Strange Bedfellows through the Shivering Dead Snow of 1940
During the night of 11th of November of 1940, General WhiskeyWolf, realizing the situation quite well, used his influence in the Polish cabinet to pull the most polemic decision ever made in the history of Poland.
: Traitor! Look at what you have done? You have allied with our enemies! You have compromised our men to fight side by side with those who destroyed our land and killed their friends!
: No Marshall, I have given to them a better chance of holding the tide of such enemy forces before they can ever harm our people. If Germany falls, the enemy will proceed to defeat us. Besides, brutal encirclements have reduced the Wehrmacht to a hundred and a dozen of divisions, and together we may yet have a chance to halt such enemy. If we keep bickering, if we refuse to cooperate, we will be betraying the human race! Look! Kwanzania is being completely overwhelmed. China is on the verge of defeat! East Africa has fallen! If we simply wait, we will be doomed!
: Do you really expect our soldiers to give their best to help the Wehrmacht? Do you know the consequences of what you just did?
: Of course I do! There are far more choices and consequences here than in any possible game about throwing dices to see what result they give or about pretending to be another person and being a Bro and popping moles while thinking it is an intellectual game.
: What?
: Nevermind, what matters, and what we must be fully aware of, is that we are not doing this for Germany, we are doing this for Poland and for humanity. Look at the reports about the enemy progress! If we remain isolated, we will lose, and I am not referring to Poland, I am referring to the entire world.
: And what do you hope to achieve with this disgusting allegiance with those who were, a few months ago, our enemies?
: The true enemies we fought against, Hitler and most of his cronies, have been executed, get over it! And we need to set up an example to the world, we must lobby immediately for all nations in the world to work together to stop this menace! And by doing this, we will take the first step!
: HA HA HA! OH WOW! Do you really believe the world will unite, even in such circumstances? Tell me another joke!
: Humanity cannot be that stupid to realize their survival depends upon such union.
: I wouldn't trust that.
: The decision was already made, it's pointless for you to argue against it now.
: -_-
: I have managed to double the size of the military forces under our control. Do you know how much this will increase our chances? And are you aware of the reports that a third wave of invaders has landed on several strategic points across the planet?
: At least any chances of the Soviets trying to be opportunistic and invade us are over now. However, if Bulgaria falls, and then Romania falls too, then the aliens would have a direct border with us.
: And thus I have "betrayed" Poland by ensuring what I can do to prevent such thing from happening through diplomatic means. However, if the Soviets fail to contain such invasion, they'll end on our eastern borders, and fighting a two-front war is something that I doubt we have the resources and strength to win or survive through.
With the launch of a fearful force of Tripods on Suez, the aliens have completely sealed off the Mediterranean sea, blocking all fleets inside it from leaving and all fleets inside it from entering. However, the attack on Gibraltar could be only the beginning of something far worse.
: What are you expected to face coming from Istanbul?
: I don't know yet, but judging from the reports across the world, better safe than sorry. These enemies have elite divisions using the best of their technology, so powerful that only heavy artillery pieces can pierce through their armor plating.
: Considering such detail, measures have been taken to prepare our forces as much as possible for what is coming.
The now reinforced Polish divisions began to march through the remnants of Germany. Reports indicated that both Stralsund and Dresden were suffering heavy attacks, and considering their strategic importance, WhiskeyWolf decided to prioritize both. The advance through the frozen ground was slow, and many got sick. Morale was low, for even aware of the greater enemy, most soldiers felt uneasy about doing such a thing. In part, a resentment made them intentionally delay the deployment.
Considering the manpower problems, methods to minimize lethal and crippling casualties were considered very important. Poland was roughly even with the larger powers in ground warfare tactics and technology, at the expense of neglected research in the naval and aerospace fields.
No chances would be taken in Dresden, better to send more than necessary and win the battle than to send less than necessary men to hold a territory and lose it.
Romanian forces, now under the Unified Command of Central-Eastern European Nations (UCCEEN), began to amass to converge in Plodiv, simultaneously, for it was best to not take any chances.
The sluggish mobilization of Polish forces in German territory proceeds, there is a suspicious and covertly hostile interaction between German and Polish soldiers, against the will of their superiors, as they openly avoid getting close from each other. Meanwhile, soon Polish forces will arrive in Stralsund.
Soon, the first contact of Poland with these new enemies will happen. All they knew about them came from hearsay and news reports on the radio, and for the moments they were about to prepare themselves to defend Stralsund, they have forgotten their coldness to the German soldiers, as they felt a terrible tension, their hands over the grips of their rifles and RPGs, awaiting.
First, came the elite divisions wearing power armors. Codename "POPAMOLE", these enemies were very difficult to take down and had an array of incredibly advanced small arms that shot rays of light like the rayguns of fiction. Heavy red hot orbs of glowing light fell from the sky, described as "plasma artillery". Their shiny appearance helped to immediately triangulate their positions, as counter-battery fire proceeded with the far less shiny and technological artillery pieces used by the Polish and German forces defending Stralsund.
Whenever those "plasma orbs" fell upon the land, they melted everything nearby, leaving small craters and no survivors. The battle proceeded through a brutal engagement, and while difficult to hold off, the POPAMOLE weren't the most fearsome enemies. Instead, the less well-equipped, but far more horrifying human soldiers "recruited" by the aliens began to appear after less than a hour of battle.
Despite their equipment being far less exotic and traceable as evolving from existing weapons, it was still at least forty decades more advanced than anything fielded in current times. The hordes of zombies advanced recklessly, as fear struck in the hearts of the defenders. Civilians ran desperatedly away, fearing that the soldiers wouldn't hold off the tide. When witnessing the horrors of the new enemies, and the innocents, the women, children and elderly so close from the battlefield, the Polish soldiers, once distrustful and with low morale, finally realized they were not fighting with Nazis, but for humanity.
The horrors of such enemy were many, and their description as "nightmarish" was, if anything, an understatement. However, despite all such horrors, the Polish and German defenders, aware of the civilian massacre that would happen if they failed, did not cower, and bravely stood, slaughtering wave after wave of undead soldiers, until, after five intense hours of battle.
The first battle against such invaders Poland participated of was over. They have won, but the coldness of the winter have anything but contributed to it, and so far, none of the dreaded Tripods have been sighted. It was clear such enemies posed a much greater threat than anyone could imagine. However no nightmare could be compared to the one that would start, coincidentally, at Midnight, in the frozen battlefield of Dresden. Almost half of the Polish Army reached the region to defend it from a gigantic horde of living dead soldiers equipped with what was assumed to be the equivalent of late 20th century weapons and technology.
They came through the frozen plains of Dresden , hundreds of thousands of former Wehrmacht soldiers in tatters, rotting, decayed. Armed with modern weapons, and despite undead, very well organized andapparently capable of following complex orders like if they were being controlled by a greater mind, like if they were limbs of a singular consciousness.
And there was some very disgusting scenes that have been witnessed during such battle. Apparently, not every human being in the territories occupied by the aliens have been slaughtered, but all indicated that fates worse than death awaited the survivors.
It was an even greater nightmare for the combatants, the stench of death completely nauseating to even the most hardened veterans, the fear, the horror. There were not enough words to describe the experience of fighting against the human corpses the aliens have "recruited".
Meanwhile...
No divine intervention happened to save Jerusalem and the territories of ancient Israel from meeting their doom. It is unlikely the aliens would care about holy symbols, and a great desecration of the greatest icons of the Jewish, Muslim and Christian religions was to be expected soon as the enemy advanced through the rich oilfields of the Middle East.
After almost 24 hours of continued onslaught, only a real man would survive being surrounded by a gigantic legion of well-armed living dead without crapping his pants. It was a very dramatic turn in the battle of Dresden, where, with unspeakable courage, the defenders managed to hold the tides and break the encirclement in the morning of December 1st.
However, there was no time to rest, as the horde of The Many and of the Popamoles proceeded through the region Nuremberg. Defending such region was equally important as otherwise three regions would have to be defended at the same time instead of one.
However, such two battles were not the most dramatic, fearsome battles fought against the enemy, for despite all horrors, the Wehrmacht and the Polish Army prevailed. The most dramatic battle was fought not by Polish soldiers, but by twelve divisions of Romanian soldiers and a few Romanian cavalry under the Unified Command to defend Bulgaria from the unknown threat in Istanbul.
Battle of Plovdiv
By the time the soldiers positioned in the ruins, civilians were already desperatedly fleeing through the coast using all means they could as the dreaded legion of Tripods scoured from the ruins of Istanbul and advanced through the land.
The enemy saw no difference between military and civilian, as their war machines slaughtered everything alive along their way. However, in combination to such fearful forces, even greater nightmares advanced, as the Romanian soldiers would understand why Australia never had any chance to survive:
Despite outnumbering the attackers at 12:1, the defenders were slowly losing their ground, as even the combined might of all their heavy weapons could barely scratch the legions of tripods and robotic monsters advancing. Meanwhile, their flying war machines brought destruction of untold proportions, however, the hundreds of thousands of men still resisted bravely, as they saw hundreds of thosands of of civilians and knew that their lives depended upon this.
Still, they have managed to slow down the war machines, as artillery managed to bring down very few of them, however, they were, even if in a very slow way, losing ground, making gradual retreats, hoping that the reinforcements to arrive could turn the tide of such seemingly hopeless battle
Then, hundreds of miles away, the enemy launched an attack on Potsdam, with an even greater horde of undead than the one that plagued Dresden. Reinforcements prepared to arrive, as an almost as dramatic battle as the battle against the Tripods in Plovdiv has begun.
At such horrible odds, killing the enemy with fire was a viable alternative. Some German soldiers seemed horrified when they same some of the zombies along the horde, as if they recognized the twisted faces of them, as the faces of men who they once fought with instead of against, of men who once were their friends, or even relatives.
On the other hand, for two days, the defenders of Plovdiv held their ground against the numerically inferior but miles ahead in technology forces that were attacking the place. A single division arrived to reinforce their defenses, but it seemed to have made no difference. They still couldn't hold their ground, and civilians were still fleeing the region.
To make things worse, the defenders of Potsdam were, like the defenders of Dresden, surrounded by the legions. However, the enemies they fought outnumbered them, where in Dresden, despite the engagement involving even numbers and frozen ground, they have barely managed to defend it. The perspectives on how things would be once winter was over were frightening, for even in the middle of the winter, the enemy still managed to win battles and advance.
With yet another division arriving, the situation in Plovdiv became slightly less worse. The tripods were centuries ahead of human technology, but not completely unstopabble, even though ridiculous odds and an immense cost in lives and firepower were required to stop only one of them. It was an uphill battle, although the relative capability of slowing down the enemy gave a faint hope the tide could yet be turned.
However, not even 150,000 soldiers have managed to hold the tide, as the battle result was becoming very clear amidst significant casualties. Now, after three days of nonstop battle, the defenders, despite numberful and reasonably equipped for their time, were definitively losing the battle. Equally bad, was the situation at Potsdam.
However, the most destructive event happened in the battle against the unstoppable tide of the Tripods in Plovdiv.
While civilians desperatedly evacuated the region, A single division of Tripods have managed to surround the fifteen divisions still standing against its immense threat. A nearly suicidal battle proceeded, as casualties reached immense numbers. And as if such reports weren't sufficiently dread...
Spain has fallen, as it was confirmed a horde of Tripods that was deployed in Gibraltar completely crushed their army and now began to invade the completely undefended southern France. The French, despite their brave resistance in Belgium and in the Maginot, would not stand the pressure of a two-front war against such an enemy, and now, only a miracle could save them from the impending doom.
The battle for Potsdam wasn't over yet, as reinforcements desperatedly attempted to turn the tide of battle against the massive horde.
However, they came too late and in too few numbers to make a difference, only buying time before the inevitable defeat after two days of battle without end.
The fifteen divisions held the Tripods at bay for four days now, but their defeat was imminent, and there were still civilians fleeing. At 15:00 hours, the retreat began as the casualties became massive. However, a small group of soldiers, aware that there were still civilians to leave, decided to sacrifice themselves to save their lives.
Last Stand against the Tripods in Plovdiv (including Russian subtitles)
It was over. They didn't make it, but they have saved many lives with their last stand. A force that was as large as the entire armies of many countries in the world was insufficient to hold a single division of tripods in a mountainous region with several defensive advantages, demonstrating the massive threat such machines of war presented to humanity. Whereas their foot soldiers could be stopped, for a time, the Tripods were almost unbeatable.
The Battle of Potsdam also have lasted for four days, as a large amount of reinforcements arrived, but they were too late now, Potsdam would be lost sooner or later, however, they have held the region long enough for all the women, children and those unable to fight to evacuate, saving countless lives in their bravery.
Despite the winter and the mostly hilly and mountainous region surrounding them, the aliens, reportedly having launched from orbit a massive legion of Tripods, began to gain a dangerously large amount of ground in the Soviet Union, threatening even to reach the eastern border of the Soviet Union with Poland. All across the world, the situation was terrible, and even the most powerful nations fell slowly to the hordes of invaders.
This is like that thing Cleve was talking about. ITZ came to Australia, and now, only Tasmania remains.
Even aware of the powerful anti-air equipment of these enemies, seeing no option, the two bomber flight groups of Poland were ordered to launch an Interdiction strike against the enemy. However, before they could even reach the enemy territory.
The battle was over. Potsdam was lost as the gigantic horde prepared to occupy it.
In the west, the enemy gained even more ground as the Polish forces prepared to reinforce the barely defended southern part of the large front.
The Polish Army was still being modernized while the battles occurred.
An attempt to retake the strategically important Potsdam was made. A bloody battle, where, despite outnumbering the enemies at almost 4:1, the presence of a lone division of aliens in power armor would show how powerful their actual foot soldiers are when defending. The POPAMOLES were truly a significant threat to mankind.
While the undead soldiers were virtually defeated, the Powar Armorz Xenoz remained strong and resisting, and only anti-tank weapons could kill them. The battle was a disaster. Tanks were also faced for the first time, but these tanks, like all stuff related to the zombies, seemed to have come from a technological age fifty decades ahead.
Potsdam was definitively lost. This would be very bad once the winter ends, for Potsdam had a natural defense in the form of the river crossing it from west.
For unknown reasons, the Germans launched a desperate attack on Friedrichshafen. For a while, the Polish forces gave them support, although they were skeptical of the chances of such attack ever working.
It didn't. Meanwhile, a far more critical operation was about to begin. Plovdiv wouldn't be forsaken easily.
Would even more than two hundred thousand men be insufficient to stop the feared Tripods? Such was the maximum number that could be deployed immediately without risking other fronts. If not even such massive force would be enough to stop the tripods, then the situation would really be dire for Bulgaria, Romania, Poland and Earth. WhiskeyWolf analyzed worriedly the reports on the situation of the world, as of the Christmas of 1940, besides what was already known on the ITZ in Australia and the new invasion front against the Soviets.
The tripods that invaded Spain have occupied the entirety of southern France, and have began the invasion of Italy as well. They would most likely, sooner or later, meet the forces attacking Germany. Considering the odds in the battle of Plovdiv, this was a very bleak realization, and the French, they were definitively doomed, unless a miracle happened.
More than half of the United States fell to the seemingly unstopabble tide, while Mexico has been completely crushed already, and it wouldn't take much longer for the invaders in North America to merge their front with the forces in South America, at this rate.
On an equally worrisome situation, almost half of South America has already fallen. A brutal engagement happened at the moment, in the Amazonian rainforest, where the enemy has been slowed down, but South America seemed doomed to meet defeat.
The Tripods have crushed everything, meeting very little resistance in northeast Africa and in the Middle East. Now Turkey would have to fight a hopeless two-front war against them, and sooner or later, they'd reach India, sealing the fate of the British Empire, which still have managed to hold Glasgow, but was ultimately doomed.
In the Far East, China was almost completely crushed, and although the Japanese have managed to liberate parts of their home islands, their future remained bleak as well. The Chinese resistance has been practically crushed in December of 1940.
Such was the State of Earth. The aliens now possibly occupied more than a quarter of the planet, and hope waned all accross the planet. It became clearer and clearer, that if mankind was to have a chance, they only would have it if they united themselves against such enemy.