DaNES I: At the Precipice

Is it too late to send orders now?

I'd hope so, considering I was under the impression the deadline was two days ago . Through, for my own case, I only sent in brief guide because of my lateness.

I'm sorry this took so bloody long; you can blame Thlayli and a special friend for it not being up yesterday afternoon.

Update 2 – Year 1927

Domestic Events

The United States has plunged into the war with some trepidation; while Congress has duly passed the declarations of war on the Entente Powers as each joins the war, many American investors are angered at the loss of their UK investments. Victories in the war later in the year have improved American confidence, but overseas trade is still taking a significant hit. (+2/-1 American Confidence, -3 American EC economy)

The Radical Civic Union government in Argentina initiates an industrialization program that is beginning to revive the economy and make the country more self-sufficient; through this measure as well as a general expansion of the national reserve, President Yrigoyen has largely quieted personalista opposition to his rule while not promising to join the Global War in any way, making sure to stay on the side of armed neutrality. (+1 Argentinean Confidence)

David Lloyd George's Liberal government manages to regain some of the lost confidence of last year, mostly through joining the Global War; while the decision to focus on Greece to the detriment of other theaters – especially the defense of the Far East - is criticized in Parliament, so far Lloyd George has managed to retain power by playing up on nationalism and the necessity to keep the government functioning during the war. With the onset of war, though, Anglo-American trade has begun to take a dive, which damages both economies significantly and angers capitalists in both countries. The continuing confusion over the proposed “Great Colony Reform” and its actual course are also causing inconveniences, as there is no real plan for the whole thing. (+1/-2 British Confidence, -2 British EC economy, -1 British project progress)

A Dutch program to amp up the strength of the Navy has met with general support from most of the government, who generally approve of armed neutrality, and combined with the economical improvement after the completion of the New Economic Policy, Prime Minister de Beerenbrouck's popularity is soaring. (+1 Dutch Confidence)

Belgium's government has managed to get both the right and left wings of the government annoyed by first joining the Triple Alliance and then failing to actually participate in the war itself; what demonstrations were held were shut down by a large number of German troops, as were the attempts to hold an election to replace Prime Minister van de Vijvere's government. Most of the Belgians have been scared by the occupying Germans into not doing anything rash, and dissent seems to have quieted down significantly. (+/-1 Belgian Confidence)

The Spanish Emperor has promised constitutional reforms, and a French-style referendum has been held on the form of such reforms, to which there has been fairly enthusiastic response. A constitution-making convention is currently underway in Madrid; though no firm consensus has yet been reached, most of the Spanish people are fairly excited at the level of interest the Emperor is showing. Still, an increase in dissent against the thus far unsuccessful war, combined with renewed Marxist agitations, largely wipe out the gains made. (+/-1 Spanish Confidence)

The Swedish-Norwegian government's plan for the creation of a national bank was thrown awry by the need to spend monies to support the military, especially at the heightened alert status due to the Global War.

Italy has been rocked by several major uprisings this year, most of which are believed to be the work of Benito Mussolini's fascists [1]; while many have been put down, Mussolini has successfully managed to establish a people's republic in Milan and Turin that is even now calling for Italians to rebel against the tyrannical Pope, who has not yet sent the Italian Confederation army against his adversary, perhaps due to the debilitating illness from which he seems to be suffering. (-1 Italian Confidence, -1 Italian banked eco)

Many of the proposed Russian reforms of last year have been canceled, ostensibly due to the war; this leaves many suspicious and encourages defections to the growing Blue Party, led by one M. Kolmogorov among others. The Blues and Progressives command significant support among the Moscow masses, as well as the industrial cities of the Urals and the Don and Volga basins; this hasn't gotten them much of a role in the Duma, due to the Tsar's continuing policy of keeping the electorate relatively small and fairly conservative. Actually, it might not be particularly intelligent to refer to the Tsar at this point; at a council meeting with the most important of his ministers, the Tsar was apparently stripped of his powers, but the ministers themselves haven't officially seized power and seem to be doing everything in the name of the Tsar. That doesn't seem to matter much to the Blues; in addition to their newspaper publications that criticize the Tsar's policies, they have apparently been discovered behind several major strikes in the industrial cities, which have slightly impeded the tsarist war effort. A combination of the Blue activity, the extremely large amounts of confusion at the top, and the rather mediocre performance in the war so far has resulted in a large downturn in the government's confidence rating thus far. (-1 Russian Confidence)

Serbia and Montenegro have decided on a union of the two states, dominated by Serbia but with Montenegro retaining significant autonomy and privileges; this, along with the Serbian betrayal of the Triple Alliance, has induced serious consequences for the Serbian government, although initially this move is nothing but good... (Serbia and Montenegro stats merged)

Greece, in the wake of the collapse of the Turkish Republic, has declared an Aegean Empire instead, trying to rally the Turks to their side with promises of clemency and so forth. Most of the proud and highly nationalistic Turkish people weren't really swayed to support this new state, but there were some collaborators, tired of the constant instability of the later Ottoman and later Republic days. The fact that nobody seems to have tried to support a Turkish uprising also played into these plans. In any event, as the year dragged on many Turks were eventually swayed to the Greek cause through a combination of odd propaganda and promises of representation. Parts of the former Turkish military agreed to join that of the new Empire, and much of the former Turkish bureaucracy was absorbed as well.

(+Kurdish Republic, +Aegean Empire, +/-1 Imperial Confidence, +/-1 Imperial Bureaucracy, +9 Imperial divisions)

Constitutionalist rebels have seized Tehran and forced the abdication of Soltan Ahmad Shah, apparently with support from the military and even the shah himself; while there are a few Qajar holdouts elsewhere in Persia, they have generally been dealt with quickly and relatively painlessly. The Constitutionalist revolutionary council has embarked on a reforming spree, attempting to improve the quality of Persian life in all respects; at the very least, they seem to have gained the support of most of the country, as compared with the hated Qajars. It remains to be seen what the Russians will do about this attack on their puppet ruler. (+2 Persian Confidence)

Following a brief power struggle in Arabia, Muhammad Hanbal and Amir al'Muminin ibn Saud divide the government between them as an “Islamic Republic”, pledging to end the tribal strife what's dominated Arabia for over a millennium. President Hanbal has also invited oil specialists in, and rumors abound of discoveries in the stark, trackless Arabian desert...

Surprisingly enough, once again China fails to burst into general open revolt; the Marxists seem more or less to be biding their time, while the Qing government totters along without much change but with constantly decreasing public support. By the end of the year, though, Prime Minister Yuan Shikai seems to be getting ill, and there are reports that he is on his deathbed. (-1 Qing Chinese Confidence)

International Events

Canada and the United States have initiated a phony war on their mutual border, with mobilizations on both sides. As the Americans are concentrating elsewhere (see Military Events) and the Canadians are simply not that powerful, the sole event here, other than useless artillery duels, has been limited to the highly lauded dispatch of a sizable British expeditionary force to Canadian soil that has quite publicly announced its assistance in the defense of the Dominion.

Chile and Argentina have signed a non-aggression pact, although the proposed Argentinean trade agreement was rebuffed. In addition, Argentina has added Uruguay to its list of official allies.

Brazil and Argentina are in a state of quasi war; neither side seems to be willing to mount any naval actions, as the Argentineans seem to be primarily interested in the maintenance of a fleet-in-being, while the Brazilians are busy elsewhere (see Military Events).

Sweden-Norway and Denmark have created the Scandinavian Union customs organization, along with a defensive pact and military base agreement, as part of the Treaty of Stockholm. The greater intertwining between the two great Scandinavian countries has been played up very well in both Denmark and Sweden-Norway. (+1 Danish Confidence, +1 Swedish-Norwegian Confidence)

The Spanish Emperor's acceptance of the Neapolitan throne goes relatively unnoticed in both countries, especially since the King of the Two Sicilies isn't dead yet and both the Triple Alliance and the Entente Powers have much more pressing things to worry about.

Serbia and Montenegro's merger has also come with a withdrawal from the Triple Alliance and an adherence to Bulgaria; this annoys some of the Serbs, who really don't see the division of Albania as sufficient grounds for switching alliances, but the real consequences come later. (Serbia and Montenegro leaves Triple Alliance, -1 Serbian Confidence)

Both Britain and Greece have attempted to create a Kurdish state; the Greeks seem to have been more successful, as they actually have managed to rally Kurds to their side and support the creation of a Kurdish Republic, but the British Kurds themselves have not become hostile to the Rhodesian government yet.

The massive loan that the Swedish government has made available to the new Arabian state has annoyed many members of the Riksdag and the populace at large, especially since Sweden has no Arabian interests so far, and many are doubtful of the new republic's ability to pay its loan back. The program for continuing the loan into next year may be in jeopardy, though as yet nothing has been done.

A proposed sale of British Hejaz and Yemen to the Islamic Republic of Arabia falls through when the Parliament fails to consider the issue entirely, possibly due to the war that seems to be preoccupying them; the Arabians are more than a little annoyed at the whole thing, but since they have a cunning backup plan everything sort of works out anyway.

Military Events

With the beginning of the Global War, many countries have mobilized their reserves.

(45 American infantry divisions, 5 American tank brigades, 10 American artillery brigades, 10 Canadian infantry divisions, 2 Canadian artillery brigades, 12 Brazilian infantry divisions, 8 Brazilian artillery brigades, 30 British infantry divisions, 5 British tank brigades, 15 British artillery brigades, 50 Spanish infantry divisions, 10 Spanish artillery brigades, 70 German infantry divisions, 15 German tank brigades, 15 German artillery brigades, 20 Russian infantry divisions, 20 Bulgarian infantry divisions, 5 Bulgarian tank brigades, 10 Bulgarian artillery brigades from reserves to regular army)

(+2 American military upkeep, +1 Brazilian military upkeep, +2 British military upkeep, +2 Spanish military upkeep, +3 German military upkeep, +1 Bulgarian military upkeep)

The Spanish-American War that has turned into the Global War has vastly widened, but the theater in which it originated hasn't lost any of its interest; indeed, the Mexican campaign seems to be a model of modern warfare, mixing together elements of all the latest weaponry and operational doctrine. Following the American declaration of war on Spain (and the domino-like declarations of war with the British and French), American naval, air, and ground forces began moving, as did those of their Spanish and British counterparts. Timing was everything in this theater, more so than in the other ones, as a missed signal could lead to the loss of a fleet or an army corps, and fighter and zeppelin support was necessarily perfectly timed to have any effect at all.

Mexico, of course, was the place where the first fighting took place, as the eponymous American army group, commanded by General George Marshall but directed under the overall command of Chief of the American General Staff [2] John Pershing, launched several attacks into northern Mexico down through Baja and along the Gulf of Mexico coast. Aided by many desertions by Mexican garrison troops, the Americans simply overwhelmed much of the regular Spanish troops stationed in Mexico during the month-long Tampico campaign, with many Spanish troops cut off by a combination of American armor, Mexican jägers (who in this country were referred to by the odd name of “guerrillas”), and overwhelming American air power, which was used fairly effectively as close air support for the advancing American spearheads. The Spanish commander, one Primo de Rivera, was doubly threatened by a sizable American landing at Acapulco and an advance with two corps out of the Nicaraguan jungle, assisted by the zapatista rebels of the south and other uprisings in Mexico City. De Rivera managed to pull his shattered army back towards the Yucatan, once more threatened by an American landing at Vera Cruz, abandoning Mexico City entirely as the metropolis was consumed by riots. The Americans were successfully held back by the well-constructed Spanish defenses, on which lavish amounts of money had been spent, and by stages de Rivera managed to reach the safety of the peninsula, from which he has managed to repulse the American attacks on his position, although plans for withdrawal to Cuba had to be scrapped due to the disastrous losses in the Strait of Florida and off Great Inagua (see below). For his part, Marshall was content to consolidate in Mexico proper, working with the native rebels to establish a temporary American military government and clearing up his supply lines again. The disparate pockets of pro-Spanish counterrevolutionaries have been generally wiped out, and as the year ends the Americans are increasingly free to turn their attention to the Spanish trapped in the Yucatan Peninsula once more...

(-Spanish colony in Mexico, -9 American infantry divisions, -1 American marine division, -2 American tank brigades, -1 American artillery brigade, -7 Spanish infantry divisions, -3 Spanish tank brigades, -2 Spanish artillery brigades)

The Spanish only barely managed to land their Mexican garrison's reinforcements before the Spanish Caribbean Fleet encountered the American First and Second Fleets, backed up by most of Third Fleet. Overwhelming American numerical superiority in the sea wasn't enough, of course; they had to completely overawe the Spanish in the air as well. Spanish Admiral Gonzalo Queipo de Llano y Sierra, sailing through the Strait of Florida, had his T capped and lost a large portion of his fleet to air attack. Queipo de Llano managed to withdraw from the initial disastrous engagement off Havana, but was soon cornered by more American ships, coming from Santo Domingo, which forced the Spanish fleet to battle off Great Inagua and almost completely wiped it out, forcing the pitiful remnants of the fleet to withdraw back towards Europe. This impressive naval victory was followed up by almost immediate American landings on Cuba itself by marines and the regular army; the Spanish army contingent hadn't had time to land on the island, so it was fairly easily overrun by the Americans by the end of the year. Still, Spain managed to keep part of the submarine force in the area, and Queipo de Llano's former fleet turned to commerce raiding duties, significantly harming what was left of the American overseas trade.

(-1 Spanish EC economy, -1 American EC economy, -2 American infantry divisions, -1 American marine division, -2 American dreadnoughts, -4 American cruisers, -7 American destroyers, -3 American submarines, -8 Spanish dreadnoughts, -9 Spanish cruisers, -12 Spanish destroyers, -3 Spanish submarines)

Colombia's civil war intensified as the rebels received American support; the military government in Bogota basically collapsed as the American General John Lejeune interpreted his directives rather broadly and led his marine and army contingent into the heart of the country with much support from the rebels as the Colombian army disintegrated due to defections and the minor losses that it sustained against the rebel forces. An American-sponsored republic has been set up in Bogota itself and General Lejeune is currently engaged in hunting down the Colombian conservative rebel forces, which have partly spilled over into Ecuador to little result.

(-2 American infantry divisions, +Republic of Colombia and Panama, -Republic of Colombia as a cohesive and independent government)

Britain and Germany have jumped into their segments of the Global War headfirst; the Royal Navy and the Hochseeflotte, both spoiling for a fight, finally clashed in July off Heligoland. The British Grand Fleet, under the overall command of Admiral David Beatty and assisted by a portion of the French Navy, engaged the Germans under Franz von Hipper following a few months of submarine sniping and marshaling of the respective fleets. Von Hipper, with an amazing numerical superiority over the vaunted British, had the support of land-based planes on Heligoland itself that informed the admiral of the location of the British ships, as well as the Russian Baltic Sea Fleet under the command of Nikolai Nebogatov. The British cruisers were the ones who initially encountered the Germans' outriding patrols, but were outnumbered due to the German ability to see the Entente ships and direct their own ships to assist; the British main surface fleet, as well as the Gibraltar detachment, was rushed towards Heligoland to engage, but was disrupted by the German submarines, who in the absence of a destroyer escort were able to prey on the Royal Navy dreadnoughts. Beatty's T was capped as his ships sped to his cruisers' and destroyers' aid, and the British sustained heavy casualties. Only with the arrival of part of the French navy under Admiral Emile Guepratte could Beatty extricate his fleet with severe casualties. The Battle of Heligoland, while a German tactical victory, has not really allowed them to exert total superiority over the North Sea, as the still-strong British Grand Fleet, now augmented by the dispatch of the portion of the fleet sent from Gibraltar, has sortied from Scapa Flow successfully, and the French have also managed to exert some influence even with the loss of the Channel ports to the German offensive (see below). Somewhat strangely, no blockades have been initiated by either side, which of course makes the Dutch and Sweden-Norway quite happy but is already beginning to cause grumbling in the Admiralty. The naval war in the North Sea is decidedly undecided, though a resolution is likely soon.

(-4 British dreadnoughts, -8 British cruisers, -19 British destroyers, -3 British submarines, -5 British fighter squadrons, -1 French dreadnought, -3 French cruisers, -5 French destroyers, -4 French submarines, -3 German dreadnoughts, -7 German cruisers, -14 German destroyers, -18 German submarines, -4 German fighter squadrons, -1 Russian dreadnought, -3 Russian cruisers, -5 Russian destroyers, -3 Russian submarines)

The long-awaited conflict between the Germans and French has finally begun. In Germany, a general mobilization was accompanied by rapid deployment of the newly raised troops to the front in Luxemburg and Alsace-Lorraine; this was in sharp contrast to the French, who were insufficiently organized (but at least were mobilizing) and took a fair amount of time to get their troops to the front. At the same time, the Belgians, a wild card, nearly saw their government collapse upon the beginning of the war but managed to initiate mobilization as well, although no offensive moves were taken and the government seemed almost in stasis. The French and Belgian lethargy was in sharp contrast to the Germans, who crossed the border in March and initiated the series of struggles that are now lumped into the “Battle of the Frontiers”; the poorly prepared French armies, under the overall command of General of the Armies Philippe Petain, launched several ineffective counterattacks at the Germans, who largely kept their momentum. Both sides suffered horrendous casualties, mostly due to the terrain of Alsace-Lorraine, but the German Chief of the General Staff Hans von Seeckt shrugged them off and kept going. Metz fell to the Germans in June and Verdun's defenses collapsed the next month, allowing the Germans a route into northern France and attempting an encirclement of the French still engaged near Strasbourg on the Rhine. Petain was sacked by personal order of Napoleon V and replaced by Louis Franchet d'Esperey, who skillfully managed to withdraw French troops from the Alsace Pocket and reorganized them in southern Burgundy, stalling the German attempt to exploit to the south. Hubert Lyautey, Head of the Paris Garrison, was entrusted with the northern defenses and slowed the progress of Alexander von Kluck's northern army group, which was prevented from making a full encirclement of the French capital in the fall by a series of savage French counterattacks – the Battles of the Seine and of Orleans – that kept the supply lines to the south open. A German drive towards some of the Channel Ports under August von Mackensen, however, has succeeded, and a renewed German threat to the Parisian flank at Amiens was only narrowly repulsed in late December. The unprepared French Army has managed to hold the Germans off for awhile, but Hans von Seeckt's troops are uncomfortably close to Paris, though they haven't actually attacked the city itself yet, and it remains to be seen whether or not the French can alone continue to hold back the tide, especially with the loss of the most heavily industrialized and productive territories in the entire Empire.

(-28 French infantry divisions, -9 French tank brigades, -5 French artillery brigades, -11 French fighter squadrons, -3 French zeppelin squadrons, -25 German infantry divisions, -12 German tank brigades, -5 German artillery brigades, -4 German fighter squadrons, -2 German zeppelin squadrons)

The Balkan situation has drastically changed from that of last year; based on an “inequitable division of Albanian territory” following the brief war of last year, Prime Minister Pasic managed to have the Serbian and Montenegrin Parliament declare war on Greece in support of Bulgaria, which joined the war on the Entente side after a botched Russian assassination attempt on the life of Prime Minister Malinov. Russian, Wallachian, Imperial, and Hungarian armies began to converge on the two Entente Powers, who surprisingly didn't launch a preemptive strike against their encircling enemies, instead electing to sit on the defensive. The Bulgarian fleet was annihilated by the Russian Black Sea Fleet under Aleksandr Kolchak in a brief battle off Varna, but the Allies chose not to make an amphibious landing. Instead, two overland assaults were conducted. The Russo-Wallachian forces under General Sergei Khabalov transferred from Finland crossed the Danube River and drove towards the crest of the Balkan Mountains. However, the Bulgarian troops under the direct command of Kosmos Klerikov had rough numerical parity and inflicted serious casualties on the Russians at Popovo and Levski in June, halting the Allied assault, then initiated a counteroffensive, timed with an inconvenient Wallachian uprising, that forced Khabalov to withdraw back over the Danube. While the Russians spent most of their time crushing the renegade Wallachian government, the Bulgarians were free to improve their defenses along the Danube and to transfer forces south to a predetermined defensive line in the Maritsa Valley that, in conjunction with Serbian reinforcements, halted the Imperial attack north of Adrianople. While this front quieted down, the Serbians, annoyed at the lack of a real opening, launched an assault of Imperial Macedonia that quickly bogged down in the mountains and allowed the Greeks to transfer troops to Anatolia to fight the British (see below). While the south quieted down, the north erupted into full conflict again; the Hungarians, delayed for a few months while crushing Slavs that really didn't have much reason – or monetary support – to revolt in the first place, promptly crashed into northern Serbia. With overwhelming force, the Hungarian army crashed across the Danube after a brief bombardment of Belgrade; the capital fell as the Serbian government fled to Nish, but the Hungarian army was simply too huge to be stopped, even by the admittedly skilled Serbian Army; the Macedonian operation was abandoned and Serbian troops were rushed north, and managed to halt the first Hungarian drive just north of Nish in September, but the next month, the Hungarian Army under the command of Field Marshal Hermann von Kövesshaza renewed its attack, encircling a large portion of the Serbian Army in the Juzna Morava Valley and forcing them to either retreat into Bulgaria or to Kosovo Pole and Montenegro. By the end of the year, though Bulgaria had held out, Serbia was in dire straits indeed, confined to pretty much the non-Serbian parts of the Kingdom.

(-Wallachia, -12 Bulgarian infantry divisions, -3 Bulgarian tank brigades, -4 Bulgarian artillery brigades, -5 Bulgarian destroyers, -7 Bulgarian fighter squadrons, -21 Serbian infantry divisions, -4 Serbian tank brigades, -7 Serbian artillery brigades, -4 Serbian fighter squadrons, -14 Hungarian infantry divisions, -2 Hungarian tank brigades, -4 Hungarian artillery brigades, -4 Hungarian fighter squadrons, -1 Hungarian zeppelin squadron, -9 Russian infantry divisions, -3 Russian tank brigades, -1 Russian artillery brigade, -3 Russian destroyers, -1 Russian fighter squadron, -6 Imperial infantry divisions, -3 Imperial tank brigades, -2 Imperial artillery brigades, -2 Imperial fighter squadrons, -1 Imperial zeppelin squadron)

Prime Minister Lloyd George and Minister of State for War Herbert Samuel have developed a cunning plan, concentrating on the Mediterranean theater to wipe out the vile Greeks. A vastly augmented British Mediterranean Fleet made for the southern Anatolian coastline, opposed only by the vastly smaller Greek navy, which of course decided to scrap its plans for the conquest of Cyprus. The British seized Crete and Rhodes, but were immediately embroiled in a brutal urban conflict that inflicted serious difficulties on the fleet's line of supply and tied down a disproportionate force to protect the coastline and the critical ports on the two islands. Meanwhile, the remainder of the Expeditionary Force, under Edmund Allenby, was dispatched to the vicinity of Petronion [3], where they made an unopposed landing and quickly began to expand their beachhead. Unfortunately, the armada ran into some snags rather quickly. The fact that much of the covering air force was dispatched to senselessly attack Greece proper, loaded with bombs with miniscule payload and using inaccurate zeppelins to try to destroy major installations and initiate strategic bombing, hurt the reconnaissance capabilities of the British fleet while also negating what advantage the aircraft carriers brought the Royal Navy in the cramped Mediterranean Sea. The British problems were compounded by the rapidly approaching Russian Navy, which brought the Imperial numbers near to parity with the British. In September, the Allied navies finally launched their counterattack, while the Imperial Army and segments of the Russian Army desperately redeployed to Anatolia. A massive Allied submarine attack on the British fleet in the Cyclades dispersed the British screen and confused the Royal Navy admirals, who lost the aircraft carriers HMS Ark Royal and HMS Hermes as well. While Admiral John de Robeck attempted to deal with the submarine threat, the Greek, Hungarian, and Russian navies, under the joint command of Admirals Pavlos Kountouriotis and Aleksandr Kolchak appeared on the scene; in a desperate and confused struggle, more often than not reduced to single-ship duels, the British managed to prevail through sheer numbers, but the tactical confusion and lack of a formal naval doctrine for the individual commanders to follow made the Battle of the Cyclades a Pyrrhic victory, though with horrendous casualties on both sides. De Robeck's Mediterranean Fleet withdrew back to Rhodes, and the bombing of Greece more or less stopped. Meanwhile, in Anatolia itself, the British achieved impressive initial successes in Ionia, but eventually the rapid redeployment of Allied forces to the front forced the BEF to halt its advance. By late fall, Allenby was withdrawing by stages towards Petronion as Russian numbers began to tell. Even some of the Turks of the region, angered by the British support for a Kurdish state, initiated jäger warfare, attacking the British supply lines and hampering the withdrawal. The British air power, switched over from the useless bombing campaign, has provided excellent close air support and has achieved some successes against the Allied air armada, though there has been no clear victor in the air war yet. Britain's lone prosecution of the Mediterranean conflict has prolonged the war there, but it seems as though the initial Royal Navy successes may be erased by the numbers that the Allies are dispatching to the critical theater, especially now that Serbia has been more or less eliminated.

(-4 British infantry divisions, -6 British marine divisions, -1 British tank brigade, -4 British artillery brigades, -2 British aircraft carriers, -9 British dreadnoughts, -14 British cruisers, -18 British destroyers, -13 British submarines, -9 British fighter squadrons, -6 British zeppelin squadrons, -3 Imperial infantry divisions, -1 Imperial tank brigade, -1 Imperial aircraft carrier, -5 Imperial dreadnoughts, -8 Imperial cruisers, -10 Imperial destroyers, -6 Imperial submarines, -4 Imperial fighter squadrons, -1 Imperial zeppelin squadron, -2 Russian infantry divisions, -3 Russian dreadnoughts, -4 Russian cruisers, -6 Russian destroyers, -3 Russian submarines, -2 Russian fighter squadrons, -2 German submarines, -1 Hungarian dreadnought, -2 Hungarian cruisers, -5 Hungarian destroyers, -1 Hungarian submarine)

The Russian attack on northern Mesopotamia early in the year was met with equal force by the British regulars who had just been transferred there; after relatively low-level fighting, accompanied by the support of the Kurdish Republic, the Russians drew most of their troops off to the west to assist their Imperial allies.

(-1 British infantry division, -3 British Rhodesian divisions, -2 Russian infantry divisions, -1 Russian tank brigade)

A German attack on Angola has been repulsed by the far larger Spanish forces in that colony who, surprisingly, have not decided to go over to the counteroffensive. The Germans were also repulsed from Sudan with insignificant casualties. Germany retains naval control of the southern African coast, though, as apparently no Spanish or British naval forces have been dispatched to even contest the region.

(-3 Spanish Angolan divisions, -2 German infantry divisions)

The Persian Constitutionalists have had to fight large segments of the former Qajar army, which has in general taken to the hills in Khorasan, though much of the Persian Army seems to have generally been happy or at the very least indifferent to the government change.

(-7 Persian infantry divisions,-3 Persian artillery brigades, -10 Persian unmobilized infantry divisions)

The Russian Central Asian military district, confused by the lack of real orders in the event of a war with Britain, have largely stayed in place this year; the British Raj government has sighed in relief and continued with desperate war preparations.

The planned German invasion of French Indochina has been canceled by the commander on the spot, Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck; instead, interpreting his orders broadly, the Germans have seized Singapore and the Malayan Peninsula, opposed only by the British colonial troops, who were overpowered easily enough. The utter lack of a British Far East flotilla has angered the Japanese, who were entirely unprepared to fight on their own, and who have decided (among other reasons, including a liberal interpretation of the Entente agreements with Britain, Spain, and France) to remain neutral for now.

(-British Malaya, -2 German infantry divisions)

---

[1] = While this may not be apparent to some, the fasci siciliani of OTL are the inspiration for these, not the OTL fascists; therefore, Mussolini is in charge of Marxists.

[2] = The Americans organized a German-style general staff following the defeat in the second Mexican intervention, back in 1882-3.

[3] = Ancient Halicarnassus; Turkish Bodrum.

OOC:

Oy. Due to personal and academic issues, the next deadline is pushed back to the 24th of October at the usual time. This time, though, I won't be nearly so lenient as last time; I fully expect everyone to be able to turn in full, passable orders before the deadline hits.

flyingchicken, if you change your government and post it in-thread, include it in your orders as well please. They were still mighty confusing, made significantly more confusing by whoever is in charge of the Progressive Party.

Thlayli, if you don't tell me exactly how many of each unit goes with each command number, I will cause a large number of them to mysteriously sink in the Bermuda Triangle, disappear in a sudden swirling dust devil in Mexico the size of New Jersey, or otherwise fall off the face of the earth.

silver, I accepted your spending orders, but I didn't do the military stuff, because the orders really were rather late. ~Darkening~, pretty much the same thing there for you too.

Jason, you have to devote funds to military upkeep each turn. I'm sorry if that wasn't clear enough.

Also, multiple people have been confused on this point, but each nation can only have one project going at a time. Fortunately in both major cases the issue was resolved fairly easily by conditional orders on one hand and the fact that one was technological on the other (you can carry out research separately from projects), but in the future try to remember: one project at a time.

*sigh*, also, the world map isn't uploading, which is a pain. I'll do my best to fix that as soon as possible.

Great Update. Sorry for not sending orders Dachs. You didn't have to be so cruel.

What is wrong with the map?

I am blocked from uploading it. Hopefully we can get a workaround soon.

Use imageshack

Decloak: Upload it somewhere else and use an

No, I'm blocked from using imageshack too. Thlayli has got the workaround tho. Posting shortedly.

Workaround established.

Excellent update, everything went perfectly. Though I hope the Entente resistance gets a little more vigorous in the future.

Nice update Dachs.

Thlayli said:

Workaround established.

Excellent update, everything went perfectly. Though I hope the Entente resistance gets a little more vigorous in the future.

Click to expand...

You know, if bits of your country were occupied, maybe you wouldn't talk so much

Excellent update nonetheless, that was a pleasure to read

I know this is absurdly late to ask, but can you explain the Chinese government to me? It says "absolute monarchy" but there is a prime minister, who seems to have some power, so it doesn't appear to be too "absolute." Is there also some Parliamentesque body as well?

Why do I have six EP banked?

It's not like I don't want them, I'm just wondering where they are from.

TO: Triple Alliance Members
FROM: Kingdom of Belgium

We congratulate you on your grand victories. It is unfortunate the Belgian armed forces could not cooperate with you in the beginning of this war. However we are solving our government crisis and troops will be deployed to pay the French back for the Great European War.

TO: Kingdom of the Netherlands
FROM: Kingdom of Belgium

The current war gives us reason to be suspicious of your doings and possible cooperation with the British. We request the break up of your home front military in order to keep peace. Allowing German and Belgian soldiers to guard your ports to prevent the introduction of war in your lands.



OOC: None of my allies are on MSN. Can some of you get on please?

OOC: Luckymoose, I think you're doing a very good job of King Albert I's descent into senility.

To the United States, Germany
From the Kingdom of the Netherlands

Should we take the Belgian threat seriously? We had previously believed you had secured our neutrality, and we have done nothing to break it.

From: The United States
To: The Kingdom of the Netherlands

The governments of the Triple Alliance have no wish to violate the neutrality of the Netherlands, though we would welcome greater cooperation with our Belgian and German allies.

Thlayli I need to speak with you on MSN sometime.

Agreed. Tomorrow's good for me, and hopefully Kal too.

To the United States
From the Kingdom of the Netherlands

One of the United States's requests, in return for guarantees of our neutrality, was that we would make no war-time treaties with the Entente. It is our opinion that to not do the same with the Allies would be a breach of the neutrality that we cherish so much.