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Excellent AAR.
Those ressource stockpiles still look uncomfortably depleted. Have you been able to run your industries at full speed or were you forced to let some IC go to waste at times?
Those ressource stockpiles still look uncomfortably depleted. Have you been able to run your industries at full speed or were you forced to let some IC go to waste at times?
Yeah, I've noticed that. When I play with the Allies, the North Africa Theater is an easy win. Likewise, when I play with the Axis, the North African Theater is an easy win. The AI just doesn't put a lot of effort into it.
Yeah, the Allied defense were weak and my encirclement and capture of 45,000 Allied troops really has screwed any defensive plans they had.
Yes!Holy potatoes; a very quick procedure. When the Suez is taken, it should be easier for the Japanese to secure southern Asiahmy:
We're showing the Germans how Blitzkrieg is done.
I've been wasting about 20-40 IC for the last month in order to keep my resource stockpiles under control. I'm hoping that by capturing Egypt, the Suez Canal, Palestine, Transjordan, Syria, and Lebanon, I can help to alleviate this.
The capture of Cairo should give my stockpiles a nice boost, as should the capture of Jerusalem, Beruit, Amman, and Damascus.
Dear Erwin Rommel,
Turns out we wont be needing you and your afrika korps. Feel free to use spare vacation time you may have accumulated through out the year.
Sincerely yours,
The Duce
Turns out we wont be needing you and your afrika korps. Feel free to use spare vacation time you may have accumulated through out the year.
Sincerely yours,
The Duce
Nice!
Closing the Med and occupying the various colonies will likely improve ressources situation
Closing the Med and occupying the various colonies will likely improve ressources situation
LOL!
Indeed, it should. Since no one wants to trade with us, we'll just have to take those resources by force!
Chapter 13
The Unstoppable Italian Blitz Marches East
April 1st - June 30th, 1940
The month of April began with the Battle of Cairo, which commenced on April 2nd, 1940. Two Egyptian garrison divisions defended the city and were proving to be rather stout as Italian armor had a tough time making much headway into the urban areas. The Italian infantry was just entering into El Alamein when the battle began and, until they finish their march to Cairo (and beyond!), it is unlikely that Cairo can be taken. Armor isn't exactly the ideal unit when attempting to seize a city.
Also on April 2nd, Norway rejected a British request for transit rights in their country.
On April 4th, Germany declared war on Denmark and on April 6th Germany declared war on Norway (I guess the Norwegians should have taken up Britain's offer).
Winston Churchill was appointed as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on April 5th, ending the appeasement policy that Britain had been so eager to use during the 1930s. Churchill was a warhawk and though he seemed to be a bit over-the-top at times, he was probably the best-suited man for the job of wartime Prime Minister.
On April 6th, Italy began to train four new garrison divisions. These divisions would be used in the future to protect Italy's holdings in Egypt, the Suez, and beyond.
The Danes surrendered after only three days of war as the Danish government fled into exile in London on April 7th. Later on the 7th, Sweden maintained its neutrality when they turned down a German request for military access. On the 9th, Sweden officially joined the Allies.
With the Battle of Cairo still ongoing, 131a Divisione "Centauro" reached Port Said and took the undefended province on April 8th. With the capture of Port Said, the Suez Canal was now under Italian control. The first step to Italian domination of the Mediterranean had been accomplished!
Finally, on April 10th, Cairo fell to the Regio Esercito and the Egyptian government fled into exile across the Suez Canal to El 'Arish on the Palestinian border. Now, all that was left to do in Egypt was to mop up the leftover Allied forces that still occupied certain sections of the country.
Cairo fell on April 10th, 1940.
By the end of April, Egypt (sans the Sinai Peninsula) was secure and under Italian control. 10a Armata was relocated to Egypt from garrison duty on the Italian Peninsula and was responsible for the defense of southern Egypt. British and French forces were currently fighting the Italian puppet state Ethiopia in East Africa and steps needed to be taken to ensure that this conflict did not spill over into Egypt.
In an ideal world, it would have been beneficial for the 10a Armata to begin an outright offensive southward into Ethiopia, but the Regio Esercito was too short on troops at the moment to mount such an offensive. In addition, conducting simultaneous campaigns in Ethiopia and the Middle East would have been stretching Italy's supply lines very thinly. Perhaps an offensive of that sort could be conducted at a later date, however.
10a Armata kept Egypt secure from attacks from the south.
The Soviet Union demanded the region of Bessarabia from Romania in early May, but the Italian puppet state refused. The Soviet Union did not attempt to escalate the disagreement, fortunately, and war was avoided.
In early May, attacks finally began in Sinai with several divisions attempting to cross the Suez Canal and mount an offensive into the Sinai. However, the Italian General Staff was well-aware that this would be a very difficult task. The attacks across the Suez were only a diversion from the real attack, which began on the 7th of May as several Italian marines landed behind enemy lines at Misfah.
Italian marines landed at Misfah on May 7th.
Within days, El 'Arish was occupied and the Egyptian government was forced to flee once again, this time to Sudr. In addition, withe the Allied troops now being attacked from two different directions, their position became unsustainable, forcing them to retreat southward out of Romani. With the Battle of Romani over with, several divisions of the Regio Esercito could now cross the Suez Canal and onto the Sinai Peninsula without being under fire.
While conflict still raged on the Sinai Peninsula, Italian marines began to advance eastward and southward into Palestine, aiming to take the port city of Tel Aviv and the Palestinian capital at Jerusalem.
Tel Aviv was reached by May 22nd and the Battle of Jerusalem began on the 23rd. Jerusalem was only defended by one poorly organized militia division and it was expected that the marines would be able to take the city and force Palestine to surrender without too much difficulty.
The Palestinians put up a surprisingly strong defense for the city, however. In fact, during the course of the battle, more Italian marines died than Palestinian militiamen (156 Italians, 151 Palestinians). However, the Palestinians were outnumbered by three-to-one and were eventually forced to capitulate on May 25th.
On May 28th, Palestine's government fled into exile to London and the entirety of Palestine was put under Italian military occupation for the time being.
Palestine surrendered on May 28th, 1940.
The Battle of Bir Gifgaga finally ended on May 29th with a hard-fought Italian victory. The death toll for Italy was very high (2,408) in comparison to the Allies (1,472), but the Allied forces were outnumbered and were finally forced to retreat southward into the southern portions of the Sinai Peninsula. With the victory at Bir Gifgaga, the fate of these 50,000 Allied forces was sealed. There was no way for these troops to escape and it was inevitable that they would eventually be surrounded and forced to surrender to the Italian forces, which were superior in both number and quality. It is important to note that the majority of the Allied forces on the Sinai were made up of poorly-trained and equipped Jordanian conscripts. In fact, very few British divisions had been encountered since the Sidi Barranian pocket was defeated in the early days of the war.
On June 2nd, the Allies were routed at Sudr and on June 7th, the Allied forces were finally defeated at Dahab. The Sinai Peninsula was now secure and further campaigning could begin into Iraq, Kuwait, and perhaps beyond.
The Sinai Peninsula was secured in early June.
On June 3rd, Italian troops occupied Amman, Transjordan, and Transjordan's government immediately fled into exile to London.
June 4th saw the Soviet annexation of the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. These countries already belonged to the Comintern and were Soviet puppet states, but Stalin thought it best to formally bring these states into the Soviet Union as Soviet Socialist Republics. Thus, Estonia S.S.R., Latvia S.S.R, and Lithuania S.S.R. were born.
Germany quickly began to advance into the Netherlands and Belgium in June. Luxembourg was annexed into Germany on June 10th following the German occupation of the small country.
On June 12th, four new divisions were deployed to the Franco-Italian border. Though no offenses were yet planned for this front, there was really little need for Italian troops anywhere else in the Empire. Immediately, the training of six new infantry divisions was undertaken.
By mid-June, Spain had made some headway through the Pyrenees Mountains and into southern France. However, France and Britain had managed to undertake a breakout from Gibraltar. From there, the beachhead had expanded. With the bulk of the Spanish Army in northern Spain and southern France, the beachhead in southern France was a huge concern and though Madrid was under no real threat now, it was debatable whether it would stay this way if the beachhead continued to expand.
Allied advanced into southern Spain as of June 12th, 1940.
The war in France as of June 12th, 1940.
On June 18th, war was declared on Syria and Lebanon. Though these two nations were essentially puppet states of France, they had not actually joined the war effort thus far. The operation was expected to be quick and easy as neither Syria nor Lebanon had much of a military to content with.
Damascus fell on June 26th, prompting Syria's government to flee into exile. Beruit would fall on the following day and by the end of June, the Lebanese government had also fled into exile.
With the fall of Syria and Lebanon, a second front against a future invasion of Turkey had been opened. In the meantime, Iraq and Kuwait had to be taken care of, though.
Syria and Lebanon were easily defeated by the "Unstoppable Italian Blitz" in the final days of June 1940.
The Unstoppable Italian Blitz Marches East
April 1st - June 30th, 1940
The month of April began with the Battle of Cairo, which commenced on April 2nd, 1940. Two Egyptian garrison divisions defended the city and were proving to be rather stout as Italian armor had a tough time making much headway into the urban areas. The Italian infantry was just entering into El Alamein when the battle began and, until they finish their march to Cairo (and beyond!), it is unlikely that Cairo can be taken. Armor isn't exactly the ideal unit when attempting to seize a city.
Also on April 2nd, Norway rejected a British request for transit rights in their country.
On April 4th, Germany declared war on Denmark and on April 6th Germany declared war on Norway (I guess the Norwegians should have taken up Britain's offer).
Winston Churchill was appointed as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on April 5th, ending the appeasement policy that Britain had been so eager to use during the 1930s. Churchill was a warhawk and though he seemed to be a bit over-the-top at times, he was probably the best-suited man for the job of wartime Prime Minister.
On April 6th, Italy began to train four new garrison divisions. These divisions would be used in the future to protect Italy's holdings in Egypt, the Suez, and beyond.
The Danes surrendered after only three days of war as the Danish government fled into exile in London on April 7th. Later on the 7th, Sweden maintained its neutrality when they turned down a German request for military access. On the 9th, Sweden officially joined the Allies.
With the Battle of Cairo still ongoing, 131a Divisione "Centauro" reached Port Said and took the undefended province on April 8th. With the capture of Port Said, the Suez Canal was now under Italian control. The first step to Italian domination of the Mediterranean had been accomplished!
Finally, on April 10th, Cairo fell to the Regio Esercito and the Egyptian government fled into exile across the Suez Canal to El 'Arish on the Palestinian border. Now, all that was left to do in Egypt was to mop up the leftover Allied forces that still occupied certain sections of the country.
Cairo fell on April 10th, 1940.
By the end of April, Egypt (sans the Sinai Peninsula) was secure and under Italian control. 10a Armata was relocated to Egypt from garrison duty on the Italian Peninsula and was responsible for the defense of southern Egypt. British and French forces were currently fighting the Italian puppet state Ethiopia in East Africa and steps needed to be taken to ensure that this conflict did not spill over into Egypt.
In an ideal world, it would have been beneficial for the 10a Armata to begin an outright offensive southward into Ethiopia, but the Regio Esercito was too short on troops at the moment to mount such an offensive. In addition, conducting simultaneous campaigns in Ethiopia and the Middle East would have been stretching Italy's supply lines very thinly. Perhaps an offensive of that sort could be conducted at a later date, however.
10a Armata kept Egypt secure from attacks from the south.
The Soviet Union demanded the region of Bessarabia from Romania in early May, but the Italian puppet state refused. The Soviet Union did not attempt to escalate the disagreement, fortunately, and war was avoided.
In early May, attacks finally began in Sinai with several divisions attempting to cross the Suez Canal and mount an offensive into the Sinai. However, the Italian General Staff was well-aware that this would be a very difficult task. The attacks across the Suez were only a diversion from the real attack, which began on the 7th of May as several Italian marines landed behind enemy lines at Misfah.
Italian marines landed at Misfah on May 7th.
Within days, El 'Arish was occupied and the Egyptian government was forced to flee once again, this time to Sudr. In addition, withe the Allied troops now being attacked from two different directions, their position became unsustainable, forcing them to retreat southward out of Romani. With the Battle of Romani over with, several divisions of the Regio Esercito could now cross the Suez Canal and onto the Sinai Peninsula without being under fire.
While conflict still raged on the Sinai Peninsula, Italian marines began to advance eastward and southward into Palestine, aiming to take the port city of Tel Aviv and the Palestinian capital at Jerusalem.
Tel Aviv was reached by May 22nd and the Battle of Jerusalem began on the 23rd. Jerusalem was only defended by one poorly organized militia division and it was expected that the marines would be able to take the city and force Palestine to surrender without too much difficulty.
The Palestinians put up a surprisingly strong defense for the city, however. In fact, during the course of the battle, more Italian marines died than Palestinian militiamen (156 Italians, 151 Palestinians). However, the Palestinians were outnumbered by three-to-one and were eventually forced to capitulate on May 25th.
On May 28th, Palestine's government fled into exile to London and the entirety of Palestine was put under Italian military occupation for the time being.
Palestine surrendered on May 28th, 1940.
The Battle of Bir Gifgaga finally ended on May 29th with a hard-fought Italian victory. The death toll for Italy was very high (2,408) in comparison to the Allies (1,472), but the Allied forces were outnumbered and were finally forced to retreat southward into the southern portions of the Sinai Peninsula. With the victory at Bir Gifgaga, the fate of these 50,000 Allied forces was sealed. There was no way for these troops to escape and it was inevitable that they would eventually be surrounded and forced to surrender to the Italian forces, which were superior in both number and quality. It is important to note that the majority of the Allied forces on the Sinai were made up of poorly-trained and equipped Jordanian conscripts. In fact, very few British divisions had been encountered since the Sidi Barranian pocket was defeated in the early days of the war.
On June 2nd, the Allies were routed at Sudr and on June 7th, the Allied forces were finally defeated at Dahab. The Sinai Peninsula was now secure and further campaigning could begin into Iraq, Kuwait, and perhaps beyond.
The Sinai Peninsula was secured in early June.
On June 3rd, Italian troops occupied Amman, Transjordan, and Transjordan's government immediately fled into exile to London.
June 4th saw the Soviet annexation of the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. These countries already belonged to the Comintern and were Soviet puppet states, but Stalin thought it best to formally bring these states into the Soviet Union as Soviet Socialist Republics. Thus, Estonia S.S.R., Latvia S.S.R, and Lithuania S.S.R. were born.
Germany quickly began to advance into the Netherlands and Belgium in June. Luxembourg was annexed into Germany on June 10th following the German occupation of the small country.
On June 12th, four new divisions were deployed to the Franco-Italian border. Though no offenses were yet planned for this front, there was really little need for Italian troops anywhere else in the Empire. Immediately, the training of six new infantry divisions was undertaken.
By mid-June, Spain had made some headway through the Pyrenees Mountains and into southern France. However, France and Britain had managed to undertake a breakout from Gibraltar. From there, the beachhead had expanded. With the bulk of the Spanish Army in northern Spain and southern France, the beachhead in southern France was a huge concern and though Madrid was under no real threat now, it was debatable whether it would stay this way if the beachhead continued to expand.
Allied advanced into southern Spain as of June 12th, 1940.
The war in France as of June 12th, 1940.
On June 18th, war was declared on Syria and Lebanon. Though these two nations were essentially puppet states of France, they had not actually joined the war effort thus far. The operation was expected to be quick and easy as neither Syria nor Lebanon had much of a military to content with.
Damascus fell on June 26th, prompting Syria's government to flee into exile. Beruit would fall on the following day and by the end of June, the Lebanese government had also fled into exile.
With the fall of Syria and Lebanon, a second front against a future invasion of Turkey had been opened. In the meantime, Iraq and Kuwait had to be taken care of, though.
Syria and Lebanon were easily defeated by the "Unstoppable Italian Blitz" in the final days of June 1940.
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So much for North Africa. Now just Gibraltar stands in the way of the Great Italian Lake!
That breakout into Spain is slightly concerning, but I imagine a focused Italian push could drive it back.
That breakout into Spain is slightly concerning, but I imagine a focused Italian push could drive it back.
Looks like bad news in Spain. If you don't help them out, I don't think things won't go well for the Spanish.
Where has the RN been? It's absence looks to be the main reason you've been able to operate freely in the Med, unless you were being sneaky and haven't been caught yet.
Where has the RN been? It's absence looks to be the main reason you've been able to operate freely in the Med, unless you were being sneaky and haven't been caught yet.
I may be able to, but the Allied forces in that region are strong and numerous.
For the most part, I've kept my fleets in port, so I haven't had any fleet engagements with the Royal Navy yet. I've managed a few troop transports across the Mediterranean, but nothing has been interdicted as of yet. I think taking Port Said and Egypt really hurt the Royal Navy's ability to operate in the Mediterranean, although Great Britain does still possess Malta. I plan to take Malta soon, however.
I have played ahead a couple months and the next update will be interesting. While things continue to go smoothly in the Middle East, things get a bit dicey when Germany is hurled into a two-front war as a result of Japanese aggression. And with Spain going down the drain and the second front , will the Germans be pushed back on the Western Front? Could Germany be on the brink of defeat?!?! :unsure:
Perhaps the Italians should make Marseille an objective and aid Germany in their attack on France.
The problem is that Germany is being pushed back into the Netherlands and even back into their own country in the north. I'm starting to think that I may need to get an army together to man the Austrian frontier in case Germany falls...
Chapter 14
The War Expands
August 1st - October 31st, 1940
After a couple weeks of rest, on July 12th, Italian infantry and armor crossed the Iraqi frontier with their eyes set on Baghdad. Iraq was not truly a British puppet regime like Italy's previous conquest was, but she was a member of the Allies and did have close relations to Great Britain.
The Italian invasion of Iraq began on July 12th, 1940.
Within five days, Baghdad had been reached by 134a Divisione and fighting began to break out in the city's outer suburbs.
On July 25th, Bayji was occupied in northern Iraq. That evening, the Battle of Baghdad was won after 189 Italian casualties and 480 Iraqi casualties.
With their capital fallen, the Iraqi government fled into exile to London on July 28th. Now, the only country left to take out was Kuwait. Immediately, a single corps of infantry began strategically redeploying to Basra in order to invade Kuwait.
Iraq's government fled into exile on July 28th.
On July 30th, Italian marines landed Lemesos on the island of Cyprus, which was currently held by Great Britain. Cyprus, Malta, and Gibraltar represented the last three possessions the British had in the Mediterranean and they needed to be eliminated if the Mediterranean was to be turned into an Italian lake.
Within a day the beachhead had been secured and the marines immediately began to assault Lefkosia, which was defended by a single British mountain division. Cyprus is known for being quite mountainous, so the British division certainly had an advantage in this regard.
However, in the end the British on Cyprus were hopelessly outnumbered and the island would finally fall into Italian hands on the 8th of August. On the same day, Turkey would announce a general mobilization of her forces, perhaps fearful that Italy may wish to invade as Italy now had a border with the Turks in the Balkans and in former Syria.
The Battle of Cyprus ended with an Italian victory on August 8th.
On August 14th, the Republic of China finally surrendered and Japan's puppet regime assumed dominion over the occupied Chinese territory.
Two days later, on August 16th, Kuwait surrendered with scarcely a shot being fired.
With Kuwait defeated, Italy now controlled land from the Persian Gulf to Libya to the Balkans to the Italian Peninsula itself. The Kingdom of Italy's territory was immense and very impressive considering the short time scale in which it was taken. Only Turkey stood in the way of Italy establishing a land connection (except for the Strait of Bosporus) between herself and her colonies.
Italy controlled vast swaths of land across Southern Europe, the Balkans, North Africa, and the Middle East.
On September 7th, the main fleet of the Regia Marine set sail for the island of Malta. Along with the main fleet, several transports and destroyers came along carrying five marine divisions. Their goal was to take Malta. Overhead, Italian tactical bombers bombed the hell out of the two British garrison brigades stationed on the island.
Malta fell on September 11th, 1940. The 6,000 defenders of the island stood no chance against the 45,000 invading marines and with casualties mounting, they could not continue to fight. 1,100 British troops died in the battle and the remaining 4,900 were taken as prisoners of war. Malta was now in Italian hands and a huge British stain the Mediterranean had been eliminated. A garrison division was hurriedly rushed out to the island so that the marines could return to mainland Italy.
Like at Cyprus, Italian marines delivered a crushing victory at the Battle of Malta.
On September 12th, some hugely concerning news came out that the Japanese and Soviets had begun fighting at Khalkhin Gol along the Mongolian-Soviet frontier. The USSR, realizing that most German and Romanian divisions were currently fighting in Belgium, immediately took this opportunity to declare war on the German Reich and her Allies, which meant Italy and especially Romania, which had very few divisions in her country. If Romania fell, all of Italy's Balkan possessions likely would, too.
On the 14th, the United Kingdom sent an ultimatum to Iran requesting them to join the Allies. The Iranians refused, however, and immediately signed an alliance with Germany. They even took it a step further to declare war on the British, including her colonial possessions in India.
With the war now raging against the Soviet Union and her puppet states Mongolia and Tanna Tuva, Italy now seemingly was at war with the entire world and few allies to back her up. Though Italy had blitzed from Libya to the Suez to Iraq and the Persian Gulf with lightning speed and stunning efficiency, things were now taking a turn for the worse. Germany now faced a two front war that she may not be able to win. And if Germany fell, Italy would have to go on the defensive and perhaps have to give up her Balkan possessions in order to defend the Italian peninsula, itself.
Meanwhile, things were going horribly in Spain. The French from the north had linked up with the British in the south and effectively sliced Spain into two parts. There was no doubt that Franco's regime was going to fall. It was a matter of when, not if.
Meanwhile, four new divisions of cavalry began to be trained in September. These cavalry would be used to safeguard Italy's new possessions in the Middle East and to crush partisan uprisings there.
Japan and the Soviet Union made a peace agreement on September 29th, but the war between the USSR and Germany, Italy, and the rest of the Axis continued. Germany had actually pushed across the border on most of the front, however, although the USSR had advanced into Romania some.
On October 2nd, the Empire of Japan declared war on Guangxi Clique. The Guangxis would fall on October 16th.
On October 3rd, Italian marines landed on Corsica and immediately began to advance towards the port at Ajaccio. The fighting was intense with immense casualties to both belligerents, but the city's garrison finally surrendered on October 12th and Sardinia fell under Italian occupation.
Corsica was captured in mid-October.
On October 27th, the French announced the liberation of the Netherlands. The Allies had managed to completely push the Germans out of Belgium and were now advancing well into Holland. In fact, in some areas, French troops had actually managed to advance into Germany itself. Since the Soviet declaration of war in September, the Germans had been steadily losing ground in the West and some were now fearing that the German front could completely collapse.
Italy was at war ... with the entire world!
The Eastern Front, on the other hand, was going surprisingly well. Germany had advanced across the front into Soviet territory and the situation in Romania had been turned around with German reinforcements turning the front and even pushing across the border and into the USSR.
The Eastern Front at the end of October 1940.
Nevertheless, with the Allied advances being seen on the Western Front, the situation looked dire. The United States was now starting to make its presence felt as many expeditionary forces were released to France, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
The Western Front at the end of October 1940.
Franco's Spain was now very near total collapse. Madrid had fallen and it was unlikely that his regime would live to see 1941.
The war in Spain at the end of October 1940.
The War Expands
August 1st - October 31st, 1940
After a couple weeks of rest, on July 12th, Italian infantry and armor crossed the Iraqi frontier with their eyes set on Baghdad. Iraq was not truly a British puppet regime like Italy's previous conquest was, but she was a member of the Allies and did have close relations to Great Britain.
The Italian invasion of Iraq began on July 12th, 1940.
Within five days, Baghdad had been reached by 134a Divisione and fighting began to break out in the city's outer suburbs.
On July 25th, Bayji was occupied in northern Iraq. That evening, the Battle of Baghdad was won after 189 Italian casualties and 480 Iraqi casualties.
With their capital fallen, the Iraqi government fled into exile to London on July 28th. Now, the only country left to take out was Kuwait. Immediately, a single corps of infantry began strategically redeploying to Basra in order to invade Kuwait.
Iraq's government fled into exile on July 28th.
On July 30th, Italian marines landed Lemesos on the island of Cyprus, which was currently held by Great Britain. Cyprus, Malta, and Gibraltar represented the last three possessions the British had in the Mediterranean and they needed to be eliminated if the Mediterranean was to be turned into an Italian lake.
Within a day the beachhead had been secured and the marines immediately began to assault Lefkosia, which was defended by a single British mountain division. Cyprus is known for being quite mountainous, so the British division certainly had an advantage in this regard.
However, in the end the British on Cyprus were hopelessly outnumbered and the island would finally fall into Italian hands on the 8th of August. On the same day, Turkey would announce a general mobilization of her forces, perhaps fearful that Italy may wish to invade as Italy now had a border with the Turks in the Balkans and in former Syria.
The Battle of Cyprus ended with an Italian victory on August 8th.
On August 14th, the Republic of China finally surrendered and Japan's puppet regime assumed dominion over the occupied Chinese territory.
Two days later, on August 16th, Kuwait surrendered with scarcely a shot being fired.
With Kuwait defeated, Italy now controlled land from the Persian Gulf to Libya to the Balkans to the Italian Peninsula itself. The Kingdom of Italy's territory was immense and very impressive considering the short time scale in which it was taken. Only Turkey stood in the way of Italy establishing a land connection (except for the Strait of Bosporus) between herself and her colonies.
Italy controlled vast swaths of land across Southern Europe, the Balkans, North Africa, and the Middle East.
On September 7th, the main fleet of the Regia Marine set sail for the island of Malta. Along with the main fleet, several transports and destroyers came along carrying five marine divisions. Their goal was to take Malta. Overhead, Italian tactical bombers bombed the hell out of the two British garrison brigades stationed on the island.
Malta fell on September 11th, 1940. The 6,000 defenders of the island stood no chance against the 45,000 invading marines and with casualties mounting, they could not continue to fight. 1,100 British troops died in the battle and the remaining 4,900 were taken as prisoners of war. Malta was now in Italian hands and a huge British stain the Mediterranean had been eliminated. A garrison division was hurriedly rushed out to the island so that the marines could return to mainland Italy.
Like at Cyprus, Italian marines delivered a crushing victory at the Battle of Malta.
On September 12th, some hugely concerning news came out that the Japanese and Soviets had begun fighting at Khalkhin Gol along the Mongolian-Soviet frontier. The USSR, realizing that most German and Romanian divisions were currently fighting in Belgium, immediately took this opportunity to declare war on the German Reich and her Allies, which meant Italy and especially Romania, which had very few divisions in her country. If Romania fell, all of Italy's Balkan possessions likely would, too.
On the 14th, the United Kingdom sent an ultimatum to Iran requesting them to join the Allies. The Iranians refused, however, and immediately signed an alliance with Germany. They even took it a step further to declare war on the British, including her colonial possessions in India.
With the war now raging against the Soviet Union and her puppet states Mongolia and Tanna Tuva, Italy now seemingly was at war with the entire world and few allies to back her up. Though Italy had blitzed from Libya to the Suez to Iraq and the Persian Gulf with lightning speed and stunning efficiency, things were now taking a turn for the worse. Germany now faced a two front war that she may not be able to win. And if Germany fell, Italy would have to go on the defensive and perhaps have to give up her Balkan possessions in order to defend the Italian peninsula, itself.
Meanwhile, things were going horribly in Spain. The French from the north had linked up with the British in the south and effectively sliced Spain into two parts. There was no doubt that Franco's regime was going to fall. It was a matter of when, not if.
Meanwhile, four new divisions of cavalry began to be trained in September. These cavalry would be used to safeguard Italy's new possessions in the Middle East and to crush partisan uprisings there.
Japan and the Soviet Union made a peace agreement on September 29th, but the war between the USSR and Germany, Italy, and the rest of the Axis continued. Germany had actually pushed across the border on most of the front, however, although the USSR had advanced into Romania some.
On October 2nd, the Empire of Japan declared war on Guangxi Clique. The Guangxis would fall on October 16th.
On October 3rd, Italian marines landed on Corsica and immediately began to advance towards the port at Ajaccio. The fighting was intense with immense casualties to both belligerents, but the city's garrison finally surrendered on October 12th and Sardinia fell under Italian occupation.
Corsica was captured in mid-October.
On October 27th, the French announced the liberation of the Netherlands. The Allies had managed to completely push the Germans out of Belgium and were now advancing well into Holland. In fact, in some areas, French troops had actually managed to advance into Germany itself. Since the Soviet declaration of war in September, the Germans had been steadily losing ground in the West and some were now fearing that the German front could completely collapse.
Italy was at war ... with the entire world!
The Eastern Front, on the other hand, was going surprisingly well. Germany had advanced across the front into Soviet territory and the situation in Romania had been turned around with German reinforcements turning the front and even pushing across the border and into the USSR.
The Eastern Front at the end of October 1940.
Nevertheless, with the Allied advances being seen on the Western Front, the situation looked dire. The United States was now starting to make its presence felt as many expeditionary forces were released to France, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
The Western Front at the end of October 1940.
Franco's Spain was now very near total collapse. Madrid had fallen and it was unlikely that his regime would live to see 1941.
The war in Spain at the end of October 1940.
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That can't last though, as soon as the events trigger, the Soviets will start pushing them back or at the very least holding them. Germany can't win a war on both fronts, like it couldn't in real life, without real support from the other Axis nations.
Germany is pushing the USSR back, but the Allies are pushing the Germans back in the West. Just a couple months ago, Germany had advanced into central Belgium. Now the front lines are in the Netherlands and some French troops have even managed to push across the German border into the Reich itself.
Yes, I am starting to lose hope that this war can be won. The Germans are doing well against the Soviets thus far, but it's not going to matter if French and British troops begin to take Dusseldorf, Hamburg, and maybe even Berlin... :sad:
I agree, the Italians need to identify which front to intervene and win it decisively, this situation is a nightmare but I'm sure the Duce will pull through.
I do think I eventually may need to allocate some troops to the Western Front. I've also given thought to invading Turkey and then moving against the USSR through Georgia and Baku towards Stalingrad. It would open up another front for the Soviets to be concerned about.
Sadly, yes...
They apparently don't even care that the USSR is invading their country. I set allied objectives for them to defend their cities, but they just don't listen.
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This looks grim. I'm guessing Italy doesn't have enough boots on the ground to turn the tide, although perhaps a thrust into the Alpine Line might distract, if at all possible?