The 20th century began in a relatively peaceful situation. Hopes were high to keep the status quo which had lasted since the beginning of the 19th century. But already some changes were happening, new powers were rising in the east and west and the old great powers were declining. One of the old powers was the German Republic which had been in its hight in the years of the first German Empire, but was now struggling with economical and political problems. In the South Chine was rising fast, as was Spain in the East.
Situation in 1920
In Germany the political situation was very tense. In 1849 the Emperor was overthrown and the new Rebuplic of Germany was born. For 40 years it worked well and was considered to be the leading economy of the world. But as the century came to an end, Germany's economy had run out of steam, the glory of the first German Empire had declined and people were unhappy with the weakening situation. They called for a strong leader to lead Germany back to glory and back to its place in the sun. This was the chance what Otto Von Bismarck had waited. After a ruthless political campaign he rose to power in 1910, and on 6th of May 1911 he held his historical speech in senate which ended in the words: "...To ensure the contiuning economical growth and to ensure the security of the german people, the German Republic will be reorganized into a Second German Empire!"
This declaration sent shockwaves throughout the Eurasian continent and yet it was a declaration that everyone had seen coming. The situation in central Eurasia now started to move. The Vikings, the arch enemy of the Germans, began a massive re-armament to match the growing power of the German Empire. Russia, the third country in the Central Eurasia, was desperately trying to keep its pace, but it was no match for Vikings or Germans.
In the west China and America were observing the situation but were not too alarmed. Berlin was over three thousand kilometers from Beijing, so if war would break out it would not get there very fast. Chinese were more troubled by the fate of the Russians whom independency they had ensured. Americas intrests were mainly focused on the Bay of Tolouse were border clashes with French troops were common. Many centuries of hatred had alredy spoiled the relations of America and France.
Viking high commander Ragnar was well known from his aggressive politics and he had long threatened to destroy the whole German Empire. As early as 1915 He had tried to persuade France and Russia to join his crusade against German Empire, but no one wanted to shatter the peace in Central Eurasia. Russia was sure that the peace that Bismarck had guaranteed would last and France had its own problems with America. China and England were not interested about Ragnars offers as they had nothing to gain.
In 1919 Bismarck secured his western front with a non-agressiong pact with France. This was not too big news, as same kind of treaties had been made between numerous countries, but in a way it was a decisive moment in history as it irreversible changed the focus of German Empire from West Eurasia to Central Eurasia. But it was not in Central Eurasia where the first blood was spilled.
On 14th of August 1922 the border clashes between America and France escalated into a war. The world held its breath as it was belived that this conflict would escalate into a world war. Hunred years of peace had now been shattered. But nothing happened; neither German Empire nor China made any moves. The war between America and France would be their own business. This war against America was a sign from Napoleon to Bismarck that France would keep its word and not turn against German Empire in the following years.
After the war broke out in the West, Russia and England started to realise that the peace what Bismarck had guaranteed might not last. German Empire had now grown in power and could easily match the power of Russia and England. Only Vikings were considered equal with the German Empire. In Germany Bismarck was also troubled by the situation, If only could he get rid of Vikings, German Empire could easily rule the central Eurasia. And this had to be done quickly before alliances could be signed against German Empire.
In the autumn of 1922 Bismarck ordered the high commanders of the german army to come up with a plan to neutralize the Viking threat. Over the winter many plans were introduced but they all seemed too obvious and conservative, Bismarck wanted something spectacular and brave which would send a clear message to everyone who was standing in the way of German Empire. Finally on February Field Marshall Müller came up with a plan that caught Bismarck’s eye, it was called operation Sinober.
War breaks out
Operation Sinober relied heavily on fast movement of troops. Its main goal was to strike a decive blow in the centre, capture Nidaros, the capital of Vikings, and then continue to Uppsala. This would devide the country in two and cut the supply lines from East parts of the country to the West parts of the country. As the main force would be pushing towards Uppsala, a smaller force would attack Björkvin and Birka in the eastern front, thus tieing up Viking forces and causing disorder. The beginning of the operation was fixed for 24th of May.
As planned the German troops crossed the border of Vikings in the East and West on the morning of 24th of May. Not too much resistance was met in the early days and the operation pushed forward. Just after two days of marching the first troops arrived at the suburbs of Björkvin in the eastern front. The main force against Nidaros and Uppsala was moving fast too, and on 30th of May the third mountain division secured the Jörgen hills just north of Nidaros, thus isolating the Viking's North Armygroup in Jevling. Though this movement significantly complicated the defence of the capital, it was not the reason why Nidaros was lost just one week later. The Viking army was great in numbers and well equipped, but the real problem lay in the leaders. Ragnar, the high commander of the Vikings, was hesitant and unable to make fast decisions. He also insisted to make all the big decisions, which led to a disaster after disaster. One of these decisions was to keep the North Armygroup trapped in Jevling and not try to bring it against the invading german troops. Ragnar was sure that this attack against Nidaros was just a diversion and that the full weight of the german offensive would strike at Jevling. He could not bealive that army, as strong as the North Armygroup, so near German borders, could be left untouched.
On the 3rd of June it became clear for Ragnar that the main german force was indeed pushing towards Nidaros, and more bad news came from the east as Björkving fell to the german hands. It was now too late to reinforce the defence of the capital as the North Armygroup was encircled in Jevling and the situation in the east was turning to critical. The goverment of the Vikings, including Ragnar, fled to Uppsala just four days before germans took control of the Nidaros. So far the war had been a disaster for Vikings and on the other hand Bismarck was enjoying spectacular popularity in German as the operation Sinober was going better than expected. By this far the casulties in both sides had been relatively low since Nidaros and Björkvin were not heavily defended.
To keep the offensive going the commander of the German Army, field Marshall Müller, ordered immediate attack towards Uppsala. This was considered to be risky, but if succsessful it could break down the whole Viking army before it could reorganize itself. All german reinforcements were sent to support this push against Uppsala meaning that the attack against Birka in the eastern front would have to wait. By 20th of June german mountain divisions had secured all the hills just north of Uppsala and were waiting final reinforcements to begin their final push against this important harbor city, which was declared "unconquerable" by Ragrar. In reality he was already planning to leave to Roskilde because the defensive position of the Uppsala was weak. As the germans had expected the Viking army had had not time to reorganize its troops and they were scattered around northern regions, some trapped behind enemy lines. One could describe the situations "chaotic" for Vikings. As for germans the situation was clear, they now concentrated all their forces against Uppsala and on 27th of June the city was captured. Operation Sinober was already well ahead of its chedule. What had been estimated to take 2-3 months had been done in just over a month.
Although the Germans had now cut the country in two, the war was all but over. Situation calmed down for couple of weeks as the German Army was moving its troops to the east and west. Eastern front was now reinforced and given the permission to launch the offensive to South against Birka and Odense. By 18th of July the forces of general Schutsen had reached the Vikings defence line East of Birka. There they met the well organized Vinking Army Group East of General Hendersson who had had time and suplies to build a formidable defence. For a week the battles raged on but the Germans couldn't get the decive advantage and the offensive had to be halted. German high command realised that the situation needed more than just the forces of General Schutsen and sent the veterans of Nidaros and Uppsala to attack Birka from South and West.
Battle of Nidaros became the bloodiest battle of the operation Sinober. On 27th of July the Vikings Army Group East made a successful counter attack (the only one of the whole conflict) against the German 17th and 18th infantry division and destroyed one third of general Schutsen's forces. This incident was a severe blow to the morale of German forces which had been high after the battles of Nidaros, Uppsala and Björkvin. As valiant as the defence of Birka was, it was not to last long. The German forces from the West and South begun their attack on 29th of July and after a fierce fighting the city was captured on first of August. Odense, a small town near the border of Japan was taken two days later; the fighting in the Eastern front was now over. Operation Sinober officially ended on 13th of August.
The Western front opens up
After the great success of operation Sinober, the germans launched another lighting campaign, called operation Rootenrot. This conquest to the west was planned for some time and was scheduled for late autumn, but as the operation Sinober went ahead of its schedule Rootenrot was set to start at the beginning of August. The need for this western campaign came from the evergrowing threat of the western powers (China, England and America). The goal was to capture Moscow, Vladivostok, Smolensk and Krasnoyarsk and force Russia to join German Empire as a protectorate. This would create a buffer zone between German Empire and the western powers.
Field Marshal Weinkel was chosen to lead the newly-formed army group of the western front. It consisted of two armies, one to attack from Rostov towards Vladivostok and one to push through Smolensk towards Moscow. Both armies had superior equipment compared to the weak army of Russia. The campaign was believed to be short and easy, but it was to become the campaign that forever changed the nature of the whole war.
In fact this story has been under writing for almost two years but now I started to write it again. I never finished the game this story tells about because it got boring and didn't inspire me anymore but before that there was some of my best civ moments and I hope you can enjoy them now.
