All Quiet on the Western Front, UK HOI3 1.4

[enigmamcmxc]

Aftermath

The war in Europe was far from over however due to Operation Faustus the British army had, on the whole, been able to achieve the political objective of keeping the French behind the Rhine. However all our Western European allies had made gains at the expense of Germany, the largest being Luxembourg who managed to double the size of their nation. Following the collapse of Germany, Austrian and Czech nationalists seized control of portions of their respective homelands and installed fascist governments. Within days British troops moved into these new nations to establish military control; by the end of May order had been returned without shots being fired.

Europe, June 1943
Green Line: Pre-war borders
Yellow Line: Operation Faustus intended objective​

On 8 June 180,000 men and 2,400 tanks paraded through Berlin in front of the war cabinet, Imperial General Staff and all high ranking officers of the BEF. Within days a further 45,000 men had been deployed to Germany and the BEF reorganised into four armies, each of four corps. Most of Poland had been liberated by British troops however with no Polish forces to restore control the entire First Army was redeployed to maintain order. Second, Third and Fourth armies established themselves in various parts of Germany. Back in London, Churchill announced to the nation the determination of the nation to carry on the war against the Axis alliance, a meeting between the IGS and war cabinet focused attention on southern Europe and the Balkans. Hungary, now the frontline in the war between the anti-Soviet bloc and the communists, is the doorway into the Balkans and Italy for Stalin’s men. The decision was made to launch the British Army into the Balkans before concentrating on Italy. In preparation for the latter the Royal Navy started a series of massive redeployments as a significant portion of the fleet, in British waters, left for the Mediterranean; older destroyers, based in the Med, likewise set sail for the United Kingdom. These moves, completed over the course of May and June, bolstered the forces at Gibraltar, Malta, and Alexandria; encircling the Italian Fleet. Over the course of June Third Army, bolstered by four independent armoured brigades, assembled along the eastern Hungarian border while Second Army positioned along the western border and Yugoslavia.

Elements of the victory parade​

With Germany defeated the anti-Soviet alliance found itself in disarray, there is now no large force holding down a significant portion of the Soviet armed forces in the west or the east as Japan’s gains had been eliminated. British intelligence reports indicate massive number of Soviet divisions redeploying along the border areas towards Hungary. With no political leadership of the alliance, Japan’s leaders announced they were taking control of the faction and one by one over June the old German allies lined up behind Japan to carry on the war against the Soviets.

With Japan’s accession to the leader of the faction, the Soviets announced their determination to defeat the Axis alliance regardless – although how they plan on taking on the Axis South American nations British intelligence has been unable to answer. The Soviets made further announcements in regards to their achievements on the “eastern front” – although the Germans and their allies were defeated because British troops overran Germany; 33,000 Italians and 30,000 Mengjiang /Japanese were captured. In addition 22,000 Tibetans, including 3,000 on the eastern front, were captured by the USSR and her puppets.

 

[enigmamcmxc]

Operation Dracula

Throughout the final days of June the final touches were put on Operation Dracula; the invasion of Hungary. Two primary objectives were assigned to the operation: 1) halt further Soviet advances into the Balkans 2) knock out a further Axis power.

Elements of two armies totalling 228,000 men, 2,700 tanks and air support from most of the light, medium, and heavy bombers were assigned to the operation. The Secret Intelligence Service had so far been unable to identify any Hungarian forces along the border and estimated their army to be only 28 divisions strong; most likely already committed to the fight with the Soviets.

Third Army (red) was to launch several spearheads into eastern Hungary, cutting off the possibility of further Soviet advances and the main Hungarian force. At the same time elements of the army would advance on the capital and other key areas of the country. Second Army (orange) would, at the same time, launch a broad frontal assault across the western end of the country to develop a more advantageous position to launch a future assault on Yugoslavia.

 

[Enewald]

250k is one full strength army in my games, how small can your armies be?
If a corps has about ~50k men?

 

[enigmamcmxc]

Well my three armies were each made up of five corps with additional bits and bobs attached to them. Am in the process of reorganising them all so that ive decreased each army by one corp to "raise" the Foruth Army. Am also adding extra troops so each Army should be around 200,000 strong: 4 Corps of four divisions plus some extra bits and bobs. A bunch of marine divisions are being raised, "heavy" armoured divisions of 5 brigades (one being SPATY/TD) so the strength of each is bound to increase further.

A slight problem will be raised when the fighting shifts over to Africa or Asia were my forces are basic divisions of three brigades - the leftover of the begining of the game; so a lot fewer troops. On top of which i havent done that much research into the basic infantry doctrines.

 

[enigmamcmxc]

Descent

In perhaps the most short-sighted political decision of the war thus far, a major political blunder was made in the launching of Operation Dracula. The military and political planners had not anticipated that the launching of a limited war against Hungary, ala Yunnan, would result in the rest of the Axis alliance declaring war upon the western alliance. However this is exactly what happened. A truly global war now started; it was no longer a war of separate alliances fighting one another. Magnifying the problem was the thousands of axis stragglers within Germany who had yet to return to their home countries. Within the space of 24 hours Italian troops seized Rostock and other less important areas along the Soviet border and within central Germany, Yugoslavian troops captured a province in eastern Poland along the Soviet border while Japanese troops occupied Memel.

With no battle plan developed for this global situation the military fell back on their pre-war plans in regards to East Africa; Indian and African forces were given the order to capture the two main ports and cut the supply route to the Italian colony before clearing it of Italian troops. In North Africa, Middle East Command simply ordered Eighth Army to push across the wire and advance as far as supplies would allow. In Germany, First Army was ordered to board trains and move east to detrain near the Axis gains and defeat them, Fourth Army (minus the Guards divisions, who were assigned to retake Rostock and other areas within central Germany) were ordered to deploy to the Italian border as soon as possible. Second and Third Army launched their battle plan – Operation Dracula – while the remaining elements of Second Army launched an ad-hoc encirclement battle against Yugoslav border defences. The First Sea Lord ordered the Royal Navy to slip anchor at Portsmouth, Gibraltar, Malta, and Alexandria; the fleet was to set sail into the Med, Atlantic, Red Sea and Indian Ocean to initiate patrols and convoy raiding missions to attempt to inflict as much damage as possible.

During the course of 1st June the initial skirmishes along the Hungarian border were won however massive Italian and Hungarian forces were identified pulling back from the Soviet front to counter British advances. During the 2nd the first naval battles took place, cargo ships on both sides were sunk and the Italian main fleet mauled a patrol inflicting heavy losses. The only positive news came from North Africa were Tobruk was captured. On the third, six more cargo ships were lost but the Royal Navy reaped revenge upon the Italians sinking a transporter and a destroyer. As the day proceeded the French launched a massive military offensive against Italy; hundreds of thousands of French troops crossed the border while more moved into marshalling areas near the Italian border ready to aid the advance.

On the 4th a British wolf pack engaged elements of the Italian main fleet leaving Taranto, the subs delayed the Italian fleet from heading to their intended destination but took heavy damage in the process from depth-charges. The main fleet was able to rush to area but were only able to briefly clash with the Regia Marina scoring several direct hits on their ships however the Italians were able to skilfully withdraw their force. Elsewhere naval clashes took place and more merchantmen were sunk. The second major clash of the day was in the Atlantic off the coast of Spain; Spanish battleships inflicted serious losses on a patrols; Force H was soon on the scene and engaged the Spaniards sinking one outdated dreadnought. The next day the battle continued resulting in the destruction of the Spanish navy. However the day was not all full of good news, Central American axis forces occupied Belize without a fight followed by Brazilian forces advancing into western European colonies in South America.

On the 6th Spanish forces attacked French North Africa, and Portuguese troops pushed into the British Empire in central Africa. Initial plans, prior to the outbreak of the global conflict, wanted to reinforce these areas with Indian troops before attacking Portugal etc, however it was not to be. In the Med, the main fleet engaged the Regia Marina battleships once more; the Italian ships landed several salvos on the Dreadnought causing significant damage, but just like at Jutland the Warspite saved the day scoring many direct hits and exploding a battleship. The week ended on a further high note with the Guards securing Rostock after a bloody fight.

On the 8th Budapest fell following a prolonged battle between small skirmishing forces however Italian troops were able to make more gains into Poland; the British counterattack against this position was launched and over the following days an armoured division crossed into the Soviet Union cutting off the Italian positions from the main Hungarian frontline. The western wing of Third Army’s advance into Hungary had been a complete success however in the east little progress had been made and the battle plan has completely fallen apart. Supply problems started to affect most frontline forces resulting in the various advances being somewhat sluggish yet some deep gains were made and Second Army had fully crossed the length of Hungary. A single division, from Second Army, was making an unopposed march on Venice but was likewise halted by supply problems. On the 10th Fourth Army arrived near the Italian border, after disembarking from their trains and transporters they were ordered to advance on Rome no matter the cost. The French onslaught had made little headway considering the light opposition they faced so it was entirely possible for Foruth Army to reach the main prize before the French; Italian resistance was mostly being found in Hungary not their homeland.

On the 11th Benghazi was captured and in East Africa Indian troops occupied the southern Italian port while additional troops fought to seize control of the northern one. Gibraltar’s, so far not attacked by the Spanish (who have neither attacked or been attacked by the French), garrison was reinforced with two additional divisions and several anti-aircraft batteries brining the garrisons strength to 47,000 men – more the than the territories population.

 

[unmerged(149861)]

Any plans for Asia and Japan?

 

[enigmamcmxc]

I was going to ally with the Chinese, the AI had been basically begging me to ally with them for some time. But when i checked it out after cauing the global war its going to require some time to influnce them nearly all the way up the pyramid to form an alliance.

One is going to secure Europe and then finish off the Japanese (am not to sure but it seems they may be conducting some sort of fightback in China - not to sure yet); i was hoping to be able to launch various limited wars and that way the South American nations would be left as some sort of South American bloc but looks like the guys are going to be marching through the Amazon at some point too.

 

[enigmamcmxc]

Intelligence crisis

On the launch of Dracula high command expected a rapid advance into Hungary cutting off the main Axis body before it had a chance to retreat behind its own borders, effectively leaving them to be mopped up by the Soviets. Frontline reconnaissance had indicated no forces along the border and that the operation would achieve full tactical and strategic surprise. The haste in launching the operation was also due to the fact the Secret Intelligence Service had intercepted information indicating mass Soviet movements south towards the Hungarian frontline.

Three weeks into the expanded war and it was revealed why progress in the east has been so slow. A mixture of frontline recon, military espionage on the part of the Secret Intelligence Service, and interrogated prisoners revealed that the Axis forces in eastern Hungary number at least 250,000 men! In western Hungary there was a further estimated 280,000 men, when the casualties, so far inflicted, are included this raises the figure to nearly 650,000 axis troops that were defending the country – at least! British intelligence had yet to identify just how many men are holding positions around the territory taken by the Soviets or still based inside the Soviet Union.

This is the worst intelligence blunder of the war, far outstripping Germany ’41 or the underestimation of the German actions in Scandinavia. British forces are outnumbered three to one!

 

[enigmamcmxc]

My Overlord

14 days into the assault on Hungary and the advance stalled, all attacks were called off as casualties started to mount. Having mopped up the various axis pockets of resistance along the border with the Soviets, First Army was ordered to Hungary to concentrate for a single powerful strike in the east end of the country.

Meanwhile the Danes, in Greenland, launched an uprising and tried to take control of the only major port and the occupation force’s lifeline. Over the next five days fighting took place all over southern Greenland resulting in thousands of arrests and over 500 deaths amongst the rebels before they laid down their arms. For the Italians on the 16th, they found Venice had been captured by British forces while in East Africa Indian troops took the northern supply base and effectively cut off the Italians in Africa. However in South America, the Brazilians completed their conquest of the west's colonies.

The French assault into Italy overran the few frontline forces facing them but from then on their advance was sluggish in the mountainous terrain; from Berlin Alexander ordered the Fourth Army to advance rapidly and “cut off” off any French advance south. From the narrow corridor at Venice the 8th Armoured Division (the same division who “won” the Swedish campaign) advanced on Rome while the 23rd and 24th Infantry Divisions pivoted west to move towards the coast and ensure the French did not gain any more territory.

In Hungary the fighting had dissolved into a battle of attrition, the men had plodded forward and now the Hungarians had slugged, in the east, their way back north restoring their borders east of Budapest. In the west practically the entire frontline was held by two divisions; the 7th and 79th Armoured Divisions. These two divisions launched repeated attacks to throw back any gains the Hungarians made; to their south several Corps of infantry were embroiled in a battle with Yugoslav and Bulgarian troops holding the road to Belgrade. With all forces committed and the frontline, north of the armour being thinly held, the Hungarians counterattacked; a massive strike to retake Budapest and a strike north from Yugoslavia. The latter move made rapid progress into the undefended flank resulting in a series of orders being issued to counter the attack; the 7th Armour attacked eastwards to help in the battle for Budapest while infantry were rushed south to block the southern advance.

The Axis counterattack​

With most troops embroiled in the fighting little progress was made. On the 20th, the quiet and static Spanish line was assaulted by a full scale French attack involving hundreds of thousands of troops. Within days the entire frontline had been overrun although in one sector Spanish forces had actually counterattacked and made a small gain into France; it was to be short lived. With most of France’s forces committed in Europe, Spain’s large imperial force started to make large gains into France’s colonial holdings. Inspired by the fighting in the north, the General Officer Commanding the Gibraltar garrison ordered his men to attack. No more than 20,000 Spanish were estimated to be masking the Anglo-Spanish border so the Gibraltar garrison was able to concentrate on each Spanish unit in turn and thus make substantial gains.

Back in the Balkans, Second Army’s advance south towards Belgrade inflicted a huge defeat upon the Bulgarian army, over 9,000 casualties were inflicted and many more were captured in a single battle cracking open the frontline. However while rapid exploitation south was made, the Yugoslav and Bulgarian troops rallied and masked the positions hindering advances to the east or directly on Belgrade. Further advances to outflank these positions were halted due to logistical issues however some forces were freed up, not strong enough to carry on south, to be used to smash the southern Hungarian counterattack; with this attack destroyed these forces then moved west to link up with other elements of Second Army, advancing along the western coast, and to encircle various Axis units.

On 25 July the Icelandic garrison was withdrawn and the local government given control of the island, the garrison was assigned to Gibraltar Command and set sail to join the offensive in southern Spain. The next day in Wilhelmshaven an uprising took place, the men calling themselves the Werwolf, and the rebels captured the docks along with the main supply depot; the only force remotely close was the occupation force in Denmark who were ordered to move at once to combat the German partisans.

During the course of these events, in Hungary, Swedish troops arrived on the line freeing up several divisions who moved to the position on the southern tip of the bulge in our line linking up with around 50,000 men of Third Army. Meanwhile First Army had finished concentrating in northeast Hungary, as well as being reinforced by elements of Third Army. The new offensive called for a double envelopment, Operation Van Helsing, to inflict a crippling blow against the Hungarian army; the southern thrust – Van – would strike out east, while “Helsing” would see First Army launch a massive strike from the north. On 27 July the attack began with over 100,000 men involved in the initial assaults. Meanwhile the Hungarian attack on Budapest was repusled and they launched a new attack to the east of the city, driving the Swedish forces north.

The movement the Hungarian army was believed to be making (green) and the Operation Van Helsing planned line of attack (red)​

Rome fell on the 28th, the same day the 16th Irish Division managed to advance deep into Yugoslavia advancing towards the major southern ports and Albania. By the end of the month Operation Van had been halted so forces could be released to deal with a Hungarian counterattacks, which by late on the 31st had managed to encircle Budapest; Lt-General Harding commanding the 14,000 British and 3,500 Dutch trapped soldiers ordered a breakout to the north. While not realised at the time, this predicament would result in the major Hungarian defeat that had been sought.

Flippin the bird​

By 3 August the Hungarian attack had restored two more sections of their border, had advanced into Poland and had left the entire frontline position in real trouble with the possibility of at least 60,000 British soldiers becoming cut off. The 4th saw the 7th Armour Division link up with the Budapest garrison alleviating the situation some and the first success of Operation Helsing; at least three Hungarian divisions were rendered combat ineffective following the eight day battle while others suffered heavy losses. The initial advance had been made by the infantry divisions and now the armour was unleashed, with the “Van” thrust cancelled First Army was ordered to undertake their element of the operation too and thus create a huge pocket stretching across the Hungarian border. The Hungarian counterattack had now seen itself backfire. With the infantry divisions of First Army now freed up they were given new objectives, some would attack west into the pocket to help close it faster while 60,000 would strike south to cut off any Soviet advance; this latter move joined a battle in which over 200,000 Soviets troops were battling a force less than a quarter of that size.

While the armour attack had not been the armoured breakthrough envisioned, seeing the tanks mostly halted and the infantry within the divisions taking on the majority of the fighting, by the 9th they had sealed the pocket. However with the huge numbers trapped, British forces in complete disorder and needing time to sort themselves out, coupled with Hungarian attacks; the pocket was closed but the troops to clear it needed to be found.

Since the 2 August the lead division of the Eighth Army had been sitting on the doorstep of Tripoli, after completing a nearly 1,000 mile unopposed advance taking several thousand rear area prisoners; for just under two weeks they battled to break into the city and suffered horrendous losses at the hands of Italian bombers. With the rest of XIII Corps and the Corps anti-aircraft guns attempting to catch up, the attack was called off after 2,000 casualties. Meanwhile in Yugoslavia a pocket was cleared up resulting in 20,000 prisoners.

The corridor along the border that saw the heavy fighting to turn it into a pocket​

Back in Hungary desperate fighting against British overextended positions saw the Hungarians create a lifeline to their forces on the 12th, only three days after becoming trapped. Further heavy fighting took place over the following days seeing the west end of the Hungarian corridor cut off and cleared by the 22nd resulting 24,000 prisoners being taken. During the next 48 hours the armour of First Army completed Operation Van Helsing inflicting over 4,000 casualties and practically destroying several Hungarian divisions; the pocket was once again closed. First and Third Army then redeployed forces to ensure that Hungarian troops would be unable to break out while at the same time kept hitting south to keep the pressure on the rest of the Hungarian army. It would be four days until the men were in position and ready to attack, meanwhile it had been estimated that 63,000 men had been trapped; by the end of the month after five days of bitter fighting the Hungarians surrendered in the pocket - 75,000 prisoners were taken. The fighting along the border and near the capital had resulted in the back of the Hungarian army being broken!

For nearly a month the Danish occupation force fought the German rebels until the 19th when they finally retook Wilhelmshaven. Following this battle, with the lack of troops for occupation duties, Denmark was re-established and Greenland was handed back over, freeing up further troops who were then dispatched to Spain. On the 21st the East African campaign came to an end with the surrender of 17,000 Italians.

Over a 24-hour period starting on the 24th the decisive naval engagements took place between the Royal Navy and the Regia Marina. In a series of battles three out of the five Italian battleships were sunk but they inflicted heavy damage on several of our own in return; the Warspite and Vanguard were ordered back to Alexandria as a result. The final two battleships fled to Albania but sortied again to do battle in the Adriatic; in the close confines of the sea the King George V and Prince of Wales took a battering but managed to sink a further battleship in the process. The battle ended as night fell. Attempting to lick wounds, the Rodney and Nelson were ordered from Gibraltar to reinforce the fleet as all the battleships bar the Duke of York were in dire need of repair and were ordered back to port. Several battlecruisers were able to join the fleet before sunrise and soon after battle once again erupted. The final battleship hit Dreadnought with several broadsides inflicting further damage to the already heavily damaged ship but that is where their success ran out; the Hood unleashed a broadside into the ship exploding it and sending her beneath the waves. In the various engagements many destroyers were sunk and several losses were inflicted on our forces including the loss of the Achilles.

One of the Regia Marina's battleships​

Over the next few days Dempsey’s Second Army started to build up forces at the southern tip of the frontline for a flanking attack around the Axis lines with the objective of reaching the Rumanian border; this move would cut off and surround the Yugoslav and Bulgarian armies operating against Dempsey as well as allowing easy capture of the capital. Transport flights were flying supplies into the frontline to facilitate this advance but no fighting took place as on the 28th Yugoslavia announced its unconditional surrender to the United Kingdom; the remaining 140,000 Yugoslavian troops (their limited air force and navy having been destroyed) crossed at various points of the frontline into captivity. On the 29th explosions were heard at airfields and naval ports close to the front that we had not yet taken in Italy and Greece, the Italian fleet – the remains of it – was scuttled and their remaining planes destroyed. At the same time 100,000 Italians (70,000 soldiers and the remaining airmen and naval personal) surrendered.

Further heavy fighting took place in Hungary and by 10 September British forces managed to split the country into two vast pockets by reaching the Rumanian border. Meanwhile First Army was racing to outpace the Soviets into Transylvania. In Bulgaria Second Army occupied all key areas of Bulgaria and engaged in battle for the capital; within 24 hours the city fell and the government surrendered. Within hours the exiled Greek government were flown into Athens and the country was re-established on its pre-war boundaries.

British gains in the south​

The next day British troops capture Lisbon; mainland Spain and Portugal were now under Allied control but both nations had substantial imperial forces and key locations in their overseas empires resulting in neither surrendering. On 14 September 1943, after three and half months of fighting, Hungary surrendered; their army laid down their weapons however the government fled south into Rumania to carry on the fight in exile.

The campaign had cost 105,252 allied casualties (78,381 British, 20,000 French, 5,000 Swedes, 1,525 Indian, and 346 Dutch) and had inflicted 183,763 Axis losses and took 492,051 prisoners (over 200,000 Hungarians, 100,000 Italians, and a mix match of their allies) in addition to the hundreds of thousands of men who surrendered at the end of the fighting. The naval losses during this campaign had been rather steep: 30 cargo ships, 10 destroyers, 4 light cruisers, and several submarines. However during the course of the campaign a new destroyer programme had been laid down to replace losses and in late September six Tiger class cruisers were completed thus completely replacing the losses incurred. In total the Royal Navy sunk 7 battleships, 27 destroyers, 8 light cruisers, 7 heavy cruisers, 8 submarines and 9 transporters in addition to 8 cargo ships.

 

[Enewald]

How is it that you see Iberia under fog of war?

 

[enigmamcmxc]

Forgot to take the pic at the time, so while i had an old save game loaded up as another country doing some math i took the snap.

 

[enigmamcmxc]

The end of the "European War"

On 3 October 1943, following British amphibious landings at key points along Spain’s African empire, the Spanish laid down their weapons and surrendered to the French. Within 24 hours a peace deal was signed between the French, as they had spearheaded the invasion and captured Madrid, returning to the status quo: our gains into Spain were therefore handed back. The nationalists were allowed to retain control over the country and their 150,000 remaining strong army was left in the field under the condition they joined the allied cause; the only real change came in the form of the removal of Franco’s regime and Alfonso XIII being returned to the throne. Spanish losses had exceeded 33,000 and had lost a further 133,000 captured during the brief campaign.

Towards the end of September rebels launched an uprising in Austria and on October 10 Yugoslavians followed suit. It took till practically the end of the month to assemble forces, move them into position, and put down both rebellions.

On the 24th, British forces – having been freed up from any sort of occupational duties in West Africa due to Spain retaining control of her colonies – landed in Portuguese East Africa capturing the key areas there. Successfully ashore they began a march on the colonial capital to secure a port and an exit route; by the end of the month they had captured the port without major incident. A few days later additional British forces started landing in the Azores supported by bombers, flying from Lisbon, and battleship gunfire.

On November 3rd, and over the following fortnight, fighting took place for the control of Venice as the Italians launched their own uprising. In such small numbers and with other ports now opened this partisan activity did not affect operations in Italy, if it had of been launched a few months back while our advance south was being made it would have crippled the entire army.

After two weeks of fighting across the various islands of the archipelago, the remaining 8,000 soldiers of the Portuguese army on the Azores laid down their arms. What was expected to be the final battle of the campaign with Britain’s “oldest ally”, turned out not to be. With attention focused on the Azores and our entire contingent in Portugal’s East African colony based in Mombasa, Portuguese infantry had flanked our position and retook Lourenço Marques without anyone noticing. The infantry from Mombasa were ordered south to deal with these Portuguese troops and retake the area while African and Indian forces, moving south from Kenya, would secure their rear and clear out the Portuguese troops north of Mombasa.

Meanwhile 36,000 marines, in three divisions, had finished their training. They were rapidly ordered aboard transport ships along with a recently raised armoured brigade and given self-propelled artillery and rocket launchers. The task force totalled 41,000 men; they set sail to retake Belize. On 14 December aircraft from Force H started bombardment of the Guatemalan positions along the coast, 48 hours later the marine task force started to land. Little progress was made by the marines due to lack of time between finishing their training and forming as divisions; there was little organisation. Regardless they inflicted around two times as many casualties as they took before the invasion force was withdrawn, with practically no equipment loss, on the 21st. The force was sent to Grand Bahamas to fully prepare for action.

On December 27 a second Yugoslav uprising took place, although close to one of our military bases, and was swiftly put down however a third started on New Years Day in Bosnia.

On the 28th, British troops reoccupied Lourenço Marques while Belgian forces overran Portugal’s gains in West Africa. The Portuguese military announced their unconditional surrender however their government took flight vowing to carry on the battle. With the need to occupy their nation, the African and Indian troops that were going to be redeployed to the Pacific theatre now formed the occupation force; around eight divisions spread out from Eritrea to the South African border.

On New Year’s Day control of Albania, Austria, and Czechoslovakia was handed back over to the liberated peoples of those countries. At home the election results were announced, the General Election taking place on New Year’s Eve, the Labour Party led by Clement Attlee gained power ousting the collation government run by Churchill.

 

[Enewald]

Why would anyone want to rise against the Empire?

 

[enigmamcmxc]

Obviously these Austrians, Danes, Germans, Italians, and Slavs just dont know the benefits of my ever growing empire: the likes of tea, cricket, and afternoon crumpets ... whatelse is there in the world that they could want?!

 

[enigmamcmxc]

Per Mare, Per Terram

Sunrise 9 March 40,000 Royal Marines, supported by tanks battleship gunfire and carrier based aircraft, stormed ashore along the coastline of Belize to have another crack at liberating the colony. After a nearly two week battle they secured the city and routed the Guatemalan army. After fending off local counterattacks the Royal Marines launched their offensive; it took just over a month to destroy the 30,000 strong army, defending the mountainous interior of the country. On 14th April, after some regrouping, the offensive continued as the men pushed into El Salvador. In nine days the country was conquered. In both cases puppet regimes were set up and the Royal Marines set off back to Belize for further campaigns.

During 7 May several Royal Navy taskforces arrived off the coast of Haiti and the next day the carrier based strike planes started hitting positions around Port-au-Price. 24 hours later a further task force arrived off the coast lending their aircraft to the assault, protected by this taskforce was the landing craft of the Royal Marines. Covered by over 800 aircraft the marines started landing operations. The Haitian army was estimated to be in the region of 60,000 with a third of that force defending the capital. An eight day battle followed for control of the city and the country; several thousand Haitian casualties were inflicted before the army deserted. Airstrikes then started on targets within the Dominican Republic and the following day the marines crossed the border, after a brief clash a bridgehead was established in the country; the Dominican government surrendered on the 25th whereas the Haitian government fled into exile. A new government was established within the republic and the marines withdrew for other operations. In three months the marines knocked four axis countries out of the war for around 3,000 losses.

While the marines had been securing the strategic rear and retaking Belize, First Army was transferred to Trinidad, planning an operation to knock Brazil out of the war and liberate the European colonies in South America. The operation, codenamed Tropic Thunder, intended to knock the country out in two stages and envisioned to start on 6 June.

Operation Tropic would see around 80,000 men from I Corps and the marines land at two points; the marines to liberate Georgetown and I Corps to seize French Guiana then push inland into Brazil. Following this landing the army would transfer, along with ships, to the French colony to allow the second stage to be launched. First army would then launch ‘Thunder’, reinforced by the marines if allowed by the situation, making a series of landings at key points along the Brazilian coast while I Corps pushes through the Amazon to knock the country out of the war. Tropic Thunder would then be used as a springboard for an attack against Argentina, codenamed Operation Hand of God however at this point no planning had took place.

 

[Enewald]

God will surely watch over his hand.

 

[enigmamcmxc]

Hopefully not like he did '86!

 

[enigmamcmxc]

Tropic Thunder

New intelligence arrived in Trinidad on 2 May; an estimated 70,000 Brazilian troops were positioned in the European colonies or near their borders. Specifically one division was dug in around Georgetown (the landing site for the marines), two divisions and a Corps HQ at the Cayenne landing site (although reports indicated that one division and the headquarters were heading south) and a division was based between them. Four fighter wings (about 120 planes) were also reported to be based in the area.

The next day the marines and I Corps boarded their transport ships and set sail for their invasion sites; several carrier battlegroups escorted the transporters and took up position to support the landings. The submarines and the ‘Renown battlegroup’, that had thus far been exacting a great toll on merchant shipping, were ordered into screening positions south of the landing zones to halt any naval interference.

With these moves completed the landings began on schedule on 6 June at dawn, midday GMT. Nearly 300 carrier based fighters were ordered to deal with the Brazilian air force while the rest of the carrier based planes supported the landing. As anticipated Brazilian ships attempted to intervene with the landings, intercepted by the ‘Renown battlegroup’, a battleship, cruiser and several destroyers were sunk. On the 8th the Secret Intelligence Service estimated the Brazilian force in the north to be in the region of 100,000 although only 20,000 were so far engaged.

The Royal Marines finally secured their beachhead on the 12th and proceeded to strike out in all directions to expand their holding and to link up with I Corps – still struggling to create a solid foothold. In the following days, fighter wings, tactical and close support bombers were flown into aid the fighting. By the 23rd British interests had been freed and progress had been made into the Dutch holdings, however it was not until 5 July that I Corps secured their landing site and the French colony; tanks and armoured cars then started to push on towards the final objective of Operation Tropic, inside Brazil.

Further fighting raged on as the marines and infantry slogged their way forward to liberate the remaining sections of the Dutch colony; in the meantime attempts to push on into Brazil failed. Nine Brazilian divisions had, by this point, been identified surrounding the extent of First Army’s penetration; British forces completely outnumbered. Regardless the men on I Corps managed to liberate the Dutch colony by 21 July but Operation Tropic was closed down as the men were unable to push further inland to the final objective.

A lesson had been learnt from Topic, namely the trouble I Corps had establishing a bridgehead; marines should lead all new amphibious landings. The marines were ordered to Georgetown and III Corps was transferred in to relieve them while the newly raised II Royal Marine Corps (minus tanks and additional artillery) were also transported into the theatre - the marines will spearhead Thunder. The first Centurion tanks and Gloster Meteors were also delivered to frontline units fighting in South America giving British forces an even greater advantage.

A Guards Centurion, with guardsmen mounted on the tank, push through the Amazon jungle.​

With the relief operation completed and the ships ready, during the middle of August Operation Thunder was given the green light; 80,000 marines, of the two Corps, set sail to capture Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. After a few days of softening up airstrikes, neutralising the Brazilian naval forces, the marines start landing at Rio on 21 August and 24 hours later at Sao Paulo. On the 23rd a general offensive was ordered along the entire northern front to halt any sort of strategic redeployment; an estimated 150,000 Brazilian troops were now based in the north, they completely outnumbered the deployed elements of First Army. After four days both beachheads had been secured and the offensive in the north called off. The marines immediately got to work expanding their foothold and linked up the two beachheads on 4 September; elements also started moving north to capture the key area near Rio. An estimated 40,000 troops were in their vicinity opposing the marines.

On the 7th IV Corps landed along the northern Brazilian coast capturing the area that was supposed to be seized during Operation Tropic. On the 10th II Corps started landing along the eastern coast to take the final costal objectives, unopposed they were quickly ashore and the march into the interior began. On the 13th Operation Tropic Thunder ended with the surrender of the Brazilian army. Nearly 30,000 casualties had been inflicted upon the Brazilians and over 25,000 prisoners taken; with the capture of the capital and the army headquarters it was established that the armed forces had stood at a strength of 250,000 before the campaign began – the rest of the army was sent home while the government fled to Argentina.

12 July frontlines and beachheads​

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[DHX]

so by any chance did Sergeant Lincoln Osiris see any action?

 

[Enewald]

A wise man would already have surrendered.