Briefing: May 1, 1943
Ladies and gentlemen of the Senate,
Although we pay a heavy price for every inch of Nazi territory, rest assured that our boys have done their duties this month, as they do every month. We are within striking distance of key German cities such as Vienna and Munich, while our forces continue to press on Hitler's puppets in Romania and Hungary.
At the beginning of April, General Taylor, Commander of Army Group 'Mediterranean' was ordered to concentrate all of his forces on Bucharest and Ploesti, leaving his other Balkan objectives to the Italians.
General Marshall's First Army was given new orders to press on Budapest and Pecs.
Our Ambassador to Hungary also formally informed Admiral Horthy of our demands for unconditional surrender, which would include a military government until such time as the Magyar people may exercise their rights of self-determination.
On April 4th, General Geiger's Second USMC was formally made part of Army Group 'France' and ordered to assist with seizing the key ports of Cherbourg and Brest. A few days later, the final German forces in Norway surrendered, and preparations were made to extract the final American divisions from Norway and insert them into France.
Speaking of clearing out the remaining German forces in an area, April 9 marked the assault of the final German forces in Greece by 26th and 36th Infantry Division in Tripolis. A week later, all American commanders sent in their mid-month reports.
General Marshall reported capturing the key city of Pecs in Hungary, and planned to push hard on the Hungarian capital of Budapest.
In France, only Brest remained outside of American control of the original American objectives.
In Germany and Romania, commanders were too busy fighting the Germans to send in their reports; they did promise to send reports in another week or so, and that's exactly what they did. By April 19, General Clark's Army Group 'France' had captured Brest and were given new objectives, including the French capital of Paris.
As long as Vichy stays neutral, all German forces in France should be trapped or forced to return to German soil.
On April 21, General Marshall's status report showed American forces tantalizingly close to Budapest.
While General Taylor was less enthusiastic about American progress in Romania -- mostly thanks to German reinforcements using the Romanian flag -- he did point out two large pockets of German forces; in the southern pocket, an as yet unidentified Nazi general was completely surrounded.
In France, General Clark reported a brief delay while his forces gathered to punch through German lines; he has expressed wishes that the new stateside reinforcements be sent to his theater.
By early this morning, all theaters -- except for General Taylor's -- reported significant progress in seizing their objectives.
Generalissimo Stalin sent his regards as well, at least conceding that American forces were better used in France than Leningrad; he is optimistic that the Red Army will reclaim the Soviet Union's "second city" by the end of 1943.
The most exciting news came from Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, who informed me that Manchukuo will fall before the end of May and that they will almost certainly have Japan out of the Asian mainland by the end of June.
Technologies learned: Single Engine Aircraft Armament 3, Four Engine Airframe 3, Air Launched Torpedo 3, Industrial Efficiency 7, Carrier Group Doctrine 4, Carrier Crew Training 4, Naval Underway Replenishment 4, Submarine Crew Training 2
Convoys lost (transports/escorts): 7/3 (by Japan)
Units built: 1 infantry division (3 x INF, 2 x ART) and 7 infantry divisions (2 x INF, 2 x ART) deployed to Norfolk, VA
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There's only one thing we need to vote on this week, and it's something I've been muddling through for a while: should we extend updates to two months or keep them at one month? Since I'm mostly just giving you guys maps, I don't need to bother with so many screenshots for one month.
Vote either
two months or
one month; the poll will close
Sunday at 10 PM (-6 GMT).