“Sir, with your permission (and with Congressional approval), we will slowly raise the Army to 550,000 troops over the next two years, and likewise push for similar percentage increases in the other services,” responded Eric.
President Stein replied, “Again, I will talk to the Speaker of the House and we’ll work on getting it pushed through Congress. I have a feeling that we are going to need to really step up our military build-up over the next few years, perhaps even higher than 550K. You should have your planners put together a plan to raise the Army to two million if needed.”
There was a small gulp before the response… “Yes Mr. President.”
Comrades
The Stein Administration spent most of its time and effort on domestic issues and the American economy. The tax code had been rewritten, hundreds of thousands of regulations covering the entire economy had been revised and rewritten to streamline the regulatory environment in the US with an aim at improving the economy and making life simpler for the average citizen. Tort reform had taken place limiting the number of malpractice lawsuits and lowering the costs of healthcare. Unfortunately, world events continued to draw the administration into the complicated international web.
“Mr. President, we have a situation developing in Moscow right now,” blurted Mike, the National Security Advisor, as he walked over and turned on the TV in the Oval Office.
“What is going on, Mike?” asked the President.
“Sir, it would appear that Russian President Zubkov was just assassinated. His motorcade was attacked with a car bomb, killing him instantly.”
“Do we know who is responsible for the attack yet?”
“Yes, Sir. We do. We have very reliable intelligence that suggests the people involved in this attack originated from the Caucuses, the Dagestan/Georgian area to be exact.”
“Great… so we can expect a heavy response from the Russians then.”
“Yes sir, I would suspect the Russians will respond very quickly.”
“Please send our condolences and offer any assistance we can. Perhaps we can help defuse or diffuse? the situation (at least slightly), though I highly doubt it.”
After the death of the Russian President, the newly appointed President, Mikhail Fradkov, went on a tirade for the first couple of weeks, whipping up nationalistic anger over the death of President Zubkov. He appeared on a nearly endless loop on several major television networks, making speeches that could mostly be summarized in the following: “Russia will no longer tolerate these dastardly attacks by separatists from the Caucasus. Soon we will begin to bring the fight to the enemy.”
President Mikhail Fradkov was Zubkov’s protégé before he died. Fradkov was being groomed to take over Russia and lead it into the future once President Zubkov’s term as president ended. Fradkov had served in the Russian Army and later with the FSB before being pulled into public office. He was young for a major world leader, late 40s, and extremely aggressive. Now he was President and in charge of a country that was being attacked continually from its border regions.
Like the US, the Russian economy was starting to boom again as the Great Global Depression gave way to a global economic boom. The numerous high-speed rail networks connecting China and Russia were starting to have a real impact on both economies. The Islamic Republic was having their own economic renaissance, which was driving Russian exports through the roof, especially in the defense and manufacturing sectors.
Despite the economic improvements taking place in Russia, the Caucus region continued to fight against the government. The provinces of Dagestan and Chechnya were rich in oil and fertile farmlands, in addition to a burgeoning manufacturing base. Like Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, they wanted to become their own countries. After nearly 50 years of fighting against the central government, the situation had finally reached a precipice of violence that neither side was going to turn away from.
The Republics of Georgia and Azerbaijan both had their disagreements with Moscow, and though neither country could directly stand up to President Zubkov, they could support, sponsor and train separatists from the region to fight against the central government. As tensions between Moscow and these two nations rose, so too did the support they provided to the separatists.
It was the end of September when the Russians began their “Red October” campaign designed to root out and eliminate what they perceived as separatist safe havens and supporters. The Russians decided that if Georgia and Azerbaijan wanted to support the separatists, then they would need to be dealt with. Tens of thousands of troops began to pour into Dagestan and Chechnya to confront the separatists and to secure the region. Though some separatists chose to stay and fight the Russians, many fled the region into their safe havens in Georgia and Azerbaijan.
As it became clear that the separatists were fleeing into Georgia and Azerbaijan, the Russians quickly expanded their operation into those countries as well. In the twilight hours of the morning, over 6,500 Russian paratroopers attacked the Tbilisi and Baku airports in Georgia and Azerbaijan. At the same time, the Russian 2nd Shock Army invaded both countries as twenty thousand soldiers arrived in Dagestan and Chechnya. The most intense fighting was taking place at the Tbilisi airport, with Russian paratroopers having seriously underestimated the strength and determination of the Georgians.
Though the paratroopers caught the Georgians off guard, they quickly rallied and re-secured the airport, forcing the paratroopers to take refuge in neighboring buildings and houses while they called in air support and waited for reinforcements. The Russians rapidly followed up the invasion with 30,000 additional mechanized and armored forces. The 2nd Shock Army separated into two prongs, one focused on securing Tbilisi and the other Baku.
The Georgian and Azeri armies were quickly being cut to pieces by not just a numerically superior Russian force, but by thousands of Russian light drone tanks and infantry fighting vehicles. Nearly one third of the armored vehicles in the 2nd Shock Army were light and heavy drone tanks and fighting vehicles, which were proving to be extremely effective. As one vehicle was destroyed, the drone operator could quickly take control of another vehicle and continue the attack. With a second operator manning a separate machine gun or cannon, they were able to continuously attack the Georgian and Azeri soldiers, only stopping to rearm.
Despite the losses, Russian forces met heavy resistance from the Georgian military, who had been receiving training from the US Army for decades. However, the Georgians, though well-trained and full of fury, were outnumbered and underequipped; the resistance collapsed after 96 hours of intense fighting and began to turn into all out guerrilla warfare against the invaders. Within the first couple of days, Russian forces had advanced to the outskirts of Tbilisi and were pushing hard towards Baku, the Azerbaijan capital. Intense house-to-house fighting was taking place throughout Tbilisi and Baku as the Georgians and Azeri turned their capitals into meat grinders for the invaders. Thousands of civilians were being killed, but so too were soldiers on both sides.
While things were heating up in the Caucuses, the Russians launched an all-out offensive against Kazakhstan and the other “Stan” countries. The Russians were making their final move to secure their former satellite states, and more importantly, the minerals and resources held by those former allies. With another 230,000 troops and over 1,000 T14 Armata tanks racing across the “Stans,” it was only a matter of time until the Russians would fully occupy their former republics.