Return to Glory: A Germania AAR

HKslan: In Spain I was advancing on all fronts against the Republicans until the Spanish Navy managed to sink several of my convoys. My forces quickly ran out of supplies and were pushed back to the coast where I eventually evacuated them. As I. Panzerarmee had no oil, their retreat was so slow that the Spanish were able to occupy the coastal provinces and trap them inland in Burgos.

trekaddict: Having learned my lesson the first time, my stock of convoys and escorts is now greatly expanded. So, perhaps....

Jan. 7, 1940
Bourges Province, France


German artillery piece on the Loire River

Helmut Wolf opened and closed his left fist, trying to work the nagging pain and stiffness out of his arm and shoulder. It was a useless distraction, and one he could ill afford right now. Upon returning to the hospital in Amsterdam, he had been informed by his doctor that it would be sometime before he was fully healed and that he could not be cleared for combat duty. That had been the last thing that Helmut wanted to hear. He had already missed the entire Polish campaign and the drive on Paris, and he had absolutely no intention of finishing out the war in a hospital. After a rather heated discussion, during which Helmut made some rather pointed references to the very married doctor's relationship with some of the nurses, he had received a full clearance and had immediately left to rejoin his unit at the front.

Now, he stood atop a hill at the edge of a small, mostly abandoned village gazing across the Loire River, contemplating how to best move his men across. The overall objective of the division was Auxerre, the fall of which when combined with Generalfeldmarschall von Blomberg's (hopefullly) simultaneous capture of Dijon, would finally complete the encirclement of French forces in the east. Naturally, the French had blown the bridges over the river and had fortified any potential crossing points. As artillery began blasting the French positions across the river, he saw Max climbing the small hill that he was standing on. When Max reached the crest, he offered a salute to Helmut and said, "Bad news, sir. I'm told that there's no smoke available."

Helmut cursed under his breath. Without smoke to cover the advance, losses were likely to be severe. It was essential to him that this attack be a complete success. During the push to this side of the river, the company commander had been slightly wounded and Helmut had been given temporary command. The fortunes of war had provided him with an opportunity to prove himself, and he would not see it wasted. Max, who had returned to the division over a week ago and had been promoted to Scharfuhrer, gave voice to Helmut's concern, "Crossing the river exposed like that will be a disaster, sir. Assuming that we get across, will we have enough strength to assault the French positions?"

Helmut frowned and did not reply. He needed to consider the options available, and he needed to do it fast as the attack was on a very strict timetable. As hard as he thought, there seemed to be no alternative but to cross the river and hope for the best. Calling for air support was out of the question as the Luftwaffe had completely lost control of the skies by this point, and a postponement was out of the question as well. He was about to tell Max to make ready for the attack when a strong, cold wind suddenly came up. Helmut watched as clouds of snow blew off of the hill down toward the river below. Turning to look at the buildings that sat behind him on the hill, Helmut smiled.

Thirty minutes later, Helmut was the first to set foot on the opposite bank of the Loire. The French defenders were pouring heavy fire into the river, but it was inaccurate and doing little damage. This side of the river was completely shrouded in smoke and the French were firing blindly. Their firing only served to mark their positions to the German troops pouring out of their boats. Led by Helmut, they hurled grenades toward the muzzle flashes of the French rifles and machine guns and stormed position after position. Despite burning eyes and lungs, the German troops flowed over the French positions. Confusion reigned. The men holding the French reserve positions were afraid to open fire as they couldn't tell friend from foe among the smoke, and by the time they could tell that the men running toward them were Germans, it was often too late. With Germans suddenly appearing among them like ghosts and under fire from what seemed like all sides, French morale, which was not very high by this point in the war anyway, collapsed. All along the line the French broke and fled the battle. In many areas, fearing that the Germans were already behind them, French soldiers just sat where they were and waited to be taken prisoner.

With the French driven from the bank of the river, German engineer battalions quickly set to the task of bridging the Loire. Within hours, German armor was across the river and rolling toward Auxerre.


Panzer III of the SS Das Reich Division after crossing the Loire

On January 9th, troops of the SS Panzer Division "Das Reich" met the men of Generalfeldmarschall von Blomberg's command on the border of the Auxerre and Dijon provinces. The French Army was surrounded.

Jan. 10, 1940

In less than two weeks, France had suffered the major blows of having it's vaunted Maginot Line overrun with surprising ease and the encirclement of all of it's armed forces in eastern France. With the Germans poised to deliver a death blow to the French Army, the military and political leadership of France lost all faith in the prospect of victory and sought to bring an end to the conflict. Facing a continued war with Britain, Germany was all too happy to come to terms.

Under the terms of the armistice, the northern region of France as well as all coastal provinces, though still under the administration of the French government, were to be occupied by German forces until such time as a peace was signed with Britain. The cost of providing for this occupation force would, of course, be borne by France. In addition, the Alsace-Lorraine region of France would come under the direct administration of the German government(though no mention was made of annexing the region). The French government, under Marshal Petain, would eventually settle in Vichy. Peace had returned to France, and Britain now stood alone against the German war machine.


A Frenchman reacts as news of the surrender is announced in Paris

At the news of the French surrender, a wave of euphoria swept across Germany. Hitler immediately ordered a victory parade and the route was lined by thousands of cheering Germans, waving flags and thundering their approval of the Fuhrer. The humiliation of Versailles had been avenged, and the future looked bright for the German people.


Victory parade in Berlin


A week after the surrender, the Fuhrer toured the city of Paris and conferenced with his generals on the future aims of the German war effort. A particular source of contention was whether or not to attempt an invasion of Britain. Grossadmiral Raeder and Generalfeldmarschalls Bayerlein and von Fritsch cautioned against it, while Generalfeldmarschall von Blomberg and Reichsmarschall Goering stated that they believed such an invasion was possible. In the end, Hitler ordered that plans be drawn up for an invasion of the British Isles(codenamed Unternehmen Seelöwe) and submitted for his approval.



Hitler in Paris

HKslan: I'm not sure as the Vichy event fired immediately afterward. If memory serves, it was at least three dozen. Why they didn't try harder to break out I don't know.

stnylan: France is more than reeling!

trekaddict: I had once read that Rommel had done that and decided to work it into the story. I see that you are well informed. As you can see, Vichy fired right afterward. It happened so fast that I never got a picture of the encirclement. I can tell you that the French held provinces inside the pocket were Troyes and Chaumont.

stnylan said:

That wraps that up then. The French are indeed more than reeling. They are reeled

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Indeed! Now where to next, I wonder.

trekaddict said:

Woot. The Frenchies are down, 1 ( and if you follow history three ) to go.


btw, that first pic, wasnt it used in the loosing postgame screen in the opriginal HOI2?

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Yes, France is indeed down. But as far as where to next, I don't know. The Reich only wants peace, you understand. However, the warmongers in Britain are refusing to negotiate any kind of peace settlement. That being said, Germany has no choice but to continue the war.

Right now, major focus is on the war in the Balkans. I could choose to join either side really, but it may be time to ally myself with Italy. After all, their navy and their armies in Africa will divert British attention from Europe, which is a good thing. In addition, if I was to invade Yugoslavia, I could secure ports from which I could launch convoy raids in the Mediterranean. That would mean both hitting British convoys when they are inside the Med and coming out.

Whatever I decide in the immediate future, rest assured that Spain is still slated for payback of epic proportion.


I'm not sure about the picture. To me, it always comes to mind whenever I think of the fall of France.

HKslan said:

Goodbye forever French Third Republic.


Especially their armies! If they're at war with Italy and fighting it out in north Africa, you'll probably find just 9 British INF in Britain itself.

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I see that your mind is as fiendishly devious as mine.

trekaddict said:

In that case you don't even need to get past the Royal Navy, just swam them with paratroopers, two to three korps of 4x para with Arty, AT and AA should be enough. ( it worked for me numerous times ) Besides, wouldn't that be a fitting job for our SS trooper?

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It would take a very long time for me to build enough aircraft to move that many paratroopers. While airborne operations will be a part of any invasion strategy, I will need to to rely on amphibious landings as well.

Jan 15, 1940
Deuil, France

Helmut Wolf was sitting behind his desk, desperately trying to massage away a splitting headache when he heard the young Rottenfuhrer who was serving as his aide here in Deuil ask, "Is there anything I can get for you, sir?"

Helmut turned toward the eager young man and responded, "Coffee and schnapps. I'll decide which one I need more when I have them."

"Coming up, sir!"

Helmut watched the young man disappear and wondered if the kid knew that he was joking about the schnapps. After a moment, he decided that he probably didn't. His impression of the kid thus far was that he was eager to please and utterly humorless. Sure enough, when his aide returned it was with both a pot of coffee and a bottle. Taking them from him, Helmut sighed and made a mental note to be more literal from now on.

Helmut dismissed his aide and poured himself a steaming cup of coffee before turning his attention back to the stack of paperwork on his desk. He couldn't believe how much of it there was. Serves me right for moving up in the world, he thought with only some bitterness. After his performance at the Loire River and the subsequent drive to Auxerre, he had been bumped up to Obersturmfuhrer and had been given permanent command of the company after the old company commander's wounds had proven more severe than first thought. The last Helmut had heard, the poor man had ended up losing a leg. Adding to his duties as company commander, were his additional duties as administrator of this area of occupied France. While the army worked to fortify and defend the French coast against British aggression, cities and villages all over France were also being garrisoned by German forces. In addition to commanding the troops providing garrison duty, their commanding officer was also responsible for administering the occupied zone under his control and maintaining a watch on the civilian population. The sleepy little town to which Helmut had been assigned did not seem as if it would generate too much extra work, but Helmut wouldn't know for sure until he met with Jean Lefevre, the mayor of this village.

Helmut was roused from his musings when Max walked into his office and dropped unceremoniously into a chair across the desk. Helmut had long ago gotten used to Max not paying the proper respect to his rank, but at certain times, like when he had a nasty headache for instance, Max's familiarity irked him greatly. Looking up at his visitor Helmut growled, "What do you want?"

If Max noticed the angry tone in his friend's voice, he didn't show it. Instead, he leaned back in his chair and replied, "Just wanted to stop in and see how you're doing. How does it feel to be lord and master of all you survey?"

"I would have thought that given the fact that we had just arrived here this morning, you would have better things to do than lounge around in my office.", responded Helmut with just a touch of coldness in his tone.

Max shrugged, "Not really. The boys are pros, Helmut. They've already gotten themselves settled down. Looks like all we have to do now is wait out the winter in as much comfort as we can."

Helmut frowned, "Readiness will have to be maintained. If you think that there will be no drilling or maneuvers, you're wrong. We're at war, not on holiday."

Max opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Helmut's aide announcing that the Mayor of Deuil had arrived for their meeting. Helmut nodded and said, "Send him in." Noticing that Max had made no move to get up from his chair, Helmut turned to him and said, "I believe that you know the way out."

Max affected a hurt tone and replied, "Very well, I know when I'm not wanted. Shouldn't be hard to find more friendly company anyway." He offered Helmut what might loosely be termed as a salute and disappeared out the door.

Seconds later, the Mayor entered the office and sat at Helmut's invitation. As Helmut returned to his seat, he quickly took stock of the man across from him. He was a small, but robust seeming man with a friendly face. On first appearance alone, Helmut decided that he should be able to work with the man. Helmut smiled in a friendly way and asked, "Mr. Mayor, would you like something to drink?"

"No, thank you."

Helmut nodded, "I'm sure that, like myself, you are a very busy man. That being said, I will come immediately to the point."

"Please do."

"We will be staying here in Deuil for some time and I feel that it is important for us to go over how things will run from here on. Firstly, let me assure you that none of your people will be put out of their homes or forced to quarter any of our soldiers. A fair rent will be paid to any of your citizens that chooses to make rooms, or other spaces such as barns, available to my men. I see that this appears to be a farming community. Your livestock and any other product of your farms, are yours alone. Your people will receive a fair price for anything that they choose to sell to us. Notice that I say choose to sell. Your people are under no obligation to do so if they do not wish. My men and I wish to have a peaceful and amicable relationship with you and your people. Rest assured that any violations of the peace by my men will be dealt with by me personally."

Helmut paused and looked closely at the Mayor. He was nodding his head slowly and seemed pleased(and a bit relieved) by what he was hearing. Helmut smiled and thought, Now that he's heard the good, it's time to give him the bad. Clearing his throat he continued, "Of course, Mr. Mayor, you understand that this is a zone of military occupation, and I am issuing two edicts that must be followed by all of your people without question. First, I am implementing a curfew. Unless on pressing business, no one will be allowed out of doors after dark. Anyone found out of doors after dark who is unable to give a viable reason for it, will be subject to arrest. Second, all citizens of Deuil and it's environs are to surrender their firearms. Anyone found to be in possession of firearms forty-eight hours from now, will likewise be subject to arrest. Are these edicts understood?"

"Cleary."

Helmut smiled broadly, "Good! I believe that if we work together, everything will go so much easier here. Can I count on your assistance in all of these matters?"

"You can."

Helmut nodded and rose from his seat. He crossed to the other side of the desk and held out his hand saying, "Splendid! I hate to cut our first meeting short, but I am quite busy as you can see. Perhaps we can speak more at a later time?"

The Mayor rose and shook Helmut's hand while replying, "Of course. Let me extend an invitation for dinner tomorrow to you and your senior staff. Perhaps we could speak more extensively then?"

Helmut nodded, "That sounds fine. Thank you."

After showing the Mayor out, Helmut sat back down and stared ruefully at the stack of papers on his desk. Deciding that he had accomplished enough today, he pushed them aside and turned his chair toward the window. Pouring himself a generous allowance from the bottle that his aide had brought earlier, he put his feet on the windowsill and watched as snow fell on his village.