“What Ukrainian bases were hit by these … things?” Colonel Lafferty asked.
“Three isolated bases in western and central Ukraine were hit by neutron bombs,” Pierce said, putting up a slide of the Black Sea region and the Ukraine. “L’vov in western Ukraine was hit by a neutron missile. Fortunately the base is several miles outside the city of L’vov, which has a population of almost a million. However, L’vov Air Base is … rather, was … the largest Ukrainian air base except for Kiev, and it had been recently reinforced with more aircraft from Odessa. There could have been five squadrons destroyed in the attack.” Unsaid was the fact that Pierce was talking about five squadrons’ worth of people, about five to six thousand military personnel, since the neutron bomb would have left most of the aircraft intact except those closest to the explosion.
“The central Ukrainian base of Vinnica was hit by one missile, and since the base is very close to the city, here is where we can expect the largest death tolls — possibly close to seven thousand dead or injured, military and civilian,” Pierce continued. “Two, perhaps three fighter and bomber squadrons may have been destroyed.
“Krivoj Rog in east-central Ukraine was hit with one missile as well,” Pierce continued. “KR was a transport base, with two squadrons destroyed and minimal civilian casualties. Also heavily attacked, but not with nuclear devices, was the port town of Belgorod-Dnestrovski, which is the headquarters of the Ukrainian Coast Guard river patrols. The Russians were obviously going after the Ukrainian river patrols that have been intercepting Russian barges and vessels trying to resupply the Russian rebels in Moldova.” Pierce didn’t know if anyone was really listening to him anymore, but he decided to press on and get through this godawful briefing as fast as he could.
“In Moldova, the air attacks were centered on the town of Bel’cy, in northwestern Moldova, which had one Moldovan Army division and was a marshaling area for perhaps four or five Romanian army divisions. Kishinev, the capital, was untouched except for antiradar-missile attacks against Romanian long-range radar systems installed during the buildup.
“Three cities in eastern Romania were hit. Iasi, headquarters of the eastern military district and the headquarters for Romanian military operations in Moldova, was hit very heavily with non-nuclear weapons,” Pierce went on. “Galati, the main air base in eastern Romania, with six fighter and bomber squadrons based there, was the only base outside the Ukraine hit by neutron bombs — the estimated loss of life is near four thousand. Braila, just a few miles south of Galati, had one army division and was a major Romania Coast Guard base patrolling the Danube; it was hit with non-nuclear weapons.”
The immensity of that number simply could not be digested, and nearly everyone at the battle staff conference table shook their heads. Some eighteen thousand people dead, and even more injured — in one attack? How could any nation hope to care for that many injured or bury that many dead? It was too enormous to even think about. And what if it happened in the United States? Against Burlington or Plattsburgh, or New York City or Boston? How could anyone deal with it?
“What is equally interesting about these attacks is what was not attacked,” Pierce concluded. “Kiev, with five fighter and bomber squadrons and four army divisions, was overflown but not attacked, although it fired a great many air defense missiles and shot down several Russian aircraft and cruise missiles. Odessa, with two fighter squadrons, two army divisions, and the thirty-ship Ukrainian Navy; and Doneck, in the eastern coal mining and heavy manufacturing region known as the Don, with six army divisions, were both untouched. In Romania, the large Black Sea military complex at Constanta, with four fighter squadrons, two bomber squadrons, four army divisions, and Romania’s only blue-water naval base, was untouched.
“All in all, it appears that the Russians went after air forces and specifically stayed away from attacking large troop concentrations and population centers. They obviously understand that air power is very important, that control of the skies is their first priority, and limiting casualties is important for public relations—”
“Public relations?” Cole asked in amazement. “My God, they nuked the Ukraine! I’d say their public relations efforts have gone down the toilet.”
“The best explanation for the use of neutron warheads is that the Ukraine is a powerful opponent and the Russians needed the biggest bang possible out of their big, long-range bombers,” Pierce said. “Put a small-yield nuke warhead on some of the missiles, and your mission effectiveness jumps tremendously. It’s pretty cold-blooded, but it’s an effective way of prosecuting a war. The death toll is going to be very large, but it could have been much worse.”
“Jesus. It’ll be a pretty sad day when nations determine that they can use nuclear weapons to fight a war. Soon every nation on earth will be using them. This was all supposed to have ended with the Cold War. What a joke.”
Daren Mace hoped that no one saw him squirm uncomfortably. Believe me, General, Mace remarked to himself, the Russians definitely weren’t the only ones to think of that idea. What would the U.S. reaction be? If the U.S. government considered the use of low-yield nuclear weapons against a relatively weak foe like Iraq, as they had that opening day of Desert Storm, would the U.S. resort to nuclear weapons if drawn into a battle against a formidable foe like Russia?
“Conclusions, then, Major,” Cole asked. “How much of the Ukraine’s military was destroyed, and what is their current military status?”
“About half of their military force was decimated,” Pierce replied, “mostly their air assets. Although Ukrainian ground forces are fairly intact, with their Air Force so heavily destroyed, I’d say the Ukraine is vulnerable to attack and will not be able to put up much resistance throughout most of the country, with the exception of Kiev, the south, and the Don region — western Ukraine is wide open. Same goes for Romania, although they suffered heavier land forces losses. Conclusion: Moldova can belong to Russia again as soon as Russia is ready to reclaim it, without any interference from the Ukraine or Romania.”
“How about closer to home?” Cole asked. “What have the Russians been doing in North America?”
“Their entire force of Backfire bombers based in Cuba was airborne throughout the attack period,” Pierce replied. “They were not seen with any weapons when they were intercepted over international waters. However, it is now estimated that the Backfires are each armed with six AS-16 ‘Kickback’ short-range attack missiles in an internal rotary launcher. It is now believed that the Backfires were poised for a strike against the United States if one was deemed necessary. The AS-16 missile is an equivalent to our AGM-69 Short-Range Attack Missile, with inertial guidance, a range of about a hundred miles, a top speed of Mach-three, and a circular error probability of about a hundred feet; it probably would’ve been delivered during a supersonic low-level dash inland, with a pretty good chance of success. I think we can assume that the Russians have put RKY-2 warheads on the AS-16 missiles as well. It hasn’t been officially announced yet, but I think we can expect a directive to come down to shoot down any Backfires encountered from now on.”