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The function of a citizen and a soldier are inseparable. - Benito Mussolini
Chapter 14: Dacia (11/30/38 - 12/15/38)
There was still time for one more winter campaign before the end of the year. By November 30, 1938 only 20 days after the surrender of Turkey, Italy had amassed no less than eight corps, each of four divisions, along the long Romanian border, 32 divisions total.
Earlier in the year of 1938, King Carol II banned political parties and established a royal dictatorship. He appointed Miron Cristea, the Patrician of the Romanian Orthodox Church as a figure head prime minister, but all power was still in Carol’s authoritarian hands. He was yet another old world Balkan dictator, and the world would be a better, more secure, and more peaceful place without him. On the last day of November, Mussolini had Ciano deliver to King Carol II an invitation to his country to join the New Roman Empire. Prime Minister Miron Cristea immediately issued a rejection. Mussolini accused the leaders of Romania of disregarding the interests of their people in favor of their own personal prerogatives. Italy declared war on Romania on December 1, 1938.
Of the eight corps on the Romanian border, one corps was in the far north to keep an eye on the Hungarians. Three corps were spread out along the long border between Romania and the former Yugoslavia. The four corps that would bear the principal responsibility of the invasion were deployed along the southern border in the former Bulgaria, closest to the Romanian capital. Messe’s mobile forces were arranged on the far left of the line along the Black Sea coast in Varna. Roatta’s four mixed Alpini divisions were deployed in Vulchidol. Pintor’s four infantry divisions were all concentrated in Ruse and were assigned the task of making the direct assault on Bucharest. Mancinelli’s pure Alpini would start off in Pleven.
Once the Generals were given the order to attack, Gen. Messe advanced from Varna. In just ten days, two of his division had attacked Bazargic and two Cavarna, then all four of them advanced to occupy the port of Constanta.
In the center, Gen. Pintor started in Ruse and made a direct advance towards Bucharest through Giurgiu. Once Giurgiu was secure, all four of his divisions started the assault on the city. Pintor’s advance was supported by interceptors and tactical bombers flying out of the air based in Varna.
To Pintor’s right, Roatta’s mixed Alpini started in Vulchidol. Two of his divisions drove into Urziceni, and the other two divisions attacked Dulovo. Then from Dulovo, one division advanced to Calarasi and took up a defensive position, whereas the other division joined the two in Urziceni. The then three divisions in Urziceni attacked Ploiesti while the battle of Bucharest still raged to the south.
To Pintor’s left, Mancinelli’s pure Alpini launched from Pleven. They forded the Danube and attacked Corabia. They continued to Saceni to Titu and finally joined the attack against Ploiesti from the other direction.
While these attacks were developing, Mussolini displayed the reason why he had waited until after the invasion of Turkey to go against Romania. He wanted the keys to the Black Sea first, so that the Regia Marina could menace the long coastline. Two battleship fleets were parked outside of the only remaining Romanian port of Babadag. When the Romanian fleet refused to give battle, the four marine division conducted an amphibious attack on the port. The port was occupied by a Romanian infantry division at the time, but the Italian marines performed excellent. They routed the Romanians, secured the port, and fanned out to expand the beachhead and join up with Messe’s mobile corps that was driving a wedge north up the coastline.
All this was accomplished in the first ten days of the invasion.
Then, on December 12, 1938, Bucharest fell to Gen. Pintor. The next day, on December 13, 1938, Ploiesti fell to Gens. Roatta and Mancinelli. Finally, on December 15, 1938, King Carol agreed to surrender, if he was provided with a comfortable exile.
Mussolini accepted the offer to avoid further bloodshed. In just fifteen days, Romania was annexed to the New Roman Empire.
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lol we all knew it was comming, it was just a matter of when
next should deffinately be spain, while they are still weak from the civil war
How about something more daring, like Persia and Spain at the same time? And what about Switzerland anyway?
I'd have to go with Hungary as well, and for the same reasons. I'm also thinking after Hitler invades France he will go for North Africa.
Am I Chamberlain? I could have done the same thing. In your story, you are pushing so far that you seems now unstoppable. Or if the allies tries to stop you, they could be unable to win against Germany, the contrary getting less true conquest after conquest. I understand that the real Chamberlain would had avoided war he too, and I don't blame him, because he was leading a (too?) peaceful Great Britain.
Great story and gameplay so far!
I am guessing Spain wont be a target unless you get a bigger fleet for transport or make a land route to it.
I am guessing Spain wont be a target unless you get a bigger fleet for transport or make a land route to it.
Under the Hood -- 1938
I know when I read these AAR's I like to see what the player is doing with the game mechanics. While playing I irregularly remembered to get a screen capture of the console showing my tech advances. Unfortunately, once you quit a game session, that information is not saved in the saved game, and I haven't figured out a way to retroactively figure out when certain technological advances were made after I forgot to get a capture of the screen before quiting.
As you can see, Italy was improving its land forces predominately. It looks like I didn't start construction of the Aqulia until January of 1938, regardless of what I wrote in the third chapter. Since Italy will be limited to single engine airplanes only, the multi-purpose fighters are going to find a home. Infantry and tank equipment improvements, of course.
OLO is necessary if you want to be an offensive player. Italy always needs to improve its industry. Also, being neutral provides a 5% penalty on all research time. So, Italy needed to invest a research slot just to counter that penalty. Of course, I'm a big believer in Special Forces to increase the organization of the Alpini, Assault Concentration to increase the organization of the artillery and anti-tank brigades, as well as the eventual self-propelled artillery brigades, but unfortunately not the tank destroyer brigades. Those necessary hard support units require the expensive blitzkrieg tech to increase organization. Italy cannot afford that research. So, those units are always going to be a weak link organization-wise.
More light tank improvements, and if you have an offensive army made up of mostly Alpini divisions and you are fighting in the Balkans, possibly defending in the Alps and thinking about other operations in other rough and mountainous areas, mountain equipment should come in very handy. Finally, Infantry warfare to increase the organization of our regular infantry which will eventually form the bulk of the army.
Unfortunately, I neglected to screen cap the techs researched in 1938 after September, but emphasis was alway in having cutting edge infantry equipment and artillery, and state of the art light tank equipment. The long range objective is to have great infantry supported by a few mobile corps. The mobile corps are now light tanks, motorized infantry and tank destroyers. However, since our light tanks will always be stuck with 30 org, we eventually hope to build mechanized infantry, self-propelled artillery and tank destroyers.
The construction during '38 was two aircraft carriers and 4 CAGs (still in construction) and lots of small maniple divisions made up of 1INF+1ART. These small units would serve as garrisons in the occupied territories to fight partisans and to free up the main strike force of experience combat corps to quick advance to the next operation. These maniples would eventually be joined to form front line troops. I am pretty sure I was also building industry as well. I was also building lots of marine brigades and for some mysterious reason I was researching the naval doctrine of Basing.
I'm almost finished writing up the next operation. Where will it be?
I know when I read these AAR's I like to see what the player is doing with the game mechanics. While playing I irregularly remembered to get a screen capture of the console showing my tech advances. Unfortunately, once you quit a game session, that information is not saved in the saved game, and I haven't figured out a way to retroactively figure out when certain technological advances were made after I forgot to get a capture of the screen before quiting.
As you can see, Italy was improving its land forces predominately. It looks like I didn't start construction of the Aqulia until January of 1938, regardless of what I wrote in the third chapter. Since Italy will be limited to single engine airplanes only, the multi-purpose fighters are going to find a home. Infantry and tank equipment improvements, of course.
OLO is necessary if you want to be an offensive player. Italy always needs to improve its industry. Also, being neutral provides a 5% penalty on all research time. So, Italy needed to invest a research slot just to counter that penalty. Of course, I'm a big believer in Special Forces to increase the organization of the Alpini, Assault Concentration to increase the organization of the artillery and anti-tank brigades, as well as the eventual self-propelled artillery brigades, but unfortunately not the tank destroyer brigades. Those necessary hard support units require the expensive blitzkrieg tech to increase organization. Italy cannot afford that research. So, those units are always going to be a weak link organization-wise.
More light tank improvements, and if you have an offensive army made up of mostly Alpini divisions and you are fighting in the Balkans, possibly defending in the Alps and thinking about other operations in other rough and mountainous areas, mountain equipment should come in very handy. Finally, Infantry warfare to increase the organization of our regular infantry which will eventually form the bulk of the army.
Unfortunately, I neglected to screen cap the techs researched in 1938 after September, but emphasis was alway in having cutting edge infantry equipment and artillery, and state of the art light tank equipment. The long range objective is to have great infantry supported by a few mobile corps. The mobile corps are now light tanks, motorized infantry and tank destroyers. However, since our light tanks will always be stuck with 30 org, we eventually hope to build mechanized infantry, self-propelled artillery and tank destroyers.
The construction during '38 was two aircraft carriers and 4 CAGs (still in construction) and lots of small maniple divisions made up of 1INF+1ART. These small units would serve as garrisons in the occupied territories to fight partisans and to free up the main strike force of experience combat corps to quick advance to the next operation. These maniples would eventually be joined to form front line troops. I am pretty sure I was also building industry as well. I was also building lots of marine brigades and for some mysterious reason I was researching the naval doctrine of Basing.
I'm almost finished writing up the next operation. Where will it be?
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Chapter Fifteen: The Magyars (1/3/39 - 2/7/39)
Chapter Fifteen: The Magyars (1/3/39 - 2/7/39)
The Magyars were yet another wave of primitive asiatic invaders that migrated into Europe during the fifth century A.D. to assert barbaric pressure on decent western civilization. These savages eventually settled down and started to call themselves Hungarians. They established a powerful dynasty that became one of the most powerful forces in central Europe. However, they too were on the losing side of the first world war. They compounded that loss by following the advice of Woodrow Wilson and fully disarming their military, just as their surrounding nations were arming themselves. In 1918, they were attacked by Serbs supported by the French in the south, by Czechs in the north, and by Romanians in the east. The Entente powers began distributing slices of Hungary's traditional territory to Romania, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia. Ultimately, Hungary was forced to sign the Treaty of Trianon. The treaty finally settled Hungary’s borders, reducing the nation by two thirds of its pre-war size. Ten million ethnic Hungarians were cut-off from their homeland. Its industry was cut off from its source of raw materials. The nation lost 84% of its timber resources, 43% of its arable land, and 83% of its iron ore. Worse yet, 55% of its industrial plants, 100% of its gold, silver, copper, mercury and salt mines, and 67% of its credit and banking institutions had been divvied up between its neighbors.
These deprivations led to communist revolutions and counter revolutions and ultimately resulted in the rise to power of Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya, the authoritarian Regent of Hungary. His government issued a numerus clausus law, limiting the admission of "politically insecure elements" to universities, and we all know who those politically insecure elements are. In 1938, Horthy, and his figure head prime minister Gyula Gömbös, made Hungary one of those expansion-minded powers that Chamberlain feared would be enticed to join Germany’s Axis. Gömbös signed a trade agreement with Germany that drew Hungary's economy out of depression but made Hungary dependent upon the German economy for both raw materials and markets. Adolf Hitler appealed to Hungarian desires for territorial revisionism, while right wing organizations, like the Arrow Cross party, increasingly embraced extreme Nazi ideology. It was clear that Hungary was drifting towards the Axis and could at any moment join.
Mussolini certainly did not want to cross Hitler and would not think of attacking any nation that fell under Germany’s aegis. However, no such alliance existed as of January of 1939. Furthermore, most of Hungary’s land claims were to territories that now laid within the borders of the New Roman Empire. If Hungary were to join the Axis, it would most likely end up being a source of tension between Italy and Germany, since Hungary would be constantly agitating for the acquisition of Empire land. Mussolini resolved to absorb this troublesome neutral and remove the possible source of future tension.
On January 2, 1939, just 18 days following the surrender of Romania, Italy amassed an army of six corps of four division and one corps of three divisions along the Hungarian border, twenty-seven total divisions.
Gen. Aymonnino’s four infantry divisions were deployed on the right of the Italian line and spread out along the north eastern border provinces of Negresti Oas, Satu Mare, Carei and Valea lui Mihai. Gen. Fautilli’s four mixed mountain divisions were consolidated with two division each in Chisineu Cris and Sannicolau Mare.
Gen. Messe’s Corpo d’Armata Celere was deployed in the center of the line in Subotica between the rivers of Tisza on the right and the Danube on the left with a straight shot without any river crossings to Budapest. Gen. Scattini’s corps divided with two divisions guarding each of the flanks of Messe’s spearhead. Gens. Berti and Duca degli Abruzzi’s two pure Alpini divisions were on the right flank straddling the Tisza River and Gens. Oxilia and Fratini’s pure Alpini divisions were positioned in Bajmok straddling the Danube.
Gen. Pintor’s four infantry divisions were consolidated in Belimanastir. Gen. Mancinelli’s four pure Alpini were spread out between Cakovec and Valpovo, and Gen. Galbiati’s corps of three infantry divisions was asked to hold the left side of the line from Maribor to Ormoz.
On January 2, 1939, Ciano followed the formalities of delivering an ultimatum to Gömbös in the form of an invitation to the Hungarian people to be absorbed by the New Roman Empire. The invitation repeated the promise of full citizenship, freedom of travel and trade, and true local government. The invitation also included an offer of a comfortable exile to Hungary’s current leadership if the invitation is accepted without war. However, should the offer be refused and war made necessary, the offer to the current leadership would be rescinded. Despite the apparent reasonableness of the offer, it was rejected, and on January 3, 1939, Italy declared war on Hungary.
The battle plan called for the consolidated forces to make rapid deep penetrations into the Hungarian lines. While risking being cut-off, it was hoped that these deep penetrations would result in a collapse of the Hungarian line, the disorganized fall back of their forces, and a rapid siege of the capital. The spearhead, of course, being Messe’s Corpo d’Armata Celere.
By January 20, 1939, Messe’s corps had slashed from Subotica through Morahalom to Keckemet and then on to Albertirsa on the outskirts of Budapest. Meanwhile Pintor had advanced from Belimanastir to Szekszard to Dunaujvaros and had started its attack on Erd on its way to Budapest. Gen. Fautilli’s corps took over Szeged and Bekescusaba, then consolidating all four division in Bekescusaba attacked Szolnok. Scattini’s Alpini had slower advances due to the river crossings but the corps formed together in Morahalom and followed in Messe’s wake in an effort to keep the lines of supply open.
The Hungarians initially tried to take advantage of the gaps in the Italian advance by counter attacking at Szekszard. However, once Messe launched his attack on Budapest, all Hungarian divisions started to fall back towards the capital.
The Regio Esercito's performance was excellent, as usual, and Mussolini realized that he was dealing with a Veteran Army that he could trust to fight well and display initiative as the circumstances presented themselves. They truly were nobel heirs of the Roman legionaries.
Gen. Messe started his assault immediately, but his tanks had trouble in the urban environment. It took another ten days for the trailing infantry to close on the capital and for the siege to start in earnest. However, by January 30, 1939, the capital had been invested on three sides and the Battle of Budapest had truly started.
Messes’s four armor divisions continued assaulting the city from Albertirsa. Pintor’s four artillery-backed infantry division attacked over the Danube from Erd, and Scattini’s four pure mountain divisions were assaulting the city from Dabas.
Meanwhile Fautilli’s corps was attacking from Szolnok to Jaszbereny in an effort to cut off reinforcements to the capital. The Hungarians fought hard, but on February 6, 1939, Italian forces were victorious in the Battle of Budapest.
It cost Italy 895 of her finest, but the next day, on February 7, 1939, Hungary surrendered.
Its people agreed to be absorbed as part of the New Roman Empire.
The fate of nations is intimately bound up with their powers of reproduction. All nations and all empires first felt decadence gnawing at them when their birth rate fell off. -- Benito Mussolini
Chapter Fifteen: The Magyars (1/3/39 - 2/7/39)
The Magyars were yet another wave of primitive asiatic invaders that migrated into Europe during the fifth century A.D. to assert barbaric pressure on decent western civilization. These savages eventually settled down and started to call themselves Hungarians. They established a powerful dynasty that became one of the most powerful forces in central Europe. However, they too were on the losing side of the first world war. They compounded that loss by following the advice of Woodrow Wilson and fully disarming their military, just as their surrounding nations were arming themselves. In 1918, they were attacked by Serbs supported by the French in the south, by Czechs in the north, and by Romanians in the east. The Entente powers began distributing slices of Hungary's traditional territory to Romania, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia. Ultimately, Hungary was forced to sign the Treaty of Trianon. The treaty finally settled Hungary’s borders, reducing the nation by two thirds of its pre-war size. Ten million ethnic Hungarians were cut-off from their homeland. Its industry was cut off from its source of raw materials. The nation lost 84% of its timber resources, 43% of its arable land, and 83% of its iron ore. Worse yet, 55% of its industrial plants, 100% of its gold, silver, copper, mercury and salt mines, and 67% of its credit and banking institutions had been divvied up between its neighbors.
These deprivations led to communist revolutions and counter revolutions and ultimately resulted in the rise to power of Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya, the authoritarian Regent of Hungary. His government issued a numerus clausus law, limiting the admission of "politically insecure elements" to universities, and we all know who those politically insecure elements are. In 1938, Horthy, and his figure head prime minister Gyula Gömbös, made Hungary one of those expansion-minded powers that Chamberlain feared would be enticed to join Germany’s Axis. Gömbös signed a trade agreement with Germany that drew Hungary's economy out of depression but made Hungary dependent upon the German economy for both raw materials and markets. Adolf Hitler appealed to Hungarian desires for territorial revisionism, while right wing organizations, like the Arrow Cross party, increasingly embraced extreme Nazi ideology. It was clear that Hungary was drifting towards the Axis and could at any moment join.
Mussolini certainly did not want to cross Hitler and would not think of attacking any nation that fell under Germany’s aegis. However, no such alliance existed as of January of 1939. Furthermore, most of Hungary’s land claims were to territories that now laid within the borders of the New Roman Empire. If Hungary were to join the Axis, it would most likely end up being a source of tension between Italy and Germany, since Hungary would be constantly agitating for the acquisition of Empire land. Mussolini resolved to absorb this troublesome neutral and remove the possible source of future tension.
On January 2, 1939, just 18 days following the surrender of Romania, Italy amassed an army of six corps of four division and one corps of three divisions along the Hungarian border, twenty-seven total divisions.
Gen. Aymonnino’s four infantry divisions were deployed on the right of the Italian line and spread out along the north eastern border provinces of Negresti Oas, Satu Mare, Carei and Valea lui Mihai. Gen. Fautilli’s four mixed mountain divisions were consolidated with two division each in Chisineu Cris and Sannicolau Mare.
Gen. Messe’s Corpo d’Armata Celere was deployed in the center of the line in Subotica between the rivers of Tisza on the right and the Danube on the left with a straight shot without any river crossings to Budapest. Gen. Scattini’s corps divided with two divisions guarding each of the flanks of Messe’s spearhead. Gens. Berti and Duca degli Abruzzi’s two pure Alpini divisions were on the right flank straddling the Tisza River and Gens. Oxilia and Fratini’s pure Alpini divisions were positioned in Bajmok straddling the Danube.
Gen. Pintor’s four infantry divisions were consolidated in Belimanastir. Gen. Mancinelli’s four pure Alpini were spread out between Cakovec and Valpovo, and Gen. Galbiati’s corps of three infantry divisions was asked to hold the left side of the line from Maribor to Ormoz.
On January 2, 1939, Ciano followed the formalities of delivering an ultimatum to Gömbös in the form of an invitation to the Hungarian people to be absorbed by the New Roman Empire. The invitation repeated the promise of full citizenship, freedom of travel and trade, and true local government. The invitation also included an offer of a comfortable exile to Hungary’s current leadership if the invitation is accepted without war. However, should the offer be refused and war made necessary, the offer to the current leadership would be rescinded. Despite the apparent reasonableness of the offer, it was rejected, and on January 3, 1939, Italy declared war on Hungary.
The battle plan called for the consolidated forces to make rapid deep penetrations into the Hungarian lines. While risking being cut-off, it was hoped that these deep penetrations would result in a collapse of the Hungarian line, the disorganized fall back of their forces, and a rapid siege of the capital. The spearhead, of course, being Messe’s Corpo d’Armata Celere.
By January 20, 1939, Messe’s corps had slashed from Subotica through Morahalom to Keckemet and then on to Albertirsa on the outskirts of Budapest. Meanwhile Pintor had advanced from Belimanastir to Szekszard to Dunaujvaros and had started its attack on Erd on its way to Budapest. Gen. Fautilli’s corps took over Szeged and Bekescusaba, then consolidating all four division in Bekescusaba attacked Szolnok. Scattini’s Alpini had slower advances due to the river crossings but the corps formed together in Morahalom and followed in Messe’s wake in an effort to keep the lines of supply open.
The Hungarians initially tried to take advantage of the gaps in the Italian advance by counter attacking at Szekszard. However, once Messe launched his attack on Budapest, all Hungarian divisions started to fall back towards the capital.
The Regio Esercito's performance was excellent, as usual, and Mussolini realized that he was dealing with a Veteran Army that he could trust to fight well and display initiative as the circumstances presented themselves. They truly were nobel heirs of the Roman legionaries.
Gen. Messe started his assault immediately, but his tanks had trouble in the urban environment. It took another ten days for the trailing infantry to close on the capital and for the siege to start in earnest. However, by January 30, 1939, the capital had been invested on three sides and the Battle of Budapest had truly started.
Messes’s four armor divisions continued assaulting the city from Albertirsa. Pintor’s four artillery-backed infantry division attacked over the Danube from Erd, and Scattini’s four pure mountain divisions were assaulting the city from Dabas.
Meanwhile Fautilli’s corps was attacking from Szolnok to Jaszbereny in an effort to cut off reinforcements to the capital. The Hungarians fought hard, but on February 6, 1939, Italian forces were victorious in the Battle of Budapest.
It cost Italy 895 of her finest, but the next day, on February 7, 1939, Hungary surrendered.
Its people agreed to be absorbed as part of the New Roman Empire.
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Now all you need is to change your name to ROMAN EMPIRE (if possible in HOI3, or if you want it) then the transformation would be complete.
But I can't help feeling....Something involving gigantic wars is coming up soon.
But I can't help feeling....Something involving gigantic wars is coming up soon.
Now how is that money shot?
In the time that Germany added Austria and the Sudetenland, Italy puppeted Abyssinia and annexed Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, Romania and Hungary.
I hear the map makers are going to change the name of the Italian Peninsula to just the I Peninsula.
In the time that Germany added Austria and the Sudetenland, Italy puppeted Abyssinia and annexed Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, Romania and Hungary.
I hear the map makers are going to change the name of the Italian Peninsula to just the I Peninsula.
That's an awesome map -- I'm very interested to see what happens when the real fur starts flying.
Me too.
Nice work on Hungary, I'm intrigued to see how you will deal with Hitler once he starts his expansion, i.e. will you declare war upon him or will you let him and the Allies finish each other off, so that you can prey on the remains?