The Thousand Year Reich : Chapter 15, Operation Seelöwe

As the invasion forces prepared and the Kreigsmarine moved into position the Luftwaffe continues its destruction of Britain. The British who had by now grown accustomed to the minimal air war in Western Europe was introduced to great BF-109 sweeps followed by waves of Stuka’s. Everything was bombed, every single British military unit in eastern England was barraged by bombs. Roads became impassable during day time as the roving German Fw-190 fighter bombers which armed with rockets and bombs harried any movement.

In the American military bases controlled in eastern England an enormous amount of planes had been gathered which proved a perfect target for the Luftwaffe which started blowing up everything in the area.

Meanwhile back in Germany refitting to the brand new Tiger II just now entering production has begun. This great new beast weights nearly 70 metric tons and still features an 88mm gun with a longer barrel. This new beast will give the Americans a real shock, our technology is always a step ahead!

And on the 2nd of July the invasion begins. In Langham and King’s Lynn German marines supported by amphibious tanks land all over the beaches, meanwhile the Fallschirmjäger drop to secure the vital river crossings over the rivers Welland and The Haven. Although north of The Haven the 3. Fallschimrjäger division drops into a newly moved in formation of British infantry and is in for a tough fight.

Using brand new assault ships that have the ability to drive up on the beaches and unload their troops into cover and deliver tanks right up onto the beach the landings are made a lot easier.

The 3. Fallschirmjäger Division finally receives reinforcements finally in form of the 44. Panzer-Divison.

Our first naval engagement is a clear victory for the Kreigsmarine. The Großdeutschland proved the capabilities of the battleship as it laid down enormous amounts of fire sinking the HMS Valiant.

Kings Lynn falls.

And with it falls a huge American network detailing all allied formations inside Britain. This invaluable information will allow us to anticipate allied reinforcements! The foolish Americans show their inexperience in war yet again.

The Brandenburg regiments are formed outside of Berlin; these elite light infantry will probably see service alongside the Fallschirmjäger.

The British are clearly having equipment problems as their anti-tank weapons are proving unable to pierce the new Panther tank. The slaughter of the Ghurkas is yet another example of The British being unable to face reality. These poor Indian troops have been used by the British for too long!

The 2. Fallschirmjäger division also holds strong.

The allied fleet rallies to repel the Kreigsmarine and with it the invasion but Raeder with expert leadership brutalizes the enemy navy. Three carriers were heavily damaged and destroyers were massacred left and right.

The cruiser Mainz is sunk in a heroic action that sees it sink the USS Kentucky. As the Battleship Freich der Große was taking heavy damage the cruiser Mainz charged the USS Kentucky and launched a wave of torpedoes which forced the American crew to abandon ship. The Mainz however suffered heavy damage in the assault and began to sink. As the crew began to abandon ships the captain of the ship raised another swastika flag as the ship sank into the depths, the swastika being the last to sink. The crew was mostly rescued after the battle and a large scale medal ceremony is to be held in Wilhelmshaven on the end of the invasion!

On the ground the 3. Fallschirmjäger Division is finally forced back as British armor overran their positions. Having fought without resupply for 6 days they were down to captured weapons and Molotov cocktails made at the expense of local bars. Their heroic holding action bought significant time and secured the crossing between the Haven and Welland rivers.

A similar story plays out in Northampton where the 4. Fallschirmjäger Division is forced back but only after inflicting heavy losses on his numerically superior enemy.

Hull is finally secured primarily by the Panzer Division ‘Ostmark’ which is made purely out of Austrians is proving one of the toughest divisions within the Wehrmacht.

Lincoln is finally reinforced by two full panzer korps. The Fallschirmjäger cheer on as the panther tanks pass them. It is finally time to go on the offensive!

The 1. W-SS Panzer Armee finally lands in Hull and is eager to prove itself in action yet again.

And prove themselves they do, completely massacring the British and Polish defense of York.

In Lowesoft the first surrender of Seelöwe takes place with nearly 100.000 walking into captivity.

The lack of modern anti-tank is clearly affecting the British heavily. The British seem to be lacking the Industrial Capacity to support their extremely large army, which is estimated to be around 6 million men inside of Britain.

The remains of the 1. W-SS Panzer Armee is rerouted to the lightly defended Dover cliffs. Defenses were quickly pulled out as we approached London from the east.

In addition to the naval landing the 6. Fallschirmjäger Division will be dropped to help destroy the large amounts of artillery concentrated behind the beaches.

Immediately on landing the Fallschirmjäger are attacked by huge amounts of Home Guard divisions which include everything from old men to young boys. Desperate to the last they call upon everyone to fight, the weak, the sick, the young and the old. Hitler is appalled by their will to resist saying Churchill is destroying a strong race in a war that should never have been.

In London the street battles begin. The most rag tag group of defenders try to hold out on the many streets inside the city. Over 10 different nationalities are holed up inside the city determined to resist “nazi oppression”.

As the city fighting is proving brutal, the Advisor orders the barrage of the last V-1 missiles.

The destruction wrought by the V-1 missiles has left much of the city in ruins. Now the Wehrmacht and the weak allies will fight over the ruins. Yet we have got the fanatical Waffen-SS at our disposal. Their fighting spirit will prove itself yet again just like it did in Leningrad, Moscow and in the northern woods of Russia.

Resistance is approaching the breaking point with the copied British Fallschirmjäger desperately holding around Buckingham palace. This historic building is all but ruined after the heavy fighting. The Big Ben was luckily spared as the British pulled away to spare it from the fighting.

The SS clear out city after city.

And finally London falls. The multi-national coalition failing to defend London. Even so the fighting was costly. Over 18.000 Germans paid dearly for this victory yet they always give harder than they take having killed nearly 38.000 troops in the city. Now a huge mass of panicked “troops” are fleeing London in the only corridor left open.

The British will to resist is rapidly deteriorating. They fought on the beaches, they fought on the landing grounds, they fought in the fields, and in the streets and hills. Yet the Wehrmacht cannot be repelled. Compared to the Soviet juggernaut the British “will” is nothing.

The British army has not been divided in 4, Scotland, North England, Wales and finally Cornwall. In Cornwall nearly 2 million troops are trapped in an ever closing pocket.

As the will of the troops starts breaking the battles are growing shorter and less deadly. Some places resist heavily but the hardest part is over.

In Bristol heavy resistance is encountered and even the Fortress Busters need help in breaking them. The SS are on their way.

The Brazilians yet again arrive late. Their attempt to retake Langham is laughable at best.

Raeder makes sure that every last Brazilian sinks to the bottom of the ocean.

The Assault on Northern Ireland begins with the Fallschirmjäger dropping on Belfast with more to drop in the fields north of the city.

As the resistance proved stronger than anticipated the Luftwaffe is called in and Stukas and FW-190 dive down on the city. The last hurrah of a by now antique plane, the Stuka served the Luftwaffe well throughout our campaigns. From the precision strikes in Belgium to the mass bombing of Moscow the plane always did its duty. Rugged and simple to construct the plane was vital for the success of the Luftwaffe over its enemies.

Die Fahne hoch, The flag up on high. A swastika finally flutters over the Big Ben.

On the 3rd of August the British army begins to mass surrender to the Wehrmacht. Millions come walking to the German line. Veterans from the Eastern front are reminded of Case Blue and the millions of Russian POW’s they took there.

In Scotland a small force holds out in Glasgow desperately hoping for evacuation from the Americans.

Afghanistan in a smart move petitions to join the Axis.

Churchill meanwhile flees to Canada vowing to continue the struggle against “tyrannical Nazism”.

With the United Kingdom destroyed the only two countries that remain outside of the axis are Ireland and Turkey. They will have to be… convinced to join.

The eternal battle in East Africa goes on. Maybe the Italians can beat the British now that they have no supplies or direction. The Advisor still doubts the prospect.

The reshuffling of Africa begins as Italy is granted a huge chunk of Africa. While Mussolini did make numerous demands for both the Suez and Gibraltar they were all denied. He should know his place in the new world order.

In the Far East the war goes on. The Japanese have lost Saipan but are fighting as far east as Johnston Island.

The Pola port which has been under German command for some 4 years is finally returned to Italy to appease the Italians.

The capture of large scale Naval facilities will aid in our naval construction projects although they do need some large scale repairs.

Ireland is presented with a simple ultimatum.
I : Ban all communist, democratic and socialist parties.
II : Allow the Einsatzgruppen to roam the country for “enemies of the civilized world”.
III : Join the Axis.

Unsurprisingly the Irish rejected the ultimatum and within two days the Irish had been all but overrun. All in all 76 German soldiers died in the Battle for Ireland with 53 of them dying in Dublin. The Irish meanwhile lost over 23.000 troops.

A national socialist puppet state is set up and granted Northern Ireland to get the Irish nationalists on our side.

After the heroic service of the French in the war over the Middle East and Morocco they finally have their lands returned to them. Elsaß Lothringen will stay with the Reich but the rest will be returned to the Vichy Regime. In addition Belgium is divided between the two nations.

The war in Europe is now all but over. Germany stretches from India to Cornwall. The entire Industry of the Eurasian continent now stands against the American continent. A enormous naval project is underway to equip the Kriegsmarine for a war across the Atlantic Ocean.