Hitler's gamble - An alternative German Strategy

Stalin is dead, Stalingrad has fallen and the new leadership of the United Soviet Socialist Republics has sued for peace.



Concluding a battle taking about a week, the 2. and 13. Panzer-Division supported by the 16. Motorized Infanterie-Division under the leadership of Major General Schmidt captured Stalingrad today, delivering the final blow to the Worker's Paradise. After the Soviet government retreated to the city named after their crazed leader, they felt safe from the wrath of the Reich, but they were proven wrong. With their entire Southern Army destroyed in the Southern Pocket and the Odessa Pocket, getting farther away from the frontline could only delay the inevitable. Gone are the days when the Soviet Union could be considered a Great Power. Or to have any international significance at all.

Stalin, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the United Soviet Socialist Republics, the man responsible for the horrors of Bholsevism, ruiner of lives of the peasants and workers he has sworn to protect, destroyer of economies, defier of the laws of common sense, has finally realized that his reign of terror is at an end. Last night, in his own personal bunker, from which he was personally butchering the defence plans of the city, he decided to take the easy way out and instead of facing what was waiting for him, he shot himself. With this act of cowardice, he managed to avoid being tried, convicted and executed for his crimes against humanity.

With his death, the power-vacuum had to be filled, and with the city's defences already at the breaking point, it had to be filled quickly. The man to answer the calls of the people was Lavrenti Beria, former head of the NKVD, the (not so) secret police of the Soviet State. And he knew exactly who to contact and how to get in touch with the right person to end the War in the East. He approached the forces now occupying the city with an offer noone could turn down. The negotiations are still underway, but it seems pretty much certain now that everything to the West of the Urals will be seceded to the Reich. The Soviet Union can still survive, but in name only: their spine is broken, their armies destroyed, their industry lost. Never ever again will Bholsevism be a threat to decent people around the World!

After a job well done, the triumphant soldiers of the Werhmacht now march on to new battles and new victories in the West. With one of the major threats to the integrity of the Reich dealt with, Hitler can now focus his attention solely on the Western Imperial powers: the British Empire and the French Republic. The days of the decadent democracies, led by fools and clowns, is coming to an end, the New World Order is getting closer with every city captured, with every enemy soldier killed, every tank destroyed, plane shot down, warship sunk. The final victory is at hand!




B+130
Moscow, Headquarters of the 9. Panzer-Division.

Wilhelm was sitting in the office of Major General Steiner. He was summoned right after he heard the news of the Soviets giving up and surrendering.

- The Major General is currently inspecting the reconstruction of the Kremlin - said Major General Steiner's aide to Wilhelm. - but he will be back shortly. You can wait for him here, Sir.

- Thank you.

The office was nicely furnitured. Most of it was left there by the Soviets, practically the only change was that Stalin's picture was replaced by that of Hitler. On the large oak desk, there wes an operational map of the surrounding area, burried under several after action reports from different units in the Division. One of them was from Wilhelm. He didn't like writing these reports. He really was like those old fashioned Prussian officers, despite of his origins.

He stood up and walked to the window. The office was in a building on the far side of the Red Square from the Kremlin, on the top floor of the GUM, the State Department Store, which was later turned into an office building by Stalin. The logistics section of the Division was also housed in that building. From the window, Wilhelm could see the huge gaping hole in the Kremlin's wall made by a Sturmpanzer 38(t) 'Grille' during the battle of Moscow. Dozens of Russian men were working on the scaffolding. He turned around when he heared the door opening.

- Ah, Captain von Walsrode.

- Sir! I see the reconstruction is going well.

- Yes, it is. In a few more weeks, it will be as good as new. The Kremlin was already the symbol of the Russians before Lenin and Stalin turned the place into a madhouse. Anyway, we won't be around to see that. We are returning to Germany.

- Understood, Sir. Was that why you summoned me?

- Of course not. You know, my offer still stands for a job in my staff.

- I do appreciate it, Sir, but if I do have a say in it, I would still prefer to stay out on the field.

- Well, I could actually order you, but what good would come of it? I prefer a lower ranking officer doing his job well over a higher ranking officer doing his job without a heart. But I still need another officer here at the HQ. - he sat down to his desk, taking a sheet of paper and a pen. - I will bring Captain Kaufmann in. - He wrote something on the paper. - Problem solved. But now I have another opening. I'm moving you up to lead the Company. Hope you don't have any problem with that!

- No, Sir! Of course not, Sir...



Dear Anna!

I have wonderful news! Soviet resistance is completely broken in the Northern Section, and the unit is redeploying back to Stettin! And what's even better, I will get a week-long leave once we get back there! I'll bring Lobo with me, too!

These marine guys were doing a splendid job up here! Two Divisions of them went up north, chasing the retreating Soviet Forces to the Finnish border, and the other three pushed them back towards the east with the greatest ease.

Leningrad is very nice this time of year. Maybe we could visit someday when this whole war thing is over. The locals aren't that bad either. Well, considering we are occupying their country, anyway.

How are things at home? Are you doing well? What about Martin? Is he alright? I'm not worried about Wilhelm, he can take care of himself, and Joachim shoud do just fine, but Martin sometimes gets funny ideas and gets himself into trouble...

I'm very much looking forward to seeing you again, and especially spending a whole week with you!


Your beloved Hans
1940, July 23th



July, 1940, Soviet Russia

Actually, it is no longer Soviet Russia. The men are dancing and singing around the campfire, celebrating our victory. Captain von Sturmfeld announced an hour ago that the Soviet Union has sued for peace. Everyone is happy now, they say we are going home.

Home. Where do I go? I don't have a home I could go to.

But then Seargent Martinovic said that we won't go home at all, since we are still at war with the West. Nothing is for certain yet, but he believes we will be redeployed to the South, the Caucasus. He says it is full of mountains. It can only be better than the swamps we were in for most of the time until now. Mountains mean cold. Cold means no mosquitoes.

The men said that there are no enemies to the South. There's Turkey and Persia, both neutrals. "There's Iraq, who is fighting against us, but we can't get to them through neutral territory, can we?" - they say. What do they know? If Seargent Martinovic says we go South, then we go South. If Seargent Martinovic says we go straight to Hell to fight the Devil himself, all I ask is when do we leave.

Hell. That is where I will go when this all ends anyway. And there will be quite a few Russians there already, who will remember me. I'm prepared for them.


B+130
Aboard the KMS Peter Strasser, Kiel Harbour.


- So, as I was saying, the war may be over in the East, but that will only bring more work for you, guys! - Joachim was invited along with all his men to the cantine of the KMS Peter Strasser for to celebrate the defeat of the Soviet Union. - Now that the guy with the funny mustache is down, the next target the Reich will focus is most definitely the British Empire.

- And what makes you think that? - asked one of the officers from the Carrier's complement. - What about the French?

- Well, they are sitting behind their Maginot Line, which is just as formidable as the Siegfried Line. I very much doubt any commander in his sane mind would attempt to assault either of these fortifications. So what other options do we have? The African colonies are unreachable without access to the Mediterranean, and behind a wall of neutral nations.

- So you are saying that we will go after British shipping now? - asked another officer.

- You already did that for months now. No, I say the next step must be a direct invasion of the British Isles!

- Now, slow down, my young lad - intervened Captain Ernst Lindemann, commander of the KMS Peter Strasser - don't you think that is a tad bit too ambitious?

- With all due respect, Sir, no. I don't. The Royal Navy might still be the strongest in Europe, but they have to worry about the Imperial Japanese Navy. Considering the fact that the Nordsee Flotte saw no activity on the Northern coast of Europe, I think we have reason to believe that most of the Royal Navy has already left for Asia.

- Now, let me enlighten you then. - The Captain's voice was like a father's, teaching a lesson to his son. - The Royal Navy still has more warships in Europe than the Kriegsmarine has alltogether, including Battleships and Carriers. The reason for their inactivity is simple that they don't have anything to do with us. Think about it. We don't have any convoys there to raid and we don't operate any Submarines to hunt for. They are using the strategy called "Fleet in Being". They don't have to actively come to us and fight our fleets, they only need to have the means to do it.

- There are five Submarine flotillas due to be commissioned in a month, those will surely change the equation, won't they?

- They probably will. If Grand Admiral Kieseritzky plays those new cards right, they may lure the Royal Navy out of the harbours, and we can strike them down. Or at least the La Royale. And it could also cause some trouble for the British, too.


Index

So, we've done it! The Soviet Union is down! Alright, it wasn't really a hard fight, I guess. But more on that later. In this Intermission Chapter, I want to talk about Unternehmen Barbarossa, the current situation of the World War and about my future plans.


Unternehmen Barbarossa

The operation was a complete success, with the Soviet Union surrendering in 130 days. That's a little over four months. After their defeat, I loaded up the old save from B-Day, to check out what did they have back then. Their resource stockpiles were maxed out, except for Oil, which was only about 45000. They had 161 base IC, coming up to a total 241 IC with laws, ministers, techs, etc. Compared to my 412 total IC, it was quite low. My resources were not maxed out though. Most of their units were up-to-date, only 39 had upgrades available. Me, on the other hand, had some 250 units with obsolete equipment.

I won't go into too much detail about their Research, Politics and Intelligence, it would be too depressing Their techs were not that, but they were bad. One level behind me in most (relevant) areas, but on the same level at most. They had some 10 new Divisions in the queue, half of them being Armoured, the other half Infantry, and also some fighters and bombers. They started the war with 115% Officer Ratio, I started it with 140%. Theirs probably went up as the war progressed with the losses, while mine went down with the new Divisions deployed. They also had exactly 200 Divisions, so they had the Grand Army Strategic Effect. (At the start of the Campaign, anyway.)

They had 671 Brigades in total (plus 22 from their puppets). 360 of those were Infantry Brigades, 90 were Motorized Brigades, 35 Tanks (Armoured and Light Armoured combined), 10 Cavalries, 33 Mountaineers, 12 Garrisons, plus 131 different support brigades, with a heavy emphasize on Tank-Destroyers. (The AI is thuoght to use 2xMOT+2xTD Divisions. I assume because these are considered Combined Arms. It is an exploit if you ask me, but still won't save the AI's bottom.) In comparision I had only 470 Brigades (270 Infantry, 45 Motorised, 30 Armoured, 10 Cavalry, 15 Paratroopers and 100 support brigades). They had the advantage here. My techs were higher, but they were not implemented, while their obsolete weapons were mostly distributed among the units already. Still, they had two major fronts (one in Europe and one in Asia), while my secondary front was only 9 provinces long, and quite heavily fortified, plus some ports. I had the liberty to move most of my troops to the Eastern Front, while they had to keep garrisoning their Far Eastern border as well.

Their airforce consisted of 24 Air Wings in total: 10 Interceptors, 2 Naval Bombers and 12 Tactical Bombers. The Luftwaffe started the war with 16 Interceptors, 9 Tactical Bombers and 2 Transport Planes. (Plus the 10 CAGs in the Kriegsmarine.) Considering that 6 of the 16 Interceptors were stationed on the Western Front, while they kept most of the Red Air Force in Europe, the air battle was much more even. Or at least should have been.

Their Navy consisted of 3 Battleships, 5 Destroyer flotillas, 1 Heavy Cruiser, 3 Light Cruisers, 5 Transport flotillas and a staggering 23 Submarine flotillas. From these, one Transport flotilla and 10 Submarine flotillas were trapped in the Baltic, the rest were either in Vladivostok, Archangelsk or Murmansk. The Kriegsmarine had 2 Battlecruisers, 5 Carriers, 1 Destroyer flotilla (the rest was sunk by the Royal Navy already), 3 Heavy Cruisers, 6 Light Cruisers, 1 Submarine flotilla and 5 Transport flotillas. They never had a chance to even inflict any damage on my fleets, and as I said, most of the Red Navy was stationed in the Far East anyway. The operation was not decided on the seas.

I think you will agree with me in that the war was decided in the Southern Section, with the first, or at the latest, the second grand encirclement. Taking out about 20 Divisions in the first did hurt them a lot and after the second, they newer had a chance to form a proper line as they lacked the necessary amount of units. I would like to take this opportunity to point out why it is a very stupid idea to have 1000 Strength HQ brigades and let them fight: they break almost instantly, but as they have a very low strength, they shatter instead of retreating. That means they will be teleported away from the battle, so the AI will create new ones on the front. I'm not really convinced that the AI is able to disband unnecessary HQs... Anyway, the point is that using encirclements is very important to wearing down your enemy, and the bigger the encirclement is, the better. As long as you can keep it in hand.

Another important factor was my ability to take their airfields. The air battle would have been much more even if they would have had the ability to keep their fighters closer to the front. That showed later on when I started to send my interceptors to fight for the air over Moscow, where most of the Soviet planes were called back. When concentrated, they did put up a much better fight. This also tought me an important lesson, but more on that later.

I also wanted to post this picture of the final days of Unternehmen Barbarossa, because I think it is funny:



The current situation

I've made a screenshot of the world as of now, and marked the Allies and Axis nations with green and black cross-hatching, the defeated Soviet Union with the humiliating word "DEFEATED" and neutralis with either the word "NEUTRAL" or a big capital N.


As you can see, the actual territory held by the Allies is still much bigger than the Axis. South Africa is mostly out of the war, and so is Central America. Mexico and Canada are already in the Allies, but the US is still Neutral. I'm not sure for how long, though. They are basically stuck in limbo on the Diplomatic Triangle because of threat: when they are closer to the Axis, my threat pushes them away, when they are closer to the Allies, Canada pushes them away. Eastern Europe is firmly in our hands, Africa is sorta contested, but it doesn't really worth much for the most part, so I don't really care right now, the Middle-East is my enemy, but I have it within my reach, and Asia is mostly a free ride for the Japanese. When they start to go on the offensive, that is... It is a very small red blob, but the British made a landing to the East of Hong Kong. I would give it a few weeks at most though. The Japanese already started to move out, but they are slow as hell.



Future plans

First of all, let's take a look at the Victory Conditions! I have the following ones selected:


You might be confused (or at least I was) as to why Operation Barbarossa is still unchecked. Well, it is because it includes everything towards the East up to Barbarossa. Helsinki, Vaasa, Zagreb and Sarajevo also need to be held by the Axis for that to be checked. That pretty much makes it necessary for me to bring Yugoslavia and Finland into the Axis one way or the other. Finland wants to take the easy way, they are aligning to me on their own. But they also have claims on me (the lands I inherited from the Soviet Union), and I'm not sure if that will push them back again or not. I already started to man their border with some minor forces. Yugoslavia is slowly drifting away, and I don't really feel like influencing them either. They will have to be attacked at some point in the future. But before I do that, I will call in Hungary and Romania. They don't have any enemy neighbours, so they will have time to mobilize, and it is much more efficient for them to be at war than to be at peace.

Sealion is on the table, but I don't want to rush that invasion. It needs consideration and planning. I'm not sure if I want to do it before or after going for France. I definitely do want to take down France though. I will probably go through the Low Countries while doing so. I don't want Neutral wedges in my Europe. Yes, that includes Switzerland (and Ireland) at some point, but no need to rush that either. When I'm done with France, I will go for Spain as well, as they are in the Allies already. I want them to be annexed because they are the Republican version and the Nationalist version can't be brought back either (without modding...). I guess when I'm there, and it is safe already, calling in Portugal will be a good idea.

In the Balkans, Bulgaria shows promise, they are pretty close and I've been influencing them for some time now. They should be within range in a few weeks. I don't care about Greece, we can let Italy take care of them later, when the time is right. Turkey is influenced by Japan, and is also pretty close. Having them in my faction would make attacking North Africa much easier. If I have to go through their territory to Africa, I will drop some Paratroopers there first to occupy a province, so the rest will also go to me. I want to take Suez before calling Italy in, because otherwise their forces in East Africa will starve. I would prefer to avoid that.

To get to Asia, I will need to go through Persia. They look willing to join my cause, but to be honest, I would prefer to take their Oil fields to myself directly rather than buying the stuff later on. I may even make a puppet there. But I don't want them in as an independent nation. Saudi Arabia doesn't really concern me, but they are in the way towards Oman and Yemen, so they have to go. Afghanistan is a potential Neutral wedge, and so is Tibet and Sinkiang. And by the time I get there, Yunnan will also have served its purpose. I'm not exactly sure about Siam. If I'm not mistaken, Japan will have trouble with Indochina, because they are already fighting there. Except if it goes to Vichy automatically, in which case they can claim it later on anyway. The point is that the "Put pressure on Siam" requires Indochina to be owned by Japan. I think. Anyway, Vichy France will also have to be brought in, which will be pretty hard to do. I don't think they would ever join (the AI is told not to accept), so the only way to get them is to attack and annex/puppet, but for that, I will have to break the NAP forced on me by the Armistice. It will take some time, but that's what I have to do.

By this point, the Victory Conditions should all be fulfilled. I will have to decide wether to go for a quasi-World Consuqest or not. And by quasi-World Conquest, I mean extending the Axis faction to the entire globe, leaving no Neutral or enemy nations anywhere. The main problem with that, as I hinted above, will be the United States. They won't be able to join the Axis, because they are stuck in the Diplomatic Limbo, unless they are attacked by the Allies. That won't happen. The only question is if Japan will DoW them before the Allies go down or not. If they attack them, they will be pushed into the Allies, which might complicate things a bit. If not, then I doubt there will be any problems down the road.

All in all, I believe Hitler's Gamble worked out rather well so far. But the Japanese may still spoil the party, and the Italians weren't called in yet...

EDIT: I forgot the fourth part... Sorry! Here it comes!

Reorganisation

After Unternehmen Barbarossa, I learned a valuable lesson in aerial warfare: the old way of using two wings per air group is not enough. I will reorganise the Luftwaffe into 3xInterceptor Air Groups. The bomber Groups will probably stay as they are though. They shouldn't get into air battles, and for bombing, the two wings per group approach is still feasible. But if I have to face concentrated air defences, I will need to adapt.

The Wehrmacht will also be changed. I will need to leave some units to cover my new border with the Soviets. They can't attack me, but I still don't want to leave my border alone, if nothing else, then for role-playing reasons. I created a new Theatre with two Armies (Nordrussische Armee and Südrussische Armee), 3 Corps (Ostfront Korps) of 3 Divisions each (taken randomly from Zweite Armee and Dritte Armee). That won't be enough to defend the whole border (which is about 35 provinces long), but I don't want to do that anyway. Even if they could attack (which they won't), that would be enough to hold them up until the cavalry arrives.

Zweite Armee (or rather what's left of it) is redeployed to Czechoslovakia. They will be used against Yugoslavia in the near future. What was left of Dritte Armee is redeployed to Georgia, and will fight in the Middle East and in Asia, if necessary. Erste Panzerarmee will be split into Erste and Zweite Panzerarmee. Erste will go back to Germany. I guess they can rest for a while now, I don't want to use them in Yugoslavia. Zweite will go to the Caucasus and join Dritte Armee. Until now, I had three Panzerarmeekorps, each consisting of five Panzer-Divisions, plus I had XXX. Armeekorps consisting of five Motorized Divisions. After the split, I'll have five Panzerarmeekorps, each consisting of three Medium Panzer-Division (2xARM+1xMOT+1xSP-Art), a Motorized Infantry Division (3xMOT+1xTD) and all five will get a Heavy Panzer-Division (2xHARM+1xINF+1xArt) next January when the new Divisions will arrive. Three Panzerarmeekorps will be attached to the Erste Panzerarmee and the other two to the Zweite. As of now, the plan is that Erste will participate in the attack on the West, while Zweite will go to North Africa and Asia.

With the Soviets down, I can now start to split my attention, I no longer need to focus on a single front. I will be able to fight in the Balkans, Asia and North Africa at the same time. Which I will probably do. Then there's also Finland, which might still prove problematic, if they start to drift away because of the cores. We will see. Anyway, I'm willing to take more of a risk from now on. And I will also start to use the AI on Army level, at least for the minor wars. (Although I won't allow it to touch my beautiful OOB )

Index