raunchel
Commander
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Post by raunchel on Mar 22, 2019 17:19:46 GMT
I've been thinking a little about my escape route. I would've left Seoul obviously, I'm not going to be in the firing line like that. I however am not sure where I would have gone. Probably Japan or China. A couple of years later it would have been vastly easier. Then I would just have gone to China. But back then I didn't have those connections yet.
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forcon
Lieutenant Commander
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Post by forcon on Mar 22, 2019 18:01:25 GMT
I've been thinking a little about my escape route. I would've left Seoul obviously, I'm not going to be in the firing line like that. I however am not sure where I would have gone. Probably Japan or China. A couple of years later it would have been vastly easier. Then I would just have gone to China. But back then I didn't have those connections yet. China would be a better bet I think; although it is likely to get hit harder than Japan or the ROK in a general exchange, there is far more land and its population is more split up than the former nations. As for Korea, we will be covering some events there next week I believe.
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forcon
Lieutenant Commander
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Post by forcon on Mar 22, 2019 18:05:41 GMT
Ninety-NineNorway’s Lofoten Islands were known for, amongst other things, being an excellent place to fish and to hike. This popularity was destroyed by the carnage that befell the Lofoten Islands during World War III. Several companies of Spetsnaz seized control of the virtually undefended islands, and were quickly joined by surviving troops from the 11th Guards Air Assault Brigade. The islands had been taken by naval commandos going in by submarine and then the paratroopers had been flown in to join them. With the island chain being incredibly isolated, Russian commanders had thought it would be at the lower end of NATO’s priorities for recapture. However, with the situation in Norway continuing to unfold in Russia’s favour, NATO needed a victory for morale purposes and more importantly the recapture of the islands would allow for NATO troops to hit the Russians from behind if they advanced any further into Norwegian territory. Back on the Norwegian mainland, the German Army’s 26th Airborne Brigade had been impatiently waiting to be sent into action. They had been sent to Norway right before the fighting had broken out and so far had yet to see any real action, with the Norwegians themselves along with US and Royal Marines doing the vast majority of the fighting. Resistance against the German paratroopers was expected to be moderate. While the enemy troops that needed clearing out of the island chain were excellently-trained for this kind of warfare, they were also demoralised and lacking in critical supplies. A battalion-sized airdrop occurred outside Grimsoya, Norway, with the Germans using that isolated area as an infiltration point. Only a platoon of enemy troops were there near Grimsoya, but those soldiers fought back despite the odds against them. The fight was brief, lasting less than half an hour, but saw seventeen dead Russians for nine Germans killed.
Following the battalion which had airdropped into the Lofoten Islands, the rest of the 26th Airborne Brigade moved in by helicopter, using US Marine Corps utility aircraft, including MV-22 Ospreys, to enhance their mobility. As German airmobile troops moved both eastwards and westwards across the E-10 Highway bridges, they met resistance from Spetsnaz troops who had been attempting to demolish those transport routes. The Germans had the numbers, facing squad-sized Russian units with entire companies. However, the Russian commandos and paratroopers never failed to put up a steadfast fight. The majority of the Germans went north-east, pushing up through the island chain and leaving only a pair of companies, joined by a small number of British SBS operators, to secure the south-western quarter of the Lofoten Islands. The operation went relatively smoothly in the southwest, with the Russian defenders dislodged and then forced to surrender. There would be dozens of casualties on both sides, and NATO commanders in Norway sought a quick victory in order to avoid the fight here, once a sideshow, developing into a quagmire. Reluctantly, more airpower was siphoned away from the fighting throughout the rest of Norway and sent to the islands. US Marine Corps AV-8Bs proved decisive in destroying Russian light infantry units as they attempted to dig in, and their efforts were further supported by AH-1W Super Cobra gunships. Fighting in the Lofoten Islands would continue throughout the day as German and Russian paratroopers met, with the latter falling back farther and farther. Eventually, the Russians would become isolated and be fighting with their backs to the sea, cut off from any resupply. The eventual surrender of the Russian garrison came at the price of sixty-two dead German paratroopers and over a hundred fallen Russians. Many had died in this fight, all for a strip of islands that barely even registered on a map. And the fighting in Norway would continue. Meanwhile, Special Operations Command was executing a mission of its own. It would take time for the US Navy to inflict a crippling defeat on Russia’s Northern Fleet, but it was felt by many that such a thing was inevitable. As such, NATO commanders wanted permission to begin preparing to strike targets in the far north of Russia. The Kola Peninsula was rife with airfields, naval bases, and air defence systems. All of these facilities were inviting targets for US naval airpower, but enemy air defences were of major concern. Before any major air campaign could be initiated against the Kola area, they would have to be located and either targeted for destruction by anti-radiation weapons, or destroyed by those who located them. Tasked with carrying out this mission was the US Navy SEAL’s Team Two. An Atlantic-assigned SEAL Team, Team Two had served tours overseas in places like Afghanistan, although on a somewhat less frequent basis than other units. Nevertheless, the men of the SEAL unit were highly skilled, and had trained to operate in an environment like Kola many times before, often in Norway. USS Florida, a vessel which had previously launched Tomahawk cruise missiles against both Kola and Russian-occupied Norway, carried over two dozen SEALs northwards towards Murmansk. She slipped undetected through the choppy waters of the Norwegian Sea, up past the North Cape, and into the Barents Sea. Russian frigates and maritime patrol aircraft all the while scoured the seas for any signs of an American or NATO submarine. Days earlier, the American submarine USS Norfolk had been attacked, and lost, when a Russian submarine was able to get the drop on her. The Americans were desperate to prevent this happening again, and the Florida was former Ohio-class nuclear missile submarine, built almost entirely around the premise of stealth. Florida evaded detection until she reached her release point. Using rebreathers and wetsuits the first SEAL element left Florida’s protective hull. They swam ashore under the cover of darkness, approaching the coast just west of Murmansk. Narrowly avoiding the village of Vidyadevo, the twelve-man SEAL element entered the nearby woodlands before burying their scuba gear and switching into combat fatigues. Each SEAL was armed either with an M-4 Carbine or an M-249 light machinegun; Sig Saur 9mm pistols were the preferred sidearm, while snipers carried modernised M-14 rifles. Shared between the commandos were a trio of Light Anti-Tank Weapons or LAWs, along with a significant quantity of plastic explosives. Though heavily-armed, the SEALs would rely on stealth to survive their infiltration. Actual combat with the enemy could only occur with ambushes and lighting attacks which had to be followed immediately by a withdrawal. Florida then went eastwards, still avoiding enemy anti-submarine units. Coastal patrol boats and Ka-27 helicopters carrying torpedoes narrowly missed the submarine, but after several spine-chilling near-misses she made it to the secondary drop-off point. To the east of Murmansk, near Granitnyy, two dozen more SEALs disgorged from Florida. Equally as well-armed and well-trained as the previous commando element, they swam ashore, avoiding the attention of a circling Ka-27, before moving further inland and changing into more appropriate gear. The first indication that Moscow would have of the presence of US commandos on Russian soil proper would be the disappearance of a trio of MVD men and their vehicle. The vehicle would be found overturned and burned, along with its three occupants. Closer examination would reveal that two of the MVD men had been shot and another had had his throat cut. The hapless Russian patrol had stumbled onto the SEALs unknowingly; two of its members had immediately been shot dead, and the third had been killed with a knife while trying to flee, according to the eventual after-action report. It would take nearly a week from the initial insertion of the SEALs for this to occur though. With that knowledge, Russian troops would begin to search the Kola area, but it was already too late at that point. The commandos from SEAL Team Two represented only a small fraction of the troops set to go into the Kola Peninsula. Task Force Black, named by the Ministry of Defence rather than the Pentagon, was to have responsibility over the SEAL units that had gone into the region today. Soon joining them would be additional Navy SEALs and members of the British SBS as well. Once the US Navy was in position to begin a real air campaign against the Kola Peninsula, those SEALs and their SBS brethren would begin to take out radar sites and strategic air defence weapons, paving the way for the Hornets and Super Hornets.
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James G
Squadron vice admiral
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Post by James G on Mar 22, 2019 21:41:36 GMT
One Hundred
The Norwegian submarine HNoMS Uredd remained unable to get into position to strike at the big ships of the Russian Northern Fleet. As those finally set out from the partially-sheltered position they had inside Norwegian waters west of the North Cape, the Uredd managed to get off a contact report – a burst transmission by a raised antenna – before following. The hope was that their allies would have some luck in making an attack. Then, maybe, the Uredd would get a fortunate break. There were several NATO submarines out in deeper waters of the Norwegian Sea who all received the signal. One of those was close enough to take advantage today of this gifted opportunity.
HMS Torbay, one of the Royal Navy’s Trafalgar-class hunter-killers, was positioned into a perfect ambush and made an attack. A trio of Spearfish torpedoes were launched in the first wave of the Torbay’s strike and then another three were fired soon afterwards. Once the targets for them were acquired, their guidance wires were cut. The Torbay then dove and ran. Her Spearfish raced onwards in the other direction. Two of them (of three targeted; the other went after a decoy) slammed into the destroyer RFS Severomorsk, detonating beneath her as she sprung into action to defend the big ships after the torpedo alert had come, and these broke her back. The Udaloy-class anti-submarine warship would split in half soon enough with both ends going down to the sea bottom. Many, many Russian sailors would go down with her. Other British torpedoes closed-in upon the battle-cruiser RFS Pyotr Velikiy. This huge vessel of the Kirov-class, the Northern Fleet’s flagship, had just lost her close-in protection. There were helicopters in the sky and other warships were firing anti-submarine mortars and missiles (the latter carrying torpedoes far outwards which would search for a submarine). An all-stop was called for with the battle-cruiser’s engines and a call for the men to brace for impact was shouted. Those inside the ships’ control station listened to the noises of the torpedoes getting closer and they knew that their ship was doomed.
The Pyotr Velikiy was hit by all three torpedoes. Like with the Severomorsk, the warheads within each blew up when underneath the hull aiming to break her keel. They didn’t manage to do so yet immense holes were torn into the warship. Seawater flooded in at a prodigious rate. More of that water gathered on the starboard side of the Pyotr Velikiy rather than over to port. She began to list though also was going down by the stern too. The angle of her list rapidly increased. Within, damage control parties raced to try and save her. Counterflooding efforts were attempted as the list to starboard got even worse. The bow was raised further and further out of the water as she leaned over. These were no calm waters which the Pyotr Velikiy was sailing in at the time of her torpedoing and the sea-state where there were dangerous waves and high winds combined with everything else. The ship was doomed. Her captain ordered an evacuation but this was far too late. Less than sixty of her seven hundred plus crew were gotten off before over she went.
The Pyotr Velikiy capsized and would be taken by the sea.
Long-delayed, the captain of the Torbay was able to add in his submarine’s war diary that – finally – ‘Peter the Great sleeps with the fishes’. Running to avoid a major Russian countereffort to sink her, the Torbay eluded those pursuers and was able to later broadcast a contact report. Before then though, having witnessed from afar the destruction out ahead using hydrophones rather than sonar or radar, the Uredd struck again. Peter the Great had already been ‘claimed’ by the Royal Navy and the aircraft carrier RFS Admiral Kuznetsov was too well-protected but the plucky little Norwegian boat found some further targets. A tanker was sunk first and then the destroyer RFS Rastoropnyy was torpedoed leading to her later capsizing as well. The Rastoropnyy was an already damaged ship with this Sovremenny-class vessel having been struck by a Hellfire missile (designed for anti-tank work but lethal against any target) fired by Norwegian coastal rangers in their fast combat craft during the Tromsø debacle. Now it was finished off for good.
Three major Russian warships plus a support ship had been sunk off Norway. Later events on land during the day saw other NATO successes occur where those Norwegians with their Brigade Nord had made it to friendly lines north of Narvik to link up with the US Marines while the Germans had achieved much in the Lofoten Islands. They Norwegians had fought for Finnmark and eventually had to flee yet they had gotten away from a pursuit and would be able to fight again; the Fallschirmjager had won an important if small victory. The day looked extremely promising for NATO in the norther theatre of the war raging with Russia here. Events much further out to sea wouldn’t be as fortunate though, especially not for the Royal Navy.
Out in the North Atlantic, more submarines were in action.
NATO intelligence believed that the Russians had put many of their Northern Fleet submarines far out to sea away from the Norwegian Sea and into the ocean proper. Estimates stated that at least half a dozen big nuclear-powered boats were positioned in a (curved) line running from the bottom of Greenland southeast towards Ireland. This was a subsea forward line of defence though full of offensive assets. That intelligence summary was bang on the money. There were six submarines there indeed: three of which NATO deemed Oscar-class vessels, two Victors and an Akula. One of them had yesterday sunk a French submarine – FNS Casabianca – and another had been vigorously pursued, but not caught, by several NATO aircraft on the hunt for her and her comrades. Those Russian submarines were right in the way of a large US Navy carrier battle group with two aircraft carriers, more than twenty warships (not all American) and a dozen support ships crossing the ocean heading towards Northern Europe. The USS Harry S. Truman had been lost in the Norwegian Sea: the Americans were sending the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the USS Enterprise to the same area. Those carriers were on their way to influence the fighting in Norway and then take the war to Russia’s shores beyond. The fate of the Truman wasn’t one which was wanted to be seen to occur to the Eisenhower and the Enterprise. NATO knew how she had been killed – that Oscar strike with only a third of its payload of missiles – and weren’t in the mood to see that happen again. Furthermore, these Russian submarines, the three hunter-killer attack models as well as the missile-submarines, had their own offensive capabilities should they be re-tasked from their line strung across the ocean. The North Atlantic would be full of targets for them should they be let off the leash, including all of those unarmed ships sailing from North America full of NATO’s machines of war for the frontlines in Eastern Europe. These included the equivalent of three US Army heavy divisions. Aircraft and submarines were hunting those Russian submarines in the way and today, one to be long remembered for all the wrong reasons, a pair of British submarines were very unlucky here.
HMS Talent and HMS Tireless were each lost. These sisterships of Torbay were sunk in separate incidents only a few hours apart. Talent took down her own killer with her when trading shots with the Russian submarine RFS Vepr, that lone Akula. The captains aboard each made mistakes and these errors saw the boats hit by torpedoes – Spearfishes and Skhvals – with the complete loss of full crews. The Vepr made a final kill shot with one of those supercavitating torpedoes even when doomed herself in a last act of revenge. Tireless was moments away from firing her torpedoes upon the RFS Voronezh. This Oscar-class submarine, out in the North Atlantic with twenty-four anti-ship cruise missiles all waiting for an American carrier to come into range, wasn’t as clueless to the stalking British submarine as believed. The Voronezh fired first and achieved a hit upon her wannabe attacker before the Royal Navy could react. Like the Talent, the Tireless was lost with all hands though in this engagement that Russian boat involved escaped unscathed.
The Americans got themselves two Russian submarines and without suffering a loss of their own. The US Navy would could this as a good day for them because one of the pair of enemy boats eliminated was the RFS Orel, that submarine which had sunk the Truman. One of their own submarines, USS Albany, ambushed the Orel and put four torpedoes into her: the double-hulled boat was always going to be a hard kill though this was really an overkill when two Mk.48s would have done the job. Vengeance was gained for the Truman and all the lives lost with her. The later sinking of the RFS Tambov was a serendipitous occurrence. Flying from Scotland, a RAF Nimrod MR2 aircraft – the withdrawal from service of the Nimrod had been delayed by the Brown Government in a decision taken last year due to international tensions – had been dispatched in case there were any survivors to be found from the sunken Tireless: a rescue buoy had floated to the surface broadcasting an ‘I’m dead’ signal. This maritime patrol aircraft didn’t find any of them nor the Russian boat which had eliminated her but did get a partial track on another submarine. This was the Victor-class Tambov. Calling for assistance, the Nimrod tried her luck in her own attack but was unable to get the Victor. The Americans came to help, late to the party yet walking home with the prize. A MH-60R Seahawk helicopter was flying far out ahead of the destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill (a ship which had a permanently-assigned RN officer aboard due to the history there) and raced in after the Nimrod’s miss. Two torpedoes were dropped into the water and one of them achieved a hit. Instead of imploding, the Tambov came up to the surface. Ten crewmen escaped but the seas then quickly took the Russian boat back down along with everyone else. The Nimrod dropped a life-raft (she was equipped for air-sea rescue) and then Seahawk hovered nearby. Seven Russian sailors would be saved by their enemies – three others hadn’t survived despite escaping at first – who had only just before tried to kill them. They’d face captivity though that was far better than the fate of their comrades.
Two Russian attack submarines and an Oscar had been sunk: another three boats, including two more missile-submarines, remained unmolested though. They were still at sea and part of the now-diluted defensive line. NATO would continue to hunt them down, sending aircraft and submarines but also warships as well after them. The way ahead needed to be cleared, especially of the Oscars known to be there and just waiting for another carrier or two to come into range. Of course though, there were more Oscars too…
The day also saw naval action in the Baltic Sea… well, naval-air action to be accurate. NATO was pushing warships into the Baltic through the Danish Straits and gathering its strength there. Out ahead went submarines from several navies including many German boats but also ones in Dutch and Spanish service too: American, British and French attack submarines remained elsewhere leaving smaller ones to go into the Baltic. The mission for all of those vessels, above and below the water, was to head towards the coastlines of the occupied Baltic States and Russia too. Air power went in first, opening the way.
What remained of the Russian’s Baltic Fleet after the destruction of so many vessels on the war’s first day was sought. There weren’t any big ships, few ‘medium’ ships yet many small ships. The old frigate RFS Neukrotimyy was targeted. This Krivak-class ship had been taken out of reserve in the New Year yet had stayed behind when the Baltic Fleet went forward last weekend to aid the landing at Copenhagen. German Tornados attacked her attacked her using Kormoran-2 anti-ship missiles while escorting Luftwaffe EF-2000s engaged Russian Naval Aviation fighters. Multiple missile hits were achieved as the air defences of the Neukrotimyy were overwhelmed: the Germans attacked from three directions all at once. Fires raged from bow-to-stern but before any significant numbers of men could get off, her missile arsenal detonated. The Neukrotimyy was blown to pieces. The Germans got two missile boats, Nanuchka-class corvettes, as well with Kormorans originally destined for the frigate with one-shot kills made on the smaller vessels. Turning back for home, the Tornados faced a pair of Sukhoi-27s that evaded their fighter cover and chased after them. Both sets of aircraft raced westwards with the Flankers firing on the fleeing Germans and bringing down a pair of Tornados.
There were other Russian warships. Further corvettes – with guns and missiles – remained as well as armed minesweepers/minelayers and patrol boats. The Germans came back, this time alongside American F-16s from one of those Air National Guard squadrons which had recently arrived in Europe. Flights of two, four and six aircraft spent the latter half of the day and into the night searching for targets. They had distant radar coverage but there was also support from a French special forces team of naval commandos who were active within Latvia’s Courland Peninsula looking out to sea with high-powered binoculars and radioing contact reports of observed ships. Another Nanuckha, two Parchim-class corvettes and four minesweepers were all found. Others were missing though no matter how hard these NATO aircraft tried to find them they remained undetected. There was a brand-new Steregushchiy-class corvette especially sought along with the Tarantul-class corvettes hunted fruitlessly as well. None of these were big but all were well-armed. NATO wanted to open-up the Baltic’s eastern shoreline completely for later operations here. To do so, they needed to eliminate as many ships as possible which would stand in the way of further commando operations and possibly even full-scale landings. These weren’t the only enemy which stood in the way though. There were Russian submarines known present but unseen. The Russians were observed laying naval mines; they too were seen bringing forward coastal missile batteries including ones which must have come from the Black Sea and also out of storage. The Kremlin was clearly expecting a serious effort at NATO landing operations here and getting ready to oppose that.
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lordroel
Administrator
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Post by lordroel on Mar 22, 2019 21:49:15 GMT
One HundredThe Norwegian submarine HNoMS Uredd remained unable to get into position to strike at the big ships of the Russian Northern Fleet. As those finally set out from the partially-sheltered position they had inside Norwegian waters west of the North Cape, the Uredd managed to get off a contact report – a burst transmission by a raised antenna – before following. The hope was that their allies would have some luck in making an attack. Then, maybe, the Uredd would get a fortunate break. There were several NATO submarines out in deeper waters of the Norwegian Sea who all received the signal. One of those was close enough to take advantage today of this gifted opportunity. HMS Torbay, one of the Royal Navy’s Trafalgar-class hunter-killers, was positioned into a perfect ambush and made an attack. A trio of Spearfish torpedoes were launched in the first wave of the Torbay’s strike and then another three were fired soon afterwards. Once the targets for them were acquired, their guidance wires were cut. The Torbay then dove and ran. Her Spearfish raced onwards in the other direction. Two of them (of three targeted; the other went after a decoy) slammed into the destroyer RFS Severomorsk, detonating beneath her as she sprung into action to defend the big ships after the torpedo alert had come, and these broke her back. The Udaloy-class anti-submarine warship would split in half soon enough with both ends going down to the sea bottom. Many, many Russian sailors would go down with her. Other British torpedoes closed-in upon the battle-cruiser RFS Pyotr Velikiy. This huge vessel of the Kirov-class, the Northern Fleet’s flagship, had just lost her close-in protection. There were helicopters in the sky and other warships were firing anti-submarine mortars and missiles (the latter carrying torpedoes far outwards which would search for a submarine). An all-stop was called for with the battle-cruiser’s engines and a call for the men to brace for impact was shouted. Those inside the ships’ control station listened to the noises of the torpedoes getting closer and they knew that their ship was doomed. The Pyotr Velikiy was hit by all three torpedoes. Like with the Severomorsk, the warheads within each blew up when underneath the hull aiming to break her keel. They didn’t manage to do so yet immense holes were torn into the warship. Seawater flooded in at a prodigious rate. More of that water gathered on the starboard side of the Pyotr Velikiy rather than over to port. She began to list though also was going down by the stern too. The angle of her list rapidly increased. Within, damage control parties raced to try and save her. Counterflooding efforts were attempted as the list to starboard got even worse. The bow was raised further and further out of the water as she leaned over. These were no calm waters which the Pyotr Velikiy was sailing in at the time of her torpedoing and the sea-state where there were dangerous waves and high winds combined with everything else. The ship was doomed. Her captain ordered an evacuation but this was far too late. Less than sixty of her seven hundred plus crew were gotten off before over she went. The Pyotr Velikiy capsized and would be taken by the sea. Long-delayed, the captain of the Torbay was able to add in his submarine’s war diary that – finally – ‘Peter the Great sleeps with the fishes’. Running to avoid a major Russian countereffort to sink her, the Torbay eluded those pursuers and was able to later broadcast a contact report. Before then though, having witnessed from afar the destruction out ahead using hydrophones rather than sonar or radar, the Uredd struck again. Peter the Great had already been ‘claimed’ by the Royal Navy and the aircraft carrier RFS Admiral Kuznetsov was too well-protected but the plucky little Norwegian boat found some further targets. A tanker was sunk first and then the destroyer RFS Rastoropnyy was torpedoed leading to her later capsizing as well. The Rastoropnyy was an already damaged ship with this Sovremenny-class vessel having been struck by a Hellfire missile (designed for anti-tank work but lethal against any target) fired by Norwegian coastal rangers in their fast combat craft during the Tromsø debacle. Now it was finished off for good. Three major Russian warships plus a support ship had been sunk off Norway. Later events on land during the day saw other NATO successes occur where those Norwegians with their Brigade Nord had made it to friendly lines north of Narvik to link up with the US Marines while the Germans had achieved much in the Lofoten Islands. They Norwegians had fought for Finnmark and eventually had to flee yet they had gotten away from a pursuit and would be able to fight again; the Fallschirmjager had won an important if small victory. The day looked extremely promising for NATO in the norther theatre of the war raging with Russia here. Events much further out to sea wouldn’t be as fortunate though, especially not for the Royal Navy. Out in the North Atlantic, more submarines were in action. NATO intelligence believed that the Russians had put many of their Northern Fleet submarines far out to sea away from the Norwegian Sea and into the ocean proper. Estimates stated that at least half a dozen big nuclear-powered boats were positioned in a (curved) line running from the bottom of Greenland southeast towards Ireland. This was a subsea forward line of defence though full of offensive assets. That intelligence summary was bang on the money. There were six submarines there indeed: three of which NATO deemed Oscar-class vessels, two Victors and an Akula. One of them had yesterday sunk a French submarine – FNS Casabianca – and another had been vigorously pursued, but not caught, by several NATO aircraft on the hunt for her and her comrades. Those Russian submarines were right in the way of a large US Navy carrier battle group with two aircraft carriers, more than twenty warships (not all American) and a dozen support ships crossing the ocean heading towards Northern Europe. The USS Harry S. Truman had been lost in the Norwegian Sea: the Americans were sending the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the USS Enterprise to the same area. Those carriers were on their way to influence the fighting in Norway and then take the war to Russia’s shores beyond. The fate of the Truman wasn’t one which was wanted to be seen to occur to the Eisenhower and the Enterprise. NATO knew how she had been killed – that Oscar strike with only a third of its payload of missiles – and weren’t in the mood to see that happen again. Furthermore, these Russian submarines, the three hunter-killer attack models as well as the missile-submarines, had their own offensive capabilities should they be re-tasked from their line strung across the ocean. The North Atlantic would be full of targets for them should they be let off the leash, including all of those unarmed ships sailing from North America full of NATO’s machines of war for the frontlines in Eastern Europe. These included the equivalent of three US Army heavy divisions. Aircraft and submarines were hunting those Russian submarines in the way and today, one to be long remembered for all the wrong reasons, a pair of British submarines were very unlucky here. HMS Talent and HMS Tireless were each lost. These sisterships of Torbay were sunk in separate incidents only a few hours apart. Talent took down her own killer with her when trading shots with the Russian submarine RFS Vepr, that lone Akula. The captains aboard each made mistakes and these errors saw the boats hit by torpedoes – Spearfishes and Skhvals – with the complete loss of full crews. The Vepr made a final kill shot with one of those supercavitating torpedoes even when doomed herself in a last act of revenge. Tireless was moments away from firing her torpedoes upon the RFS Voronezh. This Oscar-class submarine, out in the North Atlantic with twenty-four anti-ship cruise missiles all waiting for an American carrier to come into range, wasn’t as clueless to the stalking British submarine as believed. The Voronezh fired first and achieved a hit upon her wannabe attacker before the Royal Navy could react. Like the Talent, the Tireless was lost with all hands though in this engagement that Russian boat involved escaped unscathed. The Americans got themselves two Russian submarines and without suffering a loss of their own. The US Navy would could this as a good day for them because one of the pair of enemy boats eliminated was the RFS Orel, that submarine which had sunk the Truman. One of their own submarines, USS Albany, ambushed the Orel and put four torpedoes into her: the double-hulled boat was always going to be a hard kill though this was really an overkill when two Mk.48s would have done the job. Vengeance was gained for the Truman and all the lives lost with her. The later sinking of the RFS Tambov was a serendipitous occurrence. Flying from Scotland, a RAF Nimrod MR2 aircraft – the withdrawal from service of the Nimrod had been delayed by the Brown Government in a decision taken last year due to international tensions – had been dispatched in case there were any survivors to be found from the sunken Tireless: a rescue buoy had floated to the surface broadcasting an ‘I’m dead’ signal. This maritime patrol aircraft didn’t find any of them nor the Russian boat which had eliminated her but did get a partial track on another submarine. This was the Victor-class Tambov. Calling for assistance, the Nimrod tried her luck in her own attack but was unable to get the Victor. The Americans came to help, late to the party yet walking home with the prize. A MH-60R Seahawk helicopter was flying far out ahead of the destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill (a ship which had a permanently-assigned RN officer aboard due to the history there) and raced in after the Nimrod’s miss. Two torpedoes were dropped into the water and one of them achieved a hit. Instead of imploding, the Tambov came up to the surface. Ten crewmen escaped but the seas then quickly took the Russian boat back down along with everyone else. The Nimrod dropped a life-raft (she was equipped for air-sea rescue) and then Seahawk hovered nearby. Seven Russian sailors would be saved by their enemies – three others hadn’t survived despite escaping at first – who had only just before tried to kill them. They’d face captivity though that was far better than the fate of their comrades. Two Russian attack submarines and an Oscar had been sunk: another three boats, including two more missile-submarines, remained unmolested though. They were still at sea and part of the now-diluted defensive line. NATO would continue to hunt them down, sending aircraft and submarines but also warships as well after them. The way ahead needed to be cleared, especially of the Oscars known to be there and just waiting for another carrier or two to come into range. Of course though, there were more Oscars too… The day also saw naval action in the Baltic Sea… well, naval-air action to be accurate. NATO was pushing warships into the Baltic through the Danish Straits and gathering its strength there. Out ahead went submarines from several navies including many German boats but also ones in Dutch and Spanish service too: American, British and French attack submarines remained elsewhere leaving smaller ones to go into the Baltic. The mission for all of those vessels, above and below the water, was to head towards the coastlines of the occupied Baltic States and Russia too. Air power went in first, opening the way. What remained of the Russian’s Baltic Fleet after the destruction of so many vessels on the war’s first day was sought. There weren’t any big ships, few ‘medium’ ships yet many small ships. The old frigate RFS Neukrotimyy was targeted. This Krivak-class ship had been taken out of reserve in the New Year yet had stayed behind when the Baltic Fleet went forward last weekend to aid the landing at Copenhagen. German Tornados attacked her attacked her using Kormoran-2 anti-ship missiles while escorting Luftwaffe EF-2000s engaged Russian Naval Aviation fighters. Multiple missile hits were achieved as the air defences of the Neukrotimyy were overwhelmed: the Germans attacked from three directions all at once. Fires raged from bow-to-stern but before any significant numbers of men could get off, her missile arsenal detonated. The Neukrotimyy was blown to pieces. The Germans got two missile boats, Nanuchka-class corvettes, as well with Kormorans originally destined for the frigate as well with one-shot kills made on the smaller vessels. Turning back for home, the Tornados faced a pair of Sukhoi-27s that evaded their fighter cover and chased after them. Both sets of aircraft raced westwards with the Flankers firing on the fleeing Germans and bringing down a pair of Tornados. There were other Russian warships. Further corvettes – with guns and missiles – remained as well as armed minesweepers/minelayers and patrol boats. The Germans came back, this time alongside American F-16s from one of those Air National Guard squadrons which had recently arrived in Europe. Flights of two, four and six aircraft spent the latter half of the day and into the night searching for targets. They had distant radar coverage but there was also support from a French special forces team of naval commandos who were active within Latvia’s Courland Peninsula looking out to sea with high-powered binoculars and radioing contact reports of observed ships. Another Nanuckha, two Parchim-class corvettes and four minesweepers were all found. Others were missing though no matter how hard these NATO aircraft tried to find them they remained undetected. There was a brand-new Steregushchiy-class corvette especially sought along with the Tarantul-class corvettes hunted fruitlessly as well. None of these were big but all were well-armed. NATO wanted to open-up the Baltic’s eastern shoreline completely for later operations here. To do so, they needed to eliminate as many ships as possible which would stand in the way of further commando operations and possibly even full-scale landings. These weren’t the only enemy which stood in the way though. There were Russian submarines known present but unseen. The Russians were observed laying naval mines; they too were seen bringing forward coastal missile batteries including ones which must have come from the Black Sea and also out of storage. The Kremlin was clearly expecting a serious effort at NATO landing operations here and getting ready to oppose that. First a great update, second, congratulations to James G and forcon fore reaching 100 updates to this great timeline, keep it up. |
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arrowiv
Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Post by arrowiv on Mar 22, 2019 22:01:58 GMT
I hope to see something on the home front in America,especially on how the general populace are handling the war and also the media and Fox News, Hollywood, propaganda, etc.
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James G
Squadron vice admiral
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Post by James G on Mar 23, 2019 9:44:54 GMT
I hope to see something on the home front in America,especially on how the general populace are handling the war and also the media and Fox News, Hollywood, propaganda, etc. That wouldn't be an easy one for me to cover. Not impossible just a bit difficult being a Brit and having an understanding of the US which probably isn't all that accurate. Yet I shall give it a try when I can and see what I can do there. |
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forcon
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Post by forcon on Mar 23, 2019 11:18:02 GMT
One-Hundred-One
Continent-wide, Europe was mobilising on a scale unseen since the previous world war. From Poland, through to the southern European NATO nations, all the way back to the Iberian Peninsula, a massive deployment of forces was taking place. Though most EU countries had yet to implement full-scale conscription, retired service personnel were being brought back into military service just as they were in the United States. Hundreds of thousands of people were signing up for military service after their homelands had been rocked by terrorist atrocities or by cruise missiles and bombs from Russian aircraft. Spain, Portugal, France, and other nations had seen their armies scaled down following the collapse of the USSR, but now their brigades were again being formed into ad hoc divisional commands. Rationing, first of petrol but then potentially of food as well, was being enforced to the detriment of millions of European citizens, causing several bouts of unrest as public transport became the only viable means of travel.
The painful transition by European nations to a wartime economy reminiscent of those in the 1940s had already begun. Factories were converted to produce militarily vital instruments, and virtually all shipping companies and airlines had been taken under government control. People were fleeing from their jobs, either to serve in the armed forces or to get away from the cities which they feared would soon be obliterated in a storm of atomic fire. The economic damage being done here was monumental, but that counted for little when survival itself was on the line. Whatever the result of the war, it was destined to leave Europe in financial ruin. In Warsaw, Berlin, Paris, London, and Brussels it had already been made clear that the financial considerations of all that was occurring where now effectively null and void; World War III had to be won, and the slashing drives into Eastern Europe by the Russian Army had to be halted and then their gains reversed. The cost could be counted afterwards.
The consequences suffered by the many civilians living in Poland was truly terrible. Hundreds of thousands were fleeing across roads already overburdened with military traffic. Into Germany, Denmark, Italy, the Czech Republic, and Austria they would go; anywhere was better than Poland. European governments couldn’t even comprehend the sheer number of people who desperately needed food, medical care, and shelter, let alone begin to offer that to them. Refugees from the east were often welcomed by civilians living in the less-damaged parts of Europe. Their plight was witnessed by many who would greet them with open arms. Volunteers flocked to Germany and Denmark from all over Europe, and from some neutral nations too, while supplies of even rationed items were donated. Sometimes working with aid agencies but often independently too, civilians across Western Europe worked to set up civilised refugee camps, or in some cases they accepted the fleeing Poles into their own homes. The far-right, Neo-Nazis whose views were more in line with those of President Putin despite their proclaimed patriotism, made attempts to frighten and sometimes harm the refugees, but their vitriol was often met with courageous defensive efforts by those truly patriotic civilians who chose to offer comfort to those who had lost everything in the fighting.
Ports, railways and roads were under military control, nationalised “for the duration” in an effort that was herculean in its scale. Cargo and freighter ships, even cross-channel ferries, were now being used as troop and equipment transports, bringing in equipment from North America and from Britain to the ports along the North Sea. Though NATO naval forces, spearheaded by the Royal Navy, had taken control over the Baltic Sea, it was felt that sending civilian vessels into that enclosed area of water was far too risky. Port cities on the coast of Poland, such as Gdansk, would not yet be utilised for the reinforcement of Europe. Thousands upon thousands of American and Canadian soldiers were assembled at air and seaports in France, Holland, Belgian, and Germany. Airports that would normally be used by vacationing families and weary businessmen were now seeing airliners and military aircraft alike transporting soldiers and heavy equipment. The tanks and armoured vehicles used by arriving troops were loaded onto flatbed trains, joining those from Iberia in being sent eastwards. Europe’s long-distance railway and road networks were utterly overwhelmed by the sheer number of vehicles and troops passing through them. Military police struggled to keep the fledgling number of European anti-war protestors away from the Lines of Communication. Roads across Germany could rarely be seen without mammoth trucks transporting Challenger-2 or Abrams tanks, or without armed soldiers keeping a watchful eye out for enemy infiltrators amongst the protestors.
The US Army had its 1st Armored & 1st Cavalry Divisions now loaded up aboard trains and trucks bound for Poland. National Guardsmen would follow as the fighting went on, and then behind them would come fresh divisions formed up in the United States and Britain, joining the fight to replace the massive losses already sustained. France had formed its brigades into a pair of divisions; Division Rapiere, consisting of several armoured and mechanised brigades, was moving through Germany to reinforce the French brigade already in the country. Spain had followed in France’s footsteps, forming the 1st Infantry Division and sending those men off to battle. Another division was being formed up between Spain and Portugal, one which would be going southwards rather than off to Poland. All of this mobilisation would see NATO ready to liberate the Baltic countries and to depose Moscow’s allies overseas, in doing so destroying the Russian Army in the field.
The Russian Armed Forces sought to stop this from happening. European logistical hubs had been consistently targeted, but with casualties mounting within the Russian Air Force, Moscow’s ability to impede the NATO mobilisation was further deteriorating. Commandos and aircrews were again sent into battle on August 13th, going after the major European supply hubs. The Spetsnaz attempted to strike at Germany’s Rostock Naval Base. Ships from numerous nations were sortieing from there, with more coming in from elsewhere to rearm and resupply. Russia’s Baltic Fleet was gone; its ships were but burning carcasses atop the war, or empty wrecks littered across the ocean floor. Nevertheless, Rostock allowed NATO a better ability to threaten St Petersburg and the southern Kola Peninsula. Spetsnaz men who had been in hiding in Germany moved to target the base with mortars. Setting up their weapons outside of Rostock, a twelve-man team of Russian commandos, this time in uniform, began firing on the naval base. German Army UH-1D helicopters, Vietnam-era relics in the eyes of many, took off from nearby garrisons and located the Spetsnaz using thermal-imaging equipment. Elite German paramilitary troops from GSG-9 rappelled down from several helicopters and engaged the Spetsnaz in a ferocious gun-battle. The result was the annihilation of the GRU operatives, with all of them being killed or captured after they were surrounded. This was just one example of the Spetsnaz’ continued actions throughout the world; others would be far more successful.
In the air, interdiction efforts were likewise being made. Bears and Backfires acting as Raketonosets flew more sorties on August 13th than on any other day of the war. The need to destroy NATO logistical centres and slow down if not halt the reinforcement of Eastern Europe was now becoming desperate. Russian forces would be badly outmatched if yet more Coalition divisions made it successfully to the frontlines. From launch points over Belarus and also over the North Sea, they fired off hundreds of cruise missiles.
Once again, air raid sirens would sound across a continent awaiting its fate. By now the attacks had become routine, and Europeans were almost used to living with the constant threat of conventional attack as well as that of a nuclear or chemical strike.
Port cities such as Amsterdam and Rotterdam again came under attack, with explosions rocking both cities. This time, several coal and natural-gas power stations supply The Hague, Hamburg, and Brussels, were hit with more cruise missiles. They caused blackouts and major issues with dockyard equipment and traffic control, again slowing NATO reinforcements as they tried to disembark from vulnerable ships, whose crews were eager to get back out to sea, where they could at least avoid being a static target. Left alone until now, Heathrow and Gatwick Airports were attacked, causing massive damage to both facilities and also to the surrounding area. Where Heathrow was hit by several cruise missiles, one weapon missed, instead detonating at the nearby Hillingdon Hospital, killing over a hundred civilians. Portsmouth and Southampton faced similar destruction, with the cruise missiles coming in from the north, flying over British airspace before hitting the ports from behind. Neither did France escape destruction; Calais and Le Havre were again bombed, albeit at a murderous cost to Russia’s Long Range Aviation forces when the bombers were intercepted on the return leg of their journey.
While civilians back home in Western Europe were finding themselves under attack from the skies, the intensity of the warfare in Poland along the frontlines had slowed to a high-casualty stalemate. Stretching from the Baltic Sea down to the Polish border with Ukraine, tank, infantry and artillery units continued to fight. Neither side had the momentum to make any real advances; Russia couldn’t sustain its westwards drive with the increase of NATO air attacks and the continuing increase in NATO troops. Conversely, the Coalition couldn’t get counterattack eastwards with Russia’s still-present numerical superiority. The troops moving through Spain, France, and Germany would have to arrive first before any efforts to do this could be made. For a counteroffensive to be launched now would be disastrous would likely result in a humiliating defeat or at the very least a costly stalemate further east. Neither General Petraeus nor General Mattis wished to go down, though the latter officer, commander of CJTF-East, was more aggressive in his leadership than the new Supreme Allied Command, Europe was. Both sides mounted patrols, hoping to probe enemy positions and discover weapon points through which a latter offensive could be launched. Both sides continued to saturate one-another with artillery barrages which would subsequently result in enemy counter-battery fire. Aircraft continued to fight over the frontlines, finding then eliminating enemy forces of being driven off by anti-aircraft fire; how much longer could this go on for?
With numerous political developments taking place in Italy, along with the entering into the fighting of the Libyan regime, the Mediterranean was now becoming a major theatre of operations. The Spanish and French fleets were surged from their bases. From Toulon, Marseille, Rota & Gibraltar, dozens of ships, from aircraft carriers to destroyers and frigates, moved out, heading eastwards to link up with the US Navy. The bombing campaign of Libya, which was now considered to be an ally of Moscow, was soon to begin. Those French Rafales and Spanish Harriers would be welcomed by the Sixth Fleet as its own carried strike group, based upon the USS John C. Stennis, moved out of the Aegean Sea and towards Libya. Already, sorties were being flown against targets there and losses had been taken by both sides. With the arrival of the Stennis, the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gualle, and the Spanish with their smaller Harrier-carrier, the Principe de Asturias, things for Colonel Gadhafi were about to get infinitely worse.
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crackpot
Petty Officer 1st Class
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Post by crackpot on Mar 23, 2019 12:42:34 GMT
Oh Colonel. You done messed up this time!
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dunois
Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Post by dunois on Mar 23, 2019 17:47:36 GMT
Very good update, its nice to see the consequences on the home front.
Cruise missile attacks won't deal war-winning damange to critical transport infrastructure. It would take a LOT of missiles to shutdown Gatwick Airport for example. Runways are difficult things to destroy. Same for railways. The normal tempo of operations will resume less than 24h after missile attacks. The Russian simply don't have enough bombers and enough missiles to make a dent of even 5% in Europe's transport capacity.
A few other considerations from me:
1. I don't think that civilian Air Travel will completely shut down in Western Europe. Capacity will be throttled and a large number of airliners will be requisitioned for the war effort. But there's no fundamental need for completely shutting down air travel outside the war zone. There are limits to the transport needs of the armed forces and most airliners are unsuitable for military applications. The only use for requisitioned Ryanair or Easyjet planes would be transporing personel and some cargo like rations etc in the LD3 containers in the hold.
2. Food rationing is very unlikely in this day and age. Why? Because Europe is a massive overproducer of food and that's in spite of large scale wastage at the end-user level. Expect much stronger effort towards food recycling and the price of some food staples to increase. However outright rationing is unlikely. Rather, all the artificial production caps will be removed if the war lasts for more than a few months.
3. Strict Oil rationing is somewhat unlikely too. Why? Europe has an overcapacity in oil refining capacity, this is why refineries like Coryton, Milford Haven, Dunkerque and Berre have closed. As long as imports can be kept flowing in, oil supply won't be a problem.
Expect petrol prices for consumers to massively increase though.
4. Financing the war will be a huge issue. War bonds are an option. Taxation is another one. Compulsory savings of some sorts à la Singapore are another one.
5. Retooling the manufacturing sector will take months to be effective.
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James G
Squadron vice admiral
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Post by James G on Mar 23, 2019 18:09:40 GMT
Very good update, its nice to see the consequences on the home front. Cruise missile attacks won't deal war-winning damange to critical transport infrastructure. It would take a LOT of missiles to shutdown Gatwick Airport for example. Runways are difficult things to destroy. Same for railways. The normal tempo of operations will resume less than 24h after missile attacks. The Russian simply don't have enough bombers and enough missiles to make a dent of even 5% in Europe's transport capacity. A few other considerations from me: 1. I don't think that civilian Air Travel will completely shut down in Western Europe. Capacity will be throttled and a large number of airliners will be requisitioned for the war effort. But there's no fundamental need for completely shutting down air travel outside the war zone. There are limits to the transport needs of the armed forces and most airliners are unsuitable for military applications. The only use for requisitioned Ryanair or Easyjet planes would be transporing personel and some cargo like rations etc in the LD3 containers in the hold. 2. Food rationing is very unlikely in this day and age. Why? Because Europe is a massive overproducer of food and that's in spite of large scale wastage at the end-user level. Expect much stronger effort towards food recycling and the price of some food staples to increase. However outright rationing is unlikely. Rather, all the artificial production caps will be removed if the war lasts for more than a few months. 3. Strict Oil rationing is somewhat unlikely too. Why? Europe has an overcapacity in oil refining capacity, this is why refineries like Coryton, Milford Haven, Dunkerque and Berre have closed. As long as imports can be kept flowing in, oil supply won't be a problem. Expect petrol prices for consumers to massively increase though. 4. Financing the war will be a huge issue. War bonds are an option. Taxation is another one. Compulsory savings of some sorts à la Singapore are another one. 5. Retooling the manufacturing sector will take months to be effective. I don't generally disagree with your points though there is always context... plus Forcon and I also like blowing stuff up. Yes, it is very hard to destroy many targets. When I had cruise missiles hitting targets in the US, especially the Boeing Plant and the Army Tank Plant, I didn't expect them to be destroyed, just suffering disruption damage. I believe Forcon intends the same. You are probably correct on the wholescale shutting of air travel. I just expect it to be too dangerous to have them operating. Many airlines would have gone instantly bust regardless of whether they could have physically flown too. Airports are being used & attacked, aircrews would be recalled to military service (so many are former military) and there would be the aviation fuel issue. Food rationing: I'm thinking that what has occurred is panic from government and the rationing isn't like WW2 but still effective. To set proper rationing up in a week is crazy so I'm reading that as partial, somewhat rationing. Then loads of panic buying to make things worse. Oil refineries are on the target list. The North Sea infrastructure has already been targeted and that will move on. Yet, you are correct. Once again, I read this from Forcon as occurring once again to bad government decisions and people panicking. Money. I reckon everyone will be broke! War bonds is an excellent idea. I'll try to use that, thank you. And manufacturing. Oh, yes, you are very correct there. Retooling would be crazy and unable to work properly. Again, I think Forcon is showing us the beginning. |
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lordbyron
Warrant Officer
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Post by lordbyron on Mar 23, 2019 18:33:19 GMT
Yeah, Colonel, you just screwed up, big time...
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dunois
Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Post by dunois on Mar 23, 2019 19:07:58 GMT
I don't generally disagree with your points though there is always context... plus Forcon and I also like blowing stuff up. Yes, it is very hard to destroy many targets. When I had cruise missiles hitting targets in the US, especially the Boeing Plant and the Army Tank Plant, I didn't expect them to be destroyed, just suffering disruption damage. I believe Forcon intends the same. You are probably correct on the wholescale shutting of air travel. I just expect it to be too dangerous to have them operating. Many airlines would have gone instantly bust regardless of whether they could have physically flown too. Airports are being used & attacked, aircrews would be recalled to military service (so many are former military) and there would be the aviation fuel issue. Food rationing: I'm thinking that what has occurred is panic from government and the rationing isn't like WW2 but still effective. To set proper rationing up in a week is crazy so I'm reading that as partial, somewhat rationing. Then loads of panic buying to make things worse. Oil refineries are on the target list. The North Sea infrastructure has already been targeted and that will move on. Yet, you are correct. Once again, I read this from Forcon as occurring once again to bad government decisions and people panicking. Money. I reckon everyone will be broke! War bonds is an excellent idea. I'll try to use that, thank you. And manufacturing. Oh, yes, you are very correct there. Retooling would be crazy and unable to work properly. Again, I think Forcon is showing us the beginning. Without air travel the British Isles, Iceland and places like Crete, Majorca, essentially become isolated. London to Dublin alone is almost 5 million flyers every year. Sure, demand will be drastically cut by the conflict but some demand will remain for business travel, diplomatic travel etc. If we look at air travel in Europe in a bit of detail, the interesting thing is that a lot of it crosses national boundaries. Within the UK, the rail network can take-up the slack and flights between say London and Scotland can disappear for the duration. Same in France between Paris and Marseilles. However, when it comes to travelling in between countries, the rail networks aren't very well integrated, long distance coach lines are inexistant etc. A heavily regulated trunk network might therefore remain in place, with the different European airlines pooling ressources into a common "pool" of some sorts. The airline industry won't go bust immediately as government will pay for their services in transporting men and equipment. However, it may need a bailout post-war and the weaker airlines will merge with the stronger ones. Industry consolidation will be accelerated by a few years essentially. On the money front we have to add the costs of rebuilding Poland and the Baltics to the mix. There are precedents for post-war booms and the war may give a jolt in the arm the Western economies by freeing up pent-up demand etc. Manufacturing in particular may see a big revival. Steel will be needed more than ever for example, Teesside Steelworks may get out of mothballs 2 years early TTL. The most sensible way of financing the war will be either via bonds or compulsory savings. Overall, Europe could emerge from the conflict as stronger, more united, leaner and with France & UK was major winners since they're further away from the frontlines. However my main fear is that the big winner from WW3 will be China if it stays neutral ... Still, the thousands of casulties, panic and war effects will have huge consequences on the fabric of the continent. I really wonder what will come out of it. A positive consequence for the UK, the fact that the country is fighting a major war and that all parts are attacked will weaken Scottish nationalism for a while. |
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James G
Squadron vice admiral
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Post by James G on Mar 23, 2019 19:56:39 GMT
You make some interesting points. I still think many airlines would go bust, would have gone pre-war actually, but the 'common pool' organised by governments is a damn fine idea and sounds rather workable. As you say, air travel still has to happen.
I think there would have been many tears spilled over the costs. There will be winners who emerge from rebuilding work but the cost of that will be immense. I think too the post-war emigration of unskilled labour might go into Eastern Europe, rather than out, to do that. The politics there would be quite incalculable.
China is like the Sword of Damocles: looming over the heads of many. They will be making money here.
Long-term political implications are quite something to think of. It depends on how it all ends. Forcon and I have only a partial end game in mind and nothing concrete nor a timeframe in real work times (as in how long we will be writing for). When the end comes, it will be messy and complicated though: not over in one update with everything returning to normal.
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James G
Squadron vice admiral
Posts: 7,608
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Post by James G on Mar 23, 2019 19:59:07 GMT
One Hundred and Two
Russian air attacks into Western Europe today had come following the wholescale rejection of Moscow ceasefire offer. That had been dismissed out of hand. The near forty countries of the Coalition took simultaneous global action to publicly and politely tell Putin & his gang where they could stick it. This was a propaganda show which didn’t stop there. The details of the Russian offer were published (‘tidied up’ a bit though; sexed up it could be said) alongside with Coalition interpretations of them for their citizens to understand in simple terms. This came alongside releases of detailed allegations of Russian war crimes committed against military personnel and civilians along with evidence as well.
There had been work undertaken by diplomats and politicians to keep all members of the Coalition onside. Several nations had expressed opinions that maybe this was the time to end the war. They not only feared a nuclear escalation but also the continued high cost in terms of lives lost and financial expenditure of a conflict. Giving into the Russians wasn’t on the cards with this, but rather using what Putin had proposed as a basis to negotiate. There had been some talk of sending harsh terms back to Moscow. This had been stomped on by others, stomped on hard too. Maybe with more time to mount a joint approach, several nations might have been able to work together on this and force their other allies to reconsider such a hard line being taken yet there was no time. Arm-twisting was done and dark hints of consequences were issued. More than any of that though, for so many governments it would be political suicide for them to start talking to the Russians after all that had been done. Their peoples had been whipped up in patriotic fervour already and to suddenly do an about-turn here didn’t look like an avenue which was likely to see them survive. The fate of nations was at stake yet a lot of politicians thought only of themselves and what they would personally lose at this stage. Of course, their expressed concern among themselves was all about the diplomatic and financial implications which would come from pulling out of the Coalition when they were getting so much support from their allies… who the concern was would turn on those who chose to walk away. It must be said that this attitude wasn’t taken everywhere but it was present, even kept within the minds of many rather than spoken of aloud.
This war would continue. The combined position of the Coalition – which was increasingly forming centralised command-and-control for its wartime efforts – was now that the war needed to see a turnaround in fortune to benefit them before any effort would be made at taking to the Russians about anything less than a sudden, unconditional surrender from Moscow. When the time did come to talk, it would be on the terms of the Coalition. It would also not include any return to the pre-conflict status quo ante bellum either.
Biden had yesterday been briefed on what was then Operation Twilight. This was something modified overnight and it became Operation Avenging Eagle instead. During the evening of August 14th, a day after burying their slain president and two days after DC had been targeted, the United States launched an attack on Moscow.
An Ohio-class submarine of the US Navy launched the opening wave of the attack. It wasn’t nuclear-armed Tridents which this submarine fired but instead more than a hundred and thirty conventionally-armed Tomahawks. The USS Georgia – sistership to the USS Florida which was active that morning in the Barents Sea – fired most of her arsenal of these cruise missiles from her position in the Kattegat. The Tomahawks rounded the bottom of Sweden (overflying that country had been considered yet dismissed due to the geo-political implications) and went over the Baltic Sea. They flew onwards over Lithuania then across Belarus before impacting when striking dozens of targets throughout the western reaches of Russia. Over twenty were shot down by Russian air defence along with close to ten which malfunctioned on the way. The rest got through though, smashing enemy radar stations and SAM sites. These were all mobile air defences whose position was sent to the Georgia before she launched. Loses to the Tomahawks were expected and so those targets were struck by more missiles then needed to ensure that if not knocked out, they would at least be degraded. The US Navy had played its part in Avenging Eagle: now it was down to the US Air Force.
B-2s returned to Russian skies.
There were two of them which had flown from their home base in Missouri all the way to Britain. Special shelters were waiting for them, the equipment airlifted by waves of C-17 freighters for this mission but also future ones. At RAF Fairford, the bombers had picked up their payloads of weapons and flown onwards. More air-to-air tanking was needed on the way to complement what had been done on the trans-Atlantic flight with refuelings made over the Continent. The two aircraft had split up. One went directly eastwards, while the other flew southeast first and then northeast afterwards. Their arrival times crossing Russia’s borders was timed to occur simultaneously of each other and also just after the Tomahawks had started arriving. The first B-2 went above Latvia into Russia while the other flew over the neutral Ukraine. The two of them converged upon Moscow on courses which generally followed the routes of the M9 and M2 highways linking Russia’s capital with Riga and Kharkov. Air defences lit up as they approached Moscow. What exactly had killed one of the B-2s flown against Ostrov Airbase several days ago was unknown and this concerned the US Air Force. Extreme caution was taken with this attack to avoid seeing the same fate occur to one of these bombers again. The Tomahawks had hit many air defences but there were more of them which the B-2s were flying towards. Had such a thing been guaranteed not to see the bombers lost in doing so, weapons would have been released from the bombers mid-flight against these. Opening the bomb-bay doors beneath each B-2 would have meant them losing their stealth capability. Each was only to open them once on this flight. They needed to retain their stealth or this was all going to be for nothing. Therefore, the gauntlet was run.
SAMs were fired into the skies against them. The Russians lofted S-300PMU-2 and also S-400s too. They had returns on their radar screens which appeared and disappeared, all coming from a backscatter radar system. Such missiles were called SA-20 Gargoyle and SA-21 Growler by NATO. They were the best of the best. They were also unable to take down these American bombers this evening. The immense Tomahawk strike had done enough damage to ensure that the Russian air defence network was unable to function as meant to with so many parts working together as would be needed to get stealth bombers inbound on Russia’s capital. There was also no actual assurance from operators that they were seeing bombers and not chasing shadows. They hit nothing nor had a track on any target which could be confirmed. It was a very frustrating night for them. They would have a worse day tomorrow though when the blame game began following Avenging Eagle. Meanwhile, a message over the Hot-Line was arriving in the Kremlin. It came very late and when the B-2s were minutes away from reaching their targets. The contents of it were deliberately rather similar to the message sent to the Pentagon two days ago.
This is a conventional military strike and not a political decapitation attempt.
The bomb-bay doors on the B-2s opened soon afterwards. They were open for the shortest amount of time, just enough to see the payloads carried within fully released. This occurred twice, each time each bomber was over their two targets. Once done, they began their flights home, going back out through dangerous air defences once again. Bombs fell through the sky behind them.
There had initially been six targets plotted around Moscow (for three bombers) yet two of those had been knocked off the list: the White House, the home of the Russian Parliament, and the Ostankino Tower (being used for broadcasting propaganda westwards into Europe but also a significant landmark) avoided destruction. Maybe another day if there was an Avenging Eagle #2… The four remaining targets were the headquarters complexes of the FSB, the GRU and the SVR – Russia’s principle intelligence agencies – as well as the Ministry of Defence building. The infamous Lubyanka and the ministry were each right in the heart of Moscow and within sight of the Kremlin; the other two were outside though close enough. This strike was in many ways a mirror image of Operation Yastreb yet went deeper into the Russian capital than the Russians had done to Washington. The Americans wanted those in the Kremlin – maybe Putin was there? – to see, hear and feel their response to what they had done themselves. Tit for tat this was.
2000lb JDAM bombs, sixteen apiece, smashed into these building complexes. It was a Saturday night but each was full of employees hard at work. The FSB headquarters at the Lubyanka, where the KGB had been present for decades before that organisation’s demise, was blown to pieces with the destruction of so much of that structure especially the iconic frontage. The GRU was out in the Grizodubovoy District. It was said that this was a shabby place in need of cosmetic improvements. Would the bombs which hit there be counted as a new ‘paint job’? Unfortunately, near half of the bombs destined for the SVR headquarters in Yasenevo missed their target slightly and would kill civilians though others landed on-target and caused fantastic levels of damage there. The Defence Ministry was just off the famous Arbat street, Moscow’s fashionable bohemian district. Much of it was obliterated with the bombs falling on target and doing what they had been sent to do.
Air raid sirens wailed over Moscow starting only after the first explosions occurred, not before. Huge fires were started which lit up the night-time sky after a crash emergency blackout was forced in response to the air attack. There was smoke within the Kremlin coming from the Lubyanka. Sirens wailed from emergency vehicles racing to the two inside Moscow targets; outside, emergency services were turned away from the GRU while those near to where the SVR was headquarters moved to aid wounded civilians too. It was here in Yasenevo would Russian state media (it all was now) would converge to record scenes of innocent civilians caught up in war which – this time – didn’t need to be faked in a stage-managed performance.
Within the hour, there would be a press conference at the Pentagon.
Secretary of Defence Nunn and General Casey (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) would brief the American people – and thus the watching world – of what had occurred. Operation Avenging Eagle was presented as a stunning success. This is what we have done, was the message here, and they couldn’t stop us. Pre-strike reconnaissance photos were shown and then so too was what Casey said was real-time satellite image post-strike of burning buildings and flattened structures. Yes, Nunn replied to a reporter’s question, we did put a satellite over Moscow just for this to show you what we have done. In later days there would be questions about Russian claims that so much of this was faked by the Americans and instead they had only killed civilians – they had the Yasenevo ‘evidence’ – as well as claims from the Kremlin that supposedly the two bombers were brought down on their way home (they weren’t) but that was for then. For now, the United States had shown how it had responded to what Russia had done. It was an impressive sight. In the past several decades, American military actions abroad had begun with opening night strikes on their opponent’s capitals such as Baghdad in 1991, Belgrade in 1999, Kabul in 2001 and Baghdad again in 2003. This time it had taken eight days yet now it was done. Casey had refused to answer a question as to whether this would be done again: Nunn had given a quick smile which would be interpreted by many as an assurance that there would be an Avenging Eagle #2.
As to Putin, he wasn’t in Moscow when the Hot-Line message came nor the bombs fell ever-so-close to the Kremlin. He was aboard one of Russian own ‘doomsday planes’, an Ilysuhin-80 and thus far away. Like Biden several days beforehand, there had been moments where strategic strike options were being reviewed: those bombs could have been nuclear and not conventional. Once the news of what actually occurred arrived, he at once understood the tit for tat reply to Yastreb. That was how things had gotten to now with strikes made against Russia and the United States by the other. He had hoped that the American’s nervy European allies would keep their hands tied about hitting Moscow but, alas, that was not to be.
The war, he realised, wasn’t soon to end. It was going to go on, expanding in scope and action. So be it. This was a conflict which was still Russia’s to win. There remained much more that could be done to force his enemies out of this war. They could be broken apart, demoralised and beaten on the battlefield. Military strikes like those with missiles over Western Europe today against non-military targets would continue and there would too be another attack made on the American’s homeland to reply to what they had done tonight. Furthermore, his mind was considering something else too. Putin’s many Russian-born enemies who were aboard were openly plotting and scheming to see themselves replace him. Those people had to be gotten rid of, no matter where they felt safe. Deaths were ordered from his aircraft. The West would have no one Russian in their countries, thinking that they were safe, ready to try to one day come to Moscow and take over. Some of his colleagues disagreed here and this was a waste of capability for Russia’s special services, but Putin would have none of that.
With bombs or traitors, they wouldn’t bring down the Rodina nor - most-importantly - remove him.
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