yvesp
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Winter arrived early that year, and snow covered most of the nothern hemisphere as soon as November. With such a weather, Germany found it safe to take a little break : who would attack under such a weather ? It was then that he learned that snow had never been a problem for the Russians who lived with it half of the year. Zhukov launched a pincer offensive, the main strike being on Rommel, the secondary strike aiming at reducing the German salient. Both attacks succeeded perfectly, and the destruction of Rommel's gear prevented any supplies from reaching further units. This would be damageable if that could not be covered quickly. In mandchuria, where Russians were now in a hurry to terminate the war, a similar fate was inflicted on Hata and an infantry that was blocking the path to Port Arthur. Hata once more managed to retreat, but he was now cornered and had little place to go now. The infantry in the South was destroyed. The war was indeed absolutely lost for the Japanese in Manchuria.
But worse was on the road: the American fleet had taken the opportunity that the Japanese fleet had had to return to a port to refuel to sortie itself. It was yet on its way and had not done significant damage to the merchant navy. However, simultaneously, partisans had advanced to the key points of Tientsin, Tsinan and Suchow, cutting many of the railways to the ports: Supplies were still flowing, but they were in sever risks of being cut. The Chinese troops, both communists and nationalist had used the opportunity to advance along the Japanese lines, as usual eschewing all combat. A lone Chinese infantry was bypassing Wuhan, using the fact that the swamps were frozen, and moved in the direction of Nanking. And it was clear that it could very soon reach either Nanking, or Suchow, or Soochow, or Hangchow, and in particular cut the last supply line. All places much too far behind the lines to be comfortable. Overall, the situation was extremely bad for the Japanese army.
Indeed, the Russian pursued Hata in the north, and pushed in the direction of Port Arthur in the south. The imperial army in Manchuria was only the shadow of itself. As expected, the Chinese were infiltrating themselves behind the linesand once more Yamashita found himself out of supply. The difference was that it now seemed unlikely he could be rescued. After a long and difficult discussion, it was decided that the south army in China now served no purpose. Under the present conditions, it was precious assets that were uselessly tied. So it was to be brought back to Canton in the hopes of transporting it either in northern China, if that served any purpose by the time it could be done, or in Japan itself otherwise.
In Europe, rain had replaced snow, and the Americans tried to pierce in the direction of Paris. They also made an attempt to capture a well defended Marseilles. Despite a hefty support by Manstein, the attack in the direction of Paris succeeded. But the attack against Marseilles failed to capture the city, whose defense where just weakened. On the Russian front, troops could hardly move under the severe storms, and Germany used the cover this offered to reorganize and shorten his front line. This was retreat in disguise.
Unexpectedly, the weather cleared for Christmas. This was not expected and all of a sudden armies began to move. A vast offensive was launched in France as well as in Russia. Chinese units used the clear weather to infiltrate themselves even further. In Manchuria, that weather was the doom of the remnants of the Manchukuo army, and Russian advanced troops even managed to repel the weak Korean defenses and advance into Seoul. Not only was Manchuria lost, but Korea was too!
In France, the American continues to try and pierce the German defenses. But now Manstein, who had spoilt more than one operation and who now was vulnerable, was the clear target ; there was also a failed tentative to pierce in the Rhone valley ; a success could very fast lead to Lyons, and threaten the whole backyard of the German army in France. The British continued their northern encirclement. Additional secondary operations were launched, but the attempt to capture Marseilles failed at high cost. Sardinia received American paratroopers and fell to Allied control within a few days. Even in the Lybian desert had troops began to move again. Tripoli was threatened and would likely fall any day. Overall, this thaw would spell disaster on the axis lines, who were counting on low intensity operations in that part of the year.
The place were nothing happened was the China sea, where, however, both fleets were patrolling. This was a relief for the Japanese who did not need more trouble than they had now!
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