Seref Games

Soviet politics did not track well into the modern era.

Pro-war calls from the Soviet premier were met with harsh condemnation from the Politburo, with many members demanding to know why, when faced with an unfinished war with Japan, the official Soviet policy called for conflict with the United States of Asia. What had happened to Lenin's declaration of peaceful coexistence with the capitalists? Had they abandoned all of his ideals in the 1950s?

The new Soviet premier Alexander Nikitivich Voroshilsk elected to take the Soviet Union in a different path, reducing military spending across the board to reduce the size of the Soviet military and cut expenses, instead focusing more on developing the Soviet economy and industry. Warhawk members of the Politburo still called for war, especially as the neighboring "Empire" came out of quarantine. Premier Voroshilsk's response was merely to load the rifles and wait. Under his leadership, the USSR would not fire the first shot.

"The Empress requires the immediate annihilation of the Moscow Administration and its Bolshevik supporters"

The order from Kolchak to Ivanov was as short as it was decisive. For months the Imperial Army had been fortifying its position and engaging in reconnaissance over Soviet territory. By now the young General had been growing somewhat impatient freezing his ass off and waiting for the instruction from his Empress and his love to finally bring glory and pride to the Russian Empire again. Operations so far had taken great care to not engage in actions that would constitute a direct act of war and likewise their enemy also seemed to want to avoid provocation. That was a status quo about to end. After placing the order in his desk he turned to the officer who had brought it to him. "Lieutenant, relay orders to all Commanders. Operation Daniel has been authorized. Commence stage 1. Coordinate with Bomber Command in St. Petersburg" He ordered before taking a bottle of vodka from the same drawer and a glass to drink on the inevitable victory.

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Stage 1 would serve to weaken the Soviet fortifications and overwhelm the defenders in a shock and awe type strategy. The hope was that by showing incredible violence from the outset of the war they could force some fast early victories and demoralize the defence to force a surrender. While the road to Moscow was short, a motivated defence could certainly make it a lot longer. Tu-4s, filled with bombs would approach the Russian-Soviet border as MiG-17s deployed to frontline provinces last year flew in formations in front and behind them to engage any interceptors and surface-to-air threats. These fighters would also serve a dual purpose of reconnaissance to identify vital positions for artillery. The bombers would unleash their full bays on larger ground formations, fuel and munitions depots as well as factories in the border area. Secondary targets included air strips and roads to cripple the mobilization of Soviet forces. The strikes from the air were quickly followed by Russian artillery firing across the border onto formations of ground forces. The focus was on anti-personnel munitions, however anti-vehicle ones were also employed. Simultaneous to the strike Russian armour and mechanized forces would cross into Soviet territory where the defending forces were thinnest in number to secure various entry points while the defenders most likely were rallying to protect as much as possible from the air and ground strikes. After firing artillery would pack up and move only to fire again from a different position to prevent the Soviets from effectively identifying the origin of strikes and engaging in counter-battery attacks.

Stepping into Moscow may very well have been a mistake.

The Soviet military was not ignorant to the Imperial buildup, having had observers taking note of the border and watching various cross-border activities with mixed consternation and suspicion. An aerial attack was almost expected at this point, owing to Moscow's relative vulnerability to the air and success that air attacks often had during the Great Patriotic War. It was both a welcome surprise and disappointing that Moscow had correctly predicted their enemy's actions. Diplomacy had clearly failed, and now only war could determine who was right.

The enemy's air war did not start auspiciously. Roaming fighter patrols spotted Imperial bombers on approach, allowing Soviet ground forces time to retreat or at least implement measures to reduce casualties from their bombing runs, with Soviet air defense fighters mostly able to evade pursuing escorts with minimal losses. Certainly, some facilities were lost and casualties on the ground had been taken, but rather than weakening Soviet defenders, it encouraged them.

On the ground, the retreat was a ruse - allowing the enemy to strike into reservist Soviet border guards and decimate them gave time for several Soviet tank divisions to counterattack and hold the enemy off, giving other forces time to retreat. This fighting retreat came at a cost as these divisions each lost dozens of tanks and were themselves forced to fall back.

(OOC: Imperial Russia inflicted 1 point each of ground losses and damages on USSR - no air losses or damage)

With the enemy salient becoming clear, it was time for Moscow to strike back in force. The enemy had made it clear what they aimed to take, and it was time to show the imperialists that they would not go down so easily. Reservists from the north were called up to head to Moscow to join the brave defenders of the city. In Moscow itself 360,000 brave Soviet soldiers, joined by 780 tanks, 1,600 guns and eighty supporting fighter-bombers counter-attacked Imperial forces in the salient, pushing to cut them off first from their supply lines and then aiming to encircle, harassing their enemy constantly with probing fire to prevent them from digging in or being able to stop for a moment. Soviet fighter-bombers supported the offensive with regular strafing runs, rocket pods, and bombs dropped on enemy formations. Soviet artillery matched their imperial counterparts, firing fire missions when appropriate and then moving to avoid counter-battery fire.

Just before the offensive began the Soviet military made its counterattack, though, the collected guns, mortars and rocket artillery launched a single massive barrage across the front lines, aiming to shatter the Imperial military prior to the attack beginning. Accuracy was not much an issue - with so many guns acting in concert, the official strategy was just to flatten the entire grid and let the shells fall where they may.

In the air, Soviet fighters flew out once more to attack their foe in the air, hoping to disrupt their enemy's recon actions and shoot down enemy fighter patrols, favoring to stay near enemy anti-air guns rather than venture over enemy lines, fearful of enemy AAA and further Imperial aircraft flying from Veliky Novgorod and Tver.

Speaking of Tver, Soviet Tu-4 aircraft flew out in a heavy formation, splitting themselves between tactical bombing of the exposed Imperial salient and annihilating the highway between Moscow and the main Imperial axis of advance, hoping to destroy the roadway and further complicate an already difficult supply situation. One wing of bombers broke off, aiming to bombard airbases near Tver and consequently disrupt further operations there.

Meanwhile, in the north, preparations began for the Soviet Yaroslavl Front army group to conduct a counterattack of its own, waiting for further instructions from STAVKA.

(OOC: Soviet forces inflicted no air losses or damages. Soviet forces inflicted 3 points of ground losses and 5 points of ground damages.

The Russian Empire's foreign ministry received the following message a few hours following the incursion into the Soviet Union;

ATTN: Russian Empire Foreign Ministry, Empress of Russia

To the Imperial Russian Foreign Ministry and senior Imperial leadership, including the Empress of Russia,

The Socialist Republics of America has observed with some disquiet the events ongoing in Russia between your state and the Soviet Union, and while we in Atlanta have not always seen eye-to-eye with the Soviet government, we are of the opinion that the unwarranted aggression into Soviet lands constitutes a response. Therefore, as a friend to the Soviet Union and friend of all workers of the world, we strongly encourage St. Petersburg to cease its attacks into the Soviet Union and at once begin negotiating a peace agreement. If this request is not heeded, the Socialist Republics of America will have to strongly consider economic sanctions and direct intervention involving elements of the Socialist Republic Navy and Socialist Republic Marine Corps.

Peace can be achieved here between Moscow and St. Petersburg, and coexistence can be obtained. We in Atlanta are strongly committed to securing a lasting peace agreement, but the Socialist Republics will not look upon St. Petersburg with favor should unwarranted hostile attacks into Soviet territory continue with no response or worse, a negative response to this letter.

Sincerely,
Secretary of State Wesley Marchegiano