Thanks.
Tech is the enemy . Next week or so has now been played through and screenies edited, next to the write-up.
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Tech is the enemy . Next week or so has now been played through and screenies edited, next to the write-up.
Two Observations from shadow-command.
1. The word Minor should never be used. We are a Major land-grabbing force.
2. We will not tolerate photographers taking photos of our men retrea...um, performing tactical withdrawals.
1. The word Minor should never be used. We are a Major land-grabbing force.
2. We will not tolerate photographers taking photos of our men retrea...um, performing tactical withdrawals.
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The retreat was...acceptable
I doubt it could have gone much better but it wasn't good. This is one of the things i was afriad of in sallying forth and attacking in raids. Rather a pointless and wasteful thing in the long run, given the complete air superiorty and numeracy of axis fighters to mow down the retreating raiders when they have to turn back.
Either we get some proper tanks or we get some proper planes but right now it's impractical, perhaps impossible for turkey to wage an offensive against even the italians in europe. This makes attacking where they are weak and under supported (rhodes and potentially africa) even more critcal because quite frankly we have done all we can offensively now otherwise. We have to hope the russians can save us while we wait and play defensively.
Edit: also Kelebek got nothing useful out of the captured agents. He sent most of the two weeks in a foul mood having won big at the casino (having been told to go back again) and took it out on the president and head teacher of the mountain corp training school. All three were in a massive argument over what to do pretty much for the entirety of the time the retreat was in progress, interrupted only by the call of nature, a few telegrams and sweating guards informing Kelebek there was another prisoner to interrogate outside. At this point I think even K has gotten sick of the constant flow of British meatsheilds and frenchmen, and has just started executing them in the spot. The French don't know anything, and the Brits don't want to know anything, after all.
I doubt it could have gone much better but it wasn't good. This is one of the things i was afriad of in sallying forth and attacking in raids. Rather a pointless and wasteful thing in the long run, given the complete air superiorty and numeracy of axis fighters to mow down the retreating raiders when they have to turn back.
Either we get some proper tanks or we get some proper planes but right now it's impractical, perhaps impossible for turkey to wage an offensive against even the italians in europe. This makes attacking where they are weak and under supported (rhodes and potentially africa) even more critcal because quite frankly we have done all we can offensively now otherwise. We have to hope the russians can save us while we wait and play defensively.
Edit: also Kelebek got nothing useful out of the captured agents. He sent most of the two weeks in a foul mood having won big at the casino (having been told to go back again) and took it out on the president and head teacher of the mountain corp training school. All three were in a massive argument over what to do pretty much for the entirety of the time the retreat was in progress, interrupted only by the call of nature, a few telegrams and sweating guards informing Kelebek there was another prisoner to interrogate outside. At this point I think even K has gotten sick of the constant flow of British meatsheilds and frenchmen, and has just started executing them in the spot. The French don't know anything, and the Brits don't want to know anything, after all.
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Haha! Kelebek will have some company in his misery soon, as things start to precipitate to a storm in the secret war. And the Axis aren't half done with us yet
... update to follow in an hour or two.- 1
Heh!Two Observations from shadow-command.
1. The word Minor should never be used. We are a Major land-grabbing force.
2. We will not tolerate photographers taking photos of our men retrea...um, performing tactical withdrawals.
In public utterances (especially the Istanbul Times and even more so in the Glorious Truth) we will remain relentlessly positive. But in this confidential, comprehensive, candid - and alliterative - chronicle of Turkey's alternate war, no harsh spotlight will be spared!Posting up the next chapter now.
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Chapter 123: Under Pressure (13 to 19 April 1941)
Chapter 123: Under Pressure (13 to 19 April 1941)
(3:49 min)
OK, couldn’t resist it. Vale Bowie & Mercury. The old music video seemed rather appropriate. Is this Inönü’s last chance? He’s definitely not laughing at the moment … because he knows Deputy Fuhrer Rudolph Hess would laugh under pressure (and we know what that indicates).
It is approaching white-knuckle time in the Balkans. The pressure is building to dangerous levels – will the line bend - or break? Tense times for the not-really-free-but-pretending-to-be world of the Comintern Pact - on all fronts (including in the Secret War). Meanwhile the US giant sleeps on …
13 Apr 41
Just as the Milli Şef has finished reading his reports and is about to turn in for another night of disturbed and fitful sleep, his orderly knocks and enters, bearing a message from the 1st Army HQ duty officer. He hands it to Inönü, salutes and exits.
Some good news, at least, to perhaps let him rest a little easier tonight. That is a morale-boosting and powerful victory. But the Yeniçeri Line is still not fully re-formed and the divisions out in screening positions will almost certainly have some hard fighting ahead of them. And, even if he can reform the line as before, will even that be enough to hold an Axis opponent now swelled by reinforcements from other parts of the Patriotic Front? He cannot know the answer to that and – though he maintains his usual stoic and quietly confident outward demeanour – the President is genuinely worried he may have doomed his current position by attempting to rescue his partners. Though doing nothing would probably have doomed him indirectly. He starts to quietly re-examine those strategic withdrawal plans that were drawn up before the recent bold offensive. Which seems years past already.
Having been given latitude to employ the currently grounded Air Force as he wishes, Chief of Staff and of the Air Force Ali Örlungat has noted British reports of another two bombings in the last week conducted on Rhodes. The Navy still hasn’t been able to gain any useful information from their observation of the island. He decides to send the whole Air Force back down to Crete, from where they should be able to make a detailed and accurate recon of the enemy island. And maybe find out what the British are up to, as well.
---xxx---
14 Apr 41
As Inönü grabs some sleep, HQ 1st Corps reports it has reached its final defensive position in Ruma, where it will add to the newly raised 14 Inf Div (which does not yet have a permanent commander). And then, the duty officer receives a more urgent report on the secure land-line, on the stroke of midnight:
The 1st Army's Chief of Staff decided not to wake the President: there is nothing he needs to do for now and the situation will be clearer in the morning. It was likely to be another long day ahead: the great man could do with the sleep.
Not long after, 5 Inf Div announced they had arrived in Senta, having previously fought their way back from their exposed position in Kanjiza. They would add to the screening defence in Senta, which 10 Inf Div had been preparing for some days: time to get out the entrenching tools and start burrowing. It would not be easy to defend the flat and open terrain if the Axis threw real numbers at them. 1 Cav Div continued on its way south: they had almost reached Ada and would continue on to Ruma, to bolster its defence and act as an emergency response force for that whole sector.
As the three Turkish wings fly past Rhodes on their way to Irakleio, they report multiple Italian units on the island, but no details of their composition. That will require a ‘recon by fire’ mission, once the wings are re-established. Perhaps a bit of additional air preparation for a naval landing, if the odds look all right. There is also a British naval task force sitting stationary in the area. I wonder what they are up to? thinks Örlungat to himself. They will bear some watching – the British liaison reports have mentioned nothing, but then it is only a friendship of convenience, after all.
As the day wears on, the intensity of the Hungarian attack on Semska Mitrovica increases. By mid-afternoon, the odds have begun to tip in the enemy’s favour and the already tired Turkish troops are beginning to succumb to the assault.
At least, with the Ruma defence now a little stronger and 1 Cav Div on the way, they should be able to stabilise the line there, allowing 9 Inf Div to be withdrawn from its intermediate screening position before they are completely exhausted and rendered useless as a fighting formation for a long time. The order is issued for a controlled withdrawal to Ruma: the after-battle report indicates they were able to bleed more enemy troops than they lost themselves and will have caused the enemy to reorganise after the assault. More time bought for the main defence.
Inönü takes the opportunity to issue completely new suggested joint defensive objectives for his Comintern partners in the Yeniçeri-Romania area of the front. All previously suggested depth offensive objectives in Hungary are cancelled. Instead, a continuous string of provinces stretching from Sabac in the south, through Timisoara and Cluj up to the north-east of Romania is suggested. The objectives in Romania are jointly requested for both Soviet and Romanian defence and make best use of any hill or mountain terrain in Romania, though a couple of flatter areas would continue to prove vulnerable if not held in force. There was no great precedent for his partners taking up these suggestions, but Inönü felt he should at least try.
As 9 Inf Div continued to withdraw to Ruma from the west that night, 1 Cav Div arrived in Ada and continued south. Ada itself would be reinforced by 12 Inf Div, which was currently passing through 15 Inf Div's lines in Srboban after having been forced from their forward defence of Subotica. They should have recovered some condition by the time they arrive in their final Yeniçeri position.
OTL Event: Yugoslavia. King Peter II of Yugoslavia fled to Athens as the German troops continued to advance. Comment: Hmm, not sure how much good that will do him in that other strange OTL world.
15 Apr 41
“Another Vichy spy apprehended? So much for their ‘neutrality’. Off to the dungeon with him.” Such midnight arrests don’t even trigger Interior Minister Kaya’s apoplexy any more. For now, it is just business as usual.
So long as it isn’t another of those Thai spies stealing plans for the glorified box kites Örlungat keeps for the domestically designed fighter aircraft industry, Kaya thinks mischievously to himself. He worries more about the impudence and embarrassment of such escapades: it is hardly likely to swing the war in favour of the Axis!
At 2am, 12 Inf Div, now having recovered about half its organisation, joins 2 Inf Div in the hills of Ada. The troops start digging their first level of entrenchments: would they get the full ten days they needed to achieve maximum protection? The most vulnerable approach to Ada is from Senta, due north, as the western flank is guarded by a river. Again, buying the time to dig in was very important, to help stop the gathering Axis momentum. At 3am, word is received that the Soviet 17 SD has been forced out of Kula by a Hungarian attack from two different directions. Another province of the screen will no doubt soon fall to the filthy Fascists. May they choke on it like a spoiled bratwurst!
Many hundreds of kilometres to the west, Ambassador Vito Ceylan is relaxing in his flower garden at the Residence. It is late morning on a cool but pleasant spring day in Zurich. The spring blooms are now coming out at lower altitudes in Switzerland and Vito’s garden is a riot of colour.
The flower garden at the Turkish Ambassador's Residence in spring – a restful and pleasant place for Vito, away from the violence and stress of the grim world around him.
Vito’s young grandson Artun (the late Sonny’s boy, a three-year-old) is with him. Vito has been treating the flowers for aphids with a spray-can.
“Can I hold it, please, Grandpa?” asks young Artun, taking the spray can from him. Vito shows him how to use it.
"Like this – you gotta spray ‘em until they’re all dead!"
“Yeah - over here - over here. Be careful Artun, you're spilling it - you're spilling it ... come here – like this. There, that's right. We'll put it right there.”
After a while, Vito returns to his seat. “Now, watch this - come here. I'll show you something, come here. Now you stand there ...” He begins cutting a piece of orange.
“I want some! I want some!” pleads young Artun.
The Ambassador turns away and puts the piece of orange over his teeth, then turns toward the young boy, grunting and holding his arms up like a monster! Artun is startled and starts crying.
Jeez, how could a three-year-old find that scary? The young folk of today are getting soft!
Vito rises rises, grabs the boy and laughs. “It’s just a trick, don’t worry, it’s just me.”
“Now, you run in there - run in there ... we’ll play chasings.”
They run around the flower beds, Artun with the spray can, pretending Vito is a big aphid. The boy is soon laughing again.
Gotta get him into ‘pest eradication’ early – a skill he may well need one day.
A bit tired by the running around, Vito stops, takes the orange peel out of his mouth and has a good laugh. But the laugh turns into a cough. He falls to the ground, clutching his chest, coming to rest with a soft thump among the verdant blooms and buzzing insects.
At first Artun assumes this is all part of the game, still laughing, running around and spraying the Ambassador with insecticide as the old man gasps out his last. But Artun then senses something is wrong as he looks at Vito’s lifeless body … he drops the spray-can and runs into the residence. Is this really the end for the tough old diplomat and spy?
Oblivious of the goings on in Zurich – colourful spring gardens are figuratively and literally hundreds of kilometres away from Inönü’s thoughts and reality – the President is reading the reply to his query of MAJGEN Bözer, the commander of 13 Inf Div in Sabac, due south of Semska Mitrovica. And currently the only division holding the pivotal province. It is open country but guarded from the enemy by a river-line on each direction of approach.
It will have to be enough for now. Having 1 Cav Div to its north-east in Ruma will add a little insurance, but Inönü remains concerned he hasn’t yet been able to constitute a few reserves behind the front lines to respond to serious attacks on the Yeniçeri Line proper. In the past, such reserves had proven crucial to stopping determined attacks, allowing defenders to cycle through. He hopes to do so eventually, but is most concerned with ensuring the line can hold against the initial shock of a German-led assault – and that he is not outflanked to the north-east of Timisoara, where his Comintern partners are also under increasing pressure.
“Milli Şef, a flash cable from the British Theatre HQ in Alexandria!”
What now? he wonders to himself as he opens the envelope. He soon finds out.
Well, no need to worry about the Italians in Rhodes anymore! So Churchill has started to take a more aggressive stance somewhere, at least. Better Rhodes than ‘Gallipoli’, as the British referred to it.
Some thought will need to be given to what to do with the two divisions (3 Cav Div and the Soviet expeditionary rifle division) currently sitting with the transports in southern Anatolia. For now, they are left where they are, though no obvious naval landing targets remain. Perhaps they may come in handy as reserve formations in the Balkans? One thing is certain though: not much point keeping the Air Force in Crete any more. They are ordered all the way back to Beograd, to reorganise and await delivery of their new Soviet-licensed fighters.
OTL Event: Yugoslavia. Sarajevo surrendered to the Germans. Comment: the dastards!
16 Apr 41
During the early hours of the morning, Hungarian forces occupy both Kanjiza and Semska Mitrovica, meaning that in the south, they have now closed up to the original Yeniçeri Line. Kula will almost certainly be next.
The rest of the day passes relatively quietly, with units moving into position or digging in all along the line. A rather battered but still battle-worthy 9 Inf Div arrived in Ruma from their gallant defence of Semska Mitrovica that night. They would both reorganise and dig in with equal energy and need.
Late that night, Kula fell to the Axis – as did the Soviet outpost in Korcula, out in front of the Yeniçeri Line in the far south, on the Adriatic coast. A timely reminder that part of the line could not be taken for granted, even though it had remained quiet for many months.
OTL Event: Yugoslavia. Armistice negotiations began between the Yugoslavians and the Germans. Comment: inevitable after a quick and - for the Yugoslavs - disastrous campaign.
17 Apr 41
Breakfast brought with it indigestion and unease, with disturbing news from the Romanian sector. It looks like Axis forces will again take Cluj and Dej, with many Romanian and Soviet units in retreat around that part of the line, though things may be a little better to the north of that. But this kind of flux and seeming chaos are not good: it means the Comintern defence is not well-set there. Can they hold again, as they have before? Or will the spring bring with it an ill wind from the north?
In the Centre Sector, the Soviets report the Germans have continued their advance to the outskirts of Wilno in the last few days. The evil feldgrau tide slowly but steadily flows towards the key city of Minsk.
Advances since 13 April are marked by icons.
While in the Far East, new intelligence analysis shows recent Japanese advances are mainly directed at key [ie VP] locations (green on the map below).
The sombre atmosphere is only slightly improved by news the fast-moving 1 Cav Div is now in Ruma and preparing its defences there. They are fully replenished and reorganised, ready to react to whatever may be thrown at them. Perhaps even some incautious enemy advance elements that approach too closely and in not enough strength.
The sense of relief is short-lived. By 10am, an urgent report is received from MAJGENs Noyan and Namut (two of Turkey’s best) in Senta:
This is grim news. Other than the Hungarian 7th Div (attacking over a river from Subotica) the rest of the enemy attack is hitting the defenders on open ground with easy approaches. And the two Soviet divisions in the area, who could have made a major difference to the defence, are continuing on their way to Timisoara without lending a hand! Once again, it would be up to the Turks to fight alone. And Senta had proved hard to hold in the past under similar circumstances. They would be asked to hold for as long as they reasonably could: the defences of Timisoara and Kikinda were well enough set. It was the defence of Ada that still needed time to strengthen. The only bright spot is that it appears the Axis have given command of the attack to the incompetent Italian general Arena, who is in charge of the light armoured division! But, even so, his tactics seem sound for now: perhaps he has been ‘well advised’ by his German counterpart.
Air Raid. To add to their woes, two wings of Italian TAC bombers commenced a raid on Senta that afternoon: by 3pm, 159 Turkish troops had been killed.
OTL Event: Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia formally surrendered to the Axis. Comment: sad but inevitable, under attack as they were from many directions.
18 Apr 41
In a surprising development, the Belgian government (from its colonial seat) seeks a trade deal. There is a slight metal deficit and plenty of money in the treasury. Why not!
In Senta, the situation is slowly deteriorating. Air raids continue, with three conducted from 5am onwards, causing a total of another 374 casualties during the day. And news is received that those fanatical old adversaries – the SS-Verf Div – have joined the reserve for the attack. Not good. But the defenders are holding well enough - for now.
In the Med, Cebesoy’s 'Mk1 Eyeball' sub flotilla finally completes its long redeployment from the Persian Gulf. They will base themselves out of Athens and have been instructed to see if they can find any enemy convoys that the British may have missed. And keep a weather eye on the neighbourhood while they are at it.
By that night, the enemy attack on Senta is gaining ground. Namut’s veteran 5 Inf Div is bearing the brunt of the fighting and is hard pressed. Noyan has switched to more effective delaying tactics to try to slow down the enemy assault. But with news that the SS troops have managed to reinforce and join the fight, the clock is now ticking on when Senta will need to be abandoned to preserve the fighting capacity of its defenders.
At 10pm that night, the air raid warning goes off in Srboban, where the redoubtable 15 Inf Div is defending. Does this signal another enemy attack on the Turkish screening positions? There is certainly a large concentration of Axis units now gathered to the south-west in Kula … it looks like the same two Italian TAC wings that had been hitting Senta. Perhaps they thought their job there was already done?
OTL Event: Greece. The German 6th Mountain Division reached Mount Olympus. Athens was placed under martial law after Greek Prime Minister Alexandros Koryzis committed suicide. Comment: In this ATL Greece remains peaceful and under the mantle of Turkish protection from the evils of fascism. Which I am sure they are so very grateful for. Ahem. Still, the lesser of two evils?
19 Apr 41
By 5am, a few factors had come together to cause Inönü to pull Namut’s 5 Inf Div out of Senta: their organisation was becoming dangerously low, the enemy attack seemed destined to succeed anyway, and developments to the north-east in Romania had opened yet another potential gap in the line, this time in Dezna. There were plenty of Romanian units in the vicinity, but no guarantee they would react to plug this gap in time. And Cluj had fallen - again. Having another unit in Timisoara, prepared to react to any future emergency from that direction, was desirable, and 5 Inf Div would need time to recover. Namut was therefore ordered to Timisoara, leaving 10 Inf Div alone in Senta for a little while longer, squeezing the last little scintilla of delay out of the screening position.
That large enemy concentration had hit Novi Sad rather than Srboban. Again, while 7 Inf Div could resist for a while, their position was ultimately untenable against such numbers, without reinforcement. Which was not going to come.
This latest attack and increasing casualties in Senta (13 Inf Bde in particular was now badly disorganised) prompted HQ 3rd Corps to permit Noyan to bring 10 Inf Div out of that cauldron and back to Kikinda, where they would either bolster the defence or perhaps be ordered to start forming the theatre reserve Inönü wished to reconstitute. The battle report showed casualties had been heavy – with the defenders suffering more than the attackers. Just as well time had been called on the defence.
By early afternoon, MAJGEN Gürzlin, commanding the 7th, had a clearer picture of the situation in Novi Sad: and it was not pretty. A fourth enemy division – Italians, this time - was attempting to join the fight. Despite Gürzlin’s imaginative employment of an elastic defence to slow the Hungarian assault, the odds of him holding were already long. But for now, they retained their organisation and strength and would continue to resist for as long as possible.
Just an hour later, Senta had been occupied by the fast moving advanced guard of German panzer-grenadiers. Only Srboban and Novi Sad now remained of the screening positions established after the recent spring offensive, OP KURT SÜRÜSÜ.
And that night, Srboban also came under attack. While this time the Turks had the Soviet 17 SD with them – and seemingly not running at the first burst of artillery shells – the attackers were both strong German formations: the 7th Pz Division (medium armour) and the 2nd Pz Gren Division. Already, MAJGEN Gataly’s veteran 15 Inf Div was on the back foot, with no natural defences to benefit them and just their trenches to shelter in. Somewhere in the front line, young Corporal Metin Sadik knows he is in the fight of his life. These are not Italian colonial troops or scared Hungarians fleeing before an assault: they are up against seasoned German panzer and motorised troops. Would Mrs Sadik ever see her son again?
Air Raids. The ground attack on Srboban had, as mentioned above, been preceded by some early morning preparation from Italian aircraft. They raided twice before 7am, causing 245 casualties, but then had not been seen again anywhere in the Turkish sector for the rest of the day. The skies, for now, were clear again. While unpleasant, Axis air activity of late had not been nearly as heavy or destructive as it had been in the early part of the war. Maybe they were being used in Romania.
After another very long and eventful day, Inönü perused a few summary reports just before midnight.
There had been no change in Libya, though the British assault on Rhodes had been one bright spot in the Med.
The Patriotic Front continued to create concern, while not yet appearing on the point of collapse. The first few weeks of April had seen the Axis make slow but significant progress on all sectors, though Riga and Wilno still stood, there had been no rapid breakout in the Ukraine and, despite the loss of Cluj and the reversal of most of Turkey’s recent gains, the front still largely held together.
[As always, the green line represents positions at the beginning of the month, arrows are gains by either side, dashed arrows those made since the last report as at 2300hr on 13 April.]
The map of the Yeniçeri-Romanian Sector is a sorry sea of red, with gains made in the last six days marked with icons.
The Far East summary reveals Japanese gains – the most worrying of which is a second province bordering on Mongolia’s last town of significance and de facto capital.
OTL Event: Greece. The Germans captured Larissa. Comment: well on their way to Athens by this stage of the OTL Greek campaign.
Epilogue – The Turkish Embassy, Zurich
Earlier that day, a funeral reception had been held for Vatan ‘Vito’ Ceylan at the Embassy, before his body would be repatriated to Turkey via a special diplomatically-cleared flight by a neutral Swissair civilian aircraft.
A procession of dark limousine drove into the Embassy grounds. Chauffeurs opened car doors to let mourners out. Mike, Fredo (back briefly from Monaco), Cennet and others are sitting in chairs in front of the Ambassador's flower-covered casket. They watch as a succession of mourners place a single red rose on top.
Polat ‘Fat Pete’ Cumali (Embassy Security Head) leaves a rose.
Turkish ‘Cultural Attaché’ (ie senior S.I.T.H. operative) Salih ‘Sal’ Terzi is standing outside, waiting to place his rose, when Vatican banker (and suspected Mafia puppet-master) Marco Bianchi walks up the stairs and takes him aside for a brief chat as he passes by.
Just an impromptu and off-the-cuff discussion. Nothing contrived or suspicious happening here! Move along, nothing to see.
Bianchi then walks inside, places his rose, looks over to Mike and nods politely.
Marco Bianchi ‘relaxes’ (as much as he ever does) at the memorial reception for Ambassador Vatan Ceylan. He has a very confident – imposing, perhaps even threatening – manner for a supposed ‘simple Vatican banker’.
Sal Terzi walks up to the casket, places his own rose and then wanders over to where Mike is sitting. He stoops down (he is a very tall man), speaking softly and respectfully into Mike’s ear: “Mike, could I have a minute?”
They head to a quiet corner of the room.
“Bianchi wants to arrange a meeting. He says we can straighten any of our problems out.”
“You talked to him?”
“Yeah. I can arrange security. One of my S.I.T.H. safe houses in Geneva. Alright?”
“Alright,” agrees Mike.
“Good. I'll fix it.”
Sal Terzi can ‘arrange security’ for Mike, or so he says. Sure, no problem. Though why wouldn't he look Mike in the eye as he spoke?
Mike walks back to his seat. Cennet leans over and asks him: “Do you know how they're gonna come at you?”
“They're arranging a meeting in Geneva. One of Terzi’s safe houses, where I'll be ‘safe’”
“Huh. I always thought it would've been Cumali, not Terzi.”
“It's a smart move. Terzi was always smarter. But I'm gonna wait - until after the opening of the new Consulate in Monaco. I've decided to make Fredo the S.I.T.H. station chief there. He will draw attention away from our real operation and make them think we're not serious about Monaco at all. You and Kelebek will actually set things up. And then I'll meet with Signor Bianchi - and Philip Tattaglia and all the key pezzonovante who have been trying to thwart our plans in Italy.”
Mike appears to have a cold dish in mind for his eventual banquet at the expense of his (and Turkey’s – they are one and the same) many enemies.
Coming Up: Will the rising Axis tide sweep over the sea-wall Turkey and the Comintern are preparing to resist it? Despite all the care taken, can even a reconstituted Yeniçeri Line withstand a full-on German-backed Axis assault throughout the summer? Is that just the usual frenzy and chaos in Romania at the moment, or are all Inönü’s carefully laid defensive plans going to be undermined by events to the north-east? To be replaced by carefully made – but not yet laid – plans for a strategic withdrawal and defence in depth? And who (with all respect, may he rest in peace) will replace the late lamented Vatan ‘Vito’ Ceylan as Ambassador to Switzerland? Will that position also be in charge of S.I.T.H. operations in Western Europe, or will the two roles be split? What will Cennet’s new mission in Monaco entail (other than “removing a stone from Mike’s shoe”)?
OK, couldn’t resist it. Vale Bowie & Mercury. The old music video seemed rather appropriate. Is this Inönü’s last chance? He’s definitely not laughing at the moment … because he knows Deputy Fuhrer Rudolph Hess would laugh under pressure (and we know what that indicates).
It is approaching white-knuckle time in the Balkans. The pressure is building to dangerous levels – will the line bend - or break? Tense times for the not-really-free-but-pretending-to-be world of the Comintern Pact - on all fronts (including in the Secret War). Meanwhile the US giant sleeps on …
---xxx---
13 Apr 41
Just as the Milli Şef has finished reading his reports and is about to turn in for another night of disturbed and fitful sleep, his orderly knocks and enters, bearing a message from the 1st Army HQ duty officer. He hands it to Inönü, salutes and exits.
Having been given latitude to employ the currently grounded Air Force as he wishes, Chief of Staff and of the Air Force Ali Örlungat has noted British reports of another two bombings in the last week conducted on Rhodes. The Navy still hasn’t been able to gain any useful information from their observation of the island. He decides to send the whole Air Force back down to Crete, from where they should be able to make a detailed and accurate recon of the enemy island. And maybe find out what the British are up to, as well.
---xxx---
14 Apr 41
As Inönü grabs some sleep, HQ 1st Corps reports it has reached its final defensive position in Ruma, where it will add to the newly raised 14 Inf Div (which does not yet have a permanent commander). And then, the duty officer receives a more urgent report on the secure land-line, on the stroke of midnight:
“This is Alankup here. We have been attacked by two Hungarian infantry divisions. This time they have coordinated and are attacking from two different directions. Our troops are better, more experienced and well dug-in, but are already badly worn out from the previous battle. And the Hungarians are fresh and outnumber us almost two-to-one. We can hold for now, but once day breaks the enemy will find the going a lot easier. We will hold as long as we can.”
Not long after, 5 Inf Div announced they had arrived in Senta, having previously fought their way back from their exposed position in Kanjiza. They would add to the screening defence in Senta, which 10 Inf Div had been preparing for some days: time to get out the entrenching tools and start burrowing. It would not be easy to defend the flat and open terrain if the Axis threw real numbers at them. 1 Cav Div continued on its way south: they had almost reached Ada and would continue on to Ruma, to bolster its defence and act as an emergency response force for that whole sector.
---xxx---
15 Apr 41
“Another Vichy spy apprehended? So much for their ‘neutrality’. Off to the dungeon with him.” Such midnight arrests don’t even trigger Interior Minister Kaya’s apoplexy any more. For now, it is just business as usual.
So long as it isn’t another of those Thai spies stealing plans for the glorified box kites Örlungat keeps for the domestically designed fighter aircraft industry, Kaya thinks mischievously to himself. He worries more about the impudence and embarrassment of such escapades: it is hardly likely to swing the war in favour of the Axis!
At 2am, 12 Inf Div, now having recovered about half its organisation, joins 2 Inf Div in the hills of Ada. The troops start digging their first level of entrenchments: would they get the full ten days they needed to achieve maximum protection? The most vulnerable approach to Ada is from Senta, due north, as the western flank is guarded by a river. Again, buying the time to dig in was very important, to help stop the gathering Axis momentum. At 3am, word is received that the Soviet 17 SD has been forced out of Kula by a Hungarian attack from two different directions. Another province of the screen will no doubt soon fall to the filthy Fascists. May they choke on it like a spoiled bratwurst!
---xxx---
Many hundreds of kilometres to the west, Ambassador Vito Ceylan is relaxing in his flower garden at the Residence. It is late morning on a cool but pleasant spring day in Zurich. The spring blooms are now coming out at lower altitudes in Switzerland and Vito’s garden is a riot of colour.
The flower garden at the Turkish Ambassador's Residence in spring – a restful and pleasant place for Vito, away from the violence and stress of the grim world around him.
Vito’s young grandson Artun (the late Sonny’s boy, a three-year-old) is with him. Vito has been treating the flowers for aphids with a spray-can.
“Can I hold it, please, Grandpa?” asks young Artun, taking the spray can from him. Vito shows him how to use it.
"Like this – you gotta spray ‘em until they’re all dead!"
“Yeah - over here - over here. Be careful Artun, you're spilling it - you're spilling it ... come here – like this. There, that's right. We'll put it right there.”
After a while, Vito returns to his seat. “Now, watch this - come here. I'll show you something, come here. Now you stand there ...” He begins cutting a piece of orange.
“I want some! I want some!” pleads young Artun.
The Ambassador turns away and puts the piece of orange over his teeth, then turns toward the young boy, grunting and holding his arms up like a monster! Artun is startled and starts crying.
Jeez, how could a three-year-old find that scary? The young folk of today are getting soft!
Vito rises rises, grabs the boy and laughs. “It’s just a trick, don’t worry, it’s just me.”
“Now, you run in there - run in there ... we’ll play chasings.”
They run around the flower beds, Artun with the spray can, pretending Vito is a big aphid. The boy is soon laughing again.
Gotta get him into ‘pest eradication’ early – a skill he may well need one day.
A bit tired by the running around, Vito stops, takes the orange peel out of his mouth and has a good laugh. But the laugh turns into a cough. He falls to the ground, clutching his chest, coming to rest with a soft thump among the verdant blooms and buzzing insects.
At first Artun assumes this is all part of the game, still laughing, running around and spraying the Ambassador with insecticide as the old man gasps out his last. But Artun then senses something is wrong as he looks at Vito’s lifeless body … he drops the spray-can and runs into the residence. Is this really the end for the tough old diplomat and spy?
---xxx---
Oblivious of the goings on in Zurich – colourful spring gardens are figuratively and literally hundreds of kilometres away from Inönü’s thoughts and reality – the President is reading the reply to his query of MAJGEN Bözer, the commander of 13 Inf Div in Sabac, due south of Semska Mitrovica. And currently the only division holding the pivotal province. It is open country but guarded from the enemy by a river-line on each direction of approach.
“Any sign of an enemy attack? Are you fully dug in?” the President had enquired.
“No sign of enemy probes. Fully dug in. Soviet formations reportedly heading this way, but we can’t be sure they will actually arrive, or stay if they do.”
“No sign of enemy probes. Fully dug in. Soviet formations reportedly heading this way, but we can’t be sure they will actually arrive, or stay if they do.”
It will have to be enough for now. Having 1 Cav Div to its north-east in Ruma will add a little insurance, but Inönü remains concerned he hasn’t yet been able to constitute a few reserves behind the front lines to respond to serious attacks on the Yeniçeri Line proper. In the past, such reserves had proven crucial to stopping determined attacks, allowing defenders to cycle through. He hopes to do so eventually, but is most concerned with ensuring the line can hold against the initial shock of a German-led assault – and that he is not outflanked to the north-east of Timisoara, where his Comintern partners are also under increasing pressure.
---xxx---
“Milli Şef, a flash cable from the British Theatre HQ in Alexandria!”
What now? he wonders to himself as he opens the envelope. He soon finds out.
Well, no need to worry about the Italians in Rhodes anymore! So Churchill has started to take a more aggressive stance somewhere, at least. Better Rhodes than ‘Gallipoli’, as the British referred to it.
Some thought will need to be given to what to do with the two divisions (3 Cav Div and the Soviet expeditionary rifle division) currently sitting with the transports in southern Anatolia. For now, they are left where they are, though no obvious naval landing targets remain. Perhaps they may come in handy as reserve formations in the Balkans? One thing is certain though: not much point keeping the Air Force in Crete any more. They are ordered all the way back to Beograd, to reorganise and await delivery of their new Soviet-licensed fighters.
OTL Event: Yugoslavia. Sarajevo surrendered to the Germans. Comment: the dastards!
---xxx---
16 Apr 41
During the early hours of the morning, Hungarian forces occupy both Kanjiza and Semska Mitrovica, meaning that in the south, they have now closed up to the original Yeniçeri Line. Kula will almost certainly be next.
OTL Event: Yugoslavia. Armistice negotiations began between the Yugoslavians and the Germans. Comment: inevitable after a quick and - for the Yugoslavs - disastrous campaign.
---xxx---
17 Apr 41
Breakfast brought with it indigestion and unease, with disturbing news from the Romanian sector. It looks like Axis forces will again take Cluj and Dej, with many Romanian and Soviet units in retreat around that part of the line, though things may be a little better to the north of that. But this kind of flux and seeming chaos are not good: it means the Comintern defence is not well-set there. Can they hold again, as they have before? Or will the spring bring with it an ill wind from the north?
Advances since 13 April are marked by icons.
While in the Far East, new intelligence analysis shows recent Japanese advances are mainly directed at key [ie VP] locations (green on the map below).
The sense of relief is short-lived. By 10am, an urgent report is received from MAJGENs Noyan and Namut (two of Turkey’s best) in Senta:
“Contact, corps strength enemy attack from three directions! Italian light armour, German panzer-grenadiers and Hungarian infantry. They have launched a strong assault. More to follow later. Out.”
This is grim news. Other than the Hungarian 7th Div (attacking over a river from Subotica) the rest of the enemy attack is hitting the defenders on open ground with easy approaches. And the two Soviet divisions in the area, who could have made a major difference to the defence, are continuing on their way to Timisoara without lending a hand! Once again, it would be up to the Turks to fight alone. And Senta had proved hard to hold in the past under similar circumstances. They would be asked to hold for as long as they reasonably could: the defences of Timisoara and Kikinda were well enough set. It was the defence of Ada that still needed time to strengthen. The only bright spot is that it appears the Axis have given command of the attack to the incompetent Italian general Arena, who is in charge of the light armoured division! But, even so, his tactics seem sound for now: perhaps he has been ‘well advised’ by his German counterpart.
OTL Event: Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia formally surrendered to the Axis. Comment: sad but inevitable, under attack as they were from many directions.
---xxx---
18 Apr 41
In a surprising development, the Belgian government (from its colonial seat) seeks a trade deal. There is a slight metal deficit and plenty of money in the treasury. Why not!
OTL Event: Greece. The German 6th Mountain Division reached Mount Olympus. Athens was placed under martial law after Greek Prime Minister Alexandros Koryzis committed suicide. Comment: In this ATL Greece remains peaceful and under the mantle of Turkish protection from the evils of fascism. Which I am sure they are so very grateful for. Ahem. Still, the lesser of two evils?
---xxx---
19 Apr 41
By 5am, a few factors had come together to cause Inönü to pull Namut’s 5 Inf Div out of Senta: their organisation was becoming dangerously low, the enemy attack seemed destined to succeed anyway, and developments to the north-east in Romania had opened yet another potential gap in the line, this time in Dezna. There were plenty of Romanian units in the vicinity, but no guarantee they would react to plug this gap in time. And Cluj had fallen - again. Having another unit in Timisoara, prepared to react to any future emergency from that direction, was desirable, and 5 Inf Div would need time to recover. Namut was therefore ordered to Timisoara, leaving 10 Inf Div alone in Senta for a little while longer, squeezing the last little scintilla of delay out of the screening position.
“Three this is Three-Seven, contact, three Hungarian infantry divisions, all attacking on a narrow front from Kula. Heavily outnumbered in open terrain. Holding for now, but coming under heavy pressure. Will provide a longer SITREP when the position is clearer. Out.”
That large enemy concentration had hit Novi Sad rather than Srboban. Again, while 7 Inf Div could resist for a while, their position was ultimately untenable against such numbers, without reinforcement. Which was not going to come.
And that night, Srboban also came under attack. While this time the Turks had the Soviet 17 SD with them – and seemingly not running at the first burst of artillery shells – the attackers were both strong German formations: the 7th Pz Division (medium armour) and the 2nd Pz Gren Division. Already, MAJGEN Gataly’s veteran 15 Inf Div was on the back foot, with no natural defences to benefit them and just their trenches to shelter in. Somewhere in the front line, young Corporal Metin Sadik knows he is in the fight of his life. These are not Italian colonial troops or scared Hungarians fleeing before an assault: they are up against seasoned German panzer and motorised troops. Would Mrs Sadik ever see her son again?
---xxx---
After another very long and eventful day, Inönü perused a few summary reports just before midnight.
There had been no change in Libya, though the British assault on Rhodes had been one bright spot in the Med.
The Patriotic Front continued to create concern, while not yet appearing on the point of collapse. The first few weeks of April had seen the Axis make slow but significant progress on all sectors, though Riga and Wilno still stood, there had been no rapid breakout in the Ukraine and, despite the loss of Cluj and the reversal of most of Turkey’s recent gains, the front still largely held together.
[As always, the green line represents positions at the beginning of the month, arrows are gains by either side, dashed arrows those made since the last report as at 2300hr on 13 April.]
---xxx---
Epilogue – The Turkish Embassy, Zurich
Earlier that day, a funeral reception had been held for Vatan ‘Vito’ Ceylan at the Embassy, before his body would be repatriated to Turkey via a special diplomatically-cleared flight by a neutral Swissair civilian aircraft.
A procession of dark limousine drove into the Embassy grounds. Chauffeurs opened car doors to let mourners out. Mike, Fredo (back briefly from Monaco), Cennet and others are sitting in chairs in front of the Ambassador's flower-covered casket. They watch as a succession of mourners place a single red rose on top.
Polat ‘Fat Pete’ Cumali (Embassy Security Head) leaves a rose.
Turkish ‘Cultural Attaché’ (ie senior S.I.T.H. operative) Salih ‘Sal’ Terzi is standing outside, waiting to place his rose, when Vatican banker (and suspected Mafia puppet-master) Marco Bianchi walks up the stairs and takes him aside for a brief chat as he passes by.
Just an impromptu and off-the-cuff discussion. Nothing contrived or suspicious happening here! Move along, nothing to see.
Bianchi then walks inside, places his rose, looks over to Mike and nods politely.
Marco Bianchi ‘relaxes’ (as much as he ever does) at the memorial reception for Ambassador Vatan Ceylan. He has a very confident – imposing, perhaps even threatening – manner for a supposed ‘simple Vatican banker’.
Sal Terzi walks up to the casket, places his own rose and then wanders over to where Mike is sitting. He stoops down (he is a very tall man), speaking softly and respectfully into Mike’s ear: “Mike, could I have a minute?”
They head to a quiet corner of the room.
“Bianchi wants to arrange a meeting. He says we can straighten any of our problems out.”
“You talked to him?”
“Yeah. I can arrange security. One of my S.I.T.H. safe houses in Geneva. Alright?”
“Alright,” agrees Mike.
“Good. I'll fix it.”
Sal Terzi can ‘arrange security’ for Mike, or so he says. Sure, no problem. Though why wouldn't he look Mike in the eye as he spoke?
Mike walks back to his seat. Cennet leans over and asks him: “Do you know how they're gonna come at you?”
“They're arranging a meeting in Geneva. One of Terzi’s safe houses, where I'll be ‘safe’”
“Huh. I always thought it would've been Cumali, not Terzi.”
“It's a smart move. Terzi was always smarter. But I'm gonna wait - until after the opening of the new Consulate in Monaco. I've decided to make Fredo the S.I.T.H. station chief there. He will draw attention away from our real operation and make them think we're not serious about Monaco at all. You and Kelebek will actually set things up. And then I'll meet with Signor Bianchi - and Philip Tattaglia and all the key pezzonovante who have been trying to thwart our plans in Italy.”
Mike appears to have a cold dish in mind for his eventual banquet at the expense of his (and Turkey’s – they are one and the same) many enemies.
---xxx---
Coming Up: Will the rising Axis tide sweep over the sea-wall Turkey and the Comintern are preparing to resist it? Despite all the care taken, can even a reconstituted Yeniçeri Line withstand a full-on German-backed Axis assault throughout the summer? Is that just the usual frenzy and chaos in Romania at the moment, or are all Inönü’s carefully laid defensive plans going to be undermined by events to the north-east? To be replaced by carefully made – but not yet laid – plans for a strategic withdrawal and defence in depth? And who (with all respect, may he rest in peace) will replace the late lamented Vatan ‘Vito’ Ceylan as Ambassador to Switzerland? Will that position also be in charge of S.I.T.H. operations in Western Europe, or will the two roles be split? What will Cennet’s new mission in Monaco entail (other than “removing a stone from Mike’s shoe”)?
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I do not like the dashed red lines. The dashed red lines on the maps are evil.
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the stupid forums once again neither send an email nor raised a notification that there were new posts here and I was thinking why has everybody including the author abandoned here
then I come across yet another great episode.
then I come across yet another great episode.
The balls that the head teacher has arguing with the President AND the Kelebek. Wow.
The nerve those bastards have. Invading our back yard while doing nothing on the continent. Land in Belgium or something imperialisst swine!
You know I have plans for that part of the front
I have a word or two to that Georgian guy with the mustache!
I'm not sure of the game mechanics but in HoI2 it was possible to release puppets out of occupied territory. Can we land in an undefended point in North Africa and release whoever can be released there?
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Agree- bloody Fascists.I do not like the dashed red lines. The dashed red lines on the maps are evil.
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That seems like a terrible idea to remove what little air protection Turkey could provide and send it somewhere else at this critical juncture. If Rhodes was going to be an air threat it would have done something else by now. And landing troops are going to be covered by naval guns pretty much all the way along, so not much need for planes as well.
Eh...can we re-establish the old line? If so, at least the operation achieved something. If we can't, then we actually lost time instead of earing it, and at the cost of losing men and resources too.
Well there's two options here. One is that Churchill approved a naval operation into Rhodes because of course he did. Show those upstart Turks what's what.
Alternatively, the British foreign office blocked the idea because they are nervous of causing another 'Cyprus' with the apparently rising power (and sometimes ally) Turkey, and also is too embarrassed to ask the Turkish to reclaim their own island so they can stop patrolling around this tiny rock and go back to sitting in the Suez Canal.
A few minutes later, an unmistakable sigh emanates from the dungeons before the violent cough of a gun goes off. Apparently Kelebek is becoming tired of business as usual.
Hmm, well this might be a little reminder that GB figures it can do what it likes to Turkey and we can do nothing about it. For the time being, they are correct. At least we get some air cover back!
Naval campaign, doesn't count. That's like applauding chickens for laying eggs (any eggs).
The balls that the head teacher has arguing with the President AND the Kelebek. Wow.
He will be requiring dentures and some facial reconstruction surgery but yes, he kept his tackle.
Well it was a naval campaign in Turkish waters so obviously Churchill went for it. And it went well. Now the British are pretty much completely safe in the Med as well as the Atlantic and North Sea...free to do as little as they wish to help everyone else.
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The German advances for the month of April don't predict anything good for the coming summer 1941... The Comintern being pushed back all along the line makes one wonder whether the Yeniceri line will be held... The fall-back is not going too badly, considering the the amount and strength of enemy units pushing, casualty numbers are pretty good considering the circumstances.
Without sufficient AT and tank formations, holding a line without a terrain advantage is highly improbable against those elite German formations. Let's hope the Turkish Armoured formations will be well-rested enough to be able to hold back a frontal attack by German Panzers + SS/Panzergrenadiers... We'll soon see if the gambit has worked and the line can be held. In any case, unless the Romanian front is broken wide open, and a serious risk of encirclement becomes apparent, the line should be held for as long as possible.
The far East continues to rest on a knife-edge. It's not really going anywhere, but the Japanese remain perpetually too close for comfort to that last Mongolian VP
Too bad the Brits got to Rodi before you, as it is clearly meant to be Turkish territory... at least it means that you don't have to worry about it, while you're at war with the Facists that is.
My sincere condoleances to 'Myke', 'Cennet' and Turkey as a whole for the loss of the great Vito Ceylan. I'm glad they know who the traitor is now, I can't wait to see that ice cold revenge served...
Without sufficient AT and tank formations, holding a line without a terrain advantage is highly improbable against those elite German formations. Let's hope the Turkish Armoured formations will be well-rested enough to be able to hold back a frontal attack by German Panzers + SS/Panzergrenadiers... We'll soon see if the gambit has worked and the line can be held. In any case, unless the Romanian front is broken wide open, and a serious risk of encirclement becomes apparent, the line should be held for as long as possible.
The far East continues to rest on a knife-edge. It's not really going anywhere, but the Japanese remain perpetually too close for comfort to that last Mongolian VP
Too bad the Brits got to Rodi before you, as it is clearly meant to be Turkish territory... at least it means that you don't have to worry about it, while you're at war with the Facists that is.
My sincere condoleances to 'Myke', 'Cennet' and Turkey as a whole for the loss of the great Vito Ceylan. I'm glad they know who the traitor is now, I can't wait to see that ice cold revenge served...
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You can release a puppet in HoI3, but not from occupied territory (i.e. with stripes on the map), and only if the would-be puppet state has cores on that land. In this case, if Turkey were to hypothetically invade Libya, they could not release Libya as a puppet (assuming Libya exists as a nation in the game files and has the appropriate cores) until Italy was completely defeated, i.e. ceased to exist, and the land would no-longer have the occupation stripes on it. In this case, simply forcing Italy to surrender is not enough because they will go GIE until the whole Axis is defeated. So long story short, there's no way to conquer and release any puppets right now, except in land already taken by the UGNR such as Greece, Persia, etc.
Otherwise, another excellent update all around. Glad to see the secret war starting to pick up again, in particular!
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HoI2 was better in that regards, whole lot of real or imaginary nations to release and the ability to release puppets out of occupied territory.
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I suppose now there is little to do but wait to see if we can hold the line and redeploy defenses as previously discussed.
Unless we have the capacity to go for somewhere else weak and defenceless in the meantime? Thing is, I'm not sure we should go into Africa unless we get something out of it and as the game works now we wont. Unless the British do nothing fod the rest of the game they probably will hang on to and reclaim africa at some point. Making their job easier is a bit pointless given what aid they can give us (at this point naval and tech) they already can without africa.
I think the AI is a little broken because GB won the sea war so quickly and easily the axis never really threatened any of their stuff bar Africa, and the italians can't reinforce their troops there any more because the britsh sank all their ships. So the GB AI is putting minimal effort (very slow and steady) into cleaning up africa from south to north, in the meantime sending meatshield puppets to hold the line or die clogging it up.
For refrence, Rhodes is the first operation they've conducted so far this year, the second on land in the entire war (if Ethiopia can be counted as one) and the third in total (the two land and the one, very successful, naval campaign).
Unless we have the capacity to go for somewhere else weak and defenceless in the meantime? Thing is, I'm not sure we should go into Africa unless we get something out of it and as the game works now we wont. Unless the British do nothing fod the rest of the game they probably will hang on to and reclaim africa at some point. Making their job easier is a bit pointless given what aid they can give us (at this point naval and tech) they already can without africa.
I think the AI is a little broken because GB won the sea war so quickly and easily the axis never really threatened any of their stuff bar Africa, and the italians can't reinforce their troops there any more because the britsh sank all their ships. So the GB AI is putting minimal effort (very slow and steady) into cleaning up africa from south to north, in the meantime sending meatshield puppets to hold the line or die clogging it up.
For refrence, Rhodes is the first operation they've conducted so far this year, the second on land in the entire war (if Ethiopia can be counted as one) and the third in total (the two land and the one, very successful, naval campaign).
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I think we will be able to hold the line when we fall back to the dug in mountains and hills i.e. the original yeniceri line.
As you said, as the game works now there's nothing to be gained from an african adventure. I say after we stabilize our line we try to pull the stunt I proposed near the Adriatic coast to envelop and destroy ~5 divisions and go dig in 1 province deeper permanently.
Let's keep them on their toes. After that one, we will probe some completely different place in the line.
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Some good discussions here - will reply in more detail in due course. I think, if we can indeed stabilise on the old Yeniceri Line (which will probably be stronger than before, but against a now stronger enemy with more German units, including panzers), then there will be another Cabinet meeting to consider strategic options. But if the Germans do the same to us as they have to the Soviets in Russia, or Romania breaks ... well, ‘hands full’ will be the order of the day.
But please, keep it going, I’m enjoying the comments and discussions!
But please, keep it going, I’m enjoying the comments and discussions!
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@TheButterflyComposer is the pessimist one, i'm the optimist one. I'm guessing comrade @roverS3 will also back my plans, even though might not share my optimism.Some good discussions here - will reply in more detail in due course. I think, if we can indeed stabilise on the old Yeniceri Line (which will probably be stronger than before, but against a now stronger enemy with more German units, including panzers), then there will be another Cabinet meeting to consider strategic options. But if the Germans do the same to us as they have to the Soviets in Russia, or Romania breaks ... well, ‘hands full’ will be the order of the day.
But please, keep it going, I’m enjoying the comments and discussions!
Speaking of the British, do you guys think there's anything we can do to trigger an operation sealion? Maybe they'll attack back when they're attacked.
How long is it until we receive that HArm? Can we license another one? Did you decide what kind of formation will you use that in? Facing the German panzers that would really come in handy. Lastly, where are we at the 5 brigade division research?
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Are you suggesting a land break out and then an envelopment through really speedy manoeuvring or a naval landing to try and do it by surprise? The former we did a variation of before to gain limited ground and time before falling back to distract the enemy. The latter would be risky but potential could outflank quite a lot of the line against us...
Yet we must ask why we would do either having established the line again? What could be achieved? Limited ground reclaimed to be given up again, another disorderly/orderly retreat back, this time with less space to breathe, and ultimately no real advantage now the Germans have committed troops to watching our border. We wanted to siphon away some of their army from Russia to make their fight easier and slow it down...but we can't actually fight the entire german army ourselves and we shouldn't try to bring down the whole axis on us in a futile attempt to delay the fall of Romania or the taking of some Russian provinces. That would be foolish.
We have a line in the sand. Which they can't cross without extreme effort. We have measures to keep Romania in the fight for as long as possible whilst keeping turkey safe from breakouts...what more do you want? We do not have the airforce or navy to invade Italy (at this point, that would be the required distraction/land worth taking) and we do not have the army to fight the Germans (we don't know if we can hold off the guys they've sent now, let alone everyone else yet). Russia's far eastern front is too far away for us to aid, the British do not need help in Africa and turkey Andrew Greece are safe from all but Germany basically winning the war in Russia.
What I'm basically saying is, we've already reached the optimal level we could expect given the situation. Taking a risk now with what spare resources we have might be worthwhile, but risking the front lines again would not be worth it at this time.
Edit:
Pessimist or the one who is always right in the end
? Check the signature.Do we have a potential line to aim for should a mass breakout prove possible/actually end up happening? We're looking for somewhere equally defendable and preferably shorter than the line we have now, just further north?
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Are you suggesting a land break out and then an envelopment through really speedy manoeuvring or a naval landing to try and do it by surprise? The former we did a variation of before to gain limited ground and time before falling back to distract the enemy. The latter would be risky but potential could outflank quite a lot of the line against us...
Yet we must ask why we would do either having established the line again? What could be achieved? Limited ground reclaimed to be given up again, another disorderly/orderly retreat back, this time with less space to breathe, and ultimately no real advantage now the Germans have committed troops to watching our border. We wanted to siphon away some of their army from Russia to make their fight easier and slow it down...but we can't actually fight the entire german army ourselves and we shouldn't try to bring down the whole axis on us in a futile attempt to delay the fall of Romania or the taking of some Russian provinces. That would be foolish.
We have a line in the sand. Which they can't cross without extreme effort. We have measures to keep Romania in the fight for as long as possible whilst keeping turkey safe from breakouts...what more do you want? We do not have the airforce or navy to invade Italy (at this point, that would be the required distraction/land worth taking) and we do not have the army to fight the Germans (we don't know if we can hold off the guys they've sent now, let alone everyone else yet). Russia's far eastern front is too far away for us to aid, the British do not need help in Africa and turkey Andrew Greece are safe from all but Germany basically winning the war in Russia.
What I'm basically saying is, we've already reached the optimal level we could expect given the situation. Taking a risk now with what spare resources we have might be worthwhile, but risking the front lines again would not be worth it at this time.
Edit:
Pessimist or the one who is always right in the end
Do we have a potential line to aim for should a mass breakout prove possible/actually end up happening? We're looking for somewhere equally defendable and preferably shorter than the line we have now, just further north?
Of course you're a pessimist, you were so down on the op Kurt Sürüsü before it was made
It's not a bad thing to be a pessimist anyway I'm proposing to not give up the reclaimed ground this time, and capture more divisions. We'll probe here, we'll probe there, at one point we'll be able to make a big breakthrough to break their backbone. What could be achieved by sitting and letting them decide what happens next when we can at least try to shape the narrative ourselves?
VUR HA!
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Of course you're a pessimist, you were so down on the op Kurt Sürüsü before it was made
But what did it achieve? I know we were all surprised and pleased enemy didn't do anything effective whilst we were advancing but when retreating, we got shot up a bunch of times and german tanks are at our door, instead of hundreds of miles away. This might only be answerable in a retrospective after the war but I'm not sure we actually achieved anything of note outside of morale boosting and freaking out the Nazis. And subsequently potentially having them coming down on us hard.
Where? A new line might be an idea but your own concepts earlier about a Romanian defence state that we can't hold a long continuous line for long and doing this would make it longer. Unless it is to be the new first stage line, before a retreat back to the old line and the new Romanian defences?
The probing and eventual breakout would probably happen given the game and all but in universe seems a little wasteful, and of course we don't know yet what army the Axis are going to leave on our line whilst the go invade Romania. If they leave heavy tanks and loads of airplanes, we might as well stick to the lines.
The whole idea of our war plan is distracting the Axis just enough to keep them slightly off kilter when attacking the Russians, giving the men time and space to build a massive force to curb stomp the german army. If we make too much of a nuisance however, the Axis will crush us first and we won't have any way of stopping them until, hopefully, they hit the solid defences we set around Greece and Istanbul. Them wasting time going after Romania is a much better thing for us and the Russians than them pounding their way to Moscow immediately or, if they were actually smart, cushing us first, at least in Europe.
I will amend this however. Should it come to pass that our lines hold, the Germans go back to russia and commit fully, or nearly fully, and get bogged down fighting somewhere out east, then we should attempt a breakout, raids, whatever you wish. Because then they not only can take fight back but it damages their war machine too. Right no way though, everyone including us isn't best served by us reinforcing the line and sticking to it. Either the Germans leave a large force their to pin us down, and thus pin them down too, or they slowly go back to Russia. At which point, we can plan further moves. But not Noel. Not for a month at least, and planning beyond a months time at this stage when the fronts are changing by the hour? Foolish. Especially since we are gambling the defence of the realm on it.
In essence, if you can argue a plan after we know the situation and we have details both of the plan and where it can go, then yeah sure. There's value in someone always coming up with new offensives even whilst a defensive is both in progress and needed. Right now however, we need to reform and recompose, not strike out again immediately. That is exactly what the Axis expects us to do because it is exactly what the french in this timeline did. And we are currently running from the guy who beat them at it. Wait for a little. And once we know what is going on, we can do something.
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