The Coming of the Dragon and the Fall of the Tyrant

By Matthew W. Quinn

Army Group North launched an offensive north from its river lines towards the vast Russian army shielding Riga and St. Petersburg from the Germans. In the meantime, Army Group Center rolls northward towards Vilnius, with the goal of following the Dvina northward. The combined German armies-totaling over one million soldiers-intend to crush the equally large Russian force in the region of Jelgava, then capture Riga and resume the advance toward St. Petersburg.

Spoiling attacks from Russian forces from the Smolensk region slow Army Group Center down, forcing them into battles all along the frontier of White Russia. This throws a wrench into the German timetable and Hitler's generals suggest slowing Army Group North down to wait for Army Group Center. Hitler rejects this suggestion, claiming that Army Group North can pin the Russian army in place while Army Group Center drives them into the Baltic.

The Russian armies pull back in the face of Army Group North to narrower front near Jelgava. In the meanwhile, vast stocks of poison gas-the WWI favorites like mustard gas and phosgene gas, as well as newer toxins like sarin and tabun-are brought forward. The Russians know Hitler's history with gas and know that the Germans will be less inclined to retaliate.

The poison-gas bombardment of Army Group North begins on March 1, with a smaller bombardment unleashed by the Russian armies harrying Army Group Center. The initial casualties are horrific, although the Germans soon get their chemical-warfare gear out and fight on. Chemical retaliation is not coming, as Germany's gas stocks were not ready for deployment.

Despite this, Army Group North grinds forward, forcing the Russians back. Jelgava becomes a killing ground. The Russians begin deploying uranium penetrator rounds of their own, as well as the first generation of attack helicopters. Meanwhile, a multiplicity of smaller forces harry Army Group Center; their advance grinds to a halt halfway to Riga.

Meanwhile, Tukhachevsky's great "deep operation" is ready to be launched. Per the plan, the Russians' northern armies fall back on Riga itself and the harassing attacks on Army Group Center slow considerably. Both German forces spring forward...

Only for an enormous Russian army, whose tanks are almost entirely T-55s and who are lavishly equipped with the latest Shturmoviks and attack helicopters, to pour forward from Moscow, through Smolensk and Minsk, into the heart of German-occupied territory, into the lines of communication and second-rate troops of two of the three Germany Army Groups. One force splits off to block any relief effort from Army Group South; the bulk of the army moves north into the German rear areas in Lithuania, threatening Vilnius.

The German army groups that have enclosed Riga immediately fall back, with Army Group North retreating towards Siauliai and Army Group Center towards Daugavpils. Army Group South moves north, but its advance is harried by the Pripet Marshes and the Russian blocking force.

There is a way home for the northern German armies along the Baltic into Prussia, but the Russian Air Force is raiding as far as the Courland Lagoon and time is not on the Germans' side.

The Draka now know that Germany will be the weaker target, not Russia. The perfect opportunity is coming-with the rasputitsa season coming in Russia, the German armies will not be able to easily retreat from Russia to defend their homeland and their western conquests. Nor will the Russian armies be able to easily follow.

On April 14th, 1942, the Domination deploys airborne drops to seize the north end of the Pyrenees passes, trapping the defenders between themselves and the main forces moving up from the south.

The Germans are prepared for their eventuality due to the fact they've done it themselves to the Czechoslovaks and to others and have more flak units on hand. Consequently, the Domination sends more aircraft intended to suppress enemy air defenses along with the Hippo transports. The end result is bloodier for both sides, particularly for the Draka paratroops, but it is still the same.

Eric von Shrakenberg, Sofie Nixon, and their unit collaborate with local units of the French Resistance and Basque villagers to defeat the Germans in their area. Von Shrakenberg makes arrangements with the accompanying American reporter Dreiser to get the French out, using the latter's contacts with the American Friends Service Committee.

This raises the ire of the Security Directorate, already annoyed by how von Shrakenberg had sent his serf daughter to America some years before. They attempt to arrest him using the chaos of the battle to cover their tracks and von Shrakenberg's loyal soldiers kill them, concealing their treachery the same way.

Meanwhile, Draka forces move northward along the eastern coast, taking Perpignan rapidly. Montpellier and Nimes are next on the target list. Draka forces are also moving towards Bordeaux in the west coast, in the face of stiffening Vichy and German resistance. Marshal Petain, head of the German-dominated Vichy government, sends peace feelers to the Draka in hopes of switching sides and preventing the enserfment of French civilians, to no avail.

In the Balkans, Draka troops surge out of the territory seized from Bulgaria at the end of the earlier war, moving along the Maritsa River towards Plovdiv, along the coast from Draka-held Burgas towards Varna, and into Greece along the Thracian Sea. Bulgarian resistance is fanatical-years of horror tales from Bulgarian escapees from Draka-held regions have made them well aware of what Draka conquest means. The Germans provide air support and other assistance, but the bulk of their resources are flowing into Russia.

The Draka units move out of their new province in southern Italy, against the Italians and Germans. It's slow going due to the terrain and the quality of the Italian units varies-some fight fanatically, fearing what was done to their southern kinsmen will happen to them, while others desert and leave the Germans to face the oncoming Snakes.

Meanwhile, units from North Africa and Sicily begin crossing over into Sardinia. Cagliari falls quickly, but the Italians and their German minders begin digging into Sassari and forming defensive lines along the rivers in the center of the island. The massed airborne attack from Draka-held territory makes this very difficult.

Hitler is apoplectic with rage at this betrayal, particularly by fellow "Aryans," and orders German units everywhere to hold the line. However, he refuses to permit a massed retreat from Russia that would provide sufficient troops to contain the Draka at their bridgeheads and eventually force them back.

The German Resistance, whose "Valkyrie" plot devised by von Stauffenberg would theoretically provide a way to sweep Hitler and his loyalists out of power in Hitler's own name, recognizes the problem and ups the ante of their plotting. The ideological overlap between the more fanatical Nazis, who claim to be superior to other whites much like the Draka, makes it easier for people to believe that the SS could have made common cause with the Domination. The early defeats the Germans and their vassals have suffered makes the situation more urgent.

The first large-scale battle in France comes in late April, as the Draka near Montpellier. It's a hard-fought fight that leaves the city in ruins but ultimately, the Draka triumph. The German forces do not retreat per Hitler's orders and are encircled and destroyed, with the prisoners being executed en masse and their severed heads built into pyramids.

In Italy, the Germans hold the Draka back due to the terrain. Unfortunately, the terrain also enables the Draka to repulse German counterattacks. It's a gruesome back-and-forth slog.

In Greece, Thessalonica becomes a western version of Krivoy Rog, as it blocks any further Draka advance. The city falls after weeks of house-to-house fighting. The defeated Germans who fall into Draka hands receive the same treatment as the ones in Montpellier.

In Bulgaria, the Draka attempt to take Sofia by storm, but are driven back in a fierce battle that included a personage no less than the King manning a big gun. However, the Draka control most of Bulgaria below the Balkan Mountains at this point, and more waves of Janissaries pour out of Asia Minor. Sofia will fall, eventually.

Enough was enough. The German plotters act on May 15th, 1942. Hitler is blown up in his lair and "Valkyrie" is activated. The SS in Paris surrender without a shot being fired, while other formations resist a bit more effectively but eventually go down. Within a week, the German Resistance is in control of the entire Third Reich.

Now in power, the new German government sends out peace feelers towards the Allies, pointing out the common danger of the Draka. The US, filled with anti-German sentiment and egged on by various anti-German ethnic lobbies, rejects any deal with the Valkyrie junta, viewing them as little better than the Nazis they supplanted. The British are more interested, but the Draka threaten to assist the Japanese, who now threaten Australia itself. With the entire continent as a hostage, the British refuse to recognize the new government nor make peace, though they do lighten the intensity of their war effort.

However, the Russians have spent more than 20 years preparing to fight the Domination and now is the opportunity. The Russian Republic recognizes the new government of Germany and an armistice is immediately arranged. The Baltic road is not closed off and German units begin move en masse out of the Baltic region, flowing through Germany and towards the oncoming Draka in southern Europe. Army Group South begins retreating back towards the Balkans, to defend against the Draka incursions there.

The Domination is enraged. Unless the Russians intern the remaining armies on their territory, the Draka will declare war.

In Russia, the elderly Kornilov reads the Snakes' demands and smiles grimly. The war he predicted would come before he crushed the Bolsheviks decades ago had arrived. Russia would fulfill its destiny as the savior of Europe from the forces of barbarism.

On May 30th, the Domination of the Draka declares war on the Russian Republic. The Russian Republic reciprocates.

Air battles break out all along the Domination's southern frontier with the Russians, from Crimea through the Caucasus to Afghanistan. Central Asia and the Middle East will become the primary theater of the war between the Dragon and the Bear...