Well, things is gettin’ interesting around these parts. All of Gaul France is divided into three parts: Nazi Germany occupies part, the tyrant Petain who knocked off the democratic president before Hitler invaded rules Vichy France; and then there’s a few colonies and ships who call themselves the Free French. Petain is inexplicably still obsessed with Texas and arranges for a heinous attack on Texan soil, attacking children during Christmas parades and killing three thousand through a terrorist attack. Although the Texans seethe for vengeance and begin making plans for obliterating a French city through thermobaric bombs, some cooler heads — and British allies — point out that this is obviously Petain’s attempt to drive a wedge into the Allied camp, which constitutes the United Kingdom, Texas, and the Free French. Presently, they’re all coordinating to kick the Italians out of Africa. Texas in the Med saves this series from drifting too closely into the wake of real history, both through its plot developments (LBJ dies, Rommel lives) and through the frequent use of weapons and equipment that weren’t as common in the war our history books know. Texans make heavy use of thermobaric bombs and auto-gyros, for instance. I found a video of one operating from the 1930s, and they’re fascinating. Whatever the weaknesses of the storytelling — Petain being obsessed with Texas when there are literally German boots in France is absurd – fans of obscure military tech and wild WW2 variants will find enjoyable bits here. This book was published at the end of December 2023, so presumably it will be a year or so before we see what changes that infamous day brings.
Reading Freely 
Petain & the Fall of France in 1940 is an interesting story in itself. I might get around to doing a ‘deep dive’ on it this year, or certainly next. I’ve LONG wondered why France fell in just 6 weeks. The reasons behind it, I know, go back into the First World War and the political/economic chaos that followed but still…. in 1939/40 France had one of the most powerful militaries on Earth – at least on paper (not unlike Russia until after they invaded Ukraine and *their* myth exploded, much to everyone’s surprise) – and yet were still extensively outfought (with a few – a very few – notable exceptions) and then collapsed. Weird.
With Russia, who knows. I’ve seen video of Ukrainians using yoga mats to shield themselves from heat-map detection, then using RPGs to fight out of their league. You’d think the Russians would remember lessons from asymmetric warfare from Afghanistan. Helps, too, that Ukraine has been receiving gobs of equipment and ammo from DC. Evidently thermobarics are in play in the Russo-Ukrainian war, or were. I was searching for videos about thermobarics because I hadn’t heard of them, and saw some mentions of that. (I recently encountered a channel on youtube that collects military-related footage and tries to make sense of the combined story they’re telling while trying to find footage of the Israeli advance into Gaza.)
Oh, there’s a LOT of improv happening on *both* sides of that conflict. Some of it is very inventive and likely to influence future conflicts and other quasi-military Ops across the world. The Ukraine War is quite a lab and is going to be studied and taught for decades ahead. It’s all quite fascinating when seen from a safe distance!
No doubt Ukraine would likely to have been overwhelmed by now if it wasn’t for aid/supplies from NATO & the EU (not *just* the US). But I’d hardly call that a good thing! Military/financial aid of Ukraine to date has been *very* cost effective in degrading Russian capability without a drop of US/NATO blood being spilt. It’s highlighted problems in OUR supply chain too which is very useful.
I can understand at least *some* of the reasons that Russia is SO keen on controlling Ukraine and especially keeping it out of NATO/EU but the invasion was a very bad mistake which will, long term, do far more harm to Russia than any accommodation with it might have caused. Russia was already in a LOT of trouble before it invaded. Now….? Its anyone’s guess, but *my* guess is that the Russian future is anything but bright. Hopefully the war will be over THIS year. Of course if Trump wins in November, there goes any future US funds which will make it much more difficult for Ukraine to win – which is what Putin is hoping for of course…
Rather hoping the furor about Iran settles down before November — Trump was fairly non-interventionist aside from his Iran fixation. The assassination of Soleimani RIGHT before he left office was bad form, I though….nothing like kicking over the table and then handing the broom to someone else.
BTW: As we’re both interested in Geopolitics – I’ve been checking out this guy who appears to know what he’s talking about. He has a lot of interesting views of conflicts from around the world.
CaspianReport – YouTube
Thanks! I’ll look into him once I’m home from work.