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Clearly, someone lit a fire under Churchill's generous backside to get the British moving in the Desert! I bet Monty used that excuse as a reason to actually try and contest against the Japanese with his armor in Malaya!
A word on the infrastructure: anything below 30% (level 3 in the province details) prohibits any maneuver through the territory.
Clearly, someone lit a fire under Churchill's generous backside to get the British moving in the Desert! I bet Monty used that excuse as a reason to actually try and contest against the Japanese with his armor in Malaya!.
The long supply lines to Afghanistan (for the Turks through Iran and the Soviets from the north-west) also seemed to be providing adequate support through difficult terrain.
News of a Soviet Guards Divisions approaching from the north was also received. Perhaps there would be enough forces to eventually secure Kabul. But they had to get there first.
After three hours the Afghans had retreated without casualties on either side. This was repeated with the retreating Herat Militia from 3am to 6am on 7 March.
He did so and was very pleased indeed with its contents. After only a very short time, their efforts to spirit technological secrets out of Italy had met with spectacular success! And far from some obscure and useless naval technology, this was one of the most useful advances they could have obtained. It would improve the efficiency of the entire Turkish production system!
And a rather interesting report came from the British LO at 1st Army HQ: General Montgomery was leading a bold attack on the Thai troops threatening Kuala Lumpur in Malaya!
Oh, so maybe our original musings that Chamberlain was just planning to exhaust the italians with colonial troops then strike back in a few years might have been correct...
47 SD encountered a small group from the fleeing Afghan Kandahar Militia and two HQ elements in Bamian. After a short firefight, the enemy kept retreating – to the north-east, not to Kabul.
In the south, thousands of Italian troops found themselves almost surrounded on the east bank of the Nile and in danger of being pocketed by Anglo-Iraqi forces. Heady days for the resurgent Churchill!
In Malaya, MAJGEN Montgomery was attempting to blitz the failing Thai defence of Raub. Despite the jungle terrain, the British-Belgian counter-attack was making good progress. At sea, there was a major encounter between the IJN and RN off the east coast of Malaya. The Japanese battleship Yamashiro led their task force, while the British battle-wagons HMS Royal Sovereign and HMS Queen Elizabeth returned fire.
A research milestone was reached at midnight: the last [Level 3] cavalry technology was completed, allowing Turkish researchers to begin developing motorised infantry
“Wake up, Afghan scum!” cried the Secret Police corporal in charge of the squad. “We have a train ticket for you! With any luck the Darth Kelebek will be the conductor tonight!”
All present look around nervously – the Corporal had forgotten himself in his brutal and cruel excitement, foolishly uttering the name of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
But the Dark Lord must have been otherwise engaged – in this or another dimension – and the Afghan spy was manhandled out of the room without further incident.
As we feared, we can't go through the mountains. Sadly this might turn into a meatgrinder trying to get those cities. How many VP do you need and where are they?
grim news was received from the Americans: their Philippine ‘puppet’ government had surrendered at midnight. Japan conducted a victory parade in Manila that day.
How long would this lull in fighting last? It certainly allowed the Turks to keep rebuilding their manpower reserves and plan for their spring reorganisation.
But in North Africa, the British had won a great victory – the Italians had almost been expelled from Egypt and their remaining units were falling back to Tobruch in Libya!
As we have seen, March in Afghanistan saw 47 SD (under Turkish orders) make a bold strike east towards Kabul, where they had finally run into some serious resistance. Unfortunately, the northern ‘hook’ had been frustrated by the terrain, so the two reinforcing Turkish divisions would lose precious time moving around the ‘long way’ to support 47 SD in Bamian. The Soviets were making slower progress in northern Afghanistan.
Wait and see then. Still, awesome news about the empire finally showing up. This may be another, possitive, turning point much like the amercians joining the comintern.
To my recollection, units that somehow wind up in a low-infra province can move out, but nothing can move in... I'm thinking that given how low Afghanistan is on the "Paradox Cares," they never changed the starting locations of their units.
This is based on what I understand is the 1972 ‘Student Oath’, but am using it here as a national oath of allegiance introduced to bolster fighting spirit during the Great Liberation War of this ATL. @diskoerekto will correct if the context is wrong or translation is not generally correct, I’m sure! And in this ATL, the path mentioned is, of course, the Path to Glory!
I find it interesting that after so many years (this now disused oath was spoken every morning in the first 5 years of education, so it's been more than 26 years for me) I still remember the words. The translation is quite accurate and the context is good as well, although of course there is an emphasis on protecting the younger and respecting the elder since this is for students, but still fits the context well.
47 SD joined their Soviet colleagues in Qal ‘eh ye Now early that morning and were ordered to keep pushing east as far as they could towards Kabul, while the two Turkish reserve divisions headed for their objective north-west of the Afghan capital. News of a Soviet Guards Divisions approaching from the north was also received. Perhaps there would be enough forces to eventually secure Kabul. But they had to get there first.
He did so and was very pleased indeed with its contents. After only a very short time, their efforts to spirit technological secrets out of Italy had met with spectacular success! And far from some obscure and useless naval technology, this was one of the most useful advances they could have obtained. It would improve the efficiency of the entire Turkish production system!
Excellent news! Back in HoI2 it only amounted to a blueprint which in turn makes it 50% easy to research that tech, but it seems in HoI3 one gets the tech level directly.
4 Cav Div finally reached its destination in Karshi after its long rail and road trip from Ankara. Only to find there was no navigable path south or east from there to Kabul! [I looked at the infra and while it was low, it wasn’t absent. Not exactly sure what it was that was blocking progress (they were no longer in reorg mode and there was an Afghan militia unit in one of the provinces.)] It seemed the much-anticipated northern pincer to Kabul may be a non-starter.
The capacity had been freed up by the completion of a new engineer brigade (only the second produced in Turkey under Soviet licence), which was delivered to the Reserve Armoured Division, where it would be held. It was ultimately destined for one of the ‘heavy’ breakthrough assault divisions that would be used for attacking set defences and across rivers after the Spring Reorganisation.
Less action on the frontline means more time to recover and prepare for a future offensive to free Timisoara again! And those naval bombers are now at least a bit nearer to enemy ship routes than before, because the black sea is a Comintern lake actually!
Less action on the frontline means more time to recover and prepare for a future offensive to free Timisoara again! And those naval bombers are now at least a bit nearer to enemy ship routes than before, because the black sea is a Comintern lake actually!
I note from the redactiong of manly "baring" that our troops do not take the medieval Scottish approach to warfare. A pity, that might intimidate the lily-livered Axis scum a bit more in battle!
He did so and was very pleased indeed with its contents. After only a very short time, their efforts to spirit technological secrets out of Italy had met with spectacular success! And far from some obscure and useless naval technology, this was one of the most useful advances they could have obtained. It would improve the efficiency of the entire Turkish production system!
In Italy, local agents (rather than Axis assistants) managed to take down a Turkish team. They were soon replaced, but a continuation of the trend or a growth in Italian agent numbers may require some effort to be put back into counter-espionage operations after all. But for now the course was stayed.
I'd suggest running at 3 bars of counter whenever the Italians start capturing our spies. Once they've been killed off and scared into hiding, then 3 bars back to tech stealing. Bouncing back and forth should give us excellent results!
A research milestone was reached at midnight: the last [Level 3] cavalry technology was completed, allowing Turkish researchers to begin developing motorised infantry – which they began to do immediately. This marked the penultimate point of years of painstaking research.
4 Cav Div finally reached its destination in Karshi after its long rail and road trip from Ankara. Only to find there was no navigable path south or east from there to Kabul! [I looked at the infra and while it was low, it wasn’t absent. Not exactly sure what it was that was blocking progress (they were no longer in reorg mode and there was an Afghan militia unit in one of the provinces.)]It seemed the much-anticipated northern pincer to Kabul may be a non-starter.
As discussed by others it seems like the issue is that 1-infra provinces do not allow troop passage, and perhaps some Afghan troops have been stranded on that terrain.
The Patriotic Front had generally deteriorated in Russia the latter part of March, but Romania had held firm. The Axis was threatening a more general sweep in the Ukraine (which had seen the heaviest fighting over the last week) and was making smaller gains in the North and Centre.
Bad news for the Soviets, it seems that the Axis have gotten desperate and are focusing entirely on making a push for Moscow before they run out of manpower and resources.
Good news for the Soviets, the Axis is borderline hardcoded to run out of both of these things, so the threat is largely academic. Game design, everyone.
That’s difficult man, needs a certain level in light armor tech as well. I’d really like us to learn those but with the leadership we have that’s not very realistic :/
That’s difficult man, needs a certain level in light armor tech as well. I’d really like us to learn those but with the leadership we have that’s not very realistic :/
Light armor, huh...no one said it had to be good light armor. Someone get our spy team in Italy on the phone...but, like, secretly, because they're spies.
Light armor, huh...no one said it had to be good light armor. Someone get our spy team in Italy on the phone...but, like, secretly, because they're spies.
Any mech I want I think I will need to licence. I doubt I’d be able to build or convert that many anyway. I would like to have a Mechanised Corps one day in the next year or two (ie at least all MOT/MECH Inf, plus armour and associated mobile units (not the HArm, which I’m basically using as infantry support tanks). I have two divisions of that at the moment and will have three in May when a round of new units is produced (Arm, Mot, SPArt) even with the five-brigade divisions. Then maybe convert 3 Cav Div and augment with a few more buys and it could be four divs. Maybe a full five by 1943, when we might be able to go over to the strategic offensive, if things go ok.
I’d like to use it as a true manoeuvre force: smash through with the heavy inf divs (harm, Inf, arty & engr) which I might have three of by then, then exploit with a whole mobile corps. With full air support. Huzzah!
I’d like to use it as a true manoeuvre force: smash through with the heavy inf divs (harm, Inf, arty & engr) which I might have three of by then, then exploit with a whole mobile corps. With full air support. Huzzah!
That's exactly what I do. LArm LArm Mec SPRArt AC (AC with no armor but all engine research goes 10 mph, same as SPRArt and Mec) for exploitation divs and HArm Mot/Cav RArt Eng TD for heavy hitting.
Hmm...we shall need to fix this in time, either in the peace period or, depending on how long the japanese war lasts, when the west is won.
Mountains are going to be the issue here. Supply and terrain might mean they're going to have to go only one way, no matter what.
Excellent. Hopefully they never try to dig in. In this territory, any defence is going to be strong.
It is clear that they have been focusing far more on the russian front, for good or for ill.
Most excellent!
Hmm, problematic considering we want to keep that post-war.
The lion wakes?
Oh, so maybe our original musings that Chamberlain was just planning to exhaust the italians with colonial troops then strike back in a few years might have been correct...
Apparently. About bleedin' time.
Excellent that the peaks were undefended.
Hmm...so what's left defending VP points?
Excellent work.
Wow, really good news. This will surely catch the axis off-guard and potentially make them do something stupid.
And they're fighting the japanese at sea? Someone died and was replaced at the war office.
Nothing short of remarkable that we rebuilt the empire and stood firm against germany without modern infantry, and horses as cavalry.
He was at Stoneyhurst watching his brother graduate...so I expect anyway...
Nah, just hungover
Huh. How did you not notice japanese people mustering on the island? Kaya is an effing liability.
TTL, this might have actually worked given how disorganised and poorly equipped the enemy seem to be.
As we feared, we can't go through the mountains. Sadly this might turn into a meatgrinder trying to get those cities. How many VP do you need and where are they?
Urgh...still, better than otl.
Indeed. Hopefully can carry on whilst the axis focus on africa.
Oh yeah!
That they're attempting anything is enough.
Wait and see then. Still, awesome news about the empire finally showing up. This may be another, possitive, turning point much like the amercians joining the comintern.
So much there - thank you! I'll reply to some key points in general terms.
Afghanistan is slow going, which is to be expected. But some British-supplied maps have helped during April ...
That Japanese focus on the Soviet Far East is a problem - but it could become an opportunity if the Soviets can get into gear and stabilise that front and the British and particularly Americans can take advantage of it in the Pacific.
Yes, the lion has indeed awoken - for a while, anyway. We'll have to see how long it lasts.
We're slowly modernising and mechanising our military - soon there will be more home-grown MOT buzzing around - mainly conversions at first, I think. Good thing there's plenty of fuel with all those oil fields we now have!
I will give you a hint (small spoiler) on whether the Balkans stay quiet in April as well: the next chapter's title is 'Fight Club'!
Kelebek has a brother!? I know you do, but Kelebek? <sound of mind boggling>
Japanese partisans in the Dodecanese <reprise face-palm>
To my recollection, units that somehow wind up in a low-infra province can move out, but nothing can move in... I'm thinking that given how low Afghanistan is on the "Paradox Cares," they never changed the starting locations of their units.
This is cleared up a little more in this next chapter - I may have missed something I thought I had checked when trying to advance. A little cryptic, but it's a little vignette in the next episode, so I won't spoil too much.
I find it interesting that after so many years (this now disused oath was spoken every morning in the first 5 years of education, so it's been more than 26 years for me) I still remember the words. The translation is quite accurate and the context is good as well, although of course there is an emphasis on protecting the younger and respecting the elder since this is for students, but still fits the context well.
A small note is this last 2 sentences being quotes from Atatürk.
Glad it was in the ball-park. In universe, we can also make it something said every day in school for the duration of the Great Liberation War/Great War II.
Excellent news! Back in HoI2 it only amounted to a blueprint which in turn makes it 50% easy to research that tech, but it seems in HoI3 one gets the tech level directly.
The R.A.D. is destined for cannibalisation in the reorg - it is currently being used as a holding unit for spare brigades and an emergency reserve for things like ... what happens in the next chapter!
Yes, the reorg starts in the next chapter and will then be more fully detailed in the following one, as an annex in the monthly summaries. The blueprint is there from the start, but the arrangements take a few weeks to implement. They are pretty much done by the end of the month.
Less action on the frontline means more time to recover and prepare for a future offensive to free Timisoara again! And those naval bombers are now at least a bit nearer to enemy ship routes than before, because the black sea is a Comintern lake actually!
Indeed, I'd prefer they go back there, but the Americans are now using that base. And there's a lot more of them soon than one old Romanian NAV bomber wing!
I note from the redactiong of manly "baring" that our troops do not take the medieval Scottish approach to warfare. A pity, that might intimidate the lily-livered Axis scum a bit more in battle!
I'd suggest running at 3 bars of counter whenever the Italians start capturing our spies. Once they've been killed off and scared into hiding, then 3 bars back to tech stealing. Bouncing back and forth should give us excellent results!
That’s difficult man, needs a certain level in light armor tech as well. I’d really like us to learn those but with the leadership we have that’s not very realistic :/
Yes, light armour is one of our black spots. Haven't researched it at all or bought any on licence yet (except for those terrible CV-33s off Spain right at the beginning of the game - they are kind of slightly heavier armoured cars, really, and are actually with 4 Cav Div in Afghanistan now!). For my quick divisions, I'm after reasonably fast but with heavy hitting power rather than lighter and faster. Priorities and capacity. But I may try to develop one quick division later, if time and capacity permits. The game's been such a slugfest, I've continued to look for defensive power and punch rather than breakneck speed.
Light armor, huh...no one said it had to be good light armor. Someone get our spy team in Italy on the phone...but, like, secretly, because they're spies.
I like it! If only we could target specific techs to steal ... as I replied earlier, I think its licences for mech. But the US is producing them now. Hmmm.
As discussed by others it seems like the issue is that 1-infra provinces do not allow troop passage, and perhaps some Afghan troops have been stranded on that terrain.
Bad news for the Soviets, it seems that the Axis have gotten desperate and are focusing entirely on making a push for Moscow before they run out of manpower and resources.
Good news for the Soviets, the Axis is borderline hardcoded to run out of both of these things, so the threat is largely academic. Game design, everyone.
That's what we're banking on, given there isn't going to be a classic Operation Overlord with the US in the Comintern. They can be useful elsewhere, though.
That's exactly what I do. LArm LArm Mec SPRArt AC (AC with no armor but all engine research goes 10 mph, same as SPRArt and Mec) for exploitation divs and HArm Mot/Cav RArt Eng TD for heavy hitting.
Nice. As per above, not sure I'll get to (or will need) those really quick divs, but I might get there one day. I'd need enough of them to be able to work together and not get isolated out front - if this war of attrition ever does get into an open manoeuvre phase!
All: next chapter is written and illustrated. I'll see if I can get it up tonight (my time). If not, tomorrow morning.
Thanks for all your comments and support: the next chapter is quite different to the last, for reasons hinted at above and that will become clear from the very beginning.
March had proven a very quiet month on the Yeniçeri-Danube Line, though there was plenty of hard fighting in Romania, Russia, Afghanistan and Malaya. April would prove very different indeed. It seemed the Axis had been preparing an early spring offensive of their own. It began at 7am on the morning of 1 April 1942, with one of the most serious attacks in some months. COL Diskoerekto had his wish granted: but would it be a case of being careful for what you wish? The land-line from Pljevlja rang just after Inönü had finished a quick breakfast and received his standard morningbriefing. It was MAJGEN Köldecan, commander of 17 Inf Div. He was put straight through to the 1st Army Commander and Milli Şef:
“Sir, the Axis have launched a corps-sized attack on our positions from four different directions! We estimate almost 38,000 enemy men are involved. They are being impeded by the river crossings they must make and the hilly terrain and we have the advantage of our entrenchments. But they have enveloped us, so we must defend from four different directions. And the shock of their attack has rendered our plan to delay them useless. While I think we can hold well for a while, I fear they may grind us down if we do not receive further support.”
“Hold them as best you can, Köldecan. I will order a ground attack to try to break up some of the attackers and am sending both of the reserve divisions to reinforce you.”
“Thank you, sir. The air strike should hit Rudo, where both divisions there are attacking. We will fight to the end. Vur ha!”
1 BG, escorted by the fighters of 1 AG (I-16s and LaGG-3s) was ordered in to conduct the ground attack. The closer 1 AF (Hawk 3s), now based in Kursumlija, was still not battle-ready. Then, an hour later, the enemy began an air raid of their own on Pljevlja. 1 AF broke off and engaged them on their own initiative – leaving 1 BG with no fighter escort for its own strike on Rudo. This was not what was intended by the senior air controllers in Beograd, who then ordered 4 AG (the two La-5 wings) to help 1 BG in Rudo.
The result was two air battles side by side. And once more against orders, 4 AG joined 1 AG over Pljevlja at 9am to engage the two Italian bomber wings instead of helping 1 BG. And to relatively little effect, too. But over Rudo, the Italians had scrambled three fighter wings to intercept the unescorted Turkish bombers. The Yak-4s emerged relatively unscathed, but the old Blenheims of 1 TAK were badly torn up! Despite the interference, both sides managed to see their raids through.
I suppose if I really want to guarantee escort support, I’d have to join the escorts and bombers into the same group. I’d hoped to avoid doing that but it may be necessary in the future, as they seem easily distracted.
Both raids ended at 11am and 1 BG was instructed to discontinue their mission and not attempt to raid Rudo again. Unfortunately, they were caught by the same enemy fighters before they could get away. At least this time both Turkish fighter groups came to their aid, but this time 2 TAK caught the brunt of the damage. Damage to fighters on both sides was relatively light at first. However, by the time they all extracted themselves at 4pm, 5 AF was heavily damaged as well as both 1 and 2 TAK Wings. Only 1 AG remained in reasonably airworthy condition, so they were put on standby for interception over Pljevlja at 5pm, in case the Italian bombers returned. It had been a punishing day in the air, but at least the Italian bombers did not come back to hit Pljevlja again.
The fighting on the ground went on for the rest of the day – and for some reason the Italian 32a Divisione withdrew from the attack on Pljevlja at 11pm, still leaving four enemy infantry divisions in the attack. In Afghanistan, the attack on Kabul by 47 SD [Turkish EF] started in late March continued but was making little headway [8% odds].
Air Report.The single Italian raid on Pljevlja caused 137 casualties and that by the Turks on Rudo killed 74.
---xxx---
2 Apr 42
The Germans stepped up the pressure dramatically at midnight by launching two more attacks. The first was a repeat of their previous attack on mountainous Podgorica, combining Italian Alpini (in their element) and German heavy panzers (not in their element).
“One this is One Delta Kilo, contact. A serious Axis attack from Danilovgrad but we should have it well contained. Better they use their Tigers here than on the plains further north. We will lay their dead in rows like cordwood. Out!”
Even though well equipped with AT guns, the two Soviet rifle divisions still can’t easily penetrate the German armour. Fortunately, the poor tank terrain will largely negate the fearsome German heavy panzers.
A simultaneous and more worrying report came from Pozega, always the most vulnerable point in the Turkish line.
“One this is One-Five, two German infantry divisions have attacked. The shock of their assault has made it difficult to coordinate the defence, so we are inflicting less damage than we might normally. We should be able to hold, but the tempo of their attack will pick up with daylight. Confident of stopping them, will keep you informed of progress. Out.”
With the southern reserve divisions already committed to Pljevlja and two other attacks now in progress, 1 Cav and 3 Inf Divs were immediately ordered to Kraljevo (south of Pozega) from their reserve positions in Cuprija (south of the Danube Line), as a precaution.
At 1am, an airworthiness report was sought, in case of renewed enemy air attacks. 1 AG and 4 AG were both carrying damage from the engagements of the day before but remained on intercept standby. 1 BG had been badly damaged and would not be available for ground attack missions for many days yet.
Heavy fighting at all three battles continued throughout the day, but the skies remained clear.
---xxx---
3 Apr 42
Turkish doctrine in 'breakthrough' warfare (the Germans called it Blitzkrieg, the Soviets referred to it as the Deep Battle) made a leap forward. It had been sought as the number of armoured formations continued to grow. The next area of focus was central planning, which if improved enough would eventually lead to improved combat reinforcement procedures – something that had been a critical shortcoming in previous battles. Better operational level organisation would also be very useful, to reduce the delay between attacks (something the Germans were very good at) but would have to wait for now.
At 3am, the Reserve Infantry Division paused briefly in Užice to take on a brand-new mountain brigade then continued on to Pljevlja. The new troops would just have to learn as they went. At 6am, the shock of the initial Axis assault on Pljevlja had worn off, reverting to a simple attack. This now gave MAJGEN Köldecan’s delaying tactics a decided advantage: useful as he awaited reinforcements – who even after they arrived may take a long time to make it into the front line. In Podgorica, little damage had been done yet on either side, the Axis tactical advantage (shock vs delay) being negated by the terrain. In Pozega, the initial shock of the attack had given way to a determined assault, with neither side weakening much yet.
The attack on Kabul continued to show little progress, with 47 SD beginning to show definite signs of wear and tear.
At 5pm, an Italian air raid began pounding Pozega, with two bomber wings escorted by a wing of fighters. Four Turkish fighter wings were scramble to intercept them in the hope of smashing them hard enough they would not return. The two wings of 1 AG went up, 1 AF (the old Hawk 3s) was deemed sufficiently recovered to return to combat and 4 AF (La-5s) went in without its comrades of 5 AF, which was still too heavily damaged from its exertions to risk again.
The two sides would continue their aerial duelling throughout the night and into the next morning. The initial exchanges that night saw 1 and 4 AFs in action, with the old Hawk 3s coming off the worst for wear.
Air Report.That night’s raid by the Italians killed 125 men in Pozega. Another raid began late that night but would not be completed until early the next day.
---xxx---
4 Apr 42
The hectic combat in the air and on the ground continued through into 4 April. A second Italian air raid on Pozega finished at 1am, with another 68 Comintern soldiers killed. 1 AF took more damage, with little being inflicted on the Italians. Yet another run by the Italians started a few hours later, this time 1 AG had replaced 4 AF and the Italian bombers began to take some damage. By 6am 4 AF had returned, refuelled and rearmed, and the Italians began taking heavier damage. They had been unable to execute their latest ground attack and were not seen again for the rest of the day. 1 and 3 AFs were required to repair and reorganise once more, but the Italians had been beaten off again. Gone were the days when the Axis bombers could pummel Turkish formations at will and force them to retreat when under heavy land attack.
All three ground battles in the Balkans raged on. Inönü received a consolidated update at 11am in the 1st Army briefing room in Sofiya.
In Pozega, both sides were becoming disorganised, but 15 Inf Div commander Gataly had managed to ambush the assaulting Germans – progress there was looking more promising.
Pljevlja was still in the balance; the enemy’s lead division was becoming badly disorganised, but 17 Inf Div was also starting to wilt under the pressure. 3 Mtn Div held strong and would be difficult to budge, even without a substantive general to command them. COL Diskoerekto busily exhorted his brigade to resist the Fascist scum attempting to pollute the Glorious Union. “I’ll use their guts to string my tennis racquet!” was among the various exclamations he was reputed to have uttered as the potato-eaters pressed their assault.
Down in Podgorica, the German 5th Heavy Panzer Division had switched to blitz tactics, but they were starting to suffer heaving and inflicting little damage on the well dug-in veterans of “Muzir’s Mountaineers” and their comrades.
1 Cav Div made it into Kraljevo from the north-east at the same time as Inönü was receiving his brief. Given the situation, he ordered them straight on to Užice, on the front line in between Pozega and Pljevlja. From there, if either fell they would be able to counter-attack immediately. At 1pm, another new mountain brigade was delivered and sent to Cetinje, on the Adriatic Coast, where 2 Mtn Div was stationed. They would join them as their fifth brigade as soon as the big Spring Reorganisation occurred.
By 7pm, it was clear the attack on Kabul was not going to prevail. 47 SD would have to wait for reinforcements and try to reorganise themselves. Casualties were not too heavy, but they were worn out after many days of difficult fighting.
Air Report.The morning raid by the Italians killed another 63 men in Pozega but was the last for the day.
---xxx---
5 Apr 42
The R.I.D. made it into the reserve at Pljevlja at 5am, but would probably be slow to reinforce (given it was not part of the Army chain of command). So a risk was taken to send 217 SD across from Užice, given 1 Cav Div was on its way there. Perhaps the Soviets troops, part of the Soviet 23rd Corps, would have more chance of reinforcing the fight. There were still three more Axis divisions lined up behind the 22nd Infantry, ready to take up the assault. And 17 Inf Div was starting to look shaky, though 3 Mtn Div was virtually undamaged after four full days of fighting.
Far away, 1 Mil Bde had joined 47 SD in Bamian and were sent south-east straight away to Ghazni, in the hope of enveloping Kabul in a later attack. Two hours later 16 Inf Div finally made it to Karshi after their long trip from Ankara. And, on an off-chance, they tried an attack on Mardian – and succeeded in finding a navigable path, using new maps supplied by the British! 4 Cav Div was halted from its earlier move and joined in. The hoped-for flank attack from the north on Kabul was back on the menu, albeit delayed by some days.
That earlier blockage must either have been an organisation delay imposed after strategic movement (which I thought had run through by then, but maybe it hadn’t, I can’t recall for certain now though I know I checked) or some other vagary of the game. Anyway, the infra (shown in the screenshot above) is, as I’d originally thought, sufficient to sustain operations, albeit only just in Mardian, so it will be slow.
At 11am, 3 Inf Div pulled into Kraljevo after their relocation from reserve in Cuprija. They were sent straight to Pozega, where 15 Inf Div was absorbing considerable punishment. Inönü received another sitrep on all three battles at 4pm. Podgorica was looking solid, with the enemy panzer division in particular taking a heavy battering. Pljevlja continued to be a meatgrinder, where Axis tactics continued to be superior to help balance the favourable defensive terrain. Pozega was looking promising, as the SS fanatics in particular took heavy casualties, but 15 Inf Div and 4 SD were also taking a pounding.
---xxx---
6 Apr 42
In Pozega, the LSAH SS Division was the first to break – even those monsters could not sustain the attack any further, pulling back at 5am. But 46th Infantry Division kept up the attack, as 15 Inf Div morale reached critical levels.
“Sergeant!” cried out one of Metin Sadik’s young squad members as they all huddled in their trenches under yet another artillery bombardment. A direct hit had landed in the trench just 20 metres to their left, killing or maiming half their platoon. “I can’t take it anymore!”
In a blind panic, the young man tried to make a run for it – which would have resulted in his almost certain death, as shell fragments continued to whistle past. Sadik tackled him before the frightened soldier could jump out of the trench.
He got two of the other men to hold him down until the barrage ended, hoping he would come around again when the artillery lifted – and they had to face another attack by the determined Germans.
At least it won’t be those SS bastards this time, he thought to himself grimly. If I survive this, I’m writing another letter to my mother. She deserves to hear from me again one more time at least before I die, as surely I will if we stay in this hell-hole much longer.
Pozega was becoming synonymous with death for any Turkish troops unlucky enough to find themselves defending it. Or German attackers trying to take it, for that matter.
The next relieving formation to arrive in Pljevlja was the Reserve Armoured Division. But they too were unassigned in the chain of command and had only a small chance of reinforcing. The German 22nd Division had withdrawn, leaving three attacking formations in the battle, but all were relatively fresh. After five days of non-stop combat, 17 Inf Div was now beginning to fail too.
Turkish spirits were raised early that afternoon with two pieces of good news. First, at 1pm, Gataly reported that the enemy had been beaten away in Pozega. It had been a charnel house, with over 3,100 Germans killed at the cost of more than 1,700 Turkish and Soviet lives.
Sergeant Metin Sadik would live to fight another day and write to his mother. The young squad member he had saved was not so lucky: he’d taken a bullet straight to the forehead during the ensuing Germany infantry attack. Sadik had stopped trying to learn the names of or befriend replacements months before, unless they had been in the unit for at least a few months and survived. It was just too painful to do so – too many of his friends had died or been badly wounded, the memory of the loss of each one worse in many ways than the combat itself. But he wouldn’t write any of that to his mother, of course.
Then, an hour later, Muzir reported victory in Podgorica. Although not as bloody as Pozega, the battle had still been a fierce one, with over 2,000 more enemy dead for fewer than 900 Comintern troops lost.
1 Cav Div arrived in their new ‘forward reserve’ position at Užice at 4pm, as 217 SD still marched south-west to Pljevlja. There, the battle that had started a day before the two other attacks wore on. It would soon move into its eighth day of fighting.
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7 Apr 42
3 Inf Div began relieving 15 Inf Div in place at midnight on 7 April. Gataly had lost 9% of his strength and his men were exhausted – physically and mentally. With the crisis passed, they were sent back to Kraljevo to recover and reconstitute the sector reserve. Karabekir’s veterans set about refurbishing the trenches and digging in themselves – bracing for the next attack, whenever that may come.
By 5am, 217 SD was in reserve in Pljevlja – and it had a far higher chance of making it to the front, where 17 Inf Div was fading fast.
“One this is Three Charlie – contact! German panzer-grenadiers trying to assault across the Danube! The shock of their attack is limiting our ability to inflict heavier casualties. But at least the Russians’ AT guns are enough to deal with the light armour they’ve been able to ferry across. Once things settle down, we will slaughter them. Out!”
It was Toüdemür in Turnu Severin. Once again the German shock tactics had negated the Turkish response. But this river crossing attempt was surely too little and doomed. Not as concerted an attack as the three in the south had been.
MAJGEN Semenyuk’s 217 SD had quickly managed to reinforce in Pljevlja at midday – a great relief to the defenders, who were now more optimistic. But still the battle went on.
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8 Apr 42
The wider picture on the Patriotic Front by early on 8 April was relatively stable. The Germans were making a few gains in the north, but the Soviets were regaining a little ground in the Ukraine. Perhaps the Axis attacks on the Turks had drawn resources away from that front. Some ground had been lost in Romania (two provinces) but it showed no sign of distress. There had been no change at all in North Africa after the flurry of the month before.
At 4am, the Battle of Pljevlja had been going for a little over seven days. The German 24th Dviision had now broken contact, leaving two in the fray – and meaning the Axis had lost the benefit of its earlier envelopment. 17 Inf Div was still fighting but hung on by its fingernails. 3 Mtn Div was showing the first signs of disorganisation now as it took on more of the fighting. COL Diskoerekto, inspecting the front lines, yelled out in rough German to his nearby opponents: “Your ass is grass and I’m the mower! Death to you all!”
15 Inf Div arrived in Kraljevo late that morning to begin refitting. Metin Sadik began his letter to his mother. Soon, more fresh replacements would start arriving. It was necessary, but also painful: most of the newbies would not last more than a few days when they next went into combat. Such is this cursed war, he thought to himself.
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9 Apr 42
This day would prove decisive in Pljevlja. At 6am, 17 Inf Div finally broke and retreated in rout, south to Kolasin – they could take no more punishment. But 3 Mtn Div and 217 SD proved up to the task, forcing the Italian 21a Divisione from the field at midday. Semenyuk had taken over command with Köldecan’s departure. He was an ‘old guard’ officer known (facetiously) as the ‘Barrel of Laughs’ to his men. “He may have a face like a twisted sandshoe, but he knows how to hold a position!” said one Soviet soldier to his Turkish colleague as they saw their jaunty Italian opponents off.
By 4pm, the last German division left in the attack had seen enough: it was another great victory over the Fascist swine. And it had been a bloodbath, exceeding even Pozega. 1,682 mainly Turkish troops had been lost, but almost 4,000 Axis soldiers were dead, bringing their losses in the three battles to nearly 10,000 men. A grim but satisfying butcher's bill, far more expensive for the enemy, but still costly for the Turks as well.
The Turkish advance on Mardian in northern Afghanistan met its first enemy opposition at 7am the same morning, but it was only a retreating HQ that was brushed away without loss in three hours. The attack on Turnu Severin went on – the Germans were proving quite persistent – though also ill-advised.
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10 Apr 42
Finally, the much-awaited introduction of the Superior Firepower Manual – 1942 was published. With the heaviest fighting recently concluded, divisions would soon be largely reorganised into five-brigade formations. In something of a surprise to staff in 1st Army HQ, the next doctrine priority was allocated to integrated support, to help boost the morale and resilience of mountain and marine units. But given the latter were being trained under licence and the mountain troops seemed to be doing fine, some officers thought the effort should have been directed at improving operational level organisation instead.
I was a bit torn on this one. In retrospect, perhaps this one won’t be worth it on balance. Happy to take any views on this one from experts and armchair generals alike! It’s early days (even though I’ve played through to the end of the month), so changing would be easy enough.
Soon, individual brigades were moving all over the front according to a complicated plan. [Which involved an audit and a spreadsheet, but I’ve spared all the details from the commentary. The new organisation and division characteristics will be included in a summary section in the next chapter – it took the rest of the month to complete.]
This is just a visual impression to give an idea. Main divisions were not moved, just units from them, and especially from spare units in the Corps HQs, the two Reserve holding divisions and 19 and 20 Inf Divs, which were disestablished to round out the other formations. A number of divisions would still be without commanders – but four fewer than before were short-changed in this way after the rationalisation.
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11 Apr 42
With the two reserve holding divisions being consumed for the reorganisation and 17 Inf Div in retreat to Kolasin, it was determined that Pljevlja needed some reinforcement. 222 SD would replace 17 Inf Div, leaving the garrison in the key province at three divisions – 3 Mtn Div plus two Soviet rifle divisions.
The battle continued in Turnu Severin, but hardly any pressure was coming onto the defenders. This would be another expensive gambit by the Germans. That afternoon, a new American LO arrived at HQ 1st Army in Sofiya. He bore an important dispatch regarding a major event in the Pacific. And a request for a tour of the front – he wished to visit the recent battle sites, especially in Pljevlja, to pick up any tactic hints their Comintern compatriots may be willing to pass on.
The news was big: in recent days, the US had (in keeping with the suggestion made by Inönü to Roosevelt in Tehran) retaken the key island base of Midway! Huzzah!
“So, Major …?”
“Durden, Tyler Durden, sir.”
“Major Durden,” said a pleased Milli Şef. "You are welcome to tour the battlefields. The commanders there have formed something of a ‘club’ following their intense shared experience.”
“A club?”
“Yes. They call it ‘Fight Club’. And they have only one rule.”
“Oh, and what is that?”
“What happens in Fight Club stays in Fight Club. So no discussion of battlefield tactics learned outside of the Comintern partners. Understood, Major?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Good. Your first stop will be Pljevlja. There is a Dag Komando brigade commander there I’d like you to meet …”
The news from Minsk was not so good. It was still holding, but the defence there seemed to be failing.
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12 Apr 42
With manpower still high despite recent battles, American training for two more marine brigades was sought, to celebrate the retaking of Midway. They would be built one after the other, as the Turks slowly assembled their first ‘home-built’ marine division.
The Italian Air Force began a raid with two unescorted TAC wings on Turnu Severin at 2am, even though the attack there was almost spent. 1 AF and 1 AG were sent to intercept them. Despite causing some damage during two three-hour dogfights that morning, the bombers still managed to get their payloads away.
It was to no avail: while the second raid was still in progress, the Germans ceased their attack. Another expensive exercise for them, losing more than 1,300 more troops killed: around 16% of their starting strength. A devastating casualty rate.
That evening, a diplomatic cable from Moscow indicated that General Secretary Stalin, in response to continuing German inroads in the Soviet Union in the west and the Japanese in the east, had called for a ‘Great Patriotic War’ to be waged. This would boost manpower considerably and increase the fervour of Soviet troops when defending their own soil.
In the Eastern Mediterranean, a gratifying US military build-up continued. Perhaps they wanted to join Fight Club in the European theatre after their success at Midway?
Air Report. The two Italian air raids on Turnu Severin caused a total of 321 casualties but were discontinued after the Axis ground combat was called off.
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13 Apr 42
1-13 Inf Bde finally arrived in Dezful at 8pm on 13 April but would have to reorganise for 137 hours after their long train trip before they could attack the rebels in Susangerd, on the Iraqi border.
That day and the next three all passed quietly enough, with no significant battlefield or world news [or indeed noteworthy OTL events] to report.
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17 Apr 42
The day began with word that another Turkish spy team had been apprehended in Italy, but there were plenty of replacements to make up the loss. Ambassador Mike Ceylan had another team inserted from Switzerland almost as soon as the last one was lost. With Italian counter-espionage forces slowly rebuilding again, he also ordered the Turkish focus to return to counter-espionage themselves. The Italians and their loathsome allies must be kept in their place!
Later that morning, Agent SkitalecS3 brought the sad news that Minsk had finally fallen to the German invader. And the Germans were pressing ahead in the Northern sector: this war was a long way from won.
4 Cav Div finally secured Mardian at 7pm and then pushed straight on towards Khanabad, which bordered Kabul to its north-west. 16 Inf Div was following them up. 4 Cav Div soon encountered the Herat Militia Division and three fleeing Afghan HQs.
A review of Soviet troop movements indicated they may have over-reacted to the objective request on Kabul. The Turkish High Command revoked the request and suggested the units might be better used further east, where the Japanese and their puppet allies continued to advance, slowly but steadily.
The skirmish with the Herat Militia in Khanabad finished at 11pm: they fled after taking seven casualties, with no losses among the Turks.
Inönü reviewed the rest of his day’s end updates. There was a map of current front lines on the Patriotic Front compared to those on 1 April. The Germans had made some inroads in the North and were again threatening the Baltic port of Tallinn. And as noted, Minsk was now under the Nazi boot-heel after a long and gallant resistance.
North Africa remained fairly static, with the British eliminating the last Italian-held territory in Egypt (any enemy troops there had long since either escaped or been captured).
There was very little movement in South East Asia. And as we have seen, Midway was retaken – an encouraging sign early in the Pacific War. In the Far East, Japan slowly ground forward.
The Milli Şef was about to turn in for the night when a messenger entered his private study with an urgent report. Inönü scanned it quickly.
It seemed the Axis was not done with Fight Club yet! That American Major Durden may see more action than he had been banking on, but at least as much as he had hoped for.
This would be a first test for some of the new divisional structures: 1 Inf Div had taken delivery by then of its brigade of IS-1 heavy tanks and an engineer brigade. The German envelopment attack included medium tanks from 6th Panzer Division. This time, they would not promote the same fear they had earlier in the war. 2 Inf Div now had an AT brigade attached, which meant their weapons were a match (just) for the German armour. And the IS-1’s armour just outmatched the German’s AT and Panzer IV guns, which would reduce their own casualties significantly. The Axis dogs would find Beograd an even tougher nut to crack than before!
As a precaution, 4 AF (5 AF was still recovering) was detailed to intercept any Axis aircraft over Beograd. The rest of the Air Force tried to get back into peak fighting shape after their recent intense clashes with the Italians.
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Coming Up: How long will the Yeniçeri Fight Club continue this month? Will the Great Patriotic War declaration help the Soviets stem the tide in both east and west? With progress being made again in Afghanistan, can Kabul be taken with the additional support of the reinforcing Turkish divisions coming from the north? What might the Americans do next, in either the Med or the Pacific?
Can the British hang on to their March gains in North Africa or will they slip back into their previous bad habits of under-resourcing the campaign there? And can they hold in Malaya, with not quite enough troops to hold a solid front? And where might the Japanese strike next? As the Turks gradually build their amphibious capability from a very low base, Luca Brasi’s GENCO Olive Oil distribution network in Sicily may become very important, as will the Turks’ ‘conventional’ espionage network, which can be switched to military espionage if an invasion of that island looks feasible, later in 1942 or early 1943.
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