Blue Dawn, 1994

25 – Breaking into Belarus


In northwestern Belarus, on the road to Lida, attack helicopters assigned to the 2nd Armoured Cavalry Regiment’s aviation squadron massacre a regiment of Union Army tanks. Guided by scouts in OH-58 Kiowa reconnaissance helicopters, multiple flights of AH-64 Apaches come in for the kill. They are laden with an anti-armour payload: carrying sixteen Hellfires each. There are more Hellfires than there are tanks. On cue, once escort-rolled Apaches have shot off a few Hellfires already to take out mobile air defences and also blanket the improvised battlefield with rockets to kill any missilemen, those tank-killing Apaches strike. They attack from all sides, trapping a mass of T-72s in a ‘kill-box’. From the stub wings of the Apaches, those Hellfires begin to fly en masse. There is already chaos on the ground when the Tunguska combined SAM/anti-aircraft artillery vehicles were blown up and all those rockets arrived. Such opening scenes pale in comparison to what comes next. The Hellfires slam into the tanks. Explosions erupt when they strike home. All of the T-72s are bunched up, travelling down the highway in a convoy. The regimental commander – who deserves to be shot for such a dereliction of duty – shouts into the radio-mike for them to disperse off-road. Moments later, a Hellfire slams into his tank: he and his two fellow crew members are killed. There isn’t a single un-attacked tank or escorting armoured vehicle left on the road by the time the Apaches leave. Two man-portable SAMs are lofted against them during their attack by brave men yet neither hit the helicopters raining death from above. Away from here they will fly unmolested after winning a stunning victory.

This Apache strike upon the tank regiment assigned to the 51st Guards Motor Rifle Division is one of several major successes through the war’s first day in this portion of Union territory just over the border from Poland. The 2nd Cav’ leads the US V Corps on its way to Minsk. Advances are made through enemy territory at a staggering rate. Fifty miles deep the 2nd Cav’ goes in under twelve hours. It has its helicopters ranging ahead even further than that. On the ground, their M-1A1 Abrams’ and M-3 Bradleys roam free like the Apaches and Kiowas do. There is more opposition met. That Union Army division, sent up from the Ukraine the other month, only has a few elements on the border: the majority of the 51st Guards Motor Rifle Division is located further back. It is the task of the 2nd Cav’ to strike it them where possible but, of greater significance, to locate them for heavier US V Corps units to take on. The elimination of that tank regiment would have been up to the 1st Armored & 1st Infantry Divisions had the T-72s not been all bunched up like they were and out in the open shouting ‘kill us’ like they were. In smaller engagements, shots are exchanged with other tanks and the many infantry carriers (both BMP-1s and BTR-70s) that the Union Army has here in Belarus. They are moving out of garrisons which have already faced air attacks. Green Berets are active on the ground and reports come into the 2nd Cav’ HQ about where to find them. Blockages are made to their progress where ambushes are sprung. Slowing them down and beating them up a bit allows for them to be then properly engaged by stronger American forces. Trying to take on the full weight of the 51st Guards Motor Rifle Division when it assembles as battalions or even regiments will cause too many casualties for 2nd Cav’ ground elements and thus stop them from completing their overall mission. Doing that is down to the men serving with the Old Ironsides (1st Armored) and the Big Red One (1st Infantry) who are also breaking into Belarus behind the 2nd Cav’.

With their own Cav’ detachments and helicopters, the Old Ironsides and Big Red One have entered Belarus too. They are moving eastwards through this Union republic which rose in rebellion against Moscow the other month and suffered harsh consequences. When civilians are encountered, despite the brutal crackdown, there is little open welcoming of these Americans pouring in. That doesn’t really matter though to them: they are here to fight, not celebrate with adoring crowds. There is much fighting to do too. Clashes erupt with Union troops and there are also a few incoming air attacks which come despite the presence of so much friendly Coalition air cover up above. A HAWK battery with the Big Red One manages to take out a Sukhoi-17 Fitter attack-fighter on an attack run while a Patriot SAM-launcher under US V Corps command kills another Fitter coming after the Old Ironsides and also damages a MiG-27 Flogger strike-fighter aiming to make a bomb run enough to see it head home. A couple of other strikes get through though. Chemical weapons are used when nerve gas spray tanks fitted to a lone Flogger disperse Soman over the Old Ironsides. An artillery battery is the target of this attack yet those inside the M-109 self-propelled howitzers along with the M-548 cargo carriers laden with more shells all emerge unscathed. They are protected from the effects of gas yet the whole unit’s vehicles will need a complete and thorough wash-down. Apaches with the Big Red One strike at a Union artillery battery opening fire with conventional shells and destroy those guns before they can complement that attack with chemical shells to allow gas to then do its deadly work among the wounded. These incidents come alongside more traditional fighting. There are tank and infantry engagements all over the place. The Americans come unstuck on more than a few occasions and that is often down to them charging too far ahead and running into the enemy unexpectedly. The efforts of the Cav’ don’t always work out as intended. Regardless, while the Old Ironsides and the Big Red One take casualties and face delays, they still push far ahead through Belarus. They aren’t being held back, just delayed. While they do so, they destroy the 51st Guards Motor Rifle Division with these many fights. This includes the capture of the divisional commander and his surviving staff too when their command post is taken by the Big Red One.

The US V Corps is past Lida by sunset. Darkness comes but there will be no halting of the offensive. The Americans will go on towards Minsk tonight. Unknown to them, Gromov’s hastily convened STAVKA has said that it will take them four days to do this. Four days? No, they’re going to be reaching the Belorussian capital less than twenty-four hours after coming over the border!


In west-central Belarus, the 97th Guards Motor Rifle Division refuses to die as easily as their Thirteenth Army comrades to the north. There are Americans who have air-landed in the rear and also come across the border. This Union division is outnumbered but only when the Americans can get all of themselves into the battle. Air strikes and helicopter attacks against them do damage but they carry on. Their commander is determined to make a real fight of this. He knows what he is doing. The US XVIII Airborne Corps doesn’t find it easy when taking on this opponent.

Where the 82nd Airborne Division has dropped in at Baronovichi and Slonim, those airheads are linked up and more men are flown in. Baronovichi Airbase sees transport aircraft make ‘hot landings’ to offload those soldiers but also equipment. HMMWVs mounting all sorts of light weapons and also M-551 Sheridans come into the fight which the paratroopers are having as they extend their area of control. Fights are had to seize key ground from Union units moving towards them. The unfortunate moniker of ‘Purple Heart Boxes’ is shown to be true for the Sheridans. Hit with man-portable anti-tank missiles as well as fire from the cannons mounted upon BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, the Sheridans explode and burn. They are made from magnesium, which is perfect for fire: bright fires too from out of which screaming men run while alight. The dead and the wounded who manage to escape will receive medals which will have to be delivered by the box-full to 3/73 ARM (the battalion fielding them). When the Sheridans not knocked out do manage to fire their huge cannons – which can launch missiles of their own too – their presence here is welcome. Short work is made of improvised foxholes and fortified positions. Alas, the casualties taken outweigh this firepower. The four-wheeled HMMWVs racing around are much more useful. They can get out of the way of incoming fire or if trapped in the enemy’s sights, it is far easier for those aboard them to get away in time. The rest of the 82nd Airborne Division continues to arrive throughout the day to join the brigade which arrived in the morning. Heavy guns and divisional helicopters arrive too. The fighting is pushed even further beyond the airheads. Those frontlines move past all the dead American and Union soldiers who gave their lives in the preceding hours to fight for this patch of Belarus. The movement outwards is slow going though. The early evening sees the 97th Guards Motor Rifle Division get a counterattack going. One of the division’s regiments avoids where its sister unit is fighting the main battle and comes in from the side. Thankfully for the Americans, they spot this approach just in time. Apaches strike first and in come A-10s as well to smash through Union armour. Back that regiment will fall, leaving casualties behind, but it is a unit undefeated for the time being. They are spread out and inflict losses upon the American aircraft and helicopters. While not achieving the goal of retaking Baronovichi, they remain a threat. As it gets dark, the Americans come at them again while this Union force is dispersed like it is hidden through Belarus’ seemingly endless forests. The weather is good and so the ‘big bombs’ are brought out. Dropped from a MC-130 Combat Talon (an aircraft soon afterwards shot down by a SAM) in the first attack, a BLU-82 Daisy Cutter is employed. Fifteen thousand pounds of explosives go off just above the ground. The results are devastating to man, machine and nature. Another strike is made though, to make sure that the job is done. A second MC-130 comes in an hour later – avoiding anti-air weapons – and drops another one of those Daisy Cutters. That really does the job. Officially, the Americans are just clearing away the cover given by the trees to their opponents. However, what they are really using is a pair of massive bombs for intimidation purposes upon those who will survive this. Organised resistance from that regiment as darkness falls is now non-existent. Some elements do retreat to try and fight on come tomorrow but the majority of it has been wiped out.

The Blackhorse Cav’ reaches Baronovichi soon afterwards. The 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment has led part of the 24th Infantry Division forward. They’ve met with more 97th Guards Motor Rifle Division units between here and Poland. Chemical attacks have come and there has also been the presence felt of Mil-24 Hinds that Union Army aviation units have managed to keep flying in the face of all efforts to stop them. It has not been easy going. The morning and afternoon sees clashes between tanks and infantry. Plentiful shells are used and also rockets too as artillery joins in. A fighting retreat is made by Union forces and this includes localised counterattacks. The Blackhorse Cav’ take many losses. If it wasn’t for the on-call support from the US Air Force, they might not be able to make it. Forward air controllers are everywhere and their presence is vital in making sure that only the one tragic blue-on-blue clash occurs. That friendly fire incident sees a company of infantry with the 24th Infantry Division hit with napalm when the target for that weapon is meant to be Union riflemen. However, elsewhere when aircraft race in dropping bombs, launching missiles & rockets and firing their cannons, this allows for the advance to continue. Blocking points are overcome and flank counterattacks fought off. Grinding their way forward, the enemy is overcome by American firepower. The link-up is finally made. The US XVIII Airborne Corps has its ground units here to relieve the paratroopers. There is still much to do – bringing up the rest of the 24th Infantry Division and flying in the 101st Airborne Division – but the advance will continue. Through the night, edging further forwards will be done in preparation for a continued advance through the middle of Belarus. Baronovichi Airbase will be home to combat aircraft which will support that. It was taken this morning for the purposes of being a forward base for combat aircraft, here inside Belarus, and while there is fighting outside of it all day, RED HORSE engineers from the US Air Force are at work to allow that to happen. They are already calling this facility Camp Victory. When the Seventh US Army’s commander, General Maddox, is told that this name has been selected by his colleagues in blue, he isn’t best pleased. Such a thing is a bit over the top. He’s sent a media team to Baronovichi – on the orders of his superior General McCaffrey – as part of an ‘information control’ effort desired by the Pentagon to make sure that the message goes out of victory won on the battlefield and that the opponent being faced is as demonised as best as possible. Those reporters are meant to be visiting areas which have been hit with chemical strikes by Union forces but they will first go through Camp Victory. It is a bit early for such hubris, is it not?


The Polish II Corps is under Maddox’s command too. They remain fighting in the southwestern corner of Belarus. Brest is encircled and the River Bug has posed no impregnable barrier for them. US Army engineers are supporting Polish sappers in keeping the river crossings open to allow for the flow forward of Polish tanks and infantry moving deeper. Many of these Americans are recent retirees from service recalled to uniform through July following the assassination of President Kerrey. They served in the Cold War years in West Germany and could never have imagined that in the summer of 1994 they would be helping the American-allied Polish Army invade post-Soviet Belarus. It sounds like bad fiction to many of them from some hack writer! Little time is available for such thoughts though. The Bug crossings are targeted by Union missile units. Fired from a couple of hundred miles away, from in Russia not Belarus, ballistic missiles detonate among the crossing sites. The targeting is good: there must be a spotter calling this in because it isn’t about luck. Casualties are heavy among Americans and Poles alike. The missiles employed are OTR-23s (SS-23 Spider in NATO terms) from mobile launchers that are doing the shoot-and-scoot routine to avoid Coalition air attacks. Those missiles carry high-explosive and chemical shells. Everyone is waiting for a nuke though. That doesn’t come but each incoming missile is being treated as carrying one when on the way in until impact happens. The Poles scream for missile defences. They want Patriots here. Can a Patriot take out an SS-23? No one knows for sure. The US Army’s much-hyped anti-missile missiles are elsewhere though.

Away from that barrage, the lead elements of the Polish II Corps push on in the direction of Korbyn in the distance. That town lays at a crossroads and its role as a communications centre in this part of Belarus makes it their objective. Scattered parts of the 17th Guards Motor Rifle Division are in the way. Poles aircraft are joined by American jets in attacking those Union forces on the ground to not just smash them up where spotted but also to stop the component bits from reforming after the defeat which they took earlier this morning in the Brest area. The 12th & 15th Mechanised Divisions – good units of the modern Polish Army – are involved in the fight this side of the Bug. They encounter many of the enemy that their air cover miss. The forested countryside is full of many engagements. Much of it takes place close up: there are few at-distance fights. Friendly fire incidents occur aplenty among each side. The Poles and the Union are using much of the same gear. At the American’s urging, there are many distinctive markings made to the Polish vehicles. This does make sure that there is only one unfortunate air attack made upon the Poles from their allies (many other close calls come) yet it doesn’t matter much on the ground. In the heat of battle, identifiers are not seen or have been distorted by engagements. The fears of shooting up their own side causes others fighting under both flags to hold fire at other times too. Confusion reigns. The 12th Mechanised Division starts making progress by the time the afternoon comes and a gap is spotted. There is a road link from Brest to Kobryn and while their tanks do not go along that directly – such a thing would be suicide – they follow the course of it on the left. Enemy units are found in this area with many of them believing that those coming towards them are their retreating comrades and not the enemy. For the Polish tankers out front, anyone ahead of them is an enemy. Forward air controllers bring in American A-10s. These are an Air National Guard unit from Connecticut. They raise hell when they pop up from behind the cover offered by flying low over the trees. This helps to make sure that the day ends with the Poles on the edge of Korbyn.

Getting so far with their forward units doesn’t mean that this is a victory won though. The rear areas – right behind the frontlines yet also all the way back to the Bug – are still full of the enemy. The 17th Guards Motor Rifle Division has refused to die. The divisional commander and his staff are all dead (a Polish air attack guided by a Green Beret team on the ground blew them to kingdom come) but that has only means that sub-units are doing their own thing now. No organised retreat or final stand in-place is made. Many Union troops should have by now given in or fled. They fight where they are though and the 15th Mechanised Division faces a long fight to find, fix and overcome them. There are some from the 17th Guards Motor Rifle Division who do make a run for it though, heading south into the Ukraine. These are companies and platoons: no larger units. They go down into that neighbouring republic and find themselves behind the lines even more than they had been while in Belarus. The Americans have been running riot in the Ukraine, lancing forward at an outrageous rate that puts the progress made with breaking into Belarus to shame.

The battles here are really well described; that fight with the 2nd ACR's aviation brigade will be the new 73 Easting. Are the Americans going to respond with chemicals? Bush renounced the US's right to use chemical weapons in a retaliatory capacity shortly after Desert Storm (presumably so that option would be open if Saddam used chem or bio weapons), but ITTL things could have gone very differently. The use of Daisy Cutters certainly makes a point, but whether or not it will be enough to deter further chemical attacks is questionable.

26 – Turncoats


The orders came down from on-high, all the way from the White House in fact. There is to be co-operation made wherever possible with Ukrainians in rebellion against the Union. The priority is to be working with organised resistance to Moscow’s continued rule following agreements made ahead of the war, but localised and uncoordinated revolts were to be exploited there possible too. The Pentagon sends these instructions down to McCaffrey who passes them on through the Fifth United States Army and to the US III Corps. It is they who are going into the Ukraine and they who will be dealing with the sharp end of that rebellion taking place. Both the CIA and the DIA have their people on the ground and they are working with special forces in all of this. All involved understand the value of the Ukrainians taking up arms like this: it clearly can only aid them. However, there is caution in many of the Americans here too. US Army officers entering the Ukraine are uncomfortable working with turncoats. If someone can betray one flag, why not another? Fears are present that some of those saying they are in revolt against the Union could change their mind… or even be pretending all along. Putting their lives and those of their men in the hands of such people, even if they have the best intentions, is a concern. At all times, those marching on Kiev have this playing on their minds.

The US III Corps came to Europe through July under REFORGER and assembled through eastern Poland. It is a huge force overall. The plan is to have the whole corps in the Ukraine soon enough though through the war’s first day, only a portion of them have crossed over the border from Poland. The 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment is out ahead with the 2nd Armored Division following right behind. They’ve battled Union border guards just after dawn and as the day moves forward, begin to engage elements of the Union Army’s 161st Motor Rifle Division. Half of that division is in the area of operations for the US III Corps; the rest are in front of where the Poles are on the American’s right. With the help of those turncoats which there are concerns about, the Americans tear through that opposition. The progress made early on in the day is continued with the help of those who are displaying their patriotism for their nation. Two separate incidents allow for major bridge crossings to be seized intact. Ukrainian ethnic commanders of battalions with the 161st Motor Rifle Division are part of the ‘Dnipropetrovsk conspiracy’ and give their men false orders. 3rd Cav’ units seize those crossings while standing aside watching them do this are Union Army riflemen and tankers. A third incident ends in failure when the turncoat cannot keep order among his staff and is killed by a subordinate. Also shot is the CIA man here too who is blindfolded, pushed against a wall and gets a firing squad: its not very nice but perfectly legal because, under international law, he’s here as a spy. The approaching Americans are taken under fire instead of meeting new allies. They shoot back. Blasted apart are BRDM-2 scout cars and BTR-70 armoured personnel carriers gathered by another bridge with the 3rd Cav’ using their Apache gunships to do this with almost contemptuous ease.

As the drive eastwards – destination Kiev – continues across northwestern Ukraine, there are radio broadcasts being made to civilians. The airwaves have been taken over with force used to do this. People are told that they are being liberated and they are to assist in that. Different messages go out in how this is to be done though due to where those broadcasts originate from. The Dnipropetrovsk conspiracy is able to get only a few messages out; more are made by patriots seeing what is going on and taking to the airwaves in a hurry. The Americans are sending broadcasts in from outside too. Some people stay in their homes as instructed while others come out into the streets. There are militia units who desert yet others which remain in their garrisons. Some reservists stay at home though others head to their mobilisation posts with the aim of joining the fight. The Ukraine isn’t just a country of Ukrainians. There are other nationalities here including many who would consider themselves to be Russians. In the western half of the country, through which the Americans and their Coalition allies are advancing, there are few Russians: that is certainly not the case elsewhere in this huge Union republic. Nationwide rebellion is starting and with it there will come those who oppose it directly alongside others with the best intentions who will unfortunately harm it. In the meantime though, those tanks and infantry carriers rolling forwards with the US III Corps keep on moving. Getting to Kiev with haste is of paramount importance.


The Polish I Corps are in the centre of the Fifth US Army’s wide frontage all down the western borders of the Ukraine. Towards the city of Lvov their corps’ lead element has advanced. This is the 11th Armoured Cavalry Division (structured like a traditional tank division but with an historically important name) and they engage the rest of the 161st Motor Rifle Division. Stretched thin that Union Army unit is, like too much butter over too much bread. The tanks in service are a mix of T-54s and T-55s. Such opponents have been easy feasts for the Americans and are likewise for the Poles. Polish T-72s outclass such weapons in Union hands not as much as the Americans have yet not that far behind. There was supposed to be a re-equipping of the 161st Motor Rifle Division with T-80s but this has been repeatedly delayed through the last two years. Those manning such tanks suffer gravely for that. The 11th Armoured Cavalry Division tears through Union positions once the tanks are knocked out. There is some tougher fighting with riflemen who manage to get out of their infantry carriers in time. That slows the Poles down in places yet not by much: with tanks, as well as supporting air cover, the Poles win victory after victory. Lvov is surrounded and the Poles send their own tanks onwards deeper into the Ukraine. The city will be entered by other Polish I Corps units in the follow up either with force or, hopefully, if there is a surrender there from in rebellion against Moscow.

Up above the Poles, there is a lot of fighting in the skies. E-3 Sentry aircraft monitor Union Air Force activity above the western Ukraine throughout the day and send friendly fighters to intercept those detected on radar screens. There are aircraft on attack missions against Coalition ground forces entering the country and also interceptors flying. Assurances had been given that Ukrainian actions would cause much disruption to the ability of Union aircraft to get airborne and while that was the case early this morning, it is increasingly not so throughout the day. Not everything has gone as planned here. Coalition – almost all American – air attacks against airbases will continue to go ahead, especially once it gets dark tonight, but for now the battles return to the sky again. In engagements overnight, there was a history-making turkey shoot when the Union’s air defences were first penetrated and seemingly countless numbers of their aircraft were downed. There are hopes that the situation will be repeated today when the first big air clashes begin once again. Coalition fighters go after Union ones but more than that, there is another unleashing of electronic warfare measures. The Union Air Force relies upon tight ground control of those piloting the aircraft in the skies: with some of the dedicated interceptor units, the old Soviet-era thinking of them being manned launch platforms for missiles and nothing more continues. There are MiG-23s and MiG-29s shot down when on fighter tasks while those on strike missions, Su-17s and Su-24s are also successfully engaged. Union aircrews and ground controllers are denied communication where possible and the air picture gained by radars is closed down when anti-radar missiles hit antenna. This doesn’t always go the Coalition’s own way though. Two flights of Su-27s make appearances. Radio calls of 'Flankers' are made. These are the best fighters in Union Air Force service and have been met in battle overnight. One of the flights, of two Flankers, is shot out of the sky by US Air Force F-15 Eagles when fired upon at distance. However, the other pair evade an initial attack and ‘disappear’. They cannot be seen on radar screens due to quite significant jamming coming from a mobile ground station. The Americans do all that they can to overcome this and eventually burn through that jamming… and see the Flankers coming fast towards their AWACS aircraft. The enemy fighters have already gotten into Polish skies! Missile launches occur before F-15s can get into place. The radar is shut down and the E-3 dives. It cannot outrun the missiles coming towards it though. Three hits are achieved and the wreckage of that huge aircraft, complete with a doomed battle-staff of twenty-two, hits the ground in a fireball. The ambushing Flankers escape too despite all efforts to get at them.

There are other E-3s in service with some airborne and more on the ground ready to go up. Disruption comes in light of that attack when it comes to controlling the continued air battles over the Ukraine. This occurs in the late afternoon and affects both the Polish I Corps as well as the Eastern European Corps. The latter includes those US Army reservists with the 157th Infantry Brigade alongside the Czechs, Slovaks & Hungarians which have entered Ruthenia. Victory was won against a regiment of the 28th Guards Motor Rifle Division earlier today and there has been a rapid push onwards since them. The Eastern European Corps is under orders to get away from the border areas and strike deep. Keeping the left flanking of the Union’s Thirty–Eighth Army busy is their mission and that means for them not to be trapped inside Ruthenia. Should the 28th Guards Motor Rifle Division be able to seal off the passes through the Carpathian Mountains linking Ruthenia to the rest of the western parts of the Ukraine, then that mission given to the Eastern European Corps will be a failure. Czech paratroopers arrive during the day up in the Carpathians and so too do more American reservists. These are the men from the 3/87 INF who are home-based in Colorado. That mountain garrisoning of them doesn’t necessarily make them mountain warfare trained. In the opinion of the battalion commander, some fool in the Pentagon has decided it does though! Not directly assigned to the 157th Infantry Brigade, the battalion is under corps control and is airlifted out ahead in several helicopter flights: their transport comes from their allies too in the form of Soviet-era Mil-4s and Mil-17s. Only a few hours in position, when still setting up their defence to fight off a ground attack, they are attacked from the air. Su-25s come in firing cannons and rockets. Those Frogfoots are low-level attack-fighters and cause many casualties among the 3/87 INF. An hour later, more Frogfoots are seen. The Americans dive for cover fearing another attack while being left without air support. A few men armed with Stinger man-portable missiles who had no luck earlier are aiming to get a hit in this time. One missile is launched before the call comes that they are friendly Frogfoots! The Czechs fly the Su-25 too and these are theirs. Thankfully, one of theirs isn’t hit by that Stinger. The aircraft flash overhead and drop down over the mountains to the northern side. Better-equipped than its sister division with the Thirty–Eighth Army, the 28th Guards Motor Rifle Division has T-72s. There is a battalion of them coming up towards the Americans escorted by riflemen in BMP-2s as well as a battery of self-propelled artillery which includes chemical shells. Yeah… they would have been a real problem for the 3/87 INF to hold back. The lead Czechs make several attacks, taking losses from mobile anti-air platforms, before more Coalition aircraft come in. There are Hungarian Su-22s and more Su-25s: these ones are in Slovak markings. Bombs rain down upon the Union armour below. They now aren’t coming up here to the way through the mountains which the Americans hold. Coalition troops reach the mountain passes by the evening.

28 – Global allies


There has been a marked retreat from the global influence that was once had when the Soviet Union was transformed into the Union of Sovereign States. The retreat inwards is even more so through 1994 as the Union falls into civil war. Disputes over recognition of the two opposing regimes in Moscow and Novosibirsk are complicated by the call from the Central Asian countries – all five of them, not just Kazakhstan – for them to be recognised as independent of the Union regardless of whether Gromov or Primakov is the legitimate head of state. Friends step away from this madness and some of them gravitate towards the new global hegemony that the Americans are forging. The global allies of Moscow can be counted on one hand ahead of the American-led invasion in response to the assassination of their president. And of those global allies, how many wish to fight alongside the Union against the United States?

None do. Messages of sympathy and diplomatic support come, but the Union is in this all by itself.


North Korea is engaged in a stand off with the United States and others in the world community over the matter of its nuclear weapons programme. This secretive country, a Hermit Kingdom in East Asia, has been aligned to the Union in many ways yet has not been a real ally. Lebed’s twisting of the tiger’s tail when it came to dealing with the American’s push to become the globe’s sole superpower sees him forestall efforts from Washington to force North Korea to abandon its nuclear desires. The Union wouldn’t allow for that though there really is no wish in Lebed to see this country with such weapons. Before his fateful visit to Moldova and that helicopter crash, he was intending to go to New York for a United Nations meeting concerning North Korea. His death and the outbreak of fighting within the Union turns world attention away from the matter… most of it anyway. The Americans still care a great deal even with so much focus upon the outbreak of civil war between those supporting Gromov and Primakov. The nuclear crisis over North Korea has seen a continued military presence near to that country.

During the first week of civil war in the Union, elements of the Union Navy’s Pacific Fleet flee to North Korea. The Pacific Fleet sides with Gromov and oppose the passage of Primakov-allied troops when they move against their coastal bases. Ships and submarines get away where possible with sailings made in far from the best of circumstances. Some of those who do escape end up reaching North Korea and then are unable to sail on any further. There are maintenance issues and then that of fuel too. Some of these are resolved but not all. The United States becomes interested in the circumstances of two warships from Vladivostok which don’t leave the North Korean naval base of Wonsan. These are the destroyer Admiral Panteleyev and the frigate Rezkiy. From what can be understood from behind the myriad of lies and deception, those ships are under North Korean control. They still fly the pendant of the Union Navy but Kim Il-sung – then his son Kim Jong-il come July – has them. It is not believed that they can sail, let alone fight. The pressing concern for the Americans is over whether they brought with them nuclear weapons when they left Vladivostok and if those are now in North Korean custody. Building nuclear weapons as the North Koreans have been trying to do is one thing: gaining a stockpile of them like this is something else. Each warship is armed with nuclear-capable weapons and the Americans know that when the Pacific Fleet sailed like it did in such a hurry, along with family members often crowding upon ships there was also an emptying nuclear weapons storage sites where possible: it is believed that even air-delivered bombs were loaded onto ships. It is entirely possible that North Korea could have gotten hold of tactical warheads from the magazines of the Panteleyev and the Rezkiy or others taken aboard. How many weapons and or what capability is not something known. The matter is raised with Primakov and there is also covert intelligence gathering done without Novosibirsk’s knowledge. Answers do not come. The worst has to be assumed.

REFORGER operations send American military forces to Europe but there is also a reinforcement made of US Forces Korea. The 25th Infantry Division flies from Hawaii to South Korea to join with the 2nd Infantry Division; national guardsmen from a trio of independent brigades join them soon enough. US Marines begin staging operations from Hawaii & Okinawa bases ready to hit the beach on the Korean Peninsula if necessary. There is the addition of further US Air Force assets to both South Korea and also nearby Japan. The US Navy’s Pacific Fleet, which dwarfs anything that the Soviets or the Union could ever field, gathers in the Western Pacific: three carriers are nearby with their escorting battle groups. All of these assembled American forces, alongside the partially-mobilised South Koreans, are as prepared as they can be for North Korea to make an attack… possibly a nuclear one. That will be retaliated against – disproportionally too – if it occurs.

North Korea does nothing when Operation Flaming Phoenix commences. They do not attack nor (American paranoia aside) make any moves ready to do so. New leader Kim Jong-il is sitting out this fight which has nothing to do with him and from which nothing can be gained.


There are warships stuck in Vietnam too. Union vessels made it to Cam Ranh Bay, a Soviet-era base which lease upon has not run out upon. Many of them sail onwards afterwards yet a few are still stuck here. While not siding with the United States – who back during the Vietnam War built this facility –, the leadership in Hanoi decide to forcefully intern them once the war begins between the Coalition and the Union. Vietnamese marines board ships with the aim of taking control even if there is opposition to this. That unfortunately occurs with an ugly shooting incident aboard one warship. The rest are taken without violence though. A message is sent to the Americans informing Washington of Vietnam’s complete neutrality during this conflict taking place elsewhere and letting them know that Cam Ranh Bay will not be a naval facility used by the Union. There is a US Navy carrier in the South China Sea but no air strikes are made following this. Had those warships gone out to fight, things would have been very different. President Robb is fully prepared to authorise that yet is pleased when he doesn’t have to escalate the war to this corner of the globe.

Cuba copies Vietnamese actions. The infamous Lourdes SIGNIT station near to Havana is being used by the Union’s GRU when the Cubans politely but firmly inform them that electronic intelligence gathering from there is to cease with immediate effect. That will be enforced by the entry into the base of Cuban troops. An hour after that message comes, the Cubans enter. There is no shooting and the Union military intelligence personnel within are peacefully taken away. They are treated well and are reminded that they are guests of Cuba. Lourdes has been shut, they are told, for their own protection: the Americans will have no excuse to bomb the place to ruin. Such polite words on the ground aren’t accompanied by those in government-to-government messages between Havana and Moscow. Cuba ends relations with Gromov’s regime. There is a defection to Primakov instead. For many months, Cuba has been supporting Moscow in the battle for international recognition and helping to frustrate Novosibirsk’s attempts at that. The sudden about-turn comes from out of the blue. There are US Marines waiting in Guantanamo Bay for a Cuban attack and the United States has gathered forces elsewhere in the Caribbean region ready to fight Cuba. There will be no conflict with Havana though. Castro is sitting this conflict out. He reads the way the wind is blowing and makes the decision that only defeat can come, not even a glorious one at that.

Iraq has been allied with the Union first under Lebed and then under Gromov. However, such an alliance did nothing to stop Operation Desert Python last year when Kerrey struck so hard against Iraq. Saddam has been promising retaliation ever since and it is believed in Washington that he will take that opportunity once America and the Union are at war. A pre-emptive strike is discussed and Robb does give it some consideration yet he decides that the cost will be too much: much of that cost will be the loss of support from regional partners. He choses to send military forces to the Gulf to dissuade an attack made by Saddam against Kuwait or anywhere else in the region. There are two carriers on station (in the Gulf of Oman and the Red Sea, not directly up into the Persian Gulf) and aircraft arrive at bases throughout Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Arab Monarchies. The 1st Marine Division – afterwards joined by the two-thirds strength 4th Marine Division with all of its reservists too – deploys to the Gulf and links up with much pre-positioned gear from afloat ships in the Indian Ocean around Diego Garcia. The 7th Infantry Division is flown from California into Kuwait. This is a light division with only two brigades and it is not the strongest of units. Joining them are several national guard units who do the same as the US Marines and link up with stored equipment here for the US Army. These units are ones which field tanks, infantry carriers and self-propelled artillery back home in the United States and now take over what is likewise here in Kuwait. With them alongside the 7th Infantry Division, there is now a much stronger deterrent to Iraqi military adventurism in-place.

Regional allies put their militaries on alert though don’t make forward deployments like the Americans do. If Iraq starts shooting, they will step in… but only if that should occur. This caution doesn’t include the Kuwaitis. They have their army out and are ready to avoid a repeat of the horrors of August ’90. As ready as they can be to meet any Iraqi threat, there is a wait by the Americans and their allies to see what Saddam will do. No one knows if Iraq’s leader is just biding his time or he has abandoned Moscow. A new Gulf War would certainly aid the Union and stretch the Americans to quite the degree despite all of their defensive preparations within the region. What Washington cannot know is Saddam’s thinking. He has decided not to fight but is keeping this to himself. His bravado is on show as he makes threats with regard to the American build-up and there was that open celebration in Iraq following Kerrey’s assassination. In secret though, he is mightily concerned about an American attack. Iraq will lose and he could end up deposed, maybe dead in a ditch somewhere. What he has in his pocket is a long-standing relationship with Primakov, one which stretches back many long years to American’s new ally then KGB service through the Middle East. It is that relationship which Saddam counts upon to keep the United States from attacking Iraq, not the show he puts on with Iraqi troop movements and television pictures of pointy missiles.

Thank you. I'm covering many aspects of the war away from the frontlines though the drives forward will remain the overall focus.
Gromov can, and will lash out, but he cannot stop what is coming. Movements will be made of troops, missiles will be launched and gas employed. None of that will matter.
Those denials have been ongoing but to Gromov it will be pointless: no one believes it.
My thinking was that the Poles and other allies all have agreed to no territorial changes. The US will not want this because that will mess with everything planned as an exit strategy. Of course... allies might want to be difficult there!
Many incidents of friendly fire are occurring due to similar equipment but also comms/language mix-ups. The Ukrainian revolt will also badly affect this. Good idea there about a purge of Ukrainian officers: I'll make use of that for sure.

30 – Bringing the war home


It is a Tuesday morning in Frankfurt. This city in reunited Germany is at peace. There is war raging over in the Union – ‘Russia’ as far as Germans are concerned – but their country is not involved in this conflict. Germans here go about their daily business as they do elsewhere in their country. Soon after half past nine, air raid sirens wail across Frankfurt. They are still in-place after the Cold War has ended though most Germans aren’t aware that in recent weeks, behind-the-scenes moves have been made to have the nation’s warning systems on alert just in case. Throughout Frankfurt, most people are confused. Is this some kind of test? A few smarter folk seek cover as they fear the worst. A massive explosion rocks the city. There is another one moments later. Frozen in fear, people brace themselves for more. None come though. The sirens eventually cease and there is instead the blaring of different sirens, those of emergency vehicles. Smoke is rising above the city into the clear, bright August skies above. It comes from two places. The financial district of Frankfurt where the skyscrapers for Germany’s banking centre isn’t one of them. To both the north and south of here is where there are now raging fires. The residential area of Nordend is the covered in smoke from several blazes. Homes and businesses are alight. Across the Main River, Frankfurt’s airport has also been hit. There is a wall of flame engulfing the facility, one fed by aviation fuel.

Ten or so minutes later – yet at a quarter to nine due to the time zone difference – London is likewise blasted by two explosions. On Whitehall, the Cabinet Office building is near levelled. Around it, in a circle, is Horse Guards, the Ministry of Defence, the Foreign Office & Downing Street. All of those are damaged. The seat of the fire which rages after this first massive explosion remains at the Cabinet Office site though. The second blast is up on the Strand, near Aldwych. A building housing a publisher of commercial books is the epicentre yet there is extensive damage beyond there to places such as the Australian High Commission and King’s College. Air raid sirens sound over London beforehand and Londoners take cover where they can. The majority of casualties occur among those caught out in the open. Britain is a country at war – not one at peace like Germany is – but the Strand and Whitehall are major traffic arties for vehicles and also pedestrians. Glass, masonry and shrapnel cause these casualties. Soon it will be fire which takes more lives. Personnel from the emergency services, as well as soldiers, rush towards the scenes of devastation when the all-clear is sounded. That takes some time though and before then, many lives which could have been saved with immediate attention are now lost.

Polish cities come under attack worse than Frankfurt and London do. There aren’t just two explosions within a few moments of each other, but dozens of them spread out over the course of an hour. Warsaw, Gdansk, Krakow, Poznan and Wroclaw are all hit. Air raid sirens and even the launch of missiles – Patriot SAMs from a US Army unit outside of Warsaw – do little to limit the damage and casualties. Civil disorder will be seen. People fear chemical weapons use or even an incoming nuclear attack. In Krakow, there is damage done to a hospital there. The facility isn’t targeted and the direct physical affects aren’t much but this induces far more panic. Lives are lost when they shouldn’t have been due to frightened Polish civilians. Finally, the attacks come to an end. There are no more explosions which tear apart parts of these cities. However, no one can be sure that this is the end of such attacks. Poles flee from them and will soon from other urban areas as well.


The attacks made by Union military forces into Europe this morning come as a surprise. They aren’t expected to occur. It isn’t a matter of the thinking being that Gromov will do nothing as his nation is being blasted to bits and invaded yet the belief has been that there wouldn’t be a significant ability for Gromov to lash out in such a manner. The particulars of targeting aren’t foreseen, especially the attack made within Germany. Of course, it is beyond the capabilities of the Coalition, even with all of their satellite intelligence and electronic eavesdropping, to look into the minds of Gromov and those on STAVKA. What they see as being vital military targets in a geo-political sense differ from what those in the West would regard as being.

Gromov wants to bring the war home to those in the West: their people and political leaders. He doesn’t hit the Americans but goes after their allies. Germany is considered an ally of the United States, even with that country not involved in the war. Where Frankfurt is in the firing line for an attack, the target is the US Air Force facility at Rhein-Main Airbase. This is outside Frankfurt and the facilities – runways included – are shared with the city’s international airport: the impact over residential areas of the city is an off-targeted weapon. Germany is allowing for the Americans to make use of Rhein-Main without restrictions and it is a major logistics hub for the war effort. Minds will hopefully be concentrated in Bonn on whether to sit idly by and allow this to go on. There is an attack mounted upon the Port of Rotterdam too. This one doesn’t achieve success and the second largest city in the Netherlands isn’t struck like Germany’s financial centre is. The aim of the ultimately failed action here is to likewise force the Dutch to cease allowing the Americans to bring equipment and supplies through Rotterdam. London is hit because the UK Government is a major American ally and the British are playing a big part in the war. Hitting the heart of their nation is designed to hopefully make them reconsider such a thing or, at least, cause them many problems with domestic disturbances either on the streets or politically. In Poland, those cities are targeted to cause unrest and force the Poles to address them. Forcing Poland out of the war is unlikely, STAVKA will admit that that might be even more difficult than getting the British to ease up, but it is still tried regardless.

Away from the city strikes, the Union’s attack this morning goes after military targets. Including Rhein-Main in Germany, a couple of important airbases in Britain are hit along with strikes made against Czech and Norwegian sites. Nowhere is chosen at random. As with the case with the disappointment of not hitting Rotterdam, the Norwegian strike doesn’t go through and neither do all of the British ones. This is a result of a mix of enemy action and strike complications with both launch and targeting. The Coalition isn’t hit as hard as wanted. STAVKA has no desire to blow up a publishing house in London (that strike was aimed at Whitehall), set fire to a forest in Suffolk (missing an airbase) or flatten houses in Frankfurt’s Nordend (the destruction here was meant to be part of the Rhein-Main attack). They want to destroy all those targets on the list drawn up and see their assets employed untouched by enemy action nor accidents. Things don’t go to plan though.

The RAF has sent Tornado F3 interceptors to fly from Skrydstrup Airbase in Denmark. The Danes allow this as long as those are defensive only flights that the Tornados make. It could be argued that this makes Denmark a belligerent in this war though Copenhagen disputes that. Flying over the Baltic this morning, Skyflash air-to-air missiles from them take out two Tu-22M Backfire bombers. One of those was due to fire on Rotterdam and the other had orders to strike against more British targets. Two other Backfires are missed by the RAF though: one of which attacks London and the other strikes against East Anglia (RAF Marham and the American-operated RAF Lakenheath). No bombs are dropped by these bombers. Instead, the two survivors fire cruise missiles from some distance away before turning for home. Those are six supersonic KRS-5s (AS-6 Kingfish to NATO) of which four reach or come close to their targets, other Tornados from UK bases manage to shoot one down and the sixth drops into the North Sea. Two more Backfires penetrate Polish airspace over the southeast of that country and launch more cruise missiles towards two Czech airbases and Frankfurt. One of those bombers is hit on the way home, caught by an American pilot in his F-16 Fighting Falcon, though the damage is already done.

Where Poland is hit, ballistic missiles are used. These are launched from inside Belarus and Latvia. Coalition aircraft have been hunting mobile launchers for SS-1 Scud and SS-23 Spider missiles. In scenes which provide an uncomfortable reminder of the failures seen hunting Iraqi mobile missiles back in 1991, this has been to no avail. Those launchers which caught in garrisons during opening air attacks were destroyed but others were missed. They are now roaming across the countryside while camouflaged. From hidden sites, they fire upon Poland’s cities. According to intelligence agencies in the West, the Scuds in Union Army service were meant to have been retired years ago. In recent months, that has been shown to be untrue as they’ve been used in the civil war leading to a late change in intelligence summaries. They are joined in action by those extremely capable Spiders. This ballistic missile threat to Poland is something that the Coalition has recognised ahead of today’s attacks. There are those missile hunts using aircraft and commandos as an active defence. Passive defence is provided by the deployment of Patriots to Poland. Important military sites being used for the war effort are given cover by these SAMs and there is that Warsaw deployment too. The Americans only have a certain number of them though. In addition, the ‘Patriot craze’ during the Gulf War was shown to be a lot of hype with reflection. This is an anti-aircraft system with some capability against ballistic missiles: it cannot provide proper defence against Scuds let alone Spiders. Poland is bracketed by more than three dozen missile hits (close to half striking Warsaw alone) with the Patriots managing to hit only two of them.


Germany’s head of government, Chancellor Kohl, doesn’t do as Gromov wants and try to force the Americans to cease using their military bases in his country. As the day goes on, the casualty count from Frankfurt mounts. There are almost a hundred dead with two hundred and fifty plus injuries. While these figures include American military casualties at Rhein-Main, there are more German casualties than American ones. Germany has been attacked and will not sit idly by in response. Patriot missiles in Luftwaffe service deploy to the Frankfurt area – perhaps they will have more luck against any further cruise missile attack than they did against ballistic missiles? – and there will be fighters in German skies too who are given order to fire if need be to defeat another air strike. Kohl will see that Germany is defended and he will not be evicting the United States from its bases. However… behind the scenes in Germany, away from Kohl statement’s on television to his people about how Germany will not stand for this, there is political unease. German politicians are not happy with what has happened here. They have been made part of a war which they no wanted no role in.

There are a lot of British soldiers serving at home and not deployed to directly fight against the Union. London and the South East is currently home to those on security tasks whose orders run that they are to guard against a Spetsnaz threat. Such attacks have not materialised and look very unlikely. It is not impossible that they could come though, maybe later on. The presence of these soldiers is also to ensure that Irish republican terrorists do not take the opportunity to make an attack as well: again unlikely, but there are memories of February ’91 when Downing Street was subject to a mortar attack in the middle of the Gulf War. When those cruise missiles slam into the middle of the city, soldiers are released on a mission to provide ‘military aid to the civil power’. Regulars from the Coldstream Guards and TA reservists with the London Regiment join Royal Engineers and personnel from the Royal Army Medical Corps giving assistance. They help evacuate casualties and treat others. Onlookers are held back too, a few of which are keen to help but are kept clear to allow the emergency service to do their job. Those fires burn, especially the one along the Strand. There was unused missile fuel which went up following the initial blast from the two thousand pound warhead. Across in Whitehall, the soldiers who are out on the street on stretcher-bearing duties and the sappers checking for any explosive components which didn’t go off with the main charge are informed that there are reports that a parachutist was seen coming down after the blast. This is regarded with scepticism. The Kingfish missile is a big weapon with pop-out wings and could be mistaken for an aircraft by the untrained eye and maybe part of it (a wing?) was blown skywards upon detonation… yet a parachutist!? Search parties are mounted and find nothing. Its hysteria that wastes time spent that could be used to look for casualties. Later in the day there will also be rumours spread among the foolish about ‘secret work’ being done at that publishing house. Thankfully, no one in any official capability will waste their time with that idiocy.

The Cabinet Office is a key part of the government. It is assumed that the second cruise missile which hit London, plus that one which was shot down by a Tornado using its cannon (it crashed into the Essex countryside; a group of children off school were all over it before the police could get there and were lucky not to get killed!), were likewise aimed at Whitehall buildings. Key members of the government aren’t here in Whitehall though. There are deaths and injuries to some civil servants but Cabinet Office functions have been dispersed like those of other departments. The effective demolition of the building means that 10 Downing Street is nowhere safe to return to any time soon. That is an old building and the shock damage will need to be fully surveyed. Prime Minister Major isn’t in London this morning when the city is hit. When he has been in recent days, he’s been staying at and working from Admiralty House (not to be confused with the better known Admiralty Arch) instead. Gromov attacking London like this, hitting military bases elsewhere in the UK too, isn’t going to force his government to take Britain out of the war. There is political support for the conflict and an attack like this upon civilians will only see public anger against Moscow. Maybe that might change in time should there be bigger attacks or the war becomes really costly in military terms, and if economic hardships effect civilian life, but these strikes on London aren’t going to bring that about. All it will do is encourage Britain to maintain their role in the war in bringing down a regime such as can be found in Moscow.