On this day 25 years ago (Commentary Thread)

[chico20854]

March 11, 1997

Nothing in the canon for today.

Another day of fierce artillery duels along the Oder-Niesse line. This time USAF A-10 aircraft of the 354th Tactical Fighter Wing are on standby, catching the guns of the Polish 23rd Cannon Artillery Brigade in the open while they are scurrying to redeploy away from their firing positions.

PACFLT scrambles together maritime patrol aircraft and surface ships to locate and sink the raiders that broke out of Petropavlovsk the previous day. The carrier Midway is ordered to the southwestern extent of it's patrol zone, and the Constellation rushed east out of the Sea of Japan to hunt down the raiders.

A major mishap occurs on the escort carrier USS Langley's first operational voyage - as one of the ship's AV-8C Harriers makes a low-altitude, high-speed approach to the carrier over the convoy, the Phalanx CIWS anti-missile defense system aboard the transport West Virginia Freedom locks on the the aircraft and, misidentifying it as an incoming SSM, shoots it down as programmed. The pilot and aircraft are both lost.

Convoy 11 is formed at Port Said, Egypt, headed west through the Mediterranean. The escort includes the escort carrier Shangri-La. Many of the ships are returning empty after discharging cargo in the Middle East.

Headquarters, XI US Corps loads its vehicles and equipment on the Ohio Freedom (on its maiden voyage) in Bayonne, NJ for travel to Germany.

Convoy 12 departs from multiple East Coast ports, comprised of ships carrying equipment and supplies to Romania, Jugoslavia and the Middle East.

A month after being alerted, the 101st Air Assault Division closes on Saudi Arabia. The division fields over 15,500 soldiers and 320 helicopters and required 560 C-141, 240 C-5 and 260 C-17 sorties plus 35 widebody airliner flights carrying troops. Commanders around the world breathe a sigh of relief as Military Airlift Command is able to reassign many of the heavy lift aircraft to support other theathers with the conclusion of the 101st's deployment.

The 150th Tactical Fighter Group (New Mexico Air National Guard) begins deploying to the CENTCOM area of operations. The aircraft plan to fly across the Atlantic and Mediterranean, and are accompanied by six KC-10 tankers that provide refuelling, communications relay and overwater navigation as well as carrying the A-7's maintenance crews, tools and initial package of spare parts.

[Homer]

Interesting to see fratricide pop up. I wonder if there’s not intentional or accidental engineered flaw in the phalanx software? DoD and the defense industry had their challenges with Soviet and client agent penetration into sensitive areas and programs. I’d imagine phalanx systems fitted to wartime builds would be either pulled from stores and given a contractor overhaul or new build possibly from a subcontractor. Either way, lots of opportunities for mischief or just simple error.

Speaking of fratricide, something that always puzzled me in T2K was integration of the “new” bundeswehr divisions equipped with their old Soviet model vehicles into NATO formation. In real life this is solved by vehicle marking, spatial deconfliction, and control measures, and I’d imagine it’d be the same here. That said, there hasn’t been intermixing on the scale depicted out in some of the T2K battles.

I’m wondering what happens when a wild weasel is over a 2x series Bundeswehr division and detects an SA-11, two sides use MIG29s in a furball that also involves other NATO forces, or when an ELINT unit detects a Big Fred artillery locating radar while a friendly unit reports receiving fire. The visual aspects are hazardous, but the EM spectrum, air combat, and fires management seem equally fraught.

[chico20854]

March 12, 1997

Nothing in the canon for today. Unofficially,

The Freedom-class cargo ship Narvik Freedom is delivered in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

The Maryland State Defense Force's 121st Engineer Regiment reaches its full strength of six companies, manned by construction workers and others with relevant experience and able to draw on the equipment of the state transportation department and local government resources. It is the nation's only state guard construction engineer unit.

All wreckage at the site of the munitions train explosion and fire outside RAF Caerwent in Wales has been cleared and restoration work on the line can begin.

Colonel Tumanski's Spetsnaz team acquires a safe house in rural Cheshire, a farmhouse that a leftist university professor inherited some years before and has often loaned to various students and friends. The professor is willing to turn a blind eye to the "visitors" presence, helped in no little part by the hefty payment he receives from "a longtime friend".

The heavy equipment of the 3rd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division (Motorized) arrives at the port of Tacoma, Washington to load for Saudi Arabia.

The former NVA (East German Army) reserve 10th Motor-Rifle Division is re-named the 210th PanzerGrenadier Division and reorganized, one of its motor-rifle regiments converted to a panzer regiment, and all regiments are renamed brigades.

The Soviet Kilo-class diesel submarine B-445 sinks the Japanese bulk carrier Chita Maru, carrying a load of grain, 225 nm east of Japan in the Pacific.

The 43rd Infantry Division (less the 187th Brigade) (US Army Reserve) reports it is ready for combat in Germany.

The Battle of Hammerfest occurs between American and Soviet cruiser groups. The Newport News surface action group enters the Barents Sea to provide distant cover for Allied amphibious forces and a resupply convoy heading to Kirkenes and Pechenga further inshore to the west. While off the North Cape, one of the escorts’ helicopters detects a Soviet surface group proceeding west at high speed. The American squadron quickly turns to intercept the enemy force, and a fierce battle ensues.

The Soviet group is composed of two aged light cruisers, the Aleksandr Nevsky and the Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya, and five escorting frigates and corvettes. The American navy’s missile stocks have been severely depleted over the prior months, and the entire force has only eight Harpoon antiship missiles available, which are quickly launched. The American missiles score three hits, sinking one of the escorts, leaving another dead in the water and the Aleksandr Nevsky damaged but still able to fight. As the forces close on each other, the world’s last gun-cruiser duel commences. The American heavy cruiser’s six automatic eight-inch guns, capable of firing 20 rounds a minute, make quick work of the remaining Soviet escorts. The Soviet light cruisers, with less armor and 12 six-inch guns each, initially focus on the American escorts. The only survivor of the American escort force is the destroyer Stout. In a case of tragic mis-naming, Stout’s captain flees the battle, issuing an unauthorized command to turn from the enemy force and escape at flank speed. The ship’s executive officer arrives on the bridge and a heated disagreement ensues, with resulted in the cowardly commander being executed on the spot by the executive officer. By the time the drama on Stout’s bridge is resolved, the gun battle is reaching its conclusion. The heavy cruiser’s superior armor allows it to absorb the 100mm and six-inch fire from the Soviet cruisers with less damage than its own eight-inch and five-inch rounds are inflicting. Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya is the last Soviet ship to go down, ablaze from stem to stern, leaving the battered Newport News as the sole surviving combatant.

The 18th Field Artillery Brigade is declared operational in Saudi Arabia.

photo
Soviet forces of the 7th Army have fought their way into the outskirts of Borujerd against fierce IPA resistance. The Soviets bring forward the heavy guns of the 217th "Tallin-Holm" Artillery Regiment to bash down the Iranian defenses.

The 3rd Tactical Fighter Wing, from Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines, flies a series of sweeps over the Celebes Sea (to the south of the Philippines), investigating rumors that Soviet raiders have been headed to Indonesia for resupply.

One of the Soviet destroyers that broke out of Petropavlovsk is located by a S-3 patrol aircraft from the USS Constellation. The subsequent strike by the carrier's fighter-bombers makes quick work of the 1951-built Vnimatel'nyy.

[Homer]

Does the 3rd TFW still have it's F-4s? As I recall, they had received the most upgraded F-4Es with full PGM capability, TISEO, etc. just before Desert Storm and actually deployed some of them to Incirlik. Circa 91 they were operating E and G model F-4s for air superiority, strike, and wild weasel plus UH-1Ns for base and range support. I could see the F-4s getting replaced during modernization; F-16s could do the multi role tasking, but an F-15Es would preserve the heavy strike capability of the E models. Clark also had resident AFSOC and MAC supporting theater commitments and intra island lift in its role as the hub for USAF operations in the Philippines.

[chico20854]

Originally Posted by Homer

Does the 3rd TFW still have it's F-4s? As I recall, they had received the most upgraded F-4Es with full PGM capability, TISEO, etc. just before Desert Storm and actually deployed some of them to Incirlik. Circa 91 they were operating E and G model F-4s for air superiority, strike, and wild weasel plus UH-1Ns for base and range support. I could see the F-4s getting replaced during modernization; F-16s could do the multi role tasking, but an F-15Es would preserve the heavy strike capability of the E models. Clark also had resident AFSOC and MAC supporting theater commitments and intra island lift in its role as the hub for USAF operations in the Philippines.

I have 3rd TFW with F-16s, 2 squadrons of Cs and 1 with CJ Wild Weasels. They did SEAD for the Cam Ranh Bay raid. I do have the other units at Clark as well, plus some P-3s from Cubi Point.

[chico20854]

March 13, 1997

Nothing official for today!

The Freedom-class cargo ship Arkansas Freedom is delivered in San Diego, California.

The American transport Nevada Freedom is sunk by a Soviet submarine while returning from Europe.

A third Soviet Whiskey-class submarine arrives in the North Sea to lay mines.

Special Boat Unit One launches another raid in the Kuriles, attacking the headquarters of the 1257th Independent Machinegun-Artillery Battalion on the island of Shikotan.

North Korean commandos infiltrate the port of Chinhae in a minisubmarine. Once there, they attack the American attack submarine USS Sunfish in port for replenishing, sinking it with a large explosive charge. None of the commandos survive and the sub's reactor vessel is intact.

Convoy 126 departs the New York area, adding the Ohio Freedom and six other ships.

The ships carrying the 187th Infantry Brigade (US Army Reserve) from Iceland arrive in Bremerhaven, Germany.

The Soviet raider Buliny is spotted by a South African Air Force Buccaneer strike aircraft. The destroyer opens fire, driving the fast jet off.

A Soviet mechanized task force consisting of a BMP battalion reinforced with a tank company, 2S1 artillery battery, engineer platoon and six ZSU-23-4s makes a lightning drive into the center of Borujerd. Once there the column stops, waiting for reinforcements. Those fail to arrive before the inevitable Iranian counterattack. Led by fanatical Pasdaran infantry, the defenders overrun the Soviets, striking from buildings, rooftops and using mortars to pin down the motor-riflemen.

[chico20854]

March 14, 1997

The canon is silent again today...

The Freedom-class cargo ship Minnesota Freedom is delivered in Beaumont, Texas and the Warsaw Freedom is delivered in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

The staff of 1st, 2nd and 3rd German Armies present their initial draft of the operations plan for Operation Advent Crown. While revisions are being made subordinate support units begin preparing staging areas and hauling supplies forward in preparation for the offensive.

The Canadian Navy commissions the patrol-minesweeper Shawinigan in Trois Rivières, Quebec, where it assumes local security duties in the Gulf of St Lawrence.

In the Yellow Sea, 7th Fleet launches Operation Speed Trap - unrestricted carrier raids on North Korean naval bases by the carriers Stennis and Abraham Lincoln.

The Divisional Support Command, 9th Infantry Division (Motorized) loads on transport aircraft at McChord AFB, Washington and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport for transit to Saudi Arabia. The division's aviation brigade flies to Portland, Oregon, where its helos are shrink wrapped and loaded onto ships for transit to Saudi Arabia.

Headquarters, 10th US Air Force (USAF Reserve) deployed to Tempelhof International Airport, Berlin, Germany to serve as intermediate command between TWOATAF and USAF wings supporting NORTHAG.

The Iranian 43rd Tactical Fighter Training Squadron departs Pensacola, FL for home in its new F-20s. The squadron will fly to Point Salines, Grenada, Recife, Brazil, Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Kigali, Rwanda, Mombasa, Kenya, Masirah, Oman and finally home to Dezful.

The Victory ship Wayne Victory arrives in Buenos Aires and begins to unload a cargo of scrap steel.

The Soviets, stung by the loss of a reinforced motor-rifle battalion in central Borujerd, redouble their efforts to smash Iranian resistance in the town. Limited arrivals of trucks constrain the Soviet artillery, which the enraged commander of 7th Army orders to level the city.

The Naval Spetsnaz team (from the Caspian Sea flotilla's battalion) that struck in the Strait of Hormuz arrives on Socotra Island, a South Yemenese territory in the northwestern Indian Ocean.

The Soviet raider Buliny heads west at high speed to withdraw from the range of the land-based South African Buccaneers before they can mass against the lone destroyer. As it speeds off, the Cypriot tanker Sun Saphire appears over the horizon, and the Soviets take the opportunity to set her ablaze with gunfire.

[chico20854]

March 15, 1997

Civil rationing goes into effect in Canada.

Unofficially,

The 374th Strategic Missile Squadron begins training at Gowen, Field, Idaho with three newly delivered Hard Mobile Launchers for the MGM-134 Midgetman ICBM. The missile itself is still in final testing and acceptance and the manufacturers are preparing to launch full-scale production.

The Royal Air Force designates the collection of requisitioned Britsh Airways and Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747s as No. 610 (Heathrow and Gatwick) Squadron, Royal Auxilary Air Force. The squadron is tasked to provide long-range passenger and cargo transportation, supporting British and Allied forces in the Middle and Far East, with occaisional sorties moving American troops.

A P-3 Orion of VP-40, flying from Iwakuni, Japan, locates the Soviet destroyer Vkradchivyy (which had broken out of Petropavlovsk a week earlier) and sinks her with three of the squadron's dwindling supply of Harpoon missiles.

The carrier Kitty Hawk flies its first combat missions of the war. The ship has just completed its pre-deployment workup and begins hunting for the Soviet destroyers that broke out of Petropavlovsk, six of which remain at large.

One of those six, the Vol'nyy, sinks the Japanese trawler Eikyu Maru 8, when the fishing vessel sights it. The Japanese are unable to transmit a warning before the boat goes down.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army moves troops north from the center of the country.

The NVA (East German Army) 7th Panzer Division is re-designated the 27th Panzer Division to avoid being confused with the Bundeswehr 7th Panzer Division.

A sweep by NATO Tornado, F-15, F-22, Typhoon and F-16 interceptors draws out the last fighters in the Polish Air Force, the MiG-29s of the 1st "Tadeusz Kosciusko, Warsaw" Fighter Regiment. In a massive engagement over Bydgoszcz the motivated but outnumbered and outgunned Poles fought to the last, taking eight NATO interceptors down with them. From this point forward, Poland is reliant on surface-to-air missiles (in short supply), guns and the goodwill of their Soviet protectors for air defense.

The destroyer USS Stout is sunk by the Soviet Tango-class submarine B-319 in the Norwegian Sea while returning to the UK for a Board of Inquiry into the circumstances that occurred on the ship's bridge during the Battle of Hammerfest.

The battleship New Jersey leaves the navy yard at Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, after most of the damage suffered in the duel against the Kirov in late February has been repaired. (Shipyard workers accompany the ship to Panama, fixing the final items en route). Some of the new systems installed on the battleship are more up-to-date than those destroyed by the Kirov.

Troops of the Soviet 7th Army make progress grinding down Iranian resistance, slowly pulverizing the city of Borujerd as tanks, artillery in direct fire mode and anti-tank weapons are used in abundance to sustain the advance.

[cawest]

just wanted to give an FYI if the Harpoons are low, someone might come up with this idea.

The Mark 44 torpedo is a now-obsolete air-launched and ship-launched lightweight torpedo manufactured in the United States, and under licence in Canada, France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom, with 10,500 being produced for U.S. service. It was superseded by the Mark 46 torpedo, beginning in the late 1960s. The Royal Australian Navy, however, continued to use it alongside its successor for a number of years, because the Mark 44 was thought to have superior performance in certain shallow-water conditions.

It has been deployed by many navies and air forces including the USN, Royal Navy, Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Air Force from various launch vehicles. These include long-range maritime patrol aircraft, e.g. P-3 Orion, RAF Nimrod, Canadair Argus, LAMPS and other embarked naval helicopters, ASROC missiles, Ikara missiles.

[chico20854]

Originally Posted by cawest

just wanted to give an FYI if the Harpoons are low, someone might come up with this idea.

The Mark 44 torpedo is a now-obsolete air-launched and ship-launched lightweight torpedo manufactured in the United States, and under licence in Canada, France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom, with 10,500 being produced for U.S. service. It was superseded by the Mark 46 torpedo, beginning in the late 1960s. The Royal Australian Navy, however, continued to use it alongside its successor for a number of years, because the Mark 44 was thought to have superior performance in certain shallow-water conditions.

It has been deployed by many navies and air forces including the USN, Royal Navy, Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Air Force from various launch vehicles. These include long-range maritime patrol aircraft, e.g. P-3 Orion, RAF Nimrod, Canadair Argus, LAMPS and other embarked naval helicopters, ASROC missiles, Ikara missiles.

Thanks! I'll try to keep that system in mind!

[chico20854]

March 16, 1997

Nothing official today.

The British military attache in New Dehli reaches out to the Swiss ambassador to arrange for another meeting with the Soviets.

The staff of a small gun manufacturing operation in Krotz Springs, Louisiana are informed by the company's new owners that they have received a (secret but) major order for M-16 rifles to support the war effort. They immediately ramp up production to 75 rifles per day.

The Headquarters, 14th Air Force (USAF Reserve) is ordered to remain in the US and act as a command and control headquarters for strategic reserve units and to coordinate combat use of Air Training Command assets as the emergency need may arise.

The 9th Infantry Division (Motorized)'s divisional artillery, engineer regiment, air defense artillery battalion and MP company load their vehicles and heavy equipment aboard transport ships at Tacoma, the final elements of the division to load for Saudi Arabia.

The 187th Infantry Brigade (US Army Reserve) completes unloading of its vehicles and equipment in Germany and resumes its combat-ready status, bringing its parent 43rd Infantry Division to full capability.

The Soviet overland convoy from the Black Sea Fleet arrives in Patras, Greece. They begin supporting surviving Soviet naval units in the Mediterranean, supplying food, fuel, rearmament and maintenance.

The Royal Air Force deploys No. 21 Squadron, equipped with Jaguar GR.3 attack aircraft, to Thumrait, Oman. The deploying aircraft are accompanied on their long flight (with an overnight stop in Cyprus) by RAF Tristar tankers.

Concerned with the potential of war with the US, the Cuban political leadership arranges for all Soviet military personnel on the island to concentrate in a coastal enclave in the port of Mariel, mirroring the American base in Guantanamo.

Likewise, the Venezuelan government declares its neutrality, stating that its oil will be sold to any and all customers that are willing to pay for it. Accordingly, several tankers are dispatched to Cuba, Nicaraugua and Soviet client states in Africa, as well as the stream of tankers feeding the Western-owned refineries in Aruba, St. Croix and the US Gulf Coast.

Convoy 12, carrying equipment and supplies to Romania, Jugoslavia and the Middle East, is attacked by the Soviet Echo II-class submarine K-35. The Soviet cruise missiles sink the German container ship Norasia Shanghai, the freighter Grace II and the Singapore-flag Maersk Newark. The escort commander dispatches his helicopters to follow the smoke trail back to their source, hoping to catch the sub on the surface, but they run low on fuel and the smoke disperses, allowing K-35 to escape, although it has expended all its missiles for a second time.

[chico20854]

March 17, 1997

The Headquarters, 36th Infantry Division (Mechanized) is formed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

The Headquarters, 46th Infantry Division is formed at Camp Blanding, Florida, taking the 58th (Maryland), 116th (Virginia) & 92nd (Puerto Rico National Guard) Infantry Brigades under command. (I have the 27th Infantry Brigade (New York National Guard) and 36th Infantry Brigade (Texas National Guard) replacing the 58th and 116th).

Soviet troops reach the center of Borujerd, having destroyed much of the city. IPA troops fall back, using mortars and artillery to cover their retreat and inflict further damage on 7th Army.

Unofficially,

The Texas State Guard raises the 1st Texas Brigade, headquartered in San Antonio with detachments in Zapata, Corpus Christi and Westlaco, from the prewar 8th Military Police Group. With the outbreak of war and additional federal support it is renamed the 1st Brigade, known as the “Alamo Guards”, and issued M14 rifles, M79 grenade launchers and M1919 machineguns from reserve stockpiles as well as new shotguns from the Mossberg factory in Eagle Pass. It is assigned responsibility for protecting vital infrastructure in southern Texas as well as patrolling to deter and intercept Soviet infiltrators.

The British 44th Airborne Brigade is deployed to Germany. The formation is composed of three Territorial Army parachute battalions (4, 10 and 15 Para) plus pathfinders, artillery and air defense units.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army, taking advantage of the third day of above freezing weather in Harbin, launches a massive spring offensive. The 24th Group Army, with a complement of over 100,000 light infantry troops built up over the winter, goes on the attack. Soviet units fight back, inflicting grievous losses on the Chinese, but by the end of the day they are low on ammunition while further waves of Chinese infantry continue attacking.

The large Norwegian freighter Hugh Mascot is damaged by a mine (laid by a Soviet submarine) in the North Sea while carrying a cargo of replacement vehicles to Germany. A smaller ship would have been sunk, but the freighter is one of the world's largest.

The Soviet Victor III-class submarine K-412 fires its last three torpedoes at the Danish containership Marit Mae (which was travelling unescorted at 22 knots with a cargo of ammunition, parts and food). Two hit, leaving the ship listing, dead in the water and taking on water rapidly.

The USS John F Kennedy leaves drydock in Gibraltar and resumes operations in the Mediterranean.

The 150th Tactical Fighter Group (New Mexico Air National Guard) flies its first missions in the CENTCOM operational area, supporting IPA troops north of Khorramabad, Iran with precision strikes from the unit's A-7D fighter-bombers.

Clashes occur along the disputed Kashmir border between pro-Soviet India (which is trying hard to resist Soviet attempts to enlarge its role) and pro-Chinese Pakistan.

[chico20854]

March 18, 1997

Nothing official today!

The Soviet peace delegation arrives in New Delhi.

Sinn Fein leadership holds a meeting in Donegal, Ireland to discuss the British Government's message regarding the consequences of violence in Ulster during wartime.

No. 78 Squadron, RAF, embarks on the containership Author for transport to the Persian Gulf region. It is accompanied by the headquarters, 27 Infantry Brigade and several small support units as well as stockpiles of anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles to support more intense operations. (The MEFF was primarily equipped to combat insurgents rather than face Soviet troops).

Desperate Soviet commanders of the 13th Army call for resupply of ammunition to continue beating back the waves of Chinese light infantry. The roads, however, have disintegrated into massive, miles-long mud pits and helicopters are in scarce supply, low on spare parts after much hard campaigning. Chinese troops have largely overrun the Soviet outpost line, manned by the division's lead regiments, and encounter a Soviet main line of resistance which is bereft of meaningful artillery support and whose mobile reserves are bogged down in the quagmire that is the melting Manchurian countryside. Allied "Volunteer" pilots of the American Volunteer Group II, the Commonwealth Air Training Mission and the German Air Advisory Detachment fly top cover for the attack alongside their PLAAF brethren, keeping Soviet Frontal Aviation occupied and unable to interfere with the battle below.

The a helicopter from the destroyer Carney, part of the Kitty Hawk battle group, locates another of the Petropavlovsk raiders, the destroyer SM-274. Within 15 minutes the carrier's SURCAP (anti-surface combat air patrol), three F/A-18As from VFA-303 (US Navy Reserve) arrives, sinking the Soviet ship with a combination of Maverick guided missiles and bombs. Five of the Soviet ships remain at large.

The former East German 20th Motor-Rifle Division is renamed the 220th PanzerGrenadier Division. It is stationed in West Germany, absorbing a trickle of new recruits and some of the repatriated former POWs released by China and flown around the world.

The Whiskey-class submarine S-383 arrives in Patras, Greece to receive maintenance and a resupply of torpedoes and mines.

The Chief of Staff of the 7th Soviet Army and the commander of the 164th "Vitebsk" Motor-Rifle Division are killed while inspecting the ruins of central Borujerd when Iranian guerillas detonate a large bomb buried in the sidewalk outside the city hall.

Venezuelan authorities dispatch the tanker Che Guevara, carrying diesel fuel and avgas, to Luanda, Angola.

The Soviet raider Buliny strikes the bulker Pacific Victory, carrying 40,000 tons of Brazilian corn to Egypt, in the south Atlantic, sinking it.

The Soviet Echo II-class submarine K-35, once again out of missiles after attacking Convoy 12 on the 16th, is ordered to the far south Atlantic, to rendevous with the Soviet fishing fleet hiding in the remote reaches of the sub-Antarctic. Some of the fleet's support ships harbor munitions, and the fleet also has plenty of frozen fish to refill the submarine's food lockers.

[chico20854]

March 19, 1997

Nothing official, but a lot going on!!!

The Soviet Whiskey-class submarine S-377 is hunted and sunk by the Norwegian frigate Stavanger while creeping back to Murmansk after laying mines in the North Sea.

British and Soviet diplomats meet in New Delhi to discuss options for ending the war.

The Northern Irish nanopunk band The Razorheads hits the top of the UK charts with the smash hit "Killer from Kilkenny."

No. 64 Squadron, RAF, equipped with Tornado F.3 interceptors, deploys from the UK to West Germany, joining No. 5 and 23 Squadrons. All three Tornado interceptor units have been relieved from duties providing air defense for the UK, although their forward presence actually assists in dealing with Soviet cruise missiles launched over the Baltic. The Tornados are poor dogfighters, instead being employed to deal with any "leakers" that make it past the standing Combat Air Patrol along the Polish and Czech borders.

The battle along the front line in Manchuria continues, as the People's Liberation Army's 5th Mountain Group Army launches an unexpected attack at the far eastern end of the front line. Support for the attack comes from a force of four American aircraft carriers operating in the Yellow Sea. The American F/A-18 fighter-bombers decimate the attack helicopter force that the Soviet commander was rallying to disrupt the Chinese supporting artillery, and the American aircraft finish the day's operation by liberally applying planeloads of cluster bombs on Soviet artillery batteries, which are used to operating in an environment of friendly air superiority.

The Norwegian freighter Hugh Mascot is towed to a shipyard in Bremen for repair after being damaged by a mine.

NATO logistics planners begin staging the limited supply of munitions arriving from North America and European factories into depots and warehouses in the former East Germany.

The remnants of the 2nd Guards Artillery Division, which was stripped of many of its guns to support the war in Central Europe, is brought forward on the Kola Peninsula, occupying positions carved out of the frozen tundra behind the Litsa River line.

No. 206 Squadron, RAF establishes a forward operating location at RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland to extend its range in the northwestern approaches to the UK.

The carrier USS John F Kennedy launches airstrikes on Algerian petroleum export facilities. France objects, citing their use of the oil and environmental damage from the now-leaking pipelines and facilities.

The 164th Engineer Group (Combat) (North Dakota National Guard) loads its heavy equipment and vehicles on board smaller transport ships in Cleveland, Ohio for transit to Europe. (Larger ships cannot pass through the St. Lawrence Seaway to Cleveland).

The 129th (my 297th) Motor-Rifle Division is mobilized in the Moscow Military District from the cadre and student body of the Kolomna Higher Artillery Command School. The division quickly discovers that its equipment stockpiles had been drained to support the war in China, severely limiting its ability to prepare for combat.

[shrike6]

Originally Posted by chico20854

The Northern Irish nanopunk band The Razorheads hits the top of the UK charts with the smash hit "Killer from Kilkenny."

Nice touch!

[chico20854]

Originally Posted by shrike6

Nice touch!

It's from the v1 NATO Vehicle Guide!

[chico20854]

March 20, 1997

Another day with nothing in the canon.

The peace talks in New Delhi reach agreement on the need for an immediate, worldwide ceasefire. The British inform the Soviets that they are acting on behalf of NATO and that they feel confident that Iran and South Korea will abide by any agreement reached, but they cannot commit to Chinese adherence to any deal reached.

The Freedom ship Seoul Freedom is delivered in Galveston, Texas.

The Queen’s Royal Irish Hussars, a Chieftain tank regiment assigned to UK Land Force's strategic reserve, is alerted for deployment to the Middle East.

The Soviet front lines begin to crumble in Manchuria. The Far Eastern TVD commander flies in reinforcements from the Siberian Front to shore up the most vulnerable sectors and diverts KGB Border Guard and MVD internal troop units from rear area security duties to the front. Chinese forces advance along the west bank of the Yalu River, receiving only sporadic fire from the weak North Korean border guard detachments on the opposite shore.

Shipyard foremen in Bremen quickly determine that the damaged Norwegian freighter Hugh Mascot needs to be unloaded before it can be drydocked for repairs. The tangled mess in Number Two hold makes that evolution challenging.

On the Kola, NATO forces undertake a second landing at Teriberka. Allied amphibious forces capture the town with minimal resistance. General Skinner, the amphibious force commander, eager to build forces ashore rapidly and facing less opposition, brings some of the transports into the harbor after it had been swept for mines.

The 138th Field Artillery Brigade (Kentucky and Michigan National Guards) loads its vehicles on ships in Norfolk, Virginia for transit to Europe.

Raiders sink three ships in the Atlantic, one off West Africa and two headed to Europe from North America.

The Soviet 7th Army pauses its pursuit of retreating Iranian forces south of Borujerd since its tanks and trucks are nearly out of fuel and it's troops dangerously short of ammunition. The situation is made worse by heavy air strikes on the Soviet rear by the US 4th and 150th Tactical Fighter Wings.

The Iranian 41st Tactical Fighter Squadron, accompanied by a 747 carrying headquarters and ground crew (and acting as a navigation and communications escort) departs Pensacola for the week-long ferry back home, following in the footsteps of its sister squadron six days before.

The Caspian Sea Flotilla's Spetsnaz team departs Socotra Island, Yemen in a dhow, headed for the mouth of the Red Sea to try to interdict Allied shipping.

The 10th Special Forces Group and Latvian Free Forces ambush the rail line leading south from Riga towards Lithuania (and Poland), derailing a train carrying new T-90 tanks from Leningrad.

The long-simmering war in Colombia continues, with drug gangs, FARC and ELN Marxist guerillas, right-wing paramilitary militias and groups of Soviet, Cuban and Venezuelan "volunteers" all battling the government for control.

[chico20854]

March 21, 1997

Another day with nothing in the canon. Unofficially,

In New Delhi, talks move on to the next stage (post-ceasefire activities) while both delegations await confirmation from their respective capitals.

The Canadian Navy commissions the patrol-minesweeper Edmonton in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The ship begins a transit to British Columbia, accompanied by the minesweeper HMCS Moresby.

USAF Systems Command receives its first KC-767, a civil 767 airliner that has been converted into a combined transport-tanker aircraft, with a refuelling boom and wingtip pods with drouges for refuelling aircraft fitted with refuelling probes. The aircraft are controversial within the Air Force - Strategic Air Command, which controls tankers due to their role supporting strategic bombers - is opposed to the purchase, insisting the advanced aircraft undergo all manner of tests to ensure its reliability in a nuclear strike mission. Other elements of the air force - Military Airlift Command and Tactical Air Command - are eager for the aircraft, MAC for the lift they could provide and TAC to refuel tactical aircraft, which SAC has been reluctant to relesae large numbers of tankers to do. Air Training Command expresses concern about the added training burden of converting tanker pilots to the new aircraft. The Air Force Chief of Staff quells these opinions by splitting the aircraft between MAC and TAC, with none allocated to SAC, and assigning the aircraft to Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard squadrons, which have many pilots that have civilian certification and experience flying the 767.

Soviet reinforcements arriving in Manchuria are rushed to the front. Some of their convoys are ambushed by Chinese guerrillas that have slipped through the front lines or have been operating in the region, emboldened by the diversion of the KGB and MVD units that had been dedicated to their suppression. Many Soviet artillery units have expended their entire stock of conventional munitions.

The 434th Field Artillery Brigade (US Army Reserve) arrives at the port of Long Beach, California to load for transit to the Middle East.

The Dutch Red Army attempts to assasinate the commanding general of the Leeuwarden Air Base but is thwarted by the adept driving of his driver.

The Commander of the Polish Internal Front (a command nominally independent of Warsaw Pact command, responsible for Polish internal defense) reports the completion of trenches and basic defensive measures around all Polish cities of over 250,000 population. Much of the work that can be accomplished by manual labor has been done, and the Polish defense council authorizes the release of farmers for the spring planting and workers in defense industries, leaving pensioners, housewives and teens to toil away at secondary defense lines. All men between the ages of 17 and 65 are enrolled in the citizens militia, the ORMO, and operational control of the ORMO is granted to the OTK (Territorial Defense Troops). All ORMO members are to train on weapons handling and tactics for at lease two hours each week.

A small flotilla of Soviet diesel attack submarines is dispatched to deal with the invasion fleet off the eastern Kola Peninsula, and Marshall Korolev (Commander of the Northwestern TVD) once again dispatches a ground force built around the 76th Guards Airborne Division to eliminate the NATO beachhead.

Additional A-teams from the 5th and 7th Special Forces Groups are deployed into Iran. Some teams support IPA and Pasdaran forces, offering vital secure communications links and fire support coordiantion, while others operate behind the lines, organizing Kurdish and other ethnic guerrilla bands to harass the Soviets and their Tudeh allies.

STAVKA places VDV airborne units and Military Transport Aviation squadrons on alert for an emergency deployment to stabilize the front in China.

[pmulcahy11b]

I almost get the idea that the war would be going well for the Sovs if they didn't have to worry about the Chinese...

[chico20854]

March 22, 1997

Nothing in the canon today!

The Soviet delegation delivers the position it received from Moscow - that a ceasefire absent a long-term agreement is an attempt to give the Allies more time to move troops into position for renewed attacks and, therefore, cannot be accepted.

The 31st Armored Brigde (Alabama National Guard), completes Rotation 97-6 at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California and is declared combat ready.

The 205th Infantry Brigade (Light) (US Army Reserve) completes Rotation 97-6 at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana and is declared combat ready. Its troops and equipment are immediately moved to England AFB, Louisiana and loaded onto waiting aircraft for transit to Europe, where the remainder of its parent division (the 43rd Infantry) is assembling before being committed to action.

The Spetsnaz team under Col. Mikhail Tumanski has completed its fortification of its safehouse and launches another raid, this one striking the torpedo plant in Neston, near Liverpool. The team temporarily overwhelms the security force and starts a fire in the assembly building. They quickly retreat before the authorities arrive; the fire brigade extinguishes the fire but production will be halted for some time to repair the damage.

Chinese troops continue to make slow progress against increasingly panicked and desperate Soviet defenders. Pact reinforcements find themselves thrown into the gap of units that have been overrun, often with minimal logistic support and at times even without any communications with nearby friendly units or their own higher headquarters. Allied and Chinese aircraft are largely successful in intercepting the few remaining Soviet aircraft before they reach the front line, leaving isolated low-level helicopter attacks as the sole air support Soviet troops receive.

Polish Air Defense Force commanders, at the insistence of the Warsaw Pact high command, have reactivated four anti-aircraft artillery regiments (each with six 100mm and two 57mm batteries), 12 independent batteries armed with 57mm guns and 53 batteries of 37mm guns. The regiments are assigned to defend Warsaw, Poznan, Gdansk and Wrocław; the batteries are dispersed to airfields and missile sites. Additionally, excess personnel (of which there were many following the force's grievous losses in the air) had been equipped with lighter anti-aircraft artillery (23mm and smaller). This mass of guns, it is hoped, will compensate for the dwindling supply of surface-to-air missiles and NATO superiority in electronic warfare. In any case, the hundreds of guns will make Allied attacks on Polish airfields costly indeed.

The Soviet raiders in the Pacific have largely eluded Allied search forces and dispersed into the expanses of the Central Pacific. While it is considered desirable to sink Allied and neutral shipping, Soviet Pacific Fleet commanders are pleased with the diversion of Allied resources to the hunt, lessening pressure on their embattled forces and ports.

The personnel of the XI US Corps headquarters are flown to Amsterdam onboard American and Dutch airliners.

The Iranian 43rd Tactical Fighter Training Squadron flies its first operational sorties with its F-20 fighters, flying top cover for F-4 fighter-bombers attacking Soviet artillery batteries south of Kashan. They succeed in downing a pair of MiG-23s, losing one pilot and aircraft.

The American attack submarine Sea Devil intercepts the Venezuelan tanker Che Guevara en route to Angola and sinks her with two Mark-101 torpedoes.

[chico20854]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

I almost get the idea that the war would be going well for the Sovs if they didn't have to worry about the Chinese...

Well, here's the distribution of Pact corps/armies:

STAVKA Reserve: 9
Western TVD (Germany, Austria and Poland): 21
Southwestern TVD (Balkans and western Turkey): 12
Northwestern TVD (Norway): 4
Southern TVD (Iran & Afghanistan): 10
Far Eastern TVD (China & Vietnam): 16
Yalu Front (Korea): 2
Aleutian Front (Alaska & Eastern Siberia): 1

So yes, if they could pull even half of those 16 armies from Manchuria and direct them to Europe NATO would have quite a problem! Plus being able to concentrate their air forces and logistic effort in adjacent regions would help, rather than dispersing their forces. (Like another situation that comes to mind...)

[chico20854]

March 23, 1997

Yet another day with nothing in the canon! Unofficially,

The British and Soviet delegations in New Dehli repeat their earlier positions from the last round of peace talks. The Soviets want a return to prewar German borders, transfer of all Manchuria to the USSR, annexation of captured territory in Iran to Azerbaijan, "regime change" in Romania, arrest of the Polish Government in Exile and their transfer to Poland for "Proletarian Justice" and neutral, demilitarized South Korea and Germany, accompanied by crippling reparations from Germany and a withdrawal of American troops and nuclear weapons from Europe and East Asia. NATO offers a permament ceasefire, followed by withdrawal of Allied and Pact troops from Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, China, the Kola Peninsula and Iran, and free elections in Poland and Iran to determine the shape of future governments there.

At a ceremony in Philadelphia, the heavy cruiser Salem is recommissioned after over 37 years in mothballs and a nearly year-long reactivation and modernization. The refit fitted new radar, communications and electronic warfare equipment, removed the remaining 3-inch guns, added four Phalanx CIWS anti-missile systems, four Harpoon missile launchers and support for SH-2 and SH-60 helicopters. The ship was also outfitted for female crewmembers, over 150 of whom join the ship's complement.

First Far Eastern Front launches a desperate effort to halt the Chinese offensive. All available artillery and aircraft are thrown into a massive chemical attack along the length and breadth of the Chinese salients, with the 13th Guards Airborne Division dropped on top of the 24th Group Army headquarters. Front-line motor-rifle units are ordered to retreat to alternative fighting positions to the rear, bringing the Chinese infantry out to seize the abandoned positions (and opening them to chemical attack). The Soviets pay a heavy price for this effort, losing dozens of transport aircraft and helicopters, artillery batteries and attack aircraft.

Similar to their Polish opponents, troops of the British RAF Regiment, charged with defending British airbases in Germany, press a pair of partially destroyed captured Soviet ZSU-23-4 anti-aircraft guns and numbers of captured 12.7mm and 14.5mm machineguns into service to defend RAF Gutersloh and other forward airbases.

3 Commando Brigade and 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade have landed most of their troops and many supplies in Teriberka, east of Murmansk and are preparing to break out from their beachead.

No. 35 Squadron, RAF follows its compatriots of No. 21 Squadron in deploying Jaguar attack bombers to Thumrait, Oman.

The first R-5D Aurora hypersonic spy plane mission overflies the USSR from west to east, passing over the Pletesk space center, industrial facilities in western Siberia and the Urals, ICBM fields and mobile missile garrisons in eastern Siberia and traffic on the Baikal-Amur Mainline railroad before splashing down off the coast of southern California.

All Soviet military personnel in Cuba have moved to the Mariel enclave, which the news media promptly nicknames "Guantanamo II". Cuban authorities arrange for the continued movement of Soviet equipment and supplies to the enclave from elsewhere on the island. The USSR, unhappy with the decision but with its plate full in many other areas, limits its response to cutting off economic aid to Cuba. (The practical effect of that was minimal, since Soviet commerce with Cuba was cut off by the war).

The Soviet raider Buliny passes into the Indian Ocean south of the Cape of Good Hope, hoping to continue the rampage of allied and neutral shipping and further diluting NATO naval power.

Two of the Soviet destroyers that broke out of Petropavlovsk earlier in the month rendevous and speed towards the isolated American outpost of Midway, scene of the turning point of the war in the Pacific in 1942. The destroyers work over the airfield with their 100mm guns.

[Matt Wiser]

I see you used the Red Dawn fact file as a basis for Salem's reactivation... the same should go for her sister Des Moines.

[chico20854]

Originally Posted by Matt Wiser

I see you used the Red Dawn fact file as a basis for Salem's reactivation... the same should go for her sister Des Moines.

Certainly! I had two thoughts... 1) Why reinvent the wheel when the Red Dawn document presented a presentable explanation of the ships and 2) the 1980s plans I saw involved removing the aft turret and fitting of Tomahawk armored box launchers, substituting these ships for the Iowas. I liked leaving the big guns in place and figured that the number of CGs, DDs, DDGs, SSNs and BBs that carried Tomahawk would be sufficient to achieve the Navy's goals, leaving the Salem and Des Moines to serve as naval gunfire support ships. I'm not going to try to find out how much ammo the Navy had in store for them by the late 80s, instead operating in a fantasy world where the ships have endless rivers of 8-inch ammo to keep spitting out at 72 rounds per minute when all 9 guns are going!

[chico20854]

March 24, 1997

Nothing in the canon today.

The Chinese government is informed of the status of the peace talks in New Delhi. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs makes clear to Britain that China will accept nothing less than the removal of Soviet troops from all occupied territory. They state that the People's Liberation Army, if forced to drive the Soviets out of Manchuria by force, will not stop at the prewar borders and instead sieze all of Siberia and the Soviet Far East east of Lake Baikal, as well as possibly launching an offensive into Soviet Central Asia.

The Freedom-class cargo ship Guam Freedom is delivered in Beaumont, Texas and the Minneapolis Freedom is delivered in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

The Chinese assault in Manchuria falters as the 24th Group Army loses control and communications with its units while its headquarters staff engage in a desperate (and ultimately, losing) close-quarters battle with hardened Soviet paratroops. Hospital facilities in the Chinese rear are overwhelmed with soldiers suffering from debilitating chemical burns and nerve damage. Allied pilots return to the sky overhead, but Soviet forces have once again gone to ground, unwilling to advance into areas contaminated with persistent chemical agents and with its tanks and armored vehicles still stuck in the endless mud.

British Buccanneer strike fighters intercept the Soviet destroyer Plamennyy as it tries to sneak through the Greenland-Iceland-UK Gap to reach the Atlantic convoy lanes. The RAF missiles soon send the obsolescent destroyer below the waves.

The Victor III-class attack submarine K-251 attacks the South Korean destroyer Kyong Ki, patrolling the approaches to Pohang. The modern submarine's torpedos make quick work of the (modernized but still 52-year old) destroyer.

On the Kola Peninsula, the Royal Marines launch an attack south out of Teriberka along the sole road from the town, with the US Marines defending the flanks of the offensive and the Dutch serving as a mobile reaction force. Three battalions of artillery and a flight of British attack helicopters support the assault.

A Soviet air raid, launched from Crimean air bases and travelling at low level over Turkey, finally achieves one of the USSR's strategic goals in the Mediterranean - it sinks a ship in the Suez Canal, blocking traffic.

Convoy 10.2 arrives in Jubayl and Ad Damman, Saudi Arabia with 12 transports carrying the vehicles and heavy equipment of the 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized). The equipment of the division's 3rd Brigade onboard the ships serves as a kernel of a theater loss reserve, as the brigade fell in on prepositioned equipment already in the theater.

The 180th "Kiev" Motor-Rifle Division, a Category B unit from the Odessa Military District, is activated. It had previously been used as a source of replacement troops for other units at the front. The 180th receives a levy of 1500 local men shanghied from the streets of Odessa and is ordered to prepare for deployment to the Bulgarian front as soon as possible.

[Matt Wiser]

Well, if the Navy kept those ships in mothballs for all that time, they certainly had ammo stores available in case those ships were ever reactivated. I would love to go to Quincy, MA and visit Salem (she's the only heavy cruiser afloat anywhere) in person.

[swaghauler]

Originally Posted by chico20854

Certainly! I had two thoughts... 1) Why reinvent the wheel when the Red Dawn document presented a presentable explanation of the ships and 2) the 1980s plans I saw involved removing the aft turret and fitting of Tomahawk armored box launchers, substituting these ships for the Iowas. I liked leaving the big guns in place and figured that the number of CGs, DDs, DDGs, SSNs and BBs that carried Tomahawk would be sufficient to achieve the Navy's goals, leaving the Salem and Des Moines to serve as naval gunfire support ships. I'm not going to try to find out how much ammo the Navy had in store for them by the late 80s, instead operating in a fantasy world where the ships have endless rivers of 8-inch ammo to keep spitting out at 72 rounds per minute when all 9 guns are going!

You wouldn't have the killing power of her original 8" projos (of which the navy had about 10k rounds into the early 90s, but you would have had access to the Army's stash of 50k rounds of lighter (203lbs) 8" shells which were compatible for loading but designed to use a single powder bag to give the round a range of 40+ kilometers.

Side note, the M110 could fire the roughly 400lb gen 1 nukes because they were designed to handle the 300+ pound naval 8" shells!

[chico20854]

March 25, 1997

Yet another day with nothing official! Unofficially,

The British deliver the Chinese statement about the conclusion of the war; the head of the Soviet delegation laughs and declares "We will never permit such a plot to succeed!" The Soviets offer a comprimise position - Soviet-supervised elections in Manchuria and East Germany to determine the shape of future governments there, and withdraws its demands for the Polish Government in Exile to be handed over. The Soviets also propose a return to prewar borders in Romania and Bulgaria.

The 199th Infantry Brigade (Light) is formed at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii for service in tropical areas in the Pacific basin. Most of the “Redcatcher Brigade”'s soldiers arrived from training units stateside, with an influx of lieutenants from West Point’s second class of 1996 and senior NCOs recalled from the retired reserve or recovering from minor wounds received in the Pacific theater, recently discharged from Tripler Army Hospital in Honolulu.

Workers complete the reconstruction of the rail line outside the US Army ammunition dump at RAF Caerwent in Wales, allowing the resumption of rail traffic over a month after Soviet Spetsnaz troops blew up an ammunition train leaving the massive ammo dump.

Attempts by the PLA high command to restore order and the momentum of the attack in eastern Manchuria fail; the exhausted and shell-shocked troops are unable to launch another round of attacks and the infrastructure in the rear area is insufficient to bring fresh troops in to continue the offensive.

Sembach Air Base, Germany is struck by Soviet bombers (firing cruise missiles over friendly territory to avoid NATO fighters), sustaining minor damage.

The 21st PanzerGrenadier Division completes its retraining and integration of new equipment and is rushed to East Germany.

The Victor-I class Soviet SSN K-306 sinks the Danish ro/ro Camilla in the North Atlantic, its second kill.

Convoy 126 arrives in Bremerhaven, Germany, bringing supplies of ammunition, spares, fuel and the vehicles and equipment of the 209th (New York National Guard) and 227th (Florida National Guard) Field Artillery Brigades.

As Egyptian authorities attempt to clear the Suez Canal, NATO planners begin to reroute shipping around Africa, an added distance of nearly 5000 nautical miles between Gibraltar and the Persian Gulf.

The two RAF Jaguar GR.3 attack squadrons in Oman are integrated with the Omani Jaguar force, splitting missions between battling Yemen- and Soviet-supported guerillas in Oman, patrolling the approaches to the Strait of Hormuz and flying strike missions in support of the embattled Iranians.

After a long transit around Indonesian waters, the Independence battle group arrives in the Middle Eastern theater. Her aircraft maintain active patrolling for the remnants of the Soviet Indian Ocean Squadron as the group approaches the Persian Gulf.

The last defenders of the northeastern city of Mashad are rooted out of the ruins that are all that remains of the center of town. Few Pasdaran fighters surrendered, with over 95 percent of the garrison killed in the months-long siege. The fall of the city frees troops from the 40th and 45th Army to fight to the south, and the conquest of the city allows engineers to begin rebuilding the transport links to Turkmenistan, a vital second supply line that is harder for NATO airpower to interdict.

The 146th Motor-Rifle Division, a mobilization-only unit from the Kiev Military District, is activated from an equipment stockpile and students from the 287th Training Motor-Rifle Division. It begins a several-month-long process of integrating green teenagers and recalled reservists from the region around its mobilization site in western Ukraine.

American A-7 attack aircraft from the 156th Tactical Fighter Group (Puerto Rico Air National Guard) fly a series of sorties in support of Colombian military and police forces, which are beseiged in a remote hilltop firebase by a large contingent of heavily armed Cuban and Venezuelan "liberation volunteers".

[chico20854]

March 26, 1997

Yet another day where I am forced to improvise!

The British delegation to the peace talks counters the latest Soviet offer with a counter-offer, of UN-supervised elections in Poland, East Germany, northern Iran and Manchuria and withdrawal of all combatant nation's troops from those areas.

2nd Brigade, 40th Infantry Division (Mechanized) (California National Guard) completes Rotation 97-6 at NTC-2 at the Yakima Training Center and is declared combat ready.

Colonel Tumanski's Spetsnaz team ambushes a bus full of soldiers headed for training on the Salisbury Plain. Thirteen British troops are killed, twelve are wounded. The crew of the Land Rover escorting the bus manage to kill one of the Russians before the remainder of the team escapes.

The Chinese offensive is called off. The Soviets have been driven back 30 or more kilometers. Pact losses approach 45,000 troops, and Chinese losses are over twice that level. STAVKA redirects replacement troops, equipment, armored vehicles, fuel, aircraft and supplies to the Far Eastern TVD, instead of to Soviet forces in Poland and Romania.

The American cargo ship Racer completes a month of loading ammunition at Naval Weapons Station Concord and moves to San Francisco Bay, awaiting a convoy bound for Guam.

Headquarters, 17th Air Force disperses into three field headquarters following the strike on Sembach Air Base the previous day.

The Danish Jutland Mechanized Division crosses from Denmark into West Germany.

General Frisvold, commander of NATO forces on the Kola, comes under pressure, like NATO and American commanders around the world, to launch an offensive in his area of responsibility

The American carrier Coral Sea and her battle group are ordered to cease patrolling the central Atlantic, moving into the North Sea and Baltic to support the upcoming NATO offensive into Poland.

A Soviet submarine sinks the Dutch freighter Medlloyd Tokyo in the North Atlantic.

The 134th Mountain Division, a mobilization-only unit from the Central Asian Military District, crosses the Amu Darya River into Afghanistan, en route The British delegation counters the latest Soviet offer with a counter-offer, of UN-supervised elections in Poland, East Germany, northern Iran and Manchuria and withdrawal of all combatant nation's troops from those areas.

2nd Brigade, 40th ID (M) (California National Guard) completes Rotation 97-6 at NTC-2 at the Yakima Training Center and is declared combat ready.

The Chinese offensive is called off. The Soviets have been driven back 30 or more kilometers. Pact losses approach 45,000 troops, and Chinese losses are over twice that level.

The American cargo ship Racer completes a month of loading ammunition at Naval Weapons Station Concord and moves to San Francisco Bay, awaiting a convoy bound for Guam.

HQ, 17th AF dispersed into three field headquarters following the strike on Sembach AB the previous day.

The Danish Jutland Mechanized Division crosses from Denmark into West Germany.

General Frisvold, commander of NATO forces on the Kola comes under pressure, like NATO and American commanders around the world, to launch an offensive in his area of responsibility

The American carrier Coral Sea and her battle group are ordered to cease patrolling the central Atlantic, moving into the North Sea and Baltic to support the upcoming NATO offensive into Poland.

The 134th Mountain Division, a mobilization-only unit from the Central Asian Military District, crosses the Amu Darya River into Afghanistan, en route to the town of Kunduz, where it will help secure the supply line to the USSR and send raiding detachments into the hills. the town of Kunduz, where it will help secure the supply line to the USSR and send raiding detachments into the hills.

[chico20854]

March 27, 1997

Nothing official for today!

The head of the Soviet delegation states that, in face of the Allied rejection of the generous Soviet peace offer and the outrageous demands in the Allied counter-offer, further discussions appear to be an unreasonable waste of time and that the Soviet delegation will be returning to Moscow immediately. Despite the Swiss ambassador's protests and pleading, the Soviet team immediately departs for the airport.

The 27th Infantry Brigade (New York National Guard) completes Rotation 97-7 at JRTC-2 at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas and is declared combat ready.

The Naval Surface Warfare Center at Dahlgren, Virginia, begins certification tests on the 8-inch Mk 16 guns aboard the Des Moines-class heavy cruisers to fire Army eight-inch munitions. The highest priority rounds are the M650 Rocket-Assisted Round, the M509 Dual-Purpose ICM round and the M422 tactical nuclear round.

HQ, XI US Corps declared operational in Germany. It is initially assigned rear area duties in East Germany.

The 211th PanzerGrenadier Division (the former East German 11th MRD) completes an intense period of rebuilding and retraining at the Grafenwohr training center in Bavaria.

Longshoremen complete unloading the damaged Norwegian freighter Hugh Mascot in Bremen, allowing it to be moved into the shipyard to begin repairing mine damage sustained earlier in the month.

The Whiskey-class submarine S-359 arrives at Polyarnyy on the Kola, successfully completing its minelaying voyage in the North Sea.

Another Soviet air raid on the Suez Canal lays dozens of mines and sinks two more ships.

The 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized) departs the ports of eastern Saudi Arabia and moves toward the Kuwaiti border. The division's 3rd Brigade remains in defensive positions protecting the region's ports.

The carrier Independence launches her first air strikes in Iran, supporting troops of the IPA II Corps northeast of Shiraz.