The Channel Pact - Germany&UK Coop AAR

December

Back in Europe, the German advance had been halted before Naples. A British invasion was planned to flank the Italian defenders and put the boot under Pact control for once and for all


After the fall of Taranto, German forces broke through at Naples and Foggia, forcing all Italian troops to flee to Sicily.


The demand for more shore bombardment capacity led to the development of the Horatio class Super Heavy Battleship.


Two ships of this kind were ordered, the HMS Thunderer and the HMS Vanguard. When commissioned, these battleships would be the largest warships ever to sail the Seven Seas. Rumours had that the Japanese were also constructing two Super Heavy Battleships, the IJN Yamato and the IJN Mushahi. In the US, the news was met with new orders being placed for Norfolk Shipyard to commence production on a fleet of new capital class vessels, including Battlecruisers, Heavy Cruisers and Battleships. The naval arms race continued.

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1942

The following events took place on the 27th of February, 1942, Berlin, Germany

The Channel Pact Surpreme Command was in turmoil. Founded two months after the Act of the Pact, the Surpreme Command was stationed at the Prussian military Academy in Berlin. Here several high-ranking generals attended, with special offices reserved for Field Marshall Van Geyte and Grand Admiral De Nil and their staff. Now, an emergency meeting was being held in the conference room to discuss recent developments. The war was now a year old and going reasonably well for the Pact, with the Italian and African stalemates slowly crumbling the European allies were on the verge of surrender.
In Asia, on the other hand, the situation was rapidly deteriorating. Several more prominent British ships had been destroyed by the Combined Fleet, including the HMS Astute, HMS Port Hancour, HMS Paragon, HMS Royal Oak and several other heavy cruisers. British shipping was taking hits left and right, and with most of British industry still tangled up on the construction of new carriers it had little to spare to protect Pact shipping. In the meanwhile, Japanese imperial forces were pushing relentlessly towards the vital port of Singapore


British troops reorganised to hold the lines at Kuantan and Kuala Lumpur, where the dense forests would shield them from tactical bombardment. But other more terrifying news had arrived.

The following events took place February 28th, 1942, Berlin, Germany
“Goddammnit!”

Van geyte nearly rammed his fist through the table after reading the newly arrived documents. Breaking with years of Monroe doctrine, the United States of America, led by the newly elected Interventionist Alfred Langdon, had declared war upon the Channel Pact.
“This is grave news indeed” De Nil nodded. “But, war was to come sooner or later”
“No, this isn’t just bad news. When America goes to war, the entire world goes to war. I expect South-America to join the conflict very soon now”
“So what? They’ll cut our opium supplies? Ignore them. It is not your problem now, not before the land war has been won. The naval war is what I'm worried about at the moment. Our shipbuilding industry has maxed out, we hit the roof, and still the Japanese and Americans are producing at least double of what we are."
“Oh, but there’s worse”
Van Geyte threw a second document on the table, a recently imposed embargo on the Pact nations by the Cominterm
“Were we even trading with the Cominterm?”
“No. But that’s not the point. The Reichstag is in a fury over this one. They want war, and they want it now. Our manpower reserves are depleted. Invading the Soviet beast would be suicide”
“You should know better than to listen to the Reichstag”
“The Reichstag is not my concern, it’s the people. They want to see epic victories, German forces overthrowing all opposition. They aren’t too keen to have a Communist superpower at their borders. We can’t risk losing their support over this one”
The German generals also attending responded
“Let us go to war. Germany has faced graver odds before. Our backs are against the wall, and it’s time to fight back. The Soviet Union must be destroyed”
Van geyte sat down and pondered

“How many forces are manning the Eastern Front?”
“250 divisions, sir, including 50 tank divisions and 20 mechanized divisions. We expect to be able to mobilize an additional 70 divisions in two months.”
“And the Soviets?”
“380 divisions. Undermanned. Unprepared. The officer purge eliminated all of their most capable officers. We can smash them”
The field marshall grumbled.
"What do you think?"
The Grand Admiral nodded "War."
“Very well. We go to war against the Soviet Union. I hope you’ve all made peace with god.”
He stood up and grabbed his coat
“I will be assuming command of Armeegruppe Mittel myself. I expect to commence a full-scale assault in 14 days”
“14 days? But sir, that’s com…”
“Fourteen days”
the door slammed shut
The general sighed
“Inform the Reichstag. Commence Operation Barbarossa”

It had been unevitable: The escalation.

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Operation Barbarossa would go into history as the most hastily planned offence ever, as hostilities started only fourteen days after the plans were made. Following the German declaration of war, several prominent South-American states joined the Allies, as predicted by Van Geyte. The war was now fully escalating


US Forces rapidly deployed to the Azores island chain, and transformed it into a main base of operations for the Western allies, fro which they initiated countless bombing raids over Pact-occupied Europe. There was no hope left for Italy, as British control of the ME shut off all communications, so US fleets concentrated on coordinating the Pacific War with the IJN and raids in the Northern Atlantic. In the meanwhile, three mayor offensives were launched by the Channel Pact, hoping to smash Russia on all fronts.


Operation Barbarossa was the main offensive, and would later be known as the largest land war ever seen in modern combat. Blitzkrieg tactics and encirclements were the main German tactic, while the Russian forces employed mass-unit warfare and attritional defence. The Great Patriotic War had begun.


The true nature of the Third Act of the Channel pact came forward, as it served for a shrewd backdoor into Russia. Pact Forces were hoping to quickly advance over the Central-Asian plains and capture the vital industrial areas of the Trans-Siberian railroad, hereby cutting Soviet forces off from their main supply. Other prominent targets included the rich oil reserves of the South-Caucasus and the Black Sea ports.


From Scandinavia, German elite mountain troops advanced south to capture Leningrad and outflank the Russian defenders. So began the Russo-German war, a battle to the death over three fronts spanning over 9.000 miles.

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