America after the nuclear war: The John Glenn administration

[Serenity Now]

Just another thought.. Why would Russia begin with Britain and not a country with a land link? Or a country that wouldn't trigger war with the United States by invading?

Morever, why would the Soviets invade Western Europe at all? They couldn't even hold down afghanistan..

[Person Man]

Then again, we were able to conquer Western Europe in a year...we still haven't conquered Afghanistan in 8...then again, were fighting hard enough.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Scenario is good, but without whole thing of limited nuclear war. This is impossible.

Btw, what's the deal with Norway?

[Dan the Roman]

Why didn't the French retaliate against the Soviet Union for the Nuclear strike? I don't think Reagan could have stopped them in these circumstances, and in fact I would expect US opposition to make that more likely.

As for the Britain thing, there was no way the Soviets were getting their Baltic Fleet into the Atlantic. It would have wiped out by NATO submarine forces, and if not, Nato had 5-1 superiority in Naval. Also a big superiority in the air. Only place the Soviets were much stronger was on land. So them steamrolling through Germany is certainly plausible but the nuking France is not.

[El_Tantaran86]

I like it

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

I like it

Too bad Mike Naso is no longer around

[sentinel]

I like it

Too bad Mike Naso is no longer around

I just read it, this is pretty epic. I want more!

[cpeeks]

AWESOME!!!!

[Reaganfan]

New update coming soon

[bullmoose88]

Feels a lot like the Day After...

this is the probable US response:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G--NAOfOVr4

go to about 8:17 or so.

[feeblepizza]

GREAT TL so far

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Excellent, but with one problem:

WHY SWITZERLAND! It's physically impossible to invade them, you know.

[sentinel]

I'm excited

[Reaganfan]

October 12, 1983. 10 days after Ronald Reagan received word of the Cuban situation...chatter with the island has ceased. Since October 3rd, there has been no communication between the Soviet Union and the island nation of Cuba.

On October 7th, allied NATO forces reclaimed the cities of Plymouth, Southampton, Liverpool and Manchester, seeing the remaining Soviet armed divisions of Soviet ships turn away from Great Britain.

The Eastern Bloc has gained ground, however, in their iron curtain of domination. All of Germany is now occupied, as far west as Amiens, France. However, the region between Saint-Quentin to Haguenau back down to Bourges is no longer under Soviet occupation. President Reagan later finds out this is not a sign of Soviet withdrawal, but rather survival. The radiation near the decimated city of Orleans is so severe that Soviet forces pulled out immediately as it became clear that radiation sickness was occurring. This has left a giant gap in the Iron Curtain. The occupied territory is quickly dubbed "Paris" for the northern region, and "Lyon" for the Southern region. However, broadcast on Soviet Television is a map which shows the two "states" as "Poka" to the north and "Poka vsyo" to the south.

Italy has been occupied from the entire northern border down to the city of L'Aquila. The northern occupied territory has already been claimed by Soviet forces as "Stalin".

President Reagan, furious over the Soviet takeover of Western Europe, holds a meeting with his National Security Council to discuss the war. During the meeting, several options are laid on the table.

First option is that NATO forces accept the casualties of war and defeat in the newly occupied territory and consider it a victory for the Soviet Union. Reagan staunchly rejects such an option. The second option calls for an aggressive allied advance through France, and Italy, reclaiming the territories lost in the conflict. The third option calls for an ultimatum: "All Soviet forces stand down in occupied territories, or face tactical nuclear attack from NATO forces." Reagan weighs the second and third options. The obvious problem remains...if NATO forces use nuclear weapons once again, then the Soviets will once again use nuclear weapons. Reagan decides to take a wait and see stance on the war. In the meantime, Warsaw Pact forces seem puzzled as to why the Soviets decided to invade West Germany, France, Italy and Belgium instead of Turkey, which was a much more obvious target of attack. The consensus among the Reagan administration and NATO forces is that the Soviets made moves towards Turkey as a diversion for their invasion of Western Europe.

Back in America, Reagan maintains raging popularity as the war rages on. The 1984 Election begins with many Democrats who were already campaigning ending their campaigns. Major exceptions included Former Vice President Walter Mondale, Former Senator George McGovern and Senator Gary Hart. They all campaign on the issue of a "nuclear freeze", of which some factions of the Democratic Party oppose. However, by November 1983, liberal elements of the Democratic Party become more energized by this, and support grows for Senator Gary Hart and Senator George McGovern.

[Reaganfan]

By November 10, 1983, the war rages on. From day to day, there are various battles throughout Western Europe. The heaviest casualties occur in Eastern France, much of which has increased levels of radioactivity following the nuclear detonations two months prior.

Near Brussels, the city of Gaasbeek no longer exists. An estimated 5,000 people lost their lives following the tactical nuclear attack that missed NATO Headquarters. A 54 year old unidentified man took a photo of the Brussels skyline has the skies above lit up from the explosion. Two months later, ABC News obtained the photo and showed it on their broadcast.



The Denmark city of Copenhagen had by far the deadliest death toll. Reagan is told that exact figures will never be known, but that as many as 900,000 people were instantly killed by the detonation of the tactical nuclear warhead on September 28, 1983. Soviet television broadcasts video footage of the city of Copenhagen, which is subsequently screened by the Reagan administration and then broadcast on American news.

Copenhagen - Prior to nuclear attack:

Copenhagen - 1983:
 

Nogent-sur-Seine received a large-kiloton NATO warhead that was estimated to have killed tens of thousands of Soviet troops, halting their advance through Eastern France on September 28, 1983. Allied losses and civilian losses were thankfully less than anticipated. The French attack on Soviet forces soon-after resulted in complete decimation of the commune of Lorris in north-central France, resulting in the estimated deaths of nearly all of the 2,000 population.

The Soviet nuclear attack on Orleans was, by all accounts, catastrophic. At least 70,000 people are estimated to have been killed as the bomb air-burst directly over the city. No video or photographs have been seen of Orleans since the attack, and no survivors or signs of life have come from the city.

America and it's allies are rallied behind Reagan, Thatcher, and other NATO forces as 1983 America sees a resurgence of patriotism, and anti-communism. Late night television stations in the United States, not signing off but briefly ending live coverage of the war, air 1950s civil defense cartoons. Schoolchildren across America routinely practice Air Raid drills. Fallout shelters across America are being revamped and built, as Americans cautiously await war.

[Reaganfan]

On November 20, 1983, ABC airs the made-for-TV film, "The Day After", a provocative drama featuring the effects of an all-out nuclear war with the Soviet Union and the effects on Kansas City, MO and Lawrence, KS. The film is viewed by millions across America, and sends chills down many people's spines as the initial nuclear exchange in Europe is eerily similar to what has occurred in the real world in 1983. Reagan administration officials lobbied hard to try and cease the broadcast to no avail, allowing ABC to air the film. Reagan, who watched a personal screening of the film, was left depressed and had a new found fear of nuclear war.

Reagan, knowing the Soviets are on edge and clarifying that with word coming in of even more increasing Soviet tension during October's invasion of Grenada, realizes that the Soviet Union may be on the verge of initiating a preemptive nuclear attack on Western Europe and the United States.

December 21, 1983. The world awaits what is being called a possible "showdown" between the two superpowers in Western Europe.

The city of Paris, under Soviet domination, is described by those close to foreign administration officials as a "top priority", and the city of L'Aquila in Italy is also seen as "high priority". The Reagan administration is also closely following the activity of Soviet battleships and submarines, weary of a possible first strike.

Later that afternoon, Ronald Reagan meets with his advisers and Pentagon officials to discuss the SIOP, the Single Integrated Operations Plan of what would occur between the United States and the Soviet Union in the event of a nuclear war.

First, Reagan is told that at least 150 million Americans would be killed immediately or shortly following a full scale nuclear attack. It is thought that missiles launched from Soviet submarines would be the first to impact the United States, including cities like Los Angeles, Seattle, Anchorage, Atlantic City, New York and Washington, D.C. Millions of Americans would be instantly killed within five minutes of the launches. To make matters worse, early warning radar stations and Military bases would surely be targets of ground bursts from Soviet thermonuclear bombs, destroying the United States' capability to respond. If the President was in Washington, D.C. when word of a launch came, Reagan would have only five minutes to order retaliation and have himself evacuated by helicopter to Mount Weather.

To add insult to injury, the President also learns that intelligence indications that the Soviet Union's ICBMs have a deadly catch to them. MIRVs, holding up to 10 warheads, which can dispatch multiple warheads from the missile to different select targets, have plans to drop a single nuclear warhead on American cities every 90 seconds until the cities have been struck three times. This would mean that within five minutes, three nuclear ground bursts or air bursts would strike the same city. A city like New York would be completely decimated. No remaining buildings, structures, and almost certainly the annihilation of millions upon millions of people in an instant of detonation.

Reagan, distressed, asks the Joint Chiefs of Staff to give him some news on United State's retaliation options. The Joint Chiefs of Staff lay out three scenarios following a Soviet first-strike.

1. The United States and NATO forces launch all Trident, Minuteman, Titan, and Pershing missiles from silos in the United States, submarines, and from launch sites in Europe. First attacks annihilate Moscow, possibly most of the KGB, Politburo, and Kremlin leadership. Andropov himself would most likely be killed. Reagan, Bush and other leaders are successfully evacuated, the Emergency Broadcast System is activated in the United States telling residents to seek shelter immediately and await word from President Reagan. The Soviet attack strikes the United States within 5-10 minutes of submarine launches off the East and West coasts, and the Soviet ICBM launch reaches the United States within roughly 30 minutes time. Military, Industrial and Urban targets are struck with air-burst and ground burst nuclear weapons. However, the Soviet Union is shortly thereafter also struck by the United States and NATO nuclear attack, suffering equal or greater catastrophic damage.

2. The United States loses Military bases, radar warning systems, and many missile silos in the first preemptive attack, thus reducing the amount of retaliation upon the Soviet Union, putting them at greater strength.

3. The third option shows that if a preemptive attack occurs at a time when the President is asleep or incommunicado, the Soviet Union could, to a great extent, destroy almost all of the United States and NATO retaliation options, leaving the possibility of Reagan agreeing to Soviet cease-fire terms and possible surrender.

This scenario catches Reagan's attention. He asks the Joint Chiefs what a surrender would be like. They state that if the Soviet Union targeted only Military and Industrial targets, and the United States had very little capacity to retaliate, the Soviet leadership, including KGB officials, may give an ultimatum to the United States: Stand-down and surrender or ICBMs destroy your cities. More or less, Soviet Domination of the United States. KGB heads of state would be in charge of dictation in the United States, and Soviet Military personnel in vessels and submarines off the United States coastlines would come in port and take command at key Soviet military points.

While unlikely, Reagan shudders at the thought of the United States falling under the Iron Curtain. At the same time, the other option would be full-scale nuclear war and annihilation of most of America.

[Reaganfan]

UPDATE COMING SOON

[feeblepizza]

UPDATE COMING SOON

Hooray!

[Reaganfan]

I'm undecided as to where to take this story.

Option 1: The 1984 election as tactical and conventional war continues.
Option 2: Full scale nuclear war and the aftermath.

[hawkeye59]

I'm undecided as to where to take this story.

Option 1: The 1984 election as tactical and conventional war continues.
Option 2: Full scale nuclear war and the aftermath.

]
1.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Option 2: Full scale nuclear war and the aftermath.

This is a contradiction.

[Person Man]

Well, we could have a middle option where it is just scaled down to the point that there is an aftermath, but still quite bad. More than what's going on now, but maybe less than Fallout. Perhaps something out of "The Day After" would be good.

[feeblepizza]

The middle option where it is scaled down and there is an aftermath seems like a good idea. The 1984 election can still occur while this is all happening.

[Person Man]

The middle option where it is scaled down and there is an aftermath seems like a good idea. The 1984 election can still occur while this is all happening.

Exactly. We can have an Atomic event where out of 200,000,000 people in the US and the 4 500 000 000 in the world,  about 50 mil die in the US and about a Billion die in the world in the initial war and another 50 mil in the US and Billion die in the aftermath. Basically, its armageddon, but civilization hangs on....barely. Perhaps a few states simply cease to exist and become unorganized Federal Territory. Perhaps a couple of states try to succeed and fail. Perhaps there is moderate trouble maintaining the territorial integrity of the United States proper. This way, there will be a 1984 election and a conclusion of WWIII. Perhaps the United States loses, wins or wins the war, but power shifts away from the US and back to Europe or into some sort of super state.

[Reaganfan]

Around 12am, Thursday, December 22, 1983, President Reagan calls Prime Minister Thatcher and discusses the impending battle to force out the Soviet occupation of Eastern France and Northern Italy. The plan calls for NATO forces to use heavy artillery fire against Soviet troops and Soviet tanks, and use air to ground missiles against Soviet munitions facilities and Soviet checkpoints.

The first attack begins that morning in the Soviet occupied territory of Stalin, in Northern Italy near the city of L'Aquila. NATO forces deliver a crippling blow to Soviet Troops outside the Soviet checkpoint and begin an advance northward. Reports come in that hundreds of Soviet troops were killed during the Battle of L'Aguila, and that NATO losses were surprisingly low. Reagan worries that the Soviets may retaliate against the United States if Soviet losses continue to be significant. Similar losses are inflicted on the Soviets in the city of Paris, where heavy fighting also results in the loss of hundreds of NATO forces. Soviet MIGs take out several NATO stations setup along the France/Soviet border of Luxembourg and Strasbourg. The United States retaliates by taking out Soviet artillery divisions setup near Reims, Stuttgart, and Wiesbaden.

Around 8pm EST on December 22, 1983, President Reagan is told by his National Security team that it would be in the best interests of the nation for him to be moved to a secure facility, in the event of a Soviet launch. Reagan initially refuses, but Secret Service agents finally convince him that it would be for the best.

Reagan is taken to Mount Weather, a secure location outside of Washington, D.C. Vice President George Bush and Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill are also in attendance. The mood is bleak. Rumors are abound that Yuri Andropov has begun ordering high-level Soviet officers and officials to evacuate to underground facilities in the Soviet Union. Vice President Bush believes that "cooler heads will prevail" and that this is a sign that the Soviets are more afraid of the United States than we are of them. President Reagan is skeptical. Andropov and many high-level KGB officials and men throughout the Kremlin are said to hold quite a bit of animosity towards the United States, NATO, and the Reagan administration itself.

Reagan and Bush hold a private meeting in an office within the Mount Weather Complex. Reagan tells Bush that he has made the decision to fly Air Force One to NORAD in Colorado Springs. In the event of a Soviet launch, NORAD is far more secure than Mount Weather. He also informs Bush that many other high-level Government officials have been evacuated to "various places of secret" that only Reagan has been made aware of. He asks Vice President Bush to remain at Mount Weather. Bush fully supports the decision. Reagan tells Bush, "If they get me George, if they kill me...America MUST go on. Promise me you'll assure that happens. Promise me, George." Vice President Bush, taken back by the statement, tells the President that he "wouldn't have it any other way."

Ronald Reagan flies from Marine One to Andrews Air Force Base, and boards Air Force One for Colorado Springs. George Bush remains at the Mount Weather complex along with several other high ranking Government officials. The United States remains at DEFCON 2 alert.