Heroes of the Red AARmy

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Hello

I stumbled across HoI about 3 weeks ago, and since installing it on my PC I seem to have done very little apart from play it and lurk on these forums
After having read some of the brilliant AAR's on this forum, I thought I'd set myself up to be a hostage to fortune and have a stab at writing one myself :wacko:

From the title of the thread, you can guess that I'm playing as the Soviets and I'll be playing the vanilla game with all options set to normal, with Fog of War OFF. That way, when things begin to really kick off, I'll be able to give you details of other fronts etc.
I've tried CORE v0.64 and love it, but I've had a few problems with it so for this I stuck with the normal game.
This is actually a game in progress where I'm at the end of January 1940 and A LOT has already happened

I'll try to whip through the 'dry' stuff fairly quickly, just a series of key dates and a synopsis of the period. It will be HEAVILY Soviet-centric, so you won't be hearing about the results of the Belgian elections here

Also, I'm playing to win, no 'oh blimey, the Germans don't like me!' shock in 1941. I'm aiming to spread the 'Glorious People's Revolution' to all of mainland Europe at the very least.

I'll add some characters and some colour later on, involving lots of Vodka

 

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Early January 1936.

Reports first appear in Polish & Romanian Newspapers of Soviet efforts at building fortifications and deep trench lines across their western borders. NAROD POLSKI carries an editorial warning ‘Patriotic Poles’ of the danger posed by their 'rapacious eastern neighbour'. There is no word from Soviet officials of this programme.

This was the first the world knew of the construction of a series of fortifications running from the Baltic to the Black Sea along what was then the eastern border of the USSR. The Soviets would not officially admit to its existence for some time.

January 16th, 1936.

An article in PRAVDA claims that ‘A cell of counter-revolutionary thought within the Red Army has been removed’.

Historically, we now know that most Red Army officers with an Active Command at the beginning of 1936 had been ‘removed’ by the middle of January. This was the first in a series of purges of the Soviet Officer Caste.
Amongst the officers given commands in the field following this first purge were Field Marshals Tukhachevsky & Timoshenko along with Generals Zhukov and Rokossovsky.

July 19th, 1936.

Spanish Civil War begins. The USSR announces it will ship materiel to the Republicans.

November 9th, 1936.

Following victories in Valencia and Gijon, the Nationalists win the Spanish Civil War.

March 2nd, 1937.

The Great Officer Purge continues. Over the next two weeks 10 Red Army Officers (9 of them on the Staff) are ‘removed’ from their positions.

May 1st, 1937.

At the time of the great May Day Parade through Red Square the line-up of the Soviet Government is as follows.

Head of State

V.I. Stalin

Foreign Minister
Maksim Litvinov

Armaments Minister
Lazer Kaganovich

Security Minister
Genrikh Yagoda

Intelligence Minister
Yan Berzin

Chief of Staff
Mikhail Tukhachevsky

Chief of Army
Kliment Voroshilov

Chief of Navy
Vladimir Orlov

Chief of Air
Yakov Alksnis

June - August 1937.

The Great Officer Purge continues, a further 18 Red Army Staff Officers being accused of 'Propagating Counter-Revolutionary Doctrines in Thought and Deed'.

 

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Soviet Union 1936 – Summer 1937
A revolution of thought

By the beginning of 1936 the concerns about the worsening political situation in Europe were making themselves felt at the Kremlin. Stalin was concerned not only with the strident anti-communist bellicosity of Hitler and his re-arming Third Reich, but also the growing ties between some of the smaller Central European states in the Little Entente and their erstwhile sponsors in Paris and London.
It was a time of danger for the Soviets, but also a time of opportunity. As Stalin sat in his Kremlin office and lit another pipe of the foul smelling makhorka and perused his intelligence reports, he could surely have had no idea of the calamity that would overtake the world, or could he?

The Soviet construction of border fortifications from the Gulf of Leningrad in the north to the Black Sea in the south, was in reality a social project as much as anything. Rather like the German re-armament and Autobahn projects, a way of providing mass employment during a difficult economic time. The social effects of forcibly moving labourers from the Far East and the Central Asian republics were not a concern for Stalin, but for the gang-leaders who had to deal with a multitude of different languages and cultures. Often their methods of ‘dealing’ with these challenging issues left a lot to be desired.

In terms of Foreign Policy, this was a quiet time for the Soviets. Many Governments, notably those without a land border with the USSR, viewed the reports of the border fortifications as a good sign, feeling that the Soviets were adopting a ‘What we have, we hold’ mentality, ending any threat to their neighbours. Others, notably the Poles felt the Soviets were creating ideal ‘jumping-off’ points for an inevitable westward expansion. The secretive Soviet Foreign minister Litvinov spent most of his time close to Stalin, or surrounded by reports in his cramped Lyubianka office. He wasn’t the type to spend time at the receptions still held in the Embassies in Moscow, the NKVD spies kept him up to date with what was happening, he didn’t see the point of spending time with some bourgeois Western functionary.

From a military perspective, the Soviets commissioned no new forces during this time. In a move that was well received in foreign capitals, they downsized the Black Sea fleet by about 50%. Stalin, backed by the Army and Air Force chiefs upbraided the Navy Chief, Admiral Orlov in a Politburo meeting. Claiming that the Black Sea was ‘Our Pond’ and that ‘The Whole World knows this’ he then questioned the need for such a massive naval presence in the area, muttering that the Navy in general was a waste of resource and manpower. Surprisingly to many, particularly those in the Army, Orlov remained in his post after this outburst by Stalin.

The Red Army was purged of many officers during this period. However, the promotion of capable replacements was actually a boon to military efficiency. Many of the ‘disappeared’ were the remainder of the old guard who owed their military heritage to the Czarist period and were absorbed into the Red Army as a matter of expediency during the Civil War and Russo-Polish War periods.

Chief of Red Army, Mikhail Tukhachevsky

Under the guide of Field Marshal Tukhachevsky, the Red Army was rapidly researching Artillery, Armoured and Improved Infantry equipment and tactics. While this had so far had a negligible effect of the field strength of the Red Army, improved equipment was expected to be ready for deployment in the next 18 months including a Tank described in excited terms to the Politburo by Tukhachevsky as ‘The best in the world by a factor of five!’ The defeat of the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War was regarded in hindsight as an opportunity to rid the Red Army of soon to be obsolete equipment.

Soviet Propaganda poster extolling Industrialisation

Soviet Industry too was making great strides forward in the fields of applied and practical research. Improved techniques and machinery had increased efficiency and output despite the relatively modest expansion in Industrial capacity during this period.

 

[Exterous]

off to a good start. Do you plan to 'enlighten' the whole world or just most of it?

Looking forward to hearing of your progress!

 

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off to a good start. Do you plan to 'enlighten' the whole world or just most of it?

Looking forward to hearing of your progress!

Thanks
We'll just see how it goes in the game
I'm pretty new at it, but I hope with some judicious planning I can turn the map red up to the English Channel.

I'll update more in a couple of days. I've already had two wars (by Jan '40) so there's plenty 'in the bank' as it were.

 

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Good AAR, I enjoy

 

[Semi-Lobster]

So far it's a great AAR big_lads! Good luck!

 

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Good start big_lads. I'm looking foward to more.

 

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September 9th, 1937.

Andrey Vyshinsky replaces Maksim Litvinov as Soviet Foreign Minister.
Sergei Uritsky replaces Genrikh Yagoda as Soviet Security Minister.
Aleksandr Loktionov replaces Yakov Alksnis as Soviet Air Force Chief.

The replacement of Litvinov by Vyshinsky was regarded with optimism in most of the western capitals. Vyshinsky had formerly been the Soviet Ambassador to Belgium, and had impressed with his easy-going attitude. Belgian newspaper LE SOIR had this to say in an editorial dated September 12th, 1937.

“It is to be hoped that the Russian Bear can show a more human face in her relations with other states. During his three years in Bruxelles, Mr. Vyshinsky showed himself to be both intellectually and temperamentally equipped for his new task, his charm and natural diplomacy are a welcome change to his predecessor, the narrow ideologue Litvinov. Regardless of the politics followed in Moscow, the Soviet Union deserves to take its rightful place at the table of Great Nations.”

Of much more interest to Soviet Citizens was the promotion of the famous Policeman Sergei Uritsky to the post of Security Minister in place of the loathed Yagoda. Uritsky was known to be incorruptible and was famed for resolving a series of criminal cases in the Moscow and Trans-Caucasian regions over the previous 10 years. Stalin hoped that his renowned eye for detail would ensure any dissent was dealt with quickly, while the rest of the nation hoped that “Honest Sergei” would bring a measure of control to the mushrooming internal security organisations.

October 1937.

Soviet Foreign Minister Vyshinsky visits Prague, Bucharest and Budapest.

November 1937.

A further 9 officers are purged from the Red Army General Staff.

February 10th, 1938.

In what is regarded within Soviet Military circles as an overdue move, Chief of the Soviet Navy Admiral Orlov is ‘released to less onerous duties’ after another display of dissent over the lack of Naval spending. Admiral Mikhail Viktorov replaces him.

Summer 1938.

The continued construction of the fortifications along the western Soviet border forces the Soviets to admit to its’ existence. In an article in PRAVDA, the network of defences are described as ‘the Bulwark of the Revolution’. The article goes on to claim that the constructions should not be viewed as being aimed against a specific nation, but points to the invasions from the west throughout Russian history and the dangers of ‘the Reactionary Forces of the Capitalist and Imperialist World’.

September 1938.

Soviet Foreign Minister Vyshinsky visits Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Helsinki.

September 30th, 1938.

British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain on his return from Munich

After the signing of the Munich treaty, Czechoslovakia cedes the Sudetenland to Germany.

 

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October 26th, 1938.
Vyshinsky under pressure

Andrei Vyshinsky had just left Stalin’s office with orders to visit the Baltic States over the next couple of weeks. He was under no illusions that results were to be expected. Despite his reputation, his previous foreign visits had produced little of substance except for closer links being forged with Stockholm. Stalin felt this was of little value, despite the Soviet claim to land currently occupied by the Finns. Sweden wanted to be friends with EVERYONE, and profit from her rich natural resources. The Swedes saw the Soviet Union as a market, nothing more. Stalin believed that the time would come where the Swedes would have to come to a real accommodation with the Soviets, one on a much more ‘fraternal’ level.

Stalin loathed Vyshinsky. He was handsome, intelligent, urbane and witty. All of the things that Stalin was not. Stalin needed his skills right now, and that was the only reason he was representing the Soviet Union abroad. Vyshinsky had been quick to confirm Stalin’s suspicions that the British and the French were in no mood to stand up to Hitler over his demands on Czech lands. Stalin saw the British and French as enfeebled nations in their death-throes. He respected the British in spite of his loathing of them, but knew that after the carnage of the Great War, they were a waning power but still a dangerous one. What applied to the British about the carnage of the Great War was twice as true for the French. In a way, the Gloire of the French Military was fatally wounded in their pyrrhic victory at the killing fields of Verdun. Stalin felt France was weak and would crumble soon, becoming a vassal of the British, or succumbing to their dangerous eastern neighbour.

 

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December 13th, 1938.

The first five divisions of the new Soviet Tanks are deployed near Yaroslavl. The tank, featuring a revolutionary sloped armour design and a high-powered 76mm main gun is known the T-34/76. The rest of the world would not know of this machine until it saw action.

Early Soviet T-34/76 Tank undergoing thorough field-trials in summer 1938

December 18th, 1938.

In the start of a massive modernization programme expected to last 9 months, Soviet Artillery, Anti-Air and Engineering brigades are outfitted with vastly improved new equipment and are trained in their usage. Armoured Divisions previously equipped with Great War vintage Renault tanks and T-26's are equipped with the new T-34’s and Soviet Infantry receive the new PPSh sub-machine gun.

Newly supplied to the Red Army, the PPSh-38 sub-machine gun was a formidable weapon

January 3rd, 1939.

Foreign diplomats based in Moscow send reports of public demonstrations and an industrial dispute based around the “Glorious Revolution Factory of the People”. Unofficial Finnish sources claim similar public unrest in Leningrad. Soviet officials deny any incident took place.

February 8th, 1939.

Molotov replaces Vyshinsky as Soviet Foreign Minister.

Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov

 

[h345]

T34 already, good job now those Germans will run

 

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February 12th, 1939.

“So, Molotov, tell me what our brown-shirted German friends are planning next will you?” Stalin smiled and motioned Molotov to take a seat.

Molotov sat at the desk. He was happy to be in the position he had now reached, and was ruthlessly loyal to the man who sat before him. He had no qualms about using any and all means to get what he, or rather his boss, wanted. He was in short, an unprincipled thug, and Stalin loved him for it.

“Comrade, we know the Hitlerites are agitating to take over the remainder of the Czech provinces and the French and British are prepared to let it happen without sanction.”

Stalin grunted, “Those fools will do nothing until the point of their own extinction.”

“They are currently led by weak men” continued Molotov, “but their newspapers are taking a more belligerent attitude toward Germany, and that drunken old fool Churchill is spoiling for a fight. Their upcoming elections will surely determine their future attitudes towards Hitler’s unilateral re-drawing of international boundaries.”

“And what is Pilsudski up to? Tukhachevsky tells me that the Poles have a lot of men facing us on their eastern border.”

“He’s spending most of his time trying to get the British and the French to make a statement guaranteeing Polish borders. Some in Paris and London want to use this to make a stand against Hitler, but there’s no sign of either government making a binding statement.”

“Pilsudski is no fool, he’s looking for them to guarantee his border against us, just as much as against the Germans.” said Stalin.

“Of course, the current military deployments show where the Poles feel the threat is. Over 80% of their forces face us across the border. If the Germans attacked right now, they could probably get to Warsaw within a week. It seems the Poles have confidence that they can reach a settlement with the Germans although they might have to lose Danzig to do so. The Germans are agitating in Lithuania as well, frankly they, or their puppets will be on our borders shortly.”

“I see.” mused Stalin. “We will have to see if we can come to some agreement, however temporary, with the Germans. Go and see Ambassador von der Schulenburg once you are back from Riga.”

“Yes, of course Comrade. May I be so bold as to ask about Finland?”

“Nothing has changed, we proceed as planned. You have your orders, go and do your job.”

 

[Exterous]

ooooo, updates up the wazoo

 

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THE RUSH TO WAR

March 15th, 1939.

The remainder of Czechoslovakia is dismembered without a fight. Czech provinces are incorporated into the Greater German Reich and Hungary. A German puppet state under Father Tiso is instituted in Slovakia.

March 20th, 1939.

Poland cedes Danzig, Poznan, Bydgoszcz and Torun provinces to Germany. At the Bremen Conference Lord Halifax, representing His Majesty’s Government, called the agreement ‘an end to the threat of war on the European continent’.

Lord Halifax leaving the Bremen Conference

March 24th, 1939.

Lithuania cedes Memel to Germany.

March 28th, 1939.

Polish leader Pilsudski bluntly refuses further German territorial demands.

March 30th, 1939.

Poland enters the Anglo-French Military Alliance.
A Soviet backed coup attempt fails in Estonia with the loss of 16 lives.

April 3rd, 1939.

General Rokossovsky’s 1st Army sets off on the ‘Long March’ from Vladivostok.

April 11th, 1939.

The Red Army announces the formation of new elite engineering battalions.

April 29th, 1939.

A Soviet backed coup attempt fails in Latvia with the loss of 129 lives.

July 1st, 1939.

Work on the Soviet western fortifications shifts to Anti-Aircraft defences.

July 14th, 1939.

All Soviet Naval and Air Force Commanders with field commands in provinces west of the Urals are replaced. A total of 8 officers are ‘redeployed’.




The world sat uneasily throughout the fiercely hot summer of 1939. Politicians and diplomats in all the European capitals, and further afield, sat and waited for the first shot to be fired. Many still held increasingly forlorn hopes that a catastrophe could be averted. The feeling in Berlin, Paris and London was the antithesis of the happy march to war in August 1914, there were no parades, no bands, just a sullen realisation of hardships to face up to.

The first act of the tragedy would arrive shortly, and within 24 hours of it, Europe would spiral into another ruinous war.

 

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I hope you're enjoying reading this as much as I'm enjoying doing it, at least at the moment :rofl:

The pace of updates will have to slow down a little now as real life means I have to go back to work tomorrow but I hope to be back to update with the opening salvoes of WW2 soon.

 

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Operation 'Peter and Paul' - The Attack on Finland, part I

August 17th, 1939.

04:00 The Soviet Union declares war on Finland.
05:00 Soviet SB-2 bombers escorted by I-16 fighters based in Leningrad begin attacking targets in Southern Finland.

Soviet Aviator striking a suitably heroic pose in front of a Tupolev SB-2 bomber.


August 18th, 1939.

The Allies (United Kingdom and her Empire, France and Poland) declare war on the Soviet Union.

August 20th, 1939.

08:00 Finnish troops occupy the Soviet towns of Kondopoga and Petrozavodsk after finding them undefended.
11:00 The Soviet Baltic Fleet commanded by Admiral Vorobiev engages a Finnish Fleet under Viljaneu in the Gulf of Finland.

August 22nd, 1939.

07:00 Heavily damaged Finnish Naval forces in the Gulf of Finland retreat to port following the sinking of the Cruiser Vainamoinen. The ships of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet also return to Kronstadt for repairs and re-supply. The 1st Squadron (Submarines) commanded by Vice Admiral Gorshkov remain at sea, patrolling near Turku.
17:00 A massive British Naval Fleet is spotted by 1st Squadron. It is steaming towards Leningrad.

August 23rd, 1939.

05:00 Gorshkov's Submarines engage a large Royal Navy Fleet commanded by Tovey in the Gulf of Finland.
10:00 1st Squadron flees back to port heavily damaged. The Royal Navy at this moment has de facto control of the Baltic Sea.

August 24th, 1939.

German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop meets his Soviet counterpart Molotov in Moscow.

Reich Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop

 

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The Nazi-Soviet Pact

August 25th, 1939.

Molotov walked briskly across the Kremlin courtyard towards Stalin’s office. The discussions with von Ribbentrop had proceeded almost entirely as expected and he knew that his boss would be pleased. He arrived at the entrance to the block of offices Stalin had commandeered especially for this day. They were close to where the official meetings were taking place.

“So, Molotov, please update me with your progress.” began Stalin, rising from behind his desk.

“Of course Comrade,” Molotov smiled. “They have refused our offer, and wish to stick to the original texts of the document.”

“Just as we thought. They have betrayed their true colours. Molotov. We know what we have to do. Let’s go and sign the document. We will speak further tomorrow, once the Nazi dogs have returned back to their lair.”

Stalin accompanied Molotov back to the waiting von Ribbentrop. Stalin saw the German Minister was full of bluster, nothing but a buffoon. The Soviet leader regarded him as beneath contempt and wanted to spend as little time as possible in his presence, but fortunately these ludicrous formalities would soon be over.

Stalin could afford to smile for the pressmen at the official signing. To his mind, the German refusal of a full military alliance with the Soviets was almost as ill-advised as the Polish declaration of war against the Soviets nearly a week before.

Serendipity.

The signing of the Nazi-Soviet Pact

 

[Exterous]

ooooo, you could take all of poland before the germans, then stab them in the back while they are busy in france!

 

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Operation 'Peter and Paul', The Attack on Finland, Part II

August 28th, 1939.

Soviet Naval forces based at Murmansk defeat a Canadian fleet in the Arctic 30 kilometres north of Rybatchy Polotsov.

August 30th, 1939.

Soviet Naval forces near Rybatchy Polotsov retreat to port at Murmansk after suffering moderate damage in battle against a formidable combined Anglo/French/Canadian fleet.

September 2nd, 1939.

08:00 Field Marshal Tuhkachevsky’s 10th Army attack 4 Divisions of Finnish Infantry commanded by Mannerheim along the line of Kajaani - Nurmes. Tukhachevsky’s 10 Infantry Divisions immediately make progress against the outnumbered Finnish defenders.

September 3rd, 1939.

01:00 Mannerheim’s forces break and disperse into the forests. Leaving no garrison forces, Tukhachevsky immediately orders the entire 10th Army to advance ‘with all possible haste’ towards Helsinki.

Meanwhile, throughout the day Leningrad Air Command send their SB-2 bombers and I-16 fighters against Finnish defences north of Leningrad.

The Polikarpov I-16 ‘Rata’ was the front-line VVS fighter at the start of the War.

September 7th, 1939.

16:00 Maj. General Cherbatov’s 1st Corps (consisting of 5 Divisions of T34/76’s supported by 2 Mot. Inf. AT Divisions and 1 Mot. Inf. Division) head north from Leningrad to engage 4 Finnish Infantry Divisions under the command of Heinrich at Vyborg.

19:00 Finnish troops move into the undefended town of Podporozhye. With Tichvin undefended, maps at the Stavka appear to show the Finns planning a wide flanking movement, with the intention of encircling Leningrad.

September 8th, 1939.

Cherbatov’s 1st Corps make slow progress against the Finnish defences. Well sited fortifications and Finnish ingenuity in blocking the narrow forest tracks cause the T-34’s to be slowed down to almost walking pace. The well camouflaged Finns have no weapons powerful enough to stop the T-34’s, but they take a terrible toll on the Soviet Motorised Infantry divisions. Artillery barrages from Tovey’s Royal Navy ships anchored just off Leningrad add to the confusion in the Soviet ranks.

September 9th, 1939.

17:00 In a desperate attempt to assist Cherbatov’s 1st Corps, the seaworthy vessels of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet leave the protection of their base at Kronstadt to engage the Royal Navy fleet shelling Soviet troops heading north out of Leningrad. After 4 hours of a one sided battle, the Battleships Marat & Gangut are sunk along with the remainder of the Soviet destroyer fleet in the Baltic.

The Battleship ‘Marat’ ablaze with Destroyer ‘Nizhnii Novgorod’ (also sunk) in the foreground.

September 11th, 1939.

Cherbatov’s 1st Corps push north from Leningrad stalls under fierce Finnish resistance. 1st Corps Motorised Infantry Divisions are reporting a 50% casualty rate.

September 12th, 1939.

10:00 Cherbatov’s 1st Corps withdraw to their starting positions at Leningrad. The new T-34’s proved almost impregnable to the Finnish defenders (half of the Soviet Tank losses were attributed to mechanical breakdown), but the difficult terrain meant that they lost the advantage of mobility. 1st Corps Motorised Infantry Divisions return to Leningrad after having suffered a 75% casualty rate.

September 15th, 1939.

A growing awareness of the Finnish threat to envelop Leningrad causes Cherbatov to send one of his T-34 Divisions under the command of Maj. General Fiksel to engage the Finns at Tichvin.

September 16th, 1939.

05:00 Maj. General Fiksel’s T-34’s come into contact with the Finnish 12th Infantry Division led by General Malmberg at Tichvin. On contact with the Soviet Tanks, the Finns fall slowly back.