Seven Days to the River Rhine: the Third World War - a TL

[Athelstane]

I’m not sure the B52H was equipped with AGM86’s in 1983 ?

I seem to recall the B52G was equipped with prominent external racks to carry a total of 12 (I seem to recall there was a treaty issue that required that ALCM equipped bombers be visually distinctive so they could be counted via satellite and ALCM equipped bombers were counted separately in the treaties from non ALCM equipped bombers.

In any event SAC likely had hundreds (if not more) of SRAM’s for their bombers in 1983 so non ALCM equipped air craft had access to nuclear stand off missiles.

I don’t think the B52H had the special internal rotary launcher for ALCM’s in 1983 and I’m not sure if they had external carriage for them either. I’ll let someone else drill into that

My understanding was SAC planned on blasting “penetration corridors” with various missiles prior to expecting bombers to fly over targets and drop nuclear gravity bombs.

I am by no means a BUFF expert. So I 'll defer to any who drop in on the thread, or get consulted by someone on the thread. But I recall reading that they'd been equipped with 'em by that point (1981, I think).

But even if a lot of 'em are packing SRAMs, as you say, it's clear that most of SAC's bomber force can hold back in standoff attacks, which will surely contribute to a higher survival rate (as well as a higher attack success rate), even if their air bases have been wacked.

 

[Blue cat]

I am by no means a BUFF expert. So I 'll defer to any who drop in on the thread, or get consulted by someone on the thread. But I recall reading that they'd been equipped with 'em by that point (1981, I think).

But even if a lot of 'em are packing SRAMs, as you say, it's clear that most of SAC's bomber force can hold back in standoff attacks, which will surely contribute to a higher survival rate (as well as a higher attack success rate), even if their air bases have been wacked.

Yeah the early 1980’s were a transitional time for a lot US strategic systems and nailing down what might actually have been in service might be quite involved unless some one had first hand knowledge at the point of time in question.

That being said I do recall reading in several places that from a doctrine perspective a major role of the B52 force was considered to be delivering gravity bombs (especially once the Titan 2’s began to decommissioned.)

I seem to recall reading the USAF actually reversed the de commissioning of perhaps 50 B53 bombs late in the Cold War (reportedly that was the only time the U.S. ever did that with nuclear weapons.) As far as I know the B52 was the only air craft in US service that was assigned to carry that weapon in the 1980’s (if not earlier ?) and beyond.

My understanding is SRAM stayed in service until the very early 1990’s.

It also might have made sense from a tanking / refuelling perspective for some air craft to be penetrators (probably with SRAMs as well as gravity bombs and some to be stand off missile carriers with ALCM’s ? On the other hand the planers might have wanted each air craft to carry as many weapons as possible ? That is just speculation on my part.

Not sure what else to add at this point.

Edit to add:

I took a look at both wikipedia and global security and it seems:

The plans were to modify a total of 194 B52 G's and H's.
to carry cruise missiles (initially all externally for a total of 12 externally carried per air craft.) The air force apparently subsequently pushed back the internal carriage of of 8 cruise missiles for the H's to at least 1986 and the G's never had that ability.

It is unclear to me what was actually available in service in 1983, but presumably the internal weapons bays would have been available for SRAM's or Gravity bombs if so desired.

 

[exilarchia]

I'm not even sure there would be a famine in the Americas. Canada has an enormous surplus, and the American breadbasket is amongst the least hard hit areas of the nation. The supply chain issues might make for periods of starvation, but there shouldn't be famine.

Nah, most US missile silos and airbases hosting nuclear weapons are located in the Great Plains/flyover states. Whiteman AFB and Minot AFB come to my mind immediately, might be forgetting a few others as well. If anything, they'll be the most targeted sites in the entire nation (as the Soviets would want to wipe out most US nukes in a first strike) pretty much rendering vast amounts of the Great Plains contaminated by radioactive fallout. Or causing massive wildfires too.

If anything, I'd expect the Great Plains areas to be one of the most anarchic/chaotic parts of the US, simply because of how much destruction would be incurred on it

 

[Athelstane]

I took a look at both wikipedia and global security and it seems:

The plans were to modify a total of 194 B52 G's and H's.
to carry cruise missiles (initially all externally for a total of 12 externally carried per air craft.) The air force apparently subsequently pushed back the internal carriage of of 8 cruise missiles for the H's to at least 1986 and the G's never had that ability.

Huh. Interesting!

 

[Whiteshore]

Probably Argentina can with some way take Falklands. London has not much capacity to do anything unless it hasn't some ballistic warheads left and nuke Buenos Aires. But not sure if even Thatcher wants take such direction.

Of course Argentina has such optiobn that it tells: "Well, Brits. I see that you are starving. Give us Malvinas and we give to you as much of steaks as you are needing.".

On that note, any thoughts on whether Argentina still democratizes or whether the generals do what the Tatmadaw did in 1990 IOTL as the nuclear war occurred after the elections there but before Alfonsin was inaugurated?

 

[motown]

I've enjoyed this timeline.

 

[Gabingston]

Nah, most US missile silos and airbases hosting nuclear weapons are located in the Great Plains/flyover states. Whiteman AFB and Minot AFB come to my mind immediately, might be forgetting a few others as well. If anything, they'll be the most targeted sites in the entire nation (as the Soviets would want to wipe out most US nukes in a first strike) pretty much rendering vast amounts of the Great Plains contaminated by radioactive fallout. Or causing massive amounts of wildfire too.

If anything, I'd expect the Great Plains areas to be one of the most anarchic/chaotic parts of the US, simply because of how much destruction would be incurred on it

Imagine being from a big city and moving to the Great Plains from fear of nuclear war, only to find out that the plains were the place (aside from maybe the BosWash corridor, Rust Belt and SoCal) that would get nuked the most. Especially if you were said person in this timeline, where the nuclear armageddon actually comes. I imagine a lot of people would flee the areas around the silos, not as many as from the big cities obviously, but flee nonetheless. Not everyone, though, I'm sure there'd be some people who'd be like "I've lived a full life, I'm right with the Lord, might as well go out in a blaze of glory".

 

[TerenceofGod]

Nah, most US missile silos and airbases hosting nuclear weapons are located in the Great Plains/flyover states. Whiteman AFB and Minot AFB come to my mind immediately, might be forgetting a few others as well. If anything, they'll be the most targeted sites in the entire nation (as the Soviets would want to wipe out most US nukes in a first strike) pretty much rendering vast amounts of the Great Plains contaminated by radioactive fallout. Or causing massive amounts of wildfire too.

If anything, I'd expect the Great Plains areas to be one of the most anarchic/chaotic parts of the US, simply because of how much destruction would be incurred on it

We have to consider how much more irradiated the Great Plains would be compared to the Cities, since targeting hardened ICBM Silos require either Penetrating or Impact Warheads of a sizeable Warhead tonnage scattering radioactive material across the Great Plains badly.

The US Agricultural industry will suffer less but longer, compared to the Soviet more and shorter.

 

[Gabingston]

We have to consider how much more irradiated the Great Plains would be compared to the Cities, since targeting hardened ICBM Silos require either Penetrating or Impact Warheads of a sizeable Warhead tonnage scattering radioactive material across the Great Plains badly.

The US Agricultural industry will suffer less but longer, compared to the Soviet more and shorter.

I suspect that a lot of the plains would be radioactive wastelands a la Chernobyl IOTL.

 

[farmerted555]

Looks like there ain't no Sedalia ITTL.

 

[EWHM]

If I recall that US maintained a massive strategic grain reserve back in those days---I think they sold it off in the 90s, but it was something like 3 years of food calories per citizen of the US. I don't recollect exactly how it was distributed in storage. Insanity would be putting it right next to massive nuclear targets, but my memory is fuzzy that far back.

 

[Gabingston]

Looks like there ain't no Sedalia ITTL.

I can't think of Sedalia without thinking of this:

(Skip to 1:26 for the relevant part if you want to)

 

[Lalli]

On that note, any thoughts on whether Argentina still democratizes or whether the generals do what the Tatmadaw did in 1990 IOTL as the nuclear war occurred after the elections there but before Alfonsin was inaugurated?

I think that junta is going to step down anyway. It hardly is stupid enough trying to keep power when it is already pretty unpopular. That might mean either revolution or civil war.

 

[Gillan1220]

On that note, with how Marcos was presumably killed in the nuclear strike on Manila and how the liberal/moderate/democratic opposition to him was very much one which the United States wanted to take power when it was clear Marcos‘ regime was going to fall sooner or later, the New People’s Army/Communist Party of the Philippines might be able to take over the Philippines, especially as the war was taking place at the apogee of their power.

I doubt the NPA would take power. They couldn't even control a small town. Their control are probably small villages in mountain barangays (barrios) wherein they demand tribute such as food. The NPA were TOO DISORGANIZED to carry out long-range attacks. They have never achieved the Strategic Defensive phase unlike their NVA and VC counterparts.

Would Philippines or any other non-communist nation even want commies anymore after this?

Communists would be equally hated as the Nazis ITTL.

Well, Marcos presumably got vaporized in the nuclear strike on Manila along with most of his ruling clique and it is not like the liberal (in the small-l sense) opposition is in any shape to take advantage of this, with how many of their leaders were killed in the war with how many of their main figures were in American exile or lived in Manila (Imperial Manila was and is a major issue that the Philippines faces). Besides, the NPA are Chinese-aligned as opposed to Soviet-aligned in their ideology and combined with both the Marcos regime and moderate opposition decapitated/reeling from the nuclear strikes, a Red Philippines on Chinese lines might be a possibility, albeit an unlikely one, with how the NPA/CPP-NDF was very much at its height at this point.

Marcos would have been relocated to his hometown of Laoag, Ilocos Norte. I doubt the Soviets had plans to destroy Laoag because it's not a major city nor does it have strategic importance. Baguio is used as the temporary capital in many nuclear war or zombie apocalypse scenarios in the Philippines, but in some case like in 1983: Doomsday, Baguio City would be hit because the USAF base at Camp John Hay is located there. It also subsequently takes out the Philippine Military Academy.

Actually, the NPA has abandoned communism/Maoism since the 1990s and has loathed the PRC for opening up with the West. Beijing at some point in the 1970s considered them a waste of resources for being too undisciplined and unorganized to actually destabilize one province in the Philippines. The M/V Karagatan incident in 1972 was one example. The arms shipment from China was intercepted by the military. When Deng Xiaoping took over, he knew it was better to do trade with Manila rather than arm disorganized communist rebels. The NPA were known to target Chinese businesses and even kidnap Chinese businessmen for ransom, something Beijing considers a liability and obstacle for their economic game in Southeast Asia.

The NPA would have no support if a nuclear war happened. Libya and North Korea won't be supporting them either with the loss of global trade. At some point, they would run out of ammunition.

I probably don't exist in this timeline. Pretty sure at least one my parents would have died, plus even if they had survived it would have been deemed virtual insanity to try for kids in a UK that was totally wrecked by the nukes.

Is it bad I STILL prefer this timeline to OTL?

I find it odd you prefer this TL than OTL.

For all the flaws of OTL, I'm really grateful 1983 didn't go hot and I am born today. And typing on this site.

Well i don't exist, given the dozen or so places hit in my country by Soviet nuclear bombs include Manila and that means my grandparents are dead before my father's even born. I do have a feeling my mom will still exist though that depends on how much nuclear fallout can reach Tacloban.

Fall out from the strike at Cebu would drift into Camotes, Bantayan, Masbate, Sorsogon, Samar, and Leyte. While Tacloban would not be hit, it would be drenched in fall out. There will still be deaths on radiation poisoning or even looting. What we saw in OTL November 2013 in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan would be kind in comparison.

How's India doing? I'd expect the Himalayas would atleast Protect it from the worst of the fallout. And thank God that Pakistan is still a decade away from nukes.

I assume Chinese pre-programmed nuclear weapons could have targeted India due to territorial disputes.

Both India and Pakistan was hit in Protect & Survive.

timelines:protect_and_survive_universe_list_of_targeted_locations [alternatehistory.com wiki]

www.alternatehistory.com

India

Delhi
Mumbai
Calcutta
Pune
Lucknow
Kanpur
Jaipur
Ludhiana
Bhopal
Ferozepore (Pakistani strike)

Pakistan
Islamabad
Karachi
Quetta
Lahore
Peshawar
Kahuta (Indian strike on nuclear research laboratory)
“Multiple tactical strikes” by Indian forces

Actually, Pakistan had nuclear capability as of 1983. They received designs and expertise from France and China to make their own devices.

According to @aaronupright in the thread Do you think USSR still be alive if they've successfully took over Afghanistan?

There are three dates normally given.
1979. When sufficien HEU was produced for a device
1983. When a series of sub-critical tests were completed.
1984. PAF set up a separate strategic command
1987. Pakistan told India it had them.

I suspect the answer depends on what exactly is meant by being “nuclear”.

The first known test was conducted in May 1998 but it was widely believed Pakistan had the ability to use nuclear weapons in 1983.

In the 1960s, Mao told the leaders of the Soviet bloc that World War III would be a good thing because even if China lost 300 million of its 600 million people (and the Soviet bloc was completely destroyed), there would still be 300 million people to advance the socialist cause. It seems that this timeline made his plans come true.

I read this too from the Chinese submarine captain in World War Z.

He states why there was a Chinese population boom in the 1950s. The reason is that once the Americans and the Soviets duke it out in a 1950s-60s nuclear war, there will still be 300 million Chinese citizens that could overwhelm the American and Soviet survivors. Therefore, China could survive and reclaim its place as the sole superpower once more.

Judging by that, it sounds like what Cabal China plans to do in AANW.

Pretty good odds, though, that Marcos (a fairy paranoid man) will have left for for one of his many (50+!) estates around the country as the war breaks out and atoms start getting split in Germany - probably his "summer capital" in Baguio.

But: Even assuming, as I do, that he likely survives, his regime does not look likely to be long-lived. Manila and Subic Bay have been vaporized, and his superpower patron can give him no help or support now. This is just two months after the assassination of Benigno Aquino Jr. . . . Marcos will immediately declare martial law and dial it up to 11, but with diminishing popularity, a lively insurgency, and an economy that was already cratering even before its largest metroplex was obliterated, things are not looking good for him. More likely a coup of some kind turfs him within a year.

Like I said, he'd leave for Laoag and probably have Imelda go to Tacloban where the Romualdez family are based. Both Laoag and Tacloban are too small and insignificant to be targeted by the Soviets.

If Marcos died in Manila along with the government, then the Philippines would collapse. I could see the country balkanizing wherein individual surviving provinces would claim to be the legitimate successor.

If Marcos survived and Martial Law would be declared again (it was lifted in 1981 when the Pope visited), the country would be a failed state and might result in a multi-sided Philippine Civil War. 1983: Doomsday had him removed in a People Power in 1987 (known as the Bloodless Coup of 87; one year late than OTL) led by Juan Ponce Enrile and Fidel Ramos.

In the summer of 1986, rhetoric got even more bellicose when Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz issued a statement that Kuwait was historically part of Iraq. The flimsy argumentation was that Kuwait had been part of the Ottoman Basra Vilayet, which had become part of Iraq upon the Ottoman Empire’s disintegration following the First World War. They even pointed out that during the 1930s a popular movement had existed that favoured the reunification of both countries, but of course neglected to mention that fifty years later Kuwaitis had a different opinion of their aggressive, militaristic northern neighbour. Iraq, however, continued to claim Kuwait as nothing but an imperialist British creation. Besides that the issue of Iraqi debts to Kuwait relating to the Iran-Iraq War remained and Iraq now began accusing Kuwait of stealing oil by allegedly slant drilling into the Rumaila Oil Field.

It seems Iraq will still invade Kuwait here just like in OTL 1990. However, unlike OTL, there won't be an international coalition to liberate Kuwait and protect Saudi Arabia from Iraqi aggression. It appears there is no choice for Kuwait but to accept being under the thumb of Iraq. Even the Saudis would see it as status quo.

Imagine a group of Soviet military advisors stationed somewhere in the Middle East or Africa trying in vain to contact Moscow by radio. "Come in, Moscow. Come in, Moscow" they would say. Instead, all they get is static or dead silence. The silence would be deafening.

Oh yes there were a sizeable number of Soviet advisors in the Middle East (such as Syria and South Yemen), Afghanistan, and Angola.

Well, maybe. The Brits had put in place a significant garrison after the Falklands War, even if Mount Pleasant was not yet complete, and anyway, the Argies had much of their navy and most of their air assets trashed just 16 months before, so even if Alfonsin's government actually wanted to try grabbing the Falklands again, I am not sure it would be very easy, even in these circumstances. Not least because Alfonsin had his hands full trying to bring the military to heel, and any new war would only increase their political power.

In the long run, it may be harder to keep the Argentines out, but that's harder to project.

Probably Argentina can with some way take Falklands. London has not much capacity to do anything unless it hasn't some ballistic warheads left and nuke Buenos Aires. But not sure if even Thatcher wants take such direction.

Of course Argentina has such optiobn that it tells: "Well, Brits. I see that you are starving. Give us Malvinas and we give to you as much of steaks as you are needing.".

If ends up like Protect & Survive, I could see a surviving RN submarine launch a Polaris on Buenos Aires.

Britain won't be in the position to reclaim any territory away from home due to the loss of communications, lack of forces, and a scattered military force around the world.

Hence why I criticize the article for the Falklands in 1983: Doomsday wherein it chose to reunify with Argentina just a year after it was invaded by it. Even with a nuclear war, old wounds won't go away.

In a scenario where Nuclear War is highly probably, the US could just send some tenders towing dry docks out to sea. They could shove as much food and parts in them as possible. The Soviets would have no idea where they were. Especially since the Soviet Navy was sunk during the first days of the war. The biggest issue with keeping boomers or fast boats at sea after would be food and toilet paper. They only carry food for around 100 days at sea. They could be used as smallish power plants as well. They couldn’t power too far since they only generate 450 AC Volts. You’d need some step-up and then step-down transformers to go very far. They carry more parts then you might think. Parts are stuffed literally everywhere.

The U.S. Navy's auxiliary ships like the tenders, tugs, oilers, supply ships, combat stores, ammunition ships, and expeditionary dry docks would literally keep what remains of their great navy alive. These would definitely be sent out to sea to ensure to support remaining warships that were out in deployment.

In 1983, this is what auxiliary ships the USN had from an edit in the Gathering Order article of 1983 Doomsday (November 20, 2008 edit):

Auxiliary Crane Ships (7):
USS Gopher State (T-ACS 4)
USS Flickertail State (T-ACS 5)
USS Cornhusker State (T-ACS 6)
USS Diamond State (T-ACS 7)
USS Equality State (T-ACS 8)
USS Green Mountain State (T-ACS 9)
USS Beaver State (T-ACS 10)

Hospital Ships (2):
USNS Mercy (T-AH 19)
USNS Comfort (T-AH 20)

Missile Tracking Ship (1):
USNS Observation Island (T-AGM 23)

Survey Ships (4):
USS Bent (T-AGS 26)
USS Kane (T-AGS 27),
USS Wilkes (T-AGS 33)
USS Wyman (T-AGS 34)

Ammunition Ships (13):
USS Suribachi (AE-21)
USS Mauna Kea (AE-22)
USS Nitro (AE-23)
USS Pyro (AE-24)
USS Haleakala (AE-25)
USS Kilauea (T-AE 26)
USS Butte (T-AE 27)
USS Santa Barbara (T-AE 28)
USS Mount Hood (T-AE 29)
USS Flint (T-AE 32)
USS Shasta (T-AE 33)
USS Mount Baker (T-AE 34)
USS Kiska (T-AE 35)

Combat Stores Ships (9):
USS Mars (AFS-1)
USS Sylvania (AFS-2)
USS Niagara Falls (T-AFS-3)
USS White Plains (AFS-4)
USS Concord (T-AFS-5)
USS San Diego (AFS-6)
USS San Jose (T-AFS-7)
USS Sirius (T-AFS 8)
USS Spica (T-AFS 9)

Oilers (7):
USS Caloosahatchee (AO-98)
USS Canisteo (AO-99)
USS Cimarron (AO-177)
USS Monongahela (AO-178)
USS Merrimack (AO-179)
USS Willamette (AO-180)
USS Platte (AO-186)

Fast Combat Support Ships (4):
USS Sacramento (AOE-1)
USS Camden (AOE-2)
USS Seattle (AOE-3)
USS Detroit (AOE-4)

Replenishment Oilers (7):
USS Wichita (AOR-1)
USS Milwaukee (AOR-2)
USS Kansas City (AOR-3)
USS Savannah (AOR-4)
USS Wabash (AOR-5)
USS Kalamazoo (AOR-6)
USS Roanoke (AOR-7)

Destroyer Tenders (6):
USS Samuel Gompers (AD-37)
USS Puget Sound (AD-38)
USS Yellowstone (AD-41)
USS Acadia (AD-42)
USS Cape Cod (AD-43)
USS Shenandoah (AD-44)

Repair Ships (4):
USS Vulcan (AR-5)
USS Ajax (AR-6)
USS Hector (AR-7)
USS Jason (AR-8)

Rescue and Salvage Ships (6):
USS Bolster (ARS-38)
USS Conserver (ARS-39)
USS Hoist (ARS-40)
USS Opportune (ARS-41)
USS Reclaim (ARS-42)
USS Recovery (ARS-43)

Rescue and Towing Ships (3):
USS Edenton (ATS-1)
USS Beaufort (ATS-2)
USS Brunswick (ATS-3)

Missile Range Instrumentation Ships (3):
USS Vanguard (T-AGM-19)
USS Redstone (T-AGM-20)
USS Range Sentinel (T-AGM-22)

Give or take many of these survived. Or were out at sea to support USN CVBGs when tensions flared.

Imagine being from a big city and moving to the Great Plains from fear of nuclear war, only to find out that the plains were the place (aside from maybe the BosWash corridor, Rust Belt and SoCal) that would get nuked the most. Especially if you were said person in this timeline, where the nuclear armageddon actually comes. I imagine a lot of people would flee the areas around the silos, not as many as from the big cities obviously, but flee nonetheless. Not everyone, though, I'm sure there'd be some people who'd be like "I've lived a full life, I'm right with the Lord, might as well go out in a blaze of glory".

The Great Plains being a safe zone from the nuclear war was only during the 1950s-60s when ICBM technology was not yet advanced. By the time ICBMs and SLBMs were the main nuclear weapons instead of bombers, the illusion of safety in the Great Plains disappeared.

I did say the top worst places to be in a nuclear war in the United States:

• Washington, D.C. (the capital)
• Omaha, Nebraska (headquarters of SAC)
• New York City (the largest city in the United States, a symbol of capitalism and American culture)
• Anywhere in the Northeast from D.C. up to Boston (BoshWash corridor)
• Any major city in the United States
• Cities or towns close to military bases

It took me an hour to type this reply.

I was listening to this while typing it to set the vibes of the post-Able Archer world.

 

[Whiteshore]

If Marcos died in Manila along with the government, then the Philippines would collapse. I could see the country balkanizing wherein individual surviving provinces would claim to be the legitimate successor.

Especially as there was a strong Muslim insurgency in the south of the country as well.

 

[Gillan1220]

Especially as there was a strong Muslim insurgency in the south of the country as well.

The MNLF insurgents would probably take advantage of the chaos and declare their own separate territory. Some cities might fall to them, but without support from the outside, the MNLF taking ground would suddenly lose steam. I would see areas like Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, and parts of the Zamboanga peninsula fall to them.

Was Zamboanga City nuked here? It has a major airbase (Edwin Andrews Air Base) that could support both Philippine and U.S. aircraft. Or do the Soviets think Zamboanga is too insignificant of a target?

 

[jasper the spectator]

Fall out from the strike at Cebu would drift into Camotes, Bantayan, Masbate, Sorsogon, Samar, and Leyte. While Tacloban would not be hit, it would be drenched in fall out. There will still be deaths on radiation poisoning or even looting. What we saw in OTL November 2013 in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan would be kind in comparison.

Well, i better hope atleast some of my mom’s branch of the family survives all of that so atleast some of my family is still alive by today, even if, like I said before, my dad’s branch got toasted.

 

[Gillan1220]

Well, i better hope atleast some of my mom’s branch of the family survives all of that so atleast some of my family is still alive by today, even if, like I said before, my dad’s branch got toasted.

Your mother would probably meet someone else, and your alternate self would not resemble you at all.

For my case, both my mother and father died in Cebu at the age of 22-23. I'd like to think the Soviets targeted Mactan Air Base in Lapu-Lapu City which destroys all of Metro Cebu (Cebu City, Mandaue, Talisay, Consolacion, and Liloan) and maybe another one at the heart of Cebu City just to make sure AFP Central Command is taken out, along with the crude WWII airfield in Lahug and the seaports of Cebu and Mandaue. Or just to make sure the Philippine government does not make it the temporary capital as it is the second largest city in the Philippines.

Cebu's seaports can support ships as big as a destroyer. USS Reuben James and the USS Shiloh visited in 2008, USS Chong Hoon in 2010, and USS Shiloh again in 2014.

 

[Kalga]

I'm not sure if the USSR & communism would be as comprehensively discredited as the majority opinion (most being from the developed world or at least western aligned countries) seems to agree upon here. I mean of course the west would put the blame on the ex-warsaw pact, being that they know that they didn't do anything wrong and certainly didn't fire the first shots. However that view (and hindsight) isn't necessarily going to be widely accepted in the 3rd world (which now ITTL is relatively the most developed, or at least the least radioactive). A counternarrative could easily be constructed in which the USSR was baited into firing the first shot, as the capitalist west loves doing that kind of subterfuge in order to maintain their moral high ground. Also throw in some antisemitic bullshit, because there's plenty of that going around, especially in the middle east.

But then again, the same could be said about the nazis as far as the 3rd world's concerned in OTL, where they're more disdained for for losing rather than their ideology being evil.

 

[jasper the spectator]

Your mother would probably meet someone else, and your alternate self would not resemble you at all.

Probably, but that depends on whether she is still born. That is why I said earlier I wanted atleast some of her branch of the family to live.