Battlefield Europe - Barbarossa Redux (Level General)

[GeneralWerner]

Berlin – June 20 1941 – Hauptquartier der Deutschen Wehrmacht

Secret meeting between Generalfeldmarschall Karl Mankewitz, his military advisors and the leaders of the German Heer, Marine and Luftwaffe to explain the new global Wehrmacht strategy.

Generalfeldmarschall Mankewitz talking:

“Meine Herren,
we face a great historical challenge that will finally prove the outstanding military power of the German Wehrmacht.

Our secret service tells us that we can surprise the Red Army completely. Our troops in the east are ready and we will never get a better chance to attack the Soviets. If we would shrink back now from our attack I am quite sure, Stalin will soon attack us. So we have to attack in the east now.

But, meine Herren, believe me. We can’t win the war in the east as long as the British Empire is standing in our back, growing in strength day by day. Thus our overall strategy in this war is named “England zuerst” (England first). I know the English mentality, I know Churchill’s will to fight. Hitler thought he could find an agreement with England. Forget it! The Empire will never accept a competitor in Europe. They will by all means try to destroy us. But they will not be able to do this because we will destroy them first.

Our primary targets in the west are:

Repair and prepare our fleet for operation Sea Lion.

Prepare and start operation Sea Lion latest spring of 1942. The invasion troops will be protected by our Kriegsmarine, the U-Boot-Waffe and the Luftwaffe. About the landing zone, OKW will make its decision until end of 1941.

The Afrika Korps will get significant reinforcements with tank and anti-tank units as quick as possible. The Italian fleet will support the Afrika Korps.

The Italian Airforce and the German Luftwaffe will attack the British ships in the Mediterranean Sea and will bomb Malta until it can be occupied by Italian troops.

We plan the occupation of Cyprus in 1941 with troops from Crete. We need the airport for optional invasions near the Suez Channel or in Near East to have the opportunity to fall Field Marshal Montgommery’s troops in the back.

It is clear that we need to remove especially many forces of the Luftwaffe from the eastern front. But we will do this not until the Soviet Air Force is destroyed and we broke through the Red Army defense lines. We will keep a small segment of the Luftwaffe at the eastern front. Nevertheless I am totally convinced that General Hoth and General Guderian will show Stalin how Blitzkrieg is really working. Meine Herren, I expect you to invite me to celebrate the new year 1942 in Moscow.

Our primary targets in the east are:

Destroy the Soviet Air Force and as many of the unprepared Soviet Army Units as possible.

Move as quickly as possible in the direction of Moscow and capture the city in fall 1941. Prepare a stable defense for the winter 41/42 by shortening the front line where possible and extract forces from the east front to transfer them to France for operation Sea Lion.

We will bypass the cities and fortresses in the south like Odessa or Sevastopol to move as quickly and as far as possible in the USSR. Same for Leningrad in the north. We can conquer these isolated Russian bases later. Our Romanian ally will support this attack and help to secure our supply routes.

Our foreign minister will make every effort to convince the Japanese emperor to attack the Soviet Union, binding the Siberian forces far in the east.

Red: Attacking / Blue: Defending / Yellow: Air Force movements / Stars: Main targets for 1941 -> Malta, Cyprus, Moscow

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That’s all for today. You have your orders.
Auf guten Erfolg, meine Herren!”

[JimmyC]

You are quick to give it another go. But now that you have more knowledge, i am sure you can do a lot better. Your plan sounds like a good one too. I am looking forward to reading about your progress.

[GeneralWerner]

Of course I am eager now to use the experience to show a better performance on the battle field (The Anglo-Americans have punished me with their planes once to much!" )
But for sure I will not play in the same speed as before, so updates will come not as often as in the past.

[GeneralWerner]

Moscow – January 1 1942 00:01 – The Kremlin

Generalfeldmarschall Mankewitz is standing in the Kremlin together with General Hoth, General Guderian and many more officers of the Wehrmacht and the Axis allies. Even a delegation from Japan has arrived to celebrate the new year 1942.

Generalfeldmarschall Mankewitz is lifting his glass: “Dear guests. Stalin has invited us to celebrate the year 1942 here in his Kremlin. Unfortunately he is busy somewhere else – some told me, he is in the eastern part of Moscow, others told me he has already left the city - trying to kick us out of Moscow again. But we will not leave this city in the next 1000 years, believe me. This success was possible due to our perfect cooperation with our allied friends. To show this, I have selected the Spanish Blue Division to get the historical honor to capture the Kremlin. It is not Germany alone that is fighting here. It is the civilized peoples of the united Europe that are freeing the world from the Bolshevism. Come on, let’s go outside to see a really impressive fireworks!”

Generalfeldmarschall Mankewitz is leading his guests to the balconies where they can see the eastern and northern part of Moscow. The city is burning and the front line is not far north of the Kremlin. Even in the late night heavy fighting is going on. The fireworks are indeed the thunders and explosions from the German Karl Mortar and heavy artillery south west of Moscow while from the north east the Russian Stalinorgeln play their furious melody spitting dozens of rockets in the city.

Generalfeldmarschall Mankewitz is satisfied. Often already the first days and weeks of a military campaign decide about glorious success or shameful defeat. Currently the German Wehrmacht has the initiative in Europe and it is essential for the whole war to use this advantage now as best as possible. This campaign could not have been started in a better way and the decisions made to shift many troops proof now to be the right decisions.

Later in the night Generalfeldmarschall Mankewitz is sitting at his desk – maybe it was even Stalin’s desk - and starts to read the newest OKW reports. He is still too excited to go to bed.


Heeresgruppe West and the German Kriegsmarine

The British tried to bomb the Wehrmacht in France in 1941. We have sent our damaged battleships from the French Atlantic coast to the south west where the British bombers could not find them. The repair of this ships was postponed until begin of 42. All replacements and resources are currently used mainly for the east front to guaranty the break through to Moscow.

We have set up several 8,8 Flaks to let the British pay for their bombing. Our fighter and tactical bomber squads from France were all sent to support the fight around Malta.

Three of our U-Boot-Flottillen were fighting Churchill’s ships in the Atlantic. The strategic bomber was called back immediately and transferred to the Mediterranean Sea to support General Rommel against the British battleships.

Our battle fleet in the North Sea is hiding in the Skagerrak and waiting for operation Seelöwe. Some admirals have suggested to send the fleet to the Baltic Sea to defeat the Soviet submarines and even the Soviet battleship near Leningrad. But the bay of Leningrad is heavily mined and we do not want to risk our destroyers in clearing these mines. Thus this idea was rejected.

For the next six month:
In spring 42 operation Seelöwe - the invasion of England - will start. The OKW has decided to invade England in the south east to reduce the risk to be intercepted by the strong British Home Fleet. The attack is planned to start between March and May 42. That means that preparations have to start in January 42 latest.

Preparations for operation Seelöwe:
In December 41 we finally started to repair our Atlantic fleet to have it ready in spring 42. End of December 41 our submarines were called back from the Atlantic for repair and resupply. We have left one Flottille in the Atlantic still fighting British ships to cover this move.
Transfer of the main core of the Luftwaffe from the Mediterranean theatre to France will start latest in February 42.
Transfer of experienced invasion troops from the east front to the beaches of France starts in January 42. Already we started to concentrate our 8,8 Flak batteries at the beaches to have additional protection against the strong Royal Air Force.

Using the snowy weather to start the preparation the French coast for the upcoming invasion of England. Flak and infantry is on the way to the coast.

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Germany, Das Reich
Nothing special to report. Reserves of infantry and antitank units are trained and reinforced to be ready to be sent to the east or to the west if necessary.


The Mediterranean Sea
Main goal is to capture the island Malta and to destroy the British naval vessels in the central and eastern Mediterranean Sea. For that purpose OKW has commanded additional 5 fighters, 2 tactical bomber and 3 strategic bomber squads from France and Romania to Sicily and Crete. They will enforce the Italian Air Force that is already fighting the British planes.

The bombardment of Malta started early in July 41 but the fort is still resisting. Indeed a heroic fight of the British but senseless. There was a long discussion in the OKW whether we should send our best bomber pilot Rudel from the eastern front to Malta. But he would need so long time to arrive that OKW decided to use Rudel’s outstanding talent against the Red Army. The fort is continuously bombed by strategic and tactical bombers. But only after additional bombardment by the Italian fleet the resistance started slowly to crumble. Nevertheless the heavy cannons of the fort were causing severe damage to the Italian ships. Now the fort is out of ammunition for their heavy cannons but still it is not possible to storm it with the Italian infantry that is waiting since months to finish the British reign in Malta.

The fort of Malta is still resisting the bombardments from the air and from the Italian ships.

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Many British battleships and cruisers were sunk by our strong bomber fleet and the Italian fleet. But still there is an ongoing threat by British submarines disturbing our supply routes. And still there are some minor British battleships near Tobruk and in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

The replacement for General Rommel’s Afrika Korps is embarked in south Italy and then going the dangerous way south to the beaches of Libya. We tried to protect these ships with the Italian destroyer fleet.

Our second goal was the occupation of Cyprus (operation Zitrone). We have sent Major Steiner’s Fallschirmjäger from Crete by air transport and two infantry divisions from Greece and Crete by naval transport to invade Cyprus. The Fallschirmjäger were protected by an Italian fighter and accompanied by a German strategic bomber fleet. The plan was first to land the Fallschirmjäger and to sneak in the naval transports at a safe beach. While Major Steiner was landing he reported about British destroyers and possibly also some submarines around Cyprus. Thus the OKW decided to order the naval infantry transports back to Crete. Major Steiner was immediately attacked in the mountains by British infantry but promised to take Cyprus or to die a heroic death. After some days he was victorious and Cyprus now belongs to the Axis.

Cyprus with its airport and harbour is now a serious threat for the British in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. If the OKW will decide to invade the Near East or the area of the Suez Channel, the Army and Air Force troops will be gathered on Cyprus first.

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For the next six month:
Finish Malta. Support Rommel in Tobruk. Destroy the last British naval vessels in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Prepare a small but powerful expedition army in Cyprus with two Fallschirmjäger, two Panzer, two Panzerjäger and an artillery division. This army will be named Kampfgruppe Steiner.



Balkan
The Axis is fighting Partisans. Thus OKW has decided not to use the Greece harbours but to send the whole replacement for Rommel via the Italian harbours. The Wehrmacht infantry division from Athens was embarked and sent to Cyprus to support operation Zitrone.

Nothing special planned for the next six month.

[BiteNibbleChomp]

Looks like things are going well

- BNC

[GeneralWerner]

Afrika Korps
Rommel is repelling the British tanks and infantry at a good position east of Tobruk. The British battleships are a huge danger for the Axis artillery but after continuous attacks with our bombers, most of them are now on the ground of the Mediterranean Sea. In the meantime the enforcement (infantry, artillery, antitank and tanks) are landing near Benghazi.

Continuous resupply for Rommel.

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In the next six month: It is mandatory to capture Tobruk before the Korps is attacking the British in Egypt. When Malta is captured the Italian fleet will finally support Rommel.


Heeresgruppe Nord and Finnish Allies
General Guderian’s Panzer troops were leading the Heeresgruppe Nord in the direction to Moscow north of the Dvina River. His command was to rush as quickly as possible towards the Russian capital and only to fight if it can’t be avoided. Behind Guderian’s tanks the German infantry and artillery was coming to attack and finish the entrenched Red Army forces. We ignored the Leningrad area. Until Guderian’s troops reached Moscow and the winter started the Red Army had no serious counter concept against our attack. Now Guderian is approaching Moscow from the west.

Attack on Moscow from west and from south west.

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Biggest success so far was the encircling of several Soviet armies west of Minsk in the north while the Heeresgruppe Mitte closed the pockets from the south. Many enemy troops surrendered allowing Heeresgruppe Nord and Heeresgruppe Mitte again to move quickly to the east.

The Heeresgruppe Nord kept its fighter and bomber forces. They were even enforced by the finish planes. Many planes of the Red Army Air Force were destroyed on the ground by our surprising attack.

The Finnish troops fight around Petrozavodsk.

Guderian has set up a defense line west of Moscow to repel the strong Russian counterattack. See chapter “Stalin strikes back”.

The plan for the next six month: Take Moscow and build up a stable defense line. Extract troops for operation Seelöwe in the west.


Heeresgruppe Mitte
General Hoth’s Panzer troops were leading the Heeresgruppe Mitte in the direct direction to Moscow through the Minsk - Smolensk area. His command was to rush as quickly as possible towards the Russian capital and only to fight if it can’t be avoided. Behind Hoth’s tanks the German infantry and artillery was coming to attack and to finish the entrenched Red Army forces. Hoth found a way through the Red Army defense and his scout unit has reached the gates of Moscow in September 41. Until Hoth’s troops reached Moscow and the winter started the Red Army had no serious counter concept against our attack. Now Hoth is approaching Moscow from the south west.

Biggest success so far was the Blitzkrieg attack on Gomel from the north destroying strong Russian T34 tanks, artillery and infantry. The attack was leaded by our Stukas and followed by Hoth’s strongest Kampfpanzer. To capture Gomel opened the opportunity to encircle several armies of the Soviets in the Kiev area. The Kiev pocket was closed and the encircled armies surrendered. The OKW rates this as THE milestone to defeat the Red Army and win the war in the east.

The Heeresgruppe Mitte kept its fighter and bomber forces (including the best pilot of the war, Rudel). Many planes of the Red Army Air Force were destroyed on the ground by our surprising attack. As Heeresgruppe Süd has handed over all its planes to the Mediterranean battle field the planes of Heeregruppe Mitte also support Heeresgruppe Süd.

Hoth tried to build a defense line at the Oka River repelling the Russian tanks attacking from east. But the defense line could not be completely connected to the defense line of Heeresgruppe Süd. See chapter “Stalin strikes back”.

The plan for the next six month: Take Moscow and build up a stable defense line. Extract troops for operation Seelöwe in the west.


Heeresgruppe Süd, Romanian&Hungarian&Italian Allies
General von Manstein was leading Heersgruppe Süd in the direction north east to Kiev. His command was to reach and capture the cities at the Dnieper River including Kiev. Heavily defended cities like Odessa or Sevastopol were bypassed and will be captured later.

Biggest success so far was the opportunity to encircle several armies of the Soviets in the Kiev area. The Kiev pocket was closed in the south and in the east and the encircled armies surrendered. The OKW rates this as THE milestone to defeat the Red Army and win the war in the east.

Heeresgruppe Süd has handed over all its planes to the Mediterranean battle field.

Top secret intelligence report concerning the Red Army battle tank T34:
The Panzer of Heeresgruppe Süd were the first ones to fight a new Soviet tank model named T34 that has proven to be superior (!!!) to the Axis tanks. Another T34 battalion was detected and destroyed near Gomel by Heeresgruppe Nord. All these tanks were damaged heavily by our Stukas before they were destroyed by our Panzertruppen.
OKW rates these tanks as a serious danger for our approach in the east. The Red Army counter offensive that started in winter 41/42 is based mainly on T34 tank divisions.

Von Manstein tried to build a defense line from Kursk to Belgorod and Kharkov repelling the Russian tanks attacking from east. But the defense line could not be completely connected to the defense line of Heeresgruppe Mitte at the Oka River. See chapter “Stalin strikes back”.

The Romanian fleet is inactive in the Black Sea. We will use this fleet when we decide to attack Sevastopol.

The plan for the next six month: Build up a stable defense line. Extract troops for operation Seelöwe in the west.


Stalin strikes back – the Russian counter offensive in winter 41/42
The Russian counter offensive has hit mainly Heeresgruppe Nord and Heeresgruppe Mitte. But also Heeresgruppe Süd was attacked by strong Russian troops. The T34 attacked in huge numbers and the German defense was challenged to hold the lines.

Intelligence report from December 31 1941 tell us that the Russians will use the missing link between Heeresgruppe Mitte and Heeresgruppe Süd soon to strike deep in our flank. We will not be able to close the gap in time to prevent this attack.

Blue: Defense line of General Guderian. The two artilleries (orange circles) are positioned at the perfect places to suppress any attack from the north. / Green: Defense line of General Hoth (the troops near Gomel missed to close the defense line to General von Manstein’s troops in the south) / Yellow: Defense line of General von Manstein. / White: Wehrmacht attacking Moscow / Red: Red Army attacking with strong forces. The Gap will soon be used to strike deep in the open flank of the Wehrmacht.

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[GeneralWerner]

Global summary
Following our campaign “England first” the OKW is preparing lethal attacks for 1942 against the British mainland and the British expedition troops in the Mediterranean theatre. Goal is to kick out the British from the war until summer 43.

The start of the eastern campaign went even better than expected. If we capture Moscow there is the hope that the demoralized Russians will surrender. If not we have to slow down our campaign in the east because we will transfer a lot of experienced troops to the English Channel and optional to Cyprus. We are confident to stop the Russian counter offensive latest when the weather allows our Luftwaffe to destroy the T34 tanks. Due to the extremely quick rush to the east there arose a dangerous gap in our defense line. This gap has to be closed as quickly as possible.

Economy minister Speer is ordered to push the German industry to develop new heavy battle tank models that are superior to the Russian tanks. In addition the development of more powerful antitank equipment is mandatory, too.

Blue. Defending / Red: Attacking / Yellow: Red Army and British attacking / Green: Pockets where the Red Army lost hundred thousands of men and a lot of military equipment.

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[GeneralWerner]

Das Reich – May 18 1942 - 06:00 am until 10:00 pm – every radio receiver can listen this message every 10 minutes

“An das Deutsche Volk! Today … May 18 1942, I … Generalfeldmarschall Karl Mankewitz … military leader of the German Wehrmacht … gave the order to immediately start … the invasion of … England, the mainland of the British Empire.

From 04:40 am this morning … our Kriegsmarine, our Luftwaffe and the invasion troops of the Heer … have entered the English Channel in great numbers. We will end the terror from the British bombers … killing thousands of civilian Germans and damaging … our cities.

This fight will be a long fight. And it will undoubted be a hard fight. But if every man … and every woman in Germany … and in the allied Axis countries is doing his duty, we will be … victorious … and end the reign of the criminal British … government.”

[BiteNibbleChomp]

Das Reich – May 18 1942 - 06:00 am until 10:00 pm – every radio receiver can listen this message every 10 minutes

Seems a bit excessive, but hopefully it convinces everyone to work harder! WWI v3.0 should be done tomorrow, so I hope you can be victorious in this war rather quickly!

- BNC

[JimmyC]

Good luck with Sea Lion. From memory I think i invaded around the same time as you. I'm not sure if it was scripted or just a coincidence, but during the invasion i had a 12 strength British battleship and 2 destroyers do a suicide run down the channel, which I thought was pretty cool.

Don’t make the same mistake as me and simply rely on fighter cover for your ground troops. It really helps if you have at least 1 AA.

And don’t pull out too much hair over those damned hidden mines!

[GeneralWerner]

Don't worry. I will go nowhere without my 8,8ers.

[GeneralWerner]

Berlin – August 1 1942 – Headquarter of the OKW

Generalfeldmarschall Mankewitz is standing at the window looking at the German Reichstag. On one side he is very satisfied with the progress of the war. The invasion of England has completed the first critical phases and the victory seems within reach. Also Tobruk will soon be captured. But in the east the problems are growing every day. It was expected that the transfer of so many troops of the eastern front to the western will slow down the speed in the east. But now it is clear that the OKW has underrated the military strength of the Red Army. After celebrating the new year 1942 in Moscow it took unbelievable 5 month more for some of the best troops of the Wehrmacht to capture the whole city. The Russian counter attacks became stronger and stronger at Moscow and along the whole eastern front line. They have sent endless waves of tanks and infantry against the Wehrmacht. And now came in the message that the Romanian Black Sea fleet was destroyed by the Russian Navy. Urgently it is necessary to defeat England and to send the troops back to the east.

Generalfeldmarschall Mankewitz is sitting down at his desk and starts to read the newest OKW reports.


Heeresgruppe West and the German Kriegsmarine

Operation Seelöwe
In May 42 our two fleets of the Kriegsmarine blocked the English Channel in the west and in the east. On May 18 the first German troops landed at the beaches southeast of London. The German Luftwaffe covered all invasion troops to protect them from the dreaded British bomber forces.
The invasion troops of the German Heer include:
6x experienced Panzer divisions coming from the eastern front (1200 tanks)
16x experienced Grenadier divisions* (most of them also coming from the east) (350.000 men)
2x Gebirgsjäger divisions* (20.000 men)
2x Pioneer divisions* (20.000 men)
4x Artillery divisions (400 units)
2x AT division (400 units)
2x AA division (200 units)
1x Scout division (200 units)

Seelöwe May 18: The highest density of German and Allied troops so far seen in this war. Two defence lines (first line mainly with submarines, second line with battleships) prevent the English Home fleet in the east to enter the Channel. In the west the setup is similar. The Luftwaffe in combination with strong 8,8 Flak at the French beaches are protecting the invasion fleet. Nevertheless heavy casualties of the Sturmtruppen (assault troops) entering British soil are expected.

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The following sequence of targets for the first invasion phase was defined by the OKW:
1) Weaken the Royal Air Force by destroying the radar stations with ship artillery. The German fighters stay passive covering the fleet and the German bridgehead.
2) Suppress the artillery and AA units in London with ship artillery while the Sturmtruppen attack London from the south
3) Capture and defend the airport at the south coast with Panzertruppen
4) Bring in more artillery, infantry and AA to capture London

Seelöwe Aug 1: London is in German hands. The troops now prepare for the breakout to the west and to the north while in the Channel more German troops are embarked to invade Great Britain. The German submarines hold back the British Home fleet. The German bombers started successful bombing British naval units.

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The OKW rates the situation in August 1942 that the invasion of England can’t be stopped by the British anymore and that it should be possible to capture the whole land much earlier than mid of 1943.

For the next six month:
Breakout from the London bridgehead and capture whole England.
Destroy the British Home Fleet and the Royal Air Force.


Germany, Das Reich
The British bombed several German cities starting winter 41/42.


The Mediterranean Sea
After several months of bombing we have captured the island Malta. The Italian surface fleet moved east for repair. After that the fleet will support Rommel in Tobruk and will clean the eastern Mediterranean Sea from remaining British naval units. The Italian submarines stay near Malta to block British ships that may come from the western Mediterranean Sea to recapture Malta.
Until now we were not able to build up the planned Kampfgruppe Steiner on Cyprus to attack the Near East because the eastern and western front needed all enforcements.

For the next six month:
Support Rommel in Tobruk. Destroy the last British naval vessels in the eastern Mediterranean Sea to prepare a possible invasion in the Near East.


Balkan
The Axis is fighting Partisans.

Nothing special planned for the next six month.


Afrika Korps
Rommel has repelled the British tanks and infantry east of Tobruk. In the meantime the attack on Tobruk has begun and the city will soon surrender.

Rommel attacks Tobruk from all sides. The Italian battleships and bombers supress the British AA and artillery in Tobruk.

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In the next six month: After Tobruk is captured the Korps will attack the British in Egypt. Troops from Cyprus will be used to attack the strong British defense at Al Alamein from the back.

* = A single infantry unit in this Mod represents 2 infantry divisions

[GeneralWerner]

Heeresgruppe Nord, Heeresgruppe Mitte and Finnish Allies
General Guderian’s and General Hoth’s troops have captured Moscow in the begin of May 1942. The Russian resistance grew the whole winter and it was a very hard fight to finally bring the whole city and the airports under German control. The gap in the defense line between Heeregruppe Mitte and Heeresgruppe Süd was closed. Around 200 Russian T34 tanks broke through this gap but were finally stopped near Smolensk.

May 03. Finally Moscow and the airfields are completely in Axis hands.

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The defense line in the East is Moscow - Kaluga - Orel - Kursk - Belgorod - Kharkov – Dnipropretrovsk. From Belgorod to the south Heeresgruppe Süd is defending the front.

Heeresgruppe Nord was ordered to encircle and destroy a strong Russian army north of Kalinin to clear the road from Moscow to Leningrad. In addition Talin and the area south of Leningrad will be captured. All this will prepare the siege of Leningrad that could start in September 42.

The Finnish troops have captured Petrozavodsk.

The plan for the next six month: Hold Moscow and build up a stable defense line in the east against continuous stronger Russian counter attacks. Attack Leningrad.


Heeresgruppe Süd, Romanian&Hungarian&Italian Allies
General von Manstein’s troops hold the southern part of the defense line Moscow - Kaluga - Orel - Kursk - Belgorod - Kharkov – Dnipropretrovsk. The Heeresgruppe Süd has a lack of planes and medium battle tanks. It consists mainly of light tanks and infantry. In our defense line it is the weakest part. But we expect the main attacks of the Soviets in the north.

Heeresgruppe Süd was ordered to capture the city Mariupol at the Black Sea. This will prepare the attack on Rostov opening the way to the Caucasus.

The Romanian fleet was surprisingly attacked and destroyed in the Black Sea.

The plan for the next six month: Build up and hold a stable defense line in the south.


Global summary
Following our campaign “England first” the OKW has moved more than 1500 experienced tanks and 400.000 men from the eastern front to the western front and to the Afrika Korps.

We have captured Moscow. The Russians did not surrender but instead show increasing resistance. Thus we have slowed down our campaign in the east and have more and more efforts to stop the ongoing Russian counter attacks on the whole eastern front line. We only do minor attacks trying to open a way to the Caucasus and to prepare the siege of Leningrad.

Economy minister Speer is again urgently ordered to push the German industry to develop new heavy battle tank models that are superior to the Russian tanks. In addition the development of more powerful antitank equipment is mandatory, too.

August 1942: Blue: Defending / Red: Attacking / Yellow: Sea blockades by the Axis Navy / Green: Possible new military campaigns for the next six month.

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[GeneralWerner]

Mediterranean Sea, east of Malta – December 29 1942 – Fleet of Junkers transport planes and Junkers bombers guarded by Bf 109G fighters.

Oberst Steiner is sitting together with his command staff in one of the Junkers. Now is the time to tell his officers where they are going to. He stands up and immediately it becomes silent in the plane: “Meine Herren, as you have already realized, we are not flying east to Jerusalem or south to the Suez Channel. Surprisingly the Americans have landed in Casablanca and Mankewitz fears they will try to capture Tunis. It is a scandal that our intelligence service did not know anything about this operation. Mankewitz has already let some heads roll in Berlin. If the Americans could capture Tunisia, they could even try to invade Italy or South France or Greece together with the remaining British troops. Also the Afrika Korps would be in great danger. Thus we will simply not allow the Americans to capture Tunis. Some Italian divisions have already landed and we Fallschirmjäger will be the main core to stop the enemies if they try to rush to Tunis. The OKW has ordered bombers and fighters from England to Tunis. We will be supported by the Italian fleet and we will get artillery, antitank and tanks in the next weeks via sea transport from Italy. I will command this army and Generalfeldmarschall Rommel will be my direct commanding officer. We will land in some hours in Tunis and I expect you all to support me to show the Amis that involving in this war was a silly idea.”

Some weeks later in Berlin, February 43. Generalfeldmarschall Mankewitz is sitting at his desk and starts to read the newest OKW reports.


Heeresgruppe West and the German Kriegsmarine

Operation Seelöwe
The German troops directly commanded by Feldmarschall Mankewitz used the winter 42/43 to attack many British cities and have defeated England at February 12 1943. We can now start to send our six Panzer divisions from England back to the east but it will take some month until they will arrive there. The Royal Air Force does not exist anymore and the British Home fleet is history. So also the Luftwaffe and the Kriegsmarine can be transferred to other battlefields.

For the next six month: Capture the remaining British airports. Remove the Kriegsmarine from England and bring it back to France for repair. Send the bombers and tactical bombers to Tunisia. Send the main core of the fighters to Russia.


Germany, Das Reich
The British bomber war in Germany is stopped.

Due to his outstanding military success at Cyprus the OKW has promoted Major Steiner to his new rank as Oberst. He will get his new commando in Tunisia named Kampfgruppe Steiner.

Due to his outstanding military success with the Afrika Korps the OKW has promoted General Rommel to his new rank as Generalfeldmarschall. Rommel is known worldwide as the Wüstenfuchs (desert fox).


The Mediterranean Sea
The Italian fleet supported Rommel in Tobruk and cleaned the eastern Mediterranean Sea from remaining British naval units.

The Italian submarines stayed near Malta to block British ships that may come from the western Mediterranean Sea to recapture Malta.

Oberst Steiner was ordered from Cyprus to Tunis to hold Tunisia against the American invasion that landed end of 1942 near Casablanca.

Tunis, February 43: Oberst Steiner is setting up his defense. 8,8 Flak has landed and also artillery. More units are embarked in Italy. Infantry divisions are flying in. More Italian battleships were ordered to Tunisia to protect the supply routes.

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For the next six month: Hold Tunis.


Balkan
The Axis is fighting Partisans.

Nothing special planned for the next six month.


Afrika Korps
Generalfeldmarschall Rommel is on the best way to stop the British counter attack opening the gates to Egypt.

Rommel’s desert wall. In the north (yellow cross) a death trap was prepared. Several strong British tank forces were annihilated by the ship artillery, artillery and finally by the two antitank units. In the south the strong antitank defense line repelled the British tanks, too. Rommel’s tanks are still at a safe position behind the wall waiting for the attack order to hunt down the weakened British troops.

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In the next six month: The Korps will attack the British in Egypt if Kampfgruppe Steiner can hold Tunis against the Americans.

[GeneralWerner]

Heeresgruppe Nord, Heeresgruppe Mitte and Finnish Allies, Heeresgruppe Süd, Romanian&Hungarian&Italian Allies
The troops of General Guderian, General Hoth and General von Manstein are in a dramatic situation at the eastern front. The Russians continuously attacked the Wehrmacht in 1942 at the whole front line and with the first snow the Russian offensive was reinforced again with outnumbered tanks, infantry and artillery. The German defense line in the East is still Moscow - Kaluga - Orel - Kursk - Belgorod - Kharkov – Dnipropretrovsk. It was not possible to approach further from Moscow to the east. The battle is still going on at the eastern border of the city. Especially the two airports were several times in danger to be recaptured by the Red Army.

Even worse the Russian Air Force became stronger and stronger in the second half of 1942 gaining slowly the air superiority.

The Russian army north of Kalinin was destroyed and that means that the roads to Leningrad are in German hand and the siege could be started at a later time. Due to that critical situation in the whole front line the attack on Leningrad was postponed and the troops were reintegrated in the defense line. The Generals Guderian and Hoth have set the whole northern and central front to defensive.

The attacking Russian tank forces are superior to the German tanks. Mainly the German artillery and antitank guns hold the horde back. Especially our tanks forces often have to rotate the divisions in and out of the front line to repair heavily damaged units.

In the south the attack on Mariupol was stopped. The attacking infantry and artillery divisions came under heavy artillery and ship artillery fire. General von Manstein ordered the retreat of the attacking divisions behind the Dnieper River and has set the whole southern front to defensive. The lack of medium tanks in the south was paid with many casualties. The attacking strong Russian tank forces were often slowed down with infantry divisions only.

February 43. Superior Red Army tank forces and artillery attack the whole front line in great numbers. The very deeply entrenched Grenadier divisions in the cities are the backbone of the German defense line. Yellow: The Wehrmacht used the winter to transport air defense systems from France (where they are not needed anymore) to the eastern front. Also fighters Fw190-A5 and fighter-bombers Bf110G are on the way but will need some more weeks to arrive in the east.

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The Finnish troops wait for new orders at Petrozavodsk and north of Leningrad.

The plan for the next six month: Hold Moscow and hold the defense line in the east against continuous stronger Russian counter attacks. Attack Leningrad if possible. Transfer back more troops from the western front to the east.


Global summary
Following our campaign “England first” the Wehrmacht has defeated the English mainland and successfully fought against the British troops in Libya. Churchill is now controlling the rest of the Empire from Cairo. Thus our next target has to be Egypt.

Tunis has to be defended by all means. The American invasion in North Africa has to be repelled.

Our campaign in the east was complete stopped by the Red Army. The whole front line in the defensive. We need more and better Panzer troops to continue our conquest.

Economy minister Speer was removed from his duties. The Tiger tank (introduced begin of 43) is an outstanding tank but it is not the tank the Wehrmacht needs. It is too heavy, too slow, too expensive and needs too much fuel. Generalfeldmarschall Mankewitz will now talk directly to the German industry about the requirements for the upcoming Wehrmacht tanks.

February 1943: Blue: Defending / Red: Attacking

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[JimmyC]

Congrats on your invasion of the UK. Just a couple of hints for you – leave at least a few units in Britain, as partisans tend to pop up occasionally. Also, think carefully about whether you want to repair your entire fleet or if some units are now superfluous. It costs a lot to repair capital ships (and even destroyers), so you might just want to leave them if you don’t have a use for them. That was a mistake I made in my current playthrough, which saw me burn through prestige and in hindsight it was a waste (especially the aircraft carrier, which I fully repaired and NEVER used).

Good luck holding back the Russian hordes!

[GeneralWerner]

Thank you for the hints. I will not repair much. Mainly resupply. The carrier will be used like it is with strength 2.

I plan to attack Gibraltar and Casablanca with the fleet (I will bring also one transport ship with infantry). I guess there could be an American fleet to fight with. After that I think the ships could be dismounted and reworked to tanks

[GeneralWerner]

Tunisia – April 1943 – German defense line in the plains southwest of Tunis

“A nice piece of German technology. What do you think, Oberst Steiner?”. Generalfeldmarschall Rommel is hitting the 8cm thick steel plate with his field marshal staff and the resulting silent dull “clonk” is a very comfortable sound.

Steiner is putting his hand on the tank armour-plating: “These Tigers are awesome weapons. As long as they do not have to move long distances. I wonder why the OKW gave these prototypes to me.”

“It is still the same. England zuerst! To allow me to destroy the British forces in Africa and the Near East you have to hold Tunis by all means. You can imagine how upset Guderian and Hoth were when they realized that the Tigers moved to Tunisia and not to the Russian front”, says Rommel and is looking at the defense positions the Wehrmacht has prepared. “If I would be Eisenhower I would have rushed my tanks as quickly as possible from Casablanca to Tunis. But it seems the unexperienced American troops are moving very carefully. And that gave you the time to build this defense wall here. You have the 200 Tigers and all the 8,8ers supported by two artillery divisions. You have your Fallschirmjäger and Grenadiers and some good Italian infantry divisions. You are covered by the Luftwaffe and the Italian surface fleet. And the supply routes to Italy are safe. I know that another tank division from England has already arrived at the Italian harbors and you will have them here soon. If you ask me, Oberst Steiner, no military force in the world can break this defense line.”

Oberst Steiner nods: “We will do our duty here and you can surprise Monty at El Alamain. Old Mankewitz seems to have found his favor for naval campaigns, planning three naval missions in the second half of 43. But I think you should have got some of these divisions here for the Afrika Korps.”

“No problem, Oberst. The Kampfgruppe Steiner has the best weapons of the whole Wehrmacht … but the Afrika Korps has the best commander of the whole Wehrmacht.” Telling these words and leaving back an astonished Steiner, Generalfeldmarschall Rommel – the desert fox - is going to his car, smiling. He soon has an appointment with Montgomery in Egypt and with a little bit of luck also with Churchill.

[JimmyC]

Excellent story writing! Its like i'm reading a novel.

Keep it up.

[jinxed75]

Very interesting read. I've completed another try myself a couple of days ago, and ended up with a draw. Simply because I wasn't able to occupy the mid eastern oil fields in time.
I'm very curious how the situation in Russia is goin to pan out. With that many forces diverted away for Sea Lion, I imagine it's going to be very tough.
I only used 2 PzIII divisions for Sea Lion, and kept the rest of my Panzers at the eastern front, and had the Tiger sent there as well. In addition I followed Jimmys advice and upgraded 4 of my AT gun to StuGs...and it was still a tremendously critical situation for the whole of '43 until Sept.
Tunis was an Infantry war to a large part for me, due to all the hills in the west. I upgraded Rommel to a Panther the moment it became available, and my 2 italian tanks to P26, but by that time the battle with the US forces was more or less already over. It certainly made dealing with the British forces arriving after a lot easier, though.
Still, I think you'll be missing the Tiger on the line between Kursk and Charkov. Hope you can hold the line in Russia.