Shattered World - Segment 53.3 "Leningrad und Smolensk, oder Tod" Nuclear fire blossomed like the all consuming brilliance of some ancient warrior god. In the middle, hell boiled and reached upwards for the heavens. All around, concentric circles of overpressure extend out to snuff out life and property like a million angry fists, smashing all before them. 40 kilotons of death and mayhem, delivered from the great predator birds of war - flying far overhead, now withdrawing eastward with fighters in vain pursuit; like gnats pricking the giants of old or hawks throwing themselves at the Earth in desperate rage. Shifting the viewpoint downward and out to sea, to the inferno that had been the Island of Okinawa. The battle lines are stark, brutal scars cutting their jagged path across a tortured terrain becoming more that of nightmare by the hour. Craters dot the land, making it appear like the surface of some hostile alien world. Off the coast, gr...
Comments
Some pics aren't work though Bobby.
Also now is a good time for Von Braun to launch his satellite and if he can wing it, put a man in space.
BTW, great update!
REVENGE! REVENGE! REVENGE!
Kill them all i say, KILL THEM ALL!
Nice update, Bobby! Damn so many dead. It's time for the german bomb, so this madness stops!
GREAT update.
Fantastic work once again, Bobby. Once again you have finished to produce a masterpiece that shocks the reader down to the core, yet chains him to the text. I can't wait to see what happens next!
one question, what do the Germans call the new nerve agent? VX is the OTL name, after all.
Bobby just a couple of little edits you need
a) B-34's instead of B-36's
b) the Germans do have one major port that hasnt been nuked - that atomic attack was the one that was shot down in the attempt to nuke Bizerte which wss mentioned as a major Axis naval port - so that leaves them one unnuked port for supplies. And they would have at least one small port in Libya they can use too.
Oh one question with the map - is Kiev still resisting or has it surrendered? There is no blue circle around it that would suggest it is still active.
Otherwise one heck of an update - looks like the balloon has finally gone up for ShatteredWorld to get a lot more shattered!
SWFCane
map needs to be updated to show Kiev under siege
How does VX compare to sarin gas or mustard gas?
Since VX and sarin are both nerve agents, they have similar effects on the body. But VX is about a hundred times more deadly than sarin when absorbed through the skin and about twice as deadly when inhaled. Moreover, sarin is volatile, evaporates at about the same rate as water, and is deadliest when inhaled, while VX is oil-based, extremely adhesive, and long lasting.
Mustard gas, a blister agent, is less deadly than both VX and sarin but can lead to more lasting health effects, such as cancer and birth defects
VX is a nerve agent involving organic phosphorous compounds and sulphur. It works essentially by penetrating the skin and disrupting the transmission of nerve impulses.
Following release of VX into the air, people can be exposed through skin contact, eye contact, or inhalation (breathing in the VX mist).
Though VX does not mix with water as easily as other nerve agents do, it could be released into water. Following release of VX into water, people can be exposed by drinking contaminated water or getting contaminated water on their skin.
Following contamination of food with VX, people can be exposed by eating the contaminated food.
VX is primarily a liquid exposure hazard, but if it is heated to very high temperatures, it can turn into small amounts of vapor (gas). Other methods have been experimentaly tested to produce a VX gas or mist.
A person’s clothing can release VX for about 30 minutes after contact with VX vapor, which can lead to exposure of other people.
VX breaks down slowly in the body, meaning that repeated exposures to VX and/or other nerve agents can have a cumulative effect (build up in the body).
Because VX vapor is heavier than air, it will sink to low-lying areas and create a greater exposure hazard there.
VX gas is one of the most dangerous chemicals created by man.
VX gas is an aerosoled chemical warfare agent derived from the oil-based VX. In the film "The Rock", it was that green liquid that the terrorists threatened San Francisco Bay with.
VX gas was developed in the Porton Down Chemical Weapons Research Centre, Wiltshire, England in 1952 and its devastating effects were tested. The British traded the technology of VX with the United States of America for information on thermonuclear weapons.
Its chemical formula is CH3CH20-P(O)(CH3)-SCH2CH2N(C3H7)2 and is normally in its liquid state despite its name. It has a low volatility; is odourless and is an excellent adhesive. A special form has been developed that is so adhesive that it is virtually impossible to remove from the surface that it is in contact with. This leads to strategic attacks on enemy bases or airfields so that the VX remains stuck to the area and has the potential to kill any one attempting to use the base or airfield.
The "V" of VX signifies it long persistence. So it is more dangerous and toxic than its cousins of the "G" variety like GA (Tabun) and GB (Sarin), which dissipate quickly and have only short-term effects. In the liquid form of VX, it is absorbed through the eyes or the skin of the victim. It takes an hour or two to take effect and its effects result in death. The gaseous form is more deadly than the liquid form and acts almost immediately on the victim. The effects are worst when it is inhaled and death is an end to the suffering.
http://thewednesdayreport.com/twr/vx.htm
One last comment from a book I found online
How to Make War
By James F. Dunnigan
“Persistent agents like VX work best in winter. VX, a liquid persistent nerve agent, lasts 16 weeks in winter, three weeks in summer but only 12 hours in the rain.
Inhaled nerve gas agents take effect within seconds” ( meaning anyone who inhaled the gas due to, for instance, the liquid being heated to a gas by a missile impact, would be dead within seconds)
thus Bobby the rain would get rid of it but it would have to be a sustained rain of at least 12 hours to do it - or a total of 12 hours of rain spread out - and the water would be contaminated with VX so any runoff into drinking water would kill anyone drinking it - or kill whatever was in the water (i.e. you can kiss goodbye fishing in the Thames or the sea off of the Thames for a few years)
also any food that was touched by the VX would be deadly - so every Victory Garden in Manchester and London would have to be plowed under and any uncanned food in those areas would have to be destroyed - meaning that the death toll may go much much higher over the coming days as the Brits eat and drink contaminated food and water
most likely by a week from now the 100,000 dead or injured are going to be more like 150-200,000 since the Brits would have no idea how deadly this stuff was or that it was this peristent
1)Second thing - how big were the casualties in Kiel - you didnt mention them?
Probably ~30,000 or so. The bomb was a direct hit over the harbor - so it doesn't quite spark off a firestorm that guts the entire city.
Bobby
2)Bobby how many conventional bombers were lost on the raids – it mentions that German fighters tore into the fighters and bombers – what kind of losses did the Allies take among the prop fighters and the regular bombers?
Heavy losses. Probably as many as 80 downed, and maybe another 40 damaged. So, heavy but not totally catastrophic. A lot of allied escort fighters would have been downed as well, dozens. And a couple dozen German fighters downed to.
Bobby
I really wanted to find out what happened. :)
I just checked it and it should be working.
Harsh.
I think at this point it will about the late 1970's before the world can fully recover from the physical damage from this war. Maybe not. If any of those biologicals mutate into a stronger strain the world may just be finished anyway.
Yes, i know, dont push the genius, but peleaaaaase :D
-matias
I've just finished reading two alternative-history books and I must say that you're writting style has got me hooked... can't wait for next update
Seems like we're getting a few more new readers lately.
However in the meantime I have thought.
A question has been raised if pilots are willing to risk being shot down by Luftwaffe in order to atom bomb German citites.
I think USA would have no problems with finding those pilots.
In your timeline Jews, Poles in Europe were almost totally exterminated by Germany.
In USA they were milions of Jews and Poles at the time of WW2(IIRC 5-6 milion Poles)-so I wouldn't be surprised if Air Force volunteers for those missions come from Jewish and Polish people wishing to avenge their nations.
regards, Sammy
He bought himself time. Part of his calculation was that he figured the Americans would eventually give him aid - and that is about the bear fruit in spades.
As for the U.S. using atomic bombs on the Eastern Front - it'd be a bit impractical. German air defenses in central Europe are very very strong and there is very little tactical coordination between the western allies and the Soviets.
Also, the U.S. doesn't have an infinite number of bombs. Their stockpile numbers in the dozens, not the hundreds - and they have to cover three fronts - Iberia-Nortwest Africa / Germany proper / Japan in the Pacific.
By the way, I know you probably get this a lot, but it really is an outstanding timeline. Particularly interesting is how WW2 begins-rather than ends- in 1945. It makes us realize how much more severe the war's material and human price could have been.
My main original intent was to explore what a much worse world war two might have looked like - with all the conventional hell we saw in OTL's WW2 but also chem and nuclear and some more modern weaponry, etc.