CHAPTER 8

23 November 1964 – 29 November 1964

Stalemate. After several weeks of heavy fighting in Europe, some fronts came to a deadlock with no significant offensive or military maneuvers took place.

In France, no significant moves took place except for the 7,000-men strong Spanish unit near Avignon which has been ordered to head east into Italy to assist the Italian Army. The areas between Nancy and French-West German border have turned into no-man’s-land.

Following massive crackdown by British authorities in Northern Ireland, dozens of Irish nationalists and their supporters fled the border into Ireland. The Irish government has promised to provide shelter to all “political refugees” in the country, and while it also promised to be neutral in the on-going conflict in Europe, it warned that Ireland will not tolerate the violation of its sovereignty.

In Poland, Soviet forces continue the siege of Gdańsk, Szczecin (Stettin), and Warsaw without attempting to move inside the city themselves. The rest was stalemate. In other news, a Swedish submarine was reportedly sunk near the Polish coast close to Gdańsk.

In Italy, stalemate took place in the city of Verona, where Italian troops continuously resist Soviet attempt to capture the city. However, after reinforcements have arrived from southern part of the country, Italy chose to break the stalemate in other places. The Italian military commenced “Operation Julius”, a series of offensives to recapture occupied Italian territory and cut off Warsaw Pact supply lines from Yugoslavia. Some 4,000 Italian Marines conducted amphibious assault near Venice, backed by Italian naval bombardments, while some 3,000-men strong airborne troops parachuted north of Venice. The Warsaw Pact garrisons near Venice were forced to retreat into Treviso and the battle between Italian troops and Warsaw Pact forces with the support of communist sympathizers continued within the city. On the other parts of Italy, Italian tanks and other armored fighting vehicles rolled from Rimini into Ferrara. The scattered communist garrisons, primarily the Soviets, made their last stand in the city of Ferrara. While other Italian armored columns moved toward Bologna through Forli, and joint by Italian infantry battalions. At Parma, units of the Italian Army, supported by reinforcements arrived from the south, moved toward Modena. It is clear that if the city of Ferrara was taken by the Italian military, communist forces in the city of Bologna will be isolated from the rest of Warsaw Pact forces in Italy. Near Austrian border in northeast Italy, Italian Alpini mountain units continue to harass Warsaw Pact forces and disrupt logistic support on the mountain. In respond to the uprisings at Genoa and Milan, Italian government finally deployed large numbers of troops to destroy the communist sympathizers. Infantry battalions of the Italian Army and pro-government paramilitary engaged the communist supporters in heavy street battles at Milan. At Genoa, several battalions of an Italian mechanized division entered Genoa and battled communist supporters. Large numbers of communist were executed in both cities.

The government of Romania, having their country suffered enormous destruction after NATO bombardments last week, especially the destruction of oil refineries and other government infrastructures, refuse to let anymore Warsaw Pact ground movement within the country. Romanian government ordered the closure of the borders with all countries, although movement by air is still allowed.

“Islamic Army of Azerbaijan” at southwestern Soviet Azerbaijan made several small-scale offensives by capturing supply depots and military installations located on the mountainous area of Azerbaijan. There were reports of desertion among ethnic-Azeri troops within the Soviet Army in the region, however these reports could not be confirmed.

Decisions
…will affect the events from 30 November 1964 to 6 December 1964…