Manchurian Survival 1978

In Albania, the leader of the Albanian People's Socialist Republic broke with China over its overtures to the United States. Fortunately, it was not isolated; they have Hoxhaist rebels in Tigray supporting a Hoxhaist state. Yugoslavia in revenge, had secretly the Eritrean People's Liberation Front to swear allegiance to Belgrade, as now they have nuclear weapons to back it up in case the Soviets find out. Besides, their beef was with Tirana, not Moscow. But in the meantime, its the TPLF that has the upper hand. Albania in turn, as a chemical weapons stockpile and even recruited pro-Albanian foreign parties to support its army.

After the defeat of Somalia in the Ogaden War, Somalia turned to China for assistance.

In Manchuria, Tong Zhishan, the President of Manchuria, died of liver failure. He was born in the 1910s. He was succeeded by Li Zhaolin, an ethnic Chinese (he still speaks Manchu with a heavy Chinese accent, rather than the artificial 'Standard Manchu' accent) and a former confidant of Zhao Shangzhi. Though still pro-Soviet, he has a somewhat hardline reputation. He did denounce the "betrayal" of the Chinese, the North Koreans, and the Albanians from the Soviet camp. He took a more orthodox communist position in economics, ending some of the reforms, but maintained the secret nuclear weapons program.

Meanwhile, in Western Sahara, the Polisario requested Yugoslav and Algerian request for help. And as promised, Special Forces helped the Polisario defeat Morocco, as well as providing Yugoslav weaponry to remove Moroccan and Mauritanian presence in Western Sahara. As a result, Sahara was an effective Egyptian satellite state.

Meanwhile, Israel left the West Bank and Gaza, making Palestine a de-facto independent state. The realization that Egypt now has atomic arms had forced the Likud party to evacuate the West Bank and Gaza. East Jerusalem remained under Israeli rule, however, as well as the Golan Heights, and it is still a sore point with Israeli-Arab relations. Unlike Western Sahara, Palestine was more independent-minded in its political affairs.

Equatorial Guinea became the latest Communist state thanks to a Cuban-backed coup. 

In Chile, the government of Eduardo Letelier is falling apart. The army is resisting Sovietization and East Germanization. The Argentinians at that point are prepared to fight over the Beagle islands. The international courts ruled in favor of Chile, and were not impressed. The Argentine junta made an propaganda war over how the Chilean government was actually ruled from Havana. On December 19, 1978, Jorge Videla ordered an blitzkrieg attack on Chile. The Chileans, despite Soviet equipment, were surprised and weakened. Nevertheless, they provided fierce resistance.

When the Chileans proved to be a tough nut to crack, Jorge Videla chose an infamous decision. 

On Boxing Day, 1978, an Argentinian nuclear bomb destroyed the main Chilean force defending Santiago. The Argentines rushed to the capital, which of course, not nuked, and fearing the worst, the Letelier government fled to Easter Island. The Chilean Army revolted and officially removed Letelier from power. However, they still resisted the Argentinians. It took the Pope to negotiate an armistice, in which the situation was turned into status quo ante. Of course, there was the numerous demonstrations denouncing Argentina, in which Videla told the foreign protestors to "bug off". 

The map is created from 's alternate history series maps.