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In Flames

0000 June 22nd 1944
The skies above Amiens

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British passengers flying British airplanes should know that they aren't allowed to roam freely through German-controlled territory without German passports.​

0100 June 22nd 1944
Argentan, Northern France

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Three hours into the battle, the odds seemed to be in favour of the German divisions. General Hausser could only hope the Americans didn't want to move any of their divisions to Argentan in time for him to defeat the present ones first.​

0300 June 22nd 1944
Ismail, Romania

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The Soviets wanted to attack Ismail once again. They would try to hold and call a flanking attack on Beltsy one hour later; eighteen understrenght divisions would attempt to distract the Soviets for a while.​

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All ground battles did not look really good. Warsawian troops would occupy Torun soon; Cherbourg garrison was about to surrender; Argentan was not likely to switch ownership any soon; a Paris uprising was the only battle being easily fought by the Germans; defense of Ismail seemed not that certain, and the attack on Beltsy lacked any strenght to overcome its defenders.​

1300 June 22nd 1944
Cherbourg, Northern France

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After two days of uninterrupted fighting, three decimated German divisions surrendered to the Americans in Cherbourg. They would be revenged as they fought frantically even when they knew their fate was sealed.​

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As night approached, it was clear that the two attacks on Beltsy and Argentan could not be sustained. Troops in Ismail were not relieved at all and have been forced to fall back; Argentan would not change ownership, and Eisenhower would live another day. It was not a bright day for Germany, but at least it was another day where Germany was still alive.​
 
You should try to achieve peace in the east soon.... You have no chance in stopping the red army before it's already too late.
Die Dämmerung der Götte :rofl:
I hope we won't see any battle of Berlin.... ;)

Es war ein Befehl, ja ja! Achtung, ein Panzerwagen! Ja ja! :rofl:

Just don't let the bolschewiks steal your oil in Romania. ;)
 
Enewald said:
I hope we won't see any battle of Berlin.... ;)

Hardly, but I guess we'll see the 2nd Battle of Moscow :D
 
HKslan - I wasn't too much optimistic about that battle either. My divisions need more reinforcements before any serious counter-attack can be concerted.

Fernando Torres - Thanks. French partisans still have a long way ahead of them before they can hope to kick the Germans out of France, or even Paris.

SouthCarolinian - France will be 'freed' or not I cannot know yet. It could've been a lot worse if Germany was AI controlled, for sure.

Enewald - Peace in my dictionary is when either warring nation is annexed. There we can say 'peace' because there's no one to fight anymore. Ploesti's oil will remain in German... er, Romanian hands for many months to come for sure.

Winner - Battle of Berlin is unlikely, though possible. 2nd Battle of Moscow, who knows :)

Update to come.
 
In Flames

0200 June 23rd 1944
The skies above Luxembourg

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Air General Bülowius thought Luxembourg was a tiny place where nothing would ever happen. He was about to know that June 23rd would be one of the bloodiest day to be ever remembered, if not the only, in Luxembourg. Several Allied bombers with escorts faced not-so well equipped eight Luftwaffe squadrons but still capable of doing some serious damage. One sure thing was, the Allies were far from achieving total Air superiority over the Reich.​


0600 June 23rd 1944
Those very same skies above Luxembourg

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It was clear that the battle was swinging in Axis' favor, and it was once again the demonstration that the Allies took the very light conception of thinking they were walking upon a dead carcass. Nothing could be more wrong.

In the East, retreats were still undergoing, and Soviet bombers were busy trying to damage German divisions. Fortunately for them, they were quite used to digging in and facing overwhelming odds; a few planes would not scare them.​

1200 June 23rd 1944
The Skies above Orléans

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Four Luftwaffe squadrons faced equal numbers, but not equal quality. The South African nation would have another day in which to mourn his heroes.​
.

1400 June 23rd 1944
15. Armee Headquarters, Le Havre, France

Hausser knew they would sooner or later strike, and for this reason he deemed any aggressive operations with the current state of his forces as highly risky. The failed attack on Argentan was one of those risks he wouldn't play again; this time, he wanted to lure the Allies where he wanted to; he just was unsure where they would attack.​

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Ten fully motorized American divisions attacked seven battered German divisions led by General Blaskowitz in Le Havre. Summer long daylight wouldn't help them, but it wasn't exactly a walkover for American troops, as they were also facing a frontline Gen. Ringel had ideally conceived to face unequal odds: the river separating the two sides did not help the Americans at all, and this was desperately needed to buy time and bring 'fresh' - if anything was 'fresh' after five years of uninterrupted war - troops to support the German defenders.

General Hausser, informed about the situation, decided to help the odds a bit.

"Will they ever learn, Americans. They could free the whole Southern France unopposed, free thousands of partisans and bring us a lot more trouble than wanting a trench-like bloodshed across a river! If that's what they want, we'll gladly satisfy them." He thought so while looking at a map and his divisions.​

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I. SS-Panzerkorps led by Lt. Gen. Balck would leave the City of Lights for Le Havre. Though severely understrenght, they could still face a lot of trouble and were the fastest help Le Havre could receive at midnight of that very same day.

Abs. Niederlande led by Lt. Gen. von Falkenhausen was already en route to Paris, but it would steer a bit in direction of Le Havre. it would arrive by 0900 of the following day.​

0000 June 24 1944
15. Armee Headquarters, Le Havre, France

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Either the Americans were already tired after just sixteen hours of fighting, or the arrival of several shiny Panthers led by Lt. Gen. Balck was just too much for their weak hearts. Or their commander was a prudent one. Either way, German troops saved another bloodshed on their part. Dawn would see another day arising, more reinforcements flowing, more hopes for Germany.​
 
Do you plan to protect southern France at all? I think it's just a matter of time before the Allies attack you there.
 
Am I going nuts or I see Hs-129 used as interceptors against the US bombers? :confused:
 
Good thing you managed to win in Le Havre, that stabilised the front a bit.

Losing Le Havre would have been a disaster, looking at the current situation at the Western Front.
 
Hopefully this'll be the extent of their advance now that they've caught up with your retreat. The first step towards throwing them back into the ocean. :D It's amazing to think they could cover that much ground in 4 days.
 
Winner - There's only one hole in southern France now actually, and if the Allies expand there they would be cut out so they won't.

Kurt_Steiner - Sadly, you are right. Heeresgruppe West and some others are made of Interceptors and CAS and Tacs, and I haven't broken them yet. That's why when I send them to ground attack missions you find some Interceptors that should not be there, and when I send them to Air Superiority missions you see some CAS that shouldn't belong to that kind of mission. I will organize them in a better fashion when things calm down in the West and I can pay the organizational hurt of breaking divisions.

EvilSanta - Someone else lost Paris and all the way up to the borders of Belgium but still managed to push them back to the ocean. Sure thing is that keeping Le Havre also means keeping a strong defensive position.

HKslan - I expect them to expand a little more, but revenge will come. Territory occupation is not that realistic either, just think at real-life 1994 where it still wasn't a real walkover for the Allies even if fighting against a handful of battered Wehrmacht divisions.

Update is coming.
 
In Flames

0100 June 24th 1944
III. Panzerkorps Headquarters, Stryj, Romania

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Stryj was under attack again. The two commanders of the Eastern Theater, von Rundstedt and von Manstein, knew that Stryj would have been a focal point, and one of vital importance. And it was for that reason that they endorsed the appointment of Field Marshal Model to III. Panzerkorps. Model would command his five divisions, and try to pay the Soviets dearly as they would know his defensive tactics very soon.

That was an impossible task even for a capable commader like Model, but Stryj was not one piece of land that they would happily give up to the Soviets. III. SS Panzerkorps would come to Model's aid, as nothing else could be spared, but it wouldn't arrive before two days of intense combat.​

1400 June 24th 1944
Orléans, France

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Eisenhower could not be encircled but Hausser had other reasons for attacking Orléans. Also, attacking him would expose that division to Luftwaffe bombers better, and so he ordered the attack for eleven divisions. Eisenhower would be the new Custer from that day. More than one hundred thousand Gerries assaulted his position defended by some thousand soldiers, and it should've not been a pleasant sight for the brave but foolish American general.

He was just too lucky he could count on fast units. Eight hours later into the battle, three more American divisions would join in.​

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It was a collateral effect Hausser knew and wanted. Bringing American troops to Orléans would mean extending their frontline further; he wanted them to repulse the German attack and attack further deep in French territory.​

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With three more American divisions joining the battle, seven in total, Hausser was satisfied enough and ordered General Burgdorf to stop the attack. His first part of the plan was complete, and so would end this day on the Western front.​

0900 June 25th 1944
III. Panzerkorps Headquarters, Stryj, Romania

It was the dawn of a new day and Von Rundstedt was amazed when, reading the report he was given, he could testify that Model was attempting a counterattack with twenty-four, regimental-status divisions against forty-six fully supplied Soviet divisions. The genius of such generals.​

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III. SS Panzerkorps would still take another day to come, however, and the battle outcome was critically swinging to utter defeat.​

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Apart from the battle of Stryj, another battle was onging, and it was that of Torun. The Polish insurgents had the incredible gift of being attacked and being able at the same time of occupying another territory, thus avoiding defeat every time.

As if this weren't enough, the Soviets wanted to get in touch with those insurgents.​

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Lublin was under attack, and a heavy one. Four divisions could not really stand a horde of nineteen Soviet divisions. Von Rundstedt had no other choice but order General Jacob's 9 divisions of 9. Panzerarmee to support Lublin defense. He did not want to desert Brest-Litovsk as it could've been a nightmare for the Soviets to get the city, but he couldn't do otherwise.​
 
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Eastern Front is coming down in flames. I hope you can survive the onslaught until your western troops are freed.
 
EvilSanta - I'm not too sure I will be able to survive the Russian horde. At this difficulty level you do get a 20% IC penalty and also a small -5.00 penalty in combat. I am confident I will be able to hold the line one way or another, though.

HKslan - Hitler will not know a thing about how the war is progressing, now. Sure, he can only think the Reich is still alive till the Russians/Americans would find his new location.

Update.
 
In flames

0400 June 26th 1944
6. Armee Headquarters, Tulcea, Romania

Von Manstein had discussed this with his colleague von Rundstedt. The Soviets had occupied Ismail some hours ago, and Axis forces in the theatre were deemed sufficient for a counterattack.​

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"Get me von Brauchitsch" he ordered. Minutes later, he was in contact with von Brauchitsch, one of the highest ranking officiers in Romania.

"Brauchitsch. I want to tell those damned Soviets we're not dead yet. Our Ally must be protected, and we can weaken some of their divisions without exposing ours to much risk. Order the attack with every single division available. If the Soviets bring additional divisions, do not interrupt the attack until our forces suffer substantial casualties."

"Jawohl!" von Brauchitsch wanted to add something more, but von Manstein interrupted the conversation as soon as he finished talking. Von Brauchitsch was anyways too satisfied with his orders. His fifty-five divisions would fight against eight Soviet divisions. Just the kind of Blitzkrieg German commanders loved.​

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One hour later, fifty-five German divisions began pounding their adversaries with bullets and cannon balls.​

1500 June 26th 1944
III. Panzerkorps Headquarters, Stryj, Poland

Model was a true genius of defensive tactics. Only him could withstand sixty Soviet divisions with his twenty-seven battle-hardened and battered divisions and organize a delaying action. How long he could still hold it was not known, but he probably had to retreat sooner or later.​

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No further division could be spared to his help.​

1600 June 26th 1944
The skies above Orléans

American aircraft chose the wrong place at the wrong time for the wrong reason. Simply put, they encountered Luftwaffe interceptors once again. Chief of Staff Ringel had to withdraw every squadron from the East to reinforce the Western theater, but the Allies wouldn't know that, and would think that the Germans still had so much potential after five years of battering.​

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They would know it the hard way, but they wouldn't be able to tell this secret to their children. Few of them would come home alive that evening.​

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As night fell upon Europe, many battles were still undergoing. The Soviets reinforced Ismail with four further division, but this did not worry Brauchitsch at all, at least for now. In Radom Polish insurgents were still being fought; Lublin was still being contested: despite the arrival of nine divisions from Brest-Litovsk, the Soviets had better organization and better numbers than those of their German counterparts.

Zamosc was being also attacked, but this wasn't a real concer; Stryj would be a problem for a long time, and so would be Russian bombings. This time, however, it was the Luftwaffe bombing the Americans in Orléans, and the American were slowly but steadily paying their death toll. Hausser wanted to wait a bit more before calling a counter-attack.​
 
the situation is looking bad... right about now the Soviets seem unstoppable... :(