Major General Dutch Hostler stood beside his aide, Captain Kurt Wise, observing the offload of 1st Armored Division equipment from Military Sealift Command ships docked in the busy port. The equipment for two armored brigades — Old Ironsides and the Bulldogs — was being offloaded in Hamburg, while the 1st Stryker Brigade vehicles and supplies were being disembarked from additional ships in Bremerhaven, a short distance west. Once the equipment was offloaded at each port, it would mate up with 1st Armored Division personnel who had flown to Europe ahead of time.
After departing Hamburg and Bremerhaven, Hostler’s brigades would rendezvous at the NATO assembly point near Kraków, Poland. South of the Vistula River and north of the Carpathian Mountains, the terrain to the east was mostly flat, with intermittent low, rolling hills.
Tank country.
77
CASTEAU, BELGIUM
General Andy Wheeler sat at his console in the command center at SHAPE — Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe — examining the video screens along the front wall. The maps were annotated with symbols of various colors and designs, each representing a NATO or non-Alliance combat unit. The red symbols were static, representing Russian units digging in on the eastern bank of the Vistula River cutting south through Poland, covering the passes through the Carpathian Mountains, and fortifying the Siret River in northeast Romania.
The Russians had chosen their defensive terrain wisely, with much of NATO’s advance blocked by wide rivers or mountain ranges. Only a small gap in southern Poland offered favorable terrain. The Russians understood the weak spot in their defense and had deployed the entire 1st Guards Tank Army to the fifty-mile-wide swath of land. Assigned to that flashpoint on NATO’s side was the U.S. 1st Armored Division, the last American combat unit to arrive in theater, currently disembarking in Germany.
America’s 1st AD would be joined by Germany’s 1st and 10th Panzer Divisions and three British armored infantry brigades. Although they were a formidable force, history and conventional wisdom held that an attacker had to outnumber the defender by between two-to-one and five-to-one odds, depending on the composition of the opposing forces and defensive terrain. NATO didn’t even have one-to-one odds, at least not along the entire front.
Wheeler planned to employ NATO’s superior mobility to concentrate his forces for an attack, but even two-to-one odds would be difficult to attain without seriously weakening other sectors, providing Russia the opportunity to also redistribute forces. He’d have to rely on NATO’s supposedly better trained troops and ability to control the skies. But neither were certain bets against the restructured and modernized Russian ground forces and their significant anti-air assets.
After NATO forces completed their buildup, Wheeler would have to select the best strategy for success. No one said it would be easy.
78
USS MICHIGAN
USS Michigan cruised at periscope depth, sucking fresh air in through its ventilation mast while the air banks were being recharged. Wilson sat at the head of the Wardroom table as lunch wound down, reviewing the outgoing message in his hands while a radioman stood patiently beside him. Most of the junior officers had excused themselves, and remaining in the Wardroom with Wilson were Russian President Yuri Kalinin, Michigan’s Executive Officer and department heads, and Navy SEALs McNeil and Harrison. And Lieutenant Clark, of course, still attached to Kalinin’s hip.
The Russian president was getting around much better now; he could make it through the watertight doorways and up ladders without assistance, and his curiosity had increased along with his mobility. But he respected the boundaries put in place, prohibiting entry into restricted spaces. Clark was doing an admirable job as Kalinin’s tour guide, filling him in on the workings of an American guided missile submarine. As far as events occurring throughout the world, Kalinin had become a fan of the Submarine Force’s daily news summary, downloaded from the radio broadcast each day.
Wilson signed the message, authorizing its immediate transmission. The message provided details of Kalinin’s rescue, along with the loss of five Navy SEALs and Christine, noting their deaths hadn’t been confirmed. The topic had come up earlier during lunch. When Christine was mentioned, Kalinin’s eyes had flashed to Harrison, but there’d been no reaction from the stone-faced SEAL. Wilson, however, hadn’t miss the Russian’s glance. Despite the short time spent with Harrison, Kalinin had picked up on the SEAL’s special relationship with Christine.
Commander McNeil had shared the mission details with Wilson, including Harrison’s decision to release Christine in the effort to save Kalinin. Wilson wondered how Harrison was taking his role in Christine’s likely demise, but the SEAL had been unreadable since his return to Michigan.
After Wilson handed the message board back to the radioman, he asked the submarine’s Navigator, Lieutenant Lloyd, “Where do you think we’ll transfer President Kalinin off?”
Lloyd replied, “Most likely one of the Turkish ports.”
At the mention of his pending debarkation, Kalinin asked, “Have you been informed of the details of my return to Russia?”
“Return to Russia?” Wilson asked. “We just extracted you from Russia.”
“That was part of the deal,” Kalinin said. “Your president agreed to help me overthrow the military coup. In return, I will withdraw my troops to Russia, avoiding war with NATO.”
Wilson shook his head. “I haven’t heard anything. But I’m not at the top of the food chain. I’m sure the president and his advisors are working on a plan.”
“Time is critical,” Kalinin said. “The longer General Andropov has to consolidate his power, the harder my job becomes.” He glanced at Commander McNeil and Harrison, then turned back to Wilson. “I have developed a plan we can implement immediately.”
“I suppose that plan has something to do with Michigan?” Wilson asked.
“Any effort to return me to power must be limited and strike quickly. We cannot take on the Russian military; we need to target its leadership. You have two platoons of SEALs aboard, the most highly trained men in your armed forces. If I can obtain the support of the SVR and perhaps the FSB — my country’s Federal Security Service, I can defeat the coup and prevent the bloodshed throughout Europe.”
“You have a point,” Wilson replied, “but I can’t do anything without direction.”
“I understand,” Kalinin said. “How can I help you obtain that direction?”
“Explain your plan and I’ll send the details up the chain of command. If the president agrees, I’ll receive the necessary orders.”
Wilson paused, then asked, “So what’s your plan?”
79
WASHINGTON, D.C.
“What do you think?”
The president surveyed his advisors gathered in the Situation Room beneath the West Wing. In addition to Kevin Hardison and others from the president’s staff, SecDef Dunnavant and the Chief of Naval Operations were present, along with CIA Director Jessica Cherry. The image of Rear Admiral Justin Walker, head of the Naval Special Warfare Command, appeared on the video display on the far wall. Each person at the table had a folder before them containing a lengthy message from USS Michigan.