NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: See this thread (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=476193) if you're interested.



The year, 1968.

Arguably the height of the Cold War, and it shows no signs of thawing. The Americans and the Soviets both are trying to push their influence on more and more of the world, while they build their stockpiles of nuclear weapons.

The Europeans are afraid of a possible war, and that they may not be able to keep the Reds at bay if it happens. The phrase, "Red Army tanks cooling their tracks in the English Channel," seems like a near-future reality.

War rages in Indo-China, which isn't suprising, considering there had been wars on and off there since the early '40s. This time, the Americans and South Vietnam and their allies are trying to keep the Communist North out; seemingly a repeat of the Korean conflict a little over a decade earlier. American troops are climbing towards a half-million strong in the region, and Strategic Air Command's B-52s are making frequent raids into the North, trying to cut off supply lines and destroy war production.

However, it's not simply Democracy vs. Communism in the world. The Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China, previously close allies, are now increasingly suspicious of each others intents. Relations between the two have been broken off, and war seems as likely there as it does in Europe. On the Chinese-Russian border, nearly a million troops on each side stand guard, looking across, wondering that will happen next.

Events Thus Far
1968 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=11067401&postcount=53)

The statue of Lenin stared aimlessly across Pyonyang's city square. A few passerby made sidelong glances, but avoided eye contact with it, preffering not to attract attention from the police. Kim Il-Sung, though, had no such worries as he stepped out of his long Soviet Zil limousine. A line of army officers was waiting in front of him to salute. Smiling and glancing at them, Kim walked past without saying a word. There was no time for formalities, as more important matters had brought him here. Kim jogged up the steps to the Politburo building, panting by the time he got to the top. It was not often that he had to come here, and age played as much a part as lack of exercise in his exhaustion. But it would be best if noone noticed that.

"Comrade!" A guard opened the door as Il-Sung reached the top of the stairs, but received no reply. Soon, the dictator was greeted by the pleasant and ornate-looking halls of the Politburo structure. People darted around everywhere, but all of them paid some kind of respect to Kim as he strode through- a wave, a smile, or even a "hello". Everyone knew that just ignoring the Chairman could be fatal. The more observant of them, however, noted that he did not return their gestures as was normal. Obviously, there was something important going on that needed immediate attention.

It was a short walk to the meeting room, and everyone had already arrived ahead of schedule. They rose from their seats and briefly saluted, and then returned to what they where doing when Kim waved back. Taking a seat at the end of the table, he asked for the server to fetch him some wine. Some light discussion was still going on in the room, but Il-Sung decided it was time to silence it and begin the conference. Standing up, he shouted as loud as he could without screaming. "Comrades!"

The People's Defence Minister put down his cup of coffee and devoted all his attention to the speaker. "It is time to discuss the Sino-Soviet issue. Over a dozen Russian divisions are already mobilized, and more are gearing up for action. The Chinese are responding in kind, which means that it's our turn to figure out what is going on. We have to take action of some kind, this problem is not simply going to go away. The People's Democratic Republic of Korea has been nuetral for all this time, allying with neither the Chinks nor the Soviet fools. But this may be time to take sides. General Gi, we where discussing our options earlier. Fill the rest of the Council in on our thoughts."

Kim took a seat, as the Defence Minister stood. Thanking His Greatness for an opportunity to speak, General Gi looked confused for a few seconds as he looked around the room as if trying to find something. After a few seconds, he gave up searching for the servant and walked over to the light switches to dim the lights. Gi had already set up a projector, and switched it on. A map of the Sino-Soviet border area appeared on the wall.

"This is where we are worried about. You can see Korea on the right. To the left of it is the line between Russia and China. The Russian and Chinese armies have been launching raids against each other, but it hasn't been a problem until now. This morning, People's Intelligence Service told us that the two countries are mobilizing some of their troops in Siberia. This is not going to just go away in a few weeks as usual- if they're going through the trouble of sending reinforcements to the border, both of them are trying to escalate the conflict. What worries us is that a lot of these soldiers just happen to be traveling along the border of our People's Republic."

Kim Il-Sung had moved his seat around to the corner to get a better view, and his cigar was leaking smoke into the air. Taking it out of his mouth to get a better view of the map, Kim cleared his throat, which caused General Gi to pause for a moment. "Comrade Sung, your orders?" This Politburo meeting was really just a formality- the decision had already been made. Il-Sung took a peek out the window, back at the statue of Lenin. Children in school uniforms were standing around it, listening to their teacher make another speech on the greatness of Socialism. All it was to them was just another mandatory field trip, but to Kim Il-Sung, Communism was a way of life. And it was up to him to defend it.

"Mobilize the army and air force. Take all the troops we can spare off the South Korean front and keep them in the north." It was best to make sure that the Chinks and Russkiys didn't try anything stupid.

it was a cold but sunny day in the beijing. Mao was silently strutting around his home still reeling from the recent events inwhich he was side lined from power and replaced with Liu Shaoqi as the new chairman. But still he held some reins to power.

The growing conflict with russia he continually thought to himself would be a chance for him to get back in charge but at what cost.


Meanwhile the new chairman was in a session of the peoples congress and the main items for the agenda involved sending more troops to the border and making sure that Kim of Korea, was going to back up them up especially after the Korean war.


"So that settles it then does it? We stop diplomacy with our old friends? Thisis what it comes down to, the two allies going to destroy each other?" Liu was furious. He marched down the long hall way with the usual busts of Mao and other 'important' founders of the republic.


"Do we have any idea what the Capitalist swines plan to do if it comes to all out war? Go get me the Kims ambassador its time we played our cards with the koreans" liu stopped and sat on the nearby wooden chair. "You there (he shouted at a nearby young male) come sit with me for a moment.

The young boy worked in one of the less orthadox offices of the state. " suspicion is a fickled friend especially in these troubled times, and when an old friend turns into the jackal how would you get your hand out of its grasped jaws? Liu looked inquisitly at the young male.

" i...I dont know how i would react sir. I suppose i would have to hit it with my fist of find something stronger to hit it with.

Liu tapped him on the back, "you would make a fine leader oneday, now please forgive me for putting you out of your way"


He slowly walked to his office which by his standards was still quite daunting to the common eye, but a sure sign that communism was fun. He sat slowly in his chair and tapped his fingers together

The Oval Office, The White House, Washington D.C.
January, 1968

Lyndon B. Johnson was not a happy man. The Vietnam conflict was soon to be dragging into it's fourth year, and it was becoming very unpopular with the American public. Especially the youth, who were busy burning their draft cards and chanting, "Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids will you kill today." And while he regretted committing troops to the conflict, he also did not want America to appear weak.

"Robert, please tell me good news today," he said, directed towards Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara.

"Mr. President, we're making efforts to keep the NVA out of South Vietnam, but they're still getting suppies through. No matter how we go at it, the Trail is practically impossible to stop. Meanwhile, our fighter planes are taking down fighters from the North, but losses are mounting. Our air war is just not affecting this conflict in the way we want it to."

"I think I can clear this issue up, Mr. President," said Secretary of the Air Force Harold Brown.

"By all means, Harold."

"Sir, our fighters aren't being allowed to effectively engage the enemy. We're only allowed to fire missiles if the enemy is in sight, which pretty much kills the entire advantage of the missile. Not to mention our F-4 Phantoms not only have no cannon, they aren't nearly as manuverable as NVA MiGs. It's a sitting duck in a dogfight. They have a speed advantage, but not for long. If the NVA ever get any of the new MiG-25s from the Soviets, it would be a slaughter. And if we lose our fighters, we lose cover for our bombers, and it would be like the raids into Germany back in '42."

"So then what's the solution?"

"Well sir, several years ago, we had programs initiated to produce triple-sonic combat planes, not just fighters, but bombers too. The Valk...

"Not a chance," interrupted McNamara. "Your precious planes are vulnerable to SAMs, like it or not. The U-2 proved that. Altitude does no good to improve the odds. That's why we're phasing out our manned bombers in favor of ICBMs."

"Robert..." Johnson spoke up, "last time I checked, we're not at war with the Soviets. Therefore, our ICBMs aren't relevant to this discussion."

Harold Brown stood up and walked to the door. "You may come in now, Mr. Helms."

The Director of the CIA, Richard Helms entered the Oval Office. "Mr. President, you're aware of the Oxcart Program, correct?"

"The A-12, yes, I'm aware of it."

"Well, sir, normally I wouldn't be telling you about this sort of information, but the A-12 has successfully probed the airspace of various countries, several of which are not on friendly terms with us. Let's just say, not all of the photos in briefing reports regarding Soviet missile development are from satellites."

"So what's your point?" McNamara asked.

"Well, it was entirely likely the Soviets knew we were there, photographing their installations, but they were unable to take a single A-12 down. We've lost five in accidents, but none so far to hostile fire. It's rather technical to explain, but we've had 119 incidents with our Oxcarts being fired upon by SAMs, and not one has been shot down. My point is that the YF-12 fighter prototype is based directly from the A-12, and has mostly the same performance capabilities. The XB-70, is also capable of close to the same performance."

The President spoke up, "Robert, before you respond to this, I'd like to say something. I believe that in the United States, we should be the forefront of technology for the world. That's why we have NASA, and their Apollo program. If we fall behind the Soviets, it will appear we're not taking them seriously. We'll appear weak. We don't want that to happen. Now, Mr. Brown, how quickly could we have these planes in operation?"

"The F-12, should be the easiest, especially since the reconnissance development of it, the SR-71, is set to begin operational sorties by the end of the month. I'd say we could have several squadrons ready by the end of the year, at least, if you give the go now. The B-70 will take a bit longer, but at least NASA still has one for research. Not to mention North American...err, Rockwell, still has parts from the unfinished third plane sitting in their facilities. We might be able to have a squadron ready around the same time as the F-12s, or at the latest, the middle of next year."

"Then let's do it. Get on the phone to Lockheed and Rockwell, tell them what we want out of them. In the meantime, start fitting our F-4s with cannon, even if we have to strap the damned things to the fuselage. And new policy regarding hostile aircraft, if any planes so much pose a threat to us our our allies...well, they know what to do."

"Yes, Mr. President," responded Brown, appearing to now be in a very good mood. McNamara, on the other hand, looked as if he had seen a ghost.

Chairman liu's office. Beijing -jan 1968 prelude to war

"So if there is a nuclear strike then we can live under the ground?? How long have you been working on these underground cities??? The chairman was definatly in a foul mood it had been a while since this had happened but today he was definatly in a foul mood " and while where at it how long does it take to get am ambassador in my office? We are on the vrge of all out war with the Soviet union and you miserable lot cant even be bothered to get me what I want"

When Liu took a tantrum the majority of the staff knew to keep well away until he cooled down.

"Comrade Generals, i have a vision for a new china. Yes our old friends are now our new enemy but China needs space to expand and with that the true peoples republic will grow too. I want the 2nd 5th and 8th tank battalions moved to the Heilongjiang province. When the time is ready we are going to invade the soviet union through Vladivladstok. Take there eastern port and we can control the seas that way.

I want it made sure that The Europeans and the unimpressive american dogs stay out of this. We dont have naval force strong enough to invade the US just yet and there presence in Japan is too close for comfort. Every day they move closer to our borders spreading their evil capitalist lies we must not give them any reason t move any closer!"

Liu pointed to the doors and the generals left almost without lack of haste.

He turned and looked out of the window. "Theres no going back now, I must be strong for China.When the koreans side with us our tanks will roll into the Soviet Union. Chinas time to rise is NOW!

Lockheed Skunk Works, Burbank, California
January, 1968

"Woooooohooooooo!!!!" The yell could be heard all around the floor, part of the building that housed Lockheed's "Skunk Works." It wasn't odd that there was an overly good mood here, they had been producing some of the most advanced aircraft ever made for the United States government; the P-38 and P-80 fighters, the U-2 spy plane, and it's successors the A-12 and the SR-71. They'd even built a fighter version of the Blackbird, the YF-12, and the USAF was extremely interested. But thanks to Secretary of Defense McNamara, they didn't get to build any. That was three years ago.

Meanwhile, the young man who had taken the call from Secretary of the Air Force Harold Brown was still running down the halls, cheering, dancing, all manner of excitement until he came across the man at the top, the legend, Kelly Johnson.

"What's all this commotion?"
"M-M-Mr. Johnson, we just recieved a call from Air Force Secretary Brown." He paused to take a breath.
"Well come on, son, spit it out."
"Sir....the Air Force....they just ordered 100 F-12Bs. It's the real deal this time, McNamara isn't gonna be intervening."
"You're serious?"
"Absolutely, sir."
Kelly Johnson sprouted a big smile on his face. "Thank you son, that's great news." He started to walk away, "Oh, and get on the line with Hughes, if the Air Force is buying F-12s, they're gonna need their Falcon missiles and their radar systems. And call up Pratt & Whitney too, we're gonna need at least 200 more J-58s to power these planes."

The Office of the President of France, Paris.
January, 1968

Charles de Gaulle was not having a good morning. He had very little power over the goverment. After the events of May 1968, his power had weakened. An aide burt into the room, carriying his morning briefing

"Jean, tell me its good," he said to his aide, lookign at the folder.

"Pardonne-moi, mon President" (OOC: Pardon my French :p, its not very good) Jean said, with an unhappy look on his face. He did not like giving the president bad things.

"Bah, I shan't open it, tell me what is happening"
"Yes sir" Jean picked up the folder. "There have been more and more raids along the Sino-Soviet border. Both sides are massing troops."
"Very well, we shall wait a bit, and see how NATO and the rest of the Warshaw Pact react."
"Yes sir, the Russians are massing in Siberia, and the Chinise in Manchuria. We have reports of large numbers of Chinise tanks in Manchuria."
"Enough with this talk of war. Is there anything else of importance?"
"Non, there is very little out of the ordinary, public support for you has seemed to hit a plateau, which is good, because it means its not falling. And the Americans are losing more and more men in Indochine."
"Hah, if we're not going to have it, the natives might as well take it. Jean, you're dismissed."
"Oui."
Jean turned, left the report on the President's desk, and walked out of the room.

Ambassador Hwan had just finished the short walk from the North Korean embassy in Beijing. From what he heard, Chairman Mao himself was interested in speaking with him. Walking into the lobby of Mao's government complex, he found a seat on a bench, waiting for the fellow Communist to call him into the audience room.

* * * * *

Ki's line of men were brought to an abrupt halt at the edge of the fast-moving stream. Not one of the soldiers knew what was going on- ever since leaving barracks, they had been going around in circles, passing what looked like the same stream over and over. At the head of the column, Colonel Ki continued to haggle with his officers. The men where tired of it by now, but there was no end to the marching or the cold. Crisp snow was covered with shallow footsteps, marking the ground where the unit had already traveled over. But the Colonel was still insisting that they where traveling on the right path.
"Commader Ki! Permission to speak freely!"
"What is it now, Lieutenant?"
"Sir, we've marched over this same place before. We took a wrong turn at the crossroads. I recommend, sir, that we backtrack north and find out where we went off our route."
"Nonsense, Lieutenant Son! We've talked about this before! I don't know what is happening, but we are going to reach that assembly area, and I know where we are going!"
The Lieutenant wanted to open his mouth to speak, but stopped himself. The Colonel was obstinate, and arguing further would accomplish nothing. It was not like Ki to disregard honest advice from his subordinates, but he still was a man that Son knew he could trust. A long march like this takes its toll on everyone.
Ki stopped to think to himself. What is this? The North Korean People's Army hasn't even gone to war, and it's already lost a whole batallion!. There were not many options. They had sortied to link up with the Brigade assembly area to the east, but had gotten lost along the way. Now, it was headed completely off-track, and was wandering through the frozen Manchurian wastes. There's no point in being a defeatist. There has to be options. They could spend the night here, set up a fire and wait until another unit found them. But what would that look like to Ki's superiors? No, he thought, we are going to find our way out of this mess. His men had sold the radio in exchange for a truckload vodka last night, and were caught in the act. The ones responsible were thrown in confinement, but it did not last long- just this morning, they had been ordered to move out to the Russian border. So a column of drunken prisoners marched behind everyone, slowing progress to a crawl. But they could not simply be left back at base, as the Brigade commander insisted that everyone be sortied. These bastards would be thrown in a penal batallion once this whole thing was over. But for now, Ki had no radio, no contact with his headquarters, and no idea what to do.
The Colonel asked for a compass from the nearest officer. He was handed one, and began to get his bearings. If only they kept marching past this small stream, they would be able to make progress toward the Russian border. All he knew for sure was that the Brigade was probably somewhere in that general direction, and it was the only shot that the Batallion had at getting back on track. Sighing, Ki shrugged off the overpowering cold and turned toward Lieutenant Son. "Alright, Son, inform the companies to head east."

What noone in the world knew at that point was that the Batallion had already strayed extremely close to Soviet territory. Unknowingly, it was about to march past the poorly-marked border, and straight into the Russian Far Eastern defences.

Ambassador Hwan had just finished the short walk from the North Korean embassy in Beijing. From what he heard, Chairman Mao himself was interested in speaking with him. Walking into the lobby of Mao's government complex, he found a seat on a bench, waiting for the fellow Communist to call him into the audience room.

.

ooc: mao aint chairman anymore its chairman liu. you may wanna remember that lol

"Comrade Hwan, please come into the office" Liu held the door open and pointed into his office. "If you care for drink please help yourself" He sat down and looked quickly at the painting of mao on the wall.

"Times are getting more and more difficult. old friends are turning against one another communism is destroying itself. Brother its time china asked its friends for help. The soviet Union is being corrupted by the capitalists across the way. I want you to recommend to Comrade Kim, that china is asking for its support. It wouldnt be in either our future interests to help one another in the face of destruction by a fools socialism in russia.

I am ordering our tanks and whatlimited airforce we have onto the sino-russian borders."

liu was trying to catch any indications from the ambassador.

he stood up and tried to show what little height he had as a sign of strengh on chinas leadership.

"let me be blunt. China will help North Korea against the south and help repel any american aggression if the north is prepared to side with China"

The French Air force has ordered 50 new Mirage III's. 200 more AMX 30 have been ordered, and 100 more AMX 30 AuF1's.

USAF 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron
"The Triple Nickel"
Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base
Late January, 1968

Ralph Wetterhann and his WSO Jerry Sharp were in the office of Colonel Robert Spencer, commander of the 8th Fighter Wing here at Ubon RTAFB.

"At ease." He paused for a moment. "Lieutenant Wetterhann, do you know what a Habu is?"

"A Habu, sir?"

"I didn't think so. How about you, Lieutenant Sharp?"

"No, sir."

"Well, gentlemen, a Habu is a type of snake, an Okinawan pit viper to be specific. The most dangerous snake on the island, very lethal, and it has a triangular shaped head. It's also what the locals have nicknamed the CIA's A-12 reconnissance planes, because of their resemblance. Why this is important is because the Air Force is going to be getting the F-12B fighter version of it very soon. The Triple Nickel has priority, and you two are going to be the first to train on it. In fact, there's a pair of pre-production prototypes due to arrive in a few minutes. You'll be familiarizing yourselves with their systems for a few hours, then you'll be flying back stateside to Edwards and conduct more in-depth training. Once you're done, you'll come back to the Triple Nickel and teach all these boys how to fly the Habu. Does that sound good to you gentlemen?"

"Yes, sir," they replied simultaneously.

"Good. That's all, you're dismissed."

50,000 men will be added to the French Army. Also, there has been increased "development" of France's nuclear arsenal.

The Oval Office, The White House, Washington D.C.
Late January, 1968

"Mr. President, I think you 'ought to see these." The statement came from the new Secretary of Defense, Clark Clifford.

"Developments in Indo-China?" asked President Johnson.

"No sir, somewhere else, and more confusing."

"Continue..."

"Well, sir, the Air Force has been conducting operations with the new SR-71s, overflights of various nations, you know the drill. We recently got back these photos."

Clifford handed the President the first maroon folder. He opened it, and pulled out the photos.

"The first group of pictures there are from just north of the DMZ in Korea, taken earlier this month. The next group were taken two days ago, from the same locations."

"It appears that there are less military personnel there now. But where did they go?"

He handed Johnson the second folder, this one much thicker.

"These photos were taken from the border between the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union."

"Good god, why are there so many troops?"

"We're not entirely sure, but we know that the Soviets and the Chinese are not on friendly terms at the moment. Our best guess at the time is that's where the missing North Korean troops are."

Johnson stood up from his desk and looked out the window.

"What's our angle, sir?"

"Our angle? We have no angle at the moment. We've got enough going on as it is in Vietnam. But, Clark, do make sure to continue watching this, it's important to know what the Soviets and the Chinese are up to."

"Greetings, Comrade Liu. I am honored to be in the presence of such a grand Communist," said the Ambassador. The Chairman returned the welcome, and went on about the Soviet border issue. Hwan pretended to listen, but was more interested now with the urgent matter of the new American fighter aircraft.

Eventually, Liu stopped rambling on for a moment, and Hwan had an opening to speak. "Mr. Chairman, excuse me, but I have some information that is very interesting."

"What could be more important than the entire Red Army assembling to the north?" Liu asked.

"Trust me, it is a very important. Just a week ago, the People's Spies where able to bribe one of the corrupt capitalist pigs employed at the American Lockheed-Martin. This is the company that has been making the enemy's fighter planes since our war with the Japanese imperialists (World War II). The employee told us that an American airplane called the A-12 is already being rolled off the production lines."

Liu interrupted, angry that the Ambassador had changed the subject. "I already know of this, everyone knows about the A-12. It won't be years until-"

"Years? How about right now?"

"What? What are you saying? Wha-"

"Yes. They've already deployed a squadron overseas. We do not know where it is. Our spies couldn't extract the exact location from our informant, but we know that it is deployed somewhere in Asia. You already know of the capabilities of the A-12, no?"

"I believe so, yes." Liu was loosing his cool, and you could see just a hint of nervousness in his expression.

"What I have been wanting to tell you is that now both of our homelands could be bombed and spied on at will by the Yankees. His Greatness Premier Il-Sung had told me not to tell you about this, and to keep it a secret. But as I was about to leave for this meeting, a telegram came from Pyongyang informing me that the Chinese needed to know about this new development. His Greatness also said that we must find a way to counter this new threat. We are having enough trouble killing their U-2s and Fireflies (an American reconassaince UAV) already. As strong as the People's Democratic Republic of Korea's Air Force is, we are going to need help."

Liu thought for a few seconds before replying. Hwan sat their, waiting to hear what his old friend had to say.

Liu stood up his hands in a tight fist " China will repel the american agressors from this region. We are currently building up a U-boat fleet and infact you may notice that several will already have left the south china sea. Unfortuantly its just three boats but in the short run the americans wont expect them.

Our airforce is limited at prssent in the south but we can rebuild and rearm quickly. Conscription is needed if we are to help you our dear friends and to remove the corrupt leadership in moscow. Communism will rein supreme across this world one day and the peoples republic of our two nations will stand firm and true.

Send word to Kim China will defend you. In the mean time we will send communication to the United States!.


Sometime later

"To the leadership of the United States of American

China and its people demand that without due condtion attacks and any other aggression against North Korea and vietnam cease immediatly. An attack on our comrades is an act of war on communism and China. We will not tolerate capitalist aggression in our region.

Our recent developments in nuclear and mechanised warfare will be used IF you continue this futile battle.

Any attempt to send american carriers into chinese or nearby waters will be seen as an act of war!

You have been warned!!

Chairman Liu The peoples Republic of China"

I want to know the second we get a response from those savages. They will not dare but stupid enough to ignore our demands.

liu called in his several generals. " Comrades i feel that the time has come to move further against the soviet union. Nuclear blackmail I feel will be a key in these urgent and sensitive times. And this state must been seen to be acting in the right ways.

I have also promised our friends in Korea that china will defend it at ANY cost" He put a strong emphasis on ANY. He walked around his office and took on his usual manner of looking strong and dignified.

"I want results gentleman. I dont care how you do it or how long it takes but I wnat america out of this region and I want communism to take control!"

The Oval Office, The White House, Washington D.C.
February, 1968

President Johnson was starting to get a headache. America was currently fighting against the North Vietnamese, who were being supplied by the Soviets. The Soviets were making a huge build-up of troops along their border with China. The Chinese were allied with the North Koreans again, and were also building up troop numbers on the same border. Now the Chinese were threatening the United States, of all countries, because of their involvement in Indo-China.


To Chairman Liu,

At the present time, we have no qualm with the People's Republic of China, or the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Our intent is simply to protect the sovereign land of the Republic of Vietnam from northern aggression, until there is an agreement between the North and South regarding reunification of the country.

We are curious as to your hostility towards the United States, since at the moment your biggest threat appears to be from the Soviet Union, and potentially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam to your south who has been recieving very generous amounts of aid from the Soviets.

We should hope that there should not be military action between us, especially with nuclear weapons, before a peaceful resolution can be agreed upon.

Sincerely,
Lyndon B. Johnson
President of the United States of America


(OOC: In RL, the PRC was actually rather paranoid about North Vietnam around this time, believing the Soviets were trying to surround them with pro-Soviet Communist states. Which was part of the reason they later supported the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, to try and surround Vietnam with pro-PRC states.)

The Oval Office, The White House, Washington D.C.
February, 1968

President Johnson was starting to get a headache. America was currently fighting against the North Vietnamese, who were being supplied by the Soviets. The Soviets were making a huge build-up of troops along their border with China. The Chinese were allied with the North Koreans again, and were also building up troop numbers on the same border. Now the Chinese were threatening the United States, of all countries, because of their involvement in Indo-China.





(OOC: In RL, the PRC was actually rather paranoid about North Vietnam around this time, believing the Soviets were trying to surround them with pro-Soviet Communist states. Which was part of the reason they later supported the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, to try and surround Vietnam with pro-PRC states.)


ooc: Ahh yes i missed that part.


"Comrade Chariman" one of the generals spoke up his face was somewaht distorted due to the light coming in from the window. "What about the North Vietnamese border? The corrupt union is continuing to send troops into that nation."


The cahirman looked taken aback by that news, he had forgotten about vietnams borders. "Then you will take care of it as well as you can."

Febuary, 1968


Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger, of West Germany, sat in his office hearing a daily briefing on Soviet military movements.

"Herr Chancellor," The Chief of Staff said, "In a matter of weeks, the Soviets will launch their yearly spring training exercises. Shall we step up military readiness along the border, as we do every year at this time?"

Kiesinger looked up from his documents on the Soviet Army, and replied quickly, "Yes, that would be fine. Particularly along the Fulda Gap. Alert the United States of our uping intensity of armored support of the region."

"It shall be done, mein Chancellor!" And with a sharp salute, the Cheif of Staff left exited the office.

Colonel Reinhardt Heinz directed his eighty one tanks of the 9th Armor Brigade, 33rd Armored Battalion, along the Autobahn. They moved at an easy pace of around twenty miles per hour, half their full speed. The long column was one of many, as the 1st Armor division, relocated to the Fulda Gap.

"Herr Colonel?," Private Lukas Adolf, the Command Tank's radio operator asked.
"Ja Private?"
"Oberst Finn Earnhardt sent a telegram, stating that he wants the 33rd Battalion to break off, and maintain ourselves on hill 437."
"Reply that his request is acknoledged. Driver, move to Hill 437.
"Ja herr!" The armored column broke off, and crossed off the autobahn. They proceeded to cross the country side until they reached Hill 437, their designated defensive position.

Colonel Reinhardt announced his tactical decision over the placement of units over the intercom, "I want 1st Company to settle along the foot of the hill. Maintain watch on that bridge in the event of an attack. I know we arent at war, but always be ready when in the field! 2nd Company maintain hold along the Southern slope to the right, and 3rd Company on the Northern Slope to the left. All officers understand?" All officers replied with a quick "Ja Herr!" and moved their Leopard 1 tanks to the designated areas. "As for the Infantry Attachment, i want them to occupy the other side of the bridge, there the platoon can inform us of what is coming. Move out Lieutenant!"

bump

>bump<

Febuary 1968.
Chancellor Kiesienger of the Federal Republic of Deutschland, was pleased to hear that the military security along the West-East German border was intensified within three days of his previous request.

Cockpit, F-12B "Master Blaster"
82,000 feet above Hanoi, North Vietnam
February, 1968

It was only an F-12B by name. They'd quickly updated one of the prototype YF-12As with recent equipment, and pressed it into the Triple Nickel to see how it would fare in combat. The "recent equipment" included the new AN/AWG-9 pulse-doppler radar, developed from the AN/ASG-18 unit in the F-12 prototypes. They still had the AIM-47 Falcon missiles, but they could carry four now that all the weapons bays were free; the old radar took up the whole nose and one weapons bay.

It didn't matter, Lieutenant Wetterhann was seriously impressed by the F-12. His old F-4C Phantom was fast. His new mount though, was stupid fast. It could fly over Mach 3, and it could do it constantly, so long as it had fuel. It may not have the manuverability, but up here it didn't matter; he was 20,000 feet above the ceiling of a MiG-21, the prime fighter for the North Vietnamese.

His WSO Jerry Sharp spoke up. "Bandits, we have Bandits...tenative identification, Fishbed fighters...raid count, four. Speed, 1000 knots...altitude, 40,000 feet...climbing hard, but they won't reach us. They're at our twelve, about 100 miles out, but we're catching up pretty fast...my guess is they were trying to put a lead on us. Should we fire?"

Wetterhann was thinking. They likely wouldn't have to fire upon the enemy fighters, they were unable to make the intercept. Their missiles, on paper, and in the perfect situation, might be able to reach them, assuming they got them off at the right time, and assuming Wetterhann didn't manuver his F-12 in a different direction. But the F-12 was a combat plane, made to take down enemy fighters. And the less fighters the North had, the easier it would be for SAC's B-52s to raid The Trail. Cut off The Trail, and they might even be able to end this damned war.

"Take 'em out, Jerry."

The wonderful thing about the new fire control unit, was that they could launch all four of their Falcon missiles at once, all at seperate targets. Seconds later, the missiles were blasted out of their bays and their rockets ignited, ripping through the sky towards their targets. The AIM-47 had originally been intended as an air-defense missile for NORAD, with a low-yield nuclear warhead for incinerating incoming Soviet bomber formations. Here, however, they had a large HE warhead which should easily be able to take down a fighter. Right about now, the MiG pilots probably realize that it isn't their day, and they will certainly try and accelerate and turn. Unfortunately, they just didn't have enough speed. The AIM-47s were traveling at Mach 6, and it would take them less than a minute to intercept the Bandits.

"Contacts lost, Ralph, we got 'em."
"You know what that means, Jerry? Add those four to the one we got last year, and that makes 'Ace' status."

It was amazing that the North would even have sent that many fighters up at one time. The only time they really sent up "large" numbers of fighters was if there was a bombing raid. The most that had ever been taken down in one day was seven, on May 13 the previous year, by seven different USAF planes. Now Wetterhann and Sharp had taken down four enemy planes with just one. It was a new era in aerial combat beginning.

Right Outside the Office of the President of France, Paris.
February, 1968

Jean was sitting at his desk, spinning his pen with his fingers. He had finished looking over some reports, but did not it it wise to interrupt the President during his lunch. Only five minuites to go, Jean thought, Then I can go in there.

The military advisor walked up to Jean's desk, and dropped a folder on it.
"The President needs to see this as soon as possible" he said.
"Yeah, I'm just going in there in a few minuites to give him the late-morning developments"
"Very well then." the advisor said, turn sharply, and left.

Jean opened the folder, something about advanced US jets shooting down Vietnamese planes. He did not think it was that important, but he had to show the President. He skimmed over the other folders. Something was going down in China, the new arms for the military were in route to their new units. There were plans for a new carrier, as well as its component of aircraft.

Well, time's up.

Jean got up, opened the door, walked in, and shut it behind him.

a fleeting glimmer of hope shone across the chairmans face. " YES YES YES, those capitalist dogs will bomb and distract thhe Union whilst in vietnam. we cant afford to patrol the borders for too long. The americans will watch them for us. Its ingenious.


Generals, i want enough divisions sent into north Korea. We need to show unity with our brothers now!

The Oval Office, The White House, Washington D.C.
Late February, 1968

"Sir, our initial results with the F-12 have been outstanding." Secretary of Defense Clifford was briefing President Johnson. "This particular instance, a few days ago... Lieutenants Wetterhann and Sharp from the 555th out of Ubon Air Base. While probing their airspace over Hanoi, they engaged and successfully destroyed four enemy MiGs simultaneously."

"Simultaneously?" He paused for a moment. For the first time in a long while, Johnson had actually recieved some 'good' news. "Impressive. Were the MiGs able to launch an effective defense?"

"Not from their position. And once the missiles were fired, it took only a bit over a minute to make the intercepts. And that was from 80 miles out. Sir, the Hughes fire-control system and the Falcon missiles are an excellent combination. And they're working on an air-to-ground version as well, the AGM-76. It would give us stand-off capability when engaging enemy SAM sites, and could also be launched from the F-12. It's not ready yet, they're still in the developmental stages with it, but it might be ready by the time our Valkyries start to enter service."

"By the way, what is the progress with the Valkyries?"

"Assembly for the first YB-70A is nearly complete. Rockwell says they should be conducting initial flight tests by the beginning of next month. Oh yes, The Triple Nickel should be getting a fourth F-12 soon, Lockheed says they should be fully outfitted by the end of March."

"That's good news, Clark." And to think, Johnson pondered, that McNamara had cancelled these programs...

OOC: Quick question, chemical weapons, are they allowed?
PS: Sorry for taking so long
IC: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Moscow...

"COMRADE BREZHNEV!" A voice yelled to the Soviet leader infront of the Kremlin.

Leanoid Brezhnev, General Secretary of the Politburo for the USSR, known to the Western Media as the 'Premier', Keryovich Khalimov*, Brezhnevs good friend and the USSRs Defense Minister, with a serious look on his face walking over to him.

"Yes, Comrade Khalimov?" Brezhnev asked.

"Have you heard? The Americans have deployed a new type of fighter against our socialist brothers in Vietnam!" Khalimov said.

"Really?" Brezhnev asked.

"YES! It is incredibly fast according to the Vietnamese and our advisors in the country." Khalimov continued, "I hope we can find out more from our comrades in State Security."

State Security, known to the West as the KGB, was, of course, the intellegince agency of the Soviet Union. The current Head of the KGB was Nikolai Petrenko*, another one of Brezhnevs and Khalimovs good friends... and the only other good friend for Brezhnev in the Politburo.

"Come on," Brezhnev said, "the meeting will begin soon."

The Politburo's Conference Room

After the briefing from the various politburo's meetings of how the Soviet Union was doing(excellent in all aspects, of course), the Nikolai Petrenko stood up.

"COMRADES!" He said, "It has come to our attention through various agents that have infiltrated the imperialist American pigs that they have developed a new fighter for use in Vietnam, we have come to the conclusion that it is very similar to our new MiG-25 that should be entering production in a few months."

Brezhnev looked at Petrenko crossly and asked, "What can we do about it? Comrade Defense Minister?"

Khalimov looked up, "I suggest that we supply to our socialist brothers in Vietnam our new Anti-Tank Guided Missiles and..." he paused, "The SA-6."

There was a rustle in the politburo, everybody knew that the SA-6 Mobile Surface-Air Missile had not been sold or given away to any nation outside the Soviet Union, not to the Middle Eastern Nations, not to Vietnam, not even to fellow Warsaw Pact Nations.

"Comrade Defense Minister... how can we give away such sensitive material?" The Head of the KGB asked.

"Comrades!" The Defense Minister said, "This new threat is very dangerous, but it is also an excellent opportunity to test the might of our newest and best weapons against the Americans newest and best weapons! We must see how well the new missile works against this new threat! We cannot give the Vietnamese the MiG-25, for it is not ready yet! However, I wish to start sending them these new equipments so they may better fight against the imperialist threat!"

It was voted upon, and decided, that the SA-6 SAM and the AT-2 ATGM would be sent to North Vietnam, then discussion turned to the new exercise the West Germans appeared to be holding.

The Soviet/Chinese/DPRK Border, Around that same time...

Major Ivan Emmetovich peared through his binoculars towards the Chinese border from the turret of his buried Ioseph Stalin-3(IS-3) Battle Tank. He glanced down to his crew and then back towards the Chinese/Soviet Border, somewhere across there was the Chinese Army, a hoard of peasents that would storm and engulf everything in their path, including the Rodina.

Then he heard it, foot falls... lots of them. At least a battalions worth... it was coming from... the direction of the DPRK border? He swivelled his Heavy Machine Gun around in that direction, and sure enough, marching towards him and his few battalions of troops, were North Korean Soldiers.

"What are they doing here?" He thought to himself, they didnt seem to have spotted his turret in its camoflauge yet. He had to report this! Dropping into the turret he picked up the phone, one of Regiments staff officers answered it.

"This is Ivan Emmetovich, I have at least a battalion of North Korean troops moving towards my position in column. Orders?"

There was a pause, then, "Do you have a translator?"

Emmetovich blinked, then said, "Yes..."

"Arrest them." Then the staff officer hung up.

The Major cursed and turned to his translator, a Captain, and said, "Get on the bullhorn and arrest them."

The Captain nodded, then, taking the bull horn in his hands, spoke in Korean to the groups of DPRK Soldiers.

"ATTENTION! You are trespassing on the land of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics! Please drop your weapons and prepare to be taken into custody!"

OOC2: *Both Petrenko and Khalimov are made up characters, please forgive me!

**A little note about the SA-6, in the Yom Kippor war, the SA-6 would not give out a threat reciever warning to the Isrealis Aircraft in the early days of the war. This turned out to be some sort of error in the F-4s and A-6s, it probably also applies to the F-12.

OOC: First off, I like how this plotline is going.
1. I'd like to stay away from actually using chemical weapons, or any sort of WMDs, when combat comes. I'd like to keep this a fairly conventional war. They can be mentioned in the plotline though, as has already been done with nukes (between PRC and the US).
2. Some made up characters are alright, as long as we keep major characters realistic, and so far it appears everyone has done it.
3. I'm not sure the SA-6 would make a huge threat against the F-12, simply because of it's operating speed/range. It would definetly be great threat to slower, normal aircraft, like the F-4 and the A-6, especially with their threat reciever warning problems.

OOC: Your right, the SA-6s top speed is Mcah 2.8, so if the F-12s crew spots the missile trails fast enough, they could outrun it... I should get some MiG-25s to the NVs :p.

Also remember what will happen to US Armored Units when those AT-2s find their way into Vietcong hands.

OOC: Bump! Any IC posts?

OOC: I'd do one, but I'd like to wait and see if anyone will post first, specifically North Korea, especially since you're currently moving to arrest a whole batallion of their troops.

Sorry for the delay, had to wait for dad to get off.

The cold soldiers continued to march in a long line. Up ahead was a wide clearing. The batallion had passed out of the dark forrest by now, and the bright glow from the white snow was hurting their eyes. Ki raised his binoculars to take a look, mostly to shield his eyes, and partially to see what was ahead. A quick scan of the horizon revealed a dark speck. Ki turned to his executive officer.

"Captain Po, what is that over there?" He handed over the binoculars. Po zoomed in the optics, stared for a few seconds, and replied.

"It appears to be some kind of tank, sir... a tank buried in snow. Very big. It might be one of ours."

"Yes! Great work! We've arrived! Great job, Lieutenant!" Colonel Ki patted Lieutenant Chang on the back, who really had no part to play in their arrival, but was congradulated nonetheless- Ki went around complimenting everyone on their work. His batallion had arrived, and his carrer was saved.

Soon after, though, it struck him that they had not really reached the assembly area- there was just some tank sitting out there, immobilized in the snow and probably abandoned. At least they had found some sign of human civilization, though. After the brief celebration, the column resumed moving forward. The pace quickened as the men learned that their destination was near. Even the drunken prisoners at the back of the column walked a little faster.

After a few minutes, some strange noises came from an unidentified loudspeaker. A man had crawled out of the tank's hatch, apparently, and was gesturing toward the Batallion. It was hard to see from this distance, even with binoculars, but Ki felt sure that the man appeared to have pale skin. No, he thought, we couldn't possibly have run into Russians. My eyes are failing me. The loudspeaker's "voice" was hard to hear, but it sounded like garbled and mispronounced Korean.

"Keep marching, men! Those are our comrades!"

It must have been a minute before the strange voice shut up, threw away his loudspeaker, and readied the machine gun on the tank, which was now only a thousand yards away. The batallion continued to march, oblivious to what was happening. Suddenly, a line of tracer fire gently arced over their heads, creating neat holes in the snow behind them. The startled Batallion broke from column and ran in all directions to avoid the bullet impacts, which were slowly drawing closer. Ki shouted to the officers near him to rally their troops, and they ran back to their companies, making a brave but futile attempt to regain orders.

The Colonel heard someone near him shout. "The godamn Soviets! They're invading!"

He had no heavy antitank weapons, and given the chaotic rout of his men it would impossible to gather them for a grenade charge. As everyone around him fled, Ki stood still and disciplined, pulling a flare gun out of a pocket.

. . .

Two MiG-15 fighters cut their way through the thin winter air of the People's Democratic of Korea. Ever since tensions with the USSR had risen, regular air patrols had been put in place over the north of the country. It taxed the People's oil and money reserves, but it was necessary to make sure the Soviets didn't fly anything too close to the border.

Squadron Commander Peng spotted a streak of green fly over the horizon and explode. Some kind of flare. The patrol was getting boring, and it might be something interesting out there. He radioded base.

"This is Red One to intercept control. Spotted flare, aproximately ten miles northeast."

"Control to Red One. Investigate flare. Leave your wingman on patrol here. Out."

It was unusual for ground control to allow him the initiative to check out the flare himself, but they probably thought that the flare might be important also. Pulling off from formation, Peng ordered Red Two to remain on station. He didn't trust his wingman, who was as inexperienced and untrained as the rest of the People's pilots, to continue safely, but orders were orders.

It took just over a minute to arrive at the signal, and he dropped down to low level. Below and in front of him, red streaks stretched over the snow. Peng was just over 2,000 feet now, racing over the ground to get a close look. A scattered line of soldiers was running toward the west, and a dark speck was spraying death in their direction. Some kind of combat was taking place.

Because of the interference caused by the mountains, he would need to pull up to send a transmission. Instead, he told his wingman to relay the situation report to base. They had a landline there to the local army HQ, and a ground battle was obviously the army's problem. Pulling around, he decided to head back to base, as taking the initiative and performing a strafing run would no doubt cause some kind of political calamity and get him in trouble.

It was all business as usual, until the squadron commander realized the implications of what was happening. A war had begun, and he was right there on the front line. Oh well, he thought, about time the Russkiys learned what war was about.

'The warning shot had done nothing but scattered them' Emmetovich thought, then he heard the sound of jet engines and looked up, he saw two MiG-15 Fighter Jets flying away towards the North Korean Border. He watched them go... then shrugged and fired another burst over the North Koreans heads.

On either side of his IS-3 were, still hiding in their camoflauge, more IS-3 turrets... plus the two battalions of infantry hiding behind the hilltop. He had ordered the infantry up, they would be arriving soon. Sure enough, at that moment, a column of BTR-60 Armored Personnel Carriers crested over the hilltop and rolled up next to his position. Their Machine Gun Cupola's swivelled towards the North Korean soldiers. Over his radio was the voice of the battalion commander.

"Sir... your orders?"

Major Emmetovich answered profeciently, "Go out there and arrest them."

[B]Emergency session of the peoples councilB]

"Then its agreed, the peoples republic of china will be at a state of war with the soviet union if chinese or North korean troops and civilians are attcked in anyay."

The council in the peoples hall stood and gave a raucous applaud to Chairman liu.

[U]30 minutes later

" can you assure me general we are not getting to much over our heads in this? I cant afford to put china in a war we cant afford to win."

"there are some weaknesses when it comes to our basic troops but with faith in our leadership we can triumpth over any quarrel"

the chairman turned away " But general this isnt a quarrel , this is a war we are talking about we have the americans on one side and those ingrade corrupt so called communists in the north and coming through vietnam"


Chinas advanement to the north korea capital

"We have to get there before sunfall, or the temperatures will fall considerably and we cant afford to be out too long, radio across to the korean command and let them know our position"

"yes general, I think we should arirve in about 30 minutes"


Back in the chairmans office


"Send that to them at once its time we made our position clear"


To the soviet high command , the peoples council have unanamously agreed that any aggression against our troops, land and people or our allies in North Korea will result in The peoples republic declaring a state of war upon the soviet union!

Do not upset the balance of socialism in the world or face the breath of the red dragon


You have been warned


Chairman Liu

peoples republic

Fearful shouting could be heard all around, and the Batallion had been caught totally unprepared. Ki's troops were inexperienced and unskilled, and certainly not thinking that their conscription would end in their death. It was strange, though, that the enemy was not firing. The mere sight and sound of the Soviet army was enough to break the soldiers, who were already exhausted and confused enough. Enemy BTRs were sweeping forward, rounding up dazed Korean soldiers who rarely offered resistance.

Colonel Ki was still in good shape despite his age, and was able to find his way into a hollow that several of his men were cowering in. He realized that these were the drunken criminals that had been holding up the column in the first place. Fortunately, the hangovers had worn off, and he tried to rally them.

"Come on, you sonuvabitches! Fight or die!" He pulled out his pistol and fired a few shots into the air, but the men were not convinced. Many of them had curled up at the bottom of the hollow, which was apparently a dry stream bed, and were covering themselves in their parkas to keep warm.

The Soviet infantry was far behind the BTR APCs, and were not a threat at the moment. Still, a platoon of the lumbering enemy vehicles was closing in quickly. They had spotted Ki run toward the hollow, and decided to check it out. The Colonel just stood there, fearful at first, but soon thinking of what he would do. Courage is contagious, and the men beside him in the hollow lined up along its edge in prone position, rifles at ready, suddenly confident that they could face the enemy. The Soviets probably thought that they were ready to surrender as had the rest of the Koreans, and held their fire until they had come to within 20 meters. One of the APCs came to a halt, as did the rest a few seconds later. Ki pulled out a grenade as the commander of the vehicle stuck his head out of the hatch.

Taking careful aim, he tossed it toward the enemy commander, who was gesturing with his pistol at the soldiers in the hollow, apparently trying to get them to raise their arms in surrender. Ki was aiming to throw the grenade into the hatch, but missed. Still, the Russian officer was blown to bits. The Koreans suddenly began firing off their rifles, and even though their bullets bounced off the enemy's armor it did not deter them. BTR turrets swung their way, but the range was so short that they could not depress the gun far down enough to return fire. Ki ran up to the enemy APC, climbed on top of it, and placed a grenade right inside the hatch before leaping to the ground. A loud explosion roasted the Soviet infantrymen inside, and set the vehicle on fire. The Colonel ran away before the ammunition inside cooked off and exploded.

A stray Korean bullet penetrated one of the other BTR's external fuel tanks, and caused a fantastic fireworks display. Some infantrymen were leaving the APCs, but were being massacred by rifle fire. The last remaining enemy vehicle gunned its engine, fleeing in panic and giving Ki some time to breath and consider the next move. Returning to the hollow, he set up a perimeter and tried to organize his group.

. . .

"Why wasn't I told about this earlier!?" shouted the local Army commander to the airbase over the landline.

"Sorry, sir... we recieved word from the air patrol half an hour ago, but didn't believe them until they returned to base with bullet hulls in their fuselage. These pilot's can never be trusted, sir."

The Army man sighed. You're right, he thought. "Very well... try to connect me to your Air Force superiors so we can get air support if we need it. That is all."

"Affirmative, sir." He heard the telephone on the other end hang up. It was time to contact Pyonyang- acting now to save his men without the government's permission would be a bad career move.

OOC: Athiesism, please try to avoid RPing what my men do and RPing my casualties. Ill accept it this time. Also, to my knowledge, the BTR-60 does not have external gas tanks, their gas tanks are place inside the door that infantry enter and exit through.

IC:
The Skirmish...

"Nichevo..." Major Emmetovich said from his place ontop of his IS-3 Turret, "Pity they forgot about me."

He gripped the Heavy Machine Gun, took aim, and let loose a burst of bullets straight at the North Koreans. Then he yelled over his radio to the rest of his battalions stationary IS-3s, "Open fire on the resisting North Koreans!"

Then he took his gun and began to poor lead out towards the resisting North Koreans. The 122mm main gun of his turret boomed as it sent a High Explosive shell towards the DPRK Soldiers.

132nd Motorised-Rifle Division HQ...

Major-General Yuri Bondarenko was confused by the report of DPRK troops tresspassing on his countries land.

"YOU!" He said, pointing to an aide, "Get some air support over there and find out the hell is going on! And you!" He said to another aide, "Call Moscow and report this... report!"

Moscow

Brezhnev was in his office when the foreign minister came through the door with the message from the Chinese. The politburo meeting had talked about the Chinese problem for 15 minutes... but no conclusion had been reached.

Brezhnev looked at the message, read it twice through, then looked up and said, "Call another meeting of the Politburo!"

"Sorry comrade chairman ther has been no response and we have heard from intellagence officers that The soviets have begun firing on Korean forces."

The young female officer walked away

"Come back i need you to deliver this to General Wu, secure the borders around vietnam, and send our MiG-19s and -21s to the tibetan bases, we are to prepare for an attack upon Moscow. Send word to the Korean ambassador to inform Kim we are sending troops up and attack on the soviet union is imminent

OOC: I checked, and it looks as if the Su-27 didn't exist yet, though the PRC likely had a good number of license-built MiG-19s and -21s.


IC:

Headquarters, 26th Marine Regiment
Khe Sahn, South Vietnam
Late February, 1968

There was something a bit off with the situation. It was quiet, too quiet. Too quiet, considering there some 20,000 NVA soldiers damn close to surrounding the Marines at Khe Sahn.

When it was quiet, bad things started to happen in 'Nam.

David Lownds looked out over his base. They had recieved a couple of M60A1 Patton tanks, as well as two M67 flame-thrower tanks, just before command had called off support from cargo planes, ruled out as "too dangerous." One of the M60s and an M67 were rolling towards the base perimeter, along with a few dozen Marines.

Something was up. Despite the clatter of tank tracks, their diesel engines, and the troops walking about, Lownds could hear something else. Faint, far away, but approaching fast, nonetheless. A helicopter? Sounded like one, for sure. But something was different. The sound wasn't right. Most people couldn't tell the difference between one helicopter or another, but spend enough time in a combat zone and you'll eventually be able to pick up subtle differences in the pitch and noise level.

It wasn't a friendly helo. Besides the sound, it was coming from the direction of the DMZ. The sound picked up more and more, until it was visible on it's own. An Mi-8. With NVA markings. Wait, an Mi-8? What they hell were they trying to pull? They weren't coming straight for the base, they were turning. The Marines on patrol noticed this too.

Suddenly, a streak in the sky appeared ahead of where the enemy helo was. Something was very wrong.

Seconds later, the M67 on patrol was hammered with an AT-2 missile from the helo. The crew had no chance, the tank erupted into a mass of flame, which took five Marines on foot with it. About then, every loaded weapon in the base was firing in the direction of the Mi-8, and after some time it was brought down, crashing into the thick jungle and exploding.

Unfortunately, they weren't the only ones that had motioned towards the base. The NVA gun emplacements on nearby hills had opened fire, and soon shells were raining down on the base.

Lownds yelled, "Get me command on the horn." A young radio operator scrambled to find the nearest working radio. Returning, he grabbed the phone, "This is Lownds at Khe Sahn, are under NVA attack. Gun emplacements as well as helicopters armed with anti-tank missiles, we require air support as soon as possible."

"Greetings, Comrade Liu. I am honored to be in the presence of such a grand Communist," said the Ambassador. The Chairman returned the welcome, and went on about the Soviet border issue. Hwan pretended to listen, but was more interested now with the urgent matter of the new American fighter aircraft.

Eventually, Liu stopped rambling on for a moment, and Hwan had an opening to speak. "Mr. Chairman, excuse me, but I have some information that is very interesting."

"What could be more important than the entire Red Army assembling to the north?" Liu asked.

"Trust me, it is a very important. Just a week ago, the People's Spies where able to bribe one of the corrupt capitalist pigs employed at the American Lockheed-Martin. This is the company that has been making the enemy's fighter planes since our war with the Japanese imperialists (World War II). The employee told us that an American airplane called the A-12 is already being rolled off the production lines."

Liu interrupted, angry that the Ambassador had changed the subject. "I already know of this, everyone knows about the A-12. It won't be years until-"

"Years? How about right now?"

"What? What are you saying? Wha-"

"Yes. They've already deployed a squadron overseas. We do not know where it is. Our spies couldn't extract the exact location from our informant, but we know that it is deployed somewhere in Asia. You already know of the capabilities of the A-12, no?"

"I believe so, yes." Liu was loosing his cool, and you could see just a hint of nervousness in his expression.

"What I have been wanting to tell you is that now both of our homelands could be bombed and spied on at will by the Yankees. His Greatness Premier Il-Sung had told me not to tell you about this, and to keep it a secret. But as I was about to leave for this meeting, a telegram came from Pyongyang informing me that the Chinese needed to know about this new development. His Greatness also said that we must find a way to counter this new threat. We are having enough trouble killing their U-2s and Fireflies (an American reconassaince UAV) already. As strong as the People's Democratic Republic of Korea's Air Force is, we are going to need help."

Liu thought for a few seconds before replying. Hwan sat their, waiting to hear what his old friend had to say.


Help from china will come. together we will work together to promote our socialist ways and protect our homelands

Headquarters, 26th Marine Regiment
Khe Sahn, South Vietnam
Late February, 1968

It had been hours since David Lownds had called in air support, to hold back the NVA troops surrounding the Marine base at Khe Sahn.

"Just whose cluster-fucked idea was it to stick us here on this God-forsaken hill, surrounded by jungle and thousands of damned Charlies?" He was thinking out loud of course, and by the expression on his face, it would not have been wise to actually answer the question. "Where the hell is our air support?"
"They should be arriving any minute now."

They were arriving, at the traditional last minute. Lownds could hear the whine of jets at low altitude. He couldn't see it, but he knew what would be coming. Some of the big Thuds [F-105s] and Phantoms [F-4s]. They'd deal with any enemy air defense and immediate threats to the base, namely, the gun emplacements. Once those were gone, the lumbering B-52s would fly overhead, and shower the NVA troops with 500-lb bombs.

He stepped outside to see the action. Two F-105s were heading in fast, taking direction from forward air controllers at the base. Now in sight of enemy guns, they dived in, dropped groups of 750-lb bombs, four a piece, onto several emplacements. They were destroyed, or at least taken out of action for the time being.

Unfortunately, they didn't know about the SAM equipment that the North had gotten shipped in recently. Even when the two F-105s were being painted by targeting radar, they didn't know. Nobody did. That is, until an SA-6 missile streaked into the sky from a nearby hill, locked onto the lead Thud and chasing.

"Jesus...damnit," Lownds cursed. "How in God's name didn't they know about the SAMs?!?!"

Frustrated, he watched as as the missile intercepted the aircraft. The pilot and his RIO were able to eject, but the plane was destroyed. The SAM installation wouldn't go unnoticed, as several F-4s raced inbound, in the direction of the smoke trail. One banked towards the missile platform, posing a great risk to himself, and unloaded a huge volley of 2.75" rockets. The platform was disabled, but they needed to take it out for good. The second F-105 came around and dropped his last four 750-pounders on the missile launcher.

bump

"Five cops grabbed my Vietnam flag, but I didn't let go." The kid said. "When we went past the VIP bleachers an old antifascist jumped down and punched me in the face. I lost my flag. A half hour later the old man came running up to me, hugged me, stroked my cheek again and again, and repeated, probably about ten times, 'Pardon, mon camarade.'" (OOC: Actual quote from Dachau rally)


The memorial ceremony to holocaust survivors at Dachau was not going as planned. Students had gathered at the site, and were shouting obsenities at the government leaders and survivors who had gathered there, calling them, "Fascists!" and "Nazis murderers!". Chancellor Kiesinger ordered the Polizei to keep the almost riotous crowd back, as various NATO officials gave speeches of remembrance and tolerance to a divided press.

Colonel Alexander Ivanovitch Petrov watched the Sino-Soviet border through his binoculars and waited. There were reports of North Korean troops skirmishing with Soviet soldiers about 40 km away and he had intention of allowing the enemy to get so close to his force. Petrov commanded the 37th Tank Regiment of the 5th Guards Motor Rifle Division. His ad hoc battlegroup consisted of 2 tank battalions, a motor rifle battalion, a battalion of artillery, and various support units totaling about 5,000 troops. If the Chinese crossed the border here, he'd fill the frozen tundra with their graves.

OOC: I'm curious, are you signed up for the thread?

Though it's a good thing this thread was bumped up, I almost forgot about it.

OOC: I'm curious, are you signed up for the thread?

OOC: I was unaware of a sign-up thread, my apologies.

OOC: I'm curious, are you signed up for the thread?

Though it's a good thing this thread was bumped up, I almost forgot about it.

Yes! i did something useful for once! :)

Oval Office, The White House
Washington D.C.
Early March, 1968

"Well, sir, would you like to hear the good news or the bad news?" It was President Johnson's Secretary of State, Dean Rusk.
"You know I want the bad news first, Dean."
"Well, Mr. President, most important to us, there was a resumption of firing at Khe Sahn, a Marine base in South Vietnam. Air support was called in, and several F-105s and F-4s went in to help out. Unfortunately, the NVA appears to have been equipped with a new kind of surface-to-air missiles, from the Soviets as usual, be believe them to be the SA-6. The problem is that when our planes went in, they didn't realize they were being targeted by the missile batteries' radar. We lost an F-105, though both pilots were able to eject."
"So what's the good news?"
"Well, the remaining planes were able to disable the threat from the missile battery, and now SAC can send in B-52 strikes to help break the seige."

Johnson nodded, motioning to Rusk for the strikes to be ordered. He had never been very happy with the war, and all he heard nowadays was something bad would happen before they could solve the problem. He always thought they should make solutions before there's a problem, make sure there's no foul ups.

"There's something more, sir. More confusing, and rather disturbing."
"Oh?"
"Well..." Rusk was trying to explain the situation in a way that would make sense. "You know we've been monitoring the border situation between China and the Soviet Union, yes?"
"I'm aware of it. But I thought we had called off overflights?"
"We have. Because of the advances in reconnissance satellites, it's not necessary to use manned aircraft to do the spying. The Blackbird is still useful, though. Satellites can only be in a certain place for a limited amount of time, then you have to wait until it orbits again to get back to the same location. If we need immediate information, we use the Blackbird. And they are quite useful to the operations in Indo-China. Back on the subject though, you remember how Defense Secretary Clifford had briefed you on those missing North Korean troops?"
"Yes...where is this going?"
"Well...sir, it appears that the North Korean troops have wandered off into Soviet territory. It looks like there was a hell of a firefight, too."

Johnson then got one of the strangest facial expressions. Communists fighting communists?

"Why is this happening?"
"Mr. President, we've been wondering that too. Over the last few years there seems to have been a breakdown in relations between the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China. We could only find one major issue, it appears to be a disagreement of ideologies of communism. The Soviets favor an industrialized nation, emphasizing factory workers and the like. Whereas the Chinese favor the rural society, and the farmers and the peasants are important. And of course, as the North Koreans are closely allied with the Chinese, this seems to be what they've adopted as well. However, we never expected them to end up in armed conflict."
"Well, we're still holding our stance. We've got no angle on their conflict. We've got enough going on in Vietnam."
"Yes, Mr. President."

The message from the East-German government had all of West Germany furious. They had announced that a strict restriction of access between West Berlin, which was perforated outside West Germany, and its parent nation.

At a government meeting, Kiesinger slammed his fist on the hard wood table, shouting, "This is an outrage! How can they cut us off from our own territory?"
The Foreign minister replied, "Lamentablly, they control the roads into our country, so they are in their right to restrict the roads, however wrong it is. We could get the rest of NATO involved however, since they have troops in Berlin, and this will make transport between East and West….difficult." He got up, and pointed at West Berlin on a map. “As you can see, it is in our interest to get them involved, since they are bound to be financially impacted by forced restrictions on supply routes, and transportation.”
Sighing, Kiesinger said, “Make the phone call. Give me President Johnson.”


"Mr. Johnson, i'm sure you know of this," Kiesinger explained in lightly accented english, "But this restriction on roads between Berlin and the West in going to hurt us all militarily, and the DDR. What should we do?"

"Well, Mr. Kiesinger, here we've understood that this is something they might try again, which was why we had helped build up supplies even after the last blockade was lifted. I'm not sure what the status of those supplies are at the present time, I imagine that's something your people know. It's regrettable that we didn't negociate for unimpeded use of road and rail to West Berlin at the Potsdam Conference, however, we are prepared to start another airlift operation if it is necessary."

bump

*bump for now, working on an IC post*

Rendezvous, C-141A "Night Train to Memphis" with KC-135A "Wabash Cannonball"
20,000 feet over the U.K., 40 miles west of London
Early March, 1968

"Wabash, this is Night Train. Wabash, this is Night Train. We have you on visual, coming in behind you, course zero-nine-zero."
"Roger that, Night Train. Say, what's the deal with all the trash haulers today?"
"Haven't you heard? The East Germans have blockaded Berlin again, so we're doin' a repeat of the airlift of '48 and '49."
"You're kidding? Didn't they learn last time?"
"Apparently not."
"Jezzz...well where are you headed?"
"Ramstein Air Base, dropping off food and medical supplies. C-130s are gonna take the load from there and fly it into Berlin-Tempelhof, the C-141s are too big to land there."
"Well what about the Galaxy?"
"Not ready yet. They just did roll out two days ago, and flight testing isn't supposed to begin until at least June from what I've heard."
"You don't think the East will try and intervene with the airlift, do you?"
"I should hope not. We’ve got enough 'muscle' in the region that if they did so, it would be the last decision they’d make."

Kiesinger, as was the rest of the West German cabinent, was hoping, no, praying that East Germany tried to intervene in the air-lifts. This would provide the perfect excuse for their true reason for the military movement to the border, to unite Germany.