When looked from a wider point of view, things are going greater than it seems! I'd like to see the German HQ when they received the photo! I'm expecting a light untergang moment there 
- 2
- 1
-
We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
Our salient has gone and punched out what, nearly 250km? That's excellent! Good on the Russians too for punching the Krauts back so far themselves, though clearly they need to be able to follow it up by re-cutting off Heeresgruppe Nord.
Also, which commander might have said, "Timisoara, I shall return!"? We need that officer to be nearby when the city inevitably returns to our control.
Also, which commander might have said, "Timisoara, I shall return!"? We need that officer to be nearby when the city inevitably returns to our control.
- 1
- 1
Funnily enough, it'll probably end up like turkey otl, a massive battle ground of competing interests from old colonial powers, the two new superpowers and local interests. Its going to be a huge mess, even if communists france manages to keep hold of Algeria somehow.
Best case scenario probably is full British withdrawal, followed by stalin and Turkey agreeing that north Africa really needs to be kept as clear of amercian satellites as possible for the sake of dominating the med sea. Thus Egypt and the former colonies along the coast are going to be pressurised both from old colobial masters britian and france but also the us, the turks and russia. I can see it going all sorts of ways but the best for us is probably going to be france and Turkey splitting a sphere of infleunce over several vassal/puppet states, with eypgt being especially close to turkey. This will be much easier if turkey and other republics annex the middle east and Arabia but I can see that area being even more of a trouble spot.
- 2
- 1
It is really useful to see how much has changed in (relatively speaking) just a few months.
- 2
- 1
Damn America's fleet is modern!
Any chance of closing that pocket between Romania and Hungary any time soon?
Any chance of closing that pocket between Romania and Hungary any time soon?
- 1
Looks like no major nation of the Allies or Comintern is taking it's espionage as seriously as Turkey does it's own... Except maybe the UK.
From what I could find online it looks like Project 72 was a 1920's Soviet plan to convert some, or all, of the Borodino-Class Battlecruisers into Armoured Carriers with a displacement in the 20.000-30.000 tonne range. (none of them even had a superstructure or turrets as their construction was interrupted in 1916 and the lead ship had been launched in late 1915). They actually started working (tentatively) on the conversion of the lead ship of the class, the Izmail, in 1925, but the project got shut down 8 Months in. The final hull of the 4 ship Borodino-class was scrapped in the early 1930s. I'm really baffled by Paradox's choice of which names to include, and at what level. A late 1920s Soviet Carrier conversion project that never came to fruition somehow is a CVL (IV), on the same level as the British Colossus Class. Meanwhile the Saipan-Class is only CVL (III), Independence-Class CVL (II) and Langley-Class, understandably CVL (I). None of the CVE classes is represented, despite the fact that the USN built 145 CVEs of various types right up until 1945.
It looks like the ATL Soviet Navy has been stripped of almost all of it's designers. The only improvements over the in-game 1936 starting techs are:
-1918 CA Armour instead of none on the (improved) Krasnyi Kavkaz Class
-Spotting Level 1 to increase surface detection for CL & DD
All of the 'current' US Ship classes are post-war, with the De Moines, Wocester, and Tang classes built in the late 1940s, and the Adams-class laid down in the late 1950's.
The United States Class is interesting as it was never built. It was to be a class of 5, 80.000 tonne + conventionally-powered super-carriers (a mere 7m shorter than Gerald R. Ford, in 1948) that could launch and recover planes capable of delivering early Nukes weighing 5 tonnes each . The first ship was laid down in april 1949 but the project was cancelled 5 days later. The cancellation came about due to budget cuts, and the fact that the Air Force's proposed long-range heavy bombers were cheaper as a delivery system. The fact that Paradox considers the United States-Class a 1942 design is laughable really. Of course, this problem isn't limited to the US. The UK Destroyers have the same issue with the County-Class Destroyers (the first one commissioned in 1962) featuring in every single game I've ever played. According to Paradox they're 1942-level ships, the preceding post-war Daring-Class (1949) is from 1940, and the Battle-Class (1944) is from 1938.
The B-26 is clearly superior to the Pe-2, so good call there.
That map really shows once again how well the Comintern has been doing those last months.
From what I could find online it looks like Project 72 was a 1920's Soviet plan to convert some, or all, of the Borodino-Class Battlecruisers into Armoured Carriers with a displacement in the 20.000-30.000 tonne range. (none of them even had a superstructure or turrets as their construction was interrupted in 1916 and the lead ship had been launched in late 1915). They actually started working (tentatively) on the conversion of the lead ship of the class, the Izmail, in 1925, but the project got shut down 8 Months in. The final hull of the 4 ship Borodino-class was scrapped in the early 1930s. I'm really baffled by Paradox's choice of which names to include, and at what level. A late 1920s Soviet Carrier conversion project that never came to fruition somehow is a CVL (IV), on the same level as the British Colossus Class. Meanwhile the Saipan-Class is only CVL (III), Independence-Class CVL (II) and Langley-Class, understandably CVL (I). None of the CVE classes is represented, despite the fact that the USN built 145 CVEs of various types right up until 1945.
It looks like the ATL Soviet Navy has been stripped of almost all of it's designers. The only improvements over the in-game 1936 starting techs are:
-1918 CA Armour instead of none on the (improved) Krasnyi Kavkaz Class
-Spotting Level 1 to increase surface detection for CL & DD
All of the 'current' US Ship classes are post-war, with the De Moines, Wocester, and Tang classes built in the late 1940s, and the Adams-class laid down in the late 1950's.
The United States Class is interesting as it was never built. It was to be a class of 5, 80.000 tonne + conventionally-powered super-carriers (a mere 7m shorter than Gerald R. Ford, in 1948) that could launch and recover planes capable of delivering early Nukes weighing 5 tonnes each . The first ship was laid down in april 1949 but the project was cancelled 5 days later. The cancellation came about due to budget cuts, and the fact that the Air Force's proposed long-range heavy bombers were cheaper as a delivery system. The fact that Paradox considers the United States-Class a 1942 design is laughable really. Of course, this problem isn't limited to the US. The UK Destroyers have the same issue with the County-Class Destroyers (the first one commissioned in 1962) featuring in every single game I've ever played. According to Paradox they're 1942-level ships, the preceding post-war Daring-Class (1949) is from 1940, and the Battle-Class (1944) is from 1938.
The B-26 is clearly superior to the Pe-2, so good call there.
That map really shows once again how well the Comintern has been doing those last months.
- 2
- 1
Paradox just generally across the board really screwed up the unit models. Ship models are the worst or at least most obvious offenders but you see similar nonsense with the tank and plane models in some countries. The problem seems to be that somehow whoever was in charge of the models at Paradox inexplicably assumed that players wouldn't keep their research up to date, either that or they wanted to make the player feel like keeping their research up to date was an extraordinary accomplishment and "reward" us with post-war models to emphasize how much better we were running our countries than OTL. Of course, in spite of Paradox's worst efforts even the AI nations are capable of "outpacing" OTL by this logic so regardless of their logic this is nothing short of an utter cock-up as we all expected.
- 1
- 1
- 1
Yes, all those US-shipclasses have the wrong date and wrong stats.
But it would be really challenging to give them correct stats. Even an early Charles F. Adams-destroyer had fully automatic radar guided 5-inch-guns, an ASROC-launcher for anti-submarine-rockets that could be fitted with nuclear warheads and a Tartar-SAM-launcher.
But it would be really challenging to give them correct stats. Even an early Charles F. Adams-destroyer had fully automatic radar guided 5-inch-guns, an ASROC-launcher for anti-submarine-rockets that could be fitted with nuclear warheads and a Tartar-SAM-launcher.
- 2
- 1
- 1
Just to let you know, next session played and I’m a good way through editing and compiling the screenshots. Because there’s still so much going on, I’ve gone back to playing and writing up one game week at a time again. Otherwise, by the time I get to the end of the month it is beginning to dim in the memory a little!
So, I’m hoping to have the next chapter out soon, but tomorrow is helping our son move house!
Hess in particular will be frantic, after his earlier boasting and disparagement of the UGNR. He should think about that plane to England ...When looked from a wider point of view, things are going greater than it seems! I'd like to see the German HQ when they received the photo! I'm expecting a light untergang moment there
When the episodes cover a relatively short period, it is useful to take a step back for perspective. I think it is the Milli Sef himself who will be interested in walking through the rubble in Timisoara for the cameras.
Guessing how long any post-war settlement may last will be an interesting debate. If we can win it, or course!
Yes, the Soviets have done pretty well, coming close to a genuine AI v AI breakthrough in the north last month, until the Germans scrambled a defence. And the Turkish offensive has been very pleasing, against some tough resistance.
Modern by the model classes, but not so modern by the actual yearly developments. The old Paradox research wobbles at work. Trying hard to close the current pocket and not losing sight of the potential larger one beyond it. Budapest is a tough nut to crack though - a real pity we couldn’t snatch it earlier.
It seems the myriad Allied minors are probably the only ones going big on espionage!
More paradox fast and loose research.
Yeah, they’re not much further advanced than the Turkish navy!
All strangely awry. We really just need to go off the year models, don’t we?
I’m looking forward to getting those babies. The Yak-4s may be better than Blenheims, but it’s not by that much.
In the West, at least. Which is what counts the most for now.
Agree. The models should be fun detail and flavour. Instead, it’s the year models that actually count. Why go to the effort then obviously mess it up?
Ah well, we’ll just live with it I guess. The gear you describe would seem like science fiction to the ATL Turkish Navy!
So, I’m hoping to have the next chapter out soon, but tomorrow is helping our son move house!
Last edited:
- 2
- 2
Chapter 203: An Anniversary Gift (1 to 7 June 1943)
Chapter 203: An Anniversary Gift (1 to 7 June 1943)
AuthAAR’s Note: As mentioned earlier, one game week/one episode this time, in order to maintain immediacy (and your AuthAAR’s precarious sanity)! I have largely split the daily combat descriptions into two parts each day – north and south – to aid with continuity. They are quite separate sectors operationally, so this seems to work quite well, I think.
Recap
Great strides had been made in Operation Mayhem and, more widely along the Patriotic Front during the last few months. Now, the Turks attempt to close off their largest encirclement yet by retaking Timisoara and trapping a considerable Axis force in the Zrenjanin Pocket, between there and Beograd. Budapest maintains its stubborn resistance as the Turks and their partners try to manoeuvre around it. After the bloody events in Ankara in recent days, Perse has been bailed up by a Turkish policeman as she tries to make her escape from Izmir …
But first, a late report from the British had arrived late on 31 May of an uprising by Japanese-funded Italian rebels in East Africa.
Comment: I missed this at the end of last month. At first glance I was wondering how the Italians had managed an amphibious landing, but all became clear when I focused in on this rebellion.
---xxx---
1 Jun 43 - Izmir
In Izmir, rather than helping prepare papers and posters commemorating the third anniversary of the commencement of the Great Liberation War (Turkey’s attack on Germany and the Soviet’s consequent entry into the war on 1 June 1940), Perse Fotheringay-Phipps had her hands in the air: a Turkish police officer apprehended her as she made her way to a smugglers’ ship, which was supposed to take her to American-occupied Rhodes.
“You’re nicked, me little lovely!” the policeman cried, very pleased with himself. He got his handcuffs ready – it had been a chance encounter while he was on a routine foot patrol. The bigwigs in Ankara would be well pleased with his diligence.
Thud. All went black for the Turk, whose good luck had turned to bad. Alas for him, his was a solo beat. Perse’s OSS escort had been lurking a little way behind, then emerged quietly from the shadows to cosh the now unfortunate policeman on the back of the head. Constable Plod was bound, gagged and hussled off into a nearby alleyway.
“Thank you, Alan!” said a grateful Perse, having lured the cop out into the open to allow ‘Mr Ladd’, her OSS escort, to deal with him quickly, but not fatally. They were all still ‘allies’, after all.
“We need to get moving, now you have been spotted and the alert will be out when he’s found, some time later this morning. We still need to make the run down the coast to Rhodes.”
They quickly hustled along and soon boarded the little trawler that would take them south.
Once aboard, 'Ladd' warned that they may be intercepted, whether by a routine patrol or some vessels sent specifically to find her.
“They won’t be taking me easily!" exclaimed a defiant Perse. "I’ll fight if I have to.”
“Well, you’ll need something heavy calibre for that. Try this out.” Perse was soon wielding a veritable elephant gun.
“Now, you’d better get out of sight. Let’s both change into slightly less suspicious clothing.”
The trip would take a few days, but they made it to Rhodes safely. By the end of the week, Ladd would have Perse on a US transport plane, heading south for Alexandria.
Top left: “Thank you, Alan!”. Top right: “You’ll need something heavy calibre.” Bottom: on the way to Alexandria with ‘Mr Ladd’ and crew.
---xxx---
1 Jun 43 – Back at the Front
At midnight a long-awaited advance in Turkish doctrine was celebrated. Post-attack reorganisation would be reduced by another 24 hours. The team was kept on the task – which was predicted to take until May 1944!
Northern Sector
The fourth year of the Great Liberation War began with a major Axis attack at midnight. This time, it was the enemy trying to retake Hungarian territory. The veteran, IS-2 armed 15 Inf Div had been reinforced in Székesfehérvár by the 4th US Marines in anticipation of just such an attack. But in the face of an attack from four directions, even that precaution now seemed insufficient.
The Comintern men hunkered down for a savage fight. Acting Lieutenant Metin Sadik and his platoon were in for one of the toughest fights the division had seen yet in six years of off-and-on combat, from the Bulgarian Campaign onwards. The battle would last for more than five days. Gataly responded with a brilliant counter-attack and used his heavy armour to try to minimise casualties, but the marines had a harder time of it.
A spoiling attack on Budapest was investigated at that time, but the two main candidates were reorganising from past combat damage or attacks.
But with the situation gradually worsening in Székesfehérvár as the day wore on, the under-strength 3 Mot Div was sent into attack Budapest at midday in a somewhat desperate gesture. And they found the Hungarian capital being garrisoned in part by the SS Verf Division! But a more detailed report [I just had to quickly tag for that to see what was going on, having just captured the bastards last month] showed it was a newly re-raised formation, with only one half-strength SS brigade and no commander.
Southern Sector
Down south, two battles remained in progress as 1 June began: a spoiling attack on Resita [-11%], which was interfering with the Turkish thrust on Lugoj, the battle for which also continued with heavy and difficult fighting [7%] by MAJGEN Tunaboylu’s 4 Inf Div against the medium armour of 12 Pz Div. Lugoj was the crucial corridor keeping the Zrenjanin Pocket open for the Axis.
As Turkish forces continued to advance on Timisoara, at 6am a German infantry division of unknown strength was seen approaching it from the north-west. The race was on to gain possession!
Air Damage Report. The Italians supported their attack on Székesfehérvár with air raids that continued into the next day, while the Turks continued round-the-clock ground attacks on Lugoj. A single Italian raid on Resita killed 161 Turkish defenders.
2 Jun 43
Southern Sector
In the south, as Lugoj hung on and the Turks advanced on Timisoara, to its immediate north the fresh 13 Inf Div arrived in Kanjiza early on the morning or 2 June, pushing on to attack Sânnicolau Mare while their comrades reorganised. Bözer’s men won the ensuing skirmish quickly, though the German division they encountered was more intent on getting to Timisoara than standing and fighting. Inönü’s intent was to extend the pincer north of Timisoara, either flanking it if necessary or extending the envelopment further.
Good news came a few hours later with the enemy spoiling attack on Resita finally shrugged off – at great expense to the Italian (EF) division that had conducted it. In Mehadia, 9 Inf Div was now also making its way forward to reinforce the drive to close off the pocket at Lugoj.
Midday brought the advancing Turks into contact with the German 6th Infanterie, which had won the race to Timisoara and would now have to be blasted out by force, as troops from 4 Inf Div and Turkish planes still hammered away at Lugoj.
An hour later, 5 Inf Div liberated Vrsac and pushed straight on to Jasa Tomic, hoping to prevent more Axis troops from escaping the pocket. They would brush away initial enemy resistance there in a light skirmish (10 v 8 enemy killed) between 2 and 5pm.
But the difficult attack on 12 Pz Div in Lugoj had taken its toll: with troops freed from the defence of Resita and more on the way, 4 Inf Div’s attack was halted at 1pm. They had lost 550 men in the attempt since 31 May, 12 Pz Div (now reduced to about 3,000 men in strength but still well-organised) had lost just 121.
18 Inf Div in Resita, under MAJGEN Öktem and still in good order after defeating the Italian spoiling attack, was the next to try their hand against Lugoj, advancing to contact at 8pm for a night attack. Turkish air raids had never stopped. Their assault got off to a good start [37%], though 12 Pz Div remained almost completely organised, despite having only about a third of their establishment strength.
Northern Sector
That morning, a new front was opened up when weakness was detected in the enemy line between the Adriatic and Zagreb. It looked like the Axis forces now attacking Székesfehérvár may have been stripped in part from there. Although the Turkish line had been thinned a bit too for Operation Mayhem, it was now assessed as stronger than the enemy’s locally. Zagreb itself had been vacated, so the 1st US Mar Div was ordered to seize it if they could. Meanwhile, at 10am Delnice erupted in a hail of artillery and small arms fire as all three Turkish mountain divisions launched a coordinated attack on the Germans defending it. Despite a skilful counter-attack by the enemy commander von Thoma, he was greatly outnumbered and the attack began making rapid progress.
To the east, 1 Mot Div arrived in Monor unencumbered by post-attack reorganisation and moved to join the spoiling attack on Budapest that had carried alone by 3 Mot Div (-) until that point. Kanatli took charge of the reckless assault, but his troops would take time to reinforce the battle. Conditions remained tough in Székesfehérvár [-66% progress]; the defence was now in the ‘Danger Zone, as MAJ ‘Wraith’ Loggins, attached to the 4th US Marines, reported.
After a sharp fight which saw the enemy take very heavy losses, the mountaineers won in Delnice that night. 2 and 3 Mtn Divs were held in place, while 1 Mtn continued the advance, with the raw 19 Inf Div (the one with the ‘spare’ marine brigade attached) ordered to join their advance to secure it.
Air Damage Report. The Italian raids on Székesfehérvár finished that afternoon after killing 419 defenders since they started the day before. Two strikes on Dunaújváros killed 144 of the Turks attacking Budapest, while Otocac (1 Mtn and 19 Inf Divs) was hit twice for 306 casualties during the attack on Delnice.
3 Jun 43
Southern Sector
Victory in Timisoara was celebrated at midnight, with the Germans driven off after a twelve hour fight (Turkish 96 v 209 German casualties). On paper, this was two divisions against one, but in terms of troop numbers, 22,000 Turks had taken on 4,800 Germans.
Next was a concerted cross-river attack on Ada, led by Yamut’s reinforced HQ 3rd Corps. Despite a German ambush, the enemy were put to flight after a short battle – heading deeper into the pocket to the mountains of Zrenjanin!
Then, in the form of a present in honour of the anniversary for the Great Liberation War’s start three years before, Timisoara was liberated for the Romanians at midday by Noyan’s 10 Inf Div. The press cameras were invited for a photo opportunity at 1st Army HQ that day, but the city itself was still too dangerous for them when Inönü made a brief visit later that evening. And the grim fight for Lugoj continued.
Meanwhile, heavy enemy air raids continued in both sectors, but Turkish fighter strength in both Split and Beograd was still too low from their ferocious encounters the month before to risk any interception.
To the north-west of Sânnicolau Mare, the Hungarian province of Hódmezövásrhely had now been vacated. The still-recovering 11 Inf Div (around 50% organisation), reinforced by LTGEN Cakmak’s ‘hardened’ HQ 1st Corps, began a river crossing to take it at 3pm. 13 Inf Div arrived in Sânnicolau Mare three hours later, pushing on straight away north-east towards Arad. It also allowed the reorganising divisions in Kanjiza to begin moving up into what was now friendly territory, as 1st Corps and 11 Inf Div attempted to secure their left flank.
As 13 Inf Div made contact with the enemy in Arad at 8pm, they found only four HQs there, who offered no resistance and kept retreating north.
Northern Sector
As fighting in Székesfehérvár intensified during the day, it was enough to ‘cook’ the 4th US Marines, who routed south at 5pm. 15 Inf Div held out, using their heavy armour, entrenchments, terrain and (though on the Budapest flank only) a river obstacle to try to counter the enemy envelopment and inflict heavy casualties on the attackers. Time was needed to prepare a fall-back defence in Szekszárd should they not be able to hold the building pressure.
In better news for the US Marines, the 1st ‘Old Breed’ US Marine Division retook the long-occupied Croatian GNR capital of Zagreb unopposed at 7pm. It was lucky for any potential collaborators there it was Americans and not Turkish troops who liberated the city, and without fighting.
The respite did not last long, with an enemy attack hitting Zagreb at 9pm – German light armour and Hungarian infantry launching a serious blitzing attack [-60% progress]. This prompted an immediate and reckless spoiling attack on Cakovec by Orbay’s veteran 1 Inf Div (with IS-1s as their infantry support tanks) and the 6th US Mar Div. The Axis soon stopped their attack on Zagreb (US 18 v nine Axis dead) to concentrate on defending Cakovec, where the Comintern forces persisted with their attack.
Air Damage Report. Turkey’s aerial pounding of Lugoj went on, while three Italian raids on Senta killed 505 defenders and raids on Monor (to hinder the spoiling attack on Budapest) started that would last until 6 June.
4 Jun 43
The Turkish morning papers naturally led with the momentous news of Timisoara’s liberation.
Northern Sector
By 1am, with the Axis concentrating on the defence, the progress of the attack on Cakovec slowed somewhat [52%], but it was pressed on with, to help secure Zagreb’s right flank.
1 Mtn Div – ‘Muzir’s Mountaineers’ – marched into Delnice at 10am and soon repelled an Italian probe from the south-west (one Turkish v 11 Italian casualties). They dug in and waited for 19 Inf Div to join them. And the persistence in Cakovec paid off too, with victory declared at 3pm (Comintern 202 v 453 Axis killed).
19 Inf Div arrived in Delnice at 10pm, but being fresh, rather than staying they pushed north against Novo Mestro to see if they could create a real break in the Axis line. The fighting in Székesfehérvár and Budapest went on unabated all day.
Southern Sector
The day began with HQ 1st Corps and 6 Inf Div encountering the recently arrived German 17th Infanterie in Hódmezövásrhely at midnight. The Germans were near full strength and fully organised, while the Turks were attacking across a river, with 6 Inf Div only at around half organisation. This would be no easy fight [29% progress at the start], but Cakmak insisted on maintaining the attack.
At the same time, 14 Inf Div joined the 10th in Timisoara – but unlike them, were now fully reorganised for offensive operations, which they started by advancing on Lugoj from the north-west. This greatly increased the notional progress of the attack, but would be of little practical use unless they could reinforce. Further south, an SS division was spotted heading towards Ada from Zrenjanin to contest the Comintern advance.
Further north in Arad, 13 Inf Div brushed away another enemy division that had apparently been retreating from Timisoara after another quick skirmish between 2 and 3am (Turkish 13 v 26 Italian casualties), barely delaying their advance.
Then at 9am, the redoutable Wehib Pasha and his 1 Armd Div finished their relocation from the Adriatic sector, arriving in Kanjiza and striking the stubbornly resisting 17 Inf Div in Hódmezövásrhely from the south; importantly it was from the Germans’ side of the river, in open country.
Down in the pocket, the IS-2 equipped 5 Inf Div ran into an Italian motorised division (the 3rd) in Jasa Tomic at midday, putting in a quick attack. But the Italians did not immediately buckle and would resist for the rest of the day.
13 Inf Div next ran into the badly damaged German 25th Infanterie in Arad at 6pm, who would resist until until 1am the next morning before continuing their retreat to the north: 41 Turkish troops were lost, as were 78 Germans.
The SS Division heading to Ada got there just before the Turks could secure it: it turned out to be the fresh SS Totenkopf Division. Even though Yamut’s well-executed shock attack negated MAJGEN Hammer’s attempt to delay, the rest of the factors were stacked against the attackers. With Panavo now unoccupied, Turkish troops began crossing the Danube to take it. And short time later (at midnight), 5 Inf Div had won their latest battle for Jasa Tomic (42 Turkish v 106 Italian casualties).
British Reporting
A surprise report came through that morning of a British raid (it was hardly large enough to be termed an invasion) in northern Germany! One of the raiding divisions had struck inland after taking Bremen and was heading towards an undefended Hamburg. How long this raid could feasibly last before ending in tears was uncertain, but it made for an entertaining distraction.
The British also reported that Singapore still held, while the situation in eastern India had at least not got any worse in the last three days.
Air Damage Report. Lugoj remained under continual Turkish attack and would until the end of the week. The Italian raids on Monor continued,while single strikes were made on the US Marines in Zagreb (44 dead), 15 Inf Div in Székesfehérvár (41 dead) and Dunaújváros (86 dead).
5 Jun 43
Southern Sector
Another enemy attack on Timisoara by the under-strength German 6th Infanterie from the north-east (Lipova) was fought off between 1am and 7am, with 30 Turkish troops lost for 195 German attackers. As that attack was beaten, 5 Inf Div pulled into Jasa Tomic: they faced another 90 hours of post-attack reorganisation before they could advance again. But the pocket was being squeezed into a smaller and smaller space and its neck was narrowing.
At 9am, 9 Inf Div arrived in Resita and they too added their efforts to the attack on Lugoj: maybe one of the two fresh divisions could reinforce before the 4th wore out against the resolutely stubborn German 12 Pz Div? But the reinforcement chances remained low [0.3% for 14 Inf Div and 0.5% for 9 Inf Div]. 18 Inf Div was now running low on organisation, while 12 Pz Div had plenty of organisation but very little strength.
North of the pocket, 2 Armd Div had made it into Sânnicolau Mare that afternoon and – better yet – the quick-moving division had finished its post-attack reorg and so pushed straight on towards Arad, following 13 Inf Div which had still not arrived there yet.
There was another skirmish in Arad at 9pm, this time 2 Armd joining 13 Inf Div to send the 6th Infanterie (pulling back from Lipova after its failed attack on Timisoara) on its way (3 Turkish v 20 German dead).
Then the Italian Comando Superiore infantry division was the next to try its luck on Timisoara, attacking from Lipova at 10pm – the fighting would continue well into the following morning.
Northern Sector
5 June saw the action hot up again in the north, with a flurry of activity. At 1am, 1 Mot Div finally reinforced the spoiling attack on Budapest, but the German SS and Fallschirmjäger troops there, commanded by Alfred Jodl (just a divisional commander here) showed no sign of weakening [2% progress].
By then, 2 Mot Div was in Monor and ready to attack, but they did not waste their efforts on a frontal assault on the Hungarian capital. Instead, they struck north to attack Hatvan, in the hope of eventually outflanking it from that direction. But even as that (somewhat risky) plan went ahead, it was decided 15 Inf Div had done enough to delay and degrade the attack on Székesfehérvár. At 5am, they were withdrawn after a relentless five day battle. Casualties were heavy on both sides, but the Axis had lost almost 1,000 more troops than the Comintern defenders as 15 Gataly’s men pulled back to Szekszárd in a controlled withdrawal. The spoiling attack on Budapest was also discontinued.
The evening brought the end of 4 US Mar Div’s retreat to Szekszárd at 4pm, where they remained in poor shape, trying to reorganise as they dug in. But they were joined three hours later by 156 SD, who would anchor the defence against a possible second wave assault by the Axis after Székesfehérvár was occupied. 3 Cav Div was sent up to Monor in case they were needed for exploitation or to guard against enemy counter-attack while 2 Mot Div pushed on against Hatvan.
As night fell, 6 US Mar Div arrived at 8pm to occupy Cakovec, using their engineer brigade to help digging in as they waited for 1 Inf Div to join them. But there was no time to prepare, with German panzers launching a breakthrough attack from Nagyatád straight after they arrived. The Turks responded by sending in a spoiling attack on Nagyatád, while despatching 1 Mar Div from Kaposvar to see if they could cut 8 Pz Div off by slipping into the now unoccupied Nagykanizsa.
Air Damage Report. The Italians kept up the raids on Monor (begun on 3 June) and started a new mission on Ruma, which was hit with three heavy raids that day and more the following morning. Lugoj remained under constant Turkish attack as well.
6 Jun 43
Northern Sector
8 Pz Div soon broke off its attack on Cakovec (at midnight, with nine American and three German casualties), with the spoiling attack on Nagyatád simultaneously halted (seven Comintern, 15 German casualties).
Székesfehérvár was reoccupied by the Hungarians at 10am, while at the same time 2 Mot Div won their battle for Hatvan (due east of Budapest) in convincing fashion (78 Turkish v 706 Hungarian casualties) and kept advancing to see if they could secure this exposed salient. 3 Cav Div made it to Monor at 4pm and was sent up to Hatvan as well, doubling down on the stiletto thrust.
The ‘leaderless’ rookies of 19 Inf Div ran into the seasoned but under-strength and partly disorganised 93rd Infanterie in Novo Mesto at 3pm, their initial assaulted negated by von Thoma’s expert counter-attack. Still, they outnumbered the Germans (who had only 2,450 effective troops) by around five-to-one [84% progress] so kept the attack going. The battle would still be going as the first week of June ended.
Then at 7pm, the German 45th Infanterie (now in Budapest) tried an unwise probe south on Dunaújváros, which was fought off easily by 3 Mot Div (-) and the recently arrived 12 SD (three Comintern v 34 German casualties).
Southern Sector
This day, the focus of action swung back to the south and the Zrenjanin Pocket, with fast-moving developments following one after another. First, the three pronged attack on Ada was halted at 8am, with the heavy air strikes on Ruma and the difficult river crossing taking their toll. 411 Comintern troops and only 238 of the SS Totenkopf fanatics were lost in the ground fighting alone.
An hour later, the Italian attack on Timisoara also failed, with 52 defenders killed, while the Italians left 355 KIA in the city’s outskirts as they withdrew. But neither of the fresh Turkish divisions had yet been able to reinforce the attack on Lugoj, which was now failing. 18 Inf Div’s organisation almost completely gone by 10am.
But the biggest developments of the afternoon came to the north of the pocket. At 2pm, 13 Inf Div finally grabbed Arad, with less than a day of reorg required before they could attack again and 2 Armd div on the way. An hour later the intervention of 1 Armd Div brought the tough battle for Hódmezövásrhely to a successful conclusion.
But maybe the biggest news was that the Romanians had just taken Caransebes, north-east of Resita, further narrowing the neck of the Zrenjanin Pocket, with further advances on Deva (unoccupied) and perhaps even Faget a possibility.
Not so good was the news from Lugoj: the pocket remained unclosed after 18 Inf Div broke off their attack in complete disorganisation and after suffering heavy casualties. Their comrades had never been able to reinforce: 10 Inf Div in Timisoara and 4 Inf Div in Resita were the next available for an attack, but that would have to wait some hours yet. Instead, 3 Inf Div in Senta launched a mosy likely forlorn distracting attack on Kikinda, trying to delay the escape of units from the pocket through its still open neck in Lugoj.
The Kikinda probe ran into three German divisions that were at near full strength and organisation plus a couple of HQs: 11,000 Turkish troops were up against 23,200 enemy [only 7% progress].
2 Armd joined 13 Inf Div in Arad at 9pm, but they had another 47 hours of reorganisation ahead of them after the earlier encounter battle. At least this was a day less than it would have been in May, thanks to the new doctrine.
Then came the most stunning news of the day: the Soviets had suddenly seized Faget! The pocket was closed off – by Turkey’s trusty allies. Even though Lugoj had never been taken, the Axis troops were still trapped. This triggered a desperate attack by 12 Pz Div on Timisoara, but Noyan sought to delay their attempted breakout. And reports stated that the Germans seemed to be down to only around 1,300 men, even though the organisation of this highly resilient kampfgruppe remained as strong as ever.
The SS Totenkopf also attacked Senta from Ada. With this spoiling attack and the pocket sealed, 3 Inf Div soon halted their forlorn attack on Kikinda (151 Turkish v 44 German casualties). Two hours later, the SS stopped their attack, after killing 21 Turks for SS losses of 12 men.
With this flurry of activity, the Turkish command now hoped to wait until Axis supply failed in the Zrenjanin Pocket, while they extended their new thrust to the north of Timisoara via Arad.It was estimated around 63,000 Axis troops (mainly German, with some Hungarian and Italian formations) were now trapped, with three HQs, plus five infantry, two motorised, one medium panzer and one SS division (the Totenkopf) cut off. None were out of supply yet, but Inönü hoped that would change in coming days.
Air Damage Report. The Italian raids on Monor finally finished, with 1,324 Comintern troops killed there over four days. Two days of Italian strikes on Ruma also ended, with another 897 men lost there. Szeged (from where the main Turkish attack on Hódmezövásrhely had been launched) had seen 189 men killed in two raids. Turkish strikes on Lugoj continued without pause, now trying to hinder 12 Pz Div’s attack on Timisoara and ensure other Axis units there were kept weak, to deter them from breaking out.
7 Jun 43
Southern Sector
Turkish and Soviet troops greet each other on the boundary between Timisoara and Faget on the morning of 7 June 1943, after the Soviets had secured the latter with 308 SD the night before.
Ever more desperate to break out of the pocket, the (almost full strength) 75th Infanterie in Kikinda joined the attack on Timisoara at midnight, but the strong defence of the city looked like it should be able to hold – for now, anyway [-15% progress]. Otherwise, the Turks were happy enough to see the ring of steel around the trapped enemy divisions kept secure and for the enemy to become starved of supplies before the operation to eliminate them began.
But the pressure intensified at midday when the 2nd Motorised Infanterie joined in the breakout attempt. A careful eye would be kept on developments and this battle went on for the rest of the day. One option, if required, would be to have the powerful 5 Inf Div attack Kikinda from Jasa Tomic. But they were still in the post-attack reorganisation phase, as was 3 Inf Div in Senta.
As a further precaution, at 1pm the recovering and reorganising 4 Inf Div was sent from Resita up to Faget to ensure it was well defended – especially as 308 SD was under direct Soviet command and might be separately tasked at some point. Though the Romanian capture of Deva further isolated the trapped Axis troops.
Northern Sector
As fight for the Zrenjanin Pocket fell into something of a routine, the Zagreb-Budapest sector remained active throughout 7 June. MAJGEN W.H. Walker’s 6 US Mar Div easily brushed off an Italian probe on Cakovec between 1 and 3 pm (nine US v 12 Italian casualties). This coincided with a more serious attack by 2 Pz Div on Zagreb, while fighting continued in Novo Mesto.
8 Pz Div in Nagyatád, apparently now aware they were at risk of being cut off, had begun retreating north, while 1 Inf Div still made for Cakovec.
At 4am, 2 Mot Div secured Hatvan, quickly repulsing a probe by the German Leichte Division (two Turk v 18 German casualties). It was at this point that it was fully appreciated that [Paradoxically] no matter which side of the river Budapest was attacked from – even if from all at once – the troops defending it would have the advantage of a river defence! This realisation caused some consternation at HQ 1st Army when the recon report was received: it was going to make Budapest an even harder nut to crack!
15 Inf Div joined the other defenders of Szekszárd at 11am, having lost 10% of its strength in the recent fighting [and with org down to 12.5]: battered, but still able to fight if needed - for a while.
1 Inf Div arrived in Cakovec at 2pm, to see the German attack on nearby Zagreb beginning to gain momentum [-40% progress]. But they still had another 31 hours of reorganisation to go through before they could attack again.
The final movement for the day was 3 Cav Div joining 2 Mot in Hatvan at 4pm. But the small salient was exposed and the Turks were not yet ready for another attack on Budapest. Next moves would have to be carefully chosen.
As the first week of June ended, 6 US Mar Div was beginning to fade in Zagreb [-52% progress] and looked like it would need rescuing; 19 Inf Div still pounded away at Novo Mesto [64%]. In the south Timisoara still held [-22%] and the pocket was contained.
Air Damage Report. A full week of four Turkish air raids per day on Lugoj had killed a total of 1,745 enemy, mainly from the now brigade-sized 12 Pz Div. The only Italian raid that day was a one off ground attack on Delnice late in the day, killing 183 defenders.
Weekly SITREPS
The wider Patriotic Front was mainly a story of Comintern progress, with the Soviets inching forward to try for their own grand encirclement in the north.
Operation Mayhem had continued to see high operational tempo, concentrated around Zagreb in the west, Budapest in the north and around Timisoara in the south, including the closing of the Zrenjanin Pocket on 6 June. The Comintern had lost 9,950 men in first week of June: 5,651 to ground combat and another 4,299 to air attacks. The Axis lost a total of 9,848 killed: 8,103 in the ground battles, plus the 1,745 troops killed in Lugoj by the composite 1 TAG (where its IL-2s had been important against the German panzer division).
In the Far East, the Soviets continued to inch forward, with sporadic partisan uprisings breaking out in the Japanese rear.
The British had lost no ground in India, nor made any in North Africa. But their raid in Germany was still going on, Hamburg having been taken but Bremen lost. However, unless they received reinforcements soon, their position seemed doomed.
Of note on the research front, the next much-awaited doctrinal advance – grand battle planning – was due to wide issue in just ten days. This would radically improve combat reinforcement chances – a major deficiency of Turkish procedures for years now. Another long-overdue advance – the adoption of combined arms warfare – would follow in September.
---xxx---
Alexandria
After eventually discovering the fate of ‘Romeo’ and ‘Lonely’ in Ankara and the revelation of Perse Fotheringay-Phipps as the legendary ‘Rose’ – MI6’s best placed agent in Turkey – David Callan was most interested to meet her in person. He had travelled across from his station in Baghdad to greet her on arrival.
David Callan – very interested to meet Perse.
The RAF Base at Aboukir, a short distance outside Alexandria, viewed from the air. Picture taken from Perse’s US transport plane as it approached on the afternoon of 7 June 1943.
---xxx---
Coming Up: The Zrenjanin Pocket is closed – but can the Comintern coordinate effectively to keep it closed, from breakouts and/or Axis relief missions? How difficult will it be to reduce it? Can another pocket be formed in combination with Comintern forces in Romania, further north? What of the Zagreb-Budapest sector? Can the former be held and the latter taken? Is it feasible for Turkey to maintain two continuing offensives while also containing and destroying the Pocket to the south?
In the Secret War, what will Perse do – and where will she be sent – once she arrives in Alexandria? What is the exact nature of Callan’s interest in her? Will there be any Turkish or Soviet response to these recent events? Particularly as while MacLean may be dead, he was not the only ‘mole’ the Soviets had in MI6. And what of S.I.T.H., Ögel and Kaya?
AuthAAR’s Note: As mentioned earlier, one game week/one episode this time, in order to maintain immediacy (and your AuthAAR’s precarious sanity)! I have largely split the daily combat descriptions into two parts each day – north and south – to aid with continuity. They are quite separate sectors operationally, so this seems to work quite well, I think.
---xxx---
Recap
Great strides had been made in Operation Mayhem and, more widely along the Patriotic Front during the last few months. Now, the Turks attempt to close off their largest encirclement yet by retaking Timisoara and trapping a considerable Axis force in the Zrenjanin Pocket, between there and Beograd. Budapest maintains its stubborn resistance as the Turks and their partners try to manoeuvre around it. After the bloody events in Ankara in recent days, Perse has been bailed up by a Turkish policeman as she tries to make her escape from Izmir …
But first, a late report from the British had arrived late on 31 May of an uprising by Japanese-funded Italian rebels in East Africa.
Comment: I missed this at the end of last month. At first glance I was wondering how the Italians had managed an amphibious landing, but all became clear when I focused in on this rebellion.
---xxx---
1 Jun 43 - Izmir
In Izmir, rather than helping prepare papers and posters commemorating the third anniversary of the commencement of the Great Liberation War (Turkey’s attack on Germany and the Soviet’s consequent entry into the war on 1 June 1940), Perse Fotheringay-Phipps had her hands in the air: a Turkish police officer apprehended her as she made her way to a smugglers’ ship, which was supposed to take her to American-occupied Rhodes.
“You’re nicked, me little lovely!” the policeman cried, very pleased with himself. He got his handcuffs ready – it had been a chance encounter while he was on a routine foot patrol. The bigwigs in Ankara would be well pleased with his diligence.
Thud. All went black for the Turk, whose good luck had turned to bad. Alas for him, his was a solo beat. Perse’s OSS escort had been lurking a little way behind, then emerged quietly from the shadows to cosh the now unfortunate policeman on the back of the head. Constable Plod was bound, gagged and hussled off into a nearby alleyway.
Those with eagle eyes and good memories may have noticed that Perse was ‘neutralised’ as a British spy back on 23 May, but was not captured, going on the run instead. In this latest incident, although it was near midnight, there was no associated additional neutralisation alert shown, nor any Midnight Express ticket issued. The tradecraft of Perse and her OSS partner was more than a match for some poor beat cop in Izmir.
“We need to get moving, now you have been spotted and the alert will be out when he’s found, some time later this morning. We still need to make the run down the coast to Rhodes.”
They quickly hustled along and soon boarded the little trawler that would take them south.
Once aboard, 'Ladd' warned that they may be intercepted, whether by a routine patrol or some vessels sent specifically to find her.
“They won’t be taking me easily!" exclaimed a defiant Perse. "I’ll fight if I have to.”
“Well, you’ll need something heavy calibre for that. Try this out.” Perse was soon wielding a veritable elephant gun.
“Now, you’d better get out of sight. Let’s both change into slightly less suspicious clothing.”
The trip would take a few days, but they made it to Rhodes safely. By the end of the week, Ladd would have Perse on a US transport plane, heading south for Alexandria.
Top left: “Thank you, Alan!”. Top right: “You’ll need something heavy calibre.” Bottom: on the way to Alexandria with ‘Mr Ladd’ and crew.
---xxx---
1 Jun 43 – Back at the Front
At midnight a long-awaited advance in Turkish doctrine was celebrated. Post-attack reorganisation would be reduced by another 24 hours. The team was kept on the task – which was predicted to take until May 1944!
The fourth year of the Great Liberation War began with a major Axis attack at midnight. This time, it was the enemy trying to retake Hungarian territory. The veteran, IS-2 armed 15 Inf Div had been reinforced in Székesfehérvár by the 4th US Marines in anticipation of just such an attack. But in the face of an attack from four directions, even that precaution now seemed insufficient.
The Comintern men hunkered down for a savage fight. Acting Lieutenant Metin Sadik and his platoon were in for one of the toughest fights the division had seen yet in six years of off-and-on combat, from the Bulgarian Campaign onwards. The battle would last for more than five days. Gataly responded with a brilliant counter-attack and used his heavy armour to try to minimise casualties, but the marines had a harder time of it.
But with the situation gradually worsening in Székesfehérvár as the day wore on, the under-strength 3 Mot Div was sent into attack Budapest at midday in a somewhat desperate gesture. And they found the Hungarian capital being garrisoned in part by the SS Verf Division! But a more detailed report [I just had to quickly tag for that to see what was going on, having just captured the bastards last month] showed it was a newly re-raised formation, with only one half-strength SS brigade and no commander.
Down south, two battles remained in progress as 1 June began: a spoiling attack on Resita [-11%], which was interfering with the Turkish thrust on Lugoj, the battle for which also continued with heavy and difficult fighting [7%] by MAJGEN Tunaboylu’s 4 Inf Div against the medium armour of 12 Pz Div. Lugoj was the crucial corridor keeping the Zrenjanin Pocket open for the Axis.
As Turkish forces continued to advance on Timisoara, at 6am a German infantry division of unknown strength was seen approaching it from the north-west. The race was on to gain possession!
Air Damage Report. The Italians supported their attack on Székesfehérvár with air raids that continued into the next day, while the Turks continued round-the-clock ground attacks on Lugoj. A single Italian raid on Resita killed 161 Turkish defenders.
---xxx---
2 Jun 43
Southern Sector
In the south, as Lugoj hung on and the Turks advanced on Timisoara, to its immediate north the fresh 13 Inf Div arrived in Kanjiza early on the morning or 2 June, pushing on to attack Sânnicolau Mare while their comrades reorganised. Bözer’s men won the ensuing skirmish quickly, though the German division they encountered was more intent on getting to Timisoara than standing and fighting. Inönü’s intent was to extend the pincer north of Timisoara, either flanking it if necessary or extending the envelopment further.
But the difficult attack on 12 Pz Div in Lugoj had taken its toll: with troops freed from the defence of Resita and more on the way, 4 Inf Div’s attack was halted at 1pm. They had lost 550 men in the attempt since 31 May, 12 Pz Div (now reduced to about 3,000 men in strength but still well-organised) had lost just 121.
18 Inf Div in Resita, under MAJGEN Öktem and still in good order after defeating the Italian spoiling attack, was the next to try their hand against Lugoj, advancing to contact at 8pm for a night attack. Turkish air raids had never stopped. Their assault got off to a good start [37%], though 12 Pz Div remained almost completely organised, despite having only about a third of their establishment strength.
Northern Sector
That morning, a new front was opened up when weakness was detected in the enemy line between the Adriatic and Zagreb. It looked like the Axis forces now attacking Székesfehérvár may have been stripped in part from there. Although the Turkish line had been thinned a bit too for Operation Mayhem, it was now assessed as stronger than the enemy’s locally. Zagreb itself had been vacated, so the 1st US Mar Div was ordered to seize it if they could. Meanwhile, at 10am Delnice erupted in a hail of artillery and small arms fire as all three Turkish mountain divisions launched a coordinated attack on the Germans defending it. Despite a skilful counter-attack by the enemy commander von Thoma, he was greatly outnumbered and the attack began making rapid progress.
After a sharp fight which saw the enemy take very heavy losses, the mountaineers won in Delnice that night. 2 and 3 Mtn Divs were held in place, while 1 Mtn continued the advance, with the raw 19 Inf Div (the one with the ‘spare’ marine brigade attached) ordered to join their advance to secure it.
---xxx---
3 Jun 43
Southern Sector
Victory in Timisoara was celebrated at midnight, with the Germans driven off after a twelve hour fight (Turkish 96 v 209 German casualties). On paper, this was two divisions against one, but in terms of troop numbers, 22,000 Turks had taken on 4,800 Germans.
Next was a concerted cross-river attack on Ada, led by Yamut’s reinforced HQ 3rd Corps. Despite a German ambush, the enemy were put to flight after a short battle – heading deeper into the pocket to the mountains of Zrenjanin!
To the north-west of Sânnicolau Mare, the Hungarian province of Hódmezövásrhely had now been vacated. The still-recovering 11 Inf Div (around 50% organisation), reinforced by LTGEN Cakmak’s ‘hardened’ HQ 1st Corps, began a river crossing to take it at 3pm. 13 Inf Div arrived in Sânnicolau Mare three hours later, pushing on straight away north-east towards Arad. It also allowed the reorganising divisions in Kanjiza to begin moving up into what was now friendly territory, as 1st Corps and 11 Inf Div attempted to secure their left flank.
Northern Sector
As fighting in Székesfehérvár intensified during the day, it was enough to ‘cook’ the 4th US Marines, who routed south at 5pm. 15 Inf Div held out, using their heavy armour, entrenchments, terrain and (though on the Budapest flank only) a river obstacle to try to counter the enemy envelopment and inflict heavy casualties on the attackers. Time was needed to prepare a fall-back defence in Szekszárd should they not be able to hold the building pressure.
The respite did not last long, with an enemy attack hitting Zagreb at 9pm – German light armour and Hungarian infantry launching a serious blitzing attack [-60% progress]. This prompted an immediate and reckless spoiling attack on Cakovec by Orbay’s veteran 1 Inf Div (with IS-1s as their infantry support tanks) and the 6th US Mar Div. The Axis soon stopped their attack on Zagreb (US 18 v nine Axis dead) to concentrate on defending Cakovec, where the Comintern forces persisted with their attack.
Air Damage Report. Turkey’s aerial pounding of Lugoj went on, while three Italian raids on Senta killed 505 defenders and raids on Monor (to hinder the spoiling attack on Budapest) started that would last until 6 June.
---xxx---
4 Jun 43
The Turkish morning papers naturally led with the momentous news of Timisoara’s liberation.
By 1am, with the Axis concentrating on the defence, the progress of the attack on Cakovec slowed somewhat [52%], but it was pressed on with, to help secure Zagreb’s right flank.
1 Mtn Div – ‘Muzir’s Mountaineers’ – marched into Delnice at 10am and soon repelled an Italian probe from the south-west (one Turkish v 11 Italian casualties). They dug in and waited for 19 Inf Div to join them. And the persistence in Cakovec paid off too, with victory declared at 3pm (Comintern 202 v 453 Axis killed).
19 Inf Div arrived in Delnice at 10pm, but being fresh, rather than staying they pushed north against Novo Mestro to see if they could create a real break in the Axis line. The fighting in Székesfehérvár and Budapest went on unabated all day.
Southern Sector
The day began with HQ 1st Corps and 6 Inf Div encountering the recently arrived German 17th Infanterie in Hódmezövásrhely at midnight. The Germans were near full strength and fully organised, while the Turks were attacking across a river, with 6 Inf Div only at around half organisation. This would be no easy fight [29% progress at the start], but Cakmak insisted on maintaining the attack.
At the same time, 14 Inf Div joined the 10th in Timisoara – but unlike them, were now fully reorganised for offensive operations, which they started by advancing on Lugoj from the north-west. This greatly increased the notional progress of the attack, but would be of little practical use unless they could reinforce. Further south, an SS division was spotted heading towards Ada from Zrenjanin to contest the Comintern advance.
Then at 9am, the redoutable Wehib Pasha and his 1 Armd Div finished their relocation from the Adriatic sector, arriving in Kanjiza and striking the stubbornly resisting 17 Inf Div in Hódmezövásrhely from the south; importantly it was from the Germans’ side of the river, in open country.
Down in the pocket, the IS-2 equipped 5 Inf Div ran into an Italian motorised division (the 3rd) in Jasa Tomic at midday, putting in a quick attack. But the Italians did not immediately buckle and would resist for the rest of the day.
13 Inf Div next ran into the badly damaged German 25th Infanterie in Arad at 6pm, who would resist until until 1am the next morning before continuing their retreat to the north: 41 Turkish troops were lost, as were 78 Germans.
The SS Division heading to Ada got there just before the Turks could secure it: it turned out to be the fresh SS Totenkopf Division. Even though Yamut’s well-executed shock attack negated MAJGEN Hammer’s attempt to delay, the rest of the factors were stacked against the attackers. With Panavo now unoccupied, Turkish troops began crossing the Danube to take it. And short time later (at midnight), 5 Inf Div had won their latest battle for Jasa Tomic (42 Turkish v 106 Italian casualties).
A surprise report came through that morning of a British raid (it was hardly large enough to be termed an invasion) in northern Germany! One of the raiding divisions had struck inland after taking Bremen and was heading towards an undefended Hamburg. How long this raid could feasibly last before ending in tears was uncertain, but it made for an entertaining distraction.
Air Damage Report. Lugoj remained under continual Turkish attack and would until the end of the week. The Italian raids on Monor continued,while single strikes were made on the US Marines in Zagreb (44 dead), 15 Inf Div in Székesfehérvár (41 dead) and Dunaújváros (86 dead).
---xxx---
5 Jun 43
Southern Sector
Another enemy attack on Timisoara by the under-strength German 6th Infanterie from the north-east (Lipova) was fought off between 1am and 7am, with 30 Turkish troops lost for 195 German attackers. As that attack was beaten, 5 Inf Div pulled into Jasa Tomic: they faced another 90 hours of post-attack reorganisation before they could advance again. But the pocket was being squeezed into a smaller and smaller space and its neck was narrowing.
At 9am, 9 Inf Div arrived in Resita and they too added their efforts to the attack on Lugoj: maybe one of the two fresh divisions could reinforce before the 4th wore out against the resolutely stubborn German 12 Pz Div? But the reinforcement chances remained low [0.3% for 14 Inf Div and 0.5% for 9 Inf Div]. 18 Inf Div was now running low on organisation, while 12 Pz Div had plenty of organisation but very little strength.
North of the pocket, 2 Armd Div had made it into Sânnicolau Mare that afternoon and – better yet – the quick-moving division had finished its post-attack reorg and so pushed straight on towards Arad, following 13 Inf Div which had still not arrived there yet.
There was another skirmish in Arad at 9pm, this time 2 Armd joining 13 Inf Div to send the 6th Infanterie (pulling back from Lipova after its failed attack on Timisoara) on its way (3 Turkish v 20 German dead).
Then the Italian Comando Superiore infantry division was the next to try its luck on Timisoara, attacking from Lipova at 10pm – the fighting would continue well into the following morning.
Northern Sector
5 June saw the action hot up again in the north, with a flurry of activity. At 1am, 1 Mot Div finally reinforced the spoiling attack on Budapest, but the German SS and Fallschirmjäger troops there, commanded by Alfred Jodl (just a divisional commander here) showed no sign of weakening [2% progress].
By then, 2 Mot Div was in Monor and ready to attack, but they did not waste their efforts on a frontal assault on the Hungarian capital. Instead, they struck north to attack Hatvan, in the hope of eventually outflanking it from that direction. But even as that (somewhat risky) plan went ahead, it was decided 15 Inf Div had done enough to delay and degrade the attack on Székesfehérvár. At 5am, they were withdrawn after a relentless five day battle. Casualties were heavy on both sides, but the Axis had lost almost 1,000 more troops than the Comintern defenders as 15 Gataly’s men pulled back to Szekszárd in a controlled withdrawal. The spoiling attack on Budapest was also discontinued.
---xxx---
6 Jun 43
Northern Sector
8 Pz Div soon broke off its attack on Cakovec (at midnight, with nine American and three German casualties), with the spoiling attack on Nagyatád simultaneously halted (seven Comintern, 15 German casualties).
Székesfehérvár was reoccupied by the Hungarians at 10am, while at the same time 2 Mot Div won their battle for Hatvan (due east of Budapest) in convincing fashion (78 Turkish v 706 Hungarian casualties) and kept advancing to see if they could secure this exposed salient. 3 Cav Div made it to Monor at 4pm and was sent up to Hatvan as well, doubling down on the stiletto thrust.
The ‘leaderless’ rookies of 19 Inf Div ran into the seasoned but under-strength and partly disorganised 93rd Infanterie in Novo Mesto at 3pm, their initial assaulted negated by von Thoma’s expert counter-attack. Still, they outnumbered the Germans (who had only 2,450 effective troops) by around five-to-one [84% progress] so kept the attack going. The battle would still be going as the first week of June ended.
Then at 7pm, the German 45th Infanterie (now in Budapest) tried an unwise probe south on Dunaújváros, which was fought off easily by 3 Mot Div (-) and the recently arrived 12 SD (three Comintern v 34 German casualties).
Southern Sector
This day, the focus of action swung back to the south and the Zrenjanin Pocket, with fast-moving developments following one after another. First, the three pronged attack on Ada was halted at 8am, with the heavy air strikes on Ruma and the difficult river crossing taking their toll. 411 Comintern troops and only 238 of the SS Totenkopf fanatics were lost in the ground fighting alone.
An hour later, the Italian attack on Timisoara also failed, with 52 defenders killed, while the Italians left 355 KIA in the city’s outskirts as they withdrew. But neither of the fresh Turkish divisions had yet been able to reinforce the attack on Lugoj, which was now failing. 18 Inf Div’s organisation almost completely gone by 10am.
But the biggest developments of the afternoon came to the north of the pocket. At 2pm, 13 Inf Div finally grabbed Arad, with less than a day of reorg required before they could attack again and 2 Armd div on the way. An hour later the intervention of 1 Armd Div brought the tough battle for Hódmezövásrhely to a successful conclusion.
Not so good was the news from Lugoj: the pocket remained unclosed after 18 Inf Div broke off their attack in complete disorganisation and after suffering heavy casualties. Their comrades had never been able to reinforce: 10 Inf Div in Timisoara and 4 Inf Div in Resita were the next available for an attack, but that would have to wait some hours yet. Instead, 3 Inf Div in Senta launched a mosy likely forlorn distracting attack on Kikinda, trying to delay the escape of units from the pocket through its still open neck in Lugoj.
2 Armd joined 13 Inf Div in Arad at 9pm, but they had another 47 hours of reorganisation ahead of them after the earlier encounter battle. At least this was a day less than it would have been in May, thanks to the new doctrine.
Then came the most stunning news of the day: the Soviets had suddenly seized Faget! The pocket was closed off – by Turkey’s trusty allies. Even though Lugoj had never been taken, the Axis troops were still trapped. This triggered a desperate attack by 12 Pz Div on Timisoara, but Noyan sought to delay their attempted breakout. And reports stated that the Germans seemed to be down to only around 1,300 men, even though the organisation of this highly resilient kampfgruppe remained as strong as ever.
With this flurry of activity, the Turkish command now hoped to wait until Axis supply failed in the Zrenjanin Pocket, while they extended their new thrust to the north of Timisoara via Arad.It was estimated around 63,000 Axis troops (mainly German, with some Hungarian and Italian formations) were now trapped, with three HQs, plus five infantry, two motorised, one medium panzer and one SS division (the Totenkopf) cut off. None were out of supply yet, but Inönü hoped that would change in coming days.
Air Damage Report. The Italian raids on Monor finally finished, with 1,324 Comintern troops killed there over four days. Two days of Italian strikes on Ruma also ended, with another 897 men lost there. Szeged (from where the main Turkish attack on Hódmezövásrhely had been launched) had seen 189 men killed in two raids. Turkish strikes on Lugoj continued without pause, now trying to hinder 12 Pz Div’s attack on Timisoara and ensure other Axis units there were kept weak, to deter them from breaking out.
---xxx---
7 Jun 43
Southern Sector
Turkish and Soviet troops greet each other on the boundary between Timisoara and Faget on the morning of 7 June 1943, after the Soviets had secured the latter with 308 SD the night before.
But the pressure intensified at midday when the 2nd Motorised Infanterie joined in the breakout attempt. A careful eye would be kept on developments and this battle went on for the rest of the day. One option, if required, would be to have the powerful 5 Inf Div attack Kikinda from Jasa Tomic. But they were still in the post-attack reorganisation phase, as was 3 Inf Div in Senta.
Northern Sector
As fight for the Zrenjanin Pocket fell into something of a routine, the Zagreb-Budapest sector remained active throughout 7 June. MAJGEN W.H. Walker’s 6 US Mar Div easily brushed off an Italian probe on Cakovec between 1 and 3 pm (nine US v 12 Italian casualties). This coincided with a more serious attack by 2 Pz Div on Zagreb, while fighting continued in Novo Mesto.
At 4am, 2 Mot Div secured Hatvan, quickly repulsing a probe by the German Leichte Division (two Turk v 18 German casualties). It was at this point that it was fully appreciated that [Paradoxically
] no matter which side of the river Budapest was attacked from – even if from all at once – the troops defending it would have the advantage of a river defence! This realisation caused some consternation at HQ 1st Army when the recon report was received: it was going to make Budapest an even harder nut to crack!
1 Inf Div arrived in Cakovec at 2pm, to see the German attack on nearby Zagreb beginning to gain momentum [-40% progress]. But they still had another 31 hours of reorganisation to go through before they could attack again.
The final movement for the day was 3 Cav Div joining 2 Mot in Hatvan at 4pm. But the small salient was exposed and the Turks were not yet ready for another attack on Budapest. Next moves would have to be carefully chosen.
As the first week of June ended, 6 US Mar Div was beginning to fade in Zagreb [-52% progress] and looked like it would need rescuing; 19 Inf Div still pounded away at Novo Mesto [64%]. In the south Timisoara still held [-22%] and the pocket was contained.
Air Damage Report. A full week of four Turkish air raids per day on Lugoj had killed a total of 1,745 enemy, mainly from the now brigade-sized 12 Pz Div. The only Italian raid that day was a one off ground attack on Delnice late in the day, killing 183 defenders.
---xxx---
Weekly SITREPS
The wider Patriotic Front was mainly a story of Comintern progress, with the Soviets inching forward to try for their own grand encirclement in the north.
---xxx---
Alexandria
After eventually discovering the fate of ‘Romeo’ and ‘Lonely’ in Ankara and the revelation of Perse Fotheringay-Phipps as the legendary ‘Rose’ – MI6’s best placed agent in Turkey – David Callan was most interested to meet her in person. He had travelled across from his station in Baghdad to greet her on arrival.
David Callan – very interested to meet Perse.
The RAF Base at Aboukir, a short distance outside Alexandria, viewed from the air. Picture taken from Perse’s US transport plane as it approached on the afternoon of 7 June 1943.
---xxx---
Coming Up: The Zrenjanin Pocket is closed – but can the Comintern coordinate effectively to keep it closed, from breakouts and/or Axis relief missions? How difficult will it be to reduce it? Can another pocket be formed in combination with Comintern forces in Romania, further north? What of the Zagreb-Budapest sector? Can the former be held and the latter taken? Is it feasible for Turkey to maintain two continuing offensives while also containing and destroying the Pocket to the south?
In the Secret War, what will Perse do – and where will she be sent – once she arrives in Alexandria? What is the exact nature of Callan’s interest in her? Will there be any Turkish or Soviet response to these recent events? Particularly as while MacLean may be dead, he was not the only ‘mole’ the Soviets had in MI6. And what of S.I.T.H., Ögel and Kaya?
Last edited:
- 6
- 1
Excellent news and a massive smack in the face for german ambitions. They can't even hold Romania, having failed to get anywhere in Russia at all. The propganda ministry must be working over time. Not sure it'll work anymore though.
Even better. With the balkans very nearly reclaimed, is this the beginning of the end, or merely the end of the beginning?
Now this is useful. Even if they just make small spoiling raids into Germany and France for the next two years, this will mess with the german psyche and mess up their strategic ai. They actually end up taking major german cities unopposed, which makes it very unlikely that, even if theybare utterly destroyed, Hitler can ever recover from this potlcially.
At this point, Germany is doomed.
At least they have someone competent and not cowardly running things in Singapore. Rest of the empire though is being written off.
Another pocketed!
Well, that should be the end of the axis balkan army. Italy still can hit us whenever they like with airforce but the axis are now solidly on the defensive and won't ever return to the offensive now. Not against us anyway.
Meh, surround it and take the rest of the country. Hungary is looking more and more fucked by the day.
Twice! A smaller one on the finnish border and the old, looser big one on the baltic coast. Even one closing would be good news. Seems like the Finns are sitting out after all.
Excellent news all round, I think. Next year in Berlin! Or maybe...the year afterwards...
- 1
- 1
I say Bravo! First, the liberation of Timsoara by the Turkish Army, then the complementary Red Army push into Faget. It's beautiful, this level of Intra-Comintern cooperation brings a tear to my eye. The accompanying press articles are a veritable propaganda coup, and for once Pravda didn't even have to lie. (It still did by overstating the number of Axis troops trapped in the pocket, but still, that's tame by Pravda standards. The Soviet people have long learned to read between the lines and make a good guess as to the actual number, Pravda tending to inflate/deflate it's numbers by a similar factor every time. There were spontaneous celebrations in the streets, ostensibly to celebrate the Red Army's victory in Faget, but the smaller Turkish flags were definitely waved with more enthusiasm. Too bad there isn't a Turkish Army Division to come shut the door on the Northern Pocket in the Baltic SSR's. I'm sure it'll happen eventually, but how many Axis units will be able to slip the noose before then?
I'm actually impressed, the British even managed to execute an amphibious landing with Motorised and Armoured forces, as by the look of things, Bremerhaven was guarded by a Garrison. I can't imagine the losses as the Lorries and Tanks get bogged down on the beaches with no Naval Infantry support. Of course, those brave souls that survived the assault will soon find they'll be spending the rest of the war in captivity. It's also quite funny that the Commander of the German Garrison is more skilled and experienced than the British commander of the 3rd Indian Division. A pointless exercise, but one which may cause the German Army to pull some forces from other fronts just in case the Brits reinforce their beachhead, much to our benefit. I have to say the uprisings behind Japanese lines seem to be having a similar impact for a fraction of the cost in heavy equipment and trained soldiers.
Turkish advances in land doctrines are great. Grand Battle Plan will definitely help a lot. The next level of Operational Level Organisation will likely be ready sooner than the forecast date, so not to worry, the war may not be over by then.
Perse's escape is terrible news. If she talks to Callan, who knows what details she will be revealing about Turkey's governmental structures? If we cannot sway her to be a double agent by the time of that meeting, we may need to assassinate, or better, abduct her and Callan. I know, I was all for clemency in captivity, but we can't have her spilling all she knows. Or maybe, we can find a way for Callan to die before she gets to meet him? What a disaster. The clean-up will take months.
At least the war outside the shadows is clearly going our way, as opposed to the one in the shadows.
Let's raise our glass to Timisoara!
SkitalecS3
I'm actually impressed, the British even managed to execute an amphibious landing with Motorised and Armoured forces, as by the look of things, Bremerhaven was guarded by a Garrison. I can't imagine the losses as the Lorries and Tanks get bogged down on the beaches with no Naval Infantry support. Of course, those brave souls that survived the assault will soon find they'll be spending the rest of the war in captivity. It's also quite funny that the Commander of the German Garrison is more skilled and experienced than the British commander of the 3rd Indian Division. A pointless exercise, but one which may cause the German Army to pull some forces from other fronts just in case the Brits reinforce their beachhead, much to our benefit. I have to say the uprisings behind Japanese lines seem to be having a similar impact for a fraction of the cost in heavy equipment and trained soldiers.
Turkish advances in land doctrines are great. Grand Battle Plan will definitely help a lot. The next level of Operational Level Organisation will likely be ready sooner than the forecast date, so not to worry, the war may not be over by then.
Perse's escape is terrible news. If she talks to Callan, who knows what details she will be revealing about Turkey's governmental structures? If we cannot sway her to be a double agent by the time of that meeting, we may need to assassinate, or better, abduct her and Callan. I know, I was all for clemency in captivity, but we can't have her spilling all she knows. Or maybe, we can find a way for Callan to die before she gets to meet him? What a disaster. The clean-up will take months.
At least the war outside the shadows is clearly going our way, as opposed to the one in the shadows.
Let's raise our glass to Timisoara!
SkitalecS3
- 3
We may need to arrange for an unknown gunman for our Perse problem.
- 2
- 1
Great episode! Even as the air force is still recovering thus not around, the losses are equal. The territory gains are something, and the amount of bagged divisions is staggering. The future is brighter by the episode!
facepalm
I only saw this coming only as much as the policeman
On January 1st it'll get recalculated and since it's a 1944 tech the ahead-of-time penalty will become zero, so it'll probably be complete a few months before May.
if we're able to hold, one of the divisions holding Budapest will be completely out of organization
I'm sure they were claiming on their papers the division was never captured at all
Good catch! Once, we were the side to thin our lines at one place to attack elsewhere. Now they're the ones having to prioritize.
3rd Mtn back to business baby! We're on them like hungry wolves
Here same screenshot is put twice
VUR HA!!! A historic day! We told we'd be back.
What a speech! Temeşvar'ı Unutmadık! Not so long ago, we were discussing leaving Romania and withdrawing to deeper lines. Now we're liberating all that we had to leave behind.
Finally they're doing something! Maybe they'll follow up with more divisions?
To Cluj!
Yesss
it'll happen
facepalm again...
I didn't expect this from our American allies...
Last edited:
- 2
I must admit to some outrageous confusion at the map here, as the TFH vanilla map looks quite different than I remember it. Is there no port in the Italian lands? How do they supply their troops at the start of the Abyssinian war? I must be forgetting something here...
Comment: I missed this at the end of last month. At first glance I was wondering how the Italians had managed an amphibious landing, but all became clear when I focused in on this rebellion.
Vur ha!
I do feel like this attack would be a bridge too far, at some point all of our foolish exploitation attacks are going to come back to bite us, we really don't have the critical mass of forces to support these even if our RAW doctrine demands that we pursue them anyways.
Wilhelmshaven is right there, you stupid--agh!! Stupid AI can't even figure out that it needs to take a port to land the reinforcements at and supply the offensive. They could totally pull this off if they could take their pants off their heads for two damn seconds!That morning, a surprise report came through that morning of a British raid (it was hardly large enough to be termed an invasion) in northern Germany! One of the raiding divisions had struck inland after taking Bremen and was heading towards an undefended Hamburg. How long this raid could feasibly last before ending in tears was uncertain, but it made for an entertaining distraction.
Admittedly, this is one that Paradox did get right. Kind of. Within the constraints of the game. Budapest is of course split into two cities, Buda and Pest, by the river running between them, thus it is technically correct that they should have a river defense from any angle as no matter which side an attacker is coming from, half the city is behind a river and the Pest side in particular, if I remember correctly, has some impressive entrenchments overlooking. Of course, when attacked from every side simultaneously you would think that there should be no river defense bonus, and geographically you would be correct, but given that HoI3 doesn't really have any way to make the province geography dynamic in that way I think we have to give Paradox a pass here.At 4am, 2 Mot Div secured Hatvan, quickly repulsing a probe by the German Leichte Division (two Turk v 18 German casualties). It was at this point that it was fully appreciated that [Paradoxically
And then take that pass away on account of the absolutely piss-poor naval invasion AI currently on display. Of course.
- 1
- 1
I think you'll find there is a port in the now french-controlled (ATL) part of Eritrea, to the South-East of Asmara. The province is called Edd iirc.
- 2
- 1
- 1
Ah, that would be it, then. HPP moves that port to Asmara, probably because the Ethiopians take Edd in the first week of the game and of course that could wreak all sorts of havoc on an unsuspecting Italian AI, much like the British, a stiff breeze, or even the French can, in fairness.
- 3
I remain hopeful for Perse
And the pocket has closed - Timisoara liberated - we have an embarrassment of riches!
And the pocket has closed - Timisoara liberated - we have an embarrassment of riches!
- 2
Wilhelmshaven is right there, you stupid--agh!! Stupid AI can't even figure out that it needs to take a port to land the reinforcements at and supply the offensive. They could totally pull this off if they could take their pants off their heads for two damn seconds!
Technically, I think they did the right thing (for the computer), which is going after Hamburg. I can't recall about what level the original port is in vanilla, but Hamburg is (I'm fairly certain) a level-10 port, of course, in reality, nothing would be able to get that far down the Elbe without getting absolutely demolished by coastal artillery.
- 1
- 1
Quick response: oops! Thanks for picking that up - corrected.
- 1
- 1