Red Metal is a war novel, written by Mark Greaney and Rip Rawlings and released on July 16, 2019. Set in late December 2020, it features a military conflict between NATO and Russian military forces across two continents, as the latter plots to retake a rare-earth metal mine in East Africa. Red Metal is Greaney's first stand-alone novel and is Rawlings' debut novel. The book debuted on The New York Times, USA Today and Amazon bestseller's lists.
Plot summary
Three years ago, the Russian Ground Forces are forced to relinquish control of a rare-earth mine in Mrima Hill near Mombasa, Kenya. Bitter about the retreat, Spetsnaz officer Yuri Borbikov formulates Operation Red Metal, an extensive military strike across Europe as a large diversion to retake the mine.
In the present day, Chinese Sea Dragon naval commandos infiltrate Taiwan and assassinate the presidential candidate of the pro-Beijing Taiwan Democratic Communist Party. The Chinese Communist Party publicly frames the ruling Kuomintang party for the assassination and threatens military intervention over the elections. In Arlington, Virginia, Marine Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Connolly, an Afghanistan infantry veteran, works in the Joint Staff office of the Pentagon with Army Major Bob Griggs. The two are tasked to investigate an intelligence leak of an extra-marital affair between two high-ranking officers of the Indo-Pacific Command that causes both of them to be relieved and disrupts the chain of command. Connolly and Griggs consult NSA analyst Nik Melanopolis who deduces that the leak was engineered by Russian GRU hackers. The Joint Chiefs, however, are predisposed to a war in the Pacific and deploy Carrier Strike Group 5 to Taiwan.
In Moscow, Russia, President Anatoly Rivkin authorizes Operation Red Metal without the approval of the Ministry of Defence in response to crippling economic sanctions. He assigns Colonel General Eduard Sabaneyev to lead a lightning raid via militarized trains into Europe to destroy the US African and European Commands in Stuttgart, Germany, under the guise of military exercises with Belarus. Meanwhile, Colonel General Boris Lazar is tasked to lead an invasion force to seize Mrima Hill by travelling overland through Iran, also under the guise of military exercise, and covertly sail to Djibouti where they will be free to advance into Kenya before the US can mount a response. General Sabaneyev and Colonel Borbikov are confident that the operation will succeed, but General Lazar is disturbed by Borbikov's contingency plan to destroy the rare-earth mine with nuclear-tipped artillery shells if they fail to capture it.
Tensions spike in the Pacific when the destroyer sinks an attacking Chinese submarine in the international waters near Taiwan. The United States National Security Council consequently decides to fully commit to deterrence against China and deploy the Global Response Force to US Pacific bases, effectively isolating NATO forces in Europe. Colonel Connolly and Major Griggs attempt to advise the Joint Chiefs on the Russian machinations but are ignored and rebuffed. Poland, however, is disturbed by the Russian military buildup and begins activating the civilian Territorial Defence Force to prepare for a possible invasion.
In Djibouti City, French DGSE intelligence officer Pascal Arch-Blanchette notices Russian Spetsnaz activity in the country. His investigation is ignored by the French government, but he tips off his son, Captain Apollo Arch-Blanchette of the 13th Parachute Dragoon special reconnaissance regiment, who discovers Russian satellite phone signals at mountain peaks in Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic. Apollo's platoon recons the sights and repels Spetsnaz teams under Colonel Borbikov, but do not realize that Borbikov's men are broadcasting false all-clear radar signals to NATO's airborne early warning and control stations.
Operation Red Metal officially begins on Christmas Eve when a Russian Air Force Su-57 stealth fighter squadron simultaneously shuts down communications across Europe by launching anti-satellite missiles, as GRU "Fancy Bear" hackers penetrate NATO's communications relays, causing an internet and cellular blackout across Europe. General Sabaneyev then launches the raiding force from Belarus through Poland and into Germany, using the covert assault train Red Blizzard 1 as his mobile headquarters. The Polish Land Forces and Territorial Defence Force (TDF) are quickly overrun. A young TDF volunteer named Paulina Tobiasz becomes a local hero and is promoted to sergeant after her entire company is wiped out by a Russian armoured column. Maintenance detachments of the US 37th Armor Regiment in Grafenwöhr are also alerted to the invasion, having been sent ahead of their combat counterparts to prepare for training exercises. Despite being primarily composed of maintenance units, Lieutenant Colonel Tom Grant scrapes together a composite M1A2 Abrams tank regiment supported by a German Army Leopard 2 tank battalion, Apache sections from the 3rd Aviation Regiment, and US Air Force A-10 Warthogs from the US Air Force 57th Wing. Despite their attempted defense, the US-German forces take heavy casualties as the Russian armour units lay waste to AFRICOM, EUCOM, Katterbach Kaserne, and Ramstein Air Base, severely crippling NATO's military and logistical strength. Having completed their objectives in Europe, the Kremlin contacts the White House and demands a ceasefire and safe return of all Russian forces through Germany and Poland into neutral Belarus, which the US and NATO accept. Colonel Grant wants to commit the 37th Armor to a full counterattack, but US forces in Europe are ordered to escort the Russians back to Belarus.
Meanwhile, General Lazar marches his forces southeast through Iran for Oman, where they embark on a heavily guarded flotilla escorted by Iranian container ships west for Djibouti City. Back in the Pentagon, Colonel Connelly is finally able to convince the Joint Chiefs of Russia's true objective. The Pentagon then deploys the Marine Regimental Combat Team 5 under the command of Colonel Ken Caster to sail to East Africa aboard the and prevent the Russians from taking Mrima Hill. Connolly is assigned to RCT-5 as a Pentagon liaison and acts as an assistant operations officer thanks to his friendship with Caster and his subordinates. A flight of USAF B-1 Lancer bombers attempt to intercept the Russian-Iranian flotilla over the Gulf of Aden but are shot down by anti-air missiles.
In Europe, the Polish government plans to violate the ceasefire by funneling the withdrawing Russians through Wrocław to be ambushed by the TDF and GROM special forces. Polish Air Force fighter-attack aircraft destroy several bridges along the Oder River, forcing the Russians into a pitched battle with the TDF militia in the streets of Wrocław where they suffer heavy casualties as they push through the city and across the Oder. Mistaking them as being allied with the Poles, Russian BTR-80s fire on the US 37th Armor units escorting them. President Henry then authorizes lethal action against the Russians in Europe and the US-German forces in Poland begin attacking Sabaneyev's force with combined land and air assets as they retreat through Wrocław. NATO forces continuously pursue the Russians through south-central Poland while TDF pockets carry them through the countryside. President Henry later convinces the president of Taiwan to postpone the country's upcoming elections in order to forestall an imminent Chinese invasion and therefore provide more reinforcements to Africa.
Upon arriving at the port of Djibouti City, Lazar's flotilla is attacked by the submarine , destroying oil tankers and rendering his T-90 battle tanks useless. Nevertheless, Lazar, accompanied by Borbikov, presses on and marches his forces south for the mine. Pascal manages to transmit intelligence of the Russian forces to the DGSE but is captured and executed by Borbikov's Spetsnaz. Apollo's Dragoon platoon also arrives in Djibouti and harasses the Russian columns as they march through Ethiopia. Meanwhile, the USS Boxer lands RCT-5 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Upon receiving intelligence from Apollo's Dragoons, the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion conducts delaying ambushes against the Russians at Moyale, Ethiopia, and Mount Kenya. RCT-5 is then able to establish a hasty defense base at Mrima Hill with support from a French Foreign Legion battalion.
Back in Europe, USAF Warthog pilot Major Ray "Shank" Vance destroys the Russian attack train in Poland and Sabaneyev is forced to move out the rest of his forces overland. A Russian supply train is sent from Belarus to reinforce Sabaneyev but TDF militia led by Sergeant Tobiasz switch the tracks to divert the train's course, causing it to be ambushed and destroyed by PLF PT-91 Twardy tanks. After being shot down by an Su-57, Shank joins Tobiasz's militiamen and assists them in destroying a Russian armor column by coordinating airstrikes from other Warthogs of his squadron. He and Tobiasz develop romantic feelings for each other afterwards. Shank even has a promissory ring forged for her, but he is killed as a PLF platoon attempts to return him to US forces. The Russians eventually reach Belarus and cross the Bug River, where General Sabaneyev leaves a T-14 Armata platoon as a rearguard to fire on the pursuing NATO forces, confident that they will not retaliate. Colonel Grant, however, is enraged after receiving fire from the T-14s and orders the 37th Armor to press the attack into Belarus, violating their neutrality and shocking Sabaneyev. Running desperately low on fuel, Sabaneyev attempts to coerce a supply base in Slonim to surrender their reserves but the Belarusians refuse to comply. The 37th Armor then attacks the base, destroys the remaining Russian armor, and captures Sabaneyev, defeating Operation Red Metal in Europe.
In Kenya, General Lazar's force attacks Mrima Hill and start gradually obliterating the Marine defenses using accurate artillery strikes and frontal assaults with their BTRs while ZSU-23-4 Shilka tanks defend against Marine airstrikes. As the Marines are pressed to their breaking point, however, the USS John Warner slips through a Russian-Iranian blockade off the Kenyan coast and fires Tomahawk cruise missiles that destroy most of the Russian artillery batteries. Lazar goes missing in action as his BTR is destroyed and is presumed dead by Colonel Borbikov, who assumes command and orders a VDV regiment of the 76th Guards Air Assault Division to launch a final attack. Sensing the dire situation, Apollo leads his Dragoon platoon and a Marine squad on a recon sortie to mark the Russian paratrooper's staging areas for artillery strikes. They then stage a diversionary ambush against a VDV convoy at a large stating area. With the staging areas marked, Connolly gives the Marine artillery batteries Pentagon authorization for a massive "Shake 'n Bake" fire mission that decimates the VDV regiment and destroys many BTRs. With his final attack thwarted, Borbikov orders a reserve Russian artillery battery to shell the mine with the nuclear-tipped artillery shells as a last resort. A wounded Lazar storms in and has Borbikov arrested, who then tries to kill Lazar but is gunned down himself. Lazar negotiates a ceasefire with RCT-5 the next day. The remnant of his force retreats back to Djibouti with orders from Moscow and Operation Red Metal is decisively defeated.