The Secret War of the North Pacific

15: The Final Struggle

An Olive Branch. Peace! Canadian victory! The minutemen silently rejoiced. 

The Admiral with the Olive Branch walked forward, and shook hands with Sanders. Then the unpredictable happened.

The ground started vibrating. The a rumbling sound echoed. The Ground shook. A nearby dog owned by the Russian army barked. It was certain: An earthquake!

The trees started falling. The minutemen in them jumped out. Rocks from the high ground The Canadians were on fell downwards. All the soldiers ran around for shelter. Most got behind a large rock. Some just huddled on the high ground. Two stood on the coast the British ship was on, digging their feet into the wet sand. The rumbling was extreme now- no animal could stand. The Canadians & Russians were once again united. But Canada would get the entirety of Alaska. 

After two minutes of rumbling, people were flying in the air. It was an extreme earthquake, no less than 8.5 on the richter scale. Scratch that, it was eventually recorded at 9.6. Some soldiers were recorded running to the nearby forest. In his book, The North Pacific War: My War , Soviet Soldiers Charles Tarnov records his time in that battle as a First Sergeant, running to the forest. 

"I Ran From my spot where everyone else was, behind the rock. I was bouncing up and down a the snowy bottom of the Alaskan surface. Since the rock was on the downhill part, I was getting cuts & bruises from rocks. I saw people at the bottom of the hill, screaming, getting hit with a rainstorm of rocks. My mind was overflowing with mental activity, it was getting to insane levels. I ran from my cold spot, hearing my fellow Soviets beckoning me to come back. I ran to the nearby forest,  not an eighth of a mile away. In the forest was the nefarious figure we call "the big tree" whom in an ancient Eskimo legend (We took them captive) it was the cause for the extreme cold and harsh times on the territory of Alaska. I stood under, feeling a bit better to be away. But, a branch began to creak, and snap apart. The earthquake of course! I barely noticed it, and it fell on my outstretched leg- it hurt like heaven and hell coming together. I saw one other Canadian come in, and he took the branch off. He said it was 'very heavy'.  We bedded down in that area for the night, and went back to a fort called Regis #MXVIII (1018) in the morning. It was an experience I would never forget."