The Australian Empire

[tupaclives]

Sorry thats all I could get done in the short time I'm at home for before I head back to the coast, I'v tried to get the photoshop to work n its a slow n difficult process... in future updates...

Think Real: Historically what happens when two rival nations want control of a city?
Think Real: Historically what happened to the infantry defenders in WW1 when tanks entered the battlefield?
Think Game Real: What happens to a latter-Industrial Age nation at war when they have no rubber?
Think Game Real: Whats the most annoying thing that can happen when your poised for the final, epic, assault on your rival superpower?

All that and more will be answered next time, when I return, on

THE AUSTRALIAN EMPIRE

 

[Blaze Injun]

Hey,

Now that was worth the wait.


Blaze Injun

 

[stocktracker]

Yes, I love how you play this game, almost always at war.

 

[Takeo]

I like how you show the last few moments of each leaders life, as their empire crashes down around them. Keep it up.

 

[fe3333au]

Fun read and well done :godjob:

 

[tupaclives]

Hey all, thanks for the kind comments. Thats the sort of thing you want to hear when writing a story. There's a big update to come but I can't post it till next monday as I don't have access to the pictures at the moment. My apologies for the delay, but this update will be worth waiting for!

 

[tupaclives]

Part 5 - Megalomania
There is no good and evil… there is only power and those too weak to seek it

Circa 1355AD

The terrific 1200’s had been a golden age of Australian domestic growth and development but that growth had slowed and was all but over however. During this time Australia had strengthened its bonds with the Indian people and the two nations regularly exchanged technology, and when the Indians had been unable to develop new ideas themselves, the Australian’s had generously sold them valuable pieces of technology. One of the great technologies Australia made available to the Indians was the secrets of making steel alloy. The metal, which was many times harder than any previously discovered was used frequently in the construction of bridges and the skyscrapers which were now dotting so many cities in both Australia and India.

But as Australia’s growth slowed their international ambitions grew. One of the new organizations which was formed during this time was ASIO (Australian Security and Intelligence Organization), based in Melbourne.

They had numerous successes pursuing domestic matters, but Curtin, growing increasingly wary of other nations ordered that ASIO expand its operations into international affairs. Unbeknownst to the rest of the world agents were successfully implanted into high-ranking government organizations throughout the rest of the world.

ASIO became Curtin’s favourite pet and with it he learned many things about foreign nations, their domestic income and spending, their foreign debt, and perhaps most importantly, their military numbers and divisions.

However Australia’s ambition lead to great strife. Ever since the fateful battle of Tenotchitlan when France had seized the heart of the Aztec empire from under the nose of Australia, there had been tension between the two nations. France had left a massive Army Corps in the southlands and Australia had continually eyed Tenotchitlan enviously. Perhaps war was inevitable given the circumstances but in the end it was France who made the first moves of aggression. ASIO was Australia’s ace-in-the-hole, its agents were undetectable, unstoppable and perfect. Or so Australia thought. Australia made the mistake of underestimating the weakness of humanity. In particular the weakness mankind has for certain fermented beverages. Who would have thought that such a thing could bring the death of hundreds of thousands and the ruin of a five thousand year old civilisation?

 

[tupaclives]

Circa 1355AD – le Plotholefiller (a high profile French Nightclub), Paris

Douglas le Blanc was a man with a masters degrees in theatre, world languages, world history and engineering from the University of Canberra. He was also a graduate of the ASIO Espionage College in Melbourne. He was a productive citizen of France, he worked hard for the Paris city council, he paid his taxes on time and he helped his elderly neighbours take out their garbage. He also, unfortunately had a weakness for alcohol. This particular night he had headed off to le Plotholefiller looking for a few drinks and maybe some pleasurable company. He’d achieved his first goal although his second had fallen flat. He ha hardly endeared himself to the female patrons by vomiting copiously all over his best suit. He sat hunchbacked at the bar, his formal attire increasingly whiffy.
‘Bar… bartender… barshlender… shotever… Vodka!’ he managed to burble. The bartender thought this man was in no fit state to have anything else to drink and said so in no uncertain terms.
‘You… you can’t take to me like that sshmelly!’ burped le Blanc. ‘Do… do you know who I am? I’m… I’m… well I forget but I’m the mosht important pershon in this eshtablishment punk!’
‘Yeah right drunky, get the hell out of here before I have you thrown out!’
‘Oh yeah..’ said le Blanc rising off his stool and doing his best to look menacing. ‘You can’t toucsh me cosh im aushtrahian… I’m from ae-shio!’ he bellowed.
The club went deathly quite. Everyone stared at him.
‘Yer… thash what I thought… punksh!’
It was only minutes before le Blanc found himself in a crumpled heap on the floor, yelling unprintable proffanities in front of President Joan d’Arc.
‘Can you explain to me captain why this ugly, smelly, foulmouthed… man… is lying on my nice clean floor?’ asked Joan d’Arc with a sort of cold fury.
‘Your ladyship… he says he’s from ASIO. It could just be the ramblings of a drunk me’lady but I don’t know if we should take that risk,’ answered the captain of the guard.
Joan glared at le Blanc.
‘Where are you from?’ she demanded.
‘I aint tellin’ you nushin!’ mumbled le Blanc.
‘Guards take him to a cell. When he is sober interrogate him fully. If he is from ASIO then Australia will pay… oh yes there will be a reckoning for this!’

Circa 1355AD - Canberra

‘If it is a war she wants Field Marshall then it is war she shall get,’ said Curtin cooly.
‘Begin by deploying forces to the southlands. Seize ALL holdings there. Make Tenotchitlan a priority. I will vastly increase military spending to support you Peter. I want the Southlands under Australian control soon.’
‘Of course Prime Minister,’ answered Field Marshall Peter Cosgrove. As he left the war room he began thinking how he could possibly crack open a French defence whose lynchpin was well dug-in infantry. His solution was to hit them in their trenches with bombs and shells to break their moral and weaken their resolve before being overwhelmed by Australian troops. However his plan, although correct in principle would receive a baptism of fire, attempting to crack open the defences of Tenotchitlan where there were over forty divisions of French General Infantry and Musketeers. These forces, heavily entrenched and bitterly determined, were the toughest opponents Australia had ever encountered. However the investments in the military authorized by John Curtin had been wisely spent with close to a hundred divisions of artillery. Spread across the entire war zone in the southlands their numbers were still sufficient to be able to break up the tightly packed French defences and Australian Cavalry companies were able to overwhelm the weakened defences. The Southlands War was the first field test of Australia’s military academy. Half a dozen field generals had graduated already from the academy and their Cavalry Armies proved to be more successful in a short space of time even than the legendary Generals Bradman, and Barton.

The Southlands war lasted less than five years and resulted in the French being completely driven out. Australia troops saw more battlefields than during the entire Aztec and Egyptian wars combined. However the major battles were at:

The former Aztec city of Malinalco. The French defences were thinnest here and were attacked first. The capture of Malinalco although not a great military victory was significant as it cut the communication lines with mainland France and the Southlands. It also gave French morale a beating.

Matsuyama was where the main body of France's offensive armies were located. The battle of Matsuyam pitted charging cavalry and artillery against defending cavalry. The result of the battle was never in question and victory here ended any chance of a succesful French counterattack.

Cherbourg was always a French holiday city and this was reflected in its skeletal garrison. Cut off from mainland France and with the rest of the French army crumbling this city surrendered meekly to the advancing Australian armies.

Poitiers was of no strategic value to Australia and its capture was an afterthought. Peter Cosgrove was merely carrying out Curtin's orders

Seize all holdings

and of course Tenotchitlan

The battle of Tenotchitlan was orchestrated by General Ponsford, the grandson of Captain Ponsford who had fallen short at the final hurdle in Australia’s original campaign for the city. This time Ponsford had lead dozens of companies of Cavalry into battle and the French defenders had fought bravely but futilely. The battle had lasted a day and a night as wave after wave of Cavalry was repelled but it was inevitable that the defences could not hold and in the end the walls were breached and the city had a third ruler in a little over a century.

Circa 1360 AD – Tenotchitlan

General Ponsford walked down the streets of Tenotchitlan. It was more than a century since his grandfather had failed by a day to take the city before the French, well now he had restored his grandfather’s name by being the one who seized the city. Ponsford was amazed by the city. It’s gorgeous walkways, its ancient cultural buildings… that was not to mention the great wonders which dotted the city. The Pyramids filled the sky, rising hundreds of feet into the air, the Hanging Gardens near the former site of Montezuma’s palace was one of the most beautiful features of the city. Impressive beyond words it had become far and away Ponsford’s favourite place in the city. However Ponsford could not help his feeling that the cease fire, signed after France was driven out of the Southlands, would end shortly. As is so often the case with intuition, Ponsford was absolutely right.

 

[tupaclives]

Circa 1357 AD – Berlin

Agent 713 of ASIO had been living in Germany for two months. Agent 713, operating under the pseudonym ‘Michel Schneider’ was a very charismatic man. Tall, tanned and handsome, who exuded and aura of confidence, he was very athletic and intelligent and possessed great finesse. Perhaps his only weakness was a touch of arrogance, and even that he was able to keep under control when he needed to. His official purpose in Berlin was to keep tabs on the German military but he had already succeeded in working his way into a position of rank within the German Republic’s ruling party. As such ASIO had big plans for him, including perhaps gaining control a measure of control in the way Germany was run. At the current time ASIO believed that Chancellor Bismarck, the present ruler of Germany, had posted a covert agent in Australia. ‘Michel’s’ current assignment was to find out if there was, and if possible expose him. Michel had been making enquiries about Germany’s espionage with some of the officials in the ruling party but he had consistently met stony silence. His modus operandi had been to quiz his superiors when possible but the continuous failure of this method had lead him to contemplate a new approach.

One night he returned to party headquarters long after everyone else had gone home. He told the security officials at the door that he had left some important papers in his office and had come to retrieve them and the guards made no attempt to stop him, why should they? This was Michel Schneider Bismarck’s favourite, the biggest mover and shaker the party had seen since Bismarck himself! Michel went into his office and began rummaging through the filing cabinet, he did not expect to find anything but he needed the guards to think he was in his office. When the guards were getting a drink from a seller on the street Michel snuck through to Bismarck’s office, he didn’t have a key but something like that would never worry an ASIO Agent. Inside the office he began to search through all Bismarck’s files on foreign affairs. He was nearing the end when he saw a shadow pass in front of the door. He froze. The door opened and who should walk in but Bismarck himself. If he hadn’t been in mortal danger ‘Michel’ probably would have found the scene amusing: a great prospect for the party crouching on the floor of the party heads office sifting through files at three in the morning.
Bismarck looked stunned. He opened his mouth to speak and ‘Michel’ leapt to his feet and was out the door and out of the building quickly. He quickly made his way to the outskirts of Berlin and radioed ASIO.

‘Agent 713 calling ASIO, are you on channel Rick or James? Over,’ said ‘Michel’ into the speaker.
‘ASIO calling Agent 713 we are on channel over,’ burbled the receiver.
‘Operation Sting is compromised, my cover is blown requesting immediate evacuation. Over.’
‘Roger Agent 713, evacuation will be deployed in the next 48 hours. Be at the designated evac point at 0600 hours in four days time. If you are not there then ASIO will disavow any knowledge of your existence. Over’
‘Roger that ASIO, over and out.’

Unfortunately for ‘Michel’ the radio signal was picked up by German receivers, and Bismarck was not happy.

Agent 713 was evacuated as planned but after a fierce debate in the German senate Bismarck made this fateful decision.

Fateful for Germany, not Australia, that is…

 

[tupaclives]

Circa 1359AD – Off the coast of Frankfurt, North Germany

General Ashgrove and his Cavalry Companies were some of the finest in Australia. They had been handpicked by John Curtin for this mission. The target; Frankfurt, the goal; control of North Germany, and their ship HMAS Byron was a beautiful galleon. Accompanying Ashgrove and his men in the fleet were the HMAS Ipswich, Biloela and Yeppoon. On board those ships were a dozen divisions of Infantry and four divisions of Artillery. They were hovering off the coast of Germany waiting for permission to begin the attack on Frankfurt. At 0200 hours on the 22nd of July 1359AD Australian High Command gave the order to commence the assault. Ashgrove and his men swept over the unprepared Germans with ease and the centre of northern Germany was in Australian hands.

However High Command’s orders were not just to capture the city. With it occupied one company of Infantry was ordered to garrison the city while Ashgrove and the rest of the 9th Australian Army Corps was to push on and capture Germany. They had a very short deadline with Curtin wanting the island nation within the next few years.

Ashgrove had earned a reputation as a ferocious task master who was prepared to fight large scale battles with skeletal forces. Perhaps that was on Curtin’s mind when he chose Ashgrove, perhaps not, it didn’t matter, the point was that there was no one in Australia better suited to the task at hand then the General who Curtin had personally requested handle the campaign.

Ashgrove divided his forces ordering the Artillery divisions and 8 Infantry divisions head west to Hamburg while he lead his personal army south to Heidelberg and Berlin.

The battles for Hamburg and Heidelberg were non-events. The German army was hopelessly outclassed. Still using weapons and tactics Australia had abandoned as inadequate centuries ago the twin cities fell without much fanfare or difficulty.

Infantry divisions were left in each city as garrison while the combined forces moved toward Berlin.
The artillery opened fire on Berlin on the morning of November the 17th 1361 and reduced the city to rubble. However each shell that was fired merely added to the defencive cover available to the city’s defenders. When Infantry charged the city German Muskets barricaded behind fallen masonry drove back the first wave and a great cheer went up. However the second wave broke through the first line. The second line however held firmly against the Australian forces for days and sold their lives dearly. The battle for Berlin lasted six days and five nights and cost the lives of thousands on both sides. When the city was captured the Australian forces were left surveying not a city but a field of death. They had been made to fight tooth and nail, to bleed themselves dry for every square foot they took. But in the end it had been enough.

The city was in Australian hands and General Ashgrove began plotting how best to take advantage of Germany’s beaten and battered army. Planning was somewhat superfluous however. Germany’s army had been reduced to a few divisions of longbows and muskets, nowhere near enough to deal with the Australian forces. The rest of Germany fell quickly save for the city of Konigsberg.

There are no records of what happened to Munich. John Curtin was never told. All historians can agree on is that it was there at one point but that by the time of the battle of Konigsberg the city had simply ceased to exist. Only one person knew what happened to the city, General Ashgrove, and he delighted in not talking about right up until the point of his death decades later.

Circa 1367AD – Diary of Josep Lehmann recovered from Konigsberg by men of the Australian 38th Infantry Division

January 16th
This is likely to be my last entry
Bismarck is bitterly, bitterly depressed. He has seen his people, who have risen from the dirt on a backward isle thousands of miles from true civilization, prosper from contact with the rest of the world but now he sees his people dying in droves of disease and famine just as much as from the rifles of the Australians. The last city of Germany, will not fall easily. That is what Bismarck has decided. He has called to the city every man capable of using a weapon and had armed his people with whatever they could. Be it bow, sword, dagger, musket or whatever else these people were no army. We were a rabble with no discipline or training, but each one of us was determined that if he should die then he will make his life worth something. Berlin is a lesson for us, that courage can hurt the Australians even with all their advanced weapons.
It can’t be hopeless. Two weeks ago as we sat around the campfire one of my comrades uttered those words. If he was looking for reassurance or sympathy he got neither for no one else spoke. I don’t know, one part of me can’t believe that but another part of my thinks he is right. How could we go on, fighting day after day with no end or chance of victory in sight if we genuinly believed that we can’t win. It can’t be hopeless. Tomorrow I go into battle and I will make Australia suffer. For every one of my comrades who dies I will kill a dozen Australians in retribution. For my life I will take a hundred of them with me. Bismarck will be proud of me.
It can’t be hopeless.

Meanwhile outside the city the Australian’s readied their artillery, cleaned and loaded their rifles and later that day they attacked the city and left no man who bore arms alive…
It can’t be hopeless?

The fate of Bismarck is to this day unknown. Speculative historians have suggested he died in the battle of Berlin years earlier and that he was already dead at the battle of Konigsberg. Others have suggested he was killed by artillery fire prior to the Australian charge, while some have even speculated he may have escaped the carnage and resumed life elsewhere. All that is known is that every body recovered from the battle was identified, and Bismarck’s body was never found.

Players Notes; some of you may have noticed that the last German city is a modern city and that they had 2400 gold… this is because I made peace with them, gifted them up to the modern age and then bought their free tech (rocketry) for 2400 gold, then redeclared and captured the city and took my money back… unfortunately I couldn’t figure out how that could be written into the story…

 

[stocktracker]

this is because I made peace with them, gifted them up to the modern age and then bought their free tech (rocketry) for 2400 gold, then redeclared and captured the city and took my money back…

That will hurt your reputation, but at this point, who cares! You could take on all of the civilizations combined!

 

[tupaclives]

That will hurt your reputation, but at this point, who cares! You could take on all of the civilizations combined!

I know that but I'm well past the point where something like that mattered to me. I already lost my rep right at the start when i redeclared on england before the peace was up.

 

[Mirc]

Great update, tupaclives!
Could you post a world map?

 

[tupaclives]

Circa 1362AD - Zululand

ASIO had suffered some major blows to its credibility in Australia in recent years. ASIO agents were originally portrayed as being the absolute pinnacle of perfection, however detection of highly rated agents in Paris and Berlin meant that the public at large no longer believed that ASIO could effectively protect national interests. Further doubts were cast on the quality of the agents when a third agent was detected, this time in the politically volatile arena of Zululand.

Agent 209 was of Aboriginal decent. He was a fantastic natural athlete and was very strong. When he was younger he had been an Australian champion boxer and retained the aggression and determination even if not the speed. He was lucky in that he had not suffered any intellectual impairment as a result of the sport. After his career had finished he had been asked to join ASIO. He graduated at the top of his class in most of the physical areas and his improvement academically was so impressive that by the end he was well and truly on top of his class in some of the more difficult aspects of the academy such as world languages, engineering and calculus. His first posting had been a very successful stint in Salamanca but Agent 316 had replaced him after four years. Presently he was posted to the province of Zimbabwe in Zululand. Currently operating under the alias of Shako he had worked hard and was a junior minister for military affairs in the Zulu democracy. As such his position had meant that he had been able to acquire for ASIO a full list of Zulu troop numbers and equipment. ASIO radioed him in the early hours on the 3rd of April, 1362 and said that his new assignment was to find out the location of all military forces in Zululand. He was fully aware of the cases of Agent 713 in Berlin and was determined that a similar fate would not await him, he would not fail. However his investigations were not in the least successful. He needed to gain access to some of the confidential papers and without authority from his senior minister he would not be able to do so.
Shako spent considerable time trying to gain permission from his senior minister but was repeatedly met with flat out refusal. After weeks of trying he radioed ASIO…

‘Agent 209 calling ASIO, are you on channel Rick or James? Over.’
‘ASIO calling Agent 209 we are on channel over.’
‘Operation Zulu is at an impasse, I have been unable to get even close to getting the required infomation. Over.’
‘Roger Agent 209, I will pass the message over to High Command, I don’t think they’ll be very pleased though. Are you sure you can’t get anything? Over.’
‘Affirmative ASIO, Requesting to be extracted at the nearest suitable opportunity.’
‘Roger that Agent 209, will pass your message on. Over and out.’

Shako hadn’t noticed his rival junior minister Xhosa enter the room midway through his radio transmission.

‘So Shako, I suppose we are not all as we first seem,’ said Xhosa cooly.
Shako spun around and a surprised look settled on his face.
‘Xhosa…’ he began. ‘I… uh… this isn’t what it looks like.’
‘Looks like? What do YOU think it looks like Shako? I’ll tell you what it looks like to me. To me it looks like you’re a rat, a traitor. Looks like you’re going to die for this as well.’ Xhosa had a nasty smile on his face. ‘And such a shame it will be too. Shako, Junior minister for defence, caught red handed in the act of treason. I’m going to enjoy watching you die Shako. I never really liked or trusted you.’
‘You… you can’t prove anything Xhosa. Its your word against mine, and they will believe me before you,’ offered Shako.
‘Oh I doubt that Shako, you see you’ve been acting very suspiciously lately, snooping around the ministers offices. Asking all those impertinent questions, do you really think our bosses won’t click to it?’
‘Why do you call them our bosses Xhosa? My bosses are ASIO, and I don’t think you’ve ever worked for anybody but yourself…’
‘It doesn’t matter either way Shako because the result is still the same. GUARDS!’

Shako swung a punch and knocked Xhosa flat on the ground. It felt good, it had been a long time since Shako had got the chance to use any of his old moves. The two Impi guards that entered look startled and Shako pushed past them and raced outside. He reached the street and looked around wildly. He took a wild guess and raced down the left lane. But he was too slow off the mark, his age and the years of inactivity had sapped his pace and the last thing he felt was the hypodermic dart puncturing his neck before he fell flat on his face, and then he felt no more.

Circa 1362AD – Melbourne

Curtin was fuming. He hadn’t been this annoyed since his doctor had inadvertently prescribed pulls to deal with constipation while he was suffering from the runs.
‘Can you explain to me please why, after all the millions of dollars we have poured into your department, the main result has been the initiation of three wars?’ asked Curtin.
‘Sir I appreciate that the other two incidents were the result of poor work by the agents themselves but this case could not be helped. From what we can gather from the radio transmitter which was left on is that Agent 209 got sprung during his conversation with ASIO operators by a Zulu official,’ responded the ASIO Director.
‘Well that’s all well and good but it doesn’t help me deal with yet another war started by your agency. What do you propose I do?’
‘Well sir the fact that we did not precipitate this war will be good for us. If you do not leak the details that the war was as a result of espionage operations we were conducting then the public will offer its full backing for the war. With Germany dealt with and all quiet on the northern front, we have more than enough troops spare to deploy for a lightning campaign against the Zulu. Couple this with the fact that we have a mutual protection pact with the Iroquois who are the Zulu’s neighbours and the long running tension between the Zulu and the Persians, we could even have them fight the war for us if you do not wish to get involved sir. However if I may offer a strategic suggestion, we could send a force of several divisions of Infantry to capture the Zulu city of Hlobane which has access to the Zulu’s spice supplies which our people like so much. By gaining access to them we would have sufficient amounts to trade, thus strengthening our economy and making our own people happier. In addition it would give us a strong foothold on the Eastern Coast of the continent.’
‘You seem to have this thought out very well… and you make a good case for it too… I’ll pass on you’re idea to Field Marshall Cosgrove and let him deal with it. But please, in future, try and stop getting agents caught. It’s making me a political pariah…’

Field Marshall Cosgrove thought that the idea was sound in every respect and so ordered the immediate deployment of half a dozen divisions of Infantry aboard three ships, with an escort of four destroyers to land the troops at Hlobane. The destroyers had a run in with the French navy along the way but sank the two French Ironclads with only superficial damage received in turn. It was several months before the small fleet reached the coast of Hlobane. The initial force was dropped off in the White Forests, to the north of the city and moved southward. The Zulu army, which moved to counter them, was comprised of thousands of warriors armed with just a spear and a large wooden shield. However their numbers proved to be no threat to the well organised Infantry divisions and with the army defeated the capture of the city was simple matter. The city was kept intact but a number of slaves were taken.

However just a few days after the capture of the city additional ships arrived. Major Thompson, in charge of the attacking force, had not received word from High Command that he was receiving reinforcements but to his displeasure the ‘reinforcements’ were simply a band of engineers and builders who had been ordered to cannibalise the ancient Zulu city and to construct a fortified camp with port facilities to transport the Spices back to Australia.

While the fortified camp was under construction Iroquois cavalry pushing up from the south took Zimbabwe and pushed the Zulu forces, marshalled by the ageing Chief Shaka right back to Ngome. The battle of Ngome was an epic struggle by the Zulu and the tale of the final hours of Chief Shaka were recorded expertly by a Zulu scribe and was included in the appendix for ‘The History of the World’.

9th December 1362
Lo and so as the hated Iroquois advanced, riding upon beasts of sinew and muscle whose footsteps were like thunder. The helmets of our foes glittered like starlight in the fading daylight, and yet our warriors held. We had survived their charge before and we were to do again. Our muskets, weapon gifts from the Glorious French Queen Joan, had failed us. Our warriors wielding them had been felled in the initial charge and it was left to the Impi. The glorious, unstoppable, traditional heroes of Zululand to hold the line and so they did. Yet each day we lament for the souls of hundreds of our fallen warriors. Our great chief Shaka does not show his sadness openly but I can see it in his eyes he is heartbroken by each death. Yet during each charge when the line seems broken Shaka has appeared to fill the breach himself. His huge bronzed body standing firm like an ancient god, he personally beat back attack after attack and inspires our noble warriors with his rousing battle cries.

If the Iroquois think that we will submit they are dreaming. We will fight to the death, and it is the hope of each warrior that if he must die he does so alongside our Great Chief, selling themselves well. Tomorrow the Iroquois shall came again, of that I have no doubt, but as surely as the sun rises we shall fight them off again. Ngome is Zululand now and without it we do not exist. Tomorrow when the charge comes we are so few in number I must fight as well. If I live after tomorrow I will tell you the tale of the battle seen with my own eyes.

10th December 1362
Lo lament and woe! Today we once again drove back the hated Iroquois but to do so cost us our soul, our spirit. Shaka is dead. He died a heroes death though fighting against a hundred of the enemy. The Iroquois came as always but we held firm and beat them back again and again yet still more come. Finally as the left flank fell Shaka himself charged alone into battle. He slew dozens of them yet for each he killed two more appeared and in the end even our Great Chief could not hold an army on his own. As clockwork the Iroquois will charge again tonight, but this time, without our guiding light I no longer think we can endure.

And right he was as finally, after a week and a day of consistent attacks by the Iroquois the city finally fell.

 

[Mirc]

We should Raze the city

10 char

 

[stocktracker]

I bet you are beginning to press the 66% Domination limit.

Congratulations on your 5-star rating!

 

[Mirc]

Oh, BTW tupaclives, you changed your graphics? The sn00py graphics are way better than the original ones, aren't they?

 

[tupaclives]

Circa 1381AD – The League of Nations Kyoto

Nearly twenty years had passed without a war happening somewhere on the Earth. During that time the world’s greatest nations had set up an international agency known as the League of Nations whose job was to mediate disputes between nations and for the last twenty years it had worked. Today however there was a great debate raging at the League of Nations over the validity of Australia’s claim to the Southlands.
‘… and in conclusion ladies and gentlemen it is clear to see that Australia’s tenuous hold on the Southlands is an illegal one. France is the rightful administer and governor of those lands which Australia calls its own…’ the French ambassador said.
‘The rightful administer and governor?’ interrupted the Australian ambassador. ‘Rightful? By right these lands belong if anyone to the Egyptians and Aztecs. You have no more historical or diplomatic right to these lands then we do.’
The French ambassador stared at him coldly.
‘Ladies and gentlemen, founder and joining nations, France has sent me to deliver France’s proposal. Either Australia voluntarily relinquishes their control of the southlands to France or France will retake these lands by force. I have been ordered to say that France will stop at nothing and we are willing to use the full capabilities of our military might.’

Everyone stared at the ambassador in silence. They couldn’t believe what they were hearing, first that a founder nation of the League of Nations would stand here and openly threaten war on another founder member. Secondly, none of them could quite believe that France would threaten Australia; the worlds true superpower, so much.
After a time the Australian ambassador spoke.
‘Australia will not, and cannot allow itself to be bullied by anyone. Especially a friend. Sometimes when a friend tries to bully you, they are no longer a friend, and you will resist. That is what is happening here. We will not be bullied by anyone, not Joan, not Gandhi not Hiawatha not God not anyone. Take your empty threats elsewhere.’
The French ambassador shook his head and stormed out of the League of Nations. All eyes fell upon the Australian ambassador who briefly acknowledged the other ambassadors with his gaze, then he rose from his seat.
‘If you will excuse me ladies and gentlemen I need to inform my superiors of these events.’ He then packed up his documents and moved briskly out of the room.

Circa 1381AD – Malinalco

Captain Woodfull sat casually in his seat in the guardhouse. He loved his job, great pay, a uniform all the girls loved and it was good exercise. Plus there hadn’t been any fighting around this area for decades. He was playing checkers with a junior officer when a runner raced in and handed him a fax
‘Captain, the French army is descending on your position and should arrive in the next 12-14 hours. Fortify all divisions of Infantry in and around the city and await reinforcements. Good luck Captain
John Curtin’
After a few moments he realised just how much danger he suddenly was in.
‘Paul, get every man out of the barracks now! Get them suited up, get them armed! We’ve got incoming!’

Circa 1381AD – Canberra

‘We cannot allow ourselves to be intimidated sir,’ said Kevin Rudd. ‘If the French are going to launch an all out strike on one of our cities we need to respond in kind. We lost five whole divisions to their attack. We almost lost that city, sir I suggest you attack while they are regrouping from their defeat there.’
‘Kevin,’ began John Curtin. ‘I will not authorize to send tens of thousands of men to their deaths in a foreign land with no chance of victory.’
‘But sir, our armies are the finest in the world, they are…’
‘They are beatable Kevin. The investment in manpower and time that it would take to make a significant impact in the war would be enormous. France itself is too well defended. I am hereby authorizing Admiral Peterson to take no more than twelve battleships and eighteen destroyers into French waters to harass the coastline. I will not authorize more.’
Everyone looked at each other finally Daryl Williams spoke.
‘Sir if your reason for not deploying troops to France is a lack of available manpower… what would you say if I told you we had a weapon that could crack open any defensive position… even one protected by Infantry? And what would you say if I told you they could do so without the aid of artillery?’
‘I would consider the possibility of an attack Daryl… why? What have your boys come up with this time?’

Daryl grinned and pulled out an A3 piece of paper from his briefcase.
‘Have a look at this sir…’ he said with a smile.

Curtin grinned. ‘Its hard to argue with a case like that Daryl. How long will it take you to build these things?’
‘I’d say maybe four years to get enough divisions built sir…’
‘Then do it. In the meantime continue with the naval operations. Also start teaching our generals about using these things to strategic effect in battle. I don’t want them to be ruined by inexperience.’
‘Of course sir.’

Australia had always considered itself to be a ‘modern’ country ever since it was first founded. However in the year 1380 with the development of the Automobile and motorized transportation, Australia finished becoming what we think of today as a ‘modern’ country. The new options for jobs, transporting of supplies, and general quality of life available to regular citizens all improved dramatically after 1380 as Australia entered a new era of prosperity.

Circa 1382AD – The League of Nations

The League of Nations had fallen apart largely after the departure of France from its ranks. Persia was the latest country to join the claims for Australia to give up its territorial claims to the western coast of the sub-continent. Australia had consistently and stubbornly refused to give up any of their claims and Persia announced that it had signed a Mutual Protection Pact with France and intended to honour it. Persia allied itself with France and joined the war against Australia. However Australia and Iroquois shared strong ties and they had agreed to protect each other in the event of war. When Persia announced it was joining the war alongside France, the Iroquois declared that they would offer their full military support to the Imperial Republic of Australia. Japan who had a similar arrangement as Australia with the Iroquois joined the Iroquois against Persia but refused to fight against France.

Circa 1382AD – Canberra

‘Can anybody explain what to me just what the hell is going on?’ demanded Curtin.
‘Well sir as best we can understand it ourselves, the Iroquois have joined us against Persia but refuse to go to war with France, and they have dragged their ally Japan into the battle with Persia as well,’ answered his Aide.
‘Ah thank you George, at last someone speaking plain English. So what is the status of our armed forces? Kevin?’
‘Well sir thanks to your generous funding the ADF now comprises of close to two hundred divisions of Infantry, one hundred and twenty-seven divisions of Cavalry, one hundred divisions of artillery, thirteen battleships, twenty-six destroyers, eight submarines and within a few years Daryl tells me that we will have more than thirty divisions of tanks, a number we will be able to double every few years.’
‘Excellent Kevin, I want the battle with France to remain a naval one, also deploy additional Infantry reserves to the Persian front. Also I will authorize funding for the construction of our air force. We rule the seas and the war zones on the ground and I want us to do likewise in the air’
‘Yes sir,’ answered Kevin Rudd and he went to find Field Marshall Cosgrove and pass on his instructions.

Circa 1384 – The Persian Subcontinent

Although officially Australia had been at war with Persia for two years their had been no actual fighting between the two armies as Persia and the Iroquois had battled for control of the sub-continent. However with reinforcements from Australia having arrived, General ‘Archie’ Jackson, CO of the ADF in the sub-continent, was prepared to use some of his troops in an offensive role. He lead his own Cavalry Army, the 11th Mounted Cavalry Army, against Antioch and succeeded in breaking through the Persian Rifle divisions who occupied the city. Although his men suffered heavy casualties, once the city was capture he began moving some of the newly arrived reinforcements north to garrison the city which became a high-priority target for the Persians.

The other offensive campaign was conducted in former Zululand when three divisions of Infantry attacked Swazi. The city which was small and cold had little value, but its capture drew a high portion of Persian troops away from the Iroquois front for an extended period of time which was of great assistance to the Iroquois.

That was to be all the offensive operations undertaken by the Australian’s in the 3rd Parsa-Australian War. Australia was concentrating her energies on the bigger fish. France.


Players Notes:
@ stocktracker - Hey, thank you very much, and thank you to whoever it was who voted it like that yes i thought a similiar thing about the domination limit but I was suprised (i finished the game long ago) just how much longer it is before I reach that limit. It means there's still plenty of time for

@ mirc - yep thats right abotu the graphics, i make reference to it in an earlier update when i say 'the year in which the complexion of the world changed' or something similiar

 

[stocktracker]

I wouldn't bother going to those League of Nations meetings to listen about small nations complaining about all of their problems. Take them all over!

 

[tupaclives]

Circa 1385AD-1415AD – The Battle for Mainland France

General Lillee of the 1st Armoured Tank army stood overseeing the scene before him. A mile or two ahead was the French city of Dijon. Its conquest would give Australia a foothold in mainland France. His plan was simple, at 0300 hours the battleships HMAS Sydney, HMAS Melbourne and HMAS Brisbane would open fire on the city from the water and hopefully create enough covering fire for Lillee’s tanks to get within range of the city, from there it would be simple with the main attack hopefully commencing at 0323 hours. However nothing is every quite that brilliant and it was a simple matter of General Lillee possessing a watch that was just 8 minutes slow. The fire from the ships had been stopped for some time when Lillee finally realised his mistake. Pushing his forces forward he sent Captain Loxton and his tank company ahead of the main force and watched his company shred the infantry defenders. However the artillery support fire from the back proved disastrous. The tanks broke down a few hundred metres short of the city and were destroyed by their own artillery support. A furious Lillee ordered that the artillery cease fire, and then he lead the main body of four companies to attack the main entrance to the city. The battle was very short. The rifles of the French infantry could not penetrate Tank armour, and the cannons mounted on the tanks hulls were able to blow apart defenders, even ones hidden in trenches. Finally at 0551 the city was under Australian control.

While the tanks underwent repairs in the city General Ashgrove, recently returned from Germany and determined to prove his Cavalry were just as good as any new fangled contraption, lead his men against Rouen. Backed up by heavy covering fire which severely injured most of the defenders before the battle, Ashgrove and his men were able to completely destroy the garrison and take the city in just a few hours and with minimal casualties.

Amiens was one of the major financial hubs of mainland France. The French stock exchange was located here and the economic importance of the city to France could not be overstated. As such General Lillee deployed five tank companies to assault the city. The Australian tanks hit the city hard following a day and a night of relentless shelling from Australian artillery. In just two brief hours the fresh green field were reduced to homes for charred and broken bodies, crushed weapons and was pockmarked by craters. The capture of the city meant that France was economically crippled in the short term.

The battle of Tours was overseen personally by General Lillee and the 1st Tank Army. Following the successful assault on Dijon, Lillee employed similar tactics, sending a lone company forward first. However this time the artillery barrage concluded before the tank company reached the outskirts of the city so as not to endure a similar disaster with the first wave as there was at Dijon. Finally the assault of the 1st Tank Army was enough to crack open the city and leave it at the mercy of Australia’s occupying forces.

General Ashgrove was now competing with General Lillee for conquests, however Ashgrove’s increasingly outdated Mounted Cavalry Army was beginning to struggle to compete with Lillee’s tanks and the tank armies falling under the control of new generals coming out of the military academy every few years. There were now over 20 Armies in the field and most of them were tank armies. France was going to feel the full force of Australia’s military power soon. Chartres was Ashgrove’s immediate target however. The lightly defended city fell in much the same manner as Rouen. Ashgrove, knowing his men lacked the firepower of the tank armies would soften the target with artillery escorted by a division or three of Infantry before the army charged in to capture the city. The combined force could then move on, rinse and repeat. Chartres was perhaps the battle where this tactic finally reached perfection. The city fell with only minimal casualties.

Johnny Warren was nothing special. He was just your average working class man. Born in Newcastle his father had worked down the mines and had been keen for Johnny to follow suite. But Warren always had a passion for the military and when he finished school he had joined the ADF as a private. He was now a Brigadier-Corporal and was the gunner of one of the tanks in the 37th Tank Company. Warren made a name for himself at the battle of Avignon. The charge of the 37th Company was stopped by a determined French resistance and clever use of tank traps. With the majority of the company stopped dead and French Infantry using grenades to destroy immobilized tanks Warren began to pick off the tank traps that were coming in the way of his tanks tracks. His accurate shooting was also responsible for helping bring down 2 divisions of defending Infantry. Although 37th Company was almost wiped out, Warren’s brilliance on the battle field earned him the Victoria Cross – the highest honour that can be bestowed upon a military personnel and Warren himself was promoted to Major.

Following Warren’s heroics the final assault on the city met almost no opposition and the city fell with ease.

General Simpson was one of the new breed of Generals coming through the ranks. Unlike some of the previous greats the new style of generalship hinged less around tactical flexibility and skill as around man-management skills. Probably because tactics had reached a peak for the present period of time and so the ethos had become ‘keep your men happy and they will win you wars’. Nonetheless he began his field career with a flawless assault on Grenoble to take the city.