Speaking of propagandists, as the self appointed propaganda checker, I know we must have double checked the loyalties of the propaganda cupboard, but can we check the sanity of these people?
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Based on the expansive date line I am optimistic that this has been a successful endeavor.
Music to our ears. Well, eyes.
Not only have we moved well past that, if I'm not mistaken all of the territory taken in the follow-up offensive (post-German counterattack, ill-advised indeed!) is already in our hands and then some. Note that this is the Ukrainian offensive, not the more famous Operation Bagration which follows.
Optimistic of them.
An ill-advised strategic blunder frankly, expending all your force in a counterattack when what is needed is to pull back and hold a line is never a good idea.
I suspect the Presidents estimable predecessor would have ordered the Iowa t hold course, and insisted on jumping in and wrestling the torpedo himself! And perhaps won too? Fortunately, by this time sanity prevails.
Hardly a mention of the momentous event, as that little town between Stolp and Lauenbourg at the tippy-top of the map is the first bit of pre-1936 German land we've now got control of I believe.17 Nov 43
By the early morning of the 17th, the rate of advance in Poland had picked up: Danzig and Warsaw were not only in Soviet hands, but the advance had passed beyond them. Lodz was now in danger of being cut off and occupied.
Makes sense, likely Stalin wants a buffer state and puppet regime to make managing the Poles less arduous, but also wants those valuable Baltic ports for himself.
Also, double-check the date on that "infamous pact", I suspect a finger stretched a bit too far north in the writing of this installment...
If anyone can give Kelebek a worthy foil, surely it is Louise Fletcher. The next movieverse to receive the TT treatment - or just a one-off to horrify the audience?
I'd say Italy, mainly to avoid spreading our forces too thinly although trying to claim Austria is not a bad idea to keep the front wider. We already have plans to invade Italy at multiple points so we may as well focus on one thing at a time here with our dwindling manpower and the much larger Red Army pushing towards Berlin. Ideally we can push as far as the Swiss border to lock down post-war borders, though again a claim on Austria ought to do this just as well.
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Quick error response:
Oops, will correct. The moving finger writes, then having writ, moves back to rewrite the incorrect bit!
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The Dawson, having committed such a gaff, had all sorts of woerd stories attached to it. Like nearly sinking when it first launched, the crew being utterly insane, nearly killing the president again, etc etc.
The historical veracity of these reports are...questionable. Good stories though.
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This was a really good month. Turkey held the line, even gaining a little ground, and the manpower deficit actually stabilised, which is the first step to recovery. Once you get some of those new La-7's chasing away Axis bombers, the drain should be reduced, and Turkey's manpower situation will go into the green again.
As for the new Communist Polish state. It looks like Stalin has decided to put his stamp on Poland, and make sure that the Soviet Union gets to be the only game in town north of Slovakia. Considering the Turkish line is currently further west than the Soviet western front, I understand that the Politburo wants to make sure, the Soviet Union gets the spoils it deserves.
Glad to see the dark lord strike again, gotta keep them Brits out of your hair.
Now to the question of Turkey's next objectives. It makes sense to take and hold the Austrian Alps, and even Austria, to cut the Axis front in two. (It might be wise to turn Austria into a puppet state once the war is over so that a buffer exists between the Soviet and Turkish spheres of influence. However, charging northwards into Bohemia will definitely increase friction with the Soviet Union and it is likely any and all means short of war will be used by the Soviet Union for it to control post-war Germany, rather than splitting it with Turkey. It will also continue to drain Turkey's manpower while not really contributing to the UGNR's goal of becoming a true Mediterranean empire. The question is, of course, how well the Italians and/or the Germans will react to a Turkish push into the alps. If the Wehrmacht struggles to man the line, a Turkish operation into Bohemia would drastically shorten the war.
Turkey might be able to present Stalin with a fait accompli by invading and staking a claim on Southern Germany all while physically blocking the Red Army from taking part of Italy, or Spain before the Turkish Army turns it's attention back towards the South. Another question we should maybe ask is what should happen to France. If Turkey doesn't strike into Bohemia, leaving the Red Army to mop up Germany on it's own, might a Turkish operation into Northern Italy, followed by a charge into occupied France, from the South, result in Turkey effectively controlling the entire Northern Mediterranean coast line, once it takes Spain out. Now, one might argue that it is possible for Turkey to achieve this even after a Southern German operation. The whole question is how fast Turkey can afford to advance considering the manpower situation, and how quickly the Red Army will get into and through Germany. In this respect, the Finnish DOW is likely to slow the Soviets down somewhat, allowing Turkey to grab more territory in places where Axis opposition is weak. And then there is the unlikely wild card of a British or American amphibious operation into Western Europe when Germany is at it's weakest.
In any case, the Austrian alps look great for a spring offensive,
Let's go into the mountains,
SkitalecS3
As for the new Communist Polish state. It looks like Stalin has decided to put his stamp on Poland, and make sure that the Soviet Union gets to be the only game in town north of Slovakia. Considering the Turkish line is currently further west than the Soviet western front, I understand that the Politburo wants to make sure, the Soviet Union gets the spoils it deserves.
Glad to see the dark lord strike again, gotta keep them Brits out of your hair.
Now to the question of Turkey's next objectives. It makes sense to take and hold the Austrian Alps, and even Austria, to cut the Axis front in two. (It might be wise to turn Austria into a puppet state once the war is over so that a buffer exists between the Soviet and Turkish spheres of influence. However, charging northwards into Bohemia will definitely increase friction with the Soviet Union and it is likely any and all means short of war will be used by the Soviet Union for it to control post-war Germany, rather than splitting it with Turkey. It will also continue to drain Turkey's manpower while not really contributing to the UGNR's goal of becoming a true Mediterranean empire. The question is, of course, how well the Italians and/or the Germans will react to a Turkish push into the alps. If the Wehrmacht struggles to man the line, a Turkish operation into Bohemia would drastically shorten the war.
Turkey might be able to present Stalin with a fait accompli by invading and staking a claim on Southern Germany all while physically blocking the Red Army from taking part of Italy, or Spain before the Turkish Army turns it's attention back towards the South. Another question we should maybe ask is what should happen to France. If Turkey doesn't strike into Bohemia, leaving the Red Army to mop up Germany on it's own, might a Turkish operation into Northern Italy, followed by a charge into occupied France, from the South, result in Turkey effectively controlling the entire Northern Mediterranean coast line, once it takes Spain out. Now, one might argue that it is possible for Turkey to achieve this even after a Southern German operation. The whole question is how fast Turkey can afford to advance considering the manpower situation, and how quickly the Red Army will get into and through Germany. In this respect, the Finnish DOW is likely to slow the Soviets down somewhat, allowing Turkey to grab more territory in places where Axis opposition is weak. And then there is the unlikely wild card of a British or American amphibious operation into Western Europe when Germany is at it's weakest.
In any case, the Austrian alps look great for a spring offensive,
Let's go into the mountains,
SkitalecS3
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I'd definitely see if Austria is a region that can be claimed. Best to have that buffer for the inevitable collapse into the tripolar world.
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Is Chesty Puller on the US roster of possible generals? He did not get first star until Korea.
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He's not that I can recall, because as you point out he didn't get his star until Korea. That said, he definitely should be on the deck with MAJ Loggins, probably as 1st Regiment's CO.
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No. But he'd presumably be in the amercian expeditionary force. And probably quite annoyed at having a pretty boring war. Patton is probably climbing the walls too.
To be honest, they're probably much better utilised in Australia at this point, but we don't give a shit about the british empire so...
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For someone who knows the American general roster, I have a second general that I am curious about: General Augustine Warner Robins of the Army Air Corps. Gen. Robins died of a heart attack while on active duty in June 1940. General Warner is credited as the Father of Air Force Logistics. In 1942 one of his proteges worked with the local mayor to change the name of Wellston Ga. to Warner Robins Ga. so that the new base could be named after the general (today's Robins AFB). General Robins was a relative of George Washington. Both General Warner and General Puller were born in rural eastern Virginia within 20 miles of my home (as was Dr. Walter Reed). Robins and Puller probably have more interesting stories than some of the game generals.
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A quick wiki check indicates that, predictably, Paradox did not add him into the game. This may be because he only got promoted as far as Brigadier General, and the lowest rank for HoI3 generals is usually Major General. More likely, it is because Paradox is supremely lazy about their historical research for leaders as we all well know.
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Thank you very much. Do all of the generals even exist? I question anything that assigns greater skill level to Ike, Bradley and Patton than MacArthur. Probably on Robins was dying before war started as he was top five Army Air at time of death.
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No, speaking as someone who tried to locate every OTL commander from the US from 1936 in the game files, almost none of them exist. I don't even think that all of the OTL generals from 1941-45 exist, but there are piles of placeholders for sure.
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Thanks all for the expansive comments following the last chapter. A few of the threads have either been answered or are stand-alone conversations, but here's some feedback to the bulk of them, as the next chapter to finish off the month nears publication.
That's a lot of slow and easily defensible terrain to have to push through, when really we've broadly conceded that sphere to the Soviets. But I agree Austria would be nice to take for the hypothetical post-war era and will check out my objective options there.
I agree, the Germans may still have a bit to fight with, but they are slipping beneath the Red Tide from the East. Spain would be a big prize if we can take it for the UGNR, but if not, it is likely to be the last World Order objectives, so by then we'll just want someone from the Comintern to take it to end the years of war in victory.
OK, thanks once more everyone for such a robust conversation. Hope to get the next ep up relatively soon.
Yes, a bit painful. The only way to do it is by editing the save file after the fact, which I did a bit of for Europe in my first Quick & Dirty game. I won't do any of that in-game, but might consider fixing a few things up for the 'post-war' settlement after I'm done with the game, but am rounding out the AAR.
Will check that out when the game is fired up again for the December play-through.
Noted, but wait until you see the wider picture of where things end up at the end of November. Also, Prague/Austria look a lot easier on the political map view than they do on the 'simplified terrain' mode!
That's a lot of slow and easily defensible terrain to have to push through, when really we've broadly conceded that sphere to the Soviets. But I agree Austria would be nice to take for the hypothetical post-war era and will check out my objective options there.
I got the british propagandists to draw the image. Sorry
We shall see: when I took the plunge, I of course had no foreknowledge of how it would pan out. We shall find out together.
The US AI isn't even thinking about a war strategy atm, let alone a post-war one!
I agree, the Germans may still have a bit to fight with, but they are slipping beneath the Red Tide from the East. Spain would be a big prize if we can take it for the UGNR, but if not, it is likely to be the last World Order objectives, so by then we'll just want someone from the Comintern to take it to end the years of war in victory.
Yes, time to get going again. But in this case, boot lather before bayonets!
Ah well, that will be for the next generation to deal with.
It may not happen at once, but it will happen!Yeeeehaaaaa! Come on don't run we'll just play!
He looks young in the photo and if he was dodgy, it is a bit slack of Paradox to have put him in. Shocked and surprised (not)!By the way, very interesting but unsavory character in real life, and I don't get why Paradox put him in since he was a Captain or so during WW2. Of course, I won't complain about having too many generals since we have too few
The long and winding road, that leads to their door ...Why Am I Taking This Long To Arrive?
Naturally. For now, winning the war trumps everything else.So the land we took from the Germans go to new Poland, but the land Soviets took are theirs to keep! How very Stalinian of him!
Ah well, I'm pretty sure Germany proper will end up as a Soviet puppet in this ATL.
Did try that earlier, but am now leaving them be, as they can either form a pocket for us to consume, or will be forced to pull back without a fight if Trieste is pressed hard. As noted in reply, can't puppet Italy (conquer goal set years ago, not reversible without file editing, which I won't do per house rules). So I just want to defeat them as efficiently as possible, using R.A.W. principles vs VPs but destroying any units that do get isolated.
Thanks! MP losses have moderated a lot, but it seems to be taking quite a while to refill the ranks.
Yes, where they're in the front line, but if not they'll just have to get what they can. For now, I'm prioritising more by where they are and what I want them to do next than their strength.
We could well lose it in terms of national ownership, but per the game assumption, in the end it doesn't matter too much so long as the faction keeps it. That said, I would like to take Austria if possible for the UGNR.
Will also have to check out the Soviet war goals for Germany. I'd be pretty surprised if they didn't try to puppet Germany. The rotten star-stealers!
As above, will check out more in the next ep.
We'll see. I hope for something but expect nothing.
At this point, given my experience of the fickle war goal settlement system, my eyes cross and a just wait for the game engine to make an even worse settlement than at Versailles!
Probably right.
Soviets I'd say.
This is the idea, though the German AI has scrambled well against me along the way and may be able to slow the Soviets down if they switch attention back there.
This is current thinking. Plus the amphibious option to help crack things open. And this time, the Italians won't be able to rely on a big German bail-out!
Agreed. Being tough makes it more interesting. Though funnily enough, Italy (like France) has no bearing on the assigned Comintern war objectives, even though Spain does! I suspect this is part of the hard-wired WW2 re-enactment the vanilla game attempts to push things into.
True enough.
Sanity check failed! Send for kelebek immediately, then off to Nurse Ratched for 'treatment'!
Indeed it was, within limits.
We grind through the gears without mercy, even if progress is sometimes slow. As for bagration, the next chapter will show how it is going!
One of very many they made - fortunately!
Or tieing himself to the mast and damning them! Though in those days (Civil War New Orleans, iirc without checking), Farragut referred to fire ships.
I did notice at the time. Let's see how much is in Soviet clutches by the end of November (just four game days away).
Rationalising, yes. In game reality (as I know you know) the game made it German territory after the partition and can't remember it was ever Polish now, it seems.
Quite. Not sure yet whether it will get a fuller treatment, or just be limited to the Kelebek Ward at the Interior Ministry 'facility'.
Am thinking along similar lines. Austria if it basically presents an open door to push on, but too much time and blood to fight for inch by inch, when MP is such an issue for Turkey and not for the Soviets.
Sounds like it. The first one I cited was strange enough and I'd never heard of it before.
You will see how both these propositions end up after the final four days of the month - soon! No spoiler in the meantime.
It was always going to happen and Inonu had no real intention of getting in the way once the offensive in southern Poland was checked, Vienna came under heavy attack and manpower plummeted.
Per above, will see re Austria. With more MP it could be a good option, but ... Spain before Austria for Turkey in strategic/objective terms. We just don't have the men, materiel or strategic interest to go pushing north into Bohemoia - or elsewhere in Germany - now. But if Austria falls into our laps, we'll take, whether we can keep it after the war or not.
I think Spain more than southern Germany really, given we must take Spain to end the war. Italy is a personal and RP objective. Not sure how much Finland will slow the Soviets down. In relative terms in the mid-term, perhaps, but it saves them having to redeploy there later (which might only happen after a DoW where they were out of position) and the forces in Karelia that did not stay to man the border would have taken a while to get to Poland-Germany anyway. Die cast now, hopefully it will shorten the war.
Per above, will do. It's nice that it's suddenly a topic of interest for us!
Hadn't heard of him before this mention. An impressive character.
Well, with a recommendation like that ...
Patton is probably guarding either the Canadian or Mexican border! I should check at some point. But the US Marines serving with the Turks have seen plenty of action, so Chesty shouldn't have been too bored, I hope.
OK, thanks once more everyone for such a robust conversation. Hope to get the next ep up relatively soon.
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Chapter 218: The Future is in the Skies (27 to 30 November 1943)
Chapter 218: The Future is in the Skies (27 to 30 November 1943)
Introduction
November 1943 had so far seen a turn-around in the intensity of battle on the Turkish Front, so that the manpower deficit remained about even, while the overall Turkish front line was narrowed and strengthened. After the destruction of Army Group North in the Karelian Pocket in October, Turkey persuaded Stalin to support a declaration of war on Finland, with the offensive beginning on 1 November.
The main running had been made by the Soviets and Romanians in Poland. Warsaw and Danzig were liberated and a new Polish state established as part of the Comintern on 20 November. Germany itself now seemed destined to be crushed by the Comintern Steamroller.
Turkey concentrated on inching forward in the Adriatic Sector and holding onto any hard-earned gains they might make. The main threat to this (and hopes of rebuilding their manpower base) was the might of the Italian and German Air Forces which had harried them so mercilessly of late. Was there anything practical Turkey could do about this? Inönü would have to decide if his fighter groups were ready for the challenge – which had repeatedly proved too much for them recently.
27 Nov 43
The latest manpower report showed the deficit hovered at 42,400 men as 27 November dawned cold and hard in Central Europe.
On the warmer Adriatic Coast, 4 US Mar Div joined their comrades in the 1st ('Old Breed') and 6th at the port of Pola at 2am that morning. MAJ Kenny ‘Wraith’ Loggins welcomed one of the “Old Breeds’” most experienced and outstanding battalion commanders, LTCOL Burwell ‘Chesty’ Puller (b. 26 June 1898) into the 1st US Marine Division’s CP to discuss the training and re-equipment needs for the Marines as they geared up for a return to their classic amphibious role.
Back at Inönü’s 1st Army HQ, he was receiving another update from the excited GRU Agent RoverS3: rapid progress continued to be made in Poland as German units began to try to bolster a line mostly Italian troops had been unable to hold over the last few weeks. Stalin had even allocated a few divisions to the command of the new Polish Government, to augment the few militia units they had under arms when their liberation was declared.
That morning, four Italian divisions, including elite alpine troops, assaulted 2 and 3 Mtn Divs in Kranj. Türkes had the command, though his own division remained very disorganised from the previous fighting. 217 SD was on its way from Cerknica, but was not due to arrive until 8pm that night. Wishing to take no risks (and suffer no more casualties) with the precarious foothold in Kranj, a spoiling attack was quickly ordered, conducted by two of Turkey’s most powerful divisions.
It succeeded in foiling the Italian attack on Kranj within an hour and it was decided to keep pushing ahead in Nova Gorica, even though the odds tightened after the Italians concentrated on their defence from midday.
217 SD arrived as planned in Kranj at 8pm, by which time the attack on Nova Gorica had progressed a little further [to 50%].
There were no air raids that day.
28 Nov 43
With the Vienna sector remaining quiet and Turkey’s Comintern partners undertaking an offensive from Slovakia, at 8am 12 Inf Div (almost at full strength, with 10,919/11,000 troops) was put on trains at Trnava (near Bratislava) and began redeploying south-west to Ribnica, south of Ljubljana.
Soon after, the air raid alarms were again sounded in Cerknica: the Italian bombers had begun their usual pattern of defensive bombing runs to foil the attack on Nova Gorica earlier that morning, killing 162 men on the ground. But this time, most available Turkish fighters – nine wings in all, including all the new Yak-7s and only excluding 1 AG (kept in reserve) and the old Hawk IIIs of 1 AF – were alerted to intercept.
Two hours later, a furious dogfight began over Cerknica. The Turkish fighters had failed to intercept the latest raid, which killed another 223 troops, but 2 and 3 AGs were jumped by three wings of Me109s. This soon escalated, with 4 AG joining in at 1pm, while another three Luftwaffe wings simultaneously joined the enemy. Though these latter appeared to have either been in combat elsewhere or lacking in reinforcements, as all three wings started significantly under strength, though fully organised.
Also at 1pm, Italian bombers and their escorts simultaneously started a new raid on Cerknica.
In now stormy skies, at 2pm three more Luftwaffe fighter wings joined the fray in the largest dogfight yet experienced by the Turks. But all the activity seemed to have disrupted the enemy bombers, whose latest raid only killed only 29 men and they did not return to Cerknica afterwards.
Of the three Turkish groups engaged, casualties were relatively light considering the scale of the aerial combat against nine crack Luftwaffe fighter wings. All remained on mission in case the enemy returned and Inönü quietly rejoiced in this turn-around of fortunes in the skies. Mustapha Kemal would have been proud.
But that was not the only air action that day. 2 AG (equipped with the new Yak-7s) was ambushed over their base at Szombathely that evening, with 10 AF, already damaged after the earlier dogfight, very badly mauled: they were completely disorganised and had lost 78% of their aircraft destroyed or damaged and unserviceable that day. 11 AF emerged virtually unscathed, but Ersay’s group was ordered to rest and repair.
Air Damage Report. Cerknica (defensive support for Nova Gorica, halted) 414.
29 Nov 43
The Turks took advantage of the welcome air cover to drive home their attack on Nova Gorica. By 2am they were making rapid gains and an hour later the Italians were fleeing west to Gorizia, having taken heavy casualties. 1 Mtn Div, now largely recovered to almost full strength, was ordered up to Cerknica as Turkey looked to position its mountain formations up near the terrain in southern Austria they had been designed for.
The fast-moving 2 Armd Div soon occupied the hills of Nova Gorica, but within an hour of their arrival were subject to a determined counter-attack by their Italian equivalents – 133a Divisione ‘Littorio’. Later that day, the Italian bombers were striking and the Turkish fighters responding.
The M/R fighters of 1 TAC, 4 AG and 3 AG were all on intercept alert from 11am, but it wasn’t until 6pm that evening that a lone Italian bomber wing was engaged, by the interceptors of 3 AG only.
But that was enough, the Italian TAC wing lost a number of planes and was badly disorganised, causing no casualties and breaking off their mission after just the one attempt.
As had happened the day before, 3 AG was on patrol that evening when they rather bravely (or perhaps rashly) engaged five German fighter wings over Trieste. They sustained some losses but also inflicted a few, losing organisation in two of their wings but staying on mission for now after an after-action assessment when they returned to base in Split early the next morning.
Air Damage Report. Nova Gorica (attack support, beaten off by Turkish fighters) no casualties.
30 Nov 43
The last day of the month saw furious action in the air as the enemy’s attack on Nova Gorica pushed on with grim determination and 17 Inf Div made its slow way up to reinforce 2 Armd Div.
The Italians returned to Nova Gorica with two escorted TAC wings at 2am. They were immediately engaged by 1 TAK’s La-5s and P-51Ds. An hour later, 4 AG joined for the Turks, but three German wings also piled on. At 4am it escalated again, 3 AG and three Italian fighter wings reinforcing the mayhem.
Again, the interference seemed to hinder the effectiveness of the Italian bombers, while the four Turkish M/R fighter wings emerged in good order when they returned to their bases in Budapest and Split by 6am, though in the night fighting the enemy did not seem to have suffered much damage at all.
Once more, Hitay’s 3 AG extended its patrol [the AI, not me] to Trieste and this time ambushed two Italian fighter wings at 6am, as the other fighters were refuelling. These Italian fighters were different to the ones that had engaged over Nova Gorica earlier that morning.
The two already damaged Turkish wings suffered considerable damage and disorganisation, but so too did one of the Italian wings. 3 AG got back to their base in Split at 10am and was taken off line for repairs.
As they were flying back, another enemy raid began on Nova Gorica at 8am. As before, the dogfight escalated, until by 10am four Turkish and nine Axis wings were engaged. At that point, the older aircraft (I-16s and LaGG-3s) of 1 AG were called back into the skies to assist their comrades.
The long dogfight continued until after 2pm, by which time the first Italian raid had killed troops on the ground and a second run had commenced at midday, when two more Italian fighter wings appeared, with six Turkish and eleven Axis wings duelling it out.
1 TAK took the heaviest damage and was taken off line at 4pm, but the other two wings were kept on mission.
By that time, the Italian air raids on Nova Gorica were continuing, but two hours later the old crates of 1 AG (only) were back doing their best to interfere, despite being enormously outnumbered by much newer aircraft. In their favour was the confusion among the enemy trying to control so many aircraft and the long experience of the veteran Turkish flyers. Ground casualties from this raid were comparatively light, but when they returned to base 2 AF had lost a third of its strength and was badly disorganised and they too had to halt operations to conduct repairs.
Meanwhile, 4 AG (5 and 8 AFs) had been surprised over Jesenice on their way to fly intercepts over Nova Gorica, engaged by three Luftwaffe wings at 10pm, as 1 AG was returning to Budapest.
But as there last dogfights of the day were being conducted, 17 Inf div had finally joined 2 Armd Div in Nova Gorica at 8pm. An hour later, the Italians called off their attack. This and the assistance of the Air Force had turned proven decisive.
4 AG had been rather nastily carved up by the Germans, with 5 AF down to 73% and 8 AF to 46% strength by the time they limped back into Split early the next morning and also withdrawn to repair, but their losses had not been in vain. Over the last three days, the Turkish Air Force had mixed it with the massed might of the Regia Aeronautica and the Luftwaffe and largely succeeded despite taking losses, keeping a firm lid on the ground casualty rate. Vur ha!
Air Damage Report. Nova Gorica (attack support, three raids) 295.
Industry, Manpower and Research
The supply situation had stabilised and the production queue was being fully supported, with no upgrades currently in progress and all other stockpiles in good shape. The manpower deficit had edged up again to 45,100 – 2,100 more than it had been at the start of the month.
A quick check with the US showed there were no new fighter models available for license yet – if Turkey had held the manpower to build them [I’d consider dissolving a rear area brigade in order to build some new ones, if they were available].
The researchers advised they expected three new projects would be completed during December, two logistical and one in land doctrine.
---xxx---
Comintern Theatre Summaries
The Patriotic Front had seen great gains in Poland during November, while a secondary thrust by Soviet and Romanian troops had commenced from Slovakia.
The last four days had seen relatively light casualties for Turkey and its opponents: Turkey losing 587 in ground combat and 709 to air raids, for a total of 1,296. The Axis had lost 1,621 on the ground. This meant a total of 4,132 for ground and 9,406 from the air, a total of 13,538 in the month for Turkey. For the Axis 9,505 from ground combat. Perhaps either a reporting lag or additional attrition accounted for the fact the manpower reserve had increased (by 2,100) when the monthly recruiting rate sat at around 5,400 more than known combat losses (not sure if air losses also drain men proportionally).
A more detailed glance at the Patriotic Front showed the northern Soviet spearhead was now within five provinces of Berlin itself, as more German forces had begun to appear in eastern Germany, where the Italians had been unable to hinder the advance through Poland much in recent days. This should also mean fewer German troops confronting Turkey along the shortened line between Vienna and the Adriatic, where Venice was now also coming into play as Turkish troops entrenched on the outskirts of Trieste.
The operational map of the German-Poland Sector showed advances being made from Krakow through to the Baltic, with Katowice still stubbornly held by the Germans but Breslau under direct threat and a promising gap in the Axis lines north of it.
In the Vienna-Slovakia Sector, things had (as planned) remained fairly quiet on the Turkish part of the line during November. But a strong Soviet-Romanian force had gathered in Slovakia and then struck north in the second half of the month, with good headway being made. As noted, Axis troop strengths in opposing the Turks had decreased, while redeployments were boosting Turkey’s defences. And providing future opportunities for limited advances, if they could be afforded.
The Adriatic Sector had seen the small but successful offensive into the hills of Kranj and Nova Gorica secured towards the end of the month. The 1st Marine Corps was assembling in Pola, while a troop build-up in Sopron and Kormend sat poised for a complementary offensive to eliminate the German salient pointing towards Zagreb, if called for.
In Finland, the Soviets had struck in from Karelia against little or no opposition during November. There was more Finnish resistance north of Lake Ladoga and in from of Oulu, but this would not do the Finns too much good: their forces seemed to be badly out of place this time.
Not much had changed in the Far East as the Soviets inched towards the key centre of Irkutsk.
By that time, the returning three-division Turkish task force was passing north of Tbilisi as it finally approached the eastern border of Turkey.
The British had finally deployed more forces to Sardinia and had overrun it during the month.
Reinforcements finally seemed to be trickling into India as well. The Japanese and their Thai allies had pushed forward on a wide but narrow front, but Bhutan still held out, while an armoured division was approaching from the south-west and below that, two motorised divisions had reached the port of Machilipatnam.
The Japanese had made only limited gains in South-East Australia, while some land forces had finally either been shipped to or raised in Melbourne.
A sprinkling of units still guarded the Australian North-West [in isolated infrastructure pockets].
The Australians had advanced in north-central New Guinea, though the troops used would no doubt have been far more useful defending the homeland.
The lack of Japanese progress (and apparently troops) in Australia might be explained by their sudden reinforcement of and breakout in New Zealand, where the Kiwis now faced a tough fight to save the key city of Wellington from occupation.
---xxx---
Naval Report
It had been another difficult month for the Allies at sea. France had lost a battlecruiser and a flotilla of destroyers and the British saw two light cruisers sunk. But the most grievous losses had been suffered by Australia, where it can be surmised that one or more convoys of troops trying to get men back to defend the mainland had been intercepted by Japanese carrier task forces. The RAN had lost a light cruiser, five destroyer flotillas and two transport flotillas.
The Axis had only seen the Italians lose five transport flotillas – the Japanese and Germans had nothing sunk, at least.
Dunkerque was the lead ship of the Dunkerque class of battlecruisers built for the French Navy. Laid down 24 December 1932; launched 2 October 1935; commissioned 1 May 1937. Displacement 26,500 t (standard); crew 1,381–1,431; main armament 8 × 330 mm (13.0 in) guns (two quadruple turrets located forward).
Dunkerque.
HMS Leander was a light cruiser and lead ship of a class of eight ships. Laid down 8 September 1930; launched 24 September 1931; commissioned 24 March 1933. Displacement 7,270 tons standard; complement 570; main armament 4 x 2 6 in (152 mm) guns. Sunk by IJNS Akagi (CV) November 1943. [In OTL, she was known as the HMNZS Leander from 30 April 1937 in the NZ Division of the RN. During WW2, she became part of the RNZN from its formation in September 1941, returned to the RN 27 August 1945.]
A Leander class light cruiser.
HMS Neptune was the fourth ship of the Leander light cruiser class. Laid down 24 September 1931; launched 31 January 1933; commissioned 12 February 1934. Displacement 7,270 tons standard; complement 570; main armament 4 x 2 6 in (152 mm) guns. Like her sister ship HMS Leander, sunk by IJNS Akagi (CV) November 1943.
HMAS Adelaide was a Town-class light cruiser of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Built in Australia, laid down 20 November 1915; launched 27 July 1918; completed 31 July 1922. Pre-1941 refit statistics: displacement 5,560 tons; complement 483; main armament 9 × 6-inch (152-mm) guns. Sunk by IJNS Ryujo (CV) in November 1943.
The HMAS Adelaide.
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War Aims
With the pivotal year of 1943 starting to draw to a close and winter crept upon the battlefields of Europe, the Milli Şef contemplated recent strategic progress and matched them to the agreed overall Comintern war aims. Six of the fifteen objectives had now been satisfied with the recent liberation of Poland and eastern Germany.
One (Operation Bagration, as the Soviets referred to their main offensive) was almost fulfilled, but Berlin would have to fall to complete it: so small order. The liberation of Czechoslovakia had been begun by Turkey in Slovakia, but the taking of the Czech centres would probably have to be achieved under Soviet leadership. And the absorption of Finland into the Comintern was now well under way.
To achieve victory up to Turkish requirements, Frankfurt, Munich and Spain would have to be added to those three. Anything beyond that in the Far East (Operation August Storm, Tokyo and Hong Kong) would be for the Soviets to worry about.
Coming Up: Turkey’s steady recovery from the bloodletting of October had been aided by the shortening and strengthening of the line, the return to the skies of the Turkish Air Force and the distraction of the Soviet advance through Poland and into eastern Germany all through November. Could they now afford to push forward towards northern Italy and southern Austria, while simultaneously working up a credible amphibious operation somewhere in Italy to help break the hated Fascists open?
Turkey would also send fact-finding missions to the US and USSR to see whether any new aircraft types, especially fighters, might be available for licensing any time soon. And a review of the allied objectives set in the autumn would be conducted, with most if not all of them removed and the Comintern encouraged to ‘free-wheel’ their way across Germany. Which they now seemed to be doing a pretty good job of on their own.
With Sardinia now occupied by the British, it was possible they might try a landing somewhere else, either in Sicily or Italy, in coming weeks or months. Though they had pressing business in the east, with India to stabilise and both Australia and New Zealand in trouble. One bright spot was that the Japanese had never made a serious effort to take the important centre of Singapore, which still held out defiantly.
Introduction
November 1943 had so far seen a turn-around in the intensity of battle on the Turkish Front, so that the manpower deficit remained about even, while the overall Turkish front line was narrowed and strengthened. After the destruction of Army Group North in the Karelian Pocket in October, Turkey persuaded Stalin to support a declaration of war on Finland, with the offensive beginning on 1 November.
The main running had been made by the Soviets and Romanians in Poland. Warsaw and Danzig were liberated and a new Polish state established as part of the Comintern on 20 November. Germany itself now seemed destined to be crushed by the Comintern Steamroller.
Turkey concentrated on inching forward in the Adriatic Sector and holding onto any hard-earned gains they might make. The main threat to this (and hopes of rebuilding their manpower base) was the might of the Italian and German Air Forces which had harried them so mercilessly of late. Was there anything practical Turkey could do about this? Inönü would have to decide if his fighter groups were ready for the challenge – which had repeatedly proved too much for them recently.
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27 Nov 43
The latest manpower report showed the deficit hovered at 42,400 men as 27 November dawned cold and hard in Central Europe.
On the warmer Adriatic Coast, 4 US Mar Div joined their comrades in the 1st ('Old Breed') and 6th at the port of Pola at 2am that morning. MAJ Kenny ‘Wraith’ Loggins welcomed one of the “Old Breeds’” most experienced and outstanding battalion commanders, LTCOL Burwell ‘Chesty’ Puller (b. 26 June 1898) into the 1st US Marine Division’s CP to discuss the training and re-equipment needs for the Marines as they geared up for a return to their classic amphibious role.
Back at Inönü’s 1st Army HQ, he was receiving another update from the excited GRU Agent RoverS3: rapid progress continued to be made in Poland as German units began to try to bolster a line mostly Italian troops had been unable to hold over the last few weeks. Stalin had even allocated a few divisions to the command of the new Polish Government, to augment the few militia units they had under arms when their liberation was declared.
217 SD arrived as planned in Kranj at 8pm, by which time the attack on Nova Gorica had progressed a little further [to 50%].
There were no air raids that day.
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28 Nov 43
With the Vienna sector remaining quiet and Turkey’s Comintern partners undertaking an offensive from Slovakia, at 8am 12 Inf Div (almost at full strength, with 10,919/11,000 troops) was put on trains at Trnava (near Bratislava) and began redeploying south-west to Ribnica, south of Ljubljana.
Soon after, the air raid alarms were again sounded in Cerknica: the Italian bombers had begun their usual pattern of defensive bombing runs to foil the attack on Nova Gorica earlier that morning, killing 162 men on the ground. But this time, most available Turkish fighters – nine wings in all, including all the new Yak-7s and only excluding 1 AG (kept in reserve) and the old Hawk IIIs of 1 AF – were alerted to intercept.
In now stormy skies, at 2pm three more Luftwaffe fighter wings joined the fray in the largest dogfight yet experienced by the Turks. But all the activity seemed to have disrupted the enemy bombers, whose latest raid only killed only 29 men and they did not return to Cerknica afterwards.
But that was not the only air action that day. 2 AG (equipped with the new Yak-7s) was ambushed over their base at Szombathely that evening, with 10 AF, already damaged after the earlier dogfight, very badly mauled: they were completely disorganised and had lost 78% of their aircraft destroyed or damaged and unserviceable that day. 11 AF emerged virtually unscathed, but Ersay’s group was ordered to rest and repair.
OTL Event: Tehran. At the Tehran Conference, President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill met with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin met in Iran to discuss war strategy. On November 30 they established an agreement concerning Operation Overlord, the planned Anglo-American invasion of Western Europe that was originally scheduled for May, 1944. The other major change agreed upon concerned Poland. The 77,612 square of eastern Poland that had been annexed by the U.S.S.R. would remain parts of the Ukrainian, Byelorussian and Lithuanian Soviet socialist republics and Poland would be compensated by receiving the eastern portion of Germany, based on Churchill's proposal to Stalin that "Poland should move westward, 'like soldiers taking two steps left close'." [Note: the equivalent of this conference in the ATL was held in February 1942.]
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29 Nov 43
The Turks took advantage of the welcome air cover to drive home their attack on Nova Gorica. By 2am they were making rapid gains and an hour later the Italians were fleeing west to Gorizia, having taken heavy casualties. 1 Mtn Div, now largely recovered to almost full strength, was ordered up to Cerknica as Turkey looked to position its mountain formations up near the terrain in southern Austria they had been designed for.
As had happened the day before, 3 AG was on patrol that evening when they rather bravely (or perhaps rashly) engaged five German fighter wings over Trieste. They sustained some losses but also inflicted a few, losing organisation in two of their wings but staying on mission for now after an after-action assessment when they returned to base in Split early the next morning.
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30 Nov 43
The last day of the month saw furious action in the air as the enemy’s attack on Nova Gorica pushed on with grim determination and 17 Inf Div made its slow way up to reinforce 2 Armd Div.
The Italians returned to Nova Gorica with two escorted TAC wings at 2am. They were immediately engaged by 1 TAK’s La-5s and P-51Ds. An hour later, 4 AG joined for the Turks, but three German wings also piled on. At 4am it escalated again, 3 AG and three Italian fighter wings reinforcing the mayhem.
Once more, Hitay’s 3 AG extended its patrol [the AI, not me] to Trieste and this time ambushed two Italian fighter wings at 6am, as the other fighters were refuelling. These Italian fighters were different to the ones that had engaged over Nova Gorica earlier that morning.
As they were flying back, another enemy raid began on Nova Gorica at 8am. As before, the dogfight escalated, until by 10am four Turkish and nine Axis wings were engaged. At that point, the older aircraft (I-16s and LaGG-3s) of 1 AG were called back into the skies to assist their comrades.
By that time, the Italian air raids on Nova Gorica were continuing, but two hours later the old crates of 1 AG (only) were back doing their best to interfere, despite being enormously outnumbered by much newer aircraft. In their favour was the confusion among the enemy trying to control so many aircraft and the long experience of the veteran Turkish flyers. Ground casualties from this raid were comparatively light, but when they returned to base 2 AF had lost a third of its strength and was badly disorganised and they too had to halt operations to conduct repairs.
But as there last dogfights of the day were being conducted, 17 Inf div had finally joined 2 Armd Div in Nova Gorica at 8pm. An hour later, the Italians called off their attack. This and the assistance of the Air Force had turned proven decisive.
Air Damage Report. Nova Gorica (attack support, three raids) 295.
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Monthly Reports
Monthly Reports
Industry, Manpower and Research
The supply situation had stabilised and the production queue was being fully supported, with no upgrades currently in progress and all other stockpiles in good shape. The manpower deficit had edged up again to 45,100 – 2,100 more than it had been at the start of the month.
The researchers advised they expected three new projects would be completed during December, two logistical and one in land doctrine.
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Comintern Theatre Summaries
The Patriotic Front had seen great gains in Poland during November, while a secondary thrust by Soviet and Romanian troops had commenced from Slovakia.
A more detailed glance at the Patriotic Front showed the northern Soviet spearhead was now within five provinces of Berlin itself, as more German forces had begun to appear in eastern Germany, where the Italians had been unable to hinder the advance through Poland much in recent days. This should also mean fewer German troops confronting Turkey along the shortened line between Vienna and the Adriatic, where Venice was now also coming into play as Turkish troops entrenched on the outskirts of Trieste.
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British/Allied Reporting
British/Allied Reporting
The British had finally deployed more forces to Sardinia and had overrun it during the month.
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Naval Report
It had been another difficult month for the Allies at sea. France had lost a battlecruiser and a flotilla of destroyers and the British saw two light cruisers sunk. But the most grievous losses had been suffered by Australia, where it can be surmised that one or more convoys of troops trying to get men back to defend the mainland had been intercepted by Japanese carrier task forces. The RAN had lost a light cruiser, five destroyer flotillas and two transport flotillas.
The Axis had only seen the Italians lose five transport flotillas – the Japanese and Germans had nothing sunk, at least.
Dunkerque was the lead ship of the Dunkerque class of battlecruisers built for the French Navy. Laid down 24 December 1932; launched 2 October 1935; commissioned 1 May 1937. Displacement 26,500 t (standard); crew 1,381–1,431; main armament 8 × 330 mm (13.0 in) guns (two quadruple turrets located forward).
Dunkerque.
HMS Leander was a light cruiser and lead ship of a class of eight ships. Laid down 8 September 1930; launched 24 September 1931; commissioned 24 March 1933. Displacement 7,270 tons standard; complement 570; main armament 4 x 2 6 in (152 mm) guns. Sunk by IJNS Akagi (CV) November 1943. [In OTL, she was known as the HMNZS Leander from 30 April 1937 in the NZ Division of the RN. During WW2, she became part of the RNZN from its formation in September 1941, returned to the RN 27 August 1945.]
A Leander class light cruiser.
HMS Neptune was the fourth ship of the Leander light cruiser class. Laid down 24 September 1931; launched 31 January 1933; commissioned 12 February 1934. Displacement 7,270 tons standard; complement 570; main armament 4 x 2 6 in (152 mm) guns. Like her sister ship HMS Leander, sunk by IJNS Akagi (CV) November 1943.
HMAS Adelaide was a Town-class light cruiser of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Built in Australia, laid down 20 November 1915; launched 27 July 1918; completed 31 July 1922. Pre-1941 refit statistics: displacement 5,560 tons; complement 483; main armament 9 × 6-inch (152-mm) guns. Sunk by IJNS Ryujo (CV) in November 1943.
The HMAS Adelaide.
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War Aims
With the pivotal year of 1943 starting to draw to a close and winter crept upon the battlefields of Europe, the Milli Şef contemplated recent strategic progress and matched them to the agreed overall Comintern war aims. Six of the fifteen objectives had now been satisfied with the recent liberation of Poland and eastern Germany.
To achieve victory up to Turkish requirements, Frankfurt, Munich and Spain would have to be added to those three. Anything beyond that in the Far East (Operation August Storm, Tokyo and Hong Kong) would be for the Soviets to worry about.
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Coming Up: Turkey’s steady recovery from the bloodletting of October had been aided by the shortening and strengthening of the line, the return to the skies of the Turkish Air Force and the distraction of the Soviet advance through Poland and into eastern Germany all through November. Could they now afford to push forward towards northern Italy and southern Austria, while simultaneously working up a credible amphibious operation somewhere in Italy to help break the hated Fascists open?
Turkey would also send fact-finding missions to the US and USSR to see whether any new aircraft types, especially fighters, might be available for licensing any time soon. And a review of the allied objectives set in the autumn would be conducted, with most if not all of them removed and the Comintern encouraged to ‘free-wheel’ their way across Germany. Which they now seemed to be doing a pretty good job of on their own.
With Sardinia now occupied by the British, it was possible they might try a landing somewhere else, either in Sicily or Italy, in coming weeks or months. Though they had pressing business in the east, with India to stabilise and both Australia and New Zealand in trouble. One bright spot was that the Japanese had never made a serious effort to take the important centre of Singapore, which still held out defiantly.
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The man earned five Navy Crosses and a chestful of other medals, but never earned the Medal. So, he's a super wild character. I wish I had brought him up earlier; had I known that you weren't aware of him I would have.Hadn't heard of him before this mention. An impressive character.
Well, with a recommendation like that ...
Patton is probably guarding either the Canadian or Mexican border! I should check at some point. But the US Marines serving with the Turks have seen plenty of action, so Chesty shouldn't have been too bored, I hope.
I just finished reading. Vur ha! To our brave air warriors and their decisive (albeit expensive) victories!
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So I thought to myself, I might give that Australia “Tokyo 1944” a try in blackice.
its currently 1943, but Tokyo in ‘44 is still too far away. As a consolation prize, I would like to note that all Aussie territory is completely safe, and I’ve sunk 1 page of Japanese ships, while they’ve sunk 3, 2 of which being very outdated destroyers, and 1 being a transport liner (by naval bomber) while the heaviest ships I’ve sunk was the Nagato (or was it the tone) and I have encircled and destroyed 120k men .
It’s a fun little campaign, and I unlocked the ca-15 kangaroo as my interceptor, which is pretty funny now I think about it, as well as somewhere over 12 heavy cruisers, 1 battleship, and two escort carriers. Australia’s actually pretty fun.
its currently 1943, but Tokyo in ‘44 is still too far away. As a consolation prize, I would like to note that all Aussie territory is completely safe, and I’ve sunk 1 page of Japanese ships, while they’ve sunk 3, 2 of which being very outdated destroyers, and 1 being a transport liner (by naval bomber) while the heaviest ships I’ve sunk was the Nagato (or was it the tone) and I have encircled and destroyed 120k men .
It’s a fun little campaign, and I unlocked the ca-15 kangaroo as my interceptor, which is pretty funny now I think about it, as well as somewhere over 12 heavy cruisers, 1 battleship, and two escort carriers. Australia’s actually pretty fun.
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Well, he’s in now. Next time there will likely be a pic and maybe some alt-bio.
I was pleasantly surprised with how much the Air Force was able to shield the troops this time against so many state of the art enemy fighters, even if the damage taken was high. If I really need to I could probably put one or two patched CAPs together using the most airworthy wings remaining. I would like to rationalise them again at some point, to get the same aircraft types operating together in the groups again, to maximise ranges and capabilities, but it’s working ok for now.
It does sound like fun. I have a dim memory of playing as Australia in HOI1 many years back and getting my fleet and troops to land in Japan by the end, but can’t recall any details now. I’d like to play Australia again (in HOI3 or even 4, which I’ve only played a little) and do an AAR about that ... but alas, too many ideas, too little time.
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I'm thinking the UK should really be focusing on the far East rather than sicily (not likely they are going to get anything in post war europe anyway).
We mea while are doing well, but the british action in sardinia is worrying. They may yet scoop France or Italy or even bits of both away from us before the end. If they do, it really messes with postwar strategy and getting at Spain for VP...better hope they send everything to India or Australia then.
We mea while are doing well, but the british action in sardinia is worrying. They may yet scoop France or Italy or even bits of both away from us before the end. If they do, it really messes with postwar strategy and getting at Spain for VP...better hope they send everything to India or Australia then.
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They really should, and the early indications show they have started to do so. If they did try to land in France or Italy, even with Germany as it is, they’d probably not get far, considering the dogs breakfast they made of Africa. A landing in Sicily would at least divert the Fascists and probably allow us to hasten our own plans. Which might include a landing in southern Italy to seal that off, trap whatever was south of us, then prosecute a war on two fronts. But we’ll be keeping a close eye on Spain, that’s for sure.
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