A big thank you to everyone for your comments! I am sorry once again for letting this AAR sit at the wayside for a long time, but this next update has alot to cover and I have had difficulty trying to figure out how I would write it. Making these narratives is hard sometimes.
Anyways, I am gonna take a shot at writing this new update and hopefully I won't leave out something very important.
World War Three: The End of the Beginning: Part 2
When China began its war of conquest in the Pacific, the opening of all out combat in the far east was answered simultaneously by China's Russian allies, who had been training for years to fight a major ground war in Europe. On July 28th, while American ships burned after the opening salvo's of the SCO's Pacific offensive, Russian armies, backed by powerful Air and Naval forces struck hard into Europe, beginning the largest land war in that continent since the 2nd World War. Russian tanks rolled over the borders of Poland and the Baltic States, seizing vast amounts of territory from NATO forces which were also being pounded by Air and missile attacks which greatly crippled their ability to quickly retaliate against the Russian assault. At the same, a powerful Russian fleet sailed out of Murmansk into the North Atlantic, and began landing marines and paratroopers in both Norway and Iceland, gaining lots of ground and opening up an attack corridor that the Russian Navy could use to sail fleets of surface ships and submarines deep into the Atlantic Ocean. After a few weeks of heavy fighting, Russia's blitzkrieg offensive had succeeded beyond even the most optimistic predictions of Russian generals. Poland's army, the strongest NATO force east of Berlin, was wiped out and Warsaw had been occupied by Russian troops. The Baltics, surrounded by Russian territory on nearly all sides, fell swiftly. Iceland, which had no standing army of its own and only a small US garrison at Reykyavik's Airport was also quickly overrun, while Norway was crumbling under the assaults of Russian marines and paratroopers, supported by powerful naval forces and aerial fire support. As the rest of NATO's forces mobilized and marched east to meet the enemy, nobody had realized that despite how bad these opening defeats were, it was only the beginning of a far greater disaster.
WW3 in Europe, opening phase. Russian offensives nearly across the entire border overran vast amounts of territory and devastated the armies of many NATO members, as well as decimating lots of forward deployed NATO standby units which suffered greatly under air and missile attacks.
Russian Northern Fleet Marines BTR-82A's landing on a beach in Iceland, the country was rapidly secured by a Russian invasion force which seized its ports and airfields, allowing the Russian Navy to project power deep into the North Atlantic
With all out war now in full effect, Russia began to play its wild card to help their army along in their conquest. Strategic planners had decided that a conquest of Europe through brute military strength alone would be inefficient and bloody enough to damage domestic support for a protracted war. To help their army along, Russia had devised a two-path strategy, by using contacts and friendships they had built within the European Union to undermine its war effort and more easily conquer the continent, in conjunction with regular military force on other fronts.
To this end, Russia had built strong friendships with a few European states in order to get them to switch sides in any war and ensure a strategic breakthrough should NATO resistance in places like Germany become too difficult to overcome. After the swift surrender of Poland, the Baltics, and Iceland, this job become somewhat easier.
First, Russia was able to convince Hungary's pro-Russian president, Victor Orban, to abandon his country's alliances with the West and join Russia's orbit. Orban ordered the Hungarian Army to stand down, and allow Russian forces full military access to his country's transportation links and airfields, something that allowed Russian forces to blitz through all the way to Slovenia with little resistance. Next, Greece, a country that had suffered for many years under EU imposed economic austerity, was flipped into the SCO camp by a military coup led by pro-Russian Greek Army general Nikos Stavros. Greek soldiers under his command stormed parliament and overthrew the government, putting Stavros in charge of a military junta that immediately joined the war on Russia's side, in exchange for enormous Russian economic aid, which also helped to win over many Greek citizens who had for a long time gone with little jobs or government assistance. Finally, When Russian forces arrived along Serbia's border, that country's government found itself under intense domestic pressure to join the conflict alongside their historical allies, in order to get revenge against NATO for events like the UDI of Kosovo only several years earlier. Public pressure forced Serbia's Prime Minister to resign, leading to his replacement by Vojislav Seselj, the leader of one of Serbia's strongest Nationalist parties. Serbia now joined the war, and began invading its neighbours.
Victor Orban (Hungary), Nikos Stavros (Greece), and Vojislav Seselj (Serbia) brought their countries into the SCO and completely ruined any chance that NATO had in forming a coherent frontline in the Balkans.
Russian troops crossing the Carpathian mountains into Hungary, they quickly drove through Budapest and were soon at the borders of Austria and Slovenia
Greek Army Tanks in the streets of Athens after the Stavros Putsch, the country now joined the war on Russia's side, allowing Russian aircraft and ships to use its territory as Greek troops started marching into staunchly Pro-NATO Albania.
With Hungary, Greece, and Serbia now on Russia's side, the entire Balkan region of Europe easily fell into Russia's hands. Bulgaria and Romania found themselves surrounded by hostile forces on all sides, and easy pray to invasion. Russian and Turkish forces converged on Bucharest, forcing Romania into a quick surrender, as a Greek corps took Sofia and forced Bulgaria to capitulate. Slovenia was steamrolled by Russian tanks and mechanized infantry which marched towards the Italian border while a combination of Serb and Russian units overran Croatia. Bosnia fell after ethnic Serb units of its army mutinied and joined with invading Serb units that marched into Sarajevo after a bitter battle. Montenegro and Kosovo quickly fell under SCO control soon after, while Albania's Army made its final stand in Tirana against Serb and Greek forces, which soon conquered the city and forced Albania to surrender. With the Balkans completely under SCO control, the full weight of the Russian offensive once again turned to the west. In Germany, bitter fighting against combined US, German, French, and British forces descended mostly into a stalemate, with several Russian attacks being held off along the Oder-Niesse line. In the Czech Republic, intense battles raged for places like Prague and Plzen where Russian forces steadily advanced against mostly European NATO forces that were hampered by smaller numbers of well trained soldiers and modern equipment. At the same time, Russia violated Austrian neutrality and invaded its territory, in order to outflank NATO forces in Bavaria and further isolate Italy from its northern NATO allies. Austria's army was ripped apart by overwhelming Russian land and air forces, forcing their rapid surrender after Vienna and other cities fall into Russian hands. Russian and increasingly other SCO forces now pushed hard into Southern Germany and Northern Italy, gaining large amounts of ground and inflicting some very bitter defeats on NATO forces.
WW3 in Europe, 2nd Phase. With the Balkans falling under their control Russian and other SCO forces started pressing hard into Italy and Germany.
American Light Infantry in action near the Polish Border. US forces were regarded as the most effective units within NATO's order of battle, and usually could hold back Russian attacks, but they were hampered by the less effective performance of many NATO units which were not prepared for full scale conventional warfare which quickly burned through their best equipment and professional soldiers. Furthermore, massing large numbers of US units became much more difficult over time as fighting in the Atlantic turned against NATO and the dire needs of the Pacific Front forced many units to have to be diverted there.
Russian fleet in the Mediterranean. In combat, the Russian navy proved it was just as effective as their US and Chinese counterparts. In a large battle near the coast of Sicily, Russian ships and submarines, along with allied Turkish and Greek vessels, sunk an American carrier and destroyed most of the Italian navy. In the North Sea, the British, French, and German fleets were crushed by Russian carriers and submarines of the Northern Fleet, which sank France's only Aircraft Carrier and all but one of the Royal Navy's light carriers.
The Russian Air Force was able to help their ground forces achieve breakthroughs that otherwise could have been blunted by once overwhelming NATO airpower. The most effective Russian air fleet in providing cover for their ground forces was the so called "Air Dominance Wing" made of their newest 5th Generation fighters and flown by the most elite pilots the Russian Air Force could provide. They would prove more than a match for some of the best American and NATO air units, and are credited with single-handedly destroying most of the German, French, and British Air Forces.
After several weeks of bitter fighting, Russian led offensives into Bavaria and Northern Italy began to pay off for the SCO. After taking much of the Italian Alps, Russian forces managed to destroy most of the Italian Army in the battles of Milan and Florence, opening up the door for a Russian advance on Rome. This soon became unnecessary, as Italy, which faced the prospect of total defeat, surrendered to the SCO. A provisional government soon took power, led by pro-Russian members of the country's "Northern League" (Lega Nord) party. Meanwhile, The Czech Republic and Norway both surrendered to Russian troops and NATO lines in both Germany and now also Southern France buckled, then broke. Russian forces overran Bavaria and reached the Franco-German Border, outflanking the solid NATO defense lines near Berlin and unraveling the whole German front. US and NATO units withdrew closer and closer to the North Sea and the BeNeLux region, trying to form new defensive lines which one after the other fell under the unrelenting Russian (and by now also Chinese) assault. At sea, large wolfpacks of powerful Russian submarines roamed the sea lanes, attacking and destroying several large NATO convoys from North America which were ferrying troops and critically needed supplies to Europe. Supplies at the front for NATO units soon became a major problem, with only smaller shipments by air being able to make it through, until even these shipments become intermittent thanks to Russian air activity. SCO successes in Europe also brought some new geopolitical gains elsewhere. The pro-SCO states of Libya and Algeria, having been receiving lots of SCO military aid for the past few years and also having been given lots of promises of new territory, now openly joined the war. WW3 had now spread to Africa, with Libyan troops marching into Chad and Tunisia while Algeria sent its army into Morocco in order to gain access to the Atlantic ocean and threaten the southern entrances to the Mediterranean sea. For the NATO alliance, it seemed that now all was lost.
WW3 in Europe, 3rd Phase, Russian breakthroughs in Italy and Germany, as well as the entry of Algeria and Libya in the war, turned the tide decisively in the SCO's favour. Meanwhile, as fighting raged at the front, Russia began reorganizing European borders to suit the needs of itself and its allies.
Fighting in Germany reduced much of the country to ruins. While most NATO field armies withdrew to the west in order to avoid being outflanked by the Russian advance further south, smaller units, mostly those of what was left of the German Army (supplemented by hastily put together territorial militia's) put up a very bitter fight to hold onto what was left of the country. In the face of overwhelming SCO military force, these rearguard units were overwhelmed and eventually dismantled.
Saif Gaddafi, addressing his country as Libya joined the war on the SCO's side. After the death of his father, Moammar Gaddafi of a stroke in 2013, Saif inherited power and became Libya's absolute ruler. Under his rule, Libya became a much stronger country than it had been before 2008, thanks to the settlement of several million Arab's from the old Middle East and massive oil wealth which allowed Libya to greatly enhance its military capabilities. Saif decided that he would try to achieve what his father had failed to do, and turn Libya into Africa's most powerful and most feared state.
An American Amphibious Assault Ship sinks after taking several fatal blows from Russian submarines. Though both sides took losses in WW3's version of the Battle of Atlantic, it would be the Russian navy which would eventually gain the advantage, crippling supply and troop shipments to Europe.
Chinese reinforcements crossing into Russia en-route to the frontlines in Europe. China eventually deployed between 200,000-400,000 troops with lots of heavy weaponry to help their Russian allies in dealing the deathblow to the NATO alliance. Most Chinese military aid would be reorganized from newly established Chinese bases in Albania, a country that had historically held very close ties with China during the Cold War. After a short period of Serb-Greek military occupation, Albania would soon be reconstituted as a Chinese proxy state.
Just like in Asia, all hopes for NATO to hold on in Europe now rested in a massive American planned retaliatory strike. A huge American fleet, augmented by Canadian and European ships, set sail from Virginia, with 3 aircraft carriers and followed by more ships carrying a powerful expeditionary force which was finally ready for combat. This fleet would fight its way through the Russian navy's submarine wolfpacks, and unload tens of thousands of troops in Britain and France, enough soldiers and vehicles to hopefully not only hold on to Europe West of the Franco-German Border, but to also start rolling back Russian progress in places like Iceland and Germany, giving what was left of NATO enough time to rebuild their forces and launch further counterattacks. However, like the Battle of Wake Island did in the Pacific, the coming Battle of the Bay of Biscay would have a similar result for the Americans and their allies. Just like in the Pacific, the SCO had managed to hack into American communications and was able to pinpoint the location and time of arrival of the vanguard of the American force near European waters. Russian ships of the Northern Fleet, which were now joined by the powerful Baltic Fleet (which by now was able to access the North Atlantic thanks to the fall of Copenhagen to Russian troops) converged to intercept, hitting the American and NATO ships with powerful attacks by carrier based fighters and submarine anti-ship weapons. After several hours of bitter fighting, two American carriers were destroyed along with many other surface ships. To make matters worse, the follow up fleet which carried most of the ground reinforcements was itself attacked by Russian submarines and surface ships. Many transports were lost before the American fleet managed to withdraw, ending any hope of a rescue for NATO units in Europe.
The American fleet under attack by Russian "Carrier Killer" SLBM warheads, these weapons along with Russian naval aviation from their own carriers helped rout the American relief force and ensured that Europe was doomed to fall under SCO occupation.
With the sea lanes secure, SCO units kept pushing, and eventually, forced the collapse of NATO lines all over the front. Germany surrendered after Russian soldiers marched into Cologne. The BeNeLux states quickly followed suit, with the only holdouts being units trapped in Amsterdam and Ghent which were trying to hold the ports long enough for refugees to escape. Brussels was occupied, and the flags of the SCO's member states were raised over the European Union's now abandoned and looted headquarters. Russian and Chinese units broke out into France and made extremely rapid advances, pouring over the Pyrennes mountains into Spain and soon occupying Madrid, while at the same time converging on Normandy and Brittany after taking Paris, which just like in World War 2, had been declared an open city in order to spare it from destruction. In Barcelona, cheering crowds held up the Catalan National Flag alongside the Russian one as Russian troops marched into the city, after Russia announced its intention to grant Catalonia independence as a member state of the SCO. Finally, Britain, the last foothold of NATO in Europe, was itself invaded by Russian airborne and marine units which had been massing in western Norway. With powerful Russian naval and air support, the Russians landed in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and quickly advanced south deep into England. As their troops approached London from the north, more SCO airmobile infantry, joined by Russian Spetznaz commando's, landed by helicopter along the southern English coast. Pressed from both sides, the British did not stand a chance. After London fell to the SCO's forces, Britain surrendered. The Portugal and Spain quickly followed suit, and the war in Europe was over.
Russian motor-rifle infantry on a French highway, after the fall of Germany and the destruction of the bulk of the armies of NATO's member states, the Russian advance achieved rapid progress
WW3 in Europe, Final phase. After the fall of Germany and the defeat of the American relief force, NATO's last member states crumbled to the SCO onslaught. By November 2014, all of Europe was under the SCO's thumb. The European Union was no more. Old national currencies like the French Franc and the German Mark where brought back into circulation to replace the Euro which was now worth less than the paper it was printed on. Russia further reorganized the continent to suit its needs, shifting borders where it saw fit in order to create a new balance of power. Czechoslovakia was reborn, while Hungary was greatly rewarded for its choice to join the SCO with new territory at Romania's and Ukraine's expense. Russia's puppet state in Kiev was also forced to make a painful territorial concession to a new Pro-Russian Poland, where Poland was given Galicia for the first time since 1939 as a price for Poland's collaboration with the SCO. Greater Serbia was made into reality, and Romania was merged with Moldova. Other changes, like Scottish and Catalan independence, would come after the last of NATO's combat forces in Europe surrendered.
Free German Army Leopard Tanks fighting in Normandy. As they made their final stand, some NATO units would manage to flee from the fall of Europe, and continue to fight under the leadership of Government's in Exile that were now forming in the United States.
The United States now found itself largely alone against two victorious enemy superpowers. In both Asia and Europe, the enemy had succeeded beyond even the most wildest imagination. Nobody knew what would happen now. NATO was now effectively gone, its only two members still left being the United States and Canada. They only had a handful of remaining allies, and not much left to fight with. But as bad as it had become, things were soon going to get far worse...
