“Listen in guys and welcome to Operation BORODINO,” he said to the Spetsnaz team, assembled by Razhumikin in the Guard Force conference room. “First, the preliminaries. You’ve been split into four groups: Gun Groups One and Two, each equipped with the PKP Pecheneg, 7.62 millimeter light machine gun and AGS-30, thirty-millimeter grenade launchers, plus normal small arms and grenades; next is the Korda group, equipped as you’d expect from the name by one of my favorite weapons, the Korda 12.7 millimeter heavy machine gun—a beauty which got me out of trouble in the second Chechen war several times. Finally, there’s the reserve group. Note, too, that I’ve marked the map with a number of named spot points to avoid having to send grid references.” He paused to allow his men to take notes and check their maps.

“Mission: capture the British infiltration team as they move forward to conduct a reconnaissance of the compound. I won’t say more about that, as Senior Warrant Officer Razhumikin gave you the intelligence picture previously. The key point I want to make is that I want the British officer alive. We’ll do it by surrounding the team on all sides with a curtain of fire. On my order, the reserve group will move in and take them prisoner. Do what you need to do to subdue them, but the President wants the officer alive and looking photogenic on TV. Moving on to tasks. Gun Group One, you are to set up the unattended ground sensors along the southern edge of the forest line to pick up the intruders as they head toward the minefield. On my order, you are to engage them from a position you are to recce and prepare on the southern edge of the forest line.

“Gun Group Two. You are to act as cut-off group, ready to engage them from a position in the scrubby area northeast of the minefield, here. Again, recce and prepare a position that will prevent any escape from the killing area.” And he indicated on the map where he wanted them located.

“Next, Korda group. You are to set up in the watchtower on the perimeter fence, here. You are to engage the enemy on my order—and I plan to be in the tower with you—as they move into the killing area. For all of you, the Korda opening fire is your signal to engage.

“Finally, my reserve group. I want you ready to move out from the back gate of the perimeter fence to capture the enemy on my order, when they’ve been neutralized.”

Then he concluded, “If they do what I expect them to do, they’ll enter into the killing area we’ve prepared for them and be trapped between the minefield and watchtowers along the perimeter fence and the two cut-off groups. We hose them down and, when they realize it’s surrender or die, we put them in the bag.”