das
Regeneration In Process
Update 11 - Year 1751
Non-Military Events:
The Japanese-American Pan-Pacific Prosperity Pact has been signed, providing for free trade between Japan and the EUA, though it didn't have too much of an effect yet due to the distances involved and the comparative lack of interest from the entrepreuners on both sides.
Nouvelle Orleans gradually grows back as a trade center, but its positions in the Carribean are not at all secure as Merida is on the rise there as well (+Nouvelle Orleans, Merida economic centers).
Conscription, in various scales, is introduced all over the remaining Portuguese empire (+60 conscript divisions, -1 Economy).
Both France and Russia struggle with the economic problems of maintaining their respective huge-and-growing militaries (-1 Economy each). Germany's new mobilization of the strategic reserve (+50 divisions) results in similar problems (-1 Economy).
France officially annexes Spain and Portugal (putting the lands under military protection), letting Gallicia and Euskardi keep their gains as well. However, the new lands are unruly (-1 French, Gallician, Euskardi Culture)...
The Byzantine city of Dyrrhachium finally takes its rightful place as an Adriatic trade center (+Dyrrhachium economic center).
Russia-Lithuania-Romania undergoes a transformation, becoming the Russian Union with a single capital at Moscow. Lithuania and Romania become two of the twelve fairly autonomous guberniyas into which Russia has been divided (-1 Centralization). Though popular in Russia itself (+1 Confidence), this has greatly antagonized both the Romanians and the Lithuanians (-1 Culture), who feel themselves ever more cheated out of power and not even allowed to take Poland and East Hungary respectively (the status of these territories remains unclear despite all).
Several loud assassinations shake the Ottoman military buerocracy (-1 Military Leadership).
Pusan is reborn as a trade center (+Pusan trade center).
Macao is handed over by Japan (which occupied the city after defeating the Portuguese garrison last year) to IRC.
Military Events:
Through a combination of bribery, diplomacy and force, the Americans secured even more land in the northern North America, despite some growing problems of overstretchment there. Meanwhile, a steady stream of colonists has appeared...
Border incidents between the EUA and France intensified even further after some cunning Amerinds dressed up as Americans burned down a French settlement (this was only discovered late in the year after the French took some prisoners from the tribe responsible). Reprisals and counter-reprisals followed, and the regular forces from both sides also exchanged shots.
Meanwhile, in the east of French North America, especially around Charleville, Amerind ambushes and raids intensify, despite the efforts of the local militia (+1 French irregular division).
In Brazil, despite all resistance, the Americans managed to break out of Salvador (with the help of a large Franco-American expeditionary force), fleeing northwards as the city burned (-Salvador economic center). In the north they linked up with the battered 3rd Army, which had finally defeated the Portuguese city defenses (+2 Portuguese irregular divisions) and now was able to cover the American northwards retreat. Not particularily harried other than by the pro-Portuguese natives (+1 Portuguese irregular division), the Americans dug in in North Brazil, from Natal to the western border (badly overstretching themselves in the process), having gradually secured all the regions to the north and fought back a half-hearted Portuguese attack on the Amazon River.
(-8 American divisions, -1 American irregular division, -2 French Foreign Legion corps, -5 Portuguese divisions, -1 Portuguese conscript division, -2 Portuguese irregular divisions)
A French naval bombardment of Rio de Janeiro does not go quite as planned, not only because of the now-trademark overestimation of the range of the French ships, but also because the Portuguese have prepared exceptionally well, some even claim that traitors in the French military tipped them off, and even managed to sink some ships with their coastal battaries. The French inflicted much damage on the port and suppressed some battaries, but had to withdraw as they clearly wre unable to do much more good there.
(-2 French squadrons)
In the southern theatre of the war in South America, though bolstered by some Chilean and Platine volunteers (+3 American irregular divisions), the American army runs into a minor problem of having no reliable infantry whatsoever. Still, their mobility made up for that and Chile was finally recaptured. A Portuguese counter-offensive regained some ground in the Plata, and even retook San Salvador de Jujuy in the north. An attack towards Buenos Aires was beaten off, the Americans having overestimated native support and underestimated the sheer size of the Portuguese forces deployed in the region; the Americans had suffered large casualties and had to pull back.
(-7 American EUCC divisions, -2 American irregular divisions, -5 Portuguese divisions, -2 Portuguese conscript divisions)
In the newly-annexed territories of Spain and Portugal, Gallician, Euskardi and especially French forces suffer from guerrila warfare. Though in Portugal, things go comparatively well as it is not a very large country, in Spain the guerrilas have more places to hide in and have a greater hatred of France (and the other invaders). Gallicia is particularily threated by this as the Celts there have become even more of a minority, and only through mass employment of force all over their country was O'Higgins able to hold on to power. The Euskardi are much more fortunate, not having taken over any particular concentrations of Spainiards and having expelled many to the Gallician- and French-held territories during the war. The French themselves hold on, but are having a hard time chasing after the guerrilas, not having properly prepared for it.
(-2 French divisions, -3 Gallician divisions)
Europe is completely engulfed by war.
(see spotlight)
(+5 German divisions, +5 Finnish irregular divisions, +3 French irregular divisions, -1 German Confidence)
(-12 French divisions, -34 French Foreign Legion corps, -3 French irregular divisions, -25 French squadrons, -16 Danish divisions, -2 Danish squadrons, -16 Swedish divisions, -4 Swedish Republican Guard divisions, -4 Swedish squadrons, -7 Finnish divisions, -2 Finnish Jaeger corps, -2 Finnish irregular divisions, -31 German divisions, -9 German GotGC divisions, -4 Papal divisions, -1 Papal Zouave division, -28 Russian divisions, -6 Russian Cossack divisions, -42 Russian squadrons, -Armenia as an independent nation, -24 Ottoman divisions)
Segu and Kanem-Bornu expand.
(-1 Segu division, -1 Kanem-Bornu Imperial Camelry division)
An Abyssinian attempt to capture Ottoman-held Asmara failed utterly, the Ottomans having prepared for them all too well; instead of waging a lenghty guerrila war, the Abyssinian commander soon had to retreat anyway, as news arrived of a daring Sennarese highland trek with Gonder itself its goal. This was a well-planned move, as the Abyssinians were yet to fully recover from the loss of their emperor and their military staff was quite disorganized and confused. So the orders were confused as well, with disastrous consequences for the Abyssinians. Although with the help of local militias (+5 irregular divisions), the exhausted Sennarese were defeated at Gonder, the Turko-Sennarese forces recaptured Sennar itself and defeated a large Abyssinian army at the village of Jurayf to the east of Sennar. Despite the heavy Sennarese casualties at Gonder, the tide has evidently turned.
(-24 Sennarese divisions, -11 Sennarese Mounted Grenadier divisions, -18 Abyssinian divisions, -9 Abyssinian Imperial Guard of Shiba divisions, -1 Abyssinian irregular divisions, -8 Ottoman divisions)
Declaring that the Ottoman level of interference in the Sennarese-Abyssinian War is completely unacceptable, the Byzantines - despite some delays, they originally intended to declare the war at the year's beginning but some problems came up, as did a huge French fleet which the Byzantines did not see fit to provoke yet - caused the Ottomans to shift troops around in panic cancelling various plans already in place. The Byzantines took great care to distance this war from the Franco-Russian one. Anyway, while the Ottomans were shifting troops - something made more difficult by the occasional sabotage on the railroads - the Byzantines had already incited a general rebellion of Ioanian Greeks (+2 Byzantine irregular divisions). And while the rebellion was being put down, the Byzantines invaded in force. Covered by artillery fire, they crossed the straits and quickly set out towards Ankara. Meanwhile, another army landed on the southern Anatolia coast - one corps in southern Ionia to support the rebels, another - in Cilicia. Izmir, Ankara, Antalya and several other key cities were taken after some fierce, but predetermined (after all, the Byzantines had the advantage of surprise and numbers alike) fighting, and the Ottoman forces from the Caucasian theatre came too late. They were utterly routed at the strategic railroad stop of Kirikkale before they could even deploy properly. The Byzantines set up some defenses on the forward slopes of the Taurus Mountains, resting even though it meant giving the Ottomans some time to recover (and even launch a few abortive counteroffensives) as well. And in the meantime, other Byzantine soldiers were resting, further to the southeast, after a completely unexpected attack on the ungarrisoned Ottoman Levant. Having not encountered any resistance whatsoever, the Byzantines came to control Jerusalem itself (+1 Byzantine Confidence, -1 Ottoman Confidence, Civilian Leadership, 1 Ottoman Economy to Byzantine Empire)...
(-9 Byzantine divisions, -3 Byzantine Varangian Guard divisions, -1 Byzantine irregular division, -17 Ottoman divisions, -1 Ottoman UU)
Portuguese colonial empire in the Indian Ocean came under a massive assault this year. Many enemies new and old gladly took part in dividing the "Portuguese cowcake", but France, as usual, stole the spotlight both of this update generally and of the war in the Indian Ocean specifically, having assembled a special task force for the aforementioned Ocean. Going through the Mediterranean, the Suez Canal and the Red Sea, the French saluted the Ottoman fleet that, in coordination with the land forces, was finishing off the Portuguese in Africa, of whom little remained by this moment. Later on, the Ottomans even took unguarded Soccotra. Meanwhile, the French moved into India, eliminating what few warships they could find and shelling the cities (-Diu economic center). This naval raid greatly encouraged the Mughals, who now jumped into the fray and gradually - there was no competition whatsoever, and the initial first assaults, though frequently succesful, were also way too expensive in the terms of manpower - captured Bandar-e 'Abbas, Diu, and the Portuguese Indian west coast cities, unintimidated by the local defenses and having quickly defeated all the conscripts who dared step outside of the aforementioned cities. They were also assisted in taking over the countryside by local rebels (+3 Mughal irregular divisions). Meanwhile, the French task force moved on to secure the Maldives and Seychelles, and some lesser islands, whilst en route for Zanzibar. There the task force once more met the Ottomans and assisted them in taking Mombassa and Dar es Salaam. Themselves the French shelled Zanzibar (-Zanzibar economic center) and then assaulted it, eventually capturing the city despite surprisingly heavy resistance. And finally, the French sailed east, along the way shelling the port cities of Ceylon and Portuguese Sumatra. There they ran into a serious challenge - Francisco de Sousa, who had conscripted an impressive army and prepared powerful defenses, powerful enough, in fact, to defeat the rather overconfident and rash French assault on Kuala Lumpur. Hell-bent on making things as difficult as possible for the advancing Franco-Japanese forces, de Sousa harrased the enemy forces going from Singapore, advance northwards into Siam to seize border territories (into which he later retreated), dragged his enemies into an attrition-filled siege of Kuala Lumpur, launched a nearly-succesful counter-attack towards Singapore... But finally, Kuala Lumpur fell, while de Sousa had to fall back, outmaneuvered with help of the enemy fleet. Having lost much of his army in the "final" battle at Alur Setar, he fled north with his surviving comrades and then suddenly disappeared. It is supposed that he, being an old man, fell ill and died, while his men became bandits, but the conspiracy theories are much more interesting than that ofcourse. Oh, and a Franco-Japanese fleet defeated a Portuguese one at Riau, but it wasn't particularily large. The main Portuguese naval forces are still hiding somewhere...
(-10 Portuguese division, -20 Portuguese conscript divisions, -17 Portuguese squadrons, -9 French divisions, -5 French squadrons, -5 Ottoman divisions, -2 Ottoman squadrons, -7 Mughal divisions, -6 Mughal Imperial Guard divisions, -1 Mughal irregular division, -3 Japanese Ikkitousennonimusha divisions, -1 Japanese squadron)
The first major battle between the Japanese and Russian forces in the Franco-Russian War took place just outside of Ninguta, at sea; the fleets were roughly equal, but the Russian one was better, plus a few lucky shots allowed the Russians to claim victory as the Japanese pulled back southwards. But it was a bittersweet victory, for the overstretched Russian forces were forced out of Ninguta anyway, greatly endangering the Tsar's plan for the war in the Far East. The city switched possession several times this year; in the end, the Japanese lost it, but not before destroying the port (-Ninguta economic center). By then, the Japanese already conceded the region immediately to the north of Amur to Russia, but not before destroying all the infrastructure in it - this, too, delayed the Russian plans. But finally, everything was in position, and the Russians attacked in southern Manchuria. They underestimated the Japanese, though - both their military skill and their numbers, and only managed to make some minor gains. The various Japanese experimental defenses also proved a nuisance. Russia also saw awful logistical problems - the attrition brought down at least as many people as the Japanese did.
(-10 Russian divisions, -3 Russian Cossack divisions, -8 Russian squadrons, -6 Japanese divisions, -5 Japanese Ikkitousennonimusha divisions, -9 Japanese squadrons)
In China, war went on rather bleakly for the first few months as both sides traded offensives. The Imperial Republican forces managed to trap and crush a Xin Han army at Zunyi, while in the east a strong new Xin Han offensive won them Wenzhou and allowed them to briefly besiege Fuzhou; they had to abandon that siege, however, due to a Imperial Republican offensive in the middle of the front. Eventually the Imperial Republicans were forced back with many casualties, though retaining order as they retreated. And yet neither side wanted a compromise, and both prepared for a new clash. So the Xin Han troops retook Zunyi by outflanking the Imperial Republicans and defeating a Japanese relief force, and, despite all the potential and actual casualties, started a multi-pronged offensive towards Guangzhou itself. It didn't take Guangzhou, the Xin Han have outran their own supply routes and themselves were exhausted by then time they came near it (and accordingly were pushed back), but they did take Liuzhou and some lesser towns. The militias there were simply overran. A new eastern offensive once more put Fuzhou under siege, though it was supplied over the sea; Gaoshan was also taken, cutting Fuzhou off from the main Imperial Republican territories. Like a spring, the Imperial Republican forces recoiled and retreated, to launch a new offensive, which might as well become decisive as, if the rumours are at least partially right, the Hanhua Emperor intends to launch a final decisive offensive soon, having gathered practically all of his forces, reinforced by new recruits and conscripts, in the southern theatre.
(-8 Imperial Republican divisions, -4 Imperial Republican irregular divisions, -3 Japanese divisions, -17 Xin Han divisions, -2 Xin Han Ma Bing divisions, -3 Xin Han irregular divisions)
Random Events:
The Danish government gets overwhelming popular support for the war with Sweden (+1 Confidence).
The Ministry of Sicherheit continues to crack down on the resistance to von Dunkelheit, rooting out practically all of it (+1 Confidence).
An outburst of Portuguese patriotism in Brazil (and some other colonies) takes place (+1 Culture), as volunteers fill up the army ranks (+10 divisions).
The Abyssinians rally to avenge their dead emperor (+5 divisions).
In the wake of the War of Portuguese Partition, Julien-Francois' popularity rises sky-high (+1 Confidence).
Chancellor Bestuzhev's power-base in Russia is consolidated by a vote of confidence (+1 Confidence).
Storms damage the American irregular fleet (-5 irregular squadrons).
The war damages Portuguese communications badly (-1 Infrastructure).
Buerocratic mishaps slow down the Japanese economical revival program (-1 project progress).
Continued neglection (and sabotage) damage the Ottoman infranstructure (-1 Infrastructure).
The Papal fleet continues to decay in peace (-1 Naval Training). Separatism grows in the far northern and southern parts of the country (-1 Culture).
Bad weather - and, as some claim, Slavic separatists - take their toll from the Byzantine roads (-1 Infrastructure).
Dissent once more rises in Russia due to the large army and the related maintenance problems (-1 Confidence).
Spotlight:
Europe Once More At War.
"A great strategician would exploit all the rules to the utmost. A genial strategician would simply ignore them."
- Anonymous. Early 19th century.
By invading Spain and Portugal, Francois-Julien I did not inadvertly start a process that lead to the complete elimination of all peace whatsoever in Europe. Instead, he quite intentionally eliminated potentially-hostile presence in the west of his realm, and now brought the war eastwards very advertly. With great pomp he declared war on the newly-reformed Russian Union, citing "oppression of the peoples of East Europe" and "threat to the Western Civilization", as well as the rather unarguable accusation of military preparations. As France hadn't any border with Russia, it didn't immediately get to it. While the French troops sailed for the Russian positions, other momentous events took place. First, amongst the cheering and volunteering, the German government joined the French war declaration. German forces soon crossed the Russian border... Denmark-Norway, after an initial pledge of neutrality, soon declared war upon Sweden, a Russian ally; the Ottoman Empire soon attacked Russia and Armenia as well; and also, faraway Japan honoured its alliance with France, though not yet engaging the Russians. Eventually they did, but, strangely enough, not in Europe, so don't look for the Russo-Japanese battles within this spotlight. It has plenty of exciting stuff as it is and doesn't need no bloody Russo-Japanese battles.
While the Germans attacked the Russian center and the Japanese - their rear, the French themselves chose to strike at the flanks. The northern, Baltic flank of Russia was exposed by the aptly-named French Baltic Fleet, which was returning from its past (unapt) Atlantic operations via Copenhagen, where it has landed a small horde of French Foreign legionnaires, many of whom were veterans of the past war with Sweden. France officially granted support to Denmark-Norway as it moved in for the kill. However, things immediately (from the very declaration of war) went wrong as the Swedish intellegence had apparently learned of the Danish plan to sneak-attack Stockholm. They did not interfere with the Danes until they left their "merchant" ships in the dock, and then had them rounded up with far superior forces of the newly-formed Republican Guard. That and some succesful naval skirmishes was all the victories Sweden got in this war thus far, though - the attacks on both Norway and Skane failed, and the French Foreign Legion soon besieged Stockholm, defeating all attempts to relieve it. A two-pronged Danish attack in southwestern Sweden resulted in a Swedish rout and the loss of Goteborg. The Swedish forces did manage to regroup to the east and to hold their positions there, but that is simply because the Danish weren't properly ready for a long war and had outran their supply lines. As for Stockholm, the French didn't yet dare attack its numerically-equal (if not superior - reports are sketchy thus far) garrison, so the situation remains uncertain.
By then the French fleet had already engaged and defeated its Russian counterpart at Naissaar in the Gulf of Finland, but, instead of pursuing its battered remains or of assisting the Finns (whom the Russians have attacked, gradually overwhelming the underestimated (but still not worthy of overestimation) defenders, taking Viipuri and moving on to besiege Helsinki, hindered by the uncomfortable terrain and the guerrila war), attacked Riga. The small garrison was defeated quite easily, and now French Foreign legionnaires were amock in the former Lithuania, supported by Lithuanian separatists who immediately rose up in the support of the French and formed three volunteer divisions...
On the southern flank, things went worse, much worse for the French from the very start. In Constantinople, the Byzantine government formally pledged neutrality and at the same time allowed both the Russians and the French to clash in an epic naval battle at Bosporus. While they did so, the huge nearby Byzantine fleet, to the frustration of both interested sides, sat around doing nothing, the officers and the sailors alike looking at the battle from afar, making bets and cheering for both sides. Many Constantinoplians came to watch as well, and an enterprising binoculars salesman made a hefty profit that day.
As for the fleets, well, the French was bigger and better, but it was bottled down in the Bosporus Strait, while the Russians were outside of it and were free to fire at the French as they pleased, causing large casualties before the French even made up their mind as to what should be done. Finally, Admiral Jean-Pierre Weygand made an infamous, oft-criticized decision - to attack the bloody Russian barbarians in full force, to make them run away! Eventually, run away the remnants of the Russian fleet did, but not before nearly a half of the whole French force - both ships and the legionnaires onboard - sunk under their bombardment. On the other hand, the rest were now free to strike. After an unsuccesful serach for a "port of Balaklava", the French simply attacked and captured Sevastopol, THEN found the inland town of Balaklava. All of Crimea was soon overran, and a separate landing at Odessa, despite heavy Russian resistance, succeeded. Encouraged by their success, the French pressed on further north until making contact with a large Russian force. Neither side won the following few skirmishes, and a stalemate ensued.
Meanwhile the Ottomans ran into a major problem in their Caucasian campaign; more literally, they ran into a large (numerically-superior), well-prepared Russo-Armenian force. Though the Ottomans did make some gains against the Armenians at first, soon enough they bogged down and were beginning to give ground to local-scale Russian counterattacks. The French, taking note of this, landed at Poti and at Amakria, causing some confusion as Russian forces were sent to deal with these incursions. Though they did manage to limit them, and eventually forced the French to retreat, the Ottomans during this time retook lost ground and, in a concentrated offensive, finally overran Armenia. But they failed to exploit this victory properly, for at this point the Byzantine troops had crossed the straits and...
But despite the occasional problems, France still was advancing. The Russian fleet was practically decimated, and their army was in a desperate situation as the Germans pressed on and on and on... until they reached the French positions. Three weeks before that great historic moment, there was bitter debate in von Dunkelheit's circle, as things were not going as planned, not at all. Should they go on with the plan? After all, it was quite risky in the first place, and now its even riskier... On the other hand, though, it made things easier. As the French lied and did not send forces to help the Germans, clearly it was THEY who were planning betrayal. Good enough a casus belli. Finally, with a heavy heart, Friedrich von Dunkelheit agreed, and so three weeks later in the Battle at Vilnius the French, after warding off a Russian attack, were surprised by a German one and routed. The German soldiers themselves were quite surprised, but orders were orders, and besides now it at least was a real war, unlike at first when the Russians just retreated and retreated and the Germans just advanced and advanced without a shot being fired.
Nobody was surprised when the news reached Berlin, for by then war was already declared. The casus belli helped save face, though the Ministry of Sicherheit had to deal with several riots here and there. It was too late to turn back now, now that the mobilization had taken place, and now that the first battle took place.
In Paris, well... it stunned practically everyone apart from the Minister of War, who allegedly informed Julien-Francois that he "told him so".
Back in Lithuania, the Russo-German forces, despite continued unease between them (especially the German volunteers that were in many cases caught trying to desert and/or provoking the Russians), rapidly moved to finish off the French and their Lithuanian allies who, by the way, quite quickly deserted or went into the underground now that the tide had turned. Most of the surviving French army, however, was succesfully redeployed to Finland where it played a vital role in halting the Russian offensive. Some of it was also used to take over the various Russian Baltic islands... just in case. All-in-all, it wasn't as disastrous as it could've been, but it still was quite bad.
In the south, the Russians counterattacked in force. Ottomans held on to Armenia, but all their gains in Russian territory were reversed and Dagestan was overran with a multipronged offensive. This freed up Russian troops to finally finish off the French in Poti. Further north, Burkhard Christoph von Munnich had defeated the French in a hard-fought battle at Svetlovodsk on the Dnieper, and moved on to besiege Odessa. The French forces in Crimea moved out to secure a forward defensive position, to the southeast from the Dnieper. Stalemate came here once more.
Finally, in the west, even as German forces were moving back home followed by Russian expeditionary forces, things were going quite badly for von Dunkelheit as the French garrisons warded off attack after attack.Finally, with many casualties, the central German fought its way across the Rhine, secured Dusseldorf, Cologne and Coblence, and parts of Alsace, and... failed to advance far beyond that. The French weren't taken completely by surprise, in fact they did prepare for such an occasion and managed to bleed the German attackers white. The Russians weren't doing much better; though they did help the Germans advance somewhat in the north, they too had trouble dislodging the French defenders from anything important. In support of Sweden, the Russians had invaded Denmark from the German territory late in the year, but logistical problems prevented them from taking too much ground. The half-hearted attack on the Papal States was fought back as well, though a few mountain passes were secured.
This trully was going to be a very long war, as neither side seemed anywhere near victory...
NPC Diplo:
From: Incan Empire
To: Kingdom of Portugal
We are interested in purchasing your territories to the southwest from the Amazon River (OOC: basically the territories west of the American-controlled River Madeira).
From: Gallician Republic
To: Kingdom of France
We request your assistance against the wretched rebels, they just keep coming!
From: Xin Han China
To: Union of Russia
We officially recognize your protectorate over Sinkiang and Mongolia, and propose to you an alliance, for we have mutual enemies.
OOC:
I did tell you all quite clearly to read the rules, didn't I? I even said where the change was made. And I mentioned it previously a few times. Too bad for those who didn't notice...
Sorry about the delay, btw - power went out for a few hours, though thankfully I didn't get much done yet when it did. As a result it was somewhat rushed and substandard, IMHO.
Non-Military Events:
The Japanese-American Pan-Pacific Prosperity Pact has been signed, providing for free trade between Japan and the EUA, though it didn't have too much of an effect yet due to the distances involved and the comparative lack of interest from the entrepreuners on both sides.
Nouvelle Orleans gradually grows back as a trade center, but its positions in the Carribean are not at all secure as Merida is on the rise there as well (+Nouvelle Orleans, Merida economic centers).
Conscription, in various scales, is introduced all over the remaining Portuguese empire (+60 conscript divisions, -1 Economy).
Both France and Russia struggle with the economic problems of maintaining their respective huge-and-growing militaries (-1 Economy each). Germany's new mobilization of the strategic reserve (+50 divisions) results in similar problems (-1 Economy).
France officially annexes Spain and Portugal (putting the lands under military protection), letting Gallicia and Euskardi keep their gains as well. However, the new lands are unruly (-1 French, Gallician, Euskardi Culture)...
The Byzantine city of Dyrrhachium finally takes its rightful place as an Adriatic trade center (+Dyrrhachium economic center).
Russia-Lithuania-Romania undergoes a transformation, becoming the Russian Union with a single capital at Moscow. Lithuania and Romania become two of the twelve fairly autonomous guberniyas into which Russia has been divided (-1 Centralization). Though popular in Russia itself (+1 Confidence), this has greatly antagonized both the Romanians and the Lithuanians (-1 Culture), who feel themselves ever more cheated out of power and not even allowed to take Poland and East Hungary respectively (the status of these territories remains unclear despite all).
Several loud assassinations shake the Ottoman military buerocracy (-1 Military Leadership).
Pusan is reborn as a trade center (+Pusan trade center).
Macao is handed over by Japan (which occupied the city after defeating the Portuguese garrison last year) to IRC.
Military Events:
Through a combination of bribery, diplomacy and force, the Americans secured even more land in the northern North America, despite some growing problems of overstretchment there. Meanwhile, a steady stream of colonists has appeared...
Border incidents between the EUA and France intensified even further after some cunning Amerinds dressed up as Americans burned down a French settlement (this was only discovered late in the year after the French took some prisoners from the tribe responsible). Reprisals and counter-reprisals followed, and the regular forces from both sides also exchanged shots.
Meanwhile, in the east of French North America, especially around Charleville, Amerind ambushes and raids intensify, despite the efforts of the local militia (+1 French irregular division).
In Brazil, despite all resistance, the Americans managed to break out of Salvador (with the help of a large Franco-American expeditionary force), fleeing northwards as the city burned (-Salvador economic center). In the north they linked up with the battered 3rd Army, which had finally defeated the Portuguese city defenses (+2 Portuguese irregular divisions) and now was able to cover the American northwards retreat. Not particularily harried other than by the pro-Portuguese natives (+1 Portuguese irregular division), the Americans dug in in North Brazil, from Natal to the western border (badly overstretching themselves in the process), having gradually secured all the regions to the north and fought back a half-hearted Portuguese attack on the Amazon River.
(-8 American divisions, -1 American irregular division, -2 French Foreign Legion corps, -5 Portuguese divisions, -1 Portuguese conscript division, -2 Portuguese irregular divisions)
A French naval bombardment of Rio de Janeiro does not go quite as planned, not only because of the now-trademark overestimation of the range of the French ships, but also because the Portuguese have prepared exceptionally well, some even claim that traitors in the French military tipped them off, and even managed to sink some ships with their coastal battaries. The French inflicted much damage on the port and suppressed some battaries, but had to withdraw as they clearly wre unable to do much more good there.
(-2 French squadrons)
In the southern theatre of the war in South America, though bolstered by some Chilean and Platine volunteers (+3 American irregular divisions), the American army runs into a minor problem of having no reliable infantry whatsoever. Still, their mobility made up for that and Chile was finally recaptured. A Portuguese counter-offensive regained some ground in the Plata, and even retook San Salvador de Jujuy in the north. An attack towards Buenos Aires was beaten off, the Americans having overestimated native support and underestimated the sheer size of the Portuguese forces deployed in the region; the Americans had suffered large casualties and had to pull back.
(-7 American EUCC divisions, -2 American irregular divisions, -5 Portuguese divisions, -2 Portuguese conscript divisions)
In the newly-annexed territories of Spain and Portugal, Gallician, Euskardi and especially French forces suffer from guerrila warfare. Though in Portugal, things go comparatively well as it is not a very large country, in Spain the guerrilas have more places to hide in and have a greater hatred of France (and the other invaders). Gallicia is particularily threated by this as the Celts there have become even more of a minority, and only through mass employment of force all over their country was O'Higgins able to hold on to power. The Euskardi are much more fortunate, not having taken over any particular concentrations of Spainiards and having expelled many to the Gallician- and French-held territories during the war. The French themselves hold on, but are having a hard time chasing after the guerrilas, not having properly prepared for it.
(-2 French divisions, -3 Gallician divisions)
Europe is completely engulfed by war.
(see spotlight)
(+5 German divisions, +5 Finnish irregular divisions, +3 French irregular divisions, -1 German Confidence)
(-12 French divisions, -34 French Foreign Legion corps, -3 French irregular divisions, -25 French squadrons, -16 Danish divisions, -2 Danish squadrons, -16 Swedish divisions, -4 Swedish Republican Guard divisions, -4 Swedish squadrons, -7 Finnish divisions, -2 Finnish Jaeger corps, -2 Finnish irregular divisions, -31 German divisions, -9 German GotGC divisions, -4 Papal divisions, -1 Papal Zouave division, -28 Russian divisions, -6 Russian Cossack divisions, -42 Russian squadrons, -Armenia as an independent nation, -24 Ottoman divisions)
Segu and Kanem-Bornu expand.
(-1 Segu division, -1 Kanem-Bornu Imperial Camelry division)
An Abyssinian attempt to capture Ottoman-held Asmara failed utterly, the Ottomans having prepared for them all too well; instead of waging a lenghty guerrila war, the Abyssinian commander soon had to retreat anyway, as news arrived of a daring Sennarese highland trek with Gonder itself its goal. This was a well-planned move, as the Abyssinians were yet to fully recover from the loss of their emperor and their military staff was quite disorganized and confused. So the orders were confused as well, with disastrous consequences for the Abyssinians. Although with the help of local militias (+5 irregular divisions), the exhausted Sennarese were defeated at Gonder, the Turko-Sennarese forces recaptured Sennar itself and defeated a large Abyssinian army at the village of Jurayf to the east of Sennar. Despite the heavy Sennarese casualties at Gonder, the tide has evidently turned.
(-24 Sennarese divisions, -11 Sennarese Mounted Grenadier divisions, -18 Abyssinian divisions, -9 Abyssinian Imperial Guard of Shiba divisions, -1 Abyssinian irregular divisions, -8 Ottoman divisions)
Declaring that the Ottoman level of interference in the Sennarese-Abyssinian War is completely unacceptable, the Byzantines - despite some delays, they originally intended to declare the war at the year's beginning but some problems came up, as did a huge French fleet which the Byzantines did not see fit to provoke yet - caused the Ottomans to shift troops around in panic cancelling various plans already in place. The Byzantines took great care to distance this war from the Franco-Russian one. Anyway, while the Ottomans were shifting troops - something made more difficult by the occasional sabotage on the railroads - the Byzantines had already incited a general rebellion of Ioanian Greeks (+2 Byzantine irregular divisions). And while the rebellion was being put down, the Byzantines invaded in force. Covered by artillery fire, they crossed the straits and quickly set out towards Ankara. Meanwhile, another army landed on the southern Anatolia coast - one corps in southern Ionia to support the rebels, another - in Cilicia. Izmir, Ankara, Antalya and several other key cities were taken after some fierce, but predetermined (after all, the Byzantines had the advantage of surprise and numbers alike) fighting, and the Ottoman forces from the Caucasian theatre came too late. They were utterly routed at the strategic railroad stop of Kirikkale before they could even deploy properly. The Byzantines set up some defenses on the forward slopes of the Taurus Mountains, resting even though it meant giving the Ottomans some time to recover (and even launch a few abortive counteroffensives) as well. And in the meantime, other Byzantine soldiers were resting, further to the southeast, after a completely unexpected attack on the ungarrisoned Ottoman Levant. Having not encountered any resistance whatsoever, the Byzantines came to control Jerusalem itself (+1 Byzantine Confidence, -1 Ottoman Confidence, Civilian Leadership, 1 Ottoman Economy to Byzantine Empire)...
(-9 Byzantine divisions, -3 Byzantine Varangian Guard divisions, -1 Byzantine irregular division, -17 Ottoman divisions, -1 Ottoman UU)
Portuguese colonial empire in the Indian Ocean came under a massive assault this year. Many enemies new and old gladly took part in dividing the "Portuguese cowcake", but France, as usual, stole the spotlight both of this update generally and of the war in the Indian Ocean specifically, having assembled a special task force for the aforementioned Ocean. Going through the Mediterranean, the Suez Canal and the Red Sea, the French saluted the Ottoman fleet that, in coordination with the land forces, was finishing off the Portuguese in Africa, of whom little remained by this moment. Later on, the Ottomans even took unguarded Soccotra. Meanwhile, the French moved into India, eliminating what few warships they could find and shelling the cities (-Diu economic center). This naval raid greatly encouraged the Mughals, who now jumped into the fray and gradually - there was no competition whatsoever, and the initial first assaults, though frequently succesful, were also way too expensive in the terms of manpower - captured Bandar-e 'Abbas, Diu, and the Portuguese Indian west coast cities, unintimidated by the local defenses and having quickly defeated all the conscripts who dared step outside of the aforementioned cities. They were also assisted in taking over the countryside by local rebels (+3 Mughal irregular divisions). Meanwhile, the French task force moved on to secure the Maldives and Seychelles, and some lesser islands, whilst en route for Zanzibar. There the task force once more met the Ottomans and assisted them in taking Mombassa and Dar es Salaam. Themselves the French shelled Zanzibar (-Zanzibar economic center) and then assaulted it, eventually capturing the city despite surprisingly heavy resistance. And finally, the French sailed east, along the way shelling the port cities of Ceylon and Portuguese Sumatra. There they ran into a serious challenge - Francisco de Sousa, who had conscripted an impressive army and prepared powerful defenses, powerful enough, in fact, to defeat the rather overconfident and rash French assault on Kuala Lumpur. Hell-bent on making things as difficult as possible for the advancing Franco-Japanese forces, de Sousa harrased the enemy forces going from Singapore, advance northwards into Siam to seize border territories (into which he later retreated), dragged his enemies into an attrition-filled siege of Kuala Lumpur, launched a nearly-succesful counter-attack towards Singapore... But finally, Kuala Lumpur fell, while de Sousa had to fall back, outmaneuvered with help of the enemy fleet. Having lost much of his army in the "final" battle at Alur Setar, he fled north with his surviving comrades and then suddenly disappeared. It is supposed that he, being an old man, fell ill and died, while his men became bandits, but the conspiracy theories are much more interesting than that ofcourse. Oh, and a Franco-Japanese fleet defeated a Portuguese one at Riau, but it wasn't particularily large. The main Portuguese naval forces are still hiding somewhere...
(-10 Portuguese division, -20 Portuguese conscript divisions, -17 Portuguese squadrons, -9 French divisions, -5 French squadrons, -5 Ottoman divisions, -2 Ottoman squadrons, -7 Mughal divisions, -6 Mughal Imperial Guard divisions, -1 Mughal irregular division, -3 Japanese Ikkitousennonimusha divisions, -1 Japanese squadron)
The first major battle between the Japanese and Russian forces in the Franco-Russian War took place just outside of Ninguta, at sea; the fleets were roughly equal, but the Russian one was better, plus a few lucky shots allowed the Russians to claim victory as the Japanese pulled back southwards. But it was a bittersweet victory, for the overstretched Russian forces were forced out of Ninguta anyway, greatly endangering the Tsar's plan for the war in the Far East. The city switched possession several times this year; in the end, the Japanese lost it, but not before destroying the port (-Ninguta economic center). By then, the Japanese already conceded the region immediately to the north of Amur to Russia, but not before destroying all the infrastructure in it - this, too, delayed the Russian plans. But finally, everything was in position, and the Russians attacked in southern Manchuria. They underestimated the Japanese, though - both their military skill and their numbers, and only managed to make some minor gains. The various Japanese experimental defenses also proved a nuisance. Russia also saw awful logistical problems - the attrition brought down at least as many people as the Japanese did.
(-10 Russian divisions, -3 Russian Cossack divisions, -8 Russian squadrons, -6 Japanese divisions, -5 Japanese Ikkitousennonimusha divisions, -9 Japanese squadrons)
In China, war went on rather bleakly for the first few months as both sides traded offensives. The Imperial Republican forces managed to trap and crush a Xin Han army at Zunyi, while in the east a strong new Xin Han offensive won them Wenzhou and allowed them to briefly besiege Fuzhou; they had to abandon that siege, however, due to a Imperial Republican offensive in the middle of the front. Eventually the Imperial Republicans were forced back with many casualties, though retaining order as they retreated. And yet neither side wanted a compromise, and both prepared for a new clash. So the Xin Han troops retook Zunyi by outflanking the Imperial Republicans and defeating a Japanese relief force, and, despite all the potential and actual casualties, started a multi-pronged offensive towards Guangzhou itself. It didn't take Guangzhou, the Xin Han have outran their own supply routes and themselves were exhausted by then time they came near it (and accordingly were pushed back), but they did take Liuzhou and some lesser towns. The militias there were simply overran. A new eastern offensive once more put Fuzhou under siege, though it was supplied over the sea; Gaoshan was also taken, cutting Fuzhou off from the main Imperial Republican territories. Like a spring, the Imperial Republican forces recoiled and retreated, to launch a new offensive, which might as well become decisive as, if the rumours are at least partially right, the Hanhua Emperor intends to launch a final decisive offensive soon, having gathered practically all of his forces, reinforced by new recruits and conscripts, in the southern theatre.
(-8 Imperial Republican divisions, -4 Imperial Republican irregular divisions, -3 Japanese divisions, -17 Xin Han divisions, -2 Xin Han Ma Bing divisions, -3 Xin Han irregular divisions)
Random Events:
The Danish government gets overwhelming popular support for the war with Sweden (+1 Confidence).
The Ministry of Sicherheit continues to crack down on the resistance to von Dunkelheit, rooting out practically all of it (+1 Confidence).
An outburst of Portuguese patriotism in Brazil (and some other colonies) takes place (+1 Culture), as volunteers fill up the army ranks (+10 divisions).
The Abyssinians rally to avenge their dead emperor (+5 divisions).
In the wake of the War of Portuguese Partition, Julien-Francois' popularity rises sky-high (+1 Confidence).
Chancellor Bestuzhev's power-base in Russia is consolidated by a vote of confidence (+1 Confidence).
Storms damage the American irregular fleet (-5 irregular squadrons).
The war damages Portuguese communications badly (-1 Infrastructure).
Buerocratic mishaps slow down the Japanese economical revival program (-1 project progress).
Continued neglection (and sabotage) damage the Ottoman infranstructure (-1 Infrastructure).
The Papal fleet continues to decay in peace (-1 Naval Training). Separatism grows in the far northern and southern parts of the country (-1 Culture).
Bad weather - and, as some claim, Slavic separatists - take their toll from the Byzantine roads (-1 Infrastructure).
Dissent once more rises in Russia due to the large army and the related maintenance problems (-1 Confidence).
Spotlight:
Europe Once More At War.
"A great strategician would exploit all the rules to the utmost. A genial strategician would simply ignore them."
- Anonymous. Early 19th century.
By invading Spain and Portugal, Francois-Julien I did not inadvertly start a process that lead to the complete elimination of all peace whatsoever in Europe. Instead, he quite intentionally eliminated potentially-hostile presence in the west of his realm, and now brought the war eastwards very advertly. With great pomp he declared war on the newly-reformed Russian Union, citing "oppression of the peoples of East Europe" and "threat to the Western Civilization", as well as the rather unarguable accusation of military preparations. As France hadn't any border with Russia, it didn't immediately get to it. While the French troops sailed for the Russian positions, other momentous events took place. First, amongst the cheering and volunteering, the German government joined the French war declaration. German forces soon crossed the Russian border... Denmark-Norway, after an initial pledge of neutrality, soon declared war upon Sweden, a Russian ally; the Ottoman Empire soon attacked Russia and Armenia as well; and also, faraway Japan honoured its alliance with France, though not yet engaging the Russians. Eventually they did, but, strangely enough, not in Europe, so don't look for the Russo-Japanese battles within this spotlight. It has plenty of exciting stuff as it is and doesn't need no bloody Russo-Japanese battles.
While the Germans attacked the Russian center and the Japanese - their rear, the French themselves chose to strike at the flanks. The northern, Baltic flank of Russia was exposed by the aptly-named French Baltic Fleet, which was returning from its past (unapt) Atlantic operations via Copenhagen, where it has landed a small horde of French Foreign legionnaires, many of whom were veterans of the past war with Sweden. France officially granted support to Denmark-Norway as it moved in for the kill. However, things immediately (from the very declaration of war) went wrong as the Swedish intellegence had apparently learned of the Danish plan to sneak-attack Stockholm. They did not interfere with the Danes until they left their "merchant" ships in the dock, and then had them rounded up with far superior forces of the newly-formed Republican Guard. That and some succesful naval skirmishes was all the victories Sweden got in this war thus far, though - the attacks on both Norway and Skane failed, and the French Foreign Legion soon besieged Stockholm, defeating all attempts to relieve it. A two-pronged Danish attack in southwestern Sweden resulted in a Swedish rout and the loss of Goteborg. The Swedish forces did manage to regroup to the east and to hold their positions there, but that is simply because the Danish weren't properly ready for a long war and had outran their supply lines. As for Stockholm, the French didn't yet dare attack its numerically-equal (if not superior - reports are sketchy thus far) garrison, so the situation remains uncertain.
By then the French fleet had already engaged and defeated its Russian counterpart at Naissaar in the Gulf of Finland, but, instead of pursuing its battered remains or of assisting the Finns (whom the Russians have attacked, gradually overwhelming the underestimated (but still not worthy of overestimation) defenders, taking Viipuri and moving on to besiege Helsinki, hindered by the uncomfortable terrain and the guerrila war), attacked Riga. The small garrison was defeated quite easily, and now French Foreign legionnaires were amock in the former Lithuania, supported by Lithuanian separatists who immediately rose up in the support of the French and formed three volunteer divisions...
On the southern flank, things went worse, much worse for the French from the very start. In Constantinople, the Byzantine government formally pledged neutrality and at the same time allowed both the Russians and the French to clash in an epic naval battle at Bosporus. While they did so, the huge nearby Byzantine fleet, to the frustration of both interested sides, sat around doing nothing, the officers and the sailors alike looking at the battle from afar, making bets and cheering for both sides. Many Constantinoplians came to watch as well, and an enterprising binoculars salesman made a hefty profit that day.
As for the fleets, well, the French was bigger and better, but it was bottled down in the Bosporus Strait, while the Russians were outside of it and were free to fire at the French as they pleased, causing large casualties before the French even made up their mind as to what should be done. Finally, Admiral Jean-Pierre Weygand made an infamous, oft-criticized decision - to attack the bloody Russian barbarians in full force, to make them run away! Eventually, run away the remnants of the Russian fleet did, but not before nearly a half of the whole French force - both ships and the legionnaires onboard - sunk under their bombardment. On the other hand, the rest were now free to strike. After an unsuccesful serach for a "port of Balaklava", the French simply attacked and captured Sevastopol, THEN found the inland town of Balaklava. All of Crimea was soon overran, and a separate landing at Odessa, despite heavy Russian resistance, succeeded. Encouraged by their success, the French pressed on further north until making contact with a large Russian force. Neither side won the following few skirmishes, and a stalemate ensued.
Meanwhile the Ottomans ran into a major problem in their Caucasian campaign; more literally, they ran into a large (numerically-superior), well-prepared Russo-Armenian force. Though the Ottomans did make some gains against the Armenians at first, soon enough they bogged down and were beginning to give ground to local-scale Russian counterattacks. The French, taking note of this, landed at Poti and at Amakria, causing some confusion as Russian forces were sent to deal with these incursions. Though they did manage to limit them, and eventually forced the French to retreat, the Ottomans during this time retook lost ground and, in a concentrated offensive, finally overran Armenia. But they failed to exploit this victory properly, for at this point the Byzantine troops had crossed the straits and...
But despite the occasional problems, France still was advancing. The Russian fleet was practically decimated, and their army was in a desperate situation as the Germans pressed on and on and on... until they reached the French positions. Three weeks before that great historic moment, there was bitter debate in von Dunkelheit's circle, as things were not going as planned, not at all. Should they go on with the plan? After all, it was quite risky in the first place, and now its even riskier... On the other hand, though, it made things easier. As the French lied and did not send forces to help the Germans, clearly it was THEY who were planning betrayal. Good enough a casus belli. Finally, with a heavy heart, Friedrich von Dunkelheit agreed, and so three weeks later in the Battle at Vilnius the French, after warding off a Russian attack, were surprised by a German one and routed. The German soldiers themselves were quite surprised, but orders were orders, and besides now it at least was a real war, unlike at first when the Russians just retreated and retreated and the Germans just advanced and advanced without a shot being fired.
Nobody was surprised when the news reached Berlin, for by then war was already declared. The casus belli helped save face, though the Ministry of Sicherheit had to deal with several riots here and there. It was too late to turn back now, now that the mobilization had taken place, and now that the first battle took place.
In Paris, well... it stunned practically everyone apart from the Minister of War, who allegedly informed Julien-Francois that he "told him so".
Back in Lithuania, the Russo-German forces, despite continued unease between them (especially the German volunteers that were in many cases caught trying to desert and/or provoking the Russians), rapidly moved to finish off the French and their Lithuanian allies who, by the way, quite quickly deserted or went into the underground now that the tide had turned. Most of the surviving French army, however, was succesfully redeployed to Finland where it played a vital role in halting the Russian offensive. Some of it was also used to take over the various Russian Baltic islands... just in case. All-in-all, it wasn't as disastrous as it could've been, but it still was quite bad.
In the south, the Russians counterattacked in force. Ottomans held on to Armenia, but all their gains in Russian territory were reversed and Dagestan was overran with a multipronged offensive. This freed up Russian troops to finally finish off the French in Poti. Further north, Burkhard Christoph von Munnich had defeated the French in a hard-fought battle at Svetlovodsk on the Dnieper, and moved on to besiege Odessa. The French forces in Crimea moved out to secure a forward defensive position, to the southeast from the Dnieper. Stalemate came here once more.
Finally, in the west, even as German forces were moving back home followed by Russian expeditionary forces, things were going quite badly for von Dunkelheit as the French garrisons warded off attack after attack.Finally, with many casualties, the central German fought its way across the Rhine, secured Dusseldorf, Cologne and Coblence, and parts of Alsace, and... failed to advance far beyond that. The French weren't taken completely by surprise, in fact they did prepare for such an occasion and managed to bleed the German attackers white. The Russians weren't doing much better; though they did help the Germans advance somewhat in the north, they too had trouble dislodging the French defenders from anything important. In support of Sweden, the Russians had invaded Denmark from the German territory late in the year, but logistical problems prevented them from taking too much ground. The half-hearted attack on the Papal States was fought back as well, though a few mountain passes were secured.
This trully was going to be a very long war, as neither side seemed anywhere near victory...
NPC Diplo:
From: Incan Empire
To: Kingdom of Portugal
We are interested in purchasing your territories to the southwest from the Amazon River (OOC: basically the territories west of the American-controlled River Madeira).
From: Gallician Republic
To: Kingdom of France
We request your assistance against the wretched rebels, they just keep coming!
From: Xin Han China
To: Union of Russia
We officially recognize your protectorate over Sinkiang and Mongolia, and propose to you an alliance, for we have mutual enemies.
OOC:
I did tell you all quite clearly to read the rules, didn't I? I even said where the change was made. And I mentioned it previously a few times. Too bad for those who didn't notice...
Sorry about the delay, btw - power went out for a few hours, though thankfully I didn't get much done yet when it did. As a result it was somewhat rushed and substandard, IMHO.
