General Cotton rubbed his head. He was starting to get a migraine with all of the bad information that was being relayed. When he had been on the secure video call to SHAPE, they had been discussing the damage the carrier took, but it was thought that the ship could be saved. Things obviously changed in the last hour and a half. “How many casualties from the Bush?” he asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.
“They are still in the process of accounting for everyone. As of right now, there are 480 unaccounted for, 963 dead, and nearly twice that number wounded. The rest were able to evacuate from the ship. Those are just the figures from the carrier though. I still need to brief you on the rest of the fleet,” George explained, to the dismay of everyone in the room.
“Between our subs, and Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) units, we sunk eleven Russian submarines and sank all eight Russian surface ships; however, this came at tremendous cost. The American fleet was traveling with six destroyers, three guided missile cruisers, and two submarines. Of those, one destroyer was sunk, one destroyer was damaged (the other two are fine), and one of the guided missile cruisers suffered minor damage. Fortunately, the other two guided missile cruisers are fine. However… both of our submarines were lost. We are still getting the final count, but we lost well over 2,500 sailors, and at least that many were injured.”
A collective groan filled the room. Colonel George pressed on though. “The rest of the strike group is heading to the NATO naval base in Romania to regroup with the rest of the NATO fleet. Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria have sent their warships to join the remainder of the strike group, and will continue to hunt and destroy the rest of the Russian subs in the Black Sea. Admiral Munch, the Strike Group Commander, has transferred his flag to the guided missile cruiser, Gettysburg. He has asked for permission to hit the Russian naval base in Crimea. He also wants to know if the ground forces need any of his cruise missiles. He said he has 244 Tomahawks on the cruisers that need a mission.” Colonel George managed a small smile on his face with that last statement. “We are going to need those cruise missiles,” he thought.
General Cotton grunted. “Shoot, tell him to plaster that Russian naval base. Also, provide him with the grids of the Russian airbases that are being used to launch all those bombers and fighters. I want him to take them offline immediately.” The general was happy to finally be able to issue some real retaliatory orders.
The briefing went on for some time while General Cotton continued to issue additional orders to get more US Forces into the fight. “Sixty-Two F-35s have just arrived from the US after an arduous trans-Atlantic flight. I know the pilots are exhausted, but I want you to give them some uppers and throw them right back into the fight. For the sake of the ground forces still alive in Ukraine, the U.S. needs to get air superiority as quickly as possible. Understood?”
“Yes, Sir,” came the response.
“Good,” said the general. “We’ve got 35 additional F-22s, 180 F-16s and 20 F-15s in the process of flying across the Atlantic right now. When they arrive, I want you to give them some coffee and throw them into the fight, just like the F-35s.”
“Now, what many of you may not know is that several B-2 stealth bombers arrived last night at Lajos airfield in the Azores. In the coming hours, they will fly their first combat mission into Russia. Their first mission is to hit the Russian Command and Control Centers, including the grand prize, the brand new National Defense Control Center in the heart of Moscow.”
A few people gasped. This was a daring plan.
Ignoring the reactions, General Cotton continued, “They will also hit the FSB headquarters, which is still located at Lubyanka Square, the original heart of the KGB. While the B-2’s are busy with that, the B-1 Lancers will be going after the various rail, road, and bridge networks that are vital to keeping the Russian war machine going. The Russians may have numbers, but those ‘numbers’ chew through a lot of fuel, munitions and food. Destroying their logistical capability to fight is the surest way to cripple their army fast.”
General Cotton then turned to his senior National Security Agency Liaison Officer and asked, “What is the NSA doing to reestablish our GPS and satellite communication systems, and what are we doing to go after the Russian systems?”
All eyes turned to the NSA LNO, who had been relatively silent during the briefing thus far. Mr. Justin Lake was the Senior Executive Service (SES) representative to EUCOM and NATO from the NSA, and while he had a small staff of people that worked for him in Stuttgart, he was really just a forward contact for the agency at the Command. He cleared his throat before replying, “I spoke with several of my colleagues before coming to this briefing. I was told roughly half of our GPS satellites will need to be replaced. The industrial control systems were burnt out, rendering the satellites useless. I have it on good authority that we will have close to 25 % of these satellites replaced in the next few days.”
He continued, “Now, the larger issue is the communications and surveillance satellites. Not everyone knows this, but we maintain a certain stockpile of these satellites, which we have kept ready to launch in case of a situation like this. When the Russians launched their DDoS and cyber-attack, they effectively crippled 70 % of the world’s GPS satellites and nearly all of the US military’s surveillance and communication satellites. Fortunately, they did not go after the private sector’s satellites, and we have temporarily commandeered many of them until we can get our replacement satellites in place.”
Mr. Lake then turned to specifically address General Cotton, “As to what we are doing in response, most of that is classified beyond what the folks in this room have clearance for. However, I can assure you that we have launched a massive cyber-attack against the Russians’ logistics and transportation sector. Shortly, their communications infrastructure will be attacked, along with their banking sector. There are certain unspoken thresholds that both the US and Russia have unofficially agreed not to touch, like the power grid. They will not look to turn the lights out permanently in the US, and neither will we in Russia. Suffice to say, a cyber-attack is well underway against Russia with the specific intent of going after their ability to wage and sustain a war.” As he finished speaking, he reached over and took a drink of water from a bottle he had brought with him.
Nodding in approval, General Cotton was pleased with the response. He knew he wouldn’t get any more details unless he went to another secured room to talk privately with Mr. Lake or cleared the briefing room. For the moment, he was content to know the NSA was on top of it and they had it handled.
At the end of the meeting, the people in the room felt like General Cotton was the modern version of General Patton; despite the losses, he had a way of making everyone feel like things were under control.
The Crossroads
LTC Brian Munch of the 1st Armored Division, 1st Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment, was the only operational commander in the area. He had ordered the remnants of 2nd Cavalry Troops to form up with his battalion, along with their field artillery squadron (aptly named the "Artillery Hell") to take up positions in the strategic towns of Berezan and Baryshivka. The two municipalities sat on the P03 highway and the E40, which led straight to Kiev and passed by the Boryspil International Airport.