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This Day in Alternate History Blog
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Hell
On Earth The
Nuclear World War of 1973 By David Atwell Prelude The radio crackled as it was turned on.
As the listener turned the tuning nob, he finally got the station that he
wanted. The announcer could be finally heard as the theme music faded away. “This is the BBC World Service: News
Summary for 10pm GMT for BBC News Radio. Here is the news. “The British Prime Minister gladly
announced today that the fuel rationing for Great Britain, in place since the
War, would be lifted on 1st of November 2003. Not only had renewable
energy sources contributed to this change of policy, but the consequential large
reduction in petroleum products were at a level akin to rationing quotas. The
Government, therefore, ‘… saw no reason in keeping the rationing policy in
place,’ said Mr Blair. “The President of the United States,
whilst on his visit to Australia, opened the worlds first Ozone replenishment
station. He declared that many more such stations would be opened throughout the
northern hemisphere within the next year. He went on to say that the first
significant step had been taken to fix, once and for all, the damage done to the
planet’s Ozone layer. The Ozone replenishment technology is an Australian
invention. “At the headquarters of the United
Nations in Geneva the General-Secretary of the UN, Mr Koffee Annan, announced
today, that the 11th October 2003, is to be declared a Day of
Mourning in remembrance of events thirty years ago. Mr Annan was quoted as
saying ‘Mankind must forever remember the War. Its cost has been a constant
reminder to us all and it must never be forgotten. For if it is, then this
fragile planet may never have a second chance. We must always make it our
mission, that of constant redemption, for the horrific events of our past’. “In other news today…” Introduction It was the stuff of nightmares. It was what had always been feared. And although it had been planned for, since 1945, nothing had really prepared the people of the world for what had happened. In a year where nothing else of significance took place, the Nuclear World War would quickly reshape the world as we knew it. Since then much effort has been made to ensure that a similar event can never happen again. But 1973 was a very different time. It was a time of paranoia. A time of mistrust. And above all it was the time of the Cold War. The
Superpowers In 1973, as had been the case since the
conclusion of the Second World War, the globe was divided into two main camps.
The first belonged to the Western Democracies which had numerous treaties, not
only between each other, but far more importantly with the United States of
America. The other camp, in a similar manner, also had treaties between
themselves & their most powerful member the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics. The two superpowers where far from friends & both had enough
firepower to destroy the world several times over. Ironically, though, this threat of
nuclear annihilation had a morbid logic to it. Both sides knew, that an attack
by one side would be met by massive retaliation, & thus both would be
rewarded with their mutual destruction. As a result, & after a few early
close calls, diplomatic relations between the two superpowers enjoyed a healthy
status, not to mention the “hot phone” which linked the leadership of the
two powers. As a result, if any crisis got out of hand, the leadership of the
two superpowers were just a phone call away in order to discuss the situation
before matters got out of hand. Yet, unlike the two superpowers, other
countries had not developed such diplomatic avenues of communication. Many
countries around the world were declared enemies &, more often than not,
resorted to war in order to solve their disputes. In this respect, they had not
developed any further than akin to the European countries of 1914. And just as
Europe went to war at that time, so too did countries in Asia, the Middle East,
& Africa. Thus, in this environment, the two
superpowers often meddled. Partly, it was to support a possible ally, in a
strategic location in the world, whilst other times it was because the
superpower was reluctantly dragged into a war not of their making. There are
several examples of this, like Korea & Vietnam, but the one we will
concentrate on here is the Israeli-Arab conflicts. At first the Israeli-Arab conflicts
gained no interest from the USSR or the USA. It was a small matter to them.
Later on, however, during the Suez Crisis, things changed as the Americans
objected, not overly about Israeli involvement, but of the involvement of
Britain & France. Things,
though, soon settled down, with France & Britain withdrawing from the Suez
Canal, but this also brought Soviet involvement as a result of the action of
America. As a result, both powers soon started to take more of an interest in
Middle Eastern affairs, especially as oil started to become a central component
to the American & world economy. Within 10 years, the lines had become
drawn in the Middle East, & as Europe had been divided in two by the Iron
Curtain, so too had the Middle East. The only real ally, which the Americans
could count on in the midst of this situation, was Israel. The Soviets had, in
this instance, done extremely well gaining allies in the region, as few aligned
themselves with the USA. Unfortunately, however, for the two superpowers, it was not they who would control the activities of the allies, but rather their allies would control them. In a manner similar to the events, which sparked off the First World War, events by several smaller countries would bring the two great powers into conflict. And as such, they would fight a war not of their making, nor one which they wanted to fight. The
Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War of 1973 started
without any warning whatsoever. Israel was caught almost unprepared for the
conflict which was unleashed by Syria & Egypt. As a result, most of the
Israeli armed forces were on leave for the national holidays, or holy period
depending which part of Judaism an Israeli observed, & as such the Egyptians
& Syrians decided to take advantage of this fact. Furthermore, the Egyptians
& Syrians also took advantage of the fact that the Soviets
had supplied them with a huge amount of equipment all of which was brand
new. Thus, on the morning of 6 October 1973,
thousands upon thousands of Arab soldiers went onto the attack. Thankfully for
Israel, not everyone at command headquarters was as sedate as the political
leadership. Israel’s Chief of Staff, General David Elazar, had the uncanny
ability to sense when something was wrong. Although there was no firm evidence
known to Israel that trouble was brewing, he nonetheless felt it coming. As a
result, although he could not order the mobilisation of all of Israel’s armed
forces, he did give the go ahead for a partial mobilisation on 5 October. Either way, it did not matter to the
Syrians or the Egyptians. Furthermore, any reinforcements Israel was mobilising
would not make it to the front lines in time to help with the initial defence.
As a result, Israel only had one division available to cover the Egyptian border
& another to cover the Syrian border. In other words, a skeleton defence was
the only obstacle that laid between the Arab armies & probable victory. The fortunes of the two Arab armies
would differ drastically. Syria, with a smaller force than Egypt, but
just as well equipped, soon found the going extremely tough against the Israeli
defenders. Having excellent ground for defence, soon hundreds of Syrian tanks,
APCs & a host of other equipment was destroyed for very little gain. The
Israelis had practiced long & hard at repealing such a Syrian attack, on the
Golan Heights, & this practice
was now paying dividends. Furthermore, the assistance of the Israeli Air Force
was much appreciated & ensured that the Syrians would pay dearly for their
attack. Another aspect, as mentioned, was the
terrain which the Syrians found themselves. Not only did it mean that the
Israelis could take the advantage of cover, but it also limited how many tanks
& or forth could attack at once. But fundamentally, it meant that the Syrian
anti-aircraft systems, most notably missiles, had little chance of hitting
Israeli aircraft as they used the terrain as cover & only appeared when on
their final attack run. As a result, the Israeli planes were only vulnerable for
a few brief seconds. And so the Israeli Air
Force suffered only a handful of aircraft. The same, however, could not be said for
the Egyptian front. As on the Syrian front, the Egyptians had gained surprise.
Furthermore, they employed ingenious methods in dealing with the Israeli
defences. These were so impressive that the first line of Israeli defences were
overrun within 30 minutes. The next point is probably just as important. The
Egyptians were able to get all of their first wave, plus its support, over the
Suez Canal & onto Israeli territory in record time. By the time the local
Israeli division had been mobilised & gotten into position, it was already
facing an Egyptian army far greater in size. Clearly, the strategy of sinking
the Egyptians into the Canal, before they had crossed it, had completely failed. The next step for the Israelis, if the
Egyptians had crossed, was to counterattack with armour. This they did at once,
but the Egyptians had an answer waiting. Instead of countering Israeli armour
with their own, they deployed hundreds of infantry teams with anti-armour
missiles. These teams were highly mobile & the terrain greatly enhanced
their abilities. As such, when the Israeli armour came attacking, hundreds of
missiles, & not Egyptian tanks, were there to greet the Israelis. It did not take long, thus, for the
Israelis to be in serious trouble against the Egyptians.
Hence, not only had their counterattack fail miserably, but the famed
Israeli Air Forces had to be called in to bomb the Egyptians back over the
Canal. Alas for the Israeli pilots, the Egyptians had another surprise waiting.
Instead of resorting to their own fighter jets to challenge the Israeli Air
Force, once again they resorted to Soviet made missiles. This time, hundreds of
anti-aircraft missiles rose from the desert floor & hit Israeli aircraft
after aircraft, fore unlike the situation on the Golan Heights, there was no
terrain cover for the Israeli air force to use to their advantage. As a result of the mornings actions, the
Israelis were in dire trouble in the south. The Golan Heights defences were
holding, but the Meron Division in the Sinai had more or less been destroyed as
had its air support. A new division, the Israeli Sasson Division, had been
ordered to help the Meron Division with the defence, but it became obvious to
everyone at Israel Headquarters than repelling the Egyptians at this point in
time was impossible. As a result, all agreed that the Sinai Passes must be held
at all costs. Thus, after getting their orders, the
remnants of the Meron Division fell back as fast as they could to the Mitla
Pass, whilst the Sasson Division advanced to defend the Khatmia & Gidi
Passes. The Egyptians, meanwhile, were well aware of these vital passes &
had already drawn up plans to attack them, suspecting that the Israelis would
defend them. This, however, would be far from an easy action, as late on 6
October, the forward elements of the Egyptian advance put in a half hearted
attempt at taking them, which was repulsed with little effort. The next morning’s action, however, was a different story. Deploying four divisions, the Egyptians went onto the attack. It was massive as it was intended to be. Although the Sasson Division was fresh & at full strength, it was never enough to keep back the Egyptians. Not only did the Israelis have to face Egyptian armour & artillery, which was present in abundance, but the Egyptian Air Force also got involved with much success. After two hours of heavy fighting, the Egyptians had broken through at both the Khatmia & Gidi Passes, whilst the much depleted Meron Division managed to hold off all Egyptian attacks. But that now did not matter. The Egyptians had their breakthrough & they were heading for Israel with little in their way to stop them. “The
Fall of the Third Temple” There seemed to be little choice for
Israel. The military situation was dire, especially on the Egyptian front. A
large hole had been successfully made in the Israeli centre on the Sinai front.
Two Egyptian spearheads, numbering at least two divisions each, had, not only
reached the all important passes, but had crossed them & were heading
towards Israel proper. The Israeli
Defence Minister, Moshe Dayan, was in shock when told of the news, by his staff,
at midday on 7 October. He, in turned, told Israel’s Prime Minister Golda Meir,
of the situation, & concluded that “It is the fall of the Third Temple”
as he was in much despair. Israel, though, was mobilising as much
of its military reserve as possible. But with its defeat at the Sinai passes,
Israel was running out of time. At the speed with which the Egyptians were
moving, the Israeli homeland would be invaded within 24 hours. There was little
time left. Furthermore, now that Egypt had room to move, it had spread its front
line out thus making it more or less impossible to establish a ‘road-block”
defence, as the Egyptians could merely drive around it & leave the defenders
to be dealt with later. The only hope seemed to lie with the
Israeli Air Force, but it had taken a sever beating when it tried to intervene
at the Suez Canal two days earlier. Having said that, whatever the Israeli’s
could fly was in the air & hitting the Egyptians as they were approaching
Israel itself. All the same, the Egyptians had mobile anti-aircraft missile
carriers & these kept a watchful eye on the skies. And just as importantly
for the Egyptians, their own Air Force patrolled the skies, although they were
seldom a match for Israeli pilots. Even so, it still came down to time. And
Israel’s time was clearly running out. A decision had to be made as to what to
do. As far as Dayan was concerned, if Israel did not act decisively now, all
would be lost. Meir was of the same mind, although Elazar voiced his objections,
but it was a government decision & not a military one. Thus Meir issued the
orders to get the “Specials” ready. The Israeli Air Force was given the most
important orders that it had ever carried out. Three hours later, four Israeli Skyhawk
A-4H fighter/bomber aircraft took off from an air force base outside of
Jerusalem. Their mission was a simple one, although the consequences of its
success was without equal. On board each aircraft was a crude nuclear weapon,
four of only 13 such weapons made for use by an aircraft. These had been built,
only recently, by the Israeli defence department for use in an emergency such as
this. Now they were on the way to stop the Egyptian army from invading southern
Israel. It only took a short period of time for
the Israeli Skyhawks to reach their destination, but to the likes of Meir, Dayan
& Elazar, it was probably the longest 30 minutes of their lives. Seconds
seemed like hours, whilst minutes seemed like days. The Skyhawks went unmolested
by the Egyptians, until they reached the front. Coming in low, though, gave the
pilots numerous advantages, but once they entered their sudden climb it was a
different story. But the pilots had to reach a high altitude, flying almost
straight up, in order to “sling-shot” the nuclear weapon up & away from
their aircraft if they wanted to survive. The Egyptians never knew what hit them, nor did they understand what the four Israeli Skyhawks were attempting. It seemed to be merely an attempt to avoid being hit by missiles or some such. Each Skyhawk, however, was able to release its weapon as planed & then took off at great speed away from the battle zone. As they flew away, each nuclear weapon continued in its upward flight until gravity finally brought it back to Earth. Within two minutes the job was done. Four Egyptian divisions no longer existed. The invasion threat to Israel had vanished in four mushroom shaped clouds. Giants
at Play If one was to think that the Superpowers
were doing nothing, whilst the Yom Kippur was raging until the detonation of the
four nuclear weapons, then you would be wrong. From almost the beginning, the
Americans started diplomatic efforts, first with both Egypt & Syria
directly, & then through the United Nations. And like Israel, the United
States had been taken by surprise & were not very impressed by the actions
of both Syria & Egypt. The Soviets were also somewhat surprised
by the sudden & bold attack by their two allies, but it should be noted that
the top echelon of the Soviet power brokers knew an attack was going to happen,
they just did not know when. Having said that, the Soviets were not just going
to let the Americans get involved in any meaningful way. After the Americans had
made their protests known on 6th October, the next day the Soviets
announced that it was a local matter for the combatants involved & that the
rest of the world should keep away. Later that same day, ignoring the
Soviets, the Americans brought the matter to the UN Security Council. The
Americans, with British & French support, demanded a cease-fire & a
return to the status quo. This the Soviets rejected &, when the motion was
put to the vote, the Soviets vetoed the proposal citing that the Egyptians &
Syrians only wanted their territory back which Israel stole off them previously.
Clearly the UN route was getting no where as usual. Then came the Israeli nuclear attack on
the morning of 8th October. This had stunned the world, & none
more so than the Superpowers. No one knew exactly how to react at first as all
were shocked. The Egyptians, obviously, were the first to condemn Israel’s
actions & vowed to take revenge. Likewise, the Soviets condemn Israel &
threatened to intervene. The United States was very quiet on the issue, but
quietly protested the actions of Israel to their ambassador in Washington.
Publicly, however, they suggested that Israel was defending itself against
aggressors. The Soviets, however, complained
bitterly about American support for Israel & then it became their turn to
use the UN Security Council for intervention. Furthermore, the Soviets demanded
Israel to hand over its arsenal of nuclear weapons & restore territory it
had taken back to its rightful owners. This time, though, it was the Americans
who used their veto power, which of course, ensured that the UN still did
nothing about the Yom Kippur War. In the middle of the debates at the UN,
Israel made matters worse by declaring that it had more nuclear weapons &
would use them too without hesitation. This, naturally, brought the condemnation
of the Arab & Soviet world to which Israel rejected their demands to disarm.
At the same time, the Americans were now dragged into the more ugly debates, by
declaring that it would protect Israel at all costs, & if that meant the use
of nuclear weapons then America would do so accordingly. Matters, it seemed, were getting out of
hand. At this point President Nixon stepped in, along with Henry Kissinger, the
US Sectary of State, & opened up direct dialogue with his Soviet counterpart
Leonid Brezhnev. The discussions were amicable enough, even to the point
that the Soviets accepted Nixon’s offer of Kissinger being their emissary over
the matter of the Yom Kippur War. Thus, not long afterwards, on the evening of 8
October, Kissinger was on a plane for Moscow. The War itself, after the destruction of
the Egyptian army, seemed to go quiet. The Egyptians had withdrawn to the Sinai
passes & had prepared defences. The Israelis, for their part, continued to
form their units as rapidly as possible, but stayed mostly within Israeli
territory proper, although their defences in the southern half of the Sinai
Peninsular were greatly strengthened. Likewise, on the Golan Heights,
the Syrians, probably fearing that they might come in for a nuclear
attack, reduced the fierceness of their attacks & became somewhat quiet.
This reduction in the Syrian fighting effort, however, may have had more to do
with the fact that they had taken a hammering from the Israeli defenders &
had simply given up for the moment. It was in this situation, then, that Kissinger found himself in when arriving at Moscow. The talks which followed, though, clearly indicated that the Russians would get involved if Israel detonated any more nuclear weapons. Brezhnev never said what this involvement would be, but it was enough for Kissinger to know that several Soviet airborne divisions had been put on alert according to US atellite imaging. Clearly the Soviets were being serious as far as Kissinger was concerned. And this he conveyed to the Israelis the next day. Time
of The Diplomats Behind Kissinger’s back, however, the
Soviets were already involved. This would not have surprised Kissinger much, as
it was already well known that the Syrians & Egyptians were using Soviet
equipment. In fact the Americans also knew that there some 5 000 Soviet advisers
in Egypt whilst Kissinger was in Moscow. What the Americans did not know, until
the next morning, was the fact that the Soviets were prepared to ship four
nuclear tactical weapons to Egypt just in case Israel resorted to the nuclear
option one more time. Thus, in these circumstances on 10th
October, Kissinger arrived in Israel to try to do a deal with the
Israeli’s. Meir & Dayan were keen to met with Kissinger, but they were far
more interested in getting American arms & not talk peace. Having said that,
if Israel could regain lost territory, whilst not firing a shot in anger, this
was completely acceptable to the Israeli Prime Minister. But one event would
soon put this to an end. An American satellite, passing over Cairo that morning,
spotted a Soviet Air Force cargo plane at Cairo’s international airport. It
was not, however, the plane which caught the American’s attention, but the
tell-tale radiation signs of its nuclear cargo. News spread fast at the American Defence
Intelligence Agency. Actually it went too fact. Although Israel would completely
deny any such allegation, unlike the Soviets, the Israelis had been able to
place a handful of spies high up the American military chain of command. Thus,
not long after the discovery of the Soviet nuclear payload, word was sent to
Israel. Thus, whilst Kissinger & Meir was discussing peace terms, which were
acceptable to both, the war was about to escalate. Thus, as a matter of course, the Israeli
military viewed their attack on Cairo airport as a military & not a
political decision. And this was besides the fact that, whilst it was known that
Meir & Dayan were busy negotiating with Kissinger, it was likely that the
Egyptians, & above all Soviets, would never expect such a outlandish attack. Hence, at around midday Israel time on 10th October, a whole squadron of Skyhawks, escorted by a squadron of Mirage III fighters, left their air force base & headed out towards the Mediterranean Sea. From there the twenty Israeli planes turned to a course parallel to the coastline, all the while staying at a very low altitude. They did this until they were opposite the Nile Delta, off the coast of Egypt, & then turned inland heading directly towards Cairo. The Egyptians got about half a minute warning before the Israeli’s attacked. But within a minute, the Soviet cargo plane, & its important cargo, was destroyed. The Israeli Air Force had done its job well, losing only two planes in the attack. Alas the Soviet reaction would be for the worse. Escalation The Soviet response to the destruction
of their property, not to mention the deaths of 12 Soviet citizens, was livid.
Demanding that Israel surrender at once, otherwise face Soviet retaliatory
action, any attempt of a Soviet-American dialogue to bring peace to the Middle
East was now impossible. Frantic efforts by both Nixon & Kissinger to change
the Soviet’s reversal were ignored. And this was besides the fact that Nixon,
now briefed on the Soviet attempt to smuggle nuclear weapons in Egypt, quietly
told the Soviets that he knew about the Soviet plans & would go public if
the Soviets did not return to negotiations Yet, by the morning of 11th
October, the Soviets demanded that Israel surrender within 24 hours or
face Soviet military intervention. As proof of Brezhnev’s words, US spy
satellites saw at least 10 Soviet A category divisions, half of which were
airborne, all on alert & clearly ready to move. Once this was confirmed to
Nixon, the US President went on television to explain why the Israelis attacked
the Soviet cargo plane in Cairo. The Israelis were far from impressed by this
revelation of their actions, but Nixon’s promise to stop any Soviet
intervention was welcomed nonetheless. Alas if Nixon thought his threat to stop
any Soviet intervention would work, he was mistaken. All it did was to force
Brezhnev to likewise go on television & threaten the USA with war. He stated
in clear terms, that any action by the United States meant full war with the
Soviet Union which included its nuclear arsenal. Kissinger, flying back to the
United States from Israel, could not believe it. Nor could Nixon. The game of
brinkmanship had just gone up one step further than ever before. Needless to
say, & without Kissinger there to consult with, Nixon ordered the United
States to go to DEFCON 2. Immediately around the globe, the American military
responded accordingly. In response to the American war alert,
the Soviets were not too far behind. This American reaction actually surprised
the Soviets, as they were somewhat misinformed about the American situation.
They had assumed that Kissinger had a great influence over Nixon, which was
indeed true, but Kissinger was, at this stage, flying over the Mediterranean Sea
in an effort to get back to Washington. As a result, Nixon was without his most
trusted adviser in international affairs, even though this was the time when he
needed him most. Soon, both countries were at full war alert. And this included nuclear alert. DEFCON 2 had never happened before, although at times it got close, but now the world was in uncharted territory. It did not matter which political camp an individual country was in, it was a new experience for everyone. Furthermore, it was even a greater uncertainty for everyone involved as, although exercises were run often, never before had the real thing happened. At this point in time, thus, a mistake could have fatal consequences. Alas for humanity, a mistake would happen. Hide
& Seek The Nuclear World War simply happened,
or so it seemed. One week, the world was at peace, the next it was in nuclear
flames. The event which sparked the nuclear holocaust began as brinkmanship on
the front line finally went too far. The USS Coontz, was conducting its current assignment, due to the DEFCON 2
situation, of patrolling the Greenland to Iceland Gap in the Northern Atlantic
Ocean. As it so happened, a Soviet Yankee Class SLBM submarine also had its
orders, due to the situation, to begin its patrol in its forward area. As a
result, both vessels happened to be in the same area at the same time. This, however, was not overly unusual.
Often, vessels both navies would inevitably detect each other &, as a
result, test the resolution & nerve of the other. But such encounters like
this only happened during a time of peace, when a war alert was not the case.
Now, however, things were different & both vessels were under a nuclear
alert. This made everything much more deadlier. Yet, the two vessels nonetheless
went ahead with their manoeuvre & counter move time & again. Near the
end, though, the American captain made a mistake. The mistake was not in the manoeuvring,
however, but in weapons control, as unbeknownst to the captain, the weapon’s
officer had taken off all “safeties” as according with the procedures under actual
DEFCON 2. Thus, although the captain of the American destroyer assumed that
nothing would happen combat wise, & even though he gave a firing order, he
expected the usual drill to take place. But, because of the real
DEFCON 2 conditions, & not that of a drill, the Coontz actually fired. Within seconds of the captain’s order
an ASROC torpedo was launched, via its rocket phase, towards the location of the
Soviet nuclear submarine. Panic soon took over the crew of the Coontz
as they realised that for once they had actually fired a live weapon. To make
matters worse, the sonar operator told the captain that he could hear noises
coming from the Yankee boat. These were of a “whooshing” sound. Fearing that the Yankee had fired torpedos at the Coontz, its captain ordered a 180 degree turn & flank speed. As the American destroyer was doing this, however, attention on the ASROC soon gave way to far more important things. As the crew watched the water, large missile after missile started to break the surface, fired its engines, & rose high into the sky. And so 16 nuclear armed missiles were on their way to the United States. World
War III It only took a matter of moments before
NORAD knew something was wrong. Early warning satellites picked up the launch of
16 missiles north-east of Iceland. Knowing full well that the Soviets often had
their SLBM submarines in the area, it was not hard for NORAD to know who these
missiles belonged. What was more, the Coontz
quickly reported their encounter with the Soviet Yankee, but deliberately left
out the fact that it was they who fired first thus provoking the response. This
would be dealt with later. But for the moment, as far as anyone knew, the
Soviets were trying a sneak attack in order to wipe out the United States
ability to retaliate. Nixon was made aware of the situation
within a minute after NORAD became aware. As a result, Nixon was quickly moved
from the White House to Air Force One. From there Nixon would be able to conduct
World War III. The only problem with this arrangement was that, with Nixon on
the move, ten vital minutes would go by before anything important could be done.
And, far more importantly, it meant that the “hot phone” between the
leadership of the two countries could not be used in an attempt to really
understand the other side’s situation. As a result, the Soviets had no idea of
what had happened in the North Atlantic only a few minutes ago. Time was now wasting away, although not
for everyone. NORAD confirmed, using secondary measures, that 16 SLBMs were
heading for the United States. Yet, as far as anyone really knew, a further 595
SLBM missiles, in other words the entire Soviet SLBM force, could also be
heading their way. Interestingly enough, though, NORAD staff wondered why the
entire Soviet ICBM force of 1462 missiles were doing nothing out of the usual.
Nonetheless Nixon, cut off from the rest of the country & Kissinger, with
only information coming in from NORAD, had a dreadful decision to make. Either
let the US suffer a horrible attack, on the chance that this might be an awful
mistake, or retaliate with everything America had. In the end, Nixon waited until America
had five minutes before being hit. With NORAD pushing him all the way, he
finally relented ordering a full retaliative strike. Within a minute, the orders
went out from NORAD to bases around America & elsewhere. Not long
afterwards, America’s arsenal of 1 000 Minuteman ICBMs started to shoot from
their silos & were heading towards the Soviet Union. Not long afterwards,
650 SLBMs likewise flew into the sky from numerous American submarines. America
was going to make the Soviets pay dearly for their “sneak” attack. As said, the leadership of the Soviet
Union had no idea that their Yankee Class submarine had launched the first salvo
of deadly missiles first. And, due to the fact that the ASROC torpedo of the Coontz
actually hit & sank the submarine in question, meant that it never even got
the chance to report the situation. As
a result, the first thing that Brezhnev knew of the predicament was when the
Soviet Rocket Forces commander hastily phoned Brezhnev telling him that a
massive missile launch had taken place, by the United States, & that these
missiles were heading towards the USSR. Unlike Nixon, though, Brezhnev did not have to think about matters much. All he asked was for the Soviet Rocket Forces commander to confirm, without doubt, the missile attack, which he did two minutes later. For Brezhnev that was enough. Without hesitating, he gave the order for the Soviet Union to counterattack. As a result, 1 462 ICBMs & 550 SLBMs were fired at the United States within five minutes of Brezhnev orders. Not longer afterwards, Brezhnev was taken to the Russian Presidential bunker, not far from Moscow, never to be seen or heard of again. In the meantime, everyone forgot about Israel & the reasons which caused the Nuclear War of 1973 Aftermath The immediate aftermath of the Nuclear
War of 1973 was nothing short of a holocaust. Previous predictions by the
militaries of both countries could not be further wrong. Everything is somewhat
an estimate, but in the United States alone at least 60 million people died as a
result of the nuclear explosions & the horror which followed. In fact just
as many people died of starvation, the elements & from sickness, as they did
as a result exposure to the nuclear detonations. And just as many would also die
from radioactive contamination. For the United States, though, the
survivors had some hope. Much planing had been done, in the event of such a
desolation, & these emergency teams were soon implementing the plans
required for such an event. For the survivors in the Soviet Union, however, this
was not to be the case. Like the United States, the Soviet population was hit as
hard as the American one. At least 60 million were killed as a result, but at
least a further 20 million died due to the fact that no emergency procedures, of
any meaningful nature, were ever planned or implemented. Of course, in the aftermath of the War,
things have changed greatly for the Earth. To begin with, the environmental
damage done is without equal. Vast sections of American & Russian territory
is now useless. Great cities no longer exist. And in fact the Soviet Union no
longer exists. As a result of the destruction of the governmental structure, the
Soviet Union fell apart to become several independent countries, with Russia
being the largest of these new independent states. And not long afterwards, the
Iron Curtain crashed opening up Eastern Europe to the rest of the world. Within
a month, communism had fallen in all but a few countries like China & North
Korea. Yet if it seems that the world is a much better place, as we enter the 21st Century, one would be wrong. America might be healing, but at great cost, not only economically, but in its environment. Likewise the damage done to the globe’s overall environment, especially the Ozone layer, still has a long way to go before being healed. Far more importantly, however, even in the aftermath of a dreadful nuclear war, various nations, including the United States & Russia, still have nuclear weapons. What is even worse, it the fact that all the problems, which trigged the Nuclear World War, in other words the Israeli-Arab tension, still remains as strong & warlike as ever & appears to continue until at least the next war. Bibliography Texts Clancy, T. Submarine, London, 1993 Greenberg, M. H. The Tom Clancy Companion, London, 1992 Dunstan, S. The Yom Kippur War 1973(1): The Golan Heights, Oxford, 2003 Dunstan, S. The Yom Kippur War 1973(2): The Sinai, Oxford, 2003 Hackett, J. The Third World War, London, 1978 Harry, E. L. Arc Light, Sydney, 1994 Lyon, H. Modern Warships, Sydney, 1980 Internet Alan F. Philips, 20 Mishaps That Might
Have Started Accidental Nuclear War (http://www.nuclearfiles.org/kinuclearweapons/anwindex.html) Arthur M. Katz and Sima R. Osdoby, The Social and Economic Effects Of Nuclear War (http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa009.html) Eric Fawcett, Lessons from the Cold War: How to avert massive nuclear war, Victoria Peace Coalition (http://vicpeace.ca/centre/readings/nukeuse.htm#table1) Center for Defense Information (http://www.cdi.org/) Federation of American Scientists (http://www.fas.org/index.html) Natural Resources Defence Council (http://www.nrdc.org/)
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