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Soviet Surgical Strike 1969

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  • Soviet Surgical Strike 1969

    Hello all. Back after a long hiatus. It was on this forum a number of years ago when I was in college that I had originally heard about a threatened Soviet surgical strike to take or destroy Lop Nor in the late 60's. I was wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of online sources or books (doesn't necessarily have to be online books, perfectly willing to order good source material off of amazon) that has good information on this?

  • #2
    Hello, Lieutenant,

    If it's actual war plans you're looking for, you won't find them. They're still under lock and key somewhere in Moscow. A lot of what we know is deduced from deployments, particularily the 58th Army which was stationed in the North West border with China. The 58th had nukes and there was nothing of value in the entire area except Lop Nor.

    The Chinese themselves had thought nuke strikes and thus prepared accordingly with a lot of earthworks, particularily hardened bunkers and tunnels. Short of nukes, the Soviets would be outmatched in numbers and terrain as well as a stretched LOC.

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    • #3
      It's Captain now sir... was one of the last ones who snuck in at 37 months back in 2011. Actually just got done with the career course a couple of months ago and will be taking command of a tank company here in August.

      Could you recommend any good books regarding context for the border clashes and subsequent Soviet buildup in this time period?

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      • #4
        St Pete's slippers! Has it been that long. My congratulations. So proud and do proud.

        The border clashes are listed ad nauseum through out the net. You can find both Russian and Chinese side of the story. As for the build up, there is no better source than the annual IISS MILITARY BALANCE of the years in question. Your base library should have copies of the years in question.

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        • #5
          ST Pete's slippers? Damn, that's a new one!

          Iwarmonger, welcome back! You will find maneuver company command will be the most demanding,exhausting, maddening, frustrating, exhilirating and rewarding job you will ever hold.

          Hope all is well.

          Which BCT?
          “Loyalty to country ALWAYS. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it.”
          Mark Twain

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          • #6
            A fellow tankie? Well met!
            Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

            Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

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            • #7
              I'm pretty pumped about it, although the unit is a pretty big change from where I came from. I'm in 2nd BDE, 1st Armored (the testing brigade), and this will be the first time since Armor OBC five years ago that I've been on tanks, so a bit of catching up to do. My last unit was a Stryker infantry battalion at Fort Lewis. We were really high optempo and very much a zero defect organization, and this BDE seems like it has a bit more give to it which is nice in some respects. On the other hand, El Paso and Ft Bliss are a pretty big adjustment from Lewis and Benning...

              To OoE, thank you for the advice on the source material, I will take a look at the post library. That seems like it would be a good source material for many different things.

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              • #8
                Dude! I am the fielding branch chief for GCSS-Army and I will PM you some info!

                Buck
                “Loyalty to country ALWAYS. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it.”
                Mark Twain

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                • #9
                  Surgical strikes? 1969?

                  Soviets had that capability back then?
                  No such thing as a good tax - Churchill

                  To make mistakes is human. To blame someone else for your mistake, is strategic.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Albany Rifles View Post
                    Dude! I am the fielding branch chief for GCSS-Army and I will PM you some info!

                    Buck
                    It is a small military-industrial complex out there! Look forward to it.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Doktor View Post
                      Surgical strikes? 1969?

                      Soviets had that capability back then?
                      Yes- nukes and Chemical saturation attacks on a small target or group of targets. IIRC the Colonel had the link to documents where the Soviets claimed they told us so we wouldn't start WWIII and we told them it would start WWIII and they felt betrayed.

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                      • #12
                        Hard task looking for it... but, I'll do my best, unless some good soul pastes a link.
                        No such thing as a good tax - Churchill

                        To make mistakes is human. To blame someone else for your mistake, is strategic.

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Doktor View Post
                          Hard task looking for it... but, I'll do my best, unless some good soul pastes a link.

                          Nixon intervention saved China from Soviet nuclear attack | South China Morning Post

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                          • #14
                            That one very recently came out though. As OOE stated earlier in the thread, almost anything solid with regards to this is still classified. Deductions made from Soviet redeployments at the time of the border clashes does give a bit of insight into one of the quieter (at least insofar as media attention) historical crisis.

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by lwarmonger View Post
                              That one very recently came out though. As OOE stated earlier in the thread, almost anything solid with regards to this is still classified. Deductions made from Soviet redeployments at the time of the border clashes does give a bit of insight into one of the quieter (at least insofar as media attention) historical crisis.
                              The actual information came out a few years ago and the Colonel and other China watchers snapped it up. IIRC the Colonel holds that the Chinese were not even going to try and retaliate against the Soviets as it was a no-win situation for them. I'm not so sure I believe that but the Colonel makes a compelling argument.

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