Der Adler, der Wolf, und die Sonne: Die Geschichte des Stahlpakts
(The Eagle, the Wolf, and the Sun: The History of the Pact of Steel)
Book 1: "Peace"
Covering the years from 1936 through 1941, Book One of "The Eagle, the Wolf and the Sun: The Histo...
Italian forces--due to their nation's smaller revenue and budgetary problems--were inevitably behind their German counterparts in developing stronger weapons and doctrines to overcome their operational and strategic realities. Without German assistance and cooperation, it would be unlikely that they would be able to independently overcome these issues, but the financial situation meant that research and development funds were doled out in dribs and drabs. This didn't prevent the Italians from making some headway towards modernizing their forces.
The Regio Esercito.
In February, the Regio Esercito issued their latest refinement of their doctrinal interpretation of guidance provided by the German liaisons. This interpretation related how best to organize for and fight operational-level commands such as divisions and corps (rather than the tactical level up to brigades). One concept copied wholesale from the German system was that of the Commander's Intent of centralized planning. Despite not having a history of mission-based tactics as in the Heer, the Regio Esercito sought to inculcate at least some tactical independence and initiative for their leaders. This would continue to be improved throughout the year.
A rethink of the organization of the infantry and their training was also finalized: Italy developed their own version of the German squad, platoon, company and battalion organization. Their limitations in available weapons and the quality of those weapons meant that a team was composed of five men: a team leader and four riflemen, while a squad contained only two teams plus a squad leader. The light machine gun which had been part of the infantry squad, the Breda 30, was so problematic with its operation that they were withdrawn from service until a replacement could be designed.
Four squads made up the standard Italian platoon, along with a platoon leader and two senior sergeants. In the company, the new table of organization and equipment had three platoons, plus a machine gun platoon. Here, the Breda M37 heavy machine gun was far more capable than the related Breda 30, and so the heavy weapons platoon was assigned enough weapons to make one machine gun team of three soldiers per squad in the company. Battalions were formed out of three companies plus a mortar company (devolved out of former mortar battalions), which held fifteen total weapons. The infantry battalion also held a reconnaissance platoon of Bersaglieri. Three battalions made up a regiment, which also held the medical, signal and logistical attachments.
As this organization was improved, training the leaders in the employment of their forces began in October as the Esercito sent a division to participate in the fall German war games. This proved to be something of an embarrassment for the Italians, who were constantly slaughtered generally through issues at the tactical level. A portion of the blame was laid on the fact that it was not the higher quality Alpini mountain divisions nor the elite motorized infantry divisions, but the shock was felt regardless. One of the reasons that a motorized infantry division had not been sent was that they were in the process of being reorganized themselves, and the majority of their higher ranking officers were in Germany training with the Panzer-divisions of the Heer to develop an Italian mobile doctrine.
A special drive on developing better equipment for the Esercito's mountain divisions finished in May. Memories of the losses suffered in the Great War on the northern border convinced the high command that there shouldn't be such a waste of the lavishly trained troops; they needed to be lavishly equipped as well. At the end of the year, funding was also approved for better equipment for fighting in the Desert, given that much of the Italian Empire included the deserts of North and East Africa.
The Regia Marina.
Through the year, the Regia Marina worked to expand their technical and tactical prowess as new vessels joined the fleet and required different methods of employment. As the middle of the year drew to a close, training destroyer skippers in the best manner of escorting both the large surface combatants of the heavy cruisers and battleships on one hand and the mercantile fleet on the other. With an eye towards control of the Mediterranean, the trade that would come with it needed to be protected. The main problem for Italy was a lack of experience in offensive trade warfare as had been practiced by Germany against the United Kingdom, and in the defensive side of the equation. The Regia Marina did not benefit from any advisors from Germany the way that the Army or Air Force did, and thus was on their own in developing their tactics, techniques and procedures.
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The Giulio Cesare passing the Ponte Girevole in Taranto, 1937. Having just emerged from a years-long overhaul, the two ships in the class were still a force to be reckoned with, but the funding could have been better used for other, newer, vessels.
With a new class of battleship soon to be commissioned, training the crew on the systems that would be included in them was initiated. Expenditures into developing an ashore version of systems, most especially spotting and gun-laying and to a lesser extent damage control (through a "sinkable" series of compartments) were expanded. While their crews were practicing, commanders worked to develop their own system for choosing targets; one detail that the Italians gleaned from after-action reports about British engagements during the Great War was ships not appropriately targeting enemy vessels.
All of the foregoing improvements would be for naught, however, if the Regia Marina did not properly organize and run their naval bases. Improvement in this area meant more efficient use of harbors and better transfer of supplies ashore, about which the Army was lax.
The Regia Aeronautica.
Despite not spending sufficient amounts on development of their fighter forces, Italy's Regia Aeronautica did continue to try and stay up to date on their employment of the aviation assets. Funding was supplied in February to train interceptor and fighter squadrons on their primary missions: shooting down enemy bombers. Given that most of the airframes of the Regia Aeronautica were less-capable than their foreign counterparts, tactical employment of those airframes needed to be better.
Funding to train to that higher standard was supplied through March for the interceptor squadrons. The funding shifted to training the bomber command, which ran through December. During this training, doctrinal refinements to ground attack and interdiction missions were identified and the tactics used during those missions had resulted in more funding supplied to rectify those issues.
Industrial Research.
1937 was a year in which Italy sought to overcome its outdated systems in more theoretical research and development. Rome funded Olivetti, SpA, to have them develop a mechanical computing machine. The common understanding was that as computational time decreased, projects requiring such services would become faster and more precise and thus positively impact the capability of those services requiring such technology.
In the spirit of improving the brain power of the Kingdom of Italy, the government encouraged more enrollment at institutes of higher learning. With some of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Europe, encouraging more of their people to attend those institutions and get better jobs--and hopefully improve the capabilities of the military or the nation itself--became a key selling point for the program. It coincided with a push to develop a better agricultural system to feed the nation and free up manpower should it become necessary.
The Italians also funded several industrial concerns in developing better productivity standards. When combined with gained efficiencies, the days of backwards Italian production processes would be over and could step up to support the growing empire. Late in the year, the army and navy, together with the freight services (both on land and at sea), detailed a request for proposals for improvement in the transportation of supplies and other logistical concerns.
