Chapter 33 - Churchill's Gambits
Chapter 33 - Churchill's Gambits
"And now go and set Europe ablaze."
- Winston Churchill, upon founding the Special Operations Executive (SOE)
"And now go and set Europe ablaze."
- Winston Churchill, upon founding the Special Operations Executive (SOE)
September 23rd, 1940: The Italians intercept a British transport fleet in the Atlantic Ocean, who had been tasked with bringing reinforcements to the British landing at Rabat, Morocco. A naval skirmish saw the British destroyer squadron destroyed, though the heroic Royal Navy sailors bought enough time for the troop ships to escape.
September 25th: With their side losing the war and support for negotiations with Germany growing, Churchill's government banned the political party 'British Union of Fascists' and interned its leadership, including Oswald Mosley and 740 others. Chiang Kai-shek privately welcomed this news -- the longer Britain stayed in war and weakened itself against German and Italian teeth, the better it would be for Asia.
September 27th: A British counteroffensive in Egypt drives the Italians back again, overrunning an entire Italian division in the process. Meanwhile in the Atlantic Ocean, the Royal Navy takes revenge for their previous loss by destroying an Italian destroyer squadron off the coast of Portugal's islands. This was followed by a second Italian destroyer squadron sunk on September 29th.
October 1st: Despite the stalemate in Egypt, Duce Mussolini believes the Italian armed forces still had the spare resources to open a second front. Thus he declares war on Greece, seeking to forge an Italian Spazio Vitale by rebuilding the Greco-Roman Empire of old and absorbing their neighbors once more. However, even a rudimentary examination of Italian military preparations in Albania reveal that they are not ready for a second invasion.
Churchill proved all too eager to seize this new ally. Against the objections of Field Marshal Archibald Wavell and his already overstretched Middle Eastern Command, Churchill ordered precious equipment and troops to be pulled from the front lines in Egypt and redirected to Greece. Wavell had no choice but to stop the counteroffensive in Sidi Baranni to relinquish sufficient forces for these political goals.
Meanwhile in Nanjing, Chiang Kai-shek --who had recently returned from India-- rubbed his temple as he read over this news. "Why are these people our allies?" He spoke of the Italians with disgruntlement. "Can't they at least summon the intelligence to seize Suez and cut British access to the Mediterranean before opening more fronts?"
"I do not believe Italy was the Führer's first choice either," Falkenhausen answered plainly.
October 2nd: Dai Li, leader of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (BIS/Juntong), reported that they have completed the purge of the Kung-Soong intelligence network in China (see the Chiang-Kung-Soong family split in chapter 23). The Chinese intelligence apparatus is now operating at peak efficiency, with a network boasting over 200,000 agents, saboteurs, and spies working across mainland Asia.
Chiang Kai-shek orders them to further expand their operations. The Soviet Union will be a tough nut to crack, as Stalin's own counterintelligence apparatus --the Narodnyy Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del (NKVD)-- is formidable and ruthless. Meanwhile in Southeast Asia, the BIS is ordered to begin digging their nails into the rest of British Malaysia and the Dutch East Indies. China might not have the naval power to export the national revolution to these states yet, but that won't remain the case forever.
The Philippines were absent from the list. China did not wish to provoke the United States, and if President Roosevelt kept his word the Philippines should become independent within a few years anyway.
October 4th: The Führer and The Duce schedules an impromptu meeting at Brenner Pass, in the Alps between Austria and Italy. According to public announcements, the two parties discussed how to maintain peace in the future of Europe. In reality they probably discussed war aims, particularly for the ongoing conflict in Greece.
On the same day in India, fresh religious violence breaks out in the province of Punjab. This time, Bose's limited security forces were not positioned to stop its escalation. By the time government enforcement reacted, thousands already lay dead on the streets as a result.
(This is the 2nd level of the ethnic-religious tension random event, inflicting a +5% dissent hit)
October 7th: After recovering from the shock of the British landing, Spanish forces in Morocco regrouped and counterattacked the British beachhead at Rabat. Combined with the Italian interception of the British 2nd wave transports, the result was a British division overrun before they can retreat back to their ships. In an international broadcast, General Franco, the Caudillo of Spain, mocked Churchill's decision to punish Spain for their alliance with the Axis by calling out: "Bring more men next time! Our brave troops could use more equipment!"
October 9th: The Vichy France colonies of New Caledonia (south pacific) and the Antilles (Caribbeans) join the 'Free French Forces'. Chinese leaders expressed doubt that any actual locals took part in this decision.
Later that day, Ion Antonescu, Romania Prime Minister and Iron Guard Conducător, signs the Tripartite Pact and Anti-Comintern Pact, thereby signaling their nation's entry into the Axis Alliance.
October 10th: After a series of battles in southern Norway, the German invasion force --lead by Himmler's S.S. divisions Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, Verfügungs, and Polizei-- overran the Norwegian/British defenses at Trondheim and Oslo. Two weeks of decisive action had all but shattered the Norwegian Army, their collapse coming so fast that over 250 RAF bombers and 600 fighters have been captured in local airfields before they could withdraw.
October 13th: With Wavell's Egyptian front weakened by Churchill's orders, the Italians repel the British attack on Bir Fuad and push them back from Sidi Barrani once again. The tug-of-war continues.
October 14th: While China made an exception for the Philippines, Japan would not. Japanese agents began stirring up trouble on the island nation, fomenting independence in favor of a 'benevolent Japanese overlord'.
October 15th: The Italians revealed just how unprepared they were for the invasion of Greece when their first major engagement turn into a disaster. The Battle of Ioannina-Korce saw the Greek army drive the Italians back into Albania while inflicting over 12,000 casualties at a 3:1 ratio.
On the same day, Italian ambitions to capture Cyprus failed when the division that landed days ago was counterattacked by British forces sent to retake the island. Over 7,000 Italian soldiers entered captivity.
October 16th: The United States pass the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, also known as the Burke-Wadsworth Act, requiring all men between the ages of 21 and 36 to register with local draft boards. It represented the first step towards the mass mobilization of this mighty nation.
Meanwhile, Hitler orders the construction of anti-air defenses around the Romanian Ploeisti oil fields, the only source of crude oil in Europe. Due to the British blockade, Germany and its occupied territories already faced a severe oil shortage as all available petrol was prioritized for the German army. The threat of a lasting economic recession loomed over mainland Europe unless the Fuhrer could somehow secure more oil than Romanian/synthetic production plus what Stalin was willing to deliver.
October 19th: The British Royal Navy intercepted a large transport flotilla of Italian troops in the Atlantic, sinking 15 troop ships and drowning an entire division of men. The other Axis nations could only wonder what the Duce was even trying to do with transports this far out in the Atlantic?
On that same day, German forces corner the bulk of the Norwegian Army west of Oslo, taking over 17,000 prisoners. 10,000 Norwegians had already crossed the Norway-Sweden border last week to be voluntarily interned by the neutral Swedish, while another 16,000 would be captured by Germany on the 20th. In just ten days after the Battle of Oslo, the Norwegian Army had effectively ceased to exist. Only one division remained to hold Narvik, but it would only be a matter of time before the Germans march up and seized the port.
October 20th: The US Congress passes the Two-Ocean Navy Act, also known as the Vinson-Walsh Act. This massive naval expansion program planned to increase the size of the United States Navy by 70%, adding 257 ships amounting to 1,325,000 tons. It's reasoning was to defend American interests from the Axis powers in both Europe and Asia, except the Chinese leadership found this deeply suspicious as the bulk of the Asiatic states barely have any navies worth mentioning.
October 21st: After Wavell painstakingly pulled two divisions of troops from the front lines and sent them to support the Greeks, the Italian navy intercepted the transport fleet and sank one group with over 14,000 lives lost. The other transports were forced to turn back, and Churchill's "support Greece" plan was turning into just as much a disaster as his other schemes.
( Next Chapter - Honor of the Navy )
Notes:
1. The Brenner Pass Conference historically took place on March 18, 1940. One of the event mods clearly messed up the date.
2. German oil troubles began in late 1940. For more details, see this analysis video by TIK. This topic will play a major role as this AAR proceeds towards Operation Barbarossa. The image for Axis oil shortfall is from his video.
3. Historically, the United States granted Philippine independence as soon as cleanup of Japanese forces was over, on July 4, 1946. Contrast this with the other western powers...
4. No, I did not tweak the British AI to send troops to Greece. The sequence of events simply made sense to explain using a real WW2 narrative: when Churchill stripped Wavell of two essential divisions just as the Field Marshal was making his crucial push into Italian Libya. Then, when Wavell failed to drive the Italians out in time and was pushed back into Egypt by Rommel, Churchill blamed the Field Marshal and relieved him.
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