August,30 1943 Voronezh
After one week of heavy fighting the Soviets have made a breakthrough at Voronezh. An almost endless stream of armor races through the gap.
September,2 1943 Voronezh
The Soviets have been caught in a trap. The armored thrust at Voronezh is cut off by the 1st SS panzer army, the same army that recently recaptured Kharkov. A storm of nerve gas bombs descends on the Soviets. The surviving soldiers panic, leave their equipment and run for their own lines. They bump into a Belgian SS division and are cut down by the thousand.
September,7 1943 Stalingrad
The Soviet offensive at Voronezh has failed and four Soviet armies have been destroyed. The Germans don't follow up their victory. The drive on the Caucasus starts. German troops break out of the Novorossisk bridgehead and advance on Maikop. Rostov is retaken by Von Manstein. The 2nd SS panzer army aims for Grozny starting from Stalingrad.
September,9 1943 Salerno
Roosevelt does not intend to end the war. America will continue with or without the British. The US fifth army invades Italy at Salerno. The going will be difficult without the British but Stalin is desperate and needs support. The troops advance 10 km inland and then make contact with recently reinforced German troops.
September,12 1943 Salerno
The German forces in Salerno are stronger than expected. The 5th army falls back to the beaches. By the evening Tiger tanks reach the beaches and open fire on the invasion fleet.
September,13 1943 Salerno
US troops retreat from the Salerno beachhead under fire, covered by the air force and the fleet. The German reaction was stronger than expected and without the guns of the British Navy German tanks could not be stopped. The German press has a field day and cartoons appear of a soldier labelled "yankee" stubbing his toe against Italy. The US will reinforce the forces in Sicily and try again. Precious time is being wasted while Russia suffers more defeats.
September,17 1943 Maikop
Soviets use poison gas against the Germans at Maikop but to no avail. Gas masks are standard equipment since the first world war. In reply the Germans launch some 1,000 nerve gas shells from their limited supply at the Soviets. The Soviets break and run, leaving Maikop undefended.
September,18 1943 Maikop
Maikop is recaptured by the Germans.
September,29 1943 Maikop
Soviet troops in the Rostove Area are encircled by pincer movements from Stalingrad and Maikop. Soldiers surrender in large numbers, scared by rumors of German superweapons.
October,14 1943 Grozny
The important oil center of Grozny is taken by storm. German engineers are sent to Maikop to get the oil wells operating again.
October,20 1943 Stalingrad
The Ju-390 6-engined bomber makes its first flight. This bomber is comparable with the Boeing B-29 in size. It can carry a similar bomb load, 10,000 kg and has almost double the range at 9700 km. Its maximum speed is about 70 kph lower than the B-29 but its cruising speed slightly higher.
October,21 1943 Stalingrad
German forces reach Astrakhan at the mouth of the Volga. Communication between Russia and the Caucasus is cut off. The Soviet Union's oil supply is now disrupted. Operations in the Caucasus mountains are slowed down by the approaching winter.
October,22 1943 Moscow or Leningrad
The front is relatively immobile with the approaching winter. Hitler deliberates which city to destroy, Moscow or Leningrad. There are only sufficient nerve gas stocks to attack one city. The OKH points out that destroying Moscow will cripple Soviet communications and infrastructure and maybe kill Stalin and his generals. So Moscow it is. The operation is called "East Wind".
October,30 1943 Moscow
The Luftwaffe appears above Moscow. Anti aircraft defences let loose with a massive barrage. Unperturbed, about 500 bombers drop 1,200 tons of nerve gas. One by one the AA guns fall silent.
November,1 1943 Wolfsschanze
There is jubilation in Hitler's HQ. Stalin, Beria, general Zhukov and general Yeremenko are probably dead. So are 4 million inhabitants of Moscow. Hitler gloats and prepares a speech where he will warn Roosevelt not to feel too safe in Washington. The HWA estimates that the Allies are ten years behind Germany in nerve gas technology. Ten years is enough to conquer the world.
November,3 1943 Washington
President Roosevelt has a meeting with his advisors. The war against Japan is going well. Conversely the situation in Europe is getting worse by the day. Great Britain has become neutral but Canada, Australia and South Africa are still in the Allied camp. The conquest of Sicily gives the US a springboard from which to attack Italy, the south of France, Spain or Greece. The Soviets have lost the war. They will remain an ally and keep fighting but in the next spring the Germans will probably throw them back to the Urals. The Germans can now get oil from the Caucasus. Nothing has been heard from Stalin after the Moscow bombing. In this case no news is bad news. The only consolation is that the atom bomb project is making progress.
November,11 1943 Caucasus
The German army takes Batum on the Black Sea, advancing along the coast adn bypassing the Caucasus mountains.
November,21 1943 Caucasus
Tblisi, the gate to the oil center of Baku, falls to the German army.
November,22 1943 Sicily
The US launches a new and less ambitious invasion of Italy, this time in Calabria where the Air Force can effectively support the landing. There is no opposition. The 5th army will have to fight its way along the length of Italy though.
November,25 1943 Kuybishev
Stalin is heard from again for the first time. He has moved to Kuybishev. He complains that the Soviet Union is bearing the brunt of the war against the Axis. The invasion of Italy only deflects 20 German divisions while 218 divisions are engaged against the Soviets.
November,26 1943 Calabria
US troops approach the first Axis defense line in Calabria and come under fire.
November,29 1943 Prague
Recent conquests in the Caucasus make more bauxite available increasing aluminium supply. Production of aircraft can be increased. As a result the Ju-390 6-engined bomber goes into full-scale production. Jet engines are improved with chromium metal from the Caucasus and wolfram from Portugal.
December,6 1943 Calabria
Axis troops fight a delaying action in Calabria. The area is ideal for defense. US troops are delayed a great deal. Great battles are fought for obscure villages that nobody ever heard of.
December,18 1943 Caucasus
German armor enters Baku. The remnants of the Soviet Forces, about 500,000 short of ammunition and short of food, become prisoners of war.
January,8 1944 Russian front
Activity on the Russian fronts dies down. The Soviets build up new armies to replace the heavy losses and the Germans consolidate for a spring offensive.