France falls during a long hot Summer

 The Axis won initiative again and rolled for wather achieving fine weather except in the north monsoon zone which overs South China. The Italians chose a no cost combined impulse and moved an infantry division to Cyprus. The air transport rebased to Albania. The Germans moved units to the East but could not get good enough combat odds to launch an attack. In France they counterattacked the French armour and forced it to retreat and created a corridor for the stranded Western panzer force. In the East of France the Germans crushed two more infantry corps and came closer to Paris but knew that lots of hastily raised militia were advancing to the capital. They declined a low chance of success offesnsive with their only available armoured units. The Germans flew a Stuka to Italy and gave it to Italy - a welcome Lend Lease gift.  In China the Japanese moved troops around the north of the Chinese comnunist and outlfanked it.

The French and Commonwealth both took a no-cost combined impulse and moved more of their non-capital ships to Africa. Some French units launched a desperate attack on the eastern flank of the German bridgehead in France and managed to kill an anti tank division for the cost of an infantry division. The rest of the French corps become disorganised. The German infantry corps remains untouched. Ther Commonwealth with multiple ships and a Hurricane covering them and with their two available transports evacuated the Gort HQ and mechanised corps from France leaving a sole motorised corps to fight a desperate rearguard. The Gort HQ reorganised one of their transports to rescue the stranded motorised corps - if it survives! The Stirling launches a low level daylight bombing raid which causes 1 build point damage. The Soviets rearranged thier forces and attacked a stack of two German infantry corps - including their best infantry corps (a 9-3) with Guards Banner mechanised and infantry armies, a tank army, an artillery division and other motorised and infantry armies. It was essentially a 50/50 attack but the blitz was succesful and shattered the two German corps which would return next Turn and broke through them. The Soviets declined to advance. The highly successful result saw a weak Soviet infantry army promoted to being a Guards Banner Army. Other changes including a Tashkent army moving by rail to Siberia and a strong Siberian army railing to Byelorussia. The Soviets aren't advancing but they have killed 5 German infantry corps so far including the best one in the German army.

The Japanese took a no-cost combined impulse and moved an infantry corps and a supply unit to China. The Italians used a naval impulse and moved light cruisers to protect the convoys in the Eastern Med. The medium bombers and two fighters moved to Libya to counter the Desert Air Force. The Germans in Paris launched devastating blitzes on the defenders before Paris and cleared them out the way. Other German forces launched a slightly risky assault on the remaining Commonwealth motorised corps in France. They wiped out the British at the cost of a garrison division and their remaining forces being disorganised.  All this success in France can't hide that the Germans are scrambling to make a defence with units moving by rail to the Eastern Front. 

China passed this impulse. France used a no-cost combined impulse to move its remaining non capital ships into ports in Equatorial Africa hoping they will go Free French if France surrenders. The Commonwealth took its Naval impulse and moved escorts into place and its subs into West and East Med and its Sunderland flying boat to protect the convoys in the North Atlantic. Commonwealth naval forces failed to find any Italian convoys in the Mediterranean. The Soviets moved units to the German border including by rail. They launched a blitz attack with powerful forces against two infantry corps outside Konigsberg. Whilst destroying one infantry corps and breaking through another one (meaning it will arrive next turn as a reinforcement) they lost a mechanised corps. Only weak infantry and cavalry forces were advanced into a forward position as the Soviets feared losing even more expensive armoured forces and regretted this attack. Half the remaining Soviet attackers were also flipped over. The von Bock HQ which had supported the defenders was flipped over too. Maybe the Soviet juggernaut was running out of steam?

The Germans took a no-cost combined impulse. U-boats found convoys in Bay of Biscay but the Royal Navy escort ships survived the torpedoes. Other German u-boats failed to find any targets.  The Germans used 16 offensive points to double land attack factors. French and German fighters had a dog fight over the  Parisian airspace. The French fighter was shot down with the pilot dying whilst the German fighter was aborted leaving the French bombers to get through. Despite this because of the doubled land attack values Paris was taken with no loss.The supporting French HQ and Rundstedt HQ were then both flipped over. Vichy would be declared at end of Turn. 

 

France had managed to flip over several German units meaning they could not be railed to the Eastern Front until next Turn and would arrive disorganised thus reducing German response to the Soviet agggression. The Italians move their desert forces closer to Alexandria and rebase a fighter group to Libya. Japam tries a ground strike against the outlfanked Chinese double corps stack but achieves nothing. 

The French artillery moved up to the Seine and bombarded the German armour managing to disorganise the panzer corps. The Soviet attack may not have saved France but France is making it hard for the Germans to divert forces in a timely manner back to the East Front. Sadly the French follow-up counterattack proved disastrous losing an infantry corps. The Commmonwealth transported Sydney militia to Singapore and the mechanised corps evacuated from France towards Gibraltar. The Royal Navy succesfully find the Italian convoys and their escorts and damage the convoy so the the Regia Marina with no active subs and no convoys left to protect abandon the East Med. 

The Italians moved aircraft closer to the Libyan/ Egypt border. The Japanese takiong advantage of good weather in the Northern Monsoon zone moved infantry corps to the front line into position to attack a Chinese Nationalist infantry army. The Germans launched an attt attack with good odds at Soviet cavalry in the forests but only managed in exchanging an infantry corps with the cavalry corps - not a good exchange. They next moved artillery from the Western front to the East front using railways.The East Front looked like it may get bogged down with costly offensives.

The Commonwealth transported Canadian militia to the south coast of England and rail moved Ulster militia to Edinburgh. The French advanced Metz militia towards the German border. The Soviets moved infantry forces towards the front with Germany and used bombers to ground strike the advanced German infantry corps and succeeded in flipping it. Zhukov rail moved from Siberia to near the frontier.

Germany started moving armoured troops out of France into rail centres ready to be moved. Ships moved to be in a position to esscort convoys in the Baltic next Turn. U-boats failed to find convoys in the Faroes Gap. Italy moved its Stuka unit to Homs in Libya. The Allies passed apart from the Soviets who moved units to the German Front and railed Timoshenko to Mongolian border to replace Zhukov. The Turn continued despite most Allies passing. The Germans moved two armour corps from Belgium to Poland. Stukas succesfullyflipped over the mechanised corps advancing through Ukraine by a ground strike. Italy moved its Stuka closer to the Libyan Egyptian border. Japan aligns Siam to its cause and the US isn't offended on the US entry check. The Japanese supply unit moves to the northern flank of the Chinese Communist line. And then the Turn ends! Description of the End of Turn phase including the formation of Vichy will be described in the next blog as it's a rather long and complicated procedure.