Thanks to CajunBear73, OeshsnerC, and everyone else for their reviews and commentary.

=O=

Chapter 22: Limited Objectives, Limited Wars

A marvel of the space age, the videophone permitted real-time face-to-face intercontinental communications via the new communications platforms in geostationary orbit. Assembled on-orbit by teams of astronaut-technicians, the communications platforms were fitted with solar arrays and radio dishes far larger than could be packed into a single heavy-lift rocket. This, in turn, meant that the ground terminals of the videophone system - satellite dish, cathode-ray-tube console, and low maintenance solid-state electronics - could be kept compact, no larger than a household refrigerator, in fact.

For once, Stoick Haddock was grateful for the idiotic contraption, on which so much of his time had been wasted on pointless midnight meetings with Portland. He took his seat before the console, right next to General Kwok.

Heather joined him. "We completely dropped the ball on this one. Indicators were all there – I've got pictures of Soviet missile support equipment two weeks old. But between the buildup on the Pak border, the border crisis, and the fact that strategic nukes in India made no military sense whatsoever… we just weren't looking for strategic nuclear missiles, and so we missed 'em completely."

Heather shook her head. "I still can't believe the Reds actually did have a card up their sleeves. Or that it was strategic nukes. I mean, what's the military difference between a mid-range missile in India and a mid-range missile in Siberia?! A minute or two of flight time, maybe? Why would you even bother expending the effort to move those missiles all the way to India? But politically? A world of difference!"

Stoick grunted. "Ace in the hole?"

Heather's eyes narrowed. "Hardly. The Indians are still miscalculating – they expect us to fold out of weakness even when we still have cards to play. They let us decide whether we let them win this. They were being stupid. We just didn't count on them going this far."

Heather took a sip of water, and sighed. "Ace or not, heads are going to roll, believe me."

Stoick chuckled. "Not our heads. We both considered the possibility of a hidden Indian card, and we both told our people to get on with finding out what it was. In writing, right here." He patted a small folder. "Our asses are covered."

Heather grinned as the videophone flickered to life.

The President of the Joint Government appeared on the screen, flanked by the Secretary, the Director of State Intelligence, the VP, and more brass than a symphony orchestra. Heather's grin faded, and she gulped.

=O=

"…and live by satellite, we have our theater commander, Stoick Haddock and his staff, who will be joining us today to give… his perspective on the military situation."

The President nodded.

General Drago Bludvist, Strategic Air Command – who finally seemed smaller than someone else in the room – continued. "To continue my point, the Air Force… is of the opinion that we will not be able to destroy all the Indian nuclear missiles with conventional airstrikes alone. Nuclear airstrikes will be necessary to ensure destruction of the target set."

"General Haddock, your opinion?" Another general spoke.

The lag was just perceptible. "A major limiting factor on airstrikes is often availability of timely targeting information…"

Drago leaned forward. "General Haddock's force posture… is geared towards support of ground troops in a very limited war. Not for an extended air campaign over hostile airspace to destroy… a set of very dispersed strategic targets. Such a campaign will require strategic forces and preparations for… unlimited global thermonuclear war! The border dispute is now wholly irrelevant!"

A white-suited Admiral sneered. "If the goal is to get the Soviets to withdraw their missiles, then a naval blockade is the best way to exert pressure on the Indians, and ensure no more nuclear missiles enter India. Unlike the Air Force, the Fifth Fleet is ready and able to execute this mission."

The Secretary groaned. "A blockade is an act of war! The strategic balance is not changed one whit by this development! In a nuclear war, we still lose ten percent of our population; they still lose ninety percent of theirs! Soviet medium-range missiles can still reach most of the Mainland in under fifteen minutes. Whether the missiles are launched from Siberia or India doesn't change a thing! It's not as if the Soviets have missiles in, say, Venezuela, where they can reach North America in fifteen minutes instead of half an hour!"

"Every minute is precious in a scramble!" Drago roared.

The Secretary rolled his eyes. "That wasteland is not worth a nuclear war!"

Drago scoffed. "The wasteland is irrelevant! India has obtained nuclear weapons! That is unacceptable!"

The Secretary cracked a chuckle. "I'm sorry to break it to you, General, but it has long been the consensus of this Administration that an Indian atom bomb is acceptable to us. The atom bomb will teach India caution. They will come to realize – as the Soviets have, which is why they're playing with proxies - that having the bomb lifts any inhibitions on us loosing nukes on them, and that plain belligerence will get them all killed. We expected the Indians to get a Bomb within five years anyway, even with minimal Soviet assistance. We have lost nothing worth nuclear war."

He turned to the President. "Mr. President, we must consider accepting the Soviet fait accompli, and explore non-kinetic retaliatory options such as basing nuclear weapons in West Pakistan, Burma, and Iran. We have been able to contain, for the most part, a nuclear-armed Soviet Union. We will most certainly be able to contain a more-reasonable nuclear-armed India."

"Bullshit!" Drago bellowed.

The President closed his eyes as the upper echelons of government argued like squabbling children. "Stop."

The room fell silent.

The President leaned forward, a serious expression on his face. "Gentlemen. Ladies. Let's get back to basics. What exactly have we lost from the Soviet emplacement of nuclear missiles in India?"

He gestured at the Secretary. "Richard here is correct. The strategic balance has not changed. So we have not lost our strategic superiority."

The Secretary smiled, but the President's face turned hard. "But we have lost something. What we have lost… is face. Prestige. We magnanimously tried to compromise with the Indians, and they shove this in our face even while they keep pushing our positions in the mountains. We are a reasonable people. This was not necessary."

The President turned to Drago. "And no, General. The border crisis is not irrelevant. It is the key by which the Indians can lord their victory over us – a victory borne from a Soviet nuclear umbrella."

"The message that is being sent is unacceptable. Gain a Soviet nuclear umbrella, and you can do whatever you want with the Joint Government. That sets a bad precedent. That is the truly unacceptable element in this crisis, and I'm sure our analysts will agree."

He looked around the room, and into the videophone camera. "So what should we do about it?"

He rubbed his chin. "What was the border crisis about? Land? Money? What money was there to be found in that wasteland? It was about the exact same thing. Prestige. Face. Do not be unduly frightened by the introduction of nuclear weapons. The fundamental dynamics of the situation are unchanged. The Indians have but made some noise, given us some new headaches, and upped the stakes substantially."

"Therefore, our response should be unchanged." He stared directly into the camera. "General Haddock, what was the goal of your war plan before the Indian test?"

Stoick grunted. "To temporarily occupy the disputed territory, hold it against Indian attack, and then withdraw back to the Indian claim line."

The President snapped his fingers."Exactly. The goal was never to conquer anything. The goal was to demonstrate, in a clear and indisputable manner, our ability to take and hold the territory, and emphasize that our willingness to compromise was borne from good faith, and not as a result of Indian pressure or Pacifican weakness."

The President narrowed his eyes. "But no. The Soviet nuclear missiles in India are not acceptable either." He turned to the intelligence chief. "Director, for what reasons did we choose to accept the Indian nuclear program?"

The Director of State Intelligence shrugged. "We expected to have the Sentinel missile defense system online within five years – adequate to blunt any conceivable attack by the small Indian arsenal anticipated. Not the Soviet arsenal they're shipping in." He sighed. "We also thought that the Bomb would teach the Indian government caution, and that an independent Indian deterrent would help reduce Soviet influence in India."

"Aha! Therein lies the difference! A man who has earned his own fortune through honest work appreciates the value of money, and is beholden to no one!" The President scoffed. "But now the Indians are like a man who has suddenly come into an inheritance. Wild, reckless with his fortune. Dangerous. And in thrall to his family. The Indians must be taught a lesson in moderation. And the Soviets must be taught a lesson in handing out nuclear weapons to fools and fanatics."

He smiled. "Whatever plan you military men decide on, the immediate goal should be clear. It is not to destroy all the nuclear weaponry and missiles the Soviets have emplaced in India – that is a difficult task without thermonuclear war, as you have said. The goal is to demonstrate our ability to destroy most of those nuclear weapons and then all of Indian society if they ever use them, so that we may put pressure on them at the negotiating table. This demonstration is not only for the eyes of India, but for the eyes of the Soviet Union, and beyond them, the eyes of the world. How best to achieve that goal, I shall leave to you military men."

The Secretary inhaled sharply. "Won't that eventually put them into a use-it-or-lose it?"

The President shrugged. "The Soviets have missiles everywhere else, have they not? Their main stock of missiles is not being threatened. The Indians need only be persuaded that the Soviet nuclear umbrella is not as helpful as it seems."

Easier said than done. Stoick's mouth went dry.

Drago's eyes widened in horror. "You want to risk the lives of hundreds of my magnificently trained aircrews in mock bombing runs over dense air defenses… to demonstrate a point?! You risk the survival of our nation, our ability to massively destroy the enemy in a concerted blow… to demonstrate that capability?! We can win this war, and permanently eradicate the Soviet Communism from the face of this Earth… and you want to demonstrate that you can?"

Stoick gulped. The President felt no need to respond.

The Vice President, a retired general who had led the Army to victory over Nazidom from the Channel to the Elbe, nodded firmly. "You forget your place, General Bludvist. This is the Joint Government of the Pacific. The Armed Forces exist to serve the political goals of the Administration of the day." His voice turned to ice. "You do not set policy. We set policy."

The room fell silent for a moment. The Vice President leaned back, and rubbed his chin. "Sir, we will have to let our boys shoot up enemy airfields and SAM sites at least."

The President nodded. "Of course. Shutting down Indian air defenses will be more than demonstrative of our air superiority."

Drago fell silent, and the room began to resume its normal tenor. The Vice President tilted his head. "Boys… is what is being asked of our Armed Forces militarily feasible? Can we actually accomplish this mission – achieve air superiority across all of India with contingency planning for escalation?"

An Air Force four-star nodded. "It'll be tight. But geography is to some extent working in our favor. India is 'only' two thousand kilometers across at its widest – well within the combat radius of ADC Blackbirds flying from the Mainland, Iran, or Myanmar, let alone Valkyries. Three quarters of the country is within five hundred kilometers of the Indian Ocean, well within range of carrier air or even carrier Search and Rescue. Air Force SAR can also cover the entire Ganges valley from Nepal." He nodded distastefully at the Admiral. "Between Naval Aviation and the Air Force, we… could gain complete air superiority over India in a reasonable amount of time – I'll have to pull the figures up from the old plans…"

"Ten days." Stoick said. "The figure was ten days to suppress and then destroy SAMs and airfields. I have the contingency plans on hand." He frowned. "Additional forces will be required if this air superiority effort is to occur concurrently with the ground war – if we decide to proceed with Operation Avalanche at all."

The President nodded. "Of course we will! There can be no question of cancelling the ground war. The ground war is the key to emerging victorious from this whole crisis, to demonstrating our ability to wage war despite the Soviet nuclear umbrella, to demonstrating its impotence!"

Bait for the Soviet tactical nuclear arsenal, to give us the excuse to go strategic or rub their impotence in their face. Stoick thought. Just like in Europe.

You nuke our ground forces, we nuke you. Come on, I dare you.

General Kwok shrugged. "They're all airmobile and light forces, reasonably dispersed. If we give them back their nuclear rocket launchers... we should be able to fight on a nuclear battlefield for maybe a day, maybe less depending on the fallout. More than enough time to bring nuclear air support into play, if it comes to that."

The Admiral leaned forward. "Should we still blockade the Indians?" With a mission for Naval Aviation in the bag, he was no longer quite as enthusiastic about the endless patrols a blockade of the vast Indian coastline would entail.

The Secretary nodded. "We can call it a quarantine if we want. We'll board and search a selection of ships entering Indian ports, and turn away ships carrying weapons. Then we see how they respond. If they don't fold… we roll into the disputed area, up the blockade, mine their harbors, and take over Indian airspace. If they don't fold…we blast their missile sites with conventional or nuclear airstrikes and just hold the disputed area indefinitely..." He trailed off, thinking of everything that could go wrong with the plan.

The President chuckled. "Good, good! The best part is that we can conceivably claim victory at any point!"

Stoick shook his head. "The Indians could hide their SAMs. Act as a force-in-being, take potshots, and bleed us dry over their airspace for months! The wear and tear on machines and men will be ruinous even without casualties!"

"After we smash Indian airfields and fixed SAM sites in one concerted campaign, we just need to control the airspace over the disputed sector." The Air Force four-star looked thoughtful. "After destruction of the biggest and most expensive SAMs, high altitude supersonic aircraft - Blackbirds and Valkyries, maybe Hustlers - should be able to operate with relative impunity over all of India even if the rest of their air defense net is still up and running."

The Secretary nodded. "We can scale the effort up and down as the situation evolves."

General Bludvist finally spoke up again. "My boys and ADC's need approval to begin reconnaissance flights as soon as possible… before we commit to the operational plan."

The Vice President nodded. "You have it. Fly over every inch of India if you must. Just find those missiles!"

Stoick trembled at the magnitude of the monumental task before him. This wasn't a tiny little country, like Nepal or Sri Lanka. This wasn't even Japan. This was India, a nation of five hundred million people spread across three million square kilometers. Yes, he had contingency plans for such a war, but he'd never actually thought he'd need them!

This was perhaps the worst case of mission creep he had ever faced in his career.

The Secretary sighed. "This all sounds solid in outline, but I'll have our people do some analytical work, see if there's anything we missed." He gulped. "For one, as much as it is strategically irrelevant, the Soviet nuclear umbrella isn't impotent. What are our missile defense options?"

The Army man shrugged. "We have a few modified Hawk, Nike-Hercules, and Nike-Zeus missile batteries that could provide limited protection to troops in-theater, and maybe a few key cities. But only if they're nuclear-tipped." He shook his head. "Sentinel isn't going to be ready in time for this, no matter how much we spend."

"We believe our aircraft have a limited ability to intercept MRBMs as they launch… with nuclear-tipped air-to-air missiles." An ADC general piped.

The Secretary gulped. "You want nuclear release authorization for nuclear surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles. Defensive weapons only?"

The Air Force man shrugged noncommittally.

The President nodded. "Approved. Better nukes in the sky than nukes falling on Shanghai and Chongqing. And tt'll show them we mean business."

The Secretary looked horrified. War is not so simple. War is never so simple. Trying to control it so is madness...

The President smiled jovially as he examined the Secretary's expression. "I would not be too concerned. If warheads fall on Shanghai and Chongqing, Soviet Communism shall indeed be eradicated from the face of the Earth. Because at the end of the day… the strategic balance is still in our favor. We can afford to escalate. They cannot."

He inhaled sharply. "Prepare a press release once we're done. Let's make sure the Indians and Soviets understand clearly what we're trying to prove."

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Author's note:

Don't laugh. This is extremely impressive 70s-equivalent tech – satellite communications suites are things that usually fit on Navy warships, not aircraft or briefcases.