January 18, 1998
Quebec declares its independence from the Confederation of Canada and closes its borders. The Quebecois say that the destruction of Quebec is the fault of the English-dominated government and their French puppets in Ottawa. The new government of Quebec establishes a national capital at Sherbrooke and calls to France for assistance in defending Quebec's right to nationhood if the need arises. The various police, militia, and army personnel in Quebec are organized into a national army.
The 126th (my 92nd) Guards Motor-Rifle Division, a Category C unit from the Odessa Military District, is ordered to depart its home station to bolster Soviet anti-partisan operations of Jugoslavia.
Unofficially,
A French VAB APC of the 94e Régiment d'Infanterie, on patrol outside Breda in occupied Holland, is destroyed by a roadside explosion and unknown assailants open fire on the survivors. None of the French soldiers live long enough to see the arrival of the relief force.
A second convoy of excess cargo ships departs the North Sea anchorage off the German port of Bremerhaven. Meanwhile, the shut-down of the ships of the first similar convoy is nearly complete in a fjord outside Stavanger, Norway. The ships are drained of fuel (both heavy fuel oil and diesel), their light armament removed and all ammunition transferred to support vessels, and all food and consumables removed. All hatches and portholes are sealed, ships of similar size are "rafted" together and secured to moorings on the seabed.
Colombia’s civilian government is overthrown by Army and National Police units that are in the pay of the drug cartels, joined by the forces of the FARC and ELN. The Colombian Navy and Air Force, joined by the AFEUR anti-terrorist unit and about a quarter of the Army and National Police remain loyal to the government as civil war rapidly breaks out, with the rest of the Army and National Police, joined by FARC and ELN guerrillas and cartel militias opposing them. USMC trainers and US Army Special Forces troops that are training and assisting the Colombian military are caught up in the fighting.
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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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