The Rise Of Australasia-Chapter 1317 - 958 London Conference Ends
Chapter 1317: Chapter 958: London Conference Ends
Chapter 1317 -958: London Conference Ends
If we consider 1937 as the most unclear phase of World War II, then 1938 was the most brutal year.
This is not without proof. In the first half of January 1938, the Britain-France-Australia trio successively launched the North Africa offensive, a grand counterattack in France, and the Normandy landings, involving millions of soldiers across three battlefields, and employing countless airplanes and tanks.
To counter the successive pressures from Britain, France, and Australia, Germany could only continuously mobilize new soldiers domestically, who, after hasty training, were thrown into the French Battlefield.
The war did not cease in Eastern Europe either. On January 22, 1938, amid heated battles on the French Battlefield, the Germans urgently commenced the Battle of Stalingrad.
According to the German Chancellor’s own words, they needed to capture all of Stalingrad within six months, then push towards the Caucasus Region to cut off Russia Nation’s energy supply.
Once Russia Nation’s issue was settled first, Germany could then return its troops to France and eliminate the British-French-Australian forces bouncing around there.
At this point, Italy and Spain became even more crucial. During the six months Germany attacked Stalingrad, Spain and Italy would bear the burden of defending against the forces of Britain, France, and Australia.
Only if these two countries could take on most of the pressure could Germany have enough energy to concentrate on confronting Russia Nation, a formidable enemy.
The competition in World War II hinged not only on the holistic national strength of the countries involved but also on their underlying strategic measures.
For Australasia and the United Kingdom, neither wanted to defeat Germany too soon while Russia Nation had not yet suffered significant losses.
This led to a reflective scene on the French Battlefield, where most of the British-French-Australian forces advanced slowly, their attacks on Germany not as fierce as imagined.
Even some British-French-Australian forces were redeployed; they would head to Spain and Italy respectively to attack these two countries first.
Attacking these two countries held an advantage: it could effectively sever Germany’s left and right arms. After losing Italy and Spain, Germany would primarily be left with still reliable allies such as Romania and Bulgaria.
But a small Romania and Bulgaria could not drastically change the situation; how could the German Empire alone shake the powerful alliance formed by Britain, France, and Australia?
On February 2, 1938, an Allied Army composed of 500,000 French troops, 350,000 Australasian troops, and 250,000 British troops reached the Urban City of Turin in northwestern Italy and continued their advance toward Milan in the east.
Attacking Italy had its benefits; once across the border Alps from France, southward travel essentially led through a narrow peninsula area, with hardly any places of strategic difficulty.
The Alps and Turin had already been breached during previous wars between France and Italy, and even after losing Capital City Paris, the French Army had not lost Turin.
This once again allows reflection on Italy’s performance in World War II. France was at one point nearly defeated, but Italy only barely held the front lines against such a weaken France and did not regain much territory.
East of Turin lies Milan, south of Milan lies Genoa. Southeast of Genoa are important cities like Florence and Rome.
The British-French-Australian Forces would not be courteous to Italy. A large number of tanks from the southern part of the Alps poured toward Genoa and rapidly broke through to the rear of Florence.
The intent of the headquarters became quite apparent; using the mobility of the armored troops, quickly encircle the entire area north of Florence.
It should be noted that the area north of Florence encompasses much of Northern Italy, a very important Industrial Area for Italy.
Once these areas were seized, the threat of Italy would be completely neutralized.
The 350,000 Australasian soldiers operating in Italy were part of the newly formed Fourth Army Group, commanded by Bufford, formerly a General of the fourth army.
Thanks to the expansion of the army, nearly all the former nine army Generals of Australasia had risen to be commanders and Chief of General Staff of Army Groups, each managing forces of several hundred thousand.
Based on the credits established by various troops, after the war, it seemed probable that the commanders and Chief of General Staff of several Army Groups could further be promoted in their Titles of Nobility.
“About how many Italian Descendants are ahead of us?” Commander of the Fourth Army Group, Bufford, gazed toward a region dozens of kilometers away and asked his subordinate without turning his head.
“According to information from the British, there are at least 150,000 Italian soldiers stationed in Genoa, and Northern Italy still has at least 1500 Airplanes.” The subordinate, having memorized the numbers of the Italian forces in Genoa, hurriedly answered upon being asked.
Bufford nodded, pondered for a moment, and then commanded a Messenger: “Let our armored forces move, directly intercept behind Florence. We need to seize not just Genoa, the entire region north of Florence is our target.”
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“Yes, sir!”
Unlike the already exhausted British and French forces, the Australasian Army and the Island Nation had not been engaged in the war for long and had not yet shown signs of fatigue.
More importantly, after establishing credits, soldiers in Australasia could exchange them for corresponding Fieldlands and funds, and could even accumulate credits to become Nobility.
