Timeline (Axis Reign)

1940
July to September: Luftschlacht um England. The Battle of Britain is coming to a close. The Luftwaffe is on the verge of establishing air superiority while the Kriegsmarine has astoundingly lucky in its recent victories. Adolf Hitler has ordered the commencement of Operation Sea Lion on September 19. The German High Command, which had been skeptical of the invasion’s success, unenthusiastically gathers landing craft.

September 15: Victory at Home! The Kriegsmarine, in an audacious attempt to wipe the Royal Navy off the face of the earth, attacks Scapa Flow. The battle ends in the destruction of most of the German navy, including the sinking of the KMS Graf Spee and the KMS Triptz and the wounding of the KMS Bismarck. Admiral Charles Forbes then ordered the bulk of the Home Fleet to the Channel.

September 16: Carnage at the Channel.Landing craft carrying five divisions of German soldiers embarks from French and Belgian ports. They will be the first wave in the coming assault against the English shore. Due to bad weather, the Luftwaffe remains on the ground, although this raises little opposition to the invasion. The Home Fleet, in the meantime, sees the motion and informs the British military of the invasion force. The British coast slowly becomes covered with artillery and troop emplacements. Shortly before the scheduled landing, the Home Fleet engages the German landing craft. The few German ships protecting them are easily sunk. Before long, five divisions are gone.

September 17: As soon as word is received that five divisions have been lost in Operation Sea Lion, the OKW calls off the rest of the operation, much to the surprising dismay of Hitler. He even threatened to make himself the Commander-in-Chief of the Wehrmacht to make sure that no future military operation would fail. Many German generals lost all loyalty to Hitler, with the exclusion of Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel. A secret military opposition to Nazi Rule was shortly established under Walther von Brauchitsch. The majority of the OKW drafts plans for a coup to eliminate both the Fuehrer and the SS.