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Any predictions?
Definitely. The strategy of widening the front line worked in this specific instance.
Yeah - both sides are powerful and mostly evenly matched, without decisive mechanized assets or any clear advantage in a certain area. Still, the technology of the era (and experience) does allow infantry more mobility than before in a concentrated advance.
Great chapters.
This indeed reminds me more of WW1 with massive fronts. I'm glad to see new developments in every chapter.
I guess fighting in colonies is quite boring with only colonial power opposing Livonia being Italy.
This indeed reminds me more of WW1 with massive fronts. I'm glad to see new developments in every chapter.
I guess fighting in colonies is quite boring with only colonial power opposing Livonia being Italy.
Yeah, it's an interesting thing to think about because in IRL's ww2, the main thing that stopped such a scenario outbreaking for most of the war was that the fights were very skewed in one direction. A few countries in this war *do* have fairly good amounts of light tanks, but against entrenched enemies, bad terrain (generally), and airplanes, they aren't tough enough to cause serious movement.
// New post should come within a few days. I just made an outline for the entire rest of the war in the meantime
Chapter 9: Severe Developments (January – March 1940)
In late January, after about one month of laying low in Iceland and doing a few repairs, the Baltic Navy travelled back through the North Sea into the homeland. The trip ended up being fairly uneventful – a few enemy planes were encountered but never in large enough numbers to be of warrant.
As the advance into the North German Union slowed down, a different offensive was set up to make the most of the situation. Coming from Danija, an army composed of Kuyavian, Karenian, and Danish soldiers spent the rest of January breaking through the German-Danish border. The attack came with significant casualties for the Allies at first as they fought along the narrow, heavily fortified border, but with support from the LAF they managed to break through and rush into German territory.
This was a huge deal – two separate offensives had now rushed into the NGU and captured valuable land. German soldiers still bore the brunt of the fighting in this war, yet now they were struggling to even maintain their own home territory while much of their army was away in Bavaria or Aquitaine.
However, just days later, the Allies’ confidence was shattered completely.
Isbania had been neutral thus far in the war, but it was always clear that the country favored the Fascists diplomatically. Back in the Great War, Isbania had been part of the Western Pact, which included England and Genoa, as well as the Empire of Brabant (whose split up parts are now contained within the North German Union.) Additionally, Isbania’s nationalists hated Aquitaine – that country’s sudden entry mid-war had led to the rapid fall of Isbania as a whole, and subsequent annexation of its territory along the border.
However, Isbania had not joined the war up until now for two main reasons:
First, the country was weary of joining any new war after the disaster of both the Great War and the far worse Isbani Civil War shortly afterwards. Isbania had recovered moderately over the ensuing decades (although strained by the economic depression of the 20’s), but the country had never been able to reattatin economic prosperity anywhere near the level their previous empire had contained.
Secondly, the country wasn’t directly lead by a Fascist party. The victors of the country’s civil war had been a moderate, authoritarian-democratic government which maintained diplomatic isolation afterwards, but the widespread rise of far-right political parties around Europe in the last two decades had spread through much of Isbania as well. Since the war had started, the already-large far right party within the country had only increased in popularity, and their influence was large enough to convince some of the more center-leaning nationalists to vote for war.
The timing was perfect for Isbani revenge – Aquitaine was seriously struggling already, and Isbani army staff predicted that their entry into the war could result in the reacquisition of their former territory within months.
Meanwhile, the Allied invasion through Danija had managed to link up with the main Eastern army, successfully extending the front deeper into the German heartland while also encircling several divisions in the process – including one of their brand new armored corps.
The encircled forces surrendered soon after, while the Allied troops rushed in to defend the new front line. The captured German tanks were sent back into Liivimaa to be studied – the country had been developing new tank designs of its own for several months now, and studying the German designs would certainly help the effort.
The Allied soldiers managed to consolidate the front line, but already plans for further offensives were being made. The entry of Isbania into the war meant that Aquitaine would only be able to hold for so long, so it was imperative for Livonia to do as much damage to the Germans as possible before it was too late. In the best-case scenario, the North German Union would be eliminated, connecting Aquitaine to the rest of the Allies by land.
In the meantime, Isbania’s entry into the war sparked a huge offensive against Aquitaine’s south. The armies defending against the naval invasion by England in Catalonia was now suddenly being attacked from both sides, prompting a desperate attempt to retreat as many men as possible. Meanwhile, the Italians and Genoese were finally pushing into Aquitanean territory, while in the north fighting was limited since both combatants were much more focused on their other fronts.
The army of Isbania was very large, but it was almost entirely made up of riflemen and machinegunners – the country’s industry was comparatively weak, and very little focus had been devoted to anything other than infantry divisions. However, their massive size was more than enough to overwhelm the already-stretched Aquitainean army, and Isbani soldiers could easily be equipped with more advanced equipment by their other allies.
In the meantime, the fighting overseas continued. By this point, the Livonian offensive up the coast of West Africa had cut off Italy’s colony from the East. However, the smaller army which had been sent to attack Ethiopia had failed completely – the treacherous mountains deep in enemy territory devastated the Livonian, who were later captured by Ethiopian soldiers. However, the Italians had focused all of their colonial armies in the defense of the west already, and the Ethiopians were mainly worried about defending their own borders, so there wasn’t actually a serious risk of losing Livonian East Africa yet.
In Asia, the Italian colonies only held a small fraction of their remaining land – the Japanese continued to encircle the colonial defenders of Indochina, while Kanyakubja pushed into the Bengal Delta.
By late February, the first Livonian medium tank design was completed, unofficially named the Vērsis (after the constellation Taurus) for its toughness compared to earlier tanks – The Vērsis vehicles were designed to withstand far more fire than the small early-war tank designs which made up the vast majority of currently deployed armor on all sides, while the larger size also allowed heavier guns and better engines. This type of design wasn’t new to Livonia – the Germans had already developed similar tanks of their own, but they were certainly better than the light tanks spread throughout the armies of England and Italy.
Of course, the greater size also had a downside – production was notably more expensive than typical tanks. The Livonian army was still suffering from equipment shortages as offensive after offensive was attempted, so only a small number of factory resources could be devoted to the Vērsis, as opposed to the cheap, mass-produced light tanks abroad. Production difficulties and a lack of resource devotion would delay the actual deployment of these vehicles in large numbers for many months, as most non-infantry production was still dedicated to the tried and true warplanes of the LAF.
By the 28th of February, Aquitaine was in bad trouble. It had been about a month since Isbania declared war, and their army was now advancing into the country after finally breaking through the Aquiteanean defensive line. At the same time, Genoese and Italian forces continued to attack, although the Aquitanean defenders did a better job in that region of slowing down the advance. In the north, Aquitaine had concentrated its tank corps to push towards Holland, as they had little defensive utility anyways, and the new Allied strategy of connecting the two fronts via the north was Aquitaine’s only hope of survival.
However, the eastern offensive into the NGU had stalled shortly after the Danish assault linked up with the main force. Ongoing attacks to try and push deeper into the country were met with very heavy resistance and high casualties – the same fate as the allied troops fighting in the Bavarian Corridor, which remained a critical struggle for both sides.
However, the stalling of movement in the East worked both ways, which meant the previously German land was now firmly in Livonian control. Livonian Radar development had advanced quite a bit over the winter, with their range now able to be increased by nearly 40% compared to last year. In preparation for a future assault, a new radar array began construction in East Hannover to give the LAF an advantage.
The Isbani advance over February had trapped a serious chunk of Aquitaine’s defensive forces in Catalonia, including several tank divisions – most of which were lost or forced to surrender. A few attempted to escape over sea, but the Italian advance had captured all Aquitanean ports in the Mediterranean, forcing the transports which survived the journey to land in Corsica, where they would remain isolated for a very long time.
By the beginning of March, casualty numbers had climbed by a lot for the Allies, while the European Order* had taken only moderate losses. Aquitaine was naturally the country losing the most men, as they now fought on every single border, but the rise in Livonan casualties was very similar in number – mainly as a result of the several failed assaults into entrenched German territory, rather than the successful push through Holstein at the start of the month. The men covering the rest of the Bavarian border, especially the Corridor, were now mostly Kuyavian and Karenian, both of which had also taken heavy casualties over the last two and a half months.
* (While previously known as the Fascist Order, named after the initial three-way alliance of fascist-led countries, the now expanded alliance came to be known as the European Order starting in early 1940, both as a reflection of the several allied countries which had not been part of the initial alliance, including two which were not even Fascist, and as part of the nationalistic ideal that circulated through propaganda in the warring countries, depicting the Allies as foreign invaders of European culture and society, along with their “Aquitanean puppet”.)
The Corridor was now at its thinnest width so far, but the Italians had managed to hold the line and do serious damage to the Turks over the course of the battle. Taking advantage of Turkish weakness, a large reserve of Italian tanks and bombers were deployed starting on March 7th to push into the Turkish Balkans, in an attempt to both relieve the Corridor and weaken Al-Turkis as a whole. Aside from Aquitaine, Al-Turkis was the weakest link in the Allied chain, and a potential breakthrough into their country could go a long way towards winning the war.
There had been several failed offensives by the Livonian army over the last month in the north, but most of them had been poorly planned attempts to capitalize on the sudden speed of their advance. Seeing little hope of pushing straight into Holland (after initially taking huge losses during the attempt to do so), a new plan was put in place to push further south, cutting off the industrial centers in both the NGU and Bavaria which were now within reach of the front line. With German forces concentrated around Holland on both fronts, the Livonians pushed for a decisive breakthrough into the center of the enemy’s land before continuing to attack west.
The state of the war was hard to judge at the moment, since so many of its recent developments were still in progress. The sudden Livonian advance into the North German Union was a huge victory, yet several failed offensives were seriously straining the army’s equipment and manpower supplies. Worse, the Isbani declaration of war added another dangerous foe to the opposing side. Aquitaine was in great peril, losing land and men every day with no sign of relief, and with the Baltic Navy still being repaired there was little the Eastern Allies could do other than continue attacking the entrenched German and Italian lines in hope of another breakthrough.
In late January, after about one month of laying low in Iceland and doing a few repairs, the Baltic Navy travelled back through the North Sea into the homeland. The trip ended up being fairly uneventful – a few enemy planes were encountered but never in large enough numbers to be of warrant.
As the advance into the North German Union slowed down, a different offensive was set up to make the most of the situation. Coming from Danija, an army composed of Kuyavian, Karenian, and Danish soldiers spent the rest of January breaking through the German-Danish border. The attack came with significant casualties for the Allies at first as they fought along the narrow, heavily fortified border, but with support from the LAF they managed to break through and rush into German territory.
This was a huge deal – two separate offensives had now rushed into the NGU and captured valuable land. German soldiers still bore the brunt of the fighting in this war, yet now they were struggling to even maintain their own home territory while much of their army was away in Bavaria or Aquitaine.
However, just days later, the Allies’ confidence was shattered completely.
Isbania had been neutral thus far in the war, but it was always clear that the country favored the Fascists diplomatically. Back in the Great War, Isbania had been part of the Western Pact, which included England and Genoa, as well as the Empire of Brabant (whose split up parts are now contained within the North German Union.) Additionally, Isbania’s nationalists hated Aquitaine – that country’s sudden entry mid-war had led to the rapid fall of Isbania as a whole, and subsequent annexation of its territory along the border.
However, Isbania had not joined the war up until now for two main reasons:
First, the country was weary of joining any new war after the disaster of both the Great War and the far worse Isbani Civil War shortly afterwards. Isbania had recovered moderately over the ensuing decades (although strained by the economic depression of the 20’s), but the country had never been able to reattatin economic prosperity anywhere near the level their previous empire had contained.
Secondly, the country wasn’t directly lead by a Fascist party. The victors of the country’s civil war had been a moderate, authoritarian-democratic government which maintained diplomatic isolation afterwards, but the widespread rise of far-right political parties around Europe in the last two decades had spread through much of Isbania as well. Since the war had started, the already-large far right party within the country had only increased in popularity, and their influence was large enough to convince some of the more center-leaning nationalists to vote for war.
The timing was perfect for Isbani revenge – Aquitaine was seriously struggling already, and Isbani army staff predicted that their entry into the war could result in the reacquisition of their former territory within months.
Meanwhile, the Allied invasion through Danija had managed to link up with the main Eastern army, successfully extending the front deeper into the German heartland while also encircling several divisions in the process – including one of their brand new armored corps.
The encircled forces surrendered soon after, while the Allied troops rushed in to defend the new front line. The captured German tanks were sent back into Liivimaa to be studied – the country had been developing new tank designs of its own for several months now, and studying the German designs would certainly help the effort.
The Allied soldiers managed to consolidate the front line, but already plans for further offensives were being made. The entry of Isbania into the war meant that Aquitaine would only be able to hold for so long, so it was imperative for Livonia to do as much damage to the Germans as possible before it was too late. In the best-case scenario, the North German Union would be eliminated, connecting Aquitaine to the rest of the Allies by land.
In the meantime, Isbania’s entry into the war sparked a huge offensive against Aquitaine’s south. The armies defending against the naval invasion by England in Catalonia was now suddenly being attacked from both sides, prompting a desperate attempt to retreat as many men as possible. Meanwhile, the Italians and Genoese were finally pushing into Aquitanean territory, while in the north fighting was limited since both combatants were much more focused on their other fronts.
The army of Isbania was very large, but it was almost entirely made up of riflemen and machinegunners – the country’s industry was comparatively weak, and very little focus had been devoted to anything other than infantry divisions. However, their massive size was more than enough to overwhelm the already-stretched Aquitainean army, and Isbani soldiers could easily be equipped with more advanced equipment by their other allies.
In the meantime, the fighting overseas continued. By this point, the Livonian offensive up the coast of West Africa had cut off Italy’s colony from the East. However, the smaller army which had been sent to attack Ethiopia had failed completely – the treacherous mountains deep in enemy territory devastated the Livonian, who were later captured by Ethiopian soldiers. However, the Italians had focused all of their colonial armies in the defense of the west already, and the Ethiopians were mainly worried about defending their own borders, so there wasn’t actually a serious risk of losing Livonian East Africa yet.
In Asia, the Italian colonies only held a small fraction of their remaining land – the Japanese continued to encircle the colonial defenders of Indochina, while Kanyakubja pushed into the Bengal Delta.
By late February, the first Livonian medium tank design was completed, unofficially named the Vērsis (after the constellation Taurus) for its toughness compared to earlier tanks – The Vērsis vehicles were designed to withstand far more fire than the small early-war tank designs which made up the vast majority of currently deployed armor on all sides, while the larger size also allowed heavier guns and better engines. This type of design wasn’t new to Livonia – the Germans had already developed similar tanks of their own, but they were certainly better than the light tanks spread throughout the armies of England and Italy.
Of course, the greater size also had a downside – production was notably more expensive than typical tanks. The Livonian army was still suffering from equipment shortages as offensive after offensive was attempted, so only a small number of factory resources could be devoted to the Vērsis, as opposed to the cheap, mass-produced light tanks abroad. Production difficulties and a lack of resource devotion would delay the actual deployment of these vehicles in large numbers for many months, as most non-infantry production was still dedicated to the tried and true warplanes of the LAF.
By the 28th of February, Aquitaine was in bad trouble. It had been about a month since Isbania declared war, and their army was now advancing into the country after finally breaking through the Aquiteanean defensive line. At the same time, Genoese and Italian forces continued to attack, although the Aquitanean defenders did a better job in that region of slowing down the advance. In the north, Aquitaine had concentrated its tank corps to push towards Holland, as they had little defensive utility anyways, and the new Allied strategy of connecting the two fronts via the north was Aquitaine’s only hope of survival.
However, the eastern offensive into the NGU had stalled shortly after the Danish assault linked up with the main force. Ongoing attacks to try and push deeper into the country were met with very heavy resistance and high casualties – the same fate as the allied troops fighting in the Bavarian Corridor, which remained a critical struggle for both sides.
However, the stalling of movement in the East worked both ways, which meant the previously German land was now firmly in Livonian control. Livonian Radar development had advanced quite a bit over the winter, with their range now able to be increased by nearly 40% compared to last year. In preparation for a future assault, a new radar array began construction in East Hannover to give the LAF an advantage.
The Isbani advance over February had trapped a serious chunk of Aquitaine’s defensive forces in Catalonia, including several tank divisions – most of which were lost or forced to surrender. A few attempted to escape over sea, but the Italian advance had captured all Aquitanean ports in the Mediterranean, forcing the transports which survived the journey to land in Corsica, where they would remain isolated for a very long time.
By the beginning of March, casualty numbers had climbed by a lot for the Allies, while the European Order* had taken only moderate losses. Aquitaine was naturally the country losing the most men, as they now fought on every single border, but the rise in Livonan casualties was very similar in number – mainly as a result of the several failed assaults into entrenched German territory, rather than the successful push through Holstein at the start of the month. The men covering the rest of the Bavarian border, especially the Corridor, were now mostly Kuyavian and Karenian, both of which had also taken heavy casualties over the last two and a half months.
* (While previously known as the Fascist Order, named after the initial three-way alliance of fascist-led countries, the now expanded alliance came to be known as the European Order starting in early 1940, both as a reflection of the several allied countries which had not been part of the initial alliance, including two which were not even Fascist, and as part of the nationalistic ideal that circulated through propaganda in the warring countries, depicting the Allies as foreign invaders of European culture and society, along with their “Aquitanean puppet”.)
The Corridor was now at its thinnest width so far, but the Italians had managed to hold the line and do serious damage to the Turks over the course of the battle. Taking advantage of Turkish weakness, a large reserve of Italian tanks and bombers were deployed starting on March 7th to push into the Turkish Balkans, in an attempt to both relieve the Corridor and weaken Al-Turkis as a whole. Aside from Aquitaine, Al-Turkis was the weakest link in the Allied chain, and a potential breakthrough into their country could go a long way towards winning the war.
There had been several failed offensives by the Livonian army over the last month in the north, but most of them had been poorly planned attempts to capitalize on the sudden speed of their advance. Seeing little hope of pushing straight into Holland (after initially taking huge losses during the attempt to do so), a new plan was put in place to push further south, cutting off the industrial centers in both the NGU and Bavaria which were now within reach of the front line. With German forces concentrated around Holland on both fronts, the Livonians pushed for a decisive breakthrough into the center of the enemy’s land before continuing to attack west.
The state of the war was hard to judge at the moment, since so many of its recent developments were still in progress. The sudden Livonian advance into the North German Union was a huge victory, yet several failed offensives were seriously straining the army’s equipment and manpower supplies. Worse, the Isbani declaration of war added another dangerous foe to the opposing side. Aquitaine was in great peril, losing land and men every day with no sign of relief, and with the Baltic Navy still being repaired there was little the Eastern Allies could do other than continue attacking the entrenched German and Italian lines in hope of another breakthrough.
The delay is finally over!
I had to take some extra time to mull this chapter over, as there is a lot of lore involved and the events here have a huge impact on the entire rest of the war, so it was important to get them right. This is just over twice as many words as the average chapter as well, in addition to the previously mentioned fact that I have now outlined the entire rest of the war in my document to make sure everything is consistent and accurate, which took a while to do.
I had to take some extra time to mull this chapter over, as there is a lot of lore involved and the events here have a huge impact on the entire rest of the war, so it was important to get them right. This is just over twice as many words as the average chapter as well, in addition to the previously mentioned fact that I have now outlined the entire rest of the war in my document to make sure everything is consistent and accurate, which took a while to do.
The war grows yet further. Aquitaine's situation looks seriously bleak, it is almost a race on who will capitulate first, them or the NGF.
This looks very bad. The Allies either need more allies, a stroke of luck, or a negotiated peace.
Chapter 10: Tragedy (March – August 1940)
Livonia was unable to make any real progress in the month of March. The North German Union’s defensive line was very tough, owing to the excellent quality of their infantry divisions and artillery support (whose quality was roughly equal to that of Livonia – but worked much better when defending).
As April began, Master of Parliament Klavess II of Livonia pushed through a law of total economic mobilization. In this new wartime economy, Livonian men outside of the ideal age or fitness for army work would often be drafted into state-run industry and logistics to support the war effort. Additionally, the government took temporary control of several new industries in order to completely commit the powerful Livonian economy to winning a war that was looking increasingly grim.
The zealous, socialist aspect of Livonian society which had already expanded during the years before the war was now omnipresent across the country’s people. Propaganda was of course a large part of the war effort on all sides, but as one of the strongest individual powers (and now, the most threatened), nationalism in Livonia was intense. Additionally, it was hard for anybody to sympathize with the repression and murder within the Fascist countries – the advance into Germany had resulted in the capture of several prisons filled to the brim with political enemies and Pomeranian nationals (since much of the currently occupied region had been annexed from Pomeranija not long ago).
The advancements made in Livonian radar technology a few months back had now been implemented in full within the Livonian radar station in Bornholm, whose range extended over most of the Sweden region. Since the war began, the LAF had been developing a strategic bombing strategy to devastate major industries and cities, as had been attempted early in the war on the Benelux and southern England.
Starting this month, a larger wing of new and improved strategic bombers was sent to destroy one of Norvegija’s most important regions. Unlike the previous attempts at strategic bombing, these raids would be supported by radar, would be within range of Livonian fighters (if necessary), and would attack a region without a strong air force to defend it. This wasn’t going to be a one-off attack – the strategic bombing of Norvegija would be sustained until the country’s infrastructure and industry of the region was annihilated.
By the middle of April, Aquitaine had lost the entire southern half of their country to the Isbani, Genoese, and Italian armies. Meanwhile, the desperate Livonian offensives in the North German Union still accomplished little, dashing hopes that the Germans could be knocked out quickly.
Meanwhile, the Italian push into Turkish land that started nearly two months ago was making some progress. The advance hadn’t taken very much land, but it had accomplished its goal of relieving the Corridor forces, ending the threat of encirclement and the supply problems which had plagued Italian soldiers for months.
The attacks had come at a cost though – though not very well equipped, the Turkish forces were still capable of defending the mountains and forests of the Balkans well, inflicting huge casualties on the Italians during the course of their offensive – including on their armored forces, which were at a great disadvantage in this type of terrain. In fact, the main reason Italy actually had succeeded was the support of their air force, which controlled the skies with little opposition during the offensive.
And while the Livonian attacks into Central Europe went nowhere, a separate allied offensive had been launched along the longer border with Bavaria, which actually managed to advance a decent amount against the weaker defenders. Now that winter was over and German soldiers were redeployed north to deal with the Livonians, the other Allied soldiers were able to make some progress.
Despite their initial delays, the Livonians did not lighten up their attacks on the North German Union. Desperation over the fall of Aquitaine was certainly a factor in the continued attacks, but there was also some calculation behind it – nearly half of the country’s initial industry had rather been captured in the advance or bombed in the ongoing air battle over the north German area, so the Field Marshal decided that if war of attrition was necessary, Livonia could win – at least while the other enemy countries were distracted with Aquitaine.
The armies of Aquitaine were doing a tremendous job of making the invading armies fight for every bit of land despite being outnumbered, but by May 15th, only a third of the country remained unoccupied.
At the same time, the Livonian armies in the north were actually beginning to move – the Germans were indeed struggling to supply and maintain their artillery and armor, but more importantly the Livonian Air Force was contributing heavily to the fighting. The expansion of the Hannover Radar station was certainly helping, as well as concentration of LAF planes at the expense of other fronts and the superiority of Livonia’s new fighter planes (which had almost exclusively been sent to the region since their production began in late 1939).
The Livonian Army once again decided to push west – the German defenses were weakest there, and the Benelux was one of the most strategically important locations of the war. By May 29th, the city of Münster had been captured by a large concentration of Livonian forces.
At this point, the air battle over Europe had escalated in scale, approaching what would become the largest concentration of total warplanes over Europe during the whole war. The northern areas of Europe were firmly controlled by the LAF, which was heavily focused on supporting the army’s westward advance. The strategic bombing campaign of Norvegija continued as well, with devastating attacks launched constantly with little opposition – ironically, the anti-air defenses first constructed by Livonia in Stockholm were causing the most grief. The central European area over the NGU and Bavaria had been contested heavily by the European Order’s fighter planes, successfully preventing the Livonian breakthrough attempted last month, and now they were now in firm control of the area after the relocation of LAF planes.
Southern Europe was still heavily contested as well, but the situation favored the European Order. Especially at risk was the Balkans, where Italian warplanes supported their attacks against the Turks.
After taking several months to repair (and reinforce) after the Battle of Biscay, the Baltic Navy was finally sent back into action on June 8th. The fleet was still lacking in light ships, so they were initially sent to patrol the Baltic Sea while new destroyers and light cruisers were pumped out of Livonian dockyards. It still was unclear exactly how strong the English Navy was at this point, but it wasn’t worth the risk to find out yet.
The Livonian push west was finally going well – especially in the northern Friesland area, where German soldiers were being pushed back into Holland itself. The main prize here would be the city of Amsterdam, home to a large airfield and heavy industry, although the entire area to the south was equally valuable. If all of the Benelux could be taken, what remained of the Aquitanean Army would have a safe route to evacuate, and most of the North German Union’s vital industry would be cut off.
The advance into Aquitaine had actually slowed down some, but it was clear the country was doomed. Only a small fraction of their land remained, and attacks were now being launched from both the eastern border (by Italian soldiers, rather than Germans) and by sea.
After fighting for two weeks to destroy as much of the German forces in the Benelux as possible, a push into Amsterdam was launched on July 13th. By the end of the month, the city was under attack from several directions by Allied forces – including a sudden wave of reinforcements by various Allied countries, which were sent into the area to speed up the crucial offensive. Most importantly, Japanese tanks had been sent to the front over land all the way through Kuyavia, where they would be of tremendous use if the army could make it past the rivers and swamps of Holland.
However, the breakthrough proved to be too late to accomplish one of its goals – on July 25th of 1940, Aquitaine capitulated to the European Order.
At this point, casualties numbered just under 3,000,000 for the Allies, while European Order losses were nearly half that. As before, German soldiers had taken the greatest losses, but the pushes into Aquitaine and Al-Turkis had resulted in many more Italian deaths as well.
After Aquitaine capitulated, their land was split into three occupation zones – England took control of the northern coast, giving the country a much better location to transport and supply their armies on the continent. Isbani took the southwest portion of Aquitaine, while Bavaria, Italy, and Genoa occupied the remainder. Since the Bavarian army, as well as their industry, was practically useless in its current state, Bavarian soldiers would actually make up the largest percentage of ‘police’ forces in Aquitaine.
With the fall of Aquitaine, the Allies were forced to completely rethink their overall strategy for the war. No longer could an easy advantage be gained by connecting the two fronts – now, the Allies would have to invade the majority of Europe directly in order to win. Additionally, Novegija remained a thorn in the side of Livonia, and England was of course the most difficult enemy to reach of all.
The European Order had a strong advantage in industry by this point – collectively they could pump out far more military supplies than the Allies – but the Allies still controlled many of the world’s resources. While materials like steel, aluminum, and tungsten were widely available to the European Order, they had to import almost all of their oil from America and Iraq, and rubber could only be imported from the small island of Java, which was surrounded by Japanese patrol boats.
[though technically part of the war, no Asian countries beyond Japan have/will actually commit land forces into Europe]
Finally, the Allies did have the advantage of raw manpower, if it came down to that – although with their higher casualty ratio, even that wasn’t necessarily relevant.
The last hope of victory anywhere in the near future had ended with the collapse of Aquitaine. From now on, the war in Europe would be a pure, brutal slugfest to push through an entire continent.
Livonia was unable to make any real progress in the month of March. The North German Union’s defensive line was very tough, owing to the excellent quality of their infantry divisions and artillery support (whose quality was roughly equal to that of Livonia – but worked much better when defending).
As April began, Master of Parliament Klavess II of Livonia pushed through a law of total economic mobilization. In this new wartime economy, Livonian men outside of the ideal age or fitness for army work would often be drafted into state-run industry and logistics to support the war effort. Additionally, the government took temporary control of several new industries in order to completely commit the powerful Livonian economy to winning a war that was looking increasingly grim.
The zealous, socialist aspect of Livonian society which had already expanded during the years before the war was now omnipresent across the country’s people. Propaganda was of course a large part of the war effort on all sides, but as one of the strongest individual powers (and now, the most threatened), nationalism in Livonia was intense. Additionally, it was hard for anybody to sympathize with the repression and murder within the Fascist countries – the advance into Germany had resulted in the capture of several prisons filled to the brim with political enemies and Pomeranian nationals (since much of the currently occupied region had been annexed from Pomeranija not long ago).
The advancements made in Livonian radar technology a few months back had now been implemented in full within the Livonian radar station in Bornholm, whose range extended over most of the Sweden region. Since the war began, the LAF had been developing a strategic bombing strategy to devastate major industries and cities, as had been attempted early in the war on the Benelux and southern England.
Starting this month, a larger wing of new and improved strategic bombers was sent to destroy one of Norvegija’s most important regions. Unlike the previous attempts at strategic bombing, these raids would be supported by radar, would be within range of Livonian fighters (if necessary), and would attack a region without a strong air force to defend it. This wasn’t going to be a one-off attack – the strategic bombing of Norvegija would be sustained until the country’s infrastructure and industry of the region was annihilated.
By the middle of April, Aquitaine had lost the entire southern half of their country to the Isbani, Genoese, and Italian armies. Meanwhile, the desperate Livonian offensives in the North German Union still accomplished little, dashing hopes that the Germans could be knocked out quickly.
Meanwhile, the Italian push into Turkish land that started nearly two months ago was making some progress. The advance hadn’t taken very much land, but it had accomplished its goal of relieving the Corridor forces, ending the threat of encirclement and the supply problems which had plagued Italian soldiers for months.
The attacks had come at a cost though – though not very well equipped, the Turkish forces were still capable of defending the mountains and forests of the Balkans well, inflicting huge casualties on the Italians during the course of their offensive – including on their armored forces, which were at a great disadvantage in this type of terrain. In fact, the main reason Italy actually had succeeded was the support of their air force, which controlled the skies with little opposition during the offensive.
And while the Livonian attacks into Central Europe went nowhere, a separate allied offensive had been launched along the longer border with Bavaria, which actually managed to advance a decent amount against the weaker defenders. Now that winter was over and German soldiers were redeployed north to deal with the Livonians, the other Allied soldiers were able to make some progress.
Despite their initial delays, the Livonians did not lighten up their attacks on the North German Union. Desperation over the fall of Aquitaine was certainly a factor in the continued attacks, but there was also some calculation behind it – nearly half of the country’s initial industry had rather been captured in the advance or bombed in the ongoing air battle over the north German area, so the Field Marshal decided that if war of attrition was necessary, Livonia could win – at least while the other enemy countries were distracted with Aquitaine.
The armies of Aquitaine were doing a tremendous job of making the invading armies fight for every bit of land despite being outnumbered, but by May 15th, only a third of the country remained unoccupied.
At the same time, the Livonian armies in the north were actually beginning to move – the Germans were indeed struggling to supply and maintain their artillery and armor, but more importantly the Livonian Air Force was contributing heavily to the fighting. The expansion of the Hannover Radar station was certainly helping, as well as concentration of LAF planes at the expense of other fronts and the superiority of Livonia’s new fighter planes (which had almost exclusively been sent to the region since their production began in late 1939).
The Livonian Army once again decided to push west – the German defenses were weakest there, and the Benelux was one of the most strategically important locations of the war. By May 29th, the city of Münster had been captured by a large concentration of Livonian forces.
At this point, the air battle over Europe had escalated in scale, approaching what would become the largest concentration of total warplanes over Europe during the whole war. The northern areas of Europe were firmly controlled by the LAF, which was heavily focused on supporting the army’s westward advance. The strategic bombing campaign of Norvegija continued as well, with devastating attacks launched constantly with little opposition – ironically, the anti-air defenses first constructed by Livonia in Stockholm were causing the most grief. The central European area over the NGU and Bavaria had been contested heavily by the European Order’s fighter planes, successfully preventing the Livonian breakthrough attempted last month, and now they were now in firm control of the area after the relocation of LAF planes.
Southern Europe was still heavily contested as well, but the situation favored the European Order. Especially at risk was the Balkans, where Italian warplanes supported their attacks against the Turks.
After taking several months to repair (and reinforce) after the Battle of Biscay, the Baltic Navy was finally sent back into action on June 8th. The fleet was still lacking in light ships, so they were initially sent to patrol the Baltic Sea while new destroyers and light cruisers were pumped out of Livonian dockyards. It still was unclear exactly how strong the English Navy was at this point, but it wasn’t worth the risk to find out yet.
The Livonian push west was finally going well – especially in the northern Friesland area, where German soldiers were being pushed back into Holland itself. The main prize here would be the city of Amsterdam, home to a large airfield and heavy industry, although the entire area to the south was equally valuable. If all of the Benelux could be taken, what remained of the Aquitanean Army would have a safe route to evacuate, and most of the North German Union’s vital industry would be cut off.
The advance into Aquitaine had actually slowed down some, but it was clear the country was doomed. Only a small fraction of their land remained, and attacks were now being launched from both the eastern border (by Italian soldiers, rather than Germans) and by sea.
After fighting for two weeks to destroy as much of the German forces in the Benelux as possible, a push into Amsterdam was launched on July 13th. By the end of the month, the city was under attack from several directions by Allied forces – including a sudden wave of reinforcements by various Allied countries, which were sent into the area to speed up the crucial offensive. Most importantly, Japanese tanks had been sent to the front over land all the way through Kuyavia, where they would be of tremendous use if the army could make it past the rivers and swamps of Holland.
However, the breakthrough proved to be too late to accomplish one of its goals – on July 25th of 1940, Aquitaine capitulated to the European Order.
At this point, casualties numbered just under 3,000,000 for the Allies, while European Order losses were nearly half that. As before, German soldiers had taken the greatest losses, but the pushes into Aquitaine and Al-Turkis had resulted in many more Italian deaths as well.
After Aquitaine capitulated, their land was split into three occupation zones – England took control of the northern coast, giving the country a much better location to transport and supply their armies on the continent. Isbani took the southwest portion of Aquitaine, while Bavaria, Italy, and Genoa occupied the remainder. Since the Bavarian army, as well as their industry, was practically useless in its current state, Bavarian soldiers would actually make up the largest percentage of ‘police’ forces in Aquitaine.
With the fall of Aquitaine, the Allies were forced to completely rethink their overall strategy for the war. No longer could an easy advantage be gained by connecting the two fronts – now, the Allies would have to invade the majority of Europe directly in order to win. Additionally, Novegija remained a thorn in the side of Livonia, and England was of course the most difficult enemy to reach of all.
The European Order had a strong advantage in industry by this point – collectively they could pump out far more military supplies than the Allies – but the Allies still controlled many of the world’s resources. While materials like steel, aluminum, and tungsten were widely available to the European Order, they had to import almost all of their oil from America and Iraq, and rubber could only be imported from the small island of Java, which was surrounded by Japanese patrol boats.
[though technically part of the war, no Asian countries beyond Japan have/will actually commit land forces into Europe]
Finally, the Allies did have the advantage of raw manpower, if it came down to that – although with their higher casualty ratio, even that wasn’t necessarily relevant.
The last hope of victory anywhere in the near future had ended with the collapse of Aquitaine. From now on, the war in Europe would be a pure, brutal slugfest to push through an entire continent.
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So Aquitaine has fallen, but the news from the front is positive ... hopefully though the offensive will not now grind itself to a halt - but one images lots of units will now be transferring against the Livonians.
Okay, not as bad as I thought. It looks like the rest of Africa can be taken, and there might be hope of knocking out Norvegija.
Definitely.
Africa actually won't see almost any change in the near future. Neither side has almost any forces invested in the area (most of both Livonia and Italy's armies were encircled, and Aquitaine is of course no longer in a position to do much), and none of Central Africa is particularly valuable.
As for Norvegija, there will be more in the next chapter.
This is rather intense to read. Good stuff, though
Thanks. It took three full playthroughs in order to get events to go in a way that was both interesting and functional (Balancing manpower and industry was them main thing. In the first playthrough, both were far too abundant for all sides, resulting in absurd division spam, while in the second Aquitaine and Japan were seriously overpowered. I also made a few plot changes and many bugfixes along the way) I've had quite a lot of fun writing these last few chapters.
One can definitely see all the effort you are putting into this. I don't know if I'd be able to do three full playthroughs in a row for this. But the most important thing is that you are also enjoying the story yourself, so that is good to hear.
Guys be sure to send Livonia your thoughts and prayers. They just their buddy Aquitaine and they really need our support. Thoughts and prayers thoughts and prayers <3
<3
See, this is what happens when you put commoners in power, they keep on betraying their so called democracy and allying with Fascists. Let this be a lesson.
- 1
Chapter 11: Supply and Demand (August 1940 – January 1941)
As August went on, the Allied armies continued to smash through Holland. The region of land which had been controlled by Aquitaine before their capitulation was practically undefended at this point, as the enemy armies hadn’t yet set up and moved to the new front line. While there wasn’t any front line to link up with anymore, the offensive still presented an opportunity to grab as much land as possible from the Fascists.
Over the course of just one week, the Allies managed to push all the way to Calais – freeing a small portion of Aquitaine and giving the country’s exiles a place to gather. The new Livonian radar arrays were now operating at full strength, covering half of Central Europe – this would be very helpful in the coming months, which were sure to be very difficult.
The strategic bombing campaign of Norvegija had thus far been a great success, but in the grand scheme of the war, bombing the country was of limited value. England’s military-industrial output was one of the greatest in the world, and the most difficult to attack. As part of the new wartime strategy to try and do as much damage to the superior enemy industry as possible, the LAF planned to build a secret radar array on the Faroe Islands which would ideally open up the northern half of England to bombing, eventually.
By September, the Isbani and Italian armies which had previously been invading Aquitaine had now moved into positions along the eastern front. The transfer of so many forces to the east had already halted the Allied advance into northern Aquitaine and Holland after reaching Calais, but the greater threat these reinforcements brought was to Al-Turkis.
Control of the skies and an expanded Corridor allowed the European Order to supply a massive army along the Turkish border, while also leaving the north very well defended. A naval invasion was actually attempted by the English to the south, though it was soon repelled. The Turks were seriously outnumbered though along the main border – it looked as if they would be the next target.
By the end of the month, the westward push had ended. The North German Union only controlled about one third of their original territory, yet the country still refused to surrender. In order to gain the upper hand, Livonia organized another southern offensive, hoping the LAF’s radar coverage would be enough to make some progress this time.
Over the last few months, the bombing of Norvegija had done serious damage. The country’s front lines had remained static for nearly the entire war, but there had been fighting along the borders all year. Many foreign divisions – mostly English – also reinforced the areas, ensuring no direct attack could succeed. However, the Livonian border fortifications prevented the Norwegians from advancing, and the LAF’s bombing campaign had annihilated Norwegian infrastructure – meaning it was a struggle just to supply the large forces already present.
At the same time, continued patrols and bombardment by the Baltic Navy cut off what would have been the easiest supply solution; instead, supplying the forces in Finland could only be done via the northern Arctic coast, or overland in the barren Scandinavian north.
The Allies – though not Livonia directly – decided to take advantage of the supply issues as winter approached and knock out the European Order’s weakest link. On September 29th, the Baltic Navy supported two different naval invasions of Norvegija – one in southern Stockholm by Kievan and Japanese soldiers, and another via Danija.
Livonia’s southern offensive turned out to be a disaster, just as the last one had been. Despite outmatching enemy airpower in the region, the Livonians couldn’t break through the heavy German defensive line, now bolstered by Isbani reinforcements. By this point, the Livonian Army was having serious equipment shortages, and manpower reserves were also dwindling – despite increased production, it was difficult to keep up with the constant attacks that had been ordered throughout the year.
The naval invasions of Norvegija met heavy resistance - The invasion of southern Stockholm was repelled completely after 10 days, though the surviving soldiers were able to escape by sea. In the south, the Danish push had actually managed to secure a foothold in Scandinavia, but both Norwegian and foreign soldiers massed around the new front line, preventing any further advance.
After the Livonian Army had cancelled its offensives at the end of September, the LAF was free to spread out its forces across all of Europe, rather than concentrating in one area. Fighters were sent to help several regions on the continent and contest the enemy’s air superiority, while most of the Livonian bombers were sent to the Balkans to help Al-Turkis defend against the massive enemy army. Thus far, there hadn’t been much movement along the front line – the mountainous area was difficult to attack, and with winter quickly approaching, any movement became much harder.
Since the fall of Aquitaine, casualties had risen on both sides at a nearly equal rate (for the first time). Livonia lost another 100,000 men in the attacks into Calais and Central Europe, while Karenia and Kuyavia had taken steady losses trying to stop the enemy’s attacks into Al-Turkis. On the Euro side, England’s losses had nearly doubled now that their armies had full access to the continent, while Italy and Genoa had also taken several in the east. Finally, German casualties were relatively minor over this period – but two thirds of their industry had been captured during the invasion of Holland. Ironically, much of the remaining NGU territory was that which had been seized from Bavaria after their civil war, so the remaining German industry was weak.
At this point, the Baltic Navy was still playing it safe, but at home new and highly advanced light ships were now being built – designed based on lessons from the Battle of Biscay and inspired by Aquitanean designs. As with any naval expansion, it would take a while for these new ships to be built and deployed, but their addition to the Baltic Navy would make it very powerful, assuming it survived that long.
Meanwhile, the Vērsis Tank Program had finally produced a complete design after continued development of the prototypes over the course of 1940. Starting in December, the new Vērsis tanks began mass production. These improved models were quite expensive and bulky compared to contemporary armor, but they were also designed to serve a different role. Similar to the German armor strategy earlier in the year (which they had never been able to utilize after the Allied advances took out much of their vehicles and industry), these new Livonian tanks were designed to be moderately fast with moderate, sloped armor and a versatile cannon.
Of course, these benefits came at the cost of delayed development and difficult production – based on the Army’s plans, the Vērsis would be used in large, concentrated divisions, meaning the initial tanks were actually being held back.
Attacks along the southern German border started once again at the end of October, but on a smaller scale. The front line was now covered by vast numbers of enemy soldiers, making only limited, regional advances viable for the army – but it was still important to keep attacking so that the Turks would have room to breathe. In response to the Livonian Army’s dwindling manpower, conscription was expanded starting in the new year of 1941, while women began to fill the country’s factories.
In February of 1941, the Faroe Radar Station was completed. The radar’s range wasn’t yet strong enough to support strategic bombing of England, as it only extended as far as the least populated region of the entire country, but the station served another important purpose – giving the Baltic Navy vision over the North Sea.
As suspected, the Fascists were sending several convoys up the west coast of Norvegija to supply the huge armies in the country – and this was why the naval invasion had stalled. With radar coverage now watching the main route of supply, the Baltic Navy could confidently move into the area, gaining vision of enemy convoy routes as well as some warning if the elusive remaining ships in the English Navy moved to intervene. It still was very unclear how powerful the fleet remained after their losses from the Battle of Biscay, so drawing them out would be valuable for future planning.
After a few weeks, the Livonian navy left the Baltic Sea and started the operation to block all enemy supply of Norvegija. If they were successful, the combined lack of naval imports and bombing of infrastructure would quickly starve out the massive enemy present in the country – especially with the brutal Scandinavian winter. Most importantly, the Baltic Navy would operate outside range of English airplanes – Norvegija lacked airbases in the north, meaning the only planes which could reach the sea were long-range tactical bombers.
1941 had arrived, and the war was taking on a new form. The industrial nature of this war transformed the massive conflict into a war of supply and production, and Livonia’s advantage in both air and sea gave rise to new types of strategic-level operations. If the Allies couldn’t destroy the Euros on the battlefield, they would try to cut the veins of their armies instead.
As August went on, the Allied armies continued to smash through Holland. The region of land which had been controlled by Aquitaine before their capitulation was practically undefended at this point, as the enemy armies hadn’t yet set up and moved to the new front line. While there wasn’t any front line to link up with anymore, the offensive still presented an opportunity to grab as much land as possible from the Fascists.
Over the course of just one week, the Allies managed to push all the way to Calais – freeing a small portion of Aquitaine and giving the country’s exiles a place to gather. The new Livonian radar arrays were now operating at full strength, covering half of Central Europe – this would be very helpful in the coming months, which were sure to be very difficult.
The strategic bombing campaign of Norvegija had thus far been a great success, but in the grand scheme of the war, bombing the country was of limited value. England’s military-industrial output was one of the greatest in the world, and the most difficult to attack. As part of the new wartime strategy to try and do as much damage to the superior enemy industry as possible, the LAF planned to build a secret radar array on the Faroe Islands which would ideally open up the northern half of England to bombing, eventually.
By September, the Isbani and Italian armies which had previously been invading Aquitaine had now moved into positions along the eastern front. The transfer of so many forces to the east had already halted the Allied advance into northern Aquitaine and Holland after reaching Calais, but the greater threat these reinforcements brought was to Al-Turkis.
Control of the skies and an expanded Corridor allowed the European Order to supply a massive army along the Turkish border, while also leaving the north very well defended. A naval invasion was actually attempted by the English to the south, though it was soon repelled. The Turks were seriously outnumbered though along the main border – it looked as if they would be the next target.
By the end of the month, the westward push had ended. The North German Union only controlled about one third of their original territory, yet the country still refused to surrender. In order to gain the upper hand, Livonia organized another southern offensive, hoping the LAF’s radar coverage would be enough to make some progress this time.
Over the last few months, the bombing of Norvegija had done serious damage. The country’s front lines had remained static for nearly the entire war, but there had been fighting along the borders all year. Many foreign divisions – mostly English – also reinforced the areas, ensuring no direct attack could succeed. However, the Livonian border fortifications prevented the Norwegians from advancing, and the LAF’s bombing campaign had annihilated Norwegian infrastructure – meaning it was a struggle just to supply the large forces already present.
At the same time, continued patrols and bombardment by the Baltic Navy cut off what would have been the easiest supply solution; instead, supplying the forces in Finland could only be done via the northern Arctic coast, or overland in the barren Scandinavian north.
The Allies – though not Livonia directly – decided to take advantage of the supply issues as winter approached and knock out the European Order’s weakest link. On September 29th, the Baltic Navy supported two different naval invasions of Norvegija – one in southern Stockholm by Kievan and Japanese soldiers, and another via Danija.
Livonia’s southern offensive turned out to be a disaster, just as the last one had been. Despite outmatching enemy airpower in the region, the Livonians couldn’t break through the heavy German defensive line, now bolstered by Isbani reinforcements. By this point, the Livonian Army was having serious equipment shortages, and manpower reserves were also dwindling – despite increased production, it was difficult to keep up with the constant attacks that had been ordered throughout the year.
The naval invasions of Norvegija met heavy resistance - The invasion of southern Stockholm was repelled completely after 10 days, though the surviving soldiers were able to escape by sea. In the south, the Danish push had actually managed to secure a foothold in Scandinavia, but both Norwegian and foreign soldiers massed around the new front line, preventing any further advance.
After the Livonian Army had cancelled its offensives at the end of September, the LAF was free to spread out its forces across all of Europe, rather than concentrating in one area. Fighters were sent to help several regions on the continent and contest the enemy’s air superiority, while most of the Livonian bombers were sent to the Balkans to help Al-Turkis defend against the massive enemy army. Thus far, there hadn’t been much movement along the front line – the mountainous area was difficult to attack, and with winter quickly approaching, any movement became much harder.
Since the fall of Aquitaine, casualties had risen on both sides at a nearly equal rate (for the first time). Livonia lost another 100,000 men in the attacks into Calais and Central Europe, while Karenia and Kuyavia had taken steady losses trying to stop the enemy’s attacks into Al-Turkis. On the Euro side, England’s losses had nearly doubled now that their armies had full access to the continent, while Italy and Genoa had also taken several in the east. Finally, German casualties were relatively minor over this period – but two thirds of their industry had been captured during the invasion of Holland. Ironically, much of the remaining NGU territory was that which had been seized from Bavaria after their civil war, so the remaining German industry was weak.
At this point, the Baltic Navy was still playing it safe, but at home new and highly advanced light ships were now being built – designed based on lessons from the Battle of Biscay and inspired by Aquitanean designs. As with any naval expansion, it would take a while for these new ships to be built and deployed, but their addition to the Baltic Navy would make it very powerful, assuming it survived that long.
Meanwhile, the Vērsis Tank Program had finally produced a complete design after continued development of the prototypes over the course of 1940. Starting in December, the new Vērsis tanks began mass production. These improved models were quite expensive and bulky compared to contemporary armor, but they were also designed to serve a different role. Similar to the German armor strategy earlier in the year (which they had never been able to utilize after the Allied advances took out much of their vehicles and industry), these new Livonian tanks were designed to be moderately fast with moderate, sloped armor and a versatile cannon.
Of course, these benefits came at the cost of delayed development and difficult production – based on the Army’s plans, the Vērsis would be used in large, concentrated divisions, meaning the initial tanks were actually being held back.
Attacks along the southern German border started once again at the end of October, but on a smaller scale. The front line was now covered by vast numbers of enemy soldiers, making only limited, regional advances viable for the army – but it was still important to keep attacking so that the Turks would have room to breathe. In response to the Livonian Army’s dwindling manpower, conscription was expanded starting in the new year of 1941, while women began to fill the country’s factories.
In February of 1941, the Faroe Radar Station was completed. The radar’s range wasn’t yet strong enough to support strategic bombing of England, as it only extended as far as the least populated region of the entire country, but the station served another important purpose – giving the Baltic Navy vision over the North Sea.
As suspected, the Fascists were sending several convoys up the west coast of Norvegija to supply the huge armies in the country – and this was why the naval invasion had stalled. With radar coverage now watching the main route of supply, the Baltic Navy could confidently move into the area, gaining vision of enemy convoy routes as well as some warning if the elusive remaining ships in the English Navy moved to intervene. It still was very unclear how powerful the fleet remained after their losses from the Battle of Biscay, so drawing them out would be valuable for future planning.
After a few weeks, the Livonian navy left the Baltic Sea and started the operation to block all enemy supply of Norvegija. If they were successful, the combined lack of naval imports and bombing of infrastructure would quickly starve out the massive enemy present in the country – especially with the brutal Scandinavian winter. Most importantly, the Baltic Navy would operate outside range of English airplanes – Norvegija lacked airbases in the north, meaning the only planes which could reach the sea were long-range tactical bombers.
1941 had arrived, and the war was taking on a new form. The industrial nature of this war transformed the massive conflict into a war of supply and production, and Livonia’s advantage in both air and sea gave rise to new types of strategic-level operations. If the Allies couldn’t destroy the Euros on the battlefield, they would try to cut the veins of their armies instead.