American Strategic Deception Bureau

　According to the latest news from the morning of the 11th, after the US Navy's Atlantic Fleet expelled a Soviet merchant ship suspected of transporting weapons to Cuba in the waters of the Bahamas, it has repeatedly detected Soviet submarines and has tracked, warned, and expelled them. However, the question of whether to adopt a more radical strategy and sink the Soviet submarines remains undecided, from the Pentagon to the White House.

　Opponents believed that since war had not yet been formally declared, rashly sinking the Soviet submarine would only escalate the situation and accelerate the country towards the vortex of world war.

　Supporters pointed out that the US Navy had sunk a Japanese submarine on the eve of the Pearl Harbor attack, and believed that Soviet submarines must not be allowed to continue to appear in American waters, let alone use Cuba as a base to engage in "unrestricted submarine warfare" in the Caribbean.

　--On December 7, 1941, two hours before the Japanese naval aviation attacked Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Navy's destroyer USS Ward had already proactively dropped depth charges and sunk a Japanese submarine in the waters near Pearl Harbor, even though war had not yet been declared between the two countries.

　But for some reason, the battle telegram sent back to the headquarters by the Ward did not attract any attention, which led to the subsequent disaster.

　Furthermore, thousands of Soviet soldiers were already engaged in the Cuban conflict, engaging the Americans, and even the nuclear bombs that had just been detonated were undoubtedly Soviet. Therefore, there was no reason for the Americans to exercise restraint at sea while the fighting on land was already in full swing.

　On the contrary, sinking a Soviet submarine and warning the Russian polar bear to move its claws away from the Western Hemisphere should be more effective in deterring war.

　In short, since President Kennedy has not made a clear statement, the destroyers of the Atlantic Fleet have begun anti-submarine operations.

　Then, on the distant European front, news came of the Soviet army's large-scale temporary assembly and emergency mobilization. US troops stationed in Europe also canceled their leave and made corresponding deployments, further exacerbating the tension on both sides of the Iron Curtain.

　Although most people rationally feel that the current international situation does not seem to have developed to the point where a third world war would occur.

　But the problem is that, according to past experience, war always comes very suddenly.

　Just like the assassination of the Austro-Hungarian Crown Prince in Sarajevo, which served as the fuse of World War I, before the sudden outbreak in the summer of 1914, the major European countries were basically peaceful and prosperous. No one could have imagined that in just 43 days, the whole of Europe would be engulfed in a sea of ​​blood and corpses.

　Amidst the panic and rumors, an emergency meeting was held on Capitol Hill on the afternoon of January 11.

　Just after noon, members of the Senate and House of Representatives, as well as Supreme Court justices, filed into the House chamber. In the packed gallery sat the stylishly dressed First Lady, Jacqueline, and former President Harry Truman, who ended World War II and started the Korean War.

　Just before two o'clock, all cabinet members entered the hall. The Speaker of the House of Representatives gaveled, calling for silence. Then, looking a little haggard, President Kennedy finally appeared before the public and media for the first time since the Cuban nuclear explosion.

　"My fellow Americans, yesterday was a very sad day in American history. The Marines we sent to Cuba to intervene in the civil war there were shamelessly bombarded by Soviet nuclear bombs, resulting in devastating losses. The final death toll may even exceed that of Pearl Harbor twenty years ago!

　At a time when we and the world face an unprecedented crisis, my administration has kept its word, remained vigilant against the expansion of Soviet influence on the island of Cuba, and has taken appropriate action to defend the rights and freedoms of all Americans.

　Now it is clear that the Soviets have placed nuclear weapons on that imprisoned island, threatening the entire American continent..."

　In his speech, President Kennedy solemnly pledged that eliminating the Cuban nuclear threat would be his "unwavering goal." Even in the event of a nuclear attack, the United States would continue to take stronger measures against Cuba. The Organization of American States (OAS) was convening an emergency meeting to consider responses to the crisis. He sternly warned Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev that any missile launch from Cuba would be considered a Soviet attack on the United States and would inevitably provoke full-scale American retaliation. Any ship attempting to circumvent the US naval blockade would be sunk by the US Navy.

　After President Kennedy finished his speech, Secretary of Defense McNamara also delivered a brief speech, announcing that in order to take further military action against Cuba, the Pentagon was prepared to continue to deploy 2,000 military aircraft, 90,000 Marines and paratroopers, and 250,000 support troops.

　After assembling such a huge force, no force in the entire Western Hemisphere would be able to resist it...

　However, the defense minister's murderous speech was not met with applause and cheers.

　Before he could finish his words, new, devastating news arrived from Cuba. The Havana authorities announced a major victory on the Trinidad front. Relying on the physical power of the atomic bomb, the Central Theater Army, commanded by Che Guevara, had successfully annihilated the main forces of the 1st Marine Division and the 2506th Mercenary Brigade after a night of fierce fighting. They also captured the 2506th Brigade's commander, Brigadier General San Roman, and the 1st Marine Division's commander, Major General James Masters.

　Chapter 112: Che Guevara, the God of Nuclear War (updated in the morning due to reader requests)

　On the morning of January 11, on the outskirts of Trinidad, Cuba,

　Los Inhainhos Valley (Sugar Valley), Isnaca Estate

　The bright mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion had long since dissipated in the night, but the flames of war, the killing of one another, had reignited amid the ruins.

　"Shoot! Shoot! Shoot everything you can!"

　In the villa of Isnaca Manor, Major General James Masters, with a bandage on his forehead, roared and drove the few remaining 300-odd soldiers around him to lie among the rubble and ditches and fire desperately to stop the Cuban militias who kept emerging from the sugarcane fields.

　In fact, under normal circumstances, as a Marine Corps major general and commander of the 1st Marine Division, the troops under his command should not be so small.

　满编的陆战一师下辖3个陆战团、1个炮兵团，此外还有1个独立坦克营、2个装甲侦察营、2个工兵营、1个两栖突击营等等，各种七七八八的单位全部算起来，足足有两万人以上。

　But the problem is, no matter how strong the troops are, they will definitely not be able to withstand an atomic bomb with a yield of more than 50,000 tons!

　When Soviet officers detonated nuclear mines at the port fortress, resulting in their own destruction, the 1st Marine Division, scattered across the battlefield, suffered a devastating blow. Not only did over 4,000 soldiers die immediately from the nuclear flash and shockwave, but nearly 10,000 suffered burns, acute radiation sickness, or were blinded. Furthermore, nearly all of the division's tanks, armored vehicles, and jeeps were reduced to scrap metal in the nuclear explosion.

　What's even more terrible is that the radios, walkie-talkies and all electronic communication equipment in the troops were destroyed in the electromagnetic pulse attack (EMP) caused by the nuclear explosion, causing the 1st Marine Division not only to lose contact with the rear, but also the battalions and regiments in the division to lose contact with each other, and the command system completely collapsed!

　Well, the US military naturally has radio stations that can protect against radiation, but the 1st Marine Division did not bring them this time.

　After all, who could have imagined before landing in Cuba that they would be subjected to a nuclear attack?

　When the flash of the nuclear explosion occurred, Major General James Masters was riding in an armored vehicle on the road to the landing site on the seaside. As a result, the driver was dazzled by the flash of the nuclear explosion and couldn't help shaking his hand, so he overturned the armored vehicle into the ditch on the side of the road.

　The major general and his adjutant finally climbed out of the car and stumbled back to the road. They found that the surroundings had turned into hell, with charred corpses everywhere and many naked people. When they got closer, they found that their clothes had been burned and even their skin was hanging dangling. They looked as if they had crawled out of a pool of blood, but their expressions were numb like zombies, which was chilling to look at.

　With his back to the rising mushroom cloud, he struggled to reach the razed barracks. Major General James Masters saw only hundreds of people swirling among the corpses, crying hysterically. To ease the pain of their burns, some people opened their arms, with long rolls of skin hanging from their arms.

　The major general shouted hoarsely for a long time, trying to rally the remaining troops. However, because all the communication equipment was destroyed, the division commander could only rely on shouting to find people, and in the end, not many people were alive who heard his orders.

　The sea was also empty. Apart from the wreckage of stranded or destroyed ships, no one was driving a ship to take them away.

　As it was getting dark, the major general had no choice but to turn around and evacuate the nuclear explosion site with the more than 400 people he had gathered with great difficulty, trying to walk to the city of Trinidad six kilometers away overnight - because all the vehicles were damaged in the nuclear explosion, they had to find a place with at least a roof to rest for a night.

　As a result, as they were walking towards the city of Trinidad, huge black raindrops began to fall from the night sky - the rising atomic cloud columns stirred the clouds, condensed into raindrops, and then fell down in large pieces with radioactive dust, landing on people and leaving gray marks.

　This terrifying "black rain" terrified the survivors of the 1st Marine Division, but at least it extinguished the raging wildfires on both sides of the road, allowing the remnants of the 1st Marine Division to escape the vicinity of the nuclear explosion site without being burned to death or suffocated by smoke.

　As wounded soldiers kept falling and falling behind along the way, when Major General James Masters arrived in Trinidad, he found that the city had also been hit by a nuclear explosion. There were almost no intact houses, and the ground was littered with charred corpses that had not been collected, as well as wounded zombies.

　Even more devastating was the "black rain" of radioactive dust that followed the explosion. It only covered a tiny area near the epicenter. Six kilometers away, the city of Trinidad was still ablaze, thick with smoke and scorching heat, making it an unsuitable place for camping.

　Therefore, Major General James Masters could only gather the stragglers of the 1st Marine Division and the 2506th Brigade along the way and move towards the Los Inhainhos Valley (Sugar Valley), which was farther away from the epicenter, and finally met up with the remnants of the "Free Cuba" Provisional Government at Isnaca Manor.

　Unlike Trinidad, densely packed with buildings and flammable materials, which erupted in flames after the nuclear explosion, Isnaca Manor was much more spacious. Therefore, the fires weren't severe, and most buildings appeared intact. After enduring the nuclear explosion, the soldiers of the 1st Marine Division, struggling with bleeding wounds and having walked over ten kilometers to reach this place, could finally rest and breathe a sigh of relief.

　However, the situation in Free Cuba is also very dire. For example, the nominal leader of Free Cuba, José Miro

　Former Prime Minister Dona was blown against the wall by the shock wave of the nuclear explosion, his head was hit by tiles, and he died on the spot.

　The commander of the 2506th Brigade, Brigadier General San Roman, the leader of thousands of Cuban mercenaries, was also buried under the rubble. When he was dug out, he was still breathing and did not seem to have suffered any serious physical injuries. However, his face was so swollen that even his nose seemed to have disappeared.

　In addition, the vast majority of Cuban mercenary officers and other Cuban exile politicians in the CIA's payroll were injured or killed in the nuclear explosion. As for the local Cuban "freedom fighters" (bandits) who had recently joined the army, they immediately seized any firearms, ammunition, and other valuables they could find from the provisional government and quietly fled the estate back to their base (the bandit den) in the Escambray Mountains.

　Only Team Leader Estelian of the CIA's Cuban Special Task Force was left. He was not seriously injured in the nuclear explosion and tried his best to organize the survivors of Isnaka Manor to put out the fire, rescue supplies, and treat the wounded, barely maintaining a minimum of order.

　What made Major General James Masters even more disappointed was that all the radio stations at Isnaka Manor were broken in the nuclear explosion. He was still unable to restore contact with the naval fleet and the Pentagon, and could not even receive the latest information from the outside world.

　Moreover, excluding the seriously injured who could not move at all, there were only about 300 soldiers left who were still capable of fighting. The ammunition was limited to the amount each person had on him. Many Marines had lost their guns in the nuclear explosion. This made Major General James Masters worried: "If we are attacked by the enemy at this time..."

　The crow's words soon came true. Less than an hour later, the endless stream of Cuban militia emerged from the ravine. They shouted bizarre slogans, crossed the scorched sugarcane fields, stepped on the still-warm ashes, and rushed towards the Isnaka Manor, waving red flags!

　Although the remaining mercenaries and marines instinctively resisted, relying on sporadic light weapons fire to knock down some people, their successors continued to advance, stepping over the corpses of their comrades, and soon broke through the weak firepower of the US military and entered the ruined manor.

　Subsequently, most of the demoralized mercenaries surrendered, and the Marines, having run out of ammunition, ceased resistance. Major General James Masters, with his last dozen soldiers, fought and retreated, hoping to find a gap in the enemy's encirclement and escape, but was met with concentrated fire.

　"RPG!"

　"boom--"

　Accompanied by deafening screams and an instantaneous shock wave, countless fragments and flames completely engulfed the major general and his entourage who were fleeing in a panic. Major General James Masters vomited blood and became deaf due to the explosion of the rocket, and was then knocked unconscious by the rubble falling from the sky.

　When he regained consciousness, he found himself tied up and thrown into a corner. All around him were the sounds of gunfire and cheers in Spanish. A handsome, bearded young officer was comparing his face with the photo on his ID with great interest.

　"Major General Masters, I am Che Guevara. I am honored to inform you of a cruel fact: you and your troops are now my prisoners!" Seeing the commander of the 1st Marine Division open his eyes, the young officer said this in English with a slight accent.

　-

　Shortly after Major General James Masters was captured, the remaining remnants of the 1st Marine Division, which had suffered a nuclear attack, quickly collapsed in the face of the counterattack of the Cuban militia and regular army. They were defeated one by one and gave up resistance one after another.

　As for the Cuban mercenaries of the 2506th Brigade who were not directly exposed to the nuclear explosion, a few fled the battlefield with anti-Castro elements on the island of Cuba and became bandits in the Escambray Mountains. Most, shaken by the mushroom cloud, lost the courage to continue fighting and chose to surrender.

　By 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time on January 11, large-scale fighting in the Trinidad area was essentially over.

　Central Theater Commander Che Guevara resolutely gathered his defeated troops and launched a "charge toward the mushroom cloud" military adventure, which yielded fruitful results. Not only did he inflict heavy damage on the Cuban rebels, funded by the CIA, but he also annihilated the US Marine Corps' First Division, inspiring the entire socialist camp!

　This is the first time since the establishment of the U.S. Marine Corps that an entire division has been wiped out!

　Moreover, the one that was annihilated was the 1st Marine Division, the ace among aces!

　The 1st Marine Division, nicknamed the "Old Blood," traces its history back to the 1st Marine Company, the only full-time regular unit during the American Revolutionary War. Officially established in 1941, the 1st Marine Division saw action in World War II, including the Battles of Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, Peleliu, the Battle of Okinawa, and the Battle of Chosin Reservoir in Korea. Its presence stretched from Australia to the Korean Peninsula, where it engaged in numerous bloody battles with both the Japanese and the Chinese.

　Due to their outstanding achievements on Guadalcanal during the Pacific War, every member of the 1st Marine Division had the words "GUADALCANAL" on their armband.

　Even the Chinese Volunteer Army, known as the "pinnacle of light infantry," could not annihilate this ace unit in the wind and snow of Changjin Lake!

　However, this ever-victorious division that fought throughout the Pacific encountered a setback on the island of Cuba, right at its doorstep. No, it was a uranium plate. The entire division was defeated by the Cuban militia, and the division commander, Major General James Masters, and the entire division headquarters were captured.

　!

　At this point, the Cuban revolutionary army, previously in a state of panic, suddenly gained a huge morale boost. And Che Guevara, the Cuban commander who annihilated the US Marine Division's 1st Division and "charged towards the mushroom cloud," shot to fame and became a household name in Latin America as the Red God of War.

　Although the 1st Marine Division's destruction was attributed to over 80% of Soviet nuclear mines and 10% to the US Navy's hasty escape, Che Guevara, who saw the flash of a nuclear explosion and marched towards the mushroom cloud instead of fleeing, was clearly no ordinary man.

　For example, Nasser of Egypt, despite being utterly defeated by the Anglo-French coalition in the Second Arab-Israeli War and nearly losing the Sinai Peninsula to Israel, was only able to force the Anglo-French-Israeli coalition back thanks to the joint intervention of the United States and the Soviet Union. However, Nasser's ability to preserve the Suez Canal from imperialism earned him the reputation of a national hero throughout the Arab world, enjoying the lofty prestige of a "half-caliph."

　In contrast, for Latin American countries that have always been keen on internal strife and afraid of foreign wars, no matter how many opportunistic tricks Che Guevara used, as long as he could annihilate a genuine American ace division on the battlefield, it would be a remarkable achievement of martial virtue.

　Next, the supreme leader of Red Cuba, Fidel Castro, also held a press conference in the capital Havana, publicly confirming for the first time that the Soviet Union had deployed nuclear bombs in Cuba and would not hesitate to use these nuclear bombs in the Cuban people's anti-aggression war!

　He emotionally declared that the Cuban people, who fought tenaciously against the invasion of U.S. imperialism, were not isolated and helpless, but had the understanding and support of people from all over the world, especially the socialist camp headed by the Soviet Union!

　The Cuban Revolutionary Army will use all weapons, including nuclear bombs, to continue fighting the powerful enemy to the death!

　The Cuban people who defend their motherland should not be condemned in any way!

　——This is tantamount to putting the Kremlin and the White House on the fire, and forcing the Pentagon into a dead end.

　Even more exciting is that just a few hours later, a second nuclear explosion occurred in the Caribbean Sea...

　However, the B-4 submarine malfunctioned in Bahamian waters on January 8th and was forced to surface for air. As soon as it surfaced, it was detected by US anti-submarine radars scattered across the sea. It was then surrounded by US anti-submarine aircraft, effectively thwarting the infiltration plan.

　——Soon, the US warships surrounded the B-4 submarine and shouted through loudspeakers, asking the Soviet submarine to leave the area immediately.

　Then, the B-36 was also spotted by a US destroyer in the waters of the Bahamas in the early morning of January 11. Immediately, US anti-submarine aircraft circled over the area in large numbers, and several ships came in and used active sonar to warn the Soviet submarine, forcing it to surface quickly.

　Since the infiltration mission had failed, the Soviet captain of the B-36 had no choice but to surface, retreat in a hurry, abandon the mission and turn back.

　Only the B-59 submarine managed to evade US aircraft and warships for a time and successfully sneaked into the Caribbean Sea. However, in the waters of the Cayman Islands adjacent to Cuba, the Soviet submarine was eventually exposed and accidentally discovered by the passive sonar of the US warship.

　Subsequently, more than thirty ships came out in full force to search the sea area where the B-59 submarine was discovered.

　In order to force the Soviet submarine out and put pressure on the Soviet sailors inside, the US warships began dropping depth charges into the water - of course, since neither the US nor the Soviet Union had declared war at this time. So, according to the Pentagon's instructions, the US destroyers only dropped depth charges for training.

　It is similar to the grenade used for training, a depth charge with reduced charge.

　But the problem was that for the B-59 submarine, even the explosion of a training depth charge was enough to terrify people underwater. Moreover, as always, the US Navy made a mistake in the rush at the critical moment and mixed several combat depth charges with the training bombs.

　Then, accompanied by a violent shock wave, a magnitude 10 earthquake suddenly broke out in the B-59 submarine hidden more than 100 meters underwater.

　For submarine soldiers, the feeling of being hit by depth charges underwater is something they will never forget for the rest of their lives.

　——Unlike fighting on the surface of the sea, the people in the submarine cannot see anything during the war. The submariners can only hear sounds:

　First came the "clack, clack" sound of the destroyer's propeller, then the "hiss-boom...click, click" sound of depth charges being dropped; finally there was a "boom" sound, the whole boat shook everywhere, sea water gushed in from the cracks, the electric lights flickered, and sparks crackled.

　The Soviet sailors seemed to be thrown into a blender, with their faces, heads, ribs and joints constantly colliding with pipes, valves and various steel protrusions. The only thing they could do was hold their heads and leave the rest to fate.

　After the long voyage across the Atlantic, the crew had already become extremely tired and sensitive. Suddenly, they were shocked and felt the approach of death, which made them even more anxious and irritable.

　"There's a leak in the tail compartment! American imperialism has opened fire on us! Nuclear war has broken out! We must fight back! We must fight back immediately!"

　Captain Savitsky shouted, "Launch the T-5 nuclear torpedoes! Resolutely retaliate against the enemy ships!"

　According to Soviet Navy regulations, a submarine launching a nuclear torpedo must obtain authorization from Moscow or the Soviet military leadership, and then a three-person team on the submarine must agree unanimously before proceeding. In emergencies during wartime, when communication with the rear is severed, the authorization process can be skipped.

　The other two members of the three-person team were Deputy Captain Alshif and Political Commissar Maslani.

　Political Commissar Maslany also agreed, believing that now that the war has begun, it is necessary to immediately launch nuclear torpedoes and respond positively.

　Deputy Captain Alshif was hesitant, but before the B-59 entered the Caribbean Sea, he had already received news of the Cuban nuclear explosion. Seeing the US Navy's utter annihilation of him, he thought that fighting might have already broken out on the sea, and a nuclear war was about to begin.

　He tactfully stated that to be on the safe side, it would be better to let the submarine surface and consult Moscow before making a decision.

　Captain Savitsky was incredulous after hearing this: "The enemy is already attacking us, and you want us to surface!"

　Political Commissar Maslany also believed that if the nuclear torpedo was not launched to disperse the US fleet, the B-59 would have no chance of escaping.

　Finally, the deputy captain, Alshif, was persuaded, and the three-man team unanimously agreed to launch the nuclear torpedo in the chamber.

　Next, accompanied by two underwater torpedo tracks, the Caribbean Sea once again flashed with a light of death brighter than the sun!

　——The T-5 nuclear torpedo equipped on the B-59 submarine was the first nuclear torpedo developed by the Soviet Union. It has a diameter of 533 mm and a warhead consisting of an RDS-9 nuclear warhead. Its explosive power is equivalent to 3500 tons of TNT and its killing range is 5 kilometers.

　Well, although this power may sound a bit small by nuclear bomb standards, it is actually enough to destroy the entire US fleet on the sea.

　Because, unlike nuclear bombs dropped from the air, nuclear torpedoes are nuclear explosions carried out underwater. The center of the explosion can generate temperatures of millions of degrees Celsius and high pressures of millions of atmospheres. Coupled with the incompressibility of water, the destructive effect on ships is far greater than that of air explosions - there is no need for a direct hit. As long as it is detonated within a certain distance, it can crush and destroy all ships in the killing range. It is especially suitable for attacking aircraft carrier formations.

　So, when

　When two T-5 nuclear torpedoes exploded one after another underwater, the sea water within a radius of several hundred meters boiled instantly. The terrible shock wave set off huge waves like a mountain of waves, which slammed fiercely towards the unprepared American fleet.

　The two American destroyers' hulls were instantly crushed by the water pressure, reduced to a pile of shattered metal, and sank below the surface in less than a minute. Four smaller submarine chasers were simply sunk by the waves, their crews and boats vanishing from the surface before they could react.

　Even the 36,000-ton Shangri-La aircraft carrier was violently shaken by the nuclear blast. It pitched up and down, tossed to the crests and then down the troughs. Planes on the deck plunged into the sea, and a terrifying noise of metal breaking could be heard from within the hull.

　Next, as the nuclear explosion fireball rose upward, the pressure on the sea surface instantly changed from overpressure to negative pressure, forming a huge tornado.

　In just a few seconds, hundreds of tons of seawater were sucked up and turned into water vapor by the enormous heat, eventually forming two white mushroom clouds...