She paused again while her NCO put up a new map, one showing the symbols of military units. The brigade commander was busily writing notes on small three-by five cards. The XO, with a faint smile of approval, nodded for her to continue.
"The first impression that the current invasion by the Soviets is a bolt out of the blue is incorrect." She paused for a moment and watched the brigade commander noticeably straighten up with a quizzical look on his face.
"Are you trying to tell me, Lieutenant, that we knew about this?"
Without flinching, Matthews continued, "Apparently the Central Intelligence
Agency, the National Security Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency each were collecting data on the modernization and buildup of Soviet forces in the area but passed it off as either routine modernization or preparation for the rotation or reinforcement of forces in Afghanistan. The
Soviets have maintained a normal level of activities in all other areas of the world, especially in Europe, where they have already begun their semiannual rotation of recruits. As a result of this normality, there was an insufficient increase in intelligence indicators to warrant an increase in the Watchcon level." Again Lieutenant Matthews paused for a moment to let this last bit of information sink in before proceeding.
"The current Soviet offensive appears to be following the same basic plan as its 1941 invasion of Iran, with a few new twists, these primarily being amphibious landings along the Caspian Sea here at Bandar-a Anzali and Astaneh and airborne assaults reported at Khvoy, Tabriz and Rasht. Major ground forces in the northeast include one combined-arms army moving along an axis from Jolia 23 to Tabriz through the Zagros Mountains and a second combined-arms army moving along the coastal plain of the Caspian Sea. A third army of unknown composition is in reserve south of Baku. In the northeast, a corps sized element is moving west along an axis from KizylArvat to Gorgan, with a second corps-sized element moving south from Ashkabad to Quchan. Several other divisions are assembling farther inside the Soviet Union, here at Nebit-Dag and Mary. In the east a single motorized rifle division has been identified moving along an axis west from Herat in Afghanistan to, probably, Mashhad. Current intelligence gathered from several sources, including monitoring of official Iranian news agencies, indicates that the Soviet invasion came as a complete surprise to the Iranians. Only token resistance is being met by the Soviets. With the majority of Iran's forces involved in active fighting against the Iraqis, and in view of the country's lack of mobile reserves, the Soviets will meet little in the way of organized resistance for at least the next five to seven days, maybe longer."
Lieutenant Matthews paused to allow the commander to study the map showing the activity she had just described. When he was comfortable with the information, he nodded for her to continue.
"A preliminary analysis brings out three major points. The first clearly indicates that Tehran is the offensive's initial objective.
Seizure of the northwest, the coast of the Caspian Sea and Tehran will place the majority of the population, agriculture and industry of Iran under Soviet control.
This would leave only two other worthwhile objectives: the oilfields in the southwest and control of the Strait of Hormuz in the south. The second point is that the USSR is using relatively small forces along established lines of communication. Although it does have a large number of forces in the Transcaucasus region, they are being held in place to serve either as a threat to Turkey or as a second echelon.
There is insufficient information at this time to confirm either theory. This could also mean that the USSR's objectives are limited to the seizure of Tehran or that it is being careful not to shove more forces into the country than can be supplied.
"The final point, and perhaps the most important to us, is the fact that the Soviets have taken no other actions anywhere else in the world to increase their state of readiness. An intelligence summary released to 10th Corps earlier this morning from the DIA concluded that it appears to be the
Soviets' intent to keep the conflict localized to Iran. In fact, Soviet ambassadors in all NATO countries had scheduled appointments with the heads of those countries within an hour of the invasion to present the Soviets' position and explanation."
At this point, the brigade commander interrupted. "It's going to take one hell of a line of BS to turn this stunt into a lily-white crusade to save humanity." For the first time there was laughter in the room.
Turning to Lieutenant Matthews, he asked, "Amanda, do you have anything else?"
For a moment, Lieutenant Matthews was in shock. This was the first time since she had come to the brigade that the brigade commander had called her by her first name. She simply replied, "No, sir."
"That was a good briefing, thank you."
As she went to take her seat, the XO gave her a nod of approval. She was part of the team.
The captain finished making the rounds of the positions occupied by his paratroopers. All was in order. Brought in by helicopter in the predawn darkness, the airborne company had had no problem overwhelming the Iranians who were supposed to man the positions now filled by his men. Four months of training, rehearsals and preparation for this single operation had paid off.
At the cost of one man wounded and a sprained ankle sustained during the debarkation from the helicopters, the airborne company had taken out forty-five Iranians. There were, of course, no prisoners. The plan did not allow for the holding of prisoners.
Standing on the edge of a cliff, the captain looked down at the unending column of tanks, armored personnel carriers and trucks of the 28th Combined Arms Army passing below him. With the seizure of the Daradiz Pass, no defenses or major obstacles stood between the 28th CAA and Marand. The 28th would easily make its initial objective on schedule.
All was in order. Carefully, the captain limped back from the edge.
With nothing more to do for a while, he finally had time to find a nice comfortable spot where he could sit down and tend to his sprained ankle.
Chapter 2
It is well that war is so terrible or we should grow too fond of it.
Company A of the 2nd Battalion, 517th Airborne Regiment, was used to waiting. It wasn't unusual to get rigged for a jump, move out onto the ready line and then wind up waiting for hours as an unexpected weather front or increase in winds caused a delay. The men were no strangers to the Green Ramp either. At times it seemed to them that every time some head of state in an obscure country sneezed, the 17th Airborne Division was put on alert.
And, of course, there were always the readiness tests, called at all hours of the day to gauge the response of the unit on strip alert. The 1983 invasion of Grenada had done much to add meaning to the endless drills, alerts and training exercises. But that had been a small affair by any standards and, to a unit in the U.S. Army, a long time ago. There were few men in the 2nd of the 517th who wore a division patch on both sleeves.
Captain John Evans, the new commander of A Company, was one of them. At the time of the Grenada invasion he had been a second lieutenant who had just made his cherry jump, a first jump with one's unit. Not having had the experience of numerous alerts and readiness tests that never went anywhere and tended to dull rather than sharpen the reactions of some, Evans had tackled the alert for the Grenada operation with enthusiasm and vigor. His performance at Bragg and on the island had earned him a name as a hard charger and an energetic young officer. As a result, he had found it easy to stay in the 517th, moving from one position to another until he made it to the most coveted position for a company-grade officer in the division, command of an airborne infantry company.