Quote:
Originally Posted by Foerunado
Since England was last successfully invaded in 1688 I think its fair to say that your prime dictums of warfare dont work in every situation and it might be high time to think outside the box. This is only a what if for discussion purposes only, I think its safe to say that it would have been impossible for the Germans to pull it off regardless. What, if any, ideas do you have? Or are you going to spend all of your posts telling other people how thier ideas wont work? Lets hear how you would do it and we can discuss this further.
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I did this once, but the board apparently regurgitated it.
Is this solely about finding ways to make the Germans win, or is this serious?
I don’t believe that it was possible, given the socio-economic-military environment, but a few things that might have helped include:
Don’t go on vacation for 2 months after the fall of France.
An integrated plan.
A central command center, clear lines of command and communication.
An intelligence network.
Design, testing and production of a range of suitable amphibious landing craft. A variety were produced after the German window of opportunity closed.
Landing Crafts
A fleet capable of challenging the Royal Navy in the Channel. This would mean an emphasis on destroyers. That would mean no more Tirpitz, Bismarck, Graf Spee.
Stop obsessing solely on speed. By doing so you insist on very high pressure boilers which break down at an unacceptably high rate putting much of what fleet you do have in the yards for repairs.
Have a replacement for the Stuka in the pipeline. It was nearing the end of its useful life.
Have a dedicated maritime attack component to the Luftwaffe.
Have tested and discovered the limitations of your aerial torpedoes, especially the contactor heads, and have come up with a fix. It’s not rocket science.
A BIG ONE
Have identified the possibility that these circumstances might arise several years in advance, use those years to prepare, and transfer resources away from the programs that allowed these circumstances to arise.
Meaning the economy of Germany permitted only so much activity, do you devote that activity to crossing the English Channel at the expense of building up the Heer which got you to the coast in the first place?
BTW, are you suggesting that William of Orange did NOT concentrate his fleet? Torbay isn’t a huge place for 60,000 PBI and 5,000 horses. Check also the various opinions on whether the Glorious Revolution was an invasion or a … well … internally supported revolution.
