20th October 1944
After the raucous partying that had followed the incredible "Day of no bad news" on the 18th, few in the cabinet expected Tiso and Tuka to make a prompt start to the next working day. In defiance of this they boldly walked into the command shed at the strike of 8am. OK it was 8am on the 20th so they were technically 23hours late, but in Slovakia you must take the little wins where you can.
"Vodca! Where have you been?" General Kubela looked agitated.
"The supreme leader was working on important government business." Tuka lied. "What did we miss?"
Kubela passed over a surprisingly thick file.
"Is there a summary?" Tiso asked.
"Yesterday started well, then got worse." Malar tried to help.
Tiso realised that he would waste more time trying to get a useful brief summary than said summary could possibly save.
"Talk us through the file please." He asked Kubela.
"The day began with the excellent news that we had won the Battle of Vernon." Kubela announced proudly.
A heroic victory for Slovak forces against a numerically inferior opposition led by the worst Allied general of the entire war. Some people might be concerned that despite being on the defensive with superior numbers the Axis losses were 50% higher than Allied losses. These people are correct to be concerned.
"In the aftermath, the hero General Bitthorn and German 2nd Corps were recalled to OKW Headquarters to teach his advanced concrete-defence doctrine techniques." Malar pointed at the relevant portion of the file
"It seems to offer excellent opportunities for troops to more effectively die for the Fuhrer." von Killinger nodded approvingly.
"Unfortunately the Allies noticed the weakening of our lines and attacked that afternoon." Kubela turned sombre.
The 5ª División de Infantería are, somewhat unexpectedly, from the Mexican Army. Originally part of the Mexican Intervention and Liberation Force the expeditionary force was renamed as the US generals kept sniggering at them. Now the 5ª División operates as part of the Mexican Intervention and Stabilisation Taskforce Assaulting Key European Sites. Mexico City has high hopes of gaining prestige and a seat at the peace conference through their impressive MISTAKES.
"Without General Bitthorn's inspired leadership, command returned to the vitally-challenged General Summermann." Kubela said.
"A true hero, he's already died for the Fuhrer and now he's come back to die again." Von Killinger openly wept in admiration at this ultimate example of the Triumph of the Will.
General Algrea shows his inexperience by launching an attack across a river, at night, against a roughly equally sized opponent and without calling in his reserves. Against a different opponent, that might matter. It won't matter here.
"While General Summermann formed up against the Anglo-Mexican menance, General Juranec and the heroes of the 2nd (Western) Infantry (Division) volunteered to scout out and prepare the revised defensive line." General Malar somehow kept a straight face.
"So Juranec ran away before the fight was over?" Turanec interpreted.
"Basically, yes." Kubela admitted.
The main point of non-Slovakian interest here is quite how heavily Romania has committed to the defence of occupied France. It's a good thing that the Eastern Front is going so well and those forces aren't desperately needed to defend Romania. Oh.
"General Juranec will re-establish the defensive line in Clermont shortly." Malar pointed at the last message.
"And that brings you up to date." Kubela concluded the briefing.
Tiso wondered if living through that in real time would have been worse than his hangover, it was a distressingly close call.
--
Notes:
A genuinely busy day on the Western Front.
The Mexican AI did decide to send an expeditionary force to the British, who even more surprisingly managed to use it properly and send it to the front. OTL of course the Mexicans didn't send any troops overseas, they did manage to get a single squadron (201st 'Atzec Eagles' which is a cool name) operational, it flew out of Luzon between June 1945 and the end of the war.
General Alvarez Algrea has an identical twin in the Spanish Republican Army. The internet is unclear exactly which of them is the real historical general and which is the doppelgänger, it is of course possible that neither of them ever existed.
