General Dieter Kessler added, “The EU army has officially been released to my full command as of three weeks ago from Chancellor Lowden. I have begun coordination with General Wade, and my force of 600,000 soldiers is currently moving to reinforce the German army in Austria and the Italian army in Slovenia. This is where General Wade wants our army to hold the line. I am confident that my soldiers can do that, and I do apologize that our Chancellor had not released our forces sooner, but we are here now and will start to take the Russians on.”
General Sir Nick Wall joined the conversation. “The past is the past; we must focus on the present if we are to have a future. General Wade has said that his force, along with the bulk of the German army, will be able to hold the Russians at bay in the Berlin area. They have ceded the city to them rather than destroy the metropolis in the process of trying to defend it. General Wade and Field Marshal Schoen are looking to engage the bulk of the Russian armored forces near Berlin in the near future. We will be assisting them in that effort by providing two additional armored divisions and a massive increase in air support once the operation gets underway.” General Wall highlighted the battle plans on the holographic map, along with the disposition of the enemy force.
Minister Gouin felt the need to reassure his British colleagues. “PM Blair, I know there has been a lot of tension between our governments since the start of the war. I cannot change or fix the past, but I can assure you that I am now fully in control of the EU’s military effort and things are going to change. We are fully committed to stopping the Russians, and will not leave this to the individual states’ armies to do on their own. Any help or assistance we can provide, we will.”
PM Blair sat back in his chair for a second taking in everything his EU colleagues had just said and was satisfied with their response. “Thank you Minister Gouin and Generals for meeting with us and for assuring us of your intentions. The UK is ultimately a small island nation, and there is only so much we can do. If the Germans had not retooled their economy for war and been such tenacious fighters, I think we would be having a much different conversation. As it stands, I believe there is still time to prevent the Russians from conquering Europe… We know what needs to happen, so let’s end the meeting on a high note and move forward with a renewed resolve to work together and defeat the Russians,” the PM said as the meeting concluded.
The war in Europe had been picking up steam again as the weather turned from spring to summer. The MiG40s continued to cause havoc in the air for the Allies, though the new radar systems the Americans were employing were starting to turn the tide. The Russians continued to pour hundreds of thousands of soldiers into Poland, the Balkans and Hungary, readying themselves for the summer offensive. It was just a matter of when, not if, they would attack. In the meantime, the Allies continued to prepare themselves to meet a numerically superior force.
Red Square
Once it became clear that the war with the Americans, the European Union and the United Kingdom was not going to turn nuclear (or at least not yet), President Fradkov moved all military operations and activities back to the National Control Defense Center (NCDC) facility, just down the road from Red Square. The NCDC was a massive edifice that replaced the older Ministry of Defense building in the mid-2020s. For months, the war effort had been run out of the Presidential Command Bunker under the Kremlin, but as the war continued to drag on, moving the operations to the NCDC became more of a necessity; the number of personnel needed to manage a global war was immense, and this was the only facility that could truly meet this need. This center could control all military activities around the globe and run the operations of the entire economy and country (there was also a nuclear shelter in the basement and underground tunnels connecting it to a number of critical facilities throughout the city). President Fradkov began to spend more and more time at the NCDC.
President Fradkov walked through a series of doors, hallways and checkpoints until he finally arrived in the bowels of the NCDC where the war was being run. As he arrived, his generals and their staff jumped to attention like a bunch of school children who have been caught misbehaving by a strict librarian. He signaled for them to resume their duties and to take their seats. Fradkov sat at the center of the table and said, “Generals, we have a lot to discuss; let’s begin. Where do our operations in Alaska stand?”
General Gerasimov, the head of the Russian military, began the briefing, “Mr. President, Operation Red Dawn has been a resounding success for our forces. Our initial landings at Nome and all along the western coast of Alaska have gone according to plan. Our insertion of dozens of Spetsnaz units in central Alaska have yielded significant results as well. One of our teams conducted a daring raid against Eielson Air Force base in Fairbanks, resulting in the destruction of six squadrons of drone pilots. They effectively eliminated nearly 70 % of all American air force operations in Alaska for nearly 24 hours. This enabled the Chinese and our forces to quickly secure our initial objectives.” As he spoke, General Gerasimov showed a number of aerial images of the damage done to the air base.
Sergei Puchkov, the Minister of Defense, interjected, “We should have Prudhoe Bay and the rest of the Alaskan oil fields secured within the next four weeks. General Gerasimov’s forces have moved quickly, securing the majority of Red Dawn’s primary and secondary objectives.” Puchkov nodded towards the general in acknowledgement. “We have landed 190,000 soldiers, and are currently expanding several of the airfields that have been secured. We are now in the process of establishing several new ones. The majority of our helicopters have arrived, increasing our air assault capabilities significantly. I do not believe we are going to need to use our reserve force any time soon.”
General Gerasimov inserted, “As you are already aware, the goal of the forces in Alaska is merely to support the Chinese invasion by securing the central and artic territories of Alaska, and the new Canadian States. They are not going to invade further south or support the Chinese beyond this limited scope. Once the initial objectives have been secured, we will leave a residual force of 80,000 soldiers and then move the remainder of our forces back to the Western Campaign.”
Fradkov was elated to hear that things were starting to go their way in Alaska. The first three days of Operation Red Dawn were a bit dicey. The Americans had inflicted significantly more casualties at the various landing zones than they had anticipated. The Russian forces were facing the American Marines in central and northern Alaska; they were well dug-in and had prepared a multi-layer defense.
“Well then, let’s move on to talk about Europe. How are things shaping up?” asked Fradkov.