[chico20854]

March 24, 1998

Nothing official in canon. Unofficially,

At the end of a brutal winter that killed as much as a third of the New England population (four million people), disease spread by unburied bodies and poor sanitation practices carries off another two million. The Mexican government receives notice of the deaths of its citizens at the Datil campground, as well as the first columns of refugees being driven out of Texas; the reaction from the Mexican authorities and public is extremely negative. Anti-American riots break out in Veracruz, Mexico City and Hermosa, targeting American expats and businesses.

In Alaska, the battered remnants of the 147th (my 261st) Motor-Rifle Divison are traveling largely on foot the hundreds of miles to Anchorage. To their rear, X Corps has consolidated its hold on the heavily damaged city of Fairbanks, rested its troops and is (finally) ready to pursue the retreating Soviet force. It dispatches the 1st Infantry Brigade (Arctic Recon) west along the Tanana River (a tributary of the Yukon), with orders to proceed independently, living off the land, to clear the Yukon River valley to the Bering Strait. The 2nd Infantry Brigade (Arctic Recon) follows the retreating Soviet force closely, while the 10th Mountain (my 11th Airborne) Division prepares for a deeper raid to cut off the retreating enemy force.

The French and Belgian governments complete delivery of the "agreed upon materiel" (the term selected in lieu of "reparations", "compensation" or "payment" in order to avoid hurt feelings) into German territory. The 10 million rounds of small arms ammunition, pre-packaged combat meals and gallons of diesel fuel, 1 million gallons of aviation fuel, 100,000 rounds of 20-40mm autocannon ammunition, 100,000 mortar rounds, 100,000 artillery rounds, 25,000 105mm tank gun rounds, 25,000 120mm tank gun rounds, 100,000 tons of bulk food, 12 F-16As, 500 Sidewinder Air-to-Air missiles, 2,5000 dumb bombs and package of spare parts will allow NATO forces in Germany to remain fighting through much of the year.

The surrounded column of the 97th Guards Motor-Rifle Division fights with the desperation of surrounded men facing a determined enemy. The Romanians maintain their long-range harassing fire throughout the day but do not repeat the failed frontal assault of the prior day. 38th Army headquarters desperately casts about for fire support assets to intervene, but the force is out of range of the Army's long-range guns and Frontal Aviation cannot deem the situation dire enough to release attack aircraft.

The South African Volksraad meets in Capetown to formalize a number of emergency measures put into place over the prior 18 months to disband the racist Apartheid regime. Recognizing the threat South Africa faced from Communist regimes in Angola and Mozambique as well as other hostile neighbors and the demands placecd on the already shaky economy by the World War raging around it, the Defense Ministry began demanding change early in the war. The Army needed combat troops at the front, not deployed on internal security duties in the townships, and a robust logistic structure to support high intensity operations in the field; restriciting military service to the 13 percent of the population that is white and maintaining a never-ending state of emergency was seen as unlikely to be sufficient to sustain a national war effort. The South African Defense Forces therefore began integration of existing mixed-race soldiers into combat units and expansion of existing all-Black units, as well as increasing the employment of non-White personnel in defense establishments (except for the highly-secertive nuclear weapons development and production apparatus). The Volksraad session that begins today revokes the state of emergency, authorizes multi-racial recruitment in the SASF and defense establishment and authorizes the formation of a constituent assembly to draft a new, color-blind constitution. It also provides for integration of various township tribal militias and illegal defense forces into the police forces and the recognition of ANC armed units as a preparation into their eventual integration into the SADF.