sardine in a can

7/29/2019 Sardine in a can

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"Greko-Turkish war" or just "Sardine in the can"

May 3rd 2006

Morning 10:00 am.The Greek Prime minister Panos Kamanlis is standing over his desk at the Maximou mansion (Ministerial Building in the center of Athens-Greece, near the Parliament) reading the latest reports about the Turkish military provocations over the Aegean Sea. Just across the room his military advisor George Alkistos along with the minister of defence Spilos Pilotopoulos and some military officers are waiting quietly.PM: So what do you make of it Alkistos?Alkistos: Well sir, it is obvious that the Turks are willing to go forward thistime with the Oil research in and around our territorial waters in Lemnos (Lemnos is a Greek island in northern Aegean).PM: Do we have any idea has of how far are they willing to go?Pilotopoulos: Our latest communication interceptions as well as some other sourcesin Turkey indicate that they will try to advance their aggression to levels similar or even greater than the Imia crisis in 1996.PM: But what can they possibly hope to achieve at this point in time?Alkistos: A crisis with Greece at this point in time serves more to them than any prospect of peaceful co-existence or European Union membership. Their internal

social and economical troubles as well as the tension in the Iraqi border withthe Kurds has put them on a panic road Im afraid.Air Force officer: Sir, may I interrupt you for a second?PM: Yes, tell me.Air Force officer: We really need you to sign and approve the security measuresand readiness initiation of our military. We need to implement the rules of action for this one, as they were defined in last months session of the National Security Council, and we need to do it now!PM: Yes, you are right. Give me the papers, I will sign them now.

11:30 amGeneral Abdul Oktsalian of the Turkish General Staff is walking down the narrowconcrete corridor of Defence Ministrys Nuclear Bomb Shelter. He has just finished

briefing several high-ranking officers about operation Sardine. His thoughts areconcentrated to the overall logistics and unknown parameters of the plan, his plan.If successful Turkey would gain one more small piece of the Aegean Sea control and may be force Athens to a total resolution about the Aegean disputes of the last 40 years. But most of all it will quite down the internal problems of the last months which threaten the very existence of the Turkish state. It all dependson the Greek politicians chickening out again. They did in the past they will now. And besides their military officers are completely controllable by politicians so their initiative will be limited.

12:00 Northern AegeanThe Turkish research vessel Inonou finally arrived at its destination. The waters

were international but the buffer was disputed between Greece and Turkey for over 40 years about oil drilling rights. The crew immediately starts preparations for a series of seismic tests. As they do so a Greek Patrol Boat appears west oftheir position at 6nm.The captain contacts the Turkish navy Headquarters in a short cut-off way of message The Sardine is in the can.

12:30 Northern AegeanThe captain of the Greek PB Armatolos has his ship on alert for the past several hours, ever since he received orders to monitor the movements of Inonou. His comman


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ds were very specific: Monitor and report, in no way intervene unless instructedto my headquarters. Right now he starts to wonder how will this cat and mouse game end.

16:00 Aksaz naval station TurkeyInside the communications room of the naval base the Turkish officer in charge is waiting in anxiety.Outside almost thirty ships from frigates to patrol craft have been preparing for departure.Suddently the phone rings. He picks it up. A voice on the other end says The Sardine is in the can, go shopping.He hangs up and runs to the intercom of the base. He yells, Go shopping. I repeat, Go shopping. This is not a drill. Go shopping.The naval station is now on a frenzy of all kinds of activity. All ships are beginning to depart from their parking spaces and one after the other start to exitthe port.

16:45 Rhodes Island Greek Naval Observation Post-Sir!-What is it sailor?-I think you should see something on radar, sir!-Ok, I am coming in a minute sailor.-I think you should come now sir!The commanding officer goes over the radar screen. What he sees makes him stair

and wonder for a while.-How many sailor?-At least twenty sir, but there might be more coming out later, and I cant tell anything about possible submarines exiting as well-Do they have an exercise or something we dont now about?-No sir, I checked before calling you.-****! Call headquarters at Salamis now!!! Also alert the Gunship near Kasos Island to change course and try to monitor their movements and someone please findwhere the hell is our ESM controller. I want all we can get by our equipment transmitted to fleet HQ asap.Suddenly everything goes black.-What happened?-Sir we lost power all over the post, we have no power to run equipment and rada

r or communicate outside the Island. I think we have been sabotaged!The commanding officer runs outside to a near tavern by the beach. He rushes inside and asks the tavern owner if they have power, he says to him no. Then he checks his mobile. Thank god for mobile telephony it has signal and so he immediately starts dialling the number of the Fleet HQ.

17:00 Eskisehir 1st Air Command HQThe base is already sealed off. The personnel are already on alert. Four F16s fully armed are on 2 minute alert on the edge of the runway.The rest of the planes are getting ready17:20 Salamis Naval Station (Greek Navy Fleet HQ)An adjutant is running like hell down the corridors of the Fleet HQ building.He storms inside the office of the Fleet Commander without even knocking the doo

r.Fleet Commander Nik Dim astonished by this behaviour is ready to explode.- Sorry sir, but it is dead urgent!!!- What is it adjutant?- Sir, we just received a call from the commanding officer of our Naval post inRhodes, with some very disturbing information about movements of the Turkish fleet over the southeastern Aegean!- A call? What do you mean a call?- A phone call sir, he called us from his mobile.- What? Why the hell didnt he use the military communication channels of the post


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?- It appears that the power generation in Rhodes is down due to unknown reasons,possible sabotage sir!- Sabotage, for god boy be more specific, what did he say?- Almost the entire Turkish fleet stationed in Aksaz is out of port deploying inthe Aegean or is getting underway. They managed to detect around twenty units of all types just before their equipment went down. But they cannot estimate current positions and destination.The admiral stood for a second without saying anything, his mind went to the meeting he had a few weeks ago at the General Staff HQ in Athens. Back then they were suspecting something will happen just by looking at the reports of the Turkish provocations, but now it was actually happening, but what exactly?- Sound General quarters! Get my staff in the OC on the double, I want all shipsin port to get underway and ready to receive orders. All leaves are recalled. We are going into combat readiness immediately.

17:40 OC Greek Fleet HQ Salamis.Admiral: Good Evening mr Pilotopoulos (Defence minister), I guess the rest of the military leadership is with you at the General HQ Operations Center?Def.Min: Yes Admiral Nik Dim, just brief us on the current situation.Admiral: I have ordered one of our Gunships near Rhodes to proceed asap to the estimated position of the Turkish fleet and give us some more information about its order of battle. Also a Super Puma of the Air force is underway right now totry and give us a closer live time look of things. We have a couple of Frigates

south of Siros and five other patrol units around the Dodecanese, which are allmerging to the area.I will have five more frigates and several guided missile fast attack boats underway in about one hour and it will take them at least six hours to deploy in operationally acceptable distance, but by that time the Turks will have the entireDodecanese surrounded.Def.Min: What are your estimates Admiral, how should we proceed?Admiral: First things first sir. We establish a clear view of the tactical movesthey make, and then we position to start taking the targeting advantage just incase. As you understand I only refer to the navy sir. The other branches shouldco-ordinate as we have planned since it appears to be a mainly naval crisis developing.Def.Min: Let me pass you over to the Chief of Tactical Air Command at Larissa AF

B to brief you Admiral.Air Force Chief: We have initiated alert readiness in all our bases radars and air defence installations. We are getting into full combat readiness within the next 20-30 minutes. Our ESM data and communication intercepts suggests a huge mobilization of the Turkish Air Force, but nothing is flying, at least up to the range of our radars, I mean not even the regular daily violations of FIR and airspace! At this time my conclusions are that an aerial surprise attack is out of the question, it will just fail!However we remain vigilant! I already gave order to launch our AWACS in order toget a better picture of the sky and sea.Def.Min: Thank you very much gentlemen, I now want to hear your report General Pankal.Gen.Pankal (Army Commander): Well sir our units in the islands are undermanned a

nd over stretched due to the continuous limitations of army service, but they have been alerted and started evacuating their camps a few minutes ago in order todeploy to their combat positions, but it will take at least three hours till they are 100% ready.In Evros the same but at least there the percentages are close to 100% and the ground is in our favour.Def.Min: What is happening in Turkey General?General: Their ground units appear to have a defensive posture, but as you knowthis can be deceiving. We have some reports of Artillery and MLRS batteries positioning, and several battalions of Special Forces moving around the Asia Minor c


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oastline, but that is all. All major units are in their camps. Let me add thoughthat the same was happening in the Imia back in 1996.-Thank you General and the rest of you gentlemen, we will be in contact later on, I now have to brief the Prime Minister, dont forget we have that other thing inLemnos going on as well and I hope that they are not connected somehow.

18:00 Turkish Military HQ AnkaraIn a dark projection room a senior military officer briefs the Turkish militaryleadership using slides, photos and satellite feeds from Israel as well as UAVs video.- The Sardine is under way for more than six hours now and everything is going asplanned. We are combat ready in every aspect and we can counter any Greek response to the unfolding of our objectives and actions. As far as we know they have acted just like we expected, and we can now set in motion the diplomatic part ofour plans. By the time they discover the real destination of our fleet it will be too late. We are now in the position to begin transferring aircraft from the Far East to our west bases in order to increase the numbers of aircraft in our favour.

20:00 South-eastern Aegean seaInside the Greek Gunship everything is silent, no lights, no sounds!-Captain!-Yes sailor!-Still nothing sir, their ships are nowhere around Rhodes or Kos.

-ESM controller sir, I pick up some signals very faint North of our position around 12nm in distance, they look like Link-16 incoming, but encrypted.-This can only suggest a frigate size vessel, but what is it doing so north. Sending a fleet of 30 ships deep inside Central Aegean is practically suicide!-What is it they want there sir?-Tactically and strategically nothing Unless they want to go even north to Oh ****! Get me Fleet HQ now!!!

21:00 MaximouPilotopoulos: It is now confirmed sir the Turkish fleet is heading towards the wider area around Lemnos. We also have reports of another fleet exiting the straits as well.As of now we have over twenty ships underway, but they are all under the central

Aegean moving north and will take some hours to catch up with the Turks in theopen Northern Aegean. However now we can monitor their moves by AWACS and navalhelicopters, as well as our naval posts in Skiros, and Chios.PrimeMinister: Do we have any idea about what they intend to do?Pilotopoulos: No sir, but they might have something to do with their research vessel out of Lemnos the Inonou.PM: What is the status over there anyway?Pilotopoulos: Well sir the reports from our PB Armatolos indicate it just waits conducting seismic tests as it is supposed to.PM: Well emphasize to the captain of the PB that I dont want another Imia like fiasco. I just had a call from Pr. Bush asking me what is going on with our mobilization, as if he doesnt now anything about the opposite side mobilization. He really got to me about that other thing, you know the with the other guy

I really thing that this should be handled by the military this time. Contact the Chief of staff and tell him that in all matters of military for the duration of this crisis he can act according to the national rules of engagement. New rulepeople, politics for the politicians, diplomacy for the diplomats and militaryfor the Generals!Pilotopoulos: But sirPM: Just do it.21:30 Turkish Defence MinistryGeneral Abdul Oktsalian is sitting in his office going over the latest reports from the field as well as the reports for the unfolding of his plan and things to


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come.In general his calculations were correct and the Greek side has acted as he predicted.The political intervention phase of the plan though (the first phase actually, and one of the most importance) had failed a few months ago. The failed assassination attempt of the Greek Prime Minister in February, meant that the political situation in Greece would be stable for the duration of this crisis. It doesnt matter anyway, he thought. Since they act according to their usual patterns and since they didnt found who was behind the car bomb, thats ok. The plan was simple inprinciple.First we get the Greeks all up and down with multiple violations of their airspace all over the Aegean (that seemed to work quite well in the past) and while weare at it we map their defences and responses and do a bit of a recce to several potential targets. Secondly with the oil research vessels in the Aegean, we create the scene for our diplomatic and political game, in order to pre-empt any international reaction.The next steps would then be initiated and will be the ones defining the outcomeof this crisis.His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the phone ringing.-Yes!-General sir, the Prime Minister Heartdogin is on the Outcom secure line, sir.-Ok, I will pick it up.General: PM Heartdogin, to what do I owe this late call?PM: I just wanted to ask how everything is going General!

General: Everything is going according to plan PM. Is there a reason you ask?PM: I just had a call from the Greek PM Kamanlis. He asked me what do we think we are doing in the Aegean. I told him I dont know what is he talking about, thatwe are just conducting oil research in areas we both agreed to, and he was furious, unlike anything we had in mind. I really worry!General: Just keep your end of the bargain PM and let us worry about the rest.PM hanged up the phone. General Abdul was sceptic, always the politicians mess up in Turkey and the military has to clean up for them. Besides it is the Military that runs the foreign policy and keeps the country in one piece after all.It was now 22:05 and he thought it was time to get a nap for a couple of hours before the things start to heat up.

23:00 Somewhere South-east of Lemnos territorial waters

Inside the PB-Armatolos tensions are running high. They have been monitoring thedeployment of Turkish naval forces coming out of the straits, and still had tokeep an eye for the Inonou. Being the only Greek ship in the area was a bitch.-Captain!-Go ahead sailor.-Our sensors picked up activity near the Turkish research vessel, sir.-What sort of activity?-We have now confirmed the positioning of four frigates and two corvettes alongwith several smaller units in screening formation around the Inonou.It appears that the Inonou is also getting ready to depart from its current position.-Report to HQ at once!

23:30 Fleet HQ Salamis Naval StationAdmiral Dim is inside his OC receiving reports about the Aegean situation.-Do we have the list of Turkish units in the Aegean yet?-Yes, sir.-So give it to me.-Our Friends and Allies sir, have developed the following order of battle:2 MEKO200TN and 2 O.H.PERRY frigates escorted by 2 corvettes and four missile boats. No word on Submarines though.4 MEKO200TN and 4 O.H.PERRY frigates escorted by 3 corvettes and 6 missile boats, are currently taking battle positions trying to cut our fleet from entering th


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e North Aegean. Also no word on Submarines locations.They have also place several other lighter units in hiding locations all over their coastlines.-What about our positioning?-We currently have only one PB the Armatolos in the Lemnos area. We do have two missile boats at Sporades islands just west from there, but they are in hiding status and you said not to compromise that and leave them as a reserve.Our fleet is deploying along the line separating the Central Aegean sea trying to break the Turkish order of battle. In terms of numbers we have 2 MEKO200HN and6 STANDARD frigates, escorted by 6 missile boats and two Gunships. We also have1 MEKO200HN and 2 STANDARD frigates, escorted by 4 missile boats and 2 Gunshipsmoving to take position in the Southern Aegean just in case.Four of our Type-209 Submarines are heading north, but way back the rest of thefleet!-Any feed at all about their submarines?-Actually we do have a report from GNSA (Greek NSA) operators in Aksaz, which indicates six out of eight Type-209 SSs are in docks. The other two though, we dontknow.-Judging by the speed of the Turkish deployment in the Aegean it seems whatevertheir objectives are they plan to achieve or initiate them within the next 24 hours, so those SSs have to either be way behind the rest of their fleet, or positioned in advanced in the last few days, and since they cant maintain underwater operations for more than 20 hours I believe the next few hours will be the hot ones!-What are your orders Admiral?

-Inform National HQ and the Prime Minister, that we should be on high alert forextreme level confrontation with Turkish military within the next 24 hours. Alsoalert our fleet for the recent development and dispatch the nearest frigate toassist our Gunship between Kos and Rhodes in ASW operations. I want those subs found!First thing in the morning I want the P3Bs on the air again.-Anything else sir?-Thats all for now, keep up the good work!24:00 Over North Aegean Sea.The ERJ145-Erieye has been patrolling for the last six hours, trying to detect the Turkish Air Force movements. So far only a couple of C-130s have landed at Bandirma AFB coming from the east.-Major Georgiou, you should see this sir!

-Is it what I think it is?-Yes sir, at least 20 maybe 30 low flying aircraft, probably F16s coming in fromthe eastern part of Turkey. We havent picked up any KC135s orbiting over western Turkey, so they must be coming from the east.-Link this to the HQ back in Larissa, also to the other units through Link-11 &16.

00:10 May 4th 2006 Greek Defence Ministry Situation roomGreek Prime minister Kamanlis along his military advisor Alkistos, are enteringthe situation room serving as an OC for the entire Greek Military. From here hecan issue orders to all units of Greece all around the globe and also receive upto date and live information of what is going on. As he enters he is welcomed by the minister of defence and the chiefs of the armed forces. A short briefing t

akes place and several guidelines are passed over the table to the Chain of Command.

00:30 Inside the OC at the Naval HQ Salamis NSAdmiral Dim has just received the revised National Rules of Engagement issued bythe General HQ.-Listen up people, this is what I want you to do!Start transmitting the following to all our ships out there.-Sir, if I may take some of your time?-What is it Thanos, you know better than to sir me, youre my second in command go


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ahead speak your mind!-Ok then Nik, what about Papanikolis SS?-What about it?-You know exactly what I mean. You send her out for tests a week ahead of schedule, just after you alone brief its Captain and crew, one by one, and then takingthem away till departure. Then she sails without anyone knowing its destinationand mission and you dont even bother just to inform me, your second in command?-So?-What is going own Nik. Tell me.-You dont need to know at this point Thanos, you just dont need to know.-Well who does? Does anyone, or not?-Me, the PM and the Defence minister are all we need to know about it for the moment!-So youre not going to tell me? Where is that sub Nik? Given the situation I needto know!-I am sorry I can help you on this one, really sorry!

00:35 Greek Defence Ministry Situation room-PM can I have a moment?-Yes Alkistos.-Alone sir?-Ok, walk with me.-Are we sure about this? I mean this guy, how are we sure he is real?-The car bomb was real Alkistos, and I would be dead if it wasnt for him. Besides

there are other things as well.-What things?-I spoke with him a few hours ago, and that is why I issued the new revised national rules of engagement! We will know in the next hour or so if he is real, this one will really be his ultimate proof that he is for real!-I hope so sir, for all of us, I hope so!-Whats that on the TV monitor over there, someone open up the volume!!!

This just-in to our CNN headquarters in Atlanta. It appears that there is some kind of military tension building up in the Aegean Sea, and it has started escalating a few hours ago. We now go live to our reporter Attalah Ibrahim from CNN-Turk in IstanbulGood morning Monika, from the moody and rainy Istanbul. As our sources in Ankara

inform us Greece has initiated an enormous military mobilization the last hoursand it all seems to indicate that it is related to the recent research trip of aTurkish vessel in the Aegean. As sources on the Turkish Defence ministry are telling us, Greeks have started mobilizing in a way that can only be described asa pre-text to military action. Naturally the Turkish military is put on alert asthey try to finger out what the intentions of the Greeks are. As soon as we have any more news will give them to you Monika. Attalah Ibrahim for CNN-Turk Istanbul.

PM: This totally changes the whole game people, just follow orders and stick towhat we said before. I better get ready to receive some hone-calls that will start coming from the EU states and the US. Oh boy, and that Papadadeou (Greek opposition leader) will start his rhetorics again. Thanks god its only 00:40, at least

I have until they wake up to prepare for them.Alkistos: Is that what you were expecting?PM: No not that!

00:45 Turkish Armed Forces HQ Operations Center-General Abdul Oktsalian, I wasnt expecting you so soon, did you have some rest?-Yes major Battan, I did! But I had to come since we have a piece of the puzzlemissing?-You mean the Greek Papanikolis SS.-That one is a big piece missing right now. It is the best Submarine the Greeks


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have, actually the best conventional sub in the world for that matter and because it can stay underwater more than 14 days and we don't know it's whereabouts fora week it is giving me a big headaque!

00:50 Southern Aegean somewhere Between Amorgos and Dodecanese Islands.Mpoumpoulina a STANDARD class Greek frigate is conducting ASW sweeps for the lasthour or so.-Con sonar, I have a contact, bearing 035, shallow moving slow, looks like a Type209trying to ventilate sir, distance 7nm!-Launch ASW Hilo, I repeat launch hilo!Order Maxitis Gunship to intercept to the location as they are close enough.

01:00 AB212ASW Helicopter flying over last known submarine position-Weve got them sir, they are inside Amorgos territorial waters and submerged!-Ask the Frigate what to do.-Done sir.-They want us to keep monitoring it till the Maxitis arrives.

01:15 Maxitis GunshipCaptain: Ok this is how we proceed. We dont want to attack them but we also dont want them to shadow our fleet from behind, especially within our territory. Remember the chain of command does not wish any direct attack unless they initiate itfirst. Reports indicate that they were trying to ventilate which means they wer

e under for a long time and now are low on battery. So we will try to force themto the surface and then escort them in international waters were they must remain on surface as the International Law depict.Weapons Officer: What do you suggest Captain?-First we make a fast and noisy pass over them. Then we fire two depth charges 50m to the front and left of them, we then turn around pass over them again and fire two more 50m to the rear and right of them. Co-ordination with the AB212ASWis crucial.We just want them to get the message and surface their sub. However have the Hilo informed to be on alert of firing its Mk46 if the sub becomes hostile.Move it people !!!01:20 1st Tactical Air Command HQ Eskisehir AFBThe Commanding officer (CO) of the 1st TAC has been briefing the Chiefs of staff

(COS) for the last ten minutes about the deployment of additional F16s from eastern bases to west.CO: So with the end of the transitions we now have almost 90% of our F16s concentrated in the western AFBs. We are currently preparing the new arrivals for defensive missions, since all other aircraft are already equipped and stand-by to perform attack missions.COS: How long to you expect it will take for all aircraft to be in 100% readiness?CO: Till 2:00 we will be 100% ready.COS: What about the HARPYs what is their status?CO: They are in position sir, once launched the Greeks will have a hand full.

01:30 Turkish Armed Forces HQ Operations Center

In a dark room lighted only by a huge projection screen, General Abdul Oktsalianunderlines the specifics of his plan for the future.-We are now in the position to Open the Sardine can whenever the chance that we wait emerges. However I should point out that we will have to proceed even if theGreeks dont take the bite we give them. In detail it will go like this:In a matter of minutes our research vessel will start trying to enter the Lemnosterritorial waters in order to perform geological survey for oil. At least thatis the official line. As it does so it will be screened by our naval units in order to avoid the interception of any Greek unit in the area. The purpose of theentire action is to provoke the Greeks into assaulting our vessel. The minute t


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hey do, the Captain of the Inonou will set his ship on fire and after the crew abandons it we will sink it and claim the Greek action is responsible. This will bethe pre-text under which we will then launch without warning a limited. I repeat limited, air campaign over the North Aegean with objective the destruction ofall the primary Radar systems of Greece in the area and especially those controlling the PATRIOT missile launchers. This will be done by massive use of HARPY AR-UAVs and the cover of numerous F16s supporting the fleet, after the radars are out. An MLRS ATACMS missile will take out the bunkers of the land based Exocets inLemnos. In order to avoid heavy resistance from the Greek F16s and Mirage-2000, we will also demonstrate extreme violations of their airspace to the south in order to lure most of their fighters away from the area of interest. This will alsoact as a lure for them regarding our overall intensionsAnother significant mission will be the attack against the Soudha AFB on Krete,which houses their best fighters the F16+. As planned a week ago a squadron of 10 F4P2000s is transiting as we speak south of Krete and already refuelled in international airspace outside of Greek radar range. They are thought to transit toLibya for an international air-show, but in fact they are armed with 2 heavy standoff missiles each. With those missiles they will attack Soudha.At the same time our naval units will attack all major Greek naval units with SSMs, and by the element of surprise will devastate them within minutes. Distancesbetween ships correspond to them not being able to react sufficiently.The overall time frame for this action is an hour and our estimates indicate loses up to 20% for our naval forces and up to 80% for the Greek navy. Loses for the Air force are not so predictable but by the surprise massive use of AMRAAMs aga

inst anything flying west of our aircraft. By the lack of information the Greekpilots will have about civilian flights in the area. And the difference in numbers we believe a 70-80% loses for them and a 10-15% for us. We may take a civilian airliner or two down though, but that is ok since, in the havoc that will be created, none will be able to put the finger directly on us. The first aircraft as well as the UAVs will start launching at 02:00, so please stay alert.Then we sit back and wait the international community to intervene and push thewhole Aegean dispute to the negotiating table. With us having the overall military advantage. And the Greeks trying to save whatever they can.Thats all. I expect from all of you the best!

01:30 PB-ArmatolosThe Captain reads again the message sent a while ago from HQ.

Just five minutes ago he spoke with his commanding officer back in Salamis.Admiral Nik Dim was very specific. Under no circumstances we are to allow the research vessel to enter our territorial waters. Also under no circumstances we are to attack by use of our weapons the Inonou or any other Turkish unit, unless weare attacked first.The situation was very bad from his point of view. Alone out-numbered and out-gunned, practically surrounded by enemies he had to be another Leonidas for Greece,and limiting his engagement rules wasnt helping.-Captain the Turks are on the move heading 340 towards Lemnos. The naval units have practically shielded the Inonou.The Captain stood for a second, different thoughts were flying in his mind, country, nation, family, friends, all sort of rumble. He took a deep breath and said.

-Helm, set course to ram the steer of the Inonou. We will stop them the hard way.Get ready for some high speed manoeuvring because I dont think they will let us pass through them that easily.

01:30 Gunship "Maxitis"The Greek Gunship starts making his first high speed pass over the Turkish sub.Weapons control officer has his finger on the release button for the depth charges.

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The scene is set of an all out war between Greece and Turkey!01:50 Greek Gunship MaxitisAfter carefully conducting both passes and successfully delivering the depth charges the Gunship slows down and comes around for another pass over the submergedand battered Turkish Submarine.-Captain, come and have a look, something is happening!-Radio message sir, the Hilo reports the Sub is getting ready to surface.-Confirm sailor I see her coming out now.The Turkish submarine surfaces and raises its antennas mast.The Turkish captain Giuzul Giortu knows exactly what to do. He is after all oneof the most experienced captains of the Turkish navy. After signaling back to his HQ, he then signals the Greek Gunship.-Radio message from the sub Captain, its the Turkish Captain and wants to talk toyou sir.-This is the Captain of the Hellenic Navy Gunship Maxitis George Stamos, with whodo I have the owner of speaking?-Captain Giuzul Giortu, Turkish navy. Captain Stamos you play a very dangerous game out here dont you realize that?-Well, I wasnt the one starting it!-Fair enough, lets not waste any more time arguing about who is right and who iswrong. We both know I was inside your waters submerged and in violation of international sailing regulations, so let us just follow procedure, if that is ok with you.-No problem what so ever, but you will remain on surface and head towards your n

aval station in Aksaz, or the minute I sence you are about to submerge I will fire upon your vessel. Is that understood?-Yes Captain, if I had different intentions or for that matter different ordersI wouldnt even surface on the first place. I hope we meet again under more friendly circumstances Captain Stamos. Giuzul, out!The Turkish submarine started to turn and finally headed towards Aksaz.-Helm, stay with them, maintain a distance of 1/2nm and have the 76mm pointed directly on them. Inform the fleet and disengage the AB212ASW, we dont need it anylonger, they have one more sub to hunt.

01:50 Greek PB-ArmatolosFor the last minutes the PB tries to slip through the screening of the Turkish ships in order to come closer to Inonou. Unfortunately they are very good!

-Ok, lets try sailing parallel to that frigate on the left and when they try to cut us we speed up and pass just ahead of them and if we are lucky this will getus almost over the Inonou.-But sir this is suicide, if we even manage to pass in front of the Frigate without her ramming us then our speed will be such that we may not be able to controllably ram the Inonou.-Last resort sailor, we just have to do it, this ship has to stop here, dont evenask why, HQ orders.The plan is executed to the letter, when the Frigate to the left of Inonou tries to turn left to cut PBs way then it increases speed and manages to slip in front of the Frigate and into the screening.-Sir, look!-Jesus, the Inonou turn with the frigate we are heading over it.

-Reversing engines, sir.-Too late, embrace for impact!The PB rams the Turkish vessel in the steering section so heavily that it almostcut it completely. Both ships now lay dead in the water as the Inonou is partially turned over the side and Armatolos is stuck unable to move. The Greek Captain put his hand over his face. He has some minor injuries from broken glass, but he is ok. He looks around him.-Everybody ok? Damage control, report!-Sir, look!!!The next thing that happens is totally unexpected. A following O.H.PERRY class f


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rigate unable to slow down (or unwilling) rams the PB in the middle. It practically cuts it into two pieces and drags the front piece under it and between her and the Inonou. Damage to the Frigate itself is great, but posses no threat. However the Inonou starts taking more water and the Captain orders an evacuation.

02:00 Greek Fleet HQ Salamis NSAdmiral Dim receives the confirmation of events near Lemnos. The PB-Armatolos is atotal loss and there are no survivors from the crew of 35 men.-What is our status over the central Aegean?-Maintaining standard orders of battle with the Turks Admiral.-Good!

02:00 Greek Air Force HQ Larissa AFBThe commanding officer of the Greek Air Force is receiving the message he has been expecting for the last hour.-Sir, all our F16+s from Soudha AFB are now airborne and heading towards the Ionian Sea, as planned.-What about the rest of our aircraft?-As planned maintaining standard combat readiness sir.Suddenly a senior officer runs up to him and yells.-Sir, multiple launches of UAVs from the Turkish coastline, they must be HARPYs.-So now it begins Order all radar to proceed to ECM and active defence measures at once. Initiate the National Air Defence plan!

02:00 Balikesir AFB TurkeyPair after pair the F16s take off fully armed!The same happens in every Air Base in western Turkey.

02:05 Onboard a Turkish MEKO200TN in central Aegean-Captain we are now ready to issue targeting solutions for the SSMs. Shall we His words are suddenly interrupted by another officer.-Sir, multiple contacts coming fast and low from the northwest, positively identified as missiles.The CIWS of the frigate rattle trying to intercept and destroy the incoming missiles, one, then another, are splashed, a third loses the target due to countermeasures, but a fourth is making its way hitting the front of the ship pushing asfar as the decks below the Harpoon launchers, and it explodes. The ship is compl

etely devastated and in seconds starts sinking. Two more missiles pass away andcontinue to the next target. This time a PERRY frigate is the lucky one. Havingthe CIWS located on top of the Helicopter deck way behind the antenna musts andoff target range and sight it is a sitting duck. Both missiles hit it in the front and it is rendered practically dead in the water.The rest of the fleet tries to compensate with manoeuvres, which actually help avoid four more missiles, but breaks the targeting of Greek Naval Units.First reports indicate the missiles were Exocet, fired from low flying Mirage-2000 aircraft, so the fleet remains alert (there are 30 more from those missiles available).One MEKO manages to lock on a Greek STANDARD, which made the mistake to open herradars, and immediately launches a salvo of four Harpoons.Within minutes the Greek Frigate detects the threat and her single CIWS manages

to splash two of them, another misses, but the third hits her in the middle. Theresulting explosion and fire leave the Frigate crippled and on fire with the crew trying to keep her afloat.

02:10 Central AegeanThe Turkish vessels try to detect the rest of the Greek fleet, which appears tobe hiding across the numerous small islands between Evia-Cyclades-Ikaria. The Turkish fleet position is grim since they are in open sea.Suddenly a new attack this time from the southwest, as eight Mirage-2000 come into missile range. One PERRY actually manages to fire two Standard missiles, but


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not before all eight Mirages launch their load of 2 SSMs each. One mirage in brought down, but the rest evade the missiles and turn home, except from one with themission of detecting and relaying the position of the Turkish fleet. Faced with16 missiles the Turkish commander is overwhelmed. The CIWS fire in frenzy whilethe frigates and corvettes try to manoeuvre their way out. But all in vain. OneMEKO manages to fire all her Harpoon on a lucky shot to the south in a wide search pattern before three missiles totally annihilate it. Another MEKO gets one in the Helicopter deck setting on fire the fuel and causing an explosion that damages the helm. Another MEKO gets one in the right side, luckily it doesnt explode, but the fire threatens the missile launchers with the Harpoons. The eight randomly launched Harpoons lurk to the south seeking a target. Two of them hit the previously damaged STANDARD and send her to the bottom. Two more lock on a GreekMEKO and one of them manages to hit her below the bridge, causing a lot of damage. Its Captain fires four Harpoons to the heading of the incoming enemy Harpoons,just before impact. The missiles reach the location of the Turkish fleet and take off guard two corvettes trying to help the damaged ships. Both are hit, one explodes immediately and the other is on fire.Now the Turkish fleet commander is left with two choices. Either throw into battle his remaining force, or try to evade behind Chios and into Ismir Naval Station.His options are becoming clear when he is informed about the presence of Greek Missile boats on the north-west of its position. He has lost the initiative and heshould safeguard the rest of his force for another day.Still wondering how this happened he reluctantly orders a retreat.

Meanwhile02:10 Soudha Air force Base KreteThe radar operator was a bit tired. He was watching the monitor screen for eighthours now and he was a bit nervous that he wasnt replaced at 02:00 as it was supposed to.Suddenly several contacts appear on his radar screen. He could not believe his eyes!He tries to reach the phone so he can call his supervising officer.-Sir, multiple contacts from the south pattern indicates standoff missiles, recommend sounding quarters!The officer immediately presses the alert button. Within minutes all air defenceartillery is manned and ready.

The forward Air defence observation post gives the order to commence firing.First the Crotale system starts firing missiles but it has only eight and the missiles are twenty. 4 missiles are brought down by the S300 near Herakleion city,and 2 more by the Crotale itself, the RH202 guns have no chance at all. 14 missiles hit several key installations of the Base including the most important one,the runway! Few seconds later the base is in ruins and the runway unusable forat least a few hours. Also four F16s stationed from the mainland for readiness duty were destroyed. If the F16+s were there they would have suffered many losses and would have been out of the game for a long time. But it is not over yet. A squadron of twenty Turkish F16s flying low from the east and using Lantirn systemsstorm the AFB at Soudha bringing total havoc to anything that wasnt destroyed yet. They were the surprise of Generals Abdul Oktsalian planning, just in case anything went wrong with the Phantoms. He was the only one who knew about them.

However the Turkish planes werent so lucky themselves. Two were brought down as they were leaving by S300 missiles and one more by two F16s taking off from Kasteli a forward base in Krete.

02:10 Somewhere in the coastline of TurkeyThe MLRS launchers have been armed with 2 ATACMS each.Now they were launching against Lemnos AFB and several other key installations on the island.

02:15 Lemnos Land-based Anti-ship missile unit


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All that they heard was a swift sirristic sound and then all hell broke lose. Ina minute explosions from munitions delivered by ATACMS ripped through the bunkers where the Exocet launchers were hiding. The same happened all around the Lemnos AFB where four F16s on alert were destroyed on the runway.

02:15 Turkish Armed Forces Operations CenterGeneral Abdul Oktsalian was receiving the bad news from the Aegean Sea. It appeared that somehow the Greeks new in advance for his plan and they managed to takethe initiative and achieve a surprise attack, but it could also as well be a lucky guess. He could not comprehend how this was possible. The Greeks have a NSAwhich is a joke, and a military intelligence of a retarded person. Their politicians were pathetic the least, and he thought that he played the diplomatic pressure game quite well the last few weeks. So it must have been an inside jod. At least the biggest threat the 60 F16+ were out of the game. Everything would continue as planned. The F16s already in the air could easily help the remaining fleetneutralize the Greek fleet. It would have to take some more time thats all. Andif the Greek Air Force decides to face off the Turkish, well numbers and qualitywas his ace under the sleeve!

02:15 Mpoumpoulina Frigate Southwest of AmorgosThe Greek Frigate has been conducting ASW operations in the South Aegean for a couple of hours and it was only 15 minutes ago that the Captain received a message he never believed the Fleet HQ would transmit. It was ordering him to open a ceiled envelope from the Special Orders & Rules of Engagement safe, in his cabin. A

fter authenticating the orders he opened the envelope. Inside was a brief description of things to come. Not just anything, but exactly what would happen all over Aegean and what he had to do after 02:00. His orders is to proceed as plannedto whatever orders he had received till 02:00, but after that he would act as if Greece was in war with Turkey. This meant that if he detected the second Turkish sub he would have to sink it without even a warning.-Captain, message from HQ, its urgent!-Give me that.He read the message and stood for a while!-Open the intercom sailor!Now hear this. For the past ten minutes we have been in battle readiness alert.This is why. A few minutes ago our fleet engaged the Turks in the Central Aegean! We are now in a de facto state of war with Turkey. God be with us all!

02:15 Maxitis Gunship near KosThe Captain of the Greek Gunship was just reading the latest dispatch from FleetHQ.-****, God dammed, all hands battle stations now! Why the hell didnt you give methat five minutes ago sailor?-You were in the loot Captain-Sir, the sub is getting ready to submerge!-Target it at once!-What sir?-God Dammed Son of the bitch, we are at war for the last 15 minutes moron.-Targeting the 76mm, ready sir.-They are submerging Captain!

-Fire at will, now!!!The 76mm gun started shelling the Turkish Sub and within seconds it totally destroyed the top of its hull. Flames were coming out of the hull as the submarine was already diving and the waters kept purring inside.-Its over sir, we sunk them.-Inform HQ. Keep your eyes open.

02:20 AB215ASW conducting ASW near Mpoumpoulina Frigate-Sir, I am detecting a faint contact just right of our Frigate.-Contact them and inform them.


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02:25 Lemnos Land-based Anti-ship missile unitA Greek Navy senior officer covered in dust and blood runs around the burning bunkers trying to get as many survivors as he can.-Is everyone here?-Yes sir.-Damage report.-Total devastation sir, we lost all our equipment and we have 75% casualties inpersonnel.-Any launcher made it out safe?-None!-Not true sir!-Who was that, speak up!-Sailor John Papadakis sir, I am a driver for one of the launchers. I had it taken to the washing deck to remove the mud from the tires. It is damaged but 3 outof four missiles can be used.After a few minutes of inspection the senior officer decided to use the launcherand fire the three missiles against the fleet located around the damaged Inonou.

02:25 Mpoumpoulina Frigate-Con sonar, we have positive id of enemy submarine 1/2nm to our right sir.-Helm, come around and get us in a better position heading 135.-Con sonar, torpedo in the water, torpedo in the water bearing 090.-All ahead full begin evasive manoeuvres now!!!

The frigate started to gain up speed, but it was too late. The Torpedo hits it in the middle, practically cutting the Frigate in half, seconds later a second one finished the job. Mpoumpoulina was sinking fast!

02:30 AB21ASW near the sinking Mpoumpoulina-Jesus, where is the bustard, find him!-Calculating solution sir. I got him. Waiting for launch order sir.-Launch weapon.The Mk46 fell into the sea and started seeking for pray. It was only a minute time before it locked on the Turkish submarine and blasted it to the bottom.-Contact Hydra frigate, let them inform HQ and organize a rescue if possible, alsotell them to prepare to accept us, as we are running low on fuel.

02:30 Southeast of LemnosGiven the situation the Turkish fleet was preparing to move south in order to assist the other fleet over the Central Aegean. The ships were getting underway when three Exocet missiles suddenly appeared from the northwest. It was a completesurprise.However they managed to splash the two with CIWS, but the third ripped through the hull of a PERRY frigate. Luckily it ripped in and out of the other side without exploding, but is started a fire at the living quarters.

02:30 Northern AegeanWithin minutes practically every one of the 24 HARPYs launched was over its designated target, then the controllers gave the order to the UAVs to attack almost instantly all 6 Warning radars in the Northern Aegean as well as the Patriot radar

s in Skiros were destroyed and the Greek Air Force would now have to depend onlyto the AWACS, which had to pull back over the main land body in order to keep away from the incoming Turkish F16s. The F16s were now entering the game.02:35 Greek Defence Ministry Operations Center.Prime Minister Kamanlis has asked the Defence, Chiefs of staff, GNSA director, and his military advisor to meet him in his office at the OC. The IT specialist of the OC has set up a secure link between the OC and the rest of the Commands HQs(Air Force, Navy, Army).PM: Now that we are all here, I want to introduce to the rest of you several aspects of this crisis that you are unaware up to this moment. The minute we speak


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the Turkish Air Force is sending at least forty F16s over the northern Aegean, inorder to provide air cover for their fleet. Am I right Chief of Tactical Air Command (CTAC)?CTAC: Well, yes sir, but how do you know that, we just picked them on AWACS ourselves. And besides how can you possibly know their intentions?PM: Bare with me for a minute. I am ordering you not to engage those aircraft what so ever!CTAC: But sir, thatsPM: The Turks will send an additional force of 80 F16s against Larissa AFB and N.Aghialos AFB within the nest minutes as well. They seem to be under the impression that our entire force of F16+ is out of the game, so naturally they are vigilant since they feel that they have numbers and quality to their side.CTAC: If I may add sir, let them come. All 60 F16+ will engage them over Thessaly and with the element of surprise and the rest of the older F16s we will totallyannihilate them.PM: Exactly what I dont want you to do! There is something going on that may leadto the withdrawal of their forces within the next twenty minutes.CTAC: Very well sir, what ever you think is best? So what am I supposed to do with the 60 F16+?PM: Have them orbiting over Larissa till further notice, but keep them combat ready. Admiral Dim are you with us?Admiral: Yes sir I am.PM: Admiral what is the situation in the Aegean as we speak.Admiral: It seems we have them on the run, sir. We inflicted them heavy damage,

but they have hurt us too. Since they had more numbers anyway, I guess we are some how in a draw. Although, if I may add, we have the tactical control of all the Aegean, they still occupy the Northeastern part of it with many surface unitsand unknown number of subs. That by itself makes any assumption for the final outcome of the naval battle. Their Air Forces however dont constitute a real threatfor our fleet!PM: As it becomes more clear by the minute, the Turks will try to take an even bigger advantage of their Air Forces in order to complete their objectives beforedaybreak.What I want is for our naval forces to in fact stand down from all offensive operations and maintain the status already at hand. What is the status on the Papanikolis issue Admiral?Admiral: Its in position sir. If things dont turn the way we hope, it will make th

e difference. As for the naval forces standing down, I think current situation is permitting this sort of irregularity.PM: Very well then. I want the secure line with the Turkish Prime minister active for the rest of the night. Inform our Land Forces not to take any initiativesagainst the Turkish forces. And people, keep up the good work!

02:40 Turkish Armed Forces Operations CenterGeneral Abdul Oktsalian is sitting in his office reading the casualty reports coming from the field. A senior officer knocks on his door.-Enter.-General a phone call for you at the purple line.-A call for me? Here? Now?-They asked you by name General!

-By name? Who knows my name, let alone where I am? Pass me the line quick!Hello?-General Oktsalian?-Yes.-General Abdul Oktsalian?-Yes dammed, you the hell are you?-I am calling you from the NATO HQ in Naples General, I am special agent Anderson of the CIA!-What do you want?-I have some interesting information for you General. President Bush has asked u


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s to relay some data to your screens over the OC. That is if you dont mind.At that point the General started to worry. He didnt for long. The door opened and the senior officer rushed inside.-General you have to see this!CIA Agent: General are you there?-What, ehhh, yes!CIA Agent: I think you should see it. I will be in touch if I am need too!The General hanged up the phone and rushed into the OC.-What am I seeing here major?-Sir, it is a tactical situation screen from the Naples HQ. It shows all the aircraft flying over the Aegean and over Greece and Partially Turkey.-Who is feeding them?-The Greeks sir?-The Greeks? And what are all these aircraft orbiting Larissa it cant be all their Air Force-Its the entire force of their F16+s General, it appears we didnt destroy even oneof them.-What? Thats impossible! We level their base only a few minutes ago. It cant be true?-I am afraid it is sir, we have an operator on duty inside a NATO AWACS over theAdriatic Sea and he confirms. NATO actually asked him to contact us.-And the other screen, the smaller on the right?-Naval situation sir. It only shows our ships and submarines in northern Aegean.-But they dont have a ship in northern Aegean, how can they possibly know our cur

rent order of battle Now I get it! Papanikolis SS is somewhere around there. But what is the reason for this?-Sir the Admiral of the Greek Navy Nik Dim wishes to speak to you over the secureline. NATO commander in Naples insists you do so.-Ok set it up in my office, I will get it from there.General Abdul Oktsalian picks up the phone at his office.-Hello Admiral Dim, how can I help you?-General Oktsalian, I am authorized by my superiors to negotiate a disengagementof our forces and a return to the previous status quo.-I am sorry, I seem to having some hearing problems, you cant be serious?-Actually General I am dead serious. If you dont order all Air and Naval forces of your country to stand down the consequences will be grave.-Are you threatening me?

-No General, I am warning you!-You must be joking-General bare with me for a minute. We know you were behind the assassination attempt against mr Kamanlis back in February. We know you planned this for over ayear. And we know where the 80 F16s you have flying towards Aegean are heading. We also knew you would try to take out our F16+s and that is why we transferred them away from Soudha. Shall I continue?-This is pointless! If you want to discuss terms of surrender thats fine with me,but the rest I dont care-General, you may think you have taken out our Radar in Skiros but in fact you destroyed a decoy, we can in fact shoot down at least 10 out of your forty F16s currently protecting you fleet in a blink. We also have the ability to attack withSSMs almost the entire fleet of the northern Aegean since we now your order of b

attle. We can totally devastate any number of aircraft you may still choose to send against Larissa and N.Aghialos. You know that your F16s are no match for theF16+ with JHMCS and Iris-T. We have the ability to take down the air cover of your fleet and we still have many unused Aircraft launched Exocets. As for the fleet near Lemnos if they dont turn around and head for Golcuk before 03:00 we willsink the two best units of it. For which by the way we already have target solutions a couple of hours now. We are giving you a chance here General, God only knows how much I would rather let you make the biggest mistake of the century.-Yes, I see But, how the hell did you know?-General it is now 02:45, please issue the order to stand down your forces. NATO


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will confirm that we have done the same a few minutes ago. Later on my Prime Minister will call yours and explain everything.General Oktsalian, stood still for a minute. It was difficult for him to understand what went wrong. One thing was certain though, if he pushed his plan the best possible outcome would be the complete destruction of both the Greek and the Turkish Air Forces, as well the almost certain decapitation of the Turkish navy.And he didnt even want to think the worse case scenario.He rushes outside his office and calls the commanding officer of the OC-Issue orders to all our units to stand down immediately!-But sir, we are in the middle of an aerial assault!-Recall all aircraft to their bases. Even those protecting the fleet. All of them.-Yes sir.-Order our fleet to head towards Golcul and Ismir Naval Stations. They have to be on course before 03:00. And open a link to NATO HQ informing them for a step by step de-escalation of this crisis!-As you order sir!-I will be in my office.He sits in his office couch. He was really tired. A feeling of anxiety starts tooverwhelm his mind. Suddenly the General realizes that even so, one of his primary objectives has been accomplished. After an incident like that it was almostcertain that the international community, especially the US, would intervene towards a complete and final resolution of the Aegean dispute. And till that time more pathetic Greek politicians will be on the controls of the Greek foreign poli

cy. As for the casualties and mistakes of the military operations? Well it depends on how you present them to your public. And the Turkish public was easily manipulated when it comes to Greece and the Aegean. Luck seemed to smile at him again. May be this actually is the best outcome possible. He closed his eyes and fell asleep, boy he was tired!02:55 Turkish Armed Forces Operations Centera lot of noise and yelling is coming out of the OC communications area.General Abdul Oktsalian has just fallen asleep on his office couch, but now he wakes up in a haze. What is going on? he wonders, as he exits his office and walkstowards the communication room. The whole OC is in panic, everybody seems starring at him, and a weird silence replaces the yelling that woke him up. As he approaches the communication room he listens to the people inside.-Are you sure, about this?

-Hell I am sure, I can read, you know!-Who is in charge?-He is, what did you expected? There is nothing we can do about it!-I am sorry sir, I can't accept that!-Then you will face the consequences along with everyone else that doesnt!-What will you do?Their talk was interrupted by the General entering the room.-What is going on Major?-General, sir-I said, what is going on? What is this mess I am witnessing?-Sir you shouldnt be here!-What, I am the commanding officer you moron, what are you thinking?-Sir, Prime Minister Heartdogin has order your replacement by General Berin Yold

uz.-The Prime Minister ordered my replacement? Thats a good one! Since when the politician run the military in this country? This is unbelievable, someone else on the Military Command is behind this, General Berin himself!-Either way sir, you are no longer in command, so please leave the OC!General Oktsalian reluctantly leaves the room and heads for the exit of the OC.He is just a few steps away from the exit when suddenly the door opens and several armed MPs storm the OC. They push him back on the wall. Behind them a familiarshape enters the OC.-General Berin!!!


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-General Oktsalian. How are today?-What is the meaning of this?-Now, listen up gentlemen! The OC is now secured and I am taking over command from General Oktsalian, by order of the Defence High Council and the Chiefs of staff.-MP Sergeant!-Yes sir.-Escort General Oktsalian to his I mean my office!-The rest of you back to your posts. We have postponed this war for too long, now it is time to resume it.03:00 Greek Defence Ministry Operations CenterPrime Minister is preparing to leave the OC and head back home. He has a long day in front of him, and just trying to cope with the events of the day seemed hard enough.The expected casualty figures were estimated to be enormous for both sides, butan all out war seemed to have been avoided. His military advisor is sitting nextto him preparing the first official statement about this crisis. He presses thebutton of the intercom and calls for the Minister of Defence.-Yes Prime Minister how can I be of service?-Give the latest situation report before I leave.-All our forces have received the stand down orders and complied. It appears theTurks are doing the same. We have started landing our F16+ at Larissa and someare sent over to N.Aghialos. They are more than an hour airborne and have to land.

-What about the Land units that were attacked?-Soudha AFB is devastated and the emergency crews are trying to control some fires, but it helps that the Naval Station is near and can assist as well. Lemnos AFB sustained many damages in infrastructure, but most of them light and they cope with it as we speak.-Rescue efforts for the naval units that have been hit? Underway sir. We will allow the Turkish rescue elements to complete their efforts as well.-Early warning system, radars?-Lemnos will be up in the next hour, Lesbos and Chios are working on it as we speak. Samothrace a total lose. Skiros 100% ready, as well as the PATRIOTs over there. We are lucky to have the Erieye AWACS, they are worth their money.At that point a senior Air Force is entering the office.-Sir, we need you in the OC.

-What is it?-Something is going on over the Aegean sir, please hurry!

03:05 Greek Defence Ministry Operations CenterEveryone is looking at the giant blue screen at the wall of the OC.What are we looking at?, the PM asked.The commanding officer of the OC started analysing the situation.-The 80 Turkish F16s that were bound for Larissa and Aghialos, turned around approximately 2nm outside Thessaly and were heading back to Turkey till 03:00.At that point they made another turn just above Sporades Islands and are now heading towards Skiros Island and Tanagra AFB. They are flying low so we can only detect them by our AWACS. Their pattern indicates they are going to attack!PM: God! Whats wrong with this people? Ok, no time to waste, it seems the game is

nt over yet! Issue alerts in all levels of our military. Get ready to defend allpossible targets!-Ive already done it PM.

03:10 Greek Salamis MEKO200HN offshore EviaThe crew of the Greek Frigate is trying to control the flames threatening the Bridge and the war room. The Captain has already received the new orders and sitrep from the Fleet HQ, while he is being treated for some minor injuries.-First officer, do we have targeting solutions for the Turkish fleet?-Yes sir, but we can only fire two of the remaining Harpoons. The explosion knoc


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ked off the left launchers.-What is the situation with the fire?-We control it but it will take a while to put it out completely.-Try to get the ship behind a small island of something. I know we cant move fastbut we have to protect ourselves before we are attacked again. And begin launchsequence for the Harpoons.

03:10 PATRIOT Command Post Skiros Island-Sir multiple contacts west of our position heading to Evia!-Initiate tracking and targeting procedures. Prepare launchers!

03:10 Skiros AFBThe four Mirage-2000 on alert were already rolling on the runway, trying to takeoff in time!03:15 Turkish Armed Forces Operations CenterGeneral Berin Yolduz has finished issuing the new orders to the Armed Forces allover the Aegean and Asia Minor. He was now entering his office. There, was General Oktsalian waiting.-General Berin, what is the meaning of this?-Relax General Oktsalian. You will live longer.-I demand an explanation! Whats is going on?-Well, it seems you have taken many wrong decisions Abdul. And in a very short time Im afraid. Decisions that, quite frankly, are unacceptable.-Who are you to judge me Berin, the whole plan was mine. You actually disapprove

d it!-Well, thats a total different subject. This is now. What were you thinking eating the bate of the Greeks so easily? You know better than to trust them or NATO for that matter. And CIA? We dont do our business this way Abdul. Havent you seen the news lately?-Whats that supposed to mean? As I see it, weve got what we wanted. A bit more expensive than we estimated, but we have them in the position we wanted them.-To maintain the same balance of power, isnt an acceptable option. If we can reduce them militarily to a simple annoyance, then that is our main objective. I have already taken the necessary steps towards that!-What do you mean?-Just follow me to the briefing room were I will address the rest of the officers!

General Oktsalian followed General Yolduz to the briefing room. His worse fearssome how were circling his mind.

03:20 Turkish Armed Forces Operations Center Briefing RoomGeneral Yolduz takes the stand to the side of the big projection room.-Gentlemen, this is the current situation over North Aegean. As you know eventshave escalated in the last hours to a point of armed conflict. At the moment atleast 80 of our best F16s fully armed, are executing attacks against the Greek Airbase in Tanagra, were the Mirages with the Exocets are based, and at the ForwardOperating AFB in Skiros. We are attacking the PATRIOT batteries located in Skiros as well. Until we check and confirm that the reports about the F16+s of the Greeks are actually accurate, this course of action is the most recommended and safe. Our main purpose for this action is to significantly reduce the ability of

the Greeks to launch a counter-attack either against our Bases in Asia Minor oragainst our Fleet. Thanks to the Mission Modules we borrowed from the Israelis wemanaged to successfully download the new mission parameters to our aircraft while they were airborne over the Aegean. Our naval forces will merge north west ofChios and try to lure their navy in open sea so we can use our Missile boats andsubmarines in a concentrated and devastating manner. But also to provide betterair cover since our CAPs are running low on fuel and our KC135s are for the moment unavailable. Rescue missions will be recalled. Simple rules gentlemen if you can't follow the rest then you fight were you are. Hopefully our battered naval units will lure the Greeks out. I have instructed our MLRS units south of Ismir t


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o stand on alert to launch ATACMS against Greek Naval units. Not so much to sinkthem, since thats highly unlikely, but it will damage their electronics equipment and armament, and may force them to withdraw. I also ordered our submarines inAksaz to depart and seek cover in the South Aegean sea, and our remaing naval units over there to head to Mersina Naval Station in the East. I really doubt wewill come to the point of using them to our advantage, since the distance and tactical situation is forbidding.You have all received the folders containing the details for the reminder of thecrisis. Keep doing your job and everything will end up fine.Dismissed.

The following events take place between 03:10 and 03:45

03:11 Skiros AFBThe four Greek Mirages on alert have managed to take off in time and now are gaining altitude heading towards the incoming F16s. Just as they are about to pass over the hill at the end of the runway a wave of F16s appears storming towards theairfield.The M-2000s struggle to break left and right to avoid collision! One of them hitsan F16 near the cockpit and loses a big part of its wing. The pilot ejects in time while his aircraft and the F16 are going down burning. The other three M-2000s turn around and try to lock on the attacking F16s. One of them doesnt make it asit is blown away by a missile fired from the covering pair of F16s. The other two manage to get a lock on two F16s, which become history within seconds. But the

fight is unequal and soon both are brought down by the rest of the F16s. The airdefence Skyguard system takes its blood back by downing one F16 as it turned tomake another pass, and just before another F16 manages to destroy it using a maverick. The attacking force completely devastates the airfield and the runway inminutes. Now they head back home.

The PATRIOT battery starts launching its missiles at the force of 50 F16s moving towards Tanagra AFB. It manages to launch four missiles, when suddenly a number of 10 F16s coming low from the north starts taking the launchers one by one. In aminute everything is on fire. Launchers, Radar and control station are completely destroyed. The four Patriots keep flying towards their targets in the Southwest. Two manage to destroy a pair of F16s. Another misses. The fourth explodes damaging two more F16s and forces them to abort. The rest continue their mission to a

ttack Tanagra AFB. The final act of the assault on Skiros has been over for a few minutes. Now the entire remaining force of 26 F16s is gaining altitude in orderto save fuel. As they do four of them are blown away without warning! Twenty F16+ from Greece inland have managed to reach them in time to fire their AMRAAMs. 10 missiles were fired but only 4 reach their targets blowing them sky high. Theremaining F16s struggle to run away since they dont have enough fuel to dogfight.However two of them turn around and fire their four AMRAAMs blindly and without alock. Dead wrong! Two more incoming AMRAAMs take them out in a blink of an eye.The squadron leader informs the CAP leader of the 40 F16s covering the fleet, andrequests back up. Immediately all 40 F16s, fully armed for aerial battle, are heading west towards the incoming 20 F16+s of the Greeks.

Meanwhile, the first four Mirages have managed to take off from the Tanagra AFB a

nd take positions to intercept the incoming Turkish Attack package. Four more were already rolling on the runway. The whole base was in frenzy. 10 Mirages were armed with Exocets and were trying to get out of the way and re-arm, while half the force was re-arming after the successful raids against the Turkish fleet.

The Improved-HAWK air defence battery near Tanagra has just picked up the firstincoming aircraft over Evia. The commanding officer didnt hesitate, he pushed a button sending six missiles to the air. The leading pair of F16s immediately detects the launch and fires four HARMs. The HARMs have a perfect lock on the batterys Radar. The next seconds are crucial. The radar is annihilated and as a result fou


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r missiles miss their targets, but two of them make the kill. The rest of the planes fire 12 AMRAAMs towards the four incoming M-2000s. At that distance they donthave a chance. All four are history within a minute. Now all the F16s are over the Evia mountains, heading to Tanagra AFB and start to split for the final approach. Suddenly four M-2000's make their appearance from behind. They were hiding using the mountains of Evia for cover. In seconds they get a lock and 3 F16s are downed, while the fourth manages to evade. Immediately all the aircraft of the covering force are thrown against them. While the rest start bombing Tanagra AFB with everything they got!After five minutes the Tanagra AFB is in ruins. Most of its infrastructure and the runway have been destroyed. On the ground more than twenty Mirages are eitherburning or severely damaged, including those carrying the last remaining Exocetmissiles. On the air the Turks lost four aircraft from the dogfights and two from the Skyguard system defending the base. From a total of 50 aircraft initiallynow only 35 F16s are returning home. Strangely the PATRIOTs defending Athens and the rest of the Attica region havent fired or even trucked the attack force. The Greek Tactical Air Command decided not to put them into harms way just yet.

As they pass over the Evian mountains heading northeast, the Turkish pilots receive orders to avoid the Sporades islands region. There, a fierce dogfight battleis still underway between 20 Greek F16+s and 40 Turkish F16s. The Turkish aircraft are no much for the newer and technologically advanced Greek fighters. The JHMCS system on the pilots helmet and the recently acquired Iris-T missiles are talking their toll on the Turks.

The minute the force from Tanagra clears out of Evia, the remaining F16s disengage and retreat towards their bases. The Greeks are unable to pursue them. Both sides are low on fuel. The Greeks lost 10 aircraft dogfighting over the Aegean while the Turks lost 22.

It is now 03:45 and the first round seems to be over03:55 (+2:00GMT) White House USA, Washington DCPr. Bush is in the Oval office along his Defense secretary his military advisorsand several high-ranking military officers. They just gave him the latest report of events in the Aegean.President: Well gentlemen, what is your opinion? Who should we move?The defense secretary started to talk.-Well sir, the Greeks have a hand full right now. Currently they seem to be in a

very bad situation, but they managed to give the Turks a bloody nose. This is our first opportunity to take active initiative. Since both sides will have to take a break for an hour or so to re-am and regroup, I dont think any major combatwill take place before 05:00 local time. And let us not forget that anything sort of a Ground Attack after that, is highly unlikely, since daybreak is near.-Do you suggest that the Turkish side may actually attack from the ground?-Not likely! Their forces are still on defense posture, and any aggressive movewill require at least a couple of hours to become feasible, however we do have some reports of land units getting underway in the areas covered by the 1st Army in Eastern Thrake. Thats opposite the Greek Forces in Evros, were the balance is 4-1 in favor of the Turks.-I would now like to hear your opinion about the government stability issue in Turkey!

From the back of the room the assistant director of the CIA approaches the presidents desk.-Well sir, an hour ago an Armored Division of the Turkish Army 15th Corps/1stArmy, that is the elite reserve of the 1stArmy, has taken position in and around Ankara. At the same time two full strength Special Forces Battalions started securing several military HQ facilities and government buildings within Ankara, including the Ministry of Defense. Other Special Forces companies in a combined manner secured all major Air Force bases in West Turkey, as well as the Naval Stations in Golguk, Ismir, and Aksaz. The Bulk of 15th Corps units and support elementsare mobilizing for the last hour in and around Ankara City and Eskisehir AFB. I


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t looks like a military attempt to seize government control, but as of now no move has been taken against the political leadership. Latest info suggest GeneralBerin Yolduz, the commander of the 15th, has taken over the control of the military and arrested the Chiefs of staff along with General Oktsalian. His purpose or agenda is currently unknown, but he is a hardliner in the Turkish establishment.-What about the other guy, you know, the one talking to the Greeks. The one theGreek prime minister takes for granted as if he was one of his generals?-We had him in custody for over two hours now, questioning him and trying to figure what his role really is. But he kept coming around the same crazy stories over and over. We have nothing on him so we had to set him free a few minutes ago.He does have some very interesting friends in our political establishment you know!-Any suggestion regarding our possible intervention over this crisis?The Defense secretary steps in.-Sir, at this point weve done what we could. Now we should let them fight it out.Lets see who wins the day and then we can play the good Samaritan and help themclean their mess. I would also suggest dispatching the Karl Vinson CVN, currentlypatrolling South of Krete, just in case.-Make it so!

04:05 Greek Defence Ministry Operations CenterThe Greek PM is in his office. Tired and puzzled he is trying to comprehend theevents of the last few hours. The casualties figures are overwhelming. By now al

l Greece knows what is going on. The air raid sirens in Athens have sounded forthe first time in 60 years and the public was unaware of the reason. Soon he would have to address the nation. At that point his military advisor enters the room.-What is it Alkistos?-Prime Minister, pick up the red phone, line-2, its president Putin of Russia.-Pr Putin?-Yes sir, pick it up.-Hello?--Yes mr president, fine, how are you?--I know! We are doing the best

--If I knew then--I hope we dont come to that point mr president!--I will order a link established as soon as I hung up the phone.--You too!The Prime minister hangs up the phone and looks at Alkistos.-What was that all about sir?-It appears that our missing friend is more than we expected when we first met him a few months ago.-Did we had any news from him since he went missing three hours ago?

-No Alkistos, but thats not the point right now.-And what is sir?-President Putin informed me that if our military isnt able to contain Turkeys aggression, then the Russian military will step in in-force. He made it clear thata victorious campaign of Turkey against Greece, is totally unacceptable for Russia since it will mean the de facto rule of Turkey to the entire Aegean Sea. Forthem the only acceptable result is either the de-escalation or this crisis or the defeat of the Turks.-Sir, have you been able to contact the Turkish Prime minister?-No. The secure lines are dead for over an hour now.


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04:10 Turkish Armed Forces Operations CenterGeneral Yolduz has just received the first reports for the last air raids. Results were 90-100% success, but loses were high. It didnt matter. Taking out the Mirages has given the Fleet a breathing space for the first time.-Sir.-Yes Major?-A report just-in from Konya AFB. It was transmitted a while ago, but was mishandled till now-Go on Major.-It seems that our forces returning from South of Krete had a serious miss hap sir.-Meaning?-Well, they were attacked by eight Greek F16s returning from Pafos AFB in Cypruswith the support of a Greek AWACS. These units were part of the EUs RDF in Cyprusand were apparently recalled and returning to Greece. As they were flying 150kmsouth of Turkey they detected our returning 10 F4P2000 and our KC135 with 2 F16escorts and took them by surprise. We lost the KC135, one F16 and seven Phantoms. Reports indicate the Greeks lost four F16s.-That happens in war Major. Continue with your duties. I want you to notify me as soon as our fleets merge and enter in combat order.

04:20 Greek Defence Ministry Operations CenterAlkistos is running into the PMs office.

-Sir.-What is it?-Pick up the phone sir, line-5, its him!-Who?-Him sir!Kamanlis is rushing to the phone. He picks it up!-Hello?--Mr Smith! Boy, am I glad to hear from you again. Were are you right now?--Our embassy in Washington is good enough I guess!--Yes, but before that Have you been brought up to date?

-...-Were have you been the last few hours?--Yes, I did receive a call from pr. Putin!!!--I see--Are you sure about that?--I mean This is a big maybe--I will confirm what youre saying and if so I will take the necessary action.-

-I will immediately set up a direct link from our embassy to this OC.--No mr Smith Thank you!!!PM hang up them phone. Stands up and looks around him in a haze.Alkistos: Well sir? What did he say?PM: Emergency meeting in my office right now! Call the rest of them now! We donthave time!Alkistos: But why sir?PM: NOW DAMMED!!! NOW!!!


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04:20 Somewhere southeast of LemnosThe Greek SS "Papanikolis" has been patrolling the area for the last few days. And the last few hours events confirmed the briefing its Captain had prior to departure from Admiral Nik Dim.-Captain the Turkish fleet around Inonou seems to be heading southeast towards Lesbos.-Weapons officer, report!!!04:25 Greek Defense Ministry Operations CenterThe Minister of Defense along with the Chiefs of staff and Prime Minister Kamanlis are entering the conference room. With them, by secure line hook up, are alsothe three Tactical Commanders of the Armed Forces Branches (Army, Navy, Air Force).The Prime minister starts talking as soon as the COM connection is verified.-I have gathered you here because of some new information coming to my attention, information that demands an immediate action by our side. The purpose of thismeeting is to define what our action will be. The most important aspect for thisaction is time. We must have results before 05:30 this morning otherwise, quitefrankly, we will be in deep ****.The Commander of the Tactical Air Command from Larissa AFB HQ interrupts him.-Excuse me Prime minister, but I must protest!!!-What for?-For the past several hours, you have been keeping us all, except Admiral Nik Dim and one or two others, in the dark about your so-called source and his involvement in this mess. As a result I have lost many good men, half my airfields are

in ruins, and quite frankly sir I dont know what the hell you are doing. I demandan explanation.-I am sorry Commander, at this point you, and that goes for the rest, dont need to know.-Well I am sorry too Prime Minister, but if you are going to send more of my mento death, I demand to know what information you have.-Fair enough Commander. I will inform you right now, but only as far as the specific action taken. We have the information that the Turkish Army will begin bombarding our land forces in Evros in preparation of an invasion later this day. Dont ask me how, but we know they will attack in force with almost all their Air Force and MLRS, in an attempt to break through our forces and create a corridor, which will lead them directly to Komotini. You all, and especially you General Pankal (Army Commander) know the importance of a military success like that.

-Yes sir, I do. It will practically cut off all the combat units of the 4th Corps in Evros. And with the new organization from last yearThere will be no preparedline of defense for the 2nd Corps, which by the way is light in Armor, all theway back to Thessalonica. A total military disaster!-According to our information, the Turks will begin attacking trying to implement this at 05:30am and will probably achieve a major breakthrough by 08:00am. Atthat point having a ratio of 4-1 in favour they will probably begin advancing towards Komotini, which, in this case, will be enveloped around 10:00am. From thatpoint on, Xanthi were the 4th Corps HQ is located, and Thessalonica will only be a few hours away and everything will be doomed.-I dont know were you are getting your information sir, but I dont think it will be so easy to break the frontline, especially since we are battle ready for sometime now. And advancing so deep in our territory requires more than a break in o

ur lines. They will have to keep pushing combat units and support elements continuously, not to mention the logistics nightmare. However the 4th Corps UAVs, do confirm the positioning of MLRS and the deployment of their forces in an offensive posture. Thats why I have ordered our MLRS and the rest of the Artillery unitsin Evros to prepare for counter-shelling.-General Pankal. If our MLRS were, lets say destroyed or rendered un-operable, would that affect our defensive positions in any way?-Well sir, in that case we would really be in a difficult situation. The MLRS are the means of equalizing the 4-1 ratio advantage of the Turks, as well as neutralizing their logistics support network.


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But i think they are adequately protected by the PATRIOT's in Kavala.-So what you say, is that they main factor of the Turks actually trying something like this with their 1st Army in East Thrake, is the follow on forces and logistics support?-Yes.-Then thats our mission gentlemen. To take out those two capabilities. I want tohear your suggestion, and I want them now.Every body looks each other for some seconds without talking. The Chief of Air force was the first to speak.-But sir, thats practically impossible. Given the circumstances, anything we do will only temporarily disrupt their logistics network.The Prime minister was skeptic. The rest stood silent. Suddenly Admiral Dim spoke.-What about destroying the bridges over the straits and Istanbul.PM: Is it possible Air Commander?-Well, it is in theory sir. We do have the SCALP-EG cruise missiles we got fromthe French with a range of 250Kms and GPS guidance, but the pilots havent had thetime to train using them yet. Let us also not forget that only the Mirages can carry them, two each, and the Tanagra AFB has been devastated. I will have to check on their status before I can give you a definite answer. Either way we will need at least 30 to positively destroy all bridges. That means we will need at least 15 aircraft for the mission. But even so, we will have to deal with the Turkish Air Forces operating from Bandirma AFB who will be protecting the area.-Can we take Bandirma AFB out, Commander?

-We do have 20 F4E-APU standing by in Andravida AFB armed with BLU109 Paveway-3bombs and Mavericks. Also we have 40 A7Es standing by armed with AFDS and Pavewaysin Araxos AFB. I can have them in air within 10 minutes and will be over Bandirma AFB at approximately 05:00am. They are however, no match for the Turkish F16s,but I will also provide them sufficient air cover from N.Aghialos AFB with a force of 30 F16s we have been keeping as a reserve. I would normally use F16+'s butthey are all currently unavailable for at least an hour refuelling and rearming.-Do you guarantee the complete destruction of the specific base with this attackforce?-I can guarantee that they will be out for a couple of hours, enough for our other mission to proceed safely sir. That is if the other mission will actually take place.

-Then do so immediately. I have faith in you Commander! Admiral Dim, what is going on with the Navy?-We are currently positioning in order to move north and secure the Evia and Sporades regions of the Aegean. We dont want to get ambushed in the open sea. The Turks still have many Missile boats and they all carry Harpoons with 120Km range,while all ours, with the exception of two units, only carry 40Km and 70Km Exocets. Still no info about subs in the Northern Aegean.-Well its time we go over the rest of our overall strategy for the day ahead.The meeting continues covering several other important aspects of the operations.

04:35 (+2:00GMT) White House USA, Washington DCPr. Bush is examining the situation reports coming from the pentagon.

His staff and advisors all around the oval office are exchanging views and opinions about the Aegean crisis. The Oval office door opens and a military liaison enters carrying a folder.-Mr President sir.-Yes Major.-We have some disturbing information about the Russians.-What is it?-These are satellite photos taken a few minutes ago. They show Russian Tacticalnuclear missiles getting out of their bunkers and into position. They have not yet started fuelling them though. Also we have confirmed reports that the Russian


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Naval Forces in the Black Sea are getting underway, their military Southern Command is on operational alert and their strategic Air Forces have been mobilized.There are also reports of numerous Su27 fighters transiting south.-Thats all?-Actually sir, they even intercepted and harassed one of our P3s monitoring theirNaval Base in Ukraine. The pilot reported being locked on by a pair of Mig29 inorder to drive him away.-I thing its about time we move our little company to the Pentagon situation room! Major, advice all our forces to be on alert for transition orders to DEFCON 3.The following events take place between 04:20 and 04:45

04:25 Greek SS PapanikolisThe Greek Captain Drosakis was known among NATO submarine commanders as one of the most experienced in the world.Captain Drosakis was now examining the battle plan for the next few minutes. Hismission was clear from the beginning. To sink as many Turkish ships as possiblein order to limit the Turkish naval options in the Northern Aegean.-Weapons control, are we ready?-Yes sir, both Sub-Harpoons are ready. Solutions for the Torpedoes calculated!-Con sonar. Contact bearing 083. Positively identified as Type 209 submarine sir.-Estimated distance?-Approximately 15nm sir.-Helm course 135, hide us behind the sinking "Inonou". Likely the noise of the c

ollapsing bulk will get us through the launch undetected.-Into position sir.-Get us into launch depth first officer.-Launch depth captain!-Fire both missiles on my mark! Fire!!!

04:30 Turkish MEKO200TN southeast of Lemnos-Con sonar bearing 315, torpedo in the water, no, missile launch!-Radar operator missiles incomingCaptain: Evasive actions, launch counter measures!!!The MEKO managed to make a turn in order to align her CIWS, but the distance wastoo short. The two missiles hit her

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