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Originally Posted by Grimace
In order to affect an effective invasion of Alaska, the Soviets would have to have certain things happen in advance. A majority of the based forces in Fairbanks and Anchorage would have to be shipped overseas to some place.
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The canon seems to cover that, with only the 47th ID and two national guard brigades to stand against the 13 division, 3 brigade invasion. Throw in a strategic nuke into Anchorage and the Soviet use of tactical nukes and things get pretty dodgy for NATO.
But America's naval and air assets will need to have been catastrophically degraded prior to the invasion. Otherwise the Soviet invasion will be drowned in the arctic waters before even seeing land.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grimace
Key places they'd need to take out:
Fairbanks
Anchorage area (yes, the entire area, including the Matanuska valley)
Kodiak Island (at least the major Coast Guard station there)
isolate the Seward Peninsula
Valdez
Tok
Outside of Alaska, they'd need to take:
Whitehorse, Yukon Territories
Prince Rupert, British Columbia
(SNIP)
Key choke points, for either side:
Whittier Highway coming out of Whittier and going into Anchorage.
Highway 2 (The Al-Can) that runs from Beaver Creek, Yukon Territory to Tok, Alaska. (SNIP) Take and hold these and you seal the main body of Alaska off by land.
Haines Junction - Whitehorse (both in Yukon Territories).
Neutralize the airfields at Yakutat and Cordova.
Prudhoe Bay. People seem to think if you take the pipeline you control the oil. Well, if Prudhoe Bay stops pumping the oil, the only thing you've got further down is an empty pipeline. Worthless.
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Well, not completely worthless. By controlling the terminus at Valdez and the lower end of the pipeline, they do cut off the lower 48 states from the critical strategic resources of Alaskan oil.
And that's a really good list of strategic choke points. I think that is going to be the dominant principal in any war in Alaska. Control of naval access and then control of key choke points on land. "Controlling" huge areas of Alaskan wilderness is utterly pointless and suicidal for either side.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grimace
Control the Inside Passage. (SNIP)
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I don't see how the Sovs can effectively do this. Even if the Sovs have the naval forces to get the invasion in. and keep the logistical links open for a period of time, I really can't imagine them being able to project naval and air assets into the Inside Passage. The best the Sovs could probably manage would be to lay some mines down there after maybe seizing Juneau by sea. Otherwise the US could use Juneau to project naval power and air power north to raid Soviet logistical links back to Siberia.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grimace
So winter offenses only. Hunker down and defend in summer and scrounge, scrounge, forage and scrounge...because you'll need it. It would suck to be the Soviet forces stationed in Fairbanks. Ugh! Cold as you've probably never seen it.
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Sounds like sound advice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grimace
Hopefully this helps a little.
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Thank you Grimace. I have read your comments in earlier threads on the subject of the Twilight War in Alaska and always found them enlightening.
A. Scott Glancy, President TCCorp, dba Pagan Publishing