Operation Advent Crown

[RN7]

So far I've only got to page 10 but it's a great read Chico.

I was doing something similar a few years ago as part of a write up of a T2K German Sourcebook which I have never finished, but I think yours is more detailed. One minor point would be the three NATO garrisons in West Berlin include the French garrison. When West German troops cross the Inter-German border in October 1996 the French leave the Atlantic Alliance (they officially left the military part of NATO in 1966) and pull their troops out of West Germany. The Soviets would likely allow the French troops to evacuate West Berlin through Tegel Airport in the French Sector minus their equipment. The French Sector would then be occupied by Soviet Troops and East German police forces as no NVA troops were allowed in Berlin.

I had the Soviet 35th Guard Air Assault Brigade airlifted into East Berlin in November 1996 to stiffen the Soviet and East German government position in East Berlin. It is used in the Soviet attempt to occupy the American and British sectors of West Berlin. When NATO starts to move against Berlin in December 1996 the 35th takes heavy casualties, but helps to evacuate senior Soviet and East German officials to the Polish border.

I included four parts of East Germany as part of the Warsaw Pact defensive line along the German-Polish border and the Baltic Sea.

Falkenhagen in Eastern Brandenburg a few miles west of the Oder River was a major Soviet command bunker complex. It was in fact the largest Soviet command centre outside of the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and was originally built by the Nazis as an underground munitions and chemicals factory. The Soviet took it over in 1945 and expanded and upgraded it. The Soviets heavily fortified Falkenhagen and the surrounding area after West German forces cross the Inter-German border, and when NATO takes Berlin the NVA command and leadership is relocated to Falkenhagen. NATO armoured forces led by German Fallschirmjager and special forces storm and overrun Falkenhagen at the beginning of Advent Crown. Some NVA escape across the Oder into Poland, but the acting East German leader is among the casualties.

Bautzen is a town on the Spree River in Easter Lower Saxony and was the location of two prisons. One was the Stasi prison for political prisoners in East Germany, and Bautzen became a redoubt for Stasi holdouts after the unifications of Germany. The town was the last part of mainland Germany to fall to West German forces after heavy fighting. After the nuclear warfare Bautzen is dominated by Germany's Sorb population, a Slavic people native to Germany.

Usedom Island is located on the estuary of the Oder River in the Baltic. At the end of WW2 the eastern part of the island was transferred to Poland with the western part remaining under East German control. When West German forces cross the Inter-German Border in October 1996 Polish troops cross into the East German part of Usedom, ransack the German settlements and expel the German population despite protest from the East Germans and Soviets. Usedom is garrisoned by Polish forces at the start of Advent Crown, but after German forces land on the island the Poles quickly retreat to the Polish part of the island and the mainland. Later in the war the Germans annex all of Usedom and expel all Poles from the island, changing official names and signposts to German names. The Germans also do this in the nearby Polish city of Gdansk on the mainland, changing its official name to its per-Second World War German name of Danzig. This has been protested by all sections of post-nuclear war Poland and the Soviets. NATO and MilGov has yet to comment on this.

Rugen island is German's largest island located in the Baltic. It remains under NVA and East German government control as late as 2000, and has been reinforced by some Soviet army and naval forces. The NVA government in exile use Rugen for propaganda purposes and to taunt the Unified German government.

I also have a rogue NVA force marauding across Saxony and the adjacent Czech and Polish borderlands. Kampfgruppe Schneider is led by deserters from the German Army. They were originally NVA troops who merged with the Bundeswehr in 1996, but broke from their unit during the fighting in Poland in 1999. Although the core of Kampfgruppe Schneider are former NVA, they have turned into extreme German nationalists and have an infamous reputation for brutality among both NATO and Warsaw Pact forces in the region. Even the right wing German Freibroderbund has distanced itself from Kampfgruppe Schneider, who has begun to paint swastikas on their vehicles and has a preference for wearing black and grey uniforms that resemblance the Second World War Waffen SS.

[chico20854]

Originally Posted by RN7

So far I've only got to page 10 but it's a great read Chico.

I was doing something similar a few years ago as part of a write up of a T2K German Sourcebook which I have never finished, but I think yours is more detailed. One minor point would be the three NATO garrisons in West Berlin include the French garrison. When West German troops cross the Inter-German border in October 1996 the French leave the Atlantic Alliance (they officially left the military part of NATO in 1966) and pull their troops out of West Germany. The Soviets would likely allow the French troops to evacuate West Berlin through Tegel Airport in the French Sector minus their equipment. The French Sector would then be occupied by Soviet Troops and East German police forces as no NVA troops were allowed in Berlin.

I had the Soviet 35th Guard Air Assault Brigade airlifted into East Berlin in November 1996 to stiffen the Soviet and East German government position in East Berlin. It is used in the Soviet attempt to occupy the American and British sectors of West Berlin. When NATO starts to move against Berlin in December 1996 the 35th takes heavy casualties, but helps to evacuate senior Soviet and East German officials to the Polish border.

I included four parts of East Germany as part of the Warsaw Pact defensive line along the German-Polish border and the Baltic Sea.

Falkenhagen in Eastern Brandenburg a few miles west of the Oder River was a major Soviet command bunker complex. It was in fact the largest Soviet command centre outside of the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and was originally built by the Nazis as an underground munitions and chemicals factory. The Soviet took it over in 1945 and expanded and upgraded it. The Soviets heavily fortified Falkenhagen and the surrounding area after West German forces cross the Inter-German border, and when NATO takes Berlin the NVA command and leadership is relocated to Falkenhagen. NATO armoured forces led by German Fallschirmjager and special forces storm and overrun Falkenhagen at the beginning of Advent Crown. Some NVA escape across the Oder into Poland, but the acting East German leader is among the casualties.

Bautzen is a town on the Spree River in Easter Lower Saxony and was the location of two prisons. One was the Stasi prison for political prisoners in East Germany, and Bautzen became a redoubt for Stasi holdouts after the unifications of Germany. The town was the last part of mainland Germany to fall to West German forces after heavy fighting. After the nuclear warfare Bautzen is dominated by Germany's Sorb population, a Slavic people native to Germany.

Usedom Island is located on the estuary of the Oder River in the Baltic. At the end of WW2 the eastern part of the island was transferred to Poland with the western part remaining under East German control. When West German forces cross the Inter-German Border in October 1996 Polish troops cross into the East German part of Usedom, ransack the German settlements and expel the German population despite protest from the East Germans and Soviets. Usedom is garrisoned by Polish forces at the start of Advent Crown, but after German forces land on the island the Poles quickly retreat to the Polish part of the island and the mainland. Later in the war the Germans annex all of Usedom and expel all Poles from the island, changing official names and signposts to German names. The Germans also do this in the nearby Polish city of Gdansk on the mainland, changing its official name to its per-Second World War German name of Danzig. This has been protested by all sections of post-nuclear war Poland and the Soviets. NATO and MilGov has yet to comment on this.

Rugen island is German's largest island located in the Baltic. It remains under NVA and East German government control as late as 2000, and has been reinforced by some Soviet army and naval forces. The NVA government in exile use Rugen for propaganda purposes and to taunt the Unified German government.

I also have a rogue NVA force marauding across Saxony and the adjacent Czech and Polish borderlands. Kampfgruppe Schneider is led by deserters from the German Army. They were originally NVA troops who merged with the Bundeswehr in 1996, but broke from their unit during the fighting in Poland in 1999. Although the core of Kampfgruppe Schneider are former NVA, they have turned into extreme German nationalists and have an infamous reputation for brutality among both NATO and Warsaw Pact forces in the region. Even the right wing German Freibroderbund has distanced itself from Kampfgruppe Schneider, who has begun to paint swastikas on their vehicles and has a preference for wearing black and grey uniforms that resemblance the Second World War Waffen SS.

Thanks!

I followed a more v1 timeline where the NVA are active participants in the campaign to liberate East Germany, although I've operated on the assumption that the NVA comes out of its barracks in support of the West Germans as soon as the Bundeswehr crosses the border.

For the Battle of Berlin, I assume that the French Brigade negotiates a withdrawal and even manages to extract its equipment. (The same with the French 3rd Army and Belgian Corps in West Germany). The reference to three NATO brigades in Berlin was poorly worded; it should have referred to the UK and US Berlin Brigades and the heavily armed and lavishly equipped West German "civilian" police regiment. I have two Soviet brigade-sized elements in Berlin, the 6th Motor-Rifle Brigade and the KGB 105th Border Guard Regiment. I'll go into further detail in my future writeup, but with German reunification I have the socialist loyalists regrouping in 1997 under Soviet tutelage. Those that were in the East German military or security services are concentrated in three VOPO regiments, while East German men of military age that were in the USSR or elsewhere in the Warsaw Pact (on vacation, working, studying or married to local women) were drafted into two FDJ (Freie Deutsche Jugend, equivalent to the Soviet Komsomol party youth movement) regiments. I think the narrative refers to one of the VOPO regiments in the siege of Warsaw; the others are likewise used/squandered by the Soviet high command - their loyalty is still considered suspect and STAVKA has no compelling reason not to use them as cannon fodder, yet the VOPO units are also composed of ardent communists that have been betrayed by their countrymen, true fanatics for the communist cause that could be extremely useful in enforcing loyalty behind suspect Polish formations!

I like your concept re: Usedom. Do you mean Szczecin/Stettin rather than Gdansk/Danzig? Gdansk is pretty deep along the Baltic coast.

[Benjamin]

Looking over the Advent Crown article again I think there are a few issues. Some of these are left overs from V1 canon while others stem from the fact that GDW never really addresses the issues. Remember the original timeline for the entire War was just a few pages in the Director’s Guide.

First, France. The West German entry into East Germany with military force and then the revelation that the two Germanys were colluding to reunite by force would have appalled and panicked the French government. It would instantly vindicated the DeGaulle supporters and their wish to keep NATO at arm’s length. BUT I don’t believe for a minute that while they withdrew from West Berlin that they would hand any over portion of it to the Soviets or East German Loyalists. More likely a deal was made wherein the French left, with all of their equipment and vehicles, while it was agreed that no further British, American or especially German forces would enter the city to replace the French. It is very likely that even the rail and air corridors remained open for travel. The Soviets, being at war with China would be doing quite a bit to keep the US out of the fighting. The Americans and British would have stayed but now stuck with having to defend the old French sector as well.

Canon though says that the Soviets invade Norway in mid-November; almost a full month before the remaining NATO allies join the fighting in East Germany. This along with possible missile attacks against north European ports would have ensured that Denmark, Norway and Netherlands remained NATO members. Oddly though it is possible that Belgian or perhaps even French forces went into Norway as part of ACE Mobile Force. I have a write up somewhere with my ideas about that and will look for it.

As for Poland...there is no way in hell that even the most hawkish leaders of Britain, Canada and the US agree to shift the Polish borders eastward. The only plausible explanation beyond an over eager German commander completely ignoring stop orders...Germany and Poland made a secret deal where Germany got Stettin while post-war would support a transfer of the Kaliningrad Oblast to Poland during peace negotiations. If agents within the new German government slip this to the Soviets it would be more provocative than the old Zimmerman Telegram. It’s possible this combined with desperation may have triggered the use of tactical nukes with any German troops on Soviet soil.

Benjamin

[RN7]

Originally Posted by Benjamin

Looking over the Advent Crown article again I think there are a few issues. Some of these are left overs from V1 canon while others stem from the fact that GDW never really addresses the issues. Remember the original timeline for the entire War was just a few pages in the Director’s Guide.

First, France. The West German entry into East Germany with military force and then the revelation that the two Germanys were colluding to reunite by force would have appalled and panicked the French government. It would instantly vindicated the DeGaulle supporters and their wish to keep NATO at arm’s length. BUT I don’t believe for a minute that while they withdrew from West Berlin that they would hand any over portion of it to the Soviets or East German Loyalists. More likely a deal was made wherein the French left, with all of their equipment and vehicles, while it was agreed that no further British, American or especially German forces would enter the city to replace the French. It is very likely that even the rail and air corridors remained open for travel. The Soviets, being at war with China would be doing quite a bit to keep the US out of the fighting. The Americans and British would have stayed but now stuck with having to defend the old French sector as well.

Canon though says that the Soviets invade Norway in mid-November; almost a full month before the remaining NATO allies join the fighting in East Germany. This along with possible missile attacks against north European ports would have ensured that Denmark, Norway and Netherlands remained NATO members. Oddly though it is possible that Belgian or perhaps even French forces went into Norway as part of ACE Mobile Force. I have a write up somewhere with my ideas about that and will look for it.

As for Poland...there is no way in hell that even the most hawkish leaders of Britain, Canada and the US agree to shift the Polish borders eastward. The only plausible explanation beyond an over eager German commander completely ignoring stop orders...Germany and Poland made a secret deal where Germany got Stettin while post-war would support a transfer of the Kaliningrad Oblast to Poland during peace negotiations. If agents within the new German government slip this to the Soviets it would be more provocative than the old Zimmerman Telegram. It’s possible this combined with desperation may have triggered the use of tactical nukes with any German troops on Soviet soil.

Benjamin

The four Allied powers of the Second World War (Britain, France, USA, USSR) occupied Berlin as directed under the Potsdam Agreement of 1945, and even after the creation of West and Germany the four allied powers remained the ultimate political authority in both East and West Berlin until the reunification of Germany in 1990. In the T2K timeline this remained the situation until the end of 1997 after NATO forces occupy Berlin and drive the Soviets and remnant NVA out of the city.

When West German forces cross the Inter-German border in October 1996 the French left NATO and pulled their forces out of West Germany. Berlin is a separate case because both the West and East German governments has no recognised legal authority in Berlin, as the Potsdam Agreement gave each of the Allied powers ultimate legal responsibility over their own sector in Berlin. Later the Soviet's tried to give East Germany some legal powers in East Berlin and even allowed them to make East Berlin their capital. Britain, France and America never officially recognised East German authority in East Berlin and would officially only deal with the Soviets. East German military forces were not allowed into East Berlin, but the Soviets did allow them to enter the city for propaganda purposes during parades etc to annoy the Western Allies.

From October to December 1996 Berlin is basically a no fire zone. West German forces will not attack US, British, French and Soviet forces in Berlin or any of their aircraft along the air corridors out of Berlin for fear of reprisals. However once other NATO powers joins the Germans and cross into East Germany in December 1996 the French are placed in a very awkward position. They are now the only Allied power (of the WW2 Allies) that are neutral in the conflict and French forces in West Berlin are cut off.

From a military position French forces in West Berlin have no hope of support or relief. Politically once they leave Berlin the French are relinquishing their legal authority over their sector. But with NATO advancing on Berlin and the Soviets and loyalist NVA set to heavily resist the French situation in Berlin is now a lost cause. The Soviets will allow them to leave as they are no longer in NATO, but although its easy to air lift French personnel and some light vehicles from Berlin how do you transport tanks with the C-160 Transall? The C-160 is smaller than a C-130 and that's all the French Air Force used at this time? The USAF is not going to lend their C-5 Galaxy to the French and fly them into a hot zone like Berlin, and no commercial cargo operator is going to allow their Boeing 747F cargo planes either. What happens to the French sector once they leave is open to speculation. The American and British garrisons have their hands full in their own sectors and are cut off from other NATO forces until the end of December.


About the Polish border and the occupation of former German territory by German troops. Well I think I'm the only one pushing this so if you don't think it could happen that's absolutely fine with me.

However in T2K the German militaries united their country right under the noses of their own governments and their NATO and Warsaw Pact allies. They fought the Soviets in East Germany for two months on their own, and then sent their forces into Austria in the summer of 1997 after the Italians and Czechs attacked Austria and Bavaria. What is left of the Austrian Army has now largely been integrated into the German Army and the Germans are occupying large parts of Poland.

I would have the German land grab happening post-2000 and after Operation Omega. Who is going to stop the Germans from incorporating parts of Poland back into Germany?

The Poles?!!!?

The Soviets won't like it but they have used nuclear weapons against Germany and all of her allies so the Germans wont give a fig what the Soviets think. Also the Soviets are not going to use what's left of their nuclear arsenal in Poland as the official Polish government (what's left of it) is still an ally. The Soviet Army is also shot to pieces and in no state to take on the Germans in Western Poland. The commanders of Soviet divisions still in Poland would probably not even obey their orders.

The Americans are in the same position plus their government has split into two factions. CivGov might object but they have no power in Europe. The Germans are an ally of MilGov so no comment here. The British are in much the same position and will probably do the same as MilGov.

The French might object but they are occupying the German Rhineland so you can imagine what the Germans will tell the French to go and do with themselves

.

[Olefin]

I would think that the French would do one of two things with their heavy equipment - either try to get both sides to declare a very short ceasefire - especially by telling the Soviets that it is part of the price of France staying neutral - and using it to evacuate their men and their heavy equipment out to West Germany and then home. Or alternatively turning over that equipment to the US or UK in exchange for compensation of some sort and the US or UK being made to clearly mark it with their designations

About the only other thing they could do is destroy it in place - i.e. since you wont let us take it and we dont want to be seen as aiding either side we will blow it up, burn it, etc. so its not useful

[Raellus]

@RN7: I don't see the Germans occupying parts of Poland when the French occupy part of Germany. From 2000, it makes more sense for the Germans to ally with the Free Polish Congress so as to guard Germany's eastern border, whilst turning the remains of the Bundeswehr, now bolstered with a significant number of American AFVs (abandoned post-OMEGA), against the French in attempt to liberate the Rhineland.

Germany wouldn't have the strength to take on both the Poles (and Soviet forces still stuck in Poland) and the French simultaneously.

Trying to annex Prussia (again) means ceding the Rhineland to France and I don't see that as very likely.

@Olefin: Any French evacuation of their Berlin enclave is going to be incredibly difficult in the midst of a modern shooting war. I can't think of any recent precedent for such an evacuation, really. Will NATO and the WTO consent to a cease fire in order to allow the French to withdraw? Perhaps, but since doing so would open a corridor from Berlin to the west, such a cease fire could benefit NATO much more than the WTO, so I don't see the Soviets agreeing.

I think a more likely outcome is one side or the other "impounding" the French forces in Berlin with the understanding that they would be repatriated as soon as possible. The French wouldn't really be in a position to demur. I suppose they could fight back, but it would be futile. Would the French government order a last stand, or agree to the arrangement? I tend to conclude the latter.

If NATO does the impounding, it insults French pride and gives France yet another reason to turn on the alliance. If the Soviets do it, it creates a pretty cool adventure/campaign scenario, giving French PCs a "Going Home" scenario of their own. Either way, it opens the door for some French military vehicles showing up in the service of NATO and/or the WTO in eastern Germany/Poland for years to come.

[Olefin]

Originally Posted by Raellus

@RN7: I don't see the Germans occupying parts of Poland when the French occupy part of Germany. From 2000, it makes more sense for the Germans to ally with the Free Polish Congress so as to guard Germany's eastern border, whilst turning the remains of the Bundeswehr, now bolstered with a significant number of American AFVs (abandoned post-OMEGA), against the French in attempt to liberate the Rhineland.

Germany wouldn't have the strength to take on both the Poles (and Soviet forces still stuck in Poland) and the French simultaneously.

Trying to annex Prussia (again) means ceding the Rhineland to France and I don't see that as very likely.

@Olefin: Any French evacuation of their Berlin enclave is going to be incredibly difficult in the midst of a modern shooting war. I can't think of any recent precedent for such an evacuation, really. Will NATO and the WTO consent to a cease fire in order to allow the French to withdraw? Perhaps, but since doing so would open a corridor from Berlin to the west, such a cease fire could benefit NATO much more than the WTO, so I don't see the Soviets agreeing.

I think a more likely outcome is one side or the other "impounding" the French forces in Berlin with the understanding that they would be repatriated as soon as possible. The French wouldn't really be in a position to demur. I suppose they could fight back, but it would be futile. Would the French government order a last stand, or agree to the arrangement? I tend to conclude the latter.

If NATO does the impounding, it insults French pride and gives France yet another reason to turn on the alliance. If the Soviets do it, it creates a pretty cool adventure/campaign scenario, giving French PCs a "Going Home" scenario of their own. Either way, it opens the door for some French military vehicles showing up in the service of NATO and/or the WTO in eastern Germany/Poland for years to come.

I think the impounding is much more likely as well - and possibly some French soldiers joining up with their NATO allies - always said there should be some Belgians and French who either defected over to NATO or said screw this and joined up with NATO and fought against the Soviets.

[RN7]

Originally Posted by Raellus

@RN7: I don't see the Germans occupying parts of Poland when the French occupy part of Germany. From 2000, it makes more sense for the Germans to ally with the Free Polish Congress so as to guard Germany's eastern border, whilst turning the remains of the Bundeswehr, now bolstered with a significant number of American AFVs (abandoned post-OMEGA), against the French in attempt to liberate the Rhineland.

Germany wouldn't have the strength to take on both the Poles (and Soviet forces still stuck in Poland) and the French simultaneously.

Trying to annex Prussia (again) means ceding the Rhineland to France and I don't see that as very likely.

But the whole of T2K game is unlikely, and even more so the outcome in 2300AD if you like to follow that future history.

Mexico taking the whole US South-West and keeping it is the biggest, but there are nationalist/ethnic conflicts and historical land grabs going on everywhere.

The Soviets invading China and occupying Manchuria. The West Germans unifying (invading) East Germany. Italy invading Austria. France invading Germany and the Netherlands (remember Napoleon). Quebec in Canada supported by the French. The Republic of Ireland in invading Northern Ireland. Scottish and Welsh nationalist uprisings in Britain. In 2000 the Soviet states and army units are starting to break up along ethnic lines.

The Germans actually have some historical claim to much of modern Poland and more. In 1945 Alsace-Lorraine was transferred back to France, Malmedy to Belgium and the Sudetenland to Czechoslovakia. The German border with Poland was shifted west to the Oder-Neisse Line, with Silesia and most of Pomerania transferred to Poland and East Prussia divided between Poland and Russia. That is about 100 years shorter than the last Mexican-American War and the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo.

Until 1970 the West German government which was very democratic and very liberal adhered to the Hallstein Doctrine, which refused to recognise the legitimacy of the German Democratic Republic or have any diplomatic relations with any other country who did excluding the USSR because they had to. West Germany also refused to recognise the legitimacy of the Oder-Neisse line and the loss of German territories under the terms of the Potsdam Conference in 1945. The nationalist West German military officers who plotted German unification with their East German counterparts right under the noses of their own governments, both Superpowers and all the other members of NATO and the Warsaw Pact are far from democratic and liberal.

If you think the German Army is not strong enough to hold some territory in Poland look at the size of it. Post Omega it is by far the biggest component of NATO in Western and Central Europe and that's just looking GDW's orbat in Going Home which omitted a lot of units which would or likely still exist as well as Austrian units. The French have not moved east of the Rhine since 1998, and are having trouble with German and Dutch patriots/terrorists west of the Rhine. Poland is a divided political and military mess. Even a unified Polish army would have no hope against the Germans. Most Soviets Army units in Poland and most of Europe beyond the Soviet borders (and even within) are not even obeying orders from what is left of the Soviet high command. Unlike many other armies in Europe the Germans have an intact command structure and its forces are fully under its control.

[RN7]

Originally Posted by chico20854

Thanks!

I followed a more v1 timeline where the NVA are active participants in the campaign to liberate East Germany, although I've operated on the assumption that the NVA comes out of its barracks in support of the West Germans as soon as the Bundeswehr crosses the border.

For the Battle of Berlin, I assume that the French Brigade negotiates a withdrawal and even manages to extract its equipment. (The same with the French 3rd Army and Belgian Corps in West Germany). The reference to three NATO brigades in Berlin was poorly worded; it should have referred to the UK and US Berlin Brigades and the heavily armed and lavishly equipped West German "civilian" police regiment. I have two Soviet brigade-sized elements in Berlin, the 6th Motor-Rifle Brigade and the KGB 105th Border Guard Regiment. I'll go into further detail in my future writeup, but with German reunification I have the socialist loyalists regrouping in 1997 under Soviet tutelage. Those that were in the East German military or security services are concentrated in three VOPO regiments, while East German men of military age that were in the USSR or elsewhere in the Warsaw Pact (on vacation, working, studying or married to local women) were drafted into two FDJ (Freie Deutsche Jugend, equivalent to the Soviet Komsomol party youth movement) regiments. I think the narrative refers to one of the VOPO regiments in the siege of Warsaw; the others are likewise used/squandered by the Soviet high command - their loyalty is still considered suspect and STAVKA has no compelling reason not to use them as cannon fodder, yet the VOPO units are also composed of ardent communists that have been betrayed by their countrymen, true fanatics for the communist cause that could be extremely useful in enforcing loyalty behind suspect Polish formations!

I like your concept re: Usedom. Do you mean Szczecin/Stettin rather than Gdansk/Danzig? Gdansk is pretty deep along the Baltic coast.

I also prefer the V1 timeline have most of the NVA switching side when West German troops cross the Inter-German border. However some NVA and more politically reliable forces such as the Stasi and Grenztruppen remain loyal to the East German government. I should have made a distinction in my reply instead of grouping all of the NVA into one group.

I would include Szczecin/Stettin along with Gdansk/Danzig as part of a German land grab in Poland, just the name of Gdansk/Danzig is more historically significant. Poland is a mess in T2K and anything goes!