Chapter 1: Germany
Part 1: Summer was beautiful that year
"When it was time for world to end
And for the days of Summer
Straight to Heaven in fours they went
The men of Westerplatte
(and Summer was beautiful that year)"
K. Ildefons-Gałczyński, "Pieśń o żołnierzach z Westerplatte"
("Song of the men of Westerplatte")
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Summer was indeed beautiful that year. The good weather carried into September, and even well into October. There was no fighting for Westerplatte this time, but there were plenty of other occasions where soldiers could march to heaven...
In my early, and even more recent games I used to be greedy and attempt very large encirclements that stretched my forces very thinly and often presented as much danger for me as they did for the enemy. The cost was always very high, while the results - not necessarily. This time I decided to take smaller steps, but more often, and always attack with overwhelming local advantage, even if other sections of the front must be weakened to achieve it, so combats end quickly and my manpower is preserved (well, as much as possible). First of all, though...
...I should probably evacuate my destroyers. The subs have already gone missing while I wasn't looking; no point in losing more ships for no reason.
The Armoured Cavalry Group have deployed for the first attack on the western border. The blow is set to fall in Pomerania, where German forces have pushed deep into the positions of the 1st Corps and almost breached the front, but in doing so, also presented their flanks for a counterstrike. Thus a double envelopment is ordered that will throw them back and establish a defensive line along the Oder. On 3rd October, an opportunity presents itself when the Germans leave a section of their front undefended. The 2nd Armoured Corps hasn't quite reached their initial position, but they will be there soon enough, so the southern flank immediately charges in through the opening.
Here I encountered a strange bug; one of the armoured divisions was out of supply for several days, even though there was plenty of both supplies and fuel in the province (and the rest of the units there were fine). It only got unstuck when fresh supplies from the capital reached its position. I suppose the problem was for some reason that the province (and the supplies in it) was recently taken from the Germans, but still. Guess sauerkraut didn't agree with them.
Luckily, the advance could continue freely despite this little occurrence.
In the meantime, the Germans gain ground far in the south.
So far, I'm loving it. When I had less experience, my units often got completely disorganised in futile attempts of defending a piece of rough terrain ("if I can't stop them here, I can't stop them anywhere"), which of course made any kind of organised retreat impossible, since deorged divisions can't put up any resistance, can be bounced around at will and take terribly long time to reach their destination. Now, however, I'm keeping much stricter discipline. Units engage the enemy only for as long as it's needed to induce maximum attack delay on their opponents and then fall back in good order. I also keep myself from staying in highly defensible positions if the rest of the front is being pushed back. While giving up such locations without a fight is painful, it hurts much more to lose a surrounded division because you were too stubborn (or too stupid, as a matter of fact), and the AI is pretty good at avoiding places where it'd be forced to fight at a severe disadvantage. So I'm intending to fall back to the forts in the Sudetes and hold up the Germans there for a while. I'll probably get kicked out of there once the boys in grey put some effort into it, but it should at least delay them somewhat. I'll then try to make a stand in Upper Silesia. If I'm forced out of the Sudetes, I won't be able to defend Katowice and Kraków either, but I want to hold them as long as possible, since the cities are important industrial centres. I'll have to retreat my Mountain Corps and give up the recently-conquered Breslau along the way... Pity.
That's for the future though. Right now, the advance in Pomerania is progressing nicely. The Germans are completely unprepared for the attack. Infantry pins Wehrmacht units in place, while tanks perform a pincer movement...
...and within only 5 days, on 8th October, the encirclement is completed. Units trapped within the pocket have no hope of rescue and are quickly forced to surrender. In total, Polish forces bag 1 infantry, 2 motorised (one overrun) and 1 armoured division. Not a whole lot of soldiers, but three precious mobile units are taken out permanently. I'm satisfied.
Two days later, four fleet carriers are added to the production queue.
This may be an extravagance, considering that I'm in the red in terms of manpower, but I figure the deficit is pretty big already, and will get even larger later on, so 10 MP is a drop in the ocean and won't make much of a difference in the long run. Four aircraft carriers will, however, as well as the practical I'll gain. Poland has no fleet whatsoever; if I think to take even on Great Britain, I need to start working on the navy very early. Besides, I have nothing better to use the IC for anyway, and the carriers will be nice and ready for Barbarossa (or its Soviet counterpart, more likely...) to gain some experience.
While I was preoccupied with the attack in Pomerania, the Germans attacked a province in the south and broke the two of my divisions positioned there, which escaped my notice until it was too late. I have a feeling I'll be forced to retreat rather more quickly than I anticipated...
Once the Pomeranian operation was completed and infantry divisions were on their way to secure the defensive line, I started looking for the place of another attack. At the beginning I couldn't find an obvious spot, but then I noticed that I could create a pocket just by taking Züllichau and Herrnstadt. If I could also capture Liegnitz (attacking from Breslau), I'd trap 5 German divisions. The 1st Armoured Corps was already positioned in Krotoszyn and on the way to Breslau, as I had a plan to capture the two divisions north of the city even before, so it was just a matter of moving the 3rd Armoured Corps to Meseritz.
Wait. Are you serious? Are they really bleeding out the sole division defending one of the provinces I intend to take? AND leaving the other one undefended? Huh... They say God will take away the minds of those who he wants to bring down. If that's true, he must really hate the German AI...
On the western front, the Germans seem to have eliminated the beachhead in the northern part of the Maginot line, though the French are making progress in the south. Maybe not very fast, but they don't have to hurry, they aren't far from the Ruhr.
I am... Grrrr.
On 14th October, the Polish advance begins. Armoured units move into the empty spaces on the flanks, and infantry again engages the Germans along the whole front to keep them occupied.
However, not everything goes as planned. It turns out that the nazis have positioned two armoured divisions in Liegnitz, in addition to the garrison (just as if they were sensing precisely what I was going to do... Good for me they weren't so smart in other places). I won't be able to break them with the forces I've assigned. The other units stationed in Breslau are engaged as well, and none other are in position to lend a hand... The two divisions north of the city might slip out of my grasp.
On 15th October, that what I feared finally happens. The Kriegsmarine has sunk all my trade ships and the Americans decided to cancel the agreements that have become ineffective. I had a ton of them signed and it brings my relations with the USA down to a meagre 35 (and you start the game at 75). I guess I can't blame my people for feeling slightly betrayed...
Rather surprisingly, even after that I'm still running a small surplus in rare materials production. Can't complain.
On the 16th, I call off the attack in Liegnitz. Wasting manpower, when I won't be able to complete my objective anyway, makes no sense. At least the main pocket is closed. The trapped units are subdued quickly. The Germans meekly attempt a few counterattacks to break their divisions out, but they just haven't the forces to do that. Another armoured division is mine, along with two divisions of infantry.
In Moravia, I'm suffering the consequences for my lapse in concentration. General Żeligowski's division endures devastating blows while it holds the line to allow the other two to reach friendly territory. The rearguard succeeds, but it is a really close call; the 33rd Division is only hours from breaking when the last Polish units arrive in Zilina. At least they can now safely fall back together.
So much for my organised retreat and defensive plans, though. Guess I spoke too soon...
In the meantime, the research on two doctrines is finished in the space of a few days. Mobile Warfare won't make that much of a difference, but it's always a nice addition (and a step closer towards Armoured Spearhead), while Infantry Warfare is of obvious usefulness.
Oh look, my destroyers are gone! Guess Memel wasn't actually out of range of German bombers... What a shame. However, both admirals are in once piece. Funny, they earned +2 to skill just by getting bombed...
Now that my Silesian push is concluded, time to look for another spot to attack. The western front all rests on the Oder. I don't relish the prospect of forcing my way across a river and I'm not sure it would serve an actual purpose. An advance there would just take me deeper into Germany without achieving any particular goals or solving any of my problems, while drawing me close to large German cities, which are certain to be defended and serve as points to initiate counterattacks from, while being tough nuts to crack themselves. At the same time, the situation in the south is gradually deteriorating as my units there have been broken. A relief action there would be rather useful, and wouldn't pose nearly as much threat as going straight for the heart of the Reich.
I'll take advantage of the fact that some of the Czech forts are still under my control (and my units there apparently won't be so easy to dislodge). I'll use them as my staging area for one of the flanks and advance across the plains. The other wing will move through the forests, they shouldn't slow me down as much as hills. It's tempting to attack along the direction indicated by the yellow arrow, but it's highly unlikely I'll be able to reach that area in any reasonable time. Still, for the time being, let it at least remain an option.
That will be all for today, as I've used my screenshot allocation. Next episode: Winter is Coming!
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Subbed! (Haven't commented on HoI forum for a while)
Hello, welcome to the AAR.
Bring on the Polish fury! The last time I did anything close was in FTM as the Czechs....and I joined the Allies to take full advantage of the UK Army that was expo'd to me because of that lil' deal.
Nice! How did it go? And how did the BEC even get to you? Czechoslovakia doesn't exactly have a sea coast, and I don't think the Royal Navy sailed along the Danube, viking-style...
It's usually better for Poland to puppet the southern states. Less IC in the end but you end up having a good 50 or so more units at your (indirect) disposal, even if lower tech.
I've found the disposal to be very indirect indeed.
The AIs can hardly cooperate with you, and can't cooperate with each other at all. The result is all those divisions just pile up into a giagantic roadblock that the Germans are forced to blankly stare at. While you can succeed that way too, Poland's IC and manpower flow almost triple after the conquests, while LD goes up by ~+5 (so more than 50%). I prefer to have these resources under my direct control, especially that the armies of these small countries would be useless in the wars I'll (hopefully) be waging further down the line.
