The Death of Göring and the Victory of the Luftwaffe

[Wendell]

Originally Posted by Mr.Bluenote

Thank you very much, Wendell!

Well, Wendell, you made such a good case that I decided to go with your suggestion - Taft-McNary it is! Thanks for the idea btw! Even though it might be a rather short time spend as VP - Charles McNary died in 1944 in OTL, and I don't know whether we could do something to keep him alive?!

Hm, yes, I thought that with FDR becoming more and more unpopular - as the Depression is not letting go and his pro-British stance is fairly, well, unpopular, his former friends and allies would most likely want to distance themselves from him, thus driving him left in a vain hope that Joe and Jim Doe from the Welfare Lines and what have we would rally to his cause. And mayby to undermine Taft and McNary's somewhat social-conservative stance (or so I percieve them - is that wrong?!).

Regards and all!

- Bluenote.

That might be workable, as Taft was a paleoconservative.

[Othniel]

Isn't Taft in the Supreme Court at this time?

[Wendell]

Originally Posted by Othniel

Isn't Taft in the Supreme Court at this time?

That was his father, William Howard Taft, who died in 1930.

[Mr.Bluenote]

Moskva
This song is about the most beautiful
city in the world. Moscow!

This city is a prostitute
She has red spots on her forehead
Her teeth are made of gold
She's fat and yet so lovely
Her mouth falls to my valley
when I pay her for it
She takes off her clothes but only for money
The city that keeps me in suspense

Moscow
One, two, three!
Moscow
Look!
Pioneers are here and there,
singing songs to Lenin.

She is old and nevertheless beautiful
I can't resist her
I can't resist
She powders her old skin
and has gotten her breasts rebuilt
rebuilt
She makes me horny I suffer torment
She dances for me I have to pay
I have to pay
She sleeps with me but only for money
It's still the most beautiful city in the world
- Rammstein, Moskau (translated from German).

One word, a voice unheard
You can change the world
With everything I know you're made of
One word, a voice unheard
You can change the world
If everyone would stop and listen

The art of innocence make so much sense
But placed in the wrong hands, well then it's wasted
Filtered through the eyes of a pure mind
A one-of-a-kind paradise for you and I
- P.O.D., Change the World.


While the Germans seemed to go on from one victory to another, the mighty Red Army had fought a series of inconclusive border skirmishes with the Empire of Japan in Outer Mongolia and along their common eastern border and were now mirred in a bloody occupation of Finland, a small country that almost singlehandedly fended off the Red Army.

Since the Imperial Japanese Kwantung Army had moved in and taken control of Manchuria in 1931, an undeclared low level war had raged between the Empire of Japan and the USSR. Along a 4,000km line drawn at a whim in a inhospitable wasteland the two countries and their respective armed forces viewed each other with a mixture of greed, disdain and eagerness. Numerous border skirmishes and disputes characterized the next several years as both sides reinforced their respective forces and duelled for supremacy and postions. In 1936, the USSR signed a mutual assistance treaty with Outer Mongolia – basically taking control of the area -, and in early ’37, Soviet troops began to deploy in Outer Mongolia in numbers.

After the Lake Khasan incident in 1938, where over 2,000 men – both Soviets and Japanese - were killed, Stalin made it clear during a speech at the annual Party Congress in the spring of 1939, that any acts of aggression, be they small, clandestine or otherwise, against the Rodina – the Motherland - would face the full fury of the Soviet Unions armed might. The Japanese Government and High Command, engaged in a furious naval built-up, and under the influence of its naval officers, seemed adamant not to provoke the Soviet Bear, at this stage at least, and made sure no such acts of aggression were forthcoming… for now. Nonetheless minor clashed occurred weekly, and the paced picked up after the Soviet occupation Finland and the three Baltic States and after the annexation of Eastern Poland.

While the tensions in Siberia and Outer Mongolia were fairly easily handled – a handful of younger Red Army officers had risen to command out there, shielded by the distance from the Purges, and seemed to be in charge of the situation - the occupation of Finland, and to a lesser extent that of Eastern Poland and the Baltic States were troubling the Red Army. This was a type of conflict the Red Army was not used to. Usually NKVD units took care of internal security, while the Red Army now and again provided some support, but this was war and therefore Army business! However, drawn out guerilla warfare in a hostile climate, terrain and environment such as the Finnish were draining the resources and the spirit of the Red Army and doing so fast. The words Bielaja Smertj - the white death – alone spread fear among the masses of conscripted infantry heading for Finland on a regular basis. The Marshals and Generals in the STAVKA – the supreme command of the Soviet Armed Forces – even considered asking the NKVD for help, but pride and a fear of failure prohibited them from doing so. In Stalin’s USSR, the price for failure was dead in a cold dark basement in the Lubjanka Prison at the Felix Dzerinskij Square.

Furthermore, the Red Army had suffered immensely at the hands of the NKVD, so it seemed unnatural – to say the very least - to ask for any help from that quarter. During the Purges, a full third of all officers were arrested and subsequently executed or sent to the Gulag-camps in Northern Siberia. Hardest hit were the higher echelons, as 3 out of 5 Marshals and 14 out of 16 army commanders were executed.

The NKVD itself were not immune to the Purges, and had several of its members purged on Staln’s orders. Besides a series of low ranking members, Yagoda and Yeszhov – the successive heads of the NKVD - had both been executed. That alone made the ever cautious Beria, the present head of the NKVD, very reluctant to get involved in the mess in Finland. Even in the dreaded and feared NKVD one did not want to appeare as a failure.

Generally speaking the Soviet Supreme Command didn’t know what to do. Puny Finland's small army of some 200,000 men had nearly beaten the Red Army and thus exposed the its many short-comings. Lessons were naturally learned, but what to do?! What to do?! The Red Army were poorly trained, equipped and led, that the Marshals and Generals already knew that, but the Red Army and STAVKA had relied on quantity rather than quality ever since Tjukachevskij and the start of the Purges.

The Finnish War cost the Red Army over 300,000 casualties, which was was it was – men could easily be replaced, this was the USSR afterall, but furthermore the Red Army had lost some 700 planes and nearly 2,000 tanks. Considering tha fact that Finland had next to no thanks and no Air Force to speak of, this was disturbing, highly disturbing, but nobody dared tell Stalin that his vaunted Red Army was no good!

Thus jubilation and exuberance were the dominant moods in Berlin the capital of the Third Reich, whereas a perpetual state of fear and paranoia ruled the Soviet Union's capital of Moskva - Moscow.

Moskva, the ancient seat of Russian government, where Tsars, one more bloodthirsty than the other, had ruled millions of Russians for centuries were now the lair of the worst dictator humankind have ever seen. The dictator, a man who made the Tzars, even the worst ones, seem like innocent choirboys, Josef Vissarionovitch Djugasjvili - know under his nome-de-guerre as Stalin – the Man of Iron -, was feeling uneasy, and that usually meant someone had to pay with their lifes. Stalin was growing ever more frightfull of the seemingly unstoppable German warmachine and of its leader, the German Führer, Adolf Hitler, not to mention suspicious of the greedy Japanese.

Stalin had, rightfully, drawn the conslusion that the Red Army were far from able to fight a modern war all by himself. Its equippement was below par, so was its training and, naturally, its officer corps. The Far Eastern Army units seem to do quite well, though, but then again they only had to deal with the Japanese and no major battles had been fought. Furthermore it confirmed Stalin’s view that it was vitally important to avoid a war with the Third Reich for as long as possible. There would be no immediate war, though, as Germany would not invade the USSR, while its armed forces were still embroiled in a war with Britain. But to the amazement of Stalin, the Party Leadership as well as that of the Red Army, as it were, time seemed to be running out for the British and running out very fast indeed.

The Finnish War ironically also convinced Hitler, and his inner circle, that the Wehrmacht would easily annihilate the Red Army, and thus planning for Operation Friedrich der Grosse began in earnest. Furthermore, with Operation Orfeus in the workings, Hitler and his croonies at the OKW knew that the days of Britian were numbered. Operation Friedrich der Grosse would be the codename for the worlds largest military operation. The plan called for an invasion of the USSR in mid-May, 1941, which would give the Wehrmacht sufficient time to destroy the Red Army and take control of the western part of the USSR before winter put a stop to military operations on the Eastern Front, as operations in the USSR would be known.

[Mr.Bluenote]

The Chained Bear and the Red Falcons
An angelface smiles to me
Under a headline of tragedy
That smile used to give me warmth
Farewell - no words to say
beside the cross on your grave
and those forever burning candles

Needed elsewhere
to remind us of the shortness of our time
Tears laid for them
Tears of love, tears of fear
Bury my dreams, dig up my sorrows
Oh, Lord why
the angels fall first
- Nightwish, The Angels fall First.

Oh yes I've walked the path that
gives me confidence strong and pure
Now I realized that freedom rises
from comfort in the source
I built these walls around me
And I can't break them all away
And I focus on the strength I call
Insufferable and insane

So hold on to the end...

Its all about the blood, the sweat, the tears
A tribute to the strength built through the years
A tribute to soul...
- Machine Head, The Burning Red.

As the Germans smelled blood, so did Stalin, albeit in a slightly different way. He once more purged the Red Army, and ordered a rapidly expansion of the Red Army – something made possible only by a successive series of harshly implemented Five Year Plans that had made the USSR’s industry into a veritabel powerhous of an unimaginable magnitude. Since 1928, the USSR had seen rises raw matreail extraction betwenn a 100 and 200% and a whopping 300% increase in power output, not to mention the many kilometers of newly laid down rails and new industrial centers built in unpronouncable places. The industrialization process had cost the Soviet people no end of pain, but Stalin as usual ignored any compliants, claiming that if the industrialization did not take place, the beloved USSR would be at the mercy of its enemies, surrounded by them as it were. Ironically, history would prove the Man of Steel correct. By 1941, when the Eastern War erupted in full fury, the Red Army had grown to a mind-numbing size of 300 divisions. Most of the divisons both in 1940 and a year later were infantry divisions, or Rifle Divisions as the Soviets called them. As in every other country at the time, these Rifle Divisions were supported by horse-drawn artillery – and in the case of the Red Army a lot of it - and cavalry divisions. Most were faily badly equipped, trained and led, though.

The Red Army did have an ace or two up their sleave, so to say. Not all the competent officers had been purged, with the rising tension in the Far East as well as in Europe had given a few good men the possibily to gain prominence (without getting executed in the process). One of them, Ivan Stepanovitj Konev, would go on to become the Rodina’s foremost field commander of all times. Another was Konstantin Konstantinovitj Rokossovskij, who was not only known as a brilliant leader of men, but as the inventor of mechanized warfare – not quite true, but at the time it was hard, not to say higly dangerous, to argue with Stalin’s propaganda machine. Ironically both men nearly got purged themselves, but their commands in faraway Siberia and Outer Mongolia, as well as their undeniable successes – well, they prevented the Japanese Kwantung Army and their Manchurian puppets from becoming too frisky - spared them from joining men like Zhukov and Tjukachevskij before the NKVD’s hardworking firing squads. Both Rokossovskij and Konev’s fate would be closely intertwined with one of the USSR’s few other aces, its powerful tanks.

In 1940, two new tanks were beginning to enter service, albeit somewhat slowly. One was the heavy and tough 50 tonnes, diesel powered KV-1. The KV-1 was a typical standard tank-design for the time, just a lot heavier than other tanks and better armed than most with its powerful 76,2mm high-velocity main gun. The other tank was the fast and reliable T-34. The T-34 was by no means a marvel of engineering, but it did introduce a new feature; sloped armour. Sloped armour was ideal for deflecting shells and thus added protection out of proportion with the armours actuall thickness. The T-34 also had a diesel engine and the powerful 76,2mm gun.

The focus that was placed squarely on the Red Army and especially increasing the production of tanks and aircrafts influenced the other branch of the Armed Forces – the Red Navy - immensely. Even though its commander in chief, Admiral Nikolai Kutznetzov, who had been appointed Commissar of the Navy by Stalin in the spring of 1939, was a powerful patron and quite the visionary regarding naval warfare, ship building was nearly halted in early 1940, as Stalin decreed that the USSR should apply its industrial might, revolutionary fevor and resources to produce yet more tanks and aircrafts. Some minor vessels got built, though, along with a contineous stream of mostly coastal submarines. The Red Navy was without question the weakest branch of the Soviet Armed forces, but did as noted above have a rather powerful submarine branch, as well as a handful of fairly powerful surface vessels. Said submarine fleet promted the German Kriegsmarine to develop the Fl-41 Grief – Griffin – helicopter. The Fl-41 was the world’s first dedicated ASW, or Unterseeboot Jaeger in German, helicopter and would prove higly succesful in the Eastern War as well as in the British Continuation War. Both the surface and submarine branches of the Soviet Red Navy would face nearly total destruction at the hands of the German Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe. As with the Red Army, the Red Navy’s officers corps had been badly damaged by ther Purges, but Admiral Kutznetzov did a lot to better things, but to little avail as will be seen.

The Voenno-Vozduznie Sily - Red Army’s Air Force –, or VVS for short, was not an independent service as in Germany or Britain, but was controlled by the Red Army. It should be noted that the Red Navy had air units of its own, but the Soviet Naval Aviators mostly flew outdated bomber and torpedo aircrafts that would suffer dearly when faced by the Kriegsmarine’s Luftstreitkräfte Kommando - KLK -, and/or Luftwaffe. On paper, the Red Army’s Air Force was quite impressive, however. By 1936, Soviet factories were producing about 3,500 aircraft a year. Most of these were bombers like Tupolev’s TB-3 and the Tupolev Skorostnoy Bombardirovschik - high speed bomber – series of SB’s. Doctrine as well as dire need dictated that priority be placed on bomber production, something the VVS and Red Army in general would regret dearly in the years to come. In the early summer of 1941, when Operation Freidrich der Grosse was launched, the VVS deployed some 18,000 planes – out of which nearly 10,000 were placed in Frontal Aviation units - of all sorts in its invetory and had around 20,000 pilots, while ground crews and the like numbered close to 200,000 people.

The Red Army Air Force’s favoured simple designs, that could be massproduced and flown by more or less uneducated and trained personel. The most numerous aircrafts by 1941 were Polikarpov R-5 reconnaissance palnes, MBR-2 for naval reconnaissance, the Polikarpov series of fighters – of which the I-16 featured prominently -, the Tupolev SB-2 and Ilyushin DB-3 for ground support and tactical bombing and the heavy ANT-37/DB-2 – a converted ANT-25 - long range bomber. DB stands for Dalnij Bombardirovschik meaning Long Range Bomber.

As the war progressed the VVS - Red Army’s Air Force - suffered, just as RAF did during the Battle of Britain, under a lack of trained pilots and air crews, but in part made up for said lack by producing some rather simple, but surprisingly good planes. Planes such as the MiG-3 fighter by Mikoyan & Gurevitj, the LaGG-3 fighter by Lavotjkin or the truly deadly TiY-2 by the Tupolev & Yakolev design bureau would at times make the Luftwaffe earn its keep the hard way. The TiY-2 was actually an impressive machine, that went on to serve with Red China units until the fall of Mao’s last stronghole in 1953 as well as the Ukrainian National Air Force. Powered by a super-charged Mikulin engine with some 2,200hp and armed with an increasingly powerful array of machine guns and cannon as well as rockets in its later variants, the TiY-3, with the somehow fitting nickname of Ubiytsja – Killer -, was nonetheless an agile and tough fighter suited for low to mid-level dogfighting. It had a sleek fuselage, a bubbled canopy and was made entirley out of lightweight metal. The TiY-3 made its way into the pages of history as the USSR’s perhaps finest plane - some historians still claim the honour belongs with the Su-6, though – and first thouroughbred interceptor. Furthermore a series of fairly good and most of all rugged ground attack aircraft and tactical bombers were built as well – Petlyakov’s Pe-2 and another plane designed by Andrei Nikolaevich Tupolev, the Tu-2 and the devastingly efficient and deadly twin engined Su-6 Akula – Shark - with its four recoilless 45mm cannon by Tupolev’s protegé, the enginius Pavel Osipovich Sukoi. Dr.Sukoi would later go on to construct Russia’s first entirely domestic jet-fighter, the Su-12, and its first super-sonic aircraft, the Su-22 – made with the world first ejectable cockpit.

[Mr.Bluenote]

Since the Eastern War would feature in this ATL - something that I didn't plan on originally, I thought that some basic information on the USSR was in order! Hope it wasn't too boring!

If anyone should wonder, I'm not a very big Zhukov fan, and find it rarher annoying that better commanders, like say Konev and Rokossovskij, are more or less overlooked, so this time they'll get their 15 minutes of fame and Zhukov is just another poor Red Army general executed.

Do any of you have any alternative ideas for the German invasion of the USSR?! I'd like to do something differernt in the TDoGatVotL...

Next installment, Dead Angels of Albion, will bring the focus back on the air war raging over the British Isles and the waters surrounding said Isles!

Best regards!

- Mr.Bluenote.

[Wendell]

Will Irish involvement happen?

[Mr.Bluenote]

Originally Posted by Wendell

Will Irish involvement happen?

No, I don't really think so. Well, the Brits will probably have to put down some sort fo minor uprising, but nothing that'll really matter, I'd say!

Thanks for commenting, Wedell!

I hope to post Dead Angels in few days, if not actually today...

Best regards and all!

- B.

[Wendell]

No problem. I look forward to it.

[Fearless Leader]

Wow, another top quality post Mr. Bluenote kudos!

Personally I would like to see 1 of these 2 things happen

1. Barbarossa is different, instead of being 3 thrusts it would be a single concentrated thrust towards Moscow, just to be interesting

2. The Panzers aren't stopped before Leningrad and it falls before the Russian Winter

Just some things I would like to see...

BTW does the TiY-2 have an analog IRL? Just curious...

[Karlos]

A thought:
Even if Blau fails like in OTL, the new Luftwaffe can easily destroy Baku Oil Fields or cut the supply off for the rest of USSR. Would it be enough to stop the soviet industry?

[Mr.Bluenote]

Dead Angels of Albion
We’re disposable teens
We’re disposable teens
We’re disposable teens
We’re disposable
We’re disposable teens
We’re disposable teens
We’re disposable teens
We’re disposable

You said you wanted evolution
The ape was a great big hit
You say you want a revolution, man
I say that you’re full of shit

The more that you fear us
The bigger we get
The more that you fear us
The bigger we get
And don’t be surprised, don’t be surprised
Don’t be surprised when we destroy all of it
- Marilyn Manson, Disposable Teens.

Their faces gaunt their eyes were blurred and shirts all soaked with sweat
They're riding hard to catch that head but they ain't caught them yet
'Cause they've got to ride forever on that range up in the sky
On horses snorting as they ride and hear their awful cry
Yippie-aye-aaa, yippie-aye-ooh, ghost riders in the sky

As the riders loped on by him he heard one call his name
If you want to save your soul from hell a-riding on our range
Then cowboy change your ways today or with us you will ride
A-trying to catch the devil's herd across these endless skies
Yippie-aye-aaa, yippie-aye-ooh, ghost riders in the sky
- Johnny Cash, Ghost Riders in the Sky.

In August, 1940, the offensive air war over Germany had basically failed. A combination of factors played a key role in RAF Bomber Command’s defeat. First, the lack of long range escorts hurt the bombers immensely as they were fairly easy targets for Luftwaffes newly created Luftflotte 9 with its growing numbers of FW-190’s – organized in two understrength, as of now, Jagdgeschwadere under respectively Günther Lützow and Walter Oesau, famous for his downing of British General Edmund Ironside - and its even more deadly nightfighter arm – Nachtjäger Geschwader 55 – under Johannes Steinhof and its other, equally important element – the intruders – Fernnachtjäger Geschwader 111- under Walter Nowotny. The FW-222 Raubvogel had not entered service yet, but ordinary fighters could with good guidance from Do-19 C&C aircrafts and ground control be directed unto the bomber streams and do a lot of damage. A good number of Ju-88’s had been converted into both Night Fighters and Intruders. Both variants had RADAR – made possible by a combination of miniturization and a small enlargements of the Ju-88’s in form of a bulge on the otherwise slender fuselage - and its usual glass nose replaced by what was basically a gun platform with two 20mm cannon and two heavy machine guns – the weapons mix would rapidly be replaced by an all cannon armament. The Intruder version of the Ju-88, besides its heavy armament, carried a small bombload of cluster bombs in its somewhat shrunken internal bomb bay, but lacked the sophisticated communication and navigation gear the Night Fighter was came equipped with.

As part of his reorganization of the Luftwaffe, Wever promoted Ernst Udet to General der Jagdflieger - General of the Fighter Arm –, or GdJ for short, with Hitler’s blessing. Udet was an old friend and comrade in arms of dear deceased Hermann, and thus had a special place in der Führer’s heart as well. In many ways Udet hated his job as a senior officer, bound by his desk, drowned in paper and entagled in politics, and therefore spent as much time as possible out in the field among his Jagdfliere. As General of the Fighter Arm he now had plenty of opportunity to visit various Jagdgeschwaders and other outfits such as the two new Nachtjäger and Fernnachtjäger Geschwaders. Luftflotte 9, or Luftflotte Reich in daily Luftwaffe terminology, was Udet’s baby. While not the sharpest knife in the cubboard when it came down to modern technology and its use, Udet nonetheless had a knack for picking good officers, inspiring his subordinates and making the most of his allocated reources, not to mention an innate charm and an unpretentious mannerism that sat him apart from many of other high ranking Nazi Gold Pheasants. Luftflotte 9 would haunt and rawage RAF Bomber Command and ultimateky prove its downfall, at least in round one.

After the advice of the rather obscure British air war theorists, Arthur Harris, the British had begun to form their bombes up in huge swarms. While on paper a sound theory; massive dadamage done, safety in numbers and the possibility of overwhelming the German air defences, this tactic proved devastatingly wrong. The massed and massive stream of bombers only gave Udet’s boys, be they ordinary fighters pilots or elité Jäger pilots-, a very target rich environmnet, to paraphrase Udet himself. Furthermore, the Intruders had a field day when the huge stream began to form up in Britain before its mission. With so many bombers participating, it took a lot of time to get every aircraft airborne and in formation, and then it took even more time to meet up with the other elements and form the actual bomber stream. Even the otherwise high flying super heavy De Havilland Manchester was vulnerable when circling an airfield with all its navigation lights on – as the bombers did in this phase for safety reasons. The Ju-88 Intruders wrecked havoc on the British airfields with both their heavy weapons and the cluster munition used so liberally by Luftwaffe. All this meant, that the bombers had not been able to turn the tables on the Germans, and with much of RAF Fighter Command basically blown out of existence or simply just fighting to stay alive and airborne, and a distressingly large part of the Royal Navy’s Home Fleet damaged or actually sunk, along with the growing concentration of German warships of all sorts in various Kriegsmarine bases within easy striking range of the British Isles, the beleaguered British Primeminister, Lord Halifax, began to wonder whether peace might not be a better idea than stubborn resistance.

As a result of the PM’s considerations, an off-the-record enlarged Cabinet meeting took place in late August, 1940. Among those present were Eden, Bevin and Atlee. In spite of the closed and highly secretive nature of this meeting, a series of Halifax quotes has leaked over the years. One of the more memorable are his opening lines: “Peace, most honoured Gentlemen, is essential for this Realm, if we the British are to maintain our rightful place as the foremost of nations and the Empire are to thrive and prosper. The survival of our beloved Realm must take precendence over any and all objections – be they based on honour or lust for victory and personal glory. Our Empire can not be allowed to fade away into the night, like an old, tired Lion ousted from his Pride by a young usurper!” It is usually belived that only Eden and the two Labour MP’s, stout Bevin and clever Atlee, open resistance to the idea of peace with Hitler and his Riech prevented Halifax from issueing a public statement callign for an armistice.

The gathering German warships and the rather awesome power they represented had the First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Dudley Pound, deeply worried. Due to heavy German air attacks on naval anchorages, ship yards and other facilities, he had been forced to disperse most of his naval assets, including wihtdrawing most of Home Fleet from Scapa Flow to more easternly anchorages away from Luftwaffe and the KLK. If the German ships set sail and went to sea, he was unsure whether his ships could reach them before they got to where they wanted to be, and where ever that might be, it was bound to be detrimal to British interests. With a heavy heart, the First Sea lord ordered Home Fleet west again and hoped for the best. At least the Fleet Air Arm – FAA – had some decent figthers now and RAF Fighter Command had promised to reinforce its northen squadrones. Deep down, Pound feared that Fighter Command actually were glad to shift some units north, out of the hell Southern England had become. At least it seemed, according to Intelligence and its Norwegian contacts, like the German 5th Air Fleet and the KLK units in Norway had been seriously hurt during their many raids on Scotland. It was reported that many Luftwaffe and KLK bases were almost empty and that numerous damaged planes were visible in many places. Pound began to ponder if some kind of strike on the Kriegsmarine ships gathering around that accurse German carrier – Herman Göring, was it? - in Kiel was not in order, now that the German air forces seemed temporarely weakened. Seize the day and all that! Especially since KM Bismarck had now arrived from the Baltic as part of Schlachtgruppe Bachmann. Pound had to admit that he was quite surprised to see the Bismarck ready for action so soon. Come to think of it, so was the Intelligence chaps at the Admiralty. Oh, well, Pound thought, as long as the damned Luftwaffe and those pesky naval fliers was out of the way…

[Mr.Bluenote]

Finally got Dead Angels of Albion finished. I feel it lacks something, though, so do feel free to unleash your inner critic/berserk hatchetman!

Originally Posted by Wendell

No problem. I look forward to it.

Glad to hear it, W! If you're specifically looking for some Irish entaglements, I can recommend Tom B's exellent Opr.Unicorn. Some of it's in the Writer's Section on this board or else it can be found on Wolfling's site.

Originally Posted by Fearless Leader

Wow, another top quality post Mr. Bluenote kudos!

Many thanks, Fearless! I was sometwhat worried that the two Soviet-o-centric posts had been dreadfully boring! As always, I'm delighted that anybody - outside various mental institutions - find my musings interesting!

Originally Posted by Fearless Leader

Personally I would like to see 1 of these 2 things happen: 1. Barbarossa is different, instead of being 3 thrusts it would be a single concentrated thrust towards Moscow, just to be interesting. 2. The Panzers aren't stopped before Leningrad and it falls before the Russian Winter. Just some things I would like to see...

How about a concentrated trust towards Leningrad, a Finnish uprising combined with a quick assault on the Cradle of Communism, then an armoured swing in southeastern direction behind Moscow, before hell break loose in the streets of Moscow and urban warfare is the word of the day?

Originally Posted by Fearless Leader

BTW does the TiY-2 have an analog IRL? Just curious...

Hm, no, not really, but I was, however, looking at the MiG-3 when cooking up the TiY-2, so it might have quite a few things in common with said aircraft.
Regarding the TiY, I think I've mistakenly labelled it as an interceptor, where air superiority fighter might be more appropriate label.

Originally Posted by Karlos

A thought: Even if Blau fails like in OTL, the new Luftwaffe can easily destroy Baku Oil Fields or cut the supply off for the rest of USSR. Would it be enough to stop the soviet industry?

Well, that would be something! I do believe, however, that the Germans will focus on targeting industry and infrastructure around Moscow and in the Urals. Afterall, they hope to capture the oil fields. Mayby when the war turns against the Germans, but then again they migth as well just blow the well heads or fill them up with cement and what not.

I have some ideas for Vulture targets, though, but need to consider that a bit more, I think. Anyway, here goes, in OTL Luftwaffe briefly considered attacking several large hydropower plants (can't remember where right now), which apparently would have crippled the Soviet Arms industry... Is thata viable alternative?

Thanks for all your comments, ideas and questions!

Next part will be named Black Sky and feature the Göring along with Bismarck and some naval action on the waves of the cold, harsh North Sea. Oh, and planes as well!

I hope to post within the week!

Best regards!

- B.

[Tom_B]

The Schweinfurt/Regensburg raid is usually recorded as an Allied disaster. What did Jeschonnek do after his great victory?

The mass formation B-17 raids did cause the Luftwaffe some worries before the USAAF had long range escorts. The main tactic initially was to fray the edges of the formation and damage planes forcing them out of formation and then pounce on the the stragglers like wolves. The fighter gruppe awarded more "points" to the pilot who forced a bomber our of formation than to the actual kill. However this is a tactic for slow attrition with acceptable interceptor losses not massive annihilation of the attackers.

There was also a study of the best attack angle and it concluded that against the B-17 12 O'Clock High was the best--the objective being to kill the pilots. This explains a certain TV show I liked when I was young.

So I would think at least initially the Harris tactics might have some good days.

Tom

[zoomar]

Originally Posted by Tom_B

There was also a study of the best attack angle and it concluded that against the B-17 12 O'Clock High was the best--the objective being to kill the pilots. This explains a certain TV show I liked when I was young.Tom

It also had the advantage of limiting effective defensive fire from the bomber being attacked to, at most, the dorsal turret and a single hand held MG in the plexiglas nose - as well as providing the incerceptor with a high closing speed and less chance of being shot down itself (although I would suspect the fighter's gunnery also suffered)

Conversely, lining up behind the B-17 and pumping it full of cannon shells put the fighter in the defensive arcs of at least 4-6 machine guns. However, most of the gun camera footage I've seen on shows like "Wings of the Luftwaffe" seems to be from aft approahes. I bet it took a lot more skill to hit anything in a head on approach with a 400-500mph closing speed.

[Mr.Bluenote]

Originally Posted by Tom_B

The Schweinfurt/Regensburg raid is usually recorded as an Allied disaster. What did Jeschonnek do after his great victory? The mass formation B-17 raids did cause the Luftwaffe some worries before the USAAF had long range escorts. (...) So I would think at least initially the Harris tactics might have some good days.

With the losses sustained by the Allies, it's no wonder the attacks on Schweinfurt/Regensburg was considered failures. Jeshonnek helped create the fighter arm of the Luftwaffe and is presently Luftwaffe's liaison with FHQ, Hitler's personal Headquarters, so he's not really active. He was kinda promoted sideways, I think the english term is! Kesselring is Chief of Staff - poor Jeschonnek never was, and never will be.

Hmm, let's see, the air war over Germany is very different from OTL. First point, which is a biggie: Luftwaffe is fightercentric in TDoGatVotL. That means that they have quite a few more resources to defend Germany with; more well-trained pilots and more and better planes. Second, the heavier armament of Luftwaffe's planes. In OTL it took quite some time for the various combatants to discover the value of cannon as opposed to machine guns in regards to fighter armament. Third, the Germans posses airborn radar, better ground control and thus have no Kammhüber line, which mean that the fighters will attack the bomber streams en masse, not a plane or two at a time as the streams passes the boxes. And finally, the Ju-88 is already acting as respectively Night Fighter and Intruder. Nachtjäger infiltrate the bomber streams and play merry hell with the poor Brits, while ordinary fighters by the dozen and then some hit the formations with heavy weapons - a burst by a 20mm cannon or a few hits with a 30mm is more than enough to kill of the biggest aircraft. Furthermore Intruders kill 'em off while forming up, returning home and on the ground - a bit more iffy, yes, but with cluster munitions more widespread more than possible. Generally speaking, anyone using Harris tactics - basically bloody attrition; the Allies could stand to lose insane numbers of planes and aircrews, the Germans could not - will be mauled and mauled very badly indeed.

To the best of my knowledge the Germans defending the Vaterland during 43-44 suffered under the lack of planes - both quantity and quality -, trained pilots - fx elité night fighter pilots doubled as day time pilots as well and Luftwaffe could simply not train sufficient pilots fast enough -, adequate leadership - Schmid in intelligence made a series of blunders, Kammhüber believed in his centralized system of defined boxes with an attached night fighter for too long. Harris' massed streams simply overwhelmed the system -, too much faith in AAA, and a serious lack of 3C&I. None of the above will happen in the ATL, which means the bomber fanatics in RAF will have their heads handed to them...

In my humble opinion, anyone with the knowledge of today could have stopped the Allied Bomber War against Germany cold. Wiht more fighters, Luftwaffe might even have put an end to the roaming escorts! The Germans nearly did win the air war over Germany as it were, even though they made an insane number of blunders and mistakes.

Thanks for your as always welcome and usefull comments, Tom!

Best regards!

-Mr. B.

[Tom_B]

Originally Posted by Mr.Bluenote

With the losses sustained by the Allies, it's no wonder the attacks on Schweinfurt/Regensburg was considered failures. Jeshonnek helped create the fighter arm of the Luftwaffe and is presently .

I see I was being too obscure.

It was not considered an Allied failure by the Luftwaffe (though they factored in the much more successful Peenemunde rad as well) Jeshonnek did not hold a victory parade or a nice big party.

He killed himself.

Tom

[orion900]

Thanks for the TimeLine....

Like the Story line of the coming battle with USSR.

I can't wait to see more of China/ and the Far East.....

Great work on the idea of US President Taft.


OUTSTANDING....


orion

[hammo1j]

The reason that the Fw190 did not supercede the Me109, was its performance as a high altitude interceptor was not as good. Maybe you could have an inline DB605 powered version...

I agree with your points about the air war being a very close run thing, with the Germans winning with the benefit of hindsight. Effectively RAF bomber command was in a losing position in March 1944 being unable launch raids on Germany with an acceptable casualty rate.

Ironically Bomber command was at its most effective when subordinated to support the land armies, where it developed many precision bombing techniques.

After this it went back to area bombing with devestating but not decisive effect, now that the USAAF had destroyed the Luftwaffe Day and Night fighter strength with Mustang long range fighter escorts.

Crucially Harris did not go after Oil Production - the Achilles Heel of German Industry in the way he should have, although Bomber Command did a great deal in this respect, the tipping point could have been reached if he had more faith in his men's abilities and thrown out the sacred cow of area bombing.

Certainly Harris was a great leader in building Bomber Command but should have been (and was nearly) replaced by Portal towards the end. Portal believed in a more co-ordinated approach and that destroying cities alone could not win the war.

It's easy to criticise, but the truth was that this great man had become tired with his Hurculean efforts.

[Mr.Bluenote]

Black Sky
Turn around and pick up the pieces
I, like a rock, sink
Sinking til I hit the bottom
The water is much deeper than I thought
Nothing to swim with
Kicking but I keep sinking
A lesson that no one could have ever taught
Cause I can almost breathe the air
Right beyond my fingertips
I’ll turn around and pick up the pieces
One more push and I’ll be there
Back where I belong
- Hoobastank, Pieces.

Comin’ down the world turned over
And angels fall without you there
And I go on as you get colder
Or are you someone’s prayer

You know the lies they always told you
And the love you never knew
What’s the things they never showed you
That swallowed the light from the sun
Inside your room
- Goo Goo Dolls, Black Balloon.

Even if RAF Bomber Command’s air offensive against Germany had basically failed, the bombers kept streaming into Germany at a high cost to both sides alike. Luftwaffe’s Luftflotte Reich (9) shot down numerous bombers each night, but the heavy Manchesters and Stirlings nonetheless got through in some numbers and caused immense damage on German cities, or their total destruction as seen in the case of Hamburg, Bremen and later Köln – a city that would truly suffer in the War as it later got annihilated in nuclear fire.

After yet another large bomber raid on a German city, Köln, Hitler once more pressed for a direct respons in form of attacks on British cities. Wever once again voiced his firm opposition, but ended up giving in to Hitler – on the advice of Milch and several of his closes advisors. Wever, and Milch, however, was not about to stoop to British Tactics, so a series of militarily and industrialy significant cities were picked; Liverpool, Belfast and Hull. Subsequently Portsmouth and Southhampton along with the Sector Airfields, including Tangmere, in Southern Britain would get hit round the clock in preparation of Operation Orfeus. Having received their orders, the Luftflotten in France concentrated their heavier units, the Schwere Kampfgeschwaders etc etc, and, after giving warming in form of air dropped leaflets, bombed the three cities one by one into smoking ruins over a periode of six days with a stand down on the seventh day – the biblical reference was not lost on the British. The large amounts of coal stored in warehouses in Hull – the primary port of entry and exit for coal - caused firestorms that quite literally burned the city to the ground, while Liverpool and Belfast was made nearly inhabitable, thus both the shipbuilding capacity and as well as port capacity in general was hurt dramatically and imports declined measureably. During the 6 days of consistant air attacks, RAF Fighter Command was pratically nowhere to be seen as the commanders of Britains air defence desperatly tried to conserve their strength, being nearly out of aviation fuel and pilots as they were and an invasion looming at the horizon.

In the German propaganda ministry, Dr.Goebbels made the most of the chivalrous Luftwaffe’s attempt to minimize civilian casualties by declaring their attacks to the British inhabitants. Not only did this serve to give the Germans a morale upper hand, so to say, and badly damage British morale, it also played well with the public opinion in the USA, who also noted that the German U-boote did not strike at unarmed merchant vessels in this war… maybe the leadership in Berlin were not the animals, the British – who themselves sank everything they could get into reach of AND destroyed cities without warning – claimed?! As said, Goebbels and his lackeys in the Propaganda Ministry had a field day…

Furthermore the newly identified Sector Airfields were being pommeled into the ground by Ju-88 Schnellbombers and everything else the Germans could reach them with from elderly Ju-87’s to Hs-129’s and even fighters – the FW-190 proved to be quite the ground assault aircraft, even though its engines had a sligt tendensy to overheat at certain altitudes. Biggin Hill, Kenley and Tangmere for al purpose cease to exist as munitions of all sorts reigning from the SD-6-G to the 2 tonnes Hermann SC2000 free fall bomb rain down on the airfields. Luftwaffe also introduced a new system designed to hit a smallish target with maximum power; the Staffel- or Gruppenkeil - Arrowhead-formation - where three bombers fly in V-formation followed in quick succession by another V –formation of three bombers and so on. With near complete control of the sky over Southern Britain such tactics were devastingtly effective and destructive.

After the 6 Days Raid, as the bombing campaing against Liverpool, Hull and Belfast was know, Portsmouth, Southhampton, the Isle of Wight and the coastline of Kent and Sussex was the focus of Luftwaffe and KLK attention and was attacked repeatedly. Airfields and RADAR sites and the mentioned Sector Airfields was hit again and again in preparation for Operation Orfeus. British casualties were mounting dangerously as the loss of 3C is hurting RAF Fighter Command beyond belief. A new jammer device, introduced by Air General Martini, blocked the British IFF-system and the situation in Southern England turned from bad to worse. In August, RAF Fighter Command for all purpose stopped being a danger and at the end of the month nearly didn’t exist at all, much to the joy of the Luftwaffe leadership as Luftwaffe's own losses mounted due to the intense pace of air operations…

As in France, the 500kg SD-4-H1 cluster bomb, and its bigger brother the SD-6-G, had a tremendous effect on British airfields, even the grass ones favoured by the Hurricane squadrones. Furthermore the bombs were being used in great numbers on the roads and rails running in and out of London, and on the British infrastructure in general. Combined with the effort to mine the Thames, London began to get isolated from the rest of Britain and food, fuel and other resources became scare indeed. The lack of direct enemy attacks and the drop in basic commodities gave rise to a rather defaitistic atmosphere in the city.

Among the many preparations to Operation Orfeus, RLM and the Luftwaffe finally got around to replacing the Ju-52 transports of the aviation schools and various training outfits. The repalcement plane was the very versatile Siebel Si-204 made by the otherwise fairly unknown Siebel Flugzeugwerke KG. The Siebel Si-204 was to serve as a trainer, transport, ambulance and utility aircraft, while the Ju-52’s were concentrated with the ones already serving with the Lufttransportflotte – Air Transprot Fleet, Luftwaffe’s dedicated air transport arm. The Si-204 was used throughout the war as a jack of all trades type aircraft, with over 2,000 being produced in various factories by war's end.

The Junckers Ju-52 Transporter itself would eventually – probably for the best, considering the losses during Operations Feldherrenhalle, Hermann and Orfeus, the last combat mission in which the Ju-52 was unsed in numbers – be replaced as Luftwaffe’s main transport aircraft and workhorse by the Ju-252. The Ju-252 was an unarmed aircraft with room for 35 passengers in a pressurized body. The Ju-252 had an exceptional performance, and was maninly built by cheap non-strategic materials. A hydraulically powered Trapoklappe - rear loading ramp - allowed loading of heavy vehicles or freight whilst holding the fuselage level. The Ju-252 would be in service along with the diminissing fleet of Ju-52 and the bigger Ju-290 armed transporter and the huge Messerscmidt Me-323.