-
We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
Professor Trotsky approves?
Sorry for the delay of an update btw, I was meaning to get it out this week, but it will likely come out tommorow instead
Chapter 53.
Chapter 53: Red March.
American troops landing on the beaches of southern Spain.
Gibraltar commonly known as the Rock was standing firm against attacks from Spain, the French Commune and Italy alike. Wave after wave hit the rock, but each wave broke up. In the first attacks the Spanish progressed and it was as if Gibraltar would fall within the very first days of the war, but as the Spanish troops entered the outer perimeter and British forces was forced underground, however massive NATO air attacks and reinforcements from all over the Empire and America trickled in and pushed the attackers out. The Spanish suffered some 73.000 casualties during their offensive - without taking control of the Rock. While NATO lost ground in northern Europe they remained optimistic that if they held Gibraltar the war might be won. British High Command laid out their strategy for their American counterpart; to attack into the Baltics or Black Sea (as the Americnas planned to) would be an attack straight into the jaws of a lion. However if Spain was taken out it could be used as a base of operations further into the Mediterranean and even France. A backhand blow into the soft belly of Europe. Thousands of American and Commonwealth troops was sent to Gibraltar during August and September of 1945, slowly building up their forces as the PACT was occupied elsewhere. By the last week of October they unleashed a furious invasion into Spain hoping to knock the second communist nation out of the war and to deprive the communist threat of their industrial powerhouses of France and Italy.
The NATO offensive into Spain before the Red Army was called into action.
"Spain have not been victim of such senseless violence, meaningless death and hatred since the Civil War. Entire generations disapperead in mere days, the countryside was riddled with armored wrecks standing as testimony to the sacrifice of brave men and as their tomb", was the words of a Spanish journalist. By the 29th of October the NATO forces - helped on my American armored and mechanized forces - secured a beachhead outside of Gibraltar taking the port of Cadiz and laying siege to the cities of Malaga and Sevilla. The Spanish fought bravely and for a brief moment managed to contain the NATO threat. However with the events that took place on the 3rd of November - yet another date of infamy in the history of America - the Spanish lines rapidly crumbled. The Spanish was promised relief from the battle hardened conquerers of Britain, but they were still far away. The NATO forces advanced in full aggression and soon reached the river of Guadiana by the 12th of November. However Malaga would not fall even under a massive siege. And despite the Spanish losing troops in the hundreds of thousands they managed to brace themself behind the rivers and natural defenses of the hilly areas. The news of impending Soviet reinforcements ticked in and boosted morale. All they had to do was to hold out a little longer and the might of the Soviet Union would come crushing down on NATO and liberate Spain.
The brutality of the imperialists know no boundaries!
3rd of November. NATO troops faced well entrenched Spanish troops with high morale. Something needed to be done. And so it were. Yet another nuclear strike was ordered by Truman. PACT intelligence services picked it up and was decieved to believe it was in the Pacific and in the Baltics. But it were not. Madrid and Valencia was bombed by two plutonium bombs with a yield of 21 kilotons - the same being used over Kiev - named Gilda and Helen of Iberia. Valencia was chosen as a major industrial city and port close to the front. To cripple the Spanish and in turn PACT ability to deliver arms and supplies to the front line. Madrid was chosen to take out the political leadership of Spain and plunge the country into chaos. Tens of thousands of lives were claimed instantly, with many more in the days to come. Including the old Stalinist and leader of Spain José Díaz who died of cancer. Some had it he fell under the hands of the Soviets, bearing a grudge against his Stalinist past. In his place the old Trotskyist during the civil war Julían Gorkin embraced the leadership of Spain. But the effects of the bombings of Spain was more widespread in change of leadership. Vital industries and hundreds of thousands of souls perished. Moreover it wrecked Spanish morale, leadership and supply situation. After two days NATO launched another offensive and conquered their way up to the river of Guadiana. Truman vowed that if the Spanish people and the government did not agree on an unconditional surrender the nuclear fire would continue until they did so. And they were close at breaking apart..
Red Tankers aid the population of Madrid.
Soviet soldiers under the 1st Belorussian Front under Kuznetsov and 2nd Belo. Front under Rokossovsky was ordered to end their occupation duty in Britain and sent over to Spain. There they would first be sent to the areas around Madrid and Valencia to agive humanitarian aid to the local population and restore order to the Spanish government who always fell under anti-communist coup and revolution. Demonstrators and unions openly questioned the regime's policy of bringing the nation into utter destruction and that Spain was now becoming part of the Soviet totalitarian regime and betraying their own ideals of liberty. The nation was again on the brink of revolution, but it was averted by the grace of Russian barrels. More importantly the Soviet war machine rolled down over the American lines and engaged in horrible battles. American and Soviet troops had engaged eachother in head on battles before on, such as in Egypt and Ireland, however this time was different as entire US divisions was sent to Spain to bring down the Iberian nation and threaten France. Both sides kept on the pressure, but eventually the vast size of the combined forces of the USSR, Spain and France had its toll on the NATO forces who had difficulties with their growing supply issues in Spain. As the Americans retreated Truman greenlighted yet another desperate attempt to bring down Spain...
The atomic bombing of Barcelona seen from a British battlecruiser.
America did not fall back without a bang. Truman held true to his promise and on the 18th of November yet another plutonium bomb was dropped over the port of Barcelona. A lone American bomber set off from the airbase in Gibraltar. On 08:45 the bomb, called Wigwam, was dropped over the Catalan metropolis. Groundside it was an ordinary day for the city dwellers of Barcelona. They knew nothing of what was about to come. 43 seconds later the bomb detonated around 600 meters above the city. The inhabitants first saw a bright flash, then a fierce explosion. An enormous mushroom shaped cloud rose several thousand meters up in the air. In a radius of 1 km there was 3000 degrees celsius melting away anything in its path. Further away the shockwave pulverized buldings and tore apart organic matter. Barcelona was chosen as it was an industrial powerhouse of Spain, moreover Soviet and French troops coming over to Spain had to pass through Catalonia and equipment was sent to the port of Barcelona and large parts of the Spanish Navy was stationed in Barcelona - the ships was effectively rendered useless and non-operational.. The US Military hoped yet another bombing of such a major population center would crush the Spanish morale and destroy the PACT supply lines to southern Spain. The effects was dreadful and people all over Spain and the globe asked how long the Spanish people would endure such suffering, and to what extent the Americans was willing to go to, in their own terms, liberate Europe from communism.
The front have stabilized around Sevilla and Malaga again.
After days of fighting and relentless offensives NATO retreated and was beaten back to their original starting perimeter outside of Gibraltar and Cadiz. As the Spanish still held Malaga the NATO lines were threatened from an eastern offensive that would cut off their troops in the north. They had to make the retreat and hope to push out again from Gibraltar. On the 25th the lines were again the same as just one month prior. Despite serious NATO attempts to break out and conquer Spain it failed with the Soviet intervention. The NATO troops again, however, sought to break out on the 25th from their strongholds in Cadiz, Gibraltar and Sevilla, but the PACT defenses of France and USSR was too well dug in and experienced. Where the Spanish Army was beaten and the people broken under the mushroom cloud the Red and Communard Armies persisted and wanted nothing more than one thing; the complete evacuation of NATO troops from Iberia.
P-47 Thunderbolt attacking Soviet tanks.
NATO had one advantage, though. As opposed to in Greece, western Europe and Britain NATO enjoyed air supremacy. Their control of the skies was a vital compartment of their success in Spain. PACT supply routes and frontline units were harassed. Altough regular artillery, tanks and soldiers claimed higher casualties than the air units, it had a devastating effect on the morale of the PACT troops. The most feared was low flying fighter-bombers who strafed the positions. A Soviet tank commander remarked "we were under attack from American planes. Their rockets missed us and the few who hit us did little serious damage. Still it was frightening. The majority of the tank crew was seasoned veterans from England - some had even fought in the Great Patriotic War. They remained calm. Two however was fresh from recruit school and they panicked as the fighters came flying toward us and the rockets slammed into our armor or the ground around us. They needed to get out at every cost and we tried to stop them. The loader was stopped in his tracks out, he had to be beaten to remain calm, while another managed to escape. It was the greatest irony that those who escaped out in panick from what they believed was certain death was in fact those who was killed. The tanks endured and only a few tanks recieved mobility, weapons or comms kill - with none recieving a total kill. Those who escaped was filled with shrapnel or torn apart by the blasts". The Soviet Union realized that unless they diverted several of their squadrons and wings to Spain they couldn't win over the entrenched NATO troops. Hundreds of planes was sent all over from Europe and the British Isles to Spain to stop the NATO advance and help the PACT advance. NATO only enjoyed a few airfields in the vicinity of Spain (one in Gibraltar and one in Morocco). The air-battle had begun and both sides knew the fate of Spain was dependent on the victor. Both to lead on offensive and also for further bombings, including atomic ones, of Spain that was bound to make the nation surrender - or perish.
The December defensive and later offensive.
On the 4th of December NATO gave up their attempts to break through the Russo-Franco lines. Winter was coming and US and British troops realized the Soviet and French troops were in better overall shape than their battered Spanish comrades. Mere six days later French and Soviet troops crossed no man's land and started their December campaign to break into Gibraltar and end the NATO threat and invasion. Their main focus was the bulge north of Malaga, the areas west of Malaga and the flat terrain between Sevilla and Malaga holding the crossroads of Antequera - all whom came under attack from the forces of Rokossovsky. Meanwhile from the west the men of Kuznetsov would cross the Guadalquivir river and into Cadiz. Sevilla was not to be attacked as the PACT forces dreaded a deathtrap in urban battles - as NATO troops suffered in Malaga. Instead the port of Cadiz was to be taken along witht the crossroads of Antequera. This would cut the forces from Gibraltar and Sevilla off from eachother, thus preventing a NATO retreat from Sevilla and supplies and reinforcements to Sevilla making it an easier target. While the forces of Rokossovsky saw major gains during the first hours of the battle in the west Kuznetsov had difficulties crossing Guadalquivir.
Soviet tanks cross into Antequera.
All along the line the battles came to a standstill, however in Antequera Rokossovsky put his weight behind the offensive on the important juncture, ready to crush it. From his point of view this was one of the more important battles as it would give the Soviets the initiative they needed to attack into Gibraltar itself, the area between Malaga an Gibraltar, Cadiz or Sevilla in directions that was generally speaking less prepared than the areas facing the Soviet lines. Rokossovsky ordered full aggression and to exploit every gap. Only self-propelled and mobile rocket launchers was to be used and the APCs and tanks of the Mechanized corps would break into the enemy lines and engage them while exploiting new gaps. The mobile artillery would follow in behind and devastate entire areas just before the Soviet tanks and APCs arrived. Entire areas was laid barren and the Americans was shocked by the sheer brutality of the Soviet troops. However it came at a cost as it exposed their artillery and tanks to NATO saturation attacks, ambush and air support. Antequera and the surrounding areas fell to Soviet control within the first day but at heavy losses. Such heavy losses that they were unable to push on and attack the NATO troops in the other areas.
Perhaps the heavy tanks can split their lines in half.
By late evening of the 12th American tanks and British infantry counterattacked the Soviets based around Antequera. Meanwhile Kuznetsov ordered an assault into Sevilla with heavy casualties and the attackers into Cadiz was slowly being beaten. Even the attack from Malaga the initiative was going away from Rokossovsky and into the hands of the Americans. The next day, however, the Soviets better spread out their troops and opened up an eastern front into Sevilla after a failed NATO breakout. However the battles on the streets of Sevilla was very much a standstill and the true outcome uncertain at best. The forces in Antequera was slowly turning the battle to their side with several medium and light armored reinforcements, and they hoped to break into Gibraltar or Cadiz with the help of a Heavy-Tank Brigade with KV and Trotsky tanks. The Battle of Spain and in turn Gibraltar was very much uncertain.
Soviet fighters over Spain.
Soon however the Soviet Airforce from the British Isles, the Low Countries and Denmark came ticking in to Spain. Their numerous fighters soon engaged American Mustangs and British Spitefuls, despite great losses the Soviet fighters soon got the upperhand. Mostly due to their numerical superiority, but also as Soviet strategic and tactical bombers pounded the only two airports day and night, interfering with the flight program and limiting their ability for storage and refueling. Moreover Spanish, French and Italian destroyers, light cruisers and smaller ships made up an effective AA blockade between the straits of Gibraltar, with capital ships bombarding the airfield in Gibraltar. The air superiority fighters of the USSR soon got the upperhand, combined with heavy fighters intercepting NATO bombers and bombers and fighter-bombers attacking both ground troops and strategic locations. The air war was quickly being won by the PACT, at the expense of NATO's ability to mount effective ground support, interdiction, strafing raids and more importantly - atomic bombings. The Soviets on the otherhand put good use of their air offensive..
The rock of Gibraltar stand. The attackers on Cadiz are converging on Sevilla.
On the 16th the areas west of Malaga was taken and NATO retreated back to their fortications in Gibraltar. It was a major victory, however the next three days would be intense. In Sevilla Trotsky tanks and infantry cleared out the city and the fall of the city was imminent - or so it seemed. Soon NATO counterattacked and it the Soviets was losing - or so it seemed. The very next day the Soviets converged their troops to Sevilla and 90% of the city was taken, with only the hard core being left. The attack on Cadiz, however, was soon proving to be a losing battle. Wave after wave plunged into an elastic defense they could not break through, and by the 17th the attacks was called off. However at the very next day American, Canadian and British troops counterattacked. This had the effect of weakening the defenses of Cadiz and later on play a part in its fall. Gibraltar stood though, as the Rock it were. Rokossovsky ordered the attack on the Rock, but its natural and contructed defenses led the Soviet assault into a complete standstill. However his troops was exposed and overstretched and they fell right into a defensive line that had been perfected over the centuries. An American jounralist decribed the assault "The Russians was out in the open being hammered from killzones created by artillery and machine guns. The whole areas was saturated, but the Soviet infantrists advanced under the worst conditions imaginable. All they had for cover was a wheat field, however the bullets graced the top of the wheat right into the torso's of the soldiers. They had to clear it out however as several armored vehicles waited behind the lines, but could not advance due to a minefield and several obstacles. If they called in artillery support it was quickly countered by our own batteries. If the Soviet tanks moved into the open to support their troops they would come under anti-tank fired pushing them away or killing them. Gibraltar can't be taken". As a matter of fact by mid-day of the 17th Rokossovsky called off the assault into Gibraltar. His troops and tanks could not take on the Rock.
Sevilla is cut off.
The breakthrough came on the night of the 19th as the port of Cadiz was eventually taken, with only scattered resistance from an Irish brigade. Sevilla was cut off from supplies and reinforcement and was surrounded. Rokossovsky split his Front between aiding Kuznetsov in the streets of Sevilla and scaling the Rock. Several probes was carried out, but the conclusion was the same: the fortifications in Gibraltar was too immensive to take out and the massive troop concentration from the remnants of the British Imperial Army, Canada and USA - a total of 17 armored and motorized brigades and 26 infantry units that were brigade to division sized. Instead the focus was now directed at Sevilla and starting a siege on the British Crown Colony.
With the fall of Sevilla Kuznetsov head to Morocco to finish the show.
Then on the 20th the guns fell silent in and around Sevilla. The last NATO controlled city in Spain was liberated. The 2nd Belorussian Front under Rokossovsky was given the mission to start a siege on Gibraltar and eventually take it. A total of six infantry brigades and two armored brigades was given the order to attack Cadiz from Gibraltar. However they fell victim to the Soviet T-44s, APCs and dreaded Trotsky tanks. The 1st Belorussian Front and Kuznetsov was given another task. They were to head for Spanish Morocco and attack into Western-Sahara. German and Spanish troops had just reclaimed their airfield down there under vicious battle, but fears remained high NATO would counterattack. If Spanish-Morocco fell then the straits of Gibraltar could fall and the defense of Gibraltar would turn decisively to NATO. Kuznetsov was to cut NATO off their and take their other airfield in reach of Spain and all the way down to the Spanish troops who was losing ground in Spanish Sahara. If Spanish Sahara and all of western Sahara was secured the NATO couldn't use it as a base of operations to reinforce Gibraltar or counterattack the Soviets in Northern Africa.*
Feliz Navidad!
Despite Rokossovsky's reservation he was ordered personally by Trotsky to resume the attacks on Gibraltar. But the forts and NATO troops could not be broken and before Christmas evening Rokossovsky refused to carry out his orders. Gibraltar was to come under siege, but it also meant that NATO troops could evacuate. A British general noted "this was the Russian christmas present to us. Live to fight another day". However most of the American units remained behind. Some French units even attempted a desperate attempt to take the Rock by seaside. The troops that evacuated was sent to North Africa west and east of Libya helping prepare the defense against the Paris Pact from there. The straits of Gibraltar could not be utilized, and so the troops had to be spread out through the coast of North Africa setting the stage for major engaments in the Sahara.
Even rocks can be broken..
Around eight infantry brigades and 16 armored and motorized brigades remained in Gibraltar. From sea side they battled three French brigades who aimed to land by sea. The waters was drenched in red by all the blood, however the Soviets soon resumed their offensive on midnight of the 27th. This attack caught the defenders by surprise and by the evening of the 28th the massed Soviet assault actually managed to break the lines at one point. This led to mass panic among the defenders. They either fell back or surrendered. The forts around Gibraltar was taken!
Soviet flamethrowers move into positions among the ruins of Gibraltar.
Soviet soldiers and tanks soon fanned out and surrounded the city. Fast moving units was sent way ahead of their closest units hoping to spread confusion among the defending lines and create breakthroughs to exploit. The regular infantry and heavy tanks followed up behind clearing up the houses one by one. It was tedious work and the casualties mounted up in the city and the Rock that was under heavy fire from the air, land and sea. The flamethrowers moved in to clear out the buildings and the caves and tunnels in the Rock and underneath Gibraltar. The battle lasted for two full days.
Boom!
However in the end the American, Canadian and British forces surrendered to the Soviet and Spanish soldiers. The exploits by the fast moving units and shock troopers created several pockets that surrendered with little battle. Others remained and fought in fierce duels against the overmight. On the 30th of December 1945 Gibraltar was again united with Spain. To the celebration of the Spanish and the horror of the natives - many who had evacuated with the troops, turning Gibraltar into a ghost town. With Gibraltar taken the NATO adventure into Spain had come to an end. All that remained now was to take the Suez...
We will cleanse North Africa of desert rats!
Gibraltar was taken and the Battle of Spain was over. Kuznetsov made minor gains in Morocco and headed toward West Sahara determined to seal the area off from NATO troops. Rokossovsky was soon after his victory and a moment of rest ordered to Morocco aswell. His mission was to thrust out of Morocco and into Algeria, cross into Tunisia and reach Libya. Meanwhile to the east the 1st and 2nd Ukranian Fronts planned to drive into Egypt by land and sea, reach Libya and crush NATO there. If Libya was reached from the east and the west the Mediterranean would be under complete communist control**. However the Battle of Spain came at an extreme loss of human lives. The Republic of Spain, already wrecked by a Civil War and the WW2, suffered some 400.000 military casualties. The Red and Communard Armies lost some 100.000 soldiers each, with USA suffering some 200.000 casualties, Britiain 500.000 and Canada several tens of thousands (this figure include those who surrendered in Gibraltar). The Battle of Spain became one of the deadliest of the war so far. And the three nuclear bombings of Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia spelt a humanitarian disaster for Spain. One that would forever scar it physically and the very collective memory of the nation. Years later the majority of Soviet, French and Spanish soldiers who helped put down the unrest and aid the population in the bombed areas would surrender to cancer and other disease.
However as the Belorussian and Ukranian Fronts looked down to North Africa seeking to cross the Mediterranean and the Suez, Vlasov and his 2nd Baltic Front turned his eyes to the Atlantic and sougt to cross the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean...
I heard Iceland and Greenland are not nice this time of the year..
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For the map of Spain/refference: https://geology.com/world/spain-map.gif
*The borders east and south of western Sahara is impassible. So NATO troops can't come to the Sahara facing the Atlantic from either Africa or America.
**Remember that Libya is netrual. The area south of the lands west of Libya are impassible, with Gibraltar taken and potentially Suez taken the NATO troops west of Libya will be trapped. From Egypt the area around the Nile are passable down to Ethiopia.
American troops landing on the beaches of southern Spain.
Gibraltar commonly known as the Rock was standing firm against attacks from Spain, the French Commune and Italy alike. Wave after wave hit the rock, but each wave broke up. In the first attacks the Spanish progressed and it was as if Gibraltar would fall within the very first days of the war, but as the Spanish troops entered the outer perimeter and British forces was forced underground, however massive NATO air attacks and reinforcements from all over the Empire and America trickled in and pushed the attackers out. The Spanish suffered some 73.000 casualties during their offensive - without taking control of the Rock. While NATO lost ground in northern Europe they remained optimistic that if they held Gibraltar the war might be won. British High Command laid out their strategy for their American counterpart; to attack into the Baltics or Black Sea (as the Americnas planned to) would be an attack straight into the jaws of a lion. However if Spain was taken out it could be used as a base of operations further into the Mediterranean and even France. A backhand blow into the soft belly of Europe. Thousands of American and Commonwealth troops was sent to Gibraltar during August and September of 1945, slowly building up their forces as the PACT was occupied elsewhere. By the last week of October they unleashed a furious invasion into Spain hoping to knock the second communist nation out of the war and to deprive the communist threat of their industrial powerhouses of France and Italy.
The NATO offensive into Spain before the Red Army was called into action.
"Spain have not been victim of such senseless violence, meaningless death and hatred since the Civil War. Entire generations disapperead in mere days, the countryside was riddled with armored wrecks standing as testimony to the sacrifice of brave men and as their tomb", was the words of a Spanish journalist. By the 29th of October the NATO forces - helped on my American armored and mechanized forces - secured a beachhead outside of Gibraltar taking the port of Cadiz and laying siege to the cities of Malaga and Sevilla. The Spanish fought bravely and for a brief moment managed to contain the NATO threat. However with the events that took place on the 3rd of November - yet another date of infamy in the history of America - the Spanish lines rapidly crumbled. The Spanish was promised relief from the battle hardened conquerers of Britain, but they were still far away. The NATO forces advanced in full aggression and soon reached the river of Guadiana by the 12th of November. However Malaga would not fall even under a massive siege. And despite the Spanish losing troops in the hundreds of thousands they managed to brace themself behind the rivers and natural defenses of the hilly areas. The news of impending Soviet reinforcements ticked in and boosted morale. All they had to do was to hold out a little longer and the might of the Soviet Union would come crushing down on NATO and liberate Spain.
The brutality of the imperialists know no boundaries!
3rd of November. NATO troops faced well entrenched Spanish troops with high morale. Something needed to be done. And so it were. Yet another nuclear strike was ordered by Truman. PACT intelligence services picked it up and was decieved to believe it was in the Pacific and in the Baltics. But it were not. Madrid and Valencia was bombed by two plutonium bombs with a yield of 21 kilotons - the same being used over Kiev - named Gilda and Helen of Iberia. Valencia was chosen as a major industrial city and port close to the front. To cripple the Spanish and in turn PACT ability to deliver arms and supplies to the front line. Madrid was chosen to take out the political leadership of Spain and plunge the country into chaos. Tens of thousands of lives were claimed instantly, with many more in the days to come. Including the old Stalinist and leader of Spain José Díaz who died of cancer. Some had it he fell under the hands of the Soviets, bearing a grudge against his Stalinist past. In his place the old Trotskyist during the civil war Julían Gorkin embraced the leadership of Spain. But the effects of the bombings of Spain was more widespread in change of leadership. Vital industries and hundreds of thousands of souls perished. Moreover it wrecked Spanish morale, leadership and supply situation. After two days NATO launched another offensive and conquered their way up to the river of Guadiana. Truman vowed that if the Spanish people and the government did not agree on an unconditional surrender the nuclear fire would continue until they did so. And they were close at breaking apart..
Red Tankers aid the population of Madrid.
Soviet soldiers under the 1st Belorussian Front under Kuznetsov and 2nd Belo. Front under Rokossovsky was ordered to end their occupation duty in Britain and sent over to Spain. There they would first be sent to the areas around Madrid and Valencia to agive humanitarian aid to the local population and restore order to the Spanish government who always fell under anti-communist coup and revolution. Demonstrators and unions openly questioned the regime's policy of bringing the nation into utter destruction and that Spain was now becoming part of the Soviet totalitarian regime and betraying their own ideals of liberty. The nation was again on the brink of revolution, but it was averted by the grace of Russian barrels. More importantly the Soviet war machine rolled down over the American lines and engaged in horrible battles. American and Soviet troops had engaged eachother in head on battles before on, such as in Egypt and Ireland, however this time was different as entire US divisions was sent to Spain to bring down the Iberian nation and threaten France. Both sides kept on the pressure, but eventually the vast size of the combined forces of the USSR, Spain and France had its toll on the NATO forces who had difficulties with their growing supply issues in Spain. As the Americans retreated Truman greenlighted yet another desperate attempt to bring down Spain...
The atomic bombing of Barcelona seen from a British battlecruiser.
America did not fall back without a bang. Truman held true to his promise and on the 18th of November yet another plutonium bomb was dropped over the port of Barcelona. A lone American bomber set off from the airbase in Gibraltar. On 08:45 the bomb, called Wigwam, was dropped over the Catalan metropolis. Groundside it was an ordinary day for the city dwellers of Barcelona. They knew nothing of what was about to come. 43 seconds later the bomb detonated around 600 meters above the city. The inhabitants first saw a bright flash, then a fierce explosion. An enormous mushroom shaped cloud rose several thousand meters up in the air. In a radius of 1 km there was 3000 degrees celsius melting away anything in its path. Further away the shockwave pulverized buldings and tore apart organic matter. Barcelona was chosen as it was an industrial powerhouse of Spain, moreover Soviet and French troops coming over to Spain had to pass through Catalonia and equipment was sent to the port of Barcelona and large parts of the Spanish Navy was stationed in Barcelona - the ships was effectively rendered useless and non-operational.. The US Military hoped yet another bombing of such a major population center would crush the Spanish morale and destroy the PACT supply lines to southern Spain. The effects was dreadful and people all over Spain and the globe asked how long the Spanish people would endure such suffering, and to what extent the Americans was willing to go to, in their own terms, liberate Europe from communism.
The front have stabilized around Sevilla and Malaga again.
After days of fighting and relentless offensives NATO retreated and was beaten back to their original starting perimeter outside of Gibraltar and Cadiz. As the Spanish still held Malaga the NATO lines were threatened from an eastern offensive that would cut off their troops in the north. They had to make the retreat and hope to push out again from Gibraltar. On the 25th the lines were again the same as just one month prior. Despite serious NATO attempts to break out and conquer Spain it failed with the Soviet intervention. The NATO troops again, however, sought to break out on the 25th from their strongholds in Cadiz, Gibraltar and Sevilla, but the PACT defenses of France and USSR was too well dug in and experienced. Where the Spanish Army was beaten and the people broken under the mushroom cloud the Red and Communard Armies persisted and wanted nothing more than one thing; the complete evacuation of NATO troops from Iberia.
P-47 Thunderbolt attacking Soviet tanks.
NATO had one advantage, though. As opposed to in Greece, western Europe and Britain NATO enjoyed air supremacy. Their control of the skies was a vital compartment of their success in Spain. PACT supply routes and frontline units were harassed. Altough regular artillery, tanks and soldiers claimed higher casualties than the air units, it had a devastating effect on the morale of the PACT troops. The most feared was low flying fighter-bombers who strafed the positions. A Soviet tank commander remarked "we were under attack from American planes. Their rockets missed us and the few who hit us did little serious damage. Still it was frightening. The majority of the tank crew was seasoned veterans from England - some had even fought in the Great Patriotic War. They remained calm. Two however was fresh from recruit school and they panicked as the fighters came flying toward us and the rockets slammed into our armor or the ground around us. They needed to get out at every cost and we tried to stop them. The loader was stopped in his tracks out, he had to be beaten to remain calm, while another managed to escape. It was the greatest irony that those who escaped out in panick from what they believed was certain death was in fact those who was killed. The tanks endured and only a few tanks recieved mobility, weapons or comms kill - with none recieving a total kill. Those who escaped was filled with shrapnel or torn apart by the blasts". The Soviet Union realized that unless they diverted several of their squadrons and wings to Spain they couldn't win over the entrenched NATO troops. Hundreds of planes was sent all over from Europe and the British Isles to Spain to stop the NATO advance and help the PACT advance. NATO only enjoyed a few airfields in the vicinity of Spain (one in Gibraltar and one in Morocco). The air-battle had begun and both sides knew the fate of Spain was dependent on the victor. Both to lead on offensive and also for further bombings, including atomic ones, of Spain that was bound to make the nation surrender - or perish.
The December defensive and later offensive.
On the 4th of December NATO gave up their attempts to break through the Russo-Franco lines. Winter was coming and US and British troops realized the Soviet and French troops were in better overall shape than their battered Spanish comrades. Mere six days later French and Soviet troops crossed no man's land and started their December campaign to break into Gibraltar and end the NATO threat and invasion. Their main focus was the bulge north of Malaga, the areas west of Malaga and the flat terrain between Sevilla and Malaga holding the crossroads of Antequera - all whom came under attack from the forces of Rokossovsky. Meanwhile from the west the men of Kuznetsov would cross the Guadalquivir river and into Cadiz. Sevilla was not to be attacked as the PACT forces dreaded a deathtrap in urban battles - as NATO troops suffered in Malaga. Instead the port of Cadiz was to be taken along witht the crossroads of Antequera. This would cut the forces from Gibraltar and Sevilla off from eachother, thus preventing a NATO retreat from Sevilla and supplies and reinforcements to Sevilla making it an easier target. While the forces of Rokossovsky saw major gains during the first hours of the battle in the west Kuznetsov had difficulties crossing Guadalquivir.
Soviet tanks cross into Antequera.
All along the line the battles came to a standstill, however in Antequera Rokossovsky put his weight behind the offensive on the important juncture, ready to crush it. From his point of view this was one of the more important battles as it would give the Soviets the initiative they needed to attack into Gibraltar itself, the area between Malaga an Gibraltar, Cadiz or Sevilla in directions that was generally speaking less prepared than the areas facing the Soviet lines. Rokossovsky ordered full aggression and to exploit every gap. Only self-propelled and mobile rocket launchers was to be used and the APCs and tanks of the Mechanized corps would break into the enemy lines and engage them while exploiting new gaps. The mobile artillery would follow in behind and devastate entire areas just before the Soviet tanks and APCs arrived. Entire areas was laid barren and the Americans was shocked by the sheer brutality of the Soviet troops. However it came at a cost as it exposed their artillery and tanks to NATO saturation attacks, ambush and air support. Antequera and the surrounding areas fell to Soviet control within the first day but at heavy losses. Such heavy losses that they were unable to push on and attack the NATO troops in the other areas.
Perhaps the heavy tanks can split their lines in half.
By late evening of the 12th American tanks and British infantry counterattacked the Soviets based around Antequera. Meanwhile Kuznetsov ordered an assault into Sevilla with heavy casualties and the attackers into Cadiz was slowly being beaten. Even the attack from Malaga the initiative was going away from Rokossovsky and into the hands of the Americans. The next day, however, the Soviets better spread out their troops and opened up an eastern front into Sevilla after a failed NATO breakout. However the battles on the streets of Sevilla was very much a standstill and the true outcome uncertain at best. The forces in Antequera was slowly turning the battle to their side with several medium and light armored reinforcements, and they hoped to break into Gibraltar or Cadiz with the help of a Heavy-Tank Brigade with KV and Trotsky tanks. The Battle of Spain and in turn Gibraltar was very much uncertain.
Soviet fighters over Spain.
Soon however the Soviet Airforce from the British Isles, the Low Countries and Denmark came ticking in to Spain. Their numerous fighters soon engaged American Mustangs and British Spitefuls, despite great losses the Soviet fighters soon got the upperhand. Mostly due to their numerical superiority, but also as Soviet strategic and tactical bombers pounded the only two airports day and night, interfering with the flight program and limiting their ability for storage and refueling. Moreover Spanish, French and Italian destroyers, light cruisers and smaller ships made up an effective AA blockade between the straits of Gibraltar, with capital ships bombarding the airfield in Gibraltar. The air superiority fighters of the USSR soon got the upperhand, combined with heavy fighters intercepting NATO bombers and bombers and fighter-bombers attacking both ground troops and strategic locations. The air war was quickly being won by the PACT, at the expense of NATO's ability to mount effective ground support, interdiction, strafing raids and more importantly - atomic bombings. The Soviets on the otherhand put good use of their air offensive..
The rock of Gibraltar stand. The attackers on Cadiz are converging on Sevilla.
On the 16th the areas west of Malaga was taken and NATO retreated back to their fortications in Gibraltar. It was a major victory, however the next three days would be intense. In Sevilla Trotsky tanks and infantry cleared out the city and the fall of the city was imminent - or so it seemed. Soon NATO counterattacked and it the Soviets was losing - or so it seemed. The very next day the Soviets converged their troops to Sevilla and 90% of the city was taken, with only the hard core being left. The attack on Cadiz, however, was soon proving to be a losing battle. Wave after wave plunged into an elastic defense they could not break through, and by the 17th the attacks was called off. However at the very next day American, Canadian and British troops counterattacked. This had the effect of weakening the defenses of Cadiz and later on play a part in its fall. Gibraltar stood though, as the Rock it were. Rokossovsky ordered the attack on the Rock, but its natural and contructed defenses led the Soviet assault into a complete standstill. However his troops was exposed and overstretched and they fell right into a defensive line that had been perfected over the centuries. An American jounralist decribed the assault "The Russians was out in the open being hammered from killzones created by artillery and machine guns. The whole areas was saturated, but the Soviet infantrists advanced under the worst conditions imaginable. All they had for cover was a wheat field, however the bullets graced the top of the wheat right into the torso's of the soldiers. They had to clear it out however as several armored vehicles waited behind the lines, but could not advance due to a minefield and several obstacles. If they called in artillery support it was quickly countered by our own batteries. If the Soviet tanks moved into the open to support their troops they would come under anti-tank fired pushing them away or killing them. Gibraltar can't be taken". As a matter of fact by mid-day of the 17th Rokossovsky called off the assault into Gibraltar. His troops and tanks could not take on the Rock.
Sevilla is cut off.
The breakthrough came on the night of the 19th as the port of Cadiz was eventually taken, with only scattered resistance from an Irish brigade. Sevilla was cut off from supplies and reinforcement and was surrounded. Rokossovsky split his Front between aiding Kuznetsov in the streets of Sevilla and scaling the Rock. Several probes was carried out, but the conclusion was the same: the fortifications in Gibraltar was too immensive to take out and the massive troop concentration from the remnants of the British Imperial Army, Canada and USA - a total of 17 armored and motorized brigades and 26 infantry units that were brigade to division sized. Instead the focus was now directed at Sevilla and starting a siege on the British Crown Colony.
With the fall of Sevilla Kuznetsov head to Morocco to finish the show.
Then on the 20th the guns fell silent in and around Sevilla. The last NATO controlled city in Spain was liberated. The 2nd Belorussian Front under Rokossovsky was given the mission to start a siege on Gibraltar and eventually take it. A total of six infantry brigades and two armored brigades was given the order to attack Cadiz from Gibraltar. However they fell victim to the Soviet T-44s, APCs and dreaded Trotsky tanks. The 1st Belorussian Front and Kuznetsov was given another task. They were to head for Spanish Morocco and attack into Western-Sahara. German and Spanish troops had just reclaimed their airfield down there under vicious battle, but fears remained high NATO would counterattack. If Spanish-Morocco fell then the straits of Gibraltar could fall and the defense of Gibraltar would turn decisively to NATO. Kuznetsov was to cut NATO off their and take their other airfield in reach of Spain and all the way down to the Spanish troops who was losing ground in Spanish Sahara. If Spanish Sahara and all of western Sahara was secured the NATO couldn't use it as a base of operations to reinforce Gibraltar or counterattack the Soviets in Northern Africa.*
Feliz Navidad!
Despite Rokossovsky's reservation he was ordered personally by Trotsky to resume the attacks on Gibraltar. But the forts and NATO troops could not be broken and before Christmas evening Rokossovsky refused to carry out his orders. Gibraltar was to come under siege, but it also meant that NATO troops could evacuate. A British general noted "this was the Russian christmas present to us. Live to fight another day". However most of the American units remained behind. Some French units even attempted a desperate attempt to take the Rock by seaside. The troops that evacuated was sent to North Africa west and east of Libya helping prepare the defense against the Paris Pact from there. The straits of Gibraltar could not be utilized, and so the troops had to be spread out through the coast of North Africa setting the stage for major engaments in the Sahara.
Even rocks can be broken..
Around eight infantry brigades and 16 armored and motorized brigades remained in Gibraltar. From sea side they battled three French brigades who aimed to land by sea. The waters was drenched in red by all the blood, however the Soviets soon resumed their offensive on midnight of the 27th. This attack caught the defenders by surprise and by the evening of the 28th the massed Soviet assault actually managed to break the lines at one point. This led to mass panic among the defenders. They either fell back or surrendered. The forts around Gibraltar was taken!
Soviet flamethrowers move into positions among the ruins of Gibraltar.
Soviet soldiers and tanks soon fanned out and surrounded the city. Fast moving units was sent way ahead of their closest units hoping to spread confusion among the defending lines and create breakthroughs to exploit. The regular infantry and heavy tanks followed up behind clearing up the houses one by one. It was tedious work and the casualties mounted up in the city and the Rock that was under heavy fire from the air, land and sea. The flamethrowers moved in to clear out the buildings and the caves and tunnels in the Rock and underneath Gibraltar. The battle lasted for two full days.
Boom!
However in the end the American, Canadian and British forces surrendered to the Soviet and Spanish soldiers. The exploits by the fast moving units and shock troopers created several pockets that surrendered with little battle. Others remained and fought in fierce duels against the overmight. On the 30th of December 1945 Gibraltar was again united with Spain. To the celebration of the Spanish and the horror of the natives - many who had evacuated with the troops, turning Gibraltar into a ghost town. With Gibraltar taken the NATO adventure into Spain had come to an end. All that remained now was to take the Suez...
We will cleanse North Africa of desert rats!
Gibraltar was taken and the Battle of Spain was over. Kuznetsov made minor gains in Morocco and headed toward West Sahara determined to seal the area off from NATO troops. Rokossovsky was soon after his victory and a moment of rest ordered to Morocco aswell. His mission was to thrust out of Morocco and into Algeria, cross into Tunisia and reach Libya. Meanwhile to the east the 1st and 2nd Ukranian Fronts planned to drive into Egypt by land and sea, reach Libya and crush NATO there. If Libya was reached from the east and the west the Mediterranean would be under complete communist control**. However the Battle of Spain came at an extreme loss of human lives. The Republic of Spain, already wrecked by a Civil War and the WW2, suffered some 400.000 military casualties. The Red and Communard Armies lost some 100.000 soldiers each, with USA suffering some 200.000 casualties, Britiain 500.000 and Canada several tens of thousands (this figure include those who surrendered in Gibraltar). The Battle of Spain became one of the deadliest of the war so far. And the three nuclear bombings of Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia spelt a humanitarian disaster for Spain. One that would forever scar it physically and the very collective memory of the nation. Years later the majority of Soviet, French and Spanish soldiers who helped put down the unrest and aid the population in the bombed areas would surrender to cancer and other disease.
However as the Belorussian and Ukranian Fronts looked down to North Africa seeking to cross the Mediterranean and the Suez, Vlasov and his 2nd Baltic Front turned his eyes to the Atlantic and sougt to cross the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean...
I heard Iceland and Greenland are not nice this time of the year..
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For the map of Spain/refference: https://geology.com/world/spain-map.gif
*The borders east and south of western Sahara is impassible. So NATO troops can't come to the Sahara facing the Atlantic from either Africa or America.
**Remember that Libya is netrual. The area south of the lands west of Libya are impassible, with Gibraltar taken and potentially Suez taken the NATO troops west of Libya will be trapped. From Egypt the area around the Nile are passable down to Ethiopia.
Last edited:
Well they fought hard for Gibralter, and even threw the kitchen sink into the fray (as it were) but the result is just the same.
You mean Soviet steamrolling? But there was major casualties on both sides. There was higher casualties in Spain (on both sides) than in Britain. There was an extreme concentration of British and US troops. Shame most escaped to Africa. However I suspect Britain wasn't able to substain their forces due to lack of resources. But we can see that US is getting quite liberal (or desperate) with their use of the nuclear button, and if Greenland and Iceland get invaded things can get nasty.. or even nastier to be correct.
Actualy I meant the Allies throwing in all those troops, including nukes
HOW?
...right. Perhaps they could take Spain, since they are already pushing in and the soviets are elsewhere. And it's a peninsula with a good mountain border with France, so detectable too. But to take France means fighting some big armies...no, not just that, it means basically conquering Germany and Russia as well if they want to hold anything past Spain. They could, perhaps, hold Italy's since the Alps and various other things would aid defence but anywhere else? Not unless the US waited for a while after the fall of Spain and then Sent everything over to Europe. And they won't. And Russia won't just sit there for ten years whilst they do it.
Yeah...they've lost the war right there. Who on Earth isn't going to figh against the monsters who did that? And they did that to a Western European population! What on earth are they going to do to the Slavic peoples they consider beneath them, or the africans and Asians they'd consider sub humans? Hearts and minds just make this war so easy to sell to the comintern and hard to justify to the people at home in America safe.
They killed how many innocents? They dropped how many nukes? And in the end it didn't even save anyone from the communist state or stop more Americans dying on the front lines? Why on earth are we fighting this war? They'll say. To pop up an empire that's dead on its feet and just as morally bankrupt as these supposed bad guys in Russia? Well, I guess I know who I'll be voting for next election...etcetera.
I doubt the Us can keep this up much longer.
Valid points. I guess it is more about doing something than nothing. At least if they take Italy, or France, they will remove major industrial and population centers from the communist forces. And it will be less head on than going for the Baltics or Black Sea. Remember that at this time the Red Army was spread out in Greece, Britain and the Levant. Of course the NATO offensive failed, it was too little too late. Unless the US really commits (I guess losing some 200.000 soldiers in Spain doesn't go well with the public, so it remain to be seen if they will commit) to liberate Europe, it is likely to remain under communist control.
It was certainly an interesting development. The narrative have gone away from the Russians (and especially the nuked Ukranians) "why are we fighting this war?" to the Americans who are now asking why they fight it - or at least question how they fight it. It brings up an interesting dynamic, however for all we know both sides are so brainwashed now they are prepared to fight to the end. But I doubt it.
And it is HoI4, no innocents died in these bombings
Yeah...I get the feeling that by the end of this the US and Allies will be no different from Fascists in how they go about things, and this may well inspire the Communists to 'get nasty' with both them and their own citizens to keep the war effort going. So...nice job breaking it, America!
Great going and a very exciting update! That was definitely a decisive battle and probably was their last chance to try to fight on the offensive against you in Europe.
If they succeeded in bringing down the USSR (the first time) it would have paid off I guess. However bombing Spain is a massive PR blunder, especially the culture rich cities they decided to nuke.
Thanks! And yes they screwed up in Spain. Unless they get their.. lets say stuff.. together in Africa they really can't pose a threat to communist controlled Europe.
The only threat the US really can pose now is an invasion into the Far East. However the distances are just so massive that I suppose it won't change much in the end. But if the US invaded in the Far East, combined with Japan, Nationalist China and British Raj driving into the Far East and Central Asia it could pose a major threat. If it will happen, however, remain to be seen.
Chapter 54.
Chapter 54: Red Ocean.
Warships of Marine de libération du peuple.
On the 12th of September one of the defining battles of the Royal Navy led in a decisive victory for the doctrine of heavy reliance on battleships of Trotsky and the Soviet Navy. Still this came at a price. The major engagement of the Battle of English Channel damaged Soviet warships along with several minor engagements. The battleships of the Red Fleet were ported for refitting and left the ports only on occasion to prevent the sinking of the Soviet Republics - the battleships themself held a huge symbolic value. In their place there was battlecruisers and other cruisers who intercepted NATO troop and merchant transports. As the majority of the Baltic Fleet was ported the French and German Navies (much smaller than their previous predecessors) was ordered to patrol the English Channel..
Initial skirmish of the Great Raid of the English Channel.
October the 10th. The Battle of Britain of Britain had come to an end and NATO troops was evacuating at large. The Royal Navy, or rather what was left of it, was deployed to escort their troops out of Britain. However Soviet submarines and air power forced them out of the North and Norwegian Seas. Instead they were forced toward the English Channel. The remnants of the Royal Navy was reported that the dreaded Soviet battleships was indeed not present, and they believed they could sneak their way out of the channel and deal crippling blows to the Soviet and other Pact troops and supplies that were shipped across the Channel. Instead they were soon in hot pursuit by the German and French navies. The two opposing fleets engaged eachother at long distance and the British believed they could rely on their superior tactics and their carrier to deal damage to the Pact navies and retreat. However as the newly constructed battlecruiser HMS Inflexible rushed forward to raid the Pact fleet (managing to sink a heavy cruiser and a light cruiser) it was soon ambushed by Soviet submarines and aircrafts. They attacked the battlecruiser from several directions. Inflexible was hit in her rudder by torpedos and was soon rendered immobile - Inflexible indeed. Torpedos continued to hit the battlecruiser, but her fatal moment came as a wave of Sturmoviks took out her bridge, before a second wave managed to pour rockets into her exposed magazine and engine. Inflexible exploded in a violent inferno. The first raid claimed not only Inflexible but four heavy cruisers, three light cruisers and 11 destroyers. The warships was sunk by the Soviet Air Force, submarines and the French and German warships alike.
HMS Ramillies taking a crippling blow.
For days the two sides chased eachother through the Channel with the British being unable to find a method to escape the PACT killzone. However on the 15th the two sides again met, as the battleship HMS Ramillies was engaged by several battlecruisers and and submarines. Despite its suprior armor and weaponary the Rimillies couldn't withstand the sheer onslaught of Pact torpedos and rockets. Several of the Pact warships was severly crippled, however the Soviet Sturmoviks managed to damage its weapons. The weapons of the Ramillies jammed and was stuck. Rockets, cannons and torpedos continued to slam into the battleship resulting in significant damage and hell on the waters. As the Ramillies retreated in the cover of high seas and thick black smoke German battlships closed in and opened up several salvos. The Ramillies turned around and fired shots at the Germans. It didn't sink the German ships, however it was enough for them to retreat. Still the Ramillies came under harassment from torpedo boats, submarines and destroyers. In the chaos a lone French heavy cruiser managed to sneak in and fired the crippling shots right into the Battleship. HMS Ramillies was sunk on the 15th of October after hours of desperate battle.
The battle is concluded.. for now.
After the conclusive last engagement on the 17th the British managed to disengage the Pact navies during the night of the 18th in the cover of darkness. The British fleet tried to make a last dash into the west to escape the clutches of the Pact Navy, and escape the coming intervention of the Soviet Navy. Despite the loss of Inflexible and Ramillies the Royal Navy commanded another three battlecruisers, one battleship, one aircraft carrier two heavy cruisers. However the last dash led to severe casualties. The combined power of the French aircraft carriers, Soviet submarines, French and German surface ships and Soviet aircrafts repulsed the British dash. The cost was crippling with the loss of 12 submarines, but also HMS Eagle the sole remaining British Aircraft Carrier. The remaining battleships and battlecruisers of the Royal Navy in the area was severly crippled being barely operational. Reports came in that the British warships retreated aflame, with several sailors jumping out to the seas rather than escaping with their ship. However the British were not in a safeheaven. They were forced to retreat to the east right into the North Sea. Their only method of escape was either another dash through the Channel or through the Norwegian Sea which were controlled by the Soviet Navy, chiefly the White Sea Fleet.
Sovyetskiy Soyuz break the waves!
The worst nightmare of the remaining British ships came true. The dreaded Soviet Republics, along with the Kronstadt and Lenin class, was again ordered to the seas. Their mission; to hunt down the remnants of the Royal Navy. However this time around they were only engaged in minor skirmishes. The big fish was nowhere to be seen. Despite being severly crippled the battlecruisers made daring runs out of the English Channel and the Norwegian Sea to safehavens - barely escaping the Soviet and Pact warships in hot pursuit.
Britannia rules the depth of the sea.
However the British were out of luck on the 28th. In the cover of darkness a contigent led by the battleship HMS Barham left the Shetlands and Faroe Islands escorting American troops that was evacuating under the threat of a Soviet invasion. The Soviet troops landed on the islands rooting at the last pockets of NATO resistance in the North and Norwegian Seas. However it also flushed out the last remnants of the Royal Navy. The dreaded Soviet republics led on German and French warships and ambushed the convoy and her escorts. Their main target was indeed the Barham but also the troop transports. All of the troop transport were sunk resulting in major US casualties, however Barham was pounded by the superior guns of the Soviet battleships and battlecruisers. However by the end of the day it was a French battlecruiser who took in the crippling blow that was forever immortalized on photos. Only five British destroyers escaped. The Royal Navy was truly defeated.
One closer step to intercontinental missiles..
With success on land and on sea the Soviet scientists was shooting for the stars. By the end of October a project to finish the designs of a ballistic missile (majorly based on the German theoretical V-2 rocket) and a native rocket powered aircraft was greenlighted. In a little over three months the scientists of the rocket project promised that the rocket powered interceptor Mikoyan-Gurevich I-270 and the ballistic missile R-1 would be ready for preperations. The I-270 was designed to be a interceptor aircraft for the point-defence role - namely protecting Pact countries from NATO bombers and especially atomic bombs. It could come up to an impressive speed of 1100 km/h! However its armament was light, with "only" two 23mm nosecannons. And its engine was fragile combined with a lethal explosive fuel. Due to its fuel cosumption it also had a short operation range of 300 km/h. But its impressive speed made up for it, as it was only intended in point defense. However the other major breakthrough was the R-1 missile. The R-1 would become the world's first ballistic missile and a major breakthrough for not only Soviet engineering, but science as a whole. But the Soviet military was keen to use the recent advances in rocketry for military purposes. Rocket artillery systems would be improved with the advances of the R-1 and I-270 and the R-1 was planned to deliver warheads of 785 kilogram. The Soviet military, however, only saw the R-1 as a stepping stone..
The US Pacific Fleet reign supreme..
Despite their victory over the Royal Navy, the Red Fleet got a reminder that the US Navy was still very much in the game. On the 12th of November the Far East Fleet engaged a major US fleet composed of carriers and battleships alike. They totalled a frightening number of 91 warships and 458 carrier based aircrafts. The Far East Fleet quickly disengaged, however at the loss of two destroyers. The Soviets were still high on their big gun doctrine's defeat over the Royal Navy. However as their Far East Fleet was forced to rout by the mere presence of American planes they realized the Far Eastern Fleet (and the European fleets) had to be supported by aircraft carriers if they were to ever cross the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and into America. It was decided that 9 aircrafts carriers would be produced, where four of them would go to the Far Eastern Fleet. The Soviets were reminded that despite their victory over the Royal Navy there was still a major player out there..
The near destruction of the Far Eastern submarine fleet.
And that major player delivered a crippling blow to the Far East Submarine Fleet. The submarines was caught in the South China Sea as they moved in to disrupt NATO supplies and troop convoys who moved in and out of Indochina*. The submarines had disrupted NATO supply lines for months, and while the Soviet submarines suffered casualties they were keeping afloat (or rather submerged). However on the 30th this changed after a massed American-Australian anti-submarine offensive where they caught the Soviets in a trap. The combined efforts of surface ships, naval bombers and most importantly destroyers sunk a total number of 14 Soviet submarines. The American admiral noted confidently "the Soviet submarine threat have been dealt with".
Trotsky like big guns, and demand even bigger guns.
On the 10th of December the Soviet Admiralty approved of the construction of the Project 24 battleship. A total of four battleships would be created and they were generally seen as an improvement over the Lenin class battleship - yet no revolution. Despite lacking the raw firepower and armor of the Soviet Republic superheavy battleships, the Project 24 was the world's most modern battleship. However rumors circulated that the Red Fleet was to look into an improvement of the already massive Sovietsky Soyuz class battleships, named Project 23bis...
Various minor battles on the seas in the closing months of 1945.
The other naval battles in the last months of 1945 was not the decisive battles of the English Channel or the Mediterranean Sea. However it established the Red Fleet as the controller of the European seas and oceans. In the Norwegian Sea Soviet and Canadian warships clashed outside of Iceland. NATO believed it was simply a raiding party of the convoys that passed through the area. Little did they know of what was to come..
New Year, new opportunities..
1945 turned to 1946. In just four months millions of lives had come to an end. In Odessa alone some 22500 casualties was suffered. In Kiev 200.000. Sevastopol 120.000. Valencia 376.000. Barcelona 423.000. Madrid 461.000. And millions others on the field of battle. Despite the victories in Europe the war was far from over. In northern Africa the Soviet Army was preparing to push into Algeria in the west and Egypt in the east. Meanwhile NATO troops was massing in Asia and India. However the Soviet Army was preparing to cross the atlantic, and only the US Navy could stop them as the once proud Royal Navy was reduced to two battleships and three battlecruisers that was obsolete and crippled - and scattered around the coast of South Africa and the Indian Ocean - while they only had one light cruiser and one destroyer to support them. The British Empire was no more, and it was up to America to defend the free world or the USSR to liberate the workers of the world...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Remember that because of game limitations Indochina is under Germany. Narrative wise they are their own Union, however under de-facto PACT control.
Warships of Marine de libération du peuple.
On the 12th of September one of the defining battles of the Royal Navy led in a decisive victory for the doctrine of heavy reliance on battleships of Trotsky and the Soviet Navy. Still this came at a price. The major engagement of the Battle of English Channel damaged Soviet warships along with several minor engagements. The battleships of the Red Fleet were ported for refitting and left the ports only on occasion to prevent the sinking of the Soviet Republics - the battleships themself held a huge symbolic value. In their place there was battlecruisers and other cruisers who intercepted NATO troop and merchant transports. As the majority of the Baltic Fleet was ported the French and German Navies (much smaller than their previous predecessors) was ordered to patrol the English Channel..
Initial skirmish of the Great Raid of the English Channel.
October the 10th. The Battle of Britain of Britain had come to an end and NATO troops was evacuating at large. The Royal Navy, or rather what was left of it, was deployed to escort their troops out of Britain. However Soviet submarines and air power forced them out of the North and Norwegian Seas. Instead they were forced toward the English Channel. The remnants of the Royal Navy was reported that the dreaded Soviet battleships was indeed not present, and they believed they could sneak their way out of the channel and deal crippling blows to the Soviet and other Pact troops and supplies that were shipped across the Channel. Instead they were soon in hot pursuit by the German and French navies. The two opposing fleets engaged eachother at long distance and the British believed they could rely on their superior tactics and their carrier to deal damage to the Pact navies and retreat. However as the newly constructed battlecruiser HMS Inflexible rushed forward to raid the Pact fleet (managing to sink a heavy cruiser and a light cruiser) it was soon ambushed by Soviet submarines and aircrafts. They attacked the battlecruiser from several directions. Inflexible was hit in her rudder by torpedos and was soon rendered immobile - Inflexible indeed. Torpedos continued to hit the battlecruiser, but her fatal moment came as a wave of Sturmoviks took out her bridge, before a second wave managed to pour rockets into her exposed magazine and engine. Inflexible exploded in a violent inferno. The first raid claimed not only Inflexible but four heavy cruisers, three light cruisers and 11 destroyers. The warships was sunk by the Soviet Air Force, submarines and the French and German warships alike.
HMS Ramillies taking a crippling blow.
For days the two sides chased eachother through the Channel with the British being unable to find a method to escape the PACT killzone. However on the 15th the two sides again met, as the battleship HMS Ramillies was engaged by several battlecruisers and and submarines. Despite its suprior armor and weaponary the Rimillies couldn't withstand the sheer onslaught of Pact torpedos and rockets. Several of the Pact warships was severly crippled, however the Soviet Sturmoviks managed to damage its weapons. The weapons of the Ramillies jammed and was stuck. Rockets, cannons and torpedos continued to slam into the battleship resulting in significant damage and hell on the waters. As the Ramillies retreated in the cover of high seas and thick black smoke German battlships closed in and opened up several salvos. The Ramillies turned around and fired shots at the Germans. It didn't sink the German ships, however it was enough for them to retreat. Still the Ramillies came under harassment from torpedo boats, submarines and destroyers. In the chaos a lone French heavy cruiser managed to sneak in and fired the crippling shots right into the Battleship. HMS Ramillies was sunk on the 15th of October after hours of desperate battle.
The battle is concluded.. for now.
After the conclusive last engagement on the 17th the British managed to disengage the Pact navies during the night of the 18th in the cover of darkness. The British fleet tried to make a last dash into the west to escape the clutches of the Pact Navy, and escape the coming intervention of the Soviet Navy. Despite the loss of Inflexible and Ramillies the Royal Navy commanded another three battlecruisers, one battleship, one aircraft carrier two heavy cruisers. However the last dash led to severe casualties. The combined power of the French aircraft carriers, Soviet submarines, French and German surface ships and Soviet aircrafts repulsed the British dash. The cost was crippling with the loss of 12 submarines, but also HMS Eagle the sole remaining British Aircraft Carrier. The remaining battleships and battlecruisers of the Royal Navy in the area was severly crippled being barely operational. Reports came in that the British warships retreated aflame, with several sailors jumping out to the seas rather than escaping with their ship. However the British were not in a safeheaven. They were forced to retreat to the east right into the North Sea. Their only method of escape was either another dash through the Channel or through the Norwegian Sea which were controlled by the Soviet Navy, chiefly the White Sea Fleet.
Sovyetskiy Soyuz break the waves!
The worst nightmare of the remaining British ships came true. The dreaded Soviet Republics, along with the Kronstadt and Lenin class, was again ordered to the seas. Their mission; to hunt down the remnants of the Royal Navy. However this time around they were only engaged in minor skirmishes. The big fish was nowhere to be seen. Despite being severly crippled the battlecruisers made daring runs out of the English Channel and the Norwegian Sea to safehavens - barely escaping the Soviet and Pact warships in hot pursuit.
Britannia rules the depth of the sea.
However the British were out of luck on the 28th. In the cover of darkness a contigent led by the battleship HMS Barham left the Shetlands and Faroe Islands escorting American troops that was evacuating under the threat of a Soviet invasion. The Soviet troops landed on the islands rooting at the last pockets of NATO resistance in the North and Norwegian Seas. However it also flushed out the last remnants of the Royal Navy. The dreaded Soviet republics led on German and French warships and ambushed the convoy and her escorts. Their main target was indeed the Barham but also the troop transports. All of the troop transport were sunk resulting in major US casualties, however Barham was pounded by the superior guns of the Soviet battleships and battlecruisers. However by the end of the day it was a French battlecruiser who took in the crippling blow that was forever immortalized on photos. Only five British destroyers escaped. The Royal Navy was truly defeated.
One closer step to intercontinental missiles..
With success on land and on sea the Soviet scientists was shooting for the stars. By the end of October a project to finish the designs of a ballistic missile (majorly based on the German theoretical V-2 rocket) and a native rocket powered aircraft was greenlighted. In a little over three months the scientists of the rocket project promised that the rocket powered interceptor Mikoyan-Gurevich I-270 and the ballistic missile R-1 would be ready for preperations. The I-270 was designed to be a interceptor aircraft for the point-defence role - namely protecting Pact countries from NATO bombers and especially atomic bombs. It could come up to an impressive speed of 1100 km/h! However its armament was light, with "only" two 23mm nosecannons. And its engine was fragile combined with a lethal explosive fuel. Due to its fuel cosumption it also had a short operation range of 300 km/h. But its impressive speed made up for it, as it was only intended in point defense. However the other major breakthrough was the R-1 missile. The R-1 would become the world's first ballistic missile and a major breakthrough for not only Soviet engineering, but science as a whole. But the Soviet military was keen to use the recent advances in rocketry for military purposes. Rocket artillery systems would be improved with the advances of the R-1 and I-270 and the R-1 was planned to deliver warheads of 785 kilogram. The Soviet military, however, only saw the R-1 as a stepping stone..
The US Pacific Fleet reign supreme..
Despite their victory over the Royal Navy, the Red Fleet got a reminder that the US Navy was still very much in the game. On the 12th of November the Far East Fleet engaged a major US fleet composed of carriers and battleships alike. They totalled a frightening number of 91 warships and 458 carrier based aircrafts. The Far East Fleet quickly disengaged, however at the loss of two destroyers. The Soviets were still high on their big gun doctrine's defeat over the Royal Navy. However as their Far East Fleet was forced to rout by the mere presence of American planes they realized the Far Eastern Fleet (and the European fleets) had to be supported by aircraft carriers if they were to ever cross the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and into America. It was decided that 9 aircrafts carriers would be produced, where four of them would go to the Far Eastern Fleet. The Soviets were reminded that despite their victory over the Royal Navy there was still a major player out there..
The near destruction of the Far Eastern submarine fleet.
And that major player delivered a crippling blow to the Far East Submarine Fleet. The submarines was caught in the South China Sea as they moved in to disrupt NATO supplies and troop convoys who moved in and out of Indochina*. The submarines had disrupted NATO supply lines for months, and while the Soviet submarines suffered casualties they were keeping afloat (or rather submerged). However on the 30th this changed after a massed American-Australian anti-submarine offensive where they caught the Soviets in a trap. The combined efforts of surface ships, naval bombers and most importantly destroyers sunk a total number of 14 Soviet submarines. The American admiral noted confidently "the Soviet submarine threat have been dealt with".
Trotsky like big guns, and demand even bigger guns.
On the 10th of December the Soviet Admiralty approved of the construction of the Project 24 battleship. A total of four battleships would be created and they were generally seen as an improvement over the Lenin class battleship - yet no revolution. Despite lacking the raw firepower and armor of the Soviet Republic superheavy battleships, the Project 24 was the world's most modern battleship. However rumors circulated that the Red Fleet was to look into an improvement of the already massive Sovietsky Soyuz class battleships, named Project 23bis...
Various minor battles on the seas in the closing months of 1945.
The other naval battles in the last months of 1945 was not the decisive battles of the English Channel or the Mediterranean Sea. However it established the Red Fleet as the controller of the European seas and oceans. In the Norwegian Sea Soviet and Canadian warships clashed outside of Iceland. NATO believed it was simply a raiding party of the convoys that passed through the area. Little did they know of what was to come..
New Year, new opportunities..
1945 turned to 1946. In just four months millions of lives had come to an end. In Odessa alone some 22500 casualties was suffered. In Kiev 200.000. Sevastopol 120.000. Valencia 376.000. Barcelona 423.000. Madrid 461.000. And millions others on the field of battle. Despite the victories in Europe the war was far from over. In northern Africa the Soviet Army was preparing to push into Algeria in the west and Egypt in the east. Meanwhile NATO troops was massing in Asia and India. However the Soviet Army was preparing to cross the atlantic, and only the US Navy could stop them as the once proud Royal Navy was reduced to two battleships and three battlecruisers that was obsolete and crippled - and scattered around the coast of South Africa and the Indian Ocean - while they only had one light cruiser and one destroyer to support them. The British Empire was no more, and it was up to America to defend the free world or the USSR to liberate the workers of the world...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Remember that because of game limitations Indochina is under Germany. Narrative wise they are their own Union, however under de-facto PACT control.
A small fly in the ointment of success in the Far East, but Comrade Trotsky shall surely look back on '45 with a certain satisfaction.
1945 went beyond his wildest dreams. Or well I suppose he would think the workers of the world go out in open rebellion, but it went military wise much better than what anyone could anticipate. Now we will what '46 have in store!
Well, thats probably the game wrapped up, unless the us was mass prosucing nukes and theows them all at you when you invade them...
Otherwise, theres nothing they can really do now, aside from make the pacfiic war so painful to win for the russians that the us has time to tske over rhe americas in yhe meatime (at which point, theu coukd realistically start a cold war with both sides reasomably balanced out).
Otherwise, theres nothing they can really do now, aside from make the pacfiic war so painful to win for the russians that the us has time to tske over rhe americas in yhe meatime (at which point, theu coukd realistically start a cold war with both sides reasomably balanced out).
I guess it all depend on if we can invade them at all! The US Pacific Fleet so far seem to make life very difficult to cross the Pacific. It remain to be seen if we can cross the Atlantic aswell. As of now the Soviet Army will be focused on North Africa to gain complete control over the Med. and protect their oil supplies. But perhaps if an invasion of USA can't be pulled off, the Soviets will drag them into India and China to start a major meat grinder there
Okay folks I had been meaning on doing another update. However I don't it will come out today. I'll be occupied from tomorrow and this AAR will be paused, but not ended, until the 21st or 22nd of June. See you around!
No worries. Hope whatever is occupying your time is a good thing, or at least goes well.
We'll look forward to seeing you again in late June! Thanks for all your entertaining work!
Thanks guys
After some time the AAR will be open again, and the nexxt update will come in the near future