60 years ago, someone tried to build a military base under the nose of the United States. How did the United States respond to this?
Today's story starts with the end of World War II . After the fall of the Axis powers under the leadership of the Nazis, the world finally ushered in peace. However, there is no room for two tigers in one mountain, and the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, once again launched a new cold war .
In order to deter the Soviet Union, the United States deployed 45 medium-range ballistic missiles in Italy and Turkey in 1959. Turkey's Istanbul was only a few hundred kilometers away from Stalingrad . Therefore, major cities in the Soviet Union were affected. the threat from U.S. intermediate-range missiles. The Soviet Union was threatened by missiles on its own territory. It was so angry that it couldn't do anything.
The Soviet Union did not establish military bases in the Americas, and intercontinental missile technology was still very backward. The preparation work alone required more than twenty hours. At this moment, the situation in Cuba's changed, giving the Soviet Union a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. After Castro in Cuba came to power, he became very close to the Soviet Union. Although no measures had been taken yet, the United States He was very unhappy when he saw that the younger brother next to him was showing signs of being close to Su.
Soon after Castro took office, the CIA began a "Bay of Pigs" plan that made the whole world laugh. 1,200 Cuban exiles, carrying weapons provided by the United States, landed at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba in an attempt to overthrow the Castro regime. As a result, they were completely wiped out as soon as they landed. This brought the relationship between the United States and Cuba to a deadlock. Castro, who was still a little shaken at first, did not hesitate to side with the Soviet Union at this time.
The Soviet Union had long hoped to gain a foothold in Latin America, and now it seemed that this was a God-given opportunity.
Havana is the capital of Cuba, only 300 kilometers away from Miami, United States. A missile base in Cuba can effectively counter the threat posed by the United States to the Soviet Union in Europe.
In July 1962, the first Soviet warship sneaked into Cuba, carrying dozens of missiles, dozens of fighter planes, and 3,500 Soviet technicians. The Soviet Union built a missile base in Cuba, and although they were cautious, it was under the nose of the United States. The
U2 drone soon noticed something was wrong. After viewing this picture, the experts of the US military were shocked because there was actually a medium-range missile equipped with the nuclear warhead at their doorstep. This was a threat to the United States. a test.
People at the highest levels of the United States quickly reached a consensus: the Soviet Union would withdraw all weapons and troops from Cuba, or the United States would press the nuclear button. U.S. President Kennedy delivered a radio speech at 7:00 pm on October 22, 1962, announcing that the Soviet Union would deploy a nuclear bomb in Cuba.
Obviously, this broadcast did not mention the US military deployment in Eastern Europe, nor did it mention the US military threats to other countries. After the radio speech ended, U.S. ground, air and amphibious forces began to assemble. The military quickly mobilized to provide military supplies to Cuba. U.S. aircraft carrying nuclear warheads began to fly to areas surrounding Cuba.
On October 24, 1962, the U.S. Navy, escorted by 68 air force formations and 8 aircraft carriers, dispatched 90 battleships . This force controlled thousands of kilometers of airspace in Cuba, and was on some small islands off the coast of Cuba. A missile tracking device is installed on it. Now Cuba has formed a dragnet. Not only Cuba, but also U.S. military bases around the world have begun to be on alert.
921 bomber equipped with nuclear warheads, more than 220 Soviet targets were listed by the United States as attack lists, and a total of 2,858 nuclear warheads were put into combat. The United States received a letter from the Soviet Union on October 27, 1962, which roughly stated that the Soviet Union could withdraw offensive weapons from Cuba, but the United States must also withdraw the same weapons from Turkey.
The Kennedy administration immediately rejected the deal.The White House stated that the crisis in Cuba has nothing to do with Turkey. The Soviet Union now faces two choices, one is to surrender, and the other is to launch a nuclear war. The Cuban crisis ended with the regression of Khrushchev . Sixty years later, the entire world is changing, but one logic has not changed, that is, oppression by the strong can be seen as justice, while threats to the strong can be seen as unbearable evil.
