It's been a busy time again, hence the delay. And now with the current Paradox Steam sale yielding me VickyII and me still being busy with college, there's no telling when the next update comes. So please enjoy what you can get for the moment. Additionally, Imgur starts screwing me over in the middle of writing this so I had to resort to Photobucket, no clue how that'll turn out.
Hochseeflotte
The German Battlefleet of the Second World War
German soldiers preparing to storm the Narva bridgehead and head for Leningrad
January 8th, 1942
Conclusion of OKW strategic discussion regarding the war against the Soviet Union.
After lenghty discussions and arguments amongst the OKW, it has been concluded that several of the proposed offensives are probably required to bring the Soviet Union down. Because we lack the number of panzer-divisions to execute all 3 planned operations simultaniously, Operation Taifun will be postponed for the moment, and only Nordlicht and the Kursk-Kharkov strategic offensive will be launched. The Oberkommando der Ostfront re-organised it's order of battle accordingly.
The 2. Panzerarmee, consisting of the 4. and 5. Panzerkorps and 2 infantry corps, recently arrived to the Eastern front. This force will be cannibalised and deployed to bolster various other Panzer forces along the front to ensure we have enough thrusting power in our offensives. whilst everyone can stay within range of their superiours. After all, an Armee commander cannot lead both a corps near Leningrad and one near Kursk at the same time.
- The 4. Panzerkorps is reassigned to the 1. Panzerarmee to bolster the offensive power of the 1. Panzerkorps and 1. SS Panzerkorps in their offensive towards Leningrad. These troops are currently positioned 100km north of Smolensk and have to drive all the way to Lake Ladoga to envelop Soviet forces around Leningrad, so they need additional offensive power. Once the last Soviet pocket behind the lines in Heeresgruppe Nord's sector have been dealt with, some 2 infantry corps worth of troops will be freed up for this operation as well, giving us enough divisions to launch Operation Nordlicht.
However, this could take some time as Stukageschwader bombarding the encircled Soviet forces report an estimated 150.000 Soviet soldiers in the
Kessel.
- the 5. Panzerkorps and 1 of the infantry corps will head into the Ukraine to support the 3. Panzerkorps' southern thrust against Kursk and Kharkov. the other infantry corps is directed towards the 2. Panzerkorps and will assist the northern thrust. All of this requries a little re-arranging of the Order of Battle to get most forces within radio contact again, but we are a flexibel army so that is no problem. individual Corps will be kept intact and moved between armies as one unit, to maintain unit cohesion as much as possible.
The start of the offensives
Kursk-Kharkov
As artillery guns open fire on Soviet positions in the Ukraine and northern Russia, the marines of the 1. Marine-Sturmkorps fight to secure both ends of the strait of Kerch. The 5 infantry divisions of the 15th Corps are on their way to support them, breaching Soviet defences on the north entrance of the Crimea with overwhelming force. Soviet formations turn tail and run south towards Sevastopol as 50.000 infantrymen with heavy artillery and anti-tank guns overrun their positions. After a fierce and protracted battle at Simfernopol, the Red Army infantry pull back in an orderly fashion to the outskirts of Sevastopol. Cracking this nut could prove quite tough indeed.
What is worse, it seems as if soviet commanders expected an offensive in the Ukraine. Resistance is heavy and Soviet counterattacks plentyful. However, air and ground support is underway, so they will most likely be broken soon.
The battle of Simfernopol was lengthy and bloody, but every Red Army unit broken here is one less defender of the fortress-city of Sevastopol at least.
The Luftwaffe dispatches additional Messerschmitts to forward bases in the Ukraine and tactical bomber and close air support wings step up their attacks against the Crimea. After the Luftwaffe reports a massive concentration of Soviet divisions in and around Sevastopol, the 8th Infantry corps is pulled away from the Kursk-Kharkov strategic reserve and ordered to the Crimea. We need a lot more troops to capture Sevastopol than initially estimated. The offensive itself however is underway nicely. the 3. Panzerkorps, supported by Slovakian Stuka dive-bombers has broken through the initial Soviet lines and pushes up towards Stalino, a city of vital importance to cover the flank of the troops striking at Kharkov from the south.
Nordlicht
After days of heavy bombardment, breaking enemy morale and starving their forces of supplies, over 200.000 German infantrymen assault the final bastion of the encircled Soviet soldiers near Vitebysk. This is the aforementioned final pocket that needs to be broken before sufficient infantry formations are available for Operation Nordlicht. Similar to the other pockets, despite a lack of supplies, flank protection or hope of relief, Soviet troops fight until the end, putting up fierce resistance every step of the way.
The destruction of this massive pocket has taken some time, but it is vital we break these forces, it will make our future offensives that much easier
5 days of heavy fighting and 1600 German and 3500 Soviet lives further, the encircled divisions surrender. The Red Army has lost another 150.000 men.
Other fronts across the globe, January 8th, 1942.
The Meditteranean
The Afrikakorps, consisting of the 5. Panzer-division and 13. Motorised infantry division, has almost reached it's new base in Tripoli. From here it will likely be moved further west, probably to Algiers. It's job is now to be prepared to counter a possible Allied invasion of Morroco. Various Italian infantry, militia and light armour divisions are moving west as well. Oberkommando der Westfront, responsible for this theatre, has requested their assistance in bolstering defences in Vichy-controlled Morrocan ports.
A number of Italian infantry divisions are assigned to occupied Iraq and Palestine to maintain order here and resist a potential Allied counter-offensive via Kuwait. If this theory were to become reality, it is their job to delay the enemy and by time for the Afrikakorps and Italian reinforcements to reach the scene.
Italian tanks have advanced along the Egyptian Red Sea coast as far south as the terrain will allow them. Unfortunatly, they are now blocked by impassable territory and thus cannot advance to liberate Ethiopia. Still, if the British decide to counterattack in this sector, troops are present to resist.
Gibraltar is still held by over half a dozen Italian divisions, including motorised infantry and mountaineers. Additionally, Regia Marina battleships patrol the strait between Spain, Morocco and Algeria. That front is firmly locked down.
All in all, the Axis are firmly in control of North Africa and have the Meditteranean securely locked down. No Allied forces can penetrate Fortress Europe from this angle. Churchill has grown rather quiet in his boasting of attacking the "soft underbelly of Europe".
The Far East
The Imperial Japanese Army and Navy continue their offensive operations in the South Pacific. Hongkong has quickly fallen to overwhelming Japanese attack and the same goes for the French colony of Zhangjiang.
Siamese, Bhutanese and Nepalese infantry clash on the Siamese-Burmese border, so far with limited result for either side.
Meanwhile, an entrie corps of Japanese infantry and various Imperial Marine divisions have stormed across the Southern Siamese border into Malaya, supported by an amphibious landing on the Malayan coast. The obvious objective here is to capture Singapore from it's much weaker defended landside approach. British resistance in the area appears minimal.
The situation in the Far Eastern theatre, as can be clearly seen, Japan is on the offensive everywhere.
1 Imperial Marine division has landed in the port city of Oosthaven, on the Southern tip of Sumatra. Another marine division has landed at Balikpapan, the easternmost Dutch port on Borneo, the largest Island in the East Indies, recognizble by the fact that it's the only Island shared by the Netherlands and Great Britain.
The only city of importance on the Island east of Borneo, the city of Makassar, has been taken by Japan as well. The marines who performed this task have already departed to their next assignment.
In the Pacific, Japan has taken Guam from the United States, but have lost Mili for it. Other than that, no US involvement in the war detectable at this time. It is expected this will change soon, however.
Lastly, around 7 Imperial divisions have landed on the large northern Island of the Phillipines. Supported by the Imperial Japanese Airforce, they are currently exploring the area and driving a few Philipino divisions back north.
In the Chinese port city of Qingdao, a large gathering of Japanese infantry and marines, as well as transport flotillas, is spotted. Perhaps another wave of invasions is being prepared at the moment. Time will tell, since the Japanese High Command refuses to share their war strategy over longrange communication with us.
