or distinctions. Everyone knew how to recognize the MSS as they saw them. Lin remained bemused as he passed through the exit and stepped onto the iron stairs. The wind was picking up outside, shaking the stairs as Lin descended down. As he reached the bottom, he smiled.
"Yun, you are the last man I expected to see here..." Lin's mood suddenly changed to a far lighter one, Yun was used to be one of his closest friends back in Zhejiang, that thrice forsaken place he thought to himself, even after he was discredited, Yun had continued communication with his friend, albeit more low key and a lot more secretly. What Yu-Huan Lin didn't know, was that Bai Yun, his childhood friend, had done his own progression through the ranks, while being a Princeling was not held in high regard in the Military, Bai Yun had just enough connections and brains to get pushed forward but not too much for the top brass to come after him. And now here he was, a Da Xiao (大校, Grand Field Officer/Brigadier). "...you became a Brigadier? In the Second Artillery Corps no less?! Why didn't you tell me?"
Yun's smile wavered for a bit, Lin just nodded. He understood that Da Xiao Bai Yun couldn't exactly be open about his relationship with Lin, even if Lin had regained his rank in the MSS. "Anyways..." Yun smiled again, his rather large nose wrinkled under the lightly framed glasses "...I am very happy to see you Comrade. It is a good day for China, central command has given us the green light with the... exercises..." he shifted his gaze as he said that "...in Fujian."
Lin's expression froze, the smile slowly dissipated as his arm arched around Yun's shoulder, pulling him away from the line of soldiers descending the stairs and away from ears that can hear them. His voice had suddenly changed to a whisper "So they have decided? When?". Yun's smile also slowly disappeared as he spoke about this.
"Soon. Very soon. I can't say I am very happy about this."
Lin nodded slowly "Understandable, Comrade" he said in that cold professional voice his comrades had grown to hate. Yun instantly understood what Lin was implying but remained unflinching.
"Last time this happened, I wasn't born. But the politburo knows best, ours is to follow the lead of our betters."
the Agent slowly smiled "Indeed. Don't worry Yun, I am not on a witch hunt. As long as you watch your tongue of course."
"Comrade Yu-Huan, I am a Brigadier in the Second Artillery. I did not reach this rank without knowing how to speak and when to speak. You, however, are a friend, and as such I do allow myself a few... pleasantries. Will you watch the launch tomorrow?"
"It will be my pleasure." Lin's voice was back and he turned back to see all the boys that were leaving the jet. He didn't know if he was staring at a bunch of soldiers who were in for a show of force and then a long flight back home or a bunch of lambs prepared for the meat-grinder. He was sure the Westerners were not going to take posturing all that well, especially the Russians who were already paranoid. But he understood why the Communist Party was doing this, China needed to show strength in the face of western expansion. He couldn't yet judge how the west would react, but something childish in him couldn't wait to see the missile fire towards Taiwan. Something in him was yearning for the excitement of war, even if he knew it was unlikely it would explode. Yun broke him out of his daydream, as he pointed towards the sky. A pair of silver Chengdu J-7 were flying in the distance and as if on cue, they turned around and flew above the airfield, their thunderous engines shaking the earth. The boys exiting the jet stopped instantly and turned towards the sky, pointing, laughing and cheering.
"Pff" he heard Yun huff "Have I ever told you that when the armed forces ends, the airforce begins?"
Lin and Yun shared a hearty laugh. The agent turned towards the Commander, his whole demeanor had changed. A small smile remained on his face.
"Comrade..." he started, carefully, his heart rose in his chest, it has been a while "...will you join me in my hotel room to share a drink." his voice almost trembled, but he managed to hold it back. Lin still thought his longtime friend was attractive, despite his big nose, the lightly rimed glasses didn't hide his beautiful green eyes and that perfect smile. Lin hadn't realized how much he actually missed that.
Yun looked away for a moment, then back to Lin, his green eyes staring directly into the agent's soul. "We are not in Zhejiang any more, my friend." he almost whispered. "But while they..." his hand pointed at the recruits "...will not judge us, our positions are such that we cannot continue our..." he stuttered on the words, it was still hard "...relationship."
Lin's smile was gone. His expression was frozen, he was examining the elongated face of the Brigadier. "I am not asking for a relationship, comrade." he said in an increasingly colder tone "I am asking for a drink."
"A drink I can give you. I cannot promise anything else, Comrade."
After half an hour of conversations and catching up, the two men climbed onto a car provided by the ministry. Lin was insisting on driving, so nobody noticed them leaving the base or knew where both were going. Eventually, they reached Lin's hotel, the agent checked in and they climbed the stairs. The hotel itself was payed for by the MSS, so it was nice and expensive, the room was on the second floor, by Lin's request, so if push comes to shove he can jump out, but without the room being to close to the street for people to be able to look in. The agent and solder were already kissing in front of the door, this has been too long in coming so they were both excited. Lin felt the heat of the man's body, the excitement, the thrill and the naked desire. He nearly broke the card-lock as he tried to unlock the door faster, pushing the door in with Yun's body.
The Brigadier was already fighting to remove Lin's tie, the door slammed shut behind them as they both struggled onto the bed. What followed were a few hours of good sex the agent thought was impossible to come-by nowadays. He had missed what Bai Yun was capable of and was pleasantly surprised to see that the man hadn't lost his edge. When they finished, Lin stood up and walked to the window overlooking the calm street below, pulled out a cigarette and lit it. Yun had voiced his displeasure of this particular habit of Lin many times back when they were in the province.
"After I left, have you had others" Lin asked, he had felt the tingle of jealousy at the creeping realization that there is only way the Dai Xiao could have remained this good.
Yun locked eyes with the eyes of Lin reflected in the window "Have you?" he shot back.
"Don't evade the question, Comrade." the cold voice was back, Yun couldn't help but smile as he walked up to Lin, his green eyes still stuck on the agent's gaze. He put his hand around the agent's waist and pulled him closed.
"Is this jealousy I am feeling, Agent Lin?" his eyes had a playful fire
"Perhaps." Lin couldn't help but smile himself, Yun always knew how to get under his skin. "I missed you." he said, turning around and wrapping his hands around the brigadier's neck.
"I missed you as well, Lin. I am sorry." he pulled back for a second, but the agent pulled him back and kissed him.
"I realize we cannot continue this, our ranks do not allow us to share a relationship. But perhaps while I am here..."
"You will leave in a few days."
"I know. At least it will be a good few days."
After a few hours of fun, both man had to separate, Yun had duties he had to attend to and Lin got dressed and left for his meeting with the "Big Man", a prospect that made the agent nervous as hell. He had taken great strides to hide his stress both from Yun and himself, nobody knew he was going to meet the Minister, he himself wasn't aware until he got a call from the agency shortly after him and Yun had finished.
After putting on a fashionable gray suit and tied a skinny tie, something he hadn't done in a while. He liked the style, its just that he never got around to buying more then a few skinny ties and he preferred to wear them on important occasions. It was the accent of his suit.
As he arrived at the local MSS office, he was already pretty excited. As any good agent, he knew how to hide it, but he felt his stomach shrink. Considering he is early, he lit a cigarette in his car and took a few puffs, he didn't want to do it in front of the office, it was in poor taste. As the red tip of the cigarette withered away, a tap on the window startled Lin. Turning to his side he saw a tall man dressed in an official suit and he froze. Jia Chunwang's features were instantly recognizable to any agent of the MSS, the two guards flanking him were just as much as a give away. Lin instantly extinguished his cigarette and opened his door, darting up and saluting the Agency's head.
The big man laughed "At ease, agent. You could have finished your cigarette, our meeting is in 20 minutes, you had enough time."
Lin allowed himself a smile "I cannot in good conscious smoke before you, Comrade."
the director waved his guards away "Nonsense. Can I?" he pointed towards the car."
"By all means." the agent hastily agreed, Chunwang walked around the vehicle and popped in the side door signaling to the surprised Lin to join him.
"Can we drive somewhere else, agent?" the big man smiled
"Sure, where?"
"Just drive, no particular direction. I want to talk to you without praying ears around." Lin just nodded, started the engine and the car rolled into a start "Agent Lin, I heard about your adventure in Kazakhstan. I can't say I can condone it officially, that would be a lie. The agency is officially appalled at your activities. But here's the thing, I lead the agency and I am impressed with your quick thinking. Officially, I have to stick you into another dead-beat assignment, to avoid any more incidents, but I checked your record and I found some interesting things. The reason you were assigned to Kazakhstan in the first place is quite dodgy. Do enlighten me, why was that?"
Lin was surprised, but he kept his eyes on the road "I cannot in good conscious, comrade, as it will imply disloyalty of one of my comrades. Which I cannot in any way imply or suggest."
Chunwang's smile grew wider "Just as I thought." he opened the glove compartment and pulled out Lin's cigarettes. "Can I?" he asked, the agent nodded. "Here is what is going to happen, Agent, as you have noticed yourself, the situation is slowly escalating, the Politburo is feeling paranoid and we need to secure our interests abroad. You helped plug a gap in our intelligence network, but at the same time you shot up a neighborhood in Kazakhstan. This leaves me in the situation where I cannot exile you, but I cannot assign you to the home office either. The agency didn't really need you to observe the Second Artillery, I needed to meet you personally. Now that I have, I think I like you, so I am going to give you a chance. Stop here. " he pointed towards a fork in the road. As Lin was stopping the director produced a small folder the Agent hadn't noticed he was holding previously and threw it in the man's lap.
"Your next assignment is in there. " Lin was a bit overwhelmed.
"This is big."
"It is. I am making a gamble on you, Agent."
"I will not disappoint you, Comrade Chunwang."
Jia Chunwang smiled with that reassuring fatherly smile again "I know."
***
"The President of the United States of America has announced that additional ships will be ordered into the region, increasing the overall presence of the United States of America in the pacific, staging the biggest display of American military might in Asia since the Vietnam War. Beijing has sharply criticized American conduct in what analysts are calling the "Third Taiwan Strait Crisis", warning that this could cause further deterioration of relations between the two powers..."
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The Chinese Air Force (PLAAF) is going to have problems. IOTL, almost all of their fighter jet engines still come from Russia. ITTL, that supply will dry up fast.
One thing that is definitely going to change, is the modernization, spurred on by the collapse of the Soviet Union, as well as the possibility of military conflict with the Republic of China and perhaps also involving the United States is not going to happen in the same way as OTL. OTL, the PLAAF took on a bunch of Su-27s in the 90s, which happened as per OTL because it is pre POD, but the domestic J-10, and the FC-1 production will definitely be pushed harder. J-11 will probably still be developed and I can see a Chinese program with various third world powers to try and produce new weapons that out-compete the west.
Another thing is, the People's Liberation Army Navy will probably acquire a few ships from the former Soviet countries, but in a smaller number then OTL and that aircraft carrier that was towed out of Ukraine would most likely be shuttled or sold for scrap rather then fall into PLAN hands. That doesn't mean that the fleet won't expand or that the PLA won't invest in new tech, but you will see a ramp up of domestic production from the 90s, meaning that by the early '00s China will have a far larger domestic weapons production. Far far larger.
All comments are mandatory!
But I am a sign, not your mom or the police, so yeah. Warning, could include some violence.
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The Game Begins.
Mark was staring at the window, his eyes were tired, even in the reflection of the window the redness of his eyes was apparent. His dark skin was covered with tiny drops of sweat, the heat was making him terribly itchy. His expensive shirt was half inside his pants, half out, and his pants had a tear on the leg. He turned back to Vlad who was still sitting on the bed, checking a pistol.
"Nice fucking job, Vladislav..." Sanchez knew the Russian hated someone saying his full name "...Nice motherfucking job. We are now in a middle of a warzone you piece of shit."
"Shut the fuck up Mark." Vlad spat back as he slid the magazine back in the gun "We need to get to the embassy."
"Half of downtown Baghdad is a shooting gallery, and you want us to run to the office..."
"Yes. Its 7 kilometers away at worst...." Vlad interrupted the American, who responded by interrupting him in kind
"And it goes directly through the fighting, you fucking..." he quickly closed his mouth as Vlad pointed the gun at his face.
"You either keep your mouth shut and go with me so I can keep you alive, or I shoot you because you are a fucking liability standing here yelling at me."
Sanchez' flailing hands instantly shot up "wow wow, ok dude, fine. When did you turn into a mafia enforcer..."
"Open the locker over there..." Vlad said without answering the question "...in the right hand side, below the clothes, you will see a little creek that is sealed with gum. Pull it open." Mark listened, he opened the old wooden door, which was rotted on the inside. He pushed the pile of clothes away. If he had done that earlier, he wouldn't have noticed anything, but now that Vlad told him, he could barely see the little creek. He stuck his fingers in what he hoped was really gum, and pried it open. Inside, he saw two more guns and several magazines.
"How the fuck did you get that into Iraq?"
"The Embassy got it in for me." Mark stopped examining the guns and looked back into the blue eyes of the Russian. The Makarov the Russian was holding was an exhibit piece, brought because they were friends with Ayman Sabawi, who was probably dead by now, he was initially surprised that Vlad was allowed to bring in bullets for it as well. But now he realized that Vlad was not allowed to bring in bullets for that weapon, same as the other two pistols. Something dawned on him.
"Who are you?" he asked almost terrified. He felt that the whole story Vlad had been feeding him about himself so far was falling apart. He had claimed he was the son of the local governor.
"Vladislav Kovalenkov, your friend and your only ticket out of here, that's all you need to know. Now take the smaller one of the guns and give me the other one." he stood up and put the Makarov in his pocket. Mark complied and passed him one of the heavy guns. He kept the other one and remained silent as Vlad opened the door with his own weapon pointed forward. It was large and unwieldy for Mark, but the Russian was handling it with ease, he had a comparatively much smaller weapon, but he realized there was a reason behind it. He knew what the guns were here for, he realized that Vlad had expected this and a nasty feeling was catching up to him as he realized he had been played. But he kept his mouth shut, he wanted to live now, if he survived he will just part ways with this insane Russian and move on with his life.
Vlad was already halfway down the hall, the sounds of explosions form the outside were shaking the hotel, the hall was entirely emptied out, people had either left their rooms or had barricaded themselves inside. Vlad had insisted that they stay in the hotel while the initial panic wears off, so they can more easily navigate the streets. The news that Saddam Hussain was shot had been broadcast about a week ago, since then all authority had collapsed. The radio broadcasts of patriotic songs was constant, broke up by each of Saddam's two sons proclaiming himself Saddam's heir. The bombing started a few days ago, Mark was unsure which side was bombing which and what was happening. His hotel's window was staring towards the Tigris river, so he could only see the distant fighting on the other side of the river. As Sanchez followed the Russian down the hall, he looked out of the broken window staring back at the Zawra stadium, he could see thick columns of smoke from the direction both of them were supposed to move towards. Kovalenkov grabbed him and pulled him down
"Stay below the windows, there are probably snipers outside." Vlad huffed and kept moving forward, pointing his gun in the direction he was going. He called the elevator, as a shell rattled the chandelier above both of them. They climbed into the Soviet built elevator, the marble floors of the hall gave way to linoleum inside the elevator. The linoleum was old and torn up, with holes in it from everything from cigarettes to just plain vandalism. A shell hitting somewhere near made the elevator shake as it was going down the floors. This thing was possibly built by three soviet workers with flip flops in the 50s, for a moment Mark thought this was where they were going to die. Then they reached the ground floor and he wished that they had indeed died in that elevator.
"Whatever happens, stay behind me. Don't help anyone or touch anything." The Russian said quickly as he rolled out into the foyer which was broken up by bullet holes and dead bodies. They crossed over several bodies as Vlad headed towards the back exit, Mark belatedly judged that to be a good decision as he realized that whoever had shot up these people might still be outside. As they left the competitively cool entrance and walked into the swelthering heat outside, Sanchez couldn't help but notice "Its so quiet."
"Yeah..." Vlad quietly answered, the sounds of gunfights filling the background somewhere in the distance, like thunder. "we need to move." he said after a minute and started walking slowly, gun still pointed forward. He ran from one obstacle to another, trying to maintain cover. Whatever cars were still around, were with blown tires or engines, they could still drive though.
"Why not get a car?"
"We will get shot at instantly."
The rest of the walk around the stadium was in silence, as Kovalenkov looked carefully for anything that might threaten both of them. Then he froze and cursed in Russian. "They are fighting for the Baghdad Station..." he pointed towards a thick column of smoke that was slowly rising from where the railway station was supposed to be.
"There's an airport over here..." the Russian's hand moved right, pointing towards a large opening "...its a military airport. It probably has a barracks, so depending on who they declared in support of, the other side is probably trying to take them out. The railway is a good forward location. The other side is probably coming from there..." he pointed leftwards, away from the Baghdad Station "...there is a hospital there... Karam or Karama or some shit, I can hear the gunshots. You know what's the problem?"
"We are going to have to pass through all of this, don't we?"
"Smart man."
"I swear to god Vlad. You got us into this, you get us the fuck out."
Vlad's steel blue eyes stared directly into Mark's soul. "I will." he said through his teeth and started moving. Sanchez didn't feel how quickly time passed as they slowly crept through the streets, but before he knew it, the explosions and shots were getting closer. Vlad was noticeably tense as several shells landed particularly close to their position. Then he suddenly froze and pulled Mark into one of the buildings' entrances. They both heard men conversing in Arabic and Sanchez felt the tingle of fear. Being an investor and a businessmen, he was a tad bid sociopathic, but even he was fearful in the face of death.
The Russian put his finger on his lips and aimed his pistol towards the corner of the entrance. His other hand grabbed Sanchez by the arm to keep him close. The American tried to aim his own pistol forward, hoping he didn't have to use it. The sound of Arabic was drawing close, the men were pretty loud and sounded angry. Mark looked at Vlad, who slowly released him and pulled two fingers in the air, the american understood. Then Vlad held his hand out and pointed his thumb to the ground. Mark wished he hadn't understood what the Russian wanted him to do.
As the voices neared the doorway, the Russian gripped his pistol tightly. A moment later, two boys in berates walked in front of the doorway and froze. Their brown eyes stared into the guns aiming at them. Mark saw Vlad was hesitating so he used the moment to slowly say "Salam", the only word he knew in arabic, meaning peace. The boys remained frozen, their weapons on their backs, they were no soldiers. "Salam" Mark repeated. Vlad pointed at the guns on their backs and motioned for them to to drop them. They complied. Mark put his finger on his lips as Vlad motioned to them to move forward.
"Ivan" he pointed to himself "Martin" he pointed to the American, for a second Mark looked at him confused but realized that perhaps giving them their real names was not a good idea. One of the boys slowly whispered "A-amerikan?" to which Vlad only nodded. It was too much to hope for one of them knowing English. Vladislav was already going through the pockets of their vests. He pulled out a piece of paper and smiled widely
"Karta" he said in Russian.
"Shiiieet" Mark smiled as well, he couldn't believe his luck. Before he could say anything, the Russian pulled his pistol out and two shots rang out through the hallway.
"WHAT THE FUCK" Sanchez yelled back, the boys' heads were pretty much gone. "WHY DID YOU THAT"
"What were you going to do with two local fighters, you moron? Drag them around with us? Or leave them here so they can shoot at us from the back or report us?"
"Jesus Christ..."
"Shut up and walk, before they send more people down here."
They kept walking, with gunfire drawing near, Mark could only hope the Russian knew what he was doing, as they walked through narrow alleys and streets. The shelling was also already on top of them, the streets all around them were exploding as they ran through, hoping no stray shell landed on their heads. Mark realized they were walking through the places that were being actively shelled because no Iraqi would be insane enough to be here. Meanwhile, all around the echoes of gunfire were filing the air like a thick blanket of rolling thunder. Vlad pulled Mark into one building, then out of the other entrance, the sounds and smells, the constant movement and the pain in his legs all merged into a surrealistic loud combination of colors and sounds. He could barely comprehend what was happening as he was pushed to a wall and bullets ricocheted nearby, he barely understood what was happening as the Russian was right next to him, shooting. He hadn't realized he had a fear of blood up to this point, as he was slowly loosing conscience in the hell around him.
He could only respond to simple commands, so when the Russian yelled "Move" he just stood up on the broken up street and stumbled after Vlad who was shooting at something. He was thrown into something that resembled a forest and he realized, with his slow and confused mind, that they were in a park. Bullets were ricocheting around him, his instinct for self preservation was driving him to run forward, even though it all look the same, bushes and rocks, some trees and a swearing Russian who was shooting back at the people chasing them. Eventually, he was dragged out of the park and noticed they were on some sort of a square. He kept on running, as they swiveled around what looked like a hospital. The shooting was everywhere now, people were firing from all sides, it was like everyone and their grandmother had AKs. Then he saw the Russian flag flying above a building and he smiled, but his energy was gone, all Mark could do was collapse.
***
His shoes stepped firmly on the rocky mountain road that was winding through the valley. He had carried many names, had been many people, first to escape Iraq, later to gain favors with the Iranians and to advance within the Shia community abroad. He fought for years, first he fought to escape the horror that was Iraq, then he fought to be accepted in Iran, within his own religious brethren. He always believed that once he was home, he will finally be free to be himself, but as he walked towards the giant crowed of soldiers assembled in the pass to listen to his speech, he realized that his body and soul belonged to the people and Allah.
His long white dress was flowing in the wind as he walked towards the hastily erected podium that was raised for him. His face was covered, as the winds blew dust forwards. Unlike the coward Saddam or his sons, he didn't use doubles, it was only him and his people. If god had decided that it was his time to go, it was going to happen, he didn't worry himself with doubles. As he stepped onto the podium, a smile covered his face, he removed the cover so he could clearly speak to the men before him. His eyes looked around the crowd, as the men cheered, the olive-green helmets looted form the Iraqi army, the berates and the miss-match of various different uniforms all combined into a sea of men. Even inside this sea, he could still clearly make out a few of the Iranian men that were unofficially commanding the forces and helping his men get in shape.
He lift his hands in the air and slowly the yelling men quieted down. The man of many names' voice thundered over them
"Brothers!" he yelled "The serpent is dead!"
Their thunderous choirs filled the air again, but his hands in the air quieted them once more.
"We move! Recapturing our homeland! We will no longer be oppressed by our enemies, no longer be pawns in the games of dictators. The Islamic Republic of Iraq will prosper once more. Below us, stands the city of Al-Basra, it will be rid of the enemies of our Republic and purified. Today, we take Basra, tomorrow, we take Baghdad!
TAKBIR!"
A thunderous roar responded "Allahu Akbar!"
He realized that they were still pawns in the game of nations, but perhaps the Islamic Republic would be allowed enough leeway to carve its own destiny. Perhaps even, he can stop the slaughters of his own people. He had no interest in preserving the lives of the Sunnis though.
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One thing with Russia joining NATO, and becoming a firm part of the West, is that with China stepping up to be the new rival, we could well see Japan, South Korea and their like join NATO as well. NATO may well finally evolve into a global alliance of Western powers, rather than just a European and North American one.
I had an idea in regards for that. So far those states will maintain firm ties with NATO on the basis of the "Important Ally of NATO" position. Eventually, they will join NATO outright and NATO will evolve into a global alliance, but for that to happen, I have something planned in the future which will change the game sufficiently for those states to join NATO.
But your make a solid point.
I had an idea in regards for that. So far those states will maintain firm ties with NATO on the basis of the "Important Ally of NATO" position. Eventually, they will join NATO outright and NATO will evolve into a global alliance, but for that to happen, I have something planned in the future which will change the game sufficiently for those states to join NATO.
But your make a solid point.
And I suppose China would be aggressive to those countries who are on the fence on joining NATO?
I like how with such a recent POD you basically managed to fuck China up.
That is, until China is able to gain strategic allies in other continents...
And I suppose China would be aggressive to those countries who are on the fence on joining NATO?
I like how with such a recent POD you basically managed to fuck China up.
That is, until China is able to gain strategic allies in other continents...
Oh, quite the contrary, China will be courting everything and everyone who would is neutral in the cold war. You got problems? Papa Dragon has solutions and all he wants from you is to be friends. Also hand over half your economy to Chinese corporations, but that's what friends are for right? Also Investments!
As for the fucking up China, it will be slightly poorer then OTL, but all of that will be offset by investments in third world economies which will turn out a massive profit in the future. But the perception of China is fucked and in the long run, this is unsustainable. So you have a point.
As for the allies. Just you wait buddy, just you wait.
Well, shit is definitely going down, that's for sure. But Iraq might actually have the opposite effect of an earlier Arab Spring. It can galvanize the dictatorships in the region and channel all their resources into a specific regional war. While the Iraq itself will suffer for a long time, the rest of the region might maintain stability. With the lack of mobile devices yet and the internet not being as widespread still, people will find it hard to organize.
Having just finished up a Middle Eastern politics class, I am of course interested to see things going down in the Middle East.
So, we've got both of Saddam's sons versus each other, versus Islamic radicals, versus presumably the Kurds, while the rest of the Middle East watches on and throws in their own weight (the Syrians, the Iranians, the Saudis) This is going to be fun.
So, we've got both of Saddam's sons versus each other, versus Islamic radicals, versus presumably the Kurds, while the rest of the Middle East watches on and throws in their own weight (the Syrians, the Iranians, the Saudis) This is going to be fun.
Pretty much this. A regional cold war will develop and shit will get intense.