The Second Great War
February to May 1942
February to May 1942
Canada
During the spring months, the United States of America continued in a downward spiral under the Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In Canada, U.S. forces were constantly harassed by partisans and various resistance movements. The situation was worst in Quebec, were the French speaking majority openly defied the occupants. Several incidents, which of the worst were the shooting and killing of eight students at the Montreal University, when a U.S. Army patrol panicked as it was being mobbed by angry students and teachers. The partisans in the area were the deadliest and it was well known to the OSS that this to no small extent was due to clandestine French support. Small arms, explosives, funding as well as training provided by French agents fuelled the resistance.
America
At home, the U.S. government was completely out of touch with the American public. Although the nation had not suffered any significant amount of casualties - this due to the fact that no military operations had been initiated since the invasion of Canada with the exception of naval skirmishes with the British Navy in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, the American people had a hard time understand why they were in a war against Great Britain and The Netherlands. The bizarre alliance with the Empire of Japan was also a source of embarrassment and bewilderment. The U.S. had ceded the Philippines to gain Japan's favor and all it had got from the deal was increasingly shrill cries for help from Tokyo - the Imperial Navy had suffered catastrophically against the Royal Navy.
Rising unemployment and prices, shortages of foreign goods were signs that the American economy was in trouble again. But worst of all was the federal government's autocratic ways in relation with both individual citizens as well as the states. Congress had passed several censor laws, using the war as an excuse and at the same time, the nation's most powerful media conglomerates were happily printing and broadcasting whatever the government saw fit. All this gave rise to an outlandish and oppressive feeling in the American soul - but where to look for relief? Most people, quickly learning that their representatives in Washington ignored their complaints and plights, turned to their local leaders. Governors and state assemblies criticized the federal government openly with increasing volume during the spring, and by the end of May 1942 it was deafening. Especially in the Southern states, there was a strong sense of foreboding that some crisis was approaching. The federal government was strongly aware of this too and alarming intelligence reports appeared on the desks of senior officials. A majority of states were obstructing the federal government to some extent. Riots and protests in urban centres had become everyday occurrences, weapons caches had been plundered, the loyalty of some military units were in doubt, and the navy reports noted a dramatic increase in submarine sightings along the Atlantic coast.
The advance on Poltava
The War In Russia
On February 12th 1942, the Axis forces resumed their advance in Russia. The initial thrust toward Poltava was made by the French 3rd, 7th, and 8th armies with support from Italian and Romanian forces. Intelligence estimated three soviet infantry divisions defending the city. The French had despite numerous attacks by Soviet forces managed to hold two bridgeheads on the north side of the Dnieper River since the last advance. This thanks to Marshal De Gaulle's stubborn refusal to give them up - the Imperial Air force's dive bombers had been crucial in suppressing Red Army artillery. Under the cover of the traditional artillery bombardment of Soviet positions as well as air strikes, the axis soldiers and vehicles stormed over the bridges and attacked the defenders, who were quickly overrun. The advance continued steadily during the day, easily brushing aside all the Red Army's frantic attempts to stop them. By first light on the 14th, all Soviet government personnel fled Poltava, while inadequately equipped and demoralized Red Army units prepared for the onslaught. With complete aerial superiority over the battlefield, the Imperial Air Force reduced what little fighting spirit the defenders of the city had. Exploiting the general chaos in red army lines, the bulk of the French 7th Army simultaneously marched north toward Priluki, effectively ending any Soviet hopes of resisting the crossing of the river Dnieper River by forces of the Spanish Expeditionary Force. By the afternoon on the 15th, Poltava was in Axis hands.
The Peace Treaty of Strasbourg had forced the Czech provinces of Bohemia and Moravia into a new marriage with Austria. This restored Habsburg 'Empire' was only 14 months old and fragile and dependent on the military units the fledging state had managed to organize. It was therefore a very symbolic movement when the Habsburg state, on the 15th February, sent her first units to fight in the Russian war - three infantry divisions under the command of Lt. General Hickmann. The rest of the Army consisted of five infantry and two mountaineering divisions. The 1st Infantry division was stationed around Vienna while the Mechanized Imperial Guard Battalion was stationed in the city proper, with head quarters in Schönbrunn Palace.
In Russia, the battle for Priluki raged for six days before the Red Army withdrew to lick its wounds. STAVKA had thrown in its entire reserve to try to halt the Axis advance northward along the Dnieper River. On the 3rd of March, the Spanish Expeditionary Army pressed north toward Chernigov while the first units of the French 6th and 9th armies crossed the Dnieper. The exhausted Red Army could do little to defend Chernigov and the fall of the city two days later and the previous losses of Poltava and Priluki meant the beginning of a series of defeats in the central part of the front. Axis forces steadily pushed back Stalin’s forces toward Moscow while conquering large chunks of territory on both flanks.
Finland
Lead by the French 1st Tank Army (Gen. Huntziger) and the German 6th Army (Gen. Leeb), Army Group North launched its offensive on the 3rd March. Jyväskylä fell by the 8th, which spelled the collapse of the Red Army in Finland. Partisan attacks were by now so severe that the Soviet logistics organization could barely function at all. By the 14th, the Red Army had lost the initiative completely and was steadily driven northward. A month later, with southern Finland and Karelia liberated, President Ryti and his government returned to the badly damaged Finnish capital of Helsinki on board of the French light cruiser Lamotte-Picquet. It would take another month before Finland in its entirety was free and by then Murmansk had fallen to the French 12th Army and the Kola Peninsula was at its mercy. Grigory Kulik, Marshal of the Soviet Union could have no hope of defending White Karelia, but instead of reporting the gravity of the situation to STAVKA, he decided to try to halt the Axis forces at Segezha.
The Caucasus
In contrast to all the victories north of Rostov, it became clear during the spring that the situation for the Axis forces in the Caucasus was becoming untenable. In February, the Italian and Romanian forces holding the Novorossisk beach head, carried out further probing attacks and met with surprisingly stiff resistance. Unbeknownst to General Petre Dumitrescu who commanded Axis forces in the Caucasus, General Georgy Zhukov was gathering 15 divisions, to if possible, trap and crush the 6 Romanian and 5 Italians divisions. An attempt to cross the Kuban River on the 13th February met with complete failure but resulted in reports on sightings of a surprising number of Soviet tanks. Filled with misgivings and ignoring orders from Army Group South’s Headquarters, General Dumitrescu ordered his forces to move into defensive position and fortify weak points. This was most fortunate – the Red Army launched its offensive on the 27th February. Dumitrescu’s forces fought valiantly but were slowly driven back toward the Black Sea and Novorossisk. Marshal of France De Gaulle ordered the evacuation of the Caucasus Bridge head on March 15. By April 25th, all Axis forces had crossed Strait of Kerch into safety in Crimea. It was a rare victory, which the Soviet propaganda machine made the most of. Recognising General Dumitrescu’s excellent leadership, Emperor Napoleon rewarded him with the Légion d'honneur (Legion of Honor) as a chevalier de l'empire (Knight of the Empire).
The Russian front on May 25th 1942
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but I wonder... what is doing Monsieur Hadoo meanwhile?
