Part XVIII: Aftermaths

July 7, 1940. Shën Vasil (1), Albania.

The onset of evening and the cooler air it brought was a welcome relief for everyone from the day's blistering heat. As the sun slowly dipped behind the mountains, the village of Shën Vasil and the valley it occupied were bathed in an eerie glow as its inhabitants prepared for the night to come. On the surface things didn't seem to have changed all that much. Farmers still put down their tools, shepherds still gathered their flocks, and mothers still sent their children to bed. Yet, for the past week the idylls of village life had been upended by the war's arrival. While too small to merit a bombing raid in the initial weeks, Shën Vasil's location on the coastal road between Saranda and Vlora had become strategic following the Italian's largely botched amphibious assault. For the Italians who were still largely on foot following their capture of the port of Saranda, the village's location became an excellent place to make camp as they sought to move rapidly up the coastal road to relieve their comrades who were likely still pinned on the beaches outside Vlora. In the days ahead they would be forced to march through the mountain passes and hills that skirted the Albanian Riviera, a difficult march that could have been made almost impossible under the right circumstances.

Julia-Alpini-Division.jpg

Italian troops on the march to relieve their comrades pinned on the beach in Vlora​

Even a company of men, properly deployed could have presented an insurmountable barrier to the Italian invaders who, much to the surprise of the Albanians were barely better equipped than their own army and often lacked necessities like boots.(2) Unfortunately for the people of Shën Vasil and Albania as a whole, the Royal Army had chosen to abandon them in favour of linking up with the reserves at Delvina. On the surface it made perfect sense, Pervisi's thorough bungling of Saranda's defense meant that the surviving garrison needed to be reinforced to be effective and no reinforcements were coming from Vlora, not with most of the road in easy range of the Regia Marina's cannons and with Italian troops on their own shores to worry about. Yet for the people of Shën Vasil it meant that they and the rest of the inhabitants of the towns along the coastal road had been abandoned to the tender mercies of the Italian troops who, though eager to portray themselves as liberators, were still quite happy to make up for their poor logistics by pillaging the countryside.

Well, not quite abandoned…

The beauty of Zog's overarching strategic plan for Albania's defense was that it didn't depend on winning pitched strategic battles or even keeping a large organized army in the field. Even if they could have beaten back this Italian invasion attempt, as some observers, even within the army itself, claimed, who really thought they could beat back a second or a third especially when they were cut off from reinforcements? If anything, the only real failure of Zog's in the war's initial weeks was trying to have his cake and eat it too. While committing so many forces to the ports had apparently worked in Durres, Vlora, and Shengjin, when combined with Pervisi's bungling at Saranda it had been disastrous. Fortunately, even in the aftermath of defeat, the survivors had been trained for what came next and were willing to do what was necessary.

Gaz Xhuvani had no doubt that many of the troops he fought next to, particularly those in the Army proper prior to the war, had deserted when they found themselves cut off by the Italian advance. He understood the impulse, two days of constant bombardment had been enough to raise the thought in his own mind. It would have been far easier to bury his rifle and return to the life of a shepherd or even pose as a bewildered Sarandan citizen. Yet he couldn't, not with his spotter Xhulio's death on his conscience. The blood that had shot out from the hole a piece of shrapnel had torn in his neck still stained Gaz' uniform reminding him of the oath he'd sworn not only to his country, but to his friend.

While those oaths had sustained him on the long lonely march to Shën Vasil, they had been little comfort to him earlier in the day as he waited for dusk. All the intellectual assent in the world to the utility of his woolen uniform and ghillie suit, particularly during the coming winter months, couldn't hold a candle to its unsuitability for the temperatures he found himself in. Had he not been sufficiently upwind, Gaz had no doubt that his Italian prey would have been able to smell him long ago. He could only hope that sometime soon he could find a way to take the villagers up on their offer to do his laundry.

When he first arrived in the village, he had been far too preoccupied with finding a suitable observation point and making the necessary preparations to engage in his one-man war. Apparently, he was not the first soldier to pass through Shën Vasil, nor was he the first intent on resisting the Italian advance. More than one of the villagers suggested that he keep moving north to join up with the nascent çeta(3) or at the very least stay a night to recuperate. But at the time he'd been so consumed by rage, all he could think of was vengeance and the most he'd been willing to accept was some food and water, both of which were going to run out sooner than he would have liked. It had taken all of ten days for his lone wolf resolve to crack. Yet it wasn't a lack of creature comforts which caused his resolve to crack, rather it was watching the same villagers who had been so kind to him experience the ravages of war. His desire for vengeance was still there but seeing the brutal reality of the Italian's occupation of Shën Vasil had hammered home the fact that this war was far more than just a personal vendetta.

Having doused the fires of vengeance, Gaz peered through his binoculars with the cold eyes of a fanatic and took stock of the situation beneath him. By this point the Italians had finished pitching their tents and had already begun roasting one of the lambs confiscated from the village over an open fire. A handful of men stood watch, but their lack of training was obvious. Though there was an undeniable risk that they'd respond to his attack by retaliating against the villagers, Gaz knew that they were willing to pay the price. They'd gone out of their way to tell him as much. He doubted if there were many Albanians who wouldn't save for the handful of beys who feared their collapsing privileges. Zog had given them everything by building up the country from nothing. Now it was their turn to show that they weren't about to let the Italians take it away from them.

Putting down the binoculars, Gaz picked up his rifle and adjusted the German scope. The irony of using an Italian rifle with a German scope had long since worn off, but the efficacy remained the same. While the new 7.35 Italian round did have a longer reach and more punch than the 6.5mm one he was working with, Gaz doubted that the Italians would be able to make proper use of it. Unlike him, they probably only had a few months of training if that. Hardly enough to adequately counter a former Albanian shepherd who had spent his boyhood shooting wolves before joining the Gendarmerie and graduating fourth from the designated sharpshooter program. The mountains he now inhabited were not so different from the ones he had camped out on as a boy, only now he was the wolf.

…O sa mire, ujku është egërsirë…(4)

Gaz' first round ended up striking the watchman's chest instead of his head but seemed to incapacitate him nonetheless. From there it was a flurry of action as he worked the Carcano's action and rapidly fired off the remainder of the magazine into the confused mass of Italian conscripts below. Without Xhulio, he was far less accurate than he'd been in Saranda, but the Italians didn't seem to be able to tell the difference. Panic gripped the Italian camp, allowing Gaz to insert and fire off another stripper clip before the return fire surpassed anything more than a few scattered shots in his general direction. Perhaps he would have to move north and join the çeta faster than he thought… if the Italians were truly this incompetent, he'd run out of ammunition far earlier than he'd ever dreamed…

Notes

2. A constant Italian shortage of boots comes up again and again and again in the literature.

3. Bandit group. Same root word as Chetnik. Kaçak would be the term in the North, but this is taking place along the Greek border.

4. Albanian Children's song line roughly translated "O how good, the wolf is beastly"

July 9, 1940. Rome, Italy.

"Where the hell are your men, Vërlaci?" Ciano shouted as he barged into the dining room.

Utterly predictable…

Shefqet had been as dismayed as anyone at the news from the first week and a half of the invasion but knowing the precariousness of his political future he'd kept his fears hidden. While Mussolini, Ciano, and others could all afford these outbursts, Shefqet had no choice but to present himself as unflappable. To do less would be to throw away his only chance at not only restoring but transforming his family's fortunes. He needed to present himself as a true Albanian statesman, the only one willing to cooperate with Rome to pacify the region. In that way the Italians' current struggles played right into his hand. Unfortunately, he had problems of his own.

"Behije," he said quietly, lifting his napkin to dab at his mouth "I apologize, but the Foreign Minister and I need to have an urgent conversation. Please excuse us. No need to wait for my return." True to form, Behije nodded demurely and remained silent as Shefqet ushered Ciano out of the dining room and into the parlour. To his credit, Ciano managed to regain his composure long enough to make it through the dining room, but he was obviously struggling. Were their positions switched, Shefqet was uncertain that he would be able to do any different. Ciano had staked his career as Foreign Minister to the invasion of Albania in a profound way. From day of his appointment on he had been an incessant advocate for Albania's incorporation into the Kingdom of Italy and had gradually won over the rest of the government through tireless work.(5) Even after the Battle of Sazan he had laboured around the clock to assuage the fearful by convincing them that the sneak attack actually showed a profound sense of weakness.

Ciano had been so confident of the Italian's attacks' success he had begun to insinuate that Shefqet would take some other role than Regent for Leka, and that perhaps Albania might be better off in a state of personal union. (6) While such insinuations were undoubtedly a worrying sign that Ciano and Mussolini were perhaps thinking about altering the proposed constitutional arrangement that Shefqet had negotiated more than a year ago, any concerns along those lines vanished as news of the failed invasion attempt at Durres came in. Understandably, the official casualties had still not been released but rumors persisted that thousands of Italians had perished on the beaches. Ciano had been called to an emergency meeting with Mussolini and had apparently been the subject of a verbal tirade beyond compare.

I adapted this propaganda cartoon from OTL. Given the similarities between traditional Greek and Albanian dress (and the fact that its in black and white) it was super easy. Though the Albanian success isn't as great as the Greek's was in OTL, given that Albania is several times smaller the propaganda impact is just as great. ​

Closing the parlour door behind them, Shefqet prepared himself for something similar.

"It's been ten fucking days Vërlaci! Still nothing from your vaunted army of supporters! By all accounts the tribes either remain in lockstep behind Zog or are content to wait this out in their mountain hovels."

"That's the north…"

"Shut your mouth, the south has been even worse…"

"The south is full of Greeks!" Shefqet shouted back "Greeks which Zogu's been buying since the day he's been crowned." He paused for a moment to collect himself lest the argument grow too heated and disturb Behije in the other room. "I've said it before and I will say it again. My supporters are waiting for the right time, and can you really blame them? You have a spy within your ranks, that much is abundantly clear. How else do you explain Durres? If they'd risen when you asked Zog would have been able to slaughter them just like he slaughtered your troops. My supporters are the only reason your invasion attempt still has a chance of succeeding."

"You wouldn't note it from the most recent reports. Nobody has seen hide nor hair of any friendly Albanian forces. What more is it going to take?"

Musa Juka to make a mistake? Any optimism about the merging of the Army and Gendarmerie a few weeks ago had vanished as more and more of his contacts in the country failed to respond to his messages. Even with only a fraction of his usual resources, Musa Juka was proving to be consistently able to stay a few steps ahead of him.

"Like I said before. My men are not willing to be slaughtered without cause. Secure a major city. Leverage the Regio Esercito's numerical superiority and the people will rise up to support you."

"We seized Lezha (7) two days ago…where are your men!?"

"Lezha is hardly a major city…"

"It was good enough for Skanderbeg was it not? With our men there, Scutari(8) is completely cut off."

Shefqet held his tongue. Back in the 15th century Lezha had been a major city, but now it had been relegated to a suburb of Shengjin. Taking it meant little in modern terms, and with the port of Shengjin still clogged with the wreckage Zog's garrison had left there despite the best efforts of Italian salvage teams, the troops holding it did not have the reinforcements to withstand a determined assault. "That's not the point, the army can only reliably unload its vehicles and supplies at Saranda which is almost 300 kilometers away. Even then, that port is too small to support the entire force necessary to defeat Zog. Take Vlora, repair the docks at Shengjin, or better yet, take Durres and my men will end the campaign the next day."

Shefqet was bluffing of course and both of them knew it. Like all good Albanians, his allies would probably wait a good deal longer than that before throwing their weight in behind the Italians. But he had no doubt that they would eventually rise. Zog's dealings with America had weakened his Albanian political sense with the ideal of "guilty until proven innocent." Thinking his kingdom too civilized, he was failing to deal forthrightly with his opponents, a flaw that Shefqet had no doubt would be his undoing in time.

"The navy is preparing for another attack on Vlora to relieve the forces fighting there within the next few days. When combined with support from our forces advancing from Santa Quarante,(9) Vice Admiral Pasetti(10) and General Prasca(11) assure me that this time the defenders will be overwhelmed. If your allies in the south do not respond there will be consequences." All of Ciano's sternness and talk of consequences was honestly growing tiresome. Now that the initial shock of the invasion's failure had worn off, Shefqet had come to realize that every delay weakened the Italians' hand and strengthened his by making him and his allies all the more indispensable.

"Are we sure General Prasca and Admiral Pasetti are to be trusted in these matters? Their assurances haven't been particularly reliable as of late."

"As far as I'm concerned Vërlaci, both of them are more trustworthy than you. Since the capture of Santa Quarante our troops have gone from victory to victory as they've marched up the coast."

"If they are indeed going from victory to victory why are you constantly asking for intelligence about Albanian resistance activities?"

"While the casualties have been within acceptable limits, this level of resistance is hardly what you promised. The agreement the Kingdom of Italy has with your family does not seem to be particularly fruitful at the moment. In making such requests I am merely giving you the opportunity to prove your worth."

"But why should I share my information with you when there is, by your own account, a spy within your ranks? I could be endangering my source. If I had any in that region that is, the 'Riviera' as Zog likes to call it is full of Greeks,(12) hardly any allies of mine."

"Any espionage is being dealt with I assure you. No information will fall into enemy hands."

"Produce the spy and I will believe it." Shefqet sighed, he'd hoped that Ciano's rage would have led to a short verbal tirade but instead he'd regained his composure and it was turning into a prolonged conversation. Time to bring it to an end. "Besides, is any of this arguing really necessary? Aligning himself with the British was perhaps the worst move Zog could have made. When the Luftwaffe brings them to their knees, Zog will be left standing completely alone and all of this current unpleasantness will fade from history."

Ciano's scowl returned "And you're obviously hoping that Herr Hitler will secure your beloved grandson as a part of the peace?"

"Aren't you?"

"We are all hoping many things Vërlaci, you more than most. While I have no doubt that the Italian Empire will ultimately succeed, recent days have shown that this will not be a painless process. We must… and we will purge ourselves… and our allies of the weaknesses that hold us back. If putting your grandson on the throne prevents Italy from succeeding elsewhere there will be consequences. You would be well served to remember that as you communicate with your people." Taking a deep breath Ciano straightened his jacket "Now if you'll excuse me, I have another appointment."

Finally…

Notes

5. This was true in OTL but is even more pronounced in TTL due to Jack's activities.

6. In OTL Albania still technically remained independent after the Italian invasion though in effect it was just another part of the Italian Empire. Mussolini believed that by unifying the crowns under VE III, they could dampen international disapproval.

7.A city just south of Shengjin, next to Shkodra the other main center for Albanian Catholicism.

8. Shkodra in Italian

9. Saranda

10. In OTL, one of the first seriously considered Italian amphibious attacks was a landing on Corfu in October 1940. Similar in scale to TTL's invasion of Albania, it was to be commanded by Rear Admiral Vittorio Tur, who in TTL is a POW in Albania courtesy of Muso Ulqinaku. Rear Admiral Pasetti commanded the fleet at Brindisi in OTL which included the landing craft so with Tur out of the way he seems like a reasonable replacement.

11. Prasca was initially in charge of the invasion of Greece in OTL. Given that TTL's invasion of Albania is even more hastily planned than OTL's attack on Greece, Mussolini's going to go for a yes man like Prasca instead of someone more senior who might say no like Pariani. It's also worth noting that the commander of OTL's invasion attempt Alfredo Guzzoni is fighting the French in 1940 and given the disparity between the French and Albanians, most of the best Italian officers are going to be used up there.

12. This is a bit of an overstatement by Shefqet for his political benefit.

(Excerpted from Ethan Pearson "Albania in the Twentieth Century: Volume II Albania at War" 2005)

1940

...

Ciano and Vërlaci make final preparations for the Italian invasion

Zog prepares for war

Leka leaves for England

"Kështu, ështe Lufta!"

Naval Attack on Sazan

Army Reforms

Italian forces invade…

​

...

June 10, 1940: Italy declares war on Britain and France. Shortly afterward, Italian ambassador to Albania, Francesco Jacomoni,(13) informs King Zog that in accordance with the 1939 Pact of Tirana, Italian armed forces would begin arriving in Albania to "safeguard its independence." As a pre-emptive measure to save face, Jacomoni offers concessions if Albania join Italy in declaring war on Britain and France. Zog flatly refuses and issues his infamous statement "It is war then." Thinking this to be another attempt to delay negotiations through sabre rattling Jacomoni does not give Zog's statement enough credence and fails to warn his superiors.

Without adequate warning from Rome, Rear Admiral Vittorio Tur's force occupying the Italian base on the Island of Sazan are caught completely off guard by the Albanian Navy. Using its fleet of militarized caiques and several fishing vessels, the Albanian Navy is able to land a battalion of elite naval infantry under Captain Muso Ulqinaku on the island without alerting the Italians. The subsequent attacks overwhelms Tur's force and leads to the capture of the minesweepers VIGILANTE and VENDETA, as well as the water tanker PAGANO in addition to all the personnel at the base and several hundred tons of supplies. Similar actions occur across Albania against Italian military and commercial interests as a part of "Order 66." Jacomoni himself is placed under house arrest.

June 11, 1940: King Zog's representatives on Malta inform British authorities of Zog's donation of nearly 50,000 tons of supplies. Though mostly consisting of food and other consumer goods, the donated supplies also include 11,000 gallons of av gas and 15,000 tons of oil fuel. Italian aircraft arrive over the island later that day in the first of many air raids.

In London, Albanian Ambassador Chatin Sarachi begins negotiations with the British Government to formalize the Anglo-Albanian Alliance…

June 15, 1940: Admiral Cunningham receives orders to redeploy submarines to the Albanian coast in anticipation of an Italian invasion attempt. Despite having lost the submarine ODIN the previous day, Cunningham sends out new orders…

June 23, 1940: Albanian naval forces cover an evacuation convoy leaving Saranda for Malta. In addition to various VIPs and military personnel intended to help train the Albanian Army in Egypt, several hundred Albanian miners and their families are sent to Malta to help dig air raid shelters.

June 24, 1940: Franco Italian Armistice signed. The agreement includes a provision for the demilitarisation of French naval bases in the Mediterranean. Albanian negotiations cease and diplomatic staff is transferred to London where Zog orders them to manage the aftermath with a particular focus on the fate of the French Fleet and the work of Charles de Gaulle.

June 27, 1940: 40,000 Italian soldiers attempt to land at the four major Albanian ports using every landing craft at the Italians' disposal. Despite being supported by the Battleships GUILIO CESARE, CONTE DE CAVOUR, as well as the majority of the Italian fleet's cruisers and destroyers, Albanian defenders are able to easily repel the initial landing attempts due to superior preparation and poor Italian doctrine.

June 28, 1940: Subsequent Italian attempts to land troops in Albania achieve mixed results. Albanian forces under General Vehib Pasha completely repel the largest landing force at Durres and inflict nearly 1000 casualties. The Italian force at Vlora is more successful but fails to take the port and is pinned on the beaches by forces under General Abas Kupi and Captain Muso Ulqinaku. While the landing at Shengjin is more successful, the defenders are able to scuttle several merchant ships in the harbour to temporarily deny it to the Italians. Only the fact that no such sabotage occurs at the southernmost port of Saranda due to the poor performance of General Prenk Pervisi saves the Italian invasion from total ignominy. While the Italian flanking attack fails to capture Pervisi's Headquarters at Lekursi Castle, subsequent bombardment from the battleship GUILIO CESARE and other Italian naval vessels kills him and prevents the garrison's orderly withdrawal. Only the actions of Pervisi's adjutant Mustafa Gjinishi prevents the total collapse of the Albanian garrison as he is able to rally most of the troops to retreat east to Delvina to rendezvous with reinforcements from Gjirokaster.

Meanwhile, Admiral Cunningham finds that he has inadvertently stumbled upon a golden opportunity to move key men and resources out of Malta. While the majority of the supplies donated by Zog remain on the islands, the ships which conveyed them join a pair of convoys M.S. 1 and M.F.1 which leave Malta with a close escort of 5 destroyers. In addition to these destroyers the 7th Cruiser squadron under Vice-Admiral Tovey in the ORION serves as a covering force while Cunningham personally commands a supporting force consisting of the carrier EAGLE, two battleships, and the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla southwest of Greece. Though there is some concern that the Italians might divert ships from their invasion of Albania to interfere with these convoys, the Albanian defenders' unexpected success prevents the diversion of any Italian forces. (14)

Later that evening, the British submarine PROTEUS (Lt.Cdr. R.T. Gordon-Duff, RN) sinks the Italian troopship SS CONTE RUSSO.(15) Of the 2,729 soldiers and crew aboard, 1,300 are killed bringing the total number of Italian casualties for the first two days of their invasion of Albania to 3153. Panic grips Rome as casualties exceed expectations by several orders of magnitude.

June 29, 1940: Italian salvage crews arrive at Shengjin but report that the state of the scuttled vessels in the harbour is worse than initially thought. Though even their most optimistic projections state that the work will take two weeks, they are ordered to have the port up and running in one…

June 30, 1940: With the Port of Saranda and its environs now firmly under Italian control, the city officially becomes the primary disembarkation point for the Italian Army as vessels continue to be rerouted there…

July 1, 1940: In an effort to emulate recent German successes in France, Italian forces launch a lighting offensive from Saranda to relieve troops pinned on the beach in Vlora. With naval support from both of the Regia Marina's active battleships and supporting craft, the advance features not only Italian troops marching and cycling up the coastal road through the Italian Riviera, but also impromptu amphibious landings at several points. With most Albanian troops in the region at Delvina (16) this advance meets little organized opposition but Albanian partisan activities inflict significant casualties.

July 7, 1940: Italian troops take the city of Lezha in an attempt to encourage anti-Zogist forces to rise up. Plans to advance further south to threaten Tirana and Vehib Pasha's forces in Durres are abandoned after a platoon of Albanian soldiers occupying Lezha castle inflict over 100 casualties and delay the Italian advance by 48 hours.(17) With his troops' ammunition stocks running dangerously low, General Scalati opts to delay any moves against either Shkodra his original target, or Tirana until the port of Shengjin is fully operational. This delay provides General Moisiu with vital time to destroy the bridges over the River Mat, transforming it into a potent barrier against any attack from Shengjin towards Zog's forces in the Tirana area.

July 7, 1940: Submarines carrying ground crew and spare parts for the 5 Hurricanes stationed at Malta leave Gibraltar. (18)

July 10, 1940: Italo Balbo personally flies to Rome to appeal to Mussolini for the delivery of additional troops and supplies, voice his concern over the prospect of a British attack, and protest the prioritization of the Albanian campaign. (19)

July 11, 1940: With support, Italian forces attacking from both the sea and from the south succeed in driving Albanian forces out of the city of Vlora with heavy losses. In addition to destroying most of the port facilities, the surviving garrison is able to retreat in good order to prepared positions in the hills surrounding the city.

Italian infantry launching yet another attack on Albanian positions outside of Vlora​

July 14, 1940: Italian salvage teams complete their work at the Port of Shengjin, allowing Italian troops to fully exploit the northernmost Albanian port. Colonel Scallati calls for bridging equipment to cross the River Mat, but his requests are denied as said equipment is instead earmarked for Saranda from whence it will be used in the primary Albanian offensive.

July 15, 1940: Emboldened by ongoing Italian difficulties in Albania and Zog's efforts to contribute to and prioritize the defense of Malta, the Royal Navy follows up on the MF 1 and MS 1 convoys earlier in the month with Operation HURRY in which 12 Hawker Hurricanes are delivered to the island via the aircraft carrier ARGUS. The operation is a resounding success, largely due to the fact that the Italian fleet is overwhelmed by a pair of covering operations from both Somerville in the ARK ROYAL from the west and Cunningham in the EAGLE from the east. Lacking adequate reconnaissance and air support due to ongoing operations in Albania, Admiral Iachino ignores Somerville's forces and focuses on Cunningham, believing the latter to be threatening the key port facilities at Saranda. As a result, Somerville's forces complete their missions with little interference and while the damage done by the ARK ROYAL's aircraft is insignificant, all 12 Hurricanes survive... (20)

July 17, 1940: With Italian troops massing at both Shengjin and Vlora, Vehib Pasha begins to pull his forces back from Durres to pre-established defensive positions at Shijak, Marikaj, and Vore in preparation for a future confrontation around the capital city of Tirana.

Notes

13. OTL's ambassador. Also keep in mind that the promotion of the Italian minister to ambassador was one of the stipulations of TTL's 1939 Pact of Tirana (just for you @von Adler)

14. MAJOR RETCON: The invasion of Albania and the chaos which follows in TTL causes the Espero convoy to be delayed which means that the British Cruisers don't end up wasting most of the 6-inch ammunition going after the trio of destroyers. As a result Cunnjngham decides to go ahead with his initial plan to have the M.S. 1 and M.F. 1 convoys leave Malta on June 28 (In OTL their departure got pushed back to July 9.) Honestly, I did not plan the Italian invasion in TTL to coincide with this battle. Rather I estimated that it would be almost impossible for the Italians to marshal a significant force with less than 2 weeks and politically unpalatable to wait longer than a month. If anyone has any criticism or suggestions I'm all ears.

15. I'm not married to this particular ship being sunk. I do maintain that it is unlikely for the British to have this level of intelligence and not be able to place enough units in position to take advantage of the absolute disaster of an invasion attempt. With timetables completely wrecked and limited opportunities to offload preventing any losses to RN submarines is unlikely IMO.

16. Delvina was taken on the first day of the Italian invasion in OTL.

17. Something similar happened in OTL during the Italian attack on Shkodra when a pair of officers took up a position in the infamous Rozafa castle and delayed the Italian advance for a full day.

18. The British sent a similar mission out around the same time as OTL's Operation Hurry which marked the delivery of the first Hurricanes to Malta since the fall of France.

19. On the one hand, the chaos around Albania has sucked up most of Italy's shipping capacity so the Italians in Libya are worse off logistically than they were in OTL. On the other hand, Italo Balbo has avoided his encounter with nervous AA gunners…for now. It's also worth noting that Balbo flying to Rome and making a big fuss happened in OTL on several occasions, the most notable being his protests over the antisemitic laws of 1938 and less than a month earlier when he protested Italy's declaration of war.

20. Operation Hurry happens 2 weeks earlier than OTL due to the fallout from Zog's actions. In OTL the ARGUS ferried a squadron of Supermarine Walrus aircraft to Iceland before heading down to the Mediterranean. In TTL she is detached earlier and the requisite aircraft are sent earlier due to the increased political importance of Malta. Other than that the Operation is mostly the same with the exception of the Eastern diversion. In OTL, a mechanical problem on the MALAYA caused Cunningham to return to Alexandria prematurely. In TTL Cunningham's ships have a bit less wear and tear and they also have a whole bunch of targets. More on that in the next update.

-----