AN: Edited by Gremlin Jack, perfect_shade and Nla Eid
The maps I use are on the spacebattles forum, as FF doesn't allow image links.
Somewhere in the CSR:
"Chairman Zhang's openness of using Buddhist monks to help secure Burma from the Allied Kingdom disturbs me, especially with Tibet still remaining semi-autonomous. The only main thing he asked from the traitorous monks was to allow the CSR to build railways and roads through Burma, access to ports, freedom of movement, and CSR's final say on Burma's foreign policy." Wang Ming said while tightly gripping his cup of tea. "We had recently made a similar deal with Afghanistan where the king doesn't need to implement any of the communism ideas, at least until we start building a railway to connect Kabul to our Rus-Bharat railway, and even then they can drag their feet thanks to the vagueness of the agreement. In fact, the deal is so much in favor of the king that as long as he ensures the security of the roads and railway passing through his country and consults with the CSR on any foreign deals, he can do almost whatever he wants."
He took a sip of tea before continuing. "I had also learned that when North Bharat asked the CSR for advice on the conflict between communism and religion, the chairman's response was 'Why not both? We have a war to win. We can't afford to have a religious civil war when our front door is being kicked down.' So instead of spreading communism, all we're getting is a whole bunch of religious states surrounding us and deals that are favorable to them. How can we trust them in the long term?"
Luo Ronghuan, Marshal of the Army, nods in agreement, "The Chairman is so focused on knocking down our enemies and using his "be flexible like water flowing around stones" doctrine that he forgets that he will become like them over time. He even got rid of the political commissars in the military with the justification that they are redundant and only cause confusion in military command!" The Marshal banged his fist on the table, the mere memory of the decree having resurfaced his disappointment and anger, "He should have told the NKVD to stop pushing North Bharat into war. Now our influence in the Russy Federation will rapidly decline while our army is slogging through the mountains. The fact that the Rus factions are renaming the Russy Federation to Russy Confederation should indicate how loosely aligned they will be. It would be like herding cats!"
"You knew he was going to get rid of the political commissars." Wang Ming responded. "He had been slowly cutting them down before he was even the Chairman, and it was only several months ago when he prohibited them from overruling military officers for combat planning and orders."
Gao Gang set down his tea. "We should have been securing peace between the Rus factions instead of jumping straight into the civil war. While we did secure some major allies, it also secured enemies that begrudgingly tolerate us. Especially after our Sibyrian Army used 'alternative' food sources during their winter operation."
"That's on the idiots for having a no quarters policy!" Luo Ronghuan shouted. "You never back a rat into a corner and not give it a way out!"
Gao Gang and Luo Ronghuan glared at each other until Wang Ming motioned at someone else who wanted to speak.
"The whole Bharat war ruined the Great Leap Forward, especially with North Bharat facing the possibility of being wiped out." Hua Guofeng, Secretary of the Hunan Province, said. "Zhang Wentian has subordinates that are loyal to him. If we are to correct the course of our country, we will need to go after them first. Without them, he will be left vulnerable. And some of you are in the perfect position to accomplish such tasks."
Other people in the room nodded in agreement.
"Should we also invite Li Lisan?" someone asked.
Multiple people in the room shifted uncomfortably or had a concerned look on their faces.
"He's... extreme." Wang Ming cautiously says. "His recent denunciation of all 'old' history and culture as being deadweights on the communism cause disturbs me. And he is a very uncompromising person."
"Even if he doesn't cause trouble for us, anyone that sees him around us will get suspicious." Hua Guofeng added in, earning the agreement of the rest of the room. They all then sip at their beverages in silence until Wang Ming speaks up:
"Well then, unless anyone else has something to say, we should probably get going soon." They all looked at each other but no one had anything to say. "Good." He continues, "This concludes the meeting. Proletariats and oppressed peoples of the world, unite!"
"Proletariats and oppressed peoples of the world, unite!" Echoed the rest of the room.
1943, September 13th, Berun:
My mind is still in a bit of a daze from Visha asking to have some time to herself and thus I had to sleep in a separate bedroom again. I walked straight into that ambush in that discussion regarding Miss Caldwell, yet I still don't understand - she's just a journalist.
There was no point in trying to push Visha though, and doing so might just shatter our relationship that was going so well before the war kicked off.
I heard a knock on the door. "Come in."
Elya stepped in, followed by General Lergen. She looked around nervously, and then moved to start putting up a privacy spell.
That's... not a good sign.
Elya looks at me, "Chancellor, it would be best if we speak in your sound-proofed room."
Definitely not a good sign.
After we entered the room, she handed me a report as she started to speak. "Chancellor, there were some interesting developments from the new republics, especially Caucasia and Kazakh Republics, and also from the Russy Federation. We also got some valuable information on how the CSR conducts their war against the hostile Rus factions. The intel from the combination of numerous information pieces alarmed us."
I glanced through the first two pages. "Insurgency activity is going down. Isn't that a good thing?"
"If you flip to page 4, Major Koenig has obtained some information."
I read that particular page, and froze. He had interrogated several prisoners, including a CSR agent and a suspected NKVD agent. They all claimed that they were told the CSR was having their forces move westward after Koenig beautifully used the prisoner's dilemma concept to make them talk. He then took a team across Kazakh border into the Russy Federation for confirmation, and had orb recordings of CSR forces marching mainly southward instead.
The CSR's rear forces were constructing roads and a railway, and there were a lot of detected magic signatures. If they could use a large number of mages for construction work, how much do they also have for combat?
He captured more prisoners, and learned that there were peace talks between the Rus factions. Elya's own intelligence agents reported that the siege of Moskva had been lifted.
"The CSR is panicking at losing North Bharat. So why are they sending their Sibyrian army south instead of using the Trans-Sibyria railways?"
I looked at the world map on the wall.
"The only obvious shortcut route is through Afghanistan, and it's very mountainous. The western portion doesn't have as many mountains, but they still have to cross them anyways." I said as Elya and General Lergen nodded in agreement.
I had a flashback when I reminded myself of that; Asking me to get involved with what is often called "The Graveyard of Empires" in my previous life is almost equivalent to someone asking me if I want to get pushed in front of a train again, or use the Type 95 orb. I don't know the exact details of the Soviets and then the Americans stumbling around in that hell hole, but the CSR marching an entire army through it might accelerate the future "War on Terror" that I need to avoid at any cost. Last thing I want is a 9/11 on my land, some terrorist group trying to kill me in my sleep, and then OZEV burning through billions of Marks and thousands of lives for over a decade of frustrating counter-insurgency operations with little to show for in the aftermath.
"That has been confusing me as well. They would have to cover about 2,500 kilometers, and it looks like much of that would be on foot. There might be some railways in central Asia for them to use to reduce the walking distance, but certainly not within Afghanistan." General Lergen replied.
An entire army crossing the mountains. I read something about this in the War College a long time ago - It was Hannibal's famous crossing of the Alps. And speaking of marching long distances, I recall there was something about "Mao's Long March" in my previous world. All I remembered was that Mao took his army on a march halfway through the country, through the jungles and mountains, to avoid annihilation from the pursuing nationalist armies.
"Elya, General Lergen, do you remember anything about Hannibal's crossing of the Alps?"
"It sounds familiar." Elya said while Lergen just nods.
"I wasn't expecting the CSR to pull a repeat of that." General Lergen replied. "Even Dacia from the first Europan war brought artillery pieces with them for the invasion of the Empire. For the CSR, they would have to go without that if they want to cross that much distance over rough terrain in a few months. It would be an entirely light infantry army."
"Did the CSR's Sibyrian army make extensive usage of heavy equipment and vehicles in their operations in the Russy Federation?"
"It was mostly infantry and mages. They primarily relied on railroads, and locally acquired vehicles and horses to get around. But their infantry marched on foot when transports or roads weren't available, often for weeks through rough terrain."
Elya paused for a moment as if she was recalling something, and then continued. "I read a report from one of the analysts stating that the CSR's Sibyrian army was well known by the Rus to ignore roads to move through the forests and mountains in order to avoid detection. During the day, they would camouflage themselves and not move to avoid aerial patrols. At night is when they would march. Page 8 has information on that."
"How do they attack? Human wave assaults?"
"Sort of. They would use one group for frontal offensives at night time to pin the enemy forces in place, and have the rest of their units stealthily march around to flank and encircle the enemy positions. Once they find a weakness, that is when they commit their reserve units to exploit them. Rus factions that are hostile to the CSR often resort to shelling or bombing their own positions because of how close the CSR infantry gets. Sometimes the battle starts when the CSR infantry enters their enemies' fortifications first. They have performed feigned retreats to try to lure their enemies out of their fortified positions."
"Of course the Rus would shell and bomb their own men." I sighed while putting my hand on my forehead. "Wait, if they can march for weeks, where are they getting their supplies?" as I pointed at the vast Sibyria region on the map.
"The traditional method from before we had trains. Have each man carry at least a week or two worth of supplies. Pack animals. Human porters when there weren't enough pack animals, which either used bicycles or went on foot. For small forces sent on long range patrols or to attack deeply remote outposts, they also foraged for food, water and firewood to maintain their stealth by minimizing the size of their supply lines. Intel suggests that they heavily rely on locals' advice to rapidly adapt to new situations." Elya paused for a second. "And there were also cases of... cannibalism."
"What?"
"There was one battle during the late fall where a hostile Rus faction shot most of a CSR divison's pack animals and set the supplies on fire. This was while temperatures were approaching below minus 20 Celsius, not including wind chill. The CSR division was already more than a week away from the closest road. The Rus commander ordered the execution of surrendered CSR soldiers because he was concerned about running out of provisions during the winter, and also strongly disliked the CSR's interpretation of communism."
They sure did back that CSR division into a corner.
Elya continued speaking. "The Rus position was later overrun from a series of desperate attacks. The survivors that escaped reported that the remainders of the CSR division cannibalized corpses and prisoners, and only spared prisoners that helped them track fleeing forces to hunt them down. It was after that battle where the CSR Sibyrian Army's cannibalism incidents steadily increased in areas far away from the railroads with the onset of winter, and it only tapered off when the winter ended. There were many other cases of atrocities from both sides."
There was a moment of silence between General Lergen and I. I remember how the Rhine Front between the Empire and Francois Republic was brutal, but I never imagined the communists would go at each other like that. Who knows how they would treat the non-communists in a direct war.
"When faced with the prospect of either retreating and starving to death in the freezing cold on the way back, being defeated and starving to death afterwards, or win and not starve, the decision was already made for them." General Lergen shrugged.
"Food is a strong motivator. I remember Operation Desert Pasta." I nod my head before speaking. "Anyways, what kind of weapons and equipment does the CSR use for those night attacks?"
"Few heavy equipment, if any. Usually the most are some mortars, grenades and explosive charges. Their Sibyrian Army has fully adopted Rus equipment. They do make use of a lot of submachine guns, shotguns and melee weapons for the close quarter battles. Now if they capture vehicles and aircraft from the hostile factions, they will make use of it, although another report mentioned that they were concentrating captured and purchased hardware in several divisions to conduct combined arms warfare for conventional battles. So far they are struggling with combined arms warfare, but they do have Rus advisors to help out."
I hum at the information, "How about mages? How do they use them against the hostile Rus factions?"
"If they aren't doing aerial patrols, they march with the infantry to blend in." Elya said. "For night time attacks, the mages are often mixed in with the infantry and if they have to use magic, they quickly blend back into the infantry masses. The CSR mages in pairs also make use of noise canceling spells when conducting raids to draw less attention."
"I suspect the CSR mages stopped using traditional mage tactics in the presence of heavy anti-aircraft fire and magic detectors that the Rus historically fielded, and now the CSR is using their mages as shock infantry to get around those counters." General Lergen said. "Besides, there's no need for aerial spotters if they didn't bring any artillery guns with them."
I remember clearing out about a dozen commies that showed up to disrupt my political rally at a bar back in my early years, and that was without a computational orb. The best chance the poor Rus infantry would have is to have someone pull a Banzai and charge in with explosives strapped to their chest to take out the blood knight, or call an artillery or bombing strike on their own position. And if the mages were using noise canceling spells, the only indicator that something is amiss is when the magic detectors go off. In the middle of a battle when regular infantry are also pouring in, it would be even harder to locate and respond to the CSR mages.
"How have the hostile Rus factions fared against the CSR in guerrilla warfare?"
"Mixed results, especially after the winter." Elya said. "Although the CSR's Sibyrian army took heavy losses during the winter, they still remained highly effective and had improved their combat performance in the following spring. "It is difficult to conduct insurgency against an army that also conducts their own guerrilla warfare."
"Did they conduct the same stealth attack operations in Bharat?"
"No, but I guess it's a matter of time before their lessons in the Russy Federation are transferred to the war in Bharat."
"General Romel and our allies need to know about their warfare doctrine." I pointed at the Himalayas and the mountains on the border between North Bharat and Afghanistan on the map. "I won't be a host to a Hannibal-style attack over the mountains nor lose men on overextended lines in some forsaken mountain range. We're digging in."
"Chancellor, I'm concerned about revealing how much we know about the CSR's operations in the Russy Federation to our allies."
"Why's that?"
"The more people know about this, the more likely the CSR will ask themselves "They know. How?". And that could put our intelligence operations in the Russy Federation in jeopardy, which would leave us blind to their future activities. I expect them to resume their meddling with the new republics once they stabilize North Bharat, and it would be essential to know if they are changing any of their insurgency strategies."
"Plausible deniability seems to be the new popular thing." I sighed. "I guess all we can do is hope that the rest of the coalition will agree with Romel's plans even if he's not allowed to disclose exactly what we know about the CSR's military."
"Should we have our agents head over to Afghanistan to support the locals against the CSR?"
Isn't that what the Americans and other countries did when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan? And all they got was some trained and equipped extremist groups that the Americans had to fight afterwards? With Afghanistan having communist neighbors on three sides, the only way to get any materiel to the rebels is either through the inevitable powder keg Middle East, or somehow find a way to drive a wedge between CSR and the Rus or North Bharat.
"No, we should be having our agents focus on ensuring the safety of the new republics and get an idea of the shifting political situation between the Rus factions. Considering that some of the factions were neutral or even hostile to the CSR, we could potentially find opportunities to drive wedges further between them or establish base of operations for intelligence gathering. We also still need to establish the oil industry in the Caucasia and Kazakh Republics, and now is a perfect time with the CSR distracted."
"What should we do about our forces and allies in Bharat?" General Lergen asked.
I traced my hand over the Bharat on the map. "We should tell General Romel to find suitable defensive terrain and stop advancing to dig in. General Lergen, find commanders and strategists that helped design the Degurechaff Line and have them fly to Bharat to consult General Romel on preparing for a defensive war. The CSR is going to be pouring their men over the mountains, and if we're fighting against a vastly numerically superior enemy, I would like for them to crash into fortifications and bleed themselves dry before we launch our counter attack. I think our river boats might be helpful as well."
I paused as I got an idea. Napalm doesn't really make for good PR, but a wall of fire is a sure way of stopping a human wave assault, and a great way to light up the dark night to reveal hidden commies.
"General Lergen, how effective are napalm weapons?"
"Napalm?" he asked with a deep confusion on his face.
"Sorry, the petroleum jelly mixtures - the ones used for the riverboats"
"Ah, that thing." The General thinks for a moment, a hand on his chin, "Our army, air force, and the OZEV volunteer forces love it. They found it useful for any situation, ranging from caves to tanks. North Bharati soldiers that survived the incendiary strikes often surrendered or fled when faced with another round of burning. The commanders have been clamoring to get more of it." He then seems to wince as looks at me before hesitantly speaking, "Speaking of incendiary weapons... the army has requested a rocket artillery system that can deliver the flammable mixtures over a long range instead of just relying on bombs and flamethrowers, which would also serve a dual purpose of blocking the enemy's line of sight with the fire and smoke."
Ah, Lergen must be worried about me denying such a request. He shouldn't worry though, I know how effective napalm can be against materiel and morale, "If the high command wants more of those mixtures and a rocket artillery system to deliver those, they have my full support." I say with a smile, "Though I would also recommend ordering much more flares, searchlights, flashlights, night vision goggles, and other gear to deal with the CSR's night time attacks. It'll be harder for them to conduct night time attacks if we turn the night into daytime."
General Lergen raised an eyebrow and Elya had a look of confusion.
"Is there something wrong?"
"No, no. It's fine. Let us know if you have any questions regarding the full report." Elya said.
As Elya and General Lergen walked out of the Chancellor's office, they entered another room, looked around, and Elya put up a noise blocking spell.
"Night vision goggles?" General Lergen asked. "Does she mean the experimental infrared systems for our tanks? It's not exactly manportable though."
"There's also the Zielgerät 1229, but that's for snipers and scouts as a rifle attachment for night time reconnaissance and shooting." Elya said. "Did we ever brief her about those devices?"
Lergen scratched his head. "Not that I recall, unless she had paid R&D a direct visit without telling anyone else about it. Do you think she was referring to a night vision device for general infantry usage?"
"R&D would have panicked if she had dropped by unannounced, so maybe someone gave her files about those. We should ask R&D if they have a general use night vision device. If they don't have one in development, then I guess you'll have to ask them to make one."
1943, September 25th, Bombay, South Bharat:
"You're saying the CSR might be marching directly south and over the mountains, and it's already approaching winter?" General Law asked. "Half of their army will be dead from attrition!"
"It's the report I got directly from my high command back in Berun." General Romel shrugged.
"It's certainly a bold move." General McArthur rubbed his chin. "Maybe they're counting on us to not expect that. But any forces they can send over the mountains would be insignificant as there are very few roads for them to use, and I wouldn't consider many of those paths to be proper roads, and more like hiking trails."
"Even if they march over the mountains, it would take several months for their full force to come over." General Poulin said as he plotted the possible marching routes that the CSR would have to take. "We could use that time to finish off North Bharat and fortify in the defensible mountains, instead of letting North Bharat rebuild their military."
"We could have been having this meeting in Bhopal and then have a party in the evening by now, except we're still clearing out the pocket that North Bharat's southern army has fortified itself into." General McArthur said as he motioned at territory that the encircled army was still controlling. "At least the encircled eastern army called it quits instead of fortifying in Dhaka and forcing us into house to house fighting. I know the Aussies have been doing a great job capturing Panta and continuing to advance west, but that's not enough, and now they're being slowed by the CSR's attacks from their Tibet territory."
"I can't believe they decided to drag out the fighting." General Poulin complained. "I thought they would recognize the inevitable doom and lay down their arms. It's completely... illogical."
"Yes… illogical." Romel said with a smirk on his face.
Poulin glared at Romel before the Pullish representative put forward a hand to stop things from escalating. "Now now, we're not supposed to beat each other up. At least save it for after we defeat the communists."
A few tense moments passes until Romel speaks up:
"Perhaps we should have left a small opening for the encircled army. Give them a hope of escaping."
"We already tried that and all that did was allow more supplies and equipment to flow in before we put an end to it." General Poulin said as he pointed at the location that they had tried to allow the encircled army to flee through. "They also fell back to more defensible locations and started digging fortifications instead of trying to push through the gap, which tells me that their command is aware of what would happen if they took the bait."
"I'm also concerned with the increased presence of CSR personnel within North Bharat's replacement army."
"You mean almost all of the replacement army. At least we know that North Bharat is scraping the barrel when it comes to conscription." Henry Law said.
"I want to hear General Romel's proposition." the Akitsushiman representative said.
General Romel motioned to his mage aide to project the maps showing the rivers and naturally defensive terrain for possible defensive works locations.
"Along the east side, the main defensive line will be at the Brahmaputra River and the southern part of Ghaghara River, with Lucknow city being part of the defense. In the center, Ganges River will be the main defensive line, and a fall back line if Lucknow falls. Our combat boats will also be able to assist in the river defense. Defending Delhi after capturing it will be difficult due to the relatively flat terrain directly north of it with no natural defensive terrain, and North Bharat will be strongly motivated to retake it from us, for strategic, economic, cultural and political reasons. Lucknow would be in a similar situation due to the flat land north of it which is why we have to assume it might fall. To the west, Rajasthan province's Aravalli mountain range and the Luni River will be a great asset. The Gujarat province has two major lakes to create chokepoints in between them, and some mountainous terrain as well."
"We can help hold the rivers with our boats and ships." the Akitsushima Dominion representative said.
"You intend on just being satisfied with South Bharat?" Law asked, his skepticism evident by his expression. "Besides, that's about 4,700 kilometers of defensive works that you have to build. The trench network that the Empire and the Francois Republic built was only about 800 kilometers in length, and that took well over a year."
"I would prefer to bleed the CSR dry, and then counter-attack." Responded Rommel, "Besides, nature already built most of the defensive terrain for us. We just need to apply the finishing touches." He says as he pointed to some of the natural terrain on the map.
"There wouldn't be a North Bharat left for the CSR to save if we hold the mountains farther north!" Poulin boasted with confidence. "They can't bring in artillery, tanks or other heavy equipment through the mountain paths. And there are no nearby airfields for their aircraft to support them, other than in the Tibet region. Just relying on massed infantry assaults would be suicidal against us."
"I'm going to have to agree with the Albish and Franks here." McArthur said. "Go for the finishing blow and get this war done before CSR can fully mobilize and send their army over."
The other representatives nodded at Douglas McArthur's suggestion.
"I can't participate in the attack beyond the proposed defensive lines." Romel said to the disappointment of the rest of the officers. "I have direct orders from my high command to dig in, protect specific high value areas, and wait for the CSR to attack."
"What about your air force and mages?" Law asked.
Romel nods, "Our air force, mages and navy can continue to assist in the offensives."
"That seems fair enough... At least we can rest easy knowing that we have fallback positions in case the CSR has mobilized faster than expected." the Ispagna representative said.
"You're going to just sit in your trenches and let us bleed?!" Poulin demanded.
"I would have preferred if we all sat in the trenches and let the CSR bleed instead, but I can't disobey the orders from my command." Romel said calmly. "Otherwise they'll just find a more compliant general to replace me. Besides, there has to be a reason why the encircled North Bharatis are making us pay in blood for every kilometer that we advance against them even though we're tightening their noose by the day. Maybe they know something about the CSR's intervention plans that we don't."
"The CSR won't be a major worry." McArthur chuckled. "The recent wars in Europe showed that human wave assaults with minimal vehicle, artillery and air support are completely obsolete against a modern army."
1943, September 30th, Londinium:
Churbull had his doubts of Tanya von Degurechaff before he was fully committed to knocking out the Russy Federation, and then a change of heart after talking to her. Now he's having doubts again of what the Germanian Chancellor's true intentions were the whole time.
"They were making a play for South Bharat all this time." Viscount Guysborough, the foreign secretary, fumed. "They built bases on their islands in the South Bharati Ocean and sent their entire fleet to conduct exercises next to South Bharat. Then they showed their true color by exploiting the deep divisions within South Bharat's government so that the pro-Germanian factions can push out the rest to gain full power, and then she set up a parallel military structure that is run by OZEV's and Germania's military personnel, and paid by Germania. Coincidentally, South Bharat's original military grows weaker with every day and now the civilian government that is under the Chancellor's control is conducting corruption investigations into their own military instead of being worried about the parallel military force."
Rear Admiral John Godby, head of the Office of Naval Intelligence, spoke up. "And Captain Flemons reported that several dozen South Bharatis from the parallel military force, including mages, are being flown to Germania. Either Germania has a secret plan for them, or will be training them for something."
"The thing that concerns me is why the OZEV's forces and their local volunteer army insist on digging trenches instead of helping us fully defeat North Bharat." Churbull said as he took out a stick of tobacco from his cigar box.
John Godby rolled out a map of the predicted logistic movements of the CSR. "Our intelligence concluded that if the CSR is redeploying their forces from the Russy Federation, they would use the Trans-Sibyria railways, then move south through their country, and then attack through their Tibet region, which they have already launched several attacks from to disrupt the Australanders' advance. If the Russy Federation can use those Trans-Sibyria railways to move an entire army east to crush Akitsushima Dominion, and then back west to have a go at OZEV, then the CSR should be able to do something similar."
He rolled out another map, this time displaying the known mountain road routes in Tibet. "Limited aerial reconnaissance showed they have built a road network in Tibet's mountainous terrain, which could definitely support a large amount of reinforcements. Or they can cut through Burma."
"If they invade Burma, that would be a major escalation." Viscount Guysborough said
"Since when did diplomatic considerations stop communists from marching in anyways?" Alan Brook, Chief of the General Staff, asked. He drew a line between the CSR and South Bharat's eastern province. "Cutting through Burma would give them another way to send their forces into Bharat instead of being limited to the mountain roads."
Churbull places a cigar in his mouth and lights it, "Speaking of Burma," He says between puffs of smoke, "there has been a rise in pro-independence protests, labor strikes and other disruptions. Is the CSR involved with that?" His eyes sweep across the other men in the room, "It would seem like a great way for them to kick off their invasion of Burma, by doing it when the region is up in flames and we're busy putting down rebels."
"The Francois Republic has also been dealing with rising unrest in their Indochina colony." Guysborough said. "Some local nationalist named Phan Văn San escaped from his house arrest, and ended up being gunned down by the Francois authorities sometime later. Now the locals are using him as a martyr to rally around, and it appears he's a greater threat as a martyr than being alive."
"We are not sure if the CSR is involved with one or both of those regions. While there are some socialist or communist leaning protests, the vast majority of the unrest seems to be simply tied with people wanting unions, better living conditions, and independence. There have also been some protests and riots led by extremist Buddist monks." John Godby said. "If the CSR has their hands in it, they are certainly more deft at it instead of immediately igniting a communist revolution."
"So from what I'm getting at, we need to station garrisons along the Tibet and Burma border regions for their counter offensive?" Churbull asks and then took another puff of his cigar.
John Godby cleared his throat. "It's the most sensible option. While Germania thinks the CSR is going to march through Afghanistan, it's a long march for them and by the time they emerge in North Bharat, they won't have any heavy equipment if they are to complete the march before winter sets in. If they're still marching through the mountains in the middle of winter, then I'll pity those fools. General Henry Law assured me that when the coalition makes their way closer to the mountains, they will be conducting aerial reconnaissance over the mountains to spot any troop movements. If the CSR is sending in a large force, it should be easy to locate it."
"I'll also be sending a diplomat over to Afghanistan." Guysborough said as he scribbled something in his notebook. "Just to get an idea of their situation, such as if they've been facing any pressures from the Rus or CSR."
"I remember proposing that mountain invasion route against the Rus." Churbull said.
"And you changed your mind after meeting with the Chancellor." Brook responded. "If she had doubts about us sending an army through Afghanistan for an invasion of the Rus, I'm not sure how the CSR will have success with that same region."
Everyone else in the room nodded. Churbull then asked, "On a different topic, what do the Germanian elections look like right now?"
"Predictable. Tanya von Degurechaff isn't even bothering to campaign like last time and we expect her political party to win another landslide victory. While there have been some increasing number of protests against Germania's involvement in a faraway, expensive conflict, I don't expect that to pose a problem for the Chancellor. Not as severe as the anti-war protests in the Unified States, which looks like it will have an effect on their upcoming presidential elections." Guysborough said. "The only thing that is fluid is that some of the cabinet positions are up for grabs, especially with their Foreign Minister, Hans von Zettour, stating that he was seeking to step down to be just a foreign advisor. There are rumors that he had complications from a surgery."
"Preaches about democracy while pulling all of the strings to make sure that she stays in power." Churbull laughed. "I suppose I should be thankful that she wasn't born in the Allied Kingdom and thus make a complete mockery of our politics."
"We also noticed that the Chancellor and Vice Chancellor appear to be more… distant from each other." Godby said. "We're not sure what happened."
"Probably lovers' dispute over something insignificant such as cooking or other household chores." Guysborough sneered. "There's no way their unnatural relationship can be stable."
"I wouldn't want to be in their way if they were fighting. I wouldn't be surprised if they cause lots of damage." Churbull said. "But on a serious note, maybe they had some major policy disagreements. Is there a way to find out more?"
"If they had policy disagreements, they certainly kept it hidden from Germania's press. They have been a hard nut to crack ever since Degurechaff came to power." Godby said. "Just trying to learn about their military R&D has been filled with failures."
"Find out what you can." Churbull said as he put out his cigar in the ashtray. "I don't want to be surprised with something major shifting in their government and Germania going in an unexpected direction. And where Germania goes, OZEV will likely follow. We were already surprised by their military technology and tactics in the last war, fortunately it was the Frogs that were subjected to it."
1943, October 9th, Kabul, Afghanistan:
As the Allied Kingdom ambassador left the palace, the king, Mohammed Zahir Shah, breathed a sigh of relief and then walked back to his office. It was too late for him to turn his back, there was no point in alerting the ambassador of the CSR's activity as the Allied Kingdom and other countries were in no position to save his country when the CSR was marching about half a million men through his lands, with more arriving to build the roads and railway behind the advancing army. Even if he did try to warn the ambassador, the CSR mages would immediately kill them both and begin their purges.
The CSR's deal that he signed more than a month ago was straightforward. Ally with the CSR and keep his position, power and wealth. The envoy said they would be building roads and a railroad linking the Russy Confederation and North Bharat. They even claimed that the CSR doesn't need his country to be communist, and emphasized that they wanted to minimize disruptions. He knew eventually the CSR would start pressuring him to "reform" his country or find a more pliable puppet, especially if North Bharat survives the war as a communist country, leaving three major communist neighbors on the three sides of his country. Might as well squeeze more infrastructure projects and other concessions out of the CSR to help his country slowly modernize.
He knew some of the tribes would be deeply skeptical, but the alternative was for the communists to directly run things, and he doubted they would be able to carefully navigate the tribal politics to avoid a full blown revolt on their hands.
If he had refused the deal, the CSR mage company that came in as a "garrison" while the CSR's army was still far away would have purged his entire family and government. And even if he survived the purge, there was no way he could fight the eventually arriving army. Betting that the coalition would defeat North Bharat backed by the massive number of CSR soldiers and mages, then crossing over the mountains into his country while still fighting off CSR reinforcements, and then hoping that they would help modernize his country after the war is over, was a fool's dream.
1943, October 12th, in the Hyderabad State, North Bharat's southern army pocket:
Captain Teyanen was enjoying his time in Bharat, causing chaos for the communists like what he previously did in the Russy Federation. He missed working with Koenig, but apparently Koenig was needed elsewhere and could not come down to Bharat.
In the aftermath of the encirclement, the mass uprising among civilians was a great opportunity, as it meant the trapped North Bharati army was stretched thin with holding their pocket, suppressing the uprisings and also dealing with agents of chaos like him.
He was about to have his company get moving again when he heard some commotion from the nearby Krishna River. He pulled up his binoculars and observed that a small group of North Bharati soldiers were attempting to cross the river, but were spotted by a patrol boat and were fired upon. Some of the soldiers attempted to fire back, but were quickly cut down by the boat crew's machine guns and the autocannon. The communists had quickly learned that any large crossing attempts typically invited attention from the flamethrower and rocket artillery boats, and that is when the body counts skyrocket.
"Sir, I'm picking up some magical signatures." one of the subordinates said. "Possibly a company of North Bharati mages. They're heading straight for the patrol boat."
While he knew all of the boats had 20mm or 30mm autocannons as anti-air defense, isolated boats were still vulnerable to large numbers of mages. There were a few airbases that were recently established so OZEV's aircraft could patrol the skies along the Krishna River, but that didn't stop the communists from trying to probe at the river, as the Krishna River was both their defensive line and a logistics highway. Thankfully they only had very few anti-tank weapons and even less tanks to deal with the boats, and have yet to drag their naval mines into the rivers.
"Let's position ourselves to intercept them. They won't think of looking down in the trees. Hold your fire until I give the order." Teyanen said. "We can go back into hiding after we take them down."
As the North Bharati mages came into view, Teyanen waited until he saw the boat's autocannon swing around at the incoming mages.
"Engage."
Many of the North Bharati mages suddenly came tumbling out of the sky from the explosive spells fired from the trees below them. The last two had spun around to aim at the trees when they were gunned down by the boat's autocannon. Tenyanen watches as the torn corpses tumble down from the sky.
"No witnesses. Good. Let's get going."
Captain Green and his company were resting on a forested hill that was overlooking a road.
"One more day of this lads, and we'll be heading back." Green said. "The communists really stuffed it up with how they're handling the revolts. Maybe the war will be over by Christmas."
"Why don't we just give the anti-communist rebels weapons?" One of his men asked.
"That's for the higher ups to decide after we report back." Green responded. "Can't do it right now with communist mages and their magic detectors still being around."
"I see movement on the road, a few kilometers out." Another mage reported as they looked through their binoculars. Green also pulled up his binoculars to see it for himself. It was a large convoy of wagon carts, and being pulled by humans for some reason.
"Pack up boys, we're moving again. Get into ambush positions. Wait for my signal." Green ordered.
As the men slowly moved into positions, Green could definitely see that the wagon carts were not being pulled by volunteers or North Bharati soldiers. It was forced labor, and a lot of it. The cart pullers had restraints that prevented them from being able to escape, while a few North Bharati soldiers were off to the side to monitor the forced laborers.
"Quietly spread the word, avoid hitting the wagon pullers."
His two nearby subordinates nodded and moved about to have the order passed from person to person.
After over 10 minutes of waiting and with the full convoy in front of him, he used his voice spell to order them to fire. It didn't take long for all of the North Bharati soldiers to be gunned down.
He and a translator walked over to one of the laborers. The translator asked something in different local languages before starting a conversation. He then turned to Green.
"Sir, they said the North Bharati soldiers are seizing all of the food, medicine, fuel, livestock, and their fall crop harvests. They are conducting mass arrests, and then forcing the captured civilians to march to the frontlines to build fortifications or other jobs. This all happened shortly after people heard about the North Bharati army being encircled, and then the revolts kicked off. There's also some serious chaos going on in Hyderabad."
"Everyone, set the prisoners free. Platoon one, keep an overwatch in case we get any unwelcome company. Once they're all freed, we're going to Hyderabad to see how badly the communists cocked it up."
As the freed people fled into the forest with some of them carrying weapons looted from the dead soldiers, Green is interrupted by platoon one. "There's a mage company heading our way."
"Everyone get back into the woods before they see us. Only fire on my command."
The North Bharati mages searched around, and started opening fire into the forests as they descended to it. Green knew they had found the escaped prisoners, and there was nothing to stop the enemy mages from rounding them up and possibly just executing them on the spot.
Just before he gave the order, a crack of rifle fire was heard from a far off distance, taking out about half of the North Bharati mages. His company opened fire as the remaining North Bharati mages were turning around to face the unexpected attack.
"Looks like we're not the only ones sneaking around here. Let's get going before we draw more attention."
Somewhere else in Bharat:
Staff Sergeant Georg Eschenbach and his platoon were scouting ahead to check on a fortification construction that was previously spotted by aerial reconnaissance. He had one been one of the many veterans who joined the OZEV's volunteer force, especially after seeing TV broadcasts of recordings of the Chancellor personally fighting to defend South Bharat's capital in the beginning of the war. He knew Lieutenant Reitzel and Storch had also answered the call, but unfortunately never saw them in Bharat. Instead, he was paired up with Second Lieutenant Andrea, who had just missed the Second Europan War as he had completed training about a week before the Russy Federation's collapse. The one good thing about Andrea is that despite his lack of combat experience, he had a good knack for land navigation from years of recreational mountain climbing.
As the fortifications came into view, he motioned to his men to carefully creep forward to avoid detection. They hadn't seen any North Bharati patrols yet, but he was not going to be taking any chances.
"Looks like they're turning that village on a hill into a fortress." Andrea remarked as he scanned the fortification with his binoculars.
"They're still doing construction work?" Eschenbach asked.
"I think so. Do you want to use your H7 orb to get a better look at them?"
Eschenbach spun up his orb and used his binoculars to scan the fortification. He could see that there was lots of activity, but it was difficult to tell what the laborers looked like as their view was mostly obscured by all of the dirt and other materials piled up. He did see some armed soldiers.
"I can't really make out what the laborers look like. The only good view I got were the soldiers or guards. I don't see any anti-aircraft weapons unless they're behind the dirt walls."
"Do you think there might be civilians in that construction site?" Andrea asked.
"I have no idea. Our order did state that if the fortification is manned, we will have to call in an airstrike to neutralize it. They should have evacuated the civilians from the front lines. I would not be surprised if the laborers will pick up weapons to open fire on us if we approach their fortress."
"I'm not willing to risk our men to get an even closer look. This is as far as we can go before having to leave the cover of the forest. There's not much cover out in the harvested fields. I don't know what to do if there are many civilians in the fortress, but the command doesn't want an enemy fortress overlooking a major road."
Eschenbach bit his lip. Andrea had a good point. They had to protect their men, and to risk throwing lives away to see if there were civilians in the fortification would be reckless. And they might have to bomb the fortress anyways to clear the path.
"You're right sir, we have to protect our men and conducting further reconnaissance would be reckless."
Andrea nodded and motioned at the radio operator to begin the coordination for having a bomber show up at the right spot and hit the right target.
"Should we back up a bit?" Andrea asked.
"We'll be fine." Eschenbach said.
Eventually the radio operator reported, "They're going to be dropping the fast burning stuff so we can move in relatively soon instead of waiting for hours." Soon, they saw the faint outline of four planes high up in the sky and some escorting planes.
"Something's not right." Andrea said. "The North Bharatis should have opened up with their anti-aircraft batteries or scrambled their mages for interception by this point."
Four guided bombs fell towards the fortification and as they approached the ground, they exploded into a shower of burning liquids that rained down on the fortification. Eschenbach could hear the screams from the burning fortification, and he could have sworn he heard high-pitched squeals that sounded like they belonged to children.
Green could clearly see that the North Bharatis were losing control of Hyderabad. The enemy mages that he could identify were all busy trying to suppress the rioting. The radio communications his company could pick up betrayed the communists' desperation with their constant requests for reinforcements, more ammunition, notifications of falling back, or begging for help as they were besieged. They picked up on something about a situation developing at the palace, but couldn't make out anything more than that. The translator said that they could hear the faint chants of "Where's our food?" and "Seize the means of production? They seized everything!"
He couldn't try to sneak his way through the city, not with everyone out in the streets, and they would not pass as the locals either.
He was about to consider turning back to head home and report to the command of the situation when he saw mages fly directly overhead. He was pretty sure it was the same mages that helped him with the earlier group of North Bharati mages.
It was ingenious really. The North Bharatis were in no position to stop two companies of coalition mages from doing what they pleased over the city unless they wanted to take their focus off of the rioters. And in the worst case situation, his men could disappear into the massive, chaotic crowds where the locals were likely to help them escape or hide.
"Let's follow their lead."
"There's another company of mages right on our tail!"
"Are they hostiles?" Teyanen asked.
Then he noticed the voice spell from the other company. It was definitely an Albish voice spell.
"What are you doing here?" Green asked.
"I had the same question for you." Teyanen responded. "But I think we're both here for reconnaissance or infiltration."
"Do you have a place that you have in mind? We were just going to fly over the city to see how badly the communists managed the place."
Tenyanen thinks for a moment, his eyes scanning the urbanity ahead, "Let's check out their palace. Last thing I heard from the radio communications is that they're not in a good situation. If they're still holding on, a few well placed explosive spells would tip the balance in favor of the rebellion."
"Seems like a sensible target."
The two mage companies flew towards the palace. While they were on high alert for any possible ambushes, there were seemingly no responses from the North Bharatis.
Once the palace came into view, both companies could see that whoever was holding out was not doing well. They landed on the rooftop of a nearby tall building.
"I have a feeling we may have to rescue some high ranking North Bharati officials." Teyanen said, while looking through his binoculars.
"Rioters in their courtyard." Green responded. "They are indeed in a spot of bother, assuming the mob hasn't already lynched them."
"Well it doesn't look like they're celebrating over the lynching, so they probably haven't gotten to the communist officials yet."
They spent a few minutes discussing what their next moves would be when something caught both of their attention.
"CSR mage company. It doesn't look like they're coming after us." Green said.
"No, they're heading straight for the palace." Teyanen said. "I guess we were right about some high ranking officials being trapped there if the CSR is directly intervening in this mess."
The CSR mage company hovered over a courtyard, and blasted their voice spell in the local language with a very heavy accent.
Green's translator started their work on deciphering what the CSR mages were saying.
"Release unaffiliated members of the general population immediately. We can't allow your lynching to continue. We demand the release of citizens according to article 26, paragraph 3 of the Rules of War on Land."
Green and Teyanen looked at each other.
"This is a warning for the irregular combatants of the armed revolt. In accordance with article 8, paragraph 5, of the Rules of War on Land, I demand someone meet with our representative to discuss the subjects of North Bharat that you so unjustly attack."
"Is it me, or does that seem oddly familiar to the Empire's warnings that they issued before starting the Arene massacre?" Green asked.
"They copied the entire damn speech." Teyanen said.
"Communists following our rules of engagement?"
"They're just using them as a sheet of paper to hide behind if they attack the civilians."
There was a burst of anti-aircraft fire from a guard tower that the rioters took over. Most of the CSR mages dodged the fire with a few falling out of the sky. The mages fired explosive bullets at all of the guard towers to neutralize them, and then pulled out their swords and axes.
"What are they doing?" Green asked.
One of the CSR mages screamed something. The translator said, "They're saying to the civilians that they aren't worth the bullets."
Then the CSR mages charged into the mob, knocking many to the ground from the impacts. Green and Teyanen looked on with horror as they watched the CSR mages hack their way through the rioters. In a few seconds, the courtyard was already being splattered with blood, body parts and corpses. The mob was now trying to escape, but they could not outrun the CSR mages and some were being trampled in the chaos.
"We need to stop them. Company, to the air!" Teyanen ordered. Green motioned his men to also follow suit.
As they hovered over the palace while the CSR mages were still tearing through the mob, Green noticed a problem.
"How are we supposed to shoot the enemy mages? They're mixed in with the civilians. If we fly down there, we'll get cut up instead."
"I have no idea." Teyanen said. "But the longer we wait, the more they're going to kill. We have to take the shot, even if it means shooting through the civilians to get to them."
"May God have mercy on our souls." Green muttered as the CSR mages continued to paint the courtyard red. He then turned to his men. "Engage the enemy mages when I give the order. Then we'll search the palace for the communist officials."
"We'll also engage the enemy mages, and then we'll keep an overwatch of the area." Teyanen said.
The CSR mages were so focused on cutting down the rioters that when they looked up to find the source of the new magic emissions, the two mage companies were about to fire down at them. Only three CSR mages survived the aftermath, and they threw aside their weapons to put their hands in the air instead of taking on the two companies.
Green's company surrounded the CSR mages to disarm and restrain them. As they fanned out in the carnage strewn courtyard, one of the windows shifted open and a hand stuck out waving a white fabric.
"I think we found the besieged officials. How does it look from the air?" Green used his voice spell to talk to Teyanen.
"We don't see anything just yet. We are picking up some increased voice spell and radio communications that mentioned something going on at the palace, so you should move fast. Also, what are the surrendering people saying?"
Green looked at the officials that were performing Namaste gestures. He recognized that was a non-verbal way of respectfully greeting and honoring guests.
"The translator earlier said that they're tired of the war and are willing to cooperate. One of them claimed to be the governor of the Hyderabad State."
"Grab them and let's get out of here before the communists realize that we're here."
Andrea and Eschenbach lead their platoon to investigate the smouldering ruin of the fortification with the flames dying down.
"There were a lot more people than I expected." Andrea muttered.
A figure could be crawling in the distance. Some of the men raised their arms, but Eschenbach waved his arm down. "He's in no condition to fight back. Have the translator go over to them to ask what they were doing."
A few minutes later, the translator shot the person in the head, causing a shocked Andrea to rush forwards.
"Why did you do that?!" Andrea demanded.
"It was his last request," The translator responded flatly, "He said it was too much pain to keep going."
Meanwhile, Eschenbach puts a hand on one of his men's shoulders who is vomiting at the sight of a pile of burnt corpses piled up high behind a fortified gate. Something in the pile then caught Eschenbach's eyes and he moved forwards to take a closer look.
"Ugh," Andrea expresses his disgust as he walks up behind Eschenbach. "This is all so wrong."
Eschenbach didn't say anything for several seconds. "They brought entire families here to build the fortification," He spoke with his eyes locked onto a particularly small corpse. "All of them. Including the kids."
Andrea looks at the Germanian in disbelief, "That can't be…"
Eschenbach shakes his head and steps aside, his hand motioning towards the pile of corpses, "Then why else am I staring at what appeared to be a woman holding her child!?"
AN:
Regarding cannibalism, it was fairly common during WW2.
And I may have written that winter battle section while listening to Frostpunk's "The City Must Survive" soundtrack. Then again, fighting in Siberia's winter just sounds like a brutal way of testing both sides' logistics capability and ability to endure suffering. It also reminds me of The Dark Knight movie's Joker's quote of "As you know, madness is like gravity...all it takes is a little push."
There were developments of night vision during WW2.
Some of the warcrime scenes were inspired by the 'Generation War' TV series.
The napalm strike scene was inspired by Spec Ops: The Line's white phosphorus scene
I may or may not had the "Napalm Sticks to Kids" Vietnam War era song playing while writing about the napalm strike.