by Andy Farman
“NATO suspects that these were pre-positioned mines. Fifteen minutes after the attacks on the picket boats the surface combat task force which was backing up the boats came under air attack from TU-160 ‘Blackjack’ bombers with heavy fighter CAP support.” Shaw paused, determined to get some reaction from the man.
“What happened?” was all he got.
“Of a total of nine NATO ships in the task force, one destroyer and two frigates, USS MacGowan, the German frigates Koln and Berlin were lost with all hands, another frigate, the French Tours later sank after the crew were forced to abandon her. The light carrier HMS Invincible was severely damaged and is under tow. All the remaining vessels received damage but are still combat effective although HMS Ardent has Invincible in tow until an ocean going tug can reach her, however…” he paused for a second.
“There is a breakout by enemy submarines in process into the Atlantic, Invincible may not make it.”
The vice president looked confused, Shaw expected him to ask what was being done about the breakout and what efforts had been made to defeat the airstrike.
“The Sea Harriers from Invincible accounted for four Blackjacks and two Floggers but all but two were knocked down by the enemy CAP. SAM’s got another two Blackjacks and the two Harriers recovered to Bodø in Norway.” Shaw went on to report the attacks on Japan and Taiwan, airborne invasion of Singapore and possible preparations by China to invade Australia.
“Mr Vice President, CNN is right now broadcasting this; we have to get this thing on the ground and start running the country. If the president is still incapacitated then you need to speak to the nation and our allies. I would suggest that 40,000 feet over the Atlantic is not the most reassuring place to do that from, do you?”
The Vice President took a deep breath and wiped a hand over his face before answering.
“You are absolutely correct General. This has all come as a hell of a shock to me. I never anticipated being in this position, not really.” He stood and straightened his jacket.
“Ok, I’ll speak to the battle staff while you tell the pilot to put us down.”
Good, thought Shaw, I suppose we all get there at our own speeds and the man was at least making an effort at last.
Warsaw, Poland: Same time.
Returning home for the first time in three days, Joseph Ludowej entered his family’s apartment on Allee Jerozolimskie and immediately noticed something amiss. As the defence ministers personal secretary he had been far too busy to telephone since late in the night three days before, telling his wife that the country’s situation appeared desperate and he would be home when he could. His wife was a loving and understanding woman, the perfect wife and ideal mother to their three daughters. Standing inside the apartments main door he noticed that the atmosphere was cold, as if the home was emptied of its occupants. Normally the family Cocker Spaniel, Sofia, would have come bounding up to welcome him home, but there was no excited barking and scrabbling of nails on the tile floor, no sound of voices either, or even the TV.
He placed his briefcase on the floor beside the coat stand, then paused to listen midway through removing his overcoat.
“Karena, girls?”
There was no answer to his query. Weariness hung heavily about him as he completed the act of removing his overcoat. Perhaps Karena had taken the girls out for the evening, or to stay with her parents near Stupsk on the coast and no message had reached him. Many were leaving the cities as invasion once more threatened the small nation. He had been excluded, as were all the aides and personal secretary’s, from the meetings where the threat from the suitcase bombs had been discussed. When he had learnt of the plot just a few hours’ ago he had felt physically sick; the thought of losing his family in a nuclear holocaust did not bear thinking of. He loved his country but his family, Karena, eight year old Tamsin, Lucia aged six and little two year old Lulu, were his life.
The living room was empty and no notes were perched beside the telephone. He checked the bedrooms, bathroom and lastly the kitchen. All the rooms had been neat and tidy, the beds were made, no clothing was missing and all the suitcases were still in the hallway cupboard.
In the kitchen he saw the first sign that something evil had visited during his absence. A dark, thick line led from the lower edge of the oven door, as if something had overflowed from the baking tray within. The trail led to the floor where it had pooled but not yet fully congealed, being only a few hours’ since it had been spilt. Joseph had opened the oven door, gasped in horror and sat down heavily. The Cocker Spaniels head had been completely severed from its body and the complete carcass stuffed inside where gravity had drawn out the blood from the inverted body. Moments later the telephone rang.
Germany: Same time.
1CG, 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards, were dug in on the reverse slope of a hillside overlooking the River Wesernitz between the small towns of Barraute and Muhlsdorf, two companies up, one back, covering a frontage of over a mile. 1CG was at the centre of 3 (UK) Mechanised Brigades one up, two back, line. To the brigades left was a German armoured brigade and to the right another mechanised brigade, this one being Canadian.
At the tip of 1CG’s line, a west/east oriented hill, there were forward positions prepared for infantry to provide direct fire but these were ‘cammed up’, camouflaged and empty. The Royal Engineers had cleared some fields of fire on the opposite bank to assist the battalion direct fire against any frontal crossing.
Direct fire support was going to be provided from the ridge to the Guards rear in the forested ground dominating the road that appeared to be on the likely axis the enemy forces in Czechoslovakia would take toward Dresden. No. 1 Company was on the left covering Barraute with a platoon fortifying the small hamlet across the river from the town. The Royal Engineers had mined the bridge to blow along with the west bank. The western riverbank was very low and invited an assault by armour. The Commanding Officer, Lt Col Hupperd-Lowe had placed a Milan Section from the Anti-Tank Platoon at the rear of the small copse between the river and the road which cut behind into the forest. The Milan crews were dug in deep with good overhead cover and had also prepared several positions inside the copse they would occupy after any preparatory barrage had worked it over. He desperately needed anti-tank mines to cover his left flank between the riverbank and the wood line but Britain had destroyed much of their stocks so that the previous PM could strut his stuff as a world leader, leading by example. Lt Col Hupperd-Lowe had dispatched five trucks from the MT section to Poland to collect anti-tank mines from a colonel whose acquaintance he had made on a recent combined exercise with the polish army. The Poles had a glut of the things; all were of old Soviet manufacture and they were now put to good use against their former owners.
A Squadron of the Kings Royal Hussars, Challenger IIs were well to the rear, with several fighting positions dug forward for each of their tanks to go hull down in. They would not move into those position until the word was given to do so.
A Battery of 12 Regiment RA, Royal Artillery, 108 Self-Propelled High Velocity Missile Systems (SP HVM) and Blowpipe and Rapier anti-aircraft missiles were the battalion’s principal air defence means. Two Blowpipe shoulder launched weapons were with each rifle company and sited in well-camouflaged positions about the area. The battalion recce platoon was forward of the battalion area along with the West Yorkshire Yeomanry, a TAVR unit in Landrovers. Had this taken place just a few years ago, the Yeomanry would have had the benefit of Scimitar, Striker and Spartan CVR (T) fast tracked armoured vehicles. Mexico now owned those vehicles and the Yeomanry’s open topped, soft skinned ‘Rovers’ were far inferior. The only plus they had were the Milan posts on the wheeled vehicles. The CVR (T)s 30mm Rarden cannons could not defeat a MBTs armour, Milan could. The Regulars always refer to the part-time soldiers of Britain’s reserves as ‘Weekend Warriors’, and other even less flattering derivatives thereof, however they were performing a task vital to the Guards battalion, reporting on the enemy moves as
they fell back. Also out ahead of them were a mobile Section from the battalion Anti-Tank Platoon, they had prepared several possible tank ambush sites in likely spots, incorporating mines. When the enemy came, the plan was for them to converge on the best one, dictated by the enemy moves, and liaising with the Army Air Corps Lynx and Apache helicopters they would stage one planned ambush before dispersing and harassing the enemy armour as the platoon withdrew to the battalion lines.
The CO had worked out a good plan with the FAC, forward air controller, he had from the RAF, and they would be sharing the air assets with 2LI on their left and 1 Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders on their right.
The brigade had in depth, a TAVR battalion, 7th/8th Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders. Despite traditional rivalry the Coldstreamers CO was more than happy to have these regiments as neighbours.
His own battalion was now up to strength with some to spare, having ‘stolen’ 7 Company from 2CG, which was after all in suspended animation; it existed only on paper, to be reformed by reservists. 2CG were being reformed now in the UK, but future events would dictate whether it took the field as a unit or merely supplied replacements. Many of the men now in fighting positions had left the regular army but now found themselves back, and they had to make the transition away from their ‘civvy’ way of thinking and back to professional soldiering once more. This transition was not going easily for some; they didn’t want to be there and made no bones about it, in some cases some old fashioned ‘little chats’ by NCOs had been needed to assist the transitional process.
The brigades support company, mortar platoon commanders and the Royal Artillery heavy battery’s had thrashed out a fire plan that was comprehensive. The RA had been busy with laser range finders all along the brigade front, DFs, defensive fires, had been plotted and marked. If they enemy did not cooperate by using the plotted sites then those same sites acted as reference points for calling in adjusted fire.
32 Regiment RA, a divisional asset, could be called upon if the brigade recce troops found a sufficiently juicy target for that regiments MLRS, multiple launch rocket system, to perform the devastating ‘grid square removal’.
40 Field Regiment RA’s AS90 self-propelled 155mm guns would provide their main exterior fire support augmenting the battalion’s own light 51mm and medium 81mm mortars.
The CO of 1CG could also employ the battalion’s Warrior AFVs with their 30mm Rarden cannon against enemy APCs and infantry, however, he was not foolish enough to believe the fight was going to be fought and won on this spot. Optimistically he hoped to hold for 48 hours but knew it was likely to be nearer 24. He wanted to preserve his AFVs for the withdrawal to fresh positions when the time came.
Although the battalion had good crews on its Milan’s and NLAW, light anti-armour weapons. The Hussars Challenger IIs had British Aerospace L30, 120mm rifled CHARM main guns and would be the principle tank killer in the coming fight. The CO had never worked with these particular ‘tankies’ before and had several meetings with the squadrons OC, outside of the formal briefings. He was confident the squadron commander, Major Darcy was on the ball and the squadron were anxious to show what they could accomplish.
2 Company, 1CG had an arcing front that went from the forested slopes at the Battalion’s centre to Muhlsdorf. The platoon in the town had a limited view owing to a railway embankment that skirted the flood plain whilst following the line of the river. Beyond that embankment was tank country and the enemy could punch his MBTs and APCs right past Muhlsdorf and into the 1 Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders at Liebethal. That was where the railway curved south and the enemy armour would have to mount the embankment at the end of its charge across the flood plain. 2 Company had OPs dug into the embankment to provide it some eyes.
If the enemy took the quick route bypassing Muhlsdorf, or using it to flank the forested hill that dominated the highway, then the RAF and MLRS would have a field day. If however, they came through Lohmen, the town to the Battalion’s east and chose to fight through Muhlsdorf to gain the western bank there, 2 Company and the Hussars would have a fight and a half on their hands.
CSM Colin Probert had arrived in the Battalion to find he was still a fifth wheel, as was Stevie Osgood. The battalion had its full quota of WO2s and sergeants, but the CO recognised that only the best infantrymen are chosen to instruct at Brecon, so he had Colin commanding the battalion spares, now numbering forty-six, as a QRF, quick reaction force.
At this moment in time Colin had a slight problem, thirty-three of his oversized ‘platoon’ were reservists, the longest had been out of the Army seven years but whereas most were knuckling down with varying degrees of determination, there was a hard core of malcontents. It was the job of the section commanders to change the ways of these born again civilians, and they had the support of the platoon sergeants and platoon commanders in making it happen.
On the day that the Arab terrorists bombed Washington, Colin was summoned to an ‘O’ Group with the CO, he entered the COs FV 435 armoured command vehicle having unloaded his weapons outside. As a common sense rule, salutes and ‘pulling the feet in’ are dispensed with when the battalion is in its tactical role, you do not point out the officers for enemy snipers…unless of course the man is a total wanker! Colin knew the CO from when he himself had been a Buckshee Guardsman and the CO his platoon commander.
“Take a pew Sarn’t Major, I have a task for you.” He said as Colin stooped to enter the cramped space.
Colin got out his notebook and made ready, the CO had a map ready on the board beside him.
“At about lunchtime the first enemy units crossed the border into Germany, as expected these are recce troops and elements have advanced to within sight of Lohmen to our east. The snipers from Recce Platoon have been watching a BRM-1K recce vehicle and its crew in the woods north of Lohmen.”
Colin had a nasty feeling he knew where this was leading, if the vehicle and crew were bothersome the CO could have it taken out by a variety of means, without the PBI, poor bloody infantry, having to go anywhere near it. Colin knew the BRM-1K was the reconnaissance variant of the BMP, a good piece of kit but getting on a bit. It had a PSNR-5K Battlefield Surveillance Radar, NATO code-named it a ‘TALL MIKE’ radar, mounted in the rear part of the turret. The vehicle also has an IMP mine detector, DKRM-1 laser rangefinder and ARRS-1 location device. It was the battlefield radar and the ARRS-1, which would be of concern to Colin, if he had guessed what the CO wanted. The radar would pick them up if they stalked it, and if they knocked it out the ARRS-1 would alert the enemy main force immediately when it was destroyed. They could be dropping artillery down the back of his neck within minutes.
The CO finished his lead up with.
“There is an officer with it, at present the vehicle is cammed up in the wood somewhere and the crew in OPs.” Pointing out exactly where on the map, the CO told him.
“The officer is about here, two men with him. It’s the furthest OP from the wood so its radar may not be covering them.” He had said ‘may not’ because there was some debate as to what ranges the TALL MIKE radar had.
Preliminaries dispensed with; Lt Col Hupperd-Lowe launched into his ‘Orders’ proper.
North Pacific: Same day.
HMS Hood had just received its ‘weapons free’ ROE via its trailing antennae, the captain informed the crew that they were now at a state of war with China, Russia and the former Warsaw Pact states that had re-joined the old Soviet fold. The news of the pre-positioned nuclear mines by North Cape had come as a blow to many, they had mates aboard the two missing RN submarines and some had wives who were friends with wives of the missing men. Devonport was going to be a very sad place.
Hood was now ordered to attack all enemy shipping, with enemy warships as priority targets. She already had tabs on the only two known carriers and her captain could think of no better way of avenging their shipmates.
As the Kuznetsov Group had steamed north, hugging the coastline, the Hood’s captain had trailed along so
utheast of them and still undetected within the picket boat sonar screen and where he had sea room if the unexpected occurred. It was a wise choice, because when the Kuznetsov had come about and slowed he had not had to sprint out of the way, making unnecessary noise. The Kuznetsov’s move had been a mystery until their hydrophones had detected the Mao Group coming down from the north.
Hood also heard the Russian Oscar and St Petersburg class submarines when they turned and the Irkutsk had come up to snorkel depth, using her diesels fed with air through the snorkel. She had charged her batteries and sprinted south with her missile boat charge, Admiral Dumlev.
Hood had reported all these events to Whale Island and Hawaii; she was now beginning her stalk of the carriers. The captain had ordered one Harpoon anti-shipping cruise missile loaded and the remaining tubes assigned the 60knot Spearfish torpedoes, which he intended using to start his attack, creeping them in at first at low speed from an oblique angle. Once the tubes were reloaded it would be with the UGM-84, 0.8 Mach speed Harpoons. They would be loosed as a salvo and the action would be repeated with a second salvo of Harpoons, before reloading with one Harpoon and the remainder of its 533mm tubes with the Spearfish once more.
The problem with using Harpoons was that if they were spotted as they broke the surface, they gave away the position of the submarine. The Hood’s captain intended approaching from the north and launching his Spearfish southeast, letting them run at low speed, once abeam the enemy ships he would turn them west, still closing at slow speed until the weapons electronic brains acquired targets, he would wait as long as he dared before accelerating them in at 70 knots. He knew that the ASW screen would detect them at some point, he just hoped that all eyes would be looking anywhere but north when he launched his Harpoon salvo.