The Last War? : Chapter 387
Posted: Sat Oct 11, 2025 5:00 pm
With thanks to Matt Wiser.
*
D+32
*
1532 hours. RSAF Enfield, London.
Newly promoted Corporal Albert ‘Big Al’ Dale and his equally newly promoted ‘oppo’, Corporal William ‘Little Bill’ Cave, had not been expected to be plucked from the midst of the fighting in West Germany and flown to London. At Heathrow, they and a small group of soldiers, all of whom wore the same crossed rifles Marksman badge as they did, were met by a Company Sergeant Major, who wore the cap badge of the Small Arms School Corps.
The group were driven across London in a non-descript Ford Transit minibus. Which bore nothing that would mark it out as belonging to the army. Indeed, Dale thought it looked a little scruffy from the outside. However, it was not until he spotted that they were driving down Ordnance Road in the borough of Enfield that he knew where they were going. He turned to tell Cave, but the other man was fast asleep.
The van stopped at a Vehicle Checkpoint manned by soldiers from the London Regiment and Ministry of Defence Police. At previous VCPs they had stopped at, it had just been necessary for the driver and CSM who was sitting next to him to show their ID. However, this time the ‘Mod Plods’ requested every passenger prove who they were before allowing the minibus to pass. Much to the irritation of those who had been catching up with some well needed kip.
*
‘BAE Systems Land Systems Enfield’ the large sign at the entrance announced. Below it was a smaller sign that read ‘Manroy Engineering’. The new BAES sign, which had gone up the previous year to replace one with the old name ‘Royal Ordnance’ was one of the few things that the company had done to spruce up the site. Most of what had been done had been done by Manroy at the parts of the factory that they leased. [1]
In peacetime the entrance was guarded by civilian security guards, contracted by BAES. These had been replaced by members of the Military Provost Guard Service (which involved some of the security guards putting on a different uniform) and police officers from the MDP.
The van had to wait for a convoy of lorries carrying shipping containers before it could enter the factory. A different set of ‘Mod Plods’ having verified everybody’s identity again. The factory was a hive of activity, with electric vehicles travelling between buildings and the internal narrow-gauge railway busy. A freight train was being loaded with more containers on one of the standard-gauge siding that linked to the mainline.
Along with the factory, the connection to the Lea Valley Lines had been mothballed back in the late 1980s. After a few years the connecting points at the mainline junction had been lifted. The internal narrow-gauge lines had also been mothballed, with the rolling stock sold off. The agreement with the government to mothball, rather than close and sell the factory had not extended to the that rolling stock. However, soon after leasing part of the Royal Small Arms Factory, Manroy Engineering had put part of the network back into service and bought new rolling stock. During the Transition to War the connection to the mainline had been restored and the rest of the internal railway brought back into service. A pair of Unimogs fitted as road-rail vehicles had been hired by BAES to act as shunters for mainline freight and one of these would propel the train to the boundary of Network Rail’s metals, where a mainline locomotive would couple up to the train.
“Right, follow me.” The CSM said once the minibus was parked.
He led them to a building marked as a firing range. A selection of rifles was laid out, Dale and Cave recognising them as SLRs, but something was different about them. The most obvious difference was that the fore-end had changed, a bipod having been fitted to the rifle. They also had a modern optical sight, which looked like it might be an ACOG, and a cheekpiece on the butt. Dale did also notice what looked like a Lee-Enfield No.4(T) sitting at the end of the bench.
“Afternoon, gents.” A manager from the factory said in greeting. “You’ve all been chosen to come here because you are Designated Marksmen, and we need a sample of soldiers in that role to try out our new DMR.” He continued. “What you see in front of you are examples of the L1A2 Designated Marksman Rifle. They were converted from L1A1 Self-Loading Rifles as a medium-term solution to the DMR requirement. The longer-term plan is to procure a weapon purpose built as a DMR, but we think the L1A2 if good enough to do the job in the meantime. However, we need you gentlemen to prove if we are right. The Australians have done a similar conversion, and they are happy with it, hence our optimism. There is plenty of ammunition, so take as much time as you like.”
Putting on ear defenders, Dale and Cave each chose a rifle and checked on the ammunition before loading it. Most of it was standard 7.62mm, marked as having come from Radway Green, but there was also some ‘Green Spot’ ammunition from the same factory. That ammunition was designed for use in sniper rifles and had higher tolerances than standard ammunition.
Both men chose to load standard rounds to start with, allowing them to ‘zero’ the rifles. Once that had been done, both took the opportunity to fire using the both the main ACOG sight and the CQB sight. As well as varying firing stances, using the bipod and from a kneeling and standing position, holding the rifle in the normal way. The level of accuracy was superior to a standard L1A1 and improved noticeably when using ‘Green Spot’. Some degradation of accuracy became noticeable once the rifles got hot, but it was easy to compensate for.
“I want one, Sergeant-Major!” Dale exclaimed once he had exhausted all of the ammunition he had been issued with. “Take my money!” He said to the factory manager.
Both men chuckled.
“It’s yours, Corporal.” The CSM replied. “The plan always was that if you gents liked the rifles that you would get to take them away with you. Nothing like testing them in the field.”
“Is there any chance I could try that Lee-Enfield, by the way?” Dale asked the manager.
“If you want. I’ll get the .303 for you.”
While Dale was having some fun shooting the Lee-Enfield, an MoD representative who had stood at the back of the range until now approached the manager. He smiled as Dale passed the rifle onto a waiting Cave. A queue of the soldiers had formed, everyone wanting to try out the iconic rifle.
“Good work, Brian. The marksmen evidently like the new DMR. The army have been crying out for a proper weapon in this class.”
“Thank you.” The manager replied. “Considering how quickly we’ve worked on the rifle; the result is very good.”
“Out of interest, if we did want a new supply of .303, could you supply it?”
The manager was a little surprised.
“Well, we don’t make it. Haven’t done since, what, ’73 if my memory is right. Commercial .303 is still made in the UK and the States. India and Australia manufacture it for military use.
“Don’t you have stockpiles of it?”
“We do, but it’s getting a little on the old side. We’re worried about just how reliable it is these days. Probably good enough for training purposes. But, to get back to the question, could you supply new if we asked.”
The manager thought for a moment.
“Not my department, but I don’t see why not. Would depend on how much you asked for as to whether we would procure it domestically or went abroad. If the latter, personally I’d look to the Aussies, rather than India.”
“Thank you, Brian. The ministry may be getting in touch with you regarding .303.”
“You’re not planning on issuing Lee Enfields, unconverted Brens, or Vickers, are you?”
“Can’t say really. But you’ll find out.”
1600 Hours GMT. CENTCOM HQ (Forward), Al-Udaid AB, Qatar.
General Peter Pace, USMC, the Vice-Chairman of the JCS, approached the main secured conference room at CENTCOM's Theater HQ, and he knew that, after meetings with the Gulf States' Defense Ministers and Chiefs of Staff, that this conference would be going a lot better than he might have expected. Fortunately, the President had made some phone calls to heads of state in the region and outlined what Pace would be saying and bringing. He had also had a private meeting with General Abazid, where CINC-CENT had reiterated his concerns about finishing off Saddam's regime for good, and the sooner that was done, the better. Those were the same views from the Gulf States, and he'd had that from their Defense Attaches in Washington. Then there were the concerns about the 4th Armored possibly going to NATO, and some had been upset that the 38th ID, which had been originally earmarked for the KTO, was going to NATO Europe. A rundown of the situation in Europe would hopefully make things clearer, and he would also answer the big question: When would the campaign be resumed, and with what forces?
The General took some papers out of his briefcase, nodded to an aide, a USAF Lieutenant Colonel who was hoping to get back into the cockpit of his F-16. The aide opened the door, announced Pace's arrival, then held the door open.
“Good evening, Gentlemen.” Pace said as he came in. The room was full of flag officers, not just from CENTCOM, the British and Australians, but also the Gulf Allies, the Egyptian Deputy Chief of Staff, and even the “Omani” Liaison Officer who everyone knew was Iranian.
”If you'll all please be seated, we'll get started. I've already spoken with almost all of you, and for our Gulf Allies, your heads of state, and I think we can agree that most of the ruffled feathers that have been here in the past few days have been smoothed over.”
There were nods around the room as everyone found their seats.
“Now, before we discuss the campaign here, I'd like to give a brief overview of the situation in NATO Europe, as that is where forces that had been set to deploy here have been redirected.” Pace went on. “Again, I have heard the concerns that you have raised, and for the record, General Abazid has raised similar concerns.”
He glanced to his left and saw CINC-CENT nod yes. Pace's aide then called up the NATO situation map at the same time.
“Now, this is the same map General Baker at SACEUR uses to brief the NATO Council and the Chairman every evening, Brussels time.” Pace used a pointer to show Northern Norway, where there was still some Soviet-held territory, then the area near Helsinki, which was still under serious threat from the Soviet 23rd Army. “Now, in Zealand, there is an operation in the works to retake the island and liberate Copenhagen, which explains why some here were hoping the 82nd and 101st Airborne would be coming this way after things wrapped in Libya. They, and the Marines with them from Libya, are needed there.
“In the Central Region, while NATO forces have gotten close to the Inner German Border in a couple of places and even crossed it in one, the campaign can still swing the other way. Especially once the Soviets have trained up enough of their mobilization-only divisions and send them west. That, and the PGM shortage, which won't go away anytime soon, means that we might be back on the Weser River and clear of the Fulda Gap once those next echelons show up. And there's also the possibility of a Corps-sized force shooting their way past Salzburg and going into Bavaria along the Austrian-West German Border.”
“Pete.” Abazid said. “I'm surprised that hasn't occurred to them. I'd do it, in their place.”
Major General Richard Lathbury, the Commander of British Forces Middle East, nodded agreement.
“So would I. Has CINC-WEST had his imagination surgically removed?”
There was some laughter at that, then Pace said:
“Maybe, or it's because that Austria is in CINC-SOUTHWEST's AOR, and that decision is made in Kiev, not Zossen.” He paused, then went on. “In that AOR, there is a new and developing threat to Northeast Italy as well as the ongoing battle in Thrace, on both the Greek and Turkish sides of the border.” Pace looked at everyone. “And that, people, is why 38th ID is going to NATO Europe instead of here. It's also why SACEUR may still request the 4th Armored.”
“Which puts us on the defensive again.” General Hadid Bin Sultan, the Saudi Chief of Staff, pointed out.
“Unfortunately, it does.” Pace admitted. “But, as I mentioned earlier, this is just a pause in the campaign. We ARE going north. But not right now, and not for some time.” He nodded at Lt. Gen. Richard Sanchez, the commander of X Corps. “Your turn. Show us what you've got in mind.”
“Yes, sir.” Sanchez nodded, then got up to the screen. “Right now, I have the Multinational Division on a line from Zubayr down to Umm Qasr, and west to the central portion of the Rumallah Oil Field. I want to have the MND push two brigades-one of them the British 3rd Armor, and one of the two Kuwaiti Brigades north to the causeway and make sure that stays closed. Just to the west is 40th ID, and they are going west, following along Highway 8. They already have advance elements at Jaliabah Airfield, and they'll keep going west, with Talil Air Base and the Highway 1 Bridge over the Euphrates as their objectives, skirting but not taking An Nasiriyah. 4th AD comes along their left, then pushes up to Highway 8, and then clears the south bank of the Euphrates as far as the outskirts of Samawah. The 278th ACR screens their left flank and then pushes into this gap here, west of Samawah and along Highway 9. We need to get some forces down to Al Salman to make sure the air base and the garrison there have been neutralized, though.”
Pace nodded, as did Abazid.
”Looks good. And you do want to screen Highway 9 west of Samawah as that's a logical counterattack route.”
“Yes, sir. If the professionals at the Defense Ministry are thinking about a counterattack, and with both Saddam and Qusay-with the latter's thugs-breathing down their necks? That's where I'd try it. But, if the “Party” generals get put in charge, then all bets are off as to where.”
“Sounds about right.” Abazid said, and heads nodded all around the table.”Now, 40th ID will have the Kuwaiti 35th Armored with them, and the Peninsula Shield Force goes with 4th AD.”
General Sultan raised a hand.
“General, if I may?”
“Of course, General,” Pace said.
“We have three brigades finished with cleaning up the remnants of the Adnan Division, as General Abazid knows. The King has authorized Saudi forces to move into Iraq, if for no other reason to show that borders can be crossed both ways. He also wants Saddam's head on a pike. If you need As Salman secured, we can do it. I'll have one brigade move north to link up with your Armored Cavalry, once As Salman is secured.”
“Sounds good to me,” Pace said. “John?”
“I like it. How fast can you get moving?” Abazid asked.
“By 0600 tomorrow, once I give that order.” Sultan replied.
Abazid thought for a moment, then nodded.
“If you would give that order?”
“Once we're finished here, and it'll be a pleasure.”
Some more discussion followed, then General Pace answered the big question: how soon would CENTCOM be moving north.
“I know you all want to know when we're going north. As I said in our private meetings, I just don't know. It'll be several months, at least. We need to stand up additional forces, and getting them manned, equipped, trained, and ready to deploy takes time. At least one heavy division and a light division now forming will deploy to this AO. That's a promise the Chairman has confirmed to General Abazid and so have both the Secretary and the President himself in their conversations with their counterparts here. We're doing this. Only not right now.”
Heads nodded again around the table. Sometimes, everyone knew, the truth did hurt. But there was no getting around it.
“Six to nine months?” Lieutenant General Fahed Amad Al-Amer, the Chief of the Kuwaiti General Staff, asked. He knew already from his private talk with Pace, but he wanted it out for the record of this meeting.
“At least.”
Before Pace could go on, Marine Brig. Gen. Don Cassidy, Abazid's Deputy J-3, or Operations Officer, came in.
“General.” Cassidy said. “I've got some information that everyone needs to be aware of.”
“Don?” Abazid asked. “What have you got?”
“Sirs.” Cassidy said. “DIA and J-2 have confirmation of organized Soviet combat units in Iraq.”
“Soviets.” Pace said. It wasn't a question. “What kind?”
Cassidy nodded.
“Sir, Soviet Marines believed to be from Syria, and there were a dozen Il-76 flights into Samarra East Air Base last night and this morning. They brought elements of a VDV division. CNN has video of both passing along Highway 1 and Highway 8 through Baghdad.”
“That changes things.” General Lathbury observed, with typical British understatement.
Pace nodded, as did Abazid.
“It does,” Said Pace. “And there's now a good chance 4th Armored stays in theater. For the time being, at least. I need to talk to the Chairman and the SECDEF.”
He got up, and the others did so.
“Gentlemen, I move that we adjourn, and hopefully, we can meet one more time before I return to Washington.” As officers got up and made small talk, Pace turned to Abazid. “Get me a secure line to the Chairman.”
*
General Myles replaced the handset after talking to Pace. The CJCS did not like the fact that he had sent the Vice-Chief off to the Middle East without latest intelligence information, or what the US was planning. But that was necessary if the plan was to work. Oh, the Soviets might think that they were the masters of Maskirovka, but Americans could deceive equally as well when they wanted to.
1753 hours. Extract from report into riot at EPW Camp No.2.
“…initial thoughts were that the riot had been provoked by a rumour that prisoners were going to be used to clear unexploded munitions and clear minefields. While that is not untrue, it now appears that rumour was started to cover two different objectives:
“Firstly, under cover of the riot and attempts to take some of the guards hostage, a group of prisoners would attempt to break out of the camp. Interestingly, those identified as being part of that group were not Spetsnaz, or VDV. They were a mix of motor riflemen, tankers, gunners etc. It would, therefore, seem that the breakout attempt was not a plan to get valuable personnel back to Soviet lines, but simply to cause disruption. It would also seem that instructions to attempt a breakout came from outside the camp. Investigations are continuing as to how these orders reached the camp. It is possible that clandestine methods of communication were destroyed in the various fires.
“Secondly the discovery of two bodies of prisoners, who showed signs of having been hanged (see attached autopsy report), it would also appear that the riot was a cover for the murder of two prisoners who were co-operating with camp authorities. It must be stressed that these two prisoners were not ‘informants’ but had simply taken on the responsibility of acting as liaison between the prisoners and camp authorities. We suspect that the murders were carried out to eliminate those seen as ‘collaborators’ and to intimidate those who may have been considering co-operation, as well as reinforcing loyalty to the Soviet Union. That beatings and another murder have taken place in other EPW camps (see attached list) would seem to support those conclusions.
“Finally, no blame can be attached to the troops who supressed the riot. All followed public order training developed from experience in Northern Ireland and elsewhere. That the prisoners proved to be extremely violent, even by the standards of riots in ‘The Troubles’, could not be expected. Troops used the minimum force necessary at all times and escalation came from the prisoners. Use of live ammunition when the lives of friendly troops were at risk was unavoidable. Indeed, it was the use of live ammunition that broke the back of the riot.”
“Signed:
“Warrant Officer II J Wilson, RMP Special Investigation Branch
“Captain J Connor, Royal Irish Rifles, attached Intelligence Corps.”
1815 hours GMT. CNN News Report.
“Reports that advance forces of the Brazilian Army have reached the suburbs of the Venezuelan cities of Ciudad Bolívar and Ciudad Guayana have been strenuously denied by the Venezuelan government. A spokesperson claimed that quote ‘imperialist Brazilian forces are being smashed in the southern part of our country. Their remnants will soon be scuttling for their own borders.’ The Brazilian Ministry of Defence has not confirmed the reports. Stating that it does not comment on ongoing military operations. A Brazilian government spokesperson did note that quote ‘the Venezuelan Government could end this conflict today by ending their unprovoked, illegal invasion of Guayana. We will cease our operation as soon as they withdraw their forces from Guayana.’
“Analysts have noted that should Brazilian military forces capture these cities, or at cut the road network to their south, it will cut off Venezuelan forces that have invaded neighbouring Guyana. The Brazilian Army has been making a steady advance north in the Venezuelan state of Bolivar.
“US forces and those from several allied countries have been deployed to Guyana to assist in stopping the Venezuelan invasion. Which Venezuela claims is a liberation of occupied territory. The Brazilian move into southern Venezuela was launched in response to the invasion of Guyana.”
1849 hours GMT. CFS Alert, Nunavut, Canada.
Named after HMS Alert, which had overwintered nearby between 1875 and 1876, Alert was the most northerly continuously inhabited place in the world. Although, the inhabitants were all temporary residents, generally there for three-to-six-month tours of duty. While CFS Alert was a military SIGINT facility, there was also an atmospheric observatory and weather station, which were staffed by civilian scientists.
With much of the SIGINT activity now being relayed to CFS Leitrim near Ottawa, rather than being processed on site, Alert’s population had shrunk to just over a hundred. Around half of which were civilians.
Responsibility for the protection of CFS Alert lay with Joint Task Force (North), which was responsible for all military operations in northern Canada (bar the NORAD mission). The task force had a lot of ground to cover and finite resources to cover it. When it came to CFS Alert, JTF(N) had ordered the evacuation of the civilian scientists and any non-essential contract personnel. A thirty-man security platoon formed from a core of Primary Reserve soldiers from E Company, The Loyal Edmonton Regiment (4 PPCLI), but mainly made up of Supplementary Reserve soldiers had been deployed to the station. Some Canadian Rangers from the Grise Fiord Patrol had also been forward deployed to the area around Alert.
*
The Soviets were well aware of CFS Alert, as it was not as if the Canadians had kept the existence of the station secret, even if what it actually did was. The DA target planners had considered assigning some missiles to it during the attack on North America. However, senior DA officers, under political pressure, had assigned all the missiles to more visible targets far to the south. Attacking the station had been put to the bottom of the pile. Until now.
A single A-90 Orlyonok ‘ekranoplan’ carrying 100 Naval Spetsnaz was now skimming over the Arctic Sea. Its destination CFS Alert. The Orlyonok could have carried fifty more troops but would not have made it to the Canadian coast and back. The possibility of refuelling using capture aviation fuel at Alert Airport had been discounted. Flying only a few meters above the sea, the ‘ekranoplan’ had gone undetected for most of its flight. A radar station from the North Warning System picked it up when it was only ten minutes from reaching its target. That was just enough time to place an urgent phone call to the facility.
“Duty Officer speaking.”
Two minutes to target…
“This is CANEAST, North Bay. You are about to come under attack from a Soviet raiding party. We can’t get any help to you for at least an hour and that will only be fast jets.”
“What?!” The Duty Officer exclaimed, but he was signalling to a colleague. “Alert the guard force and break open the armoury!” He said, stabbing the mute button for a moment.
One minute to target…
“You are about to come under ground attack, Alert. You need to alert your guard force!” The voice of the controller for the Easter Sector of the Canadian NORAD Region said urgently.
“We’re doing that, North Bay. We’re also arming all personnel we can. I’m going to stay here to maintain comms as long as I can.”
Target…
The A-90 passed over the station as it headed to the nearby airport. It sprayed a few of the buildings with machine-gun fire as it passed by. As it landed, it also opened fire on airport buildings to supress any defenders. As soon as the Orlyonok its Spetsnaz passengers swarmed out, some moving to secure the airport buildings.
There was only a single section from the security platoon at the airport, plus three maintenance personnel and two air traffic controllers. The latter just had time to grab personal weapons before the enemy landed. Although they put up a spirited defence, the Canadians were quickly overwhelmed and the Spetsnaz advanced on the station itself.
When E Company had been raised there had not been enough modern weapons to issue to them. So, in lieu of these, the Supplementary Reserve men had been issued C1A1 SLR and C2A1 LAR. Although, the ten Primary Reserve soldiers assigned to the platoon did have C7 rifles and a couple of C9 LMGs. The station’s small armoury added eight C7 rifles, a pair of C8 carbines and two Remington 870P shotguns usually used for firing ‘bear scarer’ rounds. The station personnel effectively formed an additional section, replacing the one lost at the airport.
The Spetsnaz not only outnumbered the Canadian defenders but also outgunned them. For example, they had more fully automatic weapons, RPGs and grenade launchers. They were able to use the latter weapons to supress some of the defenders as they assaulted the station. However, enough of the defenders were able to keep firing to keep the Spetsnaz at bay. At least temporarily.
*
Lieutenant Whitcomb had been on Alert Duty at FOL Yellowknife when the order had come through to scramble in response to the Soviet incursion. As his CF-188A climbed rapidly he did wonder just what he and his wingman would be able to achieve, as they were only armed for air-to-air combat. At least some form of help was on its way to CFS Alert.
***
[1] See this fact-file for more on UK Small Arms manufacturing.
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D+32
*
1532 hours. RSAF Enfield, London.
Newly promoted Corporal Albert ‘Big Al’ Dale and his equally newly promoted ‘oppo’, Corporal William ‘Little Bill’ Cave, had not been expected to be plucked from the midst of the fighting in West Germany and flown to London. At Heathrow, they and a small group of soldiers, all of whom wore the same crossed rifles Marksman badge as they did, were met by a Company Sergeant Major, who wore the cap badge of the Small Arms School Corps.
The group were driven across London in a non-descript Ford Transit minibus. Which bore nothing that would mark it out as belonging to the army. Indeed, Dale thought it looked a little scruffy from the outside. However, it was not until he spotted that they were driving down Ordnance Road in the borough of Enfield that he knew where they were going. He turned to tell Cave, but the other man was fast asleep.
The van stopped at a Vehicle Checkpoint manned by soldiers from the London Regiment and Ministry of Defence Police. At previous VCPs they had stopped at, it had just been necessary for the driver and CSM who was sitting next to him to show their ID. However, this time the ‘Mod Plods’ requested every passenger prove who they were before allowing the minibus to pass. Much to the irritation of those who had been catching up with some well needed kip.
*
‘BAE Systems Land Systems Enfield’ the large sign at the entrance announced. Below it was a smaller sign that read ‘Manroy Engineering’. The new BAES sign, which had gone up the previous year to replace one with the old name ‘Royal Ordnance’ was one of the few things that the company had done to spruce up the site. Most of what had been done had been done by Manroy at the parts of the factory that they leased. [1]
In peacetime the entrance was guarded by civilian security guards, contracted by BAES. These had been replaced by members of the Military Provost Guard Service (which involved some of the security guards putting on a different uniform) and police officers from the MDP.
The van had to wait for a convoy of lorries carrying shipping containers before it could enter the factory. A different set of ‘Mod Plods’ having verified everybody’s identity again. The factory was a hive of activity, with electric vehicles travelling between buildings and the internal narrow-gauge railway busy. A freight train was being loaded with more containers on one of the standard-gauge siding that linked to the mainline.
Along with the factory, the connection to the Lea Valley Lines had been mothballed back in the late 1980s. After a few years the connecting points at the mainline junction had been lifted. The internal narrow-gauge lines had also been mothballed, with the rolling stock sold off. The agreement with the government to mothball, rather than close and sell the factory had not extended to the that rolling stock. However, soon after leasing part of the Royal Small Arms Factory, Manroy Engineering had put part of the network back into service and bought new rolling stock. During the Transition to War the connection to the mainline had been restored and the rest of the internal railway brought back into service. A pair of Unimogs fitted as road-rail vehicles had been hired by BAES to act as shunters for mainline freight and one of these would propel the train to the boundary of Network Rail’s metals, where a mainline locomotive would couple up to the train.
“Right, follow me.” The CSM said once the minibus was parked.
He led them to a building marked as a firing range. A selection of rifles was laid out, Dale and Cave recognising them as SLRs, but something was different about them. The most obvious difference was that the fore-end had changed, a bipod having been fitted to the rifle. They also had a modern optical sight, which looked like it might be an ACOG, and a cheekpiece on the butt. Dale did also notice what looked like a Lee-Enfield No.4(T) sitting at the end of the bench.
“Afternoon, gents.” A manager from the factory said in greeting. “You’ve all been chosen to come here because you are Designated Marksmen, and we need a sample of soldiers in that role to try out our new DMR.” He continued. “What you see in front of you are examples of the L1A2 Designated Marksman Rifle. They were converted from L1A1 Self-Loading Rifles as a medium-term solution to the DMR requirement. The longer-term plan is to procure a weapon purpose built as a DMR, but we think the L1A2 if good enough to do the job in the meantime. However, we need you gentlemen to prove if we are right. The Australians have done a similar conversion, and they are happy with it, hence our optimism. There is plenty of ammunition, so take as much time as you like.”
Putting on ear defenders, Dale and Cave each chose a rifle and checked on the ammunition before loading it. Most of it was standard 7.62mm, marked as having come from Radway Green, but there was also some ‘Green Spot’ ammunition from the same factory. That ammunition was designed for use in sniper rifles and had higher tolerances than standard ammunition.
Both men chose to load standard rounds to start with, allowing them to ‘zero’ the rifles. Once that had been done, both took the opportunity to fire using the both the main ACOG sight and the CQB sight. As well as varying firing stances, using the bipod and from a kneeling and standing position, holding the rifle in the normal way. The level of accuracy was superior to a standard L1A1 and improved noticeably when using ‘Green Spot’. Some degradation of accuracy became noticeable once the rifles got hot, but it was easy to compensate for.
“I want one, Sergeant-Major!” Dale exclaimed once he had exhausted all of the ammunition he had been issued with. “Take my money!” He said to the factory manager.
Both men chuckled.
“It’s yours, Corporal.” The CSM replied. “The plan always was that if you gents liked the rifles that you would get to take them away with you. Nothing like testing them in the field.”
“Is there any chance I could try that Lee-Enfield, by the way?” Dale asked the manager.
“If you want. I’ll get the .303 for you.”
While Dale was having some fun shooting the Lee-Enfield, an MoD representative who had stood at the back of the range until now approached the manager. He smiled as Dale passed the rifle onto a waiting Cave. A queue of the soldiers had formed, everyone wanting to try out the iconic rifle.
“Good work, Brian. The marksmen evidently like the new DMR. The army have been crying out for a proper weapon in this class.”
“Thank you.” The manager replied. “Considering how quickly we’ve worked on the rifle; the result is very good.”
“Out of interest, if we did want a new supply of .303, could you supply it?”
The manager was a little surprised.
“Well, we don’t make it. Haven’t done since, what, ’73 if my memory is right. Commercial .303 is still made in the UK and the States. India and Australia manufacture it for military use.
“Don’t you have stockpiles of it?”
“We do, but it’s getting a little on the old side. We’re worried about just how reliable it is these days. Probably good enough for training purposes. But, to get back to the question, could you supply new if we asked.”
The manager thought for a moment.
“Not my department, but I don’t see why not. Would depend on how much you asked for as to whether we would procure it domestically or went abroad. If the latter, personally I’d look to the Aussies, rather than India.”
“Thank you, Brian. The ministry may be getting in touch with you regarding .303.”
“You’re not planning on issuing Lee Enfields, unconverted Brens, or Vickers, are you?”
“Can’t say really. But you’ll find out.”
1600 Hours GMT. CENTCOM HQ (Forward), Al-Udaid AB, Qatar.
General Peter Pace, USMC, the Vice-Chairman of the JCS, approached the main secured conference room at CENTCOM's Theater HQ, and he knew that, after meetings with the Gulf States' Defense Ministers and Chiefs of Staff, that this conference would be going a lot better than he might have expected. Fortunately, the President had made some phone calls to heads of state in the region and outlined what Pace would be saying and bringing. He had also had a private meeting with General Abazid, where CINC-CENT had reiterated his concerns about finishing off Saddam's regime for good, and the sooner that was done, the better. Those were the same views from the Gulf States, and he'd had that from their Defense Attaches in Washington. Then there were the concerns about the 4th Armored possibly going to NATO, and some had been upset that the 38th ID, which had been originally earmarked for the KTO, was going to NATO Europe. A rundown of the situation in Europe would hopefully make things clearer, and he would also answer the big question: When would the campaign be resumed, and with what forces?
The General took some papers out of his briefcase, nodded to an aide, a USAF Lieutenant Colonel who was hoping to get back into the cockpit of his F-16. The aide opened the door, announced Pace's arrival, then held the door open.
“Good evening, Gentlemen.” Pace said as he came in. The room was full of flag officers, not just from CENTCOM, the British and Australians, but also the Gulf Allies, the Egyptian Deputy Chief of Staff, and even the “Omani” Liaison Officer who everyone knew was Iranian.
”If you'll all please be seated, we'll get started. I've already spoken with almost all of you, and for our Gulf Allies, your heads of state, and I think we can agree that most of the ruffled feathers that have been here in the past few days have been smoothed over.”
There were nods around the room as everyone found their seats.
“Now, before we discuss the campaign here, I'd like to give a brief overview of the situation in NATO Europe, as that is where forces that had been set to deploy here have been redirected.” Pace went on. “Again, I have heard the concerns that you have raised, and for the record, General Abazid has raised similar concerns.”
He glanced to his left and saw CINC-CENT nod yes. Pace's aide then called up the NATO situation map at the same time.
“Now, this is the same map General Baker at SACEUR uses to brief the NATO Council and the Chairman every evening, Brussels time.” Pace used a pointer to show Northern Norway, where there was still some Soviet-held territory, then the area near Helsinki, which was still under serious threat from the Soviet 23rd Army. “Now, in Zealand, there is an operation in the works to retake the island and liberate Copenhagen, which explains why some here were hoping the 82nd and 101st Airborne would be coming this way after things wrapped in Libya. They, and the Marines with them from Libya, are needed there.
“In the Central Region, while NATO forces have gotten close to the Inner German Border in a couple of places and even crossed it in one, the campaign can still swing the other way. Especially once the Soviets have trained up enough of their mobilization-only divisions and send them west. That, and the PGM shortage, which won't go away anytime soon, means that we might be back on the Weser River and clear of the Fulda Gap once those next echelons show up. And there's also the possibility of a Corps-sized force shooting their way past Salzburg and going into Bavaria along the Austrian-West German Border.”
“Pete.” Abazid said. “I'm surprised that hasn't occurred to them. I'd do it, in their place.”
Major General Richard Lathbury, the Commander of British Forces Middle East, nodded agreement.
“So would I. Has CINC-WEST had his imagination surgically removed?”
There was some laughter at that, then Pace said:
“Maybe, or it's because that Austria is in CINC-SOUTHWEST's AOR, and that decision is made in Kiev, not Zossen.” He paused, then went on. “In that AOR, there is a new and developing threat to Northeast Italy as well as the ongoing battle in Thrace, on both the Greek and Turkish sides of the border.” Pace looked at everyone. “And that, people, is why 38th ID is going to NATO Europe instead of here. It's also why SACEUR may still request the 4th Armored.”
“Which puts us on the defensive again.” General Hadid Bin Sultan, the Saudi Chief of Staff, pointed out.
“Unfortunately, it does.” Pace admitted. “But, as I mentioned earlier, this is just a pause in the campaign. We ARE going north. But not right now, and not for some time.” He nodded at Lt. Gen. Richard Sanchez, the commander of X Corps. “Your turn. Show us what you've got in mind.”
“Yes, sir.” Sanchez nodded, then got up to the screen. “Right now, I have the Multinational Division on a line from Zubayr down to Umm Qasr, and west to the central portion of the Rumallah Oil Field. I want to have the MND push two brigades-one of them the British 3rd Armor, and one of the two Kuwaiti Brigades north to the causeway and make sure that stays closed. Just to the west is 40th ID, and they are going west, following along Highway 8. They already have advance elements at Jaliabah Airfield, and they'll keep going west, with Talil Air Base and the Highway 1 Bridge over the Euphrates as their objectives, skirting but not taking An Nasiriyah. 4th AD comes along their left, then pushes up to Highway 8, and then clears the south bank of the Euphrates as far as the outskirts of Samawah. The 278th ACR screens their left flank and then pushes into this gap here, west of Samawah and along Highway 9. We need to get some forces down to Al Salman to make sure the air base and the garrison there have been neutralized, though.”
Pace nodded, as did Abazid.
”Looks good. And you do want to screen Highway 9 west of Samawah as that's a logical counterattack route.”
“Yes, sir. If the professionals at the Defense Ministry are thinking about a counterattack, and with both Saddam and Qusay-with the latter's thugs-breathing down their necks? That's where I'd try it. But, if the “Party” generals get put in charge, then all bets are off as to where.”
“Sounds about right.” Abazid said, and heads nodded all around the table.”Now, 40th ID will have the Kuwaiti 35th Armored with them, and the Peninsula Shield Force goes with 4th AD.”
General Sultan raised a hand.
“General, if I may?”
“Of course, General,” Pace said.
“We have three brigades finished with cleaning up the remnants of the Adnan Division, as General Abazid knows. The King has authorized Saudi forces to move into Iraq, if for no other reason to show that borders can be crossed both ways. He also wants Saddam's head on a pike. If you need As Salman secured, we can do it. I'll have one brigade move north to link up with your Armored Cavalry, once As Salman is secured.”
“Sounds good to me,” Pace said. “John?”
“I like it. How fast can you get moving?” Abazid asked.
“By 0600 tomorrow, once I give that order.” Sultan replied.
Abazid thought for a moment, then nodded.
“If you would give that order?”
“Once we're finished here, and it'll be a pleasure.”
Some more discussion followed, then General Pace answered the big question: how soon would CENTCOM be moving north.
“I know you all want to know when we're going north. As I said in our private meetings, I just don't know. It'll be several months, at least. We need to stand up additional forces, and getting them manned, equipped, trained, and ready to deploy takes time. At least one heavy division and a light division now forming will deploy to this AO. That's a promise the Chairman has confirmed to General Abazid and so have both the Secretary and the President himself in their conversations with their counterparts here. We're doing this. Only not right now.”
Heads nodded again around the table. Sometimes, everyone knew, the truth did hurt. But there was no getting around it.
“Six to nine months?” Lieutenant General Fahed Amad Al-Amer, the Chief of the Kuwaiti General Staff, asked. He knew already from his private talk with Pace, but he wanted it out for the record of this meeting.
“At least.”
Before Pace could go on, Marine Brig. Gen. Don Cassidy, Abazid's Deputy J-3, or Operations Officer, came in.
“General.” Cassidy said. “I've got some information that everyone needs to be aware of.”
“Don?” Abazid asked. “What have you got?”
“Sirs.” Cassidy said. “DIA and J-2 have confirmation of organized Soviet combat units in Iraq.”
“Soviets.” Pace said. It wasn't a question. “What kind?”
Cassidy nodded.
“Sir, Soviet Marines believed to be from Syria, and there were a dozen Il-76 flights into Samarra East Air Base last night and this morning. They brought elements of a VDV division. CNN has video of both passing along Highway 1 and Highway 8 through Baghdad.”
“That changes things.” General Lathbury observed, with typical British understatement.
Pace nodded, as did Abazid.
“It does,” Said Pace. “And there's now a good chance 4th Armored stays in theater. For the time being, at least. I need to talk to the Chairman and the SECDEF.”
He got up, and the others did so.
“Gentlemen, I move that we adjourn, and hopefully, we can meet one more time before I return to Washington.” As officers got up and made small talk, Pace turned to Abazid. “Get me a secure line to the Chairman.”
*
General Myles replaced the handset after talking to Pace. The CJCS did not like the fact that he had sent the Vice-Chief off to the Middle East without latest intelligence information, or what the US was planning. But that was necessary if the plan was to work. Oh, the Soviets might think that they were the masters of Maskirovka, but Americans could deceive equally as well when they wanted to.
1753 hours. Extract from report into riot at EPW Camp No.2.
“…initial thoughts were that the riot had been provoked by a rumour that prisoners were going to be used to clear unexploded munitions and clear minefields. While that is not untrue, it now appears that rumour was started to cover two different objectives:
“Firstly, under cover of the riot and attempts to take some of the guards hostage, a group of prisoners would attempt to break out of the camp. Interestingly, those identified as being part of that group were not Spetsnaz, or VDV. They were a mix of motor riflemen, tankers, gunners etc. It would, therefore, seem that the breakout attempt was not a plan to get valuable personnel back to Soviet lines, but simply to cause disruption. It would also seem that instructions to attempt a breakout came from outside the camp. Investigations are continuing as to how these orders reached the camp. It is possible that clandestine methods of communication were destroyed in the various fires.
“Secondly the discovery of two bodies of prisoners, who showed signs of having been hanged (see attached autopsy report), it would also appear that the riot was a cover for the murder of two prisoners who were co-operating with camp authorities. It must be stressed that these two prisoners were not ‘informants’ but had simply taken on the responsibility of acting as liaison between the prisoners and camp authorities. We suspect that the murders were carried out to eliminate those seen as ‘collaborators’ and to intimidate those who may have been considering co-operation, as well as reinforcing loyalty to the Soviet Union. That beatings and another murder have taken place in other EPW camps (see attached list) would seem to support those conclusions.
“Finally, no blame can be attached to the troops who supressed the riot. All followed public order training developed from experience in Northern Ireland and elsewhere. That the prisoners proved to be extremely violent, even by the standards of riots in ‘The Troubles’, could not be expected. Troops used the minimum force necessary at all times and escalation came from the prisoners. Use of live ammunition when the lives of friendly troops were at risk was unavoidable. Indeed, it was the use of live ammunition that broke the back of the riot.”
“Signed:
“Warrant Officer II J Wilson, RMP Special Investigation Branch
“Captain J Connor, Royal Irish Rifles, attached Intelligence Corps.”
1815 hours GMT. CNN News Report.
“Reports that advance forces of the Brazilian Army have reached the suburbs of the Venezuelan cities of Ciudad Bolívar and Ciudad Guayana have been strenuously denied by the Venezuelan government. A spokesperson claimed that quote ‘imperialist Brazilian forces are being smashed in the southern part of our country. Their remnants will soon be scuttling for their own borders.’ The Brazilian Ministry of Defence has not confirmed the reports. Stating that it does not comment on ongoing military operations. A Brazilian government spokesperson did note that quote ‘the Venezuelan Government could end this conflict today by ending their unprovoked, illegal invasion of Guayana. We will cease our operation as soon as they withdraw their forces from Guayana.’
“Analysts have noted that should Brazilian military forces capture these cities, or at cut the road network to their south, it will cut off Venezuelan forces that have invaded neighbouring Guyana. The Brazilian Army has been making a steady advance north in the Venezuelan state of Bolivar.
“US forces and those from several allied countries have been deployed to Guyana to assist in stopping the Venezuelan invasion. Which Venezuela claims is a liberation of occupied territory. The Brazilian move into southern Venezuela was launched in response to the invasion of Guyana.”
1849 hours GMT. CFS Alert, Nunavut, Canada.
Named after HMS Alert, which had overwintered nearby between 1875 and 1876, Alert was the most northerly continuously inhabited place in the world. Although, the inhabitants were all temporary residents, generally there for three-to-six-month tours of duty. While CFS Alert was a military SIGINT facility, there was also an atmospheric observatory and weather station, which were staffed by civilian scientists.
With much of the SIGINT activity now being relayed to CFS Leitrim near Ottawa, rather than being processed on site, Alert’s population had shrunk to just over a hundred. Around half of which were civilians.
Responsibility for the protection of CFS Alert lay with Joint Task Force (North), which was responsible for all military operations in northern Canada (bar the NORAD mission). The task force had a lot of ground to cover and finite resources to cover it. When it came to CFS Alert, JTF(N) had ordered the evacuation of the civilian scientists and any non-essential contract personnel. A thirty-man security platoon formed from a core of Primary Reserve soldiers from E Company, The Loyal Edmonton Regiment (4 PPCLI), but mainly made up of Supplementary Reserve soldiers had been deployed to the station. Some Canadian Rangers from the Grise Fiord Patrol had also been forward deployed to the area around Alert.
*
The Soviets were well aware of CFS Alert, as it was not as if the Canadians had kept the existence of the station secret, even if what it actually did was. The DA target planners had considered assigning some missiles to it during the attack on North America. However, senior DA officers, under political pressure, had assigned all the missiles to more visible targets far to the south. Attacking the station had been put to the bottom of the pile. Until now.
A single A-90 Orlyonok ‘ekranoplan’ carrying 100 Naval Spetsnaz was now skimming over the Arctic Sea. Its destination CFS Alert. The Orlyonok could have carried fifty more troops but would not have made it to the Canadian coast and back. The possibility of refuelling using capture aviation fuel at Alert Airport had been discounted. Flying only a few meters above the sea, the ‘ekranoplan’ had gone undetected for most of its flight. A radar station from the North Warning System picked it up when it was only ten minutes from reaching its target. That was just enough time to place an urgent phone call to the facility.
“Duty Officer speaking.”
Two minutes to target…
“This is CANEAST, North Bay. You are about to come under attack from a Soviet raiding party. We can’t get any help to you for at least an hour and that will only be fast jets.”
“What?!” The Duty Officer exclaimed, but he was signalling to a colleague. “Alert the guard force and break open the armoury!” He said, stabbing the mute button for a moment.
One minute to target…
“You are about to come under ground attack, Alert. You need to alert your guard force!” The voice of the controller for the Easter Sector of the Canadian NORAD Region said urgently.
“We’re doing that, North Bay. We’re also arming all personnel we can. I’m going to stay here to maintain comms as long as I can.”
Target…
The A-90 passed over the station as it headed to the nearby airport. It sprayed a few of the buildings with machine-gun fire as it passed by. As it landed, it also opened fire on airport buildings to supress any defenders. As soon as the Orlyonok its Spetsnaz passengers swarmed out, some moving to secure the airport buildings.
There was only a single section from the security platoon at the airport, plus three maintenance personnel and two air traffic controllers. The latter just had time to grab personal weapons before the enemy landed. Although they put up a spirited defence, the Canadians were quickly overwhelmed and the Spetsnaz advanced on the station itself.
When E Company had been raised there had not been enough modern weapons to issue to them. So, in lieu of these, the Supplementary Reserve men had been issued C1A1 SLR and C2A1 LAR. Although, the ten Primary Reserve soldiers assigned to the platoon did have C7 rifles and a couple of C9 LMGs. The station’s small armoury added eight C7 rifles, a pair of C8 carbines and two Remington 870P shotguns usually used for firing ‘bear scarer’ rounds. The station personnel effectively formed an additional section, replacing the one lost at the airport.
The Spetsnaz not only outnumbered the Canadian defenders but also outgunned them. For example, they had more fully automatic weapons, RPGs and grenade launchers. They were able to use the latter weapons to supress some of the defenders as they assaulted the station. However, enough of the defenders were able to keep firing to keep the Spetsnaz at bay. At least temporarily.
*
Lieutenant Whitcomb had been on Alert Duty at FOL Yellowknife when the order had come through to scramble in response to the Soviet incursion. As his CF-188A climbed rapidly he did wonder just what he and his wingman would be able to achieve, as they were only armed for air-to-air combat. At least some form of help was on its way to CFS Alert.
***
[1] See this fact-file for more on UK Small Arms manufacturing.
Sometimes I just have to shake my head and wonder what they were thinking.