The Second Battle of Britain - a Soviet Sealion

[forcon]

Good updates. The Iraqis will be facing little resistance on the ground with the state of Saudi forces. Sorry if it's some I missed, but are there any plans in Cairo for intervention in Saudi? IIRC they gave a pretty impressive show in OTL Desert Storm. British and French forces would be useful too, but without US heavy forces in significant amounts, it doesn't look good for the US.

Any word on the POWs? Would they be taken to the same prison in Baghdad as OTL, or to a more purpose built POW camp given their larger numbers?

[James G]

Aug 6, 2019 18:56:46 GMT forcon said:

Good updates. The Iraqis will be facing little resistance on the ground with the state of Saudi forces. Sorry if it's some I missed, but are there any plans in Cairo for intervention in Saudi? IIRC they gave a pretty impressive show in OTL Desert Storm. British and French forces would be useful too, but without US heavy forces in significant amounts, it doesn't look good for the US.

Any word on the POWs? Would they be taken to the same prison in Baghdad as OTL, or to a more purpose built POW camp given their larger numbers?

Thank you.
True that the Saudis aren't very good but they have some capability. Iraq has its own issues with its lead forces very far from home and many opponents now.
Egypt was something that occurred to me today too. I have mentioned them but expanded greatly upon that: we think similar things!
The UK and France are working up something I have yet to get my head around.

American POWs? I'd forgotten about them. I'll do something with that soon. Thanks!

[James G]

29 – Blitzkrieg


Among the invading Iraqi forces which had gone into Kuwait & Saudi Arabia, who at first had orders to go as far as Bahrain (impossible now), Qatar & the UAE, there were foreign military observers and advisers. The majority of them came from the Soviet Union and East Germany though there was a scattering of a few other nationalities too from across the Eastern Bloc countries. From Moscow and East Berlin, the instructions to their personnel deployed into the warzone were many yet at the very top was the priority given to not be captured… being killed wasn’t mentioned. They weren’t to go on combat missions no matter what the excuse where that could expose them to ending up in custody with that being milked for all that it was worth. There were no men captured yet deaths did occur among the military officers from overseas during the first days of Operation Lion 4. A Czechoslovak ground technician helping to keep Iraqi planes in the air was killed during an air attack when the Saudis struck at a target inside Kuwait, two East Germans were killed in an accidental explosion of captured ammunition stocks inside Saudi Arabia and there were a pair of Soviets lost too. One of the latter was killed by Iraqi heavy guns opening fire on their own side by mistake while the other lost his life when the Americans started using their naval air power over occupied portions of Saudi Arabia.

Other foreign observers and advisers were witness to the stalling of the Iraqi Blitzkrieg starting on the war’s sixth day. The rate of Iraqi military advances across significant distances through the desert was cut dramatically. There were many factors involved in this. Iraqi supply issues were always going to be a big deal but once the Americans joined with the Saudis and the Gulf Arab Monarchies in making series air attacks, these became crippling. The opponents of the Iraqi Army were wising-up too. Road signs along the highways which had been used had at first been left in-place – significantly aiding Iraqi navigation – but now came down ahead of their tanks. Many times when facing certain defeat, those in the way of the Iraqi Army juggernaut had concentrated on saving themselves and their warfighting equipment from capture if possible: now there was an effort to blow up fuel stocks & empty fresh water tanks ahead of disabling heavy gear. The terrain was changing too. The Iraqi offensive was still in the main concentrated in the Saudi’s Eastern Province, where the ad-Dahna Desert lay near to the Persian Gulf, but their now long, exposed inner flank faced the higher ground of the Najd. The Saudi inner uplands, the heart of the ‘old’ Saudi Arabia long before oil extraction made the coast so important, was held by Saudi forces in good defensive positions while orders from Baghdad had the Iraqi Army keep on lengthening that flank. The shoreline on the other flank became rather unfriendly too. If the island of Bahrain had been seized matters here might have been different. More than that though, the Iraqi Navy had already taken many losses from the Kuwaiti & Saudis before the Americans got involved. They were scouring the Gulf of all Iraqi warships and making that flank to the east look as exposed as the western one.

Rashid could read the map like his generals in the field could. He saw the danger of his forward spearheads going as far forward as they did. Yet, after his tanks took control of Dammam and Dhahran, he wanted them to strike south and southwest with the advance continuing. An attack southwards would head for the crossroads & communications centre of Hofuf (also known as Ahsa) to take control of that city and the nearby Ghawar oil field too. This would be as far now as that advance would go instead of any further towards the smaller nations up ahead. Striking southwest would now become the main effort. His tanks would follow Highway-40 right across the desert towards Riyadh. It sat in the Najd but close to the edge of that mountainous plateau. A seeming Iraqi intention to approach the Saudi capital from the north, after King Khalid Military City had been taken, was halted at the Iraqi leader’s direction rather than due to the mass of Saudi troops sent there. His current belief was that Riyadh could be taken by the ‘back door’ after the Saudis had their army drawn off like they had. Rashid wanted King Fahd’s capital city now rather than the Gulf coastline cities.

In encoded messages sent from the senior observers and advisers on the ground with the Iraqis, those foreign military officers close to the fighting reported back messages which, when collated, showed a near unanimous belief that while Hofuf and Ghawar might be possible to do, there was no chance that the Iraqis could take Riyadh. They were slowing down and didn’t have the momentum anymore. The Blitzkrieg wasn’t going to get Iraqi tanks into Riyadh almost everyone said.


Into Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE and also now Oman – that latter country’s pre-war cautionary approach to Iraq had been overturned following the start of the Second Gulf War – came what would later be called ‘Coalition forces’. A formal alliance against Iraq was still being organised yet when it was, it would be deemed the Coalition. It was the Americans who were arriving in these countries first ahead of forces from Britain and France. The remainder of the 1st Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division – which had lost a battalion at Dhahran – was now making its arrival in Bahrain. There were Iraqi missile attacks there and also serious domestic troubles (the Emir had fled to Dubai though was considering returning) on the island with blame for that lay upon Iranian agents. The American paratroopers landed alongside heavy guns, armour and helicopters: firepower that the men who had been overrun at Dhahran really could have done with on-hand there. The rest of the division was landing in both Qatar and the UAE. US Marines were arriving too. The lead elements of the 1st Marine Division reached Oman and the UAE during June 16th. It would be some time before they could fight, these paratroopers and marines, but they were on the ground and getting ready as well.

The US Air Force was here along the Gulf now too. It had been to King Abdulaziz Airbase outside Dhahran where there was supposed to be an operational base for combat aircraft with Bahrain too hosting them. These locations were either in Iraqi hands now or too close to the frontlines. Prince Sultan Airbase, south of Riyadh in the Najd, had been a fullback option but that also was now somewhere that the US Air Force didn’t want to deploy to when faced with the risk of Iraqi tanks rolling along the runways or a worrisome local situation. The Saudis were concentrating aircraft there themselves and the place wasn’t that big. Therefore, American air power would concentrate further back in Oman and in the UAE. They were bringing not just the F-15s and F-16s sent first but so much more in terms of combat and support aircraft. Many sites would be needed with urgent work done on infrastructure. The term ‘desert hose’, spraying the desert with money and watching what spouted in terms of military basing, would come about later.

Other countries were sending military forces to the Gulf with Britain and France working up a combined force to most likely join with the Americans there. Moreover, Saudi Arabia had gained the support of others from elsewhere too. They had allies who had a mutual opponent in Rashid-led Iraq and also the ability to effectively buy the friendship of several nations at their time of need. There would be token support given by many of these who lacked the ability to do what bigger powers were able to yet that wasn’t the case when it came to Egypt. President Mubarak had been waiting for Emir Jaber at the airport back on June 7th when Kuwait’s then ruler was assassinated on the way. He had then watched as days later Iraq’s armies went on the rampage. Preparations to fight Iraq had begun right away. Those were paying off with the start now of Egypt’s own military deployment into Saudi Arabia. The two countries were almost neighbours and relations hadn’t always been good between them yet Mubarak and King Fahd were together when it came to stopping Iraq.

Initial Egyptian arrival in Saudi Arabia was near to the northwestern city of Tabuk. King Faisal Airbase was here and there was the airlifting in of Egyptian paratroopers first for security purposes. Behind them came Mirage-5s and also F-16s. These would fly combat missions in Saudi skies. Israel got wind of this all before it began and kicked up a stink in Washington at the Egyptian’s actions. They too were opposed to Rashid’s Iraq, especially how the Soviets looked to be trying to create a bloc of friendly states from Syria through Iraq to Iran, but didn’t like the idea of the Egyptians being at Tabuk due to the strategic situation of that deployment putting them aside what Israel considered its flank. Regardless of Israeli complaints, it went on with American approval given to Cairo and reassurances sent to Tel Aviv. Military transports were also making flights in and out of King Faisal as they helped extend the Egyptian build-up. There were Egyptian ships and aircraft also crossing the Red Sea while more paratroopers flew to Riyadh to help the defences of that city, ones positioned to the north though and not to the east.

Later discovered by Israeli intelligence, much to their discomfort, Mubarak was also intimately involved in the Saudi missile attack against Iraq in the early hours of June 17th. American self-imposed restrictions on hitting Iraq itself for fear of striking Soviet forces in-country by accident had stopped them from launching Tomahawks from their warships & submarines but the Saudis had a different kind of missile in service and also the willingness to use such a weapon. From a still-incomplete site inside the Najd, the Saudis launched a trio of ballistic missiles with Baghdad as the target for them. These were Chinese-manufactured DF-3s (NATO designated them as the CSS-2) which could have contained thermonuclear warheads. They only had a conventional one though. Two missiles hit the Iraqi capital with the other going far astray into the desert – the missiles had only been purchased late last year and weren’t that reliable – as Saudi Arabia launched its own Blitzkrieg. The reactions in many countries to this missile strike, using such a weapon that it was considered possible that the Saudis possibly could attain a nuclear warhead for using Pakistani connections (speculation but not impossible), were those of grave concern. The military impact of the missile strikes was negligible but the political ones were big.

The war here was expanding worryingly beyond the projections of observers. No one knew what was going to happen next.

[James G]

30 – Stupid… or clever?


American-led Coalition naval forces were by the end of the war’s first week undertaking significant operations inside the Persian Gulf. Iraqi forces came under attack in and above the water as well as along the coastal shoreline. The US Navy had a large presence and they were joined by the Kuwaitis, the Saudis and a few ships of the other Gulf Arab Monarchies. Britain had a few warships in-place and the French had some too. The Australians were sending a ship but the Canadians had one already here by now. Pakistan naval forces remained on the other side of the Straits of Hormuz, over in the Gulf of Oman, due to indecision in Islamabad if they wanted to join in the fighting but there was a belief among many others than the Pakistanis would eventually come inside the Gulf soon enough (yet their army and air force would be appreciated more than ships).

The Iraqi Navy had taken major losses when the war started during fighting with their neighbours. The Kuwaitis and Saudis had hit them hard with ships sunk and others badly damaged. Rashid cared little for his navy in terms of preservation of strength and ordered them to continue fighting for as long as they could. This they did and so Iraqi sailors died for what was really no purpose. Iraq achieved nothing by operating at sea apart from seeing the deaths of so many young men. Using warships as well as civilian shipping taken over for military purposes, the invasion of Kuwait had been aided by the naval activity and this was followed by efforts to try and support the continuing drive down the Gulf past the Saudi coast towards Bahrain and Qatar. Rashid had initially hoped to see activity off the UAE too with the purpose of giving the Emiratis a fight close to their shores as well. However, the Coalition now ruled the waters of the Gulf.

Iraqi naval forces were massacred. Ships, submarines and aircraft attacked any vessel which they could locate whether it was at sea or in port. There was a block imposed by politicians on hitting Iraq itself and once the Iraqis cottoned onto this, some efforts were made by damaged ships to run for home. If they could make it to Umm Qasr… Iraqi waters were within the target range though, just not the Iraqi shoreline less there be Soviets forces which could be accidently engaged. Several Iraqi vessels, carrying wounded men, came very close to making it to home but didn’t get that far. Elsewhere though, rather than running for home, the Iraqis came out to fight. They tried to attack a far superior force making hit-and-run attacks. Aircraft above them in support from the Iraqi Air Force – a combined effort full of problems with communication and friendly fire – failed to protect the ships when the Coalition made air attacks. The wreckages of Iraqi fighters fell into the same waters which Iraqi ships sunk into. There were a few hits on Coalition vessels and some successes but this was, overall, not much of anything in the face of the defeat that Iraq took. Smaller Iraqi vessels were active along the Saudi shoreline near to the oil infrastructure which had fallen into Rashid’s hands following advances on land. From Riyadh, the message repeatedly came to not attack all of this because the Saudis wanted to take it all back soon enough with Coalition land forces. Care was therefore taken to not blown up platforms, pumping stations and terminals. Ships were a different matter though.

There was Iraqi naval activity again with smaller craft near to Bahrain. Iraqi Army tanks had seen the causeway linking the mainland to the island blown up in their faces but the orders came for the Iraqi Navy to land men ashore there. There was a rebellion in full swing, they were told, and the time was ripe to grab the island as well as inflicting another stinging defeat upon the Americans who were reported to be there on Bahrain. Iraqi marines failed to make the link up. Ships carrying them fresh from victory in Kuwait down along the Saudi coast were attacked. The naval craft closer to Bahrain would have seen any men they put ashore left unsupported. If they could have got close enough to Bahrain that was. CENTCOM – still in Bahrain though with serious consideration being given to moving to the UAE – ordered the USS Missouri and her surface action group to put an end to the Iraqi activity near the island. USS Yorktown, the air defence missile cruiser with her own flotilla, was closer to Kuwait and the Missouri would join her soon enough, but for now the Missouri was desired to rid the Bahrain area of the enemy. This was done, in quite the dramatic fashion. The battleship fired her guns in anger several times though most of the action came with Harpoon missiles from her and other warships. The French destroyer FNS Jean de Vienne was with the Americans and used a pair of her Exocet missiles as well as her own guns. It was high up in the skies where once more, here near Bahrain as was the case elsewhere, that aircraft saw the majority of action on naval missions. The Iraqis were having a torrid time in the skies.

That was the case too along the occupied Saudi coast. The Iraqi Air Force had no safety when operating overland. They not only had to face the Saudis in the sky – who had AWACS support; something quite significant – there but also US Navy aircraft from their carriers who were flying above Dammam, Kuwait and everywhere in between. When no Iraqi jets were encountered, ground attack missions took place. The payloads for carrier-borne aircraft this far from their carriers wasn’t that much but it would do. Bombs fell away from aircraft and hit Iraqi military targets on land with the Saudis fretting continuously about this when it came to collateral damage.


Both the Iranians and the Soviets had their own ships and aircraft in the Gulf. The former remained concentrated mainly away to the east near to the entrance through the Straits of Hormuz yet did have some (smaller) ships in the north. They stayed close to their own shores on what they declared were guarding missions against ‘foreign intrusion’. There was intrusion of Iranians waters by the Soviets and this went unanswered by the Iranians. The violations were small and didn’t incur close to land yet the Iranians knew all about them. They did absolutely nothing in response to this though.

The Soviet Navy was sending its answer to the Missouri, their battlecruiser Frunze, along with its escorts, through the Gulf of Oman on June 17th. In the meantime, the smaller flotilla they had afloat in the Persian Gulf was busy in and out of Iranian waters. When outside of them, they were near to where the Americans and Coalition forces were fighting the last of the Iraqis. In command of the US Navy in-theatre forces, the commodore aboard the Yorktown was left several times raging at the stupidity of the Soviets. They put themselves in the firing line on various occasions. He had to keep tight command of his assets less there be another accident. His incoming superior, an admiral operating from the Missouri at the moment, contacted the commodore and asked if the Soviets were purposely getting in the way of US Navy ships to save Iraqi forces from attack. Negative, came the response: they are just being stupid.

As this was reported up the chain of command, all the way to Washington ultimately, and there were questions from senior military officers and politicians about this apparent stupidity. Where the Soviets being stupid? Or were they being remarkedly clever instead with what they were doing and getting in the way to try to shield the Iraqis as best as possible?

[forcon]

Good work. I can't see the US holding off on striking Iraq proper for long with the losses taken already: last year's airstrikes against Assad were pulled off without Russian forces getting it (though it may have been a close run thing) so the military capability is probably there with smart weapons etc. B-52s flying out of Egypt and Tomahawks from ships in the Gulf could make life pretty difficult for Rashid.

[James G]

Aug 7, 2019 19:28:05 GMT forcon said:

Good work. I can't see the US holding off on striking Iraq proper for long with the losses taken already: last year's airstrikes against Assad were pulled off without Russian forces getting it (though it may have been a close run thing) so the military capability is probably there with smart weapons etc. B-52s flying out of Egypt and Tomahawks from ships in the Gulf could make life pretty difficult for Rashid.

Thank you.
Its political pressure, at home and abroad, which will keep the US from doing this at the beginning. The Saudis have no such qualms.
Things will likely change as this war just keeps growing and with that comes the danger of hitting the Soviets eventually, especially if they are playing games. Should that happen... well we might have a global war on our hands!

[sandyman]

James as usual with all of your stories another great chapter you have a very good writing style. The only other thing I can say is more please.

[James G]

Aug 8, 2019 17:33:19 GMT sandyman said:

James as usual with all of your stories another great chapter you have a very good writing style. The only other thing I can say is more please.

Thank you.
Oh, this will be a big story. There is so much I want to write with it - more than I planned for - and I'm enjoying writing it too.

[James G]

31 – Line in the sand


The Saudis had drawn a line in the sand. It ran across the desert north of where Hofuf lay. Behind it was that city and also the Ghawar oil field in addition the road leading to both Qatar and the UAE. The line was as far as the Saudis declared they would allow the Iraqis to advance. No more would they fall back and give over more of their country to the invaders. This attitude either impressed or appalled others. The determination to make a stand was something that many wanted to hear. Yet there were those who upon hearing this feared the worst: that the Saudis would throw everything away trying to defend a position leaving them unable to fight elsewhere.

The Iraqis moved down Highway-15 and into the Saudi line. Hundreds of Iraqi tanks and armoured vehicles were left out of the attack by the II Corps. They had been knocked out of action in ground combat, broken down due to crippling supply issues or been hit by air attacks. What the Iraqis were able to push into the fight in terms of armour was much less than they had first conquered Kuwait with. Regardless of the weakening of the force, the attack went ahead. Any delay was considered likely to weaken the attack rather than see it strengthened. The Iraqis were aware that the Saudis concentrated their forces here and went at them with the full knowledge that their opponents were making a stand. It was a battle that the Saudis wanted and the Iraqis gave them one.

The line in the sand held.

Iraqi air power was unable to influence the fight. It would be said afterwards that that was the defining factor in the failure of the II Corps to achieve its objectives. The line in the sand held because the Saudis and their Coalition allies were able to control the skies. They threw in a lot of that air power. Brand-new Saudi Tornado strike-bombers, still not that many in service after initial introduction only last year, conducted low-level air attacks to influence the fight close to the frontlines rather than hitting targets far behind the lines as had been seen before. The US Navy had brought their carrier USS Constellation up close to land, less than fifty miles off the coast of Oman, to add to the range and payload of its mass of aircraft which took part alongside the Saudis in engaging the Iraqis from above. The Gulf Arab Monarchies brought in their aircraft too, especially helicopters armed with whatever they could carry. Iraq’s mobile IADS (Integrated Air Defence System) was already in a sorry state. When fighting near Hofuf, the Americans focused particularly on hitting SAM-launchers and mobile anti-aircraft guns as well as the radars and command vehicles for the IADS. There was one squadron of their US Air Force F-16s combat capable now out of their UAE base and they were given the task of hitting air defences rather than tanks.

With the skies completely in enemy hands, the Iraqis took a beating from above. On the ground too, they ran into more of the enemy than expected. The Saudis were anticipated to be there but it was believed that the II Corps wouldn’t have to fight many troops from the GCC countries. In earlier fights, there had been cowardice shown where troops from both Qatar and the UAE fighting so far from home had either surrendered or fled. That wasn’t the case near Hofuf. There were different commanders, better discipline and also the realisation that they were close to home: if they didn’t stop the Iraqis here, soon the fighting would be in their homelands. Oman had sent troops to this fight as well. Their 23rd Brigade showed up midway through the fight with their British-built Chieftain tanks. Two dozen tanks shouldn’t have made much of a difference when there was already a big clash of armour going on, but the Omanis used them in the right place at the right time. A hole was torn between the two attacking divisions of the II Corps. The Saudis pushed their 2nd Brigade of their National Guard into that gap that their allies open up and successfully swung to the east while guarding their western flank. They’d gotten behind the Iraqi division on the eastern side and started attacking them from all sides. Other Iraqi forces, pinned down by air attacks, were unable to come to their aid. Once done with one, the Saudis and their allies turned on the other.

The armies of the Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia all operated versions of French-supplied AMX-30s which they used at Hofuf. These tanks held their own against Chinese-supplied Type-69s in Iraqi service. Iraq was known to operate better tanks though, ones which they had received from the Soviets (and Poles too who built these as well) in the form of T-72. That second Iraqi division operated many of these and they gave the Coalition forces a tough time. Only poor Iraqi handling of these tanks allowed for their opponents to survive. Then there was that air power called in once again, especially with armed helicopters in the service of several countries firing anti-tank missiles at the T-72s. The Iraqis, what was left of them, started to pull back. Coalition ground forces didn’t give chase. They let their air power do that. Those who’d held the line in the sand were unable to head north at the current time. Among these Arab troops, there were foreign military officers. The Americans, the British, the French and Egyptians all had key personnel present to witness the fight. They were sending their own ground forces to the Arabian Peninsula and wanted to know what kind of enemy they would face. They saw a lot at Hofuf but would have learnt more had they been just a little further to the west, over on Highway-40 which linked Dammam on the Gulf to Riyadh inland.

Iraq’s IV Corps went down that road. They made slow but steady progress as they pushed the Saudis back towards their capital. Despite this being the main Iraqi attack as far as Rashid back in Baghdad was concerned, it was dismissed by the Coalition as a diversionary effort. Even the Saudis didn’t believe that the Iraqis were serious here. They noted Iraq’s main strengths with their ground forces being far to the north of Riyadh close to King Khalid Military City (that being the I Corps) and the over to the east near Hofuf with their II Corps. An attack down this road was just supposed to distract Saudis efforts to complete their blockage outside of Hofuf. The town of Judah along the highway was as far as the Iraqis initially looked capable of getting as far as. They crashed through there and the Saudi troops in-place. And on they went further.

There would be no line in the sand to stop the IV Corps as they charged onwards. Rashid had his tanks heading towards King Fahd’s capital. Could they be stopped? Or were some unwelcome visitors about to take a tour of Riyadh?

[forcon]

Nice work. If Riyadh falls, that is going to cause some major domestic instability in Saudi. For a society that is based around a monarchy and proud Islamic traditionalism, a battlefield defeat like that will cause huge problems. To qoute a USMC drone operator when Saddam's boys came over the border to hit al Khafji in 91, "King Fahd's gonna be pissed."

[James G]

Aug 8, 2019 19:44:29 GMT forcon said:

Nice work. If Riyadh falls, that is going to cause some major domestic instability in Saudi. For a society that is based around a monarchy and proud Islamic traditionalism, a battlefield defeat like that will cause huge problems. To qoute a USMC drone operator when Saddam's boys came over the border to hit al Khafji in 91, "King Fahd's gonna be pissed."

Thanks.
The Iraqis have to get their first though.
The Saudis also promote themselves as defenders of Mecca and Medina as strong and custodians. They will be letting armed non-Muslim foreigners into the country and that will not play well in many places either.

[James G]

32 – Out of area


The United States’ European NATO allies didn’t want to see American forces envisioned for the defence of the continent in wartime sent to the Middle East. Yes, they agreed that Rashid needed to be stopped because their economies were taking a hit from the Second Gulf War, but they paid attention to the Soviet threat on the other side of the Iron Curtain too. The Americans weren’t removing their forward-deployed forces out of Europe but they were dispatching home-based forces to the Gulf. Again and again, upon news of each new addition to the war raging elsewhere made by the Americans, the Europeans were left concerned. What was based in the mainland United States all had a wartime role in Europe if need be. That was now being stripped away piece-by-piece. The Americans didn’t see things that way. They considered what they were moving to head to the Arabian Peninsula to be ‘out of area’ forces with those not directly assigned to a NATO role. There was a Capstone system that they had for elements of their armed forces and none of those units being moved were those in the Capstone system for Europe. Moreover, despite some recent issues, the Soviet Union was led by Gorbachev and there wasn’t a belief that such a man would take his country to war, invading Europe, at a time like this. At the Pentagon, they said that they knew what they were doing.

For ground forces, the Americans were deploying the US Army’s XVIII Airborne Corps and the I Marine Amphibious Force (I MAF) to the Middle East. There were four combat divisions with the former and another, reinforced one with the latter. The XVIII Corps would consist in-theatre – in order of arrival there – of the 82nd Airborne, the 101st Air Assault, the 9th Motorized and 24th Mechanized Infantry Divisions. The last one of these was the only heavy division and its peacetime strength was only of two brigades rather than the standard three as found elsewhere across the US Army. In peacetime, the 24th Mechanized Infantry had a brigade of national guardsmen from Georgia under command. This unit was being mobilised though it wasn’t going to the Gulf; a separate brigade of the US Army also based in Georgia and attached to the Infantry Training School was being sent in their place. Multiple smaller units of combat forces (including an armored cavalry regiment and a heavy infantry brigade of the US Army Reserve too) and also supporting troops were being attached to the XVIII Corps for their deployment. When it came to the US Marines, the I MAF was also taking reservists with them to the Gulf. The 1st Marine Division was joined by mobilised men from the 23rd Marine Regiment to add to their four standing regiments – all together forming what would be three combat brigades when the division saw action. The I MAF moved quickly all the way from California and Hawaii halfway across the world and while it would take some time to get it all in-place, the lead elements of the US Marines were in the region with haste.

It had been the US Air Force’s Twelfth Air Force which had been assigned to provide units to operate under CENTCOM in the Gulf. The Ninth Air Force hadn’t been stripped of assets to allow them to retain their commitment under Capstone to Europe but the US Air Force considered those of the 12th AF to not be tied to NATO roles. First it had been a wing of F-15s and another of F-16s which were being dispatched to the fight against Iraq but soon enough it was most of the 12th AF’s combat strength: another wing of F-16s, two of F-111s and one of F-4s rolled for the Wild Weasel mission. It wasn’t just the aircraft and aircrews but everything else including many Red Horse airfield combat engineering units too. To allow the 12th AF to operate so far from home and where there was little infrastructure to support such a deployment, Air Force Reserve assets were activated as well. This was a big deal in the same manner which it was for the US Army and the US Marines. Mobilisation of such personnel came alongside that of large selected elements of the National Guard (ground and air units) despite them not being ordered to go to the Gulf. In Washington, there was political drama concerning what elements of the nation’s reserves should be sent overseas to the Middle East and while no national guardsmen were being sent, they were being mobilised to cover contingencies like Reserve units were being too. This went against the established Total Force doctrine for American military operations. However, there was still the belief at the Pentagon that they knew what they were doing with this especially since units of national guardsmen would need a period of training (at least a month) before they could deploy overseas into combat and the need for the deployment of troops was now.


Britain and France were too deploying some of their out of area forces to the fight to stop Rashid’s Iraq from taking over half of the world’s oil. However, the armed forces of each country didn’t have the military size that the Americans did and were stripping away some of their NATO assigned troops too. This brought about strong reactions within their countries, among European allies… and of course the Americans who were ‘amused’, to put it kindly, at complaints from Europe about what they were doing while the Europeans were doing worse!

Earlier in the year, when the notion that Iraq might invade Kuwait (an attack into Saudi Arabia wasn’t even considered) became something to be seriously considered in London, a study had been undertaken at the MOD as to what forces Britain could send to the Gulf. The 3rd Commando Brigade of the Royal Marines was envisioned for such a mission. That was a light force though and when Iraq’s armies went into both Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, heading for the other Gulf Arab Monarchies too, they were tank-heavy forces. A couple of battalions of Royal Marines, with some Gurkhas and British Army light infantry, in addition to a squadron or two of tanks, would be slaughtered in the face of this. There was an urgent rethink… maybe a bit of panic. The British deployment had now changed. The 3rd Brigade would still be going to the Gulf but so too would another one: the 24th Infantry Brigade. Royal Marines, Gurkhas and also some Paras would be with the former while the latter would consist of heavier troops of the British Army. Those troops would come from NATO-assigned elements of the UK Armed Forces. Three British warships were currently in the Gulf with another five being sent to join them: again, those which had NATO roles. Then the was the RAF. Troops and ships couldn’t go to the Gulf without air cover and so the RAF was called upon to support them. There would be a significant deployment made – nothing on the scale which the Americans were making admittedly – to allow the RAF to operate in the Middle East.

The French were deploying the 6th Light Armored Division to the Gulf. Despite the name, it was an oversized brigade rather than a ‘traditional’ division. Light armour and motorised infantry formed its peacetime strength. The French Army added to it for their movement of troops to fight in the Second Gulf War. Elements of both the 9th Marine Infantry and 11th Parachute Divisions joined the 6th Light Armored. Moreover, there were some tanks from the 2nd Armoured Division as well where the French shared the concern of the British that light units would be torn apart on the desert battlefield by the Iraqis. Many of these attachments to the 6th Light Armored came from units which the French would be expected to add to NATO forces fighting to defend Europe in the face of any Soviet attack. France also sent air and naval forces to the Gulf. They dispatched fighters and strike aircraft with the Armée de l'Air to combat Iraq as well as putting together a flotilla of warships. Heading up that naval force would be one of their aircraft carriers on its way from the Med. to the Arabian Sea.

Other countries were sending elements of their armed forces to the ongoing war. The Egyptians were making their big deployment across the Red Sea and Morocco had too come to the aid of Saudi Arabia by making a small but not insignificant deployment. Australia and Canada were with the Coalition. They had started their naval deployments and were going to add to them with aircraft as well. Neither had yet to make a troop commitment to this fight though.


Revelation of the fall of Gorbachev come several days after it had occurred. It caught the world by surprise. There was a scramble to uncover what had gone on and why Ligachev had replaced Gorbachev as he had. Further questions were asked.

What did this all mean for the future?

On this note, the news from Moscow threw a curveball into the comfortable assumption taken beforehand that there could be a commitment of American & European military forces to the Gulf leaving – in the minds of many – Europe uncovered seeing as it was more than just out of area units going there. It was known among governments and intelligence services, though not the wider public, that the Soviets had their own forces in the region and there too have been that accidental clash between American and Soviets forces back in April. This was worrying. The deployments were underway and continued though. Wise minds regarded their actions as measured and responsible.

[stevep]

   James

   Well its wise unless you assume there is some sinister plot whereas Rashid is doing all this to lure NATO forces away from Western Europe - which he definitely isn't but some elements in Moscow may be or that a full scale war could start by accident.  Rushing forces including some committed to NATO action to stomp the Iraqis quickly both secures the oil supply and hence the world economy and shows the determination and efficiency of the western military, which would be a decent deterrent to anyone else trying anything silly.  [Presuming of course that they don't get bogged down into a quagmire afterwards.] Failing to drive them out of Saudi and Kuwait and possibly getting into a prolonged attritional conflict would be bad for the west economically, diplomatically and militarily.

  From the fact things spiral out of control into WWIII I'm guessing that one of the two 'unless' factors actually applies in this case but the west having already committed forces can't really stop everything and say to the Gulf Arabs "your on your own' simply because the change in regime in Moscow might lead to a wider war.  At least without some pretty strong evidence to support such a scenario.

  Steve

[usnvet]

On Iraqi tanks. Most of their T-72s were the locally produced "Lion of Babylon" variant, which was actually inferior to the T-55 and T-62.

[James G]

Aug 10, 2019 13:08:51 GMT stevep said:

   James

   Well its wise unless you assume there is some sinister plot whereas Rashid is doing all this to lure NATO forces away from Western Europe - which he definitely isn't but some elements in Moscow may be or that a full scale war could start by accident.  Rushing forces including some committed to NATO action to stomp the Iraqis quickly both secures the oil supply and hence the world economy and shows the determination and efficiency of the western military, which would be a decent deterrent to anyone else trying anything silly.  [Presuming of course that they don't get bogged down into a quagmire afterwards.] Failing to drive them out of Saudi and Kuwait and possibly getting into a prolonged attritional conflict would be bad for the west economically, diplomatically and militarily.

  From the fact things spiral out of control into WWIII I'm guessing that one of the two 'unless' factors actually applies in this case but the west having already committed forces can't really stop everything and say to the Gulf Arabs "your on your own' simply because the change in regime in Moscow might lead to a wider war.  At least without some pretty strong evidence to support such a scenario.

  Steve

Things are very messed up. Iraq feels forced into the war. In Moscow, there were those causing trouble for their own ends who seized on the opportunity without seeing how it will all end up. The West is reacting to a changing and difficult situation while at the same time unprepared to see a regime change in the USSR.
When the bigger conflict comes, it will be all the result of accidents and general stupidity rather than anyone's plan. That was my initial idea because even the new leader in Moscow has no desire to see the outcome that will come of Soviet support for Iraq.

Aug 10, 2019 17:28:54 GMT usnvet said:

On Iraqi tanks. Most of their T-72s were the locally produced "Lion of Babylon" variant, which was actually inferior to the T-55 and T-62.

Ah, but the POD here has changed things. From what I have read, those Lion of Babylon tanks were manufactured in Iraq starting 1986 and not fielded first until 1989. That is all now butterflied away. Rashid got himself some proper T-72s - though some built in Poland - from the Soviets. They still aren't the very best and when they will meet the very best Western tanks, there will be a problem.