A Time for Heroes

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Chapter 8
Consolidation​

The Wehrmacht has stunned the world by conquering France, who had held out successfully for 4 years in the first war, in just 2 weeks. Germany is now the undisputed master of Europe.

The Soviet Union, meanwhile, has been quietly carving off quite a nice chunk of Eastern Europe for itself. Lithuania has no choice but to surrender to the commissars. The Germans, meanwhile continue to churn out more and more powerful fighting machines. The first of the new model Stukas take wing.

The United States is hardly pleased with the Soviet territorial conquests, but is forced to remain silent in the matter. That toddering loudmouth FDR is unwilling to antagonize the murderous blackguard Josef Stalin, as the Russians have the only land army capable of tackling the Germans at anything close to even odds. Meanwhile, underhanded American industrialists get around neutrality laws by enacting the piratical Lend-Lease Act. enabling massive sales of armaments to Britain.

With all of the Scandanavian peninsula under German sway, a protectorate is created under Wehrmacht military control. Seemingly having given away a large portion of the Reich's recent conquests, the government in Berlin suddenly becomes wildly unpopular. Fully 20% of the population is either publicly protesting, or actively on strike. Industrial production, scientific development, and military training grind to a halt. Moreover, the previously sky-high morale the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht takes a nosedive, adversely affecting espionage and combat.

Cowardly French backstabbers, supplied by Churchills criminals in London, foolishly seize the opportunity to try and wreak havoc in occupied France. Many areas are threatened, and open conflict breaks out in several provinces.

Mj. Gen. Oracle is quickly tasked with carrying out 'aerial punishment' of these groups of traitors and thugs. The disputed areas are quickly subdued by fast moving elements of 5th Panzer Armee.

The RAF apparently has orders to help these yellow-bellies who surrendered their country with scarcely a shot fired. Mj. Gen. Klepke's pilots, worried about the state of affairs in the strife-riven Fatherland, are still able to intercept and drive off the intruders. Fortunately the British have neither up-to-date bombers nor escort fighters.

Undeterred by the whirlwind unleashed upon their fellows, more partisans break out into open conflict with German occupying forces.

Fully one third of the Luftwaffe is actively engaged in the disruption of the activities of the French 'uncooperatives'.

Dutch aircraft, having spent many weeks in the maintenance shop, return to bomb the port of Dieppe and its garrison.

2 days later, the Australians expand the effort to Le Havre and Brest, both possessing significant port facilities.

The dangers of an invasion at any of these locations are immediately apparent. The only mobile force able to react is General Hoepner's 5th Panzer Armee, which has begun a long period of upgrades and refitting around Brussels, and would be very slow to react to any enemy activity. The 2nd line divisions holding the beaches must therefore not allow the enemy to get ashore. To this end, despite a mandate to conserve fuel when possible, the Luftwaffe initiates intense search-and-destroy missions along the coasts of Brittany, Normandy, and Pas-de-Calais. German vigilance is rewarded when, on July 22, 12 wings of Allied bombers, along with escort fighters, attempt to penetrate the Luftwaffe net and pave the way for an invasion. Significant air battles are fought this day above:

Amiens...

...Avranches...

...and Calais.

The day ends with a colossal German aerial victory, and the threat of invasion is at least temporarily lessened.

 

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Ouch that 20% dissent must hurt really bad.

 

[GAGA Extrem]

I see correctly that the whole fleet was coordinated by me during the battle? (At least engine wise...)
I am proud!

...and a praise for all other naval commanders!
Gut gemacht! (Well done!)

 

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Karaiskandar: Yugoslavia for sure will have to go. Romania I'm not too sure about....we shall see what happens. 20% dissent is definitely a huge handicap. I'm surprised the UK bomber offensive didn't go better, but for some reason he won't send his fighters over.

GAGAExtreme; Considering the fleet was fighting with that -20% dissent penalty, I consider it a huge victory (hence the post dedicated to the battle). As you may have noticed, the battle occurred after the liberation of Scandinavia, even though I posted it first.

 

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Chapter 8
Consolidation (cont)​

The latest uprisings in occupied France are totally subdued. A combination of lowered dissent and more military police units means the threat of open rebellion is quickly falling.

With the homefront at least semi-secure, Haulsee's U-boat force once more heads out to sea to attempt to break the UK's grip on world commerce. Many new orders have been placed to increase the size of the submarine fleet, but early production delays combined with some unfortunate losses means the effective force is still quite limited.

Haulsee has scarcely left port before he runs into combined Anglo-Belgian force of light cruisers and anti-submarine vessels. A short, sharp battle ensues, with heavy damage all around.

No ships have been sunk, but the Allies have succeeded in their effort to keep German U-boats out of the shipping lanes. Haulsee, Doenitz, von Nordeck, and the other U-boat admirals will have to wait for repairs to be conducted before putting to sea once more.

Some 5 weeks after Haulsee's unfortunate escapade, many damaged submarine flotillas have been repaired, and a decent sized armada is ready to put to sea.

The United States is doing everything it can to sidestep its own neutrality. No sooner has the latest force of U-boats left port than we get word of a deal brokered with the UK to provide them with more convoy escorts.

This time, the wolfpacks make their way unmolested into the Western Approaches. The results are immediate.

The first stage of the air war over western Europe has clearly been won. The UK has withdrawn its formations and is obviously waiting for the next generation of heavy bombers to be built before resuming the offensive. Vigilance is maintained despite the lack of Allied activity, and German pilots are rewarded with easy victories above Le Havre in late August...

...and Dieppe 6 weeks later. This raid in particular illustrates the danger for bombers trying to penetrate enemy airspace without a strong escort of fighters.

It is well that Germany now has a period of relative quiet. With no large offensives occurring during the late summer, many divisions begin training with new weapons and vehicles. Our infantry have learned the lessons of the early campaigns, and all new formations will be equipped with more effective weapons.

The motorized infantry divisions have also been refined, with newer and more rugged transport vehicles being issued.

Most importantly of all, German tank designers have come up with a next-generation chariot. The PzKpfw IVG retains all the useful features of the Panzer III (robust chassis, face-hardened armor, good hp-to-weight ratio) while mounting a much larger turret ring, and therefore a heavier main weapon; the powerful 7.5cm Kwk 40 is capable of penetrating all known enemy tanks from ranges exceeding 1500 meters.

Along with the development of heavier tanks, German military thinkers have envisioned a new type of division whose infantry will be transported in battle-taxis. In order to ease the burden on the fabrication of the new Panzer IV, they will be equipped with assault guns and tank destroyers. The first such divisions will be ready for action by late spring of next year.

The need for new vehicles and weapons to re-quip the Heer has reached a crisis point. Fortunately for Germany's hard pressed industrial resources, most of the damage caused by the spring and summer bombing campaign has been repaired.

 

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Mmmh Panzergrenadiere divisions! Our ennemies will soon learn to fear them.

 

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Chapter 9
The Battle for the Atlantic
Oct - Dec 1940​

The preliminary aims of the Kriegsmarine are to i) challenge the dominance of the Royal Navy, particularly in the North Atlantic, and ii) interdict the merchant fleets of the Allies. To begin achieving these goals, the bulk of the surface fleet is rebased away from the North Sea to join the U-boats in ports of occupied France. Brest and Bordeaux have both seen significant investment in the repair of their dockyard facilities.

The bulk of the surface fleet, apart from the Graf Spee, which is in Cherbourg refitting, puts to sea to cover the approaches to the English Channel.

60% of the U-boat leaves port at the same time, using the distraction of the German fleet to break through the cordon of Royal Navy patrol ships guarding the Bay of Biscay.

Not long after weighing anchor, Vice Admiral von Grebe and the rest of the surface fleet run into a group of cruisers and destroyers on anti-submarine duty off Ushant. Making use of their superior speed and the failing light, the Royal Navy force disperses to the north.

The following morning, Mj Gen. Oracle leads a strong force of Ju-88s and Bf-110s into the western English channel, and chases the retreating light forces all the way back to Portsmouth. No ships are sunk, but the first part of the route to the shipping lanes has been cleared for the submarines.

Wolfpack 'Donitz', meanwhile, has already pushed to the west and encountered yet another large screening force.

Having dispersed the destroyers and cruisers in the approaches to the English Channel, the main body of the surface fleet hurries to intervene on behalf of Donitz.

Mist lies thick over the western part of the Bay of Biscay. As it clears, KMS Deutschland mistakes the Graf Spee for the RN carrier Ark Royal, and fires 9 salvoes on her before the clarification is made. No hits are scored.

Having identified herself to Deutschland, Graf Zeppelin turns into the wind and launches a large strike, which rapidly fans out and begins attacking the fleeing cruisers and destroyers. HMS Coventry takes a 500 lb bomb amidships, which destroys the engineering room and leaves the light cruiser sitting dead in the water, spewing gouts of steam and smoke. She stays afloat long enough for German destroyers to take off most of her crew, then sinks quietly at midnight.

2 older RN destroyers also suffer strafing attacks and near misses from bombs before the British are able to use their superior speed to escape. Rear Admiral Swebeck suggests, and Vice Admiral von Grebe approves, a pursuit of yet another RN fleet harrying submarine raiders to the north-west.

A third anti-submarine hunter-killer force is dispersed by the German fleet. OKM notifies Vice Admiral von Grebe that a large RN fleet containing at least 8 capital ships has left Gibraltar and is headed at high speed into the north Atlantic. The Germans immediately begin scouting for this threat.

Hunting through seas which are now almost devoid of anti-submarine forces, German U-boats track, surround, and devour 2 slow moving convoys bound for Bristol. Intelligence later reveals that these 2 large convoys are part of the USA's dastardly Lend-Lease program.

Pursuing the British cruisers at top speed, Bismarck catches up with HMS Neptune off Land's End just after midnight on October 17. Rear Admiral Swebeck fires only a few rounds before putting about and rejoinging the rest of the fleet.

Along with the large battle fleet known to be heading north from Gibraltar, submarines from Wolfpack 'von Nordeck' spot a sizeable fleet, including a heavy cruiser, 400 miles west of Ireland.

Thoughts of one heavy cruiser and its escorting destroyers are put out of the minds of the sailors of the Hoschseeflotte, however, when Vice Admiral von Grebe investigates some confusing aerial reconnaissance reports and discovers the large RN fleet off northwestern Spain...

 

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Oh bad news, the KM is badly outnumbered, 3 CVs vs 1...

 

[aasand]

auch.. get outa there!

 

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Chapter 9
The Battle of the Atlantic
Oct - Dec 1940 (cont)​

The Battle of Ferrol begins at 0200 on the morning of October 29, when light forces screening the Hoschseeflotte spot the smoke rising from several capital ships, approximately 30 miles east of the German flagship Deutschland. The breaking of dawn in the east, combined with low clouds and rain squalls in the west, results in an early spotting advantage for the Germans. The Royal Navy Home Fleet remains unaware of the presence of the Germans for another 30 minutes.

Order of Battle:

Royal Navy Home Fleet: Grand Admiral Ernle Chatfield - Skill 1, Spotter, Old Guard.

3xCVII:
HMS Courageous
HMS Furious
HMS Glorious

2xBBIII:
HMS Rodney
HMS Nelson

6xBBII:
HMS Royal sovereign
HMS Ramillies
HMS Resolution
HMS Malaya
HMS Valiant
HMS Barham

1xCVLI:
HMS Hermes

1xBBI (Monitors):
HMS Erebus & Terror & Marshal Soult

1xBCIII:
HMS Hood

2xBCII:
HMS Repulse
HMS Renown

3xDDII Flotillas


German Hoschseeflotte: Vice Admiral Alfred Saalwachter - Skill 5, Superior Tactician.

1xCVIV:
KMS Graf Zeppelin

1xBBIV:
KMS Bismarck

3xCAIV:
KMS Deutschland
KMS Graf Spee
KMS Admiral Scheer

4xCLIV:
KMS Stettin
KMS Nurnberg
KMS Stuttgart
KMS Dresden

1xDDIV Flotilla


Within minutes of the sighting, KMS Graf Zeppelin has turned into the wind and prepared to launch a large strike of attack aircraft. A total of 76 aircraft take off and head towards the British in 3 waves. Vice Admiral von Grebe has left the German fleet without fighter cover, banking on surprise, and the skill of his AA gunners, to keep the Royal Navy on proverbial back foot.

KMS Graf Zeppelin, steaming at full speed into the wind, just prior to launching a strike.​

The Germans arrive over the British fleet just as the carriers Glorious and Furious are preparing to launch aircraft, and a low level dogfight ensues. Kriegsmarine pilots flying the excellent Bf-109T maul the rugged but obsolete Sea Gladiator fighters flown by pilots of the RN Fleet Air Arm.

British destroyers, steaming near the carriers, fire their AAA furiously at the attackers, but the combination of antiquated targeting systems and poorly trained naval reservists means the effort is largely ineffectual. Furthermore, the destroyer Nestor is strafed by a 109 piloted by Staffelkapitan Harald Thiessen. A depth charge, carelessly left armed on the deck, is detonated, and Nestor is forced to take evasive maneuvers. In doing so, she crosses the path of the battleship Royal Sovereign, which turns sharply to avoid a collision. The Home Fleet is rapidly becoming disorganized.

Blackburn Skuas and Glocester Sea Gladiators being attacked by German fighters. The destroyer Nestor is burning in the foreground.


Taking advantage of the furious low level combat, Ju-89Cs move in at higher altitude, and make numerous, largely unopposed, attack runs on the Royal Navy ships below. Two squadrons from the first wave of attackers press the attack on the carrier Glorious, scoring no hits but achieving a number of damaging near-misses. RN anti-aircraft gunners shoot down several attacking Bf-109s and Ju-87s, one of which crashes into the starboard aircraft elevator, disabling it.

HMS Glorious burns after being struck by a German aircraft. Though smoking heavily, the damage is largely superficial.​

The remainder of the dive- and torpedo-bombers are unable to penetrate the hornet's nest around the British flattops, and divert to secondary targets. HMS Rodney takes a torpedo on her port quarter which opens a whole nearly 10 feet square. Boiler rooms 1 and 3 are flooded before the damage control teams are able to get collision mats and temporary bulkheads in place covering the breach. Ramillies takes a pair of 250kg bombs amidships, which cause at least 2 secondary explosions in the engine room and adjacent 6-inch ammunition magazine. Miraculously, she remains afloat. Astern of Ramillies, HMS Renown suffers a torpedo hit amidships and a bomb hit just aft of 'X' turret. Her gun crews gallantly fight back and shoot down a pair of Ju-87Cs.

HMS Ramillies pours smoke from hits amidships, but remains underway.​

60 miles away, the strike planes which have managed to elude the German fighters arrive over the German fleet, and attack furiously. Attacking KMS Bismarck simultaneously from port and starboard, Fairey Swordfish 'stringbags' launch a total of 19 torpedoes. Having fired off half of her heavy ammunition, Bismarck can now make nearly 32 knots, and uses her superior speed to evade all but 1 of the torpedoes, which detonates at the forward edge of the armor belt, dealing minor damage.

KMS Graf Spee is likewise under concerted attack, in this case by Blackburn Skua dive-bombers. Several near-misses cause damage below the waterline, again demonstrating the concussive power of explosions near the hull. Graf Spee's gunners down several attacking aircraft in exchange.

A Skua divebomber shot down by AAA fire.​

Having returned to the Graf Zeppelin, German naval pilots clamor for a renewed attack upon the disorganized British Fleet. Vice Admiral Saalwachter is mindful, however, of his ships' lack of fuel. Knowing that there is still plenty of fight left in the Home Fleet, the Hochseeflott is ordered to withdraw towards the north. The Royal Navy's carriers have been prevented from breaking into the Bay of Biscay, and several British ships have sustained heavy damage, which is enough for Germany to declare a victory.

While no British ships have actually been sunk, many have sustained heavy damage. In particular, the battleships Rodney, Ramillies, and Renown are little more than floating ruins, and all 3 will require months in drydock. Grand Admiral Chatfield steams his mauled fleet back south towards Gibraltar.

The German fleet has suffered only light damage, and has succeeded in its primary mission: denying control of the seaways to Great Britain.

The Kriesmarine and her U-boat fleets can operate in comparative safety in the North Atlantic. Let the slaughter begin!

 

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Not bad at all!

 

[unmerged(83496)]

That battle lasted 11 days. Considering the huge damage put on the Royal Navy, versus no damage on the Kriegsmarine, I feel that it was a stupendous victory. We could have been annihilated.

 

[unmerged(166917)]

Indeed, one more severe lesson for the Royal Navy.

 

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Chapter 9
The Battle of the Atlantic
Oct - Dec 1940 (cont)​

With the western approaches and the bay of Biscay largely cleared of allied warships, Germany's U-boats have free reign to harass merchant convoys sailing to and from the United Kingdom. These convoys are often heavily escorted; nonetheless, sinkings are on the rise.

Luftwaffe tactical bombers attack the port of Plymouth, hoping to find to destroy RN warships being repaired there.

Unfortunately, there are only a few destroyers and a cruiser present. There will be no Taranto for the Royal Navy. The Luftwaffe does manage to sink a transport flotilla before aborting the attack.

Portsmouth is similarly devoid of warships. The bombing of old destroyers is deemed not worth the danger to Mj. Gen. Oracle's air forces. The Royal Navy has obviously withdrawn its damaged capital ships to more remote locations.

KMS Admiral Scheer has returned to the mission it was designed for: commerce raiding. The few Royal Navy warships at sea do their best to intercede.

HMS Leander is targeted by Scheer's 11-inch guns. The British cruiser dodges this way and that, but tempts fate for too long and is hit by a pair of 11-inch shells amidships.

Gutted by internal explosions, Leander lies dead in the water and sinks during the night.

More light forces are spotted on sub-hunting duty off La Coruna.

KMS Bismarck chases them off with extreme prejudice.

Due to the bold efforts of the surface fleet, the U-boats have been granted the feedom to operate without interference, and have begun to strangle the economy of the UK. In the two months since November 1st, more than 220 ships have been sent to the bottom.

There have been some losses along the way, but with German shipyards beginning to churn out new boats, the U-boat arm is well on the way to being a significant force.

Her commanders are also taking the opportunity to experiment with new tactics. Submarine commanders are more daring and skillful than ever.

 

[unmerged(166917)]

Pretty successful naval strategy so far!

 

[unmerged(169228)]

Great succes for the navy. Remember to give those boys a pat of the shoulder, when the wehrmacht will start to do the real job .

 

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Having decisively defeated the Royal Navy twice over the past couple of months, I'm beginning to think that there may be a possibility of the Kriegsmarine dominating the English channel long enough to get an invasion force across. The Luftwaffe is the most powerful airforce on earth and would be a tremendous aid in invading the UK. On the downside, we have only 3 paras and no marines. I would place our odds at about 50-50, but I've never invaded England in AoD (this is my first serious game).

Other options for the spring/summer campaign season, in increasing order of boldness, would be:

1) Invade Yugoslavia to secure a port on the Med
2) Forming alliances with Bulgaria/Romania
3) Invading Bulgaria/Romania
4) Allying Italy and taking North Africa and the Suez
5) Focusing all efforts on defeating the USSR within one season
6) Allying Argentina or Venezuela and securing South America
7) Allying Japan and tackling the USA


Obviously many of these options could be combined, such as 2 & 5. I don't think it would be feasible to invade and subdue the UK and invade Russia. Also, invading Russia and bringing the USA into the war on the Allied side at the same time would be a little foolhardy.

I leave the topic open for debate. Anyone may feel free to adopt their 'General staff officer' persona and submit a plan, or just toss around ideas. A rough idea of our armed forces:

Kriegsmarine: 1 BB (1 due in 3 months) 1 CV (1 due in 6 months) 3 CA, 20 subs, assorted light forces and transports

Luftwaffe: 16 FIT. 16 INT, 12 CAS, 24 TAC, 3 TRN

Heer: 107 INF, 24 MOT, 27 ARM, 13 MNT, 3 PAR, 42 MIL, 24 GAR, 4 HQ

 

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Invade Great Britain, form alliance with Romania and Italy. Or maybe puppet Romania.

 

[quaazi]

Get a mediterranean port, THEN ally with Italy. Send an Afrika Korps to kick some british arse.

Also, take Kiruna and it's sweet sweet metal.

 

[GAGA Extrem]

Oh bad news, the KM is badly outnumbered, 3 CVs vs 1...

Bah, more stuff to sink for our planes!

As for our strategy:
We suggest a quick invasion of GB before they can bring reinforcements and get backup by the USN. Afterwards we should go for the Soviets as soon as possible and break their neck before they can gather more forces. Africa is irrelevant, the Duce may use it as his sandbox to bind up British units, but otherwise there is no reason to visit this desolate place of the planet. Our target lies in the east, not the south!

Concerning our naval strategy we suggest the construction of a few escort carriers to aid our forces. They are cheap but powerful support vessels.