The Next War: 2025
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As the Siberians struggle to recover from the terrible event at Irkutsk, a tense pause in operations ensues. But Karpov is now eager to get north, and when he learns the Koreans are planning an amphibious operation against Vladivostok in the coming days, he is determined to intervene. Along the way he and Fedorov meet an old nemesis, now a newfound friend as they enter the Sea of Japan.
Out on the First Island Chain, China’s ‘Great Wall at Sea’ is now the object of Admiral Cook’s Fleet Carrier Force. He intends to shout down that wall with a storm of missiles and aircraft, as the USMC prepares Operation Sledgehammer against Amami and Okinawa.
Now Admiral Zheng Bao rallies the PLAN fleet in defense of the Ryukyus, and on the mainland, China musters its remaining ballistic missile ship killers in an effort to turn the fortunes of war in their favor. The last desperate battles of the war begin as the Western navies hammer on the wall that guards the East China Sea.
About Jericho:
The war that began in 2025 has now come full circle in the next volume of the Kirov Series, Jericho, as the fighting returns to the place where it all began in the Ryukyu Island Chain. The US Navy has now reached the edge of the East China Sea, the rocky “First Island Chain” that China hoped to hold secure. Billed as China’s Great Wall at Sea, the seizure of the Ryukyus from Amami in the north and south through Okinawa to the Miyako Islands lit the fuse on what might have been a limited conflict in the Pacific, but that was not to be. After engagements from the Med, to the Canary Islands, the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf, the war rolled back into the Pacific as the US secured its island bases at Palau, Yap, and the Marianas, and buttressed Singapore.
After a brief sortie into the South China Sea, Alpha Strike then presented the many campaign against Chinese position sin the Philippines. The effort was to break the network of airfields China relied upon, and without air cover, the fleet had limited staying power. Once munitions at Manila Bay ran out, they had no choice other than to fall back on Taiwan. Yet the last volume saw the return of Admiral Wu Jinlong, who had been relieved of his command earlier after his failure to take out US island outposts after seizing Davao in his Operation Sea Eagle. He was steadily driven from the Celebes Sea and retreated through the Sulu Sea to safer waters, only to find himself relieved and given command of a desk on Hainan Island.
In Alpha Strike, Wu Jinlong returns to torment the Japanese in action in and around the vital Tsushima Strait, called “The North Gate” connecting the East China Sea to the Sea of Japan, which the Chinese are now renaming the Bohai Sea. Alpha Strike then left us with the stunning detonation at Irkutsk, which shocked the Siberians and prompted Karpov to get Kirov’s bow headed north.
In Jericho, the PLAN begins the defense of its Great Wall at Sea along the Ryukyu Island chain, while Wu Jinlong redeems himself with his occupation of the Goto Islands and Tsushima. The US Navy has reinforced to have five Carrier Strike Groups available when the Roosevelt is moved from the Indian Ocean. That group joins Admiral Cook’s fleet carriers, Enterprise, Independence, Washington and John F. Kennedy. Now this powerful fleet sails east of the Great Wall at Sea, and begins its mighty shouts to start bringing that wall down. The USN has also seen the arrival of the entire “Gator” force, ten light carriers with other supporting ships carrying an entire US Marine Division.
The battles here are on a scale that has not been seen since WWII. Admiral Cook and the Marines will begin in the north to prepare the invasion of Amami, with the next big objective in the plan being Okinawa. The fighting in this volume is intense, and all the decisions made by either side are well explained through the musings and meetings of all the Admirals in charge. As this volume closes, Vladimir Karpov is eager to get north, particularly after the disastrous incident at Irkutsk. When the 48 hour cooling off period between China and Siberia expires, Karpov learns that Vladivostok is now threatened again. Liberated by his lately departed brother-self, Karpov now rushes north to oppose a big amphibious operation aimed at Vladivostok by the Korean Navy.
In Jericho, this astounding depiction of WWIII now careens toward its conclusion in the final volume of Season 7, Whirlwind. That will still leave the unfinished business between Kirov and company, and the dastardly machinations of Ivan Volkov, who also has a doppelganger operating in the past, and that is the substance of the final season of the Kirov Series, (yes, we mean it this time) coming next year after the war finishes in Whirlwind. There’s never been anything like this series. With a scope and scale that is truly awesome, it will end up running ten years before it concludes. Don’t miss the big battles here in Jericho, as this one comes to Amazon on December 1st.
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Paperback also available in a few days
Kirov Saga:
Volume #55 - Jericho
By
John Schettler
Part I – Vindication
Part II – The Swelling Tide
Part III – Urgent Sword
Part IV – Stand Your Ground
Part V – Attrition
Part VI – Engagement
Part VII – Sledgehammer
Part VIII– Island Wars
Part IX – Decisions
Part X – Old Friends & Enemies
Part XI – Bohai Sea
Part XII – The Big Stick
