Breaking Through the Trap (id:#59577)

Unknown (OrcCon `92 ID: )   [next]   [previous]

South of the River Neretva, Yugoslavia 1943-01-12 (7 others)

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Overview:

In April 1941 the Germans, Italians and Hungarians invaded Yugoslavia leading to the swift collapse of the Yugoslav state and the surrender of the Yugoslav army. Many Serb detachments refused to surrender and took to the hills. In the wake of the invasion, the Chetniks were the first of the two resistance movements to be founded. Throughout the war, the Chetnik movement remained mostly inactive against the occupation forces, and increasingly collaborated with the Axis, eventually losing its international recognition as the Yugoslav resistance force. After a brief initial period of cooperation, the Partisans and the Chetniks quickly started fighting against each other. Gradually, the Chetniks ended up primarily fighting the Partisans instead of the occupation forces, and started cooperating with the Axis in a struggle to destroy Tito's Partisans, receiving increasing amounts of logistical assistance. The Germans, aware of the growing importance of Yugoslavia, decided to wipe out the Partisans with determined offensives. The Chetniks were in turn granted supplies and munitions by the Germans to increase their effectiveness. The first of these large anti-Partisan offensives was Fall Weiss, also known as the Battle of Neretva. The Chetniks participated with a significant, 20,000-strong, force providing assistance to the German and Italian encirclement from the east (the far bank of the river Neretva). However, Tito's Partisans managed to break through the encirclement, cross the river, and engage the Chetniks. The conflict resulted in a near-total Partisan victory, after which the Chetniks were almost entirely incapacitated in the area west of the Drina river.

Defender: Chetniks (No more details)  

Errata (source)