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Chapter 24: Weeks 36-39 - Belgium & Ireland fall, the Siege of Paris Begins

These four weeks were marked by several important events. The first was the capitulation of the Belgian government on February 20, which fled to its Kongo colony. The final fate of the Belgian and Dutch nations was unknown at this time frame, although rumors suggested that both nation's European holdings were to be annexed into the Reich. The final status of both nations wouldn't be known until later.


The Belgian government goes into exile. (Author's note: this event is important, as it actually helps the Allied supply situation should they attempt to retake the BeNeLux)

Five days later, after the Luftwaffe's paratroopers captured the town of Cork, Ireland surrendered. For the time being, the Reich annexed the nation directly, but had no long-term plans for Ireland to become a province of the Reich. Instead, Germany would administer the nation until the UK falls, which would prompt the creation of a local German-friendly government covering the entire Irish Island.

Later, on March 9, the South African invasion of Amsterdam was defeated. While losses were low and the overall invasion appeared to be nothing more than a nuisance, the damage was done. Armee 3 was forced to disengage from the French front to repel the invaders, and the result was a much slower and bloodier battle in France.

Also on March 9, the I. Marinekorps began its assault on the Parisian suburb of Etampes. Due to the Heer's proximity to its capital, France relocated its government to Bordeaux. The resulting confusion allowed the Heer to progress quicker than anticipated, and the Battle of Etampes had begun. (Author's note: the capital transfer isn't apparent in the screenshot below due to some graphical bug. If I had saved and reloaded, then the capital would've shown up in the right spot)

The paratroopers which had defeated Ireland had also finally regrouped, and commenced attacks on the French ports of Brest and Cherbourg, with the intention of opening another front and distracting the French defenders.

etampes.jpg


However, following the South African's example the British, on March 12, also invaded Amsterdam. The initial invasion fleet consisted of the four battleships HMS Barham, HMS Ramilies, HMS Royal Sovereign, and the HMS Oak supported by the light carriers HMS Eagle and 4 destroyers flotillas let by Admiral Fraser. This fleet was protecting four transports flotillas. 4 hours later, 4 more transport flotillas in addition to Admiral Fraser's fleet were intercepted by Flotte 1.

The fighting was fierce, but when it ended at 5am, March 13, 7 RN transport and 1 destroyer flotillas were sunk, with Flotte 1 losing 4 destroyers (out of 5) and its CAG's being reduced to 25% strength.


The opening of the British Invasion of Amsterdam


The result of the British Invasion of Amsterdam

On March 15, at midnight, the Siege of Paris began, after the French relocated its battered divisions south, in order to prevent the city from being surrounded. To the Reich's leadership, it was only a matter of time until France fell, and the West was pacified.

Also during this time period, 27 Allied convoys were sunk, or around 7 per week.


The Siege of Paris begins


The status of the war in Scotland on 39th week


The status of the war in France on 39th week


The status of the war in North Africa on 39th week


The status of the war in East Africa on 39th week

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@Elastic Fish: Welcome aboard and thanks. Barbarossa will come, but France must be dealt with first.

@Morrell8: Welcome! Czechoslovakia was left as-is in order to experiment with a different diplomatic route. There's a 50% chance in the HPP that Poland will fight Germany over Danzig if Czechoslovakia exists, and I got lucky when they gave in. Don't worry, the Czech's time will come, after the French are finished.

@All: Sorry for the short post. I had originally written up a nice long one four days ago, but lost it after my cat rolled on top of my keyboard and hit the F5 key (refresh page). I finally got around to rewriting it today, but the quality isn't the same.
 
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Try some mod where it can be done with a decision?

Which would mean pulling units out of your ass. I may be a minority in that, but I don't like that solution...
 
Actually, a few bombers and interceptors could help a LOT.
 
Oops, I used the wrong Status pictures :) They're fixed now. The only big difference is that Italy is doing worse than what was posted earlier :D

I'll help out after I beat France. I'll need to grab Gibraltar to do so though. Italy is mostly losing to the UK's puppets, which is really sad :rolleyes:
 
Italy is mostly losing to the UK's puppets, which is really sad :rolleyes:

The UK's puppets usually use the UK's units as Expeditionary forces. Or at least that should be the case.
 
Either way, it would be cool if it was possible to send the Africa Corps... Not that I'm suggesting anything :p

And it would be even cooler if you could get it back afterwards. Not that it is possible or anything... :(
 
It would be cool, but Italy can't loan me transports, I don't have a port in the Med yet, and I would prefer to have those troops in France where they will be much more useful. The faster I take out France, the faster I can help Italy. I'm willing to let Italy pay the price for its incompetence. I never planned on relying on it in the first place, and right now Italy is nothing more than a distraction, which they are doing a good job of.

I really don't like the idea of spawning units like the Africa Corps via event or decision. If I really had wanted to, I would've built a second transport fleet and based it in an Italian port before the war started, and moved the units over from Italy. However, with my UK-first strategy, I felt Italy wouldn't need the help, which was a miscalculation.

@All: I've almost reached photobucket's bandwidth limit and am in the process of moving some pictures to a different hosting site. If the pictures disappear, then we'll all have to wait a few days until my bandwidth usage resets. Since I've used 95% of my monthly allowance as of writing this, there's a pretty good chance the pictures will break pretty soon. I'll keep the earlier chapters with photobucket, but transfer the last 3 to another site.
 
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@All: Sorry for the short post. I had originally written up a nice long one four days ago, but lost it after my cat rolled on top of my keyboard and hit the F5 key (refresh page). I finally got around to rewriting it today, but the quality isn't the same.

I can see your problem, but have you ever tried to write the entire update in MS-Word (where you can save it), or another text-editing program? Once complete all you have to do is include the links to the pictures, although you can include the URL's in the update when still writing it in Word. I believe the correct code is: http://www.XXXX.com /URL]. This w... your accomplishments. Keep up the good work!
 
Chapter 25: Weeks 40-44 - The Siege of Paris

The 40th through 44th weeks of the Western War saw the rapid collapse of French defense. Since Paris was under siege and almost surrounded on all sides, the Heer focused all its efforts on completing the encirclement, while the marines conducted the initial assault. Despite fierce attacks against Puiseaux, the French defenders kept the Heer at bay. Control of the neighboring Etampes province switched between French and German control four times. Finally, on April 4, the Siege of Paris was over, and on April 6, the marines had fully established control of the city. The city lasted much longer than expected, mainly due to heavy French resistance in Etampes and Puiseaux, as well as heavy French air patrols, which the Luftwaffe's fighter planes couldn't successfully neutralize. As a result, air bombings of French positions were sporadic and few.


The progress of the Siege of Paris. The graphics, starting on the left, illustrate the progress of the battle on March 20, March 22, March 29, and April 4

Starting on March 16, elements of Panzerarmee 3 attacked the heavily fortified city of Metz. Both light and medium bombers attached to Heeresgruppe C, which was assigned the task of taking over the Maginot, heavily bombed the city's fortifications and the dug-in French troops. The heavy bombing allowed the 4 divisions to take Metz on March 24. In addition, unlike Paris, the French were unable to shift troops along the Maginot to reinforce and reorganize damaged divisions.


The progress of the Battle of Metz. The graphics, starting on the left, illustrate the progress of the battle on March 16 and March 20

On March 29, Armee 1 finally recaptured the Scottish city of Inverness, forcing the UK's government out of Europe completely. The new government was set up in the Zambian city of Ndola, far from Europe. This was a welcome development, as it meant that the UK's supply lines will be greatly strained, effectively trapping the RN in Scapa Flow, with Flotte 1 waiting patiently for signs of a breakout.

ndola.jpg

Parliament and the royal family flee to the depths of Africa

The Fall of Paris resulted in a complete collapse of the French western and eastern lines. Panzerarmee 3 began the encirclement of the Maginot Line, while Panzerarmee 2 swept along the Atlantic coast toward Bordeaux and Toulouse. Only the region south of Paris saw any formidable French resistance. Of note was that elements of Panzerarmee 3 began the assault on Montbeliard on April 12, the result of which would seal the fate of the French forces defending the Maginot.


Montbeliard was vital to the Reich's war efforts, and its capture would spell the doom of the French defenders

Meanwhile, the Battle of the Atlantic was slowly winding down. With the loss of all but Scapa Flow and the relocation of the UK capitol, as well as most of its convoys, the UK's convoy routes were moved. The Kriegsmarine's convoy raiding arm reported no Allied convoys operating in the Carribean, near Canada, near Ireland, or along the Sarahan coast. In fact, it appeared that the entire Atlantic ocean was deserted, with the exception of a few convoys running through the Azores from Boston and through the Gibraltar from Brazil. A total of 14 convoys were sunk, or an average of 3 per week. At this point, the short-ranged submarines were recalled, and the remaining raiders were relocated to the Azores and entrance to Gibraltar.

Meanwhile, the Italians had made no progress in the Alps, had advanced near Tunis but lost most of Libya, Ethiopia, and Somalia. They had also lost their last transport flotilla, and were unable to reinforce or retreat from their colonial holdings. While the Italians overall performance was very poor so far, they were fulfilling their role as a distraction very well. For every British or French division fighting Italy, that meant one less the Reich would need to face.


The status of the war in Scotland on the 44th week


The status of the war in France on the 44th week


The status of the war in North Africa on the 44th week


The status of the war in East Africa on the 44th week
 
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Chapter 26: Weeks 45 & 46: The Maginot Pocket and the 2nd Sino-Japanese War

These two weeks saw great developments in the war. The first was that on April 16, the Maginot pocket was formed after Panzerarmee 3 and Armee 6 managed to take Montbeliard. In addition, the French lines everywhere collapsed into a route toward the new capitol set up at Lyon. The Luftwaffe's paratroopers took advantage of the route and landed in Toulouse, and efforts began to connect the special forces with the front line.


The Maginot pocket is formed

One day later, intelligence was received that the French, in an act of desperation, abandoned some positions along the Italian border, hoping the Italians wouldn't notice. And the Italian's didn't notice. It wasn't until 24th of April that the Italians took advantage of the opening in the French lines. The reasoning behind the lack of exploitation was unknown, but speculation ran rampant throughout the Reich's intelligence service. Did the Italians not believe the province was abandoned? Did the divisions nearby not receive an order to attack? To this day, no surviving Italian documents exist to explain the obvious tactical error of not exploiting the hole in the French lines.


Two days after the French abandoned the province, Italy still hadn't made any effort to exploit the breach. (Author's note: Yes, the AI really is that dumb :()

On April 22, elements of Armee 1 in Scotland finally managed to assault Scapa Flow, and force the RN fleet hiding there to flee. Raeder's Flotte 1 was in position to assist in the attack, and attempt to intercept any fleeing ships. Raeder knew that the fleet hiding in the port was larger than his own, but he also knew they were sorely lacking supplies and ammunition. With the blockade in place, no supply convoys could reach the islands.


The Battle of Scapa Flow begins, with the hope that Admiral Raeder will finally destroy the RN fleet hiding in the harbor.

Overall, more progress was made in France during these two weeks than the previous two months. French resistance had crumbled, and the Reich estimated that the loss of 3 more major cities would be enough to make France surrender. Meanwhile, the Italians had stabilized the situation in their African colonies, and had begun, after considerable delay, to push into Metropolitan France.

In addition, the final three planned battlecruisers were finished in Kiel. With the Battle of the Atlantic coming to a close, with only 8 Allied convoys, or 4 per week, being sunk, the remaining 3 Admiral Hippers without an assigned battlecruiser were recalled to Kiel to rest and regroup. The freed resources were put to use upgrading the infantry's small arms and defensive weapons, as well as the training of the final motorized infantry corps.


The status of the war in France on the 46th Week

However, the biggest event to occur was the defeat of Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party on April 13. It finally appeared that China had won its conflict against Communism after a lengthy siege of Yan'an. While no details emerged as to what finally tipped the balance, rumors from Germany's officers stationed in China as trainers point to an extremely heavy bombing campaign launched by China's newly domestic-built medium bomber wing.

mainmao.jpg

Mao Zedong, chairman of the CCP, was killed during the Battle of Yan'an during the night of April 12/13.

What came next, however, was a complete shock to the Reich's diplomats and leaders. On April 21, Japan attacked the ancient Chinese capital of Beiping, resulting in open war between the two Asian powers. While a war between the two was always expected, the Reich had always assumed that Japan would take advantage of China's civil war and attack when China was at its weakest, not when China had finally overcome its greatest internal enemy and could fully devote its army against Japan. While Japan clearly had the technical edge, and could strike anywhere along the Chinese coast due to the size and quality of the IJN, it was doubtful that Japan could withstand the weight of China's armies. Clearly, Japan was hoping to take advantage of the fact that China had promptly demobilized after the Communists had been defeated.


Shortly after the death of Mao Zedong, Japan attacks China

The day following Japan's declaration of war, Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop was asked by the Japanese ambassador Hiroshi Ōshima to recognize Manchukuo as a sovereign nation. Internationally, Manchukuo was considered part of China under Japanese occupation. Von Ribbentrop told Ōshima that a decision would be made within the next five days, to which Ōshima replied favorably.

Later that day, word came from China that the United States was willing to offer the Nanjing government fighter aircraft and volunteer pilots let by the renowned American pilot Clair Lee Chennault. The KMT refused the Americans' offer. This was a huge snub to the Americans, whose intentions were to bolster China against Japan, in order to ensure that Japan's gaze would stay away from the American naval base of Guam and its colony of the Philippines. For the Chinese, rejecting the volunteers was a show of strength and commitment to Sino-German cooperation.


China rejects the American volunteer force

On April 24, China again informed the Reich that they rejected another offer of volunteers, this time from the Soviet Union. The terms of the Soviet proposal were the signing of a non-aggression pact and the delivery of a medium bomber and light fighter wing, along with volunteer pilots. The Soviets also wanted to support China against its arch-rival Japan, and were shocked when the KMT refused. The Reich's leaders were greatly pleased by the KMT's actions, but at the present time were unable to offer any material support. The Reich lacked a navy capable of fighting Japan, despite the great successes against the Allies. The KMS Graf Zeppelin, currently under construction, was a modified version of the IJN Akagi. Since Japan's core naval vessels were aircraft carriers, as opposed to the RN's and KM's core vessels being battleships, Admiral Raeder knew from experience that the Kriegsmarine in its current state was unable to challenge Japan's carriers.

On April 26, all of the remaining warlord states joined forces with the Republic of China and declared war on Japan. This was also the day that the Japanese ambassador was expecting the Reich's reply to Japan's request. The situation was critical in the context of overall strategy. If the Reich recognized Manchukuo, it would be forced to recall its military advisers and lose a decade's worth of investment in China, while gaining the world's 2nd most powerful navy as its ally. However, if the Reich recognized Manchukuo, it would not be able to aid Japan in any material way, due to the large size and population of China in addition to the Reich's own plans to invade and destroy the Soviet Union.

On the other hand, given China's military buildup during the civil war, it was highly likely that China would push Japan off the continent and regain Manchuria and Korea. In this case, along with its refusal to sign the Sino-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, China would be much more capable of aiding the Reich during the main conflict to come. In addition, the Reich had spent decades supporting and investing in China, and all of that work would be lost if the Reich supported Japan. Also, Japan, like Italy, fought against the German Empire in the Great War, and Germany lost its Pacific colonies to Japan and Australia. However, China's navy consisted of 2 semi-modern light cruisers, 2 outdated destroyers, and 7 light cruisers built before the Great War, and had no hope of invading Japan itself. Until Plan Z was finished, the Reich was also unable to contemplate an invasion on the other side of the world.

The decision of which nation to side with was going to be pivotal in the years to come, and Ōshima was waiting for a reply.


China rejects the Sino-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, and the warlords declare war on Japan (Author's note: I didn't choose an option, I just highlighted that one)


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@SSmith: Ugh, Italy does the same thing. The French abandon a province in the Alps, and Italy doesn't take it until a few days later. The AI has been really disappointing this game. The game's difficulty doesn't affect how smart the AI is, so playing this on hard or very hard wouldn't matter in this situation.

@mnplastic: To be fair, the Brits actually have had many opportunities to fight back, but didn't take any of them. The UK has a lot of troops in Africa and Egypt which could've retaken England while my army was in France, but the AI decided it would be better to stare at Italy instead. Not to mention the stupid Amsterdam fiasco with both the South Africans and the UK. Why the AI did that is beyond me.

@timkonigskelp: Welcome! I did that for my first AAR, but got lazy this time around :p I'll start doing that from now on, since I can save periodically.

@All: As you can tell I went over my bandwidth limit today, but only the first chapters won't appear. Chapters 22 and later should show up just fine. My bandwidth limit will reset next week, so apologies to anyone wanting to read the earlier chapters, you'll need to wait until next Tuesday.
 
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China feels really bold now. It will be interesting to watch the developments in Asia, although Japan should be able to make some early gains.

Good progress in France. The fall of the last significant Allied power marks the end of the Western Front ;)
 
Ah, cliffhanger!

I really hope China wins this war, I've never seen them do it before.

Loving the AAR, too. HPP makes everything better. Keep up the good work! :D