The Great Bear Trap

The Great Bear Trap is the eighth and penultimate Allied mission of Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3.

Background
The previous operation in Tokyo was a great success. The Allied forces were able to attack the Imperials with all they had under the leadership of both Lissette and the Allied Commander, despite the fierce resistance of the Imperial forces. With the Shogunate leaders defeated, the forces in Tokyo destroyed, thousands of Imperial personnel arrested or defeated, Prince Tatsu's own elite naval fleet sent to the bottom of Tokyo Bay, and the Emperor taken care of (though by unknown means) meant the Empire had been defeated utterly and would no longer pose a threat to the rest of the world. Field Marshall Bingham was pleased with the results of the battle and congratulated the Commander as well as the people who made the victory possible, including Commander Lissette. However one slight matter had marred this victory...

The sudden disappearance of the Soviets when they were needed to ensure the success of the mission was something that made Bingham very curious. The lack of Soviet reinforcements had forced the Allies to make due with the situation they were in. The Imperials had taken advantage to crush the attack force with their Psionic Decimator systems and would have wiped out the Allies' piece meal had it not been for the arriving reinforcements as well as the timely, tactical, and effective use of the Allied Chronosphere. However, before this victory had occurred, many Allied personnel lost their lives to end the Imperials, lives that could have been saved had the Soviets arrived. the defenses of the Imperials in the area of Tokyo Bay were already weakened and would have been easily wiped out by the might of the Soviet Navy as soon as they arrived on site. But they never came at all.

This was something Bingham hoped to discuss with Premier Cherdenko, however it was then that Eva reported that a Soviet scientist had just defected from Russia and sought to speak with the Field Marshall. The man was Gregor Zelinsky, the top scientist of the Soviet military. Bingham was curious as to why the Soviet Union's top scientist would defect from his homeland and he allowed Eva to patch him through to the man. As soon as Gregor appeared, he thanked Bingham for being willing to listen to him and began to tell him things that seemed to be weighing heavily to his mind as both Bingham and the Allied Commander listened.

Both men were somewhat surprised and confused as the Soviet scientist said that he had created a Time Machine to alter the time stream and alter history. Bingham expressed disbelief until Zelinsky said that everything Cherdenko said was a lie and he along with his officers were secretly mounting an invasion force in Cuba!

Bingham was shocked by this and quickly ordered Eva to confirm the information. It was not long that the intel officer said that there were large numbers of Soviet ships docking into port at Havana harbour carrying some sort of cargo. Bingham then gave the order to the Allied Commander to dispatch a recon team to find out just what the Soviets were up to in Cuba while asking the Soviet scientist to stay with them as they still needed answers to their questions. Gregor agreed and rested as the Allied Commander went to work; it seemed that the warnings of both Agent Tanya and Eva were true after all.

Force composition
With limited intel on the exact force composition of the Soviets in the initial stages of the mission, the Allies forces in the area was minuscule at best, one Mirage Tank under the command of Commander Giles was the only form of armor support and fire-power, but it was armed with a simple hologram resembling the dreaded Apocalypse tanks of the Soviet Union and amazingly enough was able to fool the Soviets. Alongside the Tank were a small team of Spies who were provided ample funds in order to bribe any Soviet forces to their side should the need arise.

This small force was quick to discover the extent of the Soviet operation in Cuba, this required the transportation of Allied forces via Chronosphere into Cuba to brace for the soon-to-come assault.

The Soviets on the other had had several companies of soldiers in the area as well as support personnel, along with large numbers of Hammer and Apocalypse tanks, a fully fueled and armed invasion fleet, along with a powerful number of their specialist air force wings. This showed that the Soviets had assembled in Cuba with most of their arsenal already stationed in the city itself, showing that the supposed reinforcements meant to support the Allied offensive in Tokyo were sent here to attack the US. It also became apparent that they had a very well entrenched position in the city and had converted a number of the sports stadiums in the area. These stadiums turned hangers were the place where the true weapons of the Soviet forces who were stationed in Cuba.

They were specially designed Kirovs armed with high yield megaton warheads which could easily decimate Allied cities in the US as well as other Allied controlled cities in the area. If even one Kirov made it out of Cuba without being intercepted, the casualties in both sectors of the military and civilian would be too horrible to describe.

Spying on the Soviets
A Mirage Tank disguised poorly as a Soviet Apocalypse Tank just infiltrated the area, just as a number of Spies were para-dropped on site to begin the operation, they were tasked in order to recon the city to see the full extent of the Soviet operations in the area, with the Mirage Tank using its stealth field to hide the Spies, who still doubled their effectiveness by disguising themselves, the mission was well underway.

It was here that both the Allied Commander and Giles saw the full extent of the Soviet operation, or at least a part of it, the Soviets appeared to be running a massive salvage operation, reducing their damaged vehicles into spare parts.

Destruction of the Base
"Lets level this place. Mirage Field disengaging! FIRE AT WILL!"

- Giles

After evading two Soviet Apocalypse tanks the Mirage tank found the Soviet base and destroyed the guards. Then the Mirage tank opened spectrum fire on all three important Soviet buildings, levelling the place in the possess.

Spies bribed the Combat Engineers to capture two structures: the war factory and the crusher crane.

Oleg's Plan
After the Allies and their bribed Soviet forces leveled the small Soviet base, they along with Giles and the Allied Commander were shocked to see the baseball stadium in the area of the base suddenly open up to reveal a Kirov. This was no simple Kirov, it was discovered, as Soviet commander Oleg Vodnik spoke of the measure of the plan being hatched in Cuba by the Soviets. As soon as Oleg revealed that the Kirovs being made in the stadium were armed with 50-Megaton warheads aiming for Allied cities of their choosing, the Soviet commander bid them farewell. Eva then called in, shocked and somewhat angered at the Soviets' mad desire for total annihilation, and she told the Allied Commander as well as Giles to do what they could to level the stadiums, in order to stop the Kirovs from escaping. Oleg destroyed the modified Mirage Tank and reviewed his plan about destroying any Allied city with his 50-Megaton bombs.

Arrival of Allied reinforcements
"Reinforcements have arrived. Let's build up and roll out!"

- Giles Price

While Allied Intelligence was still reeling from the massive oversight in their information on Soviet activity, the Allied High Command was quick to dispatch a joint strike team via Chronosphere to be led by the Allied Commander and his wingman Giles Price. The former RAF pilot was tasked with the naval and airforce operations to prevent the Kirovs from being able to leave by using whatever forces he could build from his Airfields and Seaports. It was not too hard an order for Giles but he knew that he was going to have to be careful as the Soviet Navy was nearby and he would have to be ready for a retaliatory strike from the Soviet naval forces.

The Allied Commander was tasked to use the strike force under his command to deal with the Soviet forces in Havana Harbor and destroy the stadiums in the city, as well as the Soviet forces in the area. It was going to be a tall order as the Soviets had already dug in deep into the city and were well-positioned before their forces had arrived on site. The commander was also tasked to provide any support he could to Giles in order to keep Giles focused on stopping the Kirovs from escaping and unleashing destruction to the targeted Allied cities (presumably in the US since it was in close proximity to Cuba).

There were several stadiums in the area that had to be destroyed and with everything in the favor in the Soviets, both Giles and the Commander knew they were going to be in for the fight of their lives.

Destruction of the Kirov Launch Facilities
The baseball stadium that Giles and the Commander were shocked upon seeing is near the recently destroyed small Soviet base and was soon destroyed by Giles' air force with Century Bombers coming from his naval base, despite many Hammer Tanks and a few Apocalypse Tanks guarding it.

The second sports arena was destroyed with Guardian Tanks, which opened up with their 90mm Guns on the defending Soviet forces. After heavy casualties on both sides, the Soccer Stadium was destroyed. At this point, Oleg got annoyed and sent his Apocalypse Tanks after the Commander's base. However, Mirage Tanks lying in wait ambushed the behemoths and reduced them to piles of well-armored scrap metal.

The third sports arena was defended by two War Factories and a Twinblade squadron. Assault Destroyers came in just in time to destroy the Hammer Tanks, and finally the Destroyers leveled the modified Olympic Swimming Pool launch facility, which was in the process of launching another Kirov. The fleeing Kirov was destroyed by Hydrofoils.

The boxing gym was defended by more tanks and infantry than the previous sports arenas. The Allies sent in a full battalion of Guardian Tanks to deal with the enemy, and finally, Athena Cannons leveled the place with lasers from the sky.

The final stadium, another Baseball stadium, was protected by the biggest Soviet base in Havana. Instead of going for a risky frontal assault, the Allies bribed some Soviet Apocalypse Tanks. The Allied Spies waited for the Apocalypse Tanks to group together and then the Apocalypse Tank drivers accepted the Spies' currency. The Apocalypse Tanks then proceeded to level the Soviet base after Aircraft Carriers were brought over to the area to bombard the Tesla Coils and distract the nearby Soviet Naval forces.

Aftermath
The quick actions of the Allies eliminated any possibility of an Allied city being destroyed by the Soviet Kirovs. The Allies also seized numerous Soviet bases in Havana, and proceeded to study Soviet technology, as well as arresting many Soviet soldiers and officers to stand trial for war crimes. Meanwhile, the Allies prepared for an assault on Leningrad to bring General Krukov and Premier Cherdenko to justice.

Walkthrough
The first part of the mission involves using 2 spies and 2 dogs to investigate on Cuba. Bribe the Combat engineers, the bullfrog, the flak troopers and the Tesla troopers and capture the Crusher Crane and the War Factory. After killing the 6 soldiers blocking the Mirage tank disguised as the soviet tank Giles will say "Look! Real Apocalypse tanks!" If the player bribed too many troopers the player has to destroy those two tanks but if not Giles will force the Mirage tank to back up. If the Apocalypse tanks are not destroyed then bribe them. Crush the 2 bribed apocalypse tanks with the crusher crane due to those two apocalypse tanks are weak armored and use the money to build a Soviet MCV. Once Giles destroy the Soviet base Oleg will reveal a Kirov armed with a 5 Megaton bomb which is going to attack allied cities.

The next part involves the Allied MCVs arriving to build a base. Giles will build a large navy and air force to shoot down any Kirovs that try to escape. Get Spies to constantly infiltrate the Soviet refineries to boast the players economy. Build a navy, air force and captured Soviet units from the Soviet MCV acquired from the Bribed Combat engineers. Make sure no Kirov escapes otherwise the mission is a failure. Destroying the southeast Kirov Launch facility requires Aircraft carriers and assault destroyers or with Centuries and Apollo fighters but watch out for the Bullfrogs there. Destroying the launch facilities on land requires tanks or air power. The Final one is defended by the biggest Soviet base in Cuba. Get Apocalypse tanks and long range bombardment artillery like Aircraft Carriers to deal with it as destroying the Super Reactors will make them blow up and instantly destroy any aircraft that attacks them.

Trivia

 * The nature of the bombs carried by the Kirov airships is never explained. Judging by their 50 megaton yield, they are most likely nuclear warheads. However, this contradicts the established setting that nuclear weapons no longer exist following Einstein's erasure from the timeline.
 * A bomb with such a blast yield was detonated by the Soviets in 1961, called Tsar Bomba, and was the largest nuclear weapon produced and detonated. Given the size of the blast, this would have been a suicide mission for the Kirov crew.
 * Despite being available to build in the previous mission, the Chronosphere is not available to either Allied commander in this mission.
 * A pre-release Red Alert 3 demo mission seems to be based on this level, in which the player controls a cloaked Allied tank in the first part of the mission, and has to stop nuclear missiles from being launched from stadiums in the second half.