As the Cold War
intensified by the end of the 1950s, both sides because entrenched and battle
lines became drawn across continents. Fortunately, through limited diplomacy
these battle lines were more so ideological with both sides formulating
extensive battle plans for the event of war with the other. These battle plans
would be theorized, revised and rehearsed numerous times paving the way for
large scale field training exercises on both sides of the Iron Curtain. The
United States Army's forces in Germany annually conducted the REFORGER or
Return of Forces to Germany exercises and the British conducted exercises of
their own such as Exercise Lionheart. Often in these military exercises allied
military units from other nations would also participate to practice
interoperability and enhance military cooperation and training.
As a response to
these military exercises, the Soviet Union often staged large wargames of their
own with Warsaw Pact militaries.
In 1979, a top secret
military simulation exercise was developed by Soviet and Warsaw Pact military
theorists. The plan involved combined forces of the Warsaw Pact, Group of
Soviet Forces Germany and Soviet Army Northern Group of Forces in an envisioned
seven day nuclear war scenario between NATO forces in western Europe and Warsaw
Pact armies. The plan known as Seven Days to the River Rhine would involve
Soviet and Warsaw Pact forces invading West Germany through East Germany and
Czechoslovakia with the objectives of gaining large amounts of territory in West
Germany, Austria, Denmark and the Netherlands along the eastern bank of the
Rhine River. The plan technically was not an invasion plan, but a counterattack
plan with NATO forces initiating the war.
In the plan, Soviet
military planners envisioned NATO commanders launching tactical nuclear weapons
on the Vistula River valley in southern Poland in a first strike scenario. This
strike would prevent Soviet commanders from deploying additional forces and
reinforcing positions in the German Democratic Republic thus rendering them
unable to prevent or halt a NATO invasion of East Germany. With the impending
capitulation of the German Democratic Republic, it was calculated by Warsaw
Pact planners that roughly two million Poles, all of which were designated as Polish
civilians in the Warsaw Pact battle plan would perish in the war and the
Peoples Republic of Poland would effectively be destroyed. It was unnoted just
how many East German citizens and citizens of allied nations would perish in
the nuclear assault. It is also uncertain of the numbers of soldiers that
Warsaw Pact planners predicted would be killed in the fight. In retaliation,
the Soviet military would authorize a counter strike against targets in West
Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark to route or halt the NATO
invasion force.
What was unique about
the Soviet battle plan was that while West Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands
and Denmark were marked as targets for nuclear tactic, France and the United
Kingdom were not zeroed in for nuclear attack by Soviet commanders. It is
believed that the Soviets did not target them because it was known that the
British and French maintained nuclear weapons stockpiles of their own and would
therefore launch retaliatory nuclear strikes of their own against targets in
the Soviet Union. French military police employed their own retaliatory strike
plan known as Dissuasion du faible au fort essentially the Weak to Strong
Deterrence in which a nuclear attack on French soil would be responded to by a
nuclear strike directly on cities on Russian soil. It has also since been
theorized that France was spared nuclear attack as its armed forces were not
integrated into NATOs command structures.
It is speculated that
Britain was not included in the seven day plan as, Soviet high command in
Moscow wanted to halt at the banks of the Rhine, to regroup and resupply its
forces and prevent its forces from overstretching themselves and their supply
lines. It was also speculated that this maneuver was also to stop and allow the
Soviets to negotiate a ceasefire and thus gain complete control of Germany and
parts of western Europe while giving the Soviets influence and territory in
both France and the United Kingdom's backyards.
If the events that
the negotiations failed, Soviet Air Forces would launch conventional airstrikes
against targets in the United Kingdom primarily airfields such as RAF
Fylingdales, RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath to prevent long ranged fighter
bombers such as United States Air Force Europe assigned F-111 Aardvarks from
conducting further nuclear strikes against Soviet forces or against Soviet
territory. Although nuclear weaponry would be much more effective and was
highly favored by the Soviet leadership it was omitted in the battle plan.
Soviet military
planners theorized that 7.5 Megatons of atomic weaponry would be utilized on
the attacks on NATO countries in western Europe during the conflict. Vienna,
Austria was designated to be hit by two 500 kiloton nuclear bombs, while
Vicenza and Verona, Italy were to be hit by single 500 kiloton nuclear weapons.
Vicenza located in northern Italy, was home to the United States Army 173rd
Airborne Brigade. Military forces from the Peoples Republic of Hungary were to
then move into position to capture Vienna, Austria and part of northern Italy
following the completion of the nuclear strikes. Simultaneously, the cities of
Stuttgart, Munich and Nuremberg all cities containing large American military
garrisons were to also be destroyed by nuclear weapons before being captured by
forces from the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic.
Other targets marked
for destruction by Soviet nuclear forces included Hamburg, Frankfurt am Main,
and Munich in West Germany, and Antwerp and Brussels in Belgium. Soviet nuclear
warheads were much larger than their NATO counterparts because their launch
platforms were relatively inaccurate. Soviet military planners also theorized
that Prague, Czechoslovakia and Warsaw, Poland were to have been destroyed. The
primary means of employing nuclear weapons by the Soviets was to be the RSD-10
Pioneer intermediate range ballistic missile designated as the SS-20 Saber by
NATO. At the time of the planning of the Rhine scenario, Soviet forces had
these forces positioned in eastern Europe aimed at western cities. At the same
time the Soviet intelligence service the KGB was conducting disinformation
operations by funding anti nuclear demonstrations in western nations to prevent
the deployment of American deterrent missiles in a similar fashion.
The Soviets also had
further plans involving scenarios further beyond the initial seven day battle
plan. In the belief that NATO forces would largely be on the retreat from
overwhelming Warsaw Pact forces, Soviet commanders theorized that they would
reach and secure the city of Lyon by the 9th day of the war before reaching
their final positions at the Pyrenees Mountains along the border with France
and Spain.
He who dares wins! He who dares the most wins the most! NATO is a QUANGO talking shop.
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