War with Russia

Three days later, with the Rear Admiral commanding the Task Group embarked, together with his staff, HMS Queen Elizabeth left Portsmouth Harbor to go to war. Blue-jacketed sailors in their best rig lined the decks, while emotional crowds gathered on Southsea Common to wave off the Task Group. As Bush stood on the bridge, he felt a lump in his throat and a flush of pride as the mighty warship moved slowly into the waters of Spithead, before heading out past the Martello forts built to protect Portsmouth from the French, and into the English Channel, following the course so many great warships had taken before.

Yet, despite this sense of pride in being part of the golden thread of excellence exemplified by the Royal Navy, a premonition of dread gripped him. He only hoped that the politicians and admirals and pundits were right and Russia would not come out and fight them, lest it provoke a wider European war and an almost inevitable nuclear exchange. History might indicate otherwise, though. Back in 1982 the experts predicted the Argentinians would buckle as soon as they saw the Task Force heading toward them. But that had not happened, had it?

1900 hours, Monday, May 22, 2017

National Defense Control Center, Moscow

STANDING ON THE bridge overlooking the War Room in the National Defense Control Center, Fyodor Komarov, the President’s Chief of Staff, could see that the man chosen to set up and run it, Lieutenant General Mikhail Filatov, was looking anxious.

Well he might in front of this lot, but he’d better get used to it or he’ll end up commanding a camp in Siberia, thought Komarov, standing behind the President, who was flanked by his key cohort of advisers; the men who ran Russia’s war machine.

Below them a host of staff officers, all too conscious that they were being watched by the man who could determine their fate at a word, sat at the concentric rings of desks, quietly working the banks of computers and secure telephones. Around the walls the interactive screens now showed detailed maps of the Baltic states and Sea, together with those of northwest Europe, the North Sea and English Channel. The TV screens were showing multiple live 24-hour news feeds. Had the sound been turned up, they would have heard a cacophony of anxious presenters and frantic journalists.

Instead, in complete silence, clips of film showed Russian vehicles and soldiers moving purposefully through the streets of cities in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, watched by shocked and sullen crowds of civilians. Although, in stark contrast, some Russian TV feeds were showing scenes of Russian flag-waving locals—doubtless the Russian-speaking minority—throwing flowers and kissing the victorious Russian soldiers. On one screen, marked as showing Russia Today, clips of Russian soldiers in their camouflage uniforms were interspersed with grainy black-and-white footage of advancing Soviet troops from the Great Patriotic War.

The President’s eyes narrowed in satisfaction and he nodded to Filatov. “What are you waiting for? I came here for an update and I haven’t got all day.”

Filatov took a deep breath, smoothed back his well-coiffed hair and started.

“Vladimir Vladimirovich, I am pleased to tell you that Russian armed forces have enjoyed complete success. Thanks to the very effective maskirovka operation and the efforts of the RNZS, the Russian People’s Protection Force in Latvia, as well as the cyber operation, the integrity of the state collapsed like a discarded balloon. Latvia is almost completely in Russian hands. Seventy-Sixth Guards Assault Landing Division has secured the international airport and the air base at Lielvārde. We have just heard from the divisional commander that his most battle-hardened formation, Twenty-Three Air Assault Regiment—you’ll remember how well they did in the recovery of Ukraine three years ago—is now effectively in control of Riga. Meanwhile, First Guards Tank Army is making good progress and estimates it will be in Riga in four hours.”

“What about opposition, Mikhail Nikolayevich?” asked the President, ignoring Filatov and turning instead to his Chief of the General Staff, Gareyev, dressed today in a simple soldier’s combat fatigues.

“The Latvians fought hard, but their army was only five thousand full timers and twenty thousand reservists, many of whom never even deployed in time. They didn’t stand a chance. We’re lucky NATO hadn’t stationed any well-armed, permanent forces there. That could have changed things completely.”

“So, there was no NATO involvement?” persisted the President.