Diary of Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein, Oberbefehlshaber des Heeres
17 July 1942
It has been just over one year since Adolf Hitler has been swiftly and effectively removed from power, much to the relief of the General Staff and the Reich. That buffoon Goering was also removed from power and in the subsequent vacuum, Himmler stepped in to take advantage of the situation. Such a strange man, that Himmler. He is playing his game, and is letting us play ours without interference for he admittedly is no military man. In June 1941, we were at a crossroads. The Soviet Union got wind of Hitler's obsession to attack her and subsequent buildup of men and materiel, and mobilized in reaction. We had no choice but to attack, as much as we did not want to, but it was imperative to strike at the earliest convenience whilst the Soviets were mobilizing. The results were spectacular and decisive, albeit painfully slow....we are at the gates of Moscow and with the help of the brave Finns, have seized Leningrad and Petrozavodsk! We are also pushing, with great help from Italian and Romanian units, to the Don river bend. Rostov, Sevastopol, and Kerch have all been secured. Kalinin has been seized and our panzers are within sight of the Kremlin, but have encountered fierce Soviet resistance and the fighting is at a standstill.
Stalingrad, Voronezh, and the Caucasus Mountain oilfields are on the horizon, but the Soviets are digging in with heavy tanks and artillery and are making us pay for every step. To the north, the fortress city of Tula has fallen and we are pushing towards Ryazan cutting Moscow off from the southeast. We have reports of American equipment on the battlefields, so the Americans and British must be supplying the Soviets. This cannot be allowed to happen much longer.
In the Atlantic, the Allies have seemingly innumerable numbers of destroyers which have taken a heavy toll on our U-Boats with several being lost, in addition to several destroyers. Their sacrifice will not be in vain, however, as our heaviest surface units made a daring foray into the mid-Atlantic to draw Allied attention from our top-secret Operation Northern Storm (Nordsturm) - the seizure of Iceland - which was a resounding success! Additionally, we were able to capture and examine for the first time British radar sets. After many months of repair and preparation, the Prinz Eugen, Scharnhorst, and Gneisenau sortied into the British shipping lanes in conjunction with several U-Boats and destroyers, and inflicted a huge toll on British destroyers and merchant shipping. The success of Nordsturm denies the British an opportunity to launch air raids against our ships and U-Boats in the mid-Atlantic, although they are currently under sporadic shelling from British capital ships.
Unfortunately, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau suffered heavy damage and have had to return to France for repairs. Heavy Cruiser Prinz Eugen had suffered no damage, while scoring hits on the enemy, in a surprise running battle with the new British battleship identified as the HMS King George V, a fast and very dangerous class of battleship...and one that was responsible for the sinking of our glorious Bismarck last year. The second of our Bismarck-class battleship, the Tirpitz, was readied for action and linked up with light cruisers Leipzig and Emden, and 'pocket battleship' Admiral Scheer - as well as U-Boats and screening destroyers - off of the Norwegian Coast forming the northern pincer of our mid-Atlantic operation. The Kriegsmarine staff chose the Faroe islands as the breakout point of the fleet in the Atlantic, but unfortunately were ambushed by Royal Navy units that spotted our approach. Emden struck a mine, and our whole plan was thrown into chaos. The battleship HMS Warspite and several destroyers rushed to the scene finishing off the Emden and inflicting serious damage on our screening force, who as a result, have turned back to Norway for repairs. Tirpitz, Admiral Scheer, and Leipzig sank or heavily damaged Warspite and several of the destroyers and retired to the west before British air power could be brought to bear. The newly completed Admiral Hipper has joined the fleet off of the coast of Iceland and Admiral Topp aboard Tirpitz made the decision to steam to link up with Prinz Eugen and return to France where Scharnhorst and Gneisenau are currently laid up to concentrate the fleet in the Bay of Biscay.
In France, our Luftwaffe fighters and air defense units have performed nothing short of brilliantly, inflicting far more casualties on the RAF than we have received. However, one Bf-109 JG was ambushed and annihilated, leaving us down to one JG each of Bf-109F, Fw-190, and the newly arrived Bf-109G-2. We have a constructed a 'flakwall' from Caen in Normandy to the north of Paris, running east-northeast to the German frontier with the British suffering many casualties.
In the Mediterranean theater, General Rommel's Afrika Korps of General Giovanni Messe's Italian Army have seized Tobruk and Mersa Matruh, but have been stopped cold by a strong British defensive line in the vicinity of El Alamein. Fallschirmjager units are attempting to take out British artillery behind enemy lines hammering our approach. The Italian fleet combined with heavy Italian and German naval bombers dealt a serious blow to the Royal Navy in the region, sinking several destroyers, submarines, cruiser HMS Neptune, carrier HMS Ark Royal, battleship HMS Valiant, and another light cruiser. Littorio, Vittorio Veneto, Gorizia, Trento, and the supporting destroyers have swept the sea clean around Malta, and had the short window of opportunity to bombard the old fortress causing damage, but had to retire due to massive British air reinforcements in the region. As such, the Italians have decided to send their fleet east in support of operations around El Alamein (without destroyer support, as they have suffered heavy damage and are all currently in port repairing). Our Fw-200 Condor unit has been instructed to proceed to Iceland to deal with the British capital ship threat there and is currently en route.
Himmler is growing impatient with the speed of our attack, and wishes us to proceed with all possible speed. At least he's not like Hitler....or is he?
SCREENSHOTS IN NEXT POSTS
Diary of a Field Marshal: a Battlefield Europe AAR
Battle Reports & After Action Reports (AAR's)
Moderators: Slitherine Core, Panzer Corps Moderators, Panzer Corps Design
Re: Diary of a Field Marshal: a Battlefield Europe AAR
Tirpitz, Leipzig, Admiral Hipper, and Admiral Scheer southeast of Iceland, preparing to link up with....
....Prinz Eugen just after her running battle with HMS King George V.
Scharnhorst and Gneisenau refitting in France...under constant threat of air attack....
'Flakwall' in France...
Situation around Malta....
Italian fleet on the move off of Greece...
Situation around El Alamein...
Crimea and Kerch...
Rostov and Don bend....
Voronezh sector...
Kalinin-Moscow-Ryazan-Tula....
Lenigrad-Novogorod-Kalinin...
Ladoga-Onega...
Pripyat Partisan Problem...
....Prinz Eugen just after her running battle with HMS King George V.
Scharnhorst and Gneisenau refitting in France...under constant threat of air attack....
'Flakwall' in France...
Situation around Malta....
Italian fleet on the move off of Greece...
Situation around El Alamein...
Crimea and Kerch...
Rostov and Don bend....
Voronezh sector...
Kalinin-Moscow-Ryazan-Tula....
Lenigrad-Novogorod-Kalinin...
Ladoga-Onega...
Pripyat Partisan Problem...
Return to “Panzer Corps : AAR's”
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