Chapter 33: War in Central Yugoslavia – “Going Hammer and Tongs” (18 - 24 November 1937)
Foreword. Braanszon and Persephonee are on a detox week at Izmir, so the editors of
‘The Path to Glory’ had to come up with a hammer-related headline of their own. You can see it lacks the zing of one of the "A-Team's" one-liners, but needs must. It is pretty pedestrian - perhaps war-weariness is starting to set in among the chattering classes of Ankara! This chapter is more of a straight battle diary entry, as the
War in Yugoslavia approaches its decisive stages. I have gone back to a general chronological approach for the whole campaign, as the
Hammer and
Anvil fronts begin to merge in the centre and their battles become more inter-related. There is also the promised update on developments in the Far East, where the Axis is on the march in China.
Sino-Japanese War Update
The map below takes a broad overview, tracking the flow of battle (mainly in Japan’s favour after a few incursions by the Shanxi in the north early on). The last update on 27 Sep 37 showed Japan had taken the VP centres of
Beiping and
Tianjin plus the three Nationalist Chinese provinces to the south in the three weeks after their declaration of war on 6 Sep 37. At the same time, the Shanxi had taken the four Japanese occupied provinces along their border over the same period.
Japan has asserted itself strongly since then. The map below shows the front line of battle in approximately fortnightly intervals since then. It extends out to 29 Nov 37, by which time Nationalist China was at 51.6% surrender progress, Shanxi still at 0%. On the map below, VP cities are indicated by green stars and are named.
[Ed: I’ve played a little longer than the end of this update indicates, as there was too much information to reasonably include it all in one chapter without overloading it.]
18 Nov 37 (D+19)
1300. Ögel provides the latest intel report. Full priority is now on France, softening it up as an industrial espionage target. We have two spies in reserve now in case their counter-intelligence agents catch any of ours. In Yugoslavia, the five remaining spies (who we hope not to need for much longer) are set to lowering their national unity. We will take this very literally, with Ögel continuing to encourage Vladko Maček and his Croatian separatists with promises of autonomy under Turkish overall rule.
The following map summarises the situation across the entire front as we left it at the end of the last update. The
Hammer threatens to meet the
Anvil in central Yugoslavia and the bold dash along the Adriatic sector to
Sarajevo and
Split continues. Meanwhile, although we do not receive detailed battle reports, the Romanians have started to exert a substantive influence, especially to the south of 1st Corps. The sight of Popescu’s LARM/MOT division racing forward leaves us very glad we didn’t destroy it as we invaded Romania earlier this year!
Focusing in on the Central sector, 2nd Corps has now launched general attacks to follow-up retreating Yugoslavian units in
Plav and
Stip. The RAW War doctrine that dictates to pursue the enemy and keep them on the hop (and unentrenched) wherever possible has triumphed over caution! We will see if they decide to stand and fight, or run away. But with their entrenchments now abandoned, if they
do fight our odds should be better than previously. This colour-coded map indicates where each of the formations is attacking. Artunkal is not afraid to take his own reinforced HQ into battle too, thus increasing his credibility with the veteran troops who serve under him.
In the
Beograd sector, HQ 1st Corps is ordered up from
Vrsac to
Panavo as the Romanians finally begin to occupy the flanks of the initial narrow thrust towards
Beograd and the supply lines become more secure.
1500. The battles for
Stip (16 killed from our 17 Inf Div against 5 of the enemy) and
Plav (8 killed from our 11 Inf Div against 6 enemy) are simple skirmishes, as the Yugoslavians continue to withdraw. We now have them on the run, with manouevre rather than head-on fighting forcing them out of two entrenched positions in tough terrain. This exemplifies the theory of Turkish RAW War.
19 Nov 37 (D+20)
1000. A brief foray for recon purposes by our INT wing (Hitay’s 1 Avci Filo) to the north-west of the
Visegrad battle reveals an enemy cavalry division approaching from that direction. However, our single INT wing is ambushed by three Yugoslavian fighter wings and is very quickly reduced to around 20% organisation again. Back to hiding in
Beograd before they are shot out of the sky!
A photo of Visegrad taken by 1 Avci Filo during its short and hectic aerial recon mission. The key to victory is forcing the bridges over the River Drina.
1300. The
Battle for Sjenica continues and is quickly turning into a pivotal engagement. Not only will it close the neck of the Serbia Pocket, but a breakthrough here will link the
Hammer and
Anvil fronts and assist with opening a wide path west towards
Sarajevo and then
Split, where our secondary Adriatic sector lead elements are becoming isolated and face increasing Yugoslavian forces. Wehib Pasha’s superior skills and tactical ‘assault’ selection give him the advantage over Kosic’s 3rd Mot Div, which has the advantage of some entrenchments but is already lower in organisation.
Further to the north-west, the Battle for
Visegrad grinds on, with Karabekir now using ‘shock’ to try to break the enemy 22 Inf Div’s river defence. Cakmak’s 1 Inf Div still remains in reserve. Both sides are taking casualties and losing organisation.
1900. 5 Inf Div has arrived in
Kraljevo, just to the north of 1 Cav Div in
Novi Pazar. The 1st and 2nd Corps troops have now linked, closing off the Serbia Pocket. 5 Inf Div is immediately ordered to advance on
Sjenica to reinforce the attack and outflank the enemy, strengthening the noose on the pocket.
20 Nov 37 (D+21)
1400. As the third week of the campaign draws to an end, in the Adriatic sector 3 Cav Div’s charmed run may also be coming to an end. Their advance on
Sarajevo, which was
almost in reach, has been delayed by an attack from the Yugoslavian 15th Inf Div in
Konjic on
Nevesinje. While the initial odds are reasonable, this will slow progress and 3 Cav is outnumbered and on the move, so is not entrenched. For now, 15 Inf Div remains on its westerly course for
Split, but a strong Yugoslavian attack on
Nevesinje would threaten its supply lines, with any reinforcements still distant.
21 Nov 37 (D+22)
11 Inf Div arrives in
Plav at midnight and is immediately sent to reinforce the attack on
Sjenica, opening up a third flank on the hard-pressed defenders. The battle looks to be coming towards a favourable conclusion. With HQ 1st Corps now guarding
Panavo (on the supply line to
Beograd), at 0200 1 Mtn Div is ordered forward to
Beograd, from where it will push west to
Valjevo and become available for either reinforcing the attack on
Visegrad (if needed) or widening the advance to its north. And in the south, 17 Inf Div arrives in
Stip at 0500 and begins immediately chasing the retreating enemy division north to
Surdulica.
By that time, the Yugoslavian attack on
Nevensinje has not yet caused any serious problems. 3 Cav Div is holding well and its orders to continue to
Sarajevo stand: if they can beat off this attack, they don’t want to sacrifice the progress they have already made, as
Sarajevo still lies open.
And in
Sjenica, Wehib Pasha still carries the main assault alone, with 11 Inf Div in reserve and 5 Inf Div still on its way from the north-east. But he is making strong progress and the enemy looks like breaking quite soon.
World News, Budapest, Hungary. At 4pm this evening, Hungary has become the next nation to be accepted by Germany into its growing Axis faction. Turkey will indeed watch these developments carefully, given Hungary’s pivotal position in Central Europe and their well-publicised claims on various areas in the Balkans now under (or soon to be under) the rule of the Greater Republic.
22 Nov 37 (D+23)
0800. 1 Mtn Div arrives in
Beograd and continues on its way to
Valjevo. At the same time, HQ 2nd Corps diverts to the north-east and the province of
Medveda in the Serbian Pocket. This should help to block the escape of enemy forces fleeing the Romanian push from the east.
However, the probe of Orbay’s 15 Inf Div on
Surdulica runs into firm opposition from Pavlovic’s 7th Inf Div: critically, Orbay’s supplies run out at this point, putting the mockers on his attempted attack, which is quickly called off.
Better news to the north: the major
Battle of Sjenica has been won. Another battle honour for the victorious 1 Cav Div. The enemy retreats south-west towards
Kolasin.
By 1200 1 Cav Div has entered
Sjenica, where they will briefly hold and reorganise. 11 Inf Div is redirected to
Kolasin, to pursue the retreating enemy 3rd Mot Div once they are ready. 5 Inf Div will continue to
Sjenica, to support the drive to the west to relieve our gallant Adriatic sector forces and finish off the war.
The Commander of the Turkish 1st Armoured Car Brigade (1 Cav Div) takes the victory salute from Wehib Pasha in the key central province of Sjenica on 22 November 1937.
The urgency of that relief has increased: another enemy unit – the fresh 17th Inf Div – has joined the attack on 3 Cav Div from a different flank (the north-east, from
Foca). This has worsened the odds and 3 Cav Div, though still holding, will surely be pushed back if the new enemy unit succeeds in reinforcing.
At 1600, a short counter-attack on
Stip by the enemy 7th Inf Div in
Surdulica is beaten back, with 12 Turks killed and 7 Yugoslavians. A skirmish only, but 17 Inf Div remains out of supply and on the defensive for now.
23 Nov 37 (D+24)
1400. As the odds in
Nevesinje reach 50/50 and 3 Cav Div begins to weaken, 15 Inf Div’s bold dash towards
Split is called off. They are ordered to divert north-east towards
Nevesinje. The move will take some time, so it is likely 3 Cav will need to withdraw before the Gataly’s men can arrive. 15 Inf Div will either arrive first and defend in favourable terrain, or hopefully counter-attack a somewhat disorganised enemy before they have a chance to dig in. The war will take a little longer now to finish than the Turkish High Command had dared to dream.
In
Visegrad, both Turk and Yugoslav soldiers are reaching the end of their endurance. 1 Inf Div has still not been able to reinforce. Tactics have reverted to ‘attack’ vs ‘defend’ as Karabekir desperately tries to secure the bridges across the Drina and expand his bridgehead in
Visegrad.
Turkish pioneers attempt to repair one of the bridges over the Drina that has been seized during heavy fighting, 23 November 1937.
24 Nov 37 (D+25)
0400. Our Liaison Officers with the Romanian Army HQ report General Popescu’s armoured division and Antonescu’s infantry division have attacked and defeated a Yugoslavian infantry division in
Jagodina. This is a very useful development, which removes a potential threat to our supply lines and will continue to strengthen the screen cutting off Yugoslavian forces remaining in the Serbian Pocket, which must soon start running out of supplies.
Romanian mortar crews in action during the battle for Jagodina.
The map below shows the general situation in Yugoslavia, at 4am on the morning of 24 November. A more detailed campaign progress map will be produced at the end of the next update, covering advances and battles since 18 November. The Serbian Pocket has been securely sealed, with about a corps of Yugoslavian troops trapped. While a number of units are on the move and advancing, the three key battle in progress or just having finished are:
- The Yugoslavian attack on 3 Cav Div in Nevesinje, where the odds have now swung against the defenders.
- The Battle for Visegrad, which has been in progress since 0900 on 14 November (almost ten days now), where the odds are now in Turkey’s favour.
- The recent Romanian attack on Jagodina in the Serbian Pocket, which should assist the consolidation of the flank of the northern advance and rolling up remaining Yugoslavian resistance in the sector.
Coming Up: Will the Battle for
Visegrad ever end and who will win it? Can 3 Cav Div hold out until relieved, or will they finally have to retreat and abandon their dream of a triumphal entry into
Sarajevo? Are there any more reinforcing Yugoslavian divisions we have not previously seen that may thwart our plans? Does Hungary’s acceptance into the Axis provide a clear and present danger to our Romanian ally and our attack on Yugoslavia? Or will the Axis continue to appease our bold plans for the consolidation of the Balkans into an even Greater Turkish Republic? Have Braanszon Guildenstern’s recent excesses proven too much for even his legendary appetite for over-indulgence and self-destruction? All this and more in the next exciting instalment.
