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I never cease to be amazed at how far you've come as Norway. Shame that in DD with that silly new mil control rule, this would be impossible 
Still, not sure if I've commented before, but I have enjoyed this AAR immensely. Thought I'd add myself to the pack
Still, not sure if I've commented before, but I have enjoyed this AAR immensely. Thought I'd add myself to the pack
Lord E: ...the Allied were well equipped and rested and they were welcomed all around as liberators and heroes by the local people.
that sure is good for morale ! !
Lord E: ...In the south the Allies were having more difficulties...When the French forces under General Gamelin overextended themselves during the first attack and were caught in the killing-fields among the concrete fortifications the French suffered large casualties...
bummer ! ! the French did not deserve that ! !
Lord E: ...for most Allied soldiers on the front the setback at Leningrad didn’t matter much, they were still moving forward and several of the troops in the northern advance would starting saying that they were in a race for Leningrad and that it seemed like the ones with the longest way would be the first to get there...
it is strange, but sometimes it happens. those with the longest to go have the least opposition, and therefore win the prize ! !
magnificent update ! !
that sure is good for morale ! !
Lord E: ...In the south the Allies were having more difficulties...When the French forces under General Gamelin overextended themselves during the first attack and were caught in the killing-fields among the concrete fortifications the French suffered large casualties...
bummer ! ! the French did not deserve that ! !
Lord E: ...for most Allied soldiers on the front the setback at Leningrad didn’t matter much, they were still moving forward and several of the troops in the northern advance would starting saying that they were in a race for Leningrad and that it seemed like the ones with the longest way would be the first to get there...
it is strange, but sometimes it happens. those with the longest to go have the least opposition, and therefore win the prize ! !
magnificent update ! !
El Pip Well it is especially the French vs. everyone else that are creating troubles, but as you shall see in the next update there were both British and American commanders on the French side in this matter, so I guess one can say it is internal problems
Mopping up is a good word for the operations I guess, as for the post-world war you will see…
Mettermrck Yeah, that would have been a possibility¨
Chief Ragusa Thanks. The operation is progressing pretty fine and as you say the Allied intelligence are were clever he he as for Leningrad there is more info coming right up
Murmurandus Indeed they would…
Alexus Thanks, very nice to hear you have enjoyed the story. Of course the control option helped on the way, but one uses what one can to stay alive….
General Jac Oh that might be correct, butt hen again some of these British generals were born during the 1800s and the high days of the Empire so they might have got some ”ideas” from their fathers and older friends
stnylan Indeed, setbacks happen. And of course friends like the French might create some trouble sometimes…
GhostWriter Thanks, glad to hear you enjoyed it!
All I know that the update schedule of this AAR has been less than good during the past months, but things have been busy and I have had little time o write. But as there is only one year of game time I promise you I will see this project through until the end. It might take some time, but we shall see 1948 also
Now I have a new update ready for you all, so I hope you will enjoy it during the Easter.
Mopping up is a good word for the operations I guess, as for the post-world war you will see…
Mettermrck Yeah, that would have been a possibility
¨Chief Ragusa Thanks. The operation is progressing pretty fine and as you say the Allied intelligence are were clever
he he as for Leningrad there is more info coming right upMurmurandus Indeed they would…
Alexus Thanks, very nice to hear you have enjoyed the story. Of course the control option helped on the way, but one uses what one can to stay alive….
General Jac Oh that might be correct, butt hen again some of these British generals were born during the 1800s and the high days of the Empire so they might have got some ”ideas” from their fathers and older friends
stnylan Indeed, setbacks happen. And of course friends like the French might create some trouble sometimes…
GhostWriter Thanks, glad to hear you enjoyed it!
All I know that the update schedule of this AAR has been less than good during the past months, but things have been busy and I have had little time o write. But as there is only one year of game time I promise you I will see this project through until the end. It might take some time, but we shall see 1948 also
Now I have a new update ready for you all, so I hope you will enjoy it during the Easter.
Leningrad
After the disaster of the first attack on Leningrad there were several in the Allied High Command that spoke of leaving Leningrad alone and instead of attempting a second attack one would starve the city into surrender. With both Montgomery and Ruge away from the frontline due to a conference in Berlin with the Allied political leaders it was left to the American General Eisenhower to try to convince the Allied High Command that starving Leningrad was not the way to do it, but that instead one should attack once more. The other side in the debate were spearheaded by General Weygand of France and the British General Wilson, these two had seen the destruction of the Allied forces outside Leningrad from the frontline and they were determined to make sure it would never happen again. Unable to get the different opinions to agree to a common course of action Eisenhower had to telephone Ruge in Berlin and tell him that the Allied High Command was unable to agree and that instead the generals were just quarrelling. It was then Ruge answered. ”Damn them…. What are we soldiers or politicians? Give O’Connor the green light, but keep those bloody French in the dark will you…”
Within the next couple of weeks the army of General O’Connor was preparing to attempt a second attack, but because of the French reluctance of another attack O’Connor needed to keep all the preparations away from the French forces in his army, and it was also necessary to keep some of the American and British commanders in the dark, but luckily for O’Connor most of the Anglo-American sceptics of a second attack were posted far from Leningrad and had their own frontlines to worry about. Especially the British General Wilson had been a strong defender of the siege idea, but as Wilson was currently busy with mopping up Soviet forces deep into Central-Asia and Siberia there was little danger of Wilson getting to hear about O’ Connor’s second attack before the attack had ended, one way or another.
The British commander of the Leningrad attack, General Sir Richard Nugent O'Connor. He had to plan the second attack in secret to avoid the anti-attack fraction of the Allied High Command stopping him from attacking
O’Connor was determined that the second attack wouldn’t fail like the first one had done and therefore the brought up even more artillery, air support, bombers and perhaps most importantly he managed to convince the Norwegian Admiral Diesen, in command of the Allied Baltic Squadron, to promise to send his ships as close to the shore as possible. This would further increase the air support from the carriers, but perhaps most importantly the ten battleships Diesen had under his command would be able to shell Soviet positions at the request of the ground forces. Having worked with the navy in Italy O’Connor knew all to well how devastating naval artillery could be, and this was something the Soviets would soon learn.
One of the battleships of the Baltic Squadron firing a broadside towards the Soviet defenders in Leningrad
Inside the Leningrad pocket Soviet Field Marshal Bogdanov started to feel the horror of naval artillery on the 14th of January 1948, this was the day that O’Connor had decided to begin shelling the Soviet positions around Leningrad. Trying to avoid shelling the city itself the artillery both from land, air and sea poured down mainly on the Soviet positions around the city and in the suburbs. Still Bogdanov had several artillery shells hit close to his headquarter and the Soviet Field Marshal almost broke down under the stress and the sound of the incoming shells. The Allied shelling went on and on for days, determined not leave many Soviets left alive in their positions and bunkers O’Connor had decided to shell Leningrad for 3 full days before sending the army forward.
Allied artillery strike in Leningrad January 1948
During the night between the 16th and 17th of January the Allied infantry, tanks and motorized vehicles moved into positions, the Soviet forces couldn’t hear the movement due to the shelling from the Allied artillery and therefore when the first tanks rushed forward and broke through the Soviet positions in the early hours of the 17th the Soviet forces were taken by surprise. Many Red Army soldiers surrendered during the first hours of the battle due to the sheer horror of the Allied might and numbers. Many also screamed for the shelling to stop, and some just sat there looking shocked. There were many different ways shell-shock had hit the Soviet soldiers, but in one way or another most of the Soviet defenders were shell-shocked. But as the Allied soldiers broke through he first lines the fight tot harder. Due to O’Connor’s reluctance of destroying the city of Leningrad the second and third line of Soviet defenders had been less hit by Allied shelling and therefore they fought back much harder. It was during the 5th day of the battle when the fighting was extremely hard that General Weygand arrive at O’Connor’s HQ screaming of betrayal, and demanding an answer to why O’Connor had moved his forces forward and attack. Replying coldly O’Connor stated:
”I am doing my duty and fulfilling my orders…. If you want you can join me and we can both fulfil our orders to capture Leningrad, or else I must insist that you leave monsieur Weygand!”
Shocked by the cold and clear words from O’Connor Weygand stood still for a long time then he bowed his head and nodded. One hour alter also the French forces joined the battle. Attacking from the one side where the Soviets were not awaiting an attack, they French managed to flank the third line defenders and this created chaos in the Soviet defences. The NKVD had promised Bogdanov that the French wouldn’t take part in the battle due of their resistance of a second battle and therefore the Soviet line was very weak in front of the French positions. This was now what ultimately would being the Soviet surrender, as they French broke their flanks the Soviet soldiers started surrendering in their thousands, and by nightfall on the 21st of January 1948 Field Marshal Bogdanov was taken to O’Connor’s headquarter to deliver the official surrender of Leningrad. The city was in Allied hands.
After the disaster of the first attack on Leningrad there were several in the Allied High Command that spoke of leaving Leningrad alone and instead of attempting a second attack one would starve the city into surrender. With both Montgomery and Ruge away from the frontline due to a conference in Berlin with the Allied political leaders it was left to the American General Eisenhower to try to convince the Allied High Command that starving Leningrad was not the way to do it, but that instead one should attack once more. The other side in the debate were spearheaded by General Weygand of France and the British General Wilson, these two had seen the destruction of the Allied forces outside Leningrad from the frontline and they were determined to make sure it would never happen again. Unable to get the different opinions to agree to a common course of action Eisenhower had to telephone Ruge in Berlin and tell him that the Allied High Command was unable to agree and that instead the generals were just quarrelling. It was then Ruge answered. ”Damn them…. What are we soldiers or politicians? Give O’Connor the green light, but keep those bloody French in the dark will you…”
Within the next couple of weeks the army of General O’Connor was preparing to attempt a second attack, but because of the French reluctance of another attack O’Connor needed to keep all the preparations away from the French forces in his army, and it was also necessary to keep some of the American and British commanders in the dark, but luckily for O’Connor most of the Anglo-American sceptics of a second attack were posted far from Leningrad and had their own frontlines to worry about. Especially the British General Wilson had been a strong defender of the siege idea, but as Wilson was currently busy with mopping up Soviet forces deep into Central-Asia and Siberia there was little danger of Wilson getting to hear about O’ Connor’s second attack before the attack had ended, one way or another.
The British commander of the Leningrad attack, General Sir Richard Nugent O'Connor. He had to plan the second attack in secret to avoid the anti-attack fraction of the Allied High Command stopping him from attacking
O’Connor was determined that the second attack wouldn’t fail like the first one had done and therefore the brought up even more artillery, air support, bombers and perhaps most importantly he managed to convince the Norwegian Admiral Diesen, in command of the Allied Baltic Squadron, to promise to send his ships as close to the shore as possible. This would further increase the air support from the carriers, but perhaps most importantly the ten battleships Diesen had under his command would be able to shell Soviet positions at the request of the ground forces. Having worked with the navy in Italy O’Connor knew all to well how devastating naval artillery could be, and this was something the Soviets would soon learn.
One of the battleships of the Baltic Squadron firing a broadside towards the Soviet defenders in Leningrad
Inside the Leningrad pocket Soviet Field Marshal Bogdanov started to feel the horror of naval artillery on the 14th of January 1948, this was the day that O’Connor had decided to begin shelling the Soviet positions around Leningrad. Trying to avoid shelling the city itself the artillery both from land, air and sea poured down mainly on the Soviet positions around the city and in the suburbs. Still Bogdanov had several artillery shells hit close to his headquarter and the Soviet Field Marshal almost broke down under the stress and the sound of the incoming shells. The Allied shelling went on and on for days, determined not leave many Soviets left alive in their positions and bunkers O’Connor had decided to shell Leningrad for 3 full days before sending the army forward.
Allied artillery strike in Leningrad January 1948
During the night between the 16th and 17th of January the Allied infantry, tanks and motorized vehicles moved into positions, the Soviet forces couldn’t hear the movement due to the shelling from the Allied artillery and therefore when the first tanks rushed forward and broke through the Soviet positions in the early hours of the 17th the Soviet forces were taken by surprise. Many Red Army soldiers surrendered during the first hours of the battle due to the sheer horror of the Allied might and numbers. Many also screamed for the shelling to stop, and some just sat there looking shocked. There were many different ways shell-shock had hit the Soviet soldiers, but in one way or another most of the Soviet defenders were shell-shocked. But as the Allied soldiers broke through he first lines the fight tot harder. Due to O’Connor’s reluctance of destroying the city of Leningrad the second and third line of Soviet defenders had been less hit by Allied shelling and therefore they fought back much harder. It was during the 5th day of the battle when the fighting was extremely hard that General Weygand arrive at O’Connor’s HQ screaming of betrayal, and demanding an answer to why O’Connor had moved his forces forward and attack. Replying coldly O’Connor stated:
”I am doing my duty and fulfilling my orders…. If you want you can join me and we can both fulfil our orders to capture Leningrad, or else I must insist that you leave monsieur Weygand!”
Shocked by the cold and clear words from O’Connor Weygand stood still for a long time then he bowed his head and nodded. One hour alter also the French forces joined the battle. Attacking from the one side where the Soviets were not awaiting an attack, they French managed to flank the third line defenders and this created chaos in the Soviet defences. The NKVD had promised Bogdanov that the French wouldn’t take part in the battle due of their resistance of a second battle and therefore the Soviet line was very weak in front of the French positions. This was now what ultimately would being the Soviet surrender, as they French broke their flanks the Soviet soldiers started surrendering in their thousands, and by nightfall on the 21st of January 1948 Field Marshal Bogdanov was taken to O’Connor’s headquarter to deliver the official surrender of Leningrad. The city was in Allied hands.
This AAR looks interesting, but many of the earlier pictures are missing, as I am just starting this it makes things confusing. Could you fix them?
Anyways this AAR looks good, glad to see Norway put to it's rightful place.
Could you fix them?Anyways this AAR looks good, glad to see Norway put to it's rightful place.
Good on Ruge! Left to dithering Dwight allied forces would be still be doing nothing but twiddling their thumbs. The attack itself, that's the way 'shock and awe' should work. Good of the French to join in after the battle had already been decided.
Dwight is perhaps slightly over-rated and certainly indecisive. He does need some Norwegian steel to give him backbone.
I wasn’t aware of that, thanks for telling me. It seems like imageshack has deleted some of my oldest pictures, so I will see what I can do to alter that. It might take some days as I need to upload the pictures again and also it seems like the server is acting a bit strange these days. A lot of new members and posters I guess, normal procedure every time Paradox launches a new gameMaj. von Mauser said:This AAR looks interesting, but many of the earlier pictures are missing, as I am just starting this it makes things confusing.
Anyways this AAR looks good, glad to see Norway put to it's rightful place.
A little irritating , but it is nice to see the fan base expanding…
Nice to hear that you think it looks interesting, I will do my best to try to fix the pictures as soon as possible. I have done the first page today and will see if I can get the second one done tomorrow…
Maj. von Mauser I am pretty sure I have fixed the picture problem now. Went through eh first 40 pages earlier today and they seemed to work fine now after I had done some editing. So I hope you will enjoy reading the AAR from the early beginning with pictures. Also I hope you will tell me if you find any more missing pictures
Chief Ragusa Yes, it worked out very fine. Attacking hard and determined is normally a fine strategy
Murmurandus Finally indeed. But now we move forward to take care off Helsinki
General Jac Indeed, you are very correct. It is just about to be finished in a couple of moments
stnylan Thanks. Although I am unable to update as much and often as I want too, I am still able to keep it running
All I have a new update almost ready and Ill get it posted pretty soon. This update will be the last one where we see hostilities in Western-Soviet Union, but they still occupied enormous areas so there is still a lot of fighting and moving ahead
Chief Ragusa Yes, it worked out very fine. Attacking hard and determined is normally a fine strategy
Murmurandus Finally indeed. But now we move forward to take care off Helsinki
General Jac Indeed, you are very correct. It is just about to be finished in a couple of moments
stnylan Thanks. Although I am unable to update as much and often as I want too, I am still able to keep it running
All I have a new update almost ready and Ill get it posted pretty soon. This update will be the last one where we see hostilities in Western-Soviet Union, but they still occupied enormous areas so there is still a lot of fighting and moving ahead
The liberation of Finland
After the city of Leningrad fell to the Allied forces after several failed attempts there was few Soviet forces left in the European parts of the Soviet Union capable to putting up any real resistance against the Allied armies. The few real Red Army divisions that still posed a danger were all positioned in southern-Finland, but as they were cut off from supplies, munitions and reinforcements they didn’t really stand much of a chance in the long run. Due to constant pressure from the Norwegian forces closing in on Helsinki from the west and the British closing in from the east the Red Army forces were tired, sick and many had already deserted to the Allied forces in hopes of getting better treatment by the Allies than they did from their political commissars. Although the Soviet Union still controlled most of Southern-Finland in early January 1948 this was about to change.
The situation in Finland early January 1948
After a short break in the fighting over Christmas and New Year 1947 as January kicked in with its short, dark and icy cold days Montgomery had made it very clear to his commanders on the ground that he wanted to see all of Finland in Allied hands by March. Even more confident of victory was his second in command, the Norwegian General Otto Ruge, Ruge stated on a conference held in Mikkeli on the 7th of January that he was sure that the soldiers would be able to take Helsinki by the end of January. This was something the Finnish resistance and government leader Field Marshal and President Mannerheim fully agreed on. Having urged the Finnish people to rise up and aid the Allied soldiers during the entire campaign Mannerheim was very proud each time his Finnish forces could deliver a town into Allied hands. As more and more Finnish soldiers and veterans joined Mannerheim’s forces every day the Finnish had been given their own positions on the eastern flank of the Norwegian advancing armies. Although Mannerheim and his forces aided the Allies there were some who didn’t forget his reluctance to join the Allies in their struggle against Germany and that fact that the Field Marshal had supported the Germans in their struggle against the Soviet Union, still as the Finnish had never taken up weapon against the Allies this was something most Allied soldiers didn’t even know or care about, but due to the past Mannerheim wasn’t fully trusted by the other Allied generals.
Field Marshal Carl Gustav Mannerheim, leader of the Finnish government, supreme commander of all Finnish forces and leader of the Finnish resistance. He was of great aid to the Allies, although some didn’t trust him because of his past support of the German war against the Soviet Union
Helsinki was the main Allied goal in Finland, and to secure the city the Allies had two main frontlines. The Norwegian forces were attacking along the Finnish west coast, while the British were attacking in the eastern interior provinces. Also after the fall of Leningrad some divisions were sent northwards from Leningrad to attack against the city form the south. Although the main forces were Norwegian and British there were also a large number of American divisions participating both on the Norwegian and the British front as well as some French divisions. Also the Finnish forces of Mannerheim also played an important role.
When Tampere and its important airport fell to the British on the 15th of January the two forces linked up to continued together towards Helsinki. Leaving some divisions in Tampere and brining in more and more air support by the day the armoured forces were raced to the southwest to liberate Turku after the Soviet commander there had surrendered to the Norwegian commander General Fleischer. With Turku freed from Soviet forces Fleischer was urged by the Norwegian government in Oslo to look west. The Finish island of Åland was still occupied by the Red Army, and the Swedish government was urging Oslo to tell their generals to free the island. Although the island was Finnish it was mainly inhabited by Swedish people and people of Swedish descendants, also the fact that the Red Army controlled the strategic important island not to far from the Swedish coast was not something that they enjoyed in Stockholm.
Fleischer didn’t really think well about the Swedish interference in the Norwegian government and the Allied operations. Furious over the political interference and his lost chance to take Helsinki made him scream to the Norwegian Minister of Defence, Jens Christian Hauge, that he wouldn’t stop at Åland he would continued westwards until his armoured forces occupied Stockholm. Hauge, although pretty new in the role as Minister of Defence, knew Fleischer from before and didn’t really care much for the general’s hard words, the fact that Hauge had been leader of the Norwegian resistance during the German occupation of Stavanger and also the man who had delivered the Norwegian declaration of war to Molotov he was used to being under pressure and dealing with people that talked though.
Norwegian Minister of Defence Jens Christian Hauge didn’t take General Fleischer’s threats about occupying Stockholm very serious
As it turned out Åland was liberated on the 20th of January after a quick naval bombardment and an amphibious assault, although Fleischer didn’t continue west he instead quickly left behind a garrison and sent his forces east again hoping to be able to play a role at Helsinki.
However the Allied generals had no intentions of waiting until Fleischer had finished at Åland, instead they pushed forward. Inside of Helsinki Soviet Field Marshal Chistyakov could feel the Allied presence increase every hour. Having originally control all of Southern-Finland, now the Field Marshal only control Helsinki city centre.
Scenes from downtown Helsinki January 1948.
The city of Helsinki had changed hands several times during the last years. It had been invaded by the Soviets twice, it was now about to be liberated by the Allied forces, but the city had suffered hard during the wars and much reconstruction was needed after the war.
On the early morning of the 21st of January 1948 Helsinki was yet again subjugated to bombing as Allied air forces started a barrage on the Soviet positions in the city, after one hour of bombardment the Allied navies also join in sending their shells into the Soviet positions, the bombardment lasted for three hours and while the Soviet soldiers tried to find cover and his from the deathly shells the Allied forces moved into positions, when the bombardment halted the Allied had already penetrated the Soviet lines and soon the northern and western suburbs of Helsinki had fallen to Allied forces. Seeing that the Allies were coming also inside of the city centre fighting started as the Finnish resistance rose up and started to fight the Soviets, facing hostile forces from all sides and also from inside the city the Soviet commanders started to panic. Having nowhere to run all they could do was pray for darkness and the fighting to end. Due to the short days the Allies were unable to move into central Helsinki during the 21st of January, but when the fighting died down due to nightfall the Allies controlled all the suburbs and several blocks inside of central Helsinki. On several fronts the Allied forces had also linked up with the Finnish resistance. It looked like all would be over within the next couple of days unless the Red Army could perform a miracle.
As no miracle happened and the Soviet commanders had no way of contacting the Soviet leadership under Marshal Zhukov currently positioned east of the Ural mountains, Field Marshal Chistyakov as commander of Finland decided to surrender to the Allied forces on the25th of January 1948. Taken to General Wilson’s HQ the Field Marshal signed the unconditional surrender of all Red Army forces in Finland on the 25th of January and the hostilities would end on the 26th of January 1948.
The situation in Northern-Europe and Western-Russia on the 25th of January 1948. The fighting in Helsinki was about to end as the Soviets commanders in Finland had signed the surrender and all hostilities in Finland would end on the early hours of the 26th
After Helsinki was secured and the twelve Soviet divisions remaining in Helsinki surrender on the 26th of January the Allies now control all of Finland and Western-Russia. With the destruction of the Red Army forces in Helsinki the Soviet Union had no land or forces west of the Ural Mountains. In early February 1948 many Allied soldiers were beginning to ask when Zhukov would surrender.
After the city of Leningrad fell to the Allied forces after several failed attempts there was few Soviet forces left in the European parts of the Soviet Union capable to putting up any real resistance against the Allied armies. The few real Red Army divisions that still posed a danger were all positioned in southern-Finland, but as they were cut off from supplies, munitions and reinforcements they didn’t really stand much of a chance in the long run. Due to constant pressure from the Norwegian forces closing in on Helsinki from the west and the British closing in from the east the Red Army forces were tired, sick and many had already deserted to the Allied forces in hopes of getting better treatment by the Allies than they did from their political commissars. Although the Soviet Union still controlled most of Southern-Finland in early January 1948 this was about to change.
The situation in Finland early January 1948
After a short break in the fighting over Christmas and New Year 1947 as January kicked in with its short, dark and icy cold days Montgomery had made it very clear to his commanders on the ground that he wanted to see all of Finland in Allied hands by March. Even more confident of victory was his second in command, the Norwegian General Otto Ruge, Ruge stated on a conference held in Mikkeli on the 7th of January that he was sure that the soldiers would be able to take Helsinki by the end of January. This was something the Finnish resistance and government leader Field Marshal and President Mannerheim fully agreed on. Having urged the Finnish people to rise up and aid the Allied soldiers during the entire campaign Mannerheim was very proud each time his Finnish forces could deliver a town into Allied hands. As more and more Finnish soldiers and veterans joined Mannerheim’s forces every day the Finnish had been given their own positions on the eastern flank of the Norwegian advancing armies. Although Mannerheim and his forces aided the Allies there were some who didn’t forget his reluctance to join the Allies in their struggle against Germany and that fact that the Field Marshal had supported the Germans in their struggle against the Soviet Union, still as the Finnish had never taken up weapon against the Allies this was something most Allied soldiers didn’t even know or care about, but due to the past Mannerheim wasn’t fully trusted by the other Allied generals.
Field Marshal Carl Gustav Mannerheim, leader of the Finnish government, supreme commander of all Finnish forces and leader of the Finnish resistance. He was of great aid to the Allies, although some didn’t trust him because of his past support of the German war against the Soviet Union
Helsinki was the main Allied goal in Finland, and to secure the city the Allies had two main frontlines. The Norwegian forces were attacking along the Finnish west coast, while the British were attacking in the eastern interior provinces. Also after the fall of Leningrad some divisions were sent northwards from Leningrad to attack against the city form the south. Although the main forces were Norwegian and British there were also a large number of American divisions participating both on the Norwegian and the British front as well as some French divisions. Also the Finnish forces of Mannerheim also played an important role.
When Tampere and its important airport fell to the British on the 15th of January the two forces linked up to continued together towards Helsinki. Leaving some divisions in Tampere and brining in more and more air support by the day the armoured forces were raced to the southwest to liberate Turku after the Soviet commander there had surrendered to the Norwegian commander General Fleischer. With Turku freed from Soviet forces Fleischer was urged by the Norwegian government in Oslo to look west. The Finish island of Åland was still occupied by the Red Army, and the Swedish government was urging Oslo to tell their generals to free the island. Although the island was Finnish it was mainly inhabited by Swedish people and people of Swedish descendants, also the fact that the Red Army controlled the strategic important island not to far from the Swedish coast was not something that they enjoyed in Stockholm.
Fleischer didn’t really think well about the Swedish interference in the Norwegian government and the Allied operations. Furious over the political interference and his lost chance to take Helsinki made him scream to the Norwegian Minister of Defence, Jens Christian Hauge, that he wouldn’t stop at Åland he would continued westwards until his armoured forces occupied Stockholm. Hauge, although pretty new in the role as Minister of Defence, knew Fleischer from before and didn’t really care much for the general’s hard words, the fact that Hauge had been leader of the Norwegian resistance during the German occupation of Stavanger and also the man who had delivered the Norwegian declaration of war to Molotov he was used to being under pressure and dealing with people that talked though.
Norwegian Minister of Defence Jens Christian Hauge didn’t take General Fleischer’s threats about occupying Stockholm very serious
As it turned out Åland was liberated on the 20th of January after a quick naval bombardment and an amphibious assault, although Fleischer didn’t continue west he instead quickly left behind a garrison and sent his forces east again hoping to be able to play a role at Helsinki.
However the Allied generals had no intentions of waiting until Fleischer had finished at Åland, instead they pushed forward. Inside of Helsinki Soviet Field Marshal Chistyakov could feel the Allied presence increase every hour. Having originally control all of Southern-Finland, now the Field Marshal only control Helsinki city centre.
Scenes from downtown Helsinki January 1948.
The city of Helsinki had changed hands several times during the last years. It had been invaded by the Soviets twice, it was now about to be liberated by the Allied forces, but the city had suffered hard during the wars and much reconstruction was needed after the war.
On the early morning of the 21st of January 1948 Helsinki was yet again subjugated to bombing as Allied air forces started a barrage on the Soviet positions in the city, after one hour of bombardment the Allied navies also join in sending their shells into the Soviet positions, the bombardment lasted for three hours and while the Soviet soldiers tried to find cover and his from the deathly shells the Allied forces moved into positions, when the bombardment halted the Allied had already penetrated the Soviet lines and soon the northern and western suburbs of Helsinki had fallen to Allied forces. Seeing that the Allies were coming also inside of the city centre fighting started as the Finnish resistance rose up and started to fight the Soviets, facing hostile forces from all sides and also from inside the city the Soviet commanders started to panic. Having nowhere to run all they could do was pray for darkness and the fighting to end. Due to the short days the Allies were unable to move into central Helsinki during the 21st of January, but when the fighting died down due to nightfall the Allies controlled all the suburbs and several blocks inside of central Helsinki. On several fronts the Allied forces had also linked up with the Finnish resistance. It looked like all would be over within the next couple of days unless the Red Army could perform a miracle.
As no miracle happened and the Soviet commanders had no way of contacting the Soviet leadership under Marshal Zhukov currently positioned east of the Ural mountains, Field Marshal Chistyakov as commander of Finland decided to surrender to the Allied forces on the25th of January 1948. Taken to General Wilson’s HQ the Field Marshal signed the unconditional surrender of all Red Army forces in Finland on the 25th of January and the hostilities would end on the 26th of January 1948.
The situation in Northern-Europe and Western-Russia on the 25th of January 1948. The fighting in Helsinki was about to end as the Soviets commanders in Finland had signed the surrender and all hostilities in Finland would end on the early hours of the 26th
After Helsinki was secured and the twelve Soviet divisions remaining in Helsinki surrender on the 26th of January the Allies now control all of Finland and Western-Russia. With the destruction of the Red Army forces in Helsinki the Soviet Union had no land or forces west of the Ural Mountains. In early February 1948 many Allied soldiers were beginning to ask when Zhukov would surrender.
Shame that Fleischer's "plan" was never put into life, Sweden were in some ways nearly an axis country during the first years of the war.
Are you at the Urals yet btw?
Are you at the Urals yet btw?
He he you have some points there, but remember that the Allies are fighting to save the world from all that is evil, we can’t go around starting war just because we don’t really like the people living thereGeneral Jac said:Shame that Fleischer's "plan" was never put into life, Sweden were in some ways nearly an axis country during the first years of the war.
Are you at the Urals yet btw?
As for the situation on the eastern front this map from the middle of March 1948 should give you some clues I guess, looks nice doesn’t it to see the Norwegian colours having expanded this far?
Yeah, that truly do look nice, even though I must say I've never really liked the Norwegian color scheme. When you reach Sverdlovsk, it will soon be over, just a shame that the terrain in the Soviet far east is horrible, it will probably take a while especially since you do not appear to have any MEC divisions, MTN will probably do though I guess.