December - World in Flames

With heroic efforts from the Rollbahn and the civilian industry, the Reich was able to patch together enough of a supply apparatus in eastern Russia to support a renewed advance into the interior. With help from 80 fresh Italian divisions, two panzer groups were able to spearhead this effort with the goal of taking as many cities as possible to force Stalin to the negotiating table. On June 22, 1944, the Reich completes its greatest and most sweeping conquest, bringing all of western Russia into the fold. Incidentally, we receive the Soviet surrender on the historical anniversary of Operation Bagration, where the Soviets launched a final destruction of Army Group Center and sealed the fate of fascist Germany.

The final peace agreement sees the two major Axis powers in this region partitioning the Russian landmass into western-eastern zones:

We win out here, as the vast majority of both Russian industry and manpower are concentrated in the western areas. The Russian state is allowed to continue to exist, but Communism is abolished and a German puppet state under the name "Imperialist Russia" succeeds the Bolshevik regime. This state is a small nation confined to the Pacific port city of Vladivostok and its surround.

The Wehrmacht Committed in East Asia

The end of the Soviet Union brings a renewed engagement with the Chinese. They surround the Russian puppet state and threaten to destroy it, and encroach upon Japanese and German holdings to the north. Two Japanese infantry armies are placed under the direct command of OKH, and manage to retake the Korean peninsula, but are met with heavy resistance at the Yalu by the Chinese hordes.

Supply is difficult in this region, as our territories are mostly barren wasteland. But we move what we can from the eastern-front army groups into position to repel the Chinese threat on our southern borders.

A dire situation is addressed by the deployment of two panzer groups, 2nd and 3rd, to the far east. 3rd Panzer Group will strike southeast through Manchuria, with the aim of cutting off sizeable Chinese forces to the east pushing toward Vladivostok and Khabarovsk. Meanwhile 2nd Panzer Group will split this large pocket in two to provide immediate relief to the struggling Russian state, largely defended by Japanese expeditionary forces:

Meanwhile the Japanese retreat from an untenable position in eastern Manchuria to the Yalu River, and construct a defensive line to head off Chinese movements toward the Korean Peninsula:

Meanwhile our Italian friends continue to attack with reckless endeavor, but in this case provide a useful diversion by landing in eastern China and building a large beachhead centered around Shanghai:

In Southeast Asia, units of Japanese allies and puppet states push northward into China but meet heavy resistance:

Italian Advance in Africa

The nudge forward from 5th Panzergruppe in northern Africa (supported by Turkish armies) proves to be the catalyst for a larger Italian advance into lower Africa:

The remains of colonial holdings of the fading western powers are under serious threat here, and whatever resources they draw from these territories will hopefully soon be feeding the Axis war machine.

The Norwegian Campaign

Elements from Army Group Karelia have been redeployed westward, to initiate the long-overdue liberation of Norway. Norway's rich tungsten resources are a prized asset so we would like to cash in there. However 9th Army proves inadequate for the task, as the Norwegians are heavily reinforced by the Allies here and hold us at bay in the north with 50 divisions:

We land 5th Panzergruppe to the south, on the west Norwegian coast, and strike quickly for Oslo. OKW also stages amphibious landings with newly-marshalled marine divisions, which should serve as a useful tune-up for the main event in Sealion. A furious naval battle is waged in the eastern North Sea, as German U-boats and naval bombers struggle to protect supply convoys required by land forces in Norway. The American naval presence in this region is stunningly high, and we cannot sink ships fast enough to hold true naval supremacy here.

The Battle of Britain

The Luftwaffe is in total control of all sectors in and around the British Isles, with newer-model fighters and bombers making their way into active wings. The war machine is in full swing, and we maintain vast reserves of planes, keeping up with air-war attrition without much difficulty. We cannot expand airfields in the area fast enough to keep up with the demand for deployment of all warplane types in ever-increasing numbers.

The bombing campaigns against the British continue in earnest, as we bomb Allied ships both on patrol and in port, and improve efforts at strategic bombing on the British mainland.

Naval warfare in the West

The U-boat packs must use extra caution in avoiding direct confrontation with overwhelming American naval firepower. We still rely heavily on help from the Luftwaffe to keep the balance tilted in our favor. You can see in the screenshot the scale of US Naval involvement in this region; carriers, battleships, destroyers, the whole of the naval arsenal has been put to work here. We will see how this affects our chances of success for Sealion.

The Kriegsmarine continues to try and starve out the British by striking incoming Atlantic convoys en route from North America. As seen here, even a small sub pack can go a long way in this effort, sinking 60 convoys in a single engagement.

Furher Directive - Operation Sealion

With a surplus of 250 convoys, we now begin serious operational planning for Sealion. Because the risk of failure is high due to both enemy naval strength and uncertainty over land-based dispositions on the British Isles, we diversify our attack.

We will strike at five separate points in simultaneous fashion, to prevent the enemy from concentrating a defensive response in a single area. Two panzer groups will land at the "flanks" of the invasion line; one at Cornwall, the other at Hull, just east of Yorkshire. We hope to deploy these units against light coastal defenses, allowing them to break out and operate in relatively open country where they excel. Meanwhile, we land the marine force at Dover in the southeast, where the Allied defensive concentration is expected to be strongest. (Marines give sizeable bonuses in amphibious-attack scenarios.) We land 12 divisions of paratroopers behind enemy lines, north of the London area; then the main bulk of the infantry force follows with a landing in East Anglia.

All told we hope to be on the beaches with about 100 divisions, and once these beachheads are established we will be free to land additional forces as required. There is a good chance not all five of these assaults will succeed; but even if only one takes hold, we can try to ferry in large reserves to "expand the beachhead".

OKW has pinned a tentative date sometime in late spring of 1945 for this operation. Though time is not on our side as the Americans continue to appear in great numbers, we must complete the Norwegian campaign before Sealion can proceed. All air and naval assets involved in that campaign will be required, and we can deploy long-range bombers from western air bases in Norway to support the amphibious landings.