OPLAN Fulda

World War III

De: Leo Barron

Narrado por: David de Vries

May, 1989. The two nuclear superpowers are finally talking peace, but not everyone in the Soviet Union seeks such resolution. Senior Soviet ministers and generals conduct a coup to seize power and prevent the dissolution of the USSR and the Warsaw Pact. To cover up their plot and capitalize on the resulting chaos, they invade West Germany, setting off a chain of events and the Third World War. Across Europe, soldiers and spies are drawn into the conflict. From NATO headquarters to the front lines, the information is there to prevent nuclear annihilation if only they can find it in time.

Based on the declassified Operations Order 33001, Leo Barron's decades of military intelligence experience allow this military thriller to dive deep into tactics and realistically explore how everything could have changed in 1989.

©2022 Leo Barron (P)2024 Tantor

Great for military and non military readers

Very well written and entertaining. The author did a great job of writing the events in a way that military readers would find accurate, while not being confusing or oversimplified for non military readers.

Retrospectively Plausible

I enjoyed this modern version of Harold Coyle and Tom Clancy’s musing about a Soviet invasion of Central Europe. It was odd hearing my old unit in the mix. The story and the characters were realistic, or as realistic as necessary to also provide entertainment. The book was also not terribly overwhelming, the author told a story and stuck with it. The ending was also refreshing. I feel this book was definitely worth my time and treasure.

An Authentic Account of the War that Never Was

I came of age in the late Cold War, I planned a career as a military officer in the US Army. I still enjoy novels and media of the Cold War Gone Hot, and Leo Barron's "OPLAN Fulda World War III" is one of the best. You can tell that the author has real experience in the Armored forces, and I loved the focus on combat units at Fulda Gap and the battles starting at the Inter German Border, in contrast to novels like the great "Red Storm Rising" that have much of the naval, air and other operations.

I really enjoyed the characters of the US and Soviet armies right there in the thick of it. The narrative has a lot of details of how armored forces operate, and it has an authentic feel.

The narrator did a good job, his German and Russian are better than mine, and most of his pronunciations were good. He pronounced the armor-piercing shots "Sabot" Saa-bow as in the French, but the US Army tankers I've known pronounced it as "SAY-bow" so that was just a little off, but not a big deal.

I recommend this novel to anyone that likes tanks, Cold War history, and alternative history as well as thrillers.

An accurate representation of a world gone mad

The understanding of tactical and strategic leadership, intelligence, and operational capabilities was masterful and is probably the most accurate Cold War gone hot scenario I’ve read since Red storm rising.

The use of actual units

I liked this because it was set during the time period I arrived in Germany straight out of AIT and included the 3rd armored division and the 8th infantry division both units I was assigned to. It also mention battalions and brigades I was assigned to. And FUlda gap was often a topic of conversation amongst us troops.

Interesting Viewpoints

Great knowledge of tactics and details. The specifics about the quality of weapons on each side was dead on.

Suspenseful and dramatic!

Great read. The story focuses the reader only on the US Army tank regiments portion of the war. It does not expand out to include any Naval, or Airborne infantry, it touches very lightly on the US Air Force. The tank Commanders and Corp level Commanders points of view. I really did enjoy the read and for once the author wasn’t afraid to use Nukes.

Great premise, gets lost in fog of writing

There are several things to like about this book:
1. It does make you think about what could have happened.
2. Alternate history is a fantastic subject, and seeing another author tried to tackle this angle is great.

The trouble with this book is that it is so lost in the minutia of the battles that you get little minor character development and all the politics disappear. What starts as an interesting story about the political coup just gets lost in the battle.

If you’re a fan of books that are detailing unit movements and how a battle unfolds, this book is for you. I made it to within seven hours of the finish, but I just cannot conclude this.