First, some feedback from the last chapter where not already replied to. Below that will be the broad agenda papers for the Strategic Cabinet Meeting on 1 May 1943.
Comment Feedback
At the very least it's proven that the Russian army can smash through the front and rush to an objective. This bodes well for retaking Europe before the allies do. Excellent news about the Russian victory in the north. This could very well be the turning point in the war, esepciakly if the Germans can't evacuate. Wonder if the RN can be trusted to ensure they don't get away?
It does look promising for the next phase - the liberation of the rest of Europe.
They still have a battleship???
Considering the german plan OTL was send the battleships out one at a time with no escourt to die and save resources for other things, the fact one's still around is impressive. Mind you, it does mean that in universe their fuel crisis is even worse than OTL, especially as they never made it to Romanian oil fields or Ukraine.
As discussed, not sure what the RN will be doing in the Baltic and we can't really affect it, so will just put the shoulder to the wheel and carry on! Will keep an eye on the naval action reports. I checked for the end of April (covering the previous week) and there were no clashes in the Baltic recorded. Indeed, none for that week anywhere in the Western Hemisphere, other than in the Med, which had nine sinkings of Italian convoys and a 'raider clash'. A couple in the South China Sea and in the western Indian Ocean and in the waters south of Indonesia, mainly of enemy convoys. The British were able to provide a report on known German naval assets in sight along the occupied North Sea and English Channel coasts, but the types of units were not specified and there may be more elsewhere, of course.
As ever.
I'm thinking the Italians will be in worse shape at sea and on the ground than they were last time the British got that far.
So it is race to see if the Axis can be cut off - here's hoping! Even if not though the operations remains a success. The Glorious Union has proven yet again the ability to carry out its own offensive and beat back the Nazi tide.
Now the news from the north is most excellent! The Germans may yet re-establish control of their eastern front, but this feels like a true turning point.
It was a tough fight to get across the Sava and the enemy have shown themselves tenacious in trying to limit the breakout and rescue trapped units. We'll keep at 'em and remain encouraged by progress elsewhere: this time, all three of the main Comintern power in Europe are attacking and advancing at once.
We'll see how much fuel the Germans have left in the tank (so to speak) for a rescuing counter-offensive to break the as yet tenuous encirclement in the north. But whatever happens, it should really disrupt them. At best, in could end up a Stalingrad-sized disaster for them in terms of men and machines.
Bite up along the line, all the way back to Romania. Just snagging one or two divisions at a time - rinse and repeat half a dozen times and before you know an army has been munched
Once the current phase is over, there will be an operation review (a separate and lower level operational matter, not part of the strategic Cabinet meeting about to be held, which is about the longer term war aims and procurement priorities). It will be similar to previous ones: keep rolling east? Or head further north to try to knock Hungary out and, in combination with our allies (if they keep pushing too) look to create an even bigger encirclement.
Especially if we are scoring equal or near enough losses to the enemy in all our engagements. We just pocketed 300k of their men. Russia has millions left in the tank. Every little helps at this point, if only because it removes their precious defence forces before they've even started to really try and defend Germany.
Very true. It will now be about pressure and maintenance of momentum, seeing what (if anything) the Fascists Pigs have to throw back at us (collectively).
Heavy Armor against Infantry on plains is a great recipe for unbalanced casualties
Yep, once over the river this is what we were hoping for.
I hope our industrious allies develop jet engines in our timeline as well so we can license them...
That would be nice: oil and fuel is something we have plenty of.
If only they didn't attack from the air, he could've held the province despite the odds
It had to be expected and the fighters need their repair time. I want them ready for the next phase of the offensive ...
I'll do some combined arms kung fu this time, let's hope this time we win easier than last time!
It worked!
Indeed. This would've been the overall comment I was thinking to make about this episode, but here it already is
The tide has finally turned!
I think it has, though a lot of fighting left.
Mostly correct
We'd use the Turkish name of the city Temeşvar but the rest, including the suffix and the vowel harmony of the suffix and the connective "y" towards the suffix is all correct. Good job!
Great! I wanted to keep Timisoara for aesthetic purposes, but thanks for the Turkish version.
We broke their back. Now it's time to keep focused and finish the work both in Operation Mayhem as UGNR and in the entire front as Comintern. I haven't yet seen the agenda and papers for the Cabinet Meeting yet, but my initial gut feeling is that if we keep going northeast and Romanians keep going northwest we'll meet somewhere in southeast Hungary bagging a lot of Axis divisions and getting in one step distance of kicking Hungary out of the war altogether.
Great episode as an author, and a great game played as a gamer. Kudos!
Thank you! The Cabinet papers are below.
We still have more Mayhem to throw at the bratwurst-munchers and their cronies. The inland strike for a larger pocket is one of the options, either now or soon. But there are some who also want to see the Sava cleared all the way to Beograd and a bit of a cordon cleared around that key city - which has withstood the might of the Axis for years now.
I was on a two-day team building trip in a secluded Dacha near Sochi. The usual occupants may have disappeared recently, but that's just a coïncidence. We were insulated from anything but the most life-threatening news to be able to fully focus on figuring out whether any of the high-level spooks present was a double agent, or a traitor, or had ever spoken about the Communist Party or Comrade Stalin in a less than flattering manner. None of us were found guilty by the others despite our best efforts to frame our comrades. All the exercise proves is that all of us are at the top of our craft. We can likely all beat a polygraph, and everyone blackmailed each-other with trumped-up, or possibly real, evidence. Near impossible to tell which is which without an army of spooks and months of investigative work, and even then it often goes horribly wrong as your army of spooks may be incompetent, and if they are competent, they cannot be trusted. A couple of months is more than enough time for a motivated and skilled opponent to build up lots of corroborating 'evidence'. Really just some relaxing fun amongst the survivors from the old crowd.
Just a little harmless fun among frenemies!
Anyway. Enough about my long weekend, let's get down to business. As I arrived in Ankara, I found the latest secret report titled simply: "Pandemonium"
It's one hell of a read, with many twists and turns, but the end result is clear. Turkey moved about 200km the front from the Sava to the Tisa, and is close to pocketing two German Divisions in the process. The Axis Air Forces tried their best to spoil the party, as did some pesky Hungarians as did a full Panzer-Division and many more. The Turkish army has shown again that it is quick on it's feet and when two of it's best Divisions find themselves cutoff from the front, there is little panic, only decisive action. The latitude given to Turkish Commanders is impressive, and proven to be well deserved time and again.
It was a bit of a wild ride and went pretty well, all things considered. Whether we bag those two German divisions or not, we've shattered their defence of the Sava and will have them on the back foot in that sector, while our allies' efforts elsewhere will keep the pressure on them, hopefully allowing us to keep driving.
In hindsight, this month was a perfect storm. German victories in Karelia and the Turkish agressive (some might say reckless) offensive drew Axis forces away from the Soviet Front, allowing the Red Army's tank Divisions to surge and reach the Baltic coast a lot faster than many had predicted. @Wraith11B already gave his count of troops in the pocket, and as he was using the maps provided by my people, we have arrived at a similar number of Axis troops in the newly formed pocket. At least 20-25 Divisions can now only be supplied by sea, and more Red Army forces are pushing further north to cut the pocket in two more easily digested pieces.
It will be a big test to see if the Red Army can keep the pocket shut tight and then slowly grind it down. Could be as big a thing as the DAGC in OTL.
It is possible Operation Mayhem will result in much fewer prisoners than initially hoped for, at least on Turkey's side, but despite what Pravda has been saying to the contrary, Turkey's brawn has facilitated our own breakthroughs and strengthened the spirit of the Red Army soldier. Neither Turkish Generals, nor Turkish soldiers participating in operation mayhem, could ever be described as 'soft-cocks'.
Mutual interest and assistance, I think. Neither could have achieved what they have without the other.
The Yakovlev design bureau is thrilled that the already legendary Turkish Air Force has purchased more licences for their top of the line fighter design. As many of the planes in question will be built in Yakovlev's own factories and sent to Turkey as Lend-Lease Aid, the factory workers are just as chuffed to bits. They know the planes they send to Turkey will be used in anger, as opposed to many of those sent to the VVS which find themselves patrolling empty skies as a disproportionate amount of Axis aeroplanes is deployed against Turkey. Postings to the UGNR area a hot commodity as maintenance technicians, Engineers, experienced pilots, and designers alike are vying for the chance to teach Turkish Air Force personnel all about the aeroplane, and for some time in the Mediterranean sun. The lucky ones may even find themselves near the Turkish front, embedded into actual fighting formations as advisers, press officers, or liaison officers.
It has certainly become a very active air theatre of late. And that's without the Hungarians too, who may come into play as we draw nearer to their home airfields. But hopefully the approach of the Soviet offensive to Lwow and progress in Romania will keep them distracted.
Some in the propaganda department are starting to get worried that the near mythical aura the Turkish Armed Forces are starting to have in the Soviet Union may well reduce their regard for the Soviet people's army. Currently the Turkish war in the Balkans is reported totally separately from the Soviet offensives on the Great Patriotic Front, but people will put two and two together and start thinking that the Red Army's recent success rests on the fact that Turkish aggressiveness has drawn the attention of our common enemy. People tend to like the underdog that succeeds despite the odds more than the lumbering giant that was caught unprepared and got wounded early-on. Some may even perceive the help of the underdog as essential for the later success of the giant. Of course, downplaying Turkey's achievements too much in the press risks straining the cosy relationship between the Soviet Union and the UGNR. That could be problematic in regards to the post-war order, at least for the Soviet Union. I wouldn't like to be a propagandist right now, they're between a rock and a hard place, all because Turkey is winning too much. And then there is Turkish success on the Eastern Front, which may prove to people that Turkey can also fight a two-front war, refuting arguments, however rational, that Turkey is focused on the Balkans while the Soviet Union has to fight on both sides.
The Politburo has nothing to fear from us <he he>. We will happily share the glory - and a big May/Timisoara Day is planned to complement the Cabinet meeting. The Soviet EFs under our command have also played an important supporting role as the offensive has progressed: full credit will be paid to them.
Glad to see Turkey's industry improving it's productivity. I'm curious to know exactly how much extra production capacity this has created. Supply transportation is also a great improvement as Turkey ventures ever further from it's domestic Military-Industrial complex.
Hmm, I'd have to work that out and it's not my forte. The current base is 51 IC and tech provides +12.5%, so i suppose the last increase added 2.5% of 51 = maybe about 1.8 IC? Assuming it doesn't apply to LL, for example.
So, the British continue their Mediterranean First strategy. It's not a terrible strategy. With the Italians likely lacking both reserves and transport ships, they could definitively kick the Axis out of North Africa, and then ship all those troops to India to push back the Japanese, or maybe to Malaysia, if Singapore still hasn't fallen. The question is whether they will stick with it or move some troops to the Far East prematurely. Enough to the Italians to claw back some of their losses in Libya, but not enough to stymie the combined Jap-Thai force in India. For Turkey's sake, I do hope they mess it up somehow, leaving Turkey with the opportunity to take some more prime Mediterranean real estate. Sadly, unless the Italians break out of Bengasi (unllikely), they take back Misurata (unlikely), they land troops behind British lines (neigh-impossible), or the British stop short of Tripoli (somewhat likely), the Axis is done in Lybia.
The strategic priorities for Europe (for the Comintern in general and so for Turkey regarding its slice of that) will be discussed and the first general thoughts of the PM's Office and the Supreme HQ are provided in the Cabinet Papers below.
For my 1st of May weekend celebrations, see above. Romanians also took part in celebrations about Timsoara, but the Soviet Public mostly did the official labour day parades, as the propaganda ministry didn't think another reminder of Turkish Military prowess was appropriate considering the circumstances. Maybe next year. That said, I did toast to Timsaora, only to be called a Turkish double agent by my peers. All in good (potentially lethal) fun, of course.
No 'soft' men or women there, I'm sure.
All in good fun, until someone painfully loses an extremity to bolt-cutters.
This is definitely the beginning of the end on the European front, and it will be in our favour.
To Timsaora,
SkitalecS3
To Timisoara! And Budapest, Berlin and Rome!
Yeah see this was what I was worried about. Building an almighty spystate backfires on itself because with all the internal plotting and bickering, nothing ever gets don emperor and everyone not involved lives in fear of being placed under the spotlight.
That seems an accurate summary of the RL effects of the main protagonists in this sad (but glorious) tale!
I think they worry too much. Much easier to build pride in ones own armed forces than get citizens to respect and admire some other country's. Turkey needs to be seen as the People's friend and ally after the war, in order to ease negotiations and the new world order. After all, Stalin is going to be entrusting a gigantic border with Russia to turkey, a Saudi well as all of the Middle East and probably the Mediterranean as well.
Enough pride and glory to go around.
A cobbled together military line exists from Yugoslavia to Persia, but a proper fairly smooth transport network will probably take a solid decade of post war effort. Then again, we should also take the time to link the Republics to Russia as well for obvious reasons.
There's already been a bit, within Turkey's fairly major industrial and technical constraints. Remember, I had to do research just to build new province transport infrastructure when I started in 1936!
Makes sense thinking post war. No one is looking to take their far east empire away but turkey is alsmot certain to be running the Middle East after the war (which aside from oil exports, the British couldn't care less about) and much more threateningly to the British, has desires on North Africa. Whilst the uk doesn't really need much in North Africa aside from some ports for power projection in the med, the suez is their vital lifeline to the dominions and the empire. Plus losing any of their North African holdings would, I'm sure, be feared by them to be a dominoes affect leading to the loss of Cyprus, Egypt and eventually suez, especially if France becomes part of the Comintern. I suspect Egypt will stay with the empire after the war, but a suez crisis will defiantly emerge and be a big deal a few years down the line.
I think Britain's problem will be trade and commerce given the blocs forming. Though one can't see the US adherence to the Comintern lasting too long 'post-game'.
Or invade Italy or southern France.
One can always be surprised.
As I said, I doubt we'll get much from them until way after the war ends, with hopefully a suez British crisis leading to the kingdom withdrawing from the eastern med slowly or entirely. Then we'd bag eygpt and Cyprus.
I think this is right.
Hmm. This strange paranoia of good allies being competent reeks of Stalin. We need to get him into a better mood and hopefully into his blindly loyal and optimistic mood regarding turkey. We are no threat to the soviets and surely would be better together than apart after all. All in this together.
Paranoia? In 1943 Stalinist USSR? I'm shocked!
Thanks for all the comments and support. The Cabinet Papers follow.
TOP SECRET
COMINTERN-EYES-ONLY
Cabinet Papers - 1 May 1943: The Strategic Direction of the War
From: the Office of the Prime Minister, the War Ministry and Supreme Headquarters
The National Security Cabinet Members will convene in Istanbul on the morning of 1 May 1943. The broad agenda is:
Item 1: The Strategic Aims of the War
Item 2: Procurement Priorities for the next year.
Item 1 - The Strategic Aims of the War
The table and maps below summarise the agreed strategic aims of the Comintern. It has been agreed that the primary aim is to achieve a New World Order by attaining twelve of these objectives wherever they might be gained. While achieving all fifteen might be considered a 'nice to have' that would lead to a Comintern domination of the new world order, this is not the aim of the war as waged. There needs to be an end to the bloodshed and suffering sooner rather than later.
Table 1: The agreed Comintern conditions for victory.
A. Only two of these are currently fully satisfied (green): both of them by Turkey and its membership of the Comintern. Another (Romania) would also be provided through Turkish control once the last required location in Romania is liberated (see the European map below).
B. Yellow represents objectives within immediate reach and that can be satisfied without any further recourse to new declarations of war or diplomatic persuasion.
C. Orange are those objectives in Europe that would be within reasonable reach in the event of a victory against the Axis in Europe but would require such additional action.
D. Those marked red are in the Far East, further beyond the Soviet Union's current reach (some further than others) and which Turkey would have significant difficulty in trying or directly helping the Soviets to secure.
All twelve desired conditions could be satisfied in Europe alone if both Finland and Spain were brought (voluntarily or by force) into the Comintern after the defeat of Germany. Of further interest:
A. The defeat of Italy or occupation of France, while desirable, are NOT specific agreed conditions for victory.
B. Nor is the occupation of the UK or any Mediterranean, Middle Eastern or Scandinavian territory (additional to Finland).
C. Technically, unless either Spain or Finland join the Allies in the interim, there is no absolute requirement to go to war with Britain to achieve victory, even if they were to succeed in liberating France and bringing it back into their Alliance.
In the Far East, 'Operation August Storm' would require our Soviet allies to conquer a large swathe of cities in the region. And currently, two of those cities (Changde and Chongqing) are held by neutral Nationalist China. Under current circumstances on the Eastern Front, achieving this condition would be very difficult and require a lot of time.
Tokyo would, even with active US assistance, be a difficult task, while Hong Kong would require a significant force projection by sea or access via Nationalist China.
Hence, while achieving one or two of these Eastern victory conditions would mean Spain and/or Finland may not need to be brought into the Comintern in Europe, attaining any of them is considered unlikely in the foreseeable future and may take years in the attempt.
Item 2 - Procurement Priorities
New equipment decisions revolve primarily around Air Force and Navy equipment. Within manpower restriction, Army units will receive a steady priority, though suggestions for any further training of 'niche' or specialist units will be considered. Various facility and infrastructure projects would absorb any excess discretionary industrial capacity not used for any of the above or maintaining supply, reinforcement and equipment updates.
Current Navy and Air Force holdings are below (with new units under construction marked).
The current full production queue is also attached, for your information.
All contributions are welcome and need not be constrained by the agenda, though should be relevant to it.
