FredSanford3
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It all started with the decision to partially accede to Doenitz's agitation for a 300-U-boat fleet. He didn't get his 300 U-boats, but due to his persuasiveness, the Germans started the war with over 175 new Type VIIb's that began the Battle of the Atlantic with a devastating 'tanker war' focus on fuel imports...including aviation petrol.
During the Battle of France, Hitler determines to teach the British a lesson for interfering with his plans. A blood-stained beach named Dunkirk was the last Alamo-like stand for the B.E.F. Nearly every man was either dead or a prisoner, and Britain lay bare, without even personnel to train the Home Guard, nor weapons to arm them.
When the Battle of Britain began, the Luftwaffe worked in concert with the Kriegsmarine to continue to hammer British fuel imports, ports and transportation links in range, as well as striking RAF airfields to keep the pressure on the RAF. Both the Royal Navy and the RAF began to feel the pinch, the Royal Navy even resorting to basing ships in Iceland and Canada to assure a fuel supply.
Meanwhile, in the Mediterranean Mussolini has been hatching plans of his own. Heeding the advice of the Regia Marina, Mussolini signalled his entry into the war with a surprise air and naval attack on Malta, followed by a sea-borne invasion. Malta was overwhelmed, and the vital Mediterranean link to the East was severed in a single blow.
Although fighting valiantly, the RAF was doomed. Lack of fuel impacted already brief training, sending ever-more inexperienced pilots against the seasoned and confident Luftwaffe. The battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau sortied from Norway on a raiding cruise, pursued by portions of the Home Fleet. Meanwhile, the invasion plans progressed...
The Fall of Britain began with an airborne assault on Folkestone, followed by a 'dash' across the Channel by landing barges carrying troops of the Fifteenth Army. Short on fuel, and it's ships scattered, the Royal Navy struggled to respond. Steaming down from Scapa Flow, the remainder of the Home Fleet was subjected to relentless air attacks as soon as they came in range, as well as a U-boat ambush that sank the King George V leaving Scapa. Air attacks claimed the Warspite and HMS London, and left HMS Rodney dead in the water.
The German covering force, consisting of most of the remaining Kriegsmarine, now engaged the Home Fleet in an extended cat-and-mouse game. By feinting towards attacking the crippled Rodney- vulnerable to approach from astern, the Germans were able to induce the Home Fleet to first turn to help, then resume it's mission to halt the landings, and then detach a group to guard the Rodney, wasting vital night-time hours when the Home Fleet was supposed to be making a high-speed run- as fast as the old 'R' class ships still present- towards the Channel to appear at first light off the landing beaches.
Instead, the Home Fleet was again savaged by air attack at dawn, and staggered back to Rosyth with the ships that could get away. It was the bloodiest day in Royal Navy history. The next day, the gov't falls.
After a violent but quick two-week campaign, the Germans had managed to surround London, and were pressing into the industrial North. Bowing to the inevitable, the British ask for terms.
None of this has sated Hitler's hunger for the lands in the East. In fact, with his western flank now secure, belligerent language warning of the Bolshevik enemy-in-waiting emanates from Berlin in an increasing rate. Border incidents have begun to occur.
The rest of Europe waits for the next shoe to drop. Coup plotters in Yugoslavia shelve their plans due to the evaporation of desire to overthrow a pro-Axis regime in the current climate. Italy proceeds with it's conquest of Greece, in a haphazard and costly manner, but in the end Greece is overcome without any international support.
The USA realizes that a future war with Germany would be extremely difficult to prosecute from across the Atlantic, and fearing a German-dominated Eurasia, begin secret negotiations for Lend-Lease to the Soviet Union via Iran and Vladivostok in the event of German invasion.
The Soviet Union has been watching the events unfold with alarm and unease. They rightfully fear that the Non-Aggression Pact is a temporary fiction destined for betrayal. The Soviet Army is already expanding as fast as it can, but efforts are redoubled. To flatten the chain of command, the Army's corps echelon headquarters are slated for disbanding. The Soviet forward lines are thinned out, and mechanized forces are keep in reserve 50-100 miles in the rear.
German forces are busily building up along the eastern border. The Seventh and Fifteenth Armies are resting and re-fitting after the British Campaign, and will be available soon. Not being needed in the Mediterranean and Greek campaigns have made additional forces available as well. Eager to share in the glory, Mussolini contributes an entire Army Group to Barbarossa.
to be continued...
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Sealion a Success! G.B. Sues for Peace Nov 1940! - 
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