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When the USN started with airborne started with airbrone control aircraft, the E-1s and then the E-2s up through the present, these aircraft are unarmed and are supposed to keep themselves out of fighter contact and certainly away from AAA/SAMs (of course with longer range SAMs these days..). Therefore an Albacore with proper radar and radio can stay back a bit and significantly reduce the risks. Against enemies with limited or no radar, finding them by opposition fighters would be sheer chance.
Looking at Albacores it did carry one foreward .303 MG and 1 or 2 in the rear turret leaving the fighter director or radar observer to do his job
Story 0717
August 13, 1941 South of Marsa al Brega, Libya
Fifty yards in front of the sergeant the point man froze. His eyes scanned rapidly back and forth even as his head was deathly still. His nose took in the cold night air, a mixture of the smell of the desert, the salt of the nearby sea and the detritus of mechanized warfare. A hint of tobacco and soap tickled his nostrils. He pushed the air emptily with his hand. The rest of the patrol silently went to the ground. The sergeant nodded. The scout began to advance slowly forward on his belly after taking off his pack and leaving his rifle behind.
Ninety three minutes later, the scout came back to the patrol. A flurry of whispers and then a map was roughly drawn in the ground. The edge of the Italian line was just where they expected it. The position was the standard dense company defensive position with a string of two and three man outposts. There was a single outpost on the far edge of the line that was not quite as mutually supported as it should be. Two men were in it. That would be the target.
The patrol crept forward until they were within 100 yards of their target and they put down their packs. Knives and bayonets were made ready. Rifles were loaded and grenades accessible but the goal was to be in and out silently. As they began their final approach onto the Italian listening post, the clouds cooperated and hid the moon for the last forty yards. Every man barely moved but steadily moved. There would be a four man snatch team and then a fire team to cover them if something went wrong.
The snatch team was in position, and then they rushed forward as the lone Italian sentry looked to his north instead of his south. One, two, three, four strides and the sentry was seized with a bag over his head, a strong hand over his mouth and a knife barely penetrating his skin along his ribs:
“Silenzio o morte! Silenzio!”
The man stuttered, “Si” and relaxed. The other man in the trench woke up startled and was never given the choice as a sharp knife cut across his neck and his life bled from him even before the snatch team left. The prisoner's hands were bound as the snatch team escaped to the first fold in the earth beyond the defensive line. The fire team followed a few minutes later. They started to march back to the rally point where the truck and the radio had been left. An hour later, the soldiers relaxed as the prisoner had been loaded onto the truck. As they drove back to their battalion headquarters, a battery of artillery fired a harassment mission over their heads towards the company position that they had just raided.
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Story 0718
August 14, 1941 Leningrad
She pulled the uniform cap low over her eyes. Her rifle with six clips of ammunition rested on the far side of the trench. Her shoulders no longer ached as she had become strong over the past month of building the anti-tank defenses south of Leningrad. She and her friends had enlisted in a People’s Militia division for better food to do the same work that they had been doing already. Little had changed except that instead of carrying a shovel or a pick-ax everywhere, they also carried their rifles with them.
The first elements of the 7th Army had arrived on the reserve stop line the night before. The regular soldiers and their officers were sighting their heavy weapons and improving local defenses around their positions by finding camouflage. The ground shook as artillery battles were being fought to the south and the west of the city. Every morning the ground shook a little more as the battles became closer.
Ten miles behind Tatianna, another train full of old women and young children who had been left behind pulled to the side of the track as a supply train had priority to enter the city. Once the wheat and oil and shells had been unloaded, the supply train would take another thousand lives and twenty four heavy tanks out of the future fortress.
She pulled the uniform cap low over her eyes. Her rifle with six clips of ammunition rested on the far side of the trench. Her shoulders no longer ached as she had become strong over the past month of building the anti-tank defenses south of Leningrad. She and her friends had enlisted in a People’s Militia division for better food to do the same work that they had been doing already. Little had changed except that instead of carrying a shovel or a pick-ax everywhere, they also carried their rifles with them.
The first elements of the 7th Army had arrived on the reserve stop line the night before. The regular soldiers and their officers were sighting their heavy weapons and improving local defenses around their positions by finding camouflage. The ground shook as artillery battles were being fought to the south and the west of the city. Every morning the ground shook a little more as the battles became closer.
Ten miles behind Tatianna, another train full of old women and young children who had been left behind pulled to the side of the track as a supply train had priority to enter the city. Once the wheat and oil and shells had been unloaded, the supply train would take another thousand lives and twenty four heavy tanks out of the future fortress.
Story 0719
August 15, 1941 Singapore
The roads were busy. A brigade of the Australian 8th Infantry Division had arrived on a pair of liners. Their heavy equipment had arrived the day before. At the same time, the 5th Indian Division convoys were also unloading. They were confident veterans of the victory in East Africa. Almost as soon as they disembarked, their sergeants and field officers were looking for someplace to make their men run and rebuild their legs after the long slow sea journey. 1,000 Ghurkas singing as they ran scared some of the Fortress troops.
Even as the men were still shaking out, the ground forces commander, General Montgomery and the overall commander of the colony, General Percival, called all of the new officers colonel and above to a long meal and briefing. The forces in Malaya were growing even as the threat had increased dramatically. The Japanese had airfields near Saigon and they were applying an incredible amount of political pressure on Siam. Royal Navy forces were inadequate with some cruisers occasionally escorting convoys in the region and old destroyers the only locally controlled forces. The RAF was slowly building up in the region although most of their fighters were obsolete American Buffaloes. A few squadrons of Hurricanes were on the way as well as a new squadron of American fighters would stand up over the fall.
The 8th Australian Division with their two brigades were tasked to cover east coast airfields. The 9th Indian Division had swapped a brigade with the 10th Indian in the spring. They were covering the northern portion of the east coast. The 11th Division was concentrated in northwestern Malaya with its main base at Penang. The freshly arrived 5th Indian would also move north to reinforce the 11th Division. As soon as the next tranche of reinforcements, including the 6th Australian and 18th East Anglia Divisions along with a brigade from the 7th Armoured Division arrived in the fall, the command arrangements would be altered. An east coast corps would form under Australian command, III Indian Corps would be responsible for the northwest and there were would be a central command and reserve near Kuala Lumpur. General Montgomery would be in charge of all land forces while General Percival coordinated the fleet and air forces as well as collaborated with allies and the Americans.
Five hours after the meal started, each brigade commander left, well fed and even better briefed. They had a detailed itinerary of training commands as well as drafts of locally experienced men who would liaison into their brigades.
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Story 0720
August 17, 1941 Kiev
The Southwestern front was bowed. It had not yet broken, yet.
Another hammer blow from the 2nd Panzer Group had been indicated by the radio intercept teams. The Red Air Force had a success that morning. Two dozen Tupelev SB bombers had caught a fascist logistics convoy stretched out on the road. A remnant of a rifle regiment had been able to count the forty seven burning trucks full of fuel and shells that blocked one of the main supply routes. Instead of six armored regiments being able to slam into a weak point, five regiments had been able to jump off on time. Hopefully the fragments of tank brigades and artillery groups and rifle regiments that had been pulled from the line to backstop the exhausted and broken rifle divisions would be enough.
And if it was enough today, what could be scraped together to address tomorrow’s crisis?
The Southwestern front was bowed. It had not yet broken, yet.
Another hammer blow from the 2nd Panzer Group had been indicated by the radio intercept teams. The Red Air Force had a success that morning. Two dozen Tupelev SB bombers had caught a fascist logistics convoy stretched out on the road. A remnant of a rifle regiment had been able to count the forty seven burning trucks full of fuel and shells that blocked one of the main supply routes. Instead of six armored regiments being able to slam into a weak point, five regiments had been able to jump off on time. Hopefully the fragments of tank brigades and artillery groups and rifle regiments that had been pulled from the line to backstop the exhausted and broken rifle divisions would be enough.
And if it was enough today, what could be scraped together to address tomorrow’s crisis?
Yup , if the Japanese come ( to be honest can not see any butterflies that could stop the imperative of oil forcing them to attack) facing more, better trained and in some cases battle hardened troops under a methodical very good commander with an eye for detail, is a bit different than OTL to put it mildly. Add in the hints of more Armour and planes than OTL and the chances of the Japanese being stopped are a lot higher, then its what can the Japanese do. They don't have much in the way of getting quickly available spare troops unless they abandon one or more of the operations they did OTL. So could be good news for Burma as the Japanese would probably pick the DEI as the focus of operation(s) to continue.
Regarding Leningrad, it was my understanding that the mayor turned away supply trains since they did not have room for the food. Is the delivery of supplies and the evacuation of the elderly and children different from the OTL?
Regards
Stuart
Regards
Stuart
In my mind, it is pretty close to OTL with normal variance around the butterflies.
Driftless
Donor
This should make for some "interesting" dynamics.....
Percival was a Dill protégé, if I remember correctly. And Brooke was the only general with real control over Monty (and mutual respect). If this becomes a pissing match, my money is on Brooke/Monty....
I would have thought the biggest possible change is how close is the coordination of the RAF and RN v OTLs shambles?
If Monty gets involved ( and he would ) then he will be after air/naval support and raise a fuss when he finds the state of play. Assuming the bun fight gets kicked upstairs then I'd expect RN to send someone with enough seniority to ensure there is a clear chain of command and instructions to sort it out ( and been privately told by the Admiralty to "stop us looking bad" ).
I get the impression they could have taken both intact. One advantage: interrogation, always check your sources. One disadvantage: no worsening of enemy morale to find a comrade, and possibly friend, with a slit throat.
There is aggressive patrolling going on up and down the line so verification can occur. I retweaked the piece to indicate the second man was making starting to make noise.
The patrolling is primarily of the "keep the pressure on the enemy so they don't get too comfortable and raid our lines" type of patrolling; it is not the precursor to a major offensive.
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