Pacific War

From Gothpoodle

Revision as of 20:59, 28 March 2012

The origins of the war were rooted in the pattern of Chinese settlement overseas. For centuries, Chinese had been settling all over Southeast Asia, forming expatriate communities that often dominated local business. Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand all had particularly large Chinese communities. This Chinese diaspora was further reinforced around the turn of the century, as people fled from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan just ahead of reunification with the People’s Republic.

It was among these Chinese middle-class communities that nanosocialism found its most fertile ground in the revolutionary 2060s. Most of the new nanosocialist regimes of Southeast Asia were driven by the enthusiasm of non-Chinese majorities, but their political and economic leaders tended to be ethnic Chinese. On the other hand, nanosocialism was completely incompatible with the odd blend of Confucianism, communism, and capitalism that had taken root in the Chinese homeland. What followed was a People’s Republic that was at odds with most of the nations of Southeast Asia. Relations between China and the TSA, and especially between China and TSA leader Thailand, deteriorated steadily.

The situation became particularly bad in 2083, when the PRC withdrew diplomatic contact from Thailand and imposed a complete embargo on all communications web exchange, and travel to the TSA bloc. Efforts by the Pacific Rim Alliance to mediate the dispute went nowhere, and for the first time in decades a major war seemed possible.

In June 2084, war finally came, with a Chinese strike against TSA communications and powersat facilities in Earth orbit. The PRC announced its discovery of a TSA “black” research program, developing contagious nanoviruses and other genetic atrocities. Chinese propaganda claimed that these nanoviruses could be released to redesign the genetics of billions of people, or (even more insidiously) to alter their beliefs and make them more susceptible to nanosocialist dogma. The TSA rejected these allegations and vowed to carry on the war by all possible means.

At first, it seemed likely that the war would spread, but a few days after the first Chinese strike the Pacific Rim Alliance and the United States declared themselves neutral. They applied diplomatic pressure to insure that no other powers involved themselves in the conflict; the United States imposed an embargo on helium-3 shipments to both sides. These steps kept the war “limited” in scope – if such a term can be applied to a conflict stretching all the way across the Pacific basin, into Earth orbit and out to the planetary colonies.

The war was fought in many theaters. The People’s Liberation Army moved against Bangkok, Hanoi, and Rangoon, making steady progress despite fierce TSA resistance in the mountains of northern Indochina. The navies of both sides, equipped with fast super-cavitating submarines and hydrofoils, mounted lightning campaigns in the South China Sea. Even thousands of miles from the front lines, facilities were destroyed by commando raids, network intrusion attacks, and the delivery of “devourer” microbot swarms. The TSA’s orbital facilities were destroyed or occupied in the first Chinese attack wave, but sabotage of Chinese space facilities continued throughout the war and a number of nanosocialist AKVs remain unaccounted for even in 2100. Propaganda campaigns promoted internal rebellion on both sides. Casualties were light in comparison with the great mass conflicts of the 20th century, but even so millions of civilians died in the course of the war.

By early 2085, it was clear that China had the upper hand. Hanoi had fallen to Chinese troops, driving the Vietnamese government into the south of the country. The TSA navies had failed to hold the South China Sea, and an invasion of Indonesia or Malaysia seemed imminent. Chinese propaganda was threatening to split the TSA in half, as the South American members of the alliance began quietly to suggest capitulation.

On March 12, about a hundred scientists and political leaders fled Bangkok, apparently traveling to Indonesia but in fact vanishing. The Thai government collapsed the next day, as an alliance of business leaders and second-tier military officers seized power and ejected the remaining nanosocialists. After several hours of confusion, the government of Indonesia seized the leadership of the TSA and opened peace negotiations. The war was over.