Eagle Guardian: The War of 2010

[James G]

May 16, 2019 20:45:16 GMT crackpot said:

It’s a relief knowing that if there are resources to throw at gratuitous Hollywood romps then we all aren’t radioactive

Perhaps we are but our governments have told us is only a 'little, safe' dose?

May 17, 2019 0:08:16 GMT Brky2020 said:

Is it worth the time for us to cast the main characters in the film?

What a good idea!
Male lead.
Female lead.
Male co-star (Russian Spetsnaz commander).

[crackpot]

1 Will Smith
2 Michelle Rodríguez
3 Daniel Craig

[forcon]

May 17, 2019 18:16:40 GMT crackpot said:

1 Will Smith
2 Michelle Rodríguez
3 Daniel Craig

I'd say Gerard Butler for the SEAL commander. I loath his character in Hunter Killer (well, I loath the whole damned film actually). 

[James G]

May 17, 2019 18:16:40 GMT crackpot said:

1 Will Smith
2 Michelle Rodríguez
3 Daniel Craig

Rodriguez is a choice which I like very much!

[forcon]

One Hundred and Fifty Seven

As there had been with the assault on Sakhalin, there was much debate about the continuation of Operation Baltic Arrow into Kaliningrad. There were Iskander missile batteries there with nuclear warheads, and although many of those had been blown to pieces by NATO airpower last night, Russia maintained a very large and very capable arsenal of tactical nuclear weapons.

If such weapons as those were going to be used, they would be used to defend Kaliningrad, many political figures throughout Europe reasoned. The Americans were more gung ho in their attitude, with NATO's military command structure largely support the concept of a ground invasion of Kaliningrad. Without one, s proper liberation of the Baltic States would be logistically impossible.

However, from the outside, it looked as though at least one of the Baltic States was doing a very good job of liberating itself.

The Lithuanian capital city of Vilnius was in the midst of a NATO (primarily CIA) sponsored rebellion against the occupying Russian forces. Such a thing had been in planning for weeks now, with Green Berets being quietly and efficiently sent into Lithuania and linking up with civilian and militia resistance groups to provide them with weaponry, training, and ammunition.

Some days ago, dissident Lithuanian Army units alongside civilian groups and NATO special operations personnel had sprung into action with bombings and ambushes across the city, which now tied down two full brigades of Belarusian and Russian occupying troops.

The rebels and commandos would mount hit-and-run attacks across the city, destroying convoys with guided missiles before withdrawing into underground safe houses both inside and outside of Vilnius itself. Efforts to track them down only led occupying forces into more traps and ambushes, with numerous helicopters being shot down with shoulder-launched missiles operated by American advisors.

All of this violence saw hundreds of casualties across Vilnius, with yet more of the city being destroyed in the fighting, but it also opened up the way for Allied ground forces to begin punching their way into Kaliningrad.

This was done by the majority of the Allies' I Corps, spearheaded, as usual, by the British 1st Armoured Division and the US 4th Infantry. Those two battle-hardened (by some descriptions, battle-weary) formations opened up the Suwalki Gap and stormed into Lithuania, marking the second stage of Operation Baltic Arrow.

Amongst neither unit were losses particularly high on that day. The Russians were engaged in a deliberate fighting withdrawal, covered by immense artillery strikes. Engagements on the ground occurred when enemy rear-guard units were overrun, but the sheer amount of tactical air power assigned to I Corps today prevented significant losses from being suffered by the Allies.

NATO warplanes, including massive American B-1Bs flying from Spain, dropped thousands of tonnes of munitions on withdrawing Russian ground forces. F-16s & F/A-18s were harassed by a smaller number of Sukhois and MiG-29s throughout the day, but Russian defensive efforts were hampered by the lack of coordination due to the loss of several of the Russian Air Forces' few A-50s. Russia’s air force had taken a ferocious beating throughout the war, and by now, there were few fighters available.

In addition to this, Russia’s surface to air missile systems had taken devastating losses from NATO strikes. Hundreds of missile launching systems were destroyed by tactical air strikes and many more had been taken offline during the NATO air campaign against Belarus and Kaliningrad. The bottom line was that NATO airpower had an almost free reign to strike Russian forces as they withdrew through the Lithuanian countryside at little risk to themselves.

Dutch and Polish mechanised and air assault units, operating under this same air cover, invaded Kaliningrad. The aforementioned political issues here were still prevalent, but the decision was taken to go onwards with this assault by NATO commanders back in Brussels. Had the units taking part in the attack been from some of the more militarily reluctant countries then there might have been an issue, but the Poles, for certain, had no problems with the offensive proceeding here.

The Dutch government was more hesitant, but Holland had been attacked from the skies since the first day of the war, while its soldiers, sailors, and airmen had died in great numbers in Poland; no resistance came from The Hague on this.

Dutch air assault troops yet again mounted attacks using American helicopters as well as those of their own Air Force. This time, losses were heavy, as pre-positioned anti-aircraft batteries engaged the attacking aircraft, with numerous Chinooks, Black Hawks, and Dutch Hueys & NH-90s shot down by systems such as the SA-19 Tunguska and MANPADS.

These casualties, while significant, weren’t enough to deter the Dutch from capturing several major highway nodes against substantial resistance from the shattered remnants of the 1st Motorised Rifle Division, with those units soon being reinforced by Polish tanks.

[lordroel]

First, another good update.

Second, a question for James G and forcon, what chapter are we now, it seems to change some times and is a little bit hard for me to keep track of due posting it in the News Feed

[James G]

May 17, 2019 19:46:47 GMT lordroel said:

First, another good update.

Second, a question for James G and forcon , what chapter are we now, it seems to change some times and is a little bit hard for me to keep track of due posting it in the News Feed

lordroel - we are in Part Seven and also right at the end of August 2010 too.
forcon - you mentioned Amsterdam in the update but, as I'm sure many of our prominent Dutch members would tell you, and I know too because I am super clever, the capital & seat of government is in The Hague.

[lordroel]

May 17, 2019 20:02:41 GMT James G said:

May 17, 2019 19:46:47 GMT lordroel said:

First, another good update.

Second, a question for James G and forcon , what chapter are we now, it seems to change some times and is a little bit hard for me to keep track of due posting it in the News Feed

lordroel  - we are in Part Seven and also right at the end of August 2010 too.
forcon - you mentioned Amsterdam in the update but, as I'm sure many of our prominent Dutch members would tell you, and I know too because I am super clever, the capital & seat of government is in The Hague.

Nope, you are wrong, the James G , the Netherlands has two capitals, namely Amsterdam and The Hague:What Is The Capital Of The Netherlands ore as Wikipdia says.

Capital and largest city: Amsterdam.

Government seat: The Hague.

[lordbyron]

It's One Hundred and Fifty Seven, forcon.

Good updates, though...

[lordroel]

May 17, 2019 20:30:17 GMT lordbyron said:

It's One Hundred and Fifty Seven, forcon.

Good updates, though...

That was what i was saying, thanks lordbyron

[forcon]

Changed the chapter name and moved it to The Hague as I was referring to the feelings of the Dutch government, which i now no is seated there. Sorry, long day.

[James G]

May 17, 2019 20:07:02 GMT lordroel said:

May 17, 2019 20:02:41 GMT James G said:

lordroel  - we are in Part Seven and also right at the end of August 2010 too.
forcon - you mentioned Amsterdam in the update but, as I'm sure many of our prominent Dutch members would tell you, and I know too because I am super clever, the capital & seat of government is in The Hague.

Nope, you are wrong, the James G , the Netherlands has two capitals, namely Amsterdam and The Hague:What Is The Capital Of The Netherlands ore as Wikipdia says.

Capital and largest city: Amsterdam.

Government seat: The Hague.

Not as smart as I thought I was!

[Brky2020]

Male lead. -- Dwayne Johnson
Female lead. -- Blake Lively
Male co-star (Russian Spetsnaz commander). -- Jason Isaacs

[James G]

May 18, 2019 0:53:36 GMT Brky2020 said:

Male lead. -- Dwayne Johnson
Female lead. -- Blake Lively
Male co-star (Russian Spetsnaz commander). -- Jason Isaacs

Good choices there.

[James G]

One Hundred and Fifty–Eight

Operation Noble Sword continued as NATO forces entered Belarus. The US V Corps moved across the border from Poland and entered the territory of Russia’s closest ally. There remained troops of both Belarus and Russia on Polish soil, caught up in pockets of various sizes, but instructions from General Petraeus were that those were to be left behind. SACEUR issued those orders which his subordinates General Mattis – commander of CJTF–East – and General Ryan (who headed the V Corps) followed. There were some misgivings expressed from each of those two other men to their superior about not fully overcoming those forces of the destroyed First Guards Tank Army beforehand, but SACEUR wanted them to continue advancing. That other field army, Russia’s Thirty–Sixth Army, was yet to be fully in-place to stop Noble Sword. Petraeus wanted to catch the Russians on the move.

The V Corps did just that. American and Polish forces led the drive into Belarus with the French following them. This was over the northern and central sections of the border. They went forwards through small-scale but messy fights with Belorussian Border Guards & Interior Troops before then engaging the Russians on a ground of NATO’s choosing. There were two Russian divisions – the 21st Guards and 122nd Guards Motor Rifle Divisions – who were faced by twice the number of opposing NATO formations. That numerical advantage was important on the ground especially since the Russians hadn’t dug-in anywhere. In the skies above, NATO had almost complete control of the air. A few times, Russian fighters might show up but their only real opponent were air defences. More effort was spent on hitting them than allowing attack missions to take place against ground forces for Ryan’s liking but he had the air cover he needed. They were able to help get the Russians where he wanted them. The Polish 11th Armoured Cavalry Division was first into combat followed by the US 1st Cavalry Division. Each of them engaged an opposing division in a mobile battle spread over a huge area of northeastern Belarus. It was a costly fight for both sides. Once it got going, the US 1st Armored Division and also France’s Division Rapiere got involved, taking on the Russians from the flanks and behind too where possible. This was a fight which Russia at once started to lose. Withdrawal orders came from their higher command. They started to fall back from a fight they had only just gotten involved in after being ambushed. This wasn’t easy to do at all though. The V Corps sought to stop a retreat and if they couldn’t stop it, then they’d make the Russian’s pay for trying. The 122nd Guards suffered the most when fighting both the Americans and the French. This was a second-rate formation which had come to Belarus all the way from Siberia. It didn’t have the best of anything: weapons, men or communications. They were fighting some of the best forces that NATO had to offer. Half of the division was lost before the remainder could get away. The 21st Guards – again out of Siberia – did a little bit better in combat though was still forced to run away from the fight. A quarter of their initial strength was gone, left behind dead or prisoner. The retreat was one made in disarray and one which came under furious air attack from above.

The battle of the border had been won by the V Corps and those forces which had already gone across continued their advance into Belarus. Ryan’s command was rather large with more than just those four divisions. There was the still unused US 101st Air Assault Division sitting in Poland. They weren’t yet to see action neither inside Belarus nor against the pockets of enemy forces left inside Poland. They’d be wasted going up against the latter and in the case of the former – entering Belarus – a later operation (drawn up by Mattis’ planning staff) awaited them. A big airmobile move was being readied for them. Previously-engaged NATO units who’d come off worse for wear when stopping the Russians during their earlier advance into Poland were moved closer to the frontlines inside Poland’s Podlachia region. The US 3rd Infantry & German 10th Panzer Divisions remained with the German-Dutch I Corps and set about eliminating those pockets. It was hard going for each of them with the Germans joined by Slovenian troops and the Americans there consisting of many reinforcements which had come from the mainland United States to replace immense earlier losses. This was all not a fight for the V Corps anymore.

In addition to the 101st Air Assault, Ryan had another division of Poles and one of Italians as well. Centring on the occupied Polish city of Biala Podlaska and with the main road linking Brest and Warsaw, Highway-2, through the middle of it, was what was being called the Podlaska-Brest Bulge. NATO forces were on three sides though the Belorussians and Russians caught inside still had an avenue of escape back into Belarus to the east. The Bug River formed the border between the two countries and was the way out of the Bulge should they flee. No order had yet to come for those on the ground there to withdraw. Those were First Guards Tank Army elements from many smashed-up formations, while reaching Brest in recent days was the third of the Thirty–Sixth Army’s divisions. The smaller pockets of resistance left on Polish soil could be, and had been, bypassed by the V Corps but not this one, especially with that fresh 131st Motor Rifle Division sitting around the excellent communications centre of Brest with all of its road links. The Polish 12th Mechanised Division remained fixing in-place the majority of those inside the Bulge – holding a large stretch of the frontlines – but the Italians were ordered by Ryan to go forwards. Mattis had granted the V Corps’ commander his request for the attachment of a reinforcing attacking unit direct from CJTF–East’s central control to see the attack succeed.

It was the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment which led the Italian Division Centauro into Poland. The Blackhorse Cav’ was a training unit of the US Army based in California which had shipped over to Europe early in the war. They’d been guarding the approaches to Warsaw for some time, far in the rear and meant to be the last line of defence against a sudden breakthrough. They’d stayed there when they were needed elsewhere due to the worry that should the Russians make a dash for Warsaw, Polish resistance could have collapsed. Now the Blackhorse Cav’ went into Belarus. They struck to the north of the Bulge: between where the Bug was on the right and the near-impassable Białowieża Forest on the left. The Americans led the Italians towards Brest and through southwestern Belarus. They came right from behind, surprising their opponents by their presence and the rush forward aiming to get to Brest and cut off the Bulge. Italian A-129 Mangusta attack helicopters joined with US Army Apaches in blasting the way forward through flank screen forces. Brest lay ahead and that Russian division scrambled to intercept them. There was going to be a major fight outside of Brest with only one winner due to emerge. Whomever that was would control the fate off all of those Belorussian & Russian forces – in a bad way but still capable of fighting – stuck over in Poland. Commanders on both sides waited for news…