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As long as the fellow is silver-headed, decrepit & grumpy...and very wise...sort-of.;)

RYSFszy.jpg
 
If only defeating the Germans was to prove so simple.
"Would that it were so simple" ( "It's complicated" for those rednecks and cowboys who have trouble pronouncing that)

As long as the fellow is silver-headed, decrepit & grumpy...and very wise...sort-of.;)
I'll see what I can do, though as @Bullfilter suggested, it would make sense to add a Markkur character when we start getting lend-lease assistance from the US. You know, some kind of observer. Also, @Eurasia opens up a whole different world of possibilities here... that picture was on point.

<LOL> Typewriters are type-tapping all over the world.:)
And it's not over yet... more diplomatic things are to come...

The Bypass-Island-hop strategy...in action. "Forget Wake; Midway has Radar!":)
Makes sense to me...
 
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8th of December 1941, 'Tri', Sinkiang joins the Comintern and our Diplomatic strategy.
The 8th of December 1941, Ürümqi, 3,8°C, 7am local Time, (2am Moscow Time).

I travelled to Ürümqi to witness the moment Litvinov and Sheng sign the papers stipulating the terms of Sinkiang's accession to the Comintern. It's a great diplomatic victory, but what does Sinkiang bring to the table, and how did this come about? Let me give you some background:

An experienced officer, student of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy, originally brought in to whip Sinkinang's Army into shape in 1932, Sheng Shicai received a glacial welcome from most of the Army's top Brass and the political establishment. Governor Jin Shuren considered him to be a dangerous rival, despite this, Sheng was named Chief of Staff, but as a counterbalance, Jin appointed Sheng's old rival, Ma Zhongying as Commander of the powerful 36th Division. This, of course, only lead to resentment, and while Jin Shuren was the one who had originally asked for an experienced officer to whip the provincial troops into shape, the two men could not see eye to eye. Soon, the disagreements between Ma and Sheng derailed into an open conflict between different parts of the provincial armed forces, which culminated in the siege of
Ürümqi in December 1932, during which Sheng's troops, protecting Jin, resisted attack after attack from Ma's rebels.

Turkic_Conscripts_36th_division_1933-JinShuren-min.png

Right: The 36st Division marching towards
Ürümqi in late 1932. Left: Jin Shuren, then Governor of Sinkiang.
During the siege White Russian veterans and National Revolutionary Army troops came in, trough Soviet territory, to assist Sheng to beat Ma's coup attempt. Even before Ma's troops were decisively beaten, in early 1933, Jin was seen as being at least partially responsible for the hostilities, while Sheng was seen as the saviour of Ürümqi, and by extension, of Sinkiang. On the 12th April 1933, a coup was staged in Ürümqi by the White Russian veterans and a couple of bureaucrats. Two days later, Sheng, who was out marshalling the troops, returned to the capital in force to end the coup, and on the 14th of April, he was named 'Duban', or Governor of Sinkiang. This did not mean that he had won though, his position was constantly challenged by others, including Ma, who was down but not out of the game.

Without officially recognising Sheng as governor, nor respecting his authority, the central government in
Nanjing sent down a 'pacification Commissioner' named Huang Musong to clear things up and make sure they maintained control over the far away province. This backfired as Sheng was already unhappy that he hadn't been officially recognised as the new 'Duban' by the central government, and now a nanny was imposed on him to make sure the province stayed quiet. Things were even worse, as it seems that Huang's real mission was to back a coup to get someone more pliable to the central government into power. When Sheng found out about this, arrested Huang, and charged him with attempting to overthrow the provincial government under orders from Wang Jingwei (then high ranking KMT member and governor of Wuhan province, now 'president of the republic of China').

Luo_Wengan_in_Xinjiang-MaZhongying-min.png

Right: Luo Wengnan meets the Shanxi provincial government lead by Sheng Shicai, Left: Ma Zhongying, one of the enemies of Sheng, Luo was really there to meet...
Three weeks later, the central government apologised and recognised Sheng as Governor, prompting the latter to allow Huang to return to Nanjing. Seemingly as a gesture of good will, Chiang's foreign minister Luo Wengnan travelled to Ürümqi, ostensibly to attend an inauguration ceremony where Sheng was inaugurated as Commissionner of the Sinkiang Border Defence Force, however, he also met with potential replacements and encouraged them to attempt another coup to oust Sheng. This was the final straw for Sheng. He fired Nanjing loyalists and potential rivals, and took the reigns of power firmly in his own hands, and possibly more importantly, out of Chiang Kai Shek hands. The year 1933 was surely very interesting for Sinkiang, signalling it's de facto independence form Chiang Kai Shek's government.

Sheng_Shicai_with_Garegin_Apresov-min.jpg

Sheng Shicai with Garegin Asperov. (4th and 5th from the right)
Needing help to stay in power in the face of the mighty central government, Sheng sent out feelers to the Central Asia Soviet. The opportunity was seized by Garegin Asperov, one of our great diplomats. Asperov was named Soviet General Consul in Ürümqi, and as you may remember substantial Soviet Military assistance was poured into the province, helping Sheng staving off another coup attempt by Ma in early 1934. Large scale involvement from Soviet troops and Soviet trained and equipped local troops also convinced the Central government that a Military operation to retake the 'wayward' province was out of the question. Ma's rebellion wasn't beaten, but it was on the back foot, and soon, the Soviet Union offered Ma a way out into the Central Asia Soviet, cutting short the rebellion, and gaining valuable leverage over Sheng. Asperov really did a great job here.

Ma grabbed a bit of land around a remote oasis and started his own little Hui Satrapi. (Hui Muslims ruling over Turkic Muslims).

As his rule got underway, Sheng proved to be an excellent administrator, publishing his "Great 8-point Manifesto", the main points were:

  • Racial Equality
  • Religious Freedom
  • Fair Distribution of Agricultural and Rural Relief
  • Reforming Government Finance
  • Cleaning up the administration
  • expansion of education
  • promotion of self-gevernment
  • improvement of the Judiciary
All in all a pretty left wing agenda, most of these points had the implicit support of Moscow, especially after Sheng sent a letter to Comrade Stalin, in which he said to be a 'convinced believer in Communism', that he was looking to implement 'Communism' in his province, and to overthrow the Central Government to do the same for all of China, creating the Soviet of China. For that last part, he was looking for some serious military support from the Soviet Union. Stalin and Molotov refused all of his requests, even his request to become a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was denied in 1934.

Later in the year, Sheng changed his tune, adding 'maintaining peace', remaining close to 'Soviet Russia', and to remain loosely within the republic to 'fight against Imperialism and Fascism', to his expressed goals. In 1935, another assistance deal was signed, and this time, the Soviet Union sent over 5 million Roubles in Silver Bullion as a five year loan.

Ever since then, there has been a low intensity insurgency of mostly overzealous Muslims and Ma supporters, causing few real issues, but making Sheng seem like he wasn't entirely in control. The rebellions flared up a bit as the War in the East was merged with the War in the West, Sheng knew he needed help to nip this threat in the bud before it became really menacing. Witnessing the insurgencies in Finalnd, and the effective handling of the problems by the NKGB. Sheng decided to ask for help once more, and he found that Soviet diplomats had noted the insurgency as well, and had come over from Nanjing, to offer him just that. A loan of 15 Million Roubles and assistance from the NKGB were offered in exchange for membership of the Comintern. Sheng, already friendly with the Soviet Union, jumped at the opportunity, and here we are, welcoming our latest member to the Comintern, Sinkiang. A welcome addition to the family.

Now to the current state of Sinkiang, what does the small quasi-state have to offer. Let's start with it's government:


Head of State (Governor 'Duban'), Foreign Minister, Chief of Staff / Chief of the Army (Commissionner of the Sinkiang Border Defence Force), Field Marshall in command of Ürümqi HQ: Sheng Shicai (National Party)
ShengShicai-min.jpg
As you can tell, the government is very much the Sheng Shicai show + supporting actors. We've said plenty about Sheng above, many things are said about his character and ruling stile: Resigned Generalissimo, Great Compromiser, expert on combat Pychology, and a big fan of Guns and Butter... (Supplies +10%, Money -10%, Susceptibility to Axis +10%, Organisation Regain Rate +10%, Supply Consumption -10%)

Head of Government (Khoja, traditionally the Uyghur Administrator and Sufi spiritual leader appointed by whomever is in charge of the province to take care of the day to day, an old title resurrected by Sheng...): Khoja Neyaze

We have no idea who this man is, but we suspect that he's only there to placate the Uyghur Majority and to legitimise Sheng's leadership in their eyes. It's only fitting that he is considered a Naive Optimist (Threat impact -10%)

Armament Minister: Habibullah Huseinov

Habibullah_Huseynov-min.jpg
This is an Iranian Azerbaijani ex-Red Army Colonel who was sent to Sinkiang to preside over the country's armament industry. Considering he used to be a Rifle Colonel, it's only logical he's an Infantry Proponent...(Inf Theory Decay -25%, Mil Theory Decay -25%)

Minister of Security / Head of Intelligence: Zhang Xiliang
This unknown cousin to Zhang Peiyuan, one of the backers of the 1933 and 1934 coups, is rumoured to have betrayed his own family, secretly informing Sheng of both coup attempts before they started. He is a great admirer of the NKGB and has been learning form his Soviet brethren. Despite having a reputation for crookedness, he is Sheng's best protection against coup attempts and insurrections. A Croocked Kleptocrat who is hard to read. (IC -3% Ruling Party Support +10%, Land intel +10%, Naval intel +10%)

Now for Sheng's baby, the Sinkiang Border Defence Force:

SinkiangArmy41-12-08-min.jpeg

The Sinkiang Border Defence Force, redeploying from one border to another...

Sheng's
Ürümqi HQ could quickly field 69.000 trained soldiers when mobilised. This corresponds to a total of 37 Regiments, in 10 Divisions, distributed amongst 3 Corps:

SinkiangOOB41-12-08-min.jpeg

Sinkiang's OOB

As for equipment, Habibulah Huseinov has done well, he has funded exchange programmes for the Sinkiang Armament industry to learn from Soviet experts.
Homegrown designs for Infantry weaponry are modern and are named after soviet weapons by which the locals were inspired. Their standard Infantry weapon is an excellent semi-automatic rifle called the Tokarev SVT-40, the platoon level machine gun design is called the SG-43 Goryunov HMG. Light Artillery and Anti-Tank Weapons carry more generic names, but are no less impressive. The Model 1940s now in use are comparable to the soviet ones, only our Infantry Anti-Tank weapons are better.

SG-41Sinkiang-min.jpg

The Soviet-inspired SG-43 Goryuhov, a good Heavy Machine Gun for it's time.

This focus on the Infantry has really paid off, though the Militia is a bit behind, still using a Mondragon F-08 Mexican-designed pre Great War Rifle and the now obsolete Soviet DP-28 Light Machine Guns. Their Light Artillery is a mix of obsolete Great War Era weapons of mismatched calibres and their idea of an anti-tank weapon is a multi-purpose grenade designed in 1924.

Another strange element is that Sinkiang's Artillery Designs are a lot better than their obsolete 30mm Anti-Tank guns and their mix of small calibre Great War era AA guns of each of which a full Regiment was deployed to 7 Divisions. Artillery development continues, while there seem to be no plans to actually field any of the heavy guns they are so painstakingly designing.

While the equipment for the Infantry is great, the doctrines don't really follow, Operational Level Organisation is non-existant, only People's Army, Infantry Warfare and Mass Assault have seen some development, though they are still far behind the Red Army' mastery of these doctrines. More research into these doctrines is scheduled, however, but it will definitely take a lot of time, with only 3 full research teams on hand.

More good news is the amount of Officers, which is impressive at nearly 140% of the standard requirement, meaning that this army is lead by well learned professionals all the way through the ranks. If only we could reach the same relative amount of Officers. Even with all this, the Red Army has 18 times the amount of Officers and 27 times the Officer requirements of Sinkiang's border defence force.

When compared to the other Comintern members, Sinkiang's armed forces are as numerous as the armies of Mongolia and Tannu Tuva combined, and far better equipped.
Sinkiang does not have a single Air Base, nor a coastline, there are no plans for an Air Force, let alone a Navy. This seems wise, as Mongolia's Air Force development programme is stifled by it's limited industrial base and non-existant experience with building Aeroplanes. Their first wing of obsolete license-built Communist Chinese Tactical bombers is scheduled to be deployed in 1945... In the meantime nothing else will be produced for the Mongolian Military...

Sinkiang engineers have no idea how an Aeroplane, or a ship, or a tank, or a car works. (they think it's all magic and doctored photographs) Luckily that makes it easy for them to concentrate on the Infantry's weaponry and doctrines.

Industrial research is not stellar, but acceptable, Sinkiang knows how to improve infrastructure, and their factories are as efficient as Soviet factories in 1937.

Interestingly, with all of those Coup attempts and insurgencies, Sinkiang has world class combat medics. First aid does lag behind, but the education system is decent enough and almost at the level of the Soviet Union's system.

So, there you go, with this new, unexpectedly strong ally, our Far Eastern Territory is more secure than ever before. Now, we need to discuss our future Far Easter Diplomatic efforts. Garegin Asperov was conspicuously absent from the ceremony, though no one was stupid enough to ask why or even acknowledge he ever existed...

Our new Foreign Minister Litvinov recently pointed out that our charm offensive in Nationalist China wasn't working out. It has to be noted that Chiang's government remains obstinate in remaining as close as possible to the Axis, without actually being in their orbit, as they still want their territory back from the Japanese. After months of influencing and favourable trade agreements, we need to face the facts. The only real effect of our efforts was to drag them away from the Allies' orbit. Moreover, considering their relations with Sinkiang, it may just have become even more difficult to sway them. We already have the best relations with Chiangs government of all Major Powers, but their deep distrust of Communism makes them quite impervious to our efforts.

Therefor, I, Litvinov, and Comrade Stalin, all believe that we need to change our diplomatic strategy. Looking at the world at large, Communist China is the country most likely to be responsive to our diplomat's efforts. Other contenders are Afghanistan, Persia, and Tibet. Now that Japan halted it's own influencing campaign, there is a chance that Turkey could soon become a viable target as it is currently aligning towards the Comintern and being influence by the British, pulling it out of the Axis corner at an impressive rate. When only a couple of months ago, they were so close that our analysts expected Turkey to join the Axis in case of war, this is now rather unlikely, and becoming ever more so. As they are themselves aligning towards the Comintern we can't influence them any more right now, but it might be a consideration for the future.

Greetings form Ürümqi,

'Tri'
Notes from your WritAAR: Sinkiang never became part of the Comintern, the Islamic uprising happened in 1938, and in 1942, Sheng found a way out of the Soviet stranglehold that had been gradually imposed on him by Moscow. He turned towards the central government, had Mao Zemin arrested and executed and cut all ties with Soviet Russia. The Soviet Union attempted to oust Sheng with a coup, but Sheng was clearly the master of surviving coup attempts, and this time was no different. Soviet troops were once again replaced by Kuomintang forces to keep the peace. Then, in 1943, when the Battle of Stalingrad was all but won for the Soviets, Sheng saw the writing on the wall and tried to align with the Soviets again, arresting Kuomintang representatives on his territory, telling Stalin they were Japanese spies, and telling Chiang that they were Communists... This time, the Soviets wouldn't move to save him, and in the end Sheng was pushed out, peacefully, and given the job of Agriculture Minister by Chiang. He moved to Chongqing with all of his wealth, 135 truckloads of it... (I'm not kidding, he actually moved 135 truckloads of valuables out of the Governor's palace when he moved out...this is verified information from a peer-reviewed publication by Justin Jacobs of San Diego University). In 1949, he moved to Taiwan, and left politics. He wrote a book about his time in Sinkiang... detailing relations with the Soviets and the Central government. He died in Taipei in 1970. It's safe to say that this man played a very dangerous game, playing the Kuomintang against the Soviets to remain in power, and conserve the province's de facto independence. It is surprising, and a testament to his skills, that he came out alive.

Garegin Asperov was executed by Sheng in 1938, it's not clear to me why exactly, maybe because he could, or maybe because Asperov tried to pressure Sheng one to many times. Or maybe there was a coup attempt I didn't read about or remember...

I found nothing on Neyaze, nothing at all, nor was there anything on Zhang Xiliang, though Zhang Peiyuan was a powerful local rival of Sheng, and Zhang Xueliang was an important figure in the Kuomintang who actually lead the short-lived Nationalist Chinese Military intervention in Sinkiang, so definitely not a friend of Sheng, or the Soviets...

The plan was to make a short update on Sinkiang joining the Comintern, based loosely in history, but look at this, it's an essay. Now I know just how crazy the history of Sinkiang was... and still is... I just had to write it up in long form...
 
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It’s nice when some seemingly bland game event can open up a whole story almost none of us will ever have heard of!

Great to see the Comintern growing - and Turkey starting to see the light! :) Agent Bogafiltresi has been plying the government with some effective agitprop. He suggests the Soviet Union follow this up with some of their own whenever that commitment by the Turkish Government looks like flagging. ;)
 
Too good. And know truly...I once worked with a Jedi. Sounds like a good handle to me.
It may be taken into consideration, though might I suggest something more subtle like 'skywalker' or 'Ben'


It’s nice when some seemingly bland game event can open up a whole story almost none of us will ever have heard of!
Great info on the new ally. New stuff for me and explains why they were so pesky when I played as Japan.:)
The region is still very tense, and China is trying out all of it's big brother style mass surveillance technology in Xin'jang, because there continues to be some serious resistance to the central government, the most violent part of which is religiously motivated. Though the Communist Party's policy of Han superiority, partial suppression of religion, it's culture of corruption, and the many 're-education' camps in the area (currently holding at least 10 % of fighting age Uighur) males aren't helping. I wouldn't want to be an Uighur in Xin'jang, not today, and not then... Because I really follow the news from China, out of interest mostly, I am very aware of the tensions in the region, and looking back at the 1930s, and even earlier, just proves these tensions have been there since the province was first incorporated in the Chinese Empire... I was still surprised at just how hectic those years were, and at just how tactfully Sheng managed them...

Great to see the Comintern growing - and Turkey starting to see the light! :) Agent Bogafiltresi has been plying the government with some effective agitprop. He suggests the Soviet Union follow this up with some of their own whenever that commitment by the Turkish Government looks like flagging. ;)
He's been busy, that's for sure. If the opportunity presents itself, adding Turkey to the Comintern would be great form a strategic point of view. The question is, who do we influence in the meantime?
 
10th of December 1941, 'Odin', 10-day report #180
The 10th of December 1941, Vologda, -11,4°C, 10am Moscow Time,

Report on the state of the Soviet Union for the ten day period between the 1st and the 10th of December 1941,

by 'Odin'

Army:
A new Motx2, TD Headquarters unit has been deployed to Lt. General Krasnopevtsev's XXX MSK, 11ya Mot. Armiya, Armoured AG, STAVKA/Moskva HQ.
2 more Sapper Regiments (Eng) have been deployed to 79. and 93. SD in Lt. General Semenovskij's XXVII SK, 10ya Armiya, Far Eastern Theatre.
119. Gornostrelkovaya Diviziya, a new Mountain Rifle Division has been deployed to Lt. General Pukhov's XXII GSK, 9ya Armiya, 5th AG, Stalingrad HQ. (Turkish border).
Both Cavalry Regiments of Maj. General Kurochkin P.A.'s 3 KD, I KK, 11ya Mot. Armiya, Armoured AG, STAVKA/Moskva HQ. have finished training with their brand new half-tracks.

Army numbers (Brigades/Personnel) Reserves included (these numbers don't include regiments being upgraded):
Front line troops: 668 / 2.004.000
Support troops: 308 / 308.000
Total fighting troops: 976 / 2.312.000
Headquarters: 63 / 63.000
Total Army Personnel: 1.039 / 2.375.000
Officers: 96.012 + / 103.300 needed / 92,945 %
Active Leaders: 272 / 151 more available
Two additional Engineer Regiments have started training.
32. Kavaleriyskaya Diviziya has now started replacing the lorries of it's two Cavalry Regiments with halftracks.
A new Motorised Rifle Division (Motx3, Eng, SP Art) has started training.
After 73 days of leave, 112. Gornostrelkovaya Diviziya has resumed training.
Army Leadership:
New Maj. General Tikhonov L2, Cdo has been given command of the new 119. GSD, XXII GSK, 9ya Armiya, 5th AG, Stalingrad HQ.
Air Force:
No changes to the VVS, nor to the Navy Air Fleet for the last 10 days.
Navy:
No changes to the Navy for the last 10 days.​

Politics / International:
France has cancelled the transit rights to Nationalist China they had previously Sinkiang has joined the Comintern.
The Air War over western Europe has intensified again. The RAF's Strategic Bomber Command bombed Liepzig twice, and was intercepted both times.
Massive fighter battles took place over Bruges, the Eastern English Channel, and twice over Dover. Dover was also bombed once. The Luftwaffe seems to have a slight numerical edge in fighters, but the RAF could easily catch up by bringing home the 3 Groups that are sitting in Baghdad, out of range of any Axis Air Units. In any case, British production lines have switched back to the Fighter version of the Hawker Hurricane.
British North Africa Front
United Kingdom (Surrender Progress / NU): 1,9 / 77,6
Italy (Surrender Progress / NU): 7,90 / 79,4
BNAF41-12-10-min.jpeg

The supply network now mostly repaired, and the tanks back to fighting condition, El Agheila is in British hands once more. Now we wait to see whether they will be able to advance further east, or whether the Royal Navy's move to the East gave the Italians the breathing room they need to make the British pay for every km they move.
No Italian convoys, and no British convoys were sunk anywhere.
Roma was bombed once again, but the Regia Aeronautica intercepted the Wellingtons, which are now licking their wounds in Malta.
Greece Front
United Kingdom (Surrender Progress / NU): 1,9 / 77,6
Italy (Surrender Progress / NU): 7,90 / 79,4
BNAF41-12-10b-min.jpeg

An Italian Division has arrived to try and take back Athina, but a single binary Motorised Division is unlikely to make much of a dent. The 3rd Royal Marines Division is dug in, in urban terrain, taking advantage of existing fortifications, and very well organised. Unless the Axis brings in reinforcements, I don't see this going anywhere.
South East Asia Front
United States of America (Surrender Progress / NU): 8,4 / 85,9
United Kingdom (Surrender Progress / NU): 1,9 / 77,6 Loss of Hong Kong.
Philippines (Surrender Progress / NU): 14,9 / 74,8
Japan (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,00 / 70,2
PHF41-11-30-min.jpeg
No more territory was taken by the Japanese in the Philippines, but a second Division of Imperial Marines seems to have arrived in Calapan.
PHF41-12-10b-min.jpeg

Hong Kong has been overrun by Japanese infantry, it's small garrison is now in captivity, holding out longer than anyone could have reasonably expected.
Pacific Front
United States of America (Surrender Progress / NU): 8,4 / 85,9 Loss of Wake Island.
Japan (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,00 / 70,2
JUSP41-12-10-min.jpeg

Having worked out that Wake Island also has US-installed Radar the Imperial Japanese Navy turned back and took it too.
6 Japanese Convoys have been sunk around Wake and Midway, probably by USN vessels and/or submarines.
Japanese Carrier Akagi's Air Group has sunk all of the USN's 33rd Destroyer Division, in what was probably the first naval engagement of the US-Japan war.
Industry:
Working Industrial Capacity / available capacity: 240 / 324
IC Usage: ( Allocated IC / Need )
Upgrades: 5,30 / 13,12
Reinforcement: 2,50 / 6,28
Supplies: 30,00 / 47,45
Production: 257,04 / 285,32 (the Licensed MP remains mostly unfunded, as well as two Mountain Rifle Divisions and 10. TTGvD)
Consumer Goods: 29,16 / 29,16​
Stockpiles:
Energy: Maximum tonnes +
Metal: Maximum tonnes +
Rares: 44.072 tonnes +
Crude: Maximum barrels +
Supplies: 38.071 tonnes -
Fuel: Maximum barrels +
Money: 1.877 -​

Intelligence:
Spy numbers, spies in (active / added / lost / caught by us)
France (Supporting our Party / Counterespionage): 5 / 0 / 0 / 0
{ Germany (/): 0 / 0 / 0 / 1 }
{ Japan (/): 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 }​
UK (/) : 8 / 1 / 0 / 0
Other: 0 / 0 / 0 / 1
Total: 13 / 1 / 0 / 2
Reserves: 0
Spy training leadership expenditure: 1,64 (a new spy every 4 days)
2 more of our spies were caught in the UK, one by Scotland Yard, another by a Yemeni operative. Spy training funding has been increased temporarily to boost GRU numbers.
Another German spy was caught in the Soviet Union.
Research:
Red Army and Red Navy theorists have finished their joint efforts to devise a new template for Marine Infantry. The recent successes of both British and Japanese Marines just proves how useful such specialised units are when there is no way around a Amphibious Assault.
Now, another joint effort has started, where Red Army weapons specialists and VDV officers are devising specialist Airborne Warfare Equipment, which should allow our Paratroopers to travel more lightly and to waste less of what is carried, prolonging their survivability in enemy territory.
At the Military Academies, they didn't sit still, and the Red Army's grasp of Mechanised Offensives (Level 3) has been significantly improved through a new training schedule that puts more emphasis on the Organisation of our Mobile units.
They have started looking into the concept of Combined Arms Warfare now. The idea is tu further improve the cooperation between soft and hard elements of our Divisions, getting the maximum advantage out of the presence of armoured elements.

LS distribution:
Research: 19 (+0,4)
Espionage: 1,64 (+0,99)
Diplomacy: 0,5 (-1,04)
Officers: 10,20 (+0,20) (51 Officers/day)
Total: 31,33 =
A temporary boost was given to Research, Espionage, and Officer Training, as our Diplomatic options are under consideration.
Statistics:
National Unity: 83,241 =
Neutrality: 0,00 =
Dissent: 0,00 =
Manpower:
Available: 2.130.000
Men To reinforce(need): 6.790
Men To mobilise(need): See above
Monthly gain: 48.200 Men (1 fully mobilised Infx3, AT Division every 7 days)​
Party Popularity:
- Communist Party: 70 (+1)
- Trotskyite: 1 =
- Bukharinite: 13 (+1)

- Social-Revolutionary: 2 (-4)
- Trudoviks: 3 (+2)
- Kadets: 1 =

- Tsarists: 0 (-1)
- NTS: 6 (-3)
- POA: 2 (+2)
Nothing has really changed, the Communist Party retains 70% of support, and there is no one who wants to go back to the time of Tsars to be found.
No changes in Party Organisation for the last 10 days.
This Information is accurate on the morning of the 10th of December 1941, I hope it serves you well in fine-tuning your possible suggestions.

'Odin'​
 
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Pacific Front
United States of America (Surrender Progress / NU): 8,4 / 85,9 Loss of Wake Island.
Japan (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,00 / 70,2
index.php

Having worked out that Wake Island also has US-installed Radar the Imperial Japanese Navy turned back and took it too.
6 Japanese Convoys have been sunk around Wake and Midway, probably by USN vessels and/or submarines.
Japanese Carrier Akagi's Air Group has sunk all of the USN's 33rd Destroyer Division, in what was probably the first naval engagement of the US-Japan war.

Oh for the love of Buddha.....Comrades, after we deal with the Germans and their Allies I think we need to invade the USA and put somebody in charge who knows what they are doing!
 
Glad to see progress continues in my absence. Sinkiang seems, well, surprisingly well prepared and lead, which is always a plus. Their use of support units baffles me (a landlocked power in Asia running INF/INF/AT/AA? okay then...), but you can't have everything I suppose. The need of troops on the Turkish border is again in question, but as long as they are not solidly in some camp we have to take precautions. Diplomacy-wise I'd rather not court anyone except Communist China. The other options (Persia, Afghanistan etc.) are too small and too low in potential to be of any real use and I'd rather just annex them. Communist China does (IIRC) have cores in the entire mainland China, meaning if it gets some (read: a lot of) help, it could grow to be a power only rivaled by ourselves. Especially considering how the US is stumbling, they could prove very valuable against the Japanese if the Brits don't get them first.

And of course, I have brought the promised pictures! It was a cloudy day, so the pictures are a tad on the low contrast side, but I have neither the skills nor the software to correct it nor am I willing to acquire either at 2 am. I'm also sorry about the amount of traffic (both vehicles and foot) in all the images, but Helsinki is a very crowded city (by Finnish standards, anyway - almost 20% of the populace live in the capital region!).

The first one is from where the original picture was from, more or less. I didn't go quite far enough to the left, but I only realized that later on when comparing.
5pnENvX.jpg

The second one is actually along Pohjoisesplanadi. Pohjoisesplanadi translates to North Esplanad, which, logically, is on the northern side of the Esplanadinpuisto (Esplanad park) in the center of Helsinki (Google Maps will show you just how in the middle of town it is). This is from behind the Swedish theatre from the viewpoint of the first image. This picture is almost directly towards east, as the Esplanad park and both Pohjoisesplanadi and Eteläesplanadi are all aligned almost perfectly east-west.
yB8D568.jpg

And the last one is the Esplanad park, in between Pohjoisesplanadi and Eteläesplanadi (South Esplanad), taken almost directly from behind the Swedish Theatre from the viewpoint of the second picture and from right side of it from the viewpoint of the first picture. This picture is again almost directly towards the east, with Eteläesplanadi just barely visible on the right side and Pohjoisesplanadi similarly just about visible on the left.
J20prIU.jpg
 
December and no German DoW: all quiet on the Western Border! And still the tense wait continues- perhaps the Germans will get impatient in the early spring?
 
In 1917 there was the Zimmermann Telegram. Mayhap now there could be a Litvinov Telegram?
South America seems very hostile to Communism, and very close to either the Allies, or the Axis... I'm not sure a single telegram will do the trick...

Glad to see progress continues in my absence.
The show must go on...

Sinkiang seems, well, surprisingly well prepared and lead, which is always a plus. Their use of support units baffles me (a landlocked power in Asia running INF/INF/AT/AA? okay then...), but you can't have everything I suppose.
Even from a Combined Arms perspective AA and AT are of the same 'class' meaning that the CA bonus is still only applied once. Moreover, their Research department is developing decent Artillery, seems like there is some miscommunication going on there...

The need of troops on the Turkish border is again in question, but as long as they are not solidly in some camp we have to take precautions.
If we don't use them on the Turkish border, we could launch a campaign to 'liberate' the Norwegian proletariat, or use them to push the Japanese out of Manchuria (that last one is dependent on the supply network being able to supply two more corps of Mtn...)

Diplomacy-wise I'd rather not court anyone except Communist China. The other options (Persia, Afghanistan etc.) are too small and too low in potential to be of any real use and I'd rather just annex them. Communist China does (IIRC) have cores in the entire mainland China, meaning if it gets some (read: a lot of) help, it could grow to be a power only rivaled by ourselves. Especially considering how the US is stumbling, they could prove very valuable against the Japanese if the Brits don't get them first.
Communist China seems to be the safe bet here, though it should be noted Sinkiang also has cores on all of China... I like how you're suggesting the British could well beat the Americans to Tokyo...

And of course, I have brought the promised pictures! It was a cloudy day, so the pictures are a tad on the low contrast side, but I have neither the skills nor the software to correct it nor am I willing to acquire either at 2 am. I'm also sorry about the amount of traffic (both vehicles and foot) in all the images, but Helsinki is a very crowded city (by Finnish standards, anyway - almost 20% of the populace live in the capital region!).
I scoff at that level of traffic... that's off peak traffic. Brussels is about twice the population of Helsinki, and you should see how crazy things get around here... though some of that is due to planning and pretty bad coördination between the different regional and national public transport providers (all state owned...the Railways are National, and in Brussels, you find busses coming from Walloonia and Flanders, which are part of their region's state-owned providers. And Brussels has it's own region, and it's own provider of public transport, including tramways and underground trains. Coordination with the national trains is pretty bad from an ease of use point of view, and also the national railways have a problem in the way they plan their lines which means that a single issue around rush hour often means that trains will run late in most of the country for the rest of the day...)

It's interesting how 5 million people live on so much territory, and still 20% find themselves living in and around the capital... which is the size of Antwerp. (not counting the port, obviously)
It kind of make sense, but it's still a lot. We have pretty bad spatial planning (considering the population density) so there is this web of sub-urbanised areas and smaller cities linking the cities of Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, and Hasselt into a sort of big blob with lot's of semi-detached and detached single family dwellings. Though, at least expansion has slowed and city centres have recently started densifying, which is a good thing, as our cities aren't very dense to star with, and it's pretty easy to add one or two floors across the board in most central locations without making them feel claustrophobic. There is this rule in parts of Brussels that you can extend your house/building upwards. If you are the first to do so on your street, you may go up to three m higher than the highest original roof on your street, after that normal rules apply for the others, meaning that they can pretty much raise their roof to your level. It's a great way to create more space without paving over un-built areas.

The first one is from where the original picture was from, more or less. I didn't go quite far enough to the left, but I only realized that later on when comparing.

The second one is actually along Pohjoisesplanadi. Pohjoisesplanadi translates to North Esplanad, which, logically, is on the northern side of the Esplanadinpuisto (Esplanad park) in the center of Helsinki (Google Maps will show you just how in the middle of town it is). This is from behind the Swedish theatre from the viewpoint of the first image. This picture is almost directly towards east, as the Esplanad park and both Pohjoisesplanadi and Eteläesplanadi are all aligned almost perfectly east-west.

And the last one is the Esplanad park, in between Pohjoisesplanadi and Eteläesplanadi (South Esplanad), taken almost directly from behind the Swedish Theatre from the viewpoint of the second picture and from right side of it from the viewpoint of the first picture. This picture is again almost directly towards the east, with Eteläesplanadi just barely visible on the right side and Pohjoisesplanadi similarly just about visible on the left.
Very nice of you to take these and share these, it's interesting to see just how many of the buildings in that photo are still standing... Also, they need more bicycle parking spaces in Helsinki, the one on the second photo is really bursting. But one ponders the benefits of adding more parking capacity for it to sit empty most of the year. I know this from personal experience, when the weather is nice, in certain places in Brussels, even at my university, all the bicycle racks are full, but in the middle of winter (what you'd probably call spring weather...), I can just park wherever I want. I call those days the days where everyone suddenly discovered they had a bicycle all along...
Now, this all makes me want to go on holiday in Helsinki. It just looks like such a nice place to be from those pictures... and dont get me started on Finnish modern and pre-modern architecture...

December and no German DoW: all quiet on the Western Border! And still the tense wait continues- perhaps the Germans will get impatient in the early spring?
They could charge tomorrow, or maybe in two years, when the N-A pact runs out... it's anyone's guess really.
 
We do have remarkable amounts of old buildings still standing. OTL Soviets didn't do too good of a job bombing the cities to dust. The bicycles are an issue (very popular, since it's often faster in the city center than driving), but, as you correctly identified, they aren't really used in the winter. Hard to cycle in 10 cm of snow. A partial solution has been the addition of bikes to the public transport network, meaning you have bike rental racks where you can get a bike using your travel card and return it to another rack, which reduces the need for people to have their own bikes chained onto a metal pole for 6 hrs a day.

Interesting to hear about how Brussels is going about solving their problems with the low density - sounds like a smart solution, much smarter than the public transport. Then again, ours leaves something to be desired, as well, but most of the time it works. I've taken two trains, two subway trains and one tram today, and they were all on time (well, the train was a couple minutes late - due to another train being late :rolleyes:). So it could be a lot worse.

Re vacationing in Helsinki (or Finland in general): I heartily recommend it, especially if you're a friend of nature. As you said, very few people and lots of land, so there are more than enough forests to wander and lakes to swim in, and we do try to take good care of our nature. If winter sports are your thing, Lapland is a great (and very popular) destination in wintertime, and in the summer we have rather decent weathers and lots of things to see further in the south (not that Lapland isn't great in the summer too!), such as Moominworld if you're traveling with kids or someone who happens to like Moomins. And of course you can always go have a drink, that is a very popular past time especially among students.
 
Well, Brussels doesn't have a big cycling culture because it's quite hilly, and it rains a lot. Except on a Sunday or the middle of the night, cycling is definitely faster. Cycle lanes are bad or non existant, though some good ones have been built recently, they're trying to improve, but there is a long way to go yet. Also, cycling in 10cm of snow? Challenge accepted. (The most I've cycled in is about half that, and that was using a city bicycle with relatively skinny tyres, I'm sure it's doable with a decent mountainbike and the right tyres)
A partial solution has been the addition of bikes to the public transport network, meaning you have bike rental racks where you can get a bike using your travel card and return it to another rack, which reduces the need for people to have their own bikes chained onto a metal pole for 6 hrs a day.
We have those too, but the bicycles are ridiculously heavy, and many vans now continuously drive around the city, especially from the lower points to the higher points, to spread the bicycles somewhat evenly. People love to take them downhill, but they take the bus on the trip back, it's all very expensive to run... to the tune of more than 1.000 euros per bicycle per year... Also you need another card to ride the bikes than to ride the bus or train...

Well, the solution is smart on paper, though the exceptions and bureaucracy surrounding it make it less straightforward... as usual...

Also, in Belgium, the railways have this policy that if a train arrives within 5 minutes of the stated time, it's not late, this makes their statistics look quite a bit better than they really are.

When time and money permits, I might just go on holiday there. I quickly get tired of the Mediterranean sun, so why not go north. Let's just say it is now on my bucket list.

Considering I didn't even know what Moomins were before looking it up just now, I'm pretty sure I don't know any children who are fans of them...

To go and have a drink, there really is no need to move out of Brussels... so many different types of beer on sale in such a small area, considering I don't go out much, I'll probably never taste all of them in my lifetime. Of course, everything depends on who you're having a drink with.
 
Oh for the love of Buddha.....Comrades, after we deal with the Germans and their Allies I think we need to invade the USA and put somebody in charge who knows what they are doing!
I'm starting to think so too...
 
20th of December 1941, 'Devyat' Brjansk, Infrastructure update #14
The 20th of December 1941, Brjansk, -4,6°C, 10am Moscow Time,
After a flight to Moskva on board a Yak-7 trainer yesterday, I met up with 'Devyat' at 5:30am this morning, and we boarded the inaugural express train for the improvements along the Moskva-Brjansk-Kyiv Railway, on the East Bank of the Desna river. I also discovered that a closed Carriage near the end of the train was filled top secret Radar equipment meant for deployment at Berezan Air Base later today. All very interesting stuff...

IS_old_20-1-min.jpg

What other locomotive to pull the inaugural express train to Brjansk and Kyiv than one of the Iosif Stalin Class locomotives. First introduced in 1932, these locomotives, with a 1-4-2 axle layout, are some of the most prestigious locomotives of the Soviet Railroads, their power output of around 3.200 horsepower takes them to a top speed of 115 km/h for non-streamlined examples, and a bit more for the rare streamlined locomotives. With a maximum tractive effort of over 15.400 kp (151 kN) it can pull some pretty long and heavy trains.
On the way there, sharing a carriage with 'Devyat' and his favoured mix of high level apparatchiks responsible for Infrastructure and talented railway engineers, there was a lot of talk about the work that has just been completed. I won't bore you with arcane technical details, but the following projects have just been completed:

-Transsiberian railroad,
Kuybyshev-Ufa-Omsk:
Infrastructure will be upgraded to 'Level 7' in Kargapol'e, Kazanskoye, and Sinitsyna.

-Lake Ladoga East Coast,
Tihvin-Sortavala-Viipuri-Leningrad Railroad
Infrastructure will be upgraded to 'Level 6' in
Pryazha and in Vidlica.

-Berezina East Bank
Kholm-Homel Railroad:
Infrastructure will be upgraded to 'Level 8' in
Parycy, and Rahachow.

-Moskva peripheral railway network:
Infrastructure will be upgraded to 'Level 7' in
Belyy Gorodok, Teykovo, Kurlovskiy and Beloomut.

-
Tyndinskiy Air Base side-branch of the Trans-Siberian Railroad:
Infrastructure will be improved to 'Level 4' in
Solov'evsk and Tyndinskiy.

-Desna East Bank
Moskva-Brjansk-Kyiv Railroad:
Infrastructure will be upgraded to 'Level 7' in Suvorov, Belev, Duderovskiy, Navlja, Serednya Buda, Yampil,and Shostka.
Once we got to Brjansk, it was time to discuss where we would go from here. Firstly our Defensive lines are mostly good enough for now, though the flow of supplies could still be improved, in particular towards the South, and towards the East. Therefor, work will start on adding another track to the Moskva-Brjansk-Kyiv railway along the Desna's Eastern bank. An added bonus of this route is that it also improves a potential defensive line. Investment on the Trans-Siberian has also been stepped up once more. With the next round of upgrades, the second track will reach Omsk. In Finland, work continues to link up the various decent bits of the network into something somewhat coherent and efficient, as well as capable of supporting possible offensives into Sweden and Norway, or even a stronger defensive line in the north.

-Transsiberian railroad,
Kuybyshev-Ufa-Omsk:
Infrastructure will be upgraded to 'Level 7' in
Sokolovka, Nazyvayevsk, Moskalenki and Omsk.

-Lake Ladoga East Coast,
Tihvin-Sortavala-Viipuri-Leningrad Railroad

Infrastructure will be upgraded to 'Level 6' in
Salmi and in Impilahti.

-Moskva peripheral railway network:
Infrastructure will be upgraded to 'Level 9' in
Naro Fominsk 'Level 6' in Novozavidovskiy and Suzdal, and to 'Level 5' in Myatlevo and Volga.

-
Aksenovo Zilovskoye Air Base side-branch of the Trans-Siberian Railroad:
Infrastructure will be improved to 'Level 4' in
Aksenovo Zilovskoye.

-Desna East Bank
Moskva-Brjansk-Kyiv Railroad:
Infrastructure will be upgraded to 'Level 8' in Suvorov, Belev, Duderovskiy, Brjansk, Navlja, Serednya Buda, Yampil,and Shostka.

BrjanskBridgeOnTheDesna1910-min.jpg

This old timber bridge over the Desna in
Brjansk reminds us of what the infrastructure used to be like before the revolution. A parallel railway bridge will now be built out of steel, showing just how far we've come as a nation. We expect this one to stay as a reminder of how far we've come...
Our Infrastructure is getting ever better, but work continues, as there still remains much room for improvements, and our logisticiens continue to shudder at the thought of having to supply close to 1.000 combat units during an all out offensive thousands of kilometers away from the central Supply stores in Moskva, when even in peacetime, supply trains are occasionally held up in transit. I'll send out the usual report in a couple of hours, before I board the train back to Moskva, 'Tri' has invited me for a meeting there in a couple of days, he didn't specify who else will be there...

Greetings,

'Odin'
 
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Great infrastructure projects worthy of headline attention in the latest Five-Year Plan! The cost must be getting quite a bit lower by now due to all that construction experience.
 
20th of December 1941, 'Odin', 10-day report #181
The 20th of December 1941, Brjansk, -4,0°C, 1pm Moscow Time,

Report on the state of the Soviet Union for the ten day period between the 11th and the 20th of December 1941,

by 'Odin'

Army:
A new Garrison Division, 16. Garnizon Diviziya, was deployed to Riga.
94. AP, a brand new Artillery Regiment was deployed to Maj. General Shtevnev's 10. SD, 4ya Armiya, 4th Army Group, Odessa HQ.

Army numbers (Brigades/Personnel) Reserves included (these numbers don't include regiments being upgraded):
Front line troops: 670 / 2.010.000
Support troops: 309 / 309.000
Total fighting troops: 979 / 2.319.000
Headquarters: 63 / 63.000
Total Army Personnel: 1.042 / 2.382.000
Officers: 96.522 + / 103.460 needed / 93,294 %
Active Leaders: 273 / 150 more available
Another Garrison Division has started training.
Army Leadership:
Maj. General Garnov L1, DD was called back from retirement and given command of the new 16. GarD in Riga.
Air Force:
No changes to the VVS, nor to the Navy Air Fleet for the last 10 days.
Navy:
No changes to the Navy for the last 10 days.​

Politics / International:
Sinkiang is mobilising it's border defence force.
British North Africa Front
United Kingdom (Surrender Progress / NU): 1,9 / 87,6
Italy (Surrender Progress / NU): 7,90 / 79,4
BNAF41-12-20-min.jpeg

The departure of most of the Royal Navy's Mediterranean presence to SE Asia gave the Italian convoys the breathing room they needed to bring their North-African troops back to fighting condition.This is proving disastrous for British units on the ground, as German King Tigers supported by Italian infantry, now organised and supplied, have pushed the British Infantry out of El Agheila, and then the same Heavy tanks, now supported by Italian light tanks, defeated the British Cromwell tanks in Mersa El Brega. This push along the coast now threatens to cut off a British Infantry Division in the Desert at Umm Farud who are seemingly unaware that their supplyline is about to be cut by advancing Italian troops to their north. The loss of this Division could be catastrophic to the already outnumbered British forces in the Area. How quickly the tide can turn...
1 Italian convoy was sunk in the Mediterranean, this is unlikely to cut supply to North Africa once more.
Roma was bombed one more time, the Regia Aeronautica intercepted the Wellingtons again. The Italian Capital's industry has definitely seen better days, as most of it remains in ruins, while the RAF continues it's limited but effective strategic bombing campaign.
Greece Front
United Kingdom (Surrender Progress / NU): 1,9 / 87,6
Italy (Surrender Progress / NU): 7,90 / 79,4
GRF41-12-10-min.jpeg
The battle for Athina continues, the Royal Marines still have the upper hand, it's been almost two weeks since the battle started, and both sides will surely face pretty high casualty numbers. Intelligence reports indicate that both sides have lost about 600 men up to now, the British being protected by the city and it's fortifications, and the Italians hiding behind their Armoured Cars.
South East Asia Front
United States of America (Surrender Progress / NU): 8,4 / 85,9
United Kingdom (Surrender Progress / NU): 1,9 / 77,6 Loss of Hong Kong.
Philippines (Surrender Progress / NU): 14,9 / 74,8
Japan (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,00 / 70,2
PHF41-12-20-min.jpeg

Both Imperial Marines Divisions in the Philippines have started taking territory. Near Manila, the woods of Lucena have been lost to the Empire of Japan.
All of Panay Island was also taken by Japanese forces.
8 Japanese convoys were sunk in the Hainan Strait. Allied convoys were sunk south of the Philippines (2), and off the coast of Quang Nai, French Indochina (1).
SEAF41-12-20-min.jpeg

IJN Marines have landed, unopposed, in Oosthaven.
In what must have been a fierce naval battle, a Royal Navy Fleet tried to stop the landings, HMS Hood sunk the Japanese Light Cruiser Kuma. But the pride of the Royal Navy barely came out alive, with the enemy concentrating all of their fire on the highly symbolic ship. Upon seeing the pictures of it's burnt out hull limping into Kuching Naval Base, our Naval Engineers expressed surprise at the fact that she had made it home. When it became clear that the British will rebuild the obsolescent ship, they were even more surprised... The propaganda value is too great, and thus the ship will be rebuilt to it's former 'glory'. It is expected several Japanese ships are also heavily damaged, though that's not certain. (Somehow, the health of HMS Hood is 0%, but it's still floating... A single Port Strike, or some untimely random attrition, and the Pride of the RN is no more... but it seems likely that the ship will be rebuilt in Kuching, which is well supplied and definitely not overcrowded)
During all of this British submarines sunk 1 Japanese convoy bound for Hollandia, and the Japanese sunk 4 Allied convoys bound for Dutch bases around the Java Sea, and 2 more off the coast of Kuala Belait.
Despite the sizeable Royal Navy presence in the area, the situation is rather worrying as only very few land units are present, and only 4 naval bases in the area have a Garrison. (Singapore, Kuala Belait, Tarakan, and Pontianak.) In the meantime the British home islands have more DIvisions running around than there are Naval Bases. Malaysia and Indonesia are ripe for the taking, and after that, India and Burma will be wide open, with only a single Infantry Division in Rangoon.
Pacific Front
United States of America (Surrender Progress / NU): 8,4 / 85,9 Loss of Wake Island.
Japan (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,00 / 70,2
No territory changed hands, and no ships were sunk on either side in the Pacific.
2 Japanese convoys were sunk between Kwajalein and Truk.
8 Allied Convoys were sunk south of Wake Island, and 2 more in the Bougainville Strait amidst the Australian islands east of New Guinea.

Industry:
20 Infrastructure Projects were completed, 20 new ones have been started.
The Radar Station at Berezan Air Base has been expanded to 'Level 5', it is now state of the art.
3 more Batches of radio detection equipment have already started production, these will be used to set up another Radar Station, somewhere to be determined at a later date.
Tallinn Air base now has an operational secondary gravel airstrip and a concrete control tower. (Level 3)
At Smolensk Air Base an additional airstrip, a new aviation fuel pipeline system and underground ammunition storage facilities (Level 9) are now operational.
Lwow Air Base, now has one more operational Airstrip, besides it's three runways, concrete taxiways and large maintenance hangars. (Level 7)
A pre-fabricated Airfield is now ready for deployment wherever we may need it.
At Berezan Air Base, the next step of improvements, including the hardening of a 5th runway and the creation of an administrative building and dedicated parts and fuel storage (Level 10) has started.
Kharkov Air base will now get a secondary gravel airstrip and a concrete control tower. (Level 3)
The secondary Airstrip in Nowogrodek will now be hardened into a second Runway while an officer's mess is built (Level 4), this will allow the Air Base to support a Fighter Aviation Division.
At Kaunas Air Base, expansion has started, with the addition of an additional gravel Airstrip, ammunition storage facilities, and pilot's sleeping quarters. (Level 5)

Working Industrial Capacity / available capacity: 240 / 324
IC Usage: ( Allocated IC / Need )
Upgrades: 11,10 / 12,16
Reinforcement: 1,50 / 1,86
Supplies: 30,00 / 45,98
Production: 252,24 / 280,48 (the Licensed MP remains mostly unfunded, as well as two Mountain Rifle Divisions and 10. TTGvD)
Consumer Goods: 29,16 / 29,16​
Stockpiles:
Energy: Maximum tonnes +
Metal: Maximum tonnes +
Rares: 44.326 tonnes +
Crude: Maximum barrels +
Supplies: 37.989 tonnes -
Fuel: Maximum barrels +
Money: 1.851 -​

Intelligence:
Spy numbers, spies in (active / added / lost / caught by us)
France (Supporting our Party / Counterespionage): 5 / 0 / 0 / 0
{ Germany (/): 0 / 0 / 0 / 1 }
{ Japan (/): 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 }​
UK (/) : 8 / 3 / 1 / 0
Other: 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
Total: 13 / 3 / 1 / 1
Reserves: 0
Spy training leadership expenditure: 1,64 (a new spy every 4 days)
A GRU operative was caught in the UK, by an Iraqi operative.
Another German spy was caught in the Soviet Union.
Research:
VVS theorists have finished a new tactical handbook to help our bombers identify and focus on enemy reserves, to disrupt their efforts to join an active battle, a doctrine called Battlefield Interdiction (Level 2).
Their work continues, as they believe significant improvements could still be made to the Battlefield Interdiction (Level 3) doctrine.

No changes to LS distribution.​

Statistics:
National Unity: 83,241 =
Neutrality: 0,00 =
Dissent: 0,00 =
Manpower:
Available: 2.135.000
Men To reinforce(need): 4.510
Men To mobilise(need): See above​
Monthly gain: 48.200 Men (1 fully mobilised Infx3, AT Division every 7 days)
No changes in Party Popularity for the last 10 days
No changes in Party Organisation for the last 10 days.
This Information is accurate on the morning of the 20th of December 1941, I hope it serves you well in fine-tuning your possible suggestions.

'Odin'​
 
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