A Creek without a Paddle - Gotterdammerung, Germany 1944.

3​

Three new transport ships had been produced to increase the Kriegsmarines invasion capabilities.​

These were placed in Spain and then sent to the North African port of Mostaganem to join up with the damaged ships repairing there.​

Saalwachter was taking his fleet south to invade further along the coast when he encountered an ASW fleet.​

The three ships, two Portuguese and one French, stood little chance. KMS Tirpitz would sink the French destroyer squadron, KMS Admiral Hipper the Portuguese and KMS Nurnberg the submarine flotilla.​

Heeresgruppe West forces in Dakar were rested enough to continue their advance.​

Von Bock led the attack against Tambacounda. The French forces held out until 1900 hours before being forced to retreat.​

VI. Panzerkorps, led by von Manteuffel, arrived on schedule in Sanaa. Von Manteuffel sent word to Rommel of his arrival.​

A quick signal to von Ribbentrop to advise him of the situation resulted in a summons to the diplomat's office.​

The Ambassador to Yemen was advised of the demise of his Country and its occupation by German forces.​

Heeresgruppe Ost's strike force had arrived in Multan without further resistance. Von Manstein sent word to von Ribbentrop that he required a little diplomacy.​

Von Ribbentrop summoned another diplomat to his office for a swift and blunt discussion.​

Afghanistan was now at war with Germany.​

Von Manstein wasted no time in ordering assaults across the region.

Blaskowitz would attack Herat in the west of Afghanistan. Dietl would lead the mountaineers towards Kabul.

Von Manstein led the armoured forces of Heeresgruppe Ost south east towards the vacant province of Bikaner.

The attacks into Afghanistan would be over within four hours.​

Kesselring had taken his bomber wings to take a look at the defences of Sardinia and Corsica in the Mediterranean.​

They found, to their surprise, an Ethiopian division out of supply on Sardinia.​

Model sent word to von Rundstedt of his arrival in Tambacounda south east of Dakar.​

The French had a lot of troops in this area. For a relatively small country they had a lot more manpower than expected. Thirty three French divisions were counted in the immediate vacinity, this was more than the Soviet army currently had at their disposal.​

"Morning Gentlemen. Julius how are we advancing?" Bormann starts the meeting.

"Slow and steady Martin. Good morning all." begins Ringel. "Amongst other things we now have a military presence in South America."​

"The province of Cayenne is under our control and our limited forces in the region are advancing west into the British metal rich provinces. We have no idea of Brazilian forces in this area right now and we have started the construction of an airbase to provide some advanced knowledge."​

"West Afrika looks like this. We are making progress along the west coast at a slow pace. This pace has been accelerated by some invasions ahead of our forces. You may notice the province of Monrovia to the south of our forces. German forces have just this minute landed in the Liberian capital. More forces are landing and then the Kriegsmarine will pick up more troops to attempt a landing further along the coast. We had no option but to take Monrovia as our fleet did not have the range to land exactly where we wished. Joachim you will need to summon the Liberian ambassador and let him know his Country is no longer a U.S.A. puppet."

"I will do that right after this meeting Julius." replied von Ribbentrop.

"Thank you Joachim. We have encountered a suprising number of French troops in this area and we expect to find more as we head east. I am moderately concerned that even if we capture Libreville, and force the French to capitulate, the French troops will switch to British control. Heeresgruppe West will conduct ground operations as if the forces will remain. We do not know if Libreville is guarded at this time."​

"Moving over to east Afrika and India. Heeresgruppe Afrika has begun expanding out from Cairo with little to no opposition. They will advance as fast as they can over the difficult terrain. Sometime towards the later end of April Heeresgruppes West and Afrika should link up around the Tobruk area if all goes well. Ethiopia will need to be dealt with when Rommel reaches it as well. We do not expect much serious opposition when we get there.

India sees Heeresgruppe Ost making headway once more. The attacks into Afghanistan went well and it is just a matter of time before this Country is no longer a threat. The British do have significant forces in the area and von Manstein is currently working to move around them and isolate as many as possible. Unfortunately for them there is a swamp directly behind the forces in Hyderabad which should give our mobile forces all the time they need. More forces will also extend towards the mountains of Nepal to try and cut off the British forces to the north. We still have forces reorganising in Cairo which we can send in any direction that they are needed. India seems most likely.

We now have transport capability in the Mediterranean and will start to mop up some of the islands in the area. Sicily is still too well guarded for me to cross and we will let those forces starve for a while longer. The Arabian peninsula is also almost totally under our control with armoured forces continuing to advance into the last remaining areas. Nothing further." concludes Ringel.

"Thank you Julius. Joachim please." says Bormann.

"Morning all. Liberia I will take care of after this meeting. I have informed all the necessary Ambassadors of their losses over the last month. Our enemies numbers slowly decline."​

"Japan is struggling badly on the mainland. They lost control of Manchukuo and Allied forces have already advanced to Vladivostok. In the south they are losing the islands of Indonesia slowly despite a naval presence. The Mainland remains secure though and I expect them to hold for a while longer yet. Nothing more." von Ribbentrop finishes.

"Our Japanese friends have done well to hold back the Allies this long. Albert production please."

"As you wish Martin. Good morning Gentlemen." begins Speer. "The increased industrial capacity is doing its work and things are looking better as far as growth goes."​

"Manpower will become a concern soon as it has been cut with the replacement of Walther. Stockpiles are dwindling in some areas but are of no major concern at this time. Transport capacity has increased greatly with the new industrial base and is no longer anything but a minor worry despite the partisan activity in some areas. We are nearing the completion of the latest research into Light Cruisers. When this finishes I will begin the construction of these vessels. All done."

"Karl you have someting?" asks Bormann.

"Just a note. Enemy naval activity is increasing around the Afrikan coast. With the capture of Liberia it is just a matter of time before the U.S. send a serious fleet to stop our invasion plans."

"Thank you Karl. Anyone have anything else to add?" asks Bormann. The remaining ministers shake their heads in the negative. "Then we are done here, see you all next month if not before."​