Operation Righteous Sword - AKA, Europe's Desert Storm

[James G]

Erm... wonder who the MP is. The BBC air raid warnings will be quite something. Could throw government send out regional texts too? They did it nationally this year for texts.
I doubt that Russian discovery of an amphibious op was real.

[forcon]

Nov 26, 2020 17:05:21 GMT James G said:

Erm... wonder who the MP is. The BBC air raid warnings will be quite something. Could throw government send out regional texts too? They did it nationally this year for texts.
I doubt that Russian discovery of an amphibious op was real.

I was thinking the air raid warnings would come on the radio and by text. I suppose that would be national as well; there would be no way to tell where the bombers detected over the Norwegian Sea or Belarus are going to launch their cruise missiles. Dimming the lights wouldn't make all that much difference, I wouldn't think, but it might be done just in case. That amphibious operation was discovered; but that was meant to be the case, to persuade the Russians to divert forces to counter an amphibious move. 

Next update is below!

[forcon]

Part XI.

Breaching the Berm

At 0300 local time on October 25, thirty artillery battalions opened fire on the main Russian defensive line – coined the ‘Stalingrad Line’ by SHAPE given its apparent invincibility. Those thirty battalions consisted of a mixture of weapons; M270 and HIMARS multiple rocket launch systems, and 155mm self-propelled howitzers. The bombardment was utterly devastating in scale; American, British, and German guns all opened fire in unison, with the guns targeting both the main line of dugouts where Russian infantry and armour resided on the Suwalki Gap border area, and Russian artillery units behind the line. Simultaneously, USAF A-10s began ‘plinking’ enemy tanks and artillery batteries, using guided bombs and Maverick missiles to painstakingly destroy enemy vehicles one-by-one. While this process had been in progress since the second week of the NATO air campaign, it was only now expanding in size and intensity, so as not to alert Russian commanders to the beginning of the NATO ground assault. The night sky burned bright with orange as shells and bomblets erupted both on and over Russian positions. A fearsome barrage of anti-aircraft fire was unleashed into the sky in an effort to prevent NATO air attacks, but Russian artillery units, to the pleasant surprise of many, did not reveal themselves with counterbattery fire. Instead, they had been ordered to maintain their concealed status in order to unleash a bombardment that was equally as devastating on the NATO ground forces that were sure to be swift in coming. B-52 bombers also began pounding the Russian lines with gigantic ‘Arc Light’ strikes all up-and-down the Stalingrad Line. AH-64D Apache gunships working in tandem with RQ-7 drones expertly picked off tanks, AFVs and pillboxes. The Russians could do little but whether the assault.

General Miller had discussed the enormous projected casualty figures with both his subordinates and his superiors in the planning stage of the breaching manoeuvre. It was expected that units assigned to breach Russian lines could face casualties of up to 30%. He had, controversially, opted not to send the bulk of his American, British, and German heavy forces against the Stalingrad Line, thus mitigating casualties in any individual unit, instead choosing to send a single heavy division to conduct the breach. This was because the 1st Guards Tank Army sat in Lithuania and Latvia, with two armoured divisions and a pair of mechanised brigades, ready to counterattack the NATO breach. Miller did not want his units to have to face this counterattack after being bloodied on the Stalingrad Line. Instead, he wanted to send only one unit to the line, which would surely be destroyed in conducting the breach. The US Army’s 1st Cavalry Division, one of three US Army heavy divisions in theatre (the 1st Armored Division and the 3rd Infantry Division, rounded out by a BCT from the 1st Infantry Division, being the other two), drew the short straw. Reinforced by an MLRS battalion and two additional battalions of Apache gunships, the M1A2s and M2A3s of the division began moving forward to assault the Stalingrad Line in the dawn light under the cover of the artillery and B-52 strikes.

The Stalingrad Line, manned by two divisions of tanks and mechanised infantry of the 20th Guards Army, stretched from Kaliningrad all the way to the Belarusian border. Infantrymen were dug into well-constructed trenches about 1,000 metres from the border. In that kilometre lay a formidable array of tank traps, rock fall barricades, anti-tank mines, and concertina wire. While these obstacles were not invincible by any means, they were erected so that Russian tanks, armoured vehicles, and infantry could rain death on the engineers responsible for breaching them. At 0700, the first combat engineer units crossed the border. Tanks and Bradleys provided immediate covering fire, pouring rounds down onto the Russian pillboxes and dugouts. The engineers struggled through the obstacles, laying down explosive charges to clear the minefields and barbed wire, while troops had to dismount and use explosive charges to blast the barricades in their way. They did this while under intense fire, both direct and indirect. The Russian usage of TOS-1 flamethrowers positioned east of the Stalingrad Line caused heavy losses amongst the engineers, even as circling Apaches immediately began destroying the flamethrowers using Hellfire missiles. The scene was utterly hellish; shells and gunfire racked the ‘Mile of Death’ as it was referred to, as the engineers died in their hundreds clearing the obstacles. The Abrams’ tanks and Bradley AFVs moved up closely being the engineers, desperately trying to stop the onslaught of enemy fire. They, too, took losses, as artillery began raining down them. Russian tanks were destroyed en masse, however, by American airpower, artillery, and direct fire. Dugouts and trenches were likewise targeted, until, finally, the 1st Cavalry Division’s Bradleys reached the Stalingrad Dugout.

There, the Bradleys fired into enemy positions with their chain-guns and TOW missiles, using them to take out pillboxes. The infantrymen then dismounted, fixing bayonets and storming into the enemy entrenchments. Initially, NATO commanders had wanted to simply repeat the tactic used in the First Gulf War where American engineer vehicles buried the enemy troops in their trenches by shifting their mounds of dirt. However, the Russian positions were at a geographically more elevated level than those used by the hapless Iraqi Army in 1991. Furthermore, the Russians had lined their dugouts with concrete and sandbags as opposed to simply using the shifted dirt that had been removed to create the positions. This meant that there was no such ‘easy’ solution. The only option was, in the words of General Miller, to “go in there and dig em out with bayonets”. That was what the 1st Cavalry Division spent the bulk of October 25 doing. They cleared the Russian trenches one by one, almost always under fire and taking casualties as they went. Only in the early evening had a clear gap in Russia lines emerged, one that could be exploited as the shattered 1st Cavalry Division moved east and then sent brigades circling both south and northwards to attack the remaining Russian positions from the rear.

The breach occurred between Highways 8 and 135. The US 3rd Infantry Division moved down the northernmost road, Highway 8, while the British 3rd Armoured Division, with a Canadian brigade attached, secured the southern route into Lithuania. The 20th Armoured Infantry Brigade took the lead, and quickly engaged the positions held by a Russian armoured brigade at Lazdijai. A tank battle occurred during which the Challenger 2s of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers Battlegroup destroyed seventeen T-72s. Fusiliers dismounted from their Warriors and mounted a pair of company-sized attacks on the outskirts of the town, overrunning the defenders, a company from the Russian’s newly-raised 1st Lithuanian Security Battalion. Meanwhile, the US 3rd Infantry Division dislodged Russian forces to the north, removing a battalion-sized blocking position from Kalvarija.

=============================================================================================================================================================================

Kaliningrad

A separate, corps-sized NATO ground offensive on Kaliningrad was launched several hours into the main attack. While attacking the enclave was politically unpopular and decidedly risky, SACEUR felt that it would be effectively impossible to mount operations in Lithuania without first occupying the outpost and preventing a counterassault from the east. Two Polish divisions, the 11th Armoured Cavalry and 16th Mechanised Divisions, and the French Division Falcon formed with the 7th Armored and 9th Marine Brigades, the latter having been heavily reinforced by armour and paratroopers from other brigades, assaulted eastwards against Kaliningrad. Meanwhile, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, US Army, landed by parachute on several identified SS-26 Iskander missile sites and captured them, while airstrikes were called in on the missiles that were too well-defended to be captured in a ground assault. French and Polish artillery units opened fire on the defensive positions occupied by the 11th Tank Regiment and the 7th Mechanised Regiment of the Russian Ground Forces, both defending Kaliningrad.

A hasty manoeuvre assault was launched, supported by US Marine Corps air power. The ground forces then breached the Russian defences at Malinovka, north of Highway 51. Heavy fight occurred as Russian T-72s clashed with French Leclerc tanks. The French, supported by Gazelle helicopters, achieved a decisive victory against the second-rate Russian unit before them, but did suffer casualties of their own. Meanwhile, the Polish 34th Armoured Cavalry Brigade of the 11th Armoured Cavalry Division broke off from the main advance and raced southwards to link up with the scattered American Rangers who had destroyed the Iskander sites. During this advance, the Poles engaged a Russian armoured battalion and broke into the rear of the Russian’s tactical reserve in Kaliningrad, the 79th Mechanised Brigade. Their Leopard 2 MBTs and BMP fighting vehicles tore through the Russian rear-areas while en route to the Rangers. Unfortunately, this change of plan meant that several Ranger platoons were forced to hold on for longer that anticipated. After destroying their targets, several Ranger units were forced to escape and evade their way back to friendly lines.

=============================================================================================================================================================================

Raids, Uprisings, and SOF Operations

To give the illusion that a full-scale amphibious assault was going to occur in Russian-occupied territory, the UK-NL Striking Force, an adaptation of the old UK-NL Landing Force, composed by British and Dutch warships and troop transports, had been positioned east of Copenhagen, moving eastwards for the past three days. British Royal Marines with 45 Commando launched from HMS Bulwark. They flew by Merlin helicopters of the Commando Helicopter Force, and were escorted by a trio of Apaches from RFA Argus. The Apaches engaged Russian short-ranged air defences while the Royal Marines landed at Klaipeda by helicopter and began pouring down machinegun, rifle and anti-tank missile fire on the Russian barracks located in a nearby school and a headquarters in a police station. Royal Navy F-35s covered the assault, and before dawn a second raid was mounted by the Dutch 1st Marine Combat Group in company strength. They disembarked south of Klaipeda and mounted a similar standoff assault on a brigade headquarters before rapidly withdrawing, again by helicopter.

At the same time, rebel organisations in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, with many of their members being military personal who had evaded captivity during and after the invasion, emerged from their holes. American Green Beret and British SAS advisors within their ranks support the effort. They began mounting raids against pre-located Russian targets, including ammunition and fuel storage facilities, troop barracks, and supply nodes. In Latvia, a concentrated effort to retake the city was launched by the resistance in what quickly became known as the Riga Uprising. Partisans struck the majority of Russian checkpoints within the Latvian capital, using RPGs, small-arms, and Molotov cocktails. They also raided the headquarters of the Russian garrison, located in a police station. By nightfall, much of the city was under rebel control as Russian forces were diverted westwards to head off the NATO ground assault. Riga’s key government institutions were occupied by the resistance. However, Russian-led Security Battalions quickly became converging on Riga. NATO airpower was focused towards the outskirts of the city in order to ensure it remained under Allied control, thus preventing a bloody urban fight further down the line.

[James G]

1st Cav Div would have taken fierce casualties. The dead and especially injured will be a huge toll.
Kaliningrad has to be knocked out or, masked enough, otherwise it is suicide to send an army up in the Baltic. They will fight there, more so than elsewhere as that is home soil.
Raiding the coast is a good distraction but it can easily go wrong. If the Russians get a missile or an aircraft through and hit one of those amphibious ships, the casualty count will be high and the propaganda boost a big deal.

[stevep]

  forcon ,

  Tough fighting as expected but I would like to give a good kicking to whoever called the Russian defensive line after Stalingrad.  Both because historically it was a big Russian victory and because Stalingrad was so deep into Russia that if the Russians find out about the name it will be a boost to their propaganda as it helps paint their actions as defensive and the NATO forces as aggressive and fascists.  Not a good idea at all.

  Bloody glad it wasn't a British unit going through the mill like the 3rd Cav did.  Very nasty and the survivors - as well as many of the causalities - will deserve honours, not that it will compensate for their losses.  However with the geographical situation as it is there isn't much option.  If there was the time you could possibly try a couple of dummy attacks, using massed firepower like that before actually carrying through with an attack, both to weakened the Russian forces and also gain some tactical surprise when the ground attack actually goes through.  Although that would require a lot of munitions to be available as well as political will for a somewhat longer war while there might be a problem of the Russians also using the additional time to increase their forces in the region.

  Agree that the Kaliningrad enclave has to go, or at least be largely reduced.  Its too great a threat to the flank as well as constricting the front.  Plus it might be a useful piece for ending the war.

  Hopefully those uprisings haven't occurred too soon.  I fear a lot of those people, along with sundry civilians are going to suffer from the Russia repression intensifying greatly.  Also wouldn't like to to be in Riga even if allied air power keeps the the Russian ground forces at bay until allied ground forces, which must now be sent in so.  The city itself is going to be pounded heavily regardless of how many civilians are in the firing line.

  Its going to be messy and very bloody but if the Russian position does start to crumble with the Baltics being liberated and Kaliningrad occupied will the Russian leader be willing to admit defeat or will he seek to escalate in some way.  Such as chemical use, possibly soon or the threat of nuclear weapons at some stage.

  Steve

[forcon]

Thanks for the comments, guys - I will reply tomorrow, sorry for the delay, I've been a bit busy with work and writing a short vignette to post!

[forcon]

Nov 29, 2020 14:08:18 GMT James G said:

1st Cav Div would have taken fierce casualties. The dead and especially injured will be a huge toll.
Kaliningrad has to be knocked out or, masked enough, otherwise it is suicide to send an army up in the Baltic. They will fight there, more so than elsewhere as that is home soil.
Raiding the coast is a good distraction but it can easily go wrong. If the Russians get a missile or an aircraft through and hit one of those amphibious ships, the casualty count will be high and the propaganda boost a big deal.

The whole idea was to confine those huge losses to a single division, so that the exploitation force could operate at full-strength without having suffered losses breaching the berm. Agree on Kaliningrad, although it is one hell of a risk. Nevertheless there is a whole corps there that has to be eliminated otherwise there will be the risk of encirclement or even a successful armoured raid into the NATO rear areas as the advance moves through Lithuania, plus the A2/AD bubble has to be neutralised, and there is only so much that airpower can do. Those coastal raids are being launched at a distance; helicopters are flying in the commandos from off of Copenhagen, where they are within range of land-based air cover. There is also a NATO surface action group in the Baltic Sea, between the phibs' and the Russians. Add to that the Gerald R. Ford and the Queen Elizabeth II in the North Sea, and it's a pretty powerful force. 

Nov 29, 2020 14:36:48 GMT stevep said:

  forcon ,

  Tough fighting as expected but I would like to give a good kicking to whoever called the Russian defensive line after Stalingrad.  Both because historically it was a big Russian victory and because Stalingrad was so deep into Russia that if the Russians find out about the name it will be a boost to their propaganda as it helps paint their actions as defensive and the NATO forces as aggressive and fascists.  Not a good idea at all.

  Bloody glad it wasn't a British unit going through the mill like the 3rd Cav did.  Very nasty and the survivors - as well as many of the causalities - will deserve honours, not that it will compensate for their losses.  However with the geographical situation as it is there isn't much option.  If there was the time you could possibly try a couple of dummy attacks, using massed firepower like that before actually carrying through with an attack, both to weakened the Russian forces and also gain some tactical surprise when the ground attack actually goes through.  Although that would require a lot of munitions to be available as well as political will for a somewhat longer war while there might be a problem of the Russians also using the additional time to increase their forces in the region.

  Agree that the Kaliningrad enclave has to go, or at least be largely reduced.  Its too great a threat to the flank as well as constricting the front.  Plus it might be a useful piece for ending the war.

  Hopefully those uprisings haven't occurred too soon.  I fear a lot of those people, along with sundry civilians are going to suffer from the Russia repression intensifying greatly.  Also wouldn't like to to be in Riga even if allied air power keeps the the Russian ground forces at bay until allied ground forces, which must now be sent in so.  The city itself is going to be pounded heavily regardless of how many civilians are in the firing line.

  Its going to be messy and very bloody but if the Russian position does start to crumble with the Baltics being liberated and Kaliningrad occupied will the Russian leader be willing to admit defeat or will he seek to escalate in some way.  Such as chemical use, possibly soon or the threat of nuclear weapons at some stage.

  Steve

The Stalingrad Line was a rash decision on my part, but I think it's more of a name that's come from soldiers on the ground, junior officers at most, and spread through the ranks. It had to be a US division going through the line, to be honest; only a reinforced US heavy division could actually fight through that. It was a toss-up between the 1st Cavalry Division and the 1st Armored; the 1st Cav drew the proverbial short straw. As you say, geographically there just wasn't another option. A large-scale amphibious raid was deemed to risky, and the politicians want to end this whole thing by Christmas (which is, at best, highly optimistic). The British 3rd Division is going for Riga, and it is going to get bloodied along the way. Riga is in the hands of the Latvian Resistance and the Green Berets, for now; those forces trying to retake it will largely be second-line troops, Russian reservists and 'Security Battalions' formed by Russia, consisting both of ethnic Russians living in Latvia (although a great many of them oppose Moscow at this point) and also Russian mercenaries/volunteers to stiffen their ranks. The nuclear question is, of course, the ultimate deciding factor. Escalate to de-escalate, or escalation dominance, is Moscow's way out if things really do go belly-up. 

[forcon]

Readers, this timeline will be updated soon! Sorry for the lack of updates this week; work has been trying to kill me and I've had a bout of writer's block. I'm also unwell at the moment, which doesn't help.

However, I promised myself that I would not abandon this story, and I have every intention of keeping that promise. Please bear with me, there will be updates soon!

I may change formats, meaning that updates will probably alternate between newspaper and historical formats, with a smattering of point of view stories as well.

[stevep]

Dec 6, 2020 9:31:16 GMT forcon said:

Readers, this timeline will be updated soon! Sorry for the lack of updates this week; work has been trying to kill me and I've had a bout of writer's block. I'm also unwell at the moment, which doesn't help.

However, I promised myself that I would not abandon this story, and I have every intention of keeping that promise. Please bear with me, there will be updates soon!

I may change formats, meaning that updates will probably alternate between newspaper and historical formats, with a smattering of point of view stories as well.

  forcon,

  No worry and take it easy.  We can wait and especially if your unwell don't rush it.  RL and your health definitely comes 1st.  Doesn't matter if the next update doesn't come until February - although preferably Feb 2021 rather than Feb 2023!

  Steve

[forcon]

Dec 6, 2020 13:43:17 GMT stevep said:

Dec 6, 2020 9:31:16 GMT forcon said:

Readers, this timeline will be updated soon! Sorry for the lack of updates this week; work has been trying to kill me and I've had a bout of writer's block. I'm also unwell at the moment, which doesn't help.

However, I promised myself that I would not abandon this story, and I have every intention of keeping that promise. Please bear with me, there will be updates soon!

I may change formats, meaning that updates will probably alternate between newspaper and historical formats, with a smattering of point of view stories as well.

  forcon ,

  No worry and take it easy.  We can wait and especially if your unwell don't rush it.  RL and your health definitely comes 1st.  Doesn't matter if the next update doesn't come until February - although preferably Feb 2021 rather than Feb 2023!

  Steve

Thanks Steve! It will certainly be coming before 2021, probably just in a few days to a week at most. 

[forcon]

Interlude #1

Again, they dumped him in the cell. The two Provosts, holding the Commando by the arms, let go. He fell to the cold, dusty floor, feeling is weary bones crunch. They pulled the potato sack from his head.

“Don’t sleep,” said the senior Provost. “Assume the position.”

The Commando failed to comply, mainly through exhaustion as opposed to defiance.

“Assume the position!”

The two men grabbed the Commando and hauled him to his feet. They manhandled him so that his hands were against the wall, and his body was leaning forwards. The door clinked shut. The familier pain crept into his wrists and then spread like a virus up his arms and into his back.

He fell twice in the time they left him in his cell. Each time, the two guards forced him back into the position. A sound began emanating from a speaker. A high-pitched squeal. Pain in his ears. Then a baby crying, no, not crying, wailing in abject terror and pain. Dogs barking and howling. Screaming. A woman screaming in terror. They’re raping her, she screams. Sergi, help me. Help me, Sergi.

She sounds like Annika. They couldn’t have found Annika, could they? No, no it’s not possible.

Annika screamed and cried, begging for the Commando to give in. He fell again. The guards stormed in. This time one of them smashed his truncheon against the wall. He tried to black out as they left.

Annika, they’re hurting Annika…

He cracked again. He screamed. “Fuck you! Fuck you, you fucking fascist!”

The guards unlocked the door. They weren’t the same two Provosts as before. To the Commando, however, they were identical. Bull-faced, angry men, wearing the MTP fatigues of the British Army and the red caps of the Royal Military Police. They carried a bucket of ice cold water between them. In a synchronised move, they threw the freezing liquid onto him.

He blacked out before they came back. This time, they put the hood back over his head. Handcuffs on his wrists. A seemingly endless journey through a boundless labrynth of hallways, guided by the Provosts who held his arms in place.

Into a room, and the door clicked shut. The hood was pulled off. The Commando, on the floor, looked up. Two familier faces.

The Spook and the Soldier. The former wore a suit, his sleeves rolled up and his jacket hanging over the CCTV camera in the corner of the room. The latter was clad in fatigues with a cap badge that denoted his service in the Intelligence Corps.

“How are you feeling, Sergi?”

“Sergi Lashkov, 55632, Junior Sergeant.”

“Not good enough, Sergi.”

The Soldier came forward. “Sergi, I want to help you. Help you get home some day.”

Liar, the Commando thought, fucking liar. “Sergi Lashkov, 55632, Junior Sergeant.”

“Mister Lashkov, you have no rank. You have no number. You were captured wearing the uniform of a British soldier. You are a spy. Spies are not protected by the Geneva Convention.”

The Commando was silent. The same line had been recited time after time since his capture. They won’t hurt you, Sergi, its all talk.

“Would you like a cigarette, Sergi?” Said the Soldier. He retrived one from his pocket and lit it. The familier smell swirled through the room. Yes, yes, the Commando thought, more than anything.

“Sergi Lashkov, 55632, Junior Sergeant…”

[James G]

Not a hair on his head harmed. Best approach to take.

[forcon]

Dec 11, 2020 15:04:26 GMT James G said:

Not a hair on his head harmed. Best approach to take.

Indeed, although Sergi will not feel that way. 

Next interlude below! 

[forcon]

Interlude #2

The boy lay shivering in the forest, clasping his rifle as they awaited the passing of the Russian munitions convoy. This would be the third such ambush, only tonight the sky was clear and cloudless, an ethereal crescent moon peering down through the treetops. This was bad news. The Russian Hinds and Havocs would be out in force, unburdened by the November fog and rain.

His rifle had started life in a factory in St. Petersburg; it’s previous owner as a Russian conscript. During the second month of the occupation, the Conscript had been lured into an alleyway by a member of their group. She’d given him a wink and a smile and then taken his hand as he stoog guard outside a Tallinn police station used as a local military headquarters. That was the first time the Boy had seen somebody die. He’d been waiting there with the Soldier – the retired soldier, more accurately – who had taken charge of the little band of Estonian guerrillas.

When the Conscript came into the alleyway, the Boy had lunged forwards to tackle him. The Soldier had cut his throat with a kitchen knife, and within minutes it was all over. The Guerillas had their first gun. They acquired a shotgun from the Farmer, who had eagerly joined the posse a few days later as they sheltered in his barn from roving patrols.

They’d cut the telephone lines to the police station next.

After that, they’d fired-bombed a patrol with Molotov cocktails, concealing themselves in a battle-scarred apartment block, launching their crude missiles, and running away. The next ambush had got them the weapons they really needed; a small, four-man squad patrolling a roadblock outside of Tallinn had been ambushed. The Soldier had killed two of them with the AK-74 liberated from the Conscript’s corpse, while the Farmer had nailed one with his shotgun. The third had been swarmed by the Boy, the Girl, and six others wielding baseball bats and kitchen knives. Two of them had died in the ambush, but their loss had been worth the gain; four AK-74s and a few hundred rounds of ammunition.

After that first ambush, they were real resistance fighters! Guerillas! Forest Brothers!

Ambushes and boody traps were sprung every few days before they’d melt back into the woods like their forefathers. Their numbers dropped as many were killed. The Girl, the Farmer, the Builder, two of the Teachers…their faces flashed across the boy’s mind as he struggled to recall their names. But equally, their numbers had swelled.

For the past two weeks, they’d been joined by the experts; American commandos, their famed Green Berets. The Americans – wearing helmets with night-vision goggles rather than their vaunted caps – had brought with them explosives, guns and ammunition, and most importantly, expertise.

This ambush was the culmination of three days of surveillance and planning. Cut the invaders’ supplies, was the mission, the Boy was told by the American Captain. The Captain, in his thirties with a beard that most soldiers would have found outrageous, had drilled the manouver into them. They’d practiced on that very road between Russian patrols. He’d felt like a stupid child, shouting bang as they trained in order to avoid wasting ammunition or alerting the Russians with gunfire.

He took a deep breath, watching as the air curled visibly through the night air like exhaled smoke.

The sound of a truck in the distance.

Nervous jittering.

Fingers sliding safety catches downwards.

A dull droning in the distance.

Birds fluttering away as searchlights disturbed them in the treetops.

Sickness in his stomach. Panic. Terror. Chaos.

Hinds.

[stevep]

Dec 16, 2020 16:32:16 GMT forcon said:

Interlude #2

The boy lay shivering in the forest, clasping his rifle as they awaited the passing of the Russian munitions convoy. This would be the third such ambush, only tonight the sky was clear and cloudless, an ethereal crescent moon peering down through the treetops. This was bad news. The Russian Hinds and Havocs would be out in force, unburdened by the November fog and rain.

His rifle had started life in a factory in St. Petersburg; it’s previous owner as a Russian conscript. During the second month of the occupation, the Conscript had been lured into an alleyway by a member of their group. She’d given him a wink and a smile and then taken his hand as he stoog guard outside a Tallinn police station used as a local military headquarters. That was the first time the Boy had seen somebody die. He’d been waiting there with the Soldier – the retired soldier, more accurately – who had taken charge of the little band of Estonian guerrillas.

When the Conscript came into the alleyway, the Boy had lunged forwards to tackle him. The Soldier had cut his throat with a kitchen knife, and within minutes it was all over. The Guerillas had their first gun. They acquired a shotgun from the Farmer, who had eagerly joined the posse a few days later as they sheltered in his barn from roving patrols.

They’d cut the telephone lines to the police station next.

After that, they’d fired-bombed a patrol with Molotov cocktails, concealing themselves in a battle-scarred apartment block, launching their crude missiles, and running away. The next ambush had got them the weapons they really needed; a small, four-man squad patrolling a roadblock outside of Tallinn had been ambushed. The Soldier had killed two of them with the AK-74 liberated from the Conscript’s corpse, while the Farmer had nailed one with his shotgun. The third had been swarmed by the Boy, the Girl, and six others wielding baseball bats and kitchen knives. Two of them had died in the ambush, but their loss had been worth the gain; four AK-74s and a few hundred rounds of ammunition.

After that first ambush, they were real resistance fighters! Guerillas! Forest Brothers!

Ambushes and boody traps were sprung every few days before they’d melt back into the woods like their forefathers. Their numbers dropped as many were killed. The Girl, the Farmer, the Builder, two of the Teachers…their faces flashed across the boy’s mind as he struggled to recall their names. But equally, their numbers had swelled.

For the past two weeks, they’d been joined by the experts; American commandos, their famed Green Berets. The Americans – wearing helmets with night-vision goggles rather than their vaunted caps – had brought with them explosives, guns and ammunition, and most importantly, expertise.

This ambush was the culmination of three days of surveillance and planning. Cut the invaders’ supplies, was the mission, the Boy was told by the American Captain. The Captain, in his thirties with a beard that most soldiers would have found outrageous, had drilled the manouver into them. They’d practiced on that very road between Russian patrols. He’d felt like a stupid child, shouting bang as they trained in order to avoid wasting ammunition or alerting the Russians with gunfire.

He took a deep breath, watching as the air curled visibly through the night air like exhaled smoke.

The sound of a truck in the distance.

Nervous jittering.

Fingers sliding safety catches downwards.

A dull droning in the distance.

Birds fluttering away as searchlights disturbed them in the treetops.

Sickness in his stomach. Panic. Terror. Chaos.

Hinds.

  Brave but it sounds ominously like this didn't end well for the group.  Moscow is likely to stamp down very hard on any opposition as they did in 1940 and after 1945 and I fear a lot of the people most determined to maintain independence of the Baltic states are going to end up dead or disappeared.