Operation Red Dawn and the Siege of Europe

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.

“The loss of the 2^nd Shock Army near Damascus has certainly hurt us, but it will not deter our advance into Europe or affect our invasion of Alaska. With the fall of Romania, the EU has lost its one oil-producing member, which of course makes them completely reliant on American oil and natural gas. As we continue to capture more territory, the noose around the EU’s neck will begin to tighten.”

General Gerasimov pulled up a map on the display before he continued. “As you can see here, the 3^rd Shock Army is concentrating their forces in Poland and the easern half of the Czech Republic, preparing for a summer offensive. The 1^st Shock Army has consolidated in northern Italy, Croatia, Slovenia and central Austria (now that Vienna has fallen). The plan is for the 1^st Shock Army to pivot the bulk of their force from Southeastern Europe and advance through northern Austria in an attempt to seize Salzburg and threaten Southern Germany, the industrial heartland of Germany and the EU.”

The General could have used graphics to demonstrate the movement of troops, but he preferred to use large sweeping motions of his hands for dramatic effect as he spoke. He continued, “The 2^nd Shock Army is going to advance across two points: the first, central Germany towards Dresden and Leipzig, and the second, to the North of Berlin. They will drive to Hamburg, the deep water shipping port so critical to keeping the NATO forces supplied. The northern half of Germany is relatively flat, which plays to our advantage in terms of using our tanks. We have given this attack the codename Operation Red Anvil.”

“As we speak, General Putin has already put into motion the beginning of Operation Red Anvil. The bombardments of the frontlines are taking place now, and his armored forces will begin to advance in seventytwo hours.”

Fradkov pondered, “This will be the largest armored assault in history, won’t it?”

“Yes, Mr. President.” Minister Puchkov puffed out his chest with pride.

“Well… I guess that leaves us with the IR-our misbehaving stepsister.”

No one wanted to speak to this point. The Russians had been paid nearly $3 Trillion NAD by the IR over the last ten years to build up and train their military force. The investment had caused an economic revival in Russia; however, despite the amount of equipment sold to the IR (and the years of training and mentoring the Russian military provided), the IR had nearly destroyed their entire military within seven-months (granted, they had been in constant combat with the Israeli and American Forces).

Puchkov dared to answer. “Well, sir, the IR possesses all of the world’s most modern equipment to defeat the Israeli and American Forces; however, what they lack is an experienced officer and NCO cadre, not to mention a military ethos and warrior culture like that of the Israelis and Americans. If nothing else, we all know the Americans and Israelis to be exceptional military fighters-fearless in combat, and able to operate effectively in large and small units. For all the training that we and the Chinese have provided, the one thing that we simply cannot instill in the Arab Army is the character and attitude required by a true warrior. By and large, the IR Army operates in more of a mob mentality… this becomes disastrous when a unit or group leader is killed during a battle or engagement.”

General Gerasimov picked up from here. “Fortunately for us, the Middle East campaign is not really a primary theater of operations; rather, it was meant to tie down American Forces and prevent them from employing those resources in Europe, or having the necessary forces to prevent our Russian-Chinese joint invasion of Alaska. We continue to maintain 150,000 troops in central and northern Turkey and a blocking force in the Caucuses. Most of these armies were loosely scattered across key strategic locations in Turkey to protect the Black Sea. Our situation there is stable at this time, and we have to consider our position there to be at a standstill.”

President Fradkov was not at all upset by this response. Instead, he pulled out a bottle of vodka to share. Things were going very well for him and his comrades.