stevep
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Post by stevep on May 12, 2018 13:16:29 GMT
You made my day James, like the update, if i could award you something above a grand order i would. Well, I see the Soviets are learning the meaning of the old adage "Battle plans never survive first contact with the enemy." I suspect that'll be true for every force ITTL... It really will be that case. Problems will crop up all over the place. Catching up after being otherwise engaged yesterday. Looks like the Koren distraction has worked quite well for the Soviets as those divisions in S Korea will be missed and they could be vulnerable to resupply problems with a big shooting war in Korea as well as the US.  |
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stevep
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Post by stevep on May 12, 2018 13:33:51 GMT
(163)18th–20th September 1984: There had been losses incurred and a ‘setback’ – others would say a defeat – too when it came to Soviet operations in Alaska. The paratroopers on the ground in the Alaskan Panhandle weren’t going anywhere after their initial entry wasn’t reinforced. The American victory at Adak meant that there was an island of resistance where there should be none. The front commander believed himself lucky to not be relieved of his post afterwards. He knew that his forces had done well elsewhere, very well, and it was that which kept him in position. Orders from above came to tell him to finish what was started. Isolate American forces in Alaska and cut off a route of attack through there against the Rodina because the enemy was weak and exposed with only geography in their favour. No further delays were acceptable. A significant portion of the Soviet Navy’s Pacific Fleet had been gathered pre-war at Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Other ships from Vladivostok were sent on other operations out into the open waters of the Pacific – many in the coming weeks to end up at the bottom of the ocean – though those up in the north went out to sea through what were rather constricted waters in comparison to the ocean proper. Several convoys of transports, led by a few amphibious assault ships, were escorted by warships across the Bering Sea and staying within range of the air cover which came from the captured airbase on Shemya Island. The Soviets moved fast, as fast as the slowest ship in the convoys could make it anyway, and under that fighter cover. Those first few (of many planned) MiG-25s operating from Eareckson belonged to the Soviet Air Defence Forces and had their own tasks though they provided the protection needed for a short period. Adak was meant to house more of those fighters but instead there were no aircraft flying from there at all, Soviet nor Americans. The P-3s belonging to the US Navy had been lost in the fighting on the ground – RPGs and satchel charges had been used by the naval infantry defeated detachment – and so there came no reporting of the approach of some of the ships from the convoy towards Adak nor the passing of many more which carried on following the course of the island chain and heading for what fighter coverage was soon starting to be made available when the first of the MiG-25s from Kodiak were able to provide air cover too. The gap in the middle was crossed without any American air interference coming. It was to Kodiak were the main body of the ships were going, transporting much of the Soviet Navy’s 55th Naval Infantry Division with only part of that meant to go into action in the forced-entry role. American air attacks were expected at any moment but the ships kept going onwards. There was also a watch for submarines too. Again, none came to interfere with this first series of convoys. That wouldn’t be the case again. The waters around Kodiak were where that division of Soviet marines were to stage from for their later roles though some ships within the convoys had broken off during the transit. A couple went to Shemya to deliver more men, supplies and equipment as well as beginning the process of taking apart the massive COBRA DANE radar for shipment off that island. There was a whole lot of work to be done with that yet much promise was foreseen when the secrets from it were due to be unlocked back home in the Soviet Union. A few more ships went to Adak: these were ones meant to bring in the follow-on forces to complete the first assault. The rest of the troops initially tasked for Adak were sent there and this was most of a battalion. However, they still would be outnumbered by how many Americans were on Adak in terms of all of those US Navy personnel who had supported the US Marines detachment in the fighting on the first day. Those non-combat personnel had been dismissed as irrelevant in the past but that was no longer the case. Adak was gassed on the morning of September 19th. A flight of Tupolev-22M bombers, the big Backfires in Soviet Navy service, made an attack where they flew low over the airbase and the military harbour and released bombs. The pilots climbed sharply away afterwards and accelerated greatly. Their supersonic booms told those on the ground that something was up. Then the gas mixed with the air and started to concentrate. This was the first use of nerve gas in the war, something which had deliberately not happened already where such an important weapon in the Soviet arsenal hadn’t been used in a standoff with the Americans when it came to making use of weapons of mass destruction beyond the first use to open the war. Adak was gassed though where there was the liberal use of the nerve agent known as Soman ( GD as known to NATO) at an out-of-the-way and isolated location where the intention was to cover up its use. Those in its path were at a chemical posture where they were wearing their main suits and carrying with them helmets and gloves. The chemical alarms went off with enough warning. Still, those on the ground at Adak died in great numbers and there were also others who were left gravely injured too. Not everyone had their personal protection fully on in time, sealed up and protecting themselves. Hundreds of casualties were spread across Adak. Soviet naval infantrymen turned up a couple of hours later. The first wave came in assault boats and a couple of transport helicopters. They were wearing their chemical warfare suits and had been told to keep them on at all times: nothing more than that. There were still Americans alive at Adak and many more than the Soviets expected. Infantry fighting brought damage to the chemical warfare suits worn by each side. GD was classified as a non-persistent gas and not an area-denial weapon. It was meant to disperse and lose lethality after a while. It did, just not fully. The lasting effects of the gas killed men who were fighting each other while meant to be protected against it. The Soviets had arrived in hell. The casualties which the Americans had taken beforehand were still all over the place. Nerve gas does horrible things to people. The fighting which took place was different to fights elsewhere due to the gas attack. Some Americans fought with everything they had, with brutality, to avenge the deaths which they had witnessed. Others just couldn’t bring themselves to take part in the fighting or do anything else either like a functioning human being. The sights which they had seen, the screams which they had heard… it had all been too much. The Soviets were affected as well though not as badly for they hadn’t seen the worst of what had happened. They took the airbase and secured the harbour for arriving ships. Then, afterwards, during the rounding up of prisoners and weapons, they started to become fully aware of everything around them including how many of their comrades were on the ground as well when their suits had been torn. Naval infantrymen joined their US Navy opponents in going into shock. Parties of men were organised to shoot the dying, to put them but also everyone else out of the misery. Burial parties were organised too where the dead were hastily pushed aside. The things that those who survived Adak, from both sides, saw would haunt them for a long time. War was one thing: that gas had been something else entirely… although it must be said that no one on Adak had seen the aftereffects of the nuclear attacks in both their countries. Kodiak, where those ships brought most of the 55th Division to, was reached by the lead ships on the fourth day of the war. The fighter cover from the MiG-25s there protected the ships. Those Foxbats were quick to see action, being engaged by F-15s flying from Alaska and their air crews weren’t having a fun time at all when outnumbered and forced to retreat back through the skies. More fighters were due soon to come to Kodiak. In the meantime, the Foxbats kept the way open for transport aircraft which were making the island-hop through the Aleutians, to Kodiak and then onto the Alaskan Panhandle. Where those Soviet paratroopers were at Haines and Skagway they held open those two airports which were also to soon enough become fighter bases too. Establishing a fighter presence was taking longer than planned but transport aircraft were coming in and flying back out again with medium-sized Antonov-12 & -26 &-32 transports making that journey. They brought in fuel and weapons for the fighters when they turned up along with ground personnel. Air defence weapons came in as well with those quickly set up. The Americans had to get wise to the location of these twin airheads soon enough. In addition, troops came in too. Some of those missing 345th Regiment paratroopers which had been diverted to Kodiak were returned from there but there was also the process of bringing in the 11th Landing-assault Brigade, that airmobile unit waiting across in Kamchatka. The flights were made with a couple of aircraft lost to accidents as well over the water or on approach to Haines and Skagway. This was going to take a while though was helped when Adak was announced as taken… without those who hadn’t been there having any idea as to what had happened on that little island. Because the Haines-Skagway bridgehead hadn’t been closed when there had come that American fighter activity over the Gulf of Alaska, and that had eased off, the mission for the Soviet Airborne to go deep into the mainland from their coastal lodgement was still on. Madness it might be to some but the orders stood. The 345th Regiment (with a quarter of its pre-war strength lost before any battle) would go and reach the Alaskan Highway and cut off Alaska. Canada was that way, through the mountains, the paratroopers were instructed to get moving and do it now. They started advancing across the US-Canadian border. The Americans were aware of the Soviet presence in the Aleutians, Kodiak and the Alaskan Panhandle. Information was sketchy and the intelligence picture far from complete but they knew that the Soviets had men there with more on the way. Aircraft and ships were spotted and attacks were made where possible though finding the enemy, especially their ships, wasn’t an easy thing to do with the presence of Soviet fighters. What was needed was reinforcements, urgent reinforcements. Alaska would be cut off and starved out otherwise. From the Soviet dispositions, that was clearly the intent. No help was available though. With Red Star taking place through the South-West, US Army Alaska and Alaskan Air Command were on their own. National guard units were incorporated into the defence and there was also the formation all over the place of independent militias through the vast expanse of that state. For the time being, those in Alaska were on their own. What the Soviets were doing in Alaska was noted by the Canadians too. Canada was at war once since it started, following events in Ottawa and Halifax plus a determined but ultimately doomed effort by a Soviet commando team to get into CFB North Bay where NORAD’s secondary headquarters was. Canadian fighters were flying air defence missions for NORAD where they waited for Soviet bombers to come over the North Pole. Canadian warships & submarines were active already and would soon be making a big effort as part of a combined US-Canadian effort in the North Pacific when it came to Alaska. In the meantime, what parts of the Canadian Army were available for wartime operations were readied to see fighting. Canada was going to be bringing troops home from West Germany but there were others in Canada, spread throughout the country including out in the Prairies. Through Alberta, the Canadians were forming up their 1st Mechanised Brigade-Group and adding many attachments of reservists from across their western provinces. The Soviets were going into the Yukon, so too would be Canadian troops. Furthermore, into Alberta there was coming the first of (what would ultimately be only a small contingent in the end) British troops arriving to link up with men on pre-war exercises & stored equipment at the CFB Suffield training site. The Canadians and the British were off to fight in the northern expanses of Canada and near to Alaska. The Americans had to follow them, surely? They must have some troops from somewhere, yes? So the first use of a nerve agent, i fear it will not be the last. Almost certainly not. For one thing it's [or will appear to be] a good way of clearing difficult terrain, including urban areas, of dug in resistance, especially when that resistance is largely by lightly equipped forces. Then there is likely to be American retaliation and I have a good idea how much ABC equipment the LACom forces have [NOT]. Sounds like the Canadians will be largely on their own in the Yukon for quite a while. Some British support and US air and naval units plus what resistance will be in Alaska but both Britain and America will have more pressing problems I fear with the Bear at the gate. Britain itself may not be threatened with invasion but that probably won't be realised for a while and getting US forces back across a contested Atlantic will probably take what shipping is available. Plus with enemy forces attacking California [although hopefully not for long] and Texas and points in between that will be the prime US priority. Key factor may well be that between the terrain, climate and the ropey Soviet logistics chain the Soviets may well not get much more through either. Just had a thought that Britain could find EEC membership very useful for once.  All that money spent on the CAP means there are nice stockpiles of foodstuffs just across the Channel from us now we're going to be largely cut off from food imports from elsewhere. Sounds like we're going to have Belize II coming up shortly. The defenders are going to be heavily outnumbered and pretty much totally isolated but the Guatemalans are going to be under a lot of pressure to switch forces to the US front and I suspect their also going to take heavy losses so we might hold out. |
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James G
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Post by James G on May 12, 2018 14:40:46 GMT
Well, I see the Soviets are learning the meaning of the old adage "Battle plans never survive first contact with the enemy." I suspect that'll be true for every force ITTL... Yes, but the Americans are cheating because they don't have much of a plan in the first place. It took me a while to get that! Not having one does help in some ways yet causes problems elsewhere. More of an issue is actually command at the moment with infighting among the US service branches not fixed by the fallout from Eagle Claw and Urgent Fury (neither happened in this story) plus no Goldwater-Nichols Act. the services are fighting among themselves and doing their own thing. So the first use of a nerve agent, i fear it will not be the last. First use in the North American theatre. It has been used elsewhere... which we will come to in time. And, your fears are correct too. |
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James G
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Post by James G on May 12, 2018 14:44:28 GMT
I write those things for fun. Here is another pre-war one:It really will be that case. Problems will crop up all over the place. Catching up after being otherwise engaged yesterday. Looks like the Koren distraction has worked quite well for the Soviets as those divisions in S Korea will be missed and they could be vulnerable to resupply problems with a big shooting war in Korea as well as the US. They are over there all on their own. They will be very much missed on the other side of the Pacific. They will also be in a lot of trouble left on their own. Almost certainly not. For one thing it's [or will appear to be] a good way of clearing difficult terrain, including urban areas, of dug in resistance, especially when that resistance is largely by lightly equipped forces. Then there is likely to be American retaliation and I have a good idea how much ABC equipment the LACom forces have [NOT]. Sounds like the Canadians will be largely on their own in the Yukon for quite a while. Some British support and US air and naval units plus what resistance will be in Alaska but both Britain and America will have more pressing problems I fear with the Bear at the gate. Britain itself may not be threatened with invasion but that probably won't be realised for a while and getting US forces back across a contested Atlantic will probably take what shipping is available. Plus with enemy forces attacking California [although hopefully not for long] and Texas and points in between that will be the prime US priority. Key factor may well be that between the terrain, climate and the ropey Soviet logistics chain the Soviets may well not get much more through either. Just had a thought that Britain could find EEC membership very useful for once. All that money spent on the CAP means there are nice stockpiles of foodstuffs just across the Channel from us now we're going to be largely cut off from food imports from elsewhere. Sounds like we're going to have Belize II coming up shortly. The defenders are going to be heavily outnumbered and pretty much totally isolated but the Guatemalans are going to be under a lot of pressure to switch forces to the US front and I suspect their also going to take heavy losses so we might hold out. As more and more chemicals are used, slowly escalating, things will get very bad for everyone near to their use. You are correct with the Yukon and Alaska. And Britain. And Belize... but only sort of there. You have been reading my notes again! |
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James G
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Post by James G on May 12, 2018 14:45:03 GMT
(164)
18th–20th September 1984:
The thirty-fifth US president had helped get himself elected by making a big deal out of the threat posed by communism ninety miles off the Florida coast. His younger brother, the thirty-ninth president, had been in office when that threat had become very real indeed when Cuba had spread its influence, and soldiers too, all across Latin America (although that admittedly began under his predecessor). Both Kennedys who made it to the White House, JFK and Ted, had sought not to have Cuba define their presidencies. Each had overseen action taken against Cuba, action which was decried by critics as ineffective, but been wary of bringing about a wider war with Soviet Union over this. JFK had avoided that; Ted had failed to do so. The term ‘ninety miles’ had become symbolic when talking of Cuba. It was the distance between shores of the Cuban mainland and Key West. That little island lay at the bottom of the island chain stretching down away from the mainland with Key West at the end of the Florida Keys. Long preceding the Castros, Key West had been a military base and had been in the past compared to Gibraltar in the manner of where it sat alongside to and guarding entrance through such an important seaway as the Florida Straits. When the war with Castro’s Cuba began, Key West was home to a naval station used infrequently though a far busier naval air station. NAS Key West was actually not on that island but on neighbouring Boca Chica Key. It was a training facility and well-used. Many aircraft from there had been put into the air with great haste when DEFCON 1 followed the nuclear attack, including the US Navy’s A-4 Skyhawks assigned to the aggressor squadron which called Key West home. VF-45, known as the Blackbirds, had claimed several aerial victories on the war’s first day where they had taken out a pair of Cuban MiG-23s (not an easy feat) as well as a trio of unidentified bigger aircraft which had only been seen on radar screens and not visually identified: bombers, electronic warfare aircraft or even transports they might have been. The cost of tangling with the MiGs had been the loss of one A-4 and the serious damage done to another leading it to be written off after making an emergency landing. The Blackbirds had taken those losses but knew that they had done very well indeed. They were prepared to defend their base, plus fight in the defence of the rest of Florida too, once again. That they did.
The Cubans came back the next day. Unbeknown to VF-45, the squadron had driven off an airdrop over Key West of Cuban paratroopers. Those had been An-12 transports which they had hit and eliminated, aircraft carrying pathfinders and commandos ready to open the way for what was due to come afterwards. The mission to take Key West and establish a forward Cuban base there should have been cancelled afterwards. The Soviet commander in Cuba would have rather taken those Cuban paratroopers – the partially-built 7th Airborne Brigade – with him across to Texas following the shootdown and also not used any more aircraft of what he regarded as a folly. Fidel and Raúl Castro both would have none of that. General Yazov had no direct operational command over their paratroopers nor selective Cuban air units. Key West remaining in American hands would mean that Cuba would come under relentless air attacks but with it held by Cuba, the United States would be long distracted trying to take it back and therefore direct attention there. In addition, it would serve as a forward defensive position too, further limiting air attacks against Cuba. That made sense to the Castros. Something else of note in the desire to see Key West taken was that it would be under sole Cuban control. Cuban troops were taking part in occupying other parts of the United States but that was alongside Soviet forces. Key West would be theirs. Guantanamo Bay was another sole-Cuban operation but Key West was regarded as being just as important for that symbolic value of occupying American territory when after so long they had sat as occupiers of Cuban soil. Therefore, Cuban aircraft came back to the skies above the Florida Keys. Those A-4s were engaged again with Cuba filling the skies with their own fighters. The previous night had seen the first Operation Dark Knight air strikes take place over Cuba and a heck of a lot of damage done but the Castros would have Key West. VF-45 screamed for external help. They were aided only by a US Air Force radar on Cudjoe Key: not by fighters from Homestead AFB or other sites on the mainland who were busy elsewhere at the time. This wasn’t accidental. Cuban aircraft were busy elsewhere and making a big deal out of that at the crucial moment. Several A-4s were shot down and others driven off. The Blackbirds were good but they were overwhelmed. Right on the back of the fighter sweeps, where Cuba used its MiG-29s – those left after they had come under attack the night before – this time, low-flying transports arrived over NAS Key West and from out of their rear cargo doors dropped men making low-altitude jumps. Only one battalion of paratroopers was used with the 7th Brigade not having enough air transport to do any more. Those men who landed on Boca Chica Key went straight into the fight. US Navy personnel on the ground were dug-in with defensive positions set-up overnight. They would fight for the airbase and then fight across on Key West itself too. Like Guantanamo Bay, Key West would eventually be doomed though when no rescue came for beleaguered defenders. The Castros would have both their prizes.
Cuba was on the frontlines of the war – more than the Soviet Union and Nicaragua & other Central American nations – right from the start. Kennedy’s delayed air strikes were implemented by President Glenn. Dark Knight had a lot of planning done with it with forces moved into place ready to go but held back due to the promise of a diplomatic solution which had seen a nuclear attack instead. Neither Cuba nor the southeastern United States were affected by those and instead it was conventional fighting which took place. The Americans sent their aircraft pouring towards Cuba once the war was on with no restrictions on where they could strike across that island. The US Air Force led this effort as it was they who had the air strikes long planned out. Tactical Air Command was first to use its assigned fighter & strike aircraft over Cuba though they were quickly joined by SAC taking part too after a delay. There was a rush to drop bombs all over the island with so many places hit in a hurry. Whether this was the best strategy for the entire war actually being fought, one away from Cuba, was a question first not asked. Cuba was battered. When SAC entered the battle, they used cruise missiles as well as sending B-52s on bomb runs. Attacks were made in daylight and at night. Military facilities were at the top of the list though there were also strikes made against ‘regime targets’ as well, especially around Havana. Where the US Navy repeatedly asked for assistance when it came to Key West and were joined by the US Marines when it came to wanting air support for Guantanamo Bay, the US Air Force was apprehensive to do that when they had their focus to blasting bits of Cuba to ruin. That was seen as important, everything else was secondary.
Those air attacks upon Cuba were defended against. Cuba was full of Cuban and Soviet fighters as well as plenty of SAMs too. The island wasn’t just home to one of the leading socialist nations and thus always going to be defended, it was home to those Soviet forces moving across to Texas. Furthermore, reinforcements later coming from across the other side of the world would be moving through Cuba at a later stage too. Every bomb which hit Cuba’s airports and harbours put a dent into that. American fighters in the sky above Cuba also put military transport aircraft, aided by civilian airliners pressed into service, at risk. Cuba’s skies were the scene of many engagements. Missiles came up aplenty from the ground and they weren’t always too fussed when it came to which aircraft they struck. Havana was the main focus for the Americans with the Cuban capital being repeatedly struck itself as well as all around it. Elsewhere though, the Americans went after the Cuban ports of Muriel, Matanzas, Nueva Gerona, Cienfuegos and Manzanillo. Shipping using them and the infrastructure came under attack. Every air facility across the island, civilian and military, was on the target list for the Americans too. Aircraft were brought down above Cuba and over the nearby waters: those flown by the Americans, the Cubans and the Soviets. Ships were sunk at sea or set alight in port. Cuba was where America took out much of its early vengeance for the events of September 17th, later known as Red Dawn.
General Yazov had been refused permission to transfer any more than ten thousand Soviet personnel to Mexico before the war began. All of those were to have their presence hidden too. The rest of his forces were inside Cuba and waiting to move the very moment the war started. Those in Mexico were selected combat forces – those four light brigades used to open the way across the border – but also key logistics teams who would operate airports and harbours in Mexico near to that border as well as moving across into occupied parts of America too. They were joined straight away by others who went in after the paratroopers and airmobile forces who assaulted Texas. The task was to get what was in Cuba across the Gulf of Mexico. That the Americans would attack, in strength too, was anticipated. It was still a surprise how much damage they could do though. Yazov himself witnessed Cienfuegos hit by falling bombs from a cell of B-52s which he neither saw nor heard but whose weapons caused immense destruction there. Far more damage was done elsewhere. Regardless, the task was still to move across to Texas what he had in Cuba. The Eighth Tank Army and the Twenty–Fourth Air Army would go first followed by the Twenty–Eighth Combined Arms Army afterwards. To say this was remarkably difficult to do would be quite the understatement. It would have been far easier to have everything sent pre-war to Cuba instead deployed in Mexico. That hadn’t been the case though for such a presence, no matter how much maskirovka was used, all the deception and trickery in the world wouldn’t have worked. The Americans would have seen Krasny Zvezda coming. That was in the past now. What was important was getting out of Cuba what was on the island. To the ports of Corpus Christi, Brownsville and Tampico ships went with haste. Airports south of the Rio Grande and the far better ones north of that river were used. American interference came but the movements continued unabated. What Yazov worried over more that the air strikes made on Cuba, was whether the Americans would soon start blasting Corpus Christi and Brownsville. As the days went on they didn’t. He was certain that they would start to do so soon.
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stevep
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Post by stevep on May 12, 2018 16:05:34 GMT
Sounds like the USAF got rather too focused on Cuba but it could be very effective in hindering Soviet and also Cuban reinforcements to the main front in the US. The Cubans will have their token victories but it sounds like they won't be worth the cost. Both in terms of the losses in taking them and the damage the island will take. On your reply earlier "First use in the North American theatre. It has been used elsewhere... which we will come to in time." That sounds rather ominous. I suspect at least in Korea and I also fear elsewhere, especially Britain. On your other point I deny any knowledge of the listening devices you may or may not have found in your home.  |
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James G
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Post by James G on May 12, 2018 18:26:12 GMT
Sounds like the USAF got rather too focused on Cuba but it could be very effective in hindering Soviet and also Cuban reinforcements to the main front in the US. The Cubans will have their token victories but it sounds like they won't be worth the cost. Both in terms of the losses in taking them and the damage the island will take. On your reply earlier "First use in the North American theatre. It has been used elsewhere... which we will come to in time." That sounds rather ominous. I suspect at least in Korea and I also fear elsewhere, especially Britain. On your other point I deny any knowledge of the listening devices you may or may not have found in your home. They were itching to get at Cuba and were let off the leash. It will have an effect but air power is needed elsewhere too, in so many places. Chemicals have been used elsewhere. It will be another week before I take us on a world tour and they will show up then. I'll just bin what I find in the way of electronic devices then! |
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James G
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Post by James G on May 12, 2018 18:29:23 GMT
(165)
18th–20th September 1984:
Washington remained the capital of the United States. The fact that it was left a radioactive ruin after two nuclear detonations above it, plus another pair outside, didn’t change that in an official capacity. In reality though, what was left of the government was no longer calling Washington home. They were spread out elsewhere at emergency sites. Glenn was soon based at Mount Weather, the FEMA facility in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley though certainly wasn’t enjoying being stuck underground in that bunker. He left there several times in the war’s early days, making trips to Raven Rock and The Greenbrier – again places underground though – with the tightest of security in-place for his movements. It was at Raven Rock where Bentsen’s secondary Pentagon was set up, beneath the Blue Mountains in Pennsylvania. Congress was establishing itself underneath the exclusive hotel at White Sulphur Springs in West Virginia with the ‘Project Greek Island’ facility there at The Greenbrier put to use for what members were still alive. There were six senators and twenty-three representatives alive… from pre-war figures of one hundred of the former and four hundred & thirty-five of the latter. Such staggering losses of their numbers when Washington was obliterated mirrored what had happened to the highest level of other parts of the government. The Soviet attack had come at midday on a Monday when Congress was in session and even if everyone wasn’t directly on Capitol Hill, they were in the city. Those left alive had been elsewhere at the time of the surprise attack and were brought to West Virginia. A House Speaker was quickly elected among the almost two dozen representatives (who came from only ten of the fifty states) while from among the senators (from five states) they elected themselves a president pro tempore. If this hadn’t been wartime, the actions of the rump Congress in their first days would surely have been challenged by others. They didn’t have a quorum though that only mattered if one was called for: none of them did and avoided that constitutional entanglement. There were already many more of those on their plate as well as everything else going on but being isolated and not under scrutiny meant that they could do a lot, especially since it was wartime. When Glenn met with them, he was given a roasting by the congressmen especially when it came to what they knew about how the war was going at the minute with invading armies still on the march and it appeared that they weren’t being stopped in any way. They pushed him to appoint a vice president to their liking and not either of the two surviving Cabinet members in the form of the secretaries of commerce and education as he planned to. Furthermore, a new secretary of state should be selected by them too following what the president was told was the disaster when it came to America’s allies walking away and being allowed to get away with that. That rump Congress told Glenn that they believed that Moscow, Havana and Managua should now be glowing craters. They wanted Bentsen fired because under him an invasion of this magnitude had occurred. They wanted to supervision over the FBI-FEMA set-up which had metamorphosed in New York to become a shadow government. They wanted to know what exactly had occurred with that Israeli warning and who no one else had any idea of what was coming. Finally, they were setting up a joint committee to investigate the causes of the war and would act appropriately. At Raven Rock, getting a military briefing in person from Bentsen and the Joint Chiefs, Glenn had an unpleasant time but that was nothing in comparison to what he was on the receiving end of at The Greenbrier.
The nation’s capital wasn’t the only radioactive ruin. Andrews and Langley were wiped off the face of the earth too. Ellsworth and Offutt in the Mid-West plus Kansas City had been more nuclear targets. Then there were the North Dakota missile fields centred on Minot. Through Maryland and North Dakota, the radiation which came from the DC and Minot blasts was affecting both of those states when the wind blew fallout through them. It was far worse than what was seen in parts of Virginia, Omaha and what was left of the wider Kansas City area. Sirens had sounded and people had rushed to fallout shelters opened to them following civil defence guidelines. Not everyone had done so though plus there was fast the issue of many people leaving those locations. Anarchy had come in places, especially through heavily-populated places of Maryland like Baltimore and Annapolis. There had been a storm too which had brought with it black rain falling. People were dying everywhere with hundreds of thousands of others fleeing for their lives ahead of the radiation coming their way and also the chaos behind. Through North Dakota, those nuclear strikes had been in the main ground bursts… which had brought far more fallout that came from the airbursts over the DC area. What goes up, in the form of irradiated earth, must come back down. The big towns of Bismarck, Fargo and Grand Forks had seen fallout dumped upon them along with smaller towns and rural areas through the state. That radiation clouds were moving north and east though, into Canada and Minnesota. As with Maryland, initial deaths from the fallout weren’t so terrible but soon enough those affected were starting to suffer before they would soon enough die. Panic was rife as everyone in the way of the incoming fallout, or perceived that they were, fled in outright terror. Local authorities were overwhelmed and couldn’t cope. Millions were going to die in Maryland – probably further up the East Coast too – and through the upper Mid-West. Decades of planning for post-strike measures to deal with radiation, in far bigger nuclear strikes than had taken place, weren’t enough to deal with the reality of what came. Who really could have been prepared for what came though?
The ‘shadow government’ that some of those in their bunker in West Virginia were alarmed about was the emergency measures brought in nationwide – with Glenn’s signature authorising that – where there was cooperation between the FBI and FEMA over domestic security and disaster relief. The field offices of both organisations in New York had seen agreement to cement that late on the war’s first day though there had been a move out of there afterwards – in case a second nuclear attack targeted New York – and up to a US Army Reserve post in the Hudson Valley at Orangetown. That move was coordinated with Bentsen’s approval to give them somewhere to operate from since both federal agencies had lost their headquarters in DC. It was only temporary. There was nothing shadowy about what they were doing, not as far as they nor Glenn & Bentsen were concerned anyway. Everything was legal and proper. These were extraordinary times and extraordinary measures were needed, measures given presidential approval. To save those who could be saved from the fallout meant that FEMA would have to make hard choices. There was also the issue of refugees, those affected by & fleeing from the radiation of so many nuclear detonation in addition to others nationwide making themselves internal refugees where they fled from the war coming their way through the South-West. When it came to the FBI, they were dealing with a major national emergency when it came to security. Enemy commando attacks had occurred nationwide which the military was stretched to deal with but there had also been terrorist attacks all over the place conducted by domestic and foreign extremists. The New York attacks had been undertaken by Palestinians associated with Libya: Israel was sticking to its word on support for the US by having quickly provided lots of background help on getting to the bottom of that… doing themselves a big favour in the meantime too there. There had come hate crimes against those of Middle Eastern appearance afterwards, joining those launched by criminals – so-called patriots and vigilantes – against Hispanics too leading to some terrible instances: the FBI was meant to be addressing that. The McCarran Act, a 1950 piece of legislation which was still federal law despite many years of protest & weakening, had come into effect. The FBI was making arrests and detaining those regarded as subversives nationwide. There would be recriminations when it came to those who they locked up and others shot when trying to run. Additionally, the FBI was looking at some of the refugee camps near the Mexican border for further signs of hidden foreign agents. There were remaining camps in areas when invading forces hadn’t moved into through California and Texas; other camps had already been entered by Mexican Revolutionary units with massacres apparently taking place yet the FBI nor anyone else could do anything about that. Another security issue where the FBI was trying to get atop of was the reports of missing important people nationwide who it appeared had been kidnapped by the KGB or their proxies just before the outbreak of war. There had been what were now realised as poisoning of some people but these suspected kidnappings included two members of Congress who hadn’t been killed in Washington nor were at The Greenbrier: a congressman from Texas and a congresswoman from California. Had they been taken to therefore later show up reading from a KGB-supplied script declaring a revolutionary government? It was possible. The FBI was working on that theory because news had come in from aboard of similar things happening in other nations.
Glenn’s military briefing at Raven Rock went into depth on what he was already aware of when it came to the war being fought not just at home but abroad too. Good news wasn’t plentiful in that. The Soviet-led war on American soil was clearly far beyond any sort of security zone like they declared they were launching. That was a load of ******* anyway. Nonetheless, their actions proved the lie. It was in New Mexico and Colorado which showed that, where they and the Cubans had put paratroopers up the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains. Before politics, Glenn was a Marine aviator with aerial kills to his name over Korea and he’d retired as a colonel. He didn’t need general’s stars nor having done extensive staff work to see what that was all about. There was a corridor being established for troops to advance northwards to split the western half of the country in two. He wasn’t so sure about the assurance that Nicaraguan troops were identified as taking part as the main ground unit there – surely Soviets or even Cubans should be involved? – but agreed that this was what they were up to when told. More than South Texas or anywhere else, he directed Bentsen to have full attention paid to that for the time being. The implications from that instruction (which was agreed with too by those at Raven Rock) would be important later but not understood for some time. Other issues of concern were the enemy victories won in the West, past the Rockies. A fierce dispute had arisen over inter-service cooperation. Bentsen wanted to push through an emergency shakeup even before the AMARC debacle and was granted approval after that loss. Theatre commands with full joint service coordination & supervision would be established. This would mean a shakeup too with the Joint Chiefs but the three of the five Joint Chiefs (the two others were the dead pre-war Chairman & the US Air Force chief who had resigned on the eve of war) who were at Raven Rock stood behind it following all that had gone on. Whether what was agreed between them and Glenn & Bentsen would work out in the field was something else but it had begun. It was going to be a mess yet it had to be done. Reservists and national guardsmen nationwide had been called out and there was already an unprecedented rush of volunteers descending upon recruiting stations alongside the conscription announced. The news on this was good yet still, it wasn’t going to be easy going turning civilians into soldiers at a time like this with the country in the state it was in. From overseas, Soviet activity in the North Atlantic was gone over and there was little good news. It was the same with the North Korean invasion of South Korea where US forces were caught up in that and in a lot of trouble; joined as well by those in the Caribbean in the firing line. Orders were given from the president on these matters. Finally, there was the issue of what elements of the US military overseas who were not in those theatres of war. American forces already had their orders to come home from Western Europe. They were needed this side of the Atlantic. How long was that going to take, Glenn asked. The answer which came wasn’t good.
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Post by lukedalton on May 13, 2018 0:10:52 GMT
Well, the only bright side of the nuclear exchange it's that will finally shut up all the genius that assure us that you can survive or win a nuclear war (yes they exist), if a simple trivial exchange (in relation with the warhead both side have) had caused all that chaos and made all the previous preparation moot and overwhelmed the relief effort image what a couple of more missile will have done.
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lordbyron
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Post by lordbyron on May 13, 2018 1:09:49 GMT
Oh, this is bad; IMO, this will be the US's worst war in terms of casualties, dwarfing even the Civil War...
Also, James G, if you could kill off an infamous sports doctor who was in the news at the beginning of this year, a lot of people would probably like it (his initials are LN and he's the American sports equivalent to Jimmy Savile, if one is looking for comparison...)
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Post by lukedalton on May 13, 2018 1:57:39 GMT
We are already approaching WWI level of death, without taking in consideration death due to fallout consequences and what will happen in China; the US civil war will probably look like the burrito festival of cucamonga
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2018 7:23:08 GMT
When Glenn met with them, he was given a roasting by the congressmen especially when it came to what they knew about how the war was going at the minute with invading armies still on the march and it appeared that they weren’t being stopped in any way. They pushed him to appoint a vice president to their liking and not either of the two surviving Cabinet members in the form of the secretaries of commerce and education as he planned to. Furthermore, a new secretary of state should be selected by them too following what the president was told was the disaster when it came to America’s allies walking away and being allowed to get away with that. That rump Congress told Glenn that they believed that Moscow, Havana and Managua should now be glowing craters. They wanted Bentsen fired because under him an invasion of this magnitude had occurred. They wanted to supervision over the FBI-FEMA set-up which had metamorphosed in New York to become a shadow government. They wanted to know what exactly had occurred with that Israeli warning and who no one else had any idea of what was coming. I can only imagine for just a brief second the POTUS wished the Rump Congress had gotten the chop in D.C. right along with Ted Kennedy and the rest of them. Your country has been attacked with nuclear weapons, you're being invaded and these schmucks want to micromanage everything? OY! |
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stevep
Fleet admiral
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Post by stevep on May 13, 2018 11:10:41 GMT
When Glenn met with them, he was given a roasting by the congressmen especially when it came to what they knew about how the war was going at the minute with invading armies still on the march and it appeared that they weren’t being stopped in any way. They pushed him to appoint a vice president to their liking and not either of the two surviving Cabinet members in the form of the secretaries of commerce and education as he planned to. Furthermore, a new secretary of state should be selected by them too following what the president was told was the disaster when it came to America’s allies walking away and being allowed to get away with that. That rump Congress told Glenn that they believed that Moscow, Havana and Managua should now be glowing craters. They wanted Bentsen fired because under him an invasion of this magnitude had occurred. They wanted to supervision over the FBI-FEMA set-up which had metamorphosed in New York to become a shadow government. They wanted to know what exactly had occurred with that Israeli warning and who no one else had any idea of what was coming. I can only imagine for just a brief second the POTUS wished the Rump Congress had gotten the chop in D.C. right along with Ted Kennedy and the rest of them. Your country has been attacked with nuclear weapons, you're being invaded and these schmucks want to micromanage everything? OY! Fully agree. Their understandably angry but their not thinking. As such their complication a serious national crisis. Sounds like the concentration on the Soviet push into Colorado is going to cause problems in Texas and possibly further east. This conflict will dwarf anything the US has seen before, or even everything else prior to this, both in absolute terms and quite possibly in relative terms. Even without a few comments that have been made about China its likely to at least match WWII death tolls by the time the dust has settled. |
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James G
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Post by James G on May 13, 2018 12:26:04 GMT
Well, the only bright side of the nuclear exchange it's that will finally shut up all the genius that assure us that you can survive or win a nuclear war (yes they exist), if a simple trivial exchange (in relation with the warhead both side have) had caused all that chaos and made all the previous preparation moot and overwhelmed the relief effort image what a couple of more missile will have done. The Soviets will be having the same issue with fallout from Leningrad and also in the Ural Mountains (airbursts over the former; devastating ground bursts with the latter) too. Other countries, Finland first but with more to follow, will be rather upset. Oh, this is bad; IMO, this will be the US's worst war in terms of casualties, dwarfing even the Civil War... Also, James G, if you could kill off an infamous sports doctor who was in the news at the beginning of this year, a lot of people would probably like it (his initials are LN and he's the American sports equivalent to Jimmy Savile, if one is looking for comparison...) A heck of a lot of death will come. Anarchy will breakout in places too where panic hits. We are already approaching WWI level of death, without taking in consideration death due to fallout consequences and what will happen in China; the US civil war will probably look like the burrito festival of cucamonga I should say that let's hold fire on China. There is a conflict coming, yes, but I have changed my mind on where I am going and what I am doing there. I can only imagine for just a brief second the POTUS wished the Rump Congress had gotten the chop in D.C. right along with Ted Kennedy and the rest of them. Your country has been attacked with nuclear weapons, you're being invaded and these schmucks want to micromanage everything? OY! That is true, but... are those politicians wrong in what they are saying? Fully agree. Their understandably angry but their not thinking. As such their complication a serious national crisis. Sounds like the concentration on the Soviet push into Colorado is going to cause problems in Texas and possibly further east. This conflict will dwarf anything the US has seen before, or even everything else prior to this, both in absolute terms and quite possibly in relative terms. Even without a few comments that have been made about China its likely to at least match WWII death tolls by the time the dust has settled. Congress will cause a problem. I need to check, but there is the legal means for some states to make emergency appointments of more senators (not congressmen) in such a situation without elections. Those appointed with not be in the mood for compromise either. That issue with attention focused on the Rockies will cause distractions indeed. As said above, let's hold fire on China for now. I need to think on that. |
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James G
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Post by James G on May 13, 2018 12:26:56 GMT
(166)
21st–25th September 1984:
A concern expressed pre-war during the planning for the invasion by the Soviet Army’s senior officers, the marshals and full generals with Stavka, was that the American’s might play it smart in Texas. When the invasion got underway and their national guardsmen on the border were wiped out, the regular units of the US Army might retreat deep into the interior and establish defensive positions. Their forces at Fort Hood weren’t large but could be reinforced in time if they established a defensive line. The Colorado River, running from the Edwards Plateau down past Austin and to the Gulf of Mexico, looked like a good position; there was the possibility that a more-forward line on the Guadalupe River might be an alternative. In the face of that, Krasny Zvezda could be forestalled when its aim was to have the Cubans ‘handle’ the US III Corps out of Fort Hood in the general San Antonio area and for afterwards the late-arriving Soviet Eighth Tank Army to then rush forward through undefended territory. Even when outnumbered, should the Americans get set-up then there would be difficulty in overcoming them as they could keep reinforcing and faster than the Soviet Army could. That concern was tempered though by the knowledge of the US Army that it wasn’t a defensive-orientated force, especially not the III Corps with them having long-trained for a NATO mission (in West Germany it must be said) of a counterattack. The political factor was something else too: withdrawing like that would leave San Antonio – a major city – to the mercy of the invader along with a lot of America soil. That surely wouldn’t be something allowed to happen.
At first, that whole worse case scenario looked possible. The III Corps didn’t come racing down out of Fort Hood along the Interstate-35 corridor to ‘save’ San Antonio and intercept the Cuban Second Army. Soviet orders had the Cubans increase speed towards San Antonio and fire further Scud missiles at that city to try to encourage the Americans onwards. Soviet reconnaissance efforts were increased through the extra use of their radio-intercept & scouting teams spread through South Texas (with orders to avoid detection on the ground) and also air cover. A lone Sukhoi-17MR flew over the interstate north of San Antonio and didn’t see the Americans coming south; they saw all of those civilian vehicles going north though, on both sides of the road. Some officers were already rehearsing their excuses for when the blame game started. However, another reconnaissance flight sent westwards of that road corridor, and very lucky indeed to escape a pair of F-4s which gave chase, saw something else which was afterwards confirmed by one of those silent scouting teams spread all over the place. The Americans were being sneaky. The III Corps was on the move. They were crossing the Texas Hill Country and coming south towards San Antonio what was in effect through the back door. While political unacceptable to say aloud, when showed the intelligence summary, the Soviet front commander down at Harlingen believed that this was pretty smart as well as something he would have done in their position. It would have been better for the Americans to retreat, to trade space for time, but this was the next best thing to that. They were going to turn the Cuban’s flank should they get away with it. They were moving fast and coming on strong. The Cubans were already on the outskirts of San Antonio and had entered the abandoned US Air Force sites at Brooks, Kelly and Lackland already. The Cubans were extending themselves over a wide area. It would have worked. The Counterattack Corps was living up to its name… but the game had been given away.
The III Corps reached the edge of Texas Hill Country late on the 22nd where the Balcones Escarpment was. Below were the beginnings of the Gulf Plains and the roads which the Cubans had used to approach San Antonio from the Rio Grande. Air interference for the American advance to contact had been light, very light, yet the US Air Force had assured the US Army that they would sweep the skies of enemy aircraft and done just that. Everything looked perfect for an attack. Fifth Army headquarters gave the go ahead and down the III Corps went in the early hours with the 1st Cavalry Division on the left (closer to San Antonio) and the 2nd Armored Division on the right. They would swing around in an anti-clockwise manoeuvre tearing through the rear of the Cubans, shooting up their supply units and engage combat forces from behind. Victory in that looked very possible. Afterwards, the III Corps would then go south and take on what Soviet forces had managed to arrive in Texas already.
The Cuban 52nd Infantry Division was strung out through the rear, moving towards San Antonio before the Americans were spotted. It could have been moved out of the way or at least better prepared to weather the storm coming its way. Orders from Harlingen were for them to stay where they were and fight in-place. The Americans tore into them in a fight in the darkness, where they certainly had the upper hand. Most of the 52nd Division was wiped out. Its men died for a reason though. They kept the Americans busy and there was a firm denial of any sub-unit at all to withdraw from the battle they were in, including all of those anti-tank units which the division had. Cuban helicopters showed up with Hinds making an appearance but not to save those men; instead they were used to try to shape the battlefield ahead of the incoming tanks. Cuba’s 78th Armored Division arrived by the time daylight came, as the Americans were finished with the infantry and moving onwards. They went head-on into a clash with the 1st Cavalry fighting along Highway-90 and a Texan town which happened to be called Castroville. The same Cubans tanks had breezed through here the day before and the town hadn’t really seen the face of war. It did when the Cubans and Americans really went at it, with each focused there due to its position at a bend on the Medina River rather than anything else including its name. The Cuban counterstrike was checked there. An entire regiment of their tanks were lost in less than ten minutes. That regiment had sent its T-62s towards American M-1s which had far better range (and accuracy) with their guns than the Cubans could ever hope to have. The rest of the 78th Division started beating a fast retreat until orders came from above to hold and turn back around! Aircraft filled the skies above and initially engaged each other in combat therefore giving little attention to the fight on the ground where the Americans started to chase the Cubans. They got a little carried away with both brigades moving too quick and with too much confidence. Rockets from Cuban multiple-barrelled launchers were fired at them and did little to those Americans tanks though massacred civilians throughout Castroville when they hit there. Everything seemed ready for the 78th Division to be wiped out. Then more aircraft appeared in the sky, these getting under the fighters up above. American A-10s and Soviet Sukhoi-25s were both in the sky, attacking tanks and armoured vehicles on the ground with several instances from both sides of friendly fire due to mis-identification taking place. What both types of aircraft could do when they caught their prey in their sights was just as anticipated in terms of destruction, but it wasn’t enough to truly influence the ground battle in a real way. The Cubans took this opportunity of confusion coming from outside interference to go back on the attack with the two other regiments, these better-equipped than the first, opening fire with their T-72s. They scored hits on the American tanks and also hit plenty of the lightly-armoured M-113 infantry vehicles too, setting them alight with oftentimes infantry not quick enough to dismount. The 1st Cavalry held back the attack, blowing up T-72s too, yet their losses were now stacking up. They had been brought to a halt when faced with far better enemy fire than before and also not in the right place to fight. Both brigades of the 1st Cavalry were fully-engaged in a fight with two Cuban regiments in a battle which neither side was winning.
The 2nd Armored raced towards the battle, bringing its M-60s away from where it had been fighting Cuban infantry and anti-tank teams who’d stubbornly held on around the town of Hondo. III Corps had been waiting on the 1st Cavalry to finish off the Castroville fight so they could move on: there were known to be more Cuban forces in the area, at least one more division, probably two. Once the 78th Division was eliminated, both American divisions were to drive onwards with their mission. In frustration – making one heck of a mistake – the corps commander committed almost all of his forces at once. One of the brigades from Hondo went into battle near Castroville and aimed to finish off the Cubans there. They could have done so had they not themselves then been hit on the flank. Warning had been sent to them: aircraft had spotted the incoming lead regiment of the 70th Mechanised Division. The message hadn’t been able to be passed on though. Radio interference swamped the area from powerful external sources – affecting the Cubans in the fight too due to its strength – and the 2nd Armored didn’t get the shout of alarm about their southern flank. The Cuban thrust wasn’t as powerful as they hoped with their tanks and missile-carriers not ripping the heart out of the Americans yet it did enough damage to stop them due to the surprise factor. More aircraft kept joining the fight and in the daylight which had come had better visibility for them yet also left them open to all of the SAMs coming up from the ground (hitting American and Cuban/Soviet aircraft alike). Artillery and rockets were blasting everything in sight. Infantry were fighting among the tanks and dying in huge numbers. Mines were being scattered by guns and aircraft everywhere. The Castroville-Hondo fight had turned into a stalemate with neither side able to fully advance. The Americans had lost their advantage of surprise and manoeuvrability while the Cubans still had other forces (the rest of the 70th Division plus the 50th Mechanised Division too) to bring to the fight.
The III Corps started to withdraw. Their commander received an order from above to make a ‘tactical retreat’ back to the high ground from down which they had come. Artillery from up above, what had come down from Oklahoma and raced through Texas, covered their withdrawal. The 1st Cavalry pulled back first with the 2nd Armored moving next. The mission had been a failure because the Cubans had been in position to defend against the attack and not taken by surprise. Faced with that, and staggering loses, there was no choice. That retreat was contested and it was also confusing for some units were left behind. The airwaves were jammed continuously with American aircraft searching for that jamming equipment – mobile transmitters of that size shouldn’t have been that hard to find – but took loses from SAM-launchers all over the Cuban rear. The Cubans had a lot of those; the Americans wished they had more during their withdrawal when they came under repeated air attack from aircraft and helicopters which got in under the fighters above. Most of the 1st Cavalry got away. Only about half of the 2nd Armored did. The Cuban 70th Division was tasked to go after them leaving their 50th & 78th Divisions (the former which had seen no action and the latter which had seen a lot) down on the lowlands. The Cubans now had their own trouble moving up the Balcones Escarpment and then into Texas Hill Country. American rear-guard action took its toll on them but so did air attacks as well. Letting the Americans go would have been easier but wasn’t what the orders were. In their retreat, the Americans were all over the place with confusion in places leaving support elements exposed to marauding Cubans units where some of them broke free of ambushes and air strikes. Their actions would break the 70th Division over the next few days as it was ordered to do so much and there was American air attacks to stop fuel and ammunition coming forward. However, so too was the capability of the III Corps to fight again as well with that destroyed for the foreseeable future. Half of the III Corps was either lost or rendered combat ineffective; a figure repeated with the Cuban Second Army as well.
What Cubans remained moved to take control of San Antonio. They left behind a battlefield with thousands dead – more Cubans than Americans – along a stretch of Highway-90. The Cubans extended their presence first to the international airport and then sweeping around both sides of the city to seal it off. Like the military bases on the western side, Randolph AFB on the eastern side was then taken. The Americans had pulled their aircraft out of there and conducted demolitions, scattering plenty of minefields too. Civilian gunfire came around the edges of the city and the Cubans, in no mood to play nice, answered with fire from tank cannons and also artillery. They also found that both Interstate-35 heading northeast and Interstate-10 running east away from san Antonio towards Austin and Houston respectively were just as blocked as air reconnaissance said they were. All of those civilian vehicles were stuck denying any access to those excellent road links with civilians having abandoned their cars. Those roads weren’t going to be used for any further Cuban advances. Meanwhile, South Texas was regarded by both the Cubans and the Soviets as no longer under threat from the US Army. The Cubans had done the job assigned to them which, while at a great cost, was what was wanted overall. No further American ground forces short of those US Marines who’d come to a stop in front of Houston were in sight. Maybe the Soviets should have looked a little harder though… the Fifth Army had been using the III Corps as only the western half of an attempted pincer move.
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All that money spent on the CAP means there are nice stockpiles of foodstuffs just across the Channel from us now we're going to be largely cut off from food imports from elsewhere.
