At least Italy stays in your hands.
And Lets hope it stays that way
Can you build fortifications in Northern Italy to help you out? That is what I have done in the past.
That is what I intend to do in this next update.
Getting encircled in Trento could have been embarassing but all of Italy is finally free again. Hopefully it'll be easier to keep hold of it this time.
It could have been a disaster. If they had reinforced Milan and manged to prevent Venice from falling, I would have had 34 divisions trapped behind enemy lines.
Hey man, could you mod the RSI to have democratic ministers as well? It would be interesting to see the US prop up a puppet Italy that was truly the true Italian nation.
I could, but I doubt my computer would cooperate. I tried modding the RSI before to include only the Italians territories outside of Europe. The plan was to have the King move against Mussolini. However, Mussolini would get advance warning but have no time to marshal sufficient force to stop, so he would flee to Africa. He then would have taken command of the Italian Army in Africa and the Middle East and formed the RSI. Italy itself, now led by the King, would have then defected to me minus the bulk of their army that had defected to Mussolini. However, that did not work because my computer would not load the save after I edited it as such. It is also the reason Canada is still technically the Alliance leader. I cannot figure out a way to remove them from that postion.
Reminds me of that one time I tried liberating RSI as the US, only to see Mussolini as the American puppet leader.
That would be comical.
Italy was now back in Italian hands and Truman and Eisenhower were determined to ensure that it remained in American hands. To ensure that that happened, Eisenhower ordered the construction of a massive network of fortifications in both Trento and Venetia.
He hoped that these fortifications would free up men for service in other theatres, but they would not be finished for at least a year or two.
Back in the Middle East, Truscot had been forced out of Gazientepp after making a grave miscalculation.
He had ordered the forces formerly commanded by Clark to transfer to Batman to try and help the North African forces in the region defend the region. This left him with only 12 divisions to defend Gazientepp, which had enemies both to the North and West of it. The Axis forces in the area capitalized on his mistake and forced him from the region. At first glance, this would appear to be a mistake, however, further examination would reveal that this was not the case. The North Africans comprised only 10 divisions and they lacked a single command structure. They hailed from all over North Africa and this led to command and control issues. Truscot had hoped that his men would be able to hold Gazientepp on their own and that had been his only real mistake. This issue clearly showed the problem in the area. The Americans lacked the troops to hold both regions and defend them both simultaneously. If Truscott moved his forces do defend one of these provinces, the other would fall. This dilemma would remain until new troops, which were on the way from Africa in the form of several African troops, arrived.
While this was going on, Oulton and Shepherd made another attempt on Kirkuk.
Unlike the last attempt, this one would manage to take and hold the region.
Back in Anatolia, Truscott waited until the Germans had entered the region to launche a counterattack from both Aleppo and Batman that was able to retake the region
An attack is also launched on Hilla. The region is captured.
This time, the Americans are able to hold onto the region.
Soon after this development, Batman falls.
An attack is then launched from Gazientepp, Dair Az Zawyr, and Van. The three dimensional attack succeeds in retaking the region
Soon after taking Kirkuk, Samaria also falls. Oulton then orders an attack on the city of Baghdad
Despite brutal fighting outside the city the Americans are able to force the Axis to flee the area.
Eichlenberg also launches another attack on Nasiryah.
He is able to force the enemy out of the city, but it would be a while before he could secure the region.
Following these victories, the Germans launch an attack on the region of Batman.
Though initially managing to hold off the German advance, Sadat ultimately fails to prevent the region from falling.
However, reinforcements are now well and trully on their way. Among these are four Egyptian divisions under the command of General Gamel Nasir
However, all of this is soon overshadowed by even bigger news. On October 16, 1956, Truman receives has a visit from Professor Robert Oppenheimer, the man in charge of the American nuclear program. After years of experiments, the scientists operating in Cleveland have finally succeeded in creating the world's first sustained Nuclear reaction. After conducting a test over Lake Erie, they have finally managed to produce the world's first atomic bomb and He informs Truman that this weapon will now be at his disposal.
However, Oppenheimer urges caution in its use, as it will be another year before they can give him another one. Truman called his cabinet,his top Generals, and all of the Allied heads of state to a conference in Washington. Along with the expected cabinet members, Also in attendence are General's Patton, Bradley, Truscott, MacArthur, and Eisenhower are also in attendence. Once the president enters, Patton instantly questions why they have all been summoned here. Truman then informs them that America now has in his possesion, the World's first Atomic bomb. Stunned silence immediately fell over the crowd. After the initial shock wore off, debate immediately began over what to do with this weapon. The two leading plans were put forward by Churchill and Patton. Churchill, who had several years prior seen his country occupied for 8 years by the Germans, wanted blood and he wanted vengence. He wanted to drop the bomb right on Hitler's head. He advocated a limited invasion of Denmark to gain an airfield withing range of Berlin to drop this bomb on the city. He hoped to decapitate the German leadership in one fell swope and punish the Germans for the war they had inflicted on mankind. Patton's proposal, was far more reasonable. He wanted to hold off its use for the time being until at least one more bomb could be procured. When that happened, he wanted Truman to put the bombs at his disposal. He then planned to drop them on Aux and Pau. The blast, he hoped, would decimate the German troops in the regions, allowing the American forces in the region to break out in at least one of the regions. Truman, rather unexpectedly, favored Patton's plan. He stated that he would, under no circumstances, drop one of these bombs over a major population center unless absolutely necessary. He stated that these weapons would reek untold habit on civilians, who had so far been spared the majority of the war. Truman had only used his airforce to support his ground forces by bombing regions that they were attacking. If one of these bombs were dropped on a city the size of, say, Berlin, the death toll would be catasrophic and most of those deaths would be civilians whose only crime was being in the wrong place at the wrong time. "We are not barbarians, and we are not savages thirsty for blood" he explained. He therefore decided that nuclear weapons would only be used against large concentration of troops. Privately, he hoped that he would not have to use it for even that.
While this news dominated the military and foreign affairs arena, back home, the public was focused on a much bigger concern for them. The It was now election time and they would have to chose between Either Truman or Clark. Truman had been responsible for leaving America to some of its greatest victories since the last election, including but not limited to the liberation of Africa. Clark, by contrast was not a politician, but was responsible for the largely successful Middle Eastern campaign and was wildly popular with the American Jewish community for the liberation of Israel. This election looked like it might be very close.
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It is voting time. You can choose either Clark or Truman. A victory for Truman will mean this AAR continues in the same direction it is currently. A victory for Clark will see greater emphasis, and greater reinforcements, focused on the Middle Eastern Campaign.