The Second Battle of Britain - a Soviet Sealion

Looks like NATO is taking quite a beating.

NATO is trading land for time...and by the looks of it, it isn't working, especially with the NORTHAG losses in the previous updates. By the looks of it, NORTHAG NORTHAG is severely lacking reserves with the Belgians going south. I UK Corps took a beating IIRC, as did the Germans and forward-deployed US units.

119 – NATO Reinforcements


NATO nations had mobilised their armed forces with urgent haste. Alongside the concerns of defending themselves where particular countries faced attacks at home or needed to aid allies elsewhere in the world, there was a pressing need to deploy what they could to the fighting taking place in West Germany. This was the main front in World War Three. The United States undertook the largest overseas transfer of military might. Exercises REFORGER and CRESTED CAP became real wartime operations: the movement of ground and air forces to Western Europe commenced. In the very late stages of readying for REFORGER ’87, the US Army (supported by the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard) undertook emergency transfers of men and material across the Atlantic. It was an opposed deployment. This was only on the European end of REFORGER, rather than back at home or when crossing the ocean, yet that didn’t mean that the loss of life incurred and the delay imposed wasn’t severe. Soviet attacks using aircraft and missiles, plus increasingly special forces raiders, had a devastating impact. The POMCUS sites through West Germany and the Low Countries were hit. So too were airports and also internal transportation links through Western Europe. Long before REFORGER-assigned units could reach the frontlines of war, they came under attack when in transit and then forming up. Regardless, on this deployment went. It wasn’t going to be stopped, it couldn’t be brought to a halt at a time like this when other American soldiers in Europe were fighting for their lives. The Second Gulf War, the heightened sense of tension due to the ascension of Ligachev in Moscow and also the upcoming Exercise REFORGER meant that the US Army was able to mount a strong showing in the scale of its deployment. Tens of thousands of soldiers, combat and non-combat troops, were quickly on the move. A full corps command (the US III Corps), five divisions (1st Cavalry, 1st Infantry, 2nd Armored, 4th Infantry & the National Guard’s 49th Armored), many brigades (the majority being again Army National Guard ones already undergoing readiness training) and a plethora of smaller formations were all being sent to the fighting in West Germany. This was no easy process, especially in the face of enemy attacks, but it was something that the Americans were doing regardless. It was going to take some time to get them in shape to fight though. Changes had to be made as well when it came to the deployment due to Soviet attacks. Whether the US Army could get its forces fully deployed in time and to undertake their assigned mission was something that while the Americans were sure that they could do, there was doubt being expressed in certain places that they could be able to do so in time due to the speed at which the frontlines were pushing westwards. In addition, this first wave of REFORGER forces were meant to be soon joined by more troops. Another four Army National Guard divisions, along with a lot of supporting troops, all received orders to go overseas to Western Europe too. These were formations which while not at the highest state of readiness, were neither at the lowest state either. The intention was for them to make their deployments behind those sent first.

CRESTED CAP saw the trans-Atlantic transfer of much of the US Air Force – supported by Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard units too – across to Western Europe. There was an ongoing commitment to the Middle East which had seen certain elements assigned for the mission now unavailable as they were in the Gulf, yet those reserve elements had been stood up in the previous months to take their place. Moving air power from home bases to new ones on the other side of the ocean was easier than moving troops. This didn’t mean that it didn’t come with its own complications though. Airbases throughout Western Europe faced attack and so did much of the non-flying infrastructure to support the CRESTED CAP units when they reached their destinations too. The US-based Ninth Air Force was the parent command for the majority of the deployed units. Wings of A-10s, F-4s, F-15s and F-16s were transferred across the ocean. The Twelfth Air Force had already committed many assets to the fight against the Iraqis – and later the Iranians too – but was able to provide some more F-4s and F-16s as well as F-111s. Further combat aircraft of these types came from the Air Force Reserve and the Air National Guard who in a few cases also sent older aircraft such as A-7s as well. A lot of jets were being sent to the fighting! The US Marines were also going to Europe and this included their own integral air power. The II Marine Amphibious Force hadn’t seen assets stripped away to fight in the Middle East though did have detachments in the Mediterranean. Still, much of this corps-sized command was standing ready to go overseas from their East Coast bases to be joined too by Marine Reserve units out of New England and the Mid-West. The II MAF would be going to Norway, linking up with pre-positioned equipment there to fight to defend that country and thus contribute overall to the wider mission for NATO beyond West Germany on the flanks.


Canada was caught wholly unprepared for war. Its West Germany-based forces came under attack and there was an urgent need to send reinforcements to them. Canadian Forces Europe (CFE) included both the 4th Mechanised Brigade Group and the 1st Air Group. Back home, the unified Canadian Forces had two more brigades of full-time soldiers – as well as the large yet lightly-equipped Militia – as well as several wings of combat aircraft. The national defence policy for Canadian reinforcement for Europe had been something long debated and criticised. As things stood in August 1987, the Canadian Forces were to send attachments to the south of West Germany to join the CFE units there while also undertaking a major deployment to Norway alongside the Americans, the British and others. The Norwegian deployment had been tested last year. It had been an embarrassing disaster. Deliberations were underway to see that change. Instead of the Norway mission, in the future there was supposed to be a full reinforcement of the CFE in West Germany where the brigade and the air group would each be built up to divisional sizes for wartime operations. But this was an ongoing process, full of political hold-ups. The current active planning was for a Norwegian deployment. In Ottawa, the decision was taken once war was foisted upon them to do what the Canadian Forces were prepared for rather than make sudden changes. Canada would make that big deployment to Norway. There was equipment on the ground there and everything was set up in logistics planning as well as with command-&-control. Yet, at the same time, effort would be made to commit unassigned forces not for the Norwegian mission to go to West Germany. This would be far smaller of a reinforcement but one thought necessary due to the scale of the fighting in the south of that country. These decisions taken in Ottawa were regarded as the only ones which they could take… yet the subsequent loss of life and destruction to the Canadian Forces’ continued capability to wage war was going to be significant in the coming days.

Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands each had no such political dramas over where their armed forces were to go in wartime. They’d be fighting in West Germany. Certain elements would be undertaken an expeditionary role elsewhere, but other theatres of conflict were a distant second in terms of priority for these three nations. Luxembourg could provide only a small military contribution but the couple of battalions of infantry which they would send off to war were to be dispatched as fast as possible into neighbouring West Germany. Belgium had troops in West Germany – seeing action on the morning of the war’s second day – and they rushed the process of sending more. The remaining brigade missing from the division across the border was to be deployed along with the full, three-brigade 1st Infantry Division. Belgian paratroopers and also mobile reservists would be going too. Combat aircraft – Alpha Jets, F-16s and Mirages – were either kept flying from home bases or sent to forward sites over in West Germany. Dutch troops met the enemy on the battlefield that was the North German Plain within hours of the war starting. Those there were in retreat the next morning, withdrawing with haste into a dead-end with their backs soon to be against the North Sea. The lone brigade based in West Germany was the forwardmost unit separate from a combined Royal Netherlands Army force of three complete divisions stationed on home soil. All of them would be going to fight in the north of West Germany. Already seeing battle ahead of them were Dutch combat aircraft. They continued to fly from bases in the Netherlands putting F-5s and F-16s in the skies over Western Europe. Plans for a detachment of jets to be sent to Norway were shelved due to the wartime situation of the Soviets charging westwards towards the Netherlands. They were needed at home!

The French Armed Forces were among the biggest in Europe and contained a significant portion already stationed inside West Germany. Political differences back in the late Sixties had seen France leave NATO’s integrated military command structure yet the country remained a full member of the organisation. In addition, despite the public position when it came to France’s independent role within that alliance that many saw as far too American dominated, there was a rapid ease with how once war started the French were fighting fully under unified command with their NATO allies because secret agreements had long been made to do that. France’s commitment to the fighting in the Gulf had seen much effort expended in terms of logistics though the troop & aircraft numbers hadn’t been that taxing on the French Armed Forces. Of course, once the war started in Europe, they could have preferred to have everyone at home but it wasn’t the case that they were crippled by the missing forces. A dozen combat divisions – smaller ones that other NATO formations it must be said – were available for the fighting in West Germany under three different corps commands which could operate in different geographic areas of the country; another trio of divisions (two of them being reserve formations) were held back to see action in Austria, Italy or elsewhere if needed. France was quick to send its army into combat. The I Corps in the Rhineland and the II Corps in Baden–Wurttemberg would be making contact with Soviet forces soon enough while the III Corps moved through Belgium heading northwards to come up in support of their allies having a torrid time on the North German Plain. French aircraft with the Armée de l'Air were on NATO missions, not just supporting French ground forces. Parts of the AdA had orders to not commence offensive operations as they were nuclear-rolled as there was still French military independence on that matter but the overall numbers kept out of the air war weren’t that large. There remained many Mirages – older and newer models – as well as Alpha Jets on-hand for immediate action against the Soviets.

West Germany’s armed forces took extensive losses as the war opened and during the first day and a half. Forward-deployed units were quick to see action, often out on their own ahead of those of their allies who were generally – though not exclusively – garrisoned much further back from the Inner-German Border. The West German Army, the Heer, had about half of its major units close to the frontiers with East Germany and Czechoslovakia and was fast to bring forward as much of the rest as it could too… often not waiting for their allies to come with them. The Heer had eleven full divisions as its main strength and an airborne division with semi-independent brigades located throughout the country. To support this force of regulars, there were many reservists in Territorial units including a dozen brigades with tanks & armoured vehicles. Mobilisation meant that West German reserves rushed to their posts and that included countless smaller battalion- & company-sized units for rear-area security tasks as well. Very quickly, much of the Heer was wiped out. Few of the divisions had been fighting as whole units and none of them had been fully manned either. With the reservists, they were being sent into action with haste, also without a complete complement of personnel. The West Germans had no choice though. They didn’t have the time to assemble their army when their country was being overrun. The Luftwaffe also was in action straight away: all of it. Losses were taken at bases hit by attacks and when flying. West Germany had no real air reserves. There were some training units overseas in America, Britain and Portugal and they were recalled but the speed with which aircraft were being shot down meant that their numbers wouldn’t add up to much in the overall strength that the Luftwaffe could field.


That successful espionage effort made ahead of the war to steal Britain’s war plans for their deployment of military forces to the Continent hurt the UK quite a bit. Operation Blackbird was compromised thoroughly ahead of a Soviet attack that came when it was underway. Across the country, as elements of the British Army and the RAF began to make their transfers onto the Continent, they came under attack when most exposed. Neither the BAOR nor RAF Germany were able to gain the fast reinforcement which they should have received. Moreover, British war plans called for commitment of forces elsewhere within Western Europe as well: to both Denmark and Norway. Casualties were many when the Soviets unleashed their cruise missile attack with explosives and gas yet far worse was what came with the disruption to the deployments caused. There wasn’t a complete halt put on things though: only a nuclear attack could have achieved that. Post-attack recovery came among those hit as well because the need to get British forces onto the Continent was urgent. Everything that could be done to make the deployments happen was being done in the face of such a devastating effort to stop that. The British Army had three full brigades with Blackbird missions. The 1st Infantry Brigade, based in the South-West of England, was to go to Denmark and then see action in Schleswig-Holstein across the border in West Germany. From garrisons in the Home Counties, the 5th Airborne Brigade had the Norway mission following the deployment several months ago of the 3rd Commando Brigade – with Royal Marines as well as British Army units – to the Gulf. There was too the 19th Infantry Brigade, which was based in East Anglia and was being sent to West Germany via the Netherlands. A further missing brigade like the 3rd Commando was the 24th Infantry: this was out in the Middle East as well. A regular unit, it was part of the reserve 2nd Infantry Division formed from Territorial Army units. That division, now given a third TA brigade to join its other two, were also due to go to West Germany making the transit too through the Low Countries. Furthermore, there were smaller British Army and TA units – battalions, companies and platoons – all with a wide variety of missions. They would link-up with larger ones in West Germany or be on their own. Parts of the RAF were to remain in the UK to fly from home bases during wartime though others were due to go across to the Continent. Squadrons of Buccaneers, Harriers, Jaguars, Phantoms & Tornados were meant to transfer to many varied sites to support the British war effort in support of its NATO partners.

The course that the war was taking on the Continent threw a spanner into the works just like that mass Soviet attack on home soil did. Norway wasn’t being hit with a full-scale invasion and it was fast becoming apparent that entry into Denmark for British forces was going to be extremely difficult should the Soviet & East German attack through Schleswig-Holstein keep going like it was: Esbjerg was the projected port of entry there for the 1st Infantry Brigade and it was somewhere under sustained missile attack with enemy tanks ahead north of the Kiel Canal. The disasters being met on the North German Plain led the British to believe that the ground fight for the northern portion of West Germany would soon be moving to the Netherlands – maybe Belgium too – within the coming days. New orders were issued by the British Government, ones made in a climate of fear. Both the 1st Infantry & 5th Airborne Brigades had their respective Danish and Norwegian missions cancelled. This was the same for several RAF squadrons as well, both ones with aircraft and also for ground defence missions. Instead, there was a switch in focus to getting these forces to the fight in West Germany to help advert the terrible situation there. Difficulties were understood to be present with logistics (despite the shorter deployment distances) and it was foreseen that this would cause knock-on effects elsewhere as British forces were expected in those two Scandinavian theatres. However, Prime Minister Whitelaw and his War Cabinet – all still scattered across the country in bunkers – had the fear that if they didn’t do this, and also push for other allies to commit extra forces to the same region, there would soon be Soviet tanks on the English Channel. That was considered to be something far graver for British interests than the whole of the Jutland Peninsula and a chuck of Northern Norway falling into Soviets hands.

   Its really looking grim for the allies, and that's without how the Soviets are going to risk everything on complete victory. I'm very doubtful on holding the Rhine as I can't see the allies getting enough forces together in time, even without the fore-warnings James have given about other actions further west. 

Map, as promised.
Consider this NOT VERY ACCURATE and the situation by H-Hour +30 /36: mid afternoon on the war's second day.
(click to enlarge)

Link to an excellent piece on Soviet Army late 80s military readiness: www.ww2.dk/new/army/readiness.htm

Tomorrow's update: West Berlin finale and the fighting in Norway, Denmark & Greece/Turkey.
After that, moving down to the Middle East and the Pacific before the story returns to Western Europe again.

That is very true. This time, NATO didn't have its armies out ready and waiting.
Also, I wanted to do something very different with the speed of the conflict this time.