Carnage al Dente
Chapter XIV - Operation Barbarossa part III
Players: UK, USA, 2xUSSR, GER, ITA, JAP
Recap: Barbarossa had begun and with this, the real race for total victory and world domination. The Bear is attacked by a multitude of nation, with Germany at the front. United Kingdom is doing what they can to tugg at Axis attention and succeeds well with the liberation(?) of Spain. Spain first chose to stay out of the war but then turned on Germany (but not their former masters (Italy))...
February 10th, 1941
Spain, influenced by the sneaky Brits, broke the truce – but only with Germany. In turned out to a somewhat chaotic situation were Italian troops were caught in pockets if they stood with Germans, from where they could not retreat while Italian units in the rest of Spain could continue their safe retreat. That also meant that the Italian troops could not aid the surrounded troops by opening a corridor for retreats. It was trixy, to say the least.
February 22nd, 1941
In the end, the joint German-Italian forces manage to fight their way out of the trap. Only one German division in southern Spain was defeated. Still, the Axis was now thrown out of Spain. Also, they now had to fight defensively to protect occupied France.
Authors note: Oh… I just realized it is the wrong battle report. They both started on “P”
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February 14th, 1941
The Italian troops by the Diepner shifted northwards, partly to get away from the naval bombardment and partly to test a new part of the front.
It turned out to be a good move. The defenders were overwhelmed 3-1 and took quite serious losses before the crumbled after less than a week of battle. This was a completely different kind of battle than the freezing terror the Italians had lived through crossing the Diepner during December.
February 17th, 1941
One of the reasons for the Italian success was crushing blow the Soviets received further north where the German steel spear-point managed to surround some five or six Red Army division, including two armor divisions. As these were not the first losses on the sector the defender now became obviously weaker.
February 19th, 1941
After crossing the River Diepner, the Italian Expeditionary Force in Soviet turned northwards to link with the German panzer-thrust. The defenders staggered backwards, obviously stunned by the massive onslaught by the Axis on this sector.
March 2nd, 1941
About two weeks later, the trap is closed. The Germans had little rush to crush the pocket, and the Italians lacked the punch. Instead, the German steam-roller continued and drove the remaining battered remnants of the Southern Red Army in front of them. The 6 Soviet divisions in the Balta-pocket, consisting of 3 mountaineers and 3 infantry, would eventually surrender.
Authors note: To bring some balance to the picture I must reveal that German progress in the center was slower and in the North much slower. This was their main focus area for advances.
March 3rd, 1941
After some minor skirmishes during late February, the Anglo-Spanish forces made a more serious push and by the 3rd of March made the Axis defenders retreat. The retreat was, however, in good order.
March 4th, 1941
The Axis was extra nervous due to several British raids along the coast where German garrisons had been surrounded and defeated. The Hungarians had been called for to try and fill some of the gaps in the German lines. The Brits, however, did not seem keen on an all out attack on occupied France – which was not really expected by the Axis.
March 6th, 1941
Next target in the annoying row of nibbling attacks was Denmark. Two regular German brigades were lost during this attack. Although not really devastating, Germany learnt a painful lesson in how and how not to position troops in coastal perimeters. The loss of Kriegsmarine was a wound that would not heal quickly. The Brits dominated the Atlantic with no fear of being engaged.
March 15th, 1941
For some time, Axis had been thinking of how Japan could exploit their dominance in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. It was too early to do something about the growing threat of the USA and enough troops were designated to the Far East. The choice for a new Japanese offensive fell on Persia. It was a Soviet puppet, so no declaration of war was needed. The US could not object. If Persia could be crushed, the Japs would threaten both Iraq and the British holdings, and the belly of the great Bear. The backside was of course that it would be far from a fast operation.
March 15th, 1941
The United States of America was, however, disturbed by the massive convoy war and answered to the cry of the Brits and expanded their undeclared war.
This did not matter too much for the Italians as they raided close to the land. The Germans with their modern submarines was not very frightened either. BUT, the fact that the US seemed more and more inclined to join the Allies was very worrying.
March 17th-20th. 1941
Some two weeks after the full Soviet army corps was annihilated in the Balta pocket, the Italians attacked the great city of Odessa with force and from several directions. It was grey, rainy and somewhat muddy when the Italians troops moved in on the city. The garrison was well dug in while the mountaineers recently had retreated there, weary from previous battles. As the Italians once again came under fire from the Red Navy, they feared this would be yet another gruesome battle by the Azov Sea. As it turned out, however, they were too numerous for the defenders to handle. They soon entered the city through gaps in the Soviet perimeter and the battle was over in roughly 75 hours. This was a great victory and another row of Russian prisoners were marched out of the war.
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Next Chapter - The Regia Marina and the Royal Navy clashes again, Soviet continues to struggle for survival and the Brits launches yet another operation.
