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Alt. History set in late 80s to early 90s about a fictitious WW3, ACR= Armored Cavalry Regiment, ROK= Republic of Korea, ANZAC= Australian, New Zealand Corp, Author Captain Cain, started this some time ago and finally decided to make myself an account.
1988: First strike
The USSR at the time of 1988 was falling to pieces, liberalization under Gorbachev had destabilized the country as the country's economy bottomed up and the cost of the war in Afghanistan was taking its toll. The people were no longer the loyal Communist people of the 50s and 60s they had tasted the west they had tasted Capitalism and they wanted more. In the vast wastes of Siberia Revolutionary groups fought Soviet internal troops in a pseudo-secret war against the government. But to this backdrop the newest Premier of the Soviet Union was a hardline Communist named Pavel Troika who in some of his first mandates had cracked down on the civil unrest, taken away certain social freedoms earned under Gorbachev and above all planned to reunite his nation, fix her economic problems and defeat the USSR's enemies all in one fell swoop.
On the other side of the border President George H. W. Bush had seen the unrest in the USSR as a good omen for the US and NATO but as the new hardline leadership came into power he grew concerned about the new leader who publicly denounced the west in front of the General Assembly and the entire USSR calling them rich wall street pigs and dogs of war for having attacked the left wing rebels throughout Central America so as President Bush ordered the cancellation of troop movements out of Germany he settled in for a waiting game to see how the USSR would act.
Meanwhile in China, the Chinese ousted Chairman Deng a year prior and had setup a Pro-Soviet government that strengthened ties with the USSR and its local allies in North Korea and even hostile Vietnam. In the Warsaw Pact the current governments became ultra left wing and began instituting measures to repress Liberal social movements and in one bloody case Polish secret police and soldiers opened fire on a Solidarity protest. The western nations were not only adamant about this but even offered to evacuate the remaining Solidarity members from Poland to political asylum in Britain.
On November 2,1988 without Soviet planes lifted off from border airstrips some were ground attack planes meant to attack U.S and NATO bases throughout West Germany and Europe but American radar picked up the planes incoming to their targets and all over Germany US, West German, Dutch, Belgian and British fighter pilots took off and intercepted the massive formation of fighters and both sides pummeled each other's air force over Germany with the Soviet fighters and ground attack planes failing to reach any of their targets. Attacks on NATO air defense facilities by the German Communist groups failed to materialized or in more than one case that attackers became the attacked when German Federal Police got wind of the plot but were unable to draw the lines to the impending attack. Meanwhile in the Fulda Gap, the Soviet 8th Guards Army charged through the gap attacking the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment and despite the initial surprise, the regiment was able to make a fighting retreat dealing damage and blunting the Soviet spearheads. Falling back a few miles they dug in and sent messages to the 8th Mechanized infantry division and 3rd Armored Division but German rebels had cut communications wires and had damaged the radio tower at Stuggart so and so a runner in a Hummvee had to be sent to the headquarters to get re-inforcements. Meanwhile, the 11th Cav had to fight on their own. Along the Northern Fronts units from the 3rd shock army and the 1st East German Army attacked NATO units along the border. But these attacks were secondary to the main breakthrough meant to come at the Fulda Gap. Meanwhile, the second phase of the plan came into play as the Soviets and East Germans dropped paratroopers around Stuggart and Ramstein AFB with the intention to attack and destroy as many US planes on the ground as they could and to cause chaos in the rear of the allies because of the East Germans dropped with the Soviets it was planned to ambush West German and other NATO troops going to the front. But as the transports took to the skies the NATO radar again picked it up and again patrolling groups of F-15s and F-14s attacked the transports taking out many those that did drop their men subjected them to a ruthless hunt down by West German and US Military Police. On the ocean the Soviet sub fleet released from its pens attacked Norwegian and British ships patrolling in the North Atlantic but for the most part the Soviets were unable to gain the upper hand as years of training for this situation kicked in and the British and Norwegian navies fought back in a fierce anti-submarine campaign. In contrast to on the land things went just the way the Soviets had wanted they invaded Finland and within hours the massive Finnish border defenses were over run and the Finnish army was falling back to secondary positions the Finns signed on with NATO and received support from the Norwegian army the Finnish navy proved valuable in the fighting of the Soviet Submarine fleet. In one of the most successful operations of the war a British sub with a Finnish crew attacked and sunk the Soviet carrier Minsk. The Swedes followed suit when Soviet bombers made a pre-emptive strike on Swedish naval yards destroying several ships and patrol craft. Still in the Baltic the Soviets won supremacy over the primarily Danish naval force in the region after the attack on Danish naval bases by Ballistic missile subs and then a follow up bombing on the Danish navy the Danes were effectively crippled. In the Mediterranean The Turks who the Soviets had counted on to stay out of the war joined with the other NATO countries and effectively blocked the passage from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. What few ships that made it through were mostly subs who concentrated on attacking the Turkish navy and going after the US 6th Fleet which was to be redeployed to the North Atlantic to help defend Iceland and the Atlantic passage. The inclusion of Turkey and Greece into the war forced the Soviets to allocate the 2nd shock army to the invasion of Turkey. Greece honoring the NATO agreement also joined in and made yet another front which the Soviet ordered Romania and Bulgaria to reduce. The one true victory for the Soviets came in the destruction of Thule Air Force Base in Greenland. The base was attacked by surprise by a team of Spetsnaz commandos posing as an incoming LC-130, when the plane landed they jumped out attacking the guards and blowing up the bases Ballistic missile detection system, the group was attempting to fallback to the transport when it was destroyed by a patrolling F-14 that heard the base's cries for help the group after which surrendered to the guards who hauled them off to the states. The destruction of the system created a gap in NORAD's defenses and thus as work began to get the base fixed up the Soviet launched an air raid on the base bombing it to the point when it was deemed too costly to repair and thus abandoned. A new base was put under construction at the northern most point in Quebec. Meanwhile in Fulda, the 11th ACR was being pushed to its limits by the 8th Guards Army, most of its squadrons were down to half strength from the intensive Soviet attacks and yet the regiment did not budge and was finally relieved when the forward elements of the 3rd Armored showed up along with that the 68th Armored Regiment came to re-inforce the 11th ACR with the arrival of these two units the 11th ACR was pulled off the line to be re-inforced. The first two weeks of the war had ended in stalemate. But the Soviets renewed their offensive with support by the 1st Guards Tank Army which smashed into the defensive line setup by the 68th and 3rd armored. The attack was so fierce and brutal that the Americans once again found themselves being rolled back having to setup secondary and tertiary defensive positions losing many men in the process. The 11th ACR and 8th Mech. Infantry were thrown into the fray slowing down the Soviet Juggernaut long enough to prepare basic positions from which they defended from for another twenty four hours and without support the line would've likely broken. On the ocean sea Operation Iceberg was underway this entailed most of the US 6th Fleet including the massive USS Nimitz and the British North Atlantic squadron lead by the HMS Ark Royal. The ships were to head to the Soviet naval base at Murmansk and attack the Submarines under construction there with the hope of crippling the Soviet submarine fleet the expedition set out but midway through Soviet subs started to follow and track the fleet knowing the number of anti-submarine warfare ships were around they simply tracked it keeping the Soviet naval command updated on its position. This gave Soviet naval planners enough time to setup an ambush for the fleet and on November 22 the fleet rolled right into the trap cruise missiles launched from submarines targeted the USS Nimitz and HMS Ark Royal albeit the cruise missiles did miss both carriers, they landed instead amongst support vessels destroying several and capsizing three ships with the massive impact and waves created. With the loss of 2000 sailors the expedition turned around but not before giving a goodbye present to the Soviets ASW ships the few that remained tracked down these missile subs and sunk them, this cost the Soviets six valuable missile subs which were necessary for the upcoming attack they were planning. Back in Europe with the re-inforcement of the US 2nd Armored and 1st infantry division the Soviet assault again ground to a halt. The Soviets hope for a swift victory had all but disappeared.
1988: Deep Strike
The Soviets believed the only way to defeat this stalemate was to make another front from which the NATO forces would have to pull troops from their existing fronts to defend. This came in the form of Italy. In the Mediterranean during the second month of the war the Warsaw Pact forces had made significant gains - mostly in Greece where Yugoslav and Bulgarian troops had overrun Greece. Greece, from her entrance in the war, had been facing an overwhelming force of hostile and determined forces. The Greeks had fought hard and determined but in the face of the combined armies they were overwhelmed and eventually pushed back to the southern coast of Greece where the survivors were rescued by the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Squadron and taken to Turkey where they continued to fight the Soviets. For the Soviets the knockout of Greece as a factor meant that more of their forces could be diverted to the front in Germany and Southern Europe. With the massive Yugoslav army on their side the Soviets also had a new pool of men to get fresh grunts from. In the Black Sea the Soviet Black Sea fleet gathered and as Bulgarian troops completed surrounding Istanbul, the Soviet ships ran the straits to the Mediterranean and made it with the loss of a destroyer. The ships damaged in the run went to Southern Greece to undergo quick repairs. The rest of the fleet went to pick up waiting Soviet Marines and Paratroopers in Greece transporting them to neutral Libya where Colonel Gaddafi had pledged his country's support to the Socialist cause. He supplied another 3000 men for the Soviets who promptly, in an massive landing, dropped the troops in Sicily under heavy resistance from the Italian army. The Soviet and Libyan troops pushed forward taking Palermo and after a paradrop around the city Messina. The Soviets gave the Italians the option to sign a peace treaty with the Soviets denouncing NATO and having Italy remove itself from the organization. The Italians refused and with the support of the US III Corp and the British 1st Armored Division began to prepare for a counter landing. Meanwhile, the Italian Air Force began to bomb the Soviets in Sicily heavily. The Soviets hope for a quick victory over and drop out of Italy faded quickly. The Soviets then began to prepare to defend the island itself. On December 18th NATO troops landed near the town of Palermo Sicily and quickly retook the town. US tankers of the 1st Armored Division led by the 17th ACR charging up the coast to Messina meant to be the men to liberate both Palermo and Sicily while Italian and British troops charged head on into the heart of Sicily. But quickly the offensive petered out as Soviet and Libyan troops dug in around the mountain tops forcing US troops to have to climb the mountains in order to get at the Soviets. In the valleys the American and Soviet tanks tangled for hours leaving the battlefield a mass of twisted wreck of tanks and run-over corpses. The 17th ACR ground itself down to a pulp trying to fight Soviet troops dug in around the Nebrodi Range while fighting. Soviet armored battalions counter attacking in the valleys caused a brutal melee between the opposing tankers. This constant brutal combat, that some analysts say was even bloodier than the battles of Monte Cassino and Cold Harbor combined, brought the 17th ACR down to less than half strength. The 17th was eventually pulled off the line and replaced by the US 4th Infantry Brigade on loan from the 4th Infantry division. The regiment would be out of the fighting for three whole months before finally being able to conduct combat operations. Back on the Mediterranean Sea, the US 6th Fleet after being re-inforced by ships brought from the Fifth fleets and the Canadian Navy, began to search for their Soviet foes whom they found off Malta - which they had seized as a naval base. The Soviet fleet had not been fully re-inforced by their comrades undergoing repairs in Greece. In fact, only a handful of ships had actually returned. Constant attack by the Italian air force prevented much work to be done on the ships. The US 6th Fleet opened the first battle off Malta with the help of the Royal Navy Mediterranean squadron which had been skirmishing with the Soviets for some time. They attacked. The USS Nimitz and HMS Ark Royal began to launch planes immediately on detection of the Soviets and airborne duels between Soviet, American and British pilots began. Meanwhile, the surface ships for the first time in years began to close with one another. The USS Oliver Hazard Perry, launching missiles at one another the two fleets closed. Soon their ships' deck guns began to fire on one another causing a fierce melee between the two fleets. The Perry itself took three separate missile strikes from Soviet frigates and destroyers and in one of the shining examples of the use of an old tactic in a modern situation, the Perry, after battering the Soviet Cruiser Moskva, the Perry after taking two more missile strikes from the Moskva. The Crew of the Perry boarded the Moskva and in a brutal close quarters duel the Americans took the ship and its remaining crew prisoner, but the capture had not been an easy one. The boarding crew had taken 36 casualties and over half were KIA. With orders from the fleet commander the crew placed explosives throughout the ship and blew it up sending it to the bottom. The Perry fought the rest of the battle with half of its crew killed or wounded and finally limped into Naples victorious a week later. The battle itself was against the Soviets. From the start, the Soviets who had committed most of their air arm to the fighting in Sicily. So the combined fleet had control over the air for most of the battle. The British who distinguished themselves during the battle personally took on the Soviet Battleship Comrade Lenin and its battle group in a pitched battle that sent the battleship to the ocean floor along with most of its support ships, one of which surrendered. In one brutal acts of war the Soviet sailors on orders fro their political officers machine gunned British sailors in life rafts in retaliation to the sinking of Comrade Lenin. At some point during the battle the Soviets abandoned the destroyer Kara believing it to be sinking but the crew never radioed their abandoning of the ship, (The radio was damaged). British, Canadian and American sailors - backed up by a platoon of Royal Marines - boarded and commandeered the ship moving into the line of Soviet ships. The crew opened fire on the unsuspecting Soviet ships and managed to sink several of them before they rammed the Soviet Missile Cruiser Stalin and proceeded to fight the crew of that ship to the death even firing their deck gun point blank into the Stalin. The last group of men on board the Kara fighting the counter boarding parties sent by the Stalin fought to the last man while one of their own set off explosives rigged through out the ship. The Battle of Malta ended in a resounding Soviet defeat causing the Soviets to have to pull back to the safe Greek ports. For the NATO forces the battle was a costly victory costing 15 ships sunk and most of the others taking some sort of damage. The acts of the Oliver Hazard Perry and Kara would go down in the history books as bravest acts of the war, the British won special commendation for their sinking of the Comrade Lenin and for their show of restraint in the face of slaughter. In Europe or more importantly the Fulda Gap things went the exact opposite for the US forces in the region. The Soviet 8th Guards Army had been pushing against the US forces in the region for some time with almost no effect. But finally, after re-inforcements had come from the 1st Shock Army plus renewed efforts from the 1st Guards Tank Army began to slowly roll the American defenders backwards. The snapping of American lines came on December 25. The weary, tired and fought-out US 102nd infantry company was being pulled off the line the unit had been fighting with the 2nd Armored as infantry support since the divisions arrival at the front several weeks earlier. As the company was being pulled off the line for a few hours break for Christmas the Soviets struck. An advancing company of Soviet tanks found the barely defended section of the line and exploited it attacking directly into the gap. The remainder of the 102nd left in the positions held out for as long as possible but the Soviets quickly ran them down. The Soviets kept up the attack driving directly into the American rear. As more Soviet units poured into this gap the American front began to disintegrate as the men fell back so as to not be cut off. The Fifth Corp was soon rolling backwards as the Soviets pressed them. Digging in wherever possible, the Americans tried desperately to stem the tide of Soviet troops but the sheer number of Soviet troops drove them back. All across Germany NATO forces realized that if the Soviets weren't held their own forces would be encircled. In the Soviet command the main force continued to attack the slowly retreating Americans while elements of the 1st Shock Army broke off to attack north with objectives being set as far north as Hannover. But as the Soviets continued to drive forward the Americans slowed their retreat long enough to dig in around Fulda the Soviets attacked and in three hours of brutal fighting the Americans were driven back and out of Fulda the Americans continued to fight delaying actions but the battle for the most part was lost for the Americans finally in pre-prepared positions outside of Frankfurt the Americans held up the advancing Soviets. In the north the Soviet 3rd Shock Army and 1st East German army struck at the British and French defenders rolling them back in a similar fashion as in the south. But soon the front leveled off on a line leading from Hamburg to Frankfurt. In the Scandinavia the Soviets continued to fight battle along the static front in Finland when the Soviet Navy now in command of the entire Baltic attempted a landing around the defenders in Sweden. The initial landing went well but the attacks quickly slowed and the Swedes were left to reduce the pocket of Soviet troops. The achievement in Scandinavia came in the form of the Marine Force Recon the elite special forces group was deployed for deep strike raids in the Soviet rear which came in the form of the Gulag 17 raid. On December 27th while US troops were clinging to ground in the Fulda Gap these commandos backed up by Norwegian Rangers the attack began. The plan being the main force of Maine Force Recon attack the Gulag and liberate the capture NATO POW's in it while a forty man strike force would attack the rapid response force a mile from the Gulag. The Rangers would provide a distraction by raiding a Soviet Coastal position to the north hopefully distracting most other Soviet troops in the area. The attack went very well almost from the start the raid caught the KGB guards by surprise and thus quickly killed or captured the entire guard detail. The POW's were quickly evacuated by Norwegian navy helicopters and quickly the American disappeared, in the nearby rapid response camp the attack went exactly as planned keeping the reserve battalion in the camp and for the most part keeping their heads down, this could be attributed to the fact that the soldiers in the camp were mostly reservists or KGB officers trained to put down prison riots not to combat commando raids. along the coast a few more miles to the north the Norwegian marines raided a Soviet air relaying station meant to keep orders going out to the Soviets sub fleet, in the base the Rangers found very disturbing intel on a planned Soviet attack on not only the US naval yards in Norfolk but a commando raid by Spetsnaz Units on a Soviet Air defense base in Northern Scottish on the island of Shetland. The destruction of this base would mean all of Great Britain would be open to air attack and thus the Soviet were hoping a repeat of the Blitz would occur forcing the US's closest ally out of the war. This information was quickly transported back to NATO high command but did not reach Britain in time to stop the raid. The Gulag 17 raid went well but the following Soviet raid on Shetland made the results fade quickly. The night of December 31st the Soviet sub Stalingrad came off the coast of Shetland deploying a company of Spetsnaz commandos, there was supposed to be two but the other team and the sub carrying them was sunk by the USS John Paul Jones. The commandos proceeded off the beach and to the outer perimeter of the base, built around an old castle it supposed to be a tough target for Soviet Bombers and commando raids alike. But in the pouring rain and blowing wind the Soviets easily sneaked past the tired guards and proceeded to place charges on the launchers and detonate them destroying the launchers and their crews alike. The commandos would never leave though as British troops and even tanks descended on the base the entire company was killed in the resulting firefight. But just as the war seemed to be in full swing the Soviets called for a truce. In retrospect it was clear that the week long truce was used to a) bring up much needed re-inforcements to the front and b) get Cuba, China, North Korea and Vietnam to support them in the war. The week of peace also gave the US to mobilise itself, Reservists from every branch of the Military was mobilised and prepared to be sent to Europe, The Navy was able to get the Merchant marine fully running putting less of a strain on the Air force transportation wing. On January 7th Hostilities resumed except this time NATO was back on the ball counter attacking Soviet forces around Frankfurt giving them some much needed breathing room and finally driving them away from Frankfurt. The U.S forces centered around Frankfurt under the U.S V Corp counter attacked driving back the Soviets and trapping the 63rd Guards Motor Rifle Division in a pocket near Frankfurt, the West German 10th armored Division would reduce it for the next three months. The U.S V Corp was able to break the Soviet Siege of Frankfurt and drive it back, so bad was the defeat that the Soviets only regrouped around Fulda, thus continuing the seesaw battle going on in Germany. In the North the British, French and Low countries forces counter attacked and using the massive salient created by the defeat of Soviet Forces near Frankfurt were able to encircle 3000 East German soldiers and force their surrender. In Sicily the U.S III Corp and Italian forces continued to push the Soviet and Libyan forces backwards, the Libyan forces already having began to surrender while the Soviets held on despite the low amount of supplies they had left. The U.S 6th Fleet after its Titanic clash at the Battle of Malta, had been undergoing repairs in Naples and had been receiving re-inforcements in the form of ships from the Italian, French, British and Canadian fleets making it a very multinational fleet. The Fleet was finally able to return to duty on January 11th, despite a few ships (USS Oliver Hazard Perry) still undergoing repairs. The Soviet ships in Greece took to the seas and after a little bit of searching found the 6th Fleet again both side went to battle but this time it was strictly a carrier battle with aircraft dueling for hours over the fleets, but again the fragment Soviet fleet was defeated losing two destroyers and a troopship. But in a whole other front, the Caribbean, things began to heat up. The Cubans surprised NATO and the U.S with its surprise invasions of the Bahamas, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. The Cubans defeated the tiny defense forces easily and soon, Cubans had taken Haiti, and were invading Puerto Rico. The U.S response came from the U.S Fourth fleet the small and ill-used fleet launched cruise missile after cruise missile at Cuban forces supporting as best as they could the defending forces. the Florida and Louisiana Air national Guard began air strikes on the Cuban troops and soon the National Guardsmen were going against the Cuban Air Force and to no ones surprise easily defeated the ancient air planes used by the Cubans. Even in their aging F-4 Phantoms they still outmaneuvered and out fought Cuba's airmen. In the Bahamas the 11th MEU counterattacked landing on Andros island and supporting the last remnants of the Bahamian policemen holding out on the island from the Cubans. But the sheer numbers of the Cuban troops began to even overwhelm the marines, even with precision air strikes on constant call. But the marines were re-inforced at the last second by a battalion of Michigan National Guardsmen, who filled the gaps and soon local counter attacks against the over stretched Cuban 84th Infantry Division, finally able to go back on the offensive.
1989: Red Dragon
In the Far East the Communist nations began their offensives against the US and its allies in the region. In Korea the North Korean army started the day of January 17th by bombarding US and South Korean forces guarding the dividing DMZ before launching a massive ground assault, the US is caught by surprise with the attack and yet are able to recover quickly enough to counter the attacks by the North Korean Army. Soon enough Chinese troops join into the attack and the pressure on the 2nd Infantry Division in the region, General Mentrey ordered all units to hold their positions as he scraped what troops together to hold the line. But the Sea of North Korean and Chinese troops pushed the South Korean and American troops back before the troops were finally able to rally around the outskirts of Seoul and hold the line for the local allies of the US: Japan, the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand had sent re-inforcements to the embattled Americans and South Koreans. Meanwhile, the Chinese were finally able to focus their attacks on Taiwan, the tiny island nation off the coast of the Chinese mainland had been a focal point of hostilities for years and it was assumed that it would easily be subdued by the Chinese but the Taiwanese put up a massive fight its especially from the navy. The Republic of China Navy was a massive and powerful force compared to its Chinese opposites and when the PLAN (People's Liberation Army Navy) began attacks on Taiwan the ROCN's submarine fleet went to sea attacking and sinking several Chinese destroyers in the first few hours of the war. The coastlines of China were soon prowled by American, Taiwanese and ANZAC submarines. On the Surface the US 7th Fleet attacked the Chinese East Sea Fleet at Ningbo and sunk several destroyers and Frigates along with destroying many Chinese Subs in their moorings. For the start of the war the Chinese had started pretty poorly for a nation who got the jump on the Americans and its allies. Not to say they didn't have their share of successes on the high seas, On January 30th the USS Ranger was sunk off the coast of South Korea by one of China's many diesel-electric submarines the loss of the aircraft carrier was a setback for the US plans in the region but with the US shipyards pumping out new ships weekly the aging carrier was replaced by the USS America, recently transferred from the Fifth fleet. In the Korean Peninsula it was an entirely different story, the North Koreans and Chinese continue to press the American and South Korean defenders hard as the ROK government orders a mass withdrawal from Seoul to Daegu farther to the south. The defenses around Seoul are for the most part well built and extensive, with interlocking positions, field of fire, etc, making most North Korean and Chinese attacks ineffective and blood baths for the Red forces thus halting all further Red advance. But the tide turned again when The Chinese East Sea Fleet sneaked through the American and allied blockade of their coastline with 80,000 assault troops in tow. They arrived off Manila, and the assault troops promptly charged ashore on the heels of a preceding air attack on the US base at Subic Bay and on Philippine bases in and around Manila. The 4000 men part of the initial landing wave took the beaches and began to move inland. Philippine forces reacted quickly counter attacking wherever possible but few of these counterattacks caused much of a delay to the Chinese advance and the loss of the local forces only made the situation worse for the Philippinos. The US base at Subic Bay was attacked by a special assault group of 1300 men. The Americans were surprised by the air attack which sank three destroyers but they quickly recovered as the sailors and marines on the base defended it from attacks from the Chinese assault troops but eventually, ammo and losses became a problem and the Americans began to be pressed into the base having to defend individual buildings. The American Pacific Command began to pull troops from all over the Western Seaboard to send to the Philippines, the entire Hawaiian National Guard was mobilised to help defend the beaches in case of a similar attack. Meanwhile, the Chinese were able to push into the streets of Manila and fierce street fighting began as police, the Philippino army and even local citizens took to the streets to help defend their homeland. What US assets left in the Philippines were mostly navy and air force bases of Clark Air Base and Wallace Air Station. The air units there began a round the clock attack on the Chinese Fleet outside of and within Manila Bay, this put great strain on not only the Chinese air force but the troops on the ground to capture bases from which the air force could base out of. But for the Chinese the filipinos proved to be a tough shell to crack. Even after the fall of Manila they continued to fight back with a ferocity the Chinese had not planned for. Their hope for a drop out of the Philippines went the exact opposite direction. The US soon had the US 4th Marine regiment delivered to the Philippines and was quickly on the front lines. For the Chinese losses massed and soon their advance had ground to a halt. With 9000+ KIA the Chinese deemed the attack on the Philippines too costly to continue and thus ordered all remaining Chinese troops to return to their ships and prepare for re-deployment. The only problem was that the PLAN command had sent already sent orders to the Chinese East Sea Fleet telling them to move to Shanghai and pick up another invasion force meant for their next operation. So the Chinese were forced to continue the invasion of the Philippines. the Chinese high Command did suspend all offensive actions within the Philippines for 24 hours. in other parts of the world, the Soviet troops still fighting in Sicily surrendered on January 31st ending the fighting on that front, the US III Corp packed up and was moved to Germany to reinforce the hard pressed US V Corp. In the Korean peninsula the US re-inforced with the III Marine Expeditionary Force, which fully arrived from Hawaii and Okinawa, meanwhile US command and ROK high command made General Mentrey Supreme Commander of all forces in Korea. Mentrey immediately began to prepare a counter attack against the Red Forces. The attack began on February 12th near Seobuk-gu with the attack being led off by the 2nd infantry division and the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade. They hit the Chinese lines hard and quickly punched through as Canadian and Marine Armored Units began to roll over the infantry brigade defending the line. In the west the ANZAC and ROK forces attacked with the same success. The main cause for the flimsy Chinese/North Korean lines was for the most part they had been the ones attacking and the Chinese 16th and 64th Field Armies had taken severe losses during their initial advance and due to Allied air power their supplies were having a hard time getting through to the front line troops. Soon the entire Red combined forces were being rolled backwards as Allied troops continued to push forward taking back massive swaths of land lost previously. Eventually on the fifth day of the offensive the allied tankers and soldiers had to slow down to let their supplies catch up with them. In those five days the Allied forces had pushed back the Red forces an incredible distance and were now on the outskirts of Seoul. But the Reds dug in and were able to hold the line, with another front taking the Americans attention.
1989: Attack on the Home Front
What began the attack on America actually preceded the actual invasion by a few months. The Texas City Raid is what I mean. Despite having a massive Oil refinery Texas City also housed a US Army chemical weapons depot its underground so that if there is a leak it could be contained but even this safeguard couldn't stop what happened, even before the war the Soviets had a small spy ring watching the thriving little city so when the war began they thought what better way to cripple the Americans than to attack their massive refinery of oil. Well, the Soviet KGB command and naval command thought it would be a great idea also but the fact was the Soviets had lost many subs by this point and replacing them was becoming harder seeing as that the US was using its new B-2s to bomb shipyards and factories. So they picked out an old tanker that had been decommissioned and was slated to be scrapped they repaired it raised the Colombian flag and outfitted it with an array of hidden weaponry that would make any Coast Guard Captain pale. The tanker still looked like a tanker on the outside but it had on it two SAM missile batteries, one on each end of the ship. An array of hidden anti-ship missile launchers arrayed on its side and front with a hardened hull and the ability to hull up to 500 men plus there were three Ballistic missiles and launchers built into the ship, it was a force to be reckoned with. It sailed on February 16th with a crew and a detail 500 Spetsnaz commandos and Soviet Naval Infantry and arrived off of Texas City on February 22nd, it moved into the harbor an without warning its coverings to its massive oil tanks and out came the three ballistic missiles. One landed in the Refinery and another landed at the chemical weapons depot, dozens of drums containing deadly gases began to spread throughout the base as fires roared on the surface with the refiner going up in a similar way, on board the Commandos and Naval infantry loaded into boats and charged ashore, their objective was to let the fires burn and prevent fire fighting operations or any sort rescue operations to go on all while keeping the Texas National Guard at bay. All went to plan as the commandos setup a perimeter around the town after overrunning a force of Police and Soldiers from the base. The Texas National Guard's forward elements to arrive on the scene didn't know about the Soviet troops but had gotten reports on a ship in the Harbor firing missiles at the shore and on other tankers in the bay. The forward elements a platoon of men who had literally just left the nearby base were fired on and ambushed by the Soviet troops. The men were held up and took heavy casualties and fell back with what men they had left. Well, as more National Guard assembled and heard about skirmishes between forward troops and Police, they quickly surrounded Texas City with a brigade-sized force and counter attacked against the Soviet troops. The Soviet captains hope for shooting his way out of the harbor with the Commandos and the ship intact faded quickly as Coast Guard and ships from the US 4th Fleet showed up and blocked their path, at about 3:00pm a flight of Texas Air National Guard F-4 Phantoms bombed the ship and it quickly slipped into the bay US Naval vessels came to collect survivors. On the land the Texas National Guard counter attacked and by 10:00 am the next day the town was secure and clear for Fire Fighters to move in. But the people of Texas City had suffered, local firemen had actually been shot for trying to put out the fires, the civilian populace had fallen victim to the chemical weapons at the depot and hundreds were dead or dying from the poisonous gas from the chemicals. The death toll was in the hundreds and the capture Russians were labeled as scoundrels and beasts for having committed such a brutal act. But this quick raid proved to be only a precursor to what was to come. The Chinese had long planned for a sweeping attack that would drive the US from their bases in the Far East and thus open up the whole area to be conquered. But the plan had not known the light of day until the Russians suggested a similar plan to the Chinese, they went with it almost immediately. So the Chinese transferred the 54th and 53rd armies to the east parts of Russia, the Soviets supplied a few armored divisions but most of their troops were tied up on the western front. Nonetheless, the Soviets demanded and got the command over the entire operation code named Operation Chuikov. It was set to begin on March 2nd, 1989.
1989: Operation Chuikov
Operation Chuikov began at 2:00 am on March 2nd. Soviet commando teams landed in Alaska the previous night attacked and disabled radar stations throughout the state. Soviet and Chinese troops slipped over the Bering strait and soon had landed and were assembling by the time it was 6:00 am. By this time a few American posts had picked up what few distress signals the attacked radar and border posts had time to send out and had alerted their superiors. Soon National Guard patrols had skirmished with the Soviet and Chinese forces and soon units of Alaskan National Guard were assembling and preparing defensive positions. Jets from the Air National Guard and from local army bases were doing constant sorties over the areas that were confirmed to contain Soviet or Chinese units and even with the fog were still dropping bombs completely blindly. But by the time 10:00 am came around only a Battalion of Alaskan National Guardsmen were ready for combat and were positioned around the town of Mountain Village. There they ran into the advance elements of The Chinese 127th Light Mechanized Infantry Division, heavy fighting began and soon enough it seemed that the Chinese would be held by a mere battalion. Helped heavily by the Air Force and he fact that there was an abundance of ammo and one machine gun for every three men. The Chinese found their 'Iron Division' held up by the National Guardsmen. But the other Soviet and Chinese met little to no resistance from local forces, but as soon as the Chinese ran into the towns they ran almost instantly into a problem, the Alaskan Militia. These survivalists, apocalypse planners, anti-government and Far-Righters had long been seen as nut jobs and fringe movements but when the Soviets and Chinese invaded they never expected the amount of resistance they got from these men. Organized into small regional defence units their commanders lead small uprisings in occupied town or attacked rear area positions within Soviet lines. The Soviets had to post whole units to guard supply lines and depots, stripping away valuable units from the front line and weakening their advance. The Militias also made a point to capture Soviet vehicles and use them against the invaders. Soon enough the Red advance had slowed to a stop.
Meanwhile in Europe, the battle lines had not shifted all that much attacks and counter-attacks had failed for the Soviets and Warsaw Pact forces. V Corp commander Colin Powell had excellently held the line, sparring with the Soviets in long drawn out tank battles, the area between the two lines were littered with burned out hulks of destroyed tanks and armored vehicles. However, SACEUR decided that the young General should be rewarded for his excellent soldiering and so promoted him to 7th Army Commander. Meanwhile, V Corp met their new commander Norman Schwarzkopf, having transferred in from Central Command after its gutting for troops and supplies. "Stormin' Norman" immediately laid out plans to make a strike far into the Soviet lines. Having been reinforced by the recently returned 17th and 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiments and the return of the 8th Mechanized Division, which had been pulled off the line due to the high losses it had sustained. The attack started at midnight of March 3rd the initial attacks broke through almost instantly through the tired Soviet and Warsaw Pact troops and began pushing through the rear areas and soon the contested town of Fulda was fully in American hands, and it didn't seem the attack would slow down anytime soon. With the Soviet forces scraping together any troops they could find to hold the Americans as the fighting spread in the Fulda Gap itself and back to where the war had began. Up north the exact opposite happened, The Soviet 1st Guards Tank Army led a renewed offensive against the British, French, Belgian and Dutch troops holding the area, the American 4th infantry Division the only American unit posted in the North tried to hold out with their allies but were driven back with Bremen and Hannover now threatened by the new Soviet advance. Meanwhile, the Soviet 3rd Shock Army supported by a Polish airborne invasion began to push into the southern areas of Denmark. A minor player in the war thus far who had only really been combating the Soviets in the Baltic Sea, its massive National Guard activated as Polish Paratroopers landed throughout the country, counter attacking against the paratrooper landings but the Poles held out in pockets attacking and cutting off the Danish Regular army units fighting the 3rd Shock Army in the South. The West German Army now built up to 1.5 million men fervently fought to hold the line wherever it could. Whole Brigades of West German tankers would attack the Warsaw Pact spearheads never to be seen again, wiped out in the fighting. In Turkey the Turks who had been fighting for their lives essentially on their own, joined only by a few select Arabic nations but most were busy either fighting Israel or supporting Iraq in its war against Iran. Istanbul had been held up to this point by the Turks with help from escaped Greeks, British Royal Marines and US Marines. The Cities mounted Anti-ship missile batteries had turned the strait between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean into a kill zone for the Soviets, who chose too reduce the city. Anatolia had fallen to Soviet spearheads on March 1st. On the Ocean the USS Missouri had been redeployed and sent to the Mediterranean to keep an eye on the remains of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet, the Missouri deployed with the USS Kitty Hawk and their battle group. It would later distinguish itself in the Raid on Murmansk a month later.
As for Alaska President Bush had made the call to nationalize the Alaskan National Guard, folding it into the 25th infantry Division. The Chinese were making a strong push on Anchorage. The 25th infantry Division and the 10th Mountain had been two of three divisions left in the US for homeland defense. Both Divisions had been deployed to the Alaskan Front and had joined the remaining National Guard troops and newly arrived Canadian troops to form a defensive line. Anchorage was seen as important to the Chinese, a) A site to safely place supplies amongst civilians were they couldn't be bombed by the Air Force, b) place they could cut the Alaskan pipeline at. The Chinese sent the 126th and 120th infantry divisions after the tiny city, but after protracted combat with the 25th ID and National Guard unit it became clear that the city couldn't be taken. An attempt farther north to outflank the defenses using the battle weary 127th Light Mech only ended in another hold up for the Chinese. The Soviets attempted to break the line along the Arctic Circle, several Soviet Armored divisions went up against the 10th Mountain Division and Seal Team 8 operating in the region. The Soviets started off the attack with a massive artillery bombardment. But the 10th held on and when the bombardment lifted the Soviets charged their lines with elements of the 33rd Guards Tank Brigade, with a combination of Anti-tank weapons fire and well timed air strikes on the advance elements of the attack the 33rd was forced to fall back. Heavy fighting around Anchorage caused even more losses for the Chinese and Soviets, the Soviet and Chinese generals began to question their purpose in Alaska with heavy fighting to the front and rear it was believed that it would be best to fall back from Alaska and deploy them to Korea where the situation was going poorly for the Chinese and North Koreans. But the Chinese and Soviet high command disagreed and ordered the troops to remain in Alaska and to take Anchorage and cut America's oil supply at all cost.
In Korea the Eighth Army was able to effectively cut off, surround the Chinese and North Korean forces in Seoul and the advance led northward leading to the North Korean border, the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade was able to fight their way across the border and began to advance on Pyongyang, the North Korean pulled as many troops together to hold the line,while the Chinese held onto what little bit of land they still held along the DMZ, while still trying to remount and offensive to save the trapped men in Seoul. For General Mentrey it seemed that he had succeeded at his job of holding South Korea. What came next he couldn't have expected. The Marines charging towards Pyongyang suddenly found themselves under chemical attack, ordered by Kim Jong Il. Mustard gas and VX gas were fired in shells at the advancing Marines. Losses were high among the Marines and soon they were facing the brunt of determined North Korean attacks, which were slowly forcing them back. The Brigade and its survivors suddenly found themselves surrounded by renewed North Korean counterattacks. The remains of the Brigade under the command of Colonel Thomas Ward, found himself and his brigade surrounded by thousands of North Korean and Chinese troops. Undaunted he ordered the the remaining units prepare for more chemical attacks, to consolidate broken units and to prepare positions for attacks. All men together the Brigade was now more of a reinforced Battalion, The North Koreans began attacks almost immediately trying to crush the Marines into a smaller pocket, but the Marines held their positions valiantly defending every position. But the bad news kept coming for Colonel Ward as it turned out the North Koreans and Chinese had used chemicals on the allied troops, causing heavy losses to them as well as themselves. Colonel Ward realized that no help would be coming anytime soon and his supplies were dwindling as it was, he decided they would have to fight their way back to friendly lines. On March 10th Colonel Ward ordered all forces to attack straight south, all the armor and men they could muster were put to this task, after three hours of brutal combat with dug in North Korean troops the Marines were able to break through the North Koreans, immediately all the forces within the pocket shot through the gap created by the attacking force, after chasing off air attacks by the North Korean Air Force and getting air support from allied lines they managed to burst the North Korean encirclement and now roamed free in their rear echelon. Of course fuel and ammo became a problem, a C-130 fixed the ammo issue by dropping supplies down to them, but fuel was another question. Colonel Ward after studying satellite photos discovered a North Korean supply dump nearby his position, and soon his men were headed there. For the North Koreans all that could be mustered were a few Military Police battalions and a broken down armored unit straight from the front. Colonel Ward and his men quickly pushed through these meager defenses and soon had taken the dump, and after taking all the fuel, food and supplies they could carry called in an air strike on the place, effectively destroying the North Korean's largest supply dump in the region. Causing their advance in the area to grind to a halt. After this brilliantly executed raid, Colonel Ward and his men continued on their way to friendly lines, and soon enough the thunder of the front line could be heard. The North Koreans had run out of fuel and their armored vehicles had come to a halt and so had their advance the allied forces were able to counterattack against the North Koreans and Chinese driving them backwards back to the border, the unit that Colonel Ward and his men had fought their way to was an Armored Brigade in the Anzac Corp. Along with this successful counterattack the American Eighth Army finally got re-inforcements in the form of the US 1st Corp and US IV Corp finally making the Eighth Army the size of an actual field army. For the North Koreans their counterattack and hopes to save the Chinese and North Korean troops in Seoul ended with the failure of the attack. They fell back to the border and held the line along the border, building up more forces to make yet another attempt. For the Chinese in Seoul it was over, out of supplies and short on men the Chinese surrendered Seoul to the surrounding South Korean troops, their capital finally liberated. For Colonel Ward, he went home along with his Marines and received the Navy Cross along with three men from his men and one man received the Medal of Honor. In the Philippines the remnants of the 80,000 Chinese troops had been fought into a pocket along the coast and with the Chinese East Sea Fleet operating else where the men were forced to surrender to the Filipino army and US Marines fighting them. But the Chinese East Sea Fleet would launch another front of their own. On March 14th, they bombed US military installations on Guam and moved on towards their objective of Hawaii. In an attempt to support the Alaskan front the Chinese were going to land a force of Marines on Hawaii and then the fleet would attack, of course Pearl Harbor.
Meanwhile in Europe, the Soviet 3rd Shock Army had taken Kiel in its push into Denmark. However, due to the failure of the Polish Paratroopers to capture key objectives the advance was slow and costly for the Soviets. In Germany itself the West Germans, British and French had managed to hold up the advance of the Soviet 1st Guards Tank Army, counter attacks by the V Corp in the South had put "Stormin' Norman" within ten miles of Jena, the objective of his advance. He took Jena on March 17th, he stayed for a mere four hours before moving out again his target this time was Leipzig. Over Britain the destruction of the AA batteries on Shetland, caused a massive corridor for Soviet bombers to fly through and soon Tu-95 Bears and Tu-22s were bombing British military bases and airfields on a consistent basis. With the uses of chemicals in Korea, the Soviets made the decision to release their own chemical stockpiles and began shelling NATO lines with chemical weaponry, such bombs were used on British air bases and Military bases. The massive clouds of toxic smoke soon spread and like in the past civilians soon got in the way and the civilian death count went up. But unlike what was believed to happen the British people didn't demand an end to the war but instead adapted to the new regulations set by the British government. The old "Keep calm and carry on" campaign continued. But for NATO, there were new allies for them. Ireland, long neutral in the conflict joined NATO and committed its own forces to the war when an Irish patrol boat was sunk by a Soviet submarine. Despite this, the Soviet 1st Guards Tank Army continued to advance pushing through the NATO defenders and soon Hannover and Bremen were in Soviet hands. The advance soon carried the Soviets into The Netherlands but it was here where the advance ceased to move forward. Determined NATO counterattacks had halted the advance of the Soviets, permanently. Throughout the USSR and its allies, riots, political strife and the violence had taken hold. The Soviets had to pull troops from the front line in order to keep the peace at home, same with most of the Warsaw Pact nations. In Poland Solidarity had ousted the Communist government and Polish troops either surrendered to NATO forces or refused to fight for the Soviets. In the USSR Boris Yelstin led an army of disaffected Soviet troops trying to oust Pavel Troika. The Soviet army was split between its allegiance. In Europe "Stormin' Norman" pushed farther into East Germany and eventually took Leipzig and a week later, on April 13th, Dresden fell to the V Corp. The Soviet troops poised in the Netherlands were driven back after the catastrophic battle of Amsterdam and soon the NATO forces were rolling the Soviets backward for the final time. But Pavel and the hardline Communists in the USSR had one last trick up their sleeve.
1989: Exchange and Breakup
On June 3rd, Pavel ordered the use of tactical nuclear arms against NATO forces, its target Birmingham, England and Paris, France. The first missile struck Birmingham, England wiping out the city and the people who lived there. The attack on Paris was stopped by a quick attack by rebel Soviet troops. The attack on Birmingham immediately was retaliated by the destruction of Stalingrad from NATO forces. But for the Soviets the war was falling apart on June 10th the Rebel Russian forces took Moscow and Boris Yeltsin declared himself the new leader of the Soviet Union ordering the forces in Germany back to their pre-war positions. This order was widely followed with the 3rd Shock Army and 1st Guards Tank Army. For the V Corp and General Norman they pulled back and ceased all offensive actions allowing re-inforcements to work their way up to them. Pavel Troika and his government took up home in Leningrad and tried to play the anger over the destruction of Stalingrad against the Russian people but this had little to no effect on the Russian people who were more angry at Troika and his government for initiating the nuclear strike. Luckily for the USSR and the world the nuclear attacks didn't continue as throughout Russia Soviet troops turned on their commissars and political officers and declaring their support for Yeltsin and his new government. International support for Troika faded quickly as the Warsaw Pact broke up with their strong Soviet overlords no longer a united force, many peoples of these nations began to rebel and remove old Communist governments. East Germany's government ordered the Soviet troops in their territory disarmed an interred naturally there were skirmishes and fighting but the Soviets for the most part submitted, now all tired and weary from constant fighting, on June 20th the East German and Polish governments signed a peace treaty with the NATO nations. The Romanians, Bulgarians and Czechs soon followed. But in the USSR there was no peace. The Communists and Democratic forces continued to fight and many former Soviet republics saw rise to separatist groups who clashed with the Soviet and other government troops. The Second Russian Civil War had begun. But trouble wasn't limited to the USSR, In Yugoslavia the country had finally broken down into heated civil war as the different ethnic and religious groups began to fight each other for the control of the government. In West Germany a request was sent across to their Eastern neighbors that they work out a deal to unite as a single Germany. East Germany flatly denied the request. Despite not being a Communist nation any longer it was now run primarily by Social Democrats who didn't agree with the Conservatives currently overseeing the West German government. The West Germans resolved to invade East Germany in order to force a unification, 48 hours later the invasion was over and a complete success ending in a united if politically divided Germany.
China, however, didn't make peace with the US and its allies as expected and soon found itself as the sole opponent to the US and their allies. But realizing that the USSR was not dead and that troops loyal to Troika were still fighting China deployed troops to the USSR to help fight the anti-Communist forces. Meanwhile, the US having seen this, deployed "Stormin' Norman" and the US V Corp to Russia landing them in Sevastopol in Operation Brutus, the NATO intervention into the USSR had begun. The US declared its support of Boris Yeltsin and the V Corp began to attack Communist forces in and around Crimea with the US 1st Armored Division leading the assault into defending Communist forces under General Andreyev Tolonov who had cobbled together several Russian mechanized Brigades into a fighting force he called the People's Army of the Black Sea. The counter attacks they made on the US V Corp were mostly futile and broken up rather quickly, seeing that the units pulled together were mostly made up of old Reservists. In the Caribbean where Fidel Castro's regime had been severely weakened by their defeat in the Bahamas, and following a series of counterattacks by the American Fourth Fleet, National Guardsmen and Marines, the Cubans had lost control of Puerto Rico and much of Hispanola. Only Jamaica remained under their full control. On June 22nd the a combined force of Texan, Alabaman and Floridian Air National Guard units began Operation Caesar, the systematic bombing and destruction of the Cuban military as an effective fighting force. The operation also saw the use of three prototype stealth bombers known as the B-2 Spirit, they quietly sneaked into Cuba and bombed the San Antonio de Los Banos air base destroying six MiG-29 Fulcrums, the few remaining after Cuba's unsuccessful invasion of the Bahamas. Castro, desperate to defend his reign of power from the now growing rebel groups within his own country, decided that the US must be taught a lesson. He ordered the use of a radiological warhead he had created in the 70s and had it attached to an old Scud missile. He was preparing to fire the missile when rebels closed in on Havana. Worrying more about himself, he ordered it fired at the rebel forces outside the city. It was launched and promptly killed 1500 people, not very powerful bomb but it spread lethal amounts of radiation all across the area, making Havana uninhabitable. Raul Castro, Fidel's brother promptly deposed his brother, took power and sued for piece with the US. In Russia the US V Corp charged through weakened and tired Communist forces and soon was on the outskirts of Leningrad it fell on July 16th. The remnants of the Communist regime in Russia fell apart and soon Boris Yeltsin was the new president of the Russian Confederation, basically a loose collection of former Soviet states minus most of the Eastern European nations. As for Cuba, after the peace was signed Raul attempted to lead Cuba from Santiago but he couldn't maintain control over all of Cuba and soon a new nation was formed in the western half of Cuba, the Republic of Cuba: its capital in Santiago de Cuba while the eastern half remained Communist with its capital in Pinar del Rio. The current border is on a line going from Havana south to the sea.
In China a whole new kind of revolution was going on with liberal elements in China rising up to defeat the current Pro-Soviet regime. The revolt began in Shanghai with a group known as the Shanghai Cessation Organization, made up of mostly college kids but also average factory workers, teachers and religious clergy and masses were also in the crowd. In an attempt to disperse the crowd the People's Armed Police opened fire on the crowd killing dozens soon peaceful protestor began to fight back and three weeks later the streets of Shanghai were brutal battle grounds between SCO and PLA forces. But the revolution spread and soon the whole region was ignited in war. Other major cities like Hong Kong saw revolts in support of the SCO and soon PLA units began to turn on their government. The whole nation of China erupted in war and finally on August 5th 1989, China's Communist regime fell apart and soon a new Liberal government was in its place, The country's first act was to sign a peace treaty with the US and recall all Chinese forces to China. The US promptly released several thousand captured Chinese soldiers being held in the US. Albeit the new government would have to face the prospect of a counter revolution from Communist loyalists, the nation as a whole would hold together and later flourish as a friend of the US.
With the fall of China and the Soviet Union the world was once again at peace, the US V Corp was returned home in September and the new Russian Confederation began to open trade with the US. The world could heave a sigh of relief for it was once again at peace.


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Coffee Flavored Smb
Baking By HIPrincess Updated 7 Aug 2009 , 12:25am by PinkZiab
I am not a coffee drinker and need some quick ideas on how to make a flavored coffee filling using SMB. I am locked into the SMB, any suggestions? Also, I can not use instant. Sorry for the limitations, but that is the request. TIA
Just an idea...
If you're unable to use instant, could you possibly make imbc and use coffee instead of water to make your syrup?
I know boiling coffee for that length of time may make it taste burnt but then again, it may not
Another idea....
what if you ground your regular coffee REALLY WELL and stirred it together with your sugar/egg white mixture while heating it (so that the flavor releases) then, continue as usual.
If you don't want the flecks of coffee in your icing, don't grind it any further...just use regular grind....heat it with the sugar/egg white mixture...strain into a clean mixer bowl and proceed to the beating stage...
If you can get your hands on Trablit, a french coffee extract (I believe surfasonline.com carries it). It's pricey, but gives the BEST coffee flavor... and it makes meringue buttercreams taste like heaven. This is what I use for all of my coffee-flavored recipes that don't call for actual brewed coffee.
Other than that, you can get coffee flavored syrup at the supermarket (usually where the chocolate syrup is) and that's decent. Not sure why you can't use instant, but you with high quality instant coffee (seems like an oxymoron I know--I'd never drink it but it works well for other thing) you can make a really good tasting coffee flavoring by dissolving it in a small amount of water. You can also do the same thing with regular ground coffee by pouring boiling water over regular ground coffee (although like triple what you would use for drinking) and letting it steep (like tea) and strain with a fine sieve (or, if you have a french press, that's even better).
Quote by @%username% on %date%

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Police swoop on abode protesters
More than 300 police and immigration officers yesterday cleared dozens of abode seekers from Chater Garden after protesters trapped Secretary for Security Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee in her car for an hour on Wednesday night.
Police Commissioner Tsang Yam-pui said officers decided to clear abode seekers from the area because emotions were running high and there was a risk of further unrest.
Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa condemned the incident in which enraged abode seekers mobbed Mrs Ip's chauffeur-driven BMW outside the Legislative Council Building. 'Hong Kong is a law-abiding society and everybody must abide by the law,' he said.
Six people appeared in court yesterday after allegedly helping to surround Mrs Ip's car.
Last night, police were accused of using excessive manpower and force in Chater Garden. The operation was the largest since the abode saga began in 1997.
Three abode seekers identified as overstayers were arrested and a reporter and a TV cameraman handcuffed during scuffles with officers yesterday afternoon.
Mr Tsang said the police action was necessary and reasonable. 'The behaviour of those right-of-abode seekers and supporters at Chater Garden as displayed [on Wednesday night] was irresponsible and is not to be tolerated,' he said. He added that police would continue to adopt a firm approach in dealing with violent and threatening behaviour.
About 300 police officers marched into Chater Garden and cordoned off the area at 3pm. They began removing the protesters 45 minutes later, helped by about 50 immigration officers who conducted identity checks.
Several officers carried struggling abode seekers. Some claimants broke down in tears as they were taken away from Chater Garden, which was cleared in about 20 minutes. The abode seekers have been staging rallies there since January 10 when the Court of Final Appeal ruled that the vast majority of 5,114 appellants did not have right of abode.
Father Franco Mella, who has been helping the abode seekers, tried in vain to persuade Central District Commander Chief Superintendent Wong Pak-nin that there were no grounds for removing the claimants. They had previously been granted permission to stay at least until April 29.
Father Mella and former abode seekers' leader Chan Yan-yan were later surrounded by police officers to prevent them from leading the claimants to resist the clearance.
Father Mella said no overstayers had been invited to take part in rallies in Chater Garden. 'We did not invite overstayers. I doubt if the police's action was legal. It was an abuse of power and I am very shocked,' he said. 'Those who besieged Regina Ip's car were not our people. The Government shouldn't hold the incident against all [right-of-abode seekers].'
The vice-chairwoman of an abode-seeker parents' group, Ngan Siu-lai, last night condemned the police for using excessive force and manpower. 'There were only 100 people at Chater Garden at about 2.30pm. Some of them had left by the time they cleared the site. But there were hundreds of police and immigration officers. We're only asking for family reunions,' Ms Ngan said, adding that the action would further infuriate the abode seekers.
But Mr Tsang said the operation was successful and peaceful and officers used no force.
He said the action was needed as the emotions of the abode seekers had reached a point where he felt a threat existed.
'The most important point is that the people who staged the rally [on Wednesday night] appeared to be emotional and it is possible that similar incidents may happen in future.'
He said the overstayers joining a rally at Chater Garden yesterday afternoon had breached conditions under which such a demonstration was allowed to take place.
The police action was taken in accordance with the Public Order Ordinance and if the abode seekers insisted on using the site as their rallying point, they could lodge an appeal.
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14 Union Park is located in a charming neighborhood. For us it was a perfect place to stay, within walking distance of many wonderful restaurants (B&G Oyster and The Butcher Shop were two favorites). The Buttery is a charming coffee shop less than a block...More
346 reviews
#6 of 38 B&Bs / Inns in Boston


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CHP Chopper Makes Dramatic Rescues On Yuba RiverA California Highway Patrol helicopter crew plucked two stranded swimmers from the rapid, run-off swollen waters of the Yuba River over the weekend.
Out Of The Pool, Into The Ballroom; Ryan Lochte Joins DWTSDespite his current woes, Lochte was named Tuesday as a contestant on the upcoming edition of ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" along with...
San Jose Merc Headline Taints Stanford Swimmer's Gold Medal WinStanford swimmer Simone Manuel's Olympic gold medal win was slightly tainted by an insensitive headline published by the San Jose Mercury News.
Swimmer Rescued From San Francisco's China BeachFire crews successfully rescued a swimmer in distress at a San Francisco beach Monday afternoon.
Ex-Stanford Swimmer Found Guilty Of Sexually Assaulting Woman On CampusA Santa Clara County jury has reached the verdict that a former Stanford University swimmer accused of raping a woman on campus over a year ago is guilty on all charges.
Ex-Stanford Swimmer Accused Of Raping Unconscious Woman TestifiesProsecutors painted an extremely unflattering portrait of the former Stanford University swimmer accused of raping a woman on campus over a year ago.
Swimmer Rescued From Ocean Beach By Coast GuardOne person was rescued out of the ocean by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter at San Francisco's Ocean Beach this afternoon, a fire department spokesman said.
Surge In Bay Swimmers Credited To Above Average Water TempsThere has been a surge in swimmers taking to San Francisco Bay, thanks to warmer water in the Pacific Ocean.
Naked Woman Swimming In Mare Island Strait ApprehendedVallejo police officers and Solano County sheriff's deputies apprehended a naked woman swimming in the Mare Island Strait Tuesday morning, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
High-Tech Device Keeps Sharks Away From Surfers, Divers, SwimmersShark Shield creates a 3-D electronic field or protection around the swimmer. Sharks stay 15-20 feet away.
Drowned Man In Pacifica Identified Authorities identified the man who drowned while surfing with his son off a Pacifica beach on Monday was a 60-year-old resident of that city.
Man Rescued From Seal Rocks Off San Francisco's Ocean Beach In 3rd Rescue Of The DayA 24-year-old man was rescued from Seal Rocks off of San Francisco's Ocean Beach Wednesday night after he became stuck while surfing in the water, a U.S. Coast Guard official said.


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|Half Baths
|3,300 sq. ft.
|Property type
|Minimum Stay
|3 - 7 nights
Bell Ringer Cottage is a premier beach property located in the Coast Cottage Beach Community of St. Simon Island, GA. The extensive amenities combined with the wonderful views of the Atlantic and the Island promise a memorable vacation experience. Stroll to the beach through the community's private pavilion or curl up on a lounge chair at one of two pools. Bell Ringer is a three-story luxurious property with an elevator and over 3000 SF of living space plus 2000 SF of decks, porches and private balconies. This 4 bedroom, 4.5 bath cottage offers sleeping accommodations for 10 people. You'll love the spectacular master bedroom suite, spacious master bath with large jacuzzi tub, and a roof top sun deck with stunning panoramic views of the beach and island. A second master bedroom makes this cottage especially suited for larger groups and extended families. Bell Ringer Cottage awaits your arrival!
Come enjoy the Island's many wonderful restaurants, shops and sight seeing venues nearby. The island offers many fun activities including golf, fishing, jet skiing, ocean kayaking, biking and a nearby water park.
Neptune Park includes a playground, lots of benches for relaxing by the sea, picnic tables under the oaks, and the bandstand where events are held throughout the year. The park is bounded by the Pier, St. Simons Library, Little Theater, The Casino Pool and the St. Simons Lighthouse. The heart of the Island is beating here.
For those who 'live for a beach,' there is no other place to be. Calm sea breezes and immaculate sandy beaches are the norm all year round.
St. Simons Island offers a wide range of activities for all ages, including golf, fishing, jet skiing, ocean kayaking, biking, antiquing and a nearby water park. St. Simons is known for it's many fine restaurants and shops for those that enjoy venturing out. For those that have experienced this quaint vacation location, it's not a question of whether they'll be back...but when!
Patrick Anderson is sometimes called the 'Mayor of Coast Cottages' ... St. Simons Island's favorite beach side community. Since 1998, Anderson has been involved in sales, development, management, and vacation rentals. His devotion to excellence and responsiveness are recognized by friends and customers alike . Patrick Anderson is broker/owner of Patrick Anderson & Associations, Inc., a Georgia licensed real estate firm.
We LOVED the Bell Ringer Cottage. It was perfect for our two families (with two boys and three teen daughters). The rooftop view was amazing. You can also see the ocean from the master balcony. The neighborhood was adorable with the brick street, common pool, and cute cottages. The neighborhood, grounds, and pool were very clean and well kept. We paid extra to have the pool heated and it was well worth the money. The house was furnished with everything we needed, including beach chairs, beach towels, beach toys, laundry detergent, soap, paper towels, plenty of dishes, and even some spices. We had more than enough room to spread out, yet had a great living room/kitchen area to gather and play cards. The beach at this location was so large and pretty. At night, you can see the light from the light house, the sand crabs on the beach, and lots of stars. We walked several times to the pier which was a decent walk there and back, but you do have to watch the fluctuation of the tide, especially near the pier. The beach is under water near the pier during high tide. I was amazed at how much the tides affected the size of the beaches. At times, the beach near the Bell Ringer was the largest beach I had ever seen. I would highly recommend St. Simons Island and this cottage. Would also recommend a trip over to Driftwood Beach on Jekyll Island and a trip on the Lady Jane Shrimp Boat.
Bell Ringer Cottage turned out to be the perfect spot for our 3-generational "girls week"! It was comfortably furnished, and spacious enough to allow for togetherness or solo times as desired. The unit was well maintained, and we enjoyed all aspects: the several balconies, large kitchen area (the big table was great for our game nights!), and of course the roof top aerie. Proximity to the beach was just right, and it was a conveniently short jaunt to shops, eateries, historic sites (Christ Church is a must-see!) and we thoroughly enjoyed Jekyll Island one day. Would we return to Bell Ringer? Absolutely!!
Our family just enjoyed a fabulous week at the Bell Ringer Beach Cottage. The location is perfect and so close to the beach. Also a wonderful location for riding your bikes into town or taking long walks. The street is very picturesque and lined with beautiful beach homes. We had our adult children with us and they were all impressed with the home. So many decks to enjoy...especially the rooftop views of the ocean. The home is quite large, decorated beautifully and very clean. Everyone voted to return again next summer!
The Bell Ringer is a beautiful cottage! We spent 5 nights there and absolutely loved it. It is located just a few doors/homes down from the beach, and though it is not right on the ocean it has ocean views from various decks including the roof top balcony. What we valued most: proximity to beach and private pool; relative nearness to the heart of town while removed enough to feel like we were in a private area; large kitchen with most desired amenities; spacious front and back decks; master bedroom's private deck; a living room with plenty of size and seats for a large family to enjoy each others company; the overall quality of the house - clean, newish, comfortable, and a concern for decor; how close this house was to a part of the beach that was not very populated (we were there in late April 2014 - already tons of people on all other parts of the beach). The last point is actually an important one - St. Simons beaches are generally very crowded. This house is well situated, though - if you walk to the left out of the property's beach access gate for about 5-7 minutes you will find a part of the beach with very few people. We had never been to St. Simons before and loved the area. The food was amazing - several places which have been featured on the food network and the best BBQ I've ever had (Southern Soul BBQ). The island has lots of charm with beautiful houses, greenery, and development. Bell Ringer really is a great choice for the area if it is the right size for your family/group.
Our extended family stayed at the Bell Ringer: 8 adults plus 3 kids under 7. The house was gorgeously decorated, the beds were comfortable, and everything was super-clean. It was roomy enough for all of us, whether we were gathered in the living room, eating breakfast as a family (though some of us had to sit at the breakfast bar rather than the table), hanging out on the roof deck or the other balconies. And the Coast Cottages community was wonderful: we loved how easy it was to get to the beach (which was amazing: clean and uncrowded!), and the pools were small but nice.
My only complaints: for as beautifully furnished as the house was, the cooking equipment let much to be desired. Dented, cheap pans, a glass electric cooktop, and I think one of the ovens and the freezer's ice maker were broken, for instance. It seemed incongruous with how well-appointed everything else was (then again, I'm a professionally trained cook, so a badly equipped kitchen is hard for me to deal with!). I was also really disappointed with the weak and unreliable wi-fi reception. I was counting on being able to hang out at the house and get some work done, but half the time I couldn't get a wi-fi signal so I had to drive to a coffeeshop instead.
We fell in love with St. Simons and would definitely stay here again!
Family members met and stayed at the Bell Ringer before my niece's high school graduation. We had a couple of teenagers, a couple of grandparents in their 80's, and several in between. The house was perfect for us. The older folks were glad to have the elevator. Everyone was happy to have plenty of room and to be so close to the pool and beach. The house is clean, well equipped and beautifully furnished. We made full use of the porches and rooftop deck. We hope to go back soon and would definitely recommend this cottage.
St. Simons Island has been a popular vacation destination since Native Americans shared the rich bounty of these island hundreds of years ago. They were here when Oglethorpe arrived from England to settle Georgia as the 13th colony in 1733. Today the landscape looks much the same, with moss-draped oaks, shady lanes and creek-fed pockets of marsh - a thriving habitat for birds and a diverse range of other wildlife, from turtles to armadillo and deer.
The soul of this island is timeless, heartfelt, graceful, spiritual and history enriches every view. Best-selling author Eugenia Price wrote all of her historical novels here, her words emanating from this deep-felt sense of time and place.
Take a walk in the park where soft winds blow fresh from the sea. Generations have stood where you stand, watching for ships on the horizon while dolphins play in the surf and pelicans dive for dinner.
|Rate Period
|Weekend Night
Summer B 2017
Jun 3 2017 - Aug 11 2017
7 night minimum stay
Fall A 2017
Aug 12 2017 - Aug 30 2017
3 night minimum stay
Labor Day 2017
Aug 31 2017 - Sep 4 2017
3 night minimum stay
Fall B 2017
Sep 5 2017 - Oct 31 2017
3 night minimum stay
Winter A 2017
Nov 1 2017 - Nov 17 2017
3 night minimum stay
Thanksgiving 2017
Nov 18 2017 - Nov 26 2017
4 night minimum stay
Winter B 2017
Nov 27 2017 - Dec 22 2017
3 night minimum stay
Christmas 2017/New Years
Dec 23 2017 - Jan 1 2018
4 night minimum stay
Winter C 2018
Jan 2 2018 - Feb 28 2018
3 night minimum stay
My Standard Rate
7 night minimum stay
|Cleaning Fee
|$185 + Tax
|Accidental Damage Ins.
|$49 + Tax
|Tax Rate
Off-season monthly rates at significant savings, quoted upon request
50% Reservation deposit required after contract is signed. Balance due 14 days before arrival.


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My teachers, my students, my yoga practice, my life, music, dancing, traveling, nature
Why I Practice
My Ashtanga practice helps me stay balanced in mind, body, and spirit. The physical practice keeps me fit and strong, the spiritual practice keeps me centered and focused.
Why I Teach
Yoga practice has the ability to bring about positive transformation in every aspect of our lives. I teach from my heart and soul to inspire others to live up to their highest potential.


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Hollywood Sign Edited in the Name of Preservation
"Now, in an effort to see that it never does, a preservation group has teamed with a city councilman to quickly raise the balance of the $11.7 million needed to buy the land from a Chicago developer that acquired it from a Hughes trust and to turn it over to a local park.
To make their case, they began on Thursday to drape the sign with a banner that will read "Save the Peak" in the hope that a day or two without their most recognized civic symbol will entice Los Angelenos to donate the final $5 million needed by spring to keep mansions from dotting the ridge line around it."
138 acres of property around the sign were purchased by private investors in 2002. The Trust for Public Land is trying to raise money to buy the land back.


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Desired Skills and Experience:
Our station group includes 107.7 The Bull (Country), Cities 92.9 FM News-Talk and The New Magic 99.5- 80s, 90s and Now.
Great Plains Media holdings include stations in Lawrence, Kansas and Cookeville, Tennessee.
If this position sounds like a good fit for you and your sales talents, please email your resume to management at


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So sorry for the delay in posting the link for my contribution to the Pixel Scrapper blog train. I thought I would arrive back home on June 1st, but didn't get home until midnight. Went to visit my daughter and brought the grandchildren home with me. Our flight into Atlanta was delayed, sooooo I'm late posting my links. Again I apologize!
Here is the link to get the Oh Baby Baby minikit I made. Link also below the image.
Download here Link to Pixel Scrapper to return to blog train listing.


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Indian Style Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Everyone's favourite, the classic grilled cheese, made even more irresistible by combining aged cheddar with naan bread. Sweet Mango Chutney can be substituted if you prefer.
Heat Level
- 1 1/2 tsp (7.5ml) olive oil
- 1 package plain naan bread
- 2 tbsp (30ml) Patak's Sweet Mango Chutney
- 1 tbsp (15ml) finely chopped mint
- 1 cup (250ml) coarsely grated old white cheddar cheese
- Preheat a panini press or set a cast iron pan over medium heat.
- Brush olive oil on one side of each naan bread and arrange oiled side down on work surface. Spread mango chutney on one naan; scatter mint on top, followed by a layer of cheese. Cover with remaining naan bread, oiled side up. Cut sandwich in half crosswise.
- Transfer sandwiches to panini press or pan and cook until cheese is melted and both sides of naan are golden brown, about 5 minutes. If using a cast iron pan, cook, flipping once, about 3-4 minutes per side.


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The Q-SEE 8-Channel 1TB DVR Surveillance System coupled with 900TVL cameras offers a full surveillance solution that lets you monitor what matters the most. With all eight channels, all important and vital areas are covered and protected. This 960H DVR also offers various remote monitoring features to keep you connected. Easily monitor from just a smart phone or tablet. Coupled with this superb DVR are four 900TVL cameras that offer accurate images. Every camera is weatherproof so you can protect what matters the most, indoors or outdoors. Standard 60 ft. BNC cable comes with every camera. Merging high-performance video with high-quality cameras, Q-SEE DVR and Camera bundles achieve excellence in home or business environments.
Category: Tools & Home Improvement


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"Game changer" is a term you hear often when people talk about how technology has changed their industry.
Recently I was retained by a regional VP of sales for a large financial institution to evaluate the effectiveness of his team's sale of investment advisory services provided to high-net-worth customers. He asked me to be a "mystery shopper," and at his request, I met with one of his salespeople while posing as a high-net-worth customer considering the possibility of changing from my current financial advisor to another investment management firm.
Coincidentally, at the time I actually had a few concerns about my own personal financial advisor, and because I realized I might change firms as a result of my analysis, I told my client that in order to perform a realistic decision process, I would also meet with two of his company's competitors. (It's also why I asked to meet his best and most experienced advisor, figuring that's who I'd want working for me should I decide to actually pick this firm.)
Over the next six weeks, I met as planned with the representatives of three different investment advisory firms, including one from my client's firm. Each of the sales consultants was extremely effective at building rapport, making me feel comfortable, and creating a perception of caring.
Yet they all made the single most common mistake that salespeople in all industries make: They moved through the steps of their sales process—building trust, identifying needs, presenting their solutions, going for the close—without thinking about where I was in my decision-making process. They sold too fast.They put me on theirsales track, instead of joining me in mybuying process.
That's why this book has the paradoxical title of "Slow Down, Sell Faster!" When you sell slower on each sales call—ask more questions and do many of the activities suggested in this book—your customers will buy faster. They will more fully recognize their needs and the urgency of those needs. The best solution (hopefully yours) will be more clearly defined and differentiated in ways the customer recognizes as important. It is this connection with the customer's buying process that will differentiate you.
In this chapter, I want to talk in more detail about what I mean by saying these financial advisors sold too fast, discuss how customers buy, and present a new model of selling that matches the customer buying process.
My first face-to-face meeting with my client's investment advisor went as follows (the labels are mine, the actions were the advisor's):
Here are the five mistakes he made—all of which revolve around selling too fast:
Every salesperson wants to sell more. We all want to make more money and gain recognition for peak performance. As my experience with the financial advisor illustrates, the way to do this is to slow down.
Kevin Davis (Reno, NV) is president of TopLine Leadership, Inc., (www.toplineleadership.com), a sales and sales management training company serving clients from diverse sectors. He has 30-plus years of experience as a salesperson, sales manager, sales trainer, and consultant, and is the author of "Slow Down, Sell Faster!"


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Harry Potter - good or bad? (split from original HP thread)
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text: Opaque stretch solid knit and big hole stretch fishnet swirl pantyhose with closed toe. One size fits most. Gloves not included. Style: clothing-hosiery-soh-90083black This item is FINAL SALE and is not eligible for return or exchanges. NOTE: This item is an Expanded Assortment*. Please allow 3-4 business days for item to leave the warehouse. NOTE: This item is exluded from discounts and promotions, if eligable may be subject to a restocking. See our store policy.


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How do you feel towards ultra slim moms?
I am very against body shaming of any size, big or small. For ultra slim moms I think to myself "Wow, she looks good!" because I know a lot of us have a hard time with losing baby weight. But I say the same thing when I see bigger moms too, we are all beautiful! I mean come on, we made another human life, our bodies are AMAZING.
I dont Hate im just jealous of them lol
I don't usually find myself judging someone like that, but I find myself getting jealous.
I don't think I feel anything toward them that I don't also feel toward moms of all sizes--good job at being a mom! I notice size, but as a bigger woman myself, I don't really make any judgements regarding it, especially in relation to myself.
I admit I'm jealous and I shouldn't be because we are all different. I know in order to be ultra slim I'd have to work out 3-4 hours a day and eat rabbit food only and I'm just not willing to do that.
Why would I hate super think moms??? they just have a different metabolism than me...granted a better one or they have work out routine... something that i lack... so i cannot be hateful or jealous for things I cannot control or choose not to control!
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About Melissa
Birth: December 31
On Moms.com since: Mar 3, 2014
I am a single mom of two fantastic kiddos that I love to pieces. Currently in school working towards my teaching degree. You can find me most days on www.mommathoughts.com when I am not here chit chatting! :)