Ratmancampidori
Banned
With a POD no earlier then 1934, make it so that when the United States enters into war against Nazi Germany they have levels of military competency comparable to Fascist Italy.
With a POD no earlier then 1934, make it so that when the United States enters into war against Nazi Germany they have levels of military competency comparable to Fascist Italy.
It was.
The American performance at Kasserine Pass was up to general Italian standards.
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The meme that the Italians were really bad needs to die.
How did the Italian performance on the Eastern Front stack up to the other Axis powers?
How did the Italian performance on the Eastern Front stack up to the other Axis owers?
In its early encounters it was successful, taking a number of towns and cities and creating a favourable impression on its German allies.[2] Its most notable early victory came at the Battle of Petrikowka in September 1941, where the Italians encircled some sizable Red Army units, inflicting unknown combat casualties on them and capturing over 10,000 prisoners of war as well as significant numbers of weapons and horses.[3] This cost them only 291 casualties of their own: 87 killed, 190 wounded, and 14 missing.[4] On October 20, the CSIR together with the German XXXXIX Mountain Corps captured the major industrial center of Stalino (now Donetsk) after heavy resistance from the Soviet defenders. While the CSIR did not participate in the siege of Odessa, Italian troops assisted in the occupation of the Odessa area after the city fell on 16 October 1941. Units from the Pasubio motorised division attacked the neighboring city of Gorlovka on November 2.[5]
The Capture of Gorlovka (a city of 120,000 inhabitants) was preceded by the "Pasubio" division carefully clearing out the minefields around the city's outskirts in the previous week. The "Duca d'Aosta" cavalry division meanwhile captured the industrial town of Rukovo after heavy fighting. On November 2, the "Pasubio" division threatened Gorlovka from the west, while the "Duca d'Aosta" division threatened the southeast. The city's defenders included the Soviet 296th Rifle Division. The "Pasubio" division's 80th Regiment engaged in close house-to-house fighting with the defenders, while the 79th Regiment (supported by "Duca d'Aosta" artillery units) swept through the downtown district with little resistance. Soviet combat casualties were unknown, but about 600 soldiers were taken prisoner. The Soviet 296th Rifle Division withdrew, and fighting continued for the next few days as the Italians cleared enemy remnants from the city and the surrounding area.[6]
With the onset of winter, the CSIR units began consolidating their occupation zone and preparing defensive works. In the last week of December, the "Duca d'Aosta" division was hit with a fierce counterattack by Soviet forces. They managed to beat back the attacks long enough for the German 1st Panzer Army to provide back-up to their sector and subsequently defeat the Soviet offensive. The "Christmas Battle" was hailed as a great victory back in Italy, though the division likely would have fallen without German support. It subsequently weathered the 1941-1942 winter quite well in its relatively quiet occupation zone.[7] Up to this point, the CSIR had taken 8,700 casualties.[8]
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The ARMIR advanced toward the right bank of the Don River which was reached by July 1942. From 17 to 20 July 1942, the Italians fought for the possession of and captured the important coal-mining basin of Krasny Lutsch (southeast of Kharkov) with a rapid enveloping maneuver.[10] This cost the army 90 dead and 540 wounded, while inflicting over 1,000 combat casualties on the Soviets and taking 4,000 Soviet troops as prisoners.[11]
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Also on August 24, 700 Italian horsemen of the Savoia Cavalleria routed 2,500 Soviet troops of the 812th Siberian Infantry Regiment near Isbushenskij. While taking 84 casualties (32 dead, 52 wounded), the Italians inflicted 1,050 casualties (150 dead, 300 wounded, 600 captured) on the Soviets, and captured 14 artillery pieces. While overall a minor event in the ARMIR's participation, the cavalry charge had great propaganda resonance back in Italy.
That isn't going to happen as they WERE bad. They needed the Germans to bail them out against the Greeks. They had their butts handed to them by the badly outnumbered British military. Basically, they spent the entire war losing, badly.
I think this video is pretty good.
A TL where the Us army has the same level of incompetence as the Italians and stretches it throughout the entire war is...pushing it, to say the least.