Sudden Carnage
Chapter XIII – Operation Hammer Sickle, Part I
Countries played by humans: UK, France, Soviet Union, Germany, Italy, Japan
Recap: After the break-out of the two-front war, Germany have concentrated on the Soviet Union. Now, with Operation Storm losing momentum and the defense in the West buckling, Wehrmacht must renew their strategy and focus on the West…
October 22nd-24th, 1939
A week long French attack on Blumberg ended in a German victory. The German forces had plenty of medium panzers and infantry supported by engineers and the French troopers knocked themselves out completely as they struggled day and night until they were exhausted and had to pull back. The German leadership was now well aware that the French front was weak. That was not a knowledge they would let pass by.
October 26th-28th, 1939
The fourth battle of Donauschingen started even before the battle of Blumberg, about the 10th of October. Two and a half week later, the carnage was over. The French had thrown wave after wave against the already devastated province. The Germans had used the forts, forests and the river to the fullest and as the French finally pulled back, more than 14 000 men lay dead – not including civilian casualties.
With the first battles of Donauschingen from mid and late September included, more than 25 000 men had died here of which 19 000 were French. And the border hadn’t moved a meter in the end. Still, with the victory in Blumberg in fresh memory, the Germans knew that the French in this part of the west front was weak as well. Maybe they could be pushed back even before the reinforcements from the eastern front came…
October 27th, 1939
::Johann Keller was at yet another party in Berlin. He’d come here more often now. With the war growing in size the need for food was endless. He made his money, and they money opened doors. Maybe it help that he had such a typical German name, such a typical German look and a typical southern German dialect that people in Berlin found reassuring in some way. Johann himself though it was because he was skillful, eager and creative.::
::His interest in the army itself grew over time and was strengthened by the letter he received from his dear friend Heinrich Hahn. He missed Lucas, but he knew the grown up boy wouldn't write. On this party, only for members of the Nazi party, he ended up talking with a desk officer working under Hjalmar Schacht, the armament minister. It was here he actually heard that they didn’t get hold of rubber and some specific materials in the amount they needed and that I could be a problem quite soon in the war. The desk officer wouldn’t, or couldn’t, say if they had any solution to the problem. Johann could hardly believe his ears but felt worried indeed. How could they win the war without enough raw materials? He suspiciously eyes the people around him. They all drank, ate finger food, laughed and made gossip. The desk officer must just overdo the story. It couldn’t be that bad. Still, he knew himself how prices on some goods had peaked beyond any reasonable prices, so something was not as it should.::
::To get away from the troubling topic, Johann brough up something he had started to think about when reading Heinrich Hahn letter about the differenses between the survival chances betwwn the tank crew and the motorized infantry. Johann argued that it would be better if the infantry as well had better protection. Only with his experience from farm wehicles, he claimed, he could design a wehicle that protected the infantry better than a truck but still with a good speed. The desk officer smiled a knowing smile.::
- I think there’s somebody you should meet.
28th-30th, October
As the French pulled back from Donaueschingen, Luftwaffe, who know enjoyed quite some freedom in the west, made a reconnaissance mission over Baden. As expected, the French troops were in a miserable state. As the German had taken quite some pounding as well and had lesser reserves, the German leadership was reluctant to pull any large scale offensive tricks.
Two divisions, of which one came from the reserves and was fully rested, launched an attack against Baden. The British defenders was somewhat worn down and responded slowly to the attack and part of their front units became initially surrounded. After taken some losses, they recovered and arranged a fairly strong defensive line. It did not look too good for the attackers, but it was assumed that the 161st division would reach the front a lot quicker than the French reserve. Also, Luftwaffe continued to have the air superiority for now.
October 30th, 1939
8 infantry divisions had left the east front together with one HQ to strengthen the West Front in what would be the great push to free German soil of tea-drinkers and frog-eaters. The upcoming Operation was called “Hammer - Sickle”.
Operation Hammer Sickle got it name for two reasons. One was to fool enemy spies that it was a mission in the east. The other reason was the two important parts of the operation. The first part, the Hammer, was hammering back the Allies to France and retaking the West Wall. The second part would be the Sickle…
November 1st, 1939
The French air force made a go at challenging the Luftwaffe for air superiority. Due to reinforcements of Bf109s and the obvious lack of RAF, who probably was both licking wounds and been pulled to other theatres, the French fliers were chanceless. Soon, bombs fell over the Allied troops in Baden again.
November 1st-2nd, 1939
The battle of Baden did not become neither long nor epic. As the French armor division failed to reach the front to support the Brits, the 163rd Infantry Division got the upper hand, even if they lost plenty of men along the way. The Brits fought well for every meter - but with continuous bombings, first by German Stukas and later by Japanese tactical bombers, the Brits just could not cope. As two more fresh German infantry divisions reached the front, they quickly managed to breach the weak British line. As the German troops poured in behind the defenders line, they shattered and fled.
Only two provinces remain before the southern part of the West Wall is re-captured.
Authors note: The combination of massive production of ground troops and vicious combat made the officer ratio drop rapidly from reassuring 140 to 110 after the war started. Now, as I had reached several important levels in my research, I made a massive investment in officers.
November 4-6th, 1939
The French leadership did not like to lose Baden at all. The same moment as the haggard 163rd division took hold of the province they were attacked by two infantry divisions and a fresh light armor division. They had fought weeks in Donaueschingen, they had conquered Baden and now they were under heavy attack again. The 26st Infantry Division was still on the far side of Baden and had no chance of immediately support the 163rd that came under immense pressure.
To aid them, two divisions attacked the French in the flank in Hinterzarten. The French ended up in a dreadful position. For a while, they fought on as the 163rd was weak in Baden and they themselves had good protection in Hinterzarten. Still, a two front battle with German panzers in the back was nothing the French could stand very long and after two days of battle, they retreated from Baden, giving the 163rd the first real rest in a month.
When the French consolidated their defense of Hinterzarten it became more than a mouthful for the two German divisions. The German leadership was still afraid of a French counter-strike and did not want to exhaust his troops. They retreated from Hinterzarten.
November 7th, 1939
::Johann Keller’s sat alone on a crowded beerhouse in central Berlin. His life was spinning faster than he could comprehend. He had met the armament minster Hjalmar Schacht himself and had a conversation with the man. One of the Führer’s closest men. It was close to unbelievable. It appeared the minister had similar ideas like Johann concerning better protection for the infantry and he was very interested in what he had to say. The way Johann combined the knowledge of heavy vehicle with Heinrich’s observations in the diverse 1st panzer division followed by Johann’s insights in economic calculations and logic reasoning had made an impression on the minister. Johann was immediately offered a place with military rank in Hjamlar Schacht’s staff to work with a new project they just started. In a rush, Johann had made his second man in his growing food enterprise take over the main operation. He drank deeply from his jug and dried the froth from his lips with the back of his hand.::
::Around Johann, the mood was steaming hot and merry. It did not seem possible to the general public that Germany would fail this time. Their belief in the Führer was total. Johann believed as well, and dreamed of getting the chance to meet the man in person. Still, he knew that everything was not right. Rubber and some other rare materials had become even more scares which was a bad sign. He didn’t know how bad, though, and hoped he would soon find out. During another business dinner he had met a Dutch merchant who’d just had secured a major deal with the Germans. Johann knew, however, that the Dutch were pro-Allies, so it was dangerous to rely on them to much.::
::At the same time on another place of Germany, Lucas Bauer packed up his backpack. This morning, they had left Suwalki and been flown westwards in the big Ju-52 transport planes. They ended up in Kassel which was not too far away from home. Well, it was not very close either but compared to Suwalki this was practically on the other side of the hill. Even though most of the paratroopers were disappointed to never have had the chance to make a combat jump against the Russians, they were still happy to be back in the Fatherland. They all knew they would have the chance to recapture what they Allies had conquered.::
::Lucas, Martin and the rest of the company where based around a farm house. They had their quarters in the empty, and luckily well cleaned, stables. It still had the distinct smell of horse though, but it just reminded Lucas of home and gave him comfort. He didn’t miss home too bad. He knew it would not be like before anyway. But he missed his friends. He had got letters from them but hadn’t written back. He was a man of the moment. Writing letter was just something he didn’t do even though he liked to receive them. He missed his girlfriends in Suwalki but had hoped to get into Kassel and have a good night out. Unfortunately, their presence in Kassel was supposed to be a secret so they didn’t get to leave the farmstead. It was a bummer. Lucas, Martin and kleine Tobias had successfully stolen a barrel of beer and now the platoon had a good party. Kleine Tobias could play the harmonica and the half-drunk soldiers danced with each other in the light of the shift made fireplace. They were laughing like crazy when Lucas mimicked being a girl, which was hilarious due to the fact that he was the tallest man in the platoon. It was a good night and the war, which none of them had experienced, felt distant.::
Also, two Japanese paratroop divisions had arrived too and been based outside the air field in Frankfurt am Main. Moreover, 4 brand new panzer divisions had been deployed behind the northern part of the front along with a few Infantry Divisions. Operation Hammer Sickle was building up the momentum…
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