Last Man and Shilling - Semper Fi HPP AustraliAAR

Lamahorse said:

Hopefully the Americans will leave the valiant Australian Fleet some Japs for Vanguard to sink.

More please. Great AAR.

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I'm sure we'll get our fair share. I just hope I don't get anything named Shikoku.

SSmith said:

It looks like you've reached the end of the road in Italy for now, but at least the African campaign is being wrapped up nicely. The Germans have taken their time, but I think France may not have much left to give... time for Australian intervention???

As for the USA, yes, they probably won't make much impact for a while and it's possible they won't enter the European war. Interesting times!

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Australia's going to do what it can but France is not the priority right now, Africa is. I'm not actually sure if I can beat Germans on open ground anyway, as I've gone maneuver/infiltration focused and they're usually superior firepower.

Next update is in the works!

RGB said:

France is at least still staying in the fight, Italy is getting humbled all over the place, and America goes to war early. It's not all bad, I'd say.

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It's a long and bloody fight, but this round is coming to a close. America in the war definitely improves long-term prospects, as they've now got a year and a half extra to build up their strength under a full war economy. On the flipside, will the American people be so passionate about this war?


July 4th, 1940: The United States of America and the Empire of Japan were at war.


The news was largely a shock to the world and especially to the Japanese people who believed that the Americans were too docile and isolated to dare interfere in Asian affairs. The British Empire and her allies were prepared for absolutely anything as the various European colonies prepared for a potential war. Australian Intelligence indicated that Japan had only enough fuel stocks for two, perhaps three years of war before she could no longer afford to operate her extensive navy. Most believed that it would be hard enough for the Japanese to resist the US Navy in a fair fight, and yet as it was fuel rationing would require restrictions of Naval operations in order for Japan to stretch out supplies as long as possible. There was, however, an alternative. The rich oilfields of the Dutch East Indies, currently pumping for the British war effort, would provide more than enough fuel for the Rising Sun's requirements. As the far east prepared for battle, war continued to rage further west.


ANZAC Command was in shambles. The need for so many troops on so many fronts was outstripping her ability to manoeuvre men into position. Field Marshal Sir Cyril Bingham-White desired to defend Sardinia and exploit its valuable mines for Australia's own hungry war economy. British High Command, however, was insistent that every man was required for operations in Africa. Despite Australian protests that abandoning Cagliari yet again would lead to the loss of the city, he was eventually overruled by the War Ministry, who felt Africa was a more important strategic objective.

The breakout from Benghazi was an operational success, and the Australian 6th Corps found little immediate resistance to their push. Listening posts in Malta and aerial reconaissance had picked up an estimated four or five Italian divisions in Cyrenaica, many fleeing from the British advance. Australia had just three divisions present and was expected to lead the charge, much to the chagrin of Bingham-White. He demanded that Australia at least receive the support of the Royal Navy's guns and the RAF's bombers, but the British were busy operating in France and refused to help. The Australians would fight on alone.


Australian cavalry engaged the Italians in the mountains east of Benghazi on July 9th, culminating the first serious battle of the Cyrenaica Offensive at Zawiyat Masus. The Italians did not stay engaged for long, choosing instead to fall back to the south. Aussies noted that the bulk of the Italian forces here were irregulars, many were native mercenaries hired by an Italian government desperate for manpower in the African Theatre.


The Italians were displeased by the continued offensive on Africa. In an attempt to draw attention away from the crumbling Italian lines in Africa, a daring night raid was launched on the harbour. Special Operations units carried by submarine planted explosives in the harbour, successfully detonating the majority. Although three of the five men were caught before their escape, the damage was done. HMS Fearless, a destroyer berthed at Malta, was deemed unsalvageable and the cruiser HMS Gloucester suffered severe damage.

Italian operations were only beginning, however. News reached the Empire that an Italian taskforce was en route to the island, and its timing was not opportune. HMAS Vanguard, the pride of the Australian Navy, was escorting the badly damaged HMAS Perth to port facilities near the Suez, where it was believed she would be safer from enemy attack. As it happened, this force was also the closest to the Italian Fleet and the first responder. Commanding Admiral Collins was under heavy pressure. Although he held some reservations, especially regarding the crippled Perth, British Command was desperate for her aircraft's interception capability. After some discussion, he agreed to change course. Vanguard would see what she could do to damage the Italian fleet from afar.


Originally, Collins had planned to avoid a lengthy operation in the area, but instead to simply deploy a wave or two of Vanguard's aircraft and hopefully knock out a few enemy ships. Due to weather and bad navigation, the Australian Fleet were out of position for the operation, and far too close to the Italian ships -- including no less than four Italian capital ships. Several of the outlying cruisers came under shelling from the enemy fleet, forcing the Australians to return fire. As promised, the HMAS Vanguard was able to deploy a screen of aircraft, buzzing the enemy convoy several times with air-dropped torpedoes and conventional bombs. When the smoke cleared, by some miracle, the Australian fleet had escaped unscathed. Under fire from no less than four Italian battleships, they had suffered no damage to the fleet. In return, the Vanguard had sunk three Italian destroyers and landed a hit on the superstructure of the RM Andrea Doria. The Italians were forced to divert their course north to escape the Australian Carrier's reach, taking them into the Straits of Messina to rendezvous with a cruiser group.


Strike craft from the HMAS Vanguard found them just ten miles southeast of Reggio di Calabria. No air cover had arrived from the continent, and the Regia Marina was clustered together -- sitting ducks for the attack wave. Under heavy anti-aircraft fire, the Australian fighter-bombers dove in and released their deadly loads. Torpedoes, bombs and machine gun fire raked the ships for five minutes, before the weary pilots pulled out to return home. Italian anti-aircraft capabilities were found to be lacking, although sheer volume of gunfire had swatted several of the light planes from the sky. Italian losses were greater: the RM Eugenio di Savoia had been sunk along with a destroyer. RM Giulio Cesare and RM Bari both took direct torpedo hits and had taken on water for the better part of an hour. The attack on Malta was called off, but the Italians were hungry for revenge...


This revenge, however, would cost them dearly. British Intelligence had once again detected the Italians coming and RAAF squadrons were quick to assemble and intercept the flights of patrol bombers en route to Malta. Twenty-three miles north of Sicily, a fierce dogfight broke out as Italian escort fighters tried desperately to save their charges against overwhelming Australian numbers. Suffering heavy losses, the order to retreat came as the Italians began to cross over Sicily itself. The Australians gave chase for several miles before withdrawing themselves. Italian pilots had come to fear the RAAF, who were earning a fierce reputation in the skies. The Hawker Hurricane was a dependable workhorse, and the Supermarine Spitfires were regarded as some of the finest aircraft in the world.


Even as the Australians fought hard over Mediterranean waters, the men on the ground were trying to pin down and do battle with a slippery opponent. Low on supplies and on the run, the Italians had resorted to highly effective guerilla tactics that were sapping the combat strength of the numerically inferior ANZAC Army. Australian artillery was slow and heavy, and in the harsh Saharan environment this would slow them down considerably. Nonetheless, progress was being made and across the better part of July, ANZAC advanced unabated.


Libyan Mercenaries soon gained a strong reputation amongst the Australian troops. They were forced to respect an opponent that they could not beat, and although victory was won near Marsa al Burayqah the Libyans came again and again. They fought hard and well against the Australians, refusing to give in when many Italian units had simply surrendered at the sight of an Australian battalion cresting a hill. The bulk of Italian forces would have to be thrown into the region to break the back of Italian resistance for good -- Major General Robertson was placed in charge of the operation, and he drew up a plan of attack that would hopefully dislodge the defending forces and push them south.


The plan was aggressive and bold, and called for a head-on attack against the fortified town, while the cavalry swung around behind the town and cut them off. Artillery from the 23rd Infantry pounded the Italian lines for several days, but it wasn't until the 29th of July that a serious attack was made on the Libyan stronghold. The Battle of Marsa al Burayqah was a bloody head-on charge. Forced to cross a stretch of open ground, the Australians were vulnerable to counter-shelling and machine gun fire from the fortified Libyan positions. By virtue of clouds of smoke and excellent timing, they suffered only minimal numbers of casualties reaching the town. Intense hand-to-hand combat ensued throughout the town as the Italians and Libyans were outnumbered and outgunned. An hour after the assault began, a shell from an Australian howitzer struck the Italian HQ's ammo dump. The entire lot went up in flames, taking out not just the majority of their remaining supplies, but also the commander's tent. Faced with no reserve ammunition and a dead leader, much of the force began an immediate retreat. Those who could not make it into the desert were forced to surrender.


Although the Battle of Marsa al Burayqah was not Australia's most glamorous victory, nor the bloodiest battle of the war by far, it became an important media piece. War photographers had captured the assault and photos of the heroic charge of the 7th Rifle Battalion became well known to the boys at home. The battle was seen not just as a good propaganda piece because of its exposure, however -- the victory here had cut a path to the broad expanse of the Libyan desert and robbed the Italian forces of much of their supplies. Mercenary and Italian alike were short on ammunition, food and clean water, while the Australians remained well supplied by the Merchant Navy.


Every victory came with sacrifices: the Cyrenaican push sacrificed the Isle of Sardinia once again. Cagliari was badly damaged by the repeated battles over its control, and its citizens had adopted a grim, ashen-faced attitude towards the war. Despite attempts by the French Navy to intercept the Italian invasion fleet, her slow battleships were unable to close in for an engagement. It was becoming clear that in this day and age, surface ships were slow and inflexible compared to the power of the airplane -- Australia was putting these lessons to good use, and urged the French to make better use of Béarn, France's only carrier.

-=[ Author's Interlude: At this point, I was starting to feel guilty as I realized Italy would potentially throw its troops away in Sardinia forever. Although at the time I genuinely felt I needed the Sardinian troops elsewhere, I resolved that next time I would not abandon the island, leaving at least one division in garrison at Cagliari unless I absolutely needed to abandon my Italian territories. I'd rather not win this war by abusing gamey AI tricks. ]=-


Just because the Australians had left Sardinia unmanned, however, did not mean they were unwilling to fight over the island. Damaged ships had made berth at the city's ports and had been blockaded by the French Navy, who had become very active in the Mediterranean. Trapped like rats, General Bostock drew up an immediate plan for an air assault on the harbour, hoping to deal an RAAF blow to the Regia Marina. Flying in under the cover of night, the Australian bombers arrived early in the morning to unleash their payload. The operation was well-timed, and Italy was not alerted to the presence of enemy aircraft until it was nearly too late. Despite heavy anti-air fire from the harbour, the bombers successfully struck several ships with conventional bombs, leaving the RM Bari heavily damaged and sinking another destroyer. Repair facilities and fuel dumps were also hit in the raid, causing massive destruction across the entire port. RAAF pilots would later learn that the Italians would refer to them as the 'Devils of the Sky', a moniker which would later become an official nickname of several of her squadrons.


Italy could no longer maintain resistance of this magnitude against the Australian advance. Many had run out of ammunition or food, and the few battles that occured were usually swift and decisive in Australia's favour. Although resistance would continue throughout the next two weeks, the Italians were finally pinned down at As Sidrah on the 18th of August. Without any supplies or escape, the Italians knew they were stuck. Robertson sent a demand for Italy's surrender and their CO, Lieutenant General Annibale Bergonzoli, agreed within the evening. Tens of thousands of Italian and Libyan forces laid down arms peacefully.


The surrender at As Sidrah had earned hero status for the men of the Australian 6th Corps, who had defeated an Italian Army that outnumbered them in pitched battle and on the attack. When Mussolini heard of Bergonzoli's surrender, he furiously declared the general guilty of treason. A message was sent to the Australians demanding the extradition of the Italian general, but knowing the dictator's likely plans, Prime Minister Curtin politely refused the offer; and on national radio, no less. The Italian dictator was infuriated and shamed, his forces had made no progress into France and African Libya was lost. The success of ANZAC forces in the Mediterranean had reinforced their legendary reputation from the Great War, and it was clear that her war preparations had paid off. Italy was helpless to stop Australia from running free in her own backyard.

Morale across the Empire had buoyed momentarily, but the news soon broke that German forces had surrounded Paris. The French government, refusing to back down so easily, continued to resist until the bitter end, declaring Hitler a tyrant who must be stopped. Her greatest city was badly damaged in the attacks as fierce fighting raged for over a week in her streets. Artillery knocked a large hole in the Eiffel Tower and the Palace of Versailles was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe after a French company took refuge within her walls.


The city fell, and with it, France lost nearly two hundred thousand of her defenders. Countless heroes died in defence of their beloved Paris, fighting as warriors.


Wehrmacht Forces continued to grow in strength even as Allied resolve weakened. It was clear with the Fall of Paris that the mainland was lost, and although the French were determined to fight on, the British began to consider avenues of escape. German forces were aggressively racing towards France's many ports and pushing the Allies back on every front. German Industry produced more and more tanks and aircraft, fueled by the iron mines near Metz and Nancy. In a war many of her generals thought impossible to win, Germany was on the verge of victory, but Hitler was impatient. He wanted victory now. A series of severe threats were sent to the French government regarding the country's welfare, and with total destruction looming over the horizon, France's government decided she could fight no longer.


The French signed an armistice with the Germans on the 4th of October. Philippe Pétain, fearing for his people, offered a complete surrender to the Germans. Elsaß-Lothringen became the newest state of the Third Reich and most of France fell legally under German administrative control. Collaborationist forces immediately moved to try and seal the ports and block an escape of the British Expeditionary Force. The British were furious, and Winston Churchill suggested a declaration of war on France immediately. The only thing that cooled his temper was the nen on the front lines. Although the French senior staff were too old and conservative to go against the President and ordered their troops to stand down, many of the hot-blooded Frenchmen would have nothing of this. Paris had fallen and the peace treaty proposed disgusted patriotic soldiers in the hundreds of thousands.

Led by the defiant General Charles de Gaulle, much of the French Republic's army, navy and air force openly mutinied against the government's orders and continued to fight alongside the British. Many of these soldiers fought to buy their British comrades time to escape, reasoning that if they failed, they still had a chance of escaping and blending into civilian life. The selflessness of the French soldier, their defiance against the Germans and the bloody siege of Paris had brought a great deal of respect to the French, despite their loss of the Maginot Line. Although long-critical of their French allies, the British gained sympathy for the nation under enemy arms and public opinion was that the French soldiers who continued to fight in the face of their enemies were nothing less than heroes. Pétain and the chief generals he had appointed to defend the country - all relics like himself - came under heavy criticism and were regarded by most French as traitors. Hitler insisted they did not rule from Paris, and so Toulouse was selected as the new site of the government. With an angry, disgruntled populace, the few loyal French forces left under Pétain's command immediately instituted martial law in the south of the country. France was now a shattered nation, utterly defeated by the Reich.

Hitler had won the first round of the war...but Britain still stood.

RGB said:

The French go down fighting, and I guess as reward Hitler lets them have their new capital in a bigger city.

Who got the navy? Do the Free French have any ports nearby?

Good job in Lybia!

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Funny thing - the Toulouse capital came because Hitler had to fight so long to force a French surrender that Vichy was directly occupied by German troops when the armistice fired. Rather than revert to French State territory, German Bourgogne was retained as a vast swathe of extra German administrated territory. Mussolini got only a tiny strip of land including Nice and a lot of abuse from the Germans, I imagine.

I have weak intel on the French division right now, but I think the Free French came away with 24 ships or so, unsure how much of the pre-war navy was sunk and how much is in Toulousian hands. I know I've seen at least one Toulouse battlegroup consisting of Dunkerque and a few cruisers/destroyers, but I haven't gotten a clear look at Marseilles as I've been busy elsewhere.

Libya was a great success, but I'm sure it would not have gone so smoothly if Italy had left more reserves near Tripoli and Benghazi. They made their own downfall. With all these successful amphibious landings, my Aussies badly need some marines!

TankOfMidgets said:

Looks like a bad day for Hong Kong, given its impending absorption by the Great Green Glob. I expect the Sino-Indian front will devolve into WWI writ larger, given the lack of proper British roadworks in the Himalayas... assuming Thailand stays neutral and isn't inducted into the Axis like Siam is in vanilla. Any plans for an intervention in Indochina, since it's the next logical step to Nanjing?

And I'm amazed your fleet managed to escape that battle without losing the Perth, given that four Italian BBs joined the fight. Between their inaccuracy and their tendency to surrender, perhaps the Italians are demonstrating their renowned capacity of sound judgment, and surrendering in the hope that Australia will be a more benevolent overlord than Germany?

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Hong Kong is definitely first to go once British-Japanese forces cross the line and start shooting. I was absolutely stunned that Perth escaped that fight, but I underestimated the speed of the Vanguard. My formation was rapidly able to pull out of range of the BBs and thus we were only exposed to a very brief period of fire. The cruisers actually gave me more trouble because Vanguard was too slow to escape them. It may well be that the Italians are just wisely surrendering!

TKFS said:

Another great update, as usual. The French may have gone down, but at least they went down with honor. Also, has there been any activity in the Pacific as of yet?

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The French fought bitterly to the end, and were it not for Pétain and factors I'm not going into in AARland, they may have put up formal resistance for longer. No visible activity in the Pacific yet but a couple sunk ships by US/Japan on the charts, so definitely some naval battles. No provinces have swapped hands. Japan has yet to declare war on Britain.

Cybvep said:

The green blob isn't that powerful, because it doesn't have cores on most of its territory. However, the blob still has the ability to create many infantry units, so beware!

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Agreed, it's an overstated country, requires huge garrisons to man its huge borders and suffers from lack of cores. On the flipside, still infinite manpower + enough IC to spam infantry out pretty much forever. I will never underestimate the Chinese machine.

SSmith said:

I must say I am stunned to see Italy re-occupy Sardinia a second time! I have never seen them so keen to recover their lost possessions - keeping a garrison in Cagliari is definitely a sound move!

I am thinking you may now be in a waiting game? It's certainly not easy to assault German-occupied Europe right now...

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I was stunned. I don't want to play this gamey so next time Sardinia goes down (assuming I have the luxury and choice) I'll leave at least a full divisions in the port at all times. I'll probably keep some TPs hovering around in case I need to abandon the city.

Tallfellow said:

Doing pretty good against Italy, hope you can keep it up, and i agree with you, it would be a bit gamey if you kept taking Sardinia and then leaving it again afterwards, so putting a Garrison in Cagliari sounds like an excellent idea!

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Italy's been repeatedly kicked around, the victory against those BBs was like fresh spring water on a hot day, as I realized their heavies are too slow to reliably touch my fleet. And my CVs are only going to get better and faster from here. The Cagliari Garrison will be a painful loss of manpower to an Australian army that's short on troops, but it robs Italy of one of her best resource provinces and best-located naval/air bases, so it's an important location to hold! I won't be letting it go easy.

Wallienator said:

The Australians, the only Allied member doing something usefull .

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Reminds me of WW1, really. ;P Canada might be a contender except I've looked and they have like, 2 destroyers, 1 transport, 4 interceptors and 15 infantry brigades. I have no idea what they spent all their IC on up until now, but my mind is blown.

Stuyvesant said:

It's a shame the French fell, but once the Aussies were pulled out of the line there, it was inevitable, I guess. They did go down fighting hard, which is nice - and bought you extra time to crush Italian Libya. I couldn't quite tell from the narrative and maps, but did you clean up that theater completely, or are there still Italians scrambling in the sands between Benghazi and El Alamein? If the latter, I hope you can finish up North Africa soon, so that the British can concentrate on India. Oh, and their Home Islands, of course. It wouldn't do for all you successes in North Africa to be for nought if the Germans successfully invade the British Isles...

Can you deploy troops pre-emptively into the Dutch East Indies, or do you (and the Dutch) need to be at war with the Japanese first?

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Libya has almost completely fallen. I destroyed the pocket show on the prior map (I failed to grab a screenshot of this destruction, my bad) which leaves just a small pocket to the west, in occupied French Tunisia. I can redeploy forces to the Dutch East Indies (they're under Direct British Control right now) as well as to Malaysia, India or the British Isles, but I have to pick and choose where my troops are being sent. About half of my military will be taken up in occupation forces right now, defending Sardinia, Sicily and Libya from counterinvasions. I'll probably pull out of Libya once the British have fully secured Africa, but Sicily and Sardinia I don't intend to abandon unless I absolutely have to.

The French were probably doomed to fall without a player at the helm, but after their great start and their strong long-term resistance, I was really hopeful that they'd make it. I pulled off the line because with just 3 corps of troops, I didn't feel that I could make the same kind of impact due to stacking penalties as I could in other theatres. There was an average of 6-7 divisions per province in Belgium and I think that was also a considerable part of the reason for the French collapse. Belgium was overfortified and suffering stacking penalties while the Maginot was underdefended. The AI was being uncooperative and failed to redistribute troops to assigned zones despite my placed objectives. I'm really hoping FTM's AI is better about this because by all rights France shouldn't have fallen this game, its defensive build and tech choices were rock solid.

Cybvep said:

BTW you should use more zoomed-out SCs, as they are cool and give a good overview of the strategic situation.

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Feedback duly noted! I've not been the steadiest at taking screenshots in this AAR, although I'm getting better, as I'm unused to Gameplay AARs still.

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I've played through three updates of material, now it's just a matter of editing screenshots and writing up the post. Thanks for the input and comments guys!