Operation Red Dragon and the Unthinkable

Quadrant Identification

General Tyler Black, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, stepped down from his duties at the request of the President to take over command of the newly minted American Second Army. He would now become the overall commander of the defense of Alaska and the West Coast. General Black had been in Alaska for four weeks, preparing the defenses from Nome, the Yukon Delta, and the Aleutians Island Chain, to Kodiak Island and the more densely populated areas of the mainland such as Homer, Seward and Anchorage. It was a daunting challenge considering more than 40 % of his army was still on paper and not a reality yet.

When General Black arrived four weeks ago, he had 160,000 troops currently in Alaska. Nearly 600,000 additional troops had been assigned and ordered to Alaska, but still had not completed basic combat training. Convoy after convoy of troops, infantry fighting vehicles, tanks and light drone tanks were constantly arriving in Anchorage from Seattle. 12,500 troops were arriving by air via commercial charter and military transports daily. Anchorage was becoming an enormous military encampment. Many of the Marine and Army Divisions were still being formed as soldiers and Marines continued to arrive daily from basic training and advanced military training schools.

The next challenge, aside from the forming of the numerous divisions, was transportation and logistics. Moving divisions and their equipment to (in some cases) extremely remote locations throughout Alaska was proving to be a challenge. Ensuring those units were supplied and properly equipped was going to be the enduring logistical nightmare, especially once hostilities began. Intelligence said the Chinese fleet had set sail, meaning he had less than 12 days to finalize his troop deployments and prepare for what would be a truly enormous defensive effort.

General Black broke the Alaskan theater down into three quadrants. The top half of Alaska, which included Prudhoe Bay, Fairbanks and Nome was quadrant one. Quadrant two included the entire Yukon Delta National Park and the Aleutians Island chain, including the Kodiak Islands. Quadrant three included everything from Homer to Denali National Park, and the Eastern half of the State.

Quadrant one was being run by a major general with three divisions. 85,000 troops spread through a myriad of fire bases and combat outposts guarding strategic locations and infrastructure. Quadrant two was being managed by a major general as well, and had five divisions, or 150,000 troops. This group had the most actual land to defend, and the most beaches to have to repel the invaders from. They also had Kodiak Island to protect, which was a key strongpoint at the mouth of the inlet leading to Anchorage. Quadrant three was commanded by a lieutenant general and eight divisions, 235,000 troops. This was the most populated area of the state, and had the most critical infrastructure such as road and rail networks to defend. It was also the key to gaining access to the rest of the Canadian states and the lower half of the US. Additional troops from the rest of the country would continue to arrive even after the invasion started, but this would be the starting American defense force for the Russian/Chinese invasion of America.