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August 10th, 1939: After capturing detailed maps, the Japanese learn that the sounds they have been hearing were a ruse. Zhukov has been building underwater bridges (using concrete drums), and bringing in additional troops to outnumber the Japanese, who had one Division and elements in the area. A command went out, and one more division and several support units were quickly dispatched from the 6th Kwangtung Army. The air force sent and additional 35 aircraft. The commander of the arriving division took overall command, as his seniority was higher than the 23rd's. He begins to rapidly shift units and troops around.
August 18th, 1939: A roving pilot reports a large amount of tanks marshalling in an area behind Russian lines, but over the river where the suspected bridges are. Fearing an attack, the Japanese decide to pre-empt the Russians, and launch their own attack.
August 19th, 1939: Helped by the recent Air Force additions, and artillery battalions, the Japanese attack begins. 300 horse drawn artillery pieces opened up, striking the bridges and marshalling areas. The Air Force flew and bombed tank formations and supply dumps, until an appearance by the Red Air Force forced the Japanese to withdraw. 500 Russian artillery pieces responded in turn, and despite the set back, Zhukov launched his attack the next day.
August 23rd, 1939: Molotov and Ribbentrop sign the German-Soviet Non Aggression Treaty.
August 20th-25th, 1939: Russian attacks start off well, but begin to bog down in the face of concentrated artillery fire. The Japanese have managed to scrounge up 200 tanks, which they use to some effect. The best asset is the Air Force, which after several days of battle allow the Japanese to fight under a neutral sky at best. Japanese losses, especially infantry, are severe. On the northern flank, the Japanese Border Guards regiment, augmented by recently arrived troops, blunts the main thrust of Zhukov's attack until numbers force the regiment's to pull back. Near Fui, the Russians break through using tanks and flamethrowers, but are pulled into a trap, when newly arrived infantry regiments and artillery pieces force the breakthrough into a box. The Japanese tanks are easily disabled by the superior Russian models, leaving the Japanese no options but Human wave tactics. The 7th Foot Infantry division, one of the recent reinforcements, suffered grievous losses.
August 26th, 1939: Russian forces stop their attacks. In Four days of battle 40000 Japanese and 27000 Russian soldiers are killed. Most of the Red Air Force in the region (some 150 aircraft) is destroyed. There are only 200 Russian tanks left, Air Force attacks have destroyed the only road and railways from Chita to the Nomonhan. Unsettled by Japanese fanaticism, and his own losses, not to mention the fact his careful plans have been upset, Zhukov pulls back and begins to prepare his defenses. More reinforcements are sent from Manchukuo to the region.
September 1st, 1939: The German Army crosses the Polish Border.
September 3rd, 1939: Fulfilling their treaty obligations, Great Britain and France declare War on Germany.
September 4th, 1939: News of the Struggle at Nomonhan reaches German ears for the first time.
September 17th, 1939: Fulfilling their treaty obligations, Russia invades Poland. The Next Day what remains of the Polish government and Military High Command crosses the border into Hungary.
September 18th, 1939: France launches limited counterattacks against the Siegfreid Line. The Germans are more than prepared for this event, and the French are thrown back with nothing gained. By this time it is apparent that Poland is lost, and the French, holding to outdated tactics, mobilization plans, and plain slowness, do not have the manpower or firepower to affect the outcome at all.
September 28th, 1939: The Warsaw garrison surrenders. Some 80000 Polish soldiers have crossed the border into Hungary, and gone onto Greece.
October 1st, 1939: Reinforced with more artillery, aircraft and troops, the Japanese attack Russian positions North of Nomonhan. For three days an undecided battle rages, the Russians gladly sacrificing space for time. Several Japanese Battalions are lost when they are suckered into Russian fore sacks. Russian tanks and artillery overwhelm several frontal assaults. For all of its modernization, following its code of Bushido cripples the Japanese army. TO the Army, only close combat was deemed the only honorable way to fight, with the armor and artillery servants of the infantry. Such thinking often led to success, but with huge risks.
October 6th, 1939: Hitler's offer of peace to France and Great Britain is rebuffed.
October 8th, 1939: The last organized army troops of Poland surrender. Guerilla warfare lasts until spring.
October 14th, 1939: Russia presents a series of demands to the Finns, essentially an exchange of lands. Despite the obvious advantage in square miles-the Finns stood to gain 2134 miles of territory in exchange for 1066 miles- the strategic and tactical considerations of giving up the lands are not good, and the Finnish government turns down the Russian proposal.
November 28th, 1939: After the talks turn acrimonious, Russia cancels its 1932 Non-Aggression Treaty.
November 30th, 1939: After considering their reverses in Mongolia, the Russians launch an attack against the Finns. They expect a short, swift campaign. However, the Finns prove resilient, checking the Soviet advance, and in some areas throwing the Russians back. The winter slows the fighting to a series of probes and counter thrusts, which last through the winter.
Part Two
Colonel-General Franz Halder sat at his desk, ruminating over the document he held in his hands. The map behind him reflected the final results of his, his (!), attack into Poland, executed almost flawlessly. Now, he held in his hands a document of staggering proportions. A courier from the Reichstag had hand delivered it to him personally, the cover bore the words Top Secret in Bold red letter, a quick look at the last page showed the signature of the Fuehrer himself, the ink smudged where the last two sheets had rubbed together. His eyes scanned the pertinent parts that jumped out at him:
"Any prolonged war with France and Germany will exhaust our resources. If we are to remain focused on the West, Russia may well take the opportunity to stab us in the back, and I fear the moment the Bolsheviks realize that they need not heed the Neutrality pact as long as it does not suit her purpose.
"Therefore, it is my belief that we must force peace on France, by force of Arms, with an early offensive. Once France falls, Great Britain will be isolated from the rest of Europe, and must come to terms. Although the French outnumber us, we have the Strength and Equipment to beat France because the tank-arm and air force have, at the present time, attained technical heights-not only as weapons of attack but weapons of defense-that no other power has reached. Their strategic potential for operations is ensured by their organization and well-practiced leadership, which is better than that of any other country.
"The French have a superiority of older weapons, particularly the artillery, but these weapons are of no decisive significance in Mobile Warfare. With our technical superiority in newer arms, the French superiority in numbers of trained soldiers is also offset.
"If we wait in the hope that France will tire of War, the development of British fighting power would bring to France a new fighting element that would be of great value to her, both psychologically and materially to buttress her defense. What must be prevented above all is that the enemy should make good the weaknesses of his own armaments, particularly those anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons, thereby creating a balance of power. In this report the passing of every further month represents a loss of time unfavorable to the German power of Attack.
"The state of mind of the German soldier troubles me. Once the exhilarating effect of the conquest of Poland wears of, how will the soldiers Will to War be? His respect for himself is as great as the respect he commands from others, at present. But six months of delaying warfare and effective propaganda on the part of enemy might cause these important qualities to weaken once more.
"We must strike soon. Time is an ally of the Western power rather than ours. Belgium must be included in the area of attack, not only for the purposes of outflanking the Maginot line, but also to provide room for maneuver should the Anglo-French forces deploy there. Their presence in Belgium, thereby bringing the war closer to the heart of our armaments history, is unacceptable."
"The attack is to launch this autumn if Possible."
Halder was shocked. Never in a thousand years had he dreamed this possible. Poland was a walkover, but they had been surprised, and although their fighting spirit was strong, their equipment and tactics had been outdated and outmatched the second Bock's Army Group had crossed the border. But France? They had the largest army on the continent, and the Maginot Line was an engineering marvel, every bit as strong as the Siegfreid Line, if not stronger.
He picked up the phone; a delightful female voice queried him.
"Colonel-General Brauchitsch. Yes I will wait."
(The comments made above are Hitler's actual words, taken from Nuremberg Document C-62.)
November 23rd, 1939. The Mercedes sped down the autobahn. In the back seat Colonel-General Halder pondered what had just occurred. The Fuehrer had been worried, consumed by the fear of Russia discarding the neutrality pact and attacking, and repeating time and again how the Western Allies had rebuffed his offers of peace while they rearmed. He was also worried that the Allies would push through Belgium to the Ruhr, a thought that gave every man in the room a shudder. Brauchitsch had protested, but to no avail. The Fuehrer had almost lost his temper; recounting the number of times the General Staff had opposed him in recent history. Each time he had been right and the General Staff had been wrong, and now Hitler expected unconditional obedience to his orders. When Brauchitsch had continued arguing, Hitler had handed down a rebuke that stung everyone in the room, almost accusing the Commander-in-Chief of the Army of cowardice.
They had a plan in place, a workable one fraught with risks. "Maybe Manstein is right," Halder whispered to himself. He leaned back against the seat and closed his eyes, a map of Western Europe drawing itself. The Schwerpunkt was through Belgium, Bock and Army Group B would have that job. Bock was a good man for that sort of work. Army Group A would deliver the secondary attack through the Ardennes.
Manstein had almost accosted Halder in the hallways, pulling him into an office and scaring the sergeant on duty into the Hallway.
"It's madness," he had said, his voice at near yell. "It's 1914 all over again. And what's worse is they know it! They are prepared for this. And Bock will march out because he is a good soldier and meet the British instead of the French, but will it lead to a decisive result? We could perhaps defeat them in Belgium. We could conquer the Channel coast. But it is entirely probable that we would be stopped on the Somme. Then there would grow a situation like 1914…there would be no peace then, and no chance of reaching peace." Manstein was almost livid with rage. Halder had a hard time figuring out if he were upset at the current plan, or was merely upset his own plan had not been adapted. Halder had seen it, indeed had been happy to forward Manstein's idea during a meeting with Hitler. Going through the Ardennes with the majority of the armored forces would indeed be a shock, not only to the French, but to those Germans who didn't believe it could be done.
The car slowed down, took a turn, and the slowed down some more. Headquarters loomed ahead. Another late night at work. Intelligence would have the latest updates on the Russians. Halder smiled to himself. For all his worries, Hitler seemed pleased the Finns, and to a lesser extent the Japanese, had shown just how ineffective the Russian army really was. Stalin's purges of the late 30's were taking a terrible toll on their effectiveness now. Halder sighed, another late night loomed. He would have to do something about Manstein. Maybe Brauchitsch had an idea on that.
December 16th-18th, 1939: Former Norwegian Minister of Defense Vidkun Quisling meets with Hitler at the behest of Admiral Raeder. Hitler would like the Scandinavian countries to remain neutral, but much of the German war effort relies on Swedish Ore mined at Gallivore. The Norwegian town of Narvik was the Ocean terminus of the Gallivore rail line, and any attempt by Britain and France to intercede in Norway could be disastrous to the German War effort.
January 12th, 1940. Halder had a hard time believing it all. It was as if God himself had decided to make a mockery of three months hard work in one fell swoop. General Student, of the paratroops seemed hardest hit; the major who had been forced to land in Belgium was a good liaison officer, and a close friend. And he had carried the entire operational plans for the upcoming attack. Then came the communiqué from the Air Attaché in the Hague, reporting the long conversation between the King of Belgium and the Queen of Holland. Something was definitely up.
"Rotten luck," he muttered to himself. The ice storm was one of the reasons the attack had been pushed back. Something as huge and howling as that would have no problem pushing a small aircraft of course. He could imagine the Majors surprise when he found he had landed in Belgium, not Germany. Whether or not he had enough time to burn the documents was questionable. The long conversations going on between the heads of state certainly made that questionable at best.
the only person who must be happy is Manstein, Halder thought. Brauchitsch had shuffled the young upstart off to an Infantry Corps, but damn the luck, Hitler himself had summoned Manstein to a meeting. Von Schmundt had a hand in it, Halder was certain. The Fuerher's Chief aide-de-camp had been and admirer of Manstein for along time. No doubt it was he who finagled a meeting between the two. Manstein was able to prevent his views unopposed, and Hitler adopted them wholeheartedly. If he remained true to form, Hitler would claim them as his own.
"We must change the attack, we cannot risk charging headlong into failure. Look at the Russians in Mongolia and Finland. Time and again they are beaten back. They do not change; they are inadaptable. We must be the antithesis of that. We must!" Hitler was an engaging speaker when he wanted to be, and reluctant though he was, Halder himself was becoming a convert, a reluctant convert, but one nonetheless.
There would be more planning, more details, more worries.
It was a good thing he was a details man, Halder thought to himself.
January 27th, 1940: Hitler orders his advisors to prepare a set of comprehensive invasion plan for Norway.
February 1st-March 5th, 1940: Russian forces, under General Meretskov, launch a series of attacks against the Mannerheim line, Finland's main line of defense. A furious artillery bombardment destroys the majority of Finnish fortifications. Russian flanking movements force the Finns to fall back, and soon retreat of the Karelian Isthmus.
February 16th, 1940: The Altmark Incident occurs. A German flagged merchant ship, the Altmark carried Allied Prisoners of War, is chased by British destroyers into a Norwegian fjord. Upon orders from Churchill, two British destroyers violate Norwegian territorial waters and rescue the POW's.
February 20th, 1940: General von Falkenhorst is appointed by Hitler to prepare an expeditionary force for Norway. "I am informed that the English intend to land there, and I want to be there before him. The occupation of Norway by Britain would be a strategic turning movement which would lead the to into the Baltic, where we have neither fortifications or troops…the enemy would find himself in a posisition to advance on Berlin and break the backbone of our two fronts."
March 1st, 1940: The final directive for the Invasion of Norway is issued. Also included in the invasion plans is Denmark. The taking of Denmark is necessary, to cover the lines of communication.
March 5th, 1940: Zhukov launches another probing attack outside of Nomonhan. Japanese troops are dug in well, and after a weeks worth of fighting and 12000 men lost, Zhukov calls off the attack. STAVKA considers sending some troops from the European theater to Zhukov's aide.
March 6th, 1940: The Finnish government asks Russia for terms. Russia responds with a remarkably moderate set of conditions.
March 13th, 1940: As British and French Forces are nowhere near ready to help, the Finns agree to the terms.
April 1st, 1940: Hitler orders the Invasion of Norway to commence in 8 days.
April 9th-June 7th, 1940: The Battle of Norway. German troops land at several key points, Trondheim, Olso, Narvik, and the Danish capital of Copenhagen. The British Navy, caught unawares, ignores reports of slower moving troop transports and focuses instead on German Capital ships. Only one ship, the Blucher, is damaged, by a torpedo attack when it attempts to force the Oscarburg fortress. German paratroops capture Trondheim with ease. On the 13th,a British flotilla appears at Narvik, sinking most of the German ships in the area. By this time though, German soldiers are already in Narvik, and the British Navy can do little to dislodge them. Disaster then strikes the British command. General Hotblack, assigned to command the combined allied forces in Norway, suffers a seizure and is incapacitated only hours after assuming command in London. A successor was appointed, but during landing at Scapa Flow, the aircraft he was flying on crashed suddenly, killing all aboard. However, the British still manage to land almost 20000 troops at Namsos and Aandalsnes, and were trying to move the formations in a pincer movemnt to surround Trondheim. Small German raids slowed the advances down, to the point where both colums soon adopted defensive positions, despite their numerical advantage. Under air attack from bombers now based in Denmark, the troops in the south were evacuated on the 1st and 2nd of May, leaving Germany in control of southern and central Norway.
The Allies concentrated on Narvik, reasoning that by holding onto that strategic town not only would they threaten the extreme northern flank. However, behind closed doors Churchill was heard to admit it was more for "Face-saving purposes than anything else." With 20000 troops facing 2000 Austrian troops, augmented by 2000 sailors, the Brits hoped numerical advantage would help., Given the excellent defensive terrain, it would take more than luck to dislodge the German forces.
