They say Schlieffen plan can't work? - I beg to difAAR! (mod 1914)

[Winner]

Chapter 8: Wilhelm the Conqueror
Part 1​

By early 1918, Britain was in serious trouble. The collapse of two of its three main continental allies was bad in itself, but what was happening now was an unmitigated disaster.

When France surrendered to Germany, the realization that they might have lent money to the wrong side dawned on the American bankers. All the money they had lent to France and Italy were now gone for all intents and purposes as it was highly unlikely these countries would be able (or willing) to repay them. In addition to that they also owed a lot of money to Britain, which needed that money to repay its own huge debts to America. This cast a shadow of doubt on Britain's ability to honour its obligations and the Americans reacted to that by demanding payments for their products in cash.

This was a major blow to the British economy. Soon the country was unable to buy enough foodstuffs and a strict rationing system had to be imposed - a system which would push millions of people from poorer urban regions to the edge of starvation. The effects on war production were even more crippling, as strikes were now a common occurrence. Shipbuilding was suspended altogether in order to maintain at least basic production of artillery shells and small arms, and the Americans refused to sell their destroyers for anything but cash.

The irony wasn't lost on the Germans: the Americans had accomplished in a month what their U-boots had failed to achieve in years. While Germany's problems with the lack of food were slowly ebbing now when France and Italy had begun resupplying Germany again, Britain was getting used to the same nightmare that its blockade had previously caused in Germany. And it gets better: since the notion of defeating Germany now sounded like a silly joke, the American public's pro-war sentiments were quickly giving way to the traditional isolationism. The danger that the US would declare war on Germany receded.

And then there was the war at sea. Britain's rest on laurels after the "2nd Trafalgar" in which the German pre-dreadnought fleet was blown off the waves had made it over-confident and oblivious to the change in German naval strategy. In previous months, German U-boots targeted Britain's destroyers and light cruisers in a systematic attempt to deprive its navy of screening ships. British admiralty which mainly cared about their precious battleships now realized that without enough screening ships, their dreadnoughts can't be sent to the U-boot-infested North Sea or anywhere else where the German navy operated. This gave Germany the window of opportunity its leader had long been waiting for...

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"Your Majesty, it is now up to you to choose our next strategic goal now when France and Italy have been beaten," said Erich von Falkenhayn, Moltke's successor as the Chief of the General Staff. "There are some who believe that a major offensive in the East will end this war," he continued, looking in the direction of Hindenburg-Ludendorff duo sitting across the table, "however others object that such an offensive would require total commitment on our part. Russia is vast and once the front unfolds, it will only grow wider. Furthermore, our soldiers will get farther from our supply areas. If we commit to such an offensive, we will have to leave France only weakly garrisoned."
"Sounds dangerous," the Kaiser remarked. "What's the alternative?"
"Well, the alternative was proposed to me by the Imperial Admiralty Staff. The navy is confident that a landing operation in England can now be seriously contemplated. Also, according to our intelligence services, England isn't currently capable of guarding all the coastal areas. I must stress the word currently. If we wait, England will eventually deploy garrisons to all beaches and ports suitable for enemy invasion. However, a landing operation of the scale that would be necessary to subdue England has never been attempted. Even the English were only attacking Brittany across the Channel which they had fully under their control. If the admiralty is wrong about the situation of the British Royal Navy, we may suffer catastrophic losses."
After a short pause, Falkenhayn turned to the Kaiser again. "This is why I convened this meeting with Your Majesty. The General Staff is split on this issue and so we need guidance from you."
The Kaiser winced, but didn't answer immediately. After what seemed like an eternity, he took a deep breath and straightened up in his chair. "Well, then I say we invade England! I won't give it time to lick its wounds and then stab us in the back once we get busy in Russia - who do you think I am, some Bohemian corporal? Ha ha ha!" The Kaiser burst into rumbling laughter, soon joined by the other men in the room. Only Hindenburg and Ludendorff remained quiet, seething.​

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Hochseeflotte is now in final stages of preparations for Operation Walrus. Two new dreadnoughts are commissioned: SMS Wörth - the new flagship - and SMS Kaiser Friedrich III. Their crews are hand-picked from other ships by Grand Admiral Scheer himself. He wants only the best for what's going to be the greatest moment in German naval history.

.

 

[Lord of Time]

Operation Walrus. Sounds familiar, but it just can't place it...

Great AAR, I just know I couldn't pull this off myself. Good to see Germany kicking ass.

 

[unmerged(218700)]

As in it's gonna be big, have tusks, smell like fish and flop about on land? Sounds about right for a cross-channel invasion

 

[trekaddict]

As in it's gonna be big, have tusks, smell like fish and flop about on land? Sounds about right for a cross-channel invasion

Never! Rule Britannia!

 

[unmerged(218700)]

Never! Rule Britannia!

I agree entirely - Ze germs vill never rule!

 

[trekaddict]

I agree entirely - Ze germs vill never rule!

Being a German myself it's kinda strange to say that, but I have a strange fondness for the Brits.

 

[Winner]

Part 2​

On the 3rd of April, 1918, the unthinkable happens. Four German infantry divisions set foot on British soil in Lincolnshire; the weakly armed British colonial troops who've arrived from Africa just a few weeks earlier are swept aside by von Hutier's elite troopers. It's clear the British never expected a landing to be made so far north - most of their divisions are deployed along the Channel coast and in South-East England.
Once suitable ports are captured, the main force comprising of the 10th army is transported to Britain.

​

Germans waste no time and order two mountain corps to advance in the general direction of Scotland.

A small British fleet attempts to escape to Scapa Flow when German land forces occupy its home base. Hochseeflotte on its way North intercepts it and sinks many of its ships, including two of the most modern battleships in the British navy, HMS Warspite and HMS Ramillies, both sunk by the German flagship SMS Wörth. Grand Admiral Scheer's joy is palpable.

In the Scottish highlands, four retreating British divisions are outsmarted, outrun and captured by von Lettow-Vorbecks mountaineers. This victory will enter textbooks as the perfect example of achieving a complete victory over numerically equal enemy in difficult terrain, without any assistance from the air or sea and without adequate supply.*

As the Germans now approach Scapa Flow, the main British fleet needs to leave the harbour - which is what Grand Admiral Scheer has been waiting for for four (uh, this sounds funny) long years. What follows is the first major battle between dreadnought-based fleets. Three German light cruisers are sunk, but they are followed to their watery grave by three British battleships. That's a trade-off Scheer is willing to accept.

-----------
*- Alpine troops RULE

 

[unmerged(191057)]

Oh! Germania rule the waves! Germans never shall be slaves!

 

[soulking]

Operation Sealion has succeeded!!!

 

[unmerged(189717)]

Operation Sealion has succeeded!!!

Walrus!

 

[Zhuge Liang]

That was surprisingly easy. I expected the Royal Navy to put up a better fight seeing as it was Britain's main line of defence.

 

[yourworstnightm]

A Walruss seems to be an unmentionable sea mammal more favourable to the Krautz than a Sea Lion.

 

[SovietAmerika]

Long live Germania!

You did what Hitler never was able to do.

 

[unmerged(152960)]

Been a lurker for a bit, but I got to say great AAR. Very interesting, keep up the work old chap, lol.

 

[Herbert West]

Seems like its "von der Don bis der Themze" now.

 

[unmerged(87183)]

Excellent choice! I was worried the British Navy would be too much to tackle, and so I expected Russia to be your first choice.

This is much better.

 

[Winner]

Operation Walrus. Sounds familiar, but it just can't place it...

Great AAR, I just know I couldn't pull this off myself. Good to see Germany kicking ass.

Thanks.

I agree entirely - Ze germs vill never rule!

Mwahaha...

Being a German myself it's kinda strange to say that, but I have a strange fondness for the Brits.

I know what you mean. However as far as WW1 is concerned, I am on Germany's side

Oh! Germania rule the waves! Germans never shall be slaves!

Exactly

That was surprisingly easy. I expected the Royal Navy to put up a better fight seeing as it was Britain's main line of defence.

What I am not showing to you are the dozens of smaller battles I fought with the Royal Navy. At first it was very active, but attrition took its toll. I suspect the AI was missing screens or perhaps was repairing the ships, so it kept them in ports. I incorporated that into the "story" of this AAR.

A Walruss seems to be an unmentionable sea mammal more favourable to the Krautz than a Sea Lion.

I knew someone would use the phrase :rofl:

Long live Germania!

You did what Hitler never was able to do.

Hitler was an idiot, and Imperial Germany is way cooler than the 3rd Reich. Mostly because it's not so obsessed with exterminating people

And when you look at it, what the heck was the point? We fought two bloody wars to prevent Germany from rising to a dominant position in Europe. 90 years and 50 million dead later, we all cheer when Germany's economy, the engine of the European Union, grows faster than expected. Oh, the irony.

Wouldn't it have been much better if we skipped the 2nd war altogether? Or both of them, for that matter?

Been a lurker for a bit, but I got to say great AAR. Very interesting, keep up the work old chap, lol.

Thank you. But this AAR is to end soon, as you surely suspect now

Seems like its "von der Don bis der Themze" now.

Excellent choice! I was worried the British Navy would be too much to tackle, and so I expected Russia to be your first choice.

This is much better.

I thought so. I had other motivation too - England usually gives up when you defeat both Russia and France, but then you don't get much from it in the peace negotiations. On the other hand, when you break and humiliate it, the spoils are much better.

And frankly, it's much more fun too, game-wise

 

[Winner]

Part 3​

Summer in Britain begins with a major offensive. With Scotland under German control and the seas relatively free of the Royal Navy, the Germans can finally concentrate enough forces to break through the British lines.

On 25th of June, the ship that had once made all previous battleships obsolete is sunk off the coast of Scotland. HMS Dreadnought is sunk by German dreadnought (uh oh) SMS Prinzregent Luitpold. Nothing could symbolize the downfall of the British navy better than this victory.

A Canadian infantry division is cornered in Cornwall. The Canadians put up a brave but futile resistance before they are captured bay the Germans.

In August, Lettow-Vorbeck's mountaineers make a landing on the Emerald Isle. The British have abandoned it - the only enemy forces there are 2 Portuguese and 1 Japanese divisions which have been stuck there since the Operation Walrus began. In many towns, the Germans are welcomed as liberators by the crowds.

They are quickly surrounded and destroyed. Whereas the Portuguese surrender relatively quickly, the Japanese fight to the last man. German soldiers don't understand why they want to sacrifice their lives for a foreign land, but they grant their wish nevertheless.

By September, most of England is in German hands - except for London and its immediate surroundings. The remnants of the Home Fleet now attempt to escape to the Mediterranean. Hochseeflotte pursuits them.

In a great battle off the coast of Brittany, HSF finally engages the British ships. In the resulting naval carnage, the Germans lose another 3 light cruisers and their flagship suffers serious damage to its guns turrets. Even Grand Admiral Scheer is lightly injured when an enemy shell explodes near the bridge. But that's a small price to pay for sinking 7 British battleships and 1 battlecruiser.

Scheer isn't done yet. Despite the damage to his ships, he pursues the surviving enemy ships. In a series of small engagements, he destroys scores of enemy vessels, including Commonwealth ships that attempt to protect the retreating British.
When he's done, Britannia rules the waves no more.

Field Marshal's von Kluck, the commander of the German armies in Britain, sends a message to the encircled British, urging them to surrender without further bloodshed. Unfortunately, the only word in Field Marshal Haig's reply reads "Never!" Well, nobody can say the Germans didn't try. The final assault begins the next day.

The British resist the Germans with fanatical determination; some divisions fight literally to the last man. The Germans advance slowly, having to clear every street, every house and every floor. Nobody wants to die now when the war is almost won and German commanders know that. In previous battles they were reluctant to use heavy artillery in urban areas - now they unleash its devastating power. London is shelled mercilessly and many of its landmarks, including the Houses of Parliament, are severely damaged. The British fight tooth and nail, attempting counter-attacks whenever they lose important ground, and even resort to bayonet charges when they run out of ammunition. Nonetheless, when a German infantry company fights its way up to the roof of the Buckingham Palace and hoists the German Imperial Flag, the British know they've lost. Gradually the remaining British units begin to surrender to the Germans, who note with respect that most of these men are injured or out of ammunition. Major fighting has ended, but small hotspots of resistance still need to be extinguished. After one of these miniature battles, German troops discover the dead body of Field Marshal Haig in an underground bunker - with a revolver in his hand and a bullet hole in his head. For generations to come, he'll be known as the Butcher of London.

With the whole of the British Isles under control, Germany sends its terms to the exiled British government. It is made clear that refusal would have "grave consequences" for the English people. The Kaiser spices this threat with a remark that Germany will "treat England as a colony" if she refuses his generous offer. Reluctantly, the British accept. Some, like the first lord of the admiralty Winston Churchill, resign in protest and remain in self-imposed exile in Canada, Australia or the other dominions.

Civilian administration and the police are allowed to function independently in Britain, but the island will remain garrisoned exclusively by German troops until the war is over. No British troops are to return to Ireland either. For the duration of the armistice, Britain will supply coal, steel and other products exclusively to Germany. Of course, British forces will at once evacuate German colonies and return all seized merchant vessels. All support for the remaining Entente belligerents is to cease immediately. The final peace terms will be decided by a conference which will be held after the war.

.

 

[yourworstnightm]

The Entente is defeated!! Now crush Russia!!

 

[unmerged(133831)]

And the UK is gone... Are Portugal and Japan the last members of the Entete? The first can be easily defeated, but the last one will probably cause problems to transport all the necessary divisions to Asia...