Invasion: China

Timeline to War

1997: The British return Hong Kong to China.

2016: Amid a global monetary crisis, China unloads its US Bonds. The American banking system and stock market crashes. The ripple effect creates the Sovereign Debt Depression.

2020: The beginning of a new glacial age causes worldwide crop failures. Europe, Russia and China are particularly hard hit.

2022: The continuing Sovereign Debt Depression and intense civil war in Mexico creates political and social turmoil in America. All US military forces return home.

2023: The Mukden Incident sparks the Sino-Siberian War. Chinese armies invade north and defeat the Russians. China annexes the Great Northeastern Area, and eastern Siberia becomes a client state.

2024: China invades Taiwan. Its expanding navy now rivals the shrunken USN.

2027: R&D breakthroughs lead to continental ABM systems. Tests show laser effectiveness, able to knock out ninety-eight percent of incoming ICBMs.

2031: Harsher weather patterns cause greater food rationing in more countries. Canada, America, Argentina and Australia form a Grain Union. In retaliation, Greater China places economic sanctions on the US. The German Dominion, the South American Federation and the Iranian Hegemony follow suit. China begins sending military advisors to Mexico, aiding its side in the civil war.

2034: The South American Federation forces Argentina to leave the Grain Union.

2036: In a packed UN amidst wild applause, China lists its 13 Demands. The first is that America must distribute its abundance equally throughout a starving world. China sends an Asian “brotherhood” fleet to aid Hawaiian separatists. America sends its ageing carriers. The Chinese launch a surprise attack on American satellites, combining it with a massive cyber-assault. With their datalinks crippled, the US fleet is destroyed at the Battle of Oahu. The President declares a state of emergency, beginning construction of the Rio Grande Defensive Line due to 700,000 Chinese “advisors” in Mexico.

2038: Claiming American provocations, China accelerates its troop buildup. Over four million Pan-Asian Alliance soldiers occupy Mexico. The first South American Federation troops arrive. In a preemptive attack, the US destroys as many enemy satellites as its ABM lasers can reach.

2039: In a hungry world, US farmland is the most precious on Earth. From northern Mexico, nine million PAA and SAF soldiers invade America. The German Dominion breaks ranks—its forces are massed in Cuba. For its neutrality, the GD demands and receives Quebec.

2039-2040: The invasion “up the gut” between the Rockies on the west and the Mississippi River on the east falters during bitter winter fighting at the siege of Denver. American and Canadian forces drive the enemy back to Oklahoma. Spring 2040, the German Dominion launches a surprise assault from Quebec, hoping to gain the Great Lakes-Northeastern region. After initial bloody defeats, the defenders rally. Combined with new space weapons—THOR missiles—America inflicts a strategic defeat on GD forces.

2041: American submarines and THOR missiles devastate the PAA navy and merchant marine, disrupting enemy supplies.