Interactive History VI: Warrior's Ambition

[Kraxis]

Prologue

14th of December, 1942.
The snow was falling like the petals off cherry flowers. Not as densely as to obscure the vision, but not as lightly as to make it nothing more than a white specked vision. It was falling just perfectly... Perfectly for one person that is.
Oleg lay on his stomach on an old table, obviously discarded long before the war, peering out a small hole in the wall, his trusty scoped Mosin-Nagant made everything seem much clearer, while at the same time so far away. He could see the Germans were talking as they entered the town. He didn't know either German or mouth reading, but after some time you learn the basic of communication, even in languages you can't hear or even understand. These Germans were obviously a bit anxious and they were warning each other about dangerous ambush sites and such.
Off to Oleg's right, by one of the bigger holes in the wall sat the spotter, a nice young lad of 17 years, not that Oleg himself was very old, only 20. But his spotter, Dimitri, was small in both height and stature and didn't look any more than 14 years old, he was but a boy, and shared the same enthusiasm to combat that boys often do.
Despite Dimitri's somewhat lacklustre appearance, he had hawk eyes, he could spot anything and everything, an he had a knack for knowing when the German would show up. Just like this occasion. It had been him that had said they should hide in the attic of the old communal storehouse. And he had chosen very well since the house was low enough to not be conspicuous, but high enough to offer a good view.

So here they were, and the Germans advancing through the town. Obviously something would happen sooner or later.
"Boy, are you seeing anything good?" Asked Oleg, stressing the first word. Dimitri, well used to the little pokes, calmly answered back, "Yes, I see about two companies of infantry, five halftracks, two StuGs and some trucks in the rear... Blind Man..." The last came with a half concealed snicker.
"Just give me a target, I can't make much out with the limited vision of my scope."
Dimitri grunted in acknowledgement and kept scanning the column.
"Hmm... I see a few Feldwebels and Leutnants, nothing important enough." Oleg was perhaps a sniper, but he would not risk getting exposed for a low rank. No, he had advanced too far with his 42 confirmed kills and numerous unconfirmed kills. His trusty Mosin-Nagant wasn't any run-of-the-mill rifle, it was in fact hand built by a master rifle smith, accurate out beyond his capability to even see the target. "Keep looking."
While Dimitri scanned for officers or highly decorated soldiers, those were important targets as well, Oleg caressed his rifle, whispering to it. "You won't fail me, I know it. I lay my life in your care Jelena." He had named his rifle Jelena in memory of the beautiful girl from his hometown that had introduced him to the wonders of the female charms. While there had been more later, especially after his storming success and subsequent decorations, she had retained a big part of his heart. He couldn't help but smile at the thought of that warm summer... Perhaps he would some day see her again, but his town was currently in German hands, far away.
"Oh I think I have found something Blind Man." Dimitri's words drew Oleg back to the real world. "What? Where?"
"Third halftrack, standing in the back. He only just popped up."
Oleg quickly found the halftrack and centred on the man standing in the back. "My dear... You have indeed found something worthy. Hauptmann, Infantry Assault Badge in bronze, two Tank Destruction Badges, Iron Cross and Close Combat Badge in Bronze... Damn, he is a hero!"
"Take him out..."
Oleg lined up for a heart shot. The German officer was moving about too much with his head to attempt a headshot. The wind had picked up a bit, blowing gusts now and then. A small winter storm was coming, a good opportunity to get away in. It was time to finish this. Oleg calculated the distance, corrected for both snow and wind, kissed Jelena gently on the side, then he took a deep breath, lined up for the heart (the Close Combat Badge made an excellent target), exhaled slowly and squeezed the trigger, at the last split second the officer looked up and a gust of wind blew in.
The rifle, as always, almost surprised him with the kick, the sharp bark it made faded away even before Oleg could register it. He quickly sighted back on his target. "What? You missed him?" Dimitri softly said, clearly puzzled. The German officer was still standing, but then he looked down on himself in bewilderment, then he collapsed on the rear deck on the halftrack. Oleg hissed a soft cheer at the vision. Meanwhile the German infantry ran for cover and into houses. Clearly searching for the unseen assailant. Orders could be heard, but there was no return fire.
"Boy, go to the stairs and keep an eye on the floor below, we might have to stay here for a little while." The storm was approaching, and in the dense snow they could escape, just as Oleg had a knack for, until then they would have to stay still to avoid detection.
Dimitri scurried over to the stairs silently and laid down, his PPSh next to him as well as two hand grenades. Useless if the Germans found them, since they would be trapped up there, but good for keeping the spirit up. Oleg on the other hand crawled next to one of he holes in the wall, big enough to let several men walk through, to observe the Germans in the streets. The scene below surprised him. He had looked away for a couple seconds only, yet not a single infantryman was to be found in the open or even in bad cover. These troops were good, but then again they were Panzer Grenadiers of some of the best Panzer Divisions the Germans had. At least Oleg had halted their advance for a short while, he had been told it was important they didn't reach Stalingrad again. He knew nothing of strategy, but that in itself was obvious enough.
Suddenly a StuG rolled back from the street going next to the storehouse. The commander, shielding himself with his hatch while still out in the open. Oleg could easily have taken him out, but two shots always mean detection. No he would stay his hand for the time being. The StuG rolled back and back and back until it reached the officer's half track, there the commander engaged someone in conversation. The logical conclusion would be that the StuG commander was taking over command, but something was off... The Germans usually didn't formally hand over command in combat situations, nor was there a need if the officer was dead.
Dread set in...
"Dimitri!!! Get up!" Oleg called out, the young boy looked at him in surprise as he began to rise up. Oleg looked back at the StuG, the gun pointing right at him. "Oh crap..." That was as far as he got before the gun flashed. In an instant the shell arrived and exploded on the back wall. Oleg was thrown out of the hole in the wall, and while in the air everything seemed alright... There was no sound, there was no pain, only a white sky. Then he hit the ground, he could feel bones crack, and something in his back snapped. At once he caughed up blood, and within a few seconds a couple Germans towered over him. He looked at them... They were no different from him really, young men fighting a war, but they had this look... A look of hate. One of them said something, but Oleg could hear nothing, then he pointed his weapon at the wounded Russian. One of the others grabbed his weapon and said something, and the first one reluctantly nodded.
What had happened to Dimitri? Well, as life slowly faded while the Germans watched, Oleg found he didn't care. He wasn't even afraid anymore, he wasn't in pain, but it was unpleasant to be looked at like that, and he was hurting inside now that he would never see Jelena again. But soon darkness overtook his eyes, and then there was nothing.


"Chief! Chief! Stay awake! If you surrender now you might as well lie down on a hand grenade." The medic had a concerned look as he spoke to Walter. Walter however wasn't troubled. He was smiling on the inside, if he died he would die a hero, if not he would get the Wound Badge in Silver. But it did worry him it would be a sniper's bullet that took him down. Next to him on the rear deck of the half track, was the radio operator. He was calling HQ for new instructions. "Dragon's Den, Dragonling 1, Hauptmann Schleizinger has been wounded. No clear succession of command, what are your instructions?"
"Dragonling 1, Dragon's Den, don't use names for Christ's sake! Whelp 3 assumes command. Keep on schedule, and bring back the Hauptmann."
"Understood."
Oberleutnant Weser, Whelp 3, came into Walter's vision and spoke to him. "We got him... He was right where you said he would be. Here I think you should have this." He said and showed a scraped but fine rifle with a scope. "It is the rifle that nearly killed you." Weser said with a laugh. "And now you are off for some nice relaxing time at a hospital with beautiful nurses all around. Lucky prick!" Even the concerned medic couldn't help but give a little grunt of amusement.

Within a few minutes Walter's situation was stabilized enough to move him with a truck to the rear. He would see no further action during the relief effort to Stalingrad. He had suffered a complicated wound to his left lung, just off the heart. The heart itself had just managed to avoid damage, but the lung would require time and care to heal. So Walter von Schleizinger, hauptmann of the Wehrmacht was shipped home to Germany...

[DemonArchangel]

Note: So, who are you playing as? Dimitri or Hauptmann Walter? Because I can easily see how you could play both characters.

[Stig]

Nice Tarrak

[AggonyDuck]

Hmmmm, interesting start. Good to have you back Kraxis.

[discovery1]

Excellent start Kraxis. Got me thinking for a while that we were the now dead sniper, which got me very confused.

[Kraxis]

Note: So, who are you playing as? Dimitri or Hauptmann Walter? Because I can easily see how you could play both characters.
Can't tell you directly, though there are a few signs out there.~;)
I direct you to a previous IH for the connection.

But don't worry, soon it will all be much clearer who it is, and what the connection will be.

[DemonArchangel]

Wait... he's the Admiral's son :tongue:

[Peasant Phill]

"Poor Oleg, I knew him well"

Great start, can't wait until we can influence the further occurences.

[discovery1]

Wait... he's the Admiral's son :tongue:

Good call Demon, good call. And drink lots of milk.

[King Kurt]

Hang on a minute - if he is the Admiral's son then WW1 finished differently - no onerious Treaty of Versaille, no Hitler, no WW2...... unless he has fallen through a wormhole in the space time continium into a paraell universe (ours)...... the plot thickens!!!!!!!

Wonderful start Kraxis, I look forward to the story unfolding:2thumbsup:

[Tran]

Or perhaps these people are just...doing target practice?

Great story, btw. Looking for more :2thumbsup:

[Kraxis]

Wait... he's the Admiral's son :tongue:
Not going to say you are wrong, but consider this:

The Admiral was in his late 50s, early 60s in 1918, and a Hauptmann (Captain) is generally not more than in his middle 30s (often younger). In a time when people got their children at a much younger age than today.

[King Kurt]

Not going to say you are wrong, but consider this:

The Admiral was in his late 50s, early 60s in 1918, and a Hauptmann (Captain) is generally not more than in his middle 30s (often younger). In a time when people got their children at a much younger age than today.
But that would not matter if he came from a Parallel Universe!!:laugh4:

Sniggers slightly and steps back into the Tardis:2thumbsup:

[DemonArchangel]

Ok, more like the Admiral's.... grandson. I hit close enough.

[AntiochusIII]

Good call Demon, good call. And drink lots of milk.lol.

And I thought for a moment we'd be playing Vasily Zayts...I mean, the Russian sniper there!

Now, a game at captain-level is going to be really, really interesting. And a perfect choice, really. I thought at first that repeating World War II again might not be the wisest decision, but then when it comes to this level of warfare which scenario is better?

[Flavius Clemens]

So presumably the Hauptmann has childhood memories of his nutty old grandfather.

[discovery1]

lol.


What? Demon busted up his leg not to long ago, and calcium will help him heal.

And yeah, that level is just great. And if we play well we'll probably see the him advance in rank, maybe even up to general? Course then we might end up in such poor locations such as being in charge of the defense of Berlin, or on the defense stand at Nurenburg. Lets try to avoid that.....

[Sarathos]

So, sounds good. When's it start?

Btw, Im new at this so if I dont know whats going on, its just me.

[Franconicus]

Just wondering:

A while ago Kraxis confessed that he used to be an adjutant at Manstein`s staff during Zitadelle. Now we have Dec. 42. I guess we are still close to Manstein. I think there will be the Soviet invasion, following and supporting the cutting off of Stalingrad. Manstein repelled it. I guess this will be our theatre and the German officer will be our man. Maybe he is a former life of Kraxis himself. ~;) No doubt - we are going to win!!

[Sarathos]

So guys, hows it going?

[Marshal Murat]

Don't worry.

Kraxis is like....
He is like a beautiful girl.

He appears, and flirts, but then just as quickly is gone, leaving only a good story. Then he reappears, and you get options. You have another good story.
You have to give him (her?) their space.

In other words, Kraxis will post his options when he post's his options. We can't change that.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Thanks for putting an end to my long period of interactive history abstinence Kraxis, ever since the awesome WWI Naval IA I've been hooked on your IA's, unfortunately you haven't made any since then...

[Julian the apostate]

so do we know who were playing as?

[Kraxis]

Chapter 1: Delirium and Decisions

Walter speedily reached the dressing station behind the frontlines. And while there were plenty equally, or worse, cases than Walter, he got treated with considerable speed.
The complexity of the wound meant he was almost at once sent off to the Army field hospital further in the rear. There a Major General had a quick inspection of the wound, while Walter watched both the wound and the man with fascination. The doctor turned and looked him in the eyes, "Hauptmann, I'm afraid you are going to be out for months. The wound is complicated, the bullet has broken a rib, and you will soon suffer an infection. This isn't likely fatal, especially not to men in your good physical condition, but we have to ship you home to Germany for proper treatment."

So, Walter thought, Weser was more right than he had known. He knew Weser had only said what he did to cheer him up, but really, this was not what he had hoped for.
Within 20 minutes Walter was on a medical train bound for Germany, all around him were the most serious, or debilitating, cases. Lost limbs, headwounds, shellshocked men, all kinds of ruined soldiers. There was no segregation of officers and enlisted, but by now Walter didn't care, he could feel a fever coming.

The next week Walter spent in transit on bumpy trains, his fever getting stronger and stronger, until finally one day he simply didn't really know if he was awake anymore. He was caught in the delerium of the fever, strange dreams and his brain was slowly starting to give in to it. Despite being a warrior at heart, this was too much, and the delirium took over...

Walter was walking along a long, whitepainted corridor, doors to one side.
"Dad? Where are we?" He asked the man walking next to him.
"It's a hospital, son." His voice was familiar and quite warming to the heart.
"But this isn't like any of the hospitals I have been to... It is strange here."
"Walter my boy, that is because this isn't a hospital for people with broken legs and pneumonia. This is a hospital for those who have hurt their head." Walter's father talked slowly and gently.
"You mean like when Heinrich fell and hurt his head from that tree?" Walter tried to understand, but his father gave him a short smile.
"At times that can be a reason to come here, but most people have never really hurt their heads on the outside. They are hurt on the inside, and some have been ill in the head since they were little children." The way Walter's father spoke differently this time made Walter a bit afraid, would there he dangerous people, half monsters, here? Would Frankenstein's creation come at him?
"What are we doing here dad?"
"We are here to see my uncle. You know that grandpa died before you were born, well my uncle sort of took over."
"Oh... But have I ever seen him?"
"Not that you can remember. You were very little, and he had just gotten a big promotion. After that he didn't have much time to visit our family, however much he wanted to. He was quite fond of you."
Walter and his father walked a little while more until they reached a door. It simply read: Rear Admiral Friedrich von Schleizinger
Walter's father knocked the door and entered. Inside they found a man in his early 60s, he had a close cropped white beard and thinning white hair, his body was strong and healthy. As he saw Walter's father he lit up in a great smile. "Martin! What a pleasant surprise! And I see you have brought young Walter." Martin himself had a great smile. "Oh yes, I thought it was time for him to meet you, now that you have so much time on your hands." With the last they both laughed a little bit.
Marting and the old Admiral spoke back and forth about many things, but Walter wasn't interested in what grownups talked about. He was more interested in his great uncle's cap. A white cover, shining oak leaves and a beautiful leather brim. When he tried it on it was way too big, the old man was powerfully built with a big head, and Walter was duly impressed. Now and then the Admiral called him over and asked him things about his life, and unlike so many others he seemed to actually listen and care about the little problems Walter faced. But suddenly, as Walter was playing with a model of what he thought to be a big battleship, he could hear the tone in the old Admiral change, and so he listened.
"I could have made a difference... I really could."
"Uncle, it wasn't your fault. We were outnumbered and outgunned."
"Yeah, but I know I could have led the High Seas Fleet to victory over those perfidious Brits. Have you noticed that they are planning to use our ships for target practice... TARGET PRACTICE!"
"It isn't that bad..."
"But it is. What did we suffer for? What do I continue to suffer for? I know I could have beaten the British and secured victory for our landforces in the spring. If only I had gotten the chance... But those buffoons in charge were timid, afraid to risk anything, and so we lost everything. They never learned from Jutland. It was our timing and tactics that were wrong, our ships and crews were superior to the British. Good leadership could have handled the problems we faced."
Martin squinted and leaned back on the chair he was sitting in. "Uncle, you can't let these things burn at you. It isn't healthy. Besides it is in the past."
"It is, but sometimes I wake up feeling I was meant to do something great, but at some point that was robbed from me. As if this entire world took a turn where it should have gone in another direction. I failed in my life."
"Don't say that, that isn't true."
"It isn't? What about my dead wife who died while I was out sailing? Or my son who died in the scuffle when the communists mutinied in the Navy? Or even you, whom I never ha enough time to look after. Or what about the men I lost due to bad decisions. Do you know that they haunt me? That right now a onearmed man with a raspy voice and blood dripping is standing behind me, staring at me?" The old man was afraid and something more that Walter couldn't understand. His father was shocked to find his uncle in this state.
"No, I didn't know that. But you are stronger than that. I still need you, and Walter needs a grandfather who cares."
Suddenly the old man cleared up again, "Yes..." Then he turned to Walter. "Walter, I see a warrior's spirit in you. You have the strength of our family." Martin tried to cut in, "Uncle..." "You are young now, but don't worry, your time will come, and when it does you will serve your county." "Stop it uncle!" "You will regain the honour I lost, and you will undo the lost chance I never got. You will be like our ancestor Peter first Count of Schleizinger, vital to our country and our family's future." "Friedrich!!! STOP IT! You are scaring the boy, he is only 8 years old. Don't put that kind of responseability onto him. The war is OVER!" Walter's father was standing, towering over the old man. Walter could clearly see that all his previous strength was gone, it had been a selfportrayed image really, and now the old man shrank back. But his words burned in Walter's mind, for he knew they were the truth.
In rage Martin pulled his young son with him, out of the room, while Walter could hear the old Admiral speak a soft plea, "Please come back... Please Martin." But Walter's father heard nothing or wanted to hear nothing as he dragged the boy along.
Only the next day Walter heard that Friedrich von Schleizinger was dead, he had killed himself with a bullet to his head. How he had gotten the pistol Walter didn't know, but from that day he was furious at his father for letting it happen. He had robbed him of a grandfather, someone who cared what Walter thought, and what he would become.

Walter woke up with a jolt. He felt a hand with a damp piece of cloth move away with a shriek of surprise. He looked around. He was in a nice room in what he thought to be a real hospital, outside the snow was falling gently, next to his bed stood a scared young nurse. Her eyes were wide and she was breathing fast. She was the first woman Walter had seen in almost half a year, and he could barely keep his eyes off her. She quickly composed herself and pushed him back down in the bed again. "Relax, your have been in a heavy fever for a week. I'll get the doctor."
The doctor told him that the wound was getting much better, and should be healed up soon. However, he had ben forced to remove the broken rib, and it would take a long time recovering and getting into shape again.
Walter spent another week bound to the bed more or less, but finally he could begin to strengthen his body once more. But it was quite limited, and his lungcapacity was greatly weakened as the lung was still not healed up, it had merely closed the wound.

Then one afternoon while Walter was walking around in the park outside, an SS officer approached him. The lanky somewhat arrogant man was obviously not a frontline soldier. He put far too much effort into looking his part. Stiff steps, puffed up chest, cap slightly cocked. But he was a posterboy image of an SS officer.
As he reached Waler he said "Hauptmann Walter von Schleizinger." Walter held his silence. Then the man continued, "That wasn't a question. I know who you are. I have this for you."
He held out an envelope, clearly adressed to Walter, but what surprised him was the insignia of Heinrich Himmler. He opened it.

Hauptmann Walter von Schleizinger
It is my sincerest hope that you recover from your wound with all haste. People like you are in short supply, and we really wouldn't like to lose you to a silly thing like an infection.
You might wonder why I'm contacting you, it is quite simple, we want to recruit you to the SS, and I feel that people of your ability and history are most definately worth my time to recruit personally. The SS is no longer the armed forces of the party alone, it is an international force for fighting the communists. We are giving people a chance to fight the red hordes that seek to destroy the very foundation of Europe. But we need good officers to lead these people. It would be a shame to waste them when they are so willing to defend Europe. But remember, you will always fight for Germany and the Führer.
I can offer you an immediate promotion to Sturmbannführer, the equivalent of the Heer's Major, in case you were uncertain of it's meaning.

The bearer of the letter can answer any question you might have regarding the offer.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery
Signed Heinrich Himmler

"Well, that was quite short... What is going on here?" The blackdressed SS officer smiled and answered in a most assuring way, obviously he was a recruitment officer. "You have been noticed by the higher ups, they are impressed with your capabilities, and they wish to take advantage of your obvious skills at warfare. In the SS you will have access to better trained soldiers, better equipment and more supplies. That way your skills and abilities will be boosted that much more. And we truly do need to combine our best men with the best equipment, otherwise we will waste both."
"That sort of makes sense, but I'm not a member of the party."
"That is not a problem, we can solve that in time, no need to worry about it now."
"What kind of position can I expect?" The man began what seemed to be a half rehersed line. "You will take over a recon battalion in one of our divisions. Being the commander of such a force requires aggressive maneuvering, quick thinking, a feel for the land and the ability to act independantly."
Walter nodded... "What about my old unit?" The SS officer lowered his voice a bit. "I'm sorry to tell you that it has been disbanded. During the offensive towards Stalingrad it was badly mauled, then it was required to be part of the rearguard during the retreat. It did it's job well, but in the end it was finished as a fightingforce. Both your company and the battalion have been incorporated into other units."
The SS had really done their homework. "What about pay?" There was silence... Then both of them laughed. When the SS officer recovered he answered. "We aren't in the business of making people rich, though some claim otherwise, you should see your pay rise from miserable to inadequate." Walter couldn't help but laugh again, which caused his lung to hurt.
"I see... well I didn't expect this, so when do you need an answer?"
"Generally we don't want people to make rash decisions, but in your case we are a bit pressed for time. We know that you can't take over right away, but we need to make sure that things are in place for when the previous commander moves on. So we need an answer almost right away."

What should Walter do?

1) Stall for time, the SS almost always have a hidden agenda, and it could be interesting to find out what it is.
2) Accept. Walter has no future in the Heer, he is 31 years old, has been in the Army since before the war, yet has only been promoted once since the war started, despite his abilities. Further, now that his units are all gone he has no connections, nor any security in getting a command again.
3) Refuse the offer. The SS are different, they don't titulate their superiors as Herr, they are Nazis, which Walter isn't. Basically an aristocrat like Walter isn't the general image of a Waffen SS officer.

[Csargo]

I'll take one.

[woad&fangs]

I choose 2

[King Kurt]

1 for me too - it makes sense to try and get a bit more information. I expect we might end up in the SS, but let's go in with our eyes open.

[Tran]

No. 1

[Kagemusha]

Option 1:yes:

[Warmaster Horus]

Option One.

I'm joining in, if that's all right. By the way, Kraxis... Superb writing!

[Marshal Murat]

Option 1

[Flavius Clemens]

I'll add to the landslide for option 1. From the prologue Walter seems brave but not reckless - if he has the chance to get more info before rushing in he would.

[AntiochusIII]

He doesn't seem heartless enough to survive and prosper in the SS, nor do the players of the Org (I'm pretty sure of that; while we're all armchair generals more than willing to smash the Royal Navy in a grand operation, few of us entertain sufficient Nazist sympathies to play comfortably as them, especially as a boot on the ground). But I'm pretty sure we won't have much of a game if he repudiates them right away; the SS aren't known for being particularly understanding. Let us find more information and stall it for the time being.

Option 1

My speculation is this: if we get in on the SS right away, we'll have a much easier, perhaps even more exciting early game: efficient troops, more resources, Himmler's backing and consequently an easier time getting our way on a macro level; but our hero will later on descend further and further into a deep personality conflict that will destroy him in the end. From what little we know of him, and from what we played as his glorious relative, he's not a murderer, but a patriot.

Also, the poor Admiral. :embarassed: He could've saved Germany, he really could!

[IrishArmenian]

I vote for number three!

[Marshal Murat]

Shun the non-believer! Shuuuun.

:2thumbsup:

[AggonyDuck]

Although Himmler's offer is nice and propably the one with more to offer, I still feel that the Waffen SS is the wrong place for this Schleizinger. Hence I choose option three.

[Tratorix]

Is anyone just allowed to join in on this?

I'd say number 2 is the best bet. Saying no to the S.S. doesn't seem like something that you do if you don't have a death wish.

[Kraxis]

Is anyone just allowed to join in on this?

I'd say number 2 is the best bet. Saying no to the S.S. doesn't seem like something that you do if you don't have a death wish.
Any and all can join in...

[discovery1]

I agree with the concensus, #1. Also we should keep in mind that if we do eventually join the SS we are probably more likely to jobs we would rather not do, like hunt for partisans and I'm sure there is nothing that can go wrong there.
Course, if the implication is true and the SS is the fast tract to promoption, then we are in a stronger position to impact the outcome.

Ah, so in this timeline our admiral rather then dying for victory screwed up.

[Kraxis]

Ah, so in this timeline our admiral rather then dying for victory screwed up.
Not really... History just went the 'right' way and he was never promoted to the position, he was overlooked and there was never a replacement ofthe leadership. That 'unhistorical' change was the entire basis for the other story, it was the main turningpoint of history. Removing it and you remove all the effects the man can do.

Like so many people sometimes experience, the Admiral felt something had gone wrong at some point. That history had taken the wrong track in regards to him. That his destiny was lost, and he never got to fulfill it. That destirny was to lead the High Seas Fleet against the Grand Fleet. Obviously it nagged him until he couldn't handle it anymore, and it combined with his inner demons conspired to end his life.
His actions were exactly the same in this IH (prior to the events of Duel of the Sea), but unfortunately for him, he never got the lucky break he did in the other IH.

[Lord Winter]

The writting feels more like a novel then a IH, great job Kraxis.

Oh and welcome back to the org :wave:


As for the option I'll join the bandwagon and go with number one, no use rushing in where we could end up in anti partisian warfare or the S.S.'s more burtal branches. If we could get into an panzer unit through it could be a fast track to promotion.

[DemonArchangel]

1.), although the reconnaissance battalion means you're much less likely to get killed than in the Pz. Btn.

[Warluster]

Number 2 please. Bring on the SS!

[Peasant Phill]

Option 1:
Sure we'll end up in the SS but maybe the Hauptmann can get something more out of it then he allready gets.

P.S. I recommend anyone that didn't participate in 'the duel of the seas' to read the installments to fully appreciate the scene with Walters great uncle.

[Franconicus]

Are you crazy? You send a brave man to the SS? No way!! Option 3 is the right thing to do.

I say go to your commanding general and tell him about Himmler`s offer. The Heer is not pleased by the competition with the Waffen-SS and Walter will surely get a much better offer. Let`s gamble a bit.

[Peasant Phill]

We could do that. Hey, we already are buying time.

[Franconicus]

Well, and remember the words of Kraxis. Didn`t he ell us, that this is a very individual interactive, and that we will have to pay, if we decide to do things against the character.

Do you really want to see our hero fighting partisans, killing children and women, burning down villages, killing hostages? The SS is not just a club, it is a bunch of criminals. Don`t forget that. The Heer is evil enough, don`t let us go to the SS!:shocked2:

[DemonArchangel]

I sort of like the reconnaissance battalion's job. It's most likely not going to be used for anti-partisan duties, and it would probably be attached to a Panzer unit in the first place. But unlike that Panzer unit, the likelihood of it coming under air attack is low, so chance of survival would be higher. Although since we're buying time, I suggest going to Walter's commanding officer and doing as Franc suggested.

[Franconicus]

I sort of like the reconnaissance battalion's job. It's most likely not going to be used for anti-partisan duties, and it would probably be attached to a Panzer unit in the first place. But unlike that Panzer unit, the likelihood of it coming under air attack is low, so chance of survival would be higher. Although since we're buying time, I suggest going to Walter's commanding officer and doing as Franc suggested.

Why is recon unit not the right thing to fight partisans? You have to find them first. So why not sending out recon units into the woods and swamps. By the way, they did use tank divisions to clear the rear of the front from partisans - SS tank divisions. Even before the start of Zitadelle. If we chose SS, this may become a bloody job :no:

[Warmaster Horus]

Yeah, but if we are opposed to the SS - which is a possibility they might consider - then it's better to have a unit under our command. Do you see what I'm hinting at?
Option One lets us know if there's something more to this offer, which there almost certainly is. However, the SS might not appreciate it.
Option Two gives us advantages. But we'll be given moral dilemnas later on, assuredly. Maybe we can profit from the advantages now, use them, and when the situation is unbearable... Cut off all ties and join whichever opposing faction we're up against?
Option Three is suicidal. I assume the SS officer is still in the room, and if you tell him "no", he's not going to leave happily.
So, option one is logical, but two isn't that bad.

By the way, there's a little mistake near the end of the first chapter... "You both laugh". But the writing's third person, no?

[DemonArchangel]

GAH! Stupid counter-insurgency warfare! The Germans are terrible at COIN because COIN is all about hearts and minds. No amount of massive genocide is going to cure the partisan situation.

Yea, you're right Franc. But I'm still going to go with #1, just because refusing the SS outright is suicidal, especially since Himmler himself wants me in the SS.

[AntiochusIII]

Why is recon unit not the right thing to fight partisans? You have to find them first. So why not sending out recon units into the woods and swamps. By the way, they did use tank divisions to clear the rear of the front from partisans - SS tank divisions. Even before the start of Zitadelle. If we chose SS, this may become a bloody job :no:I think the overwhelming support for Option 1 is actually an indication that few of us want to get in on the SS club, really. To me and others, Option 3 just seems like he's showing the middle finger to that lunatic Himmler...not something you do without any backing whatsoever, a position which our hero is in.

By waiting he might receive similar offers from the Heer, for example, and then we jump on that offer right away. Generals on the field would no doubt loathe to lose a skilled officer to the SS' political shenanigans, and would do their best to shield him from harm, but right now that "patron" doesn't show up just yet.

Edit: You know, one of the amusing things about the classic Kraxis Interactive History is the workings of the hero's mind. I always imagined that he probably feels like a Borg, "We are the Collective; follow our directions" type of situation. Walter just happens to be slightly more independent than the rest. ~:)

[Warmaster Horus]

The question is, how likely is that to happen, knowing Kraxis?

[shlin28]

Option 3 :clown:

[Caius]

No.1

[SwordsMaster]

I'm with Franc on this one. Tell the army. Wait. If they're really interested they'll up the offer. Otherwise we'll sit tight, take nice walks and watch the war on tv

[Tran]

I'm with Franc on this one. Tell the army. Wait. If they're really interested they'll up the offer. Otherwise we'll sit tight, take nice walks and watch the war on tv
Or you might as well desert to the British...

[Ludens]

I am very glad to see you back in form, Kraxis. I am afraid I am not going to participate in this IH though. I don't want to get sucked into the storyline (like happened last time) when I have little enough time for the Org as it is.

Good luck!

[Franconicus]

By the way, you can refuse to join the SS, even if the offer comes from Himmler himself - at least in 1942. Of cause you should be gentle, tell him that you do not have the physical condition to fight for such an elite corps, tell him that your family has a long and strong tradition to the army, that you promised this to your dead grand uncle. Don`t worry. The Wehrmacht will protect you and support you. It does not like the WaffenSS at all!!

Option 4 would be to contact Student and to try to get to the Fallschirmjäger. Another elite formation, this time under the lead of the Luftwaffe.They would propably take you. Or even volunteer as a fighter pilot. In 1942 they are looking for brave pilots like crazy. Hell, I would do almost anything to get away from the east!!!

[Uesugi Kenshin]

I would say 3, I really don't think we want to end up in the SS and though we'll probably end up stalling for time because the majority are going with 1 I don't need to stall on this one.

[DemonArchangel]

An SS armored reconnaissance battalion sounds like a totally awesome job in terms of the combat opportunities that would be offered. However, it would morally be made of suck and fail. Being a commander in a Wehrmacht reconnaissance battalion would sound like a better job, especially since that involves less anti-partisan work, and still offers the opportunity for us to be bold and decisive, traits that Mr. Schleizinger has in spades.

Another job for somebody brave would be these guys:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandenburgers

German special forces sabotaging the Russians would be awesome, and again, would involve less random anti-civilian brutality.

[Kraxis]

Chapter 2: Meassuring the Scales

The black clad officer was gently rocking back and forth on his feet, obviously waiting for Walter to speak, and equally obvious, quite impatient. This made Walter think it over a bit.
So the SS was approaching him now, while he was still very much unfit for combat. Walter, though yearning for battle again, had no delusions about his own state of health, he was in no shape to go off fighting now. They were also in a hurry, as seen in the impatient manner of their representative, and his face for that matter, as his lips were but a tense line and his eyes flickering about, but also from the information he had directly given Walter. The SS knew he couldn't fight now, yet they still wanted an answer right away, and the excuse had been weak at best. Walter knew they were extremely proficient at making last minute changes to their units without costing them any combat efficiency. And there was the letter from Himmler... From Himmler himself. Short, cordial and to the point. While fairly much in his style from what Walter knew of him, it just felt unusual for him to not only try to recruit himself, but then not be very eloquent and determined about it as well. If Walter was so important to the SS that Himmler decided he must do his to get him, why didn't he spend more than a minute's worth of his time to write the letter?
"So, what do you think?" The impatient face spoke and his body responded with a shudder, perhaps due to the cold, it was after all pretty cold out in the snow, but perhaps it was a nervous reaction to the situation... Walter decided it was better to not just accept the offer right away until he knew more, however great it sounded to him.
"Obviously it is just the break I need to get my career going. It seems to have been on hold a bit, dunno why though."
The SS officer smiled. "Trust me, the Waffen SS values merit more than politics, actions more than an old track record and initiative more than 'by the book'."
Walter grunted in approval. "Heh... Politics... But you are a political body. Swearing to protect and serve the Führer ect. ect."
The smile vanished. "Yes, but we can't afford to throw people away because of it. In the majority of cases it has little to no meaning on the battlefield. Besides you perform a similar vow."
Walter had to agree. The Heer was performing much the same political vows. One or the other was irrelevant really, at least as far as Walter thought. But this was only a way to give him more time to think over the oddities of the offer, better keep it up a bit. "That's true enough, but the Heer doesn't have the same political background, nor the personal patronage of the Führer. That does lend a fair bit more weight to the vow of the SS than that of the Heer. What is your name by the way, you didn't give me one when you approached me."
Suddenly the SS officer's face changed from hard but cordial, into a most sincere and actually very youthful visage. "I didn't? I'm terribly sorry, I guess I'm a bit stressed, I have a lot of work waiting for me. My name is Michael Wittmann." There it was again, he was under quite some pressure, or this kind of work was unusual to him. Both things that are not in tune with Walter's current physical situation. It quite simply didn't add up, but Walter couldn't blurt out a direct question unless he had something firm to hinge it on, and he didn't... So far.
"That's alright, we can all make mistakes. But really, you don't do this kind of work often do you?"
Michael's reaction wasn't one of outrage, or even shock, rather he was somewhat relieved. "To be honest, no. I'm not much of a recruiter, I'm currently training for Panzer duty at Paderborn."
"So you have no contact with the official recruitment of the SS, nor with Heinrich Himmler?"
"Dear God, no. I'm just serving my country as best I can, and in this case I was supposed to ease your entry into the SS. I still hope you will join. The Reichführer just provided me with the letter." That was when Walter figured it out. He nodded to the young officer with a friendly smile.
"Mmm... It is all good and well that the SS wants me and it is certainly an intriguing offer." Walter paused for a second, then brought the letter up again and skimmed down the page. "And I must commend you. You nearly fooled me. It is a very good forgery of an official letter from Himmler."
Michael was stunned, then he burst out. "You can't be serious! This is a letter from Himmler... To you!"
Walter didn't back down, it was all or nothing if he wanted a career anywhere. "No, it is not. It is a forgery, a good one as far as I can see, but also a work of amateurs. I'm no specialist by far, but I know one thing, or rather I realized one thing, and that is that you forgot Himmler always use his title of Reichführer. He is in love with it, he is always presented with it on the radio, when people speak of him and in bulletins. You can't avoid it, yet You guys managed to botch it up. But I nearly didn't get it, so kudos for that. Now it is time to level with me."
Michael was looking at the ground in silence, obviously contemplating if he should tell Walter. Then he looked up. "You are right, it isn't a letter from Himmler, in fact he has nothing to do with this, and those who planned this really didn't want to involve him at all."
"Very interesting, but you still haven't told me what it is." Walter said while beginning to walk, forcing Michael to haste to his side.
"I'm not privy to the details, but I do know that it is Paul Hausser who wants you, and he doesn't want the Heer to know about his project. Thus he wanted you 'stolen' from the Heer in a more usual fashion. And no, I have no idea what this is about, I'm but an underling getting orders."
Walter was stunned. Gruppenführer Paul Hausser, the commander of the SS-Panzerkorps, was trying to dupe him and the entire Heer, and meanwhile thought it important enough to impersonate Reichführer Himmler. This was definitely beyond Walter's scope. "I'm surprised you told me this... This could be damning to you all if I ever let it slip. There would be plenty of offended parties in this case."
Michael didn't smile, or did he flinch, he just stared Walter in the eyes, his gaze was like that of an eagle, firm, sure and very determined. He struck Walter as a good prospect for a leader or commander. "You had it figured out. No point in trying to hide it. Hausser and I can easily deny it, the letter is obviously fairly bad because of the mistake, bad enough to make for a bad piece of evidence for your case should to try to turn us in. But most importantly, I simply wasn't very sure this was the right thing to do, but I didn't have a say."

Walter didn't respond, how could he? This affair was decidedly unusual, but Paul Hausser, Papa, was involved, so there were obviously a lot of things at stake for him to do it. Untersturmführer Wittmann indicated that it involved something at the frontlines since the Heer was to be kept out, and it was no secret he didn't trust the Heer's capacity for something special. If he had, he wouldn't have left it for the Waffen-SS. And interestingly he was a Prussian from a military family, much like Walter's. He had a burning ambition much like Walter as well, so Walter figured that a conservative like him could make it in the Waffen-SS. But then again, he had already known that. It was just that the Heer seemed to present more secure options.
Walter rubbed his eyes with his thumb and middle finger, this all was way beyond him, but what could he do? What should he do? He didn't know.

Time to deal with Walter's findings.

1) Simply refuse Wittmann's offer. It is risky to say the least, to join in a clandestine operation you know nothing of, that might piss off both the Heer and Himmler and the SS in general.
2) If Hausser wants Walter for something special there is a great chance it is important. And important is equal to great chances of promotions, not to speak of the personal relationship with Hausser. Who says it will ever be discovered what took place to get it off?
3) Do whatever it takes to get rid of Wittmann, then contact the Heer. They might get angry at Hausser and the SS for this, but they might also be intrigued. But the benefits for Walter himself would be less obvious.
4) Similar, just contact the SS instead. More certainly they would get furious about Hausser's forgery. Beign a loyal German would likely earn Walter considerable gratitude with the SS, perhaps even Himmler himself.

[Warmaster Horus]

I'd say, hastily, option 4. Benefits are more or less obvious: gratitude, rank, command, etc.
Of course, it depends what we want to do afterwards.

[DemonArchangel]

The first thing to do is ask what the dilly-o is going on here.

The second thing is to accept, because there's no denying the awesomeness of Michael Wittmann.

Michael Wittmann (http://www.badassoftheweek.com/wittman.html)

He wants me in a Recon Btn. in the II SS PzKorps? I'll do it.

[Kagemusha]

SS panzerkorps sounds tempting, but its SS nevertheless. This is our chance to get in good graces of Heer. We should not betray those we have swore loyalty to. So option 3.:smash:

[AggonyDuck]

It really sounds like Hausser wants Walter and I'm definately curious what he has in mind for us. So option 2 for me.

[Tran]

Do whatever it takes to get rid of Wittmann
Does it mean Wittman will be killed?

[shlin28]

Option 3

Army > SS

[discovery1]

Hausser and the tank ace want us huh? So does anyone know of what the former did after the war? As far as I can tell he's clean. Also he went against hitler's orders at Karkov.

Vote: Option 2 since I have confidence in this general Hausser. Manstein thought well of him in an earlier interactive afterall.

[Csargo]

Option 2

[Kraxis]

Does it mean Wittman will be killed?
Obviously not... Killing SS officers would be problematic at best. No it was intended to mean that Walter would ditch him at the earliest possible time, to be able to blow the whistle on this little operation.

[Franconicus]

Option 3! 4 would be suicidal, to get into an internal conflict of the SS. What is this special operation? Something dirty, I guess. No way!! Let`s stay at the Heer. There will be more than enough Soviets to fight there, too.

[DemonArchangel]

Unfortunately, Herr Hitler is losing a rather large amount of faith in the Heer right now, so if you want to be where the action and supplies are, you should be in the Waffen SS. All that will happen with you in a Heer unit will be that you'll run out of fuel and get encircled by the Russians, who will then blow you away with heavy artillery. Also, the Waffen SS would give you more leverage with that idiot Fuhrer of yours, and when the time comes, easier access so you can kill both Hitler and Himmler and put a stop to this whole bloody mess.

[Flavius Clemens]

I'm torn between 2 and 3.
Doing 1 without back up is too risky. Option 4 is playing politics outside our man's competence and puts us way out of our depth.

Working with someone from a similar background such as Wittman is appealing, no doubt that's why he was chosen to deliver the invitation. And why not take the chance to make a difference that never came to our great-uncle the admiral? I guess that's the clincher - carpe diem - so I go for option 2.

[IrishArmenian]

Option 2! Only an idiot would draw non-valour related attention to himself in Nazi Germany!

[Kommodus]

Option 2

[SwordsMaster]

1!

Guys! It's the SS! Don't get in if you don't know how to get out!

[King Kurt]

After some thought, I think the best choice is option 2. Two main reasons - from the point of view of the story - and let's not forget this is a story - it looks the most interesting option. The second reason is that this option offers the best route for promotion in comparisson to the other 3. Our hero is frustrated at his lack of progress and seems overlooked within the Herr - perhaps it is being related to a mad admiral!! - so this offers a rapid path to promotion, Also, by intonation at least, these guys do not seem your typical SS thugs.

[Warmaster Horus]

I'm convinced. Option 2's the most interesting.

[Tratorix]

Option 2 lets see what this General Hausser has in mind for us, shall we?

[AntiochusIII]

Hmm...hard one. I'm torn; will I fall to the temptation? But it's the SS! Oh dear...

Option 1 is not worth it. I don't think a game of waiting and waiting and waiting is what Kraxis is looking for. It'd merely extend our wait for the Heer's potential offer of which there are no signs.

Option 4 is the obvious "Are you an idiot!?" The last thing we need is direct contact with Himmler, on political reasons.

2 and 3 are the real contenders here. Will we join the SS -- apparently, though I'm not sure if it's a trap or not, the better side of SS -- or will we stay in the Heer, betraying Wittmann in the process?

In the end I'll say Option 2 if only because DA's link shows that our friend the tank ace is badass and I want some badass action alongside him. :clown:

[woad&fangs]

It wasn't long before he was recruited into the military arm of the SS and assigned to the 1st SS Panzer Division - the elite of the German elite and a military unit so incredibly badass that every Avalon Hill tabletop wargame ever created lists it as a fucking 12-6 unit. Just for the record, a combat-ready regiment of motherfucking fifty foot tall robot Godzillas that shoot heat-seeking missles out of their crotches probably wouldn't be listed as a 12-power unit.

Option 2 because Michael sounds awsome.

Edit: if you haven't read that link already then you have to. MW is ridiculously awsome.

[Lord Winter]

Option 2

It may be the S.S. but it sounds like we're in an opposition group. Ethier that or some of their nastier sides of thing. Those are the only to things I can think of that can demand that level of secercy. It's more likely that it won't be the latter though and it will give us a faster track to promotion. Plus we can always use the letter as collateral if we don't like the mission.

[Kagemusha]

Because of our collective ambition, i can already see us executing prisoners of war or something nasty like that.:sweatdrop: I wonder what happens then. Atleast our ambition gives Kraxis sama, great building blocks for the story.:smash:

[Tratorix]

Because of our collective ambition, i can already see us executing prisoners of war or something nasty like that.

Well, the title is "Warrior's Ambition" not "Warrior's Careful and Prudent Decision-making." :clown:

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Well, the title is "Warrior's Ambition" not "Warrior's Careful and Prudent Decision-making." :clown:

That doesn't mean we can't play this like Duel of the Sea, be careful and yet daring when need be and come out on top in the end. Hell you could argue that it runs in the family....

[DemonArchangel]

But unfortunately, I want more plot.
To get more plot, I must have advancement!!!!

[Franconicus]

The Heer is not a Sally Army. There will be enough opportunity to fight and win. There will be even enough dieing and even the threat of being forced to do some crimes.

The SS is evil. It is late 1942. The SS will be increased soon, with forced recruitments and volunteers from satelite states. The skill of the Waffen-SS as well as the moral will decrease soon and significantly.

The Waffen-SS is a bunch of murderers. Do not make any illusions. Any straight warrior looks at them with disgust. There will be killing of POW, there will be partisan fighting, retaliations. Don't forget that the Waffen-SS is also carrying on the KZ. Do you want to end as a guard of Ausschwitz?

[DemonArchangel]

Yes, they might be a bunch of murderers, but the uniform. Man, that Hugo Boss uniform is stylish. And guess what? It wasn't like the Heer didn't commit reprisals or fight against partisans. And I highly doubt that we'll end up in guarding a concentration camp. After all, we are Waffen SS.

Besides, I want to retake Kharkov from the Russkies.

[Kagemusha]

Yes, they might be a bunch of murderers, but the uniform. Man, that Hugo Boss uniform is stylish. And guess what? It wasn't like the Heer didn't commit reprisals or fight against partisans. And I highly doubt that we'll end up in guarding a concentration camp. After all, we are Waffen SS.

Besides, I want to retake Kharkov from the Russkies.

Well SS Totenkopf Panzer Division had large amount of concentration camp guards. It was originally composed of these guys:

http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS-Totenkopfverb%C3%A4nde

We should really think what we are getting into. I think there were lots of young men who were fascinated about the handsome SS uniforms etc. These people were turned into murderers. If you guys want glory, in war there is none, but we have swore military oath to Heer and we should respect that oath. Im sure there would be lots of action coming towards us, without joining a organization of murderers and fanatics like SS.

[discovery1]

There's no way we will end up guarding a prison camp. Well, maybe if we have a break down like our uncle or something but baring us becoming not fit for the front lines. Otherwise we are just too good to be used in such a way.

Now being in a position where we are hunting partisans I can see.

[DemonArchangel]

Guys, this is a game. I would never advocate joining the SS if this was a real-life situation, but this is a game, and I would like to investigate that angle of play, especially since in Manstein's Woes and Red Flood, we already played the Heer.

[Csargo]

:shame:

[Kraxis]

Take it easy guys... No need to begin a fight. You can say we are already in enough of a fight.~;)

Now, I can safely tell you that you won't ever end up in a concentration camp. Or deal with anything like that. You are far too valuable as a frontline soldier. I can't refuse anything dealing with PoWs, but then again neither would I be able to do that with the Heer. The Eastern Front was ugly for everyone... From general to private, from supply troops to frontline troops, from Luftwaffe to Heer to Waffen SS.

And never forget, your own choices can lead to things one way or another...

[Gurkhal]

2) If Hausser wants Walter for something special there is a great chance it is important. And important is equal to great chances of promotions, not to speak of the personal relationship with Hausser. Who says it will ever be discovered what took place to get it off?

Mostly because something's got to happen.

[JimBob]

2) If Hausser wants Walter for something special there is a great chance it is important. And important is equal to great chances of promotions, not to speak of the personal relationship with Hausser. Who says it will ever be discovered what took place to get it off?
Hausser is old army, he may be SS but he's still a Prussian. Let's see where this goes. If we have command with Hausser we'll find ourselves in some of the most important fights of the East (with Citadelle coming soon). Maybe we can take the SS away from the creeps like Eicke.

[Tran]

Option no.2 - Anything can happen, I want to know what happen

[Kraxis]

Chapter 3: From Grey to Black

Walter nodded. "Yeah, no point in actually trying to rat out on you guys." Michael, still stoic in stance, lightened a bit up. "This shouldn't be about politics, I hope you understand that. We need the best Germany has to offer, and you fit the bill."
"You have made your points, and I accept. The Heer no longer has any future for me. They have left me to wither in an unacceptable position on the front for too long. I have been forgotten, I have been neglected. Damn, I have nearly been killed because they failed to realize I had more to offer. I'll join the SS and your clandestine little operation."
Michael returned to his youthful smile again. "Excellent! A tailor will arrive tomorrow to take your measurements for your new uniform. And I hope we can give you a more full briefing about your assignment soon. But I have to leave now, take care and welcome to the Waffen-SS." Michael gave a quick salute, spun on his heels and raced out of the hospital yard.

The very next morning an old short tailor arrived and began his work. His eyes were sad and kept glancing at the old uniform. Finally he said something. "So, going from Grey to Black?"
Walter understood his question only too well, but who was this man to question him? What did he know of Walter's reasons? "Old man, I think you should just keep your attention on taking the correct measurements."
"Yes, of course."
"And be sure to add a few centimetres to the waist and over the shoulders. I have lost weight while here, but I'm sure I will gain it back later."
The tailor finished quickly and basically ran out the door, leaving Walter to look after him, feeling a pang of anger. This is my life, and I bloody well decide for myself where I'm going.

The new uniform arrived within a few days, obviously the little tailor had a stock of materials already pre-cut. The uniform fitted most excellently, with a little room to expand on the waistline and over the shoulders.
It was now the 31st of January, and while the tailor had poked at the wrong spot, Walter felt good about his choice. He put on his hospital clothes again, he didn't want to wrinkle the uniform while sitting around here doing nothing.
As he trudged over to the bed to lie down a while, the wound was acting up again, there was a sharp rap on the door. Walter rose from the bed and opened door. The man outside was in his late 50s, grey hair and a grey stubble on the chin, upper lip and cheeks. He was equal in height to Walter and had the same piercing eyes. The squarish head lighted up in a smile. "Walter! My boy!" Big arms grabbed Walter in a big hug and Walter returned it.
"Dad! How have you found the time to come and see me?" Walter's heart pounded with joy.
"Oh, I convinced my superiors that the Kriegsmarine can live without me for a few days, it isn't as if we are doing many surface operations at this time."
"Come in, come in..." Walter led his father inside, and sat down on the side of the bed while his father sat down in a chair.
"So Walter, I can see you are healing well from that wound."
"Oh yes indeed. I'm returning to my old strength with great haste, but it still requires me to relax at times, I simply haven't got the endurance for much and my lung can't cope with stress at this time."
Martin nodded as he gave his son a good look over. "Losing weight doesn't fit you son. You have to eat more." Walter laughed.
“Parents... I am eating more, you should have seen me two weeks ago. I looked like I had just returned from Stalingrad."
“Speaking of Stalingrad, Paulus surrendered today...”
“Well, I’m glad I never got that transfer to 6th Armee. At times being ignored can be a benefit.”
Martin looked around the room while they spoke, and suddenly his eyes locked onto the black uniform hanging in the open dresser. “Please tell me that is Panzer Black.”
“Father, please.”
“What?! It is SS! How can you do that? They are Nazis!”
“I’m a soldier, and a soldier in the Waffen-SS, I won’t have anything to do with the politicians.”
“Are you crazy? You are a conservative, a nobility. You come from old Prussian traditions. These people are as far from that as you can get.”
“No that would be the Communists, father, the ones I am to fight. And what do I care how these people think? I’m in this for Germany.”
“You should have stayed with the Heer. We have old traditions in that place, our name is almost household in there.” Martin had puffed himself up with some arrogance and pride.
“Really now... Then why the heck was I looked over for promotion so many times? Why did I continue to serve in crap assignments? Why did my superiors keep holding me down, stealing resources from me just prior to attacks? I was being suffocated there, my talents wasted. The Heer offered me nothing, and you know it!”
“But the Waffen-SS... Why didn’t you join the Fallschirmjägers or something?”
“Don’t you think I have already tried? I was getting nowhere. At least here I will get a promotion and a proper assignment, and I know the Waffen-SS recognizes people for merit, not pedigree or old contacts. And they have seen what uncle Friedrich did.”
“Is that was it is about? A deranged old man ‘seeing’ strength in you? There was a reason he was put into that mental hospital, his mind was screwed over by his experiences.”
“What do you know about that?! You gladly left him when he was at his weakest, begging you not to, just to prove a point to him. You did that to spite the man. You bloody killed him, and you know it!”
Martin looked at Walter with strange unbelieving eyes. As he stood up his voice registered resignation. “I can sense your ambition Walter, I can’t stop you... I think I hear a horn calling all sailors back now.”
Walter seething with rage at his father answered. “Yes, I can hear it too, you better hurry. Close the door on the way out.” Martin slowly turned and walked out the door, a bit slumped.
After he had left Walter felt a lump in his throat, despite his rage. He stood up from the bed grabbed the chair and threw it with fury against the wall with a loud raging yell.
Almost instantly Walter fell to the floor in agony. His lung sent might jabs of pain through his body with every breath, the crazed action had been too much for the wound.
A few seconds later a nurse and the doctor stormed in. Seeing Walter lying on the floor in a fetal position, they acted quickly. A quick shot of morphine and laying him on the bed. Walter passed into sleep.

The next day Walter woke up around midday. A letter was lying on his table. It was from Hausser himself.

Sturmbannführer Walter von Schleizinger
It is good to hear you have accepted our offer. While I regret the need for unusual methods, it was felt to be important due to the nature of the operation at hand. I understand that you aren’t officially SS yet, but that doesn’t mean you can’t wear the uniform or begin to work. I’m sure the paperwork will be finished in a few days.

What I need you to do is learn about special warfare. Mobility, vehicles, tactics, anything that strikes you as important.
I have included a special pass to any training rounds and/or supply depots. I suggest you have a look at one of the following places, the panzer training grounds at Paderborn, the Junkerschule at Bad Tölz, the recon training grounds at Münster or the Kriegsschule at Potsdam for a view of SS infantry.

Good luck in recovery
Obergruppenführer Paul Hausser

No more time to recover, it seemed. Walter had to get a move on. However, these places were widely spaced so there was a choice to be made.

1) Go to Paderborn and learn about Panzer tactics, and the vehicles themselves. Walter has served with StuGs and tanks before, but he has no experience with them directly.
2) Go to Bad Tölz to find out about SS officer training. Since Walter was Heer until now there is bound to be some differences.
3) The recon forces at Münster could offer some insights into line of sight and the lay of the land.
4) SS infantry is different from Heer infantry, or at least their training is. Since Walter is an old infantry commander of shock troops, it could be useful to learn how the SS does their job.

[Peasant Phill]

Hmm, beter first learn about what we're working with. We can integrate ourselves later. Charisma might do the trick with the men, but no amount of charisma can compensate for lack of knowledge of our main weapon.

Vote 1 learn panzer tactics

[Kagemusha]

I would say that we should first learn the "house rules" of Waffen SS, in order to be efficient leader, so: 2) Go to Bad Tölz to find out about SS officer training. Since Walter was Heer until now there is bound to be some differences.

[woad&fangs]

This is my life, and I bloody well decide for myself where I'm going.
:laugh4: That's just a bit Ironic:laugh4:
I haven't made a descision yet.

[AggonyDuck]

I choose 1. Knowing our new weapon and arm by heart is essential in our new position. Without knowing the strengths and limits of armour, we will never succeed as a commander for an armoured formation.

[DemonArchangel]

Our job description was to be the commander of an SS Aufklarungsbattalion, not a Panzer Formation (sp?).

Thus, we should go to the recon school in Munster to learn the art of reconnaissance, infiltration and special operations. Going to the Panzerschule would be useless because we won't have tanks and heavy artillery under our command, we will have light infantry, armored cars and halftracks. Also, information is the most important weapon any military can have, and learning how to obtain information will prove to be much more valuable than tooling around in a bunch of Panzers looking glamorous until you run out of fuel. However, even information is useless unless you know how to use it to coordinate your forces. Go to SS Officer school after your trip to the recon facility.

Agony, Phill: Panzers fall under the definition of standard operations, not the special warfare that Hausser expected us to learn. And if we explain Walter's role to the recon commander, he might teach us how to coordinate our Aufkl battalion with armor and artillery.

[discovery1]

Vote: 3 Lets learn about being a scout since that's what we will be doing.

Learn to be an SS officer? Never, at most visit that place for only a few hours.

And damn, he could have handled that run in with his dad a bit better.

[AggonyDuck]

I'll stick with my decision. We are part of a combined arms formation and knowledge of the different types of vehicles and tactics is essential. The real question though is what does Hausser mean with special warfare?

[Flavius Clemens]

I'd go for 4. I agree with DemonArchangel about option 1, and I get the impression from the prologue that Walter is already pretty competent about line of sight and lay of the land, so learning the culture and tactics offers the biggest chance for improvement. Given the secrecy I suggest we don't give out any details to the people we meet or we could rapidly find ourselves out of favour with our new boss.

[shlin28]

Option 1

[Peasant Phill]

It seems that I've possibly been the victim of a misconseption. I thought that Walter was going to reckon with some light armour (he would learn light armour tactics to) and that Walter wouldn't learn scout tactics but would learn about the terrain he would be operating on.

So Kraxis, what can we expect of the make up of our scout group? And can we learn scout tactics or just knowledge of terrain?

[King Kurt]

I have just reread the previous chapter ( Chapter 2) Our contact was Wittmann who is currently at Paderborn so we should go there first. Our way forward is with him and his cadre so we should keep close. Our man needs no training in recon - his combat experience out weighs anything the training ground brings. Also our man has no need of SS indoctrination - he is meant to be separate from that - so no need for officer school. The infantry school sounds interesting, but let's get together with Wittmann first.

So - option 1 for me.

[Kraxis]

It seems that I've possibly been the victim of a misconseption. I thought that Walter was going to reckon with some light armour (he would learn light armour tactics to) and that Walter wouldn't learn scout tactics but would learn about the terrain he would be operating on.

So Kraxis, what can we expect of the make up of our scout group? And can we learn scout tactics or just knowledge of terrain?
Well, all the options are meant to learn basic tactics, to see how that arm works in combat, but also to get a feeling for how the equipment works. In the case of Recon school Walter would learn about the various vehicles and their performances, but also how Recon forces are supposed to advance and how to use the land in combination with that. At tank school he would learn about tanks etc etc. Of course each place would also take Walter on maneuvers and so on.

So no, he wouldn't be able to leanr about the land he is bound to work in yet. That is practically impossible since he only knows he will be working for Hausser, and that likely means in his units' area of influence.

[Tran]

Our job description was to be the commander of an SS Aufklarungsbattalion
How exactly did you get such a conclusion? :inquisitive:

And yes, I've re-read the chapters.

[DemonArchangel]

Tran: "What kind of position can I expect?" The man began what seemed to be a half rehearsed line. "You will take over a recon battalion in one of our divisions. Being the commander of such a force requires aggressive maneuvering, quick thinking, a feel for the land and the ability to act independently."

Kurt, Aggony: Here's the thing. Wittmann might be our contact, but he's not going to be much use to us in performing our job. We need to be independent, we need to act independently, even when not performing the recon job formally. We need to learn about what vehicles we have, what vehicles we're going to use, what special tactics recon units have etc. The capabilities of Panzers are up to the commanders of the Panzer regiments and should be of secondary concern to us. Our job for now is to simply feed them information. If we have time, we can go to Paderborn. While Walter is very knowledgeable about reconnaissance itself, he doesn't have experience with the vehicles and gear, which is what he'll be using.

[Kagemusha]

What i meant with going to SS officer school was, that Waffen SS had some really different approaches in leadership and relationship between the leaders and ordinary men compared to Heer. For example no one was called sir in SS, only by the rank. Now if our guy will start handling his SS men with the methods of Heer. I doubt he will turn out as very successful leader in Waffen SS.

[Kommodus]

DA's arguments have convinced me; the clues Kraxis has left seem to indicate the importance of reconaissance.

Vote: Option 3

[Gurkhal]

Just a question. I got the feeling that we are limited in the number of places we can visit. So that we will have to skip one or two of them. Is this correct?

[Kommodus]

Just a question. I got the feeling that we are limited in the number of places we can visit. So that we will have to skip one or two of them. Is this correct?

No. We have to choose one. ~;)

[AntiochusIII]

I don't know, when it comes to Special Warfare, I always get this impression that adaptability is the most important asset of all.

For sure, going to SS Officer School is a baaaad idea. We jumped in here with the caveat that we won't let Walter become an ordinary SS, war criminal scum and all, but rather a special forces commander for special operations. It really doesn't matter much if we call our superiors "Sir" and our soldiers don't. I should think that raw charisma, brave conduct, and field success are what make a good commander in a soldier's eyes. Besides, it's not like we'll learn that much about an ordinary SS soldier from an officer school. I think the focus on battalion-level warfare lends better to a full-scale military game than political intrigue.

And most importantly, as early as this chapter 3 his personal conflict has begun. The last thing we need is to submerge him more in the SS "culture." No sir, leave that to others who care. He's in it for Germany.

So that leaves three choices: Panzers, Recon, and Infantry.

The instructions are not clear, but I lean more towards Recon myself. Others have rightly noted that we have contacts with the Panzer guys, and I myself think that learning the role of these war machines in special operations would be valuable knowledge. Same goes for the infantry, to know what they can and cannot do in a field would provide us with great but indirect insights. Hence why I choose Recon: he might already know a lot, but in the end what makes a special operation special is the precision of the execution and adaptability on the field. That requires, more than anything else, good intelligence and therefore good reconnaissance. I hope we could've learned all we can of course, but this is war and nothing goes as it should be...

Choice 3.

[Kagemusha]

I don't know, when it comes to Special Warfare, I always get this impression that adaptability is the most important asset of all.

For sure, going to SS Officer School is a baaaad idea. We jumped in here with the caveat that we won't let Walter become an ordinary SS, war criminal scum and all, but rather a special forces commander for special operations. It really doesn't matter much if we call our superiors "Sir" and our soldiers don't. I should think that raw charisma, brave conduct, and field success are what make a good commander in a soldier's eyes. Besides, it's not like we'll learn that much about an ordinary SS soldier from an officer school. I think the focus on battalion-level warfare lends better to a full-scale military game than political intrigue.

And most importantly, as early as this chapter 3 his personal conflict has begun. The last thing we need is to submerge him more in the SS "culture." No sir, leave that to others who care. He's in it for Germany.

So that leaves three choices: Panzers, Recon, and Infantry.

The instructions are not clear, but I lean more towards Recon myself. Others have rightly noted that we have contacts with the Panzer guys, and I myself think that learning the role of these war machines in special operations would be valuable knowledge. Same goes for the infantry, to know what they can and cannot do in a field would provide us with great but indirect insights. Hence why I choose Recon: he might already know a lot, but in the end what makes a special operation special is the precision of the execution and adaptability on the field. That requires, more than anything else, good intelligence and therefore good reconnaissance. I hope we could've learned all we can of course, but this is war and nothing goes as it should be...

Choice 3.

Im sorry, but what has going to Waffen SS officer (not Allgemeine-SS, or "General" SS.) school has to do with our character turning into a war criminal? We are already part of criminal organization. I was and still am against going into SS at the first place, but if you enter any organization and dont know what is expected from the leader in that organization, it is very much likely that you wont be successful inside that organization. You do realize that our future subordinates will be politically brainwashed SS soldiers, who will have hard time accepting a aristocratic Heer officer, as their commander, specially because in Waffen SS the future leaders of units went trough their basic training together with their future subordinates.
I personally doubt that in this Interactive History, Kraxis is giving us "right or wrong" choices to begin with, but just set of choices that will mold our character through out the story, until the story end´s.:smash:

[DemonArchangel]

So? Those SS enlisted men will learn to listen and to listen well. Screw the politics of the SS, screw the politics of the Fuhrer. The men under my command, and those commanding Walter WILL understand that success on the battlefield is the only sort of success.

[Tran]

Thanks, DA. My choice:

3) The recon forces at Münster could offer some insights into line of sight and the lay of the land.

[AntiochusIII]

You do realize that our future subordinates will be politically brainwashed SS soldiers, who will have hard time accepting a aristocratic Heer officer, as their commander, specially because in Waffen SS the future leaders of units went trough their basic training together with their future subordinates.
Are they? The Waffen SS has almost as much of a criminal history as its more well-known sibling, true, but our boy's joining Hausser to be Special Forces first, SS second. I'm pretty sure that the average soldiers in these more elite, specialized formations aren't more "criminal" than their brethrens anywhere else.

I mean, he's not going to command prison guards or anti-partisan formations. At least, I hope that's not going to happen. Rather, we are commanding elite soldiers, more interested in the success of the operation and the victory of the Fatherland than whatever the Führer's propaganda machine has to say. These types I think are bonded together through trials by fire rather than social etiquette. And we can easily substitute the lack of "training" with the soldiers by, well, fighting with them.

Besides, I want to play a game where we rise up the ranks through a mountain of communist corpses, not fascist ones, if you know what I mean. ~;) While the officer school might provide us with interesting insights and leverage among the SS, allowing extra resources and smoother negotiations with Walter's superiors or whatever, the price -- going deeper into the SS politics (you make friends (and foes?) in these places) and consequently a worsened personal conflict -- is not worth the gain, especially when there are much more effective alternatives elsewhere.

My 2 florins.

[Peasant Phill]

Unvote 1 and vote 3

I chose under the misconception that we would learn reckon tactics (light armour tactics) when going to panzer school and that the reckon guys would only supply us with knowledge of our enemy and it's terrain.
Now that it's clear that we can only learn reckon tactics at the reckon school, I'll vote for that.

BTW, I'm pretty sure that Walter may spark some resentment in his subordinates for not being SS, I'm also fairly sure this resentment will evaporate ones they are convinced of our abilities. Also, we only have to report to Hausser AFAWK and he chose us and not some SS officer.

[Gurkhal]

3) The recon forces at Münster could offer some insights into line of sight and the lay of the land.

As I’ve understood it, Walter have no experience regarding fighting with Recon troops, thus this will probably be the best idea. While in an ideal world, he would be able to visit all the places as they’ve all have something to teach. I do see the benefit of number 2 and 4, with our future within the SS. But I think that for the immeditate future, 3 is the better choice.

I might change this vote if additional information or argumentation would come that could point harder for the benefits of 2 or 4. The only part I don’t really see any benefit about is 1. I mean, we arn’t expected to drive around with tanks, are we?

[Kagemusha]

Are they? The Waffen SS has almost as much of a criminal history as its more well-known sibling, true, but our boy's joining Hausser to be Special Forces first, SS second. I'm pretty sure that the average soldiers in these more elite, specialized formations aren't more "criminal" than their brethrens anywhere else.

I mean, he's not going to command prison guards or anti-partisan formations. At least, I hope that's not going to happen. Rather, we are commanding elite soldiers, more interested in the success of the operation and the victory of the Fatherland than whatever the Führer's propaganda machine has to say. These types I think are bonded together through trials by fire rather than social etiquette. And we can easily substitute the lack of "training" with the soldiers by, well, fighting with them.

Besides, I want to play a game where we rise up the ranks through a mountain of communist corpses, not fascist ones, if you know what I mean. ~;) While the officer school might provide us with interesting insights and leverage among the SS, allowing extra resources and smoother negotiations with Walter's superiors or whatever, the price -- going deeper into the SS politics (you make friends (and foes?) in these places) and consequently a worsened personal conflict -- is not worth the gain, especially when there are much more effective alternatives elsewhere.

My 2 florins.

Well Hausser, during this time was commander of 2nd SS Division Das Reich and it was definitely elite division, like 1st SS Division, Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler or 3rd SS Division Totenkopf, which all together formed the famous, II SS Panzer Corps, where we are also most probably heading. Each of these three divisions had tremendous battle value, but also each of these divisions committed war crimes, like killing POW´S or civilians. Make no mistake about it. Elite or not, we have not joined into a boyscout organization, being a combat effective soldier will not make individual any better or worse as person. But i will rest my case now, because the recon training or any other training wont hurt us in the future. But no doubt the lack of SS officer training will cause us trouble in the future, but then there will be trouble ahead in any case.:yes:

[Franconicus]

I would say that we should first learn the "house rules" of Waffen SS, in order to be efficient leader, so: 2) Go to Bad Tölz to find out about SS officer training. Since Walter was Heer until now there is bound to be some differences.
kage is absolutly right! Let`s go to Tölz!
Why? There are several reasons. Now that we joined the SS, we have to ride the dragon. We have to meet some of the officers, learn how they think, maybe get some good contacts. We will need them some day. I guess not every SS officer is pleased about a new entry from the Heer. Let`s learn about our friends and enemies within the SS.

Also we can learn more about the SS tactics here than in the infantry camp.

And we might get some information about Hausser and his secret mission.

[Gurkhal]

Option 2

Having read the latest posts, I've decided to change my vote. Mostly because I've bought the motives that it could be good to understand the nature of the Waffen SS officer corps. In particiler since we, after all, are here to do a career.

With alot of luck we might even be able to visit another place as well.

[Peasant Phill]

Is this interactive still active? It would be a shame if it would end this way.

[discovery1]

Is this interactive still active? It would be a shame if it would end this way.

Kraxis will get back to it, don't worry. It just might take a long while.

[Flavius Clemens]

Kraxis Interactive Histories are like Guinness ads - good things come to those who wait.

[Lt. Pinard]

Just a friendly message to Kraxis.

We're all still waiting to continue this IH. We haven't forgot about it and hope you haven't either. :grin2:

[Kraxis]

The loyalty of good people. :yes:

I am sorry I never let you guys get any word on what was going on. Seems to be a very bad habit I have. At times our lives do pull us in odd directions.

Know this, I never dropped the idea of continuing this. At intervals the story has popped up in my mind, new junctures and new ideas have been thought over. I guess that is part of the reason for my inability to come with an update, that it has all the time been a 'temporary' leave in my mind. One that got to be almost permanently temporary.

Well, I'm back now. In for nothing else than a new little update.

Part of the problem I think is that Walther is a more complex person than any of the other characters. There I have been able to mold them in relation to their environment or have historical records to lean on. Walther is a clean slate. Further I don't have any historical event to tie the story into. This is a more 'generic' situation. One that could potentially have happened to thousands of people.
But a problem isn't synonym with wrong.

An interesting thing is how, given time the votes here have drifted towards special training more or less. Well it is the 3rd option that wins.

[Kraxis]

Forgot to add... a new chapter will be up soon.

[Franconicus]

Although finance market breaks down and stock exchanges collapse ... this is a great day for all of us ~:cheers:

[King Kurt]

Here here :2thumbsup:- just realised I am going to have to read this all again!!

[Flavius Clemens]

Although finance market breaks down and stock exchanges collapse ... this is a great day for all of us ~:cheers:

:yes:

Does this mean Kraxis is in fact the opium of the people? :holmes:

[Kraxis]

Chapter 4: To Münster

Walter woke with a jolt... His long sleep had taken him from the hospital all the way to Münster itself. The dreams had been the longest in his life, it felt as if he had lived an almost entire life in them. Coming back to 'life' was something of a surprise.
He looked down himself as he could begin to make sense of his surroundings. His jacket was black... He never wore black. So were his leggings, and the cap resting on the little folding table of his traincabin. It took him a few more moments to remember he was an SS Sturmbannfürher now.

Still feeling groggy he disembarked the train and stumbled through the station itself. Outside he got hold of a military truck loading soldiers from the station, and to his great furtune it was destined for the base outside town. Another surprise hit him when he learned that it wasn't a reconschool, but a regular trainingcamp for infantry and artillery. The driver looked him over. "You coming with us? You look a bit lost, maybe the guard captain can tell you something?"
Walter just nodded, no point in just milling about at the station for no reason. Might as well try to get some sense out of this. Besides these were green regular infantry, by the looks of it from a new division too. Maybe they didn't know that much about the place either.
The drive took another 20 minutes along first good roads then a bumpy forest track, until finally a military checkpoint emerged. The truck was quickly inspected then let onwards, and a few minutes later they reached the real gate. The driver opened his little hatch and called out. "Sturmbannführer, this is it. We are moving on to the enlisted barracks now." Then he added with a smile. "I doubt that is where you are supposed to go." The other troops in the back grinned at it as Walther jumped down the back.

Looking around the truck Walter saw one guard out lifting the block and another two men sitting inside the little guardhouse, obviously warming themselves near a little stove. With full strides Walter walked up to the guard, now letting the block down again. Looking at the strange SS officer bearing down on him, the guard frowned, then turned to face him with his MP40 dangling at his chest. He snapped a salute and Walter responded.
"What can I help you with Herr... ehh?"
Despite the different address from the SS way, Walter, being an aristocrat and mostly schooled in the Heer, actually preferred it, and smiled lightly at the guard.
"Yes, in fact I believe you can Gefreiter. I have this pass," Walter said and handed the man his almost universal pass from Hausser and went on, "and I have heard that there is a reconschool here in Münster. I was hoping you could direct me towards it."
The guard examined the pass for a few seconds then nodded. "Yes, there can be some confusion as to this matter. Our school here is not specified, it contains a lot of artillery and infantry training, and little else to be honest. The reconschool isn't a school in it's own right, it moves about the country I hear, but for the time being it is here in Münster. It isn't that hard to find, but I better find you a ride since it is a lengthy walk."
"If you would be so kind."
The guard trotted inside and spoke in a phone for a few seconds, then he came out again. "As you can possibly imagine, you aren't the first man to come here a little confused. I have witnessed more than one man being picked up in town because he didn't come here when he heard it was an infantry camp." The man sighed. "I wish they would just make it easier and have representatives at the station so incoming personell could get the correct information there."

After a few minutes a motorcycle came up to the gate and the guard waved Walter on.
To ride in a sidecar was a new experience, but one he valued. This gave him a slightly better insight into the motorcycle troops' feel when they moved about, and more importantly how much visibility they had.
The building Walter was directed to looked more like a warehouse than a barracks or schoolbuilding. Inside an orderly quickly grabbed his bags and scurried off, while a Stabsgefreiter led him to a classroom and ushered him inside. Puzzled by the silent treatment and apparent need for speed, Walther looked around.
Clearly this was the place he was supposed to end up at. All the walls were lined with maps, shadowcontours of vehicles, pictures and lists. Lined in a classical style were small oneman tables, and at this time the room was nearly three quarters full. The other men looked at the newcomer with some detached interest. Frowning at the entire situation Walter decided that there would be more to be gained if he awaited their 'teacher' or what it would be. So he seated himself on the second row next to a handsome young Obersturmführer. All around them were men from various services, greencollared panzergrenadier officers, white collared infantry officers, pinkcollared panzer officers, a few red artillery and gold/yellow recons. Only three were Waffen SS by appearances so far.
The young SS officer next to Walter leaned over. "Welcome Sturmbannführer, don't feel puzzled, this is how it works here. They don't seem to dabble too much in beaurocracy, to the point of too little I would say." Walter looked at the smiling face and frowned again. "Oh where are my manners, I'm Viktor Graebner of the new Hohenstaufen division." The young man extended his hand. Walter tried not to let Graebner's easygoing style affect him, but he found himself smiling as he gripped the hand in a firm shake. "I'm Walter von Schleizinger, not yet assigned to any command."
"Well, I see you are already familiar with recon." Graebner said nodding to his golden piping on his shoulders and neck.
"Not really, I have only just joined the Waffen SS. So I have just been given what was at hand really... or at least think so. I'm really a panzergrenadier commander. But we'll see in time."

Graebner chatty and straightforward, kept up a barrage of questions, constantly keeping Walter off balance. Until finally the door opened again to admit a leatherfaced Heer officer with greying hair and icy eyes. The yellow piping on his neck and shoulders marked him as clearly recon. He took in the roon in one glance then trampled up to the small desk before facing the 'students'.
"Gentlemen, welcome to the reconschool. I'm sure some of you are confused, but that it alright. You are in the right place, I can recognize all of you from the papers." Then he turned his eyes onto Walter. "But I don't know you."
"I'm Sturmbannführer Walter von Schleizinger."
"Ahh... yes, I was told that you might turn up at some point or another. Lucky for you we are about to begin a speedy course in recon." Then he turned back to the classroom. "I'm Hauptmann Franz Janssen, I see that I'm not the senior officer present, but don't let that fool you, men. In this course I hold absolute command. Forget about ranks. You will all address me as Herr Hauptmann, without question!" The last part was directed at the SS officers in the room.
"Before we begin learning about the equipment and special style of the German reconnaissance I have a small test for you. Simply it is to see if you are fit of mind to command our precious recon forces in combat. So far you have made the easy hurdle of that of your superior officers' consideration, now you must make mine, and trust me I'm far more demanding of your abilities and thoughts." As he spoke he grabbed a stack of papers and handed them to the men at the front row and waved for them to pass them down along the line.
Walter grabbed one test and pessed the rest along a Heer infantry officer behind him.
Inside the test was a drawn map, a text and a table of forces.
"As you might have noticed the map isn't exactly of photographic quality, it is from my own hand and as such it is far beyond any other quality in this world. The point being that often handdrawn maps will be all you have to guide your forces on. Read the text!"
Walther stared intently on the text, willing to give it his best.

"You are in command of a company of scouts (see the table of forces for a breakdown). The current situation is that your division is advancing at full speed north. You need to quickly determine what kind of opposition the regular forces can expect, and where they are, along the way.
Earlier today a fighter pilot, on his way back from intercepting an enemy flight noticed a line of trucks moving into a village just north of your position. He counted around 15 situated at the center of the village as he flew home. His description is all you have of the surrounding area. Based on the number of trucks and the expected enemy unit opposing your division Intelligence expect that you will see around a batallion of infantry occupying the village.
Your objective is to scout out their positions, determine their composition and if possible drive them away. The latter is only a distant third objective."

https://img82.imageshack.us/img82/5857/recontrainingon6.th.jpg (https://img82.imageshack.us/my.php?image=recontrainingon6.jpg)https://img82.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif (http://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php)

It is early spring in Russia, that means thaw in the day and frost in the night. The ground is mushy but not muddy yet. To the southeast of the village runs a drainage ditch, it is about 2 meters deep at most and it can be expected to be slightly more muddy. To the east of the village is a dense wood, hard to travel through in vehicles. To the west is a light wood, likely created through generations of farmers sending their farmanimals to pasture in it. It is a maze of small tracks and paths. Too dense to look or speed through, it has basically no undergrowth or low hanging branches. Running in a mostly east-west direction is an embanked road so typical for rural Russia. It is nearly 2 meters taller than the surrounding area though not in the village itself. Running from the south to the village and the high road is a low road, even with the surrounding farmland. To the north is another dense wood and running from the north to east is a stream or small river. There are a couple isolated houses along the high road.

The company consist of:
1st Platoon, your HQ of 2 Light Armoured Cars (you and the XO) and 2 Heavy Armoured Cars, 6-wheelers, in support.
2nd platoon of 4 Heavy Armoured Cars, 8-wheelers.
3rd platoon of 4 Armoured Halftracks each with 4 mounted scouts as infantry.
4th platoon of 5 motorcycles with sidecars and MGs.

As the officers around him read on and began to finish, Hauptmann Janssen's loud voice carried through the room again. "So now you know what awaits you. What I want is a plan for dealing with a Russian enemy and another for how you will handle a German enemy."
Walter raised a hand. "Herr Hauptmann, why a German enemy?"
"Heh... Well you see, our primary enemy, Ivan, isn't stupid. He learns, and he will by the Heavens learn from us in time. Maybe not perfectly, but mark my words, if we don't finish him soon, he will be a lot better. And who can he learn from but the best?"
Janssens words rang sharp and scary in Walter's mind. So far the Russians had been rabble in most cases. A few brialliant forces weren't enough to shake this, but they had been getting better lately. They had copied the German practice of having the infantry ride into battle on the back of tanks, and even evolved it further to make it a sort of shocktactic, where the Germans had just used it interim. Horrible losses to be sure, but it meant the infantry was among the enemy faster. What else was in the cooker of the Eastern Front?
"Go to your rooms and ponder this until tomorrow. Yes, you get more time than in the field, but you are raw in this, even if you are experienced field commanders. I will evaluate your work tomorrow afternoon."

The class quickly filed out, some heading for the mess, but Walter headed for his designated room.

How will Walter command his forces to scout out this village and surrounding area? Remember to include a tactic for both enemies. Some sort of combined work will be required of you, something you can agree on doing.

[AggonyDuck]

Kraxis is back and with a nice problem for us to solve too! :2thumbsup:

I figure based on the report that we can expect the time to be around afternoon.

We should also determine what exactly is the difference between a Russian and a German enemy.

Anyway what immediately becomes apparent here is that we have at most 16 infantry scouts at our disposal, with an additional 10 in reserve if we dismount the motorcycles. So we really cannot afford to waste our infantry.

As to how I would perform our reconnaisance, I would send the 4th platoon to scout the light wood in the southwest, while sending the mounted scouts of 3rd platoon to scout the dense wood in the southeast. They'll be supported by the 2nd platoon that will advance on the southeastern side of the village parallel to the drainage ditch, where their heavy cannons should be able to give decent support and possibly. The 1st platoon would initially be held in reserve and sent to support a withdrawal if needed. After the flanking woods had been scouted, I would with the support of the 2nd platoon send a squad of mounted scouts from 3rd platoon to advance along the ditch, while pretty much pouring heavy cannon fire in the houses near the ditch. At the same time I'd advance with 1st platoon along the road, with the XO taking point, followed by the two 6-wheelers and you taking the rear, concentrating their fire on the first three houses. This should hopefully enable us to get pretty far along the ditch without taking heavy casualties and allow us to get a picture of the enemy at the southern and western sides of the village.

[Kraxis]

Kraxis is back and with a nice problem for us to solve too! :2thumbsup:

I figure based on the report that we can expect the time to be around afternoon.

We should also determine what exactly is the difference between a Russian and a German enemy.

Anyway what immediately becomes apparent here is that we have at most 16 infantry scouts at our disposal, with an additional 10 in reserve if we dismount the motorcycles. So we really cannot afford to waste our infantry.

Your job is to more or less point out how you expect a German enemy and a Russian enemy would be arranged in and around the village. And then figure out how to take advantage of each side's dispositions to scout them out.

The current time is around noon, but that isn't so important. Walter will grab his food and get his sleep regardless. :beam:

The mounted scouts are more closely tied to their APCs than similar armoured infantry. Simply put they are extremely lightly armed and equipped. They are superb at close quarter fighting, but they do require the assistance of their mounts, and they feel naked without them.

The motorcycle crews are the old remnants of the pre-war scouts and light regiments. They are obviously fast, mobile and very observant. But dismounted their only tactic is basically the ambush, given that they are armed with pistols and their MG. Tactical dismounted maneuver is nearly impossible. That said, the motorcycles can easily navigate the light wood. The APCs being the largest vehicles you have, will be hard pressed to move through the dense wood at all.

Oh, and all the armoured cars have the same 20mm autocannon as their main weapon. It will be some time yet before heavier weapons will be available in any numbers.

[AggonyDuck]

Your job is to more or less point out how you expect a German enemy and a Russian enemy would be arranged in and around the village. And then figure out how to take advantage of each side's dispositions to scout them out.

The current time is around noon, but that isn't so important. Walter will grab his food and get his sleep regardless. :beam:

The mounted scouts are more closely tied to their APCs than similar armoured infantry. Simply put they are extremely lightly armed and equipped. They are superb at close quarter fighting, but they do require the assistance of their mounts, and they feel naked without them.

The motorcycle crews are the old remnants of the pre-war scouts and light regiments. They are obviously fast, mobile and very observant. But dismounted their only tactic is basically the ambush, given that they are armed with pistols and their MG. Tactical dismounted maneuver is nearly impossible. That said, the motorcycles can easily navigate the light wood. The APCs being the largest vehicles you have, will be hard pressed to move through the dense wood at all.

Oh, and all the armoured cars have the same 20mm autocannon as their main weapon. It will be some time yet before heavier weapons will be available in any numbers.

So essentially we will have a very hard time scouting the dense forest. That does change things a bit. As to the autocannon, it should most likely be more than enough to cause havoc inside those Russian buildings. I'd bet that there might at best 2 or 3 concrete/brick buildings in the village and planks shouldn't be enough to stop 20mm autocannon grenades.

So we're facing an infantry battallion. That would be something like 4-5 companies of infantry with various support elements. I'd say with the Russians we might find a lot of the battallion concentrated inside the village, while with the Germans I'd say the surrounding woods should hold a company each, with the town protected by one company + supporting units.

[Kraxis]

Not impossible, but perhaps with another force?

I'm getting dangerously close to advising you now, though my previous comment shouldn't be seen as such.

I only mentioned the 20 mm autocannons because of the heavy weapons comment. While heavy compared to regular MGs, they are hardly heavy compared to the support weapons even a normal infantry company has available (mortars, field guns etc). It was just there to clarify, not that I disagree with your analysis of the capabilities.

[Marshal Murat]

For a Russian Enemy:
I would assume 4 companies of Russian troops. A Company would garrison the town center, with the XO at least. B and C companies would line the embanked roads. D company would be in reserve, behind the village and embanked road.

To identify the Soviet positions, I would use my motorcycle scouts to go forward through the light wood and identify the flank company and identify houses garrisoned in the town. The 2nd Platoon would drive at the village, seeking a Russian response. If the fire gets serious (AT guns) then the 2nd platoon would pull out, and cover the Russian troops until the 'main force' appears. Hold 1st and 3rd platoons in reserve.

Solution
If asked to root out Soviet troops, I would have the motorcycle troops identify the flank on the embanked road. 2nd platoon would demonstrate against the front of the village, attracting all attention at the fore. The 1st and 3rd platoon would then move through the light woods, with a fore of the armored vehicles. These forces would punch the embanked road, clearing it with mechanized troops, and then swing round behind the village. The armored troops would lead around, motorcycle troops cordoning the northwest road the the forest. The 1st and 3rd would sweep behind the village, and then ride against the rear of the eastern embanked road. The 1st and 2nd platoons would then pincer the town, supported by the mounted infantry.

For a German Enemy:
The German companies would be aligned in the dense forest. A Company would be in the village. B company in the eastern forest along the ditch. C Company would be in the dense forest in the northwest, waiting for Soviets to ride over the embarked road. D Company would hold a position from dense wood to village. Were the Soviets to ride over the embanked road, they would be held by D Company and C company would hit them in the flank. Were they to attack the village head on, D Company could reinforce A Company, and B Company would attack on the flank.

Solution
To identify the troops, motorcycle troops would go through the light woods and identify any German troops. The armored and mechanized would sweep between the the dense woods, rooting out the Germans there-in. I would then wait for reinforcements. To attack, I would then send the armored and mechanized on a reverse sweep. 2nd Platoon would rejoin the motorcycle troops and fire on the woods and any troops nearby. 1st and 3rd would sweep behind and crush the Germans. Then they would sweep the village.

[woad&fangs]

I'm glad to see this IH back. :grin:
...
...
but I'll let people with more knowledge of WWII tactics make the descisions for this round.

[Flavius Clemens]

Difficult one.
Do we have any indication of scale of the map?

[Kraxis]

Difficult one.
Do we have any indication of scale of the map?

About 400 meters from the eastern dense wood to the low road and another 600 meters to the light wood. So about 1km across.

[Gurkhal]

Wonderful to see this IH going alive again. I'll be back this afternoon with a little longer post.

Edit: Or more likly I'll leave this part for sharper minds.

[King Kurt]

As per my other colleagues, I think the difference between a russian approach and a German one will be that the Russians would be concentrated in and around the village while the Germans would be more diffuse but mutually supporting.

It would appear the only forces likely to penertrate the thick forest on the right will be the m/c platoon, so initially they should take the right and all others the left. We should avoid the open in the day - there are about 2-300 troops in the village - probably with light A/T, mortars and mgs so any attack in the open in daylight will be carnage.

Initially we should probe through the woods stealthly and quietly. As night falls we can infiltrate some men from the m/c platoon to near the village by using the ditch as cover. On the left we should aim to be on the flank of the village with the heavy armoured cars and over the embanked road with the other forces - possibly in the edge of the thick woods to the north of the village. Using the information gathered during the day, we call in an artillery strike for midnight - the men would be in their billets and they will be at a lower level of alertness. Also, as it is still fairly cold, most of the troops will be in the houses. When the artillery opens up, all companies open up with maximum firepower and pour it into the village. The artillery will also fire the occasional star shell so we can see what is happening. Ideally the choas caused with an attack from several directions will cause them to crack and run - if they do, the mobile forces to the north can close to capture prisoners and keep the rout going. If they hold their ground - the German way? - then we have a good idea of the strength of the forces and the main force - due in the morning? - can deal accordingly with a force pinned down and tired from being under fire all night. Moreover air support could be arranged for first light.

[Kraxis]

On such a small tactical level you don't exactly have the luxury of time. Not to the point of waiting for night and the following morning.

You are mere hours ahead of the main force.
You have more than enough time to sneak about and lurk and so on, but a direct result is needed from that. It isn't Eben Emael you are attacking. :beam:

And Gurkhal and woad&fangs, don't worry. Even if you feel less competent about these things, you insights and ideas might spark some clues the ohers could have overlooked or some such. Valid comments are always worth it. And in the end, you supporting one or another idea could prove decisive since some sort of agreement is needed. Walter can't propose ten different tactics, can he now. ~:)

[King Kurt]

Kraxis - I think that Montgomery would have approved of my cautious plan!!

If we have less time, then I still would propose a similar plan, but quicker. Also the artillery would use smoke as well as HE. Also, perhaps we could have an air strike to arrive at the same time. I still hold with staying away from the open - a few A/T guns would shred our armoured cars - hey A/T rifles would be bad news.

[Gurkhal]

I decided to have a shot at this thing after all, and then we’ll see what people think about this.

I actually don’t see that there would much of a difference in how Russians or Germans would go about this place in defending the village. The objective of the enemy is fairly obvious as I see it, that’s to prevent anyone coming from the road running from the south, to go into the settlement. This should of course quite easily lead to the conclusion that most enemy heavy weapons are position and turned towards the south and that road, as well as camouflaged to prevent anyone spotting them from the south and the road. I would guess that the enemy also has some sort of cross-fire tactic in mind with those woods positioned as they are, and that would really make just walking forward a real death trap. Likewise I also don’t think that the ditch would be readily available as cover since part of the trap might be to make the attacker’s infantry run into the ditch, and thus there could well be mines in it or a machine-gun mounted too cut down anyone who goes down there.

The way I think that this should be avoided is naturally through flanking and infiltrating. Since the object of driving the enemy away was only one a distant third place, I recommend that rather than trying something heroic (and in my mind on the border of stupied) which could lead our small force to being massacred by an overwhelming enemy in a rather pointless way (as I see it) I won’t even try to drive the enemy away. Soldiers and vehicles are if I am not entirely wrong, already precious to the Germans so I wouldn’t take more risks than I would have to, not to mention that I don't see it as our job to punch a way through the enemy since that's what we've got tanks for after all. The German force should be divided into three parts. The motorcycles are to advance through the light wood and scout that out, possibly leaving their vehicles to avoid raising attention with the noise and avoid going into a direct fight, better that they pull back in time. Meanwhile the 3rd platoon shall advance through the dense forest in likewise manner and possibly leaving their vehicles if the ditch extends to far south and to avoid drawing attention with the noise from the engines. The infantry should also if possible sneak as far ahead as they can to get a look at how the village looks like, but shouldn’t get to close. The rest of the force stays put, ready to intercept to cover a retreat of the infantry. I wouldn't mind if our man joins the infantry himself for this one, good to keep the moral up and he can see what happens directly.

If I would make an attack, that would go through the two forested parts and cut into the village while using the banked road as a cover to avoid flanking fire, and that should also avoid getting into the targets of the enemy’s heavy weapons. The question who that should go where is a little trickier. But possibly the motorcycles and the halftracks, if they can get through the woods and over or around the ditch, and then advance in a circle towards the village, while the armored cars would go likewise through the light wood. The plan is then that the two groups goes without raising undue attention and attack the village from two directions with surprise. If the dense wood is not possible to navigate for the vehicles through, then it might be a better plan to keep the force united and strike from a single direction.

[DemonArchangel]

Ok, so we are a few hours ahead of the main force, no artillery cover, and our job is to determine the nature of the forces in the village.

I'm not going to bother trying to drive them off, that's not my job.

Keep the motorcycles in the dense wood. They're our only units that can move through it (and withdraw through it) at a reasonable clip. The halftracks and infantry scouts will be kept in reserve to screen a rapid withdrawal, while the heavy ACs will move on the left side of the ditch, covering the MCs and light ACs, which will move through the light woods. We will withdraw as soon as we come under fire and can determine the nature of the enemy forces.

The left side of the road is the location where fire will most likely come from, as there are clear fields of fire, so avoid it at all costs.

There could be landmines on the approaches to the village, so my men should be alert. There are certainly mines on the roads as the enemy would anticipate my advance moving up it.

Although I might be wrong. Gurkhal's plan is however, excellent.

[Flavius Clemens]

Firstly, whatever the circumstances a couple of thoughts to impress on the platoon commanders:
a) The pilot’s sighting and the intelligence report may be the best estimate of the force we are facing, but bear in mind they may be wrong or out of date. Trust your own eyes above all else.
b) They have had time to booby-trap the obvious approaches up the low road and the ditch, so no charging up the road. If all we achieve is leaving a knocked out armoured car blocking the road we’ll be doing the Russians’ work for them.

Facing Russians
As has been said earlier, it seems most likely they have deployed in the village and behind the raised road, probably with battalion mortars behind the road where they can operate sheltered from direct fire from us, but we need to double check this first.

1st Platoon remains central, just to the left of the road, to coordinate, observe the front of the village and provide supporting fire if and where necessary.
Send 4th Platoon left to recce the light wood and, if it’s clear, sneak forward on foot to observe the embanked road and village from the edge of the wood. 3rd platoon deploys scouts to check the ditch and observe the dense wood. If clear, 2nd platoon then move forward between the ditch and road, and push forward to observe the village from the right. Don’t get too close; expect risk of anti-tank rifle fire. Meanwhile 3rd platoon redeploys scouts to check the road for booby-traps.

If the Russian deployment is as expected and we conclude an attack is worth while (as implied, this is unlikely) air support would be nice. We have to either punch through the village or get over the embanked road, either of which leaves the armoured cars vulnerable to a/t rifles, grenades and generally suicidal Russians. I suggest we aim to outflank and envelope on the left as follows.
4th platoon moves through light wood ready for a wide flanking move. 1st platoon, moves forward to the left of the road, firing at the buildings at the front of the village. Other platoons move forward slightly to the right of the light wood, with the armoured cars initially concentrating fire on the village then, if a shot is possible over the road, on the isolated building to the left of the village. The motorcycles dash out of the wood near the edge of the map, cross the road and turn right, enfilading the defenders with their machineguns so that the 2nd and 3rd platoons can immediately cross the road, with less risk of being attacked. All these forces then press the attack against the Russians while 1st platoon continues fire from the other side of the road.

Facing “Germans”
In this case the enemy is likely to be better equipped and to have used at least one of the woods to deploy some of the troops, allowing a cross-fire.
Keep 1st platoon central as before and use 3rd platoon to check the ditch, observe the dense wood from there and then redeploy to check the road. If the motorcycles can operate in the dense wood and armoured cars in the light wood then use 4th and 2nd platoons accordingly to check these. If they encounter the enemy in the woods it’s unlikely we’ll be able to get any further, but if possible get as close to the village as the cover allows to observe troop deployments there.

As for attack plans, simple answer is don’t bother. We’re not the right force to try and root out determined, well-equipped defenders from woods and our casualties would outweigh any benefit, leaving the recon capability seriously weakened for the next phase of the advance.

[Franconicus]

Russian style would be to cover the town and the road from the south; Gernab style maybe having more in reserve an covering the bridge.

I suppose that Iwan has some infantry in the northern wood and a guard at the bridge. Maybe some artillery in the northern wood, too.

The bridge may be the key. I guess, that is the supply line for the enemy and that is his retreating route. So, like James Brown used to say, TAKE ME TO THE BRIDGE.

We should have one detachment marching through the western wood. It is dense enough to pass it unseen. They should target the road between town and bridge. There they can recon the traffic. If there is none, the town is propably empty. If there is a lot - we should not attack!!

If there is none or little, they should try to recon towards the town. Maybe they find out how many Russians there are.

If we find out that there are nit that many, we start a major attack. Our forward detachment starts firing on the guard of the bridge. This fire in the rear, at their retreatment line may cause confusion. We use this to take our main force (mobile!!) to rush along the road and attck straight to the town. Speed is armor. I guess we will be able to take the enemy by surprise. Attacked frontal and in the back, I assume that the Russians will pull back and get on the other side of the river. We should follow them and take the bridge. Then we are secure and can clear the forrests!

[Marshal Murat]

The Russian arrangements would be as linear as possible, with more control over their forces, not allowing the men too much independent control. Russians are fanatical in the defense, and their commanders understand this. They would more eagerly bunker down and wait for the Germans to rush at them. A German commander, would try to use his terrain to force the enemy into an unfavorable position. If the German commander were flexible, he could easily defeat my plan by shifting the reserves to the eastern embanked roads, and then await the "German" attack.

I do agree that reconnaissance is the most obvious role for the forces. My options afterwards were simply if I was to attack, either force. Armored cars would have holes punched through them if hit by AT-rifles, but that depends on if the armored cars were moving slowly enough to be punctured by a well-aimed round. That is why the embanked road should be cleared before the armored cars run over, so they don't expose their under-belly to the aforementioned AT-rifles. Mortars are only useful if the gunners can see where their rounds land. I'm not familiar with Soviet mortar/platoon cooperation, but not everyone has a radio, and if we move fast enough, the mortars can be destroyed before they can bring effective fire.

The 'bridge' isn't essential. Were it essential, I'm sure our "commander" would've assigned that as a target to 'recon'. Seeing as it isn't mentioned, I can only assume that the commander cares not whether we capture it or not.

[Kraxis]

Excellent people...

Analysis, planning, execution. And it looks like you are more or less reaching points of common acceptance.

[Gurkhal]

Although I might be wrong. Gurkhal's plan is however, excellent.

You flatter me.

[AggonyDuck]

Anyway lets try to summarize what we all agree on to make this easy for Kraxis.

[Franconicus]

Let me explain, why I think the bridge is the key:

There are two options. First, the town is empty. If this is it, then we should avoid wasting time. However, we cannot rush into the village. However, by observing the supply route, we should get a first idea, if there are Russians.
Second, the village is occupied. Let’s pretend I was the Russian commander. I expect the Germans to come, I do not know exactly when and how strong, but I assume that they will come soon and that there will be more than just a pair of recons. And I am rather sure that they come straight from the south.
My order is probably to hold the town as long as possible – that means long enough until I get reinforcements. If they do not come in time, I will retreat.

The connection to the division goes eastwards – via the bridge. That means that my supply goes over the bridge, that reinforcements will come over the bridge and that my retreat line goes over the bridge. If this line is cut – no supply, no reinforcements no chance to retreat!

Therefore, if there is a sudden attack against this bridge, it is confusing, because the attack comes from the wrong direction, and it is frightening, because loosing the bridge would leave me in this dirty village, cut off, waiting for superior German forces!

So, as soon as I hear, that someone attacks my bridge, I would send my best reserves to free the lane. Then I hear the major raid from the south – the German army! Attacked from two sides from enemies I don’t now, but which might be superior, threatened to be cut off, I will pack my bags and rush over the bridge as long as it is still possible.

Further more, shooting at the bridge will surely attract the attention of ATG crews in the eastern and western forests and support our main attack.

So here is my proposal for the timing:
We send one group to the bridge. There main focus is observing the street and reconnaissance. The second group advances along the street in the eastern forest. They have to recon Soviet positions there.
If we receive the message, that the village is occupied, but only with weak forces, we attack.
The group at the bridge opens fire. The main group rushes north on the road – first the motorcycles, then the tanks. The second group, attacks ATG positions.

Then we raid like Ziethen`s hussars!

[Marshal Murat]

The mission of the recon troops is
Your objective is to scout out their positions, determine their composition and if possible drive them away. The latter is only a distant third objective."

I will agree that there are merits to taking the bridge, there are alot of assumptions being made.
1st - Why is the Russian division to the east, across the bridge? Sure 'Russia' is east, but the headquarters could be the northwest, and this is a force tasked with holding the river as a flank. There is a possibility of the Russians being to the east, but that's going on a general assumption, and it might be erroneous.
2nd - The Russian forces need not be annihilated. They only need to be 'driven away', in the broadest terms possible. We could try to destroy the Russians, but that's if everything goes to plan. We are facing an overwhelming enemy force, whose quality and size are unknown.

The majority of opinion, if I read it correctly, is to send the motorcycle platoon on a broad sweeping movement to seek out the Russian flank. This would then be supported by the mechanized and a platoon of armored cars. A final armored platoon would distract the Russians by attacking the town, if we were to attack the town.
We only need to figure out which flank to send the motorcycles and follow up. I am in favor of a western swing.

[Flavius Clemens]

Giving the map a second look, I do like the idea of infiltrating observers to the corner of the dense wood near the bridge as this gives the best angle to observe village and maybe the rear of the embanked road, so I’ll change my suggestion for the ‘Russian’ version observation to this:

1st Platoon remains central, just to the left of the road, to coordinate, observe the front of the village and provide supporting fire if and where necessary. 2nd platoon begin between road and ditch, initially to provide supporting fire if required.
3rd platoon deploys scouts to check the ditch and observe the dense wood. If edge of wood looks clear, 4th Platoon goes into the wood and heads north searching as they go. 2nd platoon then heads towards the light wood to observe the edge of it and the view of the village from the south-west. When 4th platoon is close to the edge of dense wood they sneak forward on foot up to, but not beyond, the edge and observe towards the village / embanked road and towards the bridge. (One point to check, if they can see, is whether the bridge is wired for demolition.) Meanwhile, 3rd platoon redeploys scouts to check the road for booby-traps. 4th platoon then return the way they came and go check inside the light wood on the west, covered by 2nd platoon who also continue to observe the village from south west.

I don’t think it’s worth attempting to attack the bridge, as hardly any of our forces can get to it through the dense wood, so no change to my attack plans already stated. However it’s worth suggesting this strategy to the main force.

[Peasant Phill]

Great to have this IH continued after months of hiatus.

All this debating is very interesting and productive but we'll have come to 1 strategy soon.
Someone needs to make a list of choices out of everything discussed so far in order to see what the most supported strategy is . I'm willing but it'll have to wait a few hours until I'm at home from work.

[Peasant Phill]

Apparently most of us are in agreement on certain aspects:

- A Russian enemy would deploy in the village, while a German enemy would spread out and mutual support each other.
- The 4th platoon should scout the light woods, while the dense forest on the other side should be scouted on foot.

https://img530.imageshack.us/img530/3038/scoutingkn7.th.jpg (https://img530.imageshack.us/img530/3038/scoutingkn7.th.jpghttps://img530.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif://)https://img530.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif (http://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php)

Issues at hand:

- The distant third objective
We're eager to prove our worth to hauptmann Jannsen but we're only a recon force. Furthermore our more armed and armoured elements are restricted to a path that'll probably be heavily guarded. I see no reason to risk most of our forces for something so trivial as to impress a senior officer, we have our main force to do the fighting.

- The bridge
Franconius has a good point about the importance of the bridge. We should definatly try to scout it or at least try to get an idea through observing the traffic.

Questions:
If our main force is to succesfully attack, we need to give them the right information. This means knowing if and where certain weaponary are deployed. Do you care to guess so we can go ahead with our plan in further detail:

- Mortars
- AT guns
- local headquarters
- advanced positions

[Flavius Clemens]

The 4th platoon should scout the light woods, while the dense forest on the other side should be scouted on foot. I'll stick with my (revised) view posted on 09/10/08 00:32 if it's feasible.


Third objective: I think the point to emphasise is that we may have a plan but its only one we'll use if we have a very good reason to. And as I said previously, facing the 'German' enemy I'd say I can't imagine the reward from us attacking possibly outweighing the risk.

Bridge: From the scale Kraxis has described, the bridge isn't far from the edge of the wood, something like 50 - 75m, so I think observing from there is the best bet. They need to get back alive to pass on the info, so no point in risking sneaking any closer.

Questions: There's no substitute for the recon troops' own eyes, but some guesses.
Depending on the exact type of unit we're facing their anti-tank capability may well be no better than a handful of a/t rifles and whatever they improvise (hence my assumption they will boobytrap the road). To be of use against panzers the rifles will have to be operating from very close, so deployed in the best cover available around the end of the ditch and in the village. If it's feasible for the 82mmn mortars to be placed just behind the embanked road with the officers / spotters sticking their heads over the bank to check their fire that seems to be the obvious place to put them.

[Gurkhal]

For the AT guns I think that they are a bit spread out and most likly conceled from view of the road. I would put my money on that the enemy must likly intends to open up a cross-fire with their heavy weapons from the two forest areas on any unites advancing along the road. There maybe a few guns in the village, but I actually doubt that there are.

[Flavius Clemens]

For the AT guns I think that they are a bit spread out and most likly conceled from view of the road. I would put my money on that the enemy must likly intends to open up a cross-fire with their heavy weapons from the two forest areas on any unites advancing along the road. There maybe a few guns in the village, but I actually doubt that there are.

Certainly likely there'll be a/t guns in one of the forests when we're against a 'German' enemy.

[Kraxis]

Next chapter incoming... You have made your decision.

[Kraxis]

"Our chief strengths are speed and initiative"

Walter read the assignment a few times and scrutinized the map for any hidden clues. But the lack of detail hurt badly. There was no way he could just come up with a brilliant plan from that, this needed more attention than he could give it right away. Graebner walked past him and a few steps ahead he stopped and turned around.
"Sturmbannführer, I'm heading for the messhall to get something to eat, I don't work well on an empty stomach, would you care to join me?"
Walter wasn't certain he wanted to go with the chatty junior officer, but his stomach certainly did act up. Some food should focus his thoughts better. "Sure, I'll come. Don't work while hungry..."

Naturally Graebner kept on talking about his previous commands and where he had gotten his Iron Crosses, Walter merely nodded and made small comments while his thoughts were on the job at hand. Finally he asked Graebner. "How do you suppose the layout of the enemy is?"
"Well, for the Russians I would say it is typical for them. The surrounding area isn't exactly to their liking. Not that they don't like to sit in woods and ambush, it is just not what they do when their objective is to defend something else. They want close contact between their forces."
"Agreed on that. They are likely well concentrated. Forces?"
"Infantry... A few AT guns and AT rifles, perhaps a number of mortars. At worst a platoon of tanks. We really shouldn't hope for that."
"I really doubt the tanks. The pilot should have spotted them. He saw the trucks, and given the Russian tendency for central planning the tanks should have been with them. No, they aren't there."
"Perhaps, but being ready is never bad. And I plan on taking advantage that Russian tankcrews are particularly lax when it comes to vigilance on occupation."
It was clear Graebner thought in the lines trying to catch the enemy by surprise somehow. A fools errand, but it could work. Walter moved on.
"A German enemy?"
"Ahh... here we have to think what we would do on the defensive. Assuming some AT guns and the rest infantry I would position ambushing forces in the light wood, but no AT guns. Too cumbersome for an open wood. But I would have at least one guarding the embanked road from the western house, there it would be somewhat protected from artillery and riflefire, as well as being eaiser to camouflage. I would have at least another gun in the village itself, just not at the edge. I would let the enemy get in and block his advance by killing the first vehicle inside the village. The infantry could then flank the attackers. Obviously a couple more guns in the nothern wood with any support weapons, like mortars. The eastern wood would hold even more AT guns and a strong infantry force."
"Seems logical, and I would do something similar. In fact I once did outside Tula in '41 when Ivan tried to drive us from Moscow. The bloody T34s were the only reason they did. Wasn't fun..."
"I could imagine."

The two officers kept on talking while they ate, slowly forming their plans in their heads, while getting a better idea as to what they were facing. After an hour or so they went to their rooms to being to write the plans down.

Walter sipped at his mug of coffee, real coffee for once. While never a fan of it before the war, the stuff had a great effect on his concentration. He heard that the Amis had another wonderdrink, Coca Cola, said to keep you awake when you most needed it. A few pilots had already been captured with bottles in their pockets. He wondered what it was... But his thoughts were drifting and he slapped himself across the cheeks. No more!
So the plan was simple enough:

4th Platoon is to advance up through the light wood. Their light construction and small size make them perfect for navigating a wood of that density with any sort of speed. At the same time 3rd Platoon advances up the ditch some distance, then disembarks the infantry to scout through the dense wood and if possible scout the bridge and village from the northern edge, perhaps even take the bridge if it is lightly guarded. Depending on what could be expected from the village of course. 2nd platoon supports 3rd platoon from range and will drive to flank any response from the village, but overall hang back and observe the village. Possibly rustle the houses with some 20mm fire. 1st platoon, being lighter supports the MC plantoon in it's advance, being more confined it will hang back until the motorcycles have scouted the woods for enemies. If any are encountered it will support as needed. If and when both woods are cleared 4th platoon rushes across the embanked road for the safety of the house. There they will eitehr encounter enemies and fall back, or occupy it with their MGs. Good observation post overlooking the village for artillery. 1st platoon follows if 4th doesn't encounter heavy resistance and drives towards the northern wood to lurk at it's edges. Heavy engagement are to be discouraged unless serious surprise is possible.
The plan doesn't differ for either Russian or German opposition.

Having scetched out the routes and plans and contingencies for opposition and enemy dispositions, Walter dropped on his bed for some sleep. He didn't even notice the other officers going to the messhall for some small meassure of partying.

The next day Janssen enteerd and took their papers. "I will review them and give the results later today. And so you can all learn from any mistakes, or good thoguht I will critique a few select choices. Don't fret that yours might be chosen, for better or worse on your part, it will help the rest of the students." He scratched behind his ear. "But today we will look at the various gear and vehicles you will work with. Let me first introduce Leutnant Koch, a mounted scout." At Janssens beckon a tough looking burly man entered. He was entirely kitted out for combat, thought clearly not very heavily. As he spoke his voice was soft and almost a whisper, a man so used to sneaking and being silent that his voice had taken on a natural sneakiness.
"I'm what you could call a classical scout for the Heer. What you should know is that my boots are softer, rubbersoled, not many have these since we are a little pressed for rubber, but if you can get them for your scouts, they will love you for it. They are silent, good for climbing and you can run faster in them as they aren't as heavy." As he spoke about the boots he picked one off and let it pass down the tables for inspection. Then he went on about the rest of his kit. "As you see I have but my MP40, a pistol, four handgrenades, eggstyle, not stick. And of course the long bayonet. We generally don't have an entrenching tool as we don't dig in, that is why we use the long bayonet to have an advantage in melee." He drew the long blade, almost a short sword. "In a pinch it can serve as an entrenching tool, but if we have to dig in, then someone somewhere has made a grave mistake. Most of us carry a small dagger as well for the wrestling situations where the long bayonet is too big, but it is a personal choice and not part of our kit." Then he turned to the audience with an almost accusing stare. "We don't carry any messkits, food, tents or blankets. All that is carried in our vehicles. So don't leave us out in the open as we are simply not equipped for it. At most we have a camouflage smock. We are not frontline troops and can't be expected to carry out such duties. Be sure to remember that."

While Koch had been giving the overview of the scouts Janssen had been readin and taking notes. After Koch left he turned to the class. "You should know one thing. The scouts have all been picked for their intelligence, stamina and initiative. That makes them very volatile, and believe me, they will disobey an order they consider foolish. Treat them like little babies and tell them why their orders are important, and they will carry them out. Also, let them carry them out how they see fit unless it is clearly against other orders. If it is because they might run into trouble, then you have failed to inform them properly. They are possibly the best light infantry in our fine armed forces. Lets move on out onto the parking lot."

Outside the building three armoured cars and an armoured halftrack were parked. The small light AC, a SdKfz 222 was very small in fact. But looked swift and the desciption of it gave the same impression. Clearly a good choice for a recon force. The larger 6-wheeler, the SdKfz 6-rad, looked rather more cumbersome, but better for roads. And the size itself wasn't too bad given that it was more like an extended version of the small AC. The big 8-wheeler, the SdKfz 231 8-rad, however looked downright tough. With the dual controls on the two pairs in front it proved to be highly maneuverable, and the 8 wheels gave it surprising crosscountry ability. Walter noted that the larger turret and larger body gave it the possiblity to get larger weapons installed. While armour wasn't good in any of them, it was good enough to stop AT rifles rounds unless up close or at weakspots. Also the two larger vehicles protected their crews with their engines very well, and in the case of the 8-wheeler the front section housed the transmission and other mechanical stuff protecting that section too, leading to the crew having a very good chance of surviving direct hits.
The armoured halftrack the SdKfz 250, was smaller than the SdKfz 251 Walter was used to in the mechanized infantry. It was leaner, made of less sections, was faster and better armoured. Obviously it couldn't carry as many infantry, but for the scouts that didn't matter much. A perfect choice for carrying scouts.

The day went on examinging gear and vehicles. Learning their capacity and range. A crashcourse in knowledge.
Finally Janssen called the class back into the classroom.
"Alright, I have gone over your attempts to solve the issue at hand. Some of you have been ingenious, some brave, some cautious... Note that cautious isn't always bad when you are scouting. I'll start with a less successful result:

The scouting force, being fast and light moves quickly up the low road in an attempt to catch the enemy offguard. Inside the viallge the vehicles fan out and keep on moving as the mounted scouts take out key objectives, such as guns, headquaters and radios, as well as grabbing prisoners. Initially successful it falls apart when the enemy simply overpowers the scouts with numbers and regain their guns, which they then maul the vehicles with. Retreating south again the forces is then subjected to flanking fire from the dense wood and suffer more casualties. The result is that the enemy has indeed been scouted out and been bloodied badly, but with heavy losses the recon company has effectively failed."
Next to Walter Graebner grimaced and winced at the last words. It was not hard to figure out that he was the autor of that plan or at least one very similar.
"I might point out that this plan wasn't bad, if it hadn't been for the fact that the scouts tried to actually fight for the possesion of the village. Fast in and fast out could have done it, though the losses going south again could have hurt. While I commended caution, aggression isn't a bad trait either. Just don't waste your forces when other options are possible."
Janssen shuffled around the pile. "The next one up is not bad per se, just not good for this situation. The company dismounts the scouts and sneak them up the light wood while the rest hang back. The intention is to get a nice observation point to scout out the village. Problem is just that looking at the village won't help much when the enemy is hidden in there. Far too cautious."
As Janssen grabbed another plan Walter noticed it was his.
"And then we have this interesting option. I won't tell you if you did good or bad yet, I will simply play out the events.
First the motorcyscles enter the light wood supported by the 1st platoon. Meanwhile the mounted scouts move up and enter the dense wood on foot while the halftracks and 2nd platoon support them from the ditch. The motorcycles advance at a good clip northwards and get near the northern edge There they encounter an enemy force and retreats afer a short firefight. While the enemy wasn't ready for a move from that direction, he was strong enough to cause the motorcycles to pull back. 1st platoon then advance on the enemy and the 20 mm autocannons send him running over the embanked road. Prisoners reveal that it is in fact an infantry battalion holding the village, and that it was a single platoon of infantry tasked with this position. Meanwhile the dismounted scouts reach the nothern third of the dense wood and encounter an enemy force including two AT guns. They attack them from the rear, since the enemy is occupied with the shooting in the light wood. The superior training, initiative and good close quarter weapons of the scouts seal the deal. The enemy is destroyed. The scouts move north to observe the bridge.
Back in the light wood the motorcycles dash out and head for the lonely house, there they encounter a section of infantry and fall back across the road while 1st platton once more moves in for the kill, now that it appears the enemt have no other troops guarding the road. The infantry is quickly silenced with a barrage of 20 mm fire. Both platoons hold position until further notice.
From the dense wood the scouts observe around 10-15 enemy infantry and a comouflaged AT gun near the bridge. The infantry has gone to ground in their prepared positions and the AT gun commands the approach to the bridge from the house by the road. An attack is impossible by the light forces since they have no weapons able to hit the infantry at the range they have, so they hold back. The supporting 2nd platoon beat back a force trying to move from the village to the dense wood to root out the scouts. Then mortars begin bursing near the positions of the dismounted scouts and they pull back further into the wood, their task completed. 1st platoon, noticing the mortarfire move north to the edge of the northern wood and is taken under fire by AT guns from that wood as well as from the village. Seeing the futility of trying to stay there, it falls back to the safety of the house, before finally retreating south again. A prudent move as enemy artillery arrive on the scene and pummel the house and nothern edge of both woods. The motorcycle plantoon is however caught in the middle of it and they lose all their mounts and several casualties. Effectively they are out of the game as scouts. By now it is impossible to move up any more, and we can consider the mission over.
The results are that around two enemy plantoons have been eliminated with some more losses to the force trying cross from the village. Estimation: 80 losses overall and two AT guns. Recon forces losses: 5-7 losses and all the motorcycles as well as two damaged ACs. But more importantly the company managed to determine that the enemy has forces covering the bridge from the nothern wood as well as behind the bridge itself, and that the main force is dug in in the village. Enemy composition unknown besides that they have at least 4 AT guns left, some mortars in the northern wood and enough infantry to make up a battalion. Estimated at 500 troops remaining. I would say that the mission is completed to satisfaction, if not perfection. What could have been done better was to use 1st or 2nd platoon to lead the move up the light wood at best speed possible. Skirt the embanked road with a vehicle or two to scout the village a bit more. Meanwhile the scouts or motorcycles could have sneaked up the ditch into the village itself as the AC distracted the enemy. The engagement in the dense wood was good though as it saved a lot of trouble later. Don't be afraid to engage the enemy eventhough you are merely there to recon. You have good troops and they are adept at taking advantage of surprise. The removal of the AT guns there helped the advancing regulars quite a lot.
Good work." Janssen smiled at the last comment, then continued.
"As you might have noticed, there were no Russian or German forces. There was one combined force. You know that the Ruassians learn from us, but they will never just copy our tactics, they don't fit their ways. They will adapt them, and here they did. They covered the southern approach but only with enough forces to make it costly to move up. They also assumed the attacker would eventually win, so their position is made from a strictly 'hold as long as possible' notion, not from a real desire to hold the village. That means the village will remain the center of resistance as a fast heavy push up the road could be costly but worth it if the village was weakly held. So they had to weaken the woods."

Walter was satisfied that he had done so well. Though he felt annoyed that he had wasted the chance to do better by using the MC platoon ahead of his main forces. He vowed to never to make such a mistake again. 1st platoon could have destroyed the enemy infantry faster and more efficiently if it had been up front, giving him better time to move across the road. Possibly giving the scouts a chance to capture the brudge and unravel the defensive plans... Oh well, not the time to dwell on it. Graebner however was furious, if at himself or at Janssen was not possible to tell, but he didn't look at either Janssen or Walter.

Several days passed with more instruction in tactics and maneuver. Then finally after a week a big wargame is set up and the studens are handed out to the various recon forces on either side. Walter gets assigned to red team, the attacking team. And he is to lead a platoon of light armoured cars. The wargame starts and the company commander, an old hand at this orders Walter and his AC to scout the enemy positions near a crossroad with woods covering it. Obviously there is no village at the crossroads, but the are are a few houses. Being confined to the leftmost wood Walter needs to find a way to get across the road ahead of him, and how to do so fast, but not dangerously so.

What is Walter to do?
1) Head into the wood, there the ACs are practically invisible from the enemy, and should surprise them when they burst out on the northern edge, granting them the advantage to move swiftly across. However moving deep inside the wood costs a lot of time, and the deeper you go in the denser the wood, meaning more chances of getting stuck, and in case the slower you are overall.
2) Make a quick dash out in the open. The frozen ground makes for a perfect choce to go fast without being confined to the road. Obviously this is not only visible but also loud with no trees to soak up the noise of the engines.
3) Skirt the edge of the wood, move a little ways in, giving the option to look out and stay in cover at the same time. Should provide safety and stealth, but of course moving inside a wood is hardly speedy. Also blue force might not miss Walter's force anyway.
4) Don't even try to head for the woods, take the road and take up positions around the houses, one AC per house. This isn't waht the order was about, but the houses might hold infantry ambushes and who is to say the woods are safe anyway? The road is obviously being watched, perphaps even covered by AT forces, so don't expect to be able to move up without some serious opposition.

[Flavius Clemens]

Option 3.
If we rush in at speed we might simply miss things. If there are AT guns covering the approaches I imagine they won’t blow their cover by engaging the scouting force unless they’re spotted. “Don’t waste your forces when other options are possible.”

[DemonArchangel]

We're only a platoon of armored cars. Attempting to take the cluster of houses against what could be an entire defending company? Bad, bad move. Option 4 is straight out the window. However, Option 3 is too slow. Recon needs to be fast, given the fast pace of warfare. Too much time scouting means that the attack happens to slowly for the attacker to gain initiative.

Thus, I take the 5th option, divide the platoon up into 2 parts, and have one part move up the road, while the second part moves through the woods and covers the retreat of the first part should anything happen. Since the AT guns won't blow their cover on scouting forces, we can have a fast element and a slow element at the same time, allowing our forces flexibility.

[Lord Winter]

I'm hesitent about deviding though and it leaves to much danger of something going wrong if we don't guess the enemies composition correctly the first time. I think we have to try to bypass the houses if at all possiable.

[DemonArchangel]

Yes, however, the two units hanging back will be providing overwatch for the lead armored cars, so they can cover the leads if something goes wrong. If needed, the leads can switch to overwatch while the follows maneuver. We have to stay flexible. Our job is to determine the enemy's assets, and it has to be done quickly so that the main force can position itself better to attack.

You're forgetting our weapon is speed and initiative. We lose both if we stick to the forest and move slowly, and attempting to skirt those houses altogether is an act of cowardice and dereliction of duty, especially since our job is to find out what's in them.

[Peasant Phill]

Option 1: too slow.
Option 2: very dangerous. This manoeuvre is the quickest way across the road but will most likely be costly for no apparent gain.
Option 3: a loss of speed for more stealth and safety.
Option 4: Not our orders. we are scouts, not an occupational force.
Option 5: A slow and a fast element. I'm very hesitant to split our small group which will impede immensly on our fighting force. If the distance to cross is to big, the faster group would have to slow down to keep the support of the slower group. This would mean that they threw away there advantage.

So i vote option 3 unlesssomebody else comes up with an option 6.

[King Kurt]

Option 3 for me I think - a mixture of stealth and speed. We are facing Germans, not Russians, so they will be a bit more of a difficult oppolent. Option 3 gives us the best position - some cover, but not stuck in the depths of the wood - for us to react to any threat encounted.

[Franconicus]

I agree with PP and KK. Speed and cover is our best protection.
Running through the forrest is to dangerous; rushing without cover is too dangerous, too. Do we really trust that no Russian (or enemy`s) soldiers looses his nerves and opens fire?
Firther more, we are not an Vorausabteilung, but Aufklärung. No need to risk our men in combat!

[Gurkhal]

Forgive me, but is the terrain that we are operating within basically the scenario with the map but with no village, or is it entirly different?

But based on what I cna see I would recomend that we take either 2 or 3.

2: I can see the benefit in that if we move fast it'll be over before the enemy gets the chance to react. But then again we might actually run straight into the guns and get shot to pieces without achiving anything. Still, sooner or later we'll have to cross the damned road.

3: While this could allow us to get a better glimps of the enemy without being spotted, it could also mean that we get discovered and then we could be in big problem.

The other one is probably to slow and the last one means that our little force could get drawn into an extensive fight with an enemy we have no knowledge whatsoever about.