The Empire of Friedrich III and the rise of Germany (my first TL)

[Syphon]

OW,

I've only just caught up with this TL.

There are some grammatical error that a proof read should fix.

There are however problems.

Aircraft in 1909 were in their infancy and I doubt they'd have the capabilities you give them.

Another problem is with the Germans using 40.6cm guns on that new battleship.
The German guns of this ear were always developed in centimetres.
So it would have been either a 40 cm gun or something bigger.
In OTL the next planned KLM SDN was to have 42cm guns which equate I thing to 16.4inch guns.
I would suggest that this would be the one that KWII would seek to have built.
I can't remember the specs off the top of my head up I believe the displacement of these planned SDN were more akin to later OTL WWII battleships ie 45,000 tons standard displacement.

Nice story.

Oh and remember the KW II died in 1941 in OTL so his son should take over before the war is over.

 

[Onkel Willie]

Aircraft in 1909 were in their infancy and I doubt they'd have the capabilities you give them.

You mean 1909 planes can't be used for reconaissance?

I can't remember the specs off the top of my head up I believe the displacement of these planned SDN were more akin to later OTL WWII battleships ie 45,000 tons standard displacement.

Well there is a naval race going on. Because there is no Naval Treaty in 1921 the Japanese turn to carriers later and they focus more on big battleships. The Chinese do the same since they have to compensate for their lack of numbers. As a result Germany and Britain also start building huge battleships too. Those damn butterflies . That with the inches I didn't know but it isn't a terrible error I think.

And to those who have problems with the planes: Don't forget that this is a world that is more militarized than ours so development isn't very much slower than IOTL.

 

[Lord Grattan]

A very enjoyable TL Onkel. I find the changes in airplane and ship technology very plausable given the world you've described/created. I wish I could help you with maps, but they take me a very long time to create. I would be glad to do a flag or two for you.

 

[Onkel Willie]

Here's chapter 13.

Chapter 13​

German generals were astonished about the breathtaking speed of the French advance. They knew about blitzkrieg because of those two nosy officers Guderian and Rommel but they never thought that such a daring concept could work. They were even more shocked about the performance of French tanks and aircraft. The best tank the Germans had was the Panzer II which was now replacing the Panzer I which still formed the core of Germany’s armored forces. It is estimated that the Panzer II encompassed about one third of Germany’s tank force in 1938. The Panzer II was a good tank. It was fast and had good maneuverability but its armor and weaponry were quite weak when compared to their French counterparts. The Panzer II’s 20 mm gun often couldn’t penetrate French armor let alone the 7.92 mm machineguns on the Panzer I. It was obvious that the investment in tanks had paid off for the French. The fact that the Germans didn’t use their tanks in the way they should be used didn’t help either. Guderian and Rommel had scored several victories in Belgium because they made use of the strong points of their tanks. Their sheer speed amazed even the French. It wasn’t enough to stop them though. The development of new tanks was sped up but the first new German tanks wouldn’t come into service for at least another year. Guderian and Rommel were both promoted to general for their efforts.

The performance of French aircraft was equally amazing. The French had compensated their lack of numbers with technological superiority. The French had switched to monoplanes that were superior to any German planes. French dive bombers bombed ground targets with great accuracy and French fighters were a lot better than German fighters. The Luftwaffe was still using biplanes. Apart from German bombers almost all of their planes were biplanes. They were going down like flies. The only thing that prevented the French from gaining air superiority was the fact that the Luftwaffe had much more planes and pilots at its disposal. The neglect in the interwar years had cost the Germans dearly. They did have a monoplane fighter called the Messerschmitt Bf-109 on the drawing board but it was suppose to come into service in 1940. Now the Germans sped up its development. After seeing what the French could do the Germans ordered the development of a dive bomber of their own. A long range bomber to attack Russia’s heartland was also ordered as well but it was expected that both wouldn’t come into service until 1940 or 1941. For now the Germans were stuck on the defensive. They could only keep on producing the biplanes which they already had and a lot of anti-aircraft guns in massive numbers. The same applied to their tanks.

While France was busy invading the Low Countries and the Rhineland the Italians had launched a campaign of their own against the Ottomans in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. The Ottomans had modernized their army during the past few years but they were totally outnumbered by the Italian invaders. The Italian navy shelled what little coastal defenses were present and the token force that was supposed to be a fleet was destroyed. Italian forces landed and after several short but fierce battles with the local garrisons they controlled the coastal cities. The Ottomans retreated to the desert. As they were completely cut off from the Ottoman Empire they fled to their British allies in Egypt. To support the Italian effort in northern Africa the French sent the Corps de l’Afrique lead by general De Gaulle who would become known as the Desert Fox or Renard du Désert in French. Their primary objective was to take the Suez canal and the Iraqi oilfields that lay beyond it. The fact that were only a few railways in northern Libya didn’t help their effort and would cause them some severe problems with logistics later on. They went on however. The African front also saw the first use of the new S35 Somua tank which was a very powerful tank. It was however mechanically unreliable. Many would break down during the campaign. In fact the French lost more Somuas due to mechanical failure then to enemy fire.

The logistical difficulties which the French and Italian forces were experiencing gave the British and Ottoman forces time to prepare for the coming Franco-Italian offensive. Axis supply lines to North Africa were disrupted even more from Malta which was British fleet base. The Ottomans sent a squadron of ships and some troops to help defend the islands against the Italians and French who sought to invade the islands. They sent a battle cruiser, some destroyers and a division of the Ottomans’ best troops to aid in the defense of the island. It was the second time in Malta’s history that Ottoman troops set foot on the islands but this time they were allies instead of enemies. The axis offensive in north Africa commenced in early autumn of 1938. The advance was slow because of fierce resistance of the British and Ottomans and a freak storm that French meteorologists failed to predict. Many French vehicles got their engines clogged up with sand. The advance completely stopped at Fuka were the French encountered prepared defensive positions. The offensive failed to reach the Suez canal. The French would have to try again later.

Back in Europe guns had fallen silent after the fall of Finland. Europe had descended into a so called phony war. Skirmishes took place on all fronts. Instead of attacking the Germans directly Ungern von Sternberg decided to open up a secondary front in Norway. Norway was very important for the Germans since Germany received a lot of iron ore via Narvik. Sweden sent iron ore this way because their own harbor, Lulea, was frozen during winter. Narvik on the other hand was an ice-free port. Almost 80% of all Swedish iron ore that was sent to Germany came via Narvik. German and British intelligence knew of Russian plans to invade Norway and generals of both countries prepared a plan for an invasion of Norway to preempt the Russian invasion. The plan was called Unternehmen Blücher by the Germans. Initially the British were reluctant to violate Norwegian neutrality. It would be hypocrite since they had come into the war to defend the neutrality of another country. Wilhelm II completely supported the plan since Swedish iron ore was vital for Germany’s war industry. On April 4th 1939 the first action since the battle of Bremen in August of the previous year were the Germans and the BEF had stopped the French advance, started. The battle plan was developed by Guderian and Rommel whose careers had gotten a boost after the French onslaught. Finally German army leaders started to accept their ideas but it would take some time until the necessary reforms were implemented.

On the early morning of April 4th 1939 the German High Seas Fleet set sail and converged with a Royal Navy squadron east of Skagerrak several hours later. The plan also made good use of what little proper transport planes the Luftwaffe had at the time. It was a daring plan that required speed and flexibility that the Germans didn’t know they had. The combined German-British fleet crushed the small and outdated Norwegian navy and landed troops in Stavanger, Bergen, Trondheim, Oslo, Egersund, Kristiansand and Narvik. The fleet was divided into taskforces. Each one was assigned a different city. The taskforce that was going to attack Narvik consisted out of three battle cruisers and twelve destroyers. They had 1900 soldiers. A heavy cruiser and 1800 troops were sent to Trondheim. Three light cruisers and two torpedo boats were sent to Bergen along with 2000 troops. Kristiansand had to tackle a Friedrich III-class battleship and 1250 troops. One light cruiser and 150 troops were sent to Egersund. Oslo and Stavanger were both attacked by paratroopers. It was the first paratrooper attack in world history and it wouldn’t be the last. The drop itself was a success but the lightly armed paratroopers were quickly pinned down by Norwegian gendarmes and army units and they would remain so until German army units relieved them. The other German taskforces achieved their goals and routed the small Norwegian garrisons. Within hours more troops landed. After the troubles of the paratroopers in Oslo and Stavanger the German army leaders decided to cancel planned landings on Norwegian airfields and to rely on ground forces instead. Russian forces were still assembling for their invasion of Norway when the Anglo-German forces attacked. Ungern von Sternberg panicked and ordered his troops to invade immediately even though they weren’t fully prepared yet. They invaded on the 9th of April. That was too late. Most of Norway was in German and British hands. It was the first success of the Central Powers.

Norway was a lost cause for Russia. So Ungern von Sternberg returned to his old goal of reclaiming lost Russian territory and freeing Russia’s Slavic brethren who were still under the boot of Austria. Tuchachevsky advised him to attack Romania first to deny the Central Powers the oilfields in Ploiesti. It wasn’t exactly what he had in mind but it brought his forces close to Serbia. On April 20th 1939 his forces launched an invasion of Romania and part of Transylvania. An invasion of Azerbaijan was launched almost simultaneously under the command of general Zhukov. His rise had been made possible by Ungern von Sternberg. Despite being a nobleman he had abolished the system which prevented commoners from becoming high ranking officers. The Romanian army was quite large for such a small country. They had over 500.000 men in service which is equal to about 25 divisions. The Romanians put up a stiff resistance. That allowed the Austrians to send in federal forces in time to aid the Romanians. The country was largely overrun within ten weeks and a puppet government lead by Horia Sima and his Iron Guard. The offensive in Azerbaijan was less successful. The Russian forces encountered heavy resistance from Ottoman mountain troops. The Russian spearheads only barely managed to get to Baku and were forced to take up a defensive stance to ward off Ottoman counteroffensives lead by general Mustafa Kemal.

Germany in the meantime was preparing another offensive. After the great success in Norway Germany had become confident. Russia didn’t seem invincible anymore. It would be a major offensive. The aim was to capture as much of the Ukraine as possible. The Ukraine was Russia’s largest source of food and its loss would be bad for Russia’s war effort. It wouldn’t be devastating though. Russia had enough money to import grain from abroad. The objective of capturing as much ground as possible was a very vague one. Nevertheless several cities had been designated as prime targets. Rivne and Vinnitsya were among them. Rivne was an industrial center. There was metallurgic and machine building industry. Vinnitsya was a major trade center. It was important militarily as well since there were large supply depots there. The capture of tons of ammunition, weapons, food, clothing and fuel would hurt the Russian forces in the area. It was also the first German offensive into Russian territory and the first German offensive which would see the use of blitzkrieg like tactics. As a side effect Russian forces in Romania would be forced to retreat. Otherwise they would be cut off. Federal Austrian troops would launch a secondary offensive to drive the Russians out of Romania and Transylvania and to capture Odessa. Odessa was a major port and an industrial center. If successful this offensive would be a great victory and it would be great for propaganda too. For the Russians it would be a major setback since they would lose several major industrial centers and a lot of ground.

The operation was called Unternehmen Friedrich der Grosse and was scheduled to start on May 18th but was postponed several times for unclear reasons. The last time it had to be postponed due to severe rain which turned the ground into sludge. The offensive finally started on the 2nd of August 1939. It met with little resistance initially. German tanks advanced rapidly across the Russian countryside and were welcomed by the local population. They had been oppressed by the Russians a long time and they had awaited the day that somebody would liberate them. And now that day had finally come.

 

[Syphon]

You mean 1909 planes can't be used for reconaissance?

Well there is a naval race going on. Because there is no Naval Treaty in 1921 the Japanese turn to carriers later and they focus more on big battleships. The Chinese do the same since they have to compensate for their lack of numbers. As a result Germany and Britain also start building huge battleships too. Those damn butterflies .
That with the inches I didn't know but it isn't a terrible error I think.

OW,
I regards to aircraft reconaissance I agree but I thought that they were also used in the ground attack roll or did I just misinterpret something?

I don't have a problem with the big dreadnoughts.

The inches is a big error however Germany is a metric country that is why the German cruisers and capital had 15cm ~ 5.9 in, 21cm ~ 8.2in, 24cm ~ 9.4 in, 30.5 cm 12 in is the exception, 35cm ~ 13.79in & 38 cm ~15 in or close enough being 1 mm out that it makes no difference.

The only reason the Germans had 8in or 20.3 cm armed ship in WWII was that was the maximum size the treaty allowance a cruiser could have.

Blucher the closest the Imperial Germans came to a proto heavy cruiser had 21cm guns.
Any ship built by the Germans after a war they won would be built to standard German specs which would be in metric.

As there is no way KWII would sign a Washington type treaty that limits ship or gun size that doesn't benefit Germany more then anybody else.

That is why I say that if you want 16 inchers then you'll have to go with 40cm and drop the .6.
This is not really likely as the Germans knew that GB was working on 18in guns which was why the 42cm was the next gun on the drawing boards for naval artillery for German capital ships.

Sorry to be pedantic but any butterflies must have a reason and the Germans simply would go with 16in guns just because others are unless they are treaty bound to do so.

About the only way this could happen were if Germany and the USA were allies and had standardised the calibres accordingly.

Now this is possible as Germany and the US had similar policies towards China in OTL.

 

[Syphon]

OW,

There is an obvious error here.
In chapter 11 you wrote:

The Germans sent two panzer divisions lead by a lieutenant-colonel Heinz Guderian and his second in command colonel Rommel. In Russia he would later be known as the steppenwolf.

In Chapter 13 you said that Guderian was promoted to major General and Rommel to LT Colonel.

I think you need to work on your ranks.

If the Germans sent two panzer division then they would be commander by two officers of the same rank although one might have seniority.
If you want Guderian to be the commander of this force then he should already be a Lt General and if you want Rommel to be his side kick then make him a brigade General as Guderian's chief of staff.
Division commands are traditionally a major general Billet.

This way you can have Guderian being an army commander when they head east with Rommel as one of his division commanders.

One other point, Mustafa Kemal you'll have to butterfly away his death and ill health.
Have the illness picked up early lets say the early 20's and treated.
That should give him ten or twenty more years.

 

[Onkel Willie]

I changed the stuff with the inches. The ranks were an obvious flaw and I corrected that too.

One other point, Mustafa Kemal you'll have to butterfly away his death and ill health.

Didn't I just do that by letting him live longer?

 

[Syphon]

I changed the stuff with the inches. The ranks were an obvious flaw and I corrected that too.



Didn't I just do that by letting him live longer?

Sorry about the rant but I'm one of the boards battleship nazis.

I just can't stand incorrect battleship terminology.

FYI the Germany policy for Dreadnought was quite different from the rest of the world.
The Germans were quite willing to sacrifice speed and larger guns for better armour protection.
This is why so many undergunned German ships survived Jutland.
Later in the war there plans were to match guns, have better armour and sacrifice speed for survivability.

 

[Onkel Willie]

Here's chapter 14. There's some more news from the eastern front. Russia's eastern ally will finally reveal itself. Russia is becoming really evil now. It also contains something about the atomic bomb program.

Chapter 14​

The offensive proceeded well. The Russians had launched an offensive against the Baltic Archduchy and Lithuania a few days prior. Ungern von Sternberg was shocked when he found out that the Germans ignored him and attacked anyway. He had forgotten that Germany had loyal allies to call upon. The Federal Empire of Austria was one of these. They sent a large force to aid the Lithuanians and Baltics so that Germany could continue its major offensive. As a result the western Ukraine was less defended than it normally would have been. Rivne was reached within three days which was remarkably fast. The Germans were using all available trucks for the offensive. Luckily the German army was already partially mechanized and tank- and truck production were being increased. Vinnitsya was reached within another four days. The Russians did blow the bridges across the Southern Buh river but apart from that the Germans encountered little resistance apart from some skirmishes with fanatical Black Eagle units. Several Polish divisions also participated in the attack.

The Austrian part of the offensive was more troublesome since the Austrians had to fight the large number of Russian troops in Transylvania and Romania. It was only after the Germans started marching south along the Southern Buh river and the Dnjestr that the Russians retreated. Otherwise they would have been cut off. Ungern von Sternberg insisted that Odessa be held by Russian forces despite objections of Tuchachevsky among others. It was an important harbor and it was of great cultural and historical value. It had repelled numerous Austro-Hungarian offensives during the 1909-1911 war. Czar Michael II had given it the title ‘hero city’ in 1920. It was a symbol of resistance. The army group which had taken Rivne advanced further to the east after encountering little resistance. The army group which had taken Vinnitsya advanced southeast to capture Mykolayiv and Kherson. Both were important cities. Kherson was an important harbor on the Black Sea which had a large shipbuilding industry. The other one had several naval shipyards and dry docks as well but not as many as Kherson. Both cities would be useful to the Ottoman navy.

Odessa was in the meantime was surrounded by Austrian forces and several Romanian divisions lead by general Ion Antonescu who had toppled the fascist government of Horia Sima after the Russian forces had abandoned Romania and left Horia Sima and his iron Guard to fend for themselves. The Russian forces fought furiously to prevent the harbor from falling into Austrian hands. Austrian artillery mercilessly bombarded Russian positions and the Ottoman navy prevented supplies from reaching the city. The Russian Black Sea Fleet was too weak to interdict the movements of the Ottoman navy the construction of which had been funded with the oil revenue. The Russians did have a few submarines but they were nothing more than a nuisance. The fighting in the city continued for at least three weeks. Since there was no hope of rescue the commander of the city surrendered which caused Ungern von Sternberg to go completely berserk. He really lived up to his nickname Crazy Baron. He reportedly ranted for at least half an hour about how he was surrounded by fools and idiots who didn’t understand his grand plan.

The Germans continued but they hadn’t taken into account Russia’s numerical advantage. The Russians sent several hundreds of thousands of soldiers to halt the advancing Germans which were heading east for Zhytomyr. By the time the Russians arrived the city had already fallen and German artillery could be heard in Kiev. The Germans had almost reached the Dnjepr in less than four weeks after the start of the operation. Stiff resistance and Russian reinforcements from Siberia put and end to the German advance on the outskirts of Kiev. The Germans were repelled during the battle of Kiev which lasted from the 30th of August until September 12th 1939. Fighting was fierce. The western outskirts of Kiev were destroyed as Russian and German Forces fought for every house. In the end the Germans were defeated. They failed to reach the city center of Kiev. The Russians couldn’t prevent the fall of Mykolayiv and Kherson however. Both harbors were captured by the Austrians and Romanians. As a result the Ottomans could land an expeditionary force of their own in the south of Ukraine. Shortly after the battle of Kiev the Ukrainian National Republic was proclaimed with Odessa as its capital. It was promptly recognized by all Central Powers. The Russian army was now facing three powerful armies on their home turf which would be strengthened by the Ukrainian volunteers and the Ukrainian National Army that was created out of the volunteer legions later on. The tide would soon turn in favor of Russia however as a new Russian ally entered the war.

Japan hadn’t done anything that came close to attacking Germany yet. They had however been preparing for a conflict with Germany for a long time. The Japanese Empire was going to take advantage from Germany’s weakness. The Germans were totally preoccupied with fighting Russia, France and Italy. Another motive for the attack was the lack of progression on the Chinese front. The Chinese were resisting almost fanatically. The unprovoked Japanese attack had awoken Chinese nationalism. Their leader, Chiang Kai-Shek, refused to surrender and sent more and more men to the trenches and indeed, their deaths. Even the most extreme measures such as chemical weapons couldn’t get the frontline to budge. In fact it only caused the Chinese to retaliate with their own chemical weapons. Japan wasn’t going to get much further than Manchukuo. The Japanese were desperate for a victory since the morale of the Japanese population was dropping. As the front swayed back and forth in Ukraine and the western front remained a stalemate, Japan attacked.

On November 9th 1939 the Japanese fleet left its port. Fortunately the Chinese had a contact in Japan who immediately sent a message to Xi’an. The Chinese government immediately relayed the message to Berlin although Chiang Kai-Shek had toyed with the idea not to tell them since Germany hadn’t helped him when Japan attacked his country. All German forces in the Pacific were put on high alert. Unfortunately their contact didn’t know where the Japanese fleet was headed. So the Germans couldn’t do more than sit and wait. The Japanese strike force consisted of six carriers, six battleships, three heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, twelve destroyers, nine tankers, eleven submarines, six midget subs and 414 planes. They were followed by an invasion force which consisted mostly of transports and escorts. They were headed for the Philippines where Germany’s Far Eastern Squadron was stationed. It was intended to be a knockout blow. In the colonial capital of Manila the aging governor Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck was preparing. His affection for the locals had kept him from retiring and leaving his desk to some Wilhelmine brute. It was an easy job anyway. The locals liked him and everything went along smoothly. He ordered the planes on the airfields to be spread out to prevent them from being picked off from the air to easy. The German fleet was mobilized.

The attack commenced on November 11th and was lead by admiral Nagumo. Less than two hours before the attack did Von Lettow-Vorbeck receive word that the Japanese taskforce was headed towards the Philippines. A U-boat that was out on patrol had spotted them. All planes were readied and the fleet was prepared to set sail. One officer has asked him if he wasn’t too old to wage war. He replied that this would be a guerrilla war, a war of wits. He was old not stupid. On 7 AM the first bombs fell in the harbor of Manila. German fighters were scrambled and took off to engage the Japanese. Unfortunately German biplanes were inferior and outnumbered. To make matters worse the Japanese had brought along their brand new Nakajima Ki-27. Luckily the Japanese had only a few of them since they hadn’t come into production until very recently. Most of their fighters, bombers and torpedo planes were biplanes as well. Nevertheless the Japanese outnumbered the German squadrons in the Northern Philippines. As soon as the Japanese fleet was detected, the German ships immediately prepared for battle. Despite their readiness it took them some time to get everything going as the inexperienced crews had never been in a combat situation. The fleet left port at the same time the Japanese fleet arrived.

Nagumo had to improvise as he found out that the Germans knew about his attack. He ordered his battleships, heavy cruisers and light cruisers to seal off Manila bay and to engage the fleeing Germans. In the meantime his carriers launched the first wave of planes. Their torpedo bombers which were based on the design of the Fairy Swordfish released their deadly cargo and hit several ships despite withering fire from German anti-aircraft guns. The bombers did the same. The planes had been put into the plan after the Italians had attacked and sunk several Ottoman vessels in Crete with their own torpedo bombers almost a year earlier. The subsequent invasion had failed but the air raid had attracted the attention of the Japanese navy leadership. This was a very enlarged version of that attack. The original idea had been to draw the Germans out into the open and destroy them in a naval battle which would have been much more dangerous as German battleships were just as good or at some points even better than their Japanese counterparts.

The battle would later become known as the battle of Manila bay. Nagumo really panicked when German fighters engaged his own planes. He ordered the second and third attack waves to take off immediately. Japanese pilots scrambled and immediately left for Manila bay. The battle in the sky turned into a slaughter as Japanese pilots shot down their outnumbered but persistent adversaries. The naval battle wasn’t much better. The German ship that essentially saved the day was the Kaiser which was the third of the Wilhelm der Grosse-class battleship. The other two were the Wilhelm der Grosse and the Friedrich der Grosse both of which were stationed in Europe. She had been transferred only a few months earlier because the Japanese threat was growing bigger. Its twelve massive 42 cm guns fired one salvo after another. Its 63.000 ton bulk and forty centimeter thick armor withstood the punishment. It was struck by at least three torpedoes and several shells but it fought on and sunk a light cruiser, damaged another which was sunk later on and crippled two out of three heavy cruisers. Two battleships were slightly damaged by the ship. The massive vessel cleared a path for the rest of the squadron. The captain knew however that he couldn’t keep on going. He ordered the squadron to leave immediately. The Kaiser would provide cover. The Kaiser was the last ship to leave and it fired one salvo against the Shokaku which was Nagumo’s command ship. It was a symbolic act since the German battleship couldn’t take on the Shokaku without being attacked by other ships. The captain basically gave the Japanese the finger before he left. The German Far East Squadron escaped but it had taken heavy casualties. One battleship had been sunk out of the five that were present. Three out of twelve cruisers had been sunk. A fourth had been captured before the vessel’s captain could give the order to scuttle the ship. A fifth cruiser was heavily damaged. Ten out of forty destroyers had also been lost and 2176 German sailors were dead. The fleet retreated to German-Indochina.

They did however inflict a lot of damage on their Japanese assailants. Two light cruisers had been lost, three out of three heavy cruisers had been severely damaged. The aircraft carrier Akagi had been damaged as were several battleships. The aerial battle wasn’t much better. One hundred and twelve aircraft had been shot down by the determined defenders. It was a costly victory but a victory nonetheless. It was far from the knockout blow it was intended to be. Many Japanese government officials were very displeased however. The invasion continued as planned. Troops were landed on the northern islands which were quickly overrun. The rest of the Philippines were overrun within three weeks. Japanese propaganda portrayed it as a great victory. It wouldn’t be an easy occupation though. Governor Von Lettow-Vorbeck had retreated along with about 20.000 men into the jungle. There his forces would wage a guerrilla war against the Japanese until they left. Von Lettow-Vorbeck would not live to see that day however. His old body couldn’t withstand the tropical conditions. He got malaria which couldn’t be cured due to lack of medicine. He died less than two years later in June 1941.

Back in Russia Ungern von Sternberg had started to deport Jews. Anti-Semitism was an important part of his national-democrat ideology. Several segregation laws had been instituted before the war. The pogroms which had been common in the late 19th and early 20th century returned as propaganda awakened hatred against Jews. They were portrayed as inherently evil capitalists whose only goals was to destroy Russia and enslave the Russian people. They were also blamed for Russia’s defeat in 1911. In late 1939 the first trains packed with Jews were sent to Siberian labor camps. There they would produce clothing, mine minerals, manufacture weaponry and build roads some of which are still being used today. Many would die of diseases like cholera or typhus. Under such conditions epidemics spread quickly. After a while the Russians started to exterminate Jews. They were racially impure vermin according to Ungern von Sternberg. The old, weak and sick were killed because they couldn’t work. Many children were also killed. At first they gunned them down with machineguns but that proved to be too costly. Poison gas was used instead as it was much more efficient. A negative side effect of the anti-Jewish laws was the brain drain. Many Russian nuclear physicists such as Abram Ioffe and Yakov Frenkel had all fled to Germany before the war and would contribute to Germany’s atomic bomb project. Other undesired groups that polluted the Slavic race such as disabled people were exterminated as well. Sunni Muslims were also targeted since they were not only inferior but the Ottoman Empire was Sunni Muslim. Many of them were deported to Kazakhstan were they wouldn’t be a threat. They weren’t exterminated but Russia’s Muslim population was treated harshly. The Ottoman Empire was and had always been an enemy of Russia.

The atomic bomb project had started in 1938 because Germany suspected that Russia had an atomic bomb project of its own which was in fact true. Germany’s best scientists were involved. Many of them were pacifists but the idea of a Russian atomic bomb and a subsequent Germany was abhorrent to them since most of them were Jewish. Therefore they worked hard to get Germany an atomic bomb first. Enrico Fermi had first split the atom in 1934. Most if not all nuclear physicists agreed that an atomic bomb was theoretically possible after that. Great minds like Albert Einstein, Leo Szilard, Edward Teller, Lise Meitner, Otto Hahn, Werner Heisenberg, Niels Bohr and Enrico Fermi were all involved the last one after having fled Italy which was turning anti-Semitic like its big Russian ally. It was a common effort to bring Germany victory. The programs of both countries would have setbacks though. In the end it would be a close call.

 

[Onkel Willie]

No replies . Here's chapter 15. This is quite long.

Chapter 15​

While the Germans, Austrians and Ottomans advanced in western Ukraine and thereby increased the Ukrainian National Republic in size, the western front had remained a stalemate. It had been this way after the first six weeks of the war. The eastern bank of the Rhine had been turned into an almost impervious defensive line. Construction had already begun before the war and was mostly finished before the war. Since the outbreak of the war the line had been strengthened. More bunkers, more barbed wire, more machinegun positions, more trenches, more minefields had all been created. The Germans had also thought up something new. They had mounted gun turrets with 75 mm and 105 mm guns on concrete emplacements. Further to the north the French advance had stalled as well. The French had attempted to take Bremen and Hamburg several times but were stopped by the German army and the BEF every time. After the offensives the front swayed back and forth as the French tried to enforce a decisive defeat. After a while the front would stabilize and wouldn’t be much different from what it had been before the offensives. And since the BEF was growing stronger there was no hope of victory in Germany. So the French started to explore other ways to inflict a significant defeat on the Central Powers.

Africa was seen as the perfect place to inflict such a defeat. De Gaulle’s Corps de l’Afrique had already had some successes in the area. Libya and parts of Egypt had been taken but the supply lines were overstretched and plagued by attacks from the Royal Navy and Austrian submarines. Petain had decided that the forces in western Germany would remain in a defensive position. North Africa was to become the main theatre of operations for France. His first step was to ease the logistical problems. He decided that the best way to accomplish that was to take out Malta which was an important British naval base. The operation was a joint Franco-Italian operation which was approved on January 6th 1940 during a meeting between Mussolini and Petain. It was called Operation Scylla and was scheduled to start on the 1st of April 1940, possibly earlier if the weather would allow it. In the operation the navy’s and air forces of both countries would cooperate in a way unseen in other wars. The operation started on the planned date. In the middle of the night axis commandos took out several key targets. In the early morning French and Italian battleships opened fire on Malta and destroyed what little coastal defenses were present. Bombers stationed in Sicily pounded the unsuspecting British defenders. At the same time over a thousand gliders took off from airfields in Sicily. They carried two entire divisions of paratroopers. It was an emulation of Germany’s paratrooper attack on Norway almost a year earlier. This one would be implemented successfully however. They landed on the high ground behind Valetta and seized the nearby airfield which allowed the French and Italians to bring in heavier equipment. In the meantime a small force landed at Marsaxlokk bay to distract the British from the main event. The main event was a landing north of Valetta. The Italians landed over 60.000 men there in the largest amphibious operation to date. The island’s small garrison was overrun within a few days. It was one of the most complex operations of the war since amphibious landings weren’t a common phenomenon in the European theatre. In the pacific however amphibious operations would occur on a regular basis in the not too distant future.

This eased the logistical situation for the Corps de l’Afrique which continued its advance along the Egyptian coastline. During the campaign the French clashed with British and Ottoman troops regularly in El Alamein, El Maghra, El Hammadi and Alexandria among others. Within several weeks the Nile had been reached. There they were finally stopped for the time being. The Suez canal was safe for now. The Franco-Italian presence in north Africa grew steadily and by the end of the year it had a size of over twenty divisions. To complete the lockdown of the Mediterranean sea, the French wanted to take Gibraltar as well. De Rivera refused to let axis troops use Spain as a base of operations for such an operation which infuriated both Mussolini and Petain. De Rivera knew that his country was still suffering from the effects of the civil war and was not ready for yet another war. In hindsight this was good for the French. Spain had a bad infrastructure at the time and was totally unsuited for such an operation. It would have turned into a logistical nightmare. Petain briefly considered to invade Spain but dropped the idea after he was told how difficult it would be.

In the pacific the war was also in full swing. After Japan had attacked China the US had instituted an embargo against Japan. To make Japan self sufficient the Japanese wanted to have a colonial empire of their own. The Japanese decided to invade the Dutch East Indies. They would first invade German-Indochina which could be used a stepping stone for the invasion of the Dutch East Indies and the Siamese peninsula. First the island of Hainan was captured and secured. It was captured after a large amphibious landing in mid-December 1939. The Japanese invaders quickly captured the island’s key areas and dispatched the Chinese after several rather nasty skirmishes. Captured Chinese soldiers were put to work quickly. They were forced to build airfields and roads under harsh conditions. They were treated like slaves. They got little food and water and were forced to sleep in draughty, unhygienic barracks. Many got sick but as long as your were fit enough to walk, you were fit enough to work according to the Japanese. Twelve to sixteen hour workdays were common. Many died of diseases that are easily preventable such as cholera, malaria and pneumonia. No one dared to protest because the Japanese wouldn’t just punish the perpetrator but the entire group. The airfields were finished after three grueling weeks. This is exactly why many Chinese didn’t surrender. A few battalions which had escaped the Japanese onslaught had retreated into the jungle and fought a guerrilla war against the invaders and would continue to do so until the end of the war.

After the airfields were finished a large detachment of planes was sent to the island. Hainan would serve as the staging area for the invasion of German-Indochina. By now the Nakajima Ki-27 was available in larger numbers. It would turn German biplanes into minced meat. The operation was supposed to start on the 12th of February 1940. The German Far East squadron was still around but it wasn’t large enough to take on the full might of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Several skirmishes took place the largest of which would become known as the battle of the South China Sea. The Germans sank several Japanese ships. The inflicted losses were far from devastating. The Japanese lost some frigates, corvettes and some light cruisers. Those ships were supposed to participate in the invasion of German-Indochina. The operation had to be postponed. It was rescheduled to February 27th. The first troops landed in the entire Red River Delta. It would live up to its name since the area would see some of the heaviest fighting of the entire pacific campaign. Battleships Kongo, Nagata, Kirishima and Yamashiro shelled targets up to several miles inland. Japanese aircraft stationed on Hainan made sure that the Japanese would have air superiority the entire time. The Japanese invaders established a beachhead in a matter of hours. More and more Japanese troops arrived. The Germans attempted to attack the beachhead and drive the Japanese into the sea several times but they were repelled each time. The Germans retreated into the dense forests to fight the Japanese there.

The Japanese proceeded to advance inland and quickly ran over German garrisons in the area around the beachhead. The Germans did have one nasty surprise for the Japanese though. The Germans had been working on their own advanced monoplane fighter to counter more modern French, Japanese and Russian planes. The result was the Messerschmitt Bf-109. The first ones came of the assembly line in December. The Germans had sent fifty of these planes to Asia to bolster Germany’s airpower in the area. Fifty was not nearly enough but these planes would cause quite a ruckus. The Bf-109 was superior to Ki-27. It was faster, it had a higher service ceiling, a longer range and a better rate of climb. These fifty Messerschmitts downed over one hundred and forty-two Ki-27s in the weeks following the invasion.

The Germans didn’t surrender though. They had heard rumors about how the Japanese treated their prisoners. Being taken prisoner by the Japanese was in many cases tantamount to death. The outnumbered German garrisons retreated into the jungle and started a guerrilla war like Von Lettow-Vorbeck had done in the Philippines in stead of facing the Japanese in open battle which would have been the undoing of Germany’s colonial forces. Japanese casualties would be high. They did fight for Friedrichsburg or Saigon as many still called it however. The Japanese had surrounded the city and the troops in it. They would crush the Germans in a pincer movement. The battle was horrendous. The Germans fought for every house and every street. The Japanese repeatedly tried to negotiate a surrender. They figured that the Germans would accept since they couldn’t win. They were outnumbered 5 to1 and surrounded after all. The Germans stubbornly refused since they knew what would happen if they surrendered. The battle would go down in German history and is commemorated to this day. It was the last city to be taken after twelve weeks of battle. There were hardly any Germans left alive in the devastated city. Most didn’t want to be taken prisoner. This made things more difficult for China as well. Because of the fall of German-Indochina the Japanese could blockade China more effectively. The only thing that kept the Chinese going was their own economic power and a thin lifeline from India to China over the Himalayas.

Japanese military leaders almost immediately started planning their next move. The invasion of the Dutch East Indies would be a series of amphibious landings. Fortunately for the Japanese it would be a piece of cake when compared to the Philippines or German-Indochina. The Dutch army was small, weak and pathetically outdated. The KNIL as it was called also had many natives in its ranks. It wasn’t sure whether or not all of them would fight for the Dutch. The Dutch air force had many old Koolhoven F.K.51s in service along with some of the more modern Fokker D.XXI and the twin engined heavy fighter Fokker G.I. That was no match for the large modern Japanese air force. The Dutch navy wasn’t much better. It had several modern ships but not enough of them. The Dutch navy wouldn’t be more than a nuisance. German, British and Commonwealth forces would have to aid in the defense of the Dutch colony. The Dutch navy would be crushed in the battle of the Java Sea on the 3rd of August 1940. In the battle the colonial fleets of Britain, Germany and Holland would face off. The Central Powers’ fleets sailed north to engage the Japanese. The Japanese would inflict heavy losses but suffer losses of their own as well. The Dutch would lose just about all of their ships. The Germans lost several heavy cruisers. The British would lose the HMS Prince of Wales which was subjected to an intense aerial bombardment from planes based on the aircraft carrier Shokaku. The ship’s crew heroically fought back and shot down several aircraft and damaged the Shokaku with a salvo before sinking. This was the second time a battleship captain gave Nagumo the finger instead of surrendering but this time he replied by sinking the ship of the cocky captain.

After the Japanese had sufficiently recovered from their campaign in Indochina they started the operation. On June 1st 1940 they invaded Borneo and quickly occupied Miri on Sarawak which was an important oil production centre. The entire colony was conquered one island at a time. Resistance by the KNIL was minimal. British, Australian, German and New Zealand forces were badly organized. The situation was quite chaotic. The Dutch East Indies were overrun within less than three months. The last enemy forces were defeated in mid -August. The Dutch East Indies would become very important for Japan. The country no longer had to depend on foreign fuel suppliers such as America. Japanese propaganda portrayed it as the largest Japanese victory ever.

In meantime the Germans hadn’t been exactly sitting still either. They were losing in the pacific but were gaining in the Ukraine. After the offensives in August and September the Germans had gathered more forces. Extra Austrian forces and an increased Ottoman Expeditionary Force were also added to the mix. What little Russian forces remained west of the Dnjepr were driven across the river by late October 1939. Some units even marched beyond the Dnjepr. The heights of the offensive were the second battle of Kiev and the siege of Sebastopol. German and Austrian forces encircled Kiev and crushed the Russian defenders in a battle that ended only after weeks of fierce fighting. Many of the units in the city were Black Eagle units. They were among the most fanatical supporters of the RNDPU and refused to surrender. By the time the battle ended the city was all but destroyed. Sebastopol was left to the Austrians and the Ottoman navy. The city had been strengthened and was it was said that the city could not be taken. Its defenses were reportedly impenetrable. The city was defended by about 25.000 determined defenders inspired by nationalistic propaganda and the heroic resistance of the Kiev garrison. Several Romanian divisions led by Ion Antonescu and Petre Dumitrescu. would also participate in the siege. Romania had been driven right into the arms of the Central Powers after Russia had invaded the country. As an act of revenge the Romanians annexed Moldova in the August offensive.

The rest of the small Russian pocket west of Dnjepr was confined to the area east of line running from somewhere south of Kiev to some place east of Kherson. The pocket shrunk every day as German, Ottoman and Austrian forces continued to advance. The last Russian forces were driven across the river after the battle of Dnipropetrovsk which was a staggering victory. The Central Powers advanced at such a speed that the defenders weren’t ready yet when they arrived. The Russian army group that was tasked to defend the Ukraine could no longer hold on after the crushing battle of Kiev. They were driven across the Dnjepr and prepared to make a stand there. Russia was far from defeated though. Ungern von Sternberg called every able bodied man into the army but in many cases it wasn’t necessary. Many volunteered. Almost fifteen years of indoctrination had done its job. A nationalistic fire had been woken in Russia. By late 1940 the Russian army would have over 500 divisions to counter the invading forces and by mid-1941 they would have 650 divisions. Russian industry was geared to total war as well. By that time the numerical advantage of the Germans, Austrians and Ottomans would be minimal. It wasn’t time for that yet though.

Guderian who had been put in charge of all operations on the eastern front decided that it was best to sit out the winter before marching deeper into Russia. German supply lines were already strained enough. So as winter began and 1939 past and 1940 started, the Germans consolidated their gains and established a defensive perimeter along the Dnjepr. They also instated a good-will policy toward the Ukrainian populace. They had been oppressed by the Russians and hated them. The Germans were widely seen as liberators and Guderian and his chief of staff wanted it to stay that way. A resistance movement was something the Germans absolutely did not want. In the meantime Sebastopol had been entirely surrounded by enemy forces. Simferopol and the rest of the Crimean peninsula had been overrun in three days in spite of Russian resistance. Instead of storming the city they besieged it. Storming it would have been suicide. The defenses of the city were almost impregnable. It would take many soldiers to breach the potent defenses. There were 35 kilometers of tank ditches, 65 kilometers of barbed wire, 150 pillboxes, 250 pieces of field artillery, miles of trenches, 10.000 mines and many anti-tank obstacles present to aid in the defense of the city. The city also had several large naval guns in bunkers made out of thick armed concrete. The Austrians brought in large 420 mm howitzers and big guns mounted on rail carriages to crack the potent Russian defenses. Both types had been manufactured by Skoda which got quite a profit. 305 mm, 356 mm, 381 mm guns were among the most used. There were however two larger ones. The Austrian forces had a 600 mm mobile howitzer and an 800 mm railway gun available which had been made by Skoda as well. The latter could fire armor piercing shells weighing in at seven tons. One such shell penetrated up to 60 feet into the ground and went through another 20 feet of concrete and exploded inside a command bunker. Many bombers were also brought in. Unfortunately the Russians had enough supplies to last very long. The Ottomans made sure that they wouldn’t get any new ones. The Ottoman navy blockaded Sebastopol and shelled it to aid the Austrians. The Russians wouldn’t give in without a fight though.

 

[Quiet_Man]

This isn't really my area of expertise, but it's a rattling good tale nonetheless. Keep the updates coming

 

[Neroon]

I like it very much actually. Sorry for lack of comment.
I think you overestimate the famed Russian manpower reserves a bit though. Especially with the loss of the Ukraine and that someone still got to work the fields and factories in wartime. Also how are they going to equip that many troops with several resource areas lost?

 

[Onkel Willie]

This Russia is even more industrialized than Stalin's USSR was IOTL. This has to do with the fact that Russia is not communist and can thus attract more foreign investors. Russia ITTL was quite an attractive place to invest in (lots of underskilled low payed labor and lots of resources). This combined with big state companies and Stalinlike industrialization programmes gives a stronger Russia. This guy who is in charge of the Russian Empire has been preparing his country from the moment he rose to power. This is nazi-Russia basically. There's a lot of industry in the Urals and Central Asia. And there haven't been any purges in which millions including 35.000 officers get killed. Because of this many competent Russian officers are still alive and kicking. Lots of people + more industry than IOTL can equip many divisions and women can work the fields and in factories.

 

[Onkel Willie]

No reactions again . Here's chapter 16.

Note: This TTL's panzer III is more like OTL's panzer IV to keep up with the Russians. The S-20 is similar to OTL's T-34. It's a bit more primitive though. The R-5 is similar to the KV-1. Again a bit more primitive.

Chapter 16​

The break in fighting on the eastern front also gave the Germans time to update their army. Until now the Germans had used the panzer II to fight the Russians but it proved to be insufficient. The only advantage it had was its speed and maneuverability. The casualty rate was climbing as more and better Russian tanks such as the S-20 and R-5 appeared on the battlefield. The panzer II had received updates to give it better performance on the battlefield. Its 20 mm gun had been replaced by a 50 mm anti-tank gun. Extra armor plating had also been added for protection. This was hardly satisfactory however. Therefore the German ordered a new tank to be designed. Designers from all over Germany went to work and the panzer III was the result. It retained the mobility of its predecessor but had better armor and weaponry. A long 75 mm gun was used which could penetrate the armor of Russian tanks with its tungsten shells and high muzzle velocity more easily. The armor of this tank was about 10 to 80 mm thick. The panzer II’s armor was 2 to 14.5 mm thick and 5 to 25 mm on the improved version. The first ones would come of the assembly line in mid-1940. By late 1941 the panzer II would be entirely phased out. Most of the old panzer IIs were sold to Romania and the Ukrainian National Republic which had transformed the volunteer legions into a true army.

Another addition was the new Messerschmitt Bf-109. It was Germany’s first true monoplane fighter and it was one of the best in the world. It would replace Germany’s old biplanes. In February it had already proven itself when the Japanese invaded German-Indochina. It would prove itself again when hostilities continued on the eastern front in spring 1940. Over 35.000 of them would be built by Germany. China would build tens of thousands more. The Bf-109 wasn’t the only plane that had been ordered by the Germans. The Luftwaffe required new bombers as well. The Luftwaffe had ordered airplane manufacturers to design a new dive bomber akin to the ones the French used, a new medium range bomber and a new long range heavy bomber. The medium bomber was meant for use on both the eastern and western front. The German high command hoped to break the French by destroying their industrial base and by annihilating their cities. They hoped that terror bombing would break French morale. On the eastern front they could be used to bomb large troop concentrations. The long range bomber would be used on the eastern front to destroy Russian industrial areas in the Urals and beyond which were out of reach until now. The dive bomber would be used in blitzkrieg tactics. It would take time before either of the three would come into service though. Design and build time had already been sped up to bring them into service as early as possible as the Luftwaffe demanded. The results were good. The chosen dive bomber design came from Henschel. It was the Henschel Hs-129 or panzerknacker as it was more commonly known. It could carry 8X 50 kilos of fragmentation bombs or a 30 mm anti-tank gun. It also had two 7.92 mm machineguns and 20 mm guns. Later versions carried a 37 mm or 75 mm gun and 13 mm machineguns. It would prove to be very effective against tanks. The medium bomber which was chosen was the Junkers Ju-88. It would prove to be a sturdy and highly versatile plane since it could be used as night fighter, heavy fighter, dive bomber and fighter bomber as well. Its two ton payload and 2300 kilometer range combined with its famous versatility made this plane perfect for the Luftwaffe. It would remain in service until the very end of the war. The chosen heavy bomber was designed by Heinkel. It was the Heinkel He-277. Two previous designs had been rejected. The Heinkel He-177 had been rejected because it was unreliable due to its engine problems. The Heinkel-274 had been rejected because its range was supposedly to short. The He-277 with its 6000 km range and 3 ton bomb load met all requirements and would remain in service until the Junkers Ju-390 came along in 1944. All three would be in production by the start of 1941. Some bugs still had to be gotten rid of though.

The Chinese were very busy as well. They had seen how well the Bf-109 had performed in German-Indochina and decided to produce a version of their own under license of course. The front in Manchuria remained a stalemate. It had turned into a trench war and was a true meat grinder. Chiang Kai-Shek sent millions of men inspired by nationalistic propaganda to their deaths in huge offensives aimed at bleeding the Japanese army dry. The offensives were successful in that but the Japanese just sent new soldiers. The Chinese casualty rate soared because Japanese tactics and weaponry were better. As a result of Chinese resistance the Japanese remained bogged down. It seemed as if the Chinese juggernaut was unbreakable. Japanese morale went down as victory seemed to remain out of reach. Hundreds of thousands perished in each offensive as Chinese forces resisted and fought for every square inch of Chinese soil and more Chinese kept coming to drive out the invaders. Both sides made use of chemical weapons regularly. The war laid waste to large parts of China. Manchuria would be in ruins by the time the war ended. The last offensive had been particularly devastating to both sides. It was a Chinese offensive to retake Beijing. It started with a massive artillery bombardment. A combination of normal shells, and poison gas was used. Thousands of shells were fired. The bombardment was followed by the usual human waves. A few hundred tanks most of which were derivates of the panzer II also participated in the attack. The Chinese broke through the battered Japanese lines but were quickly stopped by Japanese counteroffensives. They could see Beijing. Chiang was determined to capture the nation’s capital and sent in hundreds of thousands soldiers more to win. After several weeks of fierce fighting and fanatic counteroffensives from both sides fighting died down. This was becoming a routine that would be repeated each time.

The middle eastern front also saw its share of battles. In June 1940 the French and Italians finally managed to cross the Nile which the Ottomans and British had defended vigorously over the past few months. All bridges had been destroyed and a defensive perimeter had been established. Air squadrons and tank divisions completed the picture. The fall of Malta in April however caused the supply flow to French troops in north Africa to increase. Several new elite air squadrons were transferred from France as were several tank divisions. The breakthrough caused quite some panic in the high commands of both the Ottomans and the British. The Suez canal was within reach of the French. Its fall would disrupt supply lines to Britain and would limit Britain’s ability to wage war in India. Troops would have to be sent all the way through continental Europe. They would go on a train in Germany as if Germany’s railroad network wasn’t strained enough yet already. They would board troop ships in Romania and would disembark in Constantinople to travel by truck and by train through Anatolia and the Mesopotamian desert to Basra. There they would board ships again to finally disembark in India. Others went around the cape . Many of them fell prey to French submarines. All of Britain’s worst fears came true when the Suez canal indeed fell into French hands. Fighting went on all across the Sinai desert. Within a week the French and Italians reached Gaza and were only stopped after the arrival of general Kemal and several divisions of veteran troops. For them this was a easy compared to the heavy alpine warfare in the Caucasus. They nearly crushed the French armored spearheads in a large pincer movement. De Gaulle retreated just before the trap closed. The desert fox had suffered a defeat but it wasn’t over.

In the same period as the fall of Malta operations recommenced on the eastern front. A new objective had been designated and German panzer divisions rolled on. Sebastopol had finally fallen as well. Austrian artillery and bombers pounded Russian fortifications continuously. By March food supplies ran out. The Russians started to butcher and eat the few horses that were left. Some even resorted to cannibalism. Because the Russians didn’t surrender after a lengthy siege the Austrians finally attacked after a last bombardment. It was a bloody offensive. Many Austrians tanks were destroyed by anti-tank mines. Many soldiers were crippled or even fatally wounded by anti-personnel mines. The barbed wire and obstacles didn’t help either. The Russians resisted but exhaustion, lack of food and the Austrian bombardments that had continued all day long for the past few months had taken their toll. Those bombardments were not only to destroy Russian positions but to break Russian morale. It was a form of psychological warfare. The Russian commander surrendered on the 30th of March. Their heroic resistance would be glorified in Russian propaganda. The German offensive commenced a few days later on the 10th of April. The objective was to take the Donetsk Basin and to a lesser extent the entire eastern Ukraine to deny Russia a large industrial area. Another smaller offensive was started in Belarus a few days later. The Donetsk Basin was important because it was a highly industrialized area. Ungern von Sternberg’s Four Year Plans to crash industrialize Russia were the reason behind that. The offensive experienced difficulties from the outset. The Russians had trained several new divisions during the break in fighting. They were greenhorns but they had found a competent commander in general Rokossovsky. He outflanked several German tank divisions only 50 kilometers east of Dnipropetrovsk. They were surrounded and were close to defeat. It was the arrival of Von Kleist and the 18th and 40th panzer corps which were under his command that saved them. Nevertheless the Germans went on. Poltava and Kharkiv were taken after several short but fierce attacks and counterattacks. A similar encirclement occurred near Chernihiv which subsequently remained in Russian hands. The trapped infantry division was the first German unit to surrender. The Germans eventually reached Donetsk after heavy fighting. It wasn’t as easy as the previous year and Guderian noticed. Losses were a lot higher. He’d be more careful next time. It had paid off though. Ungern von Sternberg had instituted a scorched earth policy but many ignored the order. The Ukrainians would do nothing for the Russians anymore. They were ready to revolt. This took some pressure off the Germans. Ukrainian rebels actively tried to prevent the Russians from carrying out the scorched earth policy. Within two months all Ukrainian territory east of the Dnjepr was in German hands as well but at a high cost. A lot of equipment had been lost and many soldiers had perished. Russian tactics were definitely improving. So results were mixed.

The offensive against Belarus encountered similar resistance. The reason for this offensive was that Belarus was sitting right above Ukraine as a big blob on German maps. Both Guderian and Rommel decided that is was to risky to just leave the issue unattended. Russian troops could attack the Germans from there. Other Russian troops could attack from the south-east and crush the Germans in a huge pincer movement. Guderian and Rommel had both grossly overestimated Russian numbers. At this time the Russians didn’t have the numbers to pull off such a feat and by the time they would have it would no longer be possible. Ten Polish divisions and a British tank regiment also participated in the attack. The offensive grinded to a halt quite early on. Heavy Russian resistance prevented the Germans from advancing any further. They were stopped 70 kilometers west of Minsk. Extra reinforcements were sent in but the frontline wouldn’t budge much. My mid-June both offensives had petered out.

On the 4th of July the Ottomans launched on offensive of their own. The French offensive in Gaza was going nowhere so the Ottomans decided to attack their nemesis. Ottoman artillery pounded Russian positions. The mountainous terrain slowed down the Ottomans in spite of their experienced veteran troops. Alpine warfare was difficult even for the best. Many died of cold even in summer. When one is fighting on glaciers that is difficult to avoid. Troops of both sides slept in underground rooms dug out in the rock face. Temperatures at night dropped well below zero. Soldiers huddled up around small fire places. The offensive’s objective was to retake Baku but the offensive was stopped by the Russians long before the objective was reached. The Caucasus would remain a bitter mountain war. Some say that the Ottomans would have succeeded if their offensive had been in tandem with the German offensive towards the Donetsk Basin. In that case the Russians would have lost a major oil supply. The Russians had already discovered oil in Siberia as a result of the Industrial Urals-Siberia project which was part of the last completed Four Year Plan. Several nickel mines had been built above the Artic circle. Other mines were built as well to extract the vast supplies of metals in Siberia. Most of the work was done by prisoners who were being used as slaves. Later on Jews would join them. Ungern von Sternberg had no problems what so ever with slavery. Prisoners were vermin in his eyes. They had opposed his laws and thereby his authority. But the oil wells in Siberia were still being developed. The loss of Baku would have been bad.

In Asia things weren’t going quite so well. After the fall of the Dutch East Indies the Japanese continued to advance. Thailand had been forced to let Japanese forces to pass through its territory. Otherwise they would be invaded. The Thai government crumbled under Japanese threats. The offensive started on September 1st 1940. The Japanese had to advance through dense forests. The British army resisted and inflicted significant losses but large segments of the population were opposed to British colonial rule. The Burma Independence Army was founded by Aung San. They received training in Japan and would support the Japanese in Burma and India. Taunggy and Loikaw were reached within one day. Mandalay was reached within another three days. Rangoon was reached after only twelve days of combat. The British colonial administration crumbled in the face of the Japanese onslaught. It took the Japanese little over two weeks to conquer the whole of Burma. Almost the entire Siamese peninsula was in Japanese hands. Only Malaysia and Singapore remained. Malaysia was overrun within a week and. The culmination of the Siamese campaign was the battle of Singapore. The battle lasted for ten days after which the supposedly impregnable fortress surrendered. The British did manage to destroy their naval base before the Japanese could use it. That was on the 2nd of October 1940. Within a month the Siamese peninsula was overrun and the Japanese weren’t about to stop.

In the United States many people were becoming worried about the Yellow Peril which was spreading rapidly across the Asian continent. To counter a possible Japanese threat the United States government started a massive naval expansion program of its own. Five new Yorktown-class aircraft carriers had already been launched and the future Essex-class was in the process of being designed. By the end of the war the American navy would posses twenty-five of these advanced aircraft carriers. Several new battleships were under construction as well. The building continued twenty-four hours a day seven days a week. The navy also had several battleships under construction. Six Iowa-class and five Montana-class battleships were under construction and would increase America’s battle fleet which already had four South Dakota-class battleships and two North Carolina-class battleships among others. The American buildup didn’t stop there. The army was also being increased and modernized. American generals had seen what the combination of armor and airpower could do to the enemy when France had attacked the Low Countries and Germany in 1938. The Americans would implement these tactics on a far grander scale. Several large troop exercises took place to let American soldiers practice with this new kind of warfare. This wasn’t the only thing that Roosevelt did during his time as president. He managed to pull his lend-lease act through congress. A slight majority voted in favor of the act. Large amounts of supplies were sent to Britain and Germany to bolster their war effort. Roosevelt had a personal dislike of the Russian state ideology national-democratism. It was totalitarian, anti-Semitic, aggressive and extremely ruthless. Russia would antagonize the Americans even more after their genocide against the Jews was revealed. British prime minister Lord Halifax welcomed the help. Emperor Wilhelm II did the same. In 1941 the United States would start an atomic bomb program of their own after the American government figured out that Germany, Russia and Britain had programs of their own too. The project would be led by Oppenheimer. Initial results were disappointing but they would get there in due time.

 

[Syphon]

Interesting OK.

At present thing seem to be going too well for the Franco-Italians in Africa and the Middle East.

Remember that sand and dust did in more vehicles in Africa then enemy action did.

Oh and one further point here's a quote.

It was the Henschel Hs-129 or panzerknacker as it was more commonly known. It could carry 50 kilos of fragmentation bombs or a 30 mm anti-tank gun.

The He -129 must be a piss poor aircraft if it can only carry 50Kgs of Bombs.

Please note that Henchel abbrievation is He not Hs.
Germans tend to use the first two letters of the company name well at least during OTL WWII.
I don't know if the Imperial German Airforce even used standard designations so you could perhaps fudge this a bit. {or whatever it's called. Oh I just found it Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte – German air force so it wouldn't be called Luftwaffe as Germany is still a monarchy.}

 

[Onkel Willie]

OK. Luftwaffe is used as an inofficial term. I don't feel like typing Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte or Imperial German Airforce all the time. I'll make a reference to it the next time the German airforce is mentioned.

The He -129 must be a piss poor aircraft if it can only carry 50Kgs of Bombs

Oops. It's supposed to be 8X 50 kilos. Aaaaaarghhh.

Please note that Henchel abbrievation is He not Hs.

On wikipedia they call it the Hs-129 (yes I know wikipedia isn't the most reliable source but that's not the issue here). I'll do so to as to avoid confusion with Heinkel.

At present thing seem to be going too well for the Franco-Italians in Africa and the Middle East.

True but the combined navies of France and Italy can provide counterweight to the Royal Navy which is currently very busy with defending British possesions in Asia. Therefore the French have better supplies than OTL's Africa Corps especially after the fall of Malta. But don't worry. De Gaulle has gone about as far as I was planning on letting him go.

Now I need to work on a casus belli to bring in our American friends.

 

[Onkel Willie]

Here's chapter 17.

Chapter 17​

Since the Russians were overpowered on their western front they decided to open up a new front. After the difficult offensive toward the Donetsk Basin the Germans were busy recovering and mustering forces and the Ottomans were still licking their wounds after the failed offensive to recapture Baku so Russia was safe for now. Persia had been in Russia’s sphere of influence until their defeat in 1911 or at least its northern half. The Russians had considered Afghanistan to be in their sphere of influence too. In the eyes of Ungern von Sternberg it wasn’t supposed to be in Britain’s sphere of influence. He wanted to conquer both Persia and Afghanistan and make it to British India to connect with the Japanese. Zhukov and Tuchachevsky convinced Ungern von Sternberg that conquering Persia, Afghanistan and India was a bridge too far. He objected but eventually gave in. He retreated to his quarters to decide what the best option would be. After three hours he decided that Afghanistan would be the primary target and that India would follow right after Afghanistan fell. He was determined to conquer the crown of the British Empire before those subhuman Japanese did. He only allied with them because it was convenient. He hadn’t forgotten 1905. His plan was to deal with the Japanese after his final victory over the Central Powers. Or at least that was his plan. Conquering India would be a boost for Russia’s national prestige and Russian morale. As many troops as possible were gathered for the operation. Many divisions consisted of fresh recruits who had just finished their training. There was a core of veteran troops to guide these young eager rookies though. Several of Russia’s best formations had been creamed off to provide extra troops. Several Black Eagle tank corps were added to the mix. They were called BA for short. Their fanaticism was famous but would ultimately lead to a lot of trouble in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Their ideas about Slavic superiority and their racism would lead to a lot of problems as they treated the Afghan population like dirt. The Ottoman sultan Abdülmecid II had proclaimed a Jihad against the axis and very soon many Afghani Muslims would follow the call.

The offensive started on the 1st of August 1940 and was quite successful initially. The Afghan army had about 70.000 men and was no match for the Russian attack force which was about ten times larger. Several British units were rushed in to stop the advancing Russians but they were sitting ducks in the northern plains of Afghanistan. These plains were an excellent battle ground for Russian tanks and ground attack planes. British tanks, trucks and ground troops were picked off fairly easily by the Russian invaders. The fact that the Russians outnumbered the defenders only added to the difficulties of the latter group. Kabul which was Afghanistan's capital was reached within two days. Russian tanks raced through Afghanistan and reached the provisional Afghan capital of Kandahar within four weeks. The British and Afghans could do little to stop the speedy Russian advance. Russian tanks would turn from an advantage to a disadvantage in the mountains though. Instead of surrendering king Zahir Shah and his government went into exile in Peshawar in British India and made radio broadcasts regularly and called upon the population to resist the Russians. They did just that. The Afghan army engaged the Russians in a grueling guerrilla war. They would later be joined by partisan groups who were commonly referred to as mujahideen. They were religious zealots and fought the Russians fanatically. This was because of Russia’s harsh treatment of the locals. People who openly practiced their Muslim religion were persecuted. Dissidents and resistance fighters were brutally murdered. The Russians continued to advance in the mountainous south of the country but quickly encountered heavily defended positions. Many mountain passes were made almost inaccessible to Russian forces. Heavily defended positions consisting of trenches, barbed wire, bunkers, sandbag fortifications and minefields had been built by the British. This front turned into a war of attrition for the Russians who were forced to wage war 3000 meters above sea level or even higher. This would prove to be even more difficult than the Caucasus front because they would also have to fight fanatic partisans and the remnants of the Afghan military as well. The Russians would never reach India. As a matter of fact they would have trouble to just keep Afghanistan because of the partisans who were attacking their supply lines. By the end of September the Russian advance was all but over. Afghanistan was yet another dead end.

The Japanese were experiencing problems of their own as they were advancing further and further away from the Home Islands. After the fall of Burma in early October the Japanese set their sights on India. The Royal Navy had managed to evacuate many troops from Burma which would fight the Japanese again. Some German forces had made it out of German-Indochina by fighting their way through Japanese occupied Burma and Thailand to get to India. It had been hard in the Asian jungles. Many didn’t make it to India. The ones that did would fight alongside the British Indian Army to prevent yet another stretch of land from falling into Japanese hands. On the 15th of October 1940 the first Japanese forces crossed the border. Progress was slow as they were advancing through mountainous terrain. Seeing the troubles the Russians were experiencing in Afghanistan the Japanese were friendlier to the population. They were still stern though. People who disobeyed Japanese rules were punished harshly. Such people would be forced to build roads on railroads together with prisoners of war. After eight strenuous weeks of fighting in the mountains the Japanese reached the lowlands and Calcutta shortly thereafter. Fighting was intense as the British Indian Army fought back in every possible way. They were stopped by prepared British defenses on both banks of the river Ganges. The British had scored some local victories which proved that the Japanese weren’t as invincible as they seemed. This in turn boosted the morale of the British and German defenders. Japanese casualty rates soared as they weren’t only fighting against the British but against hostile conditions as well. The Japanese military leaders had pressed on in spite of the bitter winter cold in the Assam mountains. The Japanese were ill equipped for fighting a winter war in such difficult terrain. Many would die of hypothermia, pneumonia or gangrene. After that they entered the jungles in the river delta where many would get malaria or would just collapse due to sheer exhaustion or the heat. As a result Japanese casualty rates were much higher than those of their British adversaries. To make matters worse Japanese supply lines were very overstretched. A subsequent British counteroffensive drove the Japanese away from the river Ganges and Calcutta. The RAF bombed the feeble Japanese positions. British battleships would bombard anything Japanese that came too close to the coastline. They pounded retreating Japanese forces until they got out of range. Now the British were in an advantageous position since they knew the weather and terrain and how to deal with them. They took advantage of their position. They crossed the Ganges and drove the freezing and exhausted Japanese off the eastern bank. Several Japanese counterattacks took place but the worn down Japanese couldn’t muster the will nor the strength to repel the British. The Japanese army leaders made the wise decision to retreat to a better line in the mountains. And so by mid-December the Japanese settled in for winter and would remain on the defensive in India at least until spring 1941. They had more success in the Andaman Islands. They were conquered almost immediately after the fall of Singapore. Shortly after the British counteroffensive near Calcutta the battle of Bengal Bay took place. There the Royal Navy and the German Far East Squadron clashed with the Imperial Japanese Navy once more. The German Far East Squadron had been strengthened with two carriers, the Graf Zeppelin and the Barbarossa. The Japanese managed to drive out the British and Germans but not without losing around 113.000 tons of shipping themselves whereas the British and Germans lost only 75.000 tons of shipping even though they were outnumbered. The war in Asia was anything but over. In fact it would last much longer than the Japanese had planned. They had expected a swift victory not a war of attrition.

After the Germans had recovered from their offensive in that ended in June they started to prepare for yet another one. It took the Germans quite some time to recover from their losses. Several tank divisions had lost many panzer II which had to be replaced with panzer IIIs. Several new air squadrons equipped with Bf-109s and Hs-129s were being formed out of scratch with mixed crews of veteran aces and rookies. Guderian and Rommel had already noticed that this wasn’t going to be as easy as the 1909-1911 war. The Russian Empire was being ruled by Ungern von Sternberg with an iron fist. As far as he was concerned Russia would never surrender. The only person who might want to do something about it was the Czar but Ungern von Sternberg had systematically increased his power at the expense of the Czar. Michael II had been reduced to nothing more than a mere figurehead. The Russian population by this time had been totally indoctrinated with the party ideology. Many if not all Russians were ready and willing to die for the Motherland. This resistance was problematic for the Germans. This time they took more time to prepare their offensive and gathered more men and materiel. The objective of the offensive was quite simple. German force were to advance to Astrakhan and take it. That way the Russians would be cut off from their most important oil supply in Baku. The forces there would subsequently be cut off from the rest of Russia which meant that the Ottomans could overrun them as they would run out of supplies fairly quickly. It would be Germany’s first winter offensive. Previous offensives had always been in spring or summer but Guderian decided that this limited the German army to much and gave the Russians too much time to recover. Therefore German troops had been given winter clothing and German tanks got broader tracks so they wouldn’t sink in the mud. Timing seemed ideal as the Russians were bogged down in the border area between Afghanistan and British India. Little did the Germans know that the Russians had made a strategic retreat to better defendable positions. Initially Ungern von Sternberg had refused to do that but his favorite general Tuchachevsky convinced him that it would be better this way.

The offensive started on the 5th of October 1940 and encountered similar resistance as the offensive toward the Donetsk Basin a few months earlier. The Germans advanced to Tsaritsyn or Romangrad as it was called since 1930. The Germans clashed with Russian tanks and infantry formations which attempted to slow down the Germans and inflict more casualties as the Russian army prepared for a major counteroffensive. The Germans advanced in spite of Russian resistance and quickly ran into Romangrad’s defenses head on. The city had been strengthened in such a manner that it would be difficult to take. Outlying villages had been turned into military outposts which were fortified with barbed wire, sandbags, minefields and sometimes bunkers. Many buildings had also been strengthened and garrisoned. These outposts had little artillery apart from a few mortars and light anti-tank guns. They were meant to slow the Germans down not to stop them and they were effective at that. After a few days the Russians abandoned the positions and retreated to defensive lines further back. By now heavy Russian 105 and 122 mm guns opened fire on German forces. German batteries reacted by shelling Russian positions which they continued to do for several days to soften Russian defenses. The Germans then attacked the weakened Russian defensive lines. The battered lines were still potent defenses though. Many bunkers and trenches had survived the bombardment. German panzers proceeded to attack the Russians and take the city and ran into the remaining defenders. It took the Germans quite some time to clear all trenches and bunkers. They finally succeeded after about three days. Fighting around the city ended on the 15th of October except for some minor skirmishes. The western part of the city was locked down and the only way out was across the Volga. Boats however were suffering from strafing runs of German Henschel Hs-129 dive bombers. The Germans moved into the city but quickly found out that taking the city wouldn’t be as easy as originally projected. Guderian sent in more forces to capture the city. He couldn’t know that he was walking into a trap set by none other than the infamous general Zhukov. 1.9 million Russians converged on German positions and surrounded the city. They could do so because Guderian had neglected to take the eastern bank of the Volga and therefore didn’t know of the troop buildup that was taking place there even though the continuous shelling from the eastern bank should have given him a hint. The battle of Romangrad was about to start.

 

[Herr Frage]

As always a top notch TL.

Afghanistan takes a licking and keeps right on ticking.

Now the balance hangs on the city of mourning. PErhaps you could do something similar to the Panic depicted in Isaac's Empire?

 

[Syphon]

O.K

Two points the capital of Afghanistan is Kabul not Kandahar and has been since 1776.

Oh and ships bombard positions not bomb them.

In regard to Romangrad I doubt it would be anything like OTL Stalingrad as Guderian would not have the no retreat no surrender orders nor would he be ordered by the Kaiser to fight to the last man.

The Germans might get trapped but they should be able to break out fairly easily especially with air superiority.
I'm not saying that this would not be a German defeat just that they should be able to withdraw in fairly good order after breaking out of the encirclement.

 

[Onkel Willie]

The Germans will indeed break out ut I'm not saying it won't be costly. I still haven't figured out a way to get the US involved even though Roosevelt is anti-Russian ITTL btw .