On the western front the laser projectors and the microwave curtain projectors had now become mobile and started moving east into Syria, whilst European units moved from north-east and south-east Europe into Russia. The push into Russia was achieved without much resistance, and what resistance they encountered was dealt with quickly with the new energy weapons causing panic in Russian defenders. By two in the morning most western Russian defenders has surrendered, the remainder fleeing eastward, abandoning their uniforms as they went. At the same time Ukrainian troops also moved forward with gusto, there being little love of the Russian regime, sadly they took very few prisoners, most Russian defenders falling in battle.
By two-thirty AM the drones were heading back to their various bases for refuelling and re-arming, after a 97% successful sortie, and a zero percent loss. LOTERMS reported seven C&C centres active, where drones had malfunctioned; ten drones were en-route to level the score. In Cyprus and Israel, air crews were prepping their aircraft and completing last minute checks, whilst waiting for the signal to take off. In the east, India and Pakistan had already succumbed to Allied forces, thanks to the help of Sri Lanka, India's Space Centre, which was equipped to launch long range missiles, had been destroyed by the Sri Lankan Air Force in a surprise attack within ten minutes of the COLD BLOW signal going out.
By three in the morning Swedish, Finish and Norwegian forces had arrived at St Petersburg. The skeleton forces left to defend the capital were again, soon over powered and most solders surrendered. Just before three-thirty-five the New Kremlin had been secured and seventeen minutes later the government had been placed under arrest. The Swedish Commander supervised as the president was forced to send a signal to the Russian command, ordering a full retreat and surrender.
Over Iran three squadrons of stealth fighters and bombers approached Iran's missile bases that had been identified from the launch instructions sent during the initial advance of Allied forces into Syria. Satellite images had confirmed that the rockets in their silos were being fuelled and primed. The areas were also marshalling areas for some of the elite Iranian regiments. These areas were blanket bombed with smart bombs impacting in a triangular pattern, the missile bases themselves were treated with anti-matter implosion devices with controlled yield. It was estimated that close to eight-hundred thousand lives were lost during these raids, with zero casualties on the Allied side.
The first hiccup came eighty miles to the other side of the Syrian border, the line of energy canon and microwave curtain projectors had made good progress, until this point. The Microwave Curtain Projectors (MCP), worked in two ways, the projectors each consisted of three high powered microwave emitters that worked like windscreen wipers, each in opposition to each other with a cycle time of point zero two of a second. The effect was rather like waving a torch from side to side on a dark night, but with three phased torches. Firstly the projectors detected any object that passed through the beams, relayed the information to the energy cannon which fired on the object; the whole process took place at eighty-seven percent the speed of light. Secondly the high energy microwave beams disrupted the electronics of aircraft, and that was often all that was required, the whole system was controlled by an AI (Artificial Intelligence) unit. Unfortunately the MCP's left a triangular shaped Achilles Heel that extended about twenty feet above the ground. Unfortunately the Syrian surface to surface missile commanders figured this fact out.
The opposing missiles were quickly configured for low level horizontal trajectories, several missiles were destroyed by the landscape before the first hit was scored, but that first hit destroyed three mobile MCP units, which opened up the hole in the defensive shield, through which more missiles were aimed. During that time one hundred and sixteen solders were killed, mainly from the Israeli and British armies. It took only four minutes to bring replacement MCP's into the gap, but the principle held and more surface hugging missiles were fired at the same section. The Israeli commander quickly called in air support and with the loss of only one more MCP, the mobile missile unit was destroyed.
In North Africa, Libya was isolated quickly and the president, Moha Hassan Ayman was arrested and taken to a secure facility in Israel. The army seemed to welcome the arrival of the American and Egyptian forces and the population responded by cheering the invading, or was that liberating, troops, as the land machines travelled toward the presidential palace, through the streets of Tripoli. The so called Presidential Guard immediately laid down their weapons as soon as the United States commander arrived at the gates.
07:30 hrs. (UTC+3 Russian Time).
By dawn the northern allied troops had reached Mosul in Iraq, south of Lake Urmia in Iran, the south-eastern point of the Caspian Sea. The southern British and US naval force had taken control of the Persian Gulf, and Americans with those of Australia and New Zealand (ANZAC) were aligned along the Northern Borders of Saudi Arabia, who had insisted in staying neutral. Whilst the US army supported the State Defenders of Kuwait who were more than happy to see Iraq invaded once more. They now faced the massed armies of Iraq and Iran.
The resistance was stiff here, simply by weight of numbers, around eight million axis solders surround both Tehran and Baghdad at a distance of some hundred and fifty to two hundred miles. Progress was slow and as the allied line pressed on toward Tehran a division somehow hid in the Ali-Sadr Cave System, it was an error of the British commander not the check out the cave system. That error became evident when just after eleven the small Iranian unit attacked from the rear, whilst the retreating troops turned and attacked from the front. Fortunately the rear guard, that was some ten miles behind, were able to move in and catch the Iranian unit itself between allied forces, then were able to 'mop up' the remnants of the unit who would be eventually be transported back to Cyprus.
It was not until three in the afternoon that allied forces reached Baghdad, and almost five before Tehran was reached. The two cities were secured by being totally surrounded. The final push into the two cities would take place the following day; none of the commanders were keen on fighting their way, at close quarters, to the government centres in darkness. Continual observation was maintained over-night, both from satellite and from stealth drones, many of which they were able to attach to principle individuals and map their movements. It had been an almost twenty-four hour day for most of the allied troops and the over-night rest was a welcome respite. Every one of the land-troops was issued with one of the new energy weapons from Pickles industries, a point-n-shoot weapon that was not affected by wind or gravity. The only settings to be made were the power/range dial, as over long distances the weapon still dissipated in its strength, and using the high setting for short ranges wasted stored energy. However the weapon used sunlight to generate the energy bolts, through synthetic crystals, which were augmented by internal photonic storage devices. They all hoped for the minimum loss of life, although that hope seemed a far one.
General orders were called before dawn and breakfast being a pre-packed instant high protein affair; the allied troops were ready to move out by six-thirty. Under the cover of darkness the army moved into position along the city limits, and as the first light crept up the sky the order went out for the final push, that signal was: SNUFF.
The streets of both cities were crammed with fighters, almost every window, balcony terrace and rooftop held snipers, machine guns and people who were throwing grenades. The quiet streets of the surveillance pictures had gone, people who had been hiding in buildings, under tarpaulins or in cafes, were now on the streets as fighters. The Narmak district of Tehran was the first to fall; the city's airport was captured soon after, and was established as the base of operations. The allied troops proceeded along Shahed Boulevard towards the city centre. From the airport in the east of the city the drones were launched and to a great extent cleared the path and the areas around it of fighters. From Shahed Boulevard the allied army quickly took the Aliabadi Javad - Imam Ali Highway then the Mojahedin-e-Eslam to the Iranian Government complex. Allied solders from the west also captured the Mehraabaad International Airport then fought their way along Azadi Street toward the city centre. By Midday the government buildings were surrounded and an hour later the buildings were secured.
Baghdad was possibly an easier option mainly because the US troops had all the intelligence gained some twenty years earlier. The new presidential palace, built by the United States back in two-thousand and eighteen had been constructed with some safeguards, not only listening devices but two secret back-doors had been designed into the building. As the majority of Iraqi troops had been transported to the presumed 'front line' the city, and indeed the country were largely defenceless. Troops met with only token resistance and after the initial skirmishes started to surrender in the face of insurmountable odds. In less than eighteen hours all enemy territories had been secured, and with the exception of Russia had handed governmental control over to the United Nations.