Very soviet approach.
There is old soviet joke - there is no possible to be honest,smart and belong to soviet party.Becouse only idiots belived in their propaganda.
Now,when soviets are ruled by old idiots beliving in their own lies,soviet union is doomed.Only question - how many other people would die.
Funny thing - as old people,they should remembered,that comrade Hitler was their ally.
If they really live in 1945,then they should still use wave tactic.Another reason,why they are doomed.
P.S i read once some russian article which claimed,that GRU and Army wanted war,but KGB murdered some generals and so saved peace.Unfortunatelly,i forget author.
Keep in mind the average age of a
Politburo party member in this particular alternate timeline, much like it was in real life, would be roughly between 70 to 80 years of age. They remember quite vividly the "Great Patriotic War" or WW2 as it's known in the West. Problem is? They're still carrying that same paranoid mentality that the West is out to get them...when it could just as easily be argued they were doing their damndest to subvert the West via espionage, propaganda, blackmail, etc. But to make it worse, in this timeline Reagan has hardened his stance after the '86 coup, a grain embargo is now in effect, and the hardliners have convinced themselves that war with the West is inevitable. And the Soviets are firm believers in that often the best defense, is a good offense...
I remember reading in Ken Alibekov's
Biohazard that he alluded to in conversations with Soviet officers that there was tension between the Soviet military leadership and Gorbachev's reformers. Here? Gorbachev and his circle are dead/deposed, the KGB and the Party are for the most part running the show, with the Army (third part of the power triad in the USSR)
mostly willing to play along as they're getting a boost in military expenditures and procurements. The only problem is, some of the mid-level echelons and possibly even a few of the higher leadership in the Army are concerned about the more aggressive posture the Kremlin is taking and want at least more time to procure the new hardware the Soviets are developing and increase their capabilities before a war breaks out. Somewhat ironically, at the same time there is also fears within the Soviet leadership that indeed the West has pushed well past the Soviets in terms of overall military capabilities and the Soviets are straining themselves economically just to try to catch up. In real life this last bit is one factor that ended up breaking the Soviets as they were spending so much on military expenditures while their economy was starting to sputter out due to infrastructure issues and horrible mismanagement.
I just read,that soviets was 20 years behind USA in computers.If that is true,air and sean fight should be rather one-sided,dunno about tanks.
Well....yes and no? Technology is not the end-all nor be-all, though it certainly makes quite a difference. There's innumerable other factors like quantity (which can be argued is a quality in itself and the Soviets
certainly have), training and quality of troops (which the West would arguably have a bit more of an edge depending on country), and overall morale and will to fight (VERY important). Then there's logistics, something the Americans in particular would have a very definitive advantage, while the Soviets....well, turns out they had a few Achilles heels, and logistics was one of them. Also, not to mention Soviet technology had it's share of odd, and sometimes dangerous quirks; one glaring example being the autoloaders on their tank guns which could sometimes be quite the hazard to tank crews. Some Soviet tank crews, depending on the tank and the circumstances would sometimes carry an extra crewmember just to ensure the autoloaders worked properly.
I just discovered,that Ryszard Kukliński who gave info USA was supported by many officers who was aware of fact,that during war USA would drop A bombs on Poland,not soviets.Unfortunatelly i only knew name of general Bolesław Chocha,who died in 1987.
I also discovered,that except invasion by sea,rest of our army would attack from Szczecin throught East Germany to Denmark,and that we would get some tactical nukes from soviets.
Target would be Brema,Kopenchaga and other cities.
All in all,soviets planned to use 600+ tactical nukes against targets in Germany and Denmark,some given to their vassals.
Things will get quite interesting in Western Europe, more than that, I cannot say for the moment.
The only problem with nukes in this timeline, the Kremlin wishes to pursue a more conventional war when it comes...at least at first. Notice with the new hardware seen at the Soviet '87 May Day parade they are attempting to bolster their conventional assets, along with also opening more pilot positions to women so they can shift more capable males to ground combat roles. Problem, again is it takes time, additional funding and TRAINING for that new hardware to make a difference. How much difference? That will remain to be seen. The Soviets hierarchy in this timeline feels if they resort to nukes from the outset, they are politically telling the world they 're too weak to fight the West and it's allies conventionally. That, and also the issue with a "cowboy American President who would want an excuse to launch nuclear genocide on the entire world," at least from their POV.