I Will Stage A Coup D’état

Around the time the German army was crumbling in Stalingrad with dying screams, the first wave of the Korean army arrived in Africa.

The force consisted of one regiment of T-34 tanks produced under Soviet license, two fully motorized infantry regiments, and one motorized artillery regiment.

Although not large in scale, it was enough to sweep away the Italian army with its shock power.

The British side also suggested to the Korean army’s advanced party that they should launch a limited offensive against the Italian expeditionary force occupying Sidi Barrani.

Of course, that won’t do.

Baek Dong-seok had no intention of conceding any military achievements to the British.

On February 9, 1943, Baek Dong-seok made a counter-proposal to the British that the Korean army should first test the defensive strength of the Italian army and then launch an offensive.

“Korea is desperate to achieve something. Well, how much fun can they have with just one division? Let them do as they please.”

General Auchinleck, who was formally Baek Dong-seok’s superior as the Middle East Command commander, readily accepted this request.

The Korean army had been waiting for this very opportunity.

“Start the engines of the tanks!”

The Korean army launched its offensive units without hesitation.

“Your Excellency! The Allies are on the offensive!”

By the time General Giovanni Messe, the Italian commander, heard this report, an outer camp had already been trampled.

“This is the T-34.”

Unfortunately for the Italian soldiers, they did not have adequate means to deal with the T-34.

Once the Korean tanks were pushed into the assembly area, the outdated Italian tanks turned into scrap metal in no time.

After wreaking havoc like that, the Korean motorized units swiftly followed up and swept through the devastated Italian defensive lines.

Although the Korean forces were not large in number, Italy was no match for them in terms of the scale and quality of equipment.

The Italian soldiers blankly stared at the Korean army, which swept through their positions and rapidly maneuvered toward the next target.

With their overwhelming mobility, the Korean army trampled four Italian camps in a single day.

Although General Giovanni Messe was said to be a decent commander, there was nothing he could do when attacked without even a chance to make a move.

Retreat is not an option either.

Considering the enemy’s overwhelming mobility, it was obvious that they would be trampled from behind during a retreat.

“Convey the order to all troops to hold their current positions.”

That was all General Messe could command.

The Italian army faithfully followed the commander’s instructions, but it was impossible to engage in combat without equipment to counter the enemy.

Each Italian unit was defeated one by one in their own camps.

By the second day, all seven camps surrounding the main base had fallen to the Korean army.

It’s over.

Messe had long sensed the danger of this scenario unfolding.

That’s why he had tried to drag out the expedition and not leave Libya.

However, it happened.

There was only one thing Messe could do.

“I will issue a surrender order to the troops.”

“Pardon?”

“What’s the point of shedding more blood in a futile battle?”

As the surrender order from General Messe, the commander of the Italian expeditionary force, was issued, scattered groups of Italian soldiers began to seek out the Korean army to surrender.

Their numbers were so large that in some cases, a single Korean platoon had to monitor an entire Italian regiment.

The British realized this situation a bit late.

“What? The Korean bastards swept away 80,000 in Sidi Barrani?”

The British generals were shocked.

They had seen that the Korean army had quite an excellent motorized force.

So they expected them to achieve good results, but they had completely annihilated the enemy.

They didn’t know how to comprehend this situation.

It was difficult to grasp whether the Korean army possessed superhuman combat power or if the Italians were absurdly weak.

Anyway, the British also became anxious.

“We, we’re also departing.”

The British 8th Army under Lieutenant-General O’Connor also hastily launched its offensive units.

However, the Korean army was already racing towards the Libyan border ahead of them.

“All the military achievements are ours.”

The Korean Mediterranean Fleet, which knew of Baek Dong-seok’s advance plans in advance, supported the advancing army.

“Commence bombardment!”

The mighty Korean battleships appeared in front of Bardia, the largest stronghold in eastern Libya, and opened fire.

The Italian commander defending this Bardia Fortress, Annibale Bergonzoli¹, was someone Mussolini particularly trusted.

Before the battle began, Mussolini sent the following telegram to Bergonzoli to encourage him:

“I am confident that the Electric Whiskers and his subordinates will defend Libya.”²

It was also a wish for him to do so.

Bergonzoli responded to Duce with a spirited reply:

“I, Bergonzoli, am in Bardia³. The enemy will not be able to pass here.”

And in just one day, the defensive lines surrounding Bardia crumbled under the bombardment of Korean battleships.

“Have you heard of 18-inch main guns?”

In front of the overwhelming punching power of Koryo, the super-dreadnought⁴ that the Korean army boasted, Bardia Fortress collapsed without even putting up a fight.

There was nothing the Italians could do against the main gun shells of the Korean battleships, which pierced through concrete several meters thick like tofu.

“Y-Your Excellency. What should we do now?”

“Y-Your Excellency?”

“His Excellency is not here. Where did he go?”

Contrary to his bold bluff, ‘Electric Whiskers’ Bergonzoli quickly fled, disguised as a defeated soldier, mixing in with his fleeing subordinates.

“Capture them all, don’t leave a single one. If you catch that friend called Electric Whiskers, you’ll get a one-rank special promotion!”

The Korean army continued to trample the retreating Italian army.

The British army caught up with the Korean army when they arrived at the port of Tobruk.

By this time, the Korean army had annihilated 120,000 Italian troops, erasing an entire Italian field army from the combat order of battle.

“Oh, no. It looks like the Korean bastards will monopolize the credit for occupying Libya.”

The British felt a strong sense of crisis.

“Then, we should also become bold.”

Instead of engaging in the already belated battle of Tobruk⁵, the British decided to cross the central Libyan desert and race all the way to Tripolitania.⁶

O’Connor’s calculation was that if they succeeded, they could wait for the retreating Italian army and devour them all.

“We absolutely cannot concede.”

Baek Dong-seok left only one regiment for the attack on Tobruk and fiercely pursued the Italian army along the coastal road.

The frantic race between the two armies threw Italy into a panic.

“Oh, no, how can such a large army be nearly annihilated in a week? Does that make sense?”

It wasn’t a small army either.

It was a whopping 250,000.

Rome hastily grabbed Hitler’s ankles in desperation.

“If this continues, our Duce will be finished. We are relying solely on Berlin’s ass. Please, support us.”

However, Germany was also in a situation where they were being beaten up by Stalin in Stalingrad, so they were in no position to save Italy.

“I understand your situation, but we are also in a hurry.”

Even tearful appeals were of no use.

The Italian ambassador had no choice but to return empty-handed.

And on February 24th, another week later, as the British and Korean armies linked up in Agedabia in central-western Libya, the Italian army in Libya was effectively finished.

An additional 80,000 Italian troops were crushed during the fierce advance of both armies.

The remaining Italian forces in Libya now numbered less than 50,000.

Marshal Pietro Badoglio⁷, who had virtually been appointed as the loser and crossed over to Libya, was discouraged upon learning of this situation.

It was impossible to defend the remaining parts of Tunisia (ceded from France) and Libya with this small number of troops.

Badoglio hastily had all the documents in the governor’s residence and government offices in Tripoli burned, then gathered the remaining forces and began retreating to Tunisia.

“They’ve already run away?”

The Allied forces had pushed their logistics to the limit by advancing too hastily over the past two weeks and lacked the capacity to advance to Tripoli.

So they planned to rest for a week and observe the situation, but when they heard that the Italians had fled, their competitive spirit exploded again.

“We must take Tripoli!”

Loading the limited fuel onto a few vehicles, both armies raced towards western Libya.

This was a fight for pride.

On February 27th, 1943, both armies entered Tripoli at almost the same time.

There was a verbal battle over who should take credit for the entry, but both armies were equally satisfied after achieving such a great victory.

Now, all that remained was Tunisia.

As the situation turned out like this, the French North Africa, which had been quiet, became restless.

“What, what happens if it goes like this? Isn’t the Axis doomed?”

Currently, Germany, the leader of the Axis, was being beaten by the Soviet Union in Stalingrad, and Italy was about to faint after being counter-attacked from all directions.

Even to the French, who had surrendered in six weeks out of fear of Germany, the Axis now looked like a sinking ship.

In response to this unrest in the colonies, the Vichy authorities in the mainland presented this stance:

“We will maintain a neutral position, respecting the treaty we signed with Germany.”

“Well, since that’s the instruction from the home country, I guess we should follow orders for now.”

However, the French in Algeria and Morocco did not need to worry.

“Open the door. Democracy has arrived.”

The Allied fleet that had advanced from Gibraltar, Alexandria, Tobruk, Malta, and other places entered the major ports of Algeria and Morocco and pointed their main guns.

“Either join our side or oppose us. Choose one of the two.”

If there had been a disaster like the Catapult operation in the original history, the proud French would not have simply yielded.

However, in this world, there was no instance of Britain bullying France.

It’s a bit awkward for us to confront the Allies, isn’t it?

The acting French governor, Yves-Charles Châtel, and other major colonial officials and generals read the situation and quickly decided to switch sides.

“Long live to a Free France! Long live General de Gaulle!”

The world was such that only those who were quick-witted could survive.

With this development, the Axis powers became even more desperate.

“The Duce is also on the verge of collapse, and now the French are causing trouble. If we trust these guys and leave them alone, they’ll even take over southern France.”

Germany squeezed out what little troops they had left and invaded Vichy France.

“S-stop! We are a neutral country.”

Vichy’s cries did not reach Berlin.

Vichy France thus perished silently.

On March 5th, 1943, at the time when the German army in Stalingrad was waving the white flag, the last Axis forces in Tunisia also raised the white flag.

Just as the defeat in Stalingrad dealt a blow to Hitler, this defeat dealt a fatal blow to the Duce.

Even the Fascist Grand Council, which consisted of Mussolini’s long-time comrades, no longer tolerated the Duce’s misgovernment.

They coldly turned their backs on the Duce and resolved to oust their leader from the throne.

The Duce’s son-in-law, Count Ciano, and Dino Grandi, the chairman of the Supreme Council, led this.

“We can no longer keep him in the position of prime minister. Let’s bring down Mussolini.”

The resolution passed with 19 votes to 7.

At this moment, the Duce received a political death sentence.

The fate of Fascist Italy also ended at the same time.

The collapse of Italy, the number two among the Axis powers, was now practically on a countdown.

Footnotes

1. 1. Annibale Bergonzoli, nicknamed "barba elettrica", "Electric Whiskers", was an Italian lieutenant general who served during World War I, the Spanish Civil War and World War II. In 1940 he commanded the defences of Bardia, Libya.
2. 2. Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad to the south, Niger to the southwest, Algeria to the west, and Tunisia to the northwest, as well as maritime borders with Greece, Italy and Malta to the north.
3. 3. Bardia, also El Burdi or Bardiyah is a Mediterranean seaport in the Butnan District of eastern Libya, located near the border with Egypt. It is also occasionally called Bórdi Slemán.
4. 4. The dreadnought was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's HMS Dreadnought, had such an effect when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her were referred to as "dreadnoughts", and earlier battleships became known as pre-dreadnoughts. Her design had two revolutionary features: an "all-big-gun" armament scheme, with an unprecedented number of heavy-calibre guns, and steam turbine propulsion. As dreadnoughts became a crucial symbol of national power, the arrival of these new warships renewed the naval arms race between the United Kingdom and Germany. Dreadnought races sprang up around the world, including in South America, lasting up to the beginning of World War I. Successive designs increased rapidly in size and made use of improvements in armament, armour, and propulsion throughout the dreadnought era. Within five years, new battleships outclassed Dreadnought herself. These more powerful vessels were known as "super-dreadnoughts". Most of the original dreadnoughts were scrapped after the end of World War I under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty, but many of the newer super-dreadnoughts continued serving throughout World War II.
5. 5. The siege of Tobruk took place between 10 April and 27 November 1941, during the Western Desert campaign (1940–1943) of the Second World War. An Allied force, consisting mostly of the 9th Australian Division, commanded by Lieutenant-General Leslie Morshead, was besieged in the North African port of Tobruk by German and Italian forces. The tenacious defenders quickly became known as the Rats of Tobruk. After 231 days, they were finally relieved by the British Eighth Army.
6. 6. Tripolitania, historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province of Libya. The region had been settled since antiquity, first coming to prominence as part of the Carthaginian empire.
7. 7. Pietro Badoglio, 1st Duke of Addis Abeba, 1st Marquess of Sabotino, was an Italian general during both World Wars and the first viceroy of Italian East Africa. With the fall of the Fascist regime in Italy, he became Prime Minister of Italy.

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