III
If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared.
-Niccolo Machiavelli
The Soviet infantryman panted as he rounded a building in Koblenz. He could see the bridge that was their objective. Once it was taken, the captain had said the capitalists would sue for peace. The past six days had been exhausting, he was ready for the war to be over.
The infantryman heard a jet roar overhead, he naturally assumed it was Soviet, he hadn’t seen anything other than Soviet aircraft since they had taken Frankfurt. He heard a second jet, this one had a lower tone, a bomber perhaps.
“That’s not one of ours is it?” asked the captain. He was answered with a blinding light that seemed to shrink in on itself before shooting outwards all around.
The infantryman knew what it was, the blast was so loud that it was as if no other sound existed. He didn’t have time to think.
The wave of fire hit him, his helmet melted into his burning scalp, the metal on his rifle dissolved into his hands. His clothes caught on fire, so did his skin. The shockwave hit him a second later, it ripped the burning skin off of his body, he had melted into the air, the only thing that remained was his own shadow.
~
On D-Day+6 a NATO order goes out to use tactical nuclear weapons as the commanders saw fit. Instantly the whole front, now pushed back to the Rhine, is bathed in the glow of nuclear explosions. Learning of the detonations the Soviets launch their own tactical weapons, the exchange quickly escalates. After a NATO airstrike along the Vistula River is launched to prevent conventional reinforcements reaching Germany the Soviets launch strikes outside of Germany. Not seeing the point in waiting anymore the Soviet strategic IRBMS that are targeted at NATO countries are launched.
All over the world sirens go off, signaling to many that the end is near. In the country and suburbs people are mostly in their personal fallout shelters, those that are not race home, those that do not have a home shelter drive to places that do. Libraries, schools, and civic buildings are full. Police use deadly force to keep people out.
SAC planes are scrambled in 11 minutes, within minutes most of the US arsenal is fired, but not all, there are still missiles around after the attacks. Cuba is obliterated, but the US missiles arrive too late, the missiles stationed in Cuba have already been fired by the time their bases are destroyed.
The first missiles land in the Soviet Union, they destroy mostly airbases, missile silos, and military installations. Upon hearing this bomber crews switch their targets from missile bases to population centers and industrial zones. The real Hell is yet to come for the Soviet Union.
The President and his cabinet are rushed to Raven Rock, the secret home to the Pentagon in times of impending danger. The heads of state for most nations follow suit, with the exception of Germany and Poland whose governments had been destroyed during the initial exchange. Millions are already dead in central Europe.
All over America civilians wait tensely in their fallout shelters, they sit close around their radios, waiting for a message of safety. Most missile and air bases have already been destroyed, as have the most populous cities. Fires blaze everywhere, the fires coming Omaha Nebraska alone will burn for almost a week. Omaha is hit twice; it was SAC HQ, not anymore.
Hours after the first detonations bombers from both sides finally reach their destinations. Both Soviet and American bombers encounter interceptors, but for every bomber destroyed more fill their place. In desperation SAC interceptors are ordered to ram Soviet bombers, the tactic is not as successful as intended.
The number of people left dead in the opening exchange is more than the combined deaths of everyone who has died in any war before that point.
