Chapter 8 - The Landing
Continuing the North African campaign we surrounded El Iskandariya (Alexandria) on August 29th and started a siege on the Infantry Division in the city the day after. Canadian forces were forming a front in an attempt to fragment the Italian defenders in the region. Two of their Infantry Divisions were trying to hold the line on the West bank of the Nile but were getting enveloped while the other half of the enemy troops were concentrating in El 'Alamein.
Due to our low intel capabilities, I have limited knowledge about the composition of enemy units.
To reward the Canadian effort for actually going on the offensive, the United States has decided on starting the Lend-Lease Act. This should give them some industrial benefits as well as allow some more decisions to make which will also benefit countries fighting the Axis. But it might also reduce their Neutrality. The game now has a separate mechanic for leasing foreign IC which I never actually tried, come to think of it. So I did it now. This should give me IC in proportion to what the AI allocates to it. And they did! I received 9 points of IC, which is like 15% of my own capacity! Unfortunately I don't like the idea of spending risky, unreliable borrowed IC on anything but extra supplies so that's what I will do.
On September 3rd, the 1st Canadian Mountain Division (with the help of the 9th and 21st Canadian Airborne Divisions) captured El Iskandariya, taking out an entire Infantry Division in the process while the 1st Canadian Cavalry Division cut off the two Divisions along the Nile. Capturing the city provided us with the only air base in the area before Tobruch.
Meanwhile in Europe, Italy was being kicked out of Albania by Greece. Germany decided they can't suffer the humiliation and appraoched Yugoslavia for transit rights to help their ally in need. Yugoslavia went ahead and proposed a more drastic action: they joined the Axis, signing the Tri-Partite Pact and declaring war on Greece themselves. With that the Axis have completely surrounded currently neutral Hungary and Bulgaria is also sitting on the front line between Axis and Allied forces. But this is especially worrying news for Greece herself. As a side note, if Yugoslavia accepts simple Transit Rights when the Italians no longer hold any territory in the Balkans, I'm not sure that would actually work. Unless I'm mistaken, the game doesn't allow invasion of foreign held territory from a neutral nation, so in that case the Germans could go up to the border and look fiercly at the Greek but nothing more. But I'm not really sure what could be done about that honestly.
After El 'Alamein, there was no stopping the Canadian advance in North Africa. Another Italian Division surrendered in Matruh after being surrounded on September 16th and after that we mostly came upon Militia, Garrisons and HQs. At around that time my second order of Transport Planes has finished so I started looking for more stuff to build. I ordered one more round of Light Fighters and I noticed something interesting. There is a limit on how many specialized forces you can build (including Marines, Paratroopers, maybe even Mountaineers and also the unique units like Gurkhas, etc.). That limitation, however, is only checked on the Production interface. You can still order more if you buy Production Licenses via Diplomacy. I could also buy Licenses for Gurkhas (though that's likely because they are no longer country-specific, I'm not sure.) I don't want any more of them, I just thought this was an interesting oversight. I briefly considered buying some tanks but then decided against it, I really couldn't make use of them in small numbers, even Infantry Support Tanks, with no doctrines. I ended up ordering some Submarines from the UK just for the fun of it. They would take about a year to build.
Meanwhile the British and Soviets also took wind of our unstoppable advance, the former landing near Tripoli and the later taking Bengasi. Hearing that news Germany accepted Iran's second request at joining the Axis. I wonder if that throws a wrench into the separate peace events there. And on the other end of the globe, Japan put pressure on Siam, turning them into their puppet. The wars in Asia and Europe/Africa were still largely separate conflicts so that didn't cause too much alarm yet, though the Indian forces were almost all on their way to Iran at the time, leaving only Burma and Malaya to face the potential threat.
On September 19th I took another look at how things were progressing in Europe and was surprised to see Greece pushing into Yugoslavia. Again, my intel is still rather limited so I can't see numbers but I expect Yugoslavia was a bit too hasty in joining the Axis, being completely unmobilized. (Since they are asked in an event, the AI can't really consider their preparedness for war.) Still, it was only a matter of time before German reinforcements would arrive.
On September 27th, Canadian forces crossed into Italian held Lybia at Ridotta Capuzzo, just south of Tobruch. Three more Italian Divisions (two Marines and one Infantry) surrendered following the capture of the city.
And of course just because (almost) the entire World is at war, that doesn't mean we should stop holding democratic elections to see to the will of the people!
The Liberal Party has won a confident victory in this year's elections.
By October 19th, German forces were outside Leningrad in the North (the city fell a month later), Vitsyebsk in the center and Kyiv in the South while Romanian forces have Odessa almost surrounded. At some point while I was not looking, Finland entered into a Military Alliance with Germany (separately from the Axis) and joined the war against the Soviet Union and every other enemy of Germany. Unfortunate but not much could be done about it. While Sweden was still fighting a form of guerilla warfare, Yugoslavian troops entered Greece as the 32nd Canadian Airborne Division (again, arbitrary number, it's actually the 3rd one in total) was deployed in Halifax, waiting to be shipped out. Unfortunately with the Italian Navy still at large and the Canadian Royal Navy only having two old Destroyer Flotillas to defend our transports, I didn't feel like risking the lives of all those brave men with attempting a transit just yet.
By the end of November, 1940, both the 9th and 21st Canadian Airborne Divisions had upgraded their equipment to the latest standard, allowing them to actually be used for Airborne Assault, just as Italy was completely forced out of Lybia and I started contemplating a potential invasion of Sicily. I liked my chances of defending Messina from any attacks from the mainland but the strategic value of such an invasion would be questionable at best. Still, for the time being, I had no better use for my forces. I could not hold Greece, nor feasibly rescue Sweden. Iran was being taken care of and Italy was dealt with in Africa. Japan was not yet a direct threat (and in fact was slowly being driven back along the coast in China). And of course an invasion of German held territory was absolutely out of the question. So I jut had to bite the bullet and brave the waters to bring my Transport Flotillas to Tripoli and prepare.
On December 6th, I noticed Italian force movement in Sicily via British Radar on Malta. It looked like they were moving off the island via the Straits of Messina. That just wouldn't do, I wanted to trap at least some of their forces but my paratroopers weren't at 95% Organisation yet! I had to watch two Divisions march off the island. After that I decided to wait until both Airborne Divisions were ready for a simultaneous drop. The wait was rather aggravating since I was again building up my officer corps, resulting in constantly increasing Max Organisation, meaning any regained Org would still remain below the 95% required for boarding the planes! By January, 1941, I decided to stop training new officers until the operation is concluded so it can actually start before next Christmas... By then they had almost 110 Max Organisation. And on January 10th, 1941, it was finally time to commence the operation!
Operation Football only actually commenced on January 11th because the airplanes had to regain some Organisation first as well.
Over January, the island was completely captured, taking some prisoners but more importantly prodding the Italians to station a large contingent in Reggio di Calabria without the slightest chance of actually crossing into Sicily. The 2nd Canadian Army Corps (consisting of two Mountainer Divisions and one Cavalry Division) was going to stay in Sicily to keep watch while I figured out my next move to throw a wrench in the Axis War Machine to the best of my abilities. I was still thinking about trying to lend Sweden a hand in their valiant struggle against Germany. After the country was cut in half last Summer, most of the Axis forces were marching North and after Finland made an Alliance with Germany and joined the war, the vast majority of the enemy troops left. As of January 27th, there were only about six Divisions left against the remaining Swedish armed forces.
Though most of the Swedish forces are HQs...
According to the ledger, Sweden still has 11 Infantry Regiments, 24 Militia Regiments and 3 Horse-Towed Support Regiments. That would be about 10-13 Divisons' worth of forces. If I had enough Divisions of my own to have a chance to link up with the Soviets, that could deal a serious blow to Germany. But I had my doubts... If I could somehow make the UK commit some forces there, it could work but unless they think of this themselves, it would be a huge gamble. The operations in Sicily hurt my Transport Flotillas somewhat as well. We never engaged the Italians in surface combat but their Air Force caused some damage still. My meager convoy fleet was stretched thin too, I couldn't support any new routes, even if they were completely safe from enemy raiders.
Trying to save Greece was another potential move. Unfortunately the majority of the Greek Army has painted itself into a corner in Astakos, a mountainous province behind a river but cut off from the rest of the country with no Supplies or ports.
That's a lot of troops to have 0 Supplies...
In the end, with a heavy heart, I decided to let the Greek to theif fate as well. I just couldn't gamble my entire Army on the off chance of beating Yugoslavia alone. All of my forces (with the exception of the 2nd Canadian Army Corps) was ordered to return to Egypt until further notice. The Greek forces in Astakos surrendered by the end of February and Yugoslavian forces crossed the Gulf of Corinth to surround the Greek capital.
Meanwhile the Germans gathered the courage to attack Messina.
I still like my chances.
The terrain and especially the strait to cross gave me a huge advantage, my forces fighting with about 230% efficiency while theirs were down to below 30%. It also gave me some insight into their numbers. The three German Divisions involved in the fight had over 100 Organisation while the Italian one had only 56. The Germans also had +24% or +28% from Combined Arms, with only regular old support brigades! The Italian Division disengaged immediately but the Germans kept at it. Italian air superiority caused some trouble but after almost three bloody weeks of fighting, we have won.
I'm not a fan of the font colors on the numbers, they kinda make my eyes bleed...
While I was mainly watching this battle for those weeks without anything else to do, I noticed how the first Division in a battle tends to take most of the hits. There is some variation but the first Division would get the vast majority of the damage. I doubt that's intentional and definitely not a moddable thing. But then, if I could direct the fire of my Divisions, I would likely try to concentrate it as much as possible too, I suppose it makes tactical sense.
On March 30th, Iran capitulated to the United Kingdom and became another puppet, freeing up a significant Allied contingent for other operations, which mainly meant them riding back to India or Egypt. There was very little else to do still. Greece was holding out in Athina (Athens) with about 8-9 somewhat beaten Divisions, surrounded but mostly left alone. Sweden was very, very slowly being pushed South, still holding Malmö and about 15 more strategically irrelevant provinces but with a National Unity of 95.6%, unless they lost that last single Victory Point, they would not be forced to surrender and it didn't look like they would want to go into exile. The Soviets were also slowly but surely being beaten back. On the other end of the World, Japanese gains in China were somewhat dwindling while the Communists were still in control of their single VP in their capital and also some land in Xibei San Ma territory.
April brought some more unwelcome, though hardly surprising news: on the 17th, Hungary joined the Axis. They joined the war three weeks later, but Bulgaria was still neutral. Heavily leaning towards the Axis but with their highest threat at 18.2, coming from Axis member Romania, their effective Neutrality was at 66% (if I read the interface correctly). Which became an important point of consideration on May 7th, when I noticed a British Infantry Division landed in Tirane, far behind the Yugoslavian lines:
They did what I have considered before but didn't have the balls to actually try! I still considered it too early and risky though. So I decided to wait and see how it goes. If (and that's a huge if) the British decide to bring reinforcements, I will join the fray with my 7 available Divisions. If not, they can probably deal with the loss of one Division.
Within a week, a Marine Division arrived. Along with two Yugoslavian Divisions, one Infantry and one Mountaineer, followed by an Italian Cavalry Division a few days later (that left shortly after to do Italian things elsewhere). A Motorized Division landed in undefended Durres sometime after.
On May 17th, the USA reported that the Great Depression is almost completely over. That is some great news! Now if only they would finally decide to join our cause!
I have conducted some air reconnaissance around the Greek ports, finding Yugoslavia had at least some forces in all of them but these forces were fairly small in Salonica: only two Mountaineer Regiments. That port was still in range for my Transport Air Wings stationed in Alexandria. I quickly made some plans for a potential invasion there but I still couldn't commit my forces to such an operation until I felt confident my allies would also take this seriously. If we could trap and eradicate the Yugoslavian Army in Greece, that would be worth the risk of having to fight German reinforcements later down the line. In fact, it would be a preferable outcome if the reallocated forces would give some respite for the Soviet defenders. It would not, however, worth losing the majority of my forces, were we unable to achieve that and end up fighting a drawn-out battle. So I made some plans but decided to wait a bit more.
The 23rd Airborne Division would remain in reserve to be deployed where needed, potentially with linking up with the Tommies.
On May 31st, after a long and valiant struggle, the Swedish government finally decided to go into exile in London. Or more specifically they surrendered, but still ended up as a government-in-exile. I think. I'm really not sure... I'm confused since I thought that wasn't a thing anymore. Ah well.
By June 5th, the Yugoslavians were starting to form a line around the British landing in Albania which was still numbering the 3 Divisions, though the Motorized one was roaming the countryside.
In other news, Stalingrad fell to Romania on June 23rd, 1941. The situation in the East was pretty bad in general. Germany, Finland and Romania were very deep in Soviet territory, along the entire front. The Romanian gains in the South were going the deepest but losses were greater than historical in the North.
Progress seems slow but I can't tell if it's because of meaningful Soviet resistance or just slow units due to lack of fuel/supplies...
While that was bad news, I also noticed the Greek fighting back against Yugoslavia again, breaking out of Athens into Nafplio in the South. I took that as a sign of Yugoslavian weakness (or at least confusion) and launched Operation Partisan!
