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Operation Unthinkable and The Russian Suprise

MrT

Master at Arms
Staff member
Operation Unthinkable was the name given to plans by the Western Allies against the Soviet Union. The creation of these plans was ordered by British prime minister Winston Churchill in 1945 and developed by the British Armed Forces' Joint Planning Staff at the end of world War II in Europe.
The first of the two assumed a surprise attack on the Soviet forces stationed in Germany in order to "impose the will of the Western Allies" on the Soviets. "The will" was qualified as "a square deal for Poland – which probably meant enforcing the recently signed Yalta Agreement. These plans were never implemented, but if a increasingly paranoid Stalin got wind of these plans and decided to get the jump on the Allies and attack first in order to capture all of Germany and force the Allies out of Europe.

In early May ,instead of the happy linkup of U.S. forces and Soviet Forces on the Elbe, US forces are caught by surprise by a Soviet attack on Allied forces along the entire front. The main axis of attack are from Berlin to the Rhine and Prague to the Rhine. Secondary encirclement's from Berlin and northern Germany and Czechoslovakia.

Allied forces caught completely off guard reel from the attack. British and Canadian forces are largely encircled and captured including Field Marshal Montgomery. Patton's Third Army executes a brilliant fighting withdrawal turning west out of Czechoslovakia along the Danube to the extreme western Germany. US First Army is rendered useless, but scattered units withdrew back to the Rhine to form the reconstituted First Army.

The Russian advance is finally halted by overwhelming Allied air attacks. With the front line stabilized Allied forces are planning a new offensive to push the Soviets out of Germany and eventually Poland.

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Yeah and all sorts of heavy tank designs as part of the big offensive. All kinds of new aircraft.
 
It think back then we would just Nuke'em. We were the only one with the bomb. Gary S. XXXXV XX XX

It would be counter productive to "nuke" territory you wish to occupy. Furthermore in 1945 there was a limited number of devices available. Only two available by August. Stalin already knew about our "bomb" ,when Truman announced our bombing of Japan, via his own spies within the "Manhattan Project". While I'm sure an atomic weapon would certainly have been considered you must remember the destructive radius was still relatively small and radioactive half life short. Reaching the industrial heart of Russia would not have been easy. Requiring bases in China, India, Persia, or Turkey and true long range bombers(B36) were not yet available. That being said the longer the war goes on the more of these kind of weapons would become available.....on both sides.
 
The tip of spear for the U.S. armor forces would be the M26 medium and M29 super heavy tanks. The M26 began to come on line early in 1945, but when the Soviet Union attacked allied positions the decision was made to withdraw the Sherman and replace them with the more heavily armed Pershing, but to counter the Soviet JS series heavy tanks the M29 was rushed into service. The M29 was developed to counter the German Tiger II. The M29 was based upon a lengthened version of the T26E3 chassis and featured heavier armor, an upgraded engine producing about 770 bhp (570 kW) gross, 650 bhp (480 kW) net, more comfortable controls for the driver, and a massive new turret incorporating the high-velocity 105 mm gun T5. It weighed approximately 132,000 lb. (60 t; 59 long tons) unstowed and 141,000 lb (64 t; 63 long tons) combat loaded. Its maximum armor thickness was 279 mm compared to 180 mm on the German Tiger II while its 105 mm gun was 7.06 m long (66 calibres, 105L67) compared to the 6.29 m of the Tiger II's 88 mm. (71 calibers long, 88/L71). The M29 would stand a better chance of stopping the Soviet heavy armor.

My entry:

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