Operation Holland is a two-player alternative history wargame intended to investigate the operational parameters that would have been in place during the first eight days of fighting across northern Belgium and southeast Netherlands had Hitler decided to launch his massive counteroffensive toward Antwerp from there instead of the Ardennes. An additional goal here would have been to cause sufficient casualties among the United Kingdom’s ground forces so as to remove 21st Army Group as an effective offensive force for the coming 1945 campaign season. Such a German effort, if maximally successful, would likely have caused a three-to-four-month delay in the historic timeline of the Anglo-American advance into Germany. In turn, that would have allowed Hitler to concentrate greater forces in Poland to seriously slow or defeat the Soviet offensive there in January, causing a similar delay in the Red Army’s seizure of Berlin. Taken together, the ultimate result of a major Wehrmacht success in Operation Holland could well have meant one or two German cities would have received the first atomic bombs, in place of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, late in the summer of 1945.

Articles:

Operation Holland: The Battle of the Bulge That Might Have Been No matter the difficulties involved, by the autumn of 1944 it was clear to Hitler was some great battlefield victory was the essential prerequisite to successful negotiations for an overall settlement of the war that would allow him to remain alive and in power. One plan he considered was Operation Holland, which would have sent his forces striking from the Roermund area 78 miles over open country to Antwerp.

The Warlord Cao Cao Early in the 3rd century, the warlord Cao Cao came close to uniting all of China under his rule. However, he was defeated at the Battle of Red Cliffs in 208 despite greatly outnumbering his opponents. Here is our analysis of how that turnaround occurred.

The Dade Massacre In 1835 the US was attempting to force the Florida Seminole to relocate to “Indian Territory” (present-day Oklahoma). Two companies under the command of Maj. Francis L. Dade were ambushed by 180 warriors as they marched toward Tampa Bay to reinforce Fort King. Only three soldiers survived, and one died of his wounds the following day. The massacre started the Second Seminole War, which lasted until 1842.

The Battle of Ap Bac On 2 January 1963, US intelligence discovered the presence of a radio transmitter and a force of about 120 Viet Cong in the villages of Ap Tan Thoi and Ap Bac, Dinh Tuong province, South Vietnam. That was inside the South Vietnamese 7th Infantry Division’s district. A plan developed by the US called for an attack from three sides, which resulted in an engagement known as the Battle of Ap Bac. It was a victory for the Viet Cong that shaped the direction of subsequent US involvement in war.