Sudden Carnage
Chapter XII – Operation Storm part III
Countries played by humans: UK, France, Soviet Union, Germany, Italy, Japan
Recap: The German push in the North East sector drove to a halt in August as the Red Army found perfect defensive lines in swamps, forests and behind rivers. With the Allies pressing on beyond the Maginot line Germany struggled to keep the momentum and some initiative. From this, Operation Storm was born - a push into the center of the East front. The Operation is now 1½ month into the process. The Red Army is being forced back, but no decisive victories have been won so far. The Soviet troopers, however, are showing clear signs of fatigue.
The German research and training in combined arms warfare have paid off. Their knowledge of how to use panzers and infantry together has taken yet another important step. Now we can crush the enemy even better!
October 10th, 1939
In the southern part of the west front, France self sacrificing attacks combined with German reinforcements has finally shifting the initiative. Wehrmacht have now launched an attack at Blomberg from where the French have been attacking savagely in various directions. It seems at least two of the French divisions are totally exhausted. It also seems like Luftwaffe’s stronger presence has bled the Allied air force enough to let some German bombing runs through.
At the same time, with a stalling attack further south east in Konstanz, the German leadership hopes to cut some enemies off – or at least force a retreat
October 11th, 1939
The Allies saw the trap that was slowly forming and they retreated from Konstanz in time to avoid getting captured. Still, German won back two provinces and gave the Allies a rough blow.
The French attack on Donaueschlingen, the fourth or fifth in sequence, continued in the face of terrible odds for the French attackers. The Rhine River once again ran red with blood.
October 14th, 1939
In Donaueschlingen, the situation was surreal. The French came again and again and charged with abandon. During one occasion, even though the French soldiers were tired to the brink of breakage, they still mustered an impressive seal and charged en masse over the river, overrunning the German company based there. There were, however, plenty of other German troops around and the French had to fight hard to defend the bridge head.
The Allies threw in more men, both French and Brits. The Germans did not have the same amount of reinforcements. Still, they were in no immediate danger.
October 17th, 1939
The butchery in Donaueschlingen continues after more than a week and the Allies had launched yet another attack on Blomberg. The Germans here are numerous if not especially dug in, but the French soldiers immediately ran into some terrible cross-fire. But they did not seem to care. They did, however, manage to tie down large German formations.
October 20th, 1939
But the successes in the south were not repeated in the north. There were more Brits here, more RAF and more power. The German defenders just could not hold on and had to retreat. It was worrying indeed, especially as the enemies numbers seemed to multiply. Germany simply had not enough men and if the Allies got across the river, then it was open lands all the way to Berlin. Worrying indeed. This was not a problem to handle lightly. Axis knew they needed to do something drastic.
October 21st, 1939
In the south, the situation is stabilized with battles still raging in the ruin province of Donaueschlingen. In the north, the Allies are close to breaking out. Only one good defensive line, the Rhine River, stands between them and the heart of Germany.
October 15th, 1939
The Italian forces in Tobruk realized they were inferior to the British forces. It was all due to Italy not being prepared at all for a war with UK. They tried to retreat out of the city to flee to Benghazi to consolidate with the forces there. Unfortunately, the Brits overran them and forced them to retreat to a dead end, with the endless deserts in their back. This small army corps was doomed, if not yet defeated.
October 21st, 1939
Japan is continuing to conquer land from her enemies. In the North, Soviet Union have lost at least half their eastern army if not more and Mongolia is under attack. In the south, Hong Kong and Kuching have fallen and Vietnam is under attack.
There seem to be no real threat against Japan - and as such, the great eastern nation was the ace in the Axis deck.
October 21st, 1939
Operation Storm, starting the last days of August, had pushed the Russians back, almost to their own border, in both the center and the south. Still, it took about two months and even if the Red Army had taken a vicious beating, the Axis were losing the momentum as the Russians once again found good defensive ground in even more forests, now red and yellow with the colors of autumn.
Author’s note:
This is the size of the Third Reich after Operation Storm. Things are obviously not going according to plan. Some of the reasons I have explained before. My lack of resources is all due to a black hole in my planning and Italy being in war with UK due to an event we didn’t know about. The strength of both Allies and Commies was also a surprise (cred to the players). All in all, it’s all quite bad planning from my part, and I must say it annoys me. Still, Axis is not beaten yet, I still have resources to keep full production going and Japan is going really well with great victories against the Rus (Thanks Zid – its well needed!).
So, I more or less lost the momentum in the East. Soviet is not about to break in front of my forces and – to quote my favorite book series – Winter is coming! Then we have the West front… Allies are gaining ground and neutral Belgium is aligning closer and closer to the Allies in the face of my diplomatic actions. Netherland is not at all that close but still aligning towards Allies. It is a situation which is very close to get totally out of hand.
After discussions among the Axis, I decided to shift focus and try a “surprise attack” on the West. That means thinning the East and send at least a medium army to the West while continue to place all new troops in the West as well. Italy will stay in the East. This all means the East will be weak. Still, Daphne (USSR) knows I’m full of tricks and when he sees the front thinning, it could be just me shifting flank within the eastern front, preparing a new offensive on Soviet. Thus, neither Allies nor Commies can be really sure were my forces are before the blow falls.
After initiating my attack on the West I expect Soviet to start an offensive against my eastern forces and it is likely be tough as I suspect he will at least double us in numbers. Still, then Soviet have to fight against my better (if fewer) divisions in those damn woods during winter-time. That’s a lot better than the opposite. In the meantime, I hope to give the Allies a mighty blow in the west. Hopefully capturing a few units but at least re-capturing the West Wall. And then we need to do something about Belgium and Netherlands too, as I would just hate to give the initiative to them…
Comments from late August 1939
Dain - Hm, it looks like you will be forced to adjust your priorities, if you don't want your industry to collapse due to a lack of rares. You might be forced to dealy further offensives against Russia in order to (hopefully) capture the stocks of the Benelux countries.
Traks - Yes, that is only sensible call - a quest for rares. East has to wait while West is pacified, or Italy has to go for Persia/Middle East, but I doubt Italy has enough resources for anything like that.
ADEE1 - did say before about focusing almost entirely on Russia first, but you simply can't afford to press on against the Russians without a secure back, therefore it's imperative that you take back the west wall as a main priority, meaning that you won't require quite as many men over there to defend it effectively.
Cybvep - When (if) you manage to stabilise things in the West, you could consider hitting Netherlands fast and hard. More specifically, you should hit their capital. They probably have plenty of rares and you will take ALL their resources when you capture their capital.
Author’s note: Yes yes! Don’t y’all shout at once.
I will go West!