Red Storm Rising

STENDAL, GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC

"General Beregovoy reports a heavy counterattack from the north-towards Alfeld."

Alekseyev accepted the news impassively. His gamble had failed. That's why it's called gambling, Pasha

Now what?

It was very quiet in the map room. The junior officers who plotted the movements of friendly and enemy forces had never talked much, and now were not even looking over to the other map sectors. It was no longer a race to see whose forces got to their objectives first.

The word you're looking for is gloom, Pasha The General stood next to his operations officer.

"Yevgeny Ilych, I am open to suggestions."

He shrugged. "We must continue. Our troops are tired. So are theirs."

"We're throwing inexperienced troops against veterans. We have to change that. We will take officers and NCOs from the A units that are off the line and use them to beef up the C units now arriving. These reservists must have experienced combat soldiers to leaven their ranks, else we send them like cattle to the slaughter. Next, we will temporarily suspend offensive operations-"

"Comrade General, if we do that-"

"We have enough strength for one last hard push. That push will be at the time and place of my choosing, and it will be a fully prepared attack. I will order Beregovoy to escape the best way he can-I cannot trust that order to the radio. Yevgeny Ilych, I want you to fly to Beregovoy's headquarters tonight. He'll need a good operational brain to assist him. That will be your assignment." I'll give you a chance to redeem yourself, you traitorous bastard Use it well. More importantly, it got the KGB informer out of the way. The operations officer walked off to arrange transport. Alekseyev took Sergetov back into his office.

"You're going back to Moscow."

42 - The Resolution of Conflict

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM

"Amazing what a pair of fives can do.. "

"What's that, General?" his intelligence chief inquired. SACEUR shook his head, looking at the map with confidence for once. Alfeld held -a couplet, the General thought. The Germans to the west had taken a murderous pounding, but while their lines had bent, they hadn't broken. More help was on the way. A tank brigade was en route to reinforce them. The newly arrived armored division was pressing south now to isolate this Russian division from those on the Weser. The farthest-advanced Russian divisions had shot out their supply of surface-to-air missiles, and NATO air power was blasting their positions with grim regularity.

Aerial reconnaissance showed the open ground east of Alfeld to be a charnel house of burned-out tanks. Reinforcements were heading there also. Ivan would be back, but skies were clearing again. The full weight of NATO aircraft was coming into play.

"Joachim, I think we've stopped them."

"Ja, Herr General! Now we'll begin to drive them back."

MOSCOW, R.S.F.S.R.

"Father, General Alekseyev has ordered me to tell you that he does not think it possible to defeat NATO."

"You are certain?"

"Yes, father." The young man sat down in the Minister's office. "We failed to achieve strategic surprise. We underestimated NATO's air power-too many things. We failed to prevent NATO's resupply. Except for that last counterattack it might have worked, but... There is one more chance. The General is suspending offensive operations in preparation for a final attack. To do this-"

"If all is lost, what is this you're talking about?"

"If we can damage the NATO forces sufficiently to forestall a major counteroffensive, we will hold on to our gains, enabling you-enabling the Politburo to negotiate from a position of strength. Even this is uncertain, but it is the best option the General sees. He asks that you put it to the Politburo that a diplomatic settlement is necessary, and quickly, before NATO recovers its strength sufficiently for their own offensive."

The Minister nodded. He turned in his chair to look out the window for a few minutes while his son waited for a response.

"Before that is possible," the Minister said finally, "they will order Alekseyev's arrest. You know what's happened to the others they arrested, don't you?" It took his son a moment to grasp the father's words.

"They couldn't have!"

"Last night, all seven of them, including your former Commander-in-Chief."

"But he was an effective commander-"

"He failed, Vanya," the elder Sergetov said quietly. "The State does not suffer failure gladly, and I have allied myself, for your sake, with Alekseyev..." His voice trailed off. I have no choice now. I must cooperate with Kosov, bastard or not, consequences or not. And I must risk your life also, Vanya. "Vitaly will take you to the dacha. You will change into civilian clothes and wait for me. You will not go outside, you will not allow yourself to be seen by anyone."

"But surely you are being watched!"