[chico20854]

July 29, 1997

The American forces in Iran are quick to recover. The commander of the US I MEF, Lt. General Samuel A. MacLean, assumes command of CENTCOM while the commander of the US XVIII Airborne Corps, Lt. General Edward Carabello, takes over the US 3rd Army. The first step MacLean takes is to order a withdrawal to the Gulf Coast. The 3rd Army begins moving out of their forward positions even as the Soviets attack. Most units withdraw in good order under the protection of the 6th ACCB and elements of the US 9th Air Force.

Unofficially,

The Victory ship Pan American Victory and cargo ship Nancy Lykes are reactivated in Oakland, California and begin loading cargo for the CENTCOM AOR.

In Alaska, the remainder of X Corps, facing 25th Corps along the Yukon River east of Nome, is ordered to undertake a fighting withdrawal eastward, evacuating to the Fort Wainwright-Fairbanks area.

In southern China the Soviet 28th Army consolidates its hold on the city of Nanning. Their Vietnamese allies encourage them to continue their advance, especially as Chinese resistance has faded away, but the Soviet commander is reluctant, concerned about his ability to protect his supply lines, which themselves are fragile, support from home virtually non-existent due to Allied naval activity.

South Korean artillery and tank units in Pyongyang concentrate their fire on the unfinished Ryugyong Hotel, which looms 105 stories over the city and provides innumerable observation points for the fanatical defenders.

To the north, advance patrols of the 25th Infantry Division (Light) link up with the lead elements of the Chinese 45th Airborne Division. I Corps turns its axis of advance eastward to clear the mountainous center of the country and link up with Allied forces operating along the east coast of the peninsula.

The Soviet attack outside Brest is slowed by German artillery fire that drops DPICM, FASCAM and chemical rounds on the lead tank regiments. Behind the Soviet lines, a German Fernspäher long-range reconnaissance patrol frantically searches the Soviet rear area for targets for a tactical nuclear round.

Soviet EW forces jam NATO's JSTARS airborne radar, blinding the vital targeting asset. NATO air forces need over four hours to sortie Dutch F-16s with ARMs to attack the jammers; once they leave the area the jamming resumes. After dark falls NATO ELINT assets locate the jammers and MLRS rockets are fired at them, blanketing the area around them with submunitions.

The fighting in Bavaria slows as the Italian forces consolidate their holdings, reposition units and replenish supplies. Opposite them NATO forces try to reorganize a coherent defense line as additional troops arrive.

A change of government occurs in Portugal. The prior government, which had followed a policy of neutrality despite its NATO obligations, is replaced with a right-wing one that offers Portugal's expeditionary forces (marines, airborne troops and a mechanized brigade which had been tasked to northeastern Italy) for employment in the Mediterranean. The change in government is trumpeted by Soviet propaganda as a military coup in the Iberian nation, highlighting that the new Prime Minister is a former Army captain.

F-111Fs of the 495th Tactical Fighter Squadron strike the Italian Trapani Birgi AFB in Sicily. The remainder of the 495th Tactical Fighter Squadron deploys to Moron AB, Spain from RAF Lakenheath and commences flying strike missions against targets in Sardinia, Sicily and southern Italy.

Commanders of the Jugoslav 5th Army issue desperate calls to Beograd for additional troops, ammunition, armored vehicles and air support to help counter the Italian offensive. The only air support that is forthcoming is a dozen sorties from the Americans of the 112th Tactical Fighter Wing (Pennsylvania National Guard), who are able to silence the Italian's MLRS force with liberal application of cluster munitions. The Jugoslav Army, facing Pact troops on all sides and exhausted by months of war in Romania, has nothing to spare.

The Soviet drive outside Kars, Turkey is stalled when the Turkish IX Corps command orders the mobile portion of the 14th Mechanized Brigade (a battalion of infantry in M59 APCs, a tank battalion in M-47 tanks and a self-propelled artillery battalion with M52T self-propelled 155mm howitzers) to halt the Soviet attack and drive 42nd Corps back across the border in preparation for a Turkish assault on the border city of Leninkan. The plan is a fantasy, but the loyal Turkish brigade commander faithfully orders his brigade forward. The counterattack is a debacle as the Soviet artillery commander masses over 150 guns and howitzers on the Turkish formation as it advances over open ground in broad daylight. The survivors of the artillery attack then run into the 42nd Motor-Rifle Division’s 392nd Tank Regiment, whose T-62s are superior to the aged American tanks. By sundown the brigade is destroyed, its survivors absorbed by the 9th Infantry Division, which is rushing to the Kars region.