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Very interesting thus far, can't wait to see where this goes. Hope it is a swift victory achieved in Spain.
Only the 250 He-51 inter-belum bi-plane fighters, no other LL to Nat. Spain, such as a small monthly quota of rifles?
I have usually found that you need to send 150 planes of what ever type at least to Spain for them to get up in the air and use them so that you gain the air experience. However often in HOI 4 for some reason you need to give them just over that for it to work out, or even if you send as a 'once' one-off all 280 He-51s that 3 or so get left behind and hold up the whole shipment and you don't actually get any air experience until you finally send the last of them from the initial all out LL 'once' delivery. Since I usually empty my field fighter squadrons by reducing the 4 existing Jagds to just 1 single plane each when the SCW breaks out and then immediately send the LL with the 280 after the last ones arrive in reserve after those singles have been replaced with Me 109s - may be there is a time delay cool-off period for these singles when they arrived in reserve. Perhaps all the He-51s need to have been in reserve for a time period so you do send them all in a 'once' one hit right at the start of the SCW... I might try that from day one.
I like to micro the SCW volunteers and each to their own preferred handling play path, but I like to leave that Bilbao / Basque Republican enclave and all the mountains there alone and instead just fight down in the eastern plains, to avoid the difficult hard fighting terrain so I save on attrition and hopefully by leaving it to the Nationals to ensure that it draws out the SCW a bit more for experience gain...
I have usually found that you need to send 150 planes of what ever type at least to Spain for them to get up in the air and use them so that you gain the air experience. However often in HOI 4 for some reason you need to give them just over that for it to work out, or even if you send as a 'once' one-off all 280 He-51s that 3 or so get left behind and hold up the whole shipment and you don't actually get any air experience until you finally send the last of them from the initial all out LL 'once' delivery. Since I usually empty my field fighter squadrons by reducing the 4 existing Jagds to just 1 single plane each when the SCW breaks out and then immediately send the LL with the 280 after the last ones arrive in reserve after those singles have been replaced with Me 109s - may be there is a time delay cool-off period for these singles when they arrived in reserve. Perhaps all the He-51s need to have been in reserve for a time period so you do send them all in a 'once' one hit right at the start of the SCW... I might try that from day one.
I like to micro the SCW volunteers and each to their own preferred handling play path, but I like to leave that Bilbao / Basque Republican enclave and all the mountains there alone and instead just fight down in the eastern plains, to avoid the difficult hard fighting terrain so I save on attrition and hopefully by leaving it to the Nationals to ensure that it draws out the SCW a bit more for experience gain...
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Part V: Life in the Reich
On May 1st, 1936 Martin Bormann was officially placed in the position of Party Minister of the National Socialists Workers Party, a position fabricated entirely for the position of Martin Bormann, a flat faced man with slicked back hair and an air about him not like the Fuhrer who showed himself capable of being to, in the words of Adolf Hitler in his personal writings, "to rouse the spirit of any man in front of him." Bormann joined a paramilitary Freikorps organization in 1922 while working as manager of a large estate. He served nearly a year in prison as an accomplice to his friend Rudolf Hess in the murder of Walther Kadow. Bormann joined the National Socialist party in 1927 and the Schutzstaffel (SS) in 1937. He initially worked in the party's insurance service, and transferred in July 1933 to the office of Deputy Fuhrer, Rudolf Hess, where he served as chief of staff. Bormann used his position to create an extensive bureaucracy and involve himself as much as possible in the decision making. He gained acceptance into Hitler's inner circle, and accompanied him everywhere, providing briefings and summaries of events and requests.
Martin Bormann, Party Minister of the National Socialists Workers Party
Organization Todt (OT) continues to show promise, May 1936
Members of the League of German Girls put up posters for their group in Worms, 1936
Life in the Reich continued unabated. Recruitment in National Socialist organizations ramped up, especially the League of German Girls and the Hitler Youth--organizations that the Fuhrer thought would ensure the future of his Thousand Year Reich. Similarly, new officers continued to join the ranks of the Wehrmacht, one such officer was Theodore von Hossen.
Hossen was born on 26th November 1893 in Southern Germany at Stuttgart, in the Kingdom of Wurttemberg, then part of the German Empire. He was the first of two children and children to a minor family boasting a von namesake, a postal worker and a secretary, and his wife Catherine Snetzer, whose father Branden von Kurntz headed the steelworks. As a young man Hossen's father had been a captain in the High Seas Fleet, manning a destroyer. At age 18 Hossen joined the local 124th Württemberg Infantry Regiment as a Fahnrich, in 1911 studying at the Officer Cadet School in Danzig alongside then relatively unknown contemporaries such as Erwin Rommel. He graduated in November 1912 and was commissioned as a lieutenant in January 1913 and was assigned to the 124th Infantry in Weingarten. He was posted to Stuttgart in March 1914 to the 50th Field Artillery Regiment as a battery commander.
During World War I, Hossen was sidelined by injury--a fractured leg that became grossly infected and kept him out of the war until late 1917. By 1917, due to the ineptitude of political bureaucracy, Hossen was relegated to a reservist post in Munich and witnessed the end of the war only ever having seen the action of a Zeppelin coming and going over the city proper. By 1934, Hossen was immediately attached to the recently created Oberkommando Wehrmacht (OKW) Supply Bureau in Berlin, Germany, mostly doing clerical work. He displayed competence and aided in the creation of the Reserve Army as well as the future German 1st Army and German 2nd Army, the former being disposed against the Franco-German border and the later being against the Polish border in the East. Hossen's name for organization and out of the box thinking. On February 20th, 1936 he was promoted to Oberst.
Portrait of Theodore von Hossen, while serving as a liaison officer for 2. Artillerie-Division, circa 1933
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Part VII: First Moves
On May 21st, 1936, Oberkommando Wehrmacht--along with assistance from von Hossen in the Supply Bureau--created the German 1. Armee (1st Army). Generaloberst Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb. Leeb was born in 1876 in Landsberg am Lech as Wilhelm Josef Franz Leeb into a Roman Catholic family. His younger brother, Emil Leeb, also served in the German Army and rose to the rank of General der Artillerie as Chief of Waffenamt.
Wilhelm joined the Bavarian Army in 1895 and served in China during the Boxer Rebellion. Between 1907 and 1913, he attended the Bavarian War Academy and served on the General Staff. At the outbreak of World War I, Leeb rejoined the Bavarian Army. He served on the Eastern Front, where he distinguished himself at the Battle of Gorlice-Tarnow, the capture of the fortress Przemysl and the campaign in Serbia. In 1915, he was awarded the Military Order of Max Joseph, the receipt of which conferred a title of nobility; Leeb's surname was changed to "Ritter von Leeb." After the war, Leeb remained in the Reichwehr, the army of the Weimar Republic. Before the rise of Adolf Hitler to power, Leeb commanded the military district covering Bavaria.
Creation of 1. Armee and it's deployment, May 1936
Near the end of May, the Foreign Ministry made it known that the British were making a concerted effort to ensure that Dutch ports remained open for trade goods. The Netherlands, a nation that remained crucial to the war effort just 20 years ago was slated to be a centerpoint in a future war. The Fuhrer decided that no additional resources or political overtures would be expended attempting to make better friends with the Dutch.
Anglo-Dutch relations continue to grow, May 1936
The primary purpose of the Four Year Plan was to provide for the rearmament of Germany, and to prepare the country for self-sufficiency in four years, from 1936 to 1940. Aside from emphasizing the rebuilding of the nation's military defenses, in disregard of the restrictions imposed on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles after the German defeat in World War I, the Four Year Plan sought to reduce unemployment; increase synthetic fiber production, undertake public works projects under the direction of Fritz Todt, increase automobile production, initiate numerous building and architectural projects and further develop the Autobahn system.
Fearful of the reaction by industrialists and financiers over the increasing nationalization of Germany's economy, Hitler's 1936 "Four-Year Plan Memorandum", also called for the Reichstag to enact "A law providing the death penalty for economic sabotage".
The German Reich undertakes the Four Year Plan, 1936
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Great AAR. I enjoy the written much more than the utubes. Keep up the great work!
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Superb AAR
Finally be real German AAR which is not game or where HITLER gets killed.
Great writing too.
Finally be real German AAR which is not game or where HITLER gets killed.
Great writing too.
Part VIII
The Spanish Civil War (1936-) continued unabated, with word reaching the Oberkommando Wehrmacht that the Soviet Union sent nearly 35,000 soldiers as part of the International Volunteers, something which could not be left to pass. In lieu of that, Fuhrer Adolf Hitler signs Directive #2 allowing an entire air wing of aircraft to be dispatched to Northwest Spain to ensure both local military supremacy as well as a vital testing ground for the Junkers Ju 87 dive bomber. On June 1st, 1936 Stukageschwader 1, nicknamed the Condor Legion was dispatched to an airbase in Northwest Spain.
Creation of the Condor Legion, 1936
Condor Legion's position in Spain, June 1936
Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist was born in Braunfels to the noble family Kleist, an old Ppmeranian family with a long history of military service. There had been two previous Prussian field marshals in the family. His father was Geheime Studienrat Christof Hugo von Kleist, a high ranking civil servant. At the age of 18, Kleist joined the Prussian field artillery regiment, "General Feldzeugmeister" No. 3 on 9 March 1900 as a fahnenjunker. He was commissioned as a leutnant on 18 August 1901. On March 22, 1914, he was promoted to Captain and joined the Leib-Husaren-Regiment No. 1. During the First World War, Kleist served on the Eastern Front and commanded a cavalry squadron at the Battle of Tannenberg. From 1915 to 1918 he served as a staff officer of the Guards Cavalry Division on the Western Front
After the First World War ended, Kleist joined the Freikorps and participated in the Latvian and Estonian Wars of Independence as a member of the Iron Division. In June of 1919, he led an attack group during the Battle of Cesis. Kleist joined the Reichswehr in 1920. From 1924 to 1928 he was assigned as a tactics instructor at the Hannover Cavalry School. In 1928 he served as the chief of staff of the 2nd Cavalry Division in Breslau, then from 1929 to 1931 he held the same position in the 3rd Division in Berlin. Kleist was promoted to Colonel in 1931 and was given command of the 9th (Prussian) Infantry Regiment in Potsdam. At the beginning of 1932, he was given command of the 2nd Cavalry Division. In October of 1932, he was promoted to Major General.
Kleist was a monarchist, and did not heavily involve himself in the politics of the Weimar Republic. After the National Socialists seized power the Reichswehr was united with the newly formed Wehrmacht. On December 1st, 1933, he was promoted to lieutenant general. In October 1934 he was given command of the "Breslau Army", which was later reorganized into the VIII Army Corps. In 1935 he was given command of the newly formed military district VIII responsible for Silesia while simultaneously serving as the commanding general of the VIII. Army Corps. On June 15th, 1936, he was promoted to General of 2. Armee, crafted of the most modern components of the Reserve Army under the Oberkommando Wehrmacht (OKW).
Formation of 2. Armee, 1936
On August 29th, 1936 the first prototypes were ready: the Focke-Wulf submitted the Fw 57, Messerschmitt submitted the Bf 110 and Henschel submitted the Hs 124. The Fw 57 was larger than its two competitors; it was heavier and did not handle as well as them. The Fw 57 was a twin-engine all-metal monoplane of conventional configuration, with a single fin and rearwards-retracting maingear members comprising its tailwheel under carriage, into the engine nacelles. The pilot and navigator sat in tandem under a long canopy, the aft end of which had a gunner's turret.
Focke-Wulf Fw 57 design, 1936
Fock-Wulf Fw 57 prototype, August 1936
Henschel Hs 124 prototype, August 1936
The Messerschmitt Bf 110 design, August 1936
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Development of the Luftwaffe would be valuable for the years to come. The Eagle's gotta fly somehow!
Absolutely. The Luftwaffe may be the part of the Heer closest to my heart.
Part IX
Following the acceptance of the Messerschmitt Bf 110 as a viable candidate for it's heavy fighter program, Adolf Hitler signed Directive #3, which was the state bound promise that Messerschmitt AG, the German firm responsible for both the Bf 109 as well, "be given preferential treatment in future relevant weapons contracts." The designers at Messerschmitt were excited and Willy Messerschmitt himself promoted a concept he called "light weight construction" in which many typically separate load-bearing parts were merged into a single reinforced firewall, thereby saving weight and improving performance. The first true test of the concept was in the Bf 108 Taifun sports aircraft, which would soon be setting all sorts of records. Based on this performance the company was invited to submit a design for the Luftwaffe's 1935 fighter contest, winning it with the Bf 109, based on the same construction methods.
From this point on Messerschmitt became a favorite of the National Socialist party, as much for his designs as his political abilities and the factory location in southern Germany away from the "clumping" of aviation firms on the northern coast. BFW was reconstituted as "Messerschmitt AG" on July 11, 1936, with Willy Messerschmitt as chairman and managing director. The renaming of BFW resulted in the company's RLM designation prefix changing from "Bf" to "Me" for all newer designs that were accepted by the RLM after the acquisition date. Existing types, such as the Bf 109 and 110, retained their earlier designation in official documents, although sometimes the newer designations were used as well, most often by subcontractors, such as Erla Maschinenwerk of Leipzig. In practice, all BFW/Messerschmitt aircraft from the Bf 108 four-seat touring monoplane, to the Bf 163 light observation aircraft (which competed unsuccessfully for the government contract won by the rival Fieseler Fi 156 design) were prefixed "Bf", all later types with "Me".
Messerschmitt becomes the favored son of the Luftwaffe, 1936
Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers of the Condor Legion, pictured over Spain, August 1936
The Fug 1, manufactured by Lorenz was going to enure that the future of all combat was radically different. Radio communication in the Great War had been basic--morse code, but now the possibility of sending and receiving simple communicated messages through language both as a backpack mounted or onboard mounted device meant a more cohesive organizational structure.
The newest weapon of the Wehrmacht, September 1st, 1936
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Part IX
In August, 1936 Heinz Guderian and other theorists made their desires known to avoid replicating the atrocities of the Great War. Utilizing such technological innovations as the radio and the Panzer, it was thought that lightning fast warfare might be able to allot essential resources in local areas and achieve a beakthrough. These essential theoretical developments meant that the standing Infanterie Division of the Wehrmacht would need to be altered to increase their existing firepower.
Army Innovations in August, 1936
Addition of a Artillerie Battalion in Wehrmacht Infanterie Divisions, August 1936
After a speech by the president of the German Olympic Committee, the games were declared open by Adolf Hitler: "I proclaim open the Olympic Games of Berlin, celebrating the Eleventh Olympiad of the modern era." Hitler opened the games from his own box, on top of others. Writer David Wallenchinsky commented on the event, saying, "This was his event, he wanted to be glorified."
Although the Olympic flame was first introduced in the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, this was the first instance of the torch relay. The National Socialists invented the concept of the torch run from ancient Olympia to the host city. Thus as swimmer Iris Cummings Critchell later related, "once the athletes were all in place, the torch bearer ran in through the tunnel to go around the stadium". A young man chosen for this task ran up the steps all the way up to the top of the stadium there to light a cauldron which would start this eternal flame that would burn through the duration of the games.
The Summer Olympic Games begin in Berlin, Germany 1936
The Battle of Segovia begins, August 1936
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Short but Sweet chapter. Segovia looks to be quite bloody, but at least the Olympics went well!