German III Corps?

[Legbreaker]

The US forces located in the Balkans are all there due to Civgov's meddling in military matters. There's also a CIA operative attached to the Soviet 10th TD outside Warsaw (he meets with a violent fate sometime in winter 00-01).

The Oder River isn't a minor obstacle. Deep enough to accomodate battleships in WWII (one was grounded and used as a battery against the Soviets in the last days of the war), and wider than most easily portable bridging equipment can cope with, it would take a major operation to cross.

We can assume all prewar bridges and ferries have been destroyed in the preceeding 4 years of warfare and pontoon bridges, etc sabotaged and so on many times since. Anything capable of carrying more than a dozen people at a time is likely to be destroyed or otherwise unavailable (hidden away, sailed off to Norway, etc).

The Polish coastline from the mouth of the Oder all the way around to Gdynia is unsuitable for major amphibious operations with shallow treacherous waters. All the minor habours along this stretch allow vessels of no more than 4.7 metres draft (most modern warships, including those intended for amphibious ops require more than this).

Landing craft after 4 years of war are likely to be very rare and hard to come by. Fuel to power the few that are available is likely to have been expended landing the 2nd Marines east of Gdansk (and probably suffered losses from enemy resistance there).

Essentially all that's left able to access the XI Corps area are a few fishing boats and yachts, none able to carry more than a few tonnes at a time, IF fuel could be found. It's also probable the only port the XI has access to has been damaged by either or both sides previously and the approaches mined to prevent it's use by coastal patrol boats, torpedo boats, etc.

I've also previously mentioned somewhere than a withdrawal by the available transportation resources would require a long, gradual depletion of combat strength. Eventually the nearby enemy units would pick up on the withdrawal and also be strong enough to destroy the remaining elements of XI Corp. Chances are they'd also capture a fairlly large supply of equipment and stores in the process.

Basically the XI Corp has little hope of withdrawing without inviting a catastrophy. The best they can expect is for limited resupply by sea to the order of a few tonnes per day (at best). The good news is they should be able to evacuate badly wounded and excess specialist personnel while possibly receiving some reinforcements.

The PFC to me is almost an irrelevance. Lacking in effective combat power, chances are they'll be wiped out by marauders in the near future (if the Soviets don't do it first). At best they're a puppet government or ineffective propaganda tool of the west.

[Raellus]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

The Oder River isn't a minor obstacle. Deep enough to accomodate battleships in WWII (one was grounded and used as a battery against the Soviets in the last days of the war), and wider than most easily portable bridging equipment can cope with, it would take a major operation to cross.

I agree. I can see the loss of the Oder river bridges as a legitimate reason to stay put. On the other hand, I do think that a determined and resourceful commander could figure out a way to get most (if not all) of his men across. An entire Corps would likely have enough engineering units (and probably river crossing equipment) to be able to repair or rig up some kind of light bridge or ferry system. A good commander knows how to withdraw under pressure. Destroying heavy equipment in place is SOP when it must be abandoned and since OMEGA pretty much counts on leaving heavy equipment behind anyways.... The stakes are high. If they don't get out of Europe via OMEGA, they're likely going to be stuck there for at least a year or two, likely longer.

I think that there's got to be something more holding them back than the Oder.

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

The PFC to me is almost an irrelevance. Lacking in effective combat power, chances are they'll be wiped out by marauders in the near future (if the Soviets don't do it first). At best they're a puppet government or ineffective propaganda tool of the west.

I'll be able to show you on my map, when it's finished, but the PFC has several Polish army units under its control, including a fairly powerful (for the year 2000) MRD or TD, plus a few hundred others. 4000 armed men a few AFVs would be able to handle most marauder groups. The PFC is presumably pro-western and would therefore be well disposed to cooperating with the 6000 NATO troops of nearby XI Corps. It seems that both entities would stand to gain much more by working together than by not.

[Abbott Shaull]

Originally Posted by Raellus

I'll be able to show you on my map, when it's finished, but the PFC has several Polish army units under its control, including a fairly powerful (for the year 2000) MRD or TD, plus a few hundred others. 4000 armed men a few AFVs would be able to handle most marauder groups. The PFC is presumably pro-western and would therefore be well disposed to cooperating with the 6000 NATO troops of nearby XI Corps. It seems that both entities would stand to gain much more by working together than by not.

Yes by the time offensive had ended the PFC military force had grown by the end of the year instead of shrink. Of course parts of one of the two Legion had gone rogue and doing their own thing. By this time there were maybe only a Division or two who were loyal to the Soviet puppet government based in Lublin. Of rest of the units some had switched to the PFC, while the majority had join/reinforce local militias where they finally found themselves after chasing after and fighting off various elements of the Third German Army in general.

[Abbott Shaull]

Originally Posted by Raellus

I agree. I can see the loss of the Oder river bridges as a legitimate reason to stay put. On the other hand, I do think that a determined and resourceful commander could figure out a way to get most (if not all) of his men across. An entire Corps would likely have enough engineering units (and probably river crossing equipment) to be able to repair or rig up some kind of light bridge or ferry system. A good commander knows how to withdraw under pressure. Destroying heavy equipment in place is SOP when it must be abandoned and since OMEGA pretty much counts on leaving heavy equipment behind anyways.... The stakes are high. If they don't get out of Europe via OMEGA, they're likely going to be stuck there for at least a year or two, likely longer.

I think that there's got to be something more holding them back than the Oder.

Yes but putting one finger on it seems to be as much troubling as to what were the intention of the offensive of the Third German Army, and what if the Soviets had desires for an organized offensive where would they hit?

I know someone from the old board had done some work what the XI Corps would be doing in this region. I know there are some natural resources too that would be valuable.

[Abbott Shaull]

Looking at the Map it seems some German Third Army/German III Corps units were on either side of the US XI Corps at some points. Looks as if the III Corps was passing through the region being held by the main body of the XI Corps. Could be these units were their to help consolidate the XI Corps before they were withdrawn. Hence the reason why there are German units in the mix of the 2nd Marine Division.

[Legbreaker]

It is possible that at least some elements of the Germans entered northern Poland as planned in support of XI Corp. It is unlikely they moved past, or even into to any great extent the area of operations of the XI Corps.

Once the Pact counter offensive got underway, the German III Corps were able to withdraw back to the west of the Oder. Some small elements may have been cut off along with XI Corp, most probably those who'd been tasked with resupply of the marines. This would explain why only the marines are shown to have picked up the German Leopard III.

It is almost certain that the 2nd MARDIV were the most easterly unit in the Nato offensive except for the US 5th and 8th IDs. They were therefore fairly lucky in my mind to have been able to withdraw and consolidate with the rest of the Corps.

[Legbreaker]

As far as I can see, the PFC has little to nothing to do with the post WWII Polish government in exile which I think was located in London. It was however set up by Nato in Poznan during the good times in 1997 (before the nukes and Pact counteroffensive). On my brief bedtime read last night I couldn't see any reference to it moving after this time.

Therefore, (and almost unbelievably) it's apparently well behind enemy lines in 2000. However, Poznan was nuked - chances are that this occured because the PFC was located there, effectively wiping the newly created political entity off the face of the planet along with the majority of governements around the globe.