[chico20854]

February 24, 1998

Another day where canon is silent! Unofficially,

The 402nd Field Artillery Brigade returns to Chillicothe, Texas in mass. The brigade deploys two companies of infantry, which overrun the town, burn it to the ground and execute all males between the ages of 14 and 70.

In Canada, the Quebecois force on the eastern front continues its offensive, delayed to allow time for reinforcement and training. Using a hodgepodge fleet of fishing and recreational boats as well as three ferries pressed into service, they make an amphibious landing that quickly overwhelms the loyalist force along the Labrador-Quebec border and cuts the coast road between the border guard force and the main base at Goose Bay.

The 53rd Hungarian Brigade completes the outfitting of several railcars as gun platforms, with armor to protect against shrapnel and light small arms fire (sufficient to stop an AK-47 bullet, but not a PK machinegun or heavier). It begins loading aboard the trains; most of the troops are housed in boxcars or aboard a suburban commuter train; the brigade's engineers drain the fuel from several damaged locomotives and an underground fuel tank into a tank car placed at the center of the formation. Simultaneously, the unit mechanics strip the local railroad maintenance shop of tools and spares that may be needed. The local authorities are powerless to object, the town (Naushki in eastern Siberia) being overrun with heavily armed Hungarians, nearly all of whom are unable to speak Russian and interteract with the local civilians.

The new destroyer USS Howard, which was commissioned in Maine in September and entered a period of training before entering active service, finally completes its shakedown training and enters port at Mayport, Florida for minor refit and resupply prior to commencing active service.

Third US Army directs its sole subordinate MP brigade, the 16th, to coordinate with the paramilitary Iranian National Security Force, on efforts to secure the supply lines between ports on the Persian Gulf and forward positions in the Zagros Mountains. The MPs are provided the remnant of the Australian Expeditionary Brigade (reorganized into two nearly-full strength battalions and a robust headquarters and support element) to deal with the most heavily armed bandits and deserter groups.