Slitherine

Berlin – June 20, 1941 – Hauptquartier der Deutschen Wehrmacht

Top secret meeting between Generalfeldmarschall Ludwig Werner and his best Generals Erich von Manstein and Erwin Rommel to give them their orders for the challenging battles to come.

Generalfeldmarschall Werner talking:

“Meine Herren, in these days we face a great historical challenge that will finally prove the outstanding military power of the German Reich.

The attack on the Soviet Union is well prepared and our secret service tells us that we will surprise the Red Army completely. Our troops are ready and there is no alternative to attack immediately.

The overall military goal in the east will be to capture the whole European part of the Soviet Union and push back Stalin behind the Ural Mountains. The main risks for our plans are the enormous distances and the harsh climatic conditions in the east especially in rain time and winter. This will slow down our successful Blitzkrieg. There is the danger that we will win battle after battle but loose the war because our forward rushing armies become too exhausted. Remember Napoleon 1812. He has even captured Moscow and this did not help him in any way to defeat the Russian Bear. We will not make the same fault.
We decided to use our forces in the east to capture as quickly as possible the Caucasus region and the oil fields. We will not rush for Moscow this year by all means. We will start attacking the Soviets on the whole frontline. The Finnish army will support us in the far north and in the Leningrad area.

Primary goal is to destroy the Russian air force and to defeat and capture as many unorganized units of the Red Army as possible. After this Blitzkrieg attack into Russian territory we will regroup our forces, search good defensive positions in the north and center and start a massive attack with our best infantry and tank brigades in the south on the line Odessa -> Rostov. From there we move south to capture Grozny and Baku with their valuable oil fields latest summer 42. This will guarantee the mobility of our motorized forces for the rest of this war. Our Romanian and Hungarian allies will support this attack and help to secure our supply routes.

General von Manstein, you take over the command for the whole eastern front. The code name for your operation is Barbarossa. Your military genius will be the guarantee for our victory in this world war.

Our foreign minister will make every effort to convince the Japanese emperor to attack the Soviet Union, hopefully binding the Siberian forces far in the east. But we can’t count on his success. Nevertheless next year from the Caucasus region we can decide to attack north in the direction of Stalingrad or to move south to search the Persian oil fields.

Our second offensive move is operation Aida. The Afrika Korps will strenghten the siege of Tobruk. We will ask our Italian ally to support with his fleet. General Rommel, your duty is to capture Tobruk and attack east to capture Egypt. You will get the necessary enforcements for this task. Malta has to be taken as quickly as possible.

The operation Seelöwe against England has no realistic chance for success and will not be started. We will repair our fleet and strengthen our U-Boot weapon to attack British convoys in the North Sea. We will stop British bomber raids with our fighters and flak batteries. Concerning the army we will stay on our side of the channel and Churchill will stay on his side. England is standing alone and if we show them our power against Russia in the next months, Churchill will finally become rational and starts negotiations with us. And if not … we have top secret developments of new fighters and bombers running that will change the air battle of England to our advantage. Then and only then an invasion of England could be discussed again. I will take over the command for Western and Northern Europe.

You have your orders, Generals. The whole German Reich and our Axis allies are counting on us to end this war victorious.

Auf guten Erfolg, meine Herren!”

Oh Yay!

Your writing style is so fun to read.

Rommel’s letdown – Tobruk, harbor – March 1943

General Erwin Rommel, leader of the German Afrika Korps is standing at the quay in the harbor of Tobruk supervising the embarking of his valuable Panzer IIIN tanks on the ships that he has hurriedly expropriated in the last days. Far away in the east Rommel can hear the roaring sound of the British artillery that is coming nearer every day.

In 41 and 42 the war in Africa was going well. Rommel had defeated the British Crusader army and has captured Tobruk with the help of the Italian battle fleet.

But then in autumn 42 the problems started. The Afrika Korps on the way to Egypt was stopped by a strong British defense line east of Mersa Matruh. The Axis was prepared and started immediately to weaken the defense line with artillery and bombers but then there came the message that Americans have landed in West Africa (named operation Torch) and also the British have landed a new tank army near Suez. Suddenly Rommel was surrounded by enemies. And due to the lack of oil the heavy Italian battleships Littorio, Vittorio Veneto and Roma, the backbone of the Italian fleet, were out of order. General von Manstein had promised to capture the oil fields in the Caucasus until mid of 42. Then he postponed it to winter 42/43, then to mid of 43. But even mid of 43 now sounds unlikely due to the heavy fights near Kursk and Rostov binding the main tank cores of von Manstein’s armies.

Rommel is looking at a rusty crane that is currently lifting a pack of 88ers in the air. He remembers a strategic meeting in Berlin last year where the leading Generals of the Wehrmacht had decided to build a German defense line at Mersa Matruh to stop the British armies coming from the east, defeat them and then again continue the attack east to Egypt. Rommel’s own plan to retreat to Tobruk and fight the British tanks in close terrain was denied. Rommel got 4 artillery divisions and three anti tank divisions (including two of the powerful 88er Flak/Pak), several experienced infantry divisions and a superior air power with tactical bombers and fighters. But only one Panzer IIIN division was part of the Afrika Korps.

The Italian battleships and strategic bombers were sent to Malta and Sicily. The plan to win the war in Africa was not to defend Tunis, leave it to the Americans, but to stop the Allies by all means from reaching Sicily. Thus several troops from Europe were sent to Sicily. After capturing Egypt and defeating the American fleet near Sicily it should be not difficult to recapture Tunisia.
But the plan dramatically failed. Doomsday of the Afrika Korps was end of January 43 when the British tank army coming from Egypt overrun the German defense line at Mersa Matruh. 100 thousand men of the Afrika Korps were defeated or arrested by the British.

Five British tank divisions attacked the German lines. One of them was destroyed but the others simply overrun the German Paks and threatened the Axis artillery. Sending in infantry did not help though the Germans were covered by their own artillery very well. Rommel decided that is was useless to throw in his tanks. They would be defeated immediately. He ordered the retreat to transfer the remaining forces of the Africa Korps to Italy. The German Africa campaign was over. Rommel’s duty from now on is the defense of Sicily.

Von Manstein’s thoughts – Kursk – March 1943

General von Manstein, top commander of the German operation Barbarossa to defeat the Soviet Union looks up from his desk. One of his staff officers has entered his room without knocking totally aroused shouting: “Die Russen kommen!”

Von Manstein is standing up slowly and his voice is like ice: “Hauptmann Kurz, ich will eine ordentliche Meldung!”

The Hauptmann hesitates, then he salutes. “Melde gehorsamst, Herr General! Der Russe hat unsere Verteidigung am Don in breiter Front durchbrochen! Eine Division T34 Panzer und Sibirische Elite Truppen stehen bereits südlich von Kursk an der Stadtgrenze, Herr General!“

Von Manstein gives his orders immediately: „Holen Sie die Wagen, Hauptmann. Der ganze Stab fährt sofort nach Kiev.“

Sitting in his car driving west General von Manstein is recapitulating all his decisions since the start of operation Barbarossa in summer 41. His main goal was to invade the Caucasus as quickly as possible to save the important oil fields for the German Wehrmacht.

The start of Barbarossa was a big success. The pocket of Bialystok and the pocket of Kiev were closed and the Russians suffered heaviest losses. Huge parts of the Russian air force were destroyed on the ground. Reaching Moscow was not the goal of the Germans but they captured Smolensk and started to encircle Leningrad.

In the center Kiev and Gomel was taken.

In the south strong forces were sent east to reach Rostov from where the Caucasus could be invaded. But on the way the Russian resistance increased and the German troops only reached Zaporoshye bypassing the Crimea when the mud period and the heavy winter stopped the German war machine.

End of winter 41/42 a Russian counter offensive with Siberian troops and T34 was stopped by the Germans without considerable losses.

With the end of the winter 41/42 the Germans started again to move east but the Russian resistance grew from month to month. Also more and more Russian planes showed up. It became clear that the Russian bear had immense resources also supported by the western countries.

As it became clear that the war in the east could not be ended quickly the German plan was to reach strategic important positions until winter 42/43.

In the north the attempt to encircle Leningrad failed east of the city. Several infantry divisions and artillery were lost.

Smolensk was defended. The Wehrmacht approached (but with significant losses) to Kaluga and Tula. These cities are directly south of Moscow and allow a direct attack on the capital from the south or even from the south east what the Russians may no expect. They have the main core of their defense troops still between Moscow and Smolensk trying to defeat the Wehrmacht in the Smolensk area.

In the center a strong German beach head was built on the eastern side of the Don. The city of Voronezh and the forests east of the city were occupied. In von Manstein’s opinion this was the most valuable position in the whole eastern line because the Don River was now already crossed. Of course it was clear the Russians also knew about their disadvantage and would try to recapture Voronezh to close their Don frontline before summer 43.

In the south Rostov was reached mid of 42 and the invasion of the Caucasus finally started (but 6 month delayed compared to the original plan)

Then came the November 42 and the Russian war machine showed its real power. They attacked Voronezh and Rostov with strong forces. This was foreseen and even planned by von Manstein. What he did not foresee was the enormous number of tank and infantry divisions the Russians have sent into the battles and so even his carefully prepared defense was shaken at the end of the winter 42/43.
The German beach head came under strong pressure and like a flood of steal the Russian tanks rushed around the beach head to attack the front line north and south of Voronezh. In the north the German defense was successful but in the south the Germans had to retreat. That was clearly an impact to the fact that a lot of German troops that normally would have reinforced the frontline south of Voronezh were already operating in the Caucasus.

Quickly the T34s und ski troops rushed west and reached Kursk under heavy attacks from the German Luftwaffe.

Now von Manstein’s duty is to avoid a German pocket of Voronezh, defeat the Russian troops south of the city and hopefully the loss of so many tanks will break the will of resistance on Russian side. The German troops to do this are standing in the south. Hoth’s Panzer army contains the new Tiger division and two Stug III divisions. But this army currently has other duties.

A second strong Russian attack has hit Rostov, the gate to the Caucasus. The Russians wanted to cut off the German invasion forces. The Germans have nearly reached the oil fields of Groznyy but can’t attack because the German Panzers are still fighting the Russian tanks in the back of the German invasion forces.

And around Rostov Hoth’s tank army is fighting not to lose the control of the city.
While the car is driving General Erich von Manstein through the icy night to Kiev he is deciding what to do now. Clear the situation around Rostov, then go on to invade the Caucasus and in parallel defeat the Russians around Voronezh and Kursk. It will be tough but with good weather the strong German air force could be able to clear the situation around Kursk. After that it is time to start a massive attack on Moscow from the south. The alternative – turn back and finally remove the troops from the Caucasus – and concentrate these forces on the battlefields in the center and the north would mean to declare the whole Wehrmacht Caucasus strategy 41/42 as a big failure. And that is unthinkable.

Generalfeldmarschall Werner’s worries – Berlin – March 1943

Ludwig Werner, leader of the German Wehrmacht is sitting at his desk in the Reichstag building reading all the reports from the OKW and his top military Generals Erich von Manstein and Erwin Rommel.

Now in March 43 the Wehrmacht is in big troubles in several important theaters of World War II. Rommel has lost Africa. The strong American Torch invasion troops will soon reach Tunis and then they may try to land in Italy. But they will be awaited by strong Axis forces at Sicily.

In the east there are the real problems. No oil from the Caucasus until today but more and more losses and victims at the feared Ostfront. Urgently the Wehrmacht needs a big success in the east or important allies like the Romanians, the Hungarians or the Finns may get unstable.

In Western Europe, Scandinavia and on the Balkan the situation is under control. Werner has concentrated German Flaks to protect German cities together with 2 squads of modern fighters. Until today the British were able to bomb Berlin only once in 1942.

German U-Boote dominated the British convoy routes in 41/42 but had to leave in autumn 42 because the Allied Navy became too strong. Currently the biggest combined attack with 4 U-Boot-Flottillen including 80 submarines is going on to block the northern convoy route again.

The battleship Tirpitz is guarding the coast of Norway from Trondheim.

The massive drawbacks in the last months has shaken Werner’s confidence in the superiority of the German Wehrmacht. Urgently the Reich needs a success and this could only come from General von Manstein at the eastern front.

This was a joy to read and a most entertaining way to do a playthrough, thanks for making your posts so entertaining.

Reichsfeldmarschall Werner’s hope – Berlin , former Führerbunker below the Reichstag, now named the Reichsfeldmarschallbunker – September 1943

Reichsfeldmarschall Ludwig Werner is sitting at his desk. He looks tired. He had to make several risky decisions in the last months after the defeat in Africa and the disaster at the Voronezh beach head at the central Russian front. The British convoy routes are out of reach for the German Kriegsmarine. And in summer 43 the Allies have got the air supremacy in France and even Germany. More and more often Berlin is bombed and from time to time even here in the bunker cement dust drizzles from the ceiling.

But now it seems that the worst setbacks are behind the German Wehrmacht and there is hope that soon some great victories can be achieved.

In these days the battle of Sicily goes in his decisive phase and Rommel is doing an excellent job. Using the remaining troops of the Afrika Korps and additional Italian troops combined with the Italian battle fleet he is successfully preventing the Americans from getting a foot on Sicily. The southern flank of the Axis stays stable.

But even more important is the success of von Manstein’s plan “Schlag aus der Nachhand”. Taking back the central front from Voronezh to Kursk he was luring the whole central Russian front in a huge trap. Already both sides had a lot of victims in this battle of attrition when the German main core escaped in the last minute from the pocket of Voronezh to the Kursk area. The Russians may have thought that the exhausted German troops could now be hunted down to break open the central German front line. Indeed that would have been the end of operation Barbarossa.

But by giving up the Leningrad area, General von Manstein was able to setup quickly a new stable front line at Kursk, even with a brand new division of Panther Panzers. And by removing all troops from the Caucasus he was able to bring Guderian’s and Hoth’s Panzer armies including the undefeatable Tiger division in the back of the quickly advancing Russian divisions.

One hour ago a crypted radio transmission from von Manstein arrived in the OKW that he was to close the Kursk pocket.
Ludwig Werner is slowly leaning back in his chair looking up. Suddenly he realizes some bullet holes in the ceiling and remembers that exactly in this room the dictator Hitler and his paladins were hunted down two years ago. In late spring of 1941 some elite troops of the German Wehrmacht commanded by Oberst von Stauffenberg fought room by room and corridor by corridor through this bunker against the Waffen-SS to end the reign of the Nazi regime. Rumors tell that the body of the dead dictator was burned and buried somewhere upstairs in the garden of the Reichstag.

Werner hopes that his life will not end in this room, too. The Russians have proven that the OKW Caucasus strategy was a big failure. The German Wehrmacht is still strong but it has already lost significant numbers of experienced troops in the battle of Voronezh. Von Manstein’s strategy is very risky and if it will not work, the war in the east will be lost in 1944.

The goal is to defeat the Russian troops near Kursk and take the momentum to rush with strong forces north and capture Moscow. Holding the Moscow area, recapturing Voronezh and holding Rostov will build a stable shorter frontline that can be defended until the reserves of the Russians are depleted. With more Panther and Tiger divisions going in operation the Wehrmacht can bring operation Barbarossa to a successful end.

Generalfeldmarschall von Manstein’s reach for victory - Kaluga, advanced command post – February 1944

Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein studies the map showing the order of battle in the Smolensk – Kaluga - Moscow battle area. Yesterday he has given the orders for the final and decisive attack on Moscow. The best Panzer divisions of the Wehrmacht are moving north to fight through the Russian lines to the borders of Moscow. The elite of the German artillery and infantry are guarded by the tanks to reach and storm Moscow.
After the defeat in the pocket of Kursk the Red Army seemed to be shocked and von Manstein used this time to recapture Voronezh and to move his main core to Moscow.

Von Manstein is listening. The roaring sound of the Russian artillery in the distance becomes stronger and stronger as more and more Russian artillery is starting to shoot at the approaching German troops. And even with good weather the German bombers can’t eliminate these artillery posts due to the immense numbers of Russian fighters in the air. This fight will be without mercy because Reichsfeldmarschall Werner has given the command that no retreat is allowed in this battle. Moscow has to be captured by all means.

Generalfeldmarschall Rommel has sent 6 divisions from Sicily to the Ostfront. More he could not send because intelligence warned about an Allied invasion in France in summer 44. Werner handed over the defense of France to Rommel. Thus half of the victorious troops from Sicily are on the way to the beaches of France.

Man this is a riveting way to post these updates, I especially like the historical context by showing how this may have been possible had the German army been successful with their elimination of Der Fuhrer.

I am not sure who I am routing for in this report but either way it will be glorious.

@goose_2: Thank you very much for your commendation.

I started last year with my first AAR and thought, if I do a bad performance in game play at least I can tell a good story about it.

In the meantime I played the mod in many different ways also with good success.

Indeed I have to confess, this time again a good story is mandatory

Generalfeldmarschall von Manstein’s flop - Kaluga, advanced command post – June 1944

Generalfeldmarschall von Manstein is looking back north to the red glowing night sky before he is entering the car that will bring him back to Kiev. After three month of heavy fighting von Manstein ordered the retreat of the Wehrmacht from the battle of Moscow. The main core should set up a new front line at Minsk – Gomel – Kiev. Several Panzer divisions have immediately to be transported to France where Rommel is facing the Allied Overlord invasion.

It was the artillery that brought the victory for the Red Army. Thousands of Russian guns hammering on the German infantry day by day. It took the Wehrmacht a lot of energy to force back the Russian artillery west of Moscow that was strongly disturbing the German attack. But the strong artilleries north east of Moscow were always out of reach and well protected against German bombers by Russian fighters. Up to two thirds of Moscow were already under German control but with extensive artillery strikes and counter attacks of Russian infantry the Wehrmacht was kicked out of Moscow again and again. The Russian Airforce shot down all German tactical bombers in the last three month by outnumbering the German fighters.
Operation Barbarossa has failed. The Wehrmacht was not able to capture Moscow quickly enough. Far in the west at Riga Russian T34s broke through and the same will happen south at Voronezh where also strong Russian armies start to break the German defense line. The front arch Riga – Moscow – Voronezh can’t be defended by the weakened Wehrmacht anymore.

Reichsfeldmarschall Werner in the last days refused several times von Manstein’s requests to give up the battle of Moscow and take back the frontline. It was Rommel’s call for help that he needs strong Panzer sources in France that convinced Werner to allow finally von Manstein to retreat.

But now it may to already too late for a save retreat. Von Manstein is in deep worries. In best case a stable shorter front line can be set up in the south west. In worst case the retreat will end in a catastrophe that will break the neck of the German Wehrmacht. There are more and more reports about partisans blocking roads and railways to the west. And T34s rushing quickly west.

From now on the Wehrmacht is fighting in France and in Russia for the survival of the Reich.

This is the most riveting post I look forward to reading everytime I pop on and see a new post.

Reichsfeldmarschall Werner’s last fight – Berlin, Reichsfeldmarschallbunker – July 1945

Reichsfeldmarschall Werner is sitting in his private room in the bunker deep under the destroyed German Reichstag. On the table in front of him lies his Luger pistol.

The war is lost. The Reich is lost. Overrun by the Allies.

Starting from June 44 there was one bitter defeat after the other. The retreat from Moscow ended in a disaster cutting off whole armies. From the pride of the German Panzertruppen only a single Panther division made it back to the west.

The Wehrmacht defended Paris for some weeks then the Rhine River over the winter 44/45. In the east the battle of Warsaw was the last attempt to keep the Red Army away from the borders of the Reich. The Germans were chanceless. After the retreat from Warsaw the last defense line was already at Berlin.

Tigers, Hetzers and the Volkssturm were able to hold back the Red Army in the east for some days. But then the last German fighter squad was defeated and the persistent bombing of the whole Berlin area was suppressing nearly all resistance. Finally the Allies approached from the west destroying the last German Flak batteries around Berlin. After that the end came very quickly.
“Sie kommen!” Reichsfeldmarschall Werner can hear American and Russian voices shouting followed by MP and MG salves and detonating grenades outside of his room.

Werner is taking his Luger and opens the door firing …

Interesting how this ended up more or less along historical lines.

I am curious, since you have played this map before and beaten it, did you enjoy the challenge of this losing of the map?

I can't imagine it did not feel fun watching yourself lose, but it sure made a very fun and interesting read.

Thanks for doing this.

Also fighting a battle of defense makes fun. But this time it was a somehow frustrating play.

1) Level Field Marshall and a stronger enemy in V1.8.

2) Going for the Caucasus and not for Moscow leaves so many resources to the Red Army that they can counter attack with a high number of strong units on the ground and in the air. Not being able to capture one of the important targets in the east it was clear for me that the mod will punish me in the last years of the war. Going for Moscow was already a desperate strategy. If you can capture it, it is possible to build up a very good defense binding a lot of Red Army troops in the east. But it did not work.

3) This time I got often extreme bad combat dices. Worst case was (meaning the end of the battle of Moscow) my Tiger division attacking a Russian infantry that moved on the air field east of Moscow. Normaly the Tigers should heavily hit the infantry and force them to retreat. But I got by chance a 0-5 decreasing the power of my Tigers from 7 to 2. They were killed in the next round. From now on I will select "chess" mode for the combats. My general feeling is that the Tiger is too weak compared to the Panther. The Tiger was designed to break through heaviest defense and the Panthers should follow. But here attacking with the Panthers seems to be much more effective.

Two technical issues I had.

The raid of the Romanian oil field did not work correctly. Even when there were no planes above the oil field I lost the 200 points several times. Even in rain. The Romanian flak that was protecting the oil field never shot automatically when planes bombed it.

When Romania was lost I expected that an additional Hungarian army would be set up in Hungary. But that did not happen (like in my first AAR). May be the Hungarians where more clever this time not to fight until the last man like the Wehrmacht

Very very impressive I found the power of the Red Army rushing west in 44 and 45. An unstopable flood of strong units.
Many of my troops (even fighter planes) were cut off because of the crowded roads and air space. And where ever I tried to hide a Panther division in the snow for resupply there came at least a Russian truck along that found it again and again.

So my last goal was to hold Berlin until round 99. But in round 97 I was overwhelmed by all sides.

Well done, McGuba

Wow,
Thanks for the breakdown, even that was amazing and insightful.
You certainly have a way with words.
I am curious,
What would have happened had you reached round 99? Do you get an interesting message like you held out and the allies sue for peace?

Hello goose_2
it would not make any difference in the official result: a loss.

To get a draw you have to defend all cities of the Reich. If at least one city is in the hands of the Allies it will be a loss.

Still standing in round 99 (holding at least a part of Berlin) was a personal goal. Not to be totally beaten by the mod in a total war