Operation Verlorene Liebesmüh was in essence, an order to all German forces within occupied states to return to the Fatherland. In a magnificent feat of logistics and cunning, the Wehrmacht in France, Holland, Norway and Belgium withdrew its men and material to Germany’s west borders. Despite the Allies’ best efforts to intercept the withdrawal, they were unable to prevent much of the Wehrmacht’s western strength from fleeing to the safety of the Rheine.

Likewise in the east, the German army made a massive retreat. Much like on the Western Front, the rout was orderly and paced to save as much equipment and munitions as possible. By September, the Wehrmacht had consolidated itself within Germany’s borders, leaving Finland, Romania and SS-riddled Austria to fend for themselves. Though still defeated forces, the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe were able to coordinate a deadly defensive effort against the Allies and the Soviets.

As 1944 drew to a close, and 1945 began, neither the Soviets nor the Allies had managed to penetrate Germany’s borders. It was a war of attrition however, and though Rommel and his staff were effective battlefield commanders, they were running out of industry and food with which to power their army. The German population was also falling victim to starvation, and Nazi terrorist cells were growing bolder – Hitler’s gruesome end had given them a martyr to rally around, ironically something Erwin Rommel had once wanted to avoid.

In February, Romania, Hungary and Austria fall to the Soviets after a brief but collected campaign. Rommel admits to the international community that death camps had existed under Nazi rule, and that a great many people died as a result. He promises to release everything related to the practice, and to hand over all of those involved and implicated, in return for a conditional surrender. Both the Soviets and the Allies outright refuse.

In a further bid to win international favour, and to distance himself from Germany’s former leaders, Rommel released the information anyway. Camp locations, inmate processing files, names of SS and Wehrmacht staff responsible for their day-to-day operating were published in a series of documents, and handed over to neutral Switzerland for distribution. Hundreds of thousands of former camp inmates released from the camps were placed on trains, and sent towards both the Soviets and the West depending on their proximity to either front. Rommel stated that he himself had a part to play in their existence, for serving the Reich in a military capacity, and made a pledge to stand trial at the war’s end.

Rommel’s attempts to reach out to Germany’s enemies fell short of gaining either their favour or sympathy, however. On March 19th, the Soviets launched Operation Burning Star, with the aim of breaking through the German border and taking Berlin. After a week-long barrage of some 5,261 howitzers, the Russians made their attempt. Millions of soldiers, and thousands of tanks and planes were dedicated to the assault. However, a reformed Army Group East rose to the challenge and using its large assortment of refurbished Panzer Divisions, complex trench networks, dense minefields and a combat-effective Luftwaffe, it was able to smash the Soviet spearhead and encircle 500,000 Russians outside of Berlin in homage to Operation Barbarossa’s early triumphs. The Russians repeatedly attempted to restart the offensive, but the intricate German defences, coupled with Mainstein’s knack for mobile counter attacks, prevented them from making ground. Concerned that a large portion of their troops would soon succumb to the encirclement, Stalin reluctantly ordered his generals to abandon the attack. This was the last strategic victory for the German army in the year of 1945.

In the West, the Allies probed and plotted, but were not eager to launch a full scale offensive. Germany’s Army Group West had some 3,000,000 men, and 1,300 combat ready tanks; though still gravely outnumbered, it was coherent and battle tested. Allied commanders knew that unlike France, where they fought a paralysed and demoralised enemy, fighting Rommel’s Army Group West on home ground would result in catastrophic casualties.

Although fuel was becoming increasingly difficult to source, Rommel’s defensive plan along the Rheine required little mobility but maximum firepower, and with the Luftwaffe concentrated and therefore still at large, Allied air superiority was gradually losing the devastating effect it enjoyed months previous. Furthermore, through careful management of Germany’s faltering economy, and of its available resources, Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe squadrons started to become a prominent force. Though still vastly outnumbered, the Luftwaffe had made a slow but steady comeback.

Russia’s failure to break the Germans, and the Allies’ hesitation, led to a fallout between Stalin and the Western leaders. Washington, London and Moscow began to distance themselves from each other; the Allies showed their weaknesses. Whilst a red faced Churchill argued for the destruction of Germany, and its full inclusion into the Western political sphere, American President Harry S. Truman began to lend support to an idea of a future where Germany existed unoccupied – a shield to be used against Stalin’s expansionism.

As if acting on cue, Stalin went back on his pledges to allow for Soviet occupied countries to undergo their own democratic elections, and stated his intent to absorb them into the USSR. This enraged the West, and caused further concern amongst all political figures – especially those who had just reclaimed their countries – and a very visible crack formed between the Allies. No one wanted to be the victim of Communism, except for the growing internal communist political movements that were on the verge of being illegalised.

Sensing the divisions of his enemies, Rommel made another plea to the West for a conditional surrender. This time his words were contemplated by the United States President as well as the British Prime Minister. The Soviets subsequently announced that any form of agreement without them involved would lead to war between Russia and the West.

Ever a clever tactician, Rommel made good of the situation. He declared Germany’s western borders “open” and moved Army Group West to the Eastern Front, providing the Russians with a truly formidable adversary. Allied troops crossed into western Germany shortly after, and began occupying the territory in the wake of Germany’s retreating army. They halted as they came half way across the country, so that their leaders could contemplate the situation.

Stalin considered this a sly political attempt to bring the whole of Germany under western control, despite prior agreements. He declared war on the West in response, which created a world-shattering chain of events leading to what is now known as ‘ The Extension War’.

The Red Army starts to gather strength along the borders of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria and Finland. The U.S and British armies respond in kind, and start to reposition their forces in preparation for the incoming invasion by their former ally. However, despite Rommel's pleas, they steer clear of lending any form of support to Germany's army.

Sweden attempts to reaffirm its neutrality to the conflict, and a newly liberated Norway follows suit. However, with the establishment of the Soviet's Finland Front comprising of several armies, it is clear that the north will not be spared.

Despite initially agreeing to declare war on Japan following Germany’s misconceived imminent defeat, Stalin offers the beleaguered nation an olive branch. In return for Soviet military assistance, Japan must conform to certain Communist ideals. Japanese Prime Minister Kantarō Suzuki reluctantly accepts the terms, and cedes Manchuria to the USSR to provide them with a regional base from which to operate. Millions of Red Army soldiers start to arrive in the following weeks; although poorly armed compared to their brothers in the West, they are a much needed asset to the floundering Empire of the Rising Sun. Alongside these soldiers, thousands of aircraft too are donated to Japan’s defence. Stalin publicly announces an alliance between the two nations shortly after.

This unexpected partnership leads to a halt of Allied operations in the Pacific theatre, and an uneasy stalemate continues into August across both the Pacific and Europe.

With the development of the Atom Bomb came a determined and unified Western response to Russia’s escalation of the crisis. On the 6th of August, the U.S Airforce dropped the devastating weapon upon Hiroshima, followed by a second strike at Nagasaki on the 9th. Hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians were consumed by the destruction, and this blatant disregard for innocents was not wasted on the Soviet propaganda machine.

Camera crews were herded in droves from USSR-held Manchuria to Japan, to document in graphic detail the extent of the West’s bombing runs. Footage was dispatched across the region, with Stalin urging civil-war ridden China that the same fate waited for them in the foreseeable future.

America, undeterred by the coverage of the attacks, dropped two atom bombs on Tokyo on August the 15th, obliterating the city and slaughtering millions of its inhabitants. Japan’s standing government was wiped out in the process, though they hid in underground bunkers at the time, and the country was reduced to a leaderless wreck. Stalin was quick to get boots on the ground there, despite the West’s warnings against such an action, and hastily installed a Soviet government. Some of the Japanese resisted, but with the effectiveness of the USSR’s coverage of the atom bomb attacks, these were few and the general population was desperate for protection.

Responding to the situation in earnest, SWPA moved its naval forces towards Japan with the intention of blockading the island, thus denying the Soviets vital Japanese naval bases. Stalin ignored this gesture however, and continued to pour troops into the island nation. It seemed that it would take more than a weapon of mass destruction to cow the Red Bear. Further atom bomb strikes were postponed, owing to the U.S President’s reluctance to start all-out war with the USSR. Though the West had the obvious upper hand in any potential conflict in the Far East, Europe was another story altogether.

August 27th, the Russians conducted large scale war games on the borders of Germany. During these exercises, a Soviet gun battery fired a series of blank rounds towards the 1st Panzer Division stationed east of Berlin. Whether through the incompetentence of the gunnery crews, or some dastardly political attempt to set the world on fire, not all of the shells were blanks.

Dozens of live rounds fell onto the Germans, and though no casualties were sustained, they fired back with batteries of their own. This prompted an immediate Soviet response, and on the personal directive of Stalin, the 55th Red Army made a probing attack over the borders. Manstein reacted with his 2nd Panzer Corps, and drove the half-hearted attack back onto the Russian side of the border.

Meanwhile, the 5th Soviet Guard Army supported by the Soviet 2nd Army struck north from Czechoslovakia in an attempt to catch the Germans off guard. Rommel however, moved Army Group West, now renamed Army Group Trident, to blunt this offensive. Using a mixture of feints, counter attacks and mobile defensive tactics, he utterly crushed the Soviet attack and pushed them back into Czechoslovakia.

Not content to leave matters at that, Rommel pushed on against the Soviets, who were unprepared for Germany to make any kind of offensive action – and thinking them a wholly defeated force, days away from running out of fuel.

Whilst this last point may have been true, Rommel was able to encircle the 5th Guard Army north of Prague, and made a lunge for the city with the 6th Panzer Division and the 21st Panzer Grenadier Division.

Stalin, frustrated by Rommel’s audacity, ordered Red Army formations all across Western Europe on the attack. The Americans and British took hours to respond, even as their positions were overrun as millions of Red Army soldiers and thousands of Soviet tanks surged over the borders of Austria and Finland, laying siege to their positions in Northern Italy, and the Swedish army.

By the 1st of September, the Allies had finally come to terms with the situation, and committed themselves not only to the defence of their territories from the Soviets, but also to the defence of Germany. Supplies and munitions were aimed in Rommel’s direction, even as his Army Group Trident tore through the Red Army and surrounded Prague.

The 1st American Army arrived on the 5th of September, to lend aid to Army Group Trident, with the aim of tying up the bulk of the Red Army in Czechoslovakia whilst the rest of the West’s armies were gathered in force for a decisive offensive action.