True enough. Still in the Great scheme of things GB wants to curb Russian expansion in the Far east. The "Great Game" is still going on. I know the States wants to not see the ending of this war, and the British as well. So would Britain and the States force Japan on the German side just to stop the Russian colossus? Balkanizing Russia is a great way to sway the great game in the Anglo-Germanic Direction. I wouldn't go that far, just a question about the stories direction.
Sweden A Scandinavian power
- Thread starter chris N
- Start date
At this point I haven't thought about expanding the war to the Far East.I have been trying to concentrate on the role of Sweden in the War. But there is no doubt in my mind that what happens on the other fronts will be dealt with. Everything is interrelated. Thus as the year 1914 is drawing to a close Austra-Hungary is bogged down fighting in the mountains of Serbia and Montenegro . Bulgaria's entery into the war has improved thins for its Central Powers ally. On the Eastern Front the Germans have taken Warsaw and have pushed the Russians out of Poland. They helped to counter the Russian attack on the Austro-Hungarian border.
Sweden has the Russian capital under siege but worries about a Russian effort to break it. Something that I truly expect to happen.
Yes Britain has always feared a Russian threat to India and it is of mixed feelings about the war. On the one hand it will result in a weakening of a lot of countries for a period of time but on the other hand it is rsulting in the loss of some markets and resources.
Sweden has the Russian capital under siege but worries about a Russian effort to break it. Something that I truly expect to happen.
Yes Britain has always feared a Russian threat to India and it is of mixed feelings about the war. On the one hand it will result in a weakening of a lot of countries for a period of time but on the other hand it is rsulting in the loss of some markets and resources.
Yeah I can see the Swedish side of the war better. I think it will eventually result in a CP victory. This is a great TL. I love the way you are bringing the Scandinavian countries together.
Sweden: In the Scandinavian Military Planning Headquarters representatives were receiving a detailed briefing on the campaign. A Finnish and Danish officers briefed on the situation regarding St Petersburg. No punches were pulled and there was a feeling that the Russians would try to relieve the city. How possible it would be to keep the siege intact was an iffy question.
An Estonian officer gave the briefing on that front. The success of the uprising and the capture of so many Russian POWs was detailed. It was the opinion of the Swedish Commander that the defensive positions set up were pretty solid and could resist a Russian counter attract. Food and munitions had been stockpiled as there was real concern about the Baltic freezing. A Norwegian officer explained the campaign in the north. The Norwegian-Finnish force had captured all of the territory and had suffered no loses. They had used Russian POWs to build defensive positions and housing.
An Estonian officer gave the briefing on that front. The success of the uprising and the capture of so many Russian POWs was detailed. It was the opinion of the Swedish Commander that the defensive positions set up were pretty solid and could resist a Russian counter attract. Food and munitions had been stockpiled as there was real concern about the Baltic freezing. A Norwegian officer explained the campaign in the north. The Norwegian-Finnish force had captured all of the territory and had suffered no loses. They had used Russian POWs to build defensive positions and housing.
While the Scandinavians were meeting so were the Russian Military High Command. The bad weather had helped to stabilize the front with the Germans and now was the time to move to lift the siege of St Petersburg.
Br Rail the Russians began to assemble a force that would do the job. The 14th Army and the 7th Guards Army were given the task. Together they consisted of 12 Infantry and 3 Cavalry divisions. That was a lot of troops but it was felt that they would have only one chance to get this done right.
It was hoped that by mid to late January the troops would be in position to move on St Petersberg.
Br Rail the Russians began to assemble a force that would do the job. The 14th Army and the 7th Guards Army were given the task. Together they consisted of 12 Infantry and 3 Cavalry divisions. That was a lot of troops but it was felt that they would have only one chance to get this done right.
It was hoped that by mid to late January the troops would be in position to move on St Petersberg.
General Brusilov was given command of the Foce that was to lift the siege of St Petersburg. His troops consisted of those that had had some combat experience and those that had yet to see combat. He insisted that for this mission he would need a lot of well trained troops. The Czar;s Cousin was now the acting commander in Chief and he agreed. General Brusilov was given several Cossack Cavalry units and some of the well trained Siberian troops, which were quite capabile of operating in the harsh winter weather. His sole mission was not to drive the Sweds back to the Swedish -Finnish border but to lift the siege of the capital. If that was done the morale of the Russian army would improve and the Central Powers would be left with a major upset.
General Brusilov had studied the situtation and discussed his plans with the Grand Duke. He hoped to take the Swedes by surprise and force then to retreat to closer to the border. It would be impossible to follow up any victory with an offensive as he was sure that the main front would heat up. He was looking at the map of the current Eastern Main Front.
St Petersburg Front. The commander of the III Corp of the Swedish Army was very uneasy about the Siege. His Corp was responsible for the siege along the southern border. He was thus facing not only the Russian forces in St petersburg but the possibility of a Russian attempt to relieve the city. The engineers had built bunkers and fortifications which faced both directions but he had only 3 divisions worth of troops. Those divisions had a total of 162 guns and the corp added a Battalion of siege guns and 1 of field artillery. He had a Regiment of cavalry that prior to the bad weather had constantly patrolled the approached to the Swedish Positions.
He had the 4th Swedish Infantry Division , 2nd Finnish Guards Division and the 9th Finnish (Reserve) Division.
He had the 4th Swedish Infantry Division , 2nd Finnish Guards Division and the 9th Finnish (Reserve) Division.
February 21,1915 Russian forces began their offensive in the attempt to break the siege of St Petersburg. A Swedish patrol had stumble upon the advanced guard. The Swedish General Commanding the Third Corp now that to hope that one Regiment from each division could hold the forces in St Petersburg in check while the rest of the division faced the attackers attempting to break through. A risk needed to be taken and only the siege guns would continue to fire into the city. All other artillery would support the defense.
General Mannerheim was given command of both the II and III Corps and was given responsibility for the defense of the south from the Russian offensive. The Swedish Imperial Army had started the war with Battalion of over 900 men but now those battalions were down to about 800 men due to lose of troops in Combat (either Killed or wounded) and from injuries and illness. Still all of the Swedish Imperial Forces were combat trained. In addition all of the companies had been equipped with the Danish light machine gun. This weapon had allowed the Swedish/Finnish forces to take on the numerically superior numbers of Russians with a chance of defeating them.
The German High Command upon hearing of the attack on the Swedish forces ordered a winter offensive on the central Front in an effort to draw the Russia reserves away from the northern front.
The German High Command upon hearing of the attack on the Swedish forces ordered a winter offensive on the central Front in an effort to draw the Russia reserves away from the northern front.
The battle now in the south was a battle between the Commander of the Second Army and the Russian Commander. The Swedish-Finnish Commander knew that the Russian had the advantage in Artillery and manpower. He also was aware from intelligence reports that Brusilov was one of the most skilled Russian Generals. Thus he would have to remain on the defensive and inflict the heaviest loses on the Russians. The Danish Light Machine guns gave his forces a force equalizer.
The Russians could breech the line but could they hold it open?
The Russians could breech the line but could they hold it open?
The battle continued around St Petersburg. The Russians inside began to mount an attack along the southern front timing it just right so they were able to force the Swedish forces to pull back to the east. Thus for a period of time General Brusliov achieved his goal and held the opening long enough for the Czar to be rescued and for supplies to make there way into the city. General Mannerheim made one more effort to close the gap and finally succeeded . Still the General knew that anothe attack by the Russian would probably not be held and the opening would reappear.
It might be better to pull back and wait for the Germans to crack the Russians before attempting another siege. The war in Southern St Petersburg had cost the Swedish forces a lot of troops. Preliminary figures showed 800 Killed in action and more than 2400 wounded. For a country with a population much less than Russia's that was horrible loses.
It might be better to pull back and wait for the Germans to crack the Russians before attempting another siege. The war in Southern St Petersburg had cost the Swedish forces a lot of troops. Preliminary figures showed 800 Killed in action and more than 2400 wounded. For a country with a population much less than Russia's that was horrible loses.
While the ight was going on in the south the Danish troops discovered a weak spot in the Russian defenses in the North and with a Battalion of Swedish and Finnish assault troops they broke through the Russian Defenses and soon had most of the northern part of the city under their control.
The Swedish/Finnish/Danish force had smashed their way into the Russian Capital. The Russians had been taken off guard and were now having to rush forces to seal the breech. Marshal Carl Gotenburg had decided to role the dice and risk everything by throwing in all of the available reserves. The result was that he was able to overwhelm the defenders and push deep into the city. The Czar and the Government had managed to escape during the breakout. When Karl Mannerheim resealed the breech in the siege line things only got worse for the Russians.
The German Winter ofensive rsulted in there being no additional forces to send to General Brusilov. Victory was now within sight.
The German Winter ofensive rsulted in there being no additional forces to send to General Brusilov. Victory was now within sight.
St Petersburg Front: Marshal Gotenberg had sent a message to the Swedish Capital requesting reinforcements and a decision on whether he should press the attack or not. It appeared that the shelling by the siege guns had broken the Russian defenses in the north. Still there was a possibility of heavy casualties if the attack was pressed. General Mannerheim had managed to seal the city off again but he had taken loses in doing so.
The Swedish Marshal sent a message to his deputy telling him to hold. He had not received a reply but he was going to roll the dice and take a big chance that if he kept the pressure on and didn't allow the Russians time to restore their defences that he could cause a collapse that would see the city under the Swedish Flag'. What reserves where available were already on the way from the Finnish provience.
The Swedish Marshal sent a message to his deputy telling him to hold. He had not received a reply but he was going to roll the dice and take a big chance that if he kept the pressure on and didn't allow the Russians time to restore their defences that he could cause a collapse that would see the city under the Swedish Flag'. What reserves where available were already on the way from the Finnish provience.
Yea, and the Scandinavian forces are dominating with the general issue Danish LMG which is a great idea.
A Danish Unit had been providing support for the Swedish and Finnish assault troops. His unit was now deep into the Northern part of the city and had been cleaning out what Russian troops still remained. One Swedish officer praised the Danish light machine guns to the Danish captain saying that without its firepower his unit could never have made the progress that it had. It was truly an equalizer. Russian troops had feared the sound of it.
Still there were problems that were increasingly coming to light. The assault was burning through a lot of the ammunition at a faster than expected rate.Luckily there had been reserves but even those were running low.The winter had made it difficult to move supplies forward but thing continued to move just not as fast as the Swedish Marshal would have liked. Another problem was Russian Civilians. The Swedish military was having to use what Military Police units it had to control them and move them to areas where they would be safe from the fighting.
Recently a Russian artillery barrage had ended up killing nearly 200 Russian Civilians.
Still there were problems that were increasingly coming to light. The assault was burning through a lot of the ammunition at a faster than expected rate.Luckily there had been reserves but even those were running low.The winter had made it difficult to move supplies forward but thing continued to move just not as fast as the Swedish Marshal would have liked. Another problem was Russian Civilians. The Swedish military was having to use what Military Police units it had to control them and move them to areas where they would be safe from the fighting.
Recently a Russian artillery barrage had ended up killing nearly 200 Russian Civilians.