@Imperious:
Polywog:
Can you come up with something on the polesti oil fields?
Or something that would apply to a contribution made by finland, romania, hungary and bulgaria?
As an NA for Italy, et al, the polesti oilfields is a bit difficult. Romania was reluctant to “join” the axis in the first place, and certainly did not benefit strongly during the war. Obviously, the Germans benefited tremendously and Hitler placed great importance on these oilfields, dedicating a sizable force to the southern arm of Barbarosa on the chance that the Soviets might launch a counterattack in that sector.
The main contribution of the Romanians, Hungarians and Bulgarians was the filling of thin spots in the German line on the eastern front. They are usually not given mucch credit, though instead of fleeing during the huge Russian don offensives around Stalingrad, the Romanian 3rd army put up a brief but spirited defense against an overwhelming soviet armored attack. Unfortunately, in the end, they were annihilated (along with pretty much the entirety of the Italian 8th and Romanian 4th armies). Fodder. Probably not much of an NA from that one…
During the winter war, the Finns fighting up in the north got it all right: they took advantage of the terrain and weather, targeted attacks specifically against Russian supplies and managed to destroy whole soviet armored divisions piecemeal in guerrilla attacks and tactical use of artillery. Again, I’m not sure how to apply this to an Axis-minor NA, especially since Finland is using German units.
…Sorry, not much help at all. This is a tough one. :-P
