A Blunted Sickle - Thread II

Sounds like the Wehrmacht barely exists outside of Berlin. Where in Poland, if anywhere, do they still have substantial forces?

Since Czechia was liberated so much earlier than OTL and hasn't had as much time to be abused, I wonder how much reduced (if at all) the reprisals against the Sudeten Germans will be TTL.
 
No surprise that nobody wants to be the last telegram sent out at the end of the war, especially fighting to try and clear a city with very little heavy support. Ironically, that should make things better for the German civilians too, since they won't be living under artillery bombardment or having to deal with too much house to house fighting (plus the other unpleasant after affects they had when the Soviets rolled through in our timeline).
It also shows just how much of a shoestring the whole Entente operation is on - this wouldn't have been possible but for wholesale desertion on the part of their opponents. That isn't really fodder for another Dolchstoßlegende - the Heer had been beaten like a drum by the British and French across northern France, Belgium and into the Ruhr. However, it does mean that the collapse is far faster than it would otherwise have been and makes other things (the Polish and "Czechoslovak" uprisings, the Hungarian intervention) turn out to be something other than a disaster.
As soon as the supply chains are un-snarled, I Corps will have their artillery back and will probably be able to take Berlin within a few days.

This seems like a solid endgame for the Third Reich. I have to say, the idea of the Slovak National Uprising as well as the Warsaw Uprising (or rather it's TTL equivalent) actually succeeding is a nice touch!
The POD - essentially Germany doing badly in 1940 against France - unlocks all sorts of interesting possibilities to play with. With a vastly weaker Germany from the off, they're never going to be as effective cracking down on dissent in Poland, or ensuring that the Slovaks do what they're told.

Sounds like the Wehrmacht barely exists outside of Berlin. Where in Poland, if anywhere, do they still have substantial forces?
Since Czechia was liberated so much earlier than OTL and hasn't had as much time to be abused, I wonder how much reduced (if at all) the reprisals against the Sudeten Germans will be TTL.
On paper, probably the biggest forces left are in East Prussia. That's a bit meaningless though - they'll desert just as readily (or be ground to meat paste) as soon as the British tanks arrive from the west. In reality the only German forces left with a scrap of fight in them are in Berlin, and that is largely professional pride coupled with a lot of military police/Gestapo lurking around to execute deserters.
As far as the Sudeten Germans go, Beneš wanted to expel them even pre-1939 so I can't see it completely going away. Having a strong "Czechoslovak" army helps a lot though - lynchings will be virtually eliminated, and generally things will be less brutal. Avoiding events like Lidice will help a lot too - so you're likely to see more of a "it's just business" attitude, with exceptions being made for those who didn't support the German side in the war.
 
Correct me if I’m wrong, but has there been an update on what’s happening in Asia or the US recently? Or about the tech developments among the allies?
 
It remind us of how much of a disaster for the world the fall of France actually was, and how much damages it allowed Germany to do.
 
9th January 1942

In the north of Germany, 1st Army continues its rapid advance. The troops occupying the Baltic coast have now reached Köslin, while those who have crossed over into Poland have crossed the river Warta either side of Poznań and are advancing towards East Prussia as fast as they can. This advance is by now something close to a road march – the area has a mere handful of German die-hards left who are barely even able to slow the advancing troops down while the break in the weather has allowed the RAF to fly in significantly more petrol and even small drop quantities of it by parachute. This uses an adaption of the A Mark II parachute mine, with the mine body replaced by a 100 gallon petrol tank which uses a balsa-wood crate on the nose to cushion the shock of impact.

Fighting continues in the Berlin suburbs – I Corps is making gradual progress, with the rate mostly constrained by priority for supply being given to II and III corps. This means that only limited fire support can be made available, and the natural reluctance to be the last person killed in a war that has clearly been won means that attacks are rarely pressed home. The German troops – while armed with little more than small-arms ammunition – are suffering far less from desertion than other units elsewhere. As a result of this they are able to put up stiff resistance in the absence of British tanks and artillery, although they tend to fold rapidly when this is available.

With little or no prospect of being able to spare substantial forces to reduce the remaining German forces in much of Poland for some weeks yet, the Whirlwind and Auster liaison aircraft from the British 2nd and 4th armies are deployed to Poland in order to provide the ZWZ with a rudimentary forward air control capability. To achieve this the normal RA FOO is replaced by an RAF FAC. While this is nothing like as capable as what the RAF can provide to the British Army, it should enable them to use medium bombers in direct support of pre-planned Polish operations against German hold-outs.

The French Sixth Army (Giraud) completes the elimination of the German pockets in front of them. In the process they capture two Army headquarters (6th at Marburg and 2nd Panzer at Jena) as well as OB West at Schloss Osterstein, just outside Gera. They face very limited resistance in the process, with even the most senior officers seeming to be in shock at the completeness with which the German Army has collapsed on the battlefield in the past few weeks.

After several days of preparation to re-open the railway, Czechoslovak Army runs enough trains into the Wilson, Masaryk and Nusle-Vršovice Stations in Prague to deliver a divison before dawn, with strong support from the ÚVOD to ensure the Germans do not become aware of them. By the time fighting starts just after 7am the Germans are heavily outnumbered on the east bank of the Vltava and are unable to prevent follow-on trains arriving during the day.

Meanwhile (and following on from a political directive to allow the Czechoslovak forces to liberate their own capital), further west Prioux and Ritche make contact at Pilsen, occupying the town without firing a shot. This occupation degenerates into a massive party later in the afternoon, after the Měšťanský pivovar brewery throws its doors open to the newly arrived troops. While the beer is a pale imitation of what it made before the war, the troops know that the two armies having met on Czechoslovak soil means that the war is all but over – and that their part in it almost certainly is. The result is a massive party which despite the best efforts of the military police snowballs until it finally breaks up in the early hours having drunk the town dry.
Richie’s left flank has been given priority for petrol supplies, and as a result is able to make excellent progress. Light units are able to make contact with Czechoslovak forces in Hradec, while the majority of the force wheels left and is able to occupy Bautzen and Gorlitz.

The French Fourth Army enters Munich after it is declared an open city by the mayor. The handful of soldiers not to have deserted are locked behind the wire at the Dachau concentration camp after the prisoners there are released. Their weapons are destroyed by the simple expedient of driving a tank over them, and then all but a battalion resume the advance trying to keep up with their advance forces. These have already reached Salzburg and Berchtesgarten, although they are starting to have some supply difficulties and Requin has ordered them to halt in place for 48 hours to allow their petrol supplies to catch up.

Troops from Sixth Army (Touchon) occupy the north side of the Brenner Pass and make contact with the Italian customs post. While one Brigade is detached to move towards the Swiss border, the majority of the force will continue down the valley of the river Inn towards Jenbach. They are having severe problems with extreme cold and heavy snowfall, however, so progress has significantly slowed.
So Slovaks paid back liberation of Bratislava from 1918 by liberating Prague? I guess Osusky will have long time impact on Czechoslovak politics. OTL he passed in 1973.
I have a question. Why should quality of beer be lower? What are Czechs missing there to make good brew?
 
Apologies for the very slow rate of updates - I've been having some health problems which the medication is just starting to get on top of. I'll try to take less than 6 months to write the next update, but no promises.
Don't worry about us, your health comes always comes first, especially these days. We'll wait patiently for the updates because they're worth the wait.
 
Given the new update, I went back to those wonderful maps made by @ngf to track everything (Their latest map is page: 304, post: 6071).
  1. If I am not mistaken that should be the entirety of Czechoslovakia liberated apart from maybe the Opposite bank in Prague.
  2. The British first army almost is entering the Polish corridor from the German border.
  3. I would expect Dollman's and Hasse's army pockets to be rolled up in the next 24 - 48 hours by follow on troops.
  4. Thereby leaving the only part of Germany in German hands currently are those 2 pockets, Parts of Berlin, Parts of Bavaria and Silesia, although I don't expect them to last long.

    Also with the capture of OB west does that mean that whatever remains in Bavaria, Austria and Silesia will be ordered to stand down by their commanders? (presumably the allies force them to make that message)

    If so that basically leaves local garrisons in Poland and third army in Prussia. @pdf27 What parts or cities in Poland are still controlled by the Nazis?
 
Also with the capture of OB west does that mean that whatever remains in Bavaria, Austria and Silesia will be ordered to stand down by their commanders? (presumably the allies force them to make that message)
Depends on how motivated both of them are. For example, Lee was titular commander of all Confederate forces, but Grant didn't even try to get him to surrender anything but the Army of Northern Virginia.
 
Sorry if I've missed something; are Polish forces going to try and kick the Soviets out or is that accepted as hopeless?
 
Will Germany keep East Prussia ITTL or will it go to Poland?
Not formally settled, but I'm currently assuming it will go to Poland as compensation for the areas lost to the Soviets. Overall I'm expecting that Germany will be better off than OTL, with Poland being about the same size as OTL post-1945.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but has there been an update on what’s happening in Asia or the US recently? Or about the tech developments among the allies?
Last tech development was 4 days ago in-universe, about the Canadian hydroelectric industry (being improved to provide power for Tube Alloys). The most recent mention of Japan is just over a month ago in-universe - probably a year or two back in writing time!

So Slovaks paid back liberation of Bratislava from 1918 by liberating Prague? I guess Osusky will have long time impact on Czechoslovak politics. OTL he passed in 1973.
I have a question. Why should quality of beer be lower? What are Czechs missing there to make good brew?
Give it a couple of hundred years, and Tiso will probably be the patron saint of Czechoslovakia!
Going by what I've read about of wartime beer in the UK, it's likely to have fewer hops and a lower alcohol content - shortage of ingredients, basically, thanks to the Germans requisitioning them.

Don't worry about us, your health comes always comes first, especially these days. We'll wait patiently for the updates because they're worth the wait.
I'm not full-on ill, just feeling permanently tired and rubbish. When like that, I have no interest at all in writing.

Given the new update, I went back to those wonderful maps made by @ngf to track everything (Their latest map is page: 304, post: 6071).
  1. If I am not mistaken that should be the entirety of Czechoslovakia liberated apart from maybe the Opposite bank in Prague.
  2. The British first army almost is entering the Polish corridor from the German border.
  3. I would expect Dollman's and Hasse's army pockets to be rolled up in the next 24 - 48 hours by follow on troops.
  4. Thereby leaving the only part of Germany in German hands currently are those 2 pockets, Parts of Berlin, Parts of Bavaria and Silesia, although I don't expect them to last long.

    Also with the capture of OB west does that mean that whatever remains in Bavaria, Austria and Silesia will be ordered to stand down by their commanders? (presumably the allies force them to make that message)

    If so that basically leaves local garrisons in Poland and third army in Prussia. @pdf27 What parts or cities in Poland are still controlled by the Nazis?
  • Czechoslovakia has a few pockets left, but that's mostly because nobody has got there yet. To all intents and purposes, the war there is over.
  • I'm working on the assumption that Command & Control has pretty much completely broken down in Germany. Essentially nobody above about Battalion level can exercise effective command, and below that things are distinctly sketchy with only the most exceptional leaders able to get their men to do very much.
  • Poland is lots of little ink-spots, gradually being mopped up by the ZWZ. Nothing coherent, just loads of German garrisons who don't particularly want to surrender to the Poles.

Sorry if I've missed something; are Polish forces going to try and kick the Soviets out or is that accepted as hopeless?
Some hotheads tried, and got stamped on by the NKVD and RKKA.
 

Driftless

Donor
Going by what I've read about of wartime beer in the UK, it's likely to have fewer hops and a lower alcohol content - shortage of ingredients, basically, thanks to the Germans requisitioning them.
I beleive the growing and oasting of hops was/is fairly manually intensive, so insufficient labor force? As you infer, the Germans probably scooped up much of the available hop and barley crop too.
 
So the countries that the Soviets will border in Europe are Romania, Hungary, Poland and Finland (presuming that East Prussia becomes Polish) with Norway and Hungary being less than 50km from the Soviets, right?

Also, I would imagine that the Pilsen brewers were not a target of the Nazis, but when they expel the Sudetenland Germans, there might be a bigger hit.
 
So the countries that the Soviets will border in Europe are Romania, Hungary, Poland and Finland (presuming that East Prussia becomes Polish) with Norway and Hungary being less than 50km from the Soviets, right?

Also, I would imagine that the Pilsen brewers were not a target of the Nazis, but when they expel the Sudetenland Germans, there might be a bigger hit.
One of those Hungary's has to be wrong :)
 
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