Richard Anderson wrote: ↑16 Dec 2020 02:10
AnchorSteam wrote: ↑16 Dec 2020 01:27
Okay... but this is June 1940, and I am trying to keep
myself from going ahead too quickly!
Was there any threat of invasion in Albania, from Greece or Yugoslavia? If so, how serious would it have been once Italy went in with Germany?
I understand, but you have to realize in turn, the Italian focus on Greece and the Balkans began in April 1939, with the occupation of Albania. It was also the logical follow-on to the "stab in the back" of France, given the Greek operation was intended to occupy Epirus and Corfu, preventing the British from establishing a safe base on the Ionian Sea, threatening Italian control of the Adriatic.
So the threat they expected was not from Greece or Yugoslavia, but from Britain.
All the more reason to not be distracted by any Balkan adventure and get serious about the U.K.
Here's how-
To finish with Army strategy, Let me deploy and send them off; (and remember, these are the full-strength Divisions, a much leaner and meaner set of formations)
Malta; 1 x Marine unit, 1 x Paratroop Div.
France; 1st Mech Corps, 7th Mountain Corps, 4th Corps {inf}, 1 x Heavy Div. (a total of ten Divs)
Libya; towards Tunisia; 5th Corps & 3rd Mech Corps + 1 Heavy Division
towards Egypt; 2nd Mech, 6th Corps +2 Heavy Divisions
(The mechanized Division is detached to probe Siwa and Mishefa, and eventually towards Mersa Matruh.)
All of these are to kick-off on the same day, so given the hitoric June 10th decision, this means D-Day June 12th.
France;
Along most of the front Alpine troops will probe, looking for passage round French fortified areas (the passes) to that they can attack them form the rear while 4th Corps hammers them from the front. Near the coast, the Heavy Division will assault the border area with Naval gunfire support, and then more or less remain in place as they pass the 1st Mech Corps through whatever breakthrough they make.
Malta;
A strenuouis air-raid on flak positions and a couple of key forts is followed immediatly by airborne forces, and hopefully the flyboys have not cratered all the runways....

we'll need those. Naval infantry will be standing by to land at a suitable area once it is cleared from behind by the Paratroops. Going in early like this demands good recon in advance, and minimizes the chances the local garrison (such as it is) to prepare their defenses.
Tunisia;
This must be handled carefully, since the border is fortified and there may be some French tanks more formidable than the FT-17 lurking in the area. To deal with tanks like the 35R, it will be nescessary to equip the truck-mounted 75mm AA guns with armor piercing rounds, and least a few for each batttery, and make sure they can use them. The "Fast" units can try to round the flank, but the rest of our force must use tactics like the Germans at Verdun; use overwhelming force to pinch off small parts of the front, and eliminate the enemy with minimal loses.
(yes, I know, but at first this worked well. Verdun did not become an equal-opportunity meat grinder undil certain Germans became glory-hounds and broke from the plan)
Egypt;
I guess this is the one everyone will watch most closely, so I included a map.
Hopefully, a more controlled entry into the war means that Balbo was not killed in that freak accident, but in any case here is the plan=
The main force will proceed down the main road, or be flanking it, and it will go at the same pedestrial pace that was the case originally; about 20 km. per day, or even a little less sometimes.
I am aware of the supply issues, but I do not think that Garibaldi was justified in asking for more trucks than existed in Italy to keep his army moving forward. That is not the whole reason for a slow pace, at first. Seeing as how we have three armored thrusts going on at once, there will only be 24 x M11/39 tanks here, the only Italian tanks with cannon (37mm). The rest are CV-33, 35 & 38. Now, this is not going to discourage me, what did the WDF have? Vickers tanks and Rolls Royce Armored cars, and that is about all. What could Britain send while the Battle fo Britain was raging and Sealion appeared imminent?
Not much, and if my other plans work, they won't be able to send more in any case, even if they had something to send.
The moderate pace makes things easy for the main body, buit it also sets the WDF for problems;
(I hope this works)
The mechanized Division is to the south ... and I wonder if I should have used two Fast Brigades instead.... but as you see it splits to make two moves.
One is to the railhead at Mishefa, and if they are very lucky they might be able to capture a train or some other running gear there. What they are doing next is making a jab towards Sidi Barani. This should be discomfiting to any Brits thinking of holding that place, but since they did not...
Next we have the truly daring part, the lung from one oasis to the next, from Jarabub to Siwa. Some sort of commandos would be handy for this part, just to prevent the British from finding out about this right away.
This group makes it's tre towards Mersa Matruh, where the WDF was in fact planning to make a stand. Now, the pace of the main body begins to pick up, they are leaving Foot-bound infantry behind to secure the coast. The idea is to hit the British early, and the small force (see the thinest arrow) moving along the Railroad is meant to distract them from the force coming from Siwa, or make them mistake one for the other.
Now, halfway between Mersa and Bagush is a choke-point where the rails and the coast road are close togeter. Half a Mech. Division is never going to block a Corps trying to escape, so they
won't. Their job is to "fail" at that, and form a Box where their heavy weapons can still reach those roads. Taking a page from the Mongol playbook, leave a "Golden Bridge" for the WDF, and call in airstrikes or perhaps even naval gunfire down on them as they go streaming past.
At the same time, the Mechanized units of the main body cut loose from the foot-sloggers entirely, and make their move.
The hope is that they can stampede the enemy all the way to El Alamien.
Yes,
that place.
I noticed that IRL, the Italians were very concerned about their open flank, and did a terrible job of dealing with it. Here, there is no open flank, so the army pauses and lets the rest of Italy's slender reserves of tanks catch up with them, as well as whatever else can be supported in Egypt.
This really is the limit to what I think they can do, even if pushing those last 50 miles to reach Alexandria seems possible, could they even think of holding it for more than a few days?
An operational pause for the remainder of June is advisable, even if they manage to cross 350 miles in just 2 weeks. In fact, mid or late-July is the soonest they should try for more.
How are we doing so far?
I have one last major item to cover, and I will be able to go into as much detail as you like with this one.
Next, we are going to the Horn of Africa, and the key to this whole thing.
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