Operation Red Dawn and the Siege of Europe

Killjoy

While the American and British counteroffensive was taking place in Europe, the fight for Alaska against the Chinese and Russians continued unabated. The Americans had fought tooth and nail for every inch of land they gave up on the Anchorage Peninsula, finally falling back to a series of defensive works established at Cooper Landing on Highway 1 in the Chugach State Park. This location was just miles away from the city of Anchorage itself. The inlet leading to Anchorage was so heavily mined, the Chinese decided against moving any ships through it until after the PLA had captured Anchorage and they could bring in proper minesweeper ships to make the channel usable again.

On June 10^th, the PLA had begun to land a large force of armor and troops on the west side of the channel across from Kalgin Island (once the Americans lost the city of Sterling along Hwy 1, it created an opening for them to move in). This second offensive force was having to fight through a lot of rough terrain; numerous American firebases and other defensive works were making the journey to Anchorage slow and bloody. The ideal way to get at Anchorage was along Highway 1 and then cut behind the city, sealing it off from any reinforcements while the Navy and Air Force continued to pound them into submission. Their ultimate goal was to secure from Eureka to Valdez, effectively cutting Alaska off from the rest of the country. Then they could focus on rooting out the remaining Americans left in the State before advancing into the Canadian States and the rest of America.

The 12th Infantry Division, like the other divisions on the Peninsula, had fallen back to the massive defensive fortifications that the Corps of Engineers had built in Cooper Landing. The engineers had built several hardened trench lines along the approach to the low-lying mountain ranges. These trenches had multiple heaving gun emplacements, lined with M134 Miniguns, M2 .50 Cals, and 20mm Railguns. At the base of the mountain, the Army Corp of Engineers had constructed a small series of tunnels and tracks, mounting over a hundred 155mm Howitzers to the tracks so that they could fire several rounds and then retreat back under the protection of the mountain.

Once the enemy fought their way through to the base of the mountain, they would have to capture a series of trench lines and fortifications all the way up to the top of the mountain and into the valley on the other side, and then repeat the process again until they had cleared all five mountain ridges. General Black had over 180,000 soldiers defending this position while additional soldiers prepared the next layer of defenses further back around Palmer. If it looked like the Chinese were going to break out, then the rest of his forces in Anchorage would make a hasty retreat so as to not be cut off and surrounded. The same would go for the troops defending the mountain lines along Susitna, 20 miles west of Anchorage.

With the new radar and missiles systems that could track the Russian MiG40s, the number of high altitude precision bombings against the American laser and railgun defensive systems was finally coming to an end. This had been a serious problem; in the last six months, US Forces had lost nearly 60 % of their anti-air, anti-missile defensive systems. The Allies had yet to achieve or maintain anything close to air superiority since the start of the war until the new radar had been built.

SSG Paul Allen had done his best to keep the soldiers in his platoon alive and to stop the Chinese from capturing Alaska. Unfortunately, his platoon had been mauled; while they had started out with 56 soldiers at the outset of the invasion, they were now down to 17. They had become a shell of their former self. The 12^th Infantry Division had been pulled from the line and reorganized as new units and soldiers continued to arrive from the rest of the country. During this reorganization, the division took some time to recognize the bravery of the soldiers and units who had defended the landing beaches against the PLAN. SSG Paul Allen had been awarded the Army’s Distinguish Service Cross for his actions during the initial beach invasion, one medal below the Congressional Medal of Honor. Three other soldiers from the division had received the same medal as Paul, along with nearly four dozen Silver Stars and over 150 Bronze Stars with V device for Valor.

Because SSG Allen had close to sixty college credits completed, he had been given a battlefield promotion to 1^st Lieutenant, making him the executive officer for the company and the 2^nd Platoon Commander (PC). His battalion had been selected to receive the new Raptor combat suit, which was finally set to make its debut. The 12^th Infantry Division was going to be pulled off the line while two battalions at a time would be rotated back to the US to be equipped and trained on the new suit before being sent back to Alaska.

US manufacturers had been working overtime to produce the Raptor combat suits to get them into the fight as quickly as possible. The training to become proficient in their use had been determined to be around one week, with a second week to learn how to use it with a weapon and a soldier’s additional combat equipment. The plan was to rotate several battalions at a time through training, and then slowly integrate them back in to the war. The highest priority for the Raptor suits was the Alaskan front, with the 12^th Infantry Division being the first division to receive them. The US could not let the Chinese establish a long-term base of operations in North America. Having to fight on two additional continents was straining the US’s ability to fight and win.

Captain Tim Shiller walked up to Lieutenant Allen. “LT, I just received word from battalion; they are pulling us from the line tonight before the Chinese start their attack. They want to get us to Ft. Benning immediately,” he said with a hint of a smile.

“You’re just glad we won’t be here when the Chinese launch their next offensive against this place,” Allen said with a smirk of his own.

“Aren’t you? We’ve gone through enough hell these past six weeks. We need a break, some good steaks, women and beer. All of which we’ll be able to get at Benning while we complete our training,” replied Shiller.

Paul thought for a minute before adding, “Yeah, but as soon as we get the new suits, they are going to throw us right back into the meat grinder. You saw the specs on the new suits. They are going to throw us headfirst at the enemy, thinking we will be invincible, which you and I both know-we aren’t.”

Laughing, Tim retorted, “You’re a real killjoy, you know that Paul? Go inform the rest of the men; we are leaving in half an hour. They are trucking us back to Palmer airport in an hour.”

With that, Lieutenant Allen turned and walked towards the day room where most of the Company had been relaxing while they waited to find out if they were going to be moving to the Cooper Landing defenses or somewhere else. He signaled for everyone to be quiet so that he could speak. After the bantering calmed down, he announced, “Listen up everyone! We are pulling out of here and being driven to Palmer Airport. Before you guys start to speculate; we are being sent as a battalion to Ft. Benning to receive training on the new Raptor combat suit.” The room suddenly erupted in cheers and jeers as they realized they were going to be leaving the combat zone and heading back to the “real world,” even if it was only for a few weeks.

“Hey not to be a spoilsport in all of this, but once we receive the new suits and are determined combat ready, you can bet that we will be deploying back here and you can bet your paycheck we will be leading a counteroffensive against the Chinese.” Now the room filled with groans.

“On the bright side, when we do get a night off, first round’s on me boys,” Allen said to the joy of his soldiers.