[chico20854]

June 23, 1998

Nothing official for the day. Unofficially,

The Joint Chiefs, seeing the continued success of the Mexicans, especially in Texas, order planners to develop options for use of nuclear weapons to slow or halt the invasion. The G-3, operations staff, requests a day to determine what will be needed for such planning to occur, since it is not an area that the Joint Chiefs have previously been involved with. (Strategic nuclear planning had been the purview of the Joint Strategic Planning Staff at SAC headquarters before the TDM, while theater and corps commanders planned theater and tactical nuclear employment).

As Mexican marines clear up the last pockets of resistance at Naval Air Station North Island the commander of the Mexican 2nd Army requests they launch an amphibious assault across the harbor, landing on shores of the international airport and advancing through that complex to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. The marine commander refuses, referring the Army commander to the Naval Ministry in Mexico City, which directs his operations rather than the Ministry of National Defense, which commands the Army and Air Force. Although it has taken over 40 percent casualties, Brigade Ensenada continues its assault on the San Diego naval base, making progress in reaching the harbor between the base and the massive shipyard, which has now been burning for several days, destroying the destroyer Harry W. Hill, cruiser Mobile Bay and the under-construction replenishment ship Conecuh as well as an unnamed Freedom-class freighter.

The Mexican command issues a strongly-worded directive to the commander of Brigade Nogales, urging him to continue his brigade's forward progress towards Tucson, progress that has been largely halted since the initial days of the invasion. The brigade commander replies with a request for reinforcements for his isolated command, noting the presence of the 111th Military Intelligence Brigade to his east and the reports from his scouts (and criminal gang allies) of a coherent defense of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base on the city's southern limits.

The Battle of El Paso drags on, with inconclusive fighting raging throughout the day. To the west of the city, Mexican trucks are replenishing the Torres Motorized Cavalry Brigade, reinforced with cavalry regiments from Brigade Durango and Brigade Torreon, while the Chihuahua Brigade brings its troops together for an assault on Holloman Air Force Base. The brigade's concentration means that the long supply line back along the unit's route of advance is secured solely by allied civilian gangs, who are more often than not more interested in pillaging than patrolling for American infiltrators or counterattacks.

2nd Mexican Army forces the commander of the San Antonio garrison to decide whether to abandon the city, its military bases (including the large Medina Regional Security Operations Center ELINT station) and population, or to subject it to a costly siege. His calls for assistance to the commanders of the nearby 46th Infantry Division and 95th Training Division are rebuffed by those generals, who plead that their troops are overwhelmed by their ongoing civil relief and rear area security duties and noting that what ammunition and fuel they can spare have already been sent to the city.

The First Regiment of Thirds (which will soon become known as the "Big Bad One") is raised in Florida as part of the City of St. Petersburg Militia. On the other side of the state, the commander of the Jacksonville-Mayport Naval Base and Naval Air Station has formed the sailors from the bases as well as the crews of the various ships and squadrons stranded in the area into a relatively efficient fighting force. The city fathers have by this time requested extensive assistance from the Navy; the action of the naval force has allowed the Jacksonville area to remain an island of stability in the general chaos that is post-nuclear Florida.

All of the 1048th Assault Gun Regiment's vehicles have been disabled, although four of them continue to harbor crewmen that continue to resist. Two of the ISU's main guns are still functional, forcing the surrounding Marines to avoid their limited arcs of fire. The surviving Soviets are effective in covering the blind spots of the other vehicles, and over 40 Marines have been lost in close-in anti-tank actions to neutralize them.

SOOCCENT (Special Operations Command Central, CENTCOM's special operations headquarters) reaches an agreement with XVIII Airborne Corps to allow special operations troops to use the newly established airborne school at Ad Damman, Saudi Arabia. SOCCCENT agrees to provide a small training cadre to establish a HALO course at the school, supplementing the school's basic parachutist, jumpmaster and pathfinder courses.