In 1940, after France fell,
it seemed like a real possibility, as the bombs rained down on Britain,
that the UK was going to face the German Army rolling onto their shores, and conquering the island.
A full scale invasion of Britain.
Now, Wargaming came to me in this sponsor,
saying how in the new "World of Tanks War Stories: Operation Sea-Lion",
that invasion became a reality.
The Nazis in World War II don't just stay on the mainland,
but invade the United Kingdom.
Well, we all know that didn't happen.
The UK persevered, very much to Hitler's dismay,
and a few years later, it was the British instead, sailing the channel, and taking out the Nazis.
What would have been the plan to invade the UK was called "Operation Sea-Lion".
It's such a popular concept in alternate history,
it surprises me why I didn't cover it sooner.
So, let's imagine what if, in an alternate timeline,
the Nazis had followed through with Operation Sea-Lion.
They invade Britain.
First thing I want to answer is,
"What would be the objective of the invasion itself?"
This seems pretty weird to say,
considering we're talking about NAZI GERMANY.
Invasion for the sake of invasion would be a simple enough reason.
Hitler adding to territory for the Reich, like a Risk game.
But in Britain's case, this was NEVER the situation.
Invading Britain was the absolute last thing the Nazis wanted to do.
Hitler wanted the British to simply surrender once France fell, so he could focus the main event:
the invasion of Russia.
If the British morale was so low, then maybe they'd actually ask for peace,
hence the bombings.
But then Winston Churchill defiantly showed this was not the case,
and Germany realized the UK wasn't going to simply let this go.
Operation Sea Lion wasn't an invasion of conquest,
but of desperation, if anything.
Nobody in the German high command (even Hitler himself), had confidence in the plan.
"But why?"
Britannia. And the "Ruling the Seas" part.
Even though Germany had the Blitzkrieg on their side,
they never came close to the naval capabilities of the British.
That channel absolutely terrified the Germans.
The idea of having to cross it, and land troops on the island,
was just an absolute logistical nightmare.
Most people, especially in the navy,
doubted the Reich even had the ships to pull it off.
Even for the navy powers of Britain and America,
D-Day was a practical miracle that the amphibious landing was even achieved,
and that included 4 years of naval combat experience and added superiority on the seas.
The Germans didn't have the naval experience, or the navy numbers to even put a dent in His Majesty's navy.
And they knew, if they attempted to invade,
their forces would be decimated by the British, before even reaching the shore.
So although nobody was confident in the plan,
Hitler laid out 4 requirements they'd need to meet, before moving on to such an invasion.
I'll include those in the scenario.
In this alternate timeline,
let's go easy on the Germans,
and say all the requirements that Hitler had,
are met for them to forward with the invasion.
The Germans win the Battle of Britain,
the Royal Air Force is decimated,
sometime in September, the Royal Navy is distracted off the coasts of Norway and Italy,
giving them enough time to clear the few British ships or mines from the channel.
Any that enter are simply destroyed by German artillery.
The next phase, goes to the Kriegsmarine (the German Navy).
Now the Kriegsmarine are down on their luck.
They barely had the capabilities to really do much at all.
And because they were so small, if Germany lost a ship,
it hurt them far more than if the British lost theirs.
The navy would need to ship troops across the channel.
This brings on images of the Allies on D-Day, with these landers,
but for the Germans, they only had two prototypes for a similar ship in 1940.
So, if you were a German soldier in the invasion, you'd be placed in a modified riverboat.
If you were lucky, yours would actually control itself,
but, most had to be towed by tugboats.
You'd be part of a 67,000 man invasion force shipping from Northern France to Southern England in the cover of night.
The objective is to secure the beachhead,
set up artillery along the English coast,
and use it to sink any ships entering the channel.
Then, when all that was achieved, the Germans would encircle London,
trap it, and then force a surrender.
The farthest north that Germany would go...
is just a little bit south of Cambridge.
Because, once again, the Germans hoped, that the British would just surrender.
And, as is tradition,
"What if they didn't?", you ask.
Well, what it seems like would have happened,
is the Germans would have just been stuck on an island, isolated from mainland Europe,
where any help or supplies is just sunk by a nation, with a far superior navy and air force.
"So," you say.
"That really seems like Nazi Germany is in a bit of a huge mess.
In fact, instead of Operation Sea Lion being the final death of the Allies,
like it often is perceived as in the media,
it seems more like it would have been a bungled mess.
Due to the limitations of the German navy, and the superiority of Britain's."
And for the first time, Jimmy,
you would be right.
In an alternate timeline, where Nazi Germany invaded Britain,
even if they did encircle London,
I believe the British simply would have moved up the border,
and used their naval and air superiority to destroy the German supply lines,
essentially just stranding 60,000 something Germans on an island with no escape.
A reverse Dunkirk.
(That's not even including the Americans, who eventually would have been involved in the war anyway.)
The reason why Operation Sea Lion was scrapped,
was because even HITLER,
(The same guy that thought invading Russia was a good idea,)
had the foresight to see how much Germany would lose to Britain.
If the Germans went through with it, it probably would have been a drawn out failure.
Southern England would have still seen a catastrophic loss of life,
far more than in our timeline.
With supply lines cut, it's likely the Germans resort to looting and pillaging.
But, eventually, they'd surrender.
And this surrender would prove Churchill's words, that Britain continue to fight.
And prove Germany was not as invincible as everybody thought.
This might even potentially push back German plans to invade the Soviet Union,
force them to re-evaluate (but, that's more speculative, though).
What do you think would have happened?
So, even though, in my scenario, I predicted Germany would lose,
it doesn't mean there'd be a battle or two.
And as a massive fan of World of Tanks, I'm glad they introduced "War Stories".
This video was inspired by "War Stories: Operation Sea Lion".
An alternate history campaign where this plan became a reality, and the Germans invaded.
(With tanks, of course!)
In honor of it coming out, Wargaming has a special offer for players that sign up using the link down below.
By clicking the link, you get one free tank,
a garage slot, and three days of premium game time, while this offer lasts.
World of Tanks is an online multiplayer game where you command a single tank against 30 other players,
(Who are ALSO in tanks.)
There are over 450 historically accurate WW2 tanks from 2 decades you can pick.
It regularly updates, and continuously has new stuff.
And, it's free to play on all PS4 and Xbox consoles.
Like this video and subscribe to support the channel, if you have not already done so.
This is Cody, of AlternateHistoryHub.