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gaiasabre11 Well, here he is a General commanding a whole front.

That's no excuse. :p

Raaritsgozilla I've been thinking of that myself, but alas, no time to convert this myself.

Perhaps you're using MS word? Get Openoffice.org and it will get it converted in a minute. ;)
 
That's no excuse. :p



Perhaps you're using MS word? Get Openoffice.org and it will get it converted in a minute. ;)

I do use Open Office, but I lost everything up to chapter 38 and most of the pics are missing.
 
I do use Open Office, but I lost everything up to chapter 38 and most of the pics are missing.

:(:(:(
I'm tempted to draw a leviathan armed with 20 x 500mm/50 cannons to teach you not to lose important files. :p:p:p
 
Well, from Chapter 38 onwards I have everything. I simply don't put most of the pics into the document.
 
Well, from Chapter 38 onwards I have everything. I simply don't put most of the pics into the document.

Don't you think that you're just finding yourself excuses? :p:p
 
Nope. Because I just exported the PDF of what I have. If wanted, I can post a download link, but bear in mind that there are some differences. Sometimes I changed things as an afterthought before posting chapters and so on.....
 
Nope. Because I just exported the PDF of what I have. If wanted, I can post a download link, but bear in mind that there are some differences. Sometimes I changed things as an afterthought before posting chapters and so on.....
That'll do for me sunshine!
 
Righto. It's not complete, misses a few bits from the text and can be found here.
 
Righto. It's not complete, misses a few bits from the text and can be found here.

Mr. Sunshine, I've just discovered that you've written twice as much work than me within a same span of time. :p Keep up the good work. :)
 
Chapter 178

The Battle for Foggia now became a race for the bottleneck. Both sides tried to reinforce the units they had there, the British to keep the Italians bottled up, the Axis to let them out, and soon smaller and bigger units battled each other all along the line. The British and their allies were unprepared for such a fast and massive action, and after some heavy fighting that lasted for several hours, a rifle company from the 257th Rifle Division managed to link up with Italian Mountaineers coming from the south the cost of loosing more than 60 % of their men. British troops on both sides of the breakthrough could hold their positions, but the exhausted Indian Infantry did not have the strength left in them to break through towards their brethren because Rommel had thrown the slightly less exhausted Panzer Divisions of the Italy Corps into the fray to widen the breach, even though on the 25th no more territorial gains of notice were made by either side, and all the while the Italians were flooding towards the breach in a bid to escape. Once again exhausted British Tankers were called upon to seal the breach even though their vehicles were in desperate need for maintenance after so many days of almost sustained combat and them racing all over southern Italy to plug gaps wherever they appeared.

Once again the 2nd Royal Hussars were the first unit to go into action.


Lt. Colonel Niemczyk was looking through his viewing slits as he yawned and ran a hand over his unshaven chin. The other soldiers in the tank were equally tired, and if she weren't a piece of metal, Jan was sure that Battleaxe II would be too. “How we fixed for ammunition?” he asked for the thirteenth time that day. “Six AP rounds and and nine HE left, Colonel.” came the reply that had not changed since they had been forced to kiss resupply goodbye with the order to move. “Petrol?” “Little over half full, Sir.” The men had answered the same questions over and over again, but who could fault the Colonel? They were all on edge, the Regiment had not had proper rest since coming ashore, but they were still motivated as they knew what was at stake. “Colonel, there, two-hundred down thataway!” Sergeant Maxwell said. Jan looked and saw what the driver had seen, a piece of metal blinking from behind a bush. “All Charger units halt.” he turned to the loader and said: “High Explosive if you please.” The loader rammed the round into the breech of the 17 pounder and the turret of the tank traversed a few inches before Jan gave the order: “FIRE!” The German anti-tank gun and the heavy 17 pounder fired at the same time, and neither shell hit. The Germans had aimed short and somewhat too far to the left as they had fired in a hurry, Battleaxe II had missed because the gunner was close to falling asleep on the job. He corrected and the next shell hit. It exploded and toppled the German gun even before the Germans could reload and fire another shot. Battleaxe II rumbled forward as did the rest of the 2nd Royal Hussars. The was ten vehicles short, four destroyed and the rest too damaged to fight for various reasons, but the Regiment was still in fighting trim, even though all vehicles could do with more ammunition and diesel fuel. As Battleaxe II advanced down the road and over a field, Jan put these thoughts out of his mind and instead focused on the task at hand. Around him his men were advancing in a leapfrog manner similar to that the squaddies in the Infantry practised, and now and again one was shooting at something. Luckily for them the ground was much more open here, and they could blast most of the likely hiding spots from afar, unless the Gerries had more of the new 7.5 cm PAK 40s that could duel with the Cromwells at range. Then suddenly the Cromwells found themselves on the crest of a hill and could look down onto the coastal plains. Down below them a large convoy of fleeing men and vehicles of every description could be seen racing along a dirt road. Jan stood up in his position and opened his hatch. In the distance he could see the area where the units that were cut off from the rest of the British front were still holding, but news from there had said that they were in good condition and had plenty of ammunition left, so first things first. “Cloud Castle, this is Charger Actual. We have enemy movement on grid reference...” he rattled off a grid reference and added. “Harassing fire, enemy in the open, and fire for effect!” Miles away the artillery attached to the Division centred on the coordinates provided and everything from BL 7.2 inch Howitzer Mk.IIs to 25 pounders began to fire one after another.

The first ranging shots began to fall among the fleeing Italians and they became even more chaotic, but when the full might of the 7th Armoured's Artillery and that three batteries of the 1st began to fall among them the carnage was immense, so when the British Tanks began to advance down the slope they encountered no resistance of note. Aside from burning vehicles, men blown to tiny bits and the remnants of war they encountered no one. They began to advance towards the suspected position of the British units, as they still had to seal the breakthrough.

ww2_10.jpg

The Tanks made contact with the forward company of the Peshawar Lancers on mid day, and after brushing off three more Italian and German attempts to break the line, 7th Armoured was designated as the Corps reserve and pulled back from the line to rest and at least stock up on supplies, while the fresher 1st and 2nd Armoured, along with the reserve battalion from the 1st Polish that had seen almost as much action as the 7th were detached to support the drive of III Corps towards Foggia. Some at Alexander's headquarters had argued that it might be better to take Taranto first, but Alexander had decided that the logistical hub of Foggia supplied much of the Axis left flank, and the fighting strength of the units around Taranto could only get lower. Once again Rommel had guessed the same, and the depleted Italian and German Armoured Division along with a second Soviet and several Italian Infantry Divisions fought a defensive action that slowed the British advance to the extent that Alexander officially informed London that the plan for the advance up Italy would have to be tossed since enemy resistance was heavier than expected. Meanwhile on the other side of the Front Rommel was trying to ice off more units for the defence of Foggia, but the Italians could spare none, since the British were putting just enough pressure on the Axis front to prevent them from moving units about, and the flow of reinforcements from the north was hindered by air and commando attacks on transportation infrastructure, and even the General's reputation for being a skilled commander on both sides of the front would not make the trains being repaired faster or the roads not be cratered by bombs from British Infiltrators. While this went on, the Battle raged. On the evening of the 27th, after days of constant engagements at all ranges British heavy Artillery began to shell Foggia proper that by now was totally devoid of civilians, while the Mediterranean Command of the Royal Air Force, assisted by the Polish, Belgian and Dutch Air Forces began to bomb the Axis troops, using a huge chunk of the combined Allied strength in Tactical Bombers. Superior British Artillery and local Air Superiority allowed the Allies to advance within spitting distance of Foggia and also allowed them to interdict the roads that led into the city with almost constant harassing fire. Rommel realized that the fall of the city was only a matter of time, but was refused permission to pull out the units both from Rome and Berlin.

Instead he decided that the defence of Foggia should be held up as long as possible with the units at hand, not because of military genius, but more because he simply had no other choice. Resupply was difficult and he had orders not to abandon the city, but nothing could be said against him stationing the best Axis unit on the western approaches to the city where they could conduct 'tactical retreats' if they were in danger of being surrounded. The British obliged to this plan by first attacking along the coastal road towards Manfredonia. Defending the coastal road was a Division of Infantry that had been recently assembled by culling the Blackshirt units for veterans and those that seemed to have an aptitude for military operations, filling up the rest of the ranks with raw recruits. They did however put up fanatical resistance wherever they could, forcing the British to advance behind a screen of heavy artillery that turned the ground into a passable imitation of the moon and would later remind many veterans of the First World War of the Battlefield in France. The Italian Division however could not be everywhere, so when the British pushed them north they were not strong enough to prevent two Infantry Divisions of III Corps to swing westwards in an attempt to take the city from an unexpected direction. For a while it seemed to work out as the two Divisions managed to penetrate deep into Foggia proper before running into any notable resistance, but then the defenders woke and forced the British to pay dearly for every inch, even though in the end superior numbers and the British willingness to blast every inch of the city with heavy artillery and their willingness to use Flame throwers to great effect. On the early morning of the 28th Italian resistance began to crumble and by the end of the day the city or what remained of it was firmly in Allied hands.

After the Battle of Foggia was over and the smouldering ruins of the city began to cool off, the Alexander decided that the newly landed units should not be instantly moved north to relieve the exhausted Divisions there, and instead decided that Taranto had to be taken first and after that Naples was on his list for the very simple reason that this would shorten the front and give the Allied Armies much more breathing room to operate in. III Corps was tasked with taking Taranto, supported by II and V and VII Corps.

Here resistance quickly crumbled, as the Italians were demoralized from being cut off, suffered from supply shortages even though some came through along the coast and from recent defeats suffered. Their morale took a further hit when rumours began to spread that the Fleet was preparing to set sail, abandoning the the base and therefore them. So when the British advanced they were taking large numbers of prisoners for the first time since the later stages of the North African campaign as some of the more battered units surrendered after only brief resistance if they fought at all. When the British closed in on Taranto proper, resistance began to stiffen considerably, and soon the Battleships in the harbour began to support the defence wherever possible. While the British were readying themselves for another round of city fighting when suddenly the artillery fire from the sea stopped, and when the advance resumed, the resistance crumbled quickly. The British troops that stepped up to the shoreline they saw the distant ships of the Italian Navy that had slipped from their grasp.


However. Less than two-hundred miles away an assembly of ships was waiting. Steel predators of the sea ready to pounce their unsuspecting prey. Ships with massive superstructures and turrets began to separate themselves and their escorts from the rest of the fleet and steam towards Italy. Ships with flat tops began to turn into the wind and launch wave after wave of biplanes heavy with the load of the torpedoes they carried under their bellies. Overhead fighters made their circles over the fleet and prepared to escort the torpedo bombers to their targets.


[Notes: So there we go. The next piece posted by me is for my other AAR.]
 
Looks like the British are getting the hang of combined operations - at last! Was that deliberate good planning or blind luck?
 
more naval battles! yay! hopefully no british ships are sunk. they need all they can get against the japs.
 
more naval battles! yay! hopefully no british ships are sunk. they need all they can get against the japs.

I believe that's pretty damn easy. Have I ever mentioned that I once hunted the RN to extinction (as France of course) losing nothing but a transport? (a stack of 30 ships, with 4~6 BBs, 2 SHBBs, some carriers plus escorts or something like that does the job. I lost the TP when I launched sealion) :p
 
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yey! Taranto! With Battleships! Excellent. So Italy begins to crumble at the edges, but with greater German backing.....
 
Le Jones A bit of both actually. The Fleet of course knew that the Army was about to attack Taranto and was notified of the sailings, but it's only by accident that they are in a perfect position for a Carrier Strike which are to soften the Italians up before they run into the Battle Line.

arya126 I rarely use the old ones against Japan. For the most part I use the pre-existing ships to keep things down in Europe and send the new builds to the Far East.

gaiasabre11 It can be done, but I lost a lot of ships early on.

Raaritsgozilla
Happy to help.

Lord Strange They are crumbling, but they aren't out yet.

Griffin.Gen This is to be the Stringbag's finest hour.
 
I posted this in Channel Pact by accident, but:


Edit: My god, its 440 pages long!! :( that's $44 to print off!!! Ouch
 
I can't help it. Writing is my favourite hobby.
 
No probs, just time for me to start reading, thats all :D