Europe Aflame Interactive Combat Story: Episode IV

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Operation Seelowe (Sealion)

With dominance of the skies solidly in the German’s hands, it was obvious to the Allies that an invasion of the island itself would be next. Fortunately, the recent entry of the Americans had given them time to prepare, and several convoys had already arrived bearing US men and equipment to bolster the island’s defence. Solidly entrenched on the beaches, they awaited the arrival of the imminent attack.

German intelligence reports document the disposition of the Allied defenders (Click on image to enlarge)

The Axis was faced with a very difficult task – the level of preparedness exhibited by the Allies was daunting indeed. The most obvious locations for possible German resupply once on the island-proper were heavily fortified; virtually impregnable. Cunning and daring, in equal measures, were to be the focus for this campaign.

Faced with a near-impossible task, the Axis Supreme Commander formulated a bold plan to accomplish his assigned objectives. Norwich would be the focal point of the German invasion. After thoroughly analyzing the Commander’s plan, his staff raised objections both vociferous and uncountable – for Norwich would prove impossible to supply… The Supreme Commander, however, was not a man given to flights of fancy; nor was he one to brook insubordinate talk from his officers. He had a plan, and meant to execute it. In his mind, there was only one possibility of achieving success, and if his underlings were incapable of seeing this fact and planning accordingly, well, there was a reason he was the Supreme Commander…

Though lacking in understanding, his officers and the men under them nevertheless were superbly trained, and they had something perhaps even more valuable in their favor: complete and utter confidence in their leader. On the morning of July 7, 1940, the invasion of England began. Airdrops by the Fallschirmjager disrupted the road and rail networks in key locations across the island, thus delaying an Allied response, and succeeded in capturing the airfields to the west of Norwich, which left the Allied defenders cutoff from reinforcement. Just as word was coming in of the success of the drops, the invasion of the beaches began in earnest. With a massive preparatory bombardment from both the Kriegsmarine and Regia Marina, the Germans hit the stunned British defenders just south of Norwich and were able to easily force their way ashore, completely overrunning the ill-prepared garrison division. The Allies had not expected an attack in this most unlikely of directions – they knew as well as the Germans that it would prove impossible for the Axis to supply a beachhead here. Thus, even though two full divisions were assigned to the defence, the units themselves were only garrison troops – totally unable to withstand the fierce attacks that they were subjected to.

Less than a day after the initial air landing, a coordinated attack was launched on the now-surrounded division holding Norwich itself, which was almost completely destroyed. It speaks volumes for the courage of the defenders that even though these men were ill-trained and ill-equipped to deal with the assault, they fought to virtually the last man. Within two days, the Germans had a beachhead clear of any Allied units that extended almost 100 kilometers from the beaches themselves.

The Germans secure their initial beachhead in southeast England (click to enlarge)

The British reacted quickly to the scattered landings across south and central England, quickly containing the sacrificial units the Germans had used to blow key bridges and disrupt the reinforcement of the beaches. The Allied Supreme Commander was an equally bold man, up to the task of defending the island. In a surprising move, a group of Free French volunteers had secretly taken to the sea in the northern reaches of the UK, near Scapa Flow. While the Royal Navy engaged the combined might of the Axis sea power, these brave souls actually stormed ashore at Norwich themselves, catching the Germans completely by surprise. They had not thought to defend outwards, towards the sea! The disruption inherent in such a move allowed the Allies to push ahead with a high-risk counterattack from their main line of defence, and force the Germans back from the airfields. The centre of the German line proved too tough a nut to crack, but the advances met with success in the southern areas, and the Axis was forced to fall back in disarray. Pushing the advantage, the attackers were able to recapture the beaches to the south of Norwich, cutting the Germans off completely, but the centre of their line again held firm against repeated and desperate attacks. This in turn created an interesting situation – the Germans were cutoff from the beaches by a British force that was itself cutoff from the main Allied line.

With the loss of the airfields, the situation for the Kriegsmarine and Regia Marina quickly turned desperate. Concentrated attacks from the air, combined with the still-awesome might of the Royal Navy sent most of the Axis fleets to the bottom of the sea, with the remnant limping back home to German ports.