The Whale Has Wings (continued)

Status
Not open for further replies.
And we are on again...

September 2nd 1942
The German pincer finally encloses Stalingrad, although the distances involed make the encirclement something rather permeable for Russian units trying to escape. Many of the trapped units have in fact been ordered to retreat into the city itself, which on direct orders from Stalin himself has been ordered to 'hold without thought of cost'. Given the fate of officers who fail to obey such orders, few units actually attempt to break out of the encirclement.

General Franco fires three key ministers in a rebuff to Spain's Fascist party, the Falange. The most senior man to go is his own brother-in-law, Ramon Serrano Suner, the foreign minister and Falangist chief. His German sympathies have angered the Spanish army, which is fiercely nationalistic and resents the idea of being a pawn of Hitler.The new foreign minister is a general, Gomez Jordana. The political situation in Spain is politely described as 'complex'. Given the failure of Germany and Italy in the Meditteranean, the likelihood of any movement in the direction of the AXis is seen as unlikely, but the possibility of Spain turning to the Allies is seen as out of the question, at least until further Allied victories on the continent itself.

September 3rd

In French Indochina, China Air Task Force B-25's drop bombs and pamphlets on Hanoi in the first US raid against that city; munitions, supplies, and several parked aircraft are destroyed or damaged. The B-25's are pursued by interceptors for about 30 miles, but fail to make contact. For the next 3 weeks, bad weather and inaccurate Chinese weather forecasts severely limit bomber operations.

Fighting is now taking place in the suburbs of Stalingrad. General Friedrich Paulus has delayed his attempt to seize Stalingrad quickly in order to mop up the considerable Russian forces which he had bypassed in the encirclement of the city. Ironically most of these forces and retreating into the area of the city, but heroic actions by the rearguards make the German forces cautious, as falling back seems to make no military sense.

Russia's Marshal Zhukov has been sent to the area to take command, and is energetically preparing an attack on the Germans. He is fully aware of the dangers of the situation. In a directive issued two days ago he told his officers: "Stalingrad could be seized today or tomorrow if the German Army is allowed to attack with impunity. The troops holding the city require immediate assistance." His orders are for the "troop commanders north and north-west of Stalingrad to strike the enemy encirclement quickly ... No procrastination will be tolerated. Delay now is regarded as criminal."

As he did in Leningrad and Moscow, Zhukov is conscripting the civilian population to prepare and to man last-ditch defences in front of the city. Young boys and old men are marching off to war still in their civilian clothes. There is no doubt that Zhukov intends to impose Stalin's order of "Not a step backwards". Stalingrad is ringing with the slogan: "There is no land beyond the Volga."

The severity of the fighting is shown by the state of some of the Russian formations. The Soviet 87th Division is down to 180 men, the 112th has 150, and the 99th Tank Brigade has 120 men and no tanks.

Allied ships containing men, planes and equipment for the attacks on the Celebes are starting to arrive. The intention is to start the campaign in a couple of months, in the meantime airfields and facility in the DEI will be improved, and the supply base built up. In order to follow up the air campaign with in invasion aimed at recovering the Philippines, large amphibious forces will be needed. The US does not have these yet in the quantity required, and there is also a shortage of suitable shipping. In the meantime, small units of US Marines are being sent to gather experience and develop a plan for the main campaign.

This is seen as a purely US effort, as least as far as the land and air efforts go - the Empire is busy in Malaya and the South China Sea, and will contribute with diversionary attacks.

This is not the only build-up going on in the area. The British are also looking to exploit the possibility of an advance into French Indo China. While they have no desire to occupy it, advancing far enough to remove the air and naval threat to Singapore is seen as a valuable aim, as long as the cost is not too high. However the requests for forces has been met with holdups due to the current priority being given to the Mediterranean Theatre.

Japan is also looking to build up its forces in this part of its Empire, indeed the need to do this was one of the reasons for winding down the offensive in Chekiang and Kiangsi provinces in China. While the official reason was that the objectives had been met, the real reason was to free logistical resources. The Japanese still intend to retake the Malay peninsula and the DEI as soon as they can make the resources available.

September 4th

The Japanese government has still not released information of the naval disaster off Midway. Despite his involvement in this, Yamamato has not been relieved of command - yet. The main Japanese problem is that carrier forces are needed to further their aims in SE Asia, and at the moment these are in short supply. Yamamoto has decreed immediate action to convert suitable ships to light or auxiliary carriers, but even with the highest priority such conversions take time. He has also demanded that the inefficient Japanese aircraft industry increase production dramatically. The number of planes supplied during the first 6 months of the war has been pitiful by Allied standards. The shortage of trained naval pilots due to the losses at Midway is more difficult to fix. Despite these shortages, there has been considerable resistance in the air arm to any suggestion of reducing the training time or levels. Yamamoto has now told them that supplying highly skilled pilots in a year or two is useless to him, and has decreed that the program will be shortened and the fewer pilots will be discarded. He has also insisted that men washed out of earlier pilot programs be brought back in. The aim of these changes is to make a viable carrier force available by the beginning of 1943. In the meantime, nothing more significant than minor raids will be possible by the Japanese Navy, although all efforts will be made to make these appear significant.
 

Saphroneth

Banned
Allow me to agree - it's been a while, but it's certainly looking worth the wait.

Though... as it pleases the dragon... any chance of the 4th ebook coming out any time soon?
 
Does German encirclement of Stalingrad mean that the Volga route for Caucasus oil and Persian Lend-Lease is shut down?
 
After a long hibernation, the Dragon returns, roars, burps flames reeking of coffee and saga continues! Good to see this very superior timeline return, thanks be to the Dragon:D.
 
Does German encirclement of Stalingrad mean that the Volga route for Caucasus oil and Persian Lend-Lease is shut down?

Not yet, they've only just surrounded it, so they aren't much further ahead than OTL in terms of distance.
However having now surrounded the city, the question is what are they going to do with it?
 
Hallelujah! The Dragon has returned and the Winged Cetacean takes flight once more, to smite the foes of the Empire.
 
Glad to see his back as well.

I am looking forward to Book 4 too, although I was wondering what happened at Midway back in July 42... anyone want to point me in the direction of the relevant page?
 
Top
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top