Nick Ryan's
world war 3
military fiction technothrillers
timeline: July - November
After several months of spectacular successes, the war begins to turn against the B.R.I.N.C Pact Alliance in July.
Setbacks and unexpected defeats stall the Russian rampage through Western Europe.
The war across Asia hurtles towards a showdown between the American-led 'Coalition of Freedom' and the Chinese.
July 1
8 Allied armor punches a second hole through the enemy's defensive perimeter at Poznan, Poland, pushing the Russian army out of its defensive positions. Forced to withdraw to the eastern outskirts of the city, the Russian troops fall back in confusion.
8 Following top-level diplomatic meetings in New Delhi, the Indian Government pledges troops to an American-led ground invasion of China, and becomes the latest nation to agree to assemble forces along the North Korea-China border as part of the 'Coalition of Freedom's' operation.
8 American troops attacking Souda Air Base, Crete, finally make significant headway against the Russian paratroopers grimly defending the installation. Battered by constant artillery barrages, missile strikes, and air attacks, the Russians have been without supplies or support since the 101st Airborne first attacked the island. Running low on ammunition and diminished by several days of fighting and casualties, the Russian resistance finally crumbles in the face of a determined, overwhelming American attack.
JULY 2
8 Russian troops in Poznan, Poland, mass for a counter-attack to take back the suburbs lost in fighting on July 1. However the attacks are poorly coordinated and are unsupported by air assets. The assault is repulsed by the Allies who launch a counter counter-attack during the night with the help of local insurgents who destroy the Russian army's field command post, killing several upper-echelon military leaders.
8 With Souda Air Base and the town of Heraklion, Crete, both under control of the 101st Airborne, American forces on the island begin hammering small pockets of Russian troops still fighting on defiantly. Supported by helicopters, the Americans make quick work of enemy resistance and reclaim Crete for the Allied forces, bringing to an end the month-long fight for the strategically important island.
8 At Camp David, the US President is briefed on CENTCOM Operations Plan 2322-21 and gives his approval for the operation to proceed.
JULY 3
8 After eleven days of fierce fighting, the city of Poznan, Poland, finally falls to the Allied army. Russian troops retreat east to Lodz.
8 Russian ground forces in Ukraine attempt a Battalion-strength night attack across the Dnieper River through the port city of Kakhovka aboard assault boats. The attack is foiled by alert Ukraine guards on the west bank who open fire on the assault force with heavy machine guns and mortars, driving the Russians back to the east bank with heavy losses.
8 According to CIA estimates, China has so far amassed more than two hundred thousand troops and five hundred tanks along the China-North Korea border in preparation to repel the planned Allied ground invasion of China.
JULY 4
8 Celebrations across the USA are subdued as Americans celebrate Independence Day. The President addresses the nation from the Oval Office, urging citizens to be mindful of the sacrifice of their fighting men and women engaged in combat around the globe. A 4th of July fireworks spectacular planned for Washington is cancelled out of respect for the military and for unspecified security reasons.
The Vice President of America flies secretly to Germany aboard a military transport and spends Independence Day with American troops fighting in Europe.
8 Six M1127 Stryker Reconnaissance vehicles are destroyed and a Platoon of American troops are killed in combat on the road to Lodz, Poland, after a savage firefight between advancing American troops and rear guard forces protecting the Russian army's withdrawal from Poznan.
8 An American Air Force pilot is captured by Russian troops over northern Poland after his F-16 Viper is shot down by an enemy SAM site.
8 'Coalition of Freedom' forces on the Korean Peninsula begin amassing and stockpiling vast quantities of bridging equipment for transportation to the North Korea-China border.
JULY 5
8 The Battle of Lodz begins with the Russian army under pressure from the advancing Allied force. Allied fighter bombers target the Russian supply lines from Kaliningrad and occupied Lithuania, launching several air strikes against armored reinforcement columns.
8 Foreign Ministers representing the participant countries involved in the 'Coalition of Freedom' gather in Seoul, South Korea, for a briefing by US Joint Chiefs on CENTCOM Operations Plan 2322-21 as coalition forces continue to arrive on the Korean Peninsula.
8 On the outskirts of Heraklion, Crete, US soldiers discover the mass graves of over two thousand local Cretan men, women and children who were slaughtered by Russian occupation forces during the fight for possession of the town. The American Colonel commanding the US force now occupying Heraklion called the discovery of the massed grave,
'evidence of the most gruesome atrocity I have ever witnessed in over thirty years of combat'.
JULY 6
8 Belarus activates a reserve army of B-Class troops and conscripts, assembling the '6th Army' in Minsk and sending it west towards the Polish border to reinforce the Russian troops currently occupying Lodz.
8 Two Australian warships and two American destroyers re-position to a joint US-Australian naval base on Manus Island after Papua New Guinea grants permission for the base's wartime use. The Lombrum Naval Base, north of mainland PNG, sits astride vital approaches to maritime east Asia.
The Anzac-class frigate HMAS Parramatta (FFH-154) and the Huon-class mine hunter HMAS Gascoyne (M-85) are joined by US Arleigh Burke-class destroyers USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG-108) and USS Chung-Hoon (DDG-93).
8 Available US mainland based fighter jets and transport aircraft depart America bound for the Korean Peninsula, including F-15 Eagles, F-16 Vipers, A-10 Warthogs, C-130's and US Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft. The first of over two hundred KC-10 and KC-135 tankers are also deployed.
JULY 7
8 Britain's 16 Air Assault Brigade and elements of the French Army 11e Brigade Parachutists are airdropped around the city of Bialystok in eastern Poland, well behind Russian occupied lines. The strategic move threatens the Russian army's withdrawal from Lodz and stands as a roadblock between the beleaguered Russians and a Belarusian relief army approaching Lodz from Minsk. It is the largest Allied airdrop of troops since Operation Market Garden in WW2.
8 Polish partisans and resistance fighters in the city of Lodz, Poland, initiate a series of daring attacks against Russian military positions, destroying a communications node and ambushing a platoon of infantry at a railway station.
8 Two Chinese Shaanxi Y-9JB (GX-8) electronic warfare and surveillance planes are shot down by American surface-to-air missiles. The Chinese spy planes were intercepted flying close to the North Korea-China border.
JULY 8
8 The Battle of Bialystok begins with British and French paratroopers facing the Belarusian 6th Army armored relief column. Although heavily outnumbered, the elite Allied troops blunt the Axis army's advance, stalling their drive into Poland. The paratroopers come under air attack from Russian and Belarusian fighter bombers but stubbornly hold their ground.
8 The Allies launch a major push against the Russians defending Lodz, Poland. Instead of assaulting the battle-hardened Russians defending the city, the Allies strike at the flanks of the enemy, attempting to encircle Lodz and cut it off from a line of retreat to Warsaw. The Russians defending the outskirts are overrun and cannot prevent being surrounded, leaving the entire army besieged and cut off from support.
8 A USAF V-22 Osprey long range combat search and rescue helicopter successfully rescues a British Air Force pilot more than one hundred miles behind enemy lines in occupied northern Poland.
JULY 9
8 The Battle of Bialystok, Poland, enters its second day. Belarusian T-72 tanks attempt to smash the defensive line of the Allied paratroopers occupying the city. The battle becomes a street fight with troops from both sides heavily engaged. American A-10's supported by British Eurofighter Typhoons launch air strikes on the Belarusian army to support the paratroopers.
8 The Chinese PLA Rocket Force fires sixteen Dong Feng-26 intermediate range ballistic missiles at Andersen Air Base, Guam, attempting to destroy the runway from being used by American strategic bombers. The THAAD system on the island shoots down nine of the Chinese missiles. The remaining seven devastate Andersen Air Base, temporarily halting planned USAF flight operations.
8 Two American F-22A Raptor pilots, both members of the 19th Fighter Squadron based at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, are shot down by surface-to-air missiles while flying combat air patrol missions close to the North Korea-China border. One of the pilots survives and is taken prisoner by Chinese troops.
JULY 10
8 The Battle of Bialystok, Poland, becomes an emphatic victory for the Allied paratroopers after the Belarusian 6th Army suddenly disengages and withdraws east, back towards the Belarusian border.
8 Encircled and besieged, the Russian units defending Lodz, Poland, come under constant Allied air and ground attacks that squeeze the defenders towards the eastern outskirts of the city.
8 Freedom fighters ambush a Russian column of transport trucks in the village of Ukmerge, Lithuania. Two trucks carrying military supplies are destroyed in the attack. Several of the freedom fighters are killed in the exchange of gunfire.
8 'Coalition of Freedom' troops assembled around the North Korean town of Sup'ung come under intense artillery fire from enemy forces on the Chinese side of the Yalu River. The Sup'ung Railway Station is destroyed in the artillery attack and over two hundred Allied soldiers are either killed or injured.
JULY 11
8 Stranded in Poland and without immediate support or reinforcement, the Russian army defending Lodz attempts a breakout to escape the besieged city. The action is a success. The Russians smash through the encircling Allied army and begin a retreat to Warsaw, harassed by American Stryker Brigade Combat teams and Allied air attacks.
8 Two American Virginia-class submarines creep into the Yellow Sea and take up station off the Chinese port city of Dandong at the mouth of the Yalu River in preparation to support the 'Coalition of Freedom' ground war into China and to disrupt Chinese commercial shipping. USS Washington (SSN-787) and USS South Dakota (SSN-790) also carry a small compliment of US Navy SEALS aboard.
8 The American pilot of an F-22 Raptor, shot down by enemy SAMs close to the North Korea-China border and captured by Chinese troops on July 9, is paraded on Beijing television. The Chinese claim the pilot will face a public trial for crimes against the Chinese people.
JULY 12
8 NATO SACEUR (Supreme Allied Commander Europe) declares the airspace over Poland is now under Allied control having attained theatre superiority.
8 Food shortages across Russia appear to be hitting the general population hard with unconfirmed reports from the outskirts of Moscow that people are scavenging amongst piles of garbage for food.
8 Heavy weather, storms and torrential rain hinder the deployment of 'Coalition of Freedom' troops on the Korean Peninsula for twenty-four hours.
JULY 13
8 Russia's retreating western army re-occupies Warsaw and begins to fortify the city for defence against the advancing Allied army.
8 A Russian relief column of armor and motorised infantry massed around Vilnius in occupied Lithuania moves south towards the Polish border. Containing fresh troops from Russian reserve units, the newly-formed 14th Army strikes into Poland. Allied command launches air attacks as Russian advance units cross the border. Several Allied jets are shot down by Russian ground-to-air missiles.
8 Flying out of RAF Fairford in the UK, Ten B-2 Spirit stealth bombers fly a night bombing mission over Warsaw, Poland, hitting Russian army targets on the city's outskirts.
8 Allied artillery begins shelling the western outskirts of Warsaw and firing on Russian military positions with drone-launched missiles.
8 Fearful of Polish insurgency across Warsaw, the occupying Russian army in the city begins a brutal campaign to crush resistance groups that might attempt to sabotage their defence of the capital when the Allied armies launch their attacks. Thousands of citizens are reportedly massacred in the savage purge, according to the International Red Cross. Russian government officials deny all claims.
JULY 14
8 The Russian 14th Army moving south from Vilnius, Lithuania, crosses into Poland and attacks the British and French paratroopers defending the Polish border city of Bialystok, coordinating their assault with a renewed advance by the Belarusian 6th Army that had withdrawn to the border in defeat several days earlier. The combined attack from the north and the east overwhelms the elite Allied paratroopers.
8 Sixteen suspected resistance fighters are captured by Russian troops in the Estonian town of Rakvere, eighty kilometres east of Tallinn. The ten men and six women are all accused of plotting terrorist attacks against the occupying Russian army. All sixteen are executed.
8 The President of Ukraine begins a two-day tour of Ukrainian and Allied defensive positions along the west bank of the Dnieper River. In a press conference at the end of the first day the President expresses his thanks to American and Allied troops that have joined the fight to defend the country against Russian invasion.
8 A Chinese government spokesperson speaking on China National Radio (CNR) announces that any member of the 'Coalition of Freedom' who is captured and taken prisoner by Chinese forces will be publicly tried and imprisoned for war crimes.
JULY 15
8 The American President makes a nationally televised address to a joint session of Congress, urging international support for the 'Coalition of Freedom' force gathering on the Korean Peninsula.
8 Two terrorists initiate an attack on a popular nightlife spot in Paris. The attack takes place in the 10th arrondissement in the early hours of the morning. The terrorists open fire on night club patrons with semi-automatic rifles, killing eighteen. French Police kill the two men involved in the attacks.
8 Two Polish Army BWR-D1 (BMP-1) amphibious tracked reconnaissance vehicles are destroyed in a tragic 'blue on blue' incident on the outskirts of Bydgoszcz, Poland. The vehicles were attacked by a German Luftwaffe Panavia Tornado from Taktisches Lutfwaffengeschwader 31 fighter bomber wing who misidentified the Polish vehicles as being Russian.
JULY 16
8 The combined Russian 14th Army and the armored relief column of Belarusian 6th Army reserve troops arrive on the eastern outskirts of Warsaw to fortify the Russian western army defending the occupied Polish capital from Allied attacks.
8 Four Russian Su-27SM3 multirole fighters are shot down following an intense air battle with American F-16 Vipers over southern Poland. The Americans lost two F-16's in the dogfight which took place after the American jets were scrambled from bases in Germany to intercept the Russian fighters.
8 Thousands of anti-war protesters gather in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, to voice their opposition to the ongoing war across Asia. The Chinese government sends tanks and troops to break up the march and rioting follows. Over a hundred civilians are killed in the fighting before order is restored.
JULY 17
8 The first Allied attacks on Warsaw begin when British SAS Special Forces units are infiltrated into the city by partisans to support local insurgency operations and to attack enemy military infrastructure and installations.
8 Chinese troops based around the border town of Ji'an fire missiles at the Ji'an Yalu River Border Railway Bridge that spans the Yalu River and connects the Chinese town with the North Korean town of Manp'o. The railway bridge is obliterated in the missile attack and much of Manp'o township devastated. Allied troops based in the town suffer heavy casualties and return fire on Chinese positions across the river with field artillery.
8 Eighteen American F-16 fighters from the 480th Fighter Squadron stationed at Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany are forward deployed to Lask Air Base in Poland to support air superiority operations over Warsaw. The fighters are immediately scrambled to intercept a squadron of Russian Su-34 'Fullbacks' attacking Allied troops west of the Polish capital. In the ensuing air battle eight Russian aircraft are shot down for the loss of five F-16's.
JULY 18
8 British SAS and Polish resistance fighters destroy the Srednicowy Railway Bridge over the Vistula River in Warsaw.
8 A political scandal erupts in Washington when the Chinese-born mistress of a well-known Senator is arrested by the FBI. The 27yo Chinese woman is accused of spying on behalf of the Chinese Government. The FBI allege the woman had a number of sexual relationships with powerful political and military leaders in the upper echelons of the US Government and had been passing top-secret information gleaned from those illicit relationships to spymasters in Beijing.
8 Two US B-2 Spirit bombers are shot down by Russian missile fire during a bombing attack on the Poniatowski Bridge in Warsaw, Poland. The bridge is only partially damaged in the raid and Russian engineers work through the night to keep the crossing in operational order as Axis troops fortify their defensive positions throughout the Polish capital.
8 A former British Prime Minister and a former American President lead a private diplomatic delegation to Beijing to meet with the Chinese President and other high-ranking Chinese Government officials to broker a range of urgent diplomatic solutions to the ongoing war in Asia and the Pacific. At the eleventh hour the Chinese President refuses an audience to the delegation and defiantly declares,
'China will never allow itself to be manipulated by America or its puppet allies on matters of sovereignty'.
JULY 19
8 A combined infantry force of Canadian, Spanish, Dutch and Italian troops, supported by American Strykers and Bradley Fighting Vehicles attacks the western outskirts of Warsaw, Poland, securing the township of Blonie after several hours of savage fighting. The Russian units defending the outpost 12km west of the capital withdraw to Warsaw's outer suburbs.
8 Squadrons of the British Royal Dragoon Guards, aboard Scimitar Armored Reconnaissance Vehicles, and reinforced by Czech Republic troops, attack and seize the township of Tarczyn, 15km south west of Warsaw's outskirts, meeting only weak resistance from Russian troops defending the outpost.
8 A four-man British news crew working in Beijing is detained by Chinese authorities and accused of spying.
JULY 20
8 A military convoy comprising sixteen cargo ships departs Halifax, Canada, escorted by four Canadian destroyers. The Canadian warships will hand the convoy over to an American escort group south of Newfoundland for the remainder of the journey across the North Atlantic.
8 AH-64D Apache helicopters from the US 12th Combat Aviation Brigade, headquartered at Katterbach Kaserne, Germany, launch a concerted attack against Russian positions around Warsaw, inflicting heavy damage on Russian troops preparing defensive positions.
8 The British Government expresses its complete and unwavering support for the 'Coalition of Freedom' currently massing on the Korean Peninsula. With all British combat forces committed to the war in Europe against Russia, the UK Government instead pledges intelligence assets to aid the Coalition.
JULY 21
8 A combined NATO force of Czech Republic and Slovakian troops push into southern Poland, driving towards Warsaw to aid the Allied advance on the occupied capital. Outdated Czech T-72M4 tanks and BMP-2's combine with Slovakian T-72M1 tanks under American military leadership to pressure the Russian occupying army entrenched around Warsaw.
8 After three months in Sydney, Australia, receiving repairs to battle damage, the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) and her escorting destroyers deploy at top speed to the South China Sea to support the 'Coalition of Freedom'.
8 Two Russian Mil Mi-26 heavy transport helicopters collide in occupied Estonia. Both helicopters are destroyed in the incident and six military personnel killed.
8 The deputy commander of Ukraine and Allied forces along the west bank of the Dnieper River is killed in a Russian missile attack on a forward command post located on the outskirts of Rzhyshchiv, 70km south east of Kiev.
8 The four members of the British news crew detained and accused of spying in Beijing on July 19 are executed by a Chinese firing squad, sparking international outrage and condemnation. The British Foreign Secretary calls the executions,
'a barbaric response that will bring the most severe retribution possible down upon the heads of those Chinese Government officials responsible'.
JULY 22
8 Three Slovakian MiG-29AS fighters and one Czech JAS 39C Grippen are shot down over Poland by Russian MiG-29's. The Allied fighters were providing air support for the column advancing into southern Poland when they were set upon by Russian fighters operating from Belarusian air bases.
8 Three Chinese-owned merchant ships are sunk in the Yellow Sea by Virginia-class submarine USS Washington (SSN-787) as they depart Dandong Port, China, on the mouth of the Yalu River. The sudden attacks on Chinese commercial shipping are seen as a prelude to the ground invasion of China by 'Coalition of Freedom' forces. The bulk carrier MV Xin Xiang Rui, the bulk carrier Jia Yong and the container ship CSCL Arctic Oceans II are all sunk by torpedoes in waters off Taehwa-Do Island.
8 Orbiting high over the North Korea-China border, an American E-8 Joint STARS battle management and command and control aircraft detects a large Chinese military convoy of vehicles approaching the border from the north east, near the Chinese industrial city of Tonghua. The E-8 vectors AC-130 gunships, with fighter escort, to the target. Fifty-three of the sixty-eight vehicles in the Chinese convoy are destroyed.
JULY 23
8 Citing 'exclusive military sources' the French newspaper 'L'Examiner' in Paris publishes an eight-page expose, revealing leaked American plans for a four-phased ground invasion of China across the North Korean border. The newspaper claims Phase 1 of the operation will focus on 'Coalition of Freedom' forces winning air superiority over the battlefront. Phase 2 will be a systematic bombing of Chinese military industries. Phase 3 will include special forces operations and naval actions, followed by Phase 4, which the newspaper claims would be the ground invasion.
According to the newspaper, Allied casualties are anticipated to be as high as fifty-thousand during the three-month opening stage of the campaign.
US military officials reject the newspaper report calling it,
'pure speculation mixed with uninformed guesswork based on wild fantasy'.
8 An American Battalion aid station located behind the battle lines west of Warsaw, Poland, is targeted by Russian long-range artillery fire. Eighty-nine wounded soldiers are killed in the bombardment and over two hundred soldiers and medical staff injured. The attack sparks outrage from US military authorities and the International Red Cross.
JULY 24
8 Allied forces pressing Warsaw, Poland, launch a major offensive on the city supported by artillery, helicopters and A-10 Warthogs. The simultaneous ground attacks come from the west by American armored units and from the south west where the Czech Republic and Slovakian troops manage to temporarily secure a foothold on the city's outer suburbs before being repulsed by Russian reinforcements. After several hours of desperate fighting the Allied troops are forced to withdraw having sustained substantial losses.
8 Four Battalions of the Royal Regiment of Scotland arrive in Le Havre, France. The infantry regiment is immediately embarked aboard trains and transported east towards the Polish battlefront.
8 American Virginia-class submarine USS South Dakota (SSN-790) attacks and sinks a Chinese Type 039 Song-class submarine in the Yellow Sea after a tense cat-and-mouse duel that lasts several hours.
JULY 25
8 The Allied armies initiate a second offensive against the Russian occupied city of Warsaw, Poland, reaching the outlying areas of Bemowo, Bielany, and Wilochy. Warsaw Chopin Airport is seized by a US Cavalry Company but the Russians manage to re-capture the facility after ferocious fighting. The battle around the outskirts of Warsaw lasts well into the night with the Allies clinging on to ground gained in the north eastern suburbs.
8 Chinese troops destroy the Linjiang Yalu River Bridge and three other important bridges that connect North Korea with China.
8 An opinion piece in the 'Times' newspaper grudgingly praises US military strategy on the Korean Peninsula, noting that the 'Coalition of Freedom' army now massing on the North Korea-China border has worked to force China onto the defensive to protect its mainland from possible invasion.
Claiming the build-up of Allied troops has prevented China from invading Taiwan and curbed conflict between India and Pakistan, the opinion piece praises the US strategists for their daring policy gamble that forced a halt to Chinese expansion plans across the Pacific, and for changing the course of the Asian war.
JULY 26
8 Independent News Worldwide (INW TV) reports from journalists inside the city of Warsaw that Russian troops have looted and destroyed several landmarks in the city including the Royal Castle and Palace on the Isle.
8 Elite Australian SAS troops attached to 'Coalition of Freedom' forces on the Korean Peninsula conduct a covert operation on Chinese soil to destroy a Chinese HQ-9 air defence missile system located in forested land west of Shijagou in the Liaoning Province.
8 AC-130 gunships from the American 16th Special Operations Squadron based in New Mexico arrive on the Korean Peninsula.
JULY 27
8 US B-2 Spirit bombers and B-B1 Lancers flying from air bases in the UK launch a bombing attack on several of the bridges that span the Vistula River in Warsaw, Poland, including the Poniatowski Bridge and the Maria Sklodowska-Curie Bridge. Three B-1B Lancers are shot down in the raid by Russian ground-to-air missile systems. NATO command hails the operation as,
'an outstanding success that severely limits the ability of our enemies to distribute troops effectively within the conflict zone'.
8 The US Department of Defence announces the 'Coalition of Freedom' forces assembling on the China-North Korea border now totals more than a quarter of a million combat troops.
8 Fresh fighting breaks out at Kremenchuk on the banks of the Dnieper River, Ukraine, where American paratroopers from the US Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade are surprised by an attempted Russian river assault. The lead elements of the Russian force reach the west bank of the Dnieper south of the Kryukivs'kyi Bridge before they are turned back after several hours of close-quarters and hand-to-hand combat.
JULY 28
8 American B-52 bombers fly raids against the bridges over the Vistula River, Warsaw, maintaining pressure on the Russian engineers to keep the link between the east and west banks of the city open. A Company of Dutch Boxer armored fighting vehicles are ambushed by Russian troops on the northern outskirts of Warsaw and eight of the vehicles are destroyed.
8 A last minute offer from the American President to send the US Secretary of State to Beijing for urgent discussions is rejected by the Chinese Government.
8 Chinese military engineers destroy the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge that spans the Yalu River connecting the Chinese city of Dandong with the city of Sinuiju in North Korea.
JULY 29
8 The President of Russia dictates an order to the commander of the western army defending Warsaw, Poland, that,
'no Russian soldier shall surrender or take a step backwards in the face of the enemy. You will defend the occupied city to the last tank, the last gun, the last breath...'
8 A fresh spate of civil protests break out across several major cities in China. Tens of thousands of sign-waving protesters march in city streets objecting to the Chinese Government's handling of the war and calling for regime change. Chinese military elements act swiftly to crush the protests and violent fighting erupts. Hundred are injured in the unrest.
8 The President of the United States, standing with the assembled foreign ministers of countries representing the 'Coalition of Freedom', makes a televised appeal for the President of China to negotiate a peace deal and issues a deadline of July 30th.
JULY 30
8 Russian cargo aircraft, escorted by MiG-29 'Fulcrums' attempt to fly relief food and ammunition to the besieged army occupying Warsaw, Poland. However the relief flight is intercepted by American F-16's over northern Poland. Several Russian aircraft are shot down in the fray.
8 Four outdated Chinese Nanchang Q-5 'Fantan' ground attack aircraft are shot down over the South China Sea after an attempted attack on American troops occupying Mischief Reef man-made island. The Chinese aircraft were all shot down by sophisticated American surface-to-air missiles before they could launch their attack.
8 British SAS operatives are infiltrated into Warsaw under cover of darkness to conduct covert operations aimed at hindering enemy communication and command structure within the city.
8 China's military commander responsible for overseeing the Chinese forces arrayed along the China-North Korea border against the 'Coalition of Freedom' is killed in a US drone strike at Shenyang Taoxian International Airport. The General, along with several lower-rank officers, was killed when his convoy leaving the airport was struck by several missiles fired from an American MQ-9 Reaper drone.
JULY 31
8 American Abrams tanks, reinforced by motorised infantry, launch an assault against the Ochota and Wola districts of Warsaw, Poland, where the Russian army is holding out against the Allies. Initially the assault is thwarted by Russian artillery and RPG's, however the Americans hold some won ground, forcing the Russians back into the heart of the city.
8 A French Barracuda-class attack submarine collides with a Russian Borei-K-class submarine in the North Sea. The Russian Knyaz Vladimir (K-549) is severely damaged in the collision and forced to surface. The French Suffren (Q284) is only slightly damaged and forced to slowly limp back to Cherbourg Naval Base. A British RAF P-8 Poseidon based at RAF Lossiemouth station hunts down the damaged Russian submarine and sinks it.
8 American Cyber Command unleashes the most devastating and sophisticated cyber-attack ever initiated, aimed at crippling Chinese communication, military and financial systems. A hybrid of the Stuxnet computer virus, the US arsenal of top-secret 'zero-day' cyber weapons known collectively as "Wifzim 3' cripples Chinese military systems, shutting down command networks and melting down sophisticated Chinese intelligence and satellite systems.
AUGUST 1
8 Russian troops besieged in Warsaw, Poland, launch a daring counter-attack, striking south west from the city to confront the Czech Republic and Slovakian troops centred on the township of Grzedy. The attack is a Russian success; the Allied forces are crushed in a brief but brutal battle and only the urgent intervention of American fighter bombers and attack helicopters are able to stem the breakout until US and French armor are able to push the Russian attack back. It proves to be the last act of defiance for a Russian army in its death throes.
8 A Chinese artillery battery opens fire on 'Coalition of Freedom' troops deployed to Chongsu, North Korea, on the banks of the Yalu River. The barrage destroys the train station in the town and kills eighty-two American and Australian soldiers.
8 International humanitarian organisations declare the refugee crisis across Europe at catastrophic levels and issue an urgent world-wide appeal for food, clothing and medicines.
8 British SAS operatives infiltrated into Warsaw on July 30 destroy a vital Russian communications node and two OP's during a daring covert operation.
AUGUST 2
8 American and German motorised infantry units launch a massive attack against Russian troops defending Warsaw, Poland. The brilliant assault, reinforced by attack helicopters and artillery, manages to punch a hole in the Russian lines through which pour American Abrams tanks and Canadian infantry. By nightfall much of the west bank of the city is in Allied hands, although fierce fighting continues throughout the night.
8 'Coalition of Freedom' forces on the North Korean border fire massed artillery and missile salvos across the Yalu River into the Chinese coastal city of Dandong and its outskirt districts causing significant damage to riverfront buildings and infrastructure.
8 Two British merchant ships are sunk in the North Sea by a Russian Oscar-class submarine. The two general cargo ships were travelling in convoy from Southampton en route for Copenhagen when the Russian submarine attacked in waters north of Amsterdam. The survivors of the torpedo attack were rescued by the Royal Netherlands Navy's offshore patrol vessel, HNLMS Zeeland.
8 G-Day.
The American-led 'Coalition of Freedom' commences its ground war campaign against China as Allied troops move from their assembly points in occupied North Korea and begin marshalling along the borders of Jilin and Liaoning Provinces.
The 'Coalition of Freedom' ground forces prepare to strike across the Yalu River in three determined thrusts.
Freedom Army A's objective is to drive north from the city of Sinuiju to attempt to seize the Chinese port city of Dandong.
Freedom Army B's objective is to drive north from Manp'o towards the city of Tonghua, located seventy kilometres over the border.
Freedom Army C's objective is to cross the Yalu River from the city of Samjiyon, near Mount Paektu, and the seize a major road network and intersection that would prevent the Chinese from attacking the flank of the two main invading armies.
AUGUST 3
8 Seizing the advantage of the ground gained on August 2, NATO command pours thousands of soldiers, tanks and APC's onto the streets of Warsaw, Poland, at dawn, pushing the Russian army back across the few remaining undamaged bridges over the Vistula River. Russian troops respond with artillery fire from the east bank, bombing vast areas of the battle-torn city to rubble and demolishing the main bridges, hampering the efforts of an attempted Allied Cavalry pursuit.
8 USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) arrives on station in the South China Sea and immediately begins F-18 Hornet bombing operations against Chinese targets close to the North Korea-China border.
8 'Coalition of Freedom' jet fighters and heavy bombers fly four hundred and fifty attack sorties from land bases in North and South Korea during the first twenty-four hours of 'Operation Righteous Fury', targeting Chinese SAM sites and bombing enemy defensive positions along the border.
Six Coalition fighter jets are shot down and two B-52 bombers are also lost during bombing operations. Coalition intelligence staff claim twenty-nine Chinese fighters were destroyed during the day-long operation.
8 For the second consecutive day massed Coalition artillery pounds the city of Dandong, China, causing heavy damage to port facilities along the riverfront.
AUGUST 4
8 NATO engineers, under intense Allied fighter cover, attempt to repair the bridges across the Vistula River, Warsaw. Pontoon bridges are built and then bombed by Russian artillery fire. Eventually a determined force of American troops and British commandoes get across the river and secure a bridgehead on the eastern bank of the city despite savage Russian resistance. Several Allied F-16's and A-10 Warthogs are shot down by Russian ground-to-air missiles during the furious fighting. Against all attacks the Allied troops on the east bank tenaciously hold their position for twenty-four hours until enough bridges across the river are built to transit a relief column.
Russian troops fall back to the eastern fringes of the city after another full day of bitter fighting.
8 The largely American-based units that comprise Freedom Army A at Sinuiju, North Korea, pour across the Yalu River after Chinook helicopters deploy ribbon-bridge sections while Army engineers rebuild the approaches. Working under constant threat from Chinese SAM's, two Chinooks are shot down before the bridge is completed. Several floating support bridges are built by Coalition troops under the umbrella of heavy artillery protection. The first units across the Yalu are three Companies of Abrams tanks and a Battalion of armored troop carriers that establish and hold a small bridgehead for the rest of the army to follow.
8 Utilising teams of engineers, Chinooks, and a convoy of trucks carrying components of the MGB system (Medium Girder Bridge) the troops of Freedom Army B bridge the Yalu River at Manp'o under relatively light Chinese resistance. Tanks and APC's pour across the bridges to secure the north bank of the river and consolidate the position for the rest of the army to advance. In the afternoon, the Coalition units are confronted by a company of Chinese Type 15 light tanks. The Chinese are outgunned and are forced to withdraw north after losing six vehicles.
AUGUST 5
8 Warsaw falls to the Allies armies after Russian units in the occupied Polish capital retreat north in disarray. The Russian commander overseeing the city's defence reportedly shoots himself. Western leaders hail the liberation of Warsaw as a significant moment in the war.
8 Engineers and Chinook helicopters build girder bridges across the Yalu River north of Samjiyon but meet surprisingly fierce resistance from Chinese units on the north bank. Freedom Army C remains stalled on the North Korean side of the river throughout the day while engineers come under murderous fire and six heavy-lift Chinooks are shot down. As darkness falls the Coalition troops manage to span the river with several light floating bridges and then push two Battalions of infantry across to the far bank. Under fierce pressure and relentless counter-attacks throughout the night, the Coalition force manage to hold their bridgehead until dawn, clearing the way for MGB components to be finally established. By midday the first MBT's begin crossing into China.
8 The leader of an anti-government resistance movement in Russia dies in a mysterious poisoning incident at his home in Voronezh. The nerve agent Novichok is detected on the body. The resistance movement leader's wife was also poisoned and killed. The resistance leader had been a vocal and persistent critic of the Russian President and the war in Europe.
8 Freedom Army B forward scouts contact a Division of Chinese infantry and light armor ten kilometres across the Chinese border. The Chinese are in prepared positions straddling the two roads that run north west towards the army's objective of Tonghua. The mountainous terrain is densely forested. Coalition troops are forced to fight a slow jungle warfare advance, sending infantry ahead of armor through the hills to clear the route. Four APC's are destroyed on the road by Chinese shoulder-mounted Type 69 RPG's, blocking the highway for several hours.
8 The American Vice President and the Secretary of State fly secretly to South Korea for briefings with 'Coalition of Freedom' commanding officers on the progress of the ground offensive into China.
AUGUST 6
8 Victorious Allied troops, fresh from the liberation of Warsaw, Poland, pursue the retreating Russian army back towards the Poland-Lithuania border.
Harassed by American Cavalry units and A-10 ground attack aircraft, the Russian rear-guard force fights ferociously to prevent the withdrawal from becoming a rout.
8 Freedom Army C consolidates its bridgehead north of Samjiyon against persistent Chinese infantry opposition and establishes SAM sites and OP's atop Mount Paektu to cover its advance and to protect against possible Chinese air strikes.
8 From their positions along the North Korean border and the coastline, massed Coalition artillery and missile batteries bombard the Chinese city of Dandong at the mouth of the Yalu River as the ground forces of Freedom Army A fight first to secure the outskirts of Zhenxing District and the Yianbao District. Thousands of Chinese troops and APC's occupy the key buildings close to the riverbank. Fighting quickly stalls into a savage street fight. Eight American Abrams tanks are destroyed by Chinese Type 69 RPG's in the first two hours of fighting. The Coalition troops battling in the maze of streets are forced to fall back to the northern riverbank, allowing massed Coalition artillery to take the fight to the Chinese. Three more floating bridges and a second ribbon bridge are built across the Yalu.
8 Freedom Army B becomes bogged down on the road to Tonghua, China, and is forced to call in artillery and air strike support against a stubborn enemy fighting from advantageous terrain. For an entire day the army makes no progess.
AUGUST 7
8 The last Russian troops occupying Poland retreat north into the occupied Baltic States. Russian troops begin to build defensive fortifications stretching across the Suwalki Gap, all the way to the southern coast of Kaliningrad, referring to the position as the 'Kaliningrad-Lithuania Line'.
8 Freedom Army A units advance again into the Zhenxing District and the Yianbao District of Dandong, China. After being repulsed in a series of bitter street fights the previous day, Coalition forces on the ground make progress, seizing several key intersections and road junctions. The Chinese are forced to concede ground in the face of a determined advance which is supported by Abrams tanks.
8 Freedom Army B fights an infantry action against the Chinese Division blocking their route to Tonghua, China. Troops push forward across difficult terrain supported by APC's. Japanese and Australian infantry lead the attack. After a full day of fierce close-quarters combat, the Chinese Division defending the highway is outflanked and battered by artillery as it withdraws.
8 The Vice President of America flies to Europe and meets with the British Prime Minister and the German Chancellor in Berlin. Facing the assembled international media for a news conference after the meeting, the Vice President claims the Allies were gaining the upper hand in Europe and praised NATO commanders for their skills. He urged the Russian President to abandon the war and meet for peace negotiations.
AUGUST 8
8 Celebrations in liberated Warsaw are cut short when two massed graves of massacred Polish civilians are found on the north western outskirts of the city. International Red Cross representatives accuse the Russian occupying troops of war crimes. Western media proclaims the Russian retreat from Warsaw as the beginning of the end of the war in Europe.
8 Five Russian MiG-29's are shot down over Northern Poland as Allied air forces seek to disrupt the retreating Russian army's efforts to build defensive fortifications around the Suwalki Gap. A German Luftwaffe Panavia Tornado and a French Dassault Rafale are shot down during a day of vicious dogfighting.
8 Afters several days of bitter fighting, the advance elements of Freedom Army A seize control of the Zhenxing District and the Yianbao District of Dandong, on the banks of the Yalu River, China. The enemy forces holding the outer precincts of the city withdraw west into Dandong and north, away from the city. Army engineers build two more bridges across the Yalu allowing the bulk of the army's armor and infantry to finally assemble on the Chinese side of the river.
Overhead, Coalition fighter bombers fly air strikes against the city, challenged by swarms of Chinese Chengdu J-10 multirole fighters.
8 Freedom Army C begins to advance into China, driving towards a key intersection near the settlement of Fusongzhen, seventy kilometres to the north west. Across arduous, challenging terrain the Coalition army makes slow progress, harassed by Chinese infantry armed with Type 69 RPG's. Several Coalition tanks and APC's are destroyed during a long day of difficult combat against an elusive enemy using hit-and-run tactics.
AUGUST 9
8 Russia airlifts four B-Class infantry divisions into Lithuania to reinforce the troops defending the 'Kaliningrad-Lithuania Line' that stretches from the south coast of Kaliningrad all the way to the Belarusian border.
8 A top-secret CIA Analysis Report claims the Russian army is close to defeat in Northern Europe, and that Russian civilian discontent with the way the conflict has been handled by the Russian Government indicates a political uprising to overthrow the current regime might be possible.
8 A Russian Mil Mi-26 heavy transport helicopter crashes into the Dnieper River, Ukraine, south east of Cherkasy, after being hit by two shoulder-mounted Stinger missiles fired by Allied troops on the West Bank of the river.
8 Freedom Army B's advance towards the city of Tonghu, China, is hampered by a Chinese enemy unwilling to fight pitched battles, opting instead for attacking raids. Aided by difficult forested terrain and a Coalition Army able to advance on only two roads suitable for armor and APC's, the Chinese begin a series of vicious hit-and-run attacks that slow Freedom Army B's progress to a fighting crawl.
A full Company of American infantry scouting forward of the main column are isolated by terrain and come under fierce attack from an overwhelming enemy. Pinned down for three hours, the Americans suffer heavy casualties before a relief column of APC's can reach them and drive the Chinese back.
AUGUST 10
8 The Allies form a new NATO Group Army B in Germany, assembling freshly arrived American troops, British troops, units from Spain and from Italy, and rush the formation east through Poland to join up with the liberation force north of Warsaw.
8 Rumours begin circulating that an Allied army is massing in Sweden and that another army is forming in the south of France for a proposed invasion of the Crimean peninsula. Russian intelligence satellites photograph French ships and several large freighters massing in Toulon Harbor. News of the 'secret' Allied army forming in France breaks across the international media.
8 Apache AH-64 attack helicopters launch a night time raid on a reserve Russian column of T-72 tanks moving into front line positions along the 'Kaliningrad-Lithuania Line'. Nine of the Russian MBT's are destroyed in the helicopter raid. One Apache AH-64 is shot down by a shoulder-mounted Russian SAM. The pilot and co-pilot of the Apache are captured and taken prisoner by Russian troops.
AUGUST 11
8 Freedom Army A units advance on the outskirts of Dandong, China, and face stubborn resistance from Chinese forces defending the city's perimeter. The Chinese are heavily fortified behind well-prepared defensive positions covering all major highway routes into the city. A Coalition armored advance, spearheaded by Abrams tanks, is blunted by Chinese Type 99 MBT's supported by field artillery and HJ-12 infrared homing anti-tank missile systems. The Coalition armored units are forced to fall back to the edges of the city.
8 Freedom Army C reaches the outskirts of Fusongzhen, China, and quickly deploys to confront the Chinese troops defending the settlement that stands astride several strategically important highway junctions. With room to manoeuvre and in terrain more suited to armored warfare, the multi-national force smashes through the Chinese defensive perimeter and sweeps the enemy aside. Within just three hours of the opening shots of the engagement, the Chinese units defending Fusongzhen are routed.
8 Two transport cargo ships travelling in a convoy from New York to Europe are attacked and sunk by a Russian submarine. The two ships were part of a twelve-vessel convoy carrying war materiel and reserve troops, bound for France. Despite the convoy being escorted by two Arleigh-Burke-class destroyers, the Russian submarine evades detection and escapes.
8 The Multi-national force comprising Freedom Army B comes under sustained attack from Chinese troops on the road to Tonghu, China. Four Japanese Type 90 MBT's and seven Japanese Type 73 APC's are destroyed by Chinese anti-tank missiles. The Coalition troops call in A-10 Warthogs and AC-130 gunships to clear the forested hillsides as they continue to advance slowly, sustaining substantial losses.
AUGUST 12
8 Coalition of Freedom artillery and strike aircraft batter the outskirts of Dandong, China, trying to weaken the enemy's defensive positions before a fresh attack against the city is launched. For twelve hours, the massed artillery of the Allies hammers the eastern outskirts of Dandong while in the air, American fighter bombers fly over one hundred sorties, targeting enemy tank and artillery positions.
8 Freedom Army C, positioned around several key road junctions astride the settlement of Fusongzhen, China, begins preparing defensive fortifications and brings forward artillery in anticipation of Chinese counter attacks.
8 Australian F/A-18 Hornets from No 77 Squadron fly bombing missions over the city of Tonghua, China, and are intercepted on the way back to base by Chinese Sukhoi Su-30MKK 'Flanker-G' fighters. Three Australian F-18 Hornets are shot down in the air battle in exchange for two Chinese fighters.
8 Two American journalists embedded with Freedom Army B are killed on the road to Tonghu, China, when Chinese troops launch a surprise night infantry attack. A Company of American infantry are overrun in the engagement which takes place on the forested slopes of a hilly region forward of the main army. The two 'Times' journalists are killed when their transport truck comes under enemy machine gun fire.
AUGUST 13
8 NATO Group Army B, moving through Poland, drives west to the Belarusian border while the Allied army that liberated Warsaw begins moving north east towards the Lithuania-Poland border.
8 A joint naval force tagged NATO STRIKETEAM FLEET steams into the Baltic Sea. The force includes the Spanish Navy multi-purpose assault ship Juan Carlos 1 (L61). The flotilla is under the command of a US Vice Admiral aboard the USS Mount Whitney (LCC-20) command ship. The STRIKETEAM FLEET also includes several Arleigh Burke-class destroyers as well as warships from Sweden, Great Britain and Germany, supported by submarine assets.
8 Ukraine partisan fighters destroy a Russian column of supply trucks on the outskirts of Kiev. The night time raid on a highway south of the city results in six Russian vehicles being destroyed by Molotov cocktails after the partisans ambush the column.
8 A spearhead of American Abrams tanks from Freedom Army A suffers heavy losses battering a breach in the Chinese enemy's lines on the outer edges of Dandong, China. For several days the enemy's position has proved impregnable. Following the breakthrough, columns of American armor and APC's swiftly pour into the city and savage street fighting breaks out.
AUGUST 14
8 NATO Group Army B pushes into Belarus, seizing the border town of Brest after meeting only minimal resistance.
8 Four American F-15 Strike Eagles are shot down over the city of Dandong, China. Two of the Eagles were destroyed by Chinese Chengdu J-20 air superiority fighters and two Eagles were shot from the sky by Chinese SAM systems within the city. Despite flying numerous fighter operations for almost two weeks, the 'Coalition of Freedom' still does not have air superiority over the city.
8 An American infantry Company deployed to the village of Becejty in northern Poland, close to the 'Kaliningrad-Lithuania Line', is suddenly cut off when a Russian Battalion advances and encircles their position. The Americans manage to hold out in the face of overwhelming pressure until a relief unit of Allied APC's arrives in support. The Russians are forced to withdraw.
The details of the epic, bloody battle are featured in the novel, 'Fort Suicide'.
8 Covert US Special Forces teams infiltrate the Chinese coastline around the city of Dandong.
8 Russian Su-24 and Tu-22M3M bombers based at Kaliningrad launch an air attack against The NATO STRIKETEAM FLEET operating in the Baltic Sea. The German Sachsen-class air-defence frigate Hamburg (F220) is sunk in the attack and one American Arleigh Burke-class destroyer is badly damaged. Seven Russian aircraft are shot down during the engagement.
AUGUST 15
8 Minor skirmishes erupt along the 'Kaliningrad-Lithuania Line' between the advancing Allied army and the Russian troops defending the Suwalki Gap. Several Allied tanks and troop carriers are destroyed during a brief but fierce firefight around the village of Szypliszki.
8 The President of China makes a televised propaganda address declaring the 'Coalition of Freedom' ground invasion of China has been a complete disaster, and claiming that Allied troops are being pushed back on every front with catastrophic casualties.
8 American troops in Black Hawk helicopters, supported by Apache gunships attached to Freedom Army B, mount an attack on Chinese units defending the highways to the city of Tonghu, China. Taking the attack to the enemy for the first time since the army bridged the Yalu River on August 4, the American-led assault pounces on a Chinese staging post and HQ behind enemy lines. The attack is a success. Allied intelligence estimates two full Battalions of enemy troops were killed in the dramatic assault.
8 Armed French soldiers at Paris' Gare du Nord train station shoot and kill two suspected terrorists during a brief, bloody firefight. Three bystanders were injured in the exchange of gunfire. The incident occurred just after midday when two suspicious men tried to board a train by circumventing baggage and personal security inspections. When one of the men pulled a gun, armed soldiers opened fire.
AUGUST 16
8 Several American Los Angeles-class and two Swedish HSwMS Gotland-class attack submarines take up station in the Baltic Sea, aggressively prosecuting any enemy contacts, and in the process sinking two Russian Kilo-class submarines west of Gotland Island.
8 US Special Forces operatives within Dandong city, China, destroy a major Chinese weapons and ammunition store.
8 Two Companies of American infantry are overrun at Mierkinie, Poland, on the 'Kaliningrad-Lithuania Line' after three Battalions of Russian infantry launch a surprise attack, supported by a Company of BMP troop carriers. The Americans are forced to withdraw from their position in the face of overwhelming enemy numbers. British troops from 3 Battalion The Rifles reinforce the Americans and re-take the town after seven hours of brutal street fighting.
AUGUST 17
8 Under tight security, the cover of night, and in complete secrecy, the US 82nd Airborne are flown on transport aircraft from the United Kingdom to classified locations in southern Sweden. Russian intelligence does not detect the significant troop movement.
8 Chinese troops defending the city of Dandong, China, are forced back into the heart of the city following a concerted drive by 'Coalition of Freedom' mechanised units, reinforced with armor. Advance elements of Freedom Army A reach Dandong Langtou Airport before being turned back by resilient Chinese defence.
8 NATO STRIKETEAM FLEET launches a Tomahawk missile attack against the Russian Baltic Fleet Headquarters at Kaliningrad, destroying naval base infrastructure and severely damaging three Russian corvettes and two Russian destroyers. The attack is preceded by an airstrike from six USAF B-1 Lancer strategic bombers each armed with twenty-four LRASM's.
8 NATO Group Army B drives north east towards Minsk, Belarus, and encounters a Belarusian army at Baranovichi. The Belarusian force is a B-Class army equipped with T-72 tanks and BMP-2 Infantry Fighting Vehicles. The Belarusian army is also equipped with a brigade of OTR-21 Tochka Soviet-era tactical ballistic missiles consisting of eighteen launchers.
AUGUST 18
8 The Battle of Baranovichi, Belarus, begins with Allied A-10 Warthogs attacking Belarusian army positions, targeting their OTR-21 Tochka Brigade. Several A-10's are lost to surface-to-air missiles during the raid. NATO Group Army B attempts to outflank the enemy force with a flying column of American Strykers, but the manoeuvre is thwarted by a reserve unit of Belarusian T-72 tanks which intercept the attack and drive the Americans back.
8 Advance elements from Freedom Army A fighting in China seize Dandong Langtou Airport and hold the facility throughout the day despite concerted Chinese counter attacks. The capture of the airport is seen as a significant blow to Chinese efforts to hold the city.
8 An American Company of Stryker ICV's, scouting the 'Kaliningrad-Lithuania Line', encounters an armored column of enemy tanks and APC's driving south west towards the village of Dziemianowka in an effort to encircle Allied Battalions closer to the border. The Strykers blunt the Russian advance until a reserve unit of Abrams tanks arrive to reinforce their position.
8 Freedom Army B, advancing on the city of Tonghua, China, comes under attack from Chinese Xi'an JH-7 fighter bomber aircraft that manage to destroy a column of APC's before Coalition fighters covering the advance can intercept the strike. Over three hundred soldiers in the multinational force are killed or injured. The Chinese pay dearly for their audacious raid; six of the eight aircraft involved in the attack are shot down by Allied F-16's and mobile SAM launchers.
AUGUST 19
8 At dawn an Allied amphibious invasion force lands on the beaches of western Latvia between the Jurkalne Bluffs and the beaches at Ventspils from staging posts on Gotland Island and southern Sweden. The invasion is supported by the ships of NATO STRIKETEAM FLEET. Dubbed as a 21st century D-Day landing, Allied troops led by US 8th Marines and British Commandos storm ashore, catching the Russian units defending the western coastline sector of occupied Latvia by complete surprise. Within twelve hours the Allies have established significant beachheads at four separate locations. American 82nd Airborne paratroopers land inland from the invasion beaches, around the township of Kuldiga.
8 In Washington, America, a crowd estimated at almost half a million marches through the streets of the nation's capital carrying signs in support of the US military. The peaceful 'Support our Soldiers' march was organised by a military veterans group to illustrate the nation's solidarity with the government's fight against Russia and China.
Several prominent political figures address the marchers, including the US Secretary of State.
8 China's military inexperience, indiscipline and fragile morale begins to tell on the bomb-ravaged streets of Dandong, China. Forced to fight a rigid inflexible defensive action under tight command and control, the Chinese troops on the ground prove no match for the combat-seasoned Americans that make up the majority of Freedom Army A. Driving towards the heart of the city, the American-led spearhead of tanks and fighting troops brush the beleaguered Chinese aside, seizing the waterfront Dengtashan Park precinct. Chinese command orders a counter-attack but the demoralised troops are easy prey for the Americans and are quickly routed.
Seizing on their advantage and the momentum of battle, the Allies reinforce their position and hold their ground throughout the night under artillery and mortar attack.
8 Allied units from NATO Group Army B push into the outskirts of Baranovichi, Belarus, but sustain heavy casualties. The battle becomes a street fight and the Italian infantry at the forefront of the attack are in danger of being isolated and slaughtered. American troops in Bradley Fighting Vehicles dash into the fray and affect a brave rescue before Belarusian soldiers can encircle the Italians.
AUGUST 20
8 A combined force of British and Spanish units from NATO Group Army B launch a diversionary attack at the Battle of Baranovichi, Belarus, assaulting the southern suburbs of the city. Once the enemy are engaged, American tanks supported by infantry and attack helicopters punch through the Belarusian west flank, seizing several key areas of the city and threatening the enemy's line of retreat to Minsk. The Belarusian army disengages and falls back to the northern suburbs of the city.
8 Outdated Chinese Chengdu J-7 fighter bombers fly bombing missions over Dandong on the banks of the Yalu River, attempting to halt the advance of Freedom Army A. The Coalition army is on the brink of seizing the city after almost three weeks of fighting. The Chinese fighter bombers are shot down by American mobile surface-to-air missiles.
8 Troops from the 82nd Airborne continue to meet Russian resistance at the town of Kuldiga, Latvia. Fierce fighting continues throughout the day before the Americans are able to overcome the Russian troops stationed in the town. The 82nd Airborne are ordered to hold the town until the invasion force landed at Jurkalne Bluffs can rendezvous.
The NATO invasion force landed on the beaches at Ventspils meets heavy resistance with several amphibious craft lost to Russian missile and artillery fire during the initial assault.
American destroyers from NATO STRIKETEAM FLEET, standing off the coast of Latvia, support the consolidation of the Ventspils beachhead with Tomahawk missile launches against identified inland targets.
8 Torrential rain across the Chinese battlefront forces the advancing column of Freedom Army B to halt its march towards Tonghua city for twenty-four frustrating hours.
AUGUST 21
8 The units comprising NATO Group Army B launch a final push against the remnants of the Belarusian army still clinging to the northern suburbs of Baranovichi. After two hours of vicious street fighting the Axis troops are driven from their defensive positions and retreat north towards Minsk. A heroic rear-guard action by the Belarusians prevents the American Cavalry units attached to The NATO army from turning the retreat into a complete rout.
8 'Coalition of Freedom' Command declares that Allied air forces now have air superiority over the Dandong city battlefield where Freedom Army A has secured the eastern suburbs of the city and are driving west towards Dandong's port facilities. Chinese troops still fighting in the western districts of Dandong come under a barrage of artillery fire from Allied artillery on the south bank of the Yalu River, clearing the way for the Coalition's final push to secure the city.
8 Canadian and Italian infantry are landed on the beaches at Jurkalne Bluffs, Latvia, to reinforce the Allied invasion.
Two Russian Kilo-class submarines are sunk after being attacked by American destroyers stationed off the Latvian coast to protect the Allied invasion beachheads.
8 A convoy of six trucks carrying aid workers and medical staff from the International Red Cross is struck by Russian field artillery on the west bank of the Dnieper River, Ukraine. Twenty-one people are killed and nineteen aid workers injured. Russian authorities deny responsibility for the attack.
AUGUST 22
8 Allied invasion troops break out from the beachhead at Ventspils and drive inland towards the settlement of Pope where they meet stiff Russian resistance. British reserves landed on the beach try to exploit a gap in the enemy's lines to the north of the town but the Russians anticipate the encircling manoeuvre and rush reserves forward to fill the gap. After a bloody fight where several Allied APC's are lost, the British are forced to withdraw during the night.
8 Freedom Army A captures critical port facilities at Dandong, China. The remaining Chinese troops within the city begin to surrender to Allied forces.
8 China's military command decides belatedly to send a relief column south from Shenyang to Dandong to secure the port city before it is overrun and fortified by 'Coalition of Freedom' forces. Beneath a swarm of jet fighter support, the column of T-99 tanks, APC's and almost eighty thousand troops begin to wind their way towards the North Korean border city.
8 Freedom Army B encounters two Battalions of motorised Chinese infantry straddling the highways fifteen kilometres south of Tonghua city, China. The Chinese are dug in on either side of the road. American Stryker ICV's, supported by two Battalions of ground troops are sent forward to clear the way north. For several hours the Chinese fight stubbornly. Coalition A-10 Warthogs are called in from their bases in North Korea to turn the tide of the battle. After another full day of difficult close-quarters fighting in rugged terrain, the Chinese are finally thrown back from their positions and overrun.
AUGUST 23
8 Russian troops massed around the town of Talsi, Latvia, advance west to confront the Allied invasion force driving east from Ventspils towards Riga. Elements of the Russian 6th Combined Arms Army are at the forefront of the attack. They engage Allied scout units east of the town of Pope and crush the Allied advance force in a swift, brutal fight.
8 An American E-8 Joint STARS battle management aircraft detects a vast Chinese army of vehicles, troops and tanks approaching Dandong from Shenyang in the north. The E-8 alerts Coalition command which vectors F-16 fighter jets, AC-130 gunships, and A-10 Warthogs to the target.
In the air above the Chinese Army, the American and ROK F-16's are matched by Chinese Shenyang J-16 air superiority fighters. Two AC-130 gunships and six A-10 Warthogs are shot down by Chinese SAMs. The Chinese lose forty three trucks and APC's, and eleven T-99 MBT's in the savage air attack.
8 After an arduous advance, Freedom Army B arrives on the southern outskirts of Tonghua, China, and immediately begins battering the enemy-held city with field artillery.
8 Allied invasion troops off the beaches at Jurkalne Bluffs, Latvia, finally fight their way west to link up with the elements of the 82nd Airborne holding the town of Kuldiga. The 82nd Airborne have been holding the town against fierce Russian attacks for four days.
AUGUST 24
8 The Battle of Pope, Latvia, takes place between the Allied invasion force and elements of the Russian 6th Combined Arms Army. The Allies are aided by sea-based air support and Tomahawk missile attacks from the ships of NATO STRIKETEAM FLEET, lying off the Latvian coast. The Russians call on air support from airbases around occupied Riga.
During the first day of fighting the town of Pope is destroyed in the conflict, but neither side gains a significant tactical advantage. Several aircraft and helicopters from both sides are shot down.
8 The battle-ravaged remains of the Chinese Army sent south from Shenyang reaches the city of Dandong and pushes through the outskirts of the city, initially brushing aside occupying units from Freedom Army A. However once the Chinese force reaches the inner suburbs of Dandong, the American-led Allies close the outer arms of their snare, encircling the Chinese and crushing them in a series of armor and infantry attacks. The surviving Chinese, demoralised and outmanoeuvred, surrender.
8 'Coalition of Freedom' fighter bombers fly over two hundred bombing sorties over the city of Tonghua, China, devastating infrastructure and destroying key defensive positions. US spy satellite imagery shows the Chinese have blown up the bridges across the Hun River which winds through the heart of the city.
8 After holding their defensive position for two weeks without contacting an enemy flanking force, Freedom Army C, positioned around several key road junctions astride the settlement of Fusongzhen, China, begins preparations to move north towards the city of Liaoyuan.
AUGUST 25
8 Russian T-90 tanks break through the southern flank of the Allied invasion force at Pope, Latvia, and are only repulsed after a reserve force of British Challenger 2 tanks, fresh from the beachhead, are thrown into the Allied line.
8 American spy satellites over mainland China reveal the enemy massing tanks and APC's around the city of Changchun, three hundred kilometres north east of Shenyang.
8 Massed artillery, rockets and air strikes against the Chinese troops defending the city of Tonghua continue into the third consecutive day. Concentrating on the northern bank of the Hun River, Coalition command focuses its firepower on pounding enemy positions in the Dongchang District of the city.
AUGUST 26
8 The Battle of Minsk, Belarus, begins with NATO Group Army B massing beyond the city's outskirts and commencing a series of artillery, missile and air attacks on infrastructure and enemy military positions. Tens of thousands of local citizens evacuate the city, streaming east towards the Russian border and clogging main arterial roads for miles.
8 With the city of Dandong, China, occupied by Freedom Army A, Coalition engineers send for more permanent military bridging materials to construct additional bridges across the Yalu, allowing for reserve units to smoothly transit into China.
8 Freedom Army B launches its first concentrated attack against the Chinese troops defending the city of Tonghua. Led by armor and APC's, the spearhead reaches the banks of the Hun River before fierce Chinese resistance pushes Coalition troops back. Over a dozen APC's are destroyed by Chinese anti-tank missiles in the first few hours of fighting.
8 The Allied invasion force fighting at Pope, Latvia, is pushed back two kilometres by a massive Russian assault, led by T-72 tanks and BMP's. The Allies are forced to abandon their hold on the town's ruins and fall back to high ground west of the settlement. Naval support from NATO STRIKETEAM FLEET helps staunch the damage as the Russians continue to press the disorganised Allies through the night.
AUGUST 27
8 A French Air Force attack on Belarusian positions around Minsk, Belarus, by Dassault Rafale multirole fighters ends in disaster after eight of the attacking aircraft are shot down by a Belarusian Army SA-21 Growler SAM system.
8 American B-52 bombers, flying from bases in South Korea, begin bombing missions over Shenyang, China. The bombers are escorted by American and ROK F-16 Vipers. Chinese Shenyang J-11 fighters from the Chinese 1st Fighter Division, flying from Anshan Air Base, attempt to intercept the American bombers. In the ensuing air battle six J-11'a are shot down in exchange for two F-16 Vipers. A B-52 bomber is also lost during the tense duel.
8 SACEUR visits the battlefront west of Pope, Latvia, where the Allied invasion has been halted by fierce resistance from elements of the Russian 6th Combined Arms Army.
Allied reinforcements are still landing on the beaches at Ventspils and being rushed to the front.
The Russians attack the Allied positions throughout the morning but are unable to make headway. Allied artillery and ground-attack aircraft concentrate on the centre of the Russian line, causing considerable damage.
8 For the second consecutive day, the Coalition forces of Freedom Army B launch a series of attacks against the Chinese units defending the city of Tonghua, China. After being repulsed several times, the Hun River is bridged to the south west of the city by army engineers. Several Battalions of mechanised infantry successfully cross to the north bank. Faced with the threat of encirclement, the Chinese troops initiate an attack to destroy the bridge but are driven back. By nightfall the Coalition army has secured the bridgehead.
AUGUST 28
8 An Air strike by F-16’s carrying MK-84 bombs manages to neutralise the Belarusian SA-21 SAM system defending the Belarusian Army around Minsk, but four of the Vipers are destroyed during the dawn raid.
An hour after the successful air attack, American B-52 bombers pound the enemy army’s positions, supported by land-based Allied artillery.
8 Four US B-2 Stealth bombers take off from Andersen Air Base, Guam, to fly a bombing raid against Anshan Air Base, Liaoning Province, in northeast China. The air base is headquarters to a Division of Chinese fighter jets. The B-2 stealth bombers complete the sortie, destroying over twenty Chinese fighters on the ground, and badly damaging the runway.
8 Following a dawn air attack over the town of Pope, Latvia, the Allied invasion force counter-attacks against the Russian 6th Combined Arms Army. The Allied assault concentrates on the northern flank of the Russian line, forcing the enemy to withdraw east of Pope. Allied Cavalry race forward to re-secure the bomb-damaged town.
8 Led by a Battalion of Japanese Type 90 tanks, supported by mechanised infantry, the vanguard of Freedom Army B launches a sustained attack into the heart of Tonghua city, China. The Chinese troops defending the bomb-devastated urban environment are forced back and finally begin to withdraw on roads to the north.
Once in retreat, the Chinese troops are attacked by A-10 ground attack aircraft lurking over the battlefront in support of the Coalition troops.
AUGUST 29
8 NATO Group Army B launches an armored attack on the outskirts of Minsk, Belarus. The drive into the city’s heart is lead by American Abrams and British Challenger 2 tanks, supported by motorised infantry. The attack breaks into the Maskouski administrative District but is stopped 3km’s short of Victory Square by determined enemy defence, supported by a citizen’s militia armed with RPG’s. Unable to make further headway, the allied troops fortify their positions and hold out through the night against repeated enemy attacks.
8 Two ROK F-16 Vipers are shot down by Chinese surface-to-air missiles over rugged terrain south east of Shenyang, China. One pilot ejects and is captured by Chinese troops. The Vipers were flying support missions for the advancing Freedom Army A when the incident occurred.
8 Russian reserves despatched from Riga, Latvia, push west to support the 6th Combined Arms Army defending against the Allied invasion around the town of Pope. Fresh Allied troops arrive on the beaches at Ventspils and are rushed to the battlefront. The Latvian front is quickly becoming the focus of the fight for Europe as the Allies northern Baltic invasion threatens to stall.
8 A truck loaded packed with explosives is detonated on the streets of Berlin. After crashing through an armed barricade, the vehicle explodes at the foot of the Brandenburg Gate, severely damaging the historic landmark. 32 people are killed in the explosion and over 100 bystanders injured.
AUGUST 30
8 At dawn, Belarusian troops launch a fierce counter attack against the American and British units of NATO Group Army B clinging desperately to their positions in the south west of Minsk. However the Allies repulse repeated attacks throughout the morning before a reinforcement column breaks into the city to shore up the Allied position and then seizes the district around Victory Square.
8 Freedom Army A advances north along Highway G304 from Dandong city, China, towards the city of Shenyang. Scouting ahead of the main army under swarming Coalition fighter cover, two Battalions of US Cavalry encounter advance elements of Chinese infantry contesting crossroads and small towns along the route. The Chinese troops withdraw quickly when confronted by the American Stryker ICV’s.
8 Having overrun Tonghua city, China, Freedom Army B turns west and drives quickly towards the city of Shenyang, looking to link up with Freedom Army A in preparation for a combined attack.
8 The Russian 6th Combined Arms Army falls back on the town of Ugale, Latvia, and digs in to defend the crossroads from the Allied invasion force driving inland from Ventspils. Frustrated by the stalled attack, SACEUR personally authorises increased air missions from Allied fighters and bombers in northern Europe to break the deadlock.
AUGUST 31
8 Unverified media reports from journalists embedded with NATO Group Army B suggest that a full Battalion of Belarusian troops defending Minsk deserted during the night and have fled the city. The reports follow another day of savage fighting across the Belarusian capital and another B-52 bombing raid in the north west of the city around the Belarusian State Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War.
8 Flying their second long-range sortie within a matter of days, four US B-2 Stealth bombers take off from Andersen Air Base, Guam, to fly a bombing raid targeting four major airfields and military air bases surrounding the city of Shenyang in north east China. The B-2 Stealth bombers complete the sortie, destroying hardened hangars at two of the air bases and severely damaging the runways at two others.
8 Following a massive bombing raid by Allied aircraft targeting the Russian-held town of Ugale, Latvia, Allied tanks and APC's advance on the township, initially meeting only slight resistance. However once the spearhead reaches the heart of the settlement, they are ambushed from all sides by entrenched Russian troops and flung back in disarray.
SEPTEMBER 1
8 After several days of fighting and heavy casualties on both sides, the Battle of Minsk results in an Allied victory, with Axis units pushed out of the Belarusian capital after Abrams tanks finally crash through the enemy's defences. Thousands of Belarusian soldiers surrender in the aftermath of the battle. The Belarusian Government flees to Russia.
8 A concerted and coordinated attack led by American Abrams tanks against the township of Ugale, Latvia, severs the Russian lines and forces the enemy to hastily retreat east before they can be encircled. American Cavalry surges through the breach in the Russian defences, but a heroic rear-guard action saves the Axis army and allows units to withdraw in good order.
8 Freedom Army A reaches the city of Benxi, China, approximately twenty kilometres south of Shenyang where it is confronted by Chinese troops, artillery and APC's dug-in and defending the city's southern perimeter.
Freedom Army B arrives on the outskirts of Fushun, approximately twenty kilometres east of Shenyang and prepares to confront a Chinese force defending that city.
Caught between two advancing Coalition armies, the inhabitants of Shenyang begin evacuating the city as Chinese troops rush to finish defensive preparations.
8 A British woman - the daughter of Russian immigrants - is jailed in England for ten years for offences under the Official Secrets Act and the Defence regulations. The judge in the case pronounced sentence after the woman attempted to pass military secrets to a Russian Government operative at Victoria Train Station.
SEPTEMBER 2
8 With the fall of Minsk to NATO, Russian Military Command realises the looming danger to their Baltic Occupation forces. With the road between Minsk and Vilnius open, the entire south eastern flank of the occupation force is dangerously exposed. Pressed from the Polish border, and facing an expanding invasion force in Latvia to the north, Russia cannot afford to have its southern flank cruelly exposed. The Russians release ten B-Class divisions of troops and armor, and rush them to the Belarusian border to attack the NATO Group B Army’s flank.
8 Artillery supporting Freedom Army B outside the city of Fushun, China, opens fire on the city’s outskirts, targeting the Shijia and Hebei Districts on the northern banks of the Hunhe River, while the multi-national force masses armor and APC’s on the two major roadways that connect the city with Shenyang.
8 Operating from the Yellow Sea, two American Virginia-class submarines fire Tomahawk missiles at military installations on the southern outskirts of Shenyang city. The USS Washington (SSN-787) and USS South Dakota (SSN-790) fire a total of sixteen Tomahawks.
8 The Russian Army in Latvia falls back further to the east and establishes a new line, linking the town of Talsi in the north to the town of Stende in the south, straddling the E22 highway. Troops thrown back from Kuldiga in the south rally around the settlements of Vane and Sabile, creating a thirty km wide front connecting the four settlements.
SEPTEMBER 3
8 NATO’s Group Army B, positioned on the road north of Minsk, comes under intensive air attack from Russian Su-25 ground attack aircraft and two squadrons of Tu-22M bombers operating from Shaykovka airbase southwest of Moscow. Several Russian aircraft are shot down by NATO SAM systems, but the Russians inflict significant damage during the attacks.
8 Seeking to bypass the residential districts of Fushun, China, an armored column at the head of Freedom Army B drives west along the Shenyang-Jilin Expressway but crashes into fierce resistance from Chinese Type 96 tanks. The Coalition advance stalls and is then driven back. The Chinese unleash Type 81 self-propelled 122mm multiple rocket launchers and the Coalition assault crumbles.
Freedom Army B commanders call for air support to attack enemy artillery positions. Two A-10 Warthogs are shot down by Chinese SAMs while pressing home strikes against entrenched Chinese artillery emplacements.
8 Behind a day-long barrage of artillery and sustained air strikes against enemy military targets, Freedom Army A advances on the city of Benxi, China. Lead by an armored column of Abrams tanks, and supported by motorized infantry, the American-led force makes early progress, pushing through the Chinese perimeter defences before fighting becomes stalled around Hongqicun. The Chinese counter-attack, driving the Americans back to the city outskirts, destroying several tanks and APC’s with RPG’s.
8 Two Chinese Shenyang J-11 fighters collide in the skies north of Changchun. It is believed the fighters collided shortly after taking off for a mission against the 'Coalition of Freedom' forces that are gravitating around the city of Shenyang. Both aircraft were destroyed in the incident and both pilots were killed.
SEPTEMBER 4
8 The Allied invasion force at Ugale, Latvia, advances east towards the Russian Talsi-Vane defensive line. The NATO troops are joined by the invasion force from the beaches at Jurkalne Bluffs that seized and liberated the town of Kuldiga to the south several days earlier with the 82nd Airborne.
With two NATO armies converging on their position, the Russian Supreme Commander in the Baltics flies to the front to personally oversee the defence of western Latvia.
8 A force of American motorised infantry circles west of the city of Benxi, China, and then launches a flanking attack against the enemy troops defending against Freedom Army A. The flank assault crashes in to the Chinese. The Americans seize an important crossroads, threatening to cut off the Chinese line of retreat to Shenyang. The Chinese troops are forced to fall back, sustaining catastrophic casualties as they abandon the defence of the city.
8 Freedom Army B advances three Battalions of infantry into the outskirts of Fushun, China. The ground force succeeds in establishing a foothold beyond the Chinese defensive perimeter under the cover of heavy artillery support. Working forward cautiously with APC’s in close support, the infantry drives west as far as Gao’ershan Park. Reserve units are quickly rushed into the battle to consolidate the Coalition position.
SEPTEMBER 5
8 The Second Battle of Minsk, Belarus, begins with NATO’s Group Army B falling back and fortifying the capital against the Russian-led Army approaching the capital from the east. Russian artillery and ground attack aircraft pound the city and the Allied defences.
8 The Russian President signs the ‘Patriotic Fatherland’ decree that instantly doubles the length of the country’s ‘universal military obligation’ from twelve months to two years. In effect, the Presidential decree immediately alters the mandatory 12-month military draft of all male citizens aged between 18-27 to a compulsory twenty-four month period.
The move is met with widespread left-wing demonstrations on the streets of Moscow, lead by opposition activists.Russian troops break up the protests with tear gas and water cannons. Six protestors are shot and killed in the day-long rioting.
8 The Battle for Fushun, China, becomes a desperate street fight as Freedom Army B units battle door-to-door and from street-to-street to drive the Chinese defenders west. Three more Coalition MBT’s are destroyed by Chinese RPG’s in the close confines of the urban environment. The Coalition Army presses the Chinese back to the Wanghua District and the Chinese begin to fall back under intense pressure across the Heping Bridge. American A-10 Warthogs are called in by Coalition command to attack the bridge and thus trap the retreating enemy on the northern bank of the Hunhe River. The Chinese withdrawal becomes a panic-stricken retreat. Coalition forces swarm forward and seize the city.
SEPTEMBER 6
8 The Second Battle of Minsk, Belarus, continues with troops from NATO's Group Army B defending the eastern outskirts of Minsk. Within the city's perimeter several Allied military targets are attacked by pro-Russian insurgents, leading to the destruction of key bridges and power grids.
8 The Battle of Talsi-Vane, Latvia, begins with Allied units in the south attacking Russian positions across a five kilometre front. Led by elements of the American 82nd Airborne, supported by British Challenger 2 tanks, the attack meets with early success. Across two kilometres the Russian line is forced back. Allied ground-attack A-10 Warthogs join the battle. The Russians rush a reserve of T-90's to the front and stem the Allied advance. After a full day of fighting - with heavy casualties on both sides - the Russian line remains intact.
8 Freedom Army B troops are forced to spend twenty-four hours mopping up pockets of Chinese resistance in Fushun, China, after seizing the city the day before in a sustained phase of heavy combat. Six thousand Chinese troops surrender to Coalition forces. A small knot of defiant Chinese troops retreat to the Zhonghua Buddhist Temple in the Wanghua District and hold out against Coalition troops until the site is targeted by mortar fire. Every Chinese soldier defending the temple is killed.
SEPTEMBER 7
8 The Russian-led Army surrounding the Belarusian capital of Minsk launches a wave of armored attacks against the NATO Group Army B units defending the perimeter. Cut off from NATO reinforcements, the allied troops are assaulted from the east and south by simultaneous attacks. The southern assault is driven off by resolute defence, but the Russian troops attacking from the east manage to break through the NATO perimeter and seize the eastern suburbs of Partyzanski Rajon District, holding their gained ground against repeated NATO counter attacks throughout the day.
8 An Allied field hospital several miles behind the Talsi-Vale line, Latvia, is targeted by long-range Russian artillery. The medical station on the outskirts of a small Latvian village takes several direct hits. One hundred and sixty Allied soldiers and medical staff are killed or injured.
8 Freedom Army A and Freedom Army B join forces on the outskirts of Shenyang, encircling the city from the south and the east. Coalition Command orders strike aircraft and artillery attacks to commence, targeting the Chinese Army’s perimeter defences.
SEPTEMBER 8
8 Allied fighter bombers and ground attack aircraft called in to support NATO Group Army B surrounded and defending Minsk, Belarus, fly a series of attack missions against Russian positions in the east of the capital. Six Allied aircraft are shot down in the day-long mission that is supported by a second wave of NATO counter attacks. As dusk falls, the eastern outskirts of the city are reclaimed by NATO troops, forcing the Russians back to their pre-attack positions.
8 The Russian 6th Combined Arms Army launches a massive counter-attack along the Talsi-Vane line in Latvia, targeting the centre of the Allied force which is drawn across several miles of dense forest. It is also where, because of the difficult terrain, the line is thinnest.
At dawn The Russians launch twin attacks. One force drives at the northern end of the line, through the outskirts of Talsi, aiming to push all the way to Ugale and re-capture the town. The main force attacks through the dense forested area between Stende and Sabile, driving for Lake Usma. The massive joint attacks are designed to split the combined Allied army into pieces and drive them all the way back to the west coast of Latvia.
On the first day the Northern Assault crashes through the tip of the Allied line and advances three km west. The Central Assault smashes through the dense forests and punches a hole in the Allied lines, advancing six km west through a narrow corridor.
8 Recently arrived NATO troops to Germany are routed south through Poland to reinforce NATO Group Army B, currently fighting in Belarus.
SEPTEMBER 9
8 NATO units defending Minsk, Belarus, launch a surprise night attack against the besieging Russian-led troops to their south, crushing the enemy armor and driving the Axis troops south east in disarray. Belatedly, Russian reserves arrive to halt the rout.
8 The Russian breakout attack along the Talsi-Vane line in Latvia gains momentum. Lead by T-72 tanks and APC’s, the Northern Assault pushes further west, meeting disorganised Allied resistance, mainly from British and Italian troops unsupported by armor.
The Central Assault widens and moves north and south of the tiny rural settlement of Vegi, with advance scouting elements as far west as Kalesi. The Allies are thrown back in disarray while NATO command tries to muster reserves to blunt the counter-offensive, hampered by the difficult forested terrain.
8 An American citizen is seized on the streets of Beijing and arrested for spying. The man – a former US diplomat and freelance correspondent – is accused of working covertly for the US Government.
8 Two western journalists are killed during heavy fighting near the Suwalki Gap, Poland. The journalists were British citizens. Both were newspaper columnists embedded with Allied infantry units. They were killed during a Russian artillery barrage on the outskirts of Sejny.
SEPTEMBER 10
8 Russian-led units besieging Minsk, Belarus, launch an all-out attack against NATO Group Army B defenders protecting the city’s perimeter. After an intense artillery bombardment, the Russian’s advance with armor and BMP’s against the city’s eastern defences. Initially the attack meets with great success; the Russians advance almost to the heart of the city before Allied ground-attack aircraft and a column of Allied armor drive the attackers back.
The Russians fall back, fighting in retreat. NATO reserve armor units join the fray and drive the Russians beyond the city’s outskirts.
The retreat becomes a rout. Allied Cavalry units dash into the disorganised Russian units and splinter them apart.
8 Coalition of Freedom forces massed around the outskirts of Shenyang, China, bombard the city with artillery and air strikes for the fourth successive day causing serious damage to several identified SAM sites around the city.
8 The American units defending the settlement of Vegi, Latvia, are completely surrounded by the Russian attack that broke through the Talsi-Vane line on September 8. Fierce fighting breaks out in rugged forested terrain as the Americans fight to hold out against overwhelming numbers.
SEPTEMBER 11
8 The Allied troops from NATO Group Army B defending Minsk, Belarus, launch a determined surprise attack against the remnants of the Russian-led army that has broken itself against the city’s defences for seven-straight days. The demoralised Russian units shatter under the pressure of the attack and the Axis army crumbles, breaking the siege. Thousands of Axis troops surrender.
8 NATO Command rushes a reserve force of Abrams tanks and motorized infantry, fresh off the beaches at Jurkalne, east to blunt the Russian Central Attack that has enveloped the settlement of Vegi. The desperate effort to contain the ‘bulge’ of the enemy’s breakout is a last ditch attempt to prevent the collapse of the Allied invasion into Russian-occupied Latvia.
The Russian Northern Assault at pushes another 2km west before finally meeting British Challenger 2 tanks and a Battalion of German armor. After a brutal battle around the western outskirts of Pastende, the Northern Russian advance is finally halted and held.
8 Due to heightened security concerns, the American 9/11 Memorial and Museum cancels its annual commemoration ceremony remembering the attacks on the World Trade Center.
SEPTEMBER 12
8 NATO Group Army B is reinforced by units routed through southern Poland to replace losses suffered during the Belarusian campaign.
8 The American column of Abrams and APC's fresh off the invasion beaches at Jurkalne finally drives through dense forest to reach the surrounded settlement of Vegi, Latvia. A savage fight breaks out between forces of the Russian Central Assault and Allied troops. The village is still held by American soldiers, even though completely surrounded and under constant attack. The relief column crashes through the advance enemy elements west of the town and reaches the beleaguered defenders at dusk.
8 The Egyptian Foreign Minister proposes a peace plan to bring a halt to the war in Asia and calls for Chinese and American diplomats to meet urgently in Cairo. China refuses the invitation.
SEPTEMBER 13
8 A Panamanian-registered oil tanker is attacked by a Russian fighter jet in the Mediterranean Sea. The vessel was carrying 270,000 tonnes of crude oil when an explosion sparked a massive fire. The crew of 23 consisting of five Greeks and 17 Filipinos were airlifted off the ship by a French military helicopter.
8 The Russian Central Assault force around the settlement of Vegi, Latvia, launches a second counter-offensive in a last-ditch effort to win the village and continue their drive west to Lake Usma. The last of the Allied reserves in theatre have been committed. The battle begins at dawn and lasts all day. At sunset, the Russians are thrown back, their assault broken, their troops in retreat, marking one of the most notable and heroic American victories of the War.
Further north, the Russian Northern Assault Force around Pastende is compelled to withdraw under heavy ground attack by Allied strike aircraft and stubborn resistance by British and German troops.
The last Russian attempt to break the Allied invasion force driving towards Riga ends in defeat.
8 British, French, German and Spanish foreign diplomats meet in secret in Paris to discuss the progress of the war in Europe. After the meeting a joint statement declaring unwavering support for NATO is sent to worldwide media outlets.
SEPTEMBER 14
8 In a last futile effort to break the Allied invasion line advancing on Riga, Latvia, elements of the Russian 6th Combined Arms Army along the Talsi-Vane Line launch a surprise second offensive through Vane in the south, hoping to outflank the Allied force. American and French armor defending the settlement repulse the attack following eight hours of savage fighting.
8 American infantry forces a break in the Chinese lines on the western outskirts of Shenyang. The attack, supported by APC’s, drives through a breach created by sustained Coalition artillery fire. Two full Battalions of American troops surge through the opening but they are met by Chinese forces defending a residential district of the city. For six hours the Americans fight to consolidate their position until Chinese reserves and armor arrive to push the Americans back.
8 An American Black Hawk helicopter carrying a squad of US infantry crashes in northern Poland, killing the flight crew and all the troops on board. A NATO spokesperson said the helicopter crashed into a densely forested region of the country during heavy weather.
SEPTEMBER 15
8 NATO Group Army B advances north west on the road from Minsk towards the Belarusian-Lithuanian border. The tactical manoeuvre is a direct threat to Russian troops defending the Baltic States and the Suwalki Gap.
8 Fierce fighting breaks out along the ‘Kaliningrad–Lithuania Line’ along the border of Poland and Kaliningrad as NATO troops probe Russian defences.
8 Fighting continues in Latvia along the Talsi-Vane line while Russian command tries to syphon conscripted reserves into the region to bolster the defences. Three B-Class Light Infantry Divisions are transported from Western Russian border regions by trucks and transport aircraft into Latvia. Some of the transport vehicles are attacked by Allied aircraft causing delays and casualties.
SEPTEMBER 16
8 Russian bombers, flying from Dyagilevo Air Base in Ryazan southeast of Moscow, attack NATO Group Army B as the Allied force advances towards the Lithuanian border. The bombers are escorted by MiG-29 fighters. The Russian fighters are intercepted by Polish Air Force MiG-29’s and F-16’s. In the ensuing melee, five Russian fighters and three bombers are shot down for the loss of three Polish MiG’s. The Russians carry through with the bombing raid, causing severe damage to a column of Canadian Textron TAPV armored cars from the 2nd Canadian Division who had recently arrived to reinforce the NATO Army.
8 A Polish MiG-29 is accidentally shot down in a ‘blue on blue’ incident north of Bialystok, Poland. The aircraft was returning from a mission over the Baltic when it was mistaken for a Russian fighter and was shot down by a ground-to-air missile.
8 'Coalition of Freedom' forces engaged at Shenyang, China, hammer the central districts of the city with a concentrated artillery bombardment that lasts throughout the day, devastating several city blocks and destroying the Mukden Palace, an elaborate ancient complex that dates back to the 16th century.
8 NATO Command claims air superiority over the Baltics. Flying fighters and multirole jets from re-captured bases in Poland and from Sweden, the Allies have at last achieved critical air superiority in theatre.
SEPTEMBER 17
8 Pro-Russian Lithuanians appear on Russian TV vowing their loyalty to Russia and their desire to, once again, be part of the Russian Republic. They plead with the western world to withdraw their armies from the borders of Poland and Belarus and allow the people of the Baltics to determine their own future.
The Russian President appears on Russian National Television quoting the results of a 'survey-election' claiming that 71% of people living in the Baltics support the Russian occupation.
The western media reports the President's televised comments, but portrays them as poorly-executed Russian Government propaganda.
8 Russian submarines operating in the North Sea sink a convoy of four freighter and cargo vessels. Three of the ships are struck by torpedoes and sink quickly. The fourth ship - a Danish-flagged container vessel - is struck by a torpedo to her bow, but remains afloat long enough for the crew to abandon the ship before it sinks. Allied Command authorities believe up to eight Russian submarines might be operating in the North Sea.
8 NATO bombers and multi-role fighters launch the first daylight bombing attacks on Riga, Latvia, targeting Russian military installations and critical infrastructure. Allied fighters report casualties, including three American F-16's which were shot down by a Russian SAM set outside the capital.
8 An American AC-130 gunship operating along the 'Kaliningrad-Lithuania Line' is shot down by a Russian infrared surface-to-air missile. Twelve crew members are killed.
SEPTEMBER 18
8 NATO Group Army B advances to within forty kilometres of the Belarus-Lithuania border, where it comes under Russian missile attack and air attacks from Russian fighters based in the occupied Baltics.
8 The Russian Army Supreme Commander in the Baltics makes a passionate, patriotic speech to his troops, declaring the Baltics to be Russian territory and insisting his occupying armies will not retreat in the face of Allied attacks.
8 Fighting along the Talsi-Vane line in Latvia intensifies as the Allies initiate an assault against the town of Talsi in the north. NATO troops initially breach the Russian defensive perimeter and reach the centre of the town before being thrown back by determined Russian resistance after several hours of house-to-house fighting.
SEPTEMBER 19
8 NATO troops in Latvia renew their attack against the town of Talsi, forcing the Russians defending the town to surrender their positions and fall back five miles to a line of low ridges to the east of the settlement. The assault, launched by a combined American and British force of tanks and APC’s, secures the town, threatening the rest of the Russian line. Russian Command orders a counter-offensive but poor weather and logistics issues delay the offensive.
8 A relief column of Chinese tanks and APC’s south west bound from Changchun, China, en route to support the Chinese forces surrounded at Shenyang, is destroyed by Allied air strikes and ground attack aircraft. A-10’s, AC-130 gunships, Australian F-18 Hornets and American F-15 Strike Eagles fly sorties throughout the day, devastating the Chinese column.
Two F-18’s and three F-15’s are shot down by mobile HQ-9 SAM systems protecting the column.
8 A Chinese-owned merchant ship transporting a cargo of general goods is sunk in the Yellow Sea by Virginia-class submarine USS Washington (SSN-787). The Huang-Siangho bulk freighter was tracked and hunted by the American submarine after it departed Dalian Harbor. The Chinese ship was destroyed by a single torpedo.
SEPTEMBER 20
8 Anti-Government emissaries from Russia hold secret talks with the British Prime Minister and the US Secretary of State in London, proposing western help in overthrowing the Russian President. The top-secret talks break down over the formation of a future Russian Government. The emissaries claim they represent moderate factions in Russia with political influence at the highest level.
8 A Russian counter-attack of massed armor and infantry hurls itself against the Allied reinforced bastion of Talsi, Latvia, trying to re-secure the Russian defensive line and oust the Allied troops that captured the critical town the previous day. The battle rages throughout the afternoon with the Allies calling on air support to finally blunt the Russian offensive and then turn back the attack as darkness falls.
8 An American P-8 Poseidon attacks and sinks a Chinese Type 053H3 frigate in the South China Sea, west of Hainan Island.
SEPTEMBER 21
8 NATO Group Army B and the NATO army massed along the Poland-Lithuania border merge and join for a frontal push into Lithuania from the west and the south along a four-hundred kilometre line that stretches from the south coast of Kaliningrad near the town of Mamonovo, all the way to Medininkai on the Belarus-Lithuania border.
NATO's strategy is to pin down the occupying Russian forces while in Latvia, to the north, the Allied invasion army continues its drive towards the capital of Riga. Ultimately NATO seeks to create a pincer that will force the Russians to abandon the Baltics.
8 The Russians assembled along the Talsi-Vane line in Latvia gather themselves for a final desperate push to recapture the town of Talsi from the Allies before the Russian defensive line protecting Riga collapses. Lead by T-72 tanks and supported by waves of BMP troop carriers, the Russians swarm around the town, pressing the Allies on every side. As the battle ebbs and flows, the Russians begin to gain the ascendancy until a Battalion of American Abrams arrive from the west to turn the fight in favour of the Allies. For the Russians it is one of the costliest battles of the war, with thousands of soldiers and almost one hundred APC's and tanks destroyed.
SEPTEMBER 22
8 News of the Russian defeat at Talsi, Latvia, and the terrible cost of the battle appears in newspapers and on websites around the world. In Russia, the President and the Defence Minister come under intense criticism from an increasingly vocal population. The Russian Supreme Military Commander in the Baltics resigns in disgrace and is replaced.
The Russian President takes to State-run TV to make a defiant live televised speech designed to bolster support for the war effort despite recent setbacks.
8 An unseasonal cold front sweeps through Northern Europe, accompanied by torrential downpours and bitterly cold winds causing a temporary halt to the ground war and limiting air operations.
8 A Norwegian frigate runs aground at Hjeltefjorden, east of the Norwegian city of Bergen. The warship collided with a Greek-flagged tanker at night in poor weather conditions as the commercial vessel departed the Sture oil shipment terminal with a load of crude. The Norwegian frigate sustained severe damage below the waterline. Fearing the warship would sink, the commander deliberately grounded the vessel. Six Norwegian sailors were injured.
SEPTEMBER 23
8 The beleaguered remnants of the Russian 6th Combined Arms Army in Latvia abandons the Talsi-Vane line and falls back on the capital city of Riga, retreating in appalling weather conditions.
8 A US B-2 Stealth bomber crashes into the Pacific Ocean, killing all crew. The bomber took off from Andersen Air Base, Guam, with three other bombers on a mission over China. Two hours into the flight the aircraft developed severe electrical problems. The pilot aborted the sortie and turned back for Andersen Air Base, but the aircraft lost all power and crashed into the Pacific, five hundred nautical miles north west of the island.
8 Twenty-four AH-64 Apache helicopters from the 6th Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment attack retreating Russian infantry, trucks and APC's in Latvia, causing heavy damage and destroying dozens of vehicles. Two Apaches are shot down by Russian shoulder-mounted SAMs.
SEPTEMBER 24
8 American Stryker Cavalry squadrons in Latvia push east towards Riga, harassing the retreating Russian army which is withdrawing through mud and rain and wind towards the capital. Fierce localised fighting erupts as the Russian rear-guard units try to stave off the American attacks.
8 Nine Royal Air Force Tornado GR4 fighters from No. 9 Squadron take off from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus to fire Storm Shadow missiles against air bases in Syria. The Tornados are escorted by six Eurofighter Typhoon air superiority fighters from No. 6 Squadron. Satellite imagery after the strike shows all three targeted Syrian bases were successfully damaged in the British attack.
8 Twelve US F-15C Eagles fighter jets from the 493d Fighter Squadron, nicknamed the 'Grim Reapers', engage nine Russian MiG-29 fighters in the skies above the Baltic Sea. The Eagles were flying an air superiority mission from their base at RAF Lakenheath, England, when the Russian fighters attacked. Six of the Russian MiG's are shot down in the ensuing dogfight for the loss of two Eagles.
SEPTEMBER 25
8 A daring British SAS mission to capture or kill the Russian commander defending the city of Riga, Latvia, ends in disaster. The unit landed at night on the beaches outside Riga behind enemy lines. Their objective was a villa several miles inland, used by the Russian army as its headquarters. However sentries defending the headquarters raised the alarm and a firefight ensued. Most of the SAS attack team were killed in the battle. Only four men escaped back to Allied lines. Twenty Russian officers were killed by the SAS, but the city's commander evaded injury.
8 Under a heavy barrage of artillery and a wall of smoke, 'Coalition of Freedom' APC's attacking the city of Shenyang, China, initiate an assault against the Chinese units defending the southern bank of the Hunhe River.
The Chinese resist the Coalition advance from well-fortified positions and blunt the first wave of attacks with RPG's and accurate mortar fire. A second assault reaches the banks of the Hunhe before the Coalition force is compelled to withdraw after sustaining significant losses.
8 A Spanish Navy Alvaro de Bazan-class Aegis air defence frigate is sunk, and a Spanish Navy Santa Maria-class general purpose frigate crippled by a Russian Improved Kilo-class submarine in the Tyrrhenian Sea, one hundred kilometres north of Tunis, Tunisia.
The Almirante Juan de Borbon (F-102) and the Reina Sofia (F-84) were returning from station in the Mediterranean Sea when they were both attacked by the Russian submarine. The Almirante Juan de Borbon sank within minutes of being struck by two torpedoes.
SEPTEMBER 26
8 The Allied northern invasion army encircles Riga, the capital city of Latvia, besieging Russian troops. NATO command orders a series of air attacks over the city, targeting small Russian troop-transport ships anchored in Riga Free Port and SAM sites that are sprinkled across the city's outskirts.
8 'Coalition of Freedom' forces on the outskirts of Shenyang, China, pound enemy defensive positions along the south bank of the Hunhe River with concentrated artillery and mortar fire, followed by attacks from A-10 Warthogs. An attempt by the Chinese to reinforce their forward defensive positions is thwarted by Coalition artillery fire that damages two bridges across the Hunhe, prohibiting their use by Chinese MBT's.
8 A French Navy strike group of warships deploys to the North Sea to protect Allied shipping from the growing threat of Russian submarine attacks. The French force consists of the Cassard-class frigate Cassard, the Georges Leygues-class frigate Jean de Vienne, the Durance-class tanker Var and the FREMM multipurpose frigates Aquitaine, Auvergne and Languedoc.
SEPTEMBER 27
8 The NATO STRIKETEAM FLEET, comprising the Spanish Navy multi-purpose assault ship, Juan Carlos 1 (L61) and the USS Mount Whitney (LCC-20) command ship as well as several US Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and warships from Sweden, Great Britain and Germany sails north east and takes up station off Riga, Latvia, to support the Allied attack on the city.
8 The USNS Lewis and Clark (T-AKE-1), a dry cargo ship and underway replenishment vessel operated by US Military Sealift Command, is sunk in the South China Sea by a Chinese Type 035 Ming-class submarine. The American supply ship was operating in waters east of the Spratly Islands when the Chinese submarine fired two torpedoes that both hit the replenishment vessel, sinking her within minutes. A nearby fleet oiler, the USNS John Lenthall (T-AO-189) rescued the American crewmen who survived the torpedo attack.
8 A Royal Canadian Air Force Lockheed CP-140 Aurora maritime patrol craft operating from Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sicily, Italy, crashes into the Mediterranean Sea while on a routine patrol mission. Aviation authorities speculate the aircraft suffered catastrophic electrical problems.
SEPTEMBER 28
8 Russian Northern Command orders a massive air attack against the ships of NATO STRIKETEAM FLEET stationed off Riga in the Baltic Sea.
Fifty Russian Tu-22M3M 'Backfire' bombers supported by a swarm of MiG-29 fighters launch a dawn attack, designed to alleviate the pressure on the units defending Riga.
The Spanish assault ship Juan Carlos 1 (L61) is sunk in the devastating attack and the USS Mount Whitney (LCC-20) is severely damaged and left on fire. An Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and two German corvettes are also sunk.
Scrambled Polish and American F-16's engage the MiG's, shooting down eleven enemy fighters for the loss of six Polish Vipers - but are unable to prevent the deadly attack on the fleet. Four Tu-22M3M 'Backfires' are shot down by fleet warships.
8 A Brigade-strength armored column of Chinese army reinforcement troops approaching the besieged city of Shenyang, China, is savaged by 'Coalition of Freedom' air power. Led by A-10's and supported by American F-16's and Australian F-18' Hornets, the column is demolished after six aerial support Chinese MiG-29's are shot from the sky. The Americans lost two Vipers in the dogfight and ground-attack strike mission.
8 A Royal Danish Navy Thetis-class frigate operating in the Norwegian Sea is sunk by a Russian Oscar-class submarine. The Smolensk (K-410) sank the HDMS Vaedderen (F359) while the vessel was patrolling the GIUK gap. Thirty five crewmen were killed in the incident.
SEPTEMBER 29
8 Allied units surrounding Riga, Latvia, launch an attack on the resort city of Jurmala on the Gulf of Riga, just west of the capital. Vicious firefights break out amidst the wooden seaside villas and extends to the winding Lielupe River. The fighting reaches as far east as the coastal resort town of Majori where the Allied advance is finally halted by Russian troops firing anti-tank missiles.
8 Sixteen 'Coalition of Freedom' soldiers are killed in a 'blue on blue' incident on the outskirts of Shenyang, China, after the men were mistaken for a Chinese patrol by an artillery OP. The killed soldiers are believed to be members of the Japanese 11th Mechanised Infantry Regiment, deployed to China as part of the 7th Division.
8 Six French Dassault Rafale multirole fighters from the Escadron de Chasse 1/4 Gascogne squadron based at Saint-Dizier-Robinson Air Base in the north east of France, intercept and engage several Russian MiG-29 fighters over northern Poland. Four of the Russian fighters are shot down in a brief, savage battle.
SEPTEMBER 30
8 Russian units defending Riga, Latvia, launch a counter-attack against Allied troops holding the coastal town of Majori on the western outskirts of the capital. The attack fails to push the Allies back.
Furthers south, German and Italian troops, supported by German armor, advance into the city of Olaine, meeting only light resistance. Several historic sites are damaged in the fighting before Russian troops defending the city withdraw towards the capital.
8 Two American KC-10 Extender tankers from the 908th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron are intercepted and shot down over the Mediterranean Sea by a Russian Su-30 multirole fighter based in Russian-occupied Crimea.
8 Chinese units defending the southern bank of the Hunhe River at Shenyang, China, unexpectedly abandon their positions and retreat to the norther bank under the cover of darkness and mortar fire.
OCTOBER 1
8 A breakaway group of Russian Nationalists, led by the former Foreign Minister, have brokered an agreement with the US and Britain to establish a rival Government in Russia that would work towards the downfall of the current Russian regime and President.
8 Several minor skirmishes are reported around the western outskirts of Riga, Latvia, as the Allies continue to press the occupying Russian Army defending the city. East of the town of Jaunolaine, Allied troops find mass graves of executed Latvian citizens in an area of dense woods.
8 Coalition of Freedom forces massed around Shenyang, China, advance under heavy fire and capture three important bridges across the Hunhe River. Chinese engineers destroy the Wu’ai Tunnel but the bridges the Coalition troops capture remain intact. Seizing their advantage, the Allies rush tanks and infantry onto the northern bank of the city where they come under heavy fire from Chinese infantry and mortars.
OCTOBER 2
8 Allied troops besieging Riga, Latvia, capture a major crossroads southwest of the city after a savage tank battle between Russian T-72’s defending the vital position and attacking German Leopard 2 tanks. Simultaneous attacks at Kekava, 17 kilometres south of the capital, and the village of Pinki, west of the capital, become stalemates after stouter than expected Russian resistance.
8 The American President goes on live primetime TV to condemn Russia for what he calls,
‘the wholesale massacre of civilian innocents in occupied Russian territories.’
Labelled ‘The War Crimes Speech’, the US President provides a range of compelling evidence to support his claims and insists the international community unanimously condemn the Russian regime and resolve to bring those responsible to justice.
8 Chinese students in the city of Shijiazhuang, two hundred and fifty kilometres south west of Beijing, erupt in demonstration and protest after their teacher is arrested by Chinese intelligence operatives, accused of anti-nationalistic behaviour after he allegedly questioned the decisions of the Chinese President.
October 3
8 The NATO Allies launch the largest bombing attack of the war in Europe at Riga, Latvia, pounding Russian positions with wave after wave of aerial attacks along the west bank of the Daugava River. The Dienvidu Tilts Bridge is severely damaged in the air raids.
American troops close in and eventually secure Riga International Airport after eight hours of fierce fighting. Before retreating, Russian troops destroy the airport’s facilities and damage the main runway, rendering it temporarily inoperable to the Allied Army.
8 Civil unrest continues in the Chinese city of Shijiazhuang for the second consecutive day and spreads from school and university campuses into the city’s main streets. The peaceful protests are quickly crushed by Chinese military authorities firing tear gas.
8 A multi-national force of Japanese, American and South Korean 'Coalition of Freedom' troops launch an infantry attack against the eastern perimeter defences at Shenyang, China. The advance breaks down into a chaos of fragmented street-fighting battles as Coalition troops push into the Wanghua District of the city. Consisting mainly of residential areas, the fight for control of the District becomes a close-quarters door-to-door battle. The Coalition force calls for APC support as the Chinese defending the perimeter initially fall back and then counter-attack. After nine hours of bloody fighting the Coalition units are forced to withdraw after sustaining heavy losses, unable to hold their ground.
OCTOBER 4
8 The Russian Army defending Riga, Latvia, surprises the Allied forces besieging the city by withdrawing to the east bank of the Daugava River, destroying the bridges behind them. The Allies advance and begin pounding the east bank with artillery fire.
Four Russian Su-25 ground attack aircraft attempt to assault advancing Allied armored columns but three of the aircraft are shot down by NATO SAM systems.
8 Six American nationals are arrested by the FBI in Chicago after a three-month long surveillance and counter-espionage operation involving several law enforcement agencies. The six arrested are accused of spying for the Chinese and face long prison sentences.
8 'Coalition of Freedom' forces launch a massive assault on Shenyang, China, with two infantry divisions and three Battalions of MBT’s deployed across a three-mile wide front. The attack is supported by American A-10 ground attack aircraft and dozens of ROK F-16 Vipers.
The Coalition troops storm across several bridges and drive at the heart of the city in an attempt to seize the Danan Residential District and the Shenhe District. The Chinese defending in the face of the advance withdraw from the bomb-ravaged ruins and then counter-attack with reinforcements. Fighting spreads east and west of the spearhead and in some cases Coalition troops find themselves fighting Chinese citizens who have picked up weapons to defend their homes. As night falls, the heart of Shenyang is a burning ruin of rubble with Coalition troops holding the outskirts of the Danan Residential District.
October 5
8 In the middle of the night an entire Battalion of B-Class Russian infantry defending the southern outskirts of Riga, Latvia, surrender to Allied troops. The surrender takes place at the Rigas HES power station facility.
Meanwhile NATO engineers begin repairing bridges across the Daugava River, coming under intense artillery fire from the Russians. Vital Allied bridging equipment is destroyed in the bombardment causing delays for the Allied army’s advance.
8 Four US Air Force B-1B Lancer Bombers from the 34th Bomb Squadron, deployed to air bases in Germany, fire a total of thirty one AGM-158 JASSM cruise missiles at Russian military targets in occupied Lithuania, including a fuel dump and a sector Command post.
8 For a second consecutive day 'Coalition of Freedom' troops massed around Shenyang, China, push towards the heart of the city, fighting off three successive Chinese counter attacks to consolidate their hold on key residential districts.
October 6
8 A Battalion of American infantry are the first Allied troops to cross the Daugava River at Riga, Latvia. The heroic crossing in boats was made under the cover of darkness and under intense fire from Russians on the eastern riverbank. The Americans crossed the river north of the Vansu Bridge and managed to defend several buildings along the riverfront until a second Battalion was able to cross the river and reinforce the Allied position.
Russian troops mass for a counter-attack and the battle becomes a savage door-to-door street fight with the Americans stubbornly holding their ground.
8 Two Vietnamese Air Force Su-30 fighter aircraft are shot down over the South China Sea by Chinese jets. The Vietnamese aircraft took off from Sao Vang airport on a patrol mission when they were set upon by three Chinese Chengdu J-20 stealth fighters.
8 Six American F-22 Raptor stealth fighters drop 1,000 pound GPS-guided bombs into the heart of Shenyang city, China. Operating from Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan, the Raptors completed their mission without incident.
October 7
8 With two bridges across the Daugava repaired by engineers and serviceable for armor, the Allies push into the eastern districts of Riga, Latvia, meeting ferocious resistance from the beleaguered Russian troops grimly defending the city. A Company of American Abrams tanks make the first crossing, linking up with the remnants of two Battalions of US infantry that crossed the river in boats twenty-four hours earlier.
Through the afternoon and into the evening, more Allied APC’s and armor cross the repaired bridges, forcing the Russians remorselessly out of the center of the city and into the eastern suburbs, hounded as they retreat by Allied artillery and ground attack fighter jets.
8 Two new state-of-the-art Russian Su-57 stealth fighters engage and shoot down four Polish MiG-29 fighters over the Baltic Sea.
8 The Chinese army defending the city of Shenyang masses to launch a counter-attack against the 'Coalition of Freedom' forces clinging precariously to a foothold in the heart of the city. The Chinese attack in overwhelming numbers and in the narrow confines of the city where the Coalition’s armor cannot be brought to bear, the Chinese force a breakthrough that splits the allied force, flinging them back towards the city’s outskirts. It is a crushing setback for Coalition forces and a moment of triumph for the city’s beleaguered defenders.
October 8
8 After thirteen days of brutal fighting, Riga, the capital city of Latvia, falls to the Allies. Russian troops defending the city retreat north east towards the Latvian border and the Russian city of Pskov. Some troops are rescued by Russian ships that risk night runs up the Daugava River to evacuate troops and equipment.
8 A Greek DP2 support ship is severely damaged by fire while stationed at Salamis Naval Base. The HS Heracles was towed from its pier by two tugboats after fears the uncontrollable fire could spread to other warships.
Greek naval authorities have not ruled out sabotage as the cause for the fire.
8 Operating from positions in the Yellow Sea, Virginia-class submarines USS Washington (SSN-787) and USS South Dakota (SSN-790) fire a total of eighteen Tomahawk missiles at military targets on the outskirts of Beijing. It is the first time since the outbreak of war in Asia that Allied forces have targeted the Chinese capital. Military analysts claim the missile launch is a warning to Beijing, pointing to the fact that only minor military targets of limited significance were launched against. Chinese authorities allege thirteen of the launched Tomahawk missiles were shot down – a claim disputed by American intelligence and satellite imagery.
October 9
8 The Russian and Chinese Presidents meet in secrecy in Beijing to discuss the progress of the war. The Russian President concluded the meeting and flew back to Moscow, ‘looking unhealthy, despondent and frowning with concern’, according to an official witness with first-hand knowledge of the meeting.
8 The American Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG-81) is severely damaged by two YJ-12 anti-ship missiles while operating in the South China Sea. The ship was attacked by a Chinese Su-30MKK fighter in waters south west of Taiwan. The first missile launched at the ship by the Chinese fighter struck the hull but did not detonate. The second missile struck the Winston S. Churchill port side and exploded, causing severe damage. Thirty-nine crewmen were killed in the incident.
8 The Chinese commander responsible for the defence of Shenyang, China, declares that forty-three Coalition infantry prisoners and two captured pilots will be used as human shields to minimise the danger of Coalition artillery bombardments and air strike attacks. The Commander claims the prisoners will be distributed throughout Shenyang to sensitive strategic positions.
A US Diplomat, speaking to the international media assembled in Seoul South Korea, slammed the Chinese action as being cowardly and barbaric and claimed the Chinese army’s attempts to protect the city with the lives of POW’s would not alter Coalition military strategy.
OCtober 10
8 NATO High Command broadcasts its intention in the international media for the Allied Invasion Army that liberated Riga, Latvia, to swing south towards Vilnius, Lithuania, cutting off the Russian troops defending the Kaliningrad-Belarus Line. With the enemy in his rear, threatening encirclement, the newly appointed Russian Supreme Commander in the Baltics has no choice but to withdraw his entire Baltic Army from contact and retreat north east on roads that lead towards the Russian border.
8 A huge fire breaks out in the Huanggu District of Shenyang, China, following six hours of Coalition artillery bombardment. The fire engulfs the Xinle Residential District and then spreads north to the Beiling Residential District. The UNESCO World Heritage site of the Zhao Mausoleum is consumed by flames, destroying the ancient tomb of Qing emperor Hong Taiji.
8 A Russian Oscar-class submarine operating against Allied convoys in the North Atlantic is sunk by an American P-8 Poseidon after the Russian commander was forced to surface his vessel as a result of an uncontrollable fire. The Russian crew evacuated the submarine and boarded life rafts. The crew were later rescued by an American destroyer.
October 11
8 Baltic Liberation Day.
The citizens of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia swarm into the streets carrying American, British and German flags to celebrate the retreat of the Russian occupation force.
But behind them, the Russian Army have left a terrible wartime toll; tens of thousands of civilians have been slaughtered and infrastructure destroyed. Rebuilding economies and cities will take several years.
8 The Supreme Commander for Coalition forces in Asia flies south to Seoul to meet with the foreign ministers of member countries in order to update the state of the battlefront in China. Unofficial sources claim that several foreign ministers have become frustrated at the Army’s lack of progress overcoming the Chinese Army defending Shenyang.
8 A highly respected former Russian Chess World Champion, now living in America, uses a media interview and social media platforms to plead with Russian citizens to rise up against the country’s government. The TV interview makes news headlines around the world.
October 12
8 The retreating Russian Army in the Baltics crosses the Russian border and masses around the cities of Pskov and Pustoshka where they prepare defensive positions in preparation for the impending Allied advance.
8 A damaged Russian Tu-95 ‘Bear’ strategic bomber crashes into a school building east of Smolensk, Russia, killing twenty-six children and three adults. The aircraft was attempting to return to base when it fell from the sky and exploded in a fireball of flames and smoke.
8 A Vietnamese corvette fires on a Chinese oil rig platform in the South China Sea, destroying the facility. The rig, located close to the Paracel Islands, was destroyed by a Tarantul-class vessel.
October 13
8 The twin Battle of Pskov, and the Battle of Pustoshka, both fought on Russia’s western border, result in crushing defeats for the Russian Army.
At Pskov the American-lead Army meets little resistance from the war-weary enemy opposing them. Abrams tanks punch through the Russian line and encircle the northern flank of the enemy’s defences, forcing thousands of Russians along the battlefront to surrender.
At Pustoshka, British, German and French tanks smash through the Russian southern flank but are temporarily halted by grim fighting. Only after support air attacks by A-10 Warthogs are the Allies able to shatter the last line of enemy defenders, hurling the remnants of the Russian Army back towards Moscow in disarray. With the road to the capital open, the Allied Army plans its advance to victory.
8 'Coalition of Freedom' Central Command orders the largest bombing attack on the city of Shenyang yet planned. Coordinating fighters and bombers from several different air forces, ‘Operation Hammerblow’ calls for three days of relentless carpet bombing across the central districts of the city under the protection of swarms of fighter jets.
8 Six Belgian Air Component F-16AM fighters intercept a Russian Ilyushin II-80 airborne command and control aircraft circling over western Russia, escorted by three Su-27 fighters. The Belgian pilots attack the formation, destroying two of the Russian escorts and shooting down the Ilyushin II-80. Two F-16’s are lost in the melee.
October 14
8 Under direct orders of the Chinese President, Chinese security forces begin rounding up and imprisoning activist and protest leaders.
8 The Russian President tells his closest supporters that the crushing Russian Army defeats at Pskov and Pustoshka represents a,
‘catastrophe of such a magnitude that we have never known the like before’.
The private comments are leaked to western media and cause a storm of outrage in Moscow as the President orders his private security forces to hunt down the person responsible for the leak.
8 The first day of the 'Coalition of Freedom’s' ‘Operation Hammerblow’ begins against the city of Shenyang, China, with B-52 bombers, F-18’s and F-16’s dropping ordnance on the Qigong Residential District. The bombing attacks begin at dawn and continue into the night.
October 15
8 Racing south on secondary roads and across open terrain, the victorious Americans at Pskov, Russia, link up with the Allied Army driving east from Pustoshka, with both forces converging around the town of Velikiye Luki, 450km west of Moscow.
8 A Russian Tu-142 maritime reconnaissance spy plane is intercepted by two US F-22 Raptors over the Baltic Sea and shot down.
8 Four F-16 Vipers and an Australian F-18 Hornet are shot down over Shenyang, China, by SAM sites as the 'Coalition of Freedom’s' ‘Operation Hammerblow’ enters its second consecutive day. Led by B-52 bombers and B-2 stealth bombers flying from Guam, Coalition Command directs the bombing operation to target buildings in the Maguanqiao Residential District.
October 16
8 The shattered remnants of the Russian Army gathers to defend the town of Velikiye Luki from the advancing Allied armies. The Russian President vows defiantly that another hundred thousand Russian troops from the south of the country are being rushed towards the battlefront and promises the Allies will be,
‘driven out of the Fatherland in humiliation and in body bags’.
NATO and European Government leaders appeal directly to the Russian people to abandon the war and reject the country’s political leadership.
The British Prime Minister makes a TV broadcast, calling on,
‘the good people of Russia to end the bloodshed and the senseless servitude to a morally corrupt regime before more fine young men are killed and a generation of lives lost.’
At Velikiye Luki, the Allied military commanders leading the attack into Russia issue a formal deadline for a Russian military surrender. The deadline passes.
8 Four Canadian CF-18 Hornets from 4 Wing Cold Lake which were deployed to Europe at the beginning of the European war are set upon by eight Russian Su-35S multirole fighters in the skies above the city of Narva in north eastern Estonia. All four Canadian fighters are destroyed for the loss of one Russian aircraft.
8 Facing a third consecutive day of intensive bombing, the Chinese commander charged with the defence of Shenyang, China, issues an ultimatum to his forces.
‘We will never surrender the city of our fathers, or the land of our grandfathers to the enemy massed on our doorstep. We will fight them with every breath, with every round and every shell until the invaders are pushed back across the border and then into the sea. Let every brave Chinese soldier stand and sacrifice themselves in the face of the enemy’s attacks.’
The final day of 'Operation ‘Hammerblow’ sees Coalition bombers concentrate their attacks against the Kejian Residential District of the city. A B-52 bomber is shot down during the early hours of the morning by Chinese surface-to-air missiles.
October 17
8 A massed Allied artillery barrage hammers the Russian troops defending the town of Velikiye Luki, Russia, followed by an endless wave of air attacks from American B-52 bombers. Within hours the township is reduced to rubble and flames.
Overhead, Russian MiG’s and F-16’s duel in the air with the Russian fighter pilots bravely taking to the sky against overwhelming Allied numbers.
Two hundred miles south of the Velikiye Luki, Allied satellites identify columns of approaching military vehicles and vector A-10 Warthogs and Apache helicopters to destroy the relief column.
8 At dawn, three armored columns of 'Coalition of Freedom' tanks and APC’s advance across bridges over the Hunhe River at Shenyang, China, supported by air cover from ROK F-16 Vipers. The Allied advance meets little initial resistance from the bomb-shattered Chinese troops that have endured endless aerial and artillery attacks in recent days. Within three hours the Maguanqiao Residential District is overrun and captured.
8 A French Air Force C-135FR tanker from the Group de ravitaillement en vol 2/91 Bretagne crashes shortly after take-off from Istres Air Base, north west of Marseille, France. All six crewmen aboard were killed. Pilot error is determined to be the cause of the incident.
October 18
8 A political coup in Moscow brings about the collapse of the Russian regime by moderate right-wing activists.
Massed protests in the streets of Moscow lead to some rioting but the Russian military moves to back the coup, giving their support to regime change. The President of Russia initially trades his position of power for a promise of safe exile in Cuba, however the Russian military leadership insists the ousted President be tried for war crimes.
The toppled Russian President is found dead in his bed by aides the following morning with a single bullet wound to the temple.
Officially the former President’s death is labelled as ‘suicide’.
October 19
8 VE Day.
Allies declare victory in Europe after Russia and other European Axis members formally surrender.
The end of the war in Europe.
October 20
8 With the war in Europe over, Britain, France and Germany declare their support for the American-led ‘Coalition of Freedom’ fighting in China. The three countries vow to join the war in Asia by deploying over two hundred thousand troops to eastern Russia and opening a new front against the Chinese along the Siberian border.
8 The Pope makes a speech from the Vatican to call for an International Day of Prayer to remember and mourn the lives lost across Europe during the NATO-Russian war.
8 The United Nations Secretary General, speaking to the assembled international media from New York, proclaims that the defeat of Russia’s armies by NATO puts an end to the Cold War tensions that had gripped all of Europe for more than seven decades. He declares the end of the war as the dawning of a new age of peace and harmony across Europe.
October 21
8 The Prime Minister of India makes a nationally televised address, reiterating his Government’s support for the ‘Coalition of Freedom’ and declaring his intention to move troops into China through the disputed frontier region of Ladakh. The announcement follows a two-hour phone call between Washington and New Delhi.
8 'Coalition of Freedom' forces massed around the perimeter of Shenyang, China, launch a major ground offensive to the east of the city, seizing several key highway intersections in the face of fierce Chinese Army resistance. The fight becomes a duel between opposing tank forces with the Coalition-led Abrams gaining the upper hand. Chinese Command is forced to reinforce the city’s flank and after eleven hours of heavy fighting the Allied troops disengage.
8 Anti-government protesters in China call for a national day of strikes to put pressure on the Chinese President to resign. It’s the latest incident in an ongoing campaign of mounting unrest and rebellion amongst the Chinese population seeking to pressure the Chinese President into negotiating a peaceful end to the war in Asia.
October 22
8 The Chinese President calls for urgent meetings in Beijing with top-ranking military and diplomatic staff. The news that the Chinese will soon be facing massed enemies on three fronts following the October 20, October 21 announcements puts the President under severe political pressure. The Minister of Finance meets secretly with other key Ministers to discuss the notion of a change in political leadership.
8 The Australian Hobart-class destroyer HMAS Brisbane is sunk by a Chinese Type 093 nuclear attack submarine in the Banda Sea, west of Indonesia. The destroyer was struck by two torpedoes and sank with the loss of all hands.
8 Victorious Allied authorities begin releasing Allied troops captured during the fighting in Europe from Russian POW camps. The liberated prisoners tell harrowing stories of beatings, executions, deprivation and atrocities at the hands of their guards.
October 23
8 The NATO armies encounter logistical difficulties transporting men and armor across the breadth of Russia towards Siberia. Heavy lift military aircraft are called in to ease the pressure on the struggling Russian rail network. The procedure becomes one of the most substantial military airlift operations undertaken since World War 2.
8 Chinese troops defending Shenyang city launch a surprise counter attack in an attempt to reach units isolated around the Yunlonghu Bridge. Using tanks supported by infantry, the attack reaches the cut-off Chinese soldiers but is unable to withdraw safely. Coalition forces swing east to trap the relief column and decimate it as the Chinese try to fight their way out of danger. The disastrous operation costs the Chinese over twenty tanks and more than fifteen hundred soldiers.
8 Two Chinese spies are arrested in Seoul, South Korea, after they were seized by authorities in the midst of planning a bomb attack against 'Coalition of Freedom' Command Headquarters. Three other co-conspirators are arrested several hours later following raids in the Gangnam District of the city.
October 24
8 Russian governmental authorities declare that an extraordinary federal election for all Government positions will be held within three months, and that international election observers will be invited to monitor the conduct of the voting process.
8 A twenty-four hour ceasefire negotiated by 'Coalition of Freedom' Command and the Chinese defending Shenyang, city, China, breaks down after just nine hours of uneasy pause. The ceasefire had been agreed on humanitarian grounds to allow thousands of Chinese citizens trapped in the city to evacuate north.
8 A train in Romania transporting over a thousand soldiers from the battlefront in Ukraine derails and explodes east of Bucharest. Over two hundred troops aboard the train are injured and fifty killed.
October 25
8 Two hundred and thirteen Russian prisoners of war being held in a POW camp on the outskirts of Katowice in southern Poland stage a mass escape. Three prisoners were shot dead attempting to flee. Five more Russian prisoners were re-captured.
8 Paris, France, hosts the largest open air rock concert ever held. Dubbed the ‘People For Peace’ concert, the two-day event brings the world’s biggest rock acts to Europe to celebrate the end of the war and to entertain NATO troops who saw combat. The event is broadcast internationally and raises millions of dollars for those displaced and made homeless by the war.
8 A Chinese Type 815G Dongdiao-class spy ship operating in the Yellow Sea is damaged after a collision with an underwater reef. The Tianshuxing (855) was operating in shallow coastal waters around Xiaolu Island when the incident occurred. The vessel was holed in the stern and limped to Dalian Harbor for repairs.
October 26
8 'Coalition of Freedom' units advance through the rubble of Shenyang, China, with the battlefield so devastated by artillery and bombs it barely resembles a city. Some train stations within the city limits have changed hands three times in recent days. The allied infantry seize the Nanta Passenger transport terminal and the Shenyang Wu’ai SKC Passenger and Cargo General Station, fighting off a Chinese counter attack before consolidating their position. American and South Korean APC’s rush forward to support the ground won. Six APC’s are destroyed by Chinese RPG’s and over a thousand Coalition soldiers die in the day-long battle.
8 America and 'Coalition of Freedom' forces begin a plan to cripple China’s trade by attacking Chinese-flagged container and cargo ships. Two Los Angeles-class submarines take up station off Shanghai Harbor in the East China Sea and sink three vessels within hours. USS Columbus (SSN-762) sinks the CONCO Shipping Universe and the Mao He Tanu. USS Cheyenne (SSN-773) torpedoes the bulk carrier Neng Yong.
8 South Korean occupation forces in Pyongyang, North Korea, put down a small force of rebel North Korean soldiers still fiercely loyal to the nation’s dead dictator. The armed rebels barricaded roads around the city’s Arch of Triumph for several hours and opened fire on South Korean troops. The uprising was crushed when two South Korean K2 Black Panther MBT’s broke through the barricades, forcing the rebel group to surrender.
October 27
8 After a full week of logistical and train transportation nightmares, the first Allied tanks and troops begin to mass along the Siberia-China border, centring on the town of Belogorsk. An Allied military spokesperson claimed the assembling army would begin a push south into the Chinese Province of Heilongjiang within several days.
8 American B-52 bombers fly bombing sorties against Chinese troops defending the city of Shenyang, China. One bomber is shot down during the mission by a Chinese SAM. The American bombers concentrate their attacks on the roads leading north from the city in an attempt to cut off re-supply and escape routes.
8 Indian Air Force SEPECAT Jaguars and Su-30MKI multirole fighters launch surprise bombing attacks on seven Chinese military air bases which are situated in Xinjiang and Tibet Autonomous Military Region.
The carefully coordinated attacks strike at Kashgar Air Base, Hotan Air Base, Ngari Gunsa Air Base, Shigatse Air Base, Lhasa Gongkar Air Base, Nyingchi Air Base and Chamdo Pangta Air Base.
At Kashgar, the dual-use air base with a 3,200m runway and hardened aircraft shelters for Chinese fighters is severely damaged. The runway is cratered and several of the hardened shelters completely destroyed.
At Ngari Gunsa Air base, the 4.5km long runway is severely cratered at both ends by bomb blasts. Satellite passes over the bases reveal all have been temporarily rendered inoperable.
October 28
8 An attempt by 'Coalition of Freedom' forces to break through the defensive perimeter of Chinese troops at Shenyang, China, is repulsed with heavy casualties. The thrust by two Battalions of infantry sweeps towards the perimeter from the east but meets stiff resistance from troops dug in around the Shenyang Botanical Garden site. For two hours the Coalition units are pinned down by accurate enemy fire supported by mortars and light artillery. At sunset the Coalition Battalions are forced to withdraw and concede the small ground gain they had initially won.
8 A Royal Air Force Airbus A400M Atlas military transport aircraft crashes in northern France. The aircraft was flying from Poland carrying British soldiers back to the UK from the war in Europe when it developed problems with the aircraft’s full authority digital engine control (FADEC). Four crewmen and sixteen passenger soldiers were killed in the incident.
8 An American HH60 Pave Hawk combat search and rescue helicopter rescues two American B-52 crewmen whose plane was shot down over Chinese territory north of Shenyang. The crewmen had survived behind enemy lines for twenty-four hours. The rescue took place after two earlier attempts had to be aborted.
October 29
8 The advance elements of the Indian Army massed on the India-Chinese border surges into the Ladakh region, meeting little initial Chinese resistance. Border patrol units are quickly overwhelmed as the Indian Army advances 20 kilometres into China.
8 'Coalition of Freedom' forces at Shenyang, China, launch an attack across the Dandong-Fuxin Expressway that traverses the Hunhe River on the western edge of the city. Advancing with Abrams tanks and infantry, the Coalition forces seize the northern end of the bridge and then rush reinforcements over the crossing to consolidate their position. The Chinese counter-attack with Type 96 tanks but the Coalition troops are able to hold their ground and defend the breakthrough.
8 Three Chinese citizen journalists who used social media to report on the uprisings and unrest sweeping China are imprisoned each for twenty-five years by the Chinese Government.
October 30
8 The Allied Army on the Siberia-China border crosses into the Heilongjiang Province and begins the invasion of northern China. Advance elements of the combined British, French and German force engage a Chinese reconnaissance element at long range, destroying the six light armored vehicles in the Chinese unit.
8 The Foreign Minister of Japan, acting as spokesman for the ‘Coalition of Freedom’ forces, announces an immediate cease-fire and an end to military hostilities is possible if the Chinese President makes a concrete commitment to resign as leader of China, and if steps for political change are taken.
8 Chinese student protestors mass in the streets of Beijing to call for the resignation of the President. The international media cover the protest marches live, and for the first time the demonstrators go unmolested by the Chinese military. The peaceful protest draws several hundred thousand people who march through the city’s main streets waving placards. Organisers of the protest declare a week of peaceful dissent.
October 31
8 A Chinese mid-level diplomat in the Foreign Service is apprehended by Chinese secret service authorities in Beijing and accused of passing top-secret information to American intelligence services. It is claimed the diplomat leaked the confidential comments of several Government Ministers which were made during a Politburo meeting. The diplomat is found guilty and executed.
8 Led by a column of thirty BTR-50 armored personnel carriers, the spearhead of the Indian invasion army reaches the vast Xinjiang territory of north west China and pushes inland through a region of deserts and mountains. Chinese military border posts are quickly overcome.
8 Chinese Military Command activates the 53rd Mountain Combined Arms Brigade and the 52nd Mountain Combined Arms Brigade, both headquartered in the Tibet Military District, to intercept and confront the Indian Army driving into the Xinjiang territory.
November 1
8 The Allied army driving south from the Siberian border, advances across open sparse terrain in northern China, encountering only Chinese border troops and sweeping them aside. Forward scouting units reach the town of Longzhen, where a Battalion of Chinese motorized infantry have taken up positions around an important intersection.
8 Indian Army troops supported by Su-30MKI fighters and HAL Rudra attack helicopters engage two Chinese Brigades in arid desert terrain east of the Hotan River, China. The Chinese Brigades fight fiercely, but the Indian T-90 tanks at the vanguard of invasion force overwhelm the lightly equipped Chinese enemy units. The Chinese make a fighting withdrawal east, harassed by Indian Army BTR-50 armored personnel carriers.
8 'Coalition of Freedom' forces massed on the outskirts of Shenyang, China, launch a two-pronged co-ordinated attack on the city spearheaded by motorised infantry and supported by armor. The attack is preceded by an artillery barrage centred on the Yingda Reidential District in the east and the Chengdonghu Residential District in the south. After six hours of savage fighting Coalition forces drive the Chinese defenders back into the heart of the city in disarray.
November 2
8 A Chinese motorized Battalion of infantry centred around the town of Longzhen in the Heilongjiang Province confront the vanguard of the Allied invasion army consisting of two Battalions of Allied and American APC’s. The commander of the scouting force calls in air support from A-10 Warthogs and then mounts an attack on the western flank of the town, quickly overcoming Chinese resistance. By the time the main body of the Army reaches Longzhen, the Chinese defenders have all been killed or captured.
8 The editorial board of the ‘Journal’ newspaper calls for an immediate International Criminal Court investigation of Russian military leaders and Russian government officials for alleged war crimes in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland.
8 After almost two months of sustained fighting, the Chinese troops defending the city of Shenyang finally surrender to the 'Coalition of Freedom' armies. The fall of the city has seismic ramifications in Beijing.
November 3
8 In an unprecedented move that sends shock waves through the entire Chinese military machine, the Major General commanding the Chinese 78th Group Army, based at Harbin, Heilongjiang, refuses orders from Beijing to mobilise his force against the Allied Invasion army centred around Longzhen, 375km to the north.
The Major General is dismissed from his position and arrested.
8 Sporadic fighting continues in Shenyang, China, twenty-four hours after the Chinese Army defending the city officially surrendered to 'Coalition of Freedom' Forces. An American Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter is shot down and crashes into the Hunhe River, killing the crew and six soldiers on board.
8 Advance elements of the Indian Army attacking through the Dzungaria region of south western China close on the Hotan Prefecture and begin pounding forward Chinese positions with field artillery.
November 4
8 A Chinese talk radio station in Shanghai defies Chinese Government strict media regulations by broadcasting interviews with protest and student leaders who are calling for a regime change and the resignation of the Chinese President. The program runs for two hours and six minutes before Chinese military storm the radio station and arrest the radio host and station manager.
8 The US Secretary of State dies of a heart attack. Considered one of the driving forces behind the 'Coalition of Freedom', the Secretary of State died in Washington, just hours before he was due to fly to Seoul for meetings with the South Korean Foreign Minister.
8 American submarines lying off key Chinese commercial shipping harbors sink four Chinese-flagged cargo ships, continuing a plan to cripple China’s economic trade power. The attacks follow the October 26 sinking of three Chinese vessels. American Los Angeles-class submarines sink the Sichuan Hubei bulk carrier, the Jiangsu Tai bulk carrier and two container vessels; the Jiangxi Shaanx and the Jilin Sho Gi. The attacks in the East China Sea send shock waves through China’s financial markets.
November 5
8 The American President wins re-election to the White House in a landslide, accumulating 427 electoral college votes. Riding on the wave of American military success across Europe, the President’s campaign united the nation around his ‘wartime President’ platform.
8 A delegation of senior Chinese Government Ministers, led by the Finance Minister, demands a midnight meeting with the Chinese President to inform him that he has lost the support and confidence of the nation’s military.
November 6
8 Faced with enemies on three borders, economic pressure, the wavering loyalty of the Chinese military and with Beijing’s streets thronged by thousands of protestors, the President of China resigns his position as the leader of China.
November 7
8 VA Day.
China formally surrenders to the Allied Forces, marking the end of the Asian War and the official end of the Third World War.