Lashing OutHitler could have ended the war in 1940, content with near-total control of Europe, all achieved in a single year. Only Britain remains outside his grasp, protected from his mauling tank divisions by the English Channel. No conqueror since Genghis Khan has enjoyed such swift and complete success. The mighty French army barely slows him down. Hitler could have settled for gazing up at the Eiffel Tower, as the proud new owner of Paris. But Hitler is a strategic thinker. He understands with crystal clarity that control of oil will be vital to his long-term ambition to dominate all inferior races. Control of nearby Romanian oil fields is his next strategic objective. But even with control of the Romanian fields, Hitler's oil resources still fall well short of his military requirements. He needs the Russian oil fields, the largest in the world. So he abruptly pivots east. |
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Surprising Failed Attack Hitler plans to destroy Britain's limited air defenses in four days. With air superiority thus secured, London can be bombed at will, allowing the German army to swarm across the English channel, supported by paratroopers. But the combination of British radar, and tenacious young fighter pilots, foil these plans. First, radar tracks the approaching bombers. German escort fighters have limited range, and are slowed down by the need to stick close to the bombers they escort. British fighter pilots are slowly able to pick off and destroy both fighters and bombers. Within three months, the Germans lose 80% of the 2,500 aircraft they deploy. The raids end, and Britain is spared. | |||||||||
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War in the East Things go much better for Hitler in the east. Before launching the attack, he heads down into the Balkans, to secure Romanian oil and support a separate drive across North Africa, towards the Suez canal. Hitler then begins the advance on Moscow, with three million men, 3,000 tanks and 3,000 aircraft. Dangerously short of gas, however, he is also forced to bring 600,000 horses, to transport supplies. The percentages next to each oil field on the map indicate the portion of Hitler's total needs each one can supply. Hitler expects the Russian campaign to secure all the oil he will ever need. It proceeds with brutal efficiency, surrounding and destroying five entire Soviet armies by September. This costs the Soviets a million men, and 5,000 tanks. | |||||||||
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Stab in the Back During all this time, America remains stubbornly isolationist, unwilling to become entangled in yet another European war. Britain's Churchill is making frantic requests for aid, as are the Norwegians. But President Roosevelt is convinced that Americans are not yet willing to go to war. With unemployment still raging, Americans mostly ignore news reports of the distant slaughter around Moscow. Then suddenly, out of the blue, comes stunning news over the radio on a quiet Sunday morning. The Japanese have delivered a killing punch to the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, far out in the Pacific Ocean. The US Pacific fleet is mostly resting on the harbor bottom. Ready or not, America is now involved. | |||||||||
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Dragged In Almost overnight, America undergoes a dramatic transformation. Normal activities are put on pause, while the country stops making cars, and starts making tanks, bombers, munitions and shipping vessels. Due to expected wartime shortages, items like gasoline, coffee, butter, sugar and even nylon stockings are suddenly being rationed. Car tires are also on the list, as Japan now controls virtually the entire world's production of rubber. Families receive ration books, with stamps that have to be presented when buying any rationed item. Most families are allowed just four gallons of gas a week. Meanwhile, Japan now controls the entire Asian coast, as far south as Vietnam. They have a powerful fleet, and a thirst for conquest equal to Hitler's. | |||||||||
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Bulking Up During the First World War, back in 1917, the government took over management of the entire US railway system, to coordinate the shipment of war material. This time, government intervention is even more pervasive. The new 'War Production Board' demands compliance. Automobile production is completely halted, as all the big manufacturers re-tool their factories to produce military vehicles, like jeeps and tanks. Boeing switches to producing heavy bombers, while the big west-coast shipyards begin to produce standardized 'Liberty Ship' cargo vessels, completing two ships every day by war's end. Chicago manufacturing plants contribute bombs, torpedoes and landing craft, while a skate company is converted to making grenades. | |||||||||