Notice - This entry will only cover 3 months, but it's going to be regular length. This is due to the fact that I'm going into quite strong detail about the fighting on the Spanish border, partly because it was tough, but mostly because it was interesting and full of strategic choices. I'm telling you now, just because I don't advance very far this entry, but hopefully it's not as boring as Whack-A-Mole.
[HEADING=2]Entry 7 - The Battle of Spain : Part 1[/HEADING]
Speaking of Whack-A-Mole, I finally begin destruction of the largest and most widespread revolt by the Polish Home Army to date. As a result of this, I'll later distribute some 6 divisions to my Eastern Empire, to help put down the local partisans, especially in Poland, and in future entries, the Balkans and Southern Europe.
Down near the Iberian Peninsula, I begin thinking. I need to make a defensive line, and fast, before my small Southern garrison is encircled by rapidly advancing Spanish forces.
The ideal place for this stand would be along the Garonne river, and I'd rather not have my back to it. But, on the other hand, I'd like to keep the front out of Bordeaux, to protect the city from battle.
It depends on the speed of my reinforcements. If I had to wait for a while, I'd stand at Bordeaux. As it is, my men are making good time, and it's not like I can't fall back across the river if needs be.
The line breaks at one point, since my men had no time to prepare defenses before they were overwhelmed by Spanish numbers, but they hold long enough for reinforcements to reach Bordeaux.
I begin to push them back, but once again, the British intervene and hold me up. There is little doubt in my mind that it was British influence that caused this war, and I can only hope that they will regret this once the German flag hangs in London.
Shifting attention away from there, I decide to break the siege at the Dutch coast, with one last ditch effort to clear the skies of the Royal Air Force, and drop 4 divisions of Paratroopers on the islands.
Hopefully, with their attention on the war with Spain, the British planes will not be present in great numbers.
As regards Paratroopers, 6 new divisions are deployed at my Airborne Centre in Paris.
Here's a fun little choice - I can kill Hitler. Or rather, I can decide if Hitler died during an assassination attempt. From a purely technical point of view, it's a bad idea, however.
If Hitler dies, Goring takes power, and Hitler gives me better bonuses. So, Hitler stays.
Celebrations in Berlin - I take the Dutch islands. It was a hard fight. I lost 4000 men, to just 3000 Allied losses defending the islands, and I had to commit 189,000 men to these insignificant little rocks.
However, the tattered remains of the force are a sad sight to behold. Just 25,000 men remain to surrender, after the months of mass-scale bombing raids, and my military recon units guess that they lost 30,000 soldiers on the islands themselves, not counting those who died in the water or on the mainland.
I hate to say it, but I respect these men. They fought hard, for such a long time, without supplies or reasonable hope of rescue.
Still. With the threat of the Allied army removed, I can now move the enormous concentration of troops in the area away, to start fortifying the French coast, and to push back the Anglo-Spanish armies on the Southernmost tip of my Empire.
With the first batch of reinforcements on the front, I start my first offensive in good spirits.
It fails, miserably. I make some slow progress with the Spanish, but the British blunt my attack in hours.
My real enemy is the terrain. The forests here are extremely thick and heavy, perfect for an entrenched defensive force, and making merry hell with my very armour- and vehicle-focused forces.
It appears that I have underestimated the strength in the area. I figured that the Spanish, still suffering from their Civil War, would not be able to field a force of this size, and I did not reckon on British intervention.
I have committed 15 divisions to the offensive, while my military intel estimates 21 Allied divisions on the front, including specialised Mountain Warfare troops, ideal for this terrain and style of fighting.
Standard military thought is that, to conduct an offensive in this kind of terrain, the attacker needs a ratio of 2:1 in strength.
With this in mind, I cease my attack on the British force at Mimizan, focusing my air power on my two battles with the Spanish.
I do, finally, force a retreat in their centre.
It occurs to me that the Spanish soldiers are nothing to German soldiers without their British support.
Unfortunately for me, the concentrated British force at Mimizan holds fast, with the elite British Gurkhas, famed throughout the world, butchering my men, who are not accustomed to this kind of guerilla warfare.
Back home, I finish contruction of new industrial centres, hoping to boost our economy in the wake of Allied strategic air raids.
They come at a good time, with my Industrial Four Year Plan ending, denting my economy a bit. Still, no longer needing Goring to run the plan, I fire him and replace him with someone more competent (finally!).
With the rise of fascism in Romania, I can invite them to join my lonely "Axis". However, Germany does not need their inferior army. Germany needs their oil. Romania will benefit me far more after I conquer it than it would as an ally.
MOAR PARATROOPERS! I'm not just going crazy after the success of the Paratroopers in France, I really will need this many divisions if I want a quick seizure of the English coast and cities.
The Russians invade Finland. Of course, I am in no position to lecture Stalin about "unjustified wars" (har har har), and I don't much care about the plight of the Finns. At this critical juncture, I don't want to incite Russian anger, as my attention is firmly held in the West.
Thus, I decline to intervene.
Finally, after a hard slog, I isolate the force at Mimizan, and press on, pushing the Allied armies out of my lands.
10 Marine divisions are deployed with the transport fleet in Amsterdam.
However, that does not mean I'm ready to take Britain. In fact, I may even have to delay until 1941 at this rate, due to the agonisingly slow construction of the enormous supply convoys I'll be needing, not to mention the warships required to force a path for the transport fleet.
However, I have more pressing matters on my mind. The difficulty here is the British. I could press my advantage, and drive into Spain, or focus on annihilating the British first, at the cost of allowing the Spanish time to reform.
I choose the second option. Every British soldier out of action is worth 5 Spanish, easily. Besides, the long path to Madrid will leave my armoured columns way, way overextended, with fragile supply lines and allow them no rest on the way into Spain.
If I can force a wider, steadier front (without the annoying presence of the British) I should have a better time maintaining supply in the rough Spanish terrain.
Another disadvantage catches my eye, the matter of fresh troops.
For the Spanish, the front is on their doorstep, and the British have free passage through their maritime domain. For me, fresh soldiers have to march double the distance (at least), through occupied territory, leaving gaps in my French defensive line.
With these issues in mind, I deploy another 17 divisions to Bordeaux, to relieve the mounting pressure on my frontline troops, who really have no chance to rest.
As slow as it is, the war is not without its highlights. In Orthez, 150,000 German troops break 150,000 Allied troops, as they retreat into the final province of the German Empire not under my control.
Now, it is my intention to hold for a little while to reorganise, and await the new army on its way from France.
This front is harder than I anticipated, and casualties are high on both sides, but I've halted the tide of Allied troops into France, established a new defensive line, and inflicted a few key victories on my enemies.
Numbers time! In France, I have 216,000 Paratroopers, 90,000 Marines, around 1,000,000 regular Army personnel, carrying 12,000 artillery pieces, 20,000 tanks, and countless armoured troop vehicles.
And no goddamn ships to move 'em all.
END OF ENTRY 7 
