Hitler's gamble - An alternative German Strategy

[Slan]

In August, 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union made a Non-Aggression Pact called the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The motivation behind this pact on the German side was to neutralize the Soviet threat while the nation prepares for war. By then, it seemed almost inevitable that the Western Allies would intervene in a European conflict involving the Third Reich. In September, this fears turned out to be true.

The fall of Poland and later on, France led Hitler to believe his armies to be invincible and, after the failed attempt to make an invasion of the British Isles possible and a short interlude in Yugoslavia, he turned the Wehrmacht towards the east, the ultimate prize: the Soviet Union. While at first Operation Barbarossa showed great promise, it finally turned to a stalemate during the harsh Russian winter, then a retreat when Soviet industry managed to relocate behind the Urals and with American help, started to out-produce the German warmachine. The tide of war has turned, and while the Japanese were losing in Asia and Italy in Africa and their own peninsula, Hitler's invincible armies started to be pushed back from Western Russia.

In 1944, a great Allied invasion took place in German-occupied Normandy, opening the much-feared second front. Introducing harsher and harsher policies weren't enough to stop the enemy from two sides, and by the spring of 1945, the Third Reich collapsed. Hitler commited suicide and what was left of the German leadership signed the unconditional surrender of the once great nation. Again.

At least that is what happened historically...

But what if the German warplan was a bit different? What if the main target would have been the Soviet Union right from the start? The Western Allies can't be expected to sit idle while the Reich wages war on bolshevism, but they might, just might be possible to be contained long enough for the Red Manace to be dealt with! Would this be possible? Let's find out!




Some of your comments

good stuff ! !

Most interesting read, a good AAR.

Ive enjoyed the read a lot. Your skills are more than you give yourself credit for.

What does the Page say about the Views?

IT'S OVER 90000!

awesome ending

Table of contents

Act I - The Road to War

* Chapter I
* Chapter II
* Chapter III
* Chapter IV
* Chapter V
* Chapter VI
* Chapter VII
* Chapter VIII
* Chapter IX
* Chapter X

Act II - Fall Weiss

* Chapter XI
* Chapter XII
* Chapter XIII

Act III - Unternehmen Weserübung

* Chapter XIV
* Chapter XV
* Chapter XVI
* Chapter XVII

Intermission - Gameplay notes

Act IV - Unternehmen Ostland

* Chapter XVIII

Act V - Sitzkrieg

* Chapter XIX
* Chapter XX
* Chapter XXI
* Chapter XXII
* Chapter XXIII

Intermission - Warplans

Act VI - Unternehmen Barbarossa

* Chapter XXIV
* Chapter XXV
* Chapter XXVI
* Chapter XXVII
* Chapter XXVIII
* Chapter XXIX
* Chapter XXX

Intermission - Post-Barbarossa

Act VII - A New Direction

* Chapter XXXI
* Chapter XXXII
* Chapter XXXIII

Intermission - Comic Relief

* Chapter XXXIV
* Chapter XXXV
* Chapter XXXVI

Act VIII - Downfall of the West

* Chapter XXXVII
* Chapter XXXVIII
* Chapter XXXIX
* Chapter XL

Epilogue - The War that ended all Wars
Aftermission - The More Gameplay notes and the American Campaign

--- *** --- *** --- *** --- *** --- *** --- *** --- *** ---

Technical information:
Version: Vanilla+Semper Fi, 2.04e, with some minor changes: graphical improvements (including the Major Nations Immersion Pack and Hr.Cyber's Naval counters and Icons); minor AI tweaks on the sliders; changes in some Norwegian and USA ministers.
Difficulty: Normal.
Style: Narrative.
Start date: January 1st, 1936.
Status: Finished.

[Cybvep]

Subscribed. Good luck!

[Brad1]

Good luck!

[Magyarvagyok]

Hopefully it will be a very enjoyable AAR

[SSmith]

Interesting approach. Will be watching.

[OKH]

I'm in.

[Zukoprince]

How are you going to counter the allied automatic dow?

[Devildread]

I had the exact same idea (but not for an AAR, just a personnal game) after reading a thread about that in the general forum. I guess you too ?

When do you plan to attack ? 1940, 41 ? Right after Poland ?

[Slan]

@Cybvep, Brad1, Magyarvagyok, SSmith, OKH: Welcome aboard!

@Zukoprince: I don't plan on countering it. I plan on doing the "Danzig or War!" decision, fully expecting Allied participation. I merely plan on keeping them at bay with my sheer military force. Although I will have to stop them from gaining any new allies nearby...

@Devildread: Was it this thread, or an earlier one? I plan to attack the Baltic states after I take out Poland, and then go right for the main course!

@Everyone: I humbly ask for your patience. I started playing the campaign, but as I want to write a full, compelling story, not just the account of how the plan goes, things will take some time to really start rolling. The first chapter, soon to be finished, will merely introduce the main characters

[Uriah]

I'm interested to see how you go, given that in most of my games as Germany France invades me while I'm still in Poland!

Good luck!

[Slan]

Chapter I
In which the gentle reader is introduced to our main characters, and is informed about the situation in the Third Reich in the early days of 1936.

It was an unusually cold morning in Munich, even for early January. Hans Grübermann was waiting in the train station for his childhood friend, Joachim Strauss. They haven't met for a long time now, and he was eager to see him again. "If it wasn't for this damn cold!" - he thought to himself.

The train was running late. Quite unusual, but not surprising, given the circumstances: a four kilometers long section of the railway was frozen over near Augsburg, and the trains had to slow down if they wanted to avoid running off the tracks. It was 6:17, the train was already six minutes late. If it was a Saturday or a Sunday, it wouldn't have been that much of a problem, but it was a Thursday. Hans should have been in the shop by 6:30 to open up. Still, he couldn't leave: he had to give Joachim the keys to his apartment, so he can settle in while Hans goes to work. Then in the afternoon, they can have some talk.

- Attention, please! The train from Frankfurt am Main will be delayed by twenty minutes due to technical difficulties. We apologize for your inconvinience. - creaked the voice of a young lady from the loudspeaker.

"Oh, that's just great! I will be late! Frau Liebigstein will surely deduce this from my wages! I should buy a newspaper or something while I'm waiting..." He stepped over to the newspaper booth nearby and bought that morning's edition of Völkischer Beobachter. Not because he was that much into Nazi propaganda, but at least most of the articles in it were about real events. Not that there was any real alternative, anyway. He sat down on a bench and started to read.

He could only run through the paper briefly, before he was interrupted:

- Hans? Is that you? It's me, Erhard!

Hans looked up from his pepar. He recognized the young man in front of him instantly.

- Erhard? Erhard Straussenburg? Oh, my, how are you? I haven't seen you in ages!

- Yeah, I know! We haven't met in at least two years! What are you doing here? Waiting for a train? Or waiting for someone?

- Well, actually I was waiting for someone...

- Oh, is it a nice young lady? Do I know her? May that be Ethel from the class under ours? - Erhard was starting to get really excited. Not only did he just accidentally met one of his best friends from the old days, but he immediately stumbled upon some interesting romance!

- Ohm, no, it's not a lady. But you know him. Joachim Strauss, the goalkeeper from the football team. He's on the train from Frankfurt, but the train was delayed by the snow.

- Ah, I see. Well, I was going to a class in the University, but to be honest, that was a rather boring class anyway. Geometry... Seriously, who would find drawing different shapes interesting?... At any rate, I can skip the class, and wait for this Joachim with you!

- If you want to... And how are you? What are you doing? I mean other than skipping classes...

- Well... I do a little bit of this, a little bit of that... I run errends, help out in shops or with the mail. You know, everyone has to make a living... And by the way, I do study a l...

- The shop! - cried Hans as he realized how late he already is - You know what? Could you do me a favour to? I'm working in a food store five minutes from here, and I'm already late with opening this morning! Frau Liebigstein will fire me if I don't go right now, but there's all this snow and all, and I have to give the keys to my apartment to Joachim when he arrives. You know, he'll be staying with me for his short visit.

- Wait, slow down! What do you want from me exactly?

- Please, take these keys! - Hans reached to his pocket and handed over some keys from a keyring to Erhard. - Wait here for Joachim, and give the keys to him! He knows where I live, and will be able to get there on his own, but I really have to go now! Please? Can you do this for me?

- Alright, alright. I've got top marks from numerical analysis, I'm pretty sure I can handle delivering some keys!... Now go, before you lose your job!
Hans thanked Erhard the favour, and hurried towards the exit, forgetting his newspaper on the bench. The young man sat down and took up the paper, turning right to the cartoon. (It was about a bolding man, most likely representing the aging British Empire, wrestling some Indian Elephant.)

"Will I even recognize this Strauss guy? I can't seem to remember him at all..." - And like that was its clue, the train from Frankfurt arrived on the fifth platform.

A tall, blonde man stepped off the train, stretching out his neck as much as he could, looking around. Obviously, he was looking for someone. But he couldn't find that man, as he already left the scene. "He must be here! Hans is always on time, although the same cannot be said about this train..." the man thought to himself. Then, with no other option in sight, he started walking towards the waiting room. "Maybe he also had trouble getting here? Or maybe some terrible accident happened to him on the way?" With such worries, he was approaching the benches, when he noticed a familiar face, reading the news on one of them, laughing out loudly.

- Erhard! I didn't expect to see you here! How is it going?

- Do I know you?

- Don't you remember me? I'm Joachim Strauss! I was wooing your younger sister during the last year of high school!

- Now I remember... I also remember her not liking you that much, and father chasing you with his service rifle...

- Ah, those were the days! - said Joachim in a sudden rush of nostalgia.

- Yeah, I guess they were good days. For the most part. Things were simpler.

- Except for the state of the economy.

- Yes, except for that. But at least we had a bit more variety in the newspapers. Now every single one of them says the same thing.

- Why is that a problem? How many ways can you say the same truth?

- That would be a valid point, if we were talking about things like mathematical theorems, but...

- Why? What are we talking about? Surely not politics. Out on the streets. - Joachim had that particular stare in his eyes. Erhard immediately came to his senses.

- That reminds me. I've just met Hans Grübermann, who was waiting for you here to give you the keys to his apartment. He couldn't wait for you any longer, he had to go to work. I, on the other don't need to go to work, so I agreed to wait for you instead, and give you the keys. He told me that you would know what to do with it. - and with that, the young student handed over the keys to Joachim.

- Yeah, he gave me the address, I can find it on my own. They have those practical maps on every train station, where you can find any important...

- Yes, yes. Do you mind if I come along? I have nothing else to do, really. There's no point in going to the class half an hour late, and I hate geometry anyway...

- Yeah, why not. Anyway, how is your sister? - asked the tall man, but Erhard had his own unmistakable piercing stare which quickly convinced Joachim to change subjects.

The two men walked out of the train station and took a tram to Hans' place. If these were those "simpler times", maybe the people living in the house would have wondered, what are two strangers doing in the apartment of their neighbour with their very own keys no less. But alas, they weren't. They were these particular times, when people tended to ask no questions. They knew better.

*** *** *** *** ***

- "...and thus, all German people can rest assured that the preparations for the Olympics are in the best of hands." Good! Very good, if I may say so myself. Which I do! - Martin Lederer, reporter of the Völkischer Beobachter was absolutely satisfied with his article for tomorrows edition. He was also absolutely sure that the editor in chief will be satisfied, as well! Just like last week's article about the life of Hjalmar Schacht, former Minister of Economics, recently appointed Minister of Armaments, or yesterday's writing about the ceremony, where he officially laid down the symbolic founding stone of the so-called Siegfried Line, a series of fortifications spanning along the French border from Switzerland to Luxemburg and even up to Belgium. Some minimal defenses were already in place - said the piece - in the Northern half, and the new section behind the Rhine was planned to be similar in size and strength to the French counterpart, the Maginot Line. "In case of French aggression", officials said. Yes, of course.

He went down the hall of the office, right to the editor's office with the pack of papers he just finished. But in the office, he met someone he didn't really expect...

*** *** *** *** ***

- So, as I was saying, you don't need to worry that much, Erhard.

Erhard and Joachim were sitting in a café, not far from Hans' flat, drinking their coffee. Joachim continued:

- There's some serious industrial expansion in the Rurh, and that is a good thing. Very good, in fact. That is exactly what our economy needs right now. Just look at the United States! The recession hit them like noone else (maybe except our beloved Germany), and what do they do? They start even more businesses! Government funded businesses. And that's what this Schacht guy does, as well. Yes, some of these factories are producing small arms and bullets; yes, some of the projects are for fortifications; yes, some of the new contracts for our steel factory back in Frankfurt are for gun barrels, but that is only business. Italy is at war, they need supplies, and you can't really expect them to manufacture their own! I mean seriously... They are practically fighting a war of attrition with Ethiopia for crying out loud...

- That's not the point, Joachim. The point is that building up fortifications on the French border can mean no good, whatever it does to the economy now, because it will surely mean war sooner or later. I'm not saying that we will start this war of course. But wars are fought by both sides, the invader and the invaded as well. Mark my word: there will be war, and that can never be good...

*** *** *** *** ***

- Very good! Those fortifications will prove invaluable in detering the French from trying to force their decadent, imperialistic ideas upon us! - Wilhelm von Walsrode, the young, passionate lieutenant of the Wehrmacht was in the cantina in the barracks of the garrison near Munich. It was his last day on leave, before his unit started to redeploy to the border. It was his last beer before he had to go back to the barracks to get some sleep, while he could. And he spent this last beer talking to a young officer from logistics. This fellow, one Jürgen Blücher, was maybe a bit too talkative. In the last half hour, after his fifth round, he was babbling about his theories about the military plans of High Command, interpolated from the orders for supplies. He looked a lot smarter than that yesterday... The theory itself was rather solid, and made sense (a complete mobilization of the garrisons from their provincial barracks and redeployment to the borders with France, Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland), but talking about such theories in great length was as far from being smart as it can get. Even in a military cantina.

With that thought, Wilhelm stood up, drank up the rest of his drink, payed and left. He had his fair share of lager this evening, but he held it as a matter of honour to still be able to stand up straight. The walk, as short as it was, helped him clear his head a bit. Tomorrow, 5:00 in the morning (which is about four hours from now...), his unit will set out for a location not yet disclosed (although Jürgen's information suggested Baden). He also heared some rumors this evening about some serious reorganisations in the army overall. He was currently an officer of the Infanterie-Regiment 19, 7. Infanterie Division, VII. Armeekorps, directly under the OKW, but if this whispering can be believed in, a new, "modern" approach is soon to be implemented in the army hierarchy. Something called "the rule of the fives"... Noone was sure what that actually meant (at least noone in the cantina, which is not really saying all too much), but that is how it should be. This is no business of the young officer corps. The generals definitely know what they are doing. He will know what he must know, when he must know. And he will always know, what to do. Always.

By the time he got this far with his theoretical reasoning, he already went through the entire routine of undressing, packing all his cloths in the correct order in the correct place, brushing his teeth, saying his evening prayer and getting into bed. Always know, what to do. Always.

Always...


Index

Chapter II

[SSmith]

Hmm... I wonder what the future holds for these guys?

That's quite an ambitious fortification plan, although you might want to think about extending it further north? We wouldn't want the French to adopt the Schlieffen plan would we? In my Germany I fortified the French frontier to level 3 I think and kept 20 divisions as a garrison... but I only needed to cover my back for a few weeks!

[OKH]

Hmm... I wonder what the future holds for these guys?

That's quite an ambitious fortification plan, although you might want to think about extending it further north? We wouldn't want the French to adopt the Schlieffen plan would we? In my Germany I fortified the French frontier to level 3 I think and kept 20 divisions as a garrison... but I only needed to cover my back for a few weeks!

I go with the same # of div's as you, for the Siegfried line, and 16 div's to cover Belg/Neth. I build the forts to level 5.

[NERFGEN]

subscribed. Show the west where the real threat lies

[Séb.D]

A static western front? Now that's something I want to see.
Subscribed.

[Slan]

@SSmith: We'll see, soon enough. The proverbial plot thickens Anyway, my strategy is to keep the BeNeLux out of the war as long as possible (although I don't really care about Luxemburg that much), but as you will shortly see, I have some basic preparations, in case that doesn't work. Basically I will keep some garrisoning troops there, and if they end up involved, I will start to build up fortifications on the fly. But I hope that this won't be necessary.

@NERFGEN, Séb.D: Welcome aboard! Man, I'm not used to this level of attention!

Now, without further ado, let's continue our story with Chapter II, now even including two screenshots!

Question to everyone: is the dialogue style clear enough, or should I change to a more 'dramatic' style, where the speaker is explicitly specified? (Like 'Hans: Blablablabla. Joachim: Yes, you are right, Blablabla indeed.') We may have conversations with 4-5 people at the same time later on, that might get a bit confusing.

[Slan]

Chapter II
In which some of the long-term plans of the Führer are hinted on.

Wilhelm was fighting really hard not to feel sick. The nineteenth Infantry Regiment of the Wehrmacht was being redeployed by train to Baden. Maybe he had one too many beers last night, which wouldn't have been that much of a problem normally, but the train didn't make it any easier. The young officer from Logistics was right. Maybe he was right about the rest of his babbling as well. Come to think of it, it actually makes a lot of sense to have our might be shown to the World! To the all-so-high-and-mighty United Nations with their sanctions against Italy, who is only defending its rightful colonies against uneducated, unwashed barbarians of Africa; to the French, still unlawfully occupying Alsace-Lorraine; to the British, the masters of hypocracy, condemning the Italian colonial fighting while sitting on their Empire encompassing one third of the World; the Soviet Union, "Paradise of the Workers", except for the fact that they have nothing to eat... Decadence is a disease, that will kill the civilized World, unless someone does something really soon.


- Ah, here you are! What are you doing here alone? - Jürgen, the fellow from Logistics, looked surprisingly fresh, considering last night.

- Yes, here I am, but I'm not alone. I'm sharing this box with a headache the size of the Soviet Union. If you don't mind...

- Had a bit too much, eh? Here, take this pill. It will help you almost instantly. - Wilhelm reluctantly took the pill, but his prejudice went away with the headache in a few minutes. - Anyway, remember what I told you yesterday? About the redeployment of troops througouht the Reich? I was right. Look at this map:

The map Jürgen shown to Wilhelm.

- How do you know this? And why do you even care? You have no business knowing the redeployment plans of the entire Wehrmacht... What good will it do to you? Because it can easily get you shot. And me too, if we talk about it too much...

- Alright alright. Actually, not the movements themselves are what fascinate me, but the possibility to plot them only from knowing where the supplies go! Think about it! An army marches on its stomach, and knowing where it marches can be very important in defending against it. We are going to the border, which either means we are going to war, or we expect the French to do so. In either case, knowing where their supplies go can tell us a lot about where their armies go! Not to mention that we should keep our own supplies more hidden. When we arrive, I will ask for a transfer from Logistics to Intelligence.

- Why are you telling me this anyway? Doesn't this go against this 'keep our own supplies hidden' principle?

- Nah, you look like someone to be trusted! And you are a Leiutenant of the Wehrmacht, so you can't be that bad!

- Looks might be misleading. Not that they are in my case of course, as I am a man to be trusted. But for some reason I always imagined Intelligence Officers to not trust anyone except maybe themselves.

- Then you, yourself are judging only based on the front of something you don't really understand. Like the Army, Intelligence also has multiple arms. We have our fighting forces, which is obviously the most recognizable part, but there's also Logistics, Communications, Headquarters, etc. In case of Intelligence, there are the courageous field agents, who has the honour of going behind enemy lines and getting all the adventures, but there's also a huge department of Analysts, Code breakers, Archiveists. You know, people with brains.

- Well, when you put it like that... Although I'm pretty sure the field agents also have their fair share of brains.

- I wouldn't doubt that. But they also need to be brave as well as cautious. Which I'm not, I'm afraid.

- I won't argue with that... - Wilhelm was starting to like this guy. Not cautious, but definitely smart and honest.
They kept talking about their past, future, ambitions, exceptations from life... Quite the usual, for young men in the Army. By the time the train arrived in Baden in four days' time, they became to know eachother rather well. But then they both had to report for duty at separate parts of the new barracks, so both went on their own way. Wilhelm had to report to the briefing with Major General Grün, the new leader of 7. Infanterie-Division along with the rest of the officers.

- Gentlemen, may I have your attention please. As you most likely already know, the Führer has issued an order to reoccupy the de-militarized region of the Rheinland. You, as officers of the Seventh Infanterie Division of the Werhmact, will have the honour of defending the reemerging Germany from the West. We do not attempt to provoke a war with the decadent French or the imperialistic British, but we won't be pushed around anymore. The rearmament plan started by the Party is in progress as I speak, and Field Marshal von Blomberg has already made known to the World the "Defensive Plan for the Reich". On your desks, you will find a booklet, explaining the plan in detail.

Excerpt from the "Defensive Plan for the Reich" booklet.

- What you have in your hands is not confidential. While you are not encouraged to distribute, or explain it to civilians in detail, you are neither forbidden to. The Führer wants to make clear that we are not preparing to attack, but to defend. Thank you for your attention. Dismissed!

*** *** *** *** ***

Erhard Straussenburg was just leaving the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. His exam went relatively well, although he would have to wait a bit for the results. Stupid geometry. But at least it's over now. And he had an appointment he was already getting late to.

*** *** *** *** ***

Joachim and Hans were sitting in a caffee, talking about the movies.

- They just don't make films like they used to... - said Joachim.

- That much is true, but it doesn't mean they make bad movies. Not at all! They are different than in our childhood, but we are different, too. Things change.

- Well, some things change for the worst. Take Karl Valentin for example. He was the Charlie Chaplin of Germany a few years ago, but now he has completely disapeared. He was a genius. Maybe even ahead of his time, and Goebbels doesn't understand him, I don't know. But now all we get is propaganda films from this Leni Riefenstahl.

- I'm terribly sorry, but I couldn't help overhearing you - stood up a man from the next table - and I would be very interested in what exactly your problem with Frau Riefenstahl is.

Hans almost jumped up from his seat, fearing the worst and Joachim became pale too. Could this man be an agent of the Geheime Staatspolizei, the feared secret police of the Reich?

- Oh, don't worry, I work for Goebbels, not Himmler. - smiled the man - I'm genuinely interested in your opinion so I can convince you that you are wrong! - and with that, he took a seat at the table of the two.

- Well, ohm, you see... - started Joachim with all his usual confidence gone with the wind - What I meant was that all these propaganda films tell the same story. We've heared that before and...

- Wait a minute! You look so familiar! Haven't we met before?

Joachim was still too confused to react, but Hans suddenly recognized the young man:

- You are Martin Lederer, arn't you? From class C! That's Joachim Strauss and I'm Hans Grübermann from class B! You really work for Goebbels?...

- Well, not directly... Or at least not yet. I work for the Völkischer Beobachter as a reporter. I... - Then suddenly...

- Do you see, Joachim? That is what I've told you, it's right here... - ...Erhard was bursting into the caffee with that morning's edition of the Völkischer Beobachter. He was pointing to an article on the third page, under a picture showing the commisioning of the heavy cruiser KMS Graf Spee, talking about some slight changes in the laws concerning the length of conscription, in case of a war, increasing it from two years to three. - I told you they were a bunch of morons!

- Oh, Erhard, good day to you too! - said Joachim, still in shock.

- Erhard, this is Martin Lederer. Martin Lederer, this is Erhard Straussenburg. Erhard, please, sit and calm down! - said Hans, but it was a very hard task for himself to remain calm.

- Hi, Martin. - the two shook hands, then Erhard sat down. - Can you believe this?

- Actually, I can. I wrote the article. Is there any problem with my style?

- You did? Well, no, the style is pretty good, my problem is the subject!

- Please, can't we all just calm down? - Hans was still trying to avoid a scandal that could very well have them end up at the police station, if not worse. Erhard was fortunately starting to calm down. Joachim was still in shock.

- So, what is the problem with this new conscription law?

- Other than violating the Versailles Treaty? Meddling with conscription means war will follow. And even if not considering the humanitarian side, fighting a war would be disasterous to our economy just slowly getting on its feet!

- Nobody really cares about the Versailles Treaty anymore, not even the French, and especially not the British. We even signed a naval agreement with them last year, which could be considered as a renouncement of the peace treaty anyway. And about the economy, maybe you are a bit misinformed. Our economy is on the rise, and at a steadier rate than any other on either side of the Atlantic, and that is saying something.

- I can verify that! - said Joachim. With the topic changing from movies and culture to economics, he suddenly became confident again. - See? I told you this Schacht is a genius!

- Now that all our differences are solved, we should have a drink! A beer for everyone, on me? - Hans' last attempt to pacify the group didn't go unanswered. The rest of the evening was spent with lighter subjects like the weather, the comming Olympic games, literature or geometry...


Index

Chapter III

[Magyarvagyok]

Question to everyone: is the dialogue style clear enough, or should I change to a more 'dramatic' style, where the speaker is explicitly specified? (Like 'Hans: Blablablabla. Joachim: Yes, you are right, Blablabla indeed.') We may have conversations with 4-5 people at the same time later on, that might get a bit confusing.

Yes, please do it.

[SSmith]

Question to everyone: is the dialogue style clear enough, or should I change to a more 'dramatic' style, where the speaker is explicitly specified? (Like 'Hans: Blablablabla. Joachim: Yes, you are right, Blablabla indeed.') We may have conversations with 4-5 people at the same time later on, that might get a bit confusing.

That might be a good idea for the more complex conversations.

Interesting defence plan for the Reich... Hitler really doesn't trust Poland does he? Wonder why?

[Séb.D]

Question to everyone: is the dialogue style clear enough, or should I change to a more 'dramatic' style, where the speaker is explicitly specified? (Like 'Hans: Blablablabla. Joachim: Yes, you are right, Blablabla indeed.') We may have conversations with 4-5 people at the same time later on, that might get a bit confusing.

This could help, but I'd rather see you try and develop your writing skills to make it clear without having to use this kind of theatrical writing. But if you feel like you must, it won't bother me THAT much.

Nice update by the way! Love the way you let know your overall strategy without exposing it outright. It's always interesting to learn and see what happens through the eyes of "simple" soldiers and folks, rather than through some God-like point of view of what's inside Hitler's brain.