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British men wanting jobs. Soon the Soviets will put them back to work - as soldiers in the Royal Armed Forces.
London, January of 1945. The median temperature was 1 celsius and dropping as far below as -7.1. But it wasn't just the weather who dropped with the New Year. The banks and London Stock Exchange opened up again after a break during Christmas and New Year, when it reopened the stock exchange plummeted, panic spread through the British Isles reminiscent of Black Tuesday in 1929. The reasons were many including an overspending in the British Armed Forces and rising inflation during the post war economy and the British economy being cut off from the European market at large. But in the end it was the loss of their steady oil supplies that thwarthed economic growth and the general tense world situation and insecure investments markets (the markets didn't react well to Anglo-Persian Oil Company and other companies all of Europe being nationalized). Britain was on the brink of using up their oil reserves, the British economy and war machine alike wasn't a well oiled machine anylonger. The people were freezing during the cold months of January and February and bussiness after bussiness, industry after industry had to foreclose and the people were turned to unemployment. The communists parties of Europe, and Britain, blamed it on the limitations of the capitalist system - ignoring the hardship of communists nations and their role in the crisis. The people starved and were freezing, Trotsky claimed the time was "ripe for the flames of revolution to engulf Britain". But as the temperature and stock market of Britain froze to new lows, the temperature of the world increased..
The Tommies and Yanks will be shot down from the skies and vaporated on the ground.
But the world went by, despite Lord Halifax being crippled at home from a growing opposition and a dissatisfied population, the world kept spinning. In the Soviet Union this translated mostly into new weapons for the Red Army. One of these weapons were the 100mm AA gun. It was towed by armored tractors (AT-Ts) and had a total crew of 15 where the ammonutions were stored in the AT-T and it reported that a crew could fire 15 rounds per minute. Anti Aircraft ammunition includes high explosive, high explosive fragmentation and fragmentation types all 100 mm, but the greatest improvement were in its improved sighting system and state of the art fire control radars and fire directors. However the KS-19 was also efficient in armor piercing roles, and as a result two armor piercing rounds was created with one of them being reported to 185mm of armor at a range of 1000m - as a refference the heaviest (and rare) Sherman variant had a maximum armor thickness of 177.8 mm (with the common Sherman having 90.8mm at the most) and the heavy British Churchill tank having a maximum thickness of 152mm. Suffice to say the KS-19 AA gun excelled in the role of taking out virtually any NATO tanks of the time.
The ZSU-37 had been introduced for testing in 1943, and now it reached its final stages. It was mounted upon the chassis of the SU-76 and had an 37mm automatic cannon. This cannon provided the armored forces a apable anti-aircraft gun that was also quite capable of combating infantrists and light armor and disrupt medium to heavy armored tanks, with the weapon's platform itself being light and good at cross country movement, keeping up with motorized and mechanized formations and quickly change their positions to counter new threats and shield the advancing armored forces. The Katyusha rockets of the 300mm variant was upgraded into the BM-31 variant. The former M-20 and M-30 rails (also 300mm) only had 4 rails, while the BM-31 provided a total of 12 rails. This providing a much heavier overall punch, at the expense of range. But that was evened out as there was several other variants in the Katyusha regiments with calibers ranging from 82 mm to 132 mm to 300 mm and tube rails that could hold 12-72 rockets.
Trotsky and confidants prepare for the unthinkable in a bunker - and give out orders for ruthless subjucations of internal enemies.
These new weapons was undeniably in light of the renewed arm's race and the developing situation in the Aegean Sea. Trotsky and his inner circle was seated in an underground bunker somewhere by the Black Sea planning their next steps. By his side he got up to date reports on the ongoing situation and gave direct orders to the Field Marshals of the Soviet Union and the Admirals who were stationed around the Straits ready to claim Aegean Seas when it was needed. An inside source later reported "the situation was strange. It was tense, several officers and commisars ate their nails and paced nervously back and forth as they were pushing the capitalists into an unacceptable situation. Trotsky himself sat by a gigantic map and chainsmoked along with hist trusted generals, the room was filled with smoke and stench of vodka and sweat the air-condition system could not process. By his side, other than the numerous generals and politicians, were the Field Marshals who participated during Southern Thrust. They pointed around on his map telling him in detail on how they were to respond in case of a NATO refusal. Tukhachevsky wanted an aggressive large front assault in the Middle East and Greece. His plan was to seize Northern Africa, Suez Canal and Middle East and the naval bases by having a large front, spreading out the NATO forces on a large front, and striking where it was best suited. Kuznetsov wanted to utilize Iraq-esque strategies. Naval and Airborne infantrists was to attack the key locations [Aegean Isles, Cyprus and Suez] with mechanized forces spearheading deep behind enemy lines. Vasilevsky wanted a catious approach. It was only Rokossovsky who advised against a war saying it shouldn't be pursued, this angered Trotsky greatly. Trotsky himself was beside his red phone, demanding reports from every naval group, every air group and every battle group. He gave out orders and counter orders and in the bunker poorly ventilated they planned for a world war. It was strange, it was terrifying and it was inspiring".
But it wasn't just the Aegean Crisis that were the topic in the bunker. While the prying eyes of the world gazed the vacation isles with great anxiety, Trotsky went on the offensive on his hometurf. He hadn't forgotten his assassination attempt and the unrest caused by the Muslims in Turkestan and the Cossacks in the Caucasus. Envoys was sent out with a hand of reconciliation. The leading members of the Cossacks of the Caucasus was invited to negotiations for autonomy and possibly Cossack self-rule! In Turkestan similat invites were sent out, here on the other hand it was decided that practising religion should be allowed again and a new commissariat with members from Moscow and local religious leaders was to be created to administrate the religious and spiritual life of Turkestan. With high spirits the Cossacks and Muftis assembled in Don-Kuban and Turkestan. But there was no hand of reconciliation, there was only red terror. All of the delegates was summarily executed by NKVD forces. NKVD divisions then outright invaded the homeland of the Cossacks and Turkestans. The Red Terror continued for weeks until the area was "pacified" as the leaders of the NKVD divisions called it. Those who opposed the new regimes and rules were brutally surpressed, however it was here the NKVD made a stroke of genius, those who accepted the new situation was granted lower quoatas to fulfill, with better ways of living and higher rations. You could choose between terror or an improved way of living, they were offered vinegar or honey. Those who survived the ordeal and accepted the harsh terms became loyal followers. But it had significant effects upon Turkmen and Cossack society, all the tribes and clans was abolished being labeled as feudalistic and detrimental to socialist spirits and society. The region faced widespread forced industrialization and collectivization.
The crisis in the Aegean Sea reach a boiling point, and so do the crisis at home.
Back in Britain the economy had still not recovered, food was on rations and the government was unable to counter the recession. For Britain the real threat was indeed not the Soviet Union, but poverty. In a speech Trotsky had "ordered" all communists countries to take action, and as he witnessed the development in Britain he said the communists there "stepped up". The masses were worn out and exhausted and they didn't need much convicning, with Trotsky's honeyed words in their ears they took their anger to the streets led on by professional communists and stood behind the proliferating strikes. Violence was common, even gunshots and explosions were heard, it was starting to look like civil war. The British government feared an imminent coup - not without reason - and police and military men were ordered en masse out on the streets to crack down on the violent strikers. 80.000 reservists were called in and ordered to shoot if needed. Crisis was brewing at home and in the Aeageas Sea, but Uncle Sam came to the rescue and helped the British economy with a much needed vitamin injection. For now the military and police managed to restore order, and it was hoped that US economic aid would put their economy back on track.
How dare NATO defy us? This is nothing but aggression!
It was crisis in Trotsky's bunker. The Soviet Ministry for Greek Affairs issued them an ultimatum: Agree to our lease agreement for the Aegean Islands vacate all national and foreign forces, or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics will be forced to secure her national interests by the means she find necessary". In the days before the situation escalated further. Soviet bombers was training to specifically target the naval bases in the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal. This was followed up by targeted strikes toward Greek troop concentrations, and later on against the British and American fleets in the area. Of course they bended away just before they violated sovereign Greek or British territory - with the notable exception of the Aegean Islands. The Soviets argued their fleets and planes had to travel freely through this sea. This motion was denied by the Americans. The Soviets then upped their claim, along with their aggressive behaviour, and demanded all foreign troops and ships to vacate from the Aegean Islands and Sea. This was again rejected. It was then observed several squadrons of Soviet battlesquadrons who crossed the Straits, furthermore spy-planes took photos of Soviet troop movements. Meanwhile in Greece and USA the public opinion turned against the USSR, in Britain the majority sided with the Greeks, however a sizeble and militant part of the population supported the Soviet claims. It was seen as nothing but Soviet aggression, and phrases like "the only good communists is a dead one" sprung up. February the first the Soviet manuevers increased, with even excercises of naval and airborne landings in Turkey and their islands. The last ultimatum was issued, and on the 3rd of February the Greeks, assured by Roosevelt and Lord Halifax, gave their reply: "No!". Metaxas then gave the bold claim "yesterday Constantinoples. Today the Aegean Islands. Tomorrow the Mediterranean". Even Halifax became emboldened by the Greco-American dismissal of the Soviet Union and said "there have come a time to draw a line. As we did with Germany and the Hiterlist expansion, we will do so with Russia and yet another example of Hiterlist expansion in a red coating. We will draw a line here in the Aegean Sea, and we will draw a line in the sand from Syria to Jordan". The strategy of appeasment had failed, but the Lord was now seeing a surge in popularity as he opposed the Soviets.
Roosevelt also made an adress:
"I, with many of you, hoped that Russia would work out its own problems, and that its government would eventually become a peace-loving, popular government with a free ballot, which would not interfere with the integrity of its neighbors.
That hope is today either shattered or put away in storage against some better day. The Soviet Union, as everybody who has the courage to face the fact knows, is run by a dictatorship as absolute as any other dictatorship in the world. It has allied itself with other dictatorships, and it has invaded neighbors so infinitesimally small that it could do no conceivable possible harm to the Soviet Union, a neighbor which seeks only to live at peace as a democracy, and a liberal, forward-looking democracy at that". The answer was clear, NATO was prepared to stand up for itself. Days earlier the US and Royal Navies mobilized in the area, with the 1st Marine Division occupying the islands, the 2nd being ready on ship and several army divisions being stationed on Cyprus, Egypt and Greece.
The US Navy leave their bases in the Mediterranean. The Imperialists will not bully us for long..
"The alarm sounded. An officer opened up the door and ordered us out. This is what we trained for, we ran straight out. I geared up and took the pilot sea in my Il-4 long range naval bomber. We were given a short brief that basically told us to resume on what we have trained for. We were ordered to turn off our radios once we got to the clouds and then turn them back on as we posed to strike. When we took to the skies, crossed the Black Sea several Pe-3s joined us as long range escorts from Trotskygrad as the smaller fighters couldn't support us for prolonged raids. The situation was tense. All around us we saw several squadrons getting into attack formations to their designated targets. Before our arrival Hellcats intercepted us. This was a normal course of action, they tried to hail us, but we remained silent. We started with evasive manuevers and soon LaGG-3s arrived to the scene intercepting the Hellcats. The Hellcats stalked us, I could feel their crosshairs on my tail ready to squeeze the trigger. We then got visuals on the Anglo-American Battlefleet. We turned on our radios, our commander ordered us to go in for the attack. We dived down, the planes and ships warned us. We ignored them. They then fired warning shots. We continued. The entire sky was then filled barrages hindering our approac vector. We turned around and asked our commanders to open fire. But they refused. We were instead ordered to make another round, with the Hellcats right behind us. We continued on, but were then ordered to rereat. But it was too late a splint came right through the cockpit and impaled my co-pilot right through his abdomen. Poor Igor. He screamed like an animal, but I could do nothing. He then sulked and as we landed he was dead", is the story of a Captain Mikhail Sokolov during the end of the Aegean Crisis.
In his bunker Trotsky first ordered to carry out the attack, but he was hesistant. It was reported he took up his red phone, but then slammed it back. Picked it up, slammed it back again. As Trotsky nervously lighted his smoke Rokossovsky advised him to stand down. To only attack if met with no opposition. Planes circled around the isles, bombers headed toward their targets, paratroopers stood by in the door ready to jump and the battleships steamed toward the vacation retreats. Paratroopers and marines along with the Black Sea Fleet and Air Force was ordered to the islands, but as they faced opposition they turned around. Where the other Marshals and officers wanted to strike in the Aegean Sea, Rokossovsky advised Trotsky they were not ready for war right now, and when the war of world revolution was to be done, it had to be in a quick strike to the very Heart of the Empire; England, not some periphal islands. At the very last moment Trotsky decided to go with his trusted Marshal. War was averted, but the Soviet Union was humiliated. An agreement was made, the USSR was allowed to move their fleet through the Aegean Sea along with its Air Force, however it was to remain in Greek hands and NATO was to station troops there if they deemed it necessary. War was averted, but Trotsky gave his Marshals, Admirals and Generals one condition: Make plans to materialize the World Revolution this year. No exceptions, no excuses.
Bulgaria is a small comfort for our loss in the Aegean Sea.
Humiliated in the Aegean Islands the Soviets looked toward Bulgaria. While not being an official member of NATO it was clear they were an affiliated memberstate. The NKVD and Bulgarian communists had since the inception of the Bulgarian Republic turned parts of the population toward communism, however with the conclusion and humiliation of the Aegean Crisis the USSR turned to Bulgaria to solidify their grip upon the Black Sea. From Trotskygrad, the Black Sea and Romania arms, partisans and agents was smuggled into eastern Bulgaria read to rise up when needed.
The Yak will tame the Mustang.
Yakovlev Yak-3, or somply Yak-3, was a singleseated piston engined fighter. It was first introduced in 1944, but due to budget limits it hadn't entered mass production. It was scheduled from the 8th of February to enter mass production. It was well liked by the pilots for being easy to maintain and handle. It was made an excellent dogfighter for its high power to weight ratio, being light but still having a powerful weaponary and an engine. Compared to the P51D Mustang, the Yak had an empty weight of 2105kg, a loaded weight of 2629kg with a maximum speed of 655km/h, the Mustang had an empty weight of 3465kg and a loaded one of 4175kg and a maximum speed of 708km/h. Despite being easy to handle and easy to fly, it packed fewer guns than the Mustang, and it had initial problems with poor engine reliability, still its light weight made it a significant dogfighter. Time would tell if it would be the new master of the skies, or if the Spitfire and Mustang continued to dominate the air.
India is under control... for now.
Further to the east the Indo-Pakistani war ended. With the support from its motherland the British Raj managed to quell the Pakistani insurgency. With its north-eastern border secured the lords and princes of India again looked with concerned eyes to the Soviet presence in Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Sinkiang. If the Suez fell they would be cut off from Europe and the Commonwealth. Still it was lot of internal disputes as the population asked question why they were still to be ruled by British appointed governors, a British appointed government and various princes when they were in fact independent. But for now war of independence was a taboo namely due to the failed Pakistani independence war. But with the British Raj now an independent state and equal with the other Commonwealth nations, they could surely rise to become a regional power - especially with the secret Smiling Buddha project...
Look at those beasts!
The SU-100 tank destroyer was started on already in February 1944. It was meant to replace the SU-85 tank destroyer based on the T-34 chassis. However as the war ended the project was mostly laid dead as focus was put on rebuilding the nation and economy, but as the drums of war was again playing for full plans was made for the SU-100 to come in full production by the end of March 1945. The SU-100 was also upgraded to be based upon the T-44 chassis and fielded a fixed casemate 100mm gun, with an improved commander position giving him better situational awarness. It was planned for the SU-100 to become the main tank destroyer in the Mechanized Corps and the (medium) Armored Brigades.
The Soviets are found of Congresses.
From the 14th of February to the 25th the Soviets held another Congress for the communist party. Here some changes was made. For example the All-Union Communist Party was renamed to the Communist Party. Moreover it was decided the Congresses was now to be held every fifth year instead of yearly and the next five years plan was accepted. Trotsky also vowed that when he resigned or he was no more, the positions of foreign commissar, General Secretary of the Communist Party and Chairman of the Council of Ministers was to be given to three different individuals. All of them would be elected by both the Communist Party and the Soviets - with Trotsky having his recommendation - and following the end of Trotsky's reign the positions of General Secretary and Chairman had to have fixed term limits to prevent abuse of power. Now of course Trotsky didn't want to give up his powers himself. Other political reforms included the release of former imprisoned Bolsheviks, Mensheviks and (Left) Social-Revolutionaries - imprisoned by Lenin, Stalin or Trotsky. They were also allowed to return to the political life after a case of rehabilitation, reschooling and swearing fealty to the USSR. The Soviets was also given the power to elect the members to the legislative branch of the USSR, however under the supervision of political commissars and the local party chapter. There would also be free elections in the Communist Party on every Congress and the local chapters would elect their deputies freely, and they would elect the new members of the Politburo, the new political course etc. however there was purges among the membership of the party to reduce anti-Trotskyist sentiments, and the requirements for membership was being narrowed. So in an interesting move Trotsky both increased and loosened his grip upon Soviet society.
The Baltic Navy move out of the Baltics..
With the newest expansion of the Red Fleet the Soviet Admiralty and political leadership was keen on showing off their newfound powers as one of the mightiest, or so they believed, naval forces on the globe. The Arctic Fleet was ordered to commence on a fullscale naval manuever from Murmansk, along the Norwegian coast and all the way up to Iceland. The Black Sea Fleet was ordered to use its new rights to pass the Aegean Sea freely and manuever to the Gibraltar and all the way to the Azores. Meanwhile the Baltic Fleet would navigate through the Scandinavian Straits and the Kiel Canal and manuever in the English Channel and the Irish Sea. On the 17th of March these fleets left their bases and manuevered in their designated areas. This was a bold move, and a reckless one. The Americans and British was forced to react somehow to this major movement out of Soviet seas's and dangerously close to NATO waters. In the light of the Aegean Crisis many Soviet admirals and even politicians feared it would lead to outright escalation and war. But Trotsky and top politicians needed to reaffirm Soviet strength following their loss of face. So the warships steamed out, with orders to fire if necessary. But the British and Americans allowed the Soviets to operate freely, only observing them from a distance with smaller vessels and airplanes. This show of force was used for all it was worth in the USSR and communist nations aswell as parties. They proclaimed "this has shown the power of socialism and the weakness of the Imperialists". The USSR had made up for their loss of power projection in the Aegean Sea. In the long run, it was proven, they won by the deal with NATO by allowing free Soviet passage in the Aegean Sea.
Boom. And nope that isn't explosions, but the backblast from the 300mm rockets.
By the 20th of March the 300mm M-20-4 Katyusha systems was upgraded to be lighter and have spin stabilizer. Alltough it couldn't have as much tube rails as the M-31s, they could now fire with greater accuracy and length.
We will pluck them down from the skies.
The ZSU-57-44 was revolutionary for its time. In short it was two 57mm auto-cannons who was fielded on top of a T-44 chassis. This new self-propelled anti-aircraft gun was to work together with Mechanized Corps and (medium) Armored Brigades, providing both air-cover but also fire on armored vehicles and infantrists if needed, with a practical firing rate of 140 anti-piercing or fragmentation rounds per minute, with a maximum range up to 12km and a practical range of 4km against moving targets.
The Soviet economy is the best. At least that is what the propaganda says.
Despite what the propaganda would say, the living conditions was still behind compared to most western nations. However with the conclusion of the war Lenin's old prediction came through. He anticipated that the USSR would be the first of nations to enter into a state of socialism, and other industrialized powers would follow. From then on nations such as France and Germany would help out their socialist brothers. Under the de-jure pretex of the COMECON, and the de-facto of the Soviet dominance, industralized nations such as indeed France and Germany sent out their specialists to help out the newer industrialized nations such as the Soviet Union. The idea was for them to help both the workers, the planners and the bureaucrats to improve the conditions for the workers, let them specialize and improve production effeciency. Trotsky also gave several orders in conjuction with the new Five Years Plan. He didn't go deep into the specifics, but he gave superficial orders and expected the western experts and the Soviet planners to execute them. His orders were to "reform the economy and remove all traces of Stalinism and capitalism", "create Soviet style workshops in the state run farms and collectivize all remaining small scale farms" and his last order was to "upgrade our aging industries. Despite our many socialist reforms, too many of our factories and methods remain outdated and in a state of technological disadvantage. Finally we need to build several new factories in the steppes of Siberia, Turkestan and Caucasus and replace the feudal society with a socialist one". These orders were indeed very vague, but the specialists and planners didn't want to envoke the wrath of their master and sought to improve both the economy and the worker's conditions.
But despite the reforms of the Soviet economy, it had a long way to go. And even if the Soviets focused on domestic issues the world at large was preparing for the coming war.. It was 1945, a year that would forever change humankind and history.
Yup, so I said the USSR woul back down if they met opposition. And now the did, so they backed down. Again the terms of war if is the USSR are directly threatened by the Allies, and I will not spoil anything but that may happen soon enough.. And for now the plan is to have updates detailing every three months, or it may be more depending on what happen - or less...
NATO and Pact members meet in Geneva to secure the peace.
April 1945. The icefront between the two blocs that had frozen during the winter of 1945 withered away with the return of spring. In Genève leading diplomats of NATO and the Paris Pact met to settle their differences in a neutral country, at the behest of the United Nations and the iniative of Roosevelt. The first order of the day was to reaffirm the two "sphere of influence" between the blocs. In short this meant there would be no Soviet aggression in Europe, the Balkans, Greece or Asia, and NATO wouldn't intervene in the Middle East. This was, however, seen by the hardliners as both sides as a sell out. Hardline communists (most notably the NKVD) believed this was giving up on the promised world revolution that was according to them "imminent", and the hardliners in the liberal democracies believed this was an unforgivable act of bending the knees to the Red Menace, and yet another example of the "western betrayal". However it provided an uneasy peace and truce of some sorts. Moreover US and Swiss diplomats managed to persuade the Soviets to ratify the various protocols and conventions known as the Genève Treaty. The Americans believed this was a sign that the Soviet leadership was prepared to end their state of self-imposed isolation and take part in cooperating with the west peacefully. Others were more pessimistic claiming the "Soviets will simply wage fair wars with us". The last point was for the Pact and NATO to sign a treaty of non-aggression. Both blocs agreed to take their grievances to the UN and not wage aggressive wars against eachother. Roosevelt was largely, at least in the west, seen as the broker of final peace as only he managed to exert his authority (and backed up by an atomic crown) to put Trotsky into his place. Roosevelt also believed that together with the USSR they could establish a new world order, and ignored Churchill's warnings of "the Iron Blanket", and he gave the Soviets promises that he would end the embargo of the USSR if they again opened up their borders. The Soviets agreed to begin talks later that year to again let trade freely flow between their borders in place of "marching troops". If these promises were meant to be kept would never be known, but peace and cooperation was seemingly on the agenda for the two opposing blocs. Peace was celebrated all over NATO and Pact countries, however the hardline NKVD members were dissatisfied with the Genève talks..
Will the peace die with Roosevelt?
But as April started with great excitement and joy, it ended with tragedy. On the 12th of April during the afternoon Roosevelt returned home to Washington and said "I have a terrific headache". He then fell forward from his chair and was taken into his bedroom, at 3:35 p.m that day he died at the age of 63. An editorial wrote "Men will thank God on their knees a hundred years from now that Franklin D. Roosevelt was in the White House". Despite being met with shock and grief, his declining physical health had been kept a secret by the White House and Truman was soon sworn in as the 33rd President of the United States. Truman claimed Roosevelt's greatest legacy would be in his final weeks as he secured world peace. Back in Kremlin, however, the death of Roosevelt was met with hope. Trotsky was said to believe he was nothing but "a simple peasant" - a great irony that Trotsky who claimed to be the champion of the peasants and workers inhabitated such bourgeois sentiments. Anyway this and later events marked a sharp shift in US-Soviet relations, and to put a test to the new President Moscow openly sent troops toward Germany and even crossed the Elbe River to fortify the Danish and Dutch borders with Soviet and German troops.. During the early weeks of April their relations was improving after being on the brink of war, but the coming months would put a strain to their relations.
Once in a lifetime event indeed..
The first event to deteriorate the fragile truce was the US Black Chamber Operation. The nations of Brazil and Bolivia, who were among the last non-liberal-democratic nations of Latin America, broke into civil war. At first it apperead this was a popular uprising, one that even Trotsky first publically supported, but as the wars dragged on it was revealed this was in fact a clandenstine OSS op codenamed "Black Chamber" to topple the non-democratic regimes in Latin America and turn them into democracies molded in the vision of the Americans. Most of South America was turned into democracies peacefully under American pressure, however Bolivia and Brazil still clinged on to their authorian regimes. Truman responded by giving the OSS the greenlight to fund and train democratic rebels. This was, naturally, met with condemnation from the members of the Internationale who - in their hypocrisy - lashed out against American violation of national sovereignty and self-detirmination. Spanish and French officials even spoke up for intervention in the Americas, but it staid with the talks - for now.
The two liberal leaders fight eachother, and none of them want elections..
José Luis Tejada Sorzano was the current president of Bolivia and he came to power through a military coup. Despite being a member of the Liberal Party he didn't bring about liberal reforms and was instead turned into a puppet by the military. Public elections was banned, generals and senior officers was de-facto in charge and the legislative branch in the government was for all intents and purposes nullified. But armed by the Americans the democratic leaning members of the Liberal Party and Republicans started a civil war. The democrats quickly took control over northern Bolivia (calling themselves the Plurinationals) while the loyalists remained in power in southern Bolivia. Despite being well armed and trained, the Plurinationals was in a worse strategic position than the Loyalists and bitter fights embroiled the Andes and the Amazonas.
Brazil breaks down into war aswell.
The other nation to openly enter into a civil war was Brazil. Getúlio Dornelles Vargas was a populist president who came to power by coup in 1930 and from then turned Brazil into his personal dictatorship. However in 1934 he was elected as President by the Brazilian Congress, but in 1937 it turned out he could no longer retain his position as a democratic President and launched another coup to make himself, yet again, a dictator. However he had mostly ruled on the grace of the people, the military and most importantly the United States. With US support the military launched yet another coup in Brazil to topple Vargas and restore the principles of a liberal-democracy. Armando Sales was elected President by the new Brazilian Congress, however Vargas managed to escpe the coup and mobilize large parts of the population and the military to his side. With the people, government and military split in two Brazil was thrown into civil war, with neither side having much of an advantage over the other. The Brazilian Civil War would become the deadliest war in all of Latin American history.
Paraguay doesn't enter any war, but with their ideology their position in the Americas are insecure..
Another nation that was in a unique position was Paraguay. Rafael Franco, as with many other Latin American leaders, came to power through a coup. In 1936 he was made the President of Paraguay and alltough he was not at first an open communist he would launch several social reforms such as 8 hours workday, 48 hours workweek, free primary and secondary education and a general improvement in working conditions and central bank reforms. It was until 1943 that the popular president founded the Revolutionary Febrerista Party (PRF) a democratic-socialist party. Originally opposed to the Fourth International, they became in 1945 a member of the Internationale. Fearful of US regimechanges and pressure from left-wing elements the party's official ideologies was both Democratic Socialism and Marxism. Paraguay soon turned out to be the first communist nation in Latin America, and being the rare case of evolving slowly and peacefully instead of brutal coups, civil wars and popular uprisings.*
Soon.. but it may be too late.
Despite setbacks in early 1945, by the end of April it was reported the Atomic Bomb Project was well underway. The Soviets opened up their programme to the Germans under the agreement of a joint-nuclear program. By the start of April the Germans tested their first atomic bomb and was well underway to prouduce one atomic bomb to be used in a war by the end of 1945, with German help the Soviets was well underway to launch their first test-bomb by the end of 1945 despite the earlier setbacks. The Soviets and Germans held their test of the German produced atomic bomb in Siberia top secret - even from their own allies. They wanted their new nuclear capabilities to be a secret. Both to not escalate tensions in the world, and so they could use them in surprise attacks in a coming war. As both the Germans and the Soviets now knew the full potential of the atomic age they were fearful if the US had finished the developments of their own bomb.**
Spread communism*.
On May the 12th Truman adressed Congress in an 18 minute speech:
"I believe it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.
I believe that we must assist free peoples to work out their own destinies in their own way.
I believe that our help should be primarily through economic and financial aid which is essential to economic stability and orderly political processes."
This was in response to the rise of communism in Europe, Asia and Latin America. The doctrine of Roosevelt to peacefully cooperate with the USSR and gradually turn them into a responsible and democratic power and the appeasment policy of Lord Halifax was in one speech replaced by the Truman Doctrine. The United States took a much more aggressive stance, publically, against "all enemies of freedom" which included the authorian regimes in Latin America and the Communist ones in Europe. Truman claimed that because totalitarian regimes coerced free peoples, they automatically represented a threat to international peace and the national security of the United States. The stage was set. In January of 1945 the Internationale ratified the use of open interventions to back communist rebels and revolutions, Truman took now a similar stance. The Internationale sought to spread the revolution, while the United States saw it as their mission to contain its spread. As Eric Foner wrote "[the Doctrine] set a precedent for American assistance to anticommunist regimes throughout the world, no matter how undemocratic, and for the creation of a set of global military alliances directed against the Soviet Union." The peace established in Genève was withering away.
With wonderweapons we shall strike at the heart of the capitalist world.
With ground based multiple rocket launcher systems having seen rapid improvements in quality and quantity, the focus of the advancement of rocket systems was placed into the V-1 cruise missiles and Me 163 Komet rocket powered fighters that was on the drawing table as Germany fell to the Allied armies. The Komet's design was revolutionary and it could come up to speeds of 1000km/h. However due to its rocket engine it was in mny ways a flying bomb, still it had great potential. The V-1 flying bomb concept was also looked into, and the Soviets (who had built rocket sites in the Kola peninsula, in Kaliningrad, Crimea and Vladivostok) hoped to soon have these flying bombs in production so they could produce a cheap form of strategic bombing into NATO territory without risking any Soviet pilots. However this was merely seen as the first step to finalizing the German concept of the V-2 rocket and the Soviet R-1 rocket, and later on the R-2 missile that was hoped to reach the United States. The wet dream of Soviet rocket scientists was to conquer space and showcase the rapid Soviet scientific progress, the wet dream of the Kremlin was to outfit these rockets with nuclear weapons..
How dare they!
The 27th of May 1945. Fear and paranoia gripped the regime in Moscow. In London the parliament had openly debated a British intervention into Belgium - and approved it. Alltough it was unlikely for the British to invade the Low Countries, the House of Commons approved an intervention in Belgium if it was needed. Then on the 27th sleeper agents from the USSR, France, Belgium and Spain stationed in Britain reported that the Halifax Government was preparing an intervention into Iraq. This was a direct threat to the Soviet sphere of influence, and their oil supplies. The Red Army and the armed forces of the Pact was set to high alert and ordered to begin re-mobilization. Top Secret documents in Britain was then released to the British press. It was named "Operation Unthinkable". It showed that following the fall of Germany and the initial partition of Germany the British government planned to launch a massive operation to "impose the will of the Western Allies on the Soviets". This plan was, however, dropped as it was deemed "fanciful". But it nevertheless greatly soured the already strained relations between the west and the east. However Unthinkable also outlined a defensive plan, that was still to be used. It entailed that the British Empire should invade into Belgium to establish a bridgehead in Europe from there and in the Netherlands. In the following weeks the Americans would join into the fight and overwhelm the Pact. Trotsky and his generals was now convinced NATO would go to war, either over the pretex of re-establishing democracy in Belgium or to secure Iraq.
Peace did indeed die with Roosevelt.
And so the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics along with the other nations of the Internationale prepared for war. Trotsky even stated in an internal council "there is only one way to prevent their aggressive expansion. War!" The generals, admirals and marshals of the Soviet Union was ordered to ready the military and mobilize it and indeed do the unthinkable; to go to war against NATO. It remained to be seen if this crisis would actually manifest itself into a full scale war, or if it would fade away as the Aegean Crisis.
Workingman unrest in the Netherlands..
In the Netherlands the economic crisis took its toll. Relying upon American aid to barely survive the dire situation, the people took it to the streets. There they protested against the government and the social situation in what would become known as the June Strikes. At first it was reduced to better working conditions, wages, unionzation etc, however the neighbouring communist regimes decided this was their time to act. Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium and France sent around 1000 men each to escalate the Dutch situation. Powered by these revolutionaries and agitators the protests soon turned to demands of socialism, republicanism and removal from NATO and even violence. The Soviet Union then soon took interests and together with the Internationale they made a declaration to condemn the "Dutch Reactionaries". 10.000 hardline NKVD officers was also sent to the Netherlands to both remove political adversaries but also to spread chaos. However, despite their best attempts, the troubles was seen by most for what it really was; Soviet expansion. The people turned away from the unions and strikers and instead sided with the government - helped with a major government crackdown on the strikers.
The proletariat of England shall come to our aid, and we to theirs.
But the Soviets used the troubles in the Netherlands as a diversion. While those who scream the loudest get the most attention, it is those who operate in the shadows who might be the most dangerous. Loyalist NKVD officers was sent to Liverpool and Manchester to train and arm the radical socialists and communists there. The British workingclass was slowly turning against the Conservative government, especially in the industrial lands of northern England. Lord Halifax and his government refused to concede to the many strikers and the Labour Party. There would be no establishment of a National Health Service or a further expansion of a welfare state under the current government. Halifac declared this was socialism, and Britain would stand steadfast against socialism. This, however, only fueled the rage of the workingman and radicalied the Labour Party. Despite the majority of the population still supporting the Conservative Party and the liberal-democracy and constitutional monarchy, around a third of the population did not. In the case of an allout war with the British Empire Trotsky and the Soviets therefore made efforts to spread chaos and diversions into the English industrial heartland. In case of war and invasion the masses of Liverpool, Manchester and Lancarshire would take to arms and proclaim a provisional government.
NKVD once a loyal ally of Trotsky, now nothing.
During this time Trotsky carried out a housecleaning to secure his position at home. The NKVD was split between those who supported Trotsky, and those who believed he was either too lenient on the capitalists, that he hadn't lived up to his democratic promises and even those who wanted the return of Stalin. Those who were opposed to him would later be known as the "Hardliners", but were by Trotsky exposed as counter-revolutionaries. The Trotskyists presented evidence that the assassination attempt against Trotsky and the uprisings by the Turkestans and the Cossacks was in fact organized by the Hardliners. If those evidence was true or fabricated is up to debate. However this led to a swift response. Trotsky used his position to crackdown on his adversaries. The 10.000 Hardliners that was sent to the Netherlands was in fact being betrayed as "anonymous" sources tipped off the Dutch security forces, those who returned was put in jail and executed. Meanwhile back home the adversaries of Trotsky was either arrested or gunned down. The Hardliners was purged from Soviet society. The 19 NKVD divisions was also disbanded with loyal troops being offered to enroll in the Red Army instead, while outright Hardliners was executed and those who the government was uncertain about were sent to "rehabilitation". The NKVD itself was split into two different ministries. The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) and Ministry for State Security (MGB). This in turn split the power of the NKVD, not allowing too much power to fall into the hands of one institution, but it also led to more specialized and focused structures. Trotsky never forgot that the NKVD was the ones who were responsible for getting rid of the near allpowerful Stalin, and while he owed his gratitudes to them they were becoming a state within the state and a threat to Trotsky who had already made several concessions to the NKVD out of fear, now he saw his opportunity to get rid of a potential threat and Trotsky's position was secured once and for all.***
Portugal will see the light too..
On the 19th of June the MGB got its first mission: to spread socialism to all of Iberia. With Spanish intelligence officers and worker's militias they crossed into Portugal to set up insurgency base of operations and spread their propaganda. This was something the Spanish had dreamed of for long, to spread the revolution to their distant cousins, but it also held clear geo-political goals. Portugal was as for now not a part of NATO, however it was incined towards the democratic regimes of the west. If another World War unleashed its fires upon the world, then Portugal was a potential threat to Spain if American troops used it as a staging ground, moreover its colonies provided a direct threat to the uranium deposits in Belgian Congo. The export of the revolution to Portugal can be explained by both ideological motives and by motives of realpolitik.
But conflict spread to Norway..
But on the 19th of June the revolution finally spread to Norway. After years of careful investments, and a closecall election, the small and cold nation was in the midst of a revolution. A revolution of violence, whose gunshots might aswell echo to the rest of the world, dragging it down with them. Would the Truman Doctrine or the Internationale Clause of Norwegian-Intervention kick in?
*So I didn't pay much attention to South America until the wars started to kick off their. Turns out Paraguay is communist. As they have much support I reckon they have been so for a while. so narrative wise the PRF wasn't founded until 1943 and communist in 1945.
**Again I was to research it by the start of '45. Alas, game crash. That made me forget it so I didn't research it until 28th of April unfortunately, when I realized my mistake. Meanwhile Germany have researched the nuclear bomb tech themself. So narrative wise the German and Soviet nuclear programs are a joint effort, with the Red Army in the end controlling the German nuclear arsenal.
***So I disbanded the 19 NKVD/militia/MP divisions. It was really just so I could recruit better divisions by getting their guns, however I used it as oppurtunity to make up a powerstruggle between Trotsky and the NKVD.
So that was that update. Next update will focus on Norway under "communist revolutions" and we'll see if that revolution turn the world into another war or not! Exciting times.
Communist Revolutions: Norway in Red, Red and Red.
Norway is on the brink of civil war, dragging the world with it.
Norway 1945. Ever since the Soviet expansion into Finland the small nation on the periphery of Europe and world politics wound up at the center of geo-politics and the tug of war between the West and the East. Norway was in a peculiar position, being the only nation being liberated from the National Socialist occupation by the Red Army who did not fall for Communism and the subversive methods of the NKVD. Despite the majority of Norwegian reservists fleeing to Sweden, only to be trained by the Swedish communists, to return to the liberation of Norway and the Finno-Soviet Army liberating Norway, the democratic principles stood tall against the advancing Red Army and NKVD. Still the many years of Soviet investments in Norwegian revolutionaries flourished in 1945. The nation become deeply divided with a social-democratic government out of touch with the radicalized population and their demands, instead looking to the west for support and protection. It was feared the masses would overthrow the constitutional monarchy before the results of the 1945 election ticked in. Meanwhile the police and military had issues getting new recruits, as the communists advocated a "military strike" by escaping conscription and refusing to abide to the dictations of the government, instead they were taken up by - NKVD led - partisan groups who saw it as their sacred duty to end the political crisis (they had caused) in Norway and rebuild the war-torn country.
Economic crisis fueled by Soviet aggression.
But how did the once peaceful and stable country find itself in the middle of an existential crisis? To answer that one can look back to the inter-war radical socialist movements (among them the ruling Labor Party) and the increasing Soviet pressure from May 1940 and onwards, but that is a topic for another day. The most pressing issue is the economic crisis in Norway following the embargo of the Internationale. Being cut off from their traditional markets the northern country had to rely upon the British economy to keep itself afloat. However there was one issue. Britain too was suffering and with their economic recession who started in January and developed into a financial crisis led to a more introverted British economy. Tariffs and a general decline in industry greatly reduced Anglo-Norwegian trade relations. Without going too much into detail the Norwegian industry broke down without its natural trade partners and unemployment rose. With the decline in employment there was a surge in forced auctions and economic crisis in the urban centers, but even the rural areas. It was then left wing Labor politicians and outright communists founded the "Folkets Krisehjelp" - the Peoples Emergency Relief. Their goal was noble to give relief to those who suffered under the crisis, however conservative and democratic circles elements was skeptical especially as it openly criticized the social-democratic government, calling the auctions and inability to secure radical labor reforms as a "kowtow to commercial and imperialist interests". Soon everyone from the government, to the bourgeoise and even Americans and British was blamed for the crisis. It was said it was the British and American embargo of the Soviet Union that led the country into crisis and the heavy British military presence in Norway soon became scapegoats along with the ruling government.
The election is well underway. "Build the country. Secure the victory. The Norwegian Labor Party".
Then on the 8th of March a powerstruggle ended internally in the Labor Party that would send shockwaves far and wide in Norway. History repeated itself. As after the October Revolution and the Great War the Labor Party suffered from internal struggles. The leftwing of the party increasingly attacked the ruling government, and after a special session it was decided by the increasingly radical parliamentary group and the executive committe of the Norwegian Labor Party (DNA) that Johan Nygaardsvold had "betrayed socialist principles" and was unseated. In his stead the former leader of the Norwegian Communist Party (NKP) Sverre Størstad was elected as prime-minister. This was for many reasons unheard of and quite unique, but the King accepted the new government after great deliberation. In the end Størstad had been ousted from the NKP for being "too moderate" and would later reunite with the DNA. However he had a dream of uniting both the DNA and the NKP into a big tent socialist left party. The following days he reassembled his new government and Olav Scheflo, a former NKP member and supporter of Trotsky during his stay in Norway, was elected as the Minister of Finances. With him many other right-leaning NKP and left-leaning DNA politicians entered the government, with them an internal purge took place in the DNA with the new party platform for the election in October reeking of radical socialism, as opposed to the moderate social-democratic platform by Nygaardsvold.
The Paris Pact mobilize to "give humanitarian aid".
Naturally this led to great concerns from the right and center of Norwegian politics. The Conservatives, Christian Democrats and the Farmer's Party issued a formal protest to the President of the Parliament claiming them to be a "threat against stability to the peace at home and abroad (...) with the unseating of the democratically elected Nygaardsvold government being nothing but a left-wing coup d'etat" and demanded a motion of non-confidence. But it was shot down. Despite the DNA being split in the end of the day they decided to stand with their own party, and the Social Liberals supported the current government citing their loyalty to the democratic process and reminded the involved parties that a new election was not faraway. The protestors didn't stop there, however, as they took the protests to the King saying that as the sovereign he had to reinstate order and unseat the current government. But the King refused repeating his famous words "I am also King of the communists". Both the far left and the far right saw this as attempted coups by both sides. Civil disorder broke out with the various circulations taking clear stances. The situation only worsened when the British Army stationed in Norway offered their help to restore order. The radical government refused, and in secrecy they turned east. In a potential civil war they sought to the Soviet Union and Sweden to restore order. In secrecy the 1st Baltic Front under Marshal Leonid Govorov prepared to strike into eastern Norway, securing the capital and industrial heartland of the nation. All they waited for was one word: "Attack".
The radicals inflame the masses.
On the 1st of May, Labor Day, the prime minister announced that the current government would enact major social reforms. They were not content with "mere concessions to the capitalist liberals" but aimed for a full scale nationalization of the industries, full employment and going as far as severing ties with NATO. This obviously created lots of concern within the DNA, but the moderates was quiet. It was then in June of 1945 that the Størstad Government announced they would sever ties with NATO and that the DNA would join the Fourth International. This would end the threat of a Soviet invasion by terminating the source of the problem - "capitalist imperialism" - and much needed aid from the COMECON would be provided. As it were Truman halted the relief efforts of the Marshall Plan to Norway, becoming concerned with the Socialist-Communist government. Certainly this was in the end too much to bear for the moderate Labour Party members. Moderates and social-democrats parted from the DNA and reformed the Norwegian Socialdemocratic Labor Party (NSA). With the secession of the NSA the Størstad government was left powerless and broken. The motion of non-confidence was passed with the NSA, Social Liberals, Farmer's Party and Conservatives forming a "Broad Coalition" until the election results ticked in.
The Soviets only want peace and stability in Europe?
This in turn did nothing but to further radicalize the DNA. the DNA and NKP merged and by the suggestion from Moscow should take the name of "Norwegian Communist Labor Party" (NKAP). The leaders of the NKP, backed up by MGB agents, quickly took control of the new NKAP and purges was well underway, however as a concession to both the former DNA and the mighty LO (main body of the many unions) Konrad Nordahl the head of the LO was elected General Secretary of the new party. The unions was now under control of the NKAP. It was appereant by the major players of the NKAP that a worker's revolution (or MGB coup by the right side) was imminent. They made contact with the Soviet Union and revealed that within the month the revolution would overthrow ruling government. The Red Army mobilized and preapred their men for an invasion of Norway in case the revolution went south and it resulted in a civil war. The 1st Baltic Front would invade in the south and take possession of the Norwegian capital to "aid the revolution". However the brunt of the fighting was expected to take place in the mountainous parts of northern Norway. It was here the vital Narvik port was with the majority of the British forces in Norway protecting it. The port of Kirkenes was also there, a port that would in case of war be the staging ground of a NATO invasion into the USSR. A total of 16 British infantry divisions and 6 armored divisions was stationed in the north. In the harsh terrain the fighting would be brutal.
From the newspaper amply named "the Class Struggle" declares "On the Brink of Revolution".
The unions mobilized. The unions declared that the fall of the Størstad Government was a borgouise coup led on by the United States and the United Kingdom. A general strike was called, all of Norway was paralyzed. The police was deployed to disperse of the strikers, but was beaten back militia units trained by the MGB and communists. The communist partisan units then moved on and took control of the major cities of Narvik and Trondheim. With northern and middle Norway haven fallen to revolutionaries the British Army in Norway again only waited for the go-ahead confirmation to strike. But the government turned it down, not wanting an escalation. Along with the Norwegian Army the British had to be confined in their barracks.
Norwegian "Police Reservists", trained in Sweden, are sent to restore order.
In Oslo, the capital, professional communists and agents from the Internationale led on the striking NKAP and LO members to seize power. It was declared the workers had to take matters into their own hands. And they did. The workers marched onward to the various departments and the parliament. Outright street brawls occured between the strikers and bystanders who afterall were opposed to communism and violent coups. The local police came to the scene and attacked the demonstrators, restoring order. However it did not last long. Soon the communist partisans came to the scene armed to the teeth. To the shock of the politicians and the bystanders shots rang through the streets of Oslo and the halls of the parliament and government departments. Soon the red flag waved on top of the parliament, and the angry mob turned down to march on the castle. The Royal Guards of the Army was deployed to the castle to escort the royal family, but the Royal Guards at large was confined to their barracks within and outside of Oslo. This infantry force could have restored order, but in the confusion and the coup they were ordered to stay put - mostly due to getting fake orders produced by the MGB and NKAP members taking control of the police stations. The few Royal Guards outside of the castle held back by the angry mob and partisans with machine gun fire. Soon the Police Reservists, in reality being soldiers trained in Sweden for the liberation of Norway, rushed to reinforce the Royal Guards. The Royal Guards was relieved, finally they could retake the city. But they were betrayed.
The Norwegians have been liberated..
The Police Reservists disarmed the Royal Guards, in fact being die-hard communists. The Police Reservists soon took control over all of Norway, and the 1st Baltic Front was invited to cross the border into southern Norway. The Norwegian Home Guard and Army was ordered to stand down and the 20th Mechanized Corps established full control over the capital, with a bystander noting "again a foreign power take control and parade through the main street. Hitler have been replaced by Trotsky" while the Rifle Divisions pacified the countryside. NATO contemplated to wether or not treat this as an invasion. But they were content with issuing protests. The British Army in Norway evacuated and the Royal Family was allowed to flee to Britain. The revolution in Norway and the following Soviet invasion almost led to a direct confrontation, but war was avoided on the 11th hour. Truman persuaded Lord Halifax that Norway was a lost cause, and not worth dying over. And so were the "Unified Worker's Council State of Norway" born ("Samlede Arbeider Rådenes Stat", shortened to simply Soviet State of Norway). Adam Egede-Nissen was elected as the first President, being the chairman of the former NKP. Henry Wilhelm Kristiansen, being the editor of the influential Klassekampen and an old time communist, was made the new Premier of Norway. The other positions of the government was filled by former NKP members and radical Labor Party members (who had to been a member of the NKP at least once) and Trotskyists. The NKAP was in power, however the real power laid in the hands of the old NKP. Yet another country fell to communism, but the western powers could take no more. The storm had been brewing for a while, now the gathering clouds was all over Europe, and in turn the world..
War! Early in the morning of the 3rd of July 1945 a US-British carrier battlegroup launched their air group. Hundreds of ariplanes headed toward the coast and bombarded their enemy's coastal defenses. The small navy present to challenge the Anglo-American fleet was nearly evaporated while still in being. After the initial shock with hundreds of pounds worth of ordnance, hundreds of strategic bombers came in over the horizon dropping their deadly loads over the major urban and industrial centers and railroad hubs. Meanwhile the CAGs rotated and kept up the pressure. As the sun rose a new dawn rose over the country - and the continent. A dawn of freedom and democracy; the dawn of war. US Marine and Army divisions, supported by Royal Marines and Canadian Army units, fell upon the northern beaches. Despite fierce resistance on the beach-heads, the defenders were no match for the seasoned US and British veterans. However the greatest toll came in the form of the sheer material advantage the Allied forces possessed. Hundreds of planes pummeled the defending forces, the troops engaged in direct contact and the reserve forces alike. Meanwhile with the Liberty Ships and other landingcrafts, destroyers, cruisers and massive battleships escorted these ships as they unloaded the troops upon the beaches and their unsuspecting enemy. From these ships rockets and massive cannons opened up the very earth with massive force. Still the invasion came elsewhere aswell. To the east Anglo-Dutch troops crossed in by land, spearheaded by elite SAS and Gurkha troopers. The war had truly come.
Going to war over oil, intolerable!
But why Venezuela? The American and British economies came under major stress as their oil supplies were getting cut short. Long story short, they too wanted to secure their oil supplies. Like the Soviets their casus-belli was not officially to keep the oil-pipes open. As with most of Sothern America democracy and populism was on the rise in Venezuela. However unlike most nations, such as Peru, this transition had never taken place. Instead the population turned toward Brazil and Bolivia for outright violent takeover and civil war. But José Eleazar López Contreras and his regime wasn't interested in empowering the people. Instead the general ordered his troops to fire upon his own population and eliminate the opposition at any cost. The American ambassador demaned the cessation of violence - and the current regime. Contreras, well he countered. Instead he tightened control over his own country and threatened to embargo the United States, effectively cutting them off from the oil rich nation. This was out of the question for the Americans and the British alike. Without taking it to the United Nations the two countries engaged in a special relationship invaded the country. Officially it was to protect the human rights of the population, and to put an end to the regime that supplied that nazi and fascists regimes of Europe with oil. The Soviets and French took it to the UN vehemently protesting against "the violation of rules of war" and "sovereignty of nations". However who were they to protest? Afterall they had subjucated most of the Middle East under even thinner pretexes. Suffice to say the temperature of the Cold War reached an all new low - or a new high, risking becoming hot.
The UK are getting what they deserve..
And the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics were ready for things to.. getting hot. On the 4th of August the Kremlin was in a state of high alert. Top government officials was evacuated to an undisclosed location. While the top government and military officials moved out, all military servicemen got their leave's withdrawn and was ordered to meet up with their units. The military itself was ordered to finalize mobilizations and prepare to execute Operation Zapad. The Soviet command was growing anxious of the US invasion of Venezuela. However the command was divided. Some believed this was an obvious manifistation that NATO was prepared to pursue aggressive military means to achieve their goals. Today it was Venezuela and South America, tommorow it was Belgium and Europe or Iraq and Asia. But the other half saw their moment. "When the western imperialists are preoccupied on the other half of the globe, we will strike". By the en of the day it all was up to Trotsky. Some encouraged him to strike now, and strike hard while the others encouraged him to wait for the NATO forces to strike and fend them off in Europe. Whatever Trotsky and his close associates would chose, the world would pay dearly.
South America is still a mess.
A little over four months and the small nation of Bolivia came out of their bloody civil war. Despite massive funding by the United States, it was the security forces of Sorzano who prevailed. With his victory and consolidation of power society of Bolivia saw an even more despotic and autocratic turn. However in Brazil the war was raging on. The Second Republic (democrats) had the upperhand over Vargas Brazil (United States of Brazil, the totalitarian regime), however despite several offensives they'd failed in their quest to take on Rio Di Janeiro. The Republic based in Santos prepared for a prolonged war of trench warfare. Casualties was tall on both sides numbering over 200.000 military casualties on both sides, and nothing indicated the war would end soon. But the suffering of Latin America wasn't confined to Bolivia and Brazil. A month and a half into the invasion the Americans lost around 33.000 military casualties, the British 3.000 and the Venezuelans a staggering amount 172.000 casualties. Soviet observers were frightened. They noted that during Southern Thrust the Red Army, Air Force and Fleet showed off their might as they succumbed nation after nation. Now it was the Anglo-Americans turn. Their evolution in naval warfare (most disturbing their use of carrier battlegroups) was immense, and their mastery of amphibious assaults was unrivaled. Still the US invasion halted further inland in the Venezuelan jungles and mountains. Tukhachevsky was said to nearly beg Trotsky on his knees that this was the moment for the Red Army to fullfill its destiny. With the western powers engaged in Venezuela this were the time for the Red Army to lead the torch that would engulf the continent in the fires of revolution.
Tanks, carriers and nukes - we will withstand them all.
The Soviets was close to war. But in the end Trotsky and the less Marshals advised against war. Soviet and Internationale agents within the British MI5 and MI6 snapped up an American secret document called "Plan Totality". It was a nuclear plan established by General Eisenhower in August 1945 on the direction of President Harry S. Truman. The plan envisioned a nuclear attack into the heart of the Soviet Union with 20 to 30 nuclear bombs. 20 Soviet cities would be obliterated in a first strike: Moscow, Gorky, Kuybyshev, Sverdlovsk, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Saratov, Kazan, Leningrad, Baku, Tashkent, Chelyabinsk, Nizhny Tagil, Magnitogorsk, Novokuznetsk, Tbilisi, Perm, Grozny, Irkutsk, and Yaroslavl. Trotsky and the Soviet High Command having witnessed the destructive forces of nuclear weapons firsthand (with the German test in Siberia) were naturally in a state of shock. Such a strike against the Soviet Union would lead to the devastation of the entire Union. Trotsky remarked "we can't build a socialist paradise with nothing but sticks and stones". However Rokossovsky, still harboring great respect and admiration of the Soviet leader, weighed in his opinion. He argued the US couldn't possibly have that many nuclear devices, and even if they did they didn't have the airforce to carry out such deep operations into the Soviet Union. He concluded that if USA indeed had so many nukes, which he doubted, they needed to gain total control of the airspace and carry out a surprise attack. As such their safest card would be in an aggressive first strike. The longer the USSR waited, the more time the Americans got to both build up their nuclear stockpiles and launch a surprise attack. Instead he advocated the opposite: Carry out a swift conquest of the NATO airbases in the Mediterranean, and greenlight Operation Zapad to take out the Netherlands and British Isles before NATO can muster a response and the Americans launch their doomsday devices.
The British are coming straight at us!
While the Red Army, Red Fleet and Red Airforce finished their preperations for Operation Zapad and Trotsky reeled between going to war or not, the British and Americans stationed troops in the Mediterranean. Meanwhile their was open debates in the United Kingdom to reclaim Iraq, both in the name of the British Empire and the Iraqi people. Now their eyes turned to Iran. The Soviets looked at all of this with worried eyes. They already knew the British were keen, to say it at the least, to liberate Belgium. Now they were building up in the Middle East and Mediterranean. For the Soviet High Command it was all too obvious. After the many Western-Allied humiliations during Southern Thrust, they had finally regained their confidence following their victory in the Aegean Crisis and now the Anglo-American intervention in Venezuela. Then on the 18th of August the British officially terminated all of their friendship treaties (most of them negotiated by the now late Roosevelt) establishing peace and prosperity between the two realms. Meanwhile the terms of the Aegean and Genève treaties was terminated; the Black Sea Fleet was no longer allowed to pass through the Aegean Sea. This further fueled Soviet paranoia. The British Empire was clearly out to get them, supported by American atomic weapons. But the real intent of these events we may never know. If the British truly were on the path of war or if they were flexing their muscles or indeed simply reinforcing their interests incase of Soviet aggression we may never know. Fueled by ideology and paranoia the Soviets interpreted the worst of the situation, untold suffering ensued.
Bulgaria will be liberated from NATO aggression.
In the middle of this looming crisis revolution happened in Bulgaria. Or rather a coup with mixed results. The Bulgarian communists failed in their attempt to turn all of Bulgaria over to the communist cause and were put down in the capital. However supported by Internationale Brigades and MGB agents eastern-most Bulgaria fell to communists. As per usual a red terror followed in a Leninist fashion and most of eastern Bulgaria was firm believers of Giorgi Dimitrov and his BCP. Those who opposed him was dead or fled to Greece or western Bulgaria. Those who remained were diehard believers or fearful of red reprisals. The Socialist Republic of Bulgria, only having one infantry division (where the majority were foreign volunteers and MGB/NKVD veterans) turned toward the Internationale. As they promised the Soviet Union and the communist nations of the Balkans intervened on behalf of the Socialist Republic. Soon thereafter in the UN they no longer recognized the democratic Bulgaria as the legitimate government, with the rest of the UN not recognizing Socialist Bulgaria. Moreover the Bulgarian Socialist Republic was admitted into the Paris Pact, stating that the democratic republic of Bulgaria was a reactionary and fascist regime that openly attacked the true Bulgarian government. The Paris Pact intervened, and soon western Bulgaria was admitted into NATO.
And so the (third) War to end all war have started.
15:00, London, 18:00 Moscow, 22nd of August 1945. Trotsky held a speech in Leningrad. "My dear fellow citizens, workers and comrades of Leningrades. For months the imperialists have attempted to undermine the new socialist order of Europe and the peaceful coexistence of the world. Here in the city of our great Lenin, we can again look toward full emancipation and liberation of the workers of the world. Here in the city of Peter the Great we once more look toward the WEST. The struggle ahead, in this new atomic age, will be long and hard. It will be difficult. But we will hold out, we will prevail over the capitalists and imperialists as we prevailed over the fascists". The elderly man then stepped down and was hurried away. However in his speech he mentioned West, in Russian Zapad. And that was the codeword for Operation Zapad to be launched.
On the 22nd of August 1945 the Soviet Union began their offensive. The Third World War began, just short of two years after the Second World War. The world would never be the same.
That was that! The last Cold War update. It was a tiny bit shorter than our cold war, and with a very different end result. The net updates will take on the coming war!
Operation Zapad, meaning Operation West, had been planned for years, prepared for months, with the formations in question being mobilized and exercised for one sole purpose: invasion. In many ways it mirrored Operation Icebreaker, there was solid intelligence (and rabid paranoia) that suggested a coming war with the western powers. The invasion of the west would total around 2.7 million ground combat troops, with another 253,900 troops in reserves. Furthermore counting warships alone (in the west, excluding the Far Eastern fleets) 152,530 sailors would partcipate in Zapad, with an addition of 237,500 airmen and women (give or take). That put Operation Zapad up to a total number of 3,342,390 combat troops. Numbers speaks for itself, Operation Zapad was a huge undertaking, and that exclude the numbers of the other Pact nations. But such an operation was, obviously, a massive strain to just comprehend and especially to plan and oversee. The gigantic operation was thusly split into several sub-operations, each with their own local operations and goals. These were Neptune, Mercury, Mars and Uranus.
Now the powderkeg will be no more..
The first one was Operation: Neptune. It would combine the operations of the 2nd Ukranian Front (under the seasoned far east veteran Popov) and the Maritime Group of Forces, having the newly established naval infantry brigades, being led by General Nikolai Berzarin - a general who was saved in the nick of time during the Great Purge by Stalin. Under the 2nd Ukranian Front a total of 4 motorized rifle divisions, 2 tank brigades (one heavy and one light) was ro rush ahead from eastern Bulgaria and into Sofia. They were supported by 6 infantry divisions and 1 cavarly division. After the quick, according to plan, fall of Bulgaria this section of the Front would drive to the south, securing Macedonia and falling into Greece from the north. From there they would assist the remainder of their Front as they pushed into Greece from the province of Trotskygrad. The Maritime Group of Forces was initially planned to be the vanguard of the invasion of England, however due to their relative late mobilization they were instead sent to the Mediterranean. From Sicily three of these brigades would storm the beaches of Malta and secure the vital NATO seabase there. The 3 other brigades were supposed to make a visit to the beaches of the Aegean Isles, finally settling the dispute between Greece and the Soviet Union. If these operations were successful the Maritime Forces would land in Greece or other NATO naval bases, or be sent to where they were needed the most.
309,900 ground troops participated in Neptune.
Trotsky is in desperate need of Danish-pastry.
The small nation of Denmark got a massive force along their German border. Two Fronts was sent to invade the small Scandinavian nation and pacify it during Operation Mercury. The artillery officer and hero of the Soviet Union, Marshal Leonid Govorov led the 1st Baltic Front, from there they would pacify Jutland and take Aarhus to prevent a NATO buildup in Jutland. While the Danish and NATO knew of and prepared for the massive Pact buildup in southern Jutland, the real gamechanger was the inclusion of Norway into the Pact. 2nd Baltic Front under Marshal Vlasov was now sent from the north of Norway to the south of Sweden, from there the total of 24 divisions was meant to cross Kattegat and the Baltic seas and cut off the main Danish island of Sjælland. Such a force might seem excessive. But Denmark was indeed vital to the Soviet war effort. With brute force and overwhelming power the Soviets hoped to take out Denmark in one swift blow before NATO could respond. If Denmark remained under NATO control then the Baltic would not be under Pact dominance, in turn threatening not only the Baltic States but the industrial and ideological center of Leningrad. Moreover if US and Commonwealth troops were allowed to amass in Denmark it could pose a major threat to the entire western Front, by assaulting the Pact in the flank and cutting them off. Once Denmark was taken the divisions would be put on garrison duties, and/or sent to areas who needed reinforcements.
These two Fronts totalled some 589,000 ground troops. Over 14% of the Danish population!
Hopefully we won't encounter any of these new bicycle units...
However one of the biggest operations would be Operation Mars. A total of 3 Fronts was tasked with bringing down the last of the Low Countries, again to prevent a NATO buildup and attack in the flanks.
...however only Japan got bicylces these days.
The Caucasian Front, mostly tasked with mountaineers, was to assault from the north and then secure the northern banks of the Waal river. Meanwhile from the south, crossing in from Belgium, the 3rd Ukranian Front under Timoshenko would force his way to the Waal, secure the southern bank and from there smash his way toward Amsterdam. As the Dutch and British forces would be caught inbetween the north and south, the main mechanized force of the 1st Ukranian Front under Marshal Aleksandr Vasilevsky was to attack from the east and toward the sea. The Soviet plan was brutal and effecient. Pure force and numbers was to break the defenders at an early date, utilizing broad frontlines, for the infantrists to bind up the defending forces (and counterattacking mobile units, while the armored and mechanized units would find weakpoints, exploiting them, rushing through the flat terrain and conducting deep operations. The Netherlands was deemed to fall within a week, if it did not the Soviet High Command expected the low country to get large numbers of reinforcements and be turned into a massive meatgrinder.
Mars absorbed 834,100 ground troops, a little under 10% of the Dutch population. After the fall of the Netherlands the Caucasian Front was designed to reinforce Operation Neptune as the 2nd Ukranian Front was expected to be bogged down in the mountains of Greece. The two other Fronts was earmarked to either open up a new front in Britain, assist in Operation Uranus or launch offensives into northern Africa.
Der Führer is jealous - from the grave of course. (From Argentina, as Senor Hitler).
Operation Uranus was the jewel and the vital part of Zapad. A total of 965,500 combat ground troops was projected to land in southern England. The Soviet High Command, exposing their cynicism, projected that at least 30% would fall by the cannons and torpedos of the Royal Navy. There had initially been disagreements between the Marshals of Tukhachevsky and Rokossovsky on how to best invade England. Both agreed upon a massive strike force that would land and overwhelm England before the Royal Navy and the United States had any chance to react. However their methodology differed. Rokossovsky favored a concentrated attack, such as the Allies did in Japan, and from there punch out in a major blow with the rest of the invading army arriving into the captured harbor. Tukhachevsky, on the other hand, enviosioned a broad operation, such as in the Netherlands, with attack coming to threaten not one, but all of the main ports in southern England. The philosophy was that with such a broad attack the navies of NATO would have a much harder time to intercept the invading armies, as if they managed to take out of one the landings, four others remained. Furthermore such a broad invasion would stretch out the defending forces, giving the invading force a chance to find exploits and conduct Deep Operations. Zapad as a whole was in short Tukhachevsky ultimate dream to fulfill Deep Operations in a grand practical scale, and not just as theories.
What is interesting to note is that the Soviet High Command actually expected a full on American nuclear bombing of France, that was expected to claim millions of lives and knock the French out of the war entirley. However they took heights for this, and devised a plan that was named "Seven Days to the River Thames". When France was turned to ashes, they would rely on knocking out Britain in one blow, before the Americans could muster a counterattack and use Britain to bomb the rest of Europe. When the Thames was reached, the Soviet planners had quite optimistic plans to reach northern England in 9 days (7+2) and then all of Britain in 14 days. They also relied upon Trotsky's theories of the Permament Revolution, and a socialist revolution and mass uprising was a vital aspect of Operation Uranus and Operation Zapad.
Hopefully the airborne attacks this time around do not get to 100% casualties.
The first wave to cross the English Channel would not come from the sea, but from the air. With the surprise massive air offensive, which the Soviets based their plan on the British thinking it was just another show of force, the newly established Airborne Divisions was to drop in from the skies and hold on to key locations to facilitate for the naval invasion and prevent counterattacks. It was a daring operation, however. During Operation Icebreaker the Soviet airborne brigades performed well, managing to sow chaos and encircle several German divisions. However it was all in vain as the airborne brigades was.. wiped out. This however was only seen as a testimony to the paratroopers elite status and willingness to sacrifice themself for the motherland. Only the best of the best (at least that is what the propaganda said) was selected as part of these airborne troops, and in fact smaller units saw great success in their operations during Southern Thrust. Still it was a great responsibility and sense of peril that rested upon these brave men. They were to fly over the channel before the naval crafts even departed from their ports. Their survival depended exclusively on not falling on top of heavy British forces and for the seaborne invasion forces to actually depart, and to then again actually land and lastly to finally link up with the airborne forces. The Air-Assault was named Operation Miranda.
We will liberate the Cornish...
The 1st Belarus Front under Marshal Kuznetsov was to invade from Brittany and land into Cornwall in what was called Operation Ariel. From there they would cut off Plymouth that was reported to be the main port of British and NATO reinforcement (coming in from Venezuela, the Pacific, British Empire etc) and to post a threat to Wales and bypass the Thames from the west, and then make a west-to-east thrust north of the river toward London. The 3 Mot. Rifle Divisions would function as firebrigades, rapidly moving to the areas that needed reinforcements in order to break through or to not break apart. The 2 mechanized corps would be the main offensive formations, while the light tank brigade was to find the exploits and the heavy tank brigade to support the infantrists who was to bind up enemy troops.
...and East-Anglia?
The 3rd Belorussian Front would invade north-east of London. With the 1st BF posing a threat to London from the west, the 3rd BF would bypass the Thames as a whole and threaten the eastern ports, Norwhich, byt most importantly London. In short they were to encircle London from the north and prevent British reinforcements by establishing itself south of the Great Ouse river. The invasion was called Operation Umbria.
1066 all over again.
But it was Konstantin Rokossovsky who would command the broadest front in southern England with his 2nd Belorussian Front. In short three seperate battlegroups would land inbetween Portsmouth and Dover (10 divisions) and two other groups to the west of Portsmouth and south of Bristol From there the plan was advance to the north toward the Thames and bind up the majority of the British forces, waiting for the 1st BF and 3rd BF would advance toward London, with the 2nd BF would attack head on, trying to find gaps over the Thames to can in London. London, being a metropolis, wasn't supposed to be attacked until it was completely surrounded. The 2nd BFs offensive was dubbed Operation Titania.
The might of socialism!
In reserves there was a cavalry force under Marshal Kulik, along with the 3rd Baltic Front and the 4th Ukranian Front. The first was meant to reinfroce losses and conduct occupation duties. The two latter Fronts was under mobilization, to either conduct occupation duties or be in reserve until a full buildup. The Finnish People's Army was sent to the Kola Peninsula and Norway to battle an eventual British Intervention.
The skies are red.
A major air offensive was planned that would take control of the skies. Most essentially was a major offensive over the English Channel, that would following the - planned - success of Uranus see the majority of the airforce being transformed toward the English mainlaind and support the forces in Britain. However there was a major difference between the Soviet High Command on how to conduct the air offensive. Most of the generals wanted a total and crippling bombing campaign of Britian, however Trotsky and the dogmatic politicians believed they could not win the working class over to their side if they killed them en-masse. And so the generals was ordered to not bomb the cities itself, but instead focusing on bombing railroads and ships in being.
The Red Sea have expanded vastly recently..
The Red Fleet would be concentrated on patrolling the seas around the British Channel, in order to gain temporarily naval supremacy to launch the naval invasions. Once the divisions part of Uranus was landed, they would change their stance (along with the submarines) to primarly commerce and transport raiding. Both to cripple the British economy, and in turn war economy, but also to take out transports with reinforcements. The Soviets knew that in case of a prolonged war in either of the sub-Operations would result in a massive NATO buildup, as such it was vital to take these reinforcements out as they were at sea.
And so were the plans. Only time would reveal if they would succeed or not, but one thing was clear; this was the first war of the atomic age.
Former US aircraft now bringing the Red Guards to England.
The young pilot close his worn out canopy, his flaps an wings were given a final check. The aircrew gave him the thumb up, he responded with the same thumb. With the greatest air-armada ever assembled for one mission he took to the skies on the evening of the 22nd of August. Together with hundreds of other other warplanes they went on the attack. NATO airwings must have believed this was yet another excercise, the Spitfire that intercepte the Soviet pilot showed him a magazine of pornographic material, but he gave no response. They continued in over England with bombers dropping their loads upon the once state of the art British RADAR systems along with coastal fortifications. Before the Spitfire could respond it caught flames going down smashing into the Cliffs of Dover. Naval bombers hit the British ports hoping to take out the Channel Fleet, enabling a seaborne invasion until the arrival of the Home Fleet from Scapa Flow. The Soviet pilot then dived upon the British airfield, strafed it and pacified its force before they could muster a proper response. In the distance he saw other explosions everywhere, oilreserves, barracks, bases and airfields were all under attack; with the exception of urban areas. But the few NATO airplanes in the skies were no longer to be seen, they were all burnt to ashes. As he crosse the Channel back for refueling and reloading the horizon to the back of him was ablaze. In the opposite direction hundreds of new bombers and fighters arrived; but also transport planes ready to deliver their men to an uncertain destiny - and with them the world. The Battle of Britain had just begun.
Local homeguard units are prepared to defend their homes.
Sirens were sounded, chaos and confusion was king. As the first Soviet paratroopers descended upon Britain - the first invaders to set foot on British soil since 1066 - and only came into contact with a few scattered, and hastly put together, British Home Guard defense units. These units were mostly compromised of the elderly, the unfit and those who otherwise weren't eligible for conscription and professional service. Despite a valiant defense and opposition these Home Guard troops were no match for the seasoned veterans of the Red Army, who had fought in every theater of war from Germany to Japan to Persia. The first Soviet paratroopers fell upon England, despite taking out all the Home Guards they were still scattered and disorganized. The battle was young, anything could happen.
Airborne troops sure do earn veterancy rapidly!
Misha Victorovich sat in the door of his transport plane. His uniform flapped in the wind and he enjoyed this time of tranquility of some sort. He was nervous, but this was the last time for a while he could be alone and at peace. He looked over his men, most of them handpicked seasoned veterans for this heroic and daring act. They all knew what their mission was, what was at stakes and they were prepared to be cut off for hours, days and even weeks before the main assault arrived to reinforce. For weeks they'd prepared physically for the coming task, dropping out into the wilderness of Siberia or unknown areas in France. But each man had to prepare himself for the coming task. It was silent, almost too silent. Only sporadic AA fire spit their deadly loads into the skies, only a few airplanes were lost. They were given the red light an Misha ordered his men to ready. After the final check out, and a waiting that seemed like an etirnity, the green light lit up. On pure reflexes Misha and his men jumped out without second thoughts. They steered toward the lights set up by the first wave of pathfinders. Hoping it were not a trap his men steered towards the lights. But it was not. Misha and his did everything according to plan, a few local Home Guard units were quickly taken out and disarmed, and they set up positions in the woods east of Norwich ready to repulse any attack. By 01:00 the two Airborne divisions had landed in full force with all its gliders and troopers.
The coastal batteries of Dover are under attack.
The landingzone west of Dover landed along with the other landingzones in full force on 01:00 on the 23rd of April 1945. The British High Command was in chaos, receving bombing reports from all over England (and even Scotland) and with even reports of Soviet troops on multiple locations all over the south-southeastern coastline. The British command who had committed itself to the fights in the Low Countries was caught off guard. Moreover they relied upon their coastal batteries to fend off an invasion. But they all pointed out toward the seas - not the air. The Soviet paratroopers in a daring move landed their gliders straight on top of the coastal batteries, and jumped down to secure key bridges and tank islands. Soon the well layered and emplaced British defences was taken out by the ingenuity of Soviet engineers or even turned to protect against British troops. The invasion of England was well underway, there was no doubt. Still NATO made a series of critical errors.
Only one British general dare to oppose the Soviets - at a terrible cost.
The evidence was clear, a Soviet invasion was underway. Moreover it was comparatively weak. If NATO mustered a counter-assault they could very well drive the Soviets out to the seas and prevent an outright invasion. But the British was ordered, from the very top, to halt. To not conduct any offensive operations. Their defensive model was based upon having reserves in the rear to better mobilize and strike toward an aggressor, but it was not to be utilized. This greatly angered and frustrated the local British commanders who believed they had to go on the offensive, push the Soviets back to the seas or all might be lost. One can speculate why the British government chose to do so, some argue it was a last resort of Appeasment to not escalate the conflict (who had already escalated into total war) and let negotiations end the conflict. But there was one commander who refused to obey by his orders, and that was Richard O'Connor the commander of the VII. Corps. He ordered his Guards Armoured Division, 11th Armoured Division, 6th Guards Tank Brigade and 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division to go on the attack. He reasoned they had to cut them off before they recieved reinforcements and supplies from gliders, dig in and waited until the main force arrived. The VII. Corps attacked right away and cut into the area where the 9th and 10th Airborne Divisions had landed. Heavy fighting ensued on the Cornish countryside, villages and airfields.*
O'Connor is relentless.
Death and destruction folllowed. Through the entire night the British tried to breakthrough the Soviet lines, but they faced heavy opposition from highly efficient warriors. The Soviets utilized their AT guns, mines and other weapons with great effect making the British pay dearly for every inch of land they had to take. Moreover smaller Soviet paratrooper units hid in the woods and in the darkness to let British columns pass through them, only to attack in their rear supplies and encircle them. During the night the British pushed into villages who in turn was reduced to rubble under heavy fighting. But the Soviets still maintained the upperhand. As the sun rose the Soviet bombers came into full effect. Light and medium bombers dived unto the British forced and unleashed their ordanance. But it was the Sturmovik Il-2 who was the most feared. With great precision they attacked British armored vehicles with either rockets or their feard 37mm autocannons. This led to any British advance during broad daylight a fatal game. A British officer noted "now as I understand the predicament of Fritz, my hatred for them have been replaced with pity". The British maintained superiority in numbers and hardware, but failed to make any significant gains mostly due to Soviet air superiority, but also Soviet tactics. A Soviet AA gun commander spoke of a specific episode "We had set up our 100mm gun by church. Then all out of sudden a colonel emerged. He introduced himself as a battalion and a veteran armored commander. He was appaled that we, being from the air force, had set up our 100mm guns to fire upon British airplanes. He shouted at us, ordering us to fire upon the British armor that would soon come to the area. I firmly said no, he then told us to use our eyes, that there are no planes in the skies and that heavy fighting was all around us. I still held my ground refferng to my orders. He then pulled out his revolver pointing at me and saying "you either die here and now as a coward, or you do as I say and earn a medal or two". His argument was.. persuasive so I did as he instructed me. He told me that we were out of sights from the road due to the wheat field down below us, but that we had clear line of fire. He then said British armor was moving in. Right as he were they did, we fired upon them. Round after round, but they couldn't see us. They lost several of their tanks during that skirmish, and pulled back when airborne troops moved in with their AT weapons. Right as he were, I earned a medal for valor". **
Despite heavy losses the tide are turning against the Soviet paras.
Still the British managed to push back. As the day turned to evening the British attacked with renewed vigor. The battle was turning slowly, but turning nonetheless, toward the favor of the British who enjoyed a functioning command structure and superior forces. When darkness descended upon the battle the effects of Soviet air support diminished and the British pushed forward toward the local airfield. The Soviets planned to use the airfield for as a base of supplies and an airbase of their own in England itself. O'Connor continued with his attacks, but the Soviets used their knowledge in armored warfare to their advantage. A Soviet commander noted the British attacked exclusively with tanks in attacks not supported by infantry. This led to Soviet AT and AA guns ambushing the British tanks, causing unnecessary loss of British armor. The Soviets held out, inflicting heavy casualties upon the British, but recieving casualties themself. The British had the upperhand here; they could afford to suffer casualties - the Soviets could not.
After nearly a full day and night worth of fighting the paratroopers retreat to the east.
So as it neared midnight the commanders of the 9th and 10th Airborne Divisions decided to pull out. Despite having the upperhand they decided a prolonged battle was not in their favor. And afterall their mission was not to win battles of their own, but rather to spread confusion and weaken the British defenses for the naval invasion. The airfield was lost, and the Cornsh peninsula was opened up, however they managed to cause great hayem and destroyed the airplanes on ground. The Soviets fell back to the east and linked up with their comrades and prepared for the next British assaut.***
The British armored forces continue to push on!
The VII. Corps pushed on. This time around they had the upperhand. After hours of artillery barrages they assaulted the Soviet positions. The Soviets, meanwhile, preapred to push to the north to capture Bristol and the airfield east of it. The British was all but absent there, being pushed back by Soviet defenses or allocated to other areas as reinforcements. The 9th Airborne Division counterattacked the British VII. Corps, hoping to buy the defenders some time unti the divisions of Rokossovsky landed. The fighting was savage, and the Soviets was fighting a lost cause. All they could hope for was to hold on. To the east the British had been soundly beaten back by two Soviet airborne divisions on the offensive. They were now marching into Portsmouth to secure the vital linkup point and naval point for the Soviet invasion.****
Hold out just a little longer boys.
The casualties of the 9th Airborne Division was mounting up, they had to abort their delaying offensive. Despite fighting a losing battle, the British offensive was turning into a standstill. To the east the Soviet offensive on Portsmouth was called off mainly due to the arrival of 4 Americna Infantry Divisions. The pendulum could swing anyway. The British was winning and would soon beat back the Soviet airborne divisions, still Soviet Navy had cleared the English Channel and the mainforces was crossing the Channel after many delays (such as bad weather). The battle turned vicious as both sides knew this was a fight for survival. For the individual soldier who looked his opponent into the white of his eye, slashing him open with his shovel to the generals who knew that if the invaders wasn't pushed back to the seas then all of England might fall. The killing continued.
The British forces are advancing, but slowly and at a high cost.
Over the day Britain gained the upperhand. It was only a matter of time before the 4 Soviet Airborne Divisions fell. The Soviets positioned themselves in villaged and towns fighting a desperate battle for survival, having no hardware to speak of, supplies and communications. Sheer will drove them on and the British kept up the pressure. Was this the end of the Soviet invasion and Operation Uranus?
The Americans are getting trapped inside of Portsmouth.
Meanwhile to the east of Portsmouth and the heavy fighting to its west, the Soviets ha fended off an attack by General Jackie Smyth and his Armored Division. With massive air support the 2nd Airborne Division launched an attack into the woods north of Portsmouth. Were they to establish control of this area the 4 American Infantry Divisions would be encircled, left on their own for the impending assault of Rokossovsky. The 1st Airborne Division, meanwhile, broke the British defenses to its north and seized the airfield there. The RAF suffered a significant blow, the few remaining planes were evacuated to the north hindering their defensive capabilities.
Canadian troops assist their masters in rooting out Soviet paratroopers.
However despite the gains by the Soviets, their brave paratroopers was still in a very.. exposed situation. The combined forces of the British Empire with all its might attacked the entrenched paratroopers over and over again. Entire cities was leveled to the ground by the fire of howitzers, tanks and bombers. Soviet losses to the west of Portsmouth was mounting and it was believed they would surrender within the day. It was truly a living hell.
Gorbatov arrives with a major mechanized force.. The war have transformed itself from airborne invasion to armored offensives.
But then as the 25th turned to the 26th the 3rd Belarussian Front arrived. A major force arrived to the north-east of London and was now threatening to move to the west and envelope London to the north of the Thames. Hope had come for the Soviets, death had come for the English. Five days had passed since the first airborne troops arrived in England, with entire cities being turned to ashes and thousands of casualties on both sides and now a major mechanized force threatened all of England. The Battle of Britain had come to its second phase. It was now up to the Royal Navy to prevent an all out invasion of England..
The Royal Navy need all the help it can get now..
The sea is calm tonight,
The tide is full, the moon lies fair
Upon the straits:- on the French coast, the light
Gleams, and is gone: the cliffs of England stand,
Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.
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*So just an attempt to rationalize why Britain just didn't go on the offensive right away.
**Okay so the divisions in the attack is called stuff like "infantry type 2" etc with a pawn symbol. However they also have armored NATO symbols, so I decided there was both infantry and armored units on the attack.
***The battle was "green". But I decided to pull them back to the east, as I didn't want to risk them being overrun.
*****As you can Denmark is suddenly neutral. In later screenshots Canada is suddenly neutral too. So I guess this is a bug from reverting the version to the last? Anyway what happened was that I saved, did stuff and played again. Suddenly many of the Allies was no longer in the war, by the time I saw this I paued tagged ENG and called all her allies into the war. Then I saved, loaded again and played as the USSR and as of now it is fine.
So that was the first update! Sorry for the short update.. but working all night and day the entire week take its toll. As you can guess these updates will be a little different than the 1-3-6 month intervals. Here we focused on the first ays with airborne assaults, the next one will either focus on Netherlands or the land full scale land invasion of England!
Rokossovsky will make short work of the decadent English.
The 2nd Belorussian Front made its landfall along the southern English coast, Operation Titania commenced. The VDV held off the vicious British counterattacks, clinging themself to the English landmass with their fingernails. Then before O'Connor could deal out the killing blow the 2nd Belorussian Front arrived in full force to the British beaches. The British counterattack was quickly repelled. A Soviet paratrooper detailed the battle: "We were held up along the treelines overlooking the surrounding area and the road leading into our area. We were geared with anti-tank weapons, 100mm AA guns and most importantly panzerfausts converted into RPG-1s. But we were barely holding out. For days we had been digging foxholes under continous fire, and the British kept on coming. Like cattle going in for a slaughter they just poured their armor into our firezone. We gave out substained fire, but for every attack we were running low on ammunition and taking losses. We were at the breaking point, my platoon was reduced by 2/3rds of its size and all of reserves were spent. Our sister company pushed out of the treeline to dominate the ridgeline further ahead, under heavy fire they managed to break out, but as they came to the ridge they were under mortar fire and perished. Every single one of them. The road was filled with wrecked tanks and trucks and we made the last munitions count, the smoke obscured our view but we could hear and feel the advance of the next tank assaults. We remained calm, I readied the only RPG-1 I had left and aimed ready to fire. I couldn't fire just yet or I would miss, we all needed nerves of steel. Then explosions came in. But not from us. Rockets flew in right above us and hit the area ahead of us. Several Il-2s flew overhead of us and fired several other rockets further ahead before they broke off, then another wave came swooping in firing their cannons. Then Pe-2s and Tu-2s flew in way above us dropping their loads upon the British positions. The British were gripped with fear, and for the first time in days we could breathe out as we were not under fire or a direct threat. But there's no rest for the wicked. The sound of the Katyushas rang, for us it was sound of delight, for our enemies a true nightmare. Soon T-44s and Trotsky tanks of our own rushed to the scene with mechanized infantry. We were evacuated to the rear while the mechanized force pressed on. It was a complete rout by the British, and our eyes were now looking forward to the Thames".
Béarn the scourge of the English Channel.
Operation Uranus was a huge gamble. The Royal Navy and the US Navy was the most formidable navies of the time, despite heavy losses during the Battle of Japan. The British alone had 10 aircraft carriers, 10 battleships and 11 battlecruisers as hostilities opened with the US adding a further 15 (!) CVs, 12 BBs and 12 BCs. But their fleets was spread out around the globe and the Baltic Fleet rushed out to the English Channel to create a blocking movement inside the channel. Moreover the Pact achieved air supremacy over the seas with heavy bombing of British ports. This made it difficult for the British fleet to move into position to sink the invading Soviet army. But it was a huge gamble on the Soviet side nevertheless. It all relied upon a successfull challenge of the NATO fleet. To do so the Soviet superheavy battleships were set up in blocking positions (their cannons having superior caliber and range than any other ship) while the cruisers and other battleships pursued opposing squadrons. But it was the French who had the ace up in their sleeves. The Béarn was the only surviving French carrier, but it was decisive factor. Along with the heavy Soviet battleship concentration in the channel, Pact air supremacy and raiding submarines the British was unable to muster their Home Fleet from Scapa Flow (who was under bombing raids) and make a dash for the British channel. The channel itself only contained few British cruisers and destroyers, and before they could even reach the heavy Soviet battleships they were cut off by Soviet and French aircrafts. It is said Brittania rules the waves, but during Uranus they couldn't even enter the English Channel.
Deep into battle we go.
With both the 2nd and 3rd Belorussian Fronts entering their destinations, only the 1st Front was missing. Gorbatov having been given almost an entire day to organize his men and troops gave the orders for his offensive. His orders was to break out of the beach-head in several directions. His armored and mechanized forces would spearhead to the southwest to capture the airfield and to the northwest to the airfield and radar station there. Meanwhile the bulk of the infantry forces would advance to the northeast to capture the vital port held by seven Canadian formations, and westward into the forests outside of Norwich. It was believed the armored forces wouldn't fare well in these dense forests. Instead they would go for the airfields, and then make a dive toward London.* But their orders was not to enter the city itself. It was believed a fight in the British capital would be a bloodbath on a scale never witnessed before. Instead they were to surround the city from the north and to prevent NATO reinforcements. In a similar move the 1st Belorussian Front was to surround London from the west. This was supposed to create a salient, or as the Soviet planners named it a "sickle" around London from the west, to the north and the east. From the south Rokossovsky would strike as the "hammer" to crush London. The "Hammer and the Sickle" doctrine was a vital part of the "Plan: Seven Days to the River Thames" doctrine. Anyway, Gorbatov gave the go ahead order for its assault and he saw rapid successes reaching deep into British lines. The British was caught off guard with one officer remarking "we were told the Soviets were vodka reeking barbarians. In reality they were ultra modern and employed sophisticated tactics. We stood no chance to the Soviet onslaught".
The Americans are getting wrecked.
On the 27th Rokossovsky got a chance to add further medals to his collection. Portsmouth was a vital point both as it threatened the Soviet flanks, but also as it housed several destroyer squadrons and were a potential base of operations for NATO forces. A whole four American divisions and one Greek brigade dug in and prepared to face the attack. But they soon came under fire from six rifle divisions, one heavy tank brigade and one mechanized corps. This force overwhelmed the Americans who were under heavy artillery and rocket fire. The Americans and Greeks soon realized that the open terrain outside of Portsmouth stood no chance against the Soviet bombers and heavy tanks, they were simply too exposed. Instead they retreated into Portsmouth instead transforming the port-city into a fortress where every block functioned as a bunker and every junction as a killzone. This was what the Soviets dreaded, a potential street to street fight. Rokossovsky looking to minimize his casualties offered the Americans a capitulation to spare the lives of their soldiers and the civilians alike. The Americans refused, being given orders to hold out as long as possible to delay the Soviet invasion until the full might of the New World could come to the rescue of the Old. Rokossovsky answered in the most brutal fashion possible. Thousands of Trotsky Orgels, mortars, howtizers and even the Red Fleet posed their guns on Portsmouth and bombarded it until there was nothing left but ruins. It was pure hell for the entrapped American forces, but they held out nevertheless. After the savage bombing Trotsky tanks dug in along a ridge overlooking Portsmouth and fired upon anything that moved in the streets of Portsmouth. Meanwhile the Mechanized Corps rushed its men forward to the city center.. Under heavy fire the BTR-M1943s pushed ahead dodging small arms and AT fire alike, led on by T34s and T44s. The tanks and APCs that broke down were left behind, the goal of the armored an mechanized forces was to rush in and establish control over vital areas in the city. Meanwhile the Rifle Divisions closed in ready to clear out the city, street by street, block by block, house by house, room by room..
We're heading out for a beach-vacation.
To the north, hours before, the offensive of Gorbatov was a huge success. In violation of direct orders he spied a chance to take and hold London itself. London was not to be contained, instead he ordered one light tank brigade, one mechanized corps and one rifle division to launch an attack directly into London. Mongomery was given the ungrateful task of holding London with five divisions by the frontline and one in reserves. Gorbatov gambled, he risked being repelled in the streets of London and by not surrounding London he risked the city being reinforced and an attack in the flank. But the entire Operation Uranus and following Seven Days to the River Thames was operations reeking of gambles. But the Soviets had the upperhand with their superior tanks and air support. The British held a line in eastern London, but it came under attack from waves Soviet close air support bombers. But as if the death from above was not enough, Soviet artillery forked themself slowly but steadily toward the British positions. As a means to correct their shots into their positions, but also to prevent an escape, obscure their view, but mostly as psychological warfare. A Welsh soldier who was a miner until the war described the hell that unfolded itself: "In the distance we could see the bastards amassing. But moving in fast towards us came fighter bombers and fired upon us. It all went dark and I panicked. When I was pulled up again I saw body parts everywhere, as I was forced back to my position by the seargeant. I readied by rifle, but the entire ground just opened up as artillery blew up the entire area. The very ground shook and I was afraid the building I was in would collapse. I crouched together screaming, and above me I saw bombers dropping their loads indiscriminate over the lines and behind us alike, meanwhile divebombers came from the skies dropping bombs all over our positions. The artillery attack stopped, and I saw the damn Russians coming in closer. They fired their cannons again, but this time around it was behind us - at the same distance. They continued like this. Airattacks and artillery attack alternating between hitting in front and in the back of us. It was like that all over the line, where could we possibly go? If we pushed ahead we would get right into the Soviet machine guns, tanks and howitzers. If we retreated we would be taken out by the howitzers and air attacks all the same, we were for all intents and purposes powerless. Left on our own. And between every attack they closed in. Then the artillery stilled, with the majority of my brothers in arms being dead or left to fates worse than death. I saw Russians taking to the corners of the streets, so I fired upon them with my rifle. But after my first shot I was under heavy machinegun fire. Dust was everywhere and the MG went straight through the bricks reducing them to rubble. Several of my mates was ripped apart by the machine guns, but I just laid there crawled up full of fear wishing for it all to end. I then heard lots of shouting downstairs and explosions from grenades. I prepared for the worst and soon the door was kicked in with dozens of Russians swarming in with their guns at ready shouting at us. James tried to fight back, but he was filled with submachine gun rounds. I took my arms up, ready to surrender. As they took me up, I realized I had lost my left leg. The war was over for my part".
Witches of the 20th century have replaced their broomsticks with fighters.
46th "Taman" Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment (formerly 588th Night Bomber Regiment) was one of the three Soviet aircraft regiments where women were allowed service and saw tremendous success during WW2 given it fame at home and stroke fear in the hearts of the Germans, giving them the nickname of "the Night Witches". Throughout the course of the second world war the regiment accumulated approximately 23,672 sorties in combat, accumulated 28,676 flight hours, dropped over 3,000 tons of bombs and over 26,000 incendiary shells. The Third World War and especially the Battle of Britain saw extensive usage of the Night Witches. With great daring they scored multiple victories against NATO, but it was especially popuar among Pact propaganda to picture the NATO forces as weak compared to Soviet and socialist women. Along with the many other bomber regiments the Night Witches bombarded England and the troops stationed there. A Canadian soldier wrote about one time he came under a bomb raid: "At once we heard the sound of airplanes behind us. Just after that we got visual on them - Russian planes with a steady course right toward us. Like playful raptors they first went up toward the sun and circled around us, until they dived down again and aimed toward us, one plane after the other. There wasn't a single ditch, not even one hole, nothing to hide in but the soft grass. The bullets came densley upon us, but didn't hit us. Then they started all over again, circling above us like predators. Stupid bastards, I hated them. The engines roared, the bullets whined and hit the dirt around us. When they finally broke away I heard all out of sudden immense screams of pure agony. The attack didn't last for more than a few seconds.
One was dead, his head was just one gaping wound, with another seriously injured. One part of his torso was ripped open, and the grass beside him was colored red. We looked on eachother in silent agreement, there was no choice. I went toward him and held around his head with one hand while I spoke soothingly to him, trying to calm him down just a little. In my other hand I had my personal pistol. One muffled shot and everything around us became silent - and peaceful. No more pain. We covered both of the corpses with earth. Then we walked away".
Is this all the Royal Navy got to offer?
But let us back up a little, away from the war on the land to the seas. During the crossing of the Channel the only notable action was 1:00 on the 25th of August. The Soviet submarines had harried and sunk several of the NATO merchant fleets, scoring major victories. As with the German submarine campaign this put the British at the risk of being economically strangled - and prevented seaborne reinforcements. A British detachment of four heavy cruisers and a destroyer was sent out to deal with the Soviet submarines. Being clear of the Soviet airplanes patrolling the skies they hurried forward hoping to sink some of the submarines. But as the aging Saladin destroyer approached the now submerged subs, four Il-4s dropped down from the skies severly damaging HMS Saladin. The cruisers turned around to prevent the Sturmoviks from damaging the capital ships. HMS Saladin followed suit, but was crippled as a torpedo from a Soviet sub hit the destroyer, making it immobilized. A final submarine then aimed with its cannon right toward Saladin's exposed ammunition's belt. The destroyer blew up in the middle. None of the crew survived. The Soviet air and submarine arms was too much for the Royal Navy.
Ditto for the US Navy.
Meanwhile on the other side of the globe some US submarines was sent out to conduct reconnaissance on the Soviet far east. Instead they were caught by the Far East Fleet that was slowly rebuilding after its near total destruction on the hands of the Japanese. After hours of intensive duels two Soviet destroyers caught up with the obsolete submarines. With great effeciency the Soviets took them out. First they fired a mortar that launched 24 rounds that would explode under the seas. With the subs in shock and disabled they moved in with magnetic depth charges. Both of the subs now sunk down to the bottom of the earth, with a horrible faith awaiting the crew.
The Cliffs of Dover won't stand afterall..
Back to England. On the 27th Rokossovsky moved in to take out Dover. As with Portsmouth it was a vital link up point, and was needed to be taken out both to prevent a flank attack and American reinforcements. The British and Canadian defenders came under extreme pressure, and while they were bravely fighting they had to conduct elastic defenses, slowly being pushed back to the port itself. The defenders of Dover needed a miracle to survive..
A disabled Cromwell.
The Battle of Britain highlighted the shortcomings of the NATO tanks and doctrines compared to their Soviet adversaries. The British focus on infantry support tanks and exclusive cruiser tank attacks was simply outdated. Several British officers had implored for change, but the high command didn't listen. Now they learned it the hard way. A British armored-reconnaissance commander wrote in his memoirs and detailed the shortcomings of their tanks "When we silently moved out of the woods we were all of sudden met with massive fire from both anti-tank weapons and machine guns. Even if we operated deep behind the lines of Marshal Gorbatov, he had managed to secure his open flank. It turned out into a fierce tank-duel. We were then aware of that the Russians had the dreaded Trotsky tanks, who were superior to ours. Furthermore they were dug down halfway down the ground and difficult to hit. I retreated and requested that we could pass ahead as every hour we were stuck here the bloody Russians got more reinforcements and supplies. But I got a "no", we were to wait for reinforcements to break out. At the same time a Cromwell tank rolled towards me in the dark. From the tower an officer jumped down. It was an old friend of mine! We catched up, but I had to explain to him the reality of the situation. We agreed on a plan to break out, but first he wanted to move forward with his tanks to scout the area ahead. I told him "for the love of God! Don't do it! Stay put, or sneak ahead on foot. They have dug down their Trotsky tanks, their guns are just above the surface, they are lethal". But he turned the deaf ear to me. He climbed back into his turred and drove ahead. Moments later I heard furious shots and explosions. Several of the Cromwells didn't make it back, but the tank of my friend made it back. It rolled backwards seeking cover. But my old friends was hanging over its gun, dead. My good old friend Jonathan was no more".
Ferocious fighting in what was once London.
The Battle of London continued. The plan to lay siege to the British capital was twarthed. Instead Stavka agreed with Rokossovsky's request to attack London south of the Thames, while Gorbatov moved in from the east and north. A pattern emerged in the Soviet style of attacks: A 69 minute brutal artillery barrage, with hundreds of guns, was launched softening the defenders up. While the defenders was still recollecting from the shock Soviet tank thrusts hammered into the defending lines and launched operation deep inside the suburbs of London and soon reached the Thames. As armor and mechanized infantry plunged into London, spreading chaos, the infantry soon followed. But it was the infantry who recieved the brunt of the fighting. In the close quarters of London there was little use for tanks and even machine guns. The infantrists got the deadly task of clearing out the streets in a three dimentional fight. It was the grenades, flamethrowers and even shovels who were the king in these savage fights. The city of London was reduced to rubble in the heavy barrages and the British retreated to the north of Thames. They tried to bring down their iconic bridges in a desperate attempt to stall the Soviet advance, but the Soviet armor was simply too quick and the Thames was soon crossed. Legends has it Rokossovsky himself spearheaded the attack in his command T-44. What was true however was that half of London had fallen and coming under attack from the east, north and south.
London has fallen!
Then on the 28th of August. Mere six days after the opening of hostilities, five days after the airborne troops landed in England, three days after the Front under Gorbatov landed and just two days after the first attack on London, the capital had fallen. Only a few pockets of resistance was left but the Soviets was quick to parade in Trafalgar square and announced "Piccadilly is taken". Moreover the Soviets set up a provisional British government in London, who was quick to "extert justice". However the quick conquest of London came with a minor annoyance for Stavka. Their Hammer and Sickle plan was not employed, instead an aggressive, yet hasty, attack on London left most its northern and north-western front open. It was through this opening seven British divisions, the British government and royal family escaped to the north. Trotsky celebrated by having 144 cannons fire 12 salutes with fireworks over the Red Square.
A Belorussian private described the lasts moments of the Battle of London "London, a destroyed city. Words cannot describe the sight that greets us. Not a single house remain intact, no roofs, no floors. Only naked walls with empty windows. Right through the open holes we can see enormous piles of bricks. We hear rumors of the British remain in two smaller pockets, but where are they? Armed to the teeth with grenades and knives we prepare for close quarter combat. Our backpacks are full of rounds. We advance toward the city center. For the first time during this war our rifles are of no use. The last pockets of resistance are now so small that it would be dangerous to throw grenades. We have orders to not shoot further than the next house or the next street, so that we don't fire upon our comrades. There is no longer any coherent frontline, it is like we're mixed like the pieces of a chess game. The next day I am awoken by a cheer of joy. Our guys just stare over the street. What is going on? I climb up on the back of someone else to get a looksie. I just stare at the empty windows on the shell of a building, and I still can't fathom what's going on. White towels just hang from the windows. It is silent. Not a sound. "Capitulation!" I don't remember who said these words, but it is formuated silently and in awe, as if the guy who said those words are afraid to jinx it. Then they come out, everyone of them very slowly and careful. They reach their arms to the skies. Our people gather on the streets, our rifles raised up just in case. The British then throw down their arms and calmly line up. We've won".
Five days to the River Thames..
Nevertheless this was a major Soviet victory. "Seven Days to the River Thames" was projected as the most optimistic plans for the invasion of England. Instead they reached the river in five days. The defenders of England was resoundly beaten back, with the last troops in Portsmouth and Dover surrendering soon after the news of London's capitulation. The 2nd and 3rd Belorussian Fronts was now preparing to break out north of the Thames and to reach northern England on the ninth day. Meanwhile the 1st Belorussian Front was swooping in ready to pacify the sizeable NATO force in Cornwall. The Soviet prospects of a quick victory before the Americans arrived seemed very likely.. But the Soviets was somewhat anxious. Seven Days to the River Thames envisioned a major American nuclear attack on France to prevent a Pact invasion of England, and destroy any possibility of supplying the British and Dutch fronts from France. Stavka was arguing whether or not the Americans had atomic bombs at all, or if they would attack somewhere else. The Soviet people would soon learn the answer the hard way...
Both sides suffered high casualties in the intense first days of the campaign.
The Seven Days to the River Thames and Operation Uranus were huge successes. Despite seven British divisions retreating from London to fight another day the Soviets managed to secure southern England. Still the fighting was hard and vicious with the Soviets losing around 82.000 troops - but NATO many more, with over 100.000 in Dover alone. NATO had suffered a major defeat, but they would soon retaliate...
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On the skies over the observation-post of Lieutenant Fillip Ponomarev the moonlight was about to replace the daylight 20:14 on the 22nd of August 1945. The smell of grass and flowers filled the air by the Dutch-Belgian border in the very heart of what was once the bastion of liberty in Europe. The peace only existed on the surface, Ponomarev spent his last evening hours to inspect his people, and now every single one of them was ready to load their cannons - and fire. But they were far from the only ones who were at the ready.. Along the entire line surrounding Belgium from the English Channel in the south to the North Sea in the north, hundreds of thousands of battle ready Soviet soldiers, and hundreds of thousand more worth of Pact troops, sat battle-ready and tense on their posts. They went over their weapons one last time, looked at the clock and sent their thoughts back to their families as the last bird chirps faded away into the evening. One minute later, with all their senses in high alert, all the tension was set off. While the Red Airforce set their course toward targets behind the Anglo-Dutch lines, the artillery was ordered to open fire. Along the entire front thousands of Soviet and Pact cannons, mortars and rocket launchers initiated an ear-deafening bombardment. Black and yellow smoke filled the air, and the unrecognizable scent of gunpowder reached the nostrils of the Soviet officer. In 15 merciless minutes the cannons thundered. Then Ponomarev heard the popping sound of a flare, and within a second the light from the flare illuminated the evening countryside in red. Ponomarev's men stopped their hectic work by their cannons. Now the infantry would lead the storming toward the Dutch foreward posts. The feared Soviet tanks and mechanized infantry would soon follow in behind - as the tip of the spear during Operation Mars, Trotsky's assault on the Netherlands.
The might of the Soviet Union!
By 0200, 23rd of Agust the frontlines in the Netherlands had formed. The bulk of the British armored forces was stationed in the Low Countries, perhaps as they believed Soviets weren't able to cross the Channel, and that the flat terrain of the Netherlands were ideal for armored assaults to liberate Belgium and occupy large parts of Germany. As it were now the attack was a major success during most of the front - other than fierce Dutch resistance east of Eindhoven. But once these flat terrains was bypassed and dealt with, Stavka* was concerned of crossing the Waal river, the Rhine and the many other rivers, dikes and urban areas of the Netherlands. As a planner explained it "we're concerned to hit a wall".
At least the last line are no longer used to shoot retreating soldiers.
While the powerful men toasted with champagne and vodka in Moscow, the sweet life was over for private Dimitri Romanov. The 28 year old soldier had to leave the comfortable garrison life near Aachen with beautiful architecture (at least what survived the war and had been rebuilt). His unit was ordered to the Rhine to scout ahead the Dutch border defense. On the other side of the river he saw the Dutch tricolor wave over the treeline. The bunkers and machinegun nests was less than a hundred meters (!) ahead. If an eager guardpost uncovered the patrol, he could raze down Dimitri and his comrades with one single salvo. "Are we perhaps only the scapegoats", he noted in his diary "who are to be slaughtered by the Dutch as a pretex for the coming attack?". Dimitris patrol crawled around in the bushes and thickets along the riverbank to map out the Anglo-Dutch positions. From the otherside of the water he heard the sound of armored vehicles clearly. "The English must be getting into position", Dimitri concluded. Dimitri was anxious about what kind of welcome that waited them on the other side, but he never doubted the Red Army would prevail when the weapons of war first roared, because the forests behind him was silently being filled with Soviet and Pact armor, artillery and a large contigent of soldiers. Rumors on the date of attack circulated among the soldiers. 21st og August Dimitri noted in his diary: "Hurrah! The greatest battle in history will start in two days!" He felt as confident as Trotsky in Kremlin. The attack came the next day. During the late evening the cannons tore the sky apart, while Dimitri and his comrades crouched together in the concealed foxholes. The infantry was to cross the river and facilitate for the mechanized forces thrust into Dutch territory.
A bridge.. within our grasp.
03:15, August the 28th, the fifth night of the Battle of the Netherlands. Several rivers to the south had been taken, only the major Waal remained. Further to the west the Rotterdam port, one of the busiests ports in all of the world, was taken after heavy fighting. Soviet troops was now advancing toward the Hague, with being the seat of the cabinet of the Netherlands, the States General, the Supreme Court, and the Council of State can be argued to be the de-facto capital of the country would deal a crippling blow to the Dutch war effort. Meanwhile a conquest of the Hague and a drive along the northern coast would help box in Amsterdam who was now under the threat following the northern and eastern swoop into the Netherlands, threatening to cut all of Holland (the provinces) and the capital away from the rest of the nation. The area east of Amsterdam is at the risk of being taken when muzzles, cannons and Trotsky Orgels light up the sky. One second later the silence is torn apart by an ear defeaning noise. Dutch, British and Columbian troops hurdle together in the trenches while Soviet artillery inexorably hammer down the next 57 minutes. Every grenade sends piles of dirt and deadly metal splints through the air. The barrage are so intense that a Soviet artillery officer remarks that the enemy can only escape the carnage "with death or eternal mental illness". Then as the cannon fire dies away, it is relieved by a bad omen; the roars of the diesel engines. The very earth quakes as hundreds of several tons worth of T-34s, KV-1s, T-60s, T-44s and Trotsky-Tanks move ahead to the battered Dutch lines. Following close behind are thousands upon thousands of Soviet soldiers - with fixed bayonets on their automatic weapons. With load "oorrah" shouts and the sound of the International the living wall motion toward the Dutch. Operation Ring is about to begin - the total encirclement and defeat of NATO troops in and around Amsterdam.
Dutch troops making hasty retreats.
For days now Sergeant Daan Koopman have led his platoon in an organized retreat. During their trek toward Amsterdam they have several times dug in provisional defenses, but each time the Soviet forces have broken through the defenses in close proximity. To avoid encirclement Koopman have time and time again ordered his men backwards. To Amsterdam. But here, 12 kilometers outside of Amsterdam he have been ordered to halt his retreat by a railway station. His order is clear: Defend your position to the last man. The young sergeant have for a long time ago reconciled with death as Soviet stormtroopers attack the railwaystation. In the first wave he is shot in his stomach who tear it up. Acid pour out and Koopman's vital organs are slowly etched away. Severly wounded the young man is driven back to Amsterdam, hours later he arrive by a still functioning field hospital. But by that time he'd suffered a long and painful death.
The Soviet soldiers want to pay the Red Lights a visit..
19:00, 28th of August 1945. The battles east of Amsterdam have raged on for a full day, and after hours of valiant defenses the Dutch forces retreated on all fronts - meanwhile the British armored forces in the region had been utterly decimated. Russo-Franco troops was pouring in from the east ready to encircle Amsterdam and prepare for Operation Ring. To the north Dutch and Canadian forces have been pushed out of Friesland and into northern Holland. The Soviet forces are allowed to rest for the night before they cross the treacherous Wadden Sea. Back to the south. The attack on Amsterdam had started in earnest after hours of minor clashes in the southern suburbs. Early in the morning of the 28th thousands of Soviet cannons opened up to soften up the Dutch defensive lines to pave the way for the assault. Coherently with the barrage sounded the revving engines of hundreds of tanks readying for battle. The barrage led to losses on the Dutch side, but from the artillery on their side one salvo after the other were fired and so the Soviets suffered casualties aswell. Along the defenses lines outside of Amsterdam the Dutch laid out thousands of landmines who would delay the Soviet and French advances all around Amsterdam. By doing this the Dutch could fire with anti-tank weapons, mortars and field-cannons while the Soviet armor and APCs slugged their way forward, or stopped entirely in front of the minefields. The Battle of Amsterdam had started.
Flat terrain of the Netherlands is perfect for our tanks!
Days earlier had seen one of the biggest tank battles in history. The British armored forces who were deployed was to defend against the massive Soviet mechanized offensives or even counterattack. However after the landfall in England there was much confusion among the British armored expedition. Commanders were at loss over conflicting orders some telling them to evacuate to the home islands while other told them to stand their ground and fight. The Soviets were quick to capitalize upon this confusion. The tank duels were ferocious and the three Field Marshals leading their Fronts poured their tanks into battle to deal with the British armor. One of the greatest tank concentrations were in Brabant just west of Eindhoven. The British sought to reinforce Eindhoven and the bridges leading into Germany and the Dutch heartland. The Soviets meanwhile attacked in their flank to prevent such reinforcements of the vital bridgeheads. The battle was vicious. Eyewitnesses told of burning, smoking and charred bodies hanging out of the hatches, and soldiers told of the horrific moment when a grenade got the insides of the armor to glow like a hot boilerplate. Sometimes the the grenades blew up the armor and sent splinters inside the wagon, other times the grenade exploded without breaching the hull and the red-glowing spot on the inside of the tank lasted until the plating got a chance to cool down. The battle raged on for days, but in the end the Soviet numerical and air superiority were too much for the British armored forces already in disarray over the invasion in their homeland. British soldiers spoke of hundreds of T-34 tanks who kept on rolling toward their AT and tank positions from all sides until the British were exhausted, out of ammuniation or encircled. With the British Armoured Expedition blown to pieces or in retreat over the English Channel the only force able to properly challenge the Soviet invasion was gone.
The noose is closing in.
During the evening of the 29th NATO troops were demoralized after hearing of the fall of London the day before and the Soviets kep on pushing. Only a minor strip north and west of Amsterdam remained open, howeer Soviet forces were quickly moving in to push the Dutch and Canadians from the coast and complete the first phase of Operation Ring; to isolate Amsteram. Meanwhile the Soviet commanders realized a head-on attack on Amsterdam was simply too costly, and the success of London couldn't be repeated due to stalwart Dutch defenses. Instead the Soviet attacks were haltet, the French and Belgians, however, pressed on the attack despite the unfavorable odds. The Dutch defenses of Amsterdam included 8 infantry brigades in direct combat, with five more in reserves. A further 18 more, and a Colombian division, was retreating from the battles to the east and south, however these troops were battered and were in dire need of replacements and supplies. Replacements and supplies that would be difficult, at best, to get through if Amsterdam was surrounded.
Just fall already!
Early morning of the 31st. Amsterdam was fully surrounded. With the Pact assault into the city failing, being beaten back the Dutch saw an oppurtunity to launch a counterattack to the west and take out a weakened French armored division. However the Dutch and Canadian troops misjudged the situation and the assault were thwarted. The situation was at a deadlock with neither side managing to push forward. But the Pact forces had one advantage. They could simply sit it all out, lay siege and make the Dutch succumb to starvation. The fighting continued, however, with smaller Soviet forces probing the suburbs and outskirts of Amsterdam hoping to bypass the formidable Dutch fortifications and open up the way for armored and mechanized waves into the city center. Meanwhile Timoshenko sent the impressive force inside of Amsterdam an ultimatum. With the help of speakers mounted on trucks and thousands of flyers dropped all over the city Timoshenko demanded immediate capitulation and promised fair treatment of all prisoners of war. The alternative, he said, is "the total annihilation of every NATO troops down to the very last man".
Soviet soldiers taking the brief time without combat to eat.
But as the French beat back, a minor opening openened up during the Dutch retreat and minor fights from Soviet recon elements in the suburbs, a Soviet mechanized corps take advantage of the situation and push into the city center in a lightning strike during the day of 31st. They strike hard and manage to get into the city center, however they are soon stopped by fierce Dutch and Canadian resistance. With the bulge into the city center the Canadians manage to cut off the Soviet mechanized corps (but only barely) and the two opposing sides alternate between being on the offense. The central station are the price of the attack, but durin the first day of the attack the station change colors a whole five times. During the night to the 1st the Soviets try to engage the administrative center of Amsterdam, however it is well fortified in thick concrete and the Soviets are recieving heavy casualties as they intend to take the block. The fighting continue on to the morning, but the Soviets are forced to retreat as a joint Canadian-Dutch force take upon the Soviet stronghold overlooking the city. For hours the battle take on and the city center is turned into a major meatgrinder. It was said that progress was no longer counted by meters, but by corpses. After savage close quarter attacks throughout the day, the Soviets are pushed away from the canals as the casualties mount up. The next day on the 2nd they renew their attack after hours of artillery bombardment. The Katyusha rockets are parked in cover behind the only remaining Soviet-controlled canal, but back out and expose themself only to unload their rockets of horror, drive forward to cover, reload and repeat the cycle. The Dutch and Canadian forces are kept awake during the night with these assaults and other propaganda measures, while the Soviets manage to get a few hours of sleep. The Battle of Amsterdam was different from the rest of the Battle of the Netherlands. Here fast paced deep operations weren't anylonger an advantage - as the deep strike into Amsterdam proved. Instead they had to fight for every house, and the ruins of the city concealed the NATO forces and snipers, adding further casualties. The ordinary footsoldier despised the close quarter battles as death loomed constantly and there was no room for rest and peace. A typical example is a multistored complex where the Soviets could control the top and bottom floor, while NATO forces were inbetween and perhaps even occupying rooms on Soviet controlled floors. This blurred the frontlines and it was difficult to see the differences between friend and foe - as everyone was covered in the same dust. Anyway, on the 2nd they renewed their attack and crossed several canals. But closing in the Dutch and Canadians clinged on to their bridge-heads refusing to give ground. During the late hours of the 2nd Soviet forces was pulled out, after managing to break the Canadian encirclement. But as they came back, they heard the news of the American operation on their homeland. The Soviets now had a whole new cause to fight for; revenge and survival.
The ruins of Amsterdam.
As if the siege was not a strain enough on the soldiers and locals of Amsterdam the events of the 2nd of September added to their misery. As the Soviet political leadership believed in a worker's revolution across Europe they had, to their best effort, spared the cities and populated centers from targeted bombing. However after the events of the 2nd of September had sunk in, Trotsky struck back. All cards were on the table and during the night that led to the 3rd, Pe-3 night bombers flew in over Amsterdam and dropped flares all over the city. Minutes after hundreds of light, medium and heavy bombers flew over the city and area bombed their respective flares. The bombs that were used were high explosive bombs, shrapnel bombs, firebombs and unconventional bombs. It was done both to succumb the defenders, but also as a revenge by the Soviet people. The entire city was reduced to ruins after hours of bombing. The following days the Soviets would continue on their bombing attack, however this time targeted against industrial centers and military lines.**
Amsterdam is as usual filled with smoke..
11:32, 3rd of September the Pact incursions into Amsterdam was beaten back. Dutch, Canadian and Colombian forces, believing in a NATO/American invasion of the Low Countries, made a final attempt to break out. However the Pact forces was to well dug in and in a much better situation supply wise. It became clear to the NATO soldiers that remained that the city was a death trap. Every attempt of a breakout was met with a hail of bullets and grenades. A Dutch soldier wrote later on about his experiences during the break out: "the slope was covered with corpses. Some places I had to move two or three bodies, under fire, just so I could get to lay down, get to cover and return fire. They were all rotten and the stench was unbearable, but I simply had to get down and not let it affect me".
At last things are going our way!
On the 5th the attack on Amsterdam was renewed. This time around the assault was started with an air attack 08:30 and not the usual artillery attack. This led the defending forces to believe it was nothing but another bombing run. After the air attack Soviet forces, however, started a massive artillery attack to the north where the Soviets had attacked the days before. This led the defenders to divert their forces to that direction under false pretensions. To the south-east where the actual attack was to come from the Soviet bombers and fighter-bombers cleared the way for the armored assaut. Several heavy Trotsky tanks was put in to pound the defending lines, meanwhile the Soviets were amassing in the north where the Dutch believed the attack was to come from. After the tanks in the south-east breached through, a whopping 9 Rifle Divisions was rushed into battle by trucks and jeeps and started their assault, in reserves they had 9 further divisions, among them several armored brigades who established the breachead. This time around the Soviets made progress and killed or took prisoners of thousands of NATO troops.
Yet another country fall to the communist surge..
The battle for Amsterdam continued for two grueling days. It turned out to be one of the bloodiest battles in the early days of the war, with over 8.000 Soviet casualties in the last push into Amsterdam and 5.000 more on the failed attack before. The NATO forces inside of Amsterdam finally capitulated on the 8th realizing they couldn't beat back the Soviet forces. Operation Mars, the invasion of the Netherlands, ended after 17 days of intense fights. Despite high Soviet casualties only 6.470 was irreplaceable. The Dutch on the other hand lost 387.000 men. The worst battle was the Battle of Amsterdam that claimed almost 400.000 casualties both sides combined and lasted from the 28th of August, and from the 31st being encircled. One NATO stronghold in continental Europe fell, only two remained; Denmark and Greece.
High casualties on one side.. minor ones on another side.
Communist Revolutions: Dear Bulgaria, Land of Heroes.
Communist take control of small parts of Bulgaria.
22nd of August of 1945, the world was still at peace. In a few hours the world would again be thrown into yet another humanitarian catastrophe. Farmers retreated to the countryside for the harvest and the urban centers slumbered in the August warmth. But during the early hours of the 22nd shots rang through the streets of Sofia. The "Vanguard" of the Bulgarian Communists rushed to the governmental buildings of Sofia, taking the head of government and the political leaders as hostage. Georgi Dimitrov and his Communist Party (BCP) were the only ones not taken hostage, and as the only remaining and functioning government party he declared a state of martial law, dissolved the monarchy and government alike making the BCP the sole ruling party. However Tsar Boris managed to rally the people to his side. The people took it to the streets, but unlike previous communist revolution they were not in support of Trotsky and the World Revolution, but they flocked to defend Bulgarian independence and democracy. On the outskirts of Sofia the Army units had been inflitrated by MGB agents and communist partisans and Dimitrov was assured these units would defect to the revolution. But they did not. Instead they moved into the capital and rooted out the Vanguard with sheer brutality and bloodlust. During the storming of the parliament all of the Vanguards perished - along with all of the members of the government and parliament. Boris Dimitrov was hastly evacuated out of Sofia toward Trotskygrad (Instanbul) barely escaping the clutches of the royalists.
Bulgarian partisans.
While the smoke rose above Sofia, and threatened to cover all of the world, the many communist partisan cells being active against the Nazis and the Tsarists alike rose up all around the countryside. Hoping to recruit new men at arms among the rural population and take control of vital population centers they took up arms and attacked police stations, military camps and occupied villages. But despite their Pact issued armament and training they failed to take control of the nation. The majority of the farmers and population as a whole was content with the current way of life and wanted peace above all - especially another horrifying world war. The partisans who had been so effective fighting against the Axis during the Second World War were now seriously outgunned, and they perished in the thousands. As with Sofia the revolution in the countryside failed. Army units and "white militias" fanned out and pacified the countryside with great brutality. The few remaining partisans fled to the mountains of western and southern Bulgaria, living as primitive humans. Their only notable achievements were to turn the rural communities against communism and to escort Dimitrov out of harm's way. The latter would have major impacts on Bulgaria and the world as a whole.
A push into Bulgaria, and then a push into Greece will keep the Allies away.
Where the communists failed in the west, they saw major advances in the east. Supported by the International Brigades the city of Varna and the vital port to the Black Sea was secured by the communists. It was noted that the majority of the "Vanguard of the People" in Varna and eastern Bulgaria were indeed not Bulgarian, but a mix of left wing volunteers and Pact special forces. As the Tsar seated in Sofia set up a military government, professional revolutionaries in Varna denounced the Tsar claiming that it was indeed he, and not the communists, who staged the coup while the communists became the scapegoat. Vasil Petrov Kolarov in Varna quickly announced Dimitrov as the Prime Minister and himself as President. Other representatives of the political parties in Varna was terrorized to submit to the new BCP led government, the Socialist Republic of Bulgaria was born. But their military was seriously outgunned and understrength. They turned to the Pact for protection, and they were admitted into the Paris Pact on the minute of their request - it was as if were all planned down to the very last detail. Soviet troops poured into Eastern Bulgaria from Trotskygrad, while Romanian and Balkan (mainly Hungarian) troops threatened Western Bulgaria on its northern flank. NATO soon admitted Western Bulgaria into its alliance, however they were for now reluctant to intervene on behalf of Bulgaria. Popov and the 2nd Ukranian Front took advantage of this moment of hesitation and ordered a full scale invasion of Bulgaria.
Mmmmm, oil.
The Soviets never believed the coup in Bulgaria would be a success. It was a "revolution" funded and planned by the Soviet Union, simply to secure Bulgaria through conquest. Bulgaria was the last piece on the map for total Soviet domination of the Balkans. A democratic Bulgaria was a major threat to the paranoid Trotsky for a number of reasons. First of all with its strategic positioning close to Greece and in the center of the Balkans it meant NATO troops could muster an invasion force directly into the oilfields of Romania and in turn the Ukraine. Secondly NATO troops in both Bulgaria and Greece meant that Trotskygrad was under threat of a land invasion. That in turn would lead to the Straits falling into the hands of NATO, which in turn meant a potential invasion of Ukraine and the Caucasus. In short NATO could use Bulgaria as a staging ground to deprive the Soviet Union of their bread basked and their oil supplies. Lastly from Bulgaria the 2nd Ukranian Front was better situated to invade and control Greece. All in all the Soviet Union and Trotsky cynically took control over the volatile political situation of Bulgaria to plunge the country into civil war. A civil war that would drag the rest of the globe into a world war.
The Bulgarian airforce were crippled.
As the first shots rang in Sofia the Soviet Airforce were not sitting idle by. Attack aircrafts of all types took off from Romania, Ukraine, Serbia, Iraq and Trotskygrad and started their bombing campaign over Western Bulgaria without an official declaration of war. The time for diplomacy was over, the time for war had come. Taken by surprise the majority of the Bulgarian airforce was taken out as they were grounded. With the Bulgarian airforce swept aside along with many of the static defensive positions and command centers, the Soviet tanks and infantry rushed in. Western Bularian troops was crushed under the Soviet war machine and retreated to a better defensive position around Sofia. As Soviet tanks rushed in they were supported by attack aircrafts, the Bulgarian armed forces was simply outclassed and crushed in the first days.
Mountains, bullets or men won't stop us now.
26 of August. The Third World War had raged on for a few days and the first Soviet troops streamed in from France and Belgium into England. But the savage fighting of England would not be repeated in Bulgaria. The Western Bulgarian Army was constantly on the retreat, standing no chance against the might of the Red Army. It's important to remember that following WW2 Bulgaria was forced to demilitarize. Conscription was abolished, while the Bulgarian army was reduced to a state of managing border protection. This led the Bulgarian Army in 1945 to be in a sorry state, their only modus of operation was for to delay the Soviet overmight long enough for NATO forces to enter from Greece and push the Reds out of the Balkans. But as T-44s pushed ahead, Bulgarians retreated the Americans arrived. But not in the fashion as many expected. Operating from bases in Greece and the Mediterranean they launched an air offensive reminiscent of the offensives over Germany and Japan. It was hoped this would crush the Soviet infrastructure in Bulgaria and lead to the Eastern Bulgarians rising up against the illegitimate government, or simply stall the advance until American and British troops could arrive. The city of Varna recieved the bulk of the bombing. Instead it alienated the Bulgarian population from NATO and Soviets troops was quickly turning into their protectors - or at the very least the lesser evil. Anyway, the war in Bulgaria raged on.
Communism will bring an end to imperialism.
While the Tsar and his support of NATO became more and more unpopular due to the lack of NATO support and communist propaganda that the Tsar wanted to end democracy and the communists to defend it, the communists saw a surge of popularity. Blissful to the worldwide events the population believed in the promises of the BCP (or at least, wished them to be true) that following the conclusion of the civil war their would be peace in Bulgaria. This was in stark contrast to the royalists and democrats who promised a prolonged war against international communism. But as with many other nations the Soviets played the nationalism card. Knowing nationalism to be a potent force they promised the Bulgarians the restoration of Greater Bulgaria* if they chose to side with the BCP in their struggle against the Tsar. This led to some kind of renewed nationalist fervour, the very same that helped push the country to the side of the Axis during the Second World War, and the Central Powers during the First. Where the Tsar had failed the people now put their trust to Dimitrov and Trotsky.
Soviet tanks storm through Bulgaria.
The greatest Soviet fear was for a NATO intervention in Bulgaria. A major Anglo-American force in Bulgaria had the potential to halt the Soviet invasion, and even invading Pact countries. The Bulgarian Army itself was thoroughly beaten back, with most of the troops either deserting or outright defecting to the growing Army of the Socialist Republic. But NATO help never came. Britain was preoccupied with the invasion of their homeisland while the majority of US troops was still at home. Moreover the Democratic Army of Greece (DSE), the militant group of the Greek Communist Party, being influenced by current events plunged the cradle of democracy into civil war independent of the directives from Moscow. The DSE was quickly put down by the Greek Army, but it nevertheless managed to block the landroad from Greece to Bulgaria. Bulgaria was in effect on its own.**
The decisive Battle of Sofia.
01:00 London fell. 02:00 (UTC) Soviet troops reached Sofia. Being pressed to a thin line the Bulgarians mounted a counteroffensive to the south of their capital, but their efforts were fruitless. The Bulgarians couldn't move without being targeted from rockets or cannons mounted on Soviet planes. All the while hundreds of artillery batteries bombarded the capital and Bulgarian lines every hour. Once the Bulgarian capital was reduced to the unrecognizable Soviet troops poured in. It turned out to be savage house to house fight. It was in the streets of Sofia and the mountains of Bulgaria the Soviets recieved the brunt of their casualties. Hundreds perished as the Bulgarians clenced in fighting it out to the last bullet. The first attack into Sofia itself (and not long range bombardement) claimed 265 Soviet casualties alone. The Soviets payed dearly for Sofia.
Bulgaria is dealt with.
One week into the war the Bulgarian government and monarchy fled to Macedonia or Greece. All of Bulgaria was now in effect under communist control. With Bulgaria secured the Soviets moved their eyes to the south, ready to invade Greece who had just recovered from the communist uprising. It was believed that if Greece fell the Soviets would achieve total control of the Balkans and the Mediterranean. Still the Royal Navy was present in the area. The Battle of the Mediterranean and the Balkans were far from over..
Nice KDO.
The Soviet Intervention in Bulgaria was a huge success taking "only" a little over 500 casualties, meanwhile the Bulgarians suffered over 3.300 casualties. Marshal Popov was back into the warmth after his many blunders in the Far East and China. Now he was to turn his focus to the south and invade Greece. Moreover he was to be reinforced by the Caucasian Front and their 18 elite mountaineer divisions - prime for the mountains of Greece - once the Netherlands fell to the Soviets later on in April. The first stage of Operation Neptune had concluded, the second stage was to begin. The Revolution in Bulgaria was ready to be exported to Macedonia and Greece...
*So I might, or I might not, reward Bulgaria with the Yugoslav state of Macedonia and/or the Greek states of Central Macedonia and Thrace if I win the war. We'll see.
**Okay so the bug led to the Greece being neutral for the first days. So that was still trying to explain why Greece didn't intervene.
So that was the first update as I am back. We'll see what topic the next update will be about
The mushroom cloud above Odessa about one hour following the drop.
11 o'clock, noon of the 3rd of September of 1945. A 15 year old school student outside of the once bustling city of Odessa had just taken a well earned lunch break, far removed from the horrors of the war. A lone plane flew above her, certainly it was one of the many valiant patriots returning home from their bombing raids in Greece she thought to herself. Then a sudden flash illuminated the sky. In the moment of the impact most perished. The fireball was 370 metres in diameter, with a surface temperature of 6,000 °C. But the horrors had just begun, within 20 minutes a firestorm erupted that spread out in 3.2 km in diameter, with fallout causing instant deaths within 1.3 km in diameter. The blast itself had the power of 16,000 tons of TNT or 2.100 conventional bombs dropped from B-29s. Odessa would be the first city to be the victim of the new atomic age. Within minutes the port city of Sevastopol and the Ukranian capital of Kiev were also bombed, flattened under nuclear fires and waste. The war had taken a new gruesome turn, one it would never truly recover from.
Our industry is at its total capacity ready to produce wonder weapons.
Let's back up a little. Prior to the war the Soviets reaized the combined industries of the Pact nations in the long run wouldn't stand a chance against the potential industrial might of the British Empire and especially the United States of America. New economic laws were passed that placed the Soviet economy completely under control of the central state, with the Soviet Armed Forces having significant control over the economy. Moreover hundreds of thousands of men who were previously earmarked as recruits and reserves were instead shipped over to the factories to produce bullets and bayonets for the frontline troops. Women were also expected to leave their homes and take jobs in the industries, does who did not comply were forced. As London fell several documents and personell, American and British alike, were secured that confirmed the worst Soviet fear; the United States were in possession of unprecedented powers. The Soviets not wanting to fall behind expanded their nuclear program. Tomsk-7, Krasnoyarsk-26 and Krasnoyarsk-45 was ordered where the former would enrich uranium and the two latter would produce plutonium. Following the atomic bombings over Ukraine and Crimea another reactor who produced plutonium were ordered. Despite the massive increase in nuclear reactors the first Soviet atomic test wouldn't be concluded in over 200 days. For now NATO had the upperhand.
Knocked out Trotsky Tanks.
The Soviets made momentus gains that baffled contemporary commanders of both sides and historians to this for their rapid and effective gains. The Thames were reached in under seven days and despite London coming under a vicious fight it wasn't the death trap the Soviets feared. The atomic bombings were still in the future and the war was as "civilized" as a war can be. The British were just beginning to set up a functioning defense and the previous orders to not engage the Soviets were disregarded. Lord Halifax and his government was taken prisoner by the Soviets during the capture of the Parliament and Downing Street. It was said Churchill managed to escape as he were not one of the prisoners and hopes were high that he would continue the struggle. Alas he finally had to bow down as another heart attack struck. Only the King managed to escape (fearful of suffering the same faith as the Russian and Bulgarian royal families to mention a few), in the absence of an elected government technocrats and officers were given the task to form a national government. Their first order was to establish defensive lines behind the rivers of Thames and the Great Ouse, along with the woods Cornwall, Wales and the urban area of Bristol. A general directive was also given to retake as much land when possible and the first US and Canadian troops started to pour into Cornwall, Scotland and Ireland ready to cleanse Great Britain of the Red Menace. The British dug in and the Soviets plunged right into renewed defenses with moderate casualties, as a result Tukhachevsky ordered a day for rest and refit, much to the dismay of the more aggressive commanders - but to the relief of several Soviet soldiers.
All of Southern England will fall.
But the pause was not to last. The citizens of Bristol was woken up to artillery barrages that lasted for hours, the same were five British infantry brigades holding the forests to the west of London. This was the usual Soviet operation modus: devastating artillery barrages followed by massed infantry and armored assaults. The British forces who had barely managed to escape the Soviet onslaught during the first days of the invasion were caught off guard, despite this they put up a fight. But the Soviet overmight was too much. A British soldier detailed the attack on the forests "I couldn't move, I couldn't see, I couldn't hear. It was just flashes and noises all around me. The explosions rocked the ground making it hit me right into my chest sucking all the air out of me. Earth was cast up and hit men with blunt force, killing them. The trees splintered apart under the explosions and flinged splints all around us penetrating all in the path giving them a horrendous death. Others were tossed through the air as dolls from the blasts, smashing them into the trees breaking their bones, others again got their lungs blasted apart or filled with firewounds.. I laid there unable to do anything, shell shocked got an entirley new meaning. Following the hellish barrage Soviet infantrists rushed towards us in the thousands supported by several Trotsky tanks unleashing hell over us. They ran toward us screaming the dreadful 'ooorrah'. But we fought back, despite being pushed further and further back we fought back. When the Soviets realized they couldn't beat us back they sent forth the beasts of Trotsky tanks armed with flamethrowers to flush us out. It continued like this for several waves, we fell back to the next line, where another barrage followed with another assault. And it went on and on during the entire day".
British soldiers dig in outside of Plymouth.
The goal of taking the forest west of London was in order to secure the northern flank of the Thames, and prevent NATO from using it as a stronghold. Meanwhile Bristol was under siege as it were a vital crossroads into Wales and Central England as well as a potential port of reinforcements coming over from Ireland or across the Atlantic. The Soviet Paratrooper Army meanwhile were ordered to ready itself for another jump. This time they were to assault the major airfields south of the river of Trent (concentrated around Bristol and Birmingham) and to link up the Soviet frontlines and disrupt British frontlines. Capturing these airports would give the Soviets a significant operational advantage, no longer had they to travel all the way from across the Channel, but could instead operate from the heart of England and conduct air missions much more effectively. It had the same effect for the defenders, now they had to rely upon the airfields in northern England and even Scotland. As the artillery ravaged the city of Bristol and the woods west of London the Soviet Air Force launched an offensive toward these airfields void of compassion to batter the enemy before the Soviet landings. While Rokossovsky and Gorbatov was given the task of making a dash toward Central England, Kuznetsov was given the task to secure Cornwall. This peninsula was a literal torn in the side of the Soviet planners. Its rugged terrain would prove difficult to traverse in, meanwhile its narrow front would make for major battles. Then it was the port of Plymouth who was reported to take in thousands of Canadian and American troops. If NATO were allowed to use Plymouth and Cornwall as a base of operations, they might as well cut off the Soviet invasion force and encircle them. Heavy fighting was to come.
The VDV is again instrumental in the fall of England.
10 AM, the 30th of August the gliders of the Russian paratroopers came in to the landing fields the pathfinders and paratroopers of the Airborne Divisions had prepared. Most of the landings and air assaults went smoothly with the airfields north and east of Bristol and west of Birmingham being captured. Within hours Soviet and Pact fighter and CAS squadrons streamed in while engineers hastly repaired the airfields. Further to the east however the airfields around the mouth of the Great Ouse had a garrison of one infantry brigade led by Field Marhsal Alan Brooke, the 1st Viscount Alanbrooke. The Soviet paratroopers soon came under heavy fire all over the landing zones. It seemed as if the 3rd and 4th Paratrooper Divisions would only field patched resistance, but as they gained radio communications with the mainforce they managed to call in air support. This quickly dispersed the British counterattack, making the 1st Viscount unable to draw on their advantages in organization and higher firepower. From the east a Soviet Mechanized Corps was rushing in to reinforce the paratroopers and take the many airfields in the region. To the south of said airfields the British was barely holding off a Soviet mechanized assault and was expected to fall within the day and at the most the following day. This was a strategical nightmare for the British as the flat terrain there provided for a road toward Birmingham and Bristol, encircling the British forces holding the Soviets off in the forests west of London. Further to the west the defending forces of Bristol surrendered to the Soviet overmight as they became surrounded following the paratrooper drops to the north and east of the city. The paratroopers themself moved on to take on Birmingham. If the Soviets got hold of that city they would get a chance to control the industrial centers of Central England, as well as opening up the road to both Wales and Northern England. The operational prospects for the British general staff was grim, but bright for the Soviets. The Seven Days to the River Thames enviosioned that they would reach the Thames in sevem days, that was accomplished, but it also detailed they would reach the river Trent on the 9th day. The 31st of August would be the ninth day, would the Soviets look into Northern England by the 31st?
The Soviet airforce face hardship.
The Soviet Union and the Paris Pact enjoyed air superiority, but they didn't achieve air supremacy. The Soviets ace up its sleeve was sheer numbers and the surprise of the sudden offensive across the channel. But as battlehardened pilots and squadrons all over the Commonwealth and the United States poured into the British Isles the Soviets saw an increase in air losses. The Soviets enjoyed greater numbers, but they also suffered higher casualties. As the Battle of Britain progressed the Airforce reached the critical moment where the Soviet aviation industry couldn't match the production output with the loss of aircrafts over England. The Soviet high command hoped the new airfields conquered in England would lessen the burden of the Soviet Air Force and reduce their losses. Meanwhile NATO looked optimistic on the developing situation. Most of their defensives failed to be effectively carried out mostly due to attacks from the Soviets. There was several cases of armored columns who should only take two days from the reserves to the front would go up to over 2 weeks, and with the majority of the combat forces being reduced even before they got to the frontline. If the Soviet Air Force could be teared down slowly in Britain as its troops got bogged down as they progressed further north NATO might have a chance. In coordination with the air offensive the Royal Navy launched a major operation from Scapa Flow. Its goal was to make a dash toward the Channel and cut the Soviet invasion force from mainland Europe. Meanwhile the Soviet Air Force was being grinded down, while American and British forces engaged the Red Army. The fate of Britain laid upon the Royal Navy in what was to become known as the "Battle of the English Channel". But that is a topic for another day.
Cornwall a thorn in our side.
On the 31st of August the Battle of Plymouth still raged on. The two British Infantry Brigades and the sole Canadian Brigade was nowhere to be seen, instead two Dutch Infantry Brigades fresh from the fighting in their homeland - and with a desire for vengeance - held the port. Kuznetsov had the upperhand, but despite this his armored assaults into the city perimeters was stopped by Dutch anti-tank guns. As the majority of the 1st Belorussian Front attacked Plymouth head on, one light tank brigade and two motorized rifle divisions moved into the forests around Plymouth, both to secure the forests from NATO manuevers, forced recon and to surrender Plymouth.
The Soviet Army readies to push into Northern England.
On the 1st of September the river of Trent was reached, secured and crossed - just one day above the most optimistic predictions of 9 days. In Cornwall the full British force there revealed itself having a total of 25 Infantry Brigades, 8 Armored Brigades and one Canadian Brigade holding the peninsula and Plymouth. Suffice to say this resulted in a bloodbath. However the dash toward river Trent and the offensive into Central England made for a disorderly retreat by the British Army. The Soviets capitalized on their success and pushed their men relentlessly forward, the British were frightened by the Soviet advance and couldn't quite believe what happened. Gorbatov and the 3rd Belorussian Front was ordered to make a broad advance in the west to secure all of Wales. This was both to secure their flanks against NATO reinforcements, but also to prepare for a base of operations for the coming attack on Liverpool but also Ireland. Meanwhile Rokossovsky and the 2nd Belorussian Front would advance north to reach south of the rivers of Mersey and Wharfe and south of what was named the "Liverpool-Hull Line". This was a somewhat narrow defensive-line that stretched all the way from Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, York and Hull. As the line was situated mostly in urban centers and behind rivers the Soviet commanders dreaded the prospect of the operations to break these lines. The British on the other hand managed to reorganize their forces and a British officer boasted "nothing can come past us". But they had one weak link, and that was the flat terrain north of the rier of Wharf and east of the river of Ouse, to the west of Hull. However to the south of this weaklink there was a dense forest that the British believed couldn't be traversed by armor. The Soviet High Command fearful of the Liverpool-Hull Line ordered the VDV to again make a very ambitious jump. This time they would secure the urban enter inbetween Manchester and Leeds to prevent it from becoming a British stronghold, moreover they were to make jumps into the forests north of Liverpool to block the road to the city and even a jump into Manchester itself. Most ambitous was the jumps far into northern England. The commander of the VDV in the field, Chibisov, noted in his diary "my men are tasked with repeating their great sacrifice during the first invasion of Nazi Germany".
Soviet forces face stiff resistance.
Rokossovsky moved north toward the Liverpool-Hull Line, but he faced severe resistance. The 2nd Belorussian Front had to move through dense forests and the British army and population was mobilizing after the initial shock. Gone were the days when the Soviet armor could just roll through England with little opposition. A Soviet tank gunner noted frustrated in his diary "we rolled through the forest full spead ahead, then as the lead tank rounded the corner he was hit in the side, and he soon took fire. We stopped and I aimed into the treeline, but no enemy was to be seen. The machine gunners fired suppressive fire on likely targets, while we were ordered to back out. But then another anti-tank round hit the T-34 in the back. We were boxed in, and we couldn't see the enemy. The infantrists riding in the APCs were ordering to get out and assault into the treelines, but as they disembarked they came under small arms fire and they fell like flies all around us. Our frontal armor faced the treelines, and just in the nick of time a round hit our front, but it bounced off. My commander told me to look for the enemy, but I couldn't the smoke obscured my vision who weren't the greatest to begin with as my sights didn't have any peripheral vision. Mortars started to slam down right upon us, it wasn't enough to damage our armor but it was enough to shake us and stress us - the infantrists suffered immensly. I'm glad I wasn't straight out of training as I didn't panick. I saw tanks who drove in all directions and fired their main guns into nothing. But I waited, I then saw a machine gun flash and fired upon it. After a while the infantrists managed to form a line and push into the woods, while observers gave us fire cordinates. After hours of bloody conflict the British disapperead again. We were called back and the entire area was to be leveled under artillery, rockets and bombers before we were allowed to enter again". The attacks Rokossovsky and his men faced persuaded the Soviet High Command to halt the attack. The attack towards the Liverpool-Hull Line was to wait until Cornwall and Wales was secured, then all three Fronts, once in position, would attack toward the outskirts of the line. The paratroopers were disappointed as they recieved the order "no jump today", but they would be needed and tested elsewhere. Trotsky himself had halted the operation, he knew that war support could falter if the Soviets took heavy losses. This, meanwhile, angered some Soviet commanders as they feared it would give the British and NATO a chance to further dig into the dreaded Liverpool-Hull Line. Still when all three Fronts attacked the Line head-on they would have a significant advantage in hardware.
But first it must secure Cornwall.
The first turned to the second, and during midnight the defenses of Plymouth was reinforced by several new Brigades, among them two American Armored Brigades. However the already battered troops stationed in Plymouth risked being overrun before the fresh troops could properly take part in the battle. The defenders suffered heavy casualties on the outskirts of Plymouth with the armored forces being picked down one by one. A single Canadian Brigade remained in the trenches outside of the port while the Soviet forces closed in to take the port and the streets.
None shall escape the Soviet wrath!
For a full day and the entire evening the battle raged on. The fighting was vicious and brutal. Despite throwing in everything they had the multinational defensive force was driven out from Plymouth. Tanks and mechanized infantry secured the outskirts and beaches of Plymouth, while legged infantry moved into the city itself. There was only pocketed cells of resistance inside the city. The remaining defenders hoped to pin down the Soviet infantrists in order for NATO troops to evacuate by sea, however the open area around Plymouth made for the Soviet soldiers to simply call in strikes from the air, rocket systems, howitzers or assault guns. The enemy strongholds was taken out, and only a few NATO brigades managed to evacuate by sea the remaining (27 infantry brigades and 9 armored brigades) was forced to retreat to the western most tip of Cornwall. With Soviet armored forces moving into the forests north of Plymouth they risked being boxed in, massively understrength. They were sitting ducks. While the port of Plymouth was secured it still couldn't be used as a supply port by the Soviets. There was still formidable coastal batteries who could fire upon any Soviet vessels. The Soviets sent out raiders and engineers to these fortifications, who were dubbed "the concrete battleship" and lashed phosphor smoke into the latches and holes of the fortifications. This was followed up by grenades, explosives and flamethrowers. None survived.
US Superfortresses set up bases in Cyprus and the Levant.
Meanwhile, on the 1st of September President Truman delivered an ultimatum toward Trotsky: "Pull out the Paris Pact troops and restore the post-war borders or face the consequences". Naturally the Soviets shrugged off these threats, but they soon became concerned. There was increased bomber campaigns by both the Americans and British all over Europe and reports had it new and gigantic bombers was flown into Scotland, South Korea and the Middle-East. These bombers had been kept as a secret by the Americans, but they were the soon to be infamous Boeing B-29 Superfortress a four engined strategic bomber able to operate to lengths of over 9.000 km - in other words it could operate well into the USSR and Europe. The alarm bells rang all over the Pact territories. The Soviet plans did account for a total nuclear bombing of France and the Baltics to prevent reinforcements to the invaded Britain. Soviet intelligence officers expected the worst from the leaked "Operation Dropshot" which stated USA would drop 300 nuclear bombs and 29.000 high explosive bombs all over the Soviet Union, wiping out 85% of their territory. Other plans lowered the actual numbers to "only" 20-30 nuclear bombs. Still the Soviet Union was fearful of a nuclear strike, especially as reports ticked in that NATO was planning an amphibious invasion in the Baltic States close to the industrial and ideological heart of Leningrad. The Soviet Air Force was on full alert and covered France, Germany, Scandinavia and the Baltics from any American aggression.
The atomic bombings of Kiev, Sevastopol and Odessa - a true disaster.
But the Americans managed to decieve the Soviets. It was over the Ukranian cities of Kiev and Odessa and the Black Fleet homeport of Sevastopol that was leveled. Noon of the 3rd of September 1945 saw the three cities being attacked with atomic weapons with mere minutes seperating them. Mustangs and Thunderbolts escorted the Superfortresses over the Balkans and Black Sea, punching a hole through the Soviet air defenses, meanwhile other Flying Fortresses and Superfortresses bombed Hungary and the oilfields of Romania to divert Soviet attention. The fireballs themself claimed thousands of lives, with the shockwaves hundreds of thousands. Many more got 1st, 2nd and 3rd degree burns, but the true effects wouldn't be shown many months and even years later. Odessa was hit by the uranium based "Little Boy" having a blast effect of 15 kilotons of TNT. Kiev and Sevastopol was hit by the even more crippling plutonium based bombs of Fat Man and Uncle Leo (named mockingly after Trotsky) having yields of 21 kilotons and 20 kt respectively. The Americans devastated Ukraine and the Black Sea port of Sevastopol. The cities was targeted as Kiev was the capital of Ukraine, and Odessa being the thid most populus while Sevastopol housed the dreaded Black Seas Fleet. The Americans hoped to take out the Black Sea Fleet while in port before the British launched their major naval offensive in the Eastern Mediterranean. Ukraine was selected mostly as it was the breadbasket of the Soviet Union, but partly as the people there was the least loyal to Moscow. These events devastated the Soviet morale, Kremlin even tried to keep it secret from the public, however it was just too heartbreaking to be kept secret. Trotsky vowed that this was the reason why they fought against the capitalists and imperialists as "they would rather exterminate us than see true democracy and socialism". However many Soviets knew it was indeed Trotsky and the communists who started the war, so the loyalty to the regime fell drastically. Most of the Soviets wanted peace and for their loved ones to come home after millions never came back. Moreover as Ukraine was targeted during the harvest season the nation risked being plunged into an economic crisis at best, and a famine at worst. The Soviets needed a major victory to restore the faith of their population and rally all behind a common cause.
All of southern England is under the iron grip of Trotsky, surviving American and Dutch brigades evacuate.
Filled with hatred and sorrow the 1st Belorussian Front continued on their onslaught in Cornwall. Kuznetsov was reported to ask for a capitulation of the forces in the region, but as he heard of the news all he could say was "my heart is full of hate. What will I say to the families of the fallen in Ukraine, that we did not fight?" The Soviets stepped up their game. Cornwall came under a massive bombing campaign, and as with Rotterdam and Amsterdam Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, York, Hull, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Belfast came under terrible strategic bombing campaigns. Until now the Soviet strategy focused on sparing the workers of England hoping for them to rise up. The gloves were now off. In Cornwall the last man was killed in an offensive unmatched in brutality, meanwhile Truman gave Trotsky his old ultimatum.. Pull out, or face the consequences.
Firefighters fight bravely, under hail of bullets and bombs, to put out a fire in Liverpool.
As Cornwall was secured, the 1st Belorussian Front under Kuznetsov could focus on the north where Rokossovsky was bogged down. Meanwhile Gorbatov was making advances in Wales, albeit slowly due to the rugged terrain and Welsh and British partisan groups and combat brigades. Their eyes would turn toward the well defended and entrenched Liverpool-Hull Line. The war had lasted for 13 days, still millions perished and with the atomic bombings only new found barbarism would take place as the Red Army readied to take on northern England, street by street, house by house. And the British refused to give up to the Red Menace..
British infantry take up positions in Liverpool. Hell is to follow.
Denmark the tiny Scandinavian nation on the northern periphery of continental Europe were the target under Operation Mercury. The 1st Baltic Front was tasked with striking in from the south into Jutland (Jylland in Danish), make a lightning offensive sweeping away any resistance and take control over Aarhus in less than five days. Aarhus was the vital point in the NATO defenses in Denmark, taking out the port city would effectively stop NATO reinforcement into the small peninsula. Meanwhile the 2nd Baltic Front under Marshal Vladsov was to land on the beaches of Zealand (Sjælland) - the island holding the Danish capital - securing all of western and central Zealand, while PACT troops attacked directly into Copenhagen from the east. The Soviets looked toward the German invasion (in fact taking advice from several former German officers) and expected Denmark to fold within hours when met with an overwhelming force, and if they resisted that the defenses would falter in a matter of days. Securing Denmark was vital for several reasons, but they could all be summarized into one thing: Baltic Approaches. The Soviets, or rather the PACT as a whole, feared that if NATO were given enough time to hold Denmark they would seize the oppurtunity to make a significant buildup and in turn threaten to either contain the PACT fleets within the Baltics, begin on a strategic bombing offensive well into the Soviet Union, but they feared mostly an invasion right into Poland and the USSR itself, threatening to cut off the western forces. Great care was taken to conquer the until now mostly geo-politically insignificant nation, but NATO were as well aware of the importance of Denmark. For months Americans and British advisors had trained and outfitted the Danish defensive forces to prevent a repetition of the Danish nation during WW2. Moreover several British and American brigades were earmarked to go to Denmark in case of war under a unified "Allied Forces Baltic Approaches" or simply BALTAP. Field Marshal Henry Wilson, the British commander of BALTAP and former commander of the middle eastern forces, naturally keen on revenge on the Soviets, took great care to inflict maximal casualties on the Soviet invaders. He even announced to the Danish Army "we've turned Copenhagen into a Fortress, that will shield all of Europe from the communist hordes". It remained to be seen if the Soviets got the Blitz they dreamt of, or if Copenhagen truly had been turned into the Copenhagen some claimed.
Hopefully Mercury won't become a quagmire.
Artillery preparations comparable to the battle of Berlin were being mounted, Pact troops moved into positions only waiting for the word. A massive artillery barrage and air bombings were being mounted as hostilities opened all over Europe 17:00 local time. It was not until 02:37 the first Soviet and Spanish troops crossed into Jutland. After such a massive and purely violent opening barrage and bombings PACT generals hoped it would completely break the Danish defenses. The Soviet morale was high, one Soviet sergeant even captured the speech of his commander before they ran over the Danish-German border: "The colonel came toward us in full battle gear (unusual for a man of his position) and stood atop of a BTR while he ordered us all to pay attention. He then began his rousing speech "Comrades, it's good to see you here tonight! And it will be even better when I see you all soon storm over those trenches! Then we'll teach those capitalist hounds how to fight. They thought they could bully us into submission, they thought we would give way and fold, but today we'll show them that the Red Army bows to no one! Today we'll show them the might of the Soviet Union! Get to your positions, we go to war!" he shouted out to the cheers and applause of thousands. Flares were shot up all around us, and we rushed into the Danish defensives.." The morale was high and an easy victory was taken for granted, but it would be anything but that.
Volunteers in Denmark.
The Danish section would soon put up a surprisingly stiff resistance. Much of it can be contributed to political refugees and exiled soldiers. Following the Soviet and communist takeovers in Germany, Sweden, Finland and Norway many chose to leave their countries (either on their own accord, or to save their skin) and Denmark became a natural hub of said exiles. These men bolstered the ranks of the Danish Army and the NATO troops being ready to fight fanatically against communism to stop the spread of the hated ideology or liberate their homecountry. Many would provide invaluable expertise on how to conduct defensive wars, and in the case of the Germans on how to fight against the Soviets. With the latter several German weaponary would come into the hands of the troops defending the Danish borders giving them a better chance of facing the Soviet invaders. As the ill-equipped Danish homeguard and reservists forces were decisively beaten back in southern Jutland, these hardened, and often fanatic, foreign troops rushed to the frontline at their own peril. Said forces didn't stop the Soviet advance, however they managed to put up enough resistance to slow down the Soviet advance and allow for Danish and NATO troops to enter the area and take up defensive positions.
Pact troops fail to cross into the fortress.
In the east a mix of Czech, Swedish, Polish and Hungarian troops crossed Öresund strait from the Swedish cities of Malmö and Helsingfors. Their plan was simple, land to the north of Copenhagen itself and to the south of Helsingør, establish a beachhead and attack into Copenhagen, then another landing party would land into Copenhagen by the seaside.. While the PACT coalition attacked Copenhagen from the north and east the 2nd Baltic Front would take control over western and central Zealand and then move into Copenhagen from the south. However Kowalski and his multi-national invasion force now got a first taste of the fortrtress that Copenhagen had been turned into. The strait was littered with mines being placed out by the Royal Navy and the Royal Airforce. More over coastal fortifications were set up that covered the sea. The first landing waves were bombarded and sunk to the bottom of the sea. After several gruleing hours where the PACT troops had to clear the beaches and straits of mines under heavy artillery fire, the naval troops could land on the beaches. However these beaches were again being set up in pre-detirmined artillery killboxes. The PACT troops was under extreme fire and immense pressure, but that was not all. Directly behind the beaches the Danish defenses had set up bunkers and trenches that covered the landing zones, with mobile units and elite Royal Guards in reserve to counterattack and hold vital road junctions. However the ace up in the Danish sleeve was naval and close air support bombers provided by the British and Americans. Tempests and Helldivers took off from several airports within Copenhagen or just outside of it. These war planes provided direct fire support or attacked the landing crafts coming over the strait. The airfields were so close by that PACT and Soviet airplanes in the area had little to no chance to react. Once fighters came in, the NATO air force had already dropped their load. Wave after wave hit the beaches of Zealand, but each wave was either repelled or pinned down. The once white beaches of Zealand was turned into red beaches, in the midst of a carnage. The beaches were littered with corpses or men laying beneat the shingle unable to move forward. A USMC advisor to the Danish observed "so this is how it was from the otherside during Downfall". But the crossing of this strait wouldn't be successfull as Downfall turned out to be. The men that crossed over on the 22nd, and didn't perish, continued to fight on on the beaches throughout the night. Several relief forces was sent, not to push forward but to evacuate. However the Danish counterattacked with their Dragoons, and the PACT had to give up their offensive. Marshal Vladsov listened nervously to the ticking reports, as he were to make on Zealand aswell.
We've less progress here than in England..
The 28th of August, the sixth day into the war. The prospects of a swift lightning strike into Aarhus in five days were put to shame. The Soviets had the clear upperhand in numbers, quality of troops and equipment, yet they struggled to break through the multiple layers of Danish defenses. The defending Danish never truly believed they could hold off the united Pact war machine, but their entire strategy was based upon one thing. To delay the invaders. Each crossroad and each town into Denmark was defended by several layers of trenches and artillery killzones, while each block was heaviley fortified. Once the Soviets broke through the Danish fell back to the next line and gave up a fight. As mentioned their strategy was not to defeat the Soviets in open battle, but to delay them for long enough for their NATO allies to relieve them. However in the end the Soviet pressure became too much. Along the eastern section of Jutland the Soviet forces were finally managing to push to Danish up north. Still it was a grim reminder for the Soviets of what was to come. They believed the flat terrain of Denmark and their overwhelming force would bring about a rapid victory. Instead the flat terrain would make it easier for NATO forces to pick out Soviet tanks in the open, while the heavy concentration of Pact troops made for huge logistical problems.
Typhoons sweeps in.
The Soviet difficulties to advance could perhaps be best described in their effort to gain control over a critical road junction to secure Aabenraa. Soviet T-60 tanks scouted ahead driving down the road leading up to the junction. As they passed into a residential area they soon came under heavy anti-tank fire. Danish troops had taken up positions equipped with American M3 Grease Guns and Super Bazookas. The lightly armored scout tanks stood little chance to the Danish and had to retreat. The T-60s pulled out and requested fire support. Sturmoviks flew in at a low altitude ready to unleash their full fury, however the sky were soon filled by shrapnel and flaks. The Danish had set up mobile anti-air units in the rear. The Soviets replied with sending out a mechanized assault. After an intense bombardement from Katyusha rocket launchers T-44s and BTRs rushed in to seize the area. However the infantrists came under heavy German captured MG34 and 42 fire while the tanks were pounded with M20s. The Soviet infantrists managed to break out under heavy fire and wicked close quarter fights ensued lasting the entire night. Over the next morning the Danish pulled back into the treelines by the cover of the darkness inflicting major casualties on the Soviets. Heavy artillery then pounded the Soviet positions in the newly conquered town, once again Sturmoviks were sent out to deal with them, but they again fell under anti-air fire. The fighting continued like this for several days with the Soviets taking one small village at the time. On the 5th day the critical junction was under view, however it was dominated by an industrial complex that had lines of sight and fire in all directions. This time around American and British fighter-bombers were used to great effect when attacking the Soviet advancing columns. Soviet fighters were just out of reach, while Soviet AA guns came under heavy fire from the complex if they were within reach. For a full day the Soviet armored advance had to push forward while under attack from the air, claiming several tanks in a matter of hours. Once the industrial complex was reached the tanks and infantry again came under heavy fire, however as the buildings were cleared the Danish pulled out again and retreated to the next line of defenses overlooking the junction. And so it continued for days until the entire axis of advance was cleared. The Danish managed to inflict high casualties upon their enemies. Despite this the Soviets pressed on and eventually broke out, however with the slow advance STAVKA was worried the entire Danish enterprise would turn into a quagmire.
The fight for the beaches have begun.
Despite the seemingly lack of progress in Jutland, by night of the 28th the Soviets were making progress in Zealand. While the Pact offensive into Copenhagen failed, it opened up eastern Zealand as Danish and NATO troops had to pull into Copenhagen and the surrounding areas to protect it. As such 11 Rifle Divisions and one Light Tank Brigade landed with little opposition on the 27th of August pacifying most of central Zealand. To the west, however, the Soviets assaulted the beaches of western Zealand. Despite having overwhelming numbers the beaches of Denmark took hours to tame. Early in the morning the first Soviet landingcrafts hit shore, but came under heavy fire along the beachhead. The 26th Rifle Division, the first division to hit the beaches, even came under so heavy fire that they had to retreat back to safety in Sweden. Still as the day turned night the Soviets managed to establish a beachhead a few kilometers inland, however they still had to deal with major Danish resistance. All the same it was of vital importance to capture the beaches here. Both to prevent furthern reinforcements of Zealand and Copenhagen, but also to capture the major airfields of Zealand, effectively crippling the NATO air defensives over not only Denmark, but the Baltic Approaches as a whole.
High casualties are needed to secure the beachhead.
On the evening the next day the Soviets and Danish had battled eachother for days on the beaches and the farmlands of Zealand. The beautiful Danish countryside was turned to a moon like enviorment, only gray mass and craters. The divisions that secured central and eastern Zealand fanned out probing the defenses of Copenhagen and using their light tank brigade to secure the lesser islands of Møn, Falster and Lolland to the south of Zealand. It became appereant that Copenhagen indeed had become some sort of fortress and Vlasov called off the attack into the city itself, instead they were to hit the remaining Danish units in western Zealand in their vulnerable flank. Doing so would cut off the Danish capital who would eventually fall under a massive siege. More over the Soviet troops got the news of the fall of London giving them a much needed morale boost, while the Danish got an equal fall in their morale. If even London, the center of the British Empire and a superpower, couldn't hold off against the Soviet invaders how can tiny Denmark do so then? Despite this the battles in the beachhead stiffened. During the night and the day the Danish made a coordinated effort, bolstered by NATO carriers, to counterattack to reclaim the beaches. The fighting was savage. And while they didn't manage to completely throw out the Soviet invaders, two more Rifle Divisions had to break off their attacks and return to Sweden to not face defeat. Emboldened by this tactical victory and the failed Soviet attempt to claim Copenhagen a lone Danish Brigade stationed in Copenhagen was ordered to launch a campaign to breakout. It was a fool's attempt, and it became clear that the Soviets were here to stay. Thousands of Danish troops fell to the Soviet bullets, shells and rockets in an attack that did nothing to alleviate the desperate situation in Zealand - and Denmark as a whole.
Take away one card and the house of cards implodes.
Once the first Danish defenses had been penetrated there would be little that resemebled an orderly defense. Gone were the initial days of brilliant defenses the full might of the Soviet Union and the PACT had been estbalished. All vital junctions had been taken and along with them the major cities of Aabenraa, Esbjerg, Ribe and Velje. Aarhus was within striking distance. And so were the last remaining major airports in Jutland and Denmark as a whole. If the last airfields were taken by the PACT then the NATO situation would be dire indeed. NATO had relied upon excellent work from their carriers air groups earlier, however with the Battle of the English Channel in full swing these airplanes were naturally focused on the English Channel rather than the Baltic Approaches. If the last airfields fell, then Denmark and the Baltics would be left virtually withut aircover of any kind. However there was hope among NATO troops. Despite taking horrible losses, with even a British Armored Brigade being beaten back into Fun, Aarhus showed its importance to the fullest. Several Canadian, American and British brigades - infantry and armored alike - anded on Aarhus and spread out over Jutland ready to push the advancing Soviets out. However it was not be an easy battle, a Danish conscript warned his newly arrived Allies "death came in like a whirlwind. No matter what we put up they would keep going on and on and on, stopping at nothing but complete victory".
Most of Zealand and Jutland are secured.. Time to secure our flank in Funen.
Funen, or Fyn in Danish, was the strategic linkup point Jutland and Zealand. Although the island only contained one battered Canadian brigade and a near crippled British Armored Brigade and two Columbian Divisions the small island could become a major future threat. By Odense there was a port that was currently being expanded to house NATO naval squadrons and as a reinforcement point. If Funen was reinforced by sea it could very well threaten the flanks in both Jutland and Zealand putting the gains over the last days in jeopardy. While the Danish made another futile attempt to break out of their fortress in Copenhagen, Vlasov gave large amounts of his Front orders to spread out over western Zealand and be ready to engage their enemy. By 21:00 the units were in position accounting for one Mechanized Corps, one Heavy Tank Brigade and seven Rifle Divisions. After an intense bombardement from air, land and sea Odense was captured within minutes as the first Soviet troops landed on the city 1:43 local time. With the port and major city of Funen firmly under Soviet control Vlasov ordered his troops southward. They thrusted toward the NATO troops there after a typical artillery shelling. "The entire area was ablaze from our Katyushas. We pushed forward relentlessly as our fighters and bombers swooped in from above and took them out one by one. The capitalists put up a good fight, especially the British tanks. However their Shermans, Comets and Cromwells were no match to our T-44s and Trotskys! As their inferior tanks bowed to the might of the Soviet Union we called their armor mockingly for 'Tommy Cookers'. The fighting lasted for the entire night, but by nightfall we linked up with our Magyar brothers and we'd broken the pigs". The NATO troops were cut off from any point of reinforcements, supplies and even cut off from any point of retreat. As night descended upon southern Funen so did the Soviet troops. To make matters worse as the battle raged on three Hungarian divisions landed on southern Funen. The already encircled NATO brigades were sandwhiched and had to surrender as the sun rose.
We need to close the Baltic Approaches lest we risk a NATO invasion - or things even worse.*
While the Red Army made major gains on Danish soil and being bogged down in the dense forests of Jutland another pressing issue came about. Intelligence had it a major NATO naval landing would take place in Kaliningrad (former East Prussia) and the Baltic States. However to make such an invasion NATO needed the Baltic Approaches to remain open and so the Soviet gambit to close the approaches only intensified. The majority of the NATO fleets in the area were tied up in the English Channel in the battle that enveloped over there so the task of keeping the approach to the Baltic Sea ironically fell upon land based forces. By now, the 3rd of September, the Soviets understood the scope of NATO atomic power and to what lengths they would go to end the war. James F. Byrnes and Harry S. Truman warned the Soviet Union that USA would bomb the Soviet Union and her allies again and again until they ceased hostilities. The situation were precarious. Strategic bombing haven't really worked and it had been showed that people couldn't be "bombed into submission". However the atomic bombs brought about a destruction on a scale never seen before. Several top Soviet diplomats, politicians and even generals advised Trotsky to accept a status quo ante bellum arguing that if the Soviet Union kept on fighting there would be nothling left to fight for. However as the airfields in Jutland and Zealand was taken USA had little chance to actually escort their bombers into the Baltics. Still STAVKA feared that the United States would launch an invasion of the Baltic States and Kaliningrad with atomic bombings of Kalingrad, the Baltic States, Leningrad and even atomic strikes all along the Vistula river in Poland. Taking out Denmark was now given the highest priority, lest the Soviet Union face total destruction.
Pe-3 light bombers strike into Copenhagen.
However things repeated itself in Denmark as it did in the Netherlands and England. The gloves were off, the Soviet Union had no longer any ideological constrains of sparing the proletariat of Europe. Copenhagen had for days held out against Soviet an PACT offensives. As a prelude to greater offensives the Soviet Air Force was tasked to weaken te self proclaimed fortress. As the mushroom clouds died over Ukraine Pe-3 night fighters took off from their bases in Zealand and swooped over Copenhagen. What they did was to drop down flares on strategic points in the Danish capital. Soon thereafter hundreds of Soviet tactical, medium and strategic bombers flew lowly over Copenhagen dropping incendiary over the Danish capital with major firestorms following. Still it wasn't enough to tame the Soviet anger and lust for revenge. For the next days the Danish capital was bombed day and night by Soviet bombers of all kinds with their official pretexes being to immobilize critical infrastructure and the NATO defenses.
The fortress of Copenagen withstand any attacker..
Still Copenhagen proved to be a tough nut to crack. After the night attack upon the capital the last democratic Scandinavian stronghold would not falter. The fortress of Copenhagen became a deathrap for the Soviet forces and even the mighty Trotsky tanks fell to the defender's anti-tank weapons. For now the fighting revolved around the outskirts of Copenhagen and mostly the crossroads around Roskilde. As in southern Jutland the defending NATO forces put up several layers of defenses all the way into Copenhagen itself who in the meantime had been turned into a fortress. PACT troops had suffered dearly when they tried to break these lines. Soviet troops were bogged down, yet again, as they approached toward Copenhagen and readied to enter the city itself. It was a frightening premenition of what was to come during the Battle for the Liverpool-Hull Line. Wave after wave of Soviet tanks and infantry was sent toward an unbreakable wall. But as each attack failed, yet another one was sent in. This was a war of attrition - a war the Soviets had prevailed at before to a shocking cost.
Intense battles in the silk fortress.
But where the Soviets were stalled in Copenhagen in Jutland they progressed facing only pocketed resistance. Aarhus was taken at noon of the 4th after fierce artillery duels. The forests around Aarhus and central Jutland, one being called Silkeborg or silk fortress, saw the brunt of the fighting as American, Danish, Canadian and British troops took up their positions in the dense forests hoping it would obstruct the Soviet juggernaut. The forests became riddled with minefields, killzones, trenches and anti-tank emplacements. However the Soviets were ruthless. As they were bogged down in the forests or stopped by minefields they didn't bother to send in the infantry. Instead they launched several smoke and phosphour rounds from artillery and by air into the forests. After that incendiary and high explosive shells and bombs riddled the forests turning it into a place fit for the worst scenes in Dantes Inferno. The forests that was intended to halt the Soviet advance and trap it was instead turned to a death trap for the NATO forces, who in turn had to retreat to the next line of defense.
A cornered rat.
Following the Battle of Aarhus and the horrors of these surrounding forests Govorov ordered his men to halt and rest. After intense weeks of fighting his men were worn out and needed a breather. More importantly the major NATO contigent was confined to the northern most tip of Jutland being unable to get their sufficient supplies and reinforcements. The 1st Baltic Front could afford to rest, resupply and plan their next move - BALTAP could not.
American forces under heavy fire.
Early in the morning of the 7th the Soviets probed the defenses in the forests south of Ålborg. As these forests contained vital roads and junctions into Skagen and the majority of NATO troops they couldn't simply burn it down as they did before. Instead Soviet riflemen ran into Canadian troops who barely held their ground against the Soviets. After hours of fighting the Canadians pulled out, however NATO was quick to send in reinforcements. The US sent in elements of the 4th Infantry Division and 2nd Ranger Battalion. Their task was to hold the line long enough for the other NATO troops to recover and counterattack. The Americans fought on valiantly inflicting heavy casualties upon the Soviets, using the terrain to take out several Soviet tanks and establishing crippling artillery barrages, however in the end the sheer might of the Soviet Union and the complete lack of NATO air forces in the region defeated the Americans who was forced to retreat toward Skagen after two days of battle in woodland and urban areas alike. NATO was pushed back to a last stance.
Soviet troops engaged in Copenhagen.
But it wasn't only in Jutland the Soviets fought it out. Copenhagen the last true NATO stronghold in the region had been under siege for nearly nine days by now, with daily and nightly air bombings, artillery barrages and Soviet advances into the suburbs and cities. The Soviets took Roskilde and encircled Copenhagen after fierce battles. However as they entered into Copenhagen itself the true brutality of the war unfolded itself. Soviet troops came under heavy fire in every block they moved into. A Soviet rifleman noted in his diary "we could take one building with several of my comrades falling. Then we battled on an on in the other houses, but then we came under fire from houses that we had cleared before and entire areas we'd taken were no longer secure. We called in air support and everything else we had and watched as our rockets and cannons leveled the western strongholds to rubble to the hurrahs of our troops. Believing we were safe we moved in, but again came under heavy fire. It was a total mess and a nightmare, my nerves are getting worn out. The enemy is everywhere and nowhere. Too many have died in these ruins and I am not sure have many more of us will fall until the Danish surrender so that the suffering on all sides can come to an end". The battle for Copenhagen was turning against the Soviets, and on the 8th of September they were forced to pull out of the city itself. However the Battle of Copenhagen was not over. The Soviets completed their control over the surrounding areas and shelled the city with artillery flattening entire neighbourhoods with Katyusha rockets. The harship the Soviets faced outside of Copenhagen poetically mirrored the Soviet struggle all along the Liverpool-Hull Line - but more on that later.
Make it or break it.
But the war went on. On the 9th of September the NATO troops in Jutland was confined to the northernmost tip and the port of Hirtshals. Mustering an impressive force there the Soviets feared NATO would evacuate and pull their troops away from the sinking ship and so they prepared for an assault to finish off the NATO troops. But NATO was too aware of this oppurtunity and Lieutenant General Fredenhall ordered his remaining men to make a last ditched attempt to retake Ålborg or at the very least buy his allies time to evacuate. However the Soviet power was too much to put it simply, and the Americans were quickly losing the battle as they ran into well entrenched Soviet soldiers and elite Mountaineers. To the east near Copenhagen the fortress began to crumble. After thousands of dead on both sides the Soviets started to push into the city being reinforced with fresh Spanish, French and Czech troops. The Soviets began to take control over the city as the 14 brigades that had once defended the capital was reduced to a mere three brigades. Henry Wilson, the British commander of BALTAP, was taken out in an aistrike and things went south from there on. Most of the British, Canadian and even Danish brigades then surrendered and some even took it to the seas only to being sunk by Soviet submarines or naval bombers. A miracle was needed for NATO to turn the tide of the battle of Denmark.
The games are concluded.
The American counterattack was beaten back. The forests and landscape south of Ålborg was firmly under Soviet control. The dense woods would become the bane of the Americans who retreated to the north where the remainder of NATO troops prepared to hold Hirtshals, evacuate or die in the attempt. The Soviets on the otherhand would have none of it and launched an offensive from Ålborg 3 in the morning, on the 11th of September. The Soviets were fueled by their rage and hatred for the Americans and Govorov capitalized on this by sending mainly Ukranian units into the first assaults. The attack continued on through the night and by early morning all major crossroads leading into Hirtshals, Skagen and Fredrikshavn was secured. But the Soviet onslaught did not end. Out from the forests a Soviet mechanized corps sprung out and quickly encircled and split off the various NATO forces. The commander of the corps noted in his hour of triumph "so this is the fear Americans we heard so much about. I'm not impressed". By noon the following day most of the Danish and NATO troops had surrendered or fought to the last bullet. There only remained one American brigade, one Canadian and three British armored brigades. By the end of the day they would be rounded up and all of its soldiers surrendering. The Battle of Jutland had come to a conclusion, a battle that was expected to last for five days ended after 20 days of battle.**
The final push into the fortress.
All of Jutland had fallen to the PACT forces, all that remained were Copenhagen that had a battle raging on for weeks by now. As opposed to northern England the urban battle here was no longer a stalemate. The last Danish troops had fallen back into the very heart of Copenhagen, but their morale plummeted as Soviet leaflets began dropping in saying that Jutland had fallen, the Danish government had fled into exile and the NATO troops had left Denmark for good encouraging the Danish troops to surrender rather than fight a pointless battle. Some leaflets even went as far as saying "Workers of Denmark, you have nothing to fear but freedom". Despite this Thomas Bonde and his remaining men (many foreign exiles) fought to the bitter end in Copenhagen. The fight was bitter, but it was to end soon.
The Baltic Approaches have been secured.
After midnight of the 12th of September the Soviet flag could be seen hanging from both the Danish Royal Palace and the Parliament. After weeks of intense battles the Danish capital finally surrendered with Danish soldiers being literally dragged out from their final hiding place; the sewers. For such a small nation they had inflicted considerable damage upon the Soviet aggressors who lost nearly 22.000 men in the battle of Denmark. Denmark on the other hand lost over 230.000 men, a considerable loss for a nation having around 4 million people (Around 5.78%). The greatest loss would be during the claustrophobic Battle of Copenhagen where NATO lost over 175.000 men in a single engagement - and that well before the final battle for the city center where nearly 30.000 Danish troops lost their lives. The Battle of Denmark had come to a conclusion with a major strategic victory for the Paris Pact. While the 1st and 2nd Baltic Fronts had performed well there was concerns about the pace of the operations and that NATO troops could deal so much damage despite their limited numbers, and STAVKA worried about the ongoing battles in England. Despite all of this the two Baltic Fronts were ordered to Wales where they would prepare for Operation Pluto; the Invasion of Ireland.
A small country occupied at the cost of high casualties.
Chapter 46: If you wish for peace, prepare for war.
The Mighty Hood moves into position.
London had fallen. The country was in crisis. The Royal Navy had made it their solemn honor to protect the British Isles from foreign aggression as they in the Napoleonic Wars, the Great War and against Hitler. However with London fallen and most of southern England under Soviet occupation the people, politicians and generals alike were furious on the Royal Navy for their inability to do anything about the Red Menace. In fact they had been outmanuevered by the Soviets who positioned their superheavy battleships across the narrow straits of the Channel to deny the Royal Navy entry. Several skirmishes, patrols and incursions to break the Soviet blockade was tried, but they all fell short of the massive Soviet battleships, the lone Béarn carrier but most importantly the massive presence of the Soviet Air Force. However now the Admiralty spotted a chance. The Soviet battleships was taken for repair and refuel along the French and English coast, while several air wings were diverted away from the Channel to instead support the fighting inland. HMS Hood, the pride of the Royal Navy, steamed out from Scapa Flow and headed for the English Channel. Behind her lead was the five battleships of King George V., Malaya, Royal Sovereign, Rodney and Resolution, followed by the seven aircraft carriers of Glorious, Ark Royal, Furious, Illustrious, Formidable, Indomitabe and Victoious. Names that were sure to strike fear into the heart of Soviet sailors. Their goal: to crush the Soviet Navy.
Clash of titans.
A little after 1100 the first British ships headed into the English Channel, while the Soviet fleet was in being and caught off guard. The greatest naval clash since the Battle of Jutland was about to begin. At first it was but a minor raid with the Mighty Hood leading five fast battleships into battle, but supported by seven aircraft carriers. The Soviets, on the otherhand, had solely conventional warships, save for the single French carrier, and relied upon their massive firepower and landbased aircrafts. The British's plan was simple, evidence from the last world war made it clear to all the superiority of the aircraft carriers. They relied upon that the Hood and the battleships would raid into Soviet lines and keep them engaged while torpedo and dive bombers swooped in and took down the Soviet beasts one by one. It was said to be a clash between pre-World War and post-World War doctrines. Trotsky would pay dearly for his affinity to big guns, or so the British claimed. The British capital ships and screens moved into position to raid the Soviet bases waiting for the aircrafts to launch a surprise attack against the ships in base. The Soviet Navy would be sunk or forced to retreat and the Brittania would once more rule the waves, preventing any reinforcements and supplies reaching the Soviet invasion force. However the weather soon turned sour and the clouds gathered as the winds picked up and the rain poured down. The British aircrafts was grounded on their ships due to foul weather and poor planning; the limited air space was simply too crowded. Things went worse. The Soviet Air Force mounted a counterattack with a total of 435 fighter bombers and 107 torpedo bombers being ready to attack from the coast of France, Belgium and England. They all headed straight toward the raiding party. First to be attacked was HMS Resolution taking a critical torpedo hit to her stern. The Battleships continued to be under attack with all of the five battleships taking major or minor damage. But most shockingly a lone Il-2 came out of course, as it came out of the clouds it was positioned over HMS Furious and launched all of its rockets right onto the carrier. Several of the aircrafts on deck were caught in the explosions, however a fuel pipe was broken and all of the deck was consumed in fire. The aircraft carrier didn't receive any significant damage, however it was enough to prevent the deck from being used for a while. Other smaller raids were conducted on the aircraft carriers, however the Soviet airmen were wary of the British fighters and only minor damage were dealt with. The Royal Navy failed to deliver a crippling first strike and the Battle of the English Channel had just begun.
OOB: 4x superheavy (Soviet Belarus, Novorossiysk, Murmansk, Vladivostok) BB3: Lenin. BB1: Marat, October Revolution. BC2: Sevastopol. FRA BC=Dunkerque and Strasbourg.
The Royal Navy is getting boxed in..
The battle dragged on and several British warships were scrambled all over the Atlantic to partake in the ongoing clash. Among them were the heavy cruisers of HMS York and HMS Norfolk out on escort duty in the atlantic, with them they brought a trio of destroyers. Things went well for the new attachement, however by the evening they were spotted by a squadron of Soviet naval reconnaissance planes. The planes quickly reported back to a group of submarines operating in the area. And so the hunt began. The naval bombers came in on an attack vector dropping their torpedos, however they were quickly turned around under a hail of shells. However they managed to correct the course of the British cruiser duo who sailed straight into one of the Soviet submarines waiting for them. The sub alerted to the rest of the group the area the warships came in through and fired its torpedos. Sub-130 who waited for the capital missed its first shot and submerged out of the area. However two of the destroyers were falling in behind it, being equipped with state of the art sonars. However the destroyers were intercepted by another pair of submarines. While HMS Vesper diverted to deal with Sub-206, Sub-130 turned around. Vesper managed to deal damage to Sub-206, however 130 hit a direct hit on Vesper, forcing it to turn around. Barely managing keep afloat, with several of its crew already dead Vesper were non functioning. HMS Blanche steamed forward to retreat rescue covering her retreat. After dropping several depth charges and other countermeasures Sub-130 were wrecked and sunk to the bottom of the ocean. However Blanche decided not to follow Vesper back and remained to fight. Another sub, number 301, fell victim to the destroyer, however as Blanche was isolated she soon became the victim of several torpedo and cannon shots. The final killing blow came from Sub-118. As they were still in battle they couldn't afford to rescue the survivors. Now with only one remaining escort the two cruisers came under fire from all directions. They navigated out of harm's way from most torpedos, but the massive swarm of Soviet subs and bombers were too much for the cruisers. Submarine-402 sunk HMS Norfolk while 422 sunk HMS York. The Western Approaches was in effect shut off as a point of reinforcement for the English Channel.
Soviet Belarus block the Channel.
Gunshots, torpedos and bombs echoed through the entire night. Explosions and fires were no longer isolated to the English coast, but the entire channel was lit up. Both sides watched by and cheered for their own ships. Still little had been done under the hours of the contact. However the British managed to get in more reinforcements, primarly the aging battlecruiser of HMS Repulse leading in four new heavy cruisers and several screens. They rammed right through the Soviet lines with one French destroyer being sunk. However as the night battle came to a conclusion the Royal Navy had to face the harsh reality. Under the guise of the night the Soviets had moved their dreadful ships of Soviet Belarus and Vladivostok to block the channel and keep the British in. These enormous ships had in the day only been matched by the Yamato class battleships. With them gone the Soviet Republic class "superheavy" battleships were the largest ships in the world. With their dreadful 460mm cannons they could fire upon their enemies well before they could, and they were designed to withstand severe punishment. Moreover there were two more of them. The British sent Hood, four heavy cruisers and several destroyers being supported by two carriers to break the blockade. But under the ravaging fire all four of the heavy cruisers were sunk by the two superheavy battleships, and while they functioned as bait the many torpedo and fighter-bombers dived in and delivered most of the punishment. In all four heavy cruisers, two light cruisers and one destroyer sunk. The Royal Navy had sailed into a trap. It became clear only one side could get out of the carnage alive.
Soviet submarines surge deep into American seas.
Meanwhile further to the east the Soviet submarine fleet moved further and further out of Vladivostok. While trying to find American merchant convoys they were instead taken up by an American detachment patrolling the Philippine Sea hoping to end the submarine threat. The Americans sunk one Soviet submarine, however at the cost of three of its own destroyers. It became clear that the Soviets had learned well from the Germans, and an invasion of the Soviet Far East was simply too dangerous with the submarines hunting for prey all over the Far East.
HMS Formidable on fire after a critical hit.
The battle raged on for days. A Soviet sailor later sai "it was a nightmare that never ended. We were trapped in this constant state of alert. Sometimes we envied the dead as they had peace". Battleships longed to engage in head on battles however the warplanes on both sides prevented any noteworthy advances. Meanwhile the battlecruisers of both sides raided the heavy and lesser cruisers. In a final attempt to push the two superheavy battleships aside the aircrafts carriers of HMS Formidable and HMS Illustrious steamed ahead with their CAGs bombarding the Soviet Republic ships. The destroyers that escorted them were sunk as they came into the range of the monstrous battleships. The two aircraft carriers came under heavy fire and were only saved by their own CAGs keeping the battleships occupied while a pair of fast battleships came in from the North Sea to relieve the aircraft carriers. Formidable and Illustrious made the.. formidable task of managing to escape through the blockade. Instead of taking up the chase the Soviets maintained their blockade and the two British carriers was severly damaged. The Soviets responded by taking in the wrecks of scuttled and damaged warships from the Second World War and provide obstacles in the waters to prevent a future escape.
Mare Nostrum.
Meanwhile in the Mediterranean the Royal Navy launched another major operation. Their goal to sink the Black Sea Fleet and open up the road to Trotskygrad and then Ukraine and Russia. However the British underestimated the Soviet battlefleet again. It was nothing but a disaster for the British. Operating against the Arkhangelask class and Karl Marx of the Lenin class (both having 406mm cannons) and the Kronstadt battlecruisers the British soon walked into a deathtrap. By three in the morning the battle that lasted through the night came to an end. Only one battlecruiser remained and the brunt of the British fleet in the Mediterranean was gone. It became clear that the Admiralty didn't quite understand the scope of things as the Soviets managed to open up the straits and they paid dearly. The Mediterranean was in dire need of reinforcements, however the Pact was in the process of closing Gibraltar and the Suez. The Pact was close to achieving total dominance in the region.
The Far East Fleet remain contained..
Even further to the east the Soviet Far East Fleet stationed in Vladivostok was emboldened by the success of their comrades in the west. So they shipped out of their waters and headed toward the Philippines. However by the coast of Korea they were stopped by USS Canberra and her escorts. USS Canberra and two destroyers were sunk, however USS Helena remained. Still for that price four Soviet destroyers were sunk and they were forced to retreat. On paper it might look as if the Soviets would win, however American tactical grasp won the day and the Soviets were outmanuevered. Moreover the Soviets feared that an American carrier task force or battleship squadron would appear and finish of the Far East Fleet, as such they retreated and licked their wounds in Vladivostok.
The Mighty Hood is no more!
A disaster rarely comes alone. After the defeat in the Mediterranean the British suffered a crippling blow to their morale. Something happened that shouldn't happen, the Mighty Hood was defeated. Hood and HMS King George V. wanted to end the raids by the Soviet battlecruiser of Sevastopol and the two French dunkerque class battlecruisers. The trio used their excellent speed and armament in a cruiser and destroyer killer role scoring several victories. The British of course wanted this to come to an end. Hood, King George and CAGs set out to hunt them down. They came under a duel and it became clear the Hood and King George overpowered the battlecruisers. Their armor was weaker. Instead they pulled out and directed several air strikes upon the battleship and Hood. This obscured their vision, and the communications of Hood went down. King George got reports of approaching battleships and that the escorting carriers were under fire, making the CAGs retreat. Hood pushed ahead and they soon came under fire from the approaching Murmansk and Lenin battleships dealing significant damage to the once mighty ship. Soon Novorossiysk led on the aging Matar and October Revolution battleships to cut off the axis of retreat for Hood and King George. Both warships came under heavy fire from both sea and air. King George was in full flames after several direct shots from the battleships as well as torpedo hits and made a last ditched retreat under a screen of smoke. However Strasbourg caught up with King George and struck the killing blow into the ship carrying the name of the former king. Hood on the other hand managed to use her mighty speed to outrun the battleships, albeit at a severly reduced state, and even sunk several destroyers and a cruiser. The Mighty Hood prevailed where King George did not, but fate had it a French light cruiser managed to destroy it. HMS Hood was at the breaking point, however the light cruiser that came into its path managed to lodge out shot that went right through the weakened (and already weak) roof of the Hood. Soon the many flames and explosions spread to the magazine aft which exploded. Eyewitnesses told of the ship expanding and retracting like an accordion before it exploded right in the middle. Reports had it green fires blew straight up to the skies. The Mighty Hood was no more, and it was a profound shock to the British morale. As it was not enough with London haven fallen and a fullscale invasion of England well underway, the pride of the Royal Navy was no more. Many saw it as an omen for what was to come.
The British Mediterranean Fleet are no match.
Outside of the coast of the British Mandate of Palestine the Royal Navy conducted several smaller raids, primarly the remaining Battlecruiser leading submarines into raiding parties. Several smaller skirmishes like that resulted in loss of British submarines, but no Soviet ships. The battlecruiser, on the other hand, remained afloat and became some sort of symbol. A symbol of persistence over the Soviet war machine and for the Soviets a symbol of defiance that needed to be ended.
The new kingpin of the seas are no more.
For days both sides continued their battles and skirmishes all over the English Channel. The air forces of both sides prevented any real gains for both sides. There was no decisive battle that admirals all over the world had longed for after the inconclusive Battle of Jutland. The Soviets made a radical plan. Sevastopol, Lenin, Marat and the October Revolution would engage the British battle squadron. While they drew fire and most of the CAGs were tied up in this risky battle, the Soviet superheavy battleships of Soviet Belarus, Novorossiysk, Murmansk and Vladivostok moved in with the two French battlecruisers and the carrier of Béarn. Their goal was not the battleships, but rather to hunt down the carriers. Through the Second World War there had been poor results in battleships engaging carriers head on, resulting in the former king of the seas escorting merchant ships or carriers. However the Soviets had a major airfleet of their own, and most of the British planes were engaging in the battlefleet skirmish. Wave after wave of Il-2s and Il-4s opened up the assault crippling the British carriers. Il-4s flew in with torpedos before breaking off, followed by Il-2s unleashing a volley of rockets, with the next wave coming in with 20mm cannons. The fourth wave came in high above the clouds diving and dropping their payloads. It was such tactics that managed to sink HMS Glorious. The torpedo gunner of the Il-4 that brought down the ship said "the smoke was a thick wall from all the oil that was aflame under us from the last days of battle and especially the previous waves hitting the carriers. I was told to get ready as the pilot descended. Our bomber was much larger than most airplanes and we were a sitting duck for the anti-air guns from the many destroyers and cruisers around us. Plane after plane dropped down or burst into flames around us. I yelled at the pilot to pull out, but he refused even as our left engine took a solid hit. I aimed and dropped the torpedo. I didn't get to see the results as we had to crashland in the water. But we were welcomed as heroes once we got home. We had sunk it!" The British were shocked and in disbelief. HMS Glorious were breaking apart right in front of them, explosion after explosion. The dreadful superheavy battleships then closed in and opened up their cannons after several destroyers sent in their torpedos. All of the five remaining carriers were sunk. Glorious by the war planes, Victorious by Dunkerque , Furious by Murmansk, Ark Royal by Novorossiysk and Indomitable by Soviet Belarus. The British battleships disengaged from their current battle to come to the aid of the carriers, but it was too late. It was a crucial victory for the Red Fleet. With the British carriers out of the way they gained air supremacy. Nothing could stop them now.
Soviet battleships open up.
The final clash came early morning of the 12th. The remaining battlecruiser HMS Repulse and the four remaining battleships of Malaya, Resolution, Royal Sovereign and Rodney prepared for a final strike. To escape by to Scapa Flow and sink as many Soviet warships as possible. Battleship went toe to toe with other battleships and a terrible exchange of fire followed. The battle lasted for hours with rough seas obstructing the sights and aims and each capital ship managing to withstand severe punishment. The screen ships, on the other hand, were being picked down as flies. Their fates were left to the water gods as the two fleets were busy exchanging fire and death. The fires could be seen and heard miles away and for a moment it seemed that British would manage to break the Soviets. However as the skies cleared the Soviet Air Force started to come in and unleash hell. More significant this meant the dreadful Soviet 406mm main guns could open up with great accuracy. One by one the British battleships, battlecruiser and heavy cruisers exploded. The thunderous sound of their explosions could be heard miles away. A surviving British sailor only remember "so much fire, screams. It was death everywhere. And the water, was thick from oil and cold as ice". The Battle of the English Channel was over.
A national disaster for Britain, an omen for the future?
The long theorized decisive battle between battleship finally came. And with it the confidence and morale of an otherwise stubborn people withered away. The Royal Navy was brutally crushed in two engagements, losing most of their carriers and several battleships and even the national pride of HMS Hood. The Royal Navy was supposed to be the insurnance from a naval invasion, the offensive into the English Channel was supposed to cut the Soviet forces off the mainland and slowly starve them out. But it was not to be, instead the Royal Navy faced a harsh defeat. It was a crippling blow and Trotsky celebrated in the capital and putting his naval adversaries to shame. The Battleship was still King, and the massive resources put into the new battleships was well worth it - or so it seemed. Still the Royal Navy consisted of the two surviving carriers, four battleships, five battlecruisers and nine heavy cruisers. The US Navy had a further 15 carriers, 12 battleships, 12 battlecruisers and 28 heavy cruisers. If the US Navy would challenge the Soviet Navy it would massively outnumber it. Yet one had to ask, where was the US Navy in this moment of need? The PACT won a decisive victory, still the war hadn't lasted for a full month yet and nothing was set in stone..
September the 12th. After heavy fighting the Soviets were driven out off Manchester. The Soviets had ceased their offensives for days now as despite their might they were unable to break through the British defenses. The distant rumbles of artillery was no more, however the people along the Line got no rest. Ever since the 3rd of September the Soviets had engaged in a ruthless campaign of strategic bombing. Oblivious to the failure of the Americans, British and even Germans on this field the Soviets hoped to "bomb Britain into submission". After the Soviet cessation in offensives the strategic bombing only stepped up. STAVKA hoped to demoralize the British population, Army along with tearing down the defenses. Despite the daily and nightly bombing into industrial and military areas the population and army did not surrender. On the contrary it managed to unify and the talks of revolution disapperead under the noise from the bombing by the Soviet Air Force. The battle had just begun.
Long live Wales.
A week earlier the Red Army resumed their offensive into Wales and northward after their successful drive north of the Thames and the conquest of Birmingham. The attack started on the midnight between the 5th and 6th and was a daunting sight to bear witness. All along the line the Soviets opened up with impressive artillery fire and flares blinding the enemy along with disheartening the young British men protecting their homeland. Amidst the darkness and chaos Soviet tanks rolled forward shooting on the exposed British positions. The poor British soldier was taken ablast, with one detailing his experience "we couldn't see anything besides flashes to the rythms of Soviet machineguns and cannons. We couldn't hear anything beside said rythms and the screams of dying men and attacking Soviets. We were fighting blindly and the Soviets mowed over us. It was all over in a matter of hours, we never knew where they came from and where they went". After days of rest the Soviets launched their attack to cut off the British stationed in Wales and cross the river of Trent. Following that they would strike north into the feared Liverpool-Hull Line, now only reffered to as "the Line". The Soviet assault was advancing all along the front, however they were stopped in the forests south of Liverpool. The Red Army had a difficult time manuevering in the dense forests and their tactics to take the heart out off the bravest of men failed as the Soviets stumbled in the blind in said forests aswell. Said forests would stall the Soviet advances for weeks and would result in a carnage. More on that later.
We took them by surprise there!
As the night and shock faded the British managed to move their troops into position. Their maingoal was to push back the Soviet advance and establish a perimeter south of the Line. In the forest south of Liverpool they managed to halt the Soviet assault. However the Soviets launched an air assault as they baited the British out from their defensive zones. Two airborne divisions landed in Manchester wrestling of control of the city from the garrison, while two other divisions landed south of Leeds and the Wharfe taking control of the urban area there. The British responded with a ruthless counterattack from Leeds. The goal of the paratroopers was to establish control over the bridges and crossroads leading into Manchester and Leeds awaiting the advance of the mechanized thrusts. From there on the Soviet forces would penetrate the Line and encircle it. Once the Soviet armies reached Manchester (it was planned to be the focal point for the breakthrough) further airborne forces would land in behind the Line again awaiting the main mechanized force. However around 10:00 the Soviet airborne divisions in Manchester came under heavy fire. The paratroopers had to clear out several key buildings with no radio communications with the main Soviet force, which meant little to no air or artillery support. The paratroopers were quickly isolated and were in dire need of relief. From the south Rokossovsky and his Front arrived. However Rokossovsky soon became entangled in a predicament. As the Soviet paras in Manchester were isolated he couldn't launch a major artillery and katyusha barrages as it would risk blue on blue fire. Instead the infantrists coming from the south had to engage in the urban combat similar to the paratroopers. Worse off was it south of Leeds. The paratroopers there were tasked with securing bridgeheads into Leeds for the Soviet advance, but an awkward situation situation arose as the British were too tasked with keeping said bridgeheads open. To facilitate for retreating NATO forces and also to establish a foothold in the urban center. The British counterattack from Leeds was without mercy. The British infantrists moved over the bridges and by boat under heavy Soviet fire. However the British enjoyed having much heavier hardware in the form of artillery etc and pounded the Soviets. The paratroopers on the other hand was only outfitted with light weaponary designed for close quarter combat and not to contain large scale assaults. The tip of the balance was quickly getting toward the British and the Soviet paras held out valiantly against the British onslaught. The VDV was again put to a massive test.
Industrial complex occupied by Soviet paras in Manchester.
The Soviet paratroopers in Manchester soon got the upperhand. They employed brilliant Maskirovka tactics where several fluent speaking Soviets and even English defectors were dropped into the battle in English uniforms and gear. They spread out in the city and gave vital intelligence back and spread chaos among British ranks giving them false information and even directing friendly fire. The paratroopers became well entrenched and the infantrists under Rokossovky was breaking into the outskirts of the city. However the fighting was still tense. One of the greatest brawls was in a vital industrial complex, vital as it dominated the area and as it was of major importance to the British war industry. A Soviet platoon leader of the airborne forces told his story as they cleared the complex. "We were pinned down and without any means of artillery strike. First platoon crossed no-man's land as the rest of the battalion provided covering fire, the poor fellows got torn apart as they crossed the area. Our mission was clear, take the complex, set observation posts and firezones and provide for a relay squad to set up a mast in order to open up communications. Most of first platoon crossed, but around 1/3 got cut down where the majority of the wounded men laid in front of us screaming in pure agony. We were then ordered to prepare for our assault. In the nick of the time a machine gun company arrived and gave us heavy covering fire. Through a hail of bullets we crossed the field with few casualties. We stacked up along with the greatly reduced first platoon and awaited for the third platoon to begin our assault. Once they arrived they entered the building and heavy fire sounded through the corridors. After the fire ceased we rushed in and had to step over several maimed bodies. (...) After several hours we cleared the ground floor and our men were exhausted, but there was no time for rest. Reports came in the British used this position to observe and correct for artillery fire upon our comrades. I ordered my men to get ready to take the stairs, as the first men got exposed in the stairwell they came under fire and several fell, but we had to push on. I pushed my men forward as we threw grenades up. I ordered my second squad to storm upwards, but in the blindzone hanging above us was a booby trap hanging above the men, one blast was all it took and the entire squad was torn apart. 8 men died in one instant, but we had to continue. Despite this major loss we were still the platoon that suffered the least losses in the push to control the complex. The lights was put out and as we pushed forward into an office-scape of some sorts there was this flashlight hanging in the far end. On instinct the men pushed forward to the flashlight and fired on it. But it was a trap. On the other side the British were in position and opened up fire on us. We battled onwards and I sent squad after squad to its certain death. The British had only six men, despite this we lost around 53 of our men as my company and our sister company switched on who was to storm and who was to cover.
(...) The hours went by and several other companies had joined the fight, and several more men had fallen during the intensive fighting. We were in a narrow corridor leading into a vault with several offices on each side down the hall. We kicked in the door and threw in several grenades, the hall was filled with smoke and dust and screams from the English pigs. I ordered an lmg to take the corner and hold the corridor. Just for good measure I ordered several bursts down the hallway. Then I sent out another squad, I was now in charge of my company as all the platoon and company commanders were no more, armed with smg's down. As they went down two British popped up down the hall and fired upon them, several got shot but they kept on rolling and fired on the English. The British fell, but as the rest followed in behind a team of British soldiers popped out from one of the side doors and clipped them down with furious fire. While my men in the front dropped dead I ordered the lmg to unleash its full potential. The walls splintered and there was dust everywhere, we had difficulties breathing. Several teams cleared out the rooms, and all I could hear was loud screams and gunshots. Soon we took the rooms. (...) After a full day the complex was taken, but at a great cost. My company was no longer battleworthy with the majority being wounded or dead, we only had to hold the complex and await for the mechanized troops to come in rolling and rescue us".
Let's finish off Wales before we finish off England.
It was nearing midnight of the 6th of September, a full day of battle since the renewed Soviet offensive. It was going well for the Soviets. Wales was about to be cut off and fall, with the British retreating all over the front, meanwhile after vicious battle the Soviet paratroopers managed to hold Manchester. The second paratrooper corps south of Leeds however was still under heavy fire and barely held their ground against the British assault. The offensive into the forests south of Liverpool and Manchester was renewed during the middle of the night hoping to take the British by surprise. It was vital to take these forests as they blocked the route into Liverpool and Manchester for that sake. Moreover it opened up a small connection between Waled and the Line. The Soviets hoped to encircle the British entirley in Wales and as such taking the linkup point was of major importance, moreover it also functioned as a possible point of reinforcements into Wales, and a flanking attack, by NATO. The forests had to fall. Still with Manchester taken the Soviets were at a significant advantage. It translated into mobile forces being able to use Manchester as a base of operation to attack the Line in the rear. Tukhachevsky pressured the VDV to launch their operations behind the Line, but Chibisov hesitated. Despite Tukhachevsky being incenses Chibisov and the VDV said that the risks was too high, and that the paratroopers was still exposed in Manchester and south of Leeds. The forces under Rokossovsky or Gorbatov had to reach southern Leeds or Manchester before he could launch such a daring operation. For the paratroopers not in action the waiting was nerve wrecking.
The British hold their ground and counterattack us with success.
Despite Manchester being taken the Soviets failed to advance their forces into Manchester. Gorbatov miscalculated and sent several of his armored forces into the forests, costing him dearly. Meanwhile he prioritized sending in his armored forces to the south of Leeds to prevent it from falling to the British and the 7th and 8th Airborne Divisions from being wiped out. He reckoned that Manchester was already secured, now he needed to secure the southern bank of Leeds or the British and prevent them from entrenching in the urban enviorment. He sent forth a Mechanized Corps, however most of the tanks were held back. Instead he sent in APCs and lighter armored vehicles. The APCs main goal was to break into the bridgehead and city center and retrieve wounded paratroopers. The infantrists who disembarked would dig in and provide heavy fire upon the British attackers. Then the tanks would come in, while all of the exhausted paratroopers pulled out.This tactic worked in pulling out wounded paratroopers, however the British was pressing on and there was legitimate concerns the British would push the Soviets out. Such a prospect was terrifying for the Soviet commanders who hadn't experienced defeat in England yet. If they were to lose one place, could other defeats follow?
The hellish conditions of the battles of Manchester and Leeds.
But the September rain of England led to mud. And the mud led to the Soviet relief forces being delayed. Only a few mechanized units managed to aid the 7th and 8th Airborne Divisions. The paratroopers were on their own. Chibisov was wise to hold off further air assaults. If the more aggressive minded marshals had it their way several Soviet airborne divisions would be cut off. Manchester came under several counterattack, they all failed - at the cost of severly weakened Soviet forces. In Leeds the Soviet casualties piled up. A Soviet soldier wrote in his war diary "I've been here on this rooftop for several days now. Under fire and rain. It is the rain that is the worst, it makes me cold and miserable. When there's firefights I feel alive and I forget that I am cold, wet and numb. All around lay used RPG-1s. We use them to fire into the building beneath us where the British have taken up a position. It doesn't really take the Brits out, but it creates a alot of dust, chaos and make life down there miserable. As the RPGs are one shot only there is countless of tubes around me. After we fire our rockets on our enemies we fire on with 14.5 caliber PTRS anti-tank rifles or 12.7 machine guns on them. The walls then come cracking down. I have no idea how many days we're supposed to holed up here and how long we can last, our ammonution are getting low".
The airborne boys were rescued after massive casualties, the noose around the Welsh dragon tighten.
The third day of the assault on the Line. Wales was falling apart however the forests was still holding off the Soviet attack inflicting massive casualties on the invaders. All along the Line the Soviets were having a hard time breaking through. A Rifle Division reinforced Manchester and attacked into Liverpool from the east, however they didn't manage to make it through the sub-urbs being bogged down in heavy fighting. Along the rest of Line Soviet forces failed to cross the rivers and failed to take Hull. Only south of Leeds the Soviets made progress, this time in the form of a Mechanized corps finally relieving the 7th Airborne Division. The 8th Airborne Division was still holding, albeit barely. The assault by the British from Leeds however was losing momentum as the Soviet Mechanized Corps took up position. It became clear that neither side managed to make any gains. The Soviets were afraid it would lead to a complte standstill, while the British hoped this would lead the new NATO reinforcements pouring in to Scotland could launch a counterattack and drive out the invading forces. For the Soviets a failed invasion was now a real prospect, while for the United Kingdom the fate of their nation hanged in the balance - and hope was on the horizon.
Soviet troops battle their way through the forests.
But there wasn't only in the urban enviorments the Soviets faced hardship, they did so in the forest aswell. STAVKA put much resources and care to secure this zone and the troops were pushed to the limit. Such as witnessed by the accounts of a Soviet conscript in an armored reconnaissance company: "It was my baptism of fire and I was excited and anxious. After 6 weeks of recruit school I was ready for war. I was set up as the footcrew in a BTR while we were also supported by T-70s. Our objective was to secure the axis of advance into a height where the tanks and mechanized infantry was to set up positions and advance ahead. The first day went well, we advanced without any opposition. Over the night we set up several OPs and patrols, our only enemy was the rain and cold. After sitting still on a windy top for hours, soaking wet, we were ordered to march to a hilltop as high command feared the enemy would have a camp there. We felt expendable as we were supposed to perish in the attack. After 12 hours of marching in whipping rain we found no one on the top. So we slept for a few hours riding in the back of our loyal BTR. The next day the sun was shining and the weather lovely, we secured several crossroads and no enemy was in sight. Then as the evening approached all hell broke loose. Our sister platoon had been under severe fire from small arms and artillery. I will never forget the scene. So many dead comrades, so much blood and so many screaming and crying. We pushed ahead in pure fury and killed our enemy at minimal casualties of our own. We embarked on our BTR again and hopped off as we had to secure the flank. After advancing by foot the sun was getting down and it shined in our eyes. It was then I my team advanced into open terrain we got under supressive machine gun fire. All of my team mates simply.. died in a matter of seconds. And I was crawling back under machine gun fire. The rest of the platoon returned fire, but we were unable to take down the British. Just to be sure our platoon leader called in an air strike. It was an impressive sight. But it continued to fire, so we pulled out. It was marked for further strikes and for the heavier mechanized infantry to clear out.
We battled all night, but we won most firefights. I remember when we had to stop as we ran into a minefield. We disembarked and set up a defensive perimeter as we waited for the engineers. Then as we set up perimeter we came under machine gun fire and flares lit up the skies. We got into position and returned fire. There wasn't much to fire on other than where the tracers of our machine guns hit and the muzzle flashes of our enemies. It was on another hill, we were on one too, above the trees. Soon the entire company returned fire along with the BTRs, M1940s and the T-70s. Then we blinded the enemy with our flares, and our platoon commander called in mortar. After a few minutes of calling in the strikes and making corrections it all fell silent. By chance, or skill, we had lost none. We rolled ahead again, but then the platoon in front of us came under anti-tank fire. There was another hill and it was riddled by hostile infantrists and AT emplacements. We stormed the hill under heavy fire. I still remember a Sergeant from our sister squad being taken out. Under heavy fire I was ordered to run out into the open and toward him, the fool had ran ahead from us and was isolated. I sprinted as the bullets raced past me and threw up dirt in my face, by chance I weren't killed. He was dead with his whole skull was just one open wound. I raced back and reported it. By now one in our team was shot in the breast and his respiration fast while the chest moved assymetrical as he breathed. It was a horrible sight. I was ordered to drag him alone back to the tanks and APCs as the rest assaulted the hill. I did so, I used a lot of time to do so as he was heavy and I was tired, cold, wet and most of all scared. Then our BTRs was nowhere to be seen. I was alone. By a chance another BTR that was lost came around, and picked us up. The guy I was dragging was dead. He then drove us to the linkup point where the fighting had just ended.
I slept for a few hours in the back of our BTR. Then explosions was heard. We were ordered to get out, I was lucky to be the first to disembark. Soon most of my squad was shot up under machine gun fire. I couldn't see where it came from, but men all around me died. Then all of the tanks and APCs came under anti tank fire and they exploded. One by one. British soldiers attacked in our ranks and I fired several rounds just above the head of a team mate of mine, and I killed the British. It was strange. The majority of my comrades were dead or wounded, but we had to push on. We took the hilltop and attacked a few foxholes with English in them. We fixed our bayonets, threw grenades on them and then stabbed them. The hill was secure and our mission was done. There was only me and two others left of our platoon. We got sent back to the rear. The next day we heard the armor and infantry that relieved us came under heavy fire and had to retreat. It was all for nothing".
This is the beginning of the end.
Despite the forest, who was believed to be cursed by the more supernatural Soviet soldiers, still holding out the Soviets managed to enclose Wales into a pocket. However several British brigades managed to slip through the forest and take up positions along the Line. By midnight of the 10th, five days into the renewed offensive, Wales had practically speaken fallen and the south of Leeds was finally secured. However the Soviets didn't manage to make further gains. The forest still held, and the British had nearly pushed the Soviets out of Liverpool with the attack into Leeds failing to gain momentum. The whole offensive into the Line became a bloody ordeal and the British got renewed confidence as it was proven that the Soviet war machine could be stopped.
A British mortar crew firing their load under the daring counterattack.
With this surge in morale the British prepared for what would be mere days ago unthinkable; to counterattack. The British went on the offensive and their first target was Manchester. Their maingoal was to keep the Liverpool-Hull Line intact without any holes in it. By early morning after meticulous planning Montgomery launched the attack into the already ruined city. "We assaulted into the city just behind heavy barrages. It was weird to come hom to Manchester, it was so different. We fought our way through taking on weak Soviet forces. They were exhausted after the battles in Liverpool and Manchester. We were to finish the work and kick them out off our city and in turn all of England. We took line after line and it was if the Russians didn't expect us to actually being able to fight. For christ, we took Berlin! Even the cathedral was the victim of a last stand by Ivan, but we took it. A strange feeling surged to my breast as I saw the Union Jack wave over the Cathedral. A sensation of pride, relief and even optimism. Manchester was ours again, we had beat them".
The land and airborne forces prepare for the last push - and so do Britain.
By 14:20 the Soviets were driven out off Manchester after four days of presence and harsh battle. All over the Line the Soviets failed to push ahead, with Rokossovsky wishin to push his tanks in the gap between Leeds and Hull, but the British stood their grounds. In the forests the Soviets had driven into a gigantic cementary. Tukhachevsky ordered the offensives to be ceased. All three Fronts was now to come to the Line and prepare for a renewed offensive and to get some rest. The British did so aswell.
The British counterttack pushed us out of Manchester, but we'll hold the line.
After four days of combat pause the British ended the peace. They attacked into the southern bank of Leeds aswell to the south of Manchester and Hull hoping to reach the Trent. But as the Soviets they failed to make any real progress. The worst Soviet fears during Seven Days to the River Thames was to be engaged in a static war south of the Thames and bloody urban battles in London. It didn't go like that as we all know. Now it seemed as it would happen along the Line. The Soviets needed something new to break the deadlock.
New beasts are needed to break the Liverpool-Hull Line.
And the Soviets got something new indeed. The T-44A was upgraded to the T-44-100 while the LT-3 tanks was rolling out. Despite the T-44A being innovative for its day it still "only" had the 85mm gun, the same as the now mainstream T-34-85. STAVKA required a heavier gun, and it was first experimented with a 122mm gun, however it was too heavy for the current chassis. Instead it was settled with a 100mm gun, which was massive for the time and quite the leap forward. The tank carries 36 rounds for the 100 mm tank gun. Moreover it had the 12.7 mm DShK anti-aircraft heavy machine gun fitted to the loader's hatch. It was meant to be given new side skirts and thickened armor to 120mm, with various new changes. But STAVKA wanted the T-44-100 to be rushed into service, in the future the T-44-100 would get even more changes to its profile, fuel capacity, engine and armor. The LT-3 would replace the LT-2s and KV series. This tank had an improved armour layout and a new turret While this low, hemispherical turret improved protection, it also significantly diminished the headroom, especially for the loader. The low turret also limited the maximum depression of the main gun, since the gun breech had little room inside the turret to elevate, and this limited the extent to which the LT-3 could take advantage of hull-down positions. The LT-3 had the 122mm gun. As the T-44 became closer in resemblance to the LT tanks and lighter T-60s and T-70s the Soviets was moving toward the concept of the British Universal Tank (still on the concept table) and what would later be called the main battle tank. Technicalities aside what mattered was that the Soviets got new weapons that was vastly superior than any other. The medium T-44 tank could take out the heaviest of NATO tanks and protect against it, the Red Army had just redefined heavy and medium tank classes.
British soldiers holding the line.
The British were waiting for the Soviets, but the Soviets unlashed their new machines of war on the 17th of September. The British were taken completely by surprise with reports coming from soldiers "going mental" on the mere sight of the new tanks. The Soviets haven rested for several days and beaten back the British attackers, launched a full scale assault. Fighters and bombers came in from the skies and targeted the British positions, while katyushas leveled entire neighbourhoods and struck fear into the hearts of the British soldiers with its devastating effects and terrifying sound. And the T-44-100s and LT-3 was a gamechanger and plowed through the British ranks.
Both sides are incapable of breaking through the enemy's defenses.
The Line came under vicious attack from all sides. By early morning of the 19th it was clear that the forest was about to fall - which in turn opened up the road to Liverpool - however the battles inside of Leeds and Manchester turned to hell. The already ruined cities was ripe with snipers and booby traps and the house to house fighting was a real strain on Soviet resources. However with progress being made in the forest and the plains west of Hull it was clear that the Line could be broken afterall.
A small gap in the Line is created, it need to be taken.
During the night to the 20th the British evacuated the forested area that had become a living hell for both sides. However the British managed to hold all the urban areas of Manchester, Leeds and Hull. Rokossovsky instead focused his forces to crush through the plains between Hull and Leeds. It was the only area really suited for armored warfare. If these plains were taken the entire Line would fall and the Soviets could finally break out.
The Soviet Army masters war of attrition.
Night of the 21st. "It's a miracle" a Soviet commander reported to his Front. Around Manchester and Liverpool the British were falling back, with one Brigade from Liverpool making a desperate, yet doomed, counterassault to give their comrades time to evacuate. The Soviets were beaten back in Leeds unable to take the city, but they were soon taking control of Manchester and Liverpool and Rokossovsky's tanks was pouring into the plains. It now became a race between the various Marshals of who was the first to hold the Line.
One of the last British strongholds.
The British was in shock, and so was the Soviets. All that was needed was a minor breakthrough and the British forces folded. Only scattered, yet fierce, resistance remained. The Soviets cleared out the Line for around five days. The heavily fortified area was soon taken and once the last pockets was dealt with the Red Army was ready to set their eyes northward. Yet there was a few strongholds left. The Soviets used days, and hundreds of men, to clear them out. Each of these points had to be dealth with, if not the British could use them for bases of operations and fire support. Hull and Liverpool was especially hard fought over. The Soviets struggled to gain control over these cities, however the fate of these remaining bastions was sealed as Airborne Divisions landed in behind them preventing any reinforcement - and escape. While the Soviet armored forces and airborne divisions locked in Liverpool and Hull and engaged the last British lines in the open terrain of Yorkshire, and quickly advanced toward the English-Scottis borderland, the garrisons of Liverpool and Hull did not surrender. Instead seeing as their was no way out for them they become desperate and fought bitterly. Even as Leeds and Manchester was taken and Liverpool and Hull was encircled the British held out to the very last man.
After horrific weeks the Liverpool-Hull line broke down.
On the 27th of September the Line was taken and broken. What was meant to take 9 days to take instead took a month and nearly a week. The Battle of Liverpool-Hull became the bloodiest thus far in the war, overshadowing every other battle - beside the nuclear bombings of Ukraine. On the 5th of September the Soviets attacked from the Trent with high hopes of conquest, instead they faced severe defeats and savage fighting in the hills of Wales, the forests of northern England and especially the urban battles of Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and Hull. Each of these cities are still scarred from the heavy fighting, and so are the men who survived it. It was said that the living envied the dead in those hellish fights. The Soviets had doubled their losses in the fighting over the Line alone, while the UK had lost nearly 600.000 men in one month alone, over half of what they lost during WW2 that lasted for five years. However the British forces remained stoic and fell back to the Newcastle Line ready to stall the Soviets as the first American troops in Scotland arrived to the front. The Newcastle Line formed around Newcastle, behind the Tyne river and the hilly areas on the northernmost area of England. The British dug in again and awaited for NATO reinforcements, in the terrain of the last line in England the massive numbers of the Red Army was no longer to an advantage...
Following the fall of the Netherlands the Fronts that took part of Operation Mars was redelegated to the other theatres of war. While the Caucasian Front was transferred to Greece, mostly due to their large concentration of Mountaineer Divisions, the 1st and 3rd Ukranian Fronts would also participate in what would later be known as the Mediterranean Strategic Offensive Operation, however their part would be to strike from Iraq and control the Middle East. Already five days before the ultimate Dutch surrender STAVKA put up plans for the Soviet invasion of Syria, Lebanon, the British Protectorate of Kuwait and the British Mandate for Palestine and Transjordan. When Operation Mars came to a conclusion the 1st and 3rd Ukranian Fronts would go on the long journey over land to Iraq. Despite the recent victory in the Battle of the Eastern Mediterranean it was unsafe for Pact troops to journey over said sea and staff and logistics officers had to embark on the nightmare of transferring hundreds of thousands of men and great amount of supplies all the way from the Low Countries, through the war ridden Balkans and over to Iraq. During the trek eastwards Stavka also put emphasis on collecting several veterans from Southern Thrust to the 1st and 3rd Ukranian Fronts. This was in order to capitalize on the experiences they made during their invasions of Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq and utilize it during the coming battles against NATO. The date for the invasion was also to be set in the end of September to not give the Soviet and other PACT troopers heat shock and give them better conditions to acclimatize as they came from Europe and to the Middle-East. The 3rd Ukranian Front would attack with 19 divisions into Syria moving toward Aleppo and 5 divisions to strike into Kuwait. Kuwait was instrumental as STAVKA feared NATO would use it as a base of operations for an invasion of Iraq, fearing US troops coming in from the Pacific and the Anglo-Indian Army coming in over the Indian Ocean. Meanwhile the 1st Ukranian Front would commit 12 divisions to secure southern Syria, take Damascus and secure the borders of Lebanon while the other 12 divisions raced into Jordan to reach Palestine and from there on cut off Syria and Lebanon from Egypt.
The British Empire went straight into the trap, advance!
But there was one problem.. Iraq despite being part of the Internationale was intentionally left out of the Paris Pact (and other communist organizations) and was officially neutral. This was in accordance to the greater strategy of the Trotskyist regime; to keep the oil reserves of Iraq and Iran out of harm's way and to have a buffer zone to the soft belly of the USSR. However one of the leading causes of the outbreak of the Third World War was in fact that the British was caught preparing for an outright invasion of Iraq - in order to secure the oil reserves there. The Soviets, meanwhile, had already peaked at their oil and fuel supply - mostly due to the vast expansion of the Red Fleet - and could not afford to lose any of their oil supplies.** However as Iraq was a neutral nation they could not attack from the country. Knowing that NATO was willing to risk the peace for a war over Iraqi oil the Soviets leaked their intentions to invade the Middle East from Iraq. NATO seeing that Iraq was vulnerable as of now and fearful of a Soviet invasion from Iraq declared war on the small Arab nation on the 6th of September while the 1st and 3rd Fronts was still north in Europe fighting vicious battles over Amsterdam. The war had come to the Middle East.
The Rock stands..
It is important to remember that the Battle of Greece and the Battle of the Middle East was all part of the greater Mediterranean Strategic Offensive Operation, or more simply called the Mediterranean Offensive. The Battle of the Middle East would again be split into the Battle of the Levant and the Battle of Egypt. The whole PACT strategy revolved around taking control of Greece in order to control the Dardanelle and Bosphorous Straits (now called the Straits) and the islands of Crete, Malta and Cyprus to control the Mediterranean Sea and to advance through land to take control over Gibraltar and the Suez. As part of these many Operations the Spanish had since the outbreak of the war launched offensives into Gibraltar. However the "Rock" as it was called was heavily fortified with fresh troops arriving from all over not only the Empire but NATO coming it to reinforce the garrison. By the 27th of September the Spanish had launched offensives for well over a month, but facing a strange mix of Commonwealth, Liberian, Irish and top notch American troops their many attacks resulted in disasters. In addition to the Spanish troops French troops was also thrown into to the battle, and the Rock was standing despite ferocious bombings and assaults. The Rock also benefitted from "White Spanish" troops who had fled or deserted Spain after the victory of the Far Left over the Liberals, Democrats and Conservatives, but also as the Republicans won over the Nationalists. The British had not passed up that opportunity and several of the troops in Gibraltar and the Middle East was in fact anti-communist Spanish soldiers. Following the end of WW2 several French troops joined with the British Army, most notable the Foreign Legion. This was especially true as the United Kingdom and Free France joined in under a Union with the remaining French colonies housing the exiled French government. These "White" Spanish and French troops would see extensive combat against their "Red" brothers in the battles of Gibraltar, Greece, Northern Africa and the Middle East. Yet for now the Soviets did not send their aid to Spain instead they focused on striking in a swift and brutal offensive from Iraq and into Egypt. The American insistence on granting Libya sovereignty free of western or eastern influence played to the Soviet advantage. Unlike Syria and Lebanon, Libya and its king chose to not join NATO, but opted to remain neutral. This had the effect of blocking NATO's front between Egypt and the Anglo-French North Africa. Speed was essential for both sides. The Soviet Union had to rapidly cross into Jordan, Palestine and the Sinai Peninsula to cross the Suez and reach Libya before NATO managed to reinforce Egypt and the Suez through awkward transport lines. As such it was vital for NATO to hold both the Suez and Gibraltar. If they fell they could not send in further reinforcements into Egypt by sea, and if the Black Sea Fleet managed to gain supremacy of the Mediterranean Sea it was for obvious reasons a disaster for NATO planners.
Kiwis advance into Iraq.
NATO knowing their current advantage, and their future disadvantages, launched a full scale invasion of Iraq early in the morning of the 6th. 16th Independent Parachute Brigade Group, the French and Spanish Foreign Legions and the 7th Armoured Division, known as the Desert Rats, spearheaded the invasion. Fighting along side these veteran troops were several veteran American Brigades, Canadian Brigades, Irish troops, exiled Dutch Brigades but also for the first time of the war ANZAC troops. The morale was high with the NATO forces who expected a short and victorious campaign. However matters were soon complicated. Along the Iraqi-NATO borders French, Belgian, Spanish, Polish and Hungarian troops was deeply entrenched. Most decisive was the several French armored divisions who at great ranges pummeled the advancing NATO and Arab forces. However NATO underestimated the capabilities of the new Iraqi People's Army and the PACT in the area. Great War style they had entrenched themself in advanced trench systems and the battle was quickly turned into another Gallipoli. But most decisive was the American decision to spend their few, but precious, forces in Greece instead of Iraq. This was only topped with the Soviet submarine menace which prevented arms, supplies and troops to arrive to the battle. The battle soon turned against NATO with several of the combat brigades retreating toward Egypt or entrenching around Aleppo and Damascus preparing for the battles to come.
After much preperations we can conquer all of the Middle East.
Then 2:15 of the 28th of September the Soviets launched their attacks all over the fronts aided by several French armored brigades - the very same that had played an important role in foiling the NATO invasion. The following operation was dubbed Proletarian Shield by STAVKA who went away from naming their operations after planets to more bombastic names. Most of the front was void of NATO troops who had been resoundly beaten back and pulled back to areas that was more easy to defend rather than the deserts of the border regions who was nothing but flat and open terrains ripe with logistical problems. However perhaps the most surprising was the complete British absence of troops in Kuwait. Soviet and French troops advanced carefully into the small Sheikdom believing it was a trap. But apparently the Anglo-Indian-ANZAC offensive from Kuwait had depleted the regiments there of any combat capabilities. Instead of shedding needless blood they fell back to the other British colonies on the Arabian Peninsula and India. The Syrian, Irish and British troops stationed alongside the banks of the Euphrates fought bravely against their adversary, however the Russo-French invasion was too much and too coordinated for them to make any real opposition. Within hours the NATO forces was beaten back and the communist armies swarmed in.
The Soviet Army move rapidly through the Syrian deserts.
Over the next few days the Soviet and French armies only met with scattered resistance. Their greatest adversary were in fact not the standing armies of NATO, but rather the nomads and locals of the area. The Syrian Army soon disbanded and took it to the countryside, rather wanting to live than give their life to a new state they owed no loyalty to. The complete collapse of the front was only saved by the intervention of NATO troops most notably around Aleppo. While the defenses around Damascus was smashed Aleppo stood mostly due to two Canadian Brigades, two Dutch one and one American Armored Brigade and two British Armoured Brigades came to Aleppo to entrench around the now battered city. However the American Brigade and one of the British Armored Brigades were pushed back, mostly due to the massive concentration of T-34 and KV tanks. The Soviets employed massed assault tactics against their adversaries who soon had to retreat toward Greece. Despite the Trotsky and T-44 tanks being earmarked for England and Greece, the obsolete T-34s and KVs did their part and beat back the NATO troops. The first PACT troops soon entered Damascus expecting heavy local resistance...
Stupid NATO fighting for a Syria that have no will to fight.
But Damascus fell within days. There was no prolonged urban battles as in northern England, Amsterdam or Copenhagen. The population instead capitulated along with the Syrian government. Syrian and Arab radicals soon took control over the ancient capital with emissaries from Iraq coming in to lay the foundations of a United Arab Republic, based upon secular pan-Arabism and Socialism. Or as the American press put it "a puppet of the Soviet regime". However the Battle of the Levant was not over. Despite Syria officially changing sides, Lebanon remained and NATO established a pro-western government in Aleppo who was again reinforced by British, Canadian and Dutch troops. With the rapid Russo-French advances into the Middle East a massive number of Hungarian, Czech and Polish troops swarmed to Iraq and Syria, or the United Arab Republic as they styled themself now, to occupy the area while the Soviets and French troopers and tankers continued on their offensives. One heavy tank brigade and two mechanized corps of the 3rd Front now moved in to seize the heights south of Aleppo while the rest of the Front prepared for the final assault into Aleppo. Meanwhile the 1st Front moved to catch up with their advanced units to prepare to cross into the Holy Land, ready to fight both Canadian and the feared American troops.
Pinned down American soldiers.
The American-Canadian troops decided to go on the offensive and cross the Jordan river, believing they could take the Soviet and French advanced forces off guard and cut them off in Jordan dealing them a crippling blow. However the American and Canadian troops was soon bogged down in the hills east of the Jordan river and fell victim to heavy Soviet artillery strikes and fast moving tanks. The Soviets managed to cut off the American-Canadian supply lines and deprived them of their needed flow of fuel and water. It became a major powerstruggle and in the end the Canadians and American succumbed. Both of the brigades surrendered to the advancing Pact forces. Their plan to deal a blow to the invading forces backfired.
The second phase of the invasion. 3rd Ukrainian Front will finish up the northern front, while the 1st cut off Palestine.
With the fronts stabilized the two Fronts got a chance to plan their next move and take a breather. In the north Timoshenko ordered one Tank Brigade to lead four Rifle Divisions to take out Lebanon, eliminate the Canadians there and prevent NATO from using Lebanon as a base of operations, the rest of his Front would surround Aleppo with several PACT formations to begin a siege of the city and to attack the provisional capital when the defenders started to succumb to disease and low morale. To the south Vasilevsky planned to strike into Palestine and reach the Suez Canal. While STAVKA ordered a halt to the operation to let the resources and supplies come to the men as the commanders prepared for the coming operations. Vasilevsky had other plans. Seeing as the area was lightly defended he ordered his 6th Light Tank Brigade to cross into Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv, to deliver a blow to the British morale, but more importantly to encircle the lone armoured brigade holding the corridor to Lebanon open and again to close yet another port for NATO reinforcements. Taking out the ports was vital for the PACT. As mentioned earlier Libya blocked the road for reinforcements. So NATO had to either send in troops from South Africa, across vast disease ridden lands with little infrastructure, or land them in ports. It was then decided the Light Brigade would spearhead into the cities before NATO could react, while a select few Rifle Divisions moved into a blocking position for the British armor and while two Mechanized Corps moved in to assault the British armor.
Pest control..
It worked like a clockwork. Despite the STAVKA being furious over the insubordination of Vasilevsky his gamble payed off. Jerusalem and Tel Aviv was soon taken, denying any NATO reinforcements into Lebanon and Syria. However as the British saw that Soviet armor was advancing in the north and got reports of Jerusalem falling they moved to the south hoping to use their heavier tanks to take out the light Soviet armor. However Soviet infantry soon bound up the British cruiser tanks and prevented them from reclaiming Tel Aviv. Soon enough the Mechanized Corps reached their armored foe and attacked them from all sides. Falling under Soviet blitz tactics, T-34 and even some newly arrived T-44s with 85mm guns (who had been replaced by T-44-100s in England) the British armor was soon taken out, piece by piece. The Soviets continued to mockingly call the British tanks for "Tommy Cookers". However the most important factor was that the advances of the 6th Light Tank Brigade led to their British adversary from being cut off. Being bingo on fuel and munitions the British tanks had to surrender.
The British fail in their counterattack.
Vasilevsky gave his 6th Light-Tank Brigade free reigns to push out as far as possible. Armed mostly by light trucks and the lightly armored T-50s, T-60s and T-70s the Brigade moved rapidly cross country and well ahead of the main French and Soviet forces. However this came at the cost of light armor and small caliber guns. Alan Brooke, the commander of the British Forces in the Near-East, launched a counterattack. The British, however, had also mostly light Matilda tanks. Out in the deserts of Sinai the British envisioned a tank duel in the open. However the Soviets haven decrypted the British codes lured the British into a trap. The trap was sprung and the British ran into a well layered defensive lines where the Soviets employed anti-tank guns, katyushas, howitzers and tank destroyers in killzones to inflict maximun casualties, moreover the infantry had taken up positions along natural defensive lines where they employed heavy AA guns to take out the British tanks from long distances. Meanwhile the Soviet armor were in reserve and employed hit and run tactics upon the British enemy. If one flank was falling under the Soviet AT fire, then the light tanks would rush in and take out as many British tanks as possible. Both sides inflicted high casualties on eachother, but as the Soviets were well prepared they soon got the upperhand. However the British got one thing coming in that had the chance to change the course of the battle..
HMS Indefatigable provide air support for NATO.
HMS Indefatigable was relative new being launched in 1941. She was one of two carriers to survive the disastrous Battle of the English Channel, she sailed through the Gibraltar Strait escorted by several cruisers, among them several heavy cruisers and one battlecruisers. Their goal, however, was not to engage the Black Sea Fleet in open battle. Instead they opted to engage the PACT forces in the Sinai. Carrying 81 planes she posed a major threat to the PACT forces in the area, mostly due to the fact that the airfields in the region had been bombed to piecemeal and that the Soviet Air Force was focusing on winning the battles over the British Isles, Greece and to patrol the homelands to prevent another nuclear bombing. The British was quick to launch their aircrafts who bombed the Soviets positions in the Sinai Peninsula. The Battle of Sinai was turning against the Soviets as they were now for the first time not in a position of air superiority which went over to NATO. The light Soviet tanks stood little chance against British dive bombers and rockets.
Forward!
The British was about to push forward, however a French armored brigade came to their aid. Despite falling under British airpower the sheer force of the Franco-Soviet forces managed to beat back the British attack. Instead the British broke off their attack waiting for reinforcements to arrive. Vasilevsky ordered his French and Russian subordinate to launch a counter offensive. After hours of barrages the French and Soviet tanks crossed no man's land. However the British responded with their airpower who slowed down the advancing communist forces, even halting them several times. Moreover as the tanks and infantrists finally arrived they saw that the British had aswell established defensive lines, and where the tanks dueled over long distances (often with the Soviet and French ones being bombed from the air aswell) the infantrists had to fight in nervewrecking close combat in the trenches.
The 6th Light Brigade were forces to retreat, hopefully the French won't surrender.
The British armored brigade was pushed out of the area over the night and was ready to push into the Port Said which would mean the Soviets would control the northern port of the Suez, however it mattered little as several infantry brigades from Britain, Canada and even the Philippines joined in and launched an attack upon the overstretched French and Soviet forces. Brooke counted on trapping the two advanced armored brigades away from their main force and away from their supply lines. As such he hoped to pull off a pincer movemnt, while he also attacked the main force in the far east of the front. Then minutes after ten o'clock of the 15th of October the 6th Light-Tank Brigade pulled out as it was hammered by NATO AT fire and dive bombers. It was hoped that the French tankers would suffer the same fate before one of the Mechanized Corps came to the area.
The siege of Aleppo is a bloody affair.
While the frontlines in the Sinai changedfor every minute, near Aleppo and Lebanon Timoshenko had played his cards safely. For over two weeks his men was ordered to hold the lines and only make the occasional skirmish into the NATO lines. Aleppo itself was attacked from the west by two Rifle Divisions and from the east by one. The city had to endure daily and nightly bombings from the air aswell as MLRS strikes and howitzer bombardments into the city. The rifle divisions faced harsh resistance, however they quickly took control over the outer suburbs and got ready to advance into the city itself. Meanwhile to the south the two Canadian brigades holding the southern flank of Aleppo came under attack from all directions. Despite their formidable defenses, they could hold out against the Soviet overpower. After two full days of battle they gave up their positions and retreated to the north to link up with their countrymen holding up the city. Now in contrast to the south the Soviet advance fell short. While the suburbs and outskirts of Aleppo was secured, the Soviets failed to enter the city itself. The Canadians there fought bitterly and the massive bombing of Aleppo didn't weaken the defenders, instead it gave them areas and possibilities to better defend themself.
Canada finally realized they had nothing to do in the Middle East.
But it was not to last. Soon the Soviets poured in from all sides. It mattered little how valiant the Canadians fought or how well trained they were. In the end the Soviets had the numbers and time on their side, the Canadians did not. The nail in their coffin was the inclusion of a Mechanied Corps and a Heavy-Tank Brigade. After a siege that lasted over 20 days Aleppo fell. The Dominion of Canada had done their part in the Middle East, and thousands of her sons had shed blood in the deserts of the promised land. Lebanon too fell that day as Soviet, Spanish and French troops pushed into the tiny nation. The northern front in the Battle of the Levant was settled. The 3rd Ukranian Front was now put on occupation duties in the newly conquered territories, or liberated as the Internationale put it. All eyes were on Sinai.
With the Middle East conquered the focus now change over to Egypt..
Despite the full force of the 1st Ukranian Front weighing on the Sinai Peninsula, Vasilevsky and his men could not break the defenders. For nearly two weeks they had prepared for the assault who was opened up the usual massed artillery barrage, however the NATO airplanes managed to cripple the Soviet attempts for assault. Right before midnight of the 1st of November the Soviets mounted an attack, hoping to take the British by surprise in the dark and the cold. But it did not help. NATO forces poured in from Egypt and Port Said and the Desert Rats, Americans and ANZAC troops that had previously been beaten back during their invasion of Iraq had now reformed what they called the "Sinai Line". This line was in advance of the Suez Canal creating a needed buffer to keep the canal open. Moreover they held on to a port that gave them fresh supplies, where the Pact forces had to rely on supplies coming in from the ports of Turkey or eastern Iraq - as the ports of Syria, Lebanon and Palestine was crippled by PACT and NATO bombing. After a few hours Vasilevsky and his French colleague decided to call off the attack and instead wait a few more days and for the daylight. If the next probing attacks were of little success the PACT forces would retreat back to the Palestinian borders to give them better conditions for creating defenses and to get in supplies. The Battle of the Levant was coming to and end, the Battle of Egypt had just begun..***
*Referred to as simply Palestine from now on due to the British calling it so. It is not a political statement of any variety.
**Currently we need 44 units of oil, but those costs are mostly tied up to the future warships being produced, the lack of oil are currently not hindering production.
***So for Egypt and North Africa I will roleplay a little. That is if my forces are far ahead from any supply source and well into the desert I will retreat my forces to the next more hospitable lands before I launch another offensive. This is to better simulate the actual battles fought in the region.
Edit: Changed name of "the Battle of the Middle East" to "the Battle of the Levant". The Battle of the Middle East will be the catch term for both the Battle of the Levant and the Battle of Egypt.
The NATO commander in Greece allegedly said at the onset of WW3 that "if the Russians take Greece the Cradle of Democracy, it will be the Grave of Democracy". True or not it signalled the importance of Greece for both NATO and the PACT in their struggle for world domination. The ancient country became the victim of a conflict between superpowers, and following the defeat of the "Democratic Army of Greece" the Greeks chose NATO. NATO was quick to dispatch forces to Greece from the United States and the British Empire prior to the war and as the war progressed. Both sides knew that Greece was the key in the coming Battle of the Mediterranean. If the USSR got hold of the Aegean islands and Greece they could fairly easiley dominate the sea, on the other hand if NATO dominated the Aegean islands they could harass Soviet shipping and the feared Black Sea Fleet, and if Greece was in NATO hands they were in a prime position to invade Romania, threaten the oilfields there, but worse off invade the former Turkish lands of Trotskygrad and in turn into Crimea and Ukraine - into the Motherland herself. Suffice to say Greece was again to be the home of titans and epic tales.
The planned fall of Greece, plans always work out right?
Operation Neptune was the official name of the invasions of Greece and Bulgaria, which again was part of the greater Mediterranean Strategic Offensive Operation. Neptune itself was broken into four distinct operations: Triton, Nereid, Neso and Sao. Triton was the successful invasion of Bulgaria, Nereid the landings of the Aegean Islands, Neso the invasion of Greece and Sao the invasion of Crete and Cyprus following the fall of Greece - if it happened at all. On the 29th of August 1945 the Soviets smashed through Bulgaria effectively broadening the front over northern Greece. However despite the major success of Markian Popov and the 2nd Ukranian Front during Operation Triton they didn't manage to break the Greek lines in Thrace. Moreover the landings of Operation Nereid was in short a disaster. While invading the islands the 6th Naval Landing Regiment was thoroughly defeated as it faced huge numbers of American defenders resulting in the surviving members of the regiment surrendering. The other two regiments failed to establish beach-heads as they faced stiff opposition from ANZAC, Canadian and British troops. The Naval Landing Regiments lost thousands of men during these failed landings, however thousands more were to come. But this did not dissuade STAVKA. Popov who struggled to advance into Thrace had one advantage as he managed to bind up significant amounts of NATO troops to the east of Greece and well ahead of the old Metaxas Line. From now he would pour his troops into northern Greece, thrust to the city Thessaloniki and cut off the NATO troops stationed in eastern Greece and along the Metaxas line. From there on the plan was to pour into the rest of Greece and make the nation surrender in a matter of days, before embarking on Operation Sao. Meanwhile Trotsky and the Soviet Union pressured the Balkan Union to strike into the remnants of Yugoslavia and Albania and from there on create a new front into Greece. But as it proved to difficult to persuade Mátyás Rákosi to enter the war, the 2nd Ukranian Front struggled to punch its way into Greece. The Battle of Greece had just begun and it was to become a bitter struggle.
The NATO invasion fleet of Trotskygrad looking to jump right into the wasteland of Ukraine.
The atomic bombings of the Ukraine and Crimea was followed up by a massive NATO invasion of the former Turkish provinces that were now called Trotskygrad. Several means of unconventional ordinance were plunged into the beaches and PACT fortifications and plans revealed that US planned to dropped atomic bombs along the landings on the beaches aswell. However the bombings of Ukraine had revealed the NATO intentions and the US bombers were cut off from reaching their target, immense suffering was averted, but the people and soldiers of Trotskygrad would still suffer. A mix of American, Indian, Free Spanish and Free French, British, Canadian and ANZAC troops landed south of Trotskygrad (the former Istanbul) itself and quickly beat back the defending PACT forces. The majority of Soviet troops was on the offensive and Soviet home territory was mostly defended by other nations. The alarms sounded and Trotsky went into hiding as STAVKA feared an imminent invasion of Crimea and in turn well into the breadbasket of the Soviet Union - or the nuclear wasteland it had become. That would spell certain doom for the Soviet Union who despite making major gains abroad was quite fragile following their decision to go on an aggressive war and the nuclear bombing that followed. The Soviet Union had become a house of cards. But in their moment of need the PACT troops in Trotskygrad, a strange mix of Spanish, Balkan, Czech, Polish and Swedish men beat back the invaders after tall losses on both sides. After days of Battle the NATO invasion force was cast out of the USSR and retreated to the Aegean Islands. This in turn made these islands into massive fortifications which contributed to the failure of Operation Nereid. As thousands of NATO troops perished in the beahces of Anatolia, thousands of young Soviet men perished in the Aegean Isles.
The mountain troops are called from the flat Netherlands to more familiar terrain.
Prior to the fall of the Netherlands the Caucasian Front lead by Purkayev was shuffled over to Operation Neptune. Generals and commissars started to question the decision to leave several divisions worth of elite mountaineers and mountain-calvary in the flatt terrain of the Netherlands and not the rugged and mountainous lands of Greece. Moreover following the NATO invasion of Trotskygrad who were close to claiming the Straits for NATO and cutting the Soviet invasion force off, STAVKA realized the importance of having reserve forces to deal with future invasions of the USSR and to reclaim the lost lands. Anyway, the Caucasian Front reached the frontlines and relieved most of the Rifle Divisions and armored and mechanized brigades and they quickly took over the trenches and the battle line. Early in the morning of the 23rd of September, 20 days following the atomic bombings and nearly a month after the fall of Bulgaria, the Soviet troops managed to make gains through Greece. For a monts the two sides were in a deadlock in the east and the same deadlock developed by the end of August as Popov sought to smash into Thessaloniki. The mountaineers made short work as their training, expertise but most important fresh and well rested troops tipped the scales to the favor of the Soviet Union.
Soviet soldiers taking cover on a T-34 in a Greek town.
The 2nd Ukranian Front was in need of relief. The tanks and APCs required massive amounts of fuel and munitions, while the terrain of northern Greece did not favor armored warfare. STAVKA had underestimated the will of the Greek people to stand up to their adversary and the effects of the terrain on a largely mechanized force. The 2nd Ukranian Front suffered high casualties as they didn't manage to break through the Greek lines, worse off this lead to NATO reinforcements coming in from all over the world making the operational situation in Greece even worse off for Popov. The tanks and the men struggled to get past the chokepoints and to get supplies in northern Greece, and their relief by the Caucasian Front was a welcome one - despite it being humiliating for Popov who sought to redeem himself after the loss of the Far Eastern Front. A battalion commander of the 5th Mechanized Corps reported the difficulties as he was to enter an underground complex. "The complex stretched several kilometers into the mountains and into the next town. We knew the enemy used this complex as a base of operations and as a supply route. I got the task of taking it out and was given only a mere four hours to prepare my assault. Fumbling into the blind I decided to send out reconnaissance elements to find the enemy and map out the terrain. My biggest concern was that the only road in for the armor and APCs was through a chokepoint that the enemy dominated. I pondered if I should send in a massive strike force in one aggressive move risking severe losses or if I should wait and gain control over the area. I decided that we were to dominate the heights. Armored recon elements took control over the surrounding town and the roads leading to the complex, while patrol elements were given a few hours to march into the overlooking hills to dominate the area. OPs and marksmen took up their positions and reported no enemy activity. I then dared to send in the first mechanized company after T-44s and howitzers leveled the area with heavy fire. As the first APC cleared into the area it came under fire and was taken out, meanwhile the last APC was taken out at the chokepoint, preventing the APCs from retreating and armored reinforcements to enter. Under heavy MG and AT fire the infantrists had to disembark, they took cover behind some railways and after much persuasion (I had to show up personally) they got up and moved by the railways while the marksmen covered them and machinegun and mortar crews in the heights pounded the complex with fire. The company entered the underground and a long hallway emerged. I wanted to be cautious, but the company commander was aggressive and pulled his men forward. Then MG fire came razing down as the men was halfway into the hall. It was chaotic and they were pinned down. Meanwhile the chokepoint was cleared and I ordered in a platoon of T-44s and yet another company of mechanized infnantry. They rushed into the hallway, broad enough to hold two tanks in the width, and they rolled forward without mercy. As the hallway was cleared the underground complex was clearedby two mechanized infantry companies. After we entered the complex and it was secure it took the men over 14 hours to clear it in the dark and as the radiomen bravely followed the forward elements just 20 meters behind giving them radio communications even under a hail of bullets. It was exhausting".
Damn Americans..
As the fresh Caucasian troops arrived the battered Greek troops pulled back to Thessaloniki and the second set of the Metaxas Line. While Communard forces, mostly armor, rushed to the battlescene the mountaineers had a hard time entering into the forests and the urban enviorment. Moreover several US Army Brigades entered in for "the fun" and the Soviet offensive stopped and was starting to beat back out of their trenches on the 26th of September. Meanwhile Trotsky made his best efforts to convince Rákosi to enter into Macedonia and Albania to encircle the significant American contigent in Thessaloniki. Trotksy even went as far as to allow the Balkan Socialist Union (Hungary) to annex all of Yugoslavia and Albania once the war ended. But the Magyar was still putting his thumb down claiming that the Balkan Red Army was not prepared for an offensive war.* But the war went on without Rákosi. The Caucasian troops who were used to fierce fighting in the mountains experienced the difficulties of urban warfare firsthand, and they struggled against well trained and equipped American troops. The frontline was soon transformed into a well developed line of trenches, foxholes, breastworks and other fortifications with barbed wire and minefields stretching over several kilometers in depth and width. The only exception was in the urban areas of Thessaloniki, but it proved to be not taken easiley so Purkayev pulled his men out of the area and ordered to dig trenches outside of the city, shelling it with artillery. "As per usual the Ruskies gave us their goodnight kiss as they shelled us with artillery and rockets. All night long they fired flares over our lines and fired occasional mortars and machine gun burts just to keep us awake. In the morning they fires at us with Trotsky orgels as a goodmorning kiss. They made sure to keep conditions in the trenches for us hellish and flyers telling us to go home and saying that our girls won't wait for a dead man was common sight" and American soldier wrote in a letter.
With armor and blood we will retake Trotskygrad.
During the siege of Thessaloniki the 2nd Ukranian Front was ordered to use their armored forces (consiting of one Heavy-Tank Brigade, one Light-Tank Brigade, one Meachanized Corps and four Motorized Rifle Divisions) to plunge into Bursa, link up the Soviet lands in Anatolia and pacify the countryside. It was unknown how many Turkish partisans and NATO troops were stationed in the area and the armored and mobile units was ordered to the area to bring in the weight and prevent NATO from sending in another invasion force following their retreat. The remaining 17 divisions of the 2nd Ukranian Front was sent to Turkey to mop up American and British divisions who had retreated into the officially neutral country of Turkey following their defeats in Trotskygrad and the Levant. Popov was also tasked with expedite Operation: Sao; the invasion of Cyprus and Crete.
We gain some and we lose some..
Early morning of the 28th as the sun rose up over Greece and Turkey the Soviets managed to secure a victory in Thessaloniki. However as the Greco-American defenses was beaten back and the Soviets rolled on, in the Aegean Sea the Soviets struggled to gain a foothold on one of the many isles the Martime Group of Forces was tasked with taking down. As with the previous naval invasion it became clear the Soviets wouldn't manage to take the isles. "The Russians have never been a seafaring people and they won't become it now either" an British officer remarked. Berzarin gave the 5th Naval Regiment the green light to invade its target, believing it to be empty. Instead they found a well entrenched Anglo-Indian** Infantry Brigade. The Soviet marines went straight into killboxes and all of their massive fire support could not weaken the Anglo-Indian defenders. After several hours the battle was concluded, and yet another failure was written into the annals of the Maritime Group of Forces. Still to the west, as mentioned earlier, the Caucasian Front broke through. By nightfall the Soviets gave their "goodnight kiss" as the Americans called their regular artillery attack by night. However this time around it was followed by specialized troops who crawled in over deadman's land or through runner trenches to the American trenches. They broke out in several key areas, with the majority being mowed down by American machine guns and impaled by bayonets. The ones who broke through quickly established zones for the other Soviets to enter through and soon the American trenches swarmed with Soviet troops. Taking advantage of it the armored Soviet forces sent in obsolete light tanks on suicide missions over the minefields, followed by KVs, LTs, T-34s and T-44s. Thessaloniki was soon reached. After fierce battles in the city itself it fell on dawn being reduced to rubble. NATO was on the retreat.
That's better, run away!
For the next two days Soviet and French armored forces pressed on the retreating American brigades. On the 29th they managed to encircle the Americans who surrendered. The battle was now up to the native Greeks, who were prepared to fall back to the Aliakmon Line, however they took up their positions in the mountains and created several chokepoints even counterattacking the forward armored forces hoping to reclaim Thessaloniki. However the Greeks were little match to the sheer numbers of the Soviet-Franco-Polish force who pressed into the country. Still to the north the 2nd BVO Mechanized Corps failed to make ground into the mountains. As the war entered its third month the Caucasian Front made gains in Greece, but these feats paled in comparison to the Red Army and the PACT astonishing gains in Britain and Western Europe. NATO on the other hand hoped that the resilience of Greece and NATO in the area would inspire the other NATO troops to action, but also use Greece as a base of operations to deliver a crippling blow to the USSR. STAVKA knew this, and the Red Army in the Balkans were pushed to its limit facing mounting casualties. However the Soviet casualties waned in comparison the Greek and NATO losses.
The French Army give us some breathing room.
The 2nd BVO was soon replaced by elite mountaineers and Czech troops drilled in the Sudeten mountains. As fall descended upon Europe the climate worsened in the contested mountains. It rained daily, the terrain was slippery and muddy and the winds was chilly to the bones. In these conditions the battle hardened mountaineers from the Caucasus and Siberia excelled. Fighting in these conditions was in stark contrast to the big armored battles that defined the other theaters of war. The war in these mountains was as much a war against the climate and oneself as against the enemy, and the battles were scattered and involved small units. The Soviets made new plans to focus on depriving the Greeks of their supplies and instead isolate them in their caves. While the Caucasian Front was conservative in their scaling of the mountains, the French was eager to smash into the Aliakmon Line. They sent an armored division right into the southern most part of the Aliakmon Line hoping to drive toward the west and box in the Greeks while the Soviets rolled southward of the line. However the Greeks was well entrenched and as with the Soviets the French paid their lessons dearly. A lesson of armored warfare against a well entreched enemy in mountain enviorment. The French managed to put their armor to little use in the narrow passes and the supply situation was difficult at best.
T-44s rush to southern Greece as they want the summer heat and not autumn cold.
Over the next week the PACT got their breakthrough. NATO troops composed of both soldiers all over the Empire and America assembled to relieve the Greeks. However PACT armory was superior and their aggressive spirit found no match. Soon a small land connection to Athens was made and the Greeks was encircled with only the ports of Corfu and Ionna keeping them afloat. From Athens NATO launched a counteroffensive, however it was beaten resoundly back and several of the NATO brigades evacuated to Crete or Egypt. Time was rapidly running out for Greece.
One push to the north and one push to Athens and the Cradle of Democracy will know "true democracy" again..
By the 10th of October the PACT breakthrough led to Greece being split in half. In the northern section the remaining Greeks forces were forced to protect the ports of Corfu and Ioanninna. To the south British and other troops all from the falling Empire came to fortify Athens, the southernmost peninsula and to reclaim Greece. However wave after wave fell short of the Soviet overmight. Still the Red Army slowed down so that its supply lines could catch and the men get some well deserved rest. NATO was punched out after days of savage fighting, while the Greeks wouldn't yield in their newest line, as the French again experienced in a doomed assault. The armored and mobile formations under Popov was ordered to rush to southern Greece to then spearhead into Athens, while the Caucasian Front prepared to attack the last mountains and caves the Greeks were holed up in. Following the Soviet capture of Athens, Popov would order his mobile units to turn southward into the last bastion in Greece (being held by NATO troops) while elements of the Caucasian Front landed on the northern coast trapping the NATO troops in. It was hoped that after the fall of Athens and the northern troops Greece would surrender and the NATO troops would evacuate. Time would tell.
Gyros give the Greeks special powers.
21:00 on the 13th the Caucasian Front was given the order to attack. The Greeks was taken by surprise and was beaten back. But the gains were not to be substained by the Soviets. Instead three in the morning of the 25th the tide was turning to the Greeks. A Soviet soldier explained "our morale was on top. However the Greeks were protecting their motherland. They fell back and inflicted losses on our boys. For every gain we made, for every hilltop we climbed another line was met, and another hill had to be scaled. It was slowly tearing us down being on the offensive in these mountains and the Greeks ambushed us everywhere and knew every inch of the landscape. The locals were against us too, poisoning the wells or hiding the enemy". However to the south of the Greek pocket a Tank-Brigade broke through and was threatening to take control over the major airfields in the region. The commander hoped to rush behind the main Greek lines and take the ports.
"Barbarians" fight over Athens. The Ancient Greeks turn in their graves.
A few days later the 2nd BVO Mechanized Corps rushed to the woodland north-west of Athens to secure the area for the incoming PACT troops. They would again hold these woodlands to prevent NATO counterattacks and wait for the mobile and armored units of the 2nd Ukranian Front to reach their staging area. The plan went as planned as over the coming days several attacks from the Anglo-Indian and British forces in the area was twarthed. Moreover the Communard French went on the offensive managing to gain significant ground to the west of Athens preventing Athens from being reinforced or evacuated. The final phase was about to begin.
Inch by inch we scale the mountains of Greece, the Italians seek to box them in.
By 0315 on the 18th the Greeks were pushed back to the border region to Albania. The day before the Soviets commenced on a three and an hour half artillery, mortar and multiple rocket launcher bombardments, giving sporadic pauses as to fake Soviet attacks to lure the Greeks into position again only to resume the harassment. On 0615 of the 17th they opened up, with effects being reported as "earth geyser shots in the air, craters suddenly appearing" and "men, sandbags, concrete and vehicles flew through the air". The Greeks launcher counter artillery attacks on their own, but it was in vain. In a matter of hours the Soviets rushed into the positions and the Greeks were in retreat all over the line, with even higher commanding officers being taken prisoner with their staffs as they didn't believe the Soviets could advance as rapidly. However just outside of Ioannina the Tank-Brigade was stopped and the Soviet general offensive was stopped as well. The Greeks were too well entrenched. Instead the Italians made a surprise attack into Ioannina with making an amphibious landing on the port early in the monring of the 20th. Italy Balbo commanded the force and managed to secure a beachhead with the attack going to his favor. Despite this he suffered heavy losses and it was reported that the "beaches are overflowed with blood". As the hours passed by the Greeks counterattacked the Italians who managed to gain a foothold, the battle was slowly turning against the naval landing. It was then Balbo sent a message to the Caucasian Front hoping the Tank-Brigade and several mountaineers to enter the fray.
Soviet soldiers clear out Athens.
The first Soviet attackers entered the outskirts of Athens on the 22nd. The Greeks had vacated the area hoping the Soviets to save the many culturar treasures in the city. However the British and Anglo-British troops took up positions and refused to evacuate. Not that they had much of a choice as their only means of retreat by land was cut off and the city was currently under a naval brigade. The Black Sea Fleet opened up on the city providing Popov with fire support. His Front soon moved to the outskirts of Athens and he battled with ferocious troops from the British Empire. As the woodland and flat terrain outside of Athens was cleared under heavy fire the Soviets feared going into Athens itself looking toward the vicious battles of Liverpool, Manchester, Aleppo, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and many others with weary eyes. Would Athens be yet another long drawn out urban battle?
Yet another nation fall to the red threat.
Evening of the 26th the last Greek pocket was being cleared in the north after intense and costly battles for both sides. The mountains and hills of Greece would forever brand itself physically and mentally on the hundreds of thousands of troops on nations all over the world that battled in close quarter, caves, trenches and vicious grenade battle in these otherwise beautiful mountains. Now it was completely void of life and color. Meanwhile to the south the Franco-Russian assault on Athens was paying off, despite high casualties by the armored forces (losing 106 tanks in one assault alone) the infantrists managed to secure the houses and streets of the ancient capital that was reduced to ruins and despair. To the south two German divisions landed on the remaining NATO bastion. Anglo-Indian, Irish and Canadian troops responded by evacuating through the remaining port why they still had the chance. It was clear that NATO was abandoning their Hellenist ally. Then on the 29th Athens was captured after brutal fighting with the British and Anglo-Indian forces retreating to island of Evia with no hope of being relieved, supplies or evacuation. It was in effect a death sentence. Meanwhile as the mobile and armored forces under Popov spearheaded into the Mani Pelopenesse the NATO forces had evacuated and their only task was to pacify the country with the German divisions and disarm the Greeks who surrendered. Also in the remaning pocket there was one Greek brigade close to Albania who held out to the bitter end who the Soviets could not beat but only laid down their arms when they were ordered to.
Casualties pile up.
The Battle of Greece was over. NATO mourned it as the grave of democracy, while Trotsky announced this would usher "Greece into a new era of democracy and enlightenment".The casualties was high on both sides, however the majority of the Soviet losses were only temporarily ones. Greece suffered high casualties over 216.000 for the small nation, while in total of the war which had lasted for just over two months now the UK lost over 700.000 men and the US had just gotten over 200.000 losses. If the war was to continue along this pattern the casualties would go to the extremes. Operation Neptune was largely a success, with Triton and Neso being decisive victories despite the latter giving the Soviets unexpected resistance. Only the taking of the Aegean Islands had failed and were still occupied by NATO troops. The eyes of the 2nd Ukranian Front and Popov were now set on Cyprus and Crete to gain complete control over the Mediterranean...
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*So I made Hungary/Balkan Socialist Union justify war against Yugoslavia, not to invade Greece but as I think it is fitting that Yugoslavia enter the war on NATOs side and that the Balkan Socialist Union try to unite all of the Balkans. Now of course this takes a lot of time, the plan is for Hungary to justify war on Albania next.
**Here Anglo-Indian is units of the British Raj. As said earlier despite going indepedent they are still the British Raj with their British leader and flag..
September of 1945. Britain was falling, the Middle East was falling and Greece was falling. The permament revolution could not be stopped it became clear this was a war of survival, only one world view would prevail or turn the world to ashes. Ireland and Gibraltar were the only NATO footholds in Europe still holding. As the campaign in Europe progressed Paris Pact intelligence services recieved reports that thousands of US and Canadian troops as well as the remnants of the huge British Empire was heading for the British Isles. The Red Army was in full swing of attacking the Liverpool-Hull line and sought to deprive NATO of fielding their incoming army in Northern England. However Ireland remained free, untouched of the horrors of war save for the occasional bomb run. STAVKA and the PACT as a whole feared that NATO would use Ireland as their stronghold to either liberate Great Britain or invade the French Commune and cut off the invasion force. Such an action could very well tip the war in favor of NATO. Ireland needed to fall.
With the Royal Navy beaten it is safe to cross the Irish Sea.
Operation Pluto was drawn up and it was decided the troops assigned to the invasion plan was to come to Wales and southern England to prepare for the invasion. The 1st and 2nd Baltic Fronts who had just recovered after their capture of Fortress Copenhagen was elected to invade the Emerald Island. The plan was simple and Govorov and Vlasov promised STAVKA and Trotsky in person that they would embark upon a swift and aggressive campaign that would knock Ireland out of the war and bring an end to the looming threat of the New World coming to the aid of the Old. The landings would be around the city of Cork in the south and Belfast in Northern Ireland. From there they would squeeze in on the NATO troops stationed in Dublin and end the campaign. The time was ripe for an invasion the Royal Navy had just been resoundly routed in the English Channel and it was time to cross the Irish Sea before the Royal Navy could regroup, the US Navy would unleash its fury or the weather gods turned against the Soviets. After the VDV had seen extensive action they were once again called to the front. In several ambitious drops they were tasked with dropping far behind enemy lines, taking several airports, seaports and encircling the troops in Dublin. The plans was set in motion, however as the the Soviets prepared for their jump and naval landing reports came in that the first Canadian and British brigades were heading for Dublin. The Soviets planned on a swift and effective campaign. NATO wished to prove them otherwise.
Soviet paras again showed their brilliance.
NATO was taken under complete surprise. In the early morning of the 26th of September Soviet airborne troops was lifted toward Éire and in broad daylight made their landing with little resistance. The air assault came in the midst of a significant bombing campaign against Dublin diverting attention the Irish capital instead of the landing zones, furthermore incoming and evacuating NATO troops came under extreme harassment fire from air and sea. The landing zones in question was at first believed to be nothing but the usual commando raids. Not until the paratroopers had gained control over their respective ones did NATO and the Irish realize what was indeed brewing; invasion. The cities of Cork and Belfast was quickly secured with the Soviets landing in the outskirts, surrounding the cities and taking them with little opposition. In Belfast special agents, that is Irish communists trained and armed by the MGB, accompanied the paratroopers taking control over the media centers and broadcasting to all of Northern Ireland that Britain had secured a peace with the USSR and resistance was treason. As a consequence the airfields around Omagh surrendered and allowed the Soviet paratroopers to ake control over the airfield. Further south the paratroopers was stopped just north of Wexford and was unable to create a linkup with their comrades in arms in Cork, both due to the Irish troops in the vicinity and the natural barriers of the rivers, hills, mountains and orders. Orders to stay put until the main invasion force came about. Anway, what was clear was that a major NATO force was incoming for Dublin and thousands more had to be rerouted after the fall of Belfast. NATO forces in Dublin made a counterattack the following day during the late hours, however as the paratroopers had gotten a full day to dig down and prepare their defensives the NATO troops ran into significant trench systems, anti-tank fortificants and so on. A Soviet soldier remarked "we were all exhausted as we spent the entire day to dig, the entire night with only a few hours of sleep and the entire day again to dig and set up and coordinate firing zones. But as the capitalists ran straight into our defensives I praised our commanders for pushing us so hard as they did. Sweat truly do save blood".
Irish troops taking cover.
NATO realized they had but one option, expell the Soviets. Fate intervened for NATO as the invasion plans of Pluto had to drastically altered over events that were out of the hands of both sides. As the summer ended with the war the Irish Sea soured, high waves made it impossible for a naval invasion. In Northern Ireland this translated into unloading the 1st Baltic Front in Belfast, however in the south Soviet planners made a crucial mistake. It was believed Cork would have a port capable of taking in the 2nd Baltic Front and supply the northward assault. However there was no such port, and Irish forces made sure to sabotage everything that could been used to support an invasion. STAVKA went on a major blunder, the two airborne divisions in the south was on their own. However as it was expected NATO would launch a major counteroffensive while they had the chance, it never came. Only few skirmishes in the hedges and hills of Ireland raged on, but no major battle. It was later revealed that the local NATO forces did not think the Soviets could land a massive invasion force in Belfast in the unruly seas and they waited for General Patton and his armored forces to punch out of Dublin and crush the Soviets in Belfast. Still there were minor skirmishes and the Soviet paratroopers fanned out, managing to link up the invasion of the north and the siege of Dublin.*
Let the weight of the Red Army reign in one Ireland.
It took the paratroopers over three days to link up the Dublin front with the Belfast front. A division commander noted "what a fortune that NATO did not decide to smash into our lines, split us and take the airports. If they did so we would been doomed". However it took a further two days before the first Soviet troops arrived in Belfast. By this time it became clear that the landing in Cork had to be given up. Instead both of the Baltic Fronts would smash through toward Dublin and Cork. However as thousands of Soviet troops swarmed into Belfast, so did NATO troops in Dublin. Both of the sides was preparing for a major clash that would detirmine the future of not only Ireland, but Europe and even the world as a whole. This was the moment the British commanders had waited for so long, where they "would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old".
Hold out for a few days men.
However as the might of the Red Army landed in Belfast the Irish set out to make a quick and easy victory in Cork - a much needed one. General O'Higgins was hailed by the Soviets as "the only NATO officer in Ireland with some tactical sense" as he mustered the mobilized forces and set up effective blocking positions in the green hills north of Cork and reinforcing Waterford and Wexford to deny any Soviet relief force. Early in the morning of the 3rd of October O'Higgins ordered three of his brigades to launch a full scale attack on the Soviets. His attacks, however, were delayed by Soviet air supremacy and intelligence services that managed to dissect his every move. Despite this his forces had much better access to supplies and reinforcements. The two sides were soon engaged in vicious fighting that would result in the first major battle of Ireland, and the first battle where the Soviets were actually on the losing side. As the sun rose the Soviets were slowly pushed back. "They came from everywhere and their artillery broke us to pieces. We fell back to the next line and we were determined to turn the hills of Ireland red" a Soviet private wrote in his diary. A few hours later he was dead.
The battles of Ireland and especially Cork come to bitter conclusions.
Near Cork the paratroopers was losing battle after battle. The outskirts of the city was secured and the paratroopers was forced to take up positions within the city itself turning it into a fortress. An Irish platoon commander recollected his attacks on the Soviet paratroopers "we fell out from the treelines after harrassing them with howitzers and mortars. The poor souls had little to support them and without radio-comms they were unable to call in coordinated air support. They fired upon us with vicious machine gun fire, but we pressed on it was our homes we were liberating. There was a small village outside of Cork we needed to secure. We had to fire everything we had on the first barn where the commie bastards had taken up positions. We surpressed it and another platoon came from the other side and threw molotov cocktails on the barn, turning it to fire. That would teach those bastards a lesson! (...) We returned to the hill to relieve the 7th Company who were under contact as we pressed on to secure the hills around Cork. But the enemy was nowhere to be seen. It was then we saw some reflections in the corn field. A bayonet was all it took and we erased a whole platoon worth of Russians". The Soviet paratroopers in Cork was fighting a losing battle. Vlasov was tasked with surroundng Dublin and to plunge southward to relieve his comrades who was under extreme pressure. Just before midnight on the 7th he reached north of Waterford and Tipperary, but they were stopped by the well fortified Irish troops. The orders of O'Higgins paid off and it became appereant that neither side managed to cross the river. For the Irish this meant they could live to fight another day, for the Soviets it meant that two entire airborne divisions, filled with men hailed as heroes after their risky jumps into England, risked being annihilated. But the Battle of Ireland was not limited to just Cork. Far from it. As Vlasov was stopped just north of the surrounded airborne troops he launched his first attack into Dublin believing it would fall after a savage artillery barrage and air bombing. Instead the defenders, a mix between American, British, Canadian, Dutch and Irish troops held out and refused to let go even of a single inch. They clawed themself to Dublin. Instead the Soviets turned to the south-east to surround Dublin. It was believed that if Dublin fell the incoming NATO troops would go back to North America and the Irish would surrender in the process saving the surrounded paratroopers. However NATO fought back and the Soviet troops didn't even manage to break into sub-urbs. The Battle of Ireland had just become, little did neither side know of what kind of carnage it would become.
Soviet tanks rushing through Ireland.
Despite their setbacks the Soviets marched on. And the tanks rolled on. Heavy and medium tanks clashed outside of Dublin hoping to that the superior armor and firepower would bring down the NATO troops or simply send shock and awe into their hearts. But it was in the south in the deadlock around Waterford-Wexford the greatest tankclash of the campaign occured. Recon troops reported in that a British armored brigade moved toward Cork. Vlasov realizing that would spell certain doom for the paratroopers ordered the 7th Light-Tank Brigade, supported by outdated T-34s from the 18th Mechanized Corps, to flank the British armor. In a daring approach the tanks rolled straight past the Irish lines, only leaving two battalions worth of motorized infantry behind to hold open the narrow corridor for the retreat. The Soviet armor hit the British armor with such speed and ferocity that the British tankers believed the Soviets had broken through the lines and was coming down in full force. Within a few hours the British armored brigade was scattered, killed or had surrendered. The British lost their greatest assest in the region, armor, but the Soviets could not hold up the pace. Irish infantry closed in and the narrow corridor was barely holding up. After katyushas and Il-2s reigned hell upon the Irish counterattack the Soviets managed to slip out back to the reserve position they were supposed to be in. The commander of the 7th Light-Tank Brigade was soon given high decorations and acclaims for his dring and successful raid. The local NATO fist had been dealt with and the paratroopers had been given time.
Just a little longer now..
The following dayit did not look well for the trapped paratroopers. True they had been spared from the wrath of British armor, however the Irish infantry and militias proved to be more than a challenge for the paratroopers that was running out of supplies. It is said that airborne are meant to be surrounded, however they were in dire needs of relief. The 1st Baltic Front had not yet arrived in Belfast, due to the weather and the sheer logistical problems of shipping two entire Fronts to one port damaged from bombings, but they were given a new task. While the 2nd Baltic Front would mostly be occupied of the siege of Dublin, the 1st would strike in full force into Cork in order to liberate their surrounded comrades. Speaking of Dublin. After a three day assault battlig over the suburbs of Dublin it was decided that the NATO troops there was too well entrenched. Several divisions had to be pulled out in order to replenish their losses in material and manpower while the remaining divisions dug in to begin on a siege. It was frustrating for the Soviets as they knew if Dublin fell all of Ireland would fall and the major NATO troops would turn around. Several brigades held the lines and as the Soviets ceased their attacks several American infantry brigades decided to attack the Soviet paratroopers held up in Wicklow. Meanwhile an Irish brigade attacked from the south. Their hope was that if Wicklow fell then the frontline would suddenly broaden and the Irish forces wrestling for control over Cork would get the support and logistics of the main NATO force stationed in Dublin.
One down, one more to go..
Disaster for the Soviet Union, and hope for the Republic of Ireland. In the north near Dublin Soviet forces struggled to gain foothold in the Irish capital. In the center the Waterford-Wexford line held against all attempts of attacks. But in Cork the 9th Airborne Division surrendered, only the 3rd was left to defend the city. The 9th held the north-west of the line but after several attacks their lines was in the end broken through. The Irish infantry surrounded the 9th who refused to bend their knees to the Irish. After intense firefights that lasted the entire day the 9th was running out of ammunition. The men of the 9th told their commanders they were ready to fight to the death. Instead the staff of the 9th agreed to surrender, however they all committed suicide. Perhaps to spare themself of the humiliation of surrender or the wrath of the Kremlin. This sent shockwaves through the proud VDV. The 3rd Airborne Division was on their own now and it sent reccuring flashbacks of the failed, yet heroic, air assaults during the attack on Germany. Would the 3rd hold out until Gorbatov could relieve them?
A devastated Cork.
As the 9th fell the flank of the 3rd was insecure. Through the night the 3rd fell back from their newly reclaimed outer perimeters of Cork into the city itself. In an impressive show of force the paratroopers retreated back in utmost order. Through the entire night flares, bombs and artillery lit up the sky. The Soviet paratroopers took up positions in the city and repelled the Irish attackers, most of them locals eager to reclaim their lost land. However the Irish had one advantage over the paratroopers, they could get supplies and reinforcements from their local depots and natives alike. The Soviets were running out of ammunition. Moreover the Irish knew that attacks during the day equaled Soviet air superiority. Their goal was to penetrate into the city during nightfall in cover of the Red Air Force. The Soviets held out during the night, but as the morning sun rose, a red sun, the Irish simply retreated the brigades that had been attacked during night and replaced them with new ones for the morning. The Soviet paratroopers meanwhile ran out of ammunition and the battle soon turned into an old fashioned brawl, and in the end the Irish took greater casualties from friendly fire as the Soviets retreated back to smaller and smaller pockets. By the evening of the 13th the battle came to an end..
Even legends can be brought down.. Dublin hold out under Patton.
The 3rd Airborne Division surrendered after half of month of a dire supply situation and no relief in sight. The savage battle raging from house to house in Cork proved to be the final straw. This was not a decisive turning point, however it proved that the Soviet Army was not the invincible force some might have believed it to be. It gave NATO hope. As an Irish soldier put it "tears came to my eyes as I saw the communists come out with their arms raised up and looking weary and frightened. My home was liberated, it was now time to liberate all of Ireland". North of Cork Soviet forces surely but steadily pressed forward around Tripperary and managed to hold off Irish counterattacks along the Waterford-Wexford line. Still in Ireland the Soviets struggled to break through. Enter Patton. The legendary general was chosen to lead the forces stationed in Dublin. However his situation was difficult. Confined to a small pocket the NATO forces there were confined to a small area. Patton was said to curse his predecessor to not go on the offensive when they had the chance. Despite this the defenses of Dublin held and the Soviet onslaught got worn down.
After 10 days of the surrender of the paras, Cork is secure. NATO offer nothing but determined resistance.
It was the Irish defenses fell apart. On the 18th the lines west of Waterford was broken and by the 23rd Cork was again captured. Gorbatov would later remark that his greatest regret was that he failed the 3rd and 9th Airborne Divisions. By the 23rd the battle of Dublin still raged on with no end in sight for the Soviets, however they also raced toward the Waterford-Wexford, but as in Dublin the Soviets didn't mange to break through. Winter was approaching fast and what was supposed to be a swift blitz into Ireland had now lasted for over a month. The battles dragged on and wouldn't end until it came to a bittersweet conclusion.
After over 20 days of attack Soviet forces evacuate out of Dublin.
Then on the 30th of October STAVKA decided that enough was enough. STAVKA wasn't exactly known to devise plans and strategies to limit human losses, but even the high command whose main strategy was wars of attrition decided that the many bloody battles of Dublin became too much, too costly and pointless. Instead the two Baltic Fronts was ordered to stand down and begin on a siege to slowly wait the NATO troops out. By the 30th, however, the Soviets managed to break into Waterford and the defenses of Ireland was split into two pockets: the Wexford Pocket, consisting of Irish troops, and the Dublin Pocket consisting of NATO and Irish troops.
Commonwealth troops evacuate Dublin.
When STAVKA ordered a halt to the battles of Dublin, and only occasional incursions and probes, they had gambled that NATO would use the end of hostilities and the worsening siege to evacuate. It was a gamble as the Soviets risked a renewed and empowered NATO counterattack. But the gamble paid off. Realizing the futility of their situation brigade after brigade from all nations evacuated the war torn Dublin. Only the Irish remained, for natural reasons, ready to defend their nation and capital refusing to yield. It was believed the Soviet Air Force and Submarine Fleet would sink the evacuated forces. In fact several of the ships that were evacuated got sunk to the depths of the Irish Sea, still it was not enough. Poor weather was the ally of the evacuated forces. The Irish prime minister noted "and so our allies turn their backs on us. The old world is left at the mercy of the red peril. The Emerald Island have been forever stained by the blood of the communist menace".
The Wexford Pocket can't be broken it seems..
Another month passed by and the starved Irish troops in the Wexford Pocket came under a vicious artillery attack, followed by Soviet infantry attacks. By 20:00 on the first day of the attack the Soviet attack turned to a stalemate with the Soviets being forced to occupy former Irish trenches for their own use. On the 29th, at 22:15 the Irish beat back the Soviets who suffered under supply shortages. The Soviets cursed the weather for not bringig in enough supplies and the Irish defenders that didn't realize when to call quits. It was as if the attack got all bogged down again and the campaign wouldn't end before spring.
After weeks of vicious battle Wexford was "liberated".
However the Red Army mastered the art of attritional warfare. By the 30th of November the heavy tank brigade supported the Soviet infantrists entering from the west. They smashed their way ruthlessly through the lines and the Irish were shocked as they had mostly been engaged from the north and east. It proved to be a gamechanger and by midnight of the 4th of December as the first snow had covered the island the Wexford Pocket fell claiming tens of thousands of lives. Only Dublin remained.
After a prolonged siege Dublin is again under attack. But again the battle turn against the attackers.
The Soviets made sure to pass on the news of the fall of Wexford to the forces in Dublin. The mantra was "why fight when all of Ireland have fallen and your allies have abandoned you?" It was believed it would weaken the Irish resolve, but it didn't. Afterall they fought for their homes. The attack started with ruthless bombing from artillery batteries and airplanes. Entire neighbourhoods was leveled. The bombardment lasted for four hours. Then thousands of Soviet infantrists and hundreds of tanks rushed to the city. The Irish defenders who were low on munitions, fuel and medications fell to the Soviet onslaught. Mechanized troops took control over vital bridges in Dublin and started to occupy the city center. However as the attack faded out over the evening and the Soviets had issues with their supply and commando chain into the city center, the Irish managed to organize a resistance. Several of the gains the Soviets made were soon lost again. The Irish was in frenzy and the Soviets was in disbelief. It was as if nothing could break down the capital. It was said that several of the Soviet officers drank entire bottles of vodka trying to cope with the hopeless situation.
The battle turns for the better, Dublin is taken and with it Ireland falls.
But Vlasov was keen on victory and demanded "nothing but total victory" from his men. Before the night attack of the 9th Vlasov and Tukhachevsky personally inspected the troops and Trotsky announced that the first Soviet soldier to enter the Irish parliament was to be named a Hero of the Soviet Union. Before the night attack the Soviets had managed to take control over most of the city, it was only the core that was still in Irish hands. The Irish and remaining Canadians was beaten back under the sheer pressure of the Soviet Army. From 22:00-24:00 the Soviets pounded the city core with no considerations whatsoever. Prior to the attack they even pounded the city with water cannons, doing anything in their power to make life as miserable for the defenders as possible. Winter cold had come in and several Irish and Canadians got severe wounds and damages from the cold. On the 11th of December 1945 the last Irish and Canadian pockets finally surrendered. As in the Levant the Canadians got a reputation as fierce fighters, battling to the very end. After the fall of Ireland the country surrendered, however their government had evacuated to Canada along with the NATO evacuation. The victory in Ireland prevented the large NATO buildup and a potential invasion of France or Great Britain. However the victory was bittersweet. Two airborne divisions was lost, and in order to take down Dublin the Soviets were forced to let several British, exiled Dutch, Canadian and most importantly American brigades slip away. The Soviets suffered around 190.000 losses (the majority not permament) and it showcased several weaknesses in the Soviet war machine. Moreover the "distraction" of Ireland turned Soviet and Pact attention toward the British Isles, US and British troops took advantage and invaded Spain whose losses skyrocketed to over 300.000 men. The Battle of Ireland was expected to be a swift one, instead it lasted for over two months and the once green island was turned red as extraordinary brutal battles took place, claiming over 550.000 permament Irish military casualties. The Third World War had claimed over three million casualties in a little over three months. More was to come..
*This was my own error.. I believed Cork had a port, and not until weeks afterwards I realized it had no port. By that time I had ordered the army to simply move to Cork for too long and was too busy fighting elsewhere to pick up my mistake. In the story it is both faulty intelligence (aka. my incompetence) and bad weather that prevented troops to enter Cork from sea.
British troops had just been pushed out of the Liverpool-Hull line and fel back to what was to become known as the Carlisle-Newcastle Line. This new line provided for a rugged terrain and a relatively narrow line that prevented Soviet manuever warfare. The position was easy to defend, especially against armored formations. South of Newcastle the British still held lands, however the Soviets managed to break through on the westernmost part of the area. While NATO troops managed to hold off the Soviet offensive they were in a predicament. True the British might hold off the Soviets in the south but as the western flank was compromised they risked being encircled. Their dilemma was to either hold the Soviets in the south or fall back to the Carlisle-Newcastle line. The Soviets on the other hand was aware of this aswell, and while the Front under Kuznetsov was ordered to take advantage of the exposed western flank the other Fronts was ordered to pin down the British defenders to prevent a fallback, despite monstrous losses. As the advance northward into Britain went along the fate of Ireland became a pressing issue. As of now Ireland provided a safehaven of some sorts for the British and NATO troops in Great Britain. Taking out Ireland was made a priority, in part to prevent NATO reinforcements and in part to prevent a NATO evacuation from Britain. And so on the 26th, the day prior to the fall of the line stretching from Liverpool to Hull, Ireland was invaded. The Soviets was preparing for the last push into northernmost England and into Scotland, they prepared to trap NATO in Europe and crush them once and for all. The Battle of Britain was entering its last phase.
Soviet officer instructs his soldiers on the Maxim.
All over the frontline the Soviets were on the attack. Pushing ahead relentlessly. The battle continued all night, but no gains were made. The forces under Kuznetsov was on the offensive. Having pushed a British infantry brigade out from the south-west of Carlisle they were prepared to enter the fray and the city. The path laid open. But an American armored brigade rushed to the defense and managed to strengthen their position. The Soviet infantrists was taken by surprise and low on supplies they couldn't rely on artillery support and were only supported by machine guns. Instead the Soviets focused on their flying artillery, namely the Il-2 Sturmoviks, pounding the American tanks from the air. But the British had one ace up in their sleeves; the Gloster Meteor.* The impact of the first jet fighter was later downplayed as Soviet aces said coldly "the first jet fighter I saw, I shot it down", but it had a major impact. The Soviet Air Force was starting to suffer in their many offensives over Britain. The Meteors was especially lethal to the Sturmoviks, many of whom had to be grounded during the operations. The last reserves of Meteors, along with other fighter reserves, was put into the battle to prevent a Soviet assault at all cost. The battle in the air turned costly for both sides, just as the battle on the ground. The Soviet infantrists had to retreat as they were stonewalled, in their stead two Mechanized Corps' went on the offensive, detirmined to root out their American armored counterparts and take Carlisle. Despite the Soviet tanks being vastly superior the Americans had better control of the terrain. The hilly terrain did not favor armored warfare and the Soviet armor was forced into bottlenecks where they were overwhelmed by American tanks or ambushed by tank destroyers. By daybreak Kuznetsov realized he could not advance further. The encirclement of Newcastle failed. Instead the focus shifted to the line south of Newcastle. However the British were well entrenched here aswell. Battle raged on the entire night well into the day of the 29th. Shrapnel filled the air, artillery rumbled, bombs lit up the horizon and screams echoed the night. But it was not enough to deter the British. They held their ground, despite being close to collapse the British was firm in their defense. Britain remained for another day.
Perhaps we can soon reach New York by air..
As mentioned earlier the British employed their radical Gloster Meteor on the final stages of the Battle of Britain. One unforseen consequence was that the downed jets opened up opportunities for the Soviet scientists. Having struggled to create a jet engine of their own the Soviets took advantage of the British jet engines to create one of their own. With the defeat of Germany the brilliant German scientists on board the jet engine program was sent to the USSR aswell to help develop the new type of engine for fighters and bombers. However with the defeat of Germany in '42 they never really got the chance to make their theoretical work bear any fruits. Still extensively studied by the victorious Pact forces and contributed to work on early Soviet jet fighters, especially on Arkhip Mikhailovich Lyul'ka who was responsible for the Soviet jet fighter programme. It was hoped that down the line these engines would foster fighter-jets that could outrun any other fighter and bomber, becoming exceptional both in the role as an air superiority fighter and interceptor of the dreaded US long raged (nuclear) bombers. Ever since the atomic bombings of the Ukraine and Crimea the Soviet Union had longed for finding a method to deliver their revenge upon the coasts of the United States of America. A whole project of its own amply named "the America Bomber Project" was created following the nuclear bombing, and as of now there had only been looked into long ranged aircraft propellers, however with the breakthrough in jet engines and rocket engineering it was believed a whole new generation of long range bombers could be developed... and used in vengeance.**
Trotsky personally inspects the troops.
On the ground no progress was made. So desperate was the situation that by October Trotsky himself was flown to the front. He would inspect the frontline troops to inspire and brace them for the coming battles. The greatest threat to the Soviet forces were the NATO close air support and fighter bombers. Along the front they moved in to harass Soviet armor and blow up bridges. From the clear blue sky NATO dive bombers attacked the Soviet forces without end. While Trotsky visited the troops the Soviet Air Force luanched a major offensive against the remnants of the Royal Airforce and the US Army Airforce. Following several attacks against the airfields deep into Scotland the remaining NATO airforce was dealt with, posing no real threat any more. After giving his troops an inspiring speech in his usual charismatic manner that had won him the Communist Party and the people Trotsky gave his troops one order: Take Liverpool.
As most of the Il-2s are already shot down, we might as well upgrade.
However the many battles all of the British Isles, the mediterranean and especially the last major air offensive in Britain had its high toll on the Soviet Airforce. This was especially true for the Sturmoviks. The IL-2s was anyway meant to be replaced by the IL-10s who were a general upgrade of the famous Sturmovik. However the IL-10 hadn't entered service yet, mostly due to the pilots meant to fly these planes were still in training and the IL-10 itself was under continuous upgrades and evaluation. By October of 1945 the Airforce held back the IL-10s for active service and were instead hoping to make them more subtainble against AA fire and give them larger payloads and engine.
The trenches around Newcastle.
The Battle of Britain went over to a phase of attritional warfare which reminded of the trenches from the Great War. The losses on both sides were enormous. The endurance of the Soviet Army was close to running out considering the huge supply demand and losses of lives that had taken place in Great Britain. Moreover a flow of fresh troops flowed to the Carlisle-Newcastle line from USA, the Empire and volunteers who had escaped communist controlled Europe. Artillery duels was commonplace and neither side managed to break out, however the Soviets now got the trumph card in their sleeves.. They had cracked the NATO radio codes and mustered huge artillery attacks against the gathering areas of the British Army south of Newcastle. This wrecked the British lines making it possible for a Soviet counterattack. "They pounded everything on us. Medium and heavy howtizers. The former fired with a much greater rate, the latter was sporadic but their bangs was devastating. Mortars were fired too and it was those we feared the most. When medium and heavy howitzers growled we had the chance to get to cover, the mortars on the other hand blew shrapnels above us and at such a rate that we just laid down in the mud and hoped for the best. An artillery round hit right in front of us at the ditch and rolled down into the trench. We were terrified, the propeller stopped whirring and we made peace. But it was a dud! It went on like this for hours without end and for several days, it made us crazy. Any attempt to retreat resulted in machine and tank gun fire from the Soviet side or getting caught up in the artillery attack. One boy just come in from recruit school panicked and run out of the shelter, he was impaled by the whirring shrapnel in the air. But the worst was to come, that was the damned Trotsky Orgels as the Jerries called them. My eardrums burst and all I could see was just all type of colors. When it was over, only God knows how long it lasted, the entire areas was just leveled.. limbs and body parts were everywhere and the suviving men screamed for the medic. But none came, only the Soviets".
Trotsky's into wonderweapons.
The Soviet rocket program bore fruits. By the third of October the V-1 replicate flying bombs was created, however they were out of reach from any of the NATO areas to make any difference only a few stroke in from Bessarabia into northern Greece. However they opened up the way for further advances into rocket artillery and the Soviets copied the theoretical Me-163 Komet. The new aircraft named the MiG-4 had impressive feats managing to reach 1.000 km/h (!) at top speed and most test pilots reported it could have an operational speed of 950km/h. However the rocket powered interceptor was very fragile and through the war the fatalities would come from accidents by test pilots and combat pilots rather than combat itself. Part of that reason was that the rocket interceptors was meant to cover the Soviet Motherland rather than be on offensive operations. Following the atomic scare each of the major Soviet airbases would house two squadrons of rocket interceptors. One to scramble during day, and one to scramble during night. Their fast speed was meant to intercept possible atomic bombers or just strategic bombers before they could reach their target, and harass them for long enough until higher armed, but slower fighters and heavy fighters arrived. Following the development of the flying bomb and MiG-4 Sergei Korolev requested further funds to continue into rocket engineering, claiming to be on the breakthrough of a ballistic missile. It was however instead decided that funds and resources should for now go to Arkhip Mikhailovich Lyul'ka and the jet engine project. However Korolev and his scientists was promised that they would soon get enough funds to develop further wonderweapons.***
Kuznetsov make a plan to end the siege.
It is the first morning hours after the dark autumn night of the 3rd. In the woods outside of Carlisle thousands of Soviet soldiers wait excited for the signal to attack. The tanks are ready, lines up side by side. Total silence is ordered. All you can hear is the bird chirps that give the illusion of peace and tranquility. Marshal Kuznetsov knows this is his last chance. Despite their major advances during the first weeks of the campaign, his Front have now faced harsh resistance from British, American and Commonwealth troops and even volunteers from all over Europe. The NATO troops had several anti-tank weapons for the ordinary infantry squads, proving to be highly effective in the hills around Carlisle and Newcastle. His plan is to focus the full force of his Front around Carlisle, knock into the area and spearhead his armored and mechanized forces straight into Edinburg emulating the success of the Southern Thrust. The infantry will follow up behind and prevent NATO counteroffensives. Newcastle is to be surrounded and England is to be cut off from Glasgow. Kuznetsov planned his attack down to the smallest detail. The artillery aim in to rectangles 100x30 meters, against such a grid up to 2000 shells per minute are fired. All life within such an area simply cease to exist. After that the fire is directed with diabolic efficiency on the next target, and then the next. The armor advance closely behind, and so do self-propelled artillery, assault guns and mobile katuysha batteries. The NATO troops, who are in rocky and hilly forested terrain, marked with big rocks, have no chance to escape. It turns into a horrible massacre. The Soviets could pinpoint the exact location of NATO troops due to cracking their signal codes, and after the merciless artillery attacks the Soviet armor and mechanized forces spearheaded towards Edinburgh ready to end the war..
Newcastle is surrounded and the walls of Hadrian breached.
Kuznetsov moved at an impressive speed making a lighting strike into Edinburgh cutting it off with the 1st KIVO Mechanized Corps. The will to resistance simply shattered among the NATO troops as the 1st Belorussian Front furiously thrusted into Scotland and the once steadfast British troops retreated in wild panick as the Soviets advanced. A Scottish farmer said "First the soldiers ran, then we ran, and then the Russians ran after them". An American soldier wote terrified "where do all these Russians come from? Where have they gathered their courage, their blind contempt for death?" The Red Army advanced in terrain which was in reality easy to defend. Lakes and hills forced the Soviet forces into small areas. Still they advanced in a formidable lightning strike. Nothing could stop them it seemed. But the British were fast to react. Having just lost Edinburgh Alan Brooke was resolute in his goal to retake Edinburgh. Three brigades was set in against the exhausted 1st KIVO before reinforcements arrived and the route between Edinburgh and Newcastle was forever lost. The British was outfitted with new American made anti-tank weapons making it possible for the ordinary soldiers to hit the T-44s, T-34s and APCs holed up in Edinburgh. However close in behind a Light-Tank and Heavy-Tank brigade was sent toward Edinburg from the Soviet side in full speed to prevent Edinburgh to fall.
Soviet troops prepare for a lengthy siege.
Meanwhile the thrust of the 1st Belorussian Front created a large hole in the Carlisle-Newcastle line. Newcastle was in effect surrounded and it was the last bastion in England. The remnants of the British government and high command evacuated in secrecy from Scotland and headed for the New World vowing to return in full force to liberate their homecountry. The 2nd and 3rd Belorussian Fronts, under Rokossovsky and Gorbatov respectively, took in their positions all around the Newcastle pocket and bid their time to fully prepare their attack and starve their adversary. The attack on Newcastle would be spread out between two axis's. the 2nd Front would strike from Carlisle and along the southern part, into the British southern positions and then into Newcastle. The 3rd Front would be stationed from Carlisle too, but their frontline would stretch to the north of Newcastle falling upon the NATO troops from the south. An American commander noted "we're about to be turned into a burger". This huge pincer movement was planned by the Soviet High Command, in other words Trotsky himself. The Soviets now embarked upon one of the greatest bombardments in history. By the end of the siege the Soviets fired 1,8 millions grenades of all sorts who equaled some 36000 tons of steel over Newcastle. North of Newcastle a Soviet sergeant was positioned upon a heigh overlooking the ruined houses and rooftops of Newcastle unfolding all the way to west. He had waited for this moment and later described among his Russian comrades as "The feeling of joy and victory gripped us. This was the last enemy defensive line, the time of reckoning had come!"
The push into Scotland..
Meanwhile Kuznetsov was not prepared to savor his losses and dig in to hold the line. Instead the goal was to continue the offensive and roll straight into Glasgow. The reinforcements to the 1st KIVO was held back, instead the other armored forces was meant to plunge straight into Scotland to defeat the American and British troops there and cut off the troops attacking the 1st KIVO. The British knew what was on stake the very existance of their homeland and the military junta of Britain issued a message to their soldiers "those who do not follow their officers into death, can count on facing execution". The Battle of Britain entered into a newfound brutality.
A group of soldiers up for a rare pause.
The attack into Scotland started with lethal attacks from accurate fighter and dive bombers. These also struck the bridges and railroads behind the NATO troops depriving them of resources. The British and Americans quickly restored these brigdes, but new Sturmoviks apperead and knocked them out. This combined with new batches of AT weapons, tank destroyers and T-44-100s reinforced the Soviet battle morale and severly weakened the NATO morale. From their positions in Edinburg and to the south the Soviets had to advance through hilly terrain, forested areas and marshes who made it difficult to advance. Still the Soviet forces advanced forward pushing the NATO defenders back. The Soviet armor grinded down the NATO positions one after the other and thundered forward through the blood stenched fields. Some of the forward NATO positions suffered as high as 70% casualty rates. Some places the Soviet forces didn't even take prisoners, just passing by them or worse.
Newcastle resist, the Soviets persist.
Meanwhile along Newcastle the 2nd and 3rd Fronts resumed their offensives. However the NATO troops was well entrenched. Among them was the American 10th Armored Division reinforced by several infantry brigades and the 101st Airborne Division who was sent out as a "wave breaker" against the Soviets. The Americans got an ulimatum from the Soviets to surrender, but General McAuliffe simply replied "Nuts!" - it is reasons to believe that his oral words were even harsher. However the evening offensive soon turned into harsh combats along the rivers and outskirts of Newcastle, and by midnight the battle was turning to the favor of NATO. The Soviet forces spent some three days to just break into the British lines, but they still held the defensive lines south of Newcastle. Around 30.000 Soviet troops fell south of Newcastle, while the British lost 12.000. To the north the Soviet attack didn't do much better as despite the first armored columns raced into Newcastle they met fierce NATO resistance in the suburbs and outskirts of Newcastle. NATO mounted a desperate defense of Newcastle, and by the looks of it it would not be broken easily. Around 400 Soviet tanks were lost in the streets of Newcastle. To fight in cities was a nightmare scenario for the Soviet soldiers as the enemy could show up everywhere, also on places that was already conquered. The fights were not only conducted in the streets, but also underground and in the sewers. A Soviet comms soldier reminisced on how the NATO resistance stiffened in the suburbs of Newcastle: "When we breached the houses there was no soldiers there, men the grenades still flied into from the sides or back of the house. We didn't know with certainty who we battled - there was no women and soldiers in the house, no soldiers, men under the floor in the basement we found soldiers who hid in the cellar". The battle of Newcastle was so exhaustive that by the 8th the attack was called off and only sporadic fights remained between forward and recon elements. Still the bombing and barrages of Newcastle persisted.
British soldiers outside of Glasgow.
But in the north in Scotland the pipe played a different tune alltogether. As the 2nd and 3rd Fronts was under major pressure they implored Kuznetsov to expedite his offensive. Kuznetsov did not hesitate and the Red Army released its full fury against NATO in Scotland. In a few days the remnants of the NATO army collapsed completely and Soviet troops entered Glasgow. To make matters worse for the NATO troops the Soviets unleashed hundreds of troops dressed in American and British uniforms and gear behind enemy lines to disrupt communications, supply lines and take control over bridges. This led to widespread fear among the NATO troops who distrusted eachother and to fight an enemy by the fronts and behind them. They were met with initial fierce resistance, however as the American brigades there collapsed the British troops who had spent all their munitions surrendered. Glasgow fell, and with it all of Scotland. This was the major turning point..
British troops surrender to the Red Army.
On the 8th of October 1945 the representatives of the British government and armed forces in Great Britain surrendered. The remaining British high command was taken in Glasgow and they saw no need to continue the fight. The British commander issued the instructions to the diplomats who was to negotiate the surrender to the Soviets:
1. Do not hide the fact that we are in their [USSR's] power and is in a phase of full demobilization.
2. You will announce that the King, His Majesty's Government, the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force have left the country and that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as a state is and will remain in war against the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the Paris PACT, but that the British commander have official authorization to settle all that concerns the Russians transfer of actual power on the British Isles.
And with that the United Kingdom surrendered. It was a sense of disbelief among the British but also relief. After two months of bloody battle that wrecked not only the British Armed Forced, her status as a superpower but also her homeland. Britain was in ruins and it surrendered to the Red Army.
A few troops still hold out to the bitterest of ends.
The transfer of power was relatively peaceful and the noose around Newcastle tightened. The Americans who still occupied Newcastle suffered immense casualties, but they refused to give up the city. Ameican, Danish and Greek troops remained in the smoking ruins of Newcastle. The Soviets resumed their attack on Newcastle. However it again resulted in confused and crazed street battles. A Soviet guard witnessed such fights: "There is neither any clear frontline, or a rear area or detailed missions. You sit in teh third floor, and that is your frontline and beneath you is your reserve area. Five to ten minutes later the situation is very different: Beneath you are all out of sudden capitalists and out of the third floor great fires spits out of the windows. In accordance to the infantry field manual where is the front and the rear area?" The remaining NATO troops mounted a fanatic and desperate attack and after hours of bloody battle there was as if they wouldn't bend to the will of Trotsky. The defenders could, however, only pospone the inevitable becaus the larger Battle of Britain was already decided.
Only the Americans remain and they are losing ground.
After nine in the morning the Soviets started to conquer block after block deprived of mercy. The stiff NATO resistance continued, but they were running out of supplies - and a cause to fight for. The final killing blow came when the port of Newcastle was taken by Soviet mechanized forces and the NATO forces had no means for evacuation, reinforcements or supplies. Within an hour the last NATO troops surrendered at a great cost for both sides. The Battle of Britain was over. The Union Jack flew over Great Britain for the last time and it was an emotional moment for all who partook in the Battle of Britain and it shocked the world at large. The nation that once ruled the world and survived both the Kaiser and Hitler was now no more, crushed under the boots of the world revolution. However abroad the British Empire was still very much alive and the Royal Navy and Air Force still had a role to play and would fight on over the supremacy of the seas and skies. Meanwhile the Royal Army fought on in the mountains of Greece, the streets of Dublin and the deserts of Africa. More significant they held out against the PACT assault on Gibraltar and fought alongside their American ally in the invasion of Spain. Still the fall of Britain and the later fall of Ireland was a major turning point in not only the war, but world history as a whole. The Soviets paraded along the main street of London where the surrender was officially staged and Rokossovsky rode on a white stallion like Napoleon, as a conquering hero. Trotsky took up residence in Buckingham Palace and led the fight on NATO from there. Still the war was far from over.
*So in game they don't have jet-fighters. But thought it was good narrative wise and since they were introduced in 1944.
**I think it make sense why the various nations are so far behind in the development of jet engines. OTL the Germans heavily influenced both the USSR and USA in their development of jet fighters, this time around the Soviets have much better access to German engineering slowing down American progress, however the British still developed jet engines of their own and again OTL the British Nene engine was used in the Soviet MiG-15 that we all know. The war is slowly becoming modernized, perhaps even faster than OTL due to the circumstances. It would be awesome if MiGs, Sabres and Vampires were up in the skies against eachother.
***I needed rocket engines to get to jet engines. I took jet engines over rocket engines 2. But the next research will be improved rocket engines . Then we can get the ballistic missiles/V2s. After that we can take advanced rocket engines, giving us guided missiles 3 with a range of 11000 km! Those are bound for the USA
****I managed to lose some screenshots in the final battles of Britain, both the battle of Newcastle, the British surrender and the conquest of Scotland. However the British surrendered around the 8th when Glasgow fell, and Newcastle soon fell.
By mid September the Royal Navy met two crushing defeats in the English Channel and the Eastern Mediterranean Sea - just north of the Suez. It was a crippling blow difficult for the Royal Navy to recover from, still NATO had the Gibraltar Strait, the Suez Canal, Malta, Cyprus, Crete, Aegean and Dodecanese islands in their fold. This posed a threat to the overall Soviet war effort in the area. Air raids could be conducted from these islands, as well as disruption of Soviet supply lines and naval campaigns. The Royal Navy was beaten, but not broken and the US Navy was still in the game - despite clinging to protecting their homewaters and raid Soviet-Pacific sealanes. Whilst the Soviet focus was fixed on Britain, northern Europe and Greece, its gaze would soon turn to the Eastern Mediterranean..
Case Cyprus.
Perhaps the most obvious target in the Eastern Med. was the island of Cyprus. Placed strategically to control said area it held a major NATO garrison. Matter of factly over the coming weeks several of the NATO troops beaten in Turkey and the Levant would evacuate toward Cyprus. The armored forces of the 2nd Ukranian Front was tasked with dealing with the NATO invasion south of Trotskygrad ((see chapter 49)), however its Rifle and Cavalry divisions was tasked with bringing down Cyprus. Already on the 27th orders were given for seven Rifle Divisions and one Cavarly Division of the 2nd Ukr. Front to invade eastern Cyprus taking control of the capital and the vital ports in the area. Meanwhile nine Rifle Divisions was to land in western Cyprus. STAVKA and Trotsky feared a major NATO garrison stationed in Cyprus and was prepared to bring down a mighty hammer to crush it.
The Royal Navy raid Pact naval lanes.
It was not until after the first week of October that the Soviets managed to garner enough confidence to order a second invasion of the Aegean and Dodecanese isles and order an invasion of Cyprus. NATO intelligence services caught up with these reports and the British decided to responde with a daring raid with one battlecruiser and once aircraft carrier into the Soviet invasion forces. However the Black Sea Fleet anticipated as much and responded with sending out their battle squadrons. The fleet was led on by the modern and mighty Karl Marx battleship, while the raiders was led on by the modern Kornstadt battlecruiser. The fleet of the revolution was leading on to meet the British. It was not for long until Karl Marx and the battleships tied up the British squadron, while Kronstadt and the cruisers harassed the enemy. But it was a diversion. Soviet submarines moved in and managed to cripple two British destroyers, before the main batteries of the battleships turned in to destroy them. Over the next days the two forces would engage in a cat and mouse game where the British meant to evade the Soviet force, while the Soviets wanted to sink them to the depths of the sea. To the east the Italians managed to intercept British reinforcements.
One island down. Many to go..
The Soviet Naval Landing forces met significant resistance from NATO troops, however on October the 13th the 5th Regiment managed to conquer one of the islands. The island was bombarded until it was no life left on it. A naval infantrist said "there was no animals, no humans, not even grass". The Soviets eradicated the island under intense bombardments. The cost NATO defenses put on the lives of Soviet naval invasions made the Soviets turn to desperate measures.
Bye bye.
On the night of the 15th of October the Battle of Rhodes was over. The guns fell silent as the navies had skirmished for days over control of Rhodes. The remnants of the Royal Navy in the Med. believed it could score an easy victory, instead their once total naval dominance was being slowly turned to nothing and an entire nation was humiliated in the process. Just days before the forces in Britain itself had capitulated and their defeat was only solidified with the destruction of several more capital ships. The captain of Soviet Russia was said to cry over the radio "and so Soviet Russia prove that Britain is not invincible" as his battleship delivered the killing blow into.. you guessed it HMS Invincible. On land Greece was slowly falling as Soviet forces was moving toward Athens and had split the nation in half. The Royal Navy was the last hope for the Greeks. That the British would clear the seas for NATO reinforcements. Instead the Red Fleets would dominate the Mediterranean and Greece would fall. During the campaign for the Eastern Med. the two sides would only clash in one other naval battle where Soviet submarines ran into two heavy cruisers, three destroyers and one light cruiser on escort duty. Only one heavy and one light cruiser survived the clash. The British power in the Mediterranean was truly broken.
The fall of Cyprus.
Then on the 29th of October the long awaited invasion of Cyprus begun. The eastern forces only met scattered British resistance and the eastern half of the island was cleared during the evening that same day. The Rifle Divisions was ordered to hold the eastern half of the country while the cavalry was ordered to the west to bind up the garrisons there. Soon the full force of the western forces arrived and Cyprus was taken. As it turned out most of the NATO forces had been evacuated, with only already severly beaten NATO troops being left to occupy Cyprus. No doubt with the loss of the Levant and the Royal Navy the strategic importance of Cyprus was lost. However the NATO troops evacuated to Crete where one of the fiercest battles of the campaign was about to begin..
A German soldier in Crete.
Paralell with the Soviet attacks into the Eastern Med. the German and French armies launched several attacks into eastern Crete. There they were met with ferocious resistance and the NATO troops there, mostly American and British, noted on the needless sacrifice by PACT troops. On the beaches and the hills of Crete it was reported "it flows of communist blood". PACT troops met walls of bullets and shrapnel and was sacrificed in several human waves. Throughout all of October and November the French and Germans would send in several divisions worth of Chasseurs, Jägers and infantry into Crete and several of the landings was beaten back. The beaches of eastern Crete was turned red for months to come. This was a terrible omen for STAVKA. Crete was turned into a NATO fortress, one that would not be given up easily.
The Soviets move into Crete.
The battle of Crete ranged on iin eastern Crete as soldiers from the French Commune and the German Socialist Republic battled in one of the bloodiest fights of the war. The troops kept on rolling in and yet another German infantry division was ordered to Crete. However with recent events in Spain the fury of the Red Menace only increased and it became clear this was no longer a war between two opposing worldviews, but one of survival. Furious by "the crimes against humankind" the Soviets launched their invasion of Crete. The first wave was of the 2nd Ukr. Front (mostly the armored units in the defense of Trotskygrad, and a few infantry units who brought down Cyprus) under Popov was to attack into western Crete just short of Heraklion and the ports in the east that could supply a major invasion force. Meanwhile the naval landing infantrists would help the French and Germans in their naval assaults, with Paratroopers coming in from England to launch air assaults. In the west three Motorized Rifle Divisions and one Heavy-Tank Brigade hit the beaches around Chania* and met resistance. However the Soviet attack approach was ruthless.
The beaches of Chania.
The Soviets plotted their attack with bombardments from air and sea and even a few of their flying bombs. Their strategy was to carve up the landing zones into grids and bombard one grid until it was pounded to oblivion with rockets, bombs, grenades and napalm bombs from air and sea. As one grid was dealt with, then the next one was the target. As the Soviet troops got into position inland and came under heavy fire they kept up this bombardment, however they included self-propelled artillery and motorized katyusha rockets. They moved inland unleashed their demonic fury onto their designated gird before they moved forward and repeated this process. This was a huge drain on Soviet munitions, but it was also a huge drain on NATO manpower so to speak. Not until long Chania was secured.
One province down, three to go.
During the early morning of the 18th of November Chania was secured. The three Mot. Rifle Division and the 9th Havy-Tank Brigade was ordered to dig down and hold their position. To the far east of the island the French and Germans kept up their attack and perished as flies. In response two naval landing regiments was ordered to assist the west European invaders in bringing down Lassithi. Menwhile Soviet troops was making their landing to the east of their first landing, namely on the beaches of Rethymnon. As with Chania they met resistance, but the same tactics for bombardment was employed. The result was grueling for the defenders, and not until long Rethmynon fell aswell.
The marines should do the trick - but they don't.
While the forces from the 2nd Ukr. Front dug down and prepared for an attack into Heraklion the 1st and 2nd Naval Infantry Regiments landed around Timbaki in the province of Heraklion. Here they at first employed shock tactics breaking through the American lines in the south. The marines pushed further inland believing they had broken through the lines with the Americans on retreat toward Heraklion itself. But it only ended up with them overstretching their lines and the Americans cunningly ambushed the Soviet marines. It quickly became apparent that the Soviet marines could not take on Heraklion on their own. But that was never the purpose. The armored and motorized forces from the west was to be the fist that was to crush Heraklion. The naval infantrists was just to be a diversion, and at best take Timbaki while the armored forces moved into Heraklion.
NATO warplane strafing Soviet landingcrafts.
While the battle raged on in Crete it did so too elsewhere. In the Aegean and Dodecanese islands the battles turned fierce. Soviet paratroopers and marines worked together hopping from one island to the other as they met stiff Anglo-Indian, Greek, Canadian, British and American resistance. Several troops who had evacuated from the Levant, Cyprus, Greece and Egypt were holed up in these islands and were battered. The campaigns that took place were similar to the Pacific campaign the Americans and British had fought during WW2 and the Allies were now on the defensive with little means of supply. Their situation turned to the same as the Japanese, and as them they fought a desperate defense. The Soviet paras and marines suffered high casualties and several of the attacks was almost called off. However by the end of November all of the former Greeks islands (except for Crete) was under Soviet control. The USSR now had complete control over the Aegean Sea and the Straits around Trotskygrad.
The Battle of Heraklion begins.
Back to Crete. The 5th Mechanized Corps moved into the gap between Heraklion and Timbaki hoping to punch a hole in th NATO defenses, however they were met with fierce resistance. And much of the munitions for their artillery was spent during the landings on Crete. The American and British troops held their ground scoring several hits against the Soviet T-44s and APCs proving the Soviet armor was not invincible. Popov became increasingly frustrated as the hours passed by and the reinforcements became stuck in a traffic jam. All the while the two Naval Landing Regiments was pushed out off their landing zones being unable to bring in reinforcements. Much of their equipment and marines was left behind to the NATO troops. Would Popov's failure in the Far East be repeated in Crete?
A breakthrough!
Then the 22nd of November. The Muscovite Proletarian Mot. Rifle Division broke into Timbaki and moved further inland ready to encircle Heraklion while the 5th Mech. Corps took severe beating in the gap. At the same time the 185th Mot. Rifle Division engaged the garrison in Heraklion itself. Much of their success was due to munitions to the SP-artillery and mobile katyusha batteries again streaming in. However they had to be much more conservative in their approach than the days before. The enemy was not beaten however, and the mechanized formations of the Red Army still suffered huge casualties. However that was nothing compared to the naval landings on Lassithi where two naval landing regiments participated, but was bogged down with one being forced to call off their attacks already at their beach assault. The 4th however established a beachhead, but despite their significant air and naval support it was only a matter of time before they were pushed out.
The tide is turning against us..
Then during the early night of the 26th the NATO garrison got the upperhand again. With the Germans, French and Soviet marines beaten in the east they reinforced Heraklion and managed to push the Soviets back from their gains on the 22nd. The Soviets became frustrated at best, desperate at worst. Their supplies was running low an their improvised methods of bringing supplies to Crete could not substain a major force for long. The 2nd Ukr. Front risked losing their mechanized fist and two rifle divisions. Yet another humiliation for Popov (one he likely wouldn't survive) and a disaster for the Red Army and PACT war effort. Trotsky was furios and demanded answers.
Soviet paratroopers in Crete.
The Soviet answer was drastic. Three paratrooper armies was to land in Crete, with the remaining five being moved to bring in a second wave. Meanwhile the naval landing regiments was ordered to again move toward Crete and make a landing. The jump resulted in horrendous casualties for the Soviet paratroopers taking 80% casualties. The heroes of the VDV from England and Ireland was with the snap of a finger nearly wiped off. One of most grueling battles in the conflict thus was took place in Crete.
It's over.
But the gamble paid off. Despite extreme casualties and near destruction of several divisions worth of Soviet troops the island of Crete surrendered to the Soviet troops. Tens of thousands on both sides perished and many more were casualties. The island of Crete would be littered with craters and the beaches red of blood and the seas emptied for natural resources. The victory was bittersweet, but their goal was obtained to evict NATO from the Eastern Mediterranean. The 2nd Ukr. Front was then tasked with another objective. To make further naval landings from Crete and Cyprus into Egypt, west of the Suez Canal to break the stalemate there...
American troops landing on the beaches of southern Spain.
Gibraltar commonly known as the Rock was standing firm against attacks from Spain, the French Commune and Italy alike. Wave after wave hit the rock, but each wave broke up. In the first attacks the Spanish progressed and it was as if Gibraltar would fall within the very first days of the war, but as the Spanish troops entered the outer perimeter and British forces was forced underground, however massive NATO air attacks and reinforcements from all over the Empire and America trickled in and pushed the attackers out. The Spanish suffered some 73.000 casualties during their offensive - without taking control of the Rock. While NATO lost ground in northern Europe they remained optimistic that if they held Gibraltar the war might be won. British High Command laid out their strategy for their American counterpart; to attack into the Baltics or Black Sea (as the Americnas planned to) would be an attack straight into the jaws of a lion. However if Spain was taken out it could be used as a base of operations further into the Mediterranean and even France. A backhand blow into the soft belly of Europe. Thousands of American and Commonwealth troops was sent to Gibraltar during August and September of 1945, slowly building up their forces as the PACT was occupied elsewhere. By the last week of October they unleashed a furious invasion into Spain hoping to knock the second communist nation out of the war and to deprive the communist threat of their industrial powerhouses of France and Italy.
The NATO offensive into Spain before the Red Army was called into action.
"Spain have not been victim of such senseless violence, meaningless death and hatred since the Civil War. Entire generations disapperead in mere days, the countryside was riddled with armored wrecks standing as testimony to the sacrifice of brave men and as their tomb", was the words of a Spanish journalist. By the 29th of October the NATO forces - helped on my American armored and mechanized forces - secured a beachhead outside of Gibraltar taking the port of Cadiz and laying siege to the cities of Malaga and Sevilla. The Spanish fought bravely and for a brief moment managed to contain the NATO threat. However with the events that took place on the 3rd of November - yet another date of infamy in the history of America - the Spanish lines rapidly crumbled. The Spanish was promised relief from the battle hardened conquerers of Britain, but they were still far away. The NATO forces advanced in full aggression and soon reached the river of Guadiana by the 12th of November. However Malaga would not fall even under a massive siege. And despite the Spanish losing troops in the hundreds of thousands they managed to brace themself behind the rivers and natural defenses of the hilly areas. The news of impending Soviet reinforcements ticked in and boosted morale. All they had to do was to hold out a little longer and the might of the Soviet Union would come crushing down on NATO and liberate Spain.
The brutality of the imperialists know no boundaries!
3rd of November. NATO troops faced well entrenched Spanish troops with high morale. Something needed to be done. And so it were. Yet another nuclear strike was ordered by Truman. PACT intelligence services picked it up and was decieved to believe it was in the Pacific and in the Baltics. But it were not. Madrid and Valencia was bombed by two plutonium bombs with a yield of 21 kilotons - the same being used over Kiev - named Gilda and Helen of Iberia. Valencia was chosen as a major industrial city and port close to the front. To cripple the Spanish and in turn PACT ability to deliver arms and supplies to the front line. Madrid was chosen to take out the political leadership of Spain and plunge the country into chaos. Tens of thousands of lives were claimed instantly, with many more in the days to come. Including the old Stalinist and leader of Spain José Díaz who died of cancer. Some had it he fell under the hands of the Soviets, bearing a grudge against his Stalinist past. In his place the old Trotskyist during the civil war Julían Gorkin embraced the leadership of Spain. But the effects of the bombings of Spain was more widespread in change of leadership. Vital industries and hundreds of thousands of souls perished. Moreover it wrecked Spanish morale, leadership and supply situation. After two days NATO launched another offensive and conquered their way up to the river of Guadiana. Truman vowed that if the Spanish people and the government did not agree on an unconditional surrender the nuclear fire would continue until they did so. And they were close at breaking apart..
Red Tankers aid the population of Madrid.
Soviet soldiers under the 1st Belorussian Front under Kuznetsov and 2nd Belo. Front under Rokossovsky was ordered to end their occupation duty in Britain and sent over to Spain. There they would first be sent to the areas around Madrid and Valencia to agive humanitarian aid to the local population and restore order to the Spanish government who always fell under anti-communist coup and revolution. Demonstrators and unions openly questioned the regime's policy of bringing the nation into utter destruction and that Spain was now becoming part of the Soviet totalitarian regime and betraying their own ideals of liberty. The nation was again on the brink of revolution, but it was averted by the grace of Russian barrels. More importantly the Soviet war machine rolled down over the American lines and engaged in horrible battles. American and Soviet troops had engaged eachother in head on battles before on, such as in Egypt and Ireland, however this time was different as entire US divisions was sent to Spain to bring down the Iberian nation and threaten France. Both sides kept on the pressure, but eventually the vast size of the combined forces of the USSR, Spain and France had its toll on the NATO forces who had difficulties with their growing supply issues in Spain. As the Americans retreated Truman greenlighted yet another desperate attempt to bring down Spain...
The atomic bombing of Barcelona seen from a British battlecruiser.
America did not fall back without a bang. Truman held true to his promise and on the 18th of November yet another plutonium bomb was dropped over the port of Barcelona. A lone American bomber set off from the airbase in Gibraltar. On 08:45 the bomb, called Wigwam, was dropped over the Catalan metropolis. Groundside it was an ordinary day for the city dwellers of Barcelona. They knew nothing of what was about to come. 43 seconds later the bomb detonated around 600 meters above the city. The inhabitants first saw a bright flash, then a fierce explosion. An enormous mushroom shaped cloud rose several thousand meters up in the air. In a radius of 1 km there was 3000 degrees celsius melting away anything in its path. Further away the shockwave pulverized buldings and tore apart organic matter. Barcelona was chosen as it was an industrial powerhouse of Spain, moreover Soviet and French troops coming over to Spain had to pass through Catalonia and equipment was sent to the port of Barcelona and large parts of the Spanish Navy was stationed in Barcelona - the ships was effectively rendered useless and non-operational.. The US Military hoped yet another bombing of such a major population center would crush the Spanish morale and destroy the PACT supply lines to southern Spain. The effects was dreadful and people all over Spain and the globe asked how long the Spanish people would endure such suffering, and to what extent the Americans was willing to go to, in their own terms, liberate Europe from communism.
The front have stabilized around Sevilla and Malaga again.
After days of fighting and relentless offensives NATO retreated and was beaten back to their original starting perimeter outside of Gibraltar and Cadiz. As the Spanish still held Malaga the NATO lines were threatened from an eastern offensive that would cut off their troops in the north. They had to make the retreat and hope to push out again from Gibraltar. On the 25th the lines were again the same as just one month prior. Despite serious NATO attempts to break out and conquer Spain it failed with the Soviet intervention. The NATO troops again, however, sought to break out on the 25th from their strongholds in Cadiz, Gibraltar and Sevilla, but the PACT defenses of France and USSR was too well dug in and experienced. Where the Spanish Army was beaten and the people broken under the mushroom cloud the Red and Communard Armies persisted and wanted nothing more than one thing; the complete evacuation of NATO troops from Iberia.
P-47 Thunderbolt attacking Soviet tanks.
NATO had one advantage, though. As opposed to in Greece, western Europe and Britain NATO enjoyed air supremacy. Their control of the skies was a vital compartment of their success in Spain. PACT supply routes and frontline units were harassed. Altough regular artillery, tanks and soldiers claimed higher casualties than the air units, it had a devastating effect on the morale of the PACT troops. The most feared was low flying fighter-bombers who strafed the positions. A Soviet tank commander remarked "we were under attack from American planes. Their rockets missed us and the few who hit us did little serious damage. Still it was frightening. The majority of the tank crew was seasoned veterans from England - some had even fought in the Great Patriotic War. They remained calm. Two however was fresh from recruit school and they panicked as the fighters came flying toward us and the rockets slammed into our armor or the ground around us. They needed to get out at every cost and we tried to stop them. The loader was stopped in his tracks out, he had to be beaten to remain calm, while another managed to escape. It was the greatest irony that those who escaped out in panick from what they believed was certain death was in fact those who was killed. The tanks endured and only a few tanks recieved mobility, weapons or comms kill - with none recieving a total kill. Those who escaped was filled with shrapnel or torn apart by the blasts". The Soviet Union realized that unless they diverted several of their squadrons and wings to Spain they couldn't win over the entrenched NATO troops. Hundreds of planes was sent all over from Europe and the British Isles to Spain to stop the NATO advance and help the PACT advance. NATO only enjoyed a few airfields in the vicinity of Spain (one in Gibraltar and one in Morocco). The air-battle had begun and both sides knew the fate of Spain was dependent on the victor. Both to lead on offensive and also for further bombings, including atomic ones, of Spain that was bound to make the nation surrender - or perish.
The December defensive and later offensive.
On the 4th of December NATO gave up their attempts to break through the Russo-Franco lines. Winter was coming and US and British troops realized the Soviet and French troops were in better overall shape than their battered Spanish comrades. Mere six days later French and Soviet troops crossed no man's land and started their December campaign to break into Gibraltar and end the NATO threat and invasion. Their main focus was the bulge north of Malaga, the areas west of Malaga and the flat terrain between Sevilla and Malaga holding the crossroads of Antequera - all whom came under attack from the forces of Rokossovsky. Meanwhile from the west the men of Kuznetsov would cross the Guadalquivir river and into Cadiz. Sevilla was not to be attacked as the PACT forces dreaded a deathtrap in urban battles - as NATO troops suffered in Malaga. Instead the port of Cadiz was to be taken along witht the crossroads of Antequera. This would cut the forces from Gibraltar and Sevilla off from eachother, thus preventing a NATO retreat from Sevilla and supplies and reinforcements to Sevilla making it an easier target. While the forces of Rokossovsky saw major gains during the first hours of the battle in the west Kuznetsov had difficulties crossing Guadalquivir.
Soviet tanks cross into Antequera.
All along the line the battles came to a standstill, however in Antequera Rokossovsky put his weight behind the offensive on the important juncture, ready to crush it. From his point of view this was one of the more important battles as it would give the Soviets the initiative they needed to attack into Gibraltar itself, the area between Malaga an Gibraltar, Cadiz or Sevilla in directions that was generally speaking less prepared than the areas facing the Soviet lines. Rokossovsky ordered full aggression and to exploit every gap. Only self-propelled and mobile rocket launchers was to be used and the APCs and tanks of the Mechanized corps would break into the enemy lines and engage them while exploiting new gaps. The mobile artillery would follow in behind and devastate entire areas just before the Soviet tanks and APCs arrived. Entire areas was laid barren and the Americans was shocked by the sheer brutality of the Soviet troops. However it came at a cost as it exposed their artillery and tanks to NATO saturation attacks, ambush and air support. Antequera and the surrounding areas fell to Soviet control within the first day but at heavy losses. Such heavy losses that they were unable to push on and attack the NATO troops in the other areas.
Perhaps the heavy tanks can split their lines in half.
By late evening of the 12th American tanks and British infantry counterattacked the Soviets based around Antequera. Meanwhile Kuznetsov ordered an assault into Sevilla with heavy casualties and the attackers into Cadiz was slowly being beaten. Even the attack from Malaga the initiative was going away from Rokossovsky and into the hands of the Americans. The next day, however, the Soviets better spread out their troops and opened up an eastern front into Sevilla after a failed NATO breakout. However the battles on the streets of Sevilla was very much a standstill and the true outcome uncertain at best. The forces in Antequera was slowly turning the battle to their side with several medium and light armored reinforcements, and they hoped to break into Gibraltar or Cadiz with the help of a Heavy-Tank Brigade with KV and Trotsky tanks. The Battle of Spain and in turn Gibraltar was very much uncertain.
Soviet fighters over Spain.
Soon however the Soviet Airforce from the British Isles, the Low Countries and Denmark came ticking in to Spain. Their numerous fighters soon engaged American Mustangs and British Spitefuls, despite great losses the Soviet fighters soon got the upperhand. Mostly due to their numerical superiority, but also as Soviet strategic and tactical bombers pounded the only two airports day and night, interfering with the flight program and limiting their ability for storage and refueling. Moreover Spanish, French and Italian destroyers, light cruisers and smaller ships made up an effective AA blockade between the straits of Gibraltar, with capital ships bombarding the airfield in Gibraltar. The air superiority fighters of the USSR soon got the upperhand, combined with heavy fighters intercepting NATO bombers and bombers and fighter-bombers attacking both ground troops and strategic locations. The air war was quickly being won by the PACT, at the expense of NATO's ability to mount effective ground support, interdiction, strafing raids and more importantly - atomic bombings. The Soviets on the otherhand put good use of their air offensive..
The rock of Gibraltar stand. The attackers on Cadiz are converging on Sevilla.
On the 16th the areas west of Malaga was taken and NATO retreated back to their fortications in Gibraltar. It was a major victory, however the next three days would be intense. In Sevilla Trotsky tanks and infantry cleared out the city and the fall of the city was imminent - or so it seemed. Soon NATO counterattacked and it the Soviets was losing - or so it seemed. The very next day the Soviets converged their troops to Sevilla and 90% of the city was taken, with only the hard core being left. The attack on Cadiz, however, was soon proving to be a losing battle. Wave after wave plunged into an elastic defense they could not break through, and by the 17th the attacks was called off. However at the very next day American, Canadian and British troops counterattacked. This had the effect of weakening the defenses of Cadiz and later on play a part in its fall. Gibraltar stood though, as the Rock it were. Rokossovsky ordered the attack on the Rock, but its natural and contructed defenses led the Soviet assault into a complete standstill. However his troops was exposed and overstretched and they fell right into a defensive line that had been perfected over the centuries. An American jounralist decribed the assault "The Russians was out in the open being hammered from killzones created by artillery and machine guns. The whole areas was saturated, but the Soviet infantrists advanced under the worst conditions imaginable. All they had for cover was a wheat field, however the bullets graced the top of the wheat right into the torso's of the soldiers. They had to clear it out however as several armored vehicles waited behind the lines, but could not advance due to a minefield and several obstacles. If they called in artillery support it was quickly countered by our own batteries. If the Soviet tanks moved into the open to support their troops they would come under anti-tank fired pushing them away or killing them. Gibraltar can't be taken". As a matter of fact by mid-day of the 17th Rokossovsky called off the assault into Gibraltar. His troops and tanks could not take on the Rock.
Sevilla is cut off.
The breakthrough came on the night of the 19th as the port of Cadiz was eventually taken, with only scattered resistance from an Irish brigade. Sevilla was cut off from supplies and reinforcement and was surrounded. Rokossovsky split his Front between aiding Kuznetsov in the streets of Sevilla and scaling the Rock. Several probes was carried out, but the conclusion was the same: the fortifications in Gibraltar was too immensive to take out and the massive troop concentration from the remnants of the British Imperial Army, Canada and USA - a total of 17 armored and motorized brigades and 26 infantry units that were brigade to division sized. Instead the focus was now directed at Sevilla and starting a siege on the British Crown Colony.
With the fall of Sevilla Kuznetsov head to Morocco to finish the show.
Then on the 20th the guns fell silent in and around Sevilla. The last NATO controlled city in Spain was liberated. The 2nd Belorussian Front under Rokossovsky was given the mission to start a siege on Gibraltar and eventually take it. A total of six infantry brigades and two armored brigades was given the order to attack Cadiz from Gibraltar. However they fell victim to the Soviet T-44s, APCs and dreaded Trotsky tanks. The 1st Belorussian Front and Kuznetsov was given another task. They were to head for Spanish Morocco and attack into Western-Sahara. German and Spanish troops had just reclaimed their airfield down there under vicious battle, but fears remained high NATO would counterattack. If Spanish-Morocco fell then the straits of Gibraltar could fall and the defense of Gibraltar would turn decisively to NATO. Kuznetsov was to cut NATO off their and take their other airfield in reach of Spain and all the way down to the Spanish troops who was losing ground in Spanish Sahara. If Spanish Sahara and all of western Sahara was secured the NATO couldn't use it as a base of operations to reinforce Gibraltar or counterattack the Soviets in Northern Africa.*
Feliz Navidad!
Despite Rokossovsky's reservation he was ordered personally by Trotsky to resume the attacks on Gibraltar. But the forts and NATO troops could not be broken and before Christmas evening Rokossovsky refused to carry out his orders. Gibraltar was to come under siege, but it also meant that NATO troops could evacuate. A British general noted "this was the Russian christmas present to us. Live to fight another day". However most of the American units remained behind. Some French units even attempted a desperate attempt to take the Rock by seaside. The troops that evacuated was sent to North Africa west and east of Libya helping prepare the defense against the Paris Pact from there. The straits of Gibraltar could not be utilized, and so the troops had to be spread out through the coast of North Africa setting the stage for major engaments in the Sahara.
Even rocks can be broken..
Around eight infantry brigades and 16 armored and motorized brigades remained in Gibraltar. From sea side they battled three French brigades who aimed to land by sea. The waters was drenched in red by all the blood, however the Soviets soon resumed their offensive on midnight of the 27th. This attack caught the defenders by surprise and by the evening of the 28th the massed Soviet assault actually managed to break the lines at one point. This led to mass panic among the defenders. They either fell back or surrendered. The forts around Gibraltar was taken!
Soviet flamethrowers move into positions among the ruins of Gibraltar.
Soviet soldiers and tanks soon fanned out and surrounded the city. Fast moving units was sent way ahead of their closest units hoping to spread confusion among the defending lines and create breakthroughs to exploit. The regular infantry and heavy tanks followed up behind clearing up the houses one by one. It was tedious work and the casualties mounted up in the city and the Rock that was under heavy fire from the air, land and sea. The flamethrowers moved in to clear out the buildings and the caves and tunnels in the Rock and underneath Gibraltar. The battle lasted for two full days.
Boom!
However in the end the American, Canadian and British forces surrendered to the Soviet and Spanish soldiers. The exploits by the fast moving units and shock troopers created several pockets that surrendered with little battle. Others remained and fought in fierce duels against the overmight. On the 30th of December 1945 Gibraltar was again united with Spain. To the celebration of the Spanish and the horror of the natives - many who had evacuated with the troops, turning Gibraltar into a ghost town. With Gibraltar taken the NATO adventure into Spain had come to an end. All that remained now was to take the Suez...
We will cleanse North Africa of desert rats!
Gibraltar was taken and the Battle of Spain was over. Kuznetsov made minor gains in Morocco and headed toward West Sahara determined to seal the area off from NATO troops. Rokossovsky was soon after his victory and a moment of rest ordered to Morocco aswell. His mission was to thrust out of Morocco and into Algeria, cross into Tunisia and reach Libya. Meanwhile to the east the 1st and 2nd Ukranian Fronts planned to drive into Egypt by land and sea, reach Libya and crush NATO there. If Libya was reached from the east and the west the Mediterranean would be under complete communist control**. However the Battle of Spain came at an extreme loss of human lives. The Republic of Spain, already wrecked by a Civil War and the WW2, suffered some 400.000 military casualties. The Red and Communard Armies lost some 100.000 soldiers each, with USA suffering some 200.000 casualties, Britiain 500.000 and Canada several tens of thousands (this figure include those who surrendered in Gibraltar). The Battle of Spain became one of the deadliest of the war so far. And the three nuclear bombings of Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia spelt a humanitarian disaster for Spain. One that would forever scar it physically and the very collective memory of the nation. Years later the majority of Soviet, French and Spanish soldiers who helped put down the unrest and aid the population in the bombed areas would surrender to cancer and other disease.
However as the Belorussian and Ukranian Fronts looked down to North Africa seeking to cross the Mediterranean and the Suez, Vlasov and his 2nd Baltic Front turned his eyes to the Atlantic and sougt to cross the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean...
I heard Iceland and Greenland are not nice this time of the year..
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*The borders east and south of western Sahara is impassible. So NATO troops can't come to the Sahara facing the Atlantic from either Africa or America.
**Remember that Libya is netrual. The area south of the lands west of Libya are impassible, with Gibraltar taken and potentially Suez taken the NATO troops west of Libya will be trapped. From Egypt the area around the Nile are passable down to Ethiopia.
On the 12th of September one of the defining battles of the Royal Navy led in a decisive victory for the doctrine of heavy reliance on battleships of Trotsky and the Soviet Navy. Still this came at a price. The major engagement of the Battle of English Channel damaged Soviet warships along with several minor engagements. The battleships of the Red Fleet were ported for refitting and left the ports only on occasion to prevent the sinking of the Soviet Republics - the battleships themself held a huge symbolic value. In their place there was battlecruisers and other cruisers who intercepted NATO troop and merchant transports. As the majority of the Baltic Fleet was ported the French and German Navies (much smaller than their previous predecessors) was ordered to patrol the English Channel..
Initial skirmish of the Great Raid of the English Channel.
October the 10th. The Battle of Britain of Britain had come to an end and NATO troops was evacuating at large. The Royal Navy, or rather what was left of it, was deployed to escort their troops out of Britain. However Soviet submarines and air power forced them out of the North and Norwegian Seas. Instead they were forced toward the English Channel. The remnants of the Royal Navy was reported that the dreaded Soviet battleships was indeed not present, and they believed they could sneak their way out of the channel and deal crippling blows to the Soviet and other Pact troops and supplies that were shipped across the Channel. Instead they were soon in hot pursuit by the German and French navies. The two opposing fleets engaged eachother at long distance and the British believed they could rely on their superior tactics and their carrier to deal damage to the Pact navies and retreat. However as the newly constructed battlecruiser HMS Inflexible rushed forward to raid the Pact fleet (managing to sink a heavy cruiser and a light cruiser) it was soon ambushed by Soviet submarines and aircrafts. They attacked the battlecruiser from several directions. Inflexible was hit in her rudder by torpedos and was soon rendered immobile - Inflexible indeed. Torpedos continued to hit the battlecruiser, but her fatal moment came as a wave of Sturmoviks took out her bridge, before a second wave managed to pour rockets into her exposed magazine and engine. Inflexible exploded in a violent inferno. The first raid claimed not only Inflexible but four heavy cruisers, three light cruisers and 11 destroyers. The warships was sunk by the Soviet Air Force, submarines and the French and German warships alike.
HMS Ramillies taking a crippling blow.
For days the two sides chased eachother through the Channel with the British being unable to find a method to escape the PACT killzone. However on the 15th the two sides again met, as the battleship HMS Ramillies was engaged by several battlecruisers and and submarines. Despite its suprior armor and weaponary the Rimillies couldn't withstand the sheer onslaught of Pact torpedos and rockets. Several of the Pact warships was severly crippled, however the Soviet Sturmoviks managed to damage its weapons. The weapons of the Ramillies jammed and was stuck. Rockets, cannons and torpedos continued to slam into the battleship resulting in significant damage and hell on the waters. As the Ramillies retreated in the cover of high seas and thick black smoke German battlships closed in and opened up several salvos. The Ramillies turned around and fired shots at the Germans. It didn't sink the German ships, however it was enough for them to retreat. Still the Ramillies came under harassment from torpedo boats, submarines and destroyers. In the chaos a lone French heavy cruiser managed to sneak in and fired the crippling shots right into the Battleship. HMS Ramillies was sunk on the 15th of October after hours of desperate battle.
The battle is concluded.. for now.
After the conclusive last engagement on the 17th the British managed to disengage the Pact navies during the night of the 18th in the cover of darkness. The British fleet tried to make a last dash into the west to escape the clutches of the Pact Navy, and escape the coming intervention of the Soviet Navy. Despite the loss of Inflexible and Ramillies the Royal Navy commanded another three battlecruisers, one battleship, one aircraft carrier two heavy cruisers. However the last dash led to severe casualties. The combined power of the French aircraft carriers, Soviet submarines, French and German surface ships and Soviet aircrafts repulsed the British dash. The cost was crippling with the loss of 12 submarines, but also HMS Eagle the sole remaining British Aircraft Carrier. The remaining battleships and battlecruisers of the Royal Navy in the area was severly crippled being barely operational. Reports came in that the British warships retreated aflame, with several sailors jumping out to the seas rather than escaping with their ship. However the British were not in a safeheaven. They were forced to retreat to the east right into the North Sea. Their only method of escape was either another dash through the Channel or through the Norwegian Sea which were controlled by the Soviet Navy, chiefly the White Sea Fleet.
Sovyetskiy Soyuz break the waves!
The worst nightmare of the remaining British ships came true. The dreaded Soviet Republics, along with the Kronstadt and Lenin class, was again ordered to the seas. Their mission; to hunt down the remnants of the Royal Navy. However this time around they were only engaged in minor skirmishes. The big fish was nowhere to be seen. Despite being severly crippled the battlecruisers made daring runs out of the English Channel and the Norwegian Sea to safehavens - barely escaping the Soviet and Pact warships in hot pursuit.
Britannia rules the depth of the sea.
However the British were out of luck on the 28th. In the cover of darkness a contigent led by the battleship HMS Barham left the Shetlands and Faroe Islands escorting American troops that was evacuating under the threat of a Soviet invasion. The Soviet troops landed on the islands rooting at the last pockets of NATO resistance in the North and Norwegian Seas. However it also flushed out the last remnants of the Royal Navy. The dreaded Soviet republics led on German and French warships and ambushed the convoy and her escorts. Their main target was indeed the Barham but also the troop transports. All of the troop transport were sunk resulting in major US casualties, however Barham was pounded by the superior guns of the Soviet battleships and battlecruisers. However by the end of the day it was a French battlecruiser who took in the crippling blow that was forever immortalized on photos. Only five British destroyers escaped. The Royal Navy was truly defeated.
One closer step to intercontinental missiles..
With success on land and on sea the Soviet scientists was shooting for the stars. By the end of October a project to finish the designs of a ballistic missile (majorly based on the German theoretical V-2 rocket) and a native rocket powered aircraft was greenlighted. In a little over three months the scientists of the rocket project promised that the rocket powered interceptor Mikoyan-Gurevich I-270 and the ballistic missile R-1 would be ready for preperations. The I-270 was designed to be a interceptor aircraft for the point-defence role - namely protecting Pact countries from NATO bombers and especially atomic bombs. It could come up to an impressive speed of 1100 km/h! However its armament was light, with "only" two 23mm nosecannons. And its engine was fragile combined with a lethal explosive fuel. Due to its fuel cosumption it also had a short operation range of 300 km/h. But its impressive speed made up for it, as it was only intended in point defense. However the other major breakthrough was the R-1 missile. The R-1 would become the world's first ballistic missile and a major breakthrough for not only Soviet engineering, but science as a whole. But the Soviet military was keen to use the recent advances in rocketry for military purposes. Rocket artillery systems would be improved with the advances of the R-1 and I-270 and the R-1 was planned to deliver warheads of 785 kilogram. The Soviet military, however, only saw the R-1 as a stepping stone..
The US Pacific Fleet reign supreme..
Despite their victory over the Royal Navy, the Red Fleet got a reminder that the US Navy was still very much in the game. On the 12th of November the Far East Fleet engaged a major US fleet composed of carriers and battleships alike. They totalled a frightening number of 91 warships and 458 carrier based aircrafts. The Far East Fleet quickly disengaged, however at the loss of two destroyers. The Soviets were still high on their big gun doctrine's defeat over the Royal Navy. However as their Far East Fleet was forced to rout by the mere presence of American planes they realized the Far Eastern Fleet (and the European fleets) had to be supported by aircraft carriers if they were to ever cross the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and into America. It was decided that 9 aircrafts carriers would be produced, where four of them would go to the Far Eastern Fleet. The Soviets were reminded that despite their victory over the Royal Navy there was still a major player out there..
The near destruction of the Far Eastern submarine fleet.
And that major player delivered a crippling blow to the Far East Submarine Fleet. The submarines was caught in the South China Sea as they moved in to disrupt NATO supplies and troop convoys who moved in and out of Indochina*. The submarines had disrupted NATO supply lines for months, and while the Soviet submarines suffered casualties they were keeping afloat (or rather submerged). However on the 30th this changed after a massed American-Australian anti-submarine offensive where they caught the Soviets in a trap. The combined efforts of surface ships, naval bombers and most importantly destroyers sunk a total number of 14 Soviet submarines. The American admiral noted confidently "the Soviet submarine threat have been dealt with".
Trotsky like big guns, and demand even bigger guns.
On the 10th of December the Soviet Admiralty approved of the construction of the Project 24 battleship. A total of four battleships would be created and they were generally seen as an improvement over the Lenin class battleship - yet no revolution. Despite lacking the raw firepower and armor of the Soviet Republic superheavy battleships, the Project 24 was the world's most modern battleship. However rumors circulated that the Red Fleet was to look into an improvement of the already massive Sovietsky Soyuz class battleships, named Project 23bis...
Various minor battles on the seas in the closing months of 1945.
The other naval battles in the last months of 1945 was not the decisive battles of the English Channel or the Mediterranean Sea. However it established the Red Fleet as the controller of the European seas and oceans. In the Norwegian Sea Soviet and Canadian warships clashed outside of Iceland. NATO believed it was simply a raiding party of the convoys that passed through the area. Little did they know of what was to come..
New Year, new opportunities..
1945 turned to 1946. In just four months millions of lives had come to an end. In Odessa alone some 22500 casualties was suffered. In Kiev 200.000. Sevastopol 120.000. Valencia 376.000. Barcelona 423.000. Madrid 461.000. And millions others on the field of battle. Despite the victories in Europe the war was far from over. In northern Africa the Soviet Army was preparing to push into Algeria in the west and Egypt in the east. Meanwhile NATO troops was massing in Asia and India. However the Soviet Army was preparing to cross the atlantic, and only the US Navy could stop them as the once proud Royal Navy was reduced to two battleships and three battlecruisers that was obsolete and crippled - and scattered around the coast of South Africa and the Indian Ocean - while they only had one light cruiser and one destroyer to support them. The British Empire was no more, and it was up to America to defend the free world or the USSR to liberate the workers of the world...
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*Remember that because of game limitations Indochina is under Germany. Narrative wise they are their own Union, however under de-facto PACT control.
