The assignments are as follows:
General d’Montmorency-D’Poggio will be assigned to take Algiers and Tunis with assistance from General De Vetis offshore. De Vetis will, after bombing the Maghreb to pieces, proceed north to help with the campaigns in Marseilles and Corsica. General Donati will be leading forces into France and Corsica. Generals Dietrich and Belloni will be in charge of forces marching into West Africa, though they will split up at some point with Dietrich heading to take the West African Coast and Belloni the French Congo.
Week 5, opportunistic Spanish bastards take Agades. So long as we maintain good terms with them, it’s not that much of a loss; it allows us to move on other targets.
Week 9, the Lowlands and Tibet declare war on France.
More importantly, Russia declares war on Germany and Austria in Week 9, thus halting any German advances. Russia clearly sees the chance to end the Duchy of Saratov and re-assert its power over the city.
At no losses, Fort Lapernine’s two-division garrison was killed, greatly expanding the grip of Italy on the Sahara.
Week 13, the Germans retaliate against Russia’s opportunism by rallying the Japanese to their side, thus inflaming a two-front war for both Germany and Russia. Germany likewise has China declare war on France and Russia.
As the world goes to hell in a handbasket around us, we take Tunis with the leadership of D’Poggio-Montmorency, killing 6 French units to do so. All units are freed up to advance on Algiers, which is sheltering 7 French Battleships.
Further south, our troops kill 5 French divisions, granting us Timbuktu, once the glorious capital of a native empire. Now, however, it symbolizes France’s decaying power, with the French limited to Conakry, Algiers, Brazzaville, and southern Madagascar in Africa. General Dietrich heads to Conakry while Belloni heads to Brazzaville.
Week 17, the need for more officers convinces the Government to found the War College (increases chance of leader appearance). This is especially true in light of the Ottoman offensive against Marseilles, which does considerable damage and makes the possibility of the city falling to non-Italians very real.
The shelling of Algiers sinks all French vessels apart from ordinary transport ships. The loss of 7 Battleships wounds France enormously, which is left with 8 Battleships total; France’s days as a major naval power are effectively over. General de Vetis receives considerable recognition for his role in crippling French forces.
Week 21, we develop the Ansaldo-Schneider Field Gun, which is enormously more accurate and powerful than Horse Artillery Batteries; overland campaigns will no longer be insanely difficult.
We strike at Algiers, killing 4 French divisions and seizing the city. Most of France’s professional forces have been wiped out at this point, leaving conscripts to do much of the fighting. The conquest of Algiers ends France’s ability to effectively reinforce its African territories, while the navy under Admiral de Vetis heads straight for Marseilles – Corsica’s island status makes it hard for our allies to possibly take it, but Marseilles has a very real risk of falling to them; as that would entail another war to ensure it passes to Italy, we want to make sure we can avoid the inconvenience. General D’Poggio-Montmorency is assigned to remain the city for pacification work, but shall be redeployed to Europe when prudent.
Further south, the assault on Conakry is mounted at last, with 8 French divisions destroyed. A new Corps is borne from the intense fighting, which routs the French from continental Africa except for their small holdings in the Congo.
Week 25, America and the Ottomans declare war on Russia, while the Germans also seize Nancy.
We ship some guns back to Italy from the African campaign, with which we use to weaken Marseilles somewhat. The Spanish had sacrificed countless men to kill one or two of the divisions guarding it, and so we have decided to make things a bit easier for them to do our dirty work.
Week 33, Portugal takes Marseilles. However, Corsica is still secure, and we would have had to fight Portugal anyway – they have much-needed Coal over in Africa.
Seeking a consolation prize, we strike at Bordeaux, which has been greatly weakened by Coalition forces already. We kill 7 French divisions, decimating the French forces in the city, including their shock troops. While Italy has no intention of annexing the city and its surroundings, plans are made to set up a client regime based out of the city.
Week 37, the Germans take Limoges, putting central France under their control. Shelling continues on Corsica in an attempt to weaken the garrison, but in the meantime, spare troops head into the Alps to try and take Lyon so as to prevent Germany from becoming too powerful in Europe.
Week 41, the Spanish sign a peace accord with France, having lost considerable amounts of men in human wave offensives. They do however, receive great amounts of territory in West Africa.
Offers come from both Russia and its enemies, nations on both sides of the Russian conflict understanding how useful Italy would be to either cause; we reject all offers.
Week 45, the German Alliance makes peace with France. The Treaty of Nancy sees Germany formally annex Luxemburg, which it had occupied during the War, as well as tracts of land along the Franco-German border. The remainder of France remains nominally a part of France, but Germany gains enormous amounts of concessions in the territory. The Flemish Republic that France had established in northern Belgium is annexed completely as well to grant Germany a more western seaport.
The assault on Lyons begins no sooner than Germany and Austria-Hungary drop out of the war. 11 French divisions and 2 Italian divisions are lost in what is one of the bloodiest battles Italy has fought in many years; Generals Dietrich and Donati serve alongside each other in the great battle.
The city’s fall is well worth the sacrifice, however, as it grants Italy a unified front to continue the push against France. With Lyon, Italy gains clear dominance in not just southeast France, but in Switzerland as well; the Swiss are soon coerced to sign over the Italian-speaking southeast to Italia. While Italy did not obtain Nice and Savoy as planned, it has managed to gain Italians of another stripe.
The French are in no position to counterattack, having been reduced to the northern quarter of their homeland, Corsica, Brazzaville, and a single city in Indochina.
Week 49, the Russo-German War ends. Germany is able to proclaim another independent duchy within Russia’s territory. Meanwhile, Portugal declares war on the British.
A raid on Corsica kills 10 of their Infantry and is still not enough to take the island. General Donati, having been promised the privilege of taking Corsica due to his Nationalist connections, is naturally disappointed, but Corsica will still fall eventually.
January 1905, we attack Corsica yet again.
4 French divisions are destroyed, and the city falls to us. A Corps led by Marcello Amero D’Aste emerges in the battle; he is deployed back to Italy immediately. Nationalists all over the Italosphere celebrate the completion of one of the Nationalist Party’s longstanding objectives.
With Corsica seized, the ambitious Government orders assaults on Brazzaville and Nantes.
Brazzaville sees 4 French divisions routed, and its fall not only grants Italy access to the Congo River Basin, but also removes the French from Africa completely. With the Sino-Tibetan forces having conquered most of Indochina, France’s overseas empire is almost entirely gone, though with our forces knocking on Metropolitan France’s door, they probably aren’t too concerned.
In the Battle of Nantes, Chlorine Gas kills 1 Machinegun division, exposing the city’s vulnerable regular forces. Cavalry charges led by General D’Poggio-Montmorency kill 6 French divisions, conquering Nantes and putting us within striking distance of Paris.
General Dietrich: +1 XP, +11 Prestige
General Belloni: +1 XP, +7 Prestige
General D'Montmorency: +2 XP, +10 Prestige
Admiral de Vetis: +1 XP, +7 Prestige
General Donati: +1 XP, +17 Prestige
