The Bear in Winter: An All the Russias AAR

[VILenin]

If Chiang is able to realize a unified China it seems inevitable that it will come into conflict with the Russian Empire. Maybe Russo-American ties could be strengthenned to, if an alliance is too improbable, a spirit of friendship and international cooperation.

 

[RossN]

Admiral Aleksandr Kolchak, Prime Minister of Russia​

Part 48

Russia, various, March 1943 - March 1944

The Russian Empire had not known a period of extended peace since the late Thirties, and in the second half of 1942 alone had suffered over 300,000 casualties fighting the Japanese. That war had barely ended when weary Russian soldiers and pilots had found themselves fighting the Maoists in the unforgiving landscape of a winter mountain war. War had brought success and a return to international prestige but the Russian public had grown tired of the fighting.

The Chinese (or at least Chiang) had not, but without Russian support the limitations of the Kuomintang became clear. The war with Tibet played out bloodlessly dung 1943. With the Russian soldiers in Mongolia, Korea and Manchuria Chiang found himself unable to press his advantage and an armistice was signed before the end of the year recognising the original borders, much to the private relief of Moscow. A resurgent China bordering India would have presented no end of headaches with Britain.

The end of Japan as a major land power had ended four decades of apprehension that had hung over Russia. In just six years the situation had utterly changed in the Far East and while the Government and the military might have a more ambiguous view, the man on the street considered Russian strength and security to be absolute. True there was some concern about Hitlerite Germany in intellectual and liberal circles but newspaper censorship; stringently adhered to from the Denikin era had limited even this. Russia was neutral, and only the Government knew whom she was neutral against.

Or perhaps not even them. There was hardly unity in the Kremlin over what direction proceed, except perhaps for a consensus that Russia was unready to fight an equal at the moment. The Prime Minister and the Emperor generally got on, though when it came to foreign policy they occasionally butted heads over the right path - not helped by the fact that Vladimir also had to look after Finnish interests as well as Russian. Moscow warily watched the outside world, which at least in Europe remained remarkably static throughout the year. Georgia and Armenia declared war on each other and then did little, the French remained dug in along the Gamelin Line inside the Italian border; Mussolini clung on Sicily; the Royal Navy had captured Crete and Izmir (dangerously close to Russian occupied Turkey; invoking shades of Crimea and Lord Palmerstone), and really who ever knew what the Americans were up too. Constantinople became for a while the centre of international espionage with Allied and Axis spies eyeing each other and the Okhrana watching them both.

The Russians did find time to challenge Hungary however. Russia claimed Carpathian Ruthenia as having been allotted to her in the 2nd Treaty of Brest-Litovsk back in 1938. This was a doubtful claim and under normal circumstances would not have accounted for much; fortunately Horthy was in the same position of luckless neutrality as Vladimir, and with rather less to back up his position. The Hungarian Regent was humiliatingly forced to cede Carpathian Ruthenia, so recently won along with Presov to the Russians. The actual land was no great deal; much more important for Moscow was that Russia had gained a toehold in Central Europe. Rumour held that Vladimir intended to invade Hungary and restore Otto, that other young emperor to the throne. Certainly monarchist groups had clustered in Moscow since the restoration – old Spanish Alphonsine royalists certainly, and likely others.

Whatever the truth of these rumours, and most of them were little more than romantic wishful thinking, the Okhrana was heavily involved abroad. The Russians had several spies in Brazil, South Africa and (of course) Spain, but the primary focus of Russian espionage was actually Sweden and Japan. Kolchak hoped to bring either or both strategically important country into the Russian fold and felt that short of invasion and the setting up of a puppet government in Stockholm and Tokyo the best was to achieve this was by covertly bringing friendly governments into power – an ambitious plan to say the least.

As all this was going on, and as new factories were painstakingly being built up across Russia the Americans had not been entirely idle. Roosevelt had joined with the French and British in their efforts against Germany, though not as might have been expected along the Western Front. The Americans landed at Anzio and Naples in March 1944, attacking the so-called ‘Italian Social Republic’. As relations between Mussolini and Roosevelt remained fraught and as the Italian dictator had feuded with the other Allied leaders the future of Italy was something of an open question.

It also raised debate in the Kremlin as to whether Russia should make a move now, or risk being left ever further behind by changing events. The Indian Summer of Russian isolation might be drawing to a close...

 

[RossN]

Jape: Hopefully.

stnylan: True. With Kolchak as PM he likely comes under pressure to pursue a more naval orientated strategy.

Leviathan07: Strictly speaking no... but that would make for a boring game and aar no?

KanaX: True.

Vann the Red: Thank you.

J. Passepartout: Bah, bunch of good for nothing freethinking malcontents the lot of them.

RGB: Indeed. I'll have to keep one eye on the Far East.

VILenin: Sound thinking. Sadly my belligerence is so high an alliance is probably out of the question.

 

[Eams]

Well, that was an update that was concise, and to the point, like a good history book.
Some general description of your Russia in the early months of 1944 (with maps, big maps!) would be appreciated.

 

[RossN]

Sorry its a little dry. I'm in a awkward period where I am not at war with anyone, not building anything interesting or able to do much exciting politically. o

A little info on where Russia stands at the moment:

Europe, March 1944

Far East, March 1943

Politics, March 1943

The Russian Army, March 1944

The Imperial Navy, March1944

The Imperial Russian Air Force, March 1944

I have an IC of 308 (base 234).

 

[KanaX]

Germany just has no f'n way to come out fo this alive. With the US in Italy and no progress on any front what so ever, it's just a matter of time when they are overwhelmed. A good chance of grabbing some land, I think.

 

[Piko]

What happened to Germany that nerfed them this badly?

 

[Eams]

I wouldn't call your last few updates dry, but rather balanced or fact-filled.

 

[J. Passepartout]

America seems to be crushing the Axis. We might be able to mop up the aftermath.

 

[RossN]

Field Marshal Gustav von Mannerheim​

Part 49

Russia, March-May 1944

On 12 March the War Cabinet met at the Kremlin to discuss the European situation. There was some talk of remaining neutral, but the trend of the Government was clear. Admiral Kolchak expressed it best: "We must strike against Germany now, or risk being left stranded by those who make history; we decide our future now - or we have it decided for us."

It was an unanswerable arguement. No one had any illusions as to the nature of the German Government, but it might have been expected that war with a former ally would raise moral questions. Yet, as with Italy in 1915 the question of national interest trumped aland the War Cabinet from the Emperor on down moved for war without regrets.

Plans for war with Germany had come and gone over the years, reflecting both changing technology and fluctuating political reality. Even under Marshal Denikin when Russia had been quite close allies with Germany, Stavka had not been inactive, dutifully filing plans "just in case." It was a reasonable precaution given the nature of the German and Russian Governments that war would happen someday, and Russia would not be left wanting when that day came.

Operation Koschei, named after the mythical Russian demon character was the most recent such plan, devised by Trikhin and von Rommel but based on an older Denikin era plan. The plan called for a massive encirclement of German held Warsaw - tentatively held to be vital for the Wehrmacht control of the Russian border, and in any case so symbolically vital that Hitler would risk any amount of men to secure it. The Poles were not exactly friendly towards the Russians (though they were considerably better off than they had been under the First Empire), but the Okhrana had established they were far less friendly towards the Germans. There was even talk in Moscow of the establishment of a Polish state after the war, though there was some disagreement as what form such a state would take.

The Emperor had become rather disposed towards restoring parliamentary monarchy in Germany. Vladimir was in contact with Rupprecht of Bavaria, currently in exile in Hungary about the possibility of a Wittelsbach restoration (the Hohenzollerns were considered too tainted). Other members of the Russian Government, while not against a monarchical Germany were in favour of returning Germany to its pre-1871 state. A united Germany was too formidable to be let be. The Great War was still a recent memory to many Russian officers and politicians. The status of Austria and Czechoslovakia was another point of lively discussion.

All of which rather depended on Koschei working. Supreme command was handed to Field Marshal Kliment Voroshilov, a good officer and former communist who had learnt the error of his ways since 1917 (though it didn't stop the Okhrana from bugging his quarters). For the campaign Stavka had devoted 101 divisions, divided into three Army Groups: North (Voronets), Centre (von Mannerheim) and South (Sherbatchev).

The appointment of Field Marshal Gustav von Mannerheim had raised eyebrows in Moscow, but Vladimir had insisted having been extremely impressed by the Finnish soldier when he met him during his visits to Helsinki. Apart from von Mannerheim's general qualities the Grand Duchy of Finland had contributed 19 divisions - nearly a quarter of the entire force. Touched, the Grand Duke of Finland had instituted the Order of Saint Henry specifically for Finnish soldiers and aviators. Not that the Finns were alone in supplying troops: the Koreans had sent 2 divisions, and many of the 'Russian' divisions were actually made up of Ukrainians, Byelorussians, and Cossacks and so on. There were also 3 Chinese divisions - part of the volunteers who had had preferred to live in Vladimir's Russia than Chiang's China.

The IRAF would be committing practically its entire operational strength to Koschei, in a mostly defensive capacity to protect the Russian troops from Luftwaffe bombers. It was felt, that in common with most of the best the Germans had the Luftwaffe fighter pilots were stationed on the French and Italian fronts. Hopefully it would prove sufficient.

The Imperial Navy would act in a support role would Army Group North and, in the highly unlikely event that the Germans stuck across the Baltic protect the Baltic coast.

Much lower priority was given to Greece, partly because Vladimir still hoped the Goverment in Athens would not follow Hitler into war with Russia, and partly because of the strain of fighting Britain and America. The existing forces in Istanbul were considered more than sufficent for the time being.

All of this preparation was performed in the utmost secrecy. Any Russian attempts to enter an alliance with Roosevelt or Churchill (or even Mussolini) had proven so ineffective that the Russians had given up. They would have to do it themselves.

A formal ultimation was sent to Berlin on the evening of 14 May 1944 demanding the restoration of the pre-war Russian borders. As expected the Germans rejected the demand outright and on the morning of 16 May the Russian Empire, the Grand Duchy of Finland and their allies declared war on Germany.

The moment Russia had dreaded and longed for for twenty-seven years had at last arrived.

Operation Koschei​

 

[RossN]

KanaX: Yeah.

Piko: I don't know. They fought Poland easily enough - I was afraid they'd take all of it before I could get any land.

Eams: Thanks.

J. Passepartout: I intend too.

 

[Vann the Red]

Quite the cliff-hanger there, RossN. Exciting stuff.

Vann

 

[unmerged(59077)]

Oh my. So it begins. And you have thin forces on the ground but Germany is in a bad spot anyway.

 

[unmerged(75409)]

11 divisions in Presov... will Admiral Horthy get a late May day present, in the form of a Russian DoW?

 

[DarkReborn]

Well your plan is very well thinked, but as you don't know how many divisions has Germany got in the eastern front, expect anything!

Is Romania aslo getting its piece of Russian DoW?

 

[unmerged(70464)]

I think the postwar order will be quite interesting.

 

[Eams]

A lovely new update that, though Mannerheim (who turned 50 in the year of the Russian revolution, which makes him 77 in 1944) was apparently not called "von"
Oh, and if things don't work out with Rupprecht, then have no fears, for the Mannerheim family is originally from Germany

 

[VILenin]

The fate of Austria and Czechoslovakia is uncertain? Well, given the Czar's penchant for restoring monarchies, might we see a Habsburg led Con-Mon?

 

[Jape]

I return in time for a fine update and a cliffhanger to boot! Excellent stuff, A fresh, war-hardedned Russia gets to back-stab an exhausted Germany, makes a change

 

[KanaX]

Wonderful, absolutely wonderful! This is the cliffhanger of cliffhangers, and the inclusion of Mannerheim has left me yearning for the next update even more. Thank you!