Part 123: Hearts of Iron II: Chapter 21 - The Fall of America: May - Sep 1941

May 1941 - September 1941: The Fall of America

Great Britain is allowed to remain a united state, though the King is sent into exile and replaced with his son, Prince Henry.


Ships are coming off the production lines every week, and Admiral Böhm is promoted to Grand Admiral to allow him a command of a full fleet of twenty-four naval divisions.


With German troops dug in north of the Pyrenees, all effort is concentrated against the Union with the goal of retaking Romania. German troops advance south, winning victories and suffering defeats both, but nonetheless reclaiming their old ally one province after another.



The naval patrols off the Dutch coast catch a Union cruiser hiding behind a rocky island and sink it. What the cruiser was doing so far from its home waters remains a mystery.


German troops take Tirana, the old capital of Albania, in late May.


The Union is counter-attacking in the Caucasus with a large number of divisions, driving back the Lithuanian defenders.


A determined push towards Bucharest breaks through the Union lines in June, and the Romanian capital is retaken to much celebration in the German and Lithuanian courts. The Romanians themselves, whose country has been reduced to a crater-filled ruin by years of warfare, are a bit less enthusiasic.



The war in America is almost over. The Americans are making their final stand around Boston with the remanants of the National Guard, but they won't hold for long.


American scientists, government officials and whoever can afford a seat on what few aircraft remain are fleeing to Germany in droves, bringing with them valuable American technological expertise.


A few weeks later, Boston falls.


The only piece of good news out of America is that most of the surface navy has escaped the fall of their country, and are heading at full speed towards Occitania, carrying refugees, supplies and troops.


In late June, German spies learn of a peace summit between the Union and League. A ceasefire between the two alliance blocks is agreed to, with the explicit intent of allowing each side to concentate their resources against the HRE - a highly concerning development, but not an unexpected one.


An offensive is ordered into the Bulgarian mountains, but the German troops are quickly stopped and pushed back by the determined Union defenders.



In Asia, Mongolia falls to the Russian advance in early July.


Vinland holds out for a month after the fall of America, but in the end the outcome can only be one, and the government of Vinland surrenders to Mazula on July 5th.


The Mazulans have learned from their mistake with America, and Mazulan warships attack the fleet of Vinland, sinking a full half of their ships before they can slip off into the Atlantic.


The victorious Mazulans opt to install a democratic puppet government in Vinland but retains complete control over America.


With Gibraltar now open to the Union, Union submarines have begun harrassing German convoys outside of Africa, sinking dozens of ships and thousands of tons of cargo.


The truce with Russia has run out, and emboldened by their recent successes in Asia, the Russians are once more making belligerent noises towards Germany, though for now they remain safely tied up against Japan.


The Iberian front continues to be static, with German troops throwing back the occasional Iberian attack but otherwise content to remain where they are, since Germany currently needs all of its limited manpower to fuel the offensive against the Union.


In late August, a new attempt is made to advance into Bulgaria, with more success this time as German troops take control of Varna and Pleven, bringing Germany within striking distance from Constantinople. The Union government has already relocated into Anatolia to continue the fight if their capital should fall.



State of the fronts in September. Our troops in Occitania are holding, and the Iberians seem content to launch the occasional failed attack on Perpignan right now.


Things are looking good on the Union front. The Balkans are all but ours, and as soon as I can move up a few more troops to Varna, I'm going to try for the grand prize. Taking Constantinople won't knock the Union out of the war, but it will deprive them of a large chunk of IC and control of the Bosporus strait.


The twelve divisions I sent to the Caucasus have managed to stabilize that front as well, and the Union has been redeploying troops from there, so I think the risk of a Union breakthrough into Lithuania is over for now.


Africa is not going well. With Ljansitar and the North African Union both now concentrating fully on Egypt, our allies are in trouble. I'm gonna have to send some more Lombard divisions to back them up, most likely.


Imperial India is all but gone - the Union only needs to take one more province to annex them. If they do, there's a chance they'll make peace with Japan and wheel around their entire force against me, so I'm sure you can understand why I'm more than a little eager to control the Bosporus.


Russia seems to be overrunning Japan, most likely because Japan and/or China have been shifting troops to fight the Union. Either way, if Russia defeats Japan, there's a good chance they will attack Lithuania again, which would be... bad.


Thanks to all the American and Vinlander ships that defected to us, we now have a gigantic navy, and that's with another 25 ships coming in '41 and '42, so keeping Mazula out of Europe should be a distinct possibility.


The main problem right now is manpower, and for that, I'll let this image speak for itself:


I've kind of overproduced, and all the offensives lately have taken a heavy toll. I really need to dig in and let my troops recover sometime soon.