I really appreciate the constant updates. You really are an excellent writer, with a pleasantly extensive vocabulary. Looking forward to the next one!
Wald
Wald
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Caught up with the last several updates and very excited excited for the first great push against the Soviets. How do you intend to make use of your nukes in this campaign if you don’t want to drop them on German soil?
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You are too kind!
Well, as the Allied logic worked in Normandy IOTL with it bearing the brunt of the destructive power instead of the majority of Metropolitan France, not all German land is equally valuable and sacrificing a city or two for a victory in the east is not beneath the OKW considering how dire the situation has become....
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Chapter XVIIIa Unternehmen Barbarossa
The night was silent, crossing from the 6th to the 7th of May, 1952. Not a single member of the OKW could wrestle a single hour of sleep from the night's tight embrace, and rightfully so. The Fatherland was about to embark on yet another attack in the East, and not a single soul could help but feel uneasy at the daunting endeavor lying in front of the proud, but fatigued Wehrmacht. Alas, as the 7th of May dawned, the sign was given, and the troops marched in silence, unfolding the largest combined arms operation in the history of warfare once more, Operation Barbarossa. Indeed, it started as most of the successful operations of recent years started, with a combined airborne and amphibious assault, this time in Elbing. It was time for the Prussian armymen to march through East Prussia once more. A lone infantry division in Königsberg could do little but observe the colossal columns of armor disembarking, seeing the futility of an open attack.
Simultaneously, with the break of the dawn, hundreds of thousands of Wehrmacht soldiers left their bunkers and trenches for the first time in almost seven years and charged to the sound of the trumpet and drum. The rebuilt Italian army crashed into the well-prepared defenses of Capodistria, while the Anglo-Flemish-Walloon coalition advanced onto the recently established defense of Maribor. Germany's sons, on the contrary, were tasked with the capture of Freistadt and Linz, the Führer's hometown. The initial assessment of the attacks was less than encouraging, with only the attack on Linz looking positive. However, the day will be surely won by the brave hearts and superior arms of the German Wehrmacht, despite the years of defensive preparations that the Red Army had undertaken.
With a tear in his eye, Wernher von Braun bids a warm farewell to the last of the strategic V2 rocket reserve, unleashing their explosive wrath on the Soviet-held supply depots and railway junctions all along the frontline.
'My Führer, the Reds have committed their reserves, quicker than expected.' Ringel warily stated as he observed the sulking Chancellor at his desk. - 'We may be unable to proceed with the attack. There are more than three million men, along with all sorts of heavy equipment facing us in difficult terrain. Prolonged hostilities will do little but deplete any and all offensive capability we may have accumulated over the years, and bring the survival of the Reich itself into peril!'
Adolf Hitler, a shaking husk of a man he once was, looked not a day younger than eighty. With a slight tremble in his voice, he spat out: 'Are we to posture and cower, now that so much has been lost? If they must, let the few die for the glory of the Reich, their glory will be eternal in the Valhalla! You know what to do. I authorize it. I authorize as many as are needed. Should you fail, I expect you to hand your resignation, Herr Ringel, but not to me. You will be answering to your service pistol. Dismissed.'
Julius Ringel left the room with a decisive step, with a weight of a million lives heavy on his conscience already. A short order was transmitted to the strategic bomber command immediately, and after sufficient confirmations and clearances were received, KG 'Hindenburg' set onto a path of nuclear armageddon, aiming to leave a crater where once the hometown of great Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart once stood. Citizens of Graz will pay the ultimate price that the final German victory requires, and they don't even know it.
Two and a half million Red Army soldiers are reported as casualties immediately after the detonation of the first atomic bomb to be detonated in Austria. The attack on Graz immediately succeeds, as the Soviet lines practically disintegrate in the horror of the explosive might that they had the displeasure of experiencing.
Several hours later, scarcely inhabited Slovenian Alps are also visited by the crews of KG 'Hindenburg', their consciences heavier by almost 650 thousand souls. The Italian attack succeeds, despite the heavy casualties sustained.
From the landing in Elbing, Hausser's panzers reach the outskirts of Warsaw, defended by a lone infantry division. The Soviet line on the Oder is sluggishly organizing a retreat, but the disparity in mobility is evident. As it appears, moving millions of men and pieces of heavy equipment after several years of relative peace is proving to be challenging at best. Still, the price the German panzers needed to pay was not to have any time to reorganize, and their combat readiness leaves a lot to be desired. There is no other choice but to advance, however, and no other direction than Vorwärts!
As the Soviets scramble to the defense of Freistadt and the crumbling lines to the south, an attack against the small corps in Prachatice is ordered. Mountaineer troops, belonging both to Social Italy and Germany, who are much better adapted to the local terrain than the defending Soviets, should have little trouble scoring a breakthrough in the region.
Another nuclear device is detonated over Freistadt, a normally unimportant, if German, city. Over half a million men are struck from the Soviet lines, and the Wehrmacht servicemen march forward, their minds gloomy with the destruction of their brethren on the other side of the frontline, who were first abandoned by the retreating Wehrmacht so many years ago, and then forced to perish in the destructive power akin to the sun itself.
The largely conventional battle for Linz ends in a devastating German victory. Even death by a Soviet machine gun is better than being the one to report to the Führer of all the Germans that his hometown was turned into radioactive rubble, or so is the general opinion in the OKW circles.
The English vanity project that are the four huge battleships have their first combat encounter, where they atomize several Soviet destroyers defiantly trying to break the blockade of Königsberg. They have now truly been worth the investment.
Another devastating victory was accomplished by the Wehrmacht in Prachatice, where the small Soviet corps had an unenviable choice between retreating under heavy fire or digging their grave where they stood. Despite choosing the former, they will require some time before they can fight again.
With the capture of the radioactive crater that was once Freistadt, an attack is immediately commenced onto St. Pölten, where the butchered remains of the victims of the nuclear bomb have retreated to.
A small encirclement is accomplished by the Italians in Trieste. A bold attack is attempted into Karlovac by the lone armored division in the area, gambling on the low combat readiness of the devastated Soviet troops.
Indeed, the enemies rout instantly, as the nuclear trauma rendered them unable to form a cohesive line against the relentless Italians.
In Danzig, where this whole colossal ordeal started, a Bulgarian air wing is wiped on the ground, completely out of its depth.
Bolstered by their Soviet overlords' glorious last stand, the Polish destroyers perish in a similar manner, greasing the guns of the huge English hunks of metal that are their battleships. Karl Dönitz was reported to be immensely frustrated by these successes, as now there isn't a force on this forsaken Earth capable of persuading the old guards of the Kriegsmarine into abandoning the idea of surface navy buildup.
To avoid any possibility of encirclement, the Soviet corps in Königsberg is routed, and von dem Bach-Zelewskißs panzer army advances into the historical city.
The Poles are the first to attempt to avert the rapidly unfolding catastrophe for the Soviet northern flank. Despite the strategically sound act, they are forced to retreat almost instantly on contact with the much more powerful panzer column advancing into Bydgoszcz, soon to be rechristened much more pronounceable Bromberg once again.
The pinning attack in Maribor by the Belgian combined troops fails spectacularly, with horrendous casualties. An infantry charge reminiscent of the Great War battles on the Isonzo ended with expected results, but their job was still accomplished, as they allowed for the breakthrough in Capodistria. Someone needs to pay the blood price of the Axis victory, and the OKW prefers the Wehrmacht not to be the ones paying if possible.
Another victory against the sporadic and disorganized Soviet defense in Prachatice is accomplished.
Nine divisions are to meet their doom at the hands of the Mediterranean coalition of Italy, Spain and Portugal. A minor encirclement, but the Italians are keen to right the wrongs of the past and to set certain stereotypes about their battle prowess straight.
The defense of the outskirts of Vienna is finally routed, and the way to the former imperial seat of government of Hitler's homeland now lies open.
Finally arriving to a semblance of organization, the Soviets launch a counterattack against the depleted troops in Klagenfurt. The battle is judged not to be of any concern, as the Soviet advance in the area would even be somewhat beneficial, allowing for a two-pronged encirclement.
Another rapidly organized delaying action before Vienna is promptly routed. The Wehrmacht seems unstoppable once more, and the Red Army soldiers finally rekindle the fear that they learned to fall to sleep to and awaken alongside with all the way back in 1941: that every day will be the one they find their demise under the tracks of a German panzer.
Yet another nuclear device is detonated over Eisenstadt, taking over 200 thousand lives over the river Styx.
Expectedly, the battle for the city ends in a subsequent victory, and the advance finally reaches the borders of Slovakia once more.
The encircled troops in Trieste surrender to the relentless Ibero-Italian assault. Despite the capture of Karlovac by the lone panzer division, it was sadly forced to retreat immediately upon arrival by a timely response from the Soviet reserve. Thus, the encirclement of Pola likely won't be a realistic option for the time being.
As both the southern and northern pincers of the huge strategic envelopment are starting to encounter serious delays in their advance, Feldmarschall Dietl mobilizes his mountaineer corps and launches a determined attack into Liberec and Shaposhnikov's entrenched front. Despite the logistical system puffing and screeching under the pressure of the front-wine offensive of the entire Wehrmacht, the Soviet woes are even worse, as they are largely paralyzed by destroyed infrastructure and indecisive leadership. As it appears, none of the great strategists of the Red Army even entertained the possibility that a resurgent Germany could come knocking after the devastating defeats of '44 and the loss of the entire Army Group Mitte.
An unaccounted-for tank division is somehow destroyed in Torun. The OKW was largely unaware of any combat in the region, as the battle reports got lost in the swathes of documentation flooding from the south. That also directs their attention towards an increasingly worrying situation in Bydgoszcz, where disorganized panzers are being pestered by relentless infantry charges of well-organized Soviets and Poles.
With the deterioration of the situation in the north, Ringel authorizes another paradrop into Krakow, in an attempt to expedite the closure of the huge envelopment and to prevent the supplying of the attacked Soviet formations.
Despite all the odds, the understrength divisions of Flanders and Wallonia repel the Soviet attack, inflicting serious casualties on them on top.
Simultaneously, the situation in the borderline unpronounceable Polish province becomes critical, with Christiansen's panzers likely needing to retreat in the near future, being beset by numerous enemies with adequate antitank weaponry and even armor of their own. The decision to advance without rest has proven to be a costly mistake, as now the Germans landed in the north and are in danger of being pushed back into the sea. Unless the encirclement can be completed before that, of course.
In the south, the battle for Vienna ended in a decisive German victory. Only a thin strip of Slovak land now stands between an exhausted Germany and the greatest disaster in the history of Soviet armed forces. However, a significant number of Red Army divisions are scrambling to defend the corridor, and the Carpathian mountains are far from terrain ideally suited for armored maneuvers.
Still, despite the divisions in Bratislava being undermanned as a consequence of sustained nuclear strikes, they are more than capable of halting Hoth's advance immediately owing to the sheer number of divisions in the city.
Trouble rarely comes alone, and the defense of Bydgoszcz crumbles simultaneously. Another panzer army rushes to assist, but the momentum and the initiative in the region seem to have shifted away from the Wehrmacht. Many of the field commanders are routinely seen writing wills and brandishing their service weaponry, or playing with cyanide pills alongside dinner.
If the German ancestral soil could suffer the wrath of the atom, so can the Slovakian capital. This close to the final victory, no sacrifice can be spared, and humanity makes way for bloody and cruel pragmatism. As it usually is, the war in the east is significantly less gentlemanly than the one in the west had been.
One more nuclear bomb is authorized to be dropped onto Germanic soil, this time in Hollabrunn. Simultaneously, Ringel's Fallschirmjäger rout the severely understrength Soviet infantry in Zilina, who retreat into the forming encirclement for a reason only known to the Soviet field commanders.
A lengthy battle for Prachatice ends with casualties severely skewed to the Soviet side once more. The Red Army, seemingly invincible until two weeks ago, now struggles to mount any sort of effective defense against the skilled mountaineers of the Wehrmacht coupled with their famed armor.
Finally, the last stationary part of the German line is mobilized, and General Petersen, the commander of the Oder-Warthe-Bogen defense complex signals for the attack to begin on the city of Stettin, in the hope of relieving the troops in Bydgoszcz, where the reinforcing panzer army is suffering a similar fate to the one routed previously.
Having broken through the Sudeten defenses, General Püchler proceeds to attack the Bohemian basin. Ceske Budejovice are defended by skeleton troops and are ripe for the taking.
As the news of the victory in Bydgoszcz reached the ears of the Führer, he was reported to have released something resembling a sigh of relaxation. Julius Ringel also shows certain vigor thus far unseen, as his neck is no longer in quite so much of a peril. The situation in the north is still critical, but if the time needed to reorganize is provided, the panzers are expected to be able to hold out against anything the by-now-panicking Soviets can throw against them.
The battle for Ceske Budejovice ended in a rapid victory for the disciplined Bergsjäger of the Wehrmacht. With that, the entirety of the Soviet forces in Czechia descend into utter chaos, with only Shaposhnikov's men in Liberec maintaining good order.
With the consolidation of the Axis-associated forces not belonging to Germany, an attack is launched onto Maribor once more, this time with a staggering 97 divisions. Such numbers were usually reserved for the Soviet offensives, but the Axis had learned its lot from the Soviets in the dire years prior.
The attack into the last major Polish holdout concludes in a victory. The maneuver was not as risky as it may have looked, as the troops that could seek to exploit this piece of overextension are all easily routable by the remaining uncommitted corps in Bydgoszcz.
Another point in the old and defunct Sudeten defense line is attacked by the undeterred mountaineers, who have barely felt the previous battles and remain in an excellent state of combat readiness.
The tactical bombing wings, while ceaselessly flying ground support missions, are redirected to wipe out the remainder of the irradiated Soviet divisions desperately retreating through the marshes of Komarno. They are remarkably successful, and the Red Airforce seems to be unable to provide any significant cover in the region.
The English expeditionary force is attacked in Eisenstadt, despite being in much better fighting order than the attacking divisions. The Soviets seem to have learned something from the Germans indeed, but alas, they lack the Prussian esprit de corps, if they have the tenacity.
With the arrival of the Fallschirmjäger army to Zilina, the encirclement of the majority of the Soviet forces who survived the initial attack was complete. The majority of the flanks capable of mounting any sort of counterattack and/or a breakthrough attempt are either busy fighting the relentless assault by the German allies or being harassed on the retreat. Stalin was reported to have gone mute in shock upon hearing the news, and the Red Army transitioned from the most powerful army in the world to a shadow of its former self fighting for its very survival as an organization in the span of a mere two weeks.
Despite the encouraging showing by the ever-so-professional Wehrmacht, it remains to be seen whether this victory can be capitalized on. The fighting will be fierce to keep the bulk of the Soviet army encircled and to have an army left afterward that is capable of following in the steps of Bonaparte once more. Germany requires the land in the east now moreso than any time before, as the Reich has given this war all it had. The price of victory has been steep, and there is still blood to be spilled so the German Eagle may spread its wings and carry the Third Reich onto the pedestal of the sole European hegemon.
The night was silent, crossing from the 6th to the 7th of May, 1952. Not a single member of the OKW could wrestle a single hour of sleep from the night's tight embrace, and rightfully so. The Fatherland was about to embark on yet another attack in the East, and not a single soul could help but feel uneasy at the daunting endeavor lying in front of the proud, but fatigued Wehrmacht. Alas, as the 7th of May dawned, the sign was given, and the troops marched in silence, unfolding the largest combined arms operation in the history of warfare once more, Operation Barbarossa. Indeed, it started as most of the successful operations of recent years started, with a combined airborne and amphibious assault, this time in Elbing. It was time for the Prussian armymen to march through East Prussia once more. A lone infantry division in Königsberg could do little but observe the colossal columns of armor disembarking, seeing the futility of an open attack.
Simultaneously, with the break of the dawn, hundreds of thousands of Wehrmacht soldiers left their bunkers and trenches for the first time in almost seven years and charged to the sound of the trumpet and drum. The rebuilt Italian army crashed into the well-prepared defenses of Capodistria, while the Anglo-Flemish-Walloon coalition advanced onto the recently established defense of Maribor. Germany's sons, on the contrary, were tasked with the capture of Freistadt and Linz, the Führer's hometown. The initial assessment of the attacks was less than encouraging, with only the attack on Linz looking positive. However, the day will be surely won by the brave hearts and superior arms of the German Wehrmacht, despite the years of defensive preparations that the Red Army had undertaken.
With a tear in his eye, Wernher von Braun bids a warm farewell to the last of the strategic V2 rocket reserve, unleashing their explosive wrath on the Soviet-held supply depots and railway junctions all along the frontline.
'My Führer, the Reds have committed their reserves, quicker than expected.' Ringel warily stated as he observed the sulking Chancellor at his desk. - 'We may be unable to proceed with the attack. There are more than three million men, along with all sorts of heavy equipment facing us in difficult terrain. Prolonged hostilities will do little but deplete any and all offensive capability we may have accumulated over the years, and bring the survival of the Reich itself into peril!'
Adolf Hitler, a shaking husk of a man he once was, looked not a day younger than eighty. With a slight tremble in his voice, he spat out: 'Are we to posture and cower, now that so much has been lost? If they must, let the few die for the glory of the Reich, their glory will be eternal in the Valhalla! You know what to do. I authorize it. I authorize as many as are needed. Should you fail, I expect you to hand your resignation, Herr Ringel, but not to me. You will be answering to your service pistol. Dismissed.'
Julius Ringel left the room with a decisive step, with a weight of a million lives heavy on his conscience already. A short order was transmitted to the strategic bomber command immediately, and after sufficient confirmations and clearances were received, KG 'Hindenburg' set onto a path of nuclear armageddon, aiming to leave a crater where once the hometown of great Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart once stood. Citizens of Graz will pay the ultimate price that the final German victory requires, and they don't even know it.
Two and a half million Red Army soldiers are reported as casualties immediately after the detonation of the first atomic bomb to be detonated in Austria. The attack on Graz immediately succeeds, as the Soviet lines practically disintegrate in the horror of the explosive might that they had the displeasure of experiencing.
Several hours later, scarcely inhabited Slovenian Alps are also visited by the crews of KG 'Hindenburg', their consciences heavier by almost 650 thousand souls. The Italian attack succeeds, despite the heavy casualties sustained.
From the landing in Elbing, Hausser's panzers reach the outskirts of Warsaw, defended by a lone infantry division. The Soviet line on the Oder is sluggishly organizing a retreat, but the disparity in mobility is evident. As it appears, moving millions of men and pieces of heavy equipment after several years of relative peace is proving to be challenging at best. Still, the price the German panzers needed to pay was not to have any time to reorganize, and their combat readiness leaves a lot to be desired. There is no other choice but to advance, however, and no other direction than Vorwärts!
As the Soviets scramble to the defense of Freistadt and the crumbling lines to the south, an attack against the small corps in Prachatice is ordered. Mountaineer troops, belonging both to Social Italy and Germany, who are much better adapted to the local terrain than the defending Soviets, should have little trouble scoring a breakthrough in the region.
Another nuclear device is detonated over Freistadt, a normally unimportant, if German, city. Over half a million men are struck from the Soviet lines, and the Wehrmacht servicemen march forward, their minds gloomy with the destruction of their brethren on the other side of the frontline, who were first abandoned by the retreating Wehrmacht so many years ago, and then forced to perish in the destructive power akin to the sun itself.
The largely conventional battle for Linz ends in a devastating German victory. Even death by a Soviet machine gun is better than being the one to report to the Führer of all the Germans that his hometown was turned into radioactive rubble, or so is the general opinion in the OKW circles.
The English vanity project that are the four huge battleships have their first combat encounter, where they atomize several Soviet destroyers defiantly trying to break the blockade of Königsberg. They have now truly been worth the investment.
Another devastating victory was accomplished by the Wehrmacht in Prachatice, where the small Soviet corps had an unenviable choice between retreating under heavy fire or digging their grave where they stood. Despite choosing the former, they will require some time before they can fight again.
With the capture of the radioactive crater that was once Freistadt, an attack is immediately commenced onto St. Pölten, where the butchered remains of the victims of the nuclear bomb have retreated to.
A small encirclement is accomplished by the Italians in Trieste. A bold attack is attempted into Karlovac by the lone armored division in the area, gambling on the low combat readiness of the devastated Soviet troops.
Indeed, the enemies rout instantly, as the nuclear trauma rendered them unable to form a cohesive line against the relentless Italians.
In Danzig, where this whole colossal ordeal started, a Bulgarian air wing is wiped on the ground, completely out of its depth.
Bolstered by their Soviet overlords' glorious last stand, the Polish destroyers perish in a similar manner, greasing the guns of the huge English hunks of metal that are their battleships. Karl Dönitz was reported to be immensely frustrated by these successes, as now there isn't a force on this forsaken Earth capable of persuading the old guards of the Kriegsmarine into abandoning the idea of surface navy buildup.
To avoid any possibility of encirclement, the Soviet corps in Königsberg is routed, and von dem Bach-Zelewskißs panzer army advances into the historical city.
The Poles are the first to attempt to avert the rapidly unfolding catastrophe for the Soviet northern flank. Despite the strategically sound act, they are forced to retreat almost instantly on contact with the much more powerful panzer column advancing into Bydgoszcz, soon to be rechristened much more pronounceable Bromberg once again.
The pinning attack in Maribor by the Belgian combined troops fails spectacularly, with horrendous casualties. An infantry charge reminiscent of the Great War battles on the Isonzo ended with expected results, but their job was still accomplished, as they allowed for the breakthrough in Capodistria. Someone needs to pay the blood price of the Axis victory, and the OKW prefers the Wehrmacht not to be the ones paying if possible.
Another victory against the sporadic and disorganized Soviet defense in Prachatice is accomplished.
Nine divisions are to meet their doom at the hands of the Mediterranean coalition of Italy, Spain and Portugal. A minor encirclement, but the Italians are keen to right the wrongs of the past and to set certain stereotypes about their battle prowess straight.
The defense of the outskirts of Vienna is finally routed, and the way to the former imperial seat of government of Hitler's homeland now lies open.
Finally arriving to a semblance of organization, the Soviets launch a counterattack against the depleted troops in Klagenfurt. The battle is judged not to be of any concern, as the Soviet advance in the area would even be somewhat beneficial, allowing for a two-pronged encirclement.
Another rapidly organized delaying action before Vienna is promptly routed. The Wehrmacht seems unstoppable once more, and the Red Army soldiers finally rekindle the fear that they learned to fall to sleep to and awaken alongside with all the way back in 1941: that every day will be the one they find their demise under the tracks of a German panzer.
Yet another nuclear device is detonated over Eisenstadt, taking over 200 thousand lives over the river Styx.
Expectedly, the battle for the city ends in a subsequent victory, and the advance finally reaches the borders of Slovakia once more.
The encircled troops in Trieste surrender to the relentless Ibero-Italian assault. Despite the capture of Karlovac by the lone panzer division, it was sadly forced to retreat immediately upon arrival by a timely response from the Soviet reserve. Thus, the encirclement of Pola likely won't be a realistic option for the time being.
As both the southern and northern pincers of the huge strategic envelopment are starting to encounter serious delays in their advance, Feldmarschall Dietl mobilizes his mountaineer corps and launches a determined attack into Liberec and Shaposhnikov's entrenched front. Despite the logistical system puffing and screeching under the pressure of the front-wine offensive of the entire Wehrmacht, the Soviet woes are even worse, as they are largely paralyzed by destroyed infrastructure and indecisive leadership. As it appears, none of the great strategists of the Red Army even entertained the possibility that a resurgent Germany could come knocking after the devastating defeats of '44 and the loss of the entire Army Group Mitte.
An unaccounted-for tank division is somehow destroyed in Torun. The OKW was largely unaware of any combat in the region, as the battle reports got lost in the swathes of documentation flooding from the south. That also directs their attention towards an increasingly worrying situation in Bydgoszcz, where disorganized panzers are being pestered by relentless infantry charges of well-organized Soviets and Poles.
With the deterioration of the situation in the north, Ringel authorizes another paradrop into Krakow, in an attempt to expedite the closure of the huge envelopment and to prevent the supplying of the attacked Soviet formations.
Despite all the odds, the understrength divisions of Flanders and Wallonia repel the Soviet attack, inflicting serious casualties on them on top.
Simultaneously, the situation in the borderline unpronounceable Polish province becomes critical, with Christiansen's panzers likely needing to retreat in the near future, being beset by numerous enemies with adequate antitank weaponry and even armor of their own. The decision to advance without rest has proven to be a costly mistake, as now the Germans landed in the north and are in danger of being pushed back into the sea. Unless the encirclement can be completed before that, of course.
In the south, the battle for Vienna ended in a decisive German victory. Only a thin strip of Slovak land now stands between an exhausted Germany and the greatest disaster in the history of Soviet armed forces. However, a significant number of Red Army divisions are scrambling to defend the corridor, and the Carpathian mountains are far from terrain ideally suited for armored maneuvers.
Still, despite the divisions in Bratislava being undermanned as a consequence of sustained nuclear strikes, they are more than capable of halting Hoth's advance immediately owing to the sheer number of divisions in the city.
Trouble rarely comes alone, and the defense of Bydgoszcz crumbles simultaneously. Another panzer army rushes to assist, but the momentum and the initiative in the region seem to have shifted away from the Wehrmacht. Many of the field commanders are routinely seen writing wills and brandishing their service weaponry, or playing with cyanide pills alongside dinner.
If the German ancestral soil could suffer the wrath of the atom, so can the Slovakian capital. This close to the final victory, no sacrifice can be spared, and humanity makes way for bloody and cruel pragmatism. As it usually is, the war in the east is significantly less gentlemanly than the one in the west had been.
One more nuclear bomb is authorized to be dropped onto Germanic soil, this time in Hollabrunn. Simultaneously, Ringel's Fallschirmjäger rout the severely understrength Soviet infantry in Zilina, who retreat into the forming encirclement for a reason only known to the Soviet field commanders.
A lengthy battle for Prachatice ends with casualties severely skewed to the Soviet side once more. The Red Army, seemingly invincible until two weeks ago, now struggles to mount any sort of effective defense against the skilled mountaineers of the Wehrmacht coupled with their famed armor.
Finally, the last stationary part of the German line is mobilized, and General Petersen, the commander of the Oder-Warthe-Bogen defense complex signals for the attack to begin on the city of Stettin, in the hope of relieving the troops in Bydgoszcz, where the reinforcing panzer army is suffering a similar fate to the one routed previously.
Having broken through the Sudeten defenses, General Püchler proceeds to attack the Bohemian basin. Ceske Budejovice are defended by skeleton troops and are ripe for the taking.
As the news of the victory in Bydgoszcz reached the ears of the Führer, he was reported to have released something resembling a sigh of relaxation. Julius Ringel also shows certain vigor thus far unseen, as his neck is no longer in quite so much of a peril. The situation in the north is still critical, but if the time needed to reorganize is provided, the panzers are expected to be able to hold out against anything the by-now-panicking Soviets can throw against them.
The battle for Ceske Budejovice ended in a rapid victory for the disciplined Bergsjäger of the Wehrmacht. With that, the entirety of the Soviet forces in Czechia descend into utter chaos, with only Shaposhnikov's men in Liberec maintaining good order.
With the consolidation of the Axis-associated forces not belonging to Germany, an attack is launched onto Maribor once more, this time with a staggering 97 divisions. Such numbers were usually reserved for the Soviet offensives, but the Axis had learned its lot from the Soviets in the dire years prior.
The attack into the last major Polish holdout concludes in a victory. The maneuver was not as risky as it may have looked, as the troops that could seek to exploit this piece of overextension are all easily routable by the remaining uncommitted corps in Bydgoszcz.
Another point in the old and defunct Sudeten defense line is attacked by the undeterred mountaineers, who have barely felt the previous battles and remain in an excellent state of combat readiness.
The tactical bombing wings, while ceaselessly flying ground support missions, are redirected to wipe out the remainder of the irradiated Soviet divisions desperately retreating through the marshes of Komarno. They are remarkably successful, and the Red Airforce seems to be unable to provide any significant cover in the region.
The English expeditionary force is attacked in Eisenstadt, despite being in much better fighting order than the attacking divisions. The Soviets seem to have learned something from the Germans indeed, but alas, they lack the Prussian esprit de corps, if they have the tenacity.
With the arrival of the Fallschirmjäger army to Zilina, the encirclement of the majority of the Soviet forces who survived the initial attack was complete. The majority of the flanks capable of mounting any sort of counterattack and/or a breakthrough attempt are either busy fighting the relentless assault by the German allies or being harassed on the retreat. Stalin was reported to have gone mute in shock upon hearing the news, and the Red Army transitioned from the most powerful army in the world to a shadow of its former self fighting for its very survival as an organization in the span of a mere two weeks.
Despite the encouraging showing by the ever-so-professional Wehrmacht, it remains to be seen whether this victory can be capitalized on. The fighting will be fierce to keep the bulk of the Soviet army encircled and to have an army left afterward that is capable of following in the steps of Bonaparte once more. Germany requires the land in the east now moreso than any time before, as the Reich has given this war all it had. The price of victory has been steep, and there is still blood to be spilled so the German Eagle may spread its wings and carry the Third Reich onto the pedestal of the sole European hegemon.
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A few initial victories are won, but the German advance hasn't penetrated prewar Soviet territory yet. An unambiguous defeat of the USSR still eludes the Reich.
Also, that is... not a small number of nukes. When will you drop one on Moscow? Can you drop one on Moscow, or is it too far from German territory?
Also, that is... not a small number of nukes. When will you drop one on Moscow? Can you drop one on Moscow, or is it too far from German territory?
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An incredible operation, the Soviet death toll already running into the millions and the pincers now having closed around millions more. So long as you can defend the eastern flank of the pocket from breakouts the war is surely won - there is no way the Soviets can recover from the loss of all their forces in the Bohemian and Oder fronts. If I’m seeing right it also looks like you got lucky with the Polish replacement capital being in the east - further limiting the access to supplies for those trapped Red forces.
Now to see whether the Red Army has the legs to make that breakout!
Now to see whether the Red Army has the legs to make that breakout!
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The thing that's most concerning is honestly the remaining Soviet troops south of the encirclement. Sure, it's non-core territory so there's less reservation to use nukes there, but it's still a diversion of troops to take them out that can be deployed to ride off into the sunrise, as well as having the Hungarian, Romanian and Bulgarian capitals there to provide them with supplies if they were to be cut off from Moscow. It's not a clear ride yet despite the current tactical victory
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Careful. I don't know if Endsieg has the same insane buffs to Soviet productivity that some DH mods have, but the AI USSR wan print infantry at will.
@Rolexovsky: absolutely stunning work, have been eagerly following from the beginning
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I love the touches of humor.
The number of Soviet divisions stacked in some of those provinces was insane! Now I understand why you delayed the eastern offensive for so long, and why the situation was dire enough to warrant nuking your own territory. Even with the use of tactical nukes to blow the door open, if the Red Army manages to escape the pocket and recover, I could see them managing to grind you down. I'm rooting for you to win, of course, but after several game years of beating on the Western Allies, I admit I'm enjoying the suspense!
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We shall see if I ever drop one on Moscow. If all the Soviet concentrations of force are dispatched, there likely will be no need. If not, then as soon as I score a definitive breakthrough.
Red Army divisions in the encirclement are largely low strength due to my liberal use of weapons of mass destruction, I just have to be mobile and aggressive enough not to let them move without harassment.
To be perfectly honest, those troops are completely irrelevant if the way towards the Soviet core territory lies open, while they are busy defending Yugoslavia. Bitter Peace will fire either way.
Thank you kindly! USSR likely won't be able to field new infantry in at least two months, as they weren't producing any when I attacked. With all the buffs, they won't be fielding them in less than 60 days. That was the window of opportunity that I was talking about previously.
My logic is, that if I sacrifice 4 map manpower in exchange for about 30 from the remaining core territory I will liberate, as well as the closure of the Eastern Front, I'm more than happy to make the trade. I may have worked with 2-3 nukes fewer, but I needed to wait for winter and muddy terrain to end anyway.
60 days to roll all the way from the current front to the A-A line? You absolute madlad.
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Haha it is also possible to reduce the requirements by carpet nuking them if it comes to that. We'll see how it turns out, not yet in the clear in the slightest.
No doubt that I'll be reading the next chapter whilst listening to this
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All this praise will surely get to my head!
Has a bit of a fallout new vegas vibe, which is fitting.
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Wonderful! Hubris is the best state of mind to win, I am sure!
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It's from Smokey and the Bandit, a Americana movie from start to finish, so it's not strange to think that. A lighthearted and self aware loveletter to trucking, a reccomended watch tbh. Not to forget a baller soundtrack written by a country legend
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Chapter XVIIIb
When the news of the completion of the largest encirclement in the history of human warfare reached the OKW, rivers of champagne flowed once more, with the good news being broadcast everywhere the German radio could spread its waves. With their morale bolstered, Wehrmacht soldiers triumph in Znojmo. There is still an effort to be made, to prevent the Soviets from escaping their predicament. The thinness of the encirclement, as well as its evident fragility wasn't broadcast quite as happily, and the commanders in the field operate with a knot in their throat, hoping not to botch the best chance Germany had of winning this war since they reached the outskirts of Moscow all the way back in '41.
After a long and bloody struggle, the battle of Maribor concludes in a resounding Axis victory, with troops of all the Axis nations participating dutifully.
A small armored corps trying to assist with the lifting of the encirclement is encircled itself in its optimism. Despite being in good order, the numbers commanded by Zelewski will surely win the day in the end.
And indeed, the well-meaning, but ultimately foolish corps is stricken from the record promptly.
English infantry is commanded to counterattack the depleted troops in Gyor, who broke the attack of their own off only recently. With Komarno in full retreat, the existence of Soviet Hungary as a nation becomes more and more questionable.
As the German troops arrive in Poznan, the Polish flag is lowered from all government buildings. Forced to go into exile for the second time, the Polish government hopes that the third time will indeed be the charm, provided there is anyone left to release the country.
With the annexation complete, the fate of the encircled Soviet troops is sealed. An estimated five million soldiers are trapped, which makes the Kiev encirclement of 1941 pale in comparison. Joseph Stalin had long gone mute in shock, and the Soviet government is manically scrambling to tr and organize some sort of defense for the now wide-open heartland.
In a shocking turn of events, the former Polish fleet in Stettin attempts a breakout through the German blockade, which ends in the loss of the largest remaining modern capital ship in the Kriegsmarine, the Gneisenau. Karl Dönitz celebrated in private as Raeder pulls his hair, the prospect of a surface navy for Germany now seeming more remote than ever.
To avenge the loss of the venerable battlecruiser, the encirclement in Stettin is destroyed, with 32 Soviet divisions meeting their doom and indentured labor in the German war machine.
The ring in Bohemia keeps on contracting around the bulk of the Soviet forces, with the defenders in Plzen routing after a brief battle.
The determined defense of Liberec finally crumbles after an overwhelming assault by the German mountaineers. General sShaposhinkov leads his men further into Bohemia to join the final stand.
An attempt is made by the more mobile Soviet troops to exploit an opening in the German lines and try to break out, but they are stopped in Katowice by two armored armies.
An attack is ordered in Liegnitz from multiple directions, to prevent any sort of organized defense and to keep the Soviets on the back foot. Closing this encirclement having been a foregone conclusion, an effort should be made to limit the German casualties along the way by any means possible, and overwhelming attacks seem to be the best way forward.
An attack is ordered against the bulk of the Soviet divisions, to prevent any sort of reorganization. Luckily, most of the formations under attack have felt the effect of at least one nuclear bomb, so their fighting efficiency remains low. The absolute numbers are on the German side, despite the obvious discrepancy in division numbers.
A division surrenders in Liberec, having retreated from Prague. It is but a sign of many more to come.
Despite a good showing, the Soviet breakout attempt is prevented, with troops from Katowice retreating back into the deadly embrace of the Wehrmacht in Bohemia.
A similar story unfolds in Liegnitz, where the lack of defensible terrain and at best confused leadership resulted in a rapid retreat to Waldenburg.
Moreover, due to an obvious miscommunication with the reinforcements, an unsuspecting fresh batch of divisions goes through the Liegnitz meatgrinder.
Due to constant combat, a division ceases to exist in Hradec Kralov. Simultaneously, the divisions in Brno retreat further inwards, not having been allowed a breather since the beginning of the offensive.
An ambitious attack by the panzer commanders is launched into Opava and Brandenburg in tandem. With the fruits of final victor already sweet on their palate, and the necessity of quick redeployment further eastward, a bit of recklessness cannot be avoided.
On the Yugoslav front, where the majority of combat-ready Soviet divisions now remain, an attack is sounded on Bjelovar, to try and prevent their possible assistance to the debacle unfolding further north.
The remainder of the troops from Komarno, a total of 18 divisions evading the destruction from the air, are immediately attacked.
The battle of Hradec Kralov is once again concluded in a resounding victory for the Wehrmacht, and the soldiers rejoice in the return of the Czech breweries to the Fatherland.
In an admirable showing by the Flanders-Walloon troops, the defense of Bjelovar is dispatched quickly despite the steep casualty rate.
In Banska Bystrica, the Soviet troops are absolutely demolished by the better-trained and equipped Bergsjäger. Now there isn't a singe threat remaining to the encirclement anymore.
As a routine tally had found something quite interesting, a meeting was held at the Reich ministry. After it had been remarked that Germany possessed three more nuclear warheads at the moment, and the Soviet land had remained free of any radioactive payloads, it would be unfair for the ancestral German land to remain the only one that Germany had nuked. On a more strategic note, the Soviet industrial might was still immense, and their ability to rebuild could not be impeded any other way. Getting stuck in a war of attrition once more is the one thing Germany absolutely cannot afford. In an off-hand manner, the cities of Moscow, Leningrad and Stalingrad are marked for destruction, and the US stops being the only country to have used nuclear devices on civilian centers.
As such, Germany will not be able to show any nuclear capability until August at the earliest. Until then, the brave men of the Wehrmacht will have to pull their own weight and win the war purely conventionally, fortune willing. To prevent them in that stands a 230-division strong horde under Field Marshall Mironov in Opava, albeit severely understrength.
With the triumphs of Bohemia almost brought to an even more victorious end, the troops turn eastward once more, on an arduous journey in a race against time to topple the almost unarmed Soviet state once and for all.
When the news of the completion of the largest encirclement in the history of human warfare reached the OKW, rivers of champagne flowed once more, with the good news being broadcast everywhere the German radio could spread its waves. With their morale bolstered, Wehrmacht soldiers triumph in Znojmo. There is still an effort to be made, to prevent the Soviets from escaping their predicament. The thinness of the encirclement, as well as its evident fragility wasn't broadcast quite as happily, and the commanders in the field operate with a knot in their throat, hoping not to botch the best chance Germany had of winning this war since they reached the outskirts of Moscow all the way back in '41.
After a long and bloody struggle, the battle of Maribor concludes in a resounding Axis victory, with troops of all the Axis nations participating dutifully.
A small armored corps trying to assist with the lifting of the encirclement is encircled itself in its optimism. Despite being in good order, the numbers commanded by Zelewski will surely win the day in the end.
And indeed, the well-meaning, but ultimately foolish corps is stricken from the record promptly.
English infantry is commanded to counterattack the depleted troops in Gyor, who broke the attack of their own off only recently. With Komarno in full retreat, the existence of Soviet Hungary as a nation becomes more and more questionable.
As the German troops arrive in Poznan, the Polish flag is lowered from all government buildings. Forced to go into exile for the second time, the Polish government hopes that the third time will indeed be the charm, provided there is anyone left to release the country.
With the annexation complete, the fate of the encircled Soviet troops is sealed. An estimated five million soldiers are trapped, which makes the Kiev encirclement of 1941 pale in comparison. Joseph Stalin had long gone mute in shock, and the Soviet government is manically scrambling to tr and organize some sort of defense for the now wide-open heartland.
In a shocking turn of events, the former Polish fleet in Stettin attempts a breakout through the German blockade, which ends in the loss of the largest remaining modern capital ship in the Kriegsmarine, the Gneisenau. Karl Dönitz celebrated in private as Raeder pulls his hair, the prospect of a surface navy for Germany now seeming more remote than ever.
To avenge the loss of the venerable battlecruiser, the encirclement in Stettin is destroyed, with 32 Soviet divisions meeting their doom and indentured labor in the German war machine.
The ring in Bohemia keeps on contracting around the bulk of the Soviet forces, with the defenders in Plzen routing after a brief battle.
The determined defense of Liberec finally crumbles after an overwhelming assault by the German mountaineers. General sShaposhinkov leads his men further into Bohemia to join the final stand.
An attempt is made by the more mobile Soviet troops to exploit an opening in the German lines and try to break out, but they are stopped in Katowice by two armored armies.
An attack is ordered in Liegnitz from multiple directions, to prevent any sort of organized defense and to keep the Soviets on the back foot. Closing this encirclement having been a foregone conclusion, an effort should be made to limit the German casualties along the way by any means possible, and overwhelming attacks seem to be the best way forward.
An attack is ordered against the bulk of the Soviet divisions, to prevent any sort of reorganization. Luckily, most of the formations under attack have felt the effect of at least one nuclear bomb, so their fighting efficiency remains low. The absolute numbers are on the German side, despite the obvious discrepancy in division numbers.
A division surrenders in Liberec, having retreated from Prague. It is but a sign of many more to come.
Despite a good showing, the Soviet breakout attempt is prevented, with troops from Katowice retreating back into the deadly embrace of the Wehrmacht in Bohemia.
A similar story unfolds in Liegnitz, where the lack of defensible terrain and at best confused leadership resulted in a rapid retreat to Waldenburg.
Moreover, due to an obvious miscommunication with the reinforcements, an unsuspecting fresh batch of divisions goes through the Liegnitz meatgrinder.
Due to constant combat, a division ceases to exist in Hradec Kralov. Simultaneously, the divisions in Brno retreat further inwards, not having been allowed a breather since the beginning of the offensive.
An ambitious attack by the panzer commanders is launched into Opava and Brandenburg in tandem. With the fruits of final victor already sweet on their palate, and the necessity of quick redeployment further eastward, a bit of recklessness cannot be avoided.
On the Yugoslav front, where the majority of combat-ready Soviet divisions now remain, an attack is sounded on Bjelovar, to try and prevent their possible assistance to the debacle unfolding further north.
The remainder of the troops from Komarno, a total of 18 divisions evading the destruction from the air, are immediately attacked.
The battle of Hradec Kralov is once again concluded in a resounding victory for the Wehrmacht, and the soldiers rejoice in the return of the Czech breweries to the Fatherland.
In an admirable showing by the Flanders-Walloon troops, the defense of Bjelovar is dispatched quickly despite the steep casualty rate.
In Banska Bystrica, the Soviet troops are absolutely demolished by the better-trained and equipped Bergsjäger. Now there isn't a singe threat remaining to the encirclement anymore.
As a routine tally had found something quite interesting, a meeting was held at the Reich ministry. After it had been remarked that Germany possessed three more nuclear warheads at the moment, and the Soviet land had remained free of any radioactive payloads, it would be unfair for the ancestral German land to remain the only one that Germany had nuked. On a more strategic note, the Soviet industrial might was still immense, and their ability to rebuild could not be impeded any other way. Getting stuck in a war of attrition once more is the one thing Germany absolutely cannot afford. In an off-hand manner, the cities of Moscow, Leningrad and Stalingrad are marked for destruction, and the US stops being the only country to have used nuclear devices on civilian centers.
As such, Germany will not be able to show any nuclear capability until August at the earliest. Until then, the brave men of the Wehrmacht will have to pull their own weight and win the war purely conventionally, fortune willing. To prevent them in that stands a 230-division strong horde under Field Marshall Mironov in Opava, albeit severely understrength.
With the triumphs of Bohemia almost brought to an even more victorious end, the troops turn eastward once more, on an arduous journey in a race against time to topple the almost unarmed Soviet state once and for all.
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