We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly. You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
Despite the Italian Savoy Offensive progressing in the west, the Polish bridgehead in Bologna sought to expand with an attack to expand it to their east that started late on 16 June. It started positively enough …
… and two more divisions from north of the River Po had been added by the 20th, to try to boost the odds.
But by the 27th, as the attack continued, the odds were flagging and this worsened until by the 30th, only two attacking divisions were left in the fight; it was clearly now failing and was called off. It was the most expensive battle in terms of casualties and equipment loss so far in the war for the Poles.
That offensive really didn't go well at all, and I think terrain might be the answer - from the battle interface it looks like you might have been attacking into a swamp?
In the greater world madness, another revolution broke out in Mexico on 12 July, with the ‘Red Brigades’ soon joining the Communist bloc of choice, Mao’s MAB.
Aside from becoming another distraction for the British, French and Germans, I don't see any particular problem with this. If the US ends up getting drawn into a war with Commuist Mexico and the MAB, that would be a bonus.
But by 29 July the Italians had sent in another division west of Bologna, while in Piedmont-Savoy the Polish work in the south was undermined by a strong Italian breakthrough against an effectively dissolved Allied front from Grenoble to Annecy. Three divisions began shifting north to try to halt the latest breakthrough.
I really struggle to understand how two of the largest land armies in Europe, the French and the Germans, can manage to leave the French-Italian front so under-manned, especially the French themselves.
Meanwhile, there were now two battles around Bologna: the original attack, which was becoming borderline, and a new spoiling attack by four Italian divisions on Bologna itself. The whole Italian effort was showing itself to be very tenacious.
The Piedmont attack was progressing well (94%) by 14 July, but gaps elsewhere led the Poles to embark another two infantry divisions on trains for the Italian Front that evening.
And another three divisions began the train trip to Italy, as the USR continued to only lightly man the Poland’s eastern border and made no unfriendly diplomatic noises.
But due to the deteriorating situation to the north, two more divisions – this time from the Danzig garrison that had been retained to guard Poland’s only port – were sent to Italy.
Others have noticed a dangerous trend here as well. I think by now something like a third of the Polish army has been deployed to the Italian front and, with the Allies going AWOL, who is going to help Poland when Trotsky gets rolling? And I'm sure it is a case of when, not if.
In East Asia, the Communist lodgement on China’s east coast had made significant progress and threatened to cut off the section of the north-east the nationalist still held. And without any announcement or easily identified reasons, Burma had declared independence as a neutral democratic country.
I believe this is another bit of weirdness prompted by the Free India focus tree. After I had Pakistan rebel, I also had Burma break away, and there was nothing I was allowed to do about it. At first I was annoyed, but having a neutral buffer state guarding me against British forces in Thailand and Indochina was pretty useful for a while.
As September began, a range of Allied countries were providing unsolicited but welcome lend-lease assistance to help remedy Polish equipment deficits from the recent fighting. A good example was in infantry equipment, where a large deficit was turned into a modest surplus. Although this gifted equipment tended to be older and less effective that the latest Polish designs, it was certainly better than having nothing!
In my Italian and Indian adventures I wouldn't have had anybody who could actually help me with my stockpile deficit headaches, so it seems having allies is actually good for something!
And China was in trouble, despite a lot of Allied divisions in the area to assist them – to the detriment of the Italian Front. Quite a few German and French divisions in China proper, the British more on the south-west borders of China and Sinkiang.
Many great comments, thanks very much everyone! With my other AARs about to be all updated today (my time), I’ll be turning to the next Poles Apart chapter shortly (noting I played the first session through to the end of 1940, so am still mining the stored screenshots). Into the feedback:
Iran looks like it was affected by Trotsky. Slowly rising communist approval may affect post war Iran to join maoists or internationalists, which could be a huge upset of power in the Middle East
Yugoslavia has done very well so far in this war, after being attacked by the Italians. Not sure if Trotsky is being sane, patient or plagued by indecision. Only time will tell.
Surely this increasing commitment to a faraway front of war will not leave Poland open to attack from the Soviets, nor will anyone in Poland start to worry about such things and demand that the government recall the troops or else rise up in revolt.
Such things are impossible, for they are not in the Holy Game Code of Paradox, amen.
The commitment is indeed increasing incrementally but should have reached its maximum necessary amount by now, still leaving substantial Polish forces guarding the eastern border to provide an initial defence if needed.
The SR movement in HOI4 seems quite rapid, so the deployed forces should be able to return pretty quickly if needed. The steady growth of the Polish Army since 1936 and no longer having to worry about the border with Germany have also helped. If Trotsky comes, we’ll give him a bloody nose. And then the battle-hardened troops returning from Italy will turn the tide. Or so our propaganda posters will say!
We remain alert but not yet alarmed about the USR. They don’t seem too interested in us yet, and there have been no war justification indicators yet (not sure if you get those every time, or can you be struck without any strategic notice other than perhaps a build up on the border).
One would think the time to do this would be several years ago, so that the industrial capacity developed then might be producing tanks now. However, this would require sane government leadership which of course is an oxymoron.
There are always conflicting priorities and the urgent can often prevail over the important. ‘Tis life. Also the tribulations of a newbie player of HOI4.
I will give Paradox this, their portrait of Reza Shah really captures his malevolent evil. Ghazi I looks as vacant as always, no matter his dapper hat, doubtless somewhat confused as to why he is still in power when it was the Army Generals who were the pro-Axis traitors.
Steely looks, jutting chins, hands on hips and jaunty hats are the truly important aspects of nationalist leadership during this period. Shiny jackboots, too.
Some might be concerned this will encourage Churchill to have other 'good ideas' about strategy. But this is a HOI4 game of madness, so those ideas are probably entirely appropriate.
That offensive really didn't go well at all, and I think terrain might be the answer - from the battle interface it looks like you might have been attacking into a swamp?
Maybe, the equipment attrition during battle is something I had to learn as I went, but between lend lease donations and tweaking production priorities, we seem to be keeping our heads largely above water. Will bear in mind the need for equipment reserves for possible future conflicts - a useful lesson to learn in this Italian Job.
It really does look like China could fall to Puyi's alliance, which is certainly making this a bizarre war. It's strange how every country has decided China is the place to be, leaving you to cover all of Europe. Now we just need Trotsky to join the fun and things will be really bizarre!
It’s looking pretty grim after that Japanese invasion, so maybe the Western Allies we’re not far wrong to have devoted such a large effort to supporting them. Will it be enough? The jury is still out.
Maoism as a global force in the 1940's is a crazy thing to see. Not least because arch-internationalist Trotsky is the damp squib sat up in Moscow letting it all happen. Presumably he's biding his time for some totally, astonishingly deranged intervention onto the world stage – the final boss battle of the bizarro world – because there is no way he is going to stay quiet for the whole thing. (Or maybe that would be even crazier? Does that make it more appropriate here? I can barely decide any more…)
It does seem to be quite the role reversal. I’m hoping any Soviet intervention will hit someone else, at least harder than it does Poland, hence the enlargement of the army, defensive air support and the mechanised capability. No idea whether it will be enough, but it will be fun to find out.
Meanwhile the Polish adventure in Savoy continues to chug along decently well. The northern French must be feeling pretty relieved that it's their Occitan cousins who are bearing the brunt of a major conflict for once in living memory.
Indeed. The reverse Dabrowsky with pike seems to be going ok! The French will owe us for this (though doubt it will matter to their unfeeling AI government).
The Poles are getting deeper into the action but suffering more casualties. Though it does seem like they are getting better at the whole war fighting thing as the war goes on. One would hope.
Have the British and French sent ALL their troops to China? If so, I guess the AI is programmed to send forces to the fornt that's most in trouble (China looks like it's anout to fall). Though that leaves all the work to the Poles and Yugoslavia.
It seems they’ve all sent many of them. And they’re not doing that well in Africa either. But I think there is some justification for the AI to be trying to salvage China now they’re in the Allies. However the French, Germans and British should have left a few more divisions in northern Italy, given the scope and proximity of the fighting there. We will fill the gap dutifully, however. Better here than in China!
I think it’s coming good, with adjusted production, increased industrial expansion planned and the rather useful lend lease which gets sent from our many Allies when various stockpiles run low. We want to keep the army gradually expanding if we can, in case Lev Trotsky comes calling and all our major allies are mired down in China.
So far, so good. It looks like your armoured division is only missing a few of the heavy tanks? However, if I remember, the production rate for those is veryslow indeed - something like one tank per week by now, maybe?
Sounds good me. The ability to re-purpose the tank chassis is one of the nicer features in HOI4. On the industrial side, I have tended to get artillery and AT production lines up and running before I even think about armoured vehicles, so this is a good way to do both.
This does seem harmless, doesn't it? I have to say I will be far happier when I see the US joining the Allies... and hopefully Mexico won't manage do anything stupid before that happens!
Linking up with the Yugoslavs and destroying a number of Italian divisions is definitely a good move. Especially so, considering what's happening further south...
This was the kind of battle outcome I was concerned about. I hope your equipment stockpiles are still looking healthy after these losses have been replenished.
Free India was part of the Axis faction and so I think would still exist 'in exile'? I played Free India and had Pakistan rebel against me, so I think the problem here is the game checked Free India owned Pakistan but ignored the fact the provinces were controlled by British Raj. Basically, they rebelled against the wrong India.
The Japanese entry into the war seems likely to change the situation dramatically in Asia and that invasion looks very dangerous indeed to Nationalist China. We could be looking at a heavy Allied defeat here.
This Italian counter-offensive is quite alarming, but there might be another opportunity opening up here to make a push towards La Spezia and cut off the Italians? In the worst case, you at least have the option now to withdraw into Yugoslavia...
Yes and Yes. But we will not let France get chopped in the south without a fight. Not that I think France would fall totally if we’d left them to fend for themselves.
Aside from becoming another distraction for the British, French and Germans, I don't see any particular problem with this. If the US ends up getting drawn into a war with Commuist Mexico and the MAB, that would be a bonus.
I really struggle to understand how two of the largest land armies in Europe, the French and the Germans, can manage to leave the French-Italian front so under-manned, especially the French themselves.
Others have noticed a dangerous trend here as well. I think by now something like a third of the Polish army has been deployed to the Italian front and, with the Allies going AWOL, who is going to help Poland when Trotsky gets rolling? And I'm sure it is a case of when, not if.
I believe this is another bit of weirdness prompted by the Free India focus tree. After I had Pakistan rebel, I also had Burma break away, and there was nothing I was allowed to do about it. At first I was annoyed, but having a neutral buffer state guarding me against British forces in Thailand and Indochina was pretty useful for a while.
In my Italian and Indian adventures I wouldn't have had anybody who could actually help me with my stockpile deficit headaches, so it seems having allies is actually good for something!
Chapter Seven – Dinner at the Savoy (2 October - 6 December 1940)
Time to give the Italians a good grilling.
=======
October 1940 – The Savoy Grill
The focus of Poland was now very much on the Italian Front, specifically the fighting in Savoy, where the steady build-up of Polish forces had first halted the momentum of the Italian offensive and was now trying to regain the initiative. After their latest bloody setback around Bologna and with that sector being isolated from the rest of the Polish army, the divisions there sat back and dug in.
The Poles attacked Grenoble late on 2 October, but then the Italians managed to slip across the Rhône on the morning of the 5th. By then, the attack on Grenoble was beginning to flag, despite Allied air support, so a recently arrived cavalry division was thrown in, as the French tried to deal with the somewhat reckless Italian bridgehead over the Rhône.
On 4 October 1940, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini met at the Brenner Pass to discuss a strategy that included the possibility of Francoist Spain entering the war on their side. Mussolini had already decided to attack Greece and hinted at his intention by speaking scornfully of the attitude of the "double-dealing" Greek government, but Hitler brushed such talk aside and said that the Axis powers should avoid any initiative that was not "absolutely useful." Hitler did not reveal his intention to attack the Soviet Union. Comment: Exhibit One in the case for the prosecution that OTL in this period was no less crazy than this ahistorical one.
In this ATL the Brenner Pass is in Allied hands and Hitler was lynched after a coup four years before.
By 8 October, the battle for Grenoble still raged where the Italians had reinforced with another two divisions and then the Poles sent in a division from the south, as increased Allied air support pounded away. The French were now attacking the Rhône bridgehead with two armoured divisions. It would take until 1100hr on 12 October for the Italians to be defeated in Grenoble – almost a ten-day fight with quite heavy casualties on both sides.
The Rhône bridgehead in Languedoc was eliminated by the French on the evening of the 14th, while Grenoble had been occupied and British and French divisions had advanced to the outskirts of Turin, holding the line from there down to Nice.
Adolf Hitler and Francisco Franco met at the train station of Hendaye on 23 October on the Spanish-French border to discuss the conditions under which Spain would join the Axis. After seven hours of talks, Hitler found Spain's demands to be still too high.
Another OTL point of difference to our ahistory, but also indicates how some of the zanier moments could have come to pass under other circumstances.
The next day, Hitler met with Philippe Pétain at Montoire-sur-le-Loir. Pétain was not willing to have Vichy France enter the war on the side of the Axis but agreed in principle to collaborate with Germany.
By 24 October, the Poles had caught up to the front, passing through the Anglo-French screen and taking an unoccupied Turin without a fight that evening. The rapid advance and dissolving of the Italian line in the centre meant a sizeable potential encirclement of Italian divisions west of Annecy was now a distinct possibility.
At 1100hr on the 27th the Wołyńska cavalry division made it to the Swiss border to close the pocket Annecy pocket. They would withstand the Italian attempt to break out with the help of a spoiling attack on Annecy, both battles won at 1400hr on 30 October. Meanwhile, attacks were launched on the whole pocket in an attempt to liquidate it quickly.
The Greco-Italian War began when the Italians invaded Greece on 28 October. Hitler and Mussolini met in Florence to exchange the latest war information. Hitler might have intended to use the meeting to dissuade Mussolini from attacking Greece had the invasion not, as it turned out, gone ahead that morning. Mussolini was in high spirits and told Hitler, "Don't worry, in two weeks, it will all be over." Hitler wished Mussolini the best of luck and refrained from expressing any disapproval, though after the meeting he fumed to his inner circle that what Mussolini had done was "pure madness" and that he should have attacked Malta instead.
“Don't worry Adolf, in two weeks, it will all be over.” “Yeah, pull the other one, Musso!”
The Battle for the Annecy Pocket continued, with Annecy taken on the afternoon of the 31st and an Italian breakout attempt launched that would eventually be defeated on the morning of 2 November. Concurrently, a Polish force had closed up to the front in the south and moved to push through the Allied screen towards Genoa.
=======
November 1940 – A Surging Tide
The Annecy Pocket was further constricted with a German-commanded Allied victory south-west of Annecy at midday on 2 November. But the attack on the main Italian concentration to the north of that failed that evening, after heavy casualties were suffered in difficult terrain.
The penultimate Annecy battle was fought quickly from 0300-0800hr on the 5th, ending up as more of a skirmish. The remaining Italian divisions had now been herded into a single province. To their west. To the south, Genoa had been seized rapidly by the Polish cavalry [Huzzah!] as another, larger pocket Italian threatened to form west of Milan.
The United States presidential election was held on 5 November. Franklin D. Roosevelt won an unprecedented third term as President of the United States, carrying 38 of 48 states.
The final battle for the pocket began on the morning of 6 November and it took until the evening of the 10th for the Italians to surrender. Seven divisions were captured and over 65,000 enemy troops either killed or (mainly) captured.
The readout for the battle looked to have heavily over-estimated ground and air losses. It seemed most likely a few thousand Italians were killed by ground and air combat and the majority then surrendered. Interestingly [for me, anyway, as I had only just re-discovered this mouse-over tool tip], many of the Polish equipment losses from the battle were recovered afterwards.
The next phase of the Savoy campaign was to break out east from Turin, where the Italians had managed to scramble a front line. The fight took three days until victory came on the 11th.
The breakout extended on the 12th, the next battle being a quicker walk-over as the Poles drove towards Milan.
With this success in the west, it was time to reactivate the eastern Po River sector in Emilia Romagna. Early on 14 November, a big attack was launched west of Bologna in the hopes of linking up with the Allies in Genoa. It would take nine days of fighting, but the victory would be won by the 23rd.
With all the attacking, Poland again adopted force attack tactics, sacrificing the risk of greater casualties for increased attacking momentum as they pushed on towards Milan in the west. It seemed to be working for now.
Two more victories came on the approaches to Milan in Piedmont on 19 November against increasingly determined opposition.
By early on the 20th, the Poles had closed up on Milan and started to secure the approaches on the south bank of the Po, which was won on the night of the 21st.
As the Poles moved to occupy the province south of Milan, just before midnight on 24 November another surrounded Italian division was captured to the north-west.
The smaller break-out in Emilia Romagna was extended with an attack south on the 25th while the tough cross-river attack on Milan had begun to the west. It would take until 7 December for the fight in Emilia Romagna to end in victory.
In the wake of German–Soviet talks, on 26 November Vyacheslav Molotov told the German ambassador to the Soviet Union that the USSR was willing to join a four-power pact with Germany, Italy and Japan if new Soviet territorial demands were met, including expansion into the Persian Gulf and the annexation of Finland. Hitler called Stalin a "cold-blooded blackmailer" and refused to make any response to the Soviet proposal. Comment: Exhibit Two.
It could have been so different – in this ATL they would have made the agreement, then provoked half a dozen civil wars!
=======
Early December 1940 – The Rest of the World
In early December, eyes in Warsaw were raised to survey the rest of the world. In the war with Italy, a healthy fight between the Italians and British raged in the Western Desert of North Africa in between Benghazi and Tobruk.
The French were not doing so well in southern Tunisia.
In the two months Poland had focused exclusively on the campaign in northern Italy, Iran had somehow managed to surge back against the Allies, while Iraq was holding on.
In Asia, China remained under the pump and the fighting against the Communists in the east was going poorly and a pocket had been cut off near Shanxi but they remained in the fight.
Poland’s contribution to the war effort had started to register. For the Allies China had taken the heaviest casualties and were in a difficult position, followed by France, Germany and the UK then Yugoslavia in terms of men lost. But in overall terms, the war against the Fascist Asian League and Communist MAB was assessed to be holding in the Allies’ favour.
In Mexico, the Allied-aligned Republic seemed to be winning the latest civil war.
In the bigger picture, Trotsky’s 4th International still only had his own USR as a member and had made no obvious international moves. In Central and East Asia, the twin threats of the Asian League and MAB were proving a definite handful.
Calles is interesting figure, he was elected in 1924 with the mandate from Mexican "Laborist Party" and supported by CROM (Regional Confederation of Mexican Workers) but studied Social Democracy gouvernment in Germany. In 1928 he created "National Revolutionary Party", which changed the name multiple times before resting on this. In the same year he finished his turn as a president, became one of the most important political leaders and went more into nationalist populist direction, he was staunch anticlericalist (?). Cristeros Uprising in Mexico was directed aginst his gouvernment. Later down the line he started to take interest in spiritualism.
Interesting figure for maoist MAB that's for sure But I guess he is socialist Mao Tse Tsung also promoted some limited nationalist values so I guess it makes sense
Wonder if the fact that both Communist and Fascist factions are Asia-centric would affect European pov
The collapse of the Alpine front feels very significant for Italy, especially with the Po also being breached. Perhaps a chance for peace in Europe soon? If not yet, alas, the world.
I'm not familiar with the game mechanics, but it seems now that you are fighting in cold weather conditions. Do you have to invest in proper uniforms and whatnot as well as all else in such conditions? That said, the Poles are likely familiar with cold weather so it may be a moot point.
As to Trotsky, he's just biding his time until the right moment to strike. Not like him to stand still.
Maybe what's lacking in ahistorical mode is all the motivations we know were going on in the background. Mussolini was upset about being upstaged by the Germans and wanted to follow his parallel war, leading him to make a militarily moronic decision.
Adolf Hitler and Francisco Franco met at the train station of Hendaye on 23 October on the Spanish-French border to discuss the conditions under which Spain would join the Axis. After seven hours of talks, Hitler found Spain's demands to be still too high.
From what I understand, Franco was pretty determined to stay out of the war and came up with all sorts of ridiculous demands for supplies and weapons. If I remember right, Admiral Canaris was advising him to stay out no matter what.
t 1100hr on the 27th the Wołyńska cavalry division made it to the Swiss border to close the pocket Annecy pocket. They would withstand the Italian attempt to break out with the help of a spoiling attack on Annecy, both battles won at 1400hr on 30 October. Meanwhile, attacks were launched on the whole pocket in an attempt to liquidate it quickly.
The final battle for the pocket began on the morning of 6 November and it took until the evening of the 10th for the Italians to surrender. Seven divisions were captured and over 65,000 enemy troops either killed or (mainly) captured.
Interestingly [for me, anyway, as I had only just re-discovered this mouse-over tool tip], many of the Polish equipment losses from the battle were recovered afterwards.
In the wake of German–Soviet talks, on 26 November Vyacheslav Molotov told the German ambassador to the Soviet Union that the USSR was willing to join a four-power pact with Germany, Italy and Japan if new Soviet territorial demands were met, including expansion into the Persian Gulf and the annexation of Finland. Hitler called Stalin a "cold-blooded blackmailer" and refused to make any response to the Soviet proposal.
I had never heard that, but that's really interesting. I wonder what would have happened if the Germans had agreed to it. It seems like Hitler and Stalin were destined to fight each other, but that's a really fascinating point of divergence.
It seems they've rebuilt their army as well, so good for them! The evil megalomaniac Churchill deserves all the setbacks he can get.
It's beginning to look like China is going solidly against the Allies, and I'm not sure there are enough Allied troops to add to the theater. Once China falls, there's really not an obvious place for the factions to fight anymore, except maybe some limited skirmishes across the Himalayas.
Honestly, while the offer of the Unholy Alliance were genuine enough, it was only to serve the Russians time to build their forces to knock down Germany. It would never have lasted very long. Hitler wanted Germany strong enough to take on his true enemy: the United States. The Soviets wanted to expand their own control because of the inherent paranoia of having been constantly (at least in the national psyche) invaded.
Honestly, while the offer of the Unholy Alliance were genuine enough, it was only to serve the Russians time to build their forces to knock down Germany. It would never have lasted very long. Hitler wanted Germany strong enough to take on his true enemy: the United States. The Soviets wanted to expand their own control because of the inherent paranoia of having been constantly (at least in the national psyche) invaded.
I think you’re right the Soviets were intending to use it to build up against the Germans, but I’ve never seen any indication Hitler thought much of the Americans at all. At least from reading Ciano’s diaries, the Axis discounted the Americans as a threat until the reality of their industry began to sink in. The whole point of allying with Japan was to have them distract the US and avoid a repeat of WWI.
It also seems like Hitler’s ideology required a clash with the Bolsheviks in order to secure lebensraum and German hegemony. I’d be glad to learn more about this though.
I think you’re right the Soviets were intending to use it to build up against the Germans, but I’ve never seen any indication Hitler thought much of the Americans at all. At least from reading Ciano’s diaries, the Axis discounted the Americans as a threat until the reality of their industry began to sink in. The whole point of allying with Japan was to have them distract the US and avoid a repeat of WWI.
It also seems like Hitler’s ideology required a clash with the Bolsheviks in order to secure lebensraum and German hegemony. I’d be glad to learn more about this though.
On a recommendation from our esteemed colleague, @El Pip , I read two very good books by Adam Tooze: Wages of Destruction and The Deluge. The first especially highlights how the Nazis really were looking for global hegemony and how the Soviets were just the first major hurdle before turning to face down the Americans. Basically, Tooze points out just how jealous the Germans were of the American experience: a pan-continental power, very secure, and certainly nearly autarkic for numerous resources. The second covers how much the world was kinda trying to give the side eye to the US to step their asses up to the plate they had just used to smash the European powers.
Excellent progress on the Italian front. This being HOI4, I’m sure Europe won’t stay at peace for too long even if the Italians do get knocked out in fairly short order, but it is fascinating to think about a world where the European experience of the war is so different, with most of the heavy action over in Asia.
Excellent progress on the Italian front. This being HOI4, I’m sure Europe won’t stay at peace for too long even if the Italians do get knocked out in fairly short order, but it is fascinating to think about a world where the European experience of the war is so different, with most of the heavy action over in Asia.
The rapid advance and dissolving of the Italian line in the centre meant a sizeable potential encirclement of Italian divisions west of Annecy was now a distinct possibility.
In Asia, China remained under the pump and the fighting against the Communists in the east was going poorly and a pocket had been cut off near Shanxi but they remained in the fight.
I'm not familiar with the game mechanics, but it seems now that you are fighting in cold weather conditions. Do you have to invest in proper uniforms and whatnot as well as all else in such conditions?
Divisions get "Temperature Experience" if they fight in a certain area for a while. So you can't (using Germany as a hypothetical) redeploy your seasoned Afrikakorp to Stalingrad without therm suffering some extra attrition to represent their experience with the weather/terrain. They might also get minor combat penalties, but am not sure.
Calles is interesting figure, he was elected in 1924 with the mandate from Mexican "Laborist Party" and supported by CROM (Regional Confederation of Mexican Workers) but studied Social Democracy gouvernment in Germany. In 1928 he created "National Revolutionary Party", which changed the name multiple times before resting on this. In the same year he finished his turn as a president, became one of the most important political leaders and went more into nationalist populist direction, he was staunch anticlericalist (?). Cristeros Uprising in Mexico was directed aginst his gouvernment. Later down the line he started to take interest in spiritualism.
Interesting figure for maoist MAB that's for sure But I guess he is socialist Mao Tse Tsung also promoted some limited nationalist values so I guess it makes sense
Thanks for that extra info on Calles. The MAB has been attracting some unlikely 'members of convenience', such as the ex-Kingdom of Greece. It seems if you attack (or are attacked by) the aggressive Churchill led Allies, you have the choice of lining up with the Maoist MAB or the Fascist Asian League (because both are in the war), while the at-peace 4th International gets none of the 'love'.
The collapse of the Alpine front feels very significant for Italy, especially with the Po also being breached. Perhaps a chance for peace in Europe soon? If not yet, alas, the world.
Wonderful to have you commenting my friend. Peace in Europe soon, perhaps (though we don't know how long it would last) ... but Asia looks a mess for the long term! Not one Poland is keen to get into - land wars in Asia and all that.
I'm not familiar with the game mechanics, but it seems now that you are fighting in cold weather conditions. Do you have to invest in proper uniforms and whatnot as well as all else in such conditions? That said, the Poles are likely familiar with cold weather so it may be a moot point.
As to Trotsky, he's just biding his time until the right moment to strike. Not like him to stand still.
Maybe what's lacking in ahistorical mode is all the motivations we know were going on in the background. Mussolini was upset about being upstaged by the Germans and wanted to follow his parallel war, leading him to make a militarily moronic decision.
From what I understand, Franco was pretty determined to stay out of the war and came up with all sorts of ridiculous demands for supplies and weapons. If I remember right, Admiral Canaris was advising him to stay out no matter what.
That makes sense. You'd hardly think after years of vicious civil war that they'd want to leap into another one so quickly. Canaris was spot on if that was his advice.
I had never heard that, but that's really interesting. I wonder what would have happened if the Germans had agreed to it. It seems like Hitler and Stalin were destined to fight each other, but that's a really fascinating point of divergence.
It's beginning to look like China is going solidly against the Allies, and I'm not sure there are enough Allied troops to add to the theater. Once China falls, there's really not an obvious place for the factions to fight anymore, except maybe some limited skirmishes across the Himalayas.
Honestly, while the offer of the Unholy Alliance were genuine enough, it was only to serve the Russians time to build their forces to knock down Germany. It would never have lasted very long. Hitler wanted Germany strong enough to take on his true enemy: the United States. The Soviets wanted to expand their own control because of the inherent paranoia of having been constantly (at least in the national psyche) invaded.
That would all make sense. Though if it had worked for both of them (amoral opportunists as they all were), you never know how long that diversion may have lasted, or what the effects of such a delay would have been. Interesting and frightening. The Italians were still fortifying the Brenner Pass in 1940 before they entered the war.
I think you’re right the Soviets were intending to use it to build up against the Germans, but I’ve never seen any indication Hitler thought much of the Americans at all. At least from reading Ciano’s diaries, the Axis discounted the Americans as a threat until the reality of their industry began to sink in. The whole point of allying with Japan was to have them distract the US and avoid a repeat of WWI.
It also seems like Hitler’s ideology required a clash with the Bolsheviks in order to secure lebensraum and German hegemony. I’d be glad to learn more about this though.
On a recommendation from our esteemed colleague, @El Pip , I read two very good books by Adam Tooze: Wages of Destruction and The Deluge. The first especially highlights how the Nazis really were looking for global hegemony and how the Soviets were just the first major hurdle before turning to face down the Americans. Basically, Tooze points out just how jealous the Germans were of the American experience: a pan-continental power, very secure, and certainly nearly autarkic for numerous resources. The second covers how much the world was kinda trying to give the side eye to the US to step their asses up to the plate they had just used to smash the European powers.
Excellent progress on the Italian front. This being HOI4, I’m sure Europe won’t stay at peace for too long even if the Italians do get knocked out in fairly short order, but it is fascinating to think about a world where the European experience of the war is so different, with most of the heavy action over in Asia.
We're hoping it will stay that way for a good while yet, as we wrap up in Italy and keep building the Armed Forces to survive a likely future Soviet attack.
Divisions get "Temperature Experience" if they fight in a certain area for a while. So you can't (using Germany as a hypothetical) redeploy your seasoned Afrikakorp to Stalingrad without therm suffering some extra attrition to represent their experience with the weather/terrain. They might also get minor combat penalties, but am not sure.
Chapter Eight – Happy New Year! (8 December 1940 to 1 January 1941)
Some will be celebrating the New Year more than others: in Warsaw, those not at the Italian Front were pretty happy with the way things were going!
=======
December 1940 – The Italian Front
By 8 December, the Italians were surrounded in Milan as the Polish attack which had begun back on 25 November approached its final stages. A brief Italian counter-attack south of Bologna was defeated at 0700hr but the Allied attack on La Spezia failed two hours later, with roughly even casualties on both sides.
It took until 0000hr on 10 December to force Milan into surrender and it had been occupied by 0700hr. Total Italian casualties (air, ground and prisoners) in Milan numbered over 20,000. Cumulative Polish battlefield losses during the whole campaign so far now surpassed 46,000.
Note: interestingly, according to the detailed battle report in some categories, equipment recovered exceeded that lost in the battle (ie different models to those the Italians had lost, so not sure if they were captured)! Not sure how all that works in HOI4.
By this time, the overall war progress still supposedly favoured the Allies by a reasonable margin, though their total casualties were heavier and China remained in significant trouble. Measured by army (divisions) size, Poland was the fifth largest power in the Allies, though tenth in terms of lives sacrificed so far. Lithuania seemed to have paid an unusually high price per capita!
With Milan now in Allied hands and the last northern pocket of Italian troops eliminated, four divisions from there were sent across to Bologna, to reinforce General Źeligowsky’s Polish Expeditionary Force.
Soon afterwards, a key capability decision was taken when the development of the first Polish armoured personnel carrier was begun.
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave a press conference on 17 December in which he suggested leasing or selling of arms to Britain "on the general theory that it may still prove true that the best defence of Great Britain is the best defence of the United States, and therefore that these materials would be more useful to the defence of the United States if they were used in Great Britain, than if they were kept in storage here." On the 29th, Roosevelt used the phrase "Arsenal of Democracy" during a radio address promising to help the United Kingdom fight Nazi Germany by providing them with war supplies.
After a period of reorganisation, the Poles were ready to resume the offensive, with a large attack launched on La Spezia from three different directions late on 21 December. It would succeed by 0800hr on the 26th.
Winston Churchill broadcast an appeal to the people of Italy on 23 December, telling them to overthrow Mussolini for bringing them into a war against their wishes. "Surely the Italian army, which has fought so bravely on many occasions in the past but now evidently has no heart for the job, should take some care of the life and future of Italy?" Churchill asked. It is unlikely that many Italians heard the speech since they were forbidden from listening to foreign broadcasts.
Once La Spezia was occupied, the next attack struck south of Bologna early on the 27th, succeeding by the evening of the 30th after another stiff fight.
As 29 December ended, Poland had 23 divisions deployed in Italy, with Yugoslavia the next largest contributor. Lithuania had a couple of divisions in the Yugoslavian sector of north Italy, while France and Germany had a few more in or near Italy. Yugoslavia was also active in garrisoning Greece, part of which (based around Thessalonica) they had occupied, while the British had taken the rest of the country.
By 1700hr on 30 December, the Allies had won the battle for the province south of Bologna and had occupied it by New Year’s Eve. At that time, the two Polish armies deployed in Italy were reorganised, with General Źeligowski’s command formalised as the 4th Army around Bologna, while General Kukiel retained command of 3rd Army, centred on La Spezia.
On 30 December the famous photograph St Paul's Survives was taken of St Paul's Cathedral in London during the air raid that was nicknamed the Second Great Fire of London.
=======
1 January 1941 – A New Year Beckons
The Wacky World War Two continues!
Polish Dispositions
Back in Poland, the 1st and 2nd Armies kept guard along the Czech and Soviet borders. The latter had ten divisions facing the Poles, who retained 34 divisions back in the Home Country.
The Air Force maintained its two main air bases and radar stations in Eastern Poland, with a fighter reserve in Warsaw. The Navy had not been added to and remained quietly at port in Danzig.
The Army had managed to advance its doctrine to Level 7 in the Grand Battleplan branch (infiltration sub-branch) and the Air Force to Level 3 in the ‘Strategic Destruction’ branch (mainly being pursued for the fighter/air superiority bonuses).
Of the four army commanders, the two deployed to Italy (Kukiel and Źeligowski) were naturally gaining the most battlefield experience.
=======
The Wider War
In North Africa, the British continued to push towards Benghazi but France was not contesting in southern Tunisia.
Germany and France were contributing significantly to the British effort against Iraq and Iran.
China remained a major problem for the Allied cause, with a pocket completely isolated in the north, though current fighting there and in eastern China seemed evenly balanced.
A closer focus on the northern pocket showed the Germans had quite a few divisions trapped, along with the main NatChi force and one French division.
The Japanese PR was making the main running in eastern China all the way up to the north-west.
In the south, a mix of Allied divisions was contesting the Asian League’s forces of Yunnan and Guangxi.
=======
The Rest of the World
In the US, the Republicans had won the November 1940 election under President Wendell Wilkie. Their relations with Poland were mildly negative. The US was still not aligned to any faction but was currently providing lend-lease to Britain and, interestingly, Lithuania.
The civil war in Mexico, considered a subset of the wider ‘German-Japanese’ War, was going heavily in favour of the Allied-aligned Republic. Though the MAB-aligned Mexico had some expeditionary forces assisting them, while the Republic had some Allied divisions weighing in on their side.
It was the USR that was providing the EFs to Mexico, as well as to the Japanese PR, despite both being aligned currently to Mao’s MAB.
=======
Domestic Review
One area the Poles would like to improve was national stability, but it was not immediately obvious to the Government what more they could do to permanently increase it. [Question: are there events, focuses or something else that can be done to increase it?]
On the industrial front, consumer goods consumption remained high: something would need to be done to reduce it given the country had been at war for some time now. The current excess was being used to build another factory in Łodz.
The logistic and production reports showed recent new division construction and battlefield equipment losses had left sizeable deficits in light tanks, trucks and artillery. A new tactical bomber force was being developed for the Air Force. Train production had been maintained to ensure logistic fulfillment remained adequate given the need to supply distant forces in combat (there had been some shortages early on, since remedied).
A general overview of the research program showed that some recent fuel shortages were being addressed through technology.
The current national focus was in the Four Year Plan branch, where industry was being boosted to cope with Poland’s increasing needs and ambitions.
The previous focus on war preparation and Plan East had seen it almost completed, after which some work had been done on armed forces modernisation before the current switch to industrial improvement.
=======
Legislative Agenda
By 1 January 1941, Poland had built up a considerable political capital (721 to spend).
Poland’s economic laws had not yet been updated and remained in a peacetime stance. It appeared to the Government that a move to a war economy would be the best move: it would lower the requirement for consumer goods, boost fuel efficiency (compared to civilian laws) and increase military factory construction without suffering any obvious detriment.
The trade laws currently had Poland as an ‘embargoed economy’. The government sought advice (from anyone that might feel like providing it) as to whether a change should be made and if so to what [I pretty much have no real idea]. A closed economy would not be accessible, but limited exports could be if the economic laws were updated.
An earlier change of conscription laws to a volunteer force had remedied an earlier manpower shortage, with over 820,000 men now on the rolls as ‘free manpower’ against a current establishment of around 500,000 in the armed forces. There seemed no immediate need to introduce a higher levy, though limited conscription might be relatively cheap in political capital and would build the reserve further as a buffer against future demands.
It looks like it will be a tedious matter proceeding down the boot, but do-able.
As for stability, focuses is usually where a lot of stability stuff comes from. There are some decisions that can impact it as well - iirc there is a generic one that is called something like Improved Working Conditions or something like that that slowly improves your stability for a bit at the cost of lowered factory production for a spell of time. Whether this is a worthwhile trade-off, I cannot say
For economic law War Economy would be a good switch. As for other economic laws, it depends on how your resources are I think. A certain portion of your natural resources goes to the international market - set by the law. Currently that is 25%. Broadly speaking the more open you are the more research, construction and production bonuses wtih the tradeoff of others getting more base intel about you and more resources being reserved for the market. Under your current law, 25% is reserved for market, which is the same as limited exports, so that would likely be the easiest swap, as it were.
I now await someone who actually knows a goodly bit more about HoI4 to correct me
