Between Axis and Comintern: Romanian Survival (During Action Report)

[roverS3]

That's a nice and large Romania right there. In this situation where Romania isn't able to grab the Greek Islands or force a surrender, I would expect either the Italians or the British to take control of the Islands before your new transports are ready for action. Both nations have a powerful navy in the Med, and thus the capability to take the Islands. Not going for them, while avoiding the other major player, would give Romania the possibility to dominate that side of the med, isolating Cyprus in the process. I would expect both Italy and the UK are trying very hard to grab them through diplomatic means, and if that fails, that both are rapidly preparing to take them by force. With all it's conquests Romania is becoming a serious regional player on land. With the greek Islands, Romania will become a regional player at sea as well, if only to protect those Islands and the trade routes between the mainland and them. What makes it more interesting is that there's a timer on this, if neither the UK nor Italy get hold of the Islands within ca. 2 months, Romania will take them.

Will they prove inept at resolving this? At this point I'd expect Italy to declare war on Greece and to rush those Islands before the British have time to react. Their entire Balkan plan has already been foiled by Romania, I'm sure they're chomping at the bit to get some territory now, and Crete and Mythiléné are relatively easy targets for the Regia Marina, especially when you consider that most of the Greek army is sitting in Romanian POW camps. Of course they might be scared of the British, but considering how much they've already given in to the Germans with the Anschluss, the British would probably not start WW2 proper when faced with the fait accompli of Italian troops in Crete.

I expect the British to try and get the Greek government on their side, and for them to accept Romanian terms for the mainland, and for Romania to accept a British presence on Crete, to make sure the Islands don't fall into Axis hands, even if Romania joins said Axis. This in exchange for British pressure on the Greek government to give in to Romanian terms, and allowing Romania to avoid a potentially costly naval invasion (without Marines, Landing Craft, or significant Naval gunfire support). All behind closed doors of course, they wouldn't want to offend the Axis after all...

 

[Alex Kernel]

I do note that it seems the French and British should be more concerned about the potential for a Romanian intervention to open doors for the presence of German military bases in the adriatic and Mediterranean. Romania may not be an Axis power at this stage, but certainly Germany has been leaning hard on Romania to pursue a pro-German and pro-Hitler agenda, whereas Britain and France are steadily losing their ability to effectively influence Romania. Perhaps they are over-confident in the ability of their diplomatic corps to outfox the Germans?

Germany was historically not interested in the Adriatic and Mediterranean. They did enter the frame only to compensate for Italy's incompetence to conquer North-Africa and Greece. At this point when Italy and Germany are both in the Axis, Germany is well aware of the many points in the Mediterranean from where the Allies can start a campaign against a generally outdated Italian navy, and the axis potential friends in Balkans: Egypt, Southern Italy, Crete, Greece etc.

In OTL Britain and France were consciously losing influence over South-East Europe due to their appeasement policy toward the Nazis. The hope was, once Germany's territorial demands at its eastern borders would be settled, Berlin would stop being a threat for its western neighbours. They didn't realise however how deep and damaging the loss of their influence over the region will be. By the time Allies understood their mistake, Poland and Czechoslovakia were dismembered, Romania had lost 1/3 of its territory, and France was on the precipice of total collapse. The entire Cordon Sanitaire was in ruins. And this is the point of this alternate scenario: to save some parts of the "former" Cordon Sanitaire.

There's also the risk that the Italians then decide to declare war with Greece, and that they take the Islands before you can.

In OTL, Italy declared war on Greece on October 1940. Their resounding failure determined Germany to invade Greece, for fear Britain will establish military bases from which to threaten the planned Barbarossa operation against the Soviet Union.

That's a nice and large Romania right there. In this situation where Romania isn't able to grab the Greek Islands or force a surrender, I would expect either the Italians or the British to take control of the Islands before your new transports are ready for action. Both nations have a powerful navy in the Med, and thus the capability to take the Islands. Not going for them, while avoiding the other major player, would give Romania the possibility to dominate that side of the med, isolating Cyprus in the process.

I would expect both Italy and the UK are trying very hard to grab them through diplomatic means, and if that fails, that both are rapidly preparing to take them by force. With all it's conquests Romania is becoming a serious regional player on land. With the greek Islands, Romania will become a regional player at sea as well, if only to protect those Islands and the trade routes between the mainland and them. What makes it more interesting is that there's a timer on this, if neither the UK nor Italy get hold of the Islands within ca. 2 months, Romania will take them.

Romania is looming large on the map, but it has severe drawbacks, even in this scenario where its stats have been boosted to match the historical reality.
Romania:
- has reduced industrial capacity;
- much of the acquired territory has an occupied status, reducing the benefits from it by cca. 80%;
- a very weak fleet;
- must build its motorised and armored divisions almost from scratch;
- has in the beginning very outdated ground forces and insufficient air wings;
- has to catch up technologically its significant deficits both in civil and military areas;
- has to choose its fights very carefully, given its subdued MP compared to major powers;
- must calibrate very wise its modest leadership
- has a very difficult geopolitical position between two totalitarian expansionistic blocs, and no support from the Allies.

I expect the British to try and get the Greek government on their side, and for them to accept Romanian terms for the mainland, and for Romania to accept a British presence on Crete, to make sure the Islands don't fall into Axis hands, even if Romania joins said Axis.

Reflecting on the interest Romania could have in Greece, given the described constellation, here are a few conclusions:

Romania does not have available resources for developing a strong fleet to compete in the Mediterranean. Romanians can not afford such a luxury because their true challenge is on land, namely to survive the coming clash between the Nazis and the Bolshevik Communists. Consequently all the national energy should go into upgrading the Army and the corresponding doctrines, on the second place coming the Aviation as support to the former. At the right moment - much later - , under favourable geopolitical circumstances, Romania could enter the Naval competition. In contrast, the relatively modest German territory in terms of surfice, carries an extraordonary concentration of industrial capacity, manpower and infrastructure. So, being big on the worldmap is a deceiving measure of power because the resources of all types are very unevenly distributed. The most crass example is Africa. Even if Africa was a single nation, it wouldn't have much more power than Hungary, Yugoslavia, or Bulgaria, which unfortunately makes sense for that period.

Turning back to Greece, Bucharest has already stated it didn't want any Italian presence on the Greek mainland for obvious reasons. Crete is for the almost exclusively land power less important, but the implications for Great Power competition are huge. In OTL, Greece joined the Allies following the Italian offensive and the British rushed to establish a strong military base in Crete.

In ATL Romania, which is for the time being neutral, did attack Greece much sooner than Italy did historically, which gives Romanians a window of opportunity. Let me explain the situation from a technical point of view as well. Greece was slowly moving towards the Allies in the political triangle, while Romania is gliding toward the Axis to reflect the political and economic treaties with Germany (that is German sphere of influence) and the waning political influence of the Allies in the region. Romania is however still located in the non specified space between the blocs. As the Greek war progresses, Romania moves close to the Axis, while Greece repelled by the Romanian Threat values to it, accelerates its speed in the Allied direction. Should the war last for too long, Greece will be able to join the Allies, build an exile government in London and put Romania in danger of being DOWed by the alliance... The tricky question is, if the Allies can declare war to Romania since the Threat level to them is low, Romania being diplomatically close to the Allies when it DOWed its unruly neighbours, respectively Hungary, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria.

So, Romania must take Crete and Mytilene as soon as possible, before Greece potentially joins the Allies. Should at the diplomatic level of the story happen something important, Romania can surrender Crete by console commands to one power or the other, as it will do to cede some former Yugoslav territories in conformity with the Romanian-Italian peace treaty additional to the secret Anti-Comintern Pact (the Pact is secret only regarding Romanian adherence to it). Ceding Crete to Great Britain however, would blow up Romania's diplomatic relations with Italy, and possibly with Germany, who would interpret this a a treasonous act against the Axis, that is the risk Bucharest faces. Should Crete become Italian, Great Britain and France could interpret the act as abandoning of the Cordon Sanitaire and of France's security guarantees, cutting the chances the Allies have to keep Italy constrained from acting in North Africa, and possibly Middle East, and to organise a successfully landing in the Balkans, if necessary.

 

[Bullfilter]

Lots of geographical progress. In Greece, that last little requirement to conquer Crete as well can be very time-consuming and difficult, especially if supply for landed troops from a lack of a port is a problem.

on graphics, if you already have PowerPoint as part of a suite of those programs, it can be surprisingly useful, especially for resizing pictures without ruining the quality (far better than doing it in paint). You can paste in, resize, add stuff (arrows, icons, borders, lines if you want) then copy and paste back into paint.

I know other authAARs use a variety of free simple graphics programs too, but for mine old MS paint and PowerPoint have proven sufficient.

 

[Alex Kernel]

Greece Liberation (III)

The battles on the continenetal Greece were by the end of July over, ushering in a new sea based phase that was most worrisome for the Romanian army. On the 26 July 1938 the main ships of the Romanian Navy consisting of the modern and newly built cruiser Regele Ferdinand and submarine Delfinul departed from Constanta with the mission to rebase in the Port of Athens in preparation for future sea operations.

Unexpectedly, they met two Greek submarines busy hunting for Romanian civilian trading transports in the Sea of Marmara, south of the Turkish Bosphorus Straits on 29 August.

A serious battle ensued for many hours that day. The Airwings in Athens were sent to the scene as soon as the news reached mainland, and so did the Greeks send their main Fleet stationed in the port of the Mytilene Island.

[Speaking about nerfed stats for the minor powers, the Romanian Navy included 4 Destroyers, 1 frigate, 5 sea-going ironclads, 3 sea-going torpedo boats, 3 coastguard cruisers, 8 submarines, other approx. 50 military vessels like river boats to guard the Danube river and 6 Minelayers.]


29.07.1938 First Naval Engagement

The Aerial Support arrived shortly after the battle was over...

The naval battle has ended in a draw, despite the official press reporting of "a great victory".

The Romanian Destroyer suffered significant damage. At the same time it was impossible to determine the extend of the damage inflicted on the enemy fleet.

The naval group was ordered to retreat in great haste back to Constanta to avoid a potentially catastrophic confrontation with the main Greek naval force heading in full speed to the Sea of Marmara.

The next day the airforce identified a large enemy fleet in the neighbouring Northern Aegean Sea and started bombing it to prevent it from chasing the Romanian Navy still being in the Sea of Marmara. On this occasion it could be established that one Greek submarine had lost its entire organisation and suffered da age to the hull as well in the earlier confrontation. Bad weather has hampered the Air force from provoking further damage to the opponent.

On 31 July 1938 the Romanian Bombers were ordered to execute day-time port strikes, inspite of supplies and fuel shortages, and halved limited organisation values. Athens had been few days earlier occupied, lot of ground units being in and around the Greek capital, which strained the supply lines, also running though hostile Bulgarian provinces. The air wings received absolute supply and fuel priority in the hope they would overcome these challenges.

Air reconnaissance planes accompanying the planes revealed the size of probably the whole Greek fleet. The Port bombardment operations continued for many days to come, a very difficult task for an overstretched aviation.

Two days of continuous bombardment has created havoc among the Greek fleet, lacking a strong aerial defence. The organisation of the fleet has been shattered, except of the flagship Frigate Georgios Averoff. The Romanian bombers suffered too some organisation losses, but only a marginal number of planes have been critically hit.

Following the Romanian-Italian Peace Treaty additional to the Anti-Comintern accession, and numerous Yugoslav sabotage actions delaying the territorial transfers, Italy finally took on 1 August 1938 control over the 7 provinces it claimed since the 1880s. The main cities ceded to Italy were Ljubljana and Split. The unpleasant result was that with the loss of Split, Romania owned no more ports on the Adriatic shores of the former Yugoslavia.

News came to Bucharest of a Great War Demonstration in London on August 2nd 1938.

By the 4 August the Romanian Admirals felt that due to the Aerial support it was safe to patrol the waters of the Aegean Sea in order to prevent the enemy navy from executing war operations against the commercial transport ships.

Meanwhile Italy had rapidly moved infantry and motorised divisions in the main urban centres it gained from Romania, with further two divisions appearing at the Romanian border in the next weeks, thus sparking some uneasiness in Bucharest regarding a potential small scale invasion for further gains. The autonomous government in Belgrade threatened to stop any cooperation with Romanian authorities, resign and go underground, in case Romania won't guarantee the former Yugoslav borders. The Romanian prime minister assured his counterpart nothing like that could occur, promising to station at the border provinces increased military police divisions to discourage any Italian adventurism.

On the 9 August 1938 the Romanian air wings have managed to sink the first Greek Naval unit, a submarine. Further ships were sunk in the coming days.

The main Greek ship was finally sunk on 21 August 1938 spelling the end of the Greek naval superiority in the region.

While Romania is getting close to the Axis powers, Greece is dangerously closing on the Allies. Romania is desperate to end the war before a Greek accession in the Allied camp to avoid war with them, while Germany and Italy make tremendous pressure on Bucharest to finalise the annexation before the British even think about invading Crete and implanting a naval base there. And Italy is asking Romania in almost ultimative terms to let Crete to the Italian navy... Premier Chamberlain, still thinking peace with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy is possible if the Allies adopt a careful conciliatory tone, has sent an emissary to Rome to negotiate a tripartite German-British-Italian understanding over the future of Crete and Mytilene islands.

On the 25 August they agreed that all major powers involved will refrain from intervening in Crete, while Romania will administrate the Isle as a neutral power. Bucharest will also have to commit not to militarise Crete or Mytilene. The result, although vexing to the Romanian King and the Government because it was reached without any consultation with Bucharest, was acceptable because a Great Power conflict over Crete and by consequence over Greece would have exposed the East European country to huge geopolitical risks. The Romanian Foreign Minister, Mr. Gafencu protested formally against this country not being invited to the negotiations, but did accept the requests from the three Major Powers.

The Russians were attentively following the events, somewhat irked by being ignored by the European Major Powers concert, but issued no official reaction to the accord.

22.08.1938 Drifting Apart...

The successfull port strikes over Mytilene have taken their tall on the Romanian Air Group by the 23 August 1938.

On the 25 August the last Greek ships have been sunk. The Romanian Air forces received finally permission to rest after a very eventful month.

At this point the Greek islands were ripe for invasion, but the Romanian navy was still waiting for the military transport ships to be built on 13 September 1938.

All in all the third phase of the Greek campaign went far better than expected. No one expected the two Romanian bomber wings to fare so well against the Greek Navy.

 

[nuclearslurpee]

[Speaking about nerfed stats for the minor powers, the Romanian Navy included 4 Destroyers, 1 frigate, 5 sea-going ironclads, 3 sea-going torpedo boats, 3 coastguard cruisers, 8 submarines, other approx. 50 military vessels like river boats to guard the Danube river and 6 Minelayers.]

Actually, in HoI3 destroyers and submarines are represented as flotillas or divisions instead of single units. Most people consider a DD unit to contain 5 ships, and a SS unit to contain 10. Personally, I use 4 DD and 6 SS for various reasons. However, the important thing is that a single DD or SS on the map represents multiple of these small ships. Furthermore, HoI3 does not represent ships smaller than DD/SS - there are no torpedo boats, frigates, corvettes, etc. and this is true for all the HoI3 powers and not only Romania.

In this case, the Romanian naval OOB is accurate as it contains one DD flotilla (representing two Vifor-class and two Regele Ferdinand-class destroyers) and one SS flotilla representing the Submarine Delfinul which is as far as I can tell the only ocean-going Romanian submarine in service prior to 1936 - here I am not counting very small submarines (e.g. Italian "midget submarines") as there are also smaller ships that what Paradox decided to represent in-game, although I am unaware of any other subs besides Delfinul in any case. The smaller torpedo boats, monitors, coast guards, minelayers, and river-going vessels are simply not represented in the game by any available naval unit for any power.

While Romania is getting close to the Axis powers, Greece is dangerously closing on the Allies. Romania is desperate to end the war before a Greek accession in the Allied camp to avoid war with them, while Germany and Italy make tremendous pressure on Bucharest to finalise the annexation before the British even think about invading Crete and implanting a naval base there. And Italy is asking Romania in almost ultimative terms to let Crete to the Italian navy... Premier Chamberlain, still thinking peace with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy is possible if the Allies adopt a careful conciliatory tone, has sent an emissary to Rome to negotiate a tripartite German-British-Italian understanding over the future of Crete and Mytilene islands.

On the 25 August they agreed that all major powers involved will refrain from intervening in Crete, while Romania will administrate the Isle as a neutral power. Bucharest will also have to commit not to militarise Crete or Mytilene. The result, although vexing to the Romanian King and the Government because it was reached without any consultation with Bucharest, was acceptable because a Great Power conflict over Crete and by consequence over Greece would have exposed the East European country to huge geopolitical risks. The Romanian Foreign Minister, Mr. Gafencu protested formally against this country not being invited to the negotiations, but did accept the requests from the three Major Powers.

The Russians were attentively following the events, somewhat irked by being ignored by the European Major Powers concert, but issued no official reaction to the accord.

I'll admit to some confusion here, does this mean Romania is still free to invade Crete and simply is not allowed to garrison or base fleet/air units? If we are not even permitted a garrison this seems like a raw deal, we may well not bother with this island at all if it was not for the need to defeat the Greeks politically. Lack of respect from the major powers is also concerning, Germany at least should have agitated for their prospective allies to be invited to a conference dealing with the administration of her own conquests. Er, I mean, liberations.

 

[Alex Kernel]

Actually, in HoI3 destroyers and submarines are represented as flotillas or divisions instead of single units. Most people consider a DD unit to contain 5 ships, and a SS unit to contain 10.

In this case, the Romanian naval OOB is accurate

That's a sound argument, @nuclearslurpee, thanks. My Naval experience is very limited; I still have to play a maritime power to learn how things work on the sea.

I'll admit to some confusion here, does this mean Romania is still free to invade Crete and simply is not allowed to garrison or base fleet/air units? If we are not even permitted a garrison this seems like a raw deal, we may well not bother with this island at all if it was not for the need to defeat the Greeks politically. Lack of respect from the major powers is also concerning, Germany at least should have agitated for their prospective allies to be invited to a conference dealing with the administration of her own conquests. Er, I mean, liberations.

Under the Tripartite Accord Romania insisted to garrison Crete to deter revolts and base a few air units (1 Air group, more if attacked) for self defence. In exchange for agreeing not to base navy fleets or significant air forces there, Romania's conditions were accepted in an additional act by the three major powers. It was also specified that all signatories committed to respect the Neutrality of Crete under Romanian authority.

Alas, the Allies, Axis and Comintern did such practices of deciding the fate of Minor countries without their participation in the negotiations and almost always to their detriment all the way up to, during, and after WWII (See the Munich Agreement, the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, the Yalta Summits, etc.).

 

[stnylan]

And whither after Greece?

 

[nuclearslurpee]

And whither after Greece?

Tokyo or bust baby

 

[Alex Kernel]

Your suggestions were noted, guys . Romanian Foreign Ministry will undertake the laborious preparations to send a peace pigeon to Tokyo.

 

[roverS3]

Oh the power of Naval Bombers in HOI3... They rarely disappoint... Good job to the Romanian Air Force...

I agree with @nuclearslurpee on the navy thing. It seems fair considering how naval units are distributed in the game.

Under the Tripartite Accord Romania insisted to garrison Crete to deter revolts and base a few air units (1 Air group, more if attacked) for self defence. In exchange for agreeing not to base navy fleets or significant air forces there, Romania's conditions were accepted in an additional act by the three major powers. It was also specified that all signatories committed to respect the Neutrality of Crete under Romanian authority.

That's actually not a bad deal considering.

Romanian Foreign Ministry will undertake the laborious preparations to send a peace pigeon to Tokyo.

I was thinking more along the lines of nuking Tokio, or maybe invading Japan... I'm sure you can make up a perfectly reasonable political reason for Romania to island-hop all the way to Japan...

 

[Bullfilter]

Romania has now surely run out of easy places to overrun, and has no navy for serious naval expeditions, so ... it’s either curl into a ball and hope no one attacks, or do some serious building up for a major future campaign. Maybe Turkey if the Axis isn’t joined, but if it is, then the Soviets are there in the east but now there’s a big naval vulnerability in the Med. if, as usual, the RN knocks out their Italian counterparts, then Romania could be in for a hard time.

 

[Alex Kernel]

I was thinking more along the lines of nuking Tokio, or maybe invading Japan... I'm sure you can make up a perfectly reasonable political reason for Romania to island-hop all the way to Japan...

He, he very funny ! I'll think about that... Japan is an interesting proposition. While fabricating perfectly reasonable political reasons for invading others is not my exclusive specialty in this world, I'm very suspicious of my abilities as military commander. This means Japan will be sound and safe from a Romanian attack for aeons to come . But an eventual US AI incompetence could truly save the day for the Emperor in Tokyo.

Romania has now surely run out of easy places to overrun, and has no navy for serious naval expeditions, so ... it’s either curl into a ball and hope no one attacks, or do some serious building up for a major future campaign. Maybe Turkey if the Axis isn’t joined, but if it is, then the Soviets are there in the east but now there’s a big naval vulnerability in the Med. if, as usual, the RN knocks out their Italian counterparts, then Romania could be in for a hard time.

Exquisite observations about the challenges Romania faces. A hint though: The Soviet Union will attack Romania issuing an ultimatum to take Bessarabia (scripted event). Even if Romania is forced to accept the ultimatum to avoid a catastrophe, the event is a veiled declaration of war between the two states, i.e. in one way or another Romania won't ultimately accept the Soviet dictate. Then, depending on the decisions Bucharest takes, the country could engage war with more than one major powers. Last but not least staying neutral from 1939 to 1947 would defeat the purpose of the game and the logic of the historical global war event. History is neither boring nor repetitive, so why would this historical reenactment be any different?

For all these reasons Romania will engage in lots of action during this scenario, but only after the economics, politics, intrigues and diplomacy behind the curtains will be in some detail explored.

As the Greek drama draws to an end, we will delve into the intricate variables leading to the München Agreement between Germany, the Kingdom of Italy, the Third French Republic and the United Kingdom, an event with huge implications for Romania's foreign policy.

P.S. My real life obligations forced me to slow down the pace of recording this alternative history for you. Irrespective of these unfortunate occurences, things won't evolve slower than real life.

 

[Alex Kernel]

Greece Liberation (IV)

Four weeks of port bombardments have decimated the once superior Greek naval force, but also exhausted the Romanian air group's pilots.

The Romanian navy, with its Destroyers partially repaired in the Constanta yards reenter the frame in the Aegean See looking for remnants of the Greek navy. The second assignment of the Fleet is to rebase in Greece, namely close to Athenes, to prepare for the transport of troops on the remaining Greek islands, where many rebel generals are organizing resistance.

28 and 29 August 1938 Greek navy bombed to oblivion. Air forces reach the low levels of organization.

Even as the campaign follows its path with the naval phase, a novum for the Romanian Army, grave international events deeply unsettle the Government and the broader population in Romania.

Toward the end of August the Nazi party in Czechoslovakia, stirred by Hitler and his government, resorts to violence against the Czech Autorities by killing Czech soldiers and border patrols. Also sudden demonstrations of the German majority in Sudetes region threaten to turn into violent incidents. The czech Army responds in kind using violent methods. Germany starts an aggressive denigration campaign amply reporting supposed abuses of the Czech authorities against the German ethnics in the disputed area and theatens to act against its neighbour. Prague realises everything is a trap and seeks to disengage from the spiraling conflict, desperate to avoid a war with Germany.

On the 25 August 1938 the Czechoslovak President Edvard Benes calls King Carol II and the Polish President Ignacy Moscicki to arrange for an emergency meeting of the Little Entente, complaining of the English-French hesitant position in case of a Germany-Czechoslovak war. They agree to meet accompanied by their prime ministers three days later in the Czechoslovak capital.

Romanians fear the Czechoslovak-German crisis is a powder kegg potentially prompting Nazi and Soviet intervention (and hostile occupation) in the whole eastern and south-eastern European region. Poland shares the same concerns, but its own small territorial disputes with Czechoslovakia are poisoning the bilateral relations, lessening the Polish commitment to Czechoslovak security. This unnerves the Romanian government since early 1920s. Moreover Carol II senses at this point that Germany could use these divergences inside the Little Entente for his own purposes. A new sense of urgency was added thus to bring sooner rather than later the Greek campaign to an end, and reposition the Romanian Army at its northern borders, from the Italian, to German Czech and Soviet ones. This is truly a tactical and geopolitical nightmare since it is impossible for Romania to fortify and man all these very long borders. One has to decide who is the more presant adversary, Germany or the Soviet Union, absent much hope in an Allied intervention. Should the Soviets and the Germans invade the Romanian borders, the Allies won't have the luxury of time to intervene in time to Bucharest's rescue.

The only chance Romania has is to ensure the territorial integrity and independence of its Cordon Sanitaire allies: Poland and Czechoslovakia. And right now, the Czech pilon is dangerously wobbling. The international politics around this crisis will be dealt with in a separate historical chapter, right after the Greek campaign reaches its expected end. Suffice to say the Treaty of Munich on Sepember 9th 1938 shocked the Romanian foreign policy to the core.

On 13 September the first military naval transporters where ready for deployment as scheduled, along one of the first Military Police (MP) divisions, which was without delay dispatched to Budapest, to ensure the security of the autonomous collaboration Hungarian Government and to reduce the revolt risk in the nearby provinces. The number of MP divisions on Hungarian (and former Yugoslav) territories was set to increase, with the subtle aim to send a signal to the far right German and Italian governments not to use third parties to destabilise Romania from within, as Berlin was doing in Czechoslovakia.

 

[roverS3]

The clock is ticking. Romania certainly doesn't want to get caught by a German, Soviet, or German-Soviet surprise attack. Especially while it's still fighting in Crete. Those transports were delivered not a day too soon. Surviving Greek sailors will always remember the sound of Greek Naval bombers, breaking out in a sweat at every aeroplane that passes overhead.

The deployment of Military Police to Hungarian and Yugoslav territories will certainly be a worthwhile investment, especially with all those foreign agitators trying to stir up trouble. Keeping the major urban centres and strategic assets out of the hands of any such agitators is simply common sense.

I'm looking forward, both to the Romanian amphibious operation to take Crete, and to the international diplomatic report about the Treaty of Munich.

 

[Bullfilter]

Things are looking perilous for Romania now. They need the protection of (probably from, as well) a great and powerful friend. The Allies would be the logical choice politically, but not practically. And neither Germany or the Soviets will sit easily, and each will bring expectations and impose costs on Romania. Allying with one will no doubt bring war with the other - and possibly the Allies too if Romania sides with Germany. A quandary indeed.

 

[racebear75]

Finally caught up here, too. Very interesting to read!

 

[Alex Kernel]

Greece Liberation (V)

The concomitant international politics elsewhere overshadows the last days of Greek rebel resistance. The refusal of France and England to guarantee the Czechoslovak borders at the risk of war with Germany has left the Little Entente vulnerable, forcing Romania and Poland to step back from their regional alliance commitments with Prague. At the pressure of the Allies hoping to abate at last Hitler's expansionistic policies, Czechoslovakia had to capitulate to Nazi Germany demands and to cede Sudetenland without military resistance. By doing that, the country had given up a solid natural and man-made redoubt fortified during the last two decades with immense public spendings, leading the nation to become defenseless for a potential future invasion.

Under this hopeless situation, Bucharest alone decided to signal solidarity by signing on the 15 Sepember an agreement on Transit Rights for the Romanian army in case of war. The agreement further stipulated that in case of invasion, Romania will receive and protect members of the Czechoslovak army, and central authorities, granting them the freedom to travel further wherever they wish.
In case of defeat, the Czechoslovak army will turn its remaining military hardware to Romania.
A last point was the Romanian commitment to receive the national gold reserves, guarantee their transport to Bukarest and from there to any destination in the world the Czechoslovak Government wishes for.

Czechoslovak-Romanian Assistence and Transit Rights on 15 September 1938

Germany has closely followed the Little Entente reactions and was not happy with the Romanian symbolic support for Czechoslovakia. But for the moment, Hitler and his government were happy for the territorial satisfaction Berlin was given in Sudetenland. According to their analysts, the quasi disarmement of Czechoslovakia, opens more than ever before a clear path for German hegemony over Romania and Poland. In other words, the Nazis will have time to deal with Romania (and Poland) later, from a truly forceful position.

This agreement closes the foreign events excerpt, letting us return to the war in Greece.

The military transport fleets deployed on 13 September needed two weeks of being prepared for the military operation on the last two islands in Greek hands.

Finally, on the 27.09.1938 two alpine divisions were embarked on the ships, and sent without delay, despite incomplete fleet organization levels (cca. 75%) to disembark on Crete.

The same day, the well rested mixed bombardment fleet started port strikes to ensure no significant enemy fleet is based there, waiting to ambush the Romanian transporters due to come by
in a matter of days.

No significant fleet was identified though, allowing the air wings to reduce the air defence capabilities in the local capital Irakleio.
With the attention of the Greek military diverted to the air defense efforts, the transport navy under the careful watch of the Romanian destroyers began in the early hours of 29 September the disembarkment operation of the Mountaineers on the Western coasts of the islands, following the least resistance path. The aerial observations have noted little military presence there, unlike in and around Irakleio.

29.09.1938 Port Strike results

The two devisions successfully landed on Western Crete at 9 o'clock, 30 September. They received marching orders towards the provincial capital.
30.09.1938 Romanian troops land in Crete

The next day was very eventful, indeed. In the night ours of 1 October a first uprising occured in former Yugoslavia, apparently taking the local authorities by surprise. The Romanian military police forces, dangerously scarcely spread in the the occupied Hungary, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia, have reported especially in former Yugoslavia increasing nationalistic opposition to the Serb-Romanian administration, with paramilitary Kroat militia present in Yugoslavia since decades resumming its dangerous revolutionary activities. Seemingly they calculated that Romania, cowered by German assertiveness in Czechoslovakia and busy in Greece, will not have the means to quell the revolt.

1.10.1938, first uprising in former Yugoslavia

Their expectations were wrong. With the continental war operations ended several weeks earlier, the two Romanian cavalry divisions were sent from southern Greece to deal with the fascist Croat revolt as soon as possible. It was finally decided their use in interstate war was to be avoided, because of their inherent vulnerability to modern military technique and the drain on the manpower in combat as a result. One cavalry division was consigned to pacifying operations in Hungary, Bosnia and Serbia, while the other will serve in Bulgaria, and the rest of former Yugoslavia. Greece will be defended by infantry divisions based in key places. The natural question raised in the government quarters was if Italy, which in the past supported the Croat fascist militias against the former Yugoslav authorities, did foment the present revolts to test Romanian capability of maintaining governance over Yugoslavia. Neither the Military Police, nor the intelligence service could find conclusive links on this suspicion, but the question remained suspended in the air.

As soon as the campaign ground campaign was initiated, the focus of the Air Force moved to tactical bombing of the Greek command structures and infantry forces. An ugly surprise awaited the Romanian officers: Greece had managed to send no less than three Infantry divisions on the islands during the last days of battle on the continent. And, they were fully equipped and well organized, announcing hard confrontations.

The transport ships were ordered then to go back to Athenes and load more troops to participate in the coming battles on Crete.

1.10.1938 Naval Bombing campaign against infantry

 

[Bullfilter]

With an airfield but no port in Chania, don’t the forces marching on that rough terrain to Irakleio risk running out of supply before they can complete the approach and attack?

 

[Alex Kernel]

The Allies would be the logical choice politically, but not practically. And neither Germany or the Soviets will sit easily, and each will bring expectations and impose costs on Romania. Allying with one will no doubt bring war with the other - and possibly the Allies too if Romania sides with Germany. A quandary indeed.

Historically, the whole Eastern Europe was caught between a rock and a hard place. For any of these countries it was impossible to get unscathed out of this.

Finally caught up here, too. Very interesting to read!

Glad to hear from new readers. Welcome to our alternative history scenario. Stay with us and share your ideas as history unfolds.

With an airfield but no port in Chania, don’t the forces marching on that rough terrain to Irakleio risk running out of supply before they can complete the approach and attack?

Pertinent observation, @Bullfilter. This important detail that escaped my attention (naval warfare is not my specialty) might cost me a much needed fast victory.

 

[Bullfilter]

Re Crete: I had a very similar situation earlier in my Turkey game. Supply was a recurrent issue. In the end, I found I had to add in a direct naval landing in Irakleio to finish things off, after the units attacking from on land could not finish the job. My advice would be to have a strike force ready to go and use them once you can get your ground troops in position. Ground attack air strikes, shore bombardment too if you have any ships that can give it (also to protect the transports).