Keynes' Cruisers Volume 2

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Story 2539
Echinos, Greek Thrace, July 23, 1944

The South African infantry brigade had conquered the village the night before. Tanks had rumbled forward over night and the riflemen had started to patrol further up the narrow valleys. One of the Shermans had an optimistic target scrawled in chalk on the left side of its turret -- Budapest or Bust.

Even as the scouts were pushing forward in their jeeps and armoured cars, the artillery regiment supporting the thrust had arrived, unlimbered and began to stockpile shells. The Bulgarian defenders who previously had been occupiers in Greek Thrace usually melted after a few stonks and even more Uncle and Murder barrages. However, even light resistance combined with the narrow tracks and engineers with plentiful dynamite had made the advance slow and bloody.

Off to the west, the ground began to rumble again. The Greek Army was taking the direct route from Thessaloniki to Sofia. Whenever the Greeks and Indians were in doubt, artillery was being called in. The few veterans of the fighting in North Africa in the South African led corps could only shake their head as they felt the ground rumble with a barrage that they could not have imagined being called in just three years ago. Now they felt it several times a day.
 
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Chicago, Illinois July 21, 1944


Six hours later, the junior Senator from Missouri gave one of the best speeches of his life as he nominated his rival for the Vice Presidency of the United States.
Ahh too bad. I love Harry Truman - if I ever get the free time I want to write a book on the batshit crazy 1948 election.

Assuming you are referring to Wallace here in the part I bolded? Also assuming Roosevelt dies more or less on schedule I'm curious how a Wallce presidency shapes up.
 
Echinos, Greek Thrace, July 23, 1943

The South African infantry brigade had conquered the village the night before. Tanks had rumbled forward over night and the riflemen had started to patrol further up the narrow valleys. One of the Shermans had an optimistic target scrawled in chalk on the left side of its turret -- Budapest or Bust.

Even as the scouts were pushing forward in their jeeps and armoured cars, the artillery regiment supporting the thrust had arrived, unlimbered and began to stockpile shells. The Bulgarian defenders who previously had been occupiers in Greek Thrace usually melted after a few stonks and even more Uncle and Murder barrages. However, even light resistance combined with the narrow tracks and engineers with plentiful dynamite had made the advance slow and bloody.

Off to the west, the ground began to rumble again. The Greek Army was taking the direct route from Thessaloniki to Sofia. Whenever the Greeks and Indians were in doubt, artillery was being called in. The few veterans of the fighting in North Africa in the South African led corps could only shake their head as they felt the ground rumble with a barrage that they could not have imagined being called in just three years ago. Now they felt it several times a day.
Good to see them that far north. Should be 1944 though.
 
Norfolk, Virginia July 22, 1944

USS Alaska cleared the fortresses guarding the James River. Onboard was the President and over a hundred members of his entourage. The final destination was the Black Sea with stops in Gibraltar, Sicily, and Crete on the way there. The President had also requested stops in Alexandria and Oran on the return home to see his generals and his troops.
An hour later, the large cruiser accelerated past twenty eight knots. She would not slow until the olive trees of Southern Spain could be seen.
Yalta?
 
For sure. I wonder what the ATL agreements will be and how much they'll differ from OTL.
Yalta was significant IOTL for essentially establishing the proto basework for the Cold War, so with the Allies ahead to the race on Germany and the Soviets still delayed, I wonder how that will affect the stuff.
 
Off to the west, the ground began to rumble again. The Greek Army was taking the direct route from Thessaloniki to Sofia. Whenever the Greeks and Indians were in doubt, artillery was being called in. The few veterans of the fighting in North Africa in the South African led corps could only shake their head as they felt the ground rumble with a barrage that they could not have imagined being called in just three years ago. Now they felt it several times a day.
The Greeks are going up the Rupel-Kresna-Simitli-Sofia road and the South Africans can feel the artillery 160 km away? I'd feel almost sorry for the Bulgarians. Well rather not.
 
Hopefully the Bulgarians will acknowledge the writing on the wall, and surrender and allow Western Allies troops in before the Soviet Union arrives. If afraid of German invasion in retribution, they can at least offer little resistance to advancing Allied forces.
 
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Uncle: Every single gun in the division going after a target.
Victor: Corps level barrage...
Commonwealth artillery practice to be able to have a quick massive shoot at targets of opportunity. Forward observers could call in strike from every uncommitted gun in a regiment (24 tubes), divisional artillery (72 tubes), corps ( several hundred tubes) or army (Thor's hammer incarnate) plus regular preplanned fires. Given the Western Allied way of war is to throw steel instead of blood and the sea lanes are far more productive for the WAllies, there are massive shell stockpiles that are being used to make German and Bulgarian rear guards regret their life choices
 
The GPMG may be the queen of the battlefield but Artillery is God. And mobile artillery ie tanks is a bunch of queens and a god deciding the fate of all around her. lol
 
My (humble) guess is that as soon as the Soviets reach the Romanian border, the Bulgarians will not only surrender to the British, but will actually switch sides and literally welcome the Wallies with open arms, offering them their roads, railways and Army (like OTL, but even more motivated), hoping to retake Southern Dobruja from the Romanians in the process. I guess this is something the British would not refuse (you create a buffer between Greece and the Reds, control the straits, the Turks are not unhappy either).
At some point, you have to choose your victor.
 
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My (humble) guess is that as soon as the Soviets reach the Romanian border, the Bulgarians will not only surrender to the British, but will actually switch sides and literally welcome the Wallies with open arms, offering them their roads, railways and Army (like OTL, but even more motivated), hoping to retake Southern Dobruja from the Romanians in the process. I guess this is something the British would not refuse (you create a buffer between Greece and the Reds, control the straits, the Turks are not unhappy either).
At some point, you have to choose your victor.
Quite possibly but there is also a pretty strong communist party within Bulgaria while both Bagryanov and Muraviev dragged their feet in negotiating a surrender in OTL. Time is not working in the Bulgarians favour here...
 
Quite possibly but there is also a pretty strong communist party within Bulgaria while both Bagryanov and Muraviev dragged their feet in negotiating a surrender in OTL. Time is not working in the Bulgarians favour here...
Time and the author will tell. But if the King and the Army want to keep their jobs (and heads), the British are better than the Soviets. Maybe some kind of civil war? Replacing the one in Greece OTL where the British/US and Soviet spheres of influence clashed?
 
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