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This Day in Alternate History Blog
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Italy 1936 - An alternate Italian history of World War II
Part 12
By
Vincent Longobardi
January 5th 1944 Field Marshall Rommel is relieved of command of his forces on the Eastern Front after refusing to issue numerous orders sent by Hitler. He is reassigned to France and is put in charge of the construction and operation of the Atlantic Wall. January 10th 1944 The experienced American and British forces are pulled from the Norwegian front to England. These men are to take part in the upcoming invasion of mainland Europe. They will be replaced by green troops. January 14th 1944 Partisans launch large scale attacks against Italian forces in central Yugoslavia concentrated around the Balkan Mountains. Heavy urban fighting occurs in the city of Bor. In the past few months, the partisans received a large influx of resources and recruits after the announcement of the Italianization program. Their leadership is hoping that now, they will be able to carve out an independent state within the mountains and petition the west for recognition. January 25th 1944 The Aquila receives its official commission and training begins for its pilots and aircrew. Aquila should join the fleet by April, which coincides when the other two carriers under construction will begin their sea trials, Falco and Sparviero. January 31st 1944 The longest siege in the history of modern warfare is lifted. The Germans have finally been expelled from the area surrounding Leningrad. February 1st 1944 Since autumn the Germans have lost hundreds of miles of ground to the Soviets. Worse, they have lost hundreds of thousands of irreplaceable men and heavy equipment. Hitler has refused to allow any ground to be given and insists that the Army hold its ground and not withdraw to reinforce itself. February 12th 1944 A division from Bulgaria is rushed to the city of Bor to prevent it from falling and becoming a rebel stronghold. February 20th 1944 Fighting comes to an end in Bor as the partisans are pushed out with the arrival of Italian reinforcements. Fighting continues in the mountains with no signs of ending. The Comando Supremo is readying for another push against the partisans and is going to bring in colonial troops from the surrounding territories to suppress the Slavs. It is believed that bringing in troops belonging from ethnic groups that generally had animosities toward the Slavs, they will more willingly participate. March 18th 1944 Germany occupies Hungary believing the government is attempting to get itself out of the war. Mount Vesuvius erupts in Italy killing 16 people. It forces the evacuation of several towns around the base of the volcano displacing thousands. April 1944 Soviet troops enter into the Crimean peninsula and try to force the Germans from the peninsula. They conduct landings by Kerch to put additional pressure on the Germans and force them to divide their forces. Operations in Norway restart with fresh men. Except for gains along the coast most of the lines remain static at this time. Pilot training aboard Aquila faces serious delays and setbacks. May 10th 1944 Regiments of Turkish and Bulgarian colonial troops enter eastern Bulgaria to aid in the war against the partisans. May 15th 1944 Sevastopol is liberated by Soviet forces. Sevastopol was the last holdout of German forces on the Crimean peninsula. May 20th 1944 Construction of the Falco is completed and the ship starts its sea trials. Sparviero’s construction has been delayed due to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The new completion date is late June, early July. June 1st 1944 The French resistance begins operations against their German occupiers with attacks against road and rail lines to cause confusion before the allied invasion. June 6th 1944 Operation Overlord. In early morning hours thousands of paratroopers are dropped behind German lines in France to disrupt communication and supply lines. At approx. 7:30 AM local time, the Allies launch the largest amphibious invasion in history landing over 150 thousand men across five beaches. Defense varies from beach to beach with some forces facing no resistance and others getting pinned down on the beach. Within a few hours all the beaches have been captured and thousands more men and vehicles are offloaded at the beach. Over 10,000 Allied soldiers lost their lives on the beaches. Operation Overlord is also the first successful forced landing by the Americans in Europe. The Germans are forced to hold back their panzer divisions which are under the personal command of Adolf Hitler who was sleeping at the time of the landings and none of his aides wanted to wake him with the bad news. When Hitler does awaken he believes this attack is merely a distraction from the main pending attack at Calais in the North. June 13th 1944 All Allied beaches have been linked together and they start pushing deeper into France. German positions are not being reinforced quick enough or with enough men. The Germans use the V1 flying bomb for the first time. They are targeted against London. June 15th 1944 Mussolini terrified that the Soviets will eventually reach the border of the Roman Empire and keep going orders the extension of the fortifications along the coast to be extended north and westwards across the land borders all the way to Hungary. Construction material is pulled from the industrialization efforts in the surrounding areas. June 20th 1944 The Yugoslav communist rebels withdraw back into the mountains, most of their force has been depleted in the past months of fighting and Marshall Tito wishes to conserve his strength predicting the Soviets will lend aid soon. June 22nd 1944 The Soviet Union launches Operation Bagration, an attempt to annihilate Army Group Center. June 26th 1944 Cherbourg is liberated by the Allies. July 7th 1944 The city of Minsk is liberated by the Soviet Union. July 20th 1944 An assassination attempt is made on Hitler’s life. Clause Von Stauffenberg plants a bomb in a meeting room, but it is inadvertently moved before it detonates. Hitler is hurt but not killed. The conspirators who were attempting to take over the government are arrested. July 21st 1944 The conspirators from the July 20th plot are executed. The Gestapo seeks out anyone remotely associated with the assassination attempt. July 22nd 1944 The Russians reach the prewar border of Poland, virtually pushing Germany completely out of the Soviet Union. July 27th 1944 Aircrew training aboard the Aquila is completed and the ship joins the fleet. August 1st 1944 The Polish Home Army rises up against their German oppressors in Warsaw. August 10th 1944 Floro, Norway falls to Allied forces. August 15th 1944 Operation Dragoon lands allied troops in southern France. It opens up a new front against the Germans and will put some troops in central France in danger of being surrounded. August 19th 1944 Insurrections spread through Paris as the Allies get ever closer to the city. Operation Bagration comes to an end as large portions of Army Group Center are crushed and put into disarray. August 23rd 1944 Ion Antonescu, prime minister of Romania is dismissed from office and arrested. The new government formed by King Michael declares the Germans to be the enemies and seek peace with the Allies. August 24th 1944 A surge of fascist/Nazi sympathizers flee across the border into the Italian Empire. Border guards are unable to handle and keep track of all the refugees. Makeshift camps are established to house them. August 25th 1944 The Germans in Paris surrender to the Allies. August 29th 1944 The Slovaks seeing an opportunity to strike against the Germans start an insurrection within Slovakia. Thousands of German troops are being tied down trying to keep the territory under control. September 2nd 1944 The first V2 ballistic missiles are launched by Germany against recently liberated Paris. September 4th 1944 Finland cuts off relations with Nazi Germany. September 11th 1944 The two allied invasion forces link up near Dijon. September 12th 1944 Construction on the Sparviero which has seen frequent delays has been completed. Pilot and aircrew training begins on the Falco. Experienced pilots from the Aquila are transferred to oversee operations. September 15th 1944 Trying to cut off the German avenue of retreat in the low countries, the Allies launch Operation Market Garden. Dropping paratroopers in the Netherlands and by the Rhine, they try to take the bridges leading into Germany. End of Part 12.
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