NES2 V - The Great Game.
- Thread starter das
- Start date
- Status
das
Regeneration In Process
The world didn't blow up. Not all of it, anyway.
One war left to go...
1889
Mayor of H-Marker Lake
Don't worry. It's probably Sokoto's war against barbarians. 
1889
Mayor of H-Marker Lake
If you were the barbarians it was huge.
Reno
The Studio Ghibli Fanatic
Still no update, eh? Well, it'll have to wait for tomorrow morning then. 
das
Regeneration In Process
Aye, seems so.
das
Regeneration In Process
Update 9 - Year 1869
Non-Military Events:
As the war goes on, economy suffers world-wide (-5 not-too-random economic centers).
Dalnorossians take over le Canal du Nicaragua, or Nikaraguanski kanal as they call it. The Incans sent help to the Dalnorossians as well, eager to help finish this potentially-groundbreaking canal that is supposed to connect the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans .
The Sapa-Inca grant a minor increase in autonomy to the new Peruvian province of Neugranada.
The Federates keep recruiting more and more men, despite the huge strain this has placed on the people and indeed the economy (-1 Economy, -1 Confidence).
Portugal tumbles towards economic and general collapse (-1 Economy, -1 Confidence).
The Provisional Government of France, having lost its third capital thus far, finally decides to recognize MacMahon's superior authority, joining and asssisting him (+1 Nationalist Civilian Leadership, stats merged, sometimes altered further). Albeit generally this is bad news for the Republican government in Paris, the Provisionalist colonial authorities decide that further resistance against the FK will be futile and use the moment to pledge allegience to the First Republic, while Sardinia and Malta surrender to the Federates.
Scandinavia undergoes a reconstruction; Stockholm and Kalmar are finally rebuilt, as are the Kalmar industries (+Kalmar economic center). Meanwhile, as due to the general Federate economical weakness Copenhagen declined (-Copenhagen economic center), the Scandinavian city of Helsingborg took its place as the center of the Anglo-Baltic commerce (+Helsingborg economic center), albeit this new competition is likely to soon damage the status of another Scandinavian city - Goteborg.
The Holy Roman Empire comes on the brink of collapse. Desperate last-moment conscription and the raising of virtually all the male population able of bearing arms have crippled the economy altogether (-1 Economy, -Vienna economic center). Only through ruthless law-enforcement could the spreading mutinies and armed risings be contained (see military events) (-1 Confidence). Meanwhile, HRE continues to lose ground even without a shot being fired - the Croatians, or as they style themselves now Yugoslavians, still occupy Illyria and were now promised all the ethnic Croatian Imperial provinces, while the Second Treaty of Turin is signed with the Genevan Empire and Italy; the Empire kept Venice, but ceded Western Tyrolia and some nearby territories to Geneve (-1 Genevan Culture).
In the Genevan Empire, the cantons have now been abolished altogether, although by now they had lost much of their old power. Still, there is much outrage against Emperor Wilhelmus I (-1 Confidence); the rising resistance movements, however, lacked coordination and were thus stomped out by the Genevan Patriots returning from the German front with ease.
The Italian Republic signed peace with everybody and pledged neutrality, outside of its new alliance with the Genevan Empire.
The Croatian Republic evolves into the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, although that doesn't mean that the process of consolidating the new state has been finished as there still is no set capital, for instance; meanwhile, the public enthusiasm begins to decrease as time goes by (-1 Confidence).
An obscure Italo-German nobleman of Greek descent, Konstantin di Borgo, has finally been chosen as the ultimate compromise candidate for the constitutionally-limited royal powers in Greece, and was crowned the first king of Greece, Constantine I, in Athens (+1 Confidence).
Niamey is built by the Sokotans in an attempt to concentrate all the Sokotan-Tukulorese commerce, without much result - yet.
The autonomous Persian Georgia suddenly declares independence and neutrality (-2 Persian irregular divisions). It is unclear as to how will the Persians react to this...
Military Events:
The Federates combined the use of conventional force and individual terror to root out the Brazilian rebels altogether, as the movement itself fragmented into several warring factions. Albeit the guerrila war and the tropical diseases inflicted many casualties on the Federate troops here, they came out victorious in the end, utilizing the many Brazilian rivers for transportation; that said, a low-level uncoordinated guerrila war continues in some inland regions. Attacks on the Platines are less succesful, as their leadership evaded several assassination attempts and other attacks, while the troops gave fanatical resistance. Some artillery was brought up to prevent the Federate conquest of the Paraguay River, delaying it at the very least. But the Platine Rebels seem doomed as the Federates occupied all the coastal areas...
(-Brazilian Rebels as a faction, -9 Federate divisions, -2 Federate squadrons, -6 Platine divisions, -4 Platine irregular divisions, -3 Platine irregular squadrons)
Using the Federate distraction elsewhere, the Portuguese decided to launch a daring raid in the Bay of Biscay, first taking the city of Lorient in Brittany and then going further north. There, they assaulted and took the city of Plymouth itself, entirely undeterred along the way by anyone apart from the local Federate militia (+1 Federate irregular division). After occupying it for a while and realizing that their position there is untenable, they destroyed all the buildings of commercial value and retreat (-Plymouth economic center, +1 economy point for this turn for Portugal). This has severe political implications for the Federated Kingdoms, as Gladstone's political career was (apparently) ruined forever (-1 Confidence), even as the public became even more riled up against Portugal and indeed the FK's enemies after the "Rape of Plymouth" that was much exaggerated in the Federate press (+1 Culture). Meanwhile, the Portuguese fleet had to hastily move back south...
(-1 Federate irregular division, -1 Portuguese division)
The Federate efforts to fortify the northern bank of the Ebro finally paid off, as did certain old arrangements with the Basque separatists. The Portuguese attempt to throw the Federates out of Iberia has been crushed devastatingly - in the difficult terrain of the Basque country, the republican military was virtually eliminated by the Basque partisans and the superior Federate firepower, unable to utilize its numerical supremacy, whereas on the Ebro, the Federates met them with trenches, redoubts and lots of artillery, with the Portuguese only barely limping back. Their fleet, having returned from the Plymouth raid, tried to intercept the Federate one, but came under a heavy barrage at Viveira and had to retreat. The Federates then shelled the cities of Portugal Proper and landed troops there, encountering only minor, scattered resistance (+2 Portuguese irregular divisions). Large portions of the government were seized while trying to escape Lisbon. Meanwhile, back in the Ebro region, the Federates launched an attack of their own. The Portuguese tried to defend on their side of the river, but their fortifications weren't quite as good as the Federate ones, their supplies were running out and their morale was low, while behind their lines, the Spanish guerrilas rose up in support of the Federate army (+5 Federate irregular divisions). The Portuguese Republic crumbled rapidly as it was assaulted from east, west and within, and several garrisons surrendered. The remnants of the Portuguese fleet either surrendered, either were destroyed by their crews, either fled in an undetermined location.
(-Portuguese Republic as an independent nation (Federate decision on the status of Portugal pending), -4 Federate divisions, -3 Federate irregular divisions, -4 Federate squadrons)
After the defeat and capitulation of the Portuguese garrison of Lorient, the Federate-Republican forces in France finally commited themselves to rooting out the Nationalist resistance. Indeed, ever since the merge of the Provisionalist and the Nationalist factions, MacMahon oncemore became a serious threat to the First Republic; his forces even managed to relieve Dijon in a well-planned assault, while in Aquitaine in particular the combination of countryside rebellions (that happened all over the country, but here in particular - +5 Nationalist irregular divisions) and local weakness allowed the Nationalists to advance as far as the Loire. However, as MacMahon tried to take Paris again, the anti-Nationalist forces struck in the south-east - the Federates advanced up the Rhone, securing Marseilles and Lyons, and eventually linking up with the Republican army that attacked towards Lyons from the north-west. Thus the Nationalists were cut in a half, and then, to make things worse, they were literally (but probably not too figuratively) backstabbed by the Genevan Empire - the Genevans, evidently, wanted to balance their new German gains with French or semi-French ones, occupying Alsace and some parts of Lorraine and Burgundy. Finally, as the Portuguese were finished off in Iberia, the Federates and the republicans alike could concentrate on retaking Aquitaine, which they, despite considerable local resistance, did. The Nationalists launched one final, desperate assault on Paris itself with all they had, and, thanks to the risings of the (in)famous "Third Column", succeeded in occupying it yet again, but with heavy casualties. One final battle came, and a hell of a battle it was. This time, the Nationalists were trully cornered, and knowing that there was no going back now, they drove back several superior attacks and put down numerous pro-Republican risings in blood. MacMahon, despite several wounds, commanded from the front - he, too, had nothing left to lose now. Finally, despite President Leger's protests, the Federates decided to shell Paris. Quarter by quarter, much of the world's most beautiful, and, according to many French and non-French men alike, greatest city, was devastated, and finally, as MacMahon himself died and the most die-hard Nationalists retreated to hold the defenses at the Pere-Lachaise Cemetery where they were all gunned down as well, the bulk of the surviving force surrendered. The French Civil War was over, but the damage to France itself was tremendous (-1 Economy, -1 Infrastructure, -Paris economic center).
(-France (Nationalists) as a faction, -11 Federate divisions, -1 Federate squadron, -19 Republican divisions, -2 Republican irregular divisions, -2 Genevan Patriot divisions)
As war-weariness continued to spread in HRE, a series of spontaneous military and civilian risings took place; uncoordinated, they were quickly crushed, but now it was obvious that the Empire was doomed unless it somehow gains a quick, decisive victory. This time, the Imperials decided to concentrate on a single theatre. Perhaps wrongly, they decided to try and knock out Poland before even thinking of taking on Scandinavia. The early Imperial breakthrough went well; before the Poles could prepare any defenses, they were pushed out of Bohemia and Moravia altogether and had to pull back to defend Silesia; there, however, they managed to defeat the early Imperial assaults. Meanwhile, a minor attack on the Scandinavian positions in Saxony was launched; the Imperials diverted more troops there and forced the outnumbered, outflanked Scandinavians to pull back. The Poles defended their new front steadfastly, though, apparently prepared for this Imperial maneuver. Desperate as the offensive stalled, the Imperials begun deploying the troops being held in deep reserve, in the event of a new invasion, as well as some of the troops from the Scandinavian front. Trading fire with the Polish artillery, the Imperials charged, and, despite heavy casualties (that were further increased by the explosives left by the Poles in the trenches that they abandoned while retreating), seized Breslau and Olmutz. However, the Imperial armies were too weakened to press on further, especially as the Poles defeated all the attempts to cross the Oder. The war stalled yet again, especially after the failure of another offensive, now aimed against the Scandinavians.
(-3 Scandinavian divisions, -2 Scandinavian conscript divisions, -16 Imperial divisions, -18 Imperial Sturmtruppen divisions, -11 Imperial conscript divisions, -8 Polish divisions, -5 Polish Siemienowicz cannons, -6 Polish conscript divisions)
The Italian Republic, having concluded peace with HRE and signed an alliance with Geneve, received the latter's assistance in crushing the various rebels. Despite the fierce resistance and the guerrila war, as well as the unpopularity of the idea of using Genevan troops (-1 Confidence), the rebels in the mainland are mostly routed. The ones in the islands frantically begun looking for a way to avoid the same fate: Elba and a few other offshore islands surrendered without a battle in exchange for amnesty, Corsica begun looking for Federate support and Sicily formed an organized government which begun preparing the island's defenses.
(-2 Italian divisions, -1 Genevan Patriot divisions)
As the blockade and the steady Scandinavian advance slowly grinded the willpower and combat efficiency of the Finnish rebel troops, mutinies became more and more widespread. All the mutineers that were seized were executed, but this cost the Finns troops and officers. Eventually, Helsingfors/Helsinki and Viborg/Viipuri were both besieged, bombarded and taken. The members of the Finnish Senate either shot themselves, either were arrested. The Finnish rebellion was over.
(-Finnish Rebels as a faction, -1 Scandinavian division, -1 Scandinavian conscript division)
Further south... the Scandinavians waited. And waited. And waited for well over a month, waited for the Muscovites to show any activity apart from constructing more and more forts. But nothing came, not even a minor raid - the Muscovites were busy elsewhere, they were partaking in a desperate attack on Poland, along with the forces of the Balkan Pact.
The main offensive occured in Poland's north. After the fall of Vilnus, the Muscovites immediately pressed on into Poland Proper, overwhelming all resistance, if with heavy casualties. Albeit the diversionary attack towards Warsaw was intercepted and defeated, Tsar Alexius personally led an advance towards Lwyw despite the mobilization of Polish militias (+15 Polish irregular divisions), while Kazimir led a daring raid that took him almost to Warsaw itself until his recognition and defeat near it; even then, he managed to escape east to rejoin Alexius. However, as the Muscovites already penetrated Galicia, bad news came. Lots of them. Firstly, the Balkan Pact's invasion was defeated yet again - the Bulgars failed to show up, the Yugoslavo-Romanian "Northern Army" was outflanked by the Poles and forced to retreat in disarray and the Turko-Persian amphibious landing took heavy casualties due to coastal artillery and the sea mines, and too eventually had to pull back. Secondly, the Scandinavians, now sure that no attack was coming and that the Muscovites would be unable to re-deploy troops fast enough, begun their campaign of reconquest. They advanced from Finland, Karelia and Arkhangelsk, and landed all over the Livonian coast; and though they faced well-prepared, fanatical resistance, their far superior artillery - and that of the Federates, on the ships that shelled the Livonian cities - allowed them to eventually overrun all the Muscovite resistance, or encircle the particularily strong areas of resistance, such as Noteborg. Having now reached their pre-war border, the Scandinavians stopped to consolidate gains and restore their supplies, but it was obvious that they would soon press on further. Alexius' situation was very risky, especially as the Poles begun several counter-offensives and as the guerrila units, despite the reprisals, begun grinding his army. Finally, he decided to move back east to link up with his army there. When the courier arrived telling him that the Poles were about to invade southern Muscovy... the young Tsar wasn't dismayed at all. For soon, just as he expected, came the news of General Oleg Dolgorukiy's daring attack. Succesful daring attack - very succesful from a tactical viewpoint, in fact, although the political implications of suddenly violating the Dalnorossian territory, defeating what few troops could be raised to counter this attack and then suddenly attacking the Poles from Dalnorossia weren't as good. Still, the Polish army was suddenly hemmed in between the Muscovite garrisons and another army that suddenly emerged just behind the Polish one. Before the main Polish advantage - that of firepower - could be used properly, the Poles were already attacked and only barely managed to retreat northwards. That much was expected by Alexius, who, leaving some of his troops to ward off the combined Scando-Polish force that was hot on his heels, hastened to deliver the finishing blow on the would-be Polish invasion force. By now, those Ukraineans and Belorussians who supported Alexius rose up as well, hindering the Polish retreat (+5 Muscovite irregular divisions). In the end, the Polish encouragement of lower-rank initiative paid off - a fair portion of the Polish army managed to split up and escape. But many more Polish soldiers faced, at best, forced labour camps. This year, too, hasn't been the decisive one after all - both sides won their victories and lost their defeats. But with Dalnorossia being dragged into the war, the future doesn't look to be at all well for the Muscovites...
(-8 Scandinavian divisions, -9 Scandinavian Berserker divisions, -4 Scandinavian conscript divisions, -33 Polish divisions, -13 Polish Siemienowicz Cannons, -6 Polish irregular divisions, -16 Polish conscript divisions, -1 Dalnorossian conscript division, -1 Dalnorossian irregular division, -4 Yugoslav divisions, -3 Yugoslav Black Legion divisions, -3 Romanian irregular divisions, -4 Turkish divisions, -6 Persian divisions, -26 Muscovite divisions, -27 Muscovite Lieb Guard divisions, -2 Muscovite irregular divisions, -10 Muscovite conscript divisions)
The Portuguese, using the lack of a Federate presence in the Mediterranean in the time, captured Tangiers, causing rebellions to begin in the ungarrisoned Morocco. Ofcourse, the Portuguese themselves surrendered now, but the Federate authority in the former Portuguese colony has been shaken.
Tukulor and Sokoto continued expanding, easily routing their outnumbered, unorganized, low-tech enemies from the nearby petty states and tribes.
The War in the Indian Ocean.
(see spotlight)
(+10 Federate irregular divisions, +10 Persian irregular divisions, +5 Indian irregular divisions, -1 Persian Confidence, Civilian Leadership)
(-Sudan as an independent nation, -36 Federate divisions, -15 Federate conscript divisions, -7 Federate irregular divisions, -6 Federate UU, -16 Federate squadrons, -18 Persian divisions, -11 Persian irregular divisions, -3 Persian Engineering Corps, -9 Persian squadrons, -9 Indian divisions, -1 Indian conscript division, -5 Indian irregular divisions, -3 Indian Thug divisions, -7 Chinese divisions, -7 Chinese conscript divisions, -1 Siamese division)
Non-Military Events:
As the war goes on, economy suffers world-wide (-5 not-too-random economic centers).
Dalnorossians take over le Canal du Nicaragua, or Nikaraguanski kanal as they call it. The Incans sent help to the Dalnorossians as well, eager to help finish this potentially-groundbreaking canal that is supposed to connect the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans .
The Sapa-Inca grant a minor increase in autonomy to the new Peruvian province of Neugranada.
The Federates keep recruiting more and more men, despite the huge strain this has placed on the people and indeed the economy (-1 Economy, -1 Confidence).
Portugal tumbles towards economic and general collapse (-1 Economy, -1 Confidence).
The Provisional Government of France, having lost its third capital thus far, finally decides to recognize MacMahon's superior authority, joining and asssisting him (+1 Nationalist Civilian Leadership, stats merged, sometimes altered further). Albeit generally this is bad news for the Republican government in Paris, the Provisionalist colonial authorities decide that further resistance against the FK will be futile and use the moment to pledge allegience to the First Republic, while Sardinia and Malta surrender to the Federates.
Scandinavia undergoes a reconstruction; Stockholm and Kalmar are finally rebuilt, as are the Kalmar industries (+Kalmar economic center). Meanwhile, as due to the general Federate economical weakness Copenhagen declined (-Copenhagen economic center), the Scandinavian city of Helsingborg took its place as the center of the Anglo-Baltic commerce (+Helsingborg economic center), albeit this new competition is likely to soon damage the status of another Scandinavian city - Goteborg.
The Holy Roman Empire comes on the brink of collapse. Desperate last-moment conscription and the raising of virtually all the male population able of bearing arms have crippled the economy altogether (-1 Economy, -Vienna economic center). Only through ruthless law-enforcement could the spreading mutinies and armed risings be contained (see military events) (-1 Confidence). Meanwhile, HRE continues to lose ground even without a shot being fired - the Croatians, or as they style themselves now Yugoslavians, still occupy Illyria and were now promised all the ethnic Croatian Imperial provinces, while the Second Treaty of Turin is signed with the Genevan Empire and Italy; the Empire kept Venice, but ceded Western Tyrolia and some nearby territories to Geneve (-1 Genevan Culture).
In the Genevan Empire, the cantons have now been abolished altogether, although by now they had lost much of their old power. Still, there is much outrage against Emperor Wilhelmus I (-1 Confidence); the rising resistance movements, however, lacked coordination and were thus stomped out by the Genevan Patriots returning from the German front with ease.
The Italian Republic signed peace with everybody and pledged neutrality, outside of its new alliance with the Genevan Empire.
The Croatian Republic evolves into the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, although that doesn't mean that the process of consolidating the new state has been finished as there still is no set capital, for instance; meanwhile, the public enthusiasm begins to decrease as time goes by (-1 Confidence).
An obscure Italo-German nobleman of Greek descent, Konstantin di Borgo, has finally been chosen as the ultimate compromise candidate for the constitutionally-limited royal powers in Greece, and was crowned the first king of Greece, Constantine I, in Athens (+1 Confidence).
Niamey is built by the Sokotans in an attempt to concentrate all the Sokotan-Tukulorese commerce, without much result - yet.
The autonomous Persian Georgia suddenly declares independence and neutrality (-2 Persian irregular divisions). It is unclear as to how will the Persians react to this...
Military Events:
The Federates combined the use of conventional force and individual terror to root out the Brazilian rebels altogether, as the movement itself fragmented into several warring factions. Albeit the guerrila war and the tropical diseases inflicted many casualties on the Federate troops here, they came out victorious in the end, utilizing the many Brazilian rivers for transportation; that said, a low-level uncoordinated guerrila war continues in some inland regions. Attacks on the Platines are less succesful, as their leadership evaded several assassination attempts and other attacks, while the troops gave fanatical resistance. Some artillery was brought up to prevent the Federate conquest of the Paraguay River, delaying it at the very least. But the Platine Rebels seem doomed as the Federates occupied all the coastal areas...
(-Brazilian Rebels as a faction, -9 Federate divisions, -2 Federate squadrons, -6 Platine divisions, -4 Platine irregular divisions, -3 Platine irregular squadrons)
Using the Federate distraction elsewhere, the Portuguese decided to launch a daring raid in the Bay of Biscay, first taking the city of Lorient in Brittany and then going further north. There, they assaulted and took the city of Plymouth itself, entirely undeterred along the way by anyone apart from the local Federate militia (+1 Federate irregular division). After occupying it for a while and realizing that their position there is untenable, they destroyed all the buildings of commercial value and retreat (-Plymouth economic center, +1 economy point for this turn for Portugal). This has severe political implications for the Federated Kingdoms, as Gladstone's political career was (apparently) ruined forever (-1 Confidence), even as the public became even more riled up against Portugal and indeed the FK's enemies after the "Rape of Plymouth" that was much exaggerated in the Federate press (+1 Culture). Meanwhile, the Portuguese fleet had to hastily move back south...
(-1 Federate irregular division, -1 Portuguese division)
The Federate efforts to fortify the northern bank of the Ebro finally paid off, as did certain old arrangements with the Basque separatists. The Portuguese attempt to throw the Federates out of Iberia has been crushed devastatingly - in the difficult terrain of the Basque country, the republican military was virtually eliminated by the Basque partisans and the superior Federate firepower, unable to utilize its numerical supremacy, whereas on the Ebro, the Federates met them with trenches, redoubts and lots of artillery, with the Portuguese only barely limping back. Their fleet, having returned from the Plymouth raid, tried to intercept the Federate one, but came under a heavy barrage at Viveira and had to retreat. The Federates then shelled the cities of Portugal Proper and landed troops there, encountering only minor, scattered resistance (+2 Portuguese irregular divisions). Large portions of the government were seized while trying to escape Lisbon. Meanwhile, back in the Ebro region, the Federates launched an attack of their own. The Portuguese tried to defend on their side of the river, but their fortifications weren't quite as good as the Federate ones, their supplies were running out and their morale was low, while behind their lines, the Spanish guerrilas rose up in support of the Federate army (+5 Federate irregular divisions). The Portuguese Republic crumbled rapidly as it was assaulted from east, west and within, and several garrisons surrendered. The remnants of the Portuguese fleet either surrendered, either were destroyed by their crews, either fled in an undetermined location.
(-Portuguese Republic as an independent nation (Federate decision on the status of Portugal pending), -4 Federate divisions, -3 Federate irregular divisions, -4 Federate squadrons)
After the defeat and capitulation of the Portuguese garrison of Lorient, the Federate-Republican forces in France finally commited themselves to rooting out the Nationalist resistance. Indeed, ever since the merge of the Provisionalist and the Nationalist factions, MacMahon oncemore became a serious threat to the First Republic; his forces even managed to relieve Dijon in a well-planned assault, while in Aquitaine in particular the combination of countryside rebellions (that happened all over the country, but here in particular - +5 Nationalist irregular divisions) and local weakness allowed the Nationalists to advance as far as the Loire. However, as MacMahon tried to take Paris again, the anti-Nationalist forces struck in the south-east - the Federates advanced up the Rhone, securing Marseilles and Lyons, and eventually linking up with the Republican army that attacked towards Lyons from the north-west. Thus the Nationalists were cut in a half, and then, to make things worse, they were literally (but probably not too figuratively) backstabbed by the Genevan Empire - the Genevans, evidently, wanted to balance their new German gains with French or semi-French ones, occupying Alsace and some parts of Lorraine and Burgundy. Finally, as the Portuguese were finished off in Iberia, the Federates and the republicans alike could concentrate on retaking Aquitaine, which they, despite considerable local resistance, did. The Nationalists launched one final, desperate assault on Paris itself with all they had, and, thanks to the risings of the (in)famous "Third Column", succeeded in occupying it yet again, but with heavy casualties. One final battle came, and a hell of a battle it was. This time, the Nationalists were trully cornered, and knowing that there was no going back now, they drove back several superior attacks and put down numerous pro-Republican risings in blood. MacMahon, despite several wounds, commanded from the front - he, too, had nothing left to lose now. Finally, despite President Leger's protests, the Federates decided to shell Paris. Quarter by quarter, much of the world's most beautiful, and, according to many French and non-French men alike, greatest city, was devastated, and finally, as MacMahon himself died and the most die-hard Nationalists retreated to hold the defenses at the Pere-Lachaise Cemetery where they were all gunned down as well, the bulk of the surviving force surrendered. The French Civil War was over, but the damage to France itself was tremendous (-1 Economy, -1 Infrastructure, -Paris economic center).
(-France (Nationalists) as a faction, -11 Federate divisions, -1 Federate squadron, -19 Republican divisions, -2 Republican irregular divisions, -2 Genevan Patriot divisions)
As war-weariness continued to spread in HRE, a series of spontaneous military and civilian risings took place; uncoordinated, they were quickly crushed, but now it was obvious that the Empire was doomed unless it somehow gains a quick, decisive victory. This time, the Imperials decided to concentrate on a single theatre. Perhaps wrongly, they decided to try and knock out Poland before even thinking of taking on Scandinavia. The early Imperial breakthrough went well; before the Poles could prepare any defenses, they were pushed out of Bohemia and Moravia altogether and had to pull back to defend Silesia; there, however, they managed to defeat the early Imperial assaults. Meanwhile, a minor attack on the Scandinavian positions in Saxony was launched; the Imperials diverted more troops there and forced the outnumbered, outflanked Scandinavians to pull back. The Poles defended their new front steadfastly, though, apparently prepared for this Imperial maneuver. Desperate as the offensive stalled, the Imperials begun deploying the troops being held in deep reserve, in the event of a new invasion, as well as some of the troops from the Scandinavian front. Trading fire with the Polish artillery, the Imperials charged, and, despite heavy casualties (that were further increased by the explosives left by the Poles in the trenches that they abandoned while retreating), seized Breslau and Olmutz. However, the Imperial armies were too weakened to press on further, especially as the Poles defeated all the attempts to cross the Oder. The war stalled yet again, especially after the failure of another offensive, now aimed against the Scandinavians.
(-3 Scandinavian divisions, -2 Scandinavian conscript divisions, -16 Imperial divisions, -18 Imperial Sturmtruppen divisions, -11 Imperial conscript divisions, -8 Polish divisions, -5 Polish Siemienowicz cannons, -6 Polish conscript divisions)
The Italian Republic, having concluded peace with HRE and signed an alliance with Geneve, received the latter's assistance in crushing the various rebels. Despite the fierce resistance and the guerrila war, as well as the unpopularity of the idea of using Genevan troops (-1 Confidence), the rebels in the mainland are mostly routed. The ones in the islands frantically begun looking for a way to avoid the same fate: Elba and a few other offshore islands surrendered without a battle in exchange for amnesty, Corsica begun looking for Federate support and Sicily formed an organized government which begun preparing the island's defenses.
(-2 Italian divisions, -1 Genevan Patriot divisions)
As the blockade and the steady Scandinavian advance slowly grinded the willpower and combat efficiency of the Finnish rebel troops, mutinies became more and more widespread. All the mutineers that were seized were executed, but this cost the Finns troops and officers. Eventually, Helsingfors/Helsinki and Viborg/Viipuri were both besieged, bombarded and taken. The members of the Finnish Senate either shot themselves, either were arrested. The Finnish rebellion was over.
(-Finnish Rebels as a faction, -1 Scandinavian division, -1 Scandinavian conscript division)
Further south... the Scandinavians waited. And waited. And waited for well over a month, waited for the Muscovites to show any activity apart from constructing more and more forts. But nothing came, not even a minor raid - the Muscovites were busy elsewhere, they were partaking in a desperate attack on Poland, along with the forces of the Balkan Pact.
The main offensive occured in Poland's north. After the fall of Vilnus, the Muscovites immediately pressed on into Poland Proper, overwhelming all resistance, if with heavy casualties. Albeit the diversionary attack towards Warsaw was intercepted and defeated, Tsar Alexius personally led an advance towards Lwyw despite the mobilization of Polish militias (+15 Polish irregular divisions), while Kazimir led a daring raid that took him almost to Warsaw itself until his recognition and defeat near it; even then, he managed to escape east to rejoin Alexius. However, as the Muscovites already penetrated Galicia, bad news came. Lots of them. Firstly, the Balkan Pact's invasion was defeated yet again - the Bulgars failed to show up, the Yugoslavo-Romanian "Northern Army" was outflanked by the Poles and forced to retreat in disarray and the Turko-Persian amphibious landing took heavy casualties due to coastal artillery and the sea mines, and too eventually had to pull back. Secondly, the Scandinavians, now sure that no attack was coming and that the Muscovites would be unable to re-deploy troops fast enough, begun their campaign of reconquest. They advanced from Finland, Karelia and Arkhangelsk, and landed all over the Livonian coast; and though they faced well-prepared, fanatical resistance, their far superior artillery - and that of the Federates, on the ships that shelled the Livonian cities - allowed them to eventually overrun all the Muscovite resistance, or encircle the particularily strong areas of resistance, such as Noteborg. Having now reached their pre-war border, the Scandinavians stopped to consolidate gains and restore their supplies, but it was obvious that they would soon press on further. Alexius' situation was very risky, especially as the Poles begun several counter-offensives and as the guerrila units, despite the reprisals, begun grinding his army. Finally, he decided to move back east to link up with his army there. When the courier arrived telling him that the Poles were about to invade southern Muscovy... the young Tsar wasn't dismayed at all. For soon, just as he expected, came the news of General Oleg Dolgorukiy's daring attack. Succesful daring attack - very succesful from a tactical viewpoint, in fact, although the political implications of suddenly violating the Dalnorossian territory, defeating what few troops could be raised to counter this attack and then suddenly attacking the Poles from Dalnorossia weren't as good. Still, the Polish army was suddenly hemmed in between the Muscovite garrisons and another army that suddenly emerged just behind the Polish one. Before the main Polish advantage - that of firepower - could be used properly, the Poles were already attacked and only barely managed to retreat northwards. That much was expected by Alexius, who, leaving some of his troops to ward off the combined Scando-Polish force that was hot on his heels, hastened to deliver the finishing blow on the would-be Polish invasion force. By now, those Ukraineans and Belorussians who supported Alexius rose up as well, hindering the Polish retreat (+5 Muscovite irregular divisions). In the end, the Polish encouragement of lower-rank initiative paid off - a fair portion of the Polish army managed to split up and escape. But many more Polish soldiers faced, at best, forced labour camps. This year, too, hasn't been the decisive one after all - both sides won their victories and lost their defeats. But with Dalnorossia being dragged into the war, the future doesn't look to be at all well for the Muscovites...
(-8 Scandinavian divisions, -9 Scandinavian Berserker divisions, -4 Scandinavian conscript divisions, -33 Polish divisions, -13 Polish Siemienowicz Cannons, -6 Polish irregular divisions, -16 Polish conscript divisions, -1 Dalnorossian conscript division, -1 Dalnorossian irregular division, -4 Yugoslav divisions, -3 Yugoslav Black Legion divisions, -3 Romanian irregular divisions, -4 Turkish divisions, -6 Persian divisions, -26 Muscovite divisions, -27 Muscovite Lieb Guard divisions, -2 Muscovite irregular divisions, -10 Muscovite conscript divisions)
The Portuguese, using the lack of a Federate presence in the Mediterranean in the time, captured Tangiers, causing rebellions to begin in the ungarrisoned Morocco. Ofcourse, the Portuguese themselves surrendered now, but the Federate authority in the former Portuguese colony has been shaken.
Tukulor and Sokoto continued expanding, easily routing their outnumbered, unorganized, low-tech enemies from the nearby petty states and tribes.
The War in the Indian Ocean.
(see spotlight)
(+10 Federate irregular divisions, +10 Persian irregular divisions, +5 Indian irregular divisions, -1 Persian Confidence, Civilian Leadership)
(-Sudan as an independent nation, -36 Federate divisions, -15 Federate conscript divisions, -7 Federate irregular divisions, -6 Federate UU, -16 Federate squadrons, -18 Persian divisions, -11 Persian irregular divisions, -3 Persian Engineering Corps, -9 Persian squadrons, -9 Indian divisions, -1 Indian conscript division, -5 Indian irregular divisions, -3 Indian Thug divisions, -7 Chinese divisions, -7 Chinese conscript divisions, -1 Siamese division)
das
Regeneration In Process
In Central Asia, the Qing Chinese forces pulled back towards Syrdarya and the Uzbek territories, where they set up their defenses before the Dalnorossians could catch up to them. Meanwhile, the well-coordinated guerrila campaign against the Dalnorossians in Sinkiang damaged their supply situation further, allowing the Chinese to make several breakthroughs and reestablish some of their supply routes (if only temporarily - see below). With the support of local Muslims (+5 Dalnorossian irregular divisions), the Dalnorossians in Chinese Sinkiang and Samarkand managed to fight their way back north and even assist the Dalnorossian assistance. In the end, after lots of intense maneuvering and skirmishing, the year saw no decisive clash in this region.
(-4 Dalnorossian divisions, -5 Dalnorossian Uragannaya Konnitsa divisions, -3 Dalnorossian irregular divisions, -8 Chinese divisions, -6 Chinese irregular divisions, -2 Chinese Rice Infantry divisions)
Supported by the Mongol rebels (+5 Dalnorossian irregular divisions), the Dalnorossians overran Inner and Outer Mongolias, once more ruining the Chinese logistics. Troops had to be diverted from other theatres to stop the Dalnorossian advance just outside of Ganzhou.
(-2 Chinese divisions, -1 Dalnorossian Uragannaya Konnitsa division, -2 Dalnorossian irregular divisions)
In Manchuria, no decisive battles took place. The Chinese troops hid behind their ever-strenghthening lines of fortifications, while a guerrila war was being organized behind the Dalnorossian lines; and the Dalnorossians themselves launched probing attacks and cavalry/maritime raids. The Qing Chinese made some gains in southern Manchuria, but not much; several false attacks launched by the Dalnorossians, combined with the fairly fierce defense, prevented the Chinese from pressing on too far. Using the large amount of troops tied down here, the Dalnorossians landed in Shandong and crushed what resistance could be raised against them quickly; from there, they moved to link up with the White Lotus. And finally, Japan, virtually ungarrisoned, was overran by local rebels and Dalnorossians.
(-8 Dalnorossian divisions, -2 Dalnorossian Uragannaya Konnitsa divisions, -1 Dalnorossian irregular division, -3 Dalnorossian conscript divisions, -7 Chinese divisions, -2 Chinese Rice Infantry divisions)
A pro-Qing counter-rebellion in the White Lotus-held territories has been crushed ruthlessly, as was an attempted Liberal rising in Nanking. With direct Federate, Siamese and Dalnorossian support, the White Lotus troops not only held their ground against the pro-Qing rebels (+5 Qing irregular divisions), but also against the regular Qing troops. These Chinese troops sent to deal with the rebellion proved quite insufficient against the numerically-superior anti-Qing forces, and only managed to partially contain it, despite a few temporary tactical successes; in fact, the White Lotus even spread further, despite the resistance of the pro-Qing militias (+5 Qing irregular divisions).
(-2 Dalnorossian divisions, -9 Chinese divisions, -4 Chinese irregular divisions, -2 Siamese divisions, -9 White Lotus divisions, -2 White Lotus irregular divisions)
With Siamese support, a Tibetian army is formed (+2 Siamese irregular divisions) and takes over some more of Tibet without any resistance..
The Chinese pull out of Annam, allowing the Siamese to occupy it... and to have to face a (rather limited, ofcourse) guerrila war there.
Random Events:
A general economical revival takes place in Scandinavia as capitalism flourishes (+1 Economy). Meanwhile, the rigorous training continued, as more and more men were rolled into the army and trained to meet its high standards (+1 Army Training). Scandinavians prepare for a final battle with Muscovy, as the morale is higher than ever before (+2 Culture) and volunteers join en masse (+15 divisions). A new battle-hardened generation of military leaders emerges (+1 Military Leadership).
Despite some resistance to his policies, Emperor Wilhelmus manages to force through the abolition of cantons, sparking a new rise of Genevan nationalism (+2 Culture, +1 Confidence).
Persians lure in the more capable (usually not in politics) political malcontents from all over Europe (+1 Education).
As word spreads of Persian and allied atrocities, the Federates get an influx of volunteers and a general rise of jingoism (+5 divisions, +1 Culture).
Generally, the Republican prestige grows in France (+1 Confidence).
The Finnish military situation seems more and more desperate by the days, and the Scandinavist movement is gaining strenght (-1 Culture).
As Portugal finds it increasingly difficult to hold on to all of its gains in Spain, a military coup was attempted by a circle of officers who wished to create a new, strong government; the coup failed, but the schism between the government and the army increased (-1 Military Leadership).
The inexperienced Croatian engineers have lots of trouble keeping the old, Ottoman-built infrastructure in working order (-1 Infrastructure).
War-weariness spreads in France (-1 Culture for both French factions).
A fairly strong anti-Legerist right-wing opposition emerges in the French Republic (-1 Confidence).
Beleaguered Poland begins to collapse economically (-1 Economy) and morally (-1 Culture).
Sokotans find it difficult to connect their expanding empire (-1 Infrastructure).
As the Platines fall back, their discipline detiriorates (-1 Army Training).
Spotlight:
The Indian Ocean Theatres.
"The East is the East and the West is the West..."
- A Federate saying, purportedly first appearing in the 1820s in the Federate-Dutch East Indies.
1869 was the fourth year of the First World War, the war that rightfully got its name, for no part of the world was left untouched. Though by that year, several of the first theatres of the war were already closed, though already over a million men have died, though entire empires were ruined and the face of the world was changed forever, the Federated Kingdoms and the Safavid Holy Islamic Kingdom of Persia were yet to clash decisively. What happened until now were some regional battles, maneuvering... the chess board of the Indian Ocean was still being explored, and the pieces were still only beginning to get into their positions. But in 1869, what was planned was a decisive clash. Not a decisive battle, but several battles, several campaigns to determine the fate of the world. The struggle was that of a superpower against many pretenders; of democracy against monarchy; of freedom against opression, with both sides claiming themselves to represent freedom and the other to represent opression ofcourse. But above everything else, in the region of the Indian Ocean anyway, this was the final phase of the struggle that lasted for milleniums, the struggle of the East and the West. What is the difference between the East and the West? Hard to explain. But... the East is the East and the West is the West. And now, both of them were more united than ever before, and more determined to defeat the other than in any of the past milleniums.
In 1869 Anno Domini, or 1285-1286 Anno Hegirae, several campaigns begun. Across the deserts, forests, grasslands and seas from Sudan to Java, battles raged.
The Federates immediately scored a significant victory when a few divisions landed to support the pro-Federate faction in the former Ottoman protectorate of Zanzibar, more often called the "Turkish East Africa". Easily outnumbered and outgunned due to the lack of any Persian support whatsoever, the pro-Persian faction of the civil war ongoing in the ex-protectorate was easily defeated; the Federates pressed on into Sudan (a Persian ally), where they received the support of Abyssinian rebels and the personal enemies of Sultan Zubayr, especially the envious southern tribes. Meanwhile, further north, the Sudanese were completely routed in the battle at Aswan, and the Federates invaded the hapless Sultanate from the north as well. Needless to say, it was completely crushed and the war in Africa mostly ended with that, for now anyway.
But, ofcourse, it was only a minor setback for Ardashir IV. He was far more concerned with the Federate forces in Iraq, quite reasonably so. Having secretly built up a new fleet, he dispatched it, in coordination with the privateers that begun attacking the already-sparse Federate supplies, to besiege the Federate naval communications in the general region of the Strait of Hormuz. Strangely enough, the Federates stubbornly refused to respond to provocations until after quite a while, despite the precarious situation this put the Federate troops in Iraq into. When the Federates did confront the Persians, they easily destroyed much of the inferior Persian fleet from afar with their far superior firepower, but as the Persians retreated and the Federates gave chase, the latter suddenly came under a rather unusual attack. Desperation, as usual, forced innovation and the Persians, desperate to find some way to best the Federates, designed sea mines not entirely unlike the Polish ones and war baloons, from which explosives could be tossed down at the Federate ships. Although, as always with experimental weapons, far from everything went right - not all the mines worked, and the air balloons, apart from a few specific cases, only caused a temporary panic - the Federates still did suffer an unexpected... if not completely a defeat, then a very costly victory, with the loss of numerous ships and the escape of the surviving portion of the Persian fleet. The Persians may have failed in completely destroying the Federate maritime communications, but they did damage them severely, especially as the Federate fleet was in no position to start a serious hunt for the privateers yet.
However, the best of Persian efforts soon enough proved to be not quite enough. Yet... there still was almost a month left before the West begun its ultimate assault on the Eastern fortress. Before that, in India, the forces of the East had some offensives of their own to launch; the initiative there, thus far, was with them. For the most part, anyway...
The Federate soldiers in most of India received one simple order as to what to do until the reinforcements arrive and the Middle East is invaded. Defend. Hold their ground. Overstretched and still rather undersupplied Federate troops were, with the exception of some of the Indian and other colonial conscripts, determined to carry that order out. But they, and their commanders, knew all too well that in some cases... they will stand no chance. Another Diu was inevitable. Maybe several Dius. Or even a hundred of them. First to fall to the Indo-Persian counter-attack were the Indus Valley and Gujarat; the Persians attacked straight-on from the east, seeking to restore their corridor to former Kalat, the Sikhs advanced southwards along the Indus and the Indians themselves, using their knowledge of the terrain and some population support retook Gujarat and then, in a daring maneuver, marched through the Rann of Kutch to capture the Indus Delta. The Federate ships kept the Indians at bay for some time, but eventually were forced to retreat by well-hidden artillery batteries. Most Federates died or were captured, but some were evacuated to Deccan by sea.
By the time they arrived there, the Indo-Persian forces were pressing forward here as well, or rather just to the north from the peninsula. Seeking to pocket the Federate troops in Central India, the Persians advanced beyond the Satpura Range, while the Indians marched through Gondwana. The one thing they forgot about was that the Federates had pretty good intellegence, and besides already did have some troops covering the directions of their attacks. Although a combination of well-planned officer assassinations, good knowledge of terrain and surprisingly-efficient coordination allowed the Indo-Persians to win the day and force the Federates to retreat, they in the end failed to pocket many troops; besides, their hopes for defections among the Indian conscripts proved unfounded as the Federates, firstly, didn't put many of them in such a risky sector, and, secondly, kept them on tight leash.
Finally, the Chinese had planned an invasion of Siamese Burma from Bengal... but while all the forces needed for the operation were being transported to Bengal, the Siamese already launched an attack of their own, supported by the Federate army and navy. Trapped between an overland offensive and a seaborne one, the Chinese were forced to retreat into Indian-held territory, to regroup.
In the meantime, the Persians have concentrated most of their resources on beating the Federates out of Iraq. Ardashir IV personally coordinated the operations here. Fortifications were erected, a guerrila war was organized and assassinations of Federate officers commenced. Several small rebellions were started in the more Shiite cities of central Iraq, though they were easily put down. Then, the attacks begun - first, from al-Hasa towards Basrah, then, as it was fought back, from Kurdistan towards Baghdad... and then, the real, primary, strong attack from Persia itself to Basrah. The Federates held, but, undersupplied and overstretched as they were, it was clear that they were on the brink of collapse.
And then, the West struck back. Federate troops landed in Palestine and Hejjaz, and invaded Sinai moving from Egypt in full force, overcoming the local militias and the Druzes, who were as always loyal to whoever rules them. Incited by the Federate agents, several Sunni rebellions commenced. And finally, Federate soldiers that were only waiting for the arrival of the other invasion forces, landed in southern Persia, marched to, assaulted and, despite all, seized the city of Shiraz. That was just in time, too - the Persians have by then already seized large portions of Iraq, and only the sudden Federate attack in their rear positions prevented them from taking Basrah. The Persians had to retreat northwards, retreat and regroup.
The West struck back in India as well. However, here it had less luck - the Indians prepared well for some of their moves, at least. Well-hidden land artillery batteries oncemore were employed against the Federate fleet, and though eventually some positions on the Delta were secured, the Sikhs, Indians and Persians made sure to prevent the Federates from moving out far from their beachheads. The counter-offensive in Deccan was more succesful, as the outnumbered Indo-Persian forces were forced into retreat, but as the Chinese forces that by then had assembled in the Gangetic Planes were deployed to help out their allies, the Federate advance was stopped, for the moment. But only for the moment...
But it still was too early for the forces of the East to lose all hope. In Iraq, the damage done to the supply routes and the continued existance of a Persian army prevented the Federates from landing a killing blow yet, although the privateers were largely rooted out by the newly-arrived naval reinforcements. In Java, incited by the Persian agents for some time now and encouraged by the absence of any serious Federate garrisons in the area, the local separatists under the loose leadership rose up, and though the rebels were unlikely to survive any serious punitive action and though Prince Dipo Buwona, the rebellion's leader, had trouble controlling the actions of his various supporters, this rebellion was already a likely distraction.
The war wasn't yet over.
NPC Diplo:
From: Corsicans
To: Federated Kingdoms
We ask you to establish a protectorate over the island of Corsica and help us defend from the vile Italians.
From: Sicilian Rebels
To: Italy
We propose peace. We officially recognize your new republican government and its claims to all the Italian territories sans Sicily, you recognize OUR new government as the legitimate government of the island of Sicily.
From: Bulgaria
To: Balkan Pact
We believe that it no longer suits our best interests to remain within the Balkan Pact, as if it ever did.
From: Georgia
To: Persia
We believe that, there being no real ties between Persia and Georgia, there is no real point for Georgia to remain a part of Persia; we also don't want to have to fight Dalnorossia or the FK, though we don't wish for war with Persia neither naturally. We hope for cordial relations to remain between our two countries.
OOC:
Phew. The deadline will be moved to the next week's Tuesday, as was said before. IMHO we should get some things clear to make sure that future updates will come faster. Specifically: a) you all should point out how many (in numbers) troops you have where doing what, I won't bother trying to find out whether and how many troops you have left to garrison some unmentioned region and instead will assume that all the troops you forgot to mention, if any, went on a trip to Andorra, b) you should either do your orders in a list form, either add summaries at the end of your orders and c) you should group all your stat-growth orders together in one place and the military ones in another.
Azale, there are no machine guns yet. Allah's Needles are a sort of a cannon ball.
So, what is your final opinion? Should I decrease eco. levels time to time or not?
Also, I think I'll increase the value of eco. level investment into projects by two progress points, to decrease the amount of loopholes.
Point out any mistakes or any things I forgot in the update as fast as possible, please. I also suspect there might be some stat problems, if only because... there always are.
(-4 Dalnorossian divisions, -5 Dalnorossian Uragannaya Konnitsa divisions, -3 Dalnorossian irregular divisions, -8 Chinese divisions, -6 Chinese irregular divisions, -2 Chinese Rice Infantry divisions)
Supported by the Mongol rebels (+5 Dalnorossian irregular divisions), the Dalnorossians overran Inner and Outer Mongolias, once more ruining the Chinese logistics. Troops had to be diverted from other theatres to stop the Dalnorossian advance just outside of Ganzhou.
(-2 Chinese divisions, -1 Dalnorossian Uragannaya Konnitsa division, -2 Dalnorossian irregular divisions)
In Manchuria, no decisive battles took place. The Chinese troops hid behind their ever-strenghthening lines of fortifications, while a guerrila war was being organized behind the Dalnorossian lines; and the Dalnorossians themselves launched probing attacks and cavalry/maritime raids. The Qing Chinese made some gains in southern Manchuria, but not much; several false attacks launched by the Dalnorossians, combined with the fairly fierce defense, prevented the Chinese from pressing on too far. Using the large amount of troops tied down here, the Dalnorossians landed in Shandong and crushed what resistance could be raised against them quickly; from there, they moved to link up with the White Lotus. And finally, Japan, virtually ungarrisoned, was overran by local rebels and Dalnorossians.
(-8 Dalnorossian divisions, -2 Dalnorossian Uragannaya Konnitsa divisions, -1 Dalnorossian irregular division, -3 Dalnorossian conscript divisions, -7 Chinese divisions, -2 Chinese Rice Infantry divisions)
A pro-Qing counter-rebellion in the White Lotus-held territories has been crushed ruthlessly, as was an attempted Liberal rising in Nanking. With direct Federate, Siamese and Dalnorossian support, the White Lotus troops not only held their ground against the pro-Qing rebels (+5 Qing irregular divisions), but also against the regular Qing troops. These Chinese troops sent to deal with the rebellion proved quite insufficient against the numerically-superior anti-Qing forces, and only managed to partially contain it, despite a few temporary tactical successes; in fact, the White Lotus even spread further, despite the resistance of the pro-Qing militias (+5 Qing irregular divisions).
(-2 Dalnorossian divisions, -9 Chinese divisions, -4 Chinese irregular divisions, -2 Siamese divisions, -9 White Lotus divisions, -2 White Lotus irregular divisions)
With Siamese support, a Tibetian army is formed (+2 Siamese irregular divisions) and takes over some more of Tibet without any resistance..
The Chinese pull out of Annam, allowing the Siamese to occupy it... and to have to face a (rather limited, ofcourse) guerrila war there.
Random Events:
A general economical revival takes place in Scandinavia as capitalism flourishes (+1 Economy). Meanwhile, the rigorous training continued, as more and more men were rolled into the army and trained to meet its high standards (+1 Army Training). Scandinavians prepare for a final battle with Muscovy, as the morale is higher than ever before (+2 Culture) and volunteers join en masse (+15 divisions). A new battle-hardened generation of military leaders emerges (+1 Military Leadership).
Despite some resistance to his policies, Emperor Wilhelmus manages to force through the abolition of cantons, sparking a new rise of Genevan nationalism (+2 Culture, +1 Confidence).
Persians lure in the more capable (usually not in politics) political malcontents from all over Europe (+1 Education).
As word spreads of Persian and allied atrocities, the Federates get an influx of volunteers and a general rise of jingoism (+5 divisions, +1 Culture).
Generally, the Republican prestige grows in France (+1 Confidence).
The Finnish military situation seems more and more desperate by the days, and the Scandinavist movement is gaining strenght (-1 Culture).
As Portugal finds it increasingly difficult to hold on to all of its gains in Spain, a military coup was attempted by a circle of officers who wished to create a new, strong government; the coup failed, but the schism between the government and the army increased (-1 Military Leadership).
The inexperienced Croatian engineers have lots of trouble keeping the old, Ottoman-built infrastructure in working order (-1 Infrastructure).
War-weariness spreads in France (-1 Culture for both French factions).
A fairly strong anti-Legerist right-wing opposition emerges in the French Republic (-1 Confidence).
Beleaguered Poland begins to collapse economically (-1 Economy) and morally (-1 Culture).
Sokotans find it difficult to connect their expanding empire (-1 Infrastructure).
As the Platines fall back, their discipline detiriorates (-1 Army Training).
Spotlight:
The Indian Ocean Theatres.
"The East is the East and the West is the West..."
- A Federate saying, purportedly first appearing in the 1820s in the Federate-Dutch East Indies.
1869 was the fourth year of the First World War, the war that rightfully got its name, for no part of the world was left untouched. Though by that year, several of the first theatres of the war were already closed, though already over a million men have died, though entire empires were ruined and the face of the world was changed forever, the Federated Kingdoms and the Safavid Holy Islamic Kingdom of Persia were yet to clash decisively. What happened until now were some regional battles, maneuvering... the chess board of the Indian Ocean was still being explored, and the pieces were still only beginning to get into their positions. But in 1869, what was planned was a decisive clash. Not a decisive battle, but several battles, several campaigns to determine the fate of the world. The struggle was that of a superpower against many pretenders; of democracy against monarchy; of freedom against opression, with both sides claiming themselves to represent freedom and the other to represent opression ofcourse. But above everything else, in the region of the Indian Ocean anyway, this was the final phase of the struggle that lasted for milleniums, the struggle of the East and the West. What is the difference between the East and the West? Hard to explain. But... the East is the East and the West is the West. And now, both of them were more united than ever before, and more determined to defeat the other than in any of the past milleniums.
In 1869 Anno Domini, or 1285-1286 Anno Hegirae, several campaigns begun. Across the deserts, forests, grasslands and seas from Sudan to Java, battles raged.
The Federates immediately scored a significant victory when a few divisions landed to support the pro-Federate faction in the former Ottoman protectorate of Zanzibar, more often called the "Turkish East Africa". Easily outnumbered and outgunned due to the lack of any Persian support whatsoever, the pro-Persian faction of the civil war ongoing in the ex-protectorate was easily defeated; the Federates pressed on into Sudan (a Persian ally), where they received the support of Abyssinian rebels and the personal enemies of Sultan Zubayr, especially the envious southern tribes. Meanwhile, further north, the Sudanese were completely routed in the battle at Aswan, and the Federates invaded the hapless Sultanate from the north as well. Needless to say, it was completely crushed and the war in Africa mostly ended with that, for now anyway.
But, ofcourse, it was only a minor setback for Ardashir IV. He was far more concerned with the Federate forces in Iraq, quite reasonably so. Having secretly built up a new fleet, he dispatched it, in coordination with the privateers that begun attacking the already-sparse Federate supplies, to besiege the Federate naval communications in the general region of the Strait of Hormuz. Strangely enough, the Federates stubbornly refused to respond to provocations until after quite a while, despite the precarious situation this put the Federate troops in Iraq into. When the Federates did confront the Persians, they easily destroyed much of the inferior Persian fleet from afar with their far superior firepower, but as the Persians retreated and the Federates gave chase, the latter suddenly came under a rather unusual attack. Desperation, as usual, forced innovation and the Persians, desperate to find some way to best the Federates, designed sea mines not entirely unlike the Polish ones and war baloons, from which explosives could be tossed down at the Federate ships. Although, as always with experimental weapons, far from everything went right - not all the mines worked, and the air balloons, apart from a few specific cases, only caused a temporary panic - the Federates still did suffer an unexpected... if not completely a defeat, then a very costly victory, with the loss of numerous ships and the escape of the surviving portion of the Persian fleet. The Persians may have failed in completely destroying the Federate maritime communications, but they did damage them severely, especially as the Federate fleet was in no position to start a serious hunt for the privateers yet.
However, the best of Persian efforts soon enough proved to be not quite enough. Yet... there still was almost a month left before the West begun its ultimate assault on the Eastern fortress. Before that, in India, the forces of the East had some offensives of their own to launch; the initiative there, thus far, was with them. For the most part, anyway...
The Federate soldiers in most of India received one simple order as to what to do until the reinforcements arrive and the Middle East is invaded. Defend. Hold their ground. Overstretched and still rather undersupplied Federate troops were, with the exception of some of the Indian and other colonial conscripts, determined to carry that order out. But they, and their commanders, knew all too well that in some cases... they will stand no chance. Another Diu was inevitable. Maybe several Dius. Or even a hundred of them. First to fall to the Indo-Persian counter-attack were the Indus Valley and Gujarat; the Persians attacked straight-on from the east, seeking to restore their corridor to former Kalat, the Sikhs advanced southwards along the Indus and the Indians themselves, using their knowledge of the terrain and some population support retook Gujarat and then, in a daring maneuver, marched through the Rann of Kutch to capture the Indus Delta. The Federate ships kept the Indians at bay for some time, but eventually were forced to retreat by well-hidden artillery batteries. Most Federates died or were captured, but some were evacuated to Deccan by sea.
By the time they arrived there, the Indo-Persian forces were pressing forward here as well, or rather just to the north from the peninsula. Seeking to pocket the Federate troops in Central India, the Persians advanced beyond the Satpura Range, while the Indians marched through Gondwana. The one thing they forgot about was that the Federates had pretty good intellegence, and besides already did have some troops covering the directions of their attacks. Although a combination of well-planned officer assassinations, good knowledge of terrain and surprisingly-efficient coordination allowed the Indo-Persians to win the day and force the Federates to retreat, they in the end failed to pocket many troops; besides, their hopes for defections among the Indian conscripts proved unfounded as the Federates, firstly, didn't put many of them in such a risky sector, and, secondly, kept them on tight leash.
Finally, the Chinese had planned an invasion of Siamese Burma from Bengal... but while all the forces needed for the operation were being transported to Bengal, the Siamese already launched an attack of their own, supported by the Federate army and navy. Trapped between an overland offensive and a seaborne one, the Chinese were forced to retreat into Indian-held territory, to regroup.
In the meantime, the Persians have concentrated most of their resources on beating the Federates out of Iraq. Ardashir IV personally coordinated the operations here. Fortifications were erected, a guerrila war was organized and assassinations of Federate officers commenced. Several small rebellions were started in the more Shiite cities of central Iraq, though they were easily put down. Then, the attacks begun - first, from al-Hasa towards Basrah, then, as it was fought back, from Kurdistan towards Baghdad... and then, the real, primary, strong attack from Persia itself to Basrah. The Federates held, but, undersupplied and overstretched as they were, it was clear that they were on the brink of collapse.
And then, the West struck back. Federate troops landed in Palestine and Hejjaz, and invaded Sinai moving from Egypt in full force, overcoming the local militias and the Druzes, who were as always loyal to whoever rules them. Incited by the Federate agents, several Sunni rebellions commenced. And finally, Federate soldiers that were only waiting for the arrival of the other invasion forces, landed in southern Persia, marched to, assaulted and, despite all, seized the city of Shiraz. That was just in time, too - the Persians have by then already seized large portions of Iraq, and only the sudden Federate attack in their rear positions prevented them from taking Basrah. The Persians had to retreat northwards, retreat and regroup.
The West struck back in India as well. However, here it had less luck - the Indians prepared well for some of their moves, at least. Well-hidden land artillery batteries oncemore were employed against the Federate fleet, and though eventually some positions on the Delta were secured, the Sikhs, Indians and Persians made sure to prevent the Federates from moving out far from their beachheads. The counter-offensive in Deccan was more succesful, as the outnumbered Indo-Persian forces were forced into retreat, but as the Chinese forces that by then had assembled in the Gangetic Planes were deployed to help out their allies, the Federate advance was stopped, for the moment. But only for the moment...
But it still was too early for the forces of the East to lose all hope. In Iraq, the damage done to the supply routes and the continued existance of a Persian army prevented the Federates from landing a killing blow yet, although the privateers were largely rooted out by the newly-arrived naval reinforcements. In Java, incited by the Persian agents for some time now and encouraged by the absence of any serious Federate garrisons in the area, the local separatists under the loose leadership rose up, and though the rebels were unlikely to survive any serious punitive action and though Prince Dipo Buwona, the rebellion's leader, had trouble controlling the actions of his various supporters, this rebellion was already a likely distraction.
The war wasn't yet over.
NPC Diplo:
From: Corsicans
To: Federated Kingdoms
We ask you to establish a protectorate over the island of Corsica and help us defend from the vile Italians.
From: Sicilian Rebels
To: Italy
We propose peace. We officially recognize your new republican government and its claims to all the Italian territories sans Sicily, you recognize OUR new government as the legitimate government of the island of Sicily.
From: Bulgaria
To: Balkan Pact
We believe that it no longer suits our best interests to remain within the Balkan Pact, as if it ever did.
From: Georgia
To: Persia
We believe that, there being no real ties between Persia and Georgia, there is no real point for Georgia to remain a part of Persia; we also don't want to have to fight Dalnorossia or the FK, though we don't wish for war with Persia neither naturally. We hope for cordial relations to remain between our two countries.
OOC:
Phew. The deadline will be moved to the next week's Tuesday, as was said before. IMHO we should get some things clear to make sure that future updates will come faster. Specifically: a) you all should point out how many (in numbers) troops you have where doing what, I won't bother trying to find out whether and how many troops you have left to garrison some unmentioned region and instead will assume that all the troops you forgot to mention, if any, went on a trip to Andorra, b) you should either do your orders in a list form, either add summaries at the end of your orders and c) you should group all your stat-growth orders together in one place and the military ones in another.
Azale, there are no machine guns yet. Allah's Needles are a sort of a cannon ball.
So, what is your final opinion? Should I decrease eco. levels time to time or not?
Also, I think I'll increase the value of eco. level investment into projects by two progress points, to decrease the amount of loopholes.
Point out any mistakes or any things I forgot in the update as fast as possible, please. I also suspect there might be some stat problems, if only because... there always are.
das
Regeneration In Process
MjM
Deity
You MADE me cry. 
Oh well, good show...
Oh well, good show...
Thlayli
Le Pétit Prince
Persia fights on, as always. Brilliant update, das.
Although I did post 2 stories...
Federate Confidence: Resentful
My only solace...
From: Persia
To: Georgia
We don't deny nations their independence that ask for it, as you know. However, we will require aid in the current war against the FK, as payment for that independence. You will not have to fight other nations in the RGC. Refuse, and we will reinstate the protectorate.
Sincerely,
The Islamic Council
Although I did post 2 stories...
Federate Confidence: Resentful
My only solace...
From: Persia
To: Georgia
We don't deny nations their independence that ask for it, as you know. However, we will require aid in the current war against the FK, as payment for that independence. You will not have to fight other nations in the RGC. Refuse, and we will reinstate the protectorate.
Sincerely,
The Islamic Council
- Status
