WAR IN THE EAST: An Intense and Exciting Military Novel about NATO's ground, air, and naval involvement in the coming war between China and Russia. (The Soldier's Wars Book 4) by Archer Martin

Author:Archer, Martin [Archer, Martin]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Archer Publishing. Contact them at [email protected]
Published: 2014-08-04T07:00:00+00:00

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Day is passing into a rainy night as the missile cruiser Admiral Markov slowly pulls away from its Kalingrad dock - and then revs up its two steam turbine engines and rushes into the stormy Baltic to start a high speed run to Vladivostok. The Markov is among the first of the many Russian ships that will carry Russian reinforcements half way around the world to the Russian East.

Things go wrong from the start. The Markov is top heavy and rolling badly in the heavy seas of the Baltic. It’s always been top heavy but it’s even more so now that it is overloaded with tanks and armored personnel carriers on its deck and helicopter pad.

On the Markov’s helicopter landing pad alone are nine PT-76 light tanks and five BMD infantry fighting vehicles. Three more BMDs were lifted by shipyard cranes into place in the bow even though they block the Markov’s missile launchers and anti-aircraft guns. Pallets of artillery ammunition are piled everywhere and four containers of tank ammunition and spare parts are stacked on top of each other and lashed down on the helicopter pad next to the armor.

Down below wedged into the Markov’s little two helicopter hangar are four assault helicopters. They were carried down by the helicopter elevator and jammed into the mechanics work space next to the missile cruiser’s one and only anti-submarine helicopter. The elevator itself then went back up to be part of the deck. At the moment, it has three BMD infantry fighting vehicles parked on it with cases of ammunition and spare parts stacked on them.

The lieutenant colonel commanding the Russian Marine battalion on the Markov decided to keep the carrier’s anti-submarine helicopter aboard instead of replacing it with another assault helicopter - because it can be quickly configured to carry ten passengers instead of anti-submarine torpedoes. Maybe I’ll need it to move my men around.

It would be a gross understatement to say that the men on the ship are in for an unpleasant voyage as the top heavy ship rolls and shudders as it forces its way through the stormy Baltic and Atlantic Oceans.

One of the Markov’s big problems is the number of men on the ship. It is sailing with more than triple the number of men it is designed to carry. It is operating with a skeleton crew of 261 men instead of its regular complement of 380 - so that it can squeeze aboard an entire 920 man battalion of naval infantry and all of its weapons and equipment.

And squeeze is the right word. The Markov’s enlisted crewmen are hot bunking to free up space for the Russian Marines - they are allowed an eight hour sleep shift and then must turn their bunk over to someone else. This freed up more than two hundred bunks for use by double bunking Marine officers and triple bunking Marine NCOs.

The enlisted sailors, at least, have bunks to sleep in - most of the enlisted Russian Marines do not. They

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