Fall Gelb, multiplayer, majors on hard - Axis AAR

[gwgardner]

It's 1.1. The latest.

[gwgardner]

Minor glitches in the Axis plans:

The Greek government has fled to Crete. It is now going to be necessary to take that island to force a surrender. OKW is reluctant to perform an airborne assault there, given the dismal failure of Italian airborne troops on Malta. To make 60+ PPs available for organizing landing craft is problematic. Air action in Turkey has already caused a serious drain on resources.

Now there is indication that the Turkish government will not capitulate just because panzers enter Ankara. Apparently the Turks are in talks with the Soviets concerning continuing the fight from mountain bases in the far east of Turkish territory.

Now the Commies have declared our non-aggression pact dead, on the flimsy grounds that we have made repeated moves which threaten Soviet security! Far from it.

A terse letter was handed over to our embassy in Moscow, with a copy of a Pravda article: Prawda: The recent violations of neutral countries by Axis forces have caused the USSR to cancel their non-aggression treaty.

All our moves have in fact enhanced Soviet security, by placing the capitalist West on the defensive.

So be it. We are daily strengthening our defenses on the borders of the General Government, and should the Soviets attempt to prop up a Turkish government in near exile, they will rue the day.

[gwgardner]

May 1 '41

Steady progress is being made in the pacification of Turkey. Recon shows that most of the Turkish army has withdrawn to the easily defendable terrain around Ankara. The focus of the German army is not to take Ankara, but to secure a clear RR to Syria, and on to Egypt.

Against little to no resistance, an Italian division of infantry landed at Iraklion, Crete, and arrested the outlaw Greek rump government. The newly installed rightful Greek govt will now sign a surrender agreement with the Wermacht.

In North Africa, the Italian army continues to pressure the British in Egypt, but neither side is strong enough to make a serious push. Farther west, German recon units push forward to take the rest of French Morocco.

At sea, the German and Italian navies continue their depradations against British shipping, albeit suffering losses themselves. Over the last two weeks alone, four German coastal sub groups have been lost, against approximately 20 British STP losses. The Italian sub force destroyed another 20 British STPs. This has to be a serious drain on the UK resources.

Unfortunately, social unrest in Germany has grown, due to war weariness, resulting in less PP production. At the same time, the planning offices for the Wermacht failed to realize that by reinforcing so many divisions to corps, against possible Soviet action, the upkeep of our static forces along the Eastern border has skyrocketed. A shocking 1/4 to 1/3 PPs are available now each week as compared to a month ago. This situation is a result of panic in Berlin, at the Soviet termination of the non-aggression pact. However, it can't be undone now. It may be a case of 'use it, or lose it,' with regard to the massive force we have along the Soviet border.

[gwgardner]

mid May '41

While the German army continues to close in on Ankara, and engineering units continue to push forward repairing rail lines across southern Turkey, the Italians attempted a daring seaborne assault on Trebizon, to forestall any Soviet/Turkish cooperation in building up an enclave in the eastern mountains. The assault failed with heavy losses.

[gwgardner]

The Italians are furious with their German allies, due to the intense pressure put upon them to attempt the assault without naval or aerial support. The Italian battleships could not get close enough in to the coast to be of any assistance in softening up the Turkish defenses.

[gwgardner]

The advance across French Morocco continues apace, while the advance in Egypt also continues ... at a standstill.

Apparently the Italian Army is content to wait for the Germans to clear that rail line through Turkey, for their advance through Syria.

[gwgardner]

June 1 '41

The Italian Army is making it's big push in Egypt, after a year-long preparation. The RR to Sudan has been cut, and Italian armor is on the outskirts of Al Fayum!

General Graziani is determined to meet the Wermacht at the Nile.

[gwgardner]

June 9

Dateline Berlin

Due to incessant provocations all along the border of the General Government, the Wermacht has crossed the border with the Soviet Union in order to set up a buffer zone for the protection of Reich territory. As soon as the Soviets desist from such provocations, German forces will withdraw back to border posts.

In other news, Ankara fell this week to a combined operation of the Luftwaffe and the Wermacht. German spearheads are within two hundred miles of the Syrian border now, and advancing against little to no opposition each day. It is expected that the last bit of French resistance will end when our troops enter Syria.

Fierce fighting in southern Egypt continues for the vital depot at Al Fayum.

[gwgardner]

The Abwehr has a bloody nose, after failing to sniff out Soviet intentions. No sooner had We crossed the border in a defensive action to protect the General Government, than the Soviets 'retaliate' by invading our friend, and now ally, Romania. This was obviously a long-planned operation by the Soviets, as they have a huge concentration of armored forces already deep inside Romania. The Ploesti oilfields are threatened.

[gwgardner]

late June

the Battle of the Atlantic has turned against the Axis, with 5 sub groups lost in the last two weeks. That against two new groups brought into action from their abbreviated sea trials. A decision has been made in Berlin to up the budget for subs from 1 group per week to two.

Reported STP kills by our subs in the Atlantic in the last week: 12

[gwgardner]

July 9, '41

After their failure taking Trabzon by amphibious assault, the Italian army and navy were tasked with revising their plans and techniques. They scraped up every transport craft available in the Med and landed an infantry corps this time, and took the city. This was vitally important, to deny the rump Turkish government in exile a home base near the Russian border.

Meanwhile, German panzer forces led by General Guderian entered Syria, and captured the capitol city of Aleppo. It is expected that this will put an end to French resistance.


With the fighting winding down in Turkey, and with Egypt to fall between the German and Italian pincers, most of the panzer forces are being transferred to the Eastern Front.

[gwgardner]

Aug 16 '41

All our war college expectations for Barbarossa had to be scrapped, once the decision was made to cross the border with an infantry-only force. As expected, it has taken weeks and weeks to get our armored forces extracted from the Turkish front and repositioned in the Soviet Union.

As a result, the advance into Soviet territory, forced upon us by the intransigence of the Soviets themselves, has been anemic.

In the north, the river Dvina became a formidable barrier. Infantry, even with air support, could not force a crossing, as every offensive ran out of steam. Only with the arrival of a single armored corps from Turkey were we able to make a crossing well south of Riga, then widen the bridgehead and open up a pathway for the infantry advance. We will now roll up the Soviet line, north and south.

[gwgardner]

The front is still 150 miles from Minsk in the north, while south of the Pripets Kiev in our sights. Here we have more armor, but also a greater concentration of Soviet troops.

[gwgardner]

On the Romanian front, we have finally broken through the Soviet lines, and the Romanians have been tasked with taking Odessa.

[gwgardner]

The British are putting up a brave face, attempting to man fortifications along the Suez. But they have had to abandon their line against the Italians for the most part, so their situation is completely hopeless. It is expected that Egypt will fall completely by the beginning of October.

[gwgardner]

Realistically, with the weather closing in approximately mid October, the offensive in Russia will grind to a halt - hopefully after we have taken and manned the Stalin Line of fortifications, as shown on the map.

[gwgardner]

Over the winter, we expect to have a whole new and improved range of weapons. Our entire force will be upgraded by the time the next campaigning season comes along. Unfortunately, the Soviets will have done the same.

It is already well established that their tank technology is more advanced than ours, so we have little hope of over-awing them on that score. So what can we really hope for on the Eastern Front in '42?

[gwgardner]

Oct 1 '41

The last British fighting units in Egypt have been destroyed or surrendered. North Africa is now an Italian domain. Hopefully this will cause a big morale hit in the UK.

The British have pressured Iraq to join the war effort against the Axis. The Italian Army will be tasked with punishing that puppet state.

[gwgardner]

Italy has followed up its triumph in North Africa with another successful amphibious assault against enemy shores. This time at Batum. The hope is that this will draw some Soviet defenders south, and at the same time threaten their rich oil regions of the Trans-Caucasus. Unfortunately, Batum's port facilities are insufficient for transport ships, so supply is always going to be a problem, extending across mountain roads from Trabzon in Turkey.

[gwgardner]

On the Eastern Front, it is time to start establishing a winter line. If an opportunity presents itself to continue an offensive into the winter, it will probably be only a local event, rather than all along the front. The German economy is barely able to support the war effort now, and only through subsidies from Italy is the upkeep of the army sustained.

All along the front key cities and rail hubs have been taken, in preparation for the winter.

Riga in the north. It had been hoped that we could extend the offensive in Latvia all the way to Pskov and the choke point north of Lake Ladoga, but that looks impossible fore the onset of winter.