American Strategic Deception Bureau

　From the Caribbean Sea to the Amazon rainforest, the people of Latin America are suffering from the exploitation and oppression of American imperialism!

　It is the unshirkable responsibility of our generation to overthrow American imperialism and sever the shackles it has placed upon us..."

　"Fidel Castro... this guy has truly shocked the world and become the number one star of our time!"

　Listening to the Spanish speech on the radio with English translation, I imagined a bearded Cuban sitting in a bomb shelter under Havana, pumping his fists.

　Seeing the man chattering incessantly with saliva flying everywhere, Fili couldn't help but mutter to himself.

　Because ballistic missiles were still unreliable back then, especially this batch of Soviet missiles, which had been hastily shipped and immediately unloaded just as war broke out, they had to be stored outdoors at the dock, exposed to the sun and rain. By the time they were actually launched, they were already in very poor condition.

　So, of the six R-14 Soviet medium-range missiles launched from Havana, the Cuban capital, only four managed to hit the capital, despite not being intercepted. The remaining one fell in the Georgia countryside, and one plunged into the Gulf of Mexico shortly after launch.

　Then, of the four missiles that struck Washington, one landed in the Potomac River, scattering fish in a swarm of them. Another landed on a deserted highway late at night, leaving only a large, charred crater. The third missile struck an unused warehouse, starting a fire, but that was all. It didn't even kill the warehouse manager on the night shift—he had deserted his post to drink and play cards.

　But the last R-14 missile happened to hit the famous Federal Department of Defense - the Pentagon!

　Amidst a deafening roar, a burning metal object crashed directly into the brightly lit Pentagon complex.

　The R-14 missile's 1,600-kilogram warhead, with its immense kinetic energy alone, caused nearly a thousand tons of reinforced concrete to collapse, instantly shattering a corner of the renowned Pentagon. Flames instantly soared hundreds of meters into the sky!

　Those officers and civilian personnel who were unable to evacuate in time were buried under the rubble or burned to charcoal by the raging flames. At the same time, countless building fragments and metal debris flew all over the night sky, falling to the ground for several kilometers, further increasing the death toll!

　The citizens of Washington were all stunned to see the Pentagon dyed in orange-red flames, followed by endless crying and wailing - this proud federal capital and center of world power experienced a war that it had not encountered since the War of 1812 between the United States and Britain!

　This scene, enough to disgrace the entire United States of America, was also rapidly transmitted to the world via television signals...

　Since the Pentagon fire was extinguished by firefighters, the smoke-filled rubble has been cleared. 85 bodies have been found and confirmed dead, 327 have sustained varying degrees of injuries, and dozens are still missing. Therefore, the total number of casualties is expected to rise further.

　The highest-ranking officer among the dead was a vice admiral, and the most senior among the wounded was Air Force Chief of Staff Curtis LeMay, a war hero who had once burned Tokyo and was now suffering from multiple burns all over his body. It was really just a matter of time before this four-star general was roasted into a "familiar face" by the flames!

　With such astonishing martial arts skills, Castro, who always loved to brag, naturally had to publicize it afterwards.

　Although it was wartime, the United States did not have such a strict press censorship system at that time. Therefore, the speech delivered by Castro on the Havana Radio Station was still transmitted through the airwaves and was broadcast and commented on by major American media.

　As for the socialist camp across the Iron Curtain, the island of Cuba, home to Castro and Che Guevara, has become increasingly prestigious, being touted as the "Island of Proletarian Heroes" or likened to the young King David in the Bible who bravely challenged the giant Goliath!

　"How ridiculous! Everyone knows that the Cubans have no way of handling something as high-tech as a medium-range missile!!"

　Dr. Brzezinski, sitting nearby, sipped his black coffee gloomily and muttered unhappily, "It was definitely the Soviets who launched the missiles over Cuba last night! And yet we have to pretend it was the Cubans who fired them! Vice President Johnson really lacks the nerve!"

　Well, as usual, Dr. Brzezinski, an anti-Soviet madman, immediately jumped around excitedly after the Soviet R-14 medium-range missile violently bombarded the Pentagon, trying to overturn the previous "non-expansion of the Cuban incident" policy and spread the war to Europe.

　However, Vice President Johnson ultimately lacked responsibility and courage. Even after personally experiencing the "missile scare," he didn't dare to launch World War III. Instead, he insisted on maintaining the policy of "not escalating the Cuban incident" and simply eliminated Castro and his troublemaker club.

　The Pentagon's attitude was also quite nuanced. Aside from General LeMay, who lay on his hospital bed, nearly roasted, lashing out in fury, shouting "Nuclear Moscow" and "Let Khrushchev hide in the subway," the other generals also opposed escalating the current localized war, much less mobilizing the entire United States or even NATO for a full-scale confrontation with the Red Bloc across the Iron Curtain.

　- In the original timeline, the reason why the Pentagon generals advocated for war during the Cuban Missile Crisis was because they received incorrect intelligence and firmly believed that the Soviets had not deployed nuclear warheads on the island of Cuba at all, but were only using medium-range missiles to scare the United States.

　Even the Soviet medium-range missiles deployed in Cuba may not be real in the Pentagon's view, and may just be a bunch of models.

　(In fact, Khrushchev moved a third of the Soviet nuclear arsenal to Cuba, enough to sweep the entire East Coast of the United States.)

　In this case, the military is naturally happy to show off its muscles and talk big in front of the public.

　Show a tough attitude in front of others to establish a positive image.

　But in this dimension, the mushroom clouds rising from the outskirts of Trinidad and the Caribbean Sea fully proved that the Soviets had indeed deployed nuclear bombs on the island of Cuba, and the R-14 missile warhead that had just blown off a corner of the Pentagon also proved that there were vehicles capable of launching nuclear bombs on the island of Cuba.

　This time we can't just say a few harsh words and the matter will be settled, we have to take real action!

　It's certainly a tragedy that the Pentagon was bombed and killed a lot of people, but wouldn't it be even more tragic if it were razed to the ground by a nuclear bomb next time?

　So, which general would dare to say at this time that he is willing to take responsibility for a possible nuclear attack on his homeland?

　As a result, Vice President Johnson was hesitant to make even the "small matter" of launching a nuclear missile in retaliation against Cuba, let alone an all-out war. He always wanted to push the decision to President Kennedy. So, upon hearing that President Kennedy had woken up, he hurriedly took the cabinet to the Naval Hospital.

　As a result, as soon as President Kennedy heard that Washington had been hit by a medium-range missile and the Pentagon had been bombed, he immediately fell into a coma due to excessive emotion and had to be rushed to the emergency room again - thus kicking the ball back to Johnson.

　As a result, the US government has not yet made a statement on the Pentagon attack, allowing all kinds of rumors to fly around...

　"Yeah, let's change the radio station! I've already listened to Castro's speech four or five times today, and I'm tired of it."

　Dr. Kissinger also echoed gloomily, saying that although his theory of "limited nuclear war" had the support of the White House cabinet, he had misjudged the Soviet Union's ambitions and had previously vowed that there would never be a missile attack on the US mainland, which ended up being a big mistake.

　So, from today on, other people started looking at him strangely, which made Dr. Kissinger very unhappy.

　After hearing Dr. Kissinger's words and seeing that his advisors and assistants seemed to be standing still, Fieri stepped forward, adjusted the radio, and quickly switched to a financial program. He then heard the host, speaking in a tone as if facing the end of the world, describe the dire state of the financial world.

　Well, although the stock exchange on Wall Street has been closed, the financial markets in Paris, London and Frankfurt are still operating.

　As a result, as soon as trading opened on the morning of the 14th, U.S. Treasury bonds immediately plummeted. Bonds with a face value of $100 fell to $80 in the blink of an eye, and no one was buying them. At the same time, the U.S. dollar exchange rate also plummeted, and the magnitude and speed of the decline were simply breathtaking.

　The only thing to be thankful for is that not only the US dollar, but also the British pound, franc, German mark and Italian lira exchange rates are plummeting.

　The reason is very simple. If Washington is hit by missiles, how can Paris, London and the whole of Europe maintain peace?

　As for the volatility of the stock market, it is comparable to the "Black Thursday" in 1929 that kicked off the Great Depression in the United States!

　So, from Wall Street in New York to the City of London, as well as the Paris Financial Street and Ginza in Tokyo, there were aerialists of different skin colors and races everywhere, shouting their last words in various languages, performing free falls in full view of the public, and falling from tall buildings into a pile of meat.

　So much so that the radio host said in a mocking tone, "Today the weather in New York and Chicago is sunny, and there are some speculators in the area."

　As for the consultants and assistants in the small conference room of the White House, after listening to today's financial market situation, many of them looked pale - they probably spent most of their savings on bonds, stocks and financial products, and were about to become paupers. How could they be in a good mood?

　"We can't go on like this. We need good news soon to boost market confidence, otherwise the Ministry of Finance will go crazy!"

　A middle-aged aide muttered, "When will the Air Force launch a nuclear strike on Cuba? The Vice President still won't sign it?"

　"Well, the Vice President has already signed off on the nuclear bombing of Cuba. But it can't be carried out until all cabinet members are transferred to the nuclear shelter in the Blue Ridge (Appalachian Mountains). There's no guarantee that the Air Force can destroy all the nuclear missiles on the island of Cuba in one go."

　Dr. Kissinger answered, looking out the window at the trucks and cars on the lawn and the White House staff loading documents into the cars.

　"The Vice President and the cabinet are going to move to the nuclear shelter? Wait, what should we do then?" Firi couldn't help but ask.

　Dr. Kissinger did not say anything in response to this stupid question. He just sighed silently and looked up at the ceiling.

　Firi: (╯‵□′)╯︵┻-┻

　Chapter 121: Let’s go to the radioactive wasteland to fight!

　While the consultants and assistants who were abandoned outside the Blue Ridge Nuclear Shelter were either looking up at the sky in silence or cursing inwardly, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Vice President Johnson was trying hard to gather himself together and preside over the last meeting of this government before moving into the nuclear shelter.

　Although Vice President Johnson had previously decided to maintain the policy of "not escalating the Cuban incident," Air Force Chief of Staff General Curtis LeMay, who appeared at the meeting in a wheelchair and bandaged, continued to vigorously promote the "unified nuclear war plan" of all-out war against the Soviet Union.

　According to this plan, once a nuclear war breaks out, the United States will launch an all-out attack with 3423 nuclear warheads on intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched long-range strategic missiles, and long-range strategic bombers, fatally striking 1077 "military and urban" locations scattered throughout the socialist camp.

　City Industrial Goals”.

　Although China did not possess nuclear weapons at the time, and Sino-Soviet relations were on the verge of collapse, Curtis LeMay's "Unified Nuclear War Plan" not only still targeted China, but also included smaller countries like Albania and North Korea.

　In Li Mei's own words, "To deal with communists, you must first remove their thighs and then cut off their balls!"

　Not only were the cabinet members dumbfounded by this, but even the other generals felt that LeMay, the "barbecue master," was too extreme.

　——Could it be that he didn’t get enough of grilling a million people in Tokyo before, and now he wants to have a bigger barbecue with hundreds of millions of people?

　After hearing about this inside story, Firi was speechless and looked up at the sky: Could this guy be the "Lord of Setting Fire to the Mountain" Klee from somewhere?

　His eldest brother, Bernard, rolled his eyes and lamented, "General LeMay always had one huge advantage. If the government listened to him and implemented his suggestions to the letter, then in the end no one would be alive to tell him - you are wrong!"

　Not surprisingly, this overly extreme plan for a full-scale nuclear war was immediately rejected by the current cabinet.

　Attorney General Robert Kennedy, who was present, even complained immediately that LeMay was simply crazy - he set targets callously and pressed a button rashly, causing thousands of strategic nuclear missiles from the United States and the Soviet Union to roar out, killing hundreds of millions of civilians, allowing the dust and smoke caused by a full-scale nuclear war to block the sun, and causing the earth to enter a "nuclear winter" with temperatures of minus 40 degrees Celsius for several months (a wrong idea of ​​scientists during the Cold War)?

　This is no longer a question of whether to be bellicosous or not, but a determination to destroy the entire human civilization!

　Another more pragmatic nuclear war plan, namely, a unilateral nuclear bombing of Cuba to destroy the Soviet missile launch sites there, had been signed and approved by Vice President Johnson, who was acting as President. However, there was still considerable opposition within the administration.

　Basically, the US intelligence agencies did not know where all the Soviet medium-range missiles were deployed in Cuba, and there were probably still Soviet missile launch sites that had not yet been exposed. Even if a nuclear strike was used, there was a possibility that some would be missed, and then the US mainland would be detonated by a nuclear explosion.

　More importantly, what if the Soviets misunderstood the missile launch and mistakenly believed that it was aimed at the Soviet mainland?

　Although in the eyes of US military generals, this is just a necessary risk and cost, but in the eyes of government civilians, it is nothing short of devastating.

　General Maxwell Taylor, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, immediately patted his chest and said that the Soviets were more afraid of going to war with the United States for sufficient and simple reasons: the US and its allies' military bases were densely surrounding the Soviet Union, and the United States was the only country that used nuclear weapons against other countries.

　In a nutshell, the United States had an overwhelming advantage in nuclear power over the Soviet Union, and Khrushchev certainly would not dare to provoke a nuclear war that was doomed to fail!

　As long as the mushroom cloud has not risen over Moscow, the Soviets will definitely not dare to launch a preemptive nuclear strike against the United States!

　However, this overconfident statement obviously failed to convince the cabinet ministers who had witnessed the Pentagon being bombarded with missiles.

　Neither Vice President Johnson, who was temporarily in charge of the work, nor the cabinet members of the Kennedy administration wanted to push the United States and the Soviet Union off the cliff of nuclear war. The problem with politicians is that they always want to be cautious and take their time, while the military likes to deal with these "small things" in one go.

　The final decision was that both sides took a step back - not launching intercontinental nuclear missiles, but only using B-52 strategic bombers carrying nuclear bombs to attack Cuba.

　Just like the way the nuclear bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan.

　In fact, given the short distance between Cuba and the United States, from an economic perspective, intercontinental missiles are not necessary at all.

　Although General LeMay, the Air Force Chief of Staff who was responsible for implementing this matter, was still a little unhappy, he believed that such a timid approach was tantamount to showing weakness, which would only embolden the Soviet Union, and the other side might even target West Berlin next.

　But after a lot of nagging, General LeMay still agreed with a pinch of his nose, claiming that he would return to the Pentagon to command and supervise the battle.

　Everyone in the conference room immediately dispersed, leaving the White House in their respective cars. Vice President Johnson and his cabinet members moved to the underground nuclear shelter in the Blue Ridge area, entering wartime operational mode. General LeMay, along with a group of officers, remained at the Department of Defense, overseeing the Air Force's nuclear strike on Cuba.

　The federal government, the heart of the nation, also temporarily shut down. Aside from a handful of staff remaining on duty, the remaining civil servants gradually packed their belongings and evacuated the capital, their families and families, to avoid a possible nuclear attack. For a time, the roads leading out of the city were crammed with all manner of vehicles.

　——Everyone knows that if a nuclear missile really attacks the United States, the primary target will definitely be Washington, followed by New York and San Francisco.

　Moreover, Washington was just bombarded by conventional missiles last night. It seems normal if there is another wave of unconventional nuclear missiles tonight?

　Once raw, twice familiar!

　Although there may not necessarily be a nuclear explosion, just in case, everyone should hide in the countryside first, and come back after a few days if nothing happens!

　After all, your job is for the country and your life is your own. We all get such a small salary, there is no need to die for our country!

　As a result, seeing the parliamentarians and officials running away, the remaining citizens of the capital also panicked and followed suit.

　Thanks to Washington

　As the capital, the streets of Dun are grand and generally quite wide with many lanes, so that there is no traffic jam.

　But even so, the streets became extremely chaotic and noisy, the police force maintaining law and order was paralyzed, and the poor blacks, without police supervision, took the opportunity to pour out of their dilapidated neighborhoods and ran to the deserted apartments and shopping streets to loot, making the capital a mess for a while.

　After the Civil War, Washington, D.C., the capital, as the "Northern city" closest to the Southern states, was forced by political correctness to take in a large number of freed but unemployed Southern slaves. As a result, the largest Black slum in the United States was formed...

　By the evening of the 14th, the entire capital, Washington, was a scene of complete chaos. The streets were filled with black and white gangsters, happily running around with large sacks laden with valuables, from televisions to safes. The sound of sporadic gunfire echoed, and arsonists were even more frequent. After all, after the looting, some people always feel the urge to light a fire, bringing a little warmth to this winter-winter federal capital.

　In the blazing fire, "respectable people" in suits and ties were occasionally besieged and beaten by groups of thugs, rolling on the ground screaming.

　There was also a blonde beauty whose dress had been torn, crying and wailing as she dealt with the burly men pressing down on her...

　Sitting in his car on the banks of the Potomac River, Ferry looked through binoculars at the apocalyptic scenes on the city streets and couldn't help shaking his head and sighing.

　"How could a mere Castro bring the US capital to this level? Something neither Hitler nor Emperor Showa could accomplish was accomplished by such a small-time figure. I'm at a loss for words..."

　"Stop sighing, my dear brother. Let's discuss where to take refuge first."

　Bernard, the older brother who was driving, gripped the steering wheel and muttered, "Ferry, a newcomer. He didn't have a car in Washington, so he had to take his brother's car. "There are no plane or train tickets back to Los Angeles right now. How about we go to Arlington National Cemetery and pitch a tent?"

　What? Camping on a grave in the dead of winter? Isn't that a bit unlucky?

　After hearing his brother's bad idea, Fili immediately felt it was inappropriate.

　But before he could object, Dr. Brzezinski, who was sitting in the back seat, started yelling, "Arlington National Cemetery? Isn't it just across the river from the Lincoln Memorial? No, no! It's too close to the White House and Capitol Hill. If a nuclear missile really hits us, we'll be burned in the cemetery! Do you want us to die directly in the cemetery and not even have a funeral?"

　— The reason Dr. Brzezinski wanted to take the King brothers’ car was because his car was stolen on Pennsylvania Avenue. He had only stopped to buy a few drinks at a roadside store, and when he returned, he found that his car had been driven away by some black people. He was almost forced to walk out of the city…

　"How about going a little further? Rock Creek Park? Or Mount Vernon? Hmm? This car doesn't seem to have much gas!"

　Firi suggested from the passenger seat, but then he looked at the dwindling fuel gauge with worry, "I hope the car doesn't break down halfway..."

　-

　Although the crisis in Washington, D.C., has evoked a sense of chaos and utter devastation in the eyes of many Americans, compared to Havana, the Cuban capital, which has truly become a scene of apocalypse, Washington's citizens are quite fortunate.

　--At 10 p.m. Eastern Time on January 14, after confirming that all cabinet members, including President Kennedy, who had been rescued again, had been transferred to the nuclear shelter in Blue Ridge, General LeMay, who remained in the Pentagon, finally issued the order for a nuclear attack against Cuba.

　So, a specially modified B-52 strategic bomber took off from a military airport in Florida and easily reached the sky over Cuba, which had almost no air defense capabilities.

　Then, at St. Christopher, which had previously discovered the Soviet missile position, the pilot, wearing thickened special sunglasses, dropped a B53 hydrogen bomb with a TNT equivalent of 900 million tons on St. Christopher - this is the most powerful actual combat nuclear weapon in the US nuclear arsenal!

　In an instant, a huge explosion with a destructive power equivalent to 600 times that of the Hiroshima atomic bomb exploded in this small Cuban city. All buildings within a radius of six kilometers around the center of the explosion were destroyed by the shock wave. The entire city was razed to the ground almost instantly, and not a single one of the city’s residents survived.

　The rising bright mushroom cloud was like a towering lighthouse, and could be clearly seen from the beaches of the Florida Peninsula across the sea.

　The next day, after the huge mushroom cloud over San Cristobal initially dissipated, two other B-52 strategic bombers dropped a 900-million-ton equivalent B53 hydrogen bomb on the Cuban capital Havana and the Cuban naval base Cienfuegos respectively!

　At this point, this "Sugar Island" in the Caribbean Sea has endured a horrific nuclear attack that is a thousand times more powerful than Japan's in World War II!

　During this period, Cuba did not launch any counterattacks against the US mainland, and the citizens of Washington, New York and Miami were all alarmed.

　- In the missile attack on Washington and the Pentagon on the night of January 13, the last six R-14 medium-range missiles that the Soviet Union had provided to Cuba were all used up. After that, the revolutionary army and Soviet reinforcements on the island of Cuba never met again.

　It has the ability to threaten the US mainland.