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that looks like its going to be a hard beachhead to hold. i've full confidence in your abilities of course
 
Very tense and difficult battle for the marines, and for their army support as well of course. Does shore bombardment actually commit anything to such amphibious assaults? I've never seen any real good coming out of this in my games.
 
Yeah, a tough campaign this looks to be. You'll need to take the rest of Denmark to be able to hold.

Glad to see you made the assault though.

Those Bulgarians and Romanians were obviously made of sterner stuff then the Hungarians you faced earlier.
 
With the forces that took part in the Battle of Kolding in need of urgent attention, if any quick re-deployment was to happen, it seemed like a bad April's first joke that the submarines on the coast of Norway were, in that day, almost wiped out by a small German force.

Forced to a long Murmansk-bound retreat, these submarines were the only eyes the Red Fleet had on the progress of the British conquest of Norway.


Those submarines would have to go back eventually, or others in their place, if potentially vital intelligence was to continue flowing. No less importantly, Kriegsmarine victories at this point could spell trouble in the second Battle of Kolding ahead.

With that in mind, the Baltic Fleet set out for it's first pure combat mission outside of the Baltic Sea.


Once arrived there, Admiral Smirnov had no difficulty finding and sinking the KMS Karlsruhe and it's escort, making life for Soviet submariners a little less risky.


Immediately after the news of victory near the Vest Fjord arrived at Leningrad, the radios of the several submarines blockading transport traffic from Kiel started reporting a strange sighting - US Navy transports! Unescorted.

If at first there was great wondering about their timing, appearing just when the Soviet Fleet had left, greater doubts would emerge from their goal.

It seemed that the Americans, like the Red Army Air Forces, had an odd, inexplicable fixation with Bornholm. Judging from the quality and tenacity of German defence stationed at the isle, they too held it in great value.


Not that the Red Fleet even had time to consider such mysteries. Almost a week had passed since the Army and Naval Infantry forces had retreated from Kolding, and it was time to establish a defence, or risk losing control over the area again.

Disembarking from their ships, the Marines were the first to meet the slow German attempts at retaking the area. Success was mixed at first, for the German forces coming from the north were well organized, but at the same time limited by being short on resources.

The force coming in from the south was hardly worth mentioning, and indeed seemed to completely stop operating as a division a couple of hours into the battle.


Not long after, the Army forces arrived, and Kolding was secured.

With the division previously guarding Kiel essentially destroyed, the second part of the whole plan to invade continental Denmark - block the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal and deny the Kriegsmarine use of the Harbour - was free for the taking by the Red forces.


Meanwhile, an American build-up around Bornholm continued, including an unidentified capital ship.


Also unidentified was how Admiral Kuznetsov wanted the new Battleship plans to remain, and that's why all the documents regarding it were named after the Sovyetskiy Soyuz class.


The design bureaus would have no time to rest, as the Commissar requested the experience and new doctrines on carrier operations be translated into better ship plans.


No good news came alone anymore though, and with the completion of the work on Battleships, also came word of a fast German move to defend Kiel. Despite the numerical superiority and shore bombardment, the Soviet forces - never fully re-organized since March - failed to defeat the same Wehrmacht General they had faced in Kolding.


But that was only a minor set-back. Given time to reorganize, the Naval Infantry would no doubt force the Germans back once more.

The real problem, which brought a sinister hint of incoming backstab to the Bornholm mystery, came to light only on the 12th, when the final count of American ships passing by Copenhagen reached Leningrad.

Around the Baltic island now stood one of the greatest fleets ever to have entered that Sea, composed of no less than 14 unmistakable capital ships and countless escorts.

The soviet destroyers patrolling the area dared not go too near, but they could confirm at least the presences of the USS Colorado, USS Maryland and USS West Virginia.


What the Americans had planned to do with such a massive force in waters firmly controlled by their supposed allies was cause for much concern in Admiral Kuznetsov's office...
 
It seems the Americans are confusing Bornholm with midway or something
 
Those sneaky Americans seem to think that Bornholm could be good base for anti-Soviet activities. They are sadly mistaken.

Good to see that you secured your foothold in Jylland. Control of the Denmark is essential for the Soviet Union, especially when the time comes when the allies turn to enemies.
 
You sank something!

Glory to the Red Navy!
 
Might be interesting for a future war, should the Americans take control of Bornholm and hold it with a strong force...

And that American fleet is a manifestation of power to counter your fleet building plans. Oh, you won't dare go out of the Baltic once the West becomes your enemy.
 
Only problem with Bornholm becoming a major base strategz is that in the event of the war if will get cut off and sealed in Baltic since Soviets control the entrance now.
 
Secure Kiel and DOW the US. Should be funny to see half their navy trapped without supplies in the Baltic :rofl:.
 
ComradeOm - Indeed comrade, we remember this. Kiel will fall soon. Please do not send me to the Penal Battalion. Please. For the Motherland! Please.

4th Dimension - Such would seem to be the way things go when the American Insanity (A.I.) is faced with a peaceful Japan.

Olaus Petrus - And here's to hoping that time is far ahead of us. Strong as the Red Fleet is, it would still take the combined forces of the Baltic, Black and Pacific to tackle that USNavy fleet alone.

E. Jünger - Reactors powered by lies? Aren't those each and every capitalist factory? ;)

RGB - Eternal Glory to it and it's sailors! And rest assured, I didn't forget your name recommendations, it's just that I already have sshots 'till May.

Edzako - We could use men like you at the posters department. Looking for a job?

Emperor_krk - ComradeOm! I found one!

thatguy - Game-wise, that would be hilarious indeed. But for now, there are Nazis stomping the sacred soil of the Motherland, and that takes priority.

Everyone - thanks for commenting! It makes all the work I'm NOT doing on the master's worth it :D
 
I say you take Bornholm before the Americans can.

They should know better then to go provoking the Soviet Union, one of their most effective allies.
 
A week after the huge American fleet had surrounded Bornholm, it was gone. Without taking the isle, and without reporting any naval combat with the Germans. The Offices at Leningrad didn't know what to make of it, but still regarded the current situation with clear relief.

The only risk was that the Kriegsmarine would see the USN withdrawal as an opportunity, and enter the Baltic by Kiel. To prevent that, the Baltic Fleet was called back into it's namesake.


In the meantime, with the submarines blockading Kiel reporting no German attempts to supply the troops cut of in Jutland, the opportunity is seized and more Danes are liberated, with almost no fighting.


On the deck of the Sovietsky Soyuz, celebrating their return to the Baltic, stood Dmitriy Liadov and his comrades. The mood couldn't be better, as every sailor was now convinced the Nazis not only could, but would certainly be defeated.

While the Soviet Naval Infantry and Red Army were liberating Denmark, right above Germany's heartland, the British already controlled almost all of Norway...


...and according to those American ships they escorted entering the Baltic, the troops that landed in Belgium had not only gained a foothold, but were actually pushing into France.


As a result, it seemed the Vichy puppets had abandoned the pretence of neutrality and sent French fascists to die with the rest.


Someone pointed out the Americans they escorted should be arriving to Leningrad already, and cheers were given to their solidarity with what would now probably be called the Eastern Front.


But the cheers wouldn't last long, because soon enough an urgent radio order came to start moving and shooting southward, as the Wehrmacht had somehow found a way to attack Copenhagen without the support of the Kriegsmarine - at least no support that could be seen - and were crossing the waters in great numbers.


A couple of hours later, the Germans were beaten back, once reinforcements arrived to the Danish capital and their means of crossing the Sea were exposed as insufficient, although brilliantly low-profile.


In Kolding, General Vlasov noticed how the desperate attack on Copenhagen had made the Germans lose their balance, being forced to send troops from Kiel to protect Lübeck, and thus creating a perfect opportunity, which had to be seized.

The Baltic Fleet was still heading into the North Sea again, to provide support, and the attack had already started.

The defenders of Kiel was well prepared, skilful, fierce and willing to sacrifice many of their own men, but nothing could protect them from the Might of the Soviet Union and the strength of it's Naval Infantry.


On the 26th of April, Kiel had fallen into Red hands, and in all of the USSR the victory was celebrated as the conquest of the second major German city since the vile Nazi invasion, proof of the Red Army and Red Navy's superiority.

In Leningrad though, most specifically the Naval Commissariat Offices, the cheering wasn't quite as intense. Controlling the Kiel Canal guaranteed a safe Baltic, that was true, but the lost opportunity was hard to accept.

It seemed that in Germany, as in the Soviet Union, the Navy was always one step ahead of it's Army. When the Red Marines finally got to the Kiel Harbour, the Kriegsmarine had already departed, burning or taking with it each and any relevant document, or even any indication of how many ships had been present.

There was now not much to do but wait for the German Fleet to reach the blockading Baltic Fleet...


At 16h, the radio contact finally came, in a nervous tone. It seemed what left Kiel had been much more than just a fraction of the Kriegsmarine...
 
Oh, by the way, reached the #300 pics mark. Hurray me! :cool:
 
Naval battle!!!!Go Bismark!