“Nav, I can see the Forest of Fontainebleau, ninety degrees left.” The pilot passed back a visual fix for the navigator.
“Montereau?”
There was a moment’s pause. “Dead ahead.”
The reading off the triple offset radar was made, confirmed by the pilot’s sightings. With three points confirmed, the bomb aimer had the necessary information to ensure they were on target. They had to get this right. Once past Paris, through Belgium, into the Netherlands, they would bank right west of Nijmegen and then fly an easterly course until they crossed the British front line.
Chapter 20
The tracks of the M113 chassis churned up the ground as it was jockeyed into position. This transporter was somewhat different from the standard M113. It didn’t transport troops, as did its cousin, the M113 armoured personnel carrier. This one, an M752, transported something much more deadly.
The British Government, along with the other NATO members, had agreed that there was a need to strike back at the Warsaw Pact who were currently bombarding the allied forces in West Germany with a mix of blister and nerve agent toxins. Although the Western forces were well protected and reasonably well trained, it was inevitable that casualties would mount. The soldiers were operating in a hostile chemical environment and, even with their best endeavours, the shield sometimes failed: incorrectly fitted respirators, torn or damaged NBC suits as a consequence of shrapnel or a bullet entry point, would expose the soldiers’ skin to the deadly poisons.
50th Missile Regiment, Royal Artillery, part of the British army’s long-range artillery and the core of the country’s tactical nuclear strike force, under orders from the Prime Minister herself, were about to hit back in earnest.
One of the greatest fears of Western governments was a war of escalation: starting out as a conventional war, but then the introduction of biological and chemical warfare by the Warsaw Pact tipping the balance, with the NATO forces responding in kind. The West, at the outset of any conventional war, had always advocated the non-use of chemical weapons, although they had the stocks available and their armies were trained in their use. But NATO had always worked on the premise that, should the Warsaw Pact decide to use chemical weapons, their response should be nuclear. For all that, governments had dithered. However, with civilian and military casualties mounting, and front lines being pushed back, it forced a far-reaching debate amongst NATO government heads. They had eventually agreed that the US, Great Britain and West Germany would launch a tactical nuclear strike. Once the go-ahead had been given to launch a strike against the Soviet forces that were advancing relentlessly along the entire NATO front in West Germany, the American Government had released the nuclear warheads to their allies.
It had also been agreed that the Soviet Politburo would be notified of the launches within minutes of the missiles leaving their launchers, with a message that stated the following:
Although not wishing to trigger a tactical nuclear exchange on the battlefields of Western Europe, or even escalating to a full strategic nuclear exchange with devastating consequences for both NATO and the Warsaw Pact countries, the United States of America, Great Britain and the Federal Republic of Germany would do so if there was a continuance in the indiscriminate use of Chemical Weapons, which was not only killing soldiers, but thousands of defenceless civilians. These six tactical nuclear strikes will not be replicated, should the Soviet Union, and its allies, cease using these inhumane weapons.
Three countries would participate: Great Britain, West Germany and the United States. Two missile launches would be initiated by each country, targeting predetermined Warsaw Pact targets. It was a gamble. There would be German civilian casualties, but not on the same scale should chemical warfare continue. It was possible that the Soviet Union would initiate their own tactical nuclear strike against the West. The risk of an escalation to a strategic nuclear exchange could still be very much on the cards.
The driver, sitting in the small cab on the front left side of the M752, signalled by his guide, brought the vehicle to a halt, in between two small trees with decent canopies to provide overhead cover. Three hundred metres away, a second vehicle, an M688, with two missile reloads and a loading hoist, reversed amongst some scattered trees, the driver and another soldier quickly draping a camouflage net over it ensuring it was hidden from any prying eyes above. The MGM-52 Lance, was a tactical, surface-to-surface missile. It could be configured to carry both conventional and nuclear warheads in order to provide support for some of the NATO countries, in particular the British, Dutch, Belgian, US and West German armies.
The 15th Missile Battery from 50th Missile Regiment, Royal Artillery, had been given their initial orders and the Lance missiles were now armed with the W70-3 warhead. Using a yield of one kiloton, the neutron bombs, with an enhanced radiation feature, would inflict severe damage on the enemy regiments. 15th Missile Battery had three self-propelled launchers. Two of those would be active very soon. Elsewhere, the three remaining missile batteries were getting ready to support the ground forces in a conventional role.
Chapter 21
Four hundred kilometres from the target, the three Vulcans dropped to less than 1,000 metres above the ground, using the River Waal as a landmark.
Merritt peered through the cockpit window. There was approximately fifty per cent cloud cover, but through the fleeting gaps he could pick out the occasional feature. The Vulcan dropped lower, levelling out at 600 metres, the pilot wanting to stay beneath any Soviet radars. This was the earliest the aircraft could drop down to this level, as too much low-level flight would have burnt extra fuel.
The crew were tense now, knowing they were getting close to enemy territory, waiting for enemy flak or missiles to come their way. They would be at the drop point very soon. The River Waal turned south, but the flight of Vulcans continued east towards Munster. West of Munster they turned north, skirting Osnabruck to the south. One hundred kilometres out, they made a gentle descent down to 100 metres. The nav-radar, Flight Lieutenant Bell, turned on the Vulcan’s HS2 radar which had been kept silent up until now, not wanting the transmissions to alert the enemy to their presence. At 320 knots, they would be on the target in about ten minutes. Then, all being well, they would catch the Soviets completely by surprise. The pilot now had to focus hard as he prepared to fly nap-of-the-earth. No longer at their cruising ceiling of 13,000 metres, or even a safer height of 1,000 metres, the terrain following radar was needed to aid the pilot in the control of the eighty-ton aircraft. The safety of the aircraft and crew were dependent on it. Pilots referred to it as being ‘down in the weeds’.