THE SIBERIAN WAR-CLAWS OF THE BEAR
By Red Star
NOTE: I do not own any real or anime characters mentioned here.
IMPERIAL OFFICE, GRAND KREMLIN PALACE, MOSCOW
The Emperor eased his thin body into the chair and reached for the day's first document. A member of the State Duma had managed to maneuver a bill taxing cigarettes through the Supreme Assembly. The Emperor signed and stamped it and moved on. A Provincial Assembly in Voronezh was getting troublesome. One fellow was bragging about his future "on the Kremlin throne." The Emperor signed an Imperial decree that dissolved the body and sent the braggart to a Gulag. He should have known better than to make foolish statements in public. Dane I leaned back and picked up the phone and pushed the line button that connected him with the Foreign Minister.
"Yes, my Emperor?" Dane smiled. The Minister's end told him when the Emperor was calling and likewise with Dane's end. "Are you packed for the tour?" "Yes, sire, I am prepared." "Good," crooned the Emperor as he reached for a glass of tea, "Please tell King William that I will be attending his Royal Benefit Marathon and Concert, will you?" "Of course, sire." He said his goodbye and hung up. Dane I then picked himself up and walked over to a bookcase. He seized an atlas and opened it to reveal a map of north-central Siberia. He looked it over and his hand tapped on a spot in Primorsk Kray.
"Keep it going, Lakov…"
KHABAROVSK, EASTERN SIBERIA
Marshal Lakov walked briskly ahead of his adjutants into his newly set up command center. Operation Fiery Blizzard had been a complete success. Russia had successfully destroyed about 42% of the Japanese forces and had shot down 46% of it's aircraft. The 23rd Army had linked with the 24th Guards Army and were closing an iron trap around the Japanese 7th Army, driving it into the sea from which it had arrived. Swarms of Tupolev bombers pounded Hokkaido Island and attacked Japanese ship movements. 2 Airborne divisions seized 5 Kurile islands, and MGB operatives in Japan fed STAVKA a steady diet of information. The CINCEAST now had a goal in mind: to liberate Vladivostok from it's besieged state. It would not be easy, the Imperial Army would have to drive the Japanese from Siberia and the Imperial Air Force would have to work with the Pacific Fleet in destroying the rescuing carriers. Nothing must stop him and nothing would.
JAPANESE COMBINED FORCES HEADQUARTERS
Prime Minister Kagita's voice rang in General Nohitomo's ears.
"Our forces are facing total defeat in Siberia, Nohitomo. You are the only one who can keep our army strong. I appoint you Commander in Chief of the Japanese Combined Forces. I have called up 300,000 men from the reserves, they are on their way as we speak."
Nohitomo cleared his throat and began to speak.
"Your Excellency, while I appreciate your vote of confidence, I must tell you my thoughts on this campaign."
He licked his lips nervously.
"The Japanese Army has lost a total of 1.1 Million men. The Russian Air Force dominates the skies, and the situation at sea is rapidly deteriorating. The Russian Army attacks us with artillery first, tanks second, and then they send in infantry to mop up the poor souls that stand in their way. I have already received information as to the destruction on Hokkaido; 43% of their industry has been hit bad. I fear this may get worse if they bring in more of those strange new bombers, one of which crippled our troops on Sukhalin. We have not seen this bomber since but we must assume the Russians are building them somewhere. Also, there is the matter of the Battle of Khabarovsk, at which the Russians seemed to reveal the results of their Radio Frequency Warfare research."
"What is your point, Nohitomo?"
"Sir, I must ask that you withdraw Japanese forces from Siberia and ask the Russian Imperial Government for peace terms."
Nohitomo held the phone away from his ear so that it would not be damaged by the torrent of abuse that flowed from the phone.
Darien sat at a small table with Tenchi and Tai. The three had been touched by the age-old comradeship that war inspires in soldiers. Darien reached into his jacket and pulled out his photo of Serena.
"That's her?" asked Tai.
"Yep." "Jeez, what a score!"
Tai pulled a photograph out that showed him with a girl with short red hair.
"Her name's Sora. We've…shared a lot together."
Darien nodded and turned to Tenchi. "What about you, Tenchi?"
The young man sighed and pulled out a photograph showing him with about six women, two older men, and what appeared to be a rabbit.
His companion's eyes opened. Tai snickered. Darien could barely control a grin.
"They're not all…are they?"
"No!" sighed Tenchi. He looked at the picture in his hands.
"Two of them…maybe three or four…OK, five!!…wish it were so, though."
He put the picture back in his pocket. "Other than that, they're just good friends."
Darien nodded and held up a glass.
"Here's to the girls back home!"
The other two joined him in the toast.
TWO DAYS LATER…
The 7th Combined Arms Army began crawling toward Sovetskaya on the Sea of Japan early that day. The 1st Shock Army smashed into a surprised Japanese 3rd Army and began a battle for the hills, aided by guerillas and Partisans. The 34th Guards Tank Division spearheaded the assault on the Siberian coast, and the 12th Air Division soared overhead to engage the Japanese in a massive battle for the sky.
General Nohitomo stared down at his maps. The Russians had poured 200,000 men into this attack. Something was wrong here, it would have been of more military significance if Russia attacked the areas to the west and pushed them into the sea while swinging other forces toward Vladivostok. Lakov had something up his sleeve, but Nohitomo had a duty. He sent 140,000 troops to support the 3rd Army. He decided to keep the rest stationed near the Russian held areas, just in case.
MANCHURIAN PROVINCE, CHINESE EMPIRE, THAT NIGHT
General Wu Shi watched the Russian tanks rumble by, they were none as the 4th Guards Tank Army and they were getting ready to attack the Japanese forces. Members of the Chinese Imperial Army stood silently by, watching out not for Russian attack, but a Japanese raid. The Emperor in Beijing was frightened by Japan's aggression and quickly declared his neutrality. But of course, China supported Russia. If the Russians were defeated, the Japanese would turn their attention to China, which was still in the process of modernizing her armed forces. It would not take much to wipe out China's main advantage over an enemy: it's massive manpower. The Chinese Emperor was allowing Russia to send supplies and men through it's airspace, and now he was allowing them to send an entire Army. China, of course, would deny helping Russia at all. Beijing would only go to war to defend herself, and Japan was unlikely to try anything while the Great Bear was tearing her armies apart.
The 4th Guards was heading to the Vladivostok Front. CINCEAST was making his move toward the final defeat of the Japanese in Siberia.
2ND ARMY AREA, FRONT LINES
The night was shattered by the sound and the flames of Russian artillery roaring into battle. Russian T-90's stormed over Japanese foxholes and destroyed the desperately thinned line of tanks that rushed to defend the 2nd Army's precarious fight. Rifle Troops armed with anti-tank weapons jogged alongside the advancing tanks and fired their weapons at the Mitsubishi tanks. Overhead, Mil-28I helicopters armed with night-vision cameras turned the Japanese APCs into hulks of burning metal. The combined forces of the 14th Army ,15th Army, and 3rd Shock Armies slashed into the Japanese areas, and Tu-160s soared overhead, pounding the enemy with cluster bombs and sending cruise missiles into communication areas.
And then, the mysterious bombers appeared…
4 Tu-190 bombers, built after the success of the original when it destroyed most of the Japanese troops on Sukhalin, followed this same proud plane into battle over the 2nd Army.
Major General of the Imperial Air Force Alexander Dolevsky looked over the computerized charts in the first bomber, which had been designated Vampire-1. The General was supervising the bombing operation, which was to hit the 2nd Army's air and tank units hard enough for Russian troops to stab into the weak points and tear the army into pieces. He picked up a radio speaker and began his orders, "Vampire-1 to Vampire-2, go to Sector A3 and take the tanks there…"
Darien had dropped into a deep sleep after the events of the day exhausted him physically and emotionally. General Nohitomo was doing his best to try and contain the Russian advance, but Ivan had other ideas. Now, all Major Shields wanted was to get some rest…
And then, he was shaken awake by a barrage of missiles.
Darien ran outside to watch as a nearby Armored Division that was being prepared to go to the front burst into flames as large, long cruise missiles soared into the tanks, often destroying two or three tanks at a time.
"There she is, major,"
Darien spun to see General Nohitomo walking up to him.
"I just got word from posts near the front; tanks, radar stations, air fields, they're all being hit by that same kind of bomber." The CINCCOMB turned and watched the flames.
"The Russians are attacking with about 300,000 men on our front. 33,000 troops are already dead or missing." He shook his head.
"The Russians also just attacked the 1st Army in the south with some fresh tank troops. No one knows how they got there."
THREE DAYS LATER, NEAR THE CHINESE-RUSSIAN BORDER…
The rumble of tanks and mobile artillery vehicles stomped over what might have been a rather peaceful, quiet day. The tanks soon stopped when the advancing soldiers soon realized what was before them. It was a massive Army of battle hardened soldiers, with growing beards and hardness in their eyes.
The two Armies, the Vladivostok Front and the West Siberian Front, stared at each other for five minutes.
And then, the cheering began, and the Russians swarmed to each other in a massive show of comradeship. The Russian flag popped up and so did several bottles of Vodka.
Marshal Lakov now had the Japanese in a pocket. He was now ready to crush the Japanese Army, once and for all.