That may not be a bad idea. With the French rushing to contain the Spanish beachhead, they may let down their guard elsewhere.
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That may not be a bad idea. With the French rushing to contain the Spanish beachhead, they may let down their guard elsewhere.
Damn! The businessmen lapdogs are in the motherland!
But don't worry comrades! Spain will be the grave of the Wall Street thralls!
¡No pasarán!
But don't worry comrades! Spain will be the grave of the Wall Street thralls!
¡No pasarán!
Oh dear! That came to a halt quickly! I concur with the necessity for a second landing. The French just seem far too powerful to take on with one beach-head.
What you really need is a second front by another power. Russia maybe? As long as France can take out all these little opponents, they'll always have more than enough to take the Americans on...
What you really need is a second front by another power. Russia maybe? As long as France can take out all these little opponents, they'll always have more than enough to take the Americans on...
Indeed. The virtues of internationalism and solidarity will find their salvation in the Spanish hills to the music of the proletariat's rifles and bayonets. A las barricadas camaradas!
Doesn't the US have the resources to open more than one front against the syndicalists? Or even just strategic use of amphibious landings? I mean, if you lure 100 French divisions into Spain and then land a force in southern France that can drive right across the Pyrenees, you can hardly screw up the rest of the war, right? Encircling such a huge portion of the French army should be almost trivial with the industrial resources you have available.
creating a second front will surely ensure victory because the AI-breakdown effect when facing two fronts
The main issue I see with that proposal is coming up with enough divisions to clamp these 100 French divisions and then being able to fully supply and oraganize them.
Just ruining their supply levels ought to be fun... eh? Can't keep them supplied forever when your IC and Infra are shattered.
Sorry for the lack of updates recently. I graduated a couple days ago and have overall been too lazy to write one of these out. Hopefully I’ll be picking up the pace in the next couple of days and weeks. Some big things are about to happen as far as the AAR story in concerned, and I have to decide what direction to take.
1945 - Part II
Both Generals Bradley and Eisenhower had good reason to be frustrated by the ultimate conclusion to Operation Return; what had originally been envisioned as a surprise landing on the mainland that would see the unprepared Spanish forces swept away by the onrushing Americans had quickly degenerated into a stalemate very reminiscent of the situation in Scotland in late '44. But to his credit, and as a testament to just how much time he now had on his hands, Patton had already planned for this eventuality and quickly wrote Bradley via General Marshall at the Pentagon his appraisal of the situation.
Virtually everyone in a position of authority agreed that there were to be no more attempts at a breakthrough in northern Spain. The combined Syndicalist forces and unfavorable ground lead Bradley to conclude, 'My army will sooner swim the Atlantic than break that line.' Roosevelt emphatically agreed, eager to avoid a repeat of the nearly disastrous Scottish campaign. Patton, for his part, commented that 'We're head-to-head with the Syndie bastards, so let's slice their guts wide open.' Such as it was, the former-National commander unveiled a plan for a secondary landing somewhere in southwest Spain between the Portuguese border and the fortress at Gibraltar. Bradley immediately saw several benefits to the proposal: it would threaten one of the largest concentrations of Spanish industry around Seville, put the Army within striking distance of Gibraltar, and force the Syndicalists to redirect forces from northern Spain.
Because much of the Army was already tied up in northern Spain and keeping Britain secure against attacks from both within and without, and because the merchant marine was already strained by the demands of supplying the military from halfway across the globe, the secondary landing would be relatively minor in nature. Speed and surprise were of the essence; as such, the relatively untried IV. Armored Corps under Lt. General Walker was tasked with being the invasion's spearhead. More mechanized and armored units would follow in its wake, leaving the entire invasion completely unsupported by infantry formations, a first in modern warfare. But the Americans dismissed the potential risks in the face of the potential rewards, and Eisenhower signed off on Patton's plan with Roosevelt and Marshall's approval on May 22.
Eisenhower had good reason to feel confident. On May 27, the French navy under Admiral Deat steamed out of the safety of the naval base at Brest in an attempt to sever the American supply lines to Spain. Spruance and Nimitz reacted swiftly, and forced Deat to retreat, narrowly avoiding a trap that would have sent practically the last vestiges of the Syndicalist coalition's naval power to the bottom. Thus, when Walker's IV. Armored Corps, escorted by Spruance's fleet, began trundling up the beaches near Seville on June 6, the surprise was complete. An almost farcical counter-attack by the utterly inept General Contreras, a political appointee with essentially no military ability, pitted incredulous Spanish reservists armed with rifles and grenades against medium tanks, quickly caused the Spanish garrison in and around Seville to rout by midday June 7. Within another two days, Walker had secured Seville.
The Americans make a second landing in Spain, June 1945
Delaying in Seville only long enough for III. Armored Corps, commanded by Lt. General Harmon, to be ferried to Seville from Britain, Walker struck toward Gibraltar on the 12th. Though the great fortress that overlooked the strategically vital straits was impregnable from a seaward attack, the Spanish had allowed the landward defenses, built up during the late 1920's after the British Empire collapsed, to decay into a deplorable state of disrepair. Well-aware of the vulnerability, the CNT-FAI simply lacked the time or resources to invest in a restoration project. As a result, Walker's armored formations were hampered more by the terrain and hostile locals than any organized military resistance. After a brief but ultimately futile holding action just north of the fortress, the Spanish garrison at Gibraltar surrendered on June 19.
Not letting the success delay him any longer, Walker quickly continued eastward along the Spanish coast, with Malaga as his intended target. Opposing him once again was the inept General Contreras, now backed by an infantry division and a sizable contingent of local irregulars. With Lt. General Bedell-Smith and I. Corps of the mechanized IX. Army providing support on his northern flank, Walker had the Spanish defenders outnumbered and totally outgunned. Despite Contreras quickly fleeing the scene, the Spaniards retired in good order on the 20th. Hoping to blunt the American attack, they ceded ground as they fell back on Malaga, fighting only when necessary to keep the entire force from being overrun by the onrushing American tanks. Back west on the same day, Harmon easily repelled a minor Syndicalist counter-attack on Seville
In the course of just over two weeks, this secondary American invasion had succeeded in capturing large portions of southern Spain. But it had done so relatively unopposed, and intelligence reports indicated that uncertain but definitely sizable numbers of French divisions were rushing south to halt the American advance. Bradley and Patton hoped that this meant either that the forces in the north had been significantly diminished or that the French had dispatched an inadequate force to halt Walker's advance; French military power, after all, was not infinite. But whether nor not these assessments were true remained to be seen.
Although Roosevelt was certainly pleased by events unfolding in southern Spain, the President actually paid scant attention in late June. Indeed, his lack of interest was entirely justified, for he had just received news of the greatest, arguably even revolutionary, importance regarding developments back on the home front. Suddenly, President Roosevelt was faced with one of the greatest questions ever to be posed to an American president.
-----
1945 - Part II
Both Generals Bradley and Eisenhower had good reason to be frustrated by the ultimate conclusion to Operation Return; what had originally been envisioned as a surprise landing on the mainland that would see the unprepared Spanish forces swept away by the onrushing Americans had quickly degenerated into a stalemate very reminiscent of the situation in Scotland in late '44. But to his credit, and as a testament to just how much time he now had on his hands, Patton had already planned for this eventuality and quickly wrote Bradley via General Marshall at the Pentagon his appraisal of the situation.
Virtually everyone in a position of authority agreed that there were to be no more attempts at a breakthrough in northern Spain. The combined Syndicalist forces and unfavorable ground lead Bradley to conclude, 'My army will sooner swim the Atlantic than break that line.' Roosevelt emphatically agreed, eager to avoid a repeat of the nearly disastrous Scottish campaign. Patton, for his part, commented that 'We're head-to-head with the Syndie bastards, so let's slice their guts wide open.' Such as it was, the former-National commander unveiled a plan for a secondary landing somewhere in southwest Spain between the Portuguese border and the fortress at Gibraltar. Bradley immediately saw several benefits to the proposal: it would threaten one of the largest concentrations of Spanish industry around Seville, put the Army within striking distance of Gibraltar, and force the Syndicalists to redirect forces from northern Spain.
Because much of the Army was already tied up in northern Spain and keeping Britain secure against attacks from both within and without, and because the merchant marine was already strained by the demands of supplying the military from halfway across the globe, the secondary landing would be relatively minor in nature. Speed and surprise were of the essence; as such, the relatively untried IV. Armored Corps under Lt. General Walker was tasked with being the invasion's spearhead. More mechanized and armored units would follow in its wake, leaving the entire invasion completely unsupported by infantry formations, a first in modern warfare. But the Americans dismissed the potential risks in the face of the potential rewards, and Eisenhower signed off on Patton's plan with Roosevelt and Marshall's approval on May 22.
Eisenhower had good reason to feel confident. On May 27, the French navy under Admiral Deat steamed out of the safety of the naval base at Brest in an attempt to sever the American supply lines to Spain. Spruance and Nimitz reacted swiftly, and forced Deat to retreat, narrowly avoiding a trap that would have sent practically the last vestiges of the Syndicalist coalition's naval power to the bottom. Thus, when Walker's IV. Armored Corps, escorted by Spruance's fleet, began trundling up the beaches near Seville on June 6, the surprise was complete. An almost farcical counter-attack by the utterly inept General Contreras, a political appointee with essentially no military ability, pitted incredulous Spanish reservists armed with rifles and grenades against medium tanks, quickly caused the Spanish garrison in and around Seville to rout by midday June 7. Within another two days, Walker had secured Seville.
The Americans make a second landing in Spain, June 1945
Delaying in Seville only long enough for III. Armored Corps, commanded by Lt. General Harmon, to be ferried to Seville from Britain, Walker struck toward Gibraltar on the 12th. Though the great fortress that overlooked the strategically vital straits was impregnable from a seaward attack, the Spanish had allowed the landward defenses, built up during the late 1920's after the British Empire collapsed, to decay into a deplorable state of disrepair. Well-aware of the vulnerability, the CNT-FAI simply lacked the time or resources to invest in a restoration project. As a result, Walker's armored formations were hampered more by the terrain and hostile locals than any organized military resistance. After a brief but ultimately futile holding action just north of the fortress, the Spanish garrison at Gibraltar surrendered on June 19.
Not letting the success delay him any longer, Walker quickly continued eastward along the Spanish coast, with Malaga as his intended target. Opposing him once again was the inept General Contreras, now backed by an infantry division and a sizable contingent of local irregulars. With Lt. General Bedell-Smith and I. Corps of the mechanized IX. Army providing support on his northern flank, Walker had the Spanish defenders outnumbered and totally outgunned. Despite Contreras quickly fleeing the scene, the Spaniards retired in good order on the 20th. Hoping to blunt the American attack, they ceded ground as they fell back on Malaga, fighting only when necessary to keep the entire force from being overrun by the onrushing American tanks. Back west on the same day, Harmon easily repelled a minor Syndicalist counter-attack on Seville
In the course of just over two weeks, this secondary American invasion had succeeded in capturing large portions of southern Spain. But it had done so relatively unopposed, and intelligence reports indicated that uncertain but definitely sizable numbers of French divisions were rushing south to halt the American advance. Bradley and Patton hoped that this meant either that the forces in the north had been significantly diminished or that the French had dispatched an inadequate force to halt Walker's advance; French military power, after all, was not infinite. But whether nor not these assessments were true remained to be seen.
Although Roosevelt was certainly pleased by events unfolding in southern Spain, the President actually paid scant attention in late June. Indeed, his lack of interest was entirely justified, for he had just received news of the greatest, arguably even revolutionary, importance regarding developments back on the home front. Suddenly, President Roosevelt was faced with one of the greatest questions ever to be posed to an American president.
Great cliffhanger. If the southern invasion bogs down, I have three suggestions. The first would be to try to get a military access agreement, not an alliance, with Portugal and use that to see if you can strike into the heartland and link up the two fronts from an area they will not expect. I do not know if this is possible because I have never tried it, but if it is, you should seriously tried it. If you do not like that idea or it is not possible, you should strike into Southwestern France and then take the Pyrennes and cut off what will then be a substantial French force in Iberia from France proper. If that plan works, you might be able to cripple the French. If neither of these seem like good options, see if you can try for an invasion of Italy. Italy might be lightly defended because the Syndicalists might not be expecting it. It would also mean that the French would be stretched to their limit and might have to send men from Spain to repel the invasion. Even if you get thrown back in the long run, you will have a small window of opportunity to exploit what might be a reduced Spanish force. This all depends on whether you have the manpower to pull it off of course.
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Hmm, might it be Nukes! Destroy all major European cities!! Down with civilization!! Long Live the US!!
Heh, this is turning out very similar to my Union of Britain game. I tried making landings into Carlist Spain as soon as the war started, but the never even made it ashore in the north before more forces rushed to defend the mountains. I then made a landing in Seville, and slowly dragged myself through the poor terrain and infrastructure to the northern border. Of course the USA is more powerful than Britain, but on the other hand the French were my (rather useless) allies, rather than enemies...
If you can destroy the French fleet, you could just keep hopping from beachhead to beachhead, forcing them to walk all over Europe through trashed infrastructure provinces retaking stuff.
It's nice to start my morning off by seeing the Americans kick the Spanish around.
Hell. I hate when stupid AI can't put a decend fight. This lowers the AAR quality too much.
So your success or failure will depend on how many divisions the French manage to place in your path until they run out- I think you haver the upper hand here as their allies seem to be utterly incompetent.
Nuke Paris!
Madrid wouldn't hurt neither.
The French Army is here playing the part of the Wehrmacht they had irl.
Where are their great tank manoeuvres?
And the airfleet?
Madrid wouldn't hurt neither.
The French Army is here playing the part of the Wehrmacht they had irl.
Where are their great tank manoeuvres?
And the airfleet?