WAR DEBATE: United States of America (Pro) vs. Russian Federation (Con)

"Also, there are more bases stationed in South Korea, Germany, most of Europe and US oversea territories than in Japan. Why would Russia be focused solely on just Japan?" Russia wouldn't be focused solely on Japan, but Japan is geographically very close and so it would be expected by forces on the Eastern front that the US would attack from those bases. "They start their long trek to the Ural mountains, which takes about 2 months." I honestly doubt this timeline, as it seems impossible to me that such a massive force could travel over 4,000 miles of rough terrain in 2 months. That's travelling around 65 miles a day, every day for 2 months. Don't forget that this force has to be supplied and would often fall under attack by planes and artillery. I will, for purposes of debate, concede to my opponent's timeline. I agree that there would be little resistance, but I'm not sure how my opponent counts on supplying such a massive force, especially considering the terrain and lack of major infrastructure in Siberia. The Rockwell B-1 bombers sent towards the Ural mountains would take very heavy losses very quickly due to the anti-air systems set up in the area (primarily S-400 and S-300 systems). Also I don't imagine how effective bombing runs could be in mountain areas, trying to hit small fortified points in mountain passes. June 1: Fortification of Ural mountains is enforced with further reinforcements in terms of artillery and infantry. Tank divisions are kept behind the mountains to counter-attack in the case of any breakthrough. So far, just several dozen tanks wait. Skies over Moscow and St. Petersburg are constantly monitored, typically a dozen or so fighters in the air at any given time patrolling. July 1: Russian forces in Ural mountains just wait now, with many concrete bunkers, trenches, artillery support and tank divisions behind them in case of breakthrough. Reinforcements continue flowing in. July 22: US bombing runs commence over the Ural mountains, which are rather ineffective due to the anti-air defenses in the area (such as the S-400 and S-300 systems) as well as the terrain itself. Heavy losses are sustained by the bombers, with relatively insignificant results. July 23: The US forces finally make it to the Urals. My opponent mentions the Russian garrison being outnumbered. Even if this is the case, the US forces wouldn't be able to use their advantage in numbers because the only ways through the mountains are essentially choke-points, so the US forces wouldn't be able to use their numerical advantage. Also keep in mind that the Russians have been preparing defenses (always takes less people to effectively defend) such as bunkers and trenches for over 2 months now. They've also been being reinforced, continually supplied with troops and equipment. I don't think the US forces could expect to overcome this defense force in merely three days. Even if a breakthrough is made, it is immediately counter attacked which stalls the US forces long enough for reinforcements to arrive to try to plug the gap. Considering the terrain, US use of artillery and aviation would be virtually obsolete. A breakthrough here would have to happen on foot, where the US is at a disadvantage because they are attacking. August 1: Heavy battles still rage on in the Urals, both sides taking large casualties but the US undoubtedly suffering more because of their disadvantageous position (unless my opponent manages to think of some effective strategy to overcome the heavily fortified Russian defenses). The Russians detect a large force of US troops moving into the Baltic area (I assume being on transport ships?) and prepares the St. Petersburg garrison an attack at any moment. August 2: The US troops try to make a landing on the shores near St. Petersburg and essentially get slaughtered. No reinforcements are sent to St. Petersburg because the defense is already very heavy and the Russian government isn't yet too concerned considering how difficult it would be to make a breakthrough here. The St. Petersburg garrison has also been being reinforced and constructing defenses for over two months. Trying to make a breakthrough here would be like having another D-Day except even more difficult because US aviation (if used) would be shot down by the multitude of S-300 systems in the area which have been prepared and camouflaged for months. The force of US troops is annihilated in their attempt to make a landing, some Russian casualties are sustained but relatively insignificant considering the advantages of a defense in the area. My opponent can decide to try to maintain a force in the St. Petersburg area by sending in more men and equipment, but if that doesn't happen, the entire US force will likely be wiped out within the week. August 3: By now the US forces will have managed to make a break in the Ural defense line. I will again emphasize that casualties taken by the US to accomplish this would be enormous, and after making it through, the US will be largely limited in the sense that it is difficult to transport large amounts of equipment through the mountains. The US spearhead is repeatedly harassed by Russian artillery, bombers and raids by AFVs and tanks. Now that the US forces on the Western side of the Urals, Russian aviation is used very actively to raid the US spearhead. Kirov becomes a dumping ground for Russian air-to-ground missiles as well as bombs. Troops that had defensive positions in the Urals now turn around and begin to prepare an attack towards the US force that ended up behind them, in Kirov. Trenches, artillery positions and bunkers are repaired and built in Moscow. About half of the Moscow garrison is sent to Nizhny Novgorod and will arrive there shortly. I'd like to remind my opponent that the distance from Kirov to Moscow is about 590 miles, a long way to march. August 10: The defenders of the Urals begin their march towards Kirov from the South-East, making their way through Yekaterinburg, Perm etc. August 20: By now, virtually the entire half of the Moscow garrison that was sent off towards Nizhny Novgorod has arrived and also begins preparing for an offensive operation. The Ural defenders are only a day's march from Kirov at this point. August 23: The Nizhny attack force begins their march towards Kirov from the West. The Moscow garrison is once again massive due to non-stop reinforcements arriving from all of Western Russia by train, road and plane. All airports and railroads in Moscow area are dedicated to military functions. Ural force doesn't attack Kirov directly, instead moves Northward to begin to cut off the supply line to Kirov. August 25: The US forces in Kirov were at first glad to be relieved of the frequent bombardment, but now they are under assault from the large Nizhny Novgorod attack force. The Russians use T-90 tanks to make a break in the US defenses, following up with infantry and AFVs to widen the gap in US defenses and outgun the defenders. US troops in Kirov start seeing a decrease in the rate of influx of supplies and reinforcements as the Ural group is directly East of Kirov now, setting up a defensive line to keep US reinforcements from coming in from the East. "As the Russian government tries to take back most of Eastern Russia, troops are gathered from the East coast of the USA as well as the remnants of our fleet. (not much) They are transported to the Baltic Sea, for a real invasion." This is false. I do not plan to yet make any attempts to take back Eastern Russia (hard to say it's under US control in the first place considering that my opponent hasn't really done much to expand vertically in Siberia). US ships entering the Baltic Sea quickly begin taking casualties from the large amount of submarines located there. Besides that, however, the Russians make little attempt to stop the ships.