Europe Aflame 2012 AAR: sealclubber vs Shadow

[sealclubber]

Nov 4, 1939

The Red Army launches assaults on Tehran for two weeks before the last Iranian soldiers are killed or wounded and Iran falls to COMINTERN aggression.

The Belgian Army, after being surrounded for two weeks finally sallies forth from fortifications and launch suicidal attacks on surrounding German forces.

[sealclubber]

Nov 11, 1939

After easily defeating the Belgian attack, German forces tighten the pockets but do not assault them.

South-east of Dunkirk, weak French forces have launched an attack on a German motorized corps. This attack does negligible damage, but the French frontier divisions end the turn in mobile status. Always opportunistic, OKH seizes the moment to perform a reconnaissance in force.

In the Ardennes, German troops attack and defeat a French division guarding the frontier. A panzer corps advances and promptly encounters a wall of strongly fortified French units in all directions. The panzers dig in.

In the north, the unfortified French divisions is defeated and one additional frontier French division is defeated after being attacked on its flank. Along the coast, a probing attack into Dunkirk with point blank Kriegsmarine (and Luftwaffe) support fails as the entire French navy provides its own point blank fire support.

Just off the coast, the Wehrmacht launches a probe westward. The forces here are recently deployed and not fortified. What entrenchments the French have set up are destroyed, however the French hold firm and the turn ends before this can be exploited.

The RAF is putting up a major fight for air superiority over northern France. The Luftwaffe continues to maintain the advantage both in raw numbers and in loss ratios, however losses on both sides are very high.

[sealclubber]

Nov 18, 1939

The French ship in reinforcements to the coastal areas, apparently unwilling to reinforce with local forces who have already fortified themselves. OKH senses weakness and pounces.

Spearheaded by a panzer corps and a motorized infantry corps and backed by every single aircraft in the Luftwaffe (including fighters moonlighting as attack aircraft), the Wehrmacht turns the westward probe into a major attack. After two successive assaults, four French divisions are forced to retreat.

The advancing mobile forces unexpectedly encounter open terrain. After a brief respite to consider the coming winter and the likely French response to a major advance, OKH decides to throw everything with wheels through the breach. The spearhead reaches and seizes Abbeville isolating a major French force along the ports of Boulogne, Calais and Dunkirk though they remain supplied out of the port of Calais.

Airborne forces initiate an operation to seize a path to Paris before the French can react. The penetration has no operational width, but the Luftwaffe has firm control of the air and has been instructed to commit 100% to combat support operations. Further, the cream of the Wehrmacht (mobile/airborne) is holding the corridor.

The next week will be critical. If the Wehrmacht can hold the corridor and reinforce the airborne forces, Paris will be under direct threat. Other objectives will be to enlarge and secure the penetration corridor.

After achieving a breakthrough on the French front, OKH decides to assault Brussels sooner than planned to free up troops for the French campaign. The starved Belgians put up minimal resistance and Brussels is taken.

[sealclubber]

Nov 25, 1939

Finnish Front:

After moving units towards Petsamo, Finnish GHQ studies the terrain and decides it unfavourable for an attack. Troops earmarked for the offensive are railed elsewhere.

In the "waist", a strong Finnish force outflanks frontier Soviet defenders. The goal will be to cut them off from supply and starve them into submission over the winter.

[sealclubber]

French Front:

The attack has completely dislocated French forces. Realizing the gravity of the situation, the French high command withdraws their depth defenders towards Paris. The British reinforce Dieppe with a Territorial Corps by sea.

French forces counter-attack the airborne forces, severely damaging the airborne division parked in the suburbs or Paris and evaporating the airborne division protecting its northern flank. Further north, the British Territorial Corps with support from the Royal Navy and (presumably) RAF assault the 7 Flieger division holding the port south-east of Dieppe, forcing them to retreat into Abbeville. Shortly thereafter, the remnants of 7 Flieger board transport aircraft and airdrop onto the SS Para Division to reinforce their position outside of Paris. Still, the Fueher is pleased with the valour displayed by the airborne forces and forgives them for getting drunk in the bar in Dusseldorf while the rest of the army was invading.. I mean launching a defensive counter-attack against Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg.

The French forces isolated in the north, along with French forces in the south launch attacks on the corridor. The motorized and panzer forces defending the corridor repulse the attacks.

Positions at the start of the week:

[sealclubber]

OKH has one objective this week - secure the penetration and put Paris under direct threat once again. To this end, assaults will be launched northwards to secure that flank of the penetration as well as southwards wherever there are weaknesses or unfortified troops. The airborne position in the suburbs or Paris needs to be reinforced. A secondary objective will be to expand contact with Paris to enable it to be assaulted from multiple sides. Traffic control becomes a seriously involved exercise as OKH attempts to maximize the number of German combat personnel that can advance.

Combats mostly go favourably as they're in open terrain against unfortified defenders with major Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine support. The breakthrough is secured. Infantry units begin catching up and begin reinforcing the breach while mobile forces press onwards to reinforce the airborne forces and expand the breakthrough. The airborne units are reinforced by two panzer corps, however the secondary objective of expanding contact with Paris could not be achieved.

[sealclubber]

December 2, 1939

Finnish Front:

The Finnish encirclement is complete. The Soviet 7th Army is completely surrounded while the Finnish I Corps presses onward to find some Red Army soldiers to fight.

[sealclubber]

French Front:

Allied forces begin evacuating some units out of the Calais pocket by sea to reinforce the forces fighting at Dieppe. However, it appears that Allied GHQ is content to leave these pockets of resistance behind German lines. It soon becomes evident why. From their anchorage in port, French and British naval units begin a massive shelling campaign on nearby airfields, wiping out two fighter wings and damaging others. Fortunately, German industry has been well ahead of the game on the fighter front and the fighter wings should be able to reconstitute shortly.

OKH sets out to encircle Paris from the West in preparation for an assault. Mobile units begin fanning out to ensure a wide berth for the continued encirclement operation. Panzer units attack and seize a weakly defended suburb of Paris, cross the Seine river and attack French units positioned south-west of the city.

German units launch an assault on Calais in an effort to deprive the northern pocket of supply. This attack is repulsed and the pocket remains a thorn in the side of OKH.

Finally, the Kriegsmarine takes a page from the Allied playbook and bombards RAF aerodromes south west of London in a coordinated attack with Luftwaffe bombers. Some losses are inflicted on RAF units, but nothing worth writing home about.

[sealclubber]

December 9, 1939

The harsh winter forecasted has yet to set in and fighting continues.

Finnish Front:

Finland's I Corps push onwards and cuts the Murmansk rail line, forcing a Soviet front HQ still in its rail cars to flee. The secondary objective, to test the mettle of the Red Army, will undoubtedly come true. Stalin seems rather pissed off, judging by the size of the force he sent to the area:



(Stalin is probably pissed because the Finns moved to outflank 7th Army right at the start of the last turn before the Germans proceeded to initiate hundreds of moves. By the time Stalin absorbed all of the German movements, he seems to have forgotten about the Finnish outflanking maneuver, thus the slow response and the Finns being able to cut the rail line.)

[sealclubber]

French Front:

French GHQ begins shipping colonial forces back to France proper. OKH considers assaulting Paris now, however the Luftwaffe is running on fumes and infantry has not yet caught up in sufficient strength to initiate the assault. Furthermore, OKH feels it can "surprise" the French in 1940 (aka Case Yellow) to conduct a much more successful attack on Paris. With that in mind OKH opts to continue the encirclement of Paris, in particular because the French forces redeploying to meet the German wheeling movement are unfortified and largely in open terrain - effectively speed bumps for the elite mobile units of the Wehrmacht.

The Wehrmacht attacks into the open terrain directly to the south of Paris. Aside from additional positioning to assault Paris, this will prevent any a French counter-attack on the flanks of German units making it into the city center. The French shuffle units out of and into Arras. OKH seizes the opportunity to assault the defenders and improve overall movement in the corridor as well as the supply situation. Despite being assaulted on its flanksby three fresh German infantry corps (and a motorized artilery division) the French corps stubbornly holds its position through three waves of attacks before finally retreating. Still, Arras is taken. OKH judges the losses acceptable for what was gained.

[sealclubber]

Regardless, these actions are secondary. The big "show" as far as OKH is concerned this week is the assault on Dieppe. The British Home Fleet has brazenly anchored in port shelling German units with impunity for weeks. The recently reconstituted Dutch war fleet has joined them. Furthermore, a British Territorial corps defends the port. Despite the dense urban terrain, OKH decides to surprise the British with an all out assualt on the city to demonstrate the vulnerability of the "mighty fleet" to the discourage future, aggressive fleet deployments.

To facilitate this attack, mobile units approach the city from the south-west to be joined by fresh infantry corps from the north-east. Two airborne divisions conduct an air drop to reinforce the north-western sector and join in the assault. In all, several infantry/mot. infantry corps, two serviceable airborne divisions and a motorized artillery division will launch an all out assault on the city. The Luftwaffe has promised 100% support for this battle.

[sealclubber]

The battle is bloody with major air assets on both sides taking to the skies. Although the the Territorial Corps holds its ground, the Royal Navy Home Fleet and the Dutch War Fleet are annihilated. While OKH is somewhat dissapointed that the Allied ground forces in the pocket will likely survive to fight another day, the destruction of the fleets is celebrated in Berlin. Goering personally thanks the Heer, considering how many German warplanes were destroyed by those very ships a mere week ago.

With hindsight, OKH could have added one or even two additional infantry corps to the battle without unreasonable unit densities, which likely would have made all the difference between taking the town (or not, as it were). The situation is thoroughly documented for future study in military academies across Germany.

[sealclubber]

December 16, 1939

Finnish Front:

The encircled 7th Army attempts to break out and fails. The Red Army launches a number of assaults on the Finnish I Corps. After replenishment and resupply, the corps is in reasonable shape. Additional Red Army units approach from the south. In all, 1 mechanized corps, 1 mechanized army and 7 infantry (motorized and foot) armies are in direct contact with I Corps. The entire Red Air Force is present in the region.

Finnish GHQ decides to roll the die and maintain its grip on the rail line, if for no other reason than the opportunity to annoy Stalin over the coming winter. I Corps is able to entrench its position in anticipation of further battles to come:

[sealclubber]

French Front:

The French continue to redeploy to protect the territory close to and surrounding Paris. Additional force requirements cause the French to withdraw from Cambrai and another frontier position. German forces quickly fill the void.

The front is relatively quiet with no attacks this turn from the Germans. Instead, a German motorized corps overruns some French units. In addition, German mobile forces surround a significant French reserve force in Orleans to starve them over the coming winter.

[sealclubber]

In other news, the United States, alarmed at the German proximity to Paris, releases Lend-Lease aid.

During the Allied turn, Finnish I Corps was attacked by Stalin's rather large force and is evaporated. The Red Army secures its rail line over the winter. OKH begins planning for the 1940 campaigning season...

AAR updates will resume once the Sitzkrieg is over... or maybe before then if something interesting comes up.

[sealclubber]

The Sitzkrieg ends on March 3, 1940. The Luftwaffe launches strategic strikes to disable the reinvigorated and lend-lease strengthened French Air Force. Naval units on both sides take turns bombarding air units in coastal airfields (prompting a house rule to disallow naval bombardments of airfields unless adjacent to them). While this is occuring, the Italians redeploy additional forces to North Africa.

The French front is eerily quiet. With the exception of naval bombardments and a little air action, there is no activity. During the Sitzkrieg, many German units transferred east to the Balkans. Likewise, the Finnish front is quiet with no activity.

March 31, 1940

Italy throws its lot in with Germany and declares war on the Allied powers. Germany sends General Erwin Rommel with his "Afrika Korps" to aid the Italians in the theater. His army rails into an Italian port for transfer over the Mediterranean. Over the winter, the Commonwealth defenders in Egypt withdrew to El Alamein. Italian forces now surge forward unopposed capturing Sidi Barrani and Matrula within a week:



Italian high command completely forgets about East Africa...

[sealclubber]

April 7, 1940

On the western front, the Luftwaffe launches more strategic air strikes to disable Allied air power in theater. Two RAF fighter groups have already left the theater for the Mediterranean, easing the job.

In North Africa, Italian forces advance to El Alamein encountering the main Commonwealth forces in the region:



The Long Range Desert Group attempts to get into the Italian rear and is attacked and retreated by an Italian corps.

[sealclubber]

East Africa:

Commonwealth strength has largely been withdrawn from the region to defend Egypt. Italian forces advance to secure the horn for the glory of Italy.

[sealclubber]

April 14, 1940

During the winter, the Wehrmacht redeploys. Some of the captured territory is given up to shorten the line and ensure continued protection of the Paris assault force. The French navy spends a considerable number of weeks shelling troops assembling for the assault on Paris from anchorage in Dieppe before launching a suicidal sortie into Antwerp.

OKH unleashes its 1940 spring campaign with the launch of "Case Yellow", the campaign to end the war with France.
The plan is simple. 11 infantry corps + an artillery division + everything the Luftwaffe can muster will simultaneously attack Paris from four directions until it is taken. All attacking units are all full strength and over-supplied. This will be a surprise attack (Case Yellow shock) with six infantry corps held in reserve. One motorized infantry corps and one panzer corps (the best of the best [eg highest proficiency]) will rush into Paris to defend it once taken, assuming Paris is cleared early enough in the week given that the bridges in the city are blown.

Here are the positions as of the end of the Sitzkrieg with the attack plan shown:

[sealclubber]

The assault is a success. The first assault attacks in three waves. Many of the defenders retreat and then begin evaporating for lack of anywhere to retreat. A second assault is launched in two waves. This successfully clears out French forces from Paris. Over 35,000 German infantrymen become casualties during the attack on Paris, but the objective is taken. French army losses are even higher due to the sheer number of men and systems crammed into such a small area. This overload worked against the French Army making the initial assault more devastating than it might otherwise have been.

The motorized infantry corps and panzer corps move into the city and begin digging in. Depleted infantry corps surrounding Paris are rotated out of the line and the six reserve infantry corps are brought forward in the event the French are able to recapture Paris and it must be taken a second time. The Luftwaffe is 100% committed to defensive combat support operations.