Year 1633: The Ostend War
The arrival of more up timers from the future has Cardinal Richelieu worried. Tales of mechanical beasts of war with the power to decimate entire armies speared throughout Europe, the provinces of Brandenburg, Saxony and Bavaria where overwhelmed, and worst of all, the army of Sweden has equipped its infantry with newer and more advance rifles, which reports claimed can fire several shoots before reloading. The king of Sweden has more than enough men and machines to take over the world!
Realizing that it is only, a matter of time until King Gustav overwhelms all of Europe Richelieu conducts a plan to eliminate both the Swedish king and the up timers.
Somewhere in the French port Le Havre, Mack and his team of Israeli Commandos are working undercover to spy on the French fleet.
Mack Qasim unlike his comrades had dual citizenship in both Israel and America, as his father is American. The Israelites came from the town of Kfar Qasim. (Fictional) Unlike the people of Grantville, the Israelites came from the year 2002 and arrived at the year of 1633. The town is located a few miles away from Bohemia and now serves as its primary source of manufactured products.
"Mack, I know we were told to spy on the French, but why this port?" said by one of the commandos.
"I receive information from Rebecca Stearns that Richelieu doesn't want them anywhere near this port. She suspects that something is going on here," said by Mack.
Like all Special Forces, Israeli commandos trained to hide in plain sight. The French soldiers pay no attention to them. Suddenly, a drunken captain burst out of the tavern.
"Tomorrow, we crush the Spaniard and their pathetic fleet!" said the captain in a drunken tone.
Those words gain the attention of the commandos. They invite the captain over to their table with a couple of drinks.
"Looks like there's a war coming." said Mack.
"Ai mates, the Spaniards are massing their fleet to attack the Dutch. The English and we are joining the Dutch against the Spaniards. They're all gonna burn in hell!" said by the captain.
The up timers look at each other with suspicious eyes and back to the captain.
"Keep drinking your fill mate. Looks like me and my mates have to go," said by Mack.
Suddenly, through the window of the tavern they see someone ordering the soldiers to apprehend them. The up timers have been discovered.
"Shit, looks like we've been spotted," said by one of the commandos.
"We can't start a fight here. Our cover would be blown!" said by another commando.
"Oh well, time to have some fun!" said by Mack.
For those who knew Mack for a long time have seen his troublemaking streak. He inherited his brass fist-first philosophy from his father. Therefore, when Mack decided to take matters into his own hands, his friends already know what he does next.
He punches some unlucky drunk in the gut, and he drops down onto the ground, hard. You only need to guess what happens next.
The crowd erupts into a brawl and several of the seamen fight with the weapons they have on hand. Fists, swords, guns, hell even brandy bottles are used with such ferocity. The soldiers are engulf by the bar fight, but the spy manages to escape.
Unfortunately, for him, his luck didn't last long. When the spy reaches a corner, a hand grabs the French spy and pushes him to wall, where the shadowy figure breaks his neck.
The commandos rendezvous with the figure, who it turns to be a fellow up timer.
"Good thing I was looking out for you. We wouldn't want Richelieu to find out our little surprise," said by Danny Mason.
Danny Mason, son of Rick Mason, is quarter-Asian quarter-American and half-Italian. He trained himself with all sorts of firearms from a young age. Like his father, Danny is a bit of a daredevil himself.
"Follow me, I located their capital ship." Danny said.
Meanwhile, on the city of Luebeck, King Gustavus oversees the training of his soldiers with their new equipment.
To accommodate the overwhelming firepower the Swedish army has battlefield tactics have changed:
Swedish infantry used all sorts of guns. Over eighty percent of the infantry use the Henry repeating rifle; a few elite troops used the more reliable bolt-action rifles of WW1. Infantry are now trained to surround enemy positions and suppress and destroy them with superior firepower.
In addition, all soldiers of the Swedish Army have been given advance armor that gives excellent protection against bullets and swords. (compared to 17th century standards)
Artillery and Infantry both have accessed to machine guns, five Gatling guns for the infantry and two Vickers for the artillery.
Swedish cavalry would quickly engage and destroy enemy cavalry before moving on to the artillery brigades.
Likewise, Swedish artillery would destroy enemy artillery brigades first before turning their wrath over to the infantry.
In the past few years, the Swedish army has grown exponentially. Money, men, and technology have propelled King Gustavus's army as the most powerful in all of Europe. With the threat of war looming around, Axel Oxenstierna proposes a great offensive to counteract the alliance of France, Spain, Denmark, and Great Britain.
"Your majesty, I believe we must show the League of Ostend the might of Sweden," said Axel.
"Agreed, that sneaky rat Richelieu would do everything he can to stop us." said by the Swedish King.
"And that is why we must strike first." said by Rick Mason.
Rick Mason, entrepreneur and innovator. The Asian American hybrid settled down in the town of Hopeville to relax, claiming the city is too much for him. He owns the factory that produces the Henry repeating rifles and is expanding his factory to meet the war needs.
Rick proposes a multi-prong attack to destroy the divide alliance.
"Admiral Simpson and his fleet would intercept the Spanish, French and British fleets and destroy them. The Israel tanks would intercept the French, Spaniard and Danish armies and drive them back. His majesty's army is responsible for taking the capital cities. Once we've taken Paris, Madrid, Copenhagen, and London, we can settle a favorable peace agreement." Rick said
"Your plan is quite sound, I suppose you have some surprise plan to take over London?" said by Axel
"Of course dear Axel. However, I am waiting for my little surprise to be completed." Rick said with a devious smile.
Back with the commandos, Danny and the commandos have figure out the location of the flagship. Using tranquilizer ammo, the up timers knock all of the guards unconscious. Danny and Mack go inside the flagship, while the rest of the team stays hidden to neutralize anybody that goes near the ship.
Once inside the ship, the two start looking for the captain's quarters and find anything that would reveal Richelieu's plans. Mack finds a sealed letter, which he opens and unravels the entire deception.
"Danny, I've found something." Mack said
The duo finds out that during the battle at Dunkirk, that the French navy is given secret orders to betray the Dutch navy and thus paved the way for the invasion of the United Province.
"Danny, radio Mike Stearns and Admiral Simpson about our findings. I'll make sure none of Richelieu's spies are watching us." said by Mack
Somewhere out in the Baltic Sea, Admiral Simpson and the entire CPOE fleet, compose of six submarines, nine ironclads and thirty wooden ships, are waiting for orders to decimate the royal fleets.
Suddenly, the Admiral receives three different messages over the radio:
Mack Qasim informs him of the secret orders of the British and French fleets.
Mike Stearns gives the order to commence Operation Kingdom Fall.
The Cardinal-Infante and brother to King Philip V of Spain, Don Fernando, along with part of Spanish navy and army have agreed to defect to the CPOE during the battle at Dunkirk in exchange for creating his own kingdom in the Netherlands.
"Lt. Cantrell, lets begin the invasion!" said by the admiral
"Aye aye Captain!" Eddie said
The CPOE navy runs at full speed straight into Dunkirk to go in a one against three fights against the royal navies!
In the next chapter, we will have… More battles, more explosions, AND MORE MAYHEM! STAY TUNE FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER!