Point Alpha

[Scrapper_511]

If the Soviets were not able to conceal mobilization, would American (and German?) units deploy as far east as Point Alpha (Rasdorf, Germany) to meet the invaders in force? Or will this location still serve as a speed bump at best?

 

I just got curious while brainstorming credible scenarios for this region I've pegged on the Fulda map. Or maybe this area would best serve an American counter-attack after the failed Soviet conventional campaign?

 

 

[Ssnake]

The first step to decide which type of units could be expected in a scenario without further explanation would be the interlocking areas of responsibility according to the NORTHAG and CENTAG defense plans:

 

Whether or not the Fulda Gap was indeed of the importance to the Soviets as the prominence among Americans suggests is a point of contention; I think it was the weakest spot in the American AORs, but not necessarily the point of main effort for eventual Warsaw Pact aggressors. Cutting off the US forces from reinforcements from the continental US by seizing the German North Sea ports (especially Bremerhaven) may have been a higher ranking strategic goal than a quick, massed dash through an overall still difficult terrain at a point where the Americans expected it, and were strongest.

 

Be it as it may be, Rasdorf: The small blip in the fat blue line designating the US V. Corps AOR.

 

Warning about a WP mobilization would have come from tons of different sources, satellite images, aerial reconnaissance, humint, signint. That some dudes in Rasdorf peak across the border is, well, just the final visual confirmation of what at this point everybody knew what'd be going to happen (see the current march-up of Russians at the Ukrainian border, something that was spotted two weeks ago; when/if the shooting starts nobody's going to be surprised (except for those who deliberately ignore these early warning signs); we're just not certain about the specific day and hour when it'll happen).

[stormrider_sp]

[Ssnake]

I guess the likelihood of any confrontation going nuclear was very high. At the same time the enthusiasm of the Soviets for nuclear warfare seems to have been in steady decline ever since the Chrustchev era. Their war plans still involved them everywhere (as demonstrated above) but whether these are an accurate glimpse into an alternate history is still an open question.

Also, it doesn't help a bit with the Rasdorf/Point Alpha question.

[stormrider_sp]

No, but it brings into question whether deploying and concentrating heavy forces too close to the border might in fact offer the soviets with juicy targets for tactical nuclear weapons. Instead, I think that activating as many units in response to a soviet massing of troops and spreading them out in the rear, at the ready, would already prevent a strategic surprise. Then at the right time, using the exceptional mobility of such units and the great west german infrastructure, to advance forward to meet the soviets, concentrating at right times and places.

[Ssnake]

...assuming that the roads are empty enough for military travel, a question that NATO planners studiously avoided to touch.

[Scrapper_511]

If there was no Soviet thrust towards Frankfurt (and beyond), I imagine then that V Corps would be nuked to neutralize that flank.

 

Thanks for the maps and discussion, gentlemen.