Chapter 23: Weeks 31-35 - Italy Joins the War, the Heer reaches Paris, and the South Africans Counterattack!
On January 10, 1941, Italy joined the war and opened up the Southern and African fronts. Despite its armed forces being mobilized and in position, the Italians made little to no progress on all fronts for the next month. Privately, Hitler and his cabinet debated the worth of their Italian allies. However, the fact remained that the Italians were the only ones in a position to force the UK's surrender until the Reich pacifies France, and they could also provided a distraction in the Alps, by forcing France to guard the border. In fact, throughout the war, the Italians proved to be nothing more than a good distraction.
Italy joins the war
In Belgium, despite the quick early gains, the fighting was slow and intense in Brussels and Liege, as the French and remaining British managed to reach the cities before the Reich could take them. A similar situation developed near Lille and Calais. To create another front, Luxembourg was attacked on January 28, 1941. Liege fell on February 5, while Brussels fell on February 10. Both battles were costly, resulting in over 8,000 German deaths.
The Battle of Brussels
On February 2, another corps of motorized infantry was deployed, and the freed resources were used to construct the first 10 Spähkreuzer-class (scout cruiser-class) heavy destroyers.
The first ten of the 25 planned scout cruisers
Also on February 2, German troops won the Battle of Luxembourg, with a total of 3,225 German and 3,758 Allied deaths. The high casualties were due to poor terrain and the surprising quality of the French troops. Three days later the Heer occupied the small country, which then surrendered to the Reich.
The Heer wins the Battle of Luxembourg, but at great cost
Luxembourg surrenders and is annexed by the Reich on February 5, 1941
At this point, due to the slow advance, I. Marinekorps was relocated from Scotland to Den Haag. Their role was to assault Paris once the armored elements cleared a path for them. Later, on February 7, while patrolling for French submarines and UK convoys, 5. Zerstörergeschwader managed to spot what appeared to be the entire RN resting in Scapa Flow and Inverness. The locations and possible compositions of these fleet were noted, and Admiral Raeder began to plan for the event that the ports were taken and he could finally engage the core of the RN. Despite the large number of vessels, Raeder knew that the UK was unable to provide supplies for the ships, as the Scottish defenders were given priority due to Armee 1's progress.
The RN is hiding from Flotte 1
On February 8, due to Hitler's claims that Ireland was providing support and refuge for members of the UK's government, the Luftwaffe's paratroopers based in Belfast attacked, quickly taking Dublin and the surrounding provinces. Ireland steadfastly denied the claims, but was unable to provide proof to the contrary.
Later, on February 9, 5. Zerstörergeschwader spotted four South African transport flotillas and engaged. While the destroyers were unable to sink any of the ships, they damaged enough to cause the transports to flee to Aberdeen. The Reich's leadership dismissed the transports and their cargo, thinking that the South Africans were attempting to push Armee 1 out of Scotland. This turned out to be a huge judgment error. With Flotte 1 resting in Den Haag, the South Africans landed four infantry divisions in Amsterdam, which was left completely undefended by Heeresgruppe A. While Flotte 1 was able to sink all four transport ships, the damage was done, and forces fighting the French had to be diverted to defeat the South Africans.
The transports that took Amsterdam
On February 14, with the South Africans expanding their beachhead near Amsterdam, Raeder continued to hunt Allied patrols in the English Channel, this time managing to sink the HMS Dragon.
The Second Battle of the Easter English Channel. Behind the OOB interface in the top-right you can see the South African Expeditionary Force.
During this time period, 66 Allied convoys were sunk, averaging 16 convoys sunk per week. The KMS Lutzöw abandoned its hunting grounds near the Carribean and joined the Scharnhorst and Admiral Hipper near the Azores, resulting in a large increase of sunk Allied shipping.
Overall, the situation looked promising for the Axis, but slow. On February 14, Italy had attacked Malta and had progressedl into Tunisia. The Heer had managed to reach Paris, and the marines were in the process of surrounding the city and crossing the Seine. However, Italy had made no progress into Southern France, was losing Libya to the Egyptians and East Africa to the French and UK colonial troops. Progress in Scotland was painfully slow, due to the UK's terrain advantage and the frozen ground conditions. Simply moving into a province took at least a week, even after the defenders had fled. The South Africans had yet to be removed from Amsterdam. At this point, while Fall Rot looked like it would succeed, the cost was projected to be high.
The status of the war in Europe at the end of week 35
The status of the war in North Africa at the end of week 35
The status of the war in East Africa at the end of week 35