Sudden Carnage
Chapter XXV – Operation Wedge
Countries played by humans: UK, France, Soviet Union, Germany, Italy, Japan
Recap: Operation Vice is over and the hated Belgians are defeated. The little nation that threatened to tip the sensitive balance of power between the great pacts of the world, is now consumed by the tides of raw struggle. As Wehrmacht’s western forces more or less tumbles into the French Wall of Flesh, another threat is more prominent – the attack by the Red Army. The Skidel Showdown have been ongoing for almost two weeks and several German Divisions have been forced to retreat, albeit no ground have been lost so far. The third bloody battle of Shepetivka is also ongoing. In the face of all this carnage – Wehrmacht will launch a new operation.
March 20th, 1940
Even though the German spies kept a low profile they could still pick up a few things about their enemies. It was a small shock to the German leadership that UK as well tried to rush the Mechanized Infantry. Still, they were not ready and Germany already had 4 divisions in production. That Britain put some effort in the medium bombers was less surprising. Luftwaffe was prepared.
And Luftwaffe’s preparedness would surely be tested in the East. Soviet is making a huge effort in shaping up their fighters to match the German standard. It seemed the air would be an important strategic area in the future.
---The Skidel Showdown---
March 21st, 1940
11 days into the Skidel Showdown in the North East and things had swayed to the German favor. Reinforcements had reached the front and as the Red Army shifted troops at the front, it became quite weak for a moment. Still, they would soon throw more men into the battle. The German leadership, however, dared to feel optimistic about the situation.
March 21st-22nd, 1940
The third attack on Shepetivka was yet another victory. The province had not much of value however. After three major battles, about 6 000 dead Germans and more than 14 000 dead Russians, not to mention civilians, the area was far from a nice and beautiful place. Either way, the Red Army wanted it back and attacked immediately. Just as before, Wehrmacht retreated instantly, not wanting to fight a battle of Soviets choosing.
::The third battle of Shepetivka was in some aspects very similar as the previous. The German panzers and the all over skill were superior and they could punch through the Soviet defensive lines and bring mayhem to the second lines. But there was one major difference. Both sides new this province inside and out. There were no hidden valley, no unexpected marshland and no secret ambush location. That whole aspect was taken away as a factor, thus placing more emphasis on remaining tactical aspects. As it was extremely unusual with air force from any side taking part, as they all had focus elsewhere, it was a strange tactical situation. Like a 2-dimentional board game without any other secrets than the opponents planning. Michael Wittman called it a giant chess game and seemed to enjoy this unique challenge. Heinrich Hahn did not care very much for the tactical differences. His task was the same - steer their panzer IV safely through the battle field and outmaneuver Soviet panzers. In this, Heinrich the Rooster was superior and he left any philosophical discussions about the uniqueness of the present situation to others. He task was not unique. It was the same as before… and it he hated to pull back… and to pull back a third time through f****g Shepetivka was close to unbearable.::
March 24th-26th, 1940
After roughly two weeks of battle, the Red Army broke of its offensive in the north east. The Skidel Showdown was won by Germany. This was a significant strategic victory. Not only did it show that a massive Soviet attack, probably carefully planned, was not enough to force Wehrmacht back. The victory also bought Germany extremely valuable time to fight the Allies in the West before the Soviet Union would muster a new offensive.
March 24th -28th, 1940
Japan was in a strategically golden position. The war with USSR went according to plan but at a very slow pace over the vast plains. China was defeated long ago. Australia and New Zealand was far away and made little noise. United Kingdom, with the potential to be a serious foe seemed to prioritize Europe and Africa before Asia. Axis Yunnan had taken a little piece of Burma but was now seemingly stuck against a small British force. Now, it was time for Japan to take the conflict to another level.
After careful preparations they declared war on Siam and launched a lighting operation into the Kingdom. The army of Siam was taken with complete surprise and hardly realized what was going on until it was too late. After some confused resistance, the King of Siam managed to flee to Burma and their army surrendered.
Japan now had an open road straight into a Burma that seemed to be only weakly defended.
Authors note: Nice going, Zid! I didn’t even got the time to take any screenies…
---The attack on the French Wall of Flesh - Operation Wedge ---
March 29th, 1940
France had been holding quite firm in several large battles since the fall of Belgium. The German attacks had been seemingly out of a unified plan and the French forces, which refused to come to Belgium’s aid, were dug in and well prepared. Still, after about two weeks of hard fighting several of the huge battles, the defenders were losing ground.
Operation Wedge had one main objective, and that was to defeat France. It would not have the surprise of the “Hammer”, not the blitzing success of the “Sickle” or the spatial short scope of “Vice”. This would be more a violent grinding broad scale attack like Operation Storm (in the East). The idea would be to tie down the majority of the French northern front with multiple battles but to move the majority of the panzers to the west, hoping to break through there. If possible, paratroopers could be used but Axis was sure that the Allies would be very prepared for that and maybe even set up traps. Still, it would be slow going and the plan was far from “thinking-outside-the-box”. The Allies would likely expect this strategy. Germany still believed in the superiority of the Wehrmacht. It was the ace in their deck.
The Battle of Cambrai was one of the shorter battles, which started about the 22nd. Wehrmacht had managed to bring two Panzer Divisions into the battle who mainly took place in open grounds. The French defenders, even if dug in, were inferior in this terrain and retreated after a week – losing four and a half thousand men in the process.
April 2nd, 1940
The battles of Dunkerque and Hirson, east and west of Cambrai, had been going on for more than two weeks. The Allies had created a powerful defensive line all along the border, with fortifications in Dunkerque (lvl1), and there were no other way through than bashing right into it. This time, however, Wehrmacht had almost total air superiority.
The battles of Cambrai, Dunkerque and Hirson saw the end of almost 18 000 Germans and 25 000 Allied lives. It was carnage of an epic magnitude and the world took a horrified breath trying to cope with the numbers. Germany did not hesitate, however. They had breached the French Wall of Flesh and were hungry for more…
April 5th, 1940
Wehrmacht is striking into the heart of France and only a single province is between their panzer spearhead and Paris. This was something almost impossible to imagine last summer when Germany lost province after province due to the Allied advance.
The German leadership is reluctant to be bogged down in a direct assault on the city of Lille (in the middle of the arrows) and chose to strike around it, either creating a pocket or forcing the French to retreat out the city without battle. Still, the Allies are numerous and the French have deployed a lot of light armor divisions. There is little space for wild panzer movements.
Further east, Wehrmacht have initiated a new attack on Reims, but the defenders there are giving the Germans a hard time.
In Bruxelles, one German- and two Japanese paratroop divisions are on standby, waiting for orders.
---A spring offensive on the East Front---
March 28th, 1940
It all started with a minor Soviet attack, north of Shepetivka. The German and Italian forces started with a series of fierce counter-attacks. The German forces attacked Sarno (northern marshes), Voloshysk (woods) and of course, for the fourth time, Shepetivka – now called “The Valley of Death” by the Germans. There would be hard fighting ahead on the East Front.
April 4th, 1940
In both Sarno and Voloshysk, the battles quickly swayed the German way with the Russians slowly being pushed back through fierce fighting. STAVKA had prioritized Shepetivka and reinforced in with armor.
::Heinrich Hahn hated this God damn province. How many good men was the devastated, blood-soaked mud-lands worth? No more. Not even Russians. Why did they keep coming? Why did they just stand there and die? He could not remember how many tents, trucks, bunkers and tanks he had seen explode due to Bobby Voll’s expert gunnery. He could not remember the amount of men he had seen, through the narrow slits in the front armor, getting hit by machinegun-fire or grenade shrapnel. One second they stood there, all brave and alive, then blood erupted in bursts from their soft bodies. They flew back or up in the air and sometimes even apart, and then they landed in the brown mud. They maybe screamed for a while, but in the end, the mud just swallowed it all. The mud of God damn Shepetivka. The mud in the Valley of Death.::
Former brave soldiers in the Valley of Death
::The last half year was just a brown haze to Heinrich Hahn. He was glad the winter was gone but he was already deeply tired of the brown post-spring fields and dead-looking birches. And varying degrees of death. It was like some horrid science experiment when they lay out bodies – one every week – and then looked how they started to rot, dried up, was eaten on by rats and crows, and slowly decomposed. Heinrich wished that they soon could push their way through this place… Push their way into spring and summer.::
April 6th - 7th, 1940
The battle in the Valley of Death went into a bloody stalemate, both sides trying to find weaknesses in the ranks of the opponents. The Red Army had managed to bring in reinforcements who managed to hold the Germans at bay, albeit taking some heavy casualties in the process.
But the Red Army could not reinforce every province under German attack. In the marshlands of Sarny (just north of Shepetivka) and the woods of Volochysk they had lost ground a few days in a row and finally they fell back and retreated. The victory of Volochysk meant yet another Soviet province which had fallen to the Germans – even if it was the only Soviet province in German hands for the moment.
Still, being able to throw back the Red Army at the Skidel Showdown and now force them back, after only reinforcing this flank with enough to fill up the holes for those divisions who were pulled up north to Skidel… well… it was surprising. Had the Japanese offensive been so demanding that Stavka had deployed the fresh troops in the Far East? It was the only explanation the Germans could think of.
April 8th, 1940
Shortly after the victories at Sarny and Volochysk, the Red Army pulled back from Shepetivka. It was the 4th time Wehrmacht had conquered this province. The battles of the Valley of Death had now claimed the lives of 8 000 Germans and 20 000 Soviets.
::Victory was sweet only from the perspective that it was over. Heinrich was tired, just as the rest of the crew. They hadn’t slept much, that’s for sure, but it was the mental pressure that got to them. Shepetivka was such as nasty place with corpses everywhere, no civilians, wrecks and ruins. It was a place taken from the worst night mare you could imagine. Heinrich feared leaving the tank. He felt all naked and was afraid that some death would creep up on him from the dark, blood-soaked soil. He had left once to take a dump and sitting there in the night with his butt out he had suddenly realized, as the moon got out between some clouds, that he was surrounded by a rotten platoon of Soviet soldiers. They had probably died during winter and got stuck in the snow in various positions. Now, as the snow had melted away, the bodies all looked strangely alive, hanging in bushes or leaning against treas. Heinrich had rushed up with a scream with his mission only done half way. Now days, he did what he had too in the vicinity to the panzer, not minding the comments from the others.::
::Rumors came a little later that two more or less neighboring Soviet provinces had been taken as well and Heinrich dearly hoped it meant that Russian pressure against this province would weaken. While the soldiers shared a little coffee and a milky powder that tasted familiar, Heinrich and Bobby Voll discussed the future. They knew things were going quite alright on the west front. Hopefully that would mean that more forces were directed eastwards soon. At the same time, the temperature rose steadily. Spring was in the air, if not really present yet. Soon, the weather would be bearable again. If this coincided with more reinforcements, it would mean that summer could be quite nice. They made a short grim toast for that as a grey, misty dawn materialized around them.::
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Moreover, I already have too few units against France as it is, and are multitasking at the borderline of my capacity. Any new front would be devastating to me right now. Moreover, don’t forget that RN punched me right back when Kriegsmarine tried to leave the Baltic Sea. A Seelöwe right now would be like sticking the barrel in my mouth and pull the trigger
