The Third World War (European Scenario)

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The Operational Art of War IV
The Third World War (European Scenario)
A Narrative Replay
By Bootlegger

This scenario is a direct conversion from Frank Chadwick's (Game Designers Workshop) excellent board game “The Third World War: The Battle for Germany. The OOB's have been massively updated along with the possible battle plans the Soviet AI can execute as those plans and OOB's were obtained after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Chapter 1
“The Day Before”

0705901930Z

Vicinity Casteau, Belgium. SHAPE/SACEUR Hq's Command Ops Center.

General Mark Russo, Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), was standing behind his work station when his Intel Officer came out of the Coms bunker. Col Josef Krubb of the West Germany Army handed him a folded piece of paper. Russo looked at Krubb whose face stayed stoic, as it always did.

He unfolded the note and read the four words..”Permission Granted, Godspeed, SecState” “Took them long enough” said Russo to Grubb. “Coms, get me the Cdrs of AGNorth, AGCenter, the German 1st and US VII Corps on the secure line. I need it done as fast as possible” ordered Russo.

The “Permission” gave Russo authority to order the demolition of the bridges in Hamburg, Hanover, and Nurnburg, an order he was waiting to give. Hopefully they had enough time before Ivan crossed the IGB...

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Chapter 2
“The Good, Bad, and Ugly”

9 July, 1990 0345Z
0709900345Z

Russo was looking at the four folders on his desk. “Personnel, Intel, Ops, Logistics.” He slid the Log and Per folders to the side, grumbling under his breath as he did. He knew the timelines regarding getting reinforcements and supplies from the US to Europe . 7 days at best. 4-5 crossing the Atlantic, 2-3 offloading and getting them into theater. The Chief Naval Ops (CNO) had reminded him that Ivan was not playing very nice at the moment. Russo knew that the Navy was taking some pretty good hits as they covered the convoy.

Thankfully REFORGER was implemented once the order to send the 82nd into Iran was given. That gave the personnel of the 1st ID (Mech), time to fall onto their POMCUS Site, draw their equipment, and occupy their GDP positions before the outbreak of hostilities.

He opened the Intel and Ops folders, read the bullet summaries, and then stared at the Satellite, JSTARS, and Photo Recon data. He glanced over to an Ops bullet point then looked at a series of JSTARS pictures showing the Warsaw Pact forces moving into the salient that formed between Hamburg and Hanover. A penetration of 150Kms. The loss of Hamburg along with the 3rd Pz Div was bad enough. The Brit 1st Ar Div took a beating and withdrew to Bremen trying to reorganize. The Dutch 1st Mech Div made it to Bremerhaven but there was a gap, one he couldn't fill because Russian Spetnaz forces disrupted the deployment of the Dutch 1st Mech Corps.

|He looked at the Bullet points from both reports and wrote a separate list, taking only those that mattered (To Him):
COMNOR: 76th Gds Abn Div atks at Bodo. Est...Lost 1-2 days
COMDEN: WP airstrikes cause heavy loses to Danish AF
AG North: WP will bypass Kiel, Isolate Jutland 1-2 days
AG North: WP continues atk along axis Bremen-Groningen and Hanover-Bielfeld-Munster.

Russo changed the screen on the wall displaying the disposition of AG North's combat units to that of AG Center. After 4 days of fighting and delaying, the 11th and 2nd ACR's were spent, but their sacrifice gave the US V and VII Corps much needed time to get set. That front was stable, for now.

Switching to AG South's display, well here were surprises. Even after Yugoslavia declared neutrality, the WP still attacked. Same with Austria when they launched an airstrike against the airfields around Vienna. Greece and Turkey, although attacked, were well dug in.

The next few days will be the hardest thought Russo as he leaned back in his chair....

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Chapter 3
“The Hammer has to Fall”

0430hrs 12 July, 1990
0712900430Z

Eight days into the war and the lines were holding, some areas better than others.

As expected, Ivan hit the forward deployed elements of NorthAG and CentAG. 2nd GTA, 20th GA, and the 3rd Shock Army attacked along the axis . The WG 3rd Pz Div absorbed the brunt of the 2nd GTA and paid for it. Hamburg fell earlier than he expected, right after. The UK 1st Ar Div fate was much same as they got hit with both the 20th GA and elements of 3rd Shock. What remained of the Division regrouped in Bremen. Whereas the 2nd GTA and 20th GA had good success, the 3rd Shock was stopped at Hanover and Braunschweig by the 1st and 7th WG Pz Div's. With those two positions anchoring the right flank of NorthAG, and Bremen/Bremerhaven holding the left, and all the major river and rail crossings between them destroyed, the 20th GA pushed SW towards Bielfeld, where they ran into the Belgium 1st Mech Div who just arrived. The meeting engagement ended in a tactical loss for the Belgiums who lost over 60%, but it did contain the penetration until the BE 16th Mech fell in on their postions.

The lead elements of the US III Corps (2nd AD and 3rd ACR) fell onto their Pomcus Sites and road marched to Osnabruck and Bielfeld to back up the Belgiums. The US 4th Mech Div also arrived and took up positions on the US V Corps left.

It was here in CentAG, in the Fulda Gap, did Russo believe Ivan would make his next large attack. The 1st Gds Tk Army, 8th Gds Army, and 3rd EG Army had engaged and destroyed the ACR screen but then only conducted positioning attacks. They were at 90% strength yet no major attacks since the 9th. The respite gave Russo time get the French II Corps into position along the Main River covering the gap between the US 3rd Mech and 1st AD.

CentAG's right flank was held by the WG III Corps along with the Can 4th Mech Bde, and the French 1st Corps. Here also a major attack is expected.

Cdr AFSouth secured permission from the Yugoslav Gov't allowing the It V Corps to enter the country and take up defensive positions at Rijeka, Ljubjana, and to the north. Greece and Turkey were holding their own against the Bulgarians', Romanians', and Albanians'.

NATO had Air Superiority but the kill ratio of 3.5 to 1 was too low to maintain it for much longer. He was running out of air cover.

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Chapter 4
“Poking the Bear”

16 July, 1990 0505hrs
0716900505Z

Russo turned to his J2 as he looked up from the recent JSTARS and Satellite data. Ivan and the WP had committed all their Category A formations and some Cat B. 17 more divisions made up of Cat B and Cat C units were in Poland moving west. “How long before they arrive?” asked SACEUR. “72-96hrs, maybe less, but I doubt that” said the Col.

Russo turned and looked at the real time display showing his force dispositions from Bremen to the Austrian border. For the past twelve days they've been on the defensive. Then again, Ivan, for whatever reason, gave him 3-4 days of...nothing, except in Yugoslavia. He wasn't concerned there as the Italian's had gotten into position, protecting his near right flank.

He had put that time to good use. First, the front line units were resupplied with the last of NATO's reserve ammo. The next convoy with the remainder of III Corps plus badly needed supplies would take another 3-4 days to arrive and assemble.
Second, when the 2nd AD and 1st Cav arrived in the vicinity of Bielfeld, he made sure Ivan knew about it. Third, He was able to assemble most of the French 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Corps between Wurzburg and Nurnberg, giving him some depth between the US V and VII Corps. Fourth, it gave time for his planning cell in J3 Ops, a chance to come up with options since they now had a better read on the enemy. In his hand was the one he had chosen. He had issued the warning order 5hrs earlier. They had given him three options:

1) Maintain the current line, adjusting to the enemy's offensive ops. Wait for all of major manuver reinforcements from the US to arrive, and use them along with the French to launch a counter-offensive at the place of our choosing. Time frame...3 weeks
2) A variation on option 1. Shorten the line at Bremerhaven and Bremen. This will free up 2-3 divisions to use as a strategic reserve along with the US 3rd Corps.
3) The third option was offensive in nature, executed in phases, and complicated, with many moving parts.

The first phase would be executed by the Brits, Dutch, and Germans. They would conduct a Recon in Force SE of Bremen to keep Ivan's attention in the north of Germany. Also part of Phase one would be the combined Air Forces of NATO attacking the four major air bases around Leipzig, Halle, and Gera.
The original plan had airborne forces landing at Magdeburg and Halle to disrupt WP logistics and transportation network leading to the front. Russo didn't like leaving the Airborne units behind the lines for over a week. He moved this part of the operation to phase two.

Phase two would commence on or about 0718900001Z. The Northag/Centag boundary would be shifted north to Braunschweig and the WG II Corps would come under Centag. Coordination wasn't necessary as the WG II Corps and the US V Corps shared the sector beforehand. The Air Force would hit the same four locations again but this time it would be followed up by the Brits and Canadians' landing in Magdeburg, and the US and French landing at Halle.

The main event of Phase two was the attack across a 150km front from south of Braunschweig to north of Wurzburg. 8 Div's plus Separate Bde's would be involved. The main focus was the attack on the Russian 9th TD. It straddled the seam between the 3rd Shock Army and the 8th Gds Army. They would be hit with 4 Div's NE of Kassel with the objective of opening a corridor to Halle.

Phase three would depend on the success, or lack thereof, of Phase two. The French I, II, and III Corps along with the US VII Corps would exploit any withdrawls by the enemy.

“You see anything I'm missing?” asked Russo. “On the whole, nothing, as would I, but I also have concerns.” said the Col. “The Airborne Op at Magdeburg” said Russo. The Col nodded....

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July 23rd, 1990
0723900752Z

Four days. Four very long days. The Air Force and Airborne Operation went off first. The Air Force took a beating hitting the airfields but succeeded in surpressing the ADA assets all along the various DZ's. Each one of the objective areas were taken with acceeptable losses.

During the first 48hrs of the ground ops, the counter attacks in Northag and Centag were going very well. The Brits, Dutch, and Germans' had blown a 50km hole in the Russian line, advanced 50kms behind, and isolated two Divs of the 20 Gds Army. Outriders from the British 4th Ar Div even made contact with Germans' defending Hanover.

Centag's attacks with (from north to south) the US III, V, VII Corps, WG II Corps, and the French II and III Corps went even better. The attack by the US III and WG II Corps between Braunschweig and Kassel caught the Russians' off guard. 2nd Ar Div Scouts made contact with French Abn forces outside of Halle. Then the 3rd Mech and 3rd AD trampled the 27th Gds MRD pushing them across the IGB. The French 1st AD along with its Recce advanced north as the 4th Fr AD stepped into the line covering the US 3rd Mech's right and isolating a Russian and EG Div. The US 1st AD stood pat as a doorstop for the French advance. The US 1st Mech Div, which launched a ddecoy attack ended up evaporating a Cz Div.

Then the Russians' had their say in the matter, especially in Northag. They immediately went to work on the Abn in and around Magdeburg. Once they closed the corridor, they attacked the UK 4th AD and WG 11th PzG with 5 Div's. They got cut off and had to withdraw into Hamburg, battered.
They continued their attack, but turned south and slammed into the UK 2nd Mech, crossing the river and getting behind Hanover but stopping short of Bielfeld. threatening the rear of the US III Corps operation.
The problem these Warsaw Pact attackers were running into was logistics. Russo was going to take advantage of that.

He was about to make a decision on whether to pass the US 1st Cav Div thru the US 2nd Ar to continue their attack or....Russo's J3, Brig Gen William Cullen, walked in his office, folders in hand. “Bill. What ya think?” asked Russo as he waved at the display. He needed to hear (again) what his Ops chief saw. Gen Cullen didn't mind...”Same as the last time I came in. I see a lot of WP Div's that have no way to resupply. Those same units are going to try very hard to change that, especially these guys over here” said Cullen as he highlighted the area around Erfurt with a laser pointer. Russo had his own pointer and circled Magdeburg and Leipzig. “The WP supply problems are due to those troops and I intend to get them out” said Russo. Cullen continued...“ AFSouth reported that the WP hit airbases in Italy for the first time. You already know about his ongoing ops against Albania. Also, we're getting reports that the WP used chemical munitions here and here. We're trying to confirm that now but...” Russo interrupted him..”If they are resorting to chemical weapons, have we hurt them that much?” “Let me give a quick rundown on how the next three days are going to pan out...” said Cullen.

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