[chico20854]

July 28, 1997

The Soviet counteroffensive in Poland begins with the Battle of Brest where the 1st German Army is hit by the 3rd Guards and 8th Guards (my 30th Guards) Tank Divisions.

GRU and Spetsnaz teams penetrate American lines in Iran. They locate and attack US 3rd Army Headquarters, killing General Barbaneri, his chief of staff, and the commander of the 3rd Army. The raiders are all captured or killed, but in one stroke, CENTCOM and the 3rd Army are left leaderless as the Soviets begin their counteroffensive.

Unofficially,

Lead elements of the 3rd Brigade, 11th Airborne Division arrive at Allen Army Airfield, Alaska. Their arrival is too late to halt the retreat of X Corps' northern grouping, which is withdrawing towards Fairbanks under pressure from the Soviet 25th Corps, and in the south the defense of Anchorage collapses. The Air Force evacuates Elmendorf Air Force Base and X Corps orders remaining Army units to evacuate in two directions. The 172nd Infantry Brigade and 47th Infantry Division are ordered to retreat east, defending the approaches to the Canadian border, while the 2nd Infantry Brigade (Arctic Recon) withdraws northeast to Fort Greely.

NATO counters the Soviet nuclear attack on the 26th against the logistics hub of Biała Podlaska with a nuclear ATACMS strike against the rail junction of Kovel, where six important rail lines converge (many of which are feeding reinforcements and supplies into the region). The Soviets use a tactical nuclear round to blast a hole in the German defense line outside Brest, but discover that the scientists are right - the 2.5 kt 152mm artillery round destroys only two platoons of tanks, thanks to the hardened nature of the vehicles and the emplacements that combat engineers have dug them in to.

In Warsaw, NATO forces continue to press towards the city center against fierce resistance. British and German troops have reached the Prage neighborhood, and artillery forward observers have visual sighting of the Wisla River, enabling artillery attacks on the fleet of small boats that have supplanted the bridges (which are exposed to random NATO interdiction fire) as the major means of transport across the river. East German VOPO (riot police loyal to Communism) troops begin public executions of those suspected of hoarding food, deserting the city's defense forces, or even expressing views critical of the (absent) Polish or Pact leadership.

F-111Fs of the 495th Tactical Fighter Squadron strike the Italian naval base at La Maddalena, Sardinia. The 8th Marine Expeditionary Brigade embarks aboard additional amphibious shipping - the assault carriers Iwo Jima, Wasp and Saipan and their groups - in Gibraltar and Rota, Spain.

The Italian Fotza Dalmatia, reinforced with the Mantova Mechanized Brigade, diverted from occupation duty in Austria, launches a major counterattack to drive the Jugoslav forces out of northeastern Italy.

Soviet forces (the 19th Motor-Rifle Division) break through Turkish defenses north of Kars, Turkey but are unable to advance rapidly due to nearly continuous ambushes by small detachments of Turkish mountain troops. To their east, the other Soviet division, the 42nd Motor-Rifle (a training unit hastily committed to action), reinforced with the 39th KGB Border Guard Brigade and generous artillery support, attacks the Turkish 14th Mechanized Brigade’s sector. The line of Turkish defensive outposts along the broder is obliterated by massed heavy artillery fire and the 14th's deployment to the field is disrupted by vehicles that would not start and crews that have not trained together. By the end of the day the 42nd has advanced over 10 miles into Turkey, blessed with more favorable terrain than the division to the north.