Die Zerstörung von Rußland
September 14 – the last remnants of the western Russian army, almost 250 divisions strong, is annihilated in Narva. Guderian transfers half of his divisions south to eliminate the Russian presence in the Caucuses…
“Lithuania, General?”
“They refused all entreaties to join the Axis, and were thinking aloud that they could declare neutrality, while still demanding ancestral territory from us and hiding fleeing Russian officers. It was an intolerable situation.”
I'm sure it was in your 'Black or White' world ... Guderian assaults the final Russian stronghold in Baku on February 29 and it holds out for a full month before German troops declare total victory… the General was right - mountains are a bastard of an enemy …
“The Russians fought like lions to the end.”
“I will grant them that. But there is a time when one admits defeat and retreats to lick one’s wounds for another day. Simple common sense that Stalin, through his purges and his terror machine, eroded and decayed. More the pity for all those soldiers who refused to surrender.”
While Stalin refused to negotiate the surrender of Russia, Guderian auctions off parts of the Soviet Union like he was the wrangler at a bull sale. Georgia, Armenia, Turkmenistan – it was an alphabet’s soup of new nations all given their ‘freedoms’ from the oppression of Stalin and his cronies … how much freedom does a country like Georgia really have? To go from a Stalin to a Yusopov? Was that a step in the right direction? This Third Reich coalition, this Greater Germanic Council – this wasn’t a coalition of the willing. It was a coalition of thugs and murderers and dictators and demagogues … after almost a full year goes by after the fall of Leningrad, Stalin sues for peace unconditionally. The Soviet Union is broken up and Stalin retreats into central Siberia. Japan claims almost all of eastern Siberia and, for all intents and purposes, the Russia that imposed her will upon such a vast area for centuries is no more.
“The Soviet Union is broken up, another in a long line of German enemies whose broken swords lie at your feet.”
“But unlike Caesar, I found no pleasure in seeing modern day versions of Vercingetorix humbled. I was merely doing the job that was entrusted to me by the people of Germany.”
“The annihilation of the Soviet Union – did they really have to be dismantled in such a fashion? Offering up countries to any warlord who could afford the entrance fee?”
“This is not a case of ‘better the devil you know.’ These people were given self-rule. This is an old argument, Chronicler – it’s the same as breaking up any of the old colonial powers. And a Russia humbled and on its knees is a Russia that is no longer a threat to Germany.
“General – seriously. Can you honestly claim that Yusopov in Georgia is better than Stalin?”
“Unlike your propaganda, where Stalin is seen as Uncle Joe, I have seen exactly what Stalin is capable of.”
“So, the Soviet Union is no more. Why keep pushing into India? Wasn’t the enemy the British Isles?”
“No, the enemy was Britain. All of Britain - from the shores of Tahiti to the tea houses in Delhi to the gates of Westminster. Unlike the French or the Italians, the British possess that indomitable spirit that refuses to yield unless a foot is grinding down on their throat. How did that Churchill speech go? ‘We will fight them on the beaches, the landing strips, the fields and the streets’ – the British would have never given up as long as one square inch of Britannia remained. The only way to solve that, of course, would be to strip as much of Britannia away from Britain, until she is so poor and so weak and so bloody that she is ripe for the taking. Then, and only then, will I take the British Isles.”
I remember that speech …‘We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.’ … did Guderian really think he could dismantle the whole of the British empire? Was that possible?
“So, as Stalin is deliberating, you push into Karachi and the Indian sub-continent.”
“Correct.”
“And this is when you learn just how deep, and how pervasive, the infiltration of the Munich Group went.”
In-game Notes And Dates Of Importance To Germany:
1941
September 14 – the last Soviet holdout in Narva is anniliated
September 21 – Saudi Arabia lost – UK annexes them
September 22 – DOW on Lebanon
October 1 – annex Lebanon
October 2 – Lebanon created
October 21 – Jordan created
November 6 – DOW on Lithuania
November 11 – Syria created
November 12 – TC is 2429/857 (armies moving towards Caucuses) …
November 16 – Lithuania annexed
December 17 – lost Yemen – UK annexes them
December 26 – the last stand of FM Zhukov – Yerevan falls and with it the last remnants of the western Russian army
1942
January 1 - decision made to forgo all non-industrial building until manpower rises to a respectable level
January 18 – FM von Reichenau dies of a heart attack
January 24 – Armenia created
February 6 – German Intervention in North Africa – take control of Algiers and Tunisia – Italy gets North Africa
February 7 – Georgia created
February 11 – Uzbekistan created
February 29 – Tajikistan created
March 6 - Turkmenistan created
March 21 – Kyrgyzstan created
March 22 – Baku falls
May 28 – Reinhard Heydrich killed
June 7 – Serbia created
June 15 – Persia annexed
June 16 – Guderian assaults Karachi
June 22 – Saudi Arabai re-created
June 26 – Persia created
June 27 – Iraq annexed
July 4 – Allies kicked out of Middle East for the 2nd time
July 13 – Guderian enters Karachi
July 25 – Slovenia created
August 1 – Azerbaijan created
August 4 – Yemen created
August 12 – Stalin finally sues for peace – “Let Us Keep What We Still Have”
