US target sites in USSR

A what if of sorts:

In Soviets/US post-ww2 conflict - what cities would the US likely consider first targets for nukes (assuming they had to use them). I'm thinking Kiev or Minsk - not too far into su - not so politically devistating as bombing Moscow or Leningrad. How about Vladivostok - bombers out of Japan. thoughts anyone?

 

Would this be a limited or un-limited affair? 1 or 2 bombs and call it quits. Surely the Soviets will wipe out our capital. Have you been watching the movie 'Failsafe'?

 

All of them............

 

I love this game

 

Limited - and consider that it's pre-1950 - US only has the bomb...

 

I don't see Stalin 'letting us off the hook'that easy.If the U.S. flattened 2 of their cities,the minute they built a bomb they'd send one our way.

 

If I was to guess at this I'd say the following would be the top 10 to get hit right off:
Moscow
Leningrad
Novosibrisk
Kazan
Chelyabinsk
Minsk
Movograd/Nizhniy
Karkov
Dnipropetrovsk
Tula

With these, you eliminate the 10 largest population centers and a major portion of the heavy industry in Russia along with the destruction of a major part of the transportation system.
Follow ons would include the entire Donets basin, the Odessa and Baku oil fields, specific factories and resource production sites throughout the country.
The Soviets could only retaliate with a ground war in Europe. This would be severly disrupted by the loss of "tail" in Russia from the destruction of a major portion of the supporting industries there.

 

And 'this' is limited?

 

Yes, now imagine the whole 9 yards

 

... and a partridge in a pear tree! Thanks for the strategy T.A! Hopefully, they would have surrendered before bombing no. 10.