Background[]
Main Article: (More in Depth) The War of 1989 Prelude
Resolution 24[]
It's a sunny day in Garfield County in Washington, the date is the Second of November 1976, but it's not any other day - it's Election Day in the United States of America, although the polls in early 1975 indicated a tough battle between Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, the chances for a third party to enter the race were very low and so no other party really had a way to intervene in the race. This would change in February when a new candidate arises, Robert H. Hudson, Robert was the son of a Korean War veteran and a German Nurse, Hudson was also a veteran of the Vietnam War. Hudson came from a militaristic family. His grandfather was a WW2 Veteran, his two other uncles were WW1 Veterans, and his great grandfather had fought against the Spanish on San Juan Hill. But Hudson, unlike his relatives, had a great hatred toward war, he saw it as something that did not bring change - instead, suffering and destruction, he also had a hatred against the Europeans - he called them the warmongers, he thought that the reason the world was in a Cold War was because of Europe's faults.
Hudson had nothing different from the other two candidates, until April when he announced his presidential plan, Hudson supported an Anti-War Agenda. This made him incredibly popular with many Americans, but his biggest proposal was Resolution 24. Resolution 24 was a bill that Hudson would propose to the Senate, the bill required the American military to drastically reduce its size. It also called for a complete retreat of American assets from both Europe and Asia. Many opposed this bill but Hudson had won the majority, in just one month Hudson had gained on the poll 40% of the vote, Hudson began to win polls everywhere, and in August he had won a nationwide poll by 60%. As soon as election day came both Ford and Carter were no match for Hudson's support. He was able to win Popular vote, winning 60% of the votes.
Hudson was quick to react and in one month had passed Resolution 24. Europe began to worry because the Soviet giant was still its biggest threat and showed no sign of following Hudson's footsteps. Hudson also wanted to cut all American goods sent to Europe from small tariffs but fearing possible retaliation by both the Democrats and Republicans, he refrained from the act. In just six months all American Military personnel were out of both Europe and Asia. Hudson also passed various bills which improved the American Infrastructure in an attempt to drive Public attention away from happenings in Europe and Asia.
But Hudson soon began to face new problems/ He called for a total Soviet disarmament but Hudson soon found his mistake, the Soviet Union agreed every few years in small quantities but Hudson's demands for total disarmament had derailed the chance to reduce the Soviets' military. Hudson also faced a new problem - he called for a joint Israeli-Egyptian peace deal. Hudson was unable to reach a proper conclusion between the Israelis and Egyptians and five hours after the negotiations failed Egypt attacked Israel, and the war would last another month before Soviet intervention in which the Perm Accords were signed. In the Three Mile Island accident Hudson was unable to react to the accident in time and his cabinet was forced to solve the problem by themselves as Hudson was on family vacation.
Hudson was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder due to his Vietnam memories. He immediately resigned from office, giving his Vice-president Carlos K. Ramirez of New Mexico the presidency. Hudson's Resolution 24 stayed intact until Ronald Reagan's election in which he was only able to allow American personnel in Berlin due to large criticism from Hudson's supporters.
The Moscow and Berlin Crisis[]
The War[]
Red Raccoon (Phase 1)[]
Planning[]
Red Raccoon Phase One was the invasion of Berlin and West Germany by Original Iron Curtain Members. This attack was a masterpiece made by Colonel Valin Kelenko, the attack itself was simple destroy the NATO presence in Berlin while launching an offensive that would drive NATO back to the Rhine. The attack would have three major attacks and one minor attack, that later would split and attack different NATO positions, splitting the NATO resources all over Europe. The first one the Northern attack, which would attack Hamburg and Bremen and secure the western coast of Germany, also would head off to secure the Kiel Canal and its surroundings, and later the Danish homeland, this prepared the Russian invasion through land and sea into Sweden, by stopping direct NATO support into Sweden. The attack itself was made by General Volonov Karesi and would be led by him. The second attack and by far the biggest would be the Central attack, the attack would secure all of Central Germany, cutting through the defensive lines of NATO and securing the Rhine and its surrounding areas, including Frankfort and Kassel which would become key battlegrounds in he months that followed. The attack would be the spearhead of Red Raccoon and would be commanded by General Vladimir Tolenko. The third attack was the latest one to be launched, with its objectives being cutting through the German south being a derivation of the Central attack and dividing at Frankfurt, while the Soviet And Czech forces attacked through the Czech border. Both forces would meet between Stuttgart and Munich which would have already been taken. Then the Czech forces would push into Austria with more force, while the original South attack moved south to cut the Italians at the Alps, while the Central attack would take Paris. This attack was designed by Albert Kelenko the brother of the designer of Red Raccoon. The minor attack was of course Berlin, the strategy would be simple smash the French sector in the north, while the attack against the Americans from the south was launched. Meanwhile, the Soviet forces crossed the Berlin Wall into the British and American sectors. The plans were magnificent and the Soviet soldiers and Commanders would be confident that just in the first month the Iron curtain would have taken all of the area between the Rhine and the Soviet border. But it's easier to plan and think than to act, and no Soviet genius could take the Red Raccoon ahead after the second phase ended. After Red Raccoon failed Valin said "It's easier to draw than to act".
The Battle in Berlin[]
MASSIVE CHANGE!!! ON THIS
The Battle in Berlin was one-sided on the French sector, the Americans and British were able to hold back the Soviets, but at the cost of heavy casualties, and massive damage to the British Sector. On the 4th while NATO forces launched the Norkon Offensive, the French sector was destroyed, with the last French presence being on the British Sector, but on the 5th a heavy push from Polish forces on the south forced the Americans to retreat from supporting the defence of the British Sector, this left the British with no direct support and the sector was taken over by midnight, with small holdouts all over their sector. The Soviet strategy had worked as they had taken over the French and British Sector, and closing in on the Americans slowly. The Americans being surrounded and outgunned, received help from the West Berliners, who had escaped East Berlin and were not please to hear that their former life would come back. Slowly but surely the Americans were pushed back, on the 8th Valin ordered that a whole assault was launched against the Americans as time had been quite thin because of the Norkon Offensive, the attack left the streets of the American Sector destroyed, and with dead all over them. The attack was a bloodshed for both sides, as many civilians were killed, but its objective was complete the 3rd American Division was almost destroyed, and on the 9th it was shattered, with the surviving Resistance members and American soldiers formed small holdouts all over the sector. The Battle of Berlin was completely a Soviet victory, forcing NATO the next day to cancelled their offensive and retreated to better positions following a heavy Soviet counterattack. But the Americans and the Resistance couldn't hold forever, and the last formal hold out with proper supplies, men, and command structure was destroyed, the Battle of Berlin was over in the 11th and so did the Warsaw Pact armies, as the Soviets put direct Soviet officers in charge in an effort to increase cooperation between the armies.
The Norkon Offensive[]
As tensions grew with the Soviet Union grew NATO decided to abandon their former plans in change for new plans, the planning of Norkon began in early 1987 and was adopted as the main plan by February 1989. The Plan had three fronts and therefore three operations, Blue Summer in the North, Red Summer in the center, and Yellow Summer in the south.
Operation Blue Summer (North)[]
The northern front held few assets in comparison with the other two fronts, planning for Blue Summer required an extra two months because the front held few possible objectives or importance in comparison with the central and southern fronts. Blue Summer was designed to complement Red Summer unlike Yellow Summer which was basically another offensive, Blue Summer would have four secondary advances and one main advance, the southern attack would secure a bridgehead over the Elbe and would also secure Karstädt, the next attack was aimed at capturing Amt Neuhaus and securing another bridgehead over the Elbe and would head to Ludwigslut to unite the southern push with the rest of the offensive, the central south attack as it was called would secure the south of Schwerin and open the route for the movement of forces from the main push south, th main attack was aimed at securing Schwerin after securing this the troops would be split between the northern attack and the southern attacks, the northern push was aimed at securing the port of Wismar and the northern flank of the main attack. If all this objectives were accomplished the Danish forces with Spanish forces were to secure Rostock while the rest of the army headed south to protect and assist Red Summer.
Blue Summer had at its disposal the Danish Army with it´s 15,000 soldiers, the First Spanish Army with 40,000 soldiers, the Belgian First Army with 40,000 soldiers, and the German 1st and 2nd Division with 20,000 soldiers making a combined force of 115,000 soldiers.
Operation Red Summer (Center)[]
The central front was by far the biggest and strongest front, tasked with opening the route for capturing Berlin. Red Summer had three secondary attacks and two main attacks, the southern attack was aimed at closing the gap between Yellow and Red Summer in Kölleda, the other push was aimed at obtaining a bridgehead over the Wipper and securing the flanks of both the main attacks and the southern push, the two main attacks were aimed at the south and north of Magdeburg respectively the attack was also to obtain a bridgehead over the Elbe, the northern push was aimed at Osterburg with the intention of securing the northern bridgeheads and the flank of the main attacks. After this attacks in coordination with the northern front the two forces would head for Berlin with the southern push joining the the southern front.
Red Summer had at its disposal the British First and Second Army with 80,000 soldiers, the German First, Second and Third Armies with 120,000 soldiers and the Dutch First Army with 40,000 soldiers amounting to a force of 240,000.
Operation Yellow Summer (South)[]
The southern front was a very complicated situation the need to capture Leipzig and to hold the Czechs at bay, the front had at massive importance do to the two needs of NATO. The southern attack would have three secondary attacks and one major attack. The first secondary attack was aimed at capturing Érfurt and a bridgehead across the Gera, the second attack was aimed at Jena in the effort of uniting the western attack with the rest of the operation, the main attack was aimed to Leipzig, the third and final attack would be one minor push headed for Chemnitz. The southern attacks were not aimed at joining the rest of Norkon in support of Red Summer but instead the big strain on resources forced Red Summer to launch that flanking attack.
Yellow Summer had at its dispssal the German Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Armies with 120,000 soldiers, the French Elbe Army with 40,000 soldiers, the Portuguese First and Second Divisions with 20,000 soldiers, and the British Third Army with 40,000 soldiers, amounting to a total of 220,000.
MASSIVE CHANGE!!! ON THIS
NATO was quick to react to the Soviet attack. Seeing how Berlin was heavily attacked and the idea that there wouldn't be any major Warsaw Pact resistance, prompted NATO to launch Norkon. The offensive was designed by General Adam Stuart of the US and General Alejandro Estuardo Colon of Spain, the attack would be a complex attack launched from three different points, the first attack would be led by Alejandro as the Spanish and Belgian forces tried to capture Schwerin and its surroundings, the second attack would be lead by British Commander Douglas Brock with the British and Germans pushing for Magdeburg and its surroundings, but the final attack would be launched by both the Portuguese and the French in an attempt to capture Leipzig. The offensive couldn't capture its objectives as the Soviet's and its allies held the numerical advantage, which would prove key later in the war.
On June 4th Norkon was launched when hundreds upon hundreds of vehicles and men crossed the East German border, decades upon decades of preparation by NATO would be tested in this offensive. This was the first time much of the NATO equipment specifically designed for this kind of warfare would be battle-proven, there was much hope and pressure in Adam and its officers to push the Warsaw Pact from Germany. But what Adam or any general from NATO didn't see was the extensive amount of defenses and troops just two km from the border. As soon as 8:00 am Soviet and NATO forces engaged in the whole border, with extensive casualties for both sides. By the 6th much of the initial objectives hadn't been accomplished and heavy fighting stopped any NATO push, by the morning of the 7th seeing how the French and British Sector had already fallen and the American seeing its fate the same way the French and British Sector did, launched a massive attack against Plauen in the south, Borna also in the south, Gifhorn in the center and finally Gusborn in the north. On the 8th a heavy French push captured Plauen and a Portuguese push secured Borna, the rest of the British and German objectives wouldn't be secure either in the 8th or 9th. The French were 12 km away from Chemnitz when the massive Soviet counterattack of the 10th was launched, the offensive was immediately cancelled when the confirmation of the destruction of the American Sector in Berlin arrived at the time all of NATO forces had already been giving the order to retreat to their starting positions, NATO left East Germany with 58,000 casualties and with 124,000 fleeing citizens of East Germany, only 24,000 crossed the initial border into West Germany. NATO had been clearly been defeated in the offensive, out of the 250,000 believed Warsaw Pact soldiers stationed in the border, out of the 50 reports coming from 48 different spies only one was reasonably enough to the amount of Warsaw Pact soldiers established in the border, the estimate was 1.5 million the actual number was 1.75 million. NATO after the offensive had lost its immediate fighting capabilities as most of its forces weren't ready for the imminent Soviet and Warsaw Pact push that would follow, most of the initial frontier wasn't ever recaptured and neither the parts of East Germany that were occupied by the NATO forces in the battle.
American-Danish Defense[]
MASSIVE CHANGE!!! ON THIS
The Americans had been the only NATO member along with Denmark to prepare and carry out a coordinated attack and defence strategy in Schleswig-Holstein. The American 5th and 6th Armoured Divisions were on their way to Denmark before the war was declared, they landed the 5th of June on Northern Denmark, and had made plans with the Danish military to meet in Hamburg. The combined forces meet on Hamburg on the 13th of June, the next day the Spanish and Belgian forces retreated and gave their defensive on the Mecklenburg border and retreated back into Hamburg, while the American and Danish forces prepared defensive positions along the Ilmenau river, just east and Northeast of Hamburg, there on the 16th the biggest battle after Berlin developed, American and Danish forces defended the Bridges and crossings on both sides, the fighting was a real carnage on both sides.
The fighting was a carnage for the Americans and Danes, but were able to stop the attack, on the 20th after four days of heavy casualties, Karesi decided to attack Hamburg from the south since the Spanish and Belgian forces had been moved into the center, what Karesi didn't know was that a reserve Infantry division of the German army was established there and was ready to fight. On the 22th the Soviet forces attacked Hamburg from the south, expecting to see heavy fighting from the retreating American forces, who were reconciling their positions on Hamburg, but were seen with heavy fighting from the local people and the German Division stationed there. The attack was called of on the 25th, and in the next day with German support the Americans counterattacked the Soviets, pushing them on the 26th and 27th, with the Danish pushing the Soviets on the 27th and on the 28th pushing them back into the Mecklenburg border with heavy casualties on NATO but with even bigger ones on the Soviets. The battle left the North up for grabs for NATO, and with the American Expeditionary Force in Europe (Bahamas, Canada and Mexico) having landed in the Netherlands to serve as reserves, and with the 2nd, 3rd and 4th American Infantry divisions, having scheduled to land on Late June, the American and Danish positions would have a better chance to attack and gain land than anywhere in the front.
Northern Ice (Invasion of Finland)[]
The Soviets, seeing how they needed to strike NATO in another front, it needed to be Finland, on the 12th of June Northern Ice was beginning preparations to be launched by June 19th, but heavy fighting near Ilmenau forced them to move it up to the 20th as reinforcements had to be send to Germany. On the 17th planning and drawing was over, General Bolomar Putonsi the father of the operation would lead the main attack through the border north of St Petersburg, being its objectives Imatra and Virolahti, which were right in the border. Meanwhile, Commander Albert Vaston would lead an Amphibious landing on Hanko, east of Helsinki. The smallest attack would be lead by General Vladimir Pulonko which would lead the biggest front stretching from the Republic of Karelia all the way to Murmansk on the Norwegian border. The attack would first destroy Finland and with an Amphibious invasion plus a direct invasion from Denmark to Sweden would crush the Swedes, while a small force headed through out Norway and would be reinforced by forces from Sweden to attack Oslo, and secure Scandinavia which would mean the end of safe water on the East of the UK.
On the morning of the 20th the Bolomar broke the defences the Finns had put on the border. The Finnish General Adolf Arola had put forces to stop an initial attack on the North near Parikkala north of Imatra, and had plans to attack on the Soviet rear with a flanking maneuver while the Soviets attacked in the south and center, where defences where more flexible. The Soviets broke through the Finnish lines on the first day and almost took their first objective Virolahti, but were forced to back when Adolf attacked them in the rear. On the second day the Third attack was launched with Vladimir leading the main attack on the flank of Adolf. Heavy fighting on the 3rd day as the Finns were beginning to be pushed out of their Main defensive positions in the north, Center, South and all over the Karelia border. On the 4th day after heavy fighting near Virolahti, the Finnish forces were pushed back to their Secondary positions, losing Virolahti mean while Adolf began to back from the attack and into Secondary positions. On the 5th all of Bolamar's objectives had been taken while Albert landed in Hanko, diverting Finnish forces from the South to the Capital. On the 25th all of the Finnish forces on the south were retreated back to Helsinki, with Adolf stopping the Soviet push on Elimäki east of Helsinki. Adolf was able to delay the Soviet push from the East until the 28th but at the cost of heavy casualties, Adolf had forced Albert to attack on the 28th without Bolomar's support to keep the plans going, the Finnish forces had set extensive defences on Helsinki with support of local militias with the extra time.
Battle of Helsinki[]
Finland had been part of Russia for most of the 19th century and a little of the 20th Century, and had fought hard to keep themselves independent in World War 2, know former veterans of the Winter War grabbed their guns and prepared to defend their homeland once more. Albert attacked Espoo just West of Helsinki there was heavy fighting on the 28th and 29th, the Finnish forces defended their positions but had to withdraw forces to support the defence of Vantaa North of Helsinki against Bolomar. The attack on Helsinki itself would be a two-way assault with Albert launching the main assault, while Bolomar circled the city from the north. The Finnish forces held both towns on the 30th at heavy casualties, and when the bloodiest month in the last decade changed from June to July, the Finnish forces still held the towns and Helsinki. Bolomar facing extreme fighting decided to launch an Amphibious invasion on Helsinki itself, the attack would be bloody as heavy militias defended the coastline, but it had to be done. On the 2nd of July Naval Admiral Athanasius launched an Amphibious invasion in the harbour, it was met with heavy fighting, but with naval and aerial support the harbour was taken. The Finnish forces seeing this threat retreated from Espoo to defend Helsinki itself, while Adolf's forces defended the bulk of the north. On the 4th Adolf was pushed from Vantaa and retreated to Muro leaving Bolomar to launch extensive attacks against the Helsinki, on the 5th the Center of Helsinki was captured by Albert, and in the 6th the Finnish forces were almost pushed out of Helsinki. Adolf with no option called for a general retreat from Helsinki into the secondary lines up north. On the 7th the Finnish capital was all under Soviet control, with the retreat almost being cut off in Muro due to a heavy attack by Bolomar. On the 9th Adolf launched a counter-attack that let the Finnish forces escape on the 10th. All of the Finnish military capabilities were retreated to the secondary Defence positions. This was the second time a Capital of a NATO member was taken by a Warsaw Pact member. The Swedish and Norwegian forces had began moving to the secondary defence line on the 7th and were ready to support the Finnish in the defence of their defensive line.
Invasion of Austria[]
The Soviet war machine had been stooped by the Americans and the Danish in llmenau, and the chances of a quick conquest of Germany quickly went away, the Soviet high Command had to think quick, they decided to launch a part of the initial Red Raccoon (Phase 2), and launch it before it was planned. Yugoslavia had been preparing forces along the Austrian Border and the Italian and was ready to take the initiative. The Czech weren't fully prepared only being able to launch a small attacks in the North, while Hungary was involved in helping the Yugoslavian´s, that forced the Soviets into diverting forces from the South attack to support the Czech and their attacks in Northern Austria. The initial attack would take place on the 3rd of July but was moved to the 29th. The operation lacked a central command structure as well as preparation for the attack as many Czech forces who engaged did not have their full equipment or were border guards badly armed, another problem was the lack of coordination with the initial Czechoslovakian push and the Soviet reserves, who were the main fighting force of the attack, this proved catastrophic for the Czechs as they lacked well trained and equipped Soviet forces.
On the morning of the 29th Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia officially joined the war along with Romania and Hungary. The Czech pushed the Austrians out of the border without much Soviet Support and decided to take the lead leaving the Soviets behind. Meanwhile, the Yugoslavians and their allies didn't have much success as the Italians had created and supported defensive positions on the border in 1987 preparing for a possible Yugoslavian invasion. But soon those defences would lose their advantages as the Italians would soon retreat forces to their border, and the Greeks stationed their to defend their country leaving the bad suited Austrian Army for itself. On the second day of the push the Czechs pushed so fast and efficiently the Soviets were left 15km behind the Czech lines. On the 3rd day and 1st of July the Austrians decided to launch an attack on Zwettl on the rear of the Czech push to stop them from coming into the Danube, but the Soviets quickly attacked the Austrians who were pushed out of the city easily by Czech forces but without knowing the Soviets kept bombarding the city, until Czech and Soviet forces began fighting on the streets, and fighting stopped when Czech soldiers rose Soviet flags. The incident caused over 250 hundred Czech losses and a 100 Soviet losses both sides quickly blamed the other. The Austrians began a new strategy with most of their small army deployed in the North, they decided to hold the Czechs in the Danube especially in Linz to the West and Melk to the Center. On the 4th day the Czechs arrived in the Danube and heavy fighting erupted in Melk and Linz followed, by the next day the Czech forces had moved and taken positions the other side of the Danube, but by the 4th of July the Austrians began pushing the Czechs out they began to lack ammunition, artillery support, and aerial superiority, but most importantly Soviet support. The Soviets had been for the past two days ten km behind the Czech lines as they thought the Czechs had it all under control. By the 5th of July the Czechs began getting kicked out of the South of the Danube, and Austrians forces had began to land on the north of the river. The Czech lines got crushed on the 6th and began losing ground quickly, if it weren't for a quick Soviet counterattack on Loja that saved the Czechs from getting destroyed and losing land on the North side of the Danube. Soon the attack was called off on the 7th the day, the same day the Hungarians and the Romanians retreated to support the Yugoslavians down south with most of their forces withdrawing from the Austrian border. The attack had only opened more fighting between NATO and the Warsaw Pact.
Invasion of Italy[]
Italy was an objective that the Yugoslavians had set for Red Raccoon (Phase 2) and that would be of total responsibility to the Yugoslavians and the Hungarians, along with the south of Austria. But with the recent developments in West Germany the Soviet´s had been looking for opportunities, the Yugoslavians decided to the initiative in an attack on Austria and Italy, this sounded good to the Soviet High-Command as they would only need to support the Czechs in northern Austria, with Yugoslavia and Hungary taking the rest. The Yugoslavian war plan on Italy was a masterpiece that was too good to be true with overconfident commanders and overoptimistic objectives, one of those was to capture Venice in less than three days. The Soviet High-Command knew this and thought that if the Yugoslavians pushed hard enough and with Soviet advisers the amount of Yugoslavian and allies forces would break the Italian lines not by mind but by force and quantity. The Yugoslavians being ready on the border since the 21st of June, the attack would take place on the morning of the 29th the same time the Yugoslavians pushed up north in Austria. Everything was set the Yugoslavian soldiers ready to push to take Italian land to become much powerful than the Austro-Hungarian Empire at its peak, what the Yugoslavians did not knew and wouldn't have ever imagined in both Austria and Italy, is that the Italians were one step ahead of the Yugoslavians as they had set defensive positions in both the Italian and the Austrian border as a defensive precaution against any Yugoslavian aggression. The Yugoslavian intelligence wasn't able to identify this target since its massive project which began in 1985 and ended in 1987, this would prove disastrous to the Yugoslavian and allies push in southern Austria and in Italy. The first attack would be launch on Cormons west of the Italian stronghold Gorizia and Gradisca a second attack would be launched against Trieste in an attempt to capture it, after the initial two attacks had accomplished their objectives a strong push against Udine in the north and against Venice in the south. Under the Command of General Branislav his two sons Boris and Branimir would each take the remaining two attacks with Boris taking care of the north with Branimir taking the south.
At 6:15 AM of the 29th of June the Yugoslavian push was launch one hour before the Austrian push. The push against Cormons was very effective having launched three different attacks though the flanks and the main one down the forest in the center. The first wave was pushed without a single sweat, the second and third push only continue filling the battlefield with bodies. By the time the Italians began to give up land was at the next day at a cost of 15,000 Yugoslavian soldiers and just 550 Italian soldiers. By the morning of the 30th Boris had proven incapable of penetrating the Italian defences, Branislav hoping Branimir wouldn't face the same results the next day. Branimir attacked Trieste and had success at the beginning but the quick reaction of the Italian navy forced Branimir to retreat to a more defensive positions, there, Branimir would stay for the rest of the initial push. Branislav had began having concerns about the Italian defences, wondering if the defences had been enhanced, to prove if his theory was correct he attacked a small Observation outpost in Bordon in the north of Udine. His biggest concerns werent anymore an assumption it was true, Branislav had two options to continue the carnage or to retreat. He decided to continue attacking with hope that some places weren't well defended, Boris kept pushing but found no advances while Branimir tried to hold the ground gained in the fight, with a last idea Boris attacked Gorizia and Gradisca in a search of weak points in the defensive line. By the 5th fighting was pointless Branislav seeing how his comrades found the same destiny in Austria, in a last grasp at victory retreated 80% of the Yugoslavian forces in Austria in a last attempt at launching a wide assault on the 9th, soon the just 12% of the initial Yugoslavian and allies forces were still in Austria, Branislav had to break the deadlock and push the Italians out. The heavy fighting in Cormons and Gorizia and Gradisca ended as Boris and his new forces re-grouped for a better attack against Gorizia and Gradisca and Mossa. Another pointless front had just opened and more heavy fighting would just follow, but what NATO and the world didn't know that it was just the beginning.
NATO strikes back Mecklenburg Offensive.[]
MASSIVE CHANGE!!! ON THIS
The Americans and the Danish were ready to push after llmenau River, but hadn't enough force to push the Soviet´s back. On June 29th the 2nd,3rd, and 4th American Infantry divisions along with 25,000 Danish reinforcements arrived in Hamburg, having the Americans landed the 28th. Soon American and Danish forces began setting plans for a push on the 3rd of July, the Germans joined along 10,000 West German forces with 15,000 Volunteers were ready to support the attack. General Brandon Stuart and General Alon Albert prepared the plans and they would carried them around, Commander Kristian Vorbock would lead the German soldiers and the volunteers under the Command of Brandon. The Danish would take the north side of the attack they would take and secure Wismar at the Baltic Sea, the Americans would take Schwerin the Capital of Mecklenburg and Ludwigslut. Meanwhile, the Germans secured Gartow. The plans were set to begin in July 4th as resources and NATO support had to be given.
On the morning of the 4th the attack was launched, to secure the German flank in Gartow British forces in Rosche launched small attacks against the Soviets to force them to move more troops from the north to the south. The Danish faced few resistance on their way to Wismar. Meanwhile, the Americans suffered many delays due to the large amounts of Soviet resistance in front of Schwerin and Ludwigslut the Germans with the British support faced no resistance since the Soviet forces began preparing a possible offensive in the south. The next day a big Soviet shift in their lines moving more troops to the north, NATO took advantage of this and launched attacks along the frontline capturing with almost no effort Wittingen, Sassenburg, Brunswick, Goslar, Erfurt, and many other key cities and towns. The Danish entered Wismar and almost took the downtown of that city along with the Americans in Ludwigslut. On the 6th the Americans were fighting in proper Schwerin along with the Germans in Gartow, Wismar was almost taken. On the 7th Wismar fell and the Danish quickly secured the city and its surroundings, with the Germans almost taking Gartow the same day. On the 8th the downtown of Schwerin was secured along with the totality of Gartow. On the 9th the first Soviet counterattack was launched in a desperate attempt to stop the Americans in Ludwigslut and pushing the Germans out of Gartow, the result ended in massive Soviet losses and with a good Counter-Attack by the 4th Infantry Division at the end of the day secured Ludwigslut. With the Soviets desperately trying to hold Schwerin decided to launch a massive Counter-Attack on the Americans in Schwerin and the Danish in Wismar on the 10th, the attack was left the Soviet forces so weak the next Schwerin was captured with nearly no American casualties. A defensive line was established on the 11th of July, the offensive was a great defeat in the Soviet High Command, with no other option the media was silenced and was told the Americans lied in Mecklenburg as flowers in Moscow. This was the first of many times the media was silenced and only Soviet newscasts showing the changed results of the situation in Europe. While the Soviet forces in Mecklenburg lied in the thousands hundreds in Moscow celebrated the Soviet victory. The offensive brought back morale that NATO had lost as its strategic position declined and declined every day the fighting continued. But this offensive was just a small bubble flowing in a field of needles, just waiting to be popped. The problem was that anybody neither in Germany or the USA would have never guessed what it was coming for them, or the efforts they would need to have the same success as the Soviets.
Red Raccoon (Phase 2)[]
MASSIVE CHANGE!!! ON THIS
Valin had been struggling to keep his position and his war plan after the llemenau, he trusted Albert, Vladimir, and Volonov. Valin had his second phase ruined by the recent events and with the first Phase not finished he was beginning to get worried, there was only one option a new plan. On the 12th of July Valin planned he's new offensive. Each general would keep the same central idea but with a more organized and detailed attack. Volonov would attack special locations in the combination of the Danish, American and German lines. The attack at Bobitz between the Danish and the Americans, in Leezen to prove the American defenses, and finally in Rastow in a coordinated effort to cut the Americans and Germans in Ludwigslut, the attack was aimed to reduce and damage the Americans as they were the biggest threat in the North. Meanwhile in the Center and south, the biggest push would occur, instead of attacking small positions the attack would be massive. The initial objectives were this going from North to South Rosche, Wittigen, Sassenburg, Brunswick, Goslar, Obersuhl, Érfurt, Jena and finally Hof. Most of this objectives were taken in Red Raccoon Phase 1, but were taken by NATO forces on the peak of the Mecklenburg Offensive, securing this would prove key to the taking of the secondary objectives, and the debilitation of the NATO morale and most important the West German will to continue fighting and suffering.
On July 14th the offensive was launched beginning with Vladimir launching attacks against Gartow, Wittigen and Sassenburg, the next morning Volonov attacked Rastow and Leezen while Albert attacked Jena and Erfurt on the south. By the 16th fighting saw a peak in the fighting as Volonov launched an attack against Bobitz, and Vladimir against Brunswick and Goslar. The next day a Czech force of over 25,000 men and 35,000 Soviets attacked Hof and Obersuhl, meaning all of the objectives that Valin had proposed were already in combat. Soon NATO began to lose ground on the 17th and 18th and by the 19th both Hof and Jena had been taken and Erfurt fell the next day, Goslar and Wittigen followed the next day. On the 21st The Danes were pushed out of both Wismar and Bobitz and the Germans almost lost Gartow. By the 23rd Leezen, Rastow and Sassenburg were on Soviet hands, the next day Ludwigslut and Obersuhl followed. But on the 25th Brunswick was taken by the Soviets leaving 18,000 casualties for both the Soviets and NATO. The Americans fought hard until the 27th when they were finally driven back from Schwerin to better positions, on the 28th the Soviet and Czech forces stooped to re-group and prepare for the continuation of the offensive, NATO was crushed trying to defend what little was left of its glorious Mecklenburg Offensive, Valin began to think that this was the winning offensive and he began to plan his speech to the Soviet public who had been told of a front in Hamburg, Bremen and Frankfurt.
On the 31st the offensive continued with a heavy Soviet push against Rosche and Kassel in the north, and against Fulda, llmenau, Bayreuth and Nuremberg in the south. As seen before NATO collapsed with small holdouts remaining in llmenau and Rosche the next day. By the 2nd of August Rosche and llmenau had fallen. By the 3rd Kassel and Fulda were under heavy fighting along with Bayreuth. By the 5th Fulda was on Soviet hands and Frankfurt saw itself threatened by Red Raccoon, thousands upon thousands fled Frankfurt and its surroundings waiting to reach France and flee to Spain. Beaten and ravaged NATO held in both Bayreuth and Kassel steadily as reinforcements from the Netherlands arrived reinforcing the ravaged NATO positions. Brandon Stuart was the Commanding force of a beaten American force having left Schwerin without any morale or organization, the Americans were in any way an immediate solution to the collapse of the NATO Front line down to the south and center. Brandon knew something that if Kassel or Frankfurt fell it was the end of NATO in West Germany and possibly Europe, Brandon decided that it was enough and that he didn't come to die in a trench but on a battlefield. On the 7th Brandon attacked launching a massive offensive against Schwerin and Wismar with what was left of the Danish army. Brandon faced heavy resistance from the Soviets and East Germans, but was able to push for Bobitz and Schwerin key battlegrounds a few days ago, now turned into a massive graveyard for both the Danes and Americans as for the Soviets, who had been suffering tremendous losses in all of the front. By the 10th he was eight km from Schwerin and five from Bobitz, when he saw the full bulk of the Soviet northern army as a quick push, destroyed the weak American push to Schwerin and by the next day the Danes and Brandon retreated from their positions, fearing an encirclement. By the 13th every thing was just as it was a few day´s ago just with less men, as a quick Soviet push encircled 1212 Danish and American troops, Brandon attacked the 15th in a desperate attack to rescue the trapped men. The encirclement was broken the 17th and all of the men retreated, but before leaving in Grieben 3500 dead Soviets and 3750 dead Americans and Danish soldiers. The next day both sides retreated to their former positions, to replenish. The American presence in Germany had just been killed as the attack only left 2500 American soldiers in Germany.
Operation Prudent
[]
As the Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Cyprus, Jordan and Iran waited for the go signal from Moscow to be sent, Operation Prudent would have to wait. But on August 7th Moscow had sent the go sign to its Muslim allies and the 55,000 Soviet Forces ready to attack Turkey. Operation Prudent was a simple plan, destroy NATO's presence in the Middle East in less than three weeks. The Soviet Union knew that its Muslim allies were to weak to take on the Israeli, Kuwaitis, Turkish, and other NATO members all by themselves without proper Soviet support, as Albert who was planned to take the role of Operation Prudent said it's just another useless front. Immediately a No-Fly Zone was established over both Turkey and Kuwait. By 8:00 am Israel was invaded, immediately Gaza and the West Bank were invaded by Israel. By 8:15 Turkey and Kuwait were invaded. In just 25 minutes all of the Middle-East was set on flames. All of the Arabian Peninsula immediately reacted declaring neutrality as a war in the Peninsula could set the hole Muslim world into flames. By 8:45 the first blood was spilled when the battle for Paran began in Israel. By 10:00 Paran, Eilat, Samar, Hatzeva, Metsalda, Maoz Haim, Gesher, and the Golan Heights were involved in a massive Jordanian and Syrian offensive, one of which had broke down by the next morning. In Turkey the Soviet forces and Iraqi forces moved untouched as Turkish and 75,000 NATO forces pulled to their Defensive Positions. In Kuwait heavy Iraqi movement occurred with no fighting involved that would change the next morning. The Golan Heights and the West Bank exploded with hundreds of hundreds of Armed protesters attacked Jewish property and Israeli forces, who had push the combined attack of the Jordanians and Syrians in the south with the help of 25,000 Egyptian soldiers and 750 US forces. The Turkish forces suffered the bulk of the Lebanese, Syrian, Iraqi, and Soviet forces as much of their defensive positions were involved in heavy fighting, as thousands upon thousands of Sunni and Shia militias stormed the Turkish border. Kuwait faced the bulk of the Iraqis in both Abdali and Al Maghasi, the Kuwaitis having the smallest army of all of the Middle-Eastern NATO members, received massive aid from Saudi Arabia which opposed all Communist ideals, and having a strong relation with the US and allies, sent 25,000 volunteers and the newly formed Anti-Communist League in the Middle-East with a force of 30,000 men entered Kuwait to help. By the 10th Jordan and Syria had lost all their offensive in Israel, and where able to escape Israel with a Lebanese push in Nahariya and a quick breakthrough in Samar. Turkey was able to launch an attack to stabilized the attacks in Jarabulus, and hold the area. Meanwhile, the Soviets launched attacks on Hopa and Artvin with Hopa falling the 12th and Artvin the 13th. On the 15th a quick Iraqi push forced the Kuwaitis and its allies to retreat from Abdali and Al Maghasi, to Al-Jahra. Turkey having lost the fight on the north against the Soviets suffered another crushing defeat as both Kars and Iğdir fell to the Soviets with Iranian support. Meanwhile, Van and Hakkâri faced the bulk of the Iranian army, and Yeditepe and Karbeyaz the bulk of the Lebanese and Syrian armies. In Israel the Jordanians desperate attacked Ein Bokek and with Syrian support Jericho. Meanwhile, the Lebanese launched attacks on Safed. Cyprus entered officially into the war the 16th when British and Turkish presence on the island was remove with help of 15,000 Lebanese soldiers, by the 18th the last British ship had left port. On the 19th the Kuwaiti forces were quickly ambushed in Jaber Al Ali opening another costly battle for the battle ravaged Kuwaiti army, on the 21st the United States promised 5500 troops by the 25th and 6000 by the 31st. Turkey began a massive retreat from the East as Van and Hakkâri fell to the Iranians and Cizre to the Iraqis. By the end of the day the Middle-East was almost lost as the steady advances everyday made victory each time closer. But NATO had to turn its head around as Germany, Finland, and the Balkans were on the verge of the Soviet hand.
Operation Balkan Freedom[]
As the war on the Middle-East began to unfold, Greece being the last official member of NATO not in the war, since fears of a combined Bulgarian and Yugoslavian push would break the lines of the Greeks, who would have to leave Albania without opposition. On August 9th various Scuffles around the Turkish-Bulgarian border left 980 dead and over 1250 casualties for both sides. By the 12th 1236 lay dead all over the Turkish and Greek borders, as Albania, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria prepared for an attack on Greece and Turkey. Fearing an attack 5500 Americans and 2500 British soldiers would land in Greece and support the forces. Meanwhile, 2750 Portuguese would help the Turkish on their European Front, the next day the amount was increased into 3250. On the 14th the biggest Scuffle took place on the Bulgarian border where 350 Greek Soldiers and 100 supporters tested the Bulgarian defenses, erupting on a massive battle leaving over 200 casualties for the Bulgarians and over 250 for the Greeks. By the 15th the Bulgarian and Albanian forces mobilized with the Greeks doing the same one hour later. The next day the Bulgarian scuffles were so massive that the Greek Prime Minister called the Bulgarian leader that "he hated to call them a scuffle, and a better name was invasion". 25 minutes later the Warsaw Pact declared war on Greece, uniting all of the Balkans.
Having the war started the Americans, British and Portuguese forces moved their landing schedule up to the 19th and 20th. The Greeks quickly attacked the Albanian forces in the mountains near Pepel and Ersekë, and quickly took defensive positions against the Yugoslavians in Prespa, Florina, Aridai and Cherson. The Turks having very limited Military Capabilities against the Bulgarians suffer great breakthroughs in Avcilar and Çallidere, but were barely able to stop a major offensive the next day. On the 17th heavy aerial fighting the biggest in the war so far, dominated the airspace of the province of Macedonia, as 350 Greek, 100 Italian, 15 Turkish, 45 British, and 30 American Fighters took to the sky´s to create NATO Aerial Domination over Macedonia, in the intent of possibly stooping any Yugoslavian push though the area, the result a massive interception of 250 Yugoslavian, 90 Albanian, 50 Bulgarian, and 100 Romanian Fighters, NATO established its dominance after two hours of heavy fighting, resulting in the destruction and damage of 200 enemy planes and with just 57 for NATO. This victory brought much needed morale for NATO´s air force as they had been constantly facing the great Soviet bear since June. But that didn't stop the Yugoslavians to attack Prespa and Florida, as the rest of the push laid in their trenches waiting for the end of the American Bombing campaign. The Balkans was more of meat grinder than a front, but its opening meant more problems for both NATO and the Warsaw Pact, which were engaged into an ever evolving global conflict. And as West Germany sits on the edge of the Communist abyss.
The Second Battle of Kessel[]
MASSIVE CHANGE!!! ON THIS
Operation Red Skunk[]
Adolf had barely escaped Helsinki, and with the Finnish capital under Soviet Control there wasn't any hope for the devastated Finnish Army. On the 19th of July Norwegian and Swedish forces numbering a total of 250,000 men reinforced the beaten Finnish lines, as they waited for the Soviet attack. By the 10th Salo had fallen and all Finnish forces and Rebels from southern Finland now only moved into the defensive line. On the 20th Soviet forces began to break the line, but failed as the combined Scandinavian forces showed no mercy to the invading Soviet forces. By the next day trenches had began to appear on the Soviet side. The NATO high-Command established in Jyväskylä thought that a World War one style warfare in Finland was the best choice, as the Soviet forces greatly outnumbered Scandinavian forces in some points, the plan didn't sound good for the Adolf as he planned a quick replenishment and a final push for Helsinki and hopefully Leningrad. But with no other choice small charges were launched on until the end of the month by both sides, making World War One seem like nothing compared to Modern Warfare as both sides suffered a total of 550 Casualties each day for a total of 5,500 Casualties in total.
By the 2nd Bolomar began to plan out a new Operation, with its objectives the Swedish and Norwegian border by the end of August and Stockholm by the end of Autumn this would mean a big breakthrough in Finland was needed for the operation to reach its successful objectives. By the 4th massive Soviet forces numbering in the 150,000 reached the flanks of the Lahti Salient preparing for a big push on Vääksy and Kurhila in the north and with Lammi and Hämeenkoski to the south, with a quick pincer move Bolomar would surround the Finnish and Swedish forces in the Salient and force the hole front line to collapse as in the Salient 75,000 Finnish, 25,000 Swedish, and 45,000 Norwegian Forces were inside the Salient, with 45,000 Finnish soldiers holding the Southern flank along with 20,000 Swedish forces and the North flank was held by 30,000 Finnish Soldiers and 45,000 Norwegian Soldiers with support of an American Anti-Tank Company. The Soviets needed complete aerial dominance over the Salient and 100 aircraft were moved into the area moving them away from West Germany moving the total of Soviet and Polish aircraft in the area over to 350 Soviet and 75 Polish aircraft, greatly outnumbering the 200 aircraft the Finns and the Swedes had in the area, with only 25 Norwegian aircraft and 20 Swedish aircraft remaining as reserves for the Salient. The attack would begin on the night of the 7th as Assault specialist would begin the attack the defences in incursions with its objective to destroy as many trenches as possible and their fortifications as they were Heavily guarded and very well armed.
At 9:00 Pm Polish and Soviet Assault specialists launched their attacks into the surroundings of Lammi, Hämeenkoski, Vääksy, and Kurhila supported by small Soviet charges into Pälkäne and Pannala which created great confusion along the Swedish lines as the quick attack broke easily through the defences proving them to be not as effective as it was previously thought. The next morning 10,000 Finnish Soldiers from Vääksy were moved to reinforce Pannala, by 8:50 the Soviet air force took to the sky´s as Finnish, Swedish, and Norwegian airfields were quickly damaged with the Polish air force securing the Salient of any enemy planes. Soon at 9:15 Pm the Soviet soldiers attacked the Flanks of the Salient they were meet with Heavy machine gun fire causing heavy casualties, but they were quickly silenced by Artillery and Armoured Vehicles which came racing through No-Man´s Land or as the Finnish called it ei-kenenkään-maa. The Soviet Vehicles found out that the Finnish, and Swedish lacked Heavy Anti-Tank weaponry in the south and that the Norwegian Anti-Tank weapons were stationed in Tuukkala as they expected a Soviet attack there, but the only ones that could stop the Soviet Vehicles was an American Anti-Tank Company stationed in Vääksy, the Americans quickly entered the fighting held the Soviet tank for the rest of the night as the hole Salient began to collapse as the increased amount of Soviet charges quickly began to break through the lines in Pannala. It only took two nights and one day for the Northern and Southern flank to break forcing the evacuation of the Salient, the Soviets quickly began to push for Laurilla as that was the center of their two pincers. On the 11th Soviet forces finally broke though Mäkela and Pannala hoping to destroy as many Finnish and Swedish forces on their way to Ollila were they would push in a desperate attempt to break the encirclement. The NATO High-command decided to not retreat all of the Finnish and Swedish forces from Lahti as they wanted the Soviets to launch attacks against a well defended Lahti, forcing them to keep much of their forces from closing the encirclement giving the troops in Ollila more possibilities to escape. On the 13th in Villähde heavy fighting occurred as 25,000 Finnish troops delayed 30,000 Soviet troops from attacking Lahti in an attempt to give them more time to prepare their defences, but were quickly pushed back as Soviet troops coming from Pannala slightly changed their path suggesting a plan to encircle Villähde and cut the Finnish troops there, but it resulted it was a Finnish A-A unit retreating from its position. This caused the Finnish troops to lose the best defensive position before Lahti and causing the Finnish lines to easily break leaving 15,000 Dead or Captured, by the 15th all the Lahti forces were encircled as Laurilla fell. A day later fighting in Lahti and Palomaa began as Swedish troops found themselves on the spearhead of the Soviet attack, this left the retreating forces in confusion as they knew that they needed to break in Ollila but had to hold Palomaa to be able to let the forces in Lahti retreat, dividing their forces Heavy fighting in Ollila soon broke out as Finnish and Swedish forces tried to break the Soviet encirclement over to the north in Harjula as Norwegian and Finnish forces tried to break the encirclement. But in Lahti fighting was useless as after one day of fighting all forces had to retreat as a Heavy push to cut Lahti from the rest of the Scandinavian Forces was launched also due to the Heavy fighting in Palomma going on the Soviet side, on the 18th Lahti was abandoned but the Soviet pincer was so fast that by the 18th Heavy fighting in Hollola involved the desperate Finnish troops trying to break out of the newly established Hollola pocket as Soviet troops coming from Lahti were very close, but after Heavy casualties a small breakthrough was established letting only 25,000 men out of the 35,000 to escape the pocket only to find that Soviet Amphibious forces had began a second push for Vahtera dividing the small pass in three pieces. By the 20th Palomaa had broken and the Finnish troops from Lahti on verge of surrendering, Norwegian and Finnish troops broke the Soviet lines in Harjula only to hear the news that all of the NATO forces in the Finnish region of Päijänne Tavastia to head either to Lahdenpohja or Kiiskoja for a Helicopter extraction this was the beginning of Operation Finnish Whooper.
The plan was simple 77 Finnish, 55 Swedish, 60 Norwegian, 25 Danish, ten West German, 25 French, 15 Spanish, five Portuguese, ten Dutch, and 25 American Helicopters would total 307 helicopters supported by 95 aircraft, would land in Lahdenpohja (Whooper 1) and Kiiskoja (Whooper 2) to retrieve the Finnish and Swedish troops stationed there, previous aerial superiority was needed because it would take approximately 170 hours to get all of the men out and transported into Iso-Evo for Further orders. On the 21st 90 aircraft took the sky´s to achieve Aerial superiority over the designated Finnish Throat and quickly turned the tide in Vaster and Ollila as all the troops were ordered to retreat to Whooper 1 or Whooper 2 and retreated with ease as the ravaged Lahti defenders were the first to arrive in Whooper 2, where on the 22nd Extraction began the same day the Swedish troops from Vahtera arrived in Whooper 1, by the 23rd Whooper 1 and 2 were at full capacity. Whooper 2 was a full success as 9500 soldiers were already evacuated by the 24th, Finnish forces arrived on Whooper 1 on the 25th where it had the full capabilities of the helicopters, the next day all Swedish forces had already been evacuated and by the 27th 50% of the Finnish forces had escaped, but Heavy fighting soon occurred as on a single sweep 12 NATO aircraft were taken out and the 24 hours rescue time had been reduced to only ten hours of flight. The Nato High-command having stretched their mission length by 24 hours decided that the 29th 100 NATO aircraft would secure the area for 15 hours in a desperate attempt to get all the men out. After Heavy fighting both on the ground and in the air, all Finnish forces were retreated out of Whooper 1 just in time before a Soviet Tank charge. Finland had just barely escaped losing 50% of their men and 70% of the Swedish and Norwegian Expeditionary Forces in Lahti, but it couldn't avoid the fact the it had lost the initiative on the front, and was very weak due to increase in Soviet attacks along the front.
August Offensive[]
As neither side could cross the Danube and have a successful push both ends of the river were heavily fortified and were very well prepared to push or hold the line at any cost, the Czechoslovakian decided to pass the month of July preparing their plans for a major breakthrough at a variety of points, with the intention for a full attack in early August which would either capture or encircle Vienna and destroy the Austrian Defences on the other side of the Danube. Benedikt Buzek decided that a full scale attack was needed but Yevgeni Abakumov disagreed as small attacks were enough to break the Austrian defences, as lack of NATO military assets made it difficult to hold a line with newly brought reserves which preferably were international, but the NATO forces in Austria suffered from the lack of joint Austrian NATO training, as it was expected that American troops would help the Austrians but due to Resolution 24 no American forces were stationed in Austria. Yevgeny was assigned by Moscow after the Czech offensive came to a halt the son of a Soviet Politician had been commanding Czech units in Germany with success in taking Hof, but was assigned after Albert abandoned any relation with the Austrian Front as a complete humiliation in Austria could ruin his view to the public. The Soviet High-command had the mentality of continuing their small attacks, but the lack of troops forced a promising attack to quickly retreat or to surrender, the Czech forces knew that they needed to break the Austrian defenses if they wanted Austria to surrender before Winter came and stooped all of the Operations in Austria.
The Czech High Command needed inspiration quickly as they needed the Soviet troops which would only intervene if the Czech plan would mean a proper breakthrough as the Soviet forces were planned to be moved into Italy if no attack was launched by middle August, as Soviet presence in Italy would secure the Yugoslavian objectives and most certainly Venice and Udine before Winter hit the Italian Peninsula. The Czechs came up with a brilliant plan, airborne forces had been quiet almost all the war due to the quick capability of modern aircraft, the great amount of resources used, and the probability of failing the operation would have, the plan was simple a quick breakthrough would occur in a variety of locations supported by airborne Forces which would cause panic on the Austrian lines as they will very quickly be surrounded and outnumbered by Czech and Soviet forces which would easily cross the Danube and reinforce the airborne forces. The Sovit High-Command had high hopes for the plan but were quickly disturbed by the simplicity of the Offensive, Yevgeni decided to retreat Soviet forces but not to Italy but to southern Germany as they still hoped to keep the front moving. On the 29th of July Soviet Spetsnaz began to land on on the landing positions to clear any obstruction to the airborne Forces, Yevgeni was able to convince the Hungarian to launch new attacks into Austria especially into Köflach, Hartberg, Aspang-Markt, and Matterburg as the Italians had been retreating troops to reinforce their defences near Trieste.
On the morning of the first of August Soviet paratroopers landed behind Austrian lines at the same time Czech Amphibious forces arrived at the Southern banks of the Danube, the Spetsnaz began to disable Austrian Communications and launched attacks to divert Austrian reinforcements from reaching the front line. The Austrian High-command was surprised by the quickness and efficiency the joint Soviet-Czech forces had in breaking the Austrian defences, after two hours of fighting the beach heads were secured and a quick Czech push was imminent. The NATO High-command decided to launch a No-Fly Zone over the Danube to delay the Czech push, NATO quickly launched the No-Fly Zone over the Danube and after 45 minutes over 50 Soviet, 68 Czech, 12 Hungarian, and five East German airplanes were destroyed at the Cost of 35 NATO fighters, after two hours most Czech forces went into hiding as American A-10's began to attack Czech landing points, Soviet Paratroopers were cut off as American bombers began to bomb Soviet defensive positions. The NATO High-command assured the Austrians of a five-day period of total NATO Aerial dominance and in that period Austria needed to push the Soviets out of the Southern banks, NATO assured 2500 French soldiers as assistance but needed Austria to deliver the decisive punch and stop the Operation.
To make the situation worst Soviet paratroopers drooped in without any anti-air capabilities destroying their chances of taking ground as American A-10´s began to turn the landing points into a burned ground. On Hartkirchen and Eferding the situation was at the boiling point as some Czech units had began to cross the river back to their starting positions, on Wilhering the Soviet paratroopers were completely destroyed with small units trying to reach the Czech forces, on Enns the Soviet paratroopers were drooped just in time to avoid the NATO Aerial Campaign but the Czech forces would found little luck as a Mortar Company had just arrived and had retreated but after delivering a heavy blow on the Czech forces, on Ardagger Markt the Soviet paratroopers were completely destroyed and the landing Czech forces barely reached their Beachheads before the NATO attack began, on Pöchlarn, Sarling, Wölbling, Traismauer, and Tulln the heavy fighting and bombardment left a main pincer of the attack completely frozen with the paratroopers taking massive losses. With all of the front frozen for three complete days the Austrian forces quickly responded launching immediately all of it´s reserves in an effort to push the invading Czech and Soviet forces across the Danube with NATO Aerial Coverage, expecting a week long Counter-Offensive Austrian politicians were able to convince the NATO High-command to send help if the Austrian forces pushed the invaders across the Danube.
The Soviet High-command was ready to call of the retreat if it wasn't for Yevgeni threatening with his resignation, Yevgeni proposed a new attack where Soviet forces would directly attack Vienna in Klosterneuburg, Fischamed and Gallbrunn without the Czech approval or opinion. In two days the Soviets amassed a force of 15,000 men and were reinforced one day later by 3,500 Austrian Communists and 1,500 Hungarians, the attack would be launched five minutes after the last NATO squadrons left for West Germany along with the last Czech attack. After waiting two hours the Czechs launched their attack without notice the Soviet Paratroopers had already been sent back into Warsaw for replenishment a day earlier and the Soviet support was nowhere to be seen, using fake promises as an incentive for Buzek the Czech forces were slaughtered most forces didn't even enter their boats as an American scout plane had seen their movements and had told artillery all over the front to get ready. Only in the first hour not a single men reached the beach alive and the Soviet air force was forced to intervene if they wanted to stop the slaughter, after three hours of fighting in Bratislava the Danube began to look red the next day water systems in Bratislava and neighbouring towns and cities began to either stop functioning or got damaged by the amount of Czech landing material that got stuck in the pipes. As the Czechs were slaughtered the Soviets landed on their three locations facing no resistance as all of the forces had been sent to the north to stop the Czech which now held their objectives, the Soviet plan was to force the Austrians to retreat from the north to help the south and Vienna or to suffer a war of attrition against the Czechs, the Austrians with no option decided to call for a retreat of many divisions for the defence of Vienna and called on a full mobilisation for the 7th as a last resort if the fighting entered Vienna. Yevgeni had forced the Austrians into a limbo facing two immediate concerns and with no option than send help to Vienna, around the Austrian Government a proposition for a formal meeting between the NATO powers was proposed setting the foundation of the Bordeaux Conference, which would turn the war around. This new Soviet movement had moved the table as now Yugoslavia prepared for a massive attack against the Trieste Corridor and Southern Austria.
First Battle of Vienna[]
Operation Thundering Roll[]
The Soviet and Czech success in Austria, gave inspiration to the attritioned Yugoslavian Army which by now had suffered extensive casualties from Italian shelling, the Soviet forces stationed there had been moved up north to support the push into Austria. The Yugoslavian commanders had prepared a new plan to engage the Italians and secure Trieste, the attack would feature three pushes one in the north aimed at Jamiano a southern one aimed at Sgonico and the main one against Medeazza, all three attacks would then head for the coast cutting off Trieste, during that the Yugoslavian Army was to attack Trieste to not allow any men to be moved to protect the positions. The Soviet forces agreed on sending an Armoured Unit to support the northern push only if the Yugoslavians commited to continuing the push against Greece, of which it agreed upon. Operation Thundering Roll was about to begin
The build up for the planned date of the 11th was begun on the 7th, it was done with great secrecy. The Soviet tank formation which due to Austrian attacks had been pushed to an arriving date of the 10th, meant that the Yugoslavian forces would have to wait more time and so were forced to move the formation during the day to be able to reach the position on the 9th. As the tanks began to unload an Italian airplane passed through the area the weak Yugoslavian anti-aircraft positions had been a problem but with the Yugoslavian forces stretched so far and wide there was few anti-aircraft weapons available, the Italian airplane was able to recognize that there were Soviet tanks and so he informed the High Command. The next day several recoinassance flights were done in depth in the intention of catching a Yugoslavian build up, it was only confirmed at 8pm that night that the Yugoslavian forces with Soviet support were on the verge of launching an offensive, the problem was that the Italians didnt know where the attack was going to come from.
As the Italian Private Antonio Rivero would later describe it "The Sky was lit" as over 3,500 Artillery Pieces and 250 Self-Propelled Guns all over the Trieste corridor began to fire at the other side of the border hoping to hit the enemy formations, immediate air Supremacy was to be established and so 250 Italian and 50 American Fighters headed for the region. General Shorts' air fleet was re routed to support a bombing run off the town of Kolomban where a large Yugoslavian tank column was reported to be moving, infantry along the front began also began fire hoping to catch "Any Dumb Slav" in the bushes ahead. During the two-hour bombardment including General Shorts bombing amounted to 125 tanks destroyed, 150 vehicles, 250 artillery pieces and 3500 casualties.
The Italian forces waited they decided to not continue the barrage to save ammunition until they had a clear view of the enemy formations. That morning a heavy fog on Jamiano protected the Soviet tanks as they approached their postions to prepare for the assault at 8:30 am, but the other two locations didnt have the same cover to amass their forces and so at 7:30 an American Scout plane was able to recognize a Yugoslavian tank column just outside Medeazza, at 7:45 100 Artillery pieces bombed the area where the column was spooted the tanks had been ordered to wait there and so were directly hit of the 50 tanks and 25 vehicles 35 tanks and 13 vehicles were hit, further casualties on the column were avoided by counter battery fire from the Yugoslavian artillery. The attack was once again delayed until 9 am giving more time for the Italians to scout the border by air and land, all over the border minor skirmishes between Italian patrols and Yugoslavian resulted in both sides sporadically firing at each other for ten minutes before pulling back. To make matters worst a group of American close air support spotted an ammunition storage site off Sgonico and was able to destroy it before bombing another one off Medeazza, the Italian air force with American support held complete control of the area and was proving to be much more of a problem than what the Yugoslavian Commanders had thought of, at 8:25 Soviet airplanes from Austria took off headed for Trieste they were to join a group of 30 Yugoslavian fighters and five Hungarians to make a force of 50 fighters headed for Trieste. The Italian air force had kept at least 30 planes on air and 50 at stand by at all times, the joint force was detected early by radar coming from the direction of Fernetti the Italian air force scrambled ten fighters to support the 15 headed there, it was a mistake on the radar sytem and by the time they airplanes arrived at 8:40 there were no airplanes on the area. The fighters were headed to Rulpa in the effort of forcing the Italians to leave the main attack zone empty of Italian aerial presence, they were detected at around 8:45 and 30 Italian fighters were scrambled to intercept them along with the remaining 20 Italian planes already at air, at 8:55 the joint air force was intercepted near Miren across the border, both forces immediately began to engage seeing as how they werent going to be able to counter such a force the remaining 20 Italian fighters were scrambled to enter the fighting. The battle over Miren was very short as the Italian anti-aircraft was able to down five fighters and the Italians another five while only suffering three, the joint air force was forced to leave after having lost ten airplanes but it had accomplished it´s goal to some extent, the Italian air force knowing of the lack of Yugoslavian anti-aircraft equipment in the north decided to follow the joint air force as they retreated back. The attack was ultimately delayed until 9:30 giving time for the persuing Italian fighters to destroy ten fighters while suffering one damaged one.
With the fighting over at 9:25 the Yugoslavian decided to launch the attack, a massive Artillery barrage of around 450 Artillery pieces and 50 Self-Propelled guns began bombing the three attack zones. The Italian High Command was able to predict the three main attack axis but it wrongly believed that Jamiano was the main attack zone because of major Soviet presence. The Italian air force with only 15 fresh pilots available launched to the skies to help in the defence of Trieste, the attack wasnt as efficient as the Yugoslavian commanders had thought as soon as Yugoslavian Artillery had fired their barrage the Italian artillery very precisely destroyed 15 Artillery pieces and two Self-Propelled Guns but it was forced to change its attacks from the Artillery to the incoming infantry and Tank formations at which just on the first hour scored 35 tanks destroyed, 45 vehicles and over 3500 casualties all over Trieste. The attack was only able to gain land at 10:35 am once Soviet tanks broke through the defences in northern Jamiano and believing that to be the main attack retreated forces from Medeazza which had not had any success.
The Yugoslavian push at 2pm at both Medeazza and Sgonico had only created massive casualties for the Yugoslavians, the Soviets had more success pushing the Italians back in Jamiano and by 4pm fighting inside the small town had left both sides with heavy casualties. The Yugoslavian High Command decided to call off any attacks into Medeazza and Sgonico until the next day, the total losses for the Yugoslavians had been massive with 100 tanks destroyed along with 124 vehicles and 4500 casualties while the Italians had only suffered 20 tanks destroyed with 34 vehicles and some 1000 casualties. That night Short´s Firing Sulfur hit the Soviet forces off Jamiano destroying 40 tanks 67 vehicles and inflicted heavy casualties on the Soviet´s, this bombing proved to be a savior as the next morning the Italians counter attacked and pushed the Soviets across the border. With the entire front stabilized the Italians prepared for a massive counterattack aimed at pushing the Yugoslavians and Soviet´s away from the original border back. The Yugoslavian commanders called the attack off on the morning of the 13th as a heavy artillery barrage had forced the Soviet tanks to retreat to avoid any further losses.
Operation Firing Sulfur[]
As the situation in Europe began to turn against NATO ways to gain a new advantage began to emerge, General King an Iowa native supported the idea of moving the American air force into Europe to support the forces there, but General Short also an Iowa native suggested that American Forces should bomb the Soviet Union like Germany in World War Two, most Generals opposed this idea as it would cost too many Resources and Pilots of which the Americans lacked. King was able to obtain support to increase American presence in Europe, and to much disgust approved Short's idea for a massive raid against Soviet Forces.
As it was planned on August 10th American, French, British, and West German Bombers and Fighters left their bases for a preemptive strike against Soviet Armoured Formations at Gallbrunn which had just recently arrived from Russia. The force which was to reach at night went straight into action bombing the location but without knowing the Tanks had left around one hour before the attack, Short was able to receive another round of bombing for the next night. Just as the massive force of 500 airplanes prepared around Europe to take off they received a change of directions, they were to leave for the bombing off Yugoslavian and Soviet formations off Trieste. This change meant that the French and West German airplanes could not take off, so the 350 British and American airplanes left for Trieste they were to rebase in Italy, on their way their Italian Squadrons headed for the front passed the massive aerial fleet. As the force approached more and more fighting around the border as the Italians prepared for the massive onslaught which was awaiting them, firing artillery to try to hit armoured and infantry formations on the border, but most Artillery failed to hit any Formation. The fleet was headed to Kolomban, and as they approached they were able to see their targets perfectly because a shell had ignited a Yugoslavian tank and the surrounding trees had caught fire revealing the rest of the column. The 150 bombers bombed the town as 50 close air support hit the tank formations, the Yugoslavian anti-aircraft was not able to react until the bombs had been dropped and set the town ablaze, surrounding formations were also heavily attacked and suffered heavy casualties. The Italian artillery and navy now had a direct line-of-sight to bomb the tanks and infantry, after the bombing a 20 minute barrage on the town forced the yugoslvian Army to delay the attack on southern Trieste for another ten hours. The attack had destroyed 55 tanks, 75 vehicles, 100 artillery pieces and had left 1500 casualties.
After the success of the raid in delaying the attack, with great support for Short and his campaign King was forced to approve of Shorts Operation which would be named Firing Sulfur. Short was given the renamed 5th Task Force which had a force of 200 Bombers, 60 close air support, and 100 Fighters from various nations but mostly from the USA. Now that Short had been given the resources he continued to support the defence of Trieste, Short´s new force was given the task of bombing Soviet tanks off Jamiano where there was heavy fighting and a chance for a breakthrough in the Italian lines, Short´s forces were able to bomb the Soviet tanks and inflicted devastating losses on the Soviet´s and were able to stabilize the entire front for the time being.
The First Bordeaux Conference[]
Main Article The First Bordeaux Conference
The Opatija Pocket[]
The Italians were ready to go into the offensive as the Yugoslavian and Soviet push had been anhilated by the Italian forces around Trieste the Italians were to exploit the weak Yugoslavian forces which over extended and having suffered such casualties was not in place to stop an Italian push. The Italian commander´s decided that if they went on the offensive that it was going to be a great move to kill the Yugoslavian forces for good, the commanders decided to launch an attack on the direction of Opatija at the other end of the peninsula, this operation was going to push through a weak Yugoslavian sector and with speed the attack would deliver a crushing defeat on the Yugoslavian forces, which would be trapped south of the push.
Participants[]
NATO[]
NATO Members in 1989
-Austria (Founding member)
-Belgium (Founding member)
-Canada (Founding member)
-Denmark (Founding member)
-Finland (Joined in 1982)
-France (Founding member)
-Greece (Joined in 1952)
-Iceland (Founding member)
-Italy (Founding member)
-Luxembourg (Founding member)
-Netherlands (Founding member)
-Norway (Founding member)
-Portugal (Founding member)
-Spain (Joined in 1982)
-Sweden (Joined in 1982)
-Turkey (Joined in 1952)
-United Kingdom (Founding member)
-United States (Founding member)
-West Germany (Joined in 1955)
NATO allies
-Australia
-Bahamas
-Bangladesh
-Borneo
-Cambodia
-Egypt
-Indonesia
-Israel
-Japan
-Kuwait
-Laos
-Mexico
-Morocco
-Myanmar
-New Malaysia
-New Zealand
-Papua New Guinea
-Philippines
-Singapore
-South Africa
-South Korea
-South Vietnam
-Taiwan
Joined the war on the side of NATO
-Belize
-Colombia
-Costa Rica
-Dominican Republic
-Ecuador
-El Salvador
-Guatemala
-Honduras
-Jamaica
-Kenya
-Pakistan
-Panama
-Peru
-Saudi Arabia
-Sudan
Warsaw Pact[]
Warsaw Pact members in 1989
-Albania
-Bulgaria
-Czechoslovakia
-East Germany
-Hungary
-Poland
-Romania
-Soviet Union
Allies of the Soviet Union
-Afghanistan
-China
-Cyprus
-Iran
-Iraq
-Jordan
-Lebanon
-Malaysia
-Mongolia
-North Korea
-North Vietnam
-Syria
-Thailand
-Yugoslavia
Joined the war on the side of the Warsaw Pact
-Ethiopia
-Nicaragua
-Somalia
-Sri Lanka
-Uganda
Forces[]
NATO Forces[]
| Country | Total | Land |
|---|---|---|
| Austria | 150,000 | |
| Belgium | 175,000 | |
| Canada | 75,000 | |
| Denmark | 100,000 | |
| Finland | 375,000 | |
| France | 950,000 | |
| Greece | 325,000 | |
| Iceland | 10,000 | |
| Italy | 875,000 | |
| Luxembourg | 25,000 | |
| Netherlands | 100,000 | |
| Norway | 350,000 | |
| Portugal | 150,000 | |
| Spain | 250,000 | |
| Turkey | 985,000 | |
| United Kingdom | 450,000 | |
| United States | 2,450,000 | |
| West Germany | 1,000,000 | |
| Initial NATO | 8,795,000 | |
| Australia | 250,000 | |
| Bahamas | 7,500 | |
| Bangladesh | 75,000 | |
| Borneo | 10,000 | |
| Cambodia | 95,000 | |
| Egypt | 450,000 | |
| Indonesia | 650,000 | |
| Israel | 850,000 | |
| Japan | 250,000 | |
| Kuwait | 50,000 | |
| Laos | 80,000 | |
| Mexico | 100,000 | |
| Morocco | 95,000 | |
| Myanmar | 200,000 | |
| New Malaysia | 30,000 | |
| New Zealand | 70,000 | |
| Papua New Guinea | 10,000 | |
| Philippines | 45,000 | |
| Singapore | 35,000 | |
| South Africa | 75,000 | |
| South Korea | 875,000 | |
| South Vietnam | 800,000 | |
| Taiwan | 750,000 | |
| Belize | 25,000 | |
| Colombia | 85,000 | |
| Costa Rica | 25,000 | |
| Dominican Republic | 10,000 | |
| Ecuador | 7,500 | |
| El Salvador | 5,000 | |
| Guatemala | 15,000 | |
| Honduras | 10,000 | |
| Jamaica | 2,500 | |
| Kenya | 45,000 | |
| Pakistan | 975,000 | |
| Panama | 25,000 | |
| Peru | 100,000 | |
| Saudi Arabia | 650,000 | |
| Sudan | 125,000 | |
| NATO Allies | 7,957,500 | |
| Total NATO | 16,752,500 |