In Nizhnevartovsk, R.S.F.S.R., three Muslims kill refinery workers and set fire to the plant. The massive fire is soon discovered by the Satellite Control Facility in Sunnyvale, California. The fire will quickly consume the entire refinery and the oil fields and burn for days. The Russians in control of the country soon realize the significance - that Russia will now have a shortage of energy. The officials know they can't possibly let the rest of the world know because the world will then know that Russia is vulnerable. Rather than risk that, a handful of Russian officials come up with a plan to gain control of larger oil supplies. That plan includes what will become a world war with control of NATO at the heart of the conflict.

The Russians assure the opportunity to attack NATO by staging an attack on their own Kremlin. The attack results in the deaths of several people, including some children. As those "innocent victims" are laid to rest, Russian officials call for retaliation. The Russian people are spurred to the war and America joins on the side of Germany, as does other world forces.

The Russians are led to believe that their military can have a decisive and immediate victory but time passes with the Allied response slowly but surely taking command of the various world theaters. When the Russians take over an air field in Iceland, an American Air Force meteorologist finds himself cut off from his unit and serving as a watch dog for the Allies. With the code name "Beagle," he reports to Allied forces in Scotland, code named "Doghouse." With the reports he garners, the Allied forces soon take back the Iceland air field.

The war continues on land with the majority of the fighting in Germany at sea and in the air. Some of the battles end in the favor of the Russians while the Allies take some. There soon emerge some military leaders, including those who put their lives on the line in submarines, tanks, and air craft. Then a military intelligence leader has the opportunity to converse with a Russian prisoner of war. The man reveals the fact that no one in the Allied forces had yet discovered - that the entire war was being waged because of Russia's energy situation. That information prompts a change in tactics and the Allied troops begin focusing on destroying Russian fuel trucks and fueling stations. That becomes the final straw. As Russian officials seek to reorganize the Russian government, Russian field commanders agree to cease fires in order to save their remaining troops.