The Empire Strikes Back: A Smarter Axis TL

Status
Not open for further replies.
Thanks to German reinforcements, the British advance
on Narvik was pushed back into the sea. However,
the British made advances into Norway, eventually getting
to the border with Sweden and cutting German forces
in Northern Norway from the supply lines in Southern
Norway. While the British advanced north, the Germans
attacked from the south to try to reconnect their forces.

Meanwhile, the German navy was sustaining heavy
damage from the British. Though the Royal Navy
was also hit hard by the Luftwaffe, the Kriegsmarine
was undeniably much weaker, and plans for a
naval invasion of Britain after conquering France were scrapped.

Europe 11-2-1938.PNG
 
On May 30, the Western Front began. German
forces swept through Luxembourg and southern
Belgium, in the supposedly impractical Ardennes
(which were chosen due to being unexpected),
and into France. Meanwhile, the Netherlands
declared war on Britain, France, and Belgium on
June 2, while invading the latter with a pincer movement
aimed at taking Antwerp.

As expected, Franco-British forces immediately engaged in conflict,
occupying the Dutch half of St. Martin, while skirmishes were reported in
Dutch Suriname, Guyana, and French Guiana. The Dutch East Indies, despite
having a few skirmishes with British colonies in SE Asia, were mostly
spared due to the Japanese attacks of French Indochina, British Burma, and British Borneo.

In Norway, the beginning of the Western Front
and a new campaign in Southeast Asia meant that
British forces were needed elsewhere. Due also to
a string of German and Norwegian victories against the
British, the last British strongholds in Norway began
evacuation on June 5.

Europe 11-2-1938.PNG
 
Last edited:
You do know that the Dutch army was pretty much useless for offensive operations?

And the entry of Holland into the war butterflies away the fall of France as 7th army will not be moving to defend Holland. Instead the allies will hold it in strategic reserve, as per the original plan, and it will kick Rommel in the teeth when he tries to cross the Meuse.

OTL the French had figured out how to fight the Blitzkreig by the time they were defending the Seine, they just didn't have the men left to do it. ITTL they will hold the Germans in 1940, and the allies will win the war in the west once they have wrested air superiority from the Luftwaffe by late summer.
 
The 7th army will be doing something else.;)

Also, the Dutch are only nominally in control of the invasion. I'd make it the color of the other Axis puppets (Serbia, Croatia, Romania), but I like the color orange.:p
 
As expected, Franco-British forces immediately occupied Suriname, Aruba, and the Dutch Antilles,
but the Dutch East Indies, as expected, held for a while.
The Japanese, which had captured most of coastal Indochina, continued fighting the French garrisons,
but also moved south to attack British Borneo while fighting alongside Dutch forces.

This is of course sheer ASB, in order to do so you need to invade the territory, and at this time they absolutely did not have the capacity to do so. surinam, maybe due to being neighboured by english/french colonies, but it still would not be that simple. st. maarten, probably. the rest of the antilles, less likely. And the East-Indies, definately no. I mean the japanese are keeping them busy there, they absolutely have no manpower to spare to do so, and not to speak of the total lack of amphibic capacity at that time.
 
Think that edit represents it quite well.

As for caribean & suriname, i expect skirmishes but neither side had a lot of forces there at that time. Surinam though can be attacked from the both guyanas over land, not sure how much forces they have there though.
Might become a slow process especially no good connection between the countries (jungle & rivers).
Suriname is important because it supplies 60% of the bauxite the US needs. The US might pressure the brits & french to stay out in order to preserve its supply of bauxite (the mine is owned by US company Alcoa). If it gets shut down, it would seriously hurt the aluminium production.
The moment the US enters the war, invading might become a priority.
Troops in suriname: about 500-1000 plus Military police and normal police (OTL figure).

for the islands near Venezuela, I could see them using the opportunity to try to seize the islands.

If the Netherlands knows what is going to happen, they can prepare, and take some initiatve, but not sure how far that could go.
 
You do know that the Dutch army was pretty much useless for offensive operations?

And the entry of Holland into the war butterflies away the fall of France as 7th army will not be moving to defend Holland. Instead the allies will hold it in strategic reserve, as per the original plan, and it will kick Rommel in the teeth when he tries to cross the Meuse.

OTL the French had figured out how to fight the Blitzkreig by the time they were defending the Seine, they just didn't have the men left to do it. ITTL they will hold the Germans in 1940, and the allies will win the war in the west once they have wrested air superiority from the Luftwaffe by late summer.

I agree. The Seventh Army could have very well been sent to the Ardennes by Gamelin to reinforce his weakest line. Given the German's great successes in the Balkans, Hitler could have dismissed Manstein's plan as cowardly, and wanted to attack the Dyle Line head on. Of course doing so would have led to the swift crushing of the blitzkrieg.

The French also invaded Germany in 1939 in the Saarland, but they pulled back after advancing 5 miles. In 1940, there were still few defensive forces along the opposite side of the Maginot Line, so another Saar Offensive could have easily deorbited the Ardennes and Sedan campaign.

With the Dutch Army, they were pretty useless. The Belgians would have immediately jumped onboard with the Allies after the Dutch betrayal, meaning a more fortified and better defended Dyle Line. The Germans captured the main line fortress before the British could even reach it in OTL, so a stronger Dyle and Namur Line, combined with the Seventh Army possibly in Sedan would have likely blunted the blitz. Also, Hitler wanted to eventually annex Holland into the Greater German Reich, so this alliance would have probably been a stab-in-the back for the Dutch, making the government look like complete idiots, and probably causing some problems in the DEI, considering that Japan would probably just take them over following the annexation of Holland directly to Germany.

The Norway part is a bit ASB. Why would liberal Norway, with a tiny, insignificant fascist party under Quisling, suddenly jump over to a nation (Germany) and the fascist ideology, who would occupy them militarily, destroy their civil liberties, subjugate them to totalitarian oppresion, when they could just let the British occupy and beat the Germans. The Allies would have respected Norway's borders, not imposed a dictatorship, and were only occupying to deny the Germans the iron ore from Narvik. And Sweden and Finland helping them? It was the Allies who were trying to get to Finland by landing at Narvik to assist them against the Soviets.
 
Last edited:
I have answers to all your questions, but unfortunately for you guys I'm going on vacation for a week. I have a computer, so I can still post, but no maps.

Anyway, the next update, probably in a couple weeks, will fill the holes.:)

Also, the Allies are dumber in TTL.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top