Update 13 - Year 1753
Non-Military Events:
Continued government investment combined with the rise of local industries and commerce result in Porto Belizan entering a new age of prosperity (+Porto Belizan economic center). Further south, the American plantators exploit the French "cotton crisis" caused by the Red Stick Confederation's activities (see military events) (+Tunja economic center).
Massive recruitment efforts amongst their fellow Amerinds have gone perhaps too far for the Red Stick Confederation as they conscripted practically everybody they could find, and far more than they can support (-1 Economy, -1 Confidence).
Cuzco becomes a local center of trade and, more importantly, industry, further benefiting from the nearby mining successes (+Cuzco economic center).
Inflation strikes France (-1 Economy). Economy further suffers from the war (-1 Economy), and this, in combination with the huge death toll, caused a rise of anti-war dissent, though most people still want to fight to the death of Friedrich von Dunkelheit (-1 Confidence).
Denmark-Norway officially annexes Sweden and puts in place Bestuzhevian decentralization reforms (-1 Centralization).
The Byzantines and the countries of the French alliance sign the Treaty of Edirne. It is a genial diplomatic masterstroke for all the sides involved apart from the poor old Ottoman Sultan. The Byzantines got all their Balkan lands back from the occupying forces and annexed the western Greek regions of Anatolia, France got le Canal de L'Egyptien back without a shot and received the alliance of Byzantium and the chance to strike at its enemies from its territory and Dar al-Islam (see below, see spotlight) got official recognition from yet another power and was able to retake most of the Ottoman Empire with little trouble... at first, anyway, but that's beside the point (but if you're curious, see military events and especially the spotlight). For all three countries, this development is quite promising (+1 Confidence for France, Byzantine Empire, Dar al-Islam, 1 Economy from France to Byzantine Empire). Obviously, the biggest losers from this settlement are Germany and Russia, whose soft underbelly is now exposed to their former allies and the French forces that have based themselves in Serbia...
Much like in France, in Russia there are economical problems because of the war, and dissent's rise is not at all halted (-1 Economy, -1 Confidence). Also, the rise of Dar al-Islam greatly inspires the Muslims within Russia, especially in the Caucasian region where some of the Muslim tribes begun attacking the supply lines.
The Dar al-Islam is born, despite numerous problems...
(see military events, see spotlight)
Having reconquered southern China, the Hanhua Emperor begun to work towards the consolidation of his realm. Firstly, he officially recognized the loss of his northern lands (Sinkiang, Mongolia to Russia, Manchuria, Korea, Taiwan to Japan), as well as the southern ones (Nepal, Bhutan, Upper Burma to Dar al-Islam, the rest of Indochina to France). As the Chinese people were tired of war and as none of these lands were parts of China Proper, this didn't cause much protest, especially as China actually turned out to have made some territorial gains after all, having annexed Macao. Domestically, the capital was moved to Wuhan, which was renovated and renamed into Zhongguojing - the Chinese Capital, as opposed to the Northern (Beijing) and the Southern (Nanjing), and also conveniently placed far away from the Franco-Japanese-dominated sea (+1 Confidence, +1 Civilian Leadership). Economical reconstruction is slower, but is ongoing, as trade resumes with Japan and France after the Treaty of Macao (+Fuzhou, Qingdao economic centers).
Tokyo becomes the center of Japan's trade with EUA, and, more importantly, of the local trade (bolstered by the thriving agriculture) and industry (+Tokyo economic center).
Military Events:
As per an agreement with the French government, the Americans sent out troops to help hunt down the westernmost Amerind rebels, with some success (but nothing extraordinary, especially as the Amerinds were fighting on their home terrain; so aside from some lucky strokes, it has mostly been a wild goose chase, though not an awfully clumsy one).
(-1 American division)
The Red Stick Confederation itself, though badly challenged by the need to supply the huge newly-conscripted undisciplinned army (that was only barely kept together, with numerous fights within the ranks), has managed to trick the French yet again. Having burned all they could their hands on, the Red Stick warriors simply moved westwards, so when the French forces sent to North America arrived and begun their cunning maneuver meant to prevent the Red Stick retreat, all they found was scorched Earth until themselves found by a messanger from Nouvelle Orleans, the last man to leave that city before it was attacked (+2 French irregular divisions), captured, and consequently looted and burned down by the Red Stick Confederation when word came of the large French armies heading in the direction of Nouvelle Orleans. The Red Stick warriors retreated northwards into the countryside and proceeded to wage a guerrila war, inflicting many casualties on those French forces that were sent to hunt them down (finally, they gave up and set up a static defense, preventing the Red Sticks from striking southwards again). They had also caused trouble by freeing black slaves, letting some of them join the Red Sticks (+5 irregular divisions) and leaving others to incite more black rebellions in the lower Mississippi region; though the French put them down, this no doubt will greatly impede the recovery here. Finally, the Red Sticks were joined by some of the local Amerind tribes as well (+5 irregular divisions). Still, none of this will save them if only the French could actually catch them...
(-2 Red Stick divisions, -7 Red Stick Fusilier divisions, -4 Red Stick irregular divisions, -3 French divisions, -2 French Foreign Legion divisions, -2 French irregular divisions)
The "Acadians" meanwhile have put up a surprisingly good fight against the French, having forced back Thorez' forces in the north and defeatied several popular rebellions against them. The French expeditionary force sent to put down these rebels was faced by well-placed forts, and though the "Acadians" were overwhelmed both at Noveau Amsterdam and at Bostogne, they managed to inflict fairly large casualties on the not extremelly numerous Frenchmen. This won the "Acadians" time, but in Autumn the French attacked further in coordination with Thorez, mutinies within the starving "Acadian" army commenced and this rebellion, at least, was crushed.
(-"Acadian" Rebels as a faction, -5 French divisions, -1 French irregular division)
Things are quiet in North Brazil; throughout the year, all the Americans and the Portuguese did was sit tight on the defense in the east and exchange raids and skirmishes in the west, the results being somewhat more favourable for the Americans.
(-1 EUA division, -1 EUA irregular division, -1 Portuguese division, -2 Portuguese irregular divisions)
Though in the northern Pampas and the Gran Chaco the Portuguese forces succesfully hold even now (having won the battles at Parana and at Santiago del Estero (in the latter one, intercepting, outmaneuvering and defeating an American force that threatened to severe the supply routes of the Army of the Mapas) despite heavy casualties), further south they haven't been doing quite as well. Viedma and the southern coast of the Buenos Aires province were secured, and all attempts to besiege Buenos Aires were fought back. Meanwhile, at long last, the Portuguese fleet reemerged for one final battle, gathering near Rio de la Plata and then striking out towards Buenos Aires. Then, however, the entire Portuguese fleet was caught in a grandiose trap - between the American coastal batteries and arriving ships ahead and a large, overeager French fleet behind it. The Portuguese sailors fought bravely as they came under an unescapable artillery barrage and themselves fired back, but in the end ofcourse the entire fleet was eliminated. None of the Portuguese onboard survived. No, really. The rumours that one old madman swam to the shore and proceeded to kill hundreds of American soldiers and Amerinds with his bare hands on his way to Rio de Janeiro are very exaggerated and utterly uncredible...
The Battle of Rio de la Plata trully broke the backs of many of the most jingoist of Portuguese leaders, and already many demand peace negotiations as urged for in the various pamphlets (-1 Portuguese Confidence).
(-5 EUA divisions, -6 EU Cabalerria Core divisions, -4 EUA squadrons, -9 Portuguese divisions, -5 Portuguese Tigres de Famose divisions, -6 Portuguese conscript divisions, -47 Portuguese squadrons, -7 French squadrons)
The French decided to put down the Spanish rebels for good, cracking down on their cells in French-held territory (especially in Aragon), and deploying several small armies to Iberia. Before the deployment was complete, though, the situation got worse as Miguel de Tona managed to unite most rebels under his banner (+5 irregular divisions), while some new rebellions begun in Portugal and Aragon. Furthermore, Miguel wasted no time, moving his headquarters to Madrid and ordering an invasion of Euskardi; an invasion that was surprisingly succesful at first anyway, though at Bilbao the Basque militias (+5 Euskardi irregular divisions) forced the Spanish Brownshirts back. By then, the French had already put down the Portuguese and Aragonese rebels, and begun subduing the Andalusian rebels (one of the few groups that didn't ally with de Tona). And most importantly, they easily captured the unguarded city of La Corunna, the old Gallician capital, and from there struck out for Madrid. There things went not as planned - the Spanish dug in just outside ofthe city and prepared to stand and fight. The French easily overcame the first line of defenses, but stumbled at the much more prepared second, only overcoming it with heavy casualties caused by the well-hidden Spanish artillery and improvised mines. Madrid itself was then assaulted; at a certain moment, the French seemed to be about to lose as a small, but unexpected Spanish force suddenly attacked their rear, but they ofcourse fought it back and captured Madrid. Miguel de Tona hung himself, and far from all of his close retainers were found, dead or alive. The Spanish resistance's open risings were mostly defeated in the ensuing mop-up cmapaigns, but the resistance itself is not quite broken yet.
(-Spanish Free Army as an independent faction, -9 French divisions, -5 French Foreign Legion divisions, -4 Euskardi divisions, -2 Euskardi irregular divisions)
In Lappland, the war bogs down, as both the commanders of the newly-declared Union of Scandinavia and their Russian counterparts have overestimated the strenght of their enemies and decided to wait for them to attack. Consequently, the only real fighting was in the skirmishes, plus there was that one moment when a huge French fleet shelled Lulea's frozen port for some reason. Most casualties on both sides were to attrition, ofcourse.
(-1 Scandinavian division, -1 Russian Cossack division)
Lulea was not the only industrial center the port of which the French have shelled in the Baltic - as they asserted their predominance there, they procedured Riga and Vyborg likewise. Apart from shelling cities, the French also clashed with and destroyed the outnumbered remnants of the Russian Baltic Fleet at Gogland.
(-5 French squadrons, -21 Russian squadrons)
With Cossack scouts at their vanguard, the Russians launched a succesful offensive in Jutland, overwhelming the outnumbered Danish defenders and taking Esbjerg. The Scandinavians fell back in good order, but the Russians pressed on and on, giving them no rest. Finally, Aalborg was assaulted and taken, and the last Scandinavian forces were evacuated from Jutland.
(-7 Russian divisions, -3 Russian Cossack divisions, -5 Scandinavian divisions)
In revenge for the Sack of Rhineland, the French razed Berlin and the countryside to the ground. This was, however, not the wisest of moves as it turned out, as in the same time Russo-German forces recaptured the lightly-defended Stralsund, leaving the French army cut off from supplies and now also unable to hide within Berlin from the superior enemy numbers that were now marshalled against it. After a brief war of maneuver, the French scored a pyrrhic victory at Rathenow; after this, greater forces were concentrated against them, and eventually they were defeated at Wittenberge. But this took up men, resources and most importantly time and attention - the weakened Russian Stralsund garrison was overwhelmed by a new French force, which marched on to rout the Russo-Germans at Robel and at Cottbus. From there, the French marched to take over Saxony and then to link up with the other French forces in Bavaria.
(-12 French divisions, -13 French Foreign Legion divisions, -10 German divisions, -7 German GotGC divisions, -8 Russian divisions)
The Byzantine peace with France greatly changed the situation in southern Europe. Immediately, the Pope and the French handed over the lands they have occupied to the Byzantine government that returned to Constantinople, while the Franco-Italian forces prepared for a big push from Serbia, which was subdued by a combination of amnesty promises and brute force employed not as much by the Byzantines themselves as much by their new allies. In Bulgaria, things went differently - most chose to resist, siding with the Russian army immediately sent into Bulgaria to counter the newly-Francophilic Byzantines (+5 Russian irregular divisions). This force had defeated a Byzantine army at Pleven and succesfully occupied north Bulgaria, though indecisiveness and fear of overstretchment have prevented further advance. But in Serbia, as already said, there wasn't much trouble, so the French were free to force-march across West Hungary towards Vienna and Munich, defeating the local garrisons one-by-one with superior force and consolidating control of the German lands south of the Danube (1 Economy from Germany to France). Meanwhile, the Papal forces occupied Illyria and outflanked the Russian forces in the Italian Alps (that had previously caused much fear within northern Italy); the Russians fought back several attacks, but eventually were starved and had to surrender.
(-3 French divisions, -2 French Foreign Legion divisions, -6 German divisions, -2 German GotGC divisions, -9 Byzantine divisions, -18 Russian divisions, -1 Russian Cossack division, -2 Russian irregular divisions, -8 Papal divisions, -3 Papal Zouave divisions)
The Dar al-Islam is born, despite numerous problems...
(see spotlight)
(stats of the Ottoman and the Greater Islamic Empires merged, -1 Islamic Civilian Leadership, Culture, -1 Abyssinian Confidence, Civilian Leadership, 15 Islamic divisions to Sennar, +1 Caliphal Confidence, -1 Islamic Confidence, +5 Caliphal irregular divisions, +5 Islamic irregular divisions)
(-2 Caliphal divisions, -3 Caliphal irregular divisions, -12 Islamic divisions, -4 Islamic Imperial Guard divisions, -1 Islamic irregular division, -11 Abyssinian divisions, -2 Abyssinian Imperial Guard of Shiba divisions, -13 Sennarese divisions, -5 Sennarese Mounted Grenadier divisions)
Despite rumours of the Dar al-Islam switching sides in the World War, the war efforts against the Russians go on... sort of. This year saw much skirmishing in Central Asia (nothing much in Caucasia, though), but the only real success for the Islamics came in sparsely-populated Turkemenistan, where the local rebels (+2 Islamic irregular divisions) helped throw out the pitiful Russian forces commited to this rather tertiary theatre. Aside from that, its just skirmishes.
(-1 Russian Cossack division, -1 Russian conscript division, -1 Islamic division, -1 Islamic irregular division)
The Xin Han invaded, occupied and (after a quick referendum) annexed Tibet, restoring the Dalai Lama to full power and defeating the few bandits and warlords that were no match at all for the Xin Han force. The casualties were minimal.
Manchurian stalemate is broken, temporarily at least, by the Japanese. Still maintaining naval supremacy, they were able to use it offensively at last, occupying Sakhalin (or Karafuto as they called it) and then invading the province of Ussuri, evicting the unprepared Russian garrisons from Ninguta and Amgunsk [1] and crushing the Russian forces in the Ussuri region against the anvil of the other Japanese forces, that now also moved out to occupy Ussuri and Amur's other banks in the east. However, a fairly large Russian force succesfully retreated northwards. The war died down somewhat until the portion of the Japanese fleet that was patrolling southern Japanese Sea was suddenly attacked and destroyed by an overwhelming Russian fleet at Tsushima. Though the delays during its already-epic journey (made succesful by the fabled French neglect and carelessness and the Russian commander's succesful improvisation and sufficient daring) prevented it from being nearly as effective as it could have been, the new Russian Pacific Fleet was now able to surprise and overwhelm the rest of the Japanese fleet (outnumbered and outclassed as it was) in yet another battle, at Nishino-Shima. After that, the Russians severed the supply routes to Manchuria and severed trade with Korea (-Pusan economic center). The Russians back in Manchuria decided to use this to launch another offensive - inciting a Manchurian rebellion (the Manchurians were quite discontent with the heavy Japanese armed presence and angered by a few isolated atrocities that the Japanese commanders were not always able to prevent especially now) and concentrating their forces along the Xiliao He river, they succesfully broke through the somewhat overstretched Japanese lines and secured the city of Jinzhou. Attempts to attack fruther were met by yet another Japanese defense line, this one even stronger than the previous; the Russian offensive towards Mukden was thus repulsed with heavy losses, although in West Manchuria some more gains were made and the Japanese had to retreat to the north in some cases. The Russians are far from defeated here, but then the Japanese don't seem to be doomed neither, especially as the Manchurian rebellion was quickly defeated for the most part (aside from some countryside "armies" in the north).
(-20 Russian divisions, -7 Russian Cossack divisions, -10 Russian squadrons, -8 Japanese divisions, -5 Japanese Ikkitousennonimusha divisions, -29 Japanese squadrons)
Random Events:
Support for the EUA war effort gradually begins to grow again (+1 Confidence).
Accidental deeds of heroism by members of one of the female auxillary supply units allow the Shogun to overpower all opposition to this one idea of his, as well as to some others (+2 Confidence).
With the help of the local nobility, Chancellor Bestuzhev manages to raise another army (+10 Russian divisions).
Somebody gets lots of volunteers (+5 divisions for tommy_toon's movement, whatever it is.
)!
Julien-Francois I rallies the French people to avenge the German betrayal (+10 divisions).
The Red Stick Confederation's successes win it more volunteers (+5 divisions).
The Hanhua Emperor gets an upsurge in popular support (+1 Confidence).
Reforms within Denmark-Norway made upon the victory over Sweden bring its people closer together (+1 Culture).
The war pauses the German work on Project Hope (-1 project progress).
Sennarese economy continues to suffer the strain of the war (-1 Economy).
Euskardi troops grow ever less battleworthy (-1 Army Training).
As the war doesn't seem to be going anywhere, desertion grows in the Papal army, in part thanks to the antiwar republican agitation (-5 Papal Zouave divisions).
Spotlight:
The Rise of Dar al-Islam.
"Without constant territorial expansion, there can be no empire; but on the other hand, biting off more than they could swallow had doomed many empires and emperors."
- Dmitriy Turukhanov, Russian historian and politologist. "The Empire". Year 1821.
During the tumultous middle of the eighteenth century, the fates of the world's two foremost Muslim powers, the Ottoman and the Mughal Empires, were in a way precisely the opposite. While the Ottoman Empire, despite occasional revivals and local victories, declined, the Mughal Empire, in spite of all the setbacks, ascended. In 1752, while the Ottomans were losing a life-or-death struggle with Russia and the Byzantine Empire, the Mughal Empire was secure in its dominion over much of India and Persia, had enacted a series of succseful reforms and claimed the Caliphal title. The Ottoman sultan, quite apathically, didn't even try to challenge this, nor did he himself abdicate as Caliph. This initial apathy didn't prevent a later agreement to create the Dar al-Islam, an union of the two empire, co-ran by the two Caliphs and seeking to unite the entire Islam.
To some it seemed strange later on how practically nobody tried to stop the rise of the Dar al-Islam - at least as far as great powers went. It was not at all strange on the second glance - after all, all the powers with interest in the region were too busy fighting each other elsewhere. On the third glance, one could also note that the Dar al-Islam succesfully juggled with the interests of the great powers, persuading separately both the French and the Russians, the key sides in the present World War, that they were the ones who had much to gain from the appearence and the rise of a Dar al-Islam.
Anyway, at first things went as planned, as greater cultural, economic and political integration between the two Muslim empires continued. Militarily the fronts on which these empires were still fighting for died down, while the military - or most of it, anyway - was being integrated as well.
However, the nascent Dar al-Islam had a very simple problem - it needed to hold on to simply way too much land. And at times, this land was rebellious - for instance, in newly-liberated Anatolia, most of the Turks didn't like what they considered Mughal domination, despite their ruler being Ahmad Shah Bahadur's de jure ally. Another important case was Egypt, which was simply too far away from Delhi, too Mediterranean-oriented and too nationalistic to easily obey the new Caliph - not that they liked the Ottomans to any greater extent, having after all rebelled slightly over a decade ago under Ibrahim Agha who tried to claim the title of Caliph for himself. That rebellion was suppressed by the Turks with French help, but some rebelliousness remained and now - grew.
Things took a turn for the worse soon after the two Caliphs agreed to meet in Baghdad as a compromise position between Delhi and Ankara (to which Suleiman III had now returned), to discuss important affairs of state. Unfortunately, along the way to Bahdad Suleiman III has been feeling well and upon arrival in the city (far ahead of Ahmad Shah Bahadur, ofcourse) decided to publicly adress his people. Sure enough he was immediately sniped by some religious fanatic due to the surprising carelessness of his guards. Obviously enough this - combined with the suspicious deaths of several former Ottoman ministers and generals, and with the fact that Suleiman III was heirless but for a young son who also died a while ago - rather complicated things, especially as the Badshah remained mostly silent on this issue, and when not, cryptic. In Turkey, the overwhelmingly popular opinion was ofcourse that the hated Mughals were behind this all, and a rebellion started a week later, though the Badshah acted quickly and ruthlessly here, declaring martial law, proclaiming himself the sole ruler of the Dar al-Islam (supported by many key Ottoman officials that still lived; in some regions there had been resistance, but through a variety of means ranging from bribery to full-scale invasion pretty much everybody was kept in line) and sending out troops and assassins to defeat the Turks. And eventually, in the key battle at Sivas, the rebels were defeated and mostly broken, though others retreated to the mountains and there waged a long guerrila war. While the Islamic forces hunted for them there (and fought the nearby Kurd rebellion as well), the most important developments were taking place to the south, in Egypt and Arabia.
A son of Ibrahim Agha, Muhammed Ali, had surfaced in Cairo as a popular leader. By striking a deal with the governor of Egypt after a brief show of force (violent riots in Cairo and Alexandria), he had managed to use the Islamic distraction to consolidate his power over Egypt, crush what few Ottoman garrisons held out throughout the country and cross the Red Sea to attack Mecca. Though the urban Arabs of Arabia Proper were some of the Badshah's most loyal subjects, the Bedouins, by contrast, were quite easily swayed to Muhammed's side. With their help, Hejjaz was overran as well; meanwhile, other Bedouins rebelled in Central Arabia.
Towards the end of the year, Muhammed's luck seemed to have begun to run out. The invasion of Yemen was defeated by the Islamic troops already deployed there and by the Yemeni levies, while negotiations with the Central Arabian Bedouin leaders went on without much progress and while the Islamics, having drowned the Kurdish rising in blood, redeployed troops to Palestine...
Meanwhile, other interesting events went on back in Africa. The Somali, for instance, immediately swore allegience to the Badshah. In the Swahili lands, civil war and anarchy ensued. But most interestingly, the Ottoman forces in Sennar joined the Sennarese army now in full order and along with it first defeated an Abyssinian army en route to Gonder at Halla Sahr Semir, and then attacked Gonder itself from multiple directions. Outnumbered and fairly demoralized, the Abyssinian garrison was crushed, though not before inflicting many casualties upon the Sennarese and allowing the emperor to escape elsewhere. Regardless, the tide seems to have turned, especially with the barbarian invasions in southern Abyssinia. Meanwhile, Muhammed's troops occupied Asmara and the whereabouts.
The Dar al-Islam wasn't in truth dealt a really heavy blow now, and was already recovering from the one it WAS dealt, but clearly there is much work left to do if it is to become a true, long-lasting empire. Because the recent events showed that perhaps it is not meant to be, and this will not simply be like the First Caliphal War, which the Ottomans, despite many grave predictions, survived.
NPC Diplo:
OOC:
[1] Amgunsk=OTL Nikolayevsk-na-Amure.
The next update will come after a considerable delay, because, as said in Panda's thread and as will later be elaborated upon in the Vacation thread, I'll be going to Prague on the 3rd of July, hopefully coming back on 11th or 12th, and so update will probably be on the 19th, though no later than that. But I trust that the NES won't suffer too much anyway - many others are away during the exact same time, so it will be even better that way. As for those who will still be here, meh, you'll use this time as usual I trust - hatching evil plots, spamming the thread and calling each other "tyrants" and "hypocrites", and, ofcourse, compiling long question lists that I am going to ignore upon my return. ITNES didn't die when I was in St. Petersburg, this shouldn't die while I am in Zlata Praha (or recuperating from it, for that matter).
Disenfrancised, why should Russian American colonies have problems no matter how the war is going exactly if the Japanese don't seem to care about them or the Russian naval communications at all? Though by now, ofcourse, the situation has changed anyway...
The funniest bit, tossi, is that silver2039 didn't send orders at all in the end, although he did appear here in the morning when he promised to send orders.
The spotlight is much poorer than I wanted it to be, but its all silver's fault (
), as he's the scapegoat anyway (I doubt that most of you would challenge this appointment...).
?
