[Raellus]

Benjamin,

Where did the Soviet paratroops come from? How'd they get to Mexico at that stage in the war?

They'd probably be better off launching the attack before the ground invasion kicked off, with the planes taking off a couple of hours before the Mexican SF infiltration teams began their attacks on various U.S. military and C&C installations.

The drop on Colorado Springs would have the benefit of sowing confusion and panic and thusly hindering the response to the conventional invasion. Also, the Americans wouldn't be expecting it (or ready for the Mexican invasion in general). Waiting to launch the drops until after the ground invasion would have the Americans on the alert. Whatever air assets were available in CONUS would be cued and poised to support the American troops attempting to stem the Mexican tide. Yeah, most of the USAF's F-15 and F-16s would be overseas. But heck, a couple of F-4s- even a flight of old ANG/AFR Delta Darts (fresh out of mothballs, of course)- could tear an unescorted Mexican transport fleet to shreds. Even if the transports were flying in dribs and drabs on different vectors, losing just 2-3 would severely deplete the fighting power of the airborne troops. And forget about resupply.