Cossack Fury

Year 2014. World economic turmoil has taken its toll. America is weak and has withdrawn to isolationaism. While Russia, newly wealthy with enormous industrial output fueled by a solid energy boom emerges as the world's primary arbiter of world leadership. Russian president Zhinonevsky defiantly declares Russian supremacy in the high seas. International oil trade is Russian control after Russia despatches an airborne invasion of Saudi Arabia. The Russian 106. Guards Airborne Division quickly seizes Riyadh. Dhahran oil fields in northern Saudi Arabia is swept by a composite motor rifle brigade from a disguised merchantman Nikolai Vatutin. The Russian North Sea Fleet, Baltic and Fleet ancillaries converge in Western Atlantic.

US President --- calls an emergency meeting where his national security adviser alerts of an imminent assault on Azores by the Voenno Morski Flota naval infantry units. President --- orders an immediate deployment of an Marine Expediatinary Unit aboard USS Wasp in a hastily assembled task force. The US Congress has authorized a strong caveat on deploying US forces against Russia. Speaker Brieski warned president of dire consequence in a nuclear showdown with Russia. "US would be overwhelmed," she spoke on national networks. Undaunted US President quickly authorizes Lt. Col. James Blackwell to immediately seize Azores and prepare a deliberate defense. "You can count on all support," the president called from his Oval Office telephone set specially designed to communicate with theater and subordinate commands.

Blackwell was a seasoned veteran of the Persian Gulf War. He had led a company of 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines part of MARCENT strike force that launched a frontal assault against Saddam's beleagured Shiite defenders of Kuwait city. His self esteem had hurt after Army Captain Herbert Raymond McMaster had gathered much publicity after the famed Battle of the 73 Easting. McMaster's cavalry troop had destroyed a battalion plus armored units of Iraq's famed Tawakalna Republican Guard armored division. Blackwell''s grunts had suffered worst yet they prevailed against enemy forces despite their older M60A3 Patton tanks much succeptible to deadly fire of Iraq's T-72s and T-62s. In fact even, Iraq's much older T-55s were a threat to his main battle tanks and LAV-25 cannon armed armored troop carriers. The Swiss vehicles from Switzeland's vaunted MOWAG company were extremely fast yet highly vulnerable to enemy hand held weapons like the RPG-7s and RPG-18s.

Blackwell called for a battalion XO conference in which the three comapny XO's were asked to conduct a Tarawa style amphibious landing involving both LAV-25, LVTPs and M1A1s carried by LCAC air cushion vehicles. Once landed, resistance by FSB saboteurs was expected given rampant anti-Americanism is Spain following the Madrid bombings of 1998. Pro-US Aznar government quickly fell out of power and was replaced by socialists, some of whom openly talked of withdrwaing from NATO's "unwieldy" alliance and its global commitment.

The D-Day was set for June 4, 2014. Battalion S-2, Priam Rana was busy reading surveillance snapshots from F/A-18F recon flights. The Russian strategic rocket/space forces and Cold War APVO units had been consolidated into one central Cosmokommando which operated from near Moscow. General Shevechkin, the new commander skillfully ordered the lasing and destruction of all US surveillance assets. NAVSTAR GPS navigation statellites, Big Birds, KH-11 Keyholes and other research satellites associated with government were eliminated in a swift one week cmapaign. Then General Rogers at JCS realized the potential of Laser based Intertial Navigation Systems developed by Litton. Secretary of Defense ordered a major shakedown of contracts after US Space Command was unable to report anything on foreign forces. This information travelled quickly across the globe enabling the likes of Indian born traitor Gowadia to quickly transfer highly classified information to Moscow and Beijing, the known centers of the new axis - The Shanghai Cooperation organization. Suddenly US Information Warfare specialists found themselves without internet. Public enterprises failed and communication free to the world's masses again became restricted only to selected group of enterpreneurs with radio sets. Ham radios, AM radios and FM were the public's source of information. Interactive communications and networks and communities dispappeared. The power quickly shifted from the public choice to government controlled information resulting in loss of public control of their lives.

(to be continued...)