Defending the Realm

Any thoughts on my most recent update?

When discussion early, large scale amphibious assaults, remember that the actuall assault/landing ships simply did not exist at this time. When Torch was carried out in 1942, even with the US industry starting to work full bore, such a shortage was a significant point in the planning.

Edit: otherwise, I liked it. :D
 
Ah ! The Americans won't try to support Vichy or a Vichy Admiral thanks to this ^^

The legitimate french governement is in Algiers now, Capital of France !
 
You may want to shift the invasion of Madagascar back by a month into April of 1942. Madagascar's rainy / typhoon season ends in March - and the northern and eastern areas are affected more so.
Very well, I'll amend the update.

When discussion early, large scale amphibious assaults, remember that the actuall assault/landing ships simply did not exist at this time. When Torch was carried out in 1942, even with the US industry starting to work full bore, such a shortage was a significant point in the planning.
I'll keep this in mind for any future amphibious assaults.

Edit: otherwise, I liked it.
Thank you!

You should get New Zealand and Australia to capture the German colonies in the south pacific.
Do you mean Vichy French colonies?
 
Did Germany have any colonies in the south pacific in WW2? I thought everything went, at least in the Original Timeline, at the end of WW1?
Very well, I'll amend the update.


I'll keep this in mind for any future amphibious assaults.


Thank you!


Do you mean Vichy French colonies?
Australia was awarded the former German New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, Nauru, and the northern half of the Solomon Islands. German Samoa became a New Zealand mandate, and Japan was awarded the mandate of the former German colonies north of the Equator, namely the Mariana, Caroline, and Marshall Islands.

Does that clear it up a bit for you gents?
 
Chapter Ten: The Fall of Mussolini
While Battleaxe was taking place and the Allies were making the final push to evict the Axis from North Africa, several key events were occurring inside Continental Europe which shall be discussed in this chapter.

As previously mentioned, the Nazis’ main objective was an invasion of the Soviet Union, which was code-named Operation Barbarossa. The failure of Sealion had resulted in the launch date of Barbarossa being postponed from May 1941 to May 1942, yet in April 1942, Hitler was informed that the Operation would have to be delayed once again – the invasion of Switzerland had proved to be a drain on German resources, with a large amount of munitions and supplies being wasted on attempting to force through into the Alps. As a result, the Wehrmacht did not have the correct equipment to launch Barbarossa, and so it would have to be delayed until August. This infuriated Hitler, who entered a fit of rage shortly after hearing the news, yet it would soon become apparent that the Führer would have to delay Barbarossa once again, as a result of events involving his ally, the Duce.

Since the Italian entry into the war in June 1940, the people of Italy had become more and more dissatisfied with Mussolini and the Fascist Government – all of Italy’s colonial possessions had been lost, while any Italian gains made in Europe were as a result of German intervention, and so they could hardly be described as Italian victories. This, combined with a major oil shortage in Italy which occurred as a result of losing Libya and overall dissatisfaction with the totalitarian regime established by Mussolini, meant that, by 1942, the Fascist Government was a bubble doomed to burst. And on July the 14th, just that happened.

King Victor Emmanuel III had been under pressure from his close family to remove Mussolini from office for a long period of time, as, the longer he remained Prime Minister, then more associated the Monarchy would be with the disastrous Fascist regime. On the 12th, a major protest erupted in Rome against Mussolini, which had to be squashed with a large amount of violence by soldiers and police officers loyal to the Duce. Upon hearing news of the riots and bloodshed, Victor Emmanuel came to the conclusion that dismissing Mussolini was necessary to ensure the survival of Italy. And so, on the 14th, when Mussolini attended an audience with Victor Emmanuel, the King proceeded to dismiss Mussolini, ordered his arrest, and renounced the thrones of Ethiopia and Albania, so as to distance himself from the actions of the Fascist Government.

This dramatic turn of events in Rome was followed up shortly afterwards by further decisions by the King - the members of the Grand Council of Fascism, a body established by Mussolini to run the Italian Government, were put under house arrest, while Victor Emmanuel invited Vittorio Emanuele Orlando, who had previously served as Prime Minister of Italy during the First World War, to form a new Government and become Prime Minister on the 15th. A day after accepting the King’s invitation, Orlando took his first major decision as Prime Minister, which was to request an armistice with Britain and the other Allied Powers, thereby allowing Italy to exit a conflict which was bringing about its own demise.

However, as it happened, Churchill and the British Government were unable to give a response to Orlando’s armistice request – for Hitler and the Nazi Government in Berlin soon learned of the overthrow of Mussolini, and the Führer immediately ordered action to be taken to reinstate the Duce in Rome. And so, on the 17th, twelve German divisions under the command of Erwin Rommel launched a full-scale invasion of Italy, which proved to be rather quick, due to the fact that the Italian Army was in something of a state of disarray following the overthrow of the Duce. By the 19th, German troops entered Rome, forcing Orlando and Victor Emanuele to flee to Naples. Upon securing the Italian capital, German forces released Mussolini from prison, yet, as it happened, the Duce would not receive the reinstatement he initially expected – as Mussolini was escorted from prison by ten German soldiers, an anti-Fascist partisan was able to enter the proximity of the former Prime Minister, and shot two bullets – one hit Mussolini’s chest, and the other hit his neck. Immediately afterwards, the partisan was shot dead by a German officer, while Mussolini fell to the floor. The former Duce had breathed his last.

While these events transpired in Rome, in Southern Italy, the German invasion force continued to advance. By the 21st, Naples had been captured by Rommel’s forces, forcing the King and the Italian Government to once again flee, this time to Palmero on the island of Sicily. Yet the German divisions refused to cease their advance, and by the 25th, the entirety of the Italian Peninsula had been overrun. Initially, Orlando requested that British troops be sent to Sicily so as to reinforce its defences in the event of a German attack – yet Churchill had to refuse this request, due to Britain’s pre-occupation with preparations for Battleaxe at the time. As a result of this, Victor Emmanuel and Orlando agreed to abandon Sicily and retreat to Allied-controlled territory to form a Government-in-exile. The exiled Italian Government arrived in Malta on the 27th, and subsequently flew to London, where they were greeted with warmth by the British Government, who allowed the Italians to form a Government-in-exile from the city.

Meanwhile, Germany subsequently re-organised its new Italian possessions – Northern Italy (including Italian Switzerland) was directly annexed into Greater Germany, so as to (according to the Nazi propaganda machine) ‘restore the borders of the First Reich’, while Central and Southern Italy became a German puppet state, the Italian Social Republic [1], which was governed by a junta of Fascists who had previously played a significant role in Mussolini’s Government. As a result of this, the Nazis had eliminated another potential threat on the Continent, but at a cost – the diversion of troops to invade Italy meant that Barbarossa was once again delayed, from August to September. However, many senior German officers agreed that launching the invasion in September would condemn it to failure, as it was too close to the start of the harsh Russian winter – and so, Barbarossa was delayed yet again to May 1943. As a result of this, the German invasion of Italy was, for the Nazis, something of a pyrrhic victory.

**​

[1] As a side-note, the Italian troops mentioned in the previous chapter which took part in the Tunisian Campaign were serving the Italian Social Republic.
 
Last edited:
Well then, it would seem when the Germans finally launch Barbarossa, it's gonna be somewhere in 1944 with how many delays there are. But now, I wonder what the British plan to do to land on the mainland, a Balkan campaign, a landing in France or a landing in Sicily or Italy proper? Eitherway, good work on the story.
 
But now, I wonder what the British plan to do to land on the mainland, a Balkan campaign, a landing in France or a landing in Sicily or Italy proper? Eitherway, good work on the story.

Knowing Churchills mad ideas probably invade Europe via an attack in the Baltic.
 
Wow, what a mess. :D love it!

One futher point on Barbarossa. In June 1940, the germans were caugh by susprise by the appearence of the then-almost brand new T-34 and KV-1 tanks, which they knew nothing about. This caused a massive shift in german tank planning, leading to a rushed Tiger I and the latter Panther. Here, however, there's no way the USSR can hide them; by now there should be thousands of T-34s and KV-1s, so the germans will certainly know about them. And they'll be looking at their Panzer III with the 50mm (which I believe was rushed because of the Matilda and B1-bis) and maybe the PzIV with the 75L/43, the L48 only being developed after the original 1941 shock. So, imho, I think this version should include a scene going something like this:
German intel:"Holy crap, mein generals, look at what we found in Russia!" /shows photos and reports of KV-1 and T-34
Generals: "Mein Gott" /rush to Hitler saying they need to rethink the panzer arm
Hitler: /many curses and ugly words


Edited for spelling.
 
Last edited:
<humongous snip>

While these events transpired in Rome, in Southern Italy, the German invasion force continued to advance. By the 21st, Naples had been captured by Rommel’s forces, forcing the King and the Italian Government to once again flee, this time to Palmero on the island of Sicily. Yet the German divisions refused to cease their advance, and by the 25th, the entirety of the Italian Peninsula had been overrun. Initially, Orlando requested that British troops be sent to Sicily so as to reinforce its defences in the event of a German attack – yet Churchill had to refuse this request, due to Britain’s pre-occupation with preparations for Battleaxe at the time. As a result of this, Victor Emmanuel and Orlando agreed to abandon Sicily and retreat to Allied-controlled territory to form a Government-in-exile. The exiled Italian Government arrived in Malta on the 27th, and subsequently flew to London, where they were greeted with warmth by the British Government, who allowed the Italians to form a Government-in-exile from the city.

Does this mean that they get the Italian fleet? If so, Japan is going to have to do some planning for the Southeast Asian campaign -- right astride the route they need to take to get to the Southern Resource Area (i.e., Dutch East Indies oil), because getting the Italian fleet in the Med means that British ships can be sent to Singapore.
 
Does this mean that they get the Italian fleet? If so, Japan is going to have to do some planning for the Southeast Asian campaign -- right astride the route they need to take to get to the Southern Resource Area (i.e., Dutch East Indies oil), because getting the Italian fleet in the Med means that British ships can be sent to Singapore.

Wait, it's 1942 and Japan hasn't attacked yet?
 
To clarify: I wasn't refering to uranium, or even basic technologies. I'm refering to the massive industrial efort required. It took the giant US industry (and funds...) 4-5 years to build it, not to mention what it took to get the B-29...
Much of the cost of the Manhattan project was down to pursuing both the linear uranium and implosion plutonium designs simultaneously. The UK could concentrate on the plutonium design and develop a workable nuclear bomb with far less effort.
 
Eitherway, good work on the story.
Wow, what a mess. :D love it!
Thank you!

One futher point on Barbarossa. In June 1940, the germans were caugh by susprise by the appearence of the then-almost brand new T-34 and KV-1 tanks, which they knew nothing about. This caused a massie shift in german tank planning, leading to a rushed Tiger I and the latter Panther. Here, however, there's no way the USSR can hide them; by now there should be thousands of T-34s and KV-1s, so the germans will certainly know about them. And they'll be looking at their Panzer III with the 50mm (which I believe was rushed because of the Matilda and B1-bis) and maybe the PzIV with the 75L/43, the L48 only beging developed after the original 1941 shock.
Interesting - I didn't know about that before!

Does this mean that they get the Italian fleet?
The Regia Marina has largely been split - those in port at the time of the German invasion have been taken by the Italian Social Republic, while those at sea during the German takeover have either joined 'Free Italy', or been captured by the Allies.
 
Also, in case anyone is interested, here is a map of the war, as of September 1942 (after the German invasion of Italy and the Allied liberation of French Africa):
upload_2017-9-26_19-40-58.png

Blue: Allied nations and territory occupied by the Allies
Dark Red: Axis nations
Red: Territory occupied by Axis nations
Light Red: Axis puppet states
(The base map for this can be found here: http://www.blankatlas.booru.org/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=207)
 
It's not obvious, but it looks like you've got Syria held by the Allies. IIRC, OTL they were held by Vichy France, and it took some serious fighting for the Allies to take them. Could you clarify for my poor, easily confused brain.
 
Top