Chapter 152: The Arsenal of Socialism (4 to 15 November 1941)
Big world events, combat, new theatres of operations and the industrial impact of America’s entry into the war all feature in this update. Alternate history weaves around, diverting and then drawing back to the general trend of our own history. Fasten your seatbelts – it’s a long, fast and furious ride, as always!
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4 Nov 41
Waiting for the Milli Şef as he wakes up on the first morning of a new era is some work his War Ministry staff have done overnight to show what is on offer for licensing from Turkey’s two great allies – old and new.
First is a report on what both the Soviets and Americans can offer in terms of licenses where both produce a similar item. Where there is a clear advantage of one over the other, a green arrow has been shown in the margin. If it there is some debate but advice leans in a particular direction, a question mark is put alongside it. In only one case (TAC bombers) are the merits evenly enough poised that there is no obvious ‘winner’.
Sea. The notes explain the US has far and away the better destroyers and light cruisers to offer. It is not possible to obtain licenses for capital ships (heavy cruisers or above) under license from
any power. In addition, in shipping the US can offer landing craft for sale, which the Soviets can't.
Air. For aircraft, US designs are generally superior: in morale by a large margin, for organisation in most cases (except in CAS) and in night-fighting ability (across the board). They can also offer strategic bombers where the Soviets cannot. Transports, NAV and CAGs were not considered. For TAC, there were pros and cons for the Soviet and American designs.
Land. On land, American light and medium armour was slightly better, though only for the training and doctrine they could provide – otherwise there was nothing between the respective characteristics: A late-1941 Sherman was effectively rated the same as a T-34. The TDs were also quite closely matched, the Soviet SU-100 probably a little better on balance.
Exclusive Items. Only the Soviets can produce heavy armour – with the IS-2 (a brigade of them recently ordered by Turkey) the only such offering for the anti-Fascist forces. But the Americans offer both SP Arty and SP Rocket Arty (these types of units are highly sought after by the Turks for their mechanised formations), plus marines (which could come in handy later in the war) and paratroopers (likely to be an unnecessary luxury for Turkey for the foreseeable future).
This exciting array of Comintern hardware was becoming available at just the time Turkey expected to have a large amount of unused industrial capacity to spend on it. Apart from SP artillery, there was a lot of interest in some of the less manpower-intensive items, especially aircraft. Small ships could be purchased later, but the need was not urgent. Some infrastructure items might also come into calculations.
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Another early morning report indicated Mexico had granted military access to the US.
Well, good luck for them, thought Inönü,
but I don’t care much. Closer to home, at 6am 5 Inf Div joined 1 Mot Div in
Petrovac, to help reconsolidate its defence. 1 Cav Div was by then in
Cuprija and would arrive in
Petrovac in the mid-afternoon the following day – to commence a quick assault on
Turnu Severin, hopefully before the enemy could reinforce it.
“General, a report from
Beograd.”
Inönü unfolded a simple note – it told him everything he needed to know. More than 2,500 SS fanatics had been sent to their deserved fate and the crucial city remained safely in Turkish hands.
In the evening, two telegrams arrived from the Foreign Office in
Ankara. The Turkish Ambassador in
Washington had been briefed on two diplomatic developments which had occurred one after the other. The declaration of war had sharply spurred national unity in the newest Comintern power, with both a huge immediate influx of manpower (500,000 men, according to estimates) and a large continuing increase
[45%] in recruitment rates. Deciphered Japanese signals indicated they were devoting special attention to port strikes for the next six months. If the Americans were wise, they would be careful what they kept in port in their Pacific island bases!
OTL News: Detroit, US. Viscount Halifax (the British Ambassador to the US) was pelted with eggs and tomatoes by isolationist women demonstrators in Detroit as he was leaving City Hall. Halifax was afterwards quoted as saying, "How fortunate you Americans are, in Britain we get only one egg a week and we are glad of those." The quote was actually fabricated by someone in the British Press Service, but it was widely disseminated in the media and created a burst of sympathy and goodwill towards the British and Halifax in particular. [Comment: no such problems any more in this ATL, with war coming a month early.]
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Meanwhile, in
Naples, Cennet is due to meet with her recently successful ‘business associate’ ‘Vito’ Corleone. But an hour or two before she is due at Vito’s office, he is at his home, talking to a woman – someone from the neighbourhood, apparently.
“Signora Columbo, why did you come to see me?” asks Vito.
“Your wife told me to ask you if you could help me.”
“She's in bad trouble, Vito," implores his wife. "The neighbours complained to the landlord about her dog. He told her to get rid of it. But her little boy loves that dog. So she hid it. When the landlord found out, he got angry and told her to leave. Now she can't stay even if she gets rid of it.”
“Oh, I'm so ashamed Mr Corleone! He said he'd get the police to throw us out on the street. I can't move. Can you to talk to him, tell him I want to stay?”
“What's the landlord's name?”
Armed with the details, Vito tracks this Signor Roberto down at a barber’s shop and walks up to him as he leaves, introducing himself.
“My name is Vito Corleone. Signora Colombo is a friend of my wife. She says she's been evicted for no good reason. She's a poor widow, she has nobody to take care of her. She has no relatives, no money. All she has is her neighbourhood.”
“I already rented the place to another family,” Roberto says dismissively and starts to walk away.
“I told her that I'd talk to you. That you're a reasonable man. She got rid of the animal that caused the trouble. So let her stay. Are you Calabrese, Signor Roberto?”
“No, I'm Sicilian.”
“But we're practically
paisan, do me this favour.”
“I already rented it! I'll look like an idiot. Besides, the new tenants pay more rent.”
“How much more a month?”
“Fifty lire”.
“Here's six months increase in advance. But don't tell her about it. She's very proud. Come see me in another six months. Of course, the dog stays. Right?”
“Huh!”
“The dog stays.”
Roberto refuses and hands back the money. “Who the hell are you to come and give me orders? Watch out or I'll kick your Calabrese ass right into the street.”
“Do me this favour. I won't forget it. Ask your friends in the neighbourhood about me. They'll tell you I know how to return a favour,” Vito, who has remained perfectly calm, polite and reasonable throughout, then walks away.
“What a character!” Roberto says to himself, then keeps on his way.
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An hour later, Vito is at his place of business – now set up as the GENCO Olive Oil Office, where he has begun to distribute Luca Brasi’s signature product.
Cennet walks in for her meeting. As she does, she sees Tessio is introducing a fawning, nervous and somewhat frightened looking man. She tales a seat in the corner of the office and watches proceedings with amusement.
“That landlord is here - Roberto, the one who owns those ratholes,” announces Tessio.
Roberto looks into the office meekly. Vito waves him in. Roberto is fumbling at the door handle and can’t seem to open it.
“He's been asking all around the neighbourhood about you,” says Clemenza quietly to Vito.
Vito gets up and opens the door easily, ushering Roberto in graciously.
“Grazie!” says the fidgety landlord, who enters and takes off his hat, holding it in front of him in both hands. “I hope I'm not disturbing you, Don Vito.”
“What can I do for you, Don Roberto?”
“What a misunderstanding! Holy Mary! Of course Signora Colombo can stay!”
“What a misunderstanding!” The formerly arrogant Signor Roberto’s fawning is now almost comical. Note the stacks of GENCO product waiting to be distributed – a handy cover for the approaching start of active intelligence operations in Italy. And a chance for Luca to “wet his beak” a little in the process! [NB: For fans of Fawlty Towers, I think he looks a lot like Manuel here! 
]
“Grazie, grazie,” says Vito magnanimously.
“Don Vito - I'm giving back the money you gave me. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Because after all, Don Vito, money isn't everything.”
Roberto sits down then leaps up again, as if there had been a needle in it. “Can I sit down?”
Vito gestures for him to do so.
“Your kindness to that widow made me ashamed of myself,” says Roberto as he stands up again nervously. “The rent stays like before.”
Vito looks at Roberto and smiles.
“I'll, I'll even lower it. I'll lower it 50 lire,” offers Roberto.
Vito remains silent, a look of expectation on his face.
“I'll lower it
100 lire.”
“Grazie, grazie,” says Vito, at last shaking Roberto’s hand. “Can I offer you some coffee?”
“I'm late for an appointment! I can't this time! Ask me another time!” Roberto starts to babble.
“You'll have to excuse me for now,” he says as he walks over to the door. Which he is too nervous and clumsy to open. “I wish I could stay longer!” Still fumbling at the door and looking over his shoulder at Vito. “Just call me and I'll be here!”
Vito walks over and smoothly opens the door for him, whereupon Roberto laughs nervously and leaves hastily.
“He won't be back. He'll hide out downtown!” laughs Clemenza.
Cennet, amused by this little drama, walks over to Vito, offering her hand, which he kisses elegantly. “I heard Don Fanucci met with a little
accident. And your business is looking up.”
“It certainly is, Miss. And we too are going to do some very lucrative business together, I hope.”
“Oh yes,
Don Vito, that we are. This GENCO Olive Oil importation is just the beginning. In fact, I can tell you some more associates of the interests I represent will be in town soon. Here and throughout Italia.”
“I see. Anything I can do to be of assistance?”
“Oh, assuredly. Some day soon I may ask you for a
favour – and that day
will surely come. Until then, I suggest you may wish to hire plenty of men who don’t mind getting their hands –
dirty – with some good hard
work.”
“Noted. Until then, Miss.”
“Arrivederci, Don Vito!”
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5 Nov 41
The day begins with a major research breakthrough –
Tactical Command Structure doctrine has been advanced. This means Turkish doctrine experts can now begin to research
Superior Firepower – which will lead to the most far-reaching reform of the Turkish Army since the early days of the
Turkish Wars of Expansion. While
Central Planning and ultimately the ability to produce
Grand Battle Plans would also be very welcome (to improve combat reinforcement), that line of research will have to wait a while longer yet.
Industrial capacity is currently being squeezed by the need to reinforce the army and air force after all their recent combat losses – the demand is at unprecedented levels (almost double what had been considered ‘high’ until recently). This will slow down projects at the bottom of the production queue, but those at the top (shown in the figure below) will make some room when completed – especially when the first heavy armour brigade rolls of the production line in just over a week.
That afternoon, 1 Cav Div arrives in
Petrovac – and an hour later, they are engaged against the enemy mountain troops trying to hold
Turnu Severin. 3 Cav Div, to the south in
Zajecar, is still reorganising and cannot attack for another 58 hours! Wehib pasha does not care:
“We will attack immediately – the devil take these potato-eaters. Vur ha!”
Though the wily German commander does his best to delay and inflict casualties.
OTL: Pacific. Isoroku Yamamoto issued Top Secret Order No. 1 to the Japanese Combined Fleet, detailing the plan for the attack on Pearl Harbor. [Comment: Oops, they’ve blown the element of surprise this time. Not that the Americans were keeping anything significant in Pearl anyway.]
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6 Nov 41
After a day of fighting, the Turks swing into a classic armoured assault – but meet an effective German counter-attack. Despite this, the mountain troops are caught in the open against the (two) old but still effective T-28 medium tank brigades of 1 Cav Div, which press the attack, along with their brigade of motorised infantry and tank destroyers.
At this time, word comes through that the Americans have ramped up their lend-lease deliveries to Turkey enormously now they are switching to wartime production. A fourfold increase in US support
[now over 20 IC, taking total IC from 140 to 155] and a simultaneous decrease in the reinforcement demand means the production deficit has been erased and new expenditure is possible. To maximise the use of diplomatic delegations and mitigate delays, two licenses are bought at once: American SP artillery is the first priority. On balance, the combat power of artillery rather than the speed and reduced initial cost of mobile rocket batteries are preferred. Two M12 brigades are started in parallel.
The new SP artillery and the already-commenced IS-2 brigade are elevated in the queue to ensure 100% effort, with some mountain and motorised infantry divisions shunted below, where some of them will be temporarily delayed – though not for long.
With the
Danube Line now close to being stabilised and increasing Axis activity along the Adriatic, that night the recovering 19 Inf Div is shifted south to
Kolasin, to prepare digging in and reinforcing the somewhat thin position there, in case the Soviet screening divisions in the mountains are pushed back.
A further major increase to US lend—lease
[now over 30 IC] and increases to British and Soviet aid
[about another 5 IC each, to over 26 and 31 IC respectively] see Turkish industrial output leap even further
[now 175 IC]. And this is before the capacity released from the new heavy tank brigade
[more than 20 more IC] is released on 14 November! Another purchase from the US is desired, but cannot be negotiated before the afternoon of 13 November, given the recent mission sent. The surplus capacity
[11 IC now all shortfalls have been absorbed] is temporarily parked in supply production.
News Report: Moscow, USSR. Joseph Stalin made a radio address broadcast worldwide declaring that Hitler's "crazy plan" to draw Britain and the United States into a coalition to destroy the Soviet Union had failed. Stalin said that a coalition of the United States, Britain and the USSR was "now a reality" and expressed his hopes that a "second front" would be established "in the near future." [Comment: this OTL news report stands up pretty well I think in our ATL. You can just interpret the words in line with the new reality.]
OTL: Eastern Front. Frostbite began to appear among German troops on the Eastern Front. [Comment: Mwahaha – it’s just the beginning, suckers! It looks like we can’t expect the same degree of winter assistance in this ATL, but that’s because were in a comparatively better position than OTL November 1941.]
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7 Nov 41
“Mr President, I’m afraid I have some unfortunate news,” says GRU Agent SkitalecS3, shortly after lunch on 7 November. “The Fascists curs have managed to force the retreat of the 4th ‘Smolenskaya’ Rifle Division from the mountain of
Cevo on the southern
Yeniçeri Line. This will not be publicly reported, of course, but you need to know. The province will fall in a few days.”
“Thank you for being so frank, Comrade Skitalec. The cursed dogs will have their day for now. I will withdraw the request to defend it – it is not tenable. We thank the brave soldiers of the Soviet Union for holding there so long and allowing us to establish a new southern branch of the line, when all seemed so desperate many weeks ago.”
But a few hours later there is much better news: Wehib Pasha reports victory in
Turnu Severin. Despite their tactical trickery, the Germans have been soundly beaten and are retreating back across the Danube!
Later that day, it is dinner time at HQ 1st Army in
Sofiya again. And once again, the Foreign Office LO arrives with momentous news. November is proving to be an eventful month!
“This is truly now a Second Great War, even more global in scale than the last one,” exclaims the President. “And great news too for our Soviet allies – perhaps at least the beginning of the end of their misery in the Far East could be at hand. But we must be prepared for the Japanese menace to expand before it is rolled back, as surely it will be.”
Once again, there are toasts to the anti-Fascist fight and a feeling of cautious optimism is becoming harder for the Turkish High Command to resist.
With the war now shared fully with their British co-belligerents, the British staff LO to the headquarters shares a confidential briefing on the situation in Egypt, which is of course of crucial interest to Turkey. The British at last seem to have mustered some significant forces – though no armour as yet.
As he enjoyed a rare relaxing evening, listening to music on his gramophone, one of Inönü’s aides appeared, wearing a sharply turned out uniform and a big smile.
“General, I have a message to relay from Major General Wehib Pasha. I have managed to memorise it verbatim.”
“Oh yes, and what is it?”
“’It’s Ours!’ is all he said.”
“Ah, very good, very good.” ‘It’ was, of course
Turnu Severin, into which the victorious 1 Cav Div had rolled at 9pm.
News Report: Moscow, USSR. In an important symbolic event, Soviet troops march in Red Square to commemorate the anniversary of the October Revolution as per the annual tradition. Soldiers taking part in the parade then marched straight on to the front line.
Entertainment News: US. Bette Davis became the first female president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
OTL: Pacific. Senior commanders of the Japanese Army and Navy were informed that the start of war against Britain and the United States was tentatively set for December 8 (Japanese time).
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8 Nov 41
The next morning, with 1 Cav Div in
Turnu Severin since the evening before and 18 Inf Div now moving north to join them, the still badly disorganised 14 Inf Div (its previous defenders) were ordered back over the border from Romania into the UGNR from
Jiana, which was now safely behind the lines and would be Romania's and the Soviet’s responsibility.
Late that afternoon, 4 Inf Div, only just starting to recover from its ordeal, arrived in
Pozarevac to shore up its defences, left a little thin after 1 Mot Div was sent east to retake the enemy bridgehead. They joined HQ 1st Corps and 8 Inf Div and began digging in as quickly as they could. There were concentrations of Axis divisions all along the northern bank of the Danube, threatening
Beograd,
Pozarevac and
Velico Gradiste. Who knew which might next turn into a threat? But
Pozarevac had been attacked before and could be again - and had only been defended by a reinforced Corps HQ and a light infantry division.
On the diplomatic front, Britain (somewhat ambitiously, and it seems largely for the domestic propaganda effect) declared the 'United Nations' to have been formed. An admirable anti-Fascist sentiment – but who would dominate that body? The Comintern, if the suddenly strengthened pact had anything to do with it in the longer term. But, one enemy at a time.
Agent SkitalecS3 provided another confidential report that evening, advising that the pocket south of
Tallinn containing two German infantry divisions had been ‘satisfactorily eliminated’ in the last few days. Any prisoners taken would be lucky ever to see their homes in Germany again.
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9 Nov 41
At 5am, 19 Inf Div completed disembarking from their troop trains into
Kolasin on the
Yeniçeri Line. At around only 20% effectiveness
[ie org], it would take days yet to return to proper fighting condition – and still lacked a permanent commander, like many Turkish divisions these days.
At 9am, the last of the espionage cells being trained by Ögel completed its preparations. With 13 teams now available, the word was given to begin the insertion process. In Switzerland, Ambassador Mike Ceylan began moving his pieces into place in Monaco and Italy – and he hadn’t forgotten about the latent conspiracy against him, including his own rat in the ranks. Kelebek in
Rome and Cennet in
Naples began activating their own contacts to ease the way of the ‘conventional’ espionage teams into place. And making their own S.I.T.H. operational arrangements on behalf of Mike Ceylan. The Secret War was to hot up again soon!
At midday, after delays from more supply problems, 3 Cav Div was able to start heading to reinforce
Turnu Severin, where it should arrive by the following night. They were rushed there in part because of the sighting of German medium armour and an infantry division seemingly headed there to attempt another crossing from
Baja de Arama. Having just regained it, no undue chance would be taken to lose it. At 7pm, 18 Inf Div joined 1 Cav Div in
Turnu Severin itself, at which time a few drawn breaths were carefully let out. They soon had their shovels out to improve their defences.
OTL: Eastern Front and Romania. The Germans occupied the Crimean city of Yalta. A referendum on the policies of Ion Antonescu was held in Romania. The vote was recorded as 99.99% in favour. [Comment: the would-be ‘Conducător’ has been well and truly put back in his box in this ATL. He’s never been the same since Luca Brasi made him ‘an offer he don’t refuse’ when he proved too slow getting his forces into action during the Turkish invasion (er, 'Liberation' I mean ) of Yugoslavia in 1937!]
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10 Nov 41
Early in the morning, the latest US lend-lease figures were available: it had risen
again [now almost 37 IC, with total UGNR industrial output up to 180 IC, from 140 just a few days before]. Once more, the surplus
[18.5 IC] was temporarily diverted to supply production. But another new major acquisition was planned soon.
A recon report received by Wehib Pasha at 7am brought good news: the German units seen in
Baja de Arama heading south to
Turnu Severin the day before had turned around and were now heading north-east. Alert levels were relaxed a little and the request for a possible diversionary attack on '
BdA' by the Soviets was called off. , 3 Cav Div arrived at 8pm to add their weight to the new defensive stronghold: the Germans would find it hard to repeat their previous breakthrough if they tried it again now.
Further south,
Cevo was lost as expected at 10pm. The Soviet screen was slowly being rolled up, with only the mountains of
Niksic and
Danilovgrad now held in front of the
Yeniçeri Line. COL Diskoerekto could find himself in action again soon.
OTL News: UK and US. Winston Churchill declared that although he would view "with keen sorrow" the opening of a conflict between Japan and the English-speaking world, "should the United States become involved in war with Japan the British declaration will follow within the hour." [Comment: It didn’t happen that way in this ATL, thanks to game mechanics. The rest is alternate history! And then the Japanese declared war on Britain and the Allies anyway . Comintern’s gain, their loss. In net terms though, it doesn’t matter that much to the Axis which faction the US joins. They’re still at war with them and the US is still giving large amounts of lend-lease to the main combatants as the Arsenal of $ocialism!]
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11 Nov 41
14 Inf Div – at full numerical strength but still badly shaken from their harrowing defence of
Turnu Severin, made it back to UGNR soil at midnight. They would recuperate for some time yet and form an emergency reserve for the
Danube Line in the meantime.
With lend-lease deliveries booming from the USSR
[32.1 IC], UK
[26.8 IC] and the ‘Arsenal of Socialism’
[the US, 38.3 IC], Turkish industrial capacity had never been higher
[184 IC]. And soon it would have shiny new toys to build. As soon as the licenses could be arranged.
Two days after the order to insert had been given, the Turkish spy teams had all arrived in Italy and began to make their presence felt, with far more information about their foe now available. Turkish efforts were devoted solely to counter-espionage, in the hope of grinding down the Italians' ability to resist. They seemed to have seven teams devoted to their own counter-espionage efforts with one team in reserve. Turkey had three teams waiting in the wings - it may be a bloody battle!
Britain reported that morning that the Japanese were assaulting
Hong Kong. Their single garrison division was not expected to hold out too long against the Japanese infantry division attacking it, but it was putting up a valiant fight.
News Report: Arlington Nation Cemetery, US. President Roosevelt gave an Armistice Day address at Arlington National Cemetery. "Our observance of this Anniversary has a particular significance in the year 1941," the president said. "For we are able today as we were not always able in the past to measure our indebtedness to those who died ... Whatever we knew or thought we knew a few years or months ago, we know now that the danger of brutality and tyranny and slavery to freedom-loving peoples can be real and terrible. We know why these men fought to keep our freedom - and why the wars that save a people's liberties are wars worth fighting and worth winning - and at any price." [Comment: another OTL report I didn’t need to change. Timeless words.]
News Report: Canberra, Australia. The Australian War Memorial was opened. [Comment: It’s amazing. If you ever make it to Canberra, you must visit it. A must for any WW2 buff, among other conflicts: for example, see the original ‘G for George’ Lancaster bomber from the Dambusters raid - indoors. Allow a decent time for a tour: it’s like a huge and modern museum.]
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13 Nov 41
The first Turkish intelligence service casualties in Italy were suffered at midnight (of course), with one team being apprehended. Another replaced them, leaving two teams in the Turkish reserve. The Italians still had their seven teams and one reserve. First blood to them.
The Soviets decided to abandon
Niksic with little resistance when attacked by four Axis divisions that night – 6 and 183 SDs headed for
Kolasin, while a sizeable Soviet force seemed be moving into
Danilovgrad from the south. If that pivotal province could be strongly held, it would take a lot of pressure off the
Yeniçeri Line in that vicinity.
14 Nov 41
With all Turkish eyes on the Balkans, the restive Iranians decided to try their luck again, rising in
Pudana. Unluckily for them, 1.13 Inf Bde happened to be passing nearby on their way back to
Ahvaz after counter-insurgency duty in the south. They were diverted to take care of the latest rabble to disturb the peace in the Iranian GNRs.
In
Beograd, a red-letter day was celebrated in the Turkish Armoured Corps: the new IS-1 equipped Heavy Armoured Brigade, ordered many months before, arrived and began work-up training. The intention was to attach them to one of the veteran infantry divisions once they were combat-ready (preferably deployed not in urban terrain, but in more suitable country). These tanks were now easily the most heavily armoured and gunned in the Balkans, with none of the feared Tiger tanks yet sighted there – they all seemed to be off fighting the Soviets in Russia for now.
The release of the factories producing the IS-1s (the IS-2 brigade was already being separately constructed) meant there was now a huge
[54.3 IC] surplus factory capacity in Turkey. It would soon be used.
First, two new interceptor wings were ordered with US licenses again able to be requested. In addition, merchant shipping (one unit = 10 convoys) was ordered to ensure no enemy action could disrupt the lend-lease lifelines from the US and UK, given Turkey had no escorts and no means to produce them. New air base facilities were also ordered, most likely to expand the airport at
Beograd, which was now at maximum capacity (six wings).
Simultaneously, the first two wings of CAS for the Turkish Air Force were ordered from the Soviets – the reliable IL-2M Shturmovik. This should allow far more effective attacks on enemy armour in the future. The American Curtiss A-25 was arguably marginally better, but there was not much in it and the War Ministry didn't want to wait again for a license negotiating team to be available.
Within an hour of these acquisition orders being placed, LTGEN Cakmak, Commander 1st Corps, reported contact in
Pozarevac. Fears of another enemy probe there had been well-founded after all! However, he didn't sound too concerned.
“One this is One-One, contact, German panzer-grenadiers and Hungarian infantry assaulting from Vrsac. They are determined but very poorly positioned. We shall dance on their graves. Out!”
Although the situation in
Pozarevac looks secure enough, as a precaution and to give them another outing, the Air Force was directed to strike the enemy’s forming up place (FUP) for the attack in
Vrsac. 1 TAK will perform the ground strike, with 1, 2 and 3 AFs providing interception cover. Daytime-only raids are sanctioned this time round, so air action will not commence until after first light.
The first raid commences in
Vrsac at 6am, giving the Turks a good look at the structure of the enemy divisions there (one of which is not taking part). At 7am, three Hungarian fighter wings appear – another fierce dogfight ensues.
After the dogfight is over, one enemy fighter wing is heavily damaged, another moderately. In return, the enemy fighters managed to hit 1 TAK fairly hard, with the brunt of the air-air defence being born by the LaGG-3s of 3 AF. 1 TAK’s ground attack is seen through (37 enemy estimated killed), though the Hungarian interference may have decreased its effectiveness. 4 AG (the two La-5 MR wings) is put on intercept alert for
Vrsac at 7am, but they unable to reinforce the current battle: though if the Hungarians dare to return, they will be met with a nasty surprise.
Also at 7am, 3 Cav Div (currently in
Turnu Severin) is ordered to begin heading towards
Pozarevac as a precaution, in case the attack is reinforced or the enemy widens the attempted bridgehead offensive. They can be stood down if the attack peters out.
Indeed, eight hours later the enemy call off their probe on
Pozarevac. Cakmak is actually disappointed: he had hoped they might continue, given he was butchering the enemy at a rate of almost 10-1 casualties.
3 Cav was stood down, to remain in
Turnu Severin. The air attacks on
Vrsac were called off (a second raid had finished just before the enemy called their attack off). By then, 1 TAK was down to 84% strength and low on organisation
[18/37]: they would need a decent period of repair and replacement. 3 AF had suffered 10% casualties and was also down on organisation
[31/47] and also went into recovery mode.
Air Report. The two Turkish air raids on
Vrsac killed 105 Axis soldiers in total.
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15 Nov 41
Delivery was taken of the newest TD brigade – armed with an 85mm gun, the SU-100 should prove useful against all but the heaviest German tanks. They are paired up with the IS-1s in
Beograd in a holding formation designated the Reserve Armoured Division, while they conduct their work-up to full combat efficiency. The spare space on the production queue is used to produce the infrastructure for another airfield (either to add to existing facilities or create a new one as needed).
The ‘tail end’ of the production queue is shown here, with the four new licensed air wings under construction, thanks largely to ‘foreign donations’, which are being reinvested in US and Soviet gear. [@diskoerekto – what do you think of their designation of CAS as ‘Tank Avci Filo’?]
The rest of the day passed with little to report, both sides along the
Yeniçeri-Danube Lines staring at each other with mutual loathing. As usual.
OTL: Eastern Front. The Germans renewed the drive on Moscow after a three-week lull. The Soviets were pushed back from the Volga Reservoir north of the capital but with temperatures dropping to -20 Celsius across the Eastern Front, the German advance was very slow.
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Summary Reports
The wider
Patriotic Front has remained largely steady, with Comintern gains moderately outweighing those of the Axis. Of particular note is the earlier elimination of the ‘Baltic Pocket’ and the pleasing and concerted gains in northern Romania-southern Ukraine. An analysis of aircraft activity shows the heaviest fighting over the last week has been in the Northern sector.
The British report mixed news in
Egypt.
Cairo has been retaken, but it appears the Italians may have been able to escape being surrounded there, by launching a rescue operation. Also, having briefly occupied
El Hammam, the 2nd Marine Division looks to have been recently expelled. But the British and Iraqis remain active. Most of the British combat forces previously languishing in East Africa seem to have been transferred to Egypt – at last!
The story in the
Far East is the 'least worst' it has been for a while. Romanian units remain active as part of the Comintern holding force there and the Pact has actually managed to push back in a few places. But the overall situation remains dire, if now with some hope the Japanese may need to divert troops to fight both the US
and the Allies. The British report that their garrison in
Hong Kong has been forced to surrender, with the Japanese now in the process of occupying the key base.
With no British defenders in place, Thai forces (part of the Axis as a Japanese puppet) have begun occupying the southern strip of
Burma west of
Phet Buri and
Bangkok. No Japanese troops are in evidence there – yet.
In news of the
Secret War, two enemy spies are reported as having been apprehended in Turkey in the last couple of weeks: details will be provided in the monthly
Midnight Express report. In Italy, there remains just the one Turkish team 'neutralised' so far, with two teams still in reserve. It is not certain, but one Italian team
may have been eliminated: their counter-espionage strength remains at seven, but they no longer have a spy team in reserve. Of course, perhaps they were just reassigned elsewhere – the details remain murky. It will be some time yet before some emphasis can be switched to tech espionage, the ultimate aim of this venture
[apart from revenge, that is ]. To cover this period of active Spy-vs-Spy engagement, espionage training is increased a little more, at the expense of diplomat and officer training.
Coming Up: Has the situation in the Balkans now stabilised – or have we been here before and this is just the calm before another blitz? What will this winter be like on the Patriotic Front? Where will the Japanese lash out in the Pacific and will it give the Soviets a breathing space from
their disastrous Eastern Front? US industry may be gearing up, but their armed forces still have a long way to go before they can impose themselves seriously except perhaps at sea – and will they choose to intervene, if they do? Or will they be happier to provide assistance to others via lend-lease as the ‘Arsenal of Socialism’? How will the British and
their Allies fare with Japan now actively in the war against them – especially in South East Asia? Now that the Secret War is well and truly on again in Italy, will the Fascists and their Mafia associates strike back – and can Mike Ceylan survive such a blow, knowing he has a traitor in his own ranks?
