The Great Liberation War
Hugo Unger, the Chief of Staff for the German Army, had what some might consider an impossible task: taking not one, not two, but three of the most feared powers in Europe without any help from any of Germany's allies. Success in the war would require the army to run like a well oiled machine, the navy to neutralize (or at least minimize) the Royal Navy, and the people of Germany to rise up and free the people of Tver from Poland.
The Minister of War and Chief of the Navy Hals Gutfreund appointed Gerhard Goering, one of the brightest and most modern individuals in the German Fleet, to run what was termed the "Steam Fleet." This fleet sat outside the Polish port of Danzig, waiting for the old and obsolete ships of Poland to try to engage them. Meanwhile, the Main Fleet sailed west to prevent the British fleet from entering the Baltic. Unger had his own personnel decision to make; one of his subordinates had mistakenly tried to assign 10th Army to a naval officer, and even listed only naval officers in the "alternate commanders" file. [1] Sighing at such incompetence, Unger chose Konrad Eisner to lead 10th Army, an army that would play a key role in fighting on the French front.
The Chief of Staff's original plans involved organizing the armies on the Polish and French frontiers into three Army Groups. Each Army Group was given a specific geographic objective.
In Poland, the center of the three groups was to drive on Warsaw and eliminate any Polish armies that got in the way. The other two were tasked with breaking down Polish fortifications and isolating the Polish capital from assistance to the west. In addition, the northern group was to take Danzig and all other possible ports to prevent Poland from importing goods from the British Empire or France.
The French front was originally planned to be quite similar. The southern armies would drive to the Mediterranean, focusing on all land between the Pyrenees and the province of Chateauroux. The northern armies had the Channel as their objective. The central armies were, at first, designated to converge on Paris, but the French commander decided to move on the offensive, attacking what he thought was only a cavalry army in the forests of Laon. Instead, 7th Army was quietly ordered to march northwest, catching the French army by surprise.
There was one final theater to the war. Josef Hermann de Spinoza, the Stadtholder of Kiel, wanted one last grand adventure, and so he was given charge of the African theater.
Troops there had what seemed the easiest assignment; take undefended British colonies and weaken the Empire from its periphery, a job that was sure to be both easy and glorious.
The first major clash of arms took place at Laon, where the French General, Eugene Ney d'Elchingen, tasted bitter defeat. He indeed had a field day before the German infantry got into position, but once they dug in, d'Elchingen had no choice but to quit the field, leaving nearly 20,000 of his comrades as casualties.
Five days later, on 29 October, General Ludwig Remmele reported a great success at negligible cost in Warsaw; he had ordered his troops to begin sieging Warsaw and the surrounding area.
The French capital suffered a similar fate on 2 November, although the citizens of Paris had put up much stiffer resistance than those of Warsaw.
That same day, farther south, German soldiers were truly tested for the first time; a General Donald Haig led a very well armed British army against Spinoza and his German forces in Man.
Fortunately, the battlefield commander -- General Beck-Rzikowsky -- knew exactly how to dig in to greatest effect, and even the excellent British artillery would have difficulty breaking through his field fortifications.
Back on the front with France, the German militia got into action for the first time; General Bernhard von Haynau, who had actually been retired at the beginning of the war, led 18,000 eager citizen-soldiers against a French incursion at the city of Auxerre.
The resolution of the Battle of Man in Germany's decided favor steeled the resolve of the German people, even as the treasury was slowly depleted.
However, that same day, Germany hit its first real snag in the progress of the war. Whether due to miscommunication or bad weather, the Main Fleet had not been ordered to cover the British approach to Dunkirk, and the British had landed an unexpected expeditionary force there, trying to blunt the German advance and throw it back into Germany. [2]
Orders were cut for Admiral Schobber, ordering him to make all possible speed to prevent further British landings in northern France. While General Stoltzer, commander of the Dunkirk defenses, had a superb fortified position, he was not well suited to the attack, and without reinforcements there was the possibility that he might be defeated and allow the British to turn the German right flank. As fortresses began to fall in Poland -- Bromberg was the first to fall -- the armies sieging Paris beat off a French counterattack and redoubled their efforts to capture the French capital.
Bad news reached Nürnberg as Polish forces had taken the undefended town of Senj, going through Bosnia to do so (which was completely unexpected by the German High Command). British soldiers had captured Plymouth as well, although that was considered an acceptable loss for the short term. The city of Krakow fell to German forces a day later, almost at a single step completely offsetting the German losses. In early December, General Haynau's militia reported a victory, although a costly one thanks to French artillery. At Helgoland Bight, a single Polish ship threw itself at the German Main Fleet, delaying Admiral Schobber for one more day, allowing a second wave of British troops to land at Dunkirk. General Gustav von Horstein of 9th Army, who had just captured Amiens, hurried to the assistance of General Stoltzer.
A group of Flemish patriots, anticipating a German defeat, began to gather in secret, plotting to join French armies as necessary, in exchange for at least limited autonomy.
Germany needed some sort of decisive victory in order to stave off any such revolt, and Admiral Schobber was determined to give them one, as his fleet finally arrived before the White Cliffs of Dover and engaged the British fleet supplying the troops at Dunkirk.
However, even with British supplies and reinforcements cut off, German soldiers were still dying in ghastly numbers; reinforcements were absolutely critical, and Friedrich Hanisch of 6th Army immediately abandoned his efforts to recapture Chalons and marched north, taking a circuitous route in order to avoid any French attacks that would delay him.
Bad news came from the Polish front too; the cavalry force ordered to occupy Warsaw had been completely wiped out by a joint Anglo-Polish relief force.
When Evreux fell on 14 December, 7th Army was ordered north as well. A week later, Germans and British continued fighting at Dunkirk. Horstein, a better defender than Stoltzer, had taken overall command of German forces, but General Joseph Madden of the British Empire was one of the premier assault specialists in the world. [3] The sooner reinforcements arrived from 6th Army, the better. As 1860 drew to a close, there was some good news on two fronts: Admiral Schobber reported the complete destruction of the British fleet in the Channel, while Paris was occupied by German troops, freeing up still more soldiers to move to Dunkirk as needed.
On 28 December, 14th and 1st Armies counterattacked the Anglo-Polish force at Warsaw, catching it in a pincer movement. Three days later, New Years' Eve parties began throughout the Republic of Germany, and there was much to celebrate, as German forces had finally triumphed at Dunkirk, but the butcher's bill was obscene; over 100,000 dead.
As soon as news of the Battle of Dunkirk arrived in Nürnberg, back channel negotiations began for the end of the war. Polish representatives would accept a White Peace, or a return to the
status quo ante bellum, but noting that none of the so-called Republic of Tver had been occupied by German forces, refused to see reason and acknowledge Tver's independence. Even with Paris captured, France refused to sign a separate peace with Germany.
Poland was more chaotic, due to the larger expanse of territory, but things looked good for Germany, for the most part. Polish forces were less than 100,000 men total, including a healthy British command.
There was only a single discordant note: General Christian Held reported that his attempt to relieve the captured city of Senj was going very poorly, and rather than lose his army, he was considering pulling back to a more defensible position.
1861 was going to be a very interesting year.
[1] Blue portraits mean Admirals, EtzelHoveri.
[2] If you're going to be the Chief of the Navy, Jack LEagle, how about giving the Navy orders? (This is also partially on me, since I keep forgetting about that %*#( strait.
[3] +4 Attack!!
Go ahead and make any proposals you wish to. All new players are officially seated, which gives you voting privileges (and the right to propose legislation or constitutional amendments).