The Last Crusade (23 page)

The media demands an investigation into how the combined militaries of the world’s strongest countries could be defeated by a bunch of Arabs. The governors also question how the West could have lost the battle to the Caliphate. In the previous twenty years, no one had been able to stand toe to toe with the American military. Even after the nuclear strikes, America had the world’s most powerful military which was dismally defeated in the desert.

General Green looks at the playing field; he knows his days as America’s military commander are over. He tenders his resignation while trying to slip away into the night. He makes it as far as Dallas-Fort Worth Airport where he was handed a Federal Subpoena as he entered the terminal. The governors want him to answer the country’s questions about how he lost the war and got so many of the country’s boys and girls killed.

When confronted by the media he smiles saying,

“There was more than a single Crusade before Christians won control of Jerusalem, there will be another Crusade. We’ll learn from our mistakes and win the next one.”

“General, are you going to miss not leading the next Crusade?”

“No, I had my chance. I’ll let someone else lead the next one. I don’t want the army to be bogged down with my baggage. We were surprised, we made some mistakes. The next time we assemble an army on their border, we will advance completely into Caliphate territory without stopping to piss on them.”

“General, what happened? On paper, you should have easily won.”

“I made a mistake. I didn’t count on the militarization of their civilian population being armed with PRGs. After we defeated their armor, their people attacked us en masse with tens of thousands of RPGs and machine guns. I delayed giving the order to open fire because I didn’t want to kill civilians. In hindsight, I should have realized they weren’t civilians as we define civilians. Their population is an extension of the Caliphate’s military. We couldn’t survive the onslaught of thousands of RPGs so I ordered a retreat. We’ll rearm and return.”

“General, won’t they be expecting us to return? Won’t they rebuild and improve their defenses?”

“Of course, they will General, however, the next time we won’t broadcast which punch we’re going to throw.”

“General, what’s the final number of casualties?”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know the final number. I’m sure someone in the press office has the number.”

“General, what will you be doing now?”

“I’m going to learn how to fish. Thank you and I really need to be going.”

General Green walks out of the terminal, he gets into the backseat of a white Chrysler 300 leaving the media yelling questions at him. He smiles, “Governor Wilson’s house.”

“Yes, sir. Here are the newest memos.”

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The Mahdi and Saladin review the map hanging on the wall of the conference room, Saladin smiles pointing to Egypt,

“Your Holiness, I believe this is the perfect time for us to strike the Egyptians. They are weak and unorganized. The survivors ran across the border with their tail between their legs. They’ve set up camp in two locations; I suggest we strike their camps simultaneously. We’ll use low-flying cruise missiles which will fly under their mobile radar coverage. The cruise missiles will be armed with anti-radar warheads to destroy their anti-air coverage. Once the radars are down, we’ll strike them with our air power, twenty minutes after the air attack, our armor will strike any survivors.”

“Are you sure we can strike both encampments?”

“Yes, sir. We’ve rehearsed the attack, once we destroy the two camps, there will be nothing to slow our march into their cities, we should be able to kill the President and his government, allowing us to take over the country.”

“You have my permission to proceed with the attack. Keep me informed every hour. It’s important we complete the absorption of Egypt.”

“Your Holiness, after Egypt, I will turn my forces North and destroy the Little Satan.”

“Our people, the holy Mujahedeen are destroying Europe and America from the inside, just like a cancer killing them from within. The faithful in Central Europe and Southern Russia will rise up and begin burning the Minor Satan’s cities. We will kill them from the inside like a malignant cancer which can’t be operated on. Europe and America are too weak to stop us; their media is in our pockets. They won’t publish our people’s actions, they’ll say the police over respond and discriminate against our people. By the time their media figures out what’s really going on, it will be over. City by city our people are taking positions within their leadership. Even if their media wakes up, it will be too late. Look at Michigan, we control 35% of their cities and towns. There are cities where the street signs have already been changed over to Arabic, store names have been changed, we’ve given infidels sixty days to leave town. Every day, we grow stronger while the West grows weaker.”

“I’ve sent special forces troops to Europe to carry out attacks, they will be dressed as members the far right, Europe’s media will blame the right for the violence, we’ll gain sympathy and support.”

“Excellent, expand this program so that similar attacks take place in every one of their cities. I want to see their cities burning, their people begging for help against the right. Remind your holy warriors that Allah has given them the approval to shave their beards and heads. They are carrying out Allah’s will.”

“I’ll remind them again.”

“What about the Russians? They haven’t turned around. They are moving into Afghanistan; they must be stopped.”

“Nothing we throw at their new tanks seems to slow them down. We’ve tried mass RPG attacks, we were surprised to learn they have copied the Jew’s anti-missile system, they have a new weapon which is similar to a giant shotgun, they cut our massed people down like wheat under the sickle. They don’t care about the number of civilians they kill.”

“While the West is very sensitive to killing civilians, the Russians seem to enjoy it. They record the killing of our civilians which they show on their networks, their people enjoy seeing the Russian military torture and kill us. The more of us they kill, the more popular their infidel President becomes. We have to strike back in enough strength that their people fear us. What else have you tried to stop their advance?”

“Your Holiness, we’ve blown bridges, dug wide trenches, laid land mines, massed RPG attacks, we’ve lined up people to block their route, they smiled and drove over our people, crushing the life from them.”

“I want you to plan an attack against St. Petersburg. They enjoy watching the faithful die, let’s see how much they enjoy watching their own people die horrible deaths. Let’s see how they enjoy watching their beloved buildings turn to dust. We’ll  build new mosques on the foundations left behind by their churches.”

“Yes, sir I’ll get our planning group on it. I assume you want St. Petersburg destroyed as soon as possible?”

“Yes, of course.”

The Caliphate attack across the Egyptian border failed. Their tanks were attacked fifteen miles inside the Caliphate by missile-equipped drones and long-range guided artillery rounds. The Caliphate tried five times to reach the border, each time the Caliphate moved forward, the shells accurately landed on the attacking tanks. The Caliphate didn’t know the Crusaders had a stealth high altitude drone flying in slow circles over their position sending video and position updates every couple of minutes to the Crusade HQ on the Egyptian side of the border. They targeted the attackers with GPS guided munitions. Both sides stare across the Egyptian border in a stalemate.

Saladin called off the attacks when his local commanders report they are down to 25% of their original strength. The attacking tanks never got closer than 5km to the border, where the Egyptian and Jewish tanks are dug in, waiting for the Caliphate to attack.

The attacks on St. Petersburg are foiled by the Russian secret police who capture the Caliphate agents. The FSB begins rounding up and clearing out Muslim neighborhoods in St. Petersburg and the surviving sections of Moscow. The people are packed into rail cars and taken to Siberia where they are dropped off without any winter clothing or tools, the FSB tells them,

“Let Allah provide for you.”

“We’ll die, it must be thirty degrees below zero, there’s no place for us to live.”

“Build your own, since you’ve told everyone Allah protects you, let him build your cities, let him provide you with winter coats and boots. Spend all your time praying to Allah. Terrorize each other here, leave the rest of the Motherland alone.”

“We’ll die here.”

“If that’s Allah’s will, so be it. Our hands aren’t going to be bloodied.”

“It’s murder!”

The FSB agents laugh as they settle in their heated sleeping cars for the long trip back to St. Petersburg where they’ll pick up another trainload of Muslims. They know by the time they return this group will be dead from exposure. An FSB clean up squad will collect the bodies, burning them and spreading the ashes while they wait for the next train, a new one arrives every five days. Each train drops off six to seven thousand Muslims onto the frozen windswept ground. The Muslims usually last less than twenty-four hours before they die from exposure.

The FSB uses Hitler’s ‘Final Solution’ against the Muslims, they aren’t sent to concentration camps, they aren’t gassed, they aren’t worked to death. The Muslims are left in the subzero frozen north to die. Their homes and shops are given to working Russians who thank their government for the new housing. The FSM keeps a small base at the train station, their only tasks are to make sure none of the Muslims reboard the trains and drive the bulldozers which push the frozen bodies into piles, cover them in fuel and set them on fire.

Meanwhile in America, the election had organized as a national primary and run off before the right wing candidate, Robert Bentley, the Governor of Alabama survived the state primaries, the national primary and national election to become the 46th President of the United States.

After three months of living on bread and water the Cardinals elect Angelo Amato of Italy as the new Pope, he takes the name, Pope Joseph, his first official act is to declare there will be another crusade to avenge the death of Pope Francis II.

Chapter 11

Muslims in America increase their attacks against the country’s infrastructure. They demand special rights and laws to protect them from persecution and attacks of revenge. The media supports them, the average American hates them.

Six months after the Crusader’s retreat, the Caliphate declares a worldwide day of celebration, a day to give thanks to Allah.  Eastern Tennessee celebrates the Day of Victory with tens of thousands of Muslims bussed in from cities two hundred miles from Knoxville. They gather, twenty thousand strong marching east on Kingston Pike. The close the major shopping street in West Knoxville. Traffic is backed up for ten miles. The crowd’s goal is the center of Knoxville where they plan to hold a rally at the World’s Fair Park. The local police have been ordered by the temporary head of the Federal Department of Homeland Security to allow the peaceful march while also protecting the marcher’s rights. They are ordered to block any interference with the protestors.

Many mayors have blocked their police departments from interfering with the Muslim riots when the media asks them why they respond,

“We have a duty to protect the first amendment rights of all of our citizens. They are only expressing their first amendment rights.

Store owners whose businesses are blocked by the protest march are angry, they begin throwing eggs and rotten vegetables at the marchers. When a small group throws bacon, the marchers run to punish the bacon throwers. The marchers grab four people from those on the sidelines, they’re beaten senseless. No one knows if the four beaten are the ones who threw the bacon. As the march passes the West Side Mall, a shot is heard. No one knows where the shot came from. One of the leaders of the march holding the Caliphate’s flag falls dead. The bullet struck him dead center between his eyes, he was dead before his body touched the ground. The shot opens hell’s gates.

The marchers grab people on the sidelines, beating them to death, In retaliation for their dead leader. Others break store windows, some others can throw Molotov Cocktails into the stores. Two blocks of Kingston Pike are set on fire. The State Police building across from the mall on Kingston Pike is ringed with armed troopers. The marchers begin shooting the police officers, a running gun battle breaks out along the street and expands to Interstate 40, which is only a couple of hundred yards from Kingston Pike. The marchers run along Interstate 40 shooting into trucks and cars. Huge wrecks close both sides of the Interstate, which blocks traffic moving East and West across Tennessee.