HOI III (Their Finest Hour) AAR - Going it alone

[BanzaiCat]

Maybe Romania is next?

[JasonPratt]

Sure, it's Roman, right?  ;D

I notice that a couple of Turkish observational groups are parked nearby, but no sign of Bulgarian troops. That seems odd: is Turkey in some kind of agreement with Italy to share information on troop movements? (I can't imagine the Moose is going to leave Turkey alone, since they're his path to the Middle East and the southern Black Sea area.)

[undercovergeek]

I think its Zincone's division in the south east border that has allowed me to see over the Turkish red line

Bulgarian and Italian troops are very similar in colour

[JasonPratt]

Oh, I see the flags now; yes the colors were throwing me off, and on my computer at work the screen was too small to see the flags. (I'm looking at it now on a 40" screen.)

[undercovergeek]

Tsar Boris III, Sofia, and the opening attack

Mussolini had little time for the Bulgarians, he believed they were a poor and violent nation. During the first world war they had conquered most of Macedonia and Serbia, but they had finished on the losing side. The Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine more popularly known in Bulgaria as the Second National Catastrophe required Bulgaria to cede Western Thrace to the Entente, which it begrudgingly did, to Greece at the San Remo conference thereby cutting off Bulgaria's corridor to the Aegean Sea. They were also required to give up a vast tract of land of on the western border to the "Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes." The treaty also forced Bulgaria to return Southern Dobruja, which had been captured during the war and restored the border set by the Treaty of Bucharest. Bulgaria was forced to reduce its army to 20,000 men, pay reparations of £100 million, and recognize the existence of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. These losses of territory, the reparations, and the world-wide depression made Bulgaria desperately poor in the 30's. During these hard times Bulgaria's constitutional monarch, Tsar Boris, seized real total power and ruled through his puppet prime minister, Georgi Kyoseivanov in April of 1935. His government initiated a policy of rearmament after overturning the military clauses of the Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine and the Treaty of Lausanne. Bulgaria was forming closer ties with Germany and was contemplating joining the Axis. Bulgaria refused to sign the Balkan Pact which sought to stabilize the borders in the region. Bulgaria felt wronged by the outcome of the first world war and was looking for an opportunity to make things right. Mussolini was of the opinion that Bulgaria, as an autonomous nation, would never keep the peace and thus needed removing from the stage.

On May 24th 1938 Ciano delivered an ultimatum to Kyoseivanov. Either Bulgaria would grant Italy unimpeded access to all of Bulgaria's military and political installations, or Bulgaria would be attacked. The ultimatum was rejected and the attack began just after midnight 25th May 1938. The plan of attack called for General Roatta's corps to advance if they met no serious opposition, but otherwise their purpose was defensive in nature to stop any potential incursions into Italian territory while the forces to the south completed the hard work of the invasion. General Gambelli and his mountain troops were to advance into Berkovica then onto Sofia. General Pintor's corps would advance from Giannitsa to Kresna to Blagoevgrad and finally towards the attack of Sofia, and finally General Messe's mobile corps from Kavala would make an end run through Thasos along the Turkish border and make a dash for the Black Sea port of Varna. Again Mussolini's underlying strategy was to head for the country's most important cities in a play to dissolve national resistance and crush morale.

The attack went according to Mussolini's plans. Within a week his Italian forces were on the outskirts of Sofia at Berkovica, Pernik and Blagoevgrad and the battle to take the capital had begun. However, the Bulgarians put up determined resistance. Meanwhile, to the east Messe was charging toward Varna unobstructed, further plans were drawn up for him to head west after the cities fall and cut off the supply of the resilient Bulgarian armies. Three days later, on June 5th 1938, Gambelli's four divisions were at the doors of the government buildings in Sofia, it had been a costly battle and Gambelli had lost 1500 elite Alpine troops. In spite of heavy losses and the the capture of the cities Varna and Sofia, Bulgaria continued to resist but finally, on June 12th 1938 after Italian forces had overrun most of the country, Tsar Boris finally surrendered and he agreed to leave the country.

There were plenty who were not sad to see him go and viewed the Italian armies as liberators. For propaganda purposes, the views of this minority were given prominent exposure in the press and on the radio waves. Bulgaria was annexed to Italy's central authority.

[besilarius]

Think it's time to fortify the Brenner Pass from Austria to Italy.

[Staggerwing]

Going after Austria will be one of the surest ways to get onto Ministache's Scheiss Liste. Them's kin down there, dontcha know.

[besilarius]

Have to agree that a grab into Austria would be pushing the envelope.
Was thinking of preparation in case the big, grey machine tries to steamroller their way into northern Italia.  There aren't too many ways over the Alps, and germanic invaders from the Teutons and Cimbri through Frederick Barbarossa seem to enjoy the pleasant Brenner Pass.

[undercovergeek]

Its already german -at the moment im waiting out the allies. My threat level with france and uk is 110 even russia feels uneasy at 56 - I have 2 more conquests planned before im off plan

[JasonPratt]

Bulgaria: now THAT'S Italian!

^^ One of those next two targets would be Turkey I expect. After that... hm... While Romania would thematically make sense, it puts you in the path of the Soviet/Nazi clash, which seems bad until they're weakened from fighting each other. (Then you can come in as a liberator.) Going north of the Black Sea in any case would create similar problems more directly.

So my guess, unless you start making (further) moves into Central Africa (to avoid pissing off the British further south, and to avoid the coming British/Nazi clash up north for a while), would be farther east from Turkey in some fashion, heading for the oil -- although that's going to start getting into British territories/Allies again pretty soon.

[BanzaiCat]

What troops do you have in Libya, by chance?

What's your air force looking like? Has it 'modernized' in any way like your army?

What's the status of the Italian aircraft carrier?

[undercovergeek]

Jason - turkey and romania already consider pasta their national dish if youre with me! 2 more AFTER them.....

Banzai - libya has the starting garrison division thats all, the airforce is still very small - it will only consist of interceptors and multi role aircraft - similar to the tanks, if I cant have them ill make sure you cant use yours, theyre currently at 1939 level of tech in 1938.... the carriers due in 3 months and then ill order 3 more

[undercovergeek]

Disputes between Turkey and Italy were both ancient and contemporary. Long ago Caesar defeated Pharnaces of Pontus declaring 'Veni, Vidi, Vici' in the short war of Asia Minor. Not so long ago Italy fought the Italo-Turkish War against the Ottoman Empire. Victory resulted in Italy gaining possession of Tripolitania, Fezzan, and Libya, she also gained Rhodes and the Dodecanese Islands. Turkey still possessed a foothold in Europe and still soiled the second Rome. If Mussolini was to emulate famous ancestors then this needed to be rectified.

Whilst anti-establishment propaganda began to be played to the masses of Bulgaria, Mussolini turned round his victorious Generals and ordered them east. Mussolini instructed his Ambassador to deliver his ultimatum to Turkey. On August 7th 1938, Italy demanded that all Turkish forces withdraw from all of Europe and fifty miles from the shore of the Bosporus and the Aegean Sea. Turkey rejected the ultimatum and on August 8th, Italy declared war and Mussolini readied his troops for total war again.



Turkey's leading men - President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and Prime Minister İsmet İnönü, Mussolini's opening attack strategy, Istanbul

[undercovergeek]

Messe is relieved at the Battle of the Bosphorous, Lisi lands on the west coast, the Turkish Navy attempt to break out

Messe's mobile corp struck first and made a lightening advance from Burgas to Demirkoy to Karacakoy and entered Istanbul virtually unopposed. But at this place catastrophe struck - Istanbul was taken but to advance further into Turkey the Bosphorous needed to be crossed. Messe's forces became bogged down in a deadly battle of attrition with Turkish defenders on the other other side, unable to withdraw or cross they were locked in a battle they couldnt win. The only way to relieve the armoured corps was to find another way around the Bosphorous and take on the defenders from a different flank. Zingales was chosen to spearhead the relief force, he advanced on foot from Thasos to Gelibolu and crossed the southern straight to seize Canakkale and Biga. Fortunately no opposition of note was encountered, and from Canakkale Zingales and his four divisions headed for Gemlik and the southern flank of Istnabul. Roatta's corps had stayed on the European side of the Bosporus to occupy the remainder of European Turkey and operate as a reserve force - when the emergency call went up from Messe he too advanced toward Istnabul. Between them they managed to break the defenders of the Bosphorous and Messe was able to straighten the lines and fan out into and undefended Turkey.



Messe bogged down in Istanbul

Also on 7th August 1938, General Lisi was gearing up for his mission. The Regia Marina had parked two battleship squadrons in the South Aegean Sea outside the port of Izmir to see if the Turkish navy was foolish enough to give battle. Naval bombers were tasked with striking the port there to either flush out the navy or destroy the ships at port. With the sea lanes secured or defended Lisi's transport flotilla landed his four divisions in Izmiri. The landing was unopposed and the attackers quickly secured the port, and like Messe's corps they fanned out to seize territory and search for the Turkish army which up to this point had been all but missing in action.

By September 1st, Messe had forded the Sakarya River and had seized the provinces of Sakarya and Tarakli and was spreading out to overrun Akcakoca, Akyazi and Cukurhisar, and then on to Mudurnu, the airbase at Duzce. Down south, Lisi's corps had formed a unified front with Pintor's troops and was heading east along the Southern coast of Turkey in an attempt to deny them access to their ports. By September 27th 5 corps were bearing down on Ankara - before any battle could be joined for the capital Turkey's forces capitulated.



The march on Ankara

Mussolini's boasts of recreating the Roman Empire were coming to fruition. 'Veni, Vidi, Vici' was on everyone's lips after the shockingly quick and easy victory. As an aside, Istanbul was the site of one of the most fabulous architectural feats of ancient Rome, the cathedral of Sancta Sophia. It was first dedicated in 360 A.D. as the first church of Constantinople. It served as a Roman Catholic church between 1204 and 1261 following the last time Italians conquer the holy site. It was then an Eastern Orthodox patriarchal basilica, until it was conquered and defiled by the soldiers of Islam in 1453. It was now once again in the hands of a predominately Catholic army. And although Mussolini was not a believer, he understood the significance of the church among his people. He had created Vatican City in the heart of Rome with the Lateran Treaties in 1929 and he added to these territorial gifts by deeding the holy site of Sancta Sophia to Pope Pius XI and the Holy See.

[bob48]

Best AAR you have done, IMHO, Geek. Excellent stuff. Its really getting me to the point when I want to fire it up and have a bash.