War of the World: 1938
The following is an attempt at Alternative Timeline written by myself, OTZ, torment and deathdoom56. It was originally posted on another website but we decided recently with OTZ to give it another shot, that is, if you are interested.
Since this is a collective work in progress anyone can contribute by PMing me or OTZ so we can edit it in...
So here is the first part:
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September 1 1938. Moscow.
-Lavrenti, we **** this and heads will roll. Our heads. Vladimir Molotov stopped his circular pacing and looked out of the window at the dim lights of the Kutuzofki prospect. The balcony door was open in the summer breeze, cooling the sober room.
Beria stood at the same spot 2 years ago, after the successful intervention that saved most of the junior and senior officers of the Soviet army. Beria; who would have guessed that these rat’s eyes and shiny scalp figure had more brains then the whole politburo? The thought of Yezof's and Yagoda's sudden demise served as a permanent and painful reminder of the peril enshrined in the pompous title of People's Commissar for Internal Affairs of Narodny Komissariat Vnutrennikh De or Head of the NKVD. And that witless worm Merkulov always watching behind his back. Well, in time...
But that was then. On his desk he could see the final draft of the announcement that comrade Stalin would transmit in less then 6 hours: “Due to the increased aggression in our borders by elements directly supported by the capitalist Polish government, the Soviet Union desiring peace, and having exhausted…” They looked at each other and they both knew: failure was not an option. Josef Vissarionovitch would repay their support for the Stavka in blood.
Commander Zhukov rose from his armchair. Let these eggheads deal with the ramifications, and the whining of the Europeans. Britain and France would stay put as long as Germany was in the middle. And Germany was not ready.Lammersdorf, the NKVD infiltrator in Speer’s ministry had informed him that the MK3 prototype was still facing technical problems, and could be in no way compared to the T-34a. The Soviet machine was ready.
-Gentlemen, we should not keep comrade Stalin waiting…
In the Polish borders 2.000.000 men awake as 4.000 tanks are heating up their engines. The artillery barrage by 6.000 field guns and assorted artillery will not be long now…WWII is about to begin.
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September 1st, 1938, Berlin
- A hollow echo follows, as Ribbentrop runs towards the Führer's office in the Reichstag. The guards look stunned as he ignores them and runs past, without even returning the 'Heil Hitler' salute. Also, he seems remarkably bleak today.
Hitler looks up as Ribbentrop storms in. After a hasty salute, he starts spitting words like a machine gun. "Calm down" Hitler said "now, slowly tell me what is going on". Ribbentrop takes a deep breath and replies: "Mein Führer, the Soviet Union has invaded Poland. Motives still unclear. Polish army crushed. Estimates lie between 1-2 million men". Hitler turned bleak and started thinking out loud. "So the bolshevik jews have finally made their move...?" He sank into a deep concentration, and after a few minutes of sitting still, he calmly stated: "Germany will not let this happen. In his arrogance, Stalin seems to have thought that he could take on the German Reich. The Sudetenland will have to wait, the war for Lebensraum has begun!" He went back into his concentration again. After a few minutes he said again: "Germany obviously can't and should not fight this war alone. Call Mussolini, Daladier and Chamberlain. Arrange a meeting with them, preferably within the borders of the Reich. Hmm, Munich would be good." As usual Hitler finished his rant with a note to the past: "The war between the West and the East has begun. We were able to halt the hordes of Gengis Kahn, let's see if we can halt the march of the bolshevik jews..."
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September 1st, 1938, Polish border
Think for a moment what silence is. Then multiply this by a million, ten millions, a hundred million times until it becomes deafening. The artillery barrage started at 07:00 exactly across 200 miles of Polish border. The gun and self propelled artillery was at some instances separated by a distance of less than 10 metres for long stretches of the border. The Polish border guard hastily reinforced over the last week could offer only token resistance to the Soviet onslaught. Most Soviet casualties on the day came from friendly fire, due to the less than perfect coordination, between the infantry and the forward observers. But the Polish troops soon discovered that the sloped front armour of the T-34a was not to be taken lightly. The original speed of the advance surprised even the STAVKA, and staffers started fearing a Polish trap. Colonel Yeremenko leading the 2nd tanks corps later said that the feeling was “…like being immobile in a sea of grass while the planet was moving at astounding speed under our tanks.”
According to the Zhukov plan operation “Shield” (propaganda was dictating that a defensive term should be used) was a three pronged advance in the polish heartland.
The main thrust in the north was toeards Bialystok and Brest-Llitovsk with Warsaw as the ultimate goal, and Lwov in the south to secure the industrial areas. At the same time two light tank armies would rush northwest to secure the east Prussian and Baltic borders.
The only challenging engagement in these first days was a clash between a Polish cavalry regiment, near the borders of the Pripet marshes, which initially surprised the regimental headquarters, and was repelled with severe losses with the intervention of the Soviet air force and elements of the 3d Cossack Division. This was the last cavalry battle in a European theatre. From now on the armoured Cossacks and their western counterparts would dominate the battlefield.
September 5th 1938 Munich,
Hitler's eyes twinkled, as Chamberlain bend over to sign his autograph on the paper that would save Europe from destruction. They have agreed to call it, the Munich Treaty. Chamberlain and Daladier were reluctant at first to agree with the German demands, but after Hitler applied heavy pressure on both of them, they gave in. Mussolini of course wasnt a problem. Chamberlain stretched his back, and the four leaders looked upon the piece of paper which was to ensure the peace of Europe. The following had been stated:
- an immediate non-agression pact between the four states.
- A military alliance, which would be put into effect after one (or more) of the members had gotten into war with the Soviet Union.
- immediate German occupation of western Poland to 'ensure' their safety.
- military acces through German territory for all members.
- military acces through Checkoslovakia, to make a more effective defensive line.
Though the treaty covered many more things, these were by far the most important. As the treaty was ratified, the 'Pact of Four', as the newly formed alliance had named itself, started to mobilize itself. Poland protested against the German occupation, and threatened with violence, but after immense political pressure by France and the UK, it had no choice but to agree. 750.000 German soldiers moved deep into Polish territory, and managed to take hold of Warsaw just before the red armies closed in. Poland ceized to exist.
Hitler started looking for more allies. He decided to stop sending aid to Franco, for the good of his own little war. The Netherlands and Belgium refused to join the Pact, and declared themselves neutral. Rumania, Hungary and Bulgaria, sensing the threat, declared that they would support the Pact, if the SU would make an aggressive move against any of them. Yugoslavia and Greece both declared themselves neutral, as did Portugal.
(to be continued)
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Offcource this points are rellevant if you're starting the alternative history from september 1 1938, otherwise quite good. Some Victor Suvorov stuff could be quite helpfull for your task. I'mean just 4000 tanks? USSR had like 20 000 
Originally Posted by Torment
