It was time for his officer’s call. He could hear the officers talking and gathering outside the command tent. He needed to get out there and get these guys their orders and make sure everyone knew what they were supposed to be doing before the Russians launched their attack. It was going to be another long, and rough day.
He lifted the flap to the command tent and walked out to a small gaggle of probably 40 officers. These were the troop and company commanders of the various infantry, armor and scout units that made up his temporary ragtag force of roughly 11,000 US and German Soldiers. When the officers returned to their units, they would disseminate the information down to the officers and NCOs who were not able to attend. Someone had to man the shop and keep the soldiers in line.
“Listen up. I know everyone is starved for news of what is going on in the world and with the war in general. I don’t have a lot of news, but I’ll pass on what I do have after we go over today’s plans. The S2 says there are roughly three Russian divisions less than twenty miles from our position, and we anticipate them launching their attack anytime. I want your men to be ready for it. We have also received word, thanks to Major Woods, that 1st Armor’s 3rd BCT should arrive in our lines within the next hour.”
The officers were all smiles at this news. A couple even clapped jokingly. “Calm down guys,” barked the general. “We have more information to push out. Listen, we have been ordered to hold our position while the rest of our NATO allies continue to rush more troops to Kiev. 1st Armor’s 2nd BCT should arrive in our lines by the end of the evening, along with the British 12th Armored Infantry Brigade. That will bring our manpower up to roughly 23,300 soldiers. However, things are going to get rough and nasty before they will get better.”
One of the captains raised his hand, signaling that he had a question to ask.
“Go ahead Captain,” said the general.
One of the captains from the 2nd Cavalry Troop that had folded into this ragtag command was the one to speak. “Sir, my unit has been slugging it out with the Russians since they crossed the demarcation line. I’ve lost nearly half of my soldiers, vehicles, and equipment and we have absolutely no idea what in the world is going on, other than a crap ton of Russians are trying to kill us. Can you give us any insight I can pass along to my soldiers? My guys have tried using their smartphones to get information from the mainstream media, Twitter, and Facebook but as you know, the cell towers have been taken offline since the start of hostilities,” he said, dejected, exhausted, and frustrated.
The general hung his head down for a second collecting his own thoughts. “We were passed along an Intelligence Summary from EUCOM a couple of hours ago. I will go ahead and read off some of it for you guys. Some of this is still highly classified, so no one write anything down. Just pass things on verbally.” He then opened his notepad and brought out the summary he had mentioned. He began to read aloud to them.
“Classified SECRET: Carrier George H.W. Bush sunk by Russian submarines at the entrance to the Black Sea. US Carrier Strike Group sunk eleven Russian submarines and nine Russian surface warfare ships. Navy casualties are listed as high.”
Audible gasps and swearing could be heard by most of the soldiers and officers present. It took a minute for things to quiet down before BG Fenzol continued.
“Classified TOP SECRET/SCI: Russian saboteurs temporarily disabled Europe THAAD missile systems during opening hours of conflict.
Classified SECRET: US Air Force Base Ramstein hit by Russian cruise missile attack. One hundred and forty US aircraft destroyed on the ground.
Classified SECRET: US Air Force Base Spangdahlem hit by Russian cruise missile attack. Ninety US aircraft destroyed on the ground.
Classified CONFIDENTIAL: US Air Force Stealth Bombers bombed Russian National Defense Control Center in Moscow.
Classified CONFIDENTIAL: US Air Force bombs numerous Russia airbases across Western Russia.
Classified CONFIDENTIAL: US Navy destroys Russian Black Sea Fleet base and headquarters.
Classified SECRET: US Navy sinks thirteen Russian submarines in the North Sea
Classified SECRET: Russian submarines sink five US Navy transports in the Atlantic, ferrying equipment from the US to NATO bases in Europe.
Unclassified: US Media reports US Government caught completely by surprise from Russian sneak attack.”
More gasps, cursing and grumbling could be heard from the NCOs and officers as he read off the information. It was a bit of a shock to hear how bad the war was starting out. Most of the men and women present had spent their entire careers fighting Islamic extremists, terrorists, and the Taliban. The Department of Defense had not done a very good job of keeping the force ready and trained to fight a conventional war against a regular well-equipped and determined army. They were paying the price for it now.
“OK, that’s roughly the gist of the report and what’s important. I know it’s not a lot to go on, but it’s the best I can give you guys for the time being. I know it doesn’t sound good, but remember, we are in the first three days of this war. America is just getting started, and we are going to kick the crap out of these Russian bastards. Now, get back to your units and give ‘em hell,” he said as he dismissed his officers. He could see from the looks on their faces, that the news had shaken some of them. It was a lot to take in. He understood; he still couldn’t believe the Navy had lost a supercarrier.
Fake News-ageddon
In the sub-basement of the Linguistic University, a group of fifty hackers were hard at work on their computer terminals. Each hacker was piped into one of the fastest mainframe supercomputer systems in the world, and maximizing their productivity with dual 32-inch computer screens. The supercomputer had been built in secret over the past twelve months, and only just came online two weeks ago in preparation of Operation Redworm.
Thirty of these hackers were spending close to eighteen hours a day creating and then promoting thousands upon thousands of fake news articles across Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook, in what was perhaps the first 21st century information-warfare campaign against NATO.
As Nestor Petyaev, one of the chief hacking supervisors, walked into the room, he felt a sense of pride when he saw the headlines splashed across the screens all around him. “Russia invades Norway and Poland,” sure made for good news — that one had received a lot of clicks. “Fascist German Forces Bomb Ukraine,” had not been quite as successful, but was still making headway.
There were two stories that were taking on a life of their own. Nestor walked over to one of his hackers, and saw several different versions of the headline, “Turkey Withdraws from NATO.” He patted his comrade on the back.
“Ivan, I thought you would like to know that your story is having an impact on the real world.”
“Oh?” asked Ivan with a smile.
“Yes, there are demonstrations popping up all over Turkey. Some of the citizens are marching, demanding that the government not get involved in the war, and counter-demonstrations are urging the government to honor its treaty obligation. Perhaps you can incorporate some of the coverage of the anti-war marches in with your stories?” suggested Nestor.
“Ok, I will get right on that,” answered Ivan, eagerly.