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2nd of November 1940, 'Odinatsat' #2, Off you go
The 2nd of November 1940, Sevastopol, near the docks, 12°C, 10pm,

'Odinadtsat' was sitting across from me at a the small table in a private room above a sailor's bar. The room functioned as a safe house for the Committee, but it certainly wasn't comfortable for long stays. This wasn't going to be a long stay. She was nervously fidgeting, the inaction of more than 2 weeks under watch in the compound in Vologda had made her even more eager to get to work; you could see in her eyes that she was on the edge, that point where, had we held her for another day or two, she would have done something outrageous, unpredictable, unhelpful, just to lift the feeling of boredom and inaction. So when I offered her to take a trip to Sevastopol, she was ready to kiss the floor I walked on, just for getting her out of her seclusion. This is exactly the state of mind we want her to be in for her first assignment, and so we sat across the table from each other and I started her briefing...

"The situation in North-Africa is getting more worrisome by the day. Intelligence gathered by our Destroyers during a conveniently located Mediterranean exercise has shown us that considerable Italian reinforcements have arrived in Libya. Now the British are being pushed back East, and the French to the West. The Italians need to remain distracted by their African campaigns, making meddling in the Balkans or assisting the Germans in an attack on the Soviet Union unlikely. Most of all the Committee, and the Soviet Union need intelligence about the strength of the French troops in the Western Mediterranean.
All of the GRU and KGB assets followed the French government to Indochina, and that's all very interesting, but we need to know about the Med now. Why are the French moving backwards against what is, for now, light opposition, especially considering the numbers the British face?
We all tried to think of someone else for this assignment, but we kept coming back to you.

Now, there are two problems with your reintroduction into French territory: The first one is that someone might recognise you from the widely circulated false report about your being a German spy. Even if the matter was put to rest by your apparent demise, there is still an added risk of detection. The second is that we need someone to be close enough to evaluate your performance, but not so close as to lose their objectivity. (I mean that we need someone to keep tabs on her in some way, at least some of the time without her knowledge, to make sure we can really trust her)

We have come up with a mission plan that can solve both of them. Are you ready to go out into the field, for us this time?"
An eager nod from her was all that I needed to know that she would accept any mission I proposed now, and before she managed to make a sound, I proceeded.

"You will leave here in an hour. You will travel on board the "Vladimir", a small merchant vessel bound for Montevideo, it leaves tonight, ahead of the main convoy that leaves tomorrow morning. The idea is that whilst refuelling and resupplying in Tànger in neutral Spain, the "Vladimir" will be anchored next to the "Ivan potryasayushchiy" (Ivan the Terrific), on it's way to Sevastopol back from Rio de Janeiro laden with supplies. You will switch ships when no one is watching. You are on the manifest of the "Ivan potryasayushchiy" as a French resident who is returning to "France", and you will be getting off during a short stop-over at Alger, glad to be back on "French" soil.

You are joined by your "mother", as the both of you had reluctantly taken a Hydroplane bound for
Guyana last January at the urging of your father, a now KIA french infantry "Colonel". He had seen the surrender of France coming, but hadn't managed to join his family in Brazil, where he had bought a luxurious Portuguese colonial house with a view on the Atlantic. Now, feeling homesick, and having inherited quite a bit of money from the erstwhile colonel, your mother decided to move the family to
Alger, as she had lived there with her then "Lieutenant" husband when he had been posted there in the first years of his military career, before the previous great war. We checked in the French Army records in Hanoi, and no french soldier or officer who was posted there at the same time has survived both world wars, which means your handler will easily pass for your mother. She will explain all other details of your cover in your shared quarters on board the "Vladimir" and the "Ivan potryasayushchiy". The less you know about your handler, the better, but know that she speaks perfect french, and that she has overriding authority on any action you want to undertake. The Secret Committee values initiative, as long as you are loyal and come to us first. If you want to gain operational independence, you have to show us that you can follow your handler's instructions, we will be getting regular reports.

Your "mother" will already be in your shared quarters on board the "Vladimir", the ship leaves in 20 minutes, it's right there, (I pointed at it through the window) off you go! And be discreet, we don't want you to be spotted boarding the ship by foreign agents."
This time, I did all the talking, and "Odinatsat" was all too happy to go out into the real world once again, so she just nodded before eagerly walking out without shutting the door. I went to the window and saw her swiftly cross the road and walk straight onto the ship without so much as a glance back towards the bar.

Let me explain some more, as I could obviously not tell her everything. The "mother" we have selected is a 48 year old female analyst who used to work in the Russian embassy in Rio de Janeiro, analysing intercepted french documents. From an aristocratic family, she studied with a french tutor, and later studied in Paris, back when french was still all the rage at the Tsar's court. Her family in Russia was on the wrong side of the revolution, and she remained in exile in Brazil. It seems that she was on the right side of the revolution after all, as she was accepted into the Brazilian Communist Party, and as the PCB became subservient to the Third International, Stalin heard about her particular skill set even before the formation of the Committee. She was brought over, her name was changed, and she has been working as an analyst on both Latin American and French matters at our Vologda Compound since the early days in 1937. She is devoted to Stalin and the Communist Party and left her Brazilian husband behind in Rio to go where the Secretary General and the Party needed her. He was later executed by Brazilian security services for his own communist activism. She has had no children, and we believe her to be sterile, so maybe her natural desire to be a mother will get her in a position to learn more about "Odinatsat" 's real motives and allegiances.


Vladimir.jpg

The "Vladimir" leaves the Harbour of Sevastopol, on board, two women who aren't on the manifest...
The rest of the plan will be explained once everything is in place, without counting delays, it should take a week to get to Tangiers, and another 36 hours to get to Alger. She should arrive in Alger on the 11th of November, in the afternoon, you should be getting the next report days later. For now the exact parameters of the mission are need to know only, the next report will elaborate.

Regular service continues, and I will send you all a report on the state of the Soviet Union on the 5th of November,

Greetings,

'Odin'

OOC: Thank you all for your suggestions, I'm hopeful that what I've thought up will live up to expectations, while integrating most of the reasonable constraints mentioned before.
 
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5th of November 1940, 'Odin', 10-day report #140
The 5th of November 1940, Vologda, -9,5°C, 10am Moscow Time,

Report on the state of the Soviet Union for the ten day period between the 27th of October and the 5th of November 1940,

by 'Odin'

Army:
A new Garx2 unit, 10. Garnizon Diviziya has been deployed to Novorossijsk on the Black sea coast
Vehicles and tanks for the brand new 8. Tankovaya Diviziya (Arm, Motx2, Eng, TD) have left their respective factories, the new Division will be the first Divsion of the brand new III. TK, 2ya Tankovaya Armiya, STAVKA.

Army numbers (Brigades/Personnel) Reserves included (these numbers don't include regiments being upgraded):
Front line troops: 595 / 1.785.000
Support troops: 209 / 209.000
Total fighting troops: 804 / 1.994.000 With over 800 fighting Regiments and close to 2.000.000 fighting men, our Army is now internationally regarded as a Great Army
Headquarters: 57 / 57.000
Total Army Personnel: 861 / 2.051.000
Officers: 75.702 + / 85.960 needed / 88,067 %
Active Leaders: 240 / 107 more available
Production of Tanks, Lorries, and Tank Destroyers continues towards the formation of 9. Tankovaya Diviziya (Arm, Motx2, Eng, TD)
Army Leadership:
New Maj. General Galitski SK2 has taken command of 7. GvTD, I. GvTK, 2ya Tankovaya Armiya, STAVKA.
In the recent reshuffle it appears that 7. GvTD's leader hasn't been replaced, the Division has been leaderless since, but this has now been temporarily fixed.
New Maj. General Golubev K.D. SK2 has taken command of 8. TD, III. TK, 2ya Tankovaya Armiya, STAVKA.
New Lt. General Juravlev SK2 has taken command of III. TK, 2ya Tankovaya Armiya, STAVKA.

Maj. General Pervushkin SK1, LW has come out of early retirement to take command of 10. Garnizon Diviziya in Novorossijsk.

Air Force:
No changes in the VVS, nor in the Navy Air Fleet for the last 10 days.
Navy:
No changes in the Navy for the last 10 days
Politics / International:
No legislative changes
The Norwegian Front
Norway (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,00 / 85,2
Germany (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,0 / 85,2
GNW05:11:40.jpeg

The Norwegians are pushing back the Germans once more, they have taken back Kongsberg and Rollag and reached the river Numedalslågen once again. Will they manage to cross it this time, or will they be pushed back after the men are exhausted from failed crossings?
British North Africa Front
United Kingdom (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,0 / 77,7
Italy (Surrender Progress / NU): 5,90 / 79,5
BNAF05:11:40.jpeg

The Italians continue pushing back the Brits, along the coast this time, taking back Susah, Derna and Ra's at Tin. They are still 130km west of Tobruch, and 200km from the Egyptian border. The British still have plenty of land to trade for time to bring reinforcements into this theatre.
French North Africa Front
France is a Government in exile.
Italy (Surrender Progress / NU): 5,90 / 79,5
FNAF05:11:40.jpeg

With their fresh reinforcements, the Italians finally took the port of Annaba from the French. This is more worrisome than the British losses to the East, as it's not clear if France can still bring in reinforcements and supply them from their central supply depots, now in Hanoi. We"ll have to wait for our most recent member to start her spying to know if France really risks being pushed out of the Mediterranean.
East Africa & Ethiopia Front
Ethiopia (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,00 / 75,9
France is a Government in exile.
United Kingdom (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,0 / 77,7
Italy (Surrender Progress / NU): 5,90 / 79,5
index.php

No movement whatsoever here for the last 30 days
Industry:
Working Industrial Capacity / available capacity: 238 / 321
IC Usage: ( Allocated IC / Need )
Upgrades: 43,70 / 68,39
Reinforcement: 3,20 / 3,30
Supplies: 7,30 / 33,27
Production: 237,91 / 237,91
Consumer Goods: 28,89 / 28,89
Stockpiles:
Energy: Maximum tonnes =
Metal: 88.525 tonnes +
Rares: 30.263 tonnes +
Crude: Maximum barrels =
Supplies: 24.752 tonnes -
Fuel: 99.809 barrels +
Money: 1.955 -
Intelligence:
Spy numbers, spies in (active / added / lost / caught by us)
France (Covert Operations / Counterespionage): 5 / 0 / 0 / 0
{ Germany (/): 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 }
{ Japan (/): 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 }
{ UK (/): 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 }​
Other: 0 / 0 / 0 / 1
Total: 5 / 0 / 0 / 1
Reserves: 10
Spy training leadership expenditure: 0,25
We have so far recruited 13 like-minded Covert Operatives in our French sleeper cell.
Research:
A new Light Tank Gun (Level 4) has been developed. (Considering Soviet Light tank guns of the period, we could assume that this is some kind of rapid-fire 20mm cannon, this is however highly speculative as there is no indication in HOI3 of what kind of gun a Soviet Level 4 Light Tank Gun is)
The Tank Researchers will now prove their versatility by designing better Heavy Tank Armour (Level 1), which should also benefit our Tank Destroyers. If what they come up with can be pierced by their 20mm Light Tank Gun they will be sent to the Gulag as that would obviously be quite a sad state of affairs.
A new design for both Barrel and Sights (Level 4) on our Anti Tank Guns (Level 4) is ready for implementation:
52-k-85mm-m1939-aa-gun.jpg

The 85mm PrP obr. 1939 was originally designed to shoot down Aeroplanes, but the barrel quickly proved highly effective when used horizontally against tanks with the right Ammunition. It seems this barrel is older than the overall design for our AT Guns currently in use, now the Red Army will have 85mm D-44's with 1939 barrels, it's just a bit strange... (The Barrel & Sights tech is the 85mm PrP. obr. 1939, but when you go to the AT Brigade in the build screen, the it says 85mm D-44 (a late war 85mm AT gun) next to a nondescript picture)
The designers of the new barrel are now looking for ways to improve the Muzzle velocity on the new AT guns, at the same time they are looking into more potent Ammunition (Level 4).
Our logistics specialists have come up with brilliant new Supply Transportation (Level 3) procedures. They will join our Military Academies to teach new officers how to get the most of their available supply.
Electronical Engineers have returned from training radar operators for our Destroyers, and now they have started looking into a better Decryption Machine (Level 2), it should allow us to learn more from intercepted enemy radio communications.

LS Distribution:
Research: 19,00 =
Espionage: 0,25 (-0,04)
Diplomacy: 0,25 (-0,03)
Officers: 10,80 (+0,30) (54 officers / day)
Total: 30,29 (+0,12)
Our newly gained 'Great Army' status helps us attract more intelligent people into the Army, as well as allowing for economies of scale in Officer training, this is reflected in an increase in both overall leadership and in the amount of officers the Army trains every day.
Statistics:
National Unity: 83,023 (+0,01)
Neutrality: 0,00 =
Dissent: 0,00 =
Manpower:
Available: 2.025.000 Men
To reinforce(need): 350 Men
To mobilise(need): See above
Monthly gain: 48.200 Men (1 fully mobilised Infx3, AT Division every 7 days)​
Party Popularity:
- Communist Party: 47 (-6)
- Trotskyite: 8 (-1)
- Bukharinite: 6 (+4)

- Octobrist: 3 (-3)
- Social-Revolutionary: 3 (-1)
- Trudoviks: 3 (-4)
- Kadets: 10 (+4)

- Tsarists: 4 (+3)
- NTS: 4 (+4)
- POA: 12 (+1)
There is a very worrying trend here, with people turning away from the Communist Party, and even from the Capitalists, where there is some consolidation towards the Kadets. More and more people turn to Fascist ideologies, like Tsarism, Italian-Style Fascism, and even German style National Socialism, 20% of the population now believes in one of these repugnant ideologies. I'm sure there must be quite a few spies at work to make things turn this way, the real mystery is why we catch so few of those Axis political agents.
Party Organisation:
- Communist Party: 72,02 (+0,62)
- Trotskyite: 10,90 (-0,1)
- Bukharinite: 6,00 (-0,1)

- Octobrist: 6,50 (-0,1)
- Trudoviks: 3,30 (-0,1)
- Social-Revolutionary: 0,00 =
- Kadets: 0,00 =

- Tsarists: 0,40 (-0,1)
- NTS: 0,80 (-0,1)
- POA: 0,00 =
This Information is accurate on the morning of the 5th of November 1940, I hope it serves you well in fine-tuning your possible suggestions.

'Odin'
 
Congratulations on achieving Great Army status. Every such advantage helps. Also good to see the Norwegians holding out. That will be keeping Chamberlain in power in the U.K., I guess.
 
Congratulations on achieving Great Army status. Every such advantage helps. Also good to see the Norwegians holding out. That will be keeping Chamberlain in power in the U.K., I guess.

That's a interesting point - who is in power within the Allied governments?

As for France supplying its African units all the way from Asia - I can't see them being able to react quickly enough to the changing conditions of the battlefield all the way from Indochina. But our spy will tell us more.
 
Congratulations on achieving Great Army status. Every such advantage helps.

I had hoped we would get the Great Army status just as we reached 2 million soldiers, it was close...
It's +0.15 Base Leadership, not huge, but every little bit helps towards improving the Red Army's Officer ratio...
More valuable still is the 5% boost in org regain rate. I'm going to guess the Germans won't reach great Army Status for a year or two, and that should compensate partially for the Red Army being slightly behind on doctrines...We purposefully concentrated on Morale Doctrines before Org Doctrines, thinking that having countless Division, it's more valuable to have troops reorganised quickly to re-enter the fray than to have them hold out for very long while reinforcements are nearby... maybe we're wrong, we'll find out eventually...

Also good to see the Norwegians holding out.

The Germans did regain the initiative after the fall of France, but the timely arrival of a Division of British Paratroopers in Oslo prevented the capital from falling and restored the stalemate...

That will be keeping Chamberlain in power in the U.K., I guess.
That's a interesting point - who is in power within the Allied governments?

A good point, I'll add it to my list of things to include in future updates...

As for France supplying its African units all the way from Asia - I can't see them being able to react quickly enough to the changing conditions of the battlefield all the way from Indochina. But our spy will tell us more.

Well, the advantages of No Vichy are supposed to be a French Fleet in the Med, and the French fight on in Tunisia. The disadvantage, Germans use all of the captured french IC and Resources for their own war Industry... Now if the Italians take out the French in north Africa, we lose the main advantages of the fact Vichy doesn't exist... As you say, we'll have to see when our spy gets there...
 
12th of November 1940, 'Odinatsat' #3, A bar in Alger
The 12th of November 1940, near Vologda, -9,7°C, 3pm Moscow Time

After the "Vladimir" had sailed there was, there had to be, complete radio silence. Besides the two women, there was some luggage on board that would come in handy today...

'Tri' and his technical team had been convinced to lend some of their equipment to the team. All that we got to see was a case, just small enough to be wielded by a single person, but surprisingly light for it's size. The boffins said that the instructions were inside, and that the "mother" should only open the case once a safe house was secured, and that the case had to be positioned on the first floor of whatever building you were placing it. No one knew how this stuff worked, and we're still not sure, but it delivered what was promised: A coded radio transmission over the incredible distance of 2100km. The signal was intercepted by the Radar on one of our Sevastopol-Class Destroyers patrolling the area just west of Sevastopol, the city being just out of range for the small ship-based radar to intercept the signal. Through conventional radio signals the message was transmitted to the Naval Base, where it was sent through a top secret telephone cable straight into the
Vologda compound. The signal took only 0,02 seconds to travel the distance, but transformation of the signal took 1 second on board the Destroyer, and another second in Sevastopol. This means that despite the great distance, the delay was of only 2,2 seconds once the signal was heard in Vologda. Even the men who had built this device did say that even they didn't know exactly how an why it worked so well and had never managed to reproduce it, let alone mass-produce it...

But enough about our means of communication, a call was coming in on the special blue telephone in my office,...

"pop...skkrrr...swoosh...bipbip...is this working?"

"I can hear you just fine 'mother'"

4,4 seconds later:

"All right, we shouldn't talk back and forth too much, so I'll just fill you in in one go, and afterwards you reply... So... where to start?... Yes... Yesterday we arrived in Alger at 2pm, we ate lunch on board of the "Ivan potryasayushchiy" before passing through customs without so much as being asked to open our luggage... You see, 'Odinatsat' was wearing quite a revealing dress, and she smiled at the Customs officials' commander and blew him them a kiss... The officials and soldiers were mostly asking questions about her, and at no point did I have the feeling that there was the smallest chance of being discovered... As planned, we spent a night in a nice hotel, and in the morning, I ordered 'Odinatsat' to stay inside the hotel's grounds as we don't want her getting noticed too much. Then I executed the first part of the mission, buy a nice bar, with a first floor appartement above it. I looked over several bar's on the ground floors of the waterfront appartement buildings and hotels, and in the end I decided on the Bar of a dusty 4 storey hotel close to the port, on the Boulevard Sadi Carnot. (OTL renamed Boulevard Zighoud Youcef after Algerian independence in 1962).

The owner, François, who lost his three sons in the war, was unable to tend to the Hotel and it's bar alone, he welcomed my offer to buy up the Bar, as well as one of the first floor suites, as the bar had been closed for quite some time. I have to say that the War Widow cover story really helped me, along with the fortune my dear departed husband left me... To cut things short, the bar will be named "Maurice's café Sud-Américain", after my dear departed captain of a husband. The building wis built in typical French Neo-Classical style, with an arched gallery along the road and a view on the Harbour below, and the Mediterranean behind it... I left the hotel to get my luggage and 'Odinatsat', but that wasn't necessary. In found her right outside the hotel, dressed in a traditional Algerian dress. I had some trouble recognising her, she had somehow managed to tint her hair into a deep and dark brown, not unlike the hair of the local women. Most of her hair was covered by a light veil and she fit in perfectly with the local young girls walking along the Boulevard. I sternly told here that we aren't here to dress up, but to gather intelligence, and scolded here for leaving the hotel, and she did apologise, which is a start... I do have to say that her disguise was very good, I don't think any man passing would have even thought here to be French, let alone Russian...

The bar was well maintained and only needed a bit of cleaning,... and placing of recording equipment of course. To keep the bar supplied, I'm sure the Committee can provide some more smuggled alcoholic drinks from non-communist countries, I'm thinking Rum, Tequila, Cachaça, things like that, you know, something south-american to go with the name. We're all right with the wine and cognac from François' cellar for about 10 days, but then we will probably need more... and seeing the state of the soldiers, a well stocked bar and a pretty girl will surely loosen a lot of tongues...

All right then, let's go through what we have learned just by looking around and talking to non-military locals... Judging by the behaviour of the French soldiers and especially their officers and their hungry eyes, the French army in Africa, or at least it's Headquarters located in
Alger, is disorganised and entirely out of military supplies. We know the headquarters are here as we have heard from several civilians that a "Maréchal" was in town and had been for a while.They have no more rations, no more ammunition, and the men seem to spend their time looking around for food, and especially drink, to buy, steal, or otherwise acquire. It seems to be every man for himself, and the only fat sergeant we've seen since our arrival was the customs official who probably takes part of his bribes in food and drink... We don't have any information on the exact number of units yet, but I'm sure we will learn more in time, in any case, there is a supply problem when even what seems to be the Theatre HQ is out of supplies."

"Well, 'mother' I'm sure we can supply alcoholic beverages, the ships on our Rio de Janeiro-Sevastopol and Montevideo-Sevastopol trade routes will surely be of use... We also don't want to lose sight of 'Odinatsat' again, so keep a really close watch from now on. Best of luck with the bar, I'm sure you will get some marvellous intelligence from thirsty officers..."

another 4,4 seconds later

"Thank you, I will keep you informed, and I will do my best to keep her in sight at all times, but you know she's a slippery one, so I guess I'll have to convince her that it's in her interest to let me know where she is at all times. At least she seems to have some respect for me, I think I can build on that... a mother-daughter relationship, even a fictional seems ideal to get inside her head... You wil be hearing from me again in about 20 days. Until then, good night, I have to open the doors now for the grand opening."
Then the line went dead and that was that. Now you know what we have set up and how it's going to work. Let us hope the Italian advance remains slow, or they might need to relocate to Casablanca, or even Tangiers, extraction from Italian territory would be tough, so remaining in place if the front moves up doesn't seem wise right now, not to mention that we know nothing about Italian intelligence or their treatment of French civilians.

I leave you with this postcard of the Boulevard Sadi Carnot:


Av.SadiCarnotPostcard.jpg

I front, the local treasury, in the back, 4-storey buildings, one of which contains our new bar. On the right on a much lower level, the Harbour and the railway station. The height difference means that the view on the Mediterranean is barely, if at all, obstructed.

The regular report is, of course, forthcoming,


Greetings,

'Odin'
 
I can definitely see that Casablanca bar becoming necessary in the future - tactically and for plot purposes! I trust this will be the beginning of a beautiful friendship between Mother and Odinatsat ... "The fundamental things apply, as time goes by." ;)
 
It looks like that the French in Africa, as we all foresaw, have run out of supplies. If the Italians overrun the region that does give our spies a front row seat to watching how the Axis operate. But also a secure position to spy on them. After all, it is dangerous to insert spies into enemy territory. But much easier if the enemy inserts themselves into your territory. How would they even suspect our people if those people are already there, proper bar owners, minding their own business? And the Italians, like the French, have a weakness for drink and women.

Still, what our new spy does in the next few weeks will be very interesting to see. And maybe she will give us a few pieces of useful information.

To be honest I am surprised the Japanese have not tried to take Indochina from what is left of the French government.

I feel Norway is becoming a waste of paper. They really have no importance to the war in Europe at the moment. Just a side-show.
 
I can definitely see that Casablanca bar becoming necessary in the future - tactically and for plot purposes! I trust this will be the beginning of a beautiful friendship between Mother and Odinatsat ... "The fundamental things apply, as time goes by." ;)

OOC: Well, maybe moving the bar to Casablanca would make the references too obvious... I'm still thinking about how to integrate some strong moments of the movie into my subplot. I just couldn't stop thinking of the general atmosphere of "Casablanca" when thinking of Wartime French North-Africa...

It looks like that the French in Africa, as we all foresaw, have run out of supplies. If the Italians overrun the region that does give our spies a front row seat to watching how the Axis operate. But also a secure position to spy on them. After all, it is dangerous to insert spies into enemy territory. But much easier if the enemy inserts themselves into your territory. How would they even suspect our people if those people are already there, proper bar owners, minding their own business? And the Italians, like the French, have a weakness for drink and women.

Interesting point, maybe we won't move the bar to Casablanca after all...

Still, what our new spy does in the next few weeks will be very interesting to see. And maybe she will give us a few pieces of useful information.

I'm sure she will prove valuable.

To be honest I am surprised the Japanese have not tried to take Indochina from what is left of the French government.

Well, Japan is just sitting there, at peace, massing troops on the Soviet Border, but they aren't at war with the Allies, yet... I guess maybe they could take a jab at the US sometime next year...

I feel Norway is becoming a waste of paper. They really have no importance to the war in Europe at the moment. Just a side-show.
It is, no new troops seem to be forthcoming, and thus both sides are stuck in a low intensity stalemate...

The next update is in the works and will be uploaded later today.

RoverS3
 
15th of November 1940 'Odin', 10-day report #141
The 15th of November 1940, Vologda, -9,5°C, 10am Moscow Time,

Report on the state of the Soviet Union for the ten day period between the 6th and the 15th of November 1940,

by 'Odin'

Army:
A new Infx3, AT, Art Division has completed it's training, 91. Strelkovaya Diviziya has been deployed to Lt. General Rodin G.S.'s XXXI. SK, 2nd Army Group, STAVKA. The corps now has the full 5 Divisions and is positioned to defend Riga.
Army numbers (Brigades/Personnel) Reserves included (these numbers don't include regiments being upgraded):
Front line troops: 598 / 1.794.000
Support troops: 211 / 211.000
Total fighting troops: 809 / 2.005.000 There you go, 2 million soldiers.
Headquarters: 57 / 57.000
Total Army Personnel: 866 / 2.062.000
Officers: 76.242 + / 86.460 needed / 88,182 %
Active Leaders: 241 / 106 more available
Another Infx3, AT, Art Division has started training
Army Leadership:
New Maj. General Kamkov SK2 has taken command of the brand new 91. SD, XXXI. SK, 2nd Army Group, STAVKA.
Air Force:
100 new planes for use on our carriers have been deployed, 6 KPA will, together with 5 KPA, form IV KPA, ready for deployment on a Kiev-Class Aircraft Carrier. These wings are made up of a mix of Il-2's and LaGG-3's, specially modified for Carrier operations.
Aeroplane Numbers (Wings/Planes):
Interceptors: 21 / 2.100
Multi-Role Fighters: 2 / 200
Close Air Support: 4 / 400
Carrier Air Groups: 6 / 600
Single Engined: 33 / 3.300
Tactical Bomber: 4 / 400
Total Bombers: 8 / 800
Transport Planes: 2 / 200
Total VVS: 33 / 3.300
Total Navy: 6 / 600
Total Airplanes: 39 / 3.900
Active Leaders: 14 / 16 Reserve
The production lines continue churning out Carrier-adapted Aeroplanes in order to build up a strategic reserve of 200-300 of these planes, in case a KPA has to be replaced during drawn out Carrier Operations. As the Kiev and Minsk won't be ready until next year, we will assign a leader then.
Navy:
No changes in the Navy for the last 10 days
Politics / International:
No legislative changes
The Norwegian Front
Norway (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,00 / 85,2
Germany (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,0 / 85,1
GNW15:11:40.jpeg

The Norwegian side-show has now stalled...again...
British North Africa Front
United Kingdom (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,0 / 77,7
Italy (Surrender Progress / NU): 5,90 / 79,5
BNAF15:11:40.jpeg

The Italians are getting close to Tobruch, they are only 85km away at this point. They have taken At Tamini, Al Jabal al Akhda, Calanscio, Wadi al Hamin, and Bir Hacheim. If the British don't do something soon, the Italians will be taking British-Egyptian soil again in no time.
French North Africa Front
France is a Government in exile.
Italy (Surrender Progress / NU): 5,90 / 79,5
FNAF15:11:40.jpeg

On this side the Italians are on the march as well, they have taken Chetaibi and Skikda along the coast, as well as Gafsa and Tébessa, South-West of the Medjerda river. There seems to be absolutely no opposition, and they are now almost halfway between Tunis and Alger, which is still 260km away.
East Africa & Ethiopia Front
Ethiopia (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,00 / 75,9
France is a Government in exile.
United Kingdom (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,0 / 77,7
Italy (Surrender Progress / NU): 5,90 / 79,5
EEAF15:11:40.jpeg

Ethiopia has taken back it's Southernmost province, Mega. The British have Chisimaio, on the way to Mogadiscio, if they capture the last sizeable Italian port in the Region, the Italian troops in the Area will only get a small trickle of supplies through the small port of Berbera. That would all but guarantee an Allied victory in this insignificant theatre, but let's not cheer too soon, the British are still 380km to the south of the Port.
Industry:
The Air Base of Novomoskovosk now has a third paved runway and additional maintenance hangars (Level 6).
Work continues, with and additional taxi way and accommodation for more pilots to stay the night on base.(Level 7).
The Air Base in Rezneke has int's second paved runway and concrete control tower.
The Air Bases of Vinnytsya and Aksenovo Zilovskoye have been officially opened, they aren't much more than Airfields right now, with a dirt runway and a shed for eating, sleeping and maintaining one's Aeroplane. (Level 1)
Construction crews continue their work, paving the runways. A small control tower will also be built along with a small dedicated maintenance hangar. This for both Air Bases (Level 2)
The Easternmost Air Base of the Soviet Union, in Tunmin, finally has a decent paved runway and a small control tower. (Level 2)
Construction of a second Runway (Level 3) has begun.
The Air Base of Smolensk will also be getting an additional taxiway and pilot's accommodation (Level 7)
Working Industrial Capacity / available capacity: 238 / 321
IC Usage: ( Allocated IC / Need )
Upgrades: 43,96 / 72,44
Reinforcement: 3,80 / 3,89
Supplies: 6,94 / 33,71
Production: 237,42 / 237,42
Consumer Goods: 28,89 / 28,89
Stockpiles:
Energy: Maximum tonnes =
Metal: 89.017 tonnes +
Rares: 30.413 tonnes +
Crude: Maximum barrels =
Supplies: 24.478 tonnes -
Fuel: 99.978 barrels +
Money: 1.935 -
Intelligence:
Spy numbers, spies in (active / added / lost / caught by us)
France (Covert Operations / Counterespionage): 5 / 0 / 0 / 0
{ Germany (/): 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 }
{ Japan (/): 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 }
{ UK (/): 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 }​
Other: 0 / 0 / 0 / 1
Total: 5 / 0 / 0 / 1
Reserves: 11
Spy training leadership expenditure: 0,25
We have so far recruited 13 like-minded Covert Operatives in our French sleeper cell.
Research:
A redesigning exercise has significantly increased the Reliability (Level 4) of our Light Tanks and all other vehicles based on them.
Now a better Gun (Level 4) for our Armoured Cars will be developed.
The Training (Level 3) standard of our Fighter Pilots has been reviewed and improved, this development should improve the Organisation of most of our Air Divisions, Int, Ftr, and CAG, all benefit.
Now the Training (Level 4) standards of our CAS Ground Crews will also be reviewed and hopefully improved, allowing our light bombers to return to the action faster and improving the overall morale of the crews.
The Army theorists have improved our grasp of Mechanised Offensive (Level 2) Doctrine, our Motorised Rifle Regiments, following the new directives are now better organised.
The theorists are now looking into the best use for Self-Propelled Artillery in the execution of Elastic Defence (Level 3) manoeuvres.
No changes to LS distribution
Statistics:
National Unity: 83,033 (+0,01)
Neutrality: 0,00 =
Dissent: 0,00 =
Manpower:
Available: 2.027.000 Men
To reinforce(need): 590 Men
To mobilise(need): See above
Monthly gain: 48.200 Men (1 fully mobilised Infx3, AT Division every 7 days)​
No changes in Party Popularity for the last 10 days
Party Organisation:
- Communist Party: 72,56 (+0,54)
- Trotskyite: 10,80 (-0,1)
- Bukharinite: 5,90 (-0,1)

- Octobrist: 6,40 (-0,1)
- Trudoviks: 3,20 (-0,1)
- Social-Revolutionary: 0,00 =
- Kadets: 0,00 =

- Tsarists: 0,30 (-0,1)
- NTS: 0,70 (-0,1)
- POA: 0,00 =
This Information is accurate on the morning of the 15th of November 1940, I hope it serves you well in fine-tuning your possible suggestions.

'Odin'
 
It will be very interesting to see how all these industrious preparations go against the Hitlerites. One presumes even they would not be arrogant or stupid enough to attack the Rodina for now, with winter coming (to borrow a phrase back again) and then the spring mud. So things should be quiet on the Eastern Front until at least May 1941.

Any news on their build-up on the border, in general terms? Also, any news or intel on how the naval war is going between Britain and Germany? I know the latter can be hard to track for an Eastern power, but given the burgeoning Soviet carrier arm, it will be a little more relevant in the Baltic than it would usually be (thinking here more of Kriegsmarine capital ship strength).
 
I think "no importance" is a bit off. I think it's relevant that the Germans cannot now use Norway as a launching pad
to come down on the Lenningrad area from the north.
True to a certain extent, but iirc (and without the game map in front of me), the terrain is impassable (low infrastructure) between the main part of Norway and the north (ie Finland -> Murmansk -> then south to Leningrad), so the value of Norway is more for the naval war against the Allies, heavy water, etc. But I could be wrong :)
 
It will be very interesting to see how all these industrious preparations go against the Hitlerites. One presumes even they would not be arrogant or stupid enough to attack the Rodina for now, with winter coming (to borrow a phrase back again) and then the spring mud. So things should be quiet on the Eastern Front until at least May 1941.

If they're not waiting it'll be to our benefit, as winter and mud favour the defender, especially the Russian defender. We're all patiently waiting for someone to poke the bear...

Any news on their build-up on the border, in general terms? Also, any news or intel on how the naval war is going between Britain and Germany? I know the latter can be hard to track for an Eastern power, but given the burgeoning Soviet carrier arm, it will be a little more relevant in the Baltic than it would usually be (thinking here more of Kriegsmarine capital ship strength).

Maybe Vatutin should write another letter...

As for the ships. I have a couple of ideas on how to communicate this.

I now have an actual list of requests for information, and I swear I will honour all of them in due time, this one will probably come sooner, rather than later as I already have a basic idea on how to integrate it in the storylines.

I think "no importance" is a bit off. I think it's relevant that the Germans cannot now use Norway as a launching pad
to come down on the Lenningrad area from the north.

True to a certain extent, but iirc (and without the game map in front of me), the terrain is impassable (low infrastructure) between the main part of Norway and the north (ie Finland -> Murmansk -> then south to Leningrad), so the value of Norway is more for the naval war against the Allies, heavy water, etc. But I could be wrong :)

Considering that the Soviet Union has annexed Finland, and that the terrain and infrastructure don't allow for the effective deployment of more than a corps, maybe two on the Norwegian-Finnish border. The importance of Norway lies more in it's relation to the Atlantic than in the opportunities it provides for invasion of the Soviet Union. A bigger game changer would be an Axis Sweden, through persuasion or through invasion... But even that can probably be handled with some infantry, maybe an Army or so, as the terrain really isn't all that for Mechanised Warfare, let alone the Infrastructure. You might also remember that a single Mountaineer corps is posted on the Norwegian border in the eventuality that Norway is annexed by the Germans. But all that is besides the point. With the units now present, the Norway thing isn't going anywhere, and as long as the front moves back and forth over a few provinces without ever threatening Oslo, Rjukan, Kristiansan, or Bergen, what happens there isn't very noteworthy, for anyone (except maybe the Germans, and the Norwegians)...Once we have Arctic convoys, so once the GPW starts, the importance of the North-Atlantic will go up, and the stakes should become higher for us as well, but right now... it's a bit of a boring sideshow.

Thanks for your replies, the feedback keeps me on my toes, and providing the right kinds of information.
 
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Just a note to say I'm following and enjoying the new additions. I must say, with WWII about to explode...in both AARS I am tracking? I am eagerly awaiting Battle to come to the fore. Seems I am becoming more a Viking in HoI3 too.:)
 
17th of November 1940, Flight to the Far East: 'Tri', calls about German DOW on Greece; Infrastructure update #10
The 17h of November 1940, Vladivostok, 11pm Moscow Time, 6am on the 18th Vladivostok Time,

After the writing the last report, 'Devyat' invited me to go with him and a bunch of Apparatchiks on an Aeroplane trip to the Far East. The goal was to assess the progress being made and the state of current infrastructure and fortifications first hand. The journey would prove to be quite eventful, but luckily quite a bit shorter than making the same trip by train, which would take 8-10 days... The only government plane capable of the trip is the Lusinov Li-2, slow, but with a very long range of about 1.500km fully loaded, all of which is needed, as Air Strips are few and far between, so far that many legs of the trip would be longer than 1.000km...

tFlightToTheEast.jpg

Here is a map with our itinerary (This map was based off the Terrain map mode and the Air map-mode, and some tinkering with the colours, contrast etc...)

First I took a train to Jaroslavl, where the plane would leave at 4pm, this 160km trip took 3 hours (It still does today in 2017, which seems ridiculously long to me)
I thus took the 12:30 train, arrived in
Jaroslavl station at 3:40 pm, rushed to the Air Base.

Jaroslavlsnow.jpg

The frozen Volga in Jaroslavl, it was -10,0°C when I stepped off the train, a slight Improvement over the weather in
Vologda, at least the sky is clear.
The Government Li-2 took off at 4:10 pm Moscow Time.

At 8:45pm Moscow Time we landed at Kuybyshev (Samara) Air Base for refuelling, a basic technical inspection, dinner, and some sleep, at this point we were still on Moscow Time, at the edge of the time zone...

KuybyshevMainSquare.jpg

A postcard of Kuybyshev's main square, it has a surface of 15 Hectares, an additional 2,4 Hectares is covered by the huge Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, a picture doesn't do justice to the scale of this place... when we got there it was freezing (-4,1°C ), we could have landed on the square if that had been necessary...
At 2:45am Moscow Time, we took off once more, towards the sunrise.

After close to 6 hours of flying, we landed on the dirt landing strip of Kopeysk Air Base, it was a bumpy landing, but there is no alternative. The timing was perfect as the sun was up for two whole hours when we landed, as there were no lights along the landing strip, landing at night would have been very hasardous. It was 8:30am Moscow time, or 10:30 local time.

Kopeysk-Chelyabinsk_Zinc.jpg

A very fuzzy picture taken from the plane on approach showing a modern factory (built in the mid 1930s) in the Chelyabinsk Region around
Kopeysk, it was freezing here too but at -2,3°C it became more beareable, frozen ground
After refuelling, checking the, luckily undamaged, landing gear, and loading a basic lunch on the plane, we took off at 11:30am Local time (9:30am Moscow time).
Another 6 hours later, we landed on the large Air Base at Blinkovo, which boasted not one, but two hardened runways, it was 6:30pm Local Time (3:30pm Moscow Time)

Blinkovo(novosibirsk-oblast).jpg

Empty plains as far as the eye can reach, the Air Base is not in the frame. It's not freezing here, and that was a relief for everyone on board, it wasn't exactly warm at 2,0°C, but the sky was clear and bright, and the ground was firm and dry.
By 7pm (4pm Moscow Time), my contemplation of the scenery was interrupted by a Ground crew officer calling me into the office of the VVS Ground Captain in charge of the skeleton crew keeping the entire Air Base operational, just in case the VVS suddenly needed to station 400 Aeroplanes in the middle of Western Siberia...this being an entirely military base, there was no real civilian activity at all. It seems that our dear Captain had received a rather unexpected telephone call, bypassing the Bases switchboard and his secretary, straight into his office... It was of course, 'Tri':

"The Germans are in serious need of a lesson in Geography my dear 'Odin'... Hitler has just declared war on Greece... Now I had been hearing rumours that they were putting pressure on Yugoslavia by increasing trade tariffs, but it seems my assumption that Yugoslavia would be next was wrong. Now if the Germans want to get near Greece with their Armies, there are several options, but none are very advantageous... the first one would be to borrow part of the Italian Navy to land a few Divisions from the sea, an honestly more likely alternative to this would be for them to drop paratroopers staging from an Italian Island. The problem with both of these, is that Germany probably won't be able to send enough units into Greece to be able to defeat the entire Greek Army... The second one would be to stage troops in Italian Albania, but they would still need the Regia Marina to take them there... What I think more likely is that the Germans jumped the gun, and that Italy, or even the Bulgaria was supposed to Declare war at the same time. I guess time will tell what happens. Greece has immediately Joined the Allies, it's not clear what they can or will do, except for naval support. At least the Greeks are doubly lucky in their Geography, with Mountains and fortresses on both their Albanian, and their Bulgarian border, they should be able to hold off both of them, if they don't attack at the same time that is. Italy is hampered by the lack of a land connection between Italy and Albania, and Bulgaria isn't really bigger or stronger than Greece on it's own, while being Isolated from the rest of the Axis. But the biggest advantage of them all for the Greeks is that the Germans have no real way to bring their panzers to bear. Well I'm sure there will be more developments soon. Don't call me, I'll call you!"
and he hung up,

GreeceDOW16:11:40.jpeg

In all haste I found an up to date map of Greece, confirming what 'Tri' was saying about it's Geography.
The Fuel tanks filled to the brim, we took off once more at 7:30pm Local time (4:30pm Moscow Time), with no significant wind slowing us down, the pilot was confident we could make it to Irkustk without stopping for fuel.

He was right, and after flying through the night for close to 8 hours, running on fumes, we landed at
Irkustsk Air Base. It was 4:30 am (11:30pm Moscow Time), luckily the hardened runway was illuminated.
Before the plane had fully stopped a civilian ground mechanic was running towards the plane... when we opened the door he said:


"Telephone sir, for you sir, it's urgent!"
It was of course 'Tri' calling with his promised developments:

"So remember when I said this would make a lot more sense if Italy or Bulgaria were in on it?...Well Italy has declared that it will join the war on Greece on Germany's side... What happened here behind closed doors is hard to figure out... Either Italy and Germany were best of friends and planned to declare at the same time, with the Germans jumping the Gun, and the Italians arriving late...or...the Italians kept talking about resurrecting the Mediterranean Roman Empire, and the Germans, growing tired of their endless posturing, declared war on Greece, pressing the Italians into joining the war, or losing all pretence to their new "Roman Empire"...I would like to say it was the latter... Now Greece has an actual war on it's hands, one it could reasonably fight to a stalemate, or even win... unless Yugoslavia is incorporated into the Axis, or Bulgaria Joins the war... Another thing...this might actually slow down the Italian advance in North Africa,as the Italian high-command focuses it's attention, and it's resources on Greece... I guess you must be hungry and tired, so I will leave you to it"
And he hung up, we'll have to see how this pans out...Will the British send a single Special Forces Division (maybe Gurkha's this time around) thinking that will turn things around? Will the Greek war save French North Africa? Will Greece conquer Albania? Will Bulgaria join the party? Only time will tell.

Irkutsk1930s.jpg

A picture of
Irkustsk in the morning, this one was framed on the wall in the passenger terminal of the Airport, it's from the Early thirties. When we got there it was 0,8°C and we could see the stars very well, we were in luck with the skies, it had been clear skies all the way. I didn't get to see Irkutsk myself, as I got some much needed sleep instead...
After refuelling, inspection, 'Tri's second call of the trip, dinner, and a bit of sleep, we took off again at 10:30 am (5:30am Moscow Time) with the sun already halfway to it's peak.

Less than 4 hours later, at 3:15pm (9:15am Moscow Time), we landed on the dirt strip of the brand new Air Base of
Aksenovo Zilovskoye, here we parted way with some of our compagnons, and some of the mail on board, all bound for units of XX GSK, based in the hills around the Airfield, as a bulwark against a possible Japanese push west towards Mongolia and Irkutsk. (You may remember that Afanasy Fyodorovich Vatutin, brother of Maj. General Nikolaj Fjodorovich Vatutin, is based around here, in the shadow of the Stanovoi Mountains.)

During refuelling and checking the Landing gear again, me, 'Devyat' and the rest of the passengers walked around the brand new Air field, men were already preparing the ground for a longer, hardened runway. It's crazy when you know that little more than 50 days ago there was nothing here at all, and now a large Aeroplane can land and there is a shed, and a maintenance crew. 'Devyat' seemed really satisfied with the efficiency and speed with which the base was built.


Mogcha-AksenovoZilovskoye.jpg

We warmed ourselves up in a railway carriage that had been parked on a siding near the Airport, as there wasn't enough space in the shed to house all the passengers of our flight, the ground crew and the construction crews... This was the view out of the window, note the smooth hills in the background...With temperatures of -1,1°C we weren't about to walk around outside for an hour until the Li-2 was ready for take-off, so after 'Devyat's half hour tour of the whole site, we went to sit in the carriage to discuss why, and how our work crews had achieved such impressive results. (Actually picture taken by a recent tourist through the window of the Trans-Siberian express in the general Area of Aksenovo Zilovskoye Region before reaching Mogocha station...Thank you unknown tourist for your contribution to this AAR)
At 4:30pm (10:30am Moscow Time), we took off once again.
Underway the pilot was talking about how flying this leg in the afternoon had only been possible since the recent addition of a hardened runway with lights, allowing for a nighttime landing in
Tumnin.
We landed at Tumnin Air Base at 11:30pm, Vladivostok Time (4:30pm Moscow Time). I had barely gotten off the aeroplane, when I was called into the brand new command post, for another mysterious call...

"Now things are really heating up... considering Greece is in the Allies now, it seems Bulgarian hesitated for some time, before also declaring war on Greece, and by extension, all of the Allies... Now Greece is stuck with a 2 front war,... I guess the Bulgarians want a piece of that Hellenic pie too... But will they be able to eat it at all? Or will they be stuck on the mountains and fortresses of North-Eastern Greece? In any case, Greece seems doomed, eventually... Whenever the Axis takes over Yugoslavia it will be all over, whether the Greek Army holds of the combined Italo-Bulgarian onslaught, or not. Unless there is some big distraction of course...I think we should really do something about this, these Germans will never stop... but what...

I see no diplomatic course of action that would convince the Germans to back off. But we could deploy more economic sanctions, depriving German industry of much needed resources, but that would of course go at the cost of a sizeable chunk of our income... With a Rare Materials Embargo we could have the greatest effect on the Axis, as they seem to have an already sizeable deficit of approximately 25 tonnes per day, we could add another 18,34 tonnes per day to that, but it would cost us 2,57 million roubles every day and we are already running a 2,35 million roubles trade deficit... to compensate we would have to ultimately end several of our most expensive deals to buy Supplies. The economical fallout on our side would be manageable as an initial calculation shows we would need a mere 2.3 modern Industrial complexes (3.1 in the 1935 standard IC measure) to switch to supply production to compensate for the loss of about 28 tonnes of Supply imports per day. Considering those 18,34 tonnes of Rare Materials could fuel 37,68 Axis Industrial complexes (1935 Standard). I propose that all sales of Rare Materials to Axis members be stopped as soon as possible in retribution for this continued aggression."

Tumnin.jpg

The mountains, visible from Tumnin Air Base, behind them should be the Tartar Straight, but I don't have the time to hike until I can see the sea... Especially with temperatures of -5,4 °C upon landing.
After the third call from 'Tri' refuelling and another short walk to look at the brand new infrastructure, and the construction site were crews have been building a second runway by day, we boarded the plane once again, for the last stretch of the Journey. The plane left the runway at 12:30 (5:30pm Moscow Time).
We finally landed in Vladivostok at 4am (9pm Moscow Time) on the 17th of November, and the others set about looking over proposed projects for Infrastructure improvement, as always, even with their sizeable budget, there are always more proposed projects than we can build, first the completed projects were reviewed:

-Transsiberian railroad, Kuybyshev-Omsk:
Infrastructure has been upgraded to 'Level 7' in
Melekes and Iskaly.

-Eastern Finnmark Coast, Murmansk-Petsamo railroad:
Infrastructure has been upgraded to 'Level 4' in
Polyarny, Zapadnaya Litsa, and Petsamo.

-String of Lakes/Rivers around lake Salvijärvi, Petsamo-Lulea railroad:
Infrastructure has been upgraded to 'Level 4' in
Kolosjoki, Nautsi, and Ivalo.

-Lake Ladoga East Coast, Tihvin-Sortavala-Viipuri-Leningrad Railroad
Infrastructure has been upgraded to 'Level 5' in
Olonets and Svirstroy.

-Volkhov East Bank railroad:
Infrastructure has been upgraded to 'Level 8' in
Malaja Vishera and Proletariy.

-Lovat East Bank Demjansk-Vitsyebsk railroad:
Infrastructure has been upgraded to 'Level 8' in
Parfino, Marevo, Andreapol, Toropets, Velikie Luki and Haradok.

-Dvina North Bank Riga-Vityebsk railroad:
Infrastructure has been upgraded to 'Level 8' in
Dominikovo and Drozdy.

-Moskva peripheral railway network:
Infrastructure has been upgraded to 'Level 7' in
Istra, Taldom, Dmitrov and Podolsk and to 'Level 8' in Kolomna. (It seems one construction crew got lost and improved the province right next to the one it was supposed to, or maybe a bureaucrat made a mistake...No matter, this will be just as effective as what was proposed)

Machine Gun Bunkers (Level 1) have been delivered in
Izborsk.
Work continues with both strengthened concrete trenches and a few Anti-Tank Bunkers planned (Level 2).


Mostly the same rules and objectives were used to determine the next 25 projects, with some minor changes: The Weather has become so bad that work close to the Arctic has been stopped until spring, temperatures having dipped well below -12°C in the whole region. The Russians amongst the crews have been railed down to work near lake Ladoga, where the temperatures are slightly less freezing, and the others have been sent home. Local crews have been hired to improve supply lines in the Far East for the first time. In the following 24 provinces work will begin (21), or continue (3), adding an extra track or another hardened road.

-Transsiberian railroad,
Kuybyshev-Omsk:
Infrastructure will be upgraded to 'Level 6' in
Magnitogorsk and to 'Level 7' in Oktjabr'skij.

-Lake Ladoga East Coast, Tihvin-Sortavala-Viipuri-Leningrad Railroad
Infrastructure will be upgraded to 'Level 3' in
Pryazha and to 'Level 5' in Vidlica, and Salmi.

-Lovat East Bank Demjansk-Vitsyebsk Railroad:
Infrastructure will be upgraded to 'Level 8' in
Sumilina and Vityebsk.

-Dniepr East Bank Vityebsk-Smolensk-Homel-Kyiv-Dnipopetrovsk Railroad:
Infrastructure will be upgraded to 'Level 8' in
Dubrouna, Horki, Chavusy, Slawharad, Karma, Chachersk, Homel, and Ripky.

-Moskva peripheral railway network:
Infrastructure will be upgraded to 'Level 7' in
Yegoryevsk and Zagorsk, and to 'Level 8' in Podolsk, Istra and Taldom.

-Nikolaevsk na Amure / Tumnin Air Base side-branch of the Trans-Siberian Ralroad:
Infrastructure will be improved to 'Level 4' in
Obluchye, Sofiysk, Imeni Poliny Osipenko, and Chegdomyn.

We are making good progress towards the 'Level 8' objective for our Defensive line, as well as in Finland. The First Defensive line that is being upgraded is the
Leningrad-Novaya Ladoga-Vityebsk-Homel-Kyiv-Dnipopetrovsk-Zhaporizhzhya-Mykolaiv defensive line, a continuous river line with only two already fortified gaps less than 100km wide.
After a 2 hour meeting, the men scattered, some flew back to Tumnin to have another look at the ongoing construction. Me and 'Devyat', along with most of the others, went to the hotel to sleep...a mere two hours before sunrise...

Tomorrow, we will be visiting the city's fortifications, as well as discussing the Far east strategy in general.

Greetings,

'Odin'

 
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A very engaging and well researched travelogue! It will be interesting to find out Odin's assessment of the Far East defences - I always find it discordant that Nationalist China (when left to its AI devices) is always neutral by the time 1941 rolls around and thus Japan usually feels free to hit the Soviets and has plenty of forces to do so ...