ljadw wrote: ↑31 Jul 2021 21:00
YOU did : you said that in February the Italians had collapsed,and that the WDF could have easily captured Tripoli .
Quote where I said the Italians had collapsed. I'll wait.
As we know that in April the Italians were at the gates of Tobruk, this means that they were strong enough to prevent in February the WDF to go to Tripoli .
Sorry, in April the Germans with the Italians in tow were at the gates of Tobruk. Remove the Germans from the equation (the basis of this WI) and the best the Italians can hope for is to retain the western half of Lybia, especially against a stronger WDF..
Other point : Britain did not pull off the same stunt in December 1940 .It was not against even greater odds .
Um yes they did. 150K Italians vs 36K British for Compass is greater odds than Sonnenblume, and the British actually advanced further than the Germans.
Check the historical record.
Why were the (mainly Italian ) Axis forces not at the Canal in June 1941 and in November 1942
For the same reasons that the WDF was not in Tripoli in February 1941 and in December 1941 : the opponent was too strong and they were to weak .
Irrelevant to our discussion. The whole premise of my argument is the WDF is not depleted by forces being sent to other theaters, and is properly supplied and equipped for a long range advance.
The gods do not deduct from a man's allotted span the hours spent in fishing.
~Babylonian Proverb