Command & Conquer/Poland or Belarus

The 4th GDI mission is a choice of three. The left-most arrow sends you to Poland-Gdansk (but uses the same briefing as Belarus) to recover nuclear rods. The middle arrow sends you to Poland-Białystok, and the right arrow sends you to recover the nuclear rods in Belarus. Of these missions, the right-most is the most difficult as you have a limited number of troops that need to navigate through the entire map.

The mission selection here also determines which missions are available for the next mission. While it was intended for Belarus to have two available mission choices, a bug only allows one of the following missions to be available. The left and middle routes instead provide a choice of two mission layouts.

Get the Rods Back (Poland-Gdansk)
This is the left-most mission area.

For this mission, the recommendation is to simply "blitz" to the crate without stopping to worry about enemies. Take this with several grains of salt, because it is better to carefully eliminate static enemies along the route, and it is important to defeat the initial and immediate Nod attack, otherwise your force will be severely damaged before the final assault. The route here involves crossing a Tiberium patch, turning left, and following the path to the south. Drive to the enemy base; the crate is found in the north-west corner of the map. The main point is to avoid exploring the map.

Because Tiberium damages foot soldiers (and HMMVs), load your soldiers onto the APCs before bringing them across the Tiberium field. Unload them once you're past the Tiberium, and advance towards the base as desired.

It is possible to flank the enemy base by continuing north, and driving the troops across the tiberium field. However, this causes NOD to deploy a few soldiers as reinforcements that will attack from behind. At best, you can destroy the hand of nod in order to cut down on enemy reconstruction, but it's generally harder as the enemy's rocket soldiers have slightly longer range. Bear in mind that there is no real gain to trying to finesse the final assault. As soon as one of your guys touches the crate, the scenario is over.

Note that if you have your forces wiped out, you will receive one APC containing four grenadiers. This is the only reinforcement in the mission, and if it is lost, so is the mission.

Defend Białystok
Choose the middle arrow to do this mission.

When you start, you'll see two civilians run past, followed by a group of eight Nod soldiers. Shoot the tangoes as they run by your troops. Because the Nod tangoes are engaged in committing atrocities, they will hardly notice your soldiers as you gun them down.

After the initial skirmish, head towards Bialystok. Avoid the NE map corner! Nothing good will come of going there. Otherwise, explore the map as slowly and carefully as you please, and please do that, because good things will come of it. Use Luring/Ambush tactics as appropriate, and you will do very well indeed.

Białystok is to the south, and is reached by following the road that loops to the east. Cross the bridges and enter the village.

You will receive reinforcements of two Humvees, and an APC with 4 grenadiers. However, the enemy will start the full scale attack on the farming community, sending all units on the map to your location - especially the two light tanks that approach from the south east. The enemy will first focus on the civilian building next to the bridge, allowing you some time to engage the tougher enemies.

Your grenadiers are best equipped to engage the light tanks. The vehicles should instead attempt to engage infantry as they approach.

If you have used the cautious approach recommended above, then you will win early due to a scenario bug. When you approach the outskirts of the village, all remaining Nod forces on the map rush you. This makes them fairly easy to kill. When they are all dead, you win! The final powerful enemy reinforcement group, which includes the two light tanks, never shows up, because it only arrives when you enter the main village. If you want to fight armour without any proper anti-armor units, however, go ahead and rush into the village.

Get the Rods Back (Belarus)
Choose the right arrow to do this mission.

For this mission, the recommendation is to simply blitz to the crate without stopping to worry about enemies. The route here involves crossing the tiberium patch, continuing north and following the path to the south. When you see the body of water, try to hug the southern edge of the map as you advance to the crate. The blitz tactic has no room for error, as stopping practically anywhere in the route means that the APC gets hit hard.

If you prefer a non-blitz approach, you first want to load your soldiers onto the APCs before bringing them across the tiberium field. Unload them once you're past the tiberium, and advance towards the base as desired. The most difficult portion would be the light tank, which parks itself, and requires your grenadiers to effectively destroy. The slow approach also requires careful positioning - keep your infantry first as that allows your APCs to last as long as possible from the enemies that are ahead. It is possible to flank the enemy base by continuing north, and driving the troops across the tiberium field. However, this causes NOD to deploy a few soldiers as reinforcements that will attack from behind. At best, you can destroy the hand of nod in order to cut down on enemy reconstruction, but it's generally harder as the enemy's rocket soldiers have slightly longer range. Because of the reinforcements, flanking the base is impractical.

Note that if you have your forces wiped out, you will receive one APC containing four grenadiers. This is the only reinforcement in the mission, and if it is lost, so is the mission.

End of mission
If you want to choose more than one mission for the NEXT level, save the game before you retrieve the rods or destroy the last enemy in THIS level.

After the cutscene, you are brought to the mission selection screen. Unlike other missions, the available missions depend on which mission you chose for the next chapter:


 * Repair the base (Ukraine): Available if you chose the right arrow to retrieve the rods from Belarus. Although there are two arrows to indicate different missions, they actually lead to the same one.
 * Repair the base (Germany, North): Available if you originally chose the left or middle arrow. This is identical to the Ukraine version of the next mission.
 * Repair the base (Germany, South): Available if you originally chose the left or middle arrow. The only mission that's different than the other two.