with the operation uranus pod spec'ed in the op
1. Stalin listens to Zhukov about Saturn being more important than challenging Manstein's relief forces in a slogging match
2. Manstein breaks the stalingrad encirclement but burns out his forces and logistic tail in doing so
3. Saturn goes ahead full steam and crushes the italian 8th army and advances faster than AG Don, AG A and 6th army can retreat; and beats them to rostov severing all supply lines and compelling the surrender of 40 German divisions (1)
North Africa goes Otlish.... POD is too close to torch to make a decisive change there (2)
Huskey is launched under Patton's original plan plus landing the 1st infantry division and 3 tank battalions at calabria to isolate the two strong german divisions on the island and compel their surrender (3)
Avalanche is launched at citivecchia trapping all forces south of rome with only mop up work done by two corps of 8th army in a reduced priority operation baytown and slapstick
allies stop at gothic line shift forces and launch dragoon against the weaker part of the atlantic wall and shift every possible division through toulon and marsailles (4)
war over 9/1/44
I like this scenario, though I do have a couple of questions:
1) Assuming they beat the Germans to Rostov, couldn't Manstein attempt a brakethrough north, cutting off the Soviet spearhead in the process ? OR, assuming he doesn't, can't the Germans retreat into the Crimea across the narrow strait ? Didn't they do something simmilar OTL ? (Although getting most of the equipment out is probably impossible in this case)
2) With such a disaster in Russia, would Hitler still be willing to send all those forces to Tunisia ? Or launch an alternate Op. Citadell ? (which destroyed most of the their mobile panzer force in the east)
3) Wasn't there a strong force of fallschirmjager + whatever Italian Garrison units in Calabria OTL ?
4) In this scenario, wouldn't they be forced into a slow slug up the Rhone valley, maybe simmilar to the OTl Italian campaign ? (although, such a landing would probably suck up all German forces, leaving the channel coast pretty undefended...)