Invasion: New York

-9- Strategic Interlude II

From Tank Wars, by B.K. Laumer III:

The Germen Dominion Expeditionary Force fought a brilliant North American campaign. Before we proceed further, it would be well to keep in mind one of the key operational decisions of the GD High Command.

In almost every encounter, the GD military had fewer personnel but greater machine numbers and quality, together with heavier firepower than their Canadian and American adversaries. The GD ability to sustain heavy machine losses was offset by its inability to sustain heavy human loss. It was their Achilles heel.

In actual numbers and at this time in the campaign, the GD already possessed fewer soldiers than the Americans and Canadians did in the theaters of action. In terms of fighting power, however, they still had a clear superiority.

In weighted combat power, the situation looked like this:

Along the Quebec-New England border region: GD Army Group C faced US Army Group New England 610,000 vs. 489,000.

Along the Kingston-Cornwall region between Lake Ontario and the start of the Saint Lawrence River: GD Army Group B faced US Army Group New York 315,000 vs. 295,000.

Along the Lake Superior Coast-London-Lake Erie Coast of Southwestern Ontario: GD Army Group A faced US Army Group Southwestern Ontario 686,000 vs. 811,000.

Uncommitted theater reserves: GD Twelfth Army of Army Group B faced the US XI Airmobile Corps along the New York and New Jersey coast: 412,000 vs. 24,000.

These weighted numbers show that despite their inferior equipment, the Americans and Canadians had stabilized the situation and brought the GD blitzkrieg to a halt. It was doubtful whether any American commanders realized the extent of GD reserves. But in any case, the stabilization had occurred without weakening the US Midwestern Defenses against the Pan-Asian Alliance and the South American Federation. At this time, Chairman Hong pushed for a 2040 Offensive, but the Ruling Committee voted to continue to remain on the defensive as they resupplied and reequipped their North American armies.

At a calculated risk, General Mansfeld had brought the situation on the various fronts to near equilibrium. This left him with two large uncommitted offensive forces, and it had stretched the Americans, with their only reserves being some resting battalions and a relatively small Atlantic coastal defense. The first GD offensive force was part of Zeller’s Army Group B. Since the beginning of the campaign, his numbers and equipment had been reduced by twenty-two percent through wastage and combat losses. Zeller’s uncommitted Twelfth Army possessed roughly 200,000 soldiers with a 400,000-strength equivalent as compared to American forces. These troops waited on the Canadian shore of Lake Ontario. Mansfeld’s second amphibious force waited in Cuba: the 400,000-strength equivalent of General Kaltenbrunner’s Army Group D. They readied themselves for the great assault against the New York-New Jersey shores that would snap the jaws shut of the great GD trap.

With masterful skill, General Mansfeld had brought the situation to the point where the two amphibious forces could wreak immense damage. They would also net the GD at least one million American prisoners and capture the New England and New York states for the German Dominion in North America. Combined with Ontario, it would give the GD a large area from which to base their attacks in the coming year.

From Military History: Past to Present, by Vance Holbrook:

2040, June 19-28. Siege of Toronto. The devastated forces of General Zelazny hung onto parts of the city far beyond what anyone would have imagined. The last battles took place in the sewers in vicious hand-to-hand conflicts. The Stuart Doctrine as broadcast by the Prime Minister fired up Canadian partisans. In Southern Ontario, bypassed Canadian and US Army personnel aided the growing resistance. The combined efforts slowed GD supplies. General Mansfeld began draconian reprisals, using Quebecer nationals in the internal security forces.

In Quebec south of the Saint Lawrence River, the siege armies of General Fromm continued their static occupation, facing nearly twice their number of American opponents, although force multipliers and drone systems gave them a greater machine and firepower advantage.

2040, June 28-July 7. Stiffening Resistance. With the death of General Zelazny, 29,000 Americans surrendered in Toronto. Afterward, GD Army Group A broke through and encircled Canadian and American defenders in Hamilton. Afterward, the GD withstood a US Militia offensive directed at the city coming from Buffalo. The rest of the newly-arrived US Fifth Army gathered in the Niagara Peninsula behind the Militia remnants.

At the start of the GD London Offensive, Holk’s tankers lacked the former dash of their earlier blitzkriegs. Still, they made solid initial gains. Unfortunately for the Germans, the stubborn defense in Toronto and the Militia offensive directed at Hamilton cost Holk several critical days delay. Those days allowed the first American reinforcements from Georgia and North Carolina to settle into position. Combined with the first experimental Heidegger jamming equipment, the US slowed the rate of Holk’s advance.

The increase of East Coast reinforcements streaming into Southern Ontario together with more Heidegger jammers and massed American artillery turned the GD advance into a crawl. The New England reinforcements heading for Buffalo and the US Fifth Army there, prompted Mansfeld to order the Fromm Offensive.

In the first several days, GD Army Group C out of Southern Quebec gained five to ten kilometers in upper State New York, Northern Vermont and New Hampshire. At the President’s orders, US Army Group New England halted all troop transfers southwestward and began to reorganize a defense in depth.

Through immense expenditure of munitions and the heaviest loss of Sigrid drones and AI Kaisers to date, Holk captured London and began the slow grind toward Detroit. East of Hamilton, the GD fended off every US Fifth Army attack. The cost in American lives proved horrendous, particularly among the Militia and predominantly among the new penal battalions.

The fighting in Southwestern Ontario grew increasingly savage as the weight of machines and firepower slowly swung toward an American-Canadian advantage. The GD failed to reach Lake Erie in any force. This initiated the critical Montreal Conference between Chancellor Kleist and General Mansfeld.

COMMENT: In retrospect, the GD drive on Detroit had three distinct phases. The first was the initial surprise against the Canadians on the Ontario-Quebec border. The GD military achieved masterful success during this stage. Each technological superiority came as a rude shock to the Canadians, and they needed time to adjust—time the GD didn’t give them. The second phase started with the arrival of American reinforcements from the US strategic reserve. The Expeditionary Force still achieved stunning victories during this period. Despite those victories, the sheer volume of US reinforcements combined with their tenacity finally slowed the blitzkrieg, which culminated in the siege of Toronto. Phase Three started with General Zelazny’s death. During this stage, the US gained a new addition: jammers applying the Heidegger Principle. The second addition was an even greater number of reinforcements from New England and especially from the Gulf and East Coast garrison troops. The jammers increasingly blunted the distinct GD machine advantage, although it did not altogether eliminate it. The massed US formations in a narrow region together with heavy concentrations of artillery finally ended any thought of GD advances in the final portion of Southwestern Ontario.

However, because Detroit had never been Mansfeld’s final objective, the American victory came at a heavy cost. They were weak at the wrong place—The Erie-Ontario Lowlands of New York State Interstate 90—and the GD now threatened to achieve its true campaign objective.