Drakafic question: A-bombs and interludes.

[Vehrec]

So I was thinking about writing a story from the perspective of a poor Soviet trooper in an Artillery brigade or division when the Draka set off their nukes that ends with him in a hospital dieing from acute radiation sickness thanks to being upwind of one of the bombs and the Draka's early efforts being dirty nasty weapons. Or maybe he gets the radiation sickness because of a hurried counter-nuke sent by the Americans to blunt the Draka defenses. I got a bit fuzzy on my plot and there were multiple mushroom clouds hanging over the poor comrade. Anyways, he dies at the end, gets a Hero of the Soviet Union, I haven't worked out all the details.

But then I started wondering, just how long was the delay between the Nine Draka Devices, and the 120 or so ones the Americans drop on their most vital zones? Would LeMay fight his bombers being sent out 'early' without a TBO style load for them to drop? Would lesser intercontinental bombers be sent out to soften up secondary targets first and draw defenses away from the core of the nation? And if the bombs weren't already parked next to their planes, how long before they can get to them and the crews can be brought up to speed on their missions?

[Sea Skimmer]

The Draka economy is much too big and dispersed for a TBO style attack to be feasible without very excessive delays. Germany was rather perfectly sized to be wiped out by early nukes. This same size however greatly inhibits Draka air defence efforts, large areas of the place are just not really defended at all and industry basically relied on concealment and the lack of striking power of conventional bombers operating at such extreme ranges to survive.