Chapter 178: The Dragon’s Breath – Part Two (25 to 28 August 1942)
AuthAAR’s Note: After a report on Slovakia, we will return primarily to battlefield events as the Turks attempt to crush the Adriatic Pocket while the Axis, energised by Hitler’s latest browbeating in Vienna, counter-attacks the ‘Bulge’ Turkey has made in their lines.
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1. Slovakia – Intelligence Report
Darth Kelebek had arrived in
Bratislava on 22 August and, with his customary sense of drama and menace, decided to ‘haunt’ the ruined (since a fire in 1811) and largely derelict Bratislava Castle, one of the great landmarks of the Slovakian capital.
Bratislava Castle - Kelebek’s new temporary lair. The location provides excellent views of Bratislava, Austria and, in clear weather, parts of Hungary. Ruined after a great fire in 1811.
OTL: Bratislava Castle after its restoration in 1953.
Government and Politics. Ögel’s Foreign Intelligence Directorate reported that the Slovakians had tense relations with the Hungarians, even they were both fighting together for the Axis in the Balkans, sometimes side-by-side. On 15 June 15 1939 a border war had broken out between Slovakia and Hungary
[not sure if it’s a game event]. Although Slovakia had signed a "Protection Treaty" with Nazi Germany, Germany refused to help Slovakia, in direct violation of that treaty. Ending 11 days later on 4 April 1939, the Slovak-Hungarian War (also called the "Little War") resulted in the Hungarian occupation of a narrow strip along the border which had previously been Slovakian (see note 3 below, area marked in blue).
Map of Slovakia with border-changes in the south and east against Hungary & Germany (1939-1945) (from Wikipedia):
1 — Bratislava bridgehead, part of Hungary until 15 October 1947.
2 — Southern Slovakia, from 2 November 1938 until 1945 to Hungary, due to the First Vienna Award.
3 — Strip of land in eastern Slovakia around the cities of Stakčín & Sobrance, part of Hungary from 4 April 1939 (following the Slovak–Hungarian War) until 1945.
4 — Devín and Petržalka (now parts of the city of Bratislava), from 1938 until 1945 part of Germany.
5 — German “Protection Zone”, military occupation as a result of the protection treaty with Slovakia Note: Transfers on the Slovak-Polish border not marked.
Slovakian soldiers, seen here during the recent Adriatic Pocket campaign, have been a small but noticeable and persistent presence on the Balkan Front for the last two years.
Security Services. Slovak Interior Minister Alexander Mach came to the fore in 1938 after the Munich Agreement and subsequent upsurge in Slovak nationalism as a close associate of Vojtech Tuka and Ferdinand Ďurčanský. Mach played a leading role in orchestrating the violence that followed the collapse of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 in his role as head of the Slovak Office of Propaganda. He served initially as Propaganda Minister in the first Slovak Republic before holding the position of Interior Minister in the government of Tuka since 29 July 1940.
Alexander Mach (b. 11 October 1902) is a Slovak nationalist politician. Mach is a strong supporter of Nazism and Germany. He is currently the Interior Minister of Slovakia.
Like Tuka, whom Mach often deputised for during the Prime Minister's regular spells of illness, he supported a pro-Nazi policy and the speedy establishment of a fascist state, something which led to frequent clashes with the less ideologically minded President Jozef Tiso. Tiso managed to briefly deprive Mach of his position in the Hlinka Guard in May 1940, although Mach's pro-German stance meant the Nazis backed him for high office consistently.
Plot Involvement. Kelebek has identified Mach as the man specifically responsible for the succession of Slovak agents who have killed a number of Turkish agents in Italy and who have been caught in turn by Turkey in Italy (Ögel’s MAH agents) and within Turkey and the UGNR (Kaya’s Secret Police, from the Interior Ministry). Kelebek is convinced Mach would have been instrumental in providing Slovak assistance to the recent German-led plot to assassinate President Inönü. Mach will soon have a playing card made up for him as a target for S.I.T.H. ‘executive action’ when the time comes.
Some of Kelebek’s more obvious efforts in Bratislava – he tends to make no particular secret of his presence – have not gone unnoticed. This is a Slovakian Secret Police artist’s impression of the strange figure seen in the vicinity of Bratislava Castle – and some Governmental facilities in recent days.
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2. The Sava Sector: 25-28 Aug 42
25 Aug 42
Early on the morning of 25 August, the situation in
Doboj continued to gradually deteriorate. With
Mostar clear and 12 SD already starting to march north, the resting 97 SD ‘Shev’ was put on trucks and sent north as well, also to
Doboj, while 17 Inf Div would march to
Banja Luka. 1 Mtn Div continued to press hard against
Makarska and was confident of cleaning it up soon.
Four hours later, while the attack on
Doboj had been ramped up with a fresh Italian division now in reserve and 4 SD failing, MAJGEN Noyan’s 10 Inf Div was ordered to make a desperate assault across the Sava on
Brcko, from
Tuzla. This meant breaking their entrenchments – a definite risk – but the less well-equipped 217 SD was left as the ‘secure foot on the ground’ in case of another attack on
Tuzla. Two of the enemy divisions in
Brcko were hit in the flank as they attacked
Doboj, but the other two were set. This was a difficult assignment for Noyan: he wasn’t expected to win – just to maybe distract the enemy enough to break off their attack on
Doboj.
But the Axis commanders were alert to this ploy: they in turn quickly launched a spoiling attack from
Backa Palanka on the Turkish spoiling attack in
Tuzla! Noyan’s task just got that much harder – and more dangerous.
10 Inf Div kept at it gamely for another eleven hours, but they were making little impression and beginning to lose organisation quickly. They were pulled back across the Sava before the defence of
Tuzla itself became compromised further.
26 Aug 42
4 SD in
Doboj had taken all it could by 5am: they broke, retreating back to
Zenica in rout. HQ 2nd Corps fought on for now, imposing as much delay on the enemy bridgehead as possible. But seeing this, the German commander MAJGEN Heinrici launched his men into a shock attack.
At 9am, the barely recovered 97 SD ‘Shar’ was sent across from
Visegrad to
Zavidovici, to start digging a second line of defence. They would have to recover on the move and while entrenching. Then, like a shark sensing blood in the water, at 2pm Heinrici ordered his troops into a reckless assault: they may have received intel that Turkish reinforcements were approaching from the collapsing
kessel in the south.
Another seven hours of brave resistance by LTGEN Artunkal’s HQ 2nd Corps followed, but with the 2nd Mil Bde out on its feet, the retreat was sounded at 9pm so an orderly withdrawal could be made to
Travnik, where another second line of defence could be prepared while reinforcements marched north. It had been a bloody battle and the enemy were made to pay dearly for their victory. The enemy attack on
Tuzla sputtered on, but looked doomed to fail. On the Adriatic (more later)
Split still held out stubbornly.
Just an hour later, the command net burst into life. It was MAJGEN Bözer, who now commanded the defence of
Beograd:
“One this is One-Three, contact! Four German divisions, attacking from three different directions across the Sava and Danube Rivers. We saw them coming and were able to lay an ambush. We are holding for now but will report further when the trend of the battle is clearer. Out.”
Note, as with all these battle screens, I always give the daytime attack percentages, but at night-time the attacker is always worse off than shown.
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27 Aug 42
At 2am, the night skies over
Beograd lit up with searchlights and anti-aircraft fire from the three heavy batteries guarding the town, followed by the scream of bombs falling on the defenders’ positions and the concussion of the blasts as two wings of Luftwaffe tactical bombers hit the capital of the Serbian GNR.
“This will not stand!” shouted the Air Force Chief and Beograd CAP commander, General Örlungat. “Scramble the CAP. Send up 2 AG as well – they have recovered enough to fight again and defend our own base. Vur ha!”
MAJGEN Beröz’s 2 AG - one wing of La-5s
[5 AF, 78% strength, about 40% organisation] and another of LaGG-3s
[3 AF, 83% strength, about 60% organisation] had been recovering from earlier torrid air battle some days before. The plan was for the two groups to take turns intercepting rather than attack together, but coordinating that would be up to the air controllers.
As it happened, it worked out exactly according to plan. The German bombers had no escorts, but were able to press their first attack home, one of their wings taking substantial damage between 3 and 5 am. They returned at 7am, this time met by the Beograd CAP (2 AF, I-16s and 6 AF, Wildcats). By the end of that dogfight, one of the German wings was unscathed, but the other badly mauled. This time the bombers were unable to hit their targets, put off by the interception.
As the second dogfight of the morning was ending, good news came from
Tuzla: the German attack there had been soundly defeated, with the enemy losing over a thousand men killed. 7 Inf Div was now also ordered north, freed from its duties on the pocket.
Somewhat to the surprise of the Turkish fighter pilots in
Beograd, the same two German bomber wings came back for another attack on Beograd in support of the continuing attack. Again, the Turkish fighter groups took turns pummelling the unescorted bombers in four more dogfights between 11am that day and 1am the next. 5 AF was the worst affected of the fighter squadrons but they kept at it. By 5pm one of the German wings had effectively been shot out of the sky
[I’m no air combat expert – would this mean they were actually shot down (ie destroyed/shattered) or will they resuscitate again in time?]. The second bomber wing was then savaged.
Note: there were so many interceptions that day (four more) – I think the Germans got 'stuck in the air' – that I’ve only put up the final screen for each combat in this combined shot.
Air Report. Just the one German mission hit its targets in
Beograd that morning, causing 200 Comintern casualties.
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28 Aug 42
Not surprisingly, this time the German bombers did not return to
Beograd and Örlungat declared a decisive air victory. Huzzah!
1 Armd Div was sufficiently recovered and refitted that by 8am they were ordered to switch back across from
Knin on the Adriatic Sector to quickly plug the gap at
Banja Luka. While the German 233rd Pz Gren Division was still recovering from its earlier battle with 1 Inf Div in
Bosanski Petrovac, two fresh Axis divisions had been spotted approaching from the north. The loss of
Banja Luka would leave 15 Inf and 2 Mot Divs badly exposed: 1 Armd Div should be able to get there more quickly than the infantry reinforcements still making their way up from the south. They were also coming under air attack in
Knin (more below in the Adriatic Sector report), so it was decided to get them out from under it: Artunkal wanted Wehib Pasha’s famous outfit back over to support the rest of 2nd Mech Corps as it held on to the east of the
Sava Line: by then, the enemy had put two divisions into
Doboj to hold their new bridgehead.
In better news, 9am brought victory in
Beograd: it had been a tough fight against a more numerous and well-trained enemy, but the denial of enemy air support by fighter cover and heavy AA fire had proved a great help to the defenders.
Although battles raged in other Turkish sectors at this time, the Sava Sector was comparatively quiet for the rest of the afternoon. 97 SD ‘Shev’ was the first of the southern reinforcements to arrive and were in
Zenica (immediately south of
Doboj) by 4pm. Instead of waiting there, the now largely recovered rifle division was sent on north-east to
Zavidovici to plug the worrying gap there. They would join their namesakes of 97 SD ‘Shar’ (still coming across from further west) there in due course.
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3. The Adriatic Sector: 25-28 Aug 42
25 Aug 42
At the start of 25 August, one battle continued in the Adriatic Sector, where 1 Mtn and 6 Inf Divs were attacking the Slovakian 2nd Division in
Makarska. The German 62nd Division was still retreating from
Mostar, which 17 Inf Div had just occupied. If the Turks could drive off the Slovakian 2nd Division and occupy
Makarska first, the 62nd would be forced to surrender. The main enemy concentration in the pocket was still retreating from
Split, which 2 Mtn Div was marching to and hoping to occupy, thereby effectively liquidating the pocket.
Victory in
Makarska (the second in a few days, after the Hungarian 3rd Division had been beaten there on the 22nd) came at 10am. This allowed more divisions to join those already heading north the relieve the hard-pressed
Sava Line.
Note: this is just to give a general idea of the weight of forces now in motion northwards and roughly where they are heading. Final locations can be adjusted as they approach.
Just an hour later, 1 Mtn Div had liberated
Makarska: the German 62nd Division, their retreat cut off, became the first trapped formation to surrender. But 2 Mtn Div’s race for
Split now took an unexpected turn. The occupation of
Makarska caused all the units that had been trying to leave to instead attack it, while the Slovakians attempted to retreat there. With the enemy stopped in
Split as
they attacked
Makarska, 2 Mtn Div was now forced to attack
them rather than just marching into the city, as they had hoped they would.
This development took me by surprise, I must say!
Even though the improvised attack on
Makarska was defeated by 1 Mtn Div within three hours (50 Turkish and 92 mixed Axis troops killed), this now left the rest of the enemy defending
Split, where they proceeded to put up a determined fight.
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26 Aug 42
With new enemy units being sighted to the north, at midnight 11 Inf Div was redirected north-east, to
Banja Luka through
Drvar. The gap in the line in this area needed to be closed off as the enemy line firmed up. Meanwhile, the resistance in
Split was proving tougher than anticipated, but both 222 SD (in
Zara) and 3 Mtn Div (in
Sinj) were still reorganising from their previous attack and could not intervene in support. 6 Inf Div reinforced 1 Mtn Div in
Makarska, but they would not be able to attack again for five days. And the situation in
Doboj (as we have already seen) was also deteriorating further by that time, putting more pressure on the Adriatic Sector to finish the job and release more units to hold the newly established
Sava Line.
By 10pm, the tough professionals of the German 88th Division were leading an effective defence of the favourable defensive terrain in bitter street fighting in and around
Split, even though their Axis allies were basically spent. This was starting to take a toll on 2 Mtn Div, despite conducting an effective assault on a surrounded enemy. The odds of an unaided victory had now begun to fade
[down to 47%].
27 Aug 42
This pattern continued into 27 August, with Turkish concerns increased when
Doboj was lost at 6pm that day. 11 Inf Div’s efforts were switched for a third time, abandoning their march to
Drvar and
Banja Luka to return to the attack they had been mistakenly pulled from some days ago. They were now told to reinforce 2 Mtn Div’s attack on
Split, to be joined by 3 Mtn Div which had finally finished reorganising in
Sinj. By 8pm, they had joined the battle: two of the Axis divisions (Hungarian and Italian) had surrendered during the day, while the 2nd Slovakian Division had arrived from
Makarska but was unfit to man the front line. Only the 88th Division fought on for the Axis, but 2 Mtn Div was also fading: there was a chance the attack would fail if one or both of the newly joined Turkish divisions could not reinforce in time.
28 Aug 42
To show how determined they were to drag out resistance in
Split for as long as they could, the Italians launched an air raid on
Knin at 2am with two wings of bombers with one wing of fighters escorting. These raids would continue throughout the day.
At 2pm, welcome news came from
Split: 11 Inf Div had managed to reinforce the front line more quickly than had been expected – this was just as well, because 2 Mtn Div was approaching the end of its endurance. Victory should now be assured, but the 88th Division had heeded the exhortations of their Führer to fight to the end: they still refused to surrender.
Then, shortly before midnight there was even more good news: MAJGEN Seven and COL Diskoerekto had managed to march their men to the front line in
Split as well. This should hasten the seemingly indomitable will of the last German defenders to resist. But, as the day ended, the last Axis remnants in
Split continued to fight, protected by the thinning German line.
Air Report. Three Italian ground attacks on
Knin killed a total of 124 Turkish defenders.
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4. Other reports: 25-28 Aug 42
25 Aug 42
After something of a break in their
detected activity, at midnight (of course) another British spy was arrested in
Ankara. It seems Churchill had decided to once again abrogated the ‘Gentlemen’s Agreement’ between British MI6 and the Turkish MAH not to spy on each other. And had waited until just after the Moscow Meeting (where he didn’t get what he wanted and had found British intelligence on Turkish intentions to be inadequate) to restart their espionage efforts against their Coalition partner.
Kaya’s Interior Ministry had received a tip-off this time – from GRU LO Agent SkitalecS3.
How he had received this information was not disclosed – but clearly the Soviets had someone, probably from within the British system, feeding them information. Captured British ‘illegal’ agents were ‘neutralised’ by imprisonment rather than execution and their interrogations carried out broadly in a firm but not violent manner. Their ticket on the
Midnight Express was of a higher class than that reserved for Axis spies in particular. Kelebek (who was in
Bratislava at that time anyway, where he had far freer rein) was not given access to them.
“General,” said the HQ 1st Army CP’s Duty Officer, handing Inönü a written contact report. “Our forces in Chisinau in eastern Romania have been attacked!”
One of Germany’s top commanders, MAJGEN von Arnim, was trying to break through with his 10th Panzer Division. He was not yet supported (other than by the destructive German air raids) and was attacking across the Prut River from
Rybnica.
Four hours later, however, the complexion of the battle for
Chisinau changed markedly. The German 4th Gebirsjäger Division joined the battle and reinforced immediately, while the Romanian-led 70 SD EF withdrew. The odds had suddenly swung in the Germans’ favour as the punishing air raids continued.
OTL Event: Pacific. The Battle of Milne Bay began in eastern New Guinea.
Air Report. German Air Raids on
Chisinau continued (they had begun on 24 August, when they had caused 512 casualties in two raids), with morning an evening raids killing another 557 Comintern soldiers (Romanian and Soviet, including the Turkish-controlled EF of 177 SD).
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26 Aug 42
As a Turkish Secret Police Lieutenant looked intently at his watch, he chopped his raised hand downwards sharply as it ticked over to midnight. A door to an Istanbul apartment overlooking the base where the new Turkish Marine Division was undergoing training was crashed down. Inside, a man and woman were quickly overpowered.
“You Slovakian dogs have no trade-craft,” the Lieutenant spat at them derisively. “You were spotted peering at our marine training through the apartment window earlier today. The binoculars and the comically suspicious-looking expressions on your faces were a dead giveaway.”
The two said nothing, but struggled vainly to get to their cyanide capsules.
“Hah,” the Secret policeman continued. “Speaking of ‘dead’, you will have no such luck. Yet, anyway. You are both for the Midnight Express. 3rd Class tickets for Fascist running-dog lackeys such as yourselves – especially after what you lot tried to do to our Glorious President!”
He paused briefly for effect as the two Slovakian spies struggled even harder. “Perhaps the Dark Lord Whose-Name-Shall-Not-Be-Mentioned will be conducting tonight?” he finished with undisguised malice. Turning to his men, he said “Take them away,” and then began examining the room for any useful information.
News Report: London, UK. The British government lifts the ban on the communist newspaper The Daily Worker.
Air Report. Another 363 Comintern troops killed in two German raids on
Chisinau.
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27 Aug 42
The day began with good news: an important an advance in infantry anti-tank weapons
[the last of the four Level 5 advances] which would soon be getting distributed to all units as a priority. The drive to improve Turkey’s logistic support continued with research directed to improving supply organisation.
The situation on the ground in
Chisinau continued to worsen, with the Romanian 8th Inf Div nearing the end of its resistance that night. A request was sent to the Soviet Ukrainian Front HQ for a spoiling attack on 10th Panzer Division in
Rybnica now they had reoccupied the province to the north-east of
Chisinau over the Prut River, but it was made more in hope than expectation.
OTL Event: Eastern Front. German Army Group B captured
Prokhladny, pushing closer to the oil prize of
Grozny.
Air Report. The Luftwaffe’s raids on
Chisinau did not let up. Two more that day killed 423 Comintern defenders.
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28 Aug 42
The War Ministry advised Inönü that supply production was currently at a broad equilibrium
[with 54.47 IC out of a total of 188 allocated]. Equipment upgrades (primarily the new AT weapons for all infantry divisions) and reinforcement costs took more capacity
[around another 22 IC]. This left new production at a little over two-thirds of its programmed requirement. Delayed projects can be seen in the graphic below.
Fighting in
Chisinau continued throughout the day as German air raids continued.
Air Report. The ‘customary’ morning and afternoon German air raids caused another 366 Comintern casualties, bringing the total to 2,221 since their latest bombing campaign on
Chisinau began on 24 August.
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Coming Up: Can that dangerous gap in the north of the ‘Bulge’ be secured before the enemy exploit it? Will the Axis be able to exert further pressure on the wavering
Sava Line to expand the two bridgeheads (at
Doboj and
Sabac) they now hold over it? Are 15 Inf and 2 Mot Divs in danger of being cut off and pocketed themselves? How long will it take to liquidate the Adriatic Pocket and free up the rest of the troops there for duties to the north?
How will the rest of Romania and the wider Patriotic Front have fared by the end of August? Does
Leningrad still fly the Soviet flag? Can the Soviets begin the slow roll-back of the vast Japanese gains on the Eastern Front? How have the intrepid guerillas in the Far East gone – have the Japanese mobilised some rear-area security forces against them yet? Can the Sleeping US Giant stir itself to meaningful activity in the Pacific?
We will also see if the British are able to capture
Tobruk or fall short once more, while they desperately try to hang on in Burma and Malaya without any Comintern support. There will be more special reporting on espionage developments, US industrial production and fleet movements, and the usual monthly naval report: how did that large battle off
Singapore earlier in the month between the RN and IJN turn out?
And now you have let your AIs talk to their counterparts in mine. <shakes fist theatrically> 
