Thanks a lot, I just don't want such a big operation with such a bad omen
-
We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
Thanks a lot, I just don't want such a big operation with such a bad omen
Love the AAR dude! Welcome back and anxious to see you invade England 
.
Question: which software do you use for adding the arrows on the map? Looks so much better than the ones I use with paint :blink:
.Question: which software do you use for adding the arrows on the map? Looks so much better than the ones I use with paint :blink:
Love the AAR dude! Welcome back and anxious to see you invade England
Question: which software do you use for adding the arrows on the map? Looks so much better than the ones I use with paint :blink:
I use TFH version, which allows you to draw personal battle plans!
CHAPTER NINE - OPERATION MARE NOSTRUM and CLAUDIUS
BUT THE END OF ENGLAND STARTS FROM GIARABUB
Operation Mare Nostrum
'Colonnello non voglio encomi,
sono morto per la mia terra...
Ma la fine dell'Inghilterra
Incomincia a Giarabub!'
Colonel I don't want any commendations
I'm dead for my land ...
But the end of England
Starts from Giarabub
This was the final strophe of a very popular song amongst the soldiers in North Africa and the civilians in Italy. Why? What relly happened at Giarabub?
On the Libyan-Egyptian border, about 200 kilometers from the coast, a garrison of 1,340 Italian and 800 colonial troops was stationed at the oasis village of Giarabub, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Salvatore Castagna. As the Italian offensive raged on to the north and eastward, a small mixed unit was dispatched in early July 1940 to keep this group in check. Although Giarabub was far from the main stage of the action, it was at a strategic location for either side to counter any enemy movement through the desert should any opposing commanders dared to deploy such a tactic. Despite the Italians advanced quickly into Egypt, before the capture of Alexandria's port, the supply lines were running across the desert roads, from Bangazi and Tobruk, up to Mersa Matruh and the railroad station of El Alamein. Elite commandos of the Long Range Desert Group and men of the Free French forces, supported by Polish, Belgian, Czech and even German Jews were constantly threatening the Italian supply lines across Lybya and Egypt. This mixed formation was equipped with limited trucks and armoured cars, as well as a small artillery detachment, and was supplied by Fort Lamy, into the heart of Africa. But before attacking the Italian supply lines, this unit had to eliminate the last stronghold that was being held by Castagna's garrison. The siege of Giarabub lasted from 8th July 1940 to 8th March 1941, exactly for nine months. During this period, the 'Allied Battalion', as was called by the Italians the enemy formation, since it had a battalion-strength, tried unsuccessfully to eliminate the garrison. But the Italians held firm. Every day, from three up to seven transport aircrafts made their appearence in the local airfield and kept bringing food, uniforms, fuel, ammunitions, evacuating the injured and bringing reinforcements. But while the Italians could have counted on an air bridge, the British were forced to bring their supplies by camel-towed columns. The deterioration of the general situation in Africa and in the Atlantic, meant that the flow of supplies reaching Fort Lamy gradually was reduced to zero. Then, on the 10th of March, the garrison under Colonel Castagna attacked the surrounding forces, which surrendered without a shot being fired. Thus, Colonel Castagna become a hero, not only in Italy but even in Germany.
[video=youtube;zMFtp3VpT-Q]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMFtp3VpT-Q[/video]
But even the Italians were not facing a good situation regarding the supplies sent by sea to North Africa. The enormous stockpiles in Tobruk and Bangazi were quickly burnt as the lines streched far eastward and new repair shops were installed in the major villages and outposts. When Mussolini asked for a report regarding the total amount of tonnage sunk by his Navy, Admiral Cavagnari quickly gave him the numbers. 41.605,93 tons of goods were sunk with the war against Yugoslavia and now, against the Allies, from July 7th up to November 1st, the total amount of merchant ships were sunk in the Mediterranean sea:
Canada: 2.915,98
Australia: 1.105,52
Netherlands: 5.595,33
United Kingdom: 102.297,19
Tons of cargo sunk, the news that forced Mussolini to drink a chamomile
'These are wonderful news! And what about our convoys?' 'Duce - Cavagnari replied - I don't think you will be happy to read the other reports'. The news were astonishing: a total of 2.822.322,50 tons of cargo were sunk by British submarines and surface fleet. There was a gloomy difference of 2669522,55 tons of supplies, fuel and resources, in favour of the British. Mussolini sweared against God and his generals but Cavagnari did not loose his calm: he replied that was Mussolini himself who ordered that the Regia Marina was to remain in the docks until the Suez Channel was not in Italian hands. But still one more obstacle remained for Mussolini's warships: Gibraltar, a British strategic stronghold from 1713. The one who held Gibraltar, held the gate of the Atlantic. Il Duce realized too late the importance of that rocky peninsula and when he recognized it, he immediately ordered Balbo, commander in chief of Army Group West, ordered to move part of his forces across Germany, occupied France and Nationalist Spain and seize Gibraltar, thus closing the Mediterranean and forcing the Royal Navy to get into battle with the modern Italian warships. But Balbo answered that it was not necessary attacking the fortification from the ground. In fact, the British garrison, using the local resources, had begun fortifying Gibraltar from 1936, when the Spanish Civil War erupted, and by late 1940, a net of bunkers, reinforced trenches, underground tunnels, observation posts, minefields and barbed wire rows, were being constructed and deployed all over the place. Amè said that there were no active spies in Gibraltar and thus he was not able to tell how many forces would have been as garrison troops. 'Send the paratroopers! was Balbo's order. 'What?' answered Mussolini. 'The men need rest, the planes need maintenance, all our supplies are diverted into North Africa...' but Balbo immediately stopped him. 'Trust me, my friend. Our planes are in perfect conditions, our men are excellently trained and battle hardened. What could ever stop them?'. Mussolini approved but did not feel very well. And his situation did not improve when Balbo, during the early hours of November 1st, 1940, arrived in Rome from Turin and woked up Il Duce. During the flight, he analized the only map of Gibraltar he had amongst all his papers and showed the resoult of his study: Operation Mare Nostrum. It was a simple airborne drop over the British fortress. Nothing more, nothgin less. Mussolini accepted the plan, even if with a bit of reluctance, and ordered its execution as soon as possible.
Said, done. On November 2nd 1940, the two airborne divisions which took Malta, were transported to Cagliari, in Sardinia and from there, the long range heavy transport planes of the XLVII and XLVIII Transport Group left the air base and kept flying in the direction of the rocky fortification. Corporal Antonio Berguzzo, of the 184th Airborne Division 'Nembo', remembered those moments:
'The flight was probably the longest we had ever experienced. We were told not to drink or to eat but, instead, were ordered to go to the toilet to "empty the bladder and the intestine" before boarding. An endless line of paratroopers was waiting in front of the toilets. Then we boarded on the planes and only after one hour of flight we were informed of our destination. We were expecting a drop over Madrid, or Oran, in the Vichy France. We were both excited and worried at the same time. Nobody had a minimal knowledge of the geography and, even worse, of the defences of Gibraltar. We were told that we were alone, there would not have been any air support this time. But our officers reassured us: we were the veterans of the war with Yugoslavia, Turkey, Malta and Port Sudan. We had learnts all the triks of our job and were confident that we would have been able to defeat any opposition with out too many losses.
Corporal Berguzzo was right. When the planes appeared over the skies of Gibraltar, the British garrison was stunned. They had never practiced anti-invasion manouvers. The surprise effect was total. The air raid alarms begun filling the air with their simphony barely ten minutes after the first paratrooper touched ground. But the garrison was without any hope. The drops proceeded without any obstacle. The AA defences of Gibraltar were quickly eliminated by isolated platoons of paratroopers. Special engineer detachments, equipped with flamethrowers, hand grenades and explosive charges, cleared out one bunker after the other. Within 23.00 hours of November 4th, the paratroopers were in control of all the northern-half of the peninsula. On the top of Signal Hill were set up the HQs of the two airborne divisions, and patrols were being sent southward, to gain information about the British defences. Only some reinforced bunkers and two lines of barbed wires were separating the paratroopers from their objective. Ad dawn of November 7th, after two days of reorganization, the airborne divisions launched the assault. Everything was going right, except on the eastern flank, where an entire battalion of the 80th Airborne Division 'Spezia' was pinned by accurate machinegun fire. 'Smoke and flames!' ordered the commanding officer. Immediately, an artillery battery begun firing smoke shells and a flamethrower squad (a total of 13 men, 5 of them equipped with that deadly weapon) jumped off the cover and run toward the fortification. Some short bursts and the defenders were forced to surrender. And on the afternoon of that same day, General Cassari (C-in-C of 184th Airborne) sent a message to Rome:
'Giblatar is in Italian hands'. The entire world held its breath for one minute. The historical British fortress, which was being held from 1713, have been taken in a three-days battle. For the British Government, this was probably the worst news ever received of that year. Mussolini, Hitler, Churchill and Roosevelt knew that now, the Italians could have moved their warships into the Atlantic with devastating consequences for the British Empire. Only the US declaration of war against Germany and Italy could have saved the British.
With the Mediterranean officialy renamed Mare Nostrum, the Italian warships left the fortified docks of Parlermo, Genoa, Naples and Taranto and begun chasing the doomed Royal Navy. Three major units took part in this operation:
- 5th Navy Squadron (1 carrier, 3 light cruisers and 2 destroyers)
- 8th Navy Squadron (1 carrier, 3 battleships and 4 destroyers). Amongst the battleships, was the Littorio, the pride of the Regia Marina
- 5rh Battleship Division (1 carrier, 4 battleships and 4 destroyers).
Intelligence reports indicated that the Royal Navy was surfing the waters of the Eastern Mediterranean, between the Suez Canal and Cyprus. On November 12th, in the Sea of Crete, the 5th Battleship Division, under the command of Admiral Campioni discovered the British ships, but it was the battleship Littorio which first opened fire against the enemy. Light cruisers Kent and London were immediately sunk by the precise and deadly fire of the 406mm guns of the Littorio. Then, in the battle, appeared the CAG of the Europa carrier, which, however, did not score a hit. The British fleet fled toward the Gulf of Bomba but once again it was forced to accept the battle. On November 13th, the sea battle ended and the Royal Navy added to its losses the heavy cruiser Suffolk, the light cruiser Achilles and the 43rd Destroyer Flottilla. Near the coast of Egypt, the light cruiser Capetown was sunk by a direct hit from three 250 kg bombs, dropped by a dive bomber of the Europa carrier. Within a week of the fall of Gibraltar, the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean has been wiped out. Further patrols were sent during the month of November, but always returned without a shot being fired.
Operation Claudius
Balbo was not like Graziani, Badoglio, Bergonzoli or Guzzoni. He was an atypical Italian general: he had a sixth sense, that allowed him to understand whether or not a situation was more suitable for a frontal attack or for a diversive manouver. His plan of Operation Mare Nostrum worked cleverly becouse his assumptions had proven correct. Given that Gibraltar covers an area of barely 6.5 km^2, he understood that the local Garrison could have not been an enormous one. And by observing from the news that the fascist propaganda was spreading during the invasion of Malta, he believed that an airborne invasion led by two divisions would have been enough to defeat the defenders and give Italy the strategic control of the junction between the Atlantic Ocean and the Med... ehm, Mare Nostrum. He was loved by his soldiers, unpopular with his fellow officers, a loyal friend of Mussolini and envyed by the other generals. He was an 'Italian Rommel', the 'Fox of Gibraltar'.
Mussolini remained impressed by Balbo's capacity of command and tenacity. He even proposed to sent Balbo in the Italian East Africa, where, on December 3rd, two British Marine Divisions launched an attack against the fortified town of Chisimaio, in Somalia. The Brits fielded 8 Brigades with 19.991 fighting men, the Italians defended the area with the 26th Colonial Division. On December 6th, the battle was lost, with 710 colonial soldiers dead and 416 British soldiers killed or missing. This time, the numerical superiority of the enemy proved enough to win the fortified Italian positions. But, even in the face of the defeat, Balbo was clever enough to boost everyone's morale:
'If those reports are correct, then we have to be optimistic. If the enemy is attacking our position with even two Marine Divisions, then those two units will not be used to storm our beaches in Geona, Naples or Rome. And I have my doubts that the British have more Marine Infantry Division trained in their homeland. Now that we hold Gibraltar, their only way to invade our homeland, will be to attack Gibraltar first. So, as long as we hold that strategic gate, there will by no shadow of Tommy across Our Sea'.
With this words, Balbo reinforced his bond with Mussolini and Il Duce increased his faith in him and proposed him a challenging offer: set up the plan for the invasion of England.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
About the invasion of England, I have written a book (in Itailan, unfortunately), in which the Germans, with a more powerful Kriegsmarine, manages to destroy the BEF in France and then invade the British Isle. If here there is any Italian speaking user who is interested in reading my book, please contact me with a PM.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Blabo knew that invading England would have not been an easy task. Yes, it was true that the British were almost kicked out of Africa becouse of a list of problems, but now the situation would have been reversed: the enemy will defend his homeland, and if so few troops were being met during the North Africa Campaign and the war in the Middle East, 'then we must assume that the bulk of the British Army will be stationed there', Balbo said when aiming with his index the islands of Great Britain, durin an ultra-secret military conference held during the night of December 3rd/4th. Balbo pointed out, correctly, that three major pre-requisites were absolutely needed, in order to proceede with the invasion:
- gain air supremacy over the invasion area;
- gain naval control of the English Channel;
- reduce the size of the Royal Navy;
The plan for Operation Claudius, the Italian invasion of England
The fall of Gibraltar and the occupation of Northern France by Germany, however, would have made the entire operation much easier. With the military alliance between Germany and Italy, both countries allowed each other to move men and material across the other occupied territory. With this in mind, nobody should be surprised then to discover that the Luftwaffe sent one of its Fliegerkorps in Ankara, with one wing of Bf-109s and one of Bf-110s, the latter acting as a multi-purpose wing. The French ports of Dunkerque, Calais, Boulogne, Dieppe, Cherbourg, St. Malo, Brest, St. Nazaire and all the others, as well as the air bases of Paris, Lille, St. Omer... could have hosted Italian warships and airplanes as well. To get the revenge of the merchant ships sunk while sailing toward Instanbul, Tobruk or Malta, Mussolini first ordered Cavagnari to regroup the warfleet in the ports of Palermo and Trapani (only for submarines). And while the order was being executed, another alarming report arrived in Rome: the convoy from Port Sudan and Al Basrah had been under attack and suffered the loss of 1 transport ship (the convoy had ONLY ONE transport ship, so the entire convoy was later cancelled). Admiral Giuseppe Romagna Manoia, commander of the 'Red Sea Naval Command' (heavy cruiser Eritrea, light cruiser Trentino Alto Adige and 2 destroyers) immediately sailed toward the Bab al Mandab sea. The 29th and 53rd Destroyer Flottillas were found and sent to the bottom of the sea after only a two-hours engagement.
On December 11th, the submarine fleets were re-deployed to Bayonne and reached their destination 4 days later. Then, with the cooperation of Admiral Doenitz, the Italian submarines flottillas were based along the entire Atlantic coast of France. Now, Mussolini could have had his revenge:
- 3rd Submarine Fleet (Bayonne) --> Madeira's Sea
- 2nd Submarine Fleet (Bordeaux) --> Southern Bay of Biscay
- 5th Submarine Fleet (Bordeaux) --> Southern Porcuspine Plain
- 1st Submarine Fleet (Bordeaux) --> Celtic Sea
- 4th Submarine Fleet (Nantes) --> Channel Approach
- 6th Submarine Flottilla (La Rochelle) --> left there to re-organize and repair damages.
The Italo-German cooperation quickly gave his firsts resoults: on December 17th, in the vicinity of the Spanish coast, near Cape Oregal, the 21st and 15th Submarine Flottilla, together with the German battleship Bismarck, the heavy cruisers Admiral Scheer and Deutschland and the light cruiser Leipzig engaged a battle with the British battleship Royal Oak, the heavy cruiser Hood, pride of the Royal Navy, and 3 destroyers flottillas. During the battle, the Leipzig was quickly put out of order and two large tugs were needed to tow it up to St. Malo and the Bismarck too suffered heavy damages. But the Royal Oak too was severily damaged and the 1st Destroyer Flottilla was wiped out from the waves. The Hood, maybe for a miracle, abandoned the fight intact.
The Bismarck and the Italian submarines cooperate to eliminate the Royal Navy
Aside from this engagement, the idea of moving the Italian submarines to the Atlantic proved to be right on the money. From December 18th, every day up to three or four reports begun arriving on Mussolini's desk from Cavagnari's office, reports that were talking about 1 or 2 Allied transports that were sunk by Il Duce's submarine fleets.
The surface fleet was sent too to both the Atlantic coast as well as to the Channel coast. From Brest to Dunkerque, any French port was prepeared to welcome the newcomers. And, as a joke of destiny, during the crossing off the Coast of Galicia, the light cruisers Duca d'Aosta, Mauzio Attendolo, Raimondo Montecuccoli and Luigi Cadorna found and sunk the Hood.
And again, in the Channel approach, another big fleet was sighted and the battle begun, on December 20th. While the Royal Navy had two powerful battleships, the Royal Sovereign and the Ramillies, Admiral Attilio's fleet had the carrier Aquila, and was quickly reinforced by the heavy cruiser Barbetta. The battle raged the entire afternoon and at 20.00, the Italians confirmed their victory: Ramillies, Royal Sovereign, the heavy cruiser Dorsetshire and the 48th Destroyer Flottillas were sent to kiss the bottom of the sea.
The Hood, pride of the British Fleet, is now resting on the bottom of the sea
Despite these brilliant victories, an alarming news arrived two days later, on December 22nd, three days before Christmas. The Italian transport fleet, escorted only by 3 light cruisers, was attacked by 3 British heavy cruisers (the Sussex, the Exter and the York, the light cruiser Curacao and 2 destroyer flottillas. Mussolini did not have the resources to sacrify 8 (EIGHT!) transport squadrons, and immediately ordered his admirals to 'move their fatty ass and do something to save the precious ships' But were not Italian warships those that arrived to save the situation. General's Lohr bombers took off from Brest airbase and reached the Channel Approach, bombed the British ships, strafed the bridges and bought some time for the Italian fleet to get into formation. The resoult? The heavy cruiser Sussex and the 21st Destroyer Flottilla were sunk, while the Italians did not loose a single sailor.
On Christmas eve, at 11.00 of December 24th, the light cruiser Shropshire was sunk after a battle with the battleships Impero, Vittorio Veneto and Littorio, off the Briton Coast. This was the last naval battle of 1940. On January 6th, 1941, after a naval engagement off the Channel Approach, British heavy cruisers Cornwall and Effingham, along 2 Destroyers Flottillas were permanently erased from the seas and the following day, the new pride of the Royal Navy, the battleship Rodney, was sunk by the corresponding Italian Vittorio Veneto, as well as battleship Warspite, the heavy cruiser Norfolk and light cruiser Calypso. One week later, the British battleships Revenge and Barham extended the list of lost ships. Ultimately, by the end of January, the Italians achieved two of their three pre-requisites to launch Operation Claudius: reduce the size of the Royal Navy and gain naval control of the English Channel.
It was on February 4th, during a patrol in St. George's Channel, that the 5th Battleship Division emerged victorious against a squadron of the Royal Navy. For the first time, a British carrier (the Glorious) was sunk, along the battleship Queen Elizabeth, the light cruiser Danae and the 17th Destroyer Flottilla.
HMS Rodney, the second pride of the Royal Navy after the Hood, is sent to keep the Hood in good company
News from Ciano: Paraguay has joined the Allies... WTF?
To achieve air superiority, Balbo felt confident that his superior technology and theories would have gained the upper hand in a short period of time. Between the last week of January and the first of February, the entire Regia Aeronautica was transferred to Northern France and occupied Belgium. But, due to logistical problems, it was only on the 7th of March that the first air raid over the British homeland was carried out. For the first time, the Italian pilots, inside their Fiat G.55 and their MC. 205 'Veltro' were faced with a strong opposition. It was true that the Italians had the technological and theoretical superiority: the Spits and the Hurris were no match for the Italian fighters and the attacking pilots had more experience and were much more better trained than the defenders, but the British enjoyed the advantage of the radar. Thanks to it, it was not a problem to 'see' how many fighters had scrambled from a determined airfield. The battle of the 7th of March ended in a draw, with 11 Italian fighters lost and only 9 British destroyed or severly damaged. Pricolo immediately changed his strategy: if the enemy was able to see exactly his movements, he believed that only a mass, enormous, fighter sweep would have been sufficient to wipe out the RAF. At dawn of March 8th, thousands of fighters swarmed over the head of the Italian and German soldiers, who were training themselves with the landing manouvers along the coast of Dieppe, and clashed with as many British fighters. The skies over the Channel and over southern Kent quickly filled with the white and black trails of smoke, left behind by the hit planes. Sometimes, an aircraft of both sides was seen falling down into the water and sometimes the pilot had the occasion to drop with the parachute. But in these cases, another difference emerged: with the naval control of the English Channel, any downed pilot, enemy or allied, was picked up by the Luftwaffe Rescue Service: He-59 floatplanes would have immediately arrived on the scene of the crash and carried out their job.
One day proved enough to wipe out most of the RAF. On March 9th, only the 10th, the 14th and the 207th Fighter Groups were sent over Kent to intercept the Italians. On March 10th, all the fighters sent over southern England returned back to the airfields, with many disappointed pilots. But in only one day, the Italian too suffered heavy losses. The 52nd Fighter Wing had barely the 14% of its initial strength, and other formations were not all that good. But despite these losses, now Balbo had all the pre-requisite to launch the invasion of England.
During the planning of Operation Claudius, an invaluable help arrived from the Germans, and in particular from the commander of the DIK: General Erwin Rommel. Rommel, before getting the command of the DIK, had led the 60. Infanterie-Division during the campaign in Poland, Denmark and France, thus gaining a lot of combat experience. Rommel too had a sixth sense, which allowed him to turn every object of the battlefield in his favour. Just like Balbo, he was unpopular amongst the other generals, simply becouse he did not rise through the ranks like a true prussian officer. He too was loved by his men and, despite being under the direct command of Balbo, the C-in-C of Army Group West agreed on giving him the freedom of action. During the planning for Operation Claudius, Rommel suggested to send the Germans in the first wave. He was sure that the perfect combinations of tanks and infantry would have been enough to secure a foothold on the British soil and then, with more reinforcements coming from France, a quick advance northward, aimed to encircle London, would have been enough to bring the British to the table of a diplomatic discussion. The plan was simple: an airborne drop north of Dover and in the Northern Kent, near Maidstone, would have covered the eastern flank of the invasion as well as secured the ports of Dover, Hythe, Folkestone and Deal, while on the line of coast that stretches from Peacheaven to Littlehampton men and tanks of the 15. Panzer-Division would have been the first to assault the British soil. With the Italian warships covering the entrance of the Channel and the Regia Aeronautica's fighter planes roaring over their heads, the sailors, the tankmen, the soldiers and the paratroopers left France, on the morning of March 11th, with the certainty that no heavy opposition would have been met on the beaches. In his overly optimistic evaluation of the situation, Rommel saw the military objective clearly before him and already knew how mine barriers and tank traps on the roads could be removed by Army Engineers, how the Brits coastal batteries could be silenced. He was already seeing the German panzers running ashore and setting off straight for London. However, one single report could have transformed Operation Claudius in a disaster.
During the previous day, an interesting report reached Balbo's HQ in France: according to the reconnaissance flights, the British divisions abandoned the Kent and the Eastern Sussex, and even the capital. Balbo suspected that the enemy was going to retreat behind the Thames river, in order to stop the Italian advance, and then, in a way or in another, throw the invaders back into the sea. He wanted to stop everything and send more and deeper reconnaissance flights to investigate but it was too late. Operation Claudius was set in motion and, like an enormous moving mountain, that enormous quantity of ships and aircrafts could have not been halted.
The tricky intelligence report about the disposition of British troops in southern England
The 'Heroes of Malta and Gibraltar' were the first soldiers to invade England. Leaving their planes that were flying at 2.150 m, they touched ground in the area of Maidstone. Despite the absence of heavy AA fire or of the RAF, the bad luck accompanied the paratroopers. Before reaching the drop zone, one transport plane, the one carrying the entire 2nd Company of the 1st Battalion, 125th Regiment, 80th Airborne Division 'Spezia', suffered an engine breakdown and plunged into the Channel. The Luftwaffe air-sea rescue service, however, found no survivors. And, despite the absence of the enemy, the paratroopers suffered their casualties immediately after the drop: almost 120 men drowned in the cold and deep waters of the Medway river. But, in general, the drops were good and, in cooperation of the German Fallschirm-Brigade 'Ramcke', the Itailans secured the gate from Kent to southern London.
But the Germans were forced almost immediately to leave the fields around Maidstone and were directed to the south. The paratroopers of the 185th 'Folgore' division encountered a fierce resistance by an unknown British Infantry division. The battle over Kent and around Dover lasted for 3 days and only on March 16th, the city fell as well as the entire county.
On the beaches, the situation was even worse. 'It will be a walkover, the Italian Navy will pound them for good so that we will meet no opposition'. The German officers instructed their men before the boarding. The morale of the Germans was high and everyone believed that the war on the British soil would have lasted no more than two weeks. But during the Channel crossing, despite the reassuring presence of the Italian warships amongst the convoys, the synthomps of seasickness begun spreading amongst the German soldiers. It was the first time that they attempted an amphibious invasion and immediately the shadow of the Gallipoli's landings casted in their minds.
The transport ships stopped barely 900 m south of the landing beaches and released their loads into smaller and more agile assault ships. But as those of the first wave approached their target, the British revealed their position with a sustained fire of MGs, small arms, light artillery pieces, AT batteries and heavy mortars. 'What the hell is this fire? Where is this coming from?'. The German soldiers panicked and, when they left their boats, refused to advance into certain death. 'Where is the Luftwaffe? Where is the naval support? argued the officers. Balbo, excited and worried by the first reports, completely forgot to order Pricolo's bombers to take off and give support to the Germans. Only the Italian warships arrived and begun pounding the British defences. The 150, 180 and 203 mm guns of the destroyers and light cruisers proved ineffective against the well dug in British defences but demonstrated the ideal weapon to interrupt the field communications and spread chaos amongst the defenders. From the interrogations of the first prisoners, the Germans learnt that they were facing the 2nd Garrison Division: its men were not first line soldiers but were trained and equipped enough to hold any fortified area and village. Soldiers of the battalions of the 104. Schützen-Regiment managed to broke through the beach-defensive line, made mainly of hidden holes and trenches, and begun advancing inland. But without the armor support, no decisive breakthrough could have been achieved. To make things even worse, the weather conditions deteriorated during the afternoon and it was only at dawn of the following day that the remaining companies of the 104. Schützen-Regiment were able to get ashore and bring reinforcements. But during the night, the British brought reinforcements too: a freshly trained and well-equipped Infantry Division took place in front of the German bridgehead. Now, the invaders were stuck in the middle: in front of them, there was a British infantry division, and amongst them, so many strongholds still held out and only with the proper armor support, these could have been wiped out.
Around 10.00 of the 12th of March, the waves calmed down and the sun again appeared behind the clouds. Ideal weather to send in the tanks of the I Battalion of the 8. Panzer-Regiment. Both the 15th and the 21st Panzer-Divisionen were equipped with a mixture of different tanks. Most of the companies were made up of Panzerkampfwagen III (models E and G, the latter equipped with a 50mm AT gun) and Panzerkampfwagen IV (model D), which were armed with a short-barrel 75mm AT gun. Both tanks were slightly better armoured and definitely faster than the Italian M 13/40, which formed the backbone of the Italian Desert Armoured Divisions and which replaced the fast but underpowered M 10/36. But the Germans had already begun to deploy, starting from early February 1941, a new type of medium tank: the Panzerkampfagen V, jokingly name-called Panther. While only its speed resemble that of a panther, its firepower was that of a monster. The long 75mm gun (7,5-cm-KwK 42 L/70, according to the German codes) was able to deliver a devastating shot capable of penetrating any existing armor of that time. Only a platoon (4 tanks) of the 3rd Company reached the shore west of Brighton that day and their presence was quickly felt by the defenders. Within only one hour, the city fell to the invaders. More tanks were needed to both pierce the enemy defensive line and destroy the last resistance nests on the beaches but more tanks in England meant more supplies, more spare parts and more ammunitions. Major General Friedrich Kühn, C-in-C of the 15. Panzer-Division was forced, by the events, to stop the flow of reinforcements and tried to send in the suppliy ships. But the lack of a port made the entire operation much more difficult than expected: unloading the supplies from fishing boats and trawlers become a slow and endless process, constantly threatened by the fire of the British field artillery, still hidden somewhere else amongst a well camouflaged emplacement. The seaborne invasion was halted by the lack of supplies and a counterattack made by two companies of the Garrison Division with the aim of recapturing Brighton failed, but it consumed almost all the MG34's ammo belts.
The seaborne invasion was stalled on the beach due to the lack of supplies and men, the attackers were pinned on the beaches and on the ground immediately behind them and news of an incoming British Infantry Division quickly spread amongst the Germans. The shadow of the disaster was hanged in the air. Gallipoli...
The situation improved when the Ramcke Fallschirm.-Brigade took control of Dover, on the 15th of March. Both the Folgore and the Ramcke were proved by the hard fighing in Kent but while Balbo allowed his paratroopers to rest for 24 hours, Rommel ordered Ramcke to attack the enemy keeping at bay his men. Ramcke attack came, however, only on the night of the 15th. But when it came, it hit the British left flank with an immeasurable violence. The British flank collapsed and the panic quickly spread amongst all the ranks. And at down of March 17th, the British defences crumbled under the attack of the German paratrooper brigade. The Battle of the Beach (also known in Italy as the Battle of Brighton) costed 405 men out of 37.834 for the invaders and 602 soldiers out of 32.996 of the defenders. During the remaining light hours of the day, the other amphibious forces touched ground and begun expanding the bridgehead northward.
Now, with Dover and Deal in Italo-German hands, a constant flow of supplies begun to arrive in occupied England. The complicated logistics machine was set in motion once again and on March 18th, more troops were being unloaded in the British occupied ports. By the end of the day, the HQs of the DIK, of the XLIV. Armeekorps as well as the HQs and men of the XVII and XXIV Army Corps were transported into Kent. During the night between March 21st and 22nd, the third wave, comprising the Italian 4th Army and part of the 1st, arrived. On the afternoon of March 22nd, the fourth wave reached the occupied shores of south-eastern England, except for the 36th Mountain Division 'Forlì', which reached the new destination only the following day, due to the lack of transport ships.
Amongst the many ships that arrived in Axis occupied England, one of them carried a vital cargo: the Italian merchant ship Birmania had on board the men and the equipment of the radio-intercept companies, special military units of the German Secret Services which were attached to Rommel's DIK and were tasked to act as a forward spies. Their job was to listen and intercept most, if not all, the enemy wireless communications, decode them and transmit them to Rommel. The picture that was presented at midday of March 24th was not very reassuring: one infantry division was helding Portsmouth, another one was moving north, three infantry divisions (amongst them one motorized) were stationed south-west of London, the capital itself was occupied by six divisions, one of them Danish and three of them were marching south, toward Reigate (one of them was an elite Gurka Division) and north-west of London there was another British infantry division.
Rommel wanted to occupy Reigate before the British but this time the enemy got there before him. But now that he had tanks and supplies, he showed the British the power of the Blitzkrieg: in less than ten hours, Reigate was in German hands, with 32 attackers dead and 428 killed amongst the defenders. As soon as the 15. Panzer-Division entered the ruins of the city, the Italian 4th Army begun marching toward the newly occupied objective.
With the rearguard defended, Rommel begun pressing for a new offensive, aimed at encircle and cut off London and, if necessary, occupy it. But Balbo refused: 'We can't advance if we can't get our men supplied sufficiently'. What happened? Was the supply lines again threatened by the Royal Navy? Mussolini did not believed his eyes when he was presented the route that the supply convoys were using to bring the Army Group West in Kent fully operational. From Genoa to Giblatar everything was going as planned. But then, instead of using the English Channel, now in Italian hands, the convoys strechted up north, they sailed around Iceland, passed off the Norwegian coast and then reached Dover. The Transport Divisiosn were quickly mobilized but this time, even a large air bridge, would have not been enough to supply two infantry Armies and other separate corps.
Mussolini evoked the fleet and ordered Cavagnari to send every f*cking warship, even the carriers, to protect the convoys'. On April 8th, part of the British fleet chasing the convoys was detected off the Eastern English Channel. After the battle, the beauty of 2 British carriers (the Courageus and the Eagle) were sunk, along with the light cruiser Devonshire. More merchant ships were put into production but since the queue was too long, Mussolini decided to give up to some of the trades signed with Argentina, El Salvador and Brazil. This allowed him to redeploy 46 transport ships and use the surface fleet to escort them. And at the early hours of April 9th, Balbo and all his staff were woken up by the roar of the engines of the Aquila CAG. The Italo-German merchant ships Leverkusen, Rialto, Ankara, Elima, Gritti, Kybfels, Poscarini, Reichenfeld and Venerio arrived, dropped the anchor and begun unloading the vital provisions so much needed by the soldiers, pilots and tankmen.
But...
As the eyes of Italy, Germany, France, United Kingdom and United States of America were aimed at the evolution of the fighting in south-eastern England, a new, unexpected protagonist made his appearance on the stage. Nobody could have ever predict this entry, but now it was too late to hit the trail...
Last edited:
I like your writing style. Paint the world green!
Any chance of seeing a map with the overall picture?
Any chance of seeing a map with the overall picture?
I like your writing style. Paint the world green!
Any chance of seeing a map with the overall picture?
Sure! I will go on tonight!
TOP SECRET REPORTS - REVOLUTIONARY TECHNOLOGY DISCOVERED
July 6th, 1938.
Rome.
Our final experiment produced an astonishing result. We have learnt the lesson from 1934 and now, with the cooperation of the Germans Ida Noddack, Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner, and Fritz Strassmann we can proudly announce to the entire world that we have discovered a new form of energy. By bombarding a nucleus of uranium (U-235) with neutrons, we not only obtained one atom of Krypton (Kr-92) and Barium (Ba-141), but even a large quantity of energy. Where does this energy come from? We still don't know it. Strassmann and Hahn were a bit skeptical and I can understand their mood. We need to repeat more times this experiment and try to measure, at last approximately, the total amount of energy liberated from the reaction. We have enough funds, modern equipment but we need more time. We still don't know what will happen when we will increase our knowledge about this new discovery, but we can be sure about one thing: the 20th Century will see the decline of the oil and the rise of the nuclear era.
December 16th, 1938
Rome.
The news of the results of our experiment, together with the German physics, has reached the US. According yo our Government, the spreading of our results could be dangerous for our homeland. For 'security reasons', all Via Panisperna is now heavily guarded and nobody, except us, can transit through it. All our correspondence is now strictly controlled, our families are guarded by Fascist Militias and our telephone lines have been interrupted. We can only communicate with our German collegues in Berlin. The regime has forbidden us to emigrate but has also given us plenty of resources with which to finance our experiments. Today, an even greater news arrived in our lab. Leo Szilard, the Hungarian physics, left the US and joined my team, here in Rome. Together with his theory of 'nuclear chain reaction', we will examine in depth the new possibilities that the energy liberated from the fission of U-235 might give us.
September 22nd, 1939
Rome.
With the news of fission neutrons from uranium fission, Szilard has immediately understood the possibility of a nuclear chain reaction using uranium. Throughout the entire year, we have conducted more experiments, and even some outside our lab. Now, we are ready to tell the German Team that we have reached a sufficient level of knowledge that will allow us to build a nuclear reactor. Together with Szilard, we have already a paper project for this: the building will use uranium as fuel and 'slow' neutrons as hitting particles. To slow down the fast and high-energy neutrons, this reactor will use a pure-graphite barrier. In theory, this will be able to produce a large quantity of energy, thus allowing Italy to reduce the flow of crude oil which is converted into heat by the thermal power stations located all across our Country. However, still remains the problems of how to deal with the radioactive waste. Anyway, we will find a solution even for this.
April 15th, 1940
Florence.
The construction of the 'pile', the first nuclear reactor in the world, has started. But, as the war seems never to come to an end every passing day, much of the resources initially allocated for the building, have now been diverted to war production. This is quite odd, since I have had personally met Mussolini and told him about the enormous possibilities about this revolutionary discovery. But Il Duce, as far as today, seems more interested in rocketry. Von Braun's inventions are really fascinating and the idea of launching one of those giant suppository against an enemy supply dump is taking shape in Mussolini's mind. But there are rumors that in Berlin, Hahn, Strassmann and Bohr, the new entry in the German Team from late 1939, are studying the possibility to create an unstoppable weapon using the radioactive waste or, even worse, an uncontrolled chain reaction, which could leave to the destruction of an area as big as London.
April 11th, 1941
Rome.
Yesterday, I met Mussolini. He was insicure, shaken and worried. He told me that the Soviet declaration of war against the Axis put Italy into a dangerous position. He remembered what happened to Germany between 1914 and 1918: fighting a war on two fronts, lead to the total defeat. He do not want to fight on two fronts. He hoped to finish the war in England first, and then turn to America but now, he needs immediately the 'miraculous' energy reactor, as he called my theoretical project. He reassured me that from today, at the top of the industrial production queue, there will be the nuclear reactor in Florence. And he told me that, if necessary, more reactor could be built in other towns like Milan, Turin, Naples or Taranto, as well as new rocket platforms.
The Italian military situation in England, on April 10th, 1941
The German military situation on the Eastern border, on April 10th, 1941
Da bomb is in the making, nice
As a side note; I seem to remember that only the province with the highest number of nuclear reactors is taken into calculation, when it comes to bomb production. Thus, spreading your reactors will not benefit the bomb production.
As a side note; I seem to remember that only the province with the highest number of nuclear reactors is taken into calculation, when it comes to bomb production. Thus, spreading your reactors will not benefit the bomb production.
Baltasar: Probably all those partisans were supported by British and French Intelligence... but now, as the war between SU and Germany erupted, most of the German divisions left in France are being transported to the Eastern Front.
Guillec87: I have the 11th Army deployed on the border of Anatolia and 3 more Armies in Anatolia, ready to crush the Soviet onslaught!
GrimReaper: I'll try to convince Mussolini not to build too many reactors then!
Guillec87: I have the 11th Army deployed on the border of Anatolia and 3 more Armies in Anatolia, ready to crush the Soviet onslaught!
GrimReaper: I'll try to convince Mussolini not to build too many reactors then!
Teo41, I wanted to pop in and say that for one, this is one heck of a great AAR. And two, I've nominated you for WritAAR of the week! Congratulations
Excellent choice indeed, big congratz are in order and well deserved in my opinion and now win it .
.