AHC/WI: Red Army on the Rhine in 1945

RousseauX

Donor
With a PoD of Jan 1942, how could we get the Red Army to end up on the Rhine instead of the Elbe by end of WWII? How would the western allies deal with a Communist Germany covering all of Germany east of the Rhine. Does Stalin partition Germany or keep it in one piece? And What of Austria?
 
Have Overlord be a massive failure. The Western Allies would have to then regroup and focus on attacking from Southern France and Italy. There would still be a Yalta Conference where the fate of Europe postwar would be discussed. Stalin will be in a stronger position but I don't think having the Red Army on the Rhine would result in a unified communist Germany since the Allies will insist on joint occupation and with the demonstration of the atomic bomb (possibly in Europe if the war drags on long enough) I think Stalin will think twice about being uncooperative.
 
By far the easiest way is to have Barbarossa derailed during Kiev and before American entry. After that point, if it ever looks like the Soviets are going to overrun most of the Reich, the Germans will throw open the Western Front and let the Anglo-Americans roll in via SLEDGEHAMMER/ROUND UP.

About the only realistic scenario I see is Manstein getting smashed along the Aksay River in December of '42 while trying to relieve Stalingrad, resulting in both Manstein's group as well as Army Groups A and B getting encircled and largely destroyed. This means Army Group South has been destroyed effectively in full, and there is a serious potential for the Soviets to be in their early 1944 positions by the end of the Summer of 1943.
 
PoD#1: Hitler panics and orders AGC to retreat on January 1st
PoD#2: The weather continues to be bad in the second week of January

Result: AGC is effectively destroyed by the Soviet counteroffensive, as the Luftwaffe fails to help them whilst their lines break under the pressure, resulting in 2-3 pockets that are gradually worn down in the following weeks.

Fast forward 11 months, where Soviet forces reach Rostov, trapping all of AGS, as the overextended Germans were busy fighting in Stalingrad. Some make it out via the Kerch Strait and into Crimea, but most are killed or captured.

The Anglo-Americans try a landing in '43 in France, but it gets pushed back into the sea by the German strategic panzer reserve, which was supposed to have fought at Kursk. Eastern front meanwhile collapses on multiple points.

Even so, with such a massive Soviet-wank/German-screw, I don't see how the Soviets get to the Rhine before the Allies land in France once again and reach it first.
 
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