Frieden in unserer Zeit? – A Germany AAR

[HecNev]

Chapter 10: Unternehmen Seelöwe

31st of August 1941 – 31st of October 1941​

16th of September 1941, near the Dutch coast
General Rommel addresses his men before embarking for England

General Rommel: “Männer, all your hard work and the great occasion we have been training for are now waiting for us at dawn! The Luftwaffe and the Kriegsmarine have done their best to cover our plans and weaken the enemy. But in the end, no enemy can be defeated without the gruesome but honorable work of a man fighting for his country on the ground. The Luftwaffe has been continuously bombing British ports and destroyed almost twice as many planes as we have lost. The Kriegsmarine first has been keeping the British Flugzeugträgergruppen in check and then in the dry-dock. Unsere Kameraden in der Normandie have been training just as hard as you have. And they also have General von Manstein’s Panzerarmee. But it will not be them who will cross the North Sea. It will be you who will bring about the destruction of the British Empire. Not them, you.
I understand you are worried about being discovered due to our long passage at sea. The Luftwaffe has doubled its missions a week ago and is now bombing objectives in Southern England both day and night.
I understand you are worried about being destroyed by the Royal Navy. All their capital ships are docked for repairs due to our bombing raids. What remains is bound in the Arctic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean by Danish and Norwegian convoy raiders and our Seewölfe.
I understand you are worried about supplies. That is why you have been training with British equipment captured by our Italian allies. Das Reich has a sufficient merchant fleet to keep us supplied for the whole duration of the operation, but if this fails, we can literally beat the British with their own weapons.
That’ll be all. I will see you on the beaches in two days at the latest!”

21st of September 1941, 7 am, Heeresabteilung Seelöwe A, Field Headquarters near Hull, England
Johann and General Rommel discuss their options

Johann: “We have landed north of Hull exactly 72 hours ago and have been able to secure the port of Hull on our first day. So far, the only opposition we have encountered is a small South African infantry division.”
General Rommel: “Let’s hope it stays as such. We have landed with only 15 Infanteriedivisionen and we have no anti-tank guns. The men should be able to capture Liverpool and Newcastle within two or three days at most. Then we can face south and think of how we will deal with the at least 25 Commonwealth divisions opposing us.”
Johann: “It is of utmost importance that we keep capturing territory on our northern flank, even if our advance to the south should grind to a halt. I suggest sending three Infanteriedivisionen to secure Scotland while the rest will face south. The front is rather narrow, so our men would just block each other if we were more.”
General Rommel: “Have the British moved any divisions in the South?”
Johann: “Unfortunately, my Abwehr contacts have been silent for the last day. I hope nothing has happened to them. But it appears the massive buildup in France and the continuous bombing raids still have the British thinking that there will be a second wave landing on their Channel coast if they send forces north to oppose us. So the heart of England is open to us. I suggest we advance quickly towards Bristol and Birmingham. Both cities are major industrial centers and if we can capture the airfields nearby, it will force a lot of the Royal Airforce out of the theatre.”
General Rommel: “I see what you’re doing. By capturing Bristol, we can cut off any defenders opposing us in Wales, while capturing Bristol will allow us to threaten Portsmouth and cut of Cornwall. Daring, but I like it.”

4th of October 1941, British Intelligence Hideout, West of Portsmouth
Kurt and Edelweiß are interrogated by a British officer

Officer: “Well, Edelweiß? Any new information for us today?”
Edelweiß: “You have been interrogating since shortly after we got caught when trying to link up with the Wehrmacht near Hull. Since then, you have continuously been moving us south. I highly doubt you will be in a good position to demand information for very long.”
Officer: “That may very well be the case. But rest assured, Erika Mayer, even if we lose here, our people in Germany can still find your family at home and punish them for your lack of cooperativeness.”
Kurt: “So the situation is really this dire for you? You actually have found out our real names after almost three weeks and now you threaten our families?”
Officer: “You’ll open your mouth when I’m addressing you, scum!”
Erika: “We have heard artillery fire last night. I think you should pack your bags before we turn the table on you, John Smith. Don’t look at me like that. They may not have told us details about the actual invasion before sending us here. But they definitely gave us information on who our opponents would be.”

Gunshots can be heard from outside, someone kicks in the door

German Soldier: “Hände hoch! Mit dem Gesicht zur Wand! Face to ze wall! Na wird’s bald! You are now a prisoner. If you resist, I will need to use force!”
Kurt: “Good to see you, Schütze! We’re really glad you came for us!”
German Soldier: “We didn’t come for anyone. And as far as I’m concerned, the only reason I’m not treating you like the other guy is because you’re already in handcuffs!”


18th of October 1941, 7 pm, Heeresabteilung Seelöwe A, Field Headquarters near London, England
Johann is walking the camp with General Rommel

Johann: “It is astounding. We almost faced a stalemate and then we broke through the defenses of Portsmouth. Using this to bring in General von Küchlers Heeresabteilung Seelöwe C has now allowed us to concentrate on London while they take care of the pocket in Cornwall.”​

General Rommel: “I really wasn’t sure whether you had actually included reinforcements for us in your invasion plan.”
Johann: “To be honest, Herr General, I thought our 15 original divisions would be sufficient. I had planned for the eventuality, but I did not expect we would actually need them on this side of the Channel…”
General Rommel: “What? You seem like you wanted to explain a lot more.”
Johann: “Schütze! Why are these two in handcuffs?”
German Soldier: “We picked them up before capturing Portsmouth. They claim to be agents of the Abwehr, but they have no proof…”
Johann: “Unshackle them immediately. They are ours. I grew up with that guy, I’ve known him forever.”
Kurt: “Danke, Johann. I actually thought they’d drag me from field headquarters to filed headquarters until the British finally surrender…”
Johann: “It’s good to see you well. And your colleague as well. Your information has been invaluable in the planning of this Unternehmen. I will commend you. But I’m afraid you will have to stay with the Wehrmacht until we have defeated the Commonwealth forces on the island.”
Kurt: “I doubt the stuff they fed us as prisoners is worse than what you guys have to eat. This is England after all. In the end, being imprisoned by your own guys wasn’t that bad because the plan was that I would be the one to interrogate foreign officers. Let’s just say the Schütze wasn't much into it.”

31st of October 1941, 1pm, Reichsaußenministerium
Gerhard rushes through the building

Gerhard: “Aus dem Weg, verdammt!”

Assistant: “You cannot go in there! The Reichsaußenminister is on the phone!”
Gerhard: “I don’t care! Herr von Ribbentrop…”
Von Ribbentrop: “Catch your breath. Breathe. I need you alive and well. So what is it?”
Gerhard: “It’s the British, mein Herr. They have surrendered. The Commonwealth has surrendered unconditionally. Der Krieg im Westen ist vorüber!”

Author's Note​

First of all sorry for the late update. I'm currently having exams at university, so rL has actually caught up with me...

I also finished the Peace Conference hinted above. But the results were anything but plausible.
So now I have to somehow get rid of the ironman mode of my current save and use cheatcodes to bring the borders into a shape that seems plausible.

Thank ou for reading this far!

​

 

[guillec87]

so bad about those nasty borders... that's the reason I usually don't go ironman

 

[Forster]

Good job. You should give us a shot of the borders before you adjust things. Is that even possible to do in ironman? Maybe you should just run with what you have.

 

[Nikolai]

Great job!

 

[HecNev]

I will have to get rid of the ironman mode somehow. I know that there are tutorials for this in EUIV. Maybe I'm lucky and there is already some tutorial out there.

Right now, it's rather nasty with Italy not taking some British colonies in Africa and me not being able to take Alsace from France (which is just not plausibe. No way Germany defeats France and then doesn't keep Alsace...)

 

[ThaHoward]

Oh my. What would be the next, not taking Danzig and Posen from Poland? What's your plan for colonies? Will you go for former German colonial empire or expand it?

 

[HecNev]

Danzig is German already. But you are right, Posen is still in Polish hands.
I will have to come up with a solution for that.

But as of now, I need to consolidate my gains in Europe and maybe see if I can't defeat Japan...

 

[wam-mnebu]

a ww2 germany that reaps the fruits of patient diplomacy? this is really something special here.

 

[Khomsa]

I'm really enjoying your AAR so far.
Concerning the conversion of your ironman game, happyman gave the solution in this thread : https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/foru...anning-an-iron-man-game.957927/#post-21590730

In the Settings.txt file in your documents/paradox/hoi4 folder change

save_as_binary=no

Run Hoi4, save game. Then use notepad++ or similar txt editor to open savegame and remove line referring to ironman, then save and open save in game.

ironman="Ironman German Reich 2.hoi4"

This allows you to then switch into and play as other nations etc. Of course it de-ironmans your game from then on.

 

[HecNev]

Thanks, I found the same guide. It will take some time to sort out the mess though, as I currently need to take care of exams.

So I can already say rather certainly that I will not be able to implement new countries like Scotland...
But this step should allow me to set up a plausible stage for the years to come.

 

[TheM]

Seems it was not to be, "Frieden in unserer Zeit".
Nice AAR thusfar, interested to read the next chapters

 

[HecNev]

So, for those of you who wanted to see the world after the actua peace conference:

It is not all bad, but there is a lot of stuff unnerving me.

For instance, Israel is a puppet of Poland, while Jordan is a puppet of Hungary.
Italy formed a pupet in Egypt which controls only the Sinai-State.
Norway made the British a puppet, leading to that ugly pink area in an otherwise Italian Africa. Belgium still exists, but as a pupet of Italy.

The Danish and Norwegians have also grabbed several islands in the Pacific and the Carribean, which I don't really mind to be honest.
The Dutch were also able to get some land from Australia in their jungle campaign in New Guinea. The Australian mainland has become a German puppet. Just like India.

As mentioned previously, I think it is really ugly that France didn't have to cede any territories in this war. Neither to the Reich nor to Italy.

It may still take some time to adjust everything the way I want it to, so the next update might be a few days out.

 

[wam-mnebu]

I don't know this seems workable in your story.

Italy formed a pupet in Egypt which controls only the Sinai-State.

This actually makes sense as a form of compromise. Rather than cause more dissent (as well as create a buffer between Polish Israel and Italian Africa) King Faouk agreed to a surrender and political cooperation with the Axis, and in return he was allowed to keep the Canal zone. Given that the Suez canal would be a rather hefty prize, it makes sense that the axis powers would make it neutral. It also would probably help solidify Italian control over egypt if they allowed all of the old regime to self-exile.

For instance, Israel is a puppet of Poland, while Jordan is a puppet of Hungary.

Did poland and hungry get anything else in terms of colonies? If not than it could be written off as giving them token concessions.

Norway made the British a puppet, leading to that ugly pink area in an otherwise Italian Africa. Belgium still exists, but as a puppet of Italy.

That is a pretty humiliatingly ironic fate for the government-in-exile. Turn the empire that ruled the waves into a landlocked state in Africa. Pretty good way to keep the Brits tucked away (rather than them going to Canada or the US). You could have a whole story about Churchill and the royal family being shipped off on Norwegian and German planes. You can essentially offer all the British a choice, be part of the new order, or join your royal family in the jungle of god-knows-where. Who knows what sort of political misery you just enacted on the colonial masters being stuck on equal footing as their colonial backwoods. All of the political chaos inevitable in such a dire system is free propaganda for german-england, and dooms the english into permanent villains.

I think it is really ugly that France didn't have to cede any territories in this war. Neither to the Reich nor to Italy.

Or its a stroke of diplomatic genius on the part of the reich's diplomatic efforts. Unlike the UK it doesn't look like France's rump government survived as a "heat sink." Perhaps the Reich, saw that creating a revanchist "weimar france" could probably be a dangerous thing 20 years down the line, so by letting France keep all of its territories it allows France to pretend that it was always a part of the axis, and part of the victors of the war. Not losing any territory would also probably be incredibly helpful for the fledgling Vichy French government in building legitimacy. Germany is gearing up for war with the Soviets after all, having France as a willing ally rather than a front is a small price to pay for ceding claims to a few territories. I know elsass-lothrign is important but you dont think a victorious germany could afford to be magnanimous? Agree to a transfer in 20 years? demand that E-L be made autonomous regions within france. Some sort of dual sovereignty?

 

[HecNev]

This actually makes sense as a form of compromise. Rather than cause more dissent (as well as create a buffer between Polish Israel and Italian Africa) King Faouk agreed to a surrender and political cooperation with the Axis, and in return he was allowed to keep the Canal zone. Given that the Suez canal would be a rather hefty prize, it makes sense that the axis powers would make it neutral. It also would probably help solidify Italian control over egypt if they allowed all of the old regime to self-exile.

Yes. But since Mussolini's men have actually ocupied all this territory and even "liberated" Syria for Vichy France all on their own, I doubt that the Duce would be willing to give up everything east of the Suez. And control of the Suez appears rather crucial to italy now that they have so mny colonies in East Africa.
Personally, I think it would even be difficult to swing the Italians to hand Syria over to the French.

So i intend to give all those pupets to Italy as well as hand them Tunisia.

Did poland and hungry get anything else in terms of colonies? If not than it could be written off as giving them token concessions.

Hungary and Poland did practically nothing in the war, but it took a lot of turns to split up the territory, which helped them get enough score for puppets. So I don't intend to let them keep it. Also, Poland still holds Posen and will soon be at odds with Comrade Stalin, so we'll see hw that turns out for them...

That is a pretty humiliatingly ironic fate for the government-in-exile. Turn the empire that ruled the waves into a landlocked state in Africa. Pretty good way to keep the Brits tucked away (rather than them going to Canada or the US). You could have a whole story about Churchill and the royal family being shipped off on Norwegian and German planes. You can essentially offer all the British a choice, be part of the new order, or join your royal family in the jungle of god-knows-where. Who knows what sort of political misery you just enacted on the colonial masters being stuck on equal footing as their colonial backwoods. All of the political chaos inevitable in such a dire system is free propaganda for german-england, and dooms the english into permanent villains.

Since Britain was puppeted, it is now the "British Empire".
I Intend to give Malaysia over to the Dutch.
For now, the Reich will keep the British Isles under it's occupation.
The idea is to have the British "Pay reparations" by allowing Germany to use it's industry and wharfs for the looming conflict. Afterwards, the territory will be handed back to an "independent" British government. Also, the British have the advantage of Germans rebuilding their country after the numerous bombing raids by the Luftwaffe.
The Reich will also keep northern Ireland as a token for negotiations of Irish neutrality.

Or its a stroke of diplomatic genius on the part of the reich's diplomatic efforts. Unlike the UK it doesn't look like France's rump government survived as a "heat sink." Perhaps the Reich, saw that creating a revanchist "weimar france" could probably be a dangerous thing 20 years down the line, so by letting France keep all of its territories it allows France to pretend that it was always a part of the axis, and part of the victors of the war. Not losing any territory would also probably be incredibly helpful for the fledgling Vichy French government in building legitimacy. Germany is gearing up for war with the Soviets after all, having France as a willing ally rather than a front is a small price to pay for ceding claims to a few territories. I know elsass-lothrign is important but you dont think a victorious germany could afford to be magnanimous? Agree to a transfer in 20 years? demand that E-L be made autonomous regions within france. Some sort of dual sovereignty?

I intend to give Italy its historical claims in Savoy (again, the Duce's ego...) and keep Alsace as well as a few more territories in German hands. Again, this serves as a temporary occupation. In turn for its colonial losses, France will receve all the forme English colonies in West Africa.
I also think that this would be necessary because the new government may still require outside help to be stabilized.

 

[HecNev]

Chapter 11: New Tensions​

1st of November 1941 – 20th of February 1942​

30th of November 1941, Reichsaußenministerium
Gerhard and Reichsaußenminister von Ribbentrop finish up the German demands

Gerhard: “A lot of changes to the maps, but overall I think we are comparably benevolent towards the defeated.”
Von Ribbentrop: “We have deprived the English of practically all their colonies. While we have taken India and Australia as puppets, the Dutch have gained Malaysia and Italy took all the African colonies as well as Malta. The British colonies in West Africa are handed over to the French as compensation for territory they lost elsewhere.”
Gerhard: “Do you really think it is a wise choice to give Gibraltar to Spain without any commitment from Franco?”

Von Ribbentrop: “I honestly don’t. But der Führer considers it to be the first step towards a long-term alliance with Spain. Personally, I think it is now important that we are able to project our newly gained power across the Atlantik. So, although a potentially bad idea, let them have it. The British colonies in Newfoundland and the Caribbean are perfect for this. Herr Speer has already started expanding the facilities there.”

Gerhard: “So that is why we keep the entirety of England under our occupation for 20 years. Use their wharfs to expand the Kriegsmarine.”
Von Ribbentrop: “Exactly. Since we have a friendly French government, the same occupation rule only applies to North-Eastern France. But I am worried about our Italian allies. The Duce wanted to hold on to the territories his men occupied way too much. If the Italians clash with the French over some colonial dispute, our achievements thus far might be for naught.”
Gerhard: “Last I’ve heard; Plan Z is in full motion. And with the remnants of the British Royal Navy on our side, the war against Japan should be winnable.”

Von Ribbentrop: “We will have to leave that to our armed forces. In the short term, der Führer has decided to reward Hungarian efforts in the war with some of their ancient territory in Romania. Additionally, General von Weichs has assembled a small force called Heeresabteilung Arabien which is to occupy Iraq in order to give us some independence from oil imports from the United States.”

Gerhard: “Ah yes, Unternehmen Scheich… But, Herr Reichsaußenminister, what about the elephant in the room? What about Poland? They contributed nothing to our war effort yet still demanded land in Egypt and even the Suez Channel as compensation.”
Von Ribbentrop: “Luckily for us, that question seems about to solve itself. Poland is facing a democratic revolution which may cause them to leave our alliance. Also, Hungary has already secretly proposed partitioning Poland for a fourth time. That question will soon be solved.”


20th of February 1942, a troop carrier in the Indian Ocean
Johann, General Rommel and General Student are watching the sunset

General Student: “So von Weichs has just defeated Iraq. Considering the haste and the bad supply situation, I’d say that’s quite a feat. Now our oil supplies should be a little more reliable.”
General Rommel: “I don’t care about our logistics. I need equipment in combat. Not somewhere along the way.”
Johann: “With Sweden and Romania as new Axis members, we have secured additional strategic resources. But we are still highly dependent on foreign oil and rubber supplies. But I think we should be able to easily provide supplies during Unternehmen Sturmflut. Especially after we have been able to secure an operational base in the area.”

General Rommel: “I’m more worried about the Japanese terrain and the experience of the Japanese troops. Our men have fought successfully, but only in a short war. It took us only eight months to defeat the Western democracies. Japan has been at constant war with the Chinese since 1938.”
Johann: “I agree. But the Japanese industry is small and starving for resources. Admiral Dönitz’ U-Boote have been operating around the Japanese home islands for almost a month now from bases in the Dutch East Indies. Entirely unchallenged. I think the Japanese forces we encounter will be numerous, but badly equipped.”
General Student: “I’m more worried about our home. The moment the democratic revolution broke out in Poland and the country left the Axis, Stalin attacked. I’m sure he won’t stop there. I hope the 20 Divisionen we are bringing to Asia will not be missed elsewhere.”

General Rommel: “We should still have some time to take out Japan. After all, Stalin declared war on Poland 3 months ago. And the Polish are still standing strong.”

 

[Macke11]

Have been following this since a very early stage, though whithout commenting, so I thought it was time. This is a very interesting scenario and also a very nice writing-style, simply a very good AAR. Wehrmacht easily defeated the western democracies, but the Red Army will be harder. I think you can still handle it though.

 

[guillec87]

so bad Poland... I did not think that they would be leaving the winning side...

 

[Nikolai]

I've nominated you for the Weekly AAR Showcase, HecNev!

GO bask in the glory: https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/foru...enix-rises-fascist-greece-aar.187634/page-304

 

[HecNev]

I've nominated you for the Weekly AAR Showcase, HecNev!

GO bask in the glory: https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/foru...enix-rises-fascist-greece-aar.187634/page-304

Thanks a lot! I really appreciate it!

Makes me really feel sorry for the stalled progress due to my unviersity exams...

 

[Macke11]

Congratulations HecNev! Don't feel sorry for lack of content, real life should be prioritised over AAR writing, that's just how it is. Also, quality and the writers well-being (among other things) goes before quantity, at least according to me.