The Last War: 360.

[Bernard Woolley]

With thanks to Jotun for his contribution & to James1978 for inspiring another.

*

D+23

*

2330 hours GMT. Ministry of Defence, Cairo, Egypt.
Colonel Charles ‘Charlie’ Lutwak, from the US Embassy’s Office of Military Co-operation checked his watch. Being dispatched to the Egyptian Ministry of Defence at this time of night was unusual. It was lucky that there was anyone senior in the building at all, but war had changed the normal routine.

“Colonel Lutwak?” A civilian member of staff said, after appearing in front of the American officer. “If you’ll follow me, please.”

Lutwak found that he was being led to the office of the Ferik (lieutenant general) who commanded the Millitary Engineers Corps. He knew the man quite well, having met him during discussions surrounding training Egyptian soldiers in newly supplied American equipment.

“Charles, come in and have a seat.” Ferik Hamed said, greeting Lutwak. “Some tea, please.” He said to the official.

After some small talk in which men asked how the other’s family was getting on and so forth, the meeting got down to business.

“I’m not sure quite what I can help you with, Charles. I think I’m the only senior officer in the building.”
“I think you’re exactly the officer I need to see, Sir.” Lutwak replied. “You’re no doubt aware that our forces in Kuwait are conducting a counter-offensive against the Iraqis. We’re planning to attack into southern Iraq and, eventually, push north towards Baghdad. We have one problem, however.”

Hamed smiled.

“You’re short of bridging equipment, aren’t you?” He said.

Lutwak nodded.

“Yes, Sir. We have some AVLBs and some odds and ends, enough for limited operations, but nowhere enough for a major advance on Baghdad. Equipment is coming from the States, but it’ll take something like two weeks to arrive in theatre.”

The Egyptian general leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment.

“How would you like at least two engineering brigades? We’re not using a lot of bridging in Libya, so we have quite a bit available. While the ultimate decision has to be taken by the Chief and President, I do have the authority to make preliminary preparations.”
“That would be much appreciated, Sir. I can tell you now that if Egypt is able to help us with this, you will have the thanks of America.” Lutwak replied.
“Just go and kick Hussein’s ass for us, Charles. If we get rid of that Mad Dog, it will make the world a better place.”

2341 hours. H.Q London Fire Brigade, Lambeth, London.
Watch Manager (Control) Tate had lost track of how many cups of coffee had drunk in the intervening hours since the first Soviet attack on the city. As he finished off his current one, he glanced up at the status map. Almost every lamp by the brigade’s fire stations were still lit up. For a short time, all of them had been illuminated, but now the surrounding county brigades had sent crews and appliances to sit on stand-by at some of the brigade’s peripheral stations. [1]

Mutual aid requests had also meant that a few county units were assisting at some of the incidents. There were even a number of appliances from the Defence Fire and Rescue Service and the RAF Fire Service in action.

Tate looked at his watch and chuckled to himself. There was a huge digital clock visible to everyone in the control room, yet, by reflex, when he wanted to know the time, he still looked at his left wrist. He noted that it was almost time for the next Watch to arrive to begin the handover. Tate was exhausted and hoped that the travel disruption would not delay his relief.

Pretty much on time in walked Watch Manager (Control) Barry McCormick and his team from White Watch. He took his seat besides Tate.

“Evening, Sidney. You look knackered, mate.”
“Been a long day, Barry. I’m really glad to see you.” Tate replied.
“Okay, hit me, where are we?”
“We still have eight major incidents underway.” Tate told him, before listing each of them and giving detailed information on each one. “All of our Line Rescue Units are now deployed; the LAS has all of its HARTs on the ground and most of the London NEV Rescue Units are deployed. The NEV is shortly going to move in some of the units it has in reserve to relieve those deployed. A few county NEV units will also be deployed to aid in that process.
“The four serious incidents are now under control, and we’ve begun to redeploy assets away from them.” Tate paused for a second before delivering the next bit of news. “Westminster has been re-established at a temporary site by its White Watch, using appliances from the brigade reserve.”

McCormick did not reply immediately.

“Right, sounds as if we’ve passed the worst of it.” He said. “Fingers crossed that the Russkies don’t send us any more missiles!
“I would imagine that the watches at Westminster will need to be reorganised?”

Tate nodded.

“Yeah, we lost all of Blue Watch there, plus some people from Red Watch. White and Green can’t provide enough cover for a full 24 hours. I’m not sure yet how Blue is going to be re-established, but at least that’s something for those upstairs to sort out.”
“And good luck to them, Sid!” McCormick said with some feeling. “I’m going to grab a brew before I take over. Can I get one for you?”

Tate shook his head.

“No thanks, mate. I’ve already drunk enough coffee to last a lifetime!”

*

Watch Commander Georgiadis also felt exhaustion creeping up on him. At least the shortage of water that had initially hampered fighting the major fire that had erupted in Southwark was now over. A High-Volume Pump had arrived to supplement the ‘Green Goddess’; it was in the Royal Blue livery of the National Emergency Volunteers, rather than the red of the LFB, which did make Georgiadis feel ever so slightly embarrassed. The fire brigade should not really have to ask for help from an outside body.

While in the initial phase of the response, Georgiadis, as first station officer to arrive on scene, had taken command, it had not passed to Group Commander Tom Chapman. The ad hoc command post had been replaced by two proper Command Units, parked side by side, with an awning between them. One of the vehicles was the most modern of the brigade’s eight Command Units, having entered service only a month before. The second one had been drawn from the reserve fleet during the Transition to War, so was a good ten years old, but at least it had modern communications equipment installed.

With Chapman now the Incident Commander, Georgiadis had become one of the two Operation Commanders under him. Georgiadis commanding the sectors to the north of the impact point, while the Watch Commander of Blue Watch at Old Kent Road Fire Station commanded those to the south. [2]

*

A great deal of the area round Tower Bridge Road was still on fire, although at least the firefighters had now managed to push further into the heart of the fires, getting ever closer to Ground Zero. Rescue teams following them had managed to rescue a good number of trapped civilians, but nobody expected to find anyone else this deep in the fire. Anyone who had survived the initial impacts would have long since died of asphyxiation or been roasted to death.

“Echo 34 from Silver One.” Georgiadis said into radio. “Get ready to pull your teams out, John. White Watch has arrived on the fire ground. I’m sending them forward to you now.”
“Silver One from Echo 34, roger that.” The voice of Crew Commander Hallam replied. “You getting some relief too, G’uv, over?”
“I will be, thanks, John. White Watch’s guvnor is taking over from me.”

Georgiadis would be glad to get away from the fireground. Not only was fatigue making it harder for him to think clearly, but also the heat also coming from the fires was tremendous and was taking its physical toll. That reminded him to take a drink of lukewarm water from a two-litre plastic bottle given to him by a volunteer from the WRVS. Keeping hydrated was essential when attending a fire.

A brigade minibus took the exhausted Blue Watch back to Dockhead Fire Station, where they cleaned their personal equipment and ate a meal. Rather than go home, they chose to sleep in the station, as there was a good chance that they would be recalled to the fireground in the next few hours.

2345 hours GMT. Muskö Naval Base, Sweden.
As the four naval officers had made their way to the conference room somewhere in the bowels of the Muskö bunker complex, LtCdr Mompati just sank into the nearest chair – at least it was upholstered and very comfortable – and simply moaned.

“Coffee? Anyone? Bueller?”

The other three officers looked at him with sympathy. Commanding a naval vessel was stressful even in peacetime, but a war cruise of even a few days really put the hurt in.

Tommy Myhr, the Swedish liaison officer, simply smiled, looking at his watch. He opened the door and as if by magic, a Swedish Navy rating came in, pushing a trolley with snacks and several insulated pitchers of strong coffee. Mompati theatrically opened one eye, gave the trolley the once-over and deadpanned.

“And where’s the IV line? Drinking that stuff don’t cut it no more.”

All others, including the rating, had a chuckle. Myhr dismissed the young man and after the door had closed behind him, the group helped themselves to refreshments.

“Let’s get down to brass tacks, shall we?” Asked Korvettenkapitän Ciliax, relishing the opportunity to be stereotypically German for once.

He saw that Paul was barely holding it together. He also smelled a bit…ripe. Even in the newer, more comfortable non-nuclear submarines, water was at a premium and washing one’s body was all the way down the list of priorities. Not for nothing was the slang word for deodorant spray “submariner’s shower” in the Federal German Navy.
The men nodded at each other, and the Swedish liaison officer unlocked a metal briefcase he had carried all the time. He reached in, shuffled some papers, and said.

“Commander, Paul, NATO has new orders for you. Day after tomorrow, in 37 hours, you will leave Muskö for the Gulf of Finland, with a four-man group of special forces on board. They are part of a multinational NATO task force. You will bring them into the Gulf of Finland and drop them off a few miles to the northeast of Tallinn. I do not need to stress that you are to utilize the utmost caution and stealth in bringing them there.”

Mompati sat up a bit straighter.

“I get it, but if I may be allowed to say, my crew and I don’t know the Gulf of Finland from a hole in the ground.”
“That’s where I come in.” Stefan Ciliax said, indicating his onboard duty fatigues and sea bag. “During my time as CO of U38, I spent so much time up there intelligence gathering that I practically know every damn island and seal by its nickname. I have a data stick with the positions and makeup of all known mine fields in the area.” He held up a USB storage device. “It is still not going to be a cakewalk.”

Mompati grunted and looked at the South African naval attaché.

“Henk, you sitting here tells me that the brass back home is on board with this.”
“Absolutely.” Came the answer. “Your actions in the Battle of Gotland and before that the Escape to Emden show that you are one hell of a submariner. The Germans specifically requested you and your boat.”

Ciliax chimed in.

“It might also have to do with the fact that half of our boats have been sunk by now and that the damn Russians likely still have no idea where your boat is in the first place. You are our ace up the sleeve, the fly in the ointment for them. By the way, your boat is going to be the recipient of the unit citation equivalent to the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross. And you and several of your crew are going to have some German gongs hanging from your chest soon, too. At least that’s what I heard in the Ministry.”

Mompati just shrugged.

“That’s for later. But thanks for the information anyway.” He looked over at Kommendörkapten Myhr. “I know the written orders are going to hold all the details. Is there anything more to this op?”
“Yes, you are supposed to also be the pickup. The officer in charge of this stunt reportedly insisted that they could commandeer a helicopter at some airfield close to their objective and hightail it to Finland, but that was deemed to be too Hollywood and dangerous.”
“Who IS that guy? Some kind of cowboy American? A SEAL, Delta or, whatstheirface, CIA SOG?”
“It is best you see for yourself. He and his team are right next door.” Myhr stood up, went to the door on the other end of the room and opened it. “Come on in, Herr Kap’tän. Bring your people.”

There was some murmuring and shuffling to be heard and four people in matching non-standard camouflage fatigues came into the room.
The first into the room was a broad-shouldered man with a head shaved down to stubble.

“Commander, I am Korvettenkapitän Schefer.” He motioned to a tall, lanky, and angular man.” This is Sergeant Vakarian formerly of the USMC.” His hand then indicated a veritable man-mountain, dark-skinned, scarred, and grim faced. “Meet Sergeant-Chef Urdnot, 1st Régiment d’Infanterie Parachutiste de la Marine. And finally.” He nodded fondly at a slightly built but obviously formidable woman, pretty and a sufficiently muddled ancestry that she could be from anywhere. “Warrant Officer Zorah, former Funny Platoon, SFOD-Delta, and something she calls The Activity.”

2355 hours GMT. Hollenstedt, FRG.
The leading reconnaissance units of the 207th Motorised Rifle Regiment were slowly feeling their way east, as the 2nd Tank Army attempted to link up with the 4th Guards Tank Army. Not very far away, reconnaissance units from the 35th Motorised Rifle Division, from the latter of the two armies, were advancing west, with a similar objective.

In the ‘No-Man’s Land’ between the two Soviet Armies were groups of NATO light infantry and Special Operations Forces. Some were acting to call down artillery and airstrikes, but others were taking a more active role.

*

5 Platoon, B Company, 1st Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders was one of those small groups. It would not be long until the platoon had been on the go for twelve hours, with only a few short periods to rest, when the platoon had gotten the chance to replenish. As with the other ambushes, 2nd Lieutenant Morris had deployed his platoon to provide security for the Javelin equipped sections, who would be doing most of the work.

“Looks like a bit of a bonanza for us, Boss.” Sergeant James Black, the platoon sergeant, commented.
“Yeah.” Morris replied. “Got them coming from two directions.”
“Aye, will be time for a bit of fun.” Black commented. “I’ll away and take up ma position.”

Black low-crawled away. It would not do for the platoon commander and platoon sergeant to be caught in the same place.

“Weapons free. Fire when they’re in range.” Morris ordered.

The Javelin teams fired almost simultaneously, engaging vehicles from both units. They shot off a second missile each, before relocating to fire again. They need not have bothered; seconds after the first missiles took out a pair of BRM-3, the two different reconnaissance units opened fire. Lacking effective thermal sights, they did not see the small British infantry unit, but they did see the tracer fire from each other.

“Christ on a Bike!” Morris exclaimed as 30mm shells and 14.5mm bullets shot past over his head.

Unaccountably over the din of gunfire he heard someone laughing. He realised it was Sergeant Black.

“Boss, I suggest we pull out while these idiots are knocking six shades of sh*t out of each other.” The sergeant said over the radio a moment later.
“Agreed. Let’s get the hell out of here. Everybody back to the RV.”

*

“How did it go, Lieutenant?” Sergeant McConaughy asked once her Chinook was safely in the air.
“Better than I expected!” Morris replied over the din of the two turboshaft engines. “We only got the chance to fire off two missiles before the Russians started shooting at each other!”
“Red on Red? Nice bit of work, that.” She commented before moving off to deal with another task.

*

Quite a number of the other NATO groups also managed to provoke ‘Red on Red’ incidents between the two Soviet Army Groups. Although, an unlucky few ended up being squashed, as ‘piggy in the middle’. However, engagements between the 2nd Tank Army and 4th Guards Tank Army would continue into the wee hours of the early morning of 16th May. It was hardly the smooth link up that General Kamov had hoped for. Moreover, while a corridor had now been created, it was not really wide enough to provide a springboard for pushing NAORTHAG to the south and west. Instead, it had become the 21st Century equivalent to the Falaise Pocket.

Looking at the situation in despair, General Kamov sent a signal to STAVKA, requesting permission to withdraw both tank armies to the east. Including a plan to use a firmer starting point to mount a new counterattack. An effort to hopefully save his neck. Kamov also, deciding arrogantly, as he would admit himself, that while he was less dispensable than the two army commanders, he deftly shifted the blame to them. Hoping, correctly, that they would be relieved, rather than him.

2357 hours GMT. RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus.
When she had boarded the 767, Lieutenant Oshodi had been expecting to join 5 Gibraltar Field Battery in northeast Italy. However, once the airliner was airborne, she had learned that the battery was now in Cyprus, pending onward deployment to Turkey. A deployment changing at the last minute was not something that particularly surprised her. It happened in the army all the time.

Oshodi had noticed that the rest of the plane was filled with Gurkhas, which she thought was interesting. The senior Gurkha officer, a Major Gardiner, had introduced himself to her. He had been fairly tight-lipped about why he and his men were flying to Cyprus, other than saying that they were joining one of the resident battalions.

*

RAF Akrotiri seemed to be a scene of organised chaos; as well as the 767 carrying Oshodi, a 757, C-17 and a pair of Hercules C.3 had all arrived within minutes of each other. Soldiers and equipment were being unloaded. Being on her own, Oshodi seemed to have been forgotten amongst everything that was happening, nobody paid the slightest bit of attention to her. She finally managed to locate the Battery Sergeant Major, who took her to the battery commander.

“Welcome to the battery, Lieutenant Oshodi, it’s good to have you here.” Major Henry Morton said. “You’ve been with The King’s Troop for the last few years, I understand?”
“Yes, Sir. Although, I was with F Battery, 7 RHA before that.”

Morton mentally kicked himself for not having noticed the parachute wings on Oshodi’s shoulder. At least that meant she was no parade ground soldier with no operational experience.

“I see.” He replied. “You’ve going to be taking over B Troop. I’ll get Mr Watson to take you over there.”
“Can I ask if we’ve got news of where we’re deploying, Sir?” Oshodi asked.
“Well, I was going to brief everybody in a few hours, but since you’re here, I might as well let you know. We’re heading for Turkey, along with one of the resident infantry battalions from here. Quite where, I don’t know yet. Part of me wonders what the point was of unloading all of our equipment. It’ll just have to be loaded again; just the usual ‘order, counter-order, disorder’. But don’t let my cynicism disturb you, Lieutenant.
“Again, welcome aboard.”

*

On being introduced to her new Troop, Oshodi was quite glad to see that there were half a dozen women, including a bombardier, amongst the men. It was always slightly awkward being the only female in a group of closely bonded males. In her experience male soldiers tended to treat women better once there were more than one in a unit.

“Have you heard about our deployment yet, Ma’am?” The Troop Sergeant, William Turner asked.
“He told me Turkey, Sergeant. But keep it to yourself for the moment. Major Morton is planning to brief the officers and senior officers shortly.”

Turner nodded in understanding.

“You can depend on, Ma’am.”

2359 hours GMT. Esbjerg, Denmark.
The convoy of requisitioned RO-RO ferries had reached the west coast Danish port around shortly before dusk. However, there had been a delay while the authorities waited for it to get dark and for final arrangements to make sure that the roads were clear.

Finally, the convoys of vehicles, including low-loaders with the armoured vehicles they were carrying concealed by tarpaulins, set off from the port of Esbjerg, heading along the E20. Under heavy civilian and military police escort, the convoys made good time, as the road was almost empty at that time of night.

Near the junction for Holstead the inevitable happened – one of the tank transporters broke down and had to pull off to the side of the road. A single military police vehicle also halted to provide protection, while they waited for help to arrive. The MPs contacted the local Home Guard unit, asking them to take over guard duty, so that they could re-join the convoy.

*

A local Danish journalist had gotten wind of a major movement of troops out of Esbjerg from a source in the port. He had set out in his car, taking the side roads to avoid the police checkpoints that were keeping the public off of the main roads. He was not able to catch up with any of the convoys, but did spot the broken-down transporter, which by now was under guard by the local police Home Guard unit. He parked nearby and walked up a slip-road to the opposite side of the E20.

Trying to keep out of sight, he took out his camera and took photos of the vehicles parked off the opposite side of the road. Although it was covered by a tarpaulin, the vehicle on the back of the transporter was clearly a tank, the journalist guessing that it was a Leopard 2 from its rough shape. Or maybe it was an American Abrams?

“She’s completely f*cked.” He heard someone say. “Gearbox is completely gone; we’ll have to get her towed.”

So, that was what had happened, the journalist thought. Wait a minute, that was not Danish the man was speaking, it was Swedish. Swedish troops were in Denmark! He took more photos, managing to capture soldiers he could see were wearing Swedish uniforms. This story was going to be one hell of a scoop, he thought. Maybe the Swedes were here to help with the liberation of Zealand? As he lined up to take another photograph a gust of wind caught the tarpaulin, lifting it up slightly, revealing part of the side skirt of the tank. The journalist clicked away, getting several pictures before the tarpaulin dropped again. While the journalist was not an expert on armoured vehicles, anyone looking his pictures would be able to recognise a Swedish Army Strv 121.

“Hey you!” A voice called out of the darkness. “What are you doing there?”

Realising he had been spotted, the journalist took to his heals, running for all he was worth. If he was arrested, he would lose the chance to get the story out before his rivals. He was able to reach his car and speed off before the police Home Guardsmen were able to catch up with him.

*

“Those are some good photos, Per.” The journalist’s editor said some hours later, while looking at the prints. “I’m not sure we can run them before checking with the government first. We don’t want to risk giving away any secrets.”
“But the others will run this story first! Besides, I risked getting shot for these!”
“Leave it with me. I’ll call the press censorship people and ask if we can run the story. In the meantime, write up what you saw.”

Once the journalist had left, the editor picked up his phone and dialled a number of a contact who had provided his paper with a lot of interesting stories over the years. All the person had asked for in return was to be informed if the paper came across any defence related stories.

“Hello, it’s me. I think I have something you might be interested in. The usual place?”

***

[1] London is surrounded by Surrey, Buckinghamshire, the Royal County of Berkshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, and Essex. All of whom have their own fire and rescue services.

[2] An explanation of how the LFB’s incident command procedures work can be found here.

[Bernard Woolley]

Accompanying Pictures

[jemhouston]

I'll admit, going to Egypt for bridging equipment caught be by surprise.

The Activity AKA ISA? Serious people for a serious job.

[Jotun]

I'll admit, going to Egypt for bridging equipment caught be by surprise.

The Activity AKA ISA? Serious people for a serious job.

That exact one. I didn‘t know how to translate an female alien tech specialist into something Earth-based otherwise. Her favorite drone will also be called Chiktikka. Baldur‘s Gate II should existin this world…

FWIW, the blatant Mass Effect reference has been cleared with The Boss months ago. It has been rattling around in my mind‘s batshit ideas attic for far longer, however

[jemhouston]

I'll admit, going to Egypt for bridging equipment caught be by surprise.

The Activity AKA ISA? Serious people for a serious job.

That exact one. I didn‘t know how to translate an female alien tech specialist into something Earth-based otherwise. Her favorite drone will also be called Chiktikka. Baldur‘s Gate II should existin this world…

FWIW, the blatant Mass Effect reference has been cleared with The Boss months ago. It has been rattling around in my mind‘s batshit ideas attic for far longer, however

I have no knowledge of Mass Effect, so I didn't feel the breeze when it went over my head.

Slight dumb question, if the Russian are going "To it may Concern" for missile targets to create terror, wouldn't you take out London Fire Brigade HQ as part of it?

[Eaglenine2]

Should it be Commander Shepard of the RCN since the voice actors are Canadian?

[Matt Wiser]

Whoa, that was fast. BZ as usual, and on to business;

That was unexpected: the Egyptians offering two engineer brigades. That's going to help, but CINC-CENT is not going to push north of the Euphrates in strength until he gets that heavy division he asked for, and the Iranians are ready to jump in. It will be a while, though, before the Egyptians do supply those engineers-these things do take time in the Middle East. I wouldn't be surprised if the Egyptian President says "You can have them, but only one Brigade." Saddam was a folk hero in Egypt for a while during the '91 War, and in '03 (OTL).

Those London firemen are pretty busy-and that's an understatement.

A counterpart to the Falaise Pocket...hmm. Now, will the Soviets do better than the Germans in getting their forces out? While two army commanders are going to be "relived" of all earthy concerns in the meantime.

That artillery officer is relearning the old "Hurry up and wait" maxim.

Nosy reporters.... Ugh.

Nice work, and get with 361!

[trekchu]

Hopefully that SpecOps team doesn't end up having to choose between Red, Blue and Green space magic nukes something for how to nearly destroy the world.

[Johnnie Lyle]

Hopefully that SpecOps team doesn't end up having to choose between Red, Blue and Green space magic nukes something for how to nearly destroy the world.

There are worse choices. Much worse choices.

[Johnnie Lyle]

I'll admit, going to Egypt for bridging equipment caught be by surprise.

The Activity AKA ISA? Serious people for a serious job.

That exact one. I didn‘t know how to translate an female alien tech specialist into something Earth-based otherwise. Her favorite drone will also be called Chiktikka. Baldur‘s Gate II should existin this world…

FWIW, the blatant Mass Effect reference has been cleared with The Boss months ago. It has been rattling around in my mind‘s batshit ideas attic for far longer, however

It’s good to see them.

[mac1812]

Once the journalist had left, the editor picked up his phone and dialled a number of a contact who had provided his paper with a lot of interesting stories over the years. All the person had asked for in return was to be informed if the paper came across any defence related stories.

“Hello, it’s me. I think I have something you might be interested in. The usual place?”

So a traitor, knowingly or not? Or something else?

[James1978]

Good chapter!

I would not be surprised if the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Egypt had been to visit the Foreign Ministry to incentivize Egyptian assistance, and I'm sure the US will be offering something nice to be provided at a later date.

I believe the West German Navy started out with 24 submarines, the Danish Navy with 6 submarines, and the Swedish Navy with 11 submarines. If the Germans have lost half of their boats, and there isn't a Swedish one available to go into those waters, that implies the Swedes have taken a beating as well.

I do get a kick out of seeing eclectic special ops teams.

Swedish heavy units arriving in Jutland. Interesting.

Keep up the good work!

[Bernard Woolley]

I'll admit, going to Egypt for bridging equipment caught be by surprise.

James suggested going to them. I have to also admit that it wasn't something that ocurred to me either. I had a look at their equipment holding and they seem to have a sh*t ton of engineering and bridging equipment. Their operations in Libya don't require a lot of briding equipment, so it is available and would reach the KTO a lot quicker than anything coming from CONUS.

Slight dumb question, if the Russian are going "To it may Concern" for missile targets to create terror, wouldn't you take out London Fire Brigade HQ as part of it?

Indeed you probably would. However, that assumes that the missiles aimed at LFB H.Q were not shot down, or missed. Indeed, it was mentioned a few chapters back that one did come down close enough to the building to start minor fires.

Those London firemen are pretty busy-and that's an understatement.

Fighting fires is an exhausting business. Thankfully in @ incidents that need a watch of firefighters to be relieved by the next watch are rare, but they do happen. The LFB maintain a fleet of mini-buses to transport firefighters, which are used in those situations. IIRC, the last time I know of when watches were relieved on a fireground was Grenfell.

A counterpart to the Falaise Pocket...hmm. Now, will the Soviets do better than the Germans in getting their forces out?

They're in a very difficult situation,. The corridor is narrow, indeed NATO forces need to be careful that their artillery doesn't overshoot and hit Blue forces on the other side.

Nice work, and get with 361!

Thanks and will do!

So a traitor, knowingly or not? Or something else?

Someone who thinks they have a good source.

Good chapter!

Thanks very much!

I would not be surprised if the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Egypt had been to visit the Foreign Ministry to incentivize Egyptian assistance, and I'm sure the US will be offering something nice to be provided at a later date.

Kuwait can probably offer cheap loans, or straight up grants. Maybe help to pay for the replacement of the Aswan Low Dam. While I'd imagine that the US may offer some nice new shiny military kit, or offer to pay for part of the upgrade of Egypt's M60 fleet to M60A4(120S) standard.

Swedish heavy units arriving in Jutland. Interesting.

There is an operation happening in the near future that they will be taking part in.

Keep up the good work!

Will do my best!

[Jotun]

Should it be Commander Shepard of the RCN since the voice actors are Canadian?

Bit late, my answer, I employed author‘s privilege. Think of KKpt Schefer as a distant forefather of Cdr Shepard