The War of the crazy Women

[Globetrotter]

“Incoming!” shouted one soldier.

Shortly afterwards, the men could hear the shells whistling above their heads, and landing just less than a hundred yard behind them. One minute later, a second round was fired, and the bombs exploded around eighty yards behind. They were getting closer.

“Men, to your positions!” ordered Rambo.

From today, he knew that there will be no more time for them to rest, as he expected the Russians to send more and more troops against them.

The camp was very well fortified with sandbags and other means of protection. Observing posts were also established around it, and were very well protected. Unless severely hit by several bombs or by direct hits, the posts would hold enough to protect the men taking cover there.

The attack started around 6 a.m. Severe gunfire crackled through the area, and near the city of Sverdlovsk. Enraged Russian troops showered the area with machinegun fire, wounding 8 fighters. The Russian artillery randomly bombarded the whole area, surely as a preliminary for a ground attack.

By 10:30, the artillery stopped its fire. Rambo and Murdock got out of their foxholes, in order to check for casualties and general damages. Grey and black smoke covered the whole area, providing them with cover as well as they went on inspection. Overall, they noted the death of 12 fighters, and around 21 wounded.

Half an hour later, as they assessed their situation, sporadic gunfire could be heard now north of the camp. There… Two Russian infantry divisions were spotted heading towards the camp, in proper order.

Suddenly, gunshots were heard from the south and the east too.
“Russian cavalry!” came the alarm.

“How many of them?” asked Rambo, as he rushed to the outpost from where the alarm came from.

“It looks like there are 4 regiments, accompanied by 2 infantry divisions.”

“Geez”, thought Rambo. “They really want of get rid of us.”

Murdock on the other hand headed to the southern part of the camp. From there, he could see 2 infantry divisions heading their way. He promptly radioed Rambo and reported his sightings. It was clear that the Russian main assault was directed at the centre area of the camp, probably in an attempt to split the camp in two, and then reduce the defenders by continuous attacks.

Realizing that this was probably what they had in mind, Rambo ordered Murdock to keep his position in the south, and headed to take command of the troops stationed north. With him, he took the majority of the men from the centre, and left behind only some 20 men, whose task was to booby-trap the area, resist for a while against the Russians, then join the southern group under Murdock for cover.

As for him, he ordered all the men under his command to booby-trap the northern part of the camp, but there, placed no rearguard as he wanted the Russian troops attacking north to be well away from his heading, and by noon, he and around the equivalent of about 5 regiments left the northern part of the camp, and headed towards the Russian city, infiltrating between the two Russian formations.
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Major Akaltine’s group was the first to reach and enter the northern camp, and the first to realize that there was no one there…

“Where the hell is the enemy?” he wondered.

He could hear further south fire exchange, as the Russian cavalry started its attack against the centre. Quickly, he designated troops to search the area for enemy units, or even enemy bodies. But there was none.

An hour later, as the remaining units of the whole 2 Russian infantry divisions completely occupied the area, a dark red smoke started to rise from the ground in several spots. Minutes later, the Russians could not see one meter in front of them… But all they could hear were explosions, and bloody near explosions. In less than fifteen minutes, the whole area was on fire, as booby traps and high explosives were set off, be it by contact or other means of triggering. The two divisions were decimated in no time.

From the centre, colonel Emilski had now seized half of his targeted area. Despite their small number, the fighters left behind resisted well to the attackers, who also found it difficult to proceed with their horses, and were forced at some point to halt and wait for infantry reinforcement. This halt proved to be a disaster for them. The defenders knew exactly every hideout, every inch of the area. And despite being down to 14, they mounted a full counterattack that lasted for no more than ten minutes, but during which they forced the remaining cavalry units to withdraw. The Russians had suffered severe losses, but their infantry was now at the gates of the camp. It was the time for the fighters to proceed with their plan and withdraw south to Murdock’s fortified position.

Murdock and his men were completely surrounded now, but there was no main action undertaken by the Russians. They spent this whole time firing at each others, with no serious manoeuvres. Of course, the fighters saved most of their bullets for when the real thing would start, but it seemed that the Russian troops on this side were there to sit and wait, probably for the centre of the camp to fall.

The centre fell around 3 p.m, as the Russian infantry occupied the area. But yet again, the men there were to face the same destiny as the two northern divisions. But this time, only one division got caught, as the other was just digging in and awaiting new orders. Luckily for them…
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At almost the same time, Rambo and his men had now reached the outskirts of the Russian city. Surprisingly, the city was weakly defended. Only 3 infantry regiments were positioned there for defence, as most of them seemed sent out against the camp in the hills.

Rambo’s men caught the Russian units completely by surprise, as most of them were in their bed taking a nap, or resting after their meal. The commanding officer was on a tour in the city, inspecting the units deployed there in order to maintain security. The problem with the communist party is that it forced several troops to be deployed within the city and do the job of policemen, depriving the units on the front from the useful help of these troops.

By 1630, Rambo’s men had secured a reasonable area of the city, with minimal losses. Around 1700, Russian artillery positioned in the centre of the city came into action as the defenders realised their loss. But it could not do much as most resulting casualties would surely be civilians.
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Realising what was happening, the two Russian infantry divisions near the south of the camp prepared to mount an assault, while the remaining division near the centre was to fall back towards the city, and try to take Rambo’s men from behind. But this was without taking into account Murdock’s decision.

Murdock was to repeat Rambo’s plan for the defence of the camp. From the 600 units available to him, he left around a hundred to defend the camp, and withdraw north if need be, while leading the other 500, he headed straight after the Russian infantry, towards Sverdlovsk.
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By nightfall, the situation got somehow messy. Rambo was finding it more and more difficult to proceed, as the defence got more reorganised. And now, he had to face the threat from behind. On the other hand, the Russian infantry that was returning to the city had to halt in the open fields, in order to regroup before assaulting Rambo’s position in the city. But they were not to know that Murdock was just following them with another 500 men. It was a massacre.

The fighting lasted all night, as the Russians defended themselves bravely. Early in the morning, they even came on to hand-to-hand combat. But they could not resist the waves of fighters.

On the other hand, Rambo had to give up some area he had occupied during the day, as he had to fall back and protect his rear, which had put the Russian reinforcement between two fires. But now, with this fight ending in favour of the Arab undercover fighters, Rambo was soon to find his position reinforced by hundreds of men, and was now able to fully counterattack in the city.

Back in the camp, the two Russian divisions had occupied the whole area, overrunning the defenders, but suffered severely high casualties, to an extent that they had to abandon the camp again, and withdraw south towards Smolensk.

By the end of the day, unfortunately for the Russian army, what started in a full attack the previous day turned into a tremendous catastrophe. Sverdlovsk held for another couple of hours, but as the fighters got reinforced, and their morale boosted by last night’s success, the defence lines finally broke down, and several Russian units surrendered. The city was totally under the control of the fighters. Even better, they had caught intact several artillery units, that were probably to enhance by much their position.
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[Globetrotter]

“Bring me the officers responsible for this mess!” shouted Stalin. “They will be executed for their weak commanding. This will teach all them aristocrat officers a lesson!”

“But sir…” said his aide.

“Do not argue with me! I want names, I want punishment, now!” ordered the Russian leader.

Noticing that his aide did not obey immediately, he took out his personal gun, and shot his aide just between the eye. He then looked at another man standing in the room. He did not need to say anything. The man understood, acknowledged, and rushed out…

“Zhukov!” ordered Stalin. “I know I had appointed you minister of defence, but I need you on the field. Only you are capable of restoring the situation.”

“Yes sir!” agreed the general. “I’ll see what I can do. But there’s one thing you need to know, comrade.”

“What’s that?”

“The Arab troops have crossed the border once again. Minutes ago, their minister of defence criticized our army, and claimed that we were not able to keep the area safe. So far, they have reinvested the camp, and more of their troops are heading to Sverdlovsk, as they fear that the city may become a harbour for terrorists and other militiamen. We have sightings of helicopters heading towards the city, and not later than 5 minutes ago, a report came concerning parachute dropping over the city…”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that within hours, Arab troops will have deployed through the city, and with a little bit of chance, their troops will face no opposition”, explained Zhukov. “As you might already know, we strongly believe that these fighters were trained by Arabia, and even sent by Arabia, but we had no means of proving it.”

“Yes, I’m even convinced about that!” raged Stalin. “I will ask Arabia to withdraw its troops immediately. Sverdlovsk is really a strategic city with the rubber factory nearby. Plus, Odessa is now isolated and all our oil fields are there!”

Stalin did in fact urge the Arab government to call back its troops, but the Arab response was final. No troops will withdraw, nor will give back the territory it occupies, as there is still a risk for insurgency and instability in the area, according to Arab officials.
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“That was a brilliant move, Abu Bakr”, noted Catherine. “Taking Sverdlovsk was the best thing to do.”

“Well, thanks to the plans you had brought with you, Catherine; otherwise we couldn’t have done much.”

“Now what?” asked Catherine.

“Now we’ll wait for Stalin’s response to our position.”

“It’s war!” declared Petra as she entered the office. “The communist government of Russia just declared war on us. We just received the message from their ambassador.”

“Is he crazy?” wondered Abu Bakr. “There is no way they could face the Arab army!”

“We’d better be careful about this”, noted the former Russian leader. “Stalin might be hiding something.”

Abu Bakr paused for a while, thoughtful. Then he turned to Petra:
“How are things going in the Indian state?”

“The rail infrastructure is almost complete, and troops can be sent really quickly to any hot point now. On top of that, our engineers have built a campaign airfield just next to Kolhapur, code AK1. It is indeed close to the Russian border, but it remains a secret airfield. And with the fall of Sverdlovsk, the border is much farther away now.”

“And what’s our troops status in India?”

“We have several Tanks regiments that just arrived from the mainland via air transport, to be added to the 5 already in position. Another 16 infantry divisions are currently on the sees, on their way to Delhi. They’ll reach land in two days max. Already, we have around 32 infantry divisions, and 18 more on their way from the Spanish and Chinese states, 19 cavalry divisions and 15 artillery regiments near the Russian border, this is without mentioning our air force being deployed in AK1 and the fighters who seized Sverdlovsk.”

“What about our navy?”

“It is already deployed in the Baltic sea, between the Scandinavian Island and the Russian coast. There has been no sign of the Russian fleet there. Our marines are now embarking from the island, and soon will head to the Russian coast under the protection of the first fleet.”

“I have heard that the Russian fleet was heading towards Calcutta”, noted Abu Bakr.

“True. It has been spotted there”, confirmed Petra. “We have 4 submarines and 4 destroyers already heading there. They’ll get there in two to three days, just after they finish escorting the troops transports.”

“How do you know so much about military?” wondered Catherine, amazed.

“Petra is the best advisor any leader can dream off”, announced Abu Bakr. “You’ll be surprised about all what she knows, and does… Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have work to do, and a campaign to prepare.”
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4 days had passed since the Russian declaration of war, and yet, not a single shot was observed on the frontline. The Arab armed forces were getting prepared to defeat the Russia in one rapid campaign. The operation, codename ‘Barbahamra’ was to start very shortly, as tension was continuously rising on the border between the two countries.

The army was ready to commit all available formations into battle, while keeping enough forces to secure occupied territories against surprise attacks.

At the airfield AK1, the pilots and their crew were making themselves available for the support of the army to ensure adequate strength and a rapid termination of land action. It will be the task of the air force to damage and destroy enemy ground troops, as so far, Intel reported that there were no Russian air units. The air force will therefore support the operations, mainly aiming to reduce and weaken the Russian resistance in major cities.

As general Abi Zaid was setting up the invasion plan, it was clear that the mass of the army in Russia, believed to be stationed near Smolensk, had to be eradicated in bold operations involving deep penetrations by armoured vehicles, followed by infantry units that would fortify the seized positions.

Then the objective would be Moscow, and its surrounding coffee plantations. The Arab high command believed that should the Russian capitol fall, the whole of Russia would collapse.

General Shaukat was to lead the troops on the ground. He could count on active co-operation in the war by Pakistani fighters, and other mercenaries recruited in different Arab states (mainly from Spanish origin). Their task would be to provide cover for the movement of the main corps and divisions, and give them assistance in rough areas such as hills, mountains and forests.

The army was to be split in 3 main groups.
Group A, under the command of colonel Kabbaj and based in Madras, was to take in charge the reducing of the Odessa pocket in the north. He would lead all the non-Arab fighters in his task, and will have 2 cavalry regiments and 2 infantry divisions for support.

Group B, under the personal command of general Shaukat, consisted of the bulk of the Arab army. It would start from Kolhapur and Sverdlovsk, and rush down through Smolensk, until it reaches Moscow. It consisted of a several Armoured divisions and Infantry divisions, and was very well dotted with artillery.

Finally, group C, led by colonel Jalal, would head from Calcutta, straight towards Tbilisi, before joining group B in front of Moscow. This formation had 8 cavalry regiment and a dozen of infantry divisions, as the group had just been reinforced with fresh units that arrived to Delhi earlier on.

As both group B and C will reach Moscow, Paratroopers would be already dropped just east of the city, cutting all probable reinforcement and supply routes from the nearby city of Kiev, while the marines would attempt a direct landing in the city, and the fleets on both sides of the Russian peninsula will damage and destroy all the shore routes and connections.

On the other hand, Bahhar would bring his fleet towards the Russian coastline, preventing any Russian vessel to head into the Baltic area. The fleet will have the task to protect convoys of troops coming from Scandinavia.
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“Isabella has escaped!” announced Petra.

“That’s not good news”, said Catherine. “Who knows what this filthy woman is preparing.”

“However we have here a new visitor” added Petra.

“Who might that be?” inquired AB.

“Indira, the daughter of former Indian leader, Gandhi,” explained Petra. “Indira will be governing the Arab-Indian state, and make sure the Indian people get all what they need.”

“I see. And what can we do for you Indira?” asked Abu Bakr.

“I come here to offer my services, and help you track down Isabella. I had information that she is in India.”

“She might be trying to reach Russia”, noted Catherine.

“It’s very likely”, acknowledged Indira.

“We have to prevent her of doing so”, said Petra. “She managed to take several technology plans and some military plans too, regarding the placement of our troops. I’m sure she had an insider. We are conducting an investigation.”

“Then we have to invade Russia as soon as possible, before she makes it there and deliver the plans. I can’t believe she was a Russian agent”, said Abu Bakr.

“Maybe she was not. May be she’s just turned into one now”, supposed Petra.
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[Globetrotter]

D-Day… Salhani was preparing now his troops for landing. The paratroopers were to be the first to hit the Russian soil. Most probably, they would be attacked with troops that would be taken out from the frontlines, according to Arab Intelligentsia, which would make the main land troops’ job much easier.

The night was rather clear over Kiev and Moscow, and around midnight, the skies in between the Russian cities got filled with more than 50 air transporters, each carrying around a hundred paratrooper. Minutes later, one could see dark grey spots out of these planes.

They all landed into a freshly ploughed field. The jump was successful, and only some minor injuries were recorded, but non fatal, mainly due to a slight wind that puffed as the paratroopers approached the earth.

“Great”, thought Slahani, as he regrouped his men. “We’ll head off east towards Kiev and dig in there. Russian troops will not be long to make a search for us now.”

Most men wore a dark green and brown uniform, the best combination to totally vanish into the coffee plantations. They were to reach their target area by 5:00 a.m., just before sunrise.
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[Globetrotter]

Just east of Kolhapur was based the main battalion of the 1st Arab Army Tank Battalion. After a severe training, the crews were asked to join their base, and get prepared to march forward south, and protect Sverdlovsk already in the hand of Arab troops.

The Arab high command expected that the Russians had placed a huge number of divisions along the border, and north of Smolensk, in an attempt to drive north against Sverdlovsk. Major Doubbabi, recently appointed to head this battalion, inspected his tanks, trucks, and other war material. Smolensk was just about 30 km away south.

The mixed convoy of tanks and infantry moved out, and entered the Russian border around 6:00 a.m., and drove carefully towards the Russian city. The first contact was about noon. The tank battalion overran a Russian artillery position that was protected by a weak division of riflemen. Everybody was dead, there was no Russian survivor. It was a terrible sight of chopped heads, opened chests, dismantled bodies… Also in the area, a company-sized unit of what seemed an exclusively female unit, attacked one the accompanying Arab infantry division. They put up a hell of an attack, until each and every one of them was dead.

“Women! They’re sending out their own women to fight us!”
Doubbabi was outraged. But on the other hand, this somewhat confirmed that the Russian army was a terrible mess, and comforted the men that the campaign would be shorter than expected.

Later in the evening, the whole division had fought up its way until 10 miles from the city. At least the tank battalion did. Despite the low contact so far, the task was not that easy because of the mud-period pretty famous in Russia. Infantry had hard time to move forward, and several wheeled vehicles lost their engines as these were strained to such an extent that they got worn out. Only the tanks could hardly get through, which forced them to wait for the rest of the division. On the other hand, they had to wait for the junction of several other units that would reach Smolensk from the west.

However, the surprise, or rather the very bad news reached them around midnight, as the division was now reforming with the arrival of the infantry troops and artillery units. The bad news concerned the second part of the corps, the one that was to make the junction west of Smolensk. According to the reports, there had been a little fighting, but eye witnesses confirmed that 3 Russian tank battalions, that no one ever heard off, broke the hell out of the Arab infantry and armoured troops before retreating, catching most of these elements by surprise. Doubbabi knew that he could not count on them anymore as a main force, and had to react quickly on his own. He would probably receive orders from general Shaukat, but he’ll deal with those later.
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Meanwhile, further south, Jalal ordered his troops forward, out from Calcutta, towards the Russian city of Tbilisi. That city was the Group C’s main objective in the first phase of the campaign. They had hear of the Russian tanks, but for their part, had seen none so far. His units had no armoured units, so Jalal ordered his troops to move cautiously.

At one point, as they passed through the hills northwest of Tbilisi, they came onto a scene of incredible horror. More than 30 Arab foot soldiers where lying there, almost naked, with their hands tied together behind their backs, and had been killed by the so-called ‘Commissar-shot’: in other words, they had been taken prisoners, and then shot at the back of the head by some communist representative in the army. The Arab soldiers had heard about such horrible procedure, but these were still considered as rumours. Until that day…

This scenery now brought both a sentiment of fear and of revenge into the Arab troops hearts. They knew that from now on, they would have to fight till the last drop of their blood, since in any case, if captured, they would be killed.

The Group kept moving forward, until it reached the outskirts of Tbilisi. Till there, they remained unchecked. There was no Russian presence in the area. So the troops paused for rest and prepared the positions there, while horses were fed, and officers met to study the strategy to come. Later on, artillery units joined in, and came into action until dawn.

It was now early in the morning, D+1. The Arab troops could see several dead Russians on the fields they have bombarded with their artillery barrage. Most of them seemed to be peasants who just lived and worked in the fields. But some machineguns were however found and other foxholes were uncovered.
‘They were preparing for a guerrilla fighting’ thought Jalal.

He did not finish his inspection that gunshots rang all over the place. The Russians were attacking. Waves after waves of infantry. The first two waves had weapons, the third and later waves had to pick the rifles from their dead and wounded comrades, and continue the charge. The attack lasted for one whole day. Twenty waves in total. A massacre. Hundreds of dead, lying on the field, with the smell of the dead mixing with that of burnt powder.

On the Arab side, only a few casualties; less than eighty, including wounded and dead. The only concern now Jalal had, was the ammunition. If the enemy was willing to throw even unarmed men, then sooner or later, the Arab troops will face a shortage in ammunition.
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“What’s the status on the field? We must perform a pre-emptive strike before they can reform or receive more reinforcement”, urged Stalin.

“I agree, Comrade”, said Zhukov. “For the time being, our plan is working just fine. They have entered deep into our territory, with almost no resistance, which made their lines of supplies pretty long and exposed now to our counterattacks. Besides, these proved successful in the west.”

“But what if they reach our cities?”

“We have declared a general mobilisation and drafting among the population. Every valid man, from 15 to 50 years old has been called to serve our nation. We have even women regiments”, said the general.

“I heard about that”, replied Stalin.

“All these units have been harassing the enemy. In the meantime, the civilian population is laying a massive array of tank traps, minefields, anti-tank guns and dug in tanks and other defensive positions in anticipation of the Arab attack. The minefields are specially engineered to channel the enemy armoured formations into dug in antitank defences, so the Arabs would burn themselves out trying to break through.”

“I see”, said Stalin. “When will we attack?”

“I believe we can now mount our counterattack.”

“Then do it!” ordered the communist party leader. “An by the way, wipe me out those who landed near Moscow and Kiev! Send them tanks if need be!”
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Facing Smolensk, that same day, Doubbabi received word from Shaukat that he was to operate on his own, as the second group forming Group B had suffered severe casualties, and needed some time to reform.

The tanks were now spaced around 75 meters apart, with the spaces filled with accompanying infantry. Gunshots were now exchanged between the men and what seemed to be Russian infantry defending the city.

By 1:00 p.m., a group of infantry men seemed falling back, most of them carrying each others, obviously wounded. They were part of the front-guard. Major Doubbabi rushed for the news. They were not really good…
“They have tanks…” explained one man, helping another one. “Lots of them…”

The major quickly ordered his troops to get ready, and each infantry unit returned to its foxhole… everyone expected that the worse was to come…

The Arab position to the north of Smolensk was now under artillery fire. Clearly, the Russians were preparing the field for an attack. For the tankers, it was clear that they could do nothing but to support the infantry, as they would not engage into the city. At least not at this stage. And so, the tanks were ordered to fall back a couple of hundred meters, and to wait for orders. From time to time, they would fire a couple of shots, in support. They would wait until the Russian tanks would make their entry before they mount a full counterattack. They probably had decided to attack before the Arab group was joined by further divisions.

Major Doubbabi looked at the sky. It was cloudy, and most probably, it would rain…
‘Damn!’ thought the officer. ‘I can’t count on an air strike anymore!’

At 15:45 hrs, he ordered an artillery barrage on the outskirts of the city, on an area about 2 miles long and 500 yards deep. At the same time, one infantry regiment attacked a Russian regiment on the eastern neighbourhood, under what was now a torrential rain.

By 18:00 hrs, the Russians now showered heavily the area with more than around 60 guns, without counting the mortars and Katyuscha rocket launchers, for more than 30 minutes. The Arab response still was slow, at least at first, then grew in intensity an hour later. But both artilleries were somewhat ineffectual as both parties were very well fortified. And there was still no sign of these Russian tanks.

The only pseudo-success was obtained by the infantry regiment in the eastern neighbourhood. The fight there was tough as the Russian resistance got stiffer, and the objective was not to be secured before midnight.
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[Globetrotter]

Earlier on that day, General Shaukat personally went to inspect the damaged units west of Smolensk. He was kept informed on how things were going on the battlefield, but was now more worried into putting these weakened units back on the track, and unleash them against Smolensk, especially that he realised that one full day was now wasted in front of the city. But his efforts were not to be vain.

The second part of Group B, now renamed Group D, was now ready to progress towards Sverdlovsk, and did it very well. The tank battalion, part of the Group, served as a spearhead, and penetrated some 20 miles, before starting to face some harsh resistance by night fall. Later on, an intense struggle ensued with elements of the Russian Guards Army being deployed to halt the advance. The Russians managed in fact to halt the Arab advance but only just. But despite the heavy casualties, and with the arrival now of the supporting infantry, the area was cleared for the Arab troops, and the whole corps could continue to move towards Smolensk.
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Things were not getting easier now for Salhani and his men. They were now very well fortified, just next to Kiev. Occasionally, they had received some artillery fire that morning, wounding twelve men, but nothing that really could harm the operation. Besides, their mission was to hold until the arrival of the marines.

By midday however, the artillery got more concentrated, and they could now spot Russian infantry taking position all around their perimeter. They too had heard about the Russian tanks, and their devastating effect, but also knew that they could not afford to be taken prisoners as death would surely follow after a horrible torture.

Early in the afternoon, a Russian infantry regiment tried to sneak into their position, but was met by fierce and determined defence. However, slowly being outnumbered as more regiments now attacked, Salhani noted that they stood little chance to survive till the following day… unless… yes, there it was… he could hear the sound of flying engines just above his head… the air force was here!

Fortunately for him, the sky was rather clear in this part of the world, which gave his men an appreciable air cover and support. The bombers, led by Ben Kroustom, did a wonderful job, and probably save many paratroopers out there that day. The heavy bombs dropped on the Russians broke their thrust and forced them to fall back onto their initial positions.

In the evening, things were back to normal, and the paratroopers recovered all their lost territory. As for the Russians, they were not to be allowed to reform… Salhani could see their positions illuminated by several explosions, though there was no sound of flying engines… Only one possible answer to that: the Arab navy was pretty nearby, and in position…
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“Things are looking promising so far”, noted Abu Bakr.

“What are you talking about?” said Petra. “So far we have faced only ghosts, and yet, our movement has been halted. On top of that, it seems that the Russians have tanks now!”

“No problem for that”, interrupted Catherine. “If my understanding is correct, in order for these tanks to be operational, you need some oil to make them run, no?”

“And so?” asked Petra.

“The only oil field Russia has is near Odessa. So far, you have cut the city from the remaining Russian cities, and your fleet can now easily intercept any oil tanker that may come across them. Still, the best is to secure Odessa, and the Russian tanks are history.”

“I see then. This is a mission for Bou Snan”, noted Petra. “He’ll depart to Odessa at once. These fields however are to be seized intact.”

“Send Kounikova with him”, said Catherine. “She’ll help him around.”

“Where are they now by the way?” wondered AB.

“Playing tennis as I last heard”, smiled the Russian lady. “I’ll ask for them to come at once.”

“So be it”, acknowledged Petra.
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[Globetrotter]

D+2…

The sky was clear above the Russian city of Smolensk. Group D, driven by general Shaukat, continued on towards the city, with the tank battalion leading the advance, and smashing all resistance a couple of miles west of the city. Their flank however was unprotected as they left behind the support units while rushing forward. Soon enough, later in the morning, their advance was stalled by the first elements of the city defence units.

The air force and the artillery units bombed the Russian positions, as the Group D reached the city outskirts. Soon enough, Major Doubbani ordered his infantry forward, in an attempt to consolidate the area already occupied in the east, keeping his own tank battalion at bay.

But by 15:00 hrs, the Arab formations froze, astounded to see masses of Russian tanks advancing towards them. Hell seemed to break out on the Arab troops. They had not deployed as many tanks as the Russians had. Half an hour later, a tremendous battle was starting to take place. The fighting was done at very close range, with main armament and armour bearing little importance as a hit at almost point blank range meant certainly death. From the air, the Arab bombers could no longer intervene or play any role, as they could no longer tell who was friend and who was foe, especially as dust and black smoke poured out from destroyed tanks. Even the artillery from both sides halted its fire.

The battle raged till nightfall… The Arab infantry in the north was completely smashed, and the Russians had recovered all the lost neighbourhoods as their infantry moved forward. In the west, the last shots were being fired, until both sides disengaged, leaving each more than 300 tanks burning.

General Shaukat was clearly disappointed with the use of the tanks, and had now to take into consideration the presence of a higher number of armoured units in the enemy hands. Besides, he later realised that he had lost several tanks even before the battle started, as they engaged through a minefield. The only rejoicing news he had was just more tanks were being shipped through the air, and will soon arrive to AK1.

On the northern side of the city, the infantry brilliantly defended its position against the steel monsters, with just grenades and satchel charges. And despite being overwhelmed at the end of the day, their valiant stand was to force the Russian tanks to pause, making them an easy target for Doubbani’s tanks.
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Amazingly, Salhani was to have no real trouble that day. Only the routine sporadic gunfire exchange. It was clear that the Russians were trying to recover from yesterday’s engagement, and were still kept under constant air raids.

But now, the interest was to turn towards the city. During the last night, hundreds of barges and sea transports silently headed towards the shores of Kiev, carrying hundreds of troops. Early in the morning, 8 infantry regiments were unloaded onto Salhani’s position, reinforcing the camp, while more than 32 regiments, out of which 24 marines regiments, had landed on the beaches, and had already established a beachhead.

The fighting was hard as the Russians tried to push back the marines onto the sea, but the accurate naval support proved useful by the end of the day, forcing the defenders to fall back and fortify deeper within the city. Meanwhile, the paratroopers kept the city’s west flank under pressure, managing to grasp a tiny area in the western neighbourhoods, but enough for the Arab troops to infiltrate the area later on.

There were no signs of Russian tanks in the area. Conclusion was that the Russians had called them up north, as they believed they had the opportunity to break once and for all the Arab advance, especially that it was halted now in front of the city.

-------------------------------------


Further west, Jalal had now established a siege around Tbilisi. The Russian attack against them had been broken, and the city was within their reach. Again, they felt that the Russian tank divisions were concentrated near Smolensk, which was going to give them some free movement.

‘A tactical error’ thought Jalal. ‘Had they attacked out here, they could have crushed us then turn north to block the advance. But now, if we manage to take Tbilisi, their whole rear will fall, and Smolensk will collapse.

Jalal had organised his troops in such a way that the infantry formed several lines of defence, behind which cavalry regiments would emerge and attack the city. He had no air support, but had a massive artillery backup, freshly arriving from the north and west. For one whole day, he plunged the city into hell, as his guns unleashed their deadly bombs over the Russian city. Artillery, rockets, heavy mortars… all let loose their deadly charges, turning the city into a real mess.

Then, company after company, the infantrymen marched towards the city. It was 8 p.m. As they advanced, they could see different fortifications and foxholes that they instantly blew up into pieces. The cavalry was not called upon yet, but was following closely. As the infantry reached a hundred yards from the first buildings, the Russian artillery came into action. But it was somehow too late, as the Russian shells flew over the heads of the men approaching, only to hit the ground and explode a couple of hundred yards behind. Then, as they got closer, they got welcomed by volleys of bullets.

The cavalry was sent in to encircle the Russian infantry, or at least to go past the first lines of defence, and disrupt their fortifications and positioning. This tactic proved well, and the engagement lasted for a couple of hours before the Arab cavalry got finally through… The men finally reached the railroad, or what was left of it, as early as 2 a.m., after a heavy street fight, shortly followed by supporting infantry. Dead soldiers, Arabs and Russians, were lying there, all around… burnt vehicles were everywhere… it was a hell of a fight…

The Russian artillery was now silent, as it could not afford to fire on targets within the city, by fear of hitting civilians, despite the orders coming from the communist high-command. But the fighting in the city was not yet over.

--------------------------------------

 

[Globetrotter]

D+3…

Early in the morning, Bou Snan and Kournikova arrived to Odessa. It was not a problem for them to reach the city. The Russian vigilance was lower than in other cities, as the Arab army was still some 50 miles away, and not moving. Besides that, the communist party’s presence was very rare in that city, and now that it was cut off from the rest of the cities, this presence was even weaker.

“Now what?” asked Bou Snan.

“There’s a very good friend of mine here. We used to play tennis together, and he has a good influence”, said the Russian agent. “We must go and see him. I’m sure he can help.”

“I’m not sure…” thought Bou Snan. “It doesn’t sound good.”

“We’ll have to try. He’s our only chance!”

“Okay. You do that, and I’ll go my own way.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Never mind”, said BS. “You just go. Rendezvous here by 5 p.m.”

“You’re full of it!” raged the Russian agent, pretty angry, just before she went on her mission.

Bou Snan watched her going, then rushed towards the centre of the city.
‘That’s where everything should happen’, he thought.

It took him around half an hour to get there. Life seemed more than normal in the city, as no one seemed to care about the threat or other fighting the other Russian cities were facing or about to face. Shops were opened, and people just normally went to work.

Claiming to be a tourist, he stopped at one of the shops, and bought a detailed map of the city. Then he looked for the police station. That would be the heart of the communist party in this city. Probably all communist officials would be there. At least, that was what he was told during his briefing. Next to tourist shop, was a car rent agency.
‘That’s exactly what I need’, thought the agent.

He entered the agency and leased a car for two days, a Russian made design he had never seen before, leaving there a false passport copy with a false address… of course… He then drove to a small commercial centre where he ought to buy some things necessary to his mission. Only he knew what it was.

---------------------------------------

As the sun shone above their heads, uncovering last day’s events and results, major Doubbabi looked at the scene in front of him… Fuming tanks were all over the place… Arab tanks, Russian tanks, dead bodies from both sides… it was a terrible mess…

But just between the wrecks, he could clearly see a Russian formation advancing through… around a hundred tanks. He believed that was all the Russian still had after the fight. His battalion was still somehow intact, as it was the infantry who took the initial shock, as well as Shaukat’s formation in the west. His men had been awaiting for his signal for a long time now.

“Now! Charge!” he screamed over the radio.

In one single wave, a massive amount of Arab tanks moved out of their position, and hurled against their Russian counterparts. The battle was a furious one, but his time, despite their better armour, the Russians were outnumbered, and caught by surprise in the open. On top of that, the battalion had a full artillery support before the launch of the attack, followed shortly by deadly bomber raids, that also targeted the city.

Then with his surviving units, general Shaukat flanked the Russians, making his junction with Group B almost complete. There was no escape for the Russians, but most men knew that they probably still had some tanks hiding in the city, especially those that needed repair from the previous day’s fighting.

Major Doubbani was aware that the Russians should be given no respite, and he was confident that this counterattack would lead him to the centre of the city. But he was never to see that part of the city… As his formation headed past destroyed enemy tanks, his own got stricken with a direct hit. Three dead: driver, gunner and commander. The fired round from a Russian tank had smashed through the small opening of the driver, cutting his head off. Shells from the bomb, accompanying the drivers leftovers, went on ricochet all inside the turret, going through the gunner’s tummy, and finally killing the commander sitting behind him. More horrifying, the bomb only partially exploded, which meant that the tank could be recovered for further battles.

But the initial thrust clearly turned the tide in favour of the Arab army. The Russians had lost most if not all of their uncovered tanks by midday, and now the Arab infantry started to enter the city perimeter, while the first elements of the tank battalion, or at least what was left of it, started to pour into the northern Russian neighbourhoods. Meanwhile, infantry elements from Group D remained west of the city, keeping the Russian flank under high pressure.

By mid-afternoon, the Arab troops had entered and secured the northern and western parts of the city, while artillery and bombers now showered the Russian defenders with their lethal bombs.

-----------------------------------------

That same morning, Jalal inspected the areas in Tbilisi under Arab control. He had just received more infantry regiments, hence consolidating his position. Amazingly now, the Russians only had riflemen defending the area. They had lost all their main infantry, and only riflemen conscripts were spotted by Arab guards. The two sides were so close that the Arab troops could even hear the Russians talk.

By noon, as the situation remained somewhat calm throughout the morning, Jalal sent an offer to the Russian commanding officer in Tbilisi, proposing Russian troops drop their weapon and declare the city of Tbilisi an open city, in order to avoid any more bloodshed, especially innocent blood.

“I guess we can’t by agree to his offer”, thought Airomov, the commanding officer. “Any resistance is futile.”

“You can’t do that comrade!” barked the communist party representative. “You will be judged for high treason and will be immediately put under arrest. I’ll take over…”

The representative had not finished his sentence that Airomov drew his pistol, and shot the man right between the eyes. ‘Communist b*****d!’ thought the officer.
He then looked at the men around him, and his aide too.
“Any other objection?”

There was none.
“Fine. You will go and tell the Arab officer in charge, this Jalal, that we agree to his terms. Go now.”

By 3 p.m., half an hour before the deadline imposed by the Arab troops, Jalal received the message of the Russian give up. This was cheerfully welcomed by every man fighting.

Around 1600, the Arab troops advanced through the city street, and finally reached the centre. Colonel Airomov stood there among his men, and received Jalal into his office, after a brief salute exchange.

Suddenly, gunshots were heard in one particular neighbourhood, not far from there.
“What’s that?” asked both Airomov and Jalal.

“It seems we have a sort of resistance there!” confirmed one Arab trooper to his commander.

“Civil or military?” inquired Airomov.

“Military it seems.”

“Then these must be the latest conscripts”, sighed the Russian officer. “How fool of them.”

An hour later, things were back to normal, and the Arab troops controlled the situation. The neighbourhood itself was clean building after building, until there was no sign of Russian fighter. But the horror remained as the Arab troops found out that these conscripts were just about 15 years old on average.
‘Stupid of them, playing heroes…’ considered Jalal, fairly annoyed.

But the most important was achieved. Tbilisi was all theirs.

---------------------------------------

 

[Globetrotter]

The Russian force defending Kiev was not a negligible one. The force was composed of 8 Russian infantry divisions, and 3 riflemen regiments. Kiev was a strategic city as its capture would isolate Moscow and to an extent, the southern cities of Minsk and Yakutsk.

Salhani hoped that he could turn his back to Kiev, and head towards the Russian capitol. Being the first there to enter the city would surely be an exploit, but shortly, orders followed by general Abi Zaid himself. He had to support the marines in Kiev.

Furious, almost on the edge of resigning, Salhani put his frustration aside, and focused on his new mission. He had supported the marines until they consolidate their beachhead. On top of that, he had helped infantry secure some areas west of the city. At least, that was his mission. And now, he was asked to even continue such a support, although he felt that the marines and infantry did not need him anymore.

The first problem for him was to be able to protect his rear, then withdraw from the coffee fields safely into the city, as the infantry supposedly would advance. Early in the morning, his position was put under heavy artillery fire, and signs of an imminent Russian attack were more and more obvious.

But the infantry could not widen their position, and were themselves under pressure. The marines also were finding it hard to advance, as the Russians fought for every square inch of their city.

By 1 p.m., the paratroopers were now being attacked and pressurized from two sides, south and west. Salhani automatically ordered the very last men of his unit, even the cooks, medics and other soldiers, to stand firm and beat off the Russians. He was denied air and naval support, as these focused mainly on reducing the city defenders. 3 hours later though, his position was saved, and the total destruction of his troops was prevented. Yet, he did not take any chances, and ordered them to move through the gap formed in the Russian lines to achieve a breakthrough, while requesting for infantry support to fill in the gaps his own troops would leave behind.

Fearing a major Arab counterattack, and having no real estimation of the troops they were facing, the Russians retreated south towards St. Petersburg, leaving the west and south of the city of Kiev completely unprotected, and leaving several artillery guns abandoned.

The news of the withdrawal had reached the city defenders by nightfall. The city was now starting to be completely surrounded. Several cases of desertions among Russian ranks were starting to be recorded.

------------------------------------

That evening…

“How are things going, general?” asked Abu Bakr.

“So far so good”, replied Abi Zaid. “The first days were a bit slow, especially as we got surprised by the presence of Russian armoured divisions, but now, things are getting back in order.”

“I heard Tbilisi was taken…”

“Indeed it was. Our troops are bringing home POW’s, and are fortifying the area, waiting for Smolensk to fall”, explained the general. “We expect that the Russians withdraw, unless they want to be cut off from Moscow.”

“Well done. What about our landing force?”

“Salhani did a wonderful job! He turned a full Russian assault into a total defeat, which will probably hand us over Kiev soon. We have heard of several Russian desertion now.”

“I read reports about that”, confirmed the Arab leader. “However, my question remains: what did Stalin expect by declaring war at us?”

“He probably was counting on his new armoured divisions”, thought Abi Zaid. “They surely made us suffer a lot, but as we speak, we have several new battalions that have already landed in AK1, and are being transferred by rail to the different hot spots. Soon, also, we will move against Odessa…”

“Spare Odessa for the time being”, interrupted Abu Bakr. “You are not to attack the city until I tell you to do so.”

The general could not understand why, but surely knew that Abu Bakr had his own reasons. After ending the radio liaison, he returned into his new HQ that was established in what was once Rambo’s camp. There, he had installed a huge tent under which several radio installations linked him to all his troops, all over the Russian territory. A large map laid on a large table, on which blocks and arrows were drawn, indicating the location of the troops and their progression, as well as those of the enemy. Numbers also were written next to each area, describing the number of wounded and fatalities. Clearly, these figures were updated regularly.

He was now about to prepare the invasion of Moscow.

-------------------------------

 

[Globetrotter]

D + 4…

Once the Russian defences were now fully breached, the tanks simply rolled down on the wide open plains west of Smolensk, while the infantry reinforced more the suburbs it held, and was getting ready for a full assault against the weakened Russian troops. Artillery had done a wonderful precise non-stop bombing of the enemy’s position, destroying several ammunition depots and other strongholds and fortifications within the city.

The Russians hoped the tanks would approach the city more and run through their minefields, but they were quickly disappointed as their forward observers noticed that the Arab armoured vehicles were simply manoeuvring round the city, keeping a somewhat safe distance from the city limits.

For a couple of hours, Shaukat, now taking control of both Groups B and D, led his tanks down the plains, sweeping all resistance encountered in the open field, before breaking southeast round Smolensk, over the hills, thus completing the siege. But the worst for the Russians is that they were now just a couple of days away from Moscow, keeping in mind that the Group C of the Arab army was now again on the move, heading towards the Moskva lake, probably in an attempt to hit the city from the west, unless they would swing north and meet with Shaukat’s troops.

As for Smolensk, the equivalent of 2 riflemen and 2 infantry regiments were now completely surrounded by a ring of steel and guns, and were continuously being pounded by heavy artillery. Some 20 Russian tanks were immobilized, lacking fuel. Stalin had urged Balakharov, the commander of these troops, to break out of the trap and retreat south to Moscow.

So by around 1 p.m., without fuel and almost without ammunition, leaving their unusable tanks behind, the Russians organised mass bayonet charges against the Arab tanks, in an attempt to break through. The result was a slaughter. Hundreds of Russians died as they ran straight into the Arab formations, and all these had to do was to pull the trigger. Due to fuel shortage, the Russians had launched wave after wave of infantry without tank support. They fought ferociously, but to no avail…

The battle of Smolensk was practically over…
---------------------------------

Earlier this morning…

‘Where the hell is he?’ started to wonder Kournikova.

It has been some time now since she has been waiting for her contact to arrive. They had a rendezvous in one of Moscow’s hotels, near the tennis courts. She had been waiting for more than an hour now.

The Russian former agent started to get more an more impatient. She returned to the main lobby, and headed afterwards to the bar. The bar was supposed to be the rally meeting point, in case something had happened. But it was more or less empty, except for the few who were enjoying a morning drink, before going out to their occupations.

Despite the war raging the rest of the country, the city atmosphere was rather calm. Of course, one would feel the stress among the people, but life there had not stopped. Commerce still evolved and most offices remained opened, although for a lesser number of hours than normal.

An hour later, after finishing her martini, shaken, not stirred, a drink she had been introduced to by her fellow Bou Snan, she rushed back to her room, in the hotel. A room she had booked for just a couple of nights. As she reached the door of the room, she had noticed that the indices she had placed round the door were moved, indicating that someone tried to enter the room… or worse… someone might be in the room! She retrieved her small pistol from beneath her white skirt, and proceeded in a careful sweep through the room. Weird enough, nothing was moved, or even touched. She cleared the main bedroom and hall, then headed to the bathroom.

“What the h…?!”

There he was… her contact… lying in the bathtub, almost drowning in his own blood, his throat cut… an horrifying scenery… on the wall, she could read, written with fresh blood: ‘Watch out, traitor. You are next.’

Her cover was blown, and someone knew she was back in Russia.
‘I’d better get the hell out of there’ she thought.

As she finished checking out and headed towards the main entrance stairs, she felt a sudden enormous vibration, as if the building was about to collapse. All the surrounding glass and windows exploded into pieces. She was stunned for a while as surely something happened, not far away from where she was. But she had to find Bou Snan. Shortly after, sirens were heard all over the place.
--------------------------------

Bou Snan arrived to the scene of the explosion, and joined the crowd that was standing there. The area of shops and small commerce had been blown out. There was nothing left of the police station.

“What happened?” asked Bou Snan, in a perfect Russian accent.

“A car bomb…” replied one man.

“Do we know who’s behind this?”

“Not yet”, answered another. “But these were all innocent civilians! What was their guilt?”

First aid was promptly established, as victims laid on the floor amid pools of wrecks and blood, awaiting rescuers. Others sat in the shade of nearby walls, holding their head in their hands, crying for the loss of some of their relatives.

“It was surely aiming at the communists!” raged one man.

“Yes, but does this mean innocents should be killed as well?” came a reply.

“If these communists were not here, nothing would have happened in the first place!”

A large debate started among the crowd, but soon enough, all opinions converged as more anti-communist sentiment rose in the heart of the population, who started to point out at the communist party, as being the cause for all this mess. Witnesses confirmed the bomb targeted men waiting outside police station trying to sign up for the communist force. More than 90 bodies were counted so far.

“Bring back democracy!” yelled another person.

By midday, through the rumble and dirt, after the wounded were all evacuated, people went down the streets, marching and protesting, asking for the departure of the communist representatives. The communist police had lost several men in this explosion, without counting the wounded, and the remaining ones were overwhelmed in different areas. Worse, the highest official party representatives were also among the casualties.
--------------------------------

 

[Globetrotter]

Unable to prevent the consolidation of the beachhead, and with the loss of the several neighbourhoods to the enemy, the Russian command in Kiev started to realise that the only hope they had, was to force people to fight. All regulars and veterans were to be withdrawn… at least, that was the official version… lots of people knew that the desertion rate had reached its peak. Nevertheless, drafting was established, and there was no way out of it. There was a lack of weapons, so the new recruits were ordered to fight in pairs, with only one rifle. Should the person with the rifle fall, then his companion would take it and continue the fight… a tactic that was being more and more adopted by the communists as they ran into ammo and weapon shortage.

Around midday, the equivalent of 4 regiments of draftees, all armed with obsolete rifles, fortified in the central district of the city, still controlling the vital area. They were to support a very diminished infantry regiment of the veteran Russian guards. On the other hand, two tank platoons had joined them in extremis, but required a tremendous amount of repair. Several turrets were dismounted from their chassis, and placed in such a manner to control strategic areas, while in other cases, damaged turrets were removed and placed as barriers and fakes, while the main body of the tank would be used for infantry transportation and protection. Some tanks were kept for repair. As for the communist officials, they had fled, leaving the command for young officers.

“Now what?” asked Vladimir, one of these many draftees.

“Guess we’ll have to wait till they come to us…” replied Serguei.

“And slaughter us all…” sadly added Iossif.

“Keep the faith, brothers”, said Mikhail.

The four of them were positioned on the roof of one of the highest buildings in the city. Their task was to observe and spot any enemy movement. Similarly, several observation posts were posted in different buildings, forming a perimeter round the area.

“I’m going for a leak”, announced Serguei.

“Coming with you”, said Iossif. “Then you guys can go.”

Both men descended to the lower storey. It was an abandoned apartment, but with a quasi intact and pretty decent toilet. Just what the men needed to rest. A minute later Serguei was in, while Iossif waited, sitting on a rocking chair in the lounge.

“It’s your turn now, Iossif”, said Serguei as he came out.
But there was no reply.
“Iossif?” Serguei was now worried. “Hey man, stop fooling around. Where are…”

As he entered the lounged, Iossif was on his rocking chair, still moving, dead… Next to him stood 4 men, all armed with rifles equipped with bayonets.
“Shhhht…”, indicated one of the men to the Russian soldier.

But Serguei did not see that a fifth one came just behind him, and plunged his dagger into his back. Serguei knew he was about to die, and in a last effort, fired one shot at one of the men, wounding him badly.
---------------------------

“Greetings general Shaukat”, said Jalal. “I come here for the latest reports.”

It was early in the afternoon. Both Arab groups had made their junction near Moscow, and were positioning themselves in preparation for the next assault. The commanding officers met to review the last details before the battle.

In front of them, The area around Moscow was pretty much varied. To the north, ran the rail road that connected Moscow to Smolensk, through the hills near the Russian capitol. To the northwest was the vast Moskova lake, and passing round it would give the Arab troops a tremendous advantage as it would threaten the whole Russian flank, and open the road further south to Sevastopol.

“We will send our cavalry east, in an attempt for them to rally Kiev”, started Shaukat, after he had carefully examined the area as well as the Russian elements in front of him. “We will send them by waves. The first wave will surely attract some of the Russian forces to the open, and so will the other waves. And these Russian forces these will be taken care of and destroyed by our tanks.”

“Aren’t you afraid this will destabilize the operation?” asked Jalal.

“It will be a limited flanking manoeuvre, destined to mislead the Russians, while our main thrust will go against the northern area, aiming at seizing the train station, vital for our supplies.”

“What do you need to achieve this then?”

“9 infantry divisions, backed by more than 200 guns, and accompanied by 3 cavalry regiments, on a two-mile width. We will start pounding the Russian positions, then our cavalry will perform hit and run harassing operations, before our infantry fully cleans the area.”

“When are we due to start?” asked Jalal.

“Tomorrow, early in the morning”, announced the general.
----------------------------------

Given a respite as the Arab army reformed, the Russians had fortified the area with a great number of entrenchments. Several artillery guns were placed just behind the first lines of Russian defence. To the west, two infantry divisions were positioned near the lake, and controlled the access to the city’s western gates.

But due to the quickness of the campaign, the Russians failed however to fully complete the fortifications round the city, and several weak points were left. But they hoped that when the time would come, Arab troops would not realise this. General Zhukov, personally commanding the Russian forces for the defence of the city, anticipated that the Arab advance would come along the rail road to Smolensk, hence from the north, in an attempt to secure the northern train station of the city. 5 full veteran infantry divisions were position hence on this northern area, while another two controlled the west, backing the two divisions near the lake. In the centre, 3 divisions were set-up, one consisting of regulars, and the others formed by new recruits and draftees. 3 tank platoons were there, and these were the last armoured forces the Russians had. They were to intervene should the Arab troops attempt to outmanoeuvre the Russian city from the east.

In preparation for the coming battle, Zhukov made his last inspections on foot, encouraging his troops, and vowing to keep the fight till the last drop of blood. His way through the ranks was accompanied by chants and prayers to drive the invaders from the sacred soil of mother Russia.

He also asserted that he intended to leave most of the tactical execution of the coming battle to his local commanders, but insisted that at least regular reports would be sent to him so that he is able to coordinate war efforts if need be, and instructed his men as well as the gunners to economize their ammunition, as these will be scarcer as the battle evolves.

“All soldiers and gunners were to stand ground until the enemy was clearly in sight and within range”, he said. “The artillery must be prepared to sacrifice itself. Let the anger of your guns roar out! A battery which is captured must have inflicted casualties on the enemy which will more than compensate for the loss of the guns.”

He then looked at all these men, most of which were around 20 years old. He could see fear in some eyes, anger and a desire for revenge in others. He paused for a while, then added:
“Men, today, Russia has its eyes turned upon you. On your shoulders lies its future and its sovereignty. I wish you all good luck.”

As he moved away, the officers barked orders asking their men to fix bayonets onto their rifles, and get to their combat posts.
--------------------------------------

 

[Globetrotter]

“A gunshot!” said Mikhail.

“I heard!” replied Vladimir.

Both were pretty scared. Being kids, being forced to fight was not really what they had in mind. But there was no way back for them. It was around 2 p.m., and everything seemed so quiet in the city, except for this gunshot. What they did not know is that all the similar observation posts were being attacked by the Arab Marine forces, sneaking into these advanced buildings and clearing them from their occupants.

“Watch the staircase!” said Vladimir. “They’ll be coming from…”

Two more rounds. That was it for the two friends. They did not even stand the chance to fire back, overwhelmed by Arab troops.

By around 3 p.m. most of these observation posts occupied by young recruits were cleared. No one from the vets that were in the city paid any attention at the rare shots they heard, thinking that these would be the result of some draftee freaking out. Some even made jokes about that. But this carelessness was to be fatal.

Around 4 p.m., while everything seemed quiet in the city, a dreadful artillery shelling showered the critical areas, mainly where tanks were being prepared. 10 minutes later, not less than 500 armed trooper stormed into the city, covered by around 200 others from the buildings of what was once the Russian perimeter.

The battle lasted for 2 hours. The Russians were totally caught by surprise, as they expected the attack to fall by night. Their last information was that the enemy was still reforming and fortifying near the coast, which theoretically would have meant that the Arab forces would not be able to attack before sunset. But that was without knowing of the arrival of several fresh Marine troops from the sea.

By 2000 hours, the last buildings were cleared. Several draftees had surrendered, others fought till their death, probably brainwashed by Communist propaganda. Colonel Bahhar personally landed in the city to inspect the area. The Arab forces had now achieved a major tactical victory in the Russian peninsula, forcing the Russians to fight now on several fronts.
---------------------------

Moscow, 2200 hours…

“We have lost Kiev, Comrade”, announced Chourayakov, Stalin’s most recently appointed advisor.

“Is it confirmed?”

“Sadly it is”, whispered the advisor. “the city is now totally under the control of the Arab Marine Corps.”

“What do you think should be done then?”

“In my opinion, giving the command to Zhukov is a good thing to start with”, started the advisor.

“But he failed me!” shouted Stalin.

“No he did not”, commented Chourayakov. “If it weren’t for him, Arab troops would be now all over the place. All he could do was to delay them. The war started before we had enough fire power and before our armoured divisions were fully ready.”

“What about Sverdlovsk?”

“The Arabs were prepared for that, and outmanoeuvred us. They expected our troops to attack. We should have sent inspectors first, rather than threatening and using armed forces against a much more powerful opponent.”

“So you are saying that we lost the war!” raged Stalin.

“Not at all”, explained Chourayakov. “If we can resist enough near Moscow, and harass the enemy near Kiev, then chances are that the war will be a long one, and sooner or later, the Arab populations will get fed up. That’s the drawback of their so-beloved democracy.”

“And what can we do now?”

“I advise you to move to St. Petersburg, through Sevastopol. It would be safer there, until things calm down. For now, let me introduce you someone who vowed to help us, and who I believe you should see.”

“Isabella???” asked Stalin, surprised as he saw the Spanish lady enter the room.

“In flesh!” she replied. “I come straight from Odessa, and I can say that your troops there are in bad shape.”

“Why? What happened?”

“Two enemy agents, Bou Snan and Kournikova, a former Russian agent by the way, went to the city and are now actively inciting the population to revolt against the Russian government, using proper propaganda”, explained Isabella. “I gave your men there all the details they wanted about the two agents, including who their local contacts were…”

“I read a report on that”, interrupted Chourayakov. “I thought it was dealt with!”

“It was, only partly”, continued Isabella. “Kournikova’s local contact was eliminated, but she had managed to escape. Meanwhile, Bou Snan had managed to plant a car bomb, decapitating the head of the communist party there, leaving the city in total chaos now.”

“What about the army there?”

“My personal beliefs is that you can forget about the city. People are now asking the Arab army to help them get rid of the Russian communists, and I heard that the Arab troops, already massed at the city gates, will probably move in early tomorrow. The army is already overwhelmed there to take care of any enemy attack.”
----------------------------------------

 

[Globetrotter]

D + 5…

Kiev was now totally under Arab control. Small resistance was noted here and there, and was quickly dealt with as more infantry units arrived from sea. The army quickly occupied the city airport, and soon enough, established an air bridge with Arab cities, shipping supplies, weapons, ammo, and units.

It was expected that the Russians might fight in the open fields near the city, but morning scouting confirmed that the area was clear of any enemy presence. Salhani’s troopers now were given the mission to occupy the mountains south-east of Kiev, while infantry units started to deploy round the city. The paratroopers were now very efficient in occupying strategic positions especially heights, and were becoming more and more the eyes of the Arab army deep into enemy territory, very often behind enemy lines.

On the other hand, cavalry regiments also had arrived during the night, as well as a couple of tank platoons. All would have the task to move south to St. Petersburg and west to Moscow, thus encircling the Russian capitol and cutting its supply routes. As for the marines, they were handling the security in the city, as well as reforming, probably awaiting orders to move out to another target.

As for Moscow, things were not looking very optimistic for the Russians. Throughout the day, the city was subject to heavy artillery fire, and occasional air raids that targeted the different military positions and defences, sometimes causing heavy casualties among the defenders. 3 supply trains coming from Sevastopol, and carrying troops and weapons were also severely hit just before they got into the city. The railroad was badly damaged. Arab positions were being reinforced by fresh troops that have just arrived. The battle there seemed imminent.
--------------------------------------------------

“Good news”, announced Petra. “Odessa has surrendered this morning. Our troops have entered the city and did not really face harsh resistance. Even better, the people there are on the streets welcoming our troops with cheers and flowers. Our agents did a very good job.”

“I heard about it. Several car combings targeting key communist elements, thus neutralizing the main threats,” acknowledged Abu Bakr. “What about Moscow? Any news there?”

“Not really, except that the attack will take place at most in a couple of days. We have reports that a black smoke is rising from the city, probably due to our bombing and air raids. There is also intensive fighting going on, on the outskirts of the city. But we don’t have yet an accurate report about the enemy casualties.”

“I heard that Stalin ordered his troops to fight till death, even if he was to be captured or killed”, said Catherine, also present. “How fool of him. He will only cause the total destruction of the country.”

“Can’t we get to make the Russian government surrender?” asked Abu Bakr. “I am personally fed up with all this fighting and killing and suffering.”

“I went to talk to Molotov earlier this morning”, explained Petra. “He refused to see me. I believe they are determined to fight till the end.”

Abu Bakr sighed. He had enough with all these events, although once again, Arabia was expanding and imposing its domination over the world. ‘What was wrong with all these people? Why all this hatred?’ he thought. He remained silent while the two ladies discussed minor issues, especially that Indira now joined them.

“I’m going to Moscow”, he finally said.

The ladies were surprised, all three of them looking at him as though they were one. Petra was the first to speak.
“What? What on earth are you going to do in Moscow?”

“It’s my business. I had enough with all of this. I’m going to talk to Stalin.”

“And do you think he will receive you?” asked Catherine.

“I don’t care. It’s worth a try.”

“Don’t do it!” advised Indira. “He fooled us once, he will not hesitate to fool us again.”

Abu Bakr started at the ladies, one after the other, looking at each one of them straight in the eyes.
“Look at you… Just look at you… a bunch of ladies who all they could think of is war… war… and war…”

On these words, he left the room.
---------------------------------------------------

 

[Globetrotter]

“What’s the status, general Zhukov?”

“Only a miracle can save us now, Comrade Stalin. Arab troops are receiving more and more fresh forces.”

“What do you think about that, Comrade Chourayakov?”

“I think that we can still make it. If the Arab do not attack by tomorrow, we will attack! General Zhukov, you will organise a counterattack, and use all fast and mobile elements that are not essential to the city defences.”

“But…”

“Enough general! You will obey Comrade Chourayakov. Offence is the best defence. Don’t you know that? You have tank platoons and artillery. Use them!”

Zhukov had no choice. He had to obey. Deep inside, he knew that this would be suicide. Okay, he might be able to destabilise the Arab army for a while, but for how long? When they realise what happened, they will throw at him everything they’ve got, and there will be no way out. But orders were orders…
-------------------------------------------------------------

D+6…

“Prepare for the assault!” ordered Shaukat.

“Nothing will be done! I order a cease fire immediately.”

Abu Bakr had arrived in Russia. It was 5 a.m., and Arab troops were getting ready to move. The night spent was the first calm night for a while now, as Arab artillery and bombers had suspended their activity, just to start again at 0600 hours. But planes will not to take off, and artillery was to remain silent, orders from Abu Bakr.

“But sir”, objected Shaukat. “Our troops surround the city completely now. It’s now or never!”

“Enough of this bloodshed. You will drive me to the city now. Get us a jeep. We will harbour a white flag.”

“But…”

“Now, soldier!”

There was no way to argue with the president. After all, it was his decision. May be he was right. May be there was a way to put an end to this conflict, peacefully. A jeep was requisitioned, and Abu Bakr took a seat. Shaukat personally was to drive him there.
-------------------------------------------------------

“Comrade sir! A jeep is approaching our checkpoint!”

“Give me these binoculars!” ordered the officer in charge. “One car with a white flag… two men… a civilian it seems… and an officer driving… looks like a general to me… Get general Zhukov, now!”

Half an hour later, the jeep had reached the checkpoint. The Russian soldiers ordered the vehicle to stop, and then ordered both driver and passenger to step down, while pointing their rifles at them. The men were searched, and found unarmed. Then, they were taken to the nearest bunker, which seemed to be the command post of the unit there. Minutes later, general Zhukov arrived.

“Hello general”, said Abu Bakr. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The general could not hide his surprise at the sight of the Arab president. He was so surprised that he did not even notice at first that the officer also present there was his own rival on the field. He had an enormous opportunity to take them as a hostages, and definitely turn the tide of war, in favour of Russia. On the other hand, he was also sort of fed up with the communist party, and hoped for a change. He also dreamed of fleeing and living somewhere in Arabia, a descent life with his family…

“What can I do for you?” he asked.

“I come here with peaceful intentions, to put an end to the fighting. I ask you to be the mediator between both our governments…”

The talks went for a while, mainly being done by Abu Bakr, exposing his views, and making hints about an Arab gradual withdrawal from Russian territories, including restoring all occupied cities, starting with Kiev. In counterpart, the Russians should give the Arab government the assurance that they will only redeploy police elements in these cities and lands, and will reduce their military forces, enough not to pose any threat to Arabia. Meanwhile, a cease fire would be declared, until a solution is reached.

After this meeting that lasted for a couple of hours, Abu Bakr and Shaukat left the area. Zhukov escorted them until the last Russian checkpoint, before rushing immediately to the Kremlin, to report his meeting to Stalin.
-----------------------------------------------------

 

[Globetrotter]

Upon his arrival to the Russian palace, Zhukov immediately exposed the situation and the Arab proposal to his commander. Weird enough, Isabella attended the event too… But it was Chourayakov who spoke first:
“So you’re saying that we would recover all our territories…”

“But you will have to cut down your forces, and prevent deploying them… don’t you think there is something fishy about this?” interrupted Isabella, keeping a low tone of voice. “I say there is a catch. Once Russia cuts down its forces, a full Arab assault will take care of the rest…”

Chourayakov was undecided, as making peace and recovering cities would give back Russia its power and all the resources it needed. As for the army, he could still plan to build a very strong army, secretly of course, and who knows, develop some day a weapon of mass destruction that could give Arabia a fatal blow. On the other hand, it was a risky operation, as he could not tell what were the real Arab intentions.
“I say we negotiate for more”, concluded the advisor.

“I say we attack!” said Isabella. “If Abu Bakr offers to negotiate peace, then Arabia is no longer the power it was! Remember some time back, he would never hesitate to crush his enemies!”

“That would be a suicide!” argued Zhukov.

It went on and on for an hour and even more, each person exposing his views… Surprisingly, Stalin remained calm throughout the discussion. As all the attendees said what they had in mind and emptied their bags, they all turned towards him, awaiting the final decision. Stalin stood up, lit a cigar, and looked out of the window. Zhukov feared what his decision would be…
----------------------------------------------------

It was early in the afternoon. It was raining like hell this day, which was not to put the paratroopers at ease on these rocky mountains near Kiev. The wind was blowing real hard, whistling as it passed through the peaks, thus creating a loud noise affecting the hearing. On top of that, visibility was pretty bad as heavy low clouds covered the heights, and shaded the whole area.

Earlier that day, Salhani ordered some men to scout around. In normal weather, he wouldn’t need to do so as he would be able to view almost the whole area from his position.

“Sir, we have sightings on men heading this way, from the east.”

“Friend or foe?” enquired Salhani.

“Can’t tell so far.”

Minutes later, the spotted group vanished. Another reappeared south, only to disappear again. Then another one south east. It kept going like so for half an hour… and still, one could not tell who were these men…
--------------------------------------------------

“It looks like we are on our way to end this conflict”, concluded Abu Bakr, as he stepped down from the jeep. “Send word to all our troops to cease fire. We will wait for an answer from general Zhukov.”

Jalal and Shaukat were still unconvinced, and felt that something major was about to take place. Jalal was about to join his group west, but still was discussing a couple of things with Shaukat, after both had spoken with Abu Bakr.

“Radio for you sir!”

Jalal took the handset from his aide…
“There are Russ… pshhhh…ks… pfffffffffrrr…. rywhere… They are all ov… frrrrrrt… ace!”

The officer could barely hear anything. However, he could discern gunshots and explosions, and suddenly felt that his men were in real trouble. Picking up his binoculars, he looked west, where his men were. Again, the poor weather limited the visibility greatly, and he could really see much.
“Take me there!” he ordered his chauffeur.

He got onto his jeep, followed by his assistant, and the driver immediately stepped on the gas.
General Shaukat got worried. He turned back and headed towards Abu Bakr’s tent, to inform him about the situation, or at least what he expected it was. He suddenly was struck onto the ground, by what seemed a very close deflagration. As he recovered, he looked back only to see Jalal’s vehicle in flames. Seconds later, more blasts covered the area, and became more and more intense.
-------------------------------------------------------

 

[Globetrotter]

“Enemy line straight ahead!” announced captain Serov over the microphone to his crew members.

The spearhead of two full armoured Russian divisions headed straight into the Arab infantry formations. It was around 4 p.m. At the same time, field artillery unleashed its shells over the Arab positions.

“Enemy battery 200 meters, 6 degrees left!” shouted Serov.

“I’ll take care of it!” replied the gunner.
Seconds later, the Arab battery was torn to pieces. Similarly, other tanks had opened fire on different Arab positions, destroying fortifications and spreading death among their targets.

“Cavalry encampment 350 away! Head towards it!”

This order was given to all the tanks in the platoon. Most of the cavalrymen were dismounted, as they took cover from the artillery bombing. This was to be fatal for them. They couldn’t tell that the infantry line was broken, nor could they see that enemy tanks were just a couple of hundred meters away.

The battle was horrible. Several units surrendered, being totally caught by surprise and unable to resist tank fire, mortal shells and machine gunfire from supporting Russian infantry. Minutes later, the Russian soldiers ran in the open and through the camp, looking for survivors to be taken prisoners, and when these made a small move, they were shot with a pistol. A complete disaster for the Arab troops.

The Russians then renewed their assault as the second tank platoon joined now. The aim was to clean the area, then withdraw behind friendly lines to reform. In no case they were to expose themselves more.
-----------------------------------------------------------

Things did not look great neither for the Arabs, north of Moscow. Of course, they benefited from being fortified on the heights near the city. But they were now under artillery attack. Probably a prelude to a Russian attack. General Shaukat himself suffered two grave wounds in various parts of his body as the camp was subjected to bombardment.

“Get me general Zhukov on the radio!” barked Abu Bakr.

But there was no response from the Russians. Worse, the shelling got heavier, wreaking havoc amongst the troops. And now, the bombing was accompanied by gunshots. The Russians were near.
--------------------------------------------------------

“HQ2, HQ2, from Eagle Nest, over…”

“Come in Eagle Nest”, said the operator.

“This is Lieutenant Salhani. We are under severe attack from unidentified men. I repeat, we are under attack from unidentified men. We request fire support!”

“Negative Lt. The weather does not permit our planes to take off, and most of our artillery is being moved towards Moscow, where a high enemy activity is recorded.”

“We will not be able to hold enough!” shouted the officer. “We need artillery backup, now!”

“I’m sorry sir, but I’ll see what I can do.”

“Don’t just see, do it n…”

The communication was suddenly interrupted. The antenna placed on top of one of the peaks, serving as a relay was badly damaged. All communication with Kiev was now lost.

Night was approaching, and the gunfight getting closer as time passed by, meaning that the enemy was gaining on his troops. But he was never to know how many men he had lost that evening. As he rushed back to the nearest pillbox, a fired mortar bomb exploded next to him, killing him instantly, as downing his radioman.
----------------------------------------------

 

[Globetrotter]

“Sir, we have lost communication with Eagle Nest!” announced the operator in Kiev. “They requested immediate support. They are under attack.”

“Damn!” thought colonel Bahhar. Then turning towards his aide-de-camp: “How many men can we send there?”

“Not that many I’m afraid. Most of the infantry and cavalry divisions as well as the tanks, have been urgently sent towards the Russian capitol and others towards St. Petersburg. We only have one regiment here, plus the Marines”

“Navy support?”

“None. The navy has moved west to back up general Shaukat.”

“I want you to get each and every valid Marine ready to move!”

“But sir, they just…”

“Now!” ordered the colonel.
------------------------------------------------

“Where the hell are the promised reinforcements?” barked Abu Bakr.

The position was still under fire, and getting worse. It was the first time that the Arab leader was directly exposed to enemy fire.

“I do not know”, answered one young officer, as he was running to take cover.

“What the hell is going on here?” That was general Abi Zaid, just arriving to the front, and entering the bunker where Abu Bakr was sheltering. “Why was our attack initially delayed?”

“We were trying to negotiate”, explained Abu Bakr, “So I gave orders for cease fire. But we were told that reinforcement would come from Kiev!”

“There are no reinforcements! They have been intercepted by enemy cavalry and smashed by Russian tanks! We are on our own here now! Where is general Shaukat?”

“Wounded”, calmly replied the Arab leader. “He’ll make it, but is now in bad shape.”

“Get him to the medics”, ordered the general. “I’ll personally handle things from now. Sir, I recommend you be escorted out and back to London, or Paris, in the shortest delays.”

“I’ll stay here”, said the Arab leader. “There is something weird going on. We had russian assurance that…”

“With all due respect Sir, since when did you start trusting communists?”

“General Zhukov is a man of honour. He gave me his word.”

“I see what kind of word it is… Now, if you’ll excuse me…”
--------------------------------------------------

With the fall of the night, things got relatively calmer. The clouds had moved out, resulting in a neat black velvet sky, with many stars shining. Artillery stopped firing on both sides mainly to cool down, and soldiers kept an attentive watch on the front, especially that visibility was better than expected. Besides, the muddy soil was to prevent further action for at least one day, thus, it was useless to waste ammo and men in futile attacks. Any movement attempt would probably result in a catastrophe as heavy vehicles and men would surely be slowed down and even halted by the difficult terrain.

General Abi Zaid judged it was now the time to inspect the area, and check the damage of the last fighting, especially on the western flanks. In the mean time, another highly ranked officer was sent east to verify the Moscow-Kiev axis and check for survivors.

By midnight, accompanied by a small escort, the general arrived to the battlefield, in what was a military camp just less than a day ago. Under moonlight, he could still distinguish the tremendous amount of dead bodies, dead horses, damaged and fuming vehicles and fortifications. There was no sign of survivors as his men moved around different parts of the area.

“What a waste of good men”, murmured the general. “Any sign of the Russians?”

“None sir. It seems they adopted a hit and run tactic.”

“Yeah, the same we used some time back with our cavalry, except that they used tanks. They will surely renew this as soon as they can. We’d better finish them out the soonest possible.”

On these words, the general got back onto his jeep, and was driven back to camp. Orders were given to place two infantry divisions in the area early in the morning, just beyond the destroyed camp, just in case the Russians reiterate their attack.

Back at the camp, Abi Zaid received an updated report concerning the latest events on the eastern side. They were not really positive as again, the Arab army had suffered severe casualties, forcing the group heading towards St. Petersburg to fall back to Kiev, avoiding being encircled. The only good news was that there were survivors there, but none of these troops were suitable for immediate fighting.

“Another day like this one, and we’ll probably loose the initiative, and the war”, thought Abi Zaid.
------------------------------------------------

 

[Globetrotter]

D+7…

0800 hours…

There was suddenly an animated siren around the Marine camp in Kiev. Most men rushed out with their full equipment. They knew that fighting was imminent. Immediately, they were split into two groups, SnakeOne and SnakeTwo, each of about 50 men or so. They were quickly briefed by colonel Bahhar. They were to secure the mountains, and check for potential survivors from the paratroopers.

By 1000 hours, both groups were off east. On foot. It seemed only a matter of time before they were to hit a major contact with the enemy. The first group’s task was to lay mines over specific areas, from where potential attacks could be conducted against the city, while the second group had the responsibility of carrying out aggressive ambushes and patrols in the area, drawing the enemy away from the first group.

By mid-day, there was still no contact. Suddenly, firing was heard, echoed by the mountains. It was suspected to be less than a couple of miles away. SnakeOne paused, and set up their radio, communicating with HQ2, wondering whether SnakeTwo had hit contact.
“Negative SnakeOne, no contact reported.”

Shortly after, SnakeTwo were on the air, confirming that no hostile contact was established. However, they heard the gunshots once again. Small bursts. Then, a faint crackle was spotted on the radio, and both groups tuned in. the worst was feared. Had any paratrooper survive the attack?
----------------------------------------

This time, the weather was good, and general Abi Zaid was about to benefit from all the air support he could get. On top of that, the naval group was within range to fire at the city its heavy bombs. The general knew that he could not for the time being mount an assault, as his troops needed to reform, but he knew that the Russians would do nothing as well as the muddy soil would cause their loss, and make them easy targets for planes.

He checked again the battlefield, and noticed that the 2 Russian infantry divisions that occupied the fields west of Moscow had withdrawn, meaning that the city was now more and more fortified.
‘This won’t be easy’, he thought.

Around 10 a.m., in one coordinated move, around a hundred field gun and naval batteries opened fire against Russian positions in the city. An hour later, the first elements of the Arab air force were above the city, dropping their bombs all over the place, and giving the land and naval artillery feedback on some of their sightings.

The aim was not really to destroy the Russian forces – of course, the more damage they could do, the better it would be – but more to perform a psychological attack and to suppress as many enemy units as possible, preventing them from moving and reinforcing.

On top of that, the area next to the Kremlin was particularly targeted as it was also known to be the base of the Russian veteran guards, and probably held most of the Russian ammo. By midday, several black smoke columns elevated towards the sky. Amazingly, not a single round was to be fired from the Russians.
---------------------------------

“What was Abu Bakr thinking?” wondered Catherine.

“I don’t know”, said Petra. “But he surely almost manage to drive Arabia straight into the wall.”

“You should make sure this never happens again, Petra”, confided Indira.

“Yes, some measures must be taken…”
---------------------------------

“Eagle Nest, this is SnakeOne, do you copy? Over…”

The call was repeated a couple of times. There was a distorted answer that was hardly understandable. Instantly, the operator at HQ2 intervened.

“Eagle Nest, this is HQ2, come in. Over…”

There was no reply. Clearly whoever was there could not speak.
“Eagle Nest, do not speak, just use your switch, once for yes and twice for no. Do you copy?”

Everybody held his breath.
‘Click’
… to everyone’s relief…

“Good”, said HQ2. “Have you hit contact?”
‘Click’
“Are there survivors?”
‘Click’
“Are you still in contact with the enemy?”
‘Click’
“Are these gunshots coming from your position?”
‘Click’
“Is your commanding officer alive?”
‘Click – Click’

“Damn!” thought Bahhar. Salhani’s death was confirmed. “Get me a detailed map of the place!” he ordered.
Then talking into the radio: “Hang in there Eagle Nest. We will try to locate you.”

Of course, no details were given as about when and who would participate in this operation, just in case it would be a trap. Using the map, Bahhar would ask questions about what his interlocutor can see, including direction, and then locate him by triangulation according to Eagle Nest’s sightings.

Ten minutes later, Eagle Nest’s position was located, pretty accurately. The info was immediately conveyed to SnakeOne, on a different frequency, and orders were given to recover Eagle Nest. Extreme caution was to be used, especially that it was now confirmed that the location was surrounded by enemy units.
-----------------------------------

Agents Bou Snan and Kournikova were now once again back to London. Both had deserved this time some good vacation. Their mission in Odessa turned out to be a major success, especially as the city fell without any major resistance.

As soon as each one of them returned home, there was a message for them, asking them to urgently go to the palace, by order of Petra…
--------------------------------

Abu Bakr was now on his way back to London. His personal plane took off earlier this morning from AK1, and headed full north. The flight was to take about 10 hours, enough for him to take some good rest, after the stressing events lately.

‘Something is weird’, he kept thinking. ‘I’m sure Zhukov wanted peace too! I could see it in his eyes!’

But on the field, facts were facts, and no one cared on what the Arab leader thought or how he felt about a communist general. All the men could see was that lots of them were killed by severe Russian counterattacks.
----------------------------------

 

[Globetrotter]

The radioman of Eagle Nest was picked up five hours later. It seemed that the group had come under heavy mortar and machinegun fire, killing Lt. Salhani, and several troopers. The only way the radioman, Sgt. Wahab survived was by crawling beneath a large rock after he was hit, and detonating several defence claymores and opening fire upon seeing the enemy. He was imitated by not more than 6 men. But at the time they were joined by SnakeOne, there were only two of them left.

SnakeOne’s priority now was to escort the two men back to the city. But first, they had to control the area for the second group to take position and place his mines and booby traps. The men were nervous, as they hadn’t seen any enemy throughout the mission. Still, they had the feeling they were being watched.

An hour later, SnakeTwo had reached the location, and SnakeOne then was able to move out, escorting the recovered troopers. The night was not very far away now. Only a couple of hours before everything would be completely dark. As SnakeOne advanced through already cleared tracks, several rounds targeted them, downing a dozen of men.

“Take cover!” ordered the commanding officer of the group, Capt. Rahal.

Immediately, he reached out for the radio, and called out for help. He quickly found out that SnakeTwo was fiercely attacked as well, and that their situation was much worse than SnakeOne’s one. The only problem is that the enemy could not be seen.
-------------------------------------

“Who can we contact in London?” asked Chourayakov. “If we need to put an end to this war, then we should get rid of Abu Bakr as soon as possible!”

“It’s not Abu Bakr that is behind this. He’s just a pawn. The true mastermind is Petra.”

“I’ve heard about your weakness to the Arab leader”, intervened Stalin. “But Chourayakov is right. Abu Bakr must be eliminated.”

“What will Russia gain from that?”

“It will create enough turmoil to give us some respite. All we need is time.”

“Huh? Can’t you see that your troops are overwhelmed by the enemy, and that it is just a matter of time now?”

“Note, Milady, that no country ever invaded Russia, and remained there. Sooner or later, they have always been repelled. Germany tried, Korea tried, even India and the Brits tried. And where are they now?”

One could clearly hear from outside the sound of the bombing and of the explosions, as they got nearer. There was no more windows standing in the whole palace, and the Russian officials all gathered in underground rooms, specially conceived for such events. They were pretty much safe from where they stood, but they were regularly informed of what was going on in the city, and even in the palace.

Several rooms were hit by artillery, and some structures were completely smashed by the air raids. Fires were declared in several areas, and soon enough, fire-fighters were completely overwhelmed by fires all over the place. Despite the nigh falling, the city was more or less illuminated by these flames.

“We have to move away”, said Petra.

“I haven’t said my last word yet. We will remain here”, ordered Stalin, “and that is final!”
-------------------------------------

It lasted for an hour or so. SnakeOne pulled back and joined SnakeTwo, who was down to eleven men, having themselves lost sixteen marines. They had managed to loose their followers, but realised that they would soon be caught again. SnakeTwo’s commander was killed, and both groups had lost their radios now.

“Holding to our ground would be a suicide”, said Rahal. “Our only way out is to head through the minefield!”

Grabbing the rest of the men, he mounted an attack against one enemy position who clearly did not expect such a reaction. The marines got through, and rushed south towards the minefields, aiming afterwards to turn back west towards Kiev.

Capt. Rahal’s decision was the right one to take. Having slipped through the enemy units, it took these some time to realise what had happened, and kept firing mainly at each others for a while, as different groups attempted to enter Eagle Nest’s position, inflicting themselves severe casualties.

By nightfall, the marines turned west and took some of the Russian guerrilla fighters from behind, killing a good number of them before running off towards the city. Both rescued paratroopers made it too.

The initial mission was a total failure, as the marines failed to secure the area, and got seriously diminished. But recovering friendly units was still somewhat rewarding.
------------------------------------

“We’re almost there, sir”, announced the air hostess, as the plane started its landing in London’s airport.

Minutes later, the Arab leader stepped out of the plane.
“Welcome back, sir”, said his personal aide and driver, who came to pick him up from the airport.

“It’s good to be back. Any news for me?”

“None so far, sir. We have news from the front, but I believe you must have better news than us out here. Where shall we head to?”

“Buckingham Palace.”

Abu Bakr stepped into the car, one of the latest Limo models, just out from German factories.
‘Nice car’ he thought. He opened the bar just in front of him, and picked up a bottle of sparkling fresh water. He poured some into a glass, and sipped a bit, still thinking about the yesterday’s events, and his meeting with Zhukov just before. All of a sudden, the car stopped promptly, interrupting his thoughts. The shock was so sudden that he did not feel the water spilled on his cloth at first. He raised his head, and looked up, wanting to ask the driver why this sudden stop. But the answer was in front of him.

One black car had blocked the road just in front of them. A young lady emerged, followed by a man, and headed towards the driver. ‘Plop’, ‘plop’. He did not even have the time to draw his side arm. The young lady then approached the back of the car, breaking the window. Abu Bakr was terrified, but could do nothing. He knew that was it. Two bullets, both in the chest.

“Let’s go!” shouted the lady to her fellow, as she headed back towards the car.

Her accomplice moved towards the driver seat, and pulled the driver’s gun.
“No hard feelings, Kournikova.”

After that, he replaced the weapon in the driver’s hand, and got him out of the car, faking a fire exchange. Then, he vanished from the scene.
-------------------------------

 

[Globetrotter]

In front of Moscow, it was just another day for all these men. No orders yet to attack the Russian capitol. The ground still needed to dry for a while before being fully exploitable. General Abi Zaid was just performing the daily routine check, when an unusual information came in.

“Sir, we have lost contact with Kiev.”

“How can this be?”

“We were performing our daily check and information exchange. Suddenly, it got all cut off.”

“Any sound of gunfire or so?”

“Nothing. But we tend to believe that something major has happened, as it seems the radio is still operating. I mean, we are still receiving a live signal.”

The Arab officer was intrigued, and rushed to the radio room.

“Attention, attention Arab commander. This is colonel Mouchtakine! Your troops have been defeated in Kiev, and the city is back into Russian hands. I repeat. Your troops have been defeated, and the city is back into Arab hands. Do not attempt to re-take it again.”

That was the last signal they would receive from Kiev.
---------------------------------

However that day, several events throughout Arabia were to shake the country, especially on the mainland, near major Arab cities.

Near Baghdad, a huge fire raged during the night after saboteurs blew up a pipeline linking the city to Basra, threatening the city’s main refinery. The site was in the desert, and an orange fireball and thick black smoke were rising from the damaged pipeline. Similarly another incident was spotted near the city of Mecca, but was immediately taken care of by fire-fighters and local engineers.

Next to Rome, about 15 miles east of the city, a gigantic fire was started, and was spreading fast, thanks to the heat that prevailed during this time of the year in the area. Local officials said that fire crews were already on site, and trying to contain the expansion of the fire. Already acres of forest had been devastated during the night.

Around Houston, hundreds of fire-fighters have managed that morning to control a large forest fire that has destroyed huge areas of woods throughout the night. There were still flames in the region, but they were more or less under control. The fire had spread almost to reach the city of Washington, the capitol of the American state of Arabia. Thousands of citizens have been evacuated from their homes. Thankfully, no casualties were reported.

Witnesses were immediately asked about what was happening, and all these witnessing were soon reported by journalists of the AFP, the Arab Free Press.
“We came across large areas of land that were on fire” one said. “Smoke filling up the sky, huge flames and the sun literally blocked out by the smog. There was a whole hillside on fire.”

In all these cases, regional officials thought that the fires looked as though they were deliberately started. But it was the burst of the pipelines that confirmed these theories, after experts had analysed the sites.

“We have instructed the cabinet ministers to take measures to handle the problem. An investigation team will be put in place and will soon start processing the case,” announced one official.
----------------------------

Worse, by midday, the news was spread about Abu Bakr’s murder, and this time, it was confirmed: Abu Bakr was well dead. Immediate autopsy was performed by the government medical legist on the 3 bodies found on the scene, and the official version came out that the bullets in the leader’s body came from the lady’s gun, and that in turn, she was shot down by the driver before he died from his wounds, two bullets in the chest.

The identity of Kournikova was soon established. It was not difficult to dig up her past history as a Russian agent, and suspicions soon enough were that she was in fact still under Russian orders.

Even worse, at the same time the news of AB’s death were made public, a dissident group calling itself ‘Global Warning’ claimed being behind the fires and the sabotage of the pipelines, and threatened to do more should the Arab government fail to call back its troops in the shortest delays, and put an end to war. Their target would be mainly infrastructures, and if need be, they would start targeting cities.

Both reports were to spread almost instantly throughout the country, and had a devastative effect. Not less than around 20 cities experienced riots, revolts, strikes and other demonstrations, as people marched down the streets burning tires and breaking into shops and local commerce, asking for the dismissal of the government.

The country was in total chaos. Petra had to react, and quickly.
--------------------------------

“Is everything ready?” asked Stalin.

“Yes Comrade. We are ready to move to phase 2 of the Project”, said Chourayakov.

“What Project?”

“None of your business, at least for now, Milady”, coldly replied the Russian advisor. Then turning back to his supreme commander: “The Arab government is now in deep trouble. They will suspect an internal mole, and will likely proceed with a purge. The troops will be forced to halt their attacks, and several elements will be called back to the mainland to respond to the people’s demands, ensure their protection, or ultimately repress the uprising. In any case, their forces here in Russia will be weakened.”

“What about my orders?”

“General Zhukov was executed earlier this morning, as you ordered.”

Isabella was pale, though she forced herself not to show. Zhukov was supposed to be a key element in an eventual negotiation with the Arabs.

“We have information that he was keen on handling over Russia, for peace, to match his exact words”, explained Chourayakov. “He was the only possible threat to our Project.”

“Did we find all the elements needed for the Project?”

“We have discovered a very important area in the mountains east of Kiev. Luckily the city is in our hands now, and will remain so. We have also movements spotted in Russian cities under Arab control. Chances are that they will join us soon.”

“Then everything is set.”

“The countdown has started, Comrade.”
-------------------------------------

One week had passed, and general Abi Zaid could do nothing but assist helplessly to the cut down made on his troops, as more forces were required to control the situation in several cities. He knew that instability reigned over the Russian cities under his control.

Not later than that morning, 3 infantrymen were killed by a roadside bomb in Tbilisi while patrolling, despite the high alert and extreme security measures adopted. Similarly, a car exploded killing two soldiers and wounded 6 others in downtown Smolensk, while 4 troopers were shot at in Sverdlovsk, without any serious injury. All reports looked very negative, and the general had bad feelings about that, especially that he could do nothing to prevent such things from happening. All he wanted now was to get enough troops, raid Moscow, and get done with it. The weather was great, he could have all the air support he needed. The ground was dry, his tanks could storm through the Russian lands… But he could do nothing about that…
-----------------------------------

 

[Globetrotter]

“Miss Catherine?”

“Yes, agent?”

“You are under arrest, by orders of the Republic’s supreme court. You have been convicted for high treason and conspiracy against the Arab government.”

“What is this all about?” asked Catherine as she was being handcuffed.

“I’m sorry, milady”, answered Bou Snan. “But I have strict orders to take you in, along with your accomplice Indira. You are to be executed tomorrow morning.”

“But for what? What are the accusations?”

“For murdering the president of the United States of Arabia, and financing terrorist groups.”

“You liar! You know that she was behind all of this!” shouted Catherine, claiming her innocence. “I bet you even set up Kournikova!”

“I’ve heard enough now. Guards, take her.”
-------------------------------------

‘This democracy thing is unworthy. Give the people some freedom, and they start nagging at why you are waging a war. This freedom must be somehow limited!’ thought Petra.

The problem in Arabia was that there were two major political currents. The democrats and the republicans. The former was less tolerant as far as waging wars was concerned, and one of its benefits was the minimisation of corruption among its officials. On the other hand, republicans were more keen on going to war, provided some cash poured into their pockets… Of course, every war had a price… Yet, they would tolerate only limited actions and would not support endless devastating conflicts.

Another week later, the Republic of Arabia was born, and a new constitution established. Serenity ruled once again in Arab cities. The government had invested a lot in terms of police force and luxuries, to give the people security and a better quality of life. On top of that, troops were withdrawn from Russia, especially after the total loss of Tbilisi to the Russian rebels. Abi Zaid’s men were quickly redeployed in Smolensk and Sverdlovsk, anticipating a rebellion there, as well as on the new border with Russia. Officially, both countries were still at war, but a sort of cease fire was agreed upon.

On the other hand, the people were calmed down by the news that the persons behind Abu Bakr’s assassination were now dead, and that some time passed now without any activity from the so-called ‘Global Warning’ group, confirming claims that again, the former Russian leader was behind this group. But Petra knew that this issue had to be investigated further.
---------------------------------

“Milady, we have information that the Russian government has a huge dreadful project on its way!”

“What might that be?” wondered Petra.

“We received an anonymous coded message just claiming that. We have no other information so far.”

Petra was now irritated. She hated it when she was told only parts of things.
“The get back out and find what’s that all about!”
-----------------------------

2 weeks later, the situation was now under control in Smolensk and Sverdlovsk. All resistance had ceased following the capture of thousands of communists sympathisers, and their deportation to Arab prisons. The most dangerous were executed on the spot.

Petra sent a message to general Abi Zaid in which she asked for the general’s full cooperation, after he had expressed publicly his frustration regarding the halting of all operations that according to him, resulted in the loss of Tbilisi and Kiev.

The message was disregarded, and early that day, Arab troops commenced the advance over the hills south of Smolensk, heading towards Moscow. By noon on the next day, the infantry had joined the armoured divisions on the heights dominating the Russian city. Abi Zaid had information that the Russian divisions in Tbilisi did not have an offensive power, so they were no threat to his operations. On the other hand, he could not rely on neither the navy, nor the air force. He had to do it on his own. All radio contact was voluntarily cut with London, and all his troops operated on a single common frequency.

However, Moscow remained a heavily fortified position, despite the fact that the city had to send troops to Kiev and Tbilisi. Moreover, the city could not be totally surrounded due to the proximity of the lake. That same evening, an Arab reconnaissance mission reported a burning field nearby, with a railway station held by the Russians. Shortly after, the location was invested by Arab troops, and 200 Russian POW’s were taken.

The following day, Abi Zaid’s right wing defeated the Russians west of the city, while the left wing moved east then south, isolating the city and cutting it from supplies. Knowing that there was no real way of attacking the strong city, one best thing was to starve the population by besieging the city. From India, troops moved also forward and completed their junction with Abi Zaid’s troops, surrounding Tbilisi.

There was no Russian major counterattack reported confirming earlier reports about the annihilation of the Russian offensive forces. The Arab troops almost roamed freely in Russian territory.
--------------------------------

“It looks like the Arabs are on the move again, Comrade Stalin. And this time it looks serious.”

“I thought we had an agreement! Well, sort of…”

“It was never official. On the other hand, I strongly believe that this movement is yet unknown to London. A deserter from Indian origin asserted that it was this general Abi Zaid who’s taking the liberty of this manoeuvre.”

“So I understand he has no support from his government.”

“That’s correct.”

“Then we must crush them.”

“We should be able to do so, since he will not benefit from the full support and reserves of the Arab army. And if we do crush them, this will still weaken their army, and will give us enough time to finalize our Project. May I suggest we move out to Vladivostok?”

“Soon we will, Comrade Chourayakov.”
---------------------------------
“Get me general Abi Zaid!”

“We can’t, milady. It seems all radio connection is shut down with the area.”

“Done on purpose, I’m sure! This man is wasting my patience! Send him an arrest order!”

The radioman was puzzled. He had served for some time with the general, and did not know what to do.
“Call in agent Bou Snan! He’s to go to Russia and bring back Abi Zaid!”
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