Where the Iron Crosses Grow - German AAR

Seelöwe (continued)

The Luftwaffe strikes again
On April 26th Richtofen’s and Lörzers fighters and fighter-bombers strafed airfields in south-eastern England, forestalling any attempt at recovery of the RAF, while Luftflotte IV Heinkels blasted British positions in the Southampton area. Here they encountered Free French fighter units operating from Plymouth but the escorting Bf-110Cs quickly scattered them.


A pair of Bf-110Cs fly low over southern England

Panzers in the green and pleasant land
The 26th was also the day when I. Panzergruppe under General der Panzertruppen Heinz Guderian was unloaded at Portsmouth. The German OOB was becoming a little confused, with Heeresgruppe A forces making up the balance of the first wave and now I. Panzergruppe from Heeresgruppe B, so by the evening of April 26th, a new “Heersgruppe Großbrittanien” under Generaloberst von Klüge was formed. It would very simply include all German forces in England. Guderian was not overjoyed, since he and von Klüge barely were on speaking terms.

As soon as he had things organized, “Hasty Heinz” had his Panzers moving west, towards Southampton. He hoped to take advantage of the confusion created by Kesselring’s bombers and was not disappointed. The shaken “Tommies” had barely begun to collect themselves when Guderian’s steel avalanche hit them by morning of April 27th. Even the presence of an armoured division didn’t help much since its Vickers tankettes were hardly a match for the PzKpfw IV’s and were shot to pieces by the dozens. Within two hours, Guderian reported to von Klüge at Portsmouth that he had achieved a clean breakthrough and was now heading for Bristol. Von Klüge promptly dispatched I. Marineinfanteriekorps to hold Southampton and ordered Guderian to wait for its arrival before proceeding, but "Hasty Heinz" kept true to his nature and didn’t pause for a second.


PzKpfw IVgs on the advance, somewhere in England

The English, like the Poles, Dutch, Belgians and French before them scarcely knew what hit them, and on April 28th Guderian’s Panzers thundered into Bristol, sealing of the first pocket of the campaign in Plymouth. But for once (or as always, as von Klüge would likely have put it) Guderian had been a bit too quick for his own good. A strong British counterattack out of London recaptured Southampton in the morning of the 28th, cutting off I. Panzergruppe in Bristol and re-establishing communications with Plymouth. It looked doubtful if the Marines alone would be able to dislodge the British from Southampton, and there were no additional forces available in the beachhead to aid them, I. Fallschirmjäger Korps & XXV. Armeekorps being barely adequate to hold it against a possible counterattack by the strong forces still present in London. Suffice to say that von Klüge hardly developed a new appreciation for his unpredictable subordinate.

2nd battle of Southampton
Fortunately for the Germans, April 28th was also the day that 2. Armee arrived in the beachhead, shoring up its positions. To aid the outnumbered marines, IV. and V. Luftflotten attacked the British forces in Southampton around the clock, and these were thoroughly disorganized and decimated by the time Generalleutnant Aule’s marines attacked late in the evening of April 28th. The battle raged all through the night, with the tough German marines inflicting and taking heavy casualties. By morning, the British lines were creaking ominously, and a new series of brutal airstrikes by Stuka divebombers settled the matter. By the afternoon of the 29th the “Tommies” were running back to London, Plymouth was again isolated and Guderians supply lines were open again. Back in Berlin, where nobody had dared giving Hitler the bad news of the previous day, von Brauchitsch lost no time and visited the chancellery himself to update the Führer on the course of operations while the news were still good.


German Marineinfanterie soldiers take a break during the 2nd battle of Southampton

3rd battle of Southampton. Manstein breaks out.
Seeing the aggressiveness of the British Army, von Klüge decided to keep 2. Armee in Portsmouth and wait for more reinforcements before continuing the advance. These arrived in the evening of April 29th in the form of General der Infanterie Erich von Manstein and his II. Panzergruppe. von Klüge immediately sent them to cross the river Thames and advance into Essex, east of London. While the Panzers tried out their new wading gear, the British forces at London launched a second counterattack against Southampton, clearly realizing its huge strategic importance. As long as Southampton was denied to the Wehrmacht, London would not be in danger of encirclement and would have to be taken by frontal assault. Unfortunately for them, the Luftwaffe continued to be a decisive influence on operations. No counteroffensive could hope to succeed under the lash of diving Stukas and He-111 carpet bombing. The effect of Stuka 500 kg bombs on the lightweight Vickers tankettes was spectacular to say the least, and it was jokingly said among the Marines that since the “Brits” no longer had an air force, they had now devised a way in which to make their tanks fly. The British thrusts were soon broken up by the bombers and stopped cold by a murderous close range fire from the German Marines. The counterattack faltered and collapsed, the British divisons falling back into the Plymouth pocket.


Situation on April 30th

On April 30th II. Panzergruppe successfully crossed the Thames and engaged British armour in Essex (Coventry province). The British were outnumbered and outgunned and were all but annihilated in a matter of hours. Manstein’s forces, which included the elite “Großdeutschland” Panzergrenadiers, fanned out across the tidy fields of eastern England and overran a great number of airfields with the greater part of what of remained of the RAF and Fleet Air Arm still sitting on the runways. Hundreds of bombers were destroyed on the ground with tank gun fire, hand grenades or by the simple means of pouring petrol over them and lighting a match. The RAF was no longer just a defeated force. For all practical purposes, it had ceased to exist.

A ring around London. Battles of Plymouth and Cardiff
Hearing of Manstein’s victory across the Thames, von Klüge quickly dispatched 2. Armee to hold eastern England and allow II. Panzergruppe to continue north. More good news reached the commander of “Heeresgruppe Großbrittanien” on May 1st, when I.Panzergruppe captured Birmingham. Not only did this complete the encirclement of London, it also created a huge pocket of British troops in Wales. 2. Armee relieved II. Panzergruppe the same day, and von Manstein could resume his northward advance, capturing Manchester on May 2nd after a sharp brush with Canadian forces, Sheffield on May 3rd and Newcastle on the 4th.

Inside the London pocket, more than 35 divisions had now been identified, but von Klüge still felt he could risk sending XXV Armeekorps west to Plymouth and leave Student’s paras to hold Portsmouth by themselves. This allowed I. Marineinfanterie Korps to advance on Plymouth and force the surrender of the British forces pocketed there by May 4th. On May 3rd, 2. Armee was relieved by 18. Armee landing from the sea in Coventry province and was free to march to Birmingham were it took up positions in the siege ring by May 5th, a day that also saw 11. Armee arrive in Portsmouth and Guderian reduced two enemy mechanized divisions trapped in the Cardiff pocket. The British seemed to have run out of steem, but they still had one more card to play.


Situation on May 5th

OK, easy, just wanted to get something up, that's all. To bee continued shortly.

Seelowe (continued)

”Duffy” Dowding dines with von Manstein
On May 6th, II. Panzergruppe crossed into Scotland and rolled unopposed into Edinburgh with such speed that Air Marshall Dowding and all of his staff were captured by Großdeutschland Panzergrenadiers. Von Manstein was delighted to capture such a high-ranking officer and invited him to dinner at Edinburgh castle the same evening. The brilliant German General and the British fighter commander apparently got on rather well, although tensions might have been eased somewhat by the generous amounts of fine Scottish single malts imbued. Von Manstein is said to have blanched at the main course though, proclaiming that “Haggis” was the most frightening thing he had yet to encounter in Britain.


General der Infanterie Erich von Manstein

Churchill’s last gamble – Montgomery’s offensive
In England, things were less affable. On May 6th, the I. Marineinfanteriekorps was back on the siege perimeter in Bristol and Guderian’s Panzergruppe returned to Birmingham. With von Paulus 6. Armee landing at Portsmouth during the day, von Klüge felt he had enough forces to launch an assault on London. The Luftwaffe launched a massive preparatory raid on London at 9:00 hours of May 7th, but that was as far as the attack plan progressed at that time.

It was forestalled by Winston Churchill’s last desperate throw of the dice: at noon of May 7th, General Bernard Montgomery unleashed a powerful counterattack on Bristol, which he correctly identified as the weakest link in the siege perimeter. Montgomery had brought two armoured and five infantry divisions to the party (including one of the crack Highlanders) and the German Marines had been in non-stop action since the first day of the invasion. They could not be expected to hold back England’s finest unsupported. Fortunately they didn’t have to.


Situation on May 7th

Battle of London
The “Flying artillery” was always at hand, and lent decisive support throughout the 7th, and 8th of May, enabling the Marines to maintain their position – just barely. On May 8th 6. Armee arrived on the scene and the tables turned. Montgomery’s forces pulled back in disarray and von Klüge was finally able to launch his final offensive on London. I. Panzergruppe, I. Marine-Infanteriekorps, I. Fallschirmjäger Korps, 2. Armee, 6. Armee, 11. Armee, 18. Armee and XXV. Armeekorps converged on London from all directions. Inside the pocket were no less than 32 infantry divisions and 6 armoured divisions commanded by Field Marshall Ironside but they were badly demoralized and short on everything. Churchill, still at Whitehall held one last defiant speech on May 10th, claiming that the Germans would be defeated at the gates of London.


Situation on May 10th

The assault began with an earth-shattering artillery bombardment at dawn of May 11th. Artillery shells of all calibres fell in a rain of death and destruction. The nerve-wracking screams and the lithanies of explosions caused by Nebelwerfer rockets shattered wall and will. Stukas dived with wailing sirens, and the ensuing bestial explosions of their 500 kg bombs shook entire city blocks apart. The British fought with outmost courage, enduring this hell for hours, but when the Germans finally pierced the outer lines of defence, their morale crumbled and the mass surrenders begun, the firing gradually dying away as the Germans moved deeper into the fallen city.


German infantry fighing their way through London, May 11th 1940

As Guderian’s leading Panzers crushed the ironwork gates of Whitehall and the Panzergrenadiers began to pour into the courtyard, a lone shot echoed from the prime ministers office. Winston Churchill had decided not to survive the fall of his beloved British Empire. With the Prime Minister dead, the King imprisoned in the Tower, the Army in POW-camps and the capital in German hands, what remained was pure mopping up and when Belfast fell to German Paras two days later, it was all over: the provisional government formed with German blessing by British Fascist leader Edvard Mosely sued for peace and the British Empire surrendered.

NOTE: Many, British and German alike, had wondered where the vaunted Royal Navy was during the early stages of Operation Seelöwe. To this day nobody is certain, but the Home Fleet, 25 capital ships and 33 minor ship squadrons strong was sighted in the Irish sea on the day of the final assault on London. It never engaged German forces.

The world is pretty peaceful, the only other wars going on is the Finnsh & Swedish winter war (which will be covered extensively in the next update) and a bizzare phoney war between Communist China and liberal-conservative Japan. They have no borders, you see. There is also one very unexpected event in Europe, that will have to be dealt with before the Panzers roll east. To do what I can to help bring about a solid Soviet defence, I have edited the save game to change the USSR "Strat_redeploy_treshold" from 3 to 15. This should insure the Soviet forces do not get their organization destroyed by constant strat redeploying that has reportedly ruined other games.

And to answer your other question, I did more than puppet, I instituted the NEW ORDER!

EDIT: sorry, the update on the Finnish winter war will have to wait for one more post.

A New Order - The London Conference

A New Order is born – the London Conference
On May 15th, Hitler arrived in Britain to take part in the London conference on the New Order in Europe. The German Foreign Ministry had invited all the friendly and neutral Heads of Government of Europe, as well as representatives of those countries still at war with Germany namely Australia, Canada, New Zeeland, South Africa, the Netherlands and Belgium, to take part in this conference that would define the new borders and political order of Europe after the end of WW2. Observers were also sent by nations from all over the world such as China, Japan, Argentina, Brazil and the United States, the latter being the Secretary of State Cordell Hull. Of the countries invited, only Norway was conspicuously absent, and many, not least their Scandinavian brothers of Sweden, Finland and Denmark wondered why.


Hitler in London for the New Order conference of May 15-18th

The conference was held in the House of Lords and opened with a speech by the new British premier and self-styled “Lord Protector”, Sir Oswald Mosley in which he fawningly thanked the Führer of the Greater German Reich for his “generosity” towards the defeated Britons for agreeing to let them keep most of their Empire. Mosley went on by laying out the fundamentals of the Anglo-Germano-Italian peace treaty: Britain would return to Germany those of the German pre-WW1 colonies currently under her control, as well as British East Africa, Zanzibar and a strip of Nigeria. Germany would also take over the British protectorate over Iraq. Italy would receive Malta, Cyprus and British Somaliland, and would replace the British protectorate over Egypt and the Suez Canal with one of its own.


British Fascist Prime Minister Sir Oswald Mosley

Furthermore, Britain would pay huge war reparations and join the Axis alliance (at this, Cordell Hull visibly winced). Since nothing would pain Britain more than having to fight its brothers in the Commonwealth; Australia, Canada, New Zeeland and South Africa, Mosley went on, his Government would do its utmost to convince these countries to make peace with Germany and return the ex-German colonies they currently held. The Commonwealth representatives did not seem surprised at these words and it was probable that their Governments had been informed beforehand of the British request.

Next, the representatives of Australia, Canada and New Zeeland (Foreign Ministers Gullet, King and Savage) ascended to the podium jointly to announce in turn and with stony faces that their respective Governments had decided to agree to the demands of the New British regime, but they also declared their joint withdrawal from the British Commonwealth, effective immediately. They no longer considered King George VI as their sovereign although they did express their continued high esteem for the imprisoned British Monarch. The warmth of this last declaration contrasted sharply with the icy coldness of the remainder of their speeches. They were nevertheless greeted with polite applause.


South African Prime Minister Jan C. Smuts

The South African Prime Minister, General Jan Smuts then informed the assembled representatives that South Africa would also agree to peace with Germany and the return of the South African mandate of Namibia (former German South West Africa) but he did so in a much more conciliatory tone, and concluded with an appeal for peace and understanding. Four times in his lifetime he had seen his country go to war, he said. He had fought against the British in the Boer wars and with them in the Great War, and from this he deduced that even the most bitter of enemies could become the closest of friends. He concluded his speech by expressing hopes that such friendship, based on mutual respect and understanding could in time develop between South Africa, Great Britain and the Greater German Reich. As Smuts descended from the podium he was greeted with thunderous applause.

The next speaker was the Vichy French President, Field Marshal Pétain. He seemed to be in a particularly good mood, and his speech soon explained why. After the almost compulsory praise of everything German in general and of Hitler in particular, Pétain announced that France and Germany had signed a final peace treaty to replace the Compiégne Armistice of 1939. Most importantly, since hostilities between Great Britain and Germany had ended, the German forces of occupation would be withdrawn from all of Metropolitan France. There was no mention of Alsace and Lorraine, but that obviously meant that they would stay German. Furthermore, France would cede to Germany all of its old colonies as well as Morocco and Dahomey while Italy would receive Tunisia and Djibouti.


French President Marshall Pétain

Pétain then extended a hand to Giraud and his Free French: They were now alone, and could have no hope of overthrowing the Vichy regime. It would be criminal folly for Frenchmen to shed the blood of Frenchmen for naught. Therefore, he made an offer of full amnesty to all of Giraud’s followers, and went as far as to promise Free French officers an honourable retirement from the armed forces with full state pension. Obviously, the Free French were not in place to accept or reject the offer, and only time would tell if it was accepted.

The next speaker was no one less than the US Secretary of State, Cordell Hull. His demeanour clearly showed his discomfort over recent events, but his was a message of warning as well as reconciliation. The United States deplored, he said, that Europe seemed to have departed wholesale from the path of Democracy. It was however not the United States intention to force its ways on those who rejected them; on the contrary, it was their firm intention to retain peaceful relations with the Greater German Reich and its allies, in spite of differences in ideology. This commitment was made with some reservations, however. Hull made a pause and had the full attention of every person in the House, including the Führer.


US Secretary of State Cordell Hull

Most importantly, Hull continued, the United States had entered into a mutually binding multilateral defence pact with Australia, Canada and New Zeeland. Any aggression against any of the signing members would be answered by all with decisive military force. Furthermore, Cordell Hull reminded the assembled representatives, the United States had long upheld the Monroe doctrine – the western hemisphere was a US sphere of interest and no European or Asian intervention in the area would be acceptable. In accordance with this, and in the light of the nature of relations between his Government and the new British regime of Mr Mosley, the Secretary of State announced that the United States was assuming control over the British possessions of the Virgin-, Bahamas- and Bermudas Islands as well as Jamaica and Belize in order to safeguard US security and vital interests. At this announcement the “Lord Protector” angrily jumped to his feet threatening bloody murder, but was quickly silenced by a stern look from the Führer who had listened to all of this with a perfect poker face. Cordell Hull directed the most sarcastic of smiles against Mosley as the British Fascist leader sat down, grumbling. As he descended from the podium receiving another polite applause, the US Secretary of State joined the representatives of his country's new Allies to hear the rest of the deliberations.

Finally, Adolf Hitler, triumphant Führer of the Greater German Reich, ascended to the podium and began the final speech of the day. He began by celebrating that peace again seemed attainable in Europe. He went on to exalt the virtues of the peace treaties signed with Great Britain and France and welcomed these countries as allies of Germany. He then announced that a New Order would henceforth be present in Europe, and that Germany had decided to propose plans for solving some contentious issues, standing in way of peace, and prosperity. National conflicts had to be solved so that war would never again threaten the concert of the European nations.


Hitler speaking at the London Conference, May 1940

Germany proposed (and it was clear that these proposals were nothing but flowery wording for harsh dictates) that the differences between Britain and Spain be solved through the transfer of Gibraltar to Spain. Regarding the issue of Northern Ireland, Hitler deemed it probable that it could be solved in a manner satisfying all involved parties under the condition that Ireland joined the league of nations Allied to the German Reich, since with Britain and Ireland united in such a league, Britain would hardly begrudge its Irish friends their national unification. Finally, and although not directly pertaining to the European New Order, Hitler proposed that Great Britain and Argentina solve their differences in regard of the Falkland Islands. He was sure, he said, that once these islands had been returned to Argentina, nothing would stand in the way of excellent relations between Britain, Argentina and the German Reich. With regards to those countries still at war with Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium, Hitler demanded that all resistance must now come to an end. With regards to Belgium, Hitler announced that the Flemish part of the country had declared independence under Flemish Nationalist leader Staf de Clerk. Germany recognized the legitimacy of this National Socialist brother-regime as well as its claims on parts of the Netherlands. Germany would be incorporating the remainder of the country (Arlon province). As to the Netherlands, Hitler announced an agreement with Japan to the effect that Japan would assume control of the Dutch East Indian colonies while those areas of Holland not claimed by Flanders would be “re-attached” to the Greater German Reich. Hitler assumed, he said, that the United States would include the Dutch colonies of Curaçao and Surinam among areas it needed to secure for safeguarding US national interests, and that he had no objection to this.

Finally, Hitler thanked Mr Cordell Hull for attending and celebrated the United States commitment to peace. Although he deplored the US seizure of British territory, he assured that co-existence was possible as long as both sides respected each others vital interests, and wowed to do so in the name of Germany.

While the details of these sweeping declarations were hammered out during the following days, Ireland joined the Axis, Belgium and the Netherlands surrendered and the Free French submitted to Pétain. Without any major power backing them up, what point would there be in continuing the fight?


Map of Europe after the London conference


Map of Africa after the London conference


Map of Eat Asia after the London conference


Map of the Caribbean after the London conference

Still, peace had not yet returned to Europe. The Finnish winter war was still raging, and on May 18th, an absolutely bizarre turn of events led to a new crisis springing up in Scandinavia.

Originally posted by Flashblade
I'm wondering if the failure of the RN to engage the German fleet has something to do w/ battle of the Atlantic?

Is it possible that they were simply starved of oil and did not put to sea?

Click to expand...

Nay, hardly. As you can see from the screenies, my Oil stock went from about 390 before to over 58.000 after the fall of London. The Brits had at least that much oil.

Yes, that is correct.