Chapter 39: The Bitter Peace and the Fall of Athens - October 1 to December 8, 1942
The Battle of Moscow was the pivotal battle of Operation Barbarossa, the outcome of which would decide the fate of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and possibly the entirety of the Eastern Hemisphere. The importance of the outcome cannot be understated. A failure of the Wehrmacht to take the city would result in a massive battle of attrition which would only favor the Soviet Union, with its vast unmobilized manpower reserves and industry. The German advance had halted in the north and middle fronts, and had slowed in the southern front. However, Soviet morale was weak, further damaged with the news that 2 motorized divisions were trapped in the mountains of Norway by a single German paratrooper division and 4 Soviet mountain divisions were trapped in the Turkish city of Sinop by the Reich's own mountain troops. While such news didn't reach the Soviet defenders of Moscow, the Soviet Finnish and Turkish fronts stalled and were beaten back by renewed Axis attacks. By October 4, the 6 trapped Soviet divisions surrendered.
However, such victories were of little strategic value, given the size of the Red Army and Axis losses in both men and material up to this point. The event that would conclude the war came on October 2, when Moscow was attacked by fresh German reinforcements from HG Mitte from the south, southwest, west, and northwest. The resulting battle was a perfect example of what happens when an army performs an uncoordinated retreat through friendly defenses.
Moscow was attacked from multiple fronts on October 2, 1942
The critical moment in the battle, which started on September 28, occurred south of the city. The six Soviet infantry divisions protecting Moscow's southern flank had been defeated by Panzerarmee 2, and the motorized elements had quickly begun to assault the city from a new direction. The five Soviet divisions already in the city had already begun to feel the effects of over-saturating the battlefield, as each bomb dropped, shell fired, rocket launched, and bullet fired found an easy target in the streets and buildings crowded with defenders. The Soviet infantry from the south had fled through the existing fortifications being assaulted by the Heer, causing confusion and panic amongst the currently engaged Soviet troops. In some cases, defensive positions had to be moved and in order to allow the panicking soldiers to pass through. Many Soviet casualties were due to frightened infantrymen running through friendly mine fields and confused friendly fire, who thought the panicked men charging their defensive positions were Germans, in order to escape the German tanks and motorized infantry pursuing them. Many are the examples of the Soviet defenders lowering their guard to allow their comrades through the checkpoints and barricades, only to be attacked by German tanks while doing so.
In the end, the Soviets were their own worst enemies. The resulting confusion allowed Panzerarmee 2 to take the city on October 5, while sustaining 930 KIA to the Soviets' 1,245 KIA, after only 7 days of fighting. With Moscow taken, the Soviet supply network crumbled, and Soviet morale was shattered.
Moscow was taken after a week of fighting on October 5, 1942
The news of the result of the battle had terrible consequences for the leaders of the Soviet Communist Party. While the exact events remain unclear, what is certain is that during a meeting in the city of Novosibirsk, Head of the NKVD Lavrenti Beria shot and killed General Secretary Iosif Stalin and Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov. The new government, led by Beria, immediately decided to offer the Reich a truce, in order to consolidate their power and prevent a full breakdown of public order. The Reich, knowing it could not continue offensive operations indefinitely, chose to accept the truce offer.
The so-called Bitter Peace was signed on October 7, 1942, and brought Operation Barbarossa to a close
(Author's note: ignore the text there, I used the wrong localization when I wrote the event 
That description is what the Soviets should see. The Soviets actually fired a decision that killed Stalin, and
what's in the screenshot is my reaction event, which is now included in the HPP mod starting with version 1.9.14)
Also, take a note at what my MP is...
The negotiations for the cease-fire were concluded fairly quickly. The USSR was to cede to the German Reich all land west of a line running from 20 miles east of Arkhangelsk to 20 miles east of Astrakhan, and active fighting would cease. Despite the harsh terms, the internal Soviet political situation would not allow for continued hostilities, and the Wehrmacht was too exhausted to continue the war. Neither side was pleased by the truce, but it was preferable to continued warfare. As a result, the cease-fire has come to be known as the Bitter Peace.
Immediately after the truce was signed, the Reich then began to cede portions of its new territory to the various Axis members that participated in the war. Finland received the territory it lost during the Winter War, as well as Karelia and the Khola peninsula. Romania, in exchange for ceding North Transylvania to Hungary and as a reward for clearing out the Romania Pocket, received Transnistria, including the city of Odessa. Due to its large Azerbaijani minority, Iran was given the territory formerly governed by the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. Turkey received the SSRs of Georgia and Armenia.
Border changes as a result of the Bitter Peace
However, the matter of Greece still needed to be settled. Italy had failed to take the city of Athens after a 2-year long siege, and Greek submarines had harassed Axis merchants in the Mediterranean since Italy declared war. Raeder's Flotte 1, stationed in Sevastopol, relocated outside of Athens and began to shell the city. However, the Italians were reluctant to begin offensive operations. After 3 days of constant shelling, I. Marinekorps was redirected from Helsinki to the Italian naval base of Taranto, in order to assault Athens by sea.
Upon their arrival outside Athens on November 4, I. Marinekorps began their assault on the city. Battle-hardened, led by highly experienced leaders specializing in amphibious warfare, and equipped with far better equipment than their opponents, the marines made steady, methodical progress into Athens.
The German intervention in Athens begins
The Greeks, to their folly, had placed too many troops in the city, and experienced the same problems the Soviets had in Moscow. The main difference was, the Greeks didn't have panicked soldiers running through established defense emplacements. Knowing of the high concentration of Greek troops in the city, the marines moved slowly and deliberately, taking advantage of support from Flotte 1's aircraft and the large guns of the KMS Bismarck and KMS Tirpitz. Two days after the assault began, the Italians attacked the city from the north, and contributed with a single air wing of medium bombers.
To their credit, the Greeks immediately realized their mistake, and moved some troops out of the city. The Greek army then began to rotate out disorganized troops with fresh, rested divisions from outside of the city. However, the Greeks only prolonged their own defeat. After a grinding constant two month long siege, the Axis was victorious, and Greece surrendered to Italy. German losses amounted to 2,500 KIA between the 4 marine divisions, most of the casualties being from the combat engineer support brigades.
The state of the world on December 9, 1942
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Well, that was certainly much easier than expected. Never underestimate the power of the stacking penalty, which applies to 0 org units in the battle reserve
On a side note, would anyone object to me editing the save to include nations in North America that the US could invite to the Allies, but won't due to the Allies' low faction progress? I can see why Australia or Burma wouldn't want to join the Allies, but it doesn't make sense for Canada and Mexico to not join. If I manually add in a few more nations to the Allies, their faction progress might get high enough that the nations sitting on the fence might be willing to join.
Also, the Soviet divisions in Turkey and Finland are stuck and can't get out. I'll need to figure out how to move them to Soviet territory, as I don't want them stuck there when I've recovered enough to finish the job.
