Hi, all...
One of my PBEM pals in Germany, Matt Ohlmer, and I just completed a game
of the Mad General, a custom scenario based on a U.S. mission to capture
a war criminal General in Bosnia behind enemy lines. (Yes, the one I
was just blathering about in my last post.<g>).
As a different sort of twist on AARs, we decided to create a sort of
"puzzle" for you to sort out, consisting of a "file" filled with
newspaper clippings, memos, letters, and a satellite photo (attached) to
paint an impression of what happened, as if you were snooping through a
classified file that was ordinarily off-limits. We will leave much of
the battle to your imagination, however. (Yes, I helped create this
scenario, so yes, I am shamelessly self-promoting here<g>).
For those of you who haven't played it yet, the Mad General scenario
also involves piecing together a puzzle, as the U.S. must use smart
recon deployments, deduction, and good instincts to figure out the
"General's" whereabouts, while maneuvering its main body elements in a
way that pens him in before striking.
The game Matt and I played turned out to be one of the most memorable --
and instructional PBEM games in recent memory. Without giving too much
away up front, I will say that Matt played the role of the General
masterfully, taking the concept of deceiptful tactics in TacOps to a new
level! Watch out for that guy!
Anyway, hope you enjoy it...
RT
The original "satellite photo" has been lost, but this is where the decoy HQ was, in the far north not far from the river. Note the inverted 'L' cut into the trees, which Matt refers to in his letter at the end of this report.
**********************************************
(New York Times clipping, July 1, 1996)
SERBIAN GENERAL AND WAR CRIMINAL OUSTED, BUT STILL AT LARGE
The Bosnian Serb president, under pressure from the U.S. and other UN
members, officially dismissed his commander in chief, a suspected war
criminal from the early days of the Bosnian conflict. The Bosnian Serb
Army is extremely loyal to the General, however, and apparently answers
to no other leader. This has left grave questions as to who is
controlling the BSA, which, due to a proliferation of Russian black
marketeering, was, and still could be, among the best-equipped armies in
the world. The General was reportedly conducting maneuvers in Western
Serbia when the President's announcement was made, and has not been
heard from in some days.
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(New York Times clipping, July 5, 1996)
WAR CRIMES TRIAL RECONVENES AT THE HAGUE
Once again, public pressure has called for the trial of alleged war
criminals from the early days of the Bosnian conflict. The most
infamous of these suspects, however, the commander in chief of the
Serbian Army, is still at large, though most people suspect he is hiding
out in the woods to avoid capture.
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(Translation of a news clipping from a Bosnian newspaper, July 8, 1996)
SUSPICIOUS SOUNDS IN THE WOODS ALARM VILLAGERS
(SARAJEVO) Villagers along the Drina River have been reporting sounds of
"massive vehicles" during the night, giving rise to new fears that
Bosnian Serbs are again on the march. Local UN Peacekeeping forces say
they have sent recon units to investigate, but not a single sighting was
made. The reports therefore remain a mystery...
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(Transcript of CNN news broadcast, July 10, 7 p.m. EST)
[SEVERAL HOMES AND LIGHT ARMORED VEHICLES SHOWN BURNING IN BKG., CHATTER
OF MACHINE GUNS ARE HEARD THROUGHOUT REPORT]
This Wolf Blitzer in Bosnia. Today old nightmares were revived, as
Serbian tanks and troop carriers launched a massive attack on local
towns and villages, sending thousands fleeing in terror. The attack was
apparently well-planned and caught the Government and UN Peacekeeping
forces here completely off-guard. The Serbs have advanced across the
border along the Drina River, all the way to the Bosna River some 100
miles away. Serbia claims no responsibility for the attack, but U.S.
officials suspect that this is just posturing, and that they are
secretly supplying the "rogue army" commanded by their former
commander-in-chief. And if this commander's treatment of Croats and
Muslims is anything like it was rumored to be during the early years of
the war, then these people have every reason to fear for their lives...
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-
(Faded, partly crumpled memo from CIA Operations Chief)
TO: John McKinney,
Case Officer, Eastern Mediterranean Desk
John:
The President is all over me on this one! How could the Serbs have
built up such a large force without our satellites picking it up? And
how come those UN troops didn't spot anything either? You'd better come
up with some answers or we can all start mailing out our resumes. And
get me a personality profile on Mad Dog asap.
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-
(A page from a Meeting Report of the Joint Chiefs of Staff)
Due to the recent drawdown of U.S. and U.N. forces in the Mediterranean,
it was decided that NATO does not have sufficient military strength in
the region to meet the Serbian threat at this time. However, it was
also decided that we may be able to successfully infiltrate Serbian
defenses and capture their leader -- if we can find the location of his
command post....
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(Note clipped to an envelope full of aerial photographs. The envelope
bears the CIA emblem.)
Sir --
These just came back from the lab. Found something you might find
interesting. They're aerial photos taken near the Drina River on July
9, a day before the attack. Looks like just a lot of empty mountains
and woods, right? OK, see the fallen log sticking out of the scrub in
the upper left of the first photo? It looked a little too "perfect" to
me, so I blew it up 10x. In the 2nd photo you can see the log is
actually some kind of tube or pipe -- painted to look like a log. I'm
thinking, chemical weapons plant? Power plant? But no way would that be
possible in these mountains. So I blew it up again. Take a look at the
3rd photo, at the end of that pipe. If that's not the muzzle of the
main gun of a T72, I'll eat my shorts! Apparently Mad Dog didn't spend
the last two years hiding out in the woods for nothing -- that's the
best damn job of camouflage I've ever seen. Looks like we're going to
have our hands full finding this guy.
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(Personal File Folder for Col. Rick E. Tickey, Commander, 325th Infantry
Rgt., U.S. Army. A Post-It note stuck to the outside of the folder
says: "I think we found our man." You take particular notice of the
following notations...)
Evaluation:
- Has studied search & extraction missions using computer modelling and
wargaming.
- Likes to use the computer to run "sandbox drills" before battle, if
time allows.
- Did surprisingly well in his first command in a CPX a year or two
back.
- Sometimes afraid of his own shadow, but often shows concern in trying
to get his boys safely in and out of the battle zone.
Recommendations of other officers:
"He's something of a PBEM terror" (Maj. Holdridge) (Scribbled on top
of this is handwriting that reads: "What's PBEM? Sounds hi-tech. He's
probably up on all the latest weaponry")
"Personally, I think his reputation is overrated." (Torsten Knop,
special military advisor, Germany)
"He kicked my butt once -- once -- in a CPX, and never lets me
forget it!" (Brian Rock, special military advisor, Australia)
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(Message from Col. Tickey, stationed in Rome, Italy)
FROM: Col. Rick E. Tickey, Cmdr., 325th Infantry (SOC)
TO: Staff
Gentlemen:
Just got word from NATO command. That scumrat of a dictator over in
Bosnia is the target, and we've got the job. Fortunately the weather
cleared up and our Space Cadets were able to get a very nicely detailed
sat shot. I did some studying of the map and I think I know where the
Serbs are hiding their base. I'll be more sure once our aerial recon
boys give it a flyby. I'll go over the operation in greater detail once
we reach Sarajevo, but here's the basic drill:
Airlift support company from the 502nd will deploy across the Bosna at
07:00 and unload our hummers and scouts. (Watch out for enemy AD, we
don't want another 'situation' like back in '95.) The hummers will be
our eyes on the ground. We've got two battalion's worth of M2's, so
let's cross the river by swimming until we're sure the bridges aren't
mined. My hunch is that Mad Dog isn't too far from the Bosna so we
should still have plenty of time. I want to deploy a third of our
forces in the far north checking out that big ravine up there, which, if
my hunch is right, is where I think we'll find our boy. Send another
third along either side of that big east-west canyon, and the rest will
spread out along the rest of the river (in case I'm wrong about the base
being in the north).
That is all. Good hunting.
R. Tickey
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(Transcript of radio transmission)
TO: U.S. Army Command Headquarters, Sarajevo
FROM: Col. Tickey
TIME: 07:05
Proceeding across the Bosna, light skirmishes but no major opposition
during river crossing. All deployments are proceeding according to plan
and on schedule.
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(Transcript of radio transmission)
TO: U.S. Army Command Headquarters, Sarajevo
FROM: Col. Tickey
TIME: 07:09
Just got the latest reports from our air wing. Sure enough, trucks are
parked there, ready to bugger out. I'd say we've found our quarry. Am
directing a general convergence on UTM vicinity 050058, in the far north
about 2 km. from the river. Still light opposition in that area.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(Transcript of radio transmission)
TO: U.S. Army Command Headquarters, Sarajevo
FROM: Col. Tickey
TIME: 07:20
Enemy defenses are still light in north. Having difficulty getting the
rest of my forces acorss the canyon to the north. Defense there is
tougher than expected, and enemy has chosen very good positions. Very
frustrating, but still proceeding with relative ease in the north.
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(Transcript of radio transmission)
TO: Col. Tickey
FROM: U.S. Army Command Headquarters, Sarajevo
TIME: 07:30
Col. Tickey! Report situation! Over.
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(Transcript of radio transmission)
TO: U.S. Army Command Headquarters, Sarajevo
FROM: Col. Tickey
TIME: 07:31
Mad Dog not where we thought. Looks like he's a few more km.s east,
somewhere north of Hellfire Pass. Still trying to wrest control of
Hellfire but taking heavy casualties. Obviously we've run into the
enemy's main defenses. Request more air recon to pinpoint Mad Dog.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(Transcript of radio transmission)
TO: U.S. Army Command Headquarters, Sarajevo
FROM: Col. Tickey
TIME: 07:35
Trying to take control of the south edge of Hellfire but can't seem to
mass enough firepower. Lots of hand-held AT weapons are taking out my
mech forces as soon as they arrive. More losses every minute. Losing
vehicular mobility. Confusion, surprise, lack of spotting reports.
Concerned about casualties.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(Radio transcript from tactical air command net)
This is Thunder 4... Jackpot! Spotted Mad Dog east of the Lion's Lair,
just north of that tiny island on the north side of eastern Hellfire.
Too many SAMs, didn't get off a shot. But he's all yours! Thunder 4
out.
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(Transcript of radio transmission)
TO: U.S. Army Command Headquarters, Sarajevo
FROM: Col. Tickey
TIME: 07:35
Roger that sighting, but it is doubtful whether we can even get across
the canyon, and the northern force has hit mines. Down to only 2 M2s up
there. The only way we'll get there at this point is on foot, which is
still possible. But incoming artillery is killing my troops before they
even get halfway across. Situation is grave...
(EXPLOSION, TRANSMISSION CUT OFF)
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(News clipping, New York Times, July 31, 1998)
U.S. MARINES TAKES HEAVY CASUALTIES IN BOTCHED RAID IN BOSNIA; ATTACK
FOILED BY 'CAGEY' GENERAL.
Col. Rick E. Tickey of the U.S. Army's 325th Infantry Battalion had no
comment today on what appears to be a failed attempt on the part of
U.S. ground troops to capture the Serbian commander, an alleged war
criminal from the early days of the Bosnian conflict. The attack was
sanctioned by the U.N., who was under pressure to relieve the
beleaguered Croats and muslims from the latest wave of Serbian
aggression.
Complete details of the raid are unclear at this time, but reports
indicate that two-thirds of the U.S. force were killed, wounded,
captured, or "out of action" within 45 minutes of the initial attack.
The U.S. called off its attack before even getting within a mile of the
General's base. It was clearly the most humiliating defeat of any U.S.
military operation since Viet Nam.
One of the reasons for the defeat, according to an inside source on
Tickey's staff (who preferred not to be named), is that U.S.
Intelligence was deceived into chasing after a "decoy" base some three
kilometers away from the real one.
"The General is a cagey one," says the source. "He is a master of
camouflage, and his craftiness fooled even our experienced NSA boys.
The whole attack was misdirected from the start."
The ellusive Serbian General has been conducting his recent invasion of
Bosnia and various other attrocities from a secret base somewhere in the
mountains. Only 10 minutes or so before the attack was called off did
the U.S. finally spot the real Serbian command post, and that was only
due to a purely lucky aerial recon mission.
Other sources attribute the defeat to the Serbian General's expert use
of the terrain and excellent deployments to destroy the U.S. force
piecemeal. "We just kept losing vehicle after vehicle," said one
bloodied lieutenant. They picked well-chosen positions, and we never
could never seem to get out of their crosshairs. After awhile we had to
attack on foot while they dropped mortar on us. That's when the
casualties really piled up."
"We knew taking that canyon would be tough, but not *that* tough!" said
a seargent, who saw his entire platoon massacred by mortar fire in just
minutes.
The defeat puts the White House in a precarious position. Both the
President and the UN will most likely be forced to recognize the Serbian
leader and his new sovereign regime in order to ensure the safety of the
remaining American troops left behind. No doubt this will cost him
dearly in prestige, both here and around the world.
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(New York POST cover, showing bloody bodies)
BOSNIAN BUNGLE!
More gory photos on page 6
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(Time Magazine cover, featuring Col. Tickey)
UNDER FIRE:
The worst U.S. commander in history?
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(Newsweek cover, featuring the Serbian General.)
CRAZY LIKE A FOX
How a 'mad' Serbian fugitive outsmarted Army Intelligence
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(Vogue cover)
Fashion Flash! Serbo-Croat fatigues are IN!
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From: John McKinney
CIA Eastern European Desk
Matt:
Tried calling you a number of times, but you never seem to be in. I'm
getting to know your secretary better, though. She seems way too sharp
to be working for you for much longer. Watch out, pal.<g>
Well, all hell broke loose as you might expect. I kept my job, but only
cause they need *someone* around here who can look at a sat shot. But
I'm not a player anymore, I know that. Oh, no one has said anything,
but I can read the writing on the wall. This 'Bosnian business' will
follow me like a bad stain. Meanwhile my boss is history, and so is
just about everyone else. A few people came in today to clean out their
desks, but that's about it. Pretty depressing.
Hey, buddy, do me a favor. I know you have some pull with the paper
sifters. Just so I can sleep at night, let me know if you have any
information that would explain how the General tricked our analysts so
completely. I mean, I know Col. Tickey (real well in fact!) and he's
not the kind of guy to commit troops to an area unless he's sure. In
fact, that guy waffles so damn much, he's rarely sure of anything! So
that camouflage must have been pretty convincing. Anyway, if you hear
anything let me know.
See you next month at the PM meeting. Regards to Arlette.
John
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(Envelope with German postmarks on it. You look inside...)
Datum/Uhrzeit 230298/1732
Prioritaet: BLITZ BLITZ BLITZ
Kopf: BLITZ-230298-1758-FMZ 254/01-FMZ 212/01-VIA SEC
========================================================================
=
Von: BND Referat 734/2 M.Ohlmer
Abteilung IV Zeichen:IV-734/2-1596/98 Auswertung
Balkan
An: CIA
CC: John McKinney
Case Officer, EED
BC:
Betr: Bosnian Adventure
========================================================================
Hi, John!
Thanks for calling me, sorry I wasn't in. But Arlette made sure I
started to work on your questions first thing I came in (for some reason
she has a hack for you, though I cannot understand why ...<g>. Looks
like she'll be at next month's meeting as well...<g>).
I guess I do have something indeed for you. The following will reach you
via the official channels as well, but you know, how long that takes....
I thought you might want it ASAP, so here is an (unauthorized)
transcript of a letter we intercepted yesterday.
The sender appears to be one Major MILORAD DOBRIC. Obviously he is
writing to his German girlfriend, in English, we assume she speaks
little serbo-croat only (we keep an eye on her, expecting more intel
from that source in the future)
What he writes make him very probably an aide to Colonel DRAGAN
MUJACOVIC, alleged S1/S3 in the staff of your "friend".
The contents of his letter throw an interesting light on nature and
outcome of your operation in Bosnia. Hope it helps to solve a few of
your questions. Let me know, what you make of it, I'll let you know if
anything else comes up.
(From the names of the villages mentioned we located the area he was
writing about. For your convinience we took the liberty to add the UTM's
of mentioned locations in brackets)
See you in London next month,
Matt
Here goes:
- Begin of transscript -
Sabine, draga moja!
I am so sorry, you didn't hear earlier from me, but my life has been
very busy during the last few weeks. I know that is not an excuse, but
then you don't know how the military life is. Don't think wrong of me, I
always think of you only! Uvijek cu misliti na tebe!
I have a lot of good news for us: First, I got promoted once more! No
more Capitan Dobric, since two weeks I am a Major! In one year from
Vodnik to Major, only in times of war can you climb the ranks that
fast...
The best news I am sure you have heard in Germany as well: Our Republica
Srpska and our leader General Mladuvic have finally been recognized by
the UN! Triumf! Pobjeda!
And, believe it or not, your Milorad had a part in it happening, I
helped in making history! Now you ask, how can that be... I will tell
you, for our children to learn, for you to feel proud with me of what we
achieved.
It all began immidiately after my promotion, when I got assigned to the
staff of our General, as an aide to Pukovnik Dragan Mujakovic. Now, that
is a man to learn something from, we call him "Lisac", the fox. Clever,
witty and brave as I have not seen many men before, he is the right hand
of our General and organizing all the military stuff for him. General
Mladuvic, contrary to what the people see him, is more a political
inspirer than a military genius, but he sure has chosen the best man to
do the job with the Lisac...
I arrived in Pale (UTM 035 025) at a time when the general had decided
to move his command post to a new hiding, which he did every few days
fearing an attack of NATO or US troops. My task was to help Pukovnik
Mujakovic to find a suitable place and to set up a camouflage of the
vicinity, so that the US spy satellites wouldn't be able to determine
its location exactly.
We found a good spot just a kilometer northwest of Bistrica (UTM 077
033, location of CP probably 073 039) close to a clearing on a hill.
Surrounded by dense forests from three sides it offered escape
possibilities to the south and could be defended well with the light
troops we had.
Now, here I discovered why everybody around called my new boss "The
Fox": Do you remember the old mine a kilometer north-east of Podgrad
(UTM 052058) that I showed you once during our vacations a few years
ago? Then you will remember the surrounding terrain with its
characteristical inverted-L shape? Well, the "Lisac" decided to make use
of this characteristical terrain feature and had us cut a clearing of
the same shape into the woods surrounding the CP. We then set up a lot
of trucks both around our CP and at the old mine in identical
formation, hoping the US would misread their sat shots and think we were
set up at the old mine and trying to cover that fact... If they were
going to check with airplanes, they would find the formation they
expected to see from the sat shot at the old mine indeed, and hopefully
be even more sure about our location... What a deceptive mind!
As fate wanted it, the Americans did attack us indeed a few days later.
We got a telephone call Tuesday a week ago at seven in the morning,
saying that some helicopters were headed in the direction of the old
mine, so we knew an attack was underway. Our recon units quickly
established that we were attacked by a US Army unit, and the deceptive
precautions the Lisac had taken paid off, the beauty of his plan began
to unfold right before our eyes: The main thrust of the enemy went away
from us towards the old mine, where our decoy trucks were waiting
patiently to be destroyed.
Meanwhile we spotted a flanking attack that brought the attackers right
in our sights in the canyon that went from Podgrad diagonally south-east
to our Headquarters. The Americans did not expect our presence there and
one by one their vehicles fell prey to our heroic fighters that attacked
them from the woods, literally jumping from tree to tree.
After twenty minutes or so they realized they had fouled up and that we
were not at all were they thought we would, but when they finally sent
in their recon planes to establish the true location of our CP, it was
much too late and they had too little troops left to change the outcome
of the battle: We pulled our remaining troops into a close circle around
our CP and they never managed to plow through:
After only 45 minutes we had won, killing almost all of their vehicles
and many of their soldiers. Our losses were heavy too, around 40 per
cent, but the death toll these heroes paid will never be forgotten, to
be praised by the people of our reborn Republica Srpska!
So, my darling, I am longing to see you in a short time, when we have
established some form of order here and I will find time to travel.
Lots of kisses, puno te ljubi pozdravlja tvoj!
S ljubavlju, tvoj heroj
Milorad
****************************
End of "AAR."