A Devastating Alternate Second World War

May 22, 2008


Shattered World - Segment 54.2

September 2nd 1949 to September 7th 1949




September 2nd 1949

Germany scales up mass production of its latest road and rail mobile ballistic missile system, the A-4f. This weapon is accurate to within half a kilometer out to 500 kilometers and to within a kilometer at 1200 kilometer range. This model is to replace earlier iterations of the A-4 as it is cheaper to build and easier to operate. It may be configured with a conventional 2000 pound warhead or a chemical/biological warhead. Another project, labelled as the A-6 , is a specialized variant of the multi-staged A-5(itself still in development) intended to place a small satellite into orbit. This missile is to be tested sometime in 1950.
By comparison, the best British and American ballistic missiles have ranges out to 800 kilometers and accuracies to within 2 or 3 kilometers at that range. These allied ballistic missiles require specialized launch stands and thus lack the mobility of the latest German systems. The U.S. does have a ballistic missile in development that will rival the German A-4 series but it is not scheduled for production until mid or late 1950. However, the Alliance is aware of this missile gap and the U.S. is applying its industrial and technological might to begin closing the gap.

September 3rd 1949

After several more British attempts to advance into Axis lines in Libya are repulsed, both sides once again settle down into a stubborn stalemate. Yet, to the east an ominous pall of hatred and anger lies over the land of Nile. Strikes, protests, and riots continue to sputter and flame across Egypt, increasingly drawing British and Imperial troops into constabulary work and garrison duty. Egypt, once a clear British ally, is coming more and more to look like a nation under occupation. The effect on the British front lines is clear, as infantry are transferred east and supply delivery becomes a bit less reliable, worsening week by week.
In Chile, growing tensions between communists and conservative elements boil over into small scale street fighting in the streets of Santiago, the nation's capitol. Police are forced to disperse the angry crowds, resulting in dozens of injuries and hundreds of arrests. A general strike called by socialists and communists has led to increasing political tensions in Chile after political gridlock and the fall of the moderate centrist-conservative coalition government. Political turmoil has been mounting in Chile since the dominant Radical Party, becoming increasingly influenced by communists, dissolved into three bitterly competing leftist, centrist, and right wing parties in the period between 1945 and 1947. Increasingly, the communist People's Party of Chile and the reactionary, quasi-fascist, Chilean National Party have become militant, with both secretly forming an armed cadre and engaging in more and more street protests and political violence.

September 4th 1949

On Okinawa, U.S. forces continue to pound ahead in the north and south of the island - using armor, napalm, flame throwers, massive off-shore bombardments, and the blood of infantrymen to wrest control of each square foot from the insanely determined Japanese defenders. Even Japanese civilians have become a part of the fighting there, conducting suicide bomb attacks behind the lines, on advancing armor, and resisting in every way possible up to an including sneaking up on sleeping U.S. marines with knives and bamboo spears. As a result, unofficial U.S. policy has become "shoot anything that moves".
All around the Japanese Home Islands, massive conventional B-31 raids continue on major cities, military bases, and strategic facilities. Yet, Japanese air defenses have been strengthened with more powerful and accurate AAA,
improved radar systems, and more efficient command & control of air defenses in addition to increasing numbers of purpose-built interceptors capable of attacking the U.S. heavy bombers. U.S. B-31 losses have increased steadily but remain within acceptable margins. At the same time, the U.S. has stepped up efforts to mine and raid amongst Japanese coastal waters and inland seas, resulting in a sharp decline in Japanese fishing productivity and coastal shipping. Only the yellow sea and the waters north of Japan remain relatively safe although even these waters are beginning to receive more and more unwanted visitations from U.S. submarines and aircraft.
In Minsk, the last significant pocket of Soviet defenders surrenders to German forces although sporadic sniping and unconventional resistance will continue for another week.

September 5th 1949

400 British heavy bombers out of the British Isles and 200 U.S. heavy bombers out of the Canaries launch a massive coordinated raid on the Spanish port city of Vigo on the Bay of Biscay. Escorted by U.S. carrier fighters which struggle against the superior German land-based fighters, the bombers suffer heavy losses to Axis AAA and fighters yet drop roughly 2000 tons of high explosives, destroying the city's port and industrial district while igniting a firestorm and killing an estimated 50,000 people.

September 7th 1949

In the Caucasus, Axis forces launch a general offensive. The Soviet divisions here, dug into static defensive lines, are largely reserve units lacking mobility, and are relatively poorly equipped compared to the Red Army forces further to the north. The Soviets have stripped units here to the bone, gambling that the Axis lack the offensive strength in the theatre to launch a large offensive. The Axis, for their part, are lacking in armor but have several divisions of German, Italian, and minor Axis mechanized infantry. These divisions plunge ahead into the Soviet lines and begin pushing forward with the aid of Luftwaffe air support. In the skies, the Luftwaffe enjoys almost total air superiority and the German commanders are using this advantage to maximum effect. By the end of the first 12 hours of the offensive, Axis forces have penetrated as much as ten kilometers at some points.
Meanwhile, to the north the Germans have not been sitting idle during their week long operational pause. Indeed, two German panzer divisions have been resting, receiving reinforcements, and massing southeast of Smolensk. To the increasingly worried Soviet high command, the German intentions are obvious. Axis forces are attacking northwards in the Caucasus. Far to the north, Smolensk has fallen months before the Red Army was counting on, and German panzer divisions now sit east of the Beria line, casting their gaze towards Bryansk and Orel. The implication is clear; Two great pincer movements are in the works, and the Soviet army in the eastern Ukraine with its 500,000 men lies in great danger of outright envelopment. Reluctantly, Beria has already signed orders calling for a complete withdrawal from the Ukraine and the execution of pre-laid plans for a scorched earth campaign approaching the destructive levels of the one inflicted on the western half of that terribly suffering region.



TO BE CONTINUED in Segment 54.3....







27 comments:

Anonymous said...

Olefin here - great update Bobby!!! A question - when you say heavy losses at Vigo are we talking 20 percent plus kind of heavy that would be unsustainable in the long run or more like 10 percent heavy? As for the A6 - sounds like someone may be trying for an early ICBM there.

Bobby said...

Losses in the Vigo raid were probably around 8% or so, say 50 of the 600 bombers downed, others damaged. Plus heavy losses amongst the carrier escorts since they are quite outmatched by the superior German land-based fighters plus numbers of older German/Italian/Spanish fighters

Anonymous said...

Olefin here

Bobby you may be too optimistic on how fast the US can catch up with the rockets. I used to work on the Shuttle and got to know a lot of people at NASA - when I was there the last of the old hands from the 50's were retiring. The US depended very heavily on the German rocket designers they got after WWII and on captured V-2's to get their own rocket program moving. Without that expertise you just dont create stuff out of thin air.

I would say they would need till early to mid 51 to catch up - the US put a lot of resources into rockets in the 50's and an awful lot of them didnt work very well until after several years of design and development - and that was with the Germans working with them, not against them.

Anonymous said...

Another great update, thanks Bobby.

Anonymous said...

Olefin here

Any chance of an updated map once the offensives in Russia peter out?

Anonymous said...

Great update, Bobby :)
Hah, wrote on the 22nd that we need that update, and voila, the very same day we got it :D

Too bad it's a bit short, but hey, better short, yet more frequent updates :)

Anonymous said...

The update is great as usual, Bobby!
Can you give us an idea of how are the casualties on both sides in the Caucasus?

Anonymous said...

Are there no nations in Latin America safe from the threat of destabilization and fascist takeover? Oh well, at least Brazil holds strong.

Anonymous said...

Hi Bobby, i'm an avid reader of shatteredworld and find myself stopping by several times a day to check for an update.. can you please give a hint as to when we might expect the next one? Thanks.

Matias

Bobby said...

Hi, thanks

I'll be out of town this weekend, so I'll be aiming to complete the next segment by the weekend of June 21st.
It will probably be another short segment

Anonymous said...

Ok. Greatly looking forward to it!

Anonymous said...

Bobby any idea on when we can expect an update?
Olefin

Anonymous said...

I actually like the shorter segments compared with the long ones. Easier to focus on this or that aspect of the campaigns.

I can't believe *anyone* is still fighting given how many people have died, especially in Germany and Russia.

I think it would be good to assume that the US's massive industrial complext is even bigger now and more robust, we should start to see it's advantage, especially in Europe as the US takes the fight to the German heartland, nukes and all.

D

Anonymous said...

UPDATE PLEASE!!!! Its JULY 7th and some of us REALLY need our fix!!! :)

SWFCane

Anonymous said...

Olefin here

Germany and Italy's industrial output is a lot higher here in ATL - and remember that there was a three year break in the fighting that allowed the Germans to build up their industry and recoup some of their losses.

And the US still has to fight on two fronts as long as Japan stays alive - and the US and Britain wont be having a monopoly on nukes for much longer.

Anonymous said...

Matias here,

Remember that Germany makes extensive use of slabour labour and has a nearly endless supply of it. This frees up german manpower for the frontlines - an advantage the alliance does not possess.

Bobby: I think you should try to open up for donations again. The update-to-cash-received ratio might not work but it seems that many massively update hungry readers are willing to post cash into the project. Certainly I would pay up despite being a poor student if that was the only way I could read updates - hint ;)

-massively hungrily eagerly expecting a new update

Anonymous said...

- ups - slavour labour: slave labour

Anonymous said...

and how about publishing? Bet that some readers would be glad to help editing beforehand.

Anonymous said...

yeah, lets take another shot at the donations... Just don't make it $50.00 for a small update... If you want to keep doing the small installments, I'd say we ought to get one every time $25.00 is donated... I know you have other things on your plate bobby, but the updates are starting to get further and further apart... I think it would help if there were some type of rhyme or reason to when we get new updates...


SWFCane

Bobby said...

I have to apologize for the slow rate of postings, especially considering how short the latest segments are. But I'd prefer to have longer times between posts rather than compromise on the quality of the postings.
I have the next segment mostly done in a very raw form, but for me the polishing process tends to take as long as the initial writing. I back fill a lot of research on place names and whatnot, and do a lot of editing on grammar and such. Its just to raw to post before going through the polishing process.

Anonymous said...

Dont get me wrong, I COMPLETELY understand it takes time to do this, and i don't want the quality to suffer. However, bobby, you do great work, as you can tell by how many of us are still around! If you want to take another shot at the donations, please post the link again so I can pitch in. Thanks.

SWFCane

Anonymous said...

Olefin here - hope we get a new update soon - suspense is killing me - do the Germans finally get to really give the knockout blow to the Russians in the South as they have in the North (with the Minsk pocket gone basically all they have left in the North are defensive stands around Moscow and Leningrad), will Chile turn fascist and thus remove a vulnerable flank for the SAFB, how long can the Spanish take the pounding from the air and will London and other areas in England finally see some revenge as Hitler has promised for Cadiz?

Anonymous said...

Hmmm, first time post, but I'm a touch curious. The Battle of Okinawa's looking pretty nasty like OTL, but I'm a little surprised that the Okinawan civilians are getting so involved against the Amis. I mean, they were pretty badly treated by the Japanese as well, what with the food confiscations, mass executions, forced impressment into the military (which in turn made up a large fraction of the surrendering POWs taken in OTL), many instances of rape, and forcing civilians to act as human shields or into suicide. A lot of the Okinawan natives, as opposed to the Japanese settlers, had little love for the IJA, and preferred to keep their heads down rather than look up into the crossfire.

Of course, that's not to say that they didn't go after Amis as well; there's a pretty nasty anecdote I recall about a couple of GIs getting ambushed and brutally killed by all of the men from a village where they repeatedly raped some women, and there was a lot of propaganda hashed around by the Japanese that was believed quite strongly, even excluding those civilians that, as I mentioned above, were impressed into the army and forced to fight. I'm simply a bit curious about the other side of the story, Okinawans who still remembered the days of independence (few and far between, given that it was in 1879), or who disliked the Meiji policy of assimilation, or who just wanted the IJA out as fast as possible. For that matter, Okinawans even helped the Amis find Japanese soldiers masquerading as civilians or Okinawan POWs by the simple expedient of giving orders to the suspected individuals in Okinawan rather than Japanese - the two languages are quite different. Just curious why the effective "shoot on sight" order even began this late in the battle if this kind of help probably would have existed before, given how long the battle's been raging.

-Meltemi

Anonymous said...

How's the next segment coming?

Bobby said...

I'm thinking their hatred for the Americans, and willingness to resist them to the death, is coming from a combination of Japanese propaganda plus American nuclear and conventional bombing which is destroying their home island.

Reed and Elaine's Travel Blog said...

OK, why have the Allies been bombing
a. Spain and not nuke Berlin, Hamburg, Dresden and end the war in a week
b. Okinawa and the like and taking horrendous infantry casualties when they could nuke Tokyo and the port/industrial cities and end the war the same weeek

Bobby said...

-- The U.S. is not bombing Germany itself because German air defenses are too strong, the risk of having an atomic bomber shot down is too great. Britain IS bombing northwest Germany, including Hamburg, but again its still too risky to send atomic bombers against those air defenses.
Spain is the "soft underbelly" of Axis western Europe, its gained U.S. attention in a manner similar to Italy in OTL.

-- umm, the U.S. HAS been nuking Tokyo and Japanese industrial cities. Its all there in previous segments. The thing is that a-bombs are not really war winners if the other side is willing to accept fighting despite them. They are roughly equivalent to a 1000 heavy bomber raid in terms of raw firepower and destructive potential. In OTL, the Japanese only surrendered after the nuking of Hiroshima and Nagasaki because they had no allies left, they'd already been hammered ceaselessly with conventional raids, and the Emperor stepped in to save his people. The military wanted to fight on and in fact they almost did exactly that.
In the Shattered World timeline Japan still has powerful allies and the Emperor has become a figurehead after the military essentially put him under house arrest. So, the military gets to fight on to the end as they wanted to do in OTL.

It sounds like you may not have read the entire timeline, keep in mind that events have been diverging from our world since the early 1930's.

Bobby