Hitler's gamble - An alternative German Strategy

B+1
Somewhere in the Ukraine.

Wilhelm was sitting at the fire with his men. They were allowed to have fires because the nights were rather chilly around here (and so were the days with only around 3-8°C at most) and there was no resistance since the Soviet troops started retreating the day before. They faced no enemy at the moment but they still had to stop to rest every now and then. Such stops presented a good opportunity to build unit cohesion and morale a bit, and the soldiers were singing different songs they all knew. Wilhelm didn't sing along with them, not because he didn't want to mix with his subordinates, but because he didn't know the song himself. The Division was from East Prussa, while he was from Bayern. The difference might not be as big as between a Chinaman from Shanxi and one from Yunnan, but it was still quite clear.

He was thinking about their objectives. He would have never discussed this with his men, as it wouldn't have been appropriate, but he had his doubts about their chances. First of all, that airborne assault on Kyiv. He got word from Division that the assault was a success and the 2. Fallschirmjäger Division managed to capture a fully intact Corps Headquarters. They also recieved supplies via the airfield they secured. And it was less than 100 km-s away. The problem was the terrain. For the moment they were going around the edge of the Pripet Marshes, but some genius somewhere up in the ranks thought it would be a great idea to eventually venture into those swamps with Panzers. They were scheduled to take Korets' to the South-East, then turn Eastwards and continue towards Zhytomyr instead of going around through Bila Tserkva. Major General Steiner said that the reason was to get to Kyiv ASAP, Bila Tserkva would have been too long of a detour, but he must have known as well as Wilhelm that bringing tanks into a swamp was anything but a shortcut.


Then there was this whole Blitzkrieg business. It did work well in Poland, but they simply didn't have the manpower to counter such a strategy. The Reich had a clear numerical superiority anyway. Is it really a good idea to go hundreds of kilometers deep into enemy territory with their flanks wide open? Sure, Poland (or Denmark, Sweden, or any of the Baltic States) didn't have enough troops to cut off the advancing spearhead, but the Soviets definitely do. If this Operation is a success, that would be a huge blow for the Reds. But if it goes wrong... What was General Rommel saying about gambling, again?

Still, an order is an order. If they have to go into Hell itself, all he will ask is the time of departure.



B+2
Berlin, Ministry of Propaganda and Enlightment.

- Martin, my boy! Do sit down! - Herr Weber was smiling as always. Martin sat down by the huge desk. - As you probably know, the Reich invested quite a lot of resources to bring Romania under his wing. Eversince their election earler this year, they are continuously trying to ensure the Reich that they are willing to cooperate, but after almost three months of negotiations, they still didn't agree to sign the Tripartite Pact. The Führer is losing his patience.

- Understandable, Sir.

- Quite so. He ordered Herr von Ribbentrop to do whatever is necessary to convince them to take this step, and he decided to go there himself. He is leaving tomorrow. I was instructed to send a reporter with the entourage to keep the German people informed about the events of the negotiations and whatever may follow. I choose you.


- Sir, if I may. You do realize that sending a war reporter will cause tension. Hungarian troops are concentrated on the Romanian border and most of the Wehrmacht is already conducting military operations in the area. My presence during such negotiations could make the Romanians feel threatened by war.

- Exactly.



B+3
Lwów, Logistical Headquarters of the forces involved in Unternehmen Barbarossa.

Hans didn't have a hot meal for three days. When Martin told him that he will like working at Logistics, he didn't really expect this. The popular joke was that it is harder to be in Logistics than on the front, fighting the Bolsheviks. And judging from the War Reports, it sounded very much possible, too. Also judging from the ammunition requests sent back, the armoured thrusts into Northern Ukraine were going very smoothly, except that one attack on Makhrovka. There were a lot of requests from there, and not only ammunition but also medical supplies and medicine. The area was the edge of the Pripet Marshes, explaining the trouble the Wehrmacht had with enemy troops as well as infected wounds.

The Southern part of the Ukranien border was an entirely different matter. The amount of supplies requested from that section wasn't extraordinally high, but unusually concentrated. Only about every third Division sent requests, but those that did used up enough for three Divisions! Hans started to suspect that something's wrong with the forms, but when he reported his suspicion to his superior, he was told to mind his own business. A valuable lesson learned: the Wehrmacht doesn't like small people asking questions.

More and more fuel was also requested for the Panzer Divisions. They were advancing into enemy territory rather quickly, leaving a long trail of horse-drawn carts and supply trains behind them. There were a lot of complaints from the Major Generals commanding the second line troops about all supplies and especially fuel being prioritized to the front, leaving them with almost nothing. To Hans, it seemed reasonable to give the fuel to the Divisions that were ordered to move forward instead of the ones that were staying behind, but armymen are like that: complaining all the time.

But these problems were only really present in the Ukraine. In Belarus, Dritte Armee was fully capable of keeping on the advance with minimal casualties and minimal supply usage. It also didn't cause any problems for the supplies to keep up with the advancing front. A Private who was working close to the front as a truck driver (and just returned to rest for a week because of a minor leg injury) told Hans that the Reds were constantly on the run from the soldiers who were advancing as fast as they could walk, getting past Minsk in three days.


The only thing really making him worried was the fact that the central stockpiles were going down quickly. Canned food, ammunition, fuel, tents, rifles, mechanical parts, tools, cigarettes and toilet paper were sent to the front from rare area depots but there was no new material arriving from the Industry since he was called in three days earlier. He decided not to ask his superiors about this. He learned his lesson.



B+5
Stettin harbour.

- Some treacherous waters thems are, I tell ya! - Johann, the captain of a small Swedish merchant ship, the Näbbdjur. After Sweden was incorporated into the Reich, the list of his potential trading partners dropped significantly, and he quickly found his way into the payroll of the Kriegsmarine. His ship was now used for underway replenishment of the Nordsee Flotte.

- At least it is not out in the Atlantic, with all those British submarines and all... - replied Joachim. He was made Head of Supplies for the Nordsee Flotte a week earlier when his predeccessor was ran over by a car. Hans was right, life in the Kriegsmarine was indeed a dangerous one.

- Yeah, that much is true, but we have commie subs here and quite a lot of them, too.

- Don't worry about those, the Nordsee Flotte will make short work of them rather quickly.

- If ya says so, lad, but I wouldn't hold me breath. I visited Leningrad's port a few years back. They have some mighty airguns there. I wouldn't be in the place of those pilot chaps for all the world.


- Well, I saw what those dive bombers are capable of and I can assure you, they are quite formidable.

- I wouldn't be denying that, but still. I'll believe it when I sees it. - They were watching the sailors loading up the cargo from the wharf in silence for a few minutes. Most of the ammunition was already hauled in when a Sailor of the Kriegsmarine came up to the bridge with a telegram in his hands.

- Sir! This has just arrived from the KMS Graf Zeppelin! The first air-raids were extremely successful, the Submarines were unable to leave their pens and at least half of them were destroyed already!


- See? - turned Joachim to Johann. - I told you they were going to mop up those pesky subs very quickly!

- Sir, that's not all. Admiral Raeder requested a double shipment to fill up the ammunition and fuel stockpiles of the Flotte.

- Me ship is a mighty little thing she is, but she won't be able to go with double load.

- Don't worry, Johann, noone's expecting her to do that. We have reserves for such an occassion. Sailor! Get back to the radio room and call the harbour master in Tallinn!



B+7
Somewhere in the Ukraine.

Wilhelm and his squads were rolling towards a village along the river. Most of the Battalion was waiting a few miles from the bridge and their job was to make sure that noone will try and blow that bridge with a convoy of tanks right on top of it. The river was a relatively insignificant one but it only had one bridge capable of holding the weight of more than one tank at a time, losing that would slow down the advance considerably. With that obstacle behind them, there would only be a small forested area before they reach the town of Denyshi, and beyond that the terrain was mostly flat towards Zhytomyr, the predominant city in the area.

- I really don't think there is anyone near that bridge, actually. - said First Seargent Benz. They did meet no resistance in the past two days, even the local civilians seem to be glad they were there. The few that didn't leave by then, that is. It felt more like they were liberators rather than an invasion force.

- That is strange. - replied Wilhelm.

- What is, Sir?

- I must be going senile. I don't remember asking for your opinion. So you should keep it to yourself, shouldn't you?

- Yes, Sir.

Wulff suddenly braked the engine. The two forward reconnaissance units signalled troop movements in the village. The whole unit stopped. Wilhelm looked into his binoculars and saw two Soviet soldiers patroling out in the open. That meant the village is defended as well. After the last time, he didn't really feel like going up against unknown odds when his objective was actually to get around the bridge. Still, the ford he was supposed to get through was beyond the village, and it would be pretty hard to sneak in with four Panzers.

- Private Krause, give me Major General Steiner on the radio please!



It took the pair of Heinkel He-111 bombers only about half an hour to get there from their base near Brest Litovsk. The Luftwaffe achieved full air superiority, thanks to the superior German Messershmidt fighters and the fact that the Soviets were quickly running out of usable airfields, and they had none in the vicinity already.

When they heared the engines, they started up their own as well. The soldiers were riding the tanks, ready to jump off when they get close enough. By the time they arrived to the first building, the bombers were already on their way home, having dropped two tons of bombs, leaving only ruins in their wake. The Soviet defenders were quickly overwhelmed.


- What was that you mentioning about nobody defending the brigde, Hermann? - said Seargent Wulff. The two scouts Wilhelm sent ahead have just arrived back, reporting a company of Soviet troops setting up an ambush on their side of the bridge. Wilhelm was thinking. Bombing them was not an option this time, since that would endanger the brigde, their objective. They had to find a more subtle way of defeating them without letting them harm the bridge. He had to take a risk again. He told his plan to the Colonel on the other side of the bridge with the rest of the Battalion, and quite surprisingly, he liked it.


- Alright, men! The Infantry will start a suppressing attack on the defenders, trying to get their attention. Meanwhile, Second Squad will go a bit further down the road and hit the Russkies in the back. This will make them think that we are coming from the East. Then First Sqaud will roll in from this position to put some more pressure on them. We will allow them to cross the bridge if they want to, which they hopefully will in an attempt to escape. That's when the rest of the boys will take them down from the other side. Any questions?



The plan worked out well. Surprisingly well, in fact. The ambushing Soviets were quite surprised when they were ambushed themselves, and they started to retreat towards the bridge almost immediately, and when the two Panzers of Second Squad showed up on the road, their retreat turned into fleeing. After they stepped out in the open over the bridgehead, they were as good as dead.

They didn't have any explosives wired to the bridge for the simple reason that they didn't have any explosives at all. Units along the whole front were completely unprepared for the German invasion.



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