stevep
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Post by stevep on Apr 20, 2018 22:55:58 GMT
I would have thought that Kim is losing his main advantage, especially if he's limiting his actions to border regions. While he has a lot of largely crap stuff its likely to get whittled down somewhat, especially by the allied artillery in counter-battery mode. Also while he can in theory raise a massive army how long can he keep in in action before the economy starts to fold. Not to mention collecting the harvest without a lot of those men. There's going to be no food aid from the west and the Soviets aren't in a position to help even if they were willing.
Anyway, two good updates. The mess in Mexico is coming to a bloody end and that leaves a very unstable situation on the border.
By the way James. How are the Soviets going to get those forces their been building up in Cuba into the US once the curtain goes up? Seems likely they would suffer huge casualties in the face of the US air and naval superiority unless their got something very special planned.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Apr 21, 2018 7:22:36 GMT
By the way James. How are the Soviets going to get those forces their been building up in Cuba into the US once the curtain goes up? Seems likely they would suffer huge casualties in the face of the US air and naval superiority unless their got something very special planned. A have a feeling James will take a page out of how they did it in the Red Dawn classic, having infiltrators (those Mexican refugees fleeing from the Mexican Civil War and who i think has many communist agents among them) and using civil passenger plans to drop parachute units when the time comes across key locations across the United States, but that how i would do it. |
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Post by lukedalton on Apr 21, 2018 8:55:02 GMT
I would have thought that Kim is losing his main advantage, especially if he's limiting his actions to border regions. While he has a lot of largely crap stuff its likely to get whittled down somewhat, especially by the allied artillery in counter-battery mode. Also while he can in theory raise a massive army how long can he keep in in action before the economy starts to fold. Not to mention collecting the harvest without a lot of those men. There's going to be no food aid from the west and the Soviets aren't in a position to help even if they were willing. The core premise of the entire war for the Soviets and co. it's probably: be short, be quick, be victorious. |
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James G
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Post by James G on Apr 21, 2018 15:13:03 GMT
I would have thought that Kim is losing his main advantage, especially if he's limiting his actions to border regions. While he has a lot of largely crap stuff its likely to get whittled down somewhat, especially by the allied artillery in counter-battery mode. Also while he can in theory raise a massive army how long can he keep in in action before the economy starts to fold. Not to mention collecting the harvest without a lot of those men. There's going to be no food aid from the west and the Soviets aren't in a position to help even if they were willing. Anyway, two good updates. The mess in Mexico is coming to a bloody end and that leaves a very unstable situation on the border. By the way James. How are the Soviets going to get those forces their been building up in Cuba into the US once the curtain goes up? Seems likely they would suffer huge casualties in the face of the US air and naval superiority unless their got something very special planned. Kim has agreed to have one hand tied behind his back but is waiting for the eventual pay off. There is the idea that a lot can be taken from a looted South Korea as well. The Monterrey Government is doomed and almost all resistance in Mexico will come to and end. Conversely, that will shut off most of the refugee problem too. They have got something special planned. They way is meant to be opened for them by their allies plus selective units of their own. Whether that works in a different matter entirely. A have a feeling James will take a page out of how they did it in the Red Dawn classic, having infiltrators (those Mexican refugees fleeing from the Mexican Civil War and who i think has many communist agents among them) and using civil passenger plans to drop parachute units when the time comes across key locations across the United States, but that how i would do it. Stop reading my mind! Yes, that and a few little other surprises too. The core premise of the entire war for the Soviets and co. it's probably: be short, be quick, be victorious. Yes, very much so. They foresee a war into the new year but one where the US gets weaker at home and the worldwide situation goes in the Soviet Union's favour. What they don't want is initially neutral nations jumping ship to the American side. If that happens, they are wholly f-ed. |
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James G
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Post by James G on Apr 21, 2018 15:14:58 GMT
(129)
Late July 1984:
American intelligence and reconnaissance efforts were being stretched to the limit during a period which was unofficially in many circles as being referred to as a time of crisis. There were multiple ongoing areas of concern worldwide for United States geo-political interests and across each of them, there was a pressing need to provide information to decision-makers at the top: senior officials and politicians. Pressure was being put on those down below to get results and to get them now. The right results were wanted too, those that often fitted the desires of their bosses but also the highest level of government. Satellite passes, air overflights, electronic listening and the work of field agents was all undertaken and what they found delivered to analysts to put together reports to move high up the chain-of-command. Among this, there was urgency yet also a lot of covering of one’s behind by so many of those involved. Intelligence agencies were full of real people who had careers and personal responsibilities to think of. No one wanted to make a mistake which would cost them their job. If something went wrong, it couldn’t be their fault. Adding into this the demands that what was discovered fitted the preconceptions of those at the very top, brought about what would arguably become the greatest intelligence failure of the twentieth century. No one wanted to make the mistake that they did. Afterwards, when the error was revealed for what it was, rather than be fired, so many of those involved actually lost their lives instead and didn’t have to face the responsibility for the failure. Seeing as they were conveniently dead, that was helpful for the survivors who would later shift all blame upon them. That was some time away. For now, the intelligence work and reconnaissance effort continued. The maskirovka was underway and so the Americans weren’t understanding just what they were seeing: this occurred in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, East Asia and, in particular, through Latin America.
Moving into the south of Mexico came Guatemalan and Nicaraguan military forces in number. Thousands of soldiers were spotted arriving in Mexico after coming up from Central America. There were efforts to hide their movement yet their presence was still detected when many sources of information were collated and analysed. It was first thought that this might be a new wave of ‘volunteers’ to fight for the Mexican communists. That interpretation was revised when from the White House there came the idea that that these might be organised defensive forces to protect Mexico from US military intervention beyond air strikes. Both the CIA and the DIA revised their initial summaries on that to fit the political view. Yes, it did now look like these were defensive forces. It wasn’t just soldiers either but what looked like a field army of several combat divisions containing tanks and armoured vehicles. This was the force which had overcome Honduras and it was now inside Mexico after coming across from Guatemala. Onwards the LACom force moved, heading past Mexico City and beyond. They didn’t just move on land but also by air and sea as well. There were aircraft and ships involved which were supposedly Guatemalan & Nicaraguan. That was a lie and one seen through by the Americans. Where had those two little countries suddenly got themselves such transportation? From Cuba, that was where.
Coming across from Cuba, there was no sign yet that Castro was sending Cuban troops to Mexico. His aircraft and ships were involved with his allies though not anywhere near to the Yucatán where they had previously been attacked by the US Air Force. Instead it was through Central America – including El Salvador and Honduras now – that the Cubans were active as well as up the long Pacific coast of Mexico. This wasn’t beyond the range of the Americans should they chose to attack again, and certainly not something which their reconnaissance efforts couldn’t detect, yet quite far away from where air strikes over Mexico were taking place. A high-level meeting at the CIA headquarters concluded that Castro had taken the lesson to heart when his forces had been attacked like they had over the Yucatán and wouldn’t dare act there or in the Gulf of Mexico again. Clearly, he hadn’t been put off in his quest to challenge the United States, but he was trying to be less obvious with it. That analysis was passed onto the White House. It was factually correct yet conversely plain wrong at the same time.
Cuban forces weren’t moving out of Cuba from what the Americans could see though there was the arrival into the country of a significant amount of military equipment coming from the Soviet Union. Aircraft and ships arrived laden with weapons, ammunition and supplies. The number of arrivals was quite significant and more ships were spotted as being on their way through chokepoints worldwide. The transport aircraft and seagoing freighters were from the Soviet Union (their merchant marine was quite the organisation) and from the Eastern Bloc too. Cuba was being reequipped with military gear, so ran the DIA assessment passed on, as the Soviets shipped them plenty to be able to defend themselves against an attack by the United States. When the vast majority of this was observed being stored near to airports and seaports rather than moved off elsewhere, the DIA also concluded that this was a case of Castro having too much sent to him to be used at once and there must be internal Cuba inadequacy in getting it further dispatched. That made sense, sort of anyway. A follow-up, separate analysis – an outlier theory – at the DIA was that maybe it was instead being kept in Cuba ready to be transferred to Central America for use there. Both ideas were incorrect. What was already in Cuba and what was coming, all of that military equipment and supplies, wasn’t for the Cubans to use. No, instead it was for Soviet forces: Soviet forces not to be based in Cuba, just to soon start arriving to use Cuba as a jumping-off point for operations in September. Those Soviet forces would report to three major commands for upcoming wartime operations, those being the Eighth Tank Army, the Twenty–Eighth Combined Arms Army and the Twenty–Fourth Air Army. American intelligence was again seeing what the political directives were telling them to see. The whole idea of what was really going on was just to fanciful to imagine.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Apr 21, 2018 15:18:59 GMT
(129)Late July 1984: American intelligence and reconnaissance efforts were being stretched to the limit during a period which was unofficially in many circles as being referred to as a time of crisis. There were multiple ongoing areas of concern worldwide for United States geo-political interests and across each of them, there was a pressing need to provide information to decision-makers at the top: senior officials and politicians. Pressure was being put on those down below to get results and to get them now. The right results were wanted too, those that often fitted the desires of their bosses but also the highest level of government. Satellite passes, air overflights, electronic listening and the work of field agents was all undertaken and what they found delivered to analysts to put together reports to move high up the chain-of-command. Among this, there was urgency yet also a lot of covering of one’s behind by so many of those involved. Intelligence agencies were full of real people who had careers and personal responsibilities to think of. No one wanted to make a mistake which would cost them their job. If something went wrong, it couldn’t be their fault. Adding into this the demands that what was discovered fitted the preconceptions of those at the very top, brought about what would arguably become the greatest intelligence failure of the twentieth century. No one wanted to make the mistake that they did. Afterwards, when the error was revealed for what it was, rather than be fired, so many of those involved actually lost their lives instead and didn’t have to face the responsibility for the failure. Seeing as they were conveniently dead, that was helpful for the survivors who would later shift all blame upon them. That was some time away. For now, the intelligence work and reconnaissance effort continued. The maskirovka was underway and so the Americans weren’t understanding just what they were seeing: this occurred in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, East Asia and, in particular, through Latin America. Moving into the south of Mexico came Guatemalan and Nicaraguan military forces in number. Thousands of soldiers were spotted arriving in Mexico after coming up from Central America. There were efforts to hide their movement yet their presence was still detected when many sources of information were collated and analysed. It was first thought that this might be a new wave of ‘volunteers’ to fight for the Mexican communists. That interpretation was revised when from the White House there came the idea that that these might be organised defensive forces to protect Mexico from US military intervention beyond air strikes. Both the CIA and the DIA revised their initial summaries on that to fit the political view. Yes, it did now look like these were defensive forces. It wasn’t just soldiers either but what looked like a field army of several combat divisions containing tanks and armoured vehicles. This was the force which had overcome Honduras and it was now inside Mexico after coming across from Guatemala. Onwards the LACom force moved, heading past Mexico City and beyond. They didn’t just move on land but also by air and sea as well. There were aircraft and ships involved which were supposedly Guatemalan & Nicaraguan. That was a lie and one seen through by the Americans. Where had those two little countries suddenly got themselves such transportation? From Cuba, that was where. Coming across from Cuba, there was no sign yet that Castro was sending Cuban troops to Mexico. His aircraft and ships were involved with his allies though not anywhere near to the Yucatán where they had previously been attacked by the US Air Force. Instead it was through Central America – including El Salvador and Honduras now – that the Cubans were active as well as up the long Pacific coast of Mexico. This wasn’t beyond the range of the Americans should they chose to attack again, and certainly not something which their reconnaissance efforts couldn’t detect, yet quite far away from where air strikes over Mexico were taking place. A high-level meeting at the CIA headquarters concluded that Castro had taken the lesson to heart when his forces had been attacked like they had over the Yucatán and wouldn’t dare act there or in the Gulf of Mexico again. Clearly, he hadn’t been put off in his quest to challenge the United States, but he was trying to be less obvious with it. That analysis was passed onto the White House. It was factually correct yet conversely plain wrong at the same time. Cuban forces weren’t moving out of Cuba from what the Americans could see though there was the arrival into the country of a significant amount of military equipment coming from the Soviet Union. Aircraft and ships arrived laden with weapons, ammunition and supplies. The number of arrivals was quite significant and more ships were spotted as being on their way through chokepoints worldwide. The transport aircraft and seagoing freighters were from the Soviet Union (their merchant marine was quite the organisation) and from the Eastern Bloc too. Cuba was being reequipped with military gear, so ran the DIA assessment passed on, as the Soviets shipped them plenty to be able to defend themselves against an attack by the United States. When the vast majority of this was observed being stored near to airports and seaports rather than moved off elsewhere, the DIA also concluded that this was a case of Castro having too much sent to him to be used at once and there must be internal Cuba inadequacy in getting it further dispatched. That made sense, sort of anyway. A follow-up, separate analysis – an outlier theory – at the DIA was that maybe it was instead being kept in Cuba ready to be transferred to Central America for use there. Both ideas were incorrect. What was already in Cuba and what was coming, all of that military equipment and supplies, wasn’t for the Cubans to use. No, instead it was for Soviet forces: Soviet forces not to be based in Cuba, just to soon start arriving to use Cuba as a jumping-off point for operations in September. Those Soviet forces would report to three major commands for upcoming wartime operations, those being the Eighth Tank Army, the Twenty–Eighth Combined Arms Army and the Twenty–Fourth Air Army. American intelligence was again seeing what the political directives were telling them to see. The whole idea of what was really going on was just to fanciful to imagine. So the build up is going strong and the Americans are still do not have any clue that their world is about tho change. |
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James G
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Post by James G on Apr 21, 2018 15:47:31 GMT
(129)Late July 1984: American intelligence and reconnaissance efforts were being stretched to the limit during a period which was unofficially in many circles as being referred to as a time of crisis. There were multiple ongoing areas of concern worldwide for United States geo-political interests and across each of them, there was a pressing need to provide information to decision-makers at the top: senior officials and politicians. Pressure was being put on those down below to get results and to get them now. The right results were wanted too, those that often fitted the desires of their bosses but also the highest level of government. Satellite passes, air overflights, electronic listening and the work of field agents was all undertaken and what they found delivered to analysts to put together reports to move high up the chain-of-command. Among this, there was urgency yet also a lot of covering of one’s behind by so many of those involved. Intelligence agencies were full of real people who had careers and personal responsibilities to think of. No one wanted to make a mistake which would cost them their job. If something went wrong, it couldn’t be their fault. Adding into this the demands that what was discovered fitted the preconceptions of those at the very top, brought about what would arguably become the greatest intelligence failure of the twentieth century. No one wanted to make the mistake that they did. Afterwards, when the error was revealed for what it was, rather than be fired, so many of those involved actually lost their lives instead and didn’t have to face the responsibility for the failure. Seeing as they were conveniently dead, that was helpful for the survivors who would later shift all blame upon them. That was some time away. For now, the intelligence work and reconnaissance effort continued. The maskirovka was underway and so the Americans weren’t understanding just what they were seeing: this occurred in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, East Asia and, in particular, through Latin America. Moving into the south of Mexico came Guatemalan and Nicaraguan military forces in number. Thousands of soldiers were spotted arriving in Mexico after coming up from Central America. There were efforts to hide their movement yet their presence was still detected when many sources of information were collated and analysed. It was first thought that this might be a new wave of ‘volunteers’ to fight for the Mexican communists. That interpretation was revised when from the White House there came the idea that that these might be organised defensive forces to protect Mexico from US military intervention beyond air strikes. Both the CIA and the DIA revised their initial summaries on that to fit the political view. Yes, it did now look like these were defensive forces. It wasn’t just soldiers either but what looked like a field army of several combat divisions containing tanks and armoured vehicles. This was the force which had overcome Honduras and it was now inside Mexico after coming across from Guatemala. Onwards the LACom force moved, heading past Mexico City and beyond. They didn’t just move on land but also by air and sea as well. There were aircraft and ships involved which were supposedly Guatemalan & Nicaraguan. That was a lie and one seen through by the Americans. Where had those two little countries suddenly got themselves such transportation? From Cuba, that was where. Coming across from Cuba, there was no sign yet that Castro was sending Cuban troops to Mexico. His aircraft and ships were involved with his allies though not anywhere near to the Yucatán where they had previously been attacked by the US Air Force. Instead it was through Central America – including El Salvador and Honduras now – that the Cubans were active as well as up the long Pacific coast of Mexico. This wasn’t beyond the range of the Americans should they chose to attack again, and certainly not something which their reconnaissance efforts couldn’t detect, yet quite far away from where air strikes over Mexico were taking place. A high-level meeting at the CIA headquarters concluded that Castro had taken the lesson to heart when his forces had been attacked like they had over the Yucatán and wouldn’t dare act there or in the Gulf of Mexico again. Clearly, he hadn’t been put off in his quest to challenge the United States, but he was trying to be less obvious with it. That analysis was passed onto the White House. It was factually correct yet conversely plain wrong at the same time. Cuban forces weren’t moving out of Cuba from what the Americans could see though there was the arrival into the country of a significant amount of military equipment coming from the Soviet Union. Aircraft and ships arrived laden with weapons, ammunition and supplies. The number of arrivals was quite significant and more ships were spotted as being on their way through chokepoints worldwide. The transport aircraft and seagoing freighters were from the Soviet Union (their merchant marine was quite the organisation) and from the Eastern Bloc too. Cuba was being reequipped with military gear, so ran the DIA assessment passed on, as the Soviets shipped them plenty to be able to defend themselves against an attack by the United States. When the vast majority of this was observed being stored near to airports and seaports rather than moved off elsewhere, the DIA also concluded that this was a case of Castro having too much sent to him to be used at once and there must be internal Cuba inadequacy in getting it further dispatched. That made sense, sort of anyway. A follow-up, separate analysis – an outlier theory – at the DIA was that maybe it was instead being kept in Cuba ready to be transferred to Central America for use there. Both ideas were incorrect. What was already in Cuba and what was coming, all of that military equipment and supplies, wasn’t for the Cubans to use. No, instead it was for Soviet forces: Soviet forces not to be based in Cuba, just to soon start arriving to use Cuba as a jumping-off point for operations in September. Those Soviet forces would report to three major commands for upcoming wartime operations, those being the Eighth Tank Army, the Twenty–Eighth Combined Arms Army and the Twenty–Fourth Air Army. American intelligence was again seeing what the political directives were telling them to see. The whole idea of what was really going on was just to fanciful to imagine. So the build up is going strong and the Americans are still do not have any clue that their world is about tho change. It is going to get much bigger and so the US doesn't become aware, more distractions elsewhere are going to be needed. Korea needs to be ramped up and Panama will begin plus there will be some things done inside the US too. |
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James G
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Post by James G on Apr 21, 2018 19:14:40 GMT
(130)
Early August 1984:
For a successful lie to work, to be believed and to bring about the desired intent, there is much that can be done to assist in that lie. Tell it big, is one: ‘he bigger lie, the more it will be believed’ as said by Goebbels. Mixing bits of truth in with the lie is something else that can be done for when the false bits of the lie are denied, the true bits thrown in will be admitted to therefore causing doubt among those who heard all or part of the lie. Get someone else to tell the lie is another successful route to go down; even better, someone who actually believes it. Yet another method of telling lies is to choose your initial audience well because lies are best told to those who want to believe them. Professional liars, those who do this for a living such as spies (maybe politicians too), understand these basics. They don’t always work and lies aren’t always believed, but when they do, they work well.
The KGB began the process of revealing the existence of stay-behind networks across Western Europe. What was revealed was a lot, a mix of truths & falsehood, through those who’d naturally be opposed to such a thing and to those who’d be aghast. The big lie wasn’t that the stay-behind networks were real, because they were, just what they were there for. Across NATO countries but also non-aligned ones, there had come the organisation post-WW2 of a secret set of preparations made for resistance following a Soviet invasion of those countries. This was done country-specific and set up with the knowledge of some governments at the time though not that of other governments. Over time, the networks became more and more secret. They were to launch a terror campaign in the event of an occupation and that wouldn’t just include occupiers but collaborators within too. There was also the intention that if any of the countries in which there was a stay-behind network had a change of government to a communist one without war and invasion, there would be resistance as well. People were recruited to the networks and weapons were stored. Training was done overseas and this took place in Britain due to the involvement of MI-6 alongside the CIA in overseeing the whole thing. Over the years, the individual networks across the many countries had seen incidents occur with some members of the secretive groups becoming involved in violent events and there also being the use of those hidden weapons for purposes not intended. Not all of the networks were ready to do as tasked should the worst occur and Soviet tanks roll in while others were far too ready and were engaging in what were terrorist actions using their stay-behind role when there was no actual mission for them. Certain governments in 1984 knew all about what was prepared while others didn’t. The KGB was aware. They didn’t know all the details and would have been surprised if they did, but they knew enough. Stories started to be told to those willing to listen of this terror network waiting to be unleashed in times of tension or war: the tension bit was hyped up especially. Links were revealed with criminal acts in the past and extremist political groups. Accusations were made that certain people knew about the stay-behind networks and had kept that secret. Rather than everything coming out at once, there was the drip-drip effect to keep the story going. Some outrageous lies were told yet among them oftentimes the truth came out as well. In three countries across Western Europe, two in NATO and one not, where the revelations were made there was quite the political drama.
It began in Italy. The network there was named Gladio. Those involved with Gladio had been behind many terrorist atrocities, the revelations told, including bombings and assassinations. Small media outlets revealed the news with solid information sent to some and good leads given to others for them to find out more. Most of the allegations made in Italy were true with only a few falsehoods added in. The latter were political ones to do with deaths over the years where the work of the secretive network was alleged to have been behind that. Members names were revealed, weapons dumps pinpointed and previous cover-ups exposed. The KGB manipulated things beyond that though, linking all activities where right-wing terrorist attacks – real ones and the ones which weren’t – all to the CIA. They went a bit far with that and lost the belief of some of those who might have believed mostly truth and a few of the lies. Others swallowed the lies hook, line & sinker: those who wanted to believe, did so. Beyond the smaller sections of the Italian media, questions over what this Gladio was all about moved to the bigger parts. Politicians had questions to ask. The matter turned rather serious after a week. It was the cover-up that was looked at, not the actual events themselves.
Belgium had its own Gladio scandal. The network in Belgium was actually named SDRA8 but the name Gladio stuck after Italy. Again, there were lies added into the truth. Right-wing terror groups, some thoroughly nasty people who engaged in criminality as well as committing acts of terror, were exposed for their Gladio links. Others were falsely named to be part of the same thing. They were accused of subverting democracy and working with the CIA to do that. There had been some murders in the past few years which were now wholly linked to these Belgians working for the interests of a foreign country. Other deaths were called murders and linked to them too. Unlike in Italy, the Belgian government didn’t react strongly. There was more knowledge present that the SDRA8 was in-place with more involvement of the Belgian security services. The media were better controlled as well and weren’t allowed to run riot with as many lies as they would have liked. Belgians weren’t up in arms at such a thing as they were told about. Still, investigations were launched and following the initial spurt of activity, more serious looks were made at what had been going on in Belgium through the past several decades.
Spain was the third country where the Gladio revelations were made. Under the rule of Franco, a stay-behind network had been established in the Spanish mainland and its external islands. Spain was still outside NATO but there had been a fertile breeding ground for such a hidden organisation should the Soviets ever come or Spain should ‘fall to the communists’. Spain was currently led by a Socialist government with parliamentary assistance from the Communists. Neither political party were in anyway Soviet-friendly but there had been a backlash among certain Spaniards that the country had gone they way they had always feared. Through last year and into this one, there had been small but lethal terrorist outrages across the country. In the revelations made by the KGB using proxies, these were all linked to the stay-behind network. Furthermore, there were allegations made that the Gladio attacks were staged with the help of the Americans from their military bases in Spain. Some of these were being withdrawn, others were supposed to stay for use by the US Air Force and the US Navy. While the government was still deciding what to do – and not believing the lies about the links to Rota and Torrejón – certain domestic protest groups did. There were marches organised and some violence occurred, especially outside the entrance to the airbase near Madrid. US Air Force personnel at Torrejón stayed right out of the way and let the Spanish deal with that: orders from back home were to not get involved at all at this time of tension. The politicians in Madrid had bad memories of Franco and US cooperation with him; these Gladio truths and lies brought those memories flooding back.
Stay-behind was one thing that the KGB was aware of with information collected over a long time. They knew something else too, something more recent. That was the secret talks which had been taking place for some time now between France, Italy, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands when it came to the future of NATO in the face of seeming disinterest on the part of Kennedy being committed to defending them. That feeling was widespread yet among these countries it was stronger. They didn’t all agree on everything. There was no secret conspiracy. They weren’t thinking of breaking away from NATO nor trying to force other countries, especially West Germany, to do the same. There was no belief among them that Kennedy was under the spell of Moscow. There was also no written down grand masterplan for how to do this and to leave other erstwhile allies all alone. They had been talking but only to help keep the United States involved in NATO and to make sure he was aware of the danger of drifting away from facing down the Soviet Union. The KGB, assisted by some of those working for them but otherwise by dupes, spread a whole load of lies about this apparent conspiracy. Some of those were actually contradictory and damaged the narrative in-places much to the KGB’s chagrin. However, the majority of it worked. What also was achieved was the framing of where the leaks came from where fingers were pointed at those involved but not supporting the others and thus willing to sell everyone else out. The lies were told across Western Europe and further afield across the Atlantic through Canada and the United States. Then the KGB sat back and watched to see how this would all play out. They would be disappointed with certain bits but pleased elsewhere. Division and distrust was what they wanted, now and in the coming weeks.
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Post by lukedalton on Apr 21, 2018 20:37:23 GMT
Great update, just two things:
1- and that i want to tell from the Petra killing update, don't overplay the KGB card; they are not Hydra or Spectre, even them make error and are not omnipotent. Frankly for achieving all this, the entire counterintelligence apparatus of all NATO countries need to be staffed by blind, deaf and not too bright people,. hell Roscoe P. Coltrane and Enos from Hazzard will have done a better job.
2- the most probable result of the KGB revelations about the talking between the various european nations, it will be the two side starting to talk about the situation, the unilateralism and all that...and all the resentment between the two side of the Atlantic will explode in that moment, with the Stay Behind scandal being the iceing on the cake. With the disinformation campaign of the KGB simply augment the flame of rage, even if the biggest culprit in spreading rumors will be the normal press aided just a little by the Soviet (frankly taking in consideration that all this talking were restricted and secret, just the fact that someone spilled, will start a very throughtfully search by the various security services.)
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James G
Squadron vice admiral
Posts: 7,608
Likes: 8,833
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Post by James G on Apr 22, 2018 13:51:04 GMT
Great update, just two things: 1- and that i want to tell from the Petra killing update, don't overplay the KGB card; they are not Hydra or Spectre, even them make error and are not omnipotent. Frankly for achieving all this, the entire counterintelligence apparatus of all NATO countries need to be staffed by blind, deaf and not too bright people,. hell Roscoe P. Coltrane and Enos from Hazzard will have done a better job. 2- the most probable result of the KGB revelations about the talking between the various european nations, it will be the two side starting to talk about the situation, the unilateralism and all that...and all the resentment between the two side of the Atlantic will explode in that moment, with the Stay Behind scandal being the iceing on the cake. With the disinformation campaign of the KGB simply augment the flame of rage, even if the biggest culprit in spreading rumors will be the normal press aided just a little by the Soviet (frankly taking in consideration that all this talking were restricted and secret, just the fact that someone spilled, will start a very throughtfully search by the various security services.) The KGB aren't having free reign and total success. They are chucking hand grenades to see what works. That will cause blowback on their own networks. The current chairman is seven months into the job and an expert in crushing internal dissent: D&D ops abroad are something new for him. |
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James G
Squadron vice admiral
Posts: 7,608
Likes: 8,833
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Post by James G on Apr 22, 2018 14:08:53 GMT
(131)
Early August 1984:
Mexican communist troops reached Naco first and then soon afterwards Agua Prieta too. The Arizonian town of Douglas lay across the border from the second Mexican town over in Sonora and through there, there came another last minute rush of refugees plus Northern Alliance soldiers deserting. Agua Prieta was left a ghost town afterwards with almost all of its citizens leaving along with everyone else who’d been there. No one wanted to remain behind to suffer the same fate as apparently what had happened in Nogales and also Cananea as well. Massacres were reported to have taken place in each with the Red Terror said to have occurred. Border Patrol agents and national guardsmen in Douglas could do nothing to stop the onrush unless they used their weapons and that was something explicitly not allowed. However, when the first communist soldiers approached the border crossing at the designated port of entry, they then had their weapons out. There was a flag-raising show on the Mexican side and shooting could be heard over in Agua Prieta. At Douglas, like elsewhere along the entire US-Mexican border, there had been a closing of traffic for some time now unless it was authorised. Refugees had ignored that – crossing anywhere that they could and many dying in the attempt – and so too had certain Americans who had gone south. The latter had included some brave (or foolish) journalists, aid workers who went to help & bypassed official restrictions and also those who deemed themselves ‘freedom volunteers’. American citizens went south to fight the communists and defend freedom. In Agua Prieta, it was them being shot at when they stayed behind. These were a wide mix of people with all sorts of motives and backgrounds. The ones who remained in that Mexican town rather than make a run for it like other sensible ones did regretted that decision. They were either killed as they made a last stand or taken prisoner so be sent down to Mexico City for propaganda purposes. American forces north of the dividing line could do nothing about that. They had their orders to stay their side of the border and defend it but not to cross over.
As communist control spread further along the border, it extended inside Mexico too as the Northern Alliance (really a misnomer now) lost the city of Chihuahua. When the communist attack recommenced outside, despite American air attacks, there came further fifth column assaults inside. The guerrillas were all meant to be dead, killed last month, but that had been far too optimistic of a summary. Struck from the outside and within, Chihuahua’s defenders couldn’t hold out. There remained no heart in them to fight here for the Monterrey Government nor anywhere else. The garrison commander abandoned his post and fled. Many of his men did the same, aiming to take their chances in the mountains outside where the communists were certain not to have full control, surely not? Those who were left defending the city, fought when the inevitable attack came but were overrun. Panic hit them when some men tried to surrender and the attackers moved forward getting in among the defences. When the moment of collapse came, it was quite sudden as the shooting stopped. Communist troops swept into the city afterwards. They began an orgy of violence there. Looting, raping and killing went on with officers unable to control the men. This did allow some of those who would be sought by the city’s new rulers to get away with their lives from Chihuahua, heading for the mountains too, but still facing an uncertain future when on the run.
The fall of Chihuahua saw the Chief of Staff of the US Air Force asked to resign from his position. At a meeting between the Joint Chiefs and Secretary of Defence Bentsen, the general had once again pushed for his people to be on the ground in Mexico as forward air controllers for the air strikes going in. He had been arguing this from the beginning and it had been denied with the official policy of ‘no boots on the ground’. Northern Alliance military officers were doing that instead: calling-in the air strikes coming from American aircraft above them. Around Chihuahua, but at so many places beforehand, so many bombs had been misdirected. There was the feeling that in certain places, those on the ground were working for the communists too in bringing down bombs in ‘friendly fire’ incidents. This was hotly-contested by the CIA who had their people in Mexico and not in any uniform. They said that wasn’t happening. That general knew it had happened again around Chihuahua. He clashed with the Chairman – a US Army officer considered by many to be a political toadie to the president – and also Bentsen over this leading to that request for his resignation. Bentsen actually agreed with the man he asked to resign on the need for US Air Force personnel on the ground though he didn’t believe the intentional mis-directing of bombs was taking place. In addition, the general’s comments with regard to the ‘stupidity’ of the president’s strategy when it came to Operation Avid Castle were a step too far. Like Muskie before him, Bentsen was having to get rid of senior military officers who raged against Kennedy and disrespected the commander-in-chief. This was the United States and there would always be civilian control of the military. That was the way it was. Advice could be given, was welcomed indeed, but elected politicians decided policy in the end.
The rest of the Joint Chiefs – the Chief of Staff of the US Army, the Chief of Naval Operations and the Commandant of the Marine Corps (there was no Vice Chairman) – weren’t best pleased at all with this. Their opinions of their Chairman were very low and of their president even worse: Bentsen was recognised as being caught in the middle and doing what he could when someone like Ted Kennedy was in the White House. Boots on the ground were needed. It would be costly in terms of men and also politics, but it was the only thing to be done. They believed, and suspected that Bentsen was with them, that the Monterrey Government was going to fall soon enough. Nogales and Agua Prieta would be repeated from Yuma to Matamoros very soon. The US Marine Corps general worked with his US Army counterpart to put together a draft plan for when it came to Baja California. At the moment, they knew that any idea of an intervention on the ground there where it looked like the non-communists could hold would be rejected, but it was something to go back to when the end came for the rest of Northern Alliance resistance. There would be a plan in-place should Kennedy change his mind and allow for entry into Mexico of American troops – soldiers and marines – despite all the domestic issues that would cause. Work was started on this by their subordinates though there then came the issue of the disruption to force levels with that following events taking place on the Korean Peninsula.
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James G
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Post by James G on Apr 22, 2018 16:46:39 GMT
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Early August 1984:
Combined Forces Command put in a formal request on August 9th for reinforcements in South Korea. Kim Il-sung had ordered North Korean forces to up their attacks but more than that, new American reconnaissance directed north of the DMZ showed signs of an invading army forming up. The North Korean’s concealment efforts were relaxed some and what was seen was a mass of tanks along with a whole load of infantry. They weren’t there for no reason, especially not positioned behind what were recognised as likely avenues of attack in an invasion. Cross-border shelling and commando raids could be dealt with by what was stationed in South Korea but the joint US-SK force couldn’t hope to hold back a tide of North Korean armour like what was spotted as well as all of that infantry. The request went to the Pentagon for United States reinforcements to come into South Korea, while domestically the Seoul Government started to call-up reservists.
Contingency plans, those recently updated, were put into action. The aircraft carrier USS Midway was already operating near to the Korean Peninsula with her battle group out of Japan. To join her would be the USS Carl Vinson sent from exercises underway down in the South China Sea and set a course northwards; USS Kitty Hawk at San Diego was made ready to head to the Western Pacific too if needed to support the Midway and the Vinson. From Alaska, the Philippines and Japan, US Air Force units were directed to start making deployments to either South Korea or Japan with further forces from across the United States mainland getting ready to join them later if needed. The US Marine Corps had part of their 3rd Marine Division in Okinawa and more over in Hawaii. The whole division, joined by some more marines from California, would form up in South Korea ready for action. Joining them to fight against a North Korean attack would be US Army elements spread across the Pacific Basin as well. There was the 2nd Infantry Division stationed in South Korea attached to the IX Corps which would be reinforced by the 25th Infantry Division moving from Hawaii. That latter formation only had two brigades and so to provide a third, that would come from one of those assigned to the 7th Infantry Division based in California. Further troops would come from a brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division sent to South Korea – the rest of the division staying in North Carolina on alert – as well as US Army Reserve units from selective locations too. Army National Guard units in Hawaii, Oregon and Washington (state) were mobilised under federal orders and would undergone immediate training ready to deploy if needed.
Combined Forces Command wanted more than what was sent. The commanding general, a four-star US Army officer, believed that there should be three carriers instead of two & one on stand-by, twice as many aircraft as sent, the whole of the 1st Marine Division instead of part to reinforce the 3rd Marine Division and both the whole of the 7th Infantry & 82nd Airborne Divisions. The North Koreans were getting ready to launch an invasion, he believed, and he needed troops on the ground ready to stop that. More were promised including further forces than which he asked for should that attack come, but only if it did. The command set-up meant that he reported direct to the US Army Chief of Staff rather than through the multi-service US Pacific Command and his protest went to the Pentagon. Why were troops being held back? He was told that there was a Mexican contingency plan. National guardsmen were to be made available if the crisis got any worse short of war on the Korean Peninsula but regular forces were to stay where they were for now. This was not on. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. Formations of the National Guard were in no way comparable to the regular US Army. Staying within his chain-of-command, he asked for this to be put to Bentsen only to find out that the secretary of defence was behind this hold back when he had signed on with the preparations made by part of the Joint Chiefs for possible intervention in Mexico should the president authorise that. This wasn’t liked when heard back in South Korea. The head of the US Air Force had just resigned and, looking from the outside, it looked like power games were being played at the Pentagon. Left frustrated and impotent, all that could be done was to get the reinforcements being sent into position as soon as possible. The IX Corps and the III Marine Amphibious Force would be positioned ready to counterattack a North Korean advance with South Korean forces ahead of them. Airbases filled up with arriving aircraft and there were US Navy carriers & warships off-shore. Daily clashes with the North Koreans kept occurring but the wait was on now for the really big fight.
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James G
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Post by James G on Apr 22, 2018 18:41:23 GMT
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Mid August 1984:
The 1984 Summer Olympics had been taking place in Los Angeles and they ended in the middle of August. The games had been boycotted by several nations and there had been non-attendance by other countries due to internal issues – civil war and revolt – at home. In the final medal table, the United States topped that with the Soviet Union coming second, a close second at that. President Kennedy had opened the games with Vice President Glenn attending the closing ceremony. There had been a friendly atmosphere but a lot of security throughout. That security failed on the last day though. There was a shooting incident outside the Memorial Coliseum stadium just before Glenn arrived. He wasn’t the target; gunfire was directed at a party of Israeli diplomats instead where three of them were killed and two more badly injured. LAPD armed officers shot dead several gunmen and captured another one wounded while a further two escaped. The captive, turned over to the FBI after a turf-fight with the LAPD, was revealed to be a Palestinian. He wouldn’t talk but the Israelis would pass on in later days his links with a well-known group: the Abu Nidal Organisation had struck once again. As to the Olympics closing ceremony, that took place regardless following a delay where Glenn – surrounded by Secret Service agents – did what he was in California to do. California was an important state come November and Glenn was no mind to be seen as a coward.
Libya was one of those several countries which had boycotted the games; Iraq, Nicaragua and North Korea among the most prominent others. The followers of Abu Nidal who went on a shooting spree wouldn’t have been able to do this without the backing of Libya who used the excuse of so many international arrivals into Los Angeles to infiltrate these gunmen. When the FBI traced the weapons used, they rolled up a Palestinian network across California but also caught that Libyan connection as well. Israel was already ahead of the FBI. Once again, another air strike was mounted over the long distance from Israel to Libya. Libyan air defences were better prepared than before yet the Israelis were expecting that and went about their attack differently. Bombs rained down on ‘regime targets’ across Tripoli once again and there was also a smaller strike against Colonel Gadhafi’s hometown of Sirte as well. President Kennedy’s brother Bobby had been murdered in Los Angeles in 1968 by a Palestinian. It was said that his affinity for Israel was heavily-influenced by that slaying of the Kennedy brother who hadn’t but (arguably anyway) could have made it to the White House otherwise. Full diplomatic support was given for the second Israeli attack on Libya and there was an order for the USS John F. Kennedy to put F-14s in the sky to cover the Israeli egress back from their strike mission. In all honestly, the Israelis weren’t best pleased to have fully-armed Tomcats in the sky when their jets were outbound and there was a belief that their initial launch from the carrier named after Kennedy’s other slain brother could have helped alert the Libyans that something was up. Still, that was glossed over. At this time, Kennedy had Israel’s back. Certain Israeli government figures started plotting and planning at what else they could get away with at this time with such strong American support. They heard complaints from certain sections of Western Europe about unilateral American action happening but didn’t care less. Neither did their backer in the White House… and he should have.
The Olympics hadn’t been used as a cover just by the Libyans. The Soviets and the Cubans were both participants at the games with teams taking part and delegations sent. Other issues, serious issues of contention between them and the United States, were pushed aside supposedly for the benefit of sport. There was a propaganda war being waged using the games. Like the infamous drugging of the East German team, Soviet athletes were doped up too. Winning medals at the Olympics wasn’t for the benefit of their athletes nor sport but for the state itself. Alongside those who officially attended the games from the Soviet Union and Cuba, there were citizens of theirs who came into the country while the games were going on. They didn’t go to them but rather elsewhere. Entry was made using passports from different countries, from where those arriving transited through, with tourist visas used. These people, eventually hundreds of them, stayed away from Los Angeles and went elsewhere through the United States but also up into Canada too. Once in selected locations, they met up with others. Weapons were gathered and intelligence information gone over. Transport for their ‘big day’ was arranged. Then they waited. For some, they would do what they were in the United States & Canada to do before the war commenced; others would strike to open it. The countdown approached one calendar month until that was.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Apr 22, 2018 18:42:30 GMT
Nice three updates, keep it up James, so many things happening and the big one has not even started yet.
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James G
Squadron vice admiral
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Post by James G on Apr 22, 2018 18:47:23 GMT
Nice three updates, keep it up James, so many things happening and the big one has not even started yet. There's a lot to happen before the start but the light is at the end of the tunnel. Next Monday (April 30th) is a bank holiday so I am off work. That is the day - HOPEFULLY - where I can begin with the commencement of the war... if not, the next day. I have all my updates planned out and linked to that point. When it comes to the war's opening day: that is already written in my head. |
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