Categories > Books > Harry Potter > The Rise and Fall of an Empire
Yea, though I walk through the valley
The policing of Britain, The invasion of Dongbei, and the formation of a new elite strike team...
?Blocked
A/N: I would again like to thank all those who have offered their comments and constructive criticism. Character positions are still open for any who want a part in this story and if have any specific type of character in mind then tell me. I would like to revise my previous position on flames; I will now accept them so long as they are polite, are composed of more than 'This story sucks' or something along those lines, and are constructive in their critique. If you have any suggestions as to new ideas and/or directions for this story then please, share them.
A/N 2: As promised here is the improved version of this chapter. If there is anything that you don't like then please let me know and I will work on it.
Yea, though I walk through the valley
The weeks after the first attacks were filled with intense fighting and horrors that will never fade from my mind. Tens of millions of lives had been wiped out in microseconds, and so much happened in so short a time. Old rivalries between nations erupted into grudge matches, and radical terrorist groups destroyed so much without rhyme or reason. I had been fighting for years, and it seemed that the weight of more than one world was on my shoulders. In the months ahead, I would see people I fought alongside with, who I knew, who I loved; fall to either a curse or a bullet. As I witnessed the horrors slowly unfurl I could only imagine the trials that the days ahead of me would bring.
--Excerpt from the personal journal of Harry James Potter, entry dated 12-17-2004--
Near the ruins of Manchester, the United Kingdom
2341 GMT, 1 December 2001
The scattered remnants of the British Army were massing near what remained of Manchester before going on a countrywide security sweep that would put Britain back in British control. Troops were coming in all the time in RAF CH-47D Chinook transport choppers, and in Warrior IFVs, but they were avoiding the main roads in case there were enemies hiding along them, so the tanks and IFVs came in trickles. When they had finally gathered enough troops to make two divisions they split in two and both began moving out, one to the north and one to the south. A fiery lass from the north, Major General Louise O'Connelly, headed up the southern division. She had started out as a common ground soldier, but she quickly became known as the British answer to the American general George S. Patton. Although she was only a little over five feet tall, when angered, which could happen quickly, she could make even the strongest of men retreat very quickly. She led her armored division down through the midlands towards Birmingham, which according to intel reports was rife with the enemy.
They were about forty kilometers outside of Birmingham when the advance-armored columns drove straight into an ambush. Many flashes of colored light and explosions erupted from the middle of the armor formations and fire was quickly concentrated on the center of the column. The mechanized infantry company with them quickly dismounted but machine gun fire, which was coming from their own side, quickly cut them down. As the firing stopped, the troops heard numerous popping and cracking noises, and suddenly the gunfire started up again, only this time it was almost all from the enemy. Lights were flashing all around as the army units searched frantically from a target to fire at, but not one search lamp found one of the enemies, so most of the firing was blind. Most of the infantry were dead after nearly ten minutes of uninterrupted battle with the unseen enemy and then the Death Eaters moved to the armor, throwing fragmentation grenades in through the main hatch on the turret. By the time Major General O'Connelly got there with the general infantry, the entire armor battalion was dead along with most of the mechanized infantry and most of the vehicles had irreparable damage.
SAC-NORAD Command, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, the United States
0124 GMT, 2 December 2001 (6:24 PM MST, 1 December 2001)
While most of China had been torn apart at the seams, there were some provinces which banded together to form small countries. Three of these provinces were Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang which had fused together to make Dongbei, or translated into English, Manchuria. The three military commanders in charge of the provinces were brothers; Han Chang, Han Kai-chiang, and Han Lianshun were in charge of Jilin, Liaoning and Heilongjiang respectively. The three bothers decided to put up a united defense against the North Korean aggressors, and they promptly moved their troops towards the Yalu River. By the time the heavy weapons mobilized, the Koreans had already penetrated up to the city of Tonghua. Here we join the mêlée for Tonghua, recognized later as a decisive turning point as it was the first major conflict since the First World War in which chemical weapons saw action.
4 kilometers south of Tonghua, the Chinese Republic of Dongbei
0133 GMT (9:33 AM Local), 2 December 2001
The North Koreans were spearheading the attack with several infantry corps, with troop concentrations numbering near 260,000 infantry, about one-tenth of total number of North Korean forces. The Chinese infantry fought valiantly against the North Korean invaders, but sheer force of numbers had forced the frontlines back to the city of Tonghua. However, at Tonghua the Koreans met with vicious artillery fire from a battalion of Type 83 SPG-H (Self-Propelled Gun-Howitzer) vehicles stationed about 11 kilometers to the north. This softened up the approaching forces but did almost nothing to break the resolve of their enemy. Two flights of Mi-24P (Hind F) attack helicopters armed to the teeth with S-8S rocket launchers and 23mm MG pods flew in from Fushun and began harassing the infantry as they were climbing over the rough mountainous terrain. Even with the the pounding the infantry recieved they just kept coming. No matter what the defenders did to deter the advancing army, they kept on coming. Just when it seemed the city would be lost to the hordes of Koreans, two full battalions of Type 85-IIM tanks appeared on the road into Tonghua.
When the approaching armor came within 2500 meters of the enemy, they began rain raining a deadly hailstorm of fire upon the units of the KPA (Korean People's Army). Still the enemy forces barreled like a juggernaut towards the city of 9 million, and it seemed the no force on the planet could delay their advance. Suddenly and for no perceptible reason, the KPA mysteriously began to retreat, and the Chinese commanders enthusiastically and unthinkingly ordered their men to pursue the retreating Koreans. 150 kilometers to the south however, a KPA missile battery was preparing to fire on the unwary Chinese forces. The Nodong-1 TELs (Transporter-Erector-Launchers) rose slowly into position and, one by one dozens of Chinese and North Korean-made SRBMs (Short Range Ballistic Missiles) flew off into the stormy grey clouds. On the battlefield to the north, the Nodongs were not accurate by any standard of the word, but they did not need to be. As the missiles came out of the cloud cover, they dropped 66 bomblets apiece, each one containing three liters of VX nerve gas, which released when the canisters were 30 meters above the ground. After only three and a half minutes, the dead Chinese infantry lay strewn about the battlefield, and the armor, which had survived due to the NBC filtration systems, was evading arty rounds from KPA artillery, which had previously lain silent. As the armor fell into disarray, the KPA tore through the few tanks that stood their ground and had valiently tried to delay the KPA advance. Korean light tanks surged forward into the heart of Tonghua, and shortly thereafter infantry followed. By 11 AM local time, the battle to stop the KPA at Tonghua was fought and lost.
A secret MI-5 facility near the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, the United Kingdom
0315 GMT, 2 December 2001
The remnants of the SAS (Special Air Service) and the British Secret Services, MI5 and MI6, as well as parts of the French counter-terrorist group GIGN, were meeting with the elite commando team that had carried out the raid on the Dutch capital of Amsterdam. They were meeting with the hope of creating a new super-elite team that would be able to deal with the Dark Lords operatives around the world on extremely short notice. The team would also augment regular troops in large-scale operations and as normal SpecOps during and after the war. Although almost 70% of the members of the four organizations had been wiped out, together they could make make-up a division sized force, although the actual formation would be a long time in coming. Most of the meeting was just getting logistics out of the way, but they also began planning their first international joint mission, a retaliatory strike against Fujian, the self-proclaimed 'nation' that had invaded the island of Taiwan, but that would be a long time in coming. The men and women of the five organizations talked well into the morning.
Before any large-scale international missions could take place, the newly christened Force Sigma would supplement the British army in their undertaking of stabilization of Britain and the restoration of control to what remained of the crown. Their first joint mission would be the sanitization of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, which according to the scattered radio transmissions being picked up had a rampant infection of enemy troops. The French would provide the Georges Leygues class destroyers FS Montcalm and FS Primauguet as naval support ships for the cleansing of the city. The Royal Navy would provide the Invincible class aircraft carrier and fleet flagship HMS Ark Royal as an air support operations base, and all four Type 42 III destroyers for naval fire support. The mission would not be easy, but the rewards far outweighed the risks. The assault would take place in three days, when the last of the naval support were due to arrive at the rally point. With any manner of luck, they would be able to cleanse the city of most major enemy forces in three days. The meeting adjourned at 9:43 AM, and the members of the five elite forces returned to their respective headquarters to prepare for the attack.
Prague, the Czech Republic
1000 GMT (11:00 AM Local), 2 December 2001
The city of Prague had seen many wars in its extensive and venerable history, but none that would match the devastation of the war to come. Officially, the Czech Republic declared itself a neutral party, one that would act as a protected haven for refugees and those looking to escape the horrors of the war. The Czechs were not looking to be cannon fodder for a nation such as Germany as they had been in World War II, nor to be satellite nations under the command of puppet governments as they had been for the Soviets all throughout the Cold War. They would patrol their borders and repel any foreign military intrusions, but they would not advocate either side in the war. Unfortunately as with all isolationist policies in times of war, they would inevitably be drawn into the conflict and forced to fight or face destruction. As they prepared their cities for the incoming wounded and those seeking asylum, they began placing a second Iron Curtain around part of Europe. Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia and surprisingly Romania, had agreed with the sentiments articulated by the Czech people and joined it in a pledge of absolute neutrality. The countries involved knew that both sides in the war would brand them as traitors and cowards and in general denigrate them and their peoples, but all of them wanted to let the rest of the world solve their own problems.
However, there were many who wanted to fight; either with the Dark Lord for a chance to gain more power in the 'new world order', or with the Coalition to avenge those people incinerated in the nuclear fires. Neutral countries provided a safe haven not only for those seeking refuge, but also those who wished a secure base of operations safe from attack. One such man that had come to Prague would, in time, become most infamous for cruelty to POWs and others who he classed as 'undesirables'. This man was thought to be dead in the magical world, a victim of his own stupidity. He was posing as a doctor that had emigrated from the UK, thus explaining the heavily accented Czech he spoke. He would bide his time until the best possible moment when he would show his true colors, a demon with hair as red as the hell from whence he came. In time, this man would become known as the Nazi general Reinhardt Heydrich had been known before him, as the Butcher of Prague.
A/N 2: As promised here is the improved version of this chapter. If there is anything that you don't like then please let me know and I will work on it.
Yea, though I walk through the valley
The weeks after the first attacks were filled with intense fighting and horrors that will never fade from my mind. Tens of millions of lives had been wiped out in microseconds, and so much happened in so short a time. Old rivalries between nations erupted into grudge matches, and radical terrorist groups destroyed so much without rhyme or reason. I had been fighting for years, and it seemed that the weight of more than one world was on my shoulders. In the months ahead, I would see people I fought alongside with, who I knew, who I loved; fall to either a curse or a bullet. As I witnessed the horrors slowly unfurl I could only imagine the trials that the days ahead of me would bring.
--Excerpt from the personal journal of Harry James Potter, entry dated 12-17-2004--
Near the ruins of Manchester, the United Kingdom
2341 GMT, 1 December 2001
The scattered remnants of the British Army were massing near what remained of Manchester before going on a countrywide security sweep that would put Britain back in British control. Troops were coming in all the time in RAF CH-47D Chinook transport choppers, and in Warrior IFVs, but they were avoiding the main roads in case there were enemies hiding along them, so the tanks and IFVs came in trickles. When they had finally gathered enough troops to make two divisions they split in two and both began moving out, one to the north and one to the south. A fiery lass from the north, Major General Louise O'Connelly, headed up the southern division. She had started out as a common ground soldier, but she quickly became known as the British answer to the American general George S. Patton. Although she was only a little over five feet tall, when angered, which could happen quickly, she could make even the strongest of men retreat very quickly. She led her armored division down through the midlands towards Birmingham, which according to intel reports was rife with the enemy.
They were about forty kilometers outside of Birmingham when the advance-armored columns drove straight into an ambush. Many flashes of colored light and explosions erupted from the middle of the armor formations and fire was quickly concentrated on the center of the column. The mechanized infantry company with them quickly dismounted but machine gun fire, which was coming from their own side, quickly cut them down. As the firing stopped, the troops heard numerous popping and cracking noises, and suddenly the gunfire started up again, only this time it was almost all from the enemy. Lights were flashing all around as the army units searched frantically from a target to fire at, but not one search lamp found one of the enemies, so most of the firing was blind. Most of the infantry were dead after nearly ten minutes of uninterrupted battle with the unseen enemy and then the Death Eaters moved to the armor, throwing fragmentation grenades in through the main hatch on the turret. By the time Major General O'Connelly got there with the general infantry, the entire armor battalion was dead along with most of the mechanized infantry and most of the vehicles had irreparable damage.
SAC-NORAD Command, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, the United States
0124 GMT, 2 December 2001 (6:24 PM MST, 1 December 2001)
While most of China had been torn apart at the seams, there were some provinces which banded together to form small countries. Three of these provinces were Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang which had fused together to make Dongbei, or translated into English, Manchuria. The three military commanders in charge of the provinces were brothers; Han Chang, Han Kai-chiang, and Han Lianshun were in charge of Jilin, Liaoning and Heilongjiang respectively. The three bothers decided to put up a united defense against the North Korean aggressors, and they promptly moved their troops towards the Yalu River. By the time the heavy weapons mobilized, the Koreans had already penetrated up to the city of Tonghua. Here we join the mêlée for Tonghua, recognized later as a decisive turning point as it was the first major conflict since the First World War in which chemical weapons saw action.
4 kilometers south of Tonghua, the Chinese Republic of Dongbei
0133 GMT (9:33 AM Local), 2 December 2001
The North Koreans were spearheading the attack with several infantry corps, with troop concentrations numbering near 260,000 infantry, about one-tenth of total number of North Korean forces. The Chinese infantry fought valiantly against the North Korean invaders, but sheer force of numbers had forced the frontlines back to the city of Tonghua. However, at Tonghua the Koreans met with vicious artillery fire from a battalion of Type 83 SPG-H (Self-Propelled Gun-Howitzer) vehicles stationed about 11 kilometers to the north. This softened up the approaching forces but did almost nothing to break the resolve of their enemy. Two flights of Mi-24P (Hind F) attack helicopters armed to the teeth with S-8S rocket launchers and 23mm MG pods flew in from Fushun and began harassing the infantry as they were climbing over the rough mountainous terrain. Even with the the pounding the infantry recieved they just kept coming. No matter what the defenders did to deter the advancing army, they kept on coming. Just when it seemed the city would be lost to the hordes of Koreans, two full battalions of Type 85-IIM tanks appeared on the road into Tonghua.
When the approaching armor came within 2500 meters of the enemy, they began rain raining a deadly hailstorm of fire upon the units of the KPA (Korean People's Army). Still the enemy forces barreled like a juggernaut towards the city of 9 million, and it seemed the no force on the planet could delay their advance. Suddenly and for no perceptible reason, the KPA mysteriously began to retreat, and the Chinese commanders enthusiastically and unthinkingly ordered their men to pursue the retreating Koreans. 150 kilometers to the south however, a KPA missile battery was preparing to fire on the unwary Chinese forces. The Nodong-1 TELs (Transporter-Erector-Launchers) rose slowly into position and, one by one dozens of Chinese and North Korean-made SRBMs (Short Range Ballistic Missiles) flew off into the stormy grey clouds. On the battlefield to the north, the Nodongs were not accurate by any standard of the word, but they did not need to be. As the missiles came out of the cloud cover, they dropped 66 bomblets apiece, each one containing three liters of VX nerve gas, which released when the canisters were 30 meters above the ground. After only three and a half minutes, the dead Chinese infantry lay strewn about the battlefield, and the armor, which had survived due to the NBC filtration systems, was evading arty rounds from KPA artillery, which had previously lain silent. As the armor fell into disarray, the KPA tore through the few tanks that stood their ground and had valiently tried to delay the KPA advance. Korean light tanks surged forward into the heart of Tonghua, and shortly thereafter infantry followed. By 11 AM local time, the battle to stop the KPA at Tonghua was fought and lost.
A secret MI-5 facility near the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, the United Kingdom
0315 GMT, 2 December 2001
The remnants of the SAS (Special Air Service) and the British Secret Services, MI5 and MI6, as well as parts of the French counter-terrorist group GIGN, were meeting with the elite commando team that had carried out the raid on the Dutch capital of Amsterdam. They were meeting with the hope of creating a new super-elite team that would be able to deal with the Dark Lords operatives around the world on extremely short notice. The team would also augment regular troops in large-scale operations and as normal SpecOps during and after the war. Although almost 70% of the members of the four organizations had been wiped out, together they could make make-up a division sized force, although the actual formation would be a long time in coming. Most of the meeting was just getting logistics out of the way, but they also began planning their first international joint mission, a retaliatory strike against Fujian, the self-proclaimed 'nation' that had invaded the island of Taiwan, but that would be a long time in coming. The men and women of the five organizations talked well into the morning.
Before any large-scale international missions could take place, the newly christened Force Sigma would supplement the British army in their undertaking of stabilization of Britain and the restoration of control to what remained of the crown. Their first joint mission would be the sanitization of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, which according to the scattered radio transmissions being picked up had a rampant infection of enemy troops. The French would provide the Georges Leygues class destroyers FS Montcalm and FS Primauguet as naval support ships for the cleansing of the city. The Royal Navy would provide the Invincible class aircraft carrier and fleet flagship HMS Ark Royal as an air support operations base, and all four Type 42 III destroyers for naval fire support. The mission would not be easy, but the rewards far outweighed the risks. The assault would take place in three days, when the last of the naval support were due to arrive at the rally point. With any manner of luck, they would be able to cleanse the city of most major enemy forces in three days. The meeting adjourned at 9:43 AM, and the members of the five elite forces returned to their respective headquarters to prepare for the attack.
Prague, the Czech Republic
1000 GMT (11:00 AM Local), 2 December 2001
The city of Prague had seen many wars in its extensive and venerable history, but none that would match the devastation of the war to come. Officially, the Czech Republic declared itself a neutral party, one that would act as a protected haven for refugees and those looking to escape the horrors of the war. The Czechs were not looking to be cannon fodder for a nation such as Germany as they had been in World War II, nor to be satellite nations under the command of puppet governments as they had been for the Soviets all throughout the Cold War. They would patrol their borders and repel any foreign military intrusions, but they would not advocate either side in the war. Unfortunately as with all isolationist policies in times of war, they would inevitably be drawn into the conflict and forced to fight or face destruction. As they prepared their cities for the incoming wounded and those seeking asylum, they began placing a second Iron Curtain around part of Europe. Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia and surprisingly Romania, had agreed with the sentiments articulated by the Czech people and joined it in a pledge of absolute neutrality. The countries involved knew that both sides in the war would brand them as traitors and cowards and in general denigrate them and their peoples, but all of them wanted to let the rest of the world solve their own problems.
However, there were many who wanted to fight; either with the Dark Lord for a chance to gain more power in the 'new world order', or with the Coalition to avenge those people incinerated in the nuclear fires. Neutral countries provided a safe haven not only for those seeking refuge, but also those who wished a secure base of operations safe from attack. One such man that had come to Prague would, in time, become most infamous for cruelty to POWs and others who he classed as 'undesirables'. This man was thought to be dead in the magical world, a victim of his own stupidity. He was posing as a doctor that had emigrated from the UK, thus explaining the heavily accented Czech he spoke. He would bide his time until the best possible moment when he would show his true colors, a demon with hair as red as the hell from whence he came. In time, this man would become known as the Nazi general Reinhardt Heydrich had been known before him, as the Butcher of Prague.
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