Blackened Skies

[Robert Can't]

Conversation Between General Colin Hay and Sir George Pendleton - Overheard by Jennifer James, Assistant Secretary to General Colin Hay
Presented as Evidence in the Rochester Report (1958)

Hay: You mean to say that Russia also has the capacity?

Pendleton: We have reason to believe that, reports coming in from Eastern Europe as well as a tip off from the Bolivian Government

Hay: We have to accelerate our own efforts then. Project Harrow has to be our number one military research priority.

Pendleton: Does Australasia have a similar program in the works?

Hay: With their recent belligerence towards America I can't imagine they haven't looked into at least their defensive options.

Pendleton: Unless of course they don't believe the Bolivian capacity was provided by the US.

Hay: No one could believe that Bolivia developed the capacity itself, that's ludicrous.

Pendleton: Then, of course their were the rumours of Argentina also developing a program.

Hay: It has to be the Black and Tans.

Pendleton: All the more reason then that we should develop our own countermeasures. Do we have plans for our own facility?

Hay: The Military has acquired a large amount of land near the town of Talen in the Central Provinces. I'll get the papers for it.
Jennifer, can you get out the files on the Talen land grant please.

James: Right away sir.

 

[tobiisagoodboy]

OOC: I just noticed, Venice is still in italian hands #victoryisours #whatcouldpossiblygowrong #whocaresaboutthegermanswegotvenice

 

[Robert Can't]

Though mostly for my personal reference if any of you ever feel the need to be clued up on the people mentioned in anything I write I'm going to try and keep this page of the wiki up to date with the latest developments in India.

Currently it just contains a list and biography of all the important people.

 

[Decamper]

I feel like this game could use its own wiki at this point.

 

[Nuka-sama]

It probably could, if only I knew how to use the little bar things to the right

Edit: Create away!

 

[Robert Can't]

I think I'll probably keep all my stuff on the IOT wiki as a main place and then paste it over at points, that way its all centralised and I have Throvald checking through all my formatting :3. Its nice to have everything in one place.

 

[Ogane]

A message to the people of the United Socialist States of America,

Spoiler :

People of our great nation, I cannot lie to you, the odds are stacked against us. Of all the American nations, our population is the fewest, we are outnumbered and outmatched, but they may have greater numbers, but we have the greater people, each and every one of you is worth 10 of them, so fight like 10 of them, kill like 10 of them, because it is what you are. The people of the United Socialist States of America outclass all others, we are hardworking men and women who will prevail in the face of such a great adversary! We shall overcome these struggles and be born anew as the new face of America! United together we shall push back our adversaries and reclaim the land that should be ours as the true American state! No one shall be able to take our will or our strength if needs be we will fight to the last man to protect our soil and to reclaim our land. I will stand alongside you my brothers and sisters facing this unending horde of enemies as we prevail against them. I would also like to announce the writing of a new constitution one that represents the true Americans, The United Socialist States of America! we have selected 20 members from each class of society, every gender, every race, and every area of our nation, soldiers, workers, farmers, etc they shall be brought together sometime at the start of the new year to draw up our new constitution. Rejoice my comrades for the birth of a nation is upon us! The birth of a new America! A socialist America! A United Socialist States of America!

Fight Hard my Comrades!

-Charles Peck

 

[Ahigin]

Robert Can't - I just caught up with your "fluff" stories about the British Raj. They're really cool. Keep up the good work, I'm having lots of fun with your pieces.

 

[Robert Can't]

Robert Can't - I just caught up with your "fluff" stories about the British Raj. They're really cool. Keep up the good work, I'm having lots of fun with your pieces.

Many thanks! I enjoy writing it. This is absolutely one of the most enjoyable IOTs I've played in a long time. Well done to the GMs!



Behind the Rochester Commission - India's Secret War, Sir George Pendleton

When we heard word from one of our intelligence operatives in Southern Europe that their government had head of British and American governments escalating conflict. Meaning that India and Australasia would once again become prominent battlegrounds we in the colonial administration knew that we would need to increase our defensive capabilities.

When word reached me about the Russian operation in Eastern Europe I went straight away to talk with Colin Hay. We had been preparing the plans for a long time but with that latest news we knew we needed to increase our efforts and quickly. In the following week I met with all the key figures. Included in that number was Dr Peter Swift, who went on to become the head of Project Lancing. At the time I didn't quite realise the calibre of man that he was but within months it became apparent. Lancing was never going to be as intimidate as Sherborne or Harrow however under his leadership its labs were set up with such speed and efficiency that it made me question why he had never gone into a job in the Civil Service.

But once his works came to fruition It became massively apparent...

Memoirs of Sir George Pendleton - Extract from the Introduction

Of course there are many activities that I would love to spill the beans on but I simply can't. Much of my work in the first few years I was in India remain classified though I'm sure it isn't hard to guess at the general gist of it. India was in worrying times we were surrounded by enemies on four sides: The Fascists at home, the local princes in India, the Americans from the Pacific and the ever lingering threat of Russia from the north. Ever since our intervention in the Sino-Russian war is was clear that Russia and the colonial administration had put themselves at odds.

We were living under the shadows of massive threats from home and abroad. So of course we were desperate, of course we crossed lines to ensure the defence of our nation. But it was our duty - to the Queen, to God and to India.

 

[Golgol395]

Excuse me but I'm new to this game and I have no idea what the current situation is and I don't want to read 40 pages just to get caught up, so can someone please give me a basic rundown of the current situation please.

 

[Double A]

Well it's 1936 and the turn just ended so the 1937 update should be up within a week. In the meantime, the USA controls Canada and most of the Pacific and Caribbean but is currently experiencing half a dozen rebellions, Germany is a socialist confederation of two players and is beating the crap out of the democratic Italy, France is a jerk, the UK is fascist, Russia is enormous, and I'm the emperor of half of China while the Han Republic owns the rest.

 

[gay_Aleks]

Also, you took a rebel movement against Russia, who, I'm quite sure, probably wants to exterminate you.

 

[tobiisagoodboy]

- USA is in a Civil War
- Germany is slowly pushing its way through my Italian turf
- Russia is going full Fascist super Nazi in East Europe
- Turkey is doing Neo Osman Empire stuff
- Chinas doing Chinas stuff
- South America just ended its major wars.
- Australasia and India are trying Independence stuff and Fascist BRitain is not happy.

 

[Golgol395]

Also, you took a rebel movement against Russia, who, I'm quite sure, probably wants to exterminate you.

Ah I do enjoy a challenge

 

[Crezth]

REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE GERMAN MILITARY IN ITALY

The principle of action and German “battle of annihilation”

This document is prepared on the instructions of the Presidential Review Committee of the Armed Forces of the United States of America, and is meant to address the phenomenon of German military success in the Austrian Conflict and summarize the current outlook of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Commentary on comparisons to sensitive material is REDACTED on the President’s orders, making this document SENSITIVE PENDING PUBLIC RELEASE.

FOR INTERNAL REVIEW ONLY. Officials are reminded that the current political situation demands complete discretion.

DATE OF PUBLICATION: JULY 6, 1937

NOMENCLATURE:
CRR – Collective Republic of the Ruhr
(KRR – Kollektive Republik der Ruhr)
GFA – German (Nationalist) Federalist Alliance*
(DFA – Deutsches Föderalist Allianz)
*From 1933 both conventions (GNFA/GFA) have been used, though GFA with greater consistency.

We observe that German successes in northern Italy throughout the duration of the Austrian Conflict have ramped considerably since we have confirmed efforts began in GFA leadership to adapt their tactics to new weapons of war. These efforts were first observed in 1935. We also noted in the same time period the purge of corrupt CRR officers** although opinions are divided on the effectiveness of these purges. Nevertheless, especially in light of recent efforts in [REDACTED] and the fall of [REDACTED], we conclude that the GFA leadership has developed an exceptional competence that demands recognition.

**Believed to have acquired their positions due to nepotism, although speculation on the internal politics of CRR is rampant.

We address the “action principle” that seems to guide German military activities. At the battle of Firenze, [REDACTED] noted that German armor columns successfully broke the Italian line in two separate places, NW and NNW of the main salient. Italian defenders expected the attack to be coordinated and made efforts to prevent an encirclement that would be caused by the columns meeting. However, it was shortly demonstrated to be a pointless effort as each armor column, apparently without waiting for further instructions, immediately pursued two separate encirclements the Italian leadership had not anticipated. The encircled divisions could not be relieved by a counter-attack and it is the opinion of [REDACTED] that this tactical victory contributed directly to the loss of Firenze. [REDACTED] wrote in [his] initial report, published in August of 1936: “Italian forces were well-supplied and prepared to defend Firenze through the summer, but lost the position in May due to complete misunderstanding of the enemy posture. Italians expected the Germans would suffer delays due to the suddenness of the previous retreat and sabotage of pursuant rail lines, but in fact the German forces maintained good organization and logistics, and caught the Italians flat-footed. ‘Why’ is a matter of current speculation.” Since then, we have confirmed the presence of converted “VOLKSBUS” vehicles serving in supply roles extensively across the front, for which there is no analogy in the Italian military. This, and the phenomenal performance of German armored columns in the battle of [REDACTED], support [REDACTED]’s earlier claims that the Germans are focused on assault through mobile warfare, and this strategy was misunderstood at the start due to the schizophrenic behavior of CRR leadership, the inconsistent French strategy, and the necessity of GFA forces to “pick up the slack” of its initially useless allies.

[REDACTED] describes the GFA-pioneered strategy as “action principle” although sources confirm the German name for the same is “vernichtungsschlacht” which translates as “Battle of Annihilation.” It is an assault-focused strategy that seeks to deploy highly mobile divisions in strength seeking breakthrough. Breakthrough is made pursuant to encirclements and does not usually involve a sustained new front at least until the encirclement operation is complete. We do not have any good models of failed encirclements currently***, however when the strategy is effective it is devastating. It is expected [REDACTED] will publish [his] thoughts on the Italian strategy (in [his] words, a “post mortem&#8221 by August.

***This is due both to an infuriating tendency of the German forces to be successful, and because many of the encirclement attempts that did fail were not able to be repelled, resulting in a new front even though that does not seem to have been the intention of the maneuver.

[REDACTED] notes the “action principle” is “effective, focusing on acquisition of initiative and pressing the advantages that can only be granted by attack, but reliant on strings of successful operations. The attack of modern cavalry supported by air power represents an unprecedented ability to deploy in force. I plan to address the Italian situation in a later paper at the request of the President (though in my opinion their primary failing was being unable to adapt to the changing air power situation), although in general it is clear they were not prepared to conduct the same strategic war the Germans were. In a hypothetical future war with Germany, we must compare their strategies to the ones we seek to develop, and attempt to analyze failings thereof. First of all, [REDACTED].”

This committee recommends [REDACTED].

 

[Ahigin]

Solid. [REDACTED] is so [REDACTED] it's [REDACTED].

 

[gay_Aleks]

[REDACTED] cries in Bavarian

 

[tobiisagoodboy]

OOC: Italy also has a doctrin, its called scratch together every soldier and gun you can find. ^^

 

[arya126]

Interested in joining as one of the american rebellions after the update.

 

[Crezth]

The story so far...

Please click on "Start" to begin the word-scroll summary of the Blackened Skies as of this update, which is proving to be our biggest and meanest update yet. AUDIO INCLUDED.

Spoiler Transcription (1937 SPOILERS) :

1937
A WORLD AT WAR
It is a period of global war. The mighty British Empire, under the authority of the fascistic BLACK-NORTH COALITION, has declared war on the communistic GERMAN UNION, marking the extension of a conflict that began after the assassination of the Austrian leader Augustus Lippler. The democratic KINGDOM OF ITALY, intolerant of German expansion into Austria, has fought its own losing war against Germany for 4 years. To the west, the SOCIALIST INTERNATIONALE, led by FRANCE and at the behest of SPAIN, have invaded Portugal, a belligerent ally of the U.S., where guerilla war continues to rage. In the east, the mighty and sinister RUSSIAN EMPIRE is plagued by millions of rebels in its newly-won frontiers in HUNGARY, ROMANIA, POLAND, and PRUSSIA. Despite harsh measures, and rumors of harsher measures still, the rebels fight on bravely against a foe of immeasurable strength and brutality.

In North America, the UNITED STATES tries desperately to maintain its far-flung empire while civil war at home has locked the nation in a bitter ideological struggle. In South America, the GRAND REPUBLIC of Argentina has established dominion over much of the continent after crushing the Bolivian Empire and decapitating their political elite. Meanwhile, the socialist DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF BRAZIL nurses its civil war-won wounds and looks on quietly.

In South Asia, the DOMINION OF INDIA has taken steps against Portugal and the United States in a bid to encourage the British Empire unite against America, amidst rumors that Tom Black had declared the liberal AUSTRALASIA in rebellion. In East Asia, the enigmatic ZHAO DYNASTY has ascended to power over the united GUANGXI CLIQUES after defeating the Chinese NATIONAL HAN REPUBLIC, the liberal revolutionaries responsible for deposing the hated QING EMPIRE. Since then, the Zhao have engaged in rapid expansion, seizing the French colony of VIETNAM in 1935 and destroying the kingdom of THAILAND in 1936. Fueled by rage or madness, the Zhao have once again invaded the Han Republic, this time fully aided by their Russian allies. The Republic now must desperately marshal its shattered will, or else be consumed by the ever-advancing frontiers of fanatical militarism.

It is a world at war. The brink has been crossed and blood has been spilt on every continent. Men and women bravely struggle in the name of higher values, for they know that what is at stake is not merely land and treasure, but the very soul of human civilization itself....