News from the Far East
ELECTIONS IN GUANGXI. Xinjing, Guangxi. When it came to political topics this year in Guangxi, only one came to mind when it came time for the nation’s constitutionally mandated elections: The Fireworks War. The raging war with the Unified Realm of China has been at the front of newspapers and is common conversation in every household. The loss of substantial territories last year to invading Chinese forces has led to much concern and disruption in the process of elections. Matters were complicated further with the revealing of the Unified Realm’s relative innocence in the Fireworks Massacre which led to the outbreak of the war. As the fighting remained deadlocked, the liberal Datongdang was crucified in the press, for their failure to achieve even some sort of façade of victory. This has allowed the conservative Fùxīngdǎng to claim the majority and promise a new approach to the war against revolutionaries and the Red Army. They have appointed Nathaniel Xilai as the country’s new prime minister, having previously been an experience member of Guangxi’s military forces and an ideal leader for this time of war.
REVOLT IN CEYLON. Colombo, Netherlands. German and Dutch colonial authorities on the island of Ceylon were forced to cooperate this year as the local population became unruly and a local minority force began an open revolt against the regime. Guerilla soldiers began striking at colonial outposts in Colombo and throughout the rest of the island, seeking to destroy and raid imperial military installations and armories. The strikes have been mostly successful, more against the stretched German soldiers than they have been against the Dutch in the urban centers. The unrest has grown extensively, especially as fighting in the civil war becomes more intense upon the mainland. The German government has been forced to mostly sit upon the defensive, lacking the resources to take the fight to hidden rebel encampments throughout the island. It seems likely as though the rebels hope to establish an independent state, ousting both of the European nations which possess holdings upon the island. (-1 Infantry Brigade for Germany)
RALLIES CALL FOR MORE GERMAN SOLDIERS IN INDIA. Gujarat, Germany. The outbreak of civil war in India and the flagrant invasion of Kalingahas caused a surge of concern in the German holdings in India. Many are concerned that one or more factions in the current fighting may take an opportunity to invade and subjugate the holdings of Germany in India. Therefore, a number of major local merchants, businessmen, and nobles, have called upon Germany to provide a substantially larger garrison to the region to protect it from invasion. The German government has waffled upon the decision, as the resources at home have been dedicated towards the possibility of a Russian invasion, and most have been concerned about the wisdom of sending a large force to protect tenuous holdings in India. Still, the locals have argued that as subjects of the German Empire, they are just as entitled to protection as the people of European Germany.
CHAOS ERUPTS IN INDIA AS CIVIL WAR BEGINS. Bombay, India. After years of unrest and disturbance it seems that the regionalist/federalist situation in India has at last come to a head. Accusations have flown about regarding the culpability of the current Prime Minister, JeetendraNarang in the recent massacre in Bombay. On top of this, efforts to further consolidate the nation and establish a more centralized regime have gone to the point where they could no longer be accepted. The final straw was the surprise invasion attempt upon Kalinga, which proved to be a disaster, as the Indian air force was annihilated and the forces sent in were quickly stalled by defensive actions. From here, the true chaos erupted. The strongest of the nation’s principalities soon recalled the forces recruited from their lands, spurring chaos in the lines against Kalinga, and they mobilized their own defense forces and regiments. The army was quickly split among regional lines, and the central government did what they could to recover their forces as the Kalingese army counterattacked. The regionalists have united their own forces and have begun mobilizing to focus on the overthrow of the government in Bombay and the establishment of a freer India. Kalinga has declared their support for the cause, and offered their full military force and economic base to wage war upon the failing regime. Extensive bloodshed has occurred, and it seems likely that a prolonged war is on the horizon, as the central government hopes to restore order and greater unity than before.
Casualty Lists
India (Federalists):30 Conscript Brigades, 22 Infantry Brigades, 6 Artillery Brigades, 3 Vy-24 Fighter Squadrons (+1 Army Quality, +1 Air Force Quality)
India (Regionalists): 22 Conscript Brigades
Kalinga: 14 Conscript Brigades, 10 Infantry Brigades, 2 Cavalry Brigades, 3 Artillery Brigades, 2 Sim27 Fighter Squadrons (+1 Army Quality, +1 Air Force Quality)
KOREAN RED ARMY SCORES MAJOR VICTORIES. Pusan, Japan. As the war rages between Japan and the Red Army in China, the Korean Red Army has strove to match the accomplishments of their ideological brethren to the south. They have mustered considerable influence of their own, but have frequently lacked the arms and weapons they’ve needed to fight an open revolt. This year, the Red Army has changed all that, with the gracious courtesy of the Japanese. The war in China has required a large amount of arms to be shipped into the mainland through Korea, and the Koreans have been able to help themselves to several raided merchant freighters. Thanks to the daring assault, the Koreans not only overran a Japanese shipyard, but managed to delay word of the victory from reaching the Japanese long enough to recover a massive amount of armaments and supplies. Not only has this weakened the Japanese war effort in China, but it has created a heavily armed and dangerous new opponent in the holdings in Korea. Some fear that this grand victory could be a sign of an imminent fresh rebellion against Japanese rule. (-1 Stability in Korea)
THE RED ARMY REBELLION. Harbin, Japan. As fighting somewhat dims once more between Guangxi and China, the real fighting in mainland Asia has been further to the east. The Japanese, with major air support from Germany, has engaged in massive land operations against the Red Army, as millions clash along the front lines. The year opened with German and Japanese beginning a massive air bombardment of major Chinese cities and production facilities. This has done much to cause extensive damage to Chinese infrastructure and logistics, forcing them to be more reliant on the facilities that remain out of range of enemy bombers in the west. Numerous of these attacks have been with chemical weapons, particularly against civilian centers, and casualties within the cities have continued to mount. With no air force of their own, the Chinese have made other arrangements to relieve this pressure. This came in the form of wildly successful rear attacks against German and Japanese airfields. Local cadres managed to overwhelm the very few guards provided to the Germans in Guangxi, and destroy large numbers of aircraft before fresh reinforcements secured the airfields. Similar attacks took place throughout Manchuria, as the Red Army has continued intensive activities, but with less triumphant success than they had against the Germans. The Chinese launched the first blow with an offensive, but fresh Japanese troops stopped the attack cold, even pushing back against the Red Army. A major offensive was planned to follow the Red Army’s attack, hoping to recapture Peking and break the stalemate. Though the Red Army had lost the first round, they managed to redeem themselves by stopping the Japanese counteroffensive with heavy casualties on both sides. The Japanese lost the battle, despite actually possessing larger numbers, mostly due to fuel and supply shortages caused by unrest in Manchuria and Korea. Furthermore, the Red Army’s deployment of the Equality-type tank has proven to be an unpleasant surprise, far outmatching the Type-92 in the field and blocking attempts at armored assaults, being essentially invulnerable to the Type-92’s guns. The Red Army, ironically due to the constant bombing of their own sources, still maintained better supply lines than the Japanese, who by winter, were running short on almost everything, forcing them to stop their attempts to break the Red Army’s front.
Casualty Lists
Germany: 3 IGL-28 Fighter Squadrons, 2 Berlin-type Bomber Squadrons (+1 Air Force Quality)
Guangxi: 3 Infantry Brigades
Japan: 166 Conscript Brigades, 23 Infantry Brigades, 3 Type-92 Armored Brigades, 3 Artillery Brigades, 3 Storno-type Fighter Squadrons, 1 I-1923 Bomber Squadron (+1 Army Quality, +1 Air Force Quality)
Red Army: 223 Conscript Brigades, 7 Infantry Brigades, 1 Type-92 Armored Brigade, 1 Equality-type Armored Brigade (+1 Army Quality)
THE FIREWORKS WAR. Chengdu, China. As questions begin to emerge about the legitimacy of the Fireworks War, the fighting continues with a new fervor. Chinese troops have begun to dig in and move to the defensive, while the Russian Empire has proclaimed a no-fly zone over their territory. Despite attempts to avoid conflict, the Russian pilots have frequently engaged with British and Guangxi pilots throughout the region. Thanks to the entry of Chinese pilots, fresh from training in Russia, the Chinese have begun to acquire air superiority over portions of the theater. Older British craft have been downed by the dozen, easily made prey by Russian jets and Chinese aircraft, and with climbing losses in bombers, they were forced to end attempts to provide air support to the year’s main offensive. British and Guangxi forces launched a major push, in the hopes of driving back the Chinese from the territory they occupied after last year’s fighting. The offensive started fairly successfully, and the armies of Guangxi and Britain came close to reaching their objectives. Unpleasantly, however, the deployment of new aircraft and the mighty T-28 tank has been a major thorn in the side of the advance and casualties have been far heavier than those that have been inflicted. By the end of the year, the fighting slowed to a stalemate once more, as both sides have dug in throughout the winter.
Casualty Lists
China: 110 Conscript Brigades, 30 Infantry Brigades, 4 Cavalry Brigades, 5 Artillery Brigades, 3 Sim27 Fighter Squadrons (+1 Army Quality, +1 Air Force Quality)
Russia: 2 S-100 Fighter Squadrons (+1 Air Force Quality)
Guangxi: 211 Conscript Brigades, 13 Infantry Brigades, 5 Artillery Brigades, 2 P-27 Fighter Squadrons (+1 Army Quality, +1 Air Force Quality)
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland: 6 Infantry Brigades, 2 Mk2 Cataphract Armored Brigades, 6 Artillery Brigades, 1 Verband FTA-1-2 Fighter Squadron, 2 Dublin-type Fighter Squadrons, 3 P-27 Fighter Squadrons, 3 Westminster-class CAS Squadrons, 3 Oxford-class Bomber Squadrons, 1 Sim30IB Bomber Squadron (+1 Air Force Quality)
Financial Section
BRITISH ESTABLISH INSURANCE FUND. London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Seeking to stem the side of bank closures and runs, the British government has sought to establish a method of security to bring back consumer confidence. They have offered up the optional bank depository insurance, financed by the government as a choice for banking institutions to make. This choice allows the government to insure twenty percent of banks' standing funds and deposits, allowing for quick response in the case of a shortage of on-hand cash. The bill has passed through the new Labour Party government, but critics claim that this is the first step towards nationalization of the banking industry, which is highly concerning to richer investors. Supporters of the bill have dismissed these claims, stating that it is nothing more than reckless alarmism on behalf of the routed Union Jacks.
DANES LAUNCH FINANCIAL BAILOUT. Copenhagen, Denmark. One of the driving forces behind the change in regime in Denmark this year has been the handling of the worsening global economic situation. The old government passed as its last act a series of bills which offered substantial sums of money to banks and other financial institutions under threat of closing. These businesses welcomed the money, and some put it to good use. Unfortunately, the incidents that gained substantially more press were those in which the money was taken, and the banks shut down anyways. It was accused that the conservative government simply offered money to its richer Russian and big business backers. The resulting outrage provided significant support to the challenging liberal parties and this program will likely go down in history as a failure, despite some modest, short-term successes in boosting a sparse few banks from failure. (-1 Stability)
FINANCIAL FLUCTUATION REPORT. Novgorod, Russia.
The Sports Page
1936 OLYMPIC CITY CHOSEN. Geneva, Switzerland. Unlike previous Olympic Games Committee meetings this year’s debate over the host city for the 1936 Olympics have proven to be fairly subdued. Three highly acceptable options were granted, but in the end, an overwhelming majority emerged in favor of one particular city. The Aztec city of Tenochtitlan is one steeped in history and tradition from a variety of cultures, and since the independence of Aztlan from the United States of America, has grown into a sizeable economic center. The Committee has also acknowledged the presence of ample facilities and room for expansion, allowing for the development of the needed space for the Games. The people of Aztlan and Tenochtitlan have been congratulated on their selection, and it is hoped that the 1936 Games will be memorable ones. As in the past, the actual votes of those present in the committee have been provided in their raw numbers below:
OCCITANIA FUNDS NEW LEAGUES. Toulouse, Occitania. While many sports aficionados globally are often divided between the rising sport of varukorgbollor the more traditional game of balompie, the government of Occitania has effectively declared, “Why can’t we have both?” Rather than favoring one game or another, the Occitanians have provided new funds to establishing formal national leagues for both games. Though varukorgboll has never really taken hold in Occitania until recently, the move has offered substantial support for the game, legitimizing it to the same level as balompie. Balompie has of course received the greatest benefit from government support, as the games have become more regulated, and the players more skilled. With the apparent darkening of the political situation, it seems to do the people of Occitiana good to see a thrilling sporting event.
BALOMPIE WORLD CUP RESUMES. Madrid, Spain. The sport of balompie suffered greatly in the wake of the Rhine-Rhone War, and never really recovered outside of the Olympic Games, where it has remained one of the most anticipated events. Through the support of the Spanish government and monarchy, the Balompie World Cup has been renewed, as the home of the game has been the scene of the final matches for the contest. In one of the most heated games in the sport’s history, the teams from Spain and Hispaniola played for the cup, and played hard. The Spanish unfortunately fell short, losing on their home soil, as the Hispaniolans triumphed with a last minute goal. It is hoped by many fans of the sport that the resumption of the world cup will mean that there will be something to look forward to in the years between the epic national matches of the Olympics. The next games are planned to be held in 1936, and have been confirmed to take place again in Spain, in the city of Seville.
The Cultural Center
The Contemporary Khan
The United Kingdom has begun an international propaganda campaign across Europe and the Western Hemisphere warning of Russian expansionism and tyranny. The highlight of the propaganda campaign is a film called
The Contemporary Khan, the title linking the Russian Empire with the Mongol Empire and arguing that the Russian Empire is the modern successor of the Mongols. The film claims that the Russian Emperor desires to control and conquer the world and, if not controlling it himself, will force it through military might to reverse the progress of the enlightenment and revert to the world of the Dark Ages. The world will be forced to adopt the Russian political, economic, and religious model. Democracy will be destroyed and replaced with Russian absolute monarchism or puppet tyrants, and the ways of Eastern Europe (such as Romania) will be how the world as a whole will be run. Capitalism will be replaced with feudalism and economic growth and progress will be a thing of the past, and the world will be forced into serfdom/slavery and generational poverty. Orthodoxy will be the world religion, and Catholics and Protestants alike will be persecuted and eventually forced to convert to a "strange Eastern religion." The film notes that Polish Catholics have suffered under Orthodox rule, and also that nearly all of Russia's current borders with other nations are through another nation that Russia has annexed, including Poland, Georgia, Azerbaijan, the Kazakhs, and others. The film argues that Russia is preparing to strike again and annex more of the world, bringing the World Island under its rule and dictating global politics from Moscow, in the center of the Heartland. The film points to the Russian buildup and the Russian no-fly zone over China as evidence that Russia desires to expand its borders once again. The film has been translated into German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Italian, Dutch, Persian, Japanese, Breton, and other languages, and will be distributed to theatres all across the globe.
It is short enough to be shown prior to a main attraction and has been put in front of any film in British studios and other sympathetic nations.
The General
Written and originally performed by singer and guitarist Rick Carson - a veteran of the War of the Colorado -
The General has, despite facing accusations of being unpatriotic or subversive in nature by conservative media and politicians, proven widely popular in the nation of Florida this year both via radio broadcast and in live performance. Viewed by some as the Floridian response to
Deadman's Gun, the song emphasizes the peculiar dissonance experienced by many Floridians as the war dragged on. Fervent national pride unabated regardless of the increasingly apparent futility and waste of the conflict, punctuated by the war's abrupt end and the subsequent return to a situation little different from the status quo ante bellum. The song clearly adopts many musical elements popularized by the success of
Deadman's Gun, notably its feature of and reliance on the acoustic guitar and narrative vocals. Some versions as performed by various artists have begun to incorporate drums and other percussion instruments.
Köroğlu
Köroğlu by Kel Hasan is a masterpiece of kanto, Turkish opera inspired by Italian cantare music. Unlike many works of that narrow genre,
Köroğlu stands out as an epic masterwork that combines elements of classic operas and ethnic musical styles.
Köroğlu is a Turkish national hero, whose name is literally translated as “the son of a blind man.” Avenging his father’s blinding and death to an ill-tempered bey, this bandit and ozan becomes a defender of the poor and fighter against injustice. In the end, however,
Köroğlu realizes he can’t save the chivalric code of honor and stop the change of his country, so he dismisses his band of merry men and fades into obscurity, leaving these words behind:
Valor has been lost whence guns were invented / The curved blade in its holster shall rust. In Turkey the opera has achieved an immense success, having become an anthem to nostalgic neo-romantism of newly re-emerging nationalist movement. In liberal circles, at the same time, it is viewed as a swan song of traditionalism, given the pessimistic end of the backward hero who is infinitely stuck in the past.
REFORM IN THE ARGENTINE FILM INDUSTRY. Rosario, Argentina. Rosario is often known as two conflicting images: the center of modern culture and cinema and the hive of scum and villainy that plagues the world with coarse footage and features. This year, leading figures in the Rosario film establishment, have begun establishing their own internal guidelines and regulating themselves, rather than losing out on international markets. They have established a two tier rating system, marking some films as for a General all-audience as a G film, and making more mature pictures with a Restricted or R rating. The new regulations within the industry have sought to make films more accessible to the greater global audience, and have since started turning their efforts towards making more Church friendly films, in greater size and scale than ever seen before. The Catholic Church has approved of this development, as the Argentine movie making community attempts to appeal to the largest markets possible in their products.
Random Stat Changes and Fluctuations and Minor Technological Advances
Russia uses Corvino-type Fighter as the base for the new CorSmi-31 CAS Fighter.
Russia designs new
Riga-class Heavy Cruiser.
Brazil designs new JC-7 Fighter.
Spain creates and adopts Moralist International Army 1934 as their new army doctrine.
Cechy-Morava designs the new CKC-LTP 34 Medium Tank.
Army of Orleans devastates enemy wildlife in combined practice maneuvers, demonstrating newfound skill and potential: +1 Army Quality for Orleans.
Army of Chile successfully marches cross-country without betraying and eating each other: +1 Army Quality for Chile.
Royal Serbian Navy undertakes successful relief efforts, demonstrating their skills: +1 Navy Quality.
Swiss National Guard finds lucky penny, feels better at their job: +1 Army Quality.
Brazil Establishes the [CLASSIFIED] [CLASSIFIED] and [CLASSIFIED] to act as a barrier for [CLASSIFIED] interference. [CLASSIFIED] warns that [CLASSIFIED] and [CLASSIFIED].
Diplomatic Pouch
To:
Non-Proletarist Nations Seeking Tanks
From: Cechy-Morava
We are now offering the new and highly versatile CKC-LTP 34 for sale for a mere 40 EP per brigade’s worth of tanks.
OOC
Per his request, TheMeanestGuest has been switched from Orleans to Florida.
@Nailix and Quisani: Ya’lls trade negotiations must have been quite confusing. You both seem to have different ideas of what the trade actually consisted of. Therefore, no trade was done this year.
@Nailix: Sonar can no longer be added to old designs, but will be present on all new ones.
@TerrisH: You cannot reduce your manpower pool. That is set, and will not change by player dictation. If you don’t want to use more than 50, don’t recruit more than 50. Overall, even economically, Switzerland is one of the nicer places to live globally, infrastructure is very good and developed, and for the life of me, I can’t really think of any more long-term domestic projects that you could conduct at this stage. Maybe there’s some hydroelectricity you could get going or something?
@Azale: typically bombing requires planes that can actually drop bombs. Just an Fyi there.
@ork57: Your orders look pretty good, personally I’d recommend asking other players what sort of formats they use to send them in. I’d provide them myself, but I suspect some people may object if I start sharing their orders with everyone.
The Farow has been dropped from Normandy due to inactivity.
Per his request, momo1010 has been dropped from Kongo.
@Christos200: I want to make things perfectly clear to you right here.
Everything that happened to you this year was solely because of the choices and decisions you’ve made. Nothing was RNG created or bad luck. You, and you alone, are responsible for miserable failure. Do not try to shift responsibility psychologically or vocally. The only reason that Burgundy is in such a sorry state is because of
you. This is not meant as an insult, but a simple statement of fact, and one I am willing to break down and explain, so that you may see your errors and (hopefully) improve in the future. Let’s start with Africa. Your colony in Africa had a population of over 40,000,000 black people. You ordered their destruction through a ripoff process of the Holocaust. To undertake such an effort, you had to rely upon a mere 36,000 soldiers. Just to make it clear: 40,000,000 > 36,000. Now, as illustrated in past updates, the population here was already getting ready to rebel against you and had arms and munitions. Therefore your sorry-ass soldiers didn’t stand a chance once things started getting real. Even if the blacks had tamely submitted (which is a dumbass notion to start with) there’s no way in hell you could have gotten 40,000,000+ people into “several” camps, especially when you had just started a major war in Europe. Speaking of which, did you really think any people would actually buy the faked reason for war this year after you just tried the same thing last year? Similarly, you DO NOT have total control of the media. First of all, there’s radio stations in all of the countries around you, which will report the truth. Second of all, you’ve only been in power with the current regime for two years. Posting pictures of Hitler and making bizarre “speeches” does not make a fascist government. It took the Nazi regime OTL a bit longer than two years to actually solidify control to the point where they were secure in power. Speaking of Nazis, just claiming that you’re doing a blitzkrieg, also does not make a blitzkrieg.A blitzkrieg is a highly coordinated, high speed, operation featuring a conjunction of specialized mechanized military units working together. In all fairness, you do seem to have a decent grasp of what a blitzkrieg is, just not the actual knowledge of what is specifically needed to enact it. Your doctrine is woefully obsolete, and most of your equipment and soldiers don’t have radios. You need radios to coordinate (hence, the Coordination stat in new doctrines) a rapid offensive. You also probably should have considered that perhaps an aggressive invasion might be anticipated and opposed by your other neighbors. Overall, both of your key decisions this update were foolhardy and self-destructive. There was no way, no circumstance, in the universe that these choices could have even come close to ending well for you. The summary is that YOU made these choices, and the failure that is now Burgundy is solely your responsibility. You’re not the first person to do things like this, in fact, there’s several people in this NES who’ve made worse decisions in the past. Learn, and get better.
Rather than deal with the full presentation of rebel factions stats as I described earlier, I'm instead going to just insert the named organizations and their ideologies. While this will not give a rating at how powerful they are, it should be noted that the only organizations that will make it into your stats are the ones which have national recognition and presence. Similarly, this will only count for nations within the mainland of your empire, not extended island possessions. The rules and sample stats on the first page have been adapted appropriately to include this change. There will be more added as I take a look at things later on, what's been put on so far is it. I reserve the right to change my mind at later date before the next update.
Kudos to TheMeanestGuest for picking one of the most appropriate musical selections so far. Sir, I salute you.
World Map