Sakuya's Butler
A refined Butler to a knife wielding Mistress.
- Location
- ↓, ↘, → + Punch
BEERS ARE ON SKY'S TAB!
>_>
<_<
*quietly slips Sky a hundred to cover some of the costs. And a Saratoga bikini shot to keep him silent*
Last edited:
Changing Destiny (Kancolle)
- Thread starter Skywalker_T-65
- Start date
>_>
<_<
*quietly slips Sky a hundred to cover some of the costs. And a Saratoga bikini shot to keep him silent*
Speaker4thesilen
Superpower: Common Sense
- Location
- Noneya Business
Glad you got out of that toxic environment. Any idea why the evaluating teacher was trying to get you to fail?
- Location
- Meycauayan, Bulacan, Philippines
Does this mean you passed and are now a licensed teacher?
obssesednuker
Commander of 10 Million Men
- Location
- In the Kremlin, activating Perimtr.
If it's like my program, he probably has to go back in for Spring semester.
- Location
- Pacific NW
Should have the North Africa bit done tomorrow-ish.
But another contender has arisen... the Holding The Line thread.. it needs Sheo-bullying. And I think I have something...
But another contender has arisen... the Holding The Line thread.. it needs Sheo-bullying. And I think I have something...
- Location
- Mountains of Appalachia
Wonderful news!
The rest of Willie Dee's DesRon are Republicans, bank on it. Historical joke is after the torpedo incident that nearly hit Iowa with FDR on board, ships would signal her and her crew "Don't shoot, we're Republicans!". This produced a lot of bar fights as the response. Although if you really wanted a good way to trash a bar, put Enterprise/Saratoga crew or Washington/South Dakota crew in the same establishment around 1943-44 or so.
Having lived out there, the Navajo live in Nevada, but the bulk of their most well-known reservation is in Northern Arizona, and they are also in Southern Utah and in New Mexico as well. Also to remember is while the Navajo are the most famous code talkers, there were lots of other tribes that served the role in different theaters.
Also Oklahoma's Native American. Bank on it. Especially since the name of the state before Oklahoma was 'Indian Territory'. If you go off 'most famous tribe native to the area' probably Oklahoma is Cherokee (2.7% of the state population is Cherokee as the largest tribe in the state) and if SoDak is also Native American, SoDak is Sioux, it's actually in her name (Dakota being one of the three Sioux language groupings along with the Lakota and Nakota). Johnston might be Native American also since her skipper at Samar was half Cherokee and a quarter Creek (his nickname was 'The Chief').
You could make a case for Mississippi, Alabama, Atlanta, or New Orleans for four being black off the top of my head.
- Location
- In the depts of despair.
Just remember that whatever you do do not put the former crew of the Atlanta in the same county as San Francisco's. Unlike the other rivalries this one had some serious bad blood since the Blue on Blue incident during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. Its no fun when the Cisco crew is just wanting some nice punches while the other side sincerely wants to kill someone.
CV12Hornet
Riter.
- Location
- Tacoma, Washington
Don't forget Tuscaloosa.
Skywalker_T-65
Writer with too many ideas.
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- Plural/They/He/Her
Before I go in to start my first official day at the new school, have cutes:
Burning Baron
This position needs more entrenching.
- Location
- In here, not out there.
- Location
- Pacific NW
Alrighty, here's Part One of the North Africa snip I've been working on/struggling with.
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Alexandria, Egypt
February 1941
"Message from London sir."
"Thank you. Dismissed leftenant." General Archibald Wavell opened the latest missive from London. Putting the letter on his desk after reading, he opened the side drawer and withdrew a bottle of Phillip's Milk of Magnesia, promptly removed the cap and took a long pull from the bottle.
"Must be the PM again if you're having to fend off ulcers sir." Lieutenant General Richard O'Connor winced in sympathy with his commander's situation.
"You don't know the half of it, Dick." Wavell sighed as he leaned back in his chair and put his hand over his eyes. "You remember I disagreed with the last suggestion from the PM and explained why? Now, it is an order and my disagreements are viewed as overly cautious. This means you, Dick, and the 6th Australian Division are to be attached to Henry Wilson's Force W. The Jerries and Eye-ties are looking to invade Greece and we must stop them."
O'Connor quietly swore while looking at the map of Greece and Albania. "Bloody hell! If the Jerries are smart they're coming through the northeast and Bulgaria. Which means we can't use Salonika, that leaves only Piraeus as a usable port."
"I know Dick. Best get your men ready for Greece. Time is of the essence per London."
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February 1941
Tripoli, Libya
The Marshal of the Italian Air Force, Governor-General of Libya, and Commander-in-Chief of Africa Settentrionale Italiana Italo Balbo stood waiting in the early morning air at Tripoli's airbase of the Regia Aeronautica. Standing behind the man once considered the heir apparent to Mussolini himself were his subordinate generals of the Regio Esercito and most of the officers of the German unit sent to "help" Italy after the disaster of Beda Fomm. Most of the Deutsches Afrika Korps had arrived two weeks earlier, but then some sort of shuffle of commanders had happened and only now was the commanding officer of the DAK arriving to take up his post.
Balbo turned to a German colonel standing at his right, the assigned Chief of Staff to the arriving general, and to Balbo's surprise someone he was beginning to consider a fast friend.
"Any hint as to who I will be shining shoes for Hans?"
Colonel Hans Speidel looked thoughtfully into the slowly brightening sky and shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine my friend." Internally he smiled at the strange twist of fate throwing him into a theater of war with the one Italian fascist who openly denigrated the racial laws for the stupidity they were. He's also right about the shining German shoes, thanks to his Duce's follies.
The approaching drone of an airplane cut off any further musings of the two men. Soon, a Junckers tri-motor landed. The plane taxied to the assembled crowd and then cut its engines. The plane's door opened and the commanding officer of the Afrika Korps stepped down from the plane and strode over towards Balbo and Speidel.
An amazed Speidel remarked to Balbo in a low voice. "It appears Berlin decided to send the best. They sent us Guderian."
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British Pathe Newsreel of June 1941
Narrator: German troops continue relentless assaults on British positions in the Mediterranean throughout the spring. Despite the heroic defense by elements of Dominion troops, Greece and later Crete fell to the Germans.
In North Africa, the forces of General Heinz Guderian attacked British lines on the first of April, retaking the port city of Benghazi for the Axis powers. Guderian's offensive lasted throughout the month, pushing the British lines back to Tobruk. But in mid May the stand of the 9th Australian Division held on to Tobruk and forced the German juggernaut to a halt. The brave boys of Tobruk hold on, despite constant harassment from the Jerries.
The latest news out of the Soviet Union has been confirmed. Days ago, Nazi Germany began a massive surprise invasion of the Soviet Union. Details remain sparse, but hope remains that Hitler has, like Bonaparte, finally blundered into defeat.
On the homefront, the Royal family undertook a tour of bombed sections of London.....
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
September 1941
Benghazi, Libya - German HQ
It was a crowded map room in Guderian's headquarters in the former Senoussi palace of Benghazi. Balbo, Italian general Gariboldi and the Italian general staff stood across the table from Guderian and Speidel.
"Why did you ask for us to attend General Guderian?" Balbo in his usual no-nonsense style started things off. "Is it to finally coordinate retaking Tobruk? Il Duce has complained about little else since Graziani failed to hold Abyssinia."
Guderian nodded to his Chief of Staff to respond. The now General Hans Speidel pointed to a stack of colored tokens on the map. "It's a matter of logistics Governor-General, these tokens represent the gross tonnage of resupply that the ports of Tripoli and Benghazi provide. And these represent what is possible to bring into Tobruk." He placed a significantly smaller stack of the tokens on Tobruk.
He continued. "What we received combined is enough to continue day to day operations and have enough in case of a British offensive. There is no way to accumulate enough supplies to do this and besiege Tobruk. And even if we were to take Tobruk, that port capacity is not enough to permit us to properly invade Egypt."
"But even Hitler has complained of the lack of offensive measures..."
"Yes," Guderian interrupted with a smile, "and I have reminded the Fuhrer on each occasion that to conduct a grand offensive it would require transport and materials that are necessary for the Russian front. We must be inventive or steal what we can from the British. Which is the reason why I have sent only reconnaissance or raid units out until now. But I have received some good news. We have been allotted 30 brand new tanks from some convoy to Britain the Kriegsmarine bagged."
"So what will we do now with a handful more tanks, attack Tobruk?" Gariboldi asked.
"Nein." Guderian leaned forward with a wolfish grin. "We will fortify Benghazi and El Agheila with our assault guns, tank destroyers, the new medium and Panzer IV tanks. A column of our light tanks and Panzer IIIs will be formed. Attached to this will be four Bersaglieri companies using your AS42s as transport. This column will visibly bypass Tobruk and look as if we are invading Egypt. Tobruk will be under mobile artillery barrage and Luftwaffe attack. The goal is to goad the British to counterattack the column. Once contact is achieved, the column is then to enact a fighting retreat and get the British to follow them all the way to El Agheila. Then the hammer from Benghazi will come down and smash them against our anvil."
Guderian looked up. "And then we shall see what spoils belong to the victors."
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Okay so this is part one.
This has been in my head for awhile but has just been fighting me all the way.
I'm hoping part two will be easier, but I'm not sure....
-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Alexandria, Egypt
February 1941
"Message from London sir."
"Thank you. Dismissed leftenant." General Archibald Wavell opened the latest missive from London. Putting the letter on his desk after reading, he opened the side drawer and withdrew a bottle of Phillip's Milk of Magnesia, promptly removed the cap and took a long pull from the bottle.
"Must be the PM again if you're having to fend off ulcers sir." Lieutenant General Richard O'Connor winced in sympathy with his commander's situation.
"You don't know the half of it, Dick." Wavell sighed as he leaned back in his chair and put his hand over his eyes. "You remember I disagreed with the last suggestion from the PM and explained why? Now, it is an order and my disagreements are viewed as overly cautious. This means you, Dick, and the 6th Australian Division are to be attached to Henry Wilson's Force W. The Jerries and Eye-ties are looking to invade Greece and we must stop them."
O'Connor quietly swore while looking at the map of Greece and Albania. "Bloody hell! If the Jerries are smart they're coming through the northeast and Bulgaria. Which means we can't use Salonika, that leaves only Piraeus as a usable port."
"I know Dick. Best get your men ready for Greece. Time is of the essence per London."
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
February 1941
Tripoli, Libya
The Marshal of the Italian Air Force, Governor-General of Libya, and Commander-in-Chief of Africa Settentrionale Italiana Italo Balbo stood waiting in the early morning air at Tripoli's airbase of the Regia Aeronautica. Standing behind the man once considered the heir apparent to Mussolini himself were his subordinate generals of the Regio Esercito and most of the officers of the German unit sent to "help" Italy after the disaster of Beda Fomm. Most of the Deutsches Afrika Korps had arrived two weeks earlier, but then some sort of shuffle of commanders had happened and only now was the commanding officer of the DAK arriving to take up his post.
Balbo turned to a German colonel standing at his right, the assigned Chief of Staff to the arriving general, and to Balbo's surprise someone he was beginning to consider a fast friend.
"Any hint as to who I will be shining shoes for Hans?"
Colonel Hans Speidel looked thoughtfully into the slowly brightening sky and shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine my friend." Internally he smiled at the strange twist of fate throwing him into a theater of war with the one Italian fascist who openly denigrated the racial laws for the stupidity they were. He's also right about the shining German shoes, thanks to his Duce's follies.
The approaching drone of an airplane cut off any further musings of the two men. Soon, a Junckers tri-motor landed. The plane taxied to the assembled crowd and then cut its engines. The plane's door opened and the commanding officer of the Afrika Korps stepped down from the plane and strode over towards Balbo and Speidel.
An amazed Speidel remarked to Balbo in a low voice. "It appears Berlin decided to send the best. They sent us Guderian."
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
British Pathe Newsreel of June 1941
Narrator: German troops continue relentless assaults on British positions in the Mediterranean throughout the spring. Despite the heroic defense by elements of Dominion troops, Greece and later Crete fell to the Germans.
In North Africa, the forces of General Heinz Guderian attacked British lines on the first of April, retaking the port city of Benghazi for the Axis powers. Guderian's offensive lasted throughout the month, pushing the British lines back to Tobruk. But in mid May the stand of the 9th Australian Division held on to Tobruk and forced the German juggernaut to a halt. The brave boys of Tobruk hold on, despite constant harassment from the Jerries.
The latest news out of the Soviet Union has been confirmed. Days ago, Nazi Germany began a massive surprise invasion of the Soviet Union. Details remain sparse, but hope remains that Hitler has, like Bonaparte, finally blundered into defeat.
On the homefront, the Royal family undertook a tour of bombed sections of London.....
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
September 1941
Benghazi, Libya - German HQ
It was a crowded map room in Guderian's headquarters in the former Senoussi palace of Benghazi. Balbo, Italian general Gariboldi and the Italian general staff stood across the table from Guderian and Speidel.
"Why did you ask for us to attend General Guderian?" Balbo in his usual no-nonsense style started things off. "Is it to finally coordinate retaking Tobruk? Il Duce has complained about little else since Graziani failed to hold Abyssinia."
Guderian nodded to his Chief of Staff to respond. The now General Hans Speidel pointed to a stack of colored tokens on the map. "It's a matter of logistics Governor-General, these tokens represent the gross tonnage of resupply that the ports of Tripoli and Benghazi provide. And these represent what is possible to bring into Tobruk." He placed a significantly smaller stack of the tokens on Tobruk.
He continued. "What we received combined is enough to continue day to day operations and have enough in case of a British offensive. There is no way to accumulate enough supplies to do this and besiege Tobruk. And even if we were to take Tobruk, that port capacity is not enough to permit us to properly invade Egypt."
"But even Hitler has complained of the lack of offensive measures..."
"Yes," Guderian interrupted with a smile, "and I have reminded the Fuhrer on each occasion that to conduct a grand offensive it would require transport and materials that are necessary for the Russian front. We must be inventive or steal what we can from the British. Which is the reason why I have sent only reconnaissance or raid units out until now. But I have received some good news. We have been allotted 30 brand new tanks from some convoy to Britain the Kriegsmarine bagged."
"So what will we do now with a handful more tanks, attack Tobruk?" Gariboldi asked.
"Nein." Guderian leaned forward with a wolfish grin. "We will fortify Benghazi and El Agheila with our assault guns, tank destroyers, the new medium and Panzer IV tanks. A column of our light tanks and Panzer IIIs will be formed. Attached to this will be four Bersaglieri companies using your AS42s as transport. This column will visibly bypass Tobruk and look as if we are invading Egypt. Tobruk will be under mobile artillery barrage and Luftwaffe attack. The goal is to goad the British to counterattack the column. Once contact is achieved, the column is then to enact a fighting retreat and get the British to follow them all the way to El Agheila. Then the hammer from Benghazi will come down and smash them against our anvil."
Guderian looked up. "And then we shall see what spoils belong to the victors."
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Okay so this is part one.
This has been in my head for awhile but has just been fighting me all the way.
I'm hoping part two will be easier, but I'm not sure....
Dirtnap
Kanmusu Affecionado
The M3 Lee was a workable stopgap tank. The brits needed armor and they needed it yesterday, with the Lee/Grant, they got what they wanted: A 75mm main gun, decent enough armor (remember the long nosed PzIV aus F was a year or so away, the lighter armed PzIII was the mainstay of North Africa and it mounted a 50mm), reliable *enough*.
It still doesn't change the fact they were a stopgap and the Sherman was by all accounts a better tank, but the Lee was 'good enough' and by the end of its time in Africa, they had most of the kinks worked out.
- Location
- Pacific NW
The M3 is still better than most of the Italian tanks. Remember, the North Africa campaign has to cannibalize and salvage knocked out and abandoned British vehicles due to lack of supply. Most of the new tank production is Russian front bound. So any Panzer III or IVs the Germans get are gold. While the Italian M14/41 isn't a terrible tank, it still uses riveted armor and Italian tank production is a slow go process. So most of the Italian tanks available are older slower models. So even 30 new American tanks, while a bad design, will be well received when any tanks you can get are welcome.
And yes, I'm happy that someone caught that Balbo survived. I figure there were enough butterflies to justify him surviving the friendly fire incident in 1940. Basically, his plane didn't approach Tobruk out of the sun in this timeline and only took slight damage from AA fire. Someone basically recognized the friendly aircraft in time and stopped firing before too much damage was done.
And yes, I'm happy that someone caught that Balbo survived. I figure there were enough butterflies to justify him surviving the friendly fire incident in 1940. Basically, his plane didn't approach Tobruk out of the sun in this timeline and only took slight damage from AA fire. Someone basically recognized the friendly aircraft in time and stopped firing before too much damage was done.
- Location
- North Carolina
The M3 Lee, that will be a massive shock to the Brits when they see the Germans using those. Mainly because if I am right, the six-pounder gun won't see action until 1942 and considering that it's 1941, all the Brits got right now is the two-pounder gun. Which doesn't have that great of a bursting charge if any, which combined with how small the round is, it will take multiple shots to kill a Lee with a two-pounder.
Tobruk is going to go very differently and with Guderian instead of Rommel at the helm, it's not looking good for the British.
Tobruk is going to go very differently and with Guderian instead of Rommel at the helm, it's not looking good for the British.
Burning Baron
This position needs more entrenching.
- Location
- In here, not out there.
The Lee is an infantry support tank. As was the Sherman. The Russkies called it a 'coffin for five brothers' for a reason. It also won't be the only armored vehicle the Germans and Italians have.
I disagree. Rommel ultimately lost in Africa because he didn't have supplies. They couldn't get past that big damned unsinkable battleship, HMS Rock of Gibraltar. But when they did have the supplies, the British had been pushed all the way back to Egypt.
CV12Hornet
Riter.
- Location
- Tacoma, Washington
No bursting charge. The 2-pounder threw solid shot, which would cause British tankers considerable grief throughout the war.
- Location
- Pacific NW
Another reason why Guderian is avoiding Tobruk. It's fortified to heck and back and requires more men and material to take than it's worth holding for in port capacity. Tobruk is a small harbor that can handle fewer ships than Benghazi and there is NO railroad lines to speed up supplies coming from Tripoli. The other thing that makes Tobruk a pain to take is that it is easily in range of the RAF airbases in Egypt whereas the Luftwaffe bases are farther away and have difficulty providing close air support.
Assaulting Tobruk, a prepared defensive position is a violation of Guderian's principles about schwerepunkt, mainly that you don't directly assault prepared positions. You out maneuver the enemy into abandoning those positions by making them valueless. Guderian's plan has been to do probing attacks on Tobruk to mostly annoy the British and keep them thinking a large offensive against Tobruk is underway, while Guderian stockpiles supplies.
Guderian knows, and if he didn't at first, his Chief of Staff Speidel was sure to remind him about North Africa being the "graveyard of quartermasters" and just how long the logistics leash is. Which is why he wants the British to come to him on the battlefield of his choosing.
Even if the British were to withdraw from Tobruk and the Axis could take it without a fight, there is still no way for Germany to take even Alexandria. That would require far more men and tanks, which could only come from depriving the Russian front, and there was no way in hell of that happening. Heck the Italian army fighting on the Eastern front got more Italian supplies than the Italian forces in North Africa.
Assaulting Tobruk, a prepared defensive position is a violation of Guderian's principles about schwerepunkt, mainly that you don't directly assault prepared positions. You out maneuver the enemy into abandoning those positions by making them valueless. Guderian's plan has been to do probing attacks on Tobruk to mostly annoy the British and keep them thinking a large offensive against Tobruk is underway, while Guderian stockpiles supplies.
Guderian knows, and if he didn't at first, his Chief of Staff Speidel was sure to remind him about North Africa being the "graveyard of quartermasters" and just how long the logistics leash is. Which is why he wants the British to come to him on the battlefield of his choosing.
Even if the British were to withdraw from Tobruk and the Axis could take it without a fight, there is still no way for Germany to take even Alexandria. That would require far more men and tanks, which could only come from depriving the Russian front, and there was no way in hell of that happening. Heck the Italian army fighting on the Eastern front got more Italian supplies than the Italian forces in North Africa.
- Location
- San Diego
still cheaper then a full on battleship crew which needs food for a crew of 2000 sailors three times a day, fuel, ammo. SO one ship girl eats a third of the food, if that, for oe full restocking order for a battleship.
- Location
- Pacific Northwest
So, does this mean Operation Crusader is on schedule?
- Location
- Pacific NW
The message from London was the orders to send veteran troops to Force W to defend Greece. In OTL and here Wavell disagreed but obeyed the order. Here he doesn't need Operation Crusader as Guderian isn't besieging Tobruk. Guderian is doing hit and runs and harassment probes at it with small light units, but they withdraw before the British can pin them down. What's been going on since the Germans took Benghazi back has been more or less a recce war, lots of long range patrol raids. On Wavell's side, rather than trying to chase down those raids, he dispatched desert commando units (ie Rat Patrols) to do their own raids and search and destroy missions of said German patrols.
But Winston Churchill is not a patient man, and with the losses in Greece and Crete, he wants action not containment.... but that's in Part Two.
But Winston Churchill is not a patient man, and with the losses in Greece and Crete, he wants action not containment.... but that's in Part Two.
FlyingScanian
Tea Addict
- Location
- Land of Eternal Night
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Well, that's an understatement if ever I heard one.
Eagerly awaiting part two (yay, this is a part of the war where I'm not completely out of my depth)