[chico20854]

July 13, 1998

Nothing in canon for today. Unofficially,

STAVKA orders the commander of the Yalu Front to arrest the commander of the Soviet 35th Army, deciding that the recent failure of the attack across the DMZ was the result of his collaboration with Allied forces. The Front commander decides to ignore such a ridiculous order, confident that STAVKA has little recourse to his insubordination.

The first barges carrying troops of the 49th Armored Division (Texas National Guard) arrive in Muskogee, Oklahoma, as far along the Red River and as close as the riverways can get the unit to the rally point it has been ordered to, Fort Sill in south-central Oklahoma.

The end finally arrives for the Marines defending the San Diego Recruit Depot, with the last structure under American control, the Recruit Training Regiment headquarters in Lejeune Hall ablaze and under unrelenting attack. The 400 remaining Marines, a mix of partially trained recruits (now seasoned veterans), their drill instructors and other cadre and other staff from the base, surrender to the commanding general of the 1st Mechanized Brigade. As the guns finally fall silent, the American ships offshore turn north, heading for the nearest friendly naval base at Port Hueneme.

In northeastern Texas, the Mexican drive has come to a halt as the flow of supplies from Mexico has completely ended, a hostile local population requires large numbers of troops to subdue. While organized American resistance has evaporated, the so-called Coastal Column has spread out over hundreds of square miles of territory and, short of ammunition, fuel and replacements and is unable to undertake further offensive action.

Throughout the day, more small-scale attacks and incursions on the Soviet 20th tank Division's lines deplete the Soviet ammunition supplies, wear out the troops and force the unit to deploy its remaining armored vehicles to reinforce threatened areas, draining their gas tanks. After dark, German jaegers and dismounted panzergrenadiers slip in between the Soviet positions.

The 102nd Guards (my 254th) Motor-Rifle Division's troops breach the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division's minefields and push the 66th Tank Regiment forward, with the BMP-mounted 95th Motor-Rifle Regiment in close support, all under an artillery barrage. The resulting battle sees the brigade's tank battalion (2nd Battalion, 64th Armor, which has absorbed the remnants of the brigade's other armor battalion, the 3rd Battalion 64th Armor) and reinforcements from the 4th Squadron, 4th Cavalry rushed forward to halt the breakthrough, while overhead an air battle rages as both sides seek local air superiority.

JSA engineers along the Sava, in preparation for the force's breakout from the mountains of Bosnia-Hercegovina, secure two more crossings over the Sava River, at Bosanski Šamac and Badovinci. Both crossings are at or near pre-war bridges and follow skirmishes which have driven off local collaborationist militias.

The replica USS Constitution is intercepted in the Bay of Biscay by the French destroyer La Galissonnière; after boarding and inspection the sailing ship is permitted to continue to Brest.

In the Persian Gulf region, the remnants of the USS Independence's A-6 attack bomber fleet, consolidated in a single squadron VA-185, flies a deep strike mission. Taking off from the airfield at Bushehr in the early morning darkness, six A-6Fs fly at low level across the Zagros mountains deep into Kurdistan, where friendly guerillas have located a 7th Army logistic site. The flight, led by LtCdr Mark Winslow, drops nearly 25 tons of high explosive on the site, setting off numerous secondary explosions and depriving the Soviet force of months' worth of carefully hoarded supplies.