Alaska and the Soviet Invasion (T2k)

[ArmySGT.]

Your answer is earlier in the thread, post #8:

Ah, thanks for that passed it over.

[ArmySGT.]

Watch these Australians guys. They may be planning something.

[HorseSoldier]

I've actually been working on and off on a sourcebook kind of write up for Alaska in T2K since moving up here, but still has a ways to go, and involves some departures from the canon troop dispositions and unit identities (mostly reflagging the 1st and 2nd Arctic Recon Brigades, AK ARNG).

Staying within the sort of improbable (to me, anyway) narrative of the invasion, I basically have the Soviets headquartered in the southern end of Anchorage, away from the nuke strike, with a strong garrison in the Mat-Su Valley (the prime agricultural area in the state) and a blocking force south of Anchorage part of the war to Whittier.

The Soviet strength is the agricultural zone they're sitting in, but they're very bad off for fuel and have pretty negligible sealift left after the attempt to go after Juneau and the SE Alaska panhandle.

The US forces are split -- during the battle for Anchorage, a portion of the US force was cut off and withdrew south out of the city into the Kenai Peninsula, while the bulk of X Corps are at Wainwright and Greely. The US is very tight on food, but pretty wealthy on fuel, with the refinery at North Pole running at fractional output and oil still coming down the pipeline in enough quantity that they're able to keep some aircraft flying and vehicles running on gas and diesel. They've also got a garrison holding the only functioning coal mine in the state, and one of the two National Guard brigades strung out on garrison duty patrolling the pipeline from Barrow to Fairbanks. Even with the airpower, though, they lack the combat power to push the Soviets out of south-central Alaska, and so it's pretty much a stand off circa 2000.

A Canadian brigade group is mostly on their side of the border with blocking forces keeping the Soviet division at Whitehorse cut off, and an understrength battalion at Tok keeping lines of communication open to X Corps.

Elsewhere in the state, there's a very broad no mans land between the Soviet and American zones. Pretty much any settlements that were on the road net have been abandoned by 2000 after being fought over a time or two since the invasion. Neither marauder bands nor surviving settlements near the road net are sizable.

Further out in the Bush, some communities are more or less intact, some have collapsed due to the loss of imports, disease, etc.

Kodiak was hit hard by .sov airstrikes and then largely ignored. There's a mostly USCG garrison there that's sided with CivGov, though that's pretty nominal, as the only regular contact they have with outsiders are Japanese merchantmen.

Whittier (the other port mentioned in previous post) is a fortified free community that has opted out of the war, and no has a small defense force made up of various deserters from both sides.

Valdez, terminal end of the pipeline, was severely during the Soviet drive towards Juneau, but survives as an isolated but nominally pro-MilGov community with a defense force consisting mostly of US stragglers and a couple hundred East German former POWs who are the last survivors of a group of about 2000 who escaped from a Soviet camp in Siberia, marched out to the sea, and then hijacked a Soviet merchantman. Their attempt to escape to allied America was semi-successful, with them winding up in Valdez after finding out Anchorage was in Soviet hands.

Juneau and the southeastern portion of the state is the worst hit part of the state in some ways -- by the time the Soviet offensive made it down into that area, it was faltering badly and the troops were more involved in looting survival essentials than fighting. A Typhoid epidemic didn't help things, and the area is very depopulated, with a few of the more isolated fishing communities hanging on, as well as some small scale pirates and maritime marauders. The only major population center is Haines, where another small Canadian force is holding the port and end of the Haines Highway, and have attracted a large refugee population.

The other big player on the scene are the Japanese, who have occupied the Cook Inlet oil and gas fields near Anchorage for their own domestic use. They've got a battalion of Japanese airborne troops, plus a force of American mercenaries recruited out of Korea. The Soviets don't have the assets to challenge their occupation, and the Japanese provide them some limited amounts of fuel to keep them happy. The Japanese are also the main thing keeping many of the more isolated communities on the coast elsewhere in the state up and running in some semblance of modernity, trading some of the limited production of manufactured goods still coming out of Japan for fish and marine mammal foodstuffs.

[Targan]

Nice summary HorseSoldier. I like your take on the state of things in Alaska.

[ArmySGT.]

Nice write up. Favors a southern sweep.

I favor the Northern sweep myself.

Soviets seize Nome. Making is a logistical bridge head.

Nome has an airfield currently. That airfield is large enough for an AN-12 Cub.

There is a small port. Soviet Merchant Vessels are also Soviet Merchant Marine vessels equipped with their own cranes that can move Soviet MBTs from Hold to Dock.

[ArmySGT.]

I feel a Northern Sweep sets up for a Soviet invasion of Alaska to a effect multiple Strategic purposes.

1) Opens a second Front drawing American support away from NATO operations in Europe.

2) Soviet Aviation assets can conduct operations against continental US and Canadian assets with half the transit time and greater payload.

3) Destruction or occupation of DEW line assets. Blinding US and Canadian Commands to operations over the North Pole Chukchi, Siberian, and the North sea.

4) Deny US forces and US domestic production of a quarter to one third of domestic oil production.

5) Morale and PR boost back home.

[LAW0306]

Thats a Nice write up Horse.

[Webstral]

Horse, I like that work, too. I had some very similar thoughts about why such a large Soviet force was apparently surrounded by much smaller US formations. The relative differences between food stocks and fuel adds a nice touch to the explanation. The East Germans are a nice touch, too. Without quibbling over any particular point, I think your overall concept is a good one. Thanks for stepping up to give this some attention. Im struggling to get a Thunder Empire piece completed, so I cant do anything with Alaska.

I did have a couple of thoughts about the Soviet operations in the state. It appears that Eleventh Soviet Army was landed in Alaska starting in July 1997 in an effort to capture Fairbanks and Anchorage. A separate force of about six divisions (14th MRD, 41st MRD, 62nd MRD, 114th MRD, 76th TD, and 120th MRD) was landed in southeastern Alaska and British Columbia starting in August in an effort to seize Juneau, Vancouver, and the Puget Sound. I wont talk about the second force here other than to remark on its demise.

1st & 2nd Arctic Mechanized Brigades took part in the initial invasion of Alaska in July 1997. Both brigades took part in the capture of Fairbanks. Both brigades were turned south after capturing Fairbanks. 1AMB went to Anchorage, which was captured. 2AMB was part of an assault on Juneau. Both brigades ended up in Anchorage in 1998.

1st Naval Infantry Brigade was involved in the assault on Anchorage. We know the brigade was landed somewhere along the Cook Inlet and was mauled by US forces as the Americans withdrew.

7th MRD landed in Alaska in 1997 and participated in the capture of Anchorage.

113th MRD landed in Alaska in 1997 and participated in the operation against Fairbanks. The division withdrew to Anchorage after X US Corps counterattacked in 1998.

147th MRD landed in Alaska in 1997 and participated in the operation against Fairbanks. The division withdrew to Anchorage after X US Corps counterattacked in 1998.

6th Guards Air Assault Division also has a role in the initial invasion of Alaska.

What if the assault on Fairbanks did not begin at Nome What if Nome was simply a jumping-off point for operations elsewhere I note that the Yukon Delta is 150 miles or so south of Nome. What if Nome were seized for whatever facilities it possesses so that materiel could be staged for movement up the Yukon Hoverborne troops could make quick assaults on or off the river and conduct operations in places American troops might not be able to go. The arctic brigades could range ahead, capturing barges and other shipping necessary to move two MRD upriver to the confluence of the Yukon and Tanana Rivers, thence up the Tanana to Fairbanks. If this happened, then we would have an explanation for the movement of the arctic brigades south to Anchorage by road. US forces could have held on at Fort Greely until March, when a counterattack against the two Soviet divisions remaining at Fairbanks drove them out.

[Targan]

Every now and again I remember all the work Kato has done compiling the thread map. Here are links to a couple of past discussions on Alaska:

The Alaskan Theatre of Operations and more:

http://forum.juhlin.com/showthread.phpt=178

US forces in Alaska:

http://forum.juhlin.com/showthread.phpt=747

YaATW2KT: The Soviet's Aleutian Front:

http://forum.juhlin.com/showthread.phpt=1180

Sorry, forgotten how to change the link so it just shows the title. Looks messy, I know, but I'm at work so I shouldn't be doing this anyway!

The second link (US forces in Alaska) should be of particular interest as it contains some of the modified ORBATS developed by the DC Working Group.

[Legbreaker]

...I'm at work so I shouldn't be doing this anyway!

But isn't being pretty much the sole active mod a job in and of itself deserving of respect and gratitude if not actual cash payment

[rcaf_777]

Ok

Planning and Logistics aside what would be the need for a soviet invasion

Keep troops in North States tried up so they can't be used in Mexico

Oil they could have just nuked it

reclaim terrority

Another point (Planning and Logistics)

If the soviets are going to wage war in Alaska, where are they going to land troops

Resupply, how is it going to done, over sea by air

Lines of Communcations They are seperated by water from there major supply bases (Remember D-Day eventhing comes by boat or aircraft) and then how do you move stuff around trucks, long line of communcations (remember OIF when follow on forces were enaged by irrrgular formations)

Think about it the troops and other forces in Alaska know the ground, and Soviets don't, attacking troops who are ready for them and know the ground, you need a 3 to 1 ratio for an attack.

How much trouble do you think you can create if a forgien power invaded your back yard

[Webstral]

Historically, one of the goals of the USSR was to break NATOs solidarity. The Kremlin was delighted when de Gaulle broke with NATO. One of the chief Soviet goals was to separate the US from Europe. Looking back, we may think such a notion silly. However, one of the unspoken rules of the nuclear balance of power was that the US was going to have to be willing to put Chicago on the line to defend Munich from nuclear attack. Make the Americans think Munich wasnt worth the price, and youve just driven a wedge between the US and Europe.

In the Twilight War, half of NATO dropped out in 1996. Presumably, France dropped out of the Atlantic Alliance, while Belgium, Italy, Greece, Spain, and Portugal bailed on NATO. Ive postulated that Soviet military action in February 1997 was designed to cause the Netherlands and Denmark to drop out. I propose that an attack against the Pacific Northwest would be intended to achieve a similar purpose.

Leg (I think) points out the long lead time involved in planning and assembling the men and materiel. Thus it is probably mere chance that has the Soviets land in Alaska and British Columbia after the tactical nuclear exchange begins but before the strategic exchange heats up. However, Im sure the Soviets would have seen this as being to their advantage. With Red forces in Alaska and British Columbia and nukes flying the Europe and Asia, Canada might have been motivated to seek a separate peace. At the very least, the Canadians might have been motivated to redeploy their troops from Europe to the Pacific Northwest. By the same token, the US might have found herself unwilling to continue to support operations in Europe, the Middle East, and Korea until the situation in North America was resolved. Imagine the explosive reaction of American public opinion resulting from the presence of Soviet troops on American soil. From the Soviet standpoint, the loss of a dozen mostly second-rate divisions in the Pacific Northwest might easily be justified by more favorable results in Europe, the Gulf, or Korea as American logistical support and reinforcements flow to Alaska instead of overseas.

[ArmySGT.]

RCAF 777 I am going to use your post as my reply as it nicely prompts the ideas that have been rattling around my head like dice in a cup. No offense just segued nicely. Thanks.

Ok
Planning and Logistics aside what would be the need for a soviet invasion
Keep troops in North States tried up so they can't be used in Mexico
Oil they could have just nuked it
reclaim terrority

Soviets were pioneers in Ice Breaker ships by necessity. Soviet Ice breaker squadrons could safely conduct Ivan Rogov class Landing ships to points along the Alaskan coast.

OIL. The Trans caucus ans Middle East oil fields are going to be to hotly contested to rely on, and taking Alaska secures an exploitable resource while damaging Allied supply.

Another point (Planning and Logistics)
If the soviets are going to wage war in Alaska, where are they going to land troops
Resupply, how is it going to done, over sea by air

Nome, as like canon. Makes a centrally located Air head for tactical and strategic air operations. Supplied from Petropavlovsk and Vladivostok.
Prudhoe bay. Cuts off North America from up to one third of its supply crude oil. Soviet Icebreakers can convoy in Ivan Rogov class LSTs with material and troops year around, and bring guided missile ships for cover. While still being actively protected be the Soviet far eastern frontal aviation assets.
From Prudhoe bay the Soviet units can launch missions to seize the DEW line stations, to destroy or seize for their own purposes.
From Prudhoe Bay the Soviet units being better equipped to operate in the Arctic can drive south on the North Slope Haul Road and the repair road that parallels the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. Soviet Engineer assets seizing the Pumping stations, and power plants along the way. Finally running into Fairbanks with an Assault on Ft. Wainwright and Eielson AFB.

Lines of Communcations They are seperated by water from there major supply bases (Remember D-Day eventhing comes by boat or aircraft) and then how do you move stuff around trucks, long line of communcations (remember OIF when follow on forces were enaged by irrrgular formations)

Largely, so is Alaska. Albeit there is the ALCan Highway, most every thing moved into and out of Alaska is by ship. The Lines of Communications (LOC) for the Soviets will be shorter than for Americans and Canadians. The Soviet Navy can operate the full 12 months in the Arctic and Bering Seas due to the Nuclear powered Ice breaker fleet, and Ice breaker cargo ships. The Soviets can dominate the Bering sea with submarines and ASW warfare vessels supported by Surface warfare vessels and landbased Front Aviation assets. From those Landing ships the Pomorik class and other classes of hover craft can move supplies inland. Arctic tundra is just and good as water to move over for these machines. Any American forces in the area could be rapidly flanked and decimated by units supported by these machines in winter or summer.

Think about it the troops and other forces in Alaska know the ground, and Soviets don't, attacking troops who are ready for them and know the ground, you need a 3 to 1 ratio for an attack.
How much trouble do you think you can create if a forgien power invaded your back yard

Soviets are all about meticulous preparation. While there is a higher preponderance of outdoors men in all of Alaska, the overall population is low, and would not be concentrated enough to be more than a nuisance to a Soviet Division. Soviets certainly believe in a scorched earth policy to deny havens to Partisans, they know Partisan operations very well.

[ArmySGT.]

[rcaf_777]

The Canadian would better supplied locally than you think the Canadian Forces durring the cold always planed for Soviet Invasion of the North, the Speical Service Force was alsways intended to fight in Northern Canada should the Soviet attack, to this end Forward Operating Locations were built, the DEW sites were supplied and other shelters were placed in the North that would allow the Canadian and US Troops to fight