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Turn 16

Heavy rain over northern Europe so there are no air attacks.



Will try to run some recon over England, but not really expecting a landing this late. Should be able to cause problems if he tries in this weather with the losses already suffered.

Corsica Supply Sitrep:
Porto Vecchio: 36k (100k)
Ajaccio: 40k (65k)
Calvi: 30k (50k)
Bastia: 8k (50k)
Total: 114k (265k)

Sardinia Supply Sitrep:
Cagliiari: 0 (85k)
Oristano: 16k (50k)
Tortoli: 19k (50k)
Sassari: 20k (20k)
Ozeiri: 40k (40k)
Olbia: 8k (50k)
Total: 103k (295k)

1st Army
Sup Need Received Lost
325 1172 32

WA bomb a single airfield and take out basically the entire Me232 fleet. I think I never got to use them. Also bombing ports in Taranto and Brindisi. They don't even have supplies, just two mtn rgts.
Mtn rgts pulled from Reggio are pulled even farther north. Recon shows he's pulling his units back to the ports on Sicily, probably won't try a Reggio crossing after seeing my units there...

Build some FZs in Italy to start the main line if he invades farther south.
Shuffle diggers around a bit everywhere and try to get 1st SS Pzr Corps ready to respond.

Italian theater:



Here's a breakdown of the VP situation at this point.








Here's a breakdown of the EF box at this point.







And finally, the garrison status.

Turn 17

Another invasion! But first, a recap on the islands:

Corsica Supply Sitrep:
Porto Vecchio: 45k (100k)
Ajaccio: 49k (65k)
Calvi: 33k (50k)
Bastia: 8k (50k)
Total: 135k (265k)

Sardinia Supply Sitrep:
Cagliiari: 0 (85k)
Oristano: 13k (50k)
Tortoli: 17k (50k)
Sassari: 20k (20k)
Ozeiri: 40k (40k)
Olbia: 14k (50k)
Total: 104k (295k)

1st Army
Sup Need Received Lost
69 2745 14

Invasion very far north in Italy. 4 invasion sites with two separate beachheads. The invasion north of Pisa means no garrison requirement anymore in N Italy. This is a mistake, as it frees up assets that would otherwise be tied down. In '43 the Allies need to use the garrison requirements to ensure they're not forced to bite off more Axis forces than they can chew. Will try to contain the N.Italy beachhead while reducing the southern one with all available assets in Italy to maintain that situation. I still have to be prepared to re-orient forces if he withdraws from this beachhead as a 'VP trap', hoping to catch me unable to restore garrison values.



I SS Pzr Corps is rested and waiting for this opportunity.

Forces making initial invasion south to north:

509th US Para Rgt (AFHQ) land behind Piombino
4th BR Inf Div (V BR Corps)
8th IN Inf Div (V BR Corps)
34th US Inf Div (II CA Corps)
45th US Inf Div (V BR Corps)

N Italy beachhead (north of Pisa):
1st BR Inf Div (X BR Corps)*
56th BR Inf Div (X BR Corps)*

Will hit the 509th US para rgt to open the path to the port at Piombino that will hold the southern shoulder. Plenty of supplies in the depot (31k stored)
12th SS PzG Div in Piombino with 792nd Fort Const. Bn

Livorno port depot has 63k tons of freight stored. It is integral to keeping the beachheads separated.
3rd PzG Div and 2/7th Mtn Div are in the port.
Remaining 7th Mtn Rgts are in La Spezia and Genoa ports. These units will be swapped out with reserves railed from the Atlantic Wall.

recap of WA units that were previously destroyed:
2/1st BR Airborne Div turn 3
2/82nd US Airborne Div turn 4
36th US Inf Div turn 6
1st BR Inf Div turn 6
5th BR Inf Div turn 6
56th BR Inf Div turn 6
6th BR Arm Div turn 6
7th BR Arm Div turn 6
1/82nd US Airborne Div turn 8
2nd BR Spec Serv Bde turn 8

In addition to creating naval patrols to try and choke Allied supply and reinforcement we send our freshly retrained Bf-110s in to provide ground interdiction with three directives:





Air Directive view:



His naval interdiction is very strong, as is mine, net result the spice flows.



Since he didn't have these kind of values of the start of the turn I suspect he created the directives, then rested most of his planes to run them, and then took those assets off of rest so they would show up during my turn (where his logistics phase will run).
I will try a new tactic next week and create blockades centered from France-Corsica-Italy and see if we can choke off the whole area instead of contesting the beaches themselves (where his patrols are focused).
While I didn't completely block supplies, it will be costly for the Allies to wade through all that interdiction. This is why the islands of Sardinia and Corsica matter.




10th Army closes the beaches with 1st SS Pzr Corps and LI Gebirgs Corps. 15th Army reserves are moving rapidly up the peninsula and will join the battle next week.

German Reserves now in theater:

3rd Mtn Div, 15th PzG Div at Empoli
2 Rgts of H Goering Pzr Div with LXXVI Pzr Corps HQ at Florence, last Rgt north of Rome
90th PzG Div
29th PzG Div
16th Pzr Div
9th SS Pzr Div
10th SS PzG Div
12th SS PzG Div
3rd PzG Div
1st FJ Div
4th SS Polizei Div
1st SS Mot Bde
3rd Mtn Div
4th Mtn Div breaks down into Rgts to cover the eastern side ports.
6th SS Mtn Div


24th Pzr Div will be pulled from Rennes next week.
Several Infantry formations are also sent from the Atlantic Wall to N Italy.

With only 2 TF unaccounted for a north European invasion is unlikely. All effort must go into breaking this invasion.

First we open the road to Piombino:



An attack on the other wing against the Rangers doesn't go as well. Damned naval guns!



We shift focus to the 45th US Inf Div, as we want to eliminate the port and crowd the beaches as much as possible.



A follow up attack on the Rangers succeeds in routing them.



Here's the final situation map. I'm satisfied with the results of the ground interdiction, and with the reinforcements on hand I expect to create another Allied bloodbath next week.

Turn 18

Just kidding. Never got a turn back after this.