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1901 hours. H.Q AFNORTH (Forward), near Kolsaas, Norway.
General Sir Nicholas Sumner leaned over the map display studying the current situation in his command area. It was one of the relatively new electronic map displays which meant that he could easily zoom in on a particular area to study it in greater detail.
At the moment northern Norway was not his main concern, the effective collapse of his forces on the Danish island of Zealand was of far greater importance. The majority of the Canadian Airborne Regiment had now been evacuated whilst the Danish Home Guard was now dispersing into the countryside to continue the war in their own way. The remaining Danish Army units would continue to retreat on Copenhagen and would either try to escape to Sweden, or like the Home Guard, disperse into the countryside.
“Not a lot we can do in Zealand.” He remarked to his Chief of Staff; he looked around to make sure that none of his American staff were within earshot. “Of course had the Septics not decided to invade Libya I could have done a lot with those forces that are doing bugger all there.
“Now the best I can do is to contain the Soviets on Zealand, which the Danes are hardly pleased about.”
“What’s done is done, General.” His Norwegian Chief of Staff replied. “The Americans felt they needed to support the French in their retaliation against the Libyans and get Egypt involved.”
“I don’t give a stuff for the Frogs and their need to ‘regain honour’, they and the Septics could have invaded Libya at their leisure, instead they are now bogged down in a campaign there while a NATO capital is about to fall to the Soviets. Damn it, they saw the same intelligence that we did and they knew fine well that I did not have much in the way of reserves to commit to Zealand.
“Well once the rest of the Canadian Special Service Force and their militia 8th Brigade Group arrives we can think about putting strongish garrisons on Lolland and Fyn to keep the Soviets where they are.” [1]
Sumner stoop up for a second and drew breath before moving the map display to show his main defence line in northern Norway (‘Fortress Norway), the rest of the country up to the Soviet border and part of Finland.
“Well at least the Soviets are taking their time up north.” He remarked.
“Yes, Sir.” His Chief of Staff agreed. “Current estimates are that they will not reach our outpost line for another twenty-four hours.”
Sumner touched part of the map and brought up an overlay showing estimated ranges of Soviet artillery.
“They can already hit some of our forward outpost with their big guns, and of course the forward, middle and rear positions are all open to ‘Scarab’ missiles. Not too much we can do about the missiles, unless we are able to get our hands on some PAC-3 Patriots; the Septics don’t seem keen to deploy them outside of Germany.
“However I do have a little plan to help deal with the Soviet artillery and slow them down a bit. It does mean asking the commander of the Striking Fleet for a little favour. I’d like him to forward deploy his Surface Action Group here.” Sumner pointed to the map. “Off Sørøya; should put that battleship’s guns and missiles well within range of a lot of juicy Soviet targets. She might also tempt the Soviet air force to switch to trying to sink her rather than bomb us.”
“Vice-Admiral Clancy might not like that, Sir.”
“My heart bleeds for him.” Sumner said harshly. “He has four carrier air wings at his disposal, more than enough to put a nearly impenetrable barrier over the group. Not to mention that he could assign several AEGIS equipped escorts to protect it.
“The Striking Fleet Atlantic has massive firepower available to it and I’d like to put some of it to better use.”
“Very good, Sir; shall I arrange for a video conference with the admiral?”
“Yes, as soon as possible.” Sumner replied.
1928 hours. Combat Support Hospital, south of of Bin Ghashir, Libya.
Lieutenant Craig Robb woke with a start, surprised to find himself lying in a hospital bed rather than in the turret of his M8 Buford. The last thing he remembered was something slamming into the frontal armour of his track, a vivid explosion and then blackness. He had no memory of being at the Battalion Aid Station, or of any treatment by a Forward Surgical Team.
A bit of careful examination revealed a line in his arm giving him some sort of liquid, from his feeling of euphoria he guessed it was Morphine, two catheters, and that both of his legs were wrapped in plaster.
Robb turned his head left and right, hoping to take in some more of his surroundings. He could see other soldiers in beds like his, most seemed to be unconscious, or asleep.
“Hey, LT, you awake?” A voice to his left asked.
He turned and saw that the soldier in the bed next to him had propped himself up on one elbow. He was a big powerful looking man, though Robb noticed that his right leg seemed to be missing below the knee.
“Yeah…I’m…awake?” Robb croaked. “Which…unit?”
“First of the Five Oh Fifth Airborne.” The soldier replied. “And you?”
“Second Squadron…Tenth…Cav.”
“How did you get it, LT?”
“Not…sure…something hit my track…you?”
“Artillery fragment took off my right leg.” The soldier replied. “The ragheads launched a counter-attack that caught us with our pants down.”
One of the nurses doing her rounds noticed that Robb was awake and paused to take his vital signs.
“Nice to see you awake, Lieutenant.” She said while taking his blood pressure. “How do you feel?”
“Not bad…my legs are a little sore.”
“On a scale of one to ten how bad would you say the pain was?” The nurse asked.
“About three at the moment.”
The nurse adjusted the morphine drip, increasing the rate slightly.
“Let us know if the pain gets worse, Lieutenant.” She said patting him on the arm. “We should be getting you evac’d to the States pretty soon. Be a chance to see your family.”
“I’ll go if you come with me.” Robb said, the morphine making him say what he would usually just think.
The nurse laughed.
“That’s the best offer I’ve had all day, Lieutenant, but I don’t think my boyfriend would approve.
“There is someone here to see you.”
Robb raised his head and recognised the figure of the Commanding Officer of the 2nd Squadron, 10th ACR. He tried to sit up, but found that it took quite an effort.
“Sit still, son.” Lt. Colonel Harmon said. “Don’t strain yourself on my account.
“How do you feel?”
“Like I’ve been hit by a truck…what happened, Colonel?” Robb asked.
“Your troop ran into the tip of a Libyan counter-attack, a company of T-55s backed up by infantry. Your track got hit by one of the T-55s at pretty close range and got knocked out. They didn’t get very far, fortunately, though it gave us a bit of a scare”
“What about my crew and my troop?”
“Your crew are okay, your gunner got a bit banged up, but your driver pulled both of you out, while under fire. He rescued the crew from a Hummer too; in fact the Old Man is going to recommend him for The Medal.
“Your troop is doing okay, it lost a couple of Hummers, but yours was the only track to get hit. Sergeant Peterson launched a counter-attack shortly after you got hit and rocked the Libyans back on their heels for long enough for reinforcements and tac-air to arrive.”
“Peterson…he’s a good man, Sir.” Robb replied, relieved.
“That he is, son. Now you quit worrying and get some rest.” Harmon told him. “You’ll be shipping out of here pretty soon; must say I envy you getting to see home.”
1945 hours. ‘LA faces second day of riots’ – Reuters.
The city of Los Angeles, California has faced a second day of major riots which began yesterday in the Watts district of South Central L.A. The riots apparently began when the Los Angeles Police Department mounted an operation to arrest a prominent community organiser who had been organising anti-war protests and sit-ins outside National Guard armouries.
The severity of the riots has led to the Los Angeles Police Department requesting assistance from the California Highway Patrol and the California National Guard. However with most of the State’s guardsmen abroad on operations the bulk of the manpower will have to come from the California State Military Reserve, a force dedicated to Homeland Security. Many experts have questioned the effectiveness of CSMR in relation to civil disturbances.
The Mayor of Los Angeles, James Hahn, and the Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, have both condemned the violence and called for calm. Governor Schwarzenegger has accused Soviet agents and sympathisers of being behind the violence and has promised to give the City of Los Angeles all the State help it needs in brining those he blames for the violence to justice.
1951 hours GMT. Soviet Embassy, Baghdad, Iraq.
General Kurchatov took his seat in the secure section of the embassy as he and his staff finally had the time to review the day’s action. Kurchatov took a sip from a cup of tea and shuffled a few papers on the table in front of him.
“Well, Comrades we’ve had quite a day.” He said, looking up. “The Americans put on a nice air show for us while our Iraqi friends nearly killed us with their anti-aircraft guns. It’s not exactly reassuring that their anti-aircraft gunners find it difficult to tell an embassy from a fighter jet.”
There was chuckling from those around the table, especially from those who had been on the roof during the American attacks. Had the Iraqi gunners only fired a few degrees lower they would all have been killed.
“I think it looked like they were shooting at random, Comrade General, rather than at actual targets.” Colonel Nastin commented. “The Americans, on the other hand, showed themselves to be very competent and professional. Despite Iraqi claims there was indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas and I am not aware of any collateral damage.
“I think we’ll also have to do a lot of digging to find out just how many American and Coalition aircraft were actually shot down. The Iraqis have a long history of massively overstating their claims, for example back in 1941 when they were fighting the British if their claims were accurate they would have shot down almost every British aircraft in the entire Middle East.”
The meeting paused for a moment as the ambassador entered and took the seat reserved for him.
“Sorry I’m late, Comrades.” He said. “As you know I’ve been recalled to Moscow and the Americans have chosen to make matters difficult by blowing up our aircraft. Instead I’ll have to drive to Iran, which should be a barrel of laughs.
“I’m afraid I am also the bearer of sad news; the Iraqis have informed me that Comrade Lieutenant Colonel Yuri Kolchergin has been killed while undertaking his fact-finding mission in the south.”
Kurchatov looked down at the table for a moment as he decided how to best frame his answer. Kolchergin, the assistance group’s Zampolit, was, no, had been a true believer in Communism, which, along with his zealousness, had not made him exactly Mr Popular with the other Soviet officers who had the misfortune to serve in Iraq.
“Have our socialist brothers informed you of how Comrade Kolchergin died?” He said finally.
“All they have told me is that he died during an air raid.” The ambassador replied. “Which probably means they accidentally shot him at a check-point.”
“It is a great shame that we have lost an officer with the talent and drive of Lieutenant Colonel Kolchergin. I think that we should all observe a minute’s silence for our lost comrade.” Kurchatov replied.
“Well now that’s taken care of, we can get on with some more important business.” Kurchatov said a minute later.
2001 hours GMT. The White House, Washington D.C.
“You have my deepest sympathies, Mr Ambassador; unfortunately military decisions often have to be taken in a hurry before the situation changes. We had to commit troops to operations in Libya to support the French, Spanish and Italians, who were all going to act, and to encourage the Egyptians to join the war on our side.” The President said to the Danish ambassador.
“Mr President it is the opinion of my government that defending a NATO capital is more important than invading a North African country, especially when it is our capital that is about to be occupied by the enemy. The troops and support you have used in Libya could have stopped the Soviets cold on Zealand and perhaps even pushed them back into the sea, instead Copenhagen will fall within the next twenty-four hours.
“My government will also protest your actions strongly through the appropriate NATO committee.
“Mr President, it hurts me personally to say this, but we Danes used to think of America as a reliable ally who would stick by us, now we are not so sure.”
The President looked as if he had been physically struck at the ambassador’s last comment. Throughout his presidency he had been at great pains to make sure that America always supported her allies, especially those in the NATO alliance; to let a member down in war time was unthinkable.
“I am sorry that you feel that way, Mr Ambassador. America will of course continue to help defend the Jutland peninsular; we currently have a mechanised infantry division in place holding the Soviet thrust north.”
“With respect, Mr President Denmark is more than Jutland, our islands are just as important to us as Hawaii and Alaska are to you. How would your people react if you failed to defend them from attack?”
“They would not be pleased and I would be out of office within twenty-four hours.” The President admitted. “I am sorry that you feel that the United States has let Denmark down. I will promise you that we will do whatever it takes to retake Zealand from the enemy as soon as possible.”
“I will convey that promise to my government, Mr President.”
*
“The Danes will hold you to that promise, Mr President.” The Chief of Staff said once the ambassador had left.
“They’ll have a right to.” The President replied. “We got tunnel vision over Libya, looking back the Colonel could have waited until after the situation on Zealand had been stabilised. The French, Spanish and Italians would have followed our lead.
“Just how much trouble are we in, Condi?” He asked the Secretary of State.
“Quite a bit, Mr President.” She replied. “It’s not only the Danes who are pissed, but the Canadians too; they sent in their airborne regiment expecting back-up, but instead saw it chewed up and nearly destroyed. That they have managed to extract most of it is something of a miracle.”
“I suppose I should be expecting a visit from the Canadian Ambassador or maybe a call from their Prime Minister pretty soon.” The President observed. “The loss of Zealand has hardly been our finest hour.” He added.
“Well at least the Danes have not decided to make a separate peace, Mr President.” The Chief of Staff observed.
The President shot him an irritated look.
“The Danes know what it is like to be occupied by a totalitarian regime, so they are hardly likely to consider surrender as an option.”
2030 hours. Near Weiden i.d.Opf, FRG.
Lt. Colonel Robert McLain stood on the roof of the turret of his Leopard C.2, scanning the far side of the Naab River through a pair of binoculars. There was no sign of any enemy activity as of yet, but he was sure that would soon change. [2]
McLain clambered down from the roof of his tank to speak to the small group of visitors that had arrived at his Tac H.Q.
“Well, gentlemen, looks like your visit is going to be quiet after all.” He told them. “The enemy has decided not to put in an appearance.
“I suppose I should really welcome you all to the Royal Canadian Dragoons battle group, I’m Lieutenant Colonel McLain, currently the acting Commanding Officer since Colonel Borden was killed a few days ago. I trust you all had a relatively comfortable trip?”
“Yes, thank you, Sir.” The senior visitor, a major, replied. “It was as comfortable as could be expected.
“I’m Major Williams, of The Governor General’s Horse Guards, I’ve been appointed as second in command of the 6th Armoured Regiment. This is Captain Donnelly of 6 Field Regiment, Captain Davies of 61 Infantry Regiment, Warrant Officer David Anderson, also of the Governor General’s Horse Guards, and Warrant Officer Smith of The Governor General’s Foot Guards.”
Each man nodded to Lt. Colonel McLain as Williams introduced them.
“I’m glad to meet you all; we’ve got some militia augmentees in the battle group, some of them are from your regiments if memory serves. My guys will certainly glad to know that the 6th Brigade Group is beginning to arrive.” McLain told them.
“Ah, we’re only really an advanced party, Sir.” Williams replied. “Most of the brigade’s heavy equipment is in transit between Canada and Germany at the moment; I expect it is in the middle of the North Atlantic at the moment; it could be at least a week before the brigade is operational.”
“I expect we’ll be operational a bit sooner, though, Sir.” Warrant Officer David ‘Triple A’ Anderson opined. “You see, Sir.” He said to McLain. “We have an agreement with the German Heer, they’ve set aside some of their war reserve of Leo 2s for any militia regiment serving over here. They’ll probably be A4, or 5 models, but that’s still better than trying to play at MBT in our Cougars.
“Most of us have been on attachments to regular regiments equipped with the Leo 2, so I’d guess we could be operational within forty-eight hours of the rest of the regiment getting here.”
This news brightened McLain up no end, an extra armoured regiment was certainly good news, even if the rest of 6th Canadian Brigade Group took a while to become operational. He looked to Major Williams for confirmation. [3]
“Warrant Officer Anderson is quite correct, Sir. It might be a slight exaggeration, but I’d say any militiaman assigned to 6th Armoured Regiment could probably go straight into a Leo 2 off the plane.”
McLain smiled, he expected that the 6th Armoured Regiment would probably go into division reserve once it was fully on the ground, but it would be handy to have around.
“Well, gentlemen, with that issue resolved let’s get down to the nitty gritty and I’ll get you all briefed in on our position here. As you can see the battle group, indeed the rest of the division, is in a good position here along the Naab River.
“If we do come under serious pressure we’ll retreat slowly towards our prepared positions on the west bank of the Vils River.”
“Somewhere that the 4th Brigade has been preparing to fight for a long time.” Warrant Officer Anderson observed. “Wasn’t always in the Militia you know.” He added.
“Quite; so we should be able to put up a good performance then.” McLain said.
2041 hours GMT. Watts, South Los Angeles, California.
Sergeant Thomas Hooker raised the visor on his riot helmet slightly so that he could get a better look down the street in front of him. The air still smelled strongly of smoke from the large numbers of fires that had been started during the riots the previous day and which looked like no sign of abating any time soon; the LA Fire Department had not been able to reach the various fires, so they had been left to burn themselves out, though some had combined to form larger conflagrations.
Hooker was not a happy man; lacking enough manpower to effectively deal with the rioters the LAPD had withdrawn from most of the Watts district, instead posting officers at strategic intersections around the outskirts; abandoning a large portion of the city to rioters did not sit well with this hard-nosed, veteran cop. Moreover to man this particular post all Hooker had under his command was his partner and two other officers. On the bright side at least all four officers were armed with Ithaca 37 pump-action shotguns loaded with anti-riot rounds, while they also had AR-15 rifles slung over their shoulders, though it was still inadequate to stop a large group of angry rioters who might chose to force their way through the police barricades. [4]
“Where the hell are the damned reinforcements?” Hooker muttered as he paced back and forward.
The riots were not yet as severe as those of 1992, and in ordinary circumstances the department would probably have been able to deal with them without help from outside agencies. However with the demands of wartime it was anything but ‘ordinary circumstances’, far too many officers were assigned to static protection duty, guarding various vulnerable installations, or providing personal protection to important people.
Reinforcements from the California Highway Patrol, National Guard and the State Military Reserve had been promised, but had yet to arrive in any strength. When they did arrive the CHP and what guardsmen were available would assist the LAPD in moving back into the riot hit areas, while the CSMR personnel would relieve police officers on static protection duty, freeing them up to deal with the riots.
‘CRACK!’
Hooker ducked involuntarily at the unmistakeable sound of a high velocity rifle bullet passing close by his head. He immediately turned and headed for the cover of his unit.
“Get down!” He yelled to the other three officers, who were already reacting to the sound of the shot.
Hooker dropped his shotgun and un-slung his AR-15, pulling back the charging handle as he did so. He stuck his head above the hood of his unit and tried to locate the source of the shot, to no avail.
‘CRACK! BANG!’
The windshield just above the sergeant’s head suddenly starred as it was hit by a bullet. Hooker reached into the car and picked up the radio handset.
“Control this is Four Adam Thirty; we are coming under sniper fire. Request back-up and SWAT support, over.”
“Four Adam Thirty, back-up is approx thirty minutes out; SWAT is not available at this time, over.”
“Swell.” Hooker remarked. “Looks like we’re on our own for the moment.” He said to his partner.
“Hooker!” One of the other officers shouted. “I think we’ve got a problem!”
Hooker risked a glimpse above the hood of the car and saw a group of what looked like a large group of rioters, some armed, heading towards their position.
“Looks like its time for us to earn our pay.” Hooker remarked.
***
[1] Orders of Battle:
Special Service Force (-)
8th Canadian Hussars (Leopard 2/Coyote)
1st Bn, Royal Canadian Regiment (LAV-III)
2nd Bn, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (LAV-III)
2nd Bn, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery (M777)
22nd Air Defence Regiment (Starstreak)
2nd Combat Engineer Regiment
SSF HQ & Signals Squadron
2nd Service Battalion
2nd Military Police Platoon
2nd Intelligence Platoon
427th Tactical Helicopter Squadron
2nd Field Ambulance
8th Canadian Brigade Group
8 Canadian Armoured Regiment
8th Canadian Hussars (Princess Louise’s) (militia)
The Prince Edward Island Regiment (RCAC)
8 Field Regiment, RCA
1st (Halifax-Dartmouth) Field Artillery Regiment, RCA
3rd Field Artillery Regiment, RCA
84th Independent Field Battery, RCA
8 Air Defence Battery, RCA
8 Combat Engineer Regiment
45th Field Engineer Squadron
56 Field Engineer Squadron
8 CBG Headquarters and Signal Squadron
81 Infantry Battalion
The Princess Louise Fusiliers
The West Nova Scotia Regiment
1st Battalion, The Nova Scotia Highlanders (North)
2nd Battalion, The Nova Scotia Highlanders (Cape Breton)
82 Infantry Battalion
1st Battalion, The Royal New Brunswick Regiment (Carleton and York)
2nd Battalion, The Royal New Brunswick Regiment (North Shore)
1st Battalion, The Royal Newfoundland Regiment
2nd Battalion, The Royal Newfoundland Regiment
8 Service Battalion
31 (Saint John) Service Battalion
33 (Halifax) Service Battalion
35 (Sydney) Service Battalion
36 (Newfoundland) Service Battalion
8 Field Ambulance
33 (Halifax) Medical Platoon
35 (Sydney) Medical Company
[2] In TLW the Leopard C.2 is not an upgraded Leopard 1, but is the Canadian designation for the Leopard 2A6M.
[3] Orbat:
6 Canadian Brigade Group
6 Canadian Armoured Regiment
The Governor General’s Horse Guards
The Ontario Regiment (RCAC)
1st Hussars
The Windsor Regiment (RCAC)
The Queen’s York Rangers (1st American Regiment) (RCAC)(Brigade Recce Squadron)
6 Field Regiment RCA
7th Toronto Regiment, RCA
11th Field Artillery Regiment, RCA
56th Field Artillery Regiment, RCA
30th Field Artillery Regiment, RCA
49th Field Artillery Regiment, RCA
6 AD Battery RCA
1st Air Defence Regiment (Lanark and Renfrew Scottish), RCA
6 Combat Engineer Regiment
31st Field Engineer Regiment
32nd Field Engineer Regiment(The Elgins)
3rd Field Engineer Squadron
6 CBG Headquarters and Signal Squadron
61 Infantry Battalion
Governor General’s Foot Guards
The Princess of Wales Own Regiment
The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment
The Brockville Rifles
Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders
The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa
The Algonquin Regiment
2nd Battalion, Irish Regiment of Canada
62 Infantry Battalion
The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada
The Royal Regiment of Canada
The Grey and Simcoe Forresters
The Lorne Scots (Peel, Dufferin and Halton Regiment)
48th Highlanders of Canada
The Toronto Scottish Regiment
63 Infantry Battalion
The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (Wentworth Regiment)
The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise’s)
The Lincoln and Welland Regiment
4th Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment
The Highland Fusiliers of Canada
The Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment
6 Service Battalion
21 (Windsor) Service Battalion
22 (London) Service Battalion
23 (Hamilton) Service Battalion
25 (Toronto) Service Battalion
26 (North Bay) Service Battalion
28 (Ottawa) Service Battalion
6 Field Ambulance
23 (Hamilton) Medical Company
25 (Toronto) Medical Company
28 (Ottawa) Medical Company
[4] LAPD patrol vehicles now carry AR-15s as standard issue as a response to the 1997 ‘North Hollywood shootout’.
_________________
Every man thinks meanly of himself for never having been to sea nor having been a soldier.
- Dr. Samuel Johnson, 10th April, 1778.
Last edited by JNiemczyk1 on Sun Dec 06, 2009 6:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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