'Odin' and Stalin's Secret Committee

[racebear75]

Wow, finally cought up with this terrific story. Thank you so far. And of course: Subbed!

 

[roverS3]

Comrades, It sounds like the Germans may be about to get knocked out of the naval war while the Italians are still in the game. Sounds like the UK and France are doing okay but the problem is as the war drags on can France replace any ships that are destroyed? Also while the German Navy may be pounded into ruin - to the point here their U-Boats are being sunk - they can still cause problems with Angry German Naval Bombers.

France, right now doesn't seem able to properly supply it's ships all the way in Algeria, much less replace them. The Intel screen tells me that all they are building right now are convoys (We still have 5 spies in 'France', they followed the French Government to Indochina). I even suspect that the disappearing ships (Battleship 'Provence', Heavy Cruiser 'Algérie', and possibly others) were due to them taking a lot of battle damage, and then sinking due to attrition in an out of supply port.
What is weird, is that Beirut is getting abundant supplies for it's HQ, a small stockpile is forming.. But for some reasons the French don't Rebase their navy there...shortening the lenght of the needed convoys as long as the British hold Suez...

I am going to say, and I may be wrong this early in the conflict, that the German Navy will not be a threat to us - much of the war against them will be decided on land. And while Italy will still have a dangerous Navy it can't stop the Soviet Armies from taking Italy itself. Europe will be a land conflict.

The German Navy is doomed, what they have left can easily be taken on by our obsolete Baltic Fleet, especially with it's twin Escort Carriers.
As you may remember, our Fleet Carriers will be launched in Sevastopol, so that, if the Japanese don't attack us together with the Germans, we can assist the Allies in destroying the Bulgarian and Italian navies, if there is anything left by then...

Now if we can just learn something about the IJN. They will be the only ones who TRULY can protect themselves with a strong Navy.

We have no news what so ever, maybe we need to get some submarines or Destroyers to sail around their ports to get some kind of idea? Both our subs and our CL/DD's have Radar, and our decryption is all right... We should be able to at least know what kind of capital ships they have, and where they are... If we're lucky our subs might encounter a flees at sea so we can get a look at it's composition. Once we have 2 CTF's (by late 1943 based on a rough estimate with a lot of inaccurate hypotheses), we can start a continuous campaign against the IJN. With a single fleet, we might have to let it rest and repair half of the time if battles get too intense, especially going up against IJN CTF's and Combined fleets.

Alternatively we still have a reserve of spies... It might be interesting to have another go at spying on the Japanese...

Fate awaits.

Indeed. The diplomatic department will be busy trying to find new ways to balance the economy, but even if they don't succeed, we're theoretically better off than the Axis... (But maybe I forgot to take some factors into account, like events when resources run low)

Wow, finally cought up with this terrific story. Thank you so far. And of course: Subbed!

Glad to have you on board.

 

[roverS3]

The 25th of November 1940, Vologda, -10,9°C, 10am Moscow Time,

Report on the state of the Soviet Union for the ten day period between the 16th and the 25th of November 1940,

by 'Odin'

Army:

Officers: 76.782 + / 86.460 needed / 88,806 %
Active Leaders: 242 / 105 more available
Army Leadership:
New Maj. General Kolomiyets SK2 has taken command of the recently formed 96. GSD (Mtnx2), Far Eastern Theatre guarding the Tartar Straight. See update on Vladivostok fortifications and the far east.
​

Air Force:

100 of the latest model of La-5 long range fighters (Ftr) have been delivered to the VVS, they will form 78. IAD, and serve as escorts to the 200 Yak-4 bombers of I. BAK.
Aeroplane Numbers (Wings/Planes):

Interceptors: 21 / 2.100
Multi-Role Fighters: 3 / 300
Close Air Support: 4 / 400
Carrier Air Groups: 6 / 600

Single Engined: 34 / 3.400​

Tactical Bomber: 4 / 400

Total Bombers: 8 / 800​

Transport Planes: 2 / 200

Total VVS: 34 / 3.400
Total Navy: 6 / 600
Total Airplanes: 40 / 4.000​

Active Leaders: 14 / 16 Reserve
The production lines continue churning out La-5's, the next 100 will form 104. IAD-PVO, and will be assigned to escort the brand new III. ShAK, for which the Il-2's will then have been delivered.
​

Navy:

No changes in the Navy for the last 10 days
​

Politics / International:

Germany has declared Limited War on Greece.
Greece joined the Allies
Bulgaria and Italy joined the war against Greece, and the Allies.
Yugoslavia has granted Germany military access.
The Soviet Union has enacted embargoes on Germany, Italy, and Bulgaria. (Slovakia and Ethiopia have no ports nor land borders with the SU, we couldn't trade with them if we wanted to)
There has been no response, military or otherwise from any of these nations.
The Norwegian Front

Norway (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,00 / 85,1
Germany (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,0 / 85,1

Things are frozen in place here, I feel like it's been forever since anyone did anything here in Norway...​

British North Africa Front

United Kingdom (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,0 / 77,7
Italy (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,00 / 79,5 Tobruch back in Italian hands.

The Italians have reached and retaken Tobruch. They have reached the Egyptian Border by taking Ridotta Campuzzo. Further south, they haven't retaken Bi't at Tarfawi, yet, and on the coast they still have Bardia to retake. It seems a matter of days before the Italians step onto British-Egyptian soil once again.​

French North Africa Front

France is a Government in exile.
Italy (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,00 / 79,5

Along the coast, the Italians haven't moved, it's not clear why. They have, however, moved west away from the coast, consolidating their supply lines in the process. They have reached Constantine, and Setif. They are now 250km from Alger, with their supply lines and flanks firmly secured. The only reasons we can think of for the slight slowdown is that that they sent away some units, etiher to fight the British, or to send into Greece.​

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): 0,00 / 79,5

Ethiopians have taken the Desert province of Buna from British Kenya. This will probably stop the British advance into Italian Somalia. So not much is happening here...​

The Greek Front

Greece (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,00 / 87,3
Bulgaria (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,00 / 71,8
Italy (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,00 / 79,5

Greece made some small inroads into Albania and Southern Bulgaria, all of this has been reversed. Additionally, Bulgaria has taken over the Mountains of Tasos, effectively shortening the front, which could help Greece, which now has 3 provinces bordering Bulgaria instead of 4. The Italians have made no inroads. The terrain, fortifications, and the narrowness of both fronts should favour the Greek defenders heavily. Of course, the Greek army could always run out of men, morale, organisation, or all three. Especially if the Luftwaffe's Bombers, and the Wehrmacht's Panzers start pushing. And to top it all off, Greek National Unity is very high, meaning that to force a surrender, the Axis has to take not only Salonica and Athens on the mainland, but also Irakleio on the Island of Crete.
​

Industry:

Infrastructure was improved in 25 provinces.
25 more improvement projects have begun.
6 new sets of 5 Anti-Aircraft Batteries with tracking lights have been placed in Kaunas, Brzesc Litewski, Krasne, Lwow, Rezekne and Maloryta. Covering Fortifications, Cities and Air Bases that didn't have any ground-based bombing deterrents.
Production continues on another 6 sets.
Working Industrial Capacity / available capacity: 238 / 321
IC Usage: ( Allocated IC / Need )

Upgrades: 47,79 / 74,41
Reinforcement: 1,40 / 1,39
Supplies: 7,05 / 40,91 (This boost in supply need is due to the embargoes on our main foreign sources of Supplies, for now there are no real issues yet, but soon we will need to find new suppliers, or ramp up domestic production to keep our troops fed with as little interruptions as possible.)
Production: 235,87 / 235,87
Consumer Goods: 28,89 / 28,89​

Stockpiles:

Energy: Maximum tonnes =
Metal: 89.511 tonnes +
Rares: 30.585 tonnes +
Crude: Maximum barrels =
Supplies: 25.134 tonnes +
Fuel: Maximum barrels +
Money: 1.920 -
​

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 / 0
Total: 5 / 0 / 0 / 0
Reserves: 11
Spy training leadership expenditure: 0,25
We have so far recruited 14 like-minded Covert Operatives in our French sleeper cell.​

​

Research:

Industrial Engineers have found a way to increase the efficiency of our domestic Supply Production (Level 6).
Now a couple of Gunnery specialists have started working on improvements to both the positioning of fixed Heavy AA Batteries, as on the Guns (Level 2) themselves.
VVS Researchers, together with colleagues at Yakovlev have completed their modified Yak-4 Design with Basic Medium Fuel Tanks, increasing their operational range to 475km, the same as that of our La-5 long range fighters.
The VVS researchers, having realised that the Yak-4 platform didn't offer much more possibilities for increasing it's range or bomb load, have now started work on an entirely new type of Aeroplane. They have started designing a Basic Strategic Bomber.
No changes to LS distribution
​

Statistics:

National Unity: 83,043 (+0,01)
Neutrality: 0,00 =
Dissent: 0,00 =
Manpower:

Available: 2.037.000 Men
To reinforce(need): 2.530 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: 72,72 (+0,16)
- Trotskyite: 10,70 (-0,1)
- Bukharinite: 5,80 (-0,1)

- Octobrist: 6,30 (-0,1)
- Trudoviks: 3,10 (-0,1)
- Social-Revolutionary: 0,00 =
- Kadets: 0,00 =

- Tsarists: 0,20 (-0,1)
- NTS: 0,70 (-0,1)
- POA: 0,00 =
​

This Information is accurate on the morning of the 25th of November 1940, I hope it serves you well in fine-tuning your possible suggestions.

'Odin'​

 

[markkur]

Hmm, just a thought; do you have a first screen of the infra (as was) to put-up side by side with a current screen?

 

[roverS3]

The 26th of November 1940, Kyiv, 3rd Army Group HQ, -1,0°C, 6pm Moscow Time,

Dear Afnasy Fyodorovich, dear brother,

It has been two months since I received your previous letter, I have been very busy, and now I finally have both time and a good reason to write back. First of all I have been lobbying on behalf of XX GSK, hoping to get you some better weapons. I'd like to think our Eastern flank is secure, and obsolete equipment will not help with that. My Guards Regiments now have equipment two generations ahead of the weapons you mentioned in your letter. I made sure most of the weapons we just replaced were sent East, I know it's just a drop in the bucket, but today, I had a new opportunity.

This morning Lt. General Popov M.M. took me with him on an Aeroplane ride to 3rd Army Group HQ in Kyiv. Field Marshall Sokolovskij had summoned all of his direct subordinates to a meeting in his office. The participants of the meeting were Generals Vassilevskij (7ya Armiya, on the German Front) and Volskiy (4ya Armiya, on the Hungarian Front), as well as Lt. General Homenko (XVI SK, Based in Kyiv), and Guards Lt. General Popov M.M. (XXIX GvSK, Guarding the Lwow-Krasne line directly east of 4ya Armiya, and my direct superior).

The Ballroom of the Tsar's Mariyinski Palace in Kyiv. Which was taken over by the government. The main wing serves as 3rd Army Group's HQ.
​

Being the only Maj. General in the 3rd Army Group to have served with distinction in Finland, and the commander of his most powerful Division, Field Marshall Sokolovskij was happy to make an exception and let me attend the meeting. So there we were, waiting outside the Field Marshall's office, in the Mariyinsky palace. At 2:15pm the large doors opened to reveal a large room, more a ballroom than an office. That's because it was the actual ballroom. In the middle was a huge table on which maps were laid out and glued together, so that they represented the entire front line, from Palanga in the north, all the way to Jablonow, where our Romanian and Hungarian borders meet.

On top of the map were hundreds of counters symbolising our Divisions and known enemy forces. 5 minutes of pouring over the map later, the Field Marshall entered the room and said:

"Gentlemen, I have gathered you here today, as there has been a lot of Wehrmacht movement along the front, and you need to be aware of the bigger picture...."
​

To summarise what the Field Marshall said, the Germans have pulled back a lot of units, including all of the Amour, SS, and Paratroopers previously present on the border. A current estimate, shown on the map is that 32 German Infantry Divisions are present along the border, or just behind the northern part of the border, where the Leningrad Radar Station can intercept radio communications. Our forces have not moved, and now vastly out number the Germans with 55 Rifle Divisions and 11 reinforced Rifle Corps HQ's. The amount of units the Germans pulled from the border is really bad news for Greece, it is estimated at least 15 German Infantry Divisions, 1 Paratrooper Division, 1 Heavy Panzer Division, and 1 Panzer Division have been pulled from the border to reinforce other fronts. Most units are probably headed for Greece, or that's what the timing suggests anyway.

On the Hungarian front, a few units have been added, and an estimated 20 Hungarian Infantry Divisions are now facing our 15 Divisions and 3 reinforced HQs. Once the current German weakness had become apparent, Lt. General Homenko, proposed that the Red Army effectuate a surprise attack, moving forward the Armoured Army Group and taking advantage of the current situation. No one else at the table thought this to be a remotely realistic plan, considering that Winter had already started. Homenko, being both a Winter Specialist and a Logistical Wizard, clearly was overestimating the ability of the Red Army Logistical units to supply a large scale offensive. I think that's off the table. If anything happens here, the rest of us all believed it would happen next spring, when the Ice has melted and the mud has dried.

I hope your exercise went well. All the best, I have to go now, as I'd like to get back to Lodz on Lt. General Popov's Aeroplane. So I'll end this here, and I hope to hear from you soon,

Nikolaj Fjodorovich Vatutin
Maj. General, commander of 3. Tyazhelaya Tankovaya Gvardeskaya Diviziya and your dear brother.​

 

[Bullfilter]

Interesting update and nice map. So, just a little tempted to launch a surprise attack? Would the extant non-aggression pact allow you to do it yet? Also, I can't recall, is Romania still neutral and is it aligning to the Axis?

Liked the letter from the brother format too - nicely composed.

 

[roverS3]

Hmm, just a thought; do you have a first screen of the infra (as was) to put-up side by side with a current screen?

Yes, I do. I also have earlier save games, so if there is one such screenshot that might be missing, I could always go back for another screenshot.

Interesting update and nice map. So, just a little tempted to launch a surprise attack?

Well, In Soviet Russia we do know not to attack in winter... We're also still hoping that if the Germans attack, we can deal with them without dealing with the Japanese, at least for a while.

Would the extant non-aggression pact allow you to do it yet?

Yes, as long as we have a superior number of troops on the border, we could break the pact.

Also, I can't recall, is Romania still neutral and is it aligning to the Axis?

Romania is still neutral, and the Germans try influencing them off and on again, but in between German influencing efforts, the drift right back towards the Axis. If it wasn't for German Influence, they might already be joining the Allies. I'd like to think that the fact the SU didn't take Bessarabia, but Bulgaria did press it's claims diminishes it's natural pull towards the Axis quite a bit.

Turkey is a little bit close to the Axis, but Germany doesn't try to influence them, and they keep aligning to remain neutral, but not too far from the Axis... (In their own little sweet spot)

Liked the letter from the brother format too - nicely composed.

Thanks, I'm sure these kinds of letters will keep coming and be intercepted. Especially once the GPW starts...​

 

[roverS3]

The 4th of December 1940, Sevastopol, 12,0°C, 11am Moscow Time,

After the Embargoes on the three belligerent Axis nations, our national Fuel and Crude Oil stockpiles were soon overflowing. To put this abundance of fuel to good use, it was decided that the Red Navy would stage some more 'exercises'.

The first exercise was entirely public, it consisted in adding some weight to the Diplomatic pressure over Greece by sailing our 10 newest Destroyers all around Greece, and back, often coming close to the shore near the front lines and near Italian Islands and bases on their route. With the new top secret Radar installations on our Destroyers, a lot of valuable information was gathered about forces in the region.

I went down to Sevastopol, like last time, to pick up the resulting documents from a dead drop, where they were left by one of our agents on board one of the Destroyers:

The first leg of the trip consisted of a dash through the Bosphorus on the 30th of November, with a short stop in the Northern Aegean Sea, the map on the left summarises the information gathered from the on board Radar Stations.Most notable are troop movements around the Greek-Bulgarian Front and the fact that the rather small Greek navy is sitting in the Port of Athina.
The next morning, our Destroyers started moving West, and they encountered a large British fleet in the Coast of Cape Matapan. Sailors waved back and forth while our fast Destroyers sped past the British fleet:

The British fleet was quite impressive, with both the HMS Hood and the HMS Repulse, it had quite a bit of firepower. Most impressive to our analysts however, was the large group of Converted ferries carrying some kind of landing craft (LCA's), ready to be lowered into the water. Their hull profile suggests that they can be used to navigate very shallow waters, making landing troops much more easier and relatively less dangerous. Sadly our sailors couldn't make out whether any British soldiers were on board.

Early on the 2nd of December, the 10 Destroyers arrived in the Southern Adriatic, with a clear view of the Albanian Coast and the Italian-Greek Front. Then, with the pretext of doubling back towards Crete, our fleet made a slight detour along the Gulf of Bomba and the Coast of Egypt. In both Tobruch and El Iskandarîya, there was a fleet with at least a Battleship and a Heavy Cruiser in it. The Italian fleet had only 3 units , while the British fleet counted 9 units. Also of note is the fact that many Aeroplanes are based in El Iskandarîya, while none are based in Tobruch, suggesting that the Italian Army might be bombed, while the British and Iraqi ones can't be.

On the return trip, some more attention was paid to Italian forces in their Eastern Mediterranean Islands. More precise data was also gathered on Turkish fleets along the Bosphorus.

A total of 13 Turkish units were counted, most notable was the encounter with the Battlecruiser Yavuz. This 1911 German Moltke-Class Battlecruiser, refurbished by and still in service with the Turkish navy. The ship is a dinosaur, just like our Gangut-class Battleships. Our analysts reckon it's only really useful against slower, smaller ships, and for shore bombardment.

Finally, in the Black sea our fleet swooped past the Bulgarian Coast, to catch a glimpse on the radar of the tiny Romanian Fleet in Constanta.
​

The choice of using our fastest ships here, meant that they should be able to retreat quickly if confronted, and that they were back in less than a week, leaving port on the 29th, and returning just now, on the 4th of December.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, I. Flot Podlodok is effectuating a top secret sweep of all Japanese Naval bases within it's operational range, this could take some time as the submarines are slow compared to our 31 kph Destroyers, and they have a lot of bases to cover. We will know more when they get back.

In the Baltic, IV. Flot Podlodok has just left Leningrad for a sweep of German Baltic and Norwegian bases, it will not venture into the Atlantic for too long, as we don't want our Submarines mistaken for German U-boots...

With these missions we should be able to paint a picture of the opposition our Carrier-based navy might face in the near future, and where it might best be deployed. I've already started working on the next report, and should be able to send it out on schedule tomorrow,

Greetings,

'Odin'​

 

[Eurasia]

Interesting - I never took control of a Naval unit to scout out the coasts and islands before - I just keep them in the port when not in use or hand them over to a AI.

 

[markkur]

Enjoyed your exercise to gather intelligence...very nice!

 

[Bullfilter]

Interesting - I never took control of a Naval unit to scout out the coasts and islands before - I just keep them in the port when not in use or hand them over to a AI.

Yes, I’ve found them very useful in the med for scouting purposes. And (since joining the Comintern as Turkey in my AAR) have found the AI Soviet does the same thing. Indeed there are some useful screenshots in post-production on my next update, so roverS3’s missions here are very much in keeping with HoI3 AI behaviour and so not ‘gamey’ at all

 

[roverS3]

Interesting - I never took control of a Naval unit to scout out the coasts and islands before - I just keep them in the port when not in use or hand them over to a AI.

Enjoyed your exercise to gather intelligence...very nice!

Yes, I’ve found them very useful in the med for scouting purposes. And (since joining the Comintern as Turkey in my AAR) have found the AI Soviet does the same thing. Indeed there are some useful screenshots in post-production on my next update, so roverS3’s missions here are very much in keeping with HoI3 AI behaviour and so not ‘gamey’ at all

Scouting with naval units does use up fuel, so if you are in a situation where every drop counts, long scouting missions are often out of the question and I would personally only check the area of an impending amphibious assault with a fleet before committing, nothing more. As Japan, for example, you need to preserve fuel, at least until you get Indonesia, and any unnecessary movement of ships or Aeroplanes costs you valuable fuel you need to win. As mentioned in the update, the SU literally has more fuel than places to store it right now, and thus the fuel argument falls by the wayside. I'm sure these kinds of tactics were often used historically, and they appear to be in use to this day. Despite having satellites, spy planes, etc. many countries still use ships to gather Intel. Some contemporary examples would be both Chinese and US activity in the South China Sea. A bit closer to home, the appearance of Russian subs near NATO and Swedish coasts, and NATO exercises in the Baltic. It seems ships still have a serious value in this regard, and several nations seem to have ships for this explicit purpose with the latest top secret technological equipment on board.

The only comment I would have on this regarding HOI3 is that it is impossible to send a single expendable ship or sub on a scouting mission in wartime (You have to send a flotilla or a largish ship), which often happened during the actual war. (The Germans often went close to British naval bases with a single u-boot at periscope depth, The IJN used mini-subs to scout ahead of their main fleets, The USN often sent out Torpedo boats, subs, and even Destroyers to scout Japanese islands and bases,...). This matters because the potential cost of scouting out the coastline and/or bases of a superior naval power is too high compared with the RL cost, and this discourages around the clock scouting missions during wartime. There I go nitpicking again...

I have run some scouting missions before, I just didn't report most of them (as I didn't take many screenshots during the missions), and none had this kind of scope. You might also remember that this isn't the first Mission I reported on ( 23rd of October, Naval exercises, testing out DD Radar in the Med ). Anyway, I think the most important one of the missions now underway is the one around Japan, which should allow us to gauge the current strength of the IJN on which we have absolutely no information right now. The next report should be posted somewhere this week, probably before the weekend.

 

[roverS3]

The 5th of December 1940, Vologda, -11,3°C, 10am Moscow Time,

Report on the state of the Soviet Union for the ten day period between the 26th of November and the 5th of December 1940,

by 'Odin'

Army:

Enough Su-152's Self-Propelled Guns have been delivered for two Support Regiments, 43. and 40. GvSAP were integrated into 5., and 7. GvTD respectively. All 5 of our GvTD's are now of the Armx2, Mot, SP-Art, Eng configuration. The factories have switched to upgrading existing guns and providing replacements to existing units.
A Eng, TD unit has been delivered to Maj. General Sandalov's 39. TD. This means that all 6 of our TD(Tankovaya Diviziya) now have a Arm, Motx2, TD, Eng configuration.
Army numbers (Brigades/Personnel) Reserves included (these numbers don't include regiments being upgraded):

Front line troops: 598 / 1.794.000
Support troops: 215 / 215.000

Total fighting troops: 813 / 2.009.000​

Headquarters: 57 / 57.000

Total Army Personnel: 870 / 2.066.000​

Officers: 77.322 + / 86.860 needed / 89,019 %
Active Leaders: 242 / 105 more available
Production continues on Su-100 Tank Destroyers, this time for a new Infx2, TD unit meant to reinforce XXXI. SK HQ.​

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:

Yugoslavia has granted Bulgaria military access.
There has been no response, military or otherwise from any of these nations.
The Norwegian Front

Norway (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,00 / 85,1
Germany (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,0 / 84,7

Things are still frozen in place here, I feel like it's been forever since anyone did anything here in Norway...​

British North Africa Front

United Kingdom (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,0 / 77,7
Italy (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,00 / 79,5

After they finished taking back Libya, the Regio Esercito moved into Egypt. The Italians have reached El Dab'a, 275km from El Iskandarîya. Rather worryingly, there is no sign of any slowdown in the speed of their offensive. If they proceed at their current pace, they will reach El Iskandarîya in approximately 30 days, and the Suez canal in 50. I really hope British reinforcements are on their way...​

French North Africa Front

France is a Government in exile.
Italy (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,00 / 79,5

Moving more slowly than on the British North African front, the Italians are still making headway towards Alger. The front along the coast is now at Babor, 200km from the city.​

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): 0,00 / 79,5

Both Ethiopia, and Britain have taken a province. The British lost Lodwar, while they took Serenli from Italy. Could this mean that the British decided to mop up Somalia before heading into Ethiopia again? It would be a smart move, as it would deprive the Italian troops in the region of vital supplies. We'll only know a month or so from now as considering the terrain and the bad infrastructure, this theatre is a place of very slow movements.​

The Greek Front

Greece (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,00 / 87,3
Bulgaria (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,00 / 71,8
Italy (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,00 / 79,5

Despite the narrowed front and advantageous hilly terrain, the Greeks lost Kavala to Bulgaria, now the road to Salonica is wide open and free of added obstacles like hills or fortifications, leaving the Greek army to fight the Bulgarians, and whatever German reinforcements they received, on an equal footing in Arnaia. This is very worrying.
In the west, the mountain fortress of Ioannina and the hills of Kastoria have been lost to the Axis. This is less disastrous, ad there are still plenty of mountains between the Italians and any place of real importance.
Greek National Unity remains high, and retreating to the Peloponnesos, or even Creta are real options, but luckily it will take a while before that point is reached.
​

Industry:

A layer of Basic Machine Gun Bunkers (Level 1) was completed in Maloryta.
Work continues with the planned construction of Anti-Tank bunkers, and a Command bunker (Level 2).
In Leningrad, another layer of fortification was added, some Underground Ammunition Storage rooms, as well as heavy Artillery bunkers (Level 4) have been completed.
In Vladivostok, some concrete trenches and some light artillery (Level 2) will be added, these will be pointing inland.
Production continues on another 6 sets.

Working Industrial Capacity / available capacity: 238 / 321
IC Usage: ( Allocated IC / Need )

Upgrades: 52,84 / 60,79
Reinforcement: 1,90 / 1,92
Supplies: 9,55 / 41,24
Production: 227,82 / 227,82
Consumer Goods: 28,89 / 28,89​

Stockpiles:

Energy: Maximum tonnes =
Metal: 90.011 tonnes +
Rares: 30.945 tonnes +
Crude: Maximum barrels =
Supplies: 24.411 tonnes +
Fuel: Maximum barrels +
Money: 1.980 +
​

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 / 0

Total: 5 / 0 / 0 / 0​

Reserves: 12
Spy training leadership expenditure: 0,25
We have so far recruited 14 like-minded Covert Operatives in our French sleeper cell.
​

Research:

Red Army theorists have refined their understanding of Delay Doctrine (Level 4) and it's applications, manuals have gone out to all gun-based support units, as their (re)positioning is essential for the successful execution of the Doctrine. This development is believed to have a positive impact on their Morale.
Now they have started working on better Schwerpunkt (Level 4) tactics centred on ways to deploy ever more firepower, and especially tanks, on a smaller portion of the front. Sticking together should improve the Morale of our Tankers.
No changes to LS distribution
​

Statistics:

National Unity: 83,053 (+0,01)
Neutrality: 0,00 =
Dissent: 0,00 =
Manpower:
Available: 2.044.000 Men
To reinforce(need): 1.820 Men
To mobilise(need): See above
Monthly gain: 48.200 Men (1 fully mobilised Infx3, AT Division every 7 days)
Party Popularity:

- Communist Party: 49 (+2)
- Trotskyite: 8 =
- Bukharinite: 2 (-4)

- Octobrist: 7 (+4)
- Social-Revolutionary: 3 =
- Trudoviks: 3 =
- Kadets: 9 (-1)

- Tsarists: 3 (-1)
- NTS: 2 (-2)
- POA: 13 (+1)
The Communist Party is gaining in popularity again, which is good news for the legitimacy of the Government. The capitalists are still divided, with a split between Octobrists and Kadets, this month. The Fascists have luckily lost in popularity overall. But, rather worryingly, their supporters continue to converge towards the most extreme National-Socialist POA, no doubt backed by German Spies. This faction is the only realistic opposition right now, and they are the only opposition faction to actually demand cabinet seats, 2 of them...The government is still fractured...​

Party Organisation:

- Communist Party: 73,22 (+0,5)
- Trotskyite: 10,70 =
- Bukharinite: 5,80 =

- Octobrist: 6,30 =
- Trudoviks: 3,10 =
- Social-Revolutionary: 0,00 =
- Kadets: 0,00 =

- Tsarists: 0,20 =
- NTS: 0,60 =
- POA: 0,00 =
​

This Information is accurate on the morning of the 5th of December 1940, I hope it serves you well in fine-tuning your possible suggestions.

'Odin'​

 

[markkur]

Delay Doctrine advance...good. We must well-defend our chosen defensive positions. Some Elastic-Defense soon too?

 

[roverS3]

The 13th of December 1940, Moscow, -11,1°C, 9pm Moscow Time,

While I was talking to 'Tri' about a moth ago, he noted that my knowledge of foreign governments was patchy to say the least. He later called me, saying that he had found that most other top members of the committee had the same lack of information, he thus decided to work together with 'Shest' to compile reports on the major powers of this world. A list of major powers was duly made by our analysts, exactly how they came to that exact list remains a mystery. I'm sure there was some kind of calculation based on some kind of doubtful proxy for the size of their industry. Who can blame them for not knowing, when we have only 5 spies on a single foreign mission in French Hanoi, and that's it. In the end, only 6 countries met the required criteria: Germany, Japan, Italy, the United Kingdom, France, and the United States of America.

The first report was delivered to me by the middle aged woman who works with 'Tri', as soon as I arrived in Moscow today, it is about Germany:

The 13th of December 1940,

Report on the German Government:

Head of State (Führer): Adolf Hitler, NSDAP

An Austrian by birth, he was a Lance Corporal in the Bavarian Army during the first Great War. He tried to remain in the Army for as long as possible, despite the huge downsizing effort in compliance with the Versailles treaty. Somehow, he ended up in the German Worker's Party (DAP). Some sources suggest that he was sent by the Reichswehr to spy on them, but having no current intelligence, it's hard to tell whether this is at all plausible. What is clear is that he was first noticed by the party as a whole when he sternly and eloquently the point of view of a fellow DAP member that Bavaria should break away from the rest of Germany, join forces with Austria, and reject capitalism.

This outburst prompted the party leader to entice Hitler to officially join the small Party. Some sources say that the Army also pushed him to join the existing party instead of forming his own. He himself recalls being lured in by the small size of the party, and the future opportunity to lead an existing organisation. (in 'Mein Kampf') What is clear is that he had the Army's permission to officially join the party (supporting the espionage theory). He was given permission to attend political meetings, normally an activity that was outlawed for enlisted servicemen. He thus continued to be paid by the army, while fully concentrating on politics.

Quickly, he became the party's main mouthpiece, attracting crowds through his oratory skills. He was soon named 'Chief of Propaganda', and pushed for a name change to 'National-Socialist Germans Worker's Party (NSDAP), to broaden the party's appeal, and to imprint some of his personal political beliefs. His main stated goal at this point was to bring Nationalism to the people through propaganda.
That Party membership was soon only available for pure 'Arians' was one of the more striking rules of the early NSDAP.

In mid 1921, as Hitler was out of town, there was a mutiny within the party membership in Munich. Part of the members wanted to merge with the German Socialist Party (DSP). Hitler resigned from the party, disgusted by this betrayal of the party's (his) principles. Quickly the members realised how vital Hitler had become to the party, and he agreed to come back, but only if he was made Chairman of the party, he was promptly handed the chairmanship, and near absolute power over the party. It is here that he first adopted the title 'Fuhrer', as he thought of himself as the leader of a revolution. He created the 'Hitler Youth' and launched a party paper.

In 1923, France occupied the Ruhr industrial area because Germany was behind on war reparation payments. This lead to a surge in Nationalist sentiment, and by the end of the year the NSDAP attempted a coup d'état in Munich, this failed because Hitler had assumed that the Army would back him up, which they didn't.

He spent a year behind bars and used the time to write the first version of his book 'Mein Kampf'. After being released, he found that the NSDAP was outlawed by the government of Bavaria. To get his party back, Hitler decided to cut official ties with the SA, placing the Party's now 'independent' militia officially outside of the NSDAP's purview. This allowed him to reshape the party into a respectable non-violent, ostensibly legal, political organisation and in 1925 the NSDAP was allowed to participate in politics again. They even started accepting women as members.

In 1930, with the economy going down the drain, and the mainstream parties discredited, the NSDAP gained about 20% of the vote. Being the second party in the Reichstag gave Hitler a platform. In 1932 Hitler ran for president, losing with 30% of the vote to Paul van Hindenburg. Then later that same year the NSDAP got 37% in the Free State of Prussia elections. However, the Prussian minority government was then ousted by a political coup. In the ensuing Reichstag elections, the NSDAP gained another point. But now the Communists had a significant impact as well, through the fact that they would not compromise and join forces with the Social Democrats. This made the NSDAP the main opposition to a minority government.

Another election was held to try and get out of the impasse, and this one saw the NSDAP lose votes. Instead of giving up, the Nazi's decided that they had to take power whichever way possible. In 1933, the nazi's convinced the President, and the centre-right parties to appoint Hitler as Chancellor, presiding over a government with mostly non-NSDAP ministers.

A month later there was a fire in the Reichstag, and this prompted a state of emergency, with the loss of quite a few civil liberties in the name of security. Another election was also held, and in the oppressive post-fire climate, the NSDAP managed to get 44% of the vote, just shy of a majority. The added strength and the fact that after this election hundreds of thousands of people joined the NSDAP helped to pass the Enabling act. This act meant that the mostly NSDAP government could pass laws without parliamentary approval, Hitler was crowned de facto Dictator.

In short order the new regime abolished all other political parties and unions and cemented single party rule. While the Army remained on the sidelines, Hitler's power was only civilian and not entirely absolute, as the Army could still intervene. We believe that in 1934, the SA was purged of people who might not be absolutely loyal to Hitler. The SA's power diminished, and the SS, officially Hitler's bodyguard became a much larger paramilitary, and even military force. He later placed the police force under the command of the Reichsführer-SS, abolishing independent Police leadership. The succession of mergers between NSDAP and state positions, reflected the increasing hold of Hitler on the entire state apparatus.

Hitler and the NSDAP want to offer Germany and ethnic Germans more 'Lebensraum'. As this inevitably means taking space / land away from other groups, we believe that he wants to keep expanding, especially toward territories held by slavic and other non-European people. Our Analysts believe that Germany will attack us, as soon as they believe they are ready and have a reasonable chance of success. The 3rd Reich's negative view of Slavic people might play to our benefit here, as they may be underestimating our soldier's capabilities...

He is considered to be a Power-Hungry Demagogue.
Many Germans take his and the Nazi Party's word over the facts on the ground. This means that National Unity is quite invulnerable, especially to smaller events, as they are masterfully denied, spinned and/or glossed over by the Fuhrer in his speeches. (-10% NU changes).
His words and his passion also seems to boost the morale of his spies, which has to be part of the reason why his spies continue to effectively sway more than 10% our people towards National Socialism. (Espionage +5%)
​

Head of Government (Deputy Führer): Rudolf Hess, NSDAP

Hess was an Infantry man during the first great war, wounded several times on the battlefield and recipient of the Iron Cross 2nd class. He studied Geopolitics in the University of Munich, with Karl Haushofer, one of the early advocates of an expansionist 'Lebensraum' policy, as his teacher. He helped set up the SA, went to jail alongside Hitler after the failed coup in 1923, and helped Hitler write his book. He has been Hitler's right hand man for years, being named his personal secretary, adjudant party leader, Political Central Commissioner of the NSDAP, and now deputy Führer of the NSDAP, and by extension, the country. He is a personal confidant of the Führer.

He is considered a Silent Workhorse, as he works hard, is very loyal to his leader, and lets him take the spotlight. His dedication is thought to have translated in an increased industrial output thanks to his strong management.
(IC +5%)
​

Foreign Minister: Baron Konstantin von Neurath, DVFP / NSDAP

von Neurath comes from a long line of blue blooded Diplomats and foreign ministers. His Grandfather, Konstantin Franz, was Foreign Minister to King Charles I of Württenberg. His father, Konstantin Sebastian, chamberlain to king William II of Württenberg. Konstantin himself studied law in Tübingen and Berlin. After a short stint in a law firm, he followed family tradition and joined the civil service. He went on to serve as Vice-Consul of the German embassy in London in 1903, and as Legation council of the same embassy in 1909. In 1914 he was sent to Constantinople shortly before being called back to serve as an officer in the Infantry for the Great War. He received an Iron cross, and in 1916 he was heavily wounded. During this time he kept going back and forth to the Ottoman Empire for the German Diplomatic service.

1919 saw him become Minister to Denmark. Then between 1921 and 1930, the Baron was ambassador to Rome, then Ambassador to London. Finally, in 1932 he was recalled to Berlin to become Foreign Minister under Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher, and then under Adolf Hitler. He joined the NSDAP in 1937, and was given the honorary rank of Gruppenführer (Lieutenant General) in the SS. Despite some reported disagreements on tactics, Hitler has kept von Neurath on his cabinet. Before joining the NSDAP, he had been aligned with the Fascist DVFP. He was responsible for the Molotov-von Neurath pact, partitioning much of Europe into Soviet and Axis areas of influence.

Baron von Neurath gives a certain aura of respectability to the NSDAP government. He is seen as a Great Compromiser, and is quite soft spoken. His mere presence in the Government thus makes the Axis Faction more attractive to foreign nations. (Susceptibility to Axis +10%)
​

Armament Minister (Labour Minister-Armament Minister): Franz Seldte, NSDAP

The son of a Chemical factory owner, he studied Chemistry in Braunschweig and Greifswald. In the great war, he served as an officer, losing his left arm, gaining Iron Crosses 1st and 2nd Class, as well as the rank of Hauptmann (Captain). After the war he founded a nationalist paramilitary organisation called Stahlem, entirely made up of great war veterans. He became a member of the German National People's Party, DNVP. He was a member of the Magdeburg city council, and later the DNVP supported the NSDAP in their 1929 parliamentary push to break Versailles Treaty obligations. During the 1933 Chancellorship negotiations, he placed his party and Militia firmly in support of Hitler's candidacy. In 1933, seeing that the NSDAP was the main force pushing his ideals, he joined the NSDAP and merged his militia into the SA, becoming SA-Obergruppenführer. He was named Labour Minister in Hitler's Cabinet, but in 1935 he requested to be released from official duties, the Führer refused. It is unclear why the Führer has given this man, who is not a loyalist of Hitler, but a man with roughly similar ideas, so many responsibilities.

In the Armament Ministry, he is considered a Military Entrepreneur, and despite his background in Chemistry, he seems to excel at making supply production run very efficiently
(Supplies +20%)
​

Minister of Security (Minister of Propaganda): Joseph Goebbels

Goebbels studied Litterature and History in Bonn, Würzbur, Freiburg, and Munich. At the University of Heidelberg, he wrote a Doctoral thesis on Wilhelm von Shültz, an obscure 19the century Theatre writer, earning a PhD in 1921. He wrote his first book 'Michael' in 1921. It was only published, in modified form, in 1929, by the NSDAP's publishing house Eher-Verlag . After his PhD, he worked as a tutor and continued writing in the hope of becoming a published author. He read many political works in depth during this period.

Lacking real political convictions of his own besides some mildly socialist tendencies, he was drawn in by Hitler's charisma and conviction during the latter's 1924 trial. He was part of the more socialist wing of the NSDAP and worked on the party paper form 1924 onwards. The reading of 'Mein Kampf' seems to have convinced Goebbels to join Hitler's side of the party. In 1926, he gave a speech 'Hitler or Lenin?', in which he wholeheartedly defended his suggestion that Hitler was the right choice, and that Lenin could not save the German People. He subsequently published a pamphlet clarifying the difference between National-Socialism, and Marxism. Goebbels is reported to have sworn unconditional loyalty to Hitler, after part of the party tried to throw their lot in with the Social Democrats.

He was rewarded for his loyalty with the position of NSDAP Gauleiter for the Berlin section by the end of 1926. In this position, he made the NSDAP in Berlin into a force to be reckoned with, deliberately provoking street attacks against Communists and Jews, and spreading his well crafted anti-Communist propaganda. He went so far that the NSDAP was outlawed in Berlin in 1927. Luckily for him, his election to the Reichstag in 1928 gave him immunity from prosecution. In 1930, he turned Horst Wesel into a martyr for the cause after the leader of the Berlin SA was shot dead in a brawl with Communists. Goebbels organised the large campaign rallies preceding the 1930 and 1932 elections.

In 1933, after Hitler's appointment to Chancellor and the burning of the Reichstag, he was put in charge of the brand new Reich Ministry of Public enlightenment and Propaganda, a position he still holds today. In a 1938 Life Magazine article it is said that 'Personally he likes nobody, is liked by nobody, and runs the most efficient NSDAP department'. He has an iron grip on radio, papers, and the German film industry and exploits this power to inspire the people to work hard and stand behind the Nazi leadership.

He is considered a 'Man of the People', and his propaganda seems to inspire loyal scientists and spies to work harder.
(Leadership +5%)
​

Head of Intelligence (Chief of the Abwehr): Wilhelm Canaris, DVFP / NSDAP

Believing he was related to a Greek Admiral Canaris, he joined the Imperial German Navy in 1905. At the outbreak of the Great war, he was serving as Intelligence officer on board the Light Cruiser SMS Dresden. Thanks to his skills and evasion tactics, the SMS Dresden was the only German ship that managed to evade the Royal Navy for a long period of time during the battle of the Falkland Island in December 1914. Eventually, the ship was caught off the coast of Chili, had to flee into Cumberland bay on Robinson Crusoe Island and was finally scuttled by it's own crew after the Royal Navy started shelling it inside the port. The crew was imprisoned in Chili, but he managed to escape in 1915 thanks, partly, to his fluent Spanish and returned to Germany with the help of some German Merchants.

Following his clever escape, he was given purely intelligence work by the navy, and was sent to Spain to spy on international shipping and provide a clandestine supply network for German U-boots. Later he went back to school and trained to become a U-boot commander. From 1917 to the end of the war, he became a celebrated U-boot commander in the Mediterranean, credited with sinking many ships, and receiving the Iron Cross 1st Class in the process. The man fluently speaks 6 languages, amongst others, Spanish and English. Like his fellow great war Imperial Navy Officers he is said to have a healthy amount of respect for the Royal Navy.

In 1918 he helped set up the 'Freikorps', a militia specifically targeting Communist Revolutionary movements. In 1924 he was sent to Osaka by the Kriegsmarine, we aren't exactly sure why, some sources suspect it has something to do with Submarines. He then seems to have fallen out of favour, probably by making enemies in Germany through secret intelligence dealings we know next to nothing about. He was booted out of the intelligence service in 1928, and went back to regular Navy service on the Battlecruiser Schlesien, becoming it's Captain in 1932. Being very supportive of the NSDAP, he is told to have given frequent lectures to his crew about the virtues of National-Socialism after Hitler was named Chancellor in 1933. Even after the 1934 SA purges he continued to wholeheartedly support the NSDAP's authoritarian government, especially for the possibilities of a return to German Military greatness, and the die hard Anti-Communism of the SA and the SS.

In late 1934, posted as commander of a small provincial fortress in Schweinemunde, he felt he had reached the end of his career. He was soon dragged back into the centre of attention, when the Chief of the Abwehr Conrad Patzig was forced to resign and named Canaris as his successor. In 1935, he was named Head of the Abwehr, a position he holds to this day.
He was part of the actions to counter the sacking of Generalfeldmarschall von Blomberg, and managed to obtain the folding of the SA's Intelligence wing into the Abwehr in the process. (See Generalfeldmarschall / Minister of War von Blomberg)

Intelligence circles consider him to be a 'Dismal Enigma', never knowing what kind of Intelligence he will be focusing his efforts on
(Land Intel +10%, Naval Intel +10%)
​

Chief of Staff (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht): Alfred Joseph Ferdinand Jodl, NSDAP (Instead of Keitel OTL)

Jodl graduated from the Military cadet school of Munich in 1910. In 1914-1916 he served as battery commander on the western front and received the Iron Cross for gallantry and being wounded on the Battlefield. In 1917 he briefly fought on the Eastern Front, before returning tho the West as a Staff Officer and earning himself another Iron Cross for Gallantry in action. He remained in the Reichswehr after the war as a Major in the Truppenamt (Army General Staff). In 1938, he was named Commander of the 44. Infanterie Division and in 1939, he was placed in his current position at the head of the new OKW, by Hitler himself. Jodl has presided over all of the Wehrmacht's campaigns since.

He is renowned for his gallantry and his mastery of the psychology of both his own and the enemy's troops. There might be a link with the fact that his uncle, Friedrich Jodl, is a Philosophy Professor at the University of Vienna. His leadership is inspiring to the German Armed forces, and some say his mere presence helps units to overcome defeat more rapidly and reorganise in short order.
(Organisation Regain Rate +10%)
​

Chief of the Army (Generalfeldmarschall / Minister of War): Werner von Blomberg, NSDAP

von Blomberg joined the Army in 1897 and attended Prussian Military Academy in 1904, graduating in 1907, and entering the General staff in 1908. He served with distinction on the Western Front during the Great war and was awarded the 'Pour le mérite', one of the highest orders of merit in Prussia.
In the interbellum, he quickly made his way up, commanding the 'Döberitz Brigade' in 1920, becoming Chief of Staff for the Stuttgart Army Area, then in 1925 being appointed Chief of Army training. 1927 marked a high point of his military career, as he was promoted to Major-General and named chief of the Truppenamt (Army General Staff).

He visited our Soviet Union in 1928, and was seemingly impressed with the high position of the Red Army in our Union. This convinced him that Authoritarian rule would yield the biggest and best Army for Germany. In 1929 a heated argument with General Kurt von Schleicher apparently sealed his fate, and he was removed from his position, demoted and sent to command the single Division stationed in East Prussia, far away from Berlin. There are rumours that the argument was about the illicit recruitment and training of volunteer troops in excess of Versailles limits pushed by von Blomberg, but we can't be certain. In East-Prussia he is rumoured to have started making lists of all able bodied men in the Area, and even recruiting them. He collaborated intensely with the SA to find volunteers for his paramilitary Grenzschuts units. This initiative was so successful that by 1931, it was generally seen as the example of Army-Nazi cooperation.

In 1932 he was seen as Chief of the Military delegation to the World Disarmament Conference in Geneva, where he proceeded to profess his faith in the Nazi Party's ability to make the German Army Great again, and his support for rearmament under the auspices of a NSDAP government. His rival Schleicher (who was now Chancellor) and his government, had, in his eyes, failed to make the 'Wehrstaat' with a powerful military a reality, and he didn't shy away from saying so. We believe that he was part of the Wehrmacht Generals who pushed (behind closed doors) for Hitler's appointment as Chancellor in 1933. President Hindenburg promptly named von Blomberg Defence Minister, a few days before naming Adolf Hitler Chancellor and telling the latter that the former was to be Defence Minister regardless of Hitler's own wishes.

As Defence Minister, von Blomberg purged the ranks of the army of Schleicher sympathisers. He defended the Army when, in 1934, there was an NSDAP attempt to integrate the Army with the SA. This bid failed partly thanks to efforts of von Blomberg to make the army more in line with the NSDAP, nullifying the need for a reshuffle. Part of this was his initiative to boot 74 Jewish soldiers out of the army on Dishonourable Discharges. He also pushed for the addition of Nazi symbols on Reichswehr uniforms. He fought against the attempts of the SS to create a Military wing, but lost that one, and finally conceded to Himmler, who had continually hammered that a Waffen-SS was necessary to crush a possible Communist revolution.

In 1935, he was named Generalfeldmarschall, or Chief of the new Wehrmacht, as well as Minister of War. This position of power pushed Hermann Göring and Heinrich Himmler to conspire to oust him from power, as both wanted more influence over the Army, and von Blomberg was very defensive of any outside influence into the Wehrmacht's business. This failed when he got wind of it in 1937 and he managed, with the help of Chief of the Abwehr Canaris, who was pissed about the fact that the SA had bugged his office, to publicly set up Hermann Göring as having a Jewish mistress. The ensuing scandal saw Göring quickly fall from the Führer's graces and he was sent to lead a single Jagdgeschwäder in the Luftwaffe he used to be the chief of. This was all widely publicised.

As for Himmler, von Blomberg and Canaris managed to convince the Führer that the Waffen-SS was to be placed entirely under Wehrmacht command, with only the basic training and selection of the men to be handled by the actual SS. This wasn't very hard, as Canaris did have evidence of Himmler conspiring with the, now undesirable, Göring. Going even further, all SA Intelligence operations were to be run by the Abwehr, as Canaris convinced the Führer of the inefficiencies of having two de facto intelligence agencies spying on each other instead of working together. (This is the understanding of our analysts based on the publicised events surrounding this period)

Von Blomberg is great at organising stockpiles of weapons, food, and other war materials efficiently. It is said his Guns and Butter Doctrine is saving the Wehrmacht a lot of supplies of all kinds.
(Supply consumption -10%)
​

Chief of the Navy (Oberbefelshaber der Reichsmarine / Grossadmiral): Erich Raeder, NSDAP

Raeder joined the Imperial Navy in 1894 and being intelligent and hard working, he rose quickly through the ranks. Between 1901 and 1903, he served on the staff of prince Heinrich of Prussia, giving him a powerful connection towards his further advancement. Being fluent in Russian he was sent to the Far East to observe the Russian-Japanese war's Naval Battles in 1904-1905. On his return, he worked in the public relations section of the navy, where he met Grand Admiral and Secretary of the Navy Alfred von Tirpitz. He was part of the 1906 push for the construction of Big Gun Dreadnought Battleships to counter the Royal Navy, in effect the start of the pre Great War Naval Arms race.

In 1912 he became Chief of Staff to Admiral Franz von Hipper, then in charge of the I scouting Group. I Scouting group was comprised of Battlecruisers SMS von der Tann, and SMS Moltke. The group would be joined by SMS Seydlitz in 1913, and SMS Blücher in 1914. At the side of von Hipper, he would see combat in the Battle of Jutland and the Battle of Dogger Bank. It is rumoured that von Hipper let Raeder do all of his paperwork, suggesting that Raeder's influence was greater than one might suppose of a Chief of Staff. In international naval circles, it is said that Raeder was the one who planned the raid that eventually lead to the successful battle of Jutland, luring the British fleet into a confrontation with the main German High Seas Fleet.

After the Great War, there was a disagreement of the future of the German Navy. von Tirpitz had a Mahanian vision and was pushing for another Battleship Arms race to win a 'Battle of Annihilation'. Wegener's argument was that Germany could never win such an Arms race and suggested Germany concentrate on stealth and speed instead, prioritising Submarine and Fast Cruiser construction. Raeder was entirely on von Tirpitz side, and some say that he influenced von Hipper away from backing up Wegener.

In 1919 there was another serious conflict between Navy factions backing von Tirpitz and those backing the Kaiser after the former had criticised the Great War leadership of the latter. Raeder managed to defuse the situation by proposing Adolf von Trotha for Chief of the Navy. This was very clever, as von Trotha would turn out to be acceptable to both factions, and the infighting was quelled. In 1920, Raeder was part of the failed Kapp putsch, a coup backed by the more conservative elements of the Armed Forces, against the Weimar republic. As a punishment, he was sent to the Navy Archives, where he distinguished himself again by beaing the main writer of the official History of the navy in the Great War.

After two years, he resumed his unstoppable rise through the ranks, and in 1925 he was named Vizeadmiral (Vice-Admiral). Then in 1928, he became full Admiral and Oberbefelshaber der Reichsmarine (Commander in Chief of the Navy). He retains this position to this day and was subsequently named Generaladmiral, and now holds the rank of Grossadmiral (Grand Admiral) (in 1936, and since 1939 respectively).

As a supporter of 'von Tirpitz' Doctrine, he believes in the Mahanian theory of a Big gun Decisive Naval Battle, he is thus a great advocate of the construction of Capital ships.
(Capital ship Practical Decay -25%)
​

Chief of the Air Force (Minister of Aviation): Carl Friedrich von Siemens, DNVP / NSDAP

von Siemens was born to the great aristocrat and inventor Werner von Siemens. After his studies as an Electronical Engineer he started to work at Siemens & Halske AG in 1899, in 1901 he was placed in charge of the London Division, successfully expanding the operation of the Siemens Brothers & Co. British affiliate company. After his return he became Chairman of the management board of Siemens-Schuckertwerke in 1912 and all throughout the war. After the war, he replaced his older brother as Chairman of the Supervisory boards of both Siemens & Halske AG, and Siemens-Schuckertwerke, becoming the boss of the entire family conglomerate. He proceeded to expand operations again spreading into ever more areas and enlisting ever more subsidiaries throughout the world. He was behind the 1929 acquisition of Eisenbahnsignal-Bauanstalt Max Jüdel & Co and turning it into the United Eisenbahn-Signalwerke GmBH (the Railway and Signal construction subsidiary). Under his leadership Siemens achieved a significant technological edge in many fields related to electronics, and worldwide sales soared.

By the end of 1929, due to the economic crisis, the company took a serious hit in the form of a huge drop in the number of orders. Von Siemens managed to nurse the conglomerate through a tough couple of years through cutbacks and downsizing of the workforce. By 1933, thanks to the NSDAP's rise to power and their projects for modernisation and expansion of the armed forces, the company started another phase of rapid growth to fulfil a massive demand for the latest electronics from the Armed forces. In 1936, Siemens became the largest electronics company in the world, with over 180.000 employees and 16 production facilities throughout Europe. The company pioneered entirely new fields of electronics application like medical technology, round the clock technology, electrical heating, domestic appliances, and even the first electron microscopes.

After the 1936 debacle surrounding Göring, Hitler needed a new Minister of Aviation, and a new Generalfeldmarschal of the luftwaffe, furthermore, Hitler wanted both functions to be separated, as Göring's apparent Jewish mistress had made the Führer realise the dangers of concentrating all luftwaffe power in the hands of a single person. He thus decided to put von Siemens in the seat of Minister of Aviation, making him responsible for luftwaffe acquisitions and general strategy. Ritter Robert von Greim was promoted to Generalfeldmarschall of the Luftwaffe and placed in command of running the luftwaffe's day to day operations. This was a consolation prize for the luftwaffe, as von Greim is a respected Great War Ace with 28 victories and a 'Pour le mérite' to his name before the current war (on which we have no real data).

We don't know how well both men get along. What we do know is that both men support the 'Air Superiority Doctrine', in which they defend directing most investment towards Light Aircraft, especially fighters. The point is to have as many fighters as possible to obtain Air Superiority, before sending in waves of comparatively cheap small bombers with little to no defensive armament. This seems to be very similar to the Doctrine followed by the Soviet Union.
(Light Aircraft Practical Decay -25%)
​

We believe that the German people stand behind their government, with a 60% popularity estimate, the opposition is entirely fractured, and there is thus no visible alternative to the NSDAP. But, this estimate is very speculative and should be taken with a mountain of salt.

Because of our lack of spies in Germany, and the secretive nature of their Armaments Industry and Research, we have no idea about the size of their industry and leadership pools. We have no idea about anything else really, we don't know how many German officers there are, we don't know if there is any dissent, we don't know how many able bodied men they have, what their national unity is. We don't know the size of their stockpiles, and we don't know what they are producing, nor what their scientists are good at. We have been entirely in the dark since 1937.

At least now you have been reminded of who is running Germany, our probable enemy in the next Great War, be it tomorrow, or in two year's time.

We hope this will refresh and/or complement your memories, the next country on our list is Japan. It will take some more time, but we will write more reports like this one, as we have found the knowledge about foreign governments to be lacking within the ranks of the Committee. We want to clarify that we don't blame anyone for this oversight, as the Soviet Union needs a lot of internal attention and work and it is only natural to look to the inside before the outside.

The next report will be about Japan,
Until next time,

'Tri', and 'Shest'​

So that's that, their report goes into quite a lot of detail, but I'm sure you will find some useful information in there. I will of course share the subsequent reports with you as well. I have to fly to Leningrad now, as there is something else that requires my attention,

Greetings,

'Odin'

Notes from your WritAAR:

That was longer than I initially planned. Maybe I've been reading too much of 'The Butterfly Effect' recently...

I explained the non OTL positions of von Blomberg and von Siemens, and the absence of Göring, through a small twist in history. If you've read this far, you know what I'm on about. IRL von Blomberg was slowly pushed out by Göring and Himmler and eventually Kietel was appointed in his place in 1938. In TTL, von Blomberg fights back with the help of Canaris who had an axe to grind(The SA bugged the Abwehr HQ in OTL). To explain the appointment of a non-Luftwaffe figure as Chief of the Air Force, I supposed that Chief of the Air Force meant Aviation Minister, and dug up a plausible Luftwaffe man to be running the actual Luftwaffe, while von Siemens runs acquisitions and general strategy is discussed between the two of them. Not that this really matters as this is still a Soviet Union Game...

TTL Ribbentrop was never tapped to replace von Neurath and Albert Speer didn't become Armaments Minister, remaining the first architect of the Third Reich.

I tried to remain as historically accurate as possible, bending history whenever someone wasn't at his OTL position.

Please don't hesitate to suggest improvements to the format. The next update will be about the exercise in the Baltic, and should be written and uploaded during the course of next week, then after the next regular report, there will be some more about our mission in Alger, and We'll see where things go from there. Thank you for your support.

 

[roverS3]

Delay Doctrine advance...good. We must well-defend our chosen defensive positions. Some Elastic-Defense soon too?

Elastic Defence (Level 3 / 1938) is currently being researched. We are slightly behind on quite a few doctrines, but with four teams working around the clock, we try to do the best we can. The Land Combat Experience from the Winter war has helped to speed up Land Doctrine research, and we are slowly catching up with the times.

 

[Eurasia]

Nice overview. Can't wait to see what you say about Japan.

What is the long term plans for war with Germany? Do we launch the first punch or let them attack us? There are advantages to both - mostly in the world's opinion towards the two nations. But it also depends on what armaments and techs we have at the time.

 

[Bullfilter]

Thanks for a very detailed background and blend between our universe and this one. It can be difficult making sense of the choices the game makes for appointments, as El Pip has pointed out many a time!

For NU, the diplomatic screen for the country does give an accurate reading under the surrender stats, if that helps. (Although you may have been deliberately ignoring that for Intel purposes).

 

[roverS3]

Nice overview. Can't wait to see what you say about Japan.

Well, you'll probably have to wait for several weeks, as there are a few other things coming up before I get to writing the Japan Report. I think I'll do about one per in game month, until all the Majors have been reported on. There is also the possibility of a similar series of reports on our neighbours at a later date.

What is the long term plans for war with Germany? Do we launch the first punch or let them attack us? There are advantages to both - mostly in the world's opinion towards the two nations. But it also depends on what armaments and techs we have at the time.

This is a topic of a heated of discussion throughout the Soviet Bureaucracy. Within the Secret Committee, but also within the Red Army Leadership, the official Central Committee, the KGB, the GRU, the diplomatic service, the NKVD, and the list goes on. The general consensus in both the Secret Committee and the Red Army is that the Soviet Union will not attack before the mud has dried, so not before somewhere around the end of April next year. Another sticking point is that an attack by the Soviet Union will inevitably drag the entire axis into the war. This means that, for now, the plan is to wait for the Germans to attack us, unless there is a significant weakness of German border forces come spring 1941. If Japan somehow becomes at war with the Allies, and / or the United States, before Germany attacks us, the opportunity of a distracted Japan would also be favourable to a Soviet attack on Germany. Ideally, we would like to have the 2 Carriers being currently built to be delivered to I. Avianosets Flote, before declaring war for any of the aforementioned reasons, especially if the IJN isn't being distracted by the RN and/or USN. Long story short, nothing is decided yet, we will strike in case of an unexpected opportunity, but only if the weather is manageable, in order to maximise possible gains and troop movements in the opening fase of any offensive. We have all seen that our Generals are likely to do a quick reshuffle of their units, the moment war is declared (see Finland), good weather should minimise the disruption and help maximise the element of surprise.

Thanks for a very detailed background and blend between our universe and this one. It can be difficult making sense of the choices the game makes for appointments, as El Pip has pointed out many a time!

I like the fact that appointments don't automatically follow a historical path, and although it might sometimes be difficult to make sense of in game appointments, tying them into the alternate history is a fun challenge. El Pip is, of course, an inspiration on such matters, with his incredibly detailed descriptions of fictional parliamentary goings-on in 'The Butterfly Effect'.

For NU, the diplomatic screen for the country does give an accurate reading under the surrender stats, if that helps. (Although you may have been deliberately ignoring that for Intel purposes).

I deliberately omitted it here, as I don't see how we could possibly be aware of their exact national unity without spies in the country. You may have noticed that I have been quoting the NU of the countries that are at war in the 10-day reports. This is more of a proxy for how far away respective participants are from surrender, it's more about relative surrender progress compared to NU, than about the exact NU number in that case, if that in any way clears it up.

 

[roverS3]

The 14th of December 1940, Leningrad, -8,8°C, 7am Moscow Time,

After a three hour flight in an Li-2, I arrived in Leningrad around midnight. After reluctantly getting up at 6am, I made my way over to the vicinity of the Red Navy Docks. The 10 Leninets Series II submarines of IV. Flot Pdlodok returned from their 'excercise' around the Baltic Sea just an hour and a half ago.​

A Photograph of the L-4 "Garibaldiets", part of IV. Flot Podlodok, in Leningrad's Navy Docks. With a speed of 14.5 knots above and 8.5 knots below the water, they are not our slowest submarines, and their 28 days of autonomous navigation give them a lot of independence in operations. Built in 1933, this particular one is merely obsolescent, and with upgraded radar and sonar, it is still a useful tool for our navy. Six forward facing torpedo tubes, with 2 533mm TA Torpedoes each, give it some stealthy offensive capabilities. Facing to the rear are two mine tubes allowing for the laying of anti-ship mines while submerged, which could be a nice way to surprise enemy ships...
​

After making sure that the submarines had, in effect returned safely, I retrieved the intelligence data, and the photograph above, in a nearby dead drop, where it was placed by a committee asset on the crew of the L-4.

On the 5th, IV. Flot Podlodok reached Danzig bay, and a lot of chatter was picked up from Königsberg. We now know that a lot of Infantry, at least 4 DIvisions, and approximately 1.000 aeroplanes, are based there.
Another 300 Aeroplanes were detected in Danzig.
Early the next morning the presence of Waffen-SS and Motorised elements was detected in Rostock.
Light Armour was spotted in Lübeck.
Also of interest is the Italian radio chatter coming from the Division in Copenhagen, as well as the presence of 300 Aeroplanes there.
By sunset on the 6th, another Motorised unit was detected in Aarhus.

IV. Flot Podlodok halted for a day in Skaggerack, to take the time and properly scan everything around it.
Several Motorised Divisions (At least 2 Divisions) and a 5 unit Kriegsmarine Fleet (possibly all the ships they have left) were seen in Fredrikshavn.
The presence in Oslo of British Paratroopers under Norwegian command was confirmed again when English was heard on the radio intercepts, 200 Norwegian Aeroplanes also seem to be based out of their capital.
Göteborg is home to a small Swedish Fleet.
On the 9th the Eastern Norwegian Trench was reached and an Army Level HQ and a German Infantry Division were spotted in Kristiansand.

During a short foray into the North Sea, on the 10th, A flotilla of British Submarines was encountered in Helgoland Bight. The spotted submarines had superficial damage, but looked brand new otherwise. Luckily, both sides surfaced when they spotted the other on Sonar, and after a couple of minutes of looking at each other, the 5 T-class Submarines sailed away towards Britain. (see picture)
On the 11th, more Italian radio chatter was picked up from the Infantry Division in Hamburg.
A Motorised Division is moving towards Fredrikshavn, it's possibly the one that was guarding Rostock before.
The Light Armour spotted earlier moved from Lubeck to Rostock, and it was seemingly joined there by a Division of Mountaineers.
Similarly a Division of Mountaineers had taken the Light Amour's place in Lubeck.

On the 12th, a Norwegian naval unit was spotted in Karlskrona.
On the 13th, the fleet took a small detour past Stockholm, finding 100 Aeroplanes based just outside the Swedish Capital.
​

Little more than a day was needed to complete the final leg back to Leningrad. In his official report, Commander Golovko noted that the exercise was successful overall. He stated that the encounter with the British was handled by surfacing, as trying to remain undetected could have lead to being fired upon, as that was the typical behaviour of German U-boots. Deciding to save his Submarines for an actual war, the testing of evasive tactics would have to wait.

It seems that many of the Divisions recently pulled from the Russian front have been sent to Baltic ports... This means that the Greeks should face less Germans than we had previously assumed. The British seem to be raiding German convoys with Submarines, that's a surprise...

Rather interesting is the sheer number of planes in Eastern Prussia, we counted at least 3 types and a total of 1.300 planes, with realistically only Sweden and the Soviet Union within range...

I. Flot Podlodok is still on it's way, now sailing along the Japanese held stretch of the Chinese coast. The navy and the Secret Committee are anxiously awaiting the results of that mission. I will be back in Vologda this afternoon to write the next 10-day Report,

Greetings,

'Odin'
​