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Minodrin

Jäg. Holmberg
15 Badges
Jul 26, 2001
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Setting
Country : Germany
Scenario : 1944
Difficuty : Normal/Furious

OT : I mean to as a new player (to HoI 2) try and hold back the allies and soviets for as long as possible. The AAR will be written in letter style, and if you like it, please post and say so. If not, post and say so anyway.

June20-44.jpg

Germany June 20th, 1944



Dear Johann.

Great news. I have been promoted. The Führer has fired Ernst Kaltenbrunner for failing to give him correct information regarding the situation at the front and for falling for the American lie that the invasion would take place in Calais. Hans Oster is now the new chief of the SD, and I have been assigned as the main representative of the SD in the Führers staff. I will have to move to East Prussia, but I am sure Erika will understand. Will you make sure that she gets everything she needs in Berlin?

Oster3.gif

Hans Oster, new chief of the Sicherheitsdienst (SD)

I leave tomorrow for the Eagle?s Nest.

Your brother, Hamlin Kirsch. June 20, 1944, Berlin





Dear Johann.

The situation here is horrible. Everyone is shouting accusations back and forth, and I was only able to save my own skin by saying to the Führer that the inability of the SD to warn him of the Bolshevik attack was because of the initial troubles in reorganizing the agency and the bad work of Ernst Kaltenbrunner. The activity here has been massive, I haven?t even had time to unpack yet. We are apparently forming 9 new panzer divisions, 8 fighter flotillas, 12 infantry divisions and the vengeance weapons. Meanwhile I have heard that most of our divisions are understrength and in grave need of rest.

One meeting I recall specifically. When I came here I wanted to ask my counterpart in Kaltenbrunners administration whether there was anything I should know.

- So you are the new man here. Let?s see how long you last. he said. I only returned a puzzled look and said nothing. What was he to speak to me about keeping ones job anyway?

- What do you mean? And I am not the new man, I am herr Kirsh.

- I mean what I said. He has fired 9 of us during the war. But do not worry herr Kirsh, just say yes to everything he asks and blame all your failures on saboteurs, spies and jews. Or your boss if you feel ambitious. Doesn?t matter to me, I shall be shuffling papers in Bayern for the rest of the war. Good luck. he said, then just picked up his bag and marched away.

I tried to turn around to talk to him again, but just then a corporal came and asked if he could show me my new rooms. I had to read all the papers left behind there so I didn?t have any time to unpack my bags, and then everyone started running around like there was no tomorrow, and soon enough I was called to explain to the Führers the new failures of the SD.

I mentioned the Bolshevik attack to you earlier Johann. I shouldn?t really be telling anyone this, so don?t pass it on, but there is a 120km hole in the line south of lake Peipus. And in the middle the 9th Armee, 4th Panzerarmee and III Armeekorps are retreating. And in the far south, around Stryj and Lvov, our troops are more or less gone and the Romanians are breaking bad.

Still, all is not lost. The Führer has sent our best commanders to the west. He said that we cannot fight a two-front war, thus this enemy landing must be crushed at once. Almost all our forces in Western Europe are heading towards Normandy. An attack was launched under command of Field Marshall Manstein, with Heinrichi and Rommel supporting. Initially all went well and General Patton was seemingly organizing a retreat, but the Americans got tons of battle-ready troops, and we were forced to fall back. Cherbourg has also fallen. The Führer got into a fit of rage when I had to tell them that our troops surrendered instead of fighting to the last man.


10022003lg.jpg

American troops greet the mayor of Barneville on their way to Cherbourg.

Is Erika feeling better now? She was most unhappy when I told her I had to leave and that she couldn?t come with me. Tell her that our fine battleship, the Tirpitz, finally got her revenge for the fall of her sister ship, when a British cruiser was sunk in the northern sea. Don?t worry; we will print it in the newspapers soon, if not by the time you have gotten this letter already.

Your brother, Hamlin Kirsch. June 23. Bad Nauheim
 
This should be interesting. I wonder how long you will hold off the Allies and the SU. Or will you push them back into the sea and capture moscow. Good luck.
 
Dear Johann

Finally some good news. For me, that is, not for Germany in particular.

I was again taking part in the führers military strategy sessions so that I might share any knowledge the SD might have. Oh, don?t think I was alone; he trusts very few people enough to have that kind of meetings. Many generals were in the room, and quite a few aides were coming and going. Even reichsmarshall Göring was present, although he slept most of the time on a chair in the corner of the room. But don?t? let anyone know that.

As I was saying, we were in a military session when a kriegsmarine aide came in shouting out that 3 English ships had been sunk. More specifically the HMS Ajax, the HMS Black Prince and the HMS Sirius had been sunk. The Führer was overjoyed.

- Ha, good news finally! With over 200 divisions, why do I have to turn to the kriegsmarine for good news? And you, colonel Kirsh, learn from this man about the type of, of, of news to bring. Yes, and lieutenant? what wa? nevermind. Did we lose any ships?

I have never seen the Führer like he was then. Of course, I have only been here for a few days. But when that aide told us that we had lost the Prinz Eugen, Leipzig, Gneisenau, Nürnberg and almost two-dozen destroyers, the Führer fell very quiet, for a moment. I don?t think I can tell you what happened then, but after that I feel that my position is far less threatened.

Our troops in Russia are regrouping. I personally feel that the Russians might give at least portions of our troops enough time to regroup, and once they do that we will strike and push them all the way back to Moscow. Rommel has retreated to Paris, but with the kriegsmarine guarding the English-channel, the army and waffen-ss officers I have talked to here are certain we will be able to destroy those 50 enemy divisions in Normandie. Ofcourse the holes in the front are still horrible, but enough of the war.

Are you still living in Berlin? I suggest that you move out. More to the point, I demand you get Erika out. The Americans are bombing all the major cities, and I did mention what Göring was doing during the meeting. How is the weather there? The summer is beautiful here in Prussia, just must come and see it after the war.

Your brother, Hamlin Kirsch. June 26. Bad Nauheim

bismarck-prinzeugen.jpg

The Tirpitz moving towards the English Channel

wwii141.jpg

A Panther Tank left over near Stryj (Poland) in the retreat of General Haussers Panzerarmee
 
Dear Johann

Things are hectic here. The disaster is too great to keep secret, and by the time you get this letter you will probably know that Germany does not have a surface fleet anymore. And the word U-boot is quite taboo here. It was sad to see the navy officers trying to explain to the Führer how the Tirpitz still was safe. Yes, safe, nearly destroyed, and alone. And what did we make the British loose? A few light cruisers and destroyers.

But all is not lost. The Führer has been screaming for counter-attacks, and some have even been successful. Our attack on Argentan is trapping a few American divisions in Orleans. The Soviets have been giving Stryj hell, but Balcks III panzerkorps and Miesses LXV infanteriekorps have been keeping the lines against 5 times their number of Bolsheviks. Prisoners that we have captured speak of horrible disorganization, especially now that Lwow is also falling back to us. I personally told the Führer that the SD does not think the enemy has the strength to attack the Lwow sector again.

Have you seen any bombers in the skies over there?

Your brother, Hamlin Kirsch. July 3. Bad Neuheim

Tank.jpg

A MK-IV tank in the 24th Panzer division, after the Soviets had been pushed back
 
Dear Johann

Things are quiet here now. The Führer has gone to Berlin to greet the widows and orphans of the largest naval battle ever. Little did I think when I heard that our surface fleet was killed that our submarines would continue the fight! Can you believe it yourself even? The English lost about 150 destroyers, 23 light cruisers, 5 heavy cruisers, 2 carriers and 6 battleships! And let us not forget the Colombian destroyer squadron that apparently got caught in the crossfire. It has been the punch line of every joke here for the past days.

Yes, we lost also. As a matter of fact we lost too much, but I have made sure these whispers are taken care off before they begin, it is also my job to make sure defeatism does not take root here. It must not take place here. Still, heavy losses, heavy hearts. 2 light and 3 heavy cruisers. Both our battlecruisers, 19 destroyers, and most importantly of all, 251 submarines. 18 of our submarine flotillas are utterly gone. And now British bombers have sunk the Tirpitz in port too.

It is good that letters that I send and are sent to me do not pass trough the censors. Make sure to hide my letters well brother, long in the future, after we win the war, they might be interesting for historians studying the dark hour of the Reich. How goes your work at the car-factory? There is a great demand for more cars at the front I hear. The battles in Bessarabia are massive. We managed to push the frontline Bolshevik units away from Stanislawow, but now their counterattack has pushed back our disorganized units. Von Kleist has been sent over there to get things in order.

The Bolsheviks are pushing us hard. They have a spearhead that might even reach Warsaw, undefended as it is. But the 1. Panzerarmee is cutting it off at the base and soon 6 more enemy divisions will surrender. Of course not everyone is as optimistic. I recall a call I made earlier today to the SS-Wiking division.

- Good day. I hear here at that there is some kind of enemy attack taking place against the 4. Armee? Can you confirm anything? Do you have access to any prisoners? I know you are a bit away from the 4. Armee, but maybe they have airshipped some prisoners to? I was speaking on the phone, being rather relaxed, as many of the generals were somewhere. I wasn?t expecting to be cut off by some young captain.

- Ah, it?s someone from the OKH. I though you were all in soundproof bunkers there back home. I quess I war wrong. Besides, can?t you hear trough the phone ?of the attack?. Atleast I can hear their artillery fine from here, it?s only a little over 100km. Oh, and our friends at the Abwehr have informed us, with great glee I may add, that the Soviets are attacking with about 60 divisions. That would be a something between 600.000 and 700.000 men, I was told. Yes, as a matter of fact I was told to specifically mention that fact encase someone from Germany rang and asked. Good-bye, the man said, and then he hung up. I didn?t bother calling back.

Your brother, Hamlin Kirsch. July 13. Bad Neuheim
 
Impressive, that scenario sounds like it truly tests the mettle of any German player. Have you pulled back to a more defensive line in the east? Or are you holding as-is? Good work regardless.