Plans for 1941
With the final defeat of Allied forces in Norway and France, our victorious army could now be turned towards new objectives. And of course, the Fuhrer had to decide what these new objectives could be......
1) Invasion of the UK - Rejected, for a number of reasons: The invasion couldn't be launched for several months due to winter weather and rough seas, during which time the British, surely expecting an invasion, would have had plenty of time to reinforce their defences. Also, according to intelligence, The Royal Navy, although beaten off of Norway, still possessed a formidable force, that we would be unable to beat. This would also have been backed up by the French navy, which escaped mostly intact to British ports.
2) Invasion of Swden - Rejected, as although an invasion of Sweden would secure valuable resources, with our captures of Norway and Denmark, the Swedes were beyond the reach of Allied help and it would be less of a strain on garrison forces to leave them independant.
3) Invasion of Russia - Considered, and preliminary planning put into action. Intelligence reports estimate massive Russian strength, mostly concentrated in the West. Too large to be a purely defensive force, we may be forced to deal with it despite only currently being able to muster about 130 frontline divisions......
4) Invasion of Switzerland - Rejected, as the Swiss have formidable defensive positions in their mountains, and the country has little in the way of raw materials for our war effort. This would result in us losing many brave German soldiers for little gain.
5) Bring the Balkan states into our Sphere of influence, and invade those that will not - Approved.
Hungary was already a part of our military alliance, while Romania and Bulgaria had been receptive to our advances and had indicated that they would be willing to join us if granted certain incentives.
Romania would join if they were granted access to German military hardware, and shipments of supplies. This was granted.
On the other hand, Yugoslavia and Greece remained unresponsive. We suspected the Greeks of asking the British for guarantees in the event of an invasion, and the Italians had already moved over 150,000 troops into Albania in order to prepare for an attack. The Italians also desired land along the Yugoslavian coast, and so, in order to purloin this territory for them, and put pressure on the Greeks, the Fuhrer greenlighted the plans for the invasion of Yugoslavia.
64 divisions under Field Marshal Rundstedt's Army Group A would start the attack, possibly supported by Hungarian troops, against roughly 400,000 Yugoslavians. AG A would also have the support of about 800 single engined fighters, and 800 twin engined bombers.
Unfamiliar with attack by armoured forces, and under the constant bombardment of the Luftwaffe, the Yugoslavian forces virtually melted away and within a fortnight we were in their capital, Belgrade. Another week and we had captured Sarajevo. Seeing our relentless advance, and possessing claims on Yugoslavian territory, Bulgaria agreed to join the war as long as it received those claims. Seemed like a fair deal to us.
The Bulgarians soon proved their worth, as a Bulgarian attack towards Stip quickly overwhelmed the defenders and joined up with an Italian armoured thrust towards Skopje. With the retreat route into Greece and to the sea blocked, the Yugoslavian government quickly surrendered to prevent further losses, and the 150,000 or so remaining troops went into capitivty.
Strangely, the Italians never started their attack on Greece, which we felt was strange, seen as they had been so enthusiastic about it previously, and the attack on the Yugoslavians had been to pressure the Greeks into territorial changes and entry into the Axis. One look at the current situation in Africa, and we had a sneaking suspicion why.
