What if WW2 takes place with Pearl Harbour, and the US and German declarations of war as of late 1941, but there is no Operation Torch in 1942? Maybe the US doesn't want to send troops across the Atlantic until the U-boats have been mastered. Maybe Congress insists that for anything other than a cross-Channel liberation of France, the Pacific theatre and fighting Japan has to take priority. The build up of American air-forces in the UK still happens, but there are no American landings in French North Africa in 1942.
So how do things go without Torch?
Does Hitler pile more troops into North Africa without thousands of Americans streaming across the Atlantic, or does he tell Rommel that he has to make do with what he has?
If the British manage to defeat Rommel, and clear North Africa up to the borders of Tunisia, do they take action against French North Africa on their own, or do they look for another option?
Without American troops in North Africa (and if French North Africa doesn't 'go British'), do the Germans leave the Vichy regime largely intact in France?
Would an Anglo-Russian Operation Jupiter be possibly on the cards for late 1942/early 1943 (a Norway campaign) if Rommel has been defeated and the UK government feels unable/unwilling with present forces to either go across the Channel or to take on Vichy North Africa?
So how do things go without Torch?
Does Hitler pile more troops into North Africa without thousands of Americans streaming across the Atlantic, or does he tell Rommel that he has to make do with what he has?
If the British manage to defeat Rommel, and clear North Africa up to the borders of Tunisia, do they take action against French North Africa on their own, or do they look for another option?
Without American troops in North Africa (and if French North Africa doesn't 'go British'), do the Germans leave the Vichy regime largely intact in France?
Would an Anglo-Russian Operation Jupiter be possibly on the cards for late 1942/early 1943 (a Norway campaign) if Rommel has been defeated and the UK government feels unable/unwilling with present forces to either go across the Channel or to take on Vichy North Africa?