Chapter 14 - Operation Barbarossa!
June 1st 1941 - 1st September 1941
At 6am, on June the 1st 1941, we declare war upon the Soviet Union. The time has come for us to destroy the communist threat!
Attacks are immediately launched on all German-Russian fronts. For the time being we will not attack Romania, we prefer not to spread our lines too thinly by sending troops there so we shall let the Romanians and Hungarians hold their own and order them to attack when the time is right. We must strike for Leningrad and Moscow as quickly as possible, and ideally hold both of them by this time next year. It would be good to capture them before the year is out but the Russian winter is harsh and there borders are heavily fortified. It is even argued by some on the council that they may have been preparing an attack of their own. Our advantage is in our troops superiority, they do have numbers on their side however. It will be a long, hard conflict.
The Invasion Begins
The following day we learn that Stalin has decreed that the Soviet Union shall be moving their industrial bases to Siberia, away from our advancing forces. We achieve our first major success with the capture of Brest Livosk and its important airfields, Captain2s 1st Panzer corp and the 6th Panzer Corp claiming the victory. By the 3rd we are breaking through in several areas in the north.
The 5th sees the Soviets launching a counter offensive on the Southern Front, in Stryj. They have several armoured and motorised divisions involved in this, a sign we dont just face under equipped infantry. We react by assuming military control over Hungarian forces in the area, using them to reinforce and defeat the Soviet attack. The Hungarians dont have very good troops, but in large numbers they are effective, so we are keeping their 38 divisions currently on the line en-masse.
On the 12th June we are forced to deal with the 1st major event of resistance in occupied provinces, a Norwegian Partisan group seizing control of local police headquarters in Hamar. An infantry division stationed in Oslo moves in and quickly retakes control. Meanwhile reports from the Soviet front indicate that as we progress through the 2nd week of our campaign, it is going well.
On the 16th it is reported that their is strong Soviet resistance on the Southern Front, their troops digging in and fighting for every inch of ground. We also re-inforce the 5th African Corp this day, 2 more infantry divisions arriving this day to link up with them in Tobruk. 3 days later another infantry division and a Panzer division arrive in Bengazi, to assist the Italians in driving the British out of Southern Libya, where they have made alot of ground.
Our progress in the USSR as of 20th June 1941
The rest of June sees a continued advance in the centre, pushing forwards an trying to take as much ground as possible before the Red Army can rally. We are beginning to come up against a stiffening, more organised resistance though.
In North Africa we launch a 3 offensive into Egypt to re-capture Sidi Barrani, and halt any British advance as they re-position themselves to deal with this. The 5th African Corp moves itself from Tobruk to Forte Capuzzo, we must hold the front there!
Moving into July and bad news indeed as our forces are halted by the Commies at Minsk. In the first real urban fighting of the campaign into the USSR, the Red Army proved too mush of a challenge here as it becomes apparent that our advance is slowing down and Blitzkrieg is not succeeding as it has in other countries. The next 2 weeks see a mixture of victories and defeats, our forces clearly now need time to recover before launching on the offensive again. This is unfortunate, we hoped to make better gains by now. But hope is not lost, our troops are still proving themselves to be the better fighting force and given time to re-organise and re-inforce we are sure we will be able to make major breakthroughs again. As such, by the end of July we have paused for a breather in the USSR, to give our troops time to recover. The Soviets attempt several counter attacks but these are all repulsed.
Meanwhile another infantry division is sent to North Africa to help the Italians in their big counter offensive against the British in Southern Libya.
As August begins we renew offensives in Lithuania and South Wets Poland, achieving successs. At a cabinet meeting in Berlin, the Supreme Commander announces plans for a major fresh offensive, set for the 1st week of September. Untill then our troops shall re-cooperate and hold the line, before catching the Soviets by surprise with an simultaneous offensive on all fronts. We really need a major break though before winter starts to set in, so September will be a vital month for us!
Mid-August sees Soviet counter attacks defeated in Lithuania and Belarus. On the 23rd we assume military control over Bulgarian troops, and begin ordering more to the Southern Front. We really need to give everything weve got!
As August ends with fresh Soviet attacks in the North, it is decided we are ready once more for a major push. The Soviets must seem confident that we have been halted - we shall show them this is not so!
The line, August 30th 1941
All in all Operation: Barbarossa is going ok, but needs fresh impetus. If we can really push the Soviets back before the winter, and capture Minsk and Kiev, we should have an advntage as the weather begins to worsen, without having streched our lines too far.
And our foreign minister is working on securing us a vital ally.....an ace up or sleave the Soviets have not seen yet....
