'Odin' and Stalin's Secret Committee

[serutan]

According to Wiki, IRL he became head of the VVS in the spring of 42 so that would make sense.

 

[roverS3]

The 2nd of January 1941, Vologda, -10,3°C, 1pm Moscow Time,

I haven't reported much on our 'retired' Generals. This doesn't mean that they have been twiddling their thumbs, they have been quite useful, as analysts, advisers, improving the security of the compound. There is plenty to do. They also love playing war games... go figure. I called a meeting of the 'retired' Generals including 'retired' Air Lt. General Yakov V. Smushkevich, ex-Chief of the Navy Vladimir M. Orlov, 'Dva', Chteyre', and Piat'. Once the men were assembled, I explained the situation:

"Gentlemen,

It seems war is coming, we don't know when, or where, but things will surely heat up in 1941. The Axis, the agressor of so many nations will lash out. Germany is isolated and our analysts believe that it is using up more resources than it could possibly import from close-by, no thanks to our embargo. They could still get the resources they need across the Atlantic, but the Royal navy is sure to put a dent in their merchant navy. Adding to this the fact that the war in Greece keeps grinding towards eventual Axis victory, and that Italy is in no real trouble in Northern Africa, there seems to be but one way to go, east. The question is not if they will come, but when. On our own Eastern border trouble might also be brewing: The Japanese are at peace, which is worrying, they made a deal with the Chinese and most of the IJA is stationed on our border. As we know, the IJN will probably push for southward expansion and island-hopping, but we can't discount the fact that, right now, the IJA seems to be winning. The Japanese have wanted to seize our Pacific Bases for a long time, and if they were to attack, the prospects for holding them back aren't very good.

In light of this increasing risk of large scale war, I ask you, who have been planning and thinking about many a possibility, to propose some options. Should we redeploy our reserves? What about the VVS? I also wanted to point your attention to the new batch of potential Military leaders who have just left the Nation's Military Academies. New leadership, however much of an improvement it can be, does lead to some reorganisation and the chaos that comes with it, as you well know. Therefore, we want your opinion on how to handle desirable command changes? Should we spread out the replacements over time, so that only a few units at a time go through re-organisation, or should we get it over with and effectuate all the changes as quickly as possible, betting on the fact that we probably won't be attacked in the middle of winter?

All right, you all have your dossiers on the deployment of the Red Army"​

​

Here is a shortened version of the report for the benefits of our external members:

The composition of the standard rifle corps (SK) on the western front is: 5x (Infx3, AT, (Art) ); HQ, Infx2, TD. 6ya Armiya has 5; 1ya Armiya, 4; 7ya Armiya, 2; 4ya Armiya, 3 and 8ya Armiya, 2. Behind the front lines there is a full SK in the following cities: Riga, Kaunas, Minsk and Kyiv.

There are 2 MSKs with 7 Motx3, Eng, SP-Art between them in the key fortified locations of Chalopienicy and Dubrouna.

Lwow, has XXIX GvSK ( 4x (Gdsx3, AT, Eng); H Arm, Gdsx2, Art, Eng; HQ, Gdsx2, TD), a nasty surprise if the Germans ever try to break through the southern end of the front line.

2ya Tankovaya Armiya holds all of the Medium Armour we have: 11x (Arm, Motx2, Eng, TD) in I, II and III TK; 5x (Armx2, Mot, SP-Art, Eng) in I GvTK.
Additionally it also holds 5x (L Arm, Motx2, AC) in II KK (Cavalry Corps) and 5x Motx3, Eng, TD in XXVIII MSK.

I KK with another 5x (L Arm, Motx2, AC) is in Rostov na Don, ready to move either way to the West or to the Turkish Border.

An independent Paratrooper Divisions sits in Moskva with it's transport planes.

Adding all of this up gives us the following totals for the Western front:

100x (Infx3, AT, (Art) )
19x (Infx2, TD)
4x (Gdsx3, AT, Eng)
1x (Gdsx2, TD)
1x (Parx3)
7x (Motx3, Eng, (SP Art) )
5x (Motx3, Eng TD)
1x (Motx2,TD)
1x (Motx2, Eng)
10x (L Arm, Motx2, AC)
11x (Arm, Motx2, Eng, TD)
5x (Armx2, Mot, Eng, SP Art)
1x (H Arm, Gdsx2, Eng, Art)
​

This comes to a total of 461 Front Line Regiments (1.383.000 Men), 189 Support Regiments (189.000 Men), being coordinated by 43 Headquarters (43.000 staff members).
As for mobile equipment, there are 50 Heavy Tanks, 3.150 Medium tanks, 2.000 Light Tanks, 600 Armoured Cars, 1.850 Tank Destroyers, 400 Self-Propelled Guns, and 11.550 Lightly Armoured Trucks (those integrated within Motorised Rifle Regiments). Most of the equipment is of the latest model we can produce, and the obsolescent equipment is quickly being replaced.

Army units currently in training/production, and all of it meant for the Western Front:

1x (Motx3, SP Art, Eng)
3x Sp Art
5x Eng
1x (Infx3, AT, Art)
1x (Motx3, Eng)
Due to be delivered before the end of February
2x Art
1x (Infx2, TD)
1x (Arm, Motx2, Eng, TD)
Due to be delivered before the end of April
​

All of the VVS is currently based in the Air Bases around Moskva to save supplies.
This is how our planes are organised into wings:

5x (Intx4)
1x (Intx2)
2x (CASx2, Ftr)
1x (Tacx2, Ftr)
1x (Tacx2)
1x (Trax2)
​

A total of 2.200 Interceptor Fighters, 300 Multi-Role Fighters, 400 Tactical Bombers, 400 Single Engined Bombers and 200 Transport Aeroplanes.

​

VVS Wings currently in production:

2xCAS
1xInt
Due to be delivered before the end of February
1xFtr
1xInt
Due to be delivered in March
​

Additionally fortifications are present in many locations, both Airbase coverage and size, as well as Infrastructure are being improved and vastly superior to the 1937 situation.

​

On the Eastern Front the standard Rifle Corps is 5x (Infx3, Art). 10ya Armiya, guarding the Vladivostok Area, has 4 full Rifle Corps.

Additionally, XX GSK, composed of 5x(Mtnx3) is being held in reserve in the Stanovnoi Mountain Range to the North-East of Manchuria.

A Mtnx2 unit directly attached to the Far Eastern Theatre guards the Taratar Strait at it's narrowest point in Nikolaevsk na Amure.

Adding all this up, we find the following Red Army units to be readily available to face Imperial Japan:

20x (Infx3, Art)
5x (Mtnx3)
1x (Mtnx2)
​

For a total of 77 Front line Regiments (231.000 Men), 20 Support Regiments (20.000 Men), with a total of 7 Headquarters (7.000 staff members)

​

The Mongolian Army consists of an eclectic mix of units:

4x (Infx2, AT, Art)
1x (Cavx2)
1x (Infx3)
2x (Milx3)
​

A total of 19 Front Line Regiments (57.000 Men), 8 Support Regiments (8.000 Men), and 6 Headquarters (6.000 Staff Members)

Only Vladivostok and Ulaanbaatar have fortifications (both Level 1, with level 2 on the way for Vladivostok)

2 Air Bases have been built in the Area which could give us a considerable advantage if we were to send in our long range Tactical Bombers. Much of the front line would be out of range for Japanese interceptors

There are serious doubts about the capacity of our Eastern front to hold under a concerted Japanese invasion.

A Mountain Rifle Corps is located on the Turkish border and another is located on the Norwegian border.

After 'Dva' went over the main points in the report, the Generals came forward with their proposals.

ex-Chief of the Army and Field Marshall Tuchatjevskij had the following to say:

"I'm a firm believer in the power of our dedicated Tank Army, and in anticipation of a German surprise attack I suggest moving 2ya Tankovaya Armiya much closer to the front before the ice starts to melt so that they are ready to strike once terrain conditions make Armoured Warfare more effective again this spring. Depending on circumstances I'd suggest aiming for Danzig, or Königsberg early in the war, hopefully cutting of quite a few German units. Of course the succes of these kinds of operations depends entirely on the skill of the Generals, mainly General Zhukov and Field Marshall Konev. I believe the current production levels to be sufficient in maintaining a comparatively large Armoured and Mobile force, even as other major powers keep producing tanks.

But, reducing spending on fortifications and Aircraft Carriers could give us a more decisive advantage by making more factories available for tanks and/or bombers.

As for command changes, I believe we should not shake things up too much right now, if there is a significant risk of war, we need our command structure to be confident and secure, not constantly worrying about their position. Our troops also need to have some degree of stability to remain well organised. On the other hand it would be a shame not to give our promising new officers commands, we don't want to lose out on the next great General. I suggest a slow replacement rate, replacing only a few commanders, let's say five or fewer, in any ten day period. New units will also provide opportunities to give a shot to the new Military Academy Graduates of some talent."
​

ex-Field Marshall Egorov took the stage next:

"We don't need more tanks, we need more Riflemen. With less than 3 Rifle Divisions per front line province on the line right now, we could use more. Moreover, speeding up the process of garrisoning our major cities is essential to the Defence of the Motherland. And that's not even looking to the east where we need several times the amount of troops currently deployed to be able to make a dent in the IJA. Tanks and Ships are too expensive. We need fortifications and Men to whittle down any attacking army. I'd like to see all spending reduced save for infrastructure, Infantry and Fortifications, with significant increases to those last two. Additionally I'd like to see every Rifle Division have it's own dedicated Artillery Regiment as soon as possible.

I second Chief Tuchatjevskij's stance on the question of Commanders"
​

ex-General Eideman noted the following:

"Production of Tanks should definitely not be increased as these Armoured units, while powerful, use up a lot of supplies and fuel. Infrastructure spending should increase before we can even dream of significantly increasing the size of our army with gas guzzling high maintenance units. The easiest way to improve our Army is to train more and longer, the current training is acceptable, but considering that we can only keep so many units supplied in any one place, especially in bad weather situations, we should seriously consider enacting more advanced or Specialist training, even if that means we train fewer men. Our Army has reached a size where quality should really matter more, as the quantity is there.

In light of the aim for a more qualitative army, I believe we should replace our commanders as quickly as possible, especially during winter and in peacetime. I respectfully disagree with Chief Tuchatjevskij's assessment and would like to see the new leaders with sufficient skill and talent integrated into the command structure as quickly as possible, hopefully before the end of January."
​

ex-General Primakov responded:

"I agree with General Eideman and would just like to point out some additional considerations. Training fewer men means that our scarce officers will be spread across fewer units making our new units not only better trained, but the entire Army better lead. Infrastructure spending has to be continued and expanded. I'd also like to suggest creating another Army Group for the Western Front. This Army Group should have a highly skilled leader, especially in logistics. It should then be used to organise supplies for all reserve units, and all Aeroplanes on the Western Front as well as ships within range. This move could help our other Field Marshalls to concentrate on actively fighting ground troops, so that larger scale offensives become possible and coordination problems between the current 6-7 Armies, which will increase in number as more units are deployed or pulled from the reserves, are reduced to communication between 3 Major Army Groups (2nd AG in the North, 3rd AG in the South, and Armoured AG for the Armoured Juggernaut) on the main front. We should also start deploying Aeroplanes to forward Air Bases, if not as a precaution, to start seeing how well we can supply them and set up supply trains for them.

I would moreover like to point out a possible solution for our Far Eastern problem. The IJA has no Armour and little Anti-Tank weapons and experience as far as I can tell, so I believe that a single Cavalry Corps would be tremendously effective in the Far East. More than a corps will probably be impossible to supply properly, and even a single Division would be tremendously helpful to 10ya Armiya. Considering Supply considerations and the amount of tanks we are currently fielding in the West I'm sure a single corps of Light Armour would not be missed that much. But, if we want to go that route, we need to start moving the tanks yesterday, as the travel time will be very long.

I'm going to side with Tuchatjevskij on the issue of Command changes. I would like to go even further and suggest that the only time for command changes is when a new unit is deployed meaning that a commander is transferred from another unit, and/or a new leader is commissioned. This would guarantee a predictable command chain and maintain a high degree of confidence in high command."
​

ex-Lt. General Strepuhov then had his own remark to add:

"I strongly believe that we need more Engineers in our Army. I know that they use fuel, but if we want to break through obstacles efficiently we need to have more engineers. I'd especially like to recommend adding dedicated Engineer Regiments to our Far Eastern Rifle Divisions and any Cavalry Unit we might send over there if we were to follow General Primakov's thinking."
​

ex-Lt. General Belov finally just voiced his support for Tuchatjevskij's 'more tanks' ideas, as well as supporting Primakov's plan to move some Light Armour to the Far East, and Egorov's plan to speed up the addition of Artillery to all RIfle Regiments. Both ex-Lt-Generals had no comment on replacing commanders.

After the ex-Red Army men were done squabbling, our resident ex-Air Force Chief, ex-Air Lt. General Yakov V. Smushkevich, who had been sitting in the corner observing, stood up and took the stage:

"It's all very nice and well to expand the Army, but we need to be sure that it isn't bombed into rubble by the luftwaffe. Moreover I would like to emphasise the importance of bombers as force multipliers. General Primakov is right about the need to move our Aeroplanes forward, and the proposal for a new dedicated Army Group to organise the logistics seems great to me. Our fighter force is large and well equipped, the current production schedule seems largely sufficient to make sure we can counter the Luftwaffe in the Air. However, I would like to plea for more spending on Single Engine Bombers, they are relatively cheap and we could use more of them, a lot more. A point that was also remarked upon by external member Honorary General Markkur. Right now we don't have nearly enough bomber wings to support the expected amount of battles taking place simultaneously during an all out German offensive. Realistically I would like to see another production line to star building Il-2 Shturmoviks as soon as possible.

On the question of officers, I'd like to say that the question isn't really relevant to the VVS as the latest crop of new and talented leaders is rather small, they will easily be absorbed by the new units scheduled to be created during the year."
​

I then spoke again:

"I'm sure we would all like to see more spending on everything that has been mentioned, but as you know our industry is limited, and many different priorities compete for our factories. Even amongst yourselves many have differing visions of what the priority should be. We will also let our external advisers get a word in on this debate.

On another note, I would like to announce the leadership changes in the Central Committee:

General Georgiy Zhukov has been named Armament Minister, he is already taking steps to streamline Military Supply production.

There were loud cheers after this announcement.

Alexey P. Panfilov has been appointed Minister of Security, he has already started inspiring Academics, Teachers, Diplomats, and Spies to work and train harder and faster than ever before. This is great news.

On the topic of our ladies in Lisbon, arrangements are being made to get 'Odinatsat' into the UK, while Mother will be staying in Lisbon a bit longer. These things take time though and in the meantime they have been working with 'Shest' and 'Tri' on the report they are writing on France.

This Afternoon we will discuss the Navy, the possible reassignment for the Chief of the Navy, and leadership changes there in general. You are welcome to assist, just as ex-Chief of the Navy Vladimir M. Orlov has been listening to your assessments of the land situation. Tomorrow there will also be a short conclusion from 'Dva', 'Chteyre', and 'Piat' on what will be sent out to Comrade Stalin, so you know where we stand and what will probably happen. Thank you for your input, I'm sure we can give you a more prominent role once war breaks out, but in the meantime, be assured that your help is valued.

And now, off to lunch!"
​

If you need additional information on the Red Army to inform your assessments, I'll be happy to provide it.

And now I'm off to lunch myself,

Greetings,

'Odin'
​

I'm back... exams are over and I finally managed to wrap up this update I've been working on for a while now. I think an overview of the big picture at this point seems useful as we still have time to move some things around if need be, before mid-1941 (probably) drags the USSR into a large scale war. The maps were a test to see if I could reproduce the effect of the map in 17th of November, Flight to the Far East: 'Tri', calls about German DOW on Greece; Infrastructure update #10. I'm not entirely satisfied with the outcome for the time I put into them and will probably be using mostly continue using unmodified in-game maps at this scale. As I spent several hours on them, I thought I'd post them anyway as I don't think that they look worse than the standard Terrain Map-mode I would otherwise have used. Thanks for your support.

 

[markkur]

I'm back... exams are over and I finally managed to wrap up this update I've been working on for a while now. I think an overview of the big picture at this point seems useful as we still have time to move some things around if need be, before mid-1941 (probably) drags the USSR into a large scale war. The maps were a test to see if I could reproduce the effect of the map in 17th of November, Flight to the Far East: 'Tri', calls about German DOW on Greece; Infrastructure update #10. I'm not entirely satisfied with the outcome for the time I put into them and will probably be using mostly continue using unmodified in-game maps at this scale. As I spent several hours on them, I thought I'd post them anyway as I don't think that they look worse than the standard Terrain Map-mode I would otherwise have used. Thanks for your support.

Glad to see this rolling again.

Very good overview of your force-#s - well-done.

I think the new map was interesting and looked good but witnessing your "attention to detail inside your updates?" Yeah, take the easier route of using various in-game maps to good effect (fyi, I don't remember to use the terrain & weather tabs near-enough) because you are planning to report a huge amount of details on all Fronts? I think the comical saying; "busier than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking-chairs"...may apply to you very soon.

Onward through the fog...of war!

 

[Bullfilter]

Glad to see this rolling again.

Very good overview of your force-#s - well-done.

I think the new map was interesting and looked good but witnessing your "attention to detail inside your updates?" Yeah, take the easier route of using various in-game maps to good effect (fyi, I don't remember to use the terrain & weather tabs near-enough) because you are planning to report a huge amount of details on all Fronts? I think the comical saying; "busier than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking-chairs"...may apply to you very soon.

Onward through the fog...of war!

RoverS3, I will do a proper review of your comprehensive update soon, when I’m back at my computer (and agree it’s great to have you back after some mandatory attention to important RL businesse).

But just quickly, I think the switch will get thrown to action and combat reporting soon and maps will be vital. I think your statistical approach may be able to morph into casualty and outcomes reporting in lieu of the peacetime or at stuff you pretty much have been forced to keep to thus far. But you can play with the format and see what works at that point. Whatever helps you tell the tale you want to.

 

[roverS3]

The 2nd of January 1941, Vologda, -9,7°C, 6pm Moscow Time,

While everyone discusses all that has been said this morning, the planned meeting on the Red Navy was held. 'Piat' ' was excited when he stepped forward to introduce his report. The fact that the audience, including the ex-Generals who had been all but forced to attend, was still chatting about the morning meeting. The meeting thus started with 'Piat' ' showing a Schematic of the best ships in the Red Navy:

"Gentlemen,

I'm glad to announce that the Aircraft Carrier Kyiv was launched recently, it will be ready for sea trials by mid-February. I would like to formally thank both the British and the French Naval Researchers who have made this possible, as much as their Soviet counterparts. The Kyiv-class is our first large Carrier design, it is based on the Gangut-Class Battleship and on stolen Blueprints for the Béarn-Class Carrier. Once completed, the ships will be able to carry 100 Aircraft each, about double the complement of the previous Moskva-Class. This, combined with a cruising speed of over 20 knots should give us a capability Escort-Carriers just couldn't reliably give us. With this new class of ships we will be able to field a potent fleet composed of only Carriers and Destroyers.

Now, you may find this concept strange, and I have heard some grumblings against the Carrier programme, I will now explain why Carriers make sense, especially for the Soviet Union. I base my expose on both the research of naval theorists from the office of Chief of the Navy, Commander Viktorov, and our own data.

The main tactical factors to keep in mind here are range and speed. Our Carriers will be faster than most or all Battleships currently afloat, which suggests that they should be able to keep out of the firing range of the largest guns, on their own. While the Carrier avoids being shot at through it's superior speed and if need be, Destroyers running interference, hundreds of Soviet Aeroplanes fly back and forth to deliver their bombs and torpedoes onto the enemy fleet. Many will miss, but a couple of hits can sink a ship, and with hundreds of planes flying multiple runs, the enemy could potentially be crippled without ever being able to fire at our ships.

The screen's efficiency also depends on the speed of the Destroyers, which is why the Sevastopol-class Destroyer was developed with speed in mind. With a cruising speed of 31 knots, it is able to run circles around all but the smallest enemy vessels, creating confusion and better protecting the Carriers. They are equipped with Guns and Torpedoes, as well as Radar to detect and deter enemy ships from moving towards the Carriers.

Then we come to the strategic dimension. The plans for both modifying planes for service on board Carriers, and some Blueprints of the Béarn-Class French Carrier and the Hermes-Class British Escort-Carrier were obtained by our spies at minimal cost. Thanks to this our designers and engineers were able to cut in half the development time for our Carriers, both the Moskva-Class and the Kiev-Class benefited from these 'borrowed ' documents. You should also take into account that much of the striking power of a Carrier Fleet depends on the quality of the Aeroplanes, which means that the Navy can take advantage of VVS research and use lightly modified existing Aircraft designs, which are quite modern. This synergy carries on in the context of repairing ore replacing damaged and lost Aeroplanes, where our factories and technicians have experience from the Winter War and practical knowledge from the recent expansion of the VVS.

Despite our Dockyard's relative inexperience, the total construction cost of a Kyiv-Class Carrier is roughly similar to that of a Guards Tank Division ( Armx2, Mot, SP-Art, Eng), and cost should go down thanks to the lessons learned during the construction of the Kyiv. All naval construction in the last year or so has been geared towards the creation of such a Carrier Fleet.

The most prominent ships in our Navy. The soon to be finished Fleet Carriers; the Pride of the Navy, and it's two sister ships; the fastest Destroyers we have.
​

Now for our current fleets:

In Leningrad:

- Red Banner Baltic Fleet ( 2xBB(I), 2xCVL(I), CA(I), CL(I), 2xDD(I), 2xDD(II), 1xDD(IV), TP )
- 1x SS(II)x3
- 1x SS(I)x3
- 2x SS(II)x2
- 1x SS(I)x2
​

In Sevastopol:

- Cernoje Flote ( BB(I), 2xCL(I), TP )
- Avianosets Flote ( DD(IV+) ) 2xCV(I), and 2xDD(IV+) in construction.
- 2x ( 2xCAG) in reserve, 1 CAG in production
​

In Vladivostok:

- 1x SS(III)x3
- 1x SS(II)x2
- 3x SS(I)x2
​

Once we have a Carrier Fleet, ideally with 3 or 4 Carriers, there is only one thing missing from our navy, landing craft and Marines. The development of Landing Craft is prohibitively expensive but would nevertheless be a great asset, making it possible to strike any enemy along their entire coastline with reasonable effectiveness. In this light, Japan should be mentioned, as dealing with a belligerent Japan, Marines and Landing Craft would be a priceless asset. It is with this in mind that I have been pushing, ever since our navy photographed Royal Navy landing Craft from afar, for another espionage mission in the United Kingdom.

A small matter that I would also like to bring to your attention is the naval command of our Chief of the Navy. Currently he is commander of 10 old submarines. Despite his mediocre skill (SK2, Spotter), Stalin has asked for him to get a better posting, at least a symbolic one. Commander Viktorov himself would really like to be made commander of the new Carrier Fleet, but there are better commanders available for that job. At least he seems ready to learn, and maybe next year there will be a worthwhile replacement as Chief of the Navy, who is a better commander. I'd argue that having supported the Carrier-programme wholeheartedly, it would be strange for him not to command our first Carrier Fleet once the first Carrier is delivered, at least for a while, and after that he can be head of some committee or other with a rank of Grand Admiral... Thank you for your attention."
​

'Piat' ' hadn't sat down when ex-Chief of the Army Marshall Tuchatjevskij asked the question most of the Generals were thinking:

"Why do we need this Carrier Fleet. I believe that I get the point, but once you count the cost of the Aeroplanes, Carriers are very expensive. Wouldn't it be more cost-effective to build some Largish cruisers to patrol our coastline and once they find an enemy fleet too close to home, we send in a bomber squadron to do the most possible damage. That way we don't need to build Carriers and we can have more Infantry and Artillery. Independently of the merits of a strong navy in itself, do we really need one? Beyond a few old Battleships to provide shore bombardment and Coastal Defence, and some submarines to sink convoys, we really don't need anything more... Our wars will be fought on land and in the air for the most part, I believe that this whole naval endeavour is a huge wast of resource however efficiently they have been utilised."
​

The response came from ex-Chief of the Navy, Admiral Orlov:

"I would like to put to you that a Carrier Fleet has many advantages considering ground support. If need be, this new fleet could follow the front along the coast, any coast, and deploy 100s of fighters and light bombers to provide ground support hundreds of kms inland. Where Land-based planes are constrained by Air Bases, a Carrier Fleet is a moving Air Base you can park anywhere in the ocean. A time may come when your infantry will have to fight far from any allied Airfield, but within range from enemy bombers. With their current range, Carrier-based planes can intervene within a radius of 500 kms from the Carrier, this means that your troops can quickly get Aircraft cover anywhere within 500 km from the sea.

I've seen detailed reports from our Navy's sea trials, and the striking power and versatility of a Carrier Air Group is impressive. We also need at least one powerful fleet, just to protect our shores. As much as I like Cruisers, the investment to develop Cruisers that are somewhat competitive with those of other major powers is huge. We are behind France on Cruiser Development, and they have been mostly out of business for months. Considering the technology we had on hand, a Carrier Fleet made the most sense. I understand that we may need to dial back on naval construction even more, but being able to build capable fleets now means that we now have the knowledge and the trained workers that go with it. If only to maintain that knowledge we need to continue building ships, I'd say that at least a Carrier and 5 Destroyers should remain in construction at all times if we want to retain the know-how associated with them.

In the long term we need to keep in mind the possibility of having to spread Communism across an Ocean, towards this we need to be able to quickly build up a large navy, and we would ideally need serious amphibious capabilities. Wars against Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Sweden, Norway, Germany, and Japan to name but a few could hugely benefit from such a capability, and from sea-based Air Support and Cover.

We can reach most of the Mediterranean and all of the Black and Red sea coasts by sea from Sevastopol. A proper power projection capability including a Carrier Fleet and Landing Craft would make it possible to reach a lot further than our own borders. The strategic impact is not to be underestimated. We can reach most of the Axis Coast line, and if they have to man that Coast-line, all those men won't be on our borders. Their Factories may be far from our borders, but they are close to the sea... You see where I'm going with this, it's not because our country is mostly landlocked that we couldn't derive great benefits from a versatile blue sea navy."
​

There was an awkward silence as no one else wanted to challenge ex-Chief Orlov, and then seemingly everyone in the room started discussing the merits of a blue water navy with their neighbours. I left the room to write this report and to ask you what you think of our Naval Development, and where you think our Carrier Programme should go from here.

I will now go and review the plan for our two spies to begin their new assignments. More on that later.

Greetings,

'Odin'
​

The Silhouette of the Kyiv-Class is a mash-up of the silhouette of the Gangut-Class Battleship and the silhouette of the Carrier Béarn. This, following the assumption that the first rudimentary Carriers were based on existing hull designs, or even existing hulls in most cases. The technologies stolen from the Allies that made this development possible are: CAG (UK), CVL (Fra), and Nav (Fra). CV, and Air-launched Torpedoes were developed in the Soviet Union.
Tuchatjevskij actually argued for a very limited navy meant only for shore bombardement and Coastal Defence in 1928. Later he would soften his stance arguing that the Baltic navy should be made just strong enough to be able to fight the border states, and no more. (source: 'The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Navy in the Baltic' by Gunnar Åselius, consulted on Google books)

 

[markkur]

The Silhouette of the Kyiv-Class is a mash-up of the silhouette of the Gangut-Class Battleship and the silhouette of the Carrier Béarn. This, following the assumption that the first rudimentary Carriers were based on existing hull designs, or even existing hulls in most cases. The technologies stolen from the Allies that made this development possible are: CAG (UK), CVL (Fra), and Nav (Fra). CV, and Air-launched Torpedoes were developed in the Soviet Union.

Looks great...fine idea friend. (and saves file-space to boot) A nice addition to your AAR-toolbox.

 

[roverS3]

Yeah, take the easier route of using various in-game maps to good effect (fyi, I don't remember to use the terrain & weather tabs near-enough) because you are planning to report a huge amount of details on all Fronts? I think the comical saying; "busier than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking-chairs"...may apply to you very soon.

These updates are also warm up rounds for the coming war... they have elements I will probably use in covering that large scale war. Terrain and Weather are very important, and while you may know the terrain by heart by seeing it so many times, the weather is always changing... Many a battle was lost through inclement weather. That is an interesting saying... Considering the things that are coming up irl, in two weeks, and the way this AAR is going, you are surely right.

But just quickly, I think the switch will get thrown to action and combat reporting soon and maps will be vital. I think your statistical approach may be able to morph into casualty and outcomes reporting in lieu of the peacetime or at stuff you pretty much have been forced to keep to thus far. But you can play with the format and see what works at that point. Whatever helps you tell the tale you want to.

Casualty statistics will of course be kept scrupulously, just like in the Finnish Winter War, only I'm planning a (slight) change of format where not all battles are written out in long form, but rather summarised by some key statistics, and then a few more significant battles will be described more in depth (as the battles of the Finnish Winter War were). Of course I'm not going to reveal all the details here, not that much is really set in stone anyway, you'll see where this goes format-wise and story-wise.

RoverS3, I will do a proper review of your comprehensive update soon, when I’m back at my computer (and agree it’s great to have you back after some mandatory attention to important RL businesse).

Looking forward to your review.

Onward through the fog...of war!

Exactly.

Looks great...fine idea friend. (and saves file-space to boot) A nice addition to your AAR-toolbox.

I started out with the idea of mashing together two elevations to create a somewhat detailed document for the Kyiv-Class. However, the drawing styles didn't match at all, and of course nothing lines up, so I made silhouettes instead. It's a lot less work and it looks good. I think I'll keep using this approach from time to time. FYI there is only 1.4m difference in length between the Béarn and the Gangut... so everything you see is to scale. The shorter Béarn has a slightly larger displacement, but both are surprisingly similar in hull size, which makes me think that this ship could actually work in real life... as well as any pre-1940 Carrier that is...

 

[Bullfilter]

The silhouettes were a very nice touch. The judgement on the Navy is an interesting one: it only has relevance if you are now confident of being able to eventually hold and defeat the Germans in the main conflict. If you are, then a carrier strategy is an interesting, quirky and possibly useful adjunct. But if not, and it costs you those extra divisions that might have held Moscow or Leningrad, well ... Tucha may be right!

But as a story device and an emblem of sorts for the AAR, I think these ‘accidental carriers’ that were inspired by stolen plans are an interesting diversion and I’d like to see how the carrier-destroyer fleet fares! So I vote keep them going, though at the minimal sustainable level until you know you have the German’s number. Then you could concentrate on fleets, LCs, marines and aircraft to your heart’s content, as you only then need the additional offensive land forces to roll them back to Berlin.

 

[roverS3]

The silhouettes were a very nice touch. The judgement on the Navy is an interesting one: it only has relevance if you are now confident of being able to eventually hold and defeat the Germans in the main conflict. If you are, then a carrier strategy is an interesting, quirky and possibly useful adjunct. But if not, and it costs you those extra divisions that might have held Moscow or Leningrad, well ... Tucha may be right!

For the Silhouettes, see above. I am in no way certain that we can hold back the Germans... I believe that the Soviet Union is well prepared, but I have no idea if it will be enough... We don't have a lot of intel on the Germans, and what has been gathered doesn't look particularly promising. Right now, the German Armour is not on the Soviet Border. From what I can tell, part of it went north to the Baltic Ports (maybe in an effort to assist in Norway... which won't happen because the Kriegsmarine is out of transports...), another part has probably moved to the Balkans, either fighting in Greece, or preparing something against Yugoslavia. We'll only really know where we stand once they start hitting us...

But as a story device and an emblem of sorts for the AAR, I think these ‘accidental carriers’ that were inspired by stolen plans are an interesting diversion and I’d like to see how the carrier-destroyer fleet fares! So I vote keep them going, though at the minimal sustainable level until you know you have the German’s number. Then you could concentrate on fleets, LCs, marines and aircraft to your heart’s content, as you only then need the additional offensive land forces to roll them back to Berlin.

You are, of course, correct. It's a great diversion story-wise, and it will be keeping things varied on my end. Naval construction will be reduced, but not halted, what is certain is that we will have a CVx2, DDx5+ fleet by the end of the year, and with minimal investment, a CVx3, DDx7+ by early 1943 at the latest.

A quick overview of production IC usage:

- Army Units: 95.00 / 41.4% (Add-on Regiments: 28.36, Motorised Divs: 25.46, Infantry Divs: 24.74, Armour Divs: 16.44)
- Real Estate: 56.31 / 24.6% (Land Forts: 13.8, Air Bases: 11.05, Fixed AA: 10.92, Radar Stations: 8.12, Infra: 6.9, IC: 5.52)
- VVS Units: 45.63 / 20% (Int: 20.40, CAS: 14.82, Ftr: 10.41)
- Navy Units: 32.25 / 14% (Carriers: 16.26, Destroyers: 8.61, CAG: 7.38)​

Consider this a snapshot, investment will be shifted further towards Army Units in the coming months. Navy spending will probably be cut by half. Some more can be gained by halting IC expansion and Air Base Expansion. It would be interesting to know what you would consider the 'ideal' ratio in the Soviet Union's current situation, however you choose to frame it.​

 

[Eurasia]

My fears are spit between fearing we will not have enough to hold back the Japanese and not having enough to crush the Germans/Italians quickly...

Air Base Expansion will be very important for both.

 

[Bullfilter]

A quick overview of production IC usage:

- Army Units: 95.00 / 41.4% (Add-on Regiments: 28.36, Motorised Divs: 25.46, Infantry Divs: 24.74, Armour Divs: 16.44)
- Real Estate: 56.31 / 24.6% (Land Forts: 13.8, Air Bases: 11.05, Fixed AA: 10.92, Radar Stations: 8.12, Infra: 6.9, IC: 5.52)
- VVS Units: 45.63 / 20% (Int: 20.40, CAS: 14.82, Ftr: 10.41)
- Navy Units: 32.25 / 14% (Carriers: 16.26, Destroyers: 8.61, CAG: 7.38)​

Consider this a snapshot, investment will be shifted further towards Army Units in the coming months. Navy spending will probably be cut by half. Some more can be gained by halting IC expansion and Air Base Expansion. It would be interesting to know what you would consider the 'ideal' ratio in the Soviet Union's current situation, however you choose to frame it.​

It probably does concern me that at this stage, with a substantially AI run land defence, you are spending twice as much on the Navy as armoured divisions - indeed carriers by themselves matching that - but you’re the boss! Cutting it back by half would probably be a good idea. That said, maybe the Navy will help you counteract Japan better in the later game (if you have any usable ports left in the Far East, and the Allies have already crippled the IJN).

Not sure about the overall production ratio: I tend to work by an idea of what I specifically need or want for the main job (in this case stopping the Germans), build that and then just see what feels good for anything left over. I’ve only played one full game as the Soviets (micromanaging, for a win, can’t remember the difficulty setting), but seem to recall it is so huge I just ‘flew by the seat of my pants’ pretty much!

 

[markkur]

iirc...your fleets will also be A.I. led? My focus would now completely shift to the ground-game i.e. 25% on wheeled-units, 25% planes and the rest on INFx3 +ART & AT.

 

[Eurasia]

Not sure about the overall production ratio: I tend to work by an idea of what I specifically need or want for the main job (in this case stopping the Germans), build that and then just see what feels good for anything left over. I’ve only played one full game as the Soviets (micromanaging, for a win, can’t remember the difficulty setting), but seem to recall it is so huge I just ‘flew by the seat of my pants’ pretty much!

One time I played the USSR I declared war on Finland early and everybody declared war on me, both Axis and Allies.

 

[Bullfilter]

One time I played the USSR I declared war on Finland early and everybody declared war on me, both Axis and Allies.

Ouch! I know a challenging game can be interesting, but that ...

 

[roverS3]

My fears are spit between fearing we will not have enough to hold back the Japanese and not having enough to crush the Germans/Italians quickly...

Air Base Expansion will be very important for both.

You make a very valid point, maybe Air Base expansion will continue reduced in volume.

It probably does concern me that at this stage, with a substantially AI run land defence, you are spending twice as much on the Navy as armoured divisions - indeed carriers by themselves matching that - but you’re the boss! Cutting it back by half would probably be a good idea. That said, maybe the Navy will help you counteract Japan better in the later game (if you have any usable ports left in the Far East, and the Allies have already crippled the IJN).

Carrier Spending has only been this high since June 1940, and Destroyer spending was doubled in July, before which navy spending was quite a bit lower. This increase was meant to make sure there would be at least a shell of a CTF by the end of 1941 so we actually get to use those Carriers. Previously we had been producing two Armour Divisions at the same time, but this was cut back to build more planes, especially bombers, and later, Carriers. Navy spending will now gradually return to previous levels, with Destroyers to be delivered in a few days, and a Carrier mid-February. CAS and CAG will alternate on the same production line, so in march CAS will replace the CAGs currently in production.

Not sure about the overall production ratio: I tend to work by an idea of what I specifically need or want for the main job (in this case stopping the Germans), build that and then just see what feels good for anything left over. I’ve only played one full game as the Soviets (micromanaging, for a win, can’t remember the difficulty setting), but seem to recall it is so huge I just ‘flew by the seat of my pants’ pretty much!

I don't tend to calculate production ratios often, as it's a lot of work (for the Soviet Union...), and it constantly shifts due to the influence of practical knowledge. I just found that it helps to make sure you are utilising your IC in the way you want. When you have a list of items covering around 230 production IC, it can be good to take a step back. You are also easily swayed by perception, infrastructure costs next to nothing (0.276 in this case) and it takes up the same space as an Armoured Division, which costs 60 times that, or more than twice the cost of the entire infrastructure programme... I also like to sometimes use production ratios as a constraint based on a political reality, i.e. I once played a game as Japan where I imposed myself a 50-50 ratio between Army and Navy Projects (Nav and CAG part of the Navy, and other planes part of the Army, Marines part of the Navy), with a 5% tolerance, I found myself fighting myself over that 5% every time a project was delivered. it was fun in some strange way...

As for the idea of what would be needed, we seem to be getting pretty close to my initial plan. A Tank Army, with 15-20 Arm Regiments in 2-3 Corps (We're at 16 now, 20 could be reached by August if we add another Division to the queue). A Rifle Corps in every city between the German border and the first river line (1st layer of defence in dept, only Wilno to go, should be done by June at the latest). Of course further Rifle Corps further in dept would be nice, but the Officer ratio has to be considered as well. Another 5-6 corps would secure the second layer of cities. A Rifle Corps for every two provinces on the German Border, and about the same for the Hungarian one. Romania is not an immediate threat and has one Division per border province. The biggest shortfall compared to the initial plan is in bombers, but the only reason for this is that interceptors were the priority, the question now production-wise is what is the order of importance?

My focus would now completely shift to the ground-game i.e. 25% on wheeled-units, 25% planes and the rest on INFx3 +ART & AT.

And here is an answer. If you add things up, we're not that far off on both the planes (about 11.6 IC, or a wing of small planes) and the Wheeled units (15.35 IC, a Tank Division, and that's not counting the Wheeled units in the 'loose brigades', if you count the SP Art and Eng meant for wheeled Divisions too, we're on the mark). This can easily be achieved by reallocating half of the Navy's budget (see above). To increase the Army budget, we could be cutting back on fortifications, Radar Stations, even Air Base and Infrastructure expansion, and halt all industrial expansion and fixed AA Gun construction. This could yield another 36 ic or about 4 Infx3, AT, Art, bringing the Army budget to a total of ca 143 ic or 63% which, counting 25% for the VVS, this means that only 12% of IC or less would be going towards all those other things (railroads, buildings, airstrips, ships, fortifications, radar stations,...) Now in full estimation mode, this level should maintain practicals at a decent enough level for when we need them.

iirc...your fleets will also be A.I. led?

Ships and planes will probably be manually led while ground units will be AI led on the AG level (with an exception for reserves in depth which will be handed over to the AI once/if the front reaches them). I won't give planes to the AI, but I might experiment with Naval AI, not entirely sure yet, I might put part of the navy on AI and lead the Carriers myself...

One time I played the USSR I declared war on Finland early and everybody declared war on me, both Axis and Allies.

Timing is everything...

 

[roverS3]

The 4th of January 1941, Vologda, -11,3°C, 6am Moscow Time,

I spent the whole day yesterday in discussions with analysts, Generals, external Committee members, etc. hoping to form some kind of consensus on the questions raised by the meetings two days ago. In the evening, I wrote most of my traditional 10-day report due in two hours, I went to bed after midnight, and was thus quite annoyed when I was awoken from my nightmares about the axis annihilating the Red Army on the battlefield over and over again, just five minutes ago, by a telephone call. It was 'Tri', of course.

"Good Morning! I have some news from our man in the German embassy.

Germany has unceremoniously handed back it's transit rights to Yugoslavia mere hours ago. This move is, at the very least, surprising, as Germany only just obtained these rights at the end of November, through diplomatic pressure and threats of invasion. Back then, our analysis had been that Germany wanted to reinforce the Axis invasion of Greece, but now that Greece is buckling, without any help from German troops (as far as we can tell), Germany has explicitly stated that it won't be needing Military Access to Yugoslavia. This is especially worrying if you consider the unspoken rule of international relations that one does not attack a nation that grants you Military Access. This is probably a prelude to a German campaign in Yugoslavia.

You may say, but why does that matter to us? Well, the sooner the Axis wraps up it's conquests in the Balkans, the sooner German attention, and panzers, will return to the Soviet Border. This is one step closer to war with Germany. I understand the complexity of the situation, and have read all the reports of the past few days, considering the European geopolitical situation, it's time to wrap up the last strategic moves in the next couple of months, and hunker down for impending attack as soon as the rasputitsa is gone, maybe even earlier. This means, deciding things now, so there is time to conclude what is probably the final pre-war strategic plan within a couple of days so that there is time to execute it. I'll let you flesh out the remaining details, but this is just further proof of the time-pressure we are under.

Anyway, hope I didn't wake you up, and I look forward to your next report."
​

This seemingly insignificant move just increased the likelihood of a German attack this year rather than the next. I quickly forgot how tired I was and set about making a shortlist of urgent decisions to be made, and of those already made. After some discussion and reflection, including contributions from external Committee members 'Bychiyfil'tr', General Markkur, and 'Yevraziya', here are the decisions soon to be put into effect shortly, unless valid objections are raised:

- Production and Training will be shifted gradually towards the Army, with cuts in all spending outside of the Army and the VVS. No current production run will be mothballed or cancelled for this, many will just not be renewed. The final goal is that a total of 90% of industry be devoted to the Army and the VVS alone in a 3/4 - 1/4 proportion. Approximately a third of Army production will go towards mobile and Armoured units, the rest, a whopping 45% of all production will go towards Rifle Divisions. This goal should be reached in the beginning of April, but most of the change will have been made by the end of February.

- A new Army Group will be formed as proposed by ex-General Primakov, and supported by most of the ex-Generals. This Army Group will organise the logistics for all VVS units on the Western Front, as well as fleets within reach, and passive reserve units. As for who will lead this Army Group, there are several options available in the realm of highly skilled leaders. (SK4).

- Concurrently with the formation of the Army Group, VVS units will be moved forward progressively starting from the end of January.

- 2ya Tankovaya Amiya will be moved forward towards the Minsk and Chalopienicy regions. The question here is if our Tank Army would be more useful here, or south of the Pripet Marshes. For now, they will be deployed north of the Marhses, where they should be more easy to adequately supply. This movement will start within a day or two as this should ideally happen before the frozen mud thaws into a real obstacle.

​

And now for the main lingering question in urgent need of resolving, the Far East, here are some options that are under consideration:

- Putting 2 KK (5x (L Arm, Motx2, AC) currently in Rostov na Don) on trains bound for Siberia

- Training and deploying one or more new L Arm based Divisions (possibly lighter less supply- and fuel-hungry variants i.e. (L Arm, Mot, Eng, AC) ) directly into Siberia, leaving 2 KK to shore up reserves on the southern end of the German Front. This would take some time but is better than doing nothing

​

- Leaving the Far East as is in hopes that the Imperial Japanese Army doesn't get bored from staring at inferior numbers across our shared border...

- A small touch could be the addition of Eng Regiments to the existing Far East Rifle Divisions.

- I'm sure there are other options for dealing with the Far East, but these are the main ones now on the table.
​

A second question is that of Officer turnover, which is still hotly debated by the Generals. However, the coming increase in the number of Divisions will probably absorb most of the new talented leaders, so only high level changes have to be really contemplated.

Then there is training, now Basic Training is the norm in order to churn out a maximum of Divisions that at least, know which way to point their guns to face the enemy. It might be desirable to increase training levels to advanced training when the war starts so that new units can jump in with some more experience when they have to face an already battle-hardened foe. Possibly we could switch to Advanced Training earlier to start creating more elite reserves around March or April. Besides the obvious benefit, changing to a longer training period will negatively affect the number of units we can deploy, but that will, in turn, positively affect the Officer Ratio of the Army.

​

The question of whether Sevastopol remains the best base to base our Carrier Fleet out of can wait until we actually have a Carrier Fleet, by late 1941.

Thank you for your input in this debate upon which may depend the continued existence of the Soviet Union as we know it. Today's report will, as always, be delivered on time, at 10am.

Greetings,

'Odin'​

 

[Eurasia]

- Training and deploying one or more new L Arm based Divisions (possibly lighter less supply- and fuel-hungry variants i.e. (L Arm, Mot, Eng, AC) ) directly into Siberia, leaving 2 KK to shore up reserves on the southern end of the German Front. This would take some time but is better than doing nothing

- A small touch could be the addition of Eng Regiments to the existing Far East Rifle Divisions.

As I am worried most about the Far East right now I would put forward that this two choices are the best. I somewhat learn towards the latter as I think our Rifle Divisions need to be at their highest standards. In other words, don't increase the Divisions we have just improve on them. Also I am not to sure how well Tanks, even Light, will do in the Far East regions.

 

[roverS3]

As I am worried most about the Far East right now I would put forward that this two choices are the best. I somewhat learn towards the latter as I think our Rifle Divisions need to be at their highest standards. In other words, don't increase the Divisions we have just improve on them.

Maybe adding a fifth Regiment should also be more of a priority in the west, where many units are still only Infx3, AT... Adding Engineers in the East is relatively cheap to do, 4.5k ICdays approximately for the 20 needed Eng Regiments, or the price of 3 slimmed down L Arm Divisions, or slightly more than a Carrier... It might well be the most effective course of action to start by adding Engineers before investing in L Arm.

Also I am not to sure how well Tanks, even Light, will do in the Far East regions.

Given the fact that there seem to be no tanks in the area at all (the Japanese don't seem to have any Armoured units), light armour would theoretically be a big advantage, despite the not always advantageous terrain. I remember a game I played as Japan, where I had 2 or 3 L Arm based Divisions in China, and even in mediocre terrain (woods, hills), these would decimate unsupported infantry, especially on the offensive, let alone Militia units. More importantly, their mobility was a huge asset. Then again, I didn't run the Army on AG level AI during that game... Maybe we should just deploy a single Division of L Arm, Mot, AC, Eng (x2) and see how it fares... There are also quite a lot of plains in Manchuria, not that the AI would properly exploit them though...

 

[roverS3]

The 4th of January 1940, Vologda, -11,3°C, 10am Moscow Time,

Report on the state of the Soviet Union for the ten day period between the 26th of December 1940 and the 4th of January 1941,

by 'Odin'

Army:

2 new Artillery Regiments have finished training, 39, and 46. AP have joined 196, and 206. SD, both part of Lt. General Biryukov's XVIII SK, 2nd Army Group, STAVKA.
A new Army Group HQ has been created, part of STAVKA, VVS West / Reserves Army Group will command all VVS Aircraft along the Western Front
Army numbers (Brigades/Personnel) Reserves included (these numbers don't include regiments being upgraded):

Front line troops: 598 / 1.794.000
Support troops: 219 / 219.000
Total fighting troops: 817 / 2.013.000
Headquarters: 58 / 58.000
Total Army Personnel: 875 / 2.071.000
Officers: 78.945 + / 87.360 needed / 90,367 %
Active Leaders: 242 / 181 more available
2 More Artillery Regiments have started production, they will be added to another two Divisions in XVIII SK, 3ya Armiya, VVS West / Reserves Army Group, STAVKA. in Minsk.​

Army Leadership:

New Field Marshall Bulganin SK4 (Max) has replaced Field Marshall Chistyakov M.N. SK4 as commander of the 1st Army Group (Finland), Leningrad HQ.
Field Marshall Chistyakov M.N. SK4 has been given command of the brand new VVS West / Reserves Army Group, STAVKA.
This switch was effectuated as some experience is to be gained by the Marshall in charge of all the Aeroplanes on the Western Front, and Bulganin, while equally skilled on paper, shows little willingness to learn further, which makes him the ideal candidate for the quiet (right now) Army Group in charge of the troops in Finland. This must be Field Marshall Chistyakov's lucky day, a lateral move through which he ends up in charge of managing many more units and thousands of planes, probably soon flying combat missions... I'm sure he's thrilled.
​

Air Force:

No changes to the VVS or Navy Air Fleet in the last 10 days.
Active Leaders: 15 / 29 Reserve
​

Navy:

Another five Sevastopol-Class Destroyers have been delivered and they will form 10. Flotiliya Esmintsev, part of I. Avianosets Flote
Navy Numbers (Flotillas / Ships)

Transports: 2 / 10​

AG-boat Class (I): 11 / 55
Series II Class(II): 9 / 45
Series V-bis Class(III): 3 / 15

Submarines: 23 / 115​

Norvik-Class (I) : 3 / 15
Gnevnyi-Class (II): 2 / 10
Kiev-Class (IV): 1 / 5
Sevastopol-Class (IV+): 3 / 15

Destroyers: 9 / 45​

Light Cruisers / Profitern-Class (I): 3

Escorts: 12 / 48​

Heavy Cruiser / Krasnyi Kavkaz (I): 1
Battleships / Gangut-Class (I): 3
Escort Carriers / Moskva-Class (I): 2

Capitals: 6

Total combat ships: 18 / 54
Total Navy: 43 / 179​

Leaders: 13/ 21 Reserve
In the Sevastopol shipyards, work has started on 12. Flotiliya Esmintsev, another flotilla of Sevastopol-Class Destroyers.​

​

Politics / International:

The Norwegian Front

Norway (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,00 / 85,1
Germany (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,0 / 84,5

The Wehrmacht continues making, achingly slow, progress at the rate of one province every two weeks or so. This time, the Germans have managed to take Kongsberg, they are going straight towards Oslo once again, let's hope the Norwegians can stop them when/if they reach the Capital, now 55 km from the front, in a couple of weeks.​

British North Africa Front

United Kingdom (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,0 / 77,7
Italy (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,00 / 79,5

The Italian advance into British Egypt seems to have stalled. The front hasn't moved for the last 10 days.​

French North Africa Front

France is a Government in exile.
Italy (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,00 / 79,5

The Regio esercito has moved to the west of Alger, all along the front, taking Tipaza, Médéa, and Djelfa, slowed down more by mountainous terrain than by armed resistance...​

East Africa & Ethiopia Front

Ethiopia (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,00 / 75,9
France is a Government in exile.
United Kingdom (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,0 / 77,7
Italy (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,00 / 79,5

British forces have taken back the province Buna, 360km to the south of Addis Ababa. Is this the start of a southern push to the Ethiopian capital? Probably just another insignificant victory in the ongoing slow grinding stalemate that is East Africa.​

The Greek Front

Greece (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,00 / 87,3
Bulgaria (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,00 / 71,8
Italy (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,00 / 79,5

The Bulgarians are on the offensive again, taking over the woods in Kilkis , and Giannitsa. Salonica is in serious danger of being overrun or encircled. On the Albanian front, the Italians continue their slow but steady southward offensive through the mountains, taking Pramanta and Arta. There is some hope that the river Acheloos can provide an additional obstacle to the Italians, but no one is really counting on it. The only saving grace is that mainland Greece won't be the end of it, as the Greek fighting spirit is strong, and no one will be surrendering until Irakleio is taken too.
​

Industry:

5 Air Bases were expanded, 5 more projects were started:

Novomoskovosk and Smolensk Air Bases have been expanded through the addition of an Airstrip (on top of 3 hardened runways), as well as dug in ordnance warehouses. (Level 7)
In both Smolensk and Demjansk Air Base work has begun on the construction of a fourth runway by hardening existing Airstrips, some more maintenance hangars will also be added. (Level 8)
The landing strips of both Vinnytsya (near Kyiv) and Aksenovo Zilovskoye (Stanovoi Mountains) Air Bases have been hardened into concrete runways and maintenance hangars have been added. (Level 2)
Both will be getting an additional landing strip, as well as concrete control towers. (Level 3)
The Air Base in Tumnin now has a concrete control tower and a new Airstrip (Level 3), which will soon be hardened, while a concrete taxiway is also installed (Level 4)​

Machine Gun bunkers in Odessa have been completed (Level 1)
Construction has started on concrete trenches and some basic tank traps (Level 2) in Kaunas.
Working Industrial Capacity / available capacity: 238 / 321
IC Usage: ( Allocated IC / Need )

Upgrades: 13,90 / 13,90
Reinforcement: 1,10 / 1,14
Supplies: 48,07 / 42,15
Production: 229,04 / 229,04
Consumer Goods: 28,89 / 28,89​

Stockpiles:

Energy: Maximum tonnes =
Metal: 91.666 tonnes +
Rares: 32.050 tonnes +
Crude: Maximum barrels =
Supplies: 20.646 tonnes -
Fuel: 99.040 barrels -
Money: 2.142 +
​

Intelligence:

Spy numbers, spies in (active / added / lost / caught by us)

France (Covert Operations / Counterespionage): 5 / 0 / 0 / 0

{ Germany (/): 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 }
{ Japan (/): 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 }
{ UK (/): 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 }​

Other: 0 / 0 / 0 / 0

Total: 5 / 0 / 0 / 0​

Reserves: 13
Spy training leadership expenditure: 0,28
We have so far recruited 15 like-minded Covert Operatives in our French sleeper cell. Our spy hunters seem to have taken some time off... again...
A Technology borrowing mission in the UK is being planned by the GRU, which will include 'Odinatsat', so she can learn some English, and hopefully steal some technology...​

Research:

No completed research projects, no new projects.

LS Distribution:

Research: 19,00 =
Espionage: 0,28 (+0,03)
Diplomacy: 0,25 =
Officers: 11,80 (+1,00) (59 officers / day)

Total: 31,33 (+1,04)​

Statistics:

National Unity: 83,083 (+0,01)
Neutrality: 0,00 =
Dissent: 0,00 =
Manpower:

Available: 2.077.000
Men To reinforce(need): 2.360
Men To mobilise(need): See above
Monthly gain: 48.200 Men (1 fully mobilised Infx3, AT Division every 7 days)​

Party Popularity:

- Communist Party: 51 (+2)
- Trotskyite: 4 (-4)
- Bukharinite: 1 (-1)

- Octobrist: 10 (+3)
- Social-Revolutionary: 3 =
- Trudoviks: 0 (-3)
- Kadets: 9 =

- Tsarists: 4 (+1)
- NTS: 2 =
- POA: 16 (+3)
The people's opinion is still moving to the right, with a net loss on the Socialist side of the spectrum, despite the rise in support for the Communist Party itself, to a slim majority. The capitalists have left behind the Trudoviks to join the Octobrists. Most worrying is the continued increase in popularity of the National-Socialists (POA). The government is still 'fractured' with National-Socialists feeling entitled to two cabinet position, and Octobrists to one.​

Party Organisation:

- Communist Party: 74,30 (+0,50)
- Trotskyite: 10,50 (-0,1)
- Bukharinite: 5,60 (-0,1)

- Octobrist: 6,10 (-0,1)
- Trudoviks: 2,90 (-0,1)
- Social-Revolutionary: 0,00 =
- Kadets: 0,00 =

- Tsarists: 0,10 =
- NTS: 0,40 (-0,1)
- POA: 0,00 =
The Communist Party is a well oiled machine, and that has kept it from losing support despite a continuing swing to the right of public opinion in general.​

It should be noted that changes in production schedules and priorities discussed previously will be enacted going forward, as you will see in the next 10-day report.

This Information is accurate on the morning of the 4th of January 1941, I hope it serves you well in fine-tuning your possible suggestions.

'Odin'
​

 

[serutan]

That bulge in the Czech/Hungary/NW Romania sector looks a pocket waiting to happen when the shooting starts...