Chapter 37: Axis of Confusion - July 1 to July 31, 1942
The month of July brought mixed results for the Axis. Unwilling to continue tolerating Italy's incompetence in Greece, the Reich declared war on Greece, and the fleet patrolling the Black Sea was recalled to shell and bomb Athens instead. The Greek surface fleet hiding in Athens was obliterated by July 5.
In addition, the situation in Turkey had deteriorated quickly. Despite also being at war with the Soviet Union, Bulgaria had committed no troops to the war, and Italy's entire army was situated outside of Athens. Due to the severity of the situation, Reich Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop managed to persuade both Bulgaria and Italy to redirect troops to aid in the fighting. Both nations agreed, but refused to aid Turkey and sent their armies north to aid Finland instead. The cause for these actions is unknown, but both Italy's and Bulgaria's foreign ministries initially claimed that von Ribbentrop had urged them to aid Finland instead of Turkey.
The Reich, as leader of the Axis, attempts to coordinate the defense of Turkey
Hitler, and indeed all of the Wehrmacht's leadership were enraged by this turn of events. Not only were both nations' actions ignoring the blatant threat to their east, but their advances north would put a major strain on the Reich's supply line. It was true, that at this point Finland's situation was worse than Turkey's, but HG Nord's advance into Ingria and subsequent linkup with the paratroopers in Leningrad meant that the Reich would soon be able to turn its might to aid Finland. In the meantime, the paratroopers in Lapland had been recalled to take the last Baltic port available to the Red Navy. Twenty submarines were anchored at the port when the paratroopers captured the city, forcing them to flee into the waiting Baltic fleet. Ten submarines were sunk in the initial engagement, and the remaining ten were sunk later in the month, emptying the Baltic Sea of Soviet naval vessels.
The situation in the Far North on July 12, 1942
Meanwhile, the Soviet troops in Romania had been fully captured and defeated by July 18, freeing up HG Süd's armored divisions to move into the Crimea and further east to the Don River. An estimated 20 Soviet divisions were captured or destroyed in Romania, and the result was that the Crimea and coast of the Sea of Azov was free of Soviet defenders. Indeed, the Soviet resistance was heaviest east of Leningrade and near Homyel'.
The trapped Soviet troops in Romania finally surrender
Due to the failure of the Axis as an alliance to aid Turkey, on July 28 the four mountain divisions deployed to Odessa were sent to the Turkish port of Samsun by sea, to stop the Soviet advance. While little more than a token gesture, the operation was in reality a test of the mountain divisions' performance, and the mountains of Turkey would prove to be a good testing ground for later operations in the Caucasus Mountains.
The status of the war on July 31, 1942
A view of Bulgarian and Italian troops heading to Lapland
-----------------------------------------------------------
Sorry for the poor post, I had a case of writer's block. Also, I want to hijack this post to RAEG at the ridiculousness of the first and last pictures
Seriously, WTF!? I thought the allied objective "feature" was supposed to make your allies attack the province you set. I tried setting an objective in both Soviet and Turkish-held areas of Turkey, and the Italians and Bulgarians, who had large armies sitting near the border, decided to go help Finland instead, which also seriously messed up my supply lines. While Finland isn't doing so well, I have complete control of the Baltic and HG Nord is getting close to being able to cut off the Soviet's land supply routes. I also have 4 marines and 2 paratroopers there already, and another 4 paratroopers will be freed by the beginning of August, so Finland is mostly ok.