April 20, 1998
Nothing in canon for the day.
The Wisconsin State Patrol returns to the area near Hatfield, Wisconsin in force, determined to reassert the state government's authority. A fierce firefight ensues, in which three troopers are killed and two captured by the Ho-Chunk tribe's militia (composed of well-armed veterans).
The scouts dispatched by X Corps in Alaska return, reporting that the Soviet defensive line through the pass in the Alaska Range is thinly supported, with little artillery or rear area installations. They report that there was minimal traffic to the Soviet forces, implying that they may be poorly supplied.
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The British Army command staff, responding to the heavy losses suffered by BAOR in the 1997 campaign, surveys the military units and garrisons under its control for armored vehicles, even obsolescent ones, to send to Germany. The survey turns up contingents of Ferret armored cars, Saracen and Humber APCs and even two batteries worth of Abbot self-propelled howitzers, as well as small quantities of more modern armor from training detachments and research and testing facilities throughout England.
Third German Army orders the disbandment of remaining KDA (Kampfgruppen der Arbeiterklasse) East German paramilitary militia units in the former East Germany, returning the workers to the economy and turning their weapons over to the Army. Some of the most useful weapons freed up are the KDA's light anti-aircraft artillery; the KPV and DSHK heavy machineguns and 23mm and 37mm light anti-aircraft guns are brought forward to harden the increasing numbers of bunkers and fortifications along the Oder River.
As the reinforcement convoy headed to Africom rounds Cape Horn into the Indian Ocean, the nuclear-powered cruiser USS Virginia departs, its skipper deciding that, absent orders, it should remain in the Atlantic.
In the early morning hours, downtown Johannesburg is turned into a battle zone when armed AWB extremists attempt to take over government buildings. Mixed-race police units are nearly overrun and respond with live ammunition as well as tear gas, and within a few hours SADF troops are on the streets as well, reinforcing the police and hunting down bands of right-wing terrorists.