The World Shall Be Ours! A German HOI2:DDA AAR!

Chapter 15 - Pearl Harbour!

1st September 1941- 27th December 1941

At 5am on the 1st September, we re-launch our Russian offensive in the South, and then the following day we take advantage of failing Russian attacks to re-launch the offensive in the centre as well. We seem unable to advance in the North though, being stuck at the Riga River. We really need to make some major breakthroughs before winter sets in!

On the 6th we issue the command to Romania to hand over control of their military forces to German generals, which they accept. This helps us to achieve breakthroughs, and by the 8th the situation is going well, achieving them in all 3 sectors (even 1 in the north!) This good news is followed by a successful battle in the Central Barents Sea where toda’s 1st Wolf Pack see’s it’s first engagement of the war, sinking a Soviet submarine whilst on Patrol! We do have withdraw it to German waters later though, as we are having trouble getting supplies to Norway as the British blockade our sea routes.

On the 16th September we revel what we hope will be a winning trump card against the Soviets and the British, after several months of negotiations German Foreign Minister Churchill 25 signs an alliance with the Japanese in Tokyo, bring them in as a full member of the Axis! We really hope this will help us as the Soviets and British will be forced to divert major forces to the far east as the powerful Japan and their Chinese puppets will no doubt seek to make rapid claims, the Japanese stating that they wish to both control Siberia and the Pacific, claiming the raw resources for their own and giving themselves great room to expand. We are happy for them to do this, together we shall crush the communists and the foolish British.

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The Americans have recently been taking a very pro-allied stance, despite officially being neutral. They have been making great protests both at our expansions and at the Japanese in the Pacific, threatening the Japanese with embargos and even military action. As such, the Japanese decide to launch a surprise attack on the United States at their Hawaiian Naval base at Pearl Harbour, a pre-emptive strike aimed at causing a devastating blow to the American Navy. On September the 23rd, Japanese planes proceed to bombard Pearl Harbour, effectively declaring war upon the United States. Together, we are now at war with the USA. The Philippines declares war upon us in support of the US.

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The USS Arizona ablaze having been struck by Japanese bombers

Whilst the attack goes well and great damage is done to US ships, unfortunately their aircraft carriers were at sea at the time, meaning Japan will have a tough job ahead of them.

As September ends, the Japanese have succeeded in capturing the vital Soviet city of Vladivostok, their Eastern most major city/port.

Meanwhile we are having success on the Soviet Southern front, but yet again we have stalled in the centre and the North. German council members are seen raging as reports come in and we do not gain the ground we really need before winter kicks in! There is still a vast distance between us and Moscow!

We kick-start October with an espionage operation which damages Soviet industrial production. The Soviets and the British both invade Persia on the 6th, no doubt to secure their oil fields to use against us….

Mid October and things aren’t going well as our African Corp is forced to leave Sidi Barrani once again, to ensure they don’t become cut off. Winter is now beginning to set in the USSR, and we have nowhere near the gains we desire! Thankfully we capture Balta on the 25th, followed by Cherkassy on November the 2nd, meaning we might actually be able to achieve a real breakthrough at least somewhere on the Soviet front! This leads to us attacking again in the centre, though we are stalled slightly in the south as we need to re-inforce the captured positions. Heavy snowfall starts to set it, making it hard for our troops to move forward and assault.

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As the month ends we have captured and are holding Bobraisk in the face of Soviet counter attacks., and Romanian troops have seized Odessa in the South, using pure strength of numbers! A new CAS bomber wing is completed and sent to the Russian front to begin harassing Soviet troops. The American Navy is shown an early lesson as we sink their battleship the USS Colorado in the Mediterranean. The Japanese have also moved to take Hong Kong from the British, and prevent any allied attempt to move into mainland China from there.

December starts with another successful espionage mission to sabotage industry in the USSR. On the 8th we defeat a massive Soviet attack at Bobraisk, and use the opportunity to counter attack and seize neighbouring Zhlobin. In the South Hungarian, Bulgarian and Romanian troops take Krivoy Rog on the 16th. 2 days later another espionage mission into the Soviet Union disrupts work of one of their tech teams. On the 22nd another tactical bomber wing is finished and immediately ordered to the Russian front, to bomb troops around Minsk.

News from North Africa is that the Italians are fighting hard to push the allies out of Libya, finally getting their act together at last it seems…..
Our African Corp is holding our small foothold in Egypt, though some are assisting the Italians.

The mood on Christmas day in Berlin is a sour one, the breakthroughs we desired in Russia have not been achieved and we are forced to dig in for the winter as the snow makes it too hard to advance anywhere but in the south, where Axis troops have superior numbers.

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Soviet Front, December 27th 1941
 
Rather disappointing - I hope it's more a case of our own Generals getting to grips with large-scale warfare than any sort of efficiency on the part of the reds? Better luck next year!
 
Rather disappointing - I hope it's more a case of our own Generals getting to grips with large-scale warfare than any sort of efficiency on the part of the reds? Better luck next year!
Bit of both I feel, the USSR is certainally more noticeably stonger than expected, after all the Finns were too scared to fight them in the Winter War (which thus never happened).

On the plus side theirs little chance of the Soviets being able to srike back, so it's case of grinding them down and hitting them where it hurts when I get the oppurtunity.
 
Chapter 16 - The Spring Offensive

27th December 1941- June 1st 1942

Before the year is up our Axis force push in the South, capturing Dneprpetrovsk. We follow this up on January 16th by finally pushing across the Boh River and taking Perekop. Again it is force of numbers that is winning us through in the south.

As February starts we decide to unite the 1st to 4th African Corps into 1, so that they are able to better co-ordinate attacks. The Italians are trying desperately to push the British out of Libya.

However on February the 12th things in Africa take a major turn for the worse as the Americans launch what they have codenamed ‘Operation: Torch’, an invasion of Vichy French Morocco. The treacherous Vichy French commander Darlen has made a deal with the allies, and the Vichy French forces stand down after minimal fighting, handing Casablanca and a surrounding areas to American forces. We are forced to react by taking control over Algeria and Tunisia from Vichy France, the Italians taking over the running of the area. However with the American Navy having sunk all Italian troop transports, and us having no way to get our Navy safely to the area, it is going to be hard to defend from the American advance.

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We also have some minor trouble in occupied provinces having to put down a rebellion by partisans in Luniniec. The Japanese however are doing pretty well, capturing Singapore and launching some attacks into British India, whilst invading the Dutch East Indies and Eastern Russia.

March and it’s clear that we won’t be able to stop the Americans in Algeria. The Spanish tried but don’t have the troop numbers there. This is a disaster, our African Corp is stuck fighting the British in Egypt/Libya and we have no method or indeed any spare troops to send to defend Tunisia. During March the British also seize Sardinia from the Italians, the first time Italian ‘homeland’ has been occupied in the war.

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On March 13th we finally achieve a big breakthrough on the Russian front! German troops attack from multiple fronts and capture the city Kiev, our first major victory in a large urban area! Street fighting was intense and much of the city now lies in ruins.

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Kiev ablaze after bitter fighting

We follow this up by capturing Melitopol. It seems we are beginning to move towards a possible success on the Southern Front, thus Stalingrad and the oil fields in Southern Russia are added as priority target to our plan. Whilst we may falter in the North, capturing them will be a major blow to the Soviet war effort.

On the 23rd Persia joins our Axis alliance, a token symbol really as Soviet and British troops begin to encircle Tehran.

Moving along to April and the situation in Africa is rally getting bad, our Supreme Commander raging at the Americans for such audacity to think they can take what is rightfully ours! Luckily we capture a couple more province son the Southern Soviet front, and our bombers are still having success along the Egyptian coastline, sinking a few allied warships, mostly destroyers.

May begins with the UK announcing the end of Persia, it now fully under British and Soviet control. Weather forecasters employed by our government finally announce ’spring his here’ for Russia! It is debated whether we should pray to sun gods, though Minister Subi is denied this request. Thus on the 6th we can now begin our Spring Offensive! The 1st major part of this is to smah the Soviet line sin ther North where we have been held do long. We capture Riga swiftly, and push on into the Blatic, whilst our central line remains static for the time being and the southern front see’s mixed results. It is good to finally be across that accursed river in the north!

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May 18th

The 2nd half of May see’s very intensive fighting in southern Ukraine, and also by the 25th we finally manage to surround Minsk , capturing the city that has so long alluded us on the 28th. On the 30th we also capture Sumy. Finally we have taken Riga, Minsk and Kiev, now we can look to new targets! Capturing Smolensk will be a big priority, as that way lies Moscow! Kursk is another high priority.

It seems that the Russians are fighting harshly for every little bit of ground, Stalin must have ordered them to never retreat.

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German troops in a captured Russian village

As our troops are moving into Minsk though, bad news comes our way as we learn of the assassination of one of ministers by British backed Czech resistance fighters.

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Manpower is also beginning to run very low, the high casualty rates on the Soviet front are really draining us. Soon we will have to divert IC from building news troops/tanks into upgrading units, as we won’t have the manpower for it. This is bad - we will have to achieve more breakthroughs in Russia this spring/summer to make sure we don’t loose as many men next winter, or else we will have a serious shortage. We have started work on some air carriers, a date set of 1944 for a fleet capable of defeating the British fleet in Norwegian/Scandinavian waters, and 1946 for a fleet able to surround Britain. Yes we are aiming high, but this war is showing itself to be a very long term affair and we will need to stop the British fleet being able to launch offensive operations against our shores!

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The Russian Front as of June 1st 1942
 
Leningrad is within reach!
 
Oh boy, this is bad. Do we have the transports to pull out of North Africa if necessary?
 
Sounds like you need to give up North Africa as a bad job and concentrated on the Russkies. Once you've beaten them, you'll have plenty of resources to deal with Africa.
 
America seems to be getting in our way. I thought Japan would keep them busy
 
I would again recommend that we move our panzer divisions further south when the opportunity permits itself.
 
Leningrad is within reach!
Moscow is nearer;)

Oh boy, this is bad. Do we have the transports to pull out of North Africa if necessary?
Nope. The addition of the American fleet to allied forces as enabled them to sink all the Italian and Spanish transports. It will be a fight to the death!
Sounds like you need to give up North Africa as a bad job and concentrated on the Russkies. Once you've beaten them, you'll have plenty of resources to deal with Africa.
Yes I think so. Though the African corp will be ordered to fight to the death!

America seems to be getting in our way. I thought Japan would keep them busy
Japoan is mainly focusing on Eastern Russia, British India and the Duthch East Indies at current.

Clearly the Americans see us as a higher priority.
Indeed, it is unfortunate.

I would again recommend that we move our panzer divisions further south when the opportunity permits itself.
At current priority has to be to capture Moscow, so they will converge on there.
 
Moscow is nearer;)

And it lets you launch an epic encirclement!

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Go on, could wipe out their entire central front. What could go wrong? :D

At current priority has to be to capture Moscow, so they will converge on there.

What's the oil supply like at the moment. If it is good then Moscow should be the target, if bad then push for the Caucasus.
 
And it lets you launch an epic encirclement!

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Go on, could wipe out their entire central front. What could go wrong? :D
Indeed:goodjob: Destroying the central front shall be key to victory in this war! As well as thpose 2 arrows, I would add another from the North, the Russians have been caught very unawares by our offensive there!

What's the oil supply like at the moment. If it is good then Moscow should be the target, if bad then push for the Caucasus.
It's ok, I stock piled tonnes and tonnes before the war, and i'm trading supplies away for lots as well.
 
Chapter 17 - Breakthrough!

June 1st 1942 - July 25th 1942

As June begins, American forces are entering into Western Libya as they continue their invasion of Axis Africa. In Russia Captain 2’s Panzer Corps manage to get finally get across the river that has been separating Russian and German forces and capture Rogachev! By the 7th the 6th Panzer Corp has also made it across, taking Gomel, and 2 days later we seize Tartu in Estonia. All efforts are put into advancing on the centre front and moving towards Moscow! If we can take their capital, the Commies will be severely weakened.

Mid June see’s our Naval Bombers hard at work in the Mediterranean sinking American ships, the USS Pensacola being one of the latest casualties to our bombs.

We are doing well in Estonia, and by the end of June we have taken Tallinn, Pskov and Vietbsk. The month of July begins with the capture of Toropts and, to quote a German commander, ‘all hell breaks loose’ on the Soviet line as we realise that we are gaining a distinct advantage and fighting spreads everywhere as we advance and strive for Moscow.

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July the 11th, 13th and 16th see three vital provinces captured by our forces, Smolensk, Kursk and Vellikiye Luki. The Russians put up a hard fight and our manpower is extremely drained as we seek to reinforce those units on the front, but ultimately we seem to be succeeding. Taking these provinces as now effectively opened up a route to Moscow for us!

Bad news regarding the Americans though, as well as their continued advance into Africa, a raid launched by their aircraft carriers on the 17th at Aalburg, Denmark sinks two of todas first Wolf Pack, a big blow for our Kreigsmarine.

On the 18th July the Supreme Commander Davo announces that German forces shall be taking over full control of France, as it is clear after their failures in Africa that the Vichy regime has no stomach to fight against the allies, particularly bulking at the idea of having to fight ’fellow Frenchman’. Operation Anton (as it has been codenamed) was launched early that morning and German troops moved quickly to ensure Vichy France comes under our full control. The 50,000-strong Vichy French Army initially took defensive positions around Toulon, but surrendered when confronted by our demands to disband. Vichy France is no more!

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On the same day, our forces move into Staraya Russia…..getting very near to Moscow!

Finally some good news for our Naval commanders, on the 20th our first Super Heavy Battleship, the KMS Bismarck is officially launched by Head of the Kreigsmarine e350tb. Finally we have a ship capable of taking on the battleships of the British and American navy! Of course info coming in from the Pacific is showing us how important aircraft carriers are becoming in modern naval warfare, so we also have several of them in production .Still, launching our first Super Heavy battleship is important for our moral! For now it shall be locate din and around the port of Danzig, faraway from American aircraft carriers until the day we are ready to risk confrontation.

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The KMS Bismarck

And now the news we have been waiting for….we are at the gates of Moscow! On the 25th June German divisions of the 3rd Panzer Corps rolled into Rzhev, within sight of the Moscow city boundaries. Whilst we have no conformation, it is believed Stalin has fled the city! We must be careful form here, to capture the city we shall need to surround it and not risk our troops being repelled. We need to cut if off from the rest of Russia as best we can.

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Great news on getting a proper navy going! Too bad the Americans managed to sink the subs though.
How about doing a gamey thing and encircle Moscow, but not taking it to strip the Russians of their supplies?
 
Great news on getting a proper navy going! Too bad the Americans managed to sink the subs though.
How about doing a gamey thing and encircle Moscow, but not taking it to strip the Russians of their supplies?
I'm definetly going to try and encircle it. I shall take it though, I've checked after posting that update and they've moved their capital anyhows.
 
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