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Nice job. Yugoslavia looks a lot better now. ;)
 
Vann: Don't forget about my other work, though; that's my baby. This is just something to keep me in shape while I'm drudging through game files.

Hannibal: Y'know, after looking at some maps, I would like to give Osijek to Croatia, but as it's a Serbian core and not a Croatian core (Croatia isn't even supposed to have Bjelovar, but nobody else did either, so I had to do something with it), I figured their claim must not be strong enough at this time. Either that or it was a gameplay thing to guarantee a German player a straight line from Vienna to Athens. I'll consider moving it back.

Also, Macedonia had to be given back to Serbia too, since the only states in the game that have claims on them (other than Yugoslavia) are Bulgaria and Greece, two dictatorships. As I see it, the Serbs are granting it some form of autonomy, though they remain in the official Serbian fold. Novi Sad, on the other hand, doesn't appear to have a very large Hungarian population these days (maybe it was bigger back then, I don't know), and Hungary's cores evaporated when I annexed it, so it's another autonomous region at best.

Juste: That's kinda unavoidable. I get 10 dissent every time I go to war, plus I have to deal with random Market Liberal events, which can sometimes give me dissent hits if I'm unwilling to move my sliders in an ugly direction. My dissent is probably going to be the biggest obstacle in this game, worse than either the Yanks or the Russians. It takes about three months to get rid of that 10 dissent, and all those ICs are NOT being put into production and upgrades.

ES: I would have liked to Balkanize it further, but as it's all democratic now, I guess I can sit back and worry about other matters.

BTW, you may have noticed that I failed utterly at keeping this narration-light. I started writing and just kept going, it's compulsive. :(
 
Alaric's Footsteps

The winter had come, and the winter was beginning to fade. And Germany still stood unopposed. Britain and France, for all of their pronouncements, all of their threats, and all of their military preparations, still refused to challenge Adenauer's aims or to contest his actions. Poland continued its military buildup, beginning to strain its modest economy, while in Italy, Benito Mussolini had contented himself to strut around Rome, almost daring Adenauer to attempt to repeat his successes in Austria and Yugoslavia.

Germany knew that Italy would be next. Britain, France, and Poland knew that Italy would be next. Italy knew that Italy would be next. And everyone waited for Adenauer to make his move.

Adenauer had expanded the Heer by a further 32 divisions, but given the need to garrison Serbia and Croatia and to increase the forces opposite Poland and France, the amount of troops allocated to the invasion of Italy would be no greater that that which carried out the liberation of Yugoslavia: six divisions set aside for the liberation of Albania, and a mere 25 divisions set to occupy Italy proper. There were many voices of concern in both the government and military that this force would be insufficient, given the failure to occupy Yugoslavia with sufficient speed, especially given that the terrain in Italy should be no less formidable than that in Yugoslavia. But after spending a whole winter preparing the Wehrmacht for the operation, and having restructured it according to the designs of Heinz Guderian and Erich von Manstein - Germany's most decorated generals - Adenauer was confident that the operation would so smoothly.

On April 12, Adenauer gave the word.

Italy1.jpg

25 divisions of the Heer and 16 squadrons of the Luftwaffe vs. Italy

The advance into Venice and Lombardia could not have been more successful. The Italians, confident yet poorly equipped and led by indecisive officers, were shredded by the initial strike. Guderian and von Manstien led from the front line, with Fieldmarshal Fedor von Bock assuming overall command of the operation, and each moved with a speed unprecedented in the history of warfare. Italy's alpine forces were engaged and pinned down from the north, and finally cut off in the south by Guderian himself, following the seizure of Milan. With Germany's elite Bergsjaeger forces infiltrating their lines from the front, Guderian's panzers poised to flank them, and with the Luftwaffe raining devastation from above, Italy's best-armed and best-trained forces surrendered a mere three days into the operation.

Italy2a.jpg


With Guderian threatening to penetrate past the Po and reach the French border, Manstein instead struck across the undefended river en route to Rome itself. He met little resistance; Italy had few reserves. It was no more than a paper tiger.

Italy3.jpg


On April 16, Manstein was on the outskirts of Rome itself. As Guderian had managed to funnel any potential reserves from the north instead westwards towards Genoa - assuming they could have had any chance of reaching the capital in time - Manstein met only paltry resistance in the capital itself. The Italians who were present at the city quickly threw up their arms and either surrendered or fled; Mussolini's government was not worth dying for. A democratic Italy, even one initially subjugated to Germany, was not worth resisting. Further Italian resistance in the south collapsed, and after a mere six days of warfare, Rome surrendered.

Italy5a.jpg


In the north, however, the cream of the Italian Army continued to resist. The news of Rome's surrender and Mussolini's subsequent flight to Sicily failed to reach them. The Italian regulars dug into strong positions around Genoa and Turin; they knew that a breakout was impossible, but merely resisting and tying up half of the Heer would be worth it. Initially, their efforts to resist Germany's attacks were quite successful.

Italy4.jpg

Level 5 fortifications + 10 dissent = -67% attacking efficiency

Every element of the Heer, save the Panzerkorps, suffered sizable casualites in the first assault on Genoa. Von Bock urged disengagement, to give the Luftwaffe time to reduce the defenses, but Guderian asked that he be allowed to press the attack, with merely his Panzerkorps and minor supporting elements. He was convinced that even the Italian regulars would collapse in the face of his raids, that his panzers could maintain the attack in light of the dearth of Italian anti-tank equipment. Adenauer was reluctant, but asceded to Guderian's request.

Three panzers maintained an assault against 10 fortified divisions for four days, while re-enforcements were brought forth

Having received word of Mussolini's flight to Palermo, Adenauer grew concerned that, so long as Sicily held, the Italian government might choose to resist making peace while awaiting foreign assistance. The Wehrmacht was unequipped for an assault across the Straits of Messina. Germany's Marine elements remained at home, guarding Germany's shores and serving as reserve elements in the event of a Franco-Polish attack, while its small Fallschirmjaeger divisions were undersized, untested, and suffering from a critical shortage of transport aircraft. Adenauer had failed to give them his proper attention; they were little better than reserves themselves.

Von Manteuffel's rapid capture of Naples gave Adenauer the opportunity to plan a limited paradrop operation; it would be the first in history. But coupled with intensive Luftwaffe bombardment, it could succeed, which should provide all the necessary leverage to force Italy's surrender.

In the meantime, Adenauer ordered elements of the Kriegsmarine - 20 flotillas had been redirected to Croatia and Montenegro over the winter - to harrass the Regia Marina and to clear the Straits of Messina.

Italy6.jpg

U-Boots begin their campaign of harrassment

By the end of the month, Guderian had finally forced the surrender of the Italian army in Genoa, while von Manstein and von Manteuffel had overrun the rest of Southern Italy, but Sicily still stood, defended by the Regia Marina. Luftwaffe strikes and U-Boot raids had thus far failed to win control of the Strait.

Italy7.jpg


For a week and a half, the fate of Sicily hung in the balance, while Germany and Italy both awaited a foreign response. But again, none came. Eventually, the Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe were able to drive the despirited Regia Marina to Tripolitania, allowing von Manstein to lead the assault across to Messina.

Italy8.jpg


On May 16, Mussolini was arrested, and two days later, Italy, abandoned by the rest of the world and facing an invader who had nearly as much popular support in Italy as they had had a mere six weeks earlier, surrendered. As promised (and as expected by the world), Italy's empire was immediately dismantled.

Italy10.jpg


The Campaign in Review

The Wehrmacht's assault on Italy - one of the formal Great Powers, and certainly its most powerful foe yet - was viewed as a model operation of modern warfare. Again, the Panzerkorps proved their near-invincibility in combat, and the Luftwaffe's control of the sky over Italy was never contested. Casualties were certainly greater than in Yugoslavia, but given the opposition, that was only understandable.

Casualties: 33,120 KIA †

The only difficulties that presented itself were over Germany's failure to quickly collapse the fortified lines around Genoa - something that would need to be remedied rapidly before any operations would be conducted against France - as well as its upreparedness to rapidly seize Sicily. The Kriegsmarine performed magnificently, sinking two cruisers and two dozen destroyers and torpedo boats, and helping to drive Italy's capital ships to flight, while losing only four submarines itself.

But Germany had planned badly, failing to properly appreciate the difficulties involved in an amphibious assault. Had it been able to strike at Sicily as soon as the opportunity presented itself, the war could have ended almost two weeks earlier; instead, an uncomfortable lull had set in following the fall of Genoa and Taranto, one that may have given France and Britain an opportunity to intervene, and one which certainly gave Mussolini time to consolidate his hold over Sicily. Adenauer's goals required a swifter, more demoralizing style of warfare that never hesitated, something that would never fail to impress its enemies, something that would never fail in its goals. He needed total success in order to convince any potential foes not to challenge his aims. And while the timidity of London, Paris, and Warsaw stood as examples of how his plans were working well enough so far, he knew he would have to do better in the future.

The time would come when the governments of the world would turn against him, perhaps all at once. And when that day comes, he can not afford to make any mistakes. Best to fix any problems before they arise. The next war would need still greater co-ordination, still more detail given to "unconventional" tactics. The Luftwaffe would need to be expanded and made still more aggressive, the infantry would need to be modernized, and its logistics network would need to be streamlined.

Perfection could never be achieved, of course. But Adenauer had no excuse not to strive for it in any case.
 
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I bet you're getting absolutely wicked upgrading. And nice job bringing liberty to Italy. Now that's a fun sounding game.
 
Thistletooth said:
(written five minutes after the original posting)

There's no way you could have read it that fast! :eek:

It was actually one minute after - and no, it was actually a complete coincidence - I thought, hmm, full standing army/free market = awesome upgrades.
 
Ye gads! I go away for two days and I find this is one page two. Nothing unexpected there, but my word, did you put the pedal to the metal! So many updates! I normally try not to post before I'm up to speed with the most current update, but after squeezing in the conquest - make that liberation - of Yugoslavia, I had to admit defeat: I have to quit and get my sleep to be able to present a façade of professionalism at work tomorrow.

Good ol' Konrad, bringing democracy to the unwashed masses. Such a thankless job, too. :)

I'll try to catch up again tomorrow. It'll depend on how many more updates you can post before I get home from work. :p
 
Carthade said:
I say, bring USA into the Axis. :p

What is this "Axis" you speak of? The Axis of Freedom? :confused:


Pedalling Downhill

Up until May 18, 1941, The Kingdom of Romania boasted the freest, most Western-orientated, most democratic government in the Balkans. On that day, partly in response to ultra-nationalist fears of German encroachment, and partly due to the continued conflict with Bulgaria over the status of Constanta, the Romanian military staged a coup d'etat, deposing the democratically-elected government.

Up until this time - barring a foreign attack - Adenauer was planning to liberate Bulgaria next, as it was now the sole "true" dictatorship in the region (aside from the semi-dictatorial Greece). But he could not allow Romania's fascist coup to remain unanswered. The Romanians, until then used to a relatively free way of life, needed to be liberated first, and a message sent to any other future extremists that Germany would not tolerate such flagrantly un-democratic actions.

However, as the German people were still getting acclimated to the affair in Italy, the operation to liberate Romania would have to wait a month or two.

But that day would come. And no one in the West was willing to defend Romania's new regime. Adenauer was beginning to believe that Churchill, Sarrault, and the rest secretly supported what he was doing. It was a lovely thought, an encouraging thought, but not something he could take for granted.

On August 17, Germany was ready.

Romania1.jpg


The war was nothing. Well, a few thousand people died, which was sadly unavoidable, but all things considered, it couldn't have gone much better. On the military front at least. The Romanian army was poorly equipped, poorly motivated following the coup, and was completely swept aside by the undefeated Heer. The Luftwaffe - which had been kept in reserve for use only in critical situations - was hardly used. This likely kept casualties among the fleeing Romanians low, which proved to be a boon in the post-war settlement. By the time most of the Romanian forces on the first line had retreated to the mountains to regroup, Bucharest had fallen and the war was over.

Romania4.jpg

Note the troops in Arad and Timisoira still in the midst of their retreat

In a bold, yet suicidal move that served only to give von Manstein's Panzerkorps a little target practice, Romania threw its armored reserves into an effort to prevent the Heer from thundering down out of the Carpathians and into the Wallachian plains. They were swatted aside like gnats.

Romania3.jpg

Awwww....look at the cute widdo tankies....

Just as in Italy, it took a mere six days for von Manstein to reach the enemy capital. Unlike as in Italy, however, the heads of the fascist government had no Sicily to flee to.

In one of the true quirks of this war, the terms of surrender had already been written up prior to Germany's attack. The Romanian government, or those ministers who had sworn an apparently thin loyalty to the fascist regime, had already met and drafted the documents, awaiting only Adenauer's signature. The terms called for Romania to surrender to the German government, to order its military to stand down and temporarily disband, and to hold a new round of elections; these elections, in fact, had started in Western Romania shortly after the panzers had rolled past, leading to a small bout of confusion amongst elements of the Heer. Everyone seemed to know that the Germans were coming, and few outside of the military were willing to contest them, whether out of genuine support for the German cause, or a simple acceptance that, try as they might, there wasn't a damn thing any of them could do about it.

One other possible explanation existed: that Romania merely sought to surrender as soon as the regime would allow them, in an attempt to secure the best possible peace terms. For the past year, the Hungarian government had been pressing Adenauer to restore control of Transylvania to them. Romania's government may simply have been trying to avoid any possibility of this happening by surrendering quickly and lending support to Adenauer's cause.

And as Adenauer had no strong inclination to redraw the Hungarian/Romanian border - and if both states were democratic and fully accepting of national minorities, such a thing surely wouldn't have mattered - he honored the Romanian terms. Finally, elements of the Romanian army arrested the government as it attempted to flee into Bulgaria, imprisoning them while they awaited trial for their roles in the May coup. An almost frictionless war was followed by a startlingly easy peace. In Romania, at least, things could hardly have been expected to turn out any better.

Romania5.jpg


Casualties: 2,550 KIA †

The German public, however, appeared increasingly restless when dealing with the continued operations, as well as the constant fear of foreign attack, which not only served to disrupt trade (and vacation plans), but simply to cast a gloom over the country. Most Germans supported Adenauer's actions, especially given their wild success thus far. But nearly all acknowledged that it would probably lead to a truly massive war one day; if these actions - however just - turn out to be the provocations leading to millions of deaths, it would be soon be hard to argue that delivering 100 million people from dictatorial rule abroad would be worth the death of 5 million back home. Life under strict rule was still life, some argued, and even Adenauer sometimes found it hard to keep himself focused on his aim, his belief in the sanctity of life weighing on him with every casualty report that found its way to his desk.

Romania2.jpg

Anti-war sentiment grows

Another, increasingly popular, sentiment among those opposing the wars was that Adenauer's true goal was to install "friendly" governments throughout the continent, governments which would be more than willing to share their resources with the German state and with certain German companies with close ties to the government, who would be well-positioned to directly benefit from the exploitation of these foreign resources.

The Ploesti oil fields in particular represented a potential windfall for German petroleum concerns. They stood over the richest oil reserves in Europe (west of Baku, at least), and the Heer had been very careful not to damage them. Some attributed this to Romania's rapid surrender, or to the fact that by the time the panzers of von Manstein and von Manteuffel had reached the area, resistance had evaporated. Others, however, believed that the forward elements were instructed to safeguard the oil fields in particular. Whether the latter theory was true or not, some found it a suspicious matter. Certainly, the new German dominance - for dominance of the new government was inevitable given the nature of its installation - could provide the German military with a steady source of oil. And given Romania's sizable, and terribly vulnerable, border with the Soviet nightmare, a sizable German garrison would be required to remain in Romania, to protect the country and, by necessity, the oil fields as well.

Romania6.jpg


Romania had proved to be a disarmingly soft target. The struggles in Yugoslavia and Italy were almost forgotten after the near-total lack of capable resistance in Romania, the government's rapid surrender, the even more rapid signing of the peace terms, and the Romanian public's seeming indifference and/or outright support of the invasion.

Given the proximity of the Soviet Union and its truly massive - but untested - army, Romania would be dependant on Germany for its very existance for years to come. The order - supported by both the German and Romanian governments - that the military, having only just participated in the May coup, had to be disbanded and rebuilt for the well-being on the country would only exacerbate this dependency.

Given its need to defend the Franco-Belgian border, the Polish border and East Prussia, Italy, Albania, Southern Serbia, and now Romania, the German military had very few divisions free to open up any new front. The Heer would need to be expanded, and extensively, before any further actions could be taken. Germany, while not exactly vulnerable, had for the moment reached the limits of its reach. The Wehrmacht would need to slow down, and the freedom-loving peoples of Bulgaria would have to wait.
 
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Edzako said:
WOW HSR provides a lot of usefull events for Germany :)

Coupled with the oil I should be receiving for having Romania as my puppet, I fear this may turn into an exploit. I may have to get rid of it for the sake of fairness.
 
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Edzako said:
Strange that you arent attacked by Allies, with so high belligerence they usualy attack me :wacko:

That's why I think they secretly support my goals. I'm liberating the world at no cost to them. I might even end up taking out the Comintern for them! :eek:
 
Edzako said:
I mean - "Crush the Commies and make world better"

Bah! The Allies didn't have the cojones*. Buncha peaceniks didn't even try when they had total nuke supremecy too.

BTW, I'm researching nukes in this game. Don't know if I'll need it, but as I'm hardly rushing the game from a pure Gregorian standpoint, I should have time for them.

* - Probably misspelled. Don't care if it is.
 
It's 1941 already? How big is your army?