An Italian Hoi3 AAR: "For The Pastaland"

[Guderian1992]

The Zadar-Split Incident
War with Yugoslavia

The RM Zara at the city of Zadar, October 1, 1937.​

--- Incident Report ---​

This Report is Directed To: "His Excellency Field Marshal De Bono, Supreme Commander of the Italian Army"
Reported By: "Lt. General De Pignier, Commander of the VII Corpo d'Armata, Zadar."
Subject: "The Zadar Incident, 26.09.1937"
Carbon Copies to be Issued to His Excellency Il Duce d'Italia Benito Mussolini only.


"In the early morning hours of the 26th of September 1937, four Yugoslavian divisions surrounded the Italian city of Zadar. The 7th infantry corps "VII Corpo d'Armata" was stationed in the city and some of it's divisions were conducting exercises throughout the city. At exactly 05:30 the alarm was sounded when hostile formations were spotted descending from the surrounding hills and all 30,000 infantry men moved to their respective defensive positions."

"At around 05:37 two low flying aircraft appeared from over the surrounding hills and flew in combat formation towards the RM Zara - the pride of the Italian fleet - which was docked in port. The quick thinking crew of the RM Zara manned their AA guns and opened fire at the approaching aircraft; within minutes, the aircraft had broken formation and headed back from where they came. The hostile troops remained in position surrounding the city."

"At around 05:50 skirmishes erupted across the entire front and around 30 Italian soldiers were killed in the conflict. The skirmishes lasted around 20 minutes before the last of the hostile troops routed at around 06:10. The resulting losses of the hostile troops were 102 men, 38 horses, and 3 armoured cars."

--- End of Incident Report ---
​

The city of Zadar is that little orange blob directly over the first I of the Adriatic
​

I've attached the above incident report to justify my beliefs that we were attacked without reason in Zadar on that fateful September morning. Zadar is a beautiful city, I've been there with the boss many times and it's just magnificent. The roads of Zadar are still paved with marble from the days of the Romans, and many people believe it holds more sentimental value to the Italians than Rome does.

The ownership of Zadar has long been contested along with most of the Italian/Yugoslavian border regions, and tensions between the two nations increased when we refused the Yugoslavians many trade requests for precious gems and stones. The Yugoslavians knew that the RM Zara was escorting a freighter that was carrying tons of East African gems and decided to ransack it. Their faulty intelligence couldn't figure out that we had 30,000 men stationed in the city and so they reportedly only attacked with 16,000 men, believing that would give them superior numbers.

Our retaliation came only one day later as the RM Zara met with the RM Vittorio Veneto just outside the port of Split. Escorted by 3 interceptor wings, 2 naval bombers and some close air support they bombarded the Yugoslavian port & city of Split for about 4 hours, sinking 3 merchant ships, 1 light cruiser, and killing over 600 people. The bombardment of Split was seen as an act of war by the United Kingdom, but they did not dare go to war with us because the actions of Germany were too worrying and they were still trying to prevent an Italian-German alliance. The United Kingdom thus allowed Yugoslavia to declare war on Italy on the 28th of September 1937.

While the Yugoslavians hesitated, Il Duce took to the balcony of his Venetian palace and declared to the anxious crowd "We will celebrate Christmas in Belgrade!" on the 1st of October, 1937. Along with this famous statement, Il Duce declared war on Yugoslavia.

At 15:00 on the 1st of October, 1937, Italian troops began offensive action against the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

 

[strategymad3500]

any plans for building carriers for the Italian navy?

 

[Guderian1992]

any plans for building carriers for the Italian navy?

Good question, but long story short: No.

But here's why if your interested:

1. I don't have the IC to spare and maintain an efficient army & air force at the same time (without cheating or exploits that is). Have you seen how much CAGs cost? I'd rather spend those on multi-role aircraft that are much more flexible. Either way the practical knowledge of the BB;DD approach are higher than the CA;CL;CV approach for Italy in 1936.
2. I don't have the leadership to spare either, Battleship & Destroyer (BB;DD) techs are relatively up to date compared to Cruiser, Heavy Cruiser, & Carrier techs (CL;CA;CV). [CV techs don't even exist yet]
3. Even though CVs are powerhouses, the sinking of one is almost an irreversible loss (1 CV & 2 CAGs) [8.71K IC Days on average with CAGs] while the loss of a battleship is 6.5IC (On average) over an 20 month period (on average) [3.9K IC Days].
4. THE ROYAL NAVY.

 

[strategymad3500]

how big are you planning on making the Italian empire just the western part or also the eastern part(byzantine empire)?

 

[Guaro90]

Great start so far!!!! I'm also thinking about making an AAR myself on my first campaign with italy TFH, trench warfare in russia till 1944, closed mediterranian, depleted monpower for Russia when i had only 100 left (staying on the defensive on the caucaso with baku occupaied) and germany 80, using the logistic bombing like hell, strsngled the UK with Sub warfare, i manged to sink every single convoy they built and they finished them befor having new built so 5 effective IC in function, STR bombing london and now in mid 1945 i mangaged to make uk surrender with a full army invasion, now the new objective is to make the USA surrender via strategic bomber 8 they have a -4 unity at month from Sub and STR) or wait the Nuke from Germany, they have 0.12 nuke at month xD.

 

[Guderian1992]

Diplomatic Relations, The Fall of Yugoslavia, & War with Bulgaria
​

It is now the 23rd of November 1937, and our troops have reached the boundaries of the Sava river. After taking Zagreb & Split, our troops are on the verge of taking Dubrovnik. On the day, Mussolini ordered all troops to halt at the banks of the Sava river to the north, and the 11th Mixed Infantry Division to take the city of Dubrovnic before noon.

Unequivocally, our troops achieved their goals with an hour to spare. The discipline of the Regio Esercito in Yugoslavia has been outstanding so far, and this is partly due to my decision to recall all generals from the Ethiopian frontier to Yugoslavia at the start of the war. Mussolini was so proud of the 11th Mixed Infantry Division that he gave them the rest of the day off to parade around the city of Dubrovnik.

Our valiant troops parading around the city of Dubrovnik following its capture. 23.09.1937

The next morning, we received concrete information that Prince Paul - Regent of Yugoslavia - took off for Germany in fear of certain defeat. Hitler received Price Paul as a "Hero of Nationalist Thoughts & Beliefs" and requested that Italy attempt to seek a diplomatic solution to the war in Yugoslavia, which was now nearing its end.

At 15:00 on the same day (24.09.1937) Tsar of Bulgaria Boris III took to his podium in Varna and gave an ultimatum to the world powers & the League of Nations. He made no demands, but simply stated that should Italian troops cross the Sava or Belgrade fall, his country will invade the Skopje region of Yugoslavia in retaliation.

Prince Paul with Hitler in Berlin. 24.09.1937

Following the Bulgarian Ultimatum, Mussolini issued an order to cross the Sava and capture Belgrade as soon as possible after midnight on the 29th of November, 1937; unless otherwise instructed by himself personally. Following this secretive order, we took a flight to Berlin.

Landing in Berlin, we took to Hitler's office in the Reichstag immediately. We were escorted by SS personnel at all times and we were searched before we could enter the office. Once we were cleared, the big wooden doors swung open and the SS personnel stood with a high salute. Before us, was none other than Adolf Hitler.

The meeting was tense to say the least, Prince Paul wasn't there, but Hitler and Mussolini weren't saying much and seemed to be cautious of each other. It took a heated game of marbles to bring out the best in both leaders and soon the talk was flowing left, right, and centre. By the end of the fruitful meeting, six powerful points were reached:

1. Italy will occupy all of Yugoslavia.
2. Italy will negate its guarantee on Austria.
3. Germany will provide Italy with Energy, while Italy will reciprocate with Rares.
4. Should Bulgaria become aggressive, Italy has the right to declare war upon them.
5. Both parties are to remain friendly to each other and support their expansionist plans.
6. Mussolini will have the right to parade his blazing win over the Führer in Marbles.

The Italian 2nd Army crossed the Sava in the Early morning hours of the 30th of November 1937, and charges in towards Belgrade. Little resistance was met on the way to the coveted city and only when the battle of Belgrade began did Italy see any kind of armed resistance altogether.

The Regia Aeronautica took this chance to show its power to the world by supporting Lt. General Aymonnino's offensive on Belgrade and bombing the city relentlessly into submission. Within only a few hours of this battle, the Yugoslavian divisions stationed in Belgrade began to rush out of the city and towards the Bulgarian border as all bridges out of Belgrade were bombed by the RA.

Following this move, at 19:00, Bulgarian troops began pouring into Southern Yugoslavia, their goals are to capture the city of Skopje, their surrounding claims on Yugoslavia, and the border of Albania. From there our intelligence indicated that they will then rush their way through Albania and attack our weakest segment in Dubrovnik. With this concrete piece of intelligence in hand, Benito Mussolini took to his Venetian palace and addressed the public.

"Today we are facing a new threat in Southern Europe, Bulgarian expansionism. We've received concrete information that they are planning to invade Albania, Southern Yugoslavia, and then attack our forces in Dubrovnik without provocation; as a result, and in the name of the Italian people & armed forces, I now declare war on the imperialist state of Bulgaria. Italy is with us my comrades, and God will be with us!" - Benito Mussolini 01.12.1937.

Italian troops marching south towards the Albanian border from the city of Dubrovnik.

 

[Evil Sage]

​

War with the Ethiopians had broken out in October of 1935, .

Question, is there any benefit at all to owning Ethiopia, is the gain larger than what is spent on the war? Is there a lot of energy or IC there?

 

[Cardus]

Great start so far!!!! I'm also thinking about making an AAR myself on my first campaign with italy TFH, trench warfare in russia till 1944, closed mediterranian, depleted monpower for Russia when i had only 100 left (staying on the defensive on the caucaso with baku occupaied) and germany 80, using the logistic bombing like hell, strsngled the UK with Sub warfare, i manged to sink every single convoy they built and they finished them befor having new built so 5 effective IC in function, STR bombing london and now in mid 1945 i mangaged to make uk surrender with a full army invasion, now the new objective is to make the USA surrender via strategic bomber 8 they have a -4 unity at month from Sub and STR) or wait the Nuke from Germany, they have 0.12 nuke at month xD.

If you want to play Italy you definitively must try the mod in my signature

 

[Guderian1992]

Question, is there any benefit at all to owning Ethiopia, is the gain larger than what is spent on the war? Is there a lot of energy or IC there?

There is absolutely nothing to gain from annexing Ethiopia. (Other than partisans of course and convoys for the 'Royal Navy' to 'Royally Raid')

I personally always puppet Ethiopia if I'm going to play a 'historical' campaign, but if I'm playing an a-historical campaign then I always annex and then turn the centre of the African war effort to south-east Africa. All in all the region surrounding Ethiopia is relatively rich with rares & metals so it's always a boost to have for resource hungry Italy. Ethiopia itself however does have a sizeable army and will benefit a lot from your expeditionary forces if you decide to puppet. Playing at very hard difficulty, I once gave the entire AOI army to Ethiopia as an expeditionary force and they took out all allied forces in the region on their own.