Shattered World -
A Worse World War: Part 17
East towards Moscow!
October 25th 1941 to December 4th 1941
October 25th 1941
Turkish forces cross the frontier into the Caucasus and begin driving towards
Baku. Soviet border posts fall immediately and units further inside Soviet
territory have been caught completely by surprise. German, Turkish, Italian,
and Bulgarian aircraft swarm ahead of the advancing Turkish forces shooting
up Red Army aircraft on the ground and smashing rail and road lines leading
from the north towards Baku. Turkey formally declares war on the
Soviet Union and joins the Axis Powers several hours after the first troops
breached the border.
Beria is taken aback by the audacity of the Turks and immediately focuses
on Baku. The lifeblood of the Soviet Union has, quite suddenly, come under
direct threat. Orders begin to filter out from Moscow radically changing
rail schedules and supply distribution plans. Divisions being held in reserve
on the Volga begin slowly lumbering south. Whether they can reach Baku in
time to save the oil fields is very much in doubt.
October 27th 1941
Sensing an opportunity, Hitler orders operation Final Fury, the planned offensive
to capture Moscow, to proceed ahead of schedule. The ground is already beginning
to freeze. The operation is set to commence on November 2nd. The Soviets,
expecting the attack to begin on the 12th from their intelligence reports,
continue their defensive preparations along the Smolensk-Moscow corridor.
October 28th 1941
German Ural bombers, along with older medium bombers, begin bombarding transportation
hubs in Rostov, Stalingrad, and across the northern Caucasus in an effort
to slow the flow of men and materials that has begun to move in reaction
to the Turkish incursion.
October 29th 1941
Turkish forces have reached Lake Sevan and are moving east towards the Kura
river. The Turks, without any significant armored forces, are making surprisingly
quick gains on foot and on horseback. Soviet resistance remains
weak as Red Army units in the region try to join up and form a coherent defensive
front west of the Kura..
October 31st 1941
The Muslim population of Armenia rises into open revolt against the government
of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, with encouragement and backing
from Turkey and Iraq. Tbilisi is in chaos as armed Muslims clash with communist
forces.
November 2nd 1941
Germany launches operation Final Fury. A massive five hour artillery bombardment
is followed by the advance of one million soldiers, two thousand panzers,
and two thousand aircraft. The Germans, concerned with their heavy losses
in the capture of Minsk, have decided to bypass Smolensk and Kaluga. The
entire strength of the German thrust is sent crashing north of Smolensk in
the direction of Kalinin.
November 3rd 1941
The northern flank of the Soviet defenses around Smolensk melts before the
unexpected strength concentrated there. The Germans have torn a gaping twenty
kilometer hole in the carefully planned Soviet defenses. A route lies open
to encircle Smolensk. The opening is tempting but the German commanders force
themselves to keep on their timetable. Moscow is the target, not Smolensk.
The advance will continue to the northeast.
November 5th 1941
Italian and Bulgarian mechanized units arrive in the Caucasus after a hectic
two week journey from the Bosporus to Turkey's eastern frontier. Turkish
infantry have arrived on the western bank of the Kura river but several attempts
to cross the river have been blunted by the Soviets and all the bridges across
the river lie in ruins. For the moment, the Turkish advance has been stopped
cold. Fresh Soviet divisions are beginning to take up position southwest
of Baku. After a period of initial shock, the Red Air Force has reasserted
itself in the southern Caucasus. Neither side has air superiority in the
region.
November 7th 1941
Beria authorizes the release of the powerful Kalinin front army. Four hundred
thousand men and thousands of tanks begin moving south to block the German
thrust north of Smolensk. Stavka has decided to hold the powerful defensive
forces between Smolensk and Kaluga in place. When the German thrust towards
Moscow begins to falter the one and a half million troops massed there can
go over to the offensive and deal the German army a tremendous blow, at least
in theory.
November 10th 1941
Italian, Bulgarian, and Hungarian units help the Turks force a crossing to
the east bank of the Kura. The Red Army and Air Force counter attack into
the beach head but can not dislodge stubborn Turkish infantry entrenched
there.
November 11th 1941
Spearheaded by Hungarian armor, minor axis forces begin cautiously advancing
east towards Baku. More Soviet forces are entering the area, though not as
fast as Beria would like, the transportation net in the Caucasus has been
degraded by constant Axis air attacks. The Soviets begin preparing to destroy
the oil fields if the need arises. The Turkish supply lines are being stretched
beyond their limits and getting worse as minor axis forces drive further
east.
November 16th 1941
A few of the latest German panzer model, the MkV Cougar, have been field
tested in the action northeast of Smolensk and have proven to be superior
to the T-34. The Cougar has thicker armor and a better slope on the forward
facing armor, a higher velocity cannon, better anti-personnel weaponry, superior
suspension and optical sights, and a faster effective operational speed.
It is also more comfortable for the crew. Due to its successful field testing,
and the high remarks from the lucky crews given control of the few prototypes,
the new model is to be put into full scale production by early spring. Another
new concept, a new model Stuka bomber armed with a 30mm cannon, has proven
itself to be a wonderful tank-busting aircraft. Plans are in the works to
expand production of the design.
Basically, picture a Panther to imagine the MkV. That is basically what
it is, though it is more reliable than OTL's Panther due to a more patient
design cycle.
November 20th 1941
In a series of large armored engagements the German 4th, 5th, and 6th panzer
armies have smashed the armored elements of the Kalinin Army front. However,
the battles have blunted the momentum of the German thrust. German
armored spearheads are within thirty kilometers of Kalinin and are beginning
to turn in a more easterly direction, the beginnings of the planned envelopment
of Moscow.
November 22nd 1941
Moscow, Smolensk, and Kaluga are coming under almost nightly carpet bombing
by German heavy and medium bombers.
November 23rd 1941
Kalinin falls to German forces and the shattered remnants of the Kalinin
army front have withdrawn north of the city. To the south and east German
forces are beginning to encounter the outer belt of Moscow's massive fortifications.
The Germans have been unable to force their way to the east of Moscow, so
the command staff has redirected the axis of advance directly towards Moscow.
German artillery has begun to pound Moscow's northwestern
suburbs. The Soviet capital is an armed fortress. The civilian population
has been armed and instructed to fight to the death to preserve socialism.
The city is not going to fall without a long blood bath for both sides.
November 25th 1941
German infantry begin slogging into Moscow's northwestern defenses. Casualties
are absurdly heavy but the Germans throw more men into the attack, intent
on capturing the Soviet capital. The German army can smell victory in the
air, they have only to reach out and grab it. Beria and Stavka have other
ideas.
November 27th 1941
With the German thrust now thoroughly bogged down in Moscow's northwestern
defensive belts, Beria gives the go ahead for operation Heavy Fist, an all
out counter attack into the southern flank of Army Group B, the German army
group bearing down in Moscow. The counter offensive is set to be unleashed
on December 5th.
November 28th 1941
Turkish artillery begins falling on the Baku oil fields and Turkish infantry
are within ten kilometers of the strategic objective.
December 2nd 1941
Soviet engineers wreck the Baku oil fields and Soviet forces evacuate to
the north hours before being cut off. Turkish and other axis forces arrive
to find a flaming nightmarish landscape of destruction. The oil fields will
produce nothing for months to come, if not longer. But the Soviet Union has
lost the majority of its oil production capacity.
December 3rd 1941
The Muslim revolt in Armenia has been crushed, the remaining armed fighters
forced to flee into the back country where they will try to wage a guerilla
war in the region.
December 4th 1941
Soviet forces around Smolensk begin moving to their final starting points
for the winter counter offensive they are about to unleash. German forces
have entered Moscow proper and the city is going up in flames and rubble
as both sides hammer at each other with every available source of firepower.
Field Marshal Manstein, sitting wearily in his temporary headquarters northwest
of Moscow, looked closely at the situation maps showing 6th panzer army's
southern flank. The Soviets had been quiet there for too long, and he
had reports from scouting aircraft that the Soviets were massing some considerable
strength back around Smolensk. Fearing that all of Army group B could be
in danger, Manstein began issuing orders to reorient his forces to
provide more coverage to the exposed southern flank. He was stretched thin,
much too thin. Sixth panzer army would have to stop any Soviet counter thrust
in that area if they tried it. He just hoped his orders were not too late.
Meanwhile, in a bunker underneath the Kremlin, Beria conferred with his most
trusted advisors. NKVD and Red Army men alike. The constant rumble of impacting
artillery came from above. Twenty meters of steel, earth, and concrete, kept
the Soviet command staff safe from harm. The Kremlin itself was surely a
ruin by now. The Germans were paying particular attention to it with their
heavy artillery and bombers. The details visible on the huge map, laid out
on a conference table before them, spoke of the seriousness of the situation.
The German salient that stretched from north of Smolensk to Kalinin and northwestern
Moscow was an ominous bulge of blue markers. A much thicker concentration
of red markers just south of the base of the German salient was Stavka's
gamble. If the attack into the base of the German salient failed Beria had
no doubts that Moscow would fall. Oh, the Germans would pay for its fall
in untold liters of human blood and untold tons of smashed equipment, but
it would fall. And the Soviet Union might fall with it. Moscow was not simply
a symbolic capital. The loss of its rail hubs would surely doom Leningrad
and the rest of Russia west of the Volga. Beria would carry on the fight
on the Volga and east of the Urals but times would be difficult and he might
never again see a communist Russia if that happened. Beria's fist came down
hard on the table sending several markers bouncing out of position. A woman
in Red Army garb came over and reset the markers immediately.
"We must succeed comrades" he stated bluntly. Nods from all of those gathered
were the only responses he received. It was time to cast the dice and see
how they would fall.
"Commence operation Heavy Fist as planned" he said calmly.
To Be Continued...
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