[natehale1971]

Twilight 2000: Countdown to Armageddon
by Richard A. Spake ©


2004

On the first day of the new year, the NATO heads of state declared their support for a Polish government in exile, headed by a committee of Polish émigrés. While the news was greeted with scattered worker uprisings in Poland, the majority of the Polish Army remained loyal to the central government, and open resistance was soon crushed. An underground movement began forming, however, and by spring small guerrilla bands, leavened by Polish Army deserters, began to harass Warsaw Pact supply convoys and installations.

During January, continuing Turkish successes in Bulgaria sparked a wave of patriotism in the Turks, particularly since Greece had remained neutral in the fight against the communists. On Cyprus, unoccupied and supposedly re-united for three years, the Turkish Cypriots demonstrated in favor of Turkey. The demonstrations turned into anti-Greek riots, and the Cypriot Army moved to restore order. In response, the Turkish Army invaded Cyprus and quickly occupied most of the island. Greece first sent military units to Cyprus to resist the Turks and then declared war on Turkey and attacked the Turkish forces in Thrace.

In late February, the socialist governments of Italy and Greece concluded a mutual defense pact. While Italy was not obligated by the pact to enter the Greco-Turkish war, the Italian government declared the war to be a regional conflict unrelated to the more general war raging elsewhere, promising to intervene on Greece's side if NATO tried to tip the balance in Turkey's favor. Within a week Greece declared a naval blockade against Turkey and warned the world's shipping that the Aegean was now considered a war zone.

In an attempt to restore the situation in Germany, Soviet and Czech troops went over to the offensive in southern Germany but did not have the strength to make any significant gains. With the coming of spring the NATO offensive gained momentum and in April the first German troops crossed the frontier into Poland. By June 17th, Warsaw was surrounded, and Polish army units and the citizens of the city prepared for a siege.

By late spring, NATO's Atlantic fleet had hunted down the last of the Soviet commerce raiders, and the surviving attack carriers and missile cruisers moved to northern waters. The NATO drive in the north had bogged down on the banks of the Litsa River, but the Northern Front commander now contemplated a bold move to destroy the remnants of Soviet naval power there. While U.S. and British units attempted a rapid outflanking move through northern Finland, the NATO Atlantic Fleet would close in on Murmansk and Severomorsk, subjecting the Soviet fleet anchorages and air bases to a massive bombardment. On June 7th the ground offensive was launched and the fleet closed in on0Athe Kola Peninsula shortly thereafter.

Finland had been expected to offer token resistance to the violation of its territory; instead the Finnish Army fought tenaciously, seriously delaying the flanking move. At sea the plan fared even worse, as coastal missile boats and the remnants of Northern Fleet's shore-based naval aviation inflicted crippling losses on the NATO fleet. By mid-June the last major naval fleet in-being in the world had been shattered.

In the south, the front in Romania stabilized and entered a period of attritional warfare. Soviet mobilization-only divisions, largely leg-mobile and stiffened with a sprinkling of obsolete tanks and armored personnel carriers, entered the lines. Although the Romanians proved better soldiers than the over-aged and ill-trained Soviet recruits, the manpower difference began to be felt. The best Soviet troops were shipped further south to Bulgaria, and by May had managed to halt the Turkish drive. As Greek pressure on the Turkish left flank in Thrace built, unit after Turkish unit was shifted to face the Greeks. It became clear that, without aid, the Turkish Army would have to fall back or be defeated.

On June 27th, a NATO convoy of fast transports and cargo ships, accompanied by a strong covering force, attempted the run to the Turkish port of Izmir with badly-needed ammunition and equipment. Light fleet elements of the Greek navy intercepted the convoy and, in a confused night action off Izmir, inflicted substantial losses and escaped virtually unharmed. Two days later NATO retaliated with air strikes against Greek naval bases. On July 1st, Greece declared war against the NATO nations, and Italy, in compliance with her treaty obligations, followed suit on the 2nd.

In early July, Italian airmobile and alpine units crossed the passes into Tyrolia. Scattered elements of the Austrian army resisted briefly but were overwhelmed. By mid-month, Italian mechanized forces were debouching from the Alpine passes into southern Germany, and their advanced elements were in combat against German territorial troops in the suburbs of Munich. The Jugoslavian Army launched a gallant but costly offensive against northeastern Italy, but soon was stalled. Italy responded with a major counteroffensive which, while draining troops from the German front, quickly shattered the thinly-spread Jugoslavian northern grouping.

The Italian Army enjoyed tremendous success in the first month of its involvement in the war, primarily for logistical reasons. Most of its opponents had already been at war for six months or more. Their peacetime stocks of munitions and replacement vehicles had been depleted, and their industries had not yet geared up to wartime production. The Italians had intact peacetime stockpiles to draw on. As summer turned to fall, however, the Italians too began feeling the logistical pinch, aggravated by the increasing flow of munitions and equipment from the factories of their opponents.

In Asia, pro-Soviet India and anti-Soviet Pakistan drifted into war through an escalating spiral of border incidents, mobilization, and major armed clashes. Outright war began in the spring, and by mid-year the Indian Army was slowly advancing across the length of the front, despite fierce resistance.

Mid-September


2004: The Year in Review

d



January 2004

January 2004. D

January 2004. Turkish successes spark a wave of nationalism, and leads to riots on Cyprus and pro-Greek armed forces immediately mobilized and crush them. This prompts the Turkish army to invade and occupy Cyprus, and this prompts Greece to launch attacks against Turkish army forces in Thrace and Cyprus. The Hellenic Republic (Greece) turns to its Mediterranean Alliance allies to also follow suit in a declaration of war on NATO. Soviet forces are pushed out of Norway, but the NATO offensive is halted at the Litsa river.

1 January 2004. The heads of state of the members of the NATO Alliance all declare their support for the Polish Government-in-Exile.

3 January 2004. The international media is shocked when Dan Rather is arrested by the Tukhachevky Regime and is tried by a Soviet military tribunal as a spy. Rather had travelled to Moscow so he could interview Danilov after the completion of the peace talks. Instead he was able to give the first and only interview with Nikolai Tukhachevky, an interview that put the new Soviet Premier in a less than generous light. Many feel that this is why the Tukhachevky Regime ordered the arrest of Dan Rather. Sometime in mid-July 2006, Dan Rather will be executed by a firing squad after having spent two grueling years in a Soviet prison labor camp.

4 January 2004. Despite the best efforts of the federal government, President G.W. Bush is forced to call for rationing of critical war related resources and goods in the United States to support the war effort as shortages have become increasingly rampant.

7 January 2004. The British Army of the Rhine reaches Frankfurt-an-Oder on the Polish Border, lead elements enter the city but are unable to seize the bridges over the Oder intact.

10 January 2004. When attempts to get the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact to accept negotiation to end the fighting in Eastern Europe the NATO Alliance launches a major offensive across the border into Poland, in an attempt to link up with pro-democracy and pro-NATO forces.

2004. The Italian Republic launches an offensive into the Federal Socialist Republics of Yugoslavia and the Republic of Austria; and they are backed by expeditionary units of the other Mediterranean Alliance members.

2004. The Italian military operations into Austria and Yugoslavia forces the Swiss Confederation to officially declare itself in a state of armed neutrality, after the destruction of an elite Italian Alpine battalion when one of the Italian Alpine Brigades had attempted to use Swiss territory to launch their offensive into Austria when the Swiss used tactical nuclear explosives to close the passes into their country.



February 2004

February 2004. D

14 February 2004. <Excelsior> Rigid Airship Shipping Lines opens up regular civilian passenger service. Initially the company only provided services all over the United States and Canada, with limited service to Iceland and the United Kingdom.

February 2004. The 82n Infantry (Airborne) Division is moved by air to Saudi Arabia. The Mediterranean Alliance begins a Naval Blockade of the Aegean Sea to isolate Turkey from being able to be reinforced by NATO via sea. NATO Alliance perform a successful amphibious landing at Teriberka, USSR.



March 2004

March 2004. D

March - July 2004. The rift between the Danilovian and Tukhachevskyite blocks within the Soviet government and military remains despite Nikolai Tukhachevsky's best efforts to 'purge' those officials loyal to Konstantin Danilov grows as open fighting breaks out throughout Eastern Europe and rebellious Warsaw Pact states request aid from NATO and other western states.

March 2004. The Armed Forces of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia mobilize to provide support for Hungary & Romania in their attempt to 'go their own way' and leave the Warsaw Pact, unfortunately Yugoslavia will suffer greatly during the next year and half when they are caught between pro-Soviet Warsaw Pact and the co-belligerent Mediterranean Alliance force.

March 2004. The 9th Infantry (Motorized) Division, 101st Infantry (Air Assault) Division, 1st Marine Division and 24th Infantry (Mechanized) Division are deployed by air to Saudi Arabia.

March 2004. A second successful NATO amphibious landing is made at Teriberka, but they are still unable to flank the Soviet troops.



April 2004

April 2004. D

April 2004. Marital Law is declared by the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Soviet 103rd Guards Airborne carries out a major air assault against Bandar Abbas, forcing the Iranian militia to flee. The front in Norway is locked in a stalemate.

2 April 2004. NATO Alliance launches Operation Advent Crown, the German 3r Army crosses the frontier into Polland near Gorlitz advances up the Oder River. The German 2d Army drives up the Baltic coast. The German 1st Army with the British 1st Corps drives through central Poland.

6 April 2004. David Bloom, NBC Field Correspondent dies from deep vein thrombosis (DVT). He will be remembered for his creation of the first "Bloom Mobile"... an Army tank recovery vehicle that was retrofitted by Miramar, a Florida-based company Maritime Telecommunications Network, with live television and satellite transmission equipment so he could continuously broadcast reports as troops made their way toward Baghdad. Bloom was traveling with the U.S. Third Infantry Division when he suddenly died due to deep vein thrombosis and a pulmonary embolism.

13 April 2004. The supertanker Universe Carolina is sunk while enroute to Boston. Military authorities announce in Boston that fuel ration will begin. American media outlets report that the Boston-area refineries were exclusively turning out naval light fuel oil and aviation fuel, leaving heating oil and civilian fuel short.


May 2004

May 2004. D

1 May 2004. The Peoples Democratic Republic of Iran is established by the Tudeh guerillas at Tehran, but only the Soviet Union and Syria recognize the new Iranian government.

11 May 2004. The British 4t Armored Division takes Kalisz with only token resistance. Wroclaw falls to NATO forces after being pounded to rubble. The Battle of Wroclaw leaves the Soviet 3rd Motorized Rifle Division heavy damaged.

17 May 2004. The British 4t Armored Division reaches Lodz.


June 2004

June 2004. D

17 June 2004. Warsaw is surrounded by NATO forces, the city beings to prepare for a siege.

27 June 2004. NATO Convoy of fast transports and cargo ships along with their strong covering force attempt to run the Mediterranean Alliance blockade to make port at Izmir, Turkey. Light fleet elements of the Greek navy savage the convoy during the night and escape relatively unharmed.

29 June 2004. NATO sends air strikes against Greek naval bases.


July 2004

July 2004. D

1 July 2004. Italian airmobile and alpine units cross passes into Tyrolia. Scattered elements of the Austrian Army resist briefly, but are overwhelmed forcing them to retreat. NATO advance elements close on the Soviet-Polish border, while the siege of Warsaw continues. The Polish Government moves the capitol to Poznan.

25 July 2004. Italian Mechanized forces enter southern Germany, with advance elements combating German forces around Munich. The British First and Second Armored Divisions immediately move against the Italians.


August 2004

August 2004. The 6th Air Cavalry Combat Brigade, suffering considerable attrition due to combat and mechanical failure is withdrawn to Saudi Arabia for rest and refit.


September 2004

September 2004. D

October 2004

October 2004. D


November 2004

November 2004. D

2 November 2004. The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday 2 November 2004. The Republican Party candidate and incumbent President, George W. Bush (R-TX) defeated Democratic Party candidate the junior US Senator from Massachusetts John Kerry (D-MA). Foreign policy was the dominant theme throughout the election campaign, particularly Bush's conduct of the United States involvement in what the media has dubbed the Twilight War.


December 2004

December 2004. D

24 December - 25 December 2004. The unofficial Christmas Truce between troops on the frontlines occurs. The initial reason for the truce does not become readily known, but when it is learned that the truce was called by troops on both sides to rescue a burning orphanage and children’s hospital. The initial truce was to have only lasted till both sides were able to evacuate the building, but quickly grew to a point where both sides took children back to their encampments to receive medical care. During this period the officers and men on both sides start to come to understand each other. And the news that

26 December 2004 - 3 April 2005. As NATO forces start to near the Polish-Soviet board, the leaders of the Swiss Confederation are able use the success of the unofficial Christmas Truce between forces on the frontlines to convince both NATO and Warsaw Pact leaders declare a temporary ceasefire in an attempt to open peace talks in Geneva. The Soviet leaders jump at the chance to regain their footing and agree to talks, forcing the hand of NATO leadership to accept the peace talks. During the period of the peace talks sporadic skirmishes between NATO and Warsaw Pact forces occur all up and down the front in Poland and the Balkans. During this period both NATO and the Warsaw Pact devote their resources to other combat theaters.

26 October 2004 - 3 April 2005.
10 October 2003.
Premiere Konstantin Danilov is placed under house arrest by KGB officials loyal to Soviet Defense Minister Nikolai Ivanovich Tukhachevsky.

10 October – 17 October 2003. After a short weeklong period of apparent chaos within the Kremlin, Nikolai Tukhachevsky is able to succeed Konstantin Danilov as the Premiere of the Soviet Union and Secretary General of the Communist Party. One of Tukhachevky’s first acts as the Soviet Premiere is the purge of many of the Danilovians whom where in positions of authority in the Soviet armed forces, and prominent Soviet government officials. Instead of the purge killing the Danilovians, they are assigned to military operations on the Far Eastern Front against the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army.

12 October 2003. After years of behind the scenes backroom dealing among hardliners who felt that Danilov had sold out Stalinist Ideals, Nikolai Ivanovich Tukhachevsky finally seizes control of the Soviet Government.