Prologue pt. 4
"I have done, what no other US President will have to ever experience ever again. My decision to undertake such an action will forever judge my Presidency." United States President Harry Truman regarding his decision on the atomic bombing of Rouen
An atomic explosion over Rouen. Note, no documentation of a change in the photography was noted.
As the Soviet Union was crumbling, to the West, the combined armies of the Allies - United States, Great Britain, France, Canada, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the Netherlands and the Germans began to face off against the infected now numbering almost 20 million (1). Events that occurred during the fall of the Netherlands included the outbreaks in France - the Infected Battles of Nacy, Metz and Mulhouse - the spread into Belgium and Italy and the
Self-Quarantine of Switzerland. Regarding the first cases in France, the French government in Clermont-Ferrand refused to cooperate with me - diplomatic relations between France and the rest of the world haven't improved (2).
Instead, I will be using first-hand accounts from survivors of the outbreak in Metz, a journal found in the northern Italian city of Bolzano and a surviving transcript of a Sergeant during the outbreak in Belgium. Before this report goes any further, please understand that the events I will be exploring during this chapter do not reflect my opinion of the outbreak - I have little interest on what this person should have done - as well, the topic of the Swiss Quarantine will be written to the extent that it shows little to no bias towards the decisions of the Swiss government.
Now, the outbreak in France started almost after the fall of the Netherlands; the first case of people in the French city of Metz to succumb to the infection were transported to the city's hospital, where Nurse Martha De Louise worked. She has agreed to speak to me about her experience in treating one of the first infected in France.
"At first, Jacques [one of the four doctors in the hospital] thought it was just another case of the flu - it was running rampant during that time - but when he saw the bite wound, he began to believe it was a wild animal attack. But what was strange was that the person himself walking into the hospital and collapsed - no one knew him - and he did not speak of any attack. However, when he was admitted into the hospital at around midnight, he was .... [Mrs. De Louise is trying to find the words] like how you say, a mess? yea, he was in a bad state. We gave him some medicine and a bed on the west wing of the building and today him that the doctor will be around shortly - though I don't know if he heard me because he was unconscious. After that, I left his room and continued on my rounds - I had a couple other patients that needed attention, one of them a child that burned his right hand.
It was almost 2 am when I heard a scream and a crash of metal. I rushed over to where the sound came from - along with two other nurses, Madeline and Cynthia. We got to the room where the bite patient was and I could swear - to this day - I could still heard the sound that was coming out [of the room]. It was the sound of someone eating. [Her eyes got watery and she stopped. I told her we could finish it some other time but she insisted that she'd finish.] Yes, we opened the door and we could see Claire [the nurse] all bloodied and stumped against the wall, the patient was EATING her. I'm not sure what happened next, maybe it was our screaming or just the fact the door was open but that....that thing turned its head and rushed out the door - grabbing Madeline - and bit her in the neck! Next thing I knew, Dr. Jacques runs out and gets bitten. The hospital was in chaos. [She fights back tears before saying this.] I not sure what I did what I did, but I just ran. I ran out of the hospital and just ran back home to my husband. [Our interview stops here on her request.]"
The Swiss were the first to issue a mandatory quarantine on a nation-wide scale.
The French city of Metz was overrun the day before Christmas, Nancy was gone the day before while Mulhouse fell a day after Metz. When news of the outbreak travelled to Paris, then London and Washington, the Allies knew mainland Europe would be lost, so they decided on evacuating their forces from Europe and retreat back to the safety of the Isles (3). The opposite happened in Switzerland. Instead of evacuating with the Allies - a notice was sent to the Swiss government which allowed for them to left for Britain - the government remained in the nation and enacted a nation wide quarantine, being the what currently is known as the Alpine Curtain or the Swiss Curtain.
The Swiss were indeed lucky, their position in Europe had much of their land on top of mountains and so the infected had trouble reaching up the Alps. As well, another factor that helped the Swiss maintain their quarantine was the fact that the knowledge of a head shot to an infect would permanently stop them was heard prior to the quarantine, this, followed by an agreement of Swiss Federal Council (known as the 1947 War/Neutrality Act) led to Switzerland coming into a state of war - its first time since 1815. It's militia and its Armed Forces began to patrol the borders of the massive nation - all the while, the infection was being researched by Swiss scientists which would lead to a a better understanding of the infection. Led by a man named Gottfired Bernoulli von der Linth, they discovered two key facts about the infected. One: the infection is spread only through a physical contact of the infected and a fresh wound and Two: cold temperatures tend to slow down the infected - the location of Switzerland was among one of the colder one of Europe, thus allowing the survival of Switzerland.
Whilst the infection was being researched by Switzerland, Belgium fell after a fierce resistance by the Allied army - most notably the defense by the 12th Infantrie Battalion (then a mixture of the 3rd Infantrie Company (Belgium), 17th Infantrie Company (France) and 2 platoons from the American 9th Armored Battalion) in Mons. Previously, there was no organized defense plan for Belgium; the nation - and its capital - would be on its own unless it reached the French border (4).
This began the
Belgian Migration, almost 90% of the nations population began to make their way to the French border, mostly by feet. Those who could afford it could purchase (this would be in the form of paying the commander officer) rides on planes or boats to either Paris or the Isles. The Belgian Migration is considered by all Infection specialists as the worst possible situation that could happen; the mixture of non-Infected and Infected allowed for the diseases to spread into the heart of France. Such an example would be the Outbreak in Mons - and else where in the Lowlands - where the Infected were travelling with the non-Infected. The city itself was guarded by the 10th Infantrie Division with assistance by the American 9th Armored Battalion and the Belgian 7th Infantire Battalion. Its spread began with a child passing out - members of the 9th Armored was present to witness this event - and when the mother stopped to pick him up, the child rose and bit her and this spread chaos in the group.
"Surviving Transcript of Sergeant *Blacked out*
*A man's voice starts. Judging by the tone of voice, I believe he is from an educated background, most likely American* "Sergent *beep*, my name is *beep 2*, I work for the *beep 4*, a department of the *beep 3*. As one of the surviving members of the 9th Armored in Belgium, we will require a first hand account of what happened there. Are you willing to speak *beep 8* "
*The Sergent's reply is shaky. Most likely, the 8 muted words there were a threat of some sort* "Yes. I was leading my squad, including Privates *beep 4* in one Sherman and Privates *beep 3* with myself in another Sherman. We were stationed a little bit outside the town of Mons - we saw the columns of Belgians coming. The line was long."
"What happened next?"
"It was just a routine patrol. Stopping every once in a while along our route. I decided to stop here so I opened the hatch of our Sherman - *bleep* opened his on the other Sherman. Some of the men got out to relive themselves while me and two others from the other Sherman remained along the side of the patrol. The people...they were...miserable, they seem to have been walking nonstop! From what my broken French could make, I heard one talk to another how he walked from Brussels to get here. It was - "
" *bleep 3*. Tell me about how it started." *The voice of the man had obviously changed.*
*The Sergeants' reply was again, the same tone as the possible threat* " Well, I was just watching the people when a woman walking with a boy came along. All I saw was him falling down - possibly from exhaustion - and one of the Privates ran up to help him. Back then, there was still no rules or anything against helping the survivors. Next thing that happens, the boy gets up and bites the mom, and she screams - chaos spreads across the line and - "
*The tape abruptly ends there*
*Beeps with numbers indicate the number of words beeped*
"
The re-moralized American GI's in the Ninth Army begin their march to regroup with the First and Third US Armies.
Spreading into France, the country would fall again - twice in a single decade. This time though, the French Army was more organized and disciplined, along with Allied support, but it was still no match against the Infection. It would spread faster than anticipated and cause the encirclement of a number of Allied and French divisions. To the channel areas of France, the Twelfth United States Army Group was disorganised, low on morale and split into two. The First and Third United States Army were in Le Havre, on the coast of the English Channel along with the Second British Army while the Ninth and Fifteenth United States Army were encircled just 120 km from the city of Rouen on the Seine River. From intelligence, the United States had reasons to believe that over 3 million Infected were just in that city and with the state that the Twelfth Army Group was in, President Harry Truman was faced with one of the most controversial decisions in his and indeed the whole of the United State's presidency. He was informed by his staff that the United States had in possesion three more Atomic bombs and enough long-range bombers to deliver it.
There were rumours that the President, prior to approving the mission to bomb Rouen, said that
"Come Hell, the United States will come out unscathed." As such, on January 5 1947, three days after a communique was sent to the commanders of the Ninth and Fifteenth Armies (Generals
William Hood Simpson and Lt. General
Hobart 'Hab' R. Gay) that the US Air Force was going to commence a bombing run of the city so that they could link back up with the First and Third Armies; the United States denoted their third nuclear weapon over the city of Rouen and the first ever to be used in Europe. The Mushroom cloud over Rouen could be seen by the four armies of the Twelfth as well as the British 2nd Army and even the French divisions. The backlash by the French against the British and Americans would lead to the uncovering of a secret agreement.
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(1) - Conservative estimates of Infected on the Western Front ranges from 10 million to over 70 million.
(2) - The governments of the United States and Great Britain still have not issued a formal apology to the French government.
(3) - A secret agreement between Winston Churchill and Harry Truman would lead to fighting against the French in Infected France.
(4) - Allied troops were given strict instructions not to enter Belgium - small parts of the Belgian border such as towns were occupied by Allied forces.
* Tell me if the update is too long. I still experimenting with the update size.
