By: Christopher Maffei
Russia’s brilliant military strategy will go down in the annals of war for years to come. Both as a political and economic defeat for the Western powers. And when looking objectively at the SMO, Russia has accomplished everything that it set out to do and more.
At the start of the campaign, the simple question becomes: How do you defeat NATO and keep the SMO below the nuclear threshold?
To start with, the Russian defense of Rostov is the area of land between Kharkiv and Kherson. This constitutes both the Northern and Sothern flanks that represent the line of contact between the belligerents.
In this zone, besieging the Russian forces between the Northern and Sothern flanks is the Ukrainian regular army and a mix of Ukrainian conscripts. In addition to the Ukrainian army, there are American technical advisors as well as mercenaries from various nations. For the most part, the Polish comprise the vast majority of these (highly paid) volunteers.
In the case of the US mercenary forces, they are simply the technical advisors for the weapon systems that are currently on the ground. Most importantly, they are the people that relay the ISR to the NATO command centers.
These are the men dealing with heavy weapons and artillery systems. For the most part, only Americans or NATO can handle the logistics of these systems. Otherwise, they will be stolen by Ukrainian criminal gangs and sold to Russian intelligence at a premium. And make no mistake, if criminal elements try and get involved with the arms trade on this level. They will be hunted down by American Special Forces and wiped out― without mercy.
For the Russian tactical attrition to succeed. The Russian General staff needs to have an understanding of where the munitions and weapons systems will be. This is based on a vast collection of drone and (other) reconnaissance data that is relayed to the Russian command. And given their new confidence and capabilities, It seems that Russia’s long period of defeat and humiliation is over.
And in many ways, this nation-state confidence can be seen, during General Konashenkov’s periodical morning briefings. First, he never communicates any serious effort to interdict the logistics supplying heavy weapons to the combat zone. Second, Konashenkov never exploits brake throughs or counterattacks on thin formations that have been savaged by missile and rocket strikes. Even in the face of the Ukrainian suicidal sacrifices, Konashenkov and his staff simply drive the Ukrainian formations back to their initial start positions and close the lines. Make no mistake, Russia is in control of the field of battle and any thrust is immediately checked by combined-arms elements.
In fact, the Russian general staff seems to be patiently waiting for the men and material to arrive in the zone between Kharkiv and Kherson. There, both Ukrainian infantry and armor are defeated in detail.
As the days grind on, American heavy weapons are destroyed in their firing positions as they arrive on the Steppe. And flying objects of any kind, are generally intercepted by Russian multi-layered air defenses.
Indeed, Russia has been so effective at wiping out both men and material that Germany and France have said,―if attacked they may only have 3 or 4 days of munitions in their armories to defend themselves.
As of this moment, NATO’s need for munitions is so dire that they needed to buy roughly 100 thousand artillery shells from South Korea just to keep the fight going. If not a military deception, this news communicates to Russian intelligence, that there is no corresponding production to offset the shells that are currently required. And no one really knows if South Korean munitions will be forthcoming in the future.
In most cases, the combat in the center of the contact line can be brutal and heavy. To give you an example, (and, if not fabricated) General Konashenkov stated, that on November 15th, the Russian Army eliminated 1400 Ukrainian personnel in a 24-hour period. Additionally, his forces destroyed 12 tanks and destroyed 28 vehicles of various types, all in one day.
Continuing, Konashenkov stated, that when the Ukrainians try to regroup for a counterattack it was repelled by ―thermobaric rockets― with heavy losses. In other words, most of the attackers were incinerated during their attempt to regain lost ground.
To place this in historical terms, if the current levels of violence continue between the Russian Northern and Sothern flanks. It will be reminiscent of the Kursk Salient in aggregate.
By this point, it should be completely obvious, NATO forces are getting their asses handed to them― in spades.
So much so, that on November 14th, General Milley called for a negotiated settlement of the conflict.
Let’s be honest, if the proxy war was going swimmingly, Mark Milley wouldn’t be calling for a cease-fire out of the goodness of his heart. Milley would never give up the initiative if he had it– straight up.
At the start of the campaign, the Russian general staff drew American forces into an attritional battle between the Northern and Sothern flanks of the SMO. During this time, a contradicting narrative was seeded by Western journalists. This lulled NATO’s insouciant neoliberals and neoconservatives into a false sense of security.
Using class consciousness, the intelligence services seeded bizarre stories of Russian personal yachts to fan the flames of European xenophobic tendencies.
Especially highlighting Russian incompetence.
Next, the Russian Ministry of Defense did not attempt to counter the narrative set in place by the Western media. The Russians understand that if Washington shows any weakness it will continue delegitimizing the Dollar’s dominance, which is precisely the Russian objective. That is why within the closed-door sessions of the House of Representatives, Washington is most likely hyperventilating as they are reading reports of hundreds of millions of dollars in complex military hardware being strewn across the battlefield. Military hardware that was manufactured at the nation’s greatest expense and with the highest attention to detail.
As far as American domestic affairs, The vast majority of (average) Americans will face a depravity never-before-seen in US history. It starts with borrowing and ends with borrowing. What many Americans do not understand, the American system can only function through debt monetization. America must have absolute military supremacy for the system to continue in its current form. But, the Russian campaign on the Steppe as well as the unceremonious evacuation of Afghanistan has shown this is no longer the case. This is especially true as the world divides into two halves. One half being the BRICS+ and the other half the West. If Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, and the rest of the BRICS+ are no longer willing to trade their oil in dollars.
The American system will end.
Looking closely at the American social and economic landscape. It is being forcibly reverted to the conditions that existed prior to industrialization.
Of course, many wealthy Americans have taken note of the changes. Many of the Hamptonite classes are scrambling for their second passports, learning French, renouncing US citizenship, and looking to the French Riviera for refuge.
In contrast, for the average American, the French Riviera will not be in the cards. The (hidden) collapse in the US bond market has trapped many into a hyperinflationary spiral that has locked most young Americans out from buying a home. Not only can most Americans not afford a down payment. Young Americans can’t even buy furnishings for their home, they can’t afford to raise a family, and they definitely can’t afford the healthcare associated with raising children.
Not only will there be sharp contractions in government spending as we are starting to experience. There will be sharp cuts in all government spending―defense, the courts, healthcare programs, and State programs will be severely underfunded, roads and infrastructure will decay, and in the end, the FED will have to restructure the debt.
That is when America as we know it will come to an end. It will be a minor power in North America. If you really think about it―in many ways it already is.
The collapse of an Empire in our lifetime.
If you don’t think this is the case. Look no further than America’s (one) high-speed rail project. It’s only 27 years behind schedule. What about what we are told in the media? Not only is it unconvincing, but it’s fucking ridiculous…
―Chris