OOC: Kind of a 30,000 foot overview. So, not a lot of fancy writing. Mostly still in the set up...
32nd Battalion Recon Team Golf, 3 miles south of Menongue.
18 Feb, 1984…
2nd Lieutenant Edwin Mudingi, former Selous Scout, was CO of the 7 man team, and happened to be on stag when they rolled into town.
Through the binoculars, there was just something not right about the massive containers coming in on the 11:15 from Namibe. He gazed at the four flatcars, wondering why the extra security of Cubans running around, when one of the containers began spouting smoke, and proceeded to drive itself off the flatcar. He quietly nudged Warrant Officer Phaswane Mhlophe awake, and pointed out the oddity.
Radioing back to the FOB, the occurrence was noted down.
19th Feb, 1984…
General Frías was getting seriously nervous. Across the board, the South Africans were raiding farther and farther north. He’d lost 27 AFV’s, and over a thousand Cubans had been put out of commission by the SADF. God knew how many natives.
Only the day before, he’d received word that things in Europe were going down the s—t hole, and the light clicked on as to why everything had dried up.
But that didn’t solve anything. The Apartheid bastards were still breathing down his neck, and he still had a revolution to push forward! He’d rode the train to Menongue to personally oversee the deployment of 3 of the 4 systems deployed to him. By god, if things went bad, he wanted to be in position.
Cape Town…
Receiving word of the forward deployment of large, mobile objects, Pres Botha swallows hard, and signs the order putting 6 very specific English Electric Canberra B(I)12 bombers on permanent scramble notice. Security around Ysterplaat, and Wingfield airbases is doubled.
12:47, 21st, Feb, 1984…
Strangely, it was the Cubans who knew of the first atomic blasts in Germany. Orders were relayed from Havana to General Frías to put his 4 RSD-10 systems on line immediately: with selected targets in South Africa.
13:06 PM, Menongue…
The first TEL begins the erection sequence, and is immediately reported back to SADF Airbase, Ondangua, South West Africa by Golf Recce Squad, 32nd Battalion.
13:11 PM, South Africa…
Pilots begin preflight sequence in their nuclear armed Canberra bombers.
13:25 PM, South Africa…
Word of the atomic detonations in Germany is received in South Africa. Various members of the government are loaded onto Aérospatiale Puma helicopters for the short flight off-shore to the
SAS President Pretorious .
13:27, Havana…
Fidel Castro received word of launch orders Soviet strikes against targets in Europe and America. He demands confirmation.
13:32, South Africa…
6 English Electric Canberra Bombers taxi to the runway, for immediate departure. They are informed of their targets as they begin rolling.
13:42, Havana…
Confirmation of Soviet launches is received, orders issued toGeneral Frías for immediate launch
13:51, Just off the coast of Cape Town…
Enroute to the
SAS President Pretorious, the order is given for one of the Canberra bombers to destroy the city of Cape Town. The pilot is shocked by the order and enters a holding pattern, trying to get additional confirmation of the order.
14:12, Menongue, Angola…
Golf Recce Squad reports beginning of firing sequence on RSD-10 ballistic missiles.
14:25, Menongue…
Lift off of first RSD-10 missile. Internal guidance tells it to strike 33°55′31″S 18°25′26″E; Cape Town.
Three others follow within two minutes.
Golf Recce Squad radios the last transmission to be received by fleeing govt officials: “My God! They did it! They’re coming! They’re coming!”
14:30, South Africa…
Plokwane Airport ordered into immediate, emergency shutdown as Mirage III fighters light afterburners to rush there for refueling before performing escort duties.
14:47, Cape Town…
All the idealism, hatred, and passions imprisoned in Robben Island vanish in an instant as two, 150 kiloton warheads airburst over the city of Cape Town. An SADF destroyer, the
SAS President Steyn, is caught in the blast along with a large number of fleeing govt officials. Less than a minute later, similar payloads are unleashed over the cities of Pretoria, Johannesburg, and Bloemfontein. Hundreds of thousands of unsuspecting blacks and whites alike incinerated in the blasts.
15:03, Plokwane, South Africa…
Ten Mirage III fighters touch down, and ground crew scramble to refuel the aircraft for rendezvous with Canberra bombers now passing overhead.
15:05, Ondangua, South West Africa…
Major General George L. Meiring receives word that Cape Town has been hit and obliterated. He is reported to have simply slumped into his seat, muttering… “My god… My god… They’ve finally done it…”
15:15, Maputo, Mozambique…
They had no chance. There was no way they could have seen it coming. Situated less than 50 miles from the border, they had no advanced warning. Coming in low and hot, the English Electric Canberra bomber did its job.
Releasing the first of South Africa’s nuclear weapons, the capital of Mozambique was obliterated in the blast.
The pilot believed himself to have escaped as he swept out to sea for the return flight to… God only knew. Less than 6 months later, heavy doses of radiation poisoning will end his life.
15:20, South Africa/Zimbabwe Border…
The thinly veiled ruse of claiming to be a civilian flight only lasted for so long. But then they weren’t expecting it to work very well. Confused jabbering over the radio frequencies (perpetrated by the South African NIS) further confused issues, as airwaves were bombarded with garbage intended to mask the inbound flight’s true identity.
15:30, Zimbabe…
Visual confirmation from Rutenga saw the first Zimbabwean fighters scramble to intercept. Over the next 5 minutes, they attempted to engage the escorting Mirage III aircraft. Despite outnumbering them 3 to 1, the Zimbabwean aircraft were slaughtered by the South African veterans. Recently replaced Rhodesian pilots would have made mincemeat of the inbound aircraft, but the inept ZANU pilots were no match. Luring them into ground positions though, saw the Mirages destroyed by ground based fire while the single Canberra slipped through.
1535, Harare, Zimbabe…
Severely damaged by ZSU-32 fire, the Canberra pilot knows full well that he is not going to be able to make it back. Coming in low and under full throttle, the bomb is released at 500 feet. Ironically, the internal timer had been set for the same altitude, resulting in detonation the moment the weapon was armed over the southern half of the city.
The aircraft, and three fourths of the population are vaporized.
15:47, Namibe , Angola…
The third South African nuclear weapon detonates half a kilometer above the heart of the city. Having flown in low and fast along the coastline, the bomber evaded detection through well practiced games of cat-and-mouse with Angolan based air defenses. Half a million people are either instantly killed, or will die shortly from massive injuries.
16:05, Lusanka, Zambia…
In the chaos of the mad scramble to stave off the flight into Harare, a second flight is able to avoid detection over Zimbabwe by flying at a hair-raising 100 feet.
Once over the city, a graceful sweep up in altitude sees the bomb released at nearly 5 km. Turning west, the aircraft again ducks down low over the Zambezi river for a mad dash towards Buffalo Base, South West Africa.
ZSU-32 fire attempts to intercept, but with no clear communication from Lusanka, is ineffective.
16:05, Lubango, Angola…
In a strange quirk of fate, unnoticed by historians, the bomb released over Lubango detonated only 15 seconds after Lusanka is classified. Using the cover of front line confusion, the aircraft is able to sneak in before detection, and releases its payload.
16:20, South West Africa / Angolan border…
Recovering from his shock, news of the first waves of South African counterstrike finally reaches General Meiring. Breaking every intelligence protocol in the book, orders radio communication with Cuban GeneralFrías; calling for an immediate cease-fire.
General Frías agrees whole heartedly in broken English. Unfortunately, SWAPO men in the area overhear the conversation…
16:34, Beira, Mozambique…
As if out of poetic respect for the agreement between Meiring and Frías, the sixth and final nuclear weapon deployed by South Africa fails to detonate. Instead, raining radioactive material over a 3 sq mile area of the city of Beira, Mozambique.
16:40, Menongue, Angola…
General Frías holds his head in his hands as he again reviews electronic confirmation within the TEL’s that the missiles he ordered launched did indeed detonate over their intended targets. Bloemfontein, Johannesburg, and Pretoria have all be destroyed by his orders. He cradles face as he contemplates his orders which have sent well over a million people out of this life.
Is he a soldier or a butcher?
Outside, a new conflict brews as SWAPO men break out into a riotous argument with his men over hearing that the General has agreed to a cease-fire with the South Africans…