A Very Different 1942

[Death's Companion]

Really? Wasn't it too close to mainland Greece and too far away from Allied bases?

It had a strong garrison and a large naval flotila, the Germans only took it because for some reason despite air attack being the only reasonably likely means of attack the garrison did not bother to protect the air fields which let the Germans capture them and bring in reinforcements by air. It would be expensive to hold longer term if the Germans cared to take it but it being lost the way it was was a major cock up.

 

[Death's Companion]

Of course the most serious casualty of the debacle was the formation of the RAF Regiment. An indignity that shall echo down the centuries long after Singapore has faded from memory.

 

[Artaxerxes]

Really? Wasn't it too close to mainland Greece and too far away from Allied bases?

The allies knew the time, method and date of the invasion. Despite this poor communication and the weird imagination of the commander on the ground led to a single airfield being unguarded for long enough for the Germans to swoop in and land enough forces to take the island.
Logistically it shouldn’t have been capture-able, the Germans didn’t have the naval forces to do so.

 

[ForceA1]

Logistically it shouldn’t have been capture-able, the Germans didn’t have the naval forces to do so.

They did try to land a significant number of troops by sea, it's just that they came into contact with the Royal Navy. At night. Unsurprisingly the contest between a large number of unarmed of caiques and a single Italian Torpedo Boat versus an entire Royal Navy Cruiser Squadron had a fairly predictable conclusion.

 

[Artaxerxes]

They did try to land a significant number of troops by sea, it's just that they came into contact with the Royal Navy. At night. Unsurprisingly the contest between a large number of unarmed of caiques and a single Italian Torpedo Boat versus an entire Royal Navy Cruiser Squadron had a fairly predictable conclusion.

The Italians were the definition of "Fuck Around and Find Out" in the Med really.

 

[Venocara]

No idea to be completely honest. The Soviets could probably make good any realistic losses they took defending Moscow successfully and AGN and AGS would be stretched incredibly thin trying to replace losses so it would be tempting to keep slugging but if Hitler and Stalin are gone then the timeline is already completely in the air.

Let's say that both Hitler and Stalin die during the Battle for Moscow and the Wehrmacht and Red Army establish juntas in their respective nations. If peace can be agreed (presumably not too far from status quo ante bellum), would the juntas see it merely as a temporary peace before the next round a few years later or would it be meant to last? Would the Western Allies see this as an opportunity for peace across the continent or would they too be biding their time for a new attack?

 

[Death's Companion]

Let's say that both Hitler and Stalin die during the Battle for Moscow and the Wehrmacht and Red Army establish juntas in their respective nations. If peace can be agreed (presumably not too far from status quo ante bellum), would the juntas see it merely as a temporary peace before the next round a few years later or would it be meant to last? Would the Western Allies see this as an opportunity for peace across the continent or would they too be biding their time for a new attack?

Probably the latter... I guess?


Tbh we are now so far off the rails its whatever the writer wants to happen.

 

[Venocara]

Imagine a world where the Wehrmacht's Army Group Centre reaches Moscow by the end of 1941 only to find itself overextended, encircled and destroyed. A world in which the CPC's Hundred Regiments Offensive goes disastrously and the Japanese manage to agree a peace with the KMT by early 1941, but where the Americans are still brought into the European War by the end of the year by some other mechanism. A world in which the Italians are wiped out of North Africa with a complete Operation Compass, and the Mediterranean is a British lake.

And the Germans are probably slightly more reasonable in their terms in the backchannel peace talks...

Following up on this scenario, if the Germans and the Soviets agreed an armistice by early 1942, is it still possible for the Western Allies to attempt an invasion of France in 1942 or even 1943? With the deposition of Mussolini by the King (as a result of a successful Compass), would it be possible for Italy to join the Allies with enough bribes, potentially exposing Germany's soft underbelly?