Royal Carnage
Chapter I - Operation Trebuchet
Player set up as presented
Authors note:
Ok. UK then. It is a rather reactive position which nevertheless opens up for smaller offensive operations. Lessons learned from earlier games are dreadful punishment in the convoy war so this must be prioritized. Other than that, depending on strategies, UK can prioritize all branches of warfare (land, air, sea) in clever ways – but not all at once if they want to excell. I have to stay low on at least one of them initially to be strong in the others. I will not tell you yet which this weak one will be for me.
March 15th, 1939
Authors note: We play on higher speed until May 1st according to House Rules. With only three players available for Allies/Commies we chose to, after obviously putting one on UK and Soviet, putting the third player on France to make it as solid as possible. Thus, China and Poland would be AI-run and probably fall quickly.
The strategy for France was to build some infantry and a lot of garrisons to quickly put their manpower pool in full use. They also used a lot of their leadership on officers and diplomatic actions. The latter was so UK could use less leadership on diplomatic actions and more on others – like research. UK, and France to some extent, also used pretty much on offensive espionage on Germany (counter/increase threat).
And, those of you who have followed these AARs know I can’t sit passive. Last game as UK, I launched Operation Trident (a three-pronged attack from UK, France and Poland on Germany. However, Zid (Germany) would suspect something like this. Also, with no player on Poland, we would lose some well needed punch(bag). Consequently, this operation was discarded. Instead, Operation Trebuchet was designed. This was an all UK operation relaying and surprise, on strength and on speed.
The target was Königsberg – or actually the German forces in Königsberg. Polish forces were judged to be strong enough to keep Jerry at bay until a strong British force, landing in Preussia, could lay Königsberg under siege, kill and capture its defenders, and then leave before the Germans arrive. Naturally, for this to succeed, Denmark must not fall. That’s at least the plan
May 9th, 1939
Germany attacked Poland as expected. Operation Trebuchet was launched as planned. As seen in the stats in the top right corner, the siege of Königsberg have started. An infantry Division had to be loaded into Danzig as the Poles left it unprotected.
During the huge naval operation in the Baltic Sea, British Maritime Surveillance realized that the German Harbor of Rostock, with some of Kriegsmarine lying anchored, was left undefended. A quick amphibious assault was initiated. It was an in-and-out operation. Kriegsmarine had to sail out and face the awaiting British Taskforce under Admiral Tovey. As this was a very ad-hoc operation, it was unfortunately not the strongest British Taskforce and hence, maximal damage could not be achieved. Still, some old German destroyers were sunk and at least a third of Kriegsmarine was limping into another port for long repairs. Consequently, they would not be able to threat Britain at sea during Operation Trebuchet.
The British Infantry Division in Rostock was immediately picked up again before the Germans could launch any counter-attack. Of course, Jerry soon liberated Rostock.
May 12th, 1939
The Germans had chosen to stay in Königsberg with all their three divisions and HQs. This meant they were all dug in into the dreadfully fortified city. On the other hand, they were easily surrounded.
About a week into the siege of Königsberg and the going was pretty slow. Still, being surrendered was hard on the German HQs as they could not avoid the frontline and suffered accordingly. Also, Luftwaffe was active on so many fronts (with the French also making a push) thus giving Bomber Command free airspace for their bombing runs. Being based in Suwalki gave them short fly-in routes. The anti aircraft barrage coming up from the city was fearsome, however, making life for the bomber crews far from easy. In the end, the Germans on the ground suffered worst.
May 15th, 1939
Three days later, the German HQs had succumbed in the hellish battle – about a thousand staff officers surrendering - thus leaving the fighting divisions weaker. The German soldiers were under barrage from the Royal Navy in the Baltic Sea, bombed from air and attacked from all direction by an enemy that out-numbered them 2-1 or more. Still, they were dug-in into the city and had a lot of bunker-systems and heavy weapon emplacements to aid them. Moreover, the Germans were better trained.
The Brits had to fight for every yard. Around them the city degraded to ruins and rubble. This made perfect defensive grounds for the skilled Germans, and sometimes hiding guns and bunkers. Several times, German soldier popped up behind the British lines were they could wreak havoc and then disappear again. But you cannot argue with numbers. The German situation was growing desperate. It was clear the Brits would win if they got the time. Further west, the Poles kept losing ground and sooner or later, the frontline of the Wehrmacht would reach the siege of Königsberg, which was something the Brits did not have forces to deal with.
May 16th, 1939
Realizing the British threat could only persist as long as the Baltic Sea was open, Germany declared war on Denmark. Still, it seemed a hasty move as they had little forces close by to back it up. Maritime Surveillance spotted numerous German forces marching for the Danish front. Faster though was French transports which put an army corps of French Expeditionary Forces onto the shore, on lands that the Danes recently had captured from Germany without battle.
If the Germans, however, could seal off the Baltic Sea – the whole British Army would be captured.
May 21st, 1939
Europe is boiling. In the west, Germans and French are exchanging blows by the Maginot line but without any spatial results. Further north, there’s a temporary stand-still between the Germans and the joint French-Danish forces. The Poles (AI) are gaining ground in Slovakia but are being pushed back along the entire front-line against Germany. However, to the Allied dismay, they did not shift the dozen divisions at the Soviet border to fight the Germans. This could really have made a difference as Wehrmacht for the moment was spread a little thin.
The Siege of Königsberg is two weeks old. Still, the Germans are holding off the Brits, but the city is falling apart around them. The Brits are determined, superior in numbers and even supported by tanks. Luftwaffe has started to make occasional patrols over the city intercepting some of the bombers but also ending up with dog-fights versus the British Hurricanes. It gave Bomber Command some problems and they had to switch bomber wings as they lost planes and crews to the superior Bf-109s. This obviously gave the German infantry a little break on the ground – but new bombers came back.
German U-boats now started to target British convoy tonnage and were immediately met with success. This was a new kind of threat to the Brits who sent out small sub-hunter taskforces to face the threat. After a few days, they were met with success as they manage to sink a few U-boats in the Baltic Sea. The Brits also tried to find German convoys heading for Königsberg. These missions were met with some success, but clearly not as effective as the German Wolf Packs.
Authors note: In previous versions of HoI SF I believe the Polish AI has been faster to shift troops from their peaceful Soviet front to the German front. Now they didn’t do shit
. Maxyboy (Soviet) even moved away all troops from the border (to seem less a threat) while I gave them tonnes with objectives by their western front… but they chose not to be reasonable…
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And once again – thanks for the all your kinds words, dear readers
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