March 6, 1997
Sirjan Khorrasani, a veteran of the Iran-Iraq War and rug dealer, is recruited by National Security Force Major Javad Hedayati, formerly of the Pasdaran and an old firend, for Operation Shadow. Khorrasani is to remain in Esfahan if the IPA withdaws from Esfahan, appearing to cooperate with the occupying Tudeh and Soviets, while leading the local Pasdaran resistance band.
Unofficially,
The head of the Polish Free Congress, Lech Walesa (freed from jail earlier in the war in a daring joint SAS-Delta Force raid) addresses his fellow NATO heads of state, emotionally imploring them to liberate his nation after over 50 years of Soviet occupation. The CIA Director gives an assessment of Soviet military capabilities given the current world situation.
A FBI counterintelligence monitoring team radio-locates a Spetsnaz team as they attempt to arrange pickup by their supporting sympathizer. The elite FBI Hostage Rescue Team deploys to Albuquerque.
HQ, XI Corps completes its pre-deployment activities and rail loads its vehicles for transit to the load port of Bayonne, New Jersey.
The Dutch Red Army fires a RPG at the Rotterdam refinery, starting a small fire and shutting down one of its hydrocracker units for three weeks.
A group from the Latvian Free Army, supported by an A-Team of the 10th Special Forces Group, attacks the fuel depot at the Šiauliai air base, setting it ablaze and seizing a dozen weapons from the guard force.
A major artillery duel erupts along the Oder-Niesse line. The troops in the bridgeheads retreat to their deep shelters, and American A-10s soon appear overhead, raining cluster bombs on the Polish and Soviet batteries. Three A-10s are lost when 57mm and 100mm flak batteries open up on them.
The Whiskey-class diesel submarine S-359 arrives in the North Sea after over two weeks creeping at slow speed along the Norwegian coast. It lays 18 MDM-1 mines on the seabed between British and Dutch channel ports, then turns back for Murmansk.
Convoy 8.2.1 is attacked by the Soviet Whiskey-class submarine S-383 northwest of Cyprus, sinking the Turkish freighter Ihlsan.
The Solt Companion sinks, leaving behind a massive oil slick.
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I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for 12 hours. When it was all over, I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one stinkin' body. The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like... victory. Someday this war's gonna end...
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