Shattered World : A Worse World War : Part 14

The Two Months Before the Eastern Storm

May 11th 1941 to July 5th 1941

May 11th 1941

The German garrison in Stockholm, which has been kept in supply by air drops for months, is finally forced to surrender after the 4000 surviving soldiers run out of food, water, and ammunition. The Soviets have stripped a lot of their forces from Sweden to bolster the pressured eastern front and the lines in Sweden remain deadlocked south of Orebro and Stockholm.

May 22nd 1941

The Luftwaffe begins testing the first several prototypes of the new "Ural" heavy four-engine bomber design. It could enter mass production as early as July or August if the testing goes smoothly.

May 27th 1941

The German general staff completes plans for operation Eastern Fury, a complex operation to take Minsk. It will involve the largest single infantry air drop of the war to date, as well as major offensive thrusts from 3rd and 4th panzer armies. The attack is to begin on July 7th.

June 1st 1941

The Japanese military completes detailed planning for upcoming operations against the Soviet far east. It will involve a powerful naval air strike against the Soviet pacific fleet, amphibious landings to sieze Vladivostok and other coastal towns and transportation hubs as well as to secure Sakhalin island, in conjunction with a thrust by Japanese and allied Chinese Manchurian forces from out of Manchuria. The campaign will put offensive operations in China on hold for awhile. The date for the commencement of operations is set for July 6th. Despite the obvious Japanese buildup the Soviets continue to dismiss it as signs of a major new campaign in China. The Soviets do, however, heighten their state of alert in the far east.

June 4th 1941

Ukrainian, Romanian, and German forces reach the Soviet city of Zhdanov on the Sea of Azov. The Crimean peninsula has been cut off from the rest of the Soviet Union but has supplies and ammunition to hold out indefinitely.

June 10th 1941

On orders from Stalin, the Soviets begin constructing powerful defensive fortifications in and around Leningrad, Minsk, Smolensk, Moscow, Rostov, and Stalingrad. Stalin knows that he must hold on until the winter in order to survive to see a 1942 campaign season. If the Soviets can just hold until 1942 then their production levels from the trans-ural factories will simply swamp the Germans by sheer numbers and weight of firepower. At least this is what Stalin and his inner circle believe.

June 11th 1941

Iraq formally expels all British diplomats after Britain demands that it stop selling oil to "any warring power". Hitler calls the Iraqi act "a bold stroke in defense of Iraq's national sovereignty".

June 13th 1941

Following a day of British mobilization in the middle-east, Hitler issues a warning to Britain "not to interfere in the internal matters of Iraq". The British reluctantly back down. Iraq is now a de-facto ally of Germany, though not formally a member of the Axis powers.

June 26th 1941

SS and Gestapo units go on a rampage in the Jewish ghetto in Warsaw, killing thousands and sending thousands more to the rapidly expanding "concentration camp" system.

June 27th 1941

The free Polish government-in-exile, based in Germany, is disbanded by Germany after it sends news of the massacre to Britain. The British choose not to release news of the event to the general public. The Polish resistance, or at least what remains of it, disbands into inactive "sleeper" cells.

July 3rd 1941

A Japanese fleet, consisting of three aircraft carriers, several battleships, numerous cruisers and destroyers, and troop transports carrying thousands of Japanese marines, leaves Tokyo and begins steaming towards the Sea of Japan.

July 5th 1941

Soviet fishing trawlers spot elements of the Japanese fleet moving north through the Sea of Japan. The sightings are dismissed by the Soviets as summer naval exercises.

In the port facilities of Vladivostok - numerous Soviet destroyers, cruisers, and even one battleship, sit idle; unaware of the danger that is growing ever nearer. The Japanese fleet lies less than 150km from the port city. Japanese naval aviators are already being given their final orders for the air raid.

In the troop ships accompanying the carriers and escort craft, marines sit bunched together in the dark bowels of cramped ships. The landings near the Soviet port must go smoothly and move as quick as lightning. Confident, but nervous with expectation, the highly trained marines are to be the first land strike against the northern barbarians. Vladivostok will fall, nothing else is an option. For the Emperor!

To Be Continued...