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Chapter 3.0 - Democracy's Darkest Hour
In the early hours of November 8th, the Battle for Britain began in earnest.
British Spitfires chase German bombers in the skies over London as the Germans launch air raids on the Empire's capital.
Like all great campaigns of the war, the Battle of Britain began in the air. The mighty Luftwaffe, which now outnumbered the Royal Air Force by nearly 3 planes to 1, controlled the skies over Southern England and the Channel, forcing British patrols to maintain conservative sailing plans, lest they fall prey to the firepower of German bombers. Hermann Göring's vaunted airmen staged raid after daring raid on the cities of England, targetting industrial parks, identified military installations and road networks. The aim was to cause as much chaos as possible with as few losses as possible, as the Luftwaffe struck in and out rapidly. Although German losses were heavy, they made the RAF pay for every bomber, and the British simply did not have the number of planes required to keep the Germans out everywhere. Although Hitler wanted to target cities in an attempt to destroy British morale and exact revenge for their defence of Poland, his temper was cooled by staff members who convinced him that the war would end more swiftly and calmly if they would focus on crippling Britain's military. The British people would be spared the worst that the Reich could bring, but British infrastructure was suffering for it.
The first brigade of Australian tanks built by Vickers are deployed at Singapore in preparation for combat duty.
Where British industry was suffering, Australia's was growing explosively. On November 15th, a brigade of Vickers Light Tanks were offloaded at Singapore, with well-trained Australian crews and commanders. Their aim was to drive north and assist the Australian forces, but to eventually rendezvous with the Australian 1st Cavalry - there they would be at the disposal of Major General Robertson, who was planned to be in overall command of the push up the Kra Isthmus. It was known that the Thai lacked any kind of modern motorized equipment, and hoped that the Japanese would find it too expensive and inconvenient to deploy any serious numbers this far south as long as the Indian Army and Soviet Union remained threats. If this came to pass, it was hoped the firepower of the tanks would help the forces deployed in Malaysia to link up with the Indians in northern Siam.
Australian Industry was working full-time to produce weapons, ships and aircraft for the war effort. Although it was difficult to put men on the ground, production was underway on a regular infantry division and a division of light mountain infantry formed out of the most skilled, determined and dangerous soldiers ANZAC could muster. Work was also well underway to form Australia's first battalion of engineers, whose combat gear included a vast arsenal of equipment designed for the kind of dense terrain they would be experiencing in Southeast Asia.
The Frontlines in Southeast Asia on November 15th. Britain has arguably gotten the better of Japan so far.
Japan's surprise declaration of war on the British had not gone as well for them as planned. Underestimating both the numbers and resolve of the Indian Army and Malaysian Forces, the Imperial Japanese Army found itself underequipped and undersupplied for this kind of warfare. There were insufficient troops in Indochina and Siam, and too many in Tibet and along the Burmese border. As the Japanese tried desperately to reorganize their land forces, they faced the might of the two largest navies in the world simultaneously. Many felt she had miscalculated in her declaration of war on Britain, but still others maintained that without the oil of the Dutch East Indies, she wouldn't stand a chance either way.
ANZAC forces rush up the Malay peninsula.
In Malaysia, ANZAC began to push into Siamese territory with the support of the British 48th (South Midland) Division, the Malaysian Army and Free French troops from Indochina. There was no indication that the Japanese had sent any men to the Kra Isthmus and it seemed that they would easily defeat whatever native Thai soldiers resisted them. ANZAC forces immediately moved to try and seize the city of Nakhon, both in order to improve supply throughput and to cut off Thai forces identified to the southeast.
The Indian Army crosses the border into Thailand, pushing back all resisting Thai forces.
Although they were unwilling participants, forced into this position by a Japanese Empire they simply couldn't resist, it soon became clear that the Japanese were unprepared to help the Thai resist Britain's wrath. The Indian Army was superior to their Thai counterparts both qualitatively and quantitatively; each engagement was a bloody defeat for the Thais, who had little choice but to retreat and trade ground for time in the hopes that Japan would be able to rescue them. The Indian Army showed no mercy to captured opponents, and morale was high despite the loss of France to the Axis.
Japan's army in Southwest China was massive compared to its Burmese opposisition.
Burma had been expected by the British to be the greatest weak point in their lines, due to its direct connection to Southwest China. This prediction, however, did not come true: although it was well known that Japan had amassed a huge army over the mountains, their supply lines had become far more overstretched than the Kwangtung Army had predicted. When the order came to advance, Japan did so, but her army soon found itself freezing in the cold of the mountains, without adequate food, blankets or ammunition. Hundreds died to the attrition of the landscape and just two days after fighting began, the offensive was called off due to unacceptable casualty rates. Although he was ashamed, the newly appointed Prime Minister Hideki Tōjō admitted that "even the Emperor's finest soldiers could not fight without rice in their stomachs nor bullets in their guns."
Yugoslavians fight bravely for their homeland against Italo-German aggression.
Although the Yugoslavians had begun the war with a bold, confident defensive, tens of thousands of her men had been killed or captured and the front lines against the Rome-Berlin Axis were beginning to collapse. Support from Greek divisions was beginning to stem the tide of the enemy advance, but it was clear that the longer this war continued, the more futile it would be for the Balkan Alliance. Yugoslavia was forced to maintain large border garrisons against the Romanians, Bulgarians and Hungarians; all allies of the Reich, they could declare war any day and if there were no men to man those borders, it would be the end of Yugoslavia for certain.
Albania fell to the Balkan Alliance in the second week of November.
For all their struggles in the north, the Balkan Alliance could find solace in a single victory. Albania had fallen to their combined armies on November 13th. The failure of the Regio Esercito to hold Italy's newest colony was infuriating to Mussolini as well as to Hitler. The Germans were tired of the constant embarrassment that their alliance was exposed to thanks to the antics of Mussolini. It seemed that relations were rapidly cooling between the two fascist powers. This was a major victory for Greece and Yugoslavia, and the victorious troops would be able to redeploy to more important theatres immediately. There were hopes that it would even enable them to stem the flow of invading German forces, which were conspicuously small in number and mostly supported by Italian regulars whose incompetence was fast becoming legend.
New Zealand Cavalry are the first men of ANZAC to engage the enemy.
In Asia, the New Zealand Cavalry Division was on reconaissance duty and was the first formation to identify, encounter and engage axis forces in the Far East. The Thai Army was not expected to be much threat, but it put up a far greater fight than anyone had predicted. Much of her army was irregular, but they knew the land like the back of their hand and fought like devils against perceived European aggression. Booby-traps, guerilla warfare and ambushes took their toll on the Kiwis, who fought back with viciousness, skill and heavy firepower. Although they reached the outskirts of Nakhon, the city was heavily defended by thousands of Thai troops, who made it clear the port was not going to fall easily.
German Panzers under Italian command are ordered too far east and are in danger of becoming completely encircled.
As the war in the Balkans progressed, large numbers of German forces were placed into existing Italian formations. Although the Allies were unaware of it at the moment, Hitler had recalled most of his generals from the Yugoslavian Front. The Italian Generals, as it occured, were not as incompetent as hearsay led them to believe - they did not, however, have the experience to understand fully the nuances of armoured warfare. Allowing German lower-ranking officers freedom and ensuring them that their flanks were secure, a Panzer spearhead was driven through Yugoslavian lines, threatening an encirclement. As it turned out, the speed of the German advance was vastly underestimated by the Italians, who left the German rear lines exposed and vulnerable. It seemed that an entire Panzerkorps was in danger of annihilation by the 'inferior' Balkan Alliance.
Hitler inspects the Army deployed in France on a visit scheduled late in November.
Despite Hitler's reluctance to trust the Italians in the Yugoslavian war, there was an increasing demand for German officers and generals elsewhere because of. Norway was yet to fall and Germany was recalling more and more equipment for an undetermined operation. Although British Intelligence was vaguely aware of the increased internal reorganization, it was presumed and hoped that the buildup was in preparation for a strike against the Soviet Bear. Britain was deemed a Fortress untouchable by the Germans, whose Navy was outdated and merely a fraction of the size of Britain's.
As it turned out, the Allies had grossly underestimated the capabilities of the Kriegsmarine. Nearly all of the Royal Navy's heavy ships had been redeployed to the Mediterranean and Far East as it was deemed Hitler lacked the transport capacity to seriously threaten Britain. The Toulouse French State maintained neutrality and the British felt that they would not dare risk an attack on Britain even with Hitler breathing down their neck. When the Kriegsmarine moved into the English Channel and sunk numerous ships off Dover and the Luftwaffe battered off attempts at an RAF counterattack, it became clear that Britain was in serious trouble. The Germans had damaged or sunk most of the Royal Navy's ships in the area and sunk the Paris, Free France's last surviving battleship. Almost immediately, the Toulousian French Atlantic Navy was deployed to assist the Germans, lending a number of ships that could support landings and carry men across.
It was clear that Britain was under serious threat, and every man available to reinforce Britain had to be pulled from anywhere. HMAS Vanguard had just put into port at Tripoli, intending to serve the redeployment of the New Zealand Infantry and 1st Australian Cavalry to the East Asian Front. These plans were abandoned, and the Aussie Cavalrymen would have to wait for their new armoured support. Field Marshall Sir Cyril Bingham-White ordered the ships to turn around, resupply at Sicily and then make for England. Just five hours after the orders were given, news arrived: Germans had landed on undefended beaches in Britain.
With an unholy combination of air superiority, luck, French support and total surprise, the Germans had successfully launched an invasion of the British Isles.
Many of the beaches of Britain had been left undefended due to manpower and equipment shortages after the Battle of France. The British Army required at least half a year under current funding before she was ready to fight a serious war again, and British commanders all agreed that Germany did not have the capacity to launch a serious naval invasion of Britain. Industrial prioritization had been given to the RAF and Navy, who were struggling to fight against the weight of both the Japanese and Italian navies. Now the Germans had landed in force, seizing the port of Dover and driving back every defender that England could muster under such a short period of time. London itself was soon under siege, as well as Portsmouth. Hitler had achieved what Napoleon could not: an invasion of the British Isles; but, now that Britain was aware of Fall Seelowe, would he still be able to achieve victory? As the British mobilized every available unit to try and push the Germans back, it seemed that nothing short of a miracle would save the United Kingdom from the vast quantity of aircraft, tanks and men being deployed. Democracy's darkest hour had arrived.
November 7th-December 1st
Royal Australian Army:
303 soldiers killed in action
Royal Thai Army:
257 soldiers killed in action
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Royal Australian Army:
303 soldiers killed in action
Royal Thai Army:
257 soldiers killed in action
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Next update I will, as promised, include an overview of research, resources and briefly touch on my plans for Australia in the coming months. A lot will depend on how the Battle of Britain goes, but given the strength of German panzer divisions... I'm not spoiling anything as I haven't actually played ahead of this point in the game yet, but I'm unconfident that even with every man I have in the Med available, I won't have enough to stop the Germans from taking London or the rest of the UK for that matter.
On an unrelated but still important note, the AARland Choice AwAARds are still going on! We haven't had a great turnout this quarter and I'm sure authors would appreciate it if you'd stop by and give them a vote. You don't have to vote for me or for every category, but do consider showing support for your favourite AARs! And if anyone wants to vote but is confused by the rules or anything like that, feel free to PM me and I'll talk you through it!
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Goodness! It's a Sealion!
Kill it with Fire!!!!!
Also, good on the Yugo-Greeks. I hope they crush those Panzers.
Kill it with Fire!!!!!
Also, good on the Yugo-Greeks. I hope they crush those Panzers.
This is a great update. One of the best ones you have written IMO. There is plenty of action and we can follow its flow easily thanks to many screenshots, which supplement the text perfectly. Also, just look at the content! The Germans are invading GB!!!
I seriously doubt that the British will be able to prevent the Germans from taking London, so if you want to help the British, I think that you should try to protect Liverpool. The Commonwealth's best bet is to delay the Germans as long as possible and bring as many troops from overseas as possible.
At least the Axis is bogged down in Burma and Yugoslavia... for now.
I noticed many New Zealand divs on the SCs. Are they expeditionary forces?
I seriously doubt that the British will be able to prevent the Germans from taking London, so if you want to help the British, I think that you should try to protect Liverpool. The Commonwealth's best bet is to delay the Germans as long as possible and bring as many troops from overseas as possible.
At least the Axis is bogged down in Burma and Yugoslavia... for now.
I noticed many New Zealand divs on the SCs. Are they expeditionary forces?
You act as if you've never seen a poor defenseless sealion before!
I'm both surprised and proud of the Yugo-Greeks. I'm really hoping they eat those German panzers before they go down, three whole divisions may be only a dent in the Reich's army, but every dent counts!
Thanks, I'm glad you liked it! Holding London is probably impossible, but I'll see what the condition of the front is by the time my forces arrive. I'm still debating whether or not I should abandon Sardinia & Sicily in order to bring more troops to Britain. It'll give up my hard-earned gains in Italy, but on the flipside, without the Royal Navy keeping the Med clear, I can't realistically hold them for a long period of time.
You're correct about the New Zealand divs. At the start of the war I loaded New Zealand and had them transfer their infantry and cavalry (4 divisions total, I believe) under my command, to represent unified ANZAC command and to make sure they didn't leave those troops just sitting at home protecting Wellington. NZ has completed two new infantry divisions since then, I think, so I'll probably snag them too soon. The Empire is in desperate need of manpower.
Realistically New Zaeland would have never been left totally defenceless against the possible Japanese invasion, no matter how unlikely that prospect would be. You should leave them at least some troops for homeland defence IMO.
They've got militia + garrisons on all their major cities/ports, so they're hardly undefended. I only took their regular infantry divisions as expeditionaries as I refused to leave them undefended for that exact reason.
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Sealion looks brutal, would you be able to liberate the UK late game if it fell?
Interesting to see the USSR twiddling thumbs whilst the German army is in England.
Interesting to see the USSR twiddling thumbs whilst the German army is in England.
I think it's more likely that the Germans will try to encirle London from the north, where I see little to no resistance, and then try to strike as London itself looks well-defended (at least well enough to last for some time). I have to agree that it's the Democracy's darkest hour. I will watch with interest.
Another update \o/ My evening is saved!!!
Nice to see a Sealion, and if i was in your shoes i would strip Africa and Italy to go save the UK.
And yeah, you can use all the units you can get your hands on to help out in Europe and Asia.
Nice to see a Sealion, and if i was in your shoes i would strip Africa and Italy to go save the UK.
And yeah, you can use all the units you can get your hands on to help out in Europe and Asia.
I can't say this early, it would depend on how built up the Kriegsmarine is and what kind of garrison is left to defend the UK if it should fall.
I'm not very certain what will trigger the USSR AI to invade, I'm not sure if HPP has them auto-declare if London falls or not.
There's a lot of British formations on paper there, but it's important to remember that a lot of those divisions are freshly reformed from France and thus low on strength, or are HQs and thus useless in a fight. I'd wager the British only very slightly outnumber the Germans here, if at all. It's pretty grim and I definitely expect to see the Germans swing north of London. I'm in fact rather worried about what to do to stop them from just rolling into the open north, I may as mentioned earlier deploy my troops at Liverpool instead of Bristol, depending on how things are going by the time Vanguard arrives.
I'm glad my updates can save your evening and bring such excitement!
Sealion is a nice change of pace, I think, as if I fail to save Britain then it's basically me and some commonwealth minors against the entire Axis alliance. The US seems 100% focused on Japan and couldn't care less what happens to Europe, so I expect no help from them in the short-term. I am definitely considering stripping Italy of forces, I've already basically stripped Africa and left it to the British.
Since HPP has all the Commonwealth as independent countries, what happens when Britain falls? Can they relocate somewhere?
Excellent update, as usual! I was literally shocked when I scrolled down and saw the screenshot of the Krauts in Britain. It is good to hear that the Axis is suffering on most other fronts though.
Knew it! I knew Sealion is what you were hinting at! How many troops can you afford to ship to Britain? If they fall only you and the balkans are left fighting in Europe and they will swat you like flies. Is America doing anything at all, even in Japan?
Do you have the naval capacity to cut off futher landings (Since the RN is AWOL)? What's the plan if the worst happens and Britain falls and Germany bitter peaces the SU?
Do you have the naval capacity to cut off futher landings (Since the RN is AWOL)? What's the plan if the worst happens and Britain falls and Germany bitter peaces the SU?
Hi,
Saithis just chiming in to say this AAR is of exceptional quality. I only rarely comment and only on works I find superior.
You might be able, if the worst comes true, to hold Scotland until circumstances allow a counter attack.
Giving up Med to keep a foothold in the British Isles seems as a lesser evil to me.
Are there naval resources available to cut off Germans in England from their supplies?
Rgds, Oldtimer
Saithis just chiming in to say this AAR is of exceptional quality. I only rarely comment and only on works I find superior.
You might be able, if the worst comes true, to hold Scotland until circumstances allow a counter attack.
Giving up Med to keep a foothold in the British Isles seems as a lesser evil to me.
Are there naval resources available to cut off Germans in England from their supplies?
Rgds, Oldtimer
oh damn ... great update though
please save Glasgow ... I have a vested interest in the outcome
I was shocked to see the AI attempt a Sealion, it's something I've never seen before. They've not brought ashore nearly as many troops as I would have for an invasion of Britain, but they might be able to win just based on the sheer firepower of those tanks. The Axis is definitely having trouble in the east, Japan's navy is pinned down from the looks of it and they've failed to take any pacific islands or make any progress into Burma. I think the Philippines have a US garrison, but I'm unsure as the Americans have not joined the Allied Faction yet.
I've got three divisions on the way from Libya, including my still armourless cavalry and two of the weaker NZ divisions. I have five divisions of Australian infantry who are much more combat capable in Italy, just a quick transport away, but it'll probably take Vanguard two trips to escort them all and I'll be abandoning Sicily and Sardinia to the Italians in the meantime.
I may be able to disrupt their landings at the worst, but it'll be risky however I go about it. KM cruisers are no pushovers although from the looks of it they haven't built Bismarck yet, so I shouldn't need to worry about their battleships unless my admiral completely screws up the fleet's positioning. Should Britain fall, Australia will continue to fight, at the very least in Africa and Asia. Should the SU bitter peace, what Australia does will have to depend on what our position is. As long as the USA is in the war, we have a fighting chance!
Hi, thanks! It's always nice to have a long-time vet commenting on an AAR, and I'm glad you enjoy it. If I can't stop Germany here, then Scotland is virtually the inevitable fallback point due to the hills/mountains. I'm still skeptical about my ability to beat them even with the terrain advantage (although I know my INF are stronger than German formations in bad terrain due to the manoeuvre focus bonuses).
I have the naval resources to disrupt, but not eliminate German supply lines. I already sunk quite a few Kriegsmarine transports with naval bombers during the Phony War and it's likely that Bostock's Bombers will return to England to continue that mission. If the British navy wasn't messing about in other theatres, it would be a matter of simplicity to ground the German ships and completely cut off their supply with repeated port strikes on Dover. I may try that anyway, but if Portsmouth falls then it's moot.
Thanks loki, I'm glad you liked it. Glasgow's my last planned defensive position before I give up on the UK, so I'll definitely be defending it until the last man.
As soon as Germany conquers London, they won't have any supply problems at all, because they will be able to take all of the UK's stockpiles, while the UK will lose them.
Well, in the end the English AI had it right when it made that rocket facility in Singapore ... apparently Singapore is safer than London, with the japanese so far under-performing badly and the Germans pulling a Sealion while their allies can't even keep Sicily in hand :/ It also means that in retrospective you mis-stepped when you pulled out of Europe ...
Anyway I'm also somewhat skeptical about your ability to hold any of the English VP if England can't put it's act together ( and if it allowed a Sealion like that you can't count with it for much ). The issue is that you need to keep England alive even if because of the RN ... I wonder what post-England plans you have ( not that it is already time to scramble out , mind that ... just in case )
Anyway I'm also somewhat skeptical about your ability to hold any of the English VP if England can't put it's act together ( and if it allowed a Sealion like that you can't count with it for much
). The issue is that you need to keep England alive even if because of the RN ... I wonder what post-England plans you have ( not that it is already time to scramble out , mind that ... just in case )
If Britain falls you probably can legitimately save-edit Singapore into your control.