Major General Dieter Schoen was the Commander of the German 10th Panzer Division Bundeswehr, which consisted of approximately 12,200 soldiers spread across two armored brigades, a grenadier brigade (Mechanized Infantry), an artillery brigade and a mountain infantry brigade. His division had 680 Leopard 3Cs main battle tanks (the most advanced European battle tank available). Unlike their French counter-parts, these tanks were on par with anything the Russians had. The disadvantage they had was their numbers. The Russians would be advancing into Poland and the rest of the EU with 8,000+ main battle tanks and light drone tanks. As good as the Leopard was, it would not last long against numbers like this. General Schoen knew his best chance of success was to see if he could get an American Pershing battalion to integrate with his tanks division.
Schoen was a rising star in the German Army. He was young, just 39 years of age, and the absolute picture of what you would expect a German General to look like. Tall, blond hair, blue eyes, muscular, and good looking; under the extremely polished and well-starched exterior, the man was also a military genius. He had trained with the Americans at the Army’s Ft. Benning Armor School, and participated in numerous armored training exercises with the Americans, both at the Ft. Irwin National Training Center, and at the US Army Joint Military Training Center in Hohenfels, Germany.
Word had it that Germany was building a new battle tank using the American advance armor and railgun technology… the question was — would it be completed in enough time to make a difference? Intelligence also said the Russians had a new tank that might make its own appearance in the near future.
General Schoen directed his Division to start heading towards Warsaw. Once there, they would offload their tanks and other armored vehicles and begin moving them to various marshaling points, where he could quickly deploy them against the Russians. He wanted to get his scouts and anti-tank units deployed as soon as possible; the key was going to be identifying the likely enemy approaches so that the engineers could determine the best prepared positions to send the tanks and grenadiers.
The EU leadership may not believe the Russians were going to invade, but after hearing General Wade’s speech and seeing the intelligence himself, Schoen wanted to get his division into the field and deployed as soon as possible. This would be the first time the Germany army would be deployed in Europe to fight against another army since World War II. General Schoen was determined to show the world and the Russians that despite not having been involved in any recent wars, the German war machine was something to still fear. The Fatherland was retooling for war; this time as allies with America.
The 13th Panzer Division was moving towards Rzeszow to the south of General Schoen, which was approximately 45 miles west of the Ukrainian border. This was one of the two most vulnerable points for Russian attack; the other was the Lublin/Warsaw gap, and that is where Schoen concentrated his forces. The 13th Panzer Division consisted of two extra brigades of Grenadiers (mechanized infantry) and light anti-tank drones instead of the heavier Leopard 3Cs; this was a good equipment setup for the area that they were guarding, which was loaded with mountain ranges, impassible ridges and rock formations. Combat in this area would certainly turn into close-in fighting. On the other hand, the Lublin/Warsaw gap was relatively flat country; ideal for fast moving tanks. General Schoen placed carefully plotted tank traps in this area, preparing for the first of several tank battles. In addition to controlling the Lublin/Warsaw gap, Schoen was the area Commander and was directing the 10th and 13th Panzer Divisions in order to stop the Russian armored advance.
The Polish Army was going to focus their defense in the north near Bialystok on the Belarus border. Their army was heavily equipped with German-made military equipment, including Leopard 3C tanks, so integrating with the German divisions in Poland was not going to be a problem. The Poles and Germans knew they could give ground for a time, but they were determined to make the Russians pay for each kilometer of ground they took and ensure they kept the Russians out of Germany. If they failed their mission, the industrial machine of Germany, which was the backbone of the EU, would likely fall. Then there would be no hope of producing the tools of war needed to win the ultimate victory.
There was still no sign of the French or Belgium units yet; they were supposed to join the Polish forces in the north and provide them with additional support. In addition to the 10th and 13th Panzer Divisions, Germany was moving an additional three divisions of infantry to shore up defensive positions in and around the major cities in eastern Poland.
Tipping Point
The President and his advisors had been monitoring the political situation in Asia and Europe intensely since Stein had ordered an overwhelming nuclear response against the IR. The Chinese media came out with an official statement, insisting that the war remain conventional and agreeing to no longer use nuclear torpedoes or any other form of nuclear weapons. They also said that if the US hit China with a neutron bomb, they would respond with their own colossal nuclear response. The war of words continued to heat up as President Stein had the Secretary of State convey that any nation who used nuclear weapons against the United States would face a similar response to the retribution the IR had just received.
The leaders of the European Union were still in a state of shock at the sheer destruction that the IR had inflicted on New York and Baltimore. They were then further aghast at President Stein’s response; over one hundred and ten million people had been killed, and more than a hundred cities were decimated. They felt that the Americans had responded too harshly in retaliation, not to mention the environmental catastrophe they had just unleashed — thousands of tons of dust particles were being thrown into the upper atmosphere. In an effort to keep his allies appeased, President Stein made it clear that the United States would refrain from further use of nuclear weapons in the war, unless one was used against America or American Forces again.
In addition to the continued possible use of nuclear weapons, the President was still very concerned with the domestic attacks. The IR had masterfully infiltrated Special Forces and intelligence agents into the country, who had, in turn, recruited thousands of American Muslims and Muslim immigrants to conduct terror attacks against the country. This had unfortunately led to more American Muslims joining in to be a part of what they thought was a real chance at a revolution in the country. As a result, hundreds, if not thousands, of reprisals began against American Muslims, the vast majority of whom had absolutely nothing to do with the terror attacks. The violence between the Muslim and non-Muslims in the country had risen to a point where the President had addressed it directly in several briefings. He was hoping to get the American people to calm down and to trust the justice system to handle the threats. Stein encouraged those who were concerned to report suspicious activity to the authorities and let them deal with it.