Charge of the Steel Elephants: Save Converted AAR

[34625197]

Thats not even Talinn, thats just some small estonian village they picked as capital. Well their supplylines are even worse in asia than with moscow and a naval invasion in tue baltic could cripple russia at any time. Good choice AI.

The Turkish intervention is good news, that will give the axis some trouble. And everyone knows the Netherlands is unconqerable, their hordes will march on Berlin like a relentless wave.

Estonia is actually independent, so I think you are looking at the wrong red dot. Maybe its my fault, and I should have made sure only one dot was visible in the screenshot. In any case, look just to the east of the Kola peninsula for the baffling location of the Russian capital.

Although I suspect this is not the work of the AI, but that the save converter may have mapped the capital province incorrectly. I'm thinking of booting up the Victoria 2 save to see where the Russian capital was.

 

[sebas379]

Estonia is actually independent, so I think you are looking at the wrong red dot. Maybe its my fault, and I should have made sure only one dot was visible in the screenshot. In any case, look just to the east of the Kola peninsula for the baffling location of the Russian capital.

Although I suspect this is not the work of the AI, but that the save converter may have mapped the capital province incorrectly. I'm thinking of booting up the Victoria 2 save to see where the Russian capital was.

Now I saw the one you meant. What the- I don't even. I mixed up the nations, thats worse
Maybe its a good idea to move it to either St Petersburg or Moscow. I'd understand going for Moscow because its more central, which is kind of important in OHI, way more so than in other games because of the supply system

 

[34625197]

Chapter 9: Collapse of the Spanish Army

"There you are, your majesty," the Prime Minister stated, "I haven't seen you since the opening night of A Tale of Two Croatias."

"The play was delightful," the emperor replied, "but it seems like a gross misuse of the cabinet's time. Surely you could have gotten professional actors to perform instead?"

"It was a great use of our time. The Royal Faction has never been more popular."

"The party's popularity is due to my efforts not your silly theatrics."

"We'll have to agree to disagree on this, your majesty. In any case, I'd better get on with the war report."

"Yes you'd better."

"Well, it seems that after putting up one hell of a fight, the Dutch were finally beaten by the German war machine. They've been annexed."

"That is disappointing, but not unexpected. I'm impressed they lasted this long. After the war is over and we've liberated the Netherlands from German occupation, I'll have to personally pay my respects the Dutch soldiers."

"I'm sure the Dutch will most appreciate a visit from their gracious liberator, your majesty."

"Continue the war report."

"In Africa, we've taken the entire British coast, and cut the supply lines to the remaining British forces. Its just a matter of backing them into a corner from which they can't escape, and wiping them out. Unless some major event happens, like an invasion from the sea or an African nation joining the Axis, there probably won't be any more reports on this front. We just need to mop up the remaining armies and seize the resource producing provinces."

"Well that sounds nice, but we all know that Africa is a sideshow in this war. How's the real war going?"

"In the west, Turkey has advanced a bit further since our last meeting. However, it seems their advance has ground to a halt, pretty much as we expected it to. German, Russian, Croatian and even British forces have counterattacked, but at the moment, Turkey seems to be doing a decent job of holding. I've shipped a few reinforcements to that area to help Turkey hold the line. It's of the utmost importance that we hold back the Axis advance and keep them from reaching Istanbul."

"I understand your concern. It would be devastating to Turkey if they lost their capital. But things seem pretty good on that front at the moment. And if we do start losing ground we should have plenty of time to send additional reinforcements before the Axis gets anywhere near Istanbul. How are things on the eastern front?"

"The first German and British forces have showed on this front to assist the Russians. Due to the concentration of enemy forces, the advance has stalled somewhat in the north, but further south, we and our Manchurian allies continue to march deeper into Russia, without facing much resistance."

"Sounds like things are going pretty well there as well."

"Indeed your majesty. However not all is well in the war. Things may be going well in the west and the east, but the center is falling to the Russian advance. The Spanish steppe is almost entirely occupied, and the Spanish army has been decimated. Only a few divisions remain. And the Turks are losing ground as well."

"This looks pretty bad. It seems like the Russians have more than enough troops to overrun the Turkish army. If they march through the Caucasus, they'll have free reign to occupy the Turkish heartland in Anatolia, or head south and capture the Gulf oil fields. If we don't want our most critical ally to get completely wrecked, we'll need ship some reinforcements to this front as well."

"I concur your majesty."

 

[sebas379]

Yes, it seems to be high time to get a wall of mountaineers or something similarly tough in the Caucasus. The enemy is advancing steadily on several fronts but they seem to risk overextending themselves at some point. Taking on the whole axis army at once seems impossible, but defeating them in detail, one theatre at a time may be the way forward?

 

[34625197]

Yes, it seems to be high time to get a wall of mountaineers or something similarly tough in the Caucasus. The enemy is advancing steadily on several fronts but they seem to risk overextending themselves at some point. Taking on the whole axis army at once seems impossible, but defeating them in detail, one theatre at a time may be the way forward?

Yes, I was hoping to win one theater at a time. Unfortunately, a new nation joining the Axis has thrown a wrench in my plans, and will tie up some forces that were supposed to bolster other theaters.

Chapter 10: Axis in the Heart of Asia

"Tell me, your majesty, what do you know of Yarkand?" the prime minister asked.

"They were a kingdom in central asia. Eventually the conquered the neighboring region of Tibet. From there, they gradually expanded by opportunistically attacking neighbors when they were weak. In the mid 1600s they were our ally for several decades, and along with Manchuria, were a key part of my ancestors' famous encirclement strategy to contain Ming China. Eventually they broke the alliance and sided with Ming. After the collapse of China, they attempted to expand eastward by picking off some smaller states, something my grandfather put a stop to in a decisive war. After knocking them down a peg, we haven't heard much from Yarkand in about 60 years."

"Your knowledge of history is most impressive."

"Why do you bring up Yarkand?"

"It appears they've joined up with the Axis."

"It seems they still have ambitions of becoming a regional power. Do we have enough in the area to deal with them?"

"I believe so your majesty. We always keep a few divisions at home to guard our major cities, and we also have a few fresh recruits that were intended to reinforce the other fronts, but since they are still at home we can make use of them here. It should be enough to deal with Yarkand. We don't have intel on their exact military strength but we can deduce quite a bit from our long history with the nation. Despite their size, they have comparatively little population or natural resources. They are fairly unindustrialized and technologically backward. Our forces in the area should defeat them without a problem. Unfortunately, due to their size, it will take us awhile to reach their capital, tying up forces needed on other fronts."

"Well, its a major pain in the ass, but there's not much we can do but try to beat them as quickly as possible. How are the other fronts doing?"

"On the eastern front, we've met up with a pocket of Turkish forces. However it seems most of them are now abandoning the front through Bukhara, who was kind enough to grant them transit rights. Presumably those Turkish soldiers are headed to other fronts. Our own forces have made some progress since the last report, but now that we've run into a larger Russian army, things are grinding to a halt. Some points on the front still see slow advancement, but other points are actually in retreat."

"That's less than ideal. I guess an invasion of Russia through Siberia was a bit of a long shot. How are the other fronts doing?"

"Our reinforcements have arrived in the Cacasus, however not all are in position yet. However, one of our divisions did hold off an attack from the Russians, and I think we'll have a decent shot at holding the line here."

"That's not great, but I guess its okay. And how are things in the west?"

"As expected, the Axis forces are slowly driving back the Turkish forces. Almost all the territory that was occupied in the initial invasion has been lost, and some of Turkey's own territory has even been occupied. Turkey, is putting up a hell of a fight, but it looks like they can only slow the Axis advance, not stop it."

"That is not so good. There's still a long way to go before they reach Istanbul, but it certainly isn't an encouraging sign. Anything else to report."

"Yes your majesty. It's about the air force. As you know, planes need an air base to land. Only a few nations in the world, such as ourselves and Germany even have an air force or air bases, which leads to the peculiar situation where nobody can project air power outside their home turf, or the immediate vicinity. Our legacy air force from the great war has no way of getting to Europe because their are simply no air bases between there and here."

"How did we put our air power to use in the great war then?"

"Well we simply got military access through Chinese states and moved them up to Siberia. Before 1936 we didn't need air bases. Things were much more abstract in those days. Well the air force was more abstract. The production of goods was far less abstract. Why I remember-"

"Stop rambling and get to the point."

"Well we've finally got our first aircraft carrier. This mighty vessel will allow us to project air power anywhere reasonably close to the ocean. This may give us an advantage over Germany. When the Turks had pushed their deepest into Hungary, they started getting hit by bombers. But now that the front has been pushed back, no more bombings. Germany has the same problem we used to have, and can't project air power far beyond its core territory. And the other Axis nations have no air force at all as far as we know. Russia certainly doesn't although Britain may. In any case, its time to do something we probably should have done sooner. We're going to get more aggressive with our naval power and put our new carrier based air power to use."

"Let's hope this can give us an advantage we badly need."

 

[34625197]

Chapter 11: Slow Motion Trainwreck

"I heard reports that Yarkand had occupied one of our border provinces!" The emperor shouted, "what's the meaning of this?"

"Well we had no troops guarding the border, so as soon as they joined the Axis they were able to march across our border undefended. But its no problem really. Our forces have already engaged them, and they are in retreat. our forces are heading into Yarkand at multiple points, and I predict they will cause us no serious problems from now on. This border incident is really nothing to be worried about. It's every other front that should have you worried."

"Okay, lets hear it. How is the rest of the war going?"

"On the Siberian front, things are not good. It's a very long front, and conditions vary quite a bit from point to point. At some places we are still slowly advancing, but at other we are being pushed back. In fact it seems we've recently been pushed back at nearly every point. The Russians have brought a truly massive army. However a recent change may give us a shot at holding the line. Last time, I reported that we advanced far enough to meet up with a pocket of Turks. And that most of them were abandoning the front through Bukhara, probably to reinforce their home turf. However, it seems they have changed their mind in the middle of the trip, and most of the Turkish forces have come back to the Siberian front. Many of our weak points have been reinforced, and the front may stabilize once they are all in position."

"That's not exactly great is it? I mean we've mostly been fighting over worthless land over here, so losing a bit of ground isn't going to be a big deal, at least not for awhile. Even if we can turn things around we won't really accomplish much on this front until we cross the Urals, and there's no way we'll accomplish that in time to make a difference, even under ideal conditions."

"I believe the Turks came back to this front due to the entrance of Yarkand into the war. Manchuria has sent an army to attack Yarkand from the north, and if successful, it will reach the capital far sooner than our force coming from the south. But if the Siberian front gets pushed back, the Manchurian army will be cut off from supply. I'm sure the Turks are reinforcing the Siberian front so that Yarkand can be taken out swiftly."

"So they abandoned their homeland to Axis so we can beat Yarkand a little faster? I mean, Yarkand isn't really a threat to anyone. We could've handled them ourselves with a few divisions, even if it would have taken a little longer because we were coming from the south. Rushing to beat them isn't going to give us some great advantage. All they have is a minuscule amount of natural resources that we don't need, a tiny bit of manpower and leadership that will barely make a difference, and no industry. The land is worthless. We gain basically nothing by beating them except a nuisance is gone and we can get our troops somewhere more important."

"You seem quite upset by this. Perhaps I shouldn't tell you about the other fronts. You just relax and let your ministers and generals handle the war."

"No, you have to tell me."

"Very well. It appears we greatly underestimate the strength of the Russians on the Caucasus front. They've advanced a bit since our last report. We've already sent a second batch of reinforcements to help the Turks, but that probably isn't going to be enough."

"And the Balkans?

"On the Balkan front, the Axis has made significant gains. Even as we speak, reinforcements are be shipped to help out there. Since the Axis advance is getting dangerously close to Istanbul, this front will be the priority for shipping reinforcements for the foreseeable future."

"You know what's going to happen right? They're going to take Istanbul, and when that happens the Turks are done. If they don't surrender right then, it will cripple them so badly they will soon give up. And once the Axis has the resources and manpower of Turkey added to their own, they will be unstoppable. They will steamroll across Asia."

"Now now, your majesty, we still have hope. Our Asian allies will come through."

"Don't get me started on our Asian allies. Japan officially joined the war against the Axis, but they just sit around doing nothing. They have nearly as large an army as we do, and an even larger one than the Turks. They could probably tip this war in our favor if they just left the home islands. But at least they had the decency to make a symbolic declaration of war. The rest can't even do that much. We maintained peace and stability in Asia for generations. We've built up strong trading relations, and for most of them we've even fought to protect them from external threats. And they can't even help us out in our hour of need."

"It's because we've protected them for so long that they won't help. They can't conceive of us actually being in serious trouble. But now many of them are starting to see the threat the Axis pose."

"They're just now starting to see the threat? This is ridiculous. They're just a bunch of cowards who will never help us."

"Your majesty, threat and neutrality are very exact sciences. I predicted Turkey would join the Allies about a year before it happened."

"Yes it did take quite awhile before they joined. And you've been predicting Chinese and Indian nations joining for even longer than that, and they still haven't joined."

"Well they have very high neutrality. But I assure you, a few states will be joining us before long."

"A few?"

"Yes. Unfortunately, it seems most of China still remains very neutral. And the nations with the least neutrality don't like us very much, like Ming. But in India there is hope. I believe a few Indian states will be joining us in the near future. And several Chinese states won't be far behind. I know things seem pretty grim, but our allies will come through for us. You just have to believe. I know that sounds like a cat poster but its true."

"But even if we can rally together our numerous allies in India and China, we are still going to get crushed by the Axis if they get their hands on Turkey's manpower and Industry. Somehow, we have to keep Turkey alive long enough for our allies to get off their butts and join the war."

 

[34625197]

Chapter 12: A Little Help From My Friends

"All right I'm here," the emperor stated, "give me the bad news.

"It's not all bad, your majesty," the Prime Minister replied, "In fact we have much to celebrate. It appears some of our allies came through after all. In the past couple of months multiple nations have entered the war on both sides. On our side is Deccan, Mysore, Baluchistan and Bukhara. Bukhara and Baluchistan don't have much military power. Their armies are small and made up mostly of militia, although there are some infantry and artillery mixed in. Mysore is a bit better, having proportionally less militia, but the size is still pretty small. Out of all of them Deccan will be the biggest asset, having an army almost a quarter the size of our own. Meanwhile Afghanistan has joined the Axis. As you may recall, Persia joined the Axis before the war started, but since they were landlocked and not bordering anyone else in the war, we've ignored them until now. However, with the recent entry of several new nations into the war, they are now an active participant as well. To get a better sense of the situation, I've marked this map of central asia to with red x's for axis, and blue circles for allies. Neutrals are marked with nothing."

"Shouldn't Russia also be marked with a red x?"

"Let's not fuss over details. The important thing is that the three Asian members of the axis are surrounded and being attacked from multiple directions, and there is really no way their European allies can help them out. Persia had some early success at occupying Bukhara's territory, but now our Indian allies have arrived and are already forcing them to retreat. I expect allied forces to take the Persian capital very soon. Afghanistan appears to be attempting an invasion of both Baluchistan and Bukhara. Even if they have some initial success, I expect they too will be beaten back and eventually occupied. Their army is just not large enough."

"That seems pretty good. And Yarkand?"

"Yarkand is doomed. Our own forces march in from the southeast, Indian allies march in from the southwest, and Manchurian march from the north. I think perhaps they committed too many troops for such a weak enemy, and they could be better put to use on other front. But at least we can take solace in the fact that it will soon be over."

"Sound good. And how is the war against Russia?"

"In Siberia the front remains at a standstill in a few spots, and one point is in retreat due to a recent military defeat. But we are now advancing at several points, and I believe momentum is swinging back in our direction on that front. I believe Bukhara's entry into the war is an important reason for that. the Russians had to spread out their forces to cover a longer line. This should give us an opportunity to really push deeper into Russia."

"Things seem to be going okay overall, but I'm a bit concerned about that Russian advance in northwest Bukhara. As I recall, Bukhara only has two major cities, and both are pretty far to the north. They might give up if they lose them both. If our allies don't halt that Russian advance soon, we should redeploy some of our own troops to deal with it."

"I agree your majesty. We'll make sure Bukhara does not fall to the Russian menace."

"And how are things in the Caucasus?"

"Turkey brought in reinforcements from the east to bolster the front, while it looks like Russia did the opposite and pulled a few divisions from the front. I expect they went to that invasion of Bukhara we were just talking about. For the moment, it appears that Turkey has the upper hand and will be able to push this front northward."

"That seems pretty good too. How about the Balkans?"

"It's in the west that the bad news comes in. We've lost quite a bit of ground there. Axis forces are getting quite close to Istanbul. And to make matters worse, Nationalist Spain has officially joined the Axis. No doubt they expected that in case of an Axis defeat, we would then crush them to restore Republican control over their rightful territory. And to be fair to them, we were kind of planning that. In any case, Nationalist Spain has a decent sized force in the Balkans. A few divisions have already reached the front, and I expect a few more are still on their way. Even if we bring more reinforcements I don't think we can hold back the Axis advance much longer."

"Which means Istanbul will probably fall soon."

"Yes, I expect it will. I've talked to the Turks about it. Although it will be a crippling blow to lose their capital, they will still fight on without it. I expect they won't give up while Anatolia remains free. However, once the Axis achieves victory in the west, I expect their armies to join the fight in the east. Some of them may already be on their way. I think a few divisions have already been pulled from this front. Once the full might of the Axis is brought to bear in the east, our momentum against the Russians will probably stall."

"Then we need to make the most of our momentum now."

 

[sebas379]

Still a great AAR, I have to say again I love the crazy alt history setup and the strategic situation it creates.
Looks like its time to dig in hard around Istanbul and then eliminate the new threats in Asia, since they shouldn't be too hard to deal with. An offensive campaign against the Axis is a long way from being viable I guess, though what if you could scrape together a few corps and invade Britain? They always have a weak land army in the isles.

 

[34625197]

Still a great AAR, I have to say again I love the crazy alt history setup and the strategic situation it creates.
Looks like its time to dig in hard around Istanbul and then eliminate the new threats in Asia, since they shouldn't be too hard to deal with. An offensive campaign against the Axis is a long way from being viable I guess, though what if you could scrape together a few corps and invade Britain? They always have a weak land army in the isles.

Glad you're still enjoying it. I think its really cool to play out a completely different war in HOI3 thanks to the amazing save converter. The strategic situation is certainly different from WW2 in our timeline.

Chapter 13: Ruin Britannia

"Well I suppose I should congratulate you now winning the recent election," the emperor stated, "The Royal Faction managed to take 30% of the seats in parliament, a plurality we haven't seen in decades."

"Thank you your majesty," the prime minister answered, "The people have the utmost confidence both in the party and the monarchy itself."

"And you quite cleverly took down the Socialist party by drawing attention to their pacifism. They went from tied with us in first place, to fourth place in parliament."

"Yes, the Socialists never stood a chance in these conditions. The people of our nation are united in our noble war effort. Thanks in no small part to your majesty's inspiring speeches."

"Speaking of the war effort, how are things going?"

"A couple new nations have entered the war. On our side is Tunis. So far they've only sent a single division to help. The rest of their army remains at home. I suppose they might be paranoid that the Axis will cross the Mediterranean and invade their land. And that one division they sent is still more help than Japan has given, so maybe we can cut them some slack."

"Very well, we can give Tunis a break. But I'm still pissed at Japan."

"Oh believe me, we all are."

"Now you said a couple nations had entered the war. Besides Tunis, who else has joined the fight."

"Brazil has joined the Axis. This caught us completely by surprise, mainly because weren't paying attention to them at all. But they are a weak and tiny nation. I can't imagine them having a significant impact."

"Well, that's no big deal I guess. How goes the fight in Asia?"

"Only a few days after our last meeting Persia fell to allied forces, and is now being administered by Bukhara. About a month after that Yarkand fell as well. We've taken over administration of most of the former Yarkand territory."

"After the war is over we can negotiate with our allies to properly redraw the map of Asia, but for now this situation will be the best way to turn Yarkand's meager resources toward the war effort."

"Quite right your majesty. And now that Yarkand is dealt with, our forces that were previously busy are now free for a special mission."

"What sort of special mission?"

"An independent think tank has suggested to our government that we should invade Britain, reasoning that the isles will be poorly defended. I think they may have intended a slightly larger force for this task, but we just grabbed a few divisions that weren't doing anything important at the moment, and decided it was good enough. We were gambling on Britain being very poorly prepared for an attack on their home turf. I mean we've seen a pretty large number of British forces in Siberia and in the Balkans. That little island can only support so many soldiers, right? We figured they can't possibly have much back at home."

"Well don't leave me in suspense. How did it go?"

"As our invasion began, we encountered a major portion of the British navy. For the first time in the war we had an epic naval showdown. But we were victorious. We even sank the pride of their fleet."

"Very well done. Siam really does rule the waves. But how did our land forces do?"

"The landed without incident. No British forces were guarding the beaches or the immediate vicinity of our landing. From the initial landing point we marched on London itself. The city was only lightly guarded with a few thousand garrison troops. They were easily defeated. The British capital is now in our hands. We are sending our forces out in every direction to try and quickly take the island."

"Not a bad start. Not bad at all. Looks like the gamble paid off. How are the other fronts doing?"

"Siberia is the usual. Slow advancement at a few points, but basically a standstill for the most part. However, a very disturbing development is the unchecked advancement of Russia in western Bukhara. Our new allies tried to hold a line against the Russian advance but they were no match. As stated earlier, their armies are made mostly of militia and some infantry. We also suspect they are technologically behind the Russians as well. That region has never been the most advanced. Out of all our new allies, Deccan would probably be the one to stand the best chance against Russia, but they are preoccupied taking out Afghanistan, and until recently Yarkand. We redeployed some of our forces from further east to help hold the line in Bukhara but they too are being beaten back."

"That doesn't look good. The Russians have committed a lot to this front and they are cutting through allied lines. I'm not sure we'll be able to get much more help to that area, at least not quickly. However, Once Afghanistan is beaten, Deccan should be able to help us out here. With their assistance we should be able to hold the line here, and maybe even push the Russians back."

"I agree your majesty."

"How are things in the Caucasus?"

"With several divisions pulled from the front to assist in the invasion of Bukhara, the Russians have left the Caucasus weak. Although the front hasn't changed much since the last report, the advance is very slow, but it is an advance."

"And the Balkans?"

"That front has not changed much either, but we have lost a bit of ground. I believe the Axis advance is slowing. Probably because we have a very large number of troops holding that front. The Axis is finding it increasingly difficult to push forward on that front, for now at least."

"That's about as good as we could have hoped, although one point in the front is getting very close to Istanbul. Anything else to report?"

"Yes there is one other thing. We forgot to grab a screenshot, I mean our generals forgot to draw a map, but it seems the Turks sent a marine division to capture a beachhead in Spanish Italy, and retake it from the Nationalists. Spain sent an infantry division to hold an adjacent province. They just control two provinces and are surrounded by 3 nationalist garrison divisions. For now, its a stalemate and neither side is making any moves. There are a few neutral Italian states between Germany and Nationalist controlled territory in Italy. Depending on whether or not they grant the Axis transit rights, they could possibly send troops to assault the allied beachhead. Its also possible Spain will send additional forces to help retake Italy. They've been building up several infantry divisions in North America."

"So we're going to have more troops ready to join the fight soon, and we have several options on were to send them. The situation in Bukhara looks the most dire, but its also deep inland, so we won't be able to get reinforcements there very quickly. We also have a pretty good reason to think Deccan will bail us out on that front once they are finished with Afghanistan. We could send reinforcements to Caucasus to really push that advance forward, or to the Balkans to further slow the Axis advance. We could also send some troops to Britain to take the Island a little faster, and as insurance in case the Axis are able to send some reinforcements of their own. We could also help our allies retake southern Italy for Spain. Or for that matter we could launch brand new attacks to retake Spanish Africa from the nationalists, or even attack Brazil."

"That is a decent summary of our options, your majesty. What do you propose we do?"

 

[34625197]

Chapter 14: A True World War

"How goes the war?" the emperor asked as usual.

"It appears Scandinavia has joined the Allies, your majesty?"

"Scandinavia? Weren't they annexed by Germany before this war even started."

"Yes your majesty. Rebels must have risen up and taken back at least one part of the former Scandinavian empire. There's just one thing. We have no idea where they are."

"What are you stupid? Scandinavia is in northern Europe, you can't miss it."

"Yes, I know where the geographic region of Scandinavia is. We checked and its all still controlled by Germany and Russia. We also checked the former Scandinavia colonies in America and the pacific. All still appear German."

"Well keep looking. I'm sure this elusive Scandinavia state will turn up eventually. I'm sure its just some tiny island in the middle of nowhere and will be of no help in defeating the axis."

"Your majesty is probably right."

"So any other micro nations joining the fight that you want to report."

"No other micro nations your majesty, but some larger ones have joined. It appears the Comintern has joined the war, and not in a good way."

"You mean they attacked us?"

"Yes your majesty."

"Damn them, don't they see the threat the Axis poses?"

"I believe they see both us and the Axis as threats. But they expect the Axis to focus on Eurasia for now. So the Comintern is trying to secure the Americas as a fortress, and they are starting by pushing Spain out of North America. I believe they are planning to use the vast resources of the Americas to rapidly industrialize, after which the will challenge the Axis for domination of the world."

"Well there's a couple problems with that plan. 1. we're gonna crush the Axis, and 2. we're gonna crush the Comintern. And isn't the idea of a highly industrialized America a bit farfetched?"

"Perhaps not your majesty. Chile, the leader of the Comintern, arose out of the shadows in the late 1800s to become a major industrial power. Early in this century they even surpassed us, having an industrial output second only to Germany. I believe their ally Portugal is planning a similar rapid industrialization, and they are planning to use the resources of Spanish North America to fuel it. The two of them would make a formidable team if their plan succeeds."

"I'd like to say we'll put a stop to their plan, but we don't really have much to spare to deal with them right now. How are the fronts going?"

"In Siberia, we are finally making some decent progress advancing westward."

"That's okay I guess, but this is still the least important front. We still have a long way to go before we get in serious benefits from advancing on this front. How are things in Bukhara?"

"The Russians have advanced further into Bukhara. Our own forces are heavily concentrated in and around the capital, and we seem to be holding back the Russians for now, but further south the Russians continue to penetrate deeper into Bukhara."

"I thought we would get some more help from Deccan once Afghanistan had fallen. Have they not been dealt with yet?"

"Afghanistan has fallen completely under occupation. Unlike Yarkand and Persia, they did not accept their fate, and the Afghan government fled into exile, and remains officially at war with us. Although I'm baffled how they managed to escape because the capital is completely surrounded by allied forces. In any case, soon after Afghanistan fell, Deccan sent several of its divisions back to India to deal with Portuguese forces in Goa. They sent far more than I believe is necessary, but these weakly defended areas tend to be a magnet for allied forces. So its going to be awhile before Deccan gets its full army into the fight. We have pulled a few of our divisions in Siberia and are redeploying them to help out in Bukhara, and hopefully it will be enough to keep the Russians at bay."

"And the Caucasus?"

"Very little change since the last report. It appears the axis has brought in a few divisions to stall the Turks' momentum, and things seem to be pretty even at the moment."

"And the Balkans?"

"Good news on that front, your majesty. It appears the Axis have pulled some forces from the Balkans to help on other fronts. The Turks have even gained some ground."

"That's a load of my mind, knowing that Istanbul is safe. At least for now. How are our boys doing in Britain?"

"After our initial success at taking the capital, it didn't take long for the Axis to send an army to the island. Fortunately, after our last meeting you decided our next batch of reinforcements would go to Britain, so our reinforcements arrived not too long after the Axis forces showed up. At the moment we're doing a decent job of holding an area in southern England."

"That's pretty nice. It's not enough to knock them out of the fight, but holding that important area should cripple Britain."

"Yes, your majesty. And even better, after taking London, we were able to capture an airbase, so we now have air power in the area."

"But how is that possible?"

"We just moved out planes from Bangkok to London."

"But how can they travel that distance with nowhere to stop off in between?"

"I can't explain it your majesty. Somehow they found their way to London. In any case, we can now support our ground forces in the immediate area with air power."

"That sounds pretty good. So what's Tunis up to? They border Portuguese territory in north Africa right?"

"Correct your majesty. It seems Tunis are making themselves somewhat useful and conquering the very poorly defended Portuguese North Africa. Although the ground they've take so far is mostly worthless, some of the Portuguese territory near the coast is moderately important. They should get around to taking it eventually, and when they do, Portugal will be a little worse off."

"Seems pretty nice I guess. I suppose we can't put this off any longer, how is Spain doing in North America."

"Portugal advanced a bit early on, because there was nothing on the border, but Spain has quickly scrambled their infantry divisions into position, and it looks like they might just have a chance at holding back the Portuguese invasion, at least for now."

"This situation looks pretty dicey. Spain has already taken a beating by losing Iberia to the Nationalists and losing the steppe to Russia. I don't think they can lose too many cities in North America before calling it quits. And it seems like pretty much everything is on the border with Portugal. If someone like Chile attacked from the sea, there would be nothing they could do about it. Well then, anything else to report?"

"Yes your majesty. It appears that Spain has sent even more infantry to retake Spanish Italy. A ballsy move, considering the situation in North America, but one that may pay off if we are tremendously lucky. The nationalists are piling on garrison divisions to try and hold the peninsula with sheer numbers."

"So we've got a few options here. One is to send more troops to Britain to really make sure we can take and hold the Island. Once we have all the major cities there, crossing the channel and taking a single important city should be enough to knock Britain out of the fight. On the other hand we have Spain to worry about, and they are very close to giving up in this war. We could help them reclaims a few major cities, which would help them stay in the fight longer. Spanish Italy, despite already having a beachhead established, is mostly worthless in this regard.

A much bigger prize of victory points, I mean major cities, would be Iberia. The nationalists seem to have a large force on the Balkan front, and I can't imagine there is much back in Iberia. The fact that there are sending tons of garrisons to Italy is telling. If they really wanted to drive the Allies out of Italy, and they had better units available, then they would probably send them, right? We can gamble again and hope Iberia is as poorly defended as Britain was, and try to reclaim some territory for our ally, or we might try to rush for the Nationalist stronghold in northern Iberia and hope to knock them out of the fight.

Another possibility is sending reinforcements to help Spain in North America, which may work if we are only fighting Portugal, but if Chile shows up in force, there's absolutely nothing we can do to hold North America. I don't think there's any need to send reinforcements to the Balkans or the Caucasus at this time. Bukhara looks bad, but we seem to be holding the capital, and help is on the way, so I'm inclined to say we don't need to send forces there either. So probably the best course of action is either to reinforce in Britain, or to try and save Spain, either by helping them on one of their fronts, or opening up a new beachhead in Iberia."

 

[Mkoll13]

Taking out Britain and using their resources for the Allied war effort will be a great equalizer in the war against the Axis!

 

[34625197]

Taking out Britain and using their resources for the Allied war effort will be a great equalizer in the war against the Axis!

Indeed. Although, probably even important more than taking the resources from Britain is cutting off Axis access to resources. The Allies actually have a decent supply of all the major resources. Germany on the other hand is in dire need of trade to import rare materials. Oil as well maybe, but they can probably synthesize a fair bit from their massive energy reserves. After grabbing a naval base in Britain, I've been conducting convoy hunting missions in the area, and already sunk quite a few. With any luck, it will have an impact on Germany's industrial output.

Chapter 15: Axis on the Run

"How goes the war effort?" the emperor asked.

"Very good your majesty. In Britain we were very closely matched for awhile, but we outmaneuvered them, surrounded them, and wiped out all Axis forces on the island. After taking all the major cities in Britain itself, the British still weren't will to give up. We needed to cross the channel to knock them out of the fight. Unfortunately we did not bother to get actual marine brigades, and only had regular infantry for this task. Despite having superior numbers, our initial landing attempt was thwarted by the British. However, we still found a way to succeed. We realized they had inadequate numbers to guard the entire coast, due to the fact we just wiped out most of their army in the Battle of Britain. So we baited them with a landing attempt, and once they moved their forces to deal with it, we made our real landing in an unguarded location. Once we had our beachhead they couldn't drive back our superior numbers."

"Well done."

"From there we marched on the makeshift British capital and secured their surrender."

"This is fantastic news. Since we already have troops in the area, we might try marching into Germany itself. At the very least we can poke and see if they have anything to defend the area."

"After our last meeting we were trying to decide what to do with our latest reinforcements. One idea that was floated was to set up a beachhead in Iberia, to help Spain. However, we only had a few divisions available at the time, and we decided it was a bit risky to try and take Iberia with such a small force. Things were also going great in Britain, and we saw no need to send them there. So we decided to have them help retake Spanish Italy. With our help, Allied forces were able to wipe out the mass Nationalist garrisons in the area. Spain is now back in control of the southern peninsula and the island of Sicily."

"Great. After standing by impotently since 1936, it feels good to finally turn the tables on the Nationalists."

"In the Balkans, the front is very fluid. At some points the Axis has advanced slightly, but at other points the Turks are advancing. It appears the Turks have gained more ground than they've lost overall."

"Things still seem pretty good overall on that front."

"In the Caucasus, things haven't changed much. It looks like the Axis managed to inch forward a tiny bit at one point, and the Turks have advanced a bit at another, but things are almost exactly where they were at the last report."

"As long as we make gains on other fronts and we can simply hold the line here, things should work out in the long run. Just as long as we aren't losing ground."

"And in the east we have more good news. Now that Deccan reinforcements have finally arrived in full force, we are pushing the Russians out of Bukhara."

"That's nice. It looks like we'll soon be able to retake some of the occupied Ottoman land as well, and from there we can start marching into the heart of Russia."

"Meanwhile, our Tunisian allies continue to overrun Portuguese north Africa."

"Not the most important area, but still nice to be winning."

"And in North America Spain appears to have gotten the upper hand against Portugal. I'm quite impressed they managed to put together such a large army after losing so much territory to the Nationalists."

"This is pretty good. We seem to be okay or better on every front, and taking out Britain is a massive blow to the Axis. Of course we should still remain vigilant. We still haven't seen Chile, and they might be planning a devastating attack. There's also the possibility of additional nations joining the Axis or the Comintern, jumping into the fight against us. However, we do seem to be winning at the moment. We should just keep pressing where we are already doing well, and try to take down the Axis as quickly as we can, before moving any forces to the Americas to deal with the Comintern."

 

[Rabbit Burgher]

Bravo, it seems like you've given the Axis a great beating. The war in Europe might be over by Christmas '43, if not '42.

 

[Mkoll13]

Things went quite well this episode! It makes me wary of imminent misfortune

 

[sebas379]

It was looking a bit dicey with all the different fronts, especially for Spain. But with the success against the nationalist rebels and a counterattack in America the allies could perhaps regain the upper hand in that theatre.

 

[34625197]

Bravo, it seems like you've given the Axis a great beating. The war in Europe might be over by Christmas '43, if not '42.

Yep things are going pretty well. And Germany might be out of the war sooner than expected, if the incompetence displayed in this update is any indication.

Things went quite well this episode! It makes me wary of imminent misfortune

Yeah, things are going pretty well. Pretty much the only real threat at the moment is the Comintern in North America. The Axis seems to be getting worse and worse, and I'm not sure what can go wrong in Europe except Allied incompetence. But you never know what the future holds I guess.

It was looking a bit dicey with all the different fronts, especially for Spain. But with the success against the nationalist rebels and a counterattack in America the allies could perhaps regain the upper hand in that theatre.

Yep, Spain seems to be doing pretty well lately. A far cry from how they were doing when the civil war began. But they did get a little help from their friends.

Chapter 16: Deep penetration

"Tell me, how goes the war?" the emperor asked.

"Fairly well your majesty. On some fronts we have very good news indeed. But lets start with the eastern theater. In Siberia and Bukhara, our advance seems to be getting bogged down again after a short period of rapid advancement. It appears that several allied divisions have left the east to fight on other fronts."

"That's not such a big deal. Most of the territory on this front is pretty worthless. As long as Bukhara's major cities are secure, and it appears that they are, its enough to just hold a line here and tie up Russian forces."

"Indeed your majesty. And on the Caucasus front, allied forces have advanced quite a bit in the east, but it looks like there weren't enough troops committed to that push and the Russians are going to take it back in a counter attack. Meanwhile, the western half of the front is almost exactly where it was in the last report. Although more Allied reinforcements are rushing here from other fronts."

"Okay, and how are things going in the Balkans?"

"Er, the Balkans your majesty? Perhaps you should just look at the map and see for yourself?"

"I thought things were going well on this front. What the hell happened? And how did the Axis get so close to Istanbul?"

"It appears that Turkey concentrated its forces for a big push northward, and actually had a bit of success. But the Axis countered with a devastating advance from the west. The front was in turmoil, and still is to some extent, as Turkish forces scramble to reposition themselves. However, it appears that Istanbul is secure. The Turks have stacked up numerous infantry, mountaineer, and even some garrison divisions in the capital and surrounding area. But it was a very close call."

"We dealt a serious blow to the Axis by taking out Britain, and are doing quite well. It would be a shame if Turkey threw away their capital. Such a loss would cripple Turkey and reinvigorate the Axis. Something we don't need right now."

"I completely agree. However, Turkish incompetence aside, we have some very good news to report. As you know, we had an army in Normandy that had just finished off the Brits. We decided to do some poking along the German border and see what they had in the area. Our initial advancement met no resistance, and so we've made this front our new priority for reinforcements. We've managed penetrate deeply into German territory."

"This is great news. It seems that a few Russian divisions have shown up, but it shouldn't do much to stop our forces in the area."

"Indeed your majesty. Our intelligence indicates some German forces along the coast. Although the information is incomplete and we don't have exact numbers on how many there are. However, it seems the Germans could use those forces to at least slow down our advance, if not stop it. But, they seem very dedicated to guarding the coast, and not at all concerned about our advance towards their capital."

"Ah yes, Stendal, the German capital is so close now. If their capital was somewhere further east, like say Berlin, it might take us a bit longer to reach it, but even then we'd probably still get there pretty quick. If Axis resistance continues to be this pathetic, we may be able to knock Germany out of the fight sooner than we imagined."

"Yes your majesty, and while this next news is not quite as important, it is still good. Tunis has completely defeated Portugal in north Africa. Now their forces move south to retake Spanish Africa from the Nationalists."

"That's pretty nice as well, I guess."

"Some bad news, our territory just north of Iberia, which was handed over to us by the British, was quickly occupied by the Spanish Nationalists, which is not terribly surprising. It appears Spain has gotten really courageous and attempted to retake Iberia itself from the Nationalists, although I'm not sure they can hold it. It appears the Nationalists have a stronger force at home than the British did."

"It's a good thing we didn't go ahead with those plans we considered to begin our own invasion of Iberia. It probably wouldn't have gone too well unless we committed a ton of men to it. Taking out Germany is a far better use of our forces at this time. But we will help our ally recover their homeland when the time is right."

"The final front is in America. There are a couple things to report. First of all, Colombia has joined the Comintern, which is not surprising considering their close diplomatic ties to Chile. Spain has advanced further into Portuguese territory, but Chilean and Colombian forces are starting to show up on the front. It's taken them awhile to get here, because basically everyone in the world is incompetent at transporting troops over sea, and they had to get to the front by land. But with more and more Comintern forces coming into the fight, it seems like things will start to turn against Spain in America."

"This isn't too bad. Most of Spain's major cities in north America are pretty far to the north, so losing a bit of ground won't be too big of a deal. It is a bit annoying if the Comintern gets access to Spanish resources, because they will be less dependent on foreign trade, but its not the end of the world. Most importantly, if Spain ends up losing so much ground that they are hurting for resources, we can trade away as many of our as necessary to keep them afloat, since we have plenty, especially after conquering Britain. Our focus should still be on dealing a death blow to the Axis, especially Germany, before worrying about America."

 

[Rabbit Burgher]

Considering the lack of any meaningful protection in Germany, I think I'm going to revise my earlier statement to Christmas '41.

 

[34625197]

Considering the lack of any meaningful protection in Germany, I think I'm going to revise my earlier statement to Christmas '41.

You might be right on that. But Russia is probably going to keep us busy for awhile just because of their sheer size. And I probably won't be making any serious progress retaking Iberia from the Nationalists until Russia is dead or nearly dead. So we might be fighting in Europe after 41.

Chapter 17: An Empire in Ruins

The Emperor walked into the cabinet meeting and immediately looked around suspiciously. "What's everyone smiling about?" he asked.

"Your majesty," the prime minister answered, "Germany is defeated."

"We've finally done it. We've brought down the biggest industrial power in the world. With Germany gone, the remaining Axis nations are doomed."

"Indeed your majesty. This is a glorious day for our nation. No longer will we live in the shadow of other nations, but we will claim our rightful place as the preeminent military and economic power in the world. Of course, in order to maintain peace and stability in the postwar international order, we will need to take steps to ensure Germany does not become a threat again once our temporary occupation is over."

"What sort of steps are you suggesting."

"Obviously all the nations Germany has conquered over the years will have to be given their independence and most expansive borders that can be justified by the historical records. Beyond that, I think Germany itself should be broken up into the old states of Austria and Brandenburg."

"That sounds reasonable to me. The division of Germany itself might not be too popular among the Germans, but I think we can justify it, and they're not in much position to say no."

"However, we believe a division of Germany is not going to be enough to permanently stop them. The ministers have come up with some more drastic solutions to the German problem. While the war with the Comintern rages, we will be making use of German factories to boost our industrial output. However, once the war is over and we are ready to withdraw from Germany, we believe it would be wise to demolish the factories."

"You mean demolish all the factories in Germany?"

"Well maybe not every last one, but most of them should do the trick. However, even this isn't likely to be enough to permanently stop the German threat. With their vast natural resources, we expect they would quickly build up their industry again. Therefore, we recommend the establishment of an Imperial Corporation, which would acquire ownership of a majority of Germany's coal and iron mines, and continue to run them even after our military withdrawal. We can hire the local Germans to work the mines, but the resources will flow back to Siam and fuel our industrialization."

"Isn't that likely to cause massive resentment and unrest among the German population?"

"Perhaps so, but then, who cares? They are completely at our mercy. I know these measures are harsh, but they are necessary to establish and maintain world peace."

"We can make a final decision on this later. Right now, we need to worry about finishing the war. What's the situation?"

"We have several divisions in the middle of occupied Germany that we are redeploying to get them into the fight. There is a lone Russian division a bit to the east, in the middle of our occupied territory, that we are going to deal with. We are also sending forces to quickly crush Poland and Croatia, both of which have tiny armies made mostly of militia. Once all of that is taken care of, we will open up a new front against Russia and attack from the west, which should prove more fruitful than our invasion from the east."

"That sounds good. How are things on all the fronts?"

"With the German surrender, most of the Turkish territory in the Balkans has been liberated, although some still remains under Russian occupation. However, there are almost no Axis forces remaining to fight in the Balkans. The Turks should have no problem mopping up enemy forces in the area and taking back the rest of the their territory."

"Very nice. And the other fronts."

"With the German surrender, huge holes emerged both in the Caucasus and the Eastern fronts. It appears most of the Russian forces were actually German expeditionary forces. Now that the Germans are heading home, very little remains to defend the Russian borders. See for yourself."

"It seems the Russians were a lot weaker than we thought, and they were really just being propped up by Germany this whole time. I think we can afford to pull several divisions from Siberia, while leaving a few to continue marching towards important cities. However, due to the geographic location, it will take awhile for them to get anywhere important. Now then, I guess the only thing left is North America."

"The Comintern has gained the upper hand and is pushing back the Spanish lines."

"Well that's pretty much what we were expecting. However, I still think focusing on the Axis is the right way to go. Russia might not have many troops on the fronts, but could have more that we can't see. They should still have a huge pool of manpower to draw on, and at least decent industry. Therefore we should not ease up on Russia at all, or give them any chance to recover. The best way forward is to just knock them out of the fight as soon as possible before focusing on the Nationalists or the Comintern."

"Agreed your majesty. There is one other thing. We got a message from the Spanish Prime Minister. He says the country is in dire need of resources, but they are running low on cash. He says he is totally good for it, and will pay us back after the war, but wants us to continue our current exportation of resources."

"Well, they are our close ally. I have full confidence they will pay us back after they reclaim their rightful territory. I say we should do whatever we can to prop up the Spanish during this war."

 

[sebas379]

Great update, excellent work defeating Germany. That must have knocked one of the biggest pillars out from under the Axis and left Russia's flanks open to invasion. What is the balance of force between the various factions now?? I get the feeling the Allies are in a dominant position with this victory under their belt.

 

[Mkoll13]

Time to go destroy the godless commies!