Rank and File: A clerk's war Germany 1936 (Semper Fi)

[weissbrot]

Why not Oberkommando Ost?

OKW and OB West are the historical names for the two theaters, so while it doesn't make much sense to have different names for the same organisational levels you'll need to take that question to the Fuehrer.

[edit]Oh sorry, now I see what you meant. Uriah did not name the eastern theater OKW but OB East and created a new command level all for himself above the theaters. Sneaky! Yes, I guess OB Ost would be the appropriate name there.

And why also not name the armies by their numbers?
Erste, zweite, dritte, vierte, fünfte, sechste, siebte, achte, neunte, zehnte, elfte, zwölfte, dreizehnte usw?

That would be efficient, and probably make sense for armies that move around a lot, but personally I also tend to give my armies names according to their area of responsibility. Well, maybe that is because I would forget where the Dritte Armee is located, but I'd know where to look for the Westwall Armee...


Now, while I'm taking the time to leave a post, I can't leave again without praising Uriah (again) for this excellent AAR. It began with a high quality and only got better and better. I'll certainly be staying until world domination is achieved.

[lazygun78]

Unfortunately those are the ones I have to beat.
...
But I still don't think you can beat English for complexity and downright evil-minded illogic.
...

We will discuss this when you had a couple more of your german lessons. Then you will realize that we (the germans) are the world leaders in "how to make it difficult for foreigners to speak our languange correctly" (and lost world wars).

[kigrwik]

"how to make it difficult for foreigners to speak our languange correctly"

I thought the jury was still out for that question. At least, you manage to have a list of irregular verbs. In France we could only list the *regular* ones.

[Surt]

That was a very nice listing of commanders.

[Uriah]

Rank and File
A Clerk’s War

1st January to 19th January 1940

Having finalised the end of 1939 report, and absorbed the many changes in the new Wehrmacht organisational structure, I could finally get around to catching up on the last month’s events. Of course I have read the newspapers, listened to the new broadcasts on the radio and seen the news features at the Kino, but once you have acquired a taste for news straight from the source you are never satisfied with the pre-digested form. Documents are real: purchase orders, contracts, movement slips, promotion advices, policy documents, bombing summaries, after action reports. I needed something that told me what was actually going on, not what somebody thought I should know.

My staff members know my preference for reading things chronologically, and that I prefer to decide what is important or not, so there were a row of large and well ordered stacks of files waiting for me in my office.

The top document was date stamped 7AM on New Year’s Day, and was from our embassy in Washington. Allowing for the time difference, they must have missed out on the Silvester celebrations. I can see, though, why there was such urgency to transmit the news (coded of course). The US Secretary of State, Cordell Hull, had approved the transfer to the United Kingdom of no less than fifty destroyers! Payment was to be in the form of leases over naval and air bases, mainly in the Caribbean and South America. As our Ambassador pointed out in a stern letter to Mr Hull, this was in direct contravention of the US Neutrality Acts, which forbid the provision of military equipment to combatants for anything other than cash. This is a clear indication that President Roosevelt, despite his protestations, favours the British in the current war. We need to watch the USA very closely.

The “Caldwell” class DD73 USS Stockton: she will become HMS “Ludlow”.

There was a bundle of papers attached, mainly from various sections of the Kriegsmarine, commenting on the news. Admiral Dönitz, as commander of the U-boat fleet, was informed straightaway, and believes that we will see the impact of this decision soon. It will allow the Royal Navy to increase escorts on convoys, and will no doubt lead to the loss of U-boats. Großadmiral Raeder, however, has pointed out that the impact may not be as great as first feared. The destroyers are all elderly, built between 1917 and 1920: three “Caldwell” class, twenty-seven “Wickes” class and twenty “Clemson” class. Collectively they will be known as the “Town” class. They are all “four stackers” and will need extensive modification to perform escort duties. Our naval commanders and engineers have reported that these particular ships are not particularly well suited to anti-submarine escort duties, being very uncomfortable on long voyages, and not being very manoeuvrable.

The “Wickes” class DD127 USS “Twiggs”: she will become HMS “Leamington”. Note the way she handles: her crew will suffer greatly from the roll and from being continuously wet.



The “Clemson” class DD257 USS “Welles”: she will become HMS “Cameron”

More cheerful news on the 2nd, a new addition to the Heer: a fourth motorised division for 1st Motorkorps. As von Arnim currently has his unit operating in Italy (assisting the invasion of Switzerland), General Petersen has been instructed to move his division south to join him.

The extra manufacturing capacity has been assigned to a previously little known group of scientists who have been examining the possibilities of rocket based weaponry. I can remember a few years ago these same scientists were being laughed at with their promises of “super weapons” but with so many improvements in technology recently they have become more respectable. They have persuaded some very high officials to put their reputations on the line, as the contracts I saw were for the construction of a massive rocket testing facility at Peenemünde, far to the east on the Ostsee coast, to be known as Heeresversuchsstelle Peenemünde. The amounts involved are enormous, and represent a significant investment.

Would you trust millions of Reichsmarks to these men? If I were in charge I would have sent them packing.



The two key researchers, Herren Nebel and von Braun, are apparently very persuasive. I hope they do more work on the delivery system for these rockets.

There were a lot of papers arguing for the funding of this experimental station, and I must admit a lot of it, especially the mathematics, were imprehensible to me. As far as I can make out, there has been a lot of research carried out at Kummersdorf, and the results are promising. But Kummersdorf is too small for the next generation of experiments, which will need a different sort of fuel to develop enormous thrust. What seems to have swung the day for the scientists is that Göring has become entranced with the idea that this thrust could be used to power a rocket-powered aircraft. Having read the documents several times I am still not sure whose budget this comes out of, as the property is owned by the Luftwaffe but the administration seems to be Heeres Waffenamt (though there is a Luftwaffe test site there as well). I am sure that it will provoke months of arguments at some time: Reichsmarschall Göring will make sure that the Heer pays its way: he likes to know where every RM ends up!

A drawing of the proposed rocket test site: it all looks very impressive but it is beyond me why we need these things.



Testing an A-3 rocket at Kummersdorf - the scientists claim this is the beginning of the “Rocket Age”.

At 5PM on the 2nd came the message that everyone in the Foreign Ministry had dreaded: our Ambassador in Rome advised that Count Ciano had called in the Greek Ambassador and told him that Il Duce was offering an ultimatum to Greece: complete subjugation or war. The Greeks of course rejected the ultimatum and now the two countries are at war. Italy is totally unprepared for this adventure: most of the Regia Esercito is still in Switzerland.

Italian lack of preparation in Albania: only three regiments able to threaten Greece and Il Duce issues an ultimatum!

Perhaps they would not be there for long, however. At 9PM the Swiss General Marcaud ordered his troops in Zürich to lay down their arms. He stated that he could no longer accept the loss of civilian life associated with his resistance. As a result of days of bombing and shelling, most of the city is in flames. Nobody could accuse his or his men of cowardice: 1,705 of his 25,257 men were dead or captured, and he was facing a total of 551,499 Axis soldiers. Our losses were only 256 men.

The End of the Battle for Zürich: the largest battle of the war to date. Italian forces already seem to be heading to Albania.

The next morning the Swiss Army (what was left of it) surrendered to the Italian forces. The Government had fled, swearing to continue the fight from London, but with no armed forces such statements were not of concern. Although the Italians will control most of the country (and the cities and production areas) we will retain possession of a few provinces that we captured. The most important thing is that we have eliminated another opponent and freed up dozens of divisions.

A new air unit has been set up in Kassel, to be known as 1st Jagdfliegerkorps. It currently only has one geschwader, JG 71 “Die Walküren”, led by Commander Klepke. More interceptors are on the way: the Luftwaffe insists that at least 3 more geschwader will be required to secure the Reich from enemy bombers.

It was about this time that the great Heer reorganisation commenced. 2nd Gebirgsjägerkorps was created, and 4th, 5th and 6th Gebirgsäger Divisions were assigned to it. General Geib was given 1st Küste und Grenze Army and II Armeekorps was transferred to his command. 1st Motorkorps, deep in Switzerland was ordered to start driving west, to join the Army of Sud-Frankreich. And a new Heeeresgruppe was set up, under Genral Paulus, and the Norsee Army was attached.

One folder containing a few simple transfers and supply documents was, to my eyes, immensely important. The transfer documents directed Admiral Dönitz to rebase his 2nd Unterseebootsflotte to La Rochelle and await further orders. The other papers were directions to set up fuel and torpedo depots, arrange for food and other supplies etc. Why I saw it as important was that this was the first time units of the Kriegsmarine have set up a permanent base outside the Reich. We are staking our claim to the Atlantic seaboard. From ports on the Bay of Biscay our submarines will be able to hit convoys far out in the Atlantic. And now there is possibility of our surface ships taking on the Royal Navy on the high seas.

Although I had read nothing about it in the press at the time, apparently Lille was bombed again on the 3rd. Bogatsch and his Messerschmitts had soon driven off the RAF strategic bombers, but it is a worry that such news is being kept from the general population. I suppose if it had been a German city we would have told. Or would we?

Air Battle of Lille

On the 4th a couple of air battles took place: the first between Felmy and a small group of Swiss bombers now flying for the RAF. There is some sort of subterfuge going on here, as we have been told that the “Taktikkampfgeschwader” is commanded by someone called “Bider”, but as far as we can determine, this man actually died in 1919. A photograph we have of the commander is definitely that of the dead man. Another example of the devious nature of our foes, following the deceitful French naming their armoured units as “Infantry Brigades”. But what are they trying to achieve?

Air Battle of Como: dead man flying?

Later in the day the Luftwaffe clashed with the RAF over Dover, and both sides lost heavily. Although the dogfight lasted just an hour or so, Christiansen lost 16 Messerschmitts from 4th Jagdfliegerkorps, while Steele lost 17 Spitfires and Hurricanes.

Air Battle of Dover

At last our bombers in 4th Kampffliegerkorps have some protection. Grauert gratefully accepted the deployment of the brand new JG 22 “Schild” geschwader. Hopefully this will decrease our bombers losses in the coming year. Minister Schacht has directed the factories involved to change to producing equipment for another Coastal Division: everything needed for two infantry regiments, a rocket artillery brigade and a standard artillery brigade. There is a huge push to increase the size of the Heer, presumably in preparation for the (still secret) Unternehmen Barbarossa next year. On the 10th, 281. and 285. Sicherung divisions left their mobilisation areas for the Nord-Frankreich Sicherungskorps.

Even before these divisions were completely fitted out, authority was given for another Panzer Division to be formed, with two Pzkpfw IIIF regiments and two regiments of motorised infantry. Production of enough 3.7cm Flak guns to equip an anti-aircraft brigade was begun, and in response to the bombing of Lille, construction started on fixed anti-aircraft defences for the city.

The Kriegsmarine has not been forgotten: 7th Zerstörergeschwader joined the Nordseeflotte. These are the 1936A models, as we have not invested much in the way of naval research recently. I have heard rumours, however, that Großadmiral Raeder is pushing for more modern ships for his fleet: it remains to be seen how the struggle for research funds is handled. In other naval news, Admoral Dönitz, having made sure his base in La Rochelle was being properly supplied and administered, took his 2nd Unterseebootsflotte south, with orders to patrol the waters off Cape St Vincent. He is, as usual, instructed to operate defensively, and not to risk any of his precious U-boats.

Z39, part of 7.Zerstörergeschwader, sails to join the Nordseeflotte. Compare her to the ageing rust-buckets the USA has provided to the British. Unfortunately, it will probably be our submarines who face the out-dated destroyers, not the Nordseeflotte.

Word has been received from our liaison officers in Rome that Mussolini has started to get serious about Greece, probably in response to the worsening situation in Albania. Rather than Italian units marching triumphantly towards Athens, the Greeks have defeated the few Italians present in Albania and seized the province of Korce. Although the Italians successfully regained control of Korce, they then lost Vlore, adjacent to the capital, Tirane, the only viable port in the country. Naval groups are rushing troops to Tirane, and tens of thousands of Italian troops are heading to the naval base at Venice, preparing to be shipped overseas. Several Wehrmacht analysts have pointed out that it would be helpful if some of these men were sent to North Africa where the British are still marching west against mimimal opposition, but apparently Il Duce is fixated on Greece.

Reinforcements for Albania on 5th January



Troopships heading for the port of Tirane on 12th January



Venice: a magnet for the Regia Esercito

While everyone in Berlin was horrified with the news that Italy had decided to pick a fight with Greece, we have not heard much in the way of an official response from our government. Even more strangely, I have not seen any documents to indicate that we are preparing to assist in any way. On 12th January, however, I noticed that Minister Fricke has ordered our two sleeper cells in Yugoslavia to come out from cover. They are to concentrate on Yugoslavia’s military, its size and deployment. A more suspicious man than me would think that this is the prelude to direct action. Seemingly unrelated, the Heer released details of a research project into guerrilla warfare, and advised that the research group has received an extension of funding to continue its work into how to ambush opposing forces (and reduce HQ supply demands). From what I know of the terrain in parts of Yugoslavia, this could be very useful if we were to be operating in the mountains, reliant on supplies carried on mule trains up narrow, winding dirt tracks.

Air Attack on Kiel

The 12th brought news that was at first alarming, then infuriating. Air defence officials in Kiel rang in to Luftgaukommando Nord to report enemy bombers heading for the port area. Within minutes it was confirmed: the Nordseeflotte was under air attack. This provoked consternation in Berlin: some of our ships were still under repair after the Battle of the English Channel and could be vulnerable to air attack. Less than an hour later the air raid was over and things cooled down. It became apparent that there was no real threat: the bombers were too few and the Kiel anti-air fortifications, combined with the huge number of anti-aircraft weapons on the warships (ranging from the 10.5cm/65 system on the “Bismark” to the zerstörer’s 2 cm guns) was enough to make any bombing attack hit and miss. What prompted the fury was the identification of the attackers: they were Swedish naval bombers of 1.Marinbombflygrupp, led by Commander Örnberg. Not content with fomenting strife in Denmark, seizing Copenhagen and blocking our free access to the Ostsee, the Scandinavians are now bombing our precious Nordseeflotte in its home port! The phone lines to General von Rundstedt at the headquarters of the Nordsee Army were busy for hours. Not that the general needed any prompting: he is reportedly still smarting from his defeat and angry that he was prevented from having his revenge by the need for his troops in France. As soon as the weather clears and his reinforcements arrive, he will invite General Dennerlein and the Österreich Army to join him in punishing the Swedes and Norwegians.

A Swedish Saab B17 dive-bomber photographed over Kiel: these are experimental models pressed into service early



One of the 10.5cm anti-aircraft guns on the “Bismark” : more than enough to protect her against the temerity of the Swedish bombers

The next few days just saw movement orders being processed and all the necessary work required as part of the Heer reorganisation. An anti-aircraft brigade was completed and assigned to the 1st Küste and Grenze Army, but most of the documents simply referred to transfers and re-assignments. One different item was the conclusion of a study into Operational Level Command Structures. During Unternehmen Gummiknüppel and Stahlknüppel senior commanders in the Heer identified slowness in following up successful attacks as a real issue, leading to unnecessary delays and casualties. A series of studies has determined methods to speed up the reaction times of our higher level command structures, and this is seen as such an important area of improvement that the Heer has been told to continue the studies.

The only other development was a Luftwaffe training programme for fighter ground crews: the morale of our fighter pilots will be much higher knowing that their aircraft are being properly maintained. As an indication that Minister Schacht is regaining some of his influence (as the Führer once again realises that the economy will constrain the growth of the Wehrmacht) the research emphasis has been switched to improving the efficiency of our production of certain rare materials, such as rubber and non-ferrous metals.

It took me nearly all day to look through the first couple of piles of documents that had built up while I was on leave, and I had only completed up to the 19th January. Looking at my desk there seemed to be just as many piles remaining. They could wait until tomorrow.

Bombing summary

Zürich: Löhr with 2nd Schlachtfliegerkorps, 4 a Divisione Bombardi (2 x Ju 87B, 1 x TAC): 125, 86
Zürich: Kesselring with 1st Schlachtfliegerkorps, 4a, 13a, 15a Divsione Bombardi (2 x Ju 87b, 3 x TAC): 153
Zürich: Kesselring with 1st and 2nd Schlachtfliegerkorps, 4a, 13a, 15a Divsione Bombardi (4 x Ju 87b, 3 x TAC): 233, 48, 34


Unterseebootsflotte Activity Report

East-Central Atlantic: 2 transports (UK): Plymouth – Grand Bahamas: Fricke
Western Channel Approaches: 1 transport (UK): Lagos – Plymouth: von Nordeck
Southern Rockall Bank: 1 transport (Danish): Copenhagen – Boston: Aßmann
Coast of Porto: 1 transport (UK): Accra – Plymouth: Wolf
Galicia Bank: 1 transport (UK): Trinidad – Plymouth (UK): Wolf
Breton Coast: 1 transport (UK): Plymouth – Fongafale: von Nordeck
Channel Approach: 2 transports (UK): Plymouth – St Helena: von Nordeck
Channel Approach: 2 transports UK): Plymouth – St Helena: von Nordeck
Coast of Cadiz: 1 transport (UK): Freetown – Plymouth: Dönitz
Breton Coast: 1 transport (UK): Plymouth – Mombasa: von Nordeck
Cape Finisterre: 2 transports (UK): Dubai – Plymouth: Wolf
Coast of Cadiz: 1 transport (UK): Lefkosia – Plymouth: Dönitz
Coast of Galicia: 1 transport (UK): Bombay – Plymouth: Wolf
Nprth Azores – Biscay Rise: 1 transport (UK): El Iskandariya – Plymouth: Fricke
Channel Approach: 2 transports (UK): Plymouth – Tobruk: von Nordeck
Cape St Vincent: 1 transport (UK): Plymouth - Tobruk: Dönitz
Breton Coast: 2 transports (UK): Plymouth – Benghazi: von Nordeck
Central King’s Trough: 1 transport (UK): Freetown – Plymouth: Fricke
Western Channel Approaches: 2 transports (UK): Kuching – Plymouth: von Nordeck
Channel Approach: 2 transports (UK): Plymouth – Hong-Kong: von Nordeck
Northern Azores – Biscay Rise: 1 transport (UK): Plymouth – Dar-es-Salaam: Fricke

[Uriah]

You are one, at most two armies short of units. Since that's mostly foot infantry, you should not have much trouble making a corps or two at a time to meet the deadline.

If you plan more motorized infantry, I recommend building them as 1 LARM + 2 MOT + 1 TD, to get CA without too much additional cost (or supply requirements). I've gotten great mileage off of these puppies in my last game.

I am a little ahead of budgest: I estimate I'll probably start Unternehmen Barbarossa in April/May 41 so I have another 15 months. At least another 30 divs, more likely 45.

Sometime ago I mentioned my reluctance to tailor divisions to take advantage of the game system: as you probably notice I mix everything up, trying to be bit realistic. That's not to say I may not make few of those: but it would probalby only be one or two.

Why not Oberkommando Ost?

And why also not name the armies by their numbers?
Erste, zweite, dritte, vierte, fünfte, sechste, siebte, achte, neunte, zehnte, elfte, zwölfte, dreizehnte usw?

The way the German High Command worked for most of the war has always seemed to me to be a result of accident rather than design. It seems clear that back in 1938? when Oberkommando der Wehrmacht was formed, that it was supposed to be the top level organisation. In effect, it was to be the equivalent of Churchill's War Ministry. Because of the ramshackle way that power devolved in the Third Reich, it never really operated as it was intended, as a layer above direct control. By about 1942 it had gradually assumed direct control of most of the west. Oberkommando des Heeres had already been reduced to direct control in the east, though strictly speaking it should have had total control of all Heer units.

Bear in mind that there was also an Oberkommando der Marine and an Oberkommando der Luftwaffe, as well as an Oberbefehlshaber West (von Rundstedt), each of which was pretty indepependent and always arguing about boundaries, and you can see it was not only inefficuent but potentially dangerous. (How the German High Command got a reputation for efficiency is a mystery to me).

Anyway, I decided that I would operate the way I think it was intended in 1938. OKW would be the overall policy organisation. I have skipped OKH, OKL and OKM: they may well exist but do not impact units - more internal adminsitration. Implementation of policy (ordering armies, navies and air units) is up to the individual OBs, created as required by policy demands.

So that is the way I like to set up control. It works for me in HOI3: allows me the right number of levels.

As for the nomenclature rules (not often one gets to use that word!) for armies, the simple explanation is that I currently am playing at least 4 HOI games: this one, a DiDay HOI3, a vanilla AOD and a CORE AOD. I have a memory that is serviceable at best, and I am easily distracted and confused (ask my children). If I named my armies by number I would have no idea who is doing what. At least by having a "Nordsee Army" there is 50/50 chance I know what it is supposed to be doing.

The OOB is looking very nice. But arent you going to set up the three Heeresgruppen Nord, Mitte and Sud for Barbarossa? Or is that for later?

PS good to hear you pumped up the USSR with extra manpower and organized the production a bit. I hope that the USSR will put up a though fight.

There will no doubt be another complete reorg before the start of Barbarossa. The presence of another 60+ divisions will necessitate it anyway.

As far as I can see (I don't like to load as the enemy) they outnumber me about 3 to one: way behind on tech but a lot more IC. If they can hold out a year or so it will be intersting as they pump out units and upgrade. I am concerned about the hopeless research AI: it seems that nobody in Paradox gave much thought to how to prioritise. Surely it would not be hard to program so that no advance industry if all resources full?

OKW and OB West are the historical names for the two theaters, so while it doesn't make much sense to have different names for the same organisational levels you'll need to take that question to the Fuehrer.

[edit]Oh sorry, now I see what you meant. Uriah did not name the eastern theater OKW but OB East and created a new command level all for himself above the theaters. Sneaky! Yes, I guess OB Ost would be the appropriate name there.


That would be efficient, and probably make sense for armies that move around a lot, but personally I also tend to give my armies names according to their area of responsibility. Well, maybe that is because I would forget where the Dritte Armee is located, but I'd know where to look for the Westwall Armee...


Now, while I'm taking the time to leave a post, I can't leave again without praising Uriah (again) for this excellent AAR. It began with a high quality and only got better and better. I'll certainly be staying until world domination is achieved.

See above for all my excuses: .

And thanks for the kind words. World domination: at the rate I'm going that will take a while.

We will discuss this when you had a couple more of your german lessons. Then you will realize that we (the germans) are the world leaders in "how to make it difficult for foreigners to speak our languange correctly" (and lost world wars).

I thought the jury was still out for that question. At least, you manage to have a list of irregular verbs. In France we could only list the *regular* ones.

I learnt French at school from an Irishman who learned it in New Caledonia. As I have a strong Australian accent, I have been told that my French accent is hilarious.

I think we will have to agree to disagree about the most illogical langauge: nationa pride is obviously at stake concerning whose language is the most vindictive to newcomers. Within days we will have Mandarin and Arabic speakers claiming the title.

That was a very nice listing of commanders.

Thanks: I got a bit carried away, but I hope people who follow the battles like to know who is involved.


BTW: anyone know if there is an upper limit for EXP? I have a level 6 sub commander, and several leader over 100% experience. Do they just keep going up?

[Enewald]

i suggest larger airstacks into the west.

[Servant]

If your German commanders were so worried about Italy attacking Greece, why didn't they do anything to stop Italy? Couldn't they try to guarrante Greece's independence to ward off an Italian attack...or even ally with Greece? Or would that just lead to an Axis Civil War?

[Karaiskandar]

So if I understand well the days of Yugoslavia are numbered.
I wonder how the Italian units are going to help you with that operation.

[Modo]

(How the German High Command got a reputation for efficiency is a mystery to me).

Bad direction by the first emo-boy, but great execution. They kept pulling victories even with the broken (by design) command structure, so that credit is deserved.

[Surt]

The highest skill level is individual, some can only get skill 3, Manstein can get skill 9 which I think is max. Having a leader with 100% experience that doesn't increase in skill means they won't increase anymore.

Edit: some even max. out at skill 2

[Pudd1nator]

Once again, another great update. I too have a fondness for those giant resource gobbling naval projects, so much fun to build and sail around (although as a major land power not much use...I've found naval bombers enough against the AI as Germany), so I especially enjoy all the destroyer photos.

4 games at once?!? my poor cranium aches at the thought of keeping all that information straight.

I noticed in your OOB that you favor the supply wizard trait in your top level commanders, have you (or any other readers) noticed a significant decrease in supply usage to the subordinate units with this configuration? Also, I may have missed them but where are Manstein, Guderian, Rommel...?

[Pudd1nator]

Nevermind, I scrolled back and found them. I also notice that only some of your "special forces" are led by commanders with the commando skill. How much benefit do these leaders impart?

[Forster]

The highest skill level is individual, some can only get skill 3, Manstein can get skill 9 which I think is max. Having a leader with 100% experience that doesn't increase in skill means they won't increase anymore.

Edit: some even max. out at skill 2

He could always edit the save game to change the skill level, I think.

[Forster]

I would say Yugo's days were numbered.

[thebigj_a]

Is that what the destroyers we sent the Brits looked like? Man, I can hardly believe they could cross the Atlantic, let alone guard the sea-lanes.

[Krogzar]

impressive transport kills with your subs!

I hope it will finally affect brittish national unity =)

/Krog

[Uriah]

Rank and File
A Clerk’s War

20th January to 31st January 1940

The next day I was back in the office, and determined to clear the backlog of information.

The first few things I looked at were not particularly interesting, but then I saw a collection of papers from General von Rundstedt, commander of the Nordsee Army. He is not an alarmist, so for him to write to Berlin something important must have happened. Quickly glancing through the documents, I saw what prompted his unusual action. At 1PM on 20th January, an estimated 60,000 Scandinavians attacked our forward positions in Slagelse. The operation was led by and mainly consisted of Norwegians, but there were also a large number of Swedes. Von Rundstedt reports that after some initial confusion, our troops realised that there was no real chance that the Scandinavians would break through, and started to return fire in an organised way. After just a few hours it started to get dark and the enemy pulled back, leaving 29 men behind. Tallying our losses was difficult as there were so many nationalities involved, but the final total was 36 dead. The conclusion by the Nordsee Army was that the Scandinavians were testing our defences. Perhaps they were unaware that we now have more than 170,000 men in the province.

First Battle of Slagelse

Most of the documents I skimmed through, but one caught my eye. It was a hand-written report from General Wilhelm Keitel, commander of 22.Infanterie Division. (Keitel was a promising officer, and was temporarily Military Governor of the Sudentenland. He was known to be very close to the traitor Himmler, however, and his career took a sharp turn for the worse). The General was actually carrying out an inspection of his men on the front line at the time of the attack, and jotted down some comments as soon as he had a moment free. Some of his comments give an idea of what it was like during the assault.

“At 1300 hours on 10th January 1940 I was carrying out a routine review of the forward positions of the 16th Infantry Regiment. Conditions were cold (-5.0 degrees C) with a light wind. The sky was overcast and there was occasional rain and sleet. The terrain in front of our positions was fairly flat, but covered in light vegetation. Recent snow had covered the entire landscape.

I heard sounds of gunfire to the north, where two Italian divisions had been deployed. Even at that distance it was apparent that the shots were not Italian: the sound of the Norwegian Krag-Jorgensen rifle is easily distinguishable from that of the Facile Modele 98. At that moment I was told that movement had been detected in front of our position. Through binoculars I saw one or two camouflaged soldiers some distance away, but before I could prepare a response we were hit with a wave of small arms fire. Obviously the Norwegians and Swedes had taken advantage of the snow cover to move close to our lines and mount an assault. Now that the forward troops had been detected, more of the enemy opened fire, and we were being raked by a couple of Colt M/29 heavy machine guns hidden in some nearby woods. The damn Norwegians must have brought them up during the night in preparation for the attack.

These Norwegians are armed with Krag-Jorgensen rifles and wearing the snow camouflage suits that were so effective. This photograph was recovered from a Norwegian soldier after the battle – no matter how often they are told about security, soldiers in every army always carry personal items.

Within minutes our machine guns were busy, but we were taking casualties. The regiment’s mortars were already in action, and I could see the enemy fleeing from several small areas of woodland that were being torn apart by the shells. A slight rise a kilometre away gave the attackers a protected area from which to infiltrate forward, but I heard Oberst Schimmel personally direct the divisional artillery to blanket the area with high-explosive. The Oberst had the situation under control, so I left him to manage the defence and headed north. Behind the lines there was chaos. For the past few weeks tens of thousands of Italians, Hungarians and Slovakians have been arriving here in Slagelse, and there seemed to be little organisation. With the sound of gunfire to the east, artillery shells passing overhead and reinforcements moving, the soldiers, lacking any reliable information, started to listen to rumours and began to panic. Not being fluent in any of these languages, it was only by judicious use of force that I could restore a modicum of order. I understand that none of the injuries will be permanent.

A Norwegian Colt M/29 heavy machine gun: I hope these men are fooling around as there is no way these would be effective as an anti-air weapon.

The Italian divisions who had first detected the advance were handling the attack well. General Messe, commander of 1a Divisione Alpina “Taurinese” is fluent in German, and assured me that his compatriot further north, General Cambroni, was a fine officer whose men could be relied upon. I had no doubt of this, as 4a Divisione Alpina “Cuneense” had earned a reputation in Switzerland for being an elite unit desperate to prove itself. Up here there seemed to be Swedish units involved, as I distinctly heard a Ksp M/36 firing, the 6.6mm cartridges giving them a completely different sound to the Colt, although they are the same basic weapon.

The Italians fought steadily, driving back the Swedes. These two used their Breda 30mm effectively, but we heard that many of these weapons broke down during the battle. It seems to be a design problem: the many slots and the necessity to oil the cartridges make them susceptible to seizing up in snow (and presumably in any dirty or dusty environment).

Moving to the rear, I could see that the local commanders had regained control. Several Italian divisions were lining up to use the “roads” and moving forward in an orderly fashion. The Hungarian officers were also marshalling their troops, but there seemed no need to send any more men to the front, as I could already hear the gunfire decreasing.

It was lucky for us that the Scandinavians chose to attack at just the time that our best units were rotated to the front line. The only two German divisions in the province and the two best Italian mountain divisions just happened to be in the front. If one of the Slovakian militia divisions had been attacked, things may have been different. I am sure the individual soldiers are brave, but without training it is difficult to hold your position when under fire from an invisible enemy. It needs steadiness to stay in your entrenchment or machinegun position and either wait for the mortars and guns to break the attack or for the enemy to give up concealment and try to storm your position.

I believe that although the Scandinavians attacked in force, that this was more in the nature of a probing attack, designed to identify our defensive positions and lines of fire, as well as to test our response times. Had it been more successful the enemy commander was in a position to quickly reinforce a breakthrough, but in my opinion this was not a serious attempt to drive us from Slagesle. The attackers came only from one direction (Helsingor) and attacked at 1PM, when there were only a few hours of daylight left at this time of year. There were no aircraft involved, and as far as I could determine, most of the units used were recently mobilised divisions, not regular army.

My recommendation is that some of our fortified positions be moved, and that new areas be designated for marshalling reinforcements in case the Norwegians use information gained to pre-plot artillery barrages. I predict more probing attacks over the next few weeks as the days start to get longer and there is more opportunity for a major assault. I also recommend that our allies be instructed to organise their troops. The Italians are from four different corps, and two different armies. Both the Army HQ units are still in Italy! (Too cold for them up here?). The Hungarians are not much better. Unless there is an improvement, I fear that these troops will only impair our ability to hold the province, as the demand for food and other supplies is placing an enormous strain on our commissariat. Finally, despite the demands from OKH that we release more divisions for the Balkans and “other operations”, it is essential that the Wehrmacht retain at least two divisions in this area, to ensure that a sudden surprise attack does not see us thrown completely off the island of Zealand.

Wilhelm Keitel
22.Infanterie Division
Slagelse”

It seems clear that despite his demotion, the General has not lost his edge. An attached note states that his adjutant was killed during the initial attack, and that Oberst Schimmel, commander of the 16th Infantry Regiment, personally implored the General to take cover. I hope he is not looking for a bullet: I have seen how some officers (particularly of decorated veterans of the last war) handle disgrace.

Speaking of decorations, it cannot be long before Käpitan-zur-See von Nordeck receives some sort of award: he is mentioned almost daily on the Wehrmachtbericht. On the 21st his U-boats sank another three transports in a single attack on a convoy from Nauru. He claims the British freighters were so heavily laden that they were easy to hit, but his success is not so easily shrugged off. The loss of thousands of tonnes of fertiliser will hit the English farmers hard, at a time when they are being called upon to feed more of the population.

Back in the more mundane world of factories and production, three new radar bases were completed. One was installed at Brest, perfectly placed to detect British naval operations. Another was deployed far to the south, at Bayonne, where it will hopefully provide information on Spanish activities (and keep an eye on the Bay of Biscay). The third was placed in Frederikshafen, to detect both naval activity in the North Sea, and incoming aircraft intending to hit the port facilities. In response to the demands of the Heer for second line troops to free up the experienced combat divisions, two more security divisions (2 garrison regiments and a police brigade) were called up, as well as another cavalry division. The two regiments of cavalry are intended to hunt down rebels while the infantry hold the cities and mining areas safe from insurrection: that is the plan anyway.

The next bundle of papers bore a massive Kriegsmarine stamp and were marked “Naval Tactical Report: Restricted” which immediately attracted my interest. It contained all relevant documentation of a series of engagements involving von Nordeck’s II Unterseebootsflotte, commencing at 11AM on 22nd January and concluding late on 24th January. Von Nordeck’s submarines, the scourge of the Channel approaches, had pushed their luck just a little too far that day, and were caught on the surface by a Royal Navy detachment that seems to have been escorting some out-of-supply Dutch submarines to port. Von Nordeck had hoped the bad weather would allow him to clear the Channel at surface speed, but a sudden wind change led to his discovery. The flagship of the British group was the “Royal Sovereign”, the battleship that on 22nd October 1939 had led the British fleet in the Battle of the Bälts, the ship that had probably sunk the “Admiral Scheer”. But this ancient battleship was no threat even to von Nordeck’s three flotillas of Type II submarines. The danger came from two destroyer flotillas, which immediately sprang into action.

Battle of the Channel Approach: 11AM 22nd January

Luck, which led von Nordeck to blunder into the way of the Royal Navy, then went his way. He had ordered his submarines to each fire all three bow torpedoes prior to diving, hoping to cause confusion and allow his submarines to reach their maximum depth of 150 metres before the destroyers could reach him. This was a risky operation, as the Type II boats only carry 5 torpedoes each and some of the submarines were left defenceless. The gamble paid off however, as several destroyers of 8th Destroyer Flotilla were damaged, and the ensuing fires tied up the crews for the duration of the battle.

A British ship firing depth charges during the Battle of the Channel Approach

An hour later, the destroyers were circling the submerged submarines, while von Nordeck’s commanders struggled to keep a balance between protecting their ships and being ready to take an opportunity to finish the damaged destroyers. The British were using their ASDIC detection system, which made it difficult for von Nordeck to extricate his flotillas. Luckily ASDIC is not effective when very close to the target, so the destroyers lost contact when they made their depth charge runs, but a couple of the ships had depth charge launchers which allowed them to “throw” the depth charge ahead. The cat and mouse battle continued for several hours, but by 2PM the Royal Navy had sunk every U-boat of 4th Unterseebootsflottille. It had not been without cost: with 8th Destroyer Flottila crippled, 10th Destroyer had taken the key offensive role, and von Nordeck’s commanders had easier shots as those ships. Von Nordeck also commented that with only one or two torpedoes left, his commanders were being very careful with their shots. Many of the destroyers were badly damaged by 2PM, and at 4PM a perfectly placed torpedo from U-13, commanded by Hans-Gerrit von Stockhausen, sank the last ship of 10th Destroyer Flotilla.

Battle of the Channel Approach: 2PM 22nd January

During the night the U-boats managed to resurface and recharge their batteries, but none of them considered it worthwhile to attempt a full speed (13knots) escape. It was dark, but the cloud cover that had existed at 2PM had nearly all gone, and though there was intermittent snow, nobody wanted to leave a long fluorescent wake for any patrolling British aircraft. That is not to say that progress towards escape was not being made: even submerged the U-boats were using their pitiful 7 knots to head west, trying to get beyond the confines of the Channel.

Korvetten-Käpitan Hans-Gerrit von Stockhausen, commander of U-13, wearing the Iron Cross he was awarded for his actions on 22nd January 1940.

At 6AM, bad news. Two new destroyer flotillas arrived, the 40th and 38th. Things were looking grim for II Unterseebootsflotte, as they were almost defenceless, having used nearly all their torpedoes. But again luck went their way. For the whole of the 23rd, the British hunted von Nordeck’s boats, but despite repeated searches they met with no success. By 11AM on the 24th January, the Royal Navy had flooded the area with ships. Admiral Chatfield had arrived to take direct command, and had brought another three destroyer flotillas, the 37th, 41st and 42nd. But by then it was too late: the ASDIC probes revealed nothing and the depth charges were wasted. II Unterseebootsflotte had quietly slipped out into open seas, having lost a third of its boats, but thankful it was not worse.

Battle of the Channel Approach: 6AM 23rd January

While it is clear from von Nordeck’s report that he is partly to blame for the loss of 4th Unterseebootsflottille, the official Kriegsmarine review of the naval action found that his orders led not only to the escape of the balance of his force, but also the sinking of several British destroyers. He will not be censured by Admiral Dönitz, who probably wishes he had more such leaders (von Nordeck is the most successful commander in terms of ships sunk). The official review also notes that although none of the “Town” class destroyers were sighted during the battle, it seems more than likely that news of their arrival allowed the British Admiralty to release destroyers from convoy duty to patrol the English Channel, so we have suffered already from the perfidious American decision.

The U-13 heads for the open sea after the tense days of the Battle of the Channel Approach

While the Royal Navy hunted our beleaguered submarines, the Royal Air Force was again trying to hit our economic centres. Felmy intercepted Newall over Erfurt and followed him to Leipzig. Once again Newall’s bombing was ineffective, and occe again he was chased back to the Channel where Bogatsch’s 5th Fliegerkorps took over, as 2nd Fliegerkorps returned to base to refuel and re-arm. As we have now come to expect, as soon as our planes were over the Channel, Steele’s fighters appeared, and Bogatsch had to abandon any attempt to further punish the bombers. Our estimate is that Strategic Bomber Command lost more than 40 aircraft in this one raid, and while we lost a few fighters, it was nowhere near that figure. Our intelligence operative have come the conclusion that the British Fighter Command has forbidden its commanders to venture past the Channel: good for our fighter defence, but dangerous should we ever decide to send bombing mission to the United Kingdom’s production facilities.

Air Battle of the Mouth of the Thames

The 24th saw another completed project from a Heer research group. (Since war began there has been a wave of tactical and strategic work groups set up by General von Blomberg. We are receiving vast amounts of data from combat units, and the General is convinced that we can learn a lot from our experience. Some of the best minds in the Reich are at work devising new procedures and techniques to take advantage of this knowledge, all aiming at reducing casualties and increasing the speed and effectiveness of our attacks). This project related to the coordination of large scale offensives, and promises to both raise the shock value of our lead units and cut supply usage by the headquarters involved. General von Blomberg argued extremely persuasively that the researchers be allowed to continue their work (I have in front of me copies of several long and strongly worded letters) but Minister Schacht again prevailed: the research funds will be used to develop advanced methods of steel production. Our production of steel cannot keep up with the demands of the shipbuilding, construction and armaments industries, and in the absence of trade deals the only way to avoid a crisis is to improve our efficiency in mining the ore and manufacturing the steel.

Minister Schacht won his battle just in time. The very next day a jubilant Foreign Minister advised his fellow Cabinet Ministers of a massive deal with the Soviet Union. They will provide us with 20,700 tonnes of steel and 17,000 tonnes of mixed rare materials (mainly other metal ores I think) per day, for a cost of 3.66 million RM. The cost to us is immaterial: most of it comes from captured banks and anyway, we expect to retake it in a year or so. The main thing is that trainloads of desperately needed raw materials will be heading for our factories, and our future enemy will be providing the means with which we will defeat him! Life can be sweet in its ironies! Coincidentally, the day the trains started heading west, we were told that road and rail links across Poland and Memel had been improved, part of our long-term preparations for the drive to the East. This had been an absolutely enormous program, with hundreds of thousands of labourers working in Bydgoszcz, Gniezno, Gostyn, Konin, Kutno, Leszno, Lódz, Poznan, Prusków, Sieradz, Slupca, Turek and Wloclawek. According to Minister Bayerlein it is essential that we have a reliable network across Poland to the border before we can contemplate any push to the East.

General Guderian, newly appointed commander of the Balkans Army, has been complaining loudly for some time that he has insufficient troops to carry out an invasion of Yugoslavia (should he be asked to do so). He has only three korps: a total of 11 divisions. He has pointed out that he has no armour units at all, and that while the border areas are unsuitable for armour operations, once through the mountain passes and the hilly areas behind them the plains extend most of the way to Beograd. He has convinced OKH of the merits of his argument, and an upset General Rommel has grudgingly agreed to release 1st leichte Panzerkorps. (I can understand his annoyance: back on 21st January he saw 2nd, 4th, 5th and 6th Kampffliegerkorps leave their French airbases, transferred to the Balkan Army). The sudden adjustment has created turmoil in the Interior Ministry which has had to reroute hundreds of trains and give priority to the tank transporters carrying the Panzers from the Atlantic coast to the Adriatic. They will need to hurry – there is a rumour that 1st February is the day marked in Guderian’s calendar.

General Kleist’s predictions of more probes in the Slagelse region were remarkably accurate. On the 27th brief fire fights were reported by all four divisions on the front line, and there were several sightings of Swedish bombers, though no bombs landed on our positions. These probes differed from the first in that they took place at 4AM, in pitch darkness, and while a snow storm was raging. Our troops performed well, and only 13 men were lost, compared to 8 Scandinavians. Considering that we believe 70,000 Norwegians and Swedes took part in the attack, casualties were very low. Perhaps the conditions had something to do with it: I can’t imagine how either side could see anything worth firing at.

2nd Battle of Slagelse

On the 28th more evidence that steps were already being taken to prepare for the long-awaited attack on the Communists. Construction gangs have been set up in Memel, Suwalki, Warszawa, Przwmysl and Kraków, with orders to expand the local airbases. Another gang has been sent to Innsbruck to work on the airbase there, but I suspect it will be too late to be useful for General Guderian’s aircraft. (A few files down, I found similar orders setting up road and rail gangs in the provinces of Jaroslaw, Niemirów, Krasnobród, Tomaszów Lubelski, Chelm, Wlodawa, Biala Podlaska, Bielsk-Podalski, Sokolów and Memel. All are close to our current border with Russian, and work will be completed by September next year. Things are warming up in the East).

On the same day, Minister Fricke (in his role as Head of Intelligence) sent the secret coded messages that put our agents in Norway, Sweden and Republican Spain on active alert. All have been instructed to seek out military details, regardless of the risk.

At the end of the month, we received an update from the Italians regarding progress in their attack on Greece. (One military aide muttered to me: “Things must be going very well if they are going to volunteer information”). After a slight problem at the beginning of the campaign, the Regia Esercito has broken through the Greek front lines and is pursuing the Greeks southwards into the mountains. Apparently all is going well. Several of the accompanying photographs seem to indicate perhaps not every problem has been overcome.

Il Duce and Victor Emmanuel III review troops heading to Albania to join the war on Greece



Greek soldiers: the Italian briefing paper contrasts these “brigands” to the crack soldiers in the photograph above, but I know who I would prefer to have beside me in the mountains of the Dinaric Alps! Those bayonets look as though they have been carefully sharpened! The defence made of discarded ammunition boxes, however, will not last long against heavy weapons.



Weather conditions are not conducive to a rapid advance: whatever influenced Mussolini to attack before spring?

So as January closes, we have a new armies sitting on the borders of Spain and Yugoslavia, a vast force built up in Denmark, and a surge of (long term) preparation in Poland. You don’t need to be psychic to predict that February will see the Wehrmacht in action again.

Unterseebootsflotte Activity Report

Horseshoe Mount: 1 escort (UK): Bombay – Plymouth: Dönitz
Coast of Porto: 1 transport (UK): Singapore – Plymouth: Wolf
Western Channel Approaches: 3 transports (UK): Nauru – Plymouth: von Nordeck
Setubal Bay: 2 transports (UK) Plymouth – Kuching: Dönitz
Cape St Vincent: 2 transports (UK): Dubai – Plymouth: Dönitz
Channel Approach: 2 transports (UK): Plymouth – Tel Aviv-Yato: von Nordeck
Channel Approach: 1 transport (UK): Plymouth – Socotra: von Nordeck
Cape St Vincent: 1 transport (UK): Plymouth – Rangoon: Dönitz
Galician Bank: 1 transport (UK): Plymouth – Diego Garcia: Wolf
Cape St Vincent: 1 transport (UK): Plymouth – Barbados: Dönitz
Coast of Galica: 1 transport (UK): Plymouth – Accra: Wolf
Cape St Vincent: 2 transports (UK): Plymouth – Madras: Dönitz
Western Channel Approaches: 2 transports (Norwegian): Bergen – Boston: von Nordeck
Cape Finisterre: 1 transport (UK): Plymouth – Socotra: Wolf
Channel Approach: 1 transport (UK): Plymouth – Singapore: Wolf

At the end of the month, in the absence of an official Cabinet meeting, a series of confidential position maps were circulated. Copies had to be filed of course.

The Yugoslav border: Guderian’s men are still trying to reach their start positions



Albania and Greece: the Italians have sent thousands of troops and the outnumbered Greeks are being forced back.



China: have the Japanese overreached themselves? Rebellions in Muang Xon and Huizhou could be a concern.



Siam: large Japanese forces are reported heading south. What has the Japanese High Command got in mind? And what are those British troops doing in Siam?



North Africa - the forgotten war. After marching across the desert, Iraqi forces are ready to attack the last Italains stronghold in Libya: Tarabulus. With only three infantry regiments, two headquarters units and few squadrons of transport planes, General Pricolo has problems. But his back is to the sea, and that may stiffen his resolve.

[Uriah]

i suggest larger airstacks into the west.

I would like to have more there but there is a big demand in the Wehrmacht for aircraft, and at the moment Guderian (Balkans Army) is winning the arguments

If your German commanders were so worried about Italy attacking Greece, why didn't they do anything to stop Italy? Couldn't they try to guarrante Greece's independence to ward off an Italian attack...or even ally with Greece? Or would that just lead to an Axis Civil War?

The commanders may have been concerned, but I am merely looking for an excuse to take the Yugoslavian resources and gain access tothe Med.

So if I understand well the days of Yugoslavia are numbered.
I wonder how the Italian units are going to help you with that operation.

Well, to start with they could move the 100,000 men sponging supplies off me in Denmark!

Bad direction by the first emo-boy, but great execution. They kept pulling victories even with the broken (by design) command structure, so that credit is deserved.

I suppose doing a job with a broken piece of equipment is praiseworthy, but it makes more sense to fix the tool first. But the Wehrmacht upper levels just mirrored Hitler's crazy control structure in the Nazi Party: making little emporors fight among themselves so they had no time to plot against him. I think he saw confusion in a chain of command as a benefit.

The highest skill level is individual, some can only get skill 3, Manstein can get skill 9 which I think is max. Having a leader with 100% experience that doesn't increase in skill means they won't increase anymore.

Edit: some even max. out at skill 2

Thanks for the information, I'm glad someone knows what they are doing! I have never before really followed individual leaders closely: just tended to appoint them and forget about them. Before the purists recoil with horror: I know that is not the best way to handle them, but manually rotating leaders tothe best spots is pretty boring.

Once again, another great update. I too have a fondness for those giant resource gobbling naval projects, so much fun to build and sail around (although as a major land power not much use...I've found naval bombers enough against the AI as Germany), so I especially enjoy all the destroyer photos.

4 games at once?!? my poor cranium aches at the thought of keeping all that information straight.

I noticed in your OOB that you favor the supply wizard trait in your top level commanders, have you (or any other readers) noticed a significant decrease in supply usage to the subordinate units with this configuration? Also, I may have missed them but where are Manstein, Guderian, Rommel...?

A major land power???? Germany will be a major SEA power!!!

I found a marked saving in supply costs when I placed the logistics boys in high places in 1936: it was very easy to see the change overnight.

Nevermind, I scrolled back and found them. I also notice that only some of your "special forces" are led by commanders with the commando skill. How much benefit do these leaders impart?

Normally I play with manual control, so very rarely am I caught out of supply. Letting the AI do it I may find out soon. I have put Commando leaders on some units that I think may be at risk.

The quick answer is I have no idea: I hope they are some use.

He could always edit the save game to change the skill level, I think.

I could, but I rarely change savegames unless I think that 1) there is something wrong (eg the unkillable spies of ver 1.2) or 2) that it will make the game better (beefing up Russian MP). I am happy to leave the skill caps in place - just gives me something else to consider.

I would say Yugo's days were numbered.

I just hope the number isn't too big!

Is that what the destroyers we sent the Brits looked like? Man, I can hardly believe they could cross the Atlantic, let alone guard the sea-lanes.

I can only assume the deal was done "Sight Unseen". As an ex-Admiralty Lord, surely Churchill would have known he was being dudded.

impressive transport kills with your subs!

I hope it will finally affect brittish national unity =)

/Krog

I hope so too: I haven't added them up, but I must be close to 100 sunk by now. I believe the UK has hundreds spare but it must have an impact soon. And doesn't the owner now lose anything being transported? Raw materials probalby not a worry, but supplies must hurt the UK.

[Karaiskandar]

Those pesky Scandinavians, you should teach them a lesson.
And that Italian presence in Danemark is indeed a bit weird, considering the events in Greece.