Poles Apart – an HOI4 Ahistory

Bullfilter · Jun 21, 2022

Chapter One – Securing the Second Republic
(January 1936 – May 1937)

Chwała Polsce!
(Glory to Poland)

Introduction

This game started out as a filler after one of my existing AARs finished (Civis Romanus Sum, EU-Rome) and another ended its gameplay phase (Talking Turkey, HOI3). I haven’t played HOI4 much and haven’t yet got the more recent DLCs and thought I’d just give Poland a go, to re-familiarise and see whether I wanted to fork out the hard-earned for the rest of the DLC.

I’ve set it to Regular difficulty, as I’m really just a novice at this particular game and set it for non-historical focuses. I then hit play and by the time I got to early-mid 1937, some interesting stuff had happened, so I started taking screenshots. Next thing I knew, I was planning a hopefully simple and fairly short AAR, my first in HOI4! This first chapter takes us up to that point.

I only (!) have two other AARs going (as games) at the moment and am planning to get back into an HOI3 mod, so hopefully this will be manageable. The format will be gameplay with a bit of historical side narrative. HOI4 seems more political and strategic than HOI3 with its national focus trees, but there will be some scope for following tactical battles if they are significant. Playing a regional power like Poland should keep that within a reasonable scale, I think.

I will deliberately keep chapters a fair bit shorter than in some of my ‘bigger’ AARs, to hopefully make it more digestible. Finally, I’ve played ahead far enough to know there is a story to tell and one that I want to tell. For those not familiar with my other works, I don’t abandon AARs early and leave people hanging, so you can be assured of that. That’s enough preamble, on with the story!

=======

January 1936 – the Polish Government

Eighteen years after the Great War, Poland sits at the centre of Europe, pitched as ever between two great powers who still may hold the fate of Poland in their hands. To the west, Germany, now styled the German Reich and under the leadership of the rabid Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler. To the east Russia, the old empire’s latest incarnation as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, a den of Bolshevism full of Communist revolutionaries.

As ever, Poland’s place in the world remains uneasy. The Second Republic – under the wise leadership of the very experienced President Ignacy Mościcki – must first be secured from internal threats before it can face the rest of the world with the strength it needs to survive.

Ignacy Mościcki, President of Poland since 4 June 1926.

Mościcki was born on 1 December 1867 in Mierzanowo, a small village near Ciechanów, Congress Poland. After completing school in Warsaw, he studied chemistry at the Riga Polytechnicum. There he joined the Polish underground leftist organisation, Proletariat.

Upon graduating, he returned to Warsaw, but was threatened by the Tsarist secret police with life imprisonment in Siberia and was forced to emigrate in 1892 to London. In 1896 he was offered an assistantship at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. There he patented a method for cheap industrial production of nitric acid.

In 1912 Mościcki moved to Lviv (Polish: Lwów), in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, where he accepted a chair in physical chemistry and technical electrochemistry at the Lviv Polytechnic. In 1925 he was elected rector of the Lwów Polytechnic (as it was now called), but soon moved to Warsaw to continue his research at the Warsaw Polytechnic. In 1926, he became an Honorary Member of the Polish Chemical Society.

After Józef Piłsudski's May 1926 coup d'état, on 1 June 1926, Mościcki, once an associate of Piłsudski in the Polish Socialist Party, was elected president of Poland by the National Assembly on Piłsudski's recommendation, after Piłsudski had refused the office for himself.

As president, Mościcki was subservient to Piłsudski and never openly showed dissent from any aspect of the Marshal's leadership. After Piłsudski's death in 1935, his followers divided into three main factions: those supporting Mościcki as Piłsudski's successor (the Castle), those supporting General Edward Rydz-Śmigły (the Sanation Right), and those supporting Prime Minister Walery Sławek (the Sanation Left).

In OTL, with a view to eliminating Sławek from the game, Mościcki concluded a power-sharing agreement with Rydz-Śmigły, which saw Sławek marginalized as a serious political player by the end of the year. As a result of the agreement, Rydz-Śmigły would become the de facto leader of Poland until the outbreak of the war, and Mościcki remained influential by continuing in office as president.

Mościcki was the leading moderate figure in the regime, which was referred to as the "colonels' government" because of the major presence of military officers in the Polish government. Mościcki opposed many of the nationalist excesses of the more right-wing Rydz-Śmigły, but their pact remained more or less intact.

We shall see what transpires in this ATL.

The Polish army as deployed in January 1936. They would soon be divided into a western force (the 1st Army) and an eastern one (2nd Army).

=======

Political Developments: January 1936 to May 1937

The internal threats to Poland in early 1936 are real. The most pressing problem in January 1936 was the looming Peasants’ Strike. Only comprehensive agrarian reform would avert the severe disruption that was threatened.

The 1937 peasant strike in Poland, also known in some Polish sources as the Great Peasant Uprising was a mass strike and demonstration of peasants organised by the agrarian People's Party (Stronnictwo Ludowe, or SL) and aimed at the ruling sanacja government. It was the largest political protest in the Second Polish Republic and it is estimated that several million peasants took part in the demonstrations.

There was significant violence from both the strikers and the brutal police reaction. It was getting out of hand and on 20 August 1937 the SL leadership decided to stop the strike. The police, at first shocked at the magnitude of the protest, took their revenge, ‘pacifying’ villages violently. This in return provoked the hatred of the villagers. Altogether, around 1000 people were sentenced to up to five years in prison.

The strike failed to shift the official balance of power, as sanacja remained in control. However, it strengthened the Polish peasant movement, and was seen by the peasant activists as a successful demonstration of force. SL activists wanted to organise another strike in 1938, but due to the deteriorating international situation and growing threat of German aggression, it was called off.

This became the President’s most important political priority in the early months of 1936. Mościcki would systematically implement a Four Year Plan, then pursue the improvements in rail services that would enable agrarian reforms to be implemented within the time frame required.

Later in 1936, with the Peasants’ Strike successfully averted, the Left and Right Sanation factions would threaten to destabilise the control of Mościcki’s ‘centrist’ (relatively speaking) Castle faction. Forsaking other political, diplomatic or industrial courses, Mościcki would move to complete the April Constitution.

This would pave the way through the development of Polish militarism to consolidate the Sanation government and then solidify the base of the Castle faction. Following this, the Sanation Right would be placated, with its leader Rydz-Śmigły being nominated as ‘the Second Man of the State’. Mościcki then moved to lock in support for himself to maintain the current dictatorship that ruled Poland without elections or the interference of the Sjem.

By early April 1937, this process of political consolidation would be complete, with Mościcki having avoided any serious disruption to the stability of the Second Republic. But it did mean that other economic, political, military and diplomatic reform had been delayed. Production remained comparatively weak, military research and construction slow, if steady.

=======

Foreign Developments: January 1936 to May 1937

The big news for Poland and indeed the rest of Europe in early 1936 was the outbreak of a revolt in Germany on 11 March 1936 by a Military Junta against Hitler’s Nazi regime. The Junta started with possession of the western half of Germany, the Nazi’s retaining Berlin and the east. Fighting would rage across Germany in the coming months.

Not all major events during this initial period are recorded here [at that point I wasn’t planning to make this an AAR], but two major international events were announced on 1 May 1936.

Next, civil war broke out in Spain between the Republic and the Nationalists on 3 October 1936. By then, the tide of fighting had turned against Hitler and the war was declared over on 4 November 1936. Hitler was presumed dead, his regime killed or captured. The Military Junta, led by Field Marshal von Mackensen, now had sole control of the former Third Reich. By 1 May 1937, the war in Spain still raged, though the Nationalists were firmly in the ascendant.

=======

Anton Ludwig Friedrich August von Mackensen (born Mackensen; 6 December 1849), ennobled as "von Mackensen" in 1899, was a German field marshal. He commanded successfully during the Great War of 1914–1918 and became one of the German Empire's most prominent and competent military leaders. After the armistice of November 1918 the victorious Allies interned Mackensen in Serbia for a year.

Field Marshal von Mackensen

Mackensen retired from the army in 1920; in 1933 Hermann Göring made him a Prussian state councillor. During the short Nazi era (1933-36), Mackensen remained a committed monarchist and sometimes appeared at official functions in his Great War uniform. During the German presidential election of 1932, Mackensen supported Paul von Hindenburg against Adolf Hitler, whose political skills he nevertheless admired.

Mackensen and Hitler in 1935 during the Heldengedenktag in Berlin.

Mackensen's relationship to the Nazis remained ambiguous: he appeared in his black uniform at public events organised by the German government or the Nazi Party, such as the Day of Potsdam on 21 March 1933. On the other hand, he objected to the killing of Generals Ferdinand von Bredow and Kurt von Schleicher during The Night of the Long Knives purge of July 1934.

Hitler and Joseph Goebbels suspected Mackensen of disloyalty but refrained from taking action. Other senior NSDAP members also suspected him of disloyalty to the Third Reich, but nothing was proven against him. Until he pounced in March 1936.

=======

Also in 1936, there was a Communist revolution in Japan. Once the dust had settled, the Japanese Peoples’ Republic took over the Japanese Home Islands under Kyuichi Tokuda. Manchuria was taken over by former Chinese Emperor, Aisin Gioro Puyi, which became known as the Imperial Kwantung Territories, a Fascist government embracing Korea, Taiwan and Japan’s remaining Pacific possessions. Mengkukuo remained an independent and unaligned Fascist regime.

=======

13 May 1937 – a Stocktake

After the successful consolidation of the Polish dictatorship under Mościcki, his next step was into international relations. Poland would lean to neither the Fascists – whose fortunes in Germany and Japan had taken a massive blow during 1936, leaving Italy as its major European proponent – nor to the despised Communists, who were seemingly on the rise in Asia. Nor would an expansionist or imperialist course be taken, despite the dreams of some to revive the old Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth under the ‘between the seas’ movement.

Poland would throw in its lot with the Allies, led by the UK, its sole major power member at this time. This would bring both benefits and obligations, but Poland would need powerful friends if either Germany or Russia ever threatened her. By 13 May, this policy had been under development for a little over a month.

A civil war had started in Mexico on 26 April 1937, apparently led by a Junta against the Mexican Republic. By 13 May the Junta seemed to be well on top already (40% in favour).

By this time, the standard Polish army division consisted of three brigades, each with three battalions. The one change since January 1936 had been to add an anti-tank battery to one of the brigades.

The economy had been relatively under-developed during this time regarding reforms that may have assisted its expansion. There were ten military factories trying to remedy deficits in infantry and support equipment, guns for the new AT batteries and building up the Air Force’s fighter arm. Naval building had been completely ignored: it formed no part in Poland’s foreseeable military planning.

Civilian industry was trying to slowly expand, though at times rail projects and new military factory production would be programmed during this period. Manpower reserves had built considerably following the political reforms of 1936-37.

Research on infantry and support techs had largely attained or were progressing to 1936 levels in most of the main or initial lines of research. Military trucks were under development, in the hope of later introducing motorised divisions.

Some headway had been made in production research and more was coming. The fuel situation seemed comfortable for now, so no further research was being planned there. Some work had been done on artillery development, both the first generation AT guns and also for towed artillery, which the Polish Army intended to introduce widely in its infantry divisions in the near future.

=======

And so stood Poland on 13 May 1937. There were hopes that the Military Junta in Germany would take steps to reintroduce democracy in due course. Certainly, the developing threat they seemed to have posed to all their neighbours in the less than three years of Hitler’s ill-fated Nazi regime seemed to have ebbed considerably.

Poland now considered the USSR to be its most significant threat and those few new deployments made since the beginning of 1936 had been sent to the eastern border. If Germany continued along a peaceful and even democratic path, divisions currently stationed in the west may well be redirected there.

A faint drumbeat of war could be heard: was it distant, or nearer by but very faint as yet? Only time would tell where conflict might erupt and if it did, how Poland may be affected by it. For now, the country would be developed, the military gradually modernised and grown and stronger diplomatic links with Britain and the Allies forged.

Bullfilter · Jun 27, 2022

Chapter Two – A More Dangerous World
(June 1937 – October 1938)

=======

The Slippery Slope (June-November 1937)

Even as the world moved in strange new directions and edged ever closer to violence and chaos, in Poland the recent past was being honoured. In particular, the effective founder of the current government (which would no doubt be described as a ‘regime’ by most other countries). On 20 June, Bishop Adam Stefan Sapieha confirmed his plan to move the body of Józef Piłsudski to a crypt located under the Silver Bell Tower of the Wawel.

Józef Klemens Piłsudski (5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Chief of State (1918–1922) and First Marshal of Poland (from 1920). He was considered the de facto leader (1926–35) of the Second Polish Republic as the Minister of Military Affairs.

The world got more dangerous in July 1937, when China descended into war. Nationalist China progressively declared war on its neighbouring Chinese warlord statelets between 18 July to 23 August. They then received support from Yunnan on 13 September. By the 15th, battles raged along China’s borders with Xibei San Ma, Shanxi and the Guangxi Clique.

The 1937 Peasant strike in Poland began on 15 August. On the 19th police killed two peasants, who were blocking the road at the village in Harta. The peasant strike ended on 25 August after 15 peasants were killed by the police in the village of Majdan Sieniawski.

By mid-September, the civil war in Mexico had turned decisively against the Fascist Junta, the non-aligned Mexican Republic emerging as the leaders.

By this time, the two Polish Armies (1st in the west, 2nd in the east) had been organised and developed a little, with most units on the borders and some held back in reserve, with no obvious immediate threat determined. Recent fighter production had seen a new wing formed and deployed to support the eastern army, based in Nowogródek. The rest remained in Poznan and Warsaw.

Then momentous news broke on 27 October 1937. Leon (Lev) Trotsky had returned to Russia at the Black Sea port of Odessa, declared himself leader of a rival Union of Soviet Republics (USR) and sparking a Soviet Civil War!

In the initial dispositions, it looked like Stalin and the USSR had retained the bulk of territory and industrial resources, but Trotsky’s USR looked to have a significant advantage in troop numbers – as far as Polish analysts could ascertain.

This was one of four essentially civil wars now going on around the world. The level of global violence and tension was rising, while the slope of international relations was beginning to get steeper and more slippery.

The first celebration of Polish National Independence Day was held on 11 November in this atmosphere of increasing world tension, balanced for Poland by upheaval and seeming disintegration in its two biggest and traditionally most threatening neighbours.

Polish National Independence Day Parade.

Predictably, the Mexican Civil War ended with the victory of the Republican forces on 22 November 1937.

At home, the Polish Government hired the tank designers PZinż on 26 November and began the development of the first new indigenous light tank design, the TKS. This was the beginning of the planned development of a core of armoured and motorised divisions to eventually form a mechanised manoeuvre force.

In Germany, von Mackensen’s Military Junta still ruled the country and, despite the continued bitterness over their defeat in the Great War and their subsequent treatment, they were trying to rebuild and revitalise the nation. The current focus of their government was not known, but most importantly it seemed the Junta had agreed to re-establish free elections.

This was a source of cautious hope for Poland and would be better than them falling into extreme right wing revanchism or communist revolution. But after testing the waters, it was clear that the Germans were not yet ready to agree a non-aggression pact with Poland, despite a previous Polish diplomatic influence campaign.

At this time, Pierre Laval’s Parti Radical was ascendant in France, with the next election not due until May 1940.

As a result of all this, Poland had decided that the danger on the German border was diminished and it was the eastern border – whether it would be Stalin or Trotsky running the Soviet system – that posed the greater threat. They began a systematic plan to start strengthening their defences and infrastructure in the east. This would later include addition (manual, via civil industrial production) improvements to the railway network.

=======

An Approaching Storm (December 1937 – September 1938)

It was Mussolini that ratcheted up tensions in the West at this point, with threatening revanchist claims made on Yugoslavia. This was an entirely different proposition to a brutal invasion and conquest of far-off Ethiopia. Yugoslavia had friends in Europe – including France. The situation in Europe was becoming more dangerous by the day.

In the Soviet Civil War, it appeared by mid-December 1937 that Trotsky’s USR had gained a decisive edge over the failing Soviet Union run by Stalin.

As tensions rose in early 1938, the first few months recorded no significant new developments.

On 16 March 1938, in Warsaw's Royal Castle, Edward Rydz-Śmigły, Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski, Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski, and Józef Beck meet to discuss Polish – Lithuanian conflict. The next day, the Polish Ultimatum was sent to Lithuania. On the same day, textile workers of Łódź and surrounding towns declare a warning strike.

In Wilno and Warsaw, on 18 March thousands of inhabitants take part in an anti-Lithuanian demonstration. Among Polish officials present at the demonstration in Wilno is the commander-in-chief of the Polish Army, Edward Śmigły-Rydz.

The government of Lithuania accepted the Polish Ultimatum the next day. On 28 March, Franciszek Charwat arrived in Kaunas as the first Polish diplomatic representative in Lithuania. On the 31st Poland and Lithuania formally established diplomatic relations.

Contemporary OTL reporting of the Polish Ultimatum to Lithuania, March 1938. This event may still occur later in this ATL, but that remains to be seen.

Then in March, the dominant Conservative government in the UK (100% popularity? Really?) chose Winston Churchill, the ‘British Bulldog’ as Prime Minister. This signalled an end to the previous policy of appeasement: even though it seemed to have worked well enough regarding Germany! Still, with Italy throwing its weight around in Europe, a thrown gauntlet may yet be required.

Trotsky triumphed in the Soviet Civil War on 8 April 1938. It was unclear to the Poles what the consequences of this may be for them: would Trotsky try to eventually initiate a continuous and world-wide revolution? And the fate of the deposed and unlamented Stalin himself was as yet unknown.

The Polish diplomatic response was to initiate a campaign to further improve relations with the UK on 8 April.

At this tense time, Poland appointed a new ambassador to Italy. Bolesław Wieniawa-Długoszowski, arrived in Rome on 3 June. Bolesław Ignacy Florian Wieniawa-Długoszowski (b. 22 July 1881) was a Polish general and adjutant to Chief of State Józef Piłsudski. He was one of the generation that fought for, and saw, the rebirth of an independent Poland on 11 November 1918 (National Independence Day). It promised to be an eventful tour of duty in the most prominent European Fascist state.

Bolesław Wieniawa-Długoszowski, Polish Ambassador to Italy

In OTL, Wieniawa remained the Polish Ambassador in Rome until 13 June 1940. On 17 September 1939, he was nominated president of Poland by retiring President Ignacy Mościcki. On the same day, Poland was invaded by the Soviet Union and he took the train from Rome to Paris to take on his new role. His appointment was published in the Official Journal, Monitor Polski, on 25 September 1939. This appointment was (apparently, according to Wikipedia) blackballed by the French Third Republic and also opposed by Władysław Sikorski. After the capitulation of France, he emigrated to New York travelling via Lisbon.

Once in the USA, Wieniawa settled in New York. He was unable to get any position in the Polish army from Sikorski, since he was part of the Piłsudskiist Sanation Movement (which ruled Poland from 1926 to 1939), which Sikorski was opposed to. Wieniawa, after an new diplomatic appointment fell through and caught up in the murky political undercurrents of Polish émigré politics, moved back to New York, apparently lost hope and took his own life on 1 July 1942.

Churchill would not have liked the latest expression of Indian independence sentiment that came at the end of June 1938. How long would he be able to keep a lid on potential discontent?

In early July, the Spanish Civil War was still going, but leaning heavily in the Nationalists’ favour. In China, the conflict still seemed to be evenly balanced, with Communist China having joined in the fray against the Nationalists (at some point I didn’t record).

Taking all this raised world tension into account, Poland took the decisive step on 15 August 1938 to begin formal affiliation with the UK-led Allies, following on from its successful alignment to the West.

Barely a month later, wonderful news came from Germany. Democracy had triumphed, with Konrad Adenauer’s Zentrum Party having won the first elections in September 1938. In an attempt to curry favour with the new German government, Poland made a unilateral offer of military access to Germany, which was duly accepted, even though the Germans were not yet ready to reciprocate.

It was perhaps an increasingly polarised world but Poland’s place in it seemed comparatively promising. For now.

Bullfilter · Jul 1, 2022

Chapter Three – A Series of Unfortunate Events
(October 1938 – May 1939)

=======

Steady as She Goes (October 1938 – February 1939)

As the level of tension in the world actually decreased a little during September 1938 (down from 45%), in early October the Polish Foreign Office began to worry that the window might shut on Poland’s bid to formally join the Allies. With just 22 days to go until a decision, there were concerns that Churchill may not approve the request.

In OTL, tensions were high and the Czechs had been abandoned in Munich. Within the region originally demanded from Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany following the Munich Agreement was the important railway junction city of Bohumín. The Poles regarded the city as of crucial importance to the area and to Polish interests. On 28 September, Beneš composed a note to the Polish administration offering to reopen the debate surrounding the territorial demarcation in Těšínsko (Český Těšín) in the interest of mutual relations, but he delayed in sending it in hopes of good news from London and Paris, which failed to come.

Beneš then turned to the Soviet leadership in Moscow, which had begun a partial mobilisation in eastern Belarus and Ukraine and threatened Poland with the dissolution of the Soviet-Polish non-aggression pact. At noon on 30 September, Poland gave an ultimatum to the Czechoslovak government that demanded the immediate evacuation of Czechoslovak troops and police and gave Prague until noon the following day. At 11:45 a.m. on 1 October the Czechoslovak foreign ministry called the Polish ambassador in Prague and told him that Poland could have what it wanted.

Polish Army entering Český Těšín (Czeski Cieszyn), 1 October 1938, with 7TPs leading the push.

With the new 7TP light tank research finished on 20 October, production began after some small improvements were made to its armour and main gun, with the model becoming known as the Mark 1 variant.

The fears of the Foreign Office proved unfounded, as the request to join the Allies was delivered to the UK on 24 October 1938. That done and while a decision was awaited, moves were then made to deliver the long-mooted Lithuanian Ultimatum, which would hopefully end long-running border disputes and improve relations between the two countries.

The British response was quick: Poland formally joined the Allies that evening.

Polish crowds celebrate the new alliance with Britain, 24 October 1938.

The next day, the Polish Ambassador in London was given a comprehensive report on current British military and industrial strength and a map showing dispositions in Britain itself.

Estimates of German and Soviet strengths were also assessed.

Parliamentary elections were held in Poland on 6 November 1938, with Senate elections held a week later on 13 November. They were the last elections in the Second Polish Republic. This election was held under the April Constitution of 1935, which was written to favour the Sanation movement.

The Camp of National Unity, the party of the Sanation movement, won 164 of the 208 seats in the Sejm and 66 of the 96 seats in the Senate. Although multiple parties ran, all of them were controlled by the Camp of National Unity and the number of votes they received were chosen by the government beforehand.

Polish Independence Day was again celebrated on 11 November in an atmosphere of pride and some hope.

In Asia, the Communist Chinese formed the Mutual Assistance Bloc, formalising their common front against the Nationalist Chinese with many of the warlord states involved in the fight..

A few days later, this war remained finely balanced, according to reports from the East, though Xibei San Ma was in some trouble.

The Lithuanians duly accepted Poland’s peace overtures on 30 November, bringing a thaw to relations, which Poland sought to build on further.

Over an otherwise quiet and (for Poland) uneventful winter, the relationship with Lithuania progressed from friendship to the proposal of a formal alliance on 6 February 1939.

=======

Stumbling Into War (February – March 1939)

The first inklings of trouble closer to home in Europe had come back on 1 December 1937, when Mussolini announced claims on what he considered to be Italian-speaking areas rightfully belonging to Italy. That all dated back to their feeling of having been cheated out of their just claims by their ‘Allies’ following the Great War. The demands had since largely been forgotten in the wider world. Not so in Italy.

The issue came to a sudden and dramatica head on 21 February 1939, when as a seeming bolt out of the blue Italy declared war on Yugoslavia. In an eery parallel to the Great War, it fell to Belgrade to be the capital that had refused to bow to an ultimatum and then found itself attacked, even if the delay was longer this time. This Italian attack immediately escalated the conflict, with France honouring its guarantee to defend Yugoslavia. On paper (and only imprecise reports at that in these early stages) the Italians appeared heavily outnumbered.

Almost ignored now in the background, the Spanish Civil War just ground on.

What could only be described as a period of ‘March Madness’ began when Britain lit the fuse in the Middle East. They took a dislike to the ruling Hashemite regime in Iraq and declared war on 2 March, with the aim of making Iraq a British puppet.

Churchill began calling in all his Allies, which now included Poland, of course, to join the war. And in they came. Poland, for one, did not want to endanger future reciprocal support. And apart from that, it looked an easy and (importantly) distant fight. Onwards!

But the situation soon escalated. Somehow, Iran became involved on 6 March, Churchill apparently taking offence at something they had said or done. And then, for reasons not immediately clear in Poland, the Netherlands was suddenly dragged into the conflict on the 7th, with the puppeting of Curacao now added to that of Iraq and Iran as British war goals!

France then joined the Allies on 10 March, with a call to arms from them issued to all the Allies the following day. Yugoslavia then joined the Allies on the 12th. Poland joined this stumbling rush to war, not wanting to appear a weak-kneed fellow-traveller within the alliance. So now found itself at war with Italy, but with Britain and France as major allies.

By 19 March, two somewhat confusingly separately defined but overlapping wars were going on side by side. The main upshot though remained the Allies against Italy with Iraq, Iran and the Netherlands as side-theatres. The Allies retained the upper hand in total military strength and industrial power.

In China, the conflict remained evenly poised in terms of casualties and progress, though China and Yunnan retained a considerable advantage in estimated troop numbers against the Mutual Assistance Bloc, though not numbers of divisions or total industrial capacity.

By that time, the USR had apparently founded their own faction, the 4th International, but no detailed reports on it were handy and at that time it was unknown who else, if anyone, was a member: it seemed nobody was yet.

=======

War Abroad, Peace at Home (1 April – 4 May 1939)

Although war had spread around much of the world by April 1939, it seemed to be contained in separate compartments and was not considered to be a global war as yet. No one was using the terms ‘a new Great War’ or ‘Second World War’ at this stage. Indeed, the Netherlands capitulated on 2 April after just a few weeks of resistance when British landings in Holland made quick progress.

Churchill was proving to be more of a ‘global bully’ than even Mussolini! Still, Poland was along for the ride now and at least seemed to have backed a winner. But not to be outdone, Mussolini responded with an ultimatum to Albania on 7 April demanding annexation, which King Zog gallantly refused.

This triggered a new round of escalation after Italy declared war on the morning of the 7th. Germany fulfilled a pledge to come to the aid of the brave Albanians and quickly joined the Allies, as did Albania. Germany then honoured France’s call to arms and now they too were participants in the wider French (Allied)-Italian War!

At this stage, Poland was trying to produce all the various equipment it needed to sustain its growing army and the trade resources necessary to sustain their military factories. And things seemed largely on track.

A Polish 7TP Mk1 tank during trials in April 1939.

At this time, Poland’s national focus was firmly set on implementing its comprehensive Plan East, with the latest stage completed on 17 April.

Late on the following day, with Germany now officially Polish allies, most of the 1st Army began to redeploy to the eastern border with the USR. Purely as a precaution, for now.

Polish 1st Army troops on the ‘Great March East’, April 1939.

In the confusing mess that was Chinese politics, a new pact emerged on 4 May 1939, called the Asian League, to oppose the Nationalist Chinese.

It was somewhat unclear, but it seemed Kwantung had roped in or perhaps organised pro-Fascist coups in a number of the Chinese warlord states including Sinkiang, China's former ally Yunnan, Guangxi and Xibei San Ma, in addition to their pre-existing fascist friends Mengukuo.

The Mutual Assistance Bloc remained, but now only saw Shanxi linked up with the Communist Chinese. It all served to isolate China further, who were now embroiled in heavy fighting both to the north and south.

Bullfilter · Jul 8, 2022

Chapter Four – The ‘War Escalator Clause’
(May 1939 – January 1940)

=======

May-hem (13-31 May 1939)

The Anglo-French offensive into western Iraq was making progress by mid-May 1939, as Iran attempted an attack against Allied troops stationed in Kuwait.

In Poland, recent discoveries had allowed work to begin on a radar network for eastern Poland. The first installation had been deployed at Nowogródek, with another just commenced in Lwów.

In northern Italy, French and German forces had made some rapid initial gains, seizing Turin and now on the outskirts of Milan and Genoa.

And in south-eastern Iran, the Iranians were now trying to counter-attack early gains by the forces of the British Raj, aided by a French armoured division.

Poland’s second armoured division had begun training and the recently developed first Polish heavy tank would now be used to provide a little extra punch, once industry could be geared up accordingly.

It was at this stage on the morning of May 23 that alignments among the warring parties across the globe started to coalesce more in the Merry Merry Month of Mayhem. The big news for the Allies was Italy siding with Imperial Kwantung and the Asian League. This then caused a familiar cascading effect, dragging the Allies into the Chinese conflict, while Iran and Iraq also sided with this Fascist grouping. It culminated in China joining the Allies at 0900hr on the 26th.

The 'War Escalator' clause has once again been invoked!

In the Europe and the Middle East, the factional battle lines were more clearly drawn.

In Asia the sorely beset Nationalist Chinese, facing both Fascist and Communist enemies (though that latter had formed around the Maoists, not the Trotskyist USR), now hoped for some support to aid their flagging cause. Japan and the USR remained neutral observers. For now, anyway.

As May drew to a chaotic close, in what was now termed the Italian-British War, the Allies retained a big advantage in manpower and industry, also suffering fewer casualties to retain a marginal edge in its progress.

Factoring in the participation of the Mutual Assistance Bloc (against whom not all the Allies were as yet at war), the picture was a little more balanced. Poland had yet to contribute anything to the war effort.

In Asia, China was in a bit of trouble on the Allied side of the ledger. For The Asian League, Iraq and Xibei San Ma remained in some danger, Italy less so, while Sinkiang was now free of enemy occupation, reversing its earlier position against the NatChi.

More diplomatic moves were made over coming days as countries from either side declared war on each other and the name of the main conflict and sub-conflicts varied from day to day, but they will not be related in detail here.

Just a couple of weeks in May 1939 had sent the newspapers of the world into a new level of frenzy. It was at this time that many started to believe that another world war could have begun, though it looked very different to what many had been expected just a few years before.

On May 13, Italy’s Galeazzo Ciano informs Józef Beck that in case of future Polish-German conflict, Italy will support Germany. General Tadeusz Kasprzycki begins negotiations in Paris about military help with General Maurice Gamelin from 15-19 May. Both sides pledge to help each other in case of war. On 16 May General Wacław Stachiewicz ordered his subordinates to create a plan of fortifications along the Polish-German border. Polish-British military negotiations began in Warsaw on 23 May.

=======

Allied Progress in a ‘A New Normal’ (1 June – 5 September 1939)

But Poland, though a very interested observer but with no active conflict on its borders, was to a great degree insulated from much of this world war madness. As June began, the range of equipment being produced was becoming more diverse.

More than half their military factories were churning out tanks of one sort or another (the light 7TP Mk1 and the heavy 27TP main battle tank), while a new fighter model had been developed and was being produced in limited numbers. The heavy tank line in particular would take some time to ramp up to greater efficiency.

News came via diplomatic channels on 5 June that the Kingdom of Greece was justifying a war goal against Albania, where they clearly had some opportunistic territorial ambitions of their own. Didn’t they realise that any attack could bring them into conflict with the Allies? They must be banking on cooperating with the Italians – but it seemed rather unwise.

On 9 June, Poland formed its 3rd Army in the south, commanded by General Marian Kukiel, a defensive specialist. He had responsibility for the border with Czechoslovakia, Romania and the southern border sector with the USR. 1st Army had the central USR sector, including the nascent mechanised corps, while the 2nd Army looked after the north.

On 21 June, the Forgotten War in Spain came to an end, the pro-Fascist Nationalists taking the victory.

By early July, the Polish Air Force was primarily oriented to the east, with a fighter reserve in Warsaw. The tiny Navy still sheltered in Danzig.

Good news came towards the end of August, as Iran capitulated following an Allied offensive (mainly from the Raj in the east) that had quickly overrun their resistance over the last few months. Iraq fought on but was beleaguered.

The war raged on in China and remained a difficult proposition for the NatChi, though they had avoided collapse over the last few months.

Tensions and pressure grew, with German threats and demands increasing over Danzig and the ‘Corridor’, with the Polish army initiating a partial mobilisation on 13 August, extended further on 24 August after the Moscow, Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was signed in Moscow on the 23rd, followed by a pact of mutual help between Poland and Great Britain being signed in London on the 25th. Full Polish mobilisation is ordered on the 30th and the ‘false flag’ Gleiwitz incident is staged by the Germans on the 31st. We all know what happened next: Poland was invaded by Nazi Germany on 1 September, precipitating the start of the Second World War. Poland was invaded by the USSR on 17 September. Poland was soon defeated and a Government-in-Exile formed in Paris on 1 October. By 6 October it was all over.

[From Wikipedia] Left to right, top to bottom: Luftwaffe bombers over Poland; Schleswig-Holstein attacking the Westerplatte; Danzig Police destroying the Polish border post; German tank and armoured car formation; German and Soviet troops shaking hands; bombing of Warsaw.

A map of what I was expecting but has fortunately not transpired in this ATL. Yet, anyway.

Iraq capitulated on 5 September 1939, which appeared to wrap up the Allied campaign in the Middle East and Central Asia, at least.

A closer look at the Chinese Theatre in mid-September showed that French, British (Raj and regular) and even a few German divisions were now operating side-by-side with their Chinese Allies, who were still holding on.

In Poland, after some concerted exercising over recent months, the first air doctrine was unlocked. It was decided that the ‘strategic destruction’ branch would be pursued, mainly for its defensive benefits.

Allied losses were mounting by 24 September, with the faction demarcations in Asia, showing that China was at risk of being cut off in a north-south pincer to the north of Burma.

As September was ending, most Polish equipment stockpiles were ‘in the green’ or near to it, with heavy tank production still ramping up. And the British were throwing their weight around more, this time on the Washington Naval Treaty – which hardly applied to Poland! Polish manpower was now strong after shortages in previous years, political capital was good. Overall, things seemed to be all right for now in the Second Republic.

After a quiet (for Poland) October, it seemed a shortage in rolling stock had developed. It would require some industrial investment to correct.

There was more diplomatic lunacy on 16 December, when Greece got greedy and declared war on Albania, even though the Allies had made (recently slowed) progress against Italy in the north and Albania was part of the Allies. Interestingly, Greece joined the MAB with Communist China rather than the Fascist Asian League, which Italy had aligned with.

=======

March, March, Dąbrowski, from Poland to Italy (20 December 1939 – 7 January 1940)

Four days later, it was noted things were progressing a little slowly in Piedmont and that the main Allies only had eight divisions deployed there now. Poland decided it was time to start contributing more practically to the Allied cause and start to give units and generals some combat experience. The initial contribution would be a corps of four infantry divisions from the 3rd Army on the Czech border, which embarked on their long train trip on 20 December.

They arrived in Turin a week later. Seeing the situation was looking a little shaky around Milan and wanting to help take it, the divisions were rushed forward without being given time to fully reorganise after their trip. Things had gone better for the Allies in the south, with Genoa and La Spezia taken in recent months and Bologna in their sights.

The first Polish combat engagement of the war began at 0700hr on 30 December 1939, where they had plugged a gap in the line west of Milan. Despite being low on organisation, they eventually won the encounter on the night of 1 January 1940.

The Allies and Italians were noted to be duelling in the air above them. Polish Air Force units had not be deployed and there was no plan to do so, with ample Allied air cover seemingly available.

The other action was a spoiling attack on Milan by 2 and 7 DP on Milan which began on the morning of 1 January, as their comrades still defending to the north.

Polish infantry attacking Milan, 1 January 1940.

After 6 and 10 DP finished their defence, though still under-prepared they joined in the cross-river attack on Milan early on 2 January. By the end of 3 January, the attack on Milan was being pressed forward while the Italians launched a spoiling attack south of Milan.

The Italian spoiling attack would be defeated by 5 January and the attack on Milan won on the morning of 7 January. Poland had begun its more serious involvement in the proto-World War Two on a bright enough note.

=======

Bullfilter · Jul 15, 2022

Chapter Five – It’s Getting Serious
(January – June 1940)

=======

The Italian Job (7-30 January 1940)

As the fighting continued in Italy and now raged in northern Greece after their ill-advised entry into the war, Poland sent another four divisions to the Italian front: their entire mobile corps.

A Free India revolt broke out on 10 January, embracing large areas in Iran, Pakistan, southern India and Burma. The Rebels soon joined the Asian League. Meanwhile, the UK had fully eliminated Italy’s possessions in East Africa.

The next Polish combat experience was comfortably defeating an Italian attack across the river on Piedmont from Milan on 15 January.

The latest tranche of entrained reinforcements disembarked in Turin on the afternoon of the 16th. A breakdown of the current equipment holdings in the light tank (still waiting for most of their heavy tanks) and motorised divisions is shown.

With these extra divisions in the theatre, a new army HQ was created to command them the following day (and later, the occasional force attack would be used in coming months). General Lucjan Źeligowski took charge of the new Polish Expeditionary Force, as the Italians mounted counter-attacks against the leading edge of the Allied advance near La Spezia.

With Plan East almost completed, Poland had switched over to standardisation and modernisation as the army engaged in actual combat operations, with air base expansions the next project begun.

On the equipment front, it was decided that the mobile divisions should get some artillery support that could keep up with them, with some SP artillery based on the 7TP chassis being researched.

While the new units made their way to the front in Piedmont, the four divisions already there joined an existing German attack on Milan on the morning of 24 January after an attempted spoiling attack from the east by the Italians was heavily repulsed. By that night, one division was in contact and three more in reserve. The attack would be won by 0800hr the following morning.

Milan was occupied by the Germans on 29 January. The Italians tried to counter-attack but with four Polish and one French division in reserve, the gain was held.

The month ended with the Poles exploiting north-west into Lombardy from Milan with two divisions in an attack that eventually succeeded on the morning of 4 February, while the Germans began attacking to the east from Milan.

=======

A Widening War (February-March 1940)

The effects of Poland’s Four Year Plan expired on 4 February 1940 [yes, four-and-a-bit game years gone already, dear readAARs]. A few days later, word came that the war had escalated again – but in an ostensibly good way, with the Mexican Republic joining the Allies and their war effort (or one of them, anyway).

As Polish battlefield experience grew, it helped the army advance its doctrine research, with armoured operations becoming a development focus in February 1940.

More generally, the war situation in China remained fluid, but it seemed Nationalist China was now back on the offensive in the north-east, having regained some ground in recent months. Fighting remained intense on both fronts there. And after a month of fighting, the British seemed to be getting on top of the Indian Revolt.

The war with Italy proceeded well enough in terms of progress on the ground.

Back on the home front in Poland, the SP Arty research was completed on 3 March and soon some production effort was being directed to this new capability.

The Moscow Peace Treaty was signed by Finland and the Soviet Union on 12 March 1940, ending the Winter War in return for some territorial concessions. [Does this sound familiar?] No Winter War in this time line.

By mid-March, Poland’s engagement in Italy had been quite successful, with fewer than 2,500 men (and no doubt an amount of equipment) lost in combat so far.

Édouard Daladier resigned as Prime Minister of France on 21 March and was succeeded by Paul Reynaud.

Significant news came on 21 March when the Japanese People’s Republic chose Mao over Trotsky when they joined the MAB. Just as the Chinese looked to have been cut off in the north-east, while the British opened up a new front in south-west Sinkiang having apparently quickly defeated the Free India movement.

As the Allies seemed to shift their zones of control around in north-west Italy, they made progress as they fanned out from Milan and reaching the south of Bolgona.

=======

W-what Happened There? (1 April – 16 June 1940)

On 1 April, the Poles leading the advance in the north saw an opportunity to close off a large force of Italian divisions by striking north towards Bolzano and joining up with the Yugoslavs.

This succeeded by the 5th, with eight Italian divisions trapped as some of them tried to break out through Venice.

Germany invaded the neutral countries of Denmark and Norway in Operation Weserübung on 9 April, opening the Norwegian Campaign. The British Royal Navy attempted to attack elements of the German fleet off Norway. Vidkun Quisling proclaimed a new collaborationist regime in Norway. The German invasion of Denmark lasted for about six hours, before that country capitulates.

Greece was in trouble by 11 April, as the British had landed in the Peloponnese. The only minor consolation for the Greeks was that they hadn’t been attacked by Turkey. Yet, anyway.

On 13 April, the Poles were trying to get across the Po River north of Bologna, with the support of a single Yugoslav divisions, but with three divisions dug in, the Italians were proving difficult to dislodge.

The Italian pocket was being closed up by 3 May while the assault over the Po was soaking up thousands of casualties. The latter would be discontinued on the morning of the 11th, with the attempted river crossing having cost an undue number of casualties, becoming Poland’s first defeat of the war.

The Battle of France began on 10 May as German forces invaded the Low Countries. With the resignation of Neville Chamberlain, Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. On 13 May Winston Churchill, in his first address as Prime Minister, told the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, "I have nothing to offer you but blood, toil, tears and sweat." The same day, German armies opened a 60-mile (97 km) wide breach in the Maginot Line at Sedan, France.

Map of German panzer divisions attacking The Netherlands, Belgium and France, May 1940.

Very glad this joker was shot back in 1936!

Of more concern, the Italians had made sudden counter-attack progress on the southern bank of the Po, having retaken La Spezia and Genoa against hardly any Allied resistance. Other than a couple of Yugoslav divisions, the French and Germans seemed to have almost completely abandoned the front.

A strange diplomatic cable arrived on 14 May, announcing that Pakistan (who nobody in Warsaw had heard of to this point) had joined the war against Free India (who already seemed to have been defeated) and then capitulated. Heads were scratched before everyone got on with the job.

In the east, China had reopened the north-eastern corridor, but an apparent Japanese invasion of eastern China seemed to have opened a dangerous new front for Poland’s Chinese allies, as the British made progress in Sinkiang.

Despite the problems to their west, the Poles renewed their river crossing attempt north of Bologna: perhaps it would divert the Italians a bit.

Eight days later, the bridgehead over the Po had been secured and the northern Italian pocket almost eliminated, but the Italian offensive had not only retaken all their territory up to the border but had actually crossed into French territory at one point. This triggered a redeployment of three [edit: not 13] more Polish divisions to the Italian front from the 3rd Army as concerns grew of a collapse.

Poland’s mobile units were finally ready for an attack on Bologna which was launched late on 29 May from their Po bridgehead.

The Dunkirk evacuation, which began on 26 May, ended on 4 June. The British and French navies, together with large numbers of civilian vessels from various nations, complete evacuating 300,000 troops from Dunkirk, France to England.

British troops line up on the beach at Dunkirk to await evacuation.

Winston Churchill told the House of Commons, "We shall not flag or fail. We shall fight on the beaches... on the landing grounds... in the fields and the streets.... We shall never surrender."

As the Italians got another division into Bologna to decrease the odds of the attack there, a new one was mounted to its east on the night of 2 June. Both attacks remained in the balance.

The second attack was eventually called off, but victory finally came in Bologna on 14 June, followed by a very successful defence against an Italian counter-attack on the evening of the 16th. The Yugoslav-held territory north of the Po was holding strong, but to the west the Italian offensive was still advancing.

Italy declared war on France and the United Kingdom. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt denounced Italy's actions with his "Stab in the Back" speech during the graduation ceremonies of the University of Virginia. Canada declared war on Italy, the Norwegian Army surrendered to Germany and the French government fled to Tours. On 13 June, Paris was declared an open city.

The Soviets occupied the Baltic States, starting with Lithuania, from 15-17 June. Philippe Pétain became Prime Minister of France on 17 June and immediately asked Germany for peace terms.

The next day, Winston Churchill told the House of Commons: "The Battle of France is over. The Battle of Britain is about to begin... if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, This was their finest hour." The same day General Charles de Gaulle, de facto leader of the Free French Forces, made his first broadcast appeal over Radio Londres from London, rallying the French Resistance, calling on all French people to continue the fight against Nazi Germany: "France has lost a battle. But France has not lost the war."

Bullfilter · Jul 19, 2022

Chapter Six – Savoy: Time to FERT Off
(16 June – 1 October 1940)

FERT (sometimes tripled, FERT, FERT, FERT), the motto of the royal house of Savoy-Sardinia and Italy, the House of Savoy.

The motto appeared for the first time on the collar of the Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation, or Ordine Supremo della Santissima Annunziata, the primary dynastic order of the kingdom. This ceased to be a national order when Italy became a republic in 1946.

The meaning of the letters has been a matter of some controversy, to which a number of interpretations have been offered. The motto is believed an acronym of:

Foedere et Religione Tenemur (Latin: 'Treaty and religion bind us'); or
Fortitudo Eius Rhodum Tenuit (Latin: 'His strength conquered Rhodes' or 'By his bravery he held [or occupied] Rhodes'), referring to the victory of Amadeus V, Count of Savoy (1249–1323), who fought against the Saracens at the 1315 siege of Rhodes; or
Fortitudo Eius Rempublicam Tenet (Latin: 'His bravery [or strength] preserves [or defends] the state'); or
Fides Est Regni Tutela (Latin: 'Faith is the protector of [our] Kingdom').

It has also been suggested that the letters are actually the Latin word fert (third-person singular present active indicative of ferre), meaning '[he/she/it] suffers/bears', possibly referring to Jesus bearing the sins of the world.

A French-language parody of FERT was said by Savoy's neighbours to mean Frappez, Entrez, Rappez Tout (French: 'Strike, Enter, Break Everything'), from their penchant for chevauchée. In this AAR, the Poles are going to adopt that version!

=======

The Italian Savoy Offensive (16 June – 31 July 1940)

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.

The French sought an armistice with the Italians on 20 June, which was signed on the 24th. The Franco-German armistice negotiations were concluded at Compiègne on 22 June and France officially surrendered to Germany at 01:35 on 25 June. Soviet-led coups in the Baltic States were conducted on 21 June. Then on 26 July the Soviet Union sent an ultimatum demanding Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina from Romania.

In Savoy-Piedmont, the latest contingent of Polish reinforcements arrived in Grenoble on 1 July, having regained their organisation on the approach march. They were soon heading to the front as the Italians advanced past Turin.

And it seemed the recent equipment losses in the motorised divisions in the Bologna sector had spurred some voluntary donations of trucks from the Germans. Other holdings had also fallen into deficit, as Polish industry tried to keep pace: more Allied assistance would be offered in coming weeks [which won't all be documented here].

The fresh Polish divisions in Piedmont launched an attack south of Turin on 9 July, with General Źeligowski implementing a force attack directive. It would succeed by the 16th, but at a heavy cost in men and gear due to this aggressive order. By this time, Polish overall casualties to date were beginning to climb.

The Battle of Britain began on 10 July with Luftwaffe raids on channel shipping.

The British officially recognised the battle's duration as being from 10 July until 31 October 1940, which overlaps the period of large-scale night attacks known as the Blitz, that lasted from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941.

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.

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 on the 16th, the three Polish divisions still north of the Po River started crossing over into the southern bank bridgehead just north of Bologna.

Having advanced after their successful attack in Piedmont, on 20 July the Poles attacked again, this time to the south-east towards the coast, looking to cut off some exposed Italian divisions north of Nice. They would win by the evening of the 21st.

But they did not continue the advance after Italian reinforcements arrived, instead wanting to cut off the Italian advance before they caused more problems in the Allied rear. The attack began on the 22nd as was won on the 27th, consolidating the Allied line in the south.

A new attack began in the Bologna sector of Emilia Romagna with five divisions on the morning of 27 July. As usual, it started well.

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.

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.

=======

Lyon Down on the Job (1-31 August 1940)

The first encounters of the shift north in Savoy began on early on 1 August, by which time the Italians had already raced across the border and seized Grenoble. The Italians tried to push south from Turin and then Grenoble but were held by the Poles’ quick defence.

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.

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.

By 7 August, the Italian offensive had been held in the south, but was making inroads towards Lyon in the north as more Polish units arrived. One was kept back to recover organisation and dig in in Lyon (which the French had left undefended). The 15 WDP was sent forward to try to establish a hasty defence on the west bank of the Rhône River in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Huge gaps remained in the Allied line in this sector.

They reached their destination early on 9 August but had too little organisation to resist the Italian attack that immediately struck them and were hastily pulled out before they could suffer heavy casualties.

As the Italian Savoy Offensive caused issues for France and the fighting around Bologna continued with both the Polish and Italian attacks winding down, good news came on 10 August with the capitulation of Greece.

But Poland sent yet more divisions to France as they tried to bail out their ally.

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.

On the morning of 11 August, the Italian attack on Bologna was defeated but even so, four hours later that Polish one to its west was also abandoned, again after heavy casualties.

A week later on 18 August, a Polish attack from the south on Grenoble was also lost (Poland 824, Italy 167 casualties) as the Italians closed up to the Rhône in front of Lyon.

At the national level, Poland had shifted to more of a focus on developing research and industrial capacity. Their research capacity was increased from the to four projects on 20 August, with the focus switching to industrial development in central Poland.

By 24 August, more Polish divisions had arrived and were setting up defences around Lyon. There were still gaps in the line, with Poland now providing about two thirds of the Allied forces in the sector.

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.

By the end of 25 August, the Poles were under Italian attack in the Alpes sector, north-east of Lyon on the east bank of the Rhône.

However, the British were now holding a bridgehead directly east of Lyon. It was there that the Poles decided to push three divisions forward to reinforce the British against an Italian attack, arriving late on the 29th, even as 16 PDP came under a determined Italian attack across the Rhône, south of Lyon.

On 2 August the USSR annexes Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, followed by the formal annexation of Lithuania (3 August), Latvia (5 August) and Estonia (6 August). The Battle of Britain turns in Britain’s favour, with Churchill making his "Never was so much owed by so many to so few" speech to the Common on 20 July. The “London Blitz” effectively starts on the 30th, the same day Hitler and Mussolini dictated the so-called Second Vienna Award which forced Romania to hand over the Northern Transylvania to Hungary.

=======

Time to FERT Them (1 September – 1 October 1940)

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! Other areas of significant shortage were in artillery and trucks. The SP artillery was still a new capability that was ramping up.

By 4 September, the notional war balance was slightly in the Allies favour and they had more total troops than their two opposing blocs, but their casualties were also noticeably higher, led of course by the ROC. Of interest, it seemed Lithuania had been taking some significant losses, even if their contribution to the war effort seemed somewhat negligible.

The Italians had managed to slip through and occupy Lyon by 10 September, which prompted an immediate Polish attack, which eventually converged from three directions as the Germans were left to defend the Rhône bridgehead.

This counter-attack succeeded by 2000hr on the 16th and by midnight Lyon had been retaken, though the Italians were able to escape across the Rhône to the south-east. The Poles were soon pushing five divisions back across the Rhône to consolidate the bridgehead and get ready for their own counter-offensive.

At home, land doctrine research continued to progress, with infiltration assault tactics unlocked on the 19th.

The now reinforced Rhône bridgehead came under weak Italian attack from the south on the afternoon of 14 September but was easily held. The Polish counter-offensive started at 1100hr on the 20th, with an attack south from the bridgehead by three divisions which would succeed handsomely two days later, .

The Italians tried to again attack the bridgehead on the night of the 22nd, but this was heavily defeated by 1700hr on the 24th.

The industrial development focus continued back in Poland, as they tried to ramp up domestic capacity to support the higher operational tempo and expansion of the armed forces.

The Polish offensive continued with a successful attack east from the bridgehead on 29 September and a successful defence of the occupied province the next day against a badly disorganised enemy. The Italians still held Grenoble in a narrow salient.

On 3 September Hitler postpones the invasion of Britain, as the Luftwaffe fails to break the British defences. In one of the major misjudgements of the war, on the 7th the Luftwaffe shifts its focus in the Battle of Britain to London, away from the RAF airfields. The invasion of Britain was postponed again later in the month and would never be conducted. The Tripartite Pact was signed in Berlin by Germany, Italy, and Japan on 27 September, promising mutual aid. An informal name, the "Axis", emerged.

By 1 October 1940, the situation in the West was being turned around again, though the Italians still maintained a small foothold in Grenoble and also in southern Tunisia.

Iraq and Iran had been constricted back into a small pocket but continued a last stand.

The situation in China was looking dire, with north-east China cut off and surrounded in two small pockets and the Maoist Mutual Assistance Bloc having made big inroads, while the Fascist Asian League had made an incursion into northern French Indo-China.

Bullfilter · Jul 29, 2022

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.

Bullfilter · Aug 4, 2022

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.

Bullfilter · Aug 11, 2022

Chapter Nine – Towards One (Allied) World?
(January 1941)

After he is officially sworn in on 20 January, will Wendell Willkie seek to impose this plan as President of the United States?

=======

1-16 January 1941 – Italy: Driving South

Poland’s economic, trade and conscription laws were updated to improve efficiency and productivity. In addition and given these improvements, worker conditions were improved to start increasing the stability of the Sanation government despite the impact that would have on output and the need for more consumer goods.

The two extra military factories that were made available were used to boost tank production, but for now the three new dockyards made available were left idle.

More steel was imported from France to cover the new military construction, at the cost of one of the new civilian factories being diverted to trade goods.

After the current focus was completed, the one focus left that would provide a one-off stability boost may be pursued: the abolition of segregated seating.

The Battle of Bardia began as part of Operation Compass on 1 January. The Australian 6th Division assaulted the strongly held Italian fortress of Bardia, Libya. Allied forces reached Bardia and took many Italian troops prisoner by the 4th. The battle ended on the 5th in Allied victory when the last remaining Italian forces surrendered.

The Poles were ready for their next attack on the afternoon of the 2nd, with a concerted attack in Tuscany.

The first new Polish fuel silo began construction on 2 January, part of the longer-term effort to boost the fuel supply so an expanded mechanised force and the Air Force could be better supported in any future campaign, as stability began to slowly increase.

The next attack struck towards the Adriatic coast, aiming to cut off four Italian divisions as the push to Florence continued against solid resistance.

On 5 and 6 January, Polish momentum continued with two Italian counter-attacks defeated and two attacking victories won, with a new attack started north of Florence at 2200hr on the 6th. Then the Yugoslavians began an attack on the recently surrounded Italian pocket an hour later.

Two Polish divisions chimed in at midnight to assist their Yugoslavian allies. At midday on the 7th, the attack on Florence began, which would be won by midnight on the 8th. An ineffectual Italian spoiling attack on La Spezia was defeated on the morning of the 9th.

A new motorised division – the 4th – was deployed in Poland on 7 January into the 1st Army and sent to Lwow. By the 8th, Canada came forward to with an offer to help remedy the infantry equipment deficit. But the number of convoys required seemed very large. [Question: Given we only have 36 in total. If we can only provide a proportion, does that mean the equivalent proportion of gear would be transported? It looks like I need more of them after all.]

The latest decryption advance on 9 January was followed up with the research of improved AT guns.

Florence was taken shortly after a victory in Tuscany as the Poles advanced down the centre of the Italian peninsula. Next came the completion of the large encirclement east of Bologna in combination with the Yugoslavs. At midday, the next attack to break out of La Spezia was launched as the drive south to Rome gathered strength.

Hitler held a conference with his generals on 9 January to discuss plans to attack the Soviet Union. Hitler said that German success in Russia would encourage Japan to attack the United States, thus keeping the Americans too occupied to get involved in the war in Europe.

Rapid steps were taken from 11-14 January as six consecutive attacks were won, including two Italian divisions were destroyed in Livorno after the Yugoslavian 9th Div cut them off to the south. These latest victories would sap the Italian defence badly.

Marian Kukiel was able to further improve his skills as a skilled infantry officer.

With the mechanised units in use again, fuel consumption had again outstripped production. Research to improve oil processing continued.

The occupation of Livorno and Florence had driven the Italians closer to considering surrender, but they seemed to have some fight in them yet, as the Poles closes in on Ancona.

In mid-January, China was still holding on as the north Chinese pocket still held out and French Indo-China faced an invasion from the north from Guangxi.

The Allies still faced a testing time in the Middle East.

While France and Germany were lodged in northern Tunisia and the British tried to cut the Italians off around Benghazi.

=======

17-31 January 1941 – To Rome

By early on 17 January, the offensive was within striking distance of Rome and on the outskirts of Ancona. Italian resistance was thinning out and their remaining divisions were often exhausted as the Poles kept up the momentum with attacks across the front, irrespective of equipment costs or Italian spoiling attacks.

But with replacement and new unit needs increasing the infantry equipment deficit, train production was halted and diverted into infantry gear (up to three factories).

Three more attacking victories from 17-18 January saw Ancona occupied and the pace of the advance almost outstripping the pace of the Italian retreat.

An analysis of equipment losses to date showed a significant proportion had been lost to attrition, often more than lost to combat, though some of the gear was recovered along the way.

It had been noticed that the inclusion of heavy tanks in the armoured divisions had slowed them down to ‘leg infantry’ speed, negating the whole purpose of having supposedly mobile units. This was rectified on 17 January, when the heavy tank battalions were stripped out of the standard (light) armoured division template, significantly increasing its speed.

A new ‘heavy infantry’ division template was created, where the heavy armour would be redistributed as infantry support tanks, with an engineer and artillery battalion included along with a brigade of regular infantry. The first such division was put into production: there were plenty of tanks available, but artillery and infantry equipment remained in short supply.

By midday on 19 January Rome was under attack as the offensive continued. Rome would fall on the morning of the 20th, significantly sapping the Italian will to fight on. But it was not enough to bring their capitulation.

The third inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt was held in Washington, D.C on 20 January. Two days later, Wendell Willkie departed the United States aboard a transatlantic flight for a "fact finding" mission in Britain. In a parallel universe, a time-travelling @El Pip was waiting for him with a sniper’s rifle, taking him down with a single shot.

Following Rome’s fall – which foreign papers insultingly and mistakenly credited to France – on the 21st the Poles once more initiated savage attacks across the front to prevent the consolidation of an Italian defensive line, with Anzio the next major target.

From 22 to 24 January, the Poles won a series of seven more battles: to defences and five attacks. Anzio was taken and the momentum maintained, with Naples the next big target.

Word from the east came on the evening of 23 January: the Allied troops trapped in the northern Chinese pocket were still doggedly holding out, weeks after they had been surrounded.

The Polish fuel stockpile was slowly increasing again, after all armoured and motorised divisions were temporarily halted, meaning no fuel consumption was being recorded on 25 January.

Victories in Abruzzo, Latium and Campania from 26-29 January had the Poles within view of Naples by early on the 29th as the Italians did their best to conduct a fighting withdrawal to the south.

There was enough spare steel available for the Polish dockyards to finally be fired up, with three convoys beginning construction on 27 January.

[I’m finding it a little difficult to work out what the supposedly big deficit in convoys relates to. I’m assuming its more likely to be lend-lease shipping demands rather than supply provision, given we have land-based supply lines.]

The attitude of President Willkie’s US to Poland remained mildly negative (-13), mainly from having ‘different ideologies’ (-10) plus them considering Poland had helped generate world tension (-3).

As the month ended, another useless Italian spoiling attack had been defeated in Abruzzo on the 29th, while a victories in Campania saw the approaches to Naples occupied and it falling under attack and close to losing.

The drain on equipment from the offensive meant deficits in some key areas, while Polish industry did its best provide replacement gear and stock for new formations. Soon priority would be switched from SP (now in surplus) to towed artillery to replace losses at the front.

The civil war in Mexico seemed to be somewhat stalemated, though the Allied-backed Republic retained the ascendancy.

Japan had invaded Borneo, making some significant inroads in another new front.

Across the world, as January 1941 ended the North China pocket still held out, China remained under pressure but hanging in, while much of Italy was now occupied by the Allies, thanks to Polish efforts, with Yugoslav support. And claimed by the French. The British were bogged down in Iran and the French in Iraq. But Polish stability had increased to 50%, removing some of the productivity penalties it had been suffering.

Bullfilter · Aug 20, 2022

Chapter Ten – Mussolini’s Last Stand?
(1-15 February 1941)

Mussolini remains defiant, though close to defeat. Will he capitulate and surrender himself to the authorities soon?

=======

1-5 February 1941 – Heel and Toe

A February began, Polish forces were bearing down on Naples. The attack succeeded early on the 1st and the important city was occupied shortly afterwards. Two other attacks were progressing well on the Adriatic coast, as Italy inched towards an expected capitulation.

Overall, the territorial balance of the overall war was increasingly being calculated as in favour of the Allies, despite the more dire situation in Asia, specifically China.

As soon as Naples was secured, the Poles began what should be the final phase of the war against Italy – twin breakouts to both the heel (Taranto) and toe (the Straits of Messina) of Italy.

The primary objective was Taranto, whose capture it was calculated should be enough to force an Italian surrender. It should not be necessary to push on into Sicily, where the new Italian capital had been established in Palermo.

More battles followed in Abruzzo and Campania as more Polish units joined in the fight, though overall Polish casualties had now passed the 50,000 mark. That said, with manpower reserves now approaching one million, it was more equipment than personnel losses that degraded Polish combat power somewhat.

In Cyrenaica, the British offensive pushed forward steadily, with the key port of Benghazi under threat of being isolated from the rest of Libya to its south.

The exception to this story of Allied success against Italy was in French North Africa, where the Italians were advancing on a wide front, with Sfax lost and a thin strip of coast from Tunis to Constantine seemingly open to being lost, with only one German division contesting the advance.

Georgy Zhukov was appointed chief of the Red Army's General Staff. Not sure if he will be seen in this ATL’s Trotskyist USR.

Back in Italy, the next morning a rapid advance by the 3rd Mot Div to the Adriatic coast had cut off six Italian divisions in a pocket. Five of these – all low on organisation and supply –immediately began a strong breakout attempt, as another attack to the south drove down the spine of Italy towards the ‘arch’ of Italy’s ‘foot’.

To assist their comrades and hopefully destroy the encircled Italian troops, a corps-sized attack from the north was begun. More troops would be added in coming hours.

Benito Mussolini declared the southern portion of Italy to be a war zone and put it under martial law. That would certainly work in this time line!

A day later, as the fighting in Italy continued, the ‘Chinese Pocket’ was still holding out in a series of tenacious defensive and counter-attacking battles, denying both Communist and Fascist offensives on all sides.

At 1600hr that evening the Italians in the coastal pocket broke, which also meant their futile as (as it transpired) anaemic breakout attempt was ended. However, resistance in the mountains continued, though now one of the motorised divisions had been sent along the coast in a rush to outflank them.

Erwin Rommel became head of the German military unit soon to be known as the Afrika Korps. In this ATL, the Germans are fighting for the French against the Italians in North Africa!

One for the Wehraboos.

At the start of 4 February, the battle in the mountains of central Campania had been won. The entire Italian pocket on the Adriatic coast had been eliminated (no casualty count available, but five infantry and one armoured division were bagged).

Motorised divisions now raced towards Taranto and Messina along either coast, as a follow up battle was commenced between these two unopposed thrusts.

Wendell Willkie ended his visit to England with a statement intended for the German people: "I am proud of my German blood, but I hate aggression and tyranny, and I now tell the German people that my convictions are fully shared by the overwhelming majority of Americans of German descent. They, too, believe in freedom and human rights. We German-Americans reject and hate aggression and the lust for power of the present German government." He's making the right noises here, anyway. But will he live up to the same principles as US President in this ATL?

Before that fight was decided, Polish troops rushed into Taranto and Italian emissaries were invited to negotiate a surrender. But it seemed while they may capitulate in part, this may not end their participation in the war entirely. It seemed they may continue their fight in exile.

=======

6-15 February 1941 – A Passage to Africa

When Italy capitulated on 6 February 1941, the agreement only applied to mainland Italy and Sicily: they would fight on in Libya.

At this time, the completion of a new factory in Warsaw was followed up with the same for the western province of Poznan. The west of the country was considered the safest location for more development, as far away from potential Soviet invasion as possible.

And the motorised and armoured divisions in Italy began to redeploy back to Poland, the better to both conserve fuel and ensure a mobile response force for and future Soviet aggression.

Combe Force was an ad hoc flying column of the British Army during the Second World War, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel John Combe. It comprised parts of the 7th Armoured Division. The rapid British advance during Operation Compass (9 December 1940 – 9 February 1941) forced the Italian 10th Army to evacuate Cyrenaica. Combe Force captured Benghazi on 6 February 1941. In the ATL, the British seem to be following this same script quite closely.

Amazingly, by 8 February the Chinese Pocket resisted as strongly as ever, even if their eventual fate seemed inevitable.

Given Mussolini’s continued resistance in Libya, on the evening of the 9th it was decided a corps of four Polish infantry divisions would risk an unescorted and potentially hazardous crossing from Taranto to Tobruk. It would temporarily take a large proportion of their entire convoy capacity to get them across.

The next evening, there were British reports of a naval action of French North Africa, where a large pack of Italian submarines seemed to be passing by a Royal Navy task force of light cruisers and destroyers.

Now paying more attention to naval battles, somewhat closer to the Polish convoy route Dutch submarines were tangling with an Italian surface task force off Benghazi late that night. The Polish troop transports now followed these developments tensely as they made their slow way south through the central Mediterranean.

At home, industrial development in the ‘Congress Poland’ around Warsaw came to fruition on 11 February. Government advisers explained further industrial development would be required before the University of Warsaw could be expanded and President Mościcki’s favoured policy of de-segregated seating pursued.

So the national focus was switched to expanding industries in and around Kraków, after which the same would probably have to be done in Katowice.

As the naval clash continued off Benghazi, the British arrived with a force of three divisions to begin a bold amphibious landing directly into the city on the morning of the 12th.

Early on 13 February, the Polish convoy was still on its way to Tobruk. A report on the Italian rump state, based in North Africa revealed they retained some combat power on land, sea and in the air. However their civilian and military industrial capacity was now very limited, though they had managed to take all of Tunisia and were now advancing, seemingly unchecked, into French Algeria.

It wasn’t until the morning of 15 February that the Polish contingent finished its tense crossing of the Med. As they disembarked in Tobruk, they were faced with the need to reorganise and rebuild strength after their voyage (and recent campaigning in Italy). By that time, the British had successfully landed in Benghazi and seemed to have another five divisions sitting offshore.

The convoys were all released to other duties – though it seemed the British were (for now anyway) providing all the supply convoys to Tobruk. [Question: does this mean we can work off their supply support and won’t have to use our own convoys for supply runs to North Africa?]

A check of the convoys operating out of Danzig showed a total of 28 then being used for the lend-lease then coming in from Canada and New Zealand. The other ten must have been in use for trade purposes.

The first half of the month had brought the surrender of Italy proper, but Mussolini fought on from his new capital in Tripoli. The next episode will follow Poland’s next moves and developments in the wider war, in addition to the heroic last stand being fought by the Chinese and Allied troops in the Chinese Pocket.

Bullfilter · Aug 24, 2022

Chapter Eleven – What Lies Beneath?
(15-28 February 1941)

Up periscope!

=======

15-24 February 1941 – Up Periscope!

By the morning of 15 February, the recently landed Polish Africa Corps (Korpus Polski Afrykańskiej – KPA) was on its way to the front and would aim to work up to full organisation along the way. Then British were still battling away to cut off an Italian armoured division north of Benghazi while attacking from that port to the south.

The KPA was currently in mountain terrain and would be for a time yet, meaning attrition was running high.

The following morning, as the French position in Algeria was collapsing, the decision was made to send another convoy of four divisions to Africa – this time a far riskier route that would take it past Italian occupied territory. There was considerable misgiving about the risk being run, but there was nothing currently stopping the Italians from running rampant through Algeria, all the way to Morocco.

At the end of 18 February, supply alerts were received about not from Africa, but for units back in the homeland, especially up on the north-east frontier, but also across the border. It seems the rail system was not as robust as had been thought.

If it could not support the divisions currently there, how could it properly support future defensive operation, with higher supply consumption by more units? A study of the current supply state and rail network (some examples shown below) seemed to be indicating that a large-scale upgrade of the rail network in the east was required.

As a result, current factory construction was put on the back-burner and a comprehensive series of rail improvements cancelled. But had this situation been read properly? Would more supply hubs be better as well or instead of some of these rail upgrades? Though if the current ones seemed to be almost empty, would constructing more of them do any good? [I really don’t know how to read this stuff accurately yet. The mouse-overs seemed to be highlighting rail bottlenecks that needed fixing, but if I’ve overdone it I can cancel some of the forward plans for them.]

On 18 February the German troops fighting in North Africa officially received the name Afrika Korps (Deutsches Afrikakorps, DAK).

In the Mediterranean, at midday on 19 February the dreaded call came out from a sentry on one of the unescorted Polish troop ships: “Zauważono peryskop!" (periscope sighted). It emerged that a wolf-pack of 13 Italian subs had discovered the exposed transports. The convoy immediately attempted to disengage, but that would take some time. There was trouble ahead for the Western Force of the KPA!

Two hours later, a Royal Navy destroyer group radioed that it was on its way – but remained a harrowing 73 hours steaming time distant. The Polish transports were on their own.

A day later and one of the Polish transports had been sent to the bottom as the slow disengagement progressed as the surviving ships took on increasing damage.

By midday on the 21st another transport had been sunk as the damage mounted, as three of the Polish divisions approached Algiers. What had happened to the fourth division? Had it already been destroyed?

By 0400hr on 22 February, three Polish transports had been destroyed in the Battle of Palma de Mallorca. But in the mini-plot of the battle (inset) there seemed to be another Polish unit obscured by those for the Italian and Allied ships also in the area …

In any case, the ships transporting the three divisions still hadn’t actually fully disengaged by the time they limped into port that evening. But the three divisions aboard had not suffered enormous damage, 6 DP’s situation being illustrated as an example.

… and that icon spotted in the background was identified as the fourth Polish division which [due I think to one of those illogical one click doesn’t get them all interface issues] seemed to be stranded or slowed down on its way to Algiers. The division was down to only 32% strength but still alive.

By very early on 23 February the Italian subs now sought to disengage as Allied destroyers and subs closed in on them. The battle report eventually received on the morning of 25 February showed a total of six Polish convoys had been sunk in the almost-disastrous crossing, with the total fleet down to 34 [after some recent builds which had started to flow through the production pipeline to offset some of the losses – I think]. In the end, 10 DP escaped disengaging and heading north to the safe port of French-occupied Cagliari.

The three divisions that had arrived in Algiers had barely begun to recover organisation by the time the fast-moving Italians arrived and launched a probe on Algiers on the morning of the 23rd.

It was easily brushed off two days later, but the risk of encirclement from advances in the south caused an order for a general withdrawal to be made to the French port of Oran.

At that point, it was decided that no more such convoy risks would be taken. The ten Polish divisions remaining in southern Italy boarded trains and we heading back to Poland by 1100hr on the 23rd.

=======

25-28 February 1941 – Any Port in a Storm

Early on the 25th, before 10 DP had reached the safety of Cagliari, another naval battle broke out in Palma de Mallorca. This time it was a German troop convoy, also apparently without a direct escort, with French and British ships in the area but still not joined in the battle against the same Italian sub wolfpack that had attacked the Poles. The Germans had lost one convoy already, with another four attempting to disengage.

Two days later and the German division was trying to land in Algiers – which had since been occupied by the Italians, as the Poles neared Oran, where they hoped to set up a defence of the port before the Italians closed up with them. If the Germans, who were unsurprisingly losing, could hold the Italians up a bit, that would at least be a little useful.

It wasn’t until midnight on the 27th that 10 DP reached the safety of port, with only 28% of their strength remaining and some chronic equipment shortages. At that time, the shipyards in Danzig were producing one new convoy per week.

By the evening of 28 February, KPA West had reached the outskirts of Oran, having recovered some organisation along the way. 6 DP would entrench in front of Oran, while 18 DP would dig in at Oran itself and 17 DP to the south.

The Italians were already approaching, but it was hoped they might be affected by supply and equipment problems the further they extended their advance. The plan was to hold on while the British and KPA East drove into Libya itself.

Last thing on the 28th, it was decided to get 10 DP back home, via southern France, as soon as possible to continue its recovery. It was hoped that after an initial hazard, the rest of the journey would be relatively safe. Only time will tell if this was wise or foolhardy.

=======

Monthly Updates on the War

In North Africa, the British had consolidated their hold on Benghazi and continued their advance along the coast. KPA-E [Anglicised compass designations used, for ease of understanding] had closed up to just behind the front line and was now ready to ‘put a bit of stick about’ if needed to maintain the momentum.

Many hundreds of kilometres to the West, as we have seen KPA-W was trying to make a stand at Oran, the last French port on the Mediterranean coast.

The British and French seemed to be pushing the Iranians back slowly but steadily, though the Allies seemed to be having trouble despatching the Iraqis, who now had their capital in the north, as Mosul.

The general situation in China remained perilous for the Allies as Nationalists headed closer towards surrender, principally due to the Japanese invasion from the east. But the overall war was still – perhaps rather optimistically – assessed by pundits to be going in favour of the Allies.

Forces of Imperial Kwantung, supplied out of the territory of the allies the Guangxi Clique, had conquered most of northern Vietnam, with the French in retreat in the south and caught in an apparent pocket along the border with Thailand and Burma.

And against all expectations, the Chinese Pocket still fought on desperately, despite the attrition and supply shortages they endured. It seemed at least five German and one French division fought alongside around eight or nine from their Nationalist comrades against both the Fascist and Communist forces surrounding them.

To the south, the main front in China was narrow and precarious, under threat from the Fascist Asian League from the south and the Communist Japanese from the north. The Nationalists had almost been cut into two parts in the centre of the front.

It seemed a large part of the German Army in particular had been committed to this campaign and was clearly in some danger of isolation and destruction. Which could be a severe strategic blow for the Allies if war came to Europe at the hand of the still suspiciously dormant Trotsky.

In the north-west of that main line, another Asian League incursion had been made west of Changde as the Communists also bore down from the north in that sector too. Most of the Allied forces in this sector were Nationalist divisions, again with the Germans in some numbers.

Bullfilter · Aug 30, 2022

Chapter Twelve – Salt and Sand
(1-23 March 1941)

ORP Wicher, the lead ship of the Wicher class, was a Polish Navy destroyer and the flagship of the Polish Navy. In OTL, sunk on 3 September 1939.

=======

1-9 March 1941 – The Ocean Blue

At midnight, the order went to the fleet in Gdynia: they received a commanding Admiral, Jósef Unrug, and would sail in two separate groups (DD and SS) to a new base in Sicily. It was thought they may as well be prepared to do something, with Polish troops in Algeria and Libya.

Bulgaria signed the Tripartite Pact on 1 March, joining the Axis powers.

A couple of days later, as the destroyers were in the Bay of Biscay, word came of another naval battle off Oran. They were diverted to the safety of Gibraltar instead, where they could still be near to Oran if required.

The orders for the subs, still well to the north, were not changed. They would patrol past North Africa to see what they could see. The Polish destroyers would arrive in Gibraltar without incident on the morning of the 4th.

After a few days of relative quiet, the Italians opened an attack on 18 DP, south-east of Oran, early on 3 March. To the north, the Italian subs seemed to be trying to prevent some more Allied divisions from landing in Oran. The enemy had 13 subs, while the French fielded an escort force of a CL and 10 x DD.

18 DP had only just made it there before the Italians and had not yet been able to dig in. But the Italians lacked organisation at the start and the fight would be won the following morning.

By the evening of 5 March, the Italians had brought up more divisions and were starting to envelope the Poles in Oran with at least six divisions in their advancing front.

Over in Libya, KPA-East had closed up to the front line around El Agheila by that time, while the British attempted a difficult attack in the middle of a sandstorm.

An hour later, the Poles had added 2 DP to the attack, leaving the other three in reserve for exploitation.

A day later, 2 DP had reinforced, as had the British 75th Infantry. Low supply was affecting both sides, but it was worse for the Italians. The battle would be won by the Allies on the afternoon of the 7th, with the whole of KPA-East joining the coastal advance.

The first British soldiers from North Africa arrived in Greece on 7 March, the advance elements of Operation Lustre. It launched earlier and far more successfully in this a-history, as an attack on rather than a defence of Greece.

Over in Algeria, the Italians continued to surround Oran and now had at least nine divisions in the sector as the Poles entrenched as much as they could.

Early on 9 March, reports came of a naval encounter in the Western Med, north of Tunis. The Italian wolf-pack (now only numbering 12 subs) was clashing with a French troop convoy, the three passing Polish subs and another from the Netherlands. This battle was in range of French air cover, which should help things a little.

The battle had ended by the 15th, with more French ships having been called in and the Polish subs emerging largely unscathed, though the French did lose one transport.

The Italian Spring Offensive began in the Greco-Italian War on 9 March. Benito Mussolini, in a radio address from Albania, announced that he was personally commanding the offensive. No doubt dooming it to the complete failure it would suffer after just one week. Their Algerian offensive is going better in the ATL, anyway.

=======

10-23 March 1941 – Blood on the Sand

The next phase of the fighting in Libya saw the British attacking to the south while the Polish exploitation force struck the next Italian coastal defensive position on the afternoon of 10 March, as 2 DP rested and regrouped. The fight would last for four days, with the Italians eventually defeated and suffering heavy casualties.

In Algeria, it was the Italians on the offensive, with twin attacks launched late on 12 March. The enemy were soon making progress in both Tlemcen (to the north) and Algiers province (to the south).

The Italians kept the pressure up as the French sent in the 2nd Armd Div (still disorganised from their naval transit) on the 14th, initially in Tlemcen but then heading south, while the Polish defence held for now.

The Polish sub flotilla reached the safety of port near Palermo on the night of 15 March, two of the boats having suffered very minor damage during their transit.

A second French mechanised division (the 4th) had arrived in Oran by early 16 March, a welcome addition to the defensive effort. The Poles continued to hold in Tlemcen, but things were getting more difficult to the south.

The following morning, Tlemcen was in the balance and the defence to the south was getting harder, with 18 DP assailed by four Italian divisions.

Things were worse in the south by the next afternoon, despite the arrival of the French 2nd Armd in reserve. General Źeligowski considered the position untenable, especially with Tlemcen still under heavy pressure: 18 DP was ordered to withdraw.

It took until midday on the 19th to break contact. The battle was lost, though 18 DP was still in fighting order if rather disorganised and the Italians had paid dearly for victory.

As KPA-West kept the Italians occupied around Oran, KPA-East worked with the British to continue the grinding advance through Libya, towards Tripoli. As 18 DP withdrew in Algeria, the British initiated another attack inland from the Libyan coast.

Seeing it was in some difficulty, 5 and 7 DP was assigned to support it from the flank. 5 DP had reinforced by that afternoon turning the battle firmly in favour of the Allies.

The safe arrival of both 18 DP and the French 2nd Armd back in Tlemcen ensured a hard-fought Polish defensive victory won by the start of 20 March.

As the inland Anglo-Polish attack continued, at midday on 21 March an Italian infantry division arrived to block the coastal drive by 2 and 34 DPs: they swung into an encounter battle.

Back in the homeland, the supply situation was reviewed again. With poor supply in the south-east, which had the heaviest concentration of troops and aircraft, it was decided that an experiment would be tried. Supply for the 1st Army was motorised (first level). Infrastructure levels would also be reviewed before the month was over.

Note: not sure whether adding more supply hubs would be useful or not, given what I assume are rail distribution and infrastructure limits as well. The ‘Level 3’ reference is a I assume the lowest common denominator for the rail supply route from Warsaw to Łuck. And I would soon discover the huge increase in demand for trucks the motorisation of supply for 1st Army would cause.

By the morning of 23 March, the small pocket around Oran was completely surrounded. One (poorly organised) medium German panzer division had appeared to the west, but it was unclear how much they could or would do to relieve the pressure on the Franco-Polish defence of the last Allied-held Algerian port. [I see this rather resembling the OTL siege of Tobruk: the ‘Rats of Oran’!]

The battle in Sirte was won by the British and Polish attackers at 0900hr on the 23rd with the troops well on the way to securing it. To the north, the Polish coastal attack was running into determined resistance. The Italians had managed to dig in while both sides were having supply problems.

=======

This was the situation in North Africa after a little over three weeks of March 1941. The next update will include comprehensive reports on the other theatres of the wider war. But as 23 March ended, reports from East Asia indicated the situation remained difficult but that the ‘North China Pocket’ had still not been over-run.

Bullfilter · Sep 10, 2022

Chapter Thirteen – The Rats of Oran
(24-31 March 1941)

As the Polish troops dug in to resist around Oran, Mussolini (William Joyce, aka ‘Lord Haw-Haw’ in OTL) began describing the besieged men as living like rats in underground dug-outs and caves. In radio broadcasts, he derisively referred to and addressed the garrison as the "rats of Oran".

=======

24-31 March 1941 – North Africa

Early on 24 March, KPA-East was carrying much of the fight in Libya, attacking along the coast and defending inland, with Sirte held easily by 5 and 7 DPs after an eleven hour skirmish inland as the coastal attack continued against a persistent Italian defence.

With the battle for Sirte won that afternoon and the arrival of Polish forces, 5 PD was immediately thrown into a flanking attack on El Agheila, where 2 and 35 DPs were starting to get bogged down.

By midnight 5 DP had reinforced and the battle had swung back into the Poles’ favour and it was only won early on the 28th after a difficult battle which brought heavy casualties on both sides. The front around Oran remained quiet throughout 24-25 March.

In an uncanny parallel, German forces retook El Agheila on 24 March. No such reprieve for the Italians in our story.

On 26 March, Polish construction plans were completely revised. Only a small number of the planned railway upgrades in and around Białystok were retained on the work plan, with the next priority going to infrastructure improvements in the east instead, where supply problems were worst. The delayed factory construction would then be resumed in Poznan.

The supply situation in eastern Poland was reviewed again on the 26th. There were enough trains but far more convoys would be needed to deliver all the overseas lend lease being offered; only two were needed for domestic purposes at that time.

With a large truck deficit following the motorisation of supply in 1st Army, early on the 26th Germany offered some lend-lease Opel trucks (which happily would not need convoys to move them to Poland). A third military factory was allocated to production of Polish Ursus A trucks, switched from Light SP Artillery (of which there was now a surplus).

The French were handling supply by sea to the beleaguered Rats of Oran.

The Yugoslav coup d'état occurred on 27 March. Dušan Simović and other Serb nationalist officers in the Royal Yugoslav Air Force overthrew Yugoslavia's pro-Axis government and intended to back out of the Tripartite Pact, which had been signed on the 25th after a German ultimatum. When Hitler learned of the coup he issued ordered the invasion of Yugoslavia.

The next day, 17-year-old Peter II took the oath of King of Yugoslavia in Belgrade as crowds cheered. Germany and Yugoslavia severed diplomatic relations on the 31st. Of course, in this ATL democratic Germany came to Yugoslavia’s aid in the war against Italy.

King Peter II of Yugoslavia.

Just before dawn on 28 March, the Italians renewed their attack on the Polish defensive positions to the east of Oran with four divisions against 6 and 10 DPs. The terrain and entrenchment favoured the defenders, while the Italians had the numbers.

The attack started in the Italians’ favour and was still going as the month ended, swinging slightly back in favour of the Poles as the attackers tired more quickly.

Over in Libya, at the end of the 31st the British were having trouble with an attack along the coast against entrenched Italian resistance. All sides were having problems with supply, but at midnight all four Polish divisions of KPA-East were ordered to join in the attack.

At sea, a fairly large naval action between Allied forces including Dutch destroyers, an approaching British flotilla of cruisers and destroyers with French air support and an Italian task force led by the battleship RN Andrea Doria was in progress in Palma de Mallorca.

The RN Andrea Doria.

Hundreds of kilometres still separated KPA-West in Oran from KPA-East in Libya.

As the month drew to a close, four new lend-lease offers had been made to Poland from 15-31 March. All were being accepted for now, even though there were not nearly enough convoys to deliver the full amount of those requiring sea transport – especially the big new offer from the US.

=======

Theatre Summaries

The war continued to go nominally well in favour of the Allies, mainly due to the war in Europe, but the situation in Asia was far more difficult, with the Communist MAB (with heavy Japanese support and a few Soviet volunteers) doing better than the Fascist Asian League. China remained in danger of capitulation, but that remained some distance off yet.

Against all the odds, the China Pocket still held out stubbornly, but was now restricted to just three provinces.

The Fascists had control of almost all of northern Ind-China.

While Japan had made large inroads into British and Dutch territory in Borneo, where a large theatre was seeing heavy fighting.

In south-east China, the Allies were in danger of being sewn up in a series of pockets in between Communist and Fascist forces.

In the north-west, the Allies generally had a little more depth but eight divisions were trapped by the Fascists in a pocket west of Kunming.

While in Fascist Sinkiang, British and German forces had made some inroads.

Even though Iraq had supposedly capitulated, they were fighting on stubbornly enough, while mainly Anglo-French forces continued to push the Iranians back.

The leftist rebellion in Mexico had almost been crushed by the pro-Allied Republican forces, with both Communist and Allied expeditionary forces supporting both sides.

=======

Selected Political and Diplomatic Reports

Other than supplying a bit of expeditionary support to their ideological brethren, Trotsky’s USR remained out of the war – and were even trying to improve relations with Germany.

Poland continued its current focus on improving its industrial base, currently in Kraków. Stability was slowly building through the improvement of worker conditions, with factory output now slightly improved instead of being hindered.

President Mościcki’s government retained considerable political capital, war support was fairly strong and there was an ample manpower reserve.

France currently fielded 82 divisions, scattered through France, Italy, the Middle East and a few in North Africa. The rest seemed to be operating in China and Vietnam.

Interestingly, the UK currently fielded similar numbers of divisions and factories to the Germans – and had a (presumably dormant) war goal to puppet the US! Both countries maintained good relations with Poland.

The US had just offered some significant lend-lease support to Poland, even though diplomatic relations were a little on the negative side due to differing political systems. The Republican President Willkie remained well out of the current war, including that on his doorstep in Mexico.

The US Army remained comparatively small for a major power and military production low. However, the US’s civilian industrial might was huge and much could presumably be converted to military production in time, should they buy into the world conflict in the future.

Imperial Kwantung (formerly Manchukuo) remained the clear leader of the Fascist Asian League. And though fighting in tandem with the Communist MAB against the Allies, Emperor Puyi also clearly harboured ambitions against his current allies of convenience, and the Communist Japanese against him.

The world at the end of March 1941 was not in a full global war, though state-against-state conflict still extended in a band from Africa through the Middle East to Asia (not including the civil war in Mexico).

Bullfilter · Sep 15, 2022

Chapter Fourteen – Soldiering On
(April 1941)

Soldiering on in Oran and elsewhere – the war remains a somewhat ponderous beast in April 1941.

=======

1-16 April 1941 – North Africa

The month began with a large deficit of trucks remaining, with around 27 being produced each week, plus whatever may come in on the lend-lease flow. Light tanks, infantry equipment and towed artillery were the other larger stockpile deficits.

In Libya, the westward grind along the coast continued. The Poles reinforced an existing British attack near El Agheila, with victory eventually coming on the morning of the 3rd.

Meanwhile, around Oran the Rats continued their dogged resistance with another expensive Italian defeat to the east of the town. Many of the Italian divisions were suffering from significant attrition and a few by some supply problems. To the west, the Italians continued their advance into French Morocco.

Just two hours after that victory, the Italians launched a new attack on Oran itself, a battle which would last until 1400hr the 7th, once more the Italians taking disproportionately heavy casualties. During the battle, the Germans landed an infantry division in Oran, joining the Poles and French armour already in place and putting Heinz Guderian in command.

A new Italian attack east of Oran lasted for four days from 2-6 April, with even heavier Italian casualties suffered. It was hoped such heavy defeats may deplete what must be quickly diminishing Italian manpower reserves.

On the home front, AT gun development progressed further on 2 April. This was considered important for possible later fighting against the Soviets. Research was switched to an upgrade for Polish field artillery.

On 3 April, the China Pocket – of which about half the divisions were German –still resisted strongly.

On 4 April, The Germans and Italians took Benghazi.

At 1:30 a.m. in Moscow on 6 April, the Soviet Union and the new government of Yugoslavia signed a treaty of friendship and non-aggression. The treaty was backdated to April 5, possibly in anticipation of a German attack and the Russians wanting to avoid any impression that the agreement was signed while Yugoslavia was at war.

The same day, the German-led Battle of Greece began at dawn when the XL Panzer Corps crossed the Greek border. The German-led invasion of Yugoslavia began at 7 a.m. with a Luftwaffe assault.

Things remained comparatively quiet for the Poles for the next few days. By 7 April, the British had advanced further in Libya, while attrition and poor supply had degraded the readiness of most of the Polish divisions. 7 DP was in the best shape, so it was sent forward to assist the British against an Italian counter-attack.

East of Oran, another Italian attack was defeated at 2300hr on the 7th (41 Polish, 655 Italian casualties). The dose was repeated at 1600hr on the 11th (20 Polish, 1,060 Italian casualties).

Early on 12 April, a new French division unloaded in Oran (now 1 x GER, 1 x POL and 1 x FRA inf div, plusg a French light tank div in Oran, 2 x POL inf divs to its east). The next Italian probe east of Oran was defeated at 0600hr on 14 April (no Polish, 772 Italian casualties).

The Germans captured Belgrade on 12 April.

On 13 April Japan and the Soviet Union signed a five-year Treaty of Neutrality, pledging to remain neutral in the event of one country being attacked by a third party. The pact also saw the Soviet Union recognise du jure Manchukuo for the first time. Of course, in the ATL they are much closer than that now.

Japanese Foreign Minister Matsuoka signing the pact Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact on 13 April 1941.

By the morning of the 14th, the four Polish divisions of KPA-East had all made it up to the front in Libya, though three remained quite disorganised. 7 DP was sent forward along the coast into a then-unoccupied province on the road to Tripoli.

At Oran, another Italian attack to its east was defeated at 1500hr on 15 April (34 Polish, 646 Italian casualties).

On the morning of the 16th 7 DP had occupied its objective, while the British were in a bit of trouble to their south and the three Polish reserve divisions were moving forward again. Tripoli was now beginning to come within operational view.

In Morocco, by the night of the 16th the Italians were pressing in on Casablanca as the French tried to counter-attack.

At the same time, a new Italian attack on Oran itself was repulsed by the Polish-German-French defenders (48 Allied, 798 Italian casualties).

=======

Mid-Month Summaries

At this time, further a-field the Allies pressed forward in Iran-Iraq.

The situation in China had become even more difficult for the Allies, while The Pocket still fought on, though with more difficulty.

The campaign in Borneo was in full swing, with Japan seeming to retain the upper hand but making little more progress if any so far this month.

=======

17-30 April – North Africa

Yugoslavia formally surrendered to the Axis on 17 April.

The OTL Invasion of Yugoslavia, April 1941.

By the end of 18 April, supply in Libya remained difficult, the Allies at the end of a long trail from Cairo.

Yet another Italian attack east of Oran was heavily defeated at 0600hr on 19 April (31 Polish, 957 Italian casualties). An intel report on the Italian position the following morning estimated they had only 20-25,000 reserves left to service around 20 remaining divisions.

This Italian situation was worsened at 0300hr on the 21st when the latest attack on Oran itself was beaten (Allies 11, Italians 848 killed). That night, the Germans launched their own attack west from Oran, while the Italians attacked the Poles again to its east.

King George II of Greece and the Greek government fled to Crete on 23 April while the British-led Allies fought on in Greece.

In Poland, the focus to increase industry in Kraków was completed on the 22nd. A first move was made to finally increase Polish shipbuilding capacity: the intention was to direct the eventual increase in construction into convoy production.

With the supply situation getting no better in Libya, the Poles decided to push on further on 22 April. Once more, 7 DP led the way by reinforcing a British attack along the coast. A day later, an Anglo-German force was attacking inland. The coastal attack was eventually won at midday on the 28th.

Late in April, there were three new Polish divisions in training: one ‘standard’ infantry, one light tank and one ‘heavy’ infantry (ie medium tanks attached). Of interest, 48 DP now had a wide array of different infantry equipment types from various lend lease and domestic production programs.

Early the next day, the recently acquired military factory in Kraków was put into more truck production, which would take a while yet to reach full efficiency.

East of Oran, the Italians had one of their heavier losses at 1800hr on 24 April (62 Polish, 1,390 Italian casualties).

Unfortunately, Germany decided it would not follow through with its lend-lease of Opel trucks, cancelling the arrangement on the 26th.

German troops marched into Athens on 27 April. Allied resistance ceased on the Greek mainland on the 29th when 8,000 British, New Zealand, Australian, Greek and Yugoslavian troops surrendered at Kalamata.

The OTL German Campaign in Greece, April 1941.

By 28 April, there were five lend-lease programs to Poland still in operation, with various levels of delivery efficiency due to convoy availability (where these were required).

West of Oran, the German attack continued as the month ended, while the Rats of Oran stayed securely on the defensive.

To the west, Casablanca had fallen to the Italian offensive in Morocco, while in Libya the Allies slowly closed in on Tripoli.

Logistics and construction in Poland continued to focus on improving supply and infrastructure on the eastern border. The deficits in trucks and infantry equipment had been considerably reduced. The fulfilment of truck requirements for supply was now up to 90% and there were ample trains with about 19 surplus at present. National stability continued to slowly improve and was now having a small net benefit to manufacturing output.

=======

Theatre Summaries

Elsewhere in the war Iran and Iraq still resisted, but the Allies were closing in on their last positions.

The war in Asia continued as with Allied help Nationalist China clung on against its Fascist and Communist assailants. The overall war remained nominally in favour of the Allies, though their total casualties were heavier.

The China Pocket had now been compressed to a singe province, but the mainly German and Chinese survivors still fought on bravely against Russian-commanded Communist attackers.

On the main Chinese front, the situation remained as difficult – or more so – than ever, as pockets formed in the south-east sectors.

The French continued to do it tough in Indo-China, but the Allies seemed to have regained some ground in Borneo since the middle of the month.

While in Mexico, the Communist-backed rebels were being forced into an ever-decreasing enclave.

Poland’s overall war contribution was now 6% of the total effort, with casualties (combat and attrition) of about 62,000 and fielding the fifth largest Allied army of 59 divisions.

The conflict remained spread from Morocco to Borneo but was yet far from a new ‘world war’, with Europe itself at peace after the defeat of Italy in its homeland.

Bullfilter · Sep 25, 2022

Chapter Fifteen – Operacja Topór Bitewny
(May-June 1941)

Italian prisoners of war taken in Libya, June 1941.

=======

1-15 May 1941 – North Africa and the Home Front

While some expansionists in Warsaw agitated for using the idle Polish Army to seize territory – some subject to long-standing Polish claims – from neutral Czechoslovakia, this was against the predominant sentiment of the government. Which also pointed out that a French guarantee of Czech independence could make any such venture problematic and counter to wider Allied – and Polish – strategic interests.

So the Polish operational focus remained on North Africa. On 1 May, the German attack west of Oran had succeeded, but the Germans were exposed and would prove unable to retain their temporary gain. At this time, many of the Italian divisions surrounding the Rats of Oran did not have sufficient organisation to sustain offensive operations.

In Libya, the drive on Tripoli continued with hard fighting: though low on organisation, another Polish attack was put in along the coast later that day, while two more divisions headed inland to widen the axis of the advance.

With equipment deficits lessening, on 2 May the US announced it was ceasing lend lease shipments, drastically reducing the demand on convoys – though that demand was still more than double the supply.

On the afternoon of the 5th, the two KPA-East divisions that had moved inland were in position to strike the southern flank of the Italians still resisting the coastal attack started in Tripolitania on 1 May (progress up to 88%). By 1500hr 5 and 34 DP had reinforced the fight and the battle was won that night, though all the Polish divisions were now badly disorganised.

By midnight on the fifth, it was Imperial Kwantung now attacking the China Pocket, which still had five Chinese and three German divisions resisting as best they could.

The coastal advance in Tripolitania was briefly counter-attacked on 6 May and though the exhausted 2 DP was forced to retreat, their comrades in 7 DP were able to hold the gain.

Only a few Polish equipment categories remained in deficit by the end of 7 May. Infantry equipment in particular showed an interesting mix of various types that had been provided via lend-lease. Sure enough, on the morning of 8 May Canadian lend-lease was suspended.

This left the Netherlands, New Zealand and South Africa supply gear (mainly rifles), but that too dried up later that morning. This suddenly left a large temporary surplus on convoys, but production continued as they were likely to be needed again in the future.

With North Africa quiet for the Poles for the next days, the news reports from China saw the Communists having taken up the attack on the Pocket, where only one of the three German divisions remained in the fight.

The news from Morocco was also bad, with one surrounded French division all that was left early on 11 May. They would not last much longer, completing the Italian conquest of French Morocco.

The Polish focus on fighter defence in the air was advanced on 12 May with the introduction of fighter sweep doctrine.

Rommel’s offensive in Libya had met with remarkable success. On 15 May, the British attempted to counter-attack through Operation Brevity. The effort proved unsuccessful and by 17 May the Afrika Korps had thrown them back, regaining all lost ground by the 27th.

=======

16-31 May 1941 – Home and Away

With Oran going through a quiet period and the Polish divisions in Libya trying to recover organisation and resupply, a de facto arrangement was formalised, with Japan joining Mao’s MAB. Perhaps Trotsky would be a little miffed they hadn’t opted for the 4th International, but he was not in the war, so Japan went for the local option.

Early on the 18th, only the five Chinese divisions still resisted in the Pocket, with the Fascists making the attack again. At home, another economic advance was made as more was done to improve Polish industrial output.

The Bismarck left Gdynia (!!) with the Prinz Eugen on 18 May 1941. Its voyage would take it past Norway, Iceland and Greenland to its destruction south-west of Ireland on the 27th. Though sinking the pride of the British fleet, the HMS Hood, along the way.

Then , on 19 May, Trotsky finally got another country to join the 4th International!

In Poland, the stockpiled fighters and first Polish TAC wing were deployed in Nowogródek air base.

On 20 May, the Allies were ready to resume the offensive in Libya. The Poles tried to reinforce a British attack inland but had to break off when their organisation failed. Even so, the British 60th Division still managed to win a close and hard-fought battle by the evening of the 23rd.

The Germans invaded Crete on 20 May to complete its conquest of Greece and round up many of the Commonwealth forces that had retreated there through paratroop landing. The last of the Allied evacuations from Crete were conducted on the 31st after the withdrawal was ordered on the 26th.

The new ‘standard infantry’ 48 DP deployed in Kowel on 25 May, assigned to the southern-facing 3rd Army, fielding six different types of infantry equipment. And the new wings in Nowogródek began exercising to build up their experience levels.

In interesting news from Africa, the Dutch landed in Algiers but were soon under a determined Italian counter-attack.

After a new troop carrier finished development on 26 May, research shifted to improving the equipment for mountain troops.

The next phase of the drive on Tripoli began on the night of 26 May with an advance by 2 DP into open ground directly east of the objective as the British fought inland to the south.

However, before 2 DP could take the coastal approaches to Tripoli and Italian division arrived to put up a hasty defence on the morning of 31 May. The tired Polish soldiers put in a quick attack on the equally exhausted Italian defenders.

=======

1-23 June 1941 – Empty Pockets

Sad news arrived at the start of the new month: after months of valiant resistance, the last Chinese troops in ‘The Pocket’ had been overrun shortly after midnight on 1 June. In better news for the Allies, both Iraq and Iran were once again approaching their final stands.

The fighting east of Tripoli was still continuing that night, with 34 DP being thrown in as soon as they made it up to the front line (progress to 88%).

The short-lived Dutch lodgement had been evicted from Algiers by midday on the 2nd, as heavy new attacks recommenced on the Rats of Oran. The Italians would suffer well over 4,000 casualties by the time these attacks were defeated four days later, not before there was concern in the eastern trenches of the Franco-Polish defenders.

Note: both were victories, despite the icon for the ‘Algiers’ battle.

Victory came east of Tripoli on 2 June, with the Poles taking the ground and then brushing off a quick Italian counter-attack. By the evening of the 4th, they were ready to restart the advance despite continuing low organisation: Tripoli was open and they had to try.

The Italians would continue to probe Oran for the rest of the month but seemed unable to break through. But in Libya, Tripoli was taken without a fight by the Polish advance guard on 8 June.

The next day, all important Polish equipment holdings were in surplus when the new 49 DP (Mountain) was deployed into 3rd Army in southern Poland.

The two latest Italian attacks on the Oran enclave were defeated on 10-11 June (total of 279 Allied, 2,931 Italian casualties). In Libya, with Tripoli taken Allied supply (and thus Polish organisation) had improved dramatically. By 13 June, the Allies were ready to launch Operation Battleaxe (Operacja Topór Bitewny in Polish).

It aimed for nothing less than the defeat and destruction of the remaining Italian Army in Libya. Tripoli was held to anchor a flanking march by 34 DP due south as 5 and 7 DP reinforced a British attack on two Italian divisions entrenched to the south-east of Tripoli.

34 DP was in place by the night of the 14th, striking the Italians from behind. It would take more than three more days of fierce fighting before that battle was won, forcing the Italians to retreat south to join their comrades.

Another British counter-attack was launched in the Sollum-Halfaya Pass-Fort Capuzzo area, where Operation Brevity had been attempted, on 15 June. German 88mm guns and panzers met this effort and after some limited gains, this effort – codenamed ‘Operation Battleaxe’, also failed and the British were in retreat. The ATL will tell a different story.

Australia announced a new lend-lease grant of 1,499 units of infantry equipment per month on 19 June. This big offer could not be fully transported, but 50 Polish convoys (out of the 246 required) would try to ship as much as they could. At the same time, the 4th (Light) Tank Division deployed to 3rd Army in Poland. And war propaganda against Italy began to help boost war support (currently at 81%) for the incidental benefits that might provide.

The British began a holding attack on the southern Italian position early on 20 June as the Poles looked to hook west and then south around the back of the isolated Italians. Over in Oran, two more Italian attacks were defeated that day (total of 273 Allied, 3,409 Italian casualties).

The German invasion of the Soviet Union began on 22 June, with deep inroads and large encirclements being made in the early days of the campaign.

The final phase of Operacja Topór Bitewny began on the morning of 23 June when 5 DP completed the encirclement of five remaining Italian divisions in Tripolitania, while 7 and 35 DP took over the British attack on the pocketed Italians and 2 DP moved south from Tripoli, which the British now guarded.

Early on 27 June the two Polish flanking divisions were in place to reinforce the final assault. All Italian resistance ended at 1900hr that evening, with negligible Polish losses and over 15,000 Italians taken POW. Operacja Topór Bitewny had ended in a stunning victory, virtually ending many long months of tough desert warfare in Libya.

=======

24-30 June 1941 – Mopping Up

More research progress was recorded on 24 June.

Two more victories around Oran on 26-27 June showed the the Italians were running out of steam (16 Allied, 1,528 Italian casualties), while the night of the 27th saw Allied forces advancing on a broad front towards the border with occupied Tunisia against minimal resistance.

The next day, most Italian units surrounding Oran were unable to attack, while the heavy casualties and fall of Tripoli had once again sapped Italian division and reserve troop numbers.

Iraq had been fully defeated and Iran almost so.

A new Italian attack by two divisions east of Oran started at 0600hr on the 30th and was still going on as the day ended but was no more likely than its predecessors to succeed. The Italians had shifted their capital-in-exile to Casablanca, the British had advanced into southern Tunisia as the Poles followed on and the Rats of Oran held out.

Apart from a few aircraft, Polish equipment stockpiles were all currently in surplus, though new recruiting was very limited. Poland remained stable, support for the war solid and the manpower reserve large.

=======

Theatre Summaries

The Mexican proxy war between the Allies and the MAB was almost over, as the US still remained a neutral observer.

In the last two months, the Japanese had secured most of northern Borneo but were finding it difficult to advance out of it.

The French seemed to be striking back in Indochina against the Fascist advance, with armoured units leading a couple of spearheads.

The main China front was resolving into several dire-looking pockets of Chinese and Allied troops, assailed on all sides by Fascists and Communists.

Overall, the war still favoured the Allies generally but while China still hung on, they were approaching the limits of their resistance by 30 June 1941. Could their Allies do anything more to relieve them before they were forced to surrender? They had already each lost hundreds of thousands of troops in the effort so far.

Bullfilter · Oct 11, 2022

Chapter Sixteen – Just Sfax, Ma’am
(July-August 1941)

Polish troops in their desert kit, on the road to Sfax, summer 1941.

=======

1-7 July 1941 – Gabés

The month began with the Polish Navy submarine (3 x SS) and destroyer (2 x DD) flotillas deploying to patrol the Central and Western Mediterranean, the latter to rebase first at Cagliari in Sardinia with a convoy escort mission set after they got there.

A new heavy infantry division (including 80 27TP heavy tanks, which were fully available in stockpile) began training in Warsaw. And just the one lend-lease agreement– for infantry equipment from Australia – remained in effect.

Late on 1 July, a national focus was completed in Gdynia, allowing convoy production to be significantly increased. Next would come the opening up of additional resources in Katowice to ensure more raw materials for the war were produced domestically, rather than having to be imported.

A few days later, another four divisions held in reserve in Warsaw were sent back south to Sicily for embarkation to North Africa. The Allies seemed not to be devoting much effort to the Tunisian offensive and Polish forces were finding it more difficult to cover the frontier as it expanded and the Italians began to scramble a new defensive line after their previous disaster in Libya.

That morning, victory in a combined attacking probe in south of Gabés (10 Allied, 299 Italian casualties) saw the Allies expanding on a wide but fairly tenuous three-province front in southern Tunisia (4 x Polish and 2 x British divisions) against light resistance (1 x Italian cavalry division).

By the afternoon of the 3rd, the small Polish sub patrols and convoy escorts were in position but the escorts had not worked into their areas. They were there to help escort the Polish division that had evacuated to Cagliari when their convoy to Oran was struck some months before. They had ended up staying rather than deploying back to France and would soon be called forward again, this time to Tunis via Tripoli.

Just a day later, the escort mission was at 8% effectiveness, but the departure of the troops was delayed until it was a bit higher. At 0500hr on the 4th, 2 DP marched unopposed into Gabés, as another Italian division appeared to their east.

Over in the position east of Oran, a long attack the Italians had been conducting since late July finally ended that morning, the enemy again taking heavy casualties (Poland 72, Italy 1,750 killed). The rats of Oran would essentially be left alone until the end of August as the Italians were forced to deal with distractions elsewhere.

By the morning of 5 July, the Poles were ready to resume their advance north of Gabés, while taking care to cover their line of supply along the coast as more British formations seemed to be withdrawing from the front.

That evening, 10 DP was ready to set sail for the gauntlet run to Tripoli. They were reassured somewhat by the large German task force currently patrolling in the Western Med.

The Ecuadorian–Peruvian War began on 5 July 1941. It would end in a cease-fire on 31 July.

As truck numbers continued to increase (440/756 being used on 6 July), 2nd Army (17 divisions) had its supply motorised (680/762 utilisation on 7 July). This was followed by 4th Army (13 divisions) with 720/769 trucks being used on 8 July.

Back at the front, on 7 July the advance from Gabés met with resistance from an Italian division which had managed to slip in before the Poles could secure the province to the town’s north and an encounter battle commenced.

=======

8-30 July 1941 – The Road to Sfax

The attack north of Gabés was reinforced early on 8 July, as supply difficulties were hampering the Polish advance by this time.

Later that morning, Australia advised it had cancelled the last lend-lease agreement to Poland, most of whose stockpiles were then in surplus.

It would take until the evening of 12 July for the Poles to force the Italian defenders out of their position and for 2 DP resume their advance along the coast to Sfax a few hours later while the supply lines from Gabés were secured by their comrades.

10 DP arrived in Tripoli without incident early on 14 July and began making its way to Gabés, slowly regaining organisation after the see voyage as it traversed the coast.

The Armistice of Saint Jean d'Acre was signed on 14 July 1941, ending the Syria–Lebanon Campaign in Allied victory.

On 16 July, a new light tank division began to train and equip, requiring more trucks to equip the motorised infantry battalions, while another 95 light tanks were needed and just one more SP artillery piece. Interestingly, previous lend lease meant three French FCM 36s were in the complement of 83 and 20 were older models, in addition to the 60 newer Polish 7TP Mk1s.

With Sfax just taken that morning and the small Polish escort flotilla in the Med operating about as efficiently as it ever would, the newly arrived reinforcements for North Africa arrived at their staging port in Sicily on 17 July. They were soon steaming to Tripoli on another risky run.

This time the convoy would not get through unscathed. They were attacked twice by Italian naval bombers on 19-20 July, repelling them once but losing one of the convoys in a second attack.

If there was a future convoy attempt, the Poles may consider basing fighters in Valletta to provide some targeted air interdiction capacity. Nonetheless, the four divisions made it to port early on 22 July, with 32 DP having taken some damage due (presumably) to the enemy air strikes.

The four new divisions were transferred to Źeligowski’s 4th Army – and they would be sorely needed, as by late on the 23rd poor supply and a lack of support from other Allies had blunted the Polish advance, while the Italians had managed to assemble a stronger defensive line by shipping in reserve units.

The Vichy government of French Indochina agreed to allow Japanese troops to enter Indochina on 23 July 1941.

The Italian naval bombers in the Central Med next managed to strike the patrolling Polish subs, sinking the ORP Wilk on 24 July. The other two were withdrawn back to port, not having achieved much (if anything) during their mission.

By 27 July, general (ie non-unit) truck supply and demand was in exact balance (760 needed and available in stockpile). That afternoon, three of the four new Polish reinforcements that had arrived in Gabés were thrown straight into an attack, along with 34 DP despite on being partly re-organised after their voyage. The cavalry division continued up to Sfax. The attack was won well after three days of fighting.

An industrial advance on 30 July saw fuel refining improved, with attention then switched to making production more efficient.

Two Polish divisions secured the advance west of Gabés on 31 July and easily beat off a quick enemy probe that afternoon (Poland 0, Italy 115 killed). By 1600hr they were ready to attack again, with 28 DP continuing west again in an attempt to cut off an Italian cavalry division to the south.

In July 1941, the German invasion of Russia made significant advances to and past Pskov in the north, Smolensk and Vitebsk (with some large encirclements) in the centre and in the south the Germans were driving on Kiev, Zhitomir and Odessa. Finland had reclaimed the Karelian Peninsula back to around the old 1939 borders. In North Africa, the Axis had pushed back over the border into Egypt, while the Allied attack on Vichy Syria had ended in victory.

=======

August 1941 – Just Sfax

While North Africa was Poland’s focus, it was just one of the fronts in the collection of regional wars the Allies were fighting against both Fascist and Communist opponents; and a secondary one at that. In early August 1941, the Allies continued to do it tough in Asia, with China edging ever closer to defeat and the Japanese apparently having broken through in Borneo, also attacking some other islands in the Dutch East Indies.

The Allied pocket on the Burmese border still hung on stubbornly, but the remaining forces on the east coast of China around Xiamen were now completely isolated and could presumably only be resupplied by sea. The French seemed to have stabilised the front in Indochina, while Iran had almost been completely defeated (again).

Increasing battlefield experience allowed another doctrinal advance on 2 August, with a valuable improvement in night attack effectiveness.

The western push from Gabés ran into some light resistance late on 3 August, so the fresher 8 DP was called in to reinforce the attack on the 6th, bringing victory the following morning and the occupation of the objective an hour later at 0900hr.

The worn-out 28 DP would secure the province and rest, while 8 DP halted in place having secured the win. The Italian cavalry was now effectively surrounded, pinned against impassable terrain. And a Lithuanian division had turned up in Gabés!

On 8 August, the Poles attempted an attack on the encircled Italians, but after three and a half days of fighting were making little headway, plagued as they were with poor supply and disorganisation, while the Italians seemed well dug in, organised and (for now) with enough supplies to defend effectively.

The attack was called off late on the 11th. In some better news, more Allied divisions seemed to be on their way to the front. The Poles decided to try to rebuild supplies, consolidate their line and build up to another offensive, with a moratorium on new attacks for the moment.

Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill jointly issued the Atlantic Charter on 14 August 1941, stating the Allied goals for the post-war world. In the ATL, no sign yet of US involvement from Wendell Willkie in this far less global conflict.

By 18 August the supply situation remained poor across the front. Though some stockpiled supplies had been gained earlier in Sfax, these had all been passed on to the troops that had occupied it but little more was coming in, as the additional Allied divisions plugged into the front.

On 19 August, the reserve 3rd Army (nine divisions) in Poland had its supply motorised and by the 20th, truck utilisation stood at 920/923. But the North African front remained static for the Poles: it was to be “Just Sfax, no further” for now.

The Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran began on 25 August 1941. In the ATL, Churchill was happy to team up with the French for this one, as Trotsky’s USR remains neutral.

A week later, the first signs were picked up that the trapped Italian cavalry was starting to have supply problems. For now, the weakened (and still largely unsupplied) Polish units in the area held fast, hoping either the more recently arrived Allied formations might initiate an attack themselves or waiting for the Italians to be further weakened by their growing shortages.

But elsewhere in Algeria, the Allies had made a couple of amphibious forays. It seemed an earlier one (not noticed until that point) had been made at Annaba, though subsequently destroyed but not yet reoccupied. But Yugoslavia had taken Algiers itself and by the evening of 27 August seemed to be advancing unopposed, even if only with two divisions. The Italian perimeter around Oran was being maintained.

With more force gathered south-west of Sfax, a Polish probe was launched soon after, to perhaps see if there were any weaknesses in the Italian line and maybe assist the Allied invasion of Algiers. But poor supply and disorganisation made the attack ineffectual and it was called off a couple of days later as casualties began to mount to no good effect.

As the month ended, supply was no better at the front in North Africa and the front was again static.

But the Algiers lodgement was fanning out into the hinterland freely – and it looked like some more Allied reinforcements may be on their way.

=======

The Wider War – as at 30 August 1941

The Mexican civil war had almost been resolved, but the last remnants of the Mexican leftists and their Communist allies in Durango still hung on stubbornly – a theme that had been repeated around the world a number of times so far in the war, especially in China.

Similarly, the last Iranian holdouts in the east on the Afghan border were yet to be destroyed.

The general situation in China had not changed too much since the beginning of August. China still hung on, with Allied support.

A considerable number of Chinese and Allied divisions were trapped in the Xiamen Pocket, under attack from Communists in the north and holding against Fascists to the west and south. Although they still had two ports in their possession, Allied supply looked poor.

The Myitkyina Pocket, on the Burmese border, had been holding out for many months now, but six Allied divisions still held out against a relatively thin Fascist perimeter.

In Indochina, the French seemed to have been badly outflanked along the coast, once again putting their defence in peril.

The Allied position had also deteriorated in the Dutch East Indies, with two more islands taken by the Japanese to the east or the archipelago, while the Allied defence in Borneo was now in big trouble.

The main defensive line had collapsed, with the Japanese breaking through to divide the Allied forces into two pockets.

So stood the war situation in Eurasia™ in late August 1941.

In August 1941, the Germans closed in on Leningrad and a line extended south from there towards Bryansk. Kiev remained in Soviet hands (just) but Army Group South had made deep inroads in south-western Ukraine, having taken Odessa on the way through and coming up to the line of the Dnieper River, getting across it in a few places including as far east as Dnepropetrovsk. Little ground had changed hands in North Africa, but the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran had made quick progress.

Bullfilter · Nov 1, 2022

Chapter Seventeen – The Torch of Freedom
(September - October 1941)

Polish infantrymen preparing for the ‘final push’ against the Italians in North Africa, October 1941.

Author’s Note: I have cut the research reporting and will only mention it now if something out of the ordinary or significant is completed.

=======

1-15 September 1941 – Breaking Out

As September began, the French had landed an infantry division in Algiers to support the two Yugoslavian formations then fanning out east into the Algerian countryside and secure their supply port. Otherwise, the Poles in Tunisia were holding fast, with virtually no supply and low organisation.

In Borneo, the Allied position had collapsed by 2 September, with six divisions from assorted countries trapped in the west, while more fell back to the last port in the east, which was already under attack.

In southern Tunisia, while the Poles remained on the defensive, the French moved to eliminate the Italian cavalry division trapped in the desert. After a six-hour fight, the Italians had surrendered to their attackers.

Across North Africa, the Yugoslavians were expanding their lodgement east though had run into tough resistance from Italian mountain troops west of Constantine, as it appeared more troops were on their way by sea to reinforce Algiers.

By late on 7 September, gaps began to appear in the Italian line in Tunisia: the Poles began to march their troops into the gap, inland and west of Sfax, looking for open spaces rather than combat due to their still fragile supply and organisation levels.

The German siege of Leningrad began on 8 September 1941.

The upgrade of mines in Upper Silesia was completed on 9 September, with the Polish government switching its focus to expanding the University of Warsaw.

Another Polish division was added to the breakthrough advance in Tunisia on 10 October, though the Yugoslavian 50th Division would beat them there on the afternoon of the 12th.

8 DP joined them early on 14 September and followed the Yugoslavians north into a widening gap. By that afternoon, the Allies had five divisions in the Algiers lodgement (three Yugoslavian and two French).

By the end of 15 September, four Communist divisions remained holed up in Durango, Mexico as the leftist rebellion still held out. In the east, only a few doomed pockets held out in Borneo, China clung on and France had lost most of Laos and northern Vietnam.

=======

16-30 September 1941 – Keep Driving Hard

As the thinness of the Italian defence in Tunisia became clearer on the evening of 16 September, Poland funnelled more divisions through the gap opened up by the Yugoslavs and 8 DP. Two days later, the 50th would be on the approaches to Batna.

The Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran concluded on 17 September. Great Britain and the Soviet Union set up a joint occupation of the country. The Germans captured Kiev on 19 September and took 500,000 Red Army soldiers prisoner.

On the diplomatic front, the Polish government decided to make a concerted effort to improve relations with the democratic Tatarescu government in Romania, which at that stage were languishing somewhat. There were hopes they could become a future ally against possible Soviet aggression.

In Africa, the Poles accelerated the Allied push to seize all the key towns of Italian-occupied Tunisia and Algeria.

And after many months of siege, on 22 September there was movement in the Oran sector. The French had advanced east towards Algiers, so the Poles moved to follow them up with an attack by 6 and 18 DP, while 17 WD moved to fill in behind them.

By the next morning, a general advance was under way in Tunisia as the Italian line near Sfax dissolved and withdrew north.

The next day, Poland expanded its influence campaign in Romanian to influence the like-minded non-aligned political party there, the FRN (then on about 11% support).

Early on the 25th, the advance of 8 DP was checked south of Bizerte as the withdrawing Italian divisions pulled in there. Though both sides were low on supply, 8 DP was in no state to attack and soon called off the encounter battle after a four-hour fire-fight.

Over the next few days, French and Polish forces pushed forwards from Sfax towards Bizerte and Tunis with no opposition.

Yugoslavia’s 17th Division took Constantine from the east just after midday on the 29th, further isolating the Italian units remaining in northern Tunis.

The Germans launched Operation Typhoon, the assault on Moscow, when Heinz Guderian's forces attacked along the Bryansk Front.

As the month ended, the civil war in Mexico had been won by the Allied-backed Republican forces.

=======

1-15 October 1941 – Encirclement

The northern Tunisian pocket was enclosed on the afternoon of 1 October, though the 17th Division had run well ahead of any follow-up forces in Algeria.

The French 57ème Division had advanced to the outskirts of Bizerte and Tunis late on 2 September, with the Poles following up from the south.

East of Oran, the Poles won their long battle on the evening of the 3rd, in what would be the hardest-fought battle of the period.

The next move into an abandoned position began on 6 October in the vicinity of Tlemcen, where two Polish divisions (still short of supplies) would later encounter and easily defeat an Italian division trying to re-enter their old positions.

Yugoslavian forces had taken the last province between Oran and Algiers by the afternoon of 7 October and were attacking south strongly. This meant all three Allied fronts in North Africa, from Oran to Tunisia, were now linked.

Early the next morning, 2 DP took Tunis and began moving on along the coast to port of Bizerte. The Allied campaign had now reduced residual Italian strength in Africa considerably, though they still fought on obstinately.

While the Allied offensives in Africa were progressing well, the Chinese front remained very difficult. The last Allied pocket on the coast around Xiamen had been compressed and was in big trouble: it was unclear whether any of the Allied forces there could or would be evacuated.

On 8 October, the Siege of Odessa (and would end 8 days later), while the Germans captured Mariupol on the Sea of Azov [in eerie parallels to events over 80 years later].

But in central China, the Allies had managed to create a pocket with a couple of Fascist divisions trapped in it.

The French were the first into Bizerte on the evening of the 10th. A day later, the Polish cavalry division (the KBK) had passed through the French and was advancing rapidly west, heading to take the last port in the area at Annaba.

Meanwhile, Polish divisions probing west towards Batna came up against an Italian division and put in an attack they made good initial progress, both sides badly short of supplies and low on organisation.

But the attack was called off the next day when another Italian division arrived, tipping the scales in favour of the defenders. The Poles would bide their time and wait for more units and supplies to arrive before resuming the offensive there.

Back in Poland, a new mountain division was deployed into 3rd Army, on the Czech border, on 12 October, bringing Poland up to 63 divisions in total strength. That night, French and Polish troops in Bizerte came under Italian attack, but it was beaten off the next morning with heavy Italian and no Allied casualties.

By 13 October, the Allied supply situation in North Africa had improved considerably with the adding of new ports in the logistical chain. From this point, unit supply and organisation in the more northerly units would begin to rebuild steadily, as the KBK closed in on the fourth port, Annaba.

Annaba was taken early on the 14th, completing the encirclement of the two remaining Italian divisions in northern Tunisia. The KBK then headed back east to ensure the pocket remained closed but came under attack at 0400hr on 15 October. Despite Italian supply shortages, the light KBK outfit came under heavy initial pressure.

To relieve the KBK – and close the pocket down – a spoiling attack was launched from the south. In coming days, they would be joined by three more Polish divisions closing in from the east, following up an earlier French victory. Both the defence of the KBK and the attack south-east of Constantine would eventually be won at 0700hr on the 17th. The latter saw over 9,000 Italian troops either killed or captured.

=======

16-31 October 1941 – Operation Torch

A new ‘standard’ infantry division went into training on 16 October. All its infantry equipment and anti-tank gun needs could be met immediately from stockpiles but support equipment (0/10) and artillery (0/12) would be needed to fully equip it. Military production was adjusted to help meet the shortfall.

By 17 October, Romanian opinion of Poland had greatly improved (+59) as the charm offensive continued. In Africa, supply had now been re-established with all Polish units, though some still had some way to go to fully reorganise and re-equip. The Polish units freed from closing the Tunisian pocket were making their way to the new front around Batna.

Hideki Tojo replaced Fumimaro Konoe as Prime Minister of Japan.

A whole week was taken to allow reorganisation, repositioning and restocking before the next major Polish attack was launched. This time, Batna was struck by five fully restored divisions attacking from four directions. Italian resistance crumbled after just nine hours of resistance.

In the previous few days, the French had launched ‘Operation Torch’ to retake the latest makeshift Italian capital at Casablanca and were advancing on Mussolini’s latest refuge in Marrakech. This was another example of good Allied coordination of naval landings along the North African coast that would hasten the demise of the Italian rump state.

The German drive on Moscow was almost completely halted due to bad weather.

With Batna occupied on 26 October, the Poles kept the rolling offensive going with an attack to its south. Italy resisted until early on the 28th but suffered hundreds of casualties without being able to inflict any on their attackers.

In China, the morning of 27 October saw the Allied pocket south-west of Xiamen on its last legs and without any port to allow an escape of the last five doomed Allied divisions. But in central China, the Allies looked to have pinched off a Fascist advance and had nine enemy divisions surrounded and under concerted attack.

The next Polish attack near Tlemcen went in on 29 October, another corps-strength assault of fairly fresh troops on a single poorly supplied Italian mountain division. They would resist for a day before withdrawing with heavy casualties.

Late on the 30th, the KBK had completed an inland hook, passing through French formations to cut off at least six Italian divisions in another pocket south-west of Batna. They soon came under a heavy attack as the enemy tried to break out westwards.

Their comrades were soon dashing west to relieve them, but they all remained some distance away. The KBK would have to hold out as best it could and were still hanging on as the month ended, even as their task got steadily harder.

Situation in North Africa as at midnight on 31 October 1941.

=======

The Wider War – as at 31 October 1941

In Asia, the combined Fascist and Communist attacks had made more grinding progress over the last two months. Borneo had been fully conquered.

The French had been pushed back somewhat in Indochina, now holding Cambodia and southern Vietnam, with some additional Allied support (German and Australian) filtering in.

Polish relations with Romania had further improved (to +77), while support for the non-aligned ‘pro-Polish’ FRN had increased slightly to around 13%, but still well behind the ruling PNL and opposition Fascist parties.

Bullfilter · Nov 21, 2022

Chapter Eighteen – Rolling Along
(November – December 1941)

A Polish Pt31 locomotive, December 1941.

=======

1-15 November 1941 – Watch Your Fingers, Musso!

By midday on 1 November, one of the Italian divisions attacking the KBK cavalry division had pulled out and the battle was now evenly balanced as the Poles closed in from the east on the three pocketed Italian divisions south of Algiers.

By that evening, the relieving Polish divisions were attacking the pocketed enemy from the east, improving the KBK’s position further. At 2200hr the Italian armoured division there dissolved, then an hour later one of the infantry divisions followed.

The Italian breakout attack failed at 1500hr on 2 November and the last Italians in the pocket surrendered at 2000hr. A total of just over 19,000 Italian troops were killed or captured in that pocket.

By 3 November, Italian strength in Africa was ebbing away, with about four divisions left in the field, while their remaining ships and aircraft were in unknown locations. As was Mussolini: the door had slammed shut on his last bastion but he was nowhere to be found, with no capital left to occupy.

Later that night, France cut off a final new pocket south of Oran and Algiers, while Polish troops moved into position to seal it off and prepare for another encirclement attack.

The twin hammer blows fell on the evening of the 5th and both battles would be won by the following afternoon.

Meanwhile, on the morning of the 6th it was clear that Polish units could start to be pulled back for redeployment. Five divisions were sent back to Algiers, to also let them escape the severe attrition they were suffering in the Algerian mountains.

On 6 November Joseph Stalin made a radio address broadcast worldwide declaring that Hitler's "crazy plan" to draw Britain and the United States into a coalition to destroy the Soviet Union had failed. Stalin said that a coalition of the United States, Britain and the USSR was "now a reality" and expressed his hopes that a "second front" would be established "in the near future." [Things have turned out rather differently so far in the ATL.]

The Italian divisions dislodged from their positions in the pocket were attempting to retreat to each other’s locations. But by the morning of 8 November the southern province had been secured by the Poles, quickly bouncing the Italian 3a Alpina back, where they were attacked by 6 DP advancing from the north-east. They would surrender just three hours later, their comrades to the south an hour after that.

With this last pocket eliminated and the Allies advancing steadily both east and west of the remaining Italians, on 11 December another two divisions were sent north, while the first five were already resting in Algiers.

Another quick attack was put in south of Oran on the evening of 12 November, won without Polish casualties by 1100hr on the 14th.

By the 15th, those Italian’s retreat was blocked to the west by the Yugoslavians, with the Poles renewing their attack at 1400hr and forcing the Italians to surrender four hours later.

This ended all Italian resistance in Africa.

The last five Polish divisions were sent north to Oran, leaving the final mopping up to the French and the other Allies.

The Germans renewed the drive on Moscow on 15 November after a three-week lull. The Soviets were pushed back from the Volga Reservoir north of the capital but with temperatures dropping to -20 Celsius across the Eastern Front, the German advance was very slow.

=======

15-30 November 1941 – Next Steps

With the end of combat operations in North Africa, Poland had to decide what to do next. Return the Korpus Polski Afrykańskiej (KPA) to the homeland to await a possible Soviet onslaught? Or deploy to assist the main Allied fight against Fascism and Communism in Asia?

At that time, the factional holdings in Asia, China especially, had become less chaotic. South-western China was hemmed in by the Fascist Asian League to the north and south and the Communist Mutual Assistance Bloc to the east. Nationalist China was still holding out, as were the French in southern Indochina. Borneo was fully in Communist Japanese hands.

In the rump of Nationalist China, their main support was being provided by Germany, with a few French divisions in the north-west. The British were providing support by their long-standing but ponderous attack in the west of Sinkiang, with support from Germany and the Raj. China was hanging on – just.

President Mościcki, his Cabinet and High Command met to decide their course: the current KPA would be sent to the east to assist their Allies, while the bulk of the Army remained at home to ready themselves to defend the homeland.

Naval intelligence suggested that an attempt to send unescorted troop transports to any Indian port would have a “100% chance of being detected and intercepted”. And the location of the Italian Navy remained unknown, not to mention the potent Japanese Navy.

The strategic redeployment would instead be done overland, by train and truck. First, the five divisions resting in Algiers would be sent all the way to Sinkiang, to lend some heft to the British drive there.

Next, the three divisions then in Oran would be sent initially to Baluchistan, on the border of the Raj. When they arrived, they could either be sent to reinforce the Sinkiang front or further east across India to perhaps reinforce the main front in China. More would follow later.

These treks would take many days. Back home, the expansion of the University of Warsaw was completed to increase Poland’s research potential. The next focus would be to abolish segregated seating, to broaden education and manpower while boosting national stability. The extra research capacity would be used to develop Poland's first medium battle tank.

By 20 November, the Fascists seemed to be making slow inroads into the French-Allied lines in Indochina.

The Siege of Tobruk ended in Allied victory on 27 November when the besieged garrison was relieved by the British 8th Army.

General Władysław Sikorski visits Tobruk and reviews Polish troops as Prime Minister of the Polish Government in Exile, November 1941.

As November 1941 came to a close, Europe and Africa were at peace, though the Italian Navy and Air Force and Mussolini himself remained at large.

In China, the pressure had increased a little but the Nationalists were still holding.

And the first group of Polish divisions heading to the east were just passing Derna in eastern Libya.

=======

December 1941 – The March to the East

As the bulk of the Polish 4th Army headed east, things remained fairly quiet in Europe.

On 5 December the Soviet Red Army launched a massive counter-offensive against the German Forces during the Battle of Moscow which effectively put Operation Typhoon to an end.

Operation Typhoon, the German drive for Moscow, August-December 1941.

On 7 December, the main news for Poland was in civil construction, with fuel infrastructure continuing to be improved.

On 7 December Japan launched its invasion of British Malaya, at Kota Bharu, at 7:15 am Hawaiian Time (1:45 am 8 December Malaya time). The Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor began at 7:55 a.m. Hawaiian Time. 21 American ships and over 300 aircraft were sunk or damaged and 2,418 Americans were killed. Japan lost 29 planes in return. Japan declared war on the United States, Great Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa.

Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941.

President Roosevelt made the Infamy Speech on 8 December (with its famous opening line "Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy,") to a Joint session of Congress. Within one hour the United States declared war on Japan. The United Kingdom also declared war on Japan. The Japanese invasion of Thailand occurred. A ceasefire was reached in only a few hours; Thailand formed an alliance with Japan and declared war on the Allies. The Malayan Campaign, Philippines Campaign, Dutch East Indies campaign, Battle of Guam, Battle of Wake Island and Battle of Hong Kong began.

On 10 December, another four Polish divisions began their long journey east to the transit point in Baluchistan.

On 11 December Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. Mutual declarations were exchanged between most of the Allied and Axis members during this period.

Then on 19 December, another diplomatic surprise was sprung, with Bulgaria joining the Fascists of The Asian League! Once more, Yugoslavia would be at the forefront of combat in Europe.

But they would not be fighting alone. Poland’s reserve in Warsaw, consisting of one ‘heavy’ infantry division, five standard ones and a cavalry division were despatched by the roundabout route to rally near the Bulgarian border, near Nis.

The Bulgarians were formally dragged into the wider war by Iran on the morning of 21 December, with two attacks under way in the south (in occupied Greece) against the Yugoslavians the following day.

By that time, the first two contingents of 4th Army divisions were nearing the Asian Front.

When they arrived in Baluchistan early on 24 December, the next three were sent further east towards Bengal: the supply situation in western Sinkiang looked poor enough already, even before the five new Polish divisions reached it.

In Europe, [for reasons I couldn’t quite figure out, having explored lack of trains but that didn’t seem to explain why SR kept disabling itself] the seven-division expeditionary force under 3rd Army command was making slow progress through northern Italy to the new front in Bulgaria as the year was drawing to a close.

On the domestic front, it was decided that another round of railway improvements would be made to help bolster resupply and lateral troop movement on the Soviet border.

=======

Year-End Situation

The brief peace in Europe had been broken by the reckless-seeming entry of Bulgaria into the Fascist camp and the wider war. But otherwise, the Middle East and Africa were secured and the rest of the Europe at peace, with no obvious moves by Trotsky’s USR to break it.

The two-side Bulgarian Front seemed to be in stalemate after the first days of that new ‘side-war’. The Germans were providing considerable assistance to their Yugoslavian allies – a promising indicator should Poland ever be threatened by its far bigger eastern neighbour.

The last four Polish 4th Army divisions (3 x INF, 1 x CAV) making their trek east were passing through El Agheila in Libya by train. The easternmost three were approaching Bihar in eastern India. While the corps of five divisions sent up to the Sinkiang Front would arrive on the front line early the following day, where they would begin to recover organisation and then move out to reinforce the Allied line and hopefully push the offensive onwards, to help secure the embattled Chinese northern flank.

In broad terms, the fighting in the east of China, where the Allies seemed to have attempted to go on the offensive, appeared to be swinging more in favour of the Communists. But China itself had stabilised and a land bridge had been opened north of Tibet to the British-led offensive in western Sinkiang.

The French were under increased pressure in Indochina, including from a new Japanese amphibious landing just south of Saigon. Offshore, an Allied task force had engaged the Japanese fleet supporting the landings – and were heavily out-gunned by the enemy, who boasted a battleship, battle-cruiser and three aircraft carriers against light cruisers and destroyers.

The Japanese had also invaded Dutch Sulawesi in recent days, making quick progress against a couple of weakened Dutch divisions.

This was the strategic situation into which the Poles had now intervened in the Asian War, where their contribution would be proportionally far smaller than in had been in North Africa. But maybe they could make themselves useful.

Whether any more troops might be sent in the future depended on a range of variables: the actions (or continued inaction) of the USR, progress of the new war in Bulgaria and how the Allies fared in Asia. The year 1942 should prove an interesting one and quite different to Poland’s experience in 1941.

Bullfilter · Dec 6, 2022

Chapter Nineteen – A Tale of Two Fronts
(January - February 1942)

Polish troops head to the Bulgarian Front, January 1942.

=======

January 1942 – Europe

Estonia became the latest isolated European Fascist country to join the Asian League on 3 January 1942. They were lucky to have no hostile neighbours – yet.

The Battle of Moscow ended in strategic Soviet victory on 7 January. Joseph Stalin ordered a general offensive along the entire front, over his generals' recommendations that he concentrate his forces.

By 13 January the Polish expeditionary force to Bulgaria had arrived in Nis (after rail transport was restored) and had begun reorganising after their redeployment.

Less than a week later, the troops began moving into staging locations for a planned offensive to take the Bulgarian capital of Sofia.

On 21 January a new round of US lend lease support equipment began; it would last for a month. Additional offers were accepted five days later from the Netherlands and New Zealand.

The Polish participation in the Bulgarian Campaign began with two battles launched on the evening of 23 January, both reinforcing existing Yugoslav attacks and improving their odds significantly.

The attack on Vidin would take until the 27th to complete, but the battle to its south was won two days earlier.

The next phase of the offensive saw the drive on Sofia extended when the 49th ‘Heavy’ DP in Leskovac reinforced a Yugoslav attack to secure its southern approaches.

A new Polish national focus would see Galician industry modernised after segregated seating was abolished in educational settings, thus further boosting national stability.

In Bulgaria, the next phase of the advance on Sofia began the same day.

The victory was won north of Sofia by the morning of the 29th and a Bulgarian counter-attack repelled the following evening, allowing the Battle of Sofia to begin.

The fight would be won and Sofia occupied by the morning of 3 February, significantly denting Bulgarian morale.

=======

January 1942 – Asia

On 2 January Japanese forces entered Manila.

The campaign in Sinkiang also began in January as the Polish expeditionary force came to grips with its Fascist opponents. On 5 January, the Poles reinforced an existing Allied attack in Yarkand, greatly improving the odds and finally emerging victorious on 8 January after inflicting heavy casualties.

Japanese troops landed at Brunei Bay in British Borneo on 6 January.

By the morning of 7 January, the rest of the Polish forces in Sinkiang began to spread out along the front.

But as had been feared, the three Polish divisions sent to the border with China in north-east India were unable to find a way through the mountains and had to re-board the trains on 7 January to skirt around Tibet and join the rest of the Polish forces in Sinkiang.

The river bend in Yarkang was secured by 2 DP on 10 January and an enemy counter-attacked began, which would be bloodily repulsed by the 13th after the rest of the advancing Allied troops arrived to support 2 DP.

By 12 January, Nationalist China was still in trouble but holding steady (at 91% surrender progress).

The slow grind forward in Yarkand continued with another successful attack from 15-17 January.

A follow-up attack to the north was begun on 20 January, but would make little progress and be halted six days later.

Early on the 21st, the three new divisions would arrive from India and were sent to the front at Hotan. New advances were begun in the Taklamakan region, one into open territory and another an attack that had succeeded by the following day.

But the northern Taklamakan advance would encounter opposition on the morning of the 22nd. With little progress being made, the attack was abandoned four days later.

The New Guinea Campaign began with the start of the Battle of Rabaul on 23 January.

31 January saw the Malayan Campaign end in a Japanese victory.

=======

February 1942 – Europe

With Sofia taken, Polish and other Allied forces pushed forward steadily in February. A hard-fought victory to advance south-east from Sofia was won on 4 February (966 Polish, 1,090 Bulgarian casualties) then east of Sofia and the plains north of the important centre of Plovdiv on 6 February. The latter was occupied and then held against a Bulgarian counter-attack on the 9th.

This set the stage for a major attack on Plovdiv, fought against heavy resistance from 12-14 February, with heavy casualties on both sides.

The next centre taken was Pleven after a sharp fight on the 13th (442 Allied, 907 Bulgarian casualties) and held after a determined counter-attack on the 14th (111 Allied, 445 Bulgarian casualties), bringing Bulgarian capitulation progress to 74%. Their many smaller VP centres made it necessary to keep pushing east into the interior.

The next major Polish action came at Haskovo in support of a Yugoslav assault, a tough fight over four days won on the 19th.

But the Bulgarian War hit another crucial watershed point the next day, when reports came in that Dutch-led Allied landings had taken place on the Black Sea coast around Burgas. Bulgarian resistance had begun to collapse.

Though they were still putting up a fight in the central sector of Moesia, where an Allied attack had to be abandoned with heavy casualties on the 22nd.

Back home, more lend lease offers came in for artillery, as new Polish divisions were deployed and others began training. Domestic artillery production was also increased, but would take time to reach maximum efficiency.

Late on the 24th, Sliven was taken after a tough fight: this would prove enough to send the Bulgarians to the negotiating table.

On 24 February German Ambassador to Turkey Franz von Papen survived an assassination attempt in Ankara when a Macedonian student fired a gun that missed and then accidentally blew himself up with a bomb that exploded before he could throw it. Later it was determined that the Soviets had supported the attempt on von Papen's life.

Bulgaria’s folly was over by 25 February: their attack on Yugoslavia had seen the Fascist regime defeated and the whole country submitted to Yugoslav occupation.

The Polish EF was soon loading on the trains for the return trip to Warsaw, where a victory parade would no doubt be held.

=======

February 1942 – Asia and Summaries

Fighting in Sinkiang this month was far less intense than in January, as the Allies pushed up to the natural river lines that formed the best enemy defence of the approaches to the Fascist capital of Urumqi and had to cope with supply shortages.

The main Polish action was in the south, in the Taklamakan region. On 10 February, two attacks commenced. One, to the east, would succeed eight days later, while the other would take almost until the end of the month to win.

The Battle of Singapore ended in a decisive Japanese victory on 15 February. The Japanese occupation of Singapore began.

The eastern province in Taklamakan was held after an enemy counter-attack was defeated on the 27th, while the battle to its west was reaching its final stages.

By the end of the month, the river line south of Urumqi had largely been secured, as the Poles attempted to use their expeditionary force to knock Dictatorial Sinkiang out of the war and thus indirectly assist the beleaguered Chinese, who still held on.

In Indochina, the French were still gradually losing ground, but had eliminated the Japanese amphibious landing south of Saigon made in December 1941.

In the Balkans, the aggression of others had led to the creation of a ‘Greater Yugoslavia’, as the Polish EF made its way back to the homeland.

And given the periodic defection of central European countries to enemy factions, a survey was made of the five nearby ‘uncommitted’ countries on or near Poland’s borders. Lithuania was already a direct ally of Poland and a member of the Allied faction.

A mixture of democratic and non-aligned governments held sway in Latvia, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania and Austria. However, some had significant Fascist party presence and might later pose a threat. Romania’s opinion of Poland remained high following recent diplomatic activity.

In summary, February 1942 ended with one of the new Polish expeditionary fronts already wound up and progress on the other. But the long grind to try to rescue China from Fascist and Communist conquest continued. As did both Trotsky’s waiting game and US isolationism.

Bullfilter · Dec 10, 2022

Chapter Twenty – Mountain Mist, Fog of War
(March - May 1942)

Local Turkic Uyghur conscripts fighting for the Kuomintang in Sinkiang, 1942.

=======

The primary Polish focus would be on Asia in general and Sinkiang in particular over the three months from March to May 1942. The pace of fighting in this difficult and poorly supplied terrain was slower than it had been in Bulgaria. This ‘tunnel vision’, and poor Allied communications, would hide developments elsewhere until Warsaw discovered them ‘by accident’ as the period was drawing to a close. NB: this time we squeeze in three months of gameplay. Bargain!

=======

Asia-Pacific - March 1942

As March 1942 started, the last corps of four divisions transferred from North Africa approaching the western border of the Raj. They would be sent to join their 4th Army comrades in Sinkiang to form the Chińskie Siły Ekspedycyjne (CSE – China Expeditionary Force).

At this time, the Allies were fighting the Japanese Communists to hold onto their last toehold in Dutch-owned northern Sulawesi.

Allied backs were also to the wall in Indochina, as a Fascist Kwantung offensive pushed down the east bank of the Mekong, threatening Saigon and also the west bank defence north of Phnom Penh.

On 5 March Japanese forces entered Batavia, the capital of the Dutch East Indies. By 9 March The Dutch East Indies campaign had ended in a Japanese victory.

No serious fighting took place on the Sinkiang Front for the first nine days of March, as the CSE waited for their last colleagues redeploying from Africa to join them and (in vain) for resupply.

US General Douglas MacArthur arrived in Australia from the Philippines on 17 March and was appointed commander of the combined Allied forces in the southwest Pacific.

This malaise continued for most of the month as China still hung on, yielding marginal losses in the last four weeks (surrender progress up to 92% by 24 March).

This quiet was broken on the evening of 28 March, with two Allied attacks launched that evening. The Poles added 5 DP to the German bid to force a river crossing south of Urumqi.

By 0400hr on the 30th 5 DP had not yet reinforced the front line when the enemy defence folded, with 6 and 7 DP added to the advance into the now vacant bridgehead.

=======

Asia-Pacific - April 1942

The Sinkiang Fascists tried to plus the gap, with the three German and three Polish divisions encountering a disorganised 20 Xin’jiang Juntuán on the early afternoon of 1 April. They had been sent packing by 2200hr that night after a brief fire-fight.

But six days later the bridgehead had still not been secured as yet another – and this time better prepared – Sinkiang blocking force arrived and was engaged. To the east, the Chinese had managed to force back the enemy to occupy the bow in the river and were now trying to hold it against a counter-attack.

Overall poor supply, attrition and difficult terrain still hampered Allied operations all across the front line. Most Polish division had no supply, were heavily disorganised and had their strength being eaten away by attrition and combat losses.

The KBK cavalry division was the first of the new formations to arrive by train on the 8th in the province behind the front line. They would take another 11 days to move up to the river and there were high hoped these latest reinforcements could help break through, as the KBK still retained fair supply (59%) and organisation (46/57).

As it happened, the German-Polish breakthrough to the northern bank was finally secured on the morning of 10 April. They were counter-attacked soon after, beating that back with heavy casualties after two days of further fighting, but not before the exhausted 7 DP had broken and retreated back across the river.

The eyes were now on the prize of the Sinkiang capital of Urumqi, whose capture it was hoped might force the surrender of the Fascists and provide a measure of relief to the beleaguered Chinese, with Xibei San Ma the next target to its east. 5 DP, though in poor condition, made a dash north to see if it could secure the south-west approach to Urumqi while more troops were fed into the bridgehead.

By mid-month, the Allies were holding on in China and Indochina as the grinding advance in the high country of Sinkiang continued.

The Doolittle Raid was conducted by U.S. warplanes on the Japanese capital of Tokyo on 18 April. Although little damage was done it provided an important boost to American morale.

5 DP took its objective without a fight on the morning of the 20th and pressed on to the the-unoccupied Urumqi, despite their total lack of organisation, supply and having only half their establishment fit to fight … if only they could sneak in to seize the enemy capital. A large part of the rest of the CSE was being funnelled into the breakthrough, but it would take time to traverse the hard country.

Then as hope kindled, Allied morale soared with word of a falling out between their two bitter enemies, who in turn had no love for each other. Communist China declared war on the Fascists in Xibei San Ma on the morning of 21 April, pitting Mao’s Mutual Assistance Bloc against The Asian League, led by the Manchurian Fascists of Kwantung.

The joining of Japan into that conflict and reports of fighting by Communist China on three fronts warmed the hearts of the Allied command. A three-way war now raged in the heart of Asia. Though Sinkiang, Yunnan and Guangxi so far remained neutral in that conflict.

In Sinkiang, Allied hopes of a quick rush into Urumqi were thwarted when 5 DP came under a holding attack early on 22 April, delaying their thrust on the capital as they tried to hold off a far more organised and supplied enemy.

Another dampener came on the morning of the 23rd, when Japan hastily concluded a separate peace with Kwantung in the Treaty of Hsinking. Reports soon came of many ceasefires in the north and south of Communist China (where Japanese troops must have been doing the fighting), but battles continued against Xibei San Ma and in the south-west. What Mao made of this turn of events could only be guessed at!

The day became even more disappointing when 5 DP broke just before midnight, unable to sustain their defense despite holding the better ground. 6 DP had been sent north to support them so now raced the enemy to see who could secure the key position first.

But 6 DP and the German 36th Infanterie won the footrace, arriving to an encounter battle on the evening of the 28th which they won decisively two days later, forcing the enemy attackers back with heavy casualties, bringing a dramatic month in Asia to an end.

=======

Asia-Pacific - May 1942

The pace would slow again somewhat in May, though not from want of trying. 6 DP started a new dash to Urumqi, still undefended, early on 1 May. But on 3 May the enemy slipped in a weak but adequately supplied division; it was too much for 6 DP to overcome alone, so they broke their attack off after two days, before total exhaustion overcame them.

The Philippines Campaign ended in decisive Japanese victory on 8 May.

On 9 May, 6 DP was joined by 7 DP to attack north instead, trying to dislodge the enemy defending the western approaches to Urumqi and thus hoping to open up another direction for an attack on the capital. But the defenders were persistent, so on the 11th the (returned) 5 DP and recently arrived KBK were thrown into the attack as well.

But it was not enough, the attack finally abandoned on the night of the 16th.

On 22 May Mexico declared war on Germany, Italy and Japan.

Six days later, a fresh attempt was made to force the pace. Four (slightly) fresher, more recently arrived divisions launched a new attack on Urumqi, while the rest renewed the advance to the north, which the enemy had vacated.

But once again numbers were not enough. After five days of hard fighting, the Poles once more had to break off. The last hurdle in Sinkiang was proving very hard to clear.

More widely, it seemed that by 28 May Chinese Communist forces had been diverted to fights along the border with Mengukuo in the north and the Kwantung-held line in the south, north of the Guangxi border. This at least was good news for the Nationalist and their allies.

The three Polish divisions took the vacant province due west of Urumqi on the morning of 29 May, but the troops were in a dire state. But it seemed the Chinese were better provided for, managing to expand the bridgehead in the south on the evening of the 30th.

In the Pacific, the British reported on 30 May they were on the cusp of victory in their amphibious assault on Truk, held by Kwantung.

As the month ended Indochina held on.

As did the little Dutch enclave in northern Sulawesi, against the Japanese, who had made no further progress in three months.

=======

The Home Front – March-May 1942

Polish land doctrine advanced again in mid-March, benefitting from recent hard-earned battlefield experience.

Germany cancelled its lend-lease program on 27 March, but the Netherlands and New Zealand (25 and 24 support equipment since 26 January respectively) had made deliveries and continued their contributions. So too did Australia (69 x 25pdr artillery since 24 February). At that time, civil construction was again concentrating on improving the rail network in eastern Poland.

A new national focus was achieved on 7 April, boosting industry in Galicia. Central Poland would be improved next, then Upper Silesia with the aim of more investment in the east after that.

Small-scale production of the Jastrząb fighter was resumed a week later to replace accumulated losses in exercising (five more airframes were needed). And the development of new Polish medium tank models continued. The 10TP would not be produced commercially but was to be used as a test bed for the more advanced 14TP.

And with the latest round of railway upgrades almost complete, the two radar stations in eastern Poland would be the next construction project.

=======

Europe and the Rest of the World – March-May 1942

As the Polish expeditionary force passed in mid-March through northern Italy, back from Bulgaria to Warsaw via France and Germany, all seemed well.

But at some point probably between 22-26 April, Mussolini had his revenge, staging an uprising that seemed to effortlessly liberate all the French-occupied parts of the peninsula, Sardinia and Sicily!

When I got the cryptic note on 22 April about Free India having been invited by Italy in a ‘Chinese-Italian War’ I had a good look around India to see if I could find it, but saw no trace. I either didn’t look in Europe again or if I did, saw nothing amiss. Preoccupied with the Far East and Sinkiang in particular, I simply hadn’t noticed what must have been going on.

It actually wasn’t until the end of May that I did, to my consternation discovering the Italians risen from the grave and heavy fighting in northern Italy. The 1 April autosave had been lost by then, my last general one back on 15 March. I did have a 1 May save, so mined that to see what the situation was then, plus checking the war tension screen to discover those indicators that the two other exiled governments of Mexico and Greece had also joined in. And also that the French had led a naval invasion of Estonia! So what follows is a reconstruction from them.

At the same time, reports filtered in from Paris that they had led an amphibious invasion of Estonia the week before, seizing the port of Narva and fanning out inland. They had five divisions ashore, with one German division in support and by 1 May were rapidly closing in on Tallinn.

On 29 May, the UK announced Liberia had joined the Allies and two days later the war. Belgium also joined the Allies that day: they may prove handy in northern Italy.

Speaking of which, as the month ended the Allies had amassed sufficient troops to start clawing their way back in the north and launching an amphibious attack in the north of Sardinia.

Milan had been retaken, ten Italian divisions cut off along the border with Switzerland as a mainly Franco-German Allied army pressed the attack once more over familiar ground. The Yugoslavian Army was also cooperating in the Second Italian Campaign.

Poland would now need to decide whether the recently returned expeditionary force in Warsaw would be sent back south for this latest venture.

In Estonia resistance was wilting and it should not be long before the latest foolish Fascist regime was vanquished.

Poles Apart – an HOI4 Ahistory

Old Boardgame Grognard

Old Boardgame Grognard

Old Boardgame Grognard

Old Boardgame Grognard

Old Boardgame Grognard

Old Boardgame Grognard

Old Boardgame Grognard

Old Boardgame Grognard

Old Boardgame Grognard

Old Boardgame Grognard

Old Boardgame Grognard

Old Boardgame Grognard

Old Boardgame Grognard

Old Boardgame Grognard

Old Boardgame Grognard

Old Boardgame Grognard

Old Boardgame Grognard

Old Boardgame Grognard

Old Boardgame Grognard

Old Boardgame Grognard