Europe Post 1918

German and Italian Forces prepared to defend Georgia from Soviet Invasion. German and Italian carrier aircraft struck at Soviet units in the Caucasus Region. Meanwhile Turkey moved troops toward its border with Armenia.
In White Russia the White Russia Army had blunted two thrust toward Moscow. Its forces in the Southern Region were being pushed toward the Ukraine border. The Luftwaffe had begun to intervene in the conflict but it was finding that the Red Army had plenty of flak and the Red Air Force was aggressive in fighting back.
 
The German Army was now beginning to move into White Russia. The German Eighth Amy had moved into the country. It consisted of 2 Panzer Divisions, 2 Panzer Grenadier Divisions and 4 Motorized divisions. Joining it was the 1st Panzer Army. The First Panzer Army consisted of 4 Panzer Divisions, 4 Panzer Grenadier Divisions and 4 Motorized divisions.
The Austrian had deployed its 2nd Army Group (1st and 4th Armies into the Ukraine.
 
The Germans Had now deployed 20 divisions into White Russia> Poland had attacked its I Corp consisting of an Armored Division, Mechanized, Motorized Division,Armored Cavalry Brigade, AA Rgt, and Artillery Brigade.
Germany had already called up reservist Retired Defense Minister Erwin Rommel arrived at the General Staff HQ at the invitation of the Chief of the General Staff. The retired Field Marshal had faith that the officers that served under him were capable of handling the job. He knew that he was no longer up to commanding troops in the field. General Fritz Bayerlein was now the Chief of the General staff and Hans Guderians son was now the commander of one of the Panzer Corps,.
 
The Central Alliance forces now had moved quickly to cover Moscow and south of it to the border with Ukraine. This gave the white Russian time to recover from the surprise attack and rebuild the shattered units. Germany had been mobilizing and hoed to deploy another 20 divisions to the east.
It the Ukraine a group in the Parliament was calling for neutrality in the Russian conflict. The commander of the Royal Ukrainian Army had moved forces to the east as well as deploying troops to North of Kiev and to the Crimea.
The Deutsch-Italo- Black Seas Naval Force was thought to be enough to prevent an amphibious attack on the Crimea.
 
The German-Polish Army had now moved to protect Moscow from attack. There had been some clashes between the Red Army and the German forces. The Germans were somewhat surprised at the progress that had been made by the Red Army. The IS-III and both the T-54 and T-55 tanks were a serious threat. The two medium MBTs had a powerful 100 mm gun and a good speed.
 
Fighting now became quite serious as the Soviet and Western forces engaged in a series of battles near Moscow. The Germans had now found that the Red Army had learned quite a lot about armored combat. The edge that the Imperial German Army had had in the last war was no longer as great. It appeared that the Red Army would not be a push over.
Meanwhile the USSR applied pressure on the Kingdom of the Ukraine to remain neutral in this conflict. It also wanted the Austrians to remove their forces from the country.
In Switzerland the Representatives of the USSR and the Western Powers were meeting to try to reach a settlement.
 
The Red Army had made a lot of progress and the Germans had found that the army that they were fighting was well trained and determined to win. They were not making the same mistakes as they had in the last war. It was now a question in the Ukraine as to whether the government would join with the western allies or as the Soviets demanded remain neutral. Even in Austria there were a tiny group of demonstrators that were demanding that the country stay out of the conflict.
 
Field Marshal Rommel was once again helping to direct the war. The Luftwaffe had been told that it was going to have to do better. Control of the skies was needed and it also needed to take out the rockets that were causing damagee and lowering the morale of the troops in all of the allied armies.
 
Marshal Zhukov had carefully planned the offensive and so far things had gone his way. The Missiles had hit rail and road targets thus slowing down any reinforcements that might come. In addition the Soviets used agents in the west to create disunity. The so called peace movement was creating problems for a lot of western governments.
 
The Soviets had pushed the Germans and Poles back and were within 23 miles of Moscow. Field Marshal Rommel had resumed his post at the Defense Ministry.
 
The first in a series of battles began around Moscow. They were designated the 1st through the 10 Battles of Moscow. The Soviets thrust toward the city was blunted by the 8th Panzer Division. Marshal Zhukov then thrust toward the city from the south only to be stopped by the White Russian Forces but getting to within 20 miles of the city.
 
The Red Army was for the first time able to gain the upper hand on its opponents . Experts believed that part of the reason could be traced to the fact that the Social Democrat party of Germany had not contined to spend money to insure that the German armed forces had the best weapons. Amazingly only the Poles had continued to prepare for the next war. The Austrian Empire had also developed weapons which were capable of taking on the Soviets.
 
The German Army had begun using the E-50 and E-75 tanks in greater numbers and work had begun on a new tank design which would replace both of them. The E-50 was armed with an 88mm gun and it was called the Panther III. The Tiger I and II nad both been replaced by the newer E-75. The E-75 mounted a powerful 105mm gun.
 
The Red Army had been tightening conditions around Moscow when Marshal Zhukov had a heart attack and no one could make a decision in the Eastern Block. This allowed the Western alliance to regain the control. The allied forces pushed the Soviets away from Moscow.
 
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