Germany's Fulda Gap

The location
The Fulda Gap is an area between the Hesse-Thuringian border (the former intra-German border between the GDR and FRG), and Frankfurt am Main that contains two corridors of lowlands which tanks might have driven in a surprise attack effort by the Soviets and their Warsaw Pact allies to gain any crossing points over the Rhine River. The Fluda Gap is named after the small city of Fulda, which has a poulation of 60,000 people, nestled among rolling farmland laid out in a checkerboard fashion. It was was strategically important during the Cold War and is near the Knüllgebirge (or Knüll). The Knüllgebirge is a small, heavily forested, mountain range in Hesse, located in the Northern part of Hesse approximately 45 km South of Kassel. The highest peak is the Eisenberg having an altitude of 635.5m. The only major  town is Schwarzenborn with a population of 1,158 (2006), which is also the site of W. German (and now German) army Jägerregiment 1 headquarters.

The plan
Geography was a major issue as Nepolion and later the U.S. XII Corps found out earlier on. The northern route through the Gap passes south of the Knüllgebirge and then continues around the northern flank of the Vogelsberg Mountains; the narrower southern route passes through the Fliede and Kinzig Valleys, with the Vogelsberg to the north and the Rhön mountains and Spessart mountains to the south. The lead to the easy going landscape of the Rhine Valley, which would have favour a Soviet attempt to set up an advanced base and ultimately cross the Rhineand the less obstructive Main River before NATO could intervene properly.

The Fulda Gap route was less suitable for mechanized troop movement than was the North German Plain, but it offered an avenue of advance direct to the heart of the U.S. military in West Germany, Frankfurt am Main. The Main River is a tributary of the Rhine River. Frankfurt/Main was not only West Germany's financial heart, but also home to two large airfields (the Rhein-Main Air Base) that were designated to receive U.S. reinforcements in the event of war.

NATO
During the Cold War the Fulda Gap considered an obvious routes for a hypothetical Soviet tank and/or East German attack upon West Germany and thus dominated much of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) war planning during the Cold War. High kill rate weapons like nuclear missiles, nuclear recoilless gun, the tactical launcher Davy Crockett, Special Atomic Demolition Munitions along with the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, and A-10 ground attack aircraft which were developed with such an eventuality in mind.

The force was small at first. The reconnaissance and security along the border between the U.S. and Soviet zones of occupation in Germany in the area north and south of Fulda was the mission of elements of the U.S. 3rd and 1st Infantry Divisions from 1945 until June–July 1946. by 1979 other units had arrived including the 108th Military Intelligence, based in Wildflecken, of which the Delta Company Rangers were assigned to strike at the supply lines and command structures of any invading Soviet forces. In September 1980, the 533rd Military Intelligence (MI) Battalion was reactivated in Frankfurt and assigned to the 3rd Armoured Division. The 533rd MI Battalion deployed assets in the Fulda Gap to provide Electronic Warfare capability for the 3rd AD Commander. 144th Ordnance Company was in charge of much of the ammunition delivery and supply work for them.

Forty years after World War II, the United States maintained 250,000 troops in West Germany and the UK had 20,000 troops over there in formations like the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). The USA's, Canada's, France's and UK's contributions were part of a NATO military force of nearly 990,000 personnel, who were mostly West Germans. Western officials said the Soviet Bloc's Warsaw Pact had nearly 1.2 million personnel in neighbouring East Germany and Czechoslovakia, most of whom were Soviets.

The BAOR was formerly armed with tactical nuclear weapons. A tactical nuclear weapon (or TNW) also known as non-strategic nuclear weapon refers to a type of nuclear weapon which is designed to be used on a battlefield in military situations. This is opposed to strategic nuclear weapons which are designed to be used against enemy cities, factories, and other larger-area targets to damage the enemy's ability to wage war and kill thousands of civilians in the proses. Tactical nuclear weapons were a large part of the peak nuclear weapons stockpile levels during the Cold War.

The Cologne Post was a newspaper published for members of the BAOR during this period.

Warsaw Pact
The Soviet 8th Guards Army would spearhead the attack, followed by the 1st Guards Tank Army. More than 100,000 men in all, with 1,000 tanks and another 1,000 infantry carriers, backed up by helicopters and artillery.

Nukes
In response to the quantitative superiority of the Soviet forces, the U.S. deployed Atomic Demolition Mines for many years in the Fulda Gap. Both sides had developed plans to use tactical nuclear weapons in the Gap.

In the parallel universe
Bavaria is independent. It is Pro-Western with pro-NATO sympathies. Whist NATO dose not officially have forces there the USA, UK, France, Austria and W. Germany have singed a mutual defence treaties with it. The United States Army Garrison in Hohenfels and Keller Nato Air Base in Geilenkirchen do exist, but all other OTL troops are not there and have been ATL located to near by parts of ATL W. Germany.

Also see

 * 1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulda_Gap
 * 2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knüllgebirge
 * 3) https://medium.com/war-is-boring/the-lovely-little-town-that-would-have-been-absolutely-screwed-by-world-war-iii-933229e2ea52
 * 4) http://articles.latimes.com/1987-03-01/news/mn-6926_1_fulda-gap
 * 5) http://www.worldaffairsboard.com/what-if-discussions/62471-cold-war-breach-fulda-gap-scenario-4.html
 * 6) http://articles.latimes.com/1987-03-01/news/mn-6926_1_fulda-gap
 * 7) http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/oplan-4102.htm
 * 8) http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/20thcentury/articles/fuldagap.aspx
 * 9) https://medium.com/war-is-boring/the-lovely-little-town-that-would-have-been-absolutely-screwed-by-world-war-iii-933229e2ea52