December World - game thread
- Thread starter Ahigin
- Start date
tobiisagoodboy
Prince
Lugi Acciai: The Story of a Miner
When the Revolution removed the Pope and Habsburg, my Padre was a young man looking for work. I was six years old and after the nobilities large farms had been dissolved, he found himself with a way to earn a living. He wasn't the only one, of his three brothers, the two younger one were without bread,too. In that situation, he rememberd something from his childhood, how he had found those strange brown rocks, somebody had called them iron ore. Now he rememberd that and told his two brothers to grab pickaxes and come with him. Like this, his very first mine started.
The deposit they mined only small, almost nothing compared to the large mines in France of Sweden. But for my father and his brothers it was mroe than enough. They worked night and day for weeks, selling the ore they gathered to a new small steel factory only a few miles away. Soon, more people started to work for father, but he always amde sure to pay them fairly and they loved him. When I was ten years old, Padre left one of his brothers in charge of their small mine and build a new small mile a few dozen miles away, when I was twelve he built the third. These mines were small, but still in the end they were 200 men, using only pickaxe, carts and their strenght to mine ore. Importing from other countrys was expensive and difficult for a country nobody recognized, so Padres mines were one of the few sources for the republic. When I was 18, Padre had gathered some wealth and I could visit one of the new universities, studying Geology, to help Padre. He built small mines everywhere in Italy, but when I returned back to him, I realized something.
During my time at the University, I had visited a mine in Austria, they call it Erzberg. This mine, this single mine there had probably more ore than all mines my padre owned, combined. I did my best to help Padre, improve the exsisting mines and search for new deposits, but with every year the realization draw nearer that there simply were no large deposits to mine and that soon these small mines would run dry.
Then, a few years ago, the Spanish King fall and a Republic was formed in Iberia , one that was friendly to our nation and I rememberd reading about those vast ore deposits that were all over Spain. i went to the goverment and they agreed and soon I headed to Spain, with 50 of my most trusted workers and friends. What we found was both our dream and our nightmare. Ore deposists larger than even the Erzberg, but mines that didn't deserve the name. We worked hard, brought new technology old padre could only dream of, I worked with my worker, with the spanish workers and like old Padre I always payed them fairly, always treated them with respect.
Today, I own half a dozen mines in Asturia, in each of them has at least 2000 workers and I supply every last grain of ore the factorys in Italy use. But I will never forget where me and my padre came from and I will always remember the word he told when I came to work with him. "I am not paying my workers good, because I'm wealthy. I am only wealthy because I pay them well."
When the Revolution removed the Pope and Habsburg, my Padre was a young man looking for work. I was six years old and after the nobilities large farms had been dissolved, he found himself with a way to earn a living. He wasn't the only one, of his three brothers, the two younger one were without bread,too. In that situation, he rememberd something from his childhood, how he had found those strange brown rocks, somebody had called them iron ore. Now he rememberd that and told his two brothers to grab pickaxes and come with him. Like this, his very first mine started.
The deposit they mined only small, almost nothing compared to the large mines in France of Sweden. But for my father and his brothers it was mroe than enough. They worked night and day for weeks, selling the ore they gathered to a new small steel factory only a few miles away. Soon, more people started to work for father, but he always amde sure to pay them fairly and they loved him. When I was ten years old, Padre left one of his brothers in charge of their small mine and build a new small mile a few dozen miles away, when I was twelve he built the third. These mines were small, but still in the end they were 200 men, using only pickaxe, carts and their strenght to mine ore. Importing from other countrys was expensive and difficult for a country nobody recognized, so Padres mines were one of the few sources for the republic. When I was 18, Padre had gathered some wealth and I could visit one of the new universities, studying Geology, to help Padre. He built small mines everywhere in Italy, but when I returned back to him, I realized something.
During my time at the University, I had visited a mine in Austria, they call it Erzberg. This mine, this single mine there had probably more ore than all mines my padre owned, combined. I did my best to help Padre, improve the exsisting mines and search for new deposits, but with every year the realization draw nearer that there simply were no large deposits to mine and that soon these small mines would run dry.
Then, a few years ago, the Spanish King fall and a Republic was formed in Iberia , one that was friendly to our nation and I rememberd reading about those vast ore deposits that were all over Spain. i went to the goverment and they agreed and soon I headed to Spain, with 50 of my most trusted workers and friends. What we found was both our dream and our nightmare. Ore deposists larger than even the Erzberg, but mines that didn't deserve the name. We worked hard, brought new technology old padre could only dream of, I worked with my worker, with the spanish workers and like old Padre I always payed them fairly, always treated them with respect.
Today, I own half a dozen mines in Asturia, in each of them has at least 2000 workers and I supply every last grain of ore the factorys in Italy use. But I will never forget where me and my padre came from and I will always remember the word he told when I came to work with him. "I am not paying my workers good, because I'm wealthy. I am only wealthy because I pay them well."
Seon
Not An Evil Liar
As talked about before in the Discord Chat, I have prepared a small sub game for December World in the following thread.
https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/cyoa-songbirds-cry-december-world.627546/
https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/cyoa-songbirds-cry-december-world.627546/
Traveller76
Prince
What is the status of the update?
JohannaK
Heroically Clueless
The Indostan Express est. Srinagar 1894
The Year In Review - Special Dossier #1
Dear Readers of the Indostan Express,
This first issue of our journal, which you hold in your hands, is above all a labour of love and of duty. It is a new project that stems from the singular will of several publications to create the best possible newspaper for the public, to cover every aspect of life in the Empire and to reach its every corner in its every language. With the conjunction of Gujarati, Sindhi, Punjabi, Afghan, and Kashmiri journals, the Express seeks to speak throughout Indostan with a unique and singular voice: to each reader to seem as though it spoke with their voice. It is a project that surpasses boundaries so firmly held for centuries as language or religion. It is a project that seeks to carve a way into the future.
By chance our publication has coincided with the official renaming of the country, a move away from sectarian implications of privilege and towards a humanist embrace of diversity that has long been official policy. Such a chance meeting, however, has impacted this project, as it was hastily decided to rename The Express to The Indostan Express. This is an endorsement from our board of editors, and a manifesto of sorts, of a move that seeks to contain a world of differences within itself. Extending our hands, we invite you to join us in this adventure of humanity in harmony.
Foreign Affairs
Whilst war rages endlessly in Europe, Asia enjoys peace. Although the Indostani diplomatic corps failed to prevent full-scale war between Burma and Boerika after the Burmese crushed a Boer attempt at strongarming a Burmese vassal, the conflict ended without further engagements. In the second half of the year, the foundation of pan-Asianism and escalating tensions over Han insurgency in the Ma Dynasty were the more salient issues in Asian diplomacy. In one of the strangest turns of the year, the Heavenly Kingdom issued an ultimatum on the Indostani protectorate under the Ma Dynasty just after the widely publicised success of Punjabi diplomats in managing to bring China on board the Thale Noi negotiations and signature. Under heavy pressure, the Ministers to Nanjing and Xining, coordinated from Lahore, brokered a ceasefire agreement that would set the foundations for a lasting peace.
For their outstanding efforts in service of the Empire and of peace, the embassy personnel in both Nanjing and Xining, as well as the Minister to Egypt and the the Minister Plenipotenciary's team at Thale Noi, were condecorated with the Civil Service Star, Indostan's highest condecoration for civilians.
Dear Readers of the Indostan Express,
This first issue of our journal, which you hold in your hands, is above all a labour of love and of duty. It is a new project that stems from the singular will of several publications to create the best possible newspaper for the public, to cover every aspect of life in the Empire and to reach its every corner in its every language. With the conjunction of Gujarati, Sindhi, Punjabi, Afghan, and Kashmiri journals, the Express seeks to speak throughout Indostan with a unique and singular voice: to each reader to seem as though it spoke with their voice. It is a project that surpasses boundaries so firmly held for centuries as language or religion. It is a project that seeks to carve a way into the future.
By chance our publication has coincided with the official renaming of the country, a move away from sectarian implications of privilege and towards a humanist embrace of diversity that has long been official policy. Such a chance meeting, however, has impacted this project, as it was hastily decided to rename The Express to The Indostan Express. This is an endorsement from our board of editors, and a manifesto of sorts, of a move that seeks to contain a world of differences within itself. Extending our hands, we invite you to join us in this adventure of humanity in harmony.
-Editorial Board of The Indostan Express
Foreign Affairs
Whilst war rages endlessly in Europe, Asia enjoys peace. Although the Indostani diplomatic corps failed to prevent full-scale war between Burma and Boerika after the Burmese crushed a Boer attempt at strongarming a Burmese vassal, the conflict ended without further engagements. In the second half of the year, the foundation of pan-Asianism and escalating tensions over Han insurgency in the Ma Dynasty were the more salient issues in Asian diplomacy. In one of the strangest turns of the year, the Heavenly Kingdom issued an ultimatum on the Indostani protectorate under the Ma Dynasty just after the widely publicised success of Punjabi diplomats in managing to bring China on board the Thale Noi negotiations and signature. Under heavy pressure, the Ministers to Nanjing and Xining, coordinated from Lahore, brokered a ceasefire agreement that would set the foundations for a lasting peace.
For their outstanding efforts in service of the Empire and of peace, the embassy personnel in both Nanjing and Xining, as well as the Minister to Egypt and the the Minister Plenipotenciary's team at Thale Noi, were condecorated with the Civil Service Star, Indostan's highest condecoration for civilians.
Traveller76
Prince
El Heraldo de California 1894
Travelling the Railroad by Pascual Vasquez
With the completion of the national railroad network a few years ago, my newspaper has tasked my with touring the country and writing about the locations and people of Mexico. However, one of my first experiences did not involve a scenic location or monument but a restaurant and hotel that provided what I would call exceptional service and has set a standard of excellence. While travelling to Mexico City, about a half hour from our next stop, one of the railroad staff handed me a menu for restaurant the next location where the train was stopping for fuel and water. Now, being a traveller and having having bad experiences with other railroad stops I was skeptical. However, the attendant advised me that this was different, that the food was as good as any hotel and the prices were fair and the service fast. So I selected a simple meal and prepared to be disappointed. When we arrived I saw the sign for Casa Ibanez and entered a busling sea of activity. The staff, all young ladies, were leading passengers to their tables and asking if you wanted cold water, coffee, fruit juice or milk to drink. I asked for coffee and the waitress asked what meal I had ordered. In less than five minutes my coffee and meal were in front of me on a fine china plate. The coffee was fresh and quality was excellent, better than some of the coffee I have had in better hotels. The table was set with fine linen, imported from Ireland I was told.
While eating I spoke with several other diners. Casa Ibanez was opened two years ago and had five locations now, and each location has all had the same service and excellent food. It was created by Odran Seachnall Ibanez, a man with over thirty years of hotel and restaurant experience and was well know for being for being fastidious innkeeper and has set high standards for efficiency and cleanliness in his establishments, personally inspecting them as often as possible. It has been said that nothing escapes his notice, and he was even known to completely overturn a poorly set table. Male customers are required to wear a coat and tie in many of the dining rooms. The meals are served in sumptuous portions that provide a good value for the traveling public; for instance, pies are cut into fourths, rather than sixths, which is the industry standard at the time.
On of the biggest changes happened last year when Ibanez implemented a policy of employing a female serving staff. He sought single, well-mannered, and educated ladies, and placed ads in newspapers throughout the country for "young women, 18-30 years of age, of good character, attractive and intelligent". The girls are paid $18.50 a month, plus room and board. When I introduced myself and asked for the Manager of the restaurant I met with Senor Ibanez himself, who was touring his restaurants.
When I about the staff changes and quality of the food he told me that having female staff has helped 'civilize' some of the local male population along with the food. The food is shipped by railroad on special railroad cars in an arrangement with the FNM for free so travellers can enjoy fresh fruit and coffee at any location. The Chicas, as they are called, are subjected to a strict 10 p.m. curfew, administered by a senior Chica who assumes the role and responsibilities of a house mother. The official starched black and white uniform consists of a skirt that hung no more than eight inches off the floor, "Elsie" collars, opaque black stockings, and black shoes. The hair was restrained in a net and tied with a regulation white ribbon. Makeup of any sort was absolutely prohibited, as was chewing gum while on duty. Girls are required to enter into a one-year employment contract, and forfeited half their base pay should they fail to complete the term of service. Marriage was the most common reason for a girl to terminate her employment.
The restrictions have maintained a clean-cut reputation of the Girls, and made them even more marriageable. However, the opportunity to leave their homes, to enjoy travel, have new experiences, and work outside the home was very liberating for thousands of young women. I wish I could have stayed longer to speak with Senor Ibanez but I was about to miss my train, which was about to leave according to the staff. I left him my card and asked to call on him again, which I shall.
OOC:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Harvey_Company#References
Travelling the Railroad by Pascual Vasquez
With the completion of the national railroad network a few years ago, my newspaper has tasked my with touring the country and writing about the locations and people of Mexico. However, one of my first experiences did not involve a scenic location or monument but a restaurant and hotel that provided what I would call exceptional service and has set a standard of excellence. While travelling to Mexico City, about a half hour from our next stop, one of the railroad staff handed me a menu for restaurant the next location where the train was stopping for fuel and water. Now, being a traveller and having having bad experiences with other railroad stops I was skeptical. However, the attendant advised me that this was different, that the food was as good as any hotel and the prices were fair and the service fast. So I selected a simple meal and prepared to be disappointed. When we arrived I saw the sign for Casa Ibanez and entered a busling sea of activity. The staff, all young ladies, were leading passengers to their tables and asking if you wanted cold water, coffee, fruit juice or milk to drink. I asked for coffee and the waitress asked what meal I had ordered. In less than five minutes my coffee and meal were in front of me on a fine china plate. The coffee was fresh and quality was excellent, better than some of the coffee I have had in better hotels. The table was set with fine linen, imported from Ireland I was told.
While eating I spoke with several other diners. Casa Ibanez was opened two years ago and had five locations now, and each location has all had the same service and excellent food. It was created by Odran Seachnall Ibanez, a man with over thirty years of hotel and restaurant experience and was well know for being for being fastidious innkeeper and has set high standards for efficiency and cleanliness in his establishments, personally inspecting them as often as possible. It has been said that nothing escapes his notice, and he was even known to completely overturn a poorly set table. Male customers are required to wear a coat and tie in many of the dining rooms. The meals are served in sumptuous portions that provide a good value for the traveling public; for instance, pies are cut into fourths, rather than sixths, which is the industry standard at the time.
On of the biggest changes happened last year when Ibanez implemented a policy of employing a female serving staff. He sought single, well-mannered, and educated ladies, and placed ads in newspapers throughout the country for "young women, 18-30 years of age, of good character, attractive and intelligent". The girls are paid $18.50 a month, plus room and board. When I introduced myself and asked for the Manager of the restaurant I met with Senor Ibanez himself, who was touring his restaurants.
When I about the staff changes and quality of the food he told me that having female staff has helped 'civilize' some of the local male population along with the food. The food is shipped by railroad on special railroad cars in an arrangement with the FNM for free so travellers can enjoy fresh fruit and coffee at any location. The Chicas, as they are called, are subjected to a strict 10 p.m. curfew, administered by a senior Chica who assumes the role and responsibilities of a house mother. The official starched black and white uniform consists of a skirt that hung no more than eight inches off the floor, "Elsie" collars, opaque black stockings, and black shoes. The hair was restrained in a net and tied with a regulation white ribbon. Makeup of any sort was absolutely prohibited, as was chewing gum while on duty. Girls are required to enter into a one-year employment contract, and forfeited half their base pay should they fail to complete the term of service. Marriage was the most common reason for a girl to terminate her employment.
The restrictions have maintained a clean-cut reputation of the Girls, and made them even more marriageable. However, the opportunity to leave their homes, to enjoy travel, have new experiences, and work outside the home was very liberating for thousands of young women. I wish I could have stayed longer to speak with Senor Ibanez but I was about to miss my train, which was about to leave according to the staff. I left him my card and asked to call on him again, which I shall.
OOC:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Harvey_Company#References
Update 5: October 1, 1893 - December 31, 1893
Map of the world in October-December 1893
Spoiler :
Global changes
Q4 1893:
As fewer and fewer unexplored and uncolonized areas remain around the globe, mostly located in the African core, access to cheap and easily acquired labor and natural resources becomes much more restricted. (uncolonized: -1000 HC, -1000 EC)
The Central-European War was universally expected to be evaded and, if turned hot, to be over in a matter of months, just like many European conflicts since the Napoleonic Era. However, Christmas bells are ringing along with dark tolling of church bells, and earliest joiners of the conflict are starting to feel first signs of war exhaustion. (Communard France removes “Military mobilization (short term)”, removes “Economic mobilization (short term)”, adopts “Military mobilization (mid term)”, adopts “Economic mobilization (mid term)”, Austria-Bavaria removes “Military mobilization (short term)”, removes “Economic mobilization (short term)”, adopts “Military mobilization (mid term)”, adopts “Economic mobilization (mid term)”, Hungary removes “Military mobilization (short term)”, removes “Economic mobilization (short term)”, adopts “Military mobilization (mid term)”, adopts “Economic mobilization (mid term)”, Illyria removes “Military mobilization (short term)”, removes “Economic mobilization (short term)”, adopts “Military mobilization (mid term)”, adopts “Economic mobilization (mid term)”)
President Stone of the Confederate States of America is under fire from all sides after he signed a peace agreement with the North-American Union upon three months of widely despised “phoney war.” Many nationalists and jingoists are leaving the officer corps, while widely influential “robber barons” of Southron capitalism have applied just enough of political pressure on Stone’s Democrats to receive a wide set of compensations and tax breaks for their war-supportive measures, donations, restructuring, and other actions that now turned out to be completely unnecessary from the very beginning. (Confederate States of America removes “Economic mobilization (short term)”)
(Confederate States of America: -50 IC, -600 EC, -350 MC)
Eruption of the Gran-Colombian civil war that is quickly shifting toward becoming a war of Gran-Colombian Independence has forced the newly proclaimed Republic of Gran Colombia to mobilize and raise additional troops for protecting against Portobrazilian interference. (Gran Colombia adopts “Military mobilization (short term)”, adopts “Economic mobilization (short term)” for no additional cost)
(Gran Colombia: +2 Corps (-48 HC, -10 IC, -24.6 EC, -9 MC))
Treaty of Natal has been signed between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Twin Crown of Portugal-Brazil, outlining, perhaps, the highest point of Portobrazilian diplomatic influence to this day. Among the terms of the treaty were a dynastic marriage between members of the royal houses, joint administration of the Dutch and Portobrazilian East Indies, and a full sale of the Dutch Suriname to Portugal-Brazil.
(Region Asian Pacific Islands: Portugal-Brazil gains +1.75% Regional Influence, Netherlands loses -1.75% Regional Influence)
(Region Amazon Region: Portugal-Brazil gains +5% Regional Influence, Netherlands loses -5% Regional Influence)
(Netherlands: +50 HC, +20 IC, +10 MC; Portugal-Brazil: -50 HC, -20 IC, -10 MC)
As if not having enough dissent at home, Dutch Director-Admiral Jan Derx signed a scandalous Ghana Purchase agreement with Confederate President Stone, who is equally unpopular in his home country. The agreement stated that the entire Dutch colonial possession in Ghana was going to be transferred to the CSA in exchange for a promise of building an analytical engine in the Netherlands - a promise that is yet to materialize into concrete actions. (Region Greater Mali: Confederate States of America gains +5% Regional Influence, Netherlands loses -5% Regional Influence)
Not stopping at selling Suriname and Ghana, the Director-Admiral went ahead and signed off a temporary lease of ports of Soerabaja (Surabaya), Medan, Muntok (Mentok), and Fort Rotterdam (Makassar) in the Dutch East Indies, in exchange for Taiping friendship and non-aggression. This has marked the high point of the so-called “Colonial Sale” outrage, which is quickly merging with the Tulip Crisis in the Dutch metropoly. (Regions Asian Pacific Islands: Taiping Mandate gains +6% Regional Influence, Netherlands loses -6% Regional Influence)
Many North-American engineers, academics, artists, officers, and bureaucrats of African descent were sent to Liberia by the State Department of the Union, in order to alleviate the shortage of educated experts experienced by their African ally. (Liberia: +50 IC; Union of North America: -50 IC)
Another publically questionable, albeit less impactful trait of President Stone continues attracting his critics: generocity bordering prodigality. After “selling out the Nation’s talents” to Portugal-Brazil last summer, Stone again came under fire for allegedly sending thousands of Gabonian and Cameroonian natives to Japan for display in Edo’s controversial “eugenical zoos and cabinets of anthropological curiosities.” Needless to say, the sheer number of the “human showpieces” made it impossible for all of them to be Pygmies as the Japanese have requested, and vast majority of them were simply enslaved Africans of other tribes, albeit of short stature, ending up in various unpaid or badly paid positions in Japanese museums. (Confederate States of America: -40 HC; Tokugawa Shogunate: +40 HC)
Low-key cooperation between Dixie and Italian companies enacted this late fall-early winter, as industrial knowledge base and expertise find their way to the booming Italian economy, and Italian machine tools satisfy Confederate manufacturing demand. (Confederate States of America: -5 IC, +5 MC; Italy: +5 IC, -5 MC)
Demonstrating that his nation was not interested in aggressive imperialism and militarism that has engulfed the world, the leadership of the CSA concentrated on expansion of its state apparatus and economic capacities as soon as a peace treaty with the North-American Union was signed. (Confederate States of America: +4 Missions, +4 Enterprises (-107.2 HC, -92.4 IC, -259.6 EC, -147.6 MC))
Partially on a wave of recent (however timid) hostilities with the Union, and partially as a result of its reconciliation with it, the American South is undergoing a wind of changes in economy, banking, currency, as well as military tactics and equipment. (Confederate States of America adopts “Fast food industry” for -8.75 EC, -1.75 MC, adopts “Information economy” for -5.25 IC, -7 MC, adopts “Punchcard cryptocurrency” for -1.75 IC, -7 EC, -15.75 MC, adopts “Hisbah and venture capital” for -1.75 HC, -3.5 IC, -10.5 EC, adopts “Interchangeable parts” for -2.25 IC, -4.5 EC, -11.25 MC, adopts “Auftragstaktik and command by initiative” for -26 IC, -19.5 EC, adopts “Anti-personnel landmines” for -16.25 MC, adopts “Barbed wire” for -13 HC, -9.75 EC, -6.5 MC)
The State of Deseret is gradually transforming from a provisional government, formed by disjointed religious communities, to a sparsely populated and decentralized, but functional country with its own diplomatic corps, parish police, and state-owned land development companies. (Deseret: +1 Mission, +1 Enterprise (-20.8 HC, -17.4 IC, -48.2 EC, -17.5 MC))
An influx of refugees and immigrants from culturally booming Oriental Asia is bringing new banking practices, administrative norms, and artistic directions to the young nation of Deseret. (Deseret adopts “Traditional art and culture” for -3 HC, -0.5 IC, -1 EC, adopts “Mass culture and popular art” for -5 HC, -1 IC, -0.5 EC, -0.5 MC, adopts “Private and business banking” for -1 HC, -0.5 IC, -1 EC, adopts “Monetary standard and central bank” for -2 HC, -1 IC, -1.5 EC, adopts “Scientific management” for -1.5 IC, -0.5 EC, -0.5 MC, adopts “Nationalism and imperialism” for -2 HC, -0.5 IC, -1.5 EC, adopts “Globalism and cosmopolitanism” for -1 IC, -1 EC, adopts “Environmentalism” for -1.5 IC, -4 EC, adopts “Vetting and espionage” for -5 HC, -0.5 IC, -0.5 EC, adopts “Transnational crime and law” for -1 HC, -1 IC, -2.5 EC)
Insularity of Mexican diplomacy and commerce forced the President Diaz’s government to continue overspending in attempts to attract academic and engineering talents and to acquire precious machine tools for its industry, army, and fleet. (Mexico converts 200 EC into 18.7 IC, 3.05 MC)
Trying to improve army morale and reinforce greater civic equality among conscripts, Mexican general staff has cancelled its old practice of remplacement, mostly used by wealthy landowners to pay their way out of military service. (Mexico removes “Remplacement” for -184.8 HC)
The nation’s growing prosperity allows Mexico to start improving public infrastructure across the land, while also optimizing work of social services via use of citizens’ data cards (also known as cartilla de racionamiento (or “ration cards”) to the locals). This economic boom is also reflected in a series of small-scale rearmament programs, improving infantry and cavalry small-arms and communication devices. (Mexico adopts “Paved streets and urban infrastructure” for -3.75 EC, adopts “Highways and roadhouses” for -5 EC, adopts “Citizen data cards” for -4 EC, -16 MC, adopts “Spark-gap radiotransmitters” for -6 EC, -16 MC, adopts “Semi-automatic carbines” for -30 MC)
One of the most diplomatically versatile nations of the Old and New Worlds, Portugal-Brazil has suddenly found itself geopolitically isolated and surrounded by rivals. In order to counter any possible threats in peace and war, the Twin Crowns launched a massive expansion of all branches of service, stretching its resources to the limit. (Portugal-Brazil: +5 Missions, +5 Enterprises, +4 Corps, +1 Squadron (-253.6 HC, -149.1 IC, -369.3 EC, -216.3 MC))
Portobrazilian art, theoretical science, and banking flourish with a tide of new ideas being brought from Europe, South Africa and, surprisingly, the Orient, as waves of immigrants arrive to Brazilian shores of the globe-spanning empire. (Portugal-Brazil adopts “Expressionism and avant-garde” for -10 IC, -2.5 MC, adopts “Mass culture and popular art” for -25 HC, -5 IC, -2.5 EC, -2.5 MC, adopts “Business regulations” for -5 HC, -2.5 IC, -12.5 EC, adopts “Citizens’ dividend cards” for -25 EC, -2.5 MC, adopts “Gambling modus” for -10 IC, -7.5 EC, -2.5 MC, adopts “Science fiction” for -7.5 IC, -2.5 EC, adopts “Data vaults” for -2.5 EC, -15 MC, adopts “Hisbah and venture capital” for -2.5 HC, -5 IC, -15 EC, adopts “Psychoanalysis” for -15 IC, -2.5 EC, adopts “Biologism and evolution theory” for -5 HC, -15 IC, -5 EC, adopts “Nihilism and moral relativity” for -25 IC, -5 EC, adopts “Engine clacking” for -5 IC, -7.5 EC, -25 MC)
The rule of Empress Isabel de Braganza is becoming known as the Golden Age of Portobrazilian nobility, with all meaningful state apparatus roles, as well high positions in in the military, being reserved for land- or business-owning members of aristocracy. (Portugal-Brazil adopts “Timocratic government” for -315.55 HC)
Meanwhile, colonial exploitation of Portobrazilian subjects has finally received a formal framework, known as the Native Labour Regulations, which states that all able bodied men must work for six months of every year, and that "they have full liberty to choose the means through which to comply with this regulation, but if they do not comply in some way, the public authorities will force them to comply.” (Portugal-Brazil adopts “Corvee system” for -70.12 HC, -98.92 IC)
Even though the Native Labour Regulations act was hardly a very popular decision among lower classes of the Portobrazilian society, it was still taken quite lightly, mostly because its negative effect was easily compensated by the Emancipation Decree that effectively banned all forms of economic slavery across the empire, propelling the nation’s prestige forward. (Portugal-Brazil removes “Economic slavery” for -140.25 HC, -164.87 IC, -88.02 MC)
Afraid to give up reins of economic control over the nation’s economy by the massive shift from slavery-based production to free labor market, the Twin Crowns of Portugal and Brazil made sure to pass a series of executive decisions and informal cabinet deals, strongly tying major plantations, corporations and guilds to the Ministry of Internal Development. (Portugal-Brazil adopts “Dirigist economy” for -247.3 IC)
Empress Isabel de Braganza continues improving her prestige among her subjects (excluding the ungrateful Gran-Colombians) by taking care of the poor and the elderly via public kitchens and canned food drives, sponsored by the royal house. (Portugal-Brazil adopts “Soup kitchens” for -187.27 EC)
The treaty of Portobrazilian industrial assistance in exchange for a sale of some British colonies continues generating Brazilian-made machine tools and industrial equipment for the Commonwealth’s economy. (British Royal Commonwealth: +30 MC; Portugal-Brazil: -30 MC)
Stuck fighting a major war on the both sides of the Atlantic, the Royal Commonwealth hurries to mobilize its people and industry for land and naval warfare, while experts from the Armaments Ward warn the Lord-Protector that the needs of the troops are soon going to surpass the nation’s ability to maintain such a large force. (British Royal Commonwealth: +15 Corps, +5 Squadrons (-438 HC, -170.5 IC, -321 EC, -375 MC))
While Great Britain is about to start facing industrial deficits soon, its Communard enemy, France, has reached such state of affairs awhile ago, having drained the nation’s reserves of capital, fuel, machinery, and intellectual expertise for the needs of its huge army. In the late 1893, The Commune of Communes planned to add another million of soldiers and sailors to its already giant 3-million-strong fighting force, only to face a harsh reality: only a single corps of raw recruits armed with spades and Napoleonic muskets donated by the citizenry could be added to the frontline. (Communard France: +1 Corps (-29.8 HC, -8.5 IC, -14.7 EC, -13.8 MC))
Modern war raging across two continents and two oceans consumes a lot of industrial equipment and machinery, and even such industrial giants as Directorial Russia reach out to neutral countries for lucrative contracts. This winter, the Iberian Republic stood to benefit from it, receiving much needed influx of Russian precision equipment and simple difference engines in exchange for its metal alloys, clockwork, and machine tools. (Directorial Russia: -40 IC, +8 MC; Iberian Republic: +40 IC, -8 MC)
Historically, Russia hasn’t been known for a shortage of cheap, even expendable manpower. Times are changing, however, as this winter a lot of Russian companies and directorial offices have started outsourcing parts of their supply chain and basic services to Portugal, in exchange providing local economic players with expertise and consulting services. (Directorial Russia: +250 HC, -50 IC; Portugal-Brazil: -250 HC, +50 IC)
Russian Committee of State Security continues expanding in war times, becoming one of the most prominent espionage and counterintelligence agencies in the world. (Directorial Russia: +4 Missions (-48.8 HC, -80.8 IC, -134 EC, -32.8 MC))
As the Russian military continues adopting innovative ideas from other countries, its society and industry also gradually come in touch with concepts and technologies that have been mostly overlooked in Russia’s race for modernity. (Directorial Russia adopts “Socialism and class consciousness” for -9 IC, -4.5 EC, adopts “Hisbah and venture capital” for -4.5 HC, -9 IC, -27 EC, adopts “Auftragstaktik and command by initiative” for -60 IC, -45 EC, adopts “Women’s battalions” for -90 HC, -7.5 IC, -15 EC, adopts “Waterwheel and water power” for -10 HC, -20 EC, adopts “Vaccination” for -5 IC, -45 EC, adopts “Power projection” for -19.5 HC, -19.5 IC, -19.5 EC, adopts “Blue-water navy” for -26 IC)
As the Directorial Assembly continues its transition from a run-on constitutional convention to a modern civil state apparatus, technocratic methods of administration and decision-making are becoming a defining aspect of the contemporary Russian state. (Directorial Russia adopts “Technocratic government” for -1088.96 HC)
Canned seafoods from the Russia Far East, particularly king crab and salmon, maker their way to Germany and the Baltic Duchies in exchange for patents and translated German research papers and large amounts of Baltic labor-intensive goods, such as wheat, potatoes, and rye, much of which will end up being fermented.
(Pacific Directory: +20 IC, -70 EC; North German Federation: -20 IC, +70 EC)
(Pacific Directory: +32 HC, -21 EC; United Baltic Duchies: -32 HC; +21 EC)
Transpacific Civil Construction Corps is harvesting hundreds of acres of Sitka Spruce and Douglas Fir for use and sale. Much more is deliberately harvested than can currently be used and this excess is sold to the hungry Japanese industrial machine in exchange for commercial fishing and freight ships, as well as construction equipment. Supplementing this is actual food to feed the hungry Japanese industrialists, including dozens of tons of fresh and smoked salmon, crab, oysters, and clams. (Pacific Directory: -203 EC, +10 MC; Tokugawa Shogunate: +203 EC, -10 MC)
The Pacific Directory’s civil engineering units, along with a handful of actual military advisors, were sent to the Iron Confederacy to assist the natives with construction of roads and permanent villages, in exchange for discounted beaver pelts and bison hides on local markets, as well as temporary access to the Confederacy’s vast deposits of potash. (Pacific Directory: -45 HC, +35 EC; Iron Confederacy: +45 HC, -35 EC)
Technological advances of Directorial Russia were largely mirrored by its Far-Eastern cousin, brought by the tide of colonists, magistrates, and temporary migrants from European Russian Plains, while also certified by knowledge-hungry and ever-rational Transpacific magistrates. (Pacific Directory adopts “Hisbah and venture capital” for -1HC, -2 IC, -6 EC, adopts “Fast food industry” for -5 EC, -1 MC, adopts “Water wheel and wind power” for -1 HC, -2 EC, adopts “Vaccination” for -0.5 IC, -4.5 EC, adopts “Vulcanization of rubber” for -7.5 EC, -0.5 MC, adopts “Synthetic materials” for -9 EC, -0.5 MC, adopts “Paved streets and urban infrastructure” for -1.5 EC, adopts “Highways and roadhouses” for -2 EC, adopts “Dreisines and velocipedes” for -7 HC, -0.5 EC, -0.5 MC, adopts “Fortified districts” for -0.5 HC, -1.5 EC, -0.25 MC, adopts “Paramilitary organizations” for -2.5 HC, -0.5 EC, -0.25 MC, adopts “Women’s battalions” for -3 HC, -0.25 IC, -0.5 EC, adopts “Auftragstaktik and command by initiative” for -2 IC, -1.5 EC, adopts “Kantai Kessen and decisive naval battle strategy” for -3 IC, -0.25 MC)
Leadership of the Iron Confederacy is growing accustomed to more centralized methods of governing the union of tribes, creating a network of chief plenipotentiaries that could act as messengers and prefects of the Grand Council. (Iron Confederacy: +1 Mission: -6.8 HC, -12.8 IC, -21.3 EC))
North-German scientific knowledge bank is in high demand in rapidly modernizing China, giving Central-European intellectuals a bigger foreign pool for academic and professional advancement and bringing plenty of wealth and research funds to North-German labs and institutes. (North German Federation: -100 IC, +300 EC; Taiping Mandate: +100 IC, -300 EC)
The Central-European War has brought with it centralization and unification of the North-German society and, most importantly, state apparatus (including a newly formed cryptic Bureau XIII), making aggressive expansion of all branches of government possible. (North German Federation: +4 Missions, +6 Enterprises, +5 Corps, +4 Squadrons (-347.2 HC, -209.8 IC, -534.6 EC, -436.8 MC))
North-German Bundeswehr and Bundesmarine continue adopting all cutting-edge technologies and doctrines, borrowing from their contemporary war allies in attempts to remain the most innovative and technologically advanced fighting force on the planet, with the navy being equipped with patented echo-locating devices and von Lyncker’s Sturmkorps receiving special training based on Russian tactical manuals of Batalyony Smerti (Battalions of Death). Meanwhile, militarism is in vogue among North-German inventors and entrepreneurs, as a notorious Raketenkrieg festival create a demand for home-manufactured liquid-propellant rockets and dedicated, state-protected natural reserves. (North German Federation adopts “Battalions of Death and shock troops” for -25 HC, -62.5 IC, -6.25 EC, -12.5 MC, adopts “Bicycle-riding and ski troops” for -62.5 HC, -25 EC, -6.25 MC, adopts “Echo-locating devices” for -18 IC, -6 EC, -18 MC, adopts “Liquid-propellant rocket engines” for -13.5 EC, -6.75 MC, adopts “Water and land conservation” for -18 HC, -2.25 IC, -4.5 EC, -11.25 MC, adopts “Fast food industry” for -26.25 EC, -5.25 MC)
The Netherlands are struggling to fill in all government roles that require civic or scientific expertise, so foreign experts started to find employment in the lands belonging to the Dutch Crown this fall. (Netherlands converts 100 EC to 18.7 IC)
Eager to prepare his nation for total mobilization in the face of various geopolitical challenges, Director-Admiral Jan Derx has signed a series of executive orders expanding the size of Bureau voor Nationale Veiligheid (Bureau of National Security) and simultaneously recruiting major Dutch corporations and colonial trade companies to the service of the state. (Netherlands: +1 Mission, +6 Enterprises (-84.8 HC, -33.8 IC, -202 EC, -120.1 MC))
Citing war needs and, strangely, humanitarian concerns, the Dutch government announced its complete abandonment of economic philosophy of non-interference with the free market at home and in the colonies. (Netherlands removes “Laissez-faire economy” for -384.15 HC, -357.57 EC)
To replace market non-interference policies, Dutch stratocrats rolled out a plan for complete revamping of the nation’s economic system. The plan aims to tie all major producers, manufacturers, banks, and other actors to state-managed annual and quarterly plans, effectively completely abandoning the ancient Dutch tradition of free trade and free enterprise, to the nation’s dismay. (Netherlands adopts “Planned economy” for -48.53 IC, -520.1 EC)
Perhaps, realizing that the aggressive reforms he and his followers were pushing for were impossible to perform without some sort of consensus with other political players, the Director-Admiral of the Netherlands has declared that he will attempt to populate his cabinet with representatives of various ethnicities and ideologies of metropolitan Netherlands, effectively forming a shaky and unsteady, but still a coalition-based government body. (Netherlands adopts “Consociationist government” for -102.44 HC, -130.03 EC, -39.05 MC)
Responding to the civic chaos and discontent his own reforms have created, Director-Admiral Derx hurried to declare a judicial reform that would put all subjects of the Dutch Crown on equal footing before the law. (Netherlands adopts “Rule of law” -204.88 HC, -65.01 EC)
A noose around the neck of Hungarian monarchy keeps tightening, and the Crown of St. Stephen keeps doing its best to replenish field losses and produce enough battle-ready formations to cover its multitude of fronts. (Hungary: +2 Corps (-57.2 HC, -17 IC, -43.2 EC, -29.8 MC))
Demoralized and humbled by his quick loss in the Central-European War, the Domnus of Romania chose to play it safely with the Russians and, instead of rebuilding the army against their diplomatic pressure, concentrate on creating an extensive, if obsolete spy network which could secure his position against a popular discontent. (Romanian Domnate: +2 Missions (-16.4 HC, -25.4 IC, -43 EC))
Having barely returned to devastated Zagreb with Italian permission, the Illyrian monarch and his court immediately started to rebuild the nation’s most crucial branch of power in these uncertain times: the military. (Illyria: +1 Corps: (-29.8 HC, -7.2 IC, -13.6 EC, -4.5 MC))
Unusual fiscal restraint is displayed by Italian leadership in the age of massive conscription and expansive nationalization of industries, with only a single regular army corps being added to the Italian standing army. (Italy: +1 Corps: (-33.4 HC, -10.2 IC, -21.1 EC, -17.1 MC))
In order to provide for the frontlines, Republican Italy is introducing civic alternatives to military service, keeping its consistent course of national prosperity and productivity even at times of war. (Italy adopts “Civil conscription” for -413.27 HC)
The Italian Supreme Command seems to have learned the lessons of the early Sardinian campaign, realizing that the key to successful defensive action in modern warfare lies in proper use of artillery. (Italy adopts “Standing barrage” for -17.5 IC, -21 MC, adopts “Volley guns” for -21 MC)
Wide economic changes brought by a flurry of Italian agricultural and mining investments have transformed capital ownership structure in Iberia, moving it away from French-inspired collective ownership and toward standard practices of liberal economic private enterprise. (Iberian Republic removes “Collective ownership” for -51.46 EC, -21.96 MC)
As dust of the Spanish Revolution settles, the Iberian Extraordinary Council is starting to work on formalization of its legal proceedings, moving the country away from often decentralized direct democracy of spontaneous public gatherings and toward more mainstream forms of governing. (Iberian Republic removes “Ochlocratic government” for -21.97 IC, -19.3 EC)
Normalization of Iberian social life and economy has made ideas of radical hands-off approach to governance increasingly unpopular, to a degree that Partido Comunista Libertario (Communist Libertarian Party) lost its dominance in the Extraordinary Council, followed by a sweeping wave of regulatory and taxation laws accepted by that organ. (Iberian Republic removes “Minarchy” for -118.38 HC, -13.18 MC)
Modernization of Spanish industry and even agriculture is creating high demand for skilled, well-educated workers, engineers, and agriculturalists, which is clearly recognized by the Extraordinary Council that, to communist-libertarian dismay, has adopted university grants program this November. (Iberian Republic adopts “University stipends” for -26.31 HC, -12.87 EC)
Looking to secure the legacy of the Revolution, while also ensuring the Iberian Republic’s political independence, its government pushed for a creation of political police apparatus, named Servicio de Información Militar (Military Information Service) or SIM in order to disguise its functions from generally socialist-liberal and anarcho-socialist public of Spain. (Iberian Republic adopts “Political police” for -39.48 HC, -27.04 IC)
Despite the fact that the country has experienced bankruptcy under the Bourbon crown barely seven years ago, the new republican government of Spain seems to be unafraid of pushing the country into some debt in order to achieve immediate goals and achieve some level of political independence. Showcasing this intent was wide expansion of the nation’s secret police and creation SIM units to serve the Extraordinary Council and the people of Spain. (Iberian Republic: +1 Mission (-10.2 HC, -17.3 IC, -24.6 EC, -3 MC))
The Sultanate of Maghreb made its first leap into modernity in the early 1880s, but was stuck in a relatively lethargic state for the decade that followed. It appears that the nation’s political elite has grown to accept a need for a new leap forward, massively investing into innovations in administration, culture, economy, armaments, and military organization. (Maghreb adopts “Corporate ethos” for -4 EC, adopts “Hisbah and venture capital” for -0.5 HC, -1 IC, -3 EC, adopts “Cartels and economic crime” for -5.5 EC, adopts “Classicism and the Enlightenment” for -0.5 IC, -1.5 EC, adopts “Environmentalism” for -1.5 IC, -4 EC, adopts “Impressionism and decadent art” for -1.5 IC, adopts “Bohemianism and counterculture” for -3 IC, adopts “Constitutionalism” for -1 HC, -1 IC, -0.5 EC, adopts “Psychoanalysis” for -3 IC, -0.5 EC, adopts “Biologism and evolution theory” for -1 HC, -3 IC, -1 EC, adopts “Fast food industry” for -2.5 EC, -0.5 MC, adopts “Investigative journalism” for -1 IC, -1.5 EC, adopts “Paved streets and urban infrastructure” for -1.5 EC, adopts “Synthetic materials” for -9 EC, -0.5 MC, adopts “Vulcanization of rubber” for -7.5 EC, -0.5 MC, adopts “Dreisines and velocipedes” for -7 HC, -0.5 EC, -0.5 MC, adopts “Defense in depth” for -28 HC, -4 IC, adopts “Fortified districts” for -4 HC, -12 EC, -2 MC, adopts “Bicycle-riding and ski infantry” for -20 HC, -8 EC, -2 MC, adopts “Dazzle camouflage” for -5 IC, -3 EC, adopts “Kantai Kessen and decisive naval battle strategy” for -12 IC, -1 MC)
Sultan Mulai Abd al-Aziz IV of Maghreb, who has just recently succeeded his father, Hassan I the Magnificent, seems to not share his predecessor’s idea that all the Sultanate of Maghreb needs is a big standing army and a regionally strong fleet. As one of the first actions made by the young ruler, the nation drastically expanded its Ministry of Internal Affairs, diplomatic corps, and the industrial arm of the Ministry of Production and Commerce. (Maghreb: +5 Missions, +4 Enterprises (-102.4 HC, -93.1 IC, -240.5 EC, -98.3 MC))
The Sublime Porte’s branches of power continue going through extensive modernization, with its numerous army units receiving particular attention in the last months of 1893, adopting modern fortification methods, advanced armaments, and more flexible command hierarchy. (Sublime Porte adopts “Bunker fortresses” for -10 HC, -20 EC, -10 MC, adopts “Field trenches” for -50 HC, -5 MC, adopts “Barbed wire” -20 HC, -15 EC, -10 MC, adopts “Semi-automatic small arms” for -10 EC, -40 MC, adopts “Army inter-branch cooperation” for -20 HC, -40 IC, -20 EC, adopts “Fortified districts” for -10 HC, -30 EC, -5 MC)
The battle of Tavoy and subsequent successful clearing of the Indian Ocean from Boer spice trade and privateering have reawakened the Konbaung monarchy’s appetite for regional dominance - or so it seems, considering rapid expansion of Burma’s navy and intelligence service. (Third Burmese Empire: +2 Missions, +4 Squadrons (-85.6 HC, -68 IC, -146.2 EC, -142.4 MC))
In an unusual display of cooperation and generosity, the Third Burmese Empire agreed to lease Chatham Island of the Andaman Archipelago as a naval base to Japan free of charge. (Region South-East Asia: Tokugawa Shogunate gains +0.25% Regional Influence, Third Burmese Empire loses -0.25% Regional Influence)
Technologically booming Japan is becoming a major center of intellectual immigration and knowledge import from other Asian countries, exporting its labor-intensive agricultural produce and industrial goods to its partners in Indochina and Punjab.
(Tokugawa Shogunate: +52 IC, -9 MC; Sikh Empire: -52 IC, +9 MC)
(Tokugawa Shogunate: -48 HC, +10 IC; Dai Viet: +48 HC, -10 IC)
In an attempt to counterbalance the influence Japanese jitsugyōka (industrialists) have on the affairs of the state, Tokugawa Shogun sanctioned a heavy expansion of the nation’s diplomatic corps and administrative cadres. (Tokugawa Shogunate: +8 Missions (-119.2 HC, -180 IC, -269.6 EC, -67.2 MC)
Despite authoritarian nature of Bakufu government, factionalism and a great degree of autonomy given to different branches of the government and military, combined with a reasonable level of cooperation existing between them, are reshaping the Tokugawa Shogunate. By now, a de-facto directorial nature of the government has been fully formalized, pushing off of the already existing power-sharing agreements that is settled between the industrialists, samurai-savants, the army, and the navy. (Tokugawa Shogunate adopts “Directorial government” for -467.22 HC)
The ghost of the Boshin War is no longer haunting the Japanese Isles, and the Tokugawa Shogunate is gradually moving away from its image of an extraordinary martial government toward a new, more established state apparatus. (Tokugawa Shogunate removes “Military dictatorship” for -66.2 IC, -102.24 EC, -62.75 MC)
A North-American native concept of cheap, rapidly serving, and franchised food joints has crossed the Pacific Ocean and reached one of the most technologically flourishing places in the world, Tokugawa Japan. (Tokugawa Shogunate adopts “Fast food industry” for -10 EC, -2 MC)
Reforms of the central state apparatus in the Heavenly Kingdom continue expanding all units of the Heavenly Chancellery and Department of Merciful Vigilance, in accordance with the old tradition of Chinese enlightened bureaucracy. (Taiping Mandate: +6 Missions, +6 Enterprises (-237.6 HC, -156 IC, -382.2 EC, -157.2 MC))
The Oriental Renaissance continues blooming in China, this time spreading into industrial and commercial fields, as the Heavenly Kingdom’s manufacturing capacities grow. (Taiping Mandate adopts “Vulcanization of rubber” for -67.5 EC, -4.5 MC, adopts “Synthetic materials” for -81 EC, -4.5 MC, adopts “Hisbah and venture capital” for -3 HC, -6 IC, -18 EC, adopts “Nihilism and moral relativity” for -30 IC, -6 EC, adopts “Fast food industry” for -15 EC, -3 MC, adopts “Science fiction” for -9 IC, -3 EC)
The Sikh Empire of Punjab (or Sikh Khalsa Raj) is no longer content with a name that implies the leading role of the Sikh faith in its existence. A royal proclamation was published, changing the formal name of the country to the Sikh Empire of Indostan. (Sikh Empire name changes to Indostan starting Turn 6)
The Sikh Empire of Indostan continues growing into one of the dominant Asian powers, with its army and intelligence forces expanding to address various threats and ambitions in the east. (Sikh Empire: +3 Missions, +6 Corps (-232.2 HC, -125.1 IC, -189 EC, -54.6 MC))
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Update 5: October 1, 1893 - December 31, 1893
War update (Part 1)
War of Hungarian Containment: Carpathian Campaign
Q4 1893: Russian General Nikolai Stoletov’s plan for the winter Carpathian campaign was almost entirely based on deception. While his enemies felt that most of the Carpathian massif would be impassable during late fall and early winter due to deteriorating weather conditions, Stoletov chose to utilize the Russian Directorial Army’s most recent advancement in maskirovka and battlefield deception to persuade the Hungarians that the Turnu Roşu Pass would be the only area of Russian activity for the remainder of 1893. Meanwhile, he hoped to execute a daring, wide-ranging offensive along the entire front, utilizing Russian ski infantry and “Vezdekhod” all-terrain logistical vehicles for pushing the advance forward. The Hungarians, for their part, felt relatively safe behind mountain ranges, bothering to reinforce only the Red Tower Pass as the most passable, from their perspective. They were further calmed down by Russian inactivity up until the first snow. Finally, on November 21st, Stoletov ordered Operation Suvorov (named after a Russian 18th century general who crossed the Alps with an army) to commence. Almost instantaneously, Alexei Brusilov’s 1st Shock Army broke through Hungarian northern defences at Vatra Dornei and proceeded pushing to Bistriţa. In the south, the 4th Field Army under general Nikolai Ruzsky pushed the Hungarians in the south at Târgu Jiu, progressing slowly, but steadily and eventually spilling into the Transylvanian Plateau. On Ruszky’s left flank, the Russian Danube Flotilla beat its Hungarian counterparts at a spectacular river battle of the Iron Gates, forcing the enemy abandon that george and then proceeding to take hold of riverbanks in southern Banat. Hungarian troops were forced to retreat and drop much of their equipment, although recent advancements in allotransplantation and antibiotics somewhat helped to deal with the losses the Honved suffered to frostbite and other elements. All in all, for all of the Russian successes, the Hungarians still had the weather and the landscape on their side. Eventually, the extraordinary early triumphs of the Operation Suvorov ran out, when the Hungarians stiffened their resistance in the Apuseni and Căliman-Harghita Mountains. (Region Danube Region gains -1.11% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Directorial Russia gains +5.54% Regional Influence, Hungary loses -5.54% Regional Influence, Directorial Russia losses: -56.33 HC, -18.74 IC, -37.73 EC, -33.65 MC, Hungary losses: -87.4 HC, -26.29 IC, -67.35 EC, -48.84 MC)
Battle for the Red Tower Pass
Spoiler :
Q4 1893: While Stoletov’s offensive master plan was still in the making, another, smaller master plan was already being implemented. In and around the Turnu Roşu Pass, Russian troops and military intelligence forces were engaging their Hungarian counterparts in a game of deception, persuading the enemy that the only and main attack of the winter campaign was going to take place in the vicinity of the Red Tower. Double agents were used to array false intelligence to the enemy, and whole fake military camps were created in the valley to imitate concentration of Russian troops. The success of the plan was so complete that even when first successes of the Operation Suvorov started to threaten Hungarian flanks, the high command in Budapest insisted on keeping at least two corps at Turnu Roşu, awaiting for an offensive they believed was imminent. Eventually, a local commander dared to overrule the central detective, but by then the Hungarians in the pass were almost entirely cut off from Central Transylvania. Barely a quarter of their force managed to escape the encirclement before the trap completely closed, forcing the remainder of the force, now demoralized and out of supply, to surrender to the Russians after five days of desperate combat. (Battle quest completed with full success, region Danube Region: Directorial Russia gains +4.5% Regional Influence, Hungary loses -4.5% Regional Influence, Hungary: -1 Corps, Directorial Russia losses: -20.31 HC, -8.5 IC, -14.3 EC, -9.48 MC, Hungary losses: -27.81 HC, -14.43 IC, -28.87 EC, -13.72 MC)
War of Hungarian Containment: Lesser Poland Campaign
Q4 1893: In late September 1893, Russian Directorial Assembly extended an offer of military help to Poland as a gesture of goodwill. Despite the diplomatic language of that offer, it simply attempted to cover the fact that the Stavka was highly worried about Poland’s ability to launch modern war, making it a likely target of a knock-out campaign resembling the Hungary’s Croatian gambit earlier this year. So, even though the Sejm accepted only one Russian expeditionary corps (a decision likely driven by Warsaw’s desire to retain full independence in strategic decision-making), an entire Russian army was nonetheless deployed in Belarus with secret orders to intervene and save the Polish army if its frontline starts collapsing. Yet, these fears proved to be unfounded. While Hungary’s Third Royal Hadsereg under General Friedrich Freiherr von Georgi dug in on the Krakow-Tarnow-Przemyśl line, Polish Field Marshal Władysław Wysocki successfully regrouped his forces and reinforced them with new reserve formations, preparing a bold offensive in which his enemy wouldn’t have the benefit of defensive terrain. The attack came in mid-October and quickly broke through von Georgi’s thin lines near Bochnia and Debica. In a matter of two weeks the Poles and their Russian allies swept through Red Ruthenia and Lesser Poland, reversing all Hungarian gains of the early fall. Luckily for von Georgi and his shattered troops, soon Wysocki’s offensive reached West-Beskidian Piedmont, where the hilly terrain itself slowed it down. Still, the Polish army continued grinding down through the Third Royal Hadsereg’s ad-hoc defences, gradually making its way through the the Western Beskids and Orava-Podhale Depression. Eventually, both sides returned to the slopes of Slovak Ore Mountains and the Fatra-Tatra area where the campaign started in July, at which point heavy snowfall and blizzards put an end to all offensive action in the region for awhile. (Region Poland-Czechia gains -2.44% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Poland gains +8.49% Regional Influence, Hungary loses -8.49% Regional Influence, Poland losses: -37.75 HC, -10.78 IC, -19.58 EC, -12.20 MC, Directorial Russia losses: -7.18 HC, -2.37 IC, -4 EC, -3.25 MC, Hungary losses: -50.92 HC, -15.13 IC, -38.46 EC, -26.53 MC)
War of Hungarian Containment: Transdanubian Campaign
Q4 1893: The Transdanubian campaign, naturally, was the centerpiece of the War of Hungarian Containment in the late 1893. With just around 150 kilometers separating the frontline from the Hungarian capital, the Coalition predictably wished to concentrate the majority of its resources on that theater. The hero of Wien, Duke Otto von Habsburg, and his North-German co-commander, general Dietrich von Hülsen-Haeseler developed a seemingly simple and practical plan to deliver a three-pronged blow to Hungarian defences in Pozsony (Bratislava), Székesfehérvár, and Zalaegerszeg, stretching the Honved as thin as possible. They had all reasons to be optimistic, given their superiority in numbers, as well as recent addition of Rast & Gasser machine pistols and Steyr-Daimler-Puch Type.3 skeleton-crawlers to the Princely Confederacy's army's arsenal. However, Duke Otto’s nemesis, General Kövess von Kövessháza, was not as fatalist as his opponents expected him to be. Having pulled off a miracle of saving cohesion of the First, Third, and Sixth Royal Hadseregs after the disaster at Wien, von Kövessháza relied heavily on the Honved’s recent advancements in medicine and rear organization, as well as terrain features of Transdubnia that his troops could take advantage of. The Gyor offensive on October 4-7 presented the Coalition with a quick and relatively easy victory. Szombathely fell a week and a half later. However, a North-German attempt to take Pozsony with assistance of the Austrobavarian Danube River Flotilla failed miserably, as the Bundeswehr struggled to cross the Danube and Morava against Hungarian river monitors, and when a few divisions did manage to establish a bridgehead in the Erdőhát wood, they lasted barely half a month, until being pushed back across the Morava. To the south, the Austrobavarians and North-German detachments had a much easier time in the Little Transdanubian plain, but they, too, soon reached the foothills of the Dunántúl mountain range. With his center being protected by the Balaton lake, von Kövessháza could easily concentrate most of his formations in that hilly massif on both sides of the lake, breaking down any enemy attempts to penetrate toward Hungary’s industrial heart. (Region Danube Region gains -1.98% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Austria-Bavaria gains +0.76% Regional Influence, Hungary loses -1.07% Regional Influence, North German Federation losses: -26.47 HC, -10.13 IC, -16.83 EC, -13.73 MC, Austria-Bavaria losses: -76.09 HC, -4.79 IC, -43.9 EC, -42.15 MC, Hungary losses: -113.54 HC, -33.9 IC, -86.4 EC, -60.77 MC)
Battle for the Armor Hills
Q4 1893: Out of all segments of the Dunántúl (Transdanubian) Mountains, the Vértes Hills are the most suitable for a large army offensive, being relatively sloping and holding the key to a direct route to Budapest. For Honved soldiers, this mountainous formation carries a special morale value, being named after a famous historical anecdote that, to them, signifies Hungarian defiance against Germanic powers. It is claimed that in 1052, Emperor Henry III of the Holy Roman Empire was forced to cross these hills with his retinue after an unsuccessful campaign in Hungary. In their rush to escape with their lives, the German knights scattered their armor in these hilly groves, thus giving them their name (from Hungarian “vért” for “armor”). Now, it seems, the history is about to repeat itself again, and brave fighters of the Crown of St. Stephen are about to strip the maleficent Germans of their shields and their armor once again. Or not?
War of Hungarian Containment: Croatian Campaign
Q4 1893: Italy’s plans for the late 1893 on the eastern front were concentrated on achieving its own regional objectives without spilling too much of precious Italian blood. Mostly, general Enrico Caviglia was tasked with taking control of Hungary-controlled Illyrian Istria. Meanwhile, the Fourth Royal Hadsereg of Hungarian army was simply expected to hold its positions in the North-Western Balkans for as long as possible, buying time for the Crown of St. Stephan to stabilize situation on other fronts. This shaped a largely one-sided campaign, in which the Italians cautiously advanced against orderly Hungarian withdrawal, taking Rijeka in late Istria and then proceeding to spill into Dalmatia and southern Croatia proper. By the end of the year, Illyrian king Karlo III returned to Zagreb, where he announced that the Kingdom of Illyria is resuming its hostilities with Hungary. In Budapest this proclamation was mostly ignored, as the Illyrians still have to rebuild their army and cannot seriously threaten Hungarian flanks. However, in Rome and Wien this event was met with elation, presented as an important moral victory against the Hungarian militarism. (Region South Germany gains -0.01% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Italy gains +0.03% Regional Influence, Hungary loses -0.03% Regional Influence, region Balkans gains -0.13% Regional Influence, Italy gains +2% Regional Influence, Illyria gains +6.17% Regional Influence, Hungary loses -6.17% Regional Influence, Italy losses: -30.16 HC, -9.21 IC, -19.05 EC, -15.44 MC, Hungary losses: -50.97 HC, -15.15 IC, -38.49 EC, -26.55 MC)
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Update 5: October 1, 1893 - December 31, 1893
War update (Part 2)
Anti-Communard War: Provence Campaign
Q4 1893: Commissioner-General Chamorin’s plans for the Provence campaign of the late 1893 were similar to the early months of the war, as he intended to smash his discoordinated opponents in a war of defensive maneuver. However, the other side also had learned on its mistakes and modernized its equipment, to boot. While the Sardinians under the Duke of Montferrat were mostly passive, providing a single corps to support Italian activities, the Republican forces of General Garibaldi Jr. aimed to capture Toulon in a slow, but purposeful, narrow-scope offensive. This limited Chamorin’s ability to outmaneuver his enemies, but also gave him enough time to dig in while the Italians wasted a bit too much time on heavy artillery barrages. Still, the Italian push that involved first practical use of Italian-made “Aprillia L.93” skeleton-crawlers made some early progress, partially thanks to a campaign of military sabotage unleashed against the French by Italian military intelligence forces. Still, Chamorin’s troops quickly stabilized the situation and fought the Italians back with a series of counterattacks just east of Toulon, keeping the harbor out of range for the enemy artillery. (Region South France gains -0.38% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Italy gains +0.33% Regional Influence, Communard France losses -0.33% Regional Influence, Italy losses: -65.76 HC, -22.71 IC, -45.3 EC, -34.25 MC, Sardinia-Piedmont losses: -8.71 HC, -2.5 IC, -4.51 EC, -2.25 MC, Communard France losses: -58.27 HC, -16.62 IC, -28.74 EC, -26.99 MC)
Battle for the Western Mediterranean
Spoiler :
Q4 1893: The Republican Admiralty in Rome had rather ambitious plans for the Mediterranean campaign of late fall-early winter of 1893. They completely abandoned protection of their merchant marine and instead went into a full-on offensive against the Communard Mediterranean fleet, hoping to lock it in Toulon and destroy once the Italian army takes the city. However, as Garibaldi Jr. and his troops failed to take or even significantly damage the port, French warships and experimental submerged attack vessels were free to continue attacking the Italian fleet patrolling the Ligurian Sea, as well as its Sardinian allies. Still, for all the losses the Coalitionary shipping suffered from the Communard raiders, French merchant marine suffered more, and by the New Year’s Eve it was obvious to everyone that the Coalition could still continue sending its convoys through the Mediterranean (despite all the risks of being attacked), while the French had no such possibility any longer, being limited to sending convoys only through the Atlantic. (Regional quest completed with mixed results, Communard France: -150 HC, -45 IC, -120 EC, -30 MC, Italy: -80 HC, -15 IC, 80 EC, -10 MC, Sardinia-Piedmont: -30 HC, -10 IC, -35 EC, -5 MC, Sardinia-Piedmont losses: -1.92 HC, -1.22 IC, -3.02 EC, -4.94 MC, Italy losses: -15.12 HC, -9.48 IC, -24.12 EC, -39.84 MC, Communard France losses: -16.13 HC, -14.74 IC, -33.94 EC, -48.54 MC)
Anti-Communard War: Franche-Comte Campaign
Q4 1893: To hold on their early gains in Franche-Comte and Lorraine, French troops in the region had to guard the shores of the Moselle river. However, as fighting on other fronts and especially in the Jurassic Forest continued sucking in all resources and reserves, the Moselle front gradually grew stretched too thin. This was eventually realized by the Austrobavarians who, after several failed attempts to cross the river (initially successful, but always short lived due to ferocious Communard counter-attacks), finally received a nature’s gift. Thanks to an unusually cold November, the Moselle river froze, allowing the Austrobavarian light infantry to surprise French riverbank defenses in a dashing raid that, to the Coalitionary command’s surprise, took an entire section of undermanned French trenches in the sector. This surprising breakthrough quickly put French lines in Lorraine in danger. Despite the order to hold newly conquered territories at all cost, Communard forces were just not numerous enough. For two weeks, they managed to hold by anchoring their flank at Metz and Sedan, but these fortresses had to also be left to the enemy eventually, and the short, but vicious battle of Nancy also left the Duke of Wurtemberg and his XIII Corps victorious. Eventually, the French army had to give up all of its earlier war gains in Franche-Comte and retreat to the pre-war border running just east of the Burgundian mountains and the Morvan heights. (Region South Germany gains -1.87% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Austria-Bavaria gains +9.37% Regional Influence, Communard France loses -9.37% Regional Influence, Communard France losses: -56.99 HC, -16.26 IC, -28.11 EC, -26.39 MC, Austria-Bavaria losses: -42.88 HC, -19.69 IC, -24.14 EC, -22.52 MC)
Battle of the Jurassic Forest
Spoiler :
Q4 1893: French loss of the Austrobavarian Franche-Comte to the north temporarily lowered strategic importance of the Jurassic Forest for both militaries, but not for long. As soon as the Austrobavarian offensive hit the slopes of the Morvan and Burgundian Mountains, it became clear that the only way for the Princely Confederacy’s army to bypass that obstacle and, potentially, link with Sardinians and Italians in the south was to fully control the Burgundian Gates (known as the Belfort Gap to the French) and Jurassic Forest. That, once again, pitched Austrobavarian jagdkommando and French tirailleurs against each other, pushing Communard defenses of the Belfort Gap to the very brink of collapse. Still, heroic French resistance held in the hills west of Belfort, giving the Commune of Communes some hope of preventing a breakthrough.. (Battle quest progress: 95.64%, Communard France losses: -24.06 HC, -6.86 IC, -11.87 EC, -11.14 MC, Austria-Bavaria losses: -30.43 HC, -13.97 IC, -17.13 EC, -15.98 MC)
Anti-Communard War: Champagne Campaign
Q4 1893: German plans for Champagne were rather simplistic: push for Reims in support of the Austrobavarian offensive in Lorraine and Franche-Comte. The attack was supposed to be executed rather conservatively, always keeping contact with the Austrobavarians and never allowing a gap to be created between the forces. On the French side, again nothing but defense was on the planning table, as Communards wished to wear the enemy out in the patchwork of empty fields separated by stone fences. It was, perhaps, ironic, because the French army ended up having superiority in numbers in this sector just like in Picardy, because a Dutch corps tasked with supporting the Bundeswehr was recalled home, where it was going to participate in artillery drills and, if needed, put down a new wave of revolutionary discontent caused by Director-Admiral Derx’s reforms. As a result, the North-German offensive quickly became a sequence of pushes for limited gains, followed by a series of mutual counterattacks and artillery barrages. Just when it looked like the North-German momentum could be maintained no longer, the Austrobavarians took Metz and rushed to Nancy in the east, forcing the French commanders in Champagne to perform a limited retreat to preserve their flanks. Meanwhile, events in the west were much more optimistic for the Communard army... (Region North France gains +0.17% Regional Growth Fluctuation, North German Federation gains +0.86% Regional Influence, Communard France loses -0.86% Regional Influence, Communard France losses: -51.73 HC, -14.76 IC, -25.52 EC, -23.96 MC, North German Federation losses: -49.33 HC, -18.88 IC, -31.36 EC, -25.58 MC)
Anti-Communard War: Picardy Campaign
Q4 1893: Both Communard and Coalitionary war plans for the Picardy campaign outside of Saint-Quentin were revolving around the need to support the battle for the gap in French “Fortress France” fortificiation lines. To that end, North-German and Dutch units in the sector were tasked with advancing to Laon and Arras to support the I.Sturmkorps advance into Saint-Quentin. However, quite soon Coalitionary commanders discovered that they were outnumbered by the enemy in this sector 2:1. Thus, the offensive momentum could not be kept for long, and soon the Coalition was on the defensive. It somewhat helped the Anti-Communard forces that the French didn’t expect to be attacking that far from Saint-Quentin at all, and it took some time for local Communard commanders to overrule central directives and send their troops over the trenches’ edge. Once attacking, the Communards continued driving the enemy back for a couple dozen kilometers, until weather put an end to any movement for the time being. (Region North France gains Regional Growth Fluctuation -0.35%, Communard France gains +1.72% Regional Influence, North German Federation loses -1.72% Regional Influence, Netherlands losses: -10.23 HC, -2.68 IC, -4.87 EC, -3.26 MC, North German Federation losses: -21.14 HC, -8.09 IC, -13.44 EC, -10.96 MC, Communard France losses: -22.53 HC, -6.43 IC, -11.12 EC, -10.43 MC)
Battle of Saint-Quentin
Spoiler :
Q4 1893: North-German high command’s assessment of the situation around Saint-Quentin after the first three months of the war was somewhat paradoxically contradictory. On the one hand, the HQ was content with simply destroying the Saint-Quentin railroad junction, thus handicapping French ability to reinforce the “Fortress France” defensive line. On the other hand, if possible, the I.Sturmkorps was tasked with capturing Saint-Quentin for the purpose of penetrating through the French fortifications and driving forward on to Paris (which, allegedly, made frustrated von Lyncker quip in exasperation, “How would we supply our push on Paris through a railway junction we just demolished?”). While von Lyncker struggled to put his superiors’ directives into a coherent operational strategy, Extraordinary Commissar Simone Cixous and her HQ were preparing a plan based on a centuries old false retreat stratagem. The idea was to present the enemy with only token resistance in Saint-Quentin, while amassing counterattack-ready troops on the flanks, only to snap the trap once the enemy fully engages oneself into a false breakthrough. The plan had a good chance of success, but von Lyncker’s intuition saved the North-Germans from a total disaster. Before moving into and past Saint-Quentin, he ordered his more artillery-heavy forces to advance around the town take hold of the commune of Francilly-Selency in the west and villages of Homblières and Marcy in the east. These offensives provided von Lyncker’s urban assault troops with better-covered flanks and prevented a complete collapse of the I.Sturmkorps when the French pincer attack came in mid-November. In fact, the French attacked later than planned, because it became rather obvious to Cixous and her advisers that the North-Germans were more not attempting to achieve a complete breakthrough, and if any pincer offensive were to take place, it had to be initiated now, before the Bundeswehr had a chance to dig in. Quite soon, von Lyncker’s flanks were overwhelmed and started to retreat, as the agricultural flatland surrounding the city favored offense over defense. Pulling reinforcements from the rest of the Pickardian sector proved equally impossible, since the French also possessed number superiority there. However, true to his order to hold Saint-Quentin as the only true dent in France’s fortifications, von Lyncker opted out of retreating from the embattled city completely, risking encirclement if the French were to succeed at fully crushing his flanks. His gamble paid off, however, as by Christmas the North-Germans managed to hold control of a single major road running from Saint-Quentin to Fresnoy-le-Grand and further on to Le Cateau-Cambrésis. Nicknamed by the Communards the Fishing Rod of Saint-Quentin, it now sees hundreds of road locomotives running back and forth to keep the I.Sturmkorps fighting. In Paris, spirits are high, as the French high command is starting to smell blood in the water. Meanwhile, in Berlin, opinions are split. More cautionary voices suggest complete fighting withdrawal from Saint-Quentin, least von Lycker’s army gets completely surrounded. Others insist that there’s no need to panic, and Saint-Quentin needs to be held at all cost as the only chance to penetrate the Communards’ defensive perimeter without additional bloodletting. (Battle quest progress: 95.57%, Communard France losses: -71.76 HC, -20.47 IC, -35.4 EC, -33.23 MC, North German Federation losses: -94.43 HC, -36.14 IC, -60.04 EC, -48.96 MC)
Anti-Communard War: French Flanders Campaign
Q4 1893: Protection of French Flanders with its industrial complex continued being a high priority for the French command, even despite the fact that the Netherlands, unbeknownst to the French, planned no major offensives in the sector beyond low-scope attacks. This set stage for a mostly positional warfare, in which main fighting took place around high-priority targets, such as Lille. At some point, the Dutch army started losing its positions north-east of Lille, but at that point help arrived from their eastern flank. German reserves previously covering the flank of the Saint-Quentin offensive surprisingly shifted into an offensive posture and hit the lightly defended flank of the Communard Flanders Front. This strike was so successful, the North-Germans took Douai within five days and threatened Arras deep behind French lines. The Communards quickly restored the situation by reinforcing their flank (it helped that the Dutch army wasn’t in any shape to support the North-German success), but not before being forced to retreat from Lille in order to shorten the frontline. That’s where the campaign stopped for the season, with both sides finding themselves unable to advance over cold mud and snow. (Region North France gains Regional Growth Fluctuation -0.73%, Netherlands gains +0.41% Regional Influence, North German Federation gains +2% Regional Influence, Communard France loses -2.41% Regional Influence, North German Federation losses: -15.5 HC, -5.93 IC, -9.86 EC, -8.04 MC, Netherlands losses: -43.85 HC, -11.48 IC, -20.88 EC, -13.96 MC, Communard France losses: -55.9 HC, -15.95 IC, -27.58 EC, -25.88 MC)
Anti-Communard War: Dunkirk-Calais Campaign
Q4 1893: With battles of epic proportions making the Atlantic Ocean boil and Canadian frozen soil being soaked in British blood, the Dunkirk-Calais campaign centered around a British beachhead in French Flanders was merely a sideshow. However, the Brits did try and support a joint Germano-Dutch push for Lille and Arras. To British luck, French forces in the sector were put off-balance by a threat of other amphibious landings along the cost of La Manche (landings that never took place). Royal troops, however, lacked support of naval guns, because titanic battles of the Armorican Seamount and St. Anne island pulled all naval forces out of land support duty. What resulted was a slow advance that successfully pushed the French as far as Saint-Omer, but not any further. (Region North France gains -0.08% Regional Growth Fluctuation, British Royal Commonwealth gains +0.4% Regional Influence, Communard France loses -0.4% Regional Influence, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -9.55 HC, -3.21 IC, -5.56 EC, -5.29 MC, Communard France losses: -14.84 HC, -4.23 IC, -7.32 EC, -6.87 MC)
Battle of La Manche
Spoiler :
Q4 1893: Out of all participants of the Second Atlantic War, the Royal Commonwealth is the one that most heavily engaged in espionage for military purposes, despite having barely updated its agents’ training and equipment in the last decade besides the infamous licence-to-kill program. One of the cases when British agents showed their skill and subtlety this year was an intelligence-gathering operation surrounding the blockade of Cherbourg. The Secret Ward managed to get some boots on the ground in Normandie, mostly disguised as local villages and fishermen, but also, in some cases, as sailors of the French fleet or soldiers of the Communard garrison. Despite a high loss rate, these brave individuals have managed to get a hold of some details that informed Her Majesty’s Fleet of the Triune Pact’s intentions to synchronize French breakthrough from Cherbourg with the Union navy’s incursion into the Northeastern Atlantic. Tipped off by these vague findings, Admiral Hornby would shape the entire Anti-Communard Coalition’s naval plan for the late 1893, leading to a string of some of the biggest naval battles in modern history. (Battle quest progress: 25.48%, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -1.91 HC, -3.17 IC, -4.79 EC, -1.33 MC)
Events leading to the Battle of Armorican Seamount were shaped by the mutual plans of the two fighting sides in the Second Atlantic War. Having lost control of the Northwestern Atlantic, the British Royal Navy was expecting some sort of an incursion by the Union’s navy into the Celtic Sea or the Bay of Biscay, especially given the intelligence that the Kingsmen had managed to gather. They knew that the French and North-Americans, having lost access to Transatlantic telegraph cables, were attempting to schedule a naval rendezvous between their fleets in order to crush the Coalition’s blockade of Cherbourg. Such coordination was, of course, highly challenging and risky, and Admiral Hornby had all intents to exploit it. Approaches to the Cherbourg harbor and La Manche in general were properly mined by the Brits and North-Germans, and Hornby’s fleet was awaiting the Union fleet’s arrival on one of the unconfirmed dates between November 17th and November 24th. His hope was to intercept a weary North-American force after its Transatlantic voyage before the French had a chance to initiate the breakthrough. Unbeknownst to him, newly built French long-range submarines and surface raiders were being assembled in Brest and Bordeaux, intending to harass the British fleet if it were to expose itself. The chance to do that presented itself on November 14th, when Hornby’s force left Plymouth and aimed for the Armorican Seamount, where, according to his intelligence, Union Admiral Dewey’s fleet was going to pass in a few days. Almost immediately, the Royal fleet came under a string of attacks by French above- and below-surface raiders. These attacks did sink a good number of support ships, as well as two obsolete ironclad battleships, but bigger targets survived all attacks (albeit, three dreadnaughts and one armoured cruiser had to return to the home port due to extensive damage suffered to lucky torpedo strikes). However, worse than the materiel damage was the operational threat Hornby’s fleet suffered. French harrassment meant that dispatch boats might be sent to rendezvous with Dewey’s fleet and warn him of the incoming danger. That forced Hornby to race against time, leaving some of the damaged ships behind or sending them back to port without proper escort, only to become easy pickings for French “sea wolves.” However, for all the sacrifices, Hornby’s gamble paid off. Dewey’s forward ships were safely spotted by British observation blimps on the morning of November 19th, allowing the British fleet to split into two dense battle columns. Dewey’s fleet, stretched out and in need of maintenance after a series of Atlantic storms, came under fire and started engaging the enemy piecemeal. To Dewey’s credit, he managed to reform his battle line closer to noon and give Hornby a good fight, in which Dewey, for all his enormous losses, managed to maneuver his armada around the British one and safely disengage, heading for La-Rochelle. His crippled ships were, for the most part, finished off by British cruisers, but Hornby’s own fleet, in turn, suffered almost as much from the same French raiders on its way to the Albion. In France and North-America, Dewey’s successful reaching of La-Rochelle was depicted as yet another strategic victory for the Triune Pact, but in the eyes of naval officers familiar with the affair, it was clear that the British under Admiral Hornby just reinforced their fearsome reputation tarnished by earlier defeats. A tactical victory for the Commonwealth, the Battle of Armorican Seamount, however, was but a prelude to a French breakthrough from Cherbourg that took place just as Hornby’s own fleet was re-entering Plymouth harbor. (Battle quest progress:12.86%, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -35.91 HC, -23.69 IC, -53.87 EC, -86.04 MC, Union of North America losses: -20.64 HC, -20.48 IC, -42.42 EC, -58.8 MC, Communard France losses: -18.55 HC, -16.95 IC, -39.02 EC, -55.81 MC)
While Admiral Hornby’s fleet was hunting the Union’s expedition in the Bay of Biscay, blockade of Cherbourg fell on the shoulders of Great Britain’s allies, the North German Federation and the Netherlands. Most of October and first weeks of November were spent by them and then-present Hornby’s armada in attempts to mine all exits from Cherbourg - as much as the French navy would allow the minelayers to approach. For Commissar-Admiral Jobelin, it meant constant small-scale activity, as his gunboats and monitors spent days and nights keeping enemy minelayers away from the harbor. Still, plans were being made for a breakthrough and rendezvous with the North-Americans in the third week of November (in fact, the timetable was precise down to an hour, but Jobelin was experienced enough to know it couldn’t be realistically followed). As the Commissar-Admiral readied his fleet for a decisive battle, he fell under pressure of political tribuns, commandeered by the Commune of Communes to Cherbourg in hopes to keep the navy’s battle spirits up. The inexperienced tribuns (two ex-factory overmen and a female journalist), however, were more of a detractor to Jobelin’s planning, as their view of the upcoming battle was vague, fanatical, and sacrificially defeatist. One way or another, Jobelin’s planning was cut short when a single privateer ship (a fishing boat from Brittany, really) accidentally spotted Admiral Hornby’s fleet on its way to the rendezvous spot. Having received news of Hornby’s departure, the tribuns urged Jobelin to breakthrough immediately, while the enemy fleets were split. Jobelin requested three weeks for additional minesweeping and finishing of ship repairs, but that request was overridden. Begrudgingly, the Commissar-Admiral ordered the beginning of the operation on a cloudy, foggy night of November 18th. Rushed to escape Cherbourg harbor, several of his ships almost immediately hit naval mines and either sank or returned to the port in a miserable state. Still, the fleet continued along its course at maximum speed that a battle formation allowed. This soon triggered a response from the commander of the joint Germano-Dutch fleet, Admiral August von Thomsen. The two fleets collided in a direct battle three naval miles north of the island of St. Anna. The weather by then had deteriorated, making visibility extremely poor, and forcing both fleets to fight at distances unseen since the introduction of indirect naval fire in the later stages of the First Atlantic War. The confrontation was highly confusing, as flag signals weren’t effective due to low visibility, and spark-gap radiotransmitters fared little better due to storm-infused interference. On several occasions, ramming was performed (mostly against smaller ships). On one case, critically damaged French battleship Robespierre, hosting one of the tribuns on board, went as far as ramming badly screened and also damaged Dutch dreadnought Piet Hein, sinking both of the warships with everyone on board. The battle ended just as confusing as it started, with the sides simply losing contact with each other. Throughout the morning of the next day, the main fleets continued gathering together various stragglers and ships that lost their direction due to bad weather, with some tragic losses suffered on both sides during that stage as well. By the time Jobelin’s fleet reached Brest, however, it was clear that he’d managed to score an important strategic victory, winning some operational space for his fleet. While La Manche still remains primarily controlled by Great Britain and its allies, the Triune Pact’s chance of challenging that superiority have grown considerably, albeit at great cost in human lives and ships. (Battle quest progress: 55.33%, North German Federation losses: -27.36 HC, -19.38 IC, -39.9 EC, -64.79 MC, Netherlands losses: -11.4 HC, -6.84 IC, -17.77 EC, -29.45 MC, Communard France losses: -35.75 HC, -32.67 IC, -75.2 EC, -107.57 MC)
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Update 5: October 1, 1893 - December 31, 1893
War update (Part 3)
North-American War: Maritimes Campaign
Q4 1893: As the hero of the early days of the Maritimes campaign, General Harry Ashmore, was reassigned to lead the defence of Quebec City, protection of New Brunswick was considered to be an easy task for his replacement. Narrow front with short lines of communication and primary supply route leading straight to Halifax was, perhaps, the best logistic situation a British commander had faced since the beginning of the war. Of course, convoys going to Halifax through the Grand Banks were irregular and ragged, but some supplies stockpiled in warehouses were trickling down to the frontline, as were reinforcements from the Albion (which managed to triple the size of the New Brunswick army by the end of the year). Most importantly, field agents of the Secret Ward and railroad engineering battalions of the Transportation Ward were reassigned to the Maritimes garrison, giving the British defenders operational versatility their opponents lacked. On the North-American side, planning was rather ambitious. The size of the Maritimes army had bloated to three hundred thousand soldiers, which the general staff was confident it could supply thanks to proximity of such major naval bases as Boston and New York. However, in reality any supply leaving these ports had to be hauled to the frontline for hundreds of miles from Portland by a single major railroad, making North-American supply situation, surprisingly, just as bad as the British one. Hopes were put in a capture of Halifax or Charlottesville via a naval landing early in the campaign, thus cutting the British supply off completely, while simultaneously fixing the North-American logistical problem, but that grand plan also melted when it became clear that the Union Navy was too busy harassing British convoys and had no units to spare for a major amphibious operation, while the army units tasked with such landings simply had no way to reach their targets. In the end, the Maritimes campaign of October-December 1893 boiled down to a simple frontline attack against entrenched enemy positions, similar to the war in Europe. Unlike in the rest of the Canadian War, in New Brunswick British agents were the ones to harass American lines in a campaign of sabotage and insurgency, but even they couldn’t stop a costly, but determined North-American advance. Once the Union’s tide pushed past Fredericton, the British coherence cracked, and the New Brunswick army was pushed all the way to a line Campbellton-Bathurst-Miramichi-Moncton, where the Brits dug in and held off North-American attacks, while Ashmore’s Army of Lower Canada was breaking through to safety. Once Ashmore and his troops passed to the safety of Nova Scotia, the New Brunswick army fell back to the last line of defence: the city of Amherst. (Region Atlantic Canada-Quebec gains -2.41% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Union of North America gains +8.48% Regional Influence, British Royal Commonwealth loses -8.48% Regional Influence, Union of North America losses: -15.51 HC, -5.62 IC, -9 EC, -9.59 MC, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -24.17 HC, -9.27 IC, -17.01 EC, -14.35 MC)
The Grand Banks campaign
Q4 1893: Just like in Europe, Great Britain relied heavily on its secret agents in the war for Canada. However, unlike in the operation that surrounded the Cherbourg breakthrough and battle of the St. Anna island, in Canada primary goal of the Secret Ward’s servants was based not on discovering information about enemy movement, but rather feeding false data to the enemy. Thanks to a few staged “leaks” that included a British dispatch boat being allowed to be intercepted off the coast of Nova Scotia, the British Admiralty managed to persuade their North-American counterparts that the Royal Fleet was targeting the Bermuda island for its next amphibious operation. This helped to keep the North-Americans off balance until the Royal Navy was ready to launch the operation that became known as the Grand Banks campaign. (Battle quest progress: 30.57%, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -2.29 HC, -3.81 IC, -5.74 EC, -1.6 MC)
Since the disastrous loss of the North-West Atlantic to the Union’s fleet, the Royal Navy’s return to these waters was a matter of survival not just for the British naval prestige, but also for hundreds of thousands of the Commonwealth’s soldiers besieged in North America. This largely shaped planning for the upcoming campaign of the Grand Bank on both sides. The British simply intended to organize a system of well-protected convoys that could breach the Union’s blockade of the New World, while their opponents looked to use proximity of their naval bases in Bermuda and Cape Cod to intercept and raid such convoys using their recent advancements in sea lane interdiction technologies. The campaign that resulted from such planning predictably lacked any major engagements, and was a daily sequence of ambushes, undeclared attacks, and pursuits. Proximity of their bases and distances the British transports had to traverse helped the North-Americans to inflict larger losses on the enemy than they suffered themselves (despite being outnumbered almost 2:1 in tonnage), but in the absence of Admiral Dewey’s force the remaining Union’s ships were not numerous enough to completely bar the British from reaching North America. So, in the end of the year the Royal Navy proved that its global logistical capabilities still remained unmatched, with a new wave of reinforcements and, importantly, construction equipment and transports arriving to Halifax by day. However, the Canadian land campaign of late 1893 became an utter disaster for the British Army, meaning that through most of December the British Navy was not only attempting to supply the troops, but also rushing to evacuate as many units as possible, while the remainders of the Canadian garrison kept flowing to Halifax. The Grand Banks campaign is still far from being over, and the British Empire at this point is risking to lose not Canada (which it no longer controls, except Newfoundland and Nova Scotia), but a good half of its army. (Battle quest progress: 79.57%, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -36.96 HC, -24.38 IC, -55.44 EC, -88.54 MC, Union of North America losses: -23.91 HC, -23.73 IC, -49.16 EC, -68.14 MC)
North-American War: Quebec Campaign
Q4 1893: When planning for the Quebec campaign of October-December 1893, the British command was light on details, but rather optimistic on assumptions, hoping to grow the British army presence in Canada to almost seven hundred thousand men - almost as big as the total population of that entire region. Of course, that couldn’t be done, especially with reinforcements trickling irregularly through Halifax. As a result, by October it became obvious, that the British garrison of the Lower Canada was going to be barely a hundred thousand strong, and lacking the capabilities to both man the ever-shifting frontlines and protect against the Quebec Liberation Army in the rear (the only campaign participant with relatively good logistics). Still, the railroad engineering corps and Secret Ward agents did what they could to give the British forces in the St. Laurence River valley whatever support they could. On the North-American side, meanwhile, supply situation was barely better. While control of the Great Lakes did help to shorten supply lines, the Union Supreme Command clearly overestimated infrastructural development of the region, forcing almost half a million men to fight the desperate Brits across the freezing hinterland dotted with small villages. This largely shaped the campaign to come: a painfully slow struggle of two exhausted and undersupplied forces, in which the vast majority of losses on both sides was suffered from frostbite, starvation, and dissolution of unit morale. Still, the sheer numerical superiority of the North-Americans, combined with unstable rear of the Brits, meant that by December the retreat of the Army of Upper Canada turned into a route. In a few cases (such as at Chicoutimi and Mont-Laurier), whole brigades of starving soldiers surrendered to incomplete battalions of Patriote militiamen. Montreal was surrendered virtually without a fight on December 9, and it wasn’t until that mob of an army reached Quebec City that the situation briefly normalized. There, General Harry Ashmore and his victorious Army of Lower Canada would reshape them into a fighting force once again, before going for a heroic and desperate breakthrough that will become known as the Ice March. (Region Atlantic Canada-Quebec gains -1.17% Regional Growth Fluctuation, Quebec gains +18.67% Regional Influence, British Royal Commonwealth loses -18.67% Regional Influence, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -31.06 HC, -11.73 IC, -21.89 EC, -18.59 MC, Union of North America losses: -11.63 HC, -4.22 IC, -6.75 EC, -7.19 MC, Quebec losses: -0.97 HC, -0.35 IC, -0.56 EC, -0.6 MC)
Siege of Ville de Québec and the Ice March
Spoiler :
Q4 1893: Reassigned to keep Quebec City in British hands, General Harry Ashmore was quick to realize that the mouth of the St. Laurence River was one of the key hubs of Canadian infrastructure and thus critical to hold at all cost. That largely shaped his decision to keep the city garrisoned with a proper field army (named the Army of Lower Canada) rather than lightly guarded by a few divisions. With local army warehouses (protected against Patriote sabotage by the Queen’s agents) still containing enough supply to support Ashmore’s troops throughout the campaign, he planned for a short, aggressive campaign against an overstretched enemy. The North-Americans tried the first taste of it in late October, when the first attempt to approach the city by the Union troops was broken down in a three-day long battle of Saint-Etienne-de-Lauzon, in which a few divisions were even overrun by the Brits to Ashmore’s own surprise. However, the North-Americans wouldn’t repeat the same mistake again, and starting early November the battle for Quebec City entered the second stage, putting Ashmore’s army in a defensive stance. Luckily for the collapsing Army of Upper Canada, Quebec City defenders managed to keep the Union troops away from cutting all vital infrastructure lines between the city and New Brunswick. So when the stream of ragtag forces started reaching Quebec City from the south-east, Ashmore could give them a short rest and protection, while reforming them into semi-coherent formations that would join Ashmore’s rugged Army of Lower Canada in its most daring campaign yet. In late November, after yet another North-American offensive from the south got repulsed, Ashmore ordered his troops to round up all capable men loyal to the Queen, arm and equip them with whatever could be still found in the warehouses or requisitioned from the locals, and set the city on fire. Next morning, the Army of Lower Canada would leave the deserted town for New Brunswick in an endeavor nicknamed by soldiers “the Ice March.” Split into two columns (one following a temporary railroad through La Pocatiere and Rimouski, and the other one directly breaking through North-American positions at Cabano), Ashmore’s force would traverse hundreds of kilometers across the snow-covered hinterlands all the way to New Brunswick, ravaging North-American lines of communication as it went. In a fashion similar to Napoleon’s retreat from Russia in 1812, Ashmore would sacrifice disorganized units and leave stragglers behind, but he’d manage to lead the core of his army all the way to Bathurst, either evading or beating Union units along the way. At that point, the remainders of the British Army in Canada would retreat to Amherst, where they would dig in across the Isthmus of Chignecto, preparing to hold their ground or hoping to evacuate from that cursed land as soon as possible. (Battle quest completed with mixed results, region Atlantic Canada-Quebec gains -0.5% Regional Growth Trend, British Royal Commonwealth gains +10% Regional Influence, Union of North America loses -10% Regional Influence, British Royal Commonwealth: -3 Corps, Union of North America: -2 Corps, -50 HC, -10 IC, -40 EC, -5 MC, Union of North America losses: -24.24 HC, -8.79 IC, -14.06 EC, -14.99 MC, British Royal Commonwealth losses: -13.03 HC, -4.38 IC, -7.58 EC, -7.21 MC)
Battle of the Isthmus
Q4 1893: The Isthmus of Chignecto is the gate to Nova Scotia and also the last (and best) defensive line for the remainder of the British Canadian garrison. Its closeness to Halifax enables timely arrival of reinforcements and supplies, and its small width completely negates the Union’s superiority in numbers. That is, as long as the North-Americans fail to launch a naval invasion and don’t repulse British convoys in the Battle of the Grand Banks. In fact, the British high command is in a predicament over what should be the course of action now. With the Grand Banks naval campaign slowly swinging in their favor, but still being far from completely securing shipping between the British Isles and Canada, the supply situation of the Canadian garrison is still extremely poor. Besides, even if it were to improve, at least two surviving corps would have to be evacuated to elsewhere, since Nova Scotia and Newfoundland simply lack the infrastructure to support the ragtag horde that General Ashmore miraculously managed to evacuate from the Lower Canada. Some generals even go as far as suggesting complete evacuation of continental Canada while the situation allows it. Meanwhile, hardliners insist that all of the defeatist talks should be stopped at once, and Nova Scotia should be held at all cost as a beachhead for Britain’s future return to Canada and Rupert’s Land. Meanwhile, the Union high command wastes no time in such silly arguments, preparing to finish liberation of North America from the British once and for all.
Gran-Colombian War of Independence
Q4 1893: First shots of the Gran-Colombian War of Independence, also known in Portugal-Brazil as the Colombian Mutiny, were fired during an assault on the army barracks in Bogota, made by a well-organized group of progressive army officers. Within less than a week, it was obvious to everyone in Empress Isabel’s cabinet that, unlike all previous instances of pandemonium in that troubled country, this particular riot wasn’t going to disperse thanks to another Grand Deal with foreign powers. In fact, the unity of the Gran-Colombian stance, combined with a harsh diplomatic statement made by the Monroe Conference, made Portobrazilian supreme leadership to overreact to the entire situation. Armies and fleets from virtuall all across the entire were ordered to immediately redeploy to South America and prepare for the “pacification” of the mutineers. The grand strategy was simple: to saturate the countryside and the cities with reliable Portobrazilian garrisons and perform a stern, oppressive police action, while the fleet completely blockades the country, performing amphibious landings along its coastline and particularly in the Panama isthmus. Some battalions of collaborationist soldiers and police officers were formed to assist Portobrazilian troops at that action, but they were not particularly relied upon, featuring almost as many spoiled armchair generals and officers as actual fighters. On the other side, meanwhile, the strategy was highly defined by a race against time that the newly proclaimed republic had to win. Being overwhelmingly outnumbered and outequipped by the Twin Crowns’ army and navy, the Republicans simply relied on a mixture of a partisan action and fighting withdrawal, hoping to hold long enough to present the nation’s sympathizers among great powers with a viable case for intervention. As soon as the campaign started, three major weaknesses of the Portobrazilian army were made obvious: they suffered from bad infrastructure, they were deployed to the theater in piecemeal after a voyage from another side of the globe, and they severely lacked civilian support. Still, occupation of all major economic centers of Venezuela and Eastern Colombia quickly put the Republican economy and armaments production in the state of suffocation, making any organized conventional campaigns highly risky for the Gran-Colombians. Two such campaigns still did take place in December on the Upia River in the Casanare Department and on the shores of the Lake Maracaibo, where advancing Portobrazilian columns were met by spirited, yet disorganized counterattacks of obsolete Gran-Colombian military. Despite some local tactical victories against heroic, but badly armed volunteer officer companies and civil guards, Portobrazilian troops eventually had to stop their advance on both fronts, facing supply problems, partisans in their rear, and stiffening resistance in the front. Meanwhile, at sea, the Gran-Colombian navy, never a truly powerful force to begin with, attempted to run the Portobrazilian blockade, while the most of the Twin Crowns’ navy kept arriving from across the world. These missions were originally easy and successful, but eventually concentration of Portobrazilian patrols made such blockade runs almost impossible, leading to several lopsided naval skirmishes that saw many Gran-Colombian ships sunk and boarded (including a heroic, yet fatal standoff of the flagship of the Gran-Colombian navy, rearmed steamer ironclad Independiente, against a trio of support gunboats, two armored cruisers, and a breastwork battleship of Portugal-Brazil’s Esquadrão do Caribe (Caribbean Squadron)). Eventually, full blockade was achieved, followed by shelling of all Gran-Colombian ports still under the Republican control. The final operation of the campaign until boths sides took an operational break, was an amphibious landing by Brazilian marines on the Panama Isthmus, destroying local garrisons and taking full control of that traditionally moderate liberal region of the Gran-Colombian state. (Gran Colombia gains Regional Growth Fluctuation -4.21%, Portugal-Brazil gains +42.09% Regional Influence, Gran Colombia loses -42.09% Regional Influence, Gran Colombia losses: -24.11 HC, -7.31 IC, -18.18 EC, -17.82 MC, Portugal-Brazil losses: -15.6 HC, -6.16 IC, -11.31 EC, -13.43 MC)
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