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Piracy in that age wasn't very practical - it's only in more recent decades that piracy came back, with the right technologies making it viable.
 

Monitor

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Although he fled his country during its darkest hour, Michael Collins vowed that the Ireland he struggled to liberate 20 years ago would die in vain
Would die in vain? There is missing a negation in that sentence somewhere, I think. Or I am just bad at English. Both quite possible :)
 
A Sickle Cut
A Sickle Cut
With a large chunk of its forces stuck in Flanders, the Germans hastily redeployed its forces to the Rhineland in the event of a French thrust. Emergency plans were set up with the idea of fortifying the Rhine to make it impassable to the French onslaught. Although it looked like the French were heading that way, they had other plans in mind. Fearing a communist takeover than a German one, the Dutch allowed the German troops to transit through Holland.

For the Communists, this meant that Dutch neutrality was seen as worthless. Thus began Gamelin’s 2nd plan, which was to swing around the German defenses again by going through the Netherlands like swinging a sickle. On June 15, as the Germans crossed the border in a desperate bid to escape annihilation, the French chased them with light tanks as the spearhead.

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Dutch troops in a trench, June 1940

Fighting raged across North Brabant and Limburg as the Dutch army was hastily mobilized like the Irish and also ineffective against the Guerre Eclaire tactics that the French had experimented back in Spain. Not to mention, Paratroopers were used in securing the vital bridges and crossings, making them advance all the easier. As more and more German troops moved into the Netherlands, the divisions stationed in Alsace Lorraine and the Rhineland were thinly stretched. To offset this, reinforcements from the east were deployed to prevent a possible breakthrough.

This became moot, as the French would build pontoon bridges along with the Dutch areas of the river. From there, the French army was advancing into Utrecht and Gelderland, thanks to the assistance of a few paratroop units. Another force attempted to bypass the Ruhr, heading for Bremen and Hamburg. This forced von Kluge to send his panzers into Hannover to stop them.

In the Netherlands, the Dutch government evacuated out of the country and set up its offices in Berlin. As the French advanced further across the flatlands and tulip fields of the country, the cities became targets of aerial bombing. One city that took the most devastation by accident was Rotterdam, where a bomber squadron flattened the city before they were notified that the defenders had surrendered.

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Rotterdam after the bombings, June 1940

Joined with arriving British troops, the Communists advanced all the way until they reached the banks of the Rhine. In anticipation, the Germans blew up all the bridges across the river which stopped the French from advancing onto the German heartland. When the French tried to cross it several times, they were pushed back by the various bunkers and fortifications meant to stop such a thing. Although it was a terrible defeat for the Germans for losing the Rhineland and various other areas, they could console themselves that at least the Reds were stopped at the Rhine. Unsurprisingly, the song ‘Die Wacht am Rhein” exploded in popularity as both soldiers sang it on the western frontline.

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***

The Next Moves

In Madrid, the Spanish government met with British and French envoys to discuss future military operations. In everyone’s mind, they knew where they should attack next if they were to cut off Germany’s access to the sea. The problem was the Spanish army was entirely infantry with very few tanks and armored vehicles. To prepare the Spaniards for war, several shipments of tanks were sent to them with officers acting as teachers in the creation of an armored corps.

During this same meeting, it was decided that an invasion would be made on Northern Morocco where Franco and his fascist rebels were stationed. To accompany this African landing, Mosley ordered setting up an expeditionary force consisting of seasoned troops and marines, along with an armored column filled with armored cars, jeeps, and tanks. The plan was to get in touch with Moroccan nationalists for a general uprising on the same day of the invasion. From there, the Comintern forces would advance all the way to Tunisia if the French Republic joined the war and even Libya if the Italians joined as well. Once the agreement was made, planning for the operation would begin in earnest. For Caballero & Negrin, they would soon have a chance of finishing off their civil war opponents.

***

Illusionary Humiliation

From the moment he opened his eyes, Mussolini saw that he was on the ground and an angry mob of people was shouting curses at him. He could not move his own body as if he was paralyzed below the neck. Virtually helpless, the Duce was left with nothing but taking whatever the crowd was throwing at him. First, it was tomatoes and saliva spits, then it evolved into piss and trash. Some of them even began throwing rocks and kicking at Mussolini’s paralyzed body.

A while later, a couple of armed men strung his body upside down high enough for the whole crowd to see him. Mussolini tried telling them to let him down but they wouldn’t listen. From the looks of their faces, he saw blind anger and hatred being thrown at him. To his surprise, Mussolini found that he wasn’t only the one hanging upside down. From their bruised and battered faces, the Duce recognized in horror at the lifeless bodies: His mistress Petacci, Pavolini, Starace, and some other man he couldn’t recognize.

From the very crowd that spouted vitriol at him, an old woman came forward with a pistol in her hands. As she got closer, Mussolini saw absolute rage on her face with eyes of anger. She then aims her gun at his head. The Duce kept pleading with her to not kill him, but she wouldn’t listen. Instead of listening to him, the old lady triumphantly shouted “For my five dead sons!”.

Just as a white muzzle flash lit up in front of his face, Mussolini instantly sprang up from his bed covered in sweat and his heart pounding like crazy. He looked around and cooled down at ease. He reflected on what he just saw and tried to calm his nerves by drinking some water. As he got back to bed, there was a fear nagging in his mind at the possibility of such a thing happening should he lose the war. Whatever it is, he tried reassuring himself that it wouldn’t happen.

“It was a bad dream. A really bad dream.”
 
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The Dutch would likely have flooded large parts of their country, thus impeding any enemy advance. Where are the Dutch and German air forces, come to think of it?
I am also a bit skeptical about the somewhat disjointed German defence. They seem...underprepared. And I doubt that with a revanchist France right on their borders, they would be caught with their pants down the way you depict it. Because France attacking sooner or later is a no-brainer and there would be various defence plans available.
But I am still interested in where you are taking this.
 
The Dutch would likely have flooded large parts of their country, thus impeding any enemy advance. Where are the Dutch and German air forces, come to think of it?
I am also a bit skeptical about the somewhat disjointed German defence. They seem...underprepared. And I doubt that with a revanchist France right on their borders, they would be caught with their pants down the way you depict it. Because France attacking sooner or later is a no-brainer and there would be various defence plans available.
But I am still interested in where you are taking this.

Previous chancellor probably messed things even worsely than we imaginated.
 
The Dutch would likely have flooded large parts of their country, thus impeding any enemy advance.
I never knew that was the plan in case of an invasion.

Where are the Dutch and German air forces, come to think of it?

The Dutch and German air forces are duking it out on the skies of Western Europe. The French Armee de l'Air is currently bombarding German positions and destroying the airfields of Western Germany.

I am also a bit skeptical about the somewhat disjointed German defence. They seem...underprepared. And I doubt that with a revanchist France right on their borders, they would be caught with their pants down the way you depict it. Because France attacking sooner or later is a no-brainer and there would be various defence plans available.
Keep in mind, Germany was hit hard by the Great Depression. This meant they were cash strapped & couldn't afford to fortify the entire French border. Thus, they only fortified Alsace Lorraine and not the other areas, even in Flanders-Wallonia.

Also, the German army in recent years only had experience in fighting counter insurgency and not in a conventional war. Since they were the victors of the last war, the military had grown complacent with a lot of old-guard generals still in charge. Meanwhile, the French have been on a rearmament program, have been experimenting with new tactics, and tried them out in Spain when it intervened in 1938. This proved successful and gave them valuable combat experience when facing the Germans.

Last but not least, the Germans were in a panic at the rapid French advances. They didn't have a plan against the Guerre Eclaire tactics, which is the French version of blitzkrieg. As a result, they were pushed back at all times until they were forced to take up positions at the Rhine river.
 
Keep in mind, Germany was hit hard by the Great Depression. This meant they were cash strapped & couldn't afford to fortify the entire French border. Thus, they only fortified Alsace Lorraine and not the other areas, even in Flanders-Wallonia.

Also, the German army in recent years only had experience in fighting counter insurgency and not in a conventional war. Since they were the victors of the last war, the military had grown complacent with a lot of old-guard generals still in charge. Meanwhile, the French have been on a rearmament program, have been experimenting with new tactics, and tried them out in Spain when it intervened in 1938. This proved successful and gave them valuable combat experience when facing the Germans.

Last but not least, the Germans were in a panic at the rapid French advances. They didn't have a plan against the Guerre Eclaire tactics, which is the French version of blitzkrieg. As a result, they were pushed back at all times until they were forced to take up positions at the Rhine river.
That's not sufficient as an explanation.
This Germany did not have its military neutered by the treaty of Versailles nor did it suffer through the economic malaise of Weimar Germany in the twenties. There is no way that it would be weaker than the disfunctional Third Reich. Mistakes can happen since doctrine could very well be obsolete, but what is descibed is a collapse that is way out of line for any realistic military performance by the German army.

The chapter descibes a completely unprecedented retreat across the entire front by a supposedly panicking Prussian general staff, abandoning even supposedly fortified border territory with manpower being described as paradoxically scarce everywhere, in spite of the great economic and demographic advantages Germany has over France which would only have inreased further with a victorious WW1. On top of that, the general staff has no plan how to react to an enemy breakthrough? That is complely out of character.
 
That's not sufficient as an explanation.
This Germany did not have its military neutered by the treaty of Versailles nor did it suffer through the economic malaise of Weimar Germany in the twenties. There is no way that it would be weaker than the disfunctional Third Reich. Mistakes can happen since doctrine could very well be obsolete, but what is descibed is a collapse that is way out of line for any realistic military performance by the German army.

The chapter descibes a completely unprecedented retreat across the entire front by a supposedly panicking Prussian general staff, abandoning even supposedly fortified border territory with manpower being described as paradoxically scarce everywhere, in spite of the great economic and demographic advantages Germany has over France which would only have inreased further with a victorious WW1. On top of that, the general staff has no plan how to react to an enemy breakthrough? That is complely out of character.
That‘s exactly my thinking.
...And Prussian General Staffs do not panic 😉
 
That's not sufficient as an explanation.
This Germany did not have its military neutered by the treaty of Versailles nor did it suffer through the economic malaise of Weimar Germany in the twenties. There is no way that it would be weaker than the disfunctional Third Reich. Mistakes can happen since doctrine could very well be obsolete, but what is descibed is a collapse that is way out of line for any realistic military performance by the German army.

The chapter descibes a completely unprecedented retreat across the entire front by a supposedly panicking Prussian general staff, abandoning even supposedly fortified border territory with manpower being described as paradoxically scarce everywhere, in spite of the great economic and demographic advantages Germany has over France which would only have inreased further with a victorious WW1. On top of that, the general staff has no plan how to react to an enemy breakthrough? That is complely out of character.
Okay, I'll have to do some revisions to the text. I'll admit I have very little knowledge on how a war like this would play out. I intended to have the Germans act like the French army IOTL where they became overconfident and complacent and the French TTL as punching above their weight.
 
Okay, I'll have to do some revisions to the text. I'll admit I have very little knowledge on how a war like this would play out. I intended to have the Germans act like the French army IOTL where they became overconfident and complacent and the French TTL as punching above their weight.

I’m with @Dain on this but I think there’s ways you can accomplish this and still tell the story you want to tell.

For instance: An overconfident German counterattack after an initial repulse of the French attacks ending with their center point Army surrounded and annihilated, Stalingrad style, stunning the OKH and leading to a haphazard retreat by the left and right Wings of their lines to safer ground as they scramble to redeploy forces held elsewhere and not expected to be needed?
 
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