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The World, the War and the Reich: A German HPP AAR

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I just found this AAR yesterday. I have to say that I really like your graphics. I really know how much work goes into such things, and I don't know if I would be able to keep up this level of quality graphics throughout an AAR. Anyway, I"m all caught up now, consider me subscribed...

About your concerns about readership, I feel like there are a lot of lurkers on this forum, and I understand where they come from, I have been a lurker for ages. until I started my own AAR, and I realised how nice it is to get comments and feedback. The best ways to attract the more active commenter are probably to read and comment on other people's AARs, and to respond to every single comment. (A good way to keep this in order once you get longer and/or more comments is to group replies as to not fill entire pages with comments and replies etc. I'd say that would be one of those 'good problems' to have). Something else to bear in mind is that commenting takes more time than reading. If I really don't have a lot of time, I will read updates, but not comment for a while, and then return once I have more time available.

Great job on the invasion of Poland, keep up the good work. P.S. I love that you're building a strong German navy. There was a great AAR by @sebas379 dedicated to just that topic, some years ago: Hochseeflotte - The German Battlefleet of the Second World War | Paradox Interactive Forums I found that one quite interesting, it's very premise was the construction of a very powerful navy, Battleship based iirc. and it actually worked out really well.

I'm looking forward to some naval action, and some more masterful encirclements. Let's see how your Germany stacks up against the Worker's Paradise of which the flag is proudly portrayed above your forum name... Will you slay the bear, or will it use hibernation and it's seemingly endless supply of claws to it's advantage? (I know, bad bear puns... I should know better... I can't help myself)
 
Love the hard work and attention to detail on this AAR Anthonest. I stumbled upon this accidentally and I'm glad I did! I always enjoy a pretty looking AAR.
 
robw963 said:
Love the hard work and attention to detail on this AAR Anthonest. I stumbled upon this accidentally and I'm glad I did! I always enjoy a pretty looking AAR.
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Thanks Rob, means a lot. You happen to be my prime inspiration for this AAR.
 
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PRELUDE:
Poland had been reborn as an independent nation after the Great War and the collapse of Austria-Hungary, the Russian Empire, and the German Empire. Polish borders had been partly re-established by the Versailles treaty.

During the course of the Polish-Soviet War (1919-20), Poland had been forced to rely on her own resources as help from the Western Allies had been slow in coming or had actively blocked by pro-communist unions in Europe. Because of the Polish-Soviet war and continuing Soviet efforts at infiltration thereafter, Polish military and political planning focused primarily on a future conflict with the Soviets. To this end, the Poles developed alliances with Romania and Latvia. Poland's policy toward Germany was based on her alliance with France, the problem with the French alliance, as far as the Poles were concerned, was the instability in French politics which resulted in constant indecision about the eastern alliances. As governments rose and fell in regular succession, French policies toward Poland and other allies changed.

German military leaders had begun planning for war with Poland as early as the mid 1920s. Recovering the ethnically Polish territory of Pomerania, Poznan, and Silesia, as well as the largely German Free City of Danzig were the major objectives. Nevertheless, the restrictions of Versailles and Germany's internal weakness made such plans impossible to realize. Hitler's rise to power in 1933 capitalized on German's desire to regain lost territories, to which Nazi leaders added the goal of destroying an independent Poland.

The Munich Pact dramatically increased Poland's danger. At the last minute, the Poles and Czechs had attempted to patch up their differences. The Czechs would give up disputed territory taken in 1919 and half ownership in the Skoda arms works in exchange for Polish military intervention in the case of German attack. The Munich Pact, however, closed this option and Poland sent its troops to forcibly occupy the territory of Teschen and the nearby Bohumin rail junction to keep it out of German hands.

After Hitler violated the Munich treaty, Poland was able to extract guarantees of military assistance from France, and significantly, Britain. In March 1939, Hitler began to make demands on Poland for the return of territory in the Polish Corridor, cessation of Polish rights in Danzig, and annexation of the Free City to Germany. These Poland categorically rejected. As negotiations continued, both sides prepared for war.

German demands sent to Poland on 25 Aug 1939 were the following.

• The return of Danzig to Germany
• Rail and road access across the corridor between Germany and East Prussia
• The cession to Germany any Polish territory formerly of pre-WW1 Germany that hosted 75% or more ethnic Germans
• An international board to discuss the cession of the Polish Corridor to Germany



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The Invasion of Poland, known to Polish officials as the September Campaign or the 1939 Defensive War, and in Germany as the Poland Campaign or Fall Weiss ("Case White") The German invasion began on 11 September 1939, after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. The campaign ended on 27 September with Germany and the Soviet Union dividing and annexing the whole of Poland under the terms of the German–Soviet Frontier Treaty.

German forces invaded Poland from the north and west the morning after the Gleiwitz incident. As the Wehrmacht advanced, Polish forces withdrew from their forward bases of operation close to the Polish–German border to more established lines of defense to the east. From the moment the campaign begun we had an undisputed advantage, mostly due the overwhelming mobility of the Wehrmacht's Panzers. Polish forces then withdrew to the southeast where they prepared for a long defense of the Romanian Bridgehead and awaited expected support and relief from France and the United Kingdom. While those two countries had pacts with Poland and had declared war on Germany on 3 September, in the end their aid to Poland was very limited.

The Polish forces hadn't expected our armor to be so concentrated, and thus dispersed their forces along a wide front, the result of this decision was several decisive breakthroughs by the Wehrmacht during the opening week of the campaign. As the Poles attempted to fall back to the Vistula River, many were gradually enveloped and pocketed by our Panzers. By the time the majority of the Polish defenders had reached the eastern banks of the Vistula, our forces had already crossed the river in several locations.

By 25 September, more than a third of the entire Polish army existed in pockets hundreds of kilometers behind the front line, by 27 September, 300,000 of these pocketed troops had surrendered. The same day, the government of the Second Polish Republic, with no where to escape, surrendered unconditionally to German authorities.


THE TORUN POCKET:
The Torun pocket was a result of the Polish persistence to hold the city of Danzig, and their bullheaded defense would cost them dearly. During the first few days of the Invasion, Danzig was the focus of German offensives, being the closest major city to the frontline. By 20 September, Danzig had fallen, and a strong armored spearhead from the south of the Torun region was threatening to cut off 150,000 Polish defenders from their country. After the pocket was formed, German forces advanced inwards from all directions, until finally on 25 September, they had been reduced to defending a single city, the city of Torun.


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The pocket had been squeezed to its breaking point by 26 September, and the surrender of all Polish forces was only hours away. During the earliest hours of 27 September, the city of Torun was captured, and the defenders surrendered en masse from their last meager holdings. The Torun pocket can be recognized a resounding and decisive success in the face of our Great War experiences. The Torun pocket was the largest encirclement of Polish forces during the campaign.

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THE BATTLE OF WARSAW:
The Battle of Warsaw was fought between the Polish Warsaw Army (Armia Warszawa) garrisoned and entrenched in the capital of Poland and the invading German Army. It began with huge aerial bombardments initiated by the Luftwaffe starting on September 11, 1939 following the invasion of Poland. Land fighting started on September 15, when the first German armored units reached the Wola district and south-western suburbs of the city.

By 16 September, the city was enveloped on all sides west of the Vistula river, and armor from the north and south were threatening to seal off the eastern portion of the city. By 24 September, the city had been completely encircled, however the effect of this was negligible, as German forces had already captured more than 50% of the city and all of the Suburban areas. The battle ended on 27 September with the capitulation of all Polish armed forces.


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TOTAL CASUALTIES:

Republic of Poland
60,000 Dead
125,000 Wounded
450,000 Captured
(950,000 Captured if you include the dissolution of the Polish army)
Total: 635,000 Casualties

German Reich:
9,000 Dead
32,000 Wounded
Total: 41,000 Casualties


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Nice little overview of the campaign.
 
Holy shit those graphics, though... and I thought mine were nifty...
 
An order of magnitude more casualties, that's pretty bad.
 
those dynamic maps are great!
 
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Part XIV.
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OPERATION WESERÜBUNG:
Our economy relies on over 11 million tons of iron ore imported from Sweden every year. During the warm months, there is little concern regarding the transportation of the ore into Germany, as the railways were clear of snow and the Swedish Baltic ports free of ice. In the winter, however, the Swedish ore is forced to take a westward overland route into Norway, where it would board freighters for a southward coast-hugging voyage. This arrangement worked for as long as Norway stayed out of the war. The Altmark incident on 5 October, 1939, in which Norwegian gunboats stood by and allowed a British destroyer to board a German transport, however, changed the German viewpoint. The Norwegian lack of response in this particular incident meant, in Adolf Hitler's mind, that a meek Norway could easily fall prey to an Allied invasion, which in turn would close off this important iron ore supply route. Furthermore, should the Allies embark on an invasion of Norway, it was difficult to predict whether Sweden would be included in the invasion plans as well. Hitler, therefore, decided that Germany must act first.

The October 13, 1939 announcement of the naval mining gave us the perfect excuse to launch an invasion, responding to Britain's first strike. The plan would include both Denmark and Norway, and the invasion would begin on the very following day, 14 Oct 1939. This seemingly impossible rate of reaction was, of course, not so impossible, as we had long since planned for such an invasion and occupation.


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28 SEPTEMBER - 13 OCTOBER:
The occupation of Poland will be short lived as the Fuhrer has plans for a full annexation of the Polish nation. Even before Poland was defeated, however, the I. Armeekorps commanded by Generaloberst von Küchler, an intelligent man. he distinguished himself above many others during the Polish Campaign as commander of the I. Panzerkorps, which sealed off the Torun pocket during the opening days of the invasion. The I. Armeekorps also distinguished themselves during the invasion of Poland, the 21st and 17th Infantry Divisions both fought in the Battle of Danzig, arguably the most brutal battle of the campaign. The newly organised I. AK under the command of General von Küchler have been tasked with the Invasion of Denmark and Norway.

The Baltischeflotte has been based in Kiel sense the Polish capitulation, the fleet will be instrumental in the capture of Denmark and Norway. Großadmiral Erich Raeder, has reorganized the available ships of the Kriegsmarine into one powerful and capable fleet, with one small reserve fleet. The new Baltischeflotte is capable of demolishing any Danish or Norwegian fleet. Raeder's fleet will provide coastal fire support during the invasion of Denmark, and will directly shield our forces landing on Norwegian coasts.

On October 5th, 1939, the German tanker, Altmark was boarded by a British destroyer in neutral Norwegian waters. British naval forces cornered the tanker and later the destroyer Cossack attacked the German ship, killing eight German seamen with firearms and wounding ten others, five of them seriously. A British and a Norwegian sailor was also seriously wounded in the action. The attack was a grave violation of international law and of Norwegian neutrality, and we would use it to our advantage. the long-planned Operation Wilfred was put into action by the British on October 13th, and the Royal Navy detachment left port in order to mine Norwegian waters. The mine fields were laid, our invasion would be well under way.


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14 OCTOBER:
Strategically, Denmark's importance to Germany was as a staging area for operations in Norway, and of course as a border nation to Germany which would have to be controlled in some way. Given Denmark's position in relation to the Baltic Sea the country was also important for the control of naval and shipping access to major German and Soviet harbors.

At 04:00 on 14 October 1939, the German ambassador to Denmark called the Danish Foreign Minister Peter Munch and requested a meeting with him. We declared that German troops were at that moment moving in to occupy Denmark to protect the country from Franco-British attack. The German ambassador demanded that Danish resistance cease immediately and contact be made between Danish authorities and the German armed forces. If the demands were not met, the Luftwaffe would bomb the capital, Copenhagen. As our demands were communicated, the first advances had already been made, with forces landing by ferry in Gedser at 03:55 and moving north. Experimental paratrooper units had made unopposed landings and taken two airfields at Aalborg, the Storstrøm Bridge as well as the fortress of Masnedø, the latter being the first recorded attack in the world made by paratroopers.

At 04:20 local time, a reinforced battalion of infantrymen from the 308th Regiment landed in Copenhagen harbor from the minelayer Hansestadt Danzig, quickly capturing the Danish garrison at the Citadel without encountering resistance. From the harbor, they moved toward Amalienborg Palace to capture the Danish royal family. The first attack on Amalienborg was repulsed, giving Christian X and his ministers time to confer with the Danish Army chief General Prior. As the discussions were ongoing, several formations of Heinkel He 111 and Dornier Do 17 bombers roared over the city dropping OPROP! leaflets.

At 05:25, two squadrons of German Bf 110s attacked Værløse airfield on Zealand and neutralised the Danish Army Air Service by strafing. Despite Danish anti-aircraft fire, the German fighters destroyed ten Danish aircraft and seriously damaged another fourteen, thereby wiping out half of the entire Army Air Service. Faced with the explicit threat of the Luftwaffe bombing the civilian population of Copenhagen, the King Christian X and the entire Danish government capitulated at approximately 06:00 in exchange for retaining political independence in domestic matters.


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Poor Denmark never has much chance.
 
so, will you conquest Sweden as well?
 
stnylan said:
Poor Denmark never has much chance.
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In the HPP mod they are actually scripted to surrender within a few days of German troops invading their soil. This is still actually a longer resistance than IRL where Denmark surrendered in, IIRC, nine hours.
 
No worries.
 
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