Chapter 9: Plans for the Future
As mentioned in Chapter 8, the Reich's leaders, both political and military, gathered for a secret conference to decide the fate of Europe. As mentioned earlier, the first decision involved the German-speaking Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. The plan was to annex this land into the Reich, which would do three things:
1) Deprive Czechoslovakia of its primary defenses, which were more formidable than the French Maginot Line.
2) Incorporate 3 million Germans living in the Sudetenland. They represented one quarter of Czechoslovakia's population (Author's note: this isn't represented in the game)
3) Incorporate one of the most industrialized regions of Czechoslovakia into the Reich (Author's note: this isn't represented in the game)
Given the so-called Appeasement Policy pursued by the French and British, the Reich had every right to feel that it could use diplomacy to annex another German-speaking region. The fact that the Sudeten NSDAP was willing to collaborate, similar to the Austrians, gave the plan more credibility and the Reich more confidence it could annex the region unopposed.
Areas of Czechoslovakia with a large German presence
However, the next 2 days were filled with discussions on what to do after the Sudetenland was annexed. The result of these discussions was the formation of 5 diplomatic plans, and 3 war plans, all of which envisioned the Reich acting alone. Relations with Italy at the time were deemed good enough such that Italy would not enter a war against the Reich. However, to mitigate the risk, diplomats were tasked with securing an alliance with Italy to prevent an attack along Germany's southern flank.
The first diplomatic plan, Plan A, was to pressure Czechoslovakia to be partitioned amongst the Reich, Poland, and Hungary. Polish and Hungarian officials had separately approached von Ribbentrop earlier with proposals for each of their nations to enforce their claims on Czechoslovakia. Both nations were unwilling to press their claims on their own, and thus required German help. The potential drawback is that the Czechs and Slovaks would not be willing to be governed by the Reich, and dissent would become a factor (Author's note: since no or very few Germans live in Bohemia or Moravia, Germany would NOT get cores). After the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, the Reich would focus on its claims on Memel and the Danzig corridor. It was determined that if this plan were to be accepted, it should move as quickly as possible in order to keep the UK and France bickering about a response. If the Czechs refused to submit, they would likely drag the Reich into a war with the Allied Powers. In that situation, diplomatic efforts to regain Memel and Danzig would be shelved.
The second diplomatic plan, Plan B, was to ignore the Poles and Hungarians request to partition Czechoslovakia and focus on reclaiming Memel and German-speaking areas of Poland. Assuming that the Allied Powers are willing to continue the Appeasement Policy when it comes to former German land in the east, then it was determined that the chances of Poland starting a war with the Allies was small, considering Poland's recent belligerent behavior toward Lithuania. In this situation, it was highly likely that the Soviet Union would retaliate against the Reich, since it has outstanding claims against Poland. This plan would require the three panzer armies to be up to full strength, as the Heer would likely be forced to fight the Soviets and Poles immediately, with no time to rest or regroup. The projected start date would be in 1941, after the 7 motorized infantry divisions are finished and winter is over.
The third diplomatic plan, Plan C, was to ignore eastern Europe altogether for the time being and take advantage of recent tensions between Denmark to prompt a war with the UK and France. This would require the Kriegsmarine to be up to full strength, and would be projected to begin in the mid-40s. Later, once the war was over, the Reich would refocus its attention east.
The fourth diplomatic plan, Plan D, was to ignore the east and attack France directly in order to regain Elsass-Lothringen. This would also require the Kriegsmarine to be up to full strength. Later, once the war was over, the Reich would refocus its attention east.
The fifth diplomatic plan, Plan E, was to attempt to regain Eupen from Belgium, and start open hostilities against the UK and France. Later, once the war was over, the Reich would refocus its attention east.
Despite the different goals for the diplomatic plans, some of them shared battleplans that could be utilized. Plans A, C, D, and E all envisioned war with the Allies first, and the Poles, Lithuanians, and Soviets later. Two different warplans were developed for these scenarios. A different plan was made for Plan B, which focused on defeating the Soviet Union and Poland first.
The first, Plan 1, had two versions, 1a and 1b. Plan 1a was to focus on removing Czechoslovakia first, if it started the war, then move on to Denmark next, in order to seal the Baltic from the Royal Navy. Plan1b was to focus on Denmark first, if the Czechs did not participate in the war. The next steps were identical, and focused on marching through the Low Countries with the panzers and motorized infantry in order to take Paris before the Allies count mount an effective resistance. Afterward, the UK would be bombed and commercial shipping raided until the Kriegsmarine was ready to combat the RN on equal terms. Once the RN threat was neutralized, marines and paratroopers would invade the British Isles.
(Author's note: Red represents tank spearheads, green circles represent infantry pushing forward or defending, brown represents paradrops, and purple is marine landings)
Plan 1
The second military plan, Plan 2, was much more ambitious, and applied mainly to Plans C, D, and E, although it could be executed during Plan A as well. This plan was to keep the Low Countries out of the war as long as possible, while holding the French at bay. The Kriegsmarine was to engage and defeat the RN, and allow marines and paratroopers to directly assault the UK. After the UK falls, these troops would invade along the French coast, while the main bulk of the Heer attacks through the Low Countries.
Plan 2
The third military plan, Plan 3, did not envision a war with the Allies, or if one occurred, a defensive one in nature. It also was to be the military plan to be used upon successful completion of Plans 1 or 2. This plan called for a new group of guard divisions to be placed along the Siegfried Line, if Plans 1 or 2 were not put into motion. Armies 5 and 6 were to leave their positions along the French border and join the rest in the east. The goal of Plan 3 was to destroy the Soviet Union completely, and the Heer would be split into 3 army groups: Heeresgruppe Nord, Heeresgruppe Mitte, and Heeresgruppe Sued. The northern army group was to advance north-east through the Baltic nations and take Leningrad, Murmansk, and Arkhangelsk. It would later swing south and join the middle group. At this point, the Panzerarmee attached to the north group would be reassigned to either the middle or south group, depending on the situation. The middle group was to advance straight east and take Moscow, then move past the Urals into Siberia as far as it can. The southern group was to sweep into Ukraine, then south into the Caucasus Mountains and east into Turkestan.
Plan 3
After the conference was over, everything was handed to Hitler for review and to select how he wanted to approach the coming war.
*author's note: I know the pictures don't look so good, but all I had to work with was paint, and using word or powerpoint is a pain and dramatically increases file size*