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Africa Orientale Italiana shall not fall! An historical Italy AAR

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I think it is clear that the Suez and Gibraltar need to be taken, and fast.

Operazione Amo seemed to be a tactical success, it was just too ambitious.

Excellent update! :)
 
I think, if at all possible, you should seal the Med off. It would eliminate the potential of the RN reinforcing itself (or escaping), prevent those annoying landings, and give you free movement. It wouldnt solve the problem of the enemy army in Egypt, but it would be a start. And a large advantage. :cool:
 
It is imperative that you keep the lines flowing now. concentrate your forces and attack when the conditions are right. I suggest that a grand operation like Amo is not needed, just give the local commanders some freedom intheir operations. :)

atleast a partial withdraw and regrouping of fast moving troops behind enemy lines is advisable. Then you can move quickly and force the brits to divert their troops too. As you have done that and secured some provs. behind enemy lines I suggest that you withdraw from there too and again begin your offensive or if you have enough troops then attack at the same time, while the show is going on in the rear.
 
Just a little setback. Keep the pressure on the British. ;)
 
8.9. Fear and Rage

Mussolini called all the Chiefs of the various Military branches to Rome for discussion.

Very angry, he simply put it that way: “If you don’t want to be hanged up before Christmas find a way to stop the British two fronts attack in Lybia.

I also want to conquer Greece. After a few months of war Germany conquered Northern France, Poland, Belgium and the Netherlands. What did we earn in return? 5 French provinces and a lot of money thrown away. I want Greece!”

Fearing for their destiny, the Italian Chiefs came up with a plan to stop the ANZAC advance and hopefully confuse the British enough.
They calmly tried to explain Mussolini that Greece wasn’t something to fight for right now, but they didn’t make any significant success with their arguments.

Here’s the plan they come up with.
Red arrows are normal attacks, the others Strategic redeployments. The idea of the generals is to create a pocket near Tripoli and annihilate the divisions there. That way only one front will be open in Lybia.

Lybiaplan.png


The battle for Aujilia starts.

auj.png


With dissent finally cleared, reinforcement and upgrades can resume.

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The Celere is sent to hold Sirte while the redeployed units arrive.

sirte.png


With Zuara fallen in Allied hands, the plan is changed. Most troops will push from Sirte, without flanking through Zuara.

zuara-1.png


The battle for Socna, begun on 25th November, lasts just an hour. Unfortunately, a lot of time is required to move in that province (December, 6th). Third and Eight Corpo d’Armata are redeployed to Ghadames.

Macchi ends working on new interceptors and begins working on new Tactical bombers. New naval doctrines are researched as well.

ricerca23.png


Sardinia is under attack again. Uk likes amphibious assaults and Rhodes falls in their hands. At the same time they also secure Forte Maddalena.

The heroic paras holding Sardinia manage to repel the Uk assault.

sard-1.png


As soon as Italian motorized division reach Socna, an immediate relief attack is launched on Homs to avoid Caracciolo di Feroleto being sent back to Sirte.

socnahoms.png


With Caracciolo di Feroleto units blocking his retreat, a lone Infantry division is destroyed in Aujila Caracciolo di Feroleto, thanks to his multiple successes in the war, is promoted Lt. General.. A few hours later, Italian commanders order to retreat from Tobruk.

auj2.png
 
8.9. Fear and Rage - Part 2


A courageous Italian amphibious assault supported from Ghadames is attempted on Zuara, using the 4 divisions which retreated from Tobruk. The assault is successful.

A few hours later, the encirclement on Tripoli is completed.

enc2.png


Finally, the annihilation of ANZAC and Canadian forces can begin.

tripoli.png


16 hours later, 9 Allied division are destroyed, increasing the total number of Allied division annihilated from June in Africa to 20.

Italian Motorized units secure Tripoli on 26th December. Destroying on ground a few unknown air squadrons.

tripoli2.png


The situation in Lybia seems now much better.

final.png

Despite this success, Mussolini didn't calm down.
He was very angry that it took so long to stop Allied advance, and while his generals tells him that now there's a good chance to outflank the british through a few AO behind their lines, expecially near Tobruk, he insists to DoW Greece.

Can someone stop his madness?
 
Greece? Ouch. That's a tough one to beat. Damn mountains.
 
Being realistic doesen't mean being stupid. Refuse to DOW Greece, have Vittorio Emanuel intervene.

Nice operation in Libya btw. :)
 
8.10. Satisfying a mad man desire...

Italian Chief of Staff Ugo Cavallero tried for over 3 days to convince Mussolini that attacking Greece wasn’t a wise thing to do at the time... but when il Duce gets a fixation, there’s not much you can do about it.

Cavallero ordered to redeploy as many troops as possible to Valona, while him and Pariani met to lay out a plan for taking the old province of the Roman empire.

Italian mobilization increased in the last year..

sliders.png


While the Regia Marina gets ready for Greece invasion, the RM Luigi Cadorna gets sunk.

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​
On 12th January the first 1941 Infantry divisions are ready. Put under command of Lt. Geloso, they are immediately sent to Valona, to be used against Greece.

In the meanwhile, a badly damaged UK assault force tries to retake Malta. In a concerted effort, another assault force tries to take Sardinia.

Despite the heroic effort, the Para unit holding Sardinia is destroyed.
The Regia Marina arrives 5 hours too late to save them from surrendering, but on time to prevent the Allied landing.

Trasporto Truppe is ordered immediately to ship a garrison from Catania to Sardinia. While sailing back to Palermo, the Primo Gruppo Navale manages to sink two Australian destroyers.

Malta garrison manages to hold against the British, instead.

amph2.png


Looks like Cagliari garrison arrived just in time.

sard2-1.png

​
The Primo Gruppo Navale sinks another 2 destroyers while moving back to Palermo.

After about a month, the deploying of Italian units is over.

15 divisions will strike from Valona right along Ioannina-Salonika and Ioannina-Agrinion lines, while a coordinated amphibious/aerial assault will be launched on Athens a few days after the declaration of war (shown in the plan with green and azure drawings). The reason is that the first days will be used to maul Athens defenders with all bombers and fighters available to Italy. Heavy shore bombardment will be granted by the badly damaged, but still functional, capital ships at bay in Taranto.

Albeit satisfied for having laid out a nice plan, Cavallero and Pariani really hope that Greece would fall fast. The British are pushing towards Tripoli, and there isn't much more land to give up.

greece.png
 
@Inkana. Yes, but it seems Italy gets a nice superiority with her forces against Greece.

@robou. Don't tell it anymore or il Duce may want to punish some of the Generals!

@HKslan. I hope that as well, but I'm pumping out Gar/Mil at full speed. Hopefully those will be enough to hold them at bay, coupled with my fleet sinking their transports.

@Maj von Mauser. It is too late :) This being an historical AAR I am already 3 months late in declaring war on Greece

@Hannibal Barca2: we hope so, we hope so!

@everyone: Taking Gibraltar is still out of question. Franco refuses to give me military access despite me giving him support in his war and our relations being at +199. I may DoW him, now that I think about it :D
 
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Do you have any way of knowing approximately how many forces are stationed at Gibraltar? An airborne attack may suffice.

Nice update too, your plan for the invasion of Greece, whatever it is named, looks promising. :)
 
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I may try scouting there with a TAC squadron maybe.. but 1 lone Para division won't be enough, I'm afraid.

I'll try to focus on striking Suez and Alexandria using Crete as a base.

BTW, I realized I forgot to mention Malta VP value. It is worth 3 VP, for the ones who asked.
 
8.11. Operazione Olimpo


Three months later than scheduled, the Italian assault on Greece, codenamed Operazione Olimpo (Operation Olympus), finally begins.

dow.png


General Vercellino leads the attack on Ioannina. In a few hours, the mighty Italian army defeats the two divisions defending the province. General Vercellino orders Caracciolo di Feroleto and his motorized units to secure the province as soon as possible, to blitz forward towards Agrinio and Larisa.

Ioannina.png


The Greek navy tries to prevent the Italian shore bombardment, with little success.

navy.png


With more and more Uk Fighter squadrons deployed in Athens, the attack is anticipated.

General Guzzoni leads the attack with his 4 Lagunari divisions. Mj Scattini supports him with his airborne assault. The very same night Caracciolo di Feroleto reach Ioannina and immediately begins pushing towards Larisa with Mj Mancinelli.

A day later, Mecozzi and Briganti bombers join the fun as well. Athens is in Italian hands.

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On 28th January, the Greeks tried to route away Italian occupants of Athens. Two immediate counterattacks from the troops moving in Larisa and Agrinio cause the plan to fail badly, so fast I couldn’t even make a screenshot of the battle.

counter.png


Caracciolo di Feroleto begins attacking Salonika as soon as he reach Larisa. His idea is to soften up the defenders, while the bulk of the army will join for the final attack in 2 more days.

With Caracciolo di Feroleto unit low on org, Lt. Gen Caruso is called from reserve to lead the attack. In the same hours, the Celere secures Agrinio. Greek capital is moved to Salonika.

Italian airforce arrives a day later, always late in perfect Italian style.
Lt. Gen Caruso welcomes Mecozzi bombers with words we cannot report.

On 30th night, Caracciolo di Feroleto is the only one still pushing against Salonika fortress. He wants to keep them engaged, to prevent any organization recovery. Still, a retreating unit from Larisa reached the province.
Despite heroism, he’s forced to pull out the attack before the other units can arrive.​

salonika.png


The British didn’t forget about Libya. They reach Sirte and begin pushing against Italian lines. Gen Nasi withdraws immediately.

sirte-1.png


On 2nd February Lt. Lisi resumes the attack on Salonika. Not used to command that many troops, chaos reigns in the frontline.
With the battle close to be lost Caracciolo di Feroleto disorganized unit joins the battle and makes it last that bit more which allows the Italian air force to finally defeat the Greek defenders.

salonika2.png


The Italians push towards Corinthe to overrun retreating Greeks.

corinthe.png


13 days after the war declaration, Greece returns to be part of the Impero.

victory.png
 
You really ought to close Gibraltar and the Suez. Things gets a LOT less hairy once that is done.
 
Chapter 9. A new world order?

Mussolini threw himself depth in his chair.
He was just announced the success of Operazione Olimpo. Greece was now part of the Impero and Vittorio Emanuele could now call himself Imperatore d'Italia.

Mussolini watched Cavallero, sit in front of him with a few schemes in his hands.
Despite being already after midnight, he accepted to listen to the Chief of Staff concerns.

Cavallero started: "Duce, we need to decide what to do now. The war between Germany and the Allies in Northen Europe seems to be down to a stalemate.

It's clear that Germany can not land on British soil like Hitler keeps announcing with his propaganda."

Cavallero put one map on the table of the Duce.

northerneurope.png

"As you can see, Hitler is simply trying to defend what he gets. We found, however, some interesting placement of troops from Germany and Hungary.
It appears that they are planning some sort of assault of Yugoslavia. We still didn't hear nothing about it, but I'm confident they will contact us.

In the meanwhile, we should consider the opportunity of deploying our troops to take into account such an event. I suggest using mobile troops to take land in front of the Germans, so that they'll attack from our territory and we'll avoid unpleasant events like with Vichy France.".

yug.png

Il Duce nodded silently and then asked: "What about Ethiopia and Libya Ugo? Do we have enough spare troops to hold these while figthing in Yugoslavia?"

Cavallero resumed: "That's the problem. As you can see in this map, Ethiopia is still holding. Thanks to agent Hannibal Barca2 plan our troops are supplied but the Allied troops are now dangerously close to our positions. It could be the right time to start with routing attacks to ease pressure on our positions."

eth.png

"Speaking of Lybia, we have British troops advancing towards Homs. There are at least 15 Allied division marching, and we got only 12 divisions there. We could try to hold the line, but those Matilda tanks are though nuts to crack for our leg infantry.

Another option could be to ship them away. Pariani suggests we leave Libya in British hands and use those troops to take Suez. The image hit we would take from the fall of Libya would be balanced by the great prestige we would earn from grabbing Suez from Churchill hands."

libya.png

"I also had some time to prepare a report on the state of the Axis forces. I must confess I'm not 100% sure on the accuracy of these data, but if they are it's clear why Hitler cannot attempt any Sealion. His navy has been slaughtered, units we sold him in 1936-37 included."

axis.png

"Finally, I completed a short report on our commanders performance, should you want to promote any to an higher rank. Some performed really well in battle in these 7 months of war."

exp.png

Il Duce begun to read carefully the reports and looking at the maps..

"Ugo, here's my orders. Lay out a plan for conquering as much as possible land in Yugoslavia. We need those extra resources, expecially with German trades being so fluctuating recently."

"Begin immediately routing attacks in Ethiopia, we cannot afford to lose Africa Orientale Italiana!

As for Libya, give me one more day to think about it. I don't want to lose it, but the idea of using those troops to take Suez in a surprise action is one of those my old friend Gabriele D'Annunzio would love."

"I also believe Hitler is planning something in regards to the Soviet Union. Try to identify a few units we can spare and send to that front in case a war opens."

Ugo Cavallero didn't want to believe the last few words. A war with the Commie juggernaut when he was barely able to hold one front?
Let's hope it's just a boutade..

With a most classic "Sissignore", Cavallero left the room.

9.1. Suez is ours!
9.2. Another front opens
9.3. Africa and Vicino Oriente wars.
[URL=http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showpost.php?p=8134071&postcount=184]9.4. The fall of the Land of South Slavs
9.5. Operazione Respiro.
9.6. Securing Palestine.
9.7. Sea lanes are open!
9.8. And the Rock crumbles to the ground. [/URL]
 
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