Our Next Great War

by Martin Archer

  Chapter Six

  Moscow’s distress.

  Moscow was reported to be furious about the refugee and “retreat” stories saturating the international media, and even more furious that the money going out to pay and feed Danovsky’s troops was not being routed through Moscow so the new President's cronies can get their hands on it. Sure enough, while we were visiting Danovsky he was ordered to immediately report to Moscow “for consultations and to explain his strategy.”

  Danovsky was not without friends. He immediately received several back channel messages telling him he was about to be replaced by his senior political officer and would be arrested as soon as his plane landed in Moscow.

  Instead of climbing on a plane and going to Moscow, Danovsky sent an apology and explained that he could not come to Moscow immediately because he was too busy getting his troops ready to fight the Chinese. Instead, he told Moscow, he had dispatched a senior Russian officer, his Deputy Chief of Staff, Major General Vasily Kafanov, to Moscow to “explain his strategy.” He added, almost as an afterthought, that I would be accompanying General Kafanov to discuss the plans for America’s assistance in accordance with the new treaty.

  ******

  I volunteered to accompany Kafanov to present "the American perspective" as soon as I learned why he was going. What we would not in any way mention is Danovsky's plan to use partisan teams and swimmers to blow the bridges in China and behind the Chinese army if the Chinese reach the choke points. I would not because I didn’t want the Chinese to find out, and Kafanov could not—because he did not know about them.

  Moscow's intention to replace Danovsky was bad news; the good news, at least so far as I was concerned, was that several weeks ago Danovsky had put together a very carefully selected personal guard of airborne enlisted men and junior officers. Their job was to protect him from anyone who tried to arrest him or replace him.

  It’s a good thing Danovsky has a protection detail. The last thing the Russians need in command out here is another politically correct oaf like the political officer Moscow sent out to replace the commander the Eastern Union armies.

  ******

  Danovsky pretended he did not know about his pending replacement and arrest. Instead he alerted his guards and waited. Sure enough, the next day some of his senior political officer’s subordinates walked into Danovsky’s outer office and arrogantly demanded to see him immediately “on a matter of great importance.”

  They were politely shown into a conference room and informed that Danovsky would be with them in a few minutes. Unfortunately for them, about a dozen heavily armed and carefully selected airborne troops arrived instead of Danovsky.

  “Follow me, Comrades,” ordered the Lieutenant leading them. He ignored their commands, and then their offers and pleas, and took them to an abandoned basement room. It had once been used to store coal for a nearby furnace.

  “Now,” said the lieutenant, a pug-faced and stocky officer who’d been born in Siberia to political prisoners and served as an enlisted man in Afghanistan, “let’s talk about why you are here. Unfortunately for you, we received word that the Chinese have bribed some Moscow officials and army political officers to assassinate General Danovsky and surrender to the Chinese.

  “And here you are,” he says menacingly as he cocked his head with a questioning look.

  “Oh no, comrade lieutenant, you are wrong. We are here on official business.” That from the Lieutenant Colonel who had arrogantly demanded to see Danovsky.

  “Oh, and what exactly, very exactly, is that official business, Comrade Colonel.” He asked the question very softly.

  “We’re not allowed to say. Orders you understand.”

  “Oh yes, well that’s a pity.”… “And do you know what you are supposed to do but aren’t allowed to say, Captain?” He said mildly to the officer standing next to the colonel.

  “Of course I know,” he said irately, “and if you know what’s good for”…

  The shot reverberated in the room and a plume of the luckless captain’s blood and brain matter splattered the dirty concrete wall and the lieutenant colonel standing next to him.”

  “Perhaps you know, Major?” the airborne lieutenant inquired mildly of the officer standing on the other side of the lieutenant colonel.

  “Yes, of course. I will tell you,” said the wide-eyed and trembling political major as he stared in horror at the body slumped against the wall with its legs still spasming and the rapidly spreading pool of the blood because the captain's heart was still pumping.

  According to the major, they had been ordered to arrest Danovsky, Turpin, and three other officers; then take them to the Khabarovsk prison and shoot them. Orders from Moscow.

  “And who ordered you to do this?”

  “General Tretyak. About an hour ago. He and his deputy commissar, General Tolovko, are to replace Generals Danovsky and Turpin.”

  “And who told General Tretyak to arrest him and who else knows of the order besides those two and the officer who decoded the message?”

  “Well, General Tretyak said it was ordered by the defense minister. But I am not sure of that. Colonel Kaletski was there when the general told us what we are to do. I think there is no one else.”

  We were in Danovsky’s conference room and could hear the faint sound of gunshots coming from somewhere in the building.

  ******

  “Generals Tretyak and Tolovko, and Colonel Kaletski,” the breathless airborne lieutenant told the stocky woman serving as General Tretyak’s receptionist, “are needed at army headquarters as soon as possible. General Danovsky has been arrested and there are reports of a major Chinese incursion.”

  If anyone had asked who sent him the lieutenant would have said that it was a lieutenant colonel commissar he did not know. Neither the receptionist nor Tretyak asked.

  An hour later a flash message informed Moscow that Generals Tretyak and Tolovko had been revealed as being in the pay of the Chinese and, quite unfortunately, had been killed along with some of their staff while trying to escape to China.

  ******

  We landed in a rainstorm and Moscow was as bleak and unpleasant as always. But the Military Committee knew that General Kafanov had hitched a ride with us and had sent a car to meet him. To my surprise, and without even asking, I was invited to accompany General Kafanov and join him when he made his report.

  Colonel Lindauer had come with me to be my interpreter. The conference room where we met was full of senior officers including General Petrov. The new president of Russia, however, was nowhere to be seen.

  An hour later I nodded my head in agreement as General Kafanov concluded his report:

  … “accordingly, we have been ordered by General Danovsky to dig in and every unit is expected to stand firm and fight. The reality, of course, is that the Chinese will concentrate their forces and are likely to be able to break through because our troops are strung out in a thin line all along the four thousand kilometers of border.”

  Then, and perhaps making a career and life-threatening mistake and not knowing it, Kafanov associated himself from Danovsky.

  “General Danovsky, wisely in my opinion, is erecting additional defensive positions at Khabarovsk and at several locations along the Trans-Siberian Railroad in case such a breakthrough occurs.”

  Kafanov obviously did not know these guys have a contract out on Danovsky. He probably would have been more circumspect about his support if he had known.

  A stocky 60ish civilian in a rather fine brown suit sitting next to General Petrov grunted audibly at Kafanov’s conclusion and then turned to me and asked, rather nastily, “and you, General Evans, why are you here?”

  “I’m here to provide you with your ally’s analysis of the situation and to tell you what we are willing to do to help you because of the treaty—and what we are not willing to do.”

  Brown suit grunted his acknowledgement so I continued with the Russians' translator chattering away as I spoke.
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  “It is my professional opinion that General Danovsky is taking exactly the right steps if Russia is to have any hope at all of defeating the Chinese without using nuclear weapons. The fact that a professional soldier like Danovsky is in command, instead of one of your political generals, is the only reason that I have recommended that the United States continue to provide food, supplies, and money for your troops.”

  Then I got a bit pissed and more than a bit insulting, though I think only a few of them realized it.

  “Frankly, meeting all of you here, instead of at the front, helps me to understand why you lost the last war so quickly. One of the reasons was that you appointed political officers to commands they weren’t qualified to hold; another was that you tried to run the war from a great distance. And the third was that you ignored the interests and concerns of your allies.”

  Then I issued a warning though once again I’m not sure they all understood it. “All and all, it sounds to me, from what I have seen of the orders you have been issuing from thousands of kilometers away from the front, that Russia is about to again make the same stupid mistakes and lose another war.”

  “You speak very bluntly, General Evans, but why should we listen to you? The United States broke our agreement.”

  “No we didn’t. The United States agreed to come to Russia’s aid if the Chinese attack. And that is exactly what we are doing. Who the hell do you think is feeding and paying your men out there? You sure as hell aren’t.”

  Then, after a pause while the translator caught up, I continued in the same tone.

  “Personally, I don’t give a rat’s ass who wins the coming war. Both your countries keep your people in poverty by restricting their freedom and not applying your laws equally. But I’m a loyal soldier and my Commander in Chief has ordered me to help you. So, despite my personal loathing for your miserable system of government and how you mistreat your people, I shall do so to the best of my ability.”

  Some of the men sitting around the room were clearly seething and outraged by the time their translator finished translating what I said; others, however, were leaning forward with great interest and studying me intently. Several of the younger civilians in the room, however, silently nodded in agreement.

  ******

  My flight from Moscow to Reims was uneventful. We had the Starlifter, we were going home empty, and I was exhausted. So I put a rubber air mattress and sleeping bag on the floor and slept most of the way using my rolled up Russian field jacket for a pillow. So did Peterson, Shapiro and Teniers. General Kafanov and Colonel Lindauer will catch a Russian military flight from Moscow back to Khabarovsk.

  Someone had obviously radioed ahead that we were coming because there was a car and a protection squad of The Detachment’s Marines waiting when we landed at Riems. Forty minutes and an extended family hug later and I was sitting in my overstuffed easy chair with a big smile reading a new Doctor Seuss to my son and daughter. Then I told Ann all about the trip and took a long hot shower.

  I just don’t quite get it about the appeal of Dr. Seuss. But Susan and John Christopher love his books and that’s all that counts.

  Tomorrow I would be going to visit The Detachment and then head to Brussels to get an update on how NATO is doing in terms of getting our troops back to their homes. And sometime during the next few days I’d like to once again check out the repairs underway in Heidelberg at Campbell Barracks, the headquarters of the United States European Command. I’ve also developed a periodic toothache and need to visit the army dental clinic there.

  Campbell Barracks’ repairs were being done by a German contractor because the headquarters building was heavily damaged by a Russian airborne attack at the beginning of the recent war. In the past it was the de facto NATO headquarters. Now, and until we move back in, both the American and NATO headquarters will in Brussels in fact as well as in name.

  Hopefully the Chinese have not yet penetrated Moscow to the extent that Russian intelligence penetrated Brussels and Campbell Barracks. But, being realistic, they probably had. On the other hand, it didn’t work for the Russians so maybe we can pull a similar fake on the Chinese by feeding them the plans the Russians won’t be following. But how?

  Chapter Seven

  Another trip to the Russian East.

  When I got to The Detachment the next morning, Charlie Safford introduced me to his new aides, Captain Jerry Carpenter and Master Sergeant Vern Hurlburt, “Special Operations guys who did real good in Turkey.” Then he had Captain Carpenter pin up the latest satellite photos of the Russian choke points and the defensive positions being constructed at Khabarovsk and north of Vladivostok.

  Danovsky had obviously lit a fire under his engineers. The two choke points in the mountains seemed to be making real progress. Let’s hope they never have to be used. I wonder where they are going to hide the fire control observers?

  After we talked about the disposition of the Russian forces, we went over The Detachment’s shipment schedule for the penetration teams’ pallets and explosive packs. They had begun piling up unshipped because of delivery delays for certain crucial items. Worse, they could be delayed for as long as three more weeks if we waited for everything to arrive. Do we have that much time?

  Captain Carpenter made everyone ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch and we ate them while we studied the maps of the areas between the choke points and the border. Got to remind myself to bring some mustard and lettuce next time.

  After lunch The Detachment’s analysis team headed by Jack Brigham and his new deputy, Terry Adams, briefed us on the targets in China, mostly bridges, that they think will need to be knocked out to stop the Chinese from bringing up supplies and reinforcements.

  Brigham’s photo analysis guys have also begun looking for the Russian bridges that might need to be cut if the Chinese reach the choke points, and also where small teams of Russian partisan infantry and swimmers might be able to hole up within a days walk while they wait for orders to hit the Chinese-controlled bridges and transportation.

  Then our two new armor experts, Lieutenant Colonels Peter Marshall and Charlie Rutherford, suggested locations where General Danovsky might be able to stash “partisan armor units” to fall upon the Chinese rear and the routes their raids might take. They cautioned us that before the Russians actual select a location they should put someone on the ground to check it out, along with the routes in and out of it, to see if the ground is strong enough to handle armor. They didn’t say it, but they obviously don’t trust the Russian maps. Neither do I. Tanks and APCs don’t do well in swamps.

  Danovsky’s basic plan, if the Chinese broke though his border defenses, was to hold out at Khabarovsk and Vladivostok while his main force slowly and deliberately fell back westward along the railroad to the choke points in front of Arkhara.

  When the Chinese got deep enough into the Russian mountains and the winter cold arrived, he would cut them off from their supplies and reinforcements and let them wither and die, just as the Russians did long ago to Napoleon and the Germans. Danovsky's partisan infantry attacks and armored raids behind the Chinese lines would merely speed up the process, or so he hoped.

  Could Danovsky's Russians do that? Probably not. What was more likely to happen was that the Russian retreat would be disorganized and chaotic just as America's was in the face of the Chinese invasion during the Korean War and Napoleon’s was in Russia.

  Perhaps the best news for the Russians, besides the fact that the United States the UK were helping them, was that cutting the Chinese invaders off from their supplies and reinforcements would not require the air drops NATO's Special Forces had to use earlier this year to cut off the Russians and Iranians.

  Why no air drops? because Russia’s demolition swimmers could be carried to their entry points on the rivers by helicopters. Even the bridges in China could be hit by swimmers brought in by Russian helicopters if the helicopters refueled from pre-positioned fuel bladders on the Russian side of the border.

/>   Significantly, and perhaps the best news of all according to The Detachment’s analysts, was that only five Chinese bridges needed to be taken out. If those bridges went down the Chinese would have to replace them with pontoon-type bridges that could not handle rail traffic.

  ******

  “Okay,” I said to Charlie after we finished our meeting with The Detachment's staff and were able to talk privately, “I’m pretty sure Danovsky’s officers will try to do the right thing with the equipment and supplies we are sending out to them. But I’m not at all sure they know how. So you and me and our aides, and Colonels Marshall and Rutherford, are going to have to join Jack out there to monitor the situation and provide low key guidance when the Russians ask for it.”

  Then I added the bad news and told Charlie what had to be done. He took notes and filled page after page.

  “I’ll probably have to come back to NATO sooner or later. So you and some of our guys will have to stay out there for a while, with you in command, to be our on-site link with Danovsky and his men—particularly you so that someone from The Detachment has more rank than the two brigadiers Bill Hammond sent out. They’re good guys but they don’t have the experience you have and I don’t want them calling the shots.

  “We also better take Bobby Geither with us so we can get a good handle on the signals situation and someone to handle photo interpretation. We’ll also need some of our Marines as drivers and guards; maybe Gunny Robinson, the new gunnery sergeant with all the tattoos, and half a dozen of the other single Marines. Same as before, we’ll leave the married Marines like Corporal Afoa to guard this place so they can spend some time with their families.” And not leave widows and orphans with measly pensions if we run into trouble.