@serutan: Taking out the Italians is very high on my agenda.
@History_Buff: Well I don't really want to talk to much about future strategies at the moment, but that is an option.
@Karaiskandar: I know, I cant believe the French/Italians are still advancing, especially know that the Germans and their allies are getting Russian reinforcements. What I am more surprised by however is that Mitteleuropa has yet to begin its counterattack. I guess they are just waiting for more Russian troops to arrive or something.
@Nikolai: At this point, I don't think the Germans will be getting overrun any soon. However, if it were not for the Russian intervention, it is questionable whether or not they would be able to launch any counterattack. But that will not stop my hurrying this offensive up, and bringing about the complete defeat of Syndicalism!
@Issac Wolfe: Thanks!
@Zhuge Liang: Thats the main reason why I invaded Iberia rather than France, since Iberia already had lots of troops in country to offer some pretty good resistance.
As the French move into Hungarian territory, they set up a new Austrian Syndicalist state, in an attempt to gain more local reinforcements.
Iberian troops attempt to retake the southern banks of the Ebro river. Their efforts prove to be futile, due to powerful American defenses along the southern side, which inflict huge Syndicalist casualties and force them to call of their attack.
By the end of January, 1944, the front in Iberia has settled to Cantabria, the Basque country, central Aragon, and Catalonia. These areas represent the final strongholds of the CNT-FAI government, and the last obstables before the heart of Syndicalism itself: the Commune of France.
General Eisenhower begins the final stage of the Iberian campaign crossing the Ebro river near Saragossa and pushing for the Pyrennes mountains. Despite very heavy resistance, Eisenhower is able to cross the river and directly threaten the city of Bilbao. Also note that the French have 1945 infantry divisions.
Meanwhile, US forces clear out Catalonia, marching on the city of Barcelona, home of the CNT-FAI anarchist movement. With their forces reeling from the relentless American assault, the Iberian government is unable to organize any real resistance, allowing US troops to take and hold Barcelona.
The US navy enters the Mediterranean sea, with the objective of scouting the Italian coast, and securing the seas around Iberian held Crete.
The only real resistance at sea in the Mediterranean comes from a group of Iberian and French destroyers which are found off the coast of Sicily. All of these destroyers are blasted out of the water by the powerful American battleships.
US troops now begin to attack the heavily defended Pyrenees mountains, which make up the bulk of the border between Spain and France. Resistance in the mountains is intense, with large numbers of American soldiers being killed in ambushes in the narrow mountain passes by Iberian and French infantry.
Meanwhile, US marines invade Crete, the former German naval base, to prevent the Islands use as some kind of final stronghold by the CNT-FAI. When the last Iberian troops surrender, US forces make a shocking discovery, finding that the commander of the Crete Garrison is none other than a former General of the Combined Syndicates of America's people's army, Oliver Law, who had fled to Europe with Jack Reed and other American syndicalists after their crushing defeat in the civil war. Oliver Law is immediately arrested and charged with high treason and conspiracy against the US government, and is immediately sent back to the United States to face a federal court for aiding the enemy.
The battle of the Pyrenees turns into a bloody meatgrinder, which unfortunately succeeds in forcing General's MacArthur and Eisenhower to call of the American assault on the mountains.
Back in the United States, the brand new Essex class Aircraft Carriers complete their sea trials and are ready for battle. This fleet, under the command of Admiral Halsey, is soon to be dispatched to England, to do battle with whats left of the French navy.
On the eastern front, Ukrainian forces have been pushed back to their final strongholds, centered along the cities of Odessa and Kiev. Many predict that despite their best efforts, the Ukrainians will be lucky to survive for even a few more weeks.
After the debacle in the Pyrenees mountains, General Eisenhower makes one more push to finally force the Iberian syndicalist holdouts to surrender. Eisenhower sends a large mechanized force towards the city of Bilbao, succeeding in pushing the Syndicalist forces out of the major city. Eisenhower's troops then succeed in holding the Basque region from a syndicalist counterattack.
The fall of Bilbao is the final nail in the coffin for the Iberian syndicalists. Whats left of the Iberian government and armed forces surrender to the United States, with some government officials fleeing for Italy while the rest are captured by US troops. This is a huge blow for the Internationale, as one of their best sources for more troops is now defeated, and the US army is poised on France's doorstep, ready to cross the mountains and invade France itself.