Alternate History World War III: 1988, aka "The War of '88"

[Tiamat]

On a more serious note, and admittedly a little off topic.

Once again, I am very grateful to everyone who takes the time to read fic like this and to leave feedback. However, I am more grateful, especially today which happens to be Memorial Day in the U.S., that the War that this fic is/will be about never happened. It is The War That Never Was, or if you prefer, The War that Might Have Been.

We should be thankful to the professionals who remained cool on both sides, East and West, for keeping a situation that was often more on the brink than most realized, from spilling into something that very could have been the end of all Western Civilization as we knew it. Sadly, IMHO, the bloody sacrifices the many countless made in the last World War, and the silent, often unrecognized sacrifices others made in the 40-plus year standoff between West and East, between freedom (or at least a Western definition thereof) and an absolute communist police state, may be in danger of being forgotten, again. Perhaps I am wrong, I hope I am, because the alternative...well, history is full of examples of that. But if enough people remember, than it was not all in vain, and I think that is what Memorial Day, at least here in the U.S., along with other such holidays in other parts of the world, is all about. As a veteran, I'm going to hold on to that.

So again, dear readers, thank you for taking the time to enjoy this bit of fic thus far (or at least I hope you are ) And admittedly, the War in this fic hasn't started yet, but I will get there very soon. It's important to first set the stage, the set, the actors, the script, etc. after all. And when it does...I promise it will be a harsh, near-apocalyptic, and unforgiving one. It will certainly be worldwide, and few, if any will ultimately escape it's wrath as it is a war that will leave a shadow for decades to come, just like the last war.

But again, in retrospect, let us give thanks to those who sacrificed and endured, to ensure it was indeed The War That Never Was.

 

[Tiamat]

So, I am now working on the next chapter "Persian Twilight" (I'll let you guess what that means...) But while I'm doing that, here is a rather minor detail I thought about....the U.S. adoption of the M9 Beretta handgun.


"CROWDS ERUPT IN BOOS"


Did I say a dirty word? Sheesh...

Okay, seriously...the U.S. adoption of the M9 Beretta appears to have been rather controversial to say the least, with Beretta apparently undercutting Sig Sauer's offer with the P226 (at least from what I know). What didn't help was the report of slide cracking and failures with Beretta placing the blame on the U.S. Army's ammunition being "overpowered" for the slide frames that were supplied.

The trials were held in the 80's, with "official" adoption about 1990 or so IRL. In spite of this a lot of 1911's were still in use, as replacement with the M9 was slow and garnered some resistance. Also interesting was that the P226 was still offered as a "substitute weapon" to some service members who might be considered slight of stature with smaller hands. I know for a fact during the 2000's several SEAL Teams based out of Little Creek, Virginia were using the P226 as their preferred sidearm. I also heard the story of one Beretta slide cracking and flying back and hitting a SEAL in the face during tests, don't know if that's true or not...

So "what if" in this alternate universe, the controversy during the trials forces a reevaluation around 1985 or 1986. Bids are made again, and in spite of more controversy Sig Sauer gets the contract for the P226 (as I recall they already had a production line set up in the U.S.) which becomes the official sidearm of the U.S. military, officially adopted as the M11. Beretta for it's troubles still manages to recoup profits by selling their pistol to a number of law enforcement agencies.

That said, adoption is quickened like most other things as war is starting to loom and a lot of the current 1911's are starting to wear from decades of use. In spite of that, roughly two-thirds of service pistols carried by U.S. military personnel in WW3 remains either the 1911 or other handguns (the U.S. Air Force themselves had a ridiculous number of handgun and revolver types as I recall) until after the war.

And while most may think "Why's this detail important, it's just a pistol?" Pistols for a lot of infantrymen are kind of like that fire extinguisher you see on the wall....if you gotta break it out, the damn thing had better work. But that's not all. Pistols are often used when a poor grunt has to go poking for bad guys through a small tunnel or hidey-holes looking for bad guys, weapon caches, etc. and a full-length weapon, even a carbine or submachine gun might be a detriment, as just one example.

 

[CarlManvers2019]

Will there be future negotiations? Or just ones of surrender?

 

[Tiamat]

Will there be future negotiations? Or just ones of surrender?

Not sure what you mean?? There are no negotiations of any sort going on. Just lots of accusations, finger pointing and propaganda. But the upcoming chapter will take place in May 1988, and if you look at events taking place IRL in 1988 and superimpose events that have and will take place in this timeline, things are going from bad to worse...much worse.

 

[CarlManvers2019]

Not sure what you mean?? There are no negotiations of any sort going on. Just lots of accusations, finger pointing and propaganda. But the upcoming chapter will take place in May 1988, and if you look at events taking place IRL in 1988 and superimpose events that have and will take place in this timeline, things are going from bad to worse...much worse.

I mean, attempts to end the wars before they really go into overdrive or stop them mid-war

I doubt they can all take the damage

 

[Tiamat]

"Come....why lie to ourselves? I think we all knew, but no one wanted to say it outright...war was inevitable. Two large, powerful neighbors, with powerful friends, but on opposing paths. Like water continually flooding a dam....something inevitably had to break."

--Excerpt from U.S. Army interrogation of Soviet Captain Alexei Baranov, formerly 7th Guards Tank Army.
Captain Baranov was captured and interrogated November 5, 1988 during Operation Forward Castle.
Released via Freedom of Information Act, 2000

 

[Aaron Fox]

Hopefully, you won't allow the anti-AWACS folks their day in the limelight in any positive capacity, those idiots are, well, idiots who assume Sun Tzu is an idiot. As they say, information is ammunition.

 

[Tiamat]

Hopefully, you won't allow the anti-AWACS folks their day in the limelight in any positive capacity, those idiots are, well, idiots who assume Sun Tzu is an idiot. As they say, information is ammunition.

20mm Vulcan autocannon rounds, Sidewinder AAM and Sparrow AAM are ammunition too. 😁

 

[Aaron Fox]

20mm Vulcan autocannon rounds, Sidewinder AAM and Sparrow AAM are ammunition too. 😁

True but information is the closest thing to god on the battlefield. A force without an AWACS will suffer against a force that does just because the latter has access to a more complete picture than the other.

During this time we had those anti-AWACS folks coming out of the woodwork saying that 'planes without weapons are useless'.

 

[CurtisLemay]

During this time we had those anti-AWACS folks coming out of the woodwork saying that 'planes without weapons are useless'.

You can hear the howls of laughter from the SR-71 and U-2 communities.

 

[Tiamat]

True but information is the closest thing to god on the battlefield. A force without an AWACS will suffer against a force that does just because the latter has access to a more complete picture than the other.

During this time we had those anti-AWACS folks coming out of the woodwork saying that 'planes without weapons are useless'.

And planes without Airborne EW radar and control networks might as well be as blind as bats in a balls-to-the-wall firefight.

There, I said it, you AWACS lovebirds happy now?

 

[Tiamat]

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World War III: 1988
Addendum I: "Quotes and Excerpts from the Media, 1987 and 1988"



"What the fuck does it look like out here? Goddamn Star Wars because we've got fancy new toys? Star Trek because everyone believes in the best of humanity and all that bullshit? Look around, war and straight up barbarism is the natural state of humanity, motherfuckers."

--Interview with unidentified soldier of U.S. Army 2nd Armored Division, during the Second Battle of Monterrey, Operation Green Fox.
"The U.S. Army returns to Mexico" Soldier of Fortune Magazine, February 1987


"Mister Speaker, right honorable gentlemen, I have repeatedly stated what our stance must be and I cannot make it any more clear. Are we to simply submit and cower, as these evil men in the Soviet Union and their allied thugs like Khaddafi, Castro and Kim Il-Sung, continue their underhanded, brutal repression of freedom-loving people throughout the world, and blackmail the West with their nuclear, biological and chemical arsenals? Shall we cower in fear, and submit to authoritarianism in the name of peace? I say no! No! No! We shall all stand together, Mister Speaker, or we shall not stand at all."

--Speech by Margaret Thatcher to the U.K. House of Commons, April 6, 1987


"Brothers and sisters of the revolutionary struggle, stand firm, for the time is coming! The war criminal Reagan and his lackeys Thatcher and Mitterand, and their Imperialistic American-Atlantic alliance will pay for their bloody murder of our own sons, our daughters, and our children, including my children! We stand with our victorious brothers and sisters of the revolution across the world, and know in spite of the American jackals and their supposedly superior weapons, they will never be victorious over the the will of the people! And when the time comes, we will burn their empire to the ground! DEATH TO THE USA!"

--Excerpt from speech by Muammar Khaddafi, given during state-sponsored and televised event in Bab al-Aziza, Libya. November 12, 1987


"President Reagan reiterated today in a speech before the White House that the U.S. could not in good faith engage in any diplomatic negotiations with the current Soviet leadership in regards to the nuclear weapon stockpiles of the superpowers after the October 1986 coup and the revelations of the Soviet's extensive biological weapons program. President Reagan also repeated his demands for the Soviets and their Warsaw Pact allies to cease the repressive crackdown on political and human rights in Eastern Europe, particularly Poland and East Germany. The President also reiterated that the sanctions placed by the United States prohibiting the sale of foodstuffs including grain to the U.S.S.R. would remain in place for the foreseeable future until further notice, depending on the future actions of the Soviets..."

--CBS Evening News. January 27, 1988


"Glorious Peoples of the Democrat Republic of Korea, we stand at a threshold between our glorious future, and the oppressive, thieving capitalist butchers in Seoul and Washington! They know that the future is ours! They can do nothing to stem the inevitable, one country, one people, led by the Eternal Wisdom of Juche! We stand ready, when the time is right, to deal the fatal blow to the Western barbarians and unite the peoples of Korea once and for all!"

--Exerpt from statement by Kim Il-Sung, broadcast by Korean Central Television, DPRK, February 14, 1988


"Oh, so all the lads have been talking about some noise the Indonesians and their new buddies the Soviets have been making across the water, don't ya know? They're sayin' they're gonna settle the whole Papua New Guinea 'problem' once and for all because they need more 'living space' as they call it, and come right here! Well, let 'em! We got crocs, spiders, snakes, carnivorous birds and other reptiles, and the most dangerous thing of all...a bunch of crazy Aussies and Kiwis with bonafide Yank tanks!"

--Network 10 Interview with Australian soldier during ANZAC field exercise at Liverpool Military Area, Sydney, Australia. April 9, 1988


"There continues to be both rumors and denials in Iran about the Supreme Leadership refusing an armistice to the ongoing Iran-Iraq war that has claimed in excess of one million lives, military and civilian. There is also confusion and rumors that there may have been an attempt by some members of the Iranian government hierarchy to open some sort of backchannel in regards to further negotiations, or possibly even an attempted coup involving the Soviets. The rumors follow the United States Navy's recent "Operation Praying Mantis" which resulted in the destruction of several Iranian Navy surface vessels. When asked about the recent events and rumors in the region, along with the possibility of follow-up actions by the Americans, General George B. Crist of the United States Central Command, or CENTCOM replied with 'no comment'.

In other news, tensions continue to increase dramatically in the Balkans as there is ample evidence that the government of Yugoslavia has violently fragmented with numerous reports of multiple battles and atrocities taking place in Sarajevo and elsewhere..."

--BBC Evening News, April 20, 1988

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[Kujo]

I think on the Naval scale of this Aegis Cruisers and Destroyers can both direct battle-space and fire at the enemy...

As an old 11M I minored in navy...

 

[Aaron Fox]

You can hear the howls of laughter from the SR-71 and U-2 communities.

Yeah, but it didn't help with matters.

And planes without Airborne EW radar and control networks might as well be as blind as bats in a balls-to-the-wall firefight.

There, I said it, you AWACS lovebirds happy now?

Tell that to Sparky and friends.

 

[CarlManvers2019]

Any chance that they’ll run out of ammunition and made to charge with bayonets whilst a commissar uses the remaining ammunition to kill anyone who refuses to charge at the imperialist scum?

 

[Tiamat]

Yeah, but it didn't help with matters.

Tell that to Sparky and friends.

Do not tell me Sparky jumped on that bandwagon too....?

 

[Tiamat]

I think on the Naval scale of this Aegis Cruisers and Destroyers can both direct battle-space and fire at the enemy...

As an old 11M I minored in navy...

Touche, but that's U.S. Navy, not to be confused with U.S. Air Force...

 

[Aaron Fox]

Do not tell me Sparky jumped on that bandwagon too....?

Sparky and his 'reformists' basically think WW2 is the most advanced of military combat capability. No radars, barely any missiles, barely any jets. If you know Ringo, Sparky and his 'reformists' started Ringo's brand of stupid well ahead of Ringo.

Sparky and friends, when you actually dig deeper, are batshit fucking insane.

 

[LordSunhawk]

Sparky, as in M113 Uber Alles Sparky? He's still bloviating... and people still pay any attention to his idiocy?

 

[Aaron Fox]

Sparky, as in M113 Uber Alles Sparky? He's still bloviating... and people still pay any attention to his idiocy?

The one and the same. You would be surprised by how many people believe his brand of bullshit. The F-16 originally didn't have a radar thanks to Sparky and friends (the F-16 would quickly get a radar after the initial production run but only after the 'Reformists' went onto other things). He and his 'reformists' had a lot of fingers in a lot of pies, and the internet only exacerbated the situation.

In DIVAD, this bunch of idiots literally had a Vigilante (i.e. the weapon system that literally shook its mobility chassis apart just by firing) rechambered for 35mm ammunition slapped onto an M48 as their entry to the program. With practically no electronics.

Hell, it is thanks to Sparky and friends that some foreign games (one example of which is the game Warfare (aka the predecessor to the game Syrian Warfare), which had the M113 and variants being around well after the Stryker replaced the majority of the M113s) have the US still use the M113 as a frontline APC well into the 2000s...