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Today in Alternate History

This Day in Alternate History Blog

The Gog-Mogog War
 

The year began with a continuation of where the Russian-Iran war ended in the previous year - a stalemate. Both sides, it seemed, had already grown tired of the war, even though it was only a few weeks old. The Russians could not advance any further whilst the Iranians did everything they could in order to hold back the invaders.  A large number of Iranians even believed that the UN might be able to stop the war. For some reason, because Russia had been a major voice in the UN, Russia would eventually obey the decrees of the international body that it was a major supporter thereof.

The war, though, did not stop, even though its intensity had dropped dramatically since the first few weeks. Things had become strangely routine for both sides. Talks in the UN continued & it seemed to most that this fact was the reason why the war had quietened down. Russia presented more & more of its case, that being the Iranian backing of Chechen rebels, whilst it naturally mentioned nothing of the real reasons of the war - the grabbing a significant amount of the world’s oil reserves & gaining the attention of the CN. By thus holding onto Iran it was bound to gain both. It would also put pressure upon several Middle Eastern countries & thus pressure upon decisions made by the CN.

For the "new" Iran, the last thing it wanted was war with anyone, let alone Russia. After just experiencing a civil war, it had only just started getting things back on track before Russia attacked. Many argued this was exactly why Russia attacked, what with Iran being in such a mess. This was furthermore supported when Russia, at first, refused any talks with the Iranians & only reversed its position on talks after the successful Iranian defence of Tehran. Naturally Iran rejected Russia’s claims about aid to Chechen rebels, but then again the new Iranian government knew little of anything about the previous activities of Iranian governments. Having said that, in an effort to stop the war, the new Iranian government agreed to allow the UN to investigate the matter. When the Russians rejected this offer, the Iranians invited the Russians to come along with the UN investigation team as well. This was also rejected.

Still the UN talks continued, although most wondered why. The Russians were adamant that they had been wronged by the Iranians & that their terms must be met. When inquired what these terms were, none of the Russian delegates really knew other than they resulted in an Iranian surrender. When pushed on the details of this surrender, Putin finally announced that the Russians wanted a mandate over Iran for a decade. Russia would police & administrate Iran in "… order to stop the culture of terrorism that was prevalent throughout, not only its government, but also its entire society." Needless to say, this was unacceptable to the Iranians. The war would go on.
 

Crisis
 

To put it simply - it came down to numbers. The Russians had them, the Iranians did not. After three months of warfare, the Russians had slowly run down the Iranian troop numbers. Although thousands of Iranian civilians, actually hundreds of thousands, had volunteered for the defence of their country, the Russian armour & military discipline was far more than a match. Then there was the Russian civilians as well. Putin had managed to turn the war into a patriotic one. Like the Iranians, Russians also volunteered by the thousands. But unlike the Iranians, the Russians had millions more in its population to fill the ranks of its military.

Due to the number situation, the Iranians had to thin out the ranks in the front lines in the eastern part of the country if they wanted to hold onto Tehran. Just like Stalingrad was an important symbol to the combatants of another war, & thus sucked in troops at an alarming rate, so too Tehran became the focus of this war. Both sides had vast armies facing each other around the city. Unlike Stalingrad, though, the city itself was not part of the battlefield. Instead, the Iranians had managed to hold the Russians just to the north of the Iranian capital at the end of last year & had managed to keep the Russians back since then.

The Russians, though, were well aware of the Iranian troop movements. Spy satellites allowed the Russians to see the continuous thinning of the eastern Iranian front lines. This ensured that the Russians, even without significant reinforcements on the eastern front, enjoyed large numbers over the Iranians. It did not take much brainpower, hence, to realise that an major offensive in the eastern part of the country could achieve victory. The oil fields, the secret  main Russian objective in the south of the country, could thus be occupied. It would also cut off the defenders of Tehran from the Persian Gulf. Their only hope would be towards Iraq & until now none had been forthcoming from the CN.

Having said that, the Iranian commanders in the east knew they were in trouble. Although things had been quiet in the east for some time, as the Battle for Tehran continued, they understood that the fewer troops they had meant it was more likely the Russians would have a go at breaking their thin lines. Naturally they cried for help from Tehran, but there was none coming. Whatever reinforcements that might be available were in the guise of local civilians. Alas the potential soldiers among them had already joined the army. Those that were left, although they could still hold a rifle, would be far from satisfactory during an all out Russian assault.

When the Russian Eastern offensive came in July, then, the Iranians were nonetheless ready for it. The first few days witnessed heavy fighting akin to that around Tehran. The Russians would advance, only to be met by fanatic Iranian defenders. Thousands would die on both sides, but the Russians had the numbers. Soon holes began to appear in the Iranian lines through which Russian armour soon drove through. The Russians thus started to get into the Iranian rear without much effort. At this point the entire Iranian line began to fall apart as units retreated trying to establish a new line. But it was to no avail. Apart from not having the numbers to do this, the Russians were simply too fast. By the time a new line was even contemplated by the Iranian commanders, more often than not, the Russians had already passed it.

Furthermore, to ensure that the Iranians could not send any reinforcements to the Eastern region, the Russians increased their efforts around Tehran. The Iranians had few choices. They could not send anything from the Tehran front & their own Eastern forces were in chaos. All they could do was round up naval & air force personnel from the Persian Gulf & send them to the eastern region to establish strong points at important strategic locations. The retreating army units could then reform around these strong points & establish a new line there. It was an almost impossible plan, but that was all the Iranian leaders had: except one other thing which they could do - appeal to the CN for help, as the UN had proved to be, once again, powerless to stop the war.

This was the moment that Drache had been waiting for. Ever since the Russian-Iran War had started, he had been deliberately holding back playing politics. Initially he wanted Iran defeated & Russia isolated from the world. Then, after some wheeling & dealing, both Russia & Iran would be welcomed into the CN. But events took place which saw his plans wrecked. Things, though, were bound to change & Drache was waiting for that moment. Now when it appeared that Iran may soon be overrun, its leaders had decided to do a deal with the devil in order  to save their country. Drache wasted little time in agreeing to Iran’s request, provided that Iran join the CN. They would have to sign the necessary treaties &, once the war was over, abide by them. Other than gaining another member to the CN, Drache would also control the last of the major Middle Eastern oil producing countries other than Saudi Arabia.

What Drache did not count on was that the Russians would continue the war. Drache assumed, once CN forces arrived in Iran, which they did, the Russians would suddenly get scared & call a cease-fire. The Russians, though, smelling victory, ignored all caution & continued on as before. They even assumed that if they were quick enough, the war would be over by the time any CN forces got involved. By the time Drache had publicly announced the involvement of the CN, & a warning to Russian to stop the war, the Russians sped-up their offensive instead of the reverse. Putin even went as far as warning Drache that if CN & USA forces were encountered then he may call a nuclear alert in Russia. This, as one could imagine, was far from helpful.

For the troops on the ground, however, none of these international moves mattered much. The Russians now appeared unstoppable. That may have been the case until they ran into an Iraqi & American military column rushing to join battle. It came as a shock for the Russians at this point in the war. As little Iranian resistance was now apparent, not only were they stopped, but they were forced onto the defensive themselves. Furthermore, it was done by Americans & not Iranians. It was even more ironic that Iraqis were also involved in the fighting. Soon, similar battles began taking place all over eastern Iran as forward elements of the CN military began encountering Russian units. The result was the same everywhere. The Russians were stopped & pushed onto the defensive.

Not everyone, though, was happy with the CN getting involved in the Russian-Iran War. A number of CN members, including Australia & Japan, questioned the wisdom of the move. But as Drache argued "… things require action now, talk later." He was in no mood to discuss such things as CN troops from America (including Canada & Mexico), Britain, Iraq, Syria, Jordan & Egypt soon fought along side the Iranians. It soon became obvious to the Russians that the CN had intervened in a major effort & that they might come under a counter-attack themselves. Putin was furious, more so at his military chiefs rather than at Drache, for they assured him that the CN, regardless of what Drache warned, would not get involved. But then the voices of concern, those coming from several CN countries, gave him heart. As he had warned, Putin put his country’s nuclear ICBM force on alert. This also included Russia’s nuclear armed submarines as well.

Without doubt events were hotting up. Drache, however, was not surprised by Putin’s decision & had already secretly warned his own military chiefs to ready America’s nuclear arsenal should Russia do anything in that direction. Thus it was with little difficulty that the United States was ready to counter Russia’s move into nuclear readiness. Within a day after the Russian alert, America was one hundred percent nuclear ready herself. This took the Russians by surprise, especially the readiness level. Even though Russia had started first, it was only about forty percent ready at the same time.

Things, however, soon got out of control & it goes without saying that this is a bad thing when nuclear weapons are concerned. Drache, in order to force the Russians to stop the war, warned that a nuclear strike on Russia would take place on midnight Washington DC time, in other words a mere 18 hours from when Drache made the announcement at the White House. Furthermore he made in well known that most of Russia’s nuclear arsenal was not ready & that America’s Anti-ICBM weapons systems were more than enough to counter that which Russia could use. Needless to say, the world went quiet in prayer.

As events now took over from all reason, Putin refused, not only to stop the war in Iran, but also to call off his nuclear alert. He announced in Moscow that "… any nuclear missile fired from anywhere, upon Russia, would be met with a full salvo of every nuclear missile Mother Russia had. It would be total war waged with total commitment until one or all of us is dead." Furthermore, Putin demanded from the military that everything be ready. This included even bombers which could use nuclear weapons. He did not care how it was done, all he wanted was Russia’s nuclear arsenal to be one hundred percent ready in the time left. It was an impossible task, but by midnight, Washington time, the Russians had managed to get eighty percent operational. That was more than enough to do serious damage to the United States & far more than Drache or any American realised.
 

Midnight
 

As the world watched this nuclear countdown, frantic efforts took place around the globe in an effort to stop the potential holocaust. Whether it be in the UN or the CN, countries tried every diplomatic channel possible between Russia & the United States in order to come to some form of agreement. Even though the CN & UN proved useless, various countries thought otherwise. Both France & Britain, although recently on bad terms, quickly put their differences behind them & started diplomatic efforts to find a way out. Similarly Germany & other European countries joined in with these efforts & provided a joint European effort. It was the first time in years since the Europeans did such a thing, hence indicating the enormity of the situation.

Diplomatic efforts, however, were not restricted to the Europeans. The Chinese also now got heavily involved, trying to persuade Russia & the USA to back down. China had a special interest in this, as much of the Russian missile silos & the like were not overly too far from its borders. Although China was safe from any nuclear explosion, fallout would nevertheless cover much of northern China. Millions could thus die as a result from radioactive contamination. Even though China would survive, with most of its population intact, it was still an unnecessary experience to say the least.

Yet with all the diplomacy going on, as time went by, it became apparent that neither the Russians or the Americans were going to back down. Battles still took place in Iran with no sign that a cease-fire was near. In fact the Russian Army in Iran appeared to be getting ready for a very long period of combat. This, combined with the fact that the Russians were continuing their nuclear alert gave Drache no options. He had backed himself into a corner with his attack warning, one he now regretted. But if he backed down now, it would mean that Russia could do whatever it wished. And that included a possible full first strike nuclear attack upon the United States.

Thus the nightmare, which had haunted humanity for well over half a century, finally came true on midnight Washington time. As the time for Drache’s ultimatum came to pass he was resolute in his orders. Before him the Football was open. The codes had already been entered. All that was required of him was to hit the "Enter" key with a finger. And so he did, albeit with much reluctance. In doing so, the world just went to Hell.

Now that Drache had hit the button, so to speak, hundreds of ICBMs left their silos in the United States for various targets in Russia. In a similar fashion, a large number of SLBMs left their silos in their OHIO class submarines once again heading for Russia. At the same time the American Anti-Ballistic Missile Weapons Systems went on alert around the United States. Only recently put into service, it was believed that this system could deal with up to one hundred incoming warheads. Although never tested or used in such a manner before, it was now shortly going to be.

The Russians, after a few minutes, saw the missiles coming. Putin could not believe that Drache had gone through with his threat of nuclear attack. As the Russian alert satellites counted the American missiles, it was soon obvious that it was also a major attack. This would be no tactical strike against the Russian military structure, but an all out strategic attack on everything Russian. Putin realised he had no choice but to retaliate in kind. Giving the attack codes & orders in a similar manner to what Drache did a few minutes earlier, a similar number of ICBMs & SLBMs began their thirty minute journey to the United States.

In a morbid fashion, news networks from around the world focused all attention on these & following events. Camera crews captured missiles leaving their silos with their deadly cargoes. Billions of people watched on horrified. Just as many prayed. It goes without saying that people in America & Russia behaved in unpredictable ways. Some went mad, others watched their televisions quietly, whilst others hid as best they could. It all seemed crazy as the television networks broadcasted the end of the world. Even at NORAD, people watched the television news as they kept track of the Russian missiles. Alas, it soon became apparent, regardless of what the President had said, that there were a lot more than one hundred Russian missiles coming their way. It was more like five hundred at least. Not only would Russia suffer severely, but America was going to get hit hard too.
 

Survivors
 

The First World Nuclear War, the name given to the nuclear exchange between Russia & America, ended when the last nuclear weapon exploded in the United States. It was all over in about thirty minutes. As a result it was also the shortest war in history, although its effects would linger for decades to come. Another result was that it was a mixed bag for the two combatants. Although the number of weapons used on both sides was somewhat similar, the damage done was very different.

Firstly, the Russians received a severe beating. Almost all of America’s weapons got through to destroy its respective target. The result was unimaginable. On the day of the war, at least 50 million Russians were killed, most of them being civilians. Worst still was the fact that the entire Russian infrastructure had been destroyed. There was no emergency post-nuclear procedure in place as communications, transport, health care, food distribution & everything else no longer existed. Needless to say, government at every level was destroyed. As a result, millions of survivors died, rapidly increasing the death toll, before anything could be done. Refugees wondered around aimlessly in their millions, many of who starved to death. Illnesses also ran rampant & also killed the survivors in their millions. By the time UN & European rescue agencies were able to make an impact upon the survivors, over half of the Russian population was dead.  By the time radiation sickness later took its cull of humanity, only 40 million Russians, all refugees, would survive out the year. Many more would die in the proceeding years as a result of the radioactive after-effects of the war.

The result for America was a very different experience. Not all of the Russian missiles made it to their targets. First off, there was the inevitable malfunctions, but that only accounted for a handful of the missiles. More importantly, the Anti-Ballistic Missile Weapons Systems worked brilliantly by accounting for 125 Russian missiles. As a result, cities like Washington, Los Angels & Richmond survived intact thus saving millions of lives. Other cities, however, like New York were not as lucky. Other cities in the New England region also suffered. But it was the Mid-West & other inland regions which suffered the most. Being the area which housed much of America’s ICBMs, it seemed the Russian attack miscalculated American motives & had targeted much of its ICBMs on American missile silos. Nevertheless, other American military targets were also sought after with mixed results. The biggest American casualty, in this regards, was NORAD. Cheyenne Mountain, underneath which NORAD was located, was turned into a molten crater. Needless to say, NORAD was destroyed.

The American casualty rate, however, was no where near as high as that of Russia. Having a well organised post-nuclear emergency program readily at hand, hundreds of rescue teams went about their business of helping out the millions of stunned survivors of the nuclear war. Within 24 hours, unlike in Russia, America was busy healing itself as best it could. Drache, aboard Air Force One, was able to read that everything was under control. Alas he was saddened by the fact that 20 million Americans had been killed by the war. It was estimated that a further 12 million would probably die over the next six months or so as a result of radiation. Nonetheless, America had been hit, but survived the unthinkable. For the Russians, however, their country had ceased to exist.

The rest of the world was stunned to say the least. The Europeans, Chinese & Japanese were also screaming for heads to roll. They did what they could for the Russian survivors, but that did not stop the fact that a nuclear war had just been waged around their countries. All of them introduced drastic action in their own countries in order to restrict the effects of radioactive fallout which would soon hit. China did what it could, but as feared, a death cloud of radioactivity began to cover northern China. Water was China’s biggest problem, but diligent action by the authorities ensured casualties were low. Japan experienced a similar situation & had a similar result. Its population, however, having suffered once the same fate as the Russians, were far from happy with America.  Japan quickly became the leader, within the CN, of opposition to America.

Europe was in a similar position & soon became highly hostile to anything America. Like with China & Japan, European countries quickly introduced measures to deal with the radioactive fallout. Furthermore, Europe soon found itself with millions of refugees flooding in from Russia. It was far from a pleasant sight as tough & seemingly paranoid policies were enacted in order to deal with the fleeing survivors of Russia. Refugee camps were soon built by the hundreds & even then they were overflowing. Worse still, these camps quickly became places for the dead & dying. It was estimated that a survivor had a fifty percent chance of living once put into a camp. Somewhat ironically, this was a major improvement than previously where the survival rate was estimated at about twenty percent.

As the year ended, the world was in pain greater than ever before. The nation of Russia was dead. America was wounded, but was soon rebuilding itself. Ironically, it took a nuclear war for the world to forget that the United States still conducted a Presidential election. Drache was re-elected amongst very little fanfare. Meanwhile, the effects of the nuclear exchange were only beginning to be seen. The dreaded "nuclear winter" was beginning as clouds began to cover the sky throughout the northern hemisphere. It varied from region to region, but people everywhere noticed its presence. Mostly, though, the clouds hovered for now over the Russian & American regions. Northern China & Japan also had thickish clouds, but elsewhere it was usually a thin layer akin to a mist. The southern hemisphere, however, escaped all the environmental effects from the nuclear exchange. The political fallout, though, was another matter altogether.
 

On to Year Five

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