It seems the Czechs are lost. But you make this sad state of affair an interesting read anyways.
And to quote the Yogi:"UPDATE!"
-
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It seems the Czechs are lost. But you make this sad state of affair an interesting read anyways.
And to quote the Yogi:"UPDATE!"
Very well done! I can't wait to see this drama unfold (and by the sounds of it, soon afterwards it'll be curtains for this AAR)!
As he stood there in the dim pre-dawn dusk, listening to the beautiful and ill-fit classical music, Hacha took a deep breath- already redolent with the distantly-remembered but never forgotten smell of death- and remembered how the last month had brought him to this point...
The German armies hit the Poles like a force of nature.
The Polish took the wrong lessons from the Czechoslovakian conflict. They saw that and assumed that troops defending their homeland in entrenched defenses would always defeat ill-motivated assault troops, despite all numbers. Thus, they built a rather desultory line of trenches on the border and stuck in second-rate division- after all, they were defending their homes, the reasoning went, and would fight like tigers anyway. The elite divisions were kept in reserve for an absurd counterattack envisioned towards Berlin after the main German assault force broke on the line.
The Nazis had other plans.
It took three hours to clear the Polish defenses, and by midday of the first attack multiple and massive salients had been punched deep into Polish territory, with hardly any battalions, companies, or even platoons staying in position. So quickly did things go that the Nazis had been caught all out of position; they anticipated four days for clearing the intial belt fortification, and it had taken less than one. As a result, forty eight precious hours were burned which could have made all the difference for Czechoslovakia, had Lady Luck been more kind. The Poles didn't know it, but they were already doomed.
In a massive meeting engagement outside Warsaw, Guderian's panzerarmee emasculated the 'elite' Polish troops in hours, killing thousands and capturing hundreds of thousands. Across Poland smaller, single division forces caused mayhem throughout the country. The rest of the forces; Two full Army Groups, almost as much as had been assembled for the Battle of the Sudeten Line, executed a sharp right hook. In a piece of historic irony, a minor German functionary of the General Staff died of heart failure midway through the turning movement- with a smile on his face, incongrously, he whispered; "Keep the right flank strong..."
Marshall Machnik had seen it coming, but had not been able to stop it. Divisions still recovering from the brutal battles of the line were rushed eastwards, but timetables slipped, errors mounted, and Panzerarmee Zwei under von Bock hit the Czech-Polish border a full day before Czech reinforcements. The only units in the area, a green mountain division, resisted heroically, but had no positions to fight from and soon capitulated. The Germans, many of whom were veterans of the brutal fighting outside Karlsbad, did not allow many prisoners to survive, a grim foreboding of what was to come.
The eastern Slovak part of the country was overrun in days, and soon German forces stood poised on the Hacha Line which was intended to slow up any attack. It failed, utterly. The Germans had learned better trench-assault tactics, mostly from their Great War experience; the Hacha Line held for only three days, despite reinforcements being fed in almost constantly. The Nazis, many survivors recall, were fighting with an almost religious zeal to prove that they were the master race, that no pitiful small nation would stand in their way or check them militarily. And finally, on this their third major attempt, they succeeded.
In the predawn gloom of September 25th, the swastika rose over Troppau, the sight of the first mauling of German forces in Czechoslovakia. With it, the flank of the Hacha Line had been turned, and a five mile gap had been broken through. All available forces were committed to battles; The manpower pool had been drained entirely. Nothing but city police stood between Nazi forces and Prague.
In a storybook, or movie, some brave ragtag force would hold up the Nazi tide just long enough to save the nation. No doubt some plucky band of misfits, deprived of all respect, would hold out against all odds for just a few more hours. But Lady Luck smiled, threw her dice, and came up snake eyes. There are such things as miracles- as Colonel, now General, Markovsky would attest- but Czechoslovakia had used all her share.
Division after division poured in through the gap, overrunning the clear terrain that made up the industrial heart of the nation, while savage battles were fought all along the Hacha Line as it was rolled up from both sides and surrounded- again, little quarter was asked for or received. It was war to the knife.
And on September 28th, 1939, German forces reached the outskirts of Prague herself, and Emil Hacha tried to escape to still-neutral Yugoslavia.
The German armies hit the Poles like a force of nature.
The Polish took the wrong lessons from the Czechoslovakian conflict. They saw that and assumed that troops defending their homeland in entrenched defenses would always defeat ill-motivated assault troops, despite all numbers. Thus, they built a rather desultory line of trenches on the border and stuck in second-rate division- after all, they were defending their homes, the reasoning went, and would fight like tigers anyway. The elite divisions were kept in reserve for an absurd counterattack envisioned towards Berlin after the main German assault force broke on the line.
The Nazis had other plans.
It took three hours to clear the Polish defenses, and by midday of the first attack multiple and massive salients had been punched deep into Polish territory, with hardly any battalions, companies, or even platoons staying in position. So quickly did things go that the Nazis had been caught all out of position; they anticipated four days for clearing the intial belt fortification, and it had taken less than one. As a result, forty eight precious hours were burned which could have made all the difference for Czechoslovakia, had Lady Luck been more kind. The Poles didn't know it, but they were already doomed.
In a massive meeting engagement outside Warsaw, Guderian's panzerarmee emasculated the 'elite' Polish troops in hours, killing thousands and capturing hundreds of thousands. Across Poland smaller, single division forces caused mayhem throughout the country. The rest of the forces; Two full Army Groups, almost as much as had been assembled for the Battle of the Sudeten Line, executed a sharp right hook. In a piece of historic irony, a minor German functionary of the General Staff died of heart failure midway through the turning movement- with a smile on his face, incongrously, he whispered; "Keep the right flank strong..."
Marshall Machnik had seen it coming, but had not been able to stop it. Divisions still recovering from the brutal battles of the line were rushed eastwards, but timetables slipped, errors mounted, and Panzerarmee Zwei under von Bock hit the Czech-Polish border a full day before Czech reinforcements. The only units in the area, a green mountain division, resisted heroically, but had no positions to fight from and soon capitulated. The Germans, many of whom were veterans of the brutal fighting outside Karlsbad, did not allow many prisoners to survive, a grim foreboding of what was to come.
The eastern Slovak part of the country was overrun in days, and soon German forces stood poised on the Hacha Line which was intended to slow up any attack. It failed, utterly. The Germans had learned better trench-assault tactics, mostly from their Great War experience; the Hacha Line held for only three days, despite reinforcements being fed in almost constantly. The Nazis, many survivors recall, were fighting with an almost religious zeal to prove that they were the master race, that no pitiful small nation would stand in their way or check them militarily. And finally, on this their third major attempt, they succeeded.
In the predawn gloom of September 25th, the swastika rose over Troppau, the sight of the first mauling of German forces in Czechoslovakia. With it, the flank of the Hacha Line had been turned, and a five mile gap had been broken through. All available forces were committed to battles; The manpower pool had been drained entirely. Nothing but city police stood between Nazi forces and Prague.
In a storybook, or movie, some brave ragtag force would hold up the Nazi tide just long enough to save the nation. No doubt some plucky band of misfits, deprived of all respect, would hold out against all odds for just a few more hours. But Lady Luck smiled, threw her dice, and came up snake eyes. There are such things as miracles- as Colonel, now General, Markovsky would attest- but Czechoslovakia had used all her share.
Division after division poured in through the gap, overrunning the clear terrain that made up the industrial heart of the nation, while savage battles were fought all along the Hacha Line as it was rolled up from both sides and surrounded- again, little quarter was asked for or received. It was war to the knife.
And on September 28th, 1939, German forces reached the outskirts of Prague herself, and Emil Hacha tried to escape to still-neutral Yugoslavia.
Assorted notes:
Well... in Thermopylae, the Spartans didn't precisely win, since the Persians still poured through the mountain pass. They just killed tens of thousands of them first- I think my Czechoslovakians upheld that tradition well.
I've always found AARs where players lose to be more interesting than the world conquest AARs- no offense to Yogi, or Peter Ebbesen, or the others whose work where they conquer vast swathes of the world. They're excellently written. But given a choice between two equally well written AARs, one a WC, one a valiant defeat, I'll go the latter every time...
There. I tore myself away from Yogi's Fu Manchu AAR long enough to write this- let's hope my readers do too...
Well... in Thermopylae, the Spartans didn't precisely win, since the Persians still poured through the mountain pass. They just killed tens of thousands of them first- I think my Czechoslovakians upheld that tradition well.
I've always found AARs where players lose to be more interesting than the world conquest AARs- no offense to Yogi, or Peter Ebbesen, or the others whose work where they conquer vast swathes of the world. They're excellently written. But given a choice between two equally well written AARs, one a WC, one a valiant defeat, I'll go the latter every time...
There. I tore myself away from Yogi's Fu Manchu AAR long enough to write this- let's hope my readers do too...
No, poor Czechoslovakia! How many provinces do you have left? How many divisions, and in what state are they in?
You fought a valiant fight, broke as many german skulls as was possible with your small country with a big name. Well, could you give us maybe just a small Afterword saying how the war ended, and the world order was restored. You mentioned how Colonel Markovsky became president, maybe you could fill us in on that?
You fought a valiant fight, broke as many german skulls as was possible with your small country with a big name. Well, could you give us maybe just a small Afterword saying how the war ended, and the world order was restored. You mentioned how Colonel Markovsky became president, maybe you could fill us in on that?
Thankfully, RH, there is no conflict between reading "Fu Manchu" and "Count Your Children" It's quite possible to subscribe to more than one thread
Too bad the Poles caved in when you had done such a good job before they got involved. You'd figure that the Germans had been taught not to attack seemingly small and defense-less countries, but I guess they understood that your Checks and Slovaks were a special case that required some sneaky flanking maneuvers to defeat.
But are we nearing the end, since Prague is soon in German hands? Or does fate have more in store for Hacha (and us)?
Rafiki
Too bad the Poles caved in when you had done such a good job before they got involved. You'd figure that the Germans had been taught not to attack seemingly small and defense-less countries, but I guess they understood that your Checks and Slovaks were a special case that required some sneaky flanking maneuvers to defeat.
But are we nearing the end, since Prague is soon in German hands? Or does fate have more in store for Hacha (and us)?
Rafiki
Von Schlieffen!
I take it Czechoslovakia is about to be crushed under the Nazis' hobnailed boots? It was a heroic struggle, no doubt about that. And I guess there's something to be said about your argument in favour of valiant defeat in AARs. If only for the sake of variety.
I really like the story: it's well-written and by the looks of things, you played the crappy hand you were dealt very skillfully.
good god!!! damn the poles. in my game Czechoslavkia just got the Atom Bomb and i used it on Rome since all of germany is in the hands of my ally, Stalin.
But, surely all hope isn't gone. Surely a small band of soldiers, possibly with amusing characters managed to escape to France to continue the fight. Through exciting adventures they inflict horrible casualties on the Germans and liberate Prague single-handedly, well at the head of the Allied armies at least.
Surely!?
Surely!?
<pedant>
Lucky for you the Waffen SS were leading the first big assault on the Sudeten Line. In the early war they were pretty terrible divisions - it wasn't until Russia that they started putting their increased strength and better equipment to passable use.
</pedant>
Great AAR, of course
Lucky for you the Waffen SS were leading the first big assault on the Sudeten Line. In the early war they were pretty terrible divisions - it wasn't until Russia that they started putting their increased strength and better equipment to passable use.
</pedant>
Great AAR, of course
Just finished reading this AAR and I loved it. its a shame that they didn't make it.
can you please make an aftermath post.
Brilliant
can you please make an aftermath post.
Brilliant
Hi everybody,
beautiful AAR, really compelling read.
Hope there will be some brief on the final outcome of the whole war.
Rgds
OLDTIMER
beautiful AAR, really compelling read.
Hope there will be some brief on the final outcome of the whole war.
Rgds
OLDTIMER
I finally caught up...
There is something to be said for spinning a story out of a 'glorious' defeat - it resonance in us all. A true masterpiece, Rocky Horror!
There is something to be said for spinning a story out of a 'glorious' defeat - it resonance in us all. A true masterpiece, Rocky Horror!