Indeed ! The Kriegsmarine is getting a hard time with the french and british navies...
It's about time to show France and Britain who's the Boss !!!
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It's about time to show France and Britain who's the Boss !!!
Chapter 23 : The Winter War
Reichskanzlei, Berlin - 1939, December the 1st - 1500
The Führer meets Abwehr Chef Admiral Canaris (Head of Intelligence) and Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop.
- "Mein Herren, I hope it's is important : I had to cancell a meeting with the OKH...
Who's afraid of the Big Bad Bear...?
- Schweinerei !!! According to the agreement you've signed, Ribbentrop, Finland is in the soviet Sphere of Influence but there was nothing about a war. I knew it ! I knew we couldn't trust the Bolcheviks !!!
How all that happened ?
The soviets demands
Accepting Soviet demands would have forced the Finns to dismantle their defences in Finnish Karelia. As consequence, even if the Soviet offer divided the Finnish government, it has been eventually rejected. The Finns made two counteroffers whereby Finland would cede the Terijoki area to the Soviet Union, which would double the distance between Leningrad and Finnish border, far less than the Soviets had demanded.
From the Soviet point of view the negotiations were finished but in fact, they never really started. We now know that they had planned this invasion in September already...
- What the situation now, Admiral Canaris ?
The soviet offensive
The Soviets expect an easy campaign but our evaluation is quite different, mein Führer : it's winter and it's pretty cold up there. It will be anything but a walk in the park...
- Besides, mein Führer, on a diplomatic point of view, the world opinion largely supports the Finnish cause, as the Soviet aggression is generally seen as unjustified. Even if it's true that the Soviets reported a border incident near the village of Mainila on November 26 whereas a Soviet border guard post would have been shelled by an unknown party resulting, according to Soviet reports, in the deaths of four and injuries of nine border guards.
Nobody really believes this and everyone suspects a kind of 'Maskirovka' : this so-called 'incident' was merely a pretext for the Soviets to withdraw from the non-aggression pact they had with Finland.
- What should we do ?
- Mein Führer, like in Spain, everything which allows us to hurt the Bolcheviks is good. We should help Finland !
But we have to do this discreetly : after all, we have a non-agression pact and a good commercial agreement with these godless pigs..."
OKL Haupquartier, Berlin - 1939, December the 12th - 0900
Meeting between Reichsmarschall Göring, CinC Luftwaffe, and Oberst Hans Jeschonnek, his Chief of Staff.
- "I'm in a very bad mood, Oberst Jeschonnek. So your report has better to be full of good news !!!
- Herr ReichsMarschall, last night, the LuftVerteidigung (Air Defense) has detected 300 british heavy bombers heading towards Essen...
- Essen ?!! But that's the 4th bombing raid on this city since hostilities began...!
- The Brits know that the Ruhr is vital to our war effort, Herr ReichsMarschall. For sure, they're targeting the Krupp factories...
Anyhow, we managed to intercept the enemy bombers before most of them could reach their target. We're waiting for confirmation but it appears that over 200 bombers have been shot down for the loss of 7 fighters on our side.
- Essen ? What happened to the city ? That's what is important, Oberst !!!
- Minor damages, Herr ReichsMarschall, nothing serious. Everything should be repared before the end of the week...
Messerschmitt Me-110D : soon as night-fighter...
Therefore, I've ordered to set-up 2 NachtJagdGeschwader, equiped with Me-110 : NJG 1 should be operational in March-April ; NJG 2 this summer.
- Good. On my side, I'll talk with the Luftwaffen-WaffenAmt to see what they can do to improve the night capabilities of our aircrafts."
OKM, Berlin - 1939, December the 17th - 1030
Meeting between GroßAdmiral Raeder, CinC Navy (OberBefehlsHaber der Marine) and Generaladmiral Schniewing, his Chief of Staff.
- "Admiral, we just get the casualties report of KonterAdmiral Dönitz : the Lehr-Flottille had 6 boats lost during the engagement on December the 14th in the Baltic Sea.
- F...!!! That makes 18 U-boats lost in 4 months !
- And 2 HSKs, Admiral...
- What ?
HSK 2 'Atlantis' sunk off Borneo
Kapitän Rogge hasn't transmitted since.
- That means either the 'Atlantis' has been so heavily damaged that it can't transmit anymore.
- Or she has been sunk, Admiral... which is the more likely.
- Ask our Marine Attaché in Tokyo if the Japanese could get some informations. In the same time, order the HSK 1 'Orion' to get back to GuangZhou. If the 'Atlantis' has been sunk, the 'Orion' will replace her.
- Zu Befehl, Admiral !
Hauptquartier der U-BootsWaffe, Bremerhaven - 1939, December the 30th - 0830
KonterAdmiral Dönitz meets KorvettenKapitän Sobe, CO of the 7. U-Flottille.
- "Congratulation for your promotion, Admiral, and btw, a merry Christmas.
- My best present is the fact you've made it home safely, mein lieber Sobe.
- Thank you, Admiral. We've been lucky this time...
- What happened ?
7. U-Flottille engaged by the Royal Navy
- A wise decision, KorvettenKapitän ! How many in your bag ?
- All together, 24 freighters and 5 escorts in one month of operations. It could have been more if it wasn't those f... malfunctioning torpedoes !
We really have to do something about it, Admiral.
- We're taking care of that, Sobe. Our scientists are working on a new model of torpedo as well as an electric powered one. All should be available in a few months.
In the meantime, as soon as it is ready, I'll send the 2. U-Flottille to replace your Flottille down there.
- Please, Admiral. Tell the guys of the Marinen-WaffenAmt to hurry up : otherwise, we're gonna get slaughtered over there..."
Year 1939 - Results
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You post at an amazing peace, everytime a piece of masterwork. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for the compliments.
I knew that writting an AAR was going to be tedious but not THAT tedious... I'm fully aware that such a detailled AAR isn't everybody's cup of tea.
Therefore, praise are always welcome.
After some warm-up, things are going to be REALLY interesting and challenging now. Next hurdle : getting through the allies navies to invade Norway... I hope to get as lucky as the Germans IRL.
Yours is a very interesting aar, and I like a lot the way you write it.
Thank you... and keep on !
Thank you... and keep on !
okay, I'll admit it publicly. I tried to follow you the past few days, and I can't. between Fall Weiss and Fall Gelb, too many divisions change location, armeekorps, army for my simple little brain to keep up with. for instance, between the start of the war and the start of the western campaign, only 2 divisions remain in the 1. Armee: 75 ID and 79 ID and even they change armeekorps.
I am most impressed with your logistical skills and wouldn't be surprised it you did something similar RL for a living.
I am most impressed with your logistical skills and wouldn't be surprised it you did something similar RL for a living.
Thanks a lot. All that was just a warm-up : now we're going to play for real !brilliant update!
You're welcome.
As a matter of fact, I hesitate a lot before choosing this form of dialogues. It's my very first AAR, you know...
I intend to !
I'm perfectly aware that things are too predicable (may be too technical either) and therefore not "spectacular" enough (at least until now) for some players. But I also know that I have a lot of lurkers so the Show will go on.
Whaouu... I'm speechless. Such a compliment from THE Author of the great [post=13243122]german Tutorial[/post] ! Thanks a lot !!!
Now the "bad" news... The OoB changes between "Fall Weiss" and "Fall Gelb" are a piece of cake in comparison to the ones between "Fall Gelb" and "Marita" / "Barbarossa". Not only divisions will move to different corps/armies but some of them will split and/or change status (as an example, the 16. ID will form both 16. ID (mot.) AND 16. Panzer-Division). Long live Ibuprofen !!!
Right now, I'm full in the middle of writting the updates including "OberOst", "Weserübung" and "Fall Gelb" OoBs (which will explain some delay before the next post). I hope the situation will be more clear for all players interested in the Wehrmacht organization.
Does this mess look familiar ?
However, things look much more complex as they are in reality : the OKW had some sort of logic and if you know the historical background of units, it's quite easy to follow their tracks.
Same goes for the Command Structure : first, as for everything, master your subject. Without a minimal historical knowledge, it would be really tough !
Second, rename and move the Heeresgruppen accordingly. Then, do the same for the Armeen, the Korps (with proper renaming, designation, place of "birth") and tadaaa... you'll see, you have half of the job done.
Well, at least, it's (quite) simple for the historic freak I am.
But, you're quite right. IRL, I used to be an intelligence specialist within french SFs, tracking/following former Warsaw Pact units to establish organization and structure. NOw, as a free-lance Project manager, I'm using these organizational and analytical skills, to solve issues for the companies hiring me.
BTW, I just saw this AAR got 3rd place in AARland Choice AwAARds 2012. Unexpected for a first AAR attempt...
Great thanks to all of you who voted for it !
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Wow, and I thought my OOB's were thorough. Mine are more like a unicycle compared to your Maserati. I'm just blown away by your attention to detail. I look forward to your next update as I'm eager to see how you proceed with the invasion of France and the low countries. I'm also waiting to see what plan you will go with for the invasion of Denmark and Norway.
I do remember the German AI once landed in all Norwegian ports at once, while I was twiddling my thumbs in Washington D.C.. it was this version of ICE, if I remember correctly. I just thought it was one DD's little OOb tricks, but was really impressed. I remembered it for this reason.
so, in theory, it would be possible, though I'm rather sure the AI didn't split his divs up for it, like the Germans did RL.
@ Nicegil: yeah, I do know the basics of history, though I never got down to the regimental level like you. hmmmm. well, it IS weekend, after all...
Chapter 24 : The Mechelen Incident
ReichsWirtschaftsMinisterium (Ministery of Economics), Berlin - 1940, January the 2nd - 0830
Meeting between Walter Funk, Ministry of economics, and his Secretary of State Rudolf Brinkmann.
- "Moin-moin, mein lieber Brinkmann. And frohes NeuJahr !
- Ebenfalls, Herr Reichsminister. But for an happy new year, we'll have to wait a bit...
- Come on... Things are going well : I've read the last production report and our construction works in Poland are on schedule.
- Herr Reichsminister, may be we're on schedule for what we've planned but there's so much to do down there. Before Poland reach the standarts of Germany, it will take years !
- It's no longer an issue : the Heer is now in the West for its most part and we have a Pact with the USSR. So there's no point to worry.
- I hope you're right, Herr Reichsminister. Anyhow, works on the airbase of Südauen (lvl 2) are done. For the one in Krakow (lvl 4) and Lublin (lvl 4), we should be ready by the end of the year. Btw, the Luftwaffe want some works done to the airbase of Memel-Klapeida (lvl 2).
- I guess we can afford to do that for the ReichsMarschall Goering.
Increasing AA defense and warning
- Herr Reichsminister... Do you seriously consider saying "NO" to ReichsMarschall Goering ?
- I see what you mean, mein lieber Brinkmann... Better friend as foe, gell ?
Tell him it's going to be ok !"
Hauptquartier der HeeresGruppe A, Koblenz - 1940, January the 11th - 1330
Meeting between GeneralOberst von Rundstedt and GeneralLeutnant von Manstein, his Chief of Staff.
- "GeneralLeutnant von Manstein. In my office, now !
- Any concerns, Herr GeneralOberst ?
- Well, sort of... You have been newly appointed as commanding officer of the XXXVIII. Armeekorps, currently forming in Stettin. You'll have to be there on February the 9th. General von Sodentern will replace you as my Chief of Staff. Sorry to lose you, Erich.
- Well... I guess I have to thanks General Halder for this "well deserved promotion", gell Herr GeneralOberst ?
- Being the former protégé of General Beck didn't help in your case. You know that Beck and Halder didn't went along with each other and I'm afraid you have to pay for it.
- Not to mention the fact that I'm far too good in the eyes of General Halder...
- Von Manstein : you're the biggest arrogant a... I ever saw ! But I grant you that point. Halder is a very smart guy as well as a competent workhorse but he hasn't your capabilities. That's also the reason why he rejected your plan for the invasion of France.
OKH first plan for "Fall Gelb"
- Who knows what's going to happen ?
I just get General Kesselring, Commander of the Luftflotte 2, on the phone. Apparently, yesterday morning, one of his base commanders of Loddenheide airfield, Major Erich Hoenmanns, was flying a Me-108 liaison airplane from Loddenheide to Cologne when he lost his way ; extensive low fogbanks obscured his view of the landscape. In response he changed course to the west, hoping to regain his bearings by reaching the River Rhine. However, due to some mechanical causes, Hoenmanns was forced to land near Mechelen-aan-de-Maas, in belgian territory ! The belgian newspapers this morning are showing the pictures of our crashed plane...
The Mechelen Incident
I guess Reinberger tried to burn the secret documents but since both him and Hoenmanns have been captured by belgian border-guards, we do not know for sure if he has done it...
- So, now we can assume that the Allies exactly know where and when we're suppose to attack : splendid !!!
However, it could useful to us, Herr GeneralOberst...
- Explain !
- If the Allies expect us to attack on the 17th, they will go on full alert in the next 2 to 3 days. While doing so, they'll show us what are exactly their plans, Herr GeneralOberst...
- GeneralLeutnant : only you could have found something useful in that mess. But once again you're right. Since the attack will surely be postponned, the movements of the Allies are of a little concern but yes, they'll show us a lot of interesting things..."
OKM, Berlin - 1940, January the 29th - 0900
Meeting between GroßAdmiral Raeder, CinC Navy (OberBefehlsHaber der Marine) and KonterAdmiral Dönitz, Führer der U-Boote.
- "KonterAdmiral Dönitz... Nice to see you. Did your gray wolves reported something valuable ?
- I'm afraid not, Admiral. As foreseen, the french and british navies have a complete sea supremacy in the Atlantic Ocean and my U-boat crews have a real hard time dealing with them.
We've identified at leat 5 hunter-killer groups, 2 french and 3 brits, operating in the portion between England and the Cap Verde Islands !!! Avoiding them is a real challenge and having only a handful of u-boats to our disposal makes matters worse. We have completed the training cyclus for our u-boats crews but we still haven't enough boats on operations.
Royal Navy HK-Group meets the 2. U-Flottille
On the 21st, something similar happened to the 6. U-Flottille operating off the coasts of Portugal. Only by chance, it managed to flee to Lisboa where it's currently operating emergency repairs...
- I know what you mean : the Panzerschiff 'Admiral Graf Spee' has experimented the same concerns.
"Admiral Graf Spee" in chess... once more.
- That means we don't have ANY ships nor U-boats in the Atlantic right now, Admiral ?
- Exactly... When will be your next flottillas ready ?
- 2. and 7. U-Flottillen are proceding to some repairs, may be until February. March more likely
1., 3. and 5. U-Flottillen, with their type II, don't have the range. I just have the 6. U-Flottille repairing in Lisboa but...
- I want this Flottilla at sea as soon as possible : we must keep the Allies under pressure !
- Admiral, It will need at least 30 days to fix everything !
- 2 weeks and that's an order, KonterAdmiral Dönitz !!!"
ReichsWirtschaftsMinisterium (Ministery of Economics), Berlin - 1940, February the 2nd - 1400
Meeting between Walter Funk, Ministry of economics, and Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop.
- Thanks for coming, Herr Reichsminister...
- You're welcome, mein lieber Funk. I had no other appointment this afternoon.
I guess it's about the renewal of the German-Soviet agreement...
- In der Tat, Herr Reichsminister. I don't know what's your point of view about it but as ReichsWirtschaftsMinister, I'm telling you : we need it !!!
- Don't be afraid, mein lieber Funk. I hate these Bolsheviks but I'm aware we need their raw materials for our war industry. The Führer fully agrees on that..."
Hauptquartier der HeeresGruppe A, Koblenz - 1940, February the 4th - 1330
Meeting between Oberst Schmundt, Führer's Adjudant, and Oberst Blumentritt, Adjudant of GeneralLeutnant von Manstein.
- "Oberst Blumentritt ? I just came by to see an old buddy of mine, Major Tresckow ; we served together within the IR 9 in Potsdam. Is he here ?
- Yes he is... but quite busy. Both of us are working for GeneralLeutant von Manstein.
- Von Manstein ? THE "von Manstein" ? The one of "Unternehmen Otto" and "Fall weiß" ?
- Him in person. But he has been sacked by the OKH and he's currently packing to take over the XXXVIII. AK in Stettin. Eine riesige Schweinerei !!!
- Sacked ? For what ?
- To you, the Führer's adjudant, I can tell you : he has elaborated a great plan for the invasion of France. GeneralOberst von Rundstedt sent it to the OKH but they never even consider it. Too brilliant if you want my opinion. May be too unorthodox either...
Anyhow, even General Guderian is totally enthousiastic about it !!!
- Tell me more, Blumentritt...
- Right now, the OKH is planning an offensive through the Nederlands and Belgium ; merely an improved version of the Schlieffen's Plan of 1914.
Von Manstein's idea is the opposite : we let the Allies believe we're going to attack in the Nederlands and Belgium but it will be a deception. We let them come to us in Belgium but the main attack will take place somewhere else...
- Where ?
- Interesting... the Führer was looking for such a decisive action. I'm going to give him a word about that..."
ErsatzsArmee Hauptquartier, Leipzig - 1940, February, the 20th - 0930
Meeting between General Fromm, Befehlshaber der ErsatzsArmee and General von Oven, General Inspekteur der ErsatzsInfanterie.
- "General Fromm, is it true that the offensive against France has been postponned... once again ?
- It's true. If you want my opinion, we won't attack before Spring now.
- Weather issues ?
- For some part... But so far I know, things are moving really fast in the Great North.
The scandinavian brotherhood isn't a legend, mein lieber von Oven : Norway and Sweden have claimed their support to their finnish brethrens.
- That's not a surprise, Herr General, and of a very little concern for us...
- You're right but what IS a concern to us is that both France and Britain are planning an intervention to help the Finns. After these episode of Mechelen, and since nothing happened on January the 17th, they think we won't attack so they feel secure in continental Europe.
- If France and Britain want to help the Finns and fight the Reds, I'm fine with that.
- You don't get it, do you ?
- ..........................
- Neither France nor Britain want to help the Finns : it's merely a pretext to land in Norway and to control the traffic of Swedish iron ore. And THIS is a matter of great concern for the German Reich, mein lieber von Oven !!!
- So that's the reason why they told us to send those divisions in northern Germany : we're planning an operation over there ?!!!
The 'Altmark' in a norwegian fjord
- And the Norwegian did nothing against that ?
- The Norwegian escorts protested, but did not intervene. I guess they were angered that their neutrality had been infringed, but they did not want to be dragged into a war. Nonetheless, this incident sowed doubts about the Norwegian neutrality.
- And now, Herr General ?
- Mein lieber von Oven, we've done our job and provided the OKH with the required divisions for the offensive in the West.
Now, let's review our organization in the East...
- Herr General, we now have 2 Wehrkreise more : the WK XX in Danzig and the WK XXI in Poznan. Together with the MBfH (Militär BefehlsHaber) of the General Gouvernement, they manage 5 reserve and replacement divisions.
Furthermore, the Headquarter 'OberOst' is fully functionnal by now.
- Well... among those divisions, they are 7 divisions zbV, which have merely the force of a regiment. Besides, since they've been set-up from the former border-guard regiments, very few of these men have seen a battlefield...
- Anyhow, here's the current deployment on the map :
As you can see, we can cover the entire border with the USSR. Of course, we couldn't stop a major offensive of the Reds but that should let us buy enough time for units from the West to come.
Here's the detailled OoB of each of the 3 Gaks :
GaK 'Nord'
GaK 'Mitte'
GaK 'Süd'
Besides, GeneralOberst Blaskowitz is a very capable officer and a good administrator as well. I feel confident he could manage an eventual crisis over there..."
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You've been awarded AARtist of the Month! Congratulations Nicegil! Well-deserved for the fine work shown in this AAR.
Congratulations with the awAARd !
A very nice AAR. The attention to detail and quality of graphics is amazing. A true masterpiece of an AAR. Keep it up.
A very nice AAR. The attention to detail and quality of graphics is amazing. A true masterpiece of an AAR. Keep it up.
Whaouuu... Now I'm
oThanks a lot for this "poisoned" gift, Rob !
Btw, clean up your mail box !Spotlights are ok but now I have to think about whom I'm going to nominate next month. As if I hadn't enough headaches with this AAR...
I already have some candidates in mind but it will be a tough choice. For sure, dedication to the work and commitment towards readers/players will play a role...
You bet !!! However, the good part of it is that I'm improving my historical knowledge. Up until now, I never bothered with armored trains or Nebelwerfer units before but now, I know where they belonged to...
I just hope you'll have as much pleasure reading it as I had with yours...
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