Imperial Ambitions - Part 1
Re-Engineering the War
The 2nd Italo-Abyssianian War was undoubtedly the result of Italian Imperial ambitions. Mussolini wanted to crown the first Italian Emperor since the Roman era, and with a complete victory over the troublesome Ethiopians, he could hand the Italian puppet King Victor Emmanuel III that imperial title. Many suspected, and rightfully so, that such a gracious act on behalf of the King was merely another stepping stone in Mussolini's quest to become Caesar of a New Roman Empire.
The conflict in Ethiopia broke out in early December 1934, after Italy built a fort at the Ual-Ual Oasis inside the southern Ethiopian border to Italian-Somaliland. The Ethiopians escorted a small contingent of British diplomats to the site, but Britain immediately withdrew their diplomats to avoid international incident. Britain was, after all, uninterested in Ethiopia, and at least ideologically supported the Italian takeover of the small but resourceful country. Ethiopia was, famously, the last unconquered native state in Africa, which was a contentious issue for many in Europe. History attributes it to both a resilience and pride of people and to the dangerous and inhospitable mountains and valleys that make mass military maneuvers an impossible pursuit.
This first clash, later to be called the "WalWal Incident" resulted in 200 casualties, 50 Italian and 150 Ethiopian, and sparked a debate that went all the way to the League of Nations.
Of course, the League was noncommittal, and France decided to take the opportunity to formalize support for Italy in the matter in order to influence the Italians toward a mutual protection treaty in case of European hostilities. Hitler's rhetoric was already causing a stir. Mussolini and the French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval signed papers to these effects on January 7, 1935.
It was nearly a full year before Mussolini was able to fully mobilize his military for a decisive strike against Ethiopia. He wanted to take no chances in the matter, and created an entire army, which he dubbed the Armata della'AOI or Army of the Italian African Orient.
In charge of this force, Mussolini named veteran General and close friend Rodolfo Grazioli and gave to him the command of 4 full Infantry Corps totaling 139 thousand Italian forces.
"There is to be no repeat of 1896," Mussolini whispered to the embarking Graziani. When Mussolini whispered, one took careful note.
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Oh, how Giuseppe Tellera wished for the pastoral mountains of the Pustertal. Wished to see the rolling hills lapping against the great foundations of the Southern Alps. And water. Water everywhere. Cascading down the mountainsides and rushing through villages toward the sea. Cold water on a hot day.
Tellera pulled his cap down over his face to shield his eyes from the blasting sands. It was supposed to be wet here in January.
The last of the crates were coming off the docks. That meant paperwork. His 5th Army Division, the Alpine Elite known as the "Pusteria", awaited him. 6,000 men recruited from the alpine passes of the Pusteral where he too had grown into manhood. They were the finest mountaineers in all of Italy, and Tellera was their too-often-modest Caesar. They were ready to follow him into this hell and conquer the ghosts of the African highlands for the glory of Italy. Giussepe was skeptical. Both of ghosts and of glory. But he was anxious to chase both.
Still young for a Major General, Tellera's only tangible knowledge of this cursed place came from his grandfather who had narrowly escaped the 1st Italo-Abyssinian War. On March the 1st, 1896, Italy and Ethiopia clashed over a poorly translated clause in a treaty. 12,000 Italians lost their lives in a battle near the town of Adwa, and riots broke out across the young Italian nation, which brought down the then government of Francesco Crispi.
The casualty rate suffered by Italian forces at the Battle of Adwa was greater than any other major European battle of the 19th century (Vandervort, Bruce. Wars of Imperial Conquest in Africa, 1830-1914. 1998, page 164).
When Tellera and his driver arrived in camp, the only souls there to greet him were the pack mules munching the scrubby thickets and watching guard over his promised field artillery. The guns were dated from the Great War era, which looked to have been the last time they were fired.
Just then a young captain approached Tellera and his driver and issued a message from General Grazioli.
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Grazioli had seen combat in nearly every corner of the western world.
He had studied the conquests and, more importantly, the failed conquests, of every great general he could find record, and he had sat at the feet of more than a few good ones now living or recently dead.
One factor above all others decided wars and every general knew it well or died quickly - logistics - and this great Italian force now gathered was already in trouble.
As the last of his Lieutenant Generals and their Majors took their places at the meeting Grazioli had called, the hardened General began spelling it out for them. In excruciating detail.
The fact of the matter was that neither the port of Ed nor the roads beyond the Italian border of Eritrea were capable of supplying 140,000 men and the 300,000 pack animals that Mussolini had transported for the invasion. So much for Journalists-turned-Politicians planning wars.
"To that end, I have decided that the Second and Fourth Corps will return to Italy as soon as our new Grand Admiral Abruzzi completes his restructuring of the Regia Marina. In the meantime, Lt. General's Moizo and Togni are to remain West of the Corridore Centrale, so as to not slow the movement of supplies. Your men are to take half rations until I decide otherwise."
Before Lt. General Moizo had half opened his mouth in protest, Grazioli had already pulled his baton from his hip holster and cracked it on the man's desk. Not the faintest wavering or quiver could be detected in Grazioli's steadfast stare-down of his subordinate. An intelligent and independent commander like Moizo could be dealt with in no other way, and dealt with he was.
Grazioli pointed his commanders' attentions to the battle map as he continued,
"Lt. General Vodice of the Ist Corps will take the vanguard and move directly on Afrera Terar and establish forward observation bases into the provinces of Serdo and then Bati. We must know what kind of forces Ethiopia will bring to bear. General De Bono encountered stiff resistance in November of last year after crossing the border, losing a few thousand arms and artillery in the process. Mussolini would like the country to think that those are exaggerations and lies, but these Ethiopians are not to be underestimated. This is their country and they know it and will fight for it until their last breath. We mean to take that breath."
"Lt. General Pirzione, your IIIrd Corps will establish control over May-Chew province and then you will follow the I Corps straight on through to Addis Abeba. Your job will be to pin any forces down which might try to counter attack the main push for the capital. Your men will then take the lead and make the final assault on the Abyssinian capital."
"We will have tactical air support and air-drop of supplies. I fully expect the Ethiopians to find ways to jam the roads behind our advance, either militarily or through guerrilla means - that is if weather or happenstance don't do that job for them."
"If we are conservative in our supply, maintain the initiative by dictating through aggressive maneuver, and trust in our cohorts to hold the line, we should be enjoying gelatos in Haile Selassie's palace by May. Good day, gentlemen. We move out in 3 days."
As the men rose to their feet and began filing out of the war room, Graziani called out for the young Giussepe Tellera.
"Yes, General, sir?"
"Are you not going to ask about the location of your men?"
"I thought not to bother
you with it, sir. My Commanding Officer should be the first line of query in these matters, yes?"
Graziani nodded contentedly.
"I have been watching your progress for some time, Tellera. You should know that I hand picked your unit for this invasion. I trust you and your men are up to the fight."
"We are sir. No finer a division in the service."
"I know. That's why I am having them spend some time with my Head Quarters on the artillery range. You know the value of your field guns, as I understand."
Tellera smiled, "As the saying goes, sir - God is on whichever side has the best artillery."
"The Ethiopians are a proud people, and they are great warriors, contrary to Il Duce's propaganda. Let us give them the honor of your guns. And let us make this campaign a precious short one."
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Gameplay Notes
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Army and Naval Organization
Italy does have rather glaring issues with it's military composition. Particularly the size of the force in the AOI. I think that is the main problem people are having with the invasion of Ethiopia. To remedy this, I decided to remove 2 full corps back to Italy and place them under command of Army South. They will be redirected to Island Defense and to shore up the Boot, which has rather sparse defenses.
Navally, I have gone with a consolidation method, putting together task groups of the following compositions:
Power Projection
BB: 4
CA: 3
CL: 6
DD: 5
Sealane Defense and Patrol (2 Task Forces)
CA: 1
CL: 2
DD: 3
Transport Fleet
CA: 2
CL: 4
DD: 5
Submarine Pack (2)
SS: 6
If anyone has any thoughts or critiques of these compositions, feel free to voice your concerns. I have the most modern boats with the power projection fleet and Transport Fleets. The Transport Fleet can jettison its Transports and fairly easily redirect its missions to either combining with a Sealand Patrol Force or become another small Patrol Unit.
I am putting research into Carrier Escorts, but will maintain a heavy-gun dominated naval force: BB, BC, CL focus.
Intelligence and Politics
I have put all my spies to work on military espionage and prioritized the internal spies until I reach ten. They are working to decrease our neutrality so that I am free to declare wars when the time comes.
Diplomatically, I am working on trade agreements with strategic partners, especially in Europe and the Middle East, where Persia is supplying us with about 30 oil. I will eventually make the move to incorporate them into the Axis.
My resource consumption is now balanced even at the highest industrial mobilization. I am using the domestic goods model to make the cash for my massive imports. Once war is over, I will retool my industry to domestic goods focus and further free up ICs for production and upgrades.
Production
I wavered on this one, unsure of what to spend on. I would like to recruit a lot more infantry divisions, or militia for defense of key points. I don't want to be caught with the ole pants down, eh? But I also figured that I have a chance now to increase IC's through building factories, which will pay off well in the long-run. So I opted for the factory production model and dropped the whole stack of ICs for the first year of the game on 6 new factories. That will result in about 9-12 extra IC's per run for the rest of the game.
For the overrun, I am building a battleship. Can't have too many of those.
If you have thoughts or suggestions, please post.
Technology
Education. Industrial Prod and Eff. Supply Production. Mechanical Engineering. Supply Organization. Supply Transport. Escort Carriers. Maybe one other. I think a Land Doctrine. I will probably go with Grand Battle Plan route, rather than People's Army. Militia just seem so.... I don't know.... squishy.
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I do look forward to writing the next update. It will be focused mostly on the battlefront, and I'm considering incorporating some tactical-level (division and sub-division) elements into some of Tellera's story.
Thanks for reading!
