Quote:
Originally Posted by August
The common belief among the troops during the late 1970's when I was stationed over there was that without tactical nukes we'd be steadily beaten back by the vastly larger Soviet military machine and that after a week we'd be lucky to hold any of the continent at all. With tactical nukes on the other hand we had a chance to hold if the Soviets.
The big question would be whether the Germans would be willing to let their country be destroyed in order for us to hold long enough to let the REFORGER plan work. Between nukes and the Soviets expected use of Chemical weapons, not to mention the intensity of the conventional combat in German cities and towns I always figured that they'd eventually throw in the towel as in alternate ending of the book "The Third World War: The Untold Story" by John Hackett.
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The Russians would have started
any WWIII in Europe with nuclear attacks on day one, hour one, against NATO critical targets like airbases and CCCI, maybe even armour concentrations - but especially airfields. The POMCUS sites probably also would have been nuked, and Atlantic harbours along the continental coast. The first offensive in that war already would have been a nuclear one, no doubt.
Seen that way, all that conventional yearly exercises and cold war on the continent - was just a stage play.