1996 (continued)
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Russia had already begun to mobilize reinforcements in its western military districts. With a state of emergency in place, this process is expedited. As an emergency stop-gap measure, half a dozen combat-ready divisions which had been transferred from Eastern Europe to the St. Petersburg military district are sent to the Chinese border. But the Far Eastern Front has become a meatgrinder that churns up divisions as they arrive. More and more civilian motor vehicles and railroad cars are commandeered to support the military machine.
Having fallen into a stalemate in the Far East and facing a "mutiny" of the CIS, Russia needs more troops. Most of the 2nd class divisions are mobilized and dispatched to the Eastern Front by the middle of the year, and nearly a quarter of the remaining western 1st class divisions are sent into combat. Many of the reserve 3rd class divisions are equipped as 2nd class divisions or are mobilized, and for the first time divisions that are only activated during mobilization begin to drill. However, many of the best remaining divisions are chosen from among the former Eastern Europe occupation units amassed at the St. Petersburg military district and are sent to "rebelling" CIS states to secure the local Russian populations and to finally place them under the flag of Greater Russia. Russia is now at war with all CIS nations except Armenia, but its situation is eased a bit by the fact that more or less severe civil wars start to tear the CIS states apart as some pro-Russians begin to fight on the Russian side. Although Ukraine and Belarus' national identities are strong enough to keep them united, the latter dares not send all of its forces east due to its strained relations with Poland. The two nations have had bad blood between each other for quite a while.
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