Briefing to Congress for February 1, 1942
((Henceforth, apart from the twice yearly States of the Union, I will be responding in the guise of the Presidential Chief of Staff, not as the President.))
Ladies and Gentlemen of Congress,
I have been instructed by President Willkie to brief Congress once a month on our war progress. I am pleased to answer any questions you may have at the end of my briefing; I will also attach a unit production and technical supplement to every briefing, for distribution to all Senators. I will remind you that what you are reading falls under the Espionage Act, and that the punishments for divulging this information are severe. We do not want our enemies knowing our plans or our losses.
At the beginning of January, funds were allocated to the production of new units. In particular, a new Marine Corps of five divisions ((3 MAR x 1 ENG)), substantially expanded transport capacity ((3 parallel transports on a near perpetual run)), four new battleships, two additional carriers, and screening elements for our naval forces have been prioritized. Our air force will receive a constant stream, including a wing of strategic bombers and two wings of interceptors as quickly as our factories can produce them. Per General Craig's orders, anti-aircraft brigades have already been distributed to some of our forces remaining in the United States awaiting transit to the United Kingdom.
The First Battle of Trondheim, although it did not go as well as it possibly could have, still showed a minimum of American casualties.
According to General MacArthur's new plan, the weakened 7th Army Corps was transferred to the First Army, which was not to reenter the fray for a brief period. The Second US Armored Corps was disbanded, with its component troops merged into the First US Armored Corps. SAG 'Nevada', which the Brits had graciously supplied during the disastrous events of December, was also transferred to Manila, where it would take on new fuel before its ultimate destination: Guam. At 1400 hrs on New Year's Day, SAG 'Montana' engaged Japanese forces at the Battle of Arakane Reef. The battle was inconclusive.
On January 4, 1942, American forces landed at Afjord and Brekstad. Units landed included US Special Forces and the Third US Army Corps. The 82nd Airborne Division did not participate in the assault, due to logistical problems in the United Kingdom. Elements of these forces engaged the German position at Trondheim while the remaining units encircled the Norwegian port.
Even though the opposition only consisted of six brigades, the brutal Norwegian winter and difficult terrain slowed down the American advance considerably. Meanwhile, in the Pacific, a second Battle of the Arakane Reef was more decisive; the battle was a strategic victory in that the Japanese forces had to flee, but Japanese CAGs inflicted some serious punishment on the American fleet.
On January 5th, Turkey announced its decision to mobilize their forces; as Turkey is as yet unaligned, it is unclear why they are doing so. January 7th marked the turning point in the European Theater; the 15th and 16th Infantry Division routed German forces at the Battle of Storen while the invasion of Gibraltar began minutes later.
A few hours later, additional landings were made in southern Norway, entirely unopposed by German forces.
The best news of the war thus far was received at 1800 hrs on January 8th; the Italian general had surrendered and Gibraltar was returned to the United Kingdom. Mr. Churchill has graciously allowed us to use the restored British port to stage further invasions of North Africa. Orders have already gone out to ship the Atlantic Southern Command directly to Gibraltar, which is much faster than sending them to the UK first.
Later that same day, American forces moved to seize the critical ports of Bergen and Stavanger; this would also allow us to use the airbase at Bergen to attack other parts of Norway and northern Germany. The Germans attempted to break the American stronghold at Afjord but were quickly repulsed.
On January 14, with Bergen and Stavanger secured, American aircraft were shipped to Bergen's air force base. Our tactical bombers carried ground attacks on Trondheim, attempting to break the stalemate there, while American fighters patrolled southern Norway. Our strategic bombers hammered Oslo, although German engineers repaired the damage depressingly fast.
We finally got some good news in the Pacific on January 15, as Nationalist China formally joined the Allied cause, giving us more detailed intelligence on Japanese forces in China; the briefing packet contains specifics for those interested.
The next day, SAG 'New York' sighted a single squadron of Italian submarines; the Italian commander ran as quickly as he could. I can just imagine the terrified look on his face as an entire American fleet popped up unexpectedly!
On January 18, American strategic bombers destroyed the German airfield at Fredrikshavn; they would later assist tactical bombers in Trondheim at attacking enemy ground troops. Our own submarines had no choice but to scurry away when they were engaged by two Japanese carriers on January 24; the damage is still undergoing repairs at the present time. A day later, a clash between SAGs 'Nevada' and 'Montana' inflicted our first Japanese victory of the month: the sinking of the cruiser
Kako. Unfortunately, the Japanese responded quickly, sinking two American submarine squadrons and a British destroyer flotilla.
Some in the high command assure me that the Japanese task force would never have spotted our subs without the British destroyer; in fact, since the British did not coordinated with us on this matter, we should be glad that the subs did not sink the British destroyer themselves! Two more American destroyer divisions were lost a day later from those damnable Japanese CAGs, while Japanese ships finished off another destroyer division and the USS
Marblehead. We must find a way to combat Japanese naval air power!
With the paperwork snafu finally cleared up, the 82nd Airborne Division landed in Afjord on January 29. The remainder of the Atlantic Northern Command waits in Bergen for further orders. They, as yet, lack the capability to make proper airdrops, but I am told that the newest cargo hold designs just completed will enable us to do this in the very near future. They have not yet attacked German positions at Trondheim, although an additional infantry division has on by executive order in an attempt to break the stalemate. This is the situation in Trondheim as of earlier this morning:
Bombing runs have been called off briefly to allow organization to recover; while German AA has done little damage at this point, there are morale concerns. Worse, without access to a port, American troops are running slow on supplies. Here is a more general snapshot of the European and Asian theaters.
It would seem that the infamous Russian winter has slowed operations; the Soviets are not appreciably farther into Poland as they were at the end of December. The Chinese are responding to the Japanese invasion, but the penetration is a little deeper now; I must confess that our earlier projections of the Japanese loss of Korea may have been too optimistic. Make no mistake, Senators, we have made considerable progress in our operations to take Norway and Gibraltar. Trondheim remains the sole black spot in Norway; with Gibraltar secured, we must only await the transport of the remaining American forces there to begin attacking the Italians in North Africa. That said, the Japanese navy is absolutely destroying our forces in the Pacific; I have cancelled all combat patrols until reinforcements arrive. Submarines remain active to attack Japanese commerce; we've had some success there, but not much.
I now await your questions, comments, and concerns as we prepare for a new month of action.
Techs completed: Carrier Task Force, Anti-Tank Barrel and Sights 3, Agriculture 7, Destroyer Engine 3, Small Fuel Tank 3, Strategic Bombardment Tactics 4, Cargo Hold 3
Units produced: 6 x AA brigades (deployed to New York), 3 x AA brigade (deployed to Norfolk), 2 x strategic bombers (deployed to Boston)
Units lost: 6 x destroyer squadrons, 2 x submarine squadrons, 1 x cruiser; 1 x destroyer squadron (British)
Units destroyed: 1 x cruiser (Japanese)
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I've updated the link for the 2/1/42 save on the original post.
General MacArthur, we need to do something about Trondheim. Whether it's expanding our supply lines, flying supplies in via transport, or even abandoning Trondheim for the moment, we will probably lose in the coming months without a change in strategy. This is through no fault of yours; I think we all underestimated the effects of the winter up north. Bombing has been somewhat effective -- I would estimate 50 casualties per run, for a total of approximately 500 German lives -- but we'll need something dramatically new. German divisions have been spotted near, but not in, Oslo -- perhaps our Paratroopers could be of use there? ((If somebody wants to check, I'm still not sure whether or not we can transport all four brigades yet with our current cargo hold tech)).
General Bradley, Buckler is not working as presently envisaged. We've lost no territory, but have lost considerable screening elements. I cannot figure out why Japanese CAGs are so effective and our own CAGs so... ineffective. One Japanese ship lost for dozens of American ships is not an acceptable trade off. ((Honestly, I think we might be best served by simply hiding until we get the elements to start island hopping.))
I await revised plans for Tinderbox and Buckler; we may be able to begin North African operations in February if transport is completed by then.
If Senators have any bills they wish to propose, please do so by
Thursday at 10 PM CST (-6 GMT). If possible, I'd like the revised plans by then as well.