Part 119: Hearts of Iron II: Chapter 17 - Across the Loire: Jun - Sep 1940

June 1940 - September 1940: Across the Loire

On a clear and sunny June morning, the order is given down the line of German troops stretching across West France: Advance! The night before, German engineer corps had raised temporary bridges under the cover of darkness, enduring heavy fire from the Iberians to prepare the attack.

The defenders unleash a torrent of machine gun fire on the advancing Germans, but after hours of bitter fighting, the Iberians abandon their positions around Cholet and Tours, retreating south.



Simultaneously, a massive push towards Sarajevo and Belgrade begins in the Balkans.


German aircraft redeployed to America to help the ailing American Federation begin running interdiction against the advancing Mazulans, bombing roads and supply dumps to delay their advance and give the Americans chance to reorganize.


La Rochelle is next to fall and German troops along the Eastern Loire are given attack orders, advancing into Vichy and Châteauroux. Châteauroux falls, but the attack on Vichy is defeated.



Guderian advances into Bergerac and towards Toulouse, where the plan to cut off Occitainia from Iberia and create a massive pocket is thwarted by the large Iberian army deployed to Toulouse to prevent just such a move.


Nonetheless, the steady advance through Southern France continues, and Vichy is finally taken.


In the Balkans, Sarajevo has fallen, and the German and Austrian troops stand poised to take Belgrade, the capital of communist Balkans.


Things are going less well in America - the interdiction operations worked to slow the Mazulan advance, but not stop it, and the bomber fleet is forced to abandon Chicago or risk falling into enemy hands.


The Lombards are ordered to attack the Iberian flank, taking Nice after a brief struggle.


German troops advance into Belgrade but are immediately repulsed by a Union counter-attack.


The Mazulan onslaugh seems unstoppable and the airforce's orders are changed from interdicition to simply doing as much damage as possible while there still are airfields in America to strike from.


Several of the new ships commissioned before the war stand ready in July, including the Heavy Cruiser Deutschland and several light cruisers.


German and Iberian positions in August. All of France is now in German hands but the Iberians and British continue to hold on to parts of Occitania. Several attempts to take Bordeaux and Bergerac have already failed.


Another attempt is made to seize Belgrade, with German troops using their forward positions to attack the city from four sides, overwhelming its defenders.



Marseille and Bergerac fall in late August and the advance in Occitania continues.


The Caucasus front has been stabilized through the shifting of Lithuanian divisions from the Balkans and Romania.


Fighting continues in Egypt as the Lombard expeditionary force tries to drive out the Arabs and retake Alexandria and Suez.


The American front is in a state of utter collapse, and it's no longer a question of if, but when the Americans will fall altogether. Hoover's pleas for troops have thus far been rebuffed - Iberian and Mazulan navies are all over the Atlantic, and with only a small transport fleet its unlikely sufficient help could be brought overseas in time, even if it could be spared at all.


In Asia, Korea is about to fall, but so is Mongolia, and it remains to see if either side can break the stalemate in Manchuria.


Next update will wrap up 1940 and then I will post a general update on tech, production, etc.