Operation Red Dawn and the Siege of Europe

Brains of the Operation

The Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), General Aaron Wade, was sitting in his office reading over battlefield reports when Major General Charles Bryant from the British Army knocked on the doorframe and then entered his office. MG Bryant was the senior British LNO to NATO, and General Wade’s right-hand man. General Wade had been the SACEUR Commander for only two days when the war with Russia started on Christmas Day of 2040. MG Bryant had been critical in helping General Wade make a successful transition to NATO, since he had previously been the CENTCOM Commander.

“Sir, we are starting to get the final numbers from the Russian offensive near Brandenburg. We are also updating the maps with enemy unit locations and strengths. I really think you should see this Sir,” MG Bryant said, indicating to General Wade that he should come with him to the main briefing and map room.

Sighing deeply, General Wade nodded and got up from his chair; he began to follow Bryant down the hall to the Operations Center (OC). This was the room where all of the major decisions for NATO were taking place. The room was large; it was shaped almost like an amphitheater, with rows of desks that descended in a semi-circle down towards the platform stage at the bottom. Along the front wall of the room were enormous screens, broken down into several feeds. The first was a massive colored map with NATO and Russian ground unit identifiers, along with their strengths and dispositions. The second was the same type of color-coded map, except this one showed NATO and Russian air units. The third screen was reserved for FLASH messages, drone feeds or briefings, and the fourth was the naval situation.

Seated in each row of the amphitheater was a Senior LNO from each of the NATO member nations that had air, ground and naval combat units actively involved in the fight. There were also other specialists such as Special Forces, Communications, Cyber, Public Affairs and Military Police. From this room, the entire war effort was being run and coordinated; General Wade could issue a command and have that nation’s military respond immediately without delay. The location had been established within the first few weeks of the war. Germany had nearly been lost during the first month of the war because of delays in France, Spain and Belgium; this situation was rectified quickly once President Stein, PM Blair and Chancellor Mueller from Germany got involved and established a clear chain of command and a location to serve as the OC.

“General Wade, as you can see from the map near Brandenburg, the Russians have pushed our forces to the Elbe River. After crossing the river and setting up our next defensive line, we blew up all of the bridges that cross the Elbe, across all of Germany. The Russians are going to capture Dresden, and they look to be pushing towards Leipzig. In the north they are pushing past Perleberg along Highway 14 heading towards Hamburg. I don’t need to tell you how big a blow losing Hamburg would be.” As General Bryant walked General Wade through the Russian advance, units and likely objectives, it was clear the Russians were trying to cut Germany up into thirds, making it significantly harder for NATO to defend against their attacks.

General Wade thought for a minute before responding, “We need to stop their advance towards Hamburg; we cannot lose that deep water port right now. Here is what I want you to do…”

General Wade began to use his laser pointer. “I want to focus our aircraft, in particular our Razorbacks, in the north. Pull aircraft from the other fronts, along with all of our Razorbacks. I want to attack the Russians with everything we have in the north. I also want as much of our artillery as we can spare to be moved north in order to engage the Russians as well.” He began to highlight a number of units, and drew a line for where he wanted each of them to be directed.

He continued, “The 12^th AD has joined forces with the German divisions, and is fighting the Russians in central Germany near Leipzig. Since the Russians are not looking to move across the Elbe, I want the 2^nd AD moved north to cross the Elbe at Lauanburg and advance to attack the Russians. They are going to take some losses, but I want them to hit the Russians hard in order to stop their advance. They will have nearly all of the Razorbacks in Europe (and the vast majority of our aircraft) to support them. Ensure that the artillery continues to advance with them as well,” General Wade said.

“Sir, I recommend we also send the British King’s Royal Hussars, the Royal Tank Regiment (RTR). They are near Hamburg right now; rather than leaving them there to defend the city, I’d like to have them advance with the 2^nd AD,” MG Bryant advised.

Looking through the information and then back at the map, General Wade thought a minute before responding, “Yes, send them as well to support the 2^nd AD. Their 620 MBTs will be greatly needed. Oh-by the way, isn’t that Britain’s most famed tank regiment?” asked General Wade.

Smiling, General Bryant replied, “Yes sir it is. It’s also the oldest tank unit in the world.”

“Excellent, then begin to issue the orders. At the rate the Russians are moving, they are going to be at the outskirts of Hamburg in the next couple of days. We need to start our counter-attack before then. Can the 2^nd AD and the Royal Hussars be ready to attack in 48 hours?”

“If the Hussars lead the attack, then yes, the 2^nd AD can follow right behind them and pass through their lines once their regiments are all across the Elbe.”

“Excellent, then make it happen. I also want our air forces to start pounding the tar out of them immediately. We need to try and slow them down a bit,” General Wade said as he indicated the meeting was over. “I need to get something to eat before I collapse from exhaustion. I’m heading to the mess hall-would you like to join me?”

“I’ll meet you there in a few minutes; I want to get these orders issued first,” Bryant said. He immediately began to get things moving by signaling for a number of the various LNOs to come gather around him.

“I’ll see you there then,” Wade replied as he turned and began to leave the OC to head to the mess hall. The NATO headquarters had an exceptional Dining Facility (DFAC) for the thousands of people who worked there; today the DFAC was serving skirt steak with baked potatoes. It was just the kind of “brain food” that General Wade needed.