After the medium-range missiles and long-range aircraft had "worked out", it was the turn of front-line bombers and tactical missiles in Europe. The ground battles in the FRG began with an intensive exchange of missile and air strikes. Squadrons of front-line bomber, fighter-bomber and tactical aviation took to the air. Aircraft with tactical nuclear bombs struck at army headquarters, units on the march, airfields, and key infrastructure facilities. To cover the carriers of tactical nuclear bombs and to defend against attacks by enemy bombers, fighters took to the air. A typical example of the actions of front-line bombers of the 16th Air Army was the destruction of West German airfields from Giebelstadt and Kitzingen with nuclear bombs from the Il-28.
American, British, French and West German tactical aviation, which suffered heavy losses at the airfields, failed to fully cover their ground units from air strikes. The French Air Force provided some assistance to NATO troops in Germany, since French airfields suffered less from nuclear bombings.
Two dozen advancing motorized infantry and tank divisions of the GSVG and six divisions of the GDR army, in addition to barrel artillery and MLRS, were cleared the way by tactical missiles "Luna" and R-11. Soviet troops used the available tactical weapons proactively, otherwise the superiority in armored vehicles and artillery could be devalued by NATO's advantage in tactical atomic weapons.
Self-propelled launcher of tactical missile system 2k6 "Luna"
A fierce land battle, which lasted more than a day, broke out in the area of the so-called "Fulda Corridor" - the passage between the Spessart and Vogelsberg mountains. This route was the shortest for the offensive between the GDR and the FRG. In the battles for this sector, the American ground forces for the first time used 203-mm M422 nuclear projectiles with a capacity of 5 kt and M29 Davy Crockett "atomic recoilless" missiles. The 155-mm M29 recoilless guns were attached to the American infantry regiments stationed in Western Europe. The gun fired an M388 over-caliber projectile with a W-54Y1 nuclear warhead with a capacity of 0.1 kt at a distance of up to 4 km. To increase mobility, 155-mm M29 recoilless guns were installed on jeeps and light tracked conveyors.
155-mm recoilless gun М29
Shots "Davy Crockett" managed to repel several Soviet tank attacks, and 203-mm self-propelled guns M55 with the help of nuclear shells fought an effective counter-battery fight. After the losses in equipment and personnel of the 39th and 57th Motorized Rifle Guards Divisions exceeded 50%, the command of the 8th Guards Army issued an order to launch four Luna missiles at the positions of the defending American infantry units. It was only after nuclear strikes with tactical missiles that American defenses were hacked.
Soviet troops in West Germany were opposed by eight divisions of the US Army, as well as four British, eight Belgian, Dutch, Danish and German divisions. The opposing sides actively used tactical nuclear warheads. In just a day on October 30, about 60 nuclear explosions thundered in Germany. On the way of the advancing tank wedges of the 8th Guards, 20th Guards, 3rd Combined Arms and 1st Guards Tank Armies, several nuclear bombs were detonated. They were laid in specially prepared wells at intersections of roads or in places convenient for creating impassable destruction. In addition to blockages and fires, as a result of ground-based nuclear explosions, zones of severe radioactive contamination were formed. Our advancing units had to look for ways to bypass the rubble and radiation spots, all this seriously slowed down the pace of the offensive. When it became clear that American troops would not be able to hold their positions, the explosions of nuclear bombs made the Fulda Corridor impassable for tanks and wheeled vehicles.
On the morning of October 31, the 2nd Guards Tank Army and the 20th Guards Combined Arms Army crossed the Elbe in several places and fought towards Hamburg. The 3rd Combined Arms Army was bogged down in the positions of the 1st British Corps, supported from the flank by Belgian divisions. The parties actively used tactical nuclear weapons, but this only exacerbated the stalemate. The course of hostilities in the FRG was reversed after the breakthrough by units of the 2nd Guards Tank Army of the German defense near Ilzen. Two tank divisions of the 20th combined arms army were introduced into the breakthrough. The 1st Guards Tank Army broke through the defenses at the junction between the American and West German divisions and, defeating parts of the 5th American Corps in an oncoming battle, made a rush into northern Bavaria. Threatened with encirclement from the north, with the prospect of bringing three Polish and two Czechoslovak armies into battle, NATO forces were forced to retreat beyond the Rhine. After the evacuation beyond the Rhine in order to stop the advance of the Soviet divisions, a massive blow was struck at their close rear with MGM-5 Corporal tactical missiles.
MGM-5 Corporal
The launch range of tactical missiles "Corporal" with liquid-propellant rocket engine operating on hydrazine and red fuming nitric acid reached 139 km. The missile carried a 20 kt W-7 nuclear warhead. The use of radio command correction on the trajectory significantly increased the accuracy, but at the same time complicated the missile system. Nuclear tactical missiles "Corporal" in 1962 in Europe were in service with two British missile regiments and eight American missile divisions.
Nevertheless, the use of nuclear tactical missiles did not help deter the offensive of the Soviet troops, and by the November holidays they reached Stuttgart, encircling the 2nd German corps. The Bundeswehr troops in this area were trapped in a cauldron between the Czechoslovak and Soviet units, and two days later were completely defeated.
The countries of the "Warsaw Pact" were much less successful in the Balkans. Two tank and two motorized rifle divisions of the Soviet Southern Group of Forces, with the support of Bulgarian and Romanian units, launched hostilities against the Greek and Turkish armies. Turks and Greeks who hated each other were forced to fight shoulder to shoulder against a common enemy. On the southern European flank, NATO forces had air superiority. Traditionally, modern technology was primarily sent to the GSVG, and in the YUGV the most modern fighters were the MiG-19S regiment. One and a half hundred MiG-15bis and MiG-17 were used as light attack aircraft.
In contrast, the Turkish and Greek air forces had a significant number of supersonic fighters F-104, F-100 and strike F-84. The 6th US Fleet provided great assistance to the European NATO allies. By the time the missile exchange began, most of the American warships operating in the region were at sea and escaped destruction in ports. Deck aircraft from the aircraft carriers Forrestal (CV-59) and Franklin D. Roosevelt (CV-42) carried out air strikes against the operational rear of the Soviet, Romanian and Bulgarian forces and supported the Turks and Greeks on the battlefield.
The actions of the Il-28T torpedo bombers and the Tu-16K-10 missile carriers were not successful due to the enemy's total air domination and effective radar patrol. Most of the Il-28T was shot down on the approach, and the missile carriers managed to sink only the Boston missile cruiser (SA-69) and disable one of the aircraft carriers. After American carrier-based bombers dropped several atomic bombs on the operational rear of the South-Eastern Front, the front line in the Balkans stabilized.
Missile carrier Tu-16K-10
In northern Europe, the war went on with varying results. Initially, the Soviet troops were successful. At the first stage of successful amphibious and airborne operations, it was possible to capture a significant part of Denmark. After the evacuation of NATO troops across the Rhine, the two isolated Danish divisions were subjected to several nuclear strikes with R-11 missiles. After that, some of the Danish troops laid down their arms, and some were evacuated by sea. The capture of Denmark allowed the use of naval forces, front-line aviation and ground units against Norway.
During the night battle from November 2nd to 3rd in the Danish straits, the Baltic Fleet managed to win a major victory. British destroyers and two groups of Danish and German torpedo boats tried to carry out a raid operation, but were spotted in time and attacked by a battalion of missile boats BF pr.183R. Within ten minutes, three British destroyers were sunk and two more were seriously damaged. Several enemy torpedo boats were destroyed by artillery fire from Soviet destroyers. In this case, the effect of surprise affected, when planning the operation, Soviet missile boats were not taken into account, and NATO admirals had no idea how effective the P-15 anti-ship missile could be.
Soviet troops in the Arctic could not achieve their assigned tasks. The amphibious and airborne assault forces in Norway were able to capture only small bridgeheads. The Norwegians put up very serious resistance, only after the Soviet diesel-electric submarines of pr.611AV destroyed the Bodø and Orland airbases with R-11FM missiles, the raids of the F-86F and F-84 fighter bombers stopped. However, after the liquidation of the Norwegian airbases, carrier-based aircraft from the American aircraft carriers Enterprise and Coral Sea and the British Ark Royal and Hermes came to the aid of their allies. Due to the limited range of action, the Soviet MiG-17 and MiG-19 were unable to protect the paratroopers from bombing. Nevertheless, Soviet troops managed to capture the southern part of Norway, which made it easier for the Fleet's forces to enter the North Sea.
Simultaneously with the withdrawal of troops across the Rhine, the Americans showed a serious determination to prevent the further advance of the troops of the "Warsaw Pact" countries to the west of Europe. In the early days of the conflict, the 101st Air Assault Division was deployed to France from Fort Jackson (South Carolina) by military transport aviation. Mobilized passenger airliners were used to send personnel from the 4th Infantry Division to the British Isles from Texas. American soldiers received equipment, weapons and equipment from previously prepared army warehouses. It took 3-4 days to deactivate and bring the equipment and weapons received from the warehouses into working order and combat coordination of units. Convoys loaded with equipment and personnel from several tank and infantry divisions hurriedly departed from the United States in the direction of Europe.
In turn, units of the 5th and 6th Guards Tank Armies, the 7th Tank and 11th Guards Combined Arms Army were brought up to Germany from the territory of Poland, the Baltic States, Ukraine and Belarus. However, the redeployment of Soviet troops proceeded more slowly than the generals would have liked. This was due to the destruction of the railway communication in Eastern Europe. The troops had to make long marches, overcoming the zones of radioactive contamination, stretching strongly along the roads, consuming fuel and equipment resources. As a result, the transfer of reserves took a long time, and neither side was able to obtain a decisive advantage. By November 10, the war took on a positional character.
In Asia, the advance of North Korean and Chinese forces on the Korean Peninsula was halted by tactical nuclear warheads. The Soviet command refrained from the participation of the land units of the KDVO in hostilities in Korea, but provided assistance with aviation. To strengthen the Sino-Korean grouping, a regiment of front-line Il-28 bombers and two regiments of MiG-17 fighters were sent. After some lull, the defenses of the American and South Korean forces were hacked by nuclear strikes from the Mars and Filin tactical missile systems. One battalion of these missiles were secretly transported to the DPRK. The guidance of the launches of tactical nuclear missiles and the planning of strikes were carried out by the Soviet command.
Self-propelled launcher of tactical missile system 2K4 "Filin"
After the North Korean and Chinese T-34s, ISs and self-propelled guns broke through the US-South Korean defenses between Yongcheon and Chorwon, bypassing Seoul from the east, North Korean-Chinese troops stormed the partially destroyed US Osann Air Base, located 60 kilometers south of Seoul. On November 1, as a result of the capture of Suwon, the capital of the Republic of Korea, Seoul, and the port of Incheon, were surrounded from land by the DPRK and PLA troops.
F-84G
Even nuclear strikes did not help stop the offensive from the north; they were carried out by F-84G tactical fighters based at the Gunsan airbase in the western part of the Korean Peninsula on the Yellow Sea coast, 240 km south of Seoul, and the Onest John tactical missile systems. The course of hostilities was also not greatly influenced by the MGM-13 Mace cruise missiles launched from Okinawa at strategic North Korean targets. In response, the territory of Japan was once again subjected to nuclear bombings. Among other objects, a thermonuclear bomb dropped from the Tu-16A destroyed the large port of Nagasaki on the southwestern coast.
Land-based cruise missile MGM-13 Mace
The actions of the Chinese N-5 and the nuclear bomb dropped from the Soviet Il-28, the American Kunsan airbase with capital shelters for aircraft and a concrete runway with a length of 2,700 meters was removed from the game. The command of the DPRK and PLA troops, regardless of losses, introduced more and more forces into battle. Military units marched through foci of radiation contamination without means of protection, after which they immediately rushed into frontal attacks on enemy fortified positions. On a mountain road in the Gangwon-do area, a North Korean special forces unit, secretly landed from the air from An-2 aircraft, managed to capture and hold two 203-mm towed M115 howitzers and a special conveyor for nuclear shells until the main forces approached. As a result of this brilliantly conducted operation, Kim Il Sung was hit by two M422 nuclear missiles.
After the destruction of the Gunsan airbase in South Korea, the Americans tried to make up for this loss with combat aircraft based in Japan and on aircraft carriers, but they were connected by Soviet aviation. The American troops left without air support fled, and their emergency evacuation by sea from the ports of Incheon and Chinhai began. The United States refused to further fight for the Korean Peninsula, although there was a possibility of landing in the rear of the advancing communist armies of the landing of the 2nd Marine Corps Division from Guam. The main reasons for the refusal to continue the struggle for Korea were the large losses of American troops, the appearance of tactical nuclear weapons by the enemy and the strong radiation contamination of the terrain of a large part of the Korean Peninsula, as well as difficulties with the delivery of goods by sea due to the high activity of the Pacific Fleet's submarine forces.
Over Sakhalin and Hokkaido, dozens of Japanese F-86 and Soviet MiG-17 and MiG-19 met in air battles. Soviet fighters tried to cover the exit to the submarine positions. In turn, the Japanese defended anti-submarine aircraft and coastal facilities. The Soviet command abandoned the planned landing on Hokkaido in view of the impossibility of providing permanent air cover and guaranteed supply of reserves and supplies in conditions of significant superiority of the US Navy in surface ships. The situation became seriously complicated after the American aircraft carrier Kiti Hawk (CV-63), which had escaped destruction, approached the area, accompanied by missile cruisers and destroyers.
In the afternoon of November 2, the aircraft carrier Constellation (CV-64), which entered the fleet a year ago and was on its way to join the main forces of the US 7th Fleet, was sunk together with three destroyers by an atomic torpedo from a Pacific Fleet diesel boat, project 613 southeast of Hokkaido. The boat itself, which received minor damage, managed to break away from the pursuit of anti-submarine forces with the onset of darkness, but ironically, it died in Soviet minefields set up near the coast of Sakhalin in anticipation of the American-Japanese amphibious assault.
Launch of cruise missiles from nuclear submarine pr.659
A few days after the start of the conflict, active hostilities began at sea. On the night of November 6-7, airbases, ports and cities on the east coast of the United States were attacked by cruise and ballistic missiles from Soviet nuclear submarines, etc. 659 and etc. 658. Also cruise missiles attacked the American naval base in Hawaii - Pearl Harbor. Even taking into account the fact that missile launches were carried out at night, the survival rate of the boats was low. Of the three boats of Project 659 with cruise missiles that participated in the attacks, all were sunk, and of the two SSBNs of Project 658, one survived. In addition to boats with ballistic missiles, the Soviet fleet in 1962 had 10 diesel-electric submarines with P-5 cruise missiles. Five of them managed to shoot at targets in Scandinavia, Turkey and Japan.
Nuclear submarine pr.627
At the end of October 1962, six Project 627 nuclear submarines operated in the ocean. Initially, their targets were ports and naval bases of the enemy; five boats were able to use nuclear torpedoes against them. On November 1, the Soviet nuclear submarine of Project 627 with two nuclear torpedoes destroyed the berthing facilities in Singapore along with the moored British and American warships. The US and NATO anti-submarine forces managed to destroy one nuclear submarine on the approach to Gibraltar, and another, forced to surface in the Pacific Ocean due to a reactor malfunction after completing the mission, was sunk by the Japanese P-2 Neptune anti-submarine aircraft.
Japanese anti-submarine aircraft P-2 Neptune
The Americans, taking advantage of NATO's overwhelming advantage in large warships, did their best to seize the initiative at sea. In addition, the US Navy was actively used to provide support to ground forces in Europe and Asia. American SSBNs, which advanced to the launch lines of SLBMs, continued to deliver nuclear strikes against Soviet targets. One American missile boat fired from the Mediterranean Sea, and the other from the North. The result of these attacks was the destruction of a number of Soviet airfields, naval bases and key transport hubs.
In the USSR Navy, in addition to the relatively few nuclear submarines, in 1962 there were about 200 torpedo diesel-electric submarines of pr.611, 613, 633 and 641. Before the first nuclear explosions at sea thundered, more than 100 Soviet diesel boats were withdrawn. After the outbreak of the conflict, some of them were destroyed by anti-submarine forces, but the remaining crews made every effort to neutralize the American surface fleet. For Soviet submarines and aircraft of naval missile-carrying aviation, American aircraft carriers became the priority targets. The main problem of the Soviet submariners was the lack of information about the whereabouts of the American attack aircraft carrier groups. Therefore, the command of the Soviet Navy was forced to form the so-called "curtains" on the route of the proposed route of the American fleets. In the course of hostilities at sea, the sides actively used nuclear torpedoes and depth charges. At the cost of the death of 70 diesel and nuclear submarines and 80% of naval missile-carrying and mine-torpedo aircraft, three attack aircraft carriers (including the newest nuclear-powered Enterprise (CVN-65)) and a little more than two dozen destroyers and cruisers were sunk.
Soviet diesel-electric submarine pr.613
In the "curtains" on the route of NATO squadrons, the most numerous type of boats in the Soviet Navy - Project 613, as well as Project 633 boats and diesel missile submarines, which used up their SLBMs for targets in Europe - were mainly involved. Larger boats of Project 611 and 641, as well as nuclear-powered ships of Project 627, operated on ocean communications. The use of torpedoes with nuclear warheads made it possible, to some extent, to devalue the enemy's multiple superiority in surface ships. In addition, nuclear torpedoes have proved to be very effective in a number of cases against port facilities and naval bases. 10 days after the start of the conflict, the Soviet diesel submarine, project 641, managed to get close to the entrance to the Panama Canal and destroy the airlock chambers with a nuclear torpedo. As a result, this seriously hampered the maneuver of the American fleet. Several Soviet diesel submarines also managed to destroy a number of ports on the US coast along with troop transports under loading with nuclear-loaded torpedoes, making it difficult to send troops to Europe. Some diesel-electric submarines that escaped destruction by anti-submarine forces, after using up their supplies, were forced to intern in the ports of the neutral states of Asia, Africa and Central America.
Soviet surface ships operated mainly off their own coast, conducting anti-submarine and anti-amphibious operations. An attempt by four Soviet cruisers of the 68-bis project and two old cruisers of the 26-bis project, escorted by destroyers, to provide artillery support to the Soviet landing forces in Norway was thwarted by the actions of the American carrier-based aircraft.
As a result of the retaliatory actions of American strategic and carrier-based aviation and nuclear-powered ballistic missile boats, about 90% of coastal airfields and practically all bases of the Soviet fleet were destroyed. The military infrastructure and communications system suffered enormous damage. As a result, three weeks after the outbreak of the conflict, the fighting at sea practically died down. The same thing happened in the land theater of operations, due to the depletion of the sides' capabilities, the exchange of strategic and tactical nuclear strikes on land ceased after 15 days.
The losses of the parties involved in the conflict amounted to about 100 million people. killed during the year, another 150 million people. were injured, burned and received significant doses of radiation. The consequences of hundreds of nuclear explosions in Europe have made a significant part of it uninhabitable. In addition to huge zones of continuous destruction, almost the entire territory of Germany, more than half of the territory of Great Britain, Czechoslovakia, and Poland, significant parts of France, Belarus and Ukraine were subjected to severe radiation pollution. In this regard, the surviving populations of countries in the zone controlled by NATO were sent to southern France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and North Africa. Subsequently, part of the population of Western European countries was transported by sea to South Africa, South and Central America, Australia and New Zealand. The population of the countries of Eastern Europe was evacuated to rural areas of the European part of the USSR, beyond the Urals, to Central Asia and the Caucasus. The aggravated problems with food were largely mitigated thanks to the supply of meat from Mongolia.
In industrial terms, the USSR and the USA were thrown back decades. Due to the impossibility of producing modern weapons in sufficient quantities, the Soviet Union and the United States began to massively return to service seemingly hopelessly outdated military equipment. In the USSR, several thousand T-34-85 tanks and ZiS-3 guns were sent to the troops to replenish the losses in tanks from storage bases, the surviving Tu-2 dive bombers, Il-10M attack aircraft and Tu-4 piston "strategists" returned to the aviation. The Americans also returned to combat units the Sherman tanks of later modifications, Mustang and Korsar piston fighters, A-26 twin-engine bombers, and B-29, B-50 and B-36 strategic bombers.
After the cessation of the active phase of hostilities from European countries, a certain weight was retained by the least affected by nuclear bombings France, Italy and Spain. In the fire of a nuclear war, the already shaky military-political influence of the states of the Old World was destroyed and the process of decolonization was sharply intensified, accompanied by an unprecedented massacre of the white population in the former colonies. In the Middle East, the hastily assembled Arab coalition tried to eliminate Israel by armed means. Left with virtually no outside help, the Israelis managed to repel the first attacks at the cost of huge sacrifices. But later, most of the Jews were evacuated by sea to the United States and Arab troops occupied Jerusalem. However, peace did not come in this part, soon Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq grappled with each other.
Strange as it may seem, China has gained in many ways from a nuclear war, despite the destruction. Chinese influence in the world has increased significantly, and in Asia it has become dominant. Almost the entire Korean Peninsula and most of Japan, due to the strong radiation contamination, were unsuitable for further living. Taiwan and Hong Kong came under Chinese control. Chinese military bases have appeared in Burma and Cambodia. In order to replenish its military potential as soon as possible, the Soviet leadership established the production of nuclear weapons and a number of strategic weapons on the territory of the PRC, while Mao Zedong managed to bargain for the condition that the division of military production would be carried out in half. Thus, China, which became a "nuclear power" ahead of schedule, gained access to modern missile technologies. On the whole, the military-political significance of the USSR and the USA in the world has greatly diminished, and the PRC, India, South Africa and the countries of South America gradually began to become "centers of power".
