Stuart Slade wrote an (in)famous work of alternate history called
The Big One, which involved the UK falling to the Nazis, the war in the eastern front becoming a bloody stalemate and the US finally winning the war by launching a massive atomic attack on the Reich.
There are numerous issues with the work.
- Why does the US declare war on the Reich after Britain falls?
- Why isn't the USSR more prepared for Barbarossa?
- Why doesn't Japan attack Pearl Harbor or attempt to seize European colonies in Southeast Asia?
- Why does the US send ground forces to the eastern front, and why does the USSR accept them?
- Why does Zhukov overthrow Stalin, and why does the USSR abandon Marxism-Leninism?
- By the time the story takes place, the US and USSR had been fighting Germany for six years, with precious few gains. Why does the US remain in a never-ending unwinnable conflict?
- Why does the US build a fleet of hundreds of B-36s? Ignoring issues of technology, financing and logistics, why would the US do this? The few strategic raids the USAAF conducted were massive failures. Wouldn't the US invest more in the tactical use of aircraft?
- The Germans shot down only one B-36, which was a weather craft if I remember correctly. The Germans only manage to cause minor damage to a couple of bombers, no bombers are forced to return due to mechanical problems, and every bomb successfully detonates on target.
- Why are the bombers sentient?
I'm sure there are many other issues (especially with the sequels).
Given these issues, is it possible to come up with a more plausible story involving a massive atomic attack on the Reich?
I will go from Memory so, please don't bear with me if i said something of incorrect.
1) - IRC, the RN (that has found refuge in Canada after the Halifax quasi-coup) sail to New York trying to be attacked by the German to incite a diplomatic incident with the americans...and they succeed
2) - because otherwise the USA...or better Lord LeMay and the mighty SAC can't come to the rescue and saving the day (yes is sarcasm, but it also the real reason)
3) - In the USA the China lobby is put in the doghouse and the goverment make an agreement with the Japanese to give them free hand in China; to put the cherry in the pie the entire treaty it's probable the work of a cabal of immortal that's trying to forge the USA in what they believe it's the best for us (no i'm not joking...and yes we already have jumped right in the mounth of the Shark).
4) - Officially because Stalin was so desperate that it needed really every help possible...but more for give the US Army something to do.
5) - Probable because Stuart know just Zhukov as a Soviet general and don't really know anything about soviet internal politics that's not cold war related or weapon related.
6) - Authorial fiat.
7) - Stuart had an enormous hard on for the SAC, Saint LeMay and the Strategic Bombers (B-36 in primis) so it's like heresy for him imply that invest money in useless tactical craft is the sanest option.
8) - Slade is uncapable to write any battle the involve the US armed forces that's not the american cumberstomping any opposition
9) - it's a narrative device, one of the few thing of this story that i found good.
Frankly the Big One entire saga has 3 big problems
A) - Stuart had only a very cursory and limited knowledge of non weapon related history, not even wikipedia level of knowledge. If the story was posted here he will be full of comment about the mistake and implausibility in less than 5 seconds, but in 10 Calbear will ban him due to his aversion to admit to have done any mistake and being very vocal about it. Probably this is one of the reason why he had a low opinion of this forum.
B) - Can't keep separate his political idea from the story...but there is also the big suspect that's in reality he is just panpering the audience.
C) - his writing style is very boring.
Making the Big One more plausible well, let's try:
- Ok, you want the UK making peace with Germany, no problem...just work on it; the Halifax coup is a blatant and implausible cop-out, as the fact that the rest of the Dominion decided to continue to fight the Axis. Make a worse Dunkirk, kill Churchill, etc. etc. but remember that's will be at most a white peace and no, there is no way in hell that any British PM will accept the presence of German soldiers in the British Island in any numbers (Germans soldiers were sent in the UK by peace treaty to keep an eye in military installation and when the British goverment refuse to sent troops in Russia take control of the nation...yes it's that stupid). Maybe the US president is one different from Roosveelt, one that while not liking Germany is still an isolationist and don't want to be involved in Europe
- Make the immortal cabal vanish, it's beyond idiocy and it's now become the author mounthpiece and excuse on why improbable and implausible thing happen.
- No Washington will not give Tokyo a free hand in China and there are tons of post here that clearly explain why if the Japanese wanted take control of the european colonial holding the Philippines need to be neutralized. So, yes instead to sent troops in Russia it's the Pacific War.
- Without any other conflict there is no way that Stalin will get caught so flat footed, so while the Germans had now more advantage the initial soviet loss will not be so crushing.
- Germany declare war against the USA to support Japan (Hitler is idiot as OTL), but not to the Commonwealth and the UK due to the previous peace treaty
- Stalin die just before the attack and Beria take his place (the URSS internal struggle is anothe reason to rush the plan)
- The USA (and more discretely the commonwealth) give a lot of logistical support to the URSS
- The attack is a rush job due to the intel that the German nuclear program is almost completed and so the operation is principally conventional but with all the atomic weapons produced till now. There is a lot of failure due to navigational error, mechanical failure, human error, etc. etc. (really, even training excercise doesn't go so smooth as Slade original operation).
- Make the US sometime lose or at least take severe loss
For the Future installament
- No Chipang (Japan while conquering China become sinizated in a couple of years...yes i suspect that Slade had not read a single book about that period), please; at max a resurgent Imperial China that take control of the Japanese Island and create her own Sphere of Co-prosperity
- No randomid caliphate, better a nasserite-like Arab Union
- If the war ended some years after OTL and after the attack there has been a multi-years effort to destroy any German remnants in Russia/east Europe...thing are pretty much changed from the ethnic pow.
- Yes i undestand Slade that for keep America in his eternal 50's the rest of the world need to be nerfed and no credible menace must rise...but is ridicolous and more try to keep it in this manner and more credibility go down the flush.