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In Soviet Russia, building a light armored brigade costs twice more than building a factory.

The overall costs (i.e. IC * production time) are close though. In July 1938 my armor and construction practicals were respectively 9.6 and 11.3. One light factory brigade required 6.74 IC and took 138 days, while one factory required 3.41 IC and took about 8 months. That gives us 930.12 IC for a light armored brigade and 845.68 IC for a factory. I wonder how much this numbers will change when I'll start to produce tanks in larger quantities?
 
July 1938 - December 1938

General Events

After the anschluss of Austria to Germany another crisis started to grow, this time in the Sudeten territories of Czech Republic. They were inhabited mostly by ethnic Germans, an opportunity that was used to a great effect by Hitler. He had instructed the Sudeten German Party leader Konrad Heinlein to raise demands unacceptable to the Czech government led by president Edvard Benes - most importantly to demand an autonomy. After these requests were turned down, German propaganda launched a large-scale campaign against the Czechs, telling about alleging Czechoslovak atrocities against Sudeten Germans. The British and French leaders surprisingly bowed down to the German pressure and made it clear to the Czechoslovaks that in case of a conflict they would be left alone against Germany. We were the only country in the world that offered our assistance to Czechoslovakia, but they relied only on western powers. Therefore, Czechoslovakia grudgingly agreed to cede the Sudeten territories to Germany.

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Territories that should be ceded to Germany by the Munich Agreement

This situation, coupled with the annexing of Austria into the Germany, completely changed the balance of power in Europe. It showed that Great Britain and France together were in a weaker state than Nazi Germany - both in terms of economical stability and national unity. Germany gained strategically important territories with high industrial potential, and the Allies virtually lost their presence in Central Europe.

Armed Forces

The rearmament of our tank divisions with T-28 medium tanks continued. By December 1938 another 6 brigades were upgraded. As soon as new medium tanks should be developed, the number of armored division should be significantly expanded. Besides of that, we have started to field new infantry division for the first time since the Revolution. 3 of them should be deployed on our western borders in March 1939.

Our field regulations also saw a major improvement this year. Infantry, the core of the Red Army, would be better organized and tactically prepared to perform large and prolonged assaults or to delay the enemy advance in unfavorable situations.

At the end of October Nevskoye Design Bureau finished the Series XIV submarine project. They should become the cornerstone of the Red Navy for now. One flotilla was ordered into construction on the Arkhangelsk naval yards and should be completed in October 1939.

The Red Air Force received another 2 fighter divisions and 1 tactical bombers division. Although it is a significant improvement compared with the situation in 1936, we still need more planes to cover the airspace over the Mother Russia.

Industry

In August 1938 Peoples Commissar of Industry Lazar Kaganovich announced that the second phase of the Industrialization was complete - our industrial capacities grew up by 20 factories. It was decided to keep up the pace, and to build another 21 plants west of Urals.

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Third phase of the Industrialization

In October 1938 a young and talented design team from the Navy Communications Research Institute led by Aksel Berg finished development of a mechanical computing machine. These machines would come very handy in other research projects, as they will undoubtedly speed up the increasingly large amount of tedious calculations. The team was awarded with valuable gifts and was tasked with the development of new cryptography methods.

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Aksel Ivanovich Berg, one of the Soviet radiolocation and electrical engineering pioneers

Diplomacy & Intelligence

The 'Crimson Dawn' (codename for our intelligence network in Japan) was ordered to perform a first large and long term operation. They had simultaneously discover Japanese counterintelligence agents and to support radical publications and movements. The latter was an indirect approach to make Asian countries feel more threatened by the Japanese Empire, which should make them enter the Comintern for protection. Simultaneously, we have started diplomatically influence Sinkiang to align with Communism ideology. By the end of 1938 all their government and population completely supported the ideals of Marxism-Leninism, but were not ready to enter into an alliance with us.

The next major expansion of our underground influence took place in Europe. From June 1938 to October 1938 we have established large intelligence networks in Finland, Poland, Romania, Italy, France and in the United Kingdom. These agents did not receive any orders yet, and had to acclimatize to the new surroundings. When the time would be right, these spy rings would be put to use.

On December 8th Mongolia initiated negotiation for licensed aircraft production. They specifically requested a division (closest western equivalent is an air wing) of Su-2 CAS planes. While tactical bombers would be a much better choice, especially considering the vast Mongolian territories that should be covered, our trade representatives accepted the deal.

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One of the Su-2 scouts that had to be sent to Mongolia
 
LET THE GREATEST REVOLUTION BEGAN!
oh and lm in doubt, so lm gonna ask a mod: Can we use full caps posts?
 
LET THE GREATEST REVOLUTION BEGAN!
oh and lm in doubt, so lm gonna ask a mod: Can we use full caps posts?

They're tacky but not strictly against the rules (as long as you keep them light). In the future, feel free to PM one of us.
 
In Soviet Russia, building a light armored brigade costs twice more than building a factory.

I can't wait to see you in the two-front war! :)



Is it definitely approved? I found one on Hitler's car :blush:

But to the point; is my AAR OK in terms of having the "real" German flag as HPP shows it?

No Gulags, Gas, Concentration Camps, Holocaust or Swastikas! If in doubt, ask a Mod

I'm in doubt, so I'm asking you, mod!

The HPP flag (assuming it's still the German Cross) should be fine, it's only the swastika/SS insignia that are banned in the case of emblems/flags.
 
The HPP flag (assuming it's still the German Cross) should be fine, it's only the swastika/SS insignia that are banned in the case of emblems/flags.
So I am not allowed to post Images of the German counters in BICE, some of them show SS signs.
 
So I am not allowed to post Images of the German counters in BICE, some of them show SS signs.

Basically, yes, you'd have to edit the symbols out before posting them.

{No Nazis, Pirates, or Porn} NAZIS -It IS illegal to show Nazi flags in Germany and various other countries. The same is true for other Nazi symbols (e.g. related to the SS) or Nazi propaganda material, including songs etc. Any links posted to a scenario or mod which includes a Swastika or other illegal Nazi symbols will be deleted.

In any case, this is cluttering this AAR. If you have any more questions, please feel free to PM me or another mod.
 
LET THE GREATEST REVOLUTION BEGAN!
oh and lm in doubt, so lm gonna ask a mod: Can we use full caps posts?

They're tacky but not strictly against the rules (as long as you keep them light). In the future, feel free to PM one of us.
No you can't. The Forum will automatically switch it to full lower caps.
 
January 1939 - June 1939

General Events

On March 15th German forces invaded Czechoslovakia. This move was prepared by negotiations with the Slovak People's Party - a clerical nationalist group led by Josef Tito. As a result, the Slovak Diet convened at the time of invasion and declared Slovak independence. The newly created state of Slovakia entered into a political and military alliance with Germany. German aggressive foreign policy continued when they claimed Memel from Lithuania under the pretext that it was a historical German territory. As Lithuania could not oppose the German military, they were forced to comply with these demands. The same situation took place a week later, this time on the Balkans. Italians invaded Albania, and annexed the country without any opposition.

Perhaps now the governments of the United Kingdom and France realized that Germany becomes too much a threat (well, better late then never, isn't it? ;) ). Poland was the next obvious target of German expansion - German Minister of Foreign Affairs Ribbentrop has already issued a note claiming Danzig for Germany. Under such circumstances, Britain and France guaranteed the independence of Poland and started to look for allies in case of conflict with Germany, first of all aiming at the countries of the British Commonwealth. On April 23th the South Africa entered the Allies - the first country to do so after Poland.

Armed Forces

Red Army got for the first time 3 new infantry divisions, deployed at our western borders. Another 3 divisions should be ready in September, and yet another 3 - in October. If the international situation continues to deteriorate, we will need yet more troops. Besides of that, we have started a major rearmament program with a priority on our western military districts, because the vast expansion of our industrial complex allows us to produce the recently designed weaponry and equipment. It is time to equip the glorious Red Army with modern weapons!

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Proletarian weapons in the hands of the workers and peasants army should eliminate capitalists once and for all!

This months were very busy for our aircraft design bureaus. They were tasked with development of new fighter and bomber aircraft, that should replace I-16 fighters and DB-3 bombers. There have already came up with several promising designs, and the first test flights are scheduled in July 1939.

Industry

In April we have finished the construction of yet another 20 factories. Now we have 221 factories - the second largest number in the whole world after the USA. Construction of new factories should be continued, but at a smaller pace, as our production capability will be focused on the military. Nevertheless, we continued with the Industrialization in the Urals, and in November there should be completed another 10 factories.

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Soviet industry in June 1939

In terms of industrial technologies and production management we also have nothing to be shy about. We have developed very modern materials processing technologies, that will increase our output of metal, oil and rare materials. Now we have assigned our industrial engineering teams with designing improved factory equipment for our new plants.

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Blast furnace plant at night. Kuznetsk Metallurgical Combinat.

Diplomacy & Intelligence

The diplomatic situation in Europe was generally not favorable to us. There clearly were 2 major camps - one led by Germany and the other by the Great Britain. Most countries were leaning towards one of these factions, with the exception of Sweden and Switzerland. When we will strengthen our hold on the Baltic, we can think about establishing a Soviet Socialist Republic of Sweden :) In Asia the things were going slightly more favorable for us. With due amount of time and resources, it should be possible to persuade Afghanistan and Turkey to join the Comintern.

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Overview of diplomatic situation in Europe

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Overview of diplomatic situation in Asia

The intelligence reports from Germany and Japan, the nearest countries that can pose major threat to us, show that in terms of manpower and industry we are ahead than either of them. The efforts of the Industrialization are clearly paying off!

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Intelligence report on Japan

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Intelligence report on Germany
 
July 1939 - Overview

Armed Forces

Red Army has evolved from a large contingent of ill-trained troops equipped with obsolete weapons into a modern military force, prepared to participate both in offensive and defensive operations. During the last 3 years our small arms, artillery and tank design bureaus have developed chip and reliable weapons that are not lacking in performance and capabilities compared to the Western European armies (e.g. France, Germany). And, while we still have the largest army in the world, the Red Army is in a serious disadvantage in one aspect - quantity. We will need far more troops to defend our borders from the possible imperialist invasions, not to mention the glorious task of liberating proletarians of the world ;) Infantry, which remains the core of our army, should be supplemented with at least 80 more divisions in 2 years, most of them strengthened by either conventional, anti-tank or anti-air artillery brigades.

We should also significantly increase the size of our mechanized forces. General Staff decided that our armor and motorized infantry brigades should be concentrated in a separate corps formations. We should have either tank corpses (2 armor divisions, 1 motorized division) or mechanized corpses (1 armor division, 2 motorized divisions). The former would be intended for breaking the enemy lines, and the latter for exploitation, although both types of mechanized formations should be delegated to parry the enemy strikes if necessary.

Although the younger generation of officers sees the future of mobile warfare in the rapid development of armored and mechanized forces, most of the senior ranking Red Army commanders led Budyonny and Kulik insist that cavalry should decide the fate of the offensive operations like it happened during the revolution. These old guard top-brass generals even suggested to completely disband our mechanized forces, claiming that they would be too expensive and ineffective. But, much to their dismay, the large military maneuvers in Minsk and Kiev Military districts showed that cavalry is extremely vulnerable to aircraft strikes, and is virtually incapable of breaking the entrenched infantry formations. Therefore, it was decided that all the existing cavalry divisions should be transferred to the secondary theaters like Central Asia and Far East.

The Red Navy almost did not change compared with 1936. All the Great War era submarines and destroyers were scrapped, but no new surface ships were commenced or even designed during this period. However, we have designed quite modern Series XIV submarines and should build them in minor numbers. In general, the Navy will have two roles in the near future - protecting our shores with the help of VVS and harassing enemy trade and supply lines.

The Red Air Force has seen the most rapid expansion since the 1936. Now there are 15 divisions of fighters dispensed into 8 air corpses, ready to drive the enemy aircraft out of the Soviet airspace. The attack capability of the Red Air Force is comprised of 7 bomber divisions, distributed in 3 air corpses. All the aircraft is fairly modern - the early models of LaGG-3 fighter were introduced into the service in early summer 1939, and now 4 fighter divisions are completely re-equipped with them. Regarding the bomber aircraft, the Yakovlev OKB is expected to finish designing a new model of tactical bomber - test flights are scheduled by the end of July 1939. If the plane would meet the VVS requirements, it should gradually replace well-proven but aging SB-2 and DB-3 bombers.

Compared with the situation in 1936, VVS became much stronger both in terms of quantity and aircraft quality. The main pitfall lays in the generally poor training level of pilots and ground personnel. We also don't have any understanding upon how the modern air war should be waged. Taking into the account vastly increased industrial capacities of the Rodina, the Peoples Commissar of the Air Force Pavel Rychagov came up with the following proposal - we should increase our fighter air arm at least by 60% in 2 years. We should also consider development of a multi-role fighter, capable of close escorting our bombers and more suited to perform ground attack duties than ordinary fighter planes. There are still some debates regarding the bomber air arm of the VVS. Some people insist that we should continue to produce solely twin engine tactical bombers, while others suggest that we should develop single engine armored aircraft specifically designed for close air support role. The second approach would be cheaper and more practical, as it would allow us to focus on the mass production of single engine aircraft, thus having more planes able to attack the enemy troops and mechanized formations.

Industry

The improvement of industry - both in terms of new technologies and constructing more factories was truly the focus of our country's development from 1936 to 1939. If we are to withstand the struggle for liberating the working people of the world, we had to greatly expand our production capabilities, most importantly the heavy industry. This process, dubbed as "Industrialization", consisted of several industrial constriction programs on the territories between our western borders and Urals. Although from the strategic point of view it could be better to concentrate all the industry in Siberia, the harsh living conditions and poor infrastructure led the Peoples Commissar of Heavy Industry Lazar Kaganovich to a more pragmatic solution - factories should be built where it would be convenient, and the Red Army should defend them from any enemy incursions.

Organizing geological expeditions into the lesser explored territories and developing improved mining and metal production techniques that would yield more materials for the growing number of our plants was also a priority. It could be said that chemical engineering was Kaganovich's favorite sphere - he always insisted that we should better use the available natural resources.

As a result, we have entered the summer of 1939 with 221 factories all over the Soviet Union, and we have produced coal, metal and rare materials in amounts far exceeding our industry needs. This situation allowed us to trade them in large quantities with many countries. Despite major ideological differences, Germany was our main trade partner - we sold them metal and rare materials, and bought supplies in return.

Diplomacy & Intelligence

The international situation became even more dangerous than it was in 1936. Fortunately for us, the world imperialism forces are divided into two opposing camps. First one, led by the United Kingdom and France, is interested in maintaining the status quo, while the second one, led by Germany, Japan and Italy, would like to get more territories under their control. Thus, it is very unlikely that these countries will unite against us, although we can not completely dismiss such possibility. The best course of actions for us will be to evade any major confrontation if possible. If any of the mentioned factions will initiate diplomatic negotiations with us, aimed with long-term cooperation, we should see what benefits it gives us. For now, our foreign policy should be led by pragmatic geopolitical goals instead of ideology.
 
The Red Army is looking good for the looming war.

So how far dose the Red Army plan to drive ? All the way to the Atlantic ?

And to the Pacific - Socialist Republic of Japan would look very nice, and be a royal pain in the arse of the working class enemies ;)
But for now Soviet Union is planning to strengthen its western borders first and foremost. Then we shall see what to do.
 
these old guard top-brass generals even suggested to completely disband our mechanized forces, claiming that they would be too expensive and ineffective. But, much to their dismay, the large military maneuvers in minsk and kiev military districts showed that cavalry is extremely vulnerable to aircraft strikes, and is virtually incapable of breaking the entrenched infantry formations. Therefore, it was decided that all mentioned generals should be transferred to the secondary theaters like central asia and far east (siberia).

:rofl:
 
July 1939 - November 1939

General Events

The summer of 1939 was very hot - the whole world was electrified in anticipation of imminent world war. And under such circumstances both the United Kingdom and Germany sought to ensure our neutrality, if not our military assistance. And while the United Kingdom and France attempted to lure us into a fight with Germany for their own goals, German proposals were much more profitable. They offered a non-aggression pact and secretly acknowledged the territories of Western Ukraine, Byelorussia and Baltic States as our area of influence. So, on August 7 we have signed with them a major diplomatic agreement, called the Molotov-Ribbentrop Treaty.

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Molotov and Ribbentrop in Moscow, August 1939

Immediately after that, Germany increased it's pressure over Poland, demanding to give them the so called Polish Corridor territories. Polish government, backed by the Great Britain and France, felt confident that they will be able to repel any German invasion. Tensions grew higher during the August 1939, and on September 2nd Germany used a border skirmish as a pretext to start the war. Poles did put up a valiant resistance, but they were no match for the German mechanized spearheads, backed up by the Luftwaffe dominance over the Polish air space.

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German Ju-87 dive bombers on a sortie during the invasion

At the outbreak of war, many European countries like Belgium and Denmark began to mobilize their armed forces. However, they have hoped to maintain a neutrality in the conflict, so they did not join neither the Axis nor the Allies. But all the members of the British Commonwealth did join the Great Britain in this war too - Canada and South Africa declared war on Germany on September 4th, Australia on September 11th and New Zealand - on October 4th. Still, it was no help to Poland - by October 3th the fight was completely lost for them. Warsaw was encircled, the Polish Army broken and retreating to the east. Under such circumstances, Polish government was forced to flee the country, which was promptly divided between us and Germany. The workers and peasants of the Western Ukraine and Byelorussia were free at last and reunited with their brothers and sisters from the Ukraine and Byelorussia Soviet Socialist Republics.

After Poland was conquered, Germany moved most of its forces to the west, where they have simultaneously started a massed head-on assault on the Maginot line and invaded Denmark. Both these operations went on well - on November 7th Denmark capitulated, and on November 9th Germans breached the Maginot line in Wissembourg. If the French Army would not be able to parry this thrust, Wehrmacht would be able to turn this success into a strategic breakthrough.

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Wissembourg at the hands of Germans

Armed Forces

On September 4th we have finished deployment of 3 new infantry divisions, and on October 20th - another 3 infantry divisions. Besides of that, on October 25th we've got a new tank division - quite a nice addition to our growing mechanized forces.

Construction of the first Series XIV submarine flotilla finished as planned, and they were assigned to the Northern Fleet. Taking into the account our increased industrial capacities, two more flotillas were put into construction.

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Series XIV submarine at harbor

The ongoing serial production of Polikarpov I-16 fighters and Ilyushin DB-3 bombers has been completed in October 1939. Now VVS has 16 fighter divisions and 8 tactical bomber divisions.

The positive response from the Leningrad Military District fighter regiments, that have recently received LaGG-3 fighters, proved that this plane should become the mainstay of our fighter forces. Because of that, on September 4th the People's Commissariat of Aviation Industry of the USSR ordered serial production of LaGG-3 fighters on plant No.21 in Gorky, plant No.31 in Taganrog and plant No.23 in Leningrad. These planes should completely replace the aging I-16 fighters in all the existing fighter divisions, and should be used to field another 4 divisions by 1941.

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A not yet painted LaGG-3 at the assembly area of plant No.31

To provide proper support for the rapidly growing Red Air Force, we have started a plan to build new air bases along the western border. For now, air base construction goes on at Wilno, Novogrodek, Minsk, Vinnytsya and Odessa.

Industry

On November 20th we have finished construction of another 9 factories, this time mostly in the Urals region. With addition to the plants from the recently acquired Western Ukraine and Byelorussia, the number of the factories in Soviet Union grew up to 239.

At the beginning of July we have achieved a very important breakthrough - our engineers were able to develop object detection systems based on the radio waves. These radio location station can provide a decisive advantage in several areas, ranging from AA defense to nighttime naval warfare. As soon as the experimental systems were tested, construction of large stationary radar installations was started at Sevastopol, Minsk, Kiev, Leningrad and Vladivostok.

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RUS-2, the first Soviet mobile radio location complex
 
December 1939 - January 1940

We have started negotiations with Finland in November, seeking them to cede some territories along the Karelian Isthmus and Lake Ladoga. However these negotiations did not go anywhere, and it was the time for the Red Army to resolve the matter ;)

According to our battle plans, the main attack should be performed by the 23th Army, that had under its disposal 19th and 50th Army Corpses and 1st Mechanized Corps. These forces had to break the Finnish defensive lines on the Karelian Isthmus and advance towards Vyborg and Ruokolahti. 7th Army, comprised of a single 40th Army Corps, had to perform a diversionary attack on the northern shores of Lake Ladoga, intended to pin down the Finnish forces in this sector. 23th Army was commanded by General Konev, 7th Army - by General Meretskov, and Marshal Zhukov was appointed as the head of the Leningrad Military District.

Under their brilliant leadership, our troops quickly overwhelmed the Finnish defensive positions at Kivenappa and Valkjarvi, and began pushing the beaten and disorganized Finnish troops back. The only two battles that did not end with our victories in a few hours were at Salmi and Kakisalmi (interesting coincidence, huh ;). In the Battle of Salmi we did not have decisive numerical superiority - it was intended to shift the Finnish attention from our main axis of attack. And in the Battle of Kakisalmi we had to cross a river and force the Finns out of several land forts. In both cases, VVS came to help and quickly turned the tide of battle to our favor.

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40th Army Corps attacks Finnish position at Salmi

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Initial stage of the Battle of Kakisalmi

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After these two closely contested battles the forces of the 23th Army attacked Vyborg and quickly overrun its defenders.

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Assault of 23th Army forces on Vyborg

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With Vyborg in our hands, the Finnish defense lines at the Karelian Isthmus were broken, and our troops could advance along the coast to Helsinki. The scattered Finnish divisions attempted to hold them back at Kotka, but our forces were simply no match for them. Seeing the futility of any further resistance, the Finnish government accepted our generous peace offers on January 12th. We have gained several provinces, most importantly Vyborg(Viipuri) with its strategic fur resources.

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Our borders after the Finnish Winter War

Finnish Navy was no match for our Baltic fleet, so our submarines had many opportunities to attack the unprotected Finnish convoys. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd Submarine Fleets, led by commanders Drozd, Marinesko and Arushanyan, constantly harassed Finnish trade ships and sunk many of them. While the main battles took place at land, significant trade fleet losses had also influenced Finland to accept our terms.

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Our submarines constantly harassed Finnish maritime trade lines

To support our forces from the air, 1st and 2nd Fighter Corpses and 1st and 2nd Bomber Corpses were assigned to the Leningrad Military District, which amounted to 4 fighter divisions and 6 bomber divisions. They have quickly gained complete aerial supremacy and attacked Finnish troops at will, greatly influencing the overall progress of the campaign.

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A rare battle in the skies of Finland

Because we have almost never faced Finnish aircraft in combat, our fighters were most often used in ground strafing roles, which they performed quite well. This has showed that the Red Air Force needs planes specifically designed to perform close air support duties.

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LaGG-3 fighter taking off to a ground attack mission

In the meanwhile, Germany slowly continued its advance into the French territory. They had overrun two more provinces along the Maginot line, Sarreguemines and Haugenau , and now their forward position reached Nancy.

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German advance in France

During this period, we have deployed 6 more infantry divisions and 3 artillery brigades.