spanishspy
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Post by spanishspy on Jun 9, 2016 3:23:29 GMT
I meant to ask what of German attack, if Iberia is Axis-friendly? If Iberia is Axis-friendly it means the allies will have a much harder time securing the Mediterranean as it would mean they might not control Gibraltar and Malta. Gibraltar would be overrun immediately and the Italians would overrun Malta and maybe Cyprus. |
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Jun 9, 2016 3:48:58 GMT
If Iberia is Axis-friendly it means the allies will have a much harder time securing the Mediterranean as it would mean they might not control Gibraltar and Malta. Gibraltar would be overrun immediately and the Italians would overrun Malta and maybe Cyprus. And with with the Mediterranean sealed of the British will have a much harder time in their fight in North Africa with their only route of aces being the Suez Canal. |
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spanishspy
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Post by spanishspy on Jun 9, 2016 3:50:07 GMT
Gibraltar would be overrun immediately and the Italians would overrun Malta and maybe Cyprus. And with with the Mediterranean sealed of the British will have a much harder time in their fight in North Africa with their only route of aces being the Suez Canal. The Germans would do all they could to seize the Canal in that case, lest the British be able to infiltrate the Mediterranean. |
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stevep
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Post by stevep on Jun 9, 2016 13:37:38 GMT
And with with the Mediterranean sealed of the British will have a much harder time in their fight in North Africa with their only route of aces being the Suez Canal. The Germans would do all they could to seize the Canal in that case, lest the British be able to infiltrate the Mediterranean. Possibly or possibly not. Hitler was willing to leave the Med to Mussolini and the latter was very eager to preserve his sphere of influence from German interference, at least until he made such a hash of things. If Spain joins the Axis and Gibraltar falls then its probably unlikely that any German forces would see action in N Africa, at least unless and until Italy is in dire straits. Apart from anything else Adolph has his small pet project in the east and isn't willing to divert from that if he can avoid it. Also, as often pointed out, while this makes Italian/Axis control of most of the Med a lot easier there are still extreme logistical problems in getting supplies to a force powerful enough to force the El Alemain position. |
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Jun 9, 2016 13:41:29 GMT
The Germans would do all they could to seize the Canal in that case, lest the British be able to infiltrate the Mediterranean. Possibly or possibly not. Hitler was willing to leave the Med to Mussolini and the latter was very eager to preserve his sphere of influence from German interference, at least until he made such a hash of things. If Spain joins the Axis and Gibraltar falls then its probably unlikely that any German forces would see action in N Africa, at least unless and until Italy is in dire straits. Apart from anything else Adolph has his small pet project in the east and isn't willing to divert from that if he can avoid it. You assume that the Italians can trow the British out of North Africa, it did not happen in OTL and i do not see it happening here, mainly because even with the Strait of Gibraltar closed for the British they still get man and supplies via the long route and into the Suez Canal, also the Royal Navy is still stronger that its Italian counterpart. |
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spanishspy
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Post by spanishspy on Jun 10, 2016 20:51:08 GMT
Possibly or possibly not. Hitler was willing to leave the Med to Mussolini and the latter was very eager to preserve his sphere of influence from German interference, at least until he made such a hash of things. If Spain joins the Axis and Gibraltar falls then its probably unlikely that any German forces would see action in N Africa, at least unless and until Italy is in dire straits. Apart from anything else Adolph has his small pet project in the east and isn't willing to divert from that if he can avoid it. You assume that the Italians can trow the British out of North Africa, it did not happen in OTL and i do not see it happening here, mainly because even with the Strait of Gibraltar closed for the British they still get man and supplies via the long route and into the Suez Canal, also the Royal Navy is still stronger that its Italian counterpart. True, but it could inhibit resupply from the British Isles. |
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stevep
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Post by stevep on Jun 10, 2016 23:06:35 GMT
You assume that the Italians can trow the British out of North Africa, it did not happen in OTL and i do not see it happening here, mainly because even with the Strait of Gibraltar closed for the British they still get man and supplies via the long route and into the Suez Canal, also the Royal Navy is still stronger that its Italian counterpart. True, but it could inhibit resupply from the British Isles. A little, but with rare exceptions, for instance some of the armour used in Operation Compass, virtually all men and supplies from Britain came via the Cape or West Africa. [Thinking here chiefly of a/c landed in say Nigeria and flown overland to Egypt, which did admittedly greatly reduce their effective life]. If Malta was to fall it would help Britain in one way in that the sizeable burden of resupplying the island would be removed from the RN. Of course the Italians would have much easier task supply their forces in Libya, at least provided the sea link is to Tripoli say but there is still the big task of moving such supplies to the front, especially if it is near El Alemein. |
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spanishspy
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Post by spanishspy on Jun 11, 2016 0:00:10 GMT
True, but it could inhibit resupply from the British Isles. A little, but with rare exceptions, for instance some of the armour used in Operation Compass, virtually all men and supplies from Britain came via the Cape or West Africa. [Thinking here chiefly of a/c landed in say Nigeria and flown overland to Egypt, which did admittedly greatly reduce their effective life]. If Malta was to fall it would help Britain in one way in that the sizeable burden of resupplying the island would be removed from the RN. Of course the Italians would have much easier task supply their forces in Libya, at least provided the sea link is to Tripoli say but there is still the big task of moving such supplies to the front, especially if it is near El Alemein. I had forgotten about the British presence in Africa; at the time they had access to a large swathe of East Africa. I suppose losing the Mediterranean would be less of a loss than I thought. This may have interesting political ramifications in South Africa. |
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