• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
Bravo! Very labyrinthine, and well done making the specifics so hard to figure out. ;)
What intricate webs you weave ;) It appears the General - and our esteemed writer - have, once again, outsmarted us all!
Thank you for your support.

So now we need a war and for 11 to actually be welcomed back in SU - not with the customary Makarov 9mm behind the ear for anyone someone thinks may have been compromised! :eek: Let's hope the Secret Committee can help out there!
I'm sure we can figure something out, as for the war, the same issues remain with declaring war on the Axis outright. The timing needs to be right.

11 now has a rather convenient exit plan, too, which probably warrants keeping an eye on her. Not that I'd believe her to be a traitor, but because she has already shown she will use whatever measures she deems necessary.
We can definitely attempt to keep an eye on her, at least while she's in the Soviet Union. More importantly, I think we should give her something productive to do as to divert her attention somewhat from her vengeful schemes.

General Markkur... He seems to be a loose cannon, running his kingdom (that of espionage) as he will with little regard for those above him. Takes a little pressure off us for the time being unless we start directly targeting allied operations and nations, but he will be an extremely dangerous opponent. While Germany remains our focus, keeping an eye on the OSS might still not be a bad idea.
He is quite dangerous, and we should definitely be glad he's not our enemy, for now.
 
10th of March 1942, 'Odin', 10-day report #189
The 10th of March 1942, Vologda, -1,4°C, 10 am Moscow Time,

Report on the state of the Soviet Union for the ten-day period between the 1st and the 10th of March 1942,

by 'Odin'​

Army:
11. Tankovaya DIviziya (Arm, Motx2, TD, Eng) has been deployed to Lt. General Bogdanov S.I. 's III TK, 2ya Tankovaya Armiya, Armoured AG, STAVKA.
Army numbers (Brigades/Personnel) Reserves included (these numbers don't include regiments being upgraded):
Front line troops: 683/ 2.049.000
Support troops: 325 / 325.000
Total fighting troops: 1.008 / 2.374.000
Headquarters: 64 / 64.000
Total Army Personnel: 1.072 / 2.438.000
Officers: 100.529 + / 106.410 needed / 94,473 %
Active Leaders: 278 / 218 more available
Production of T-34 M1941's continues, another Tank Division (Arm, Motx2, TD, Eng) has started training.
Army Leadership
New leader, Maj. General Konovov, SK2, BM was given command of 11. TD, III TK, 2ya Tankovaya Armiya, Armoured AG, STAVKA.
Air Force:
No changes to the VVS, nor to the Navy Air Fleet.​

Navy:
No changes to the Navy for the last 10 days.​

Politics / International:
In a speech on the radio, Joseph Stalin, comrade General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, has expressed the nations wish to guarantee Sweden's independence. At any cost. Any attack against Sweden will be treated as an attack on the Soviet Union itself. A formal written declaration to the same effect was also delivered to the Swedish Prime Minister Per Albin Hansson by Ambassador Alexandra Mikhaïlovna Kollontaï.
Battle Of Britain
Air Operations seem to have calmed down once more. An Air attack is reported over the Alps, though it's not clear who or what is involved. Our analysts assume a British unit in transit is probably being intercepted by the Regia Aeronautica.
Interestingly, Royal Navy surface units have managed to sink 4 Axis convoys who were, for some reason, sailing to the West of the British Isles.
North Africa Front:
United Kingdom (Surrender Progress / NU): 1,9 / 87,6
Italy (Surrender Progress / NU): 5,90 / 79,4

No apparent movement here, yet. A massive battle is underway, with German Heavy Tanks, along with Italian Light Tanks and Motorised Infantry trying to dislodge the British line made up of two Divisions of well dug-in Infantry. The Regia aeronautica seems to have started a bombing mission on Ra's at Tin as well. If the Axis units are decently supplied, it's only a matter of time before the King Tigers break through the British line, especially considering that the British don't have any Artillery or Anti-Tank support, beyond the PIAT's of the regular Infantry units.
BNAF42-03-10-min.jpeg

The Regia Marina, probably bolstered by the successful naval battle in which it sunk HMS Hood, managed to pull off another surprise landing. An Italian binary Infantry Division was landed in the mountains of Soûr, just south of Beirut. The success was short-lived, as a French light Division, composed of two Regiments of Alpine Infantry dealt with the Italian lnvaders as soon as they had landed. The Italians have already been taken prisoner by the French Mountaineers, who are currently re-asserting control of the area and clearing booby-traps and mines.
Despite this, the Italian invasion has had further repercussions, as the British Army, clearly unaware of the fact that the French Army could easily handle the situation, pulled an Infantry Division off the line in Ra's at Tin. This overreaction may well prove disastrous as that same line came under serious attack shortly after this Division was pulled. A breaktrough is not only possible, but probable.
LastMomentsHood-min.jpg

The last moments of HMS Hood, we can see the impact of a volley of shells fired from RM Littorio during the disastrous battle of the Coast of Lebanon.
The final tally of the naval battle off the Coast of Lebanon is in. In addition to 8th DF, and 13th DF, the Royal Navy lost it's Pride of the Fleet, HMS Hood, which was sunk by BB RM Littorio. Heavy Cruisers HMS Suffolk, and HMS Sussex were sunk by BB RM Caio Dulio, and 22 Flotiglia Torpediniere respectively, and 9th DF, also sunk by RM Caio Dulio. On top of 9. Flotiglia Torpediniere, the Regia Marina, only lost CL RM Libia to the 9th Destroyer Flotilla.
The British Cruiser fleet was clearly outgunned, facing a powerful fleet containing all three of Italy's remaining Battleships, including the modern BB RM Littorio. After these losses, the British fleet is more overextended than before.
Only a single Italian convoy was sunk by the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean.
South East Asia Front
United States of America (Surrender Progress / NU): 8,5 / 85,8
United Kingdom (Surrender Progress / NU): 1,9 / 77,6
Philippines (Surrender Progress / NU): 74,2 / 74,9 Loss of Tacloban.
Japan (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,00 / 70,3
PHFS42-03-10-min.jpeg
There has been no further offensive movement in the Philippines. The IJA and IJN seem to have concentrated most of their forces around Manila, but there has been no attack into, or out of the capital as of yet. It should be noted that Manila should be a tough nut to crack for the Japanese, with two elite US Airborne Divisions, and a strong Philippino Garrison, all very much dug in, a lot of slow and brutal street fighting is to be expected when the Japs finally go in.
The Convoy war rages on, with 5 allied convoys lost to the IJN, and 9 IJN convoys sent to the bottom by various allied fleets. British attacks on IJN raiders seem to be paying off. However, there is a price to be paid. British BB HMS Royal Sovereign managed to sink the Japanese Heavy Cruiser Takao, but the Royal Navy did lose two Heavy Cruisers of it's own in another engagement: HMS Cumberland to BC Haruna, and HMS Exeter, to BB Nagato. The British 7th Submarine Flotilla was caught in the crossfire, and sunk by the Destroyers of 21 Kuchikukantai.
The Royal Navy really needs more ships, it's outgunned both in the Med and in the Pacific. A lot of firepower is on it's way, but will there be a Royal Navy left by the time they arrive?
Pacific Front
All quiet here, there seems to be no US involvement in the war save for a few submarines sinking 3 Japanese convoys, and massive amounts of lend-lease to the UK.
Industry:
Working Industrial Capacity / available capacity: 240 / 324
IC Usage: ( Allocated IC / Need )
Upgrades: 13,30 / 26,53
Reinforcement: 2,00 / 4,81
Supplies: 30,00 / 47,50
Production: 249,55 / 270,92 (A single Mountain Rifle Divisions and 10. TTGvD remain unfunded)
Consumer Goods: 29,16 / 29,16
Stockpiles:
Energy: Maximum tonnes +
Metal: Maximum tonnes +
Rares: 46.336 tonnes +
Crude: Maximum barrels +
Supplies: 37.702 tonnes -
Fuel: Maximum barrels +
Money: 1.679 -
Intelligence:
Spy numbers, spies in (active / added / lost / caught by us)
France (Supporting our Party / Counterespionage): 5 / 0 / 0 / 0
{ Germany (/): 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 }
{ Japan (/): 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 }
{ UK (/) : 0 / 0 / 1 / 0 }​
Other: 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
Total: 5 / 0 / 1 / 0
Reserves: 1
Spy training leadership expenditure: 0,64 (a new spy every 10 days)
After getting caught, 11 has returned to Vologda, where she is recovering from her injuries.
Research:
Morale of our mobile Rifle units will surely improve with the rapid deployment of a new and improved Tactical Command Structure (Level 4).
Red Army theorists, in collaboration with the VVS's experts, have released a new manual detailing significantly more effective Airborne Assault Tactics (Level 2) for the VDV.
Air Force Theorists have improved protocols for communication between
Fighter pilots, and Radar stations on the ground. This Ground Control (Level 4) is believed to offer a significant advantage in locating and selecting appropriate targets when a Radar Station is within range
Research efforts are redirected towards the Army's equipment:
New Small Arms (Level 5), and Light Artillery (Level 5) designs for our riflemen will be developed alongside one-an-other.
Better Anti-Tank Ammunition allowing a greater Muzzle Velocity (Level 5) is also on the drawing board.
No changes in LS distribution
Statistics:
National Unity: 83,241 =
Neutrality: 0,00 =
Dissent: 0,00 =
Manpower:
Available: 2.208.000
Men To reinforce(need): 8.950
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 Popularity:
- Communist Party: 63 (-3)
- Trotskyite: 10 (+6)
- Bukharinite: 4 (-3)

- Social-Revolutionary: 0 (-3)
- Trudoviks: 5 (+2)
- Kadets: 5 =
- Octobrists: 3 (+3)

- Tsarists: 6 (+2)
- NTS: 6 =2 (-4)
- POA: 2 (+1)
Overall public opinion has moved awas from the Facist side of the spectrum. The main beneficiaries are the capitalist parties, especially the Ocrobrists, who have made a return in the polls, after having been deeply unpopular for quite some time. The Socialist factions have seen a redistribution with a serious increase in popularity for the Trotskiyites, counterbalanced by an equal loss by the Communist Party and the Bukharinites. Support for the government remains high, and with 77% support for the Socialist factions, and the opposition bitterly divided, there is still no fear of a so-called 'fractured government'.
No changes in Party Organisation for the last 10 days.
This Information is accurate on the morning of the 10th of March 1942, I hope it serves you well in fine-tuning your possible suggestions.

'Odin'​
 
Good move on the guarantee of Sweden. Another armored division will help too, if the AI can take advantage of it.
 
The HMS Hood is lost? The Italians are landing in French territory? Oh my...the Allies are losing what little grasp they have of Africa and the Middle East. What is our relationship with Turkey again? Hmmm....
 
The HMS Hood is lost? The Italians are landing in French territory? Oh my...the Allies are losing what little grasp they have of Africa and the Middle East. What is our relationship with Turkey again? Hmmm....

It sounded like the Italians are more pricking at the edges before being smacked back. They only landed a two brigade force in Syria, but then the French forces kicked them out.
 
It sounded like the Italians are more pricking at the edges before being smacked back. They only landed a two brigade force in Syria, but then the French forces kicked them out.


True. But the fact they were able to do so in the first place is troubling.
 
Good move on the guarantee of Sweden. Another armored division will help too, if the AI can take advantage of it.
I'm giving the Germans another opportunity to take the first shot, and if that shot is directed at Sweden, that would probably push Sweden to Join the Comintern... so win-win... As you recently caught up, you might remember my OOB, and my plan for a separate AI for Armoured AG, or even for 2ya Tankovaya Armiya, which would get different orders, while overlapping with 2nd AG or 3rd AG, I'm itching to see if that works on such a massive scale.

What is our relationship with Turkey again?
It's complicated. We tried to woo them, and once we started to get close, they decided they were getting too far from the Axis, then when they get close to the Axis, they try to get close to us again... Also, their neutrality vs. threat isn't quite there yet for them to join a faction, regardless of them continually aligning with different factions in order to stay slightly down and to the right of the middle of the diplo triangle...
Now that I'm looking at the Diplomacy screen, we might try to go for Romania, but I'm not sure what we'd really get out of it. Their encryption is rubbish, so we know exactly how big their military is, and to be honest, it's really not impressive... Navy and Air force are ridiculously small, and their Army can't cover the entire border it has with other Axis nations. (Basically, they have the USSR to the North, the Black Sea to the East, and the Axis (Bulgaria and Hungary) to the South and to the West). It just doesn't seem worth it. Of course keeping their oil fields out of the hands of the Axis is a plus. It should be noted that the Axis nabbed some of their territory, while we did not (didn't trigger Bessarabia event, making it a hell of a lot harder for Germany to get them into the Axis, especially since they gave pieces of Romanian territory to Hungary and Bulgaria under threat of war...

It sounded like the Italians are more pricking at the edges before being smacked back. They only landed a two brigade force in Syria, but then the French forces kicked them out.
True. But the fact they were able to do so in the first place is troubling.
Yes, they landed 2 Brigades in Syria, and they lost the unit, but, looking at the bigger picture, this 2 brigade unit made the British panic and pull a fully dug in Infantry Division from the front in Libya to deal with the Division, as the French were already dealing with it. It should be noted that these French forces are about the only ones that get adequate supplies outside of Indochina. They have submarines in Zhangjiang that are out of supply, but somehow, Beirut is swimming in the stuff... The efficiency of French logistics... Also, they have a decent-sized fleet including multiple Battleships, and a Carrier, sitting in Dakar, without supplies... The Royal Navy could use the help to fight the IJN, right off the coast of Indochina, but no, better to leave them in East-Africa without being able to properly supply them while the ports in Indochina are well-supplied but only have a few submarines...
The Italians seem to be taking advantage of the Royal Navy's temporary weakness in the med, they destroyed a relatively serious fleet with minimal losses on their side, this was a big gamble, but it paid off for them, clearing that fleet has given them some serious naval breathing space in the Med. They can get supplies to their troops in Lybia with minimal losses, hence the offensive, they can take Cyprus, and try out small invasions, but it's not going to last. Two brand new super-modern Battleships have just been deployed in the UK, they're getting organised now, but I've got a feeling they might end up in the Med, and the UK is capable of beating everyone in the air. The RN has a lot of ships, but they don't have the numbers to keep the IJN from sinking all of their convoys in South-East Asia, keep the med on lockdown, and protect convoys in the home waters from the occasional German sortie, not that the KM has much left... They keep shifting fleets to contest one area where they get attacked, and then, they get attacked elsewhere because they pulled the fleets they had there to deal with serious threats... Meanwhile, much of the USN, over 40 units, is in LA, presumably chilling on a beach somewhere, while the RN deals with the full brunt of the IJN, the entire Italian navy bunched together in a single serious fleet, and KM harassment, mostly through U-boats. The only allied navies pulling their weight are the British and the Australians (they don't have much of a navy, but have participated in a couple of battles, and lost Destroyers. The Dutch have another issue... IJN marines have taken the Batavia quite some time ago, the only port that is linked with the Dutch capital in Palembang. This is disastrous for them, as it means that all of their units across the Dutch East-Indies, outside of the one in their capital, are irremediably out of supply... I keep wishing for the Japs to just take the Dutch capital so that their supply center gets relocated to somewhere with a sea connection. If a player had done this, I would have called them out for blatantly exploiting the logistics system to cripple their opponent in an unrealistic way, especially since it's the only province the Japs have taken from the dutch...
1943 will be a killer year for the Royal Navy, compared to now, they'll have 6 new CVs and 2 more BBs, a whole lot of escorts, even more planes, and probably quite a few mechanised Divisions. All the UK needs to do, is hold out long enough so that all those new units still have nice big bases to deploy to... That should be feasible, even with the forces now on the ground.
 
Some difficult days in the Med for the UK, as mentioned in the report and your additional comments above. The German HArm in Libya is a nasty thing for them to have to deal with and could prove hard to stop - if it stays in supply.

They really need the US to do more against Japan physically, beyond the LL - which would also be good news for the SU itself, draining a bit of the venom from the Japanese snake in the Far East.
 
RN taking a lot of punches in this 10-day period. If the Japanese can crack the nut that is Manila, the loss of 2 para divisions would be a major blow to the US. At this rate, the Italians may be able to remove most of the RN presence in the Med, at least temporarily, and get supply flowing again, at which point those HArms will just roll over the whole British contingent in Egypt. Japanese are slowly bleeding convoys, which will probably eventually be their doom.

On our front, I'm rather excited by the new small arms and light artillery we have in development. Both will be a tremendous boost to the combat capability of the Red Army. I hope the Germans would stop beating around the bush already, although maybe all this waiting affords the Italians a chance to take more ground that we can then liberate.
 
The German HArm in Libya is a nasty thing for them to have to deal with and could prove hard to stop - if it stays in supply.
It's still the same Division, that almost reached the Suez Canal, last time the Axis in North Africa was in good supply. Together with the Italian Motorised unit, and the L Arm, the Axis has a good combined arms Juggernaut there, the British have nothing to face it in the area, no mobile forces, no tanks, not even AT Regiments, only pure Infantry, and Marines with Engineers. To their credit, the Brits did initially have a good Armoured Division, but it got surrounded and captured when the British over-extended towards Bengasi etc. The British line won't last long, and after the breakthrough, we'll see a rerun of the previous big scare about the Suez Canal.

They really need the US to do more against Japan physically, beyond the LL - which would also be good news for the SU itself, draining a bit of the venom from the Japanese snake in the Far East.
At this point, it's getting ridiculous. The US isn't even trying to retake its own islands, Wake Island, Midway Island, Guam, and Attu, have all been in Japanese hands for months... The only response came from USN submarines, inconveniencing the Japanese Garrison on Midway Island by sporadically raiding the supply convoys going that way.

If the Japanese can crack the nut that is Manila, the loss of 2 para divisions would be a major blow to the US.
Apart from those Paratroopers, the US has done nothing for the Philippines, they didn't send in bombers to harass the INJ or IJA, and they definitely didn't send a USN squadron to clear out

Japanese are slowly bleeding convoys, which will probably eventually be their doom.
In the long run, the Allies should win, in Asia at least. Not that I have accurate numbers, but it seems clear that the Allies outproduce the Japanese by a huge margin. Even taking the British on their own, that huge lend-leas boost is starting to pay off. US and UK both have a massive reserve of convoys and escorts. I'm inclined to believe that Japan can't possibly keep up with their rhythm, all the while replacing naval losses, not to mention their probably somewhat squeezed resource situation.

On our front, I'm rather excited by the new small arms and light artillery we have in development. Both will be a tremendous boost to the combat capability of the Red Army. I hope the Germans would stop beating around the bush already, although maybe all this waiting affords the Italians a chance to take more ground that we can then liberate.
Yes, only the best is good enough for our riflemen. Our industrial analysts already have headaches and nightmares about the inevitable spike in idustrial capacity to be allocated to upgrade our numerous rifle Division of all kinds. (I don't have the number in front of me, but more than half our Regiments will get these updates...).
Liberating ground from the Italians sounds good, though I'm guessing that won't be our main focus once we're at war with the Axis... In any case:
Adolf. It's almost spring, the sun is shining, it's perfect invasion weather along most of the front. What are you doing with all those units that keep switching places along my Western Border? Just invade already, I swear we're definitely not ready for you, it'll be easy, you'll be in Moscow before winter!

I don't know when I'll find the time to play on and write the next report. I definitely won't have time next weekend. I've got lots of things going on right now, and I'm glad I managed to wrap up the latest big 11 storyline before the upcoming very busy weeks... Thank you all once more for your encouraging and insightful comments.
 
Wow! Four updates in such short time that I can't reply in time.

And again so great stories about 11! Thank you very much for that.

And now I've got a little wish: If the LSAH will ever return in the story please ignore the name Paradox gave to it. It's not the "Liebstandarte" but "Leibstandarte". The "Leibstandarte" was originally foundet as a small troup of bodyguards for A. H. but was later released from this duty to get larger and larger and finally becoming a full Waffen-SS-division. "Leib" is an older word for "body" in German.
A "Liebstandarte" must have been very kind and lovely to everybody around, because "Liebe" means "love" in German. Not so common for any SS-unit...
 
Wow! Four updates in such short time that I can't reply in time.
Yes, I had some time off from University after my exams and spent much of it on 11s Narrative... That explains that. As mentioned above, there will be a bit of a lull in updates now, so there is time for the casual readAAR to catch up...

And again so great stories about 11! Thank you very much for that.
It was my pleasure to write them.

And now I've got a little wish: If the LSAH will ever return in the story please ignore the name Paradox gave to it. It's not the "Liebstandarte" but "Leibstandarte". The "Leibstandarte" was originally foundet as a small troup of bodyguards for A. H. but was later released from this duty to get larger and larger and finally becoming a full Waffen-SS-division. "Leib" is an older word for "body" in German.
A "Liebstandarte" must have been very kind and lovely to everybody around, because "Liebe" means "love" in German. Not so common for any SS-unit...
I never took German in school. I can read it, and understand it (if you speak slowly) I'll try to remember once the GPW comes around. I'd be surprised if Gudowius' Division doesn't end up on the Eastern Front at some point. Interesting digression on the meaning of Leibstandarte. I should have known as 'body' is 'Lijf' in dutch, which is much closer to Leib, than to Lieb...
 
Last edited:
20th of March 1942, 'Odin', 10-day report #190
The 20th of March 1942, Vologda, -1,4°C, 10 am Moscow Time,

Report on the state of the Soviet Union for the ten-day period between the 11th and the 20th of March 1942,

by 'Odin'​

Army:
4 new Eng Regiments have been deployed to 65 SD, 157 SD, 12 SD, & 94 SD, all part of Col. General Manilovskij's 10ya Armiya, Far Eastern Theatre.
Following the delivery of it's complement of 152mm ML-20 guns, the newly trained 104 AP has been deployed to Maj. General Kariofilli's 53 SD, VIII SK, 6ya Armiya, 2nd AG, STAVKA.

Army numbers (Brigades/Personnel) Reserves included (these numbers don't include regiments being upgraded):
Front line troops: 683/ 2.049.000
Support troops: 330 / 330.000
Total fighting troops: 1.013 / 2.379.000
Headquarters: 64 / 64.000
Total Army Personnel: 1.077 / 2.443.000
Officers: 101.029 + / 106.910 needed / 94,499 %
Active Leaders: 278 / 218 more available
Artillery production continues unimpeded, and a new Artillery Regiment has already started training.
Two more Sapper Regiments have started trai
ning, once they get deployed, every Rifle Division in the Far Eastern Theatre will sport some Eng.
No changes to Army Leadership​
Air Force:
No changes to the VVS, nor to the Navy Air Fleet.
Navy:
No changes to the Navy for the last 10 days.
Politics / International:
Battle Of Britain
The luftwaffe has tried again, as we have received reports of 2 air battles over Dover, and 2 more over the English Channel.
Another Axis convoy was sunk, probably by the Royal Navy, off the coast of Galicia.
North Africa Front:
United Kingdom (Surrender Progress / NU): 1,9 / 87,6
Italy (Surrender Progress / NU): 5,90 / 79,3
BNAF42-03-20-min.jpg

As feared, Axis forces have broken through the thin British line at Ra's at Tin. The breakthrough seems to have turned into a rout, the British Infantry is believed to be in very bad shape, after giving everything to try and avoid the breakthrough. Italian (and German) progress has been rapid, and the fastest Italian units have taken At Tin (along the coast) and Al Jabal al Akhda as well. They are now a mere 85km from Tobruch, which is held by a fully staffed and entrenched Royal Marines Division.
The Royal Air Force continues to show it's superiority over the Mediterranean, with 4 bombing missions on the advancing Italians, as well as strategic bombing operations over Southern Italy, over Reggio di Calabria, Roma, and Taranto. A couple of Air Battles show that the Regia Aeronautica hasn't entirely given up, but the lack of Italian bombing operations shows that these are mere irritations for the ever more powerful RAF. To hammer home the point about British Aerial dominance, No.15 RN 'Coastal Naval Command' strcuk again, sinking Squadrone Giampaolo, the 13th Italian transport flotilla to be sunk by the British.
No Italian convoys were sunk by the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean.
South East Asia Front
United States of America (Surrender Progress / NU): 8,5 / 85,8
United Kingdom (Surrender Progress / NU): 1,9 / 77,6
Philippines (Surrender Progress / NU): 74,2 / 74,9
Japan (Surrender Progress / NU): 0,00 / 70,3

Nothing is happening in the Philippines as all the Japanese forces have gathered around Manila. No shots have been fired yet, not even a bombing misison from the Japanese bombers based next door in Clark Field. Our analysts suspect that supply issues may be plaguing Japanese operations, that would certainly explain the lack of movement despite the apparent superiority in numbers.
The Convoy war rages on, with 15 allied convoys lost to the IJN, and only 4 IJN convoys sent to the bottom by various allied fleets. Maybe the Japanese are running out of convoys?
Commonwealth attacks on IJN raiders have continued. This time around, aeroplanes from IJN CV Kaga manage to sink all of the Australian 12th Destroyer Flotilla.
Pacific Front
All quiet here, there continues to be no US involvement in the war save for a few submarines sinking Japanese convoys, and massive amounts of lend-lease to the UK.
Industry:
Working Industrial Capacity / available capacity: 240 / 324
IC Usage: ( Allocated IC / Need )
Upgrades: 14,80 / 20,10
Reinforcement: 4,10 / 5,69
Supplies: 30,00 / 48,02
Production: 245,94 / 267,37 (A single Mountain Rifle Divisions and 10. TTGvD remain unfunded)
Consumer Goods: 29,16 / 29,16
Stockpiles:
Energy: Maximum tonnes +
Metal: Maximum tonnes +
Rares: 46.581 tonnes +
Crude: Maximum barrels +
Supplies: 37.125 tonnes -
Fuel: Maximum barrels +
Money: 1.660 -
Intelligence:
Spy numbers, spies in (active / added / lost / caught by us)
France (Supporting our Party / Counterespionage): 5 / 0 / 0 / 0
{ Germany (/): 0 / 0 / 0 / 1 }
{ Japan (/): 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 }
{ UK (/) : 0 / 0 / 1 / 0 }​
Other: 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
Total: 5 / 0 / 0 / 1
Reserves: 2
Spy training leadership expenditure: 0,44 (a new spy every 14-15 days)
Leadership expenditure on espionage has been lowered temporarily to marginally increase the size of our Diplomatic corps.
Research:
No completed research projects, nor any new ones, for the last 10 days.
LS distribution:
Research: 18,67 =
Espionage: 0,44 (-0,2)
Diplomacy: 2,23 (+0,2)
Officers: 10,00 =
Total: 31,33
Statistics:
National Unity: 83,241 =
Neutrality: 0,00 =
Dissent: 0,00 =
Manpower:
Available: 2.216.000
Men To reinforce(need): 7.640
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.
No changes in Party Organisation for the last 10 days.
This Information is accurate on the morning of the 20th of March 1942, I hope it serves you well in fine-tuning your possible suggestions.

'Odin'​
 
From May it will be the start of peak campaigning season - still nothing yet from the Germans on the border ... a real waiting game. That is a lot of engineers in the Far East. Maybe you are getting to the point where, with the Allies engaged, you could risk a delaying defence against them while launching a preemptive attack on the Germans?

Ps: I think you’ve double posted. :)
 
From May it will be the start of peak campaigning season - still nothing yet from the Germans on the border ... a real waiting game. That is a lot of engineers in the Far East. Maybe you are getting to the point where, with the Allies engaged, you could risk a delaying defence against them while launching a preemptive attack on the Germans?

Ps: I think you’ve double posted. :)

IIRC, the German AI in vanilla TFH will not take the Barbarossa decision if it feels the USSR is too strong, which can easily happen (especially on difficulties below Hard) if the latter is controlled by a human player who knows how to properly position his forces - IRL the Soviets out of necessity maintained significant armies in the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Far East which a human player usually will not bother with because they know how the show will go, so to speak, and these "extra" forces in Europe can intimidate the German AI.
 
From May it will be the start of peak campaigning season - still nothing yet from the Germans on the border ... a real waiting game. That is a lot of engineers in the Far East. Maybe you are getting to the point where, with the Allies engaged, you could risk a delaying defence against them while launching a preemptive attack on the Germans?
IIRC, the German AI in vanilla TFH will not take the Barbarossa decision if it feels the USSR is too strong, which can easily happen (especially on difficulties below Hard) if the latter is controlled by a human player who knows how to properly position his forces - IRL the Soviets out of necessity maintained significant armies in the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Far East which a human player usually will not bother with because they know how the show will go, so to speak, and these "extra" forces in Europe can intimidate the German AI.
Nothing yet... I'm wondering whether the ahistorical Finland situation may have messed with the Barbarossa trigger... as Finland is still technically at war with me, and it is part of the Axis. In any case, the NA pact runs out on the 6th of May 1943, so maybe the Germans will decide to go a year early... As for feeling the USSR is strong, I thought only the units on the border would be counted in the strength comparison, as the others cannot be 'seen' by the German AI, which is one of the reasons why many of the Soviet units in Europe aren't actually on the front, there are some serious strategic reserves in depth. I've been adding only support brigades to the units on the border since 1940 or so, and the Tank Army is East of Minsk. My 2 AI AGs in charge of the border units are actually skeptical on their ability to hold the line. At some point, if they don't attack, we'll have to pull the trigger.

Even with the Engineers, I feel like we don't have enough firepower to beat the Japs in the Far East, though we could probably hold them back for a while, before deploying more new Divisions if necessary.

Ps: I think you’ve double posted. :)
Something weird happened where chrome wouldn't let me edit it after I posted it the first time, so I deleted the initial post and posted it a second time with some minor edits.
 
I don't think the theory of Finland screwing up Barbarossa triggers is far-fetched at all. I mean, this is HoI3 we're talking about. Or maybe their espionage is good?

I swear, the entirety of the Axis (with the exception of troops on European and Japanese mainlands) is persistently out of supply. The temporary supply availability in Africa is merely an anomaly.
 
I don't mind waiting for the Germans to attack us. The longer it takes the more Europe will welcome us when we come to liberate them. And the less likely the Allied Capitalists will be able to do anything about it. And the deeper the Fascists dive into Africa the less troops they will have in Europe.

Still, if it comes to a point where attacking them is to our advantage I will bow to Stalin's decision, of course.

Edit - Also, gamewise, it is my understanding that units not on the border can't be detected by AI nations and therefore, from Germany's point of view, you must look weaker than you really are.
 
I don't think the theory of Finland screwing up Barbarossa triggers is far-fetched at all. I mean, this is HoI3 we're talking about. Or maybe their espionage is good?
Edit - Also, gamewise, it is my understanding that units not on the border can't be detected by AI nations and therefore, from Germany's point of view, you must look weaker than you really are.
That's what I read as well, so that takes apparent Soviet strength off the table as a reason for no Barbarossa. As for the Finland situation, it's definitely possible, though I don't know how to find out whether that's really the case.

I swear, the entirety of the Axis (with the exception of troops on European and Japanese mainlands) is persistently out of supply. The temporary supply availability in Africa is merely an anomaly.
That might explain why the Philippines are still alive...

I don't mind waiting for the Germans to attack us. The longer it takes the more Europe will welcome us when we come to liberate them. And the less likely the Allied Capitalists will be able to do anything about it. And the deeper the Fascists dive into Africa the less troops they will have in Europe.

Still, if it comes to a point where attacking them is to our advantage I will bow to Stalin's decision, of course.
Waiting them out seems to be the current most favourable option right now, but as you say, if the situation becomes more to our advantage, we shall not hesitate to pull the trigger.
 
28th of March 1942, 'Odinatsat', 'Devyat', 'Tri', Planes, Trains, and Diplomacy
The 28th of March 1942, Homel Air Base, -3°C, 7 pm Moscow Time

After our return to Vologda, I left 'Odinatsat' mostly to her own devices. I did keep an eye on her from afar though. During the first few days, she had to take things easy, to rest and heal. She thus busied herself by going through all of my reports, all those written over the period she was away. I noticed that she lingered longest on the short descriptions of novel weaponry I often included. After a few days, she started training, going on short runs initially, steadily building up. By the 15th of March, she was running for half an hour twice a day, and soon I noticed she was doing push-ups as well. On the 24th, I overheard her ask to join the elite Garrison in their daily training routine. They were hesitant at first, but she easily convinced them to let her prove herself. 'Odinatsat' made her way through their obstacle course in a perfectly acceptable time, for a highly trained elite soldier. She more than makes up for her relative lack of brute strength trough the nimbleness of a gymnast, or a cat. The efficacy and accuracy of her movements are quite impressive, and I could tell the Garrison thought the same, however much they tried to hide it. (I should be noted at this point that only the top people within the Secret Committee know the specifics of 'Odinatsat's exploits in Poland, it's strictly need to know information.)

I now had a first hand appreciation of just how capable she's become. First the GRU, then Clarke and British Military Intelligence. She's a well-rounded operative, capable of conventional espionage, subterfuge, sabotage, and even special forces warfare. A few days later, it seems that I missed her first outing on the long range firing range, with a couple of the Garrison's marksmen. I only caught her as she returned to the bunker, a Mosin-Nagant sniper rifle slung around her shoulder. Looks like the boys had given her one of their old rifles for her to practice with. She seemed to be having fun, the soldiers had taken to her, and from afar, there looked to be quite a bit of banter going on.

This morning, I woke up from a nightmare at 5:30am, and unable to fall back asleep, I decided to go for a walk. As I got outside, I saw a single member of the Garrison, in full combat gear walking off in the direction of the firing range a good 3 km away. This peaked my interest, as I felt something was off here. For starters, the soldier was carrying an older Mosin-Nagant 91/30 bolt action rifle, and not the standard issue semi-automatic SVT-38, and then there is the fact that I've yet to see a member of the Garrison going out to practice at the range on his own, they're a unit, and they tend to do things in groups.

I ran back inside and grabbed my binoculars to get a better look, as the figure was already about 100m away. Upon closer inspection I noticed that the figure had long blonde hair tucked mostly under her cap, it had to be our favourite female operative. I decided to do my own spying to see what 'Odinatsat' was up to, or at least I'd go for a walk in the same direction and bump into her. I was wide awake now. It's been a long time since I've actually tailed someone, but this one should be easy, I knew where she was going, and I know these grounds like the back of my hand, so I could easily keep a lot of distance between us. I played it safe, knowing just how good of a spy she was, I wanted to delay getting found out as long as possible. A good 40 minutes later, I made it to the firing range, just as the sun was coming up. I had to duck behind a tree as 'Osinatsat', I could now confirm that it was definitely her, was walking back from the targets towards the firing point.

I kept my distance and, once she had reached the firing point, I found a good vantage point some 50m away from her. Concealed by the undergrowth, I had a clear line of sight to the targets, and I could see her more easily than she could see me. She was making adjustments to the PU scope, probably to compensate for the wind and the distance from the target. As she lined up the rifle to take her first shots, I looked at the targets. Through my binoculars, I noticed cut out faces had been placed in front of the targets. The 300m target had a face of Himmler, and the 500m one had the Fuhrer's face stuck to it. Despite having fired a Mosin Nagant myself, when I was a younger man, I was startled by just how loud that first shot was compared to the sound of the first birds, and I almost dropped my binoculars. I lifted them back up to look at the targets and noted that Himmler's picture now had a big hole where the left side of his face had been. This clearly wasn't enough, and for the next ten minutes, she continued putting rounds into the quickly deteriorating picture at a rate of at least 2 per minute. She missed the target only once. After missing, it took her a full minute to reload her rifle, she was shaking. I've never seen her that emotional before, and it frightened me.

After about half a minute she regained her composure, adjusted her scope, and started shooting again, now at Adolf's face, but the rage remained in her eyes. His moustache was the first thing to go. The shooting continued for another ten minutes, until not a shred of any of the pictures remained. She then got up and started quickly walking down the range towards the targets. I took the opportunity to get out of my hiding hole and made my way towards the firing point in such a way that it appeared that I had just arrived there.

As she returned from her inspection of the targets, she was somewhat surprised to see me. She had been crying, and looked at me as if I had intruded on an intimate moment. I have never seen her this way. All she could muster was:

I didn't think anyone would come by here this early...”

I woke up early and couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk. I didn't expect anyone to be lining up shots this early...and I really didn't expect it to be you. I hope the shooting is going well.”
She smiled a little, and, while gathering her gear, she said:

Still got it... I'm just about done here.”

I know we haven't talked very much since you've returned, beyond the debriefing of course. Care to join me for breakfast?”

sure” (with a friendly smile)
Over breakfast, we came to the topic of her 'new' rifle. I asked her why she was using an old MN 91/30 bolt-action rifle when we still had a considerable number of brand new gas-operated SVT-38 semi-automatics in stock. Her comparison was quite interesting. Being a revolutionary semi-automatic design, the SVT-38 has some issues. The stocks are usually too weak for the powerful rifles, and some members of the Garrison have had to reinforce their SVT-38s by threading a bolt through the stock to keep the thing together. This fix works, but it does reduce the rifle's long range accuracy. The biggest advantage of the semi-automatic is, off course, the high rate of fire that can be achieved thanks to the semi-automatic action, and the use of stripper clips and magazines. She didn't care much about rate of fire, only about long range accuracy, and thus the Mosin-Nagant sniper variant was the best choice for her particular needs.

'Dva', who had just finished his breakfast, overheard 'Odinatsat' talking about the SVT-38s flaws, and interjected with his own information: A new and improved version was in development in Tokarev's design bureau to address the issues with the stocks, and reduce the rifle's weight, while attempting to marginally improve accuracy without altering the design so much that our weapons factories would need excessive retooling to switch to the new design. He then quickly left, something about testing a new company mortar design that would soon be introduced into service. 'Odinatsat' wanted to join him, to get hands on with the mortar, but 'Dva' offered to bring her back one of the prototypes instead, as it would be tough to create a cover for her on such short notice, not in the least because only very few women tend to attend these field tests.

I offered to take her with me on a trip to join 'Devyat' in
Homel for some slightly less exciting talk about Air Base expansion and railroad expansion. Reluctant at first, she agreed that she could do with a little outing, and thus, after breakfast, 'Odinatsat' swiftly transformed her appearance into that of a very convincing modestly dressed personal assistant. We both made our way to Vologda Air Base, where we hitched a ride on a TB-3 that was refuelling on it's way to Homel. We jumped on board. The pilots were hardly surprised, this wasn't the first time they carried unlisted passengers. In any case, they all know better than to ask questions, especially about unlisted passengers...

TupolevТБ-3-min.jpg

The TB-3 is a 12 ton monster, there was no soundproofing of any kind, and a few pieces of the steel skin didn't fit too well, and were rattling for the entire flight. The noise was only just drowned out by the mighty roar and whine from the four twin-supercharged V12 Klimov engines mounted under the wings.
There was no real way to talk in flight, we made sure to keep the earmuffs of our borrowed vvs caps firmly secured over our ears. Despite the rattling, the plane felt solid, it absorbed turbulence well. After more than two and a half hours, we landed in Homel. As much as it was an interesting experience to fly in something quite so massive, we were both glad to get out of the plane as quickly as possible upon landing.

'Devyat' had arranged for the three of us to have lunch, he had never had much of an opportunity to talk with 'Odinatsat'. With a background in civil and military engineering, 'Devyat' had never actually been in combat, and he was eager to hear 'Odinatsat's stories of her time in Poland, to get some more details. 'Odinatsat' elected to talk about her time in Northern Africa instead. The stories where good enough that 'Devyat' wasn't particularly disappointed. I had the distinct feeling that she remembered her time in North Africa quite fondly, much more fondly than her time in Poland, which seems to have had a deeper impact than I had suspected from reading her last reports. She avoided the topic of Poland altogether for the rest of the trip.

The infrastructure meeting was dull, but with a view of the bustling Air Base, there was always something to see out of the window of the meeting room on the top floor of the VVS administrative building. The end result of the meeting was of course the one 'Devyat' and myself wanted, with the latter being very convincing on many technical topics, especially in the face of the various apparatchiks.

4 Air Bases had seen significant expansion:

Orel Air Base has had one of it's two airstrips hardened into a smooth runway, along with the addition of a concrete control tower. (Level 3). The same will now be done in Batumi Air Base on the Turkish border.

Minsk is up to 2 runways and a dirt strip, as well as an officer's mess and expanded fuel storage facilities (Level 5). Work will continue as the dirt strip will be turned into a third runway. Additional hangars and taxiways are also to be added in order to adequately house over 600 aeroplanes of varying sizes. (Level 6)

Kaunas Air Base officially declared it's third runway operational, this was, of course part of a larger improvement scheme including added hangars and concrete taxiways.(Level 6). It's believed that we could use still more capacity in Kaunas, another gravel airstrip will be added as well as an underground fuel supply and barracks for the pilots. Soon, the base will be able to handle over 700 Aeroplanes. (Level 7)

Novomoskovosk Air Base recently opened up it's fifth runway and a slew of other facilities, including ammunition bunkers and additional barracks for the ground crews. It's now able to comfortably handle over 1.000 Aeroplanes. (Level 10). Homel Air Base is next, with similar improvements to be made to bring it up to the same capacity as the largest Air Bases in the Soviet Union.
The Air Bases were only part of the picture. There was a short break, as most of the VVS people attending the meeting left, before we returned to attend to the matter of infrastructure. As I left the meeting room, I was approached by a VVS Lieutenant, who looked both surprised, and quite nervous. He simply said:

Sir, telephone for you. In the Colonel's office.”
I wasn't really that surprised by this, unlike the Lieutenant. Once the VVS Colonel graciously offered me his office, I picked up the telephone. It was 'Tri, of course.

I thought it'd be a fun surprise to call the Colonel's dedicated line, I hope you approve. Anyway, I just returned from another short Swedish trip. There's good news and bad news. Before I left Stockholm, I was pleased that our top diplomats had managed to convince the Swedish foreign ministry that aligning towards the Allies wasn't in Sweden's interest. I was going to call you as soon as I got back to Moscow, to report the good news, but before I could do so, I found out that the Swedish government had started aligning towards the Axis... Now, before you say anything, we actually stand a chance if it's between us and the Axis. We could theoretically make the Comintern more appealing to the Swedes than the Axis with trade deals, something that was near impossible with the Allies. To pull that off, we will need more diplomats though, a lot more. Of course, priorities need to be weighed against each other, but there is now a strong case for a drastic increase in spending on new diplomats.

We have a real shot at bringing
Sweden into the Comintern, here and now, of their own free will, without firing a shot. I'm sure you realise how desirable that outcome would be. It would give us unlimited license production of their Destroyer designs, and it would cut off German troops in Norway from their fatherland, not to mention that it would legitimise us in the eyes of the democratic nations of the world. Just think about it. Oh. And tell your 'secretary', and 'Devyat' that I said high.”
And as usual he hung up the telephone. I noticed that 'Odinatsat' had sneaked off during my telephone call. I was somewhat worried, and didn't really pay attention during most of the second part of the meeting. I had to be there not to draw too much attention to myself. Here are the notes from 'Devyat' about the expansion of our railway network:

Completed infrastructure projects:

-Transsiberian railroad, Kuybyshev-Ufa-Omsk:
Infrastructure will be upgraded to 'Level 7' in
Sokolovka, Nazyvayevsk, Moskalenki and Omsk.

-Lake Ladoga East Coast,
Tihvin-Sortavala-Viipuri-Leningrad Railroad

Infrastructure will be upgraded to 'Level 6' in
Salmi and in Impilahti.

-Moskva peripheral railway network:
Infrastructure will be upgraded to 'Level 9' in
Naro Fominsk 'Level 6' in Novozavidovskiy and Suzdal, and to 'Level 5' in Myatlevo and Volga.

-
Aksenovo Zilovskoye Air Base side-branch of the Trans-Siberian Railroad:
Infrastructure will be improved to 'Level 5' in
Aksenovo Zilovskoye.

-Desna East Bank
Moskva-Brjansk-Kyiv Railroad:
Infrastructure will be upgraded to 'Level 8' in
Suvorov, Belev, Duderovskiy, Brjansk, Navlja, Serednya Buda, Yampil,and Shostka.
Scheduled new infrastructure projects:

-Transsiberian railroad, Omsk-Novosibirsk-Irkutsk:
Infrastructure will be upgraded to 'Level 7' in
Tartarsk, Blinkovo, Gzhatsk, Novosibirsk, Leninsk Kuzneckij and Kemerovo.

-Leningrad-Oulu Railroad

Infrastructure will be upgraded to 'Level 5' in
Kuusjärvi and to 'Level 4 in Vuolijoki.

-
Moskva peripheral railway network:
Infrastructure will be upgraded to 'Level 9' in
Istra, Podolsk, Klin and Ozyory, and to 'Level 6' in Myatlevo, Ivanovo and Dulyapino.

-
Aksenovo Zilovskoye Air Base side-branch of the Trans-Siberian Railroad:
Infrastructure will be improved to 'Level 5' in
Aksenovo Zilovskoye.

-
Moskva-Orel-Kursk Railroad:
Infrastructure will be upgraded to 'Level 7' in
Mtensk and Novosil.
The Moskva-Kyiv link is now up to a high standard, and throughput to the Ukrain will surely benefit from this, some spending was retained to improve the Orel-Kursk branch, the rest was shifted towards the Moskva area, and the transsiberian railroad improvement projects.
As soon as the meeting was over, I hurried downstairs, discreetly asking around for my blonde-haired secretary in a modest dark red dress. After twenty minutes I found her in one of the hangars, in conversation with a a senior VVS mechanic who was working on a shiny Yak-7. She had actually been helping out, her sleeves were rolled up, and there was a big oil stain on her dress.

Yakovlev_Yak-7Diagram-min.jpg

A cutaway diagram of the Yak-7, our best fighter design from Yakovlev. 'Odinatsat' seemed fascinated by it's mechanical intricacies.
As she turned around to face me, I said:

Oh, here you are.” - and then, to the senior mechanic - “I don't mean to be rude, but I'd like to get my secretary back to doing her job instead of fixing aeroplanes.”
She gave me a bit of an annoyed look, but then verbally apologised profusely. She was just messing with me at this point, almost overacting, repeating several times, apparently close to crying at the prospect of losing her job, how lucky she was to work for a man of my stature, and that she certainly didn't mean to offend. It was just that she'd never seen such a modern aeroplane up close, and really, coming from a small village in the Ural mountains, she found aeroplanes to be mighty impressive. She was really going for the innocent peasant girl act, and I could tell she was having fun, not even trying to be remotely believable.

The surprisingly perceptive senior mechanic read the room and interjected with a big grin that she was very mechanically capable for a secretary, and even more so for simple peasant girl from the Urals, and could he keep her around to do the dirty jobs he didn't like doing so much. In the end, I couldn't keep up my straight face, and we all laughed at the strange situation we found ourselves in. 'Odinatsat' and the mechanic seem to have really hit it off. Before we left, she gave him her fake address in Moscow, an address that, with several extra steps, would lead to his letters reaching her at our main Vologda facility. I was surprised that she wanted to actually start corresponding with this average looking VVS mechanic, that she trusted him enough to give him an address that actually leads somewhere.

For the return trip, we'll be traveling on the night train to Moskva. I haven't decided how we'll get back to Vologda tomorrow. Maybe we should get 'Odinatsat' her own car that she can actually drive, and tinker with. The Maréchal's Traction Avant that we have at the base would just stick out like a sore thumb in Soviet traffic. She may be a top-notch operative, but she definitely needs something to do, other than reliving her most painful experiences and fantasizing about killing high ranking Germans.

I have a train to catch now, Greetings,

'Odin'
 
Last edited: