August 1, 1997
The last overland supply route between Yadz and Bandar Abbas is cut by attacking Soviet troops from the 40th Army, isolating 1st Marine Division.
The US 2nd Infantry Division relieves the surrounded airhead of the 2nd (my 44th) Chinese Parachute Division.
Another tank division, the 9th Guards (my 32nd Guards), begins movement from the front as it is ordered to be transferred from the Chinese front to Europe.
(unofficially) The Soviets launch a Kosmos 3M rocket from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia. Almost immediately after launch it disgorged six Strela-3 secure communications satellites (used by the GRU to keep in touch with their agents and attaches around the world). NORAD, however, on high alert, is initially unable to distinguish between the satellites and Soviet nuclear weapons and sends out a flash nuclear alert. (officially) NATO governments spring into action, with President John Tanner ordering Vice President Julia Pemberton to board the NEACP (National Emergency Airborne Command Post) aircraft while he remains in Washington (taking shelter in the facility under the east wing of the White House). President Tanner refuses to leave Washington during this crisis. He says, in an informal remark to an aide, "I can't tell Americans to stand firm and stay calm if I'm hiding in a cave in the Smoky Mountains. If there's an inbound missile, I'll jump on a helicopter, but not one second before." Mrs. Tanner also refuses to leave Washington, but insists that their two children leave school and go to the family ranch in Wyoming.
Unofficially,
The Freedom ship Burlington Freedom is delivered in Galveston, Texas.
The American attack submarine Topeka is hounded by Soviet coastal forces and anti-submarine aircraft following its sinking of the Echo II-class boat K-35 the prior day. Defenders detect the breakup of the Soviet boat and send the corvette MPK-64 to investigate. The Soviet boat gets a return on the submarine and calls for more support; a Be-12 amphibian of the 289th Independent Anti-Submarine Aviation Regiment is the first to arrive. Soon the sky overhead is a hive of activity, with helicopters, flying boats and an Il-38 patrol plane all joining the hunt. Numerous torpedoes are dropped, all of which the American boat evades, but it is driven towards the corvette, which launches a volley from its anti-submarine mortars. One of the rounds strikes seconds after the American boat fires a volley of Mk 48 torpedoes at the Soviet ship. The 43-pound warhead punches a hole through the sub's conning tower (it struck at an angle), saving the hull from a major penetration, while the corvette turns at high speed to try to outrun the torpedoes. As the ship hits 32 knots it strikes a mine which had broke loose during the explosions and disruptions in the water over the prior hours, sinking MPK-64. The Topeka goes deep and slips away at 5 knots, trying to remain as quiet as possible with the damaged sail.
The front line in Ukraine and Poland is largely static, as both sides try to husband resources in a manner to prevent creation of a suitable nuclear target.
The Soviet high command brings forward the 26th and 28th Railway Brigades to repair the railyard in Kovel, Ukraine that had been struck by an American ATACMS-N missile on July 28th. The railroad troops provide the expertise and heavy equipment to repair the damage (which was relatively light, since the American missile had a W70-3 "nuetron bomb", which was optimized to create a massive blast of man-killing radiation but inflict little physical damage). Raw manpower was provided by a levy of over 1500 NATO POWs which were gathered from MVD prison camps from throughout Ukraine and Minsk, guarded by contingents from the 18th Convoy Brigade and 345th Convoy Regiment.
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Operation Carthaginian - the Allied invasion of Sicily and Sardinia - begins at dawn. The US 173rd Airborne Brigade and Canadian Parachute Regiment are dropped outside Messina, Sicily while the marines of the 8th Marine Expeditionary Brigade land at Marsala. The Iberian Airborne Brigade Group is dropped on the Caligari airfield, Sardinia and Portuguese marines land at Alghero. Air support is provided by the carriers America and John F Kennedy as well as fighters from the 401st Tactical Fighter Wing and Spanish Escuadron 121 and Escuadron 122 of Ala de Caza 12 at Torrejon de Ardoz, all supported by over a dozen KC-10 and KC-135 tankers.
Back in Portugal, the 1st Independent Composite Brigade begins the process of preparing for deployment. Additional conscripts are transferred in, and units from elsewhere in the Army are stripped of trucks, radios and other equipment needed to bring the brigade up to full strength.
Organized Jugoslav resistance on the Italian front has effectively ceased, with only isolated Army units offering resistance while the mass of the Jugoslav force either flees or surrenders.
In eastern Turkey, Third Army is forced to divide its attention when Soviet forces launch an amphibious attack on the Black Sea coast, cutting the coastal road between the port city (and naval base) of Rize and the border. The landing is bloody but successful as the Turkish defenders pound the invasion force with heavy fire from a wide variety of obsolescent guns and artillery pieces, sinking the escorting corvettes MPK-68 and SKR-30.
42nd Corps pauses for resupply and to allow better preparation for an attack on the Turkish defense around Kars, a defense that has been reinforced by the remnants of the 49th Mountain Infantry Brigade, which has reformed after being driven back from the border by the 19th MRD.
The reclusive Albanian regime begins a full mobilization of its military, which is heavily reliant on reservists. With few foreign diplomats in Tirana, and even fewer foreigners elsewhere in the country, the thinking behind the regime's decision is unknown. High officials refuse to acknowledge the development, let alone offer an explanation.