On hard difficult, in WIF mod,as Italy,im tock absolutly all Africa and annexed Free France with UAR.So,question on player skills.Italy as game country has a lot of abilities for good expansion
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Bonus Chapter: Battle off the Gulf of Tunis
Arnaldo Brioli was relieved, he had just crossed the border between Spain and the british colony of Gibraltar.
His false spanish passport had worked and he had gained an entrance to the british city.
This man was an italian spy, working for the "Servizio Informazioni Militare", or SIM, his job in Gibraltar was to report all kinds of allied naval movements to and from the Mediterranean sea.
The date was September 3th 1939, nine days ago Italy had declared war against France, this late entry to the war allowed Italy to prepare herself, and italian spys were already in Francoist Spain waiting for orders.
Arnaldo was lucky, some of his colleagues had been assigned to neutral Portugal for counterintelligence duty, very dull indeed.
First few days went quietly, the italian spy mostly walked around the town and tried to listen for anything important, acessing the british base in the area proved impossible, due to very strong security.
The biggest thing that would happen in Arnaldos career came on the morning of September the fifth, he was enjoying his morning coffee in the balcony of his hotel, when he saw a number of children running towards the harbour.
He took out his binoculars and gazed towards the strait of Gibraltar, and there he saw black smoke columns rising towards the sky.
Ships! No, fleet of ships!
Arnaldo almost jumped off the balcony, but restrained himself and calmly walked out of the hotel, and into the streets.
Ships in the straits were french vessels of war, certainly something Rome wants to know about, these ships were from the french Atlantic Fleet, coming to reinforce the Mediterranean fleet.
The fleet had two battleships, three heavy cruisers, five light cruisers and some 24 destroyers, the battleships were ancient pre-dreadnoughts of the Danton-class, not a real threat because of their slow speed. (19 knots)
Those battleships were the only ones the spy recognised from the ship identification charts they studied back in Italy.
Arnaldo immediately wrote his report in a nearby cafe and sent it to Madrid, from there it would be sent to Rome, the spy took another look at the french ships, his work was done for now.
ROME SEPTEMBER 6th
Office of the Chief of Staff of the Italian Navy
06:30
Ammiraglio di Armata, Domenico Cavagnari, had just arrived to his office, grumpy from too few hours of sleep, he immediately met with his staff who had received news from Spain.
"Okay, what is so damn important, that it cant wait for few more hours?" Said Cavagnari, and took a sip from his coffee.
One of his young staff officers handed him Arnaldo Briolis report about the french fleet movements.
"In addition to this, we also received report from Toulon, that the french fleet has left port, mission unknown."
Before Cavagnari could say anything, Vice Admiral Arturo Riccardi barged into the room.
"Please sir admiral forgive my late arrival, getting a plane from Taranto proved harder than i expected, i was rather suprised to hear that the meeting began already, wasn't it scheduled to begin at 10:00?"
Admiral sat down to his chair and looked at the exhausted Riccardi.
"Vice Admiral Riccardi, this is not the meeting we were supposed to have, this is an emergency meeting, caused by sudden french fleet movements, and if i know our leader, wich i do, you should get to your plane and fly back to Taranto at once."
Riccardi looked annoyed, but then his face got brighter.
"What are my orders then? To raise anchor and sail against the french fleet? This is certainly something i would very much like to do. We could finally test the ships of the Littorio class against the enemy."
Just then an telegraph operator came to the room.
"Sir, a telegram from Mussolini: Your orders are to intercept the enemy fleet and destroy it, send both the first and second squadrons to do this task, also you must avoid the british mediterranean fleet.
Naval bombers from Sicily are at your disposal, happy hunting! DUCE."
Orders were clear, the first squadron, centering around Italy's battleship force, ( Conte di Cavour, Giulio Cesare, Andrea Doria, Caio Duilio, Littorio, Vittorio Veneto and Roma)
left their base at Taranto almost immediately, their commander was Ammiraglio di Squadra designato di Armata (Vice Admiral) Arturo Riccardi. (He flew to Sicily were he boarded his flagship Vittorio Veneto)
The Second Squadron was based in Genoa, and its centre were the four brand new battlecruisers of the La Spezia class. ( Taranto, Genoa, La Spezia and Milano)
The commander of the Second Squadron was Vice Admiral Inigo Campioni.
Taranto Navalbase
Admiral Domenico Cavagnari, Chief of Staff of the Italian Navy
Vice Admirals Arturo Riccardi and Inigo Campioni
TYRHENIAN SEA, NEAR THE ISLAND OF SARDINIA, SEPTEMBER 8th
Two squadrons united into one battlefleet and proceeded towards the coast of Tunisia.
Commanding officer: Ammiraglio di Squadra designato di Armata Arturo Riccardi
Fleet flagship: battleship Vittorio Veneto
Strength of the italian fleet:
7 battleships
4 battlecruisers
5 heavy cruisers
1 seaplane carrier
14 light cruisers
40 destroyers
5 submarines
Battleship Littorio at sea
COAST OF ALGERIA, SEPTEMBER 8TH
French fleet was anchored near the Algerian capital of Algiers.
Commanding officer: Vice-amiral Jean-Pierre Esteva.
Fleet flagship: battleship Bretagne
Strength of the french fleet:
8 battleships
1 aircraft carrier
9 heavy cruisers
1 seaplane carrier
8 light cruisers (two of them british)
75 destroyers (five british)
1 heavy submarine
Battleship Provence
150 Km (90 Mi) OF THE GULF OF TUNIS, SEPTEMBER 10TH
01:36 The french fleet was reported by one of the italian submarines operating in the area, nine capital ships of varying size.
Vice Admiral Riccardi gave the order to go to battlestations.
02:02 Italian battleship Vittorio Veneto opens fire
02:04 Italian battlecruiser Milano opens fire
02:06 French battleship Provence opens fire
02:23 Italian navy enjoys technological superiority over the older french vessels, but the gunfire has been frustratingly inaccurate.
02:36 Disaster! The Conte di Cavour-class battleship Giulio Cesare suffered a critical hit from a 340mm shell of the french flagship Bretagne,
her engines were disabled, and rear turrets malfunctioned.
02:45 French heavy cruiser Foch fires several torpedoes at Giulio Cesare, two of them hit and order is given to abandon ship.
03:13 The battle turns when the italian naval bombers arrive from their base in Sicily.
They quickly succeed in sinking the french aircraft carrier Béarn and the heavy cruiser Tourville.
03:32 The brand new italian battlecruiser La Spezia, with the help of its sister ships, destroys the french dreadnought Jean Bart with its 320mm guns.
03:41 Both fleets have suffered damage, french more than the italians.
Nerves of the french admiral Esteva are beginning to crack, tough both admirals are thinking of retreat.
03:53 After one more french destroyer goes under the waves, the french deploy smoke, and begin to retreat.
04:13 The french destroyers suffer heavy losses and two more heavy cruisers are lost.
04:21 Vice Admiral Riccardi chooses not to pursue the fleeing french, because of the extensive damage to several italian vessels.
04:23 Final shots of the battle were fired by italian light cruisers, who sunk the french heavysubmarine Surcouf when she attempted to dive,
Surcouf was the biggest submarine constructed so far, and she took over two minutes to dive to a depth of 12 m (39 ft).
Vittorio Venetos broadside.
Heavy cruiser Gorizia firing at the french destroyers.
French cruiser Foch.
Giulio Cesare fires her forward turrets, moments before being torpedoed by Foch.
French aircraft carrier Béarn dissapears into the smoke.
French heavy cruiser Algérie.
The french "submarine cruiser" Surcouf, with its ridiculous 203mm main guns.
Italian navy limps back to Taranto, battleships Caio Dulio and Roma took severe damage, both were towed to the harbour by their sisters.
Nearly all members of the Trento class heavy cruisers took considerable damage and battlecruiser Milano was flooded with over 500 tons of water before she reached the dockyard.
Battleship Littorio needed some escort in order to get to the drydock, she too took "some" water into her.
Battledamage in the deck of Conte di Cavour.
Battle off the Gulf of Tunis ended with an italian victory, pyrrhic victory, but victory nonetheless.
Vice Admiral Arturo Ricardi was promoted to Ammiraglio di Armata (Admiral), he also received a new decoration of the Italian Fascist Republic, the Golden Fasces Order, 2nd class.
This battle was the first major engagement between battleships since Jutland, the world followed this victory very closely.
Il Duce visited the victorious sailors of the fleet, few days after the battle.
He expressed his gratitude towards the men of the navy for keeping the french at bay.
Mussolini continued by promising to the fleet, that soon it would be strong enough to engage the british in the open seas.
Arnaldo Brioli was relieved, he had just crossed the border between Spain and the british colony of Gibraltar.
His false spanish passport had worked and he had gained an entrance to the british city.
This man was an italian spy, working for the "Servizio Informazioni Militare", or SIM, his job in Gibraltar was to report all kinds of allied naval movements to and from the Mediterranean sea.
The date was September 3th 1939, nine days ago Italy had declared war against France, this late entry to the war allowed Italy to prepare herself, and italian spys were already in Francoist Spain waiting for orders.
Arnaldo was lucky, some of his colleagues had been assigned to neutral Portugal for counterintelligence duty, very dull indeed.
First few days went quietly, the italian spy mostly walked around the town and tried to listen for anything important, acessing the british base in the area proved impossible, due to very strong security.
The biggest thing that would happen in Arnaldos career came on the morning of September the fifth, he was enjoying his morning coffee in the balcony of his hotel, when he saw a number of children running towards the harbour.
He took out his binoculars and gazed towards the strait of Gibraltar, and there he saw black smoke columns rising towards the sky.
Ships! No, fleet of ships!
Arnaldo almost jumped off the balcony, but restrained himself and calmly walked out of the hotel, and into the streets.
Ships in the straits were french vessels of war, certainly something Rome wants to know about, these ships were from the french Atlantic Fleet, coming to reinforce the Mediterranean fleet.
The fleet had two battleships, three heavy cruisers, five light cruisers and some 24 destroyers, the battleships were ancient pre-dreadnoughts of the Danton-class, not a real threat because of their slow speed. (19 knots)
Those battleships were the only ones the spy recognised from the ship identification charts they studied back in Italy.
Arnaldo immediately wrote his report in a nearby cafe and sent it to Madrid, from there it would be sent to Rome, the spy took another look at the french ships, his work was done for now.
ROME SEPTEMBER 6th
Office of the Chief of Staff of the Italian Navy
06:30
Ammiraglio di Armata, Domenico Cavagnari, had just arrived to his office, grumpy from too few hours of sleep, he immediately met with his staff who had received news from Spain.
"Okay, what is so damn important, that it cant wait for few more hours?" Said Cavagnari, and took a sip from his coffee.
One of his young staff officers handed him Arnaldo Briolis report about the french fleet movements.
"In addition to this, we also received report from Toulon, that the french fleet has left port, mission unknown."
Before Cavagnari could say anything, Vice Admiral Arturo Riccardi barged into the room.
"Please sir admiral forgive my late arrival, getting a plane from Taranto proved harder than i expected, i was rather suprised to hear that the meeting began already, wasn't it scheduled to begin at 10:00?"
Admiral sat down to his chair and looked at the exhausted Riccardi.
"Vice Admiral Riccardi, this is not the meeting we were supposed to have, this is an emergency meeting, caused by sudden french fleet movements, and if i know our leader, wich i do, you should get to your plane and fly back to Taranto at once."
Riccardi looked annoyed, but then his face got brighter.
"What are my orders then? To raise anchor and sail against the french fleet? This is certainly something i would very much like to do. We could finally test the ships of the Littorio class against the enemy."
Just then an telegraph operator came to the room.
"Sir, a telegram from Mussolini: Your orders are to intercept the enemy fleet and destroy it, send both the first and second squadrons to do this task, also you must avoid the british mediterranean fleet.
Naval bombers from Sicily are at your disposal, happy hunting! DUCE."
Orders were clear, the first squadron, centering around Italy's battleship force, ( Conte di Cavour, Giulio Cesare, Andrea Doria, Caio Duilio, Littorio, Vittorio Veneto and Roma)
left their base at Taranto almost immediately, their commander was Ammiraglio di Squadra designato di Armata (Vice Admiral) Arturo Riccardi. (He flew to Sicily were he boarded his flagship Vittorio Veneto)
The Second Squadron was based in Genoa, and its centre were the four brand new battlecruisers of the La Spezia class. ( Taranto, Genoa, La Spezia and Milano)
The commander of the Second Squadron was Vice Admiral Inigo Campioni.
Taranto Navalbase
Admiral Domenico Cavagnari, Chief of Staff of the Italian Navy
Vice Admirals Arturo Riccardi and Inigo Campioni
TYRHENIAN SEA, NEAR THE ISLAND OF SARDINIA, SEPTEMBER 8th
Two squadrons united into one battlefleet and proceeded towards the coast of Tunisia.
Commanding officer: Ammiraglio di Squadra designato di Armata Arturo Riccardi
Fleet flagship: battleship Vittorio Veneto
Strength of the italian fleet:
7 battleships
4 battlecruisers
5 heavy cruisers
1 seaplane carrier
14 light cruisers
40 destroyers
5 submarines
Battleship Littorio at sea
COAST OF ALGERIA, SEPTEMBER 8TH
French fleet was anchored near the Algerian capital of Algiers.
Commanding officer: Vice-amiral Jean-Pierre Esteva.
Fleet flagship: battleship Bretagne
Strength of the french fleet:
8 battleships
1 aircraft carrier
9 heavy cruisers
1 seaplane carrier
8 light cruisers (two of them british)
75 destroyers (five british)
1 heavy submarine
Battleship Provence
150 Km (90 Mi) OF THE GULF OF TUNIS, SEPTEMBER 10TH
01:36 The french fleet was reported by one of the italian submarines operating in the area, nine capital ships of varying size.
Vice Admiral Riccardi gave the order to go to battlestations.
02:02 Italian battleship Vittorio Veneto opens fire
02:04 Italian battlecruiser Milano opens fire
02:06 French battleship Provence opens fire
02:23 Italian navy enjoys technological superiority over the older french vessels, but the gunfire has been frustratingly inaccurate.
02:36 Disaster! The Conte di Cavour-class battleship Giulio Cesare suffered a critical hit from a 340mm shell of the french flagship Bretagne,
her engines were disabled, and rear turrets malfunctioned.
02:45 French heavy cruiser Foch fires several torpedoes at Giulio Cesare, two of them hit and order is given to abandon ship.
03:13 The battle turns when the italian naval bombers arrive from their base in Sicily.
They quickly succeed in sinking the french aircraft carrier Béarn and the heavy cruiser Tourville.
03:32 The brand new italian battlecruiser La Spezia, with the help of its sister ships, destroys the french dreadnought Jean Bart with its 320mm guns.
03:41 Both fleets have suffered damage, french more than the italians.
Nerves of the french admiral Esteva are beginning to crack, tough both admirals are thinking of retreat.
03:53 After one more french destroyer goes under the waves, the french deploy smoke, and begin to retreat.
04:13 The french destroyers suffer heavy losses and two more heavy cruisers are lost.
04:21 Vice Admiral Riccardi chooses not to pursue the fleeing french, because of the extensive damage to several italian vessels.
04:23 Final shots of the battle were fired by italian light cruisers, who sunk the french heavysubmarine Surcouf when she attempted to dive,
Surcouf was the biggest submarine constructed so far, and she took over two minutes to dive to a depth of 12 m (39 ft).
Vittorio Venetos broadside.
Heavy cruiser Gorizia firing at the french destroyers.
French cruiser Foch.
Giulio Cesare fires her forward turrets, moments before being torpedoed by Foch.
French aircraft carrier Béarn dissapears into the smoke.
French heavy cruiser Algérie.
The french "submarine cruiser" Surcouf, with its ridiculous 203mm main guns.
Italian navy limps back to Taranto, battleships Caio Dulio and Roma took severe damage, both were towed to the harbour by their sisters.
Nearly all members of the Trento class heavy cruisers took considerable damage and battlecruiser Milano was flooded with over 500 tons of water before she reached the dockyard.
Battleship Littorio needed some escort in order to get to the drydock, she too took "some" water into her.
Battledamage in the deck of Conte di Cavour.
Battle off the Gulf of Tunis ended with an italian victory, pyrrhic victory, but victory nonetheless.
Vice Admiral Arturo Ricardi was promoted to Ammiraglio di Armata (Admiral), he also received a new decoration of the Italian Fascist Republic, the Golden Fasces Order, 2nd class.
This battle was the first major engagement between battleships since Jutland, the world followed this victory very closely.
Il Duce visited the victorious sailors of the fleet, few days after the battle.
He expressed his gratitude towards the men of the navy for keeping the french at bay.
Mussolini continued by promising to the fleet, that soon it would be strong enough to engage the british in the open seas.
You're nuts!!! Why did you rush into this naval battle??? With a little patience you could just have kept your ships in port and waited until the German army finishes France. That would have removed the whole French army from the battle without the sacrifice of a single Italian ship. :wacko:
It's not like the battle of France was going to be decided on the high seas, was it?? Now you're less (at least) one battleship. For what?
It's not like the battle of France was going to be decided on the high seas, was it?? Now you're less (at least) one battleship. For what?
For the fame, for the fear, for the might!!!
Everyone must awe and fear Italian navy battleflag.
Everyone must awe and fear Italian navy battleflag.
You cant have a good time without taking any risks, after the battle i loaded the game as France and saw a HUGE british fleet quite nearby, so i escaped relatively unharmed.About the lost battleship, its not really that important, i can control the sea with my natural aircraft carrier called the Italian Peninsula (Not to mention the reinforcements the navy is about to get.)
(And the eventual "closing" of the Mediterranean sea by capturing Suez and Gibraltar should render the navy nearly useless.)
Chapter IX: New Friends
France officially surrendered on October 1st.
In a few days Italian troops took control of the area that we received in the peace treaty.
Tunisia and the French Somaliland were the colonial prizes that we got, French Somaliland joined the Italian East Africa.
Island of Corsica was also given to us.
In addition these departments of France came under italian occupation:
Department:
Capital:
Var
Toulon
Basses-Alpes
Digne-les-Bains
Hautes-Alpes
Gap
Isère
Grenoble
Alpes-Maritimes
Nice
Savoie
Chambéry
Haute-Savoie
Annecy
The last three departments were annexed directly to Italy,
becoming the Province of Western Alps (Provincia delle Alpi Occidentali)
The town of Briançon (Italian: Brianzone) became the provincial capital.
Breaching the line at El Alamein
Army of Libya under the command of General Guglielmo Nasi continues the invasion of Egypt.
El Alamein is the only thing keeping us away from the Egyptian heartlands.
The British forces under the command of Lieutenant-general Ridley Pakenham-Walsh have 49 100 men against 293 200 italians.
Defenders of El Alamein.
Italian troops with an anti-tank rifle.
El Alamein breached.
October 14th, a great day for Italy!
The shipyards in Trieste completed the first two carriers of the Aquila class, Aquila and Sparviero. (Eagle and Hawk)
the last one, named falco (falcon), will enter service in early 1940.
Il Duce engouraged the navy get familiar with the new ships, because the hunt for the Royal navy will begin soon!
La Spezia class battlecruisers will form the escort of the new carriers.
(These amazing drawings are provided by Shipbucket)
OCTOBER 27. 1939
Italian army, 418 720 men strong, begins offensive operations against Alexandria.
The city is defended by the Commonwealth forces, divisions from Britain, Egypt and South Africa.
Allied army is about 98 600 strong, they have 624 tanks, main british tank in Africa is currently the A13 Mark I "cruiser"
We deploy superior number of armored vehicles, 1090, and our Fiat M11/39 tanks have proved capable against the british tanks in the past,
but our light CV-35 tankettes are very vunerable against even the lightest british vehicle.
Foreign imports, Panzer III tanks were bought from Germany to help the struggling italian tank production to cope with the losses.
Battle of Alexandria lasted for eight days and ultimately victory was achieved, though with heavy losses.
Fortifications around Alexandria proved to be difficult obstacles, but the brave italian soldier and his Libyan ally captured the city, general Nasi was higly decorated because of this feat.
Our battleships provided extra firepower during the final assaults to the city, in the final days of the battle british naval squadron attempted to flee from the port, but were destroyed by Admiral Riccardi's ships.
On November 1st Soviet Union invades Finland, few days later Germany invades Denmark and declares war to Norway, Scandinavia is at war.
Neutral Sweden tries to help all of her neigbhours, but sends most of its help to Finland, because she does not want to agitate Hitler.
According to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact Germany cannot help Finland against the Soviets, but luckily Hitler allows Italy to send help trough Germanys harbours.
Soon italian helmets, rifles, ammunition and even 35 Fiat G.50 fighterplanes arrive to Finland (the planes were bought by Finland before the outbreak of hostilities.)
November 10th
Secret negotiations with Bulgaria were concluded, and she declared war against the allies,
italian foreign minister Galeazzo Ciano (Mussolini's son-in-law) was happy to report to Rome that the treaty was ready to be signed.
So in a great propaganda act, Il Duce flied to the Bulgarian capital and signed the Treaty of Sofia, allying Italy with Bulgaria.
The treaty was ratified by the bulgarian National Assembly in the very same day.
The Grand Council of Fascism ratified it 24 hours later.
Few days after the signing of the treaty the "Great Protective Wall" A.K.A Yugoslavia dissapeared from the maps of Europe, new order is established.
According to the treaty we must now help Bulgaria to reverse the damage done by the Treaty of Bucharest in 1913.
Greece, prepare your hoplites and call King Leonidas, for our artillery shells will block out the sun!
France officially surrendered on October 1st.
In a few days Italian troops took control of the area that we received in the peace treaty.
Tunisia and the French Somaliland were the colonial prizes that we got, French Somaliland joined the Italian East Africa.
Island of Corsica was also given to us.
In addition these departments of France came under italian occupation:
Department:
Capital:
Var
Toulon
Basses-Alpes
Digne-les-Bains
Hautes-Alpes
Gap
Isère
Grenoble
Alpes-Maritimes
Nice
Savoie
Chambéry
Haute-Savoie
Annecy
The last three departments were annexed directly to Italy,
becoming the Province of Western Alps (Provincia delle Alpi Occidentali)
The town of Briançon (Italian: Brianzone) became the provincial capital.
Breaching the line at El Alamein
Army of Libya under the command of General Guglielmo Nasi continues the invasion of Egypt.
El Alamein is the only thing keeping us away from the Egyptian heartlands.
The British forces under the command of Lieutenant-general Ridley Pakenham-Walsh have 49 100 men against 293 200 italians.
Defenders of El Alamein.
Italian troops with an anti-tank rifle.
El Alamein breached.
October 14th, a great day for Italy!
The shipyards in Trieste completed the first two carriers of the Aquila class, Aquila and Sparviero. (Eagle and Hawk)
the last one, named falco (falcon), will enter service in early 1940.
Il Duce engouraged the navy get familiar with the new ships, because the hunt for the Royal navy will begin soon!
La Spezia class battlecruisers will form the escort of the new carriers.
(These amazing drawings are provided by Shipbucket)
OCTOBER 27. 1939
Italian army, 418 720 men strong, begins offensive operations against Alexandria.
The city is defended by the Commonwealth forces, divisions from Britain, Egypt and South Africa.
Allied army is about 98 600 strong, they have 624 tanks, main british tank in Africa is currently the A13 Mark I "cruiser"
We deploy superior number of armored vehicles, 1090, and our Fiat M11/39 tanks have proved capable against the british tanks in the past,
but our light CV-35 tankettes are very vunerable against even the lightest british vehicle.
Foreign imports, Panzer III tanks were bought from Germany to help the struggling italian tank production to cope with the losses.
Battle of Alexandria lasted for eight days and ultimately victory was achieved, though with heavy losses.
Fortifications around Alexandria proved to be difficult obstacles, but the brave italian soldier and his Libyan ally captured the city, general Nasi was higly decorated because of this feat.
Our battleships provided extra firepower during the final assaults to the city, in the final days of the battle british naval squadron attempted to flee from the port, but were destroyed by Admiral Riccardi's ships.
On November 1st Soviet Union invades Finland, few days later Germany invades Denmark and declares war to Norway, Scandinavia is at war.
Neutral Sweden tries to help all of her neigbhours, but sends most of its help to Finland, because she does not want to agitate Hitler.
According to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact Germany cannot help Finland against the Soviets, but luckily Hitler allows Italy to send help trough Germanys harbours.
Soon italian helmets, rifles, ammunition and even 35 Fiat G.50 fighterplanes arrive to Finland (the planes were bought by Finland before the outbreak of hostilities.)
November 10th
Secret negotiations with Bulgaria were concluded, and she declared war against the allies,
italian foreign minister Galeazzo Ciano (Mussolini's son-in-law) was happy to report to Rome that the treaty was ready to be signed.
So in a great propaganda act, Il Duce flied to the Bulgarian capital and signed the Treaty of Sofia, allying Italy with Bulgaria.
The treaty was ratified by the bulgarian National Assembly in the very same day.
The Grand Council of Fascism ratified it 24 hours later.
Few days after the signing of the treaty the "Great Protective Wall" A.K.A Yugoslavia dissapeared from the maps of Europe, new order is established.
According to the treaty we must now help Bulgaria to reverse the damage done by the Treaty of Bucharest in 1913.
Greece, prepare your hoplites and call King Leonidas, for our artillery shells will block out the sun!
I like how you are making Italy the leading power in the Balkans Truly a second Roman Empire
And interesting revolution in France...
Truly a second Roman EmpireAnd interesting revolution in France...
Chapter X: Stalemate in Egitto
December in Finland.
Temperatures reached −30 degrees Celsius.
Germany tried to get us deeper into the sinking ship of the "Axis Powers", for we knew that it was just that.
We politely declined, Hitler was not amused.
New year, Mussolinis new year's resolution was to end the british presence in the Mediterranean.
Fulfilling this promise began from the island of Malta, Operation Hercules began with all the forces Italy was able to muster quickly.
While the marines landed on the heavily fortified island, the navy and the airforce did all they could to keep the british occupied.
Navy provided most of its strength:
3 aircraft carriers
7 battleships
4 battlecruisers
7 heavy cruisers
16 light cruisers
70 destroyers
Airforce constantly pounded the island with 700 bombers.
The bride of the british navy, HMS Hood, was unfortunate enough to sail towards Malta with her escorts.
She fell victim to the italian carrier aircarft.
HMS Hood, nicknamed the "Mighty Hood", met her end.
Malta fell after a hard battle, the remaining british and maltese defenders surrendered, and were transported to Italy as POWs.
Our convoys to Africa may finally sail without a fear of the allied aircrafts.
Good news from our subs!
The british mediterranean fleet has been sighted! After losing Alexandria and Malta, their only major base is in the Gibraltar.
Duce immediately gave the order for the fleet to set sail!
Britain avenged our successes in this war by defeating our colony in East Africa!
We must quickly move to Suez and then liberate our empire from the evil allies!
Admiral Riccardo found the british fleet from Tel Aviv, we got the report from one of our jewish spies operating in the region.
Our carriers commerced the attack when the british ships were still laying in anchor.
Carrier planes succeeded in sinking the british aircraft carrier HMS Argus, heavy cruiser HMS Hawkins, several destroyers and the portuguese light cruiser NRP Adamastor.
Victories we have won on the seas have not been repeated on land.
Italian offensive towards the Nile delta have been repulsed.
We lost over 110 000 men, while the british casualties were "only" 78 000.
General Nasi said: "There seems to be something wrong with our bloody troops today.", echoing the words of Admiral Jellicoe at Jutland.
Il Duce has decided to keep this battle from the italian news, and to send more troops to Egypt.
The british Matilda II tanks were the most difficult opponents our soldiers faced, only our artillery, or bombers, could destroy them.
Mussolini has reminded our vehicle designers about the need for heavier tanks.
We also have requested the excellent 88mm AA/AT guns from Germany, Hitler promised to deliver us some guns.
At least at Port Sudan our troops were successful, troops fighting there were the remains of our colonial army,
Eritreans, somalis, abyssinians and some italians held against a massive allied attack, there is still hope.
The troops from our colonies have proven ther abilities, Il Duce personnally praised them in his recent speech.
Maybe winning this war is not as easy as Il Duce expected.
Italy has taken approximately 353 500 casualties in this war, comparing that to the german casualties, 273 100, and then looking at the gains of both countries, it is clear wich country is better at fighting this war.
Italian people are beginning to think.
Is Mussolini always right after all?
December in Finland.
Temperatures reached −30 degrees Celsius.
Germany tried to get us deeper into the sinking ship of the "Axis Powers", for we knew that it was just that.
We politely declined, Hitler was not amused.
New year, Mussolinis new year's resolution was to end the british presence in the Mediterranean.
Fulfilling this promise began from the island of Malta, Operation Hercules began with all the forces Italy was able to muster quickly.
While the marines landed on the heavily fortified island, the navy and the airforce did all they could to keep the british occupied.
Navy provided most of its strength:
3 aircraft carriers
7 battleships
4 battlecruisers
7 heavy cruisers
16 light cruisers
70 destroyers
Airforce constantly pounded the island with 700 bombers.
The bride of the british navy, HMS Hood, was unfortunate enough to sail towards Malta with her escorts.
She fell victim to the italian carrier aircarft.
HMS Hood, nicknamed the "Mighty Hood", met her end.
Malta fell after a hard battle, the remaining british and maltese defenders surrendered, and were transported to Italy as POWs.
Our convoys to Africa may finally sail without a fear of the allied aircrafts.
Good news from our subs!
The british mediterranean fleet has been sighted! After losing Alexandria and Malta, their only major base is in the Gibraltar.
Duce immediately gave the order for the fleet to set sail!
Britain avenged our successes in this war by defeating our colony in East Africa!
We must quickly move to Suez and then liberate our empire from the evil allies!
Admiral Riccardo found the british fleet from Tel Aviv, we got the report from one of our jewish spies operating in the region.
Our carriers commerced the attack when the british ships were still laying in anchor.
Carrier planes succeeded in sinking the british aircraft carrier HMS Argus, heavy cruiser HMS Hawkins, several destroyers and the portuguese light cruiser NRP Adamastor.
Victories we have won on the seas have not been repeated on land.
Italian offensive towards the Nile delta have been repulsed.
We lost over 110 000 men, while the british casualties were "only" 78 000.
General Nasi said: "There seems to be something wrong with our bloody troops today.", echoing the words of Admiral Jellicoe at Jutland.
Il Duce has decided to keep this battle from the italian news, and to send more troops to Egypt.
The british Matilda II tanks were the most difficult opponents our soldiers faced, only our artillery, or bombers, could destroy them.
Mussolini has reminded our vehicle designers about the need for heavier tanks.
We also have requested the excellent 88mm AA/AT guns from Germany, Hitler promised to deliver us some guns.
At least at Port Sudan our troops were successful, troops fighting there were the remains of our colonial army,
Eritreans, somalis, abyssinians and some italians held against a massive allied attack, there is still hope.
The troops from our colonies have proven ther abilities, Il Duce personnally praised them in his recent speech.
Maybe winning this war is not as easy as Il Duce expected.
Italy has taken approximately 353 500 casualties in this war, comparing that to the german casualties, 273 100, and then looking at the gains of both countries, it is clear wich country is better at fighting this war.
Italian people are beginning to think.
Is Mussolini always right after all?
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From Wikipedia: "Bulgaria did not join the German invasion of the Soviet Union that began on 22 June 1941 nor did it declare war on the Soviet Union."
They wont join the war, because they are not in the Axis and they cant leave from my alliance, because we are at war.
No need wiki sources.Bulgaria doesnt joined to war against USSR because had high pan-slavic moods
A yet another intersting decision to not sign the Tripartite Pact ... this is getting more and more intersting !
Chapter XI: Defeats and Victories
Suprising news from Berlin, apparently there was a Nazi coup in Turkey, and now it has signed the Pact of Steel.
The turkish people are rioting, and the armed forces have been depolyed to stop the riots.
In Africa the french colonial empire is falling apart.
Vichy regime seems to be unable to keep their country intact, luckily Tunisia was spared from such horrors by Italy.
By April, situation on the front has turned against us, british landed on the lightly defended Libya, and have pushed hard to defeat us in Egypt.
Our best units have been brought to defeat the advancing allies and our troops that were preparing for attack against Greece have been redeployed to Africa.
Something has to be done to stop the allies now!
British established defences around Gazala.
This was Italy's answer for the british victories, general Mario Vercellino's airborne troops jumped to Gibraltar and captured it for Italy.
Since 1704 Britain has controlled this rock, and now it is ours, we of course have made promises to secede this area to Franco after the war...
Our navy continues to defeat the allies in every battle, loss of Gibraltar has greatly hampered the allied ability to wage war against us.
The myth of Trafalgar is truly broken.
Italys hero, Marshal Pietro Badoglio defeated the british in Libya.
Alas! Our conquest of Egypt has become much more difficult and dangerous.
(I swear that the entire might of the british empire is mustered against me in Egypt.)
Former italian royal flag, that was recaptured from the allies.
Brazil has joined the Axis!
Il Duce cant think of one reason why they would to that, but we can use that to get some friends of our own from South America.
Fearing that Brazil will act aggressively against them, Argentina has joined our little alliance.
Il Duce has guaranteed that Argentina will be safe, and has encouraged the argentinians to reclaim the Malvina islands from Britain.
War in Egypt has been costly for both sides, still for Italy there is hope.
We have complete control over the skies and the sea, the RAF is busy defending their homeland and the Royal Navy has been crushed in the Mediterranean.
It's mid-July 1940, and the situation in Africa has been stabilized, the feared trench warfare of the Great War seems to have returned.
Suprising news from Berlin, apparently there was a Nazi coup in Turkey, and now it has signed the Pact of Steel.
The turkish people are rioting, and the armed forces have been depolyed to stop the riots.
In Africa the french colonial empire is falling apart.
Vichy regime seems to be unable to keep their country intact, luckily Tunisia was spared from such horrors by Italy.
By April, situation on the front has turned against us, british landed on the lightly defended Libya, and have pushed hard to defeat us in Egypt.
Our best units have been brought to defeat the advancing allies and our troops that were preparing for attack against Greece have been redeployed to Africa.
Something has to be done to stop the allies now!
British established defences around Gazala.
This was Italy's answer for the british victories, general Mario Vercellino's airborne troops jumped to Gibraltar and captured it for Italy.
Since 1704 Britain has controlled this rock, and now it is ours, we of course have made promises to secede this area to Franco after the war...
Our navy continues to defeat the allies in every battle, loss of Gibraltar has greatly hampered the allied ability to wage war against us.
The myth of Trafalgar is truly broken.
Italys hero, Marshal Pietro Badoglio defeated the british in Libya.
Alas! Our conquest of Egypt has become much more difficult and dangerous.
(I swear that the entire might of the british empire is mustered against me in Egypt.)
Former italian royal flag, that was recaptured from the allies.
Brazil has joined the Axis!
Il Duce cant think of one reason why they would to that, but we can use that to get some friends of our own from South America.
Fearing that Brazil will act aggressively against them, Argentina has joined our little alliance.
Il Duce has guaranteed that Argentina will be safe, and has encouraged the argentinians to reclaim the Malvina islands from Britain.
War in Egypt has been costly for both sides, still for Italy there is hope.
We have complete control over the skies and the sea, the RAF is busy defending their homeland and the Royal Navy has been crushed in the Mediterranean.
It's mid-July 1940, and the situation in Africa has been stabilized, the feared trench warfare of the Great War seems to have returned.
@SomeDude I used happy thoughts and fairy dust to make my planes fly longer.
Chapter XII: Bloodied Deserts, Decimated Cities
British infatry overruns an italian trench near Alexandria, it would be recaptured by nightfall.
Stalemate continues, British attacks are repulsed everytime, this is not war, this is slaughter.
One of few bright spots in recent months, Cyprus will no be our airfield against the allies.
Liberation of Cyprus was greatly exaggerated in the italian news in order to bolster the peoples morale.
Loss of life has been great, how much more our peoples can take?
In an attempt to resolve the situation, our marines have landed to Palestine, unfortunately our numbers were too few to advance.
Map of Tel Aviv, city now under our occupation.
Finally some good news, turkish troops have taken Syria, and doing so opened an new front wich the allied must now hold.
In Alexandria, a new british attack was repulsed, the allies must have an infinite manpower reserves.
How long can Italy hold, can the allies be defeated?
"Do you need help? You look like you do."
No Rommel! Go away!
This campaign is becoming increasingly boring, my strategy for now is simple, build more units and hope for a successful breaktrough.
I might end this soon because i have other projects in mind, but i dont know yet for sure..
Chapter XII: Bloodied Deserts, Decimated Cities
British infatry overruns an italian trench near Alexandria, it would be recaptured by nightfall.
Stalemate continues, British attacks are repulsed everytime, this is not war, this is slaughter.
One of few bright spots in recent months, Cyprus will no be our airfield against the allies.
Liberation of Cyprus was greatly exaggerated in the italian news in order to bolster the peoples morale.
Loss of life has been great, how much more our peoples can take?
In an attempt to resolve the situation, our marines have landed to Palestine, unfortunately our numbers were too few to advance.
Map of Tel Aviv, city now under our occupation.
Finally some good news, turkish troops have taken Syria, and doing so opened an new front wich the allied must now hold.
In Alexandria, a new british attack was repulsed, the allies must have an infinite manpower reserves.
How long can Italy hold, can the allies be defeated?
"Do you need help? You look like you do."
No Rommel! Go away!
This campaign is becoming increasingly boring, my strategy for now is simple, build more units and hope for a successful breaktrough.
I might end this soon because i have other projects in mind, but i dont know yet for sure..
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No. Keep going.
If it will be a loss for Italy - no matter, keep going until the end.
It is a bit more difficult to take one the world with Italy.
If it will be a loss for Italy - no matter, keep going until the end.
It is a bit more difficult to take one the world with Italy.
Yeah, Italy is my favourite major due to the allure of trying to act as one of them when in reality you actually aren't.
Chapter XIII: Vorwärts nach Osten!
February 26.
Nothing new from the Egyptian front.
Iraq rebelled, and declared war against Britain, british troops occupied the country.
Number of italian divisions in Africa have been constantly increased, we are organizing a massive recruiment campaigns
in our european territories, we have regiments of croatians, bosnians, albanians and even serbians fighting in Africa.
Yesterday, May 20th, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Tuesday, May 20th, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.
-President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Il Duce announced that United States of America has declared war against us!
This new foe, one we have never had quarrel with, will not make it any easier to defeat the allies.
We had our first battle with the US on the skies of Egypt, after flying without opposition for so long, our bombers have become overtrusting.
Fighter squadron has been depolyed to Cyprus to counter them.
In order to strenghten our position, we have began an submarine campaign in the Atlantic, supporting the german U-boats operating there.
Hitler invades Soviet Union! How far has that little man gone since 1933!
Bulgarians finally join the fight, expeditionary forces have arrived to Egypt, we are glad to be allied with the "Prussia of the Balkans"
One month into the invasion, Soviets have taken heavy losses.
In Italy, two new aircraft carriers joined the fleet, much larger than the Aquila class, these vessels will provide the much needed punch against the enemys superior numbers.
September 6th: Moscow kaputt, Stalin kaputt, Sowjetunion nearly kaputt.
Okay! I've heard about Blitzkrieg, but this is ridicilous, five months of war and the Red army is totally annihilated!
Slow down Hitler, for god's sake!
Von Finnland bis zum Schwarzen Meer:
Vorwärts, vorwärts!
Vorwärts nach Osten, du stürmend' Heer!
Freiheit das Ziel, Sieg das Panier!
Führer, befiehl! Wir folgen dir!
From Finland as far as the Black Sea
Forwards, forwards!
Forwards to the east. Army Attacking!
Freedom is the goal, victory banner!
Führer, give your orders! We will follow you!
February 26.
Nothing new from the Egyptian front.
Iraq rebelled, and declared war against Britain, british troops occupied the country.
Number of italian divisions in Africa have been constantly increased, we are organizing a massive recruiment campaigns
in our european territories, we have regiments of croatians, bosnians, albanians and even serbians fighting in Africa.
Yesterday, May 20th, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Tuesday, May 20th, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.
-President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Il Duce announced that United States of America has declared war against us!
This new foe, one we have never had quarrel with, will not make it any easier to defeat the allies.
We had our first battle with the US on the skies of Egypt, after flying without opposition for so long, our bombers have become overtrusting.
Fighter squadron has been depolyed to Cyprus to counter them.
In order to strenghten our position, we have began an submarine campaign in the Atlantic, supporting the german U-boats operating there.
Hitler invades Soviet Union! How far has that little man gone since 1933!
Bulgarians finally join the fight, expeditionary forces have arrived to Egypt, we are glad to be allied with the "Prussia of the Balkans"
One month into the invasion, Soviets have taken heavy losses.
In Italy, two new aircraft carriers joined the fleet, much larger than the Aquila class, these vessels will provide the much needed punch against the enemys superior numbers.
September 6th: Moscow kaputt, Stalin kaputt, Sowjetunion nearly kaputt.
Okay! I've heard about Blitzkrieg, but this is ridicilous, five months of war and the Red army is totally annihilated!
Slow down Hitler, for god's sake!
Von Finnland bis zum Schwarzen Meer:
Vorwärts, vorwärts!
Vorwärts nach Osten, du stürmend' Heer!
Freiheit das Ziel, Sieg das Panier!
Führer, befiehl! Wir folgen dir!
From Finland as far as the Black Sea
Forwards, forwards!
Forwards to the east. Army Attacking!
Freedom is the goal, victory banner!
Führer, give your orders! We will follow you!