France attacked 25 October 1939

1942 - tempted to agree though I'll have to do some more digging for facts. Though the WAllies need more time to get their shit together and be able to overrun the Germans.

Panzers and such
The Germans had learned the hard way that the PzIII had been under-gunned from the outset.
The effort to standardize Infantry AT- and Panzer gun-ammunition had led to 37mm being the caliber of the PzIII. The Germans had had the foresight of keeping the larger turret-ring of the original design of the PzIII for the 50mm gun but that was now wanting as chromium was. Which also led for the Infantry relying on their obsolete 37mm AT-gun.
The Germans prioritized the 50mm gun for the PzIII to see change when available or as vehicles from the Polish campaign would be salvaged and made operational – which due to the situation was also a lengthy process.

The PzIV had been designed as a close-support vehicle of Infantry not unlike the Infantry Tanks of the WAllied powers though much more mobile and faster able to keep pace with the PzIII and light tanks.
As such it sported a short barrel 75mm gun which to render it able to combat tanks had been provided with a developed HEAT shell; this being by now the almost sole shell produced for the PzIV.
This shell had also been supplied for 75mm AA-guns often acting as AT-guns giving them a cheaper shell that made less wear on the barrel and still with decent range and more than decent armourpenetration.
Still all this meant changes in the production line which the Nazi-system not really favoured i.e. the various leaders of those parts making up the production line didn't as it often would make them look like lagging in relation to those getting like the production of the 75mm HEAT shells.

Another Nazi-leader that saw his position twarted was H. Himmler; the lack of trucks had prevented his SS-Polizei Infantry Division from being motorized and eventually prevented other motorized formations raised by the SS during the French Campaign.
More crucially Himmler was unable to use the weapons of the former Czechoslovak Army as these had been overseen by OKW and in some way by Auswärtiges Amt (Foreign Ministry) Governor of Bohemia-Moravia Konstantin v. Neurath former Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Due to the imperative of raising more Infantry Divisions faster than anticipated the OKW had requested the stored Czech arms for use by the mobilizing Infantry Divisions. The Czech Tanks already enrolled into the Panzer formations and doing sterling service there.
Himmler didn't dare complain to Hitler so as not to be seen as weak but instead tried inflicting delays on production for the OKW and redicrecting these to the Waffen-SS.

Adolph Hitler had experienced the famine of the Great War brought on by the Allied Blockade which even the defeat of Russia hadn't really been able to negate though such was to a large extend the objective of the Brest-Litovsk Peace settlement. Thus Hitler had promised the German peoples no repeat of the Great War famine and loss of children.
Now the continued war and WAllied blockade began to take its toll on Germany; shipments either had to cross the sea and be scrutinized by the WAllied Navies when approaching Germany such as Scandinavia; though that remained an open window not much coming that way.

Still Denmark was selling large amounts of agricultural produce as was the Netherlands but both also wanted to trade with Britain.
In order not to interfere with the Danish export it had been an agreement if silent that Submarines operating in the North Sea didn't attack Danish Merchantmen though such at times did happen. Such Merchantmen sailing in British Convoy to Norway was another matter.
With Germany not able to sell the amount of coal Denmark would want Danish Merchantmen would carry coal on the return from Britain – and usually the Germans wouldn't interfere and with the huge losses in Submarines became less able to do so.

The route from Turkey which didn't mind delivering foodstuffs to Germany and which its treaty partners Britain and France didn't want or need to buy had a difficult way to Germany. Of course trains still ran across the Balkans though shipping would be preferred. During the Winter this hadn't been a possible on the Danube which had frozen.
Italy and Spain didn't mind exports to Germany. Italy wanting coal for its industry and heating found Germany not much willing to trade and looked to Britain; Spain still in the wake of the Civil War only ending two years prior was still in rebuilding and wanting oil which it mainly got from the USA.
Then the Soviets – the Soviets. Complaining of difficulties in meeting agreed numbers of deliveries kept delivering less. Though some imports were delivered in Vladivostok for transport to Germany by rail the Soviets complained of problems in maintenance which was difficult in Sibiria during winter when everything was frozen or during summer when the ground was too soft to move off the railway.
Hitler had hoped for come spring and summer things would change to the better but not much would happen.
Not that people would starve but the window at the butcher's or grocer's would just show less diversity than usual and about every month more would be absent.
The most important import besides oil – rubber – also suffered forcing Germany to divert part of oilproduction to make rubber for tires for Trucks, Aircraft and Tanktracks. Part of an oilproduction that stemmed from Haber-Bosch Process works of turning coal into fuel to keep Luftwaffe flying on high-octane unpolluted fuel.
Which also got worse and which a cold winter hadn't made any better as fuel for heathing homes had to be diverted too. Even Romania was difficult to get to make increased shipments beyond agreements though the thawing of the Danube had made regular shipments possible.

Himmler had promised to keep the possible dissent down – which the beginning failure of foodstuffs deliveries becoming noticed had made a rising issue internally – though Himmler didn't seem to notice such at the moment.
”Der treue Heinrich” (the true Heinrich) even distancing himself form the matter complaining of his Police being drafted into the Heer to fill gaps.
OKW and even Luftwaffe had begun complaining of the situation argueing that the frontline was becoming ever more difficult to maintain as the WAllies was getting the grib on Panzer-krieg and war in the skies.

The Wehrmacht used 2,000 different types of vehicles which needed more than a million different spare parts! That'd be a challenge to administrate all of that even with modern computers and databases, which they didn't have of course.

Lone Wolf
Georg Elser had landed in a spot where he got access to much more explosives than he had had at Heidenheim quarry where he had stolen some dynamite.
With the huge quantities passing through his hands he managed to build a larger bomb than he had planned initially though his Army service made it imperative that he'd be able to make the preparations faster than he had initially decided upon – using his woodworking skills to conceal the bomb in a wooden pillar at the Bürgerbräukeller at Munich. He had been able to build the space within the wooden pillar but then had to stop due to military call-up.
During a short leave he had talked Elsa Härlen mother of his two children into marrying him so that if he was killed she would get a pension. Living rather isolated Elsa went along his scheme.
As he only had limited leave he realized he wouldn't be able to carry through his scheme during 1940 as November 8 would be a Friday. He simply wouldn't have the time to place the bomb prior to the Nazi-meeting taking place and make a safe get-away.

***

October 1940
PM Neville Chamberlain informed Parliament that he would be resigning his post due to illness; the King had been informed and had on the advice of Chamberlain asked Winston Churchill to form a new Government to carry the struggle on against Germany.

The Winter of 1940-41 was as about as bad as the previous had been which taxed the German fuel consumption heavily.
It also taxed its soldiers as the earlier Winter as their uniforms were to a large degree made up from modern synthetic fabrics – Germany lacking cotton and wool.
The WAllied blockade and Soviet lack of enthusiasm for its Nazi ”ally” served to limit the imports along the route from the Far East. With the Turks more or less in the WAllied camp that too couldn't be relied upon as a cotton supplier.
So the German Infantryman would be cold and wet in his trenches and opposite French and British troops with woolen underwear.

It was clear to the WAllies that the Luftwaffe tempo of operations had declined since the May 1940 offensive and the bombings of primarly French cities now seemed a last stroke of earlier capacity – it was declining too. The British took the view that their prioritizing Aircraft production had been proven right.

The WAllied Strategic Bombing was intensifying; the RAF had solved the intial troubles of mounting cannon on the Spitfire and was developing long-range droptanks as well as utilizing the rather large empty sphere being the pilotseat for a second internal fueltank though that was disliked by pilots as it changed the balance of the aircraft significantly. To solve the issue the production of droptanks would be prioritized which prevented RAF from utilizing Fighter cover for the Bombers at long range essentially limiting such attacks to be carried out at night.
The French was utilizing the longrange Dewoitine themselves in their operations.
From the outset the Dewoitine D520 had been designed with carrying more fuel than other fighter designs making it capable of longer range though they also adopted the RAF droptank to give the fighter an extra edge in range and time over the target to provide as much support of the bombers. The production of the new four engine Strategic Bombers the Block 162 and Breguet 482 had been running for a few months making the French able to step up their part of this kind of warfare though still few in numbers.
With the bombing of French cities the French Government and the General Staff had dismissed all previous reservations of risking bombing German cities.

The various Air-attachés of Berlin was well aware that something had happened in the skies – with Fighter escort the WAllied bombruns was carried out in daylight and the escorting Fighters visible.
At night the city would be hit again quite possibly by the RAF. These periods of continueing day and night raids was overtaxing the German Firebrigade and new units of Damage control was being set up – though these needed manpower which would only come from the numbers of men on the Frontlines.
The talks of the events of course being relayed to Staffs back home.
The VVS became busy measuring the range from eastern France and East Anglia to Berlin! And then from the western Soviet border into the East.

Luftwaffe had been struggling with setting up an Early Warning chain on the North Sea islands wanting these as far off the coast as possible to give as much warning as possible to get Fighters into the air for interception.
The problem wasn't as much the materiel though production was falling behind schedule nor Pilots as Major Wolfgang Falck had proven himself a Night Fighter Ace but the tying together of the various elements to make for a working system without internal friction or at least as little as possible.
A certain officer Josef Kammhuber had been Chief of Staff of AirFleet 2 though losses in the October 1939 attack had necessiated his taking command of a Fighter Gruppe and he had been shot down over Belgium and taken prisoner.
Eventually things would be sorted out; it just took a longer time than it might.

Another matter being the defence of the German cities; as foodstuffs dwindled during Winter and with mounting numbers of WAllied airattacks on German infrastructure and industry - which often would be located in parts of cities - Hitler decided to recall several AA-Regiments from the frontlines where they dubbed as AT-guns against the heavily armoured WAllied tanks.
Hitler was insistent; he had promised the Germans not being harmed by a new war. As with the fuel and foodstuffs issue he had to do it.
However his real motivation was to keep up production and in order to do so he had to secure the industry and railway-net from damage and destruction and also keep the industrial workers alive.