Briefing: January 1, 1943
Ladies and gentlemen, after my briefing, the President will speak to you about the 1943 budget, so please don't stray.
At the beginning of December, our British allies returned the remainder of our expeditionary force; 9th and 11th Corps were ordered to Alexandria, Egypt, to prepare to travel to Greece. In the early hours of December 1, our one and only naval battle in the Pacific proved bloody for both sides, although we think we got the better of the Japanese.
December was mostly a month of repairs and recuperation in the Pacific Theater. Early projections have us moving on to the next step in the Pacific, Operation Belligerence, either at the end of January or beginning of February.
In Europe, however, things were much more exciting. In Greece, while elements of 2nd Army poured into Athens, a German counter attack prevented a breakout. Although they had no real chance of winning, the Germans did significantly delay our further operations in the Balkan Peninsula. General Taylor, Commanding Officer Mediterranean, was ordered to move towards Thessaloniki and Tirane as soon as he could.
In Austria, we faced very stiff competition. Munich was practically a stone's throw away, but the combination of fierce resistance and difficult terrain made seizing the German radar stations there a very difficult proposition. The battle of Spittal is just one example of the brutal fighting, with serious losses for both sides.
December 4 saw a rare period of movement in the southern Alps and a number of German divisions heading east, perhaps to deal with the Soviet Union? We can only hope that is so.
On December 5, 11th Corps boarded TRG 'Providence', headed for Athens. 11th Corps was composed of three crack divisions itching for a fight after months of garrison duty in the Middle East. December 7 marked a significant victory over the Axis in Athens; the attempted breakout wouldn't last long, as another counterattack was on the way.
On December 12, we learned why the Nazis were shifting troops east; their Romanian allies were taking their places in the west. While American positions were secure, despite plenty of bloodshed, advancing was nearly impossible.
Two days later, the Secretary of State began spending our influence in Turkey, to prevent them from extending our border with the Axis even farther. Although this did slow down some of our research, the President judged such a mission to be vital to our troops in the Balkans and central Europe. We can still research 35 projects concurrently, so the delay should be relatively light.
In Norway, the winter had completely stopped most American and German movement. Reconnaissance flights continued intermittently, but that was it. Much more alarming, we found that Romania had made significant progress against the Soviet Union, seizing Sevastopol and moving east towards the Caucasus. Soviet and Italian troops ((seriously)) opposed the landing, but the speed of the Romanian advance was nonetheless a nasty shock.
There was finally some good news in the Balkans; by December 16, American forces were driving German and Hungarian troops north before them.
They were not moving nearly so quickly in Austria, however. Another loss at Nova Gorica weakened American lines, which bent but did not -- quite -- break.
By Executive Order, the President shifted our resources from Upgrades to Production on December 20. In the Balkans, American troops rapidly approached Thessaloniki, although a division of Hungarian infantry proved difficult to dislodge near Astakos.
General Taylor had a particularly nasty Christmas gift for the Axis; a landing in Tirane with the 2nd USMC. To our surprise, the landing was completely unopposed. General Geiger was attached to 2nd Army and sent the Marines to seize more provinces in the enemy rear, the objective being trapping German and Hungarian forces between a hammer and anvil.
American troops rang in the New Year throughout the world in different ways. In Norway, they mostly tried to keep warm as best they could, waiting for the devilish winter to break.
In Austria and southern Germany, American troops enjoyed a brief respite from the murderous slog through hostile opposition and even more hostile terrain. Munich seemed ever closer, yet also ever farther.
American observers in Moscow and Beijing told two very different stories: one of despair and one of impending triumph.
The one unequivocal American success was in the Balkans; American soldiers enjoyed ouzo and baklava from some of our kind Greek hosts.
That's all I have, Senators. Enjoy your New Year, and spare a thought for our soldiers, whom we'd all like to bring home before Christmas!
Technologies learned: Blitzkrieg 3, Spearhead Doctrine, Large Air Search Radar 2, Interception Tactics 5, Spotting 4
Units built: 2 x INT (New York, NY)
Units beginning construction: 1 Infantry Division (3 x INF, 2 x ART)
Convoys lost (transports/escorts): 2/0 (by Japan)
Convoys sunk (transports/escorts): 45/35 (Japanese)
Warships lost: 1 x CL, 2 x DD (by Japan)
Warships sunk: 1 x CVL, 1 x DD (Japanese)
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Thank you, Admiral Leahy, for that excellent report. I know my thoughts and prayers are with our boys overseas.
Senators, it is time to decide the budget for FY 1943. As we speak, I am confident Admiral Standley ((Saithis), General Craig ((PvtPrivate)) and Secretary Grumman ((son of liberty)) are preparing their cases for the ultimate budget I will present to you next week. While we await their estimates, we have some other business to discuss.
Prime Minister Churchill called me yesterday and assured me that the British people are behind us in our fight. He wanted to know if there were any particular areas of concern he would like us to exist. ((Essentially, set Allied objectives for the British, who are a lazy bunch of do-nothings who haven't left their island since France fell.
))
As Second Army continues to advance into the Balkans, we have a key choice to make: continue north, join up with 1st and 4th Army to push farther into southern Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia, or move east to attack and take Romania and Hungary out of the war? The elimination of Romania would be particularly helpful to our friends in the Soviet Union.
As always, anybody has any proposals they'd like to share, please bring them to my attention and I will consider them carefully.
Thank you all, and God Bless America!
President Willkie
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Saithis, PvtPrivate, and son of liberty, I want you all to design tech budgets as if you had all 35 LS and build queues as if you had all 458 IC; based on the proposals, I'll set what you'll actually get. My general train of thought, at the moment, is more for the Army, since we need more boots on the ground. I'll wait until I hear from you before I formally present the budget. For the first time, I'll give a rough idea of what each person has recommended when I send along the plans. Don't forget that you can alter existing build queues or tech queues if you like.
Everyone else, here's specifically what you need to vote on.
1. Where to set British allied objectives (open to suggestions here).
2. What to do with Second Army (north to pressure Germany or east to take out the Balkan minors).
PvtPrivate, we need to decide what to do with First Army at Venice; right now, they're just defending, and I think we could throw them into the fight. Have preliminary plans for Hungary and Romania as well
I'd like initial proposals by next
Saturday at 10 PM (-6 GMT), with the current poll to close by then as well. I'll put a couple of budget variants on the table once I have the proposals.