Fourth World War

The **Fourth World War**, commonly known as World War IV (WWIV, WW4), was a global conflict from 2053 to 2058. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries and saw the two largest alliances, NATO and the Nanjing Pact, fight. The war claimed the lives of almost 100 million people, most of them civilians.

The war began on November 24, 2053, during the Thanksgiving Day Attacks, in which Chinese air force units attacked American orbitals and bombed coastal cities in Japan, the Philippines, Guam, and Korea. These attacks would kill upwards of two million people, almost entirely civilians. The outrage of the attacks led Congress to declare war on China 24 hours later, and mobilize the entirety of NATO. The German Reichstag declared war fourteen hours later and the US Air Force began attacking China shortly after.

The war would quickly expand globally, as the Nanjing Pact was called up. Hundreds of millions of personnel were mobilized quickly, as the US Navy began to shell China and drove off the Chinese Navy in the Second Battle of Okinawa.

The causes of the war have been debated for four hundred years. It is still unknown why Chinese ruler Zhang Feng chose to attack the west. His motives of racial superiority have also been debated, and many scholars consider him to have been clinically insane. His increasingly erratic behavior as western troops moved towards Nanjing was marked by episodes of violence, and he was finally captured by American Rangers as he tried to escape the city.

The war ultimately changed the political landscape of the world, shattering China's sphere and solidifying, once more, the dominance Washington and Berlin had. It was the last war that did not involve space.

## Causes

The war's technical cause was the Thanksgiving Day Attacks, which caused almost the entire west to declare war on China. However, what drove China to this is unknown. While Zhang Feng's view of the Chinese as a superior race are known, it is not known why he chose to began his "crusade" by fighting the most powerful alliance in the world.

Some historians believe Zhang genuinely believed he could take on and defeat the west, while others believe he intended to create a white peace to show the west's weakness.

## Course of the War

### Thanksgiving Day Attacks (2053)

On Thanksgiving Day, 2053, (which was technically November 25th in China) the Chinese Space Force launched attacks on American orbital stations, and began bombing cities in Japan, Guam, the Philippines, and Korea. It is estimated that at least two million people were killed in the attacks.

### China Sea War (2053-54)

The US Navy began engaging the Chinese within the South China Sea, aided by Vietnamese and Australian fleets.

### Korean Invasion (2054)

The Chinese Army stormed across the Korean border on February 6, beginning the First Battle of Korea. Facing the Korean Army, the Chinese breezed through the rural north, attacking the city Pyongyang within two weeks. American units already stationed in Korea faced the Chinese south of Pyongyang, which fell to China on February 28.

The Americans and Koreans held off the Chinese near the century-old border of what was once North Korea before the Korean War. The allied force frustrated Zhang by successfully defending the urbanized south of Korea. Despite this, the Chinese had successfully captured northern Korea, despite losing thousands of men a day to the stalemate in the south.

One American sergeant and future President, Christopher Colfax, described his experience in his memoirs: "It was hell, for them at least. We kept in our defenses, and at all hours the enemy would come. Hour after hour thousands would rush the walls, and they'd die. We lost few men, as their tanks and artillery were easily picked off. Thousands after thousands littered the ground, and soon the bodies pilled so high we had to bring out napalm to burn them. I will never forget it."

With over 100,000 fallen Chinese in the first two months, the attackers withdrew to their own defenses around April. Korea would remain a stalemate for the next two years.

### Battle of Iraq (2053-54)

Iran, a Nanjing Pact member, launched an invasion of the US state Iraq on March 12, with the intent of also invading NATO ally Saudi Arabia. Soon after, it invaded the US state Afghanistan. The Iraqi National Guard and State Defense Force faced the Iranians by March 24, and the two clashed, with native Iraqis determined to guard their home. The Iranians were shocked by the strength of the line, which was only enhanced after the US Government deployed more legions to guard its Asian states.

Under the command of Brigadier General Omar Samir-Ahmed, the American lines held in Iraq, while Iran was driven out of Afghanistan. The Battle of Iraq quickly devolved into a stalemate, as neither side could gain enough of an advantage to push the other back.

## Gallery

US Troops in Pyongyang after the Second Battle of KoreaAmerican soldiers stand in formation in BerlinAmerican trucks in Korea, January 2054
## References

1. ↑ Guns of The West, Simon Walsh Publishers, Simon Walsh, Pg. 17
2. ↑ "Casualty Reports Come In, And They Reveal The Horror of Zhang" New York Times Archive, 2059
3. ↑ "China Attacks America and Allies, War is Here" Washington Post Archive, 2053
4. ↑ "Millions Dead in China's Genocidal Attacks" Washington Examiner Archive, 2053
5. ↑ "USAF launches counterstrikes on Chinese, the Han shakes in his boots!" New York Times Archive, 2053
6. ↑ "Chinese Scum Driven Back, Hallelujah!" New York Times Archive, 2053
7. ↑ The Life of the World's Worst Human, Simon Walsh Publishers, Simon Walsh, Pg. 18