@theROCmonster:
You have lost your mind. Just look at the figures for the number of aircraft built in 1940. UK built MORE than Germany built. How in the world can a sealion happen when you cant control the english channel? You might be lucky enough to get one huge push of men onto the soil of UK. Maybe 100,000 men and that is being really REALLY fair. The brits would easily be able to push this back. The US had the best amphibious techknology in the world by the end of the war and even they had a really hard time putting tanks on the the battle right out of the amphibious asault. Just look at D-Day and how many tanks never made it to the beaches. So lets say Germany could get 100,000 men on the land. How does Germany intend to resupply these men? How do these men take out tanks that the British have, but obviously the Germans couldn’t get very many onto British soil. I don’t see how you can sit their with your 7th grade knowledge of History and school someone who has their bachelors in history and is working on getting a Masters in Military history. Sea Lion is a joke to any real military historian. We know it just wasn’t possible baring EXTREME luck by Germany. If at anytime the British thought they might be invaded for real, like they saw Germany’s navy massing for a landing somwhere on British soil, then The british would have retreated their entire navy to outside of the Island of UK and would have done anything possible to keep the Germans out of their land. The British navy, at the time, was HUGE. 16 battleships and scores of destroyers and 6 aircraft carriers…. They also had the advantage of defense on their side. Please explain to me how sea lion was even a possibility in 1940 or even 1941 for that matter. How could they get naval and air dominance. Please don’t think I believe that all they needed was air dominance, because if it came down to it UK would have made sure the Germans only got one landing off before their navy came in in HUGE numbers and crushed the second or even first landing force. While the men landing would have a hell of a time on the beaches with the British being on defense. Rememeber over 300,000 men were evacuated from dunkirk, so the British still had defenses in place.
I agreed with a lot of what Gargantua wrote, and would like to add a few more things. To start, I think you’re looking at this the wrong way: Britain’s point of view. But Britain doesn’t get to set up Germany’s attack. Germany picks how the battle plays out, not Britain. Their are countless examples throughout history of two sides fighting, and one going on the offensive and doing the unexpected to great success, even defeating “superior” forces. How about Hannibal, Washington crossing the Delaware at Trenton, Midway, and yes, the rout of France. Just b/c you can point out 1,000 reasons why the light bulb won’t turn on doesn’t mean that Germany wouldn’t have found a way given enough time. Any “real military historian” wouldn’t be naive enough to have studied all of the great upsets in the history of the world and still have the arrogance to label a feasible operation as having only a 5% chance of success. At least my “7th grade knowledge of history” has taught me that. Add to that the fact that we are not trying to completely accurately represent how the war would have turned out… We are trying to accurately represent how the war might have turned out if the axis was given a slight boost in all arenas.
