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11 December 1939

France : The Ministry has begun to move French units into border positions. During the conflict with Germany and Italy, France built the needed armor which made Axis gains so difficult. Now we must catch up on infrastructure builds. We have reached a goal of having 100% utilization of the economy. The French Navy is moving large elements to the Far East.

Great Britain : The Chinese have decided on war with the Allies. They attacked at Hong Kong and moved an armored division to the outskirts of Hanoi. We counterattacked out of Burma and took Kunming, an important resource center. We also bombarded the thousands of Chinese troops surrounding Hong Kong. The British Army has a lot of experience fighting hordes, and the citizens of Hong Kong are not intimidated.

The Royal Navy is arriving in theater, and puts the Japanese on notice that no activity in support of Chinese aggression will be tolerated.

United States : The United States has joined the British at Hong Kong. Since the Chinese turned from the West to Japan we have been fearing this war. China is put on notice that the USN will continue air raids like the one outside Hong Kong, and as part of the Allied naval forces the USN will defend against any Japanese intervention. The Philippines are in a state of full alert.

1940, January. Early part of month.

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is now at war. A surprise attack has come from our western border by the Germans. We should have expected no less from the fascists!

(Putting this comment up, but I'm mid-turn, and it may take a day or two to work through the action. I'll edit this with screenshots as I go.)


Pre-war border:




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As the new year ticked over, the Russian garrisons along the front were attacked in multiple locations. The Soviet troops dug-in to withstand the assaults, including preparatory artillery bombardments and bombing runs.
Map of attacks and bombardments along German-Soviet front:




Stalin was happy with the reports that the line only buckled and broke in two regions, while the rest of the Soviet troops stolidly held their ground. As soon as the initial fighting began, Stalin had immediately stated his intention to hold the lines exactly where they were, and not to give up any ground to the treacherous foe.
NOT ONE STEP BACK!




Still, the line was broken in two places due to overwhelming German numerical superiority.
Map of German attacks (yellow: defenders hold, red: defenders break)




The Soviet air force holds it head up high, as relatively old and obsolete fighters still inflicted several casualties on the infamous Ju-87B.
Loss chart for first air battle in Operation Barbarossa:




The next sets of air battles went significantly less in favor of the Soviet forces, as the BF-109Cs and Ds began flying escort missions. Check the end of German offensive total losses (below) to see.

At the end of the assaults, the casualties looked about even. Soviet troops were told to hold their ground, and did so at some cost. The artillery and support weapons suffered fiercely under waves of Junkers dive bombers.
Total losses, German initial offensive, early January 1940:




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That will conclude post #1. I will have post #2 up in a moment to catalog the offensive of the Soviet forces. Stay tuned! Should be up very soon. Thanks for your patience with my ever-lengthy turnaround time on the PBEM files.

January 1940

Because of treaty obligations from our war with Germany and Italy, and because of the war against Japan the Western Allies will have to cheer you on from the sidelines.

We do wish the Soviet people well against this aggressor.

Okay, I updated the last post. I am just about the save the final turn (check that production one more time!), and I'm also trying to get my whole turn copied out for a nice AAR here. Everything (next post and turn save in dropbox) will be done within 24 hours, and hopefully in the next 6 hours or so.

Thank you so much for the detailed post. So often the fog of war obscures this huge battle.

Everything you can reveal will be well worth viewing.

Chuck

1940, January. Later part of month.

After the initial German surge, Soviet forces planned for an immediate counter-offensive. The main objective were the two regions lost to German attacks. It seemed very likely that these could be recovered.
The starting situation when the staff had time to evaluate the crisis:



In the above map, the front is color-coded by commander.
- Dark/navy blue: Commander Boris Shaposhnikov, the defense of the Baltic states territory (Latvia and Estonia)
- Fuchsia: Commander Semyon Timoshenko, defense of Northern Polish territory
- Yellow: Commander Grigory Kulik, defense of Southern Polish territory
- Blue: Commander Grigori Shtern, motorized reserve


The Kaunas-Bialystock breach was easy to retake, as the Germans had not yet pushed into the territory behind the Soviet retreat.

The Bialystock-Warsaw breach was another matter, being defended by four German armored divisions. It took a concerted effort from all flanks to push the Germans back. Timoshenko's armored division and fragmented units of the original defense made the hard push, supported by Kulik's motorized and anti-tank brigades in flanking maneuvers.

Map of the attacks:




During our reconnaissance of the front, Commander Shaposhnikov identified a rather under-strength garrison in Kaipeda; a chink in the German armor.
Map with known German forces and strength estimate:



Stavka immediately begin efforts to coordinate an attack on Kaipeda, but failed to muster the units from Timoshenko's (pink) HQ. Finally, artillery support from Timoshenko was secured (mainly as the Kaunas-Bialystock salient was easy to retake), and the attack was underway.

Only a week or so after the initial German invasion, Soviet troops were marching on Kaipeda with heavy armored support, as Shaposhnikov (navy blue) had access to many offensive units that had not yet assumed their appropriate position on the front (in the aftermath of the prepared invasion of Finland).

After a relatively short battle, Kaipeda is ours!


But when the Soviet troops' eyes behold Konisberg before them, sovereign German lands, HQs begin buzzing about. Does the offensive end here?



**OPERATION BALTIC BRUSH**

The plan was designed by Marshal of the Soviet Union, Georgy Zhukov. Not wanting to lose momentum, a massive multi-army attack was staged through Konisberg in an attempt push along the coast to Danzig.

With the support of Commander Shtern's motorized reserve to occupy defensive territory along the front around Bialystock, Timoshenko (pink) was able to free up additional forces for a continued offensive. The idea was to pierce as far along the right (northern) flank as possible, and, if possible, to capture Danzig before the German line could react.

Stealing the words from the Schlieffen plan, Zhukov declared "let the last man on the right brush the Baltic with his hand".



Heavy bombardment began on Konisberg, long a thorn in Russia's side, most recently in the First World War. As units from both sides began to fall back from the front under the heavy pressure of intense combat, it was a heroic and desperate last attempt from Shaposhnikov's armored division which took the city on one final attempt (on the last combat round!). The ecstasy of the Soviet troops (and their commander) was impossible to withhold!

The Battle of Konisberg was extremely fierce, and will no doubt be long remembered by the Soviet people. With the greatest jubilation, Soviet forces set foot on German soil. Konisberg is ours!


The push into the gap between Konisberg and Danzig met with only the lightest resistance. Unfortunately, the Soviet forces ran out of steam before being able to capture Danzig. One quick probing attack on the city limits was all that could be mustered of the tired troops.

Map of the turn:

Danzig is a German city, producing units every bit as good as Berlin. The Germans will fight you hard for this city.

January 1940 will go down in the annals of the Red Army. Your grabbing opportunities when they appear seems to be a function of having reserves positioned to allow such exploitation.

You will surely have a big fight on your hands as the tip of your spearpoint will draw German attention.

@Rufus,

If you could post too it would be great.

You can obscure sensitive data, but still give us an idea of your strategic posture. This could be a classic battle and all can learn from it.

Chuck

8 January 1940

Western Powers

The navies of many nations are heading to the Pacific to do battle with Japan. On land France and Great Britain have confronted the Chinese and their Japanese allies. Commonwealth and United States troops have attacked the forces surrounding Hong Kong. At sea Iwo Jima was taken and some IJN light forces and subs were attacked.

It will still take quite awhile for the western powers to bring their forces to bear on our enemies.

This game is dead.
Pity.
One more game ended due to obviously missing interest of one player.

I probably won't be able to get out the new game turn until after Saturday (big deadline). I messaged Rufus, but Chuck, would you be willing to continue this series after this weekend still, or should we just let sleeping dogs lie?

I think it would particularly interesting to go another two turns at least

Sure guys, why let a good thing die?

There is a ton to learn in this environment.

Chuck

Gentlemen,

We need to play this game. It is not that hard.

This is a very low intensity game, more a learning tool, and a chance to try some thing you might not try in a more competitive game.

Your turn does not have to be perfect, but it does need to be played.

Chuck