Down With the Bolsheviks - A German AAR

superjames1992 · May 14, 2011

Hello and welcome to my German AAR. This will run concurrently with my Italian AAR for the time being as I have a lot of time on my hands before I start my job in a few weeks and I am out of college for the summer now, so I pretty much am free all day long. As such, I have decided to start two AARs, one with Italy (already started) and one with Germany. As you may be able to tell, I have a tendency for taking the Axis side in this game. I guess I just like to change history!

Anyways, I am still a beginner for the most part and have never played with Germany before. I will be playing on Very Hard difficulty, which may not be the best for a beginner, but I like a challenge.

I am hopeful that I can avoid the strategic blunders that I have encountered thus far in my Italian AAR. One interesting aspect about Germany is that I can pretty much concentrate solely on my Army and to a lesser extent, my Air Force.

In this AAR, I want to alter history a bit. I will not sign the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and will attack the USSR shortly after I attack Poland, most likely. I will deal with the war in the west later on (or maybe at the same time depending on how the war in Russia goes). Of course, that is the plan and plans are made to be broken!

Game: Hearts of Iron III
Version: Semper Fi 2.04d
Country: Germany
Difficulty: Very Hard

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
CHAPTER ONE: THE PRE-WAR YEARS
CHAPTER TWO: OPERATION FALL WEISS
CHAPTER THREE: THE BALTIC CAMPAIGN
CHAPTER FOUR: THE INVASION OF HUNGARY

superjames1992 · May 14, 2011

CHAPTER ONE: THE PRE-WAR YEARS

As German Fuhrer Adolf Hitler looked out over the vastness of Germany on New Year's Day of 1936, he saw a land with great potential that had been hampered by an oppressive Versailles Treaty after the conclusion of the "War to End All Wars". Germany had been barred from the Rhineland, inflation was high, and the military had restrictions placed upon its size.

But ever since Hitler and his Nazi Party came to power earlier in the decade, he had promised that he would turn Germany into one of the great superpowers of the world. In particular, he desired Germany too seize control of the lands to the east in Poland and the Ukraine. The German people needed "living space" and needed the breadbasket that these lands provided.

Unfortunately, several countries lied in this area, including the Soviet Union. Germany had defeated the Soviet Union in the World War, resulting in the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which gave Germany and its Central Powers Allies access to the Baltics, Poland, and the Ukraine. Unfortunately, the war was decided on the western front, so despite Germany's successes in the east, it was a lost cause with a rapidly decorating situation in the west. Germany was essentially single-handedly fighting against France, Britain, Belgium, the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and more. This was simply not sustainable in the long-term.

Hitler sought to correct these injustices wrought on Germany after the Great War. In particular, he harbored hateful feelings towards France. Nevertheless, this was a lesser goal of Hitler's. His primary goal was to control Poland and the Ukraine and give his people room to grow.

In order to get the "living space" he desired, it would have to come down to war, however, and Hitler knew this. In addition, with high inflation and an economy spiraling out of control, the military buildup and subsequent war(s) to retake these lost lands would help to revitalize Germany's economy.

Thus, on January 1st, 1936, Hitler sought to greatly increase the size of Germany's armed forces. First and foremost was the raising of 100 infantry divisions, divided into 20 Infantry Corps. These divisions would be raised 10 at a time and it would take approximately three years before they were completed. In addition, nine Panzer divisions were to be raised, built three at a time, each Corps consisting of three Panzer Divisions. It would be a year-and-a-half before these divisions were ready for combat.

In addition to these orders, an order was also placed for four strategic bombing wings. These could come in use if war were to break out in order to attack the enemy directly at the source, the homeland itself. Truthfully, it was unknown how much of a factor strategic bombing could be at this point as it had never before been used extensively in warfare. Nonetheless, if one could bomb the enemy's factories, its schools, and its residents, then it would have a very detrimental effect on not only the enemy country's economy and its ability to wage war, but also on the population's morale itself. As was evidenced in the Great War, morale on the home front is very important to winning a war.

Also, extensive work would be put into improving Germany's industry and its anti-aircraft guns over important cities. Most of these industries would be placed in southern Germany in order to avoid the the threat of strategic bombing conducted by the British.

The first big news came on February 17th, 1936, when Ethiopia formally surrendered to Italian forces, ending the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. This war started in October 1935 and with Italian forces entering the Ethiopian capital city of Addis Ababa earlier in the week and Italian troops closing in from the north and the south, Haile Selassie and his government had no choice but to step down. In its place, a Fascist puppet government was formed. Hitler was pleased that Fascism had found its way to Africa, but he questioned the logic in expending all the manpower and supplies to take over a remote East African country with a small economy and no ports of trade. Nevertheless, Italy had won and had expanded its sphere of influence in East Africa.

On August 10th, 1936, a violent Civil War broke out in Spain. The Nationalists rebelled against the Spanish government. Germany and Italy immediately threw their support behind the Nationalists while the United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union supported to the existing government. Hitler hoped that a Fascist regime in the Iberian Peninsula would give Germany another ally in any future wars of conquest.

The war was over by late March of 1937 with the Nationalists coming out on top. As a result, Germany diplomats immediately began sending diplomatic feelers towards Spain, hoping to get the country to join Germany in the Axis, but Spain refused to join.

Since 1936, much of Germany's diplomatic actions had gone towards trying to convince the United States to come to the Axis side of the spectrum. Hitler knew that fighting the greatest industrial power to ever grace the face of the Earth was the last thing he wanted to do in any future wars.

In addition to the diplomatic actions, undercover spies had also be heavily prioritized in the US to help prop up the German-American Bund, a political party in the US. The more popular this party was, the less likely Germany and the US were to get in a war. The ultimate goal was to get this party the most seats in Congress and/or the Presidency in the 1940 elections, but that may be asking too much. Nevertheless, the more influence this political party had in the United States, the better.

Elsewhere, espionage was also heavily prioritized in Austria, France, and the United Kingdom. In Austria, spies tried to raise support for Fascism. Hitler heavily desired these lands and hoped that by supporting Fascist parties in Austria, Austria would willingly be annexed into greater Germany. In regard to Great Britain and the United Kingdom, espionage was conducted in order to increase the perceived threat of these nations. It was thought that if spies could make these countries, the leaders of the Allies, seem more threatening than they actually were, it would make it less likely that countries would come flocking to join the Allies in the event of a war.

Hitler did not desire to go to war with the Allies, but with Poland in the way between Germany and the Soviet Union, he foresaw that Germany would be at war with France and the British before long.

On March 24th, 1937, Italy was accepted into the Axis Powers. Not long thereafter, on July 2nd Japan also joined the Axis Powers. With the Axis now having grown to three countries, Hitler felt more secure in conducting whatever wars of conquest were necessary to attain his war goals.

Japan was waging war in China all the while and, on November 6th, annexed the nation of Shanxi into the Empire of Japan. Japanese forces were making slow progress in the dense jungles, mountains, and deserts that this area consisted of. With low infrastructure, supply was certainly a problem for Japanese troops.

The fruits of Germany's espionage came to fruition by early 1938 when the German-American Bund became the most popular political party in the United States, with 29% popularity, just ahead of the Democrats, which President Franklin D. Roosevelt belonged to.

On March 3rd, 1938, Austria was annexed into the Third Reich, as it had been came to be known. With the National Socialist Party popular in Austria, Germany justified its annexation, despite widespread condemnation from much of the world, including from the British and French. Nevertheless, the threats made by these Western European nations were empty threats and Hitler did not trouble himself with such nonsense.

The annexation of Austria also allowed Germany to enact the three-year draft as Germany continued to move towards a war footing. Concurrently, training began on an elite paratroopers corps. Hitler was very interested in the fruits that such troops could provide. Though landing these troops behind enemy lines was certainly risky, the rewards were also high.

In late July, the Treaty of Munich was signed between Germany, Italy, France, and Britain, ceding the Czechoslovakian Sudetenland to Germany. Interestingly, the Czechs were not represented at the peace conference. However, this would not be all. German undercover agents helped to prop up Slovakian independent groups. These groups became so powerful that the Czechs had no choice but to grant the Slovakians their independence. Amid the chaos, German troops moved into Czechoslovakia on October 11th and forced the country to surrender and be annexed into Germany. Slovakia would maintain its Independence from Germany, but its government took its orders from Berlin.

In response to the annexation of Czechoslovakia, tensions ran high in mainland Europe. This resulted in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Denmark mobilizing their armed forces not long thereafter.

On January 2nd, 1939, Italy annexed Albania. Italian agents sabotaged most formal Albanian resistance during the invasion and, as a result, Italian troops encountered very little resistance in the invasion of the small country bordering the southern Adriatic sea. King Zog and the Albanian Royal Family fled Albania after the invasion and moved their residence to London.

More significantly, on the 4th of January, Germany demanded that Lithuania cede the port city of Memel to Germany. This was Lithuania's only port and its only access point to the Baltic Sea. Nevertheless, considering the superior economic and military might of the Third Reich, the small nation had little choice but to submit to Germany's demands and the transfer of the lands over to German authorities began immediately.

By May, tensions were becoming very hot in Europe. In Germany, the state-run media was running non-stop anti-Communist and pro-war propaganda in order to get the population ready for the eventual war against the Bolsheviks. Similarly, in the Soviet Union, anti-Fascist rhetoric was commonplace. This culminated with the mobilization of German forces in mid-May and the eventual declaration of war by Germany against Poland on July 1st, 1939, which is now widely considered to be the beginning of what we now know as World War II.

Germany demanded Danzig back from Poland so that East Prussia and the rest of Germany could be joined together into one congruent nation. In this area, a German-run road and rail link would be built. However, the British and French guaranteed Poland's borders in March. This increased Poland's resolve and, unlike what had previously occurred in Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Lithuania, the Poles did not back down. Germany would have to declare war on Poland if it desired to have Danzig for itself.

Germany complied with this request and, effective on July 1st, 1939, nearly 20 years since the end of the Great War, Germany was at a state of war. The British, French, and the rest of the Allies honored their agreement to protect Poland's borders, so by the evening of July 1st, all the major powers on Earth sans the United States were at war. Like the First World War, entangling alliances had done their work once again and the war was once more thrown into the fire.

superjames1992 · May 15, 2011

CHAPTER TWO: OPERATION FALL WEISS

Ferdinand Foch's words would prove to be all too prophetic. After the Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919, the French general stated, "This is not a peace. It is an armistice for twenty years." And, here we were, on July 1st, 1939, 20 years later, and war had come to Europe, and the world, again.

With Germany's declaration of war on Poland on the 1st of July, Britain, France, and the rest of the Allied Powers honored their agreement to protect Poland's borders and, as a result, declared war on Germany and the two other Axis Powers, Italy and Japan. War was here to stay and, like the Great War, would not be resolved quickly. The war would not be over by Christmas.

This declaration of war put Germany in the precarious situation of a two-front war with Poland in the east and France in the west. Nevertheless, Poland had to be dealt with first and the German High Command felt that the Poles could be defeated in a few weeks if things worked out well. Thousands and thousands of German troops were positioned along the Polish border and were ready to attack. In the west, the Germans along the French-German border were in a defensive stance, ready to repel any French offensives. Any offensive actions against the French would have to wait until later.

Germany was in a superior geographic position in relation to the offensive against Poland, code named Operation Fall Weiss. German East Prussia laid to the north of Poland while the heart of Germany was to the west of Poland. In addition, the puppet state of Slovakia bordered southwestern Poland. The German general plan of action against the Poles was to take advantage of its superior geography by attacking southward from East Prussia while German armor raced out ahead of the infantry from the west and attempted to cut off the majority of the Polish army in northwestern Poland. All the while, German interceptors and tactical bombers would own the sky against a smaller and less technologically advanced Polish Air Force.

Perhaps the most daring aspect of the operation was the use of paratroopers in the assault of Warsaw, the capital city of Poland. The Polish city was located less than 100 kilometers from East Prussia, well within range of German transport aircraft. It was decided that by dropping a Corps of paratroopers, totaling four divisions or 12 brigades, on the Polish city, that it could be captured and Poland could be brought to its knees even quicker. These paratroopers were dropped in the suburbs and surrounding areas of Warsaw on July 3rd, three days into the war. German ground troops were not too far away at the time, so Warsaw was expected to fall within a couple weeks, at most.

Hitler watching Wehrmact Infantry advance into Poland.

The first significant victory of the war for the Germans came on July 5th, when Danzig fell to German forces, forcing the surrender of over 16,500 Polish soldiers who were trapped in the city after the initial German offensive. This victory was very important as it gave Germany another port of trade and denied Poland any access to the sea.

Also on July 5th, possibly as a results of Germany's offensive actions, another member of the British Commonwealth joined the Allies and the war effort against Germany as New Zealand became the newest member of the Allies.

By the 6th of July, German armor was breaking out into the open in Poland with little between them and the Polish heartland. The progress made by armor in western Poland was rather impressive and threatened to cut off a large portion of the Polish military in northwestern Poland. This was the original German plan and it was working out better than expected thus far.

By July 10th, ground troops had reached the outskirts of Warsaw and reinforced the paratroopers who had been fighting in the city for a week. In addition, the 10th saw the completion of a large pocket of Polish soldiers in western Poland who were now trapped behind enemy lines with little hope at escaping. In many ways, this essentially sealed the fate of Poland as their military might was significantly decreased with these units in western Poland trapped.

By July 12th, these forces were nearing surrender as hundreds of thousands of Polish troops had been pressed into an ever-shrinking pocket, now only tens of miles wide. In addition to the aforementioned pocket, another pocketing of Polish troops occurred in southern Poland. Several divisions were now trapped in the Polish city of Krakow and several more divisions, including several armored divisions, were trapped a few miles west of the city.

On July 13th, a German infantry divisions waltzed into Lwow, Poland unopposed. Polish resistance was capitulating fast and German units were now pouring into the Polish heartland with only police forces and token military divisions putting up any real resistance. Polish governmental officials in Warsaw were well aware of the decorating condition of the Polish armed forces as they had to evacuate Warsaw on the same day. Warsaw fell on July 15th.

On July 16th, Germany won at Lodz and German infantry occupied the city. This was the last straw for Polish resistance as Poland officially capitulated to Germany on July 17th. As a result, Poland was officially annexed into the Third Reich, whose territory now stretched from the Rhineland in the west to the Soviet Union and the Baltics in the east. Finally, Germany had a border with the Soviet Union and the disease of Communism could be defeated once and for all!

German borders after Poland's surrender.

Meanwhile, all the while on the western front of the war, the guns were silent. Masses of French and German soldiers populated the region which bordered the two warring nations, but no meaningful offensives were conducted and casualties were very low. There were sporadic border incidents, but for the most part it was nothing but a "phoney war" as it later came to be known.

The fact that Germany defeated Poland was not so much a surprise, but the fact that Germany defeated Poland in a mere 16 days shocked the Allies and the Soviets. Poland was a relatively large country with a sizable military. It was expected that Germany's invasion of Poland would be a hard-fought war, particularly considering how many German troops had to be diverted to cover the western front against France. Instead, it was nothing short of a romp with the Luftwaffe owning complete control of the skies and the Wehrmact collapsing Poland's defenses. The fact that such a large nation as Poland had been brought to its knees in a mere two weeks was nothing short of amazing and Germany had validated its status among the most powerful nations on the face of the Earth.

unmerged(215796) · May 15, 2011

I like the start to it and if it is anything like your Italian AAR it will sure be fun and exciting so I will be tuning in!

PanzerMan7 · May 15, 2011

get up, come on get down with the bolsheviks,
get up, come on get down with the bolsheviks,
get up, come on get down with the bolsheviks,
open up your guns,
and let them pour over thee

superjames1992 · May 15, 2011

ovechkinderek said:
I like the start to it and if it is anything like your Italian AAR it will sure be fun and exciting so I will be tuning in!

Thanks!

PanzerMan7 said:
get up, come on get down with the bolsheviks,
get up, come on get down with the bolsheviks,
get up, come on get down with the bolsheviks,
open up your guns,
and let them pour over thee

superjames1992 · May 16, 2011

CHAPTER THREE: THE BALTIC CAMPAIGN

After the collapse of Poland on July 16th, 1939, Hitler and the German High Command looked for other nations ripe for the picking in regards to expansion. Though the ultimate goal of the war was to defeat the Bolsheviks, which the Germans now shared a border with, it was decided that it would not be a wise move to declare war on the USSR at the moment.

In the summer of 1939, the Soviet Union was involved in a war against Finland. As such, Soviet troops were lacking in number along the German border. It is quite possible that German troops could make some headway against the Soviets early on, but once the Soviets called in reinforcements, the offensive would more than likely grind to a halt or even be pushed back. It was decided that before an offensive against the USSR could be conducted, Germany needed to increase its industrial output and increase its manpower. It was also hoped that a longer border with the USSR could help in any future wars, which made Romania, Hungary, Finland, Turkey, and the Baltics inviting targets.

The weakest targets of the aforementioned was Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia in the Baltics. It was thought that these three nations would fall within a month if a few infantry corps were devoted to the operation.

Hungary also presented itself as an inviting target, being surrounded on three sides by Germany and Slovakia. Though Hungary shared some of Germany's National Socialist ideology, they refused to join the Axis. By invading Hungary, an invasion of Yugoslavia and Romania would be made much easier. Romania was the most prioritized target in the Baltics due to its impressive oil resources.

Thus, by late July, troops began marching to their respective positions. Most of Germany's eastern forces began trekking south towards the southern border while three corps of infantry moved north to prepare for the invasion of the Baltics. Another few corps of infantry moved eastward to fortify the border against any surprise Soviet incursions.

These massive troop movements spurred further action by the nations of the world. British Commonwealth members Canada and Australia unsuprisingly joined the Allies on July 21st and Romania also mobilized its armed forces at the end of July. Romania apparently sensed what was about to go down and was preparing itself for the inevitable.

By August 11th, 1939, the troops were in place for the invasion of the Baltics. On that date, war was declared on Lithuania and German troops immediately crossed the border, their objective being the capture of the capital city of Kaunas.

By the 13th, significant progress had already been made into Lithuania with only token resistance being encountered thus far. Also on this date, the Latvians and Estonians joined the war effort against Germany, ultimately seeing their fate if they sat idly by while the Lithuanians were conquered. Perhaps they could hold off the Germans if they all allied together.

On August 14th, the deadliest battle of the operation thus far was had as Germany defeated the Lithuanians soundly at Kaisiadorys as the severely outnumbered Lithuanians suffered 56 casualties to the Germans' nine.

By August 17th, Kaunas was surrounded and most of the city was already in German hands. By the 18th, Kaunas had fallen with over 72,000 German troops routing the 10,000 Lithuanian defenders. Germany had a massive qualitative and quantitative advantage in this operation and there was little Lithuania could do.

Finally, on August 20th, nine days after the invasion began, Lithuania surrendered. Lithuania was annexed into the Third Reich. German troops had already crossed into Latvia in some places as the operation against Latvia began in earnest.

By August 20th, street fighting was already underway in Riga as German paratroopers landed in the surrounding countryside. This was followed by ground troops entering the city on August 21st as the Battle of Riga began, Latvia's independence hanging in the balance. The fighting was intense and Latvian troops would not let the city fall into German hands easily. The city eventually fell into German hands on September 2nd. The fighting was bloody, but the small Latvian force within the city finally surrendered.

As a result, Latvia surrendered to Germany on September 3rd. However, the Latvian government refused to formally surrender and fled to exile in London. This infuriated Hitler, who called them "damn cowards" for refusing to surrender to his Third Reich. Latvia was to be occupied using a collaborative governmental policy, which would give local authorities some limited powers, though their decisions were ultimately able to be vetoed by the officials in Berlin.

Not long thereafter, German troops from the 8th Infantry Division began an assault on the Estonian capital at Tallinn. Another infantry division, the 20th, was also not far from the capital city, either, as it was attacking the neighboring province of Pärnu.

By September 13th, Talinn had fallen, though Estonia held out until Tartu fell on September 17th, when the Estonian government escaped to London and set up a Government in Exile, much like Latvia. Like Latvia, Estonia was placed under a collaborative government. With the capitulation of Estonia, the Baltic Campaign was over.

On other fronts, things got interesting, however. New Zealand at Wilhelmshaven on September 11th, defeating the one headquarters brigade that was positioned there. With a foothold on German soil, a breakout had to be prevented. No immediate German reinforcements were in the vicinity, however, and would take several days to get there. In the meantime, New Zealand established a solid foothold in Wilhelmshaven.

As the invasion fleet escaped in the late afternoon of the 11th, the German Kriegsmarine managed to sink several transports, which was the first boats sank by the German Navy thus far in the year.

The effort to contain Wilhelmshaven was complicated further on September 19th when a few Canadian divisions landed at Kiel. This second invasion was further proof that Germany's ports needed to be better protected. Hitler was infuriated.

Fortunately for Germany, on October 1st, the Canadians were driven back into the sea and, facing heavy casualties, surrendered and were captured by German opposition. This was a huge boost to German morale to drive the Western Hemisphere hordes back into the sea and out of Germany.

The battle in Wilhemshaven was much more difficult, however, with much bloodshed for both sides. Throughout October, the fighting continued in the area. Finally, by late October, Germany gained the upper hand in the battle with further reinforcements arriving to the area and, finally, after several months of fighting, the battle was won on November 4th, 1939 and over 40,000 Allied soldiers were captured.

These two amphibious invasions highlighted the need to defend every German port. In response, at least three brigades would defend every port in Germany and her occupied territories. "If the Allies want to invade Germany, they would need to do so through France, not by sea!" Hitler raged.

By this point, German forces that had participated in the Baltic Campaign were now massing along the Hungarian border. The German High Command wanted to invade Hungary before winter began, but the Allied incursions in northern Germany had distracted these efforts and had forced them to postpone the invasion of Hungary. Finally, the forces were ready and the time to attack had come. The only thing waiting was Adolf Hitler's approval.

Baltasar · May 16, 2011

You're going to leave the west alone for now? That's something new.

superjames1992 · May 16, 2011

Baltasar said:
You're going to leave the west alone for now? That's something new.

That is what I am trying to do, at least. My plan was originally to take on Russia after the fall of Poland, but I realized that this would result in a bad outcome for me, most likely. Instead, I plan to build up Germany before going after the Soviets. Interestingly, the Italians and Japanese are not at war with the Allies for whatever reason and I want to keep it that way until I begin my assault on the western front. Ideally, I'd like to knock off the Soviets before doing this, but attacking the USSR will probably take so much manpower that I won't be able to fully maintain my defenses along the French border.

Baltasar · May 16, 2011

All in all, it seems that while you wait until you have sufficient forces to fight Russia, you still could knock out the western countries. You'd have to invest less units occupying France than defending the border from the French threat. Furthermore, you have to watch out for the BeNeLux or Switzerland joining the Allied camp.

Also, the Russians are in no shape to fight you right now. They may have the numbers, but they lack the leadership and techs to put up much of a fight, I assume.

Avindian · May 16, 2011

A really interesting idea -- I for one am interested to see how it turns out.

superjames1992 · May 16, 2011

CHAPTER FOUR: THE INVASION OF HUNGARY

By November 20th, preparations had been made and troops were in position for the next war of expansionism for the Third Reich. Hungary was next up on the chopping block as it would provide a springboard into the invasion of Romania, Yugoslavia, and the rest of the Balkan states.

Thus, on the 20th of November, 1939, war was declared on the Hungarians. Hungary was to be advanced upon from all sides, but the primary pincer movement was focused out of eastern Slovakia, wherein German armor would try to cut off the Hungarian troops in the east from the rest of Hungary. This would hopefully precipitate the fall of Budapest and other important Hungarian cities.

Initial gains were quick as the German troops were superior to the Hungarians technologically and numerically. German armor pierced the Hungarian defenses in northern Hungary. German infantry advanced slower, but the first German infantry units reached the Hungarian capital of Budapest on November 27th, beginning the Battle of Budapest, which would be particularly bloody and unforgiving for both sides.

By November 28th, it was clear that the initial plans for a pincer movement to cut Hungary in two was not going to happen. Nevertheless, Hungarian defenses had collapsed in the east, regardless of the previous tactical failure. Most of the fighting was occurring in eastern Hungary, although several division also warred near the Yugoslavian border in the west.

By December 7th, with the German victory at Salgotarjan, a second front was opened in Budapest as German infantry began an assault on the city from the east. With a second front now open, it was speculated that the Hungarian garrison in Budapest could not hold out for much more than a week and Hungarian governmental officials began to prepare to escape southward.

On December 8th, Hitler and the German High Command received superb news, independent of the war in Hungary. It was announced night fighting equipment had been researched and was ready to be deployed to German soldiers. This would give German infantry huge bonuses during night fighting, particularly in defense. This technology was considered ahead of its time as it was not expected that these technologies would progress enough to be come useful in combat until the mid-1940s. Immediately, preparations began to retrofit these technologies on all German infantry brigades.

The bloodiest battle of the war thus far was won by German infantrymen on December 11th in Nove Zamky. Over 1,600 German soldiers perished in the fierce fighting, but eventually the quantitatively inferior Huns were pushed southward as German troops began to make real headway into the Hungarian heartland. On the 15th, another bloody battle was fought in Gyor with over 3,000 collective casualties between the two belligerents.

The fighting was especially brutal in Gyor, as evidened above.

Finally, on December 19th, 1939, Budapest fell into German hands. It was hard-fought and particularly bloody with nearly 2,000 German casualties, but the streets were finally clear of Hungarian forces. Hitler immediately made preparations to travel to Budapest and conduct his victory speech, but Hungary was not ready to surrender just yet.

Finally, after Hungarian forces were forced to retreat from Pecs on December 21st, the Hungarians accepted the inevitable and surrendered to German forces on December 22nd. As promised by the dear Fuhrer, the war was over by Christmas and the German warriors could travel home and see their families. Celebrations persisted in Berlin while Hitler planned to give a rousing speech to his new subjects in Budapest on Christmas Day 1939.

Meanwhile, all was quiet on the western front with France. The three Benelux countries were still neutral and, in fact, the three nations were drifting towards the Axis faction, if anything, perhaps motivated by the many thousands of German troops near their borders. Meanwhile, on the German/French border, troops dug in for the winter. Some border skirmishes occurred, but the "phoney war" continued as trenches and fortifications were strengthened. Many feared a repeat of trench-style World War I warfare on the western front.

Wehrmacht infantry in trenches on the western front in autumn 1939.

superjames1992 · May 16, 2011

Baltasar said:
All in all, it seems that while you wait until you have sufficient forces to fight Russia, you still could knock out the western countries. You'd have to invest less units occupying France than defending the border from the French threat. Furthermore, you have to watch out for the BeNeLux or Switzerland joining the Allied camp.

The Benelux countries are all relatively in the middle of the triangle and I believe all of them are drifting towards my faction, with the except of Luxembourg. I may entertain a summer offensive against France in the summer of 1940, although such an attack will have to involve attacking through neutral Belgium and perhaps the Netherlands.

Baltasar said:
Also, the Russians are in no shape to fight you right now. They may have the numbers, but they lack the leadership and techs to put up much of a fight, I assume.

One thing I may consider doing is to stop fortifying my border with the Benelux countries, given that they are all neutral at the moment. This would free up a lot of manpower for the eastern and southern fronts.

To be honest, before attacking the USSR, I'd prefer to open up a northern front in Scandinavia and a southern front out of Turkey. I feel like this will increase my chances at success. The conquering of the Bear is a very daunting task and I want to be prepared!

One thing about not accepting the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact is that the USSR will not gain the IC, manpower, and leadership they would have gained by invading eastern Poland and the Baltic States, which are now in my hands.

Avindian said:
A really interesting idea -- I for one am interested to see how it turns out.

Thank you!

Danmark Rising · May 16, 2011

One has to wonder what the AI is thinking when it has New Zealand and Canada make landings like that.

sprites · May 16, 2011

interesting to see AI landings , but with a mere division each ...
Hungary? aren't those guys bound to join the axis some day?

superjames1992 · May 17, 2011

Danmark Rising said:
One has to wonder what the AI is thinking when it has New Zealand and Canada make landings like that.

Who knows? Very strange. Nevertheless, if New Zealand and Canada want to lose half their armies in ridiculous invasions in northern Germany, then be my guest.

sprites said:
interesting to see AI landings , but with a mere division each ...
Hungary? aren't those guys bound to join the axis some day?

Normally, they seem to drift that way, but I haven't really tried to sway them and they're at least a few years from joining me on their own. And their geographic position makes it logical to invade them before Yugoslavia and Romania, so I went with it. Plus, I need no allies!

superjames1992 · May 17, 2011

CHAPTER SIX: THE INVASION OF DENMARK

Wehrmacht infantry clearing out a rural town in Denmark.

After the successful victory in Hungary effective December 22nd, preparations were finalized for the German invasion of Denmark. Though Denmark itself was not of particular importance to the Third Reich's aspirations, itself being a neutral nation bordering the Reich in the north, it offered several strategic advantages to Germany which could be exploited in future wars.

The first and perhaps most important reason to take over Denmark was to control access in and out of the Baltic Sea. With a German presence in Denmark, Allied shipping into and out of the Baltic Sea would grind to a halt and Germany would have full control over the shipping lanes in the region. This was quite significant given that Scandinavia had numerous ores which Germany sought to have itself through trade.

The British had completely destroyed many of Germany's overseas convoy routes, so whatever resources Germany could get its hands on was for the better. The control of the North Sea had little true military importance, but it would allow safe transfer of goods from Scandinavia to the Third Reich.

The second reason for invading Denmark was that it would serve as a springboard into any potential invasions into Scandinavia. Any Scandinavian invasions would have to wait until spring or summer when the weather was warmer, but by controlling Denmark, Germany enabled itself a land crossing into Sweden and an easier way to attack than via amphibious assault. The waters separating Denmark and Sweden were shallow and not very wide, so regular infantry divisions could traverse them by just using small boats rather than large transports.

An attack on Denmark and subsequent annexation would also enable Germany to control Iceland and Greenland for the time being. However, without any real way to defend these two islands in the North Atlantic, this was not of strategic importance unless an invasion of North America was needed down the road.

And, thus, the invasion was ordered and commenced on Christmas Day 1939. There was not a lot of strategic magic in regards to the battleplan. One thrust of infantry would proceed into the heart of mainland Denmark while another thrust would cross the narrow channel, making its way towards the Danish capital at Copenhagen. The Luftwaffe was called in to assist with close air support for the advancing German infantry while a few interceptor wings ensured German control of the skies.

Immediately, however, the attack was bogged down against significant Danish resistance at the border itself. In response, paratroopers were to be landed behind enemy lines in Denmark and supplied via transport planes. It was a daring mission, but something needed to give in order to force the Danes to budge. These paratroopers were safely landed on January 4th and immediately began to produce results.

German Paratroopers operating behind enemy lines in Denmark.

By January 7th, the Danes were forces out of Sonderborg, with both sides facing heavy casualties, particularly the Germans. Nevertheless, the Wehrmacht outnumbered the Danes by two-to-one, so these casualties were able to be absorbed. The Battle of Tonder was deemed a success, as well, with the Danes retreating northwards on the 10th, although, once again, German casualties were very high.

Also on the 10th, several new air wings of interceptors were deployed. These new interceptor wings would be used in Denmark in the meantime in order to get combat experience while patrolling Danish airspace. Thereafter, six new interceptor wings were also ordered in addition to 25 new infantry divisions, consisting of two infantry brigades and one anti-tank brigade each. The new interceptors were particularly important as British bombers were inflicting serious damage on Germany cities and factors, not only hurting German production lines but also resulting in decreased morale on the home front. Four more Messerschmitt BF-109 interceptor wings were ordered later in February.

By mid-January an attack commenced across the Lillebælt into Faaborg. This attack met fierce resistance, which, in addition to the inherent difficulties in crossing a body of water to attack enemy forces, made the battle very difficult and very bloody for German forces. Denmark was thought to have been a pushover, but due to favorable terrain and well-trained forces, Denmark was putting up a wonderful defensive fight.

The first try at crossing the Lillebælt was repelled on February 2nd with nearly 2,250 German casualties. It was then determined that it would be best to wait for reinforcements before attempting another crossing of the Lillebælt into Faaborg.

In the meantime, however, significant German progress had been made on mainland Denmark. The only important cities that Denmark had left were Copenhagen and Odense.

In order to break the essential stalemate of the last month, on February 18th two infantry divisions were landed in Guldborgssund, just south of the Danish capital city at Copenhagen. These divisions awaited reinforcements before attacking, however. Meanwhile, another German attack at Faaborg was repelled with significant casualties for the Germans. It was determined that the new strategy would be to attack from the east. Germany's transport planes would be essential in this operation in order to keep the troops attacking from Guldborgssund well-supplied.

An assault on Copenhagen began on the 19th with the 12th and 23rd infantry divisions advancing into the capital city while numerous tactical bomber wings worked overhead. These divisions were later reinforced as German troops easily took the capital city on February 23rd, it being a relatively bloodless battle compared to the massacres occurring further west.

In many ways, this ended significant Danish resistance in Denmark, although some Danes continued to fight on in Fyn. Two paratrooper divisions were landed in southern Fyn and began an attack on Odense. Ground troops from Copenhagen backed by air support also joined the attack a day later.

By March 1st, the mere headquarters brigade stationed in Odense was routed out by German forces outnumbering them by more than 50-to-one. With this, the Danish government escaped to London in exile and Denmark was secured by March 3rd. Like Latvia and Estonia, Denmark would ultimately be ruled by Berlin, but significant collaboration would be established with local Danish governments in order to give the Danes some sense of autonomy, however false it may have been.

With Denmark conquered and spring not far away, the German High Command prepared for its offenses planned during the warm season of 1940. Offenses into Scandinavia, the Balkans, and France were proposed, but it remained to be seen how many of these plans actually were carried out.

Tallfellow · May 17, 2011

You're doing fairly well at the moment. Let's see if you can keep it up

Baltasar · May 17, 2011

Neat conquest of Denmark, although somewhat costly...

superjames1992 · May 17, 2011

Tallfellow said:
You're doing fairly well at the moment. Let's see if you can keep it up

Baltasar said:
Neat conquest of Denmark, although somewhat costly...

Thanks. The conquest was costly, but it is done. I truly expected Denmark to be a walkover, but their geographic position gave them an advantage. In addition, I probably could have better utilized my amphibious assaulting abilities earlier in the war, but it is done now, I suppose.

Down With the Bolsheviks - A German AAR

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