CVM AAR PART 7: The Grand Alliance

[Carl G. E. von Mannerheim]

CVM AAR Part 7: The Grand Alliance.

In late April 1942, the German High Command decides on its course of action for the coming offensive in the East.

Jodl takes the floor: “Here is what we propose; First off, there will be a new division of forces in the East, Army Groups North and South will remain as is, but Army group north will be split into two separate army groups, Army Group A under von Manstein, and Army Group B under Erwin Rommel. He proved himself in the campaign for Smolensk; we feel he is qualified for the position. Anyway, Army Group South will carry the brunt of the initial attack; they will advance on Stalingrad and Rostov. The XXII and V Panzer tank Gruppen, along with the 6th army, shall be tasked with the capture of the city of Stalingrad. Army Group B will guard the Flank of the advancing army group south. And now the issue of our Italian allies: They will be of prime importance in the coming attack. Currently they have a large field army forming around Sevastopol in the Crimea. They will board naval vessels and land south of Rostov and just west of the Grozny Oil fields. They will be tasked with cutting off all reinforcements to the Caucuses. This sector of the front will have prominence over all others. The rest of the army in the east will build defenses and consolidate their forces for future campaigns. By years end we expect to have control over the Caucuses and have Moscow outflanked in the south. Your thoughts, mein Fuhrer?”

”Make it so. When will the attack begin?”

”June 1st sir.”

”Buy this time next year I will be conferring with you all in Stalingrad!”

Meanwhile, In Moscow:

”And what of the radio intercepts of the new German attack?” Asks a concerned Stalin.

“It is impossible to tell where exactly they’ll strike, we’ve had conflicting reports, some saying Moscow is their goal, others the Caucuses, even one that said”-

“The Caucuses? What are our defenses there?”

“General Petrov has just arrive to defend the region between Rostov and Grozny.”

“Continue to build there, that is where their main at- wait, perhaps it is just a diversion. Continue to build there, but Moscow will still have priority.”

“Yes sir.” Says Molotov.

Meanwhile, in DC:

“I want our boys to engage the Germans before the year is out.” Says Roosevelt.

“Right now Africa seems to be the best opportunity, however the Italians are still quite strong.” Replies Churchill.

“Well, it appears that for the immediate time-being the only American servicemen that are engaged is the 8th Airforce.”

“Yes we appreciate their cooperation in the coming bomber campaign over Germany.”

“We must do something about Africa….”

On June 1st, the attack begins, XXII and V Panzer attack Soviet corps defending the Don Bridge head. A breakthrough is achieved and the XXII panzer rushes through.

In the Mediterranean, the HMS Gloucester is attacked by Italian subs. It is heavily damaged and withdraws.

By June 21st, the Soviets are in frenzy. There is a hole in there front in the south and they don’t know how to address the situation. In the North however, the Soviets achieve a heavy victory against the Finnish V corps. Completely decimating the formation.

The Finns now with an exposed flank, are completely surrounded by the 14th army; only a narrow 50 corridor is held open. The Finns begin to withdraw towards their border. In the south, the 2 Guards Tank army plugs the gap, they are immediately engaged and suffer heavy casualties. A total disaster has been temporarily avoided.

In the west, Eisenhower finally arrives in England. He will be in charge of the buildup of allied forces in preparation for a return to the continent. Also, British code breakers detect some odd traffic in the Med. At Gibraltar, a scout flotilla is sent out but is repulsed by an Italian BB group. Something is up.

The last week of June is one of the worst weeks suffered by the Allies so far. First, Army Group North discovers, by accident, a hole in the defenses of Leningrad, after several days of bitter fighting; the city falls to the Germans.

Then, On June 28th, the Germans and Italians attack Vichy France! German Panzers strike form the north. And The Italians hit Algeria in Force. At eh end of the week, both Algiers and Marseille are the scenes of desperate house-to-house Fighting. Along the Don, the 2nd Guards tank group is destroyed and German armor rushes through the gap. In the North, a large group of Partisans is detected by German troops near Riga.

In Washington, Roosevelt speaks into the phone, “Well, guess this answers the question of troop deployments. I can have the 1ST and 5th armies under Patton in Africa by late August.”

”Yes, very good, I will send more tanks and instruct Montgomery to begin his offensive at the same time.” Replied Churchill.

Now, for the first time, American boys were going to fight the Germans.

Over Europe, The 8th air Force attacks industrial targets in Cologne, moderate damage is done and the US loses about 6 bombers to flak. To counter this new threat, German high Command orders the re-deployment of the Luftwaffe in the west to the Franco-German border. This way they can intercept the bombers as they cross the border.

On July 12th, Vichy France surrenders. Now southern France, Algeria, and Syria are in German hands. The British quickly dispatch an invasion army to Syria to try to take Beirut before the Germans can station any troops there. The Allies rush deployment of their troops to Africa, target date for ‘Operation Torch,’ August 31st.

Then, the Italians finally land in the Caucuses. They take the defenders completely by surprise. Rostov is outflanked, Stalingrad is threatened, and Leningrad has fallen. Now, the Caucuses are too in jeopardy. In Moscow, the situation is causing strain on even the most hardened Communists.

”Molotov! Where are you?” Yells Stalin.

”U-u-u-under h-h-h-here s-s-sir.”

”Molotov? Is that you?”

”Y-y-y-yes sir.”

”Well get up you moron!” Stalin says as he slaps him in the face, “get back to work! Here’s what we’ll do. We will abandon Rostov and set up a defensive line from Stalingrad to Sarvastpol. We will throw everything we have into this fight!”

So far the summer offensive has been highly successful for the Germans, not only have they achieved a breakthrough near Stalingrad, but the have also captured Leningrad, and have achieved a new breakthrough on the North Flank of Moscow. It is now possible that Moscow may fall before the end of the year.

”I want a COUNTER ATTACK!” ordered Stalin, “all available troops are to alleviate the pressure on Moscow. We will not lose!”

In the Northern suburbs of Stalingrad, The 62nd army under Chuikov counterattacks the weakened V Panzer Group. The Germans are decimated, severely weakening the German advance.

On August 16th, ‘Torch’ begins. The Americans, under General Patton have landed east of Algiers. They are only the first wave. A British Contingent, made up of X corps and the veteran XX corps, or Bergen and Brest fame.

At a meeting in London, Churchill and Roosevelt decide on the strategy for 1943. If the USSR can hold out until then, they will launch a major invasion of France in May. In order to do this, they must liberate all of North Africa and, If possible knock Italy out of the war before then.

Stalin receives this news with mixed feelings, but it strengthens his resolve to fight on. The situation is more than desperate it is nearing hopelessness. There is no hope for the defenders of Russia. Their only hope is something drastic.

On one hand, Stalingrad holds out, after heavy attack from the German’s new Arado-123 Jet Dive bombers and then repels the attacks of the German XXII Panzer and 9th armies. But South of the city, the Germans break through, nearly surrounding the Russians there. However in turn, the Italians are outflanked; the Russians have broken through, nearly surrounding their forward units.

On September 20th, the BEF captures Tobruk. Now Algiers is the only port capable of hosting an evacuation of axis troops. In Algeria, the British X and XX corps land in the Italians’ rear. Cutting them off. Allied forces have surrounded the city. In early October, the Axis alliance begins to crumble. The Italian 5th army evacuates Algiers via sea completely abandoning the DAK and Leeb. Germany threatens to attack Italy but is engaged to heavily to do so. The remaining Germans and Italians will have to fight their way out. They begin their retreat and make it to Tripoli before the X and XX corps cut them off at eh Libyan-Algerian border. The situation on the Med is deteriorating rapidly for the axis.

At the same time, the Germans of Army group Center breakthrough and rush towards Moscow! They reach the outskirts of the city. Winter is fast approaching. The Germans are running out of time for this year.

On October 18th, the Russians launch operation Pluto. It is aimed at the southern flank of the Italian army. It achieves heavy initial success, cutting deep into the Italians rear, attacking airfields of the 1st IAF.

In Germany, they decide on a winter defense strategy, they will dig in along the Don River in the south. The Italians, if capable of holding their bridgehead will dig in there. Their goal is to maintain pressure on Stalingrad until next summer.

The Americans and British have made their plans for 1943 final.

1) Invasion of Italy, Operation ‘Cupid’s Arrow’ Slated for Feb 14 1943. The Americans under General Patton will land to the immediate north and south of Rome. The Allies feel that with the fall of Rome all of Italy will surrender. Thereby causing the Germans to transfer troops form Russia to Northern Italy.

2) The Invasion of Greece, Operation ‘Spartan,’ slated for March 1st, will be conducted by British Army Group Africa under Montgomery. They will seize Athens and Advance into Albania and Yugoslavia.

3) Invasion of France, Operation ‘Overlord’ Slated for May 30th 1943. A combined Anglo-American Force will land in Northern France and advance on Paris. Meanwhile, the British X and XX corps will hit southern France, taking Marseille. The troops in Northern Italy will help with an offensive on Venice.

Meanwhile the Germans too decide on their strategy for 43.

1) Seizure of Moscow and Stalingrad.

2) Defense of Mediterranean, Garrison southern France.

3) Hold current line in Russia until spring.

As the German scythes close around Stalingrad, their advance stops suddenly. When Stalin call Chuikov, asking him for the situation he is answered,

“All is Quiet on New Year’s Day”

Somehow the Red army hade survived.

[Carl G. E. von Mannerheim]

Post all remarks/comments here.

CvM

[Amona]

Hi Carl,

good stuff, I enjoyed it as I did with the previous chapters.

Maybe some order of battle will make some things clearer to the observer.

I figure you play the game hotseat?

[JerseyJohn]

Very enjoyable. Aside from the actual events described, your combination of written narrative with interlaced photos has reached the point of excellence.

[ November 18, 2002, 04:22 PM: Message edited by: JerseyJohn ]

[Carl G. E. von Mannerheim]

Ill include more OoB next time. The Next installment is going to be a good one. We'll see an invasion of Italy, Greece, and France perhaps? We may also see the Soviets rise like a phoenix from the ashes. Or will the Germans break through to Moscow?

CvM

[T80whopsimeanT34]

This is realy good text i didnt even knwe it was astory i tought the WWII went like this :confused:

[Carl G. E. von Mannerheim]

WW2 went something like this. Their are a few differences between what really happened and this AAR.

In the next installment however, it will see pretty damn far off on the history

CvM

[Carl G. E. von Mannerheim]

Ok, i will begin work on the next installment in about 30-50 minutes. I should have it up by later tonight.

CvM