"In the first strategic echelon, the task of the Army Group [front] consists in exploiting the effects of the first massive nuclear strikes, to destroy in a relatively short time the nuclear weapons and groupings of the enemy in the entire zone of attack in considerable depth and create favorable conditions for the launching of a further operation by the Army Group.

The depth of the operational zone of the Army Group will always be influenced by the situation, the task, the quantity of troops in it and the possibilities of the operational direction. The depth will extend to 400-500 kilometers and more.

The tasks of the Army Group are usually divided into the immediate and the long-term tasks.

The substance of the immediate task consists in the destruction of the enemy means of nuclear assault and the seizure of the space that is necessary for the fulfillment of the task of the Army Group to create favorable conditions for transition to the next offensive operation without an operational pause.

According to the task, the depth of penetration by the Army Group can be 600-1,000 kilometers and more. It can be assumed that until the fulfillment of the immediate task the average speed of the attack will be 50-60 kilometers, in some cases as much as 100 kilometers a day . . . .

The width of the attack zone of the army group can extend as much as 150-200 kilometers . . . .

In conclusion, it can be said that the current requirement is to transfer the hostilities into the enemy territory in the shortest possible time."

["Základní charakteristiky frontové operace v po_áte_ním období války," ca. June 1963, MNO-1963, GS/VD-SDV; sg. 5/2-8, Military Historical Archives, Prague, translated by Vojtech Mastny]
 

During the Western Army Group's ASTRA exercise in July 1964, the intentions of its commander in the event of a real war were expressed in the following way:

I intend to exploit the effects of strategic nuclear strikes in the zone of operations of the Western Army Group and the destruction of the main grouping of the "Western" forces in order to create the conditions for the development of high-speed operations in the direction of the main thrust along the line Hradec Králové-Pilsen-Nuremberg, finish the annihilation of the grouping of the first "Western" echelon, cross the Bohemian and Bavarian Forests and, by the fifth day of the operation, establish control of the area of Fulda, Würzburg, Schwäbisch-Hall, Feucht-Wangen and Schweinfurt as the immediate task of the Army Group.

Subsequently I intend to develop the operation in the direction of the main thrust along the line Nuremberg-Karlsruhe-Lunévile, destroy the second echelons, put out of combat the forces and facilities located in the southern part of the Federal Republic of Germany and, by the end of the 9th-10th day, fulfill the task of the Army Group by establishing control of the area of Metz, Nancy, Mulhouse, Strasbourg and Saarbrücken.

[ . . . ]

For the operations of the 14th Army, there are assigned 41 missiles with nuclear warheads . . . and 23 missiles with chemical warheads. . . .

Strikes will be conducted against the following objects and targets:

—airfields: Eichstädt, Schwäbisch-Gmünd, Schwäbisch-Hall, Giebelstadt

—Nike Hercules air defense units: Bamberg, Nuremberg, Donauwörth

—command headquarters: Heilbronn

—army units [U.S. and West German]:

12th Tank Division—4 nuclear strikes

4th Armored Division—2 nuclear strikes

24th Mechanized Division—2 nuclear strikes

10th Mechanized Division—2 nuclear strikes

—economic and political centers: Nuremberg, Stuttgart