Memoires of two Staff Officers (PBEM)

[cpdeyoung]

January 24, 1940 : Deep winter, but the war blazes on.

[Chocolino]

Axis, February 1st, 1940

The French campaign slowly changes character. Except in the East of France, solid fronts are gone and it becomes more of a mop-up activity. The British are still entrenched in LeHavre and it will take a serious effort to dislodge them - we will defer this for now since our tanks are needed in the South-West of France.

The air war against the RAF is a disaster and we suffer again massive losses. This strongly affects our next campaign. Planning is under way and we don't want to attack the Soviets as they have already overcome their "shock" by DoW Bulgaria a long while back. (Bulgaria still sits there unattacked and builds up its economy.) If we can weaken the Royal Navy sufficiently by air raids and drive them from the waters around England (maybe lure them into the Med with some Italian activity), we may contemplate an attack on England. But it only works if the circumstances are right.

[cpdeyoung]

February 1, 1940 : The developing situations in France and Persia both favor the attackers.

[Chocolino]

Axis, February 9th, 1940

Our air force is further reduced by the RAF whose pilots come away again without any losses. We move more bombers out of harms way and focus on repairing the fighter near the channel. But the latest aerial combat results do not convince us that this is actually well spent production.

[cpdeyoung]

February 9, 1940 : The French have lost the City of Light, and it is all downhill from here. The Soviets are straining to bring a poorly thought out campaign in Persia to an end.

[Chocolino]

Axis, February 16th, 1940

As German units approach Nantes, the French government has to consider if they want to continue to fight German rule or submit to peaceful coexistence in a Vichy puppet. We strongly recommend the latter and are prepared to offer peace.

[cpdeyoung]

February 16, 1940 : Finally some light in Persia.

[Chocolino]

Axis, February 24th, 1940

How will the French react to our offer of an armistice?

The Persian defense will soon be overcome by the Soviets. But in a bit if good news, the Luftwaffe can take revenge on the RAF for once.

[cpdeyoung]

February 24, 1940 : The French reject the Armistice and fight on. The great majority of Frenchmen are weary of the war, but Great Britain lobbied hard to get the French to agree to fight on from the colonies. There is not much fight left in them, but the Navy is still strong, and it can do damage to the Axis.

[Chocolino]

Axis, March 1st, 1940

Germany and the Soviet Union are at war for many month but nobody is at the frontier. Both sides ignore this lingering conflict. The Germans have other plans and are not really afraid of an early USSR attack.

But the fact that the RN has left the Med spells doom for our campaign to attack the UK next. The German HQ has tested in war simulations two different ways to take a British supply base (city) on turn 1 of the attack. The first is based on amphibious landings and could succeed if the landing takes actually place. But if the whole RN is around the British Isles (as seems to be the case now), we will loose the sea battle that proceeds the landing with the result that the landing force is killed en-route most likely.

The second method is based on a paratrooper attack on southern English ports and is well defended against by the English since they have surrounded their cities with defensive rings as our aerial recon confirms. (We do not believe in the viability of an attack based on Mulberry ports as they are extremely vulnerable and will be taken out by the RAF right away.)

We will monitor the movements of the RN for while as best as we can and if nothing changes we will have to make a change in plan. But it will still not be the USSR that is next on our list.

[cpdeyoung]

March 1, 1940 : We want to make the British Isles so strong that the Germans will not think of attacking there. Southern England must be made inhospitable, and all ports given extra protection. In Persia the end of the nightmare is in sight. The campaign there was very poorly fought, and, indeed should never have been started. We forgot the Germans would send advisors and their guidance would make this a very tough campaign.

[Chocolino]

Axis, March 9th, 1940

With the Royal Navy apparently protecting the Home Isles, the way is free for the Italian Navy to become active in the Med. After an intense sea battle with the French in the Western Med, we land amphibiously and take French Algiers, one of the remaining French VPs in their colonies. Maybe this can entice the RN to reenter Mediterranean waters and leave the Atlantic unprotected?

Italian and German planes start moving into new positions to attack not only the Central but also the Western Med where the whole French fleet seems to be assembled.

In France many German units are still tied down to take the remaining cities after the French refusal to accept Vichy. Yes this is very unpleasant for the Axis but we did not expect any favorable treatment by the W. Allies.

We start saving Production Points for more amphibious activities.

[cpdeyoung]

March 9, 1940 : The Soviets are finally in position to move on the Persians.

[Chocolino]

Axis, March 16th, 1940

We see little activity in Persia as the resupplied Russians undoubtedly prepare for the final onslaught on Teheran.

We continue to fight naval engagements with the French in the Western Med which are more or less balanced but also attack the French fleet by air.

[cpdeyoung]

March 16, 1940 : We continue to worry about the possible invasion of England. This must be taken very seriously and the Germans must not be allowed to capture a port, for they are just too strong to dislodge. In Persia we are finally on the hunt.

[Chocolino]

Axis, March 24th, 1940

The Royal Navy cannot be lured back into the Med. Here the French Navy fights a lone and tough battle, damages many Italian ships but suffers even more.

The French channel ports are cleared now. But an attack on England is not advisable in this constellation. The full RN outguns the Kriegsmarine by 2-1 in number of ships and even more when also considering ship types. We won't even get a foot on British soil and will be sunk upon arrival while still in the water.

[cpdeyoung]

March 24, 1940 : We continue to fortify Great Britain as we cannot afford to lose her to an invasion. Here too, the Allies are suffering from the great rapidity of the German advance. The French are almost all in the colonies now, and beginning to see Italian attackers, as the navy seeks to do the maximum damage to the RM before the inevitable end. In Persia we are on the attack, but still not in overwhelming force.

[Chocolino]

Axis, April 1st, 1940

We do some intensive aerial recon over the UK - and we find it quite inhospitable. At least we have air superiority right now.

The Persians send ever more urgent requests for help to Germany, but there is nothing we can do.

In contrast, Italy is doing well in North Africa so far.

[cpdeyoung]

April 1, 1940 : Great Brritain is as secure as we can make her. The Germans must not be allowed a foothold here. In Persia we are able to being some force to bear.

[Chocolino]

Axis, April 9th, 1940

Being denied a landing on the British Isles, the Germans send their landing force to a weaker foe. Annoyed by the US breach of neutrality and by their undercover aid to Western Allies we plan to take over their production centers on the East Coast. The US, known for their tendency to conduct mainly research and saving on upkeep cost, while neglecting homeland security (they have a Democrat in Power) in the early years may be a very doable target.

The only danger is again the RN. The USN alone is too weak to prevent a landing if the whole Kriegsmarine is present. Extensive preparatory AI simulations have shown this. We will find out if the RN is near enough to intervene. But we suspect not since they probably defend British waters. Having air superiority and being able to recon (by naval air attack) many key sea zones helps here. The Western Atlantic is of course out of range for our planes and if there is a sea battle before the next turn, we may have to reconsider our attack.