Enjoying this very much but & I'm very sorry to nitpick but believe there is a rather important no missing from the start of this.
Three Men, One Island - A Cuban Missile Crisis timeline
- Thread starter BurkeanLibCon
- Start date
I am reading a 1968 USAF report on the role of aviation during the crises of Lebanon and Taiwan in 58, Congo, Cuba and the Dominican Republic in 1965. Today, it seems normal that a plane leaves a continent for a mission on the other side of the world, but at the time, the USAF had losses during deployment with navigation errors and not enough in-flight refuelers. The squadrons leaving North America for Europe and East Asia in an emergency at the start of this Third World War will have such difficulties:
historyinpieces.com
U.S. Air Force Role in Five Crises: Lebanon, Taiwan, Congo, Cuba, Dominican Republic / Documents
This study for the US Air Force examines the U.S. Air Force role in five crises in the late 1950s through mid-1960s: Lebanon, Taiwan Straits, Congo, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Dominican Republic.
historyinpieces.com
Chapter 8 – May There Always Be Sunshine
Important Timezones:
- 19:00 D.C. time & Havana time (previous day)
- 00:00 London time
- 01:00 Berlin time & Bonn time
- 03:00 Moscow time
- 05:30 Delhi time
- 08:00 Beijing time
[1]
Before the attack began, members of the RAF Police and RAF ground personnel exchanged fire with unknown intruders at RAF Brüggen at roughly 04:52 local time. The attack left 3 dead among the attacks and an RAF policeman fatally wounded. A number of unusual incidents took place across West Germany in the hours leading up to 05:00, including a mystery fire at Hamburg and a West Berlin police station attacked by masked gunmen armed with pistols and grenades, Soviet special forces are suspected, but no one will ever truly find out - there won't be any evidence left to look through.
The Warsaw Pact attack began at 05:00 Berlin time on the 2nd of November, six days since the B-59 incident. Tupolev Tu-16 long-range bombers from the Long-Range Aviation of the Soviet Air Force flying over Polish airspace launched a large volley of new Kh-22 "Kitchen" air-launched missiles, and KS-1 Komet and KSR-2 "Kelt" cruise missiles against NATO air bases and supply depots in West Germany, West Berlin, Denmark and the Low Countries. Most warheads are conventional though a number contain blistering agents such as mustard gas. A number of missiles are shot down by NATO SAMs whilst a few others suffer guidance or mechanical failure and land elsewhere than their assigned targets. Over twenty air bases are struck, destroying hangars, runways and maintenance buildings.
Soviet Frontal Aviation MiG and Sukhoi fighters and Ilyushin Il-28 jet bombers follow behind the missile barrage at 05:20 to finish off any targets not sufficiently destroyed. Like the missiles, they carry no nuclear warheads. The Soviet planes meet fierce resistance from NATO fighters. The people of West Germany are greeted to an early sunrise from all the explosions taking place at ground level and in the air all over their airspace. Since the Eastern bloc pilots launched the first attacks, their bases are so-far untouched and therefore their pilots can rearm and refuel easier than their Western equivalents who often find themselves returning to damaged or outright unusable airfields for the time being. Soviet pilots don't exactly have it easier either, many of their best units are dragged into air-to-air fighting with NATO Lightnings, F-105s, Javelins and Mirage IIIs, leaving their own force decimated in vicious aerial dogfighting. The beginning of the largest aerial battle in history favours the Warsaw Pact.
At 05:37, the artillery opened up. From the shores of the Baltic to the Alps, heavy mortars, howitzer guns and rockets pummel NATO positions. From the westernmost edges of East Germany and Czechoslovakia, the barrage rips vast holes in the West German landscape. Some hit NATO defensive positions, others hit would-be offensive positions which in fact didn't exist. Throughout the entire pre-invasion bombardment, civilian areas were hit in West German towns, villages and cities, killing over 3,000 civilians. Accompanying the artillery was another attack wave from Frontal Aviation, to destroy NATO positions, both defensive and "offensive" - expending much ammunition on non-existent NATO positions. Again, Soviet and Warsaw Pact (mostly Polish, Czechoslovak and East German) pilots and planes suffered immense losses alongside their NATO counterparts.
Meanwhile, in West Berlin, Soviet and East German armour begins to pour in through recently-blown holes in the Berlin Wall. Fighting in the city is brutal, hand-to-hand and house-to-fighting combined with point-blank armour duels in narrow streets leaves the city devastated and thousands of civilians and soldiers dead. Fighting in Berlin will continue until the end of the conventional phase of the war.
The Prime Minister's heart sank as he read the report on his desk:
A few years ago, Macmillan had heralded the "winds of change", he just hadn't predicted those winds may one day carry fallout. Ever since he'd first heard news of Soviet missiles in Cuba, he feared where he'd end up. Right now that was deep underneath the small Wiltshire town of Corsham. "Deep enough to be a fine tomb" he quietly thought to himself.
Britain was relatively well prepared for war. The First Army - a renaming of NATO's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) - and RAF Germany had moved themselves into position fairly well, the V-Bomber force had been dispersed even before West Germany had mobilised, and the Royal Navy was joining with other allied navies in hunting Soviet ships and submarines in the Eastern Atlantic. The Royal Family had been moved successfully, taking up residence in Blair Atholl Castle, whilst the Regional Commissioners and their subbordinates were in place to run what would be left of Britain in the aftermath of a nuclear strike. One can only be prepared for war so much though, Soviet bombers raiding British targets had been anticipated, though Fighter Command was relieved to discover the ones that got through had been carrying conventional ordinance (for now).
At the same time as the attack in West Germany was beginning, nine Soviet Tu-95 "Bear" bombers had visited the British Isles. Birkenhead, Hull, Portsmouth, Swansea and RAF bases at Brize Norton, Coningsby, Feltwell, Hemswell, Ludford Magna, North Pickenham were struck by yet more Kitchen missiles. Fighter Command Javelin and Lightning fighter interceptors and Royal Artillery Bofors anti-aircraft guns had done their best in shooting down these aircraft, downing two attacking the RAF in East Anglia, but around 120 civilians and double that number of military personnel had perished.
Following their attacks in Britain, the Bears turned back to Europe to be repurposed for a nuclear-strike role against North America.
Much of the rest of Europe had seen Soviet strikes. Calais and Cherbourg in France had been struck by Bears returning from their mission in Britain, causing minor physical damage but a lot of changing of trousers. Air bases in northern Italy had seen both air strikes and sabotage operations whilst the aging Jupiter missiles in Turkey were almost entirely wiped out in one wave of attack and would be wholly out of action by the next day, sparing the USSR from a surprise attack from the south but leaving several areas of Turkish territory irradiated. Compared to what was happening (and what happen later) in Northern Europe, Ankara was still counting their lucky stars.
"My fellow citizens,
As President and Commander-in-Chief, it is my duty to inform you that a large-scale communist military offensive is taking place in Europe. Soviet-led communist armies are right now engaging against United States and NATO allied forces in West Germany, Berlin, Denmark and Norway and Soviet aircraft have attacked many other NATO members
On land and sea, and in the air, the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact states have attacked the armed forces of the United States and our NATO allies in Western Europe. As such, I have ordered our armed forces to take action in reply.
The tragic news from Europe shocks the conscience of the world. The Soviet Union and its client states launched this cowardly and unprovoked attack in order to distract us from our plans to demilitarize Cuba and prevent it from becoming a missile base in a nuclear war. In this effort, they will fail. The armed forces of the United States are capable of, and furthermore are ready to wage concurrent military campaigns on two fronts. The enemy will not divert us from the path we must travel.
In response to this cowardly attack upon the United States, I have asked that the following steps by taken:
First. All diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union and all member states of the Warsaw Pact have been severed and will remain so until their aggression has ceased.
Second. An emergency meeting of the North Atlantic Council be summoned in order to invoke Article 5 of the Washington Treaty of 1949, declaring that an attack upon one NATO member state is an attack upon all members.
Third. I ordered that a full Civil Defense alert be initiated as a precautionary measure in case of further escalation.
Fourth, I have requested that an emergency meeting of the Security Council of the United Nations be invoked to condemn this warlike and aggressive communist campaign, and to compel the Soviet Union and its allies to cease their invasion by all means, including the use of force.
Fifth and finally. In support of our NATO obligations, I have asked the Congress to approve of the use of armed force in Europe, in order to defeat and repel this illegal and unprovoked invasion, for however long is necessary.
Our plans in Europe and in Cuba are very simple. They lose, and we win. Their aggression will be defeated, and we will defend both ourselves and our allies however high the cost.
The cost of defending freedom in this world may be high, and the American people know the costs of war. But we also know the alternative to paying that cost is far greater, and the consequences of allowing ourselves or our allies to be bullied either by subterfuge or direct attack would be unthinkable.
The free world now answers that call to arms, with clarity of mission and an iron resolve. Our wish is for peace, but we are ready, willing and able to fight for our freedoms.
Thank you."
*
"Son of a bitch!" Those were the first words President John F. Kennedy uttered upon being notified of the Soviet-led invasion of West Germany at 23:00 EST on the 1st of November. The time difference between Europe and North America ensures that Americans consider the start of the European war on the 1st rather than the 2nd. Anyway, there was now a war in Europe. Upon digesting the report, he orders a full civil defence alert. Across the United States, air raid sirens begin to blare. No aircraft or missiles are heading towards North America but no one in the general public knows that, to them the world in finally ending around them. From San Francisco, California to Portsmouth in Maine, basements are filled and roads are jam-packed with those desperate to escape aerial incineration.
Within several hours, the CONELRAD network proclaims that the alarm was just that, an alarm. No nuclear weapons are headed for the Americas. But the war continues unabated. In the Atlantic, Soviet submarines were attacking and sometimes sinking NATO convoys and many Americans have died in the European theatre already. By the time Kennedy addresses the nation from the Oval Office at 09:30 EST on the 2nd, it's evening in Germany and the Soviet 8th Guards Combined Arms Army is advancing on the town of Fulda. The world holds its breath. Cuba has still to be dealt with. The invasion there will begin less than 24 hours.
At 06:00 German time sharp, the ground invasion began. All across the frontier, Warsaw Pact tanks and infantry pour forward to take positions they believed to have been destroyed, their initial lack of fire from the "offensive" positions encourages them - they've been told their order are simply to destroy NATO forces facing them. When the enemy begins shooting back at them they begin to worry, but they've been training for war for years and fight well.
In the north, forward units of the British 1st Division engage the Soviet 120th Guards Motor Rifle Division (moved from Belarus) around the heavily-bombarded town of Helmstedt before falling back to more defensible positions near Cremlingen whilst the Soviet 2nd Guards Tank Army engages the [West] German 1st Corps outside Wolfsburg. In the south, Soviet and Czechoslovak armies butt heads with the U.S. VII Corps and German II Corps. The main fight however is in the south, between the US V Corps and the Soviet 8th Guards Combined Arms Army in the vital Fulda Gap.
At 07:45 local time, men of the Soviet 61st Naval Infantry Brigade and the 76th Air Assault Division land in the northern Norwegian isles and launch a frontal attack on Kirkenes. The attack in Norway is a diversionary assault designed to seize territory to bargain with in any peace conference - assuming there will be anyone left to attend a peace conference. In the Baltic straits, Polish and Soviet marine units land in the Danish isles, supported by the Soviet Baltic Fleet.
Across all fronts, fighting is vicious as men bleed and die because some hotheads in the Caribbean didn't get the word. The Caribbean is far from the front of the minds of those on the frontline, nor those waking up to air and missile strikes in their towns. They're more preoccupied by the sum of all fears unfolding before their eyes, and questions such as how does total war involving three nuclear-armed states end? Thankfully for them, they would not have to wonder very long.
Both NATO and Warsaw Pact forces went into battle went plentiful amounts of tactical nuclear weapons such as the Frog or the Honest John. In the event they were given authority to do so, battlefield commanders could use them to against enemy forces to prevent their own destruction or to take out rear-area operations. By the early evening, with losses mounting and available arsenals of weapons depleting very very fast, a Soviet push through the Fulda Gap manages to break the line held by the US V Corps. Soviet tanks were speeding towards the city of Frankfurt - home to Rhein-Main, the principal U.S. Air Force base in Germany.
At 21:57 local time, the commander of the U.S. 3rd Armoured Division, Major General John Ramsey Pugh, is having a very bad day. By the early evening, the Hesse town of Hünfeld and Gersfeld had fallen. The battlelines are chaotic as Soviet artillery pummels the retreating elements of the 3rd Armoured. He's receiving confused reports of Soviet armour on the outskirts of Fulda. A colonel within the 3rd Armoured Division is suddenly informed of a large burst to the north of the city. An aide reports to him that a large explosion and a mushroom cloud were spotted on the horizon. Having spent the last several hours bombarded by Soviet artillery and under intense pressure, the Tennessee resident doesn't even think before ordering tactical nuclear release, believing the Soviets to have launched first; they hadn't, the blast had actually come from a fuel dump that was struck by a Soviet Komet missile. In the chaos of the battle, the colonel's orders are hardly questioned.
The war in Europe went nuclear at 02:24.19 local time on the 2nd of November 1962 when a 10-kiloton Honest John missile detonated over the heads of the 39th Guards Motor Rifle Division north of the town of Marbach in Hesse. Over 1,000 Germans and several thousand Soviet soldiers are killed instantly. News reaches Soviet commanders quickly both from the blinding flash of light, the mushroom cloud and the agonised screeching on the radios before they go dead. The fighting around the area ceases as men are distracted by the sight. WIthin twenty minutes, three more blasts light up the sky as the Soviet divisional commander authorises the launch of three 20-kiloton 9K52 Luna-M artillery rockets against the town of Fulda, obliterating it and tens of thousands of German civilians still in the city.
Following the Fulda exchange, tactical nuclear release starts taking place across the whole front. By the time the clock hits midnight, over 20 nuclear detonations will take place on German soil. Kennedy hears the news of the Fulda blast 15 minutes after it occurs, Khrushchev hears after 25. Panic sets in. Khrushchev realises that his gamble has failed. It was a long shot that it would succeed, but now it's too late to change course. Kennedy realises the mess he is in, he'd tried as hard as he could to avoid this but now he was looking at a two-front nuclear war. This is World War III. In Washington D.C. it is now almost seven in the evening of the 2nd. The 48-hour deadline elapsed just under two hours ago. In Florida, soldiers, airmen, sailors and marines are given their final briefings by their commanders.
SCABBARDS begins in 10 hours.
Footnotes
- [1] Apologies for the clapping, it's the best I could find for that part of Swan Lake.
Comments?
- 19:00 D.C. time & Havana time (previous day)
- 00:00 London time
- 01:00 Berlin time & Bonn time
- 03:00 Moscow time
- 05:30 Delhi time
- 08:00 Beijing time
Chapter 8 – May There Always Be Sunshine
31 October – 2 November 1962
“Could anyone in his right mind speak seriously of any limited nuclear war? It should be quite clear that the aggressor's actions will instantly and inevitably trigger a devastating counterstroke by the other side.”
– Dmitry Ustinov
Before the attack began, members of the RAF Police and RAF ground personnel exchanged fire with unknown intruders at RAF Brüggen at roughly 04:52 local time. The attack left 3 dead among the attacks and an RAF policeman fatally wounded. A number of unusual incidents took place across West Germany in the hours leading up to 05:00, including a mystery fire at Hamburg and a West Berlin police station attacked by masked gunmen armed with pistols and grenades, Soviet special forces are suspected, but no one will ever truly find out - there won't be any evidence left to look through.
The Warsaw Pact attack began at 05:00 Berlin time on the 2nd of November, six days since the B-59 incident. Tupolev Tu-16 long-range bombers from the Long-Range Aviation of the Soviet Air Force flying over Polish airspace launched a large volley of new Kh-22 "Kitchen" air-launched missiles, and KS-1 Komet and KSR-2 "Kelt" cruise missiles against NATO air bases and supply depots in West Germany, West Berlin, Denmark and the Low Countries. Most warheads are conventional though a number contain blistering agents such as mustard gas. A number of missiles are shot down by NATO SAMs whilst a few others suffer guidance or mechanical failure and land elsewhere than their assigned targets. Over twenty air bases are struck, destroying hangars, runways and maintenance buildings.
Soviet Frontal Aviation MiG and Sukhoi fighters and Ilyushin Il-28 jet bombers follow behind the missile barrage at 05:20 to finish off any targets not sufficiently destroyed. Like the missiles, they carry no nuclear warheads. The Soviet planes meet fierce resistance from NATO fighters. The people of West Germany are greeted to an early sunrise from all the explosions taking place at ground level and in the air all over their airspace. Since the Eastern bloc pilots launched the first attacks, their bases are so-far untouched and therefore their pilots can rearm and refuel easier than their Western equivalents who often find themselves returning to damaged or outright unusable airfields for the time being. Soviet pilots don't exactly have it easier either, many of their best units are dragged into air-to-air fighting with NATO Lightnings, F-105s, Javelins and Mirage IIIs, leaving their own force decimated in vicious aerial dogfighting. The beginning of the largest aerial battle in history favours the Warsaw Pact.
At 05:37, the artillery opened up. From the shores of the Baltic to the Alps, heavy mortars, howitzer guns and rockets pummel NATO positions. From the westernmost edges of East Germany and Czechoslovakia, the barrage rips vast holes in the West German landscape. Some hit NATO defensive positions, others hit would-be offensive positions which in fact didn't exist. Throughout the entire pre-invasion bombardment, civilian areas were hit in West German towns, villages and cities, killing over 3,000 civilians. Accompanying the artillery was another attack wave from Frontal Aviation, to destroy NATO positions, both defensive and "offensive" - expending much ammunition on non-existent NATO positions. Again, Soviet and Warsaw Pact (mostly Polish, Czechoslovak and East German) pilots and planes suffered immense losses alongside their NATO counterparts.
Meanwhile, in West Berlin, Soviet and East German armour begins to pour in through recently-blown holes in the Berlin Wall. Fighting in the city is brutal, hand-to-hand and house-to-fighting combined with point-blank armour duels in narrow streets leaves the city devastated and thousands of civilians and soldiers dead. Fighting in Berlin will continue until the end of the conventional phase of the war.
"Warsaw Pact attack in Germany in progress; 'special operation' proclaimed by Radio Moscow;
First Army taking heavy casualties; British mainland bombed - no nuclear strike registered"
A few years ago, Macmillan had heralded the "winds of change", he just hadn't predicted those winds may one day carry fallout. Ever since he'd first heard news of Soviet missiles in Cuba, he feared where he'd end up. Right now that was deep underneath the small Wiltshire town of Corsham. "Deep enough to be a fine tomb" he quietly thought to himself.
Britain was relatively well prepared for war. The First Army - a renaming of NATO's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) - and RAF Germany had moved themselves into position fairly well, the V-Bomber force had been dispersed even before West Germany had mobilised, and the Royal Navy was joining with other allied navies in hunting Soviet ships and submarines in the Eastern Atlantic. The Royal Family had been moved successfully, taking up residence in Blair Atholl Castle, whilst the Regional Commissioners and their subbordinates were in place to run what would be left of Britain in the aftermath of a nuclear strike. One can only be prepared for war so much though, Soviet bombers raiding British targets had been anticipated, though Fighter Command was relieved to discover the ones that got through had been carrying conventional ordinance (for now).
At the same time as the attack in West Germany was beginning, nine Soviet Tu-95 "Bear" bombers had visited the British Isles. Birkenhead, Hull, Portsmouth, Swansea and RAF bases at Brize Norton, Coningsby, Feltwell, Hemswell, Ludford Magna, North Pickenham were struck by yet more Kitchen missiles. Fighter Command Javelin and Lightning fighter interceptors and Royal Artillery Bofors anti-aircraft guns had done their best in shooting down these aircraft, downing two attacking the RAF in East Anglia, but around 120 civilians and double that number of military personnel had perished.
Following their attacks in Britain, the Bears turned back to Europe to be repurposed for a nuclear-strike role against North America.
Much of the rest of Europe had seen Soviet strikes. Calais and Cherbourg in France had been struck by Bears returning from their mission in Britain, causing minor physical damage but a lot of changing of trousers. Air bases in northern Italy had seen both air strikes and sabotage operations whilst the aging Jupiter missiles in Turkey were almost entirely wiped out in one wave of attack and would be wholly out of action by the next day, sparing the USSR from a surprise attack from the south but leaving several areas of Turkish territory irradiated. Compared to what was happening (and what happen later) in Northern Europe, Ankara was still counting their lucky stars.
"My fellow citizens,
As President and Commander-in-Chief, it is my duty to inform you that a large-scale communist military offensive is taking place in Europe. Soviet-led communist armies are right now engaging against United States and NATO allied forces in West Germany, Berlin, Denmark and Norway and Soviet aircraft have attacked many other NATO members
On land and sea, and in the air, the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact states have attacked the armed forces of the United States and our NATO allies in Western Europe. As such, I have ordered our armed forces to take action in reply.
The tragic news from Europe shocks the conscience of the world. The Soviet Union and its client states launched this cowardly and unprovoked attack in order to distract us from our plans to demilitarize Cuba and prevent it from becoming a missile base in a nuclear war. In this effort, they will fail. The armed forces of the United States are capable of, and furthermore are ready to wage concurrent military campaigns on two fronts. The enemy will not divert us from the path we must travel.
In response to this cowardly attack upon the United States, I have asked that the following steps by taken:
First. All diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union and all member states of the Warsaw Pact have been severed and will remain so until their aggression has ceased.
Second. An emergency meeting of the North Atlantic Council be summoned in order to invoke Article 5 of the Washington Treaty of 1949, declaring that an attack upon one NATO member state is an attack upon all members.
Third. I ordered that a full Civil Defense alert be initiated as a precautionary measure in case of further escalation.
Fourth, I have requested that an emergency meeting of the Security Council of the United Nations be invoked to condemn this warlike and aggressive communist campaign, and to compel the Soviet Union and its allies to cease their invasion by all means, including the use of force.
Fifth and finally. In support of our NATO obligations, I have asked the Congress to approve of the use of armed force in Europe, in order to defeat and repel this illegal and unprovoked invasion, for however long is necessary.
Our plans in Europe and in Cuba are very simple. They lose, and we win. Their aggression will be defeated, and we will defend both ourselves and our allies however high the cost.
The cost of defending freedom in this world may be high, and the American people know the costs of war. But we also know the alternative to paying that cost is far greater, and the consequences of allowing ourselves or our allies to be bullied either by subterfuge or direct attack would be unthinkable.
The free world now answers that call to arms, with clarity of mission and an iron resolve. Our wish is for peace, but we are ready, willing and able to fight for our freedoms.
Thank you."
*
"Son of a bitch!" Those were the first words President John F. Kennedy uttered upon being notified of the Soviet-led invasion of West Germany at 23:00 EST on the 1st of November. The time difference between Europe and North America ensures that Americans consider the start of the European war on the 1st rather than the 2nd. Anyway, there was now a war in Europe. Upon digesting the report, he orders a full civil defence alert. Across the United States, air raid sirens begin to blare. No aircraft or missiles are heading towards North America but no one in the general public knows that, to them the world in finally ending around them. From San Francisco, California to Portsmouth in Maine, basements are filled and roads are jam-packed with those desperate to escape aerial incineration.
Within several hours, the CONELRAD network proclaims that the alarm was just that, an alarm. No nuclear weapons are headed for the Americas. But the war continues unabated. In the Atlantic, Soviet submarines were attacking and sometimes sinking NATO convoys and many Americans have died in the European theatre already. By the time Kennedy addresses the nation from the Oval Office at 09:30 EST on the 2nd, it's evening in Germany and the Soviet 8th Guards Combined Arms Army is advancing on the town of Fulda. The world holds its breath. Cuba has still to be dealt with. The invasion there will begin less than 24 hours.
At 06:00 German time sharp, the ground invasion began. All across the frontier, Warsaw Pact tanks and infantry pour forward to take positions they believed to have been destroyed, their initial lack of fire from the "offensive" positions encourages them - they've been told their order are simply to destroy NATO forces facing them. When the enemy begins shooting back at them they begin to worry, but they've been training for war for years and fight well.
In the north, forward units of the British 1st Division engage the Soviet 120th Guards Motor Rifle Division (moved from Belarus) around the heavily-bombarded town of Helmstedt before falling back to more defensible positions near Cremlingen whilst the Soviet 2nd Guards Tank Army engages the [West] German 1st Corps outside Wolfsburg. In the south, Soviet and Czechoslovak armies butt heads with the U.S. VII Corps and German II Corps. The main fight however is in the south, between the US V Corps and the Soviet 8th Guards Combined Arms Army in the vital Fulda Gap.
At 07:45 local time, men of the Soviet 61st Naval Infantry Brigade and the 76th Air Assault Division land in the northern Norwegian isles and launch a frontal attack on Kirkenes. The attack in Norway is a diversionary assault designed to seize territory to bargain with in any peace conference - assuming there will be anyone left to attend a peace conference. In the Baltic straits, Polish and Soviet marine units land in the Danish isles, supported by the Soviet Baltic Fleet.
Across all fronts, fighting is vicious as men bleed and die because some hotheads in the Caribbean didn't get the word. The Caribbean is far from the front of the minds of those on the frontline, nor those waking up to air and missile strikes in their towns. They're more preoccupied by the sum of all fears unfolding before their eyes, and questions such as how does total war involving three nuclear-armed states end? Thankfully for them, they would not have to wonder very long.
Both NATO and Warsaw Pact forces went into battle went plentiful amounts of tactical nuclear weapons such as the Frog or the Honest John. In the event they were given authority to do so, battlefield commanders could use them to against enemy forces to prevent their own destruction or to take out rear-area operations. By the early evening, with losses mounting and available arsenals of weapons depleting very very fast, a Soviet push through the Fulda Gap manages to break the line held by the US V Corps. Soviet tanks were speeding towards the city of Frankfurt - home to Rhein-Main, the principal U.S. Air Force base in Germany.
At 21:57 local time, the commander of the U.S. 3rd Armoured Division, Major General John Ramsey Pugh, is having a very bad day. By the early evening, the Hesse town of Hünfeld and Gersfeld had fallen. The battlelines are chaotic as Soviet artillery pummels the retreating elements of the 3rd Armoured. He's receiving confused reports of Soviet armour on the outskirts of Fulda. A colonel within the 3rd Armoured Division is suddenly informed of a large burst to the north of the city. An aide reports to him that a large explosion and a mushroom cloud were spotted on the horizon. Having spent the last several hours bombarded by Soviet artillery and under intense pressure, the Tennessee resident doesn't even think before ordering tactical nuclear release, believing the Soviets to have launched first; they hadn't, the blast had actually come from a fuel dump that was struck by a Soviet Komet missile. In the chaos of the battle, the colonel's orders are hardly questioned.
"Mobile area commander has authorized the release of tactical nuclear weapons to relieve 1st Squadron, 32nd Cavalry...
...prepare sequence of firing..."
"God help us all!"
...prepare sequence of firing..."
"God help us all!"
The war in Europe went nuclear at 02:24.19 local time on the 2nd of November 1962 when a 10-kiloton Honest John missile detonated over the heads of the 39th Guards Motor Rifle Division north of the town of Marbach in Hesse. Over 1,000 Germans and several thousand Soviet soldiers are killed instantly. News reaches Soviet commanders quickly both from the blinding flash of light, the mushroom cloud and the agonised screeching on the radios before they go dead. The fighting around the area ceases as men are distracted by the sight. WIthin twenty minutes, three more blasts light up the sky as the Soviet divisional commander authorises the launch of three 20-kiloton 9K52 Luna-M artillery rockets against the town of Fulda, obliterating it and tens of thousands of German civilians still in the city.
Following the Fulda exchange, tactical nuclear release starts taking place across the whole front. By the time the clock hits midnight, over 20 nuclear detonations will take place on German soil. Kennedy hears the news of the Fulda blast 15 minutes after it occurs, Khrushchev hears after 25. Panic sets in. Khrushchev realises that his gamble has failed. It was a long shot that it would succeed, but now it's too late to change course. Kennedy realises the mess he is in, he'd tried as hard as he could to avoid this but now he was looking at a two-front nuclear war. This is World War III. In Washington D.C. it is now almost seven in the evening of the 2nd. The 48-hour deadline elapsed just under two hours ago. In Florida, soldiers, airmen, sailors and marines are given their final briefings by their commanders.
SCABBARDS begins in 10 hours.
Footnotes
- [1] Apologies for the clapping, it's the best I could find for that part of Swan Lake.
Comments?
Last edited:
Inspired by Protect and Survive, yes. Direct copy, no.
This timeline will be different from Protect and Survive.
I thought it was familiar - I suppose when you hand nuclear arms to people while they're being shot at, every problem will look like an atomic target!
I wonder how far both Kruschev and Kennedy will go on inertia - will they be able to swallow pride and retreat when the moment of decision appears? Given that the phrase 'end of the conventional phase' was mentioned it sounds like we're doomed to a strategic exchange.
I wonder how far both Kruschev and Kennedy will go on inertia - will they be able to swallow pride and retreat when the moment of decision appears? Given that the phrase 'end of the conventional phase' was mentioned it sounds like we're doomed to a strategic exchange.
Khrushchev calling it a "special military operation" to demilitarized West Germany is rather on the nose. But other than that, great timeline. The tension only rises as we rise up the escalation ladder.
Chapter 9 – Into the Jaws of Death
Important Timezones:
- 19:00 D.C. time & Havana time (previous day)
- 00:00 London time
- 01:00 Berlin time & Bonn time
- 03:00 Moscow time
- 05:30 Delhi time
- 08:00 Beijing time
PARISH NOTICE: I was a little careless with my research, as I have just discovered that Mariel was to be a landing zone in the planned invasion of Cuba. My mistake, I have had to change that, sending an army through radioactive fallout seems like a bad idea. If you go back to chapter 4 ("Resolution"), you'll see I've changed it so that the second American bomb is dropped in Santa Clara instead. Apologies for the inconvenience, but I've written this here to avoid inconsistency.
The resumption of the Warsaw Pact offensive in Germany at 07:45 local time on the 3rd of November was preceded by a large-scale nuclear release. In the north, seven 9K52 Luna-M tactical missiles were launched against the British First Army (a renaming of NORTHAG). Through the new holes in the fromtline, the Soviet 3rd Red Banner Combined Arms Army punches through the holes towards the Weser River. Fearing encirclement, remaining First Army units retreat. To the north, the Dutch I Corps retreats from the Elbe towards the Weser. At 10:30 local time, the Soviets (dressed in full NBC gear) reach the Weser and begin to assemble pontoon bridges to cross after the regular bridges were destroyed by retreating British, West German and Dutch forces. Early in the afternoon, they cross the Weser and begin advancing on the Ruhr.
To the south, the Soviet 8th Guards Army, having regrouped with forces from the 1st Guards Tank Army, releases yet more Luna rockets against the US V Corps and advances on Frankfurt. From Rhein-Main, the US Air Force continues to pound the advancing communist units. The Americans also make use of tactical nuclear weapons, and a number of Davy Crocketts and Honest Johns and fired back towards the Soviets. In return, Soviet bombers destroy Rhein-Main and most of Frankfurt with two 1-megaton "Kelt" cruise missiles. By midday, they have reached the ruins of Frankfurt and are closing on the Rhine.
Throughout the afternoon of the 3rd, operational targets across Western Europe are struck. In the Netherlands, Eindhoven, Leeuwarden, Volkel and Gilze-Rijen Air Bases are annihilated by Soviet Kh-22s. Ramstein Air Base was struck by a 1-megaton bomb, taking most of Kaiserslautern with it. In addition, the HQ of the US Air Force in Europe at Wiesbaden was also struck. In Bavaria, tactical nukes fly left and right as the front closes in on Regensburg.
In retaliation, NATO air forces retaliate against military targets inside East Germany. NVA Air Force command headquarters in Strausberg is hit by a British Valiant bomber, and is wiped from the face of the earth. The blast is witnessed by the forces fighting in Berlin - bringing a temporary silence to the city before fighting there resumes. Holzdorf, Preschen and Trollenhagen Air Bases are also eliminated by the mid-afternoon.
Any semblance of order in West Germany evaporates. Roads are clogged with evacuating civilians - leading to numerous incidents of NATO and Warsaw Pact armour simply ploughing through refugee columns, crushing many in their cars. Many without cars either walk, run, cycle or ride on the roofs of other peoples cars. There are also "questionable" trades made to secure a ride out of the conflict zone whilst others choose violence. Among some, the coming end of the world is an opportunity to sin their backsides off before they are cremated at high heat, others simply snap. The end result is the same, looting becomes rampant to grab as many good supplies as possible before rushing west or underground
Many wonder whether there will be a Germany left by tomorrow? Since the morning, half of the German death toll during the entirety of the First World War has been added to the death toll. Many veterans of that war still live, and some can't help but think of that war fondly in comparison to this. Others can't, the pain to too great.
Compared to what is about to come, today's nuclear war has been tame.
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Operation SCABBARDS - the American invasion of Cuba - began shortly after 05:00 EST on the 3rd of November EST (11:00 in Germany) with the most intense bombardment of Cuba since the 27th of October. Over a thousand Tactical Air Command F-84s, F-100s and F-105s as well as aircraft from four carriers - the USS Enterprise, Independence, Wasp and the recently recommissioned Tarawa - deliver bombs and missiles against Cuban military targets along the northern coastline and further inland. Despite the loss of two F-84s and an F-100, they meet little resistance as most Soviet and Cuban aircraft have been destroyed over the last week.
The paratroopers begin landing in Cuba at 05:50 EST. The 82nd Airborne Division lands in José Martí International Airport and San Antonio de los Baños Airfield, both outside Havana. The American paratroopers are greeted by heavy resistance from the Cuban defenders, digging in under heavy fire. The 101st Airborne Division lands further east at Playa Baracoa airfield and in the port town of Mariel. The port is secured cleanly, except embarrassingly for a blue-on-blue incident with a team of Navy SEALs inserted prior to the paratroop landings. Thankfully, no one dies - yet. The Cuban artillery shelling the port is silenced by American fighters (taking full advantage of their air supremacy) and the lead elements of the 1st Armored Division are unloaded and begin pushing to secure the rest of the town, fighting bloody street battles with what Cuban infantry weren't cowed by the intense bombardment, air strikes and paratroopers falling from above. In keeping with the interests of speed, the men of the 1st Armored refuse to be bogged down in prolonged fighting with the Cubans, and quickly reach Guanajay on the road to San Antonio de los Baños. Emerging among the American landing force in Cuba is the feeling that "maybe there are more Soviets here than we thought?". In this belief, they are right.
East of Havana, the story is different. The areas natural defenses make the American landings harder, not helped by Soviet conventional cruise missiles sinking multiple American transport ships. From Tarará to Varadero, men of the 2nd Marine Division fight their way inland to secure the port of Matanzas. At Playa Jibacoa, the 2nd Marine Regiment finds itself facing a well-stocked and dug-in company of Cuban infantry, supported by a handful of recently-donated Soviet tanks. After a close-run battle, the beachhead is secured and the 2nd Marines push south towards the main road. By late afternoon, the port of Matanzas is secured.
In Havana, Fidel Castro is losing his mind. In the morning, he appeared publicly to a terrified Havana populace and reassured them he would not flee the city and that the Americans would be driven back into the sea and "bear the historic consequences of their aggression, never before seen in history." By now, he is well aware than his army can't stop the US Army and Marines with solely convention weapons. By late afternoon, the Americans have secured Guanajay and the port of Matanzas. To the east of Havana, the 2nd Infantry Division is beginning to unload. In the west, Cuban and Soviet positions are also being forced back under the weight of America's overwhelming control of the air. The only man in Cuba unhappier than the Prime Minister is Soviet Army General Issa Alexandrovich Pliyev, commander of all Soviet forces on Cuba - including the nuclear weapons, which a large force of Cuban soldiers is attempting to seize, claiming they have orders from Castro personally. The last week for him has been awful. Out of the original 42,000-strong Soviet force, over 26,000 of them are dead and the rest are being chewed up fighting the invasion force. Pliyev knows that the men are doing their duty faithfully, resisting the invasion, but as news continues to filter in he receives more and more frantic messages from Havana urging him to deploy nuclear weapons against the Americans. He is thus far reluctant, but he is fast losing control of the situation. Firstly, he is weakened by kidney disease. Secondly, at over 300,000, Cuban forces outnumber his almost ten to one. Already, he conceded to turning on the air defence radars that allowed the U-2 to be shot down on October 27th. Already, he conceded to the use of Komet missiles on Guantanamo Bay, in contravention of Moscow's orders. Already, he has placed almost all of the remaining Soviet ground troops and air crew (pressed into the infantry role without aircraft to fly) under effective Cuban control. The war and Castro's badgering is wearing him down, and his poor health only worsens matters. In the afternoon, he pays a visit to the force guarding the remaining missiles in western Cuba. The knot in his stomach undoes itself when he sees they are still there and under his force's control - for now. The Cubans at the site know their comrades are being pushed back all across the front from radio communications.
At 17:51 local time, a car arrives at the missile site. It's been driven flat out on rutted back roads to avoid American air strikes. From the back comes a Cuban officer branding a message, from Castro. "Prepare the R-12 and Luna missiles for launch," it reads. Castro himself has signed it. He's made his mind up. He can't win the conventional game, so he'll flip the table, then burn it. Pliyev's face goes as white as the ghosts of his dead soldiers. If he launches the R-12s, they'll all die. Cuba will be destroyed and their will be an intercontinental nuclear war.
Pliyev refuses to authorise the launch. The Cuban officer is not happy. He's been given direct orders by Castro himself, who did this Russian think he was to defy the leader of the revolution? He asks again, more forcefully. Pliyev says no. The Cuban officer pulls out his sidearm and asks again, more forcefully. Again, Pliyev says no.
*BANG*
At 18:09, the Cuban officer order that the missiles be prepared for launch. If the imperialists cannot be driven out, they will be incinerated, or so runs his logic. The Soviet personnel as well as several Cubans trained on the Soviet equipment set to work.
Between 20:33 and 20:38 local time, three SS-4 missiles and six tactical FROG missiles are launched from the small settlement of Brujo, north of San Cristóbal.
Comments?
- 19:00 D.C. time & Havana time (previous day)
- 00:00 London time
- 01:00 Berlin time & Bonn time
- 03:00 Moscow time
- 05:30 Delhi time
- 08:00 Beijing time
PARISH NOTICE: I was a little careless with my research, as I have just discovered that Mariel was to be a landing zone in the planned invasion of Cuba. My mistake, I have had to change that, sending an army through radioactive fallout seems like a bad idea. If you go back to chapter 4 ("Resolution"), you'll see I've changed it so that the second American bomb is dropped in Santa Clara instead. Apologies for the inconvenience, but I've written this here to avoid inconsistency.
Chapter 9 – Into the Jaws of Death
3 November 1962
“Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of hell
Rode the six hundred.”
– Alfred, Lord Tennyson
The resumption of the Warsaw Pact offensive in Germany at 07:45 local time on the 3rd of November was preceded by a large-scale nuclear release. In the north, seven 9K52 Luna-M tactical missiles were launched against the British First Army (a renaming of NORTHAG). Through the new holes in the fromtline, the Soviet 3rd Red Banner Combined Arms Army punches through the holes towards the Weser River. Fearing encirclement, remaining First Army units retreat. To the north, the Dutch I Corps retreats from the Elbe towards the Weser. At 10:30 local time, the Soviets (dressed in full NBC gear) reach the Weser and begin to assemble pontoon bridges to cross after the regular bridges were destroyed by retreating British, West German and Dutch forces. Early in the afternoon, they cross the Weser and begin advancing on the Ruhr.
To the south, the Soviet 8th Guards Army, having regrouped with forces from the 1st Guards Tank Army, releases yet more Luna rockets against the US V Corps and advances on Frankfurt. From Rhein-Main, the US Air Force continues to pound the advancing communist units. The Americans also make use of tactical nuclear weapons, and a number of Davy Crocketts and Honest Johns and fired back towards the Soviets. In return, Soviet bombers destroy Rhein-Main and most of Frankfurt with two 1-megaton "Kelt" cruise missiles. By midday, they have reached the ruins of Frankfurt and are closing on the Rhine.
Throughout the afternoon of the 3rd, operational targets across Western Europe are struck. In the Netherlands, Eindhoven, Leeuwarden, Volkel and Gilze-Rijen Air Bases are annihilated by Soviet Kh-22s. Ramstein Air Base was struck by a 1-megaton bomb, taking most of Kaiserslautern with it. In addition, the HQ of the US Air Force in Europe at Wiesbaden was also struck. In Bavaria, tactical nukes fly left and right as the front closes in on Regensburg.
In retaliation, NATO air forces retaliate against military targets inside East Germany. NVA Air Force command headquarters in Strausberg is hit by a British Valiant bomber, and is wiped from the face of the earth. The blast is witnessed by the forces fighting in Berlin - bringing a temporary silence to the city before fighting there resumes. Holzdorf, Preschen and Trollenhagen Air Bases are also eliminated by the mid-afternoon.
Any semblance of order in West Germany evaporates. Roads are clogged with evacuating civilians - leading to numerous incidents of NATO and Warsaw Pact armour simply ploughing through refugee columns, crushing many in their cars. Many without cars either walk, run, cycle or ride on the roofs of other peoples cars. There are also "questionable" trades made to secure a ride out of the conflict zone whilst others choose violence. Among some, the coming end of the world is an opportunity to sin their backsides off before they are cremated at high heat, others simply snap. The end result is the same, looting becomes rampant to grab as many good supplies as possible before rushing west or underground
Many wonder whether there will be a Germany left by tomorrow? Since the morning, half of the German death toll during the entirety of the First World War has been added to the death toll. Many veterans of that war still live, and some can't help but think of that war fondly in comparison to this. Others can't, the pain to too great.
Compared to what is about to come, today's nuclear war has been tame.
Operation SCABBARDS - the American invasion of Cuba - began shortly after 05:00 EST on the 3rd of November EST (11:00 in Germany) with the most intense bombardment of Cuba since the 27th of October. Over a thousand Tactical Air Command F-84s, F-100s and F-105s as well as aircraft from four carriers - the USS Enterprise, Independence, Wasp and the recently recommissioned Tarawa - deliver bombs and missiles against Cuban military targets along the northern coastline and further inland. Despite the loss of two F-84s and an F-100, they meet little resistance as most Soviet and Cuban aircraft have been destroyed over the last week.
The paratroopers begin landing in Cuba at 05:50 EST. The 82nd Airborne Division lands in José Martí International Airport and San Antonio de los Baños Airfield, both outside Havana. The American paratroopers are greeted by heavy resistance from the Cuban defenders, digging in under heavy fire. The 101st Airborne Division lands further east at Playa Baracoa airfield and in the port town of Mariel. The port is secured cleanly, except embarrassingly for a blue-on-blue incident with a team of Navy SEALs inserted prior to the paratroop landings. Thankfully, no one dies - yet. The Cuban artillery shelling the port is silenced by American fighters (taking full advantage of their air supremacy) and the lead elements of the 1st Armored Division are unloaded and begin pushing to secure the rest of the town, fighting bloody street battles with what Cuban infantry weren't cowed by the intense bombardment, air strikes and paratroopers falling from above. In keeping with the interests of speed, the men of the 1st Armored refuse to be bogged down in prolonged fighting with the Cubans, and quickly reach Guanajay on the road to San Antonio de los Baños. Emerging among the American landing force in Cuba is the feeling that "maybe there are more Soviets here than we thought?". In this belief, they are right.
East of Havana, the story is different. The areas natural defenses make the American landings harder, not helped by Soviet conventional cruise missiles sinking multiple American transport ships. From Tarará to Varadero, men of the 2nd Marine Division fight their way inland to secure the port of Matanzas. At Playa Jibacoa, the 2nd Marine Regiment finds itself facing a well-stocked and dug-in company of Cuban infantry, supported by a handful of recently-donated Soviet tanks. After a close-run battle, the beachhead is secured and the 2nd Marines push south towards the main road. By late afternoon, the port of Matanzas is secured.
In Havana, Fidel Castro is losing his mind. In the morning, he appeared publicly to a terrified Havana populace and reassured them he would not flee the city and that the Americans would be driven back into the sea and "bear the historic consequences of their aggression, never before seen in history." By now, he is well aware than his army can't stop the US Army and Marines with solely convention weapons. By late afternoon, the Americans have secured Guanajay and the port of Matanzas. To the east of Havana, the 2nd Infantry Division is beginning to unload. In the west, Cuban and Soviet positions are also being forced back under the weight of America's overwhelming control of the air. The only man in Cuba unhappier than the Prime Minister is Soviet Army General Issa Alexandrovich Pliyev, commander of all Soviet forces on Cuba - including the nuclear weapons, which a large force of Cuban soldiers is attempting to seize, claiming they have orders from Castro personally. The last week for him has been awful. Out of the original 42,000-strong Soviet force, over 26,000 of them are dead and the rest are being chewed up fighting the invasion force. Pliyev knows that the men are doing their duty faithfully, resisting the invasion, but as news continues to filter in he receives more and more frantic messages from Havana urging him to deploy nuclear weapons against the Americans. He is thus far reluctant, but he is fast losing control of the situation. Firstly, he is weakened by kidney disease. Secondly, at over 300,000, Cuban forces outnumber his almost ten to one. Already, he conceded to turning on the air defence radars that allowed the U-2 to be shot down on October 27th. Already, he conceded to the use of Komet missiles on Guantanamo Bay, in contravention of Moscow's orders. Already, he has placed almost all of the remaining Soviet ground troops and air crew (pressed into the infantry role without aircraft to fly) under effective Cuban control. The war and Castro's badgering is wearing him down, and his poor health only worsens matters. In the afternoon, he pays a visit to the force guarding the remaining missiles in western Cuba. The knot in his stomach undoes itself when he sees they are still there and under his force's control - for now. The Cubans at the site know their comrades are being pushed back all across the front from radio communications.
At 17:51 local time, a car arrives at the missile site. It's been driven flat out on rutted back roads to avoid American air strikes. From the back comes a Cuban officer branding a message, from Castro. "Prepare the R-12 and Luna missiles for launch," it reads. Castro himself has signed it. He's made his mind up. He can't win the conventional game, so he'll flip the table, then burn it. Pliyev's face goes as white as the ghosts of his dead soldiers. If he launches the R-12s, they'll all die. Cuba will be destroyed and their will be an intercontinental nuclear war.
Pliyev refuses to authorise the launch. The Cuban officer is not happy. He's been given direct orders by Castro himself, who did this Russian think he was to defy the leader of the revolution? He asks again, more forcefully. Pliyev says no. The Cuban officer pulls out his sidearm and asks again, more forcefully. Again, Pliyev says no.
*BANG*
At 18:09, the Cuban officer order that the missiles be prepared for launch. If the imperialists cannot be driven out, they will be incinerated, or so runs his logic. The Soviet personnel as well as several Cubans trained on the Soviet equipment set to work.
Between 20:33 and 20:38 local time, three SS-4 missiles and six tactical FROG missiles are launched from the small settlement of Brujo, north of San Cristóbal.
Comments?
Last edited:
Ouch. Why did Nuremberg get three separate megaton blasts at this stage?
What are the cuban nukes aimed at? If they're hitting the CONUS, then Castro is single-handedly responsible for making things much much worse. OTOH they already blew up guantanamo bay so would nuking American troops already on the island be an escalation?
What are the cuban nukes aimed at? If they're hitting the CONUS, then Castro is single-handedly responsible for making things much much worse. OTOH they already blew up guantanamo bay so would nuking American troops already on the island be an escalation?
The Luna-M nuclear rockets are unlikely to destroy entire towns and kill hundreds of thousands, as they're only 2 kt each. Plus, unless those towns were assembly centers or held major logistical hubs, they wouldn't be targeted.
The missiles Frog are directed towards the beachheads of the American landing. SS-4 for Miami and naval bases? For Europe, it is indeed necessary to check the megatonnage.
The megatonnage in Europe has been altered.
And yes, the SS-4s are heading to CONUS.
Chapter 10 – So Long, Mom
Important Timezones:
- 19:00 D.C. time & Havana time (previous day)
- 00:00 London time
- 01:00 Berlin time & Bonn time
- 03:00 Moscow time
- 05:30 Delhi time
- 08:00 Beijing time
PARISH NOTICE: Fast-forward the music to 58 seconds in before reading.
The White House has been a strange place for the past several days. It is almost entirely empty, save for the President, his brother, General LeMay and a skeleton team of aides and advisers. All the doors inside are left open so as to make evacuating the building easier. President Kennedy is rarely ever not followed by two Secret Service agents ready to yank him into an awaiting helicopter should the balloon go up. Ten minutes away on the other side of the Potomac, the Pentagon has undergone similar arrangements with only Secretary McNamara and Admiral Anderson as guiding personalities. Outside both buildings await Army and Marine Corps helicopters kept permanently with the engines running since SCABBARDS began. If - or when - things get hot, they can be airborne in minutes.
At 20:36 EST, the first of the FROG missiles strikes the American-held port at Mariel. One missile explodes over Playa Carenero whilst another detonates directly above the town - destroying it. The twin fireballs are seen by soldiers and sailors aboard ships far enough out to see to avoid the blast, for many it is the last thing they ever see. One FROG suffers technical failure and plops into the ocean without ever detonating whilst the other three blast the beachheads from Mariel to Playa Baracoa. In the space of minutes, over 31,000 Americans die, surpassing the bloody battle of Antietam.
The SS-4s are headed elsewhere, further afield. At 20:35, a radar station in central Florida picks up the three missiles lifting off from Cuba. Is it a test? The crew check. It's not. The American mainland is being attacked with nuclear weapons. The news is flashed to Washington along with their trajectory, with five minutes warning. Kennedy receives the call at 20:36, he orders a full Civil Defense Air Emergency and the evacuation of the White House. Within seconds, he is being rushed along by the Secret Service along with his brother Robert Kennedy towards the awaiting Marine One outside. Outside, the sirens begin to wail. There are shouts about SAC, about striking back. Kennedy has no choice but to ignore these. The Navy and Air Force have pre-delegated launch authority. He can't stop for a minute to phone Omaha, but they can still launch.
From 20:38 to 20:40 the SS-4s hit their targets. At Jacksonville and Homestead in Florida over 120,000 Americans die as the 2.3-megaton warheads detonate above their heads. At the latter, Homestead AFB is taken out, destroying many aircraft involved in the fighting in Cuba. The final SS-4 is headed north. Thankfully the President didn't evacuate via Air Force One as it is destroyed as the final Cuban missile slams into Andrews AFB in Maryland. Thankfully, President Kennedy and Attorney General Bobby are are already airborne heading northwest. Before vacating the Pentagon, Admiral Anderson ordered the Navy to launch. Over 100 Polaris missiles will soften Soviet targets up for the Air Force, he expects them to be grateful.
At 20:45, SAC commander General Thomas Power hears news of the Cuban attack. Instantly, he attempts to phone Washington. The President doesn't pick up. He tries again, but the line is quiet. The President can't be reached and America has been attacked with nuclear weapons, he remembers what his powers are in this circumstance. He remembers the Presidents own words
At 20:47, he sends out orders to SAC forces worldwide to initiate the SIOP. Within seconds, bells toll and sirens wail as men rush from their barracks to their awaiting aircraft. Across the world, Strategic Air Command (SAC) bombers and missiles get themselves airborne. The first ICBMs take off at 20:53. Within 25 minutes, they will be in Russia, and Eastern Europe, and China. Out of 182 ICBMs available, 155 are released. Four hours later, the bombers will arrive.
Faces turn towards the sky as they are propelled upward, the noise almost drowning out the sirens. A symphony for Armageddon.
In the United Kingdom, the head of RAF Bomber Command, Air Marshal Sir Kenneth Cross, gets a phone call directly from SAC at 01:50 UK time. The two countries have been refining joint-strike plans for years, now they will be tested. General Power informs him of events. "The Soviets are attacking, are you with us?" is the jist of his message. Back on the 29th of October, Cross has been vested with the authority, as a nuclear deputy, to give the launch order himself in an emergency. He hesitates for a second, should he consult with Corsham? "Not enough time," he thinks. He'll give the order. If the Soviets are going all-out, there won't be much time before Britain gets it hard. He gives the launch order to the V Bomber and Thor missile force to launch. Regarding the latter, the Americans also manning the Thors cooperate with the Brits to get them airborne, avaiding any confusion of command. By 02:10, the last Thor missile are launched from RAF Helmswell as the Valients, Vulcans and Victors are already on their way to Russia. Forty-four airfields, Twenty IRBM sites, Ten air defence sites and Sixteen cities are about to get a very rude awakening, their last awakening.
At 03:15 UK time (22:15 EST), the V Bombers arrive, alongside bombers from SAC aircraft flying from Britain and Morocco. Some crews revel in arriving before their American allies, most don't say such stupid things. Many arrive much later to find their assigned targets already ablaze as America's intercontinental missiles have struck hard on the Soviet Union, forcing the Brits to fly elsewhere to find a target and then wheel back home. America's ICBMs arrived at 21:24 EST, beaten to Russia by the Navy's 112 submarine-launched Polaris missiles by ten minutes. Around twenty missiles fail to detonate or break up upon reentry (largely among the older Atlas missiles - none of which were kept as a reserve). 25 ICBMs strike targets inside China while the remaining 107 missiles level population centers, industrial facilities, command posts and military bases from Murmansk to Moscow and from Baku to Vladivostok. Millions of Soviets die not even one hour after the launch from Brujo.
Not even Khrushchev or the GKO know of that before they hear America's response. From their armoured train they hear reports of bases and cities going up in flames. They conclude that the Americans are striking first. At 21:19 EST (05:19 ex-Moscow time) they send out their own launch orders to any surviving Soviet commanders who will listen. "Strike back" it reads bluntly. After the ICBMs hit, they have several hours in which to get their remaining force off the ground and into the air. Within 40 minutes, 48 surviving Tu-95 and M-4 Bison bombers are headed for North America, some carry one bomb - others two. Following behind them are occasional launches of surviving Soviet ICBMs. Out of 42 SS-6 and SS-7 weapons, only 10 will be launched. Surviving naval bomber are loaded with nuclear Kh-20 missiles and send after Allied carrier groups.
The first Soviet ICBMs are picked up by Clear in Alaska. Over the course of the next 13 hours, seven American and two Canadian cities will be destroyed by uncoordinated Soviet missiles. The first of these strikes Chicago, killing over 2.1 million and exceeding Antietam 95-fold.
As for Cuba, where this whole mess began, SAC B-47s rain death and devastation. Out of a pre-war population of 7.6 million, only 1.9 million will remain. Castro himself will perish as Havana is wiped out by three Mark 39 gravity bombs, each 3.8 megatons.
Inertia sets in for the intercontinental war as both sides await the arrival of the others bombers. There is no such inertia in Europe. The plentiful numbers of short- and medium-range missiles and aircraft gives no such pause as bombs and missiles fly in an unstopping barrage from East to West and vice verca. Soviet SS-4s strike the V Bomber, Thor and SAC bases in Britain, killing millions before including the strikes on the cities. France is hit similarly hard, with only a handful of bombs to retaliate with. The two German states effectively cease to exist as almost every population center with more than 20,000 people is obliterated and the frontlines are carpeted by small nuclear as well as chemical weapons. In Berlin, an overzealous Soviet air base commander launches a 1-megaton missile at the divided city. If he and his countrymen are to die, the enemy will come with them. It is destroyed by the large blast. Other states unfortunate enough to believe their neutrality would save them are soon relieved of such thoughts as the Swedes and Finns find themselves losing cities left and right.
There is no rest for the wicked as the 3rd of November ends. At 01:15 EST on November 4th, the first wave of SAC's aerial apocalypse crosses into Soviet airspace. A hundred of their ranks have already been downed by Soviet interceptors in vicious aerial fighting, losing an untold number of nuclear bombs in the process. Over a thousand continue southward towards their targets. If the wrath of God could ever be replicated, this would be as close. The sky is still rich with targets for surviving Soviet interceptors and SAMs, who take down several dozen more. Their colleagues striking China from Guam, Japan and the Philippines find their story playing out similarly as Chinese resistance is progressively ground down.
By 09:30 EST, Soviet bombers have reached the Mid-Canada line. Out of the original forty eight, thirty five made it through the Distant Warning line. By the time they reach the United States, nineteen will be left to fly through the teeth of American interceptor aircraft and SAM missiles. No Soviet bomber will ever go home, though one Tu-95 crew decides they've had enough of this and land their bomber, saving Fairchild AFB from destruction. Castro's original belief that the United States would be destroyed in a nuclear war will never come true, though millions of Americans and Canadians will die.
Throughout the morning and early afternoon, cities and military bases in the United States and Canada will be destroyed by many of these surviving bomber before they are destroyed.
At 15:35 EST, the first wave of SAC bombers passes out of what used to be the Soviet Union and heads to (presumably) safe airfields in Canada. The second wave passes them by. This wave won't find as many targets for their weapons, but the resistance they face is almost non-existent. Soviet resistance has been crushed and the last interceptor base has been destroyed. The SAC bombers can now fly unopposed throughout the skies of the Soviet Union from over the Arctic and from over Chinese airspace as though it were 1945 and they were in B-29s over Japan.
At 17:21 EST, the last Soviet bomber in North America is destroyed. The intercontinental war will be over when the second wave of SAC planes finish their mission.
At 20:00 EST, President Kennedy makes a special address from Mount Weather in Virginia, a shell-shocked and devastated America awaits with eager ears by their radios.
- 19:00 D.C. time & Havana time (previous day)
- 00:00 London time
- 01:00 Berlin time & Bonn time
- 03:00 Moscow time
- 05:30 Delhi time
- 08:00 Beijing time
PARISH NOTICE: Fast-forward the music to 58 seconds in before reading.
Chapter 10 – So Long, Mom
3 – 4 November 1962
“I am the punishment of God. If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you.”
– Genghis Khan
– Genghis Khan
The White House has been a strange place for the past several days. It is almost entirely empty, save for the President, his brother, General LeMay and a skeleton team of aides and advisers. All the doors inside are left open so as to make evacuating the building easier. President Kennedy is rarely ever not followed by two Secret Service agents ready to yank him into an awaiting helicopter should the balloon go up. Ten minutes away on the other side of the Potomac, the Pentagon has undergone similar arrangements with only Secretary McNamara and Admiral Anderson as guiding personalities. Outside both buildings await Army and Marine Corps helicopters kept permanently with the engines running since SCABBARDS began. If - or when - things get hot, they can be airborne in minutes.
At 20:36 EST, the first of the FROG missiles strikes the American-held port at Mariel. One missile explodes over Playa Carenero whilst another detonates directly above the town - destroying it. The twin fireballs are seen by soldiers and sailors aboard ships far enough out to see to avoid the blast, for many it is the last thing they ever see. One FROG suffers technical failure and plops into the ocean without ever detonating whilst the other three blast the beachheads from Mariel to Playa Baracoa. In the space of minutes, over 31,000 Americans die, surpassing the bloody battle of Antietam.
The SS-4s are headed elsewhere, further afield. At 20:35, a radar station in central Florida picks up the three missiles lifting off from Cuba. Is it a test? The crew check. It's not. The American mainland is being attacked with nuclear weapons. The news is flashed to Washington along with their trajectory, with five minutes warning. Kennedy receives the call at 20:36, he orders a full Civil Defense Air Emergency and the evacuation of the White House. Within seconds, he is being rushed along by the Secret Service along with his brother Robert Kennedy towards the awaiting Marine One outside. Outside, the sirens begin to wail. There are shouts about SAC, about striking back. Kennedy has no choice but to ignore these. The Navy and Air Force have pre-delegated launch authority. He can't stop for a minute to phone Omaha, but they can still launch.
From 20:38 to 20:40 the SS-4s hit their targets. At Jacksonville and Homestead in Florida over 120,000 Americans die as the 2.3-megaton warheads detonate above their heads. At the latter, Homestead AFB is taken out, destroying many aircraft involved in the fighting in Cuba. The final SS-4 is headed north. Thankfully the President didn't evacuate via Air Force One as it is destroyed as the final Cuban missile slams into Andrews AFB in Maryland. Thankfully, President Kennedy and Attorney General Bobby are are already airborne heading northwest. Before vacating the Pentagon, Admiral Anderson ordered the Navy to launch. Over 100 Polaris missiles will soften Soviet targets up for the Air Force, he expects them to be grateful.
At 20:45, SAC commander General Thomas Power hears news of the Cuban attack. Instantly, he attempts to phone Washington. The President doesn't pick up. He tries again, but the line is quiet. The President can't be reached and America has been attacked with nuclear weapons, he remembers what his powers are in this circumstance. He remembers the Presidents own words
"It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union."
At 20:47, he sends out orders to SAC forces worldwide to initiate the SIOP. Within seconds, bells toll and sirens wail as men rush from their barracks to their awaiting aircraft. Across the world, Strategic Air Command (SAC) bombers and missiles get themselves airborne. The first ICBMs take off at 20:53. Within 25 minutes, they will be in Russia, and Eastern Europe, and China. Out of 182 ICBMs available, 155 are released. Four hours later, the bombers will arrive.
Faces turn towards the sky as they are propelled upward, the noise almost drowning out the sirens. A symphony for Armageddon.
In the United Kingdom, the head of RAF Bomber Command, Air Marshal Sir Kenneth Cross, gets a phone call directly from SAC at 01:50 UK time. The two countries have been refining joint-strike plans for years, now they will be tested. General Power informs him of events. "The Soviets are attacking, are you with us?" is the jist of his message. Back on the 29th of October, Cross has been vested with the authority, as a nuclear deputy, to give the launch order himself in an emergency. He hesitates for a second, should he consult with Corsham? "Not enough time," he thinks. He'll give the order. If the Soviets are going all-out, there won't be much time before Britain gets it hard. He gives the launch order to the V Bomber and Thor missile force to launch. Regarding the latter, the Americans also manning the Thors cooperate with the Brits to get them airborne, avaiding any confusion of command. By 02:10, the last Thor missile are launched from RAF Helmswell as the Valients, Vulcans and Victors are already on their way to Russia. Forty-four airfields, Twenty IRBM sites, Ten air defence sites and Sixteen cities are about to get a very rude awakening, their last awakening.
At 03:15 UK time (22:15 EST), the V Bombers arrive, alongside bombers from SAC aircraft flying from Britain and Morocco. Some crews revel in arriving before their American allies, most don't say such stupid things. Many arrive much later to find their assigned targets already ablaze as America's intercontinental missiles have struck hard on the Soviet Union, forcing the Brits to fly elsewhere to find a target and then wheel back home. America's ICBMs arrived at 21:24 EST, beaten to Russia by the Navy's 112 submarine-launched Polaris missiles by ten minutes. Around twenty missiles fail to detonate or break up upon reentry (largely among the older Atlas missiles - none of which were kept as a reserve). 25 ICBMs strike targets inside China while the remaining 107 missiles level population centers, industrial facilities, command posts and military bases from Murmansk to Moscow and from Baku to Vladivostok. Millions of Soviets die not even one hour after the launch from Brujo.
Not even Khrushchev or the GKO know of that before they hear America's response. From their armoured train they hear reports of bases and cities going up in flames. They conclude that the Americans are striking first. At 21:19 EST (05:19 ex-Moscow time) they send out their own launch orders to any surviving Soviet commanders who will listen. "Strike back" it reads bluntly. After the ICBMs hit, they have several hours in which to get their remaining force off the ground and into the air. Within 40 minutes, 48 surviving Tu-95 and M-4 Bison bombers are headed for North America, some carry one bomb - others two. Following behind them are occasional launches of surviving Soviet ICBMs. Out of 42 SS-6 and SS-7 weapons, only 10 will be launched. Surviving naval bomber are loaded with nuclear Kh-20 missiles and send after Allied carrier groups.
The first Soviet ICBMs are picked up by Clear in Alaska. Over the course of the next 13 hours, seven American and two Canadian cities will be destroyed by uncoordinated Soviet missiles. The first of these strikes Chicago, killing over 2.1 million and exceeding Antietam 95-fold.
As for Cuba, where this whole mess began, SAC B-47s rain death and devastation. Out of a pre-war population of 7.6 million, only 1.9 million will remain. Castro himself will perish as Havana is wiped out by three Mark 39 gravity bombs, each 3.8 megatons.
Inertia sets in for the intercontinental war as both sides await the arrival of the others bombers. There is no such inertia in Europe. The plentiful numbers of short- and medium-range missiles and aircraft gives no such pause as bombs and missiles fly in an unstopping barrage from East to West and vice verca. Soviet SS-4s strike the V Bomber, Thor and SAC bases in Britain, killing millions before including the strikes on the cities. France is hit similarly hard, with only a handful of bombs to retaliate with. The two German states effectively cease to exist as almost every population center with more than 20,000 people is obliterated and the frontlines are carpeted by small nuclear as well as chemical weapons. In Berlin, an overzealous Soviet air base commander launches a 1-megaton missile at the divided city. If he and his countrymen are to die, the enemy will come with them. It is destroyed by the large blast. Other states unfortunate enough to believe their neutrality would save them are soon relieved of such thoughts as the Swedes and Finns find themselves losing cities left and right.
There is no rest for the wicked as the 3rd of November ends. At 01:15 EST on November 4th, the first wave of SAC's aerial apocalypse crosses into Soviet airspace. A hundred of their ranks have already been downed by Soviet interceptors in vicious aerial fighting, losing an untold number of nuclear bombs in the process. Over a thousand continue southward towards their targets. If the wrath of God could ever be replicated, this would be as close. The sky is still rich with targets for surviving Soviet interceptors and SAMs, who take down several dozen more. Their colleagues striking China from Guam, Japan and the Philippines find their story playing out similarly as Chinese resistance is progressively ground down.
By 09:30 EST, Soviet bombers have reached the Mid-Canada line. Out of the original forty eight, thirty five made it through the Distant Warning line. By the time they reach the United States, nineteen will be left to fly through the teeth of American interceptor aircraft and SAM missiles. No Soviet bomber will ever go home, though one Tu-95 crew decides they've had enough of this and land their bomber, saving Fairchild AFB from destruction. Castro's original belief that the United States would be destroyed in a nuclear war will never come true, though millions of Americans and Canadians will die.
Throughout the morning and early afternoon, cities and military bases in the United States and Canada will be destroyed by many of these surviving bomber before they are destroyed.
At 15:35 EST, the first wave of SAC bombers passes out of what used to be the Soviet Union and heads to (presumably) safe airfields in Canada. The second wave passes them by. This wave won't find as many targets for their weapons, but the resistance they face is almost non-existent. Soviet resistance has been crushed and the last interceptor base has been destroyed. The SAC bombers can now fly unopposed throughout the skies of the Soviet Union from over the Arctic and from over Chinese airspace as though it were 1945 and they were in B-29s over Japan.
At 17:21 EST, the last Soviet bomber in North America is destroyed. The intercontinental war will be over when the second wave of SAC planes finish their mission.
At 20:00 EST, President Kennedy makes a special address from Mount Weather in Virginia, a shell-shocked and devastated America awaits with eager ears by their radios.
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US ICBMs during the CMC would be targeted at Soviet airfields and SAM sites to prevent such extreme bomber losses. The boomers would be the ones targeting cities as they didn't have the accuracy to do anything else effectively.