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I would suggest trying to mobilize a full 30 days ahead of the delivery of the demands. I understand cost and losing surprise but if they are already mobilizing there is NO surprise, they know, and the cost of money is less painful than the cost of defeat. Also wondering about cost sounds slightly capitalist to me comrade. o_O

Let me rephrase: We cannot keep our workers away from their glorious industry, and their means of production for longer than strictly necessary by enlisting them into their army. On another note, we can never have enough Industrial Capacity. Mobilising early will delay important production and upgrades that will be needed by our people's army in future wars.

Production is the ultimate goal, as producing more will make the proletariat wealthier and safer, they own the means of production, they will get the benefits of their own work. The harder they work, the more the state has, the more the state has, the more the people have... (you can see where this is going...)

Despite our size, we are all alone in our corner of the world (with Mongolia and Tannu Tuva), we need to be strong, and we need a truly great army of and for the people. On the other hand a successful campaign in Finland might show the world they shouldn't mess with us.
Anyway, mobilisation will have to start soon, we'll see how long it takes...
 
11th of November 1939, the Soviet Union Mobilises
The 11th of November 1939, Moskva, -10,3°C, 7am Moscow Time,

21 years after the end of the Great War to end all Wars, the Soviet Union is mobilising. The lists of draftees are in all the papers, the most able-bodied men have been selected to fully reinforce our Red Army, as it stands only 18% of the men of fighting age is needed for the full mobilisation of our forces. The first troops to be mobilised are those on the Finnish Border, it seems this mobilisation is necessary to be able to force our demands on an already mobilising Finland. Once the
Leningrad-Archanglesk HQ is fully mobilised, or very close, hopefully by the 30th, we will enforce our demands, one way or the other.

Mobilisation1939.jpg

A poster to encourage people to join the Red Army as Instructed and not dodge the draft, showing the Army's greatness and Stalin's dominance and pride. So it begins...

There is a lot of work to do, and I have to start monitoring the mobilisation, so that will be all for now,

'Odin'
 
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17th of November 1939, 'Tri', call about the fall of Denmark, & the UK taking control of Iceland & Greenland
The 17th of November 1939, Murmansk 138. GSD HQ, -10,4°C, 7pm Moscow Time,

I was pleased to see that our most far-flung Division on the Finnish front is almost complete with 8.741 men out of a total requirement of 9.000, in a day or two it will be fully reinforced. It will then have some more time until the 30th to get organised. The situation is pretty much the same along the entire front, reinforcements are arriving faster than the units can organise themselves. The Mountaineers and Motorised Divisions in particular will benefit from a few days after all reinforcements have arrived. Thank you to external committee member Eurasia for advocating early mobilisation, the benefits are already becoming very clear.

I was discussing all this with
Maj. General Riabyzhev (My cover was that of an NKVD officer checking up on the new recruit's political affiliations...), when a call came into his office, it was for me. Unsurprisingly 'Tri' was on the other end of the line;

"Copenhagen has fallen it's only a matter of time for the official surrender of Denmark to come through. The Royal Navy managed to extract the Royal Family and most of the Government to form a government in exile in London. This has a short term advantage for us as the UK can now impossibly interfere with our affairs with Finland, long term this will pose problems for our navy and our ability to trade while at war with the Axis. Well, you have to hand it to the Danes, they held on longer than anyone expected, and it took two weeks of incessant Aerial bombardment and a 2 or 3 Division assault to finally break their resolve. Let us hope the Fins are less foolishly brave..."

GermanyConquersDenmark17-11-39.jpeg

Denmark under German Occupation.
The 18th of November 1939, Murmansk 138. GSD HQ, -9,8°C, 4pm Moscow Time,
Less than a day had gone by when I received another telephone call from 'Tri':

"The Danish aren't down yet, they just pissed off the Germans again, they just gave control of Greenland and Iceland to Britain, making the defence of theses Islands a priority for the Royal Navy, and meaning the Kriegsmarine won't have a chance at taking possession of these lands, and especially their naval bases... If the Germans were to win this war, I'm sure the Danish government will get the harshest of punishment for this act of defiance in the face of their victor..."

GreenlandIceland->Britain18:11:39.jpeg

The British empire temporarily gains 2 more islands
With all these fast-paced developments one is left to wonder what tomorrow might bring...
We'll only know tomorrow,

'Odin'
 
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20th of November 1939, 'Odin', 10-day report #105
The 20th of November 1939, Just outside Vologda, -10,3°C, 10am Moscow Time

Report on the state of the Soviet Union for the ten day period between the 11t hand the 20th of November 1939,

by 'Odin'

Army:
A new Regiment of improved BT-7M 'Medium' tanks, 5. GvTP, has finished training and has been put under the direct command of Lt. General Malinovskij's I GvTK, 2ya Tankovaya Armiya, Armoured Army Group, STAVKA.
Army numbers (Brigades/Personnel) Reserves included (these numbers don't include regiments being upgraded):
Front line troops: 514 / 1.542.000
Support troops: 137 / 137.000
Total fighting troops: 651 / 1.679.000
Headquarters: 52 / 26.000
Total Army Personnel: 703 / 1.705.000
Officers: 61.988 + / 70.870 needed / 87,467 %
Active Leaders: 211 / 37 Reserve
For now no new Units will start training until the Army Reinforcement need goes down.
Air Force:
No changes in the VVS, nor the Navy Air Fleet in the last ten days
Navy:
No changes in the navy for the last ten days
Politics / International:
The Soviet Union is Mobilising
Germany conquered Denmark
Denmark's government in exile placed Greenland and Iceland into British control, hoping to safeguard these territories from the Germans.
Industry:
Industry Numbers:
The Machine Gun Bunkers (Level 1 fortifications) in Minsk have been completed, guns are being installed as we speak.
New Machine Gun Bunkers will now be built in Vitsyebsk. We are gradually fortifying our cities near the Western front, especially those not covered by a river. in an attempt to create hedgehogs to slow down and bleed a possible German advance.
The Air base in Novomoskovosk has finished it's first expansion (Level 2), now maintenance hangars are being added, along with a concrete control tower (Level 3).
The Air base in Berezan has reached an acceptable size (Level 4), efforts will now go towards paving the second runway of the Brzesc-Litewski Air Base (Level 4)

Working Industrial Capacity / Available capacity: 232 / 307
IC Usage: ( Allocated IC / Need )
Upgrades: 17,58 / 67,38
Reinforcement: 37,96 / 37,96
The Mobilisation is going really well, most units are reaching full capacity, especially on the Finnish front, reinforcements reached their peak of ca 114 IC a couple of days ago and today is the first day they have fallen below 100. This was paid for by stopping Upgrades and delaying Army Unit training and equipment production

Supplies: 11,43 / 27,22
Supply production is slowly being increased to sustain our Army with all the extra conscripts the Mobilisation has added.

Production: 132,58 / 138,58
Consumer Goods: 107,44 / 107,44
Stockpiles:
Energy: Maximum =
Metal: 78.044 tonnes +
Rares: 27.746 tonnes +
Crude: 72.467 barrels +
Supplies: 33.090 tonnes +
Fuel: 99.997 barrels +
Money: 1.924 -
Intelligence:
Spy numbers, spies in (active / added / lost / caught by us)
France (Tech Espionage / Counterespionage): 10 / 0 / 0 / 0
{ Germany (/): 0 / 0 / 0 / 1 }
{ Japan (/): 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 }​
UK (Tech Espionage / Counterespionnage): 5 / 0 / 0 / 0
Other: 0 / 0 / 0 / 1
Total: 15 / 0 / 0 / 1
Reserves: 1
Spy training leadership expenditure: 0,47
Research:
With the development of a new Single Engine Airframe (Level 1), our Aeronautical designers have come up with entirely new Airplane designs:

LaGG-3.jpg

A new and improved Interceptor to replace the I-16. The Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3, a close cousin of the La-5, along with it's long-range carrier-based version.

Il2_sturmovik.jpg

A more heavily Armoured Close Air Support Plane, the Ilyushin Il-2M Shturmovik, a lighter carrier-based version was also developed.
Strengthened by this breakthrough the Aeronautical designers are now designing better and larger Small Fuel Tanks (Level1) to extend these new planes' range.
No changes to LS distribution
Statistics:
National Unity: 82,673 (+0,01)
Neutrality: 0,00 =
Dissent: 0,00 =
Manpower:
Available: 1.975.000 Men
To reinforce(need): 37.800 Men
To mobilise(need): See above
Monthly gain: 43.600 Men (1 fully mobilised Infx3, AT Division every 7,8 days)​
No changes in Party Popularity for the last ten days.
Party Organisation:
- Communist Party: 59,93 (+0,13)
- Trotskyite: 13,00 (-0,1)
- Bukharinite: 8,10 (-0,1)

- Octobrist: 8,60 (-0,1)
- Trudoviks: 5,40 (-0,1)
- Social-Revolutionary: 0,00 =
- Kadets: 0,00 =

- Tsarists: 1,70 (-0,1)
- POA: 0,00 =
- NTS: 2,90 (-0,1)
The mobilisation is going faster than expected. All units in Leningrad-Archanglesk HQ are above 99% of their maximum strength after 10 days of mobilisation. Another 10 days and they will have organised themselves enough to go to war if need be.

This Information is accurate on the morning of the 20th of November 1939, I hope it serves you well in fine-tuning your possible suggestions.

'Odin'
 
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Impressive preparations: it will be interesting to see how the Soviet forces perform in what looks a likely winter war with the Finns. The Allies won't like you for it (any more than for the pact with the Nazis) but it seems, as you say, there is nothing much they can do about it.
 
30th of November 1939, 'Odin', 10-day report #106
The 30th of November 1939, Leningrad Air Base, -8,5°C, 7am Moscow Time

Report on the state of the Soviet Union for the ten day period between the 21st hand the 30th of November 1939,

by 'Odin'

Army:
No changes to Army numbers in the last ten days
Officers: 62.238 + / 70.870 needed / 87,820 %
A new Regiment of improved BT-7M medium tanks has started production.
Air Force:
No changes in the VVS, nor the Navy Air Fleet in the last ten days
Navy:
No changes in the navy for the last ten days
Politics / International:
An ultimatum has been sent to Finland: 'Karelia or War' is the gist of it, we are expecting a response within a couple of hours.
Industry:
Industry Numbers:
Working Industrial Capacity / Available capacity: 232 / 307
IC Usage: ( Allocated IC / Need )
Upgrades: 48,75 / 59,18
Reinforcement: 0,01 / 0,01
The Mobilisation is clearly complete.

Supplies: 11,43 / 27,75
Production: 139,36 / 139,36
Consumer Goods: 107,44 / 107,44
Stockpiles:
Energy: Maximum =
Metal: 78.123 tonnes +
Rares: 27.792 tonnes +
Crude: 73.444 barrels +
Supplies: 32.317 tonnes +
Fuel: 99.850 barrels -
Money: 1.919 -
Intelligence:
Spy numbers, spies in (active / added / lost / caught by us)
France (Tech Espionage / Counterespionage): 10 / 0 / 0 / 0
{ Germany (/): 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 }
{ Japan (/): 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 }​
UK (Tech Espionage / Counterespionnage): 4 / 0 / 1 / 0
Other: 0 / 0 / 0 / 2
Total: 15 / 0 / 1 / 2
Reserves: 2
Spy training leadership expenditure: 0,47​
Research:
No completed projects, no new projects
No changes to LS distribution
Statistics:
National Unity: 82,683 (+0,01)
Neutrality: 0,00 =
Dissent: 0,00 =
Manpower:
Available: 1.970.000 Men
To reinforce(need): 10 Men
To mobilise(need): See above
Monthly gain: 43.600 Men (1 fully mobilised Infx3, AT Division every 7,8 days)​
No changes in Party Popularity for the last ten days.
Party Organisation:
- Communist Party: 60,23 (+0,3)
- Trotskyite: 13,00 =
- Bukharinite: 8,10 =

- Octobrist: 8,60 =
- Trudoviks: 5,40 =
- Social-Revolutionary: 0,00 =
- Kadets: 0,00 =

- Tsarists: 1,70 =
- POA: 0,00 =
- NTS: 2,90 =
This update was finished and delivered a bit earlier, as the anticipation has kept me up all night. As we speak our diplomats are delivering our demands to the Finnish Government.

Troops of XXIII SK have already embarked onto the transports of the Cernoje Flote, in the hope that, in case of war, they could strike a blow at Viipuri, which, although fortified, is guarded by a single Garrison Division as far as we can tell from the sea.

Leningrad Air Base is a sea of planes, every hardened surface that isn't a runway or a maintenance hangar seems to be covered in Aeroplanes, 1.200 planes are based here, 200 Su-2 Ivanov's, 200 Yak-4's and 800 I-16's. The VVS states that the limit is 1.000 planes, and I believe them. They say I. BAK may be rebased to Tallinn after the initial offensive.

I will report again in a couple of hours about whether or not we are at war, and about our strategy in case of the latter...


This Information is accurate on the morning of the 30th of November 1939, I hope it serves you well in fine-tuning your possible suggestions.

'Odin'
 
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30th of November 1939, the starting shot
The 30th of November 1939, Leningrad Air Base, -7,9°C, 10am Moscow Time

With a mighty roar 200 Yak-4's fire up their engines and start taking of on Leningrad Air Base's 3 runways at once, from the ground we see them form up, then fly over the horizon towards Finland. Air Lt. General Golovanov's I. BAK is to strike the first blow against Viipuri, damaging the fortifications in anticipation of an imminent naval landing.

Yak4b.jpg

A Yak -4 ready to fire up it's engines in the freezing cold. These will be the first planes to strike at Finland.
The Fins have refused our terms, and we are now at war. All along the border commanders have been given the order to Attack however they see fit to get to their objectives. They have been preparing for this moment for close to a year now, we will now see how their plans work in practice...

FinWeather30-10-39.jpeg

This war will be cold, very cold, luckily all our troops are equipped with Arctic Warfare equipment. These are our troops 5 minutes before the declaration of war.
I will, of course, be reporting regularly on the progress of this Winter War,

'Odin'
 
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10th of December 1939, Winter War report #1
The 10th of December 1939, near Vologda, -10,7°C, 10am Moscow Time.

Report on the Finnish war for the ten days between 10am on the 30th of November, and 10am on the 10th of December,

I have returned to the compound near
Vologda, as an overview of events is more readily available here.

In the first hours after the declaration of war the dysfunction of the Red Army became painfully obvious. It seems the main culprit is miscommunication between
General Kolpachi (1ya Armiya) his colleagues Lt. Generals Pukhov (XXII GSK) and Timoshenko S.K. (XIV MSK), and Field Marshall Chuikov (1st Army Group) who is the supreme commander of the Finnish campaign. General Kolpachi had been given clear objectives: Make sure Leningrad is not taken, and advance towards Viipuri and Helsinki. During preparations, he had indicated that he would use the short front between the Inner Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga as his starting position, he had been given three full Corps of Rifle Divisions (I, II, III SK). The other parts of the Finnish front were covered by XXII GSK in the north (defending Murmansk and aiming for Oulu), and XIV MSK just north of Lake Ladoga.(Aiming for Ruokolahti Air Base). Both of these reporting directly to 1st Army Group.

Once the go ahead was given and war was declared,
General Kolpachi seems to have changed his mind, he suddenly indicated he would cover the entire front, and started to frantically ship units north on trains to cover the fronts already covered by XXII GSK, and XIV MSK. Field Marshall Chuikov, realising what was happening, and having no way of convincing General Kolpachi that the north was safe, he quickly folded both XXII GSK and XIV MSK into 1ya Armiya. The next step was an adjustment of objectives as 1ya Armiya was now covering the entire front. Objectives were changed to: Defend Leningrad, Aim for Oulu, Viipuri, and Helsinki. Ten days later large scale troop movements behind the front are still ongoing, this will significantly delay our campaign.

FWW10:02:39.jpeg

1ya Armiya now, note the ongoing troop movements, I ShAD bombing
Valkjärvi, the Red Banner Baltic Fleet in Finnish Coast, and Cernoje Flote in the Inner Gulf of Finland.

Viipuri

Unsurprisingly the first attack of the war wasn't by any of the aforementioned units, it was a top secret special operation by
Lt. General Popov V.S.'s XXIII SK, he had to answer only to Field Marshall Chuikov himself. The idea behind the operation was to strike a fast and surprising blow against the enemy, to circumvent the border fortifications and capture Viipuri quickly. It was daring, especially considering the lack of reliable intelligence about enemy strength:

Lt. General Popov V.S. planned a direct amphibious assault on Viipuri, for this to work he had to coordinate with both Navy and Air Force Commanders. The information was compartmentalised, and only Lt. General Popov V.S. knew exactly what was going to happen.
The first step of the operation was to load as many riflemen as possible on the navy's ten troop transport ships.
67,70, and 73 SD were temporarily stripped of their Regiments of 85mm D-44 Anti-Tank guns, these would only slow them down and take up space on board. Even without the big guns there wasn't enough space on board, so 73 SD's 220 SP (Rifle Regiment), and XXIII HQ were left behind as well. At a quarter past seven and filled to the brim, the transports, with close to 24.000 riflemen on board, were escorted out of Leningrad Naval Base by Commander Papanin's Cernoje Flote, with the Battleship Marat as it's flagship. Commander Papanin was told to sail straight to Tallin, this was a ruse of course, and that's where they would have gone had war not been declared.

Meanwhile,
Lt. General Popov V.S. was driven to Leningrad Air Base, where he requested, and was given, a top secret meeting with Air Lt. General Golovanov SK3, CB commander of I BAK, and it's 200 Yak-4 twin-engine bombers. Air Lt. General Golovanov was given his target in the biggest secrecy, even his most experienced pilots didn't know what it was. It was, of course, Viipuri.

Everything came together, when less than an hour after the declaration of war
I BAK started dropping hundreds of bombs on the garrison in their ancient coastal fortifications. It turns out only a single Regiment was present. In no time the order was sent to Commander Papanin, who's fleet had just reached the Inner Gulf of Finland, to turn his ships towards Viipuri. One can only imagine the horror of the 3.000 men Garrisoning Viipuri. Shortly after being bombed for three hours straight by I BAK's 200 bombers, Marat and 2 Light Cruisers opened fire while hundreds of dinghy's filled with Riflemen started moving towards them. The attack officially started at 3pm.

viipuri.jpg

Viipuri before the bombardments started, this Castle is part of the fortifications and was occupied by 30 soldiers, it wasn't spared by I BAK's bombs will have to be rebuilt after the war.

The sea was close to freezing temperature and the air was a chilly -7.9°C,
Maj. General Bogdanov I.A. SK2 was leading the first wave from the deck of the Marat. The first wave tried, and partially succeeded to force a Breakthrough, allowing the second and third waves to land and to set up a large scale Attack into the woods on the 2nd of December. And to finish things off a final Shock assault on the 3rd broke RT2(single Garrison Regiment)'s will to fight. All the enemy could do was Defend and hold on for dear life. Out of 23.981 riflemen, only 30 died, mostly because they had fallen into the freezing water, of the Finnish Garrison's 2.923 men, 118 died in ground combat and Navy shelling.

Meanwhile
I BAK was flying back and forth, dropping as many bombs as they possibly could, they barely slept as bombing runs went on through the night, in 4 days, 14 bombing missions were flown, to devastating effect, a total of 830 bombing casualties were counted among the rubble. FlaK was a mere nuisance, as, out of a total of 200 only 16 planes were put out of service, I BAK has now rebased to Tallin Air Base, as Leningrad Air Base is very congested, and more targets can be reached from Tallin.

Gloster_Gladiator_3.jpg

This is what the Finnish Air force looks like, tiny and prehistoric. (I know these aren't Finnish, but the Finnish ones have Swastikas (against forum rules) on them, and that seems to be the only real difference, on black and white photographs anyway.)

At the end of the Second bombing run, there was an encounter with
Lentorykmentti 1, a Finnish unit counting 90 Gloster Gladiator biplanes, they call those interceptors in Finland... . As all of their bombs had been dropped I BAK turned away before the Fins could fire a shot. Air Lt. General Khudyakov SK4, SAT and his I IAK counting 400 I-16's immediately took to the skies to intercept Lentorykmentti 1, which was lead by Air Maj. General Sarko SK3. By 3pm they had caught up to the Finnish biplanes, and for three hours the I-16's tore Finnish planes to shreds with no losses of their own until the Fins had had enough and landed in all haste at Ruokolahti Air base. The Finnish Air Force would remain absent until the 8th of December, when 96 Gloster Gladiators were beaten again by 400 I-16's in the skies over Ruokolahti Air base for the loss of 2 I-16's.

After the victory in
Viipuri, the transports returned to Leningrad, to pick up the AT guns and the Rifles Regiment left behind, and by the 8th of December, they would be reunited with their respective units. 70 and 73 SD started moving into Koivisto, quickly chasing two HQ's in an effort to create a supply link with the main front two provinces away, 73 SD should get there tonight.

Viipuri2.jpg

Men of RT2, the unit Garrisoning
Viipuri, this was supposed to be a quiet posting along the sea...
The Finnish Coast

The Red Banner Baltic Fleet of
Rear Admiral Kuznetsov SK3, ST had been sent to the Finnish Coast to deter any attempts by the Finnish navy to mess with the landings at Viipuri. At the same time all submarines based in Leningrad, were passing through on their way to Finnish maritime trade routes in order to raid some convoys. One day into the war, on the 1st at 4pm two Finnish Heavy Cruisers and five or so submarines appeared out of nowhere in a sneaky surprise attack lead by Finnish Commander Horola SK2, Spt. Rear Admiral Kuznetsov didn't waste any time and the Battleship Parizhkaya Kommuna was the first to fire back, followed shortly by Oktyabrskaya Revoluciya, the pride of our Navy, Heavy Cruiser Krasnyi Kavkaz.and the Light Cruiser
Profitern
. By 5pm 1 and 2 KPA took to the skies from the decks of Escort Carriers Leningrad and Moskva starting their first of two bombing runs lead by Commander Zhavronkov SK4, FD. 6 Destroyer Flotillas (5, 1, 7, 8, 3, 4 FE) and 9 Submarine Flotillas (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 23 ,30 FP) were soon firing torpedoes and their tiny guns at the heavy Cruisers Ilmarinen, pride of the Finnish Navy, and Väinämöinen. 1. Sukellusvenelaivue was just hiding it's 5 submarines in plain sight firing torpedoes at will, but barely hitting anything, as they had to dive frequently to hide from our Aeroplanes.

By 9pm the smoke had cleared over the
Finnish Coast, the Finnish Cruiser Väinämöinen was listing heavily to it's starboard side as water was flowing in through several holes just below the waterline made by a Torpedo barrage by 30. Flotiliya Podlodok, it's turrets had previously been blown away by 305mm shells from the Battleship's main guns, minutes later it had vanished below the waves. Ilmarinen, missing it's aft turret and heavily smoking was steaming towards the horizon, beyond the reach of our Soviet guns, harassed by modified MiG-3's and Su-2's, desperate bursts of AA fire were seen coming from it's deck, it survived, but just. 1. Sukellusvenelaivue was not so lucky, it's already damaged subs surfaced right in front of most of 1 KPA, and Aircraft cannon fire, along with a rain of bombs destroyed what was left of this once proud Finnish Submarine Flotilla. Only minor damage was incurred by a few of our ships, while most, including all the Capital Ships were entirely untouched. 1, and 2 KPA lost a total of 9 aircraft out of 200.

vainamoinen-01.jpg

Finnish Cruiser
Väinämöinen in better days, now at the bottom of the Baltic within sight of Helsinki, so close, yet so far away...

Sestroretsk and Valkjärvi

For the units of
1ya Armiya, the first encounter with war wasn't a grand attack, but, unsurprisingly, defensive action against a Finnish Assault. On the 7th, at 1pm, the talented Finnish Maj. General Laatkainen, SK3, OD, WS launched a Reckless Assault on the forests of Sestroretsk from two directions at once, with a total of 17.987 men, his own 1. Divisioona (Infx3) attacked from Kivennapa, while 23. Divisioona (Infx3) attacked from Valkjärvi. Dug in in the freezing (-7.7°C) forest of Sestroretsk, 29.978 Russians from three Rifle Divisions (38, 8 and 191 SD) were waiting for them, among them three Regiments of 85mm D-44 Anti-Tank guns. They were lead by Maj. General Kurasov SK3 who started by Delaying the attackers, which worked well as the Finnish Assault slowly ground to a halt.
The next day,
Maj. General Laatkainen opted for a conventional Attack as Maj. General Kurasov chose a conventional Defence. The Battle ended at 3pm on the 8th with 109 Soviet ground combat casualties, and 320 Finnish ones.

It seems
Lt. General Gastilovich SK3, WS of III SK knew what he was doing, as he authorised a two division attack on Valkjärvi, shortly after the Assault on Sestroretsk. The attack by 43, and 78 SD, counting 19.985 men in total and lead by Maj. General Vatutin SK3 was launched from Osinovets on the 8th at 1pm with a Shock attack on 23. Divisioona (Infx3), counting 8.927 Infantry. 23. Divisioona was still attacking Sestroretsk at this time, lead by Maj. General Blick SK2, WS, OD. The Finnish Infantry scrambled to Defend their flank while trying to keep up the pressure on Sestroretsk, this clearly contributed to the swift end of the battle of Sestroretsk. After 23. Divisioona pulled back from Sestroretsk, to concentrate on Defending their own position, Maj. General Vatutin ordered a direct Assault into the woods.The Battle is still ongoing.

Su-2.jpg

Su-2's over
Valkjärvi dropping bombs on 23. Divisioona positions.​

Meanwhile the VVS was not resting and
Air Lt. General Zhigarev SK3, TB went on a big bombing spree with the 200 Su-2's of his I ShAK, based out of Leningrad. In support of the battle of Sestroretsk, 5 bombing missions were flown against the 8.967 Infantry of 1. Divisioona between 2pm on the 7th and 5pm on the 8th. Only 1 Russian plane was downed, engine trouble, while 146 Finnish casualties were counted.

By 9pm on the 8th,
I ShAK was already back in the Air, temporarily with 199 Su-2's, bombing the 8.885 men of 23. Divisioona in Valkjärvi this time, in support of Maj. General Vatutin's attack. 6 bombing runs have already been flown, with 2 downed Su-2's and 155 Finnish casualties.

To sum things up:

Soviet Union:
Men sent into Battle: 73.944, ground combat casualties 139 men,
Planes sent into Battle: 800 (Air Battles only), 30 planes lost (16 Yak-4's, 9 CAG's, 3 Su-2's, 2 I-16's)
Finland:
Men sent into Battle: 29.837, ground combat casualties 438 men, Bombing Casualties: 1.131
Planes sent into Battle: 187 (Air Battles only), at least 1/3 planes lost.
Not the best start to a war, but I guess it could have been worse, and the VVS saves the day,
Next will be the regular report on the state of the Soviet Union, yes I'm still doing those...

'Odin'

 
The AI doesn't handle tight spaces like Karelia very well. It tends to do crazy things like send the army the long way around Lake Ladoga. Also, it doesn't handle defensive and offensive objectives either. You have to be one or the other, otherwise it struggles attacking when It already holds an objective or it strips the defence and attacks instead of garrisoning a key point.

You are better off handling the initial moves of an invasion manually and then go to the AI.

Also the AI will go much better on the wide open steppes. (Although not completely free of crazy moves)
 
10th of December 1939, 'Odin', 10-day report #107
The 10th of December 1939, near Vologda, -10,7°C, 10am Moscow Time

Report on the state of the Soviet Union for the ten day period between the 1st hand the 10th of December 1939,

by 'Odin'

Army:
5 new Regiments of Artillery have been delivered to 114, 59, 22, 12 and 65 SD, all part of General Sokolovskij's 10ya Armiya, Far East Theatre.
Army numbers (Brigades/Personnel) Reserves included (these numbers don't include regiments being upgraded):
Front line troops: 514 / 1.542.000
Support troops: 142 / 142.000
Total fighting troops: 656 / 1.684.000
Headquarters: 52 / 26.000
Total Army Personnel: 708 / 1.710.000
Officers: 62.486 + / 71.370 needed / 87,552 %
Active Leaders: 211 / 37 Reserve
Due to the huge increase in the amount of IC available for production for the duration of the war, quite a few new units have started training:
4 Guards Rifle Divisions (Gvardeskaya Strelkovaya DIviziya) have started training, each made up of Gdsx3, AT.
Production of KV-1's, with the new 122mm gun, has started, these will be part of our first Heavy Tank Guards Division (H Arm, Gdsx2, Eng) (Tyazhelaya tankovaya gvardeyskaya diviziya), the men have already started training.
A Gdsx2, TD unit has also started training, this unit will be directly attached to the HQ of the new Guards Rifle Corps, which will control the units listed above.
Another 5 Regiment's worth of 122mm Artillery guns has started production, these are to be sent to the Far East as well.

Air Force:
Our first group of Lavochkin La-5 Multi-Role Fighters , 44. IAD, has been deployed to Leningrad, it will join Air Lt. General Zhigarev's I. ShAK (now CASx2) as soon as it is fully organised.
Airplane Numbers (Wings/Planes):
Interceptors: 17 / 1700
Multi-Role Fighters: 1 / 100
Close Air Support: 2 / 200
Carrier Air Groups: 3 / 300
Single Engined: 23 / 2.300
Tactical Bomber: 4 / 400
Total Bombers: 6 / 600
Total VVS: 24 / 2.400
Total Navy: 3 / 300
Total Airplanes: 27 / 2.700
Active Leaders: 11 / 19 Reserve
Production has continued with only light retooling necessary to switch production to the very similar Lavochkin LaGG-3 Interceptors, the first 100 will form 41. IAD.
A new production line has been started for Lusinov Li-2 Military Transports, as having at least some Air Transport ability can be a huge strategic asset, especially combined with some Paratroopers. The first 100 planes will form 1. TrAD
Navy:
No changes in the navy for the last ten days
In Sevastopol a third dry dock, until now used to build trading barges and ferries, has been taken over by the navy as steel production and industrial capacity are plentiful during wartime. They have started a second Destroyer production line, the first 5 Sevastopol-Class ships will form 6. Flotiliya Esmintsev
Politics / International:
Sweden has pledged to send materiel, weapons and volunteers to Finland to help them in their war against us.
Sweden has offered Military Access to Finland and they have accepted.

I think it's beginning to become clear which country is in need of some communism next, they may pretend to be neutral, but this just proves otherwise...
We have set up a 'Collaboration Government' in Viipuri with members of the SKDL, the local Communist Party, this gives us some goodwill among the local population, meaning they are unlikely to revolt, some are willing to join our Army, and some of their intellectuals are ready to actively help in our Research efforts. The flip side is that we are getting very little in the way of Industrial Production and Resources from these lands. We will have to make permanent arrangements after the war is over (and won).
Industry:
Industry Numbers:
Working Industrial Capacity / available capacity: 232 / 307
IC Usage: ( Allocated IC / Need )
Upgrades: 51,01 / 54,01
Reinforcement: 1,93 / 1,93
Supplies: 11,43 / 28,62
Production: 215,00 / 216,90
Consumer Goods: 27,63 / 27,63 (-79.81)
The people of the Soviet Union make do with less during wartime which means close to 80 IC could stop making shoes, cars, shaving cream... you name it, and switch production towards the needs of the armed forces.
Stockpiles:
Energy: Maximum =
Metal: 78.172 tonnes +
Rares: 27.802 tonnes +
Crude: 74.422 barrels +
Supplies: 31.220 tonnes -
Fuel: 99.292 barrels -
Money: 1.919 =
Intelligence:
Spy numbers, spies in (active / added / lost / caught by us)
France (Tech Espionage / Counterespionage): 10 / 0 / 0 / 0
{ Germany (/): 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 }
{ Japan (/): 0 / 0 / 0 / 1 }​
UK (Tech Espionage / Counterespionnage): 4 / 0 / 1 / 0
Other: 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
Total: 14 / 0 / 0 / 1
Reserves: 2
Spy training leadership expenditure: 0,5
Where did all the foreign spies go? Or did we just, suddenly, become very bad at catching them?
Research:
The Navy Air Fleet will be very happy as they are soon getting a new toy... Our first Air Launched Torpedo (Level1) design, the 45-36-AV is ready for production, and the new Il-2M Shturmovik's Carrier-based versions are already being outfitted with mounts for the new weapon out of the factory. This beast of a Torpedo weighed 935kg with a length of 5.7m and a diameter of 45 cm, it had an effective range of 4 km after being launched into the water by Aircraft. IRL it was carried by Ilyushin DB-3 twin-Engined land-based Naval Bombers (unsuitable for operations from small carriers). A smaller one, the 12-36-AV was meant for use with Il-2's, little information is available in English about that one... .
The Navy Research team is now looking at dedicated naval Radar (Level 1) systems and how to mount them on board existing and future Small Warships like Destroyers.
Leadership:
Our Officer Corps is still Disorganised, it seems we need to permanently own Viipuri to have this problem go away, so, we have to win the war.
Research: 17,80 =
Espionage: 0,50 (+0,03)
Diplomacy: 0,02 =
Officers: 5,00 = (25 officers / day)
Total: 23,32 (+0,03) Viipuri Intellectuals
Statistics:
National Unity: 82,693 (+0,01)
Neutrality: 0,00 =
Dissent: 0,00 =
Manpower:
Available: 1.927.000 Men
To reinforce(need): 1.070 Men
To mobilise(need): See above
Monthly gain: 43.700 Men (1 fully mobilised Infx3, AT Division every 7,8 days) Amazingly, willing new recruits for the Red Army were found in Viipuri within the local branch of the Communist Party, the SKDL, which has a 13% approval rating in Finland.
Party Popularity
- Communist Party: 56 (+1)
- Trotskyite: 12 =
- Bukharinite: 8 (+1)

- Octobrist: 5 (+1)
- Social-Revolutionary: 6 (+1)
- Trudoviks: 2 =
- Kadets: 2 (-4)

- Tsarists: 6 (+2)
- NTS: 5 (+3)
- POA: 0 (-5)
Overall people moved to the left ever so slightly in the previous month, with 2% abandoning Capitalism for Communism, on the Fascist side the National-Socialists (POA) lost all their support in favour of the Tsarists and the Italian style Fascists.
Party Organisation:
- Communist Party: 60,30 (+0,07)
- Trotskyite: 12,90 (-0,1)
- Bukharinite: 8,00 (-0,1)

- Octobrist: 8,50 (-0,1)
- Trudoviks: 5,30 (-0,1)
- Social-Revolutionary: 0,00 =
- Kadets: 0,00 =

- Tsarists: 1,70 =
- NTS: 2,80 (-0,1)
- POA: 0,00 =
Convoy Raiding:
In the last ten days, 3 Finnish merchant ships have been sunk along with their precious cargo.
This Information is accurate on the morning of the 10th of December 1939, I hope it serves you well in fine-tuning your possible suggestions.

'Odin'
 
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20th of December 1939, Winter War report #2
The 20th of December 1939, near Vologda, -10,7°C, 10am Moscow Time.

Report on the Finnish war for the ten days between 10am on the 10th, and 10am on the 20th of December,

1ya Armiya is slowly getting ready, and was already more active than during the first ten days of the war. Field Marshall Chuikov helped things along by having 138 GSK and 88 SD swap places in the command structure as the former was on it's way south and the latter has already arrived in the north, both far removed from their Corps HQ's. 138 GSK is now temporarily part of Lt. General Tyulen's II SK, and 88 SD is now part of Lt. General Pukhov's XXII GSK.

FWWXXIIGSK20:12:39.jpeg

88 SD, now part of XXII GSK, on the right, 138 GSD, on it's way south, now part of II SK.
Valkjärvi


At noon on the 10th, 2 hours after the previous report was written, Maj. General Vatutin's Assault on Valkjärvi was reinforced by Maj. General Kurasov's 38 SD attacking from Sestroretsk, hitting Maj. General Blick's 23. Divisioona with 10.000 fresh men, DD-44 AT guns included, on it's Southern flank. The Defending Fins were now outnumbered more than three to one and under Assault from both the East (Osinovets, 43 SD and 78 SD), and the South. In addition to this Air Lt. General Zhigarev's I ShAK was still bombing their positions regularly. It was no surprise then, that by 10pm 23. Divisioona was retreating, out of 8.927 men, 371 ground combat casualties would be counted. The last three bombing runs by I. ShAK would kill another 85 without losing a single Su-2. The Red Army would lose 174 men, out of a final total of 29.985 soldiers sent into Valkjärvi. All three Divisions (43 SD, 78 SD and 38 SD) were now in a rush to get there, as capturing Valkjärvi would link the main front with Viipuri, through Koivisto, and encircle Maj. General Laatkainen's 1. Divisioona in Kivennapa along the Baltic Coast.

Valkjärvi.jpg

Soldiers of
23. Divisioona posing in front of their dug in tent in Valkjärvi, before meeting close to 30.000 Russians head-on.
Kivennapa


A mere two hours later, at midnight, 1ya Armiya struck again: Maj. General Solyankin SK1, BM used his own 191 SD, and Maj. General Povetkin's 8 SD to launch a Shock attack, with a total of 19.981 men on 1. Divisioona (Infx3), 8.963 men, Defending Kivennapa lead by Maj. General Laatkainen SK3, OD, WS. On the 12th, both commanders switched tactics, with Maj. General Solyankin opting for a conventional Attack into the woods, while Maj. General Laatkainen's men tried to Ambush the advancing Russians. On the 13th Maj. General Laatkainen changed tactics again, trying to Delay the ongoing Soviet Attack, this doesn't seem to have worked very well, and by 9pm the Finnish defenders broke and started a hasty retreat towards Valkjärvi. In the battle 163 Soviet, and 349 Finnish men were killed in ground combat in the woods. Air Lt. General Zhigarev's I ShAK was also relentlessly bombing 1. Divisioona positions, flying 12 missions, killing another 229 Finish Soldiers for the cost of a mere 3 Su-2 Aircraft.

Viipuri 2

After the successful capture of
Viipuri both 70 SD and 73 SD had rushed to take Koivisto from the two headquarters units that were present there. They were successful in taking the province, meaning that as soon as Valkjärvi and / or Kivennapa are taken, a supply link between Viipuri and Leningrad can be established. The consequence of this, however, was that Maj. General Bogdanov I.A. SK2 had only his own 67 SD dug in and around Viipuri's fortifications. The Finnish Army managed to man the new Viipuri front faster then anyone had imagined possible and on the 13th at 3pm 67 SD's 9.993 men were faced with an Assault by 17.384 Finnish soldiers. Attacking from Lappeenranta in the North-West was 4. Divisioona (Infx4), counting almost 12.000 men, and lead by Maj. General Valve SK2. From Hamina in the West two single-Regiment Garrison units, RT1, and 1. ErRTPsto, were being a serious thorn in the side of the Defending Soviet Riflemen. A total of 17.384 Fins were bearing down on Viipuri. In all haste 70 SD and 73 SD started rushing their units back to Viipuri, hopefully Maj. General Bogdanov would be able to keep back the Fins until they arrived.

To help
67 SD hold it's fortified position the VVS was put on high alert and Air Lt. General Golovanov's I BAD immediately took off from Tallin to bomb the main enemy force in Lappeenratta, by 5pm they were dropping their first bombs on 4. Divisioona.
That evening, by 8pm, once the battle for
Kivennapa and the corresponding bombing mission had ended, Air Lt. General Zhigarev's I ShAD started bombing runs on the two Garrison Regiments in Hamina.
The Navy also helped, the Red Banner Baltic Fleet sailed into the Inner Gulf of Finland and gave some much needed fire support.

On the morning of the15th, a new Finnish unit was spotted by I BAD in Lappeenratta, RT3, a single Regiment Garrison of 3.000 men made no attempt to join the battle. On the ground Maj. General Valve ordered a Shock attack to try and surprise the Defending Riflemen.
On the 16th,
I ShAD detected the presence of a new Finish unit in Hamina, a couple of hours later the 8.996 men of Maj. General Arajuri's 5. Divisioona (Infx3) moved to reinforce Maj. General Valve's now Reckless Assault, and by 3pm they came to blows with 67 SD, now using Elastic Defence tactics in an effort to buy time.
On the 17th
Maj. General Valve ordered his men to revert to a conventional Attack, while Maj. General Bogdanov I.A.'s Elastic Defence continued.
At 10am on the 18th
Maj. General Frenkel's 70 SD finally arrived in Viipuri, under loud cheers from the tired men of 67. SD. By 2pm the 9.999 men of 70 SD had moved into their Defending positions and started firing at the Attacking Finnish forces, who now only slightly outnumbered the defenders.
On the 19th it became clear
67 SD was becoming increasingly exhausted and disorganised, and Maj. General Bogdanov I.A. ordered Delay tactics to be used to buy some more time in the face of the enemy Attack, 73 SD was still on it's way and 67 SD had to hold until they got to Viipuri.
On the 20th both Garrison Regiments Attacking from
Hamina couldn't take anymore, under incessant bombardment and days of offensive fighting, these second line troops had become completely disorganised. They halted their offensive at 6am for 1. Er. RTPsto and 7am for RT1. This took away some of the pressure on the Defending Russian Riflemen.
The battle is still ongoing, with
67 SD having lost more than 400 men already, we hope they will hold long enough for 73 SD to arrive.

Viipuri3.jpg

Men from
5. Divisioona (Infx3) marching towards Viipuri to join Maj. General Valve's Reckles Assault on the 16th.
During this time I BAD, lead by Air Lt. General Golovanov SK3, CB flew 26 bombing missions over Lappeenratta, killing 1.311 Finnish soldiers, while losing a mere 7 Yak-4 Aircraft.
Under
Air Lt. General Zhigarev SK3, TB, I ShAD flew another 22 missions over Hamina, killing 611, while losing only 5 Su-2's.

At 2 am on the 16th I ShAD's bombing mission, with 200 Su-2's, became a bit less routine when Air Maj. General Sarko's Lentorykmentti 1 flew it's now 85 Gloster Gladiators into Hamina's Airspace. Before the Finish planes could even attempt to disrupt the ongoing bombing mission, they were under fire from the 400 I-16's of Air Lt. General Khudyakov's I IAK, clearly Lentorykmentti 1's nemesis. I IAK had been hot on their trail and reached Hamina at the same time as the Finnish planes. The gunners of I SHAD's Su-2's, flying close to the ground to drop their bombs, started firing up at the Finnish biplanes just above them, while a swarm of I-16 bared down on them from above. In a mere three hours it was all over, Lentorykmentti 1 lost about half of it's planes before it could retreat to the relative safety of Ruokolahti Air base. I IAD lost 1 I-16, probably to Machine-Gun fire from the Su-2's below, while no bombers were lost.

Valkjärvi 2


At 4am on the 16th, Maj. General Kurasov SK3 was the first Soviet Commander to arrive in Valkjärvi with his 9.997 man 38 SD. 38 SD was immediately under Attack from the 8.381 men of 1. Divisioona (Infx3), retreating from Kivennapa, lead by Maj. General Laatkainen SK3, WS, OD, and now getting desperate for a way out. The Fins were heavily disorganised from the battle of Kivennapa, and their hurried march north, and by 9pm the fight was over with 1. Divisioona (Infx3) retreating back into Kivennapa. The Defending 38 SD lost a mere 19 men, while the fins incurred 24 casualties before retreating.

Kivennapa 2

FWWViipuri16:12:39-17h.jpeg

1. Divisioona, having just retreated into a trap... 16th of December.
The now very desperate
1. Divisioona (Infx3), with 8.380 men left (it's a mistery how they managed to find 23 reinforcements, while being cut off from the rest of Finland) tried to avoid being overrun by the 19.997 men of 191 SD and 8 SD, the victors of the previous battle of Kivennapa. Maj. General Laatkainen SK3, WS, OD tried to Delay the Russian Attack, this would only delay the inevitable.
On the 17th,
Maj. General Solyankin SK1, BM had enough of the delays and ordered an all out Reckless Assault to speed things up, Maj. General Laatkainen then resorted to Ambushing the Russians.
In response to the constant Ambushes
Maj. General Solyankin SK2, BM, who had become more skilled by now, ordered a more cautious Assault on the 18th, at 5pm it was all over, 1. Divisioona (Infx3) could take no more, and the 8.019 Finnish Infantrymen still alive surrendered to Maj. General Solyankin and were taken away to POW camps deep inside the Soviet Union. This desperate battle had cost them 361 lives, while the Red Army lost 132 men, mainly to Ambushes in the freezing woods.
No planes were available to support this skirmish, but the Red Banner Baltic Fleet destroyed quite a few ambushes before any Russians even got close as they had more than enough firepower to support both the 2nd battle for
Viipuri and this one.

FinsSurrender.jpg

A State-sanctioned painting about the surrender of
1. Divisioona in Kivennapa, note the winter equipment of our troops, helping them deal with the brutal -8°C temperature.

To sum things up:
Soviet Union:
Men sent into Battle: 163.896 (+89.952), ground combat casualties for finished battles: 290 (+151) men,
Planes sent into Battle: 1.200 (+600) (Air Battles only), 46 (+16) planes lost (23 (+7) Yak-4's, 9 CAG's, 11 (+8) Su-2's, 3 (+1) I-16's)
Finland:
Men sent into Battle: 90.868 (+61.031), ground combat casualties for finished battles 823 (+385) men, Bombing Casualties: 3.367 (+2.236)
Planes sent into Battle: 272 (Air Battles only), at least 1/3 planes lost.

FWW20:12:39.jpeg

An overview of Finland, at 10am on the 20th of December 1939.
We are making small advances where it matters, in the south... considering Finnish National Unity, capturing
Helsinki, Turku, and Viipuri should be enough to force a surrender. In time, we will get there...

Greetings,

'Odin'
 
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20th of December 1939, 'Odin', 10-day report #108
The 20th of December 1939, near Vologda, -10,7°C, 10am Moscow Time

Report on the state of the Soviet Union for the ten day period between the 1st hand the 10th of December 1939,

by 'Odin'
Army:
A new Regiment of Guards Engineers has been delivered to Maj. General Rybalko's 4 GvTD, I GvTK, 2ya Tankovaya Armiya, Armoured Army Group, STAVKA.
3 new Regiments of Engineers have been delivered to Lt. General Timoshenko S.K.'s XIV MSK, 1ya Armiya, 1st Army Group, Leningrad-Archanglesk HQ. Once 2 more Mot Regiments are deployed XIV MSK will have it's full compliment of Regiments with a total of 5x(Motx3, Eng) and a Motx2, TD unit attached directly to XIV MSK HQ.

Army numbers (Brigades/Personnel) Reserves included (these numbers don't include regiments being upgraded):
Front line troops: 514 / 1.542.000
Support troops: 146 / 146.000
Total fighting troops: 660 / 1.688.000
Headquarters: 52 / 26.000
Total Army Personnel: 712 / 1.714.000
Officers: 62.730 + / 71.770 needed / 87,404 %
Active Leaders: 211 / 37 Reserve
Two Regiment's worth of SU-122 Self-Propelled Artillery have now started production, these will reinforce our Tank Divisions.
Air Force:
No changes in the VVS, nor the Navy Air Fleet in the last ten days
Navy:
No changes in the navy for the last ten days
Politics / International:
Norway has offered Military Access to Finland and they have refused...
Industry:
Industry Numbers:
Working Industrial Capacity / available capacity: 232 / 307
IC Usage: ( Allocated IC / Need )
Upgrades: 47,54 / 48,11
Reinforcement: 1,68 / 1,68
Supplies: 11,43 / 28,72
Production: 218,72 / 218,72
Consumer Goods: 27,63 / 27,63
Stockpiles:
Energy: Maximum =
Metal: 78.206 tonnes +
Rares: 27.812 tonnes +
Crude: 75.399 barrels +
Supplies: 30.704 tonnes -
Fuel: 99.092 barrels -
Money: 1.915 -
Intelligence:
Spy numbers, spies in (active / added / lost / caught by us)
France (Tech Espionage / Counterespionage): 10 / 0 / 0 / 0
{ Germany (/): 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 }
{ Japan (/): 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 }​
UK (Tech Espionage / Counterespionnage): 2 / 0 / 2 / 0
Other: 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
Total: 14 / 0 / 2 / 0
Reserves: 3
Spy training leadership expenditure: 0,5
The British seem to catch our spies faster than we can train them, the more nervous voices within the intelligence community are now openly wondering wether another espionage mission in the UK, once our reserves have reached an acceptable level, would be worth it. I'm personally on the fence on this topic, while Yan Berzin, our intelligence consultant thinks it could work, 'Desyat' 'thinks the UK too risky a proposition now that they are cracking down harder than ever on foreign spies.
Research:
No completed projects, and no new projects for the last 10 days
No changes to LS distribution
Statistics:
National Unity: 82,693 (+0,01)
Neutrality: 0,00 =
Dissent: 0,00 =
Manpower:
Available: 1.937.000 Men
To reinforce(need): 940 Men
To mobilise(need): See above
Monthly gain: 43.800 Men (+100) (1 fully mobilised Infx3, AT Division every 7,8 days) More Fins willing to fight for their new Motherland...
No changes in Party Popularity for the last ten days.
Party Organisation:
- Communist Party: 60,60 (+0,3)
- Trotskyite: 12,90 =
- Bukharinite: 8,00 =

- Octobrist: 8,50 =
- Trudoviks: 5,30 =
- Social-Revolutionary: 0,00 =
- Kadets: 0,00 =

- Tsarists: 1,70 =
- NTS: 2,80 =
- POA: 0,00 =
Convoy Raiding:
In the last ten days, 4 Finnish merchant ships have been sunk along with 3 convoy Escort ships, and their precious cargo.
This Information is accurate on the morning of the 20th of December 1939, I hope it serves you well in fine-tuning your possible suggestions.

'Odin'
 
Sorry for this long time without comments from me. Excellent work with the AAR! :)

You write about numbers of aircraft and I wonder, is that something I've missed that one can track in-game? How do you decide those numbers if that's not the case?
 
Sorry for this long time without comments from me. Excellent work with the AAR! :)
Thanks, I don't tend to comment often on other people's AAR's much either, so I can't blame you for not doing so on mine. I'm still reading 'The Pacific Empire' as well, and I haven't commented much on that.

You write about numbers of aircraft and I wonder, is that something I've missed that one can track in-game? How do you decide those numbers if that's not the case?

I consider that each group has 100 aircraft, thus 1% health is 1 aircraft. I take the total amount of planes in the wing (AK) and the average health. ie. I IAK starts with 400 I-16's (in 4 IAD's at 100%), if the average health of the unit after the battle is 99.75%, it lost 1 aircraft in whatever shape of form, the amount of aircraft is rounded, so 99.9% is 0 aircraft lost, 99.8% is 1 aircraft lost. It's an assumption, because I find health stats to have no real life feel to them. Of course I take into consideration the health of the unit at the start of the run, so if I IAK went in with 399 Aircraft, 99.75% (equivalent to 399 aircraft) after the battle ends means it didn't get hurt at all. I hope that clears it up.
 
That does clear it up! It's at good idea that I might use in my own AAR, to the extent there are any noteworthy air operations to write about.

I must say that 'Odin' makes me find details more interesting and helps me discover how much more one can write about when using HoI3. Thank you for that!

Looking forward to see how your forces defeat the Finnish. I suspect the air force will play a significant role if it continues to cause this much damage.
 
I agree with Macke11, the Soviet Air Force seems to be the most powerful weapon on the battlefield so far. Need to make sure it is properly supplied, maintained, and that the advancing Soviet Divisions can secure airbases for them.

Any future plans for Sweden and Norway? Or will your future plans, post-Finland, focus more on Central Europe and the growing threat of Greater Germany?
 
Congratulations on some entertaining updates. The level of detail is very gratifying. However, based on personal experience, you may want to consider a method of condensing or aggregating the description of the action as a larger war may throw up so much detail that you get ground down by the record keeping.

I am curious whether you will stop the war once you initial demands are met, whether you will liberate Finland, and thus free up your northern borders once and for all.
 
Keep up the good work! Agree with Davout about detailed descriptions, but assume you were probably taking a more detailed approach to a smaller war (and the first of this AAR). A picture (screenshot) can paint things more quickly sometimes, but I also see your descriptions were more in the style of the rest of your AAR. Your call in the end: depends on your time and willpower re the writing of it :)
 
I agree with Macke11, the Soviet Air Force seems to be the most powerful weapon on the battlefield so far. Need to make sure it is properly supplied, maintained, and that the advancing Soviet Divisions can secure airbases for them.

Viipuri has a Level 3 Air Base, and I tried relocating I ShAD there, because of it's ridiculously short range (185km)... But after several days of just sitting there, it had no fuel left, while there is a level 8 supply corridor between Leningrad and Viipuri, as I didn't need the extra range just yet, it was pulled back, this happened after the end of the last update, I've played on about 10 days, so in the coming days I will update you on that as well. When I moved I BAD to Tallin, it started losing organisation because it was out of fuel and supplies for several days, this was fixed by running a Leningrad-Tallin convoy, rather pointless as there are plenty good enough land links to Tallin. The supply AI seems to be a bit slow in this respect...

Any future plans for Sweden and Norway? Or will your future plans, post-Finland, focus more on Central Europe and the growing threat of Greater Germany?

The decision hasn't been made yet, but the Swedes did send material help and volunteers to help the Finns, so we would have an excuse for attacking Sweden, we'll see once we have won in Finland. Sweden also has the strategic resource Tungsten, which would be nice to have... Norway is another story, as they refused Military Access to and from Finland, they seem to keep the Winter war at a distance, so justifying an invasion would be pretty tricky...

I am curious whether you will stop the war once you initial demands are met, whether you will liberate Finland, and thus free up your northern borders once and for all.

Blood has been shed, if they don't surrender within the first month of hostilities (spoiler alert, they don't) we will annex all of Finland, because not doing so will leave an antagonistic government in place, which could stab us in the back at every moment... We also have to show the world that walking away from our negotiating table without giving us what is rightfully ours doesn't go unpunished, so we will take more than we asked for, a lot more...

Keep up the good work! Agree with Davout about detailed descriptions, but assume you were probably taking a more detailed approach to a smaller war (and the first of this AAR). A picture (screenshot) can paint things more quickly sometimes, but I also see your descriptions were more in the style of the rest of your AAR. Your call in the end: depends on your time and willpower re the writing of it :)

You assume correctly, I don't see myself going into this much detail throughout Barbarossa, I will try to do this while keeping up the overall style of the AAR, and even then there will probably still be plenty of details, just spread over more battles... I still have some time to figure out a more succinct, but still coherent approach for Barbarossa. You'll see when we get there...