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Here you have the reason why I decided to choose England...
To easy
Do not write off the French just yet
Because I like Preussens Gloria better. Best military march music ever, in my humble opinion - not that I am much into that.
Part 2
October begins with a German offensive in Dijon-Belfort area aiming at complete encirclement of the French 1st, 2nd and 5th Armies in the Troyes-Chaumont-Epinal region.
The French led by Field Marshal Joffre fight desperately to keep the escape route open. The Germans shell the escaping columns mercilessly and inflict terrible casualties. The French soldiers who went through this hell and survived to tell the tale dubbed the ordeal as the "trail of tears". (Not to be confused with the Cherokee one
)
To prevent more French from escaping the Germans step up pressure on their rearguard formations. Heavy fighting ensues along the whole front.
By mid October, the fate of 24 French and Belgian divisions is sealed when a reserve corps belonging to the 7th Army severs their escape corridor. The French once again attempt to reopen it and they batter the reservists furiously, but they are forced to pull out when the elite von Kluck's 1st Army reinforces the stranglehold.
In the next two weeks over 500,000 French soldiers are taken captive. However, the mopping up gives the remaining French forces in the south time to dig trenches and establish a fairly solid line of defence stretching from Switzerland to Bourges. German soldiers are now too exhausted to push on further and also their logistical situation worsens due to the long distances and enemy sabotages in the rear. Germany lacks men to properly garrison the huge areas it conquered in the span of just 2 months. The arrival of wintery weather which turns the front into a sea of mud doesn't help either. Only in the west is the front still fluid.
Meanwhile, the Kaiser is infuriated when he receives news that the Ottoman Empire has refused to join the Central Powers in their just war against the imperialist powers. The Kaiser feels personally betrayed as he had previously styled himself as Turkey's greatest friend and protector. To punish the Turks, he orders the withdrawal of German officers from the Ottoman Empire and suspends all aid shipments.
On December 30th, Germany launches the last offensive of 1914. The target is the Orleans-Bourges salient which the Germans want to occupy in order to shorten the front line. They're unpleasantly surprised when it turns out that punching through the French trenches isn't as easy as they expected. The French hold out for two weeks and inflict serious casualties on the Germans before retreating.
By January, the front lines in the West are largely fixed and will remain so for a long time. The British begin sending in large amount of supplies which help to keep France in the fight despite the disastrous losses it suffered throughout 1914. Besides that, Britain is getting increasingly active along the poorly garrisoned Channel coast. British raids are of daily occurrence and also the partisan activity in the occupied French territories is a cause for concern.
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Before someone asks - I could have probably finished the French, but fighting on frozen hilly terrain would have costed me too much manpower. I was also busy elsewhere and so I figured I could as well delay the final offensive a little. It was a screw-up on my part, but such things happen in war, don't they?
Somebody may feel horrified when compares the OHL handling of this campaign with the German advance in my AAR...
How's the Eastern Front going? None of the Entente members seem particularly inclined to help out their French ally...
Looks like France has de-evolved into Vichy France
Happens in 9 out of 10 universes
Somebody may feel horrified when compares the OHL handling of this campaign with the German advance in my AAR...
What, you've got problems with the ultra-smart German AI, whose strategy for winning the war involves failing spectacularly in the West followed by continual strategic redeployment of its armies between fronts until the Russians overrun the whole of Germany?
I'll get to the situation in the east in an update or two. But the Entente is far from finished. I am not trying to convince you I am going to lose this war, but it won't be a complete walk in the park
I honestly don't know. I think it has something to do with Panda's AI, which includes separating Germany into 3 countries to make the AI fight properly in 1914. The countries are then merged again. But I am a human (I swear!) so this doesn't apply to my game. Weird. In any case, I then edited the savegame file and returned the capital to Berlin.
Into the motherland, the German army march...:rofl: Will follow (what little is left) with interest!
What, you've got problems with the ultra-smart German AI, whose strategy for winning the war involves failing spectacularly in the West followed by continual strategic redeployment of its armies between fronts until the Russians overrun the whole of Germany?
It's funnier. They decided to sit on their arses, waiting for Godot and I had to made them angry when a lonely Belgian cavalry division decided to go shopping to Köln. Then, the Germans had to avenge that... And I moved from being bored to sobs to be overwhelmed in all fronts...:wacko:
I have a tres, tres terrible headache after witnessing such a devastating French defeat. After achieving victory you should play a Kaiserreich game as the vanquished French and do a reverse Schlieffen plan with Syndicalist panzers
Chapter 3: Severed Dreams
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"You told me the French would surrender, but they didn't. How's that possible, Moltke?!" hissed the Kaiser.
"Your Majesty, I don't know what to say. The Schlieffen Plan worked, that's beyond any doubt. We thought they would surrender, it... it makes no military sense at all for them to continue fighting!"
"You thought, you thought! You should have known the French are irrational, stubborn, revanchist and outright crazy bunch of megalomaniacs! Why am I surrounded with people who are utterly unable to see the bigger picture?!" he ranted. "And then there is that blasted little country in the North. You told me it would be overrun in a day or two, but so far it seems it could just as well be a year or two. How do you explain that?!"
Helmut von Moltke swallowed. "I must admit the Danish resistance surprised us a bit. But we're working on bringing the operation to a swift end."
"You better be! Otherwise I am going to demote you to a captain and send you to Macedonia to gather more experience in fighting tiny little countries!"
The Kaiser exhaled slowly and collapsed in a chair. "I've promised the German people that our brave soldiers would be home by Christmas - last year. I look like a fool now. I don't like looking like a fool, do you understand me, Moltke?"
Moltke nodded silently.
"Now get out of my sight."
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After months of embarrassing failures to bring the Serbs to their knees, Austria-Hungary finally asks for German assistance. Germany needs to secure the southern flank in the Balkans, so it pulls the 6th Army from the West and sends it to Voivodina to reinforce the Austro-Hungarian armies. The recently formed nucleus of what is to be the 10th Army is also redeployed there from Poland. After weeks of bitter fighting, the Germans finally manage to occupy Belgrade and force the Serbs to call a general retreat.
As German forces weaken on the Western front, the French are getting stronger again. Hundreds of thousands of men are conscripted in the colonies and shipped to France. Many have no idea whom are they supposed to fight or why, but they will prove to be brave and fierce warriors in the coming months.
Meanwhile, Italy conspires against the Central Powers. Although formerly being a member of the Triple Alliance, when the war erupted it declared its neutrality. It was just a pose, however. The Italian policy was known as sacro egoismo - sacred self-interest. Italy won't fight in self-defence or in the name of high ideals; it will join the side that will offer it the most. The Entente is desperate to lure Italy into its camp and so it promises large territorial gains at the expense of Austria-Hungary if Italy helps it to win the war.
While Italy plots, German reputation rots in the state of Denmark. Germany politely asked (some would say shamelessly bullied) Denmark to close the entrances to the Baltic see to the Entente ships, fearing a possible British or Russian raid against the Baltic coast. Denmark refused pointing to its neutrality. Germany then announced it would send military mission to Denmark to "guard" its neutrality against a possible Entente invasion.
The problem was, Denmark didn't just grin and bear it - it chose to fight and it was soon obvious how inadequate the German forces sent to secure the country were. The Danes mined the coastal waters thus preventing the Germans from taking advantage of their naval superiority, and in many small-scale skirmishes they gave the Germans a bloody nose. They even managed to temporarily cut off the German forces in Jutland.
And that's not the least of German problems. In May, 1915, the British launch a daring raid against Ghent and Antwerp. The alarmed Germans quickly dispatch cavalry units from France to deal with the incursion. It's becoming painfully obvious the coastal defence isn't just inadequate, it's almost non-existent. That enables the British to cause all sorts of mischief wherever they choose to.
It comes as no surprise that when the Danes ask the Entente for help, they quickly get it: three divisions led by General Allenby make a landing in Aalborg. That's the last straw for the Germans, who now pull the whole 4th Army off the Western front and send it do Denmark. It's an overkill and it will weaken the forces in France considerably, but Germany can't allow the British to establish a permanent presence in Denmark.
Germany's manpower situation is further worsened by the general staff's decision to mobilize another eight garrison divisions for coastal defence duty.
They will not be available in time to prevent a massive British landing in Brittany. Churchill's plan involves landing 28 divisions in the peninsula, the subsequent capture of Brest to ensure a steady flow of supplies to the bridgehead, later followed by a push towards Paris. Germany is caught completely by surprise by the scale of the operation. Von Moltke suffers a stroke when he learns about the invasion and later dies in hospital.
The landing roughly coincides with a major Russian offensive in the East. The Russian bear awakens from its sleep and tears through Austro-Hungarian armies in Galicia. Mighty Austrian fortresses in Lemberg (Lvov) and Przemyśl fall and the Russians are pose to invasion of Hungary and Transylvania. Panic and fear grips the country...
... especially after Italy stabs the Central Powers in the back and joins the war on the side of the Entente.
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Lol, Italy joining the war even when things look really bad for the French. Talk about missplaced bravery.