StarDestroyer.Net BBS

The Gold Palace

"Anyone consider this a coincidence?" Lord Fairfax asked. Marius Mercure, the Director of the Department of Public Safety spoke.

"Sir, speaking to captured insurrectionists we've learned that there was a, ah, perception amongst the reds that a larger force had alreayd departed then actually did. They interpreted the large movement of material as the same as large number of troops leaving, as we know there are only two Brigades boarding in Nuln. Heavy brigades of 8,000 each, to be sure, but brigades none the less. Some of the capture reading material included literature by Mohandas-"

"Damn that rabblerouser!" Lord Fairfax slammed his fist on the table. "My father should have killed him when given the chance, instead of letting him go into exile. Now the troublemaker is in Cascadia instigating to his heart's content!"

"Yes sir, but, uh, we can revisit that later. Fortunately, the revolt hasn't expanded out of the capital, and most of the fighting is over. While there is no evidence of outside interference, one can't help but assume that the Reds are pleased at this turn of events."


"Piper, Are the first two Brigades ready?"

"Yessir, in fact both are finished embarking, they'll be leaving this morning. Our initial contribution, the Cavalry and Heavy Artillery(mobile), disembarked in Manchuria yesterday, and are moving towards wherever the Manchus need them. General Sanders reports that the men are in fine spirits, all things considered." Marshal Piper paused. "Most of the non-Dominionites showing up really are volunteers. A distressing number of them are not armed, or trained. Just more mouths for the Manchus to feed. We're one of the few countries sending organized, trained units with their own logistics train(or as much as we can) there. The Manchus have already peeled off some of the 57th to act as instructors for the giant clusterfuck forming." Piper shook his head. "The Reds are in a somewhat better position, from an accepting of volunteers standpoint. We need to get those brigades downrange, fast."

"The Chinese..." Lord Wythe began. Piper held up his hand.

"The Chinese are making noise about a complete mobilization, but we received word this morning that the Mongolian government liquidated Dominion investments in their country a few days ago. They're backing the Reds."

"Why are we only finding this out now?" Wythe demanded.

"Because the grand total of Dominionite assets in Mongolia runs at about a hundred thousand." Blitzschlag said. "No one noticed. This war will determine who shall rule in the 20th century. Right thinking men...or the mob."

Results:First Dominion forces arrive in Manchuria, personnel from the cavalry regiment are peeled off to act as instructors to train mass of volunteers pouring into Manchuria. Two heavy composite brigades embark at Nuln for a convoy to Manchuria.

A Darkened Room
Warsaw, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

The thin hair across the man's head did a poor job of absorbing the sheen of sweat that had formed while he read the small mountain of intelligence documents. They were gathered from a variety of sources, from aircraft flying near the border to spies in Moscow and other Communist cities. The Soviet invasion of Manchuria was well underway, and Commonwealth War Ministry officials and generals were watching a steady stream of Communist divisions and regiments heading east.

There was a quick knock on the door. "Sir, our friends from Copenhagen have arrived, they're very interested in discussing current events."

The man pulled the switch on the lamp next to his desk, illuminating his craggy features. Josef Pilsudski, General of the Armies and third most powerful man in the Commonwealth after the Prime Minister and King Wladyslaw-and some would exclude the King from that list-smiled grimly. "Send them in, Mikhail. We have much to discuss."

Open Letter to All Nations
The perfidious Communists have repeatedly claimed lies intended to bolster their claims of being the victim. This despite the fact that every provocation has come from the Soviets. Soviet armies invaded sovereign Manchurian land well before they declared war, over mining of Manchurian internal waters. They are attempting a naked land grab, like the Tsar before them. We will not stand for that, and have declared war on the Communists, and will fight them on land, on sea, and in the air.

--
Semi-unreal time

North-western front
Manchuria

Twenty seven companies of troops stood against the advancing Soviet tide. They had never been intended to actually stop a serious Communist attack, but rather had been intended slow down the attackers. This was enhanced by the fact that the majority of the defenses were perched on the cliffs of the gorge. This section was, in fact, where the Hailar He went through the Da Xingan Ling, and became the Heilongjiang. Along much of the river, the fortifications were 200-300 feet above level of the river.

The problem with simultaneous attacks is that they seldom happen. Especially when the problems of mine clearance came into play. The booms of barges being sunk by mines carried on for hours. By the time it had stopped, it was already daylight, and the advantage of an attack before dawn had evaporated. Barges were pushed up river by the tugs, as across the river, Soviet troops attempted to surpress the fortifications. Both took some time, as in addition to the magnetic mines laid at the mouth of the Shilka, there were command detonated mines controlled by the fortifications. Each only had one set, but it quickly ran through the dozens of barges that had been saved for the assault.

Soviet Gas attacks were by and large ineffective. Having learned from the Shepistani-Grand Dominion Conflict, all fortifications were gas tight, with fresh air brought in by filter-faced fans. It only had an effect when another artillery shell had broken into a fortification. Unfortuntately, even that was little effect, since the artillery shell which penetrated usually killed everyone in that room anyways. It was rare that such happened, because the fortifications were small targets in a very large field of nothingness, and moving the artillery closer in order to reduce range errors resulted in the shells just digging into the dirt in front. Few fortifications fell to the heavy artillery, despite heavy shelling.

Before the outbreak of war, the Navy's aircraft had been stripped from the carriers and seconded to the Army Air Corp, freeing all of the Army's already trained squadrons for duty in the north. At the northern front, two squadrons of 15 J-2 fighters had been assigned, along with another 2 squadrons of Q-2 light bombers. The opposing M-24 floatplanes didn't stand a chance. Within the first hours, 2 of them had been brought down by ground HMG fire. The other 7 were pounced by J-2s. Their resilient frames were no match for the power of the pair of .26t(8mm) machine guns. When found, the crews of three of them had been found to be riddled with bullets. The remainder had simply been shot to pieces. At 138 knots, the J-2 was 60% faster than the M-24, and with the arrangement of the engine and props, the crews of the M-24 were simply unable to defend themselves.

The Q-2 light bombers (originally designed as torpedo bombers for the navy), were equipped as dive bombers, a technique also borrowed from the navy. They each carried a pair of 250lb bombs, well below their maximum load of 1800 lbs. This enhanced their manueverability, and allowed them to better undertake their mission. The Q-3 would soon be replacing them in this role, but only prototypes had yet been constructed of those. They rampaged behind the Soviet lines, losing some of their number, but successfully destroying additional barges, and even attacking the railroad guns brought by the Communists.

Counterfiring in support of the defenders was also the massive 240mm gun-howitzers of the divisions' siege artillery brigades. These had had special shells issued to them, as a trial of the concept. The special shells were essentially cargo shells, like would be used for distributing leaflets. In fact, that exactly what Soviet troops first thought as the shells burst overhead. The cargo even included red streamers with writing on them. The streamers were attached to a submunitions based in part on aerial bombs, and in part on grenades. The included a small propeller at the front, that rotated as the grenade fell, arming it. When it hit the ground point first (courtesy of the streamer), it exploded. Around 30% of the submunitions failed to go off, but with 300 grenades in each shell, that still left 140 of them going off, in a wide swath. Those that failed to go off tended to do so at the slightest provocation. This made the shells a somewhat bad idea for areas that your own troops would be crossing over, but perfect for area denial to the enemy. The cannons had a range of up to 11 nautical miles. They also fired against the

In the end, the line fell. The weight of enemy against it was simply too great. But the took their toll on the enemy, and delayed them long enough that by the time breakthrough came, the mobile reserves had already cordoned off the breakthrough. The attackers were weakened by the stiff defenses, the natural terrain, and their own gas offensive.

--

Western Front

The many of the troops which had been sleeping were woken by the bombing campaign of the Soviet Airforce. The bombing campaign had been largely ineffective. Only a single fortification had been struck, wiping out it's cupola mounted HMG. The bombs were spread far and wide, simply due to the fact that it had been done at night. A number of bombs had actually come down on the Soviet side of the line, killing and maiming their own troops.

The divisional fortress of Heishantouzhen could range it's fire down nearly the entirety of the front, and did. It's 240mm cannons had been issued the same new shells, with orders to utilize them before being over-run. These were used to great effect as the Soviet troops struggled through the swampy, marshy bed of the Hailar He. The marshes were narrower st Starotsurukhatuy, than elsewhere along the Hailar He, but it was still over a mile wide at that point, and troops and machines simply bogged down during the assault. As they began their assault, parachute flares were sent skyward, courtesy of each fortification's mortar. Many of the armored cars which were to support the assault simply sank down to their axles and failed to move. Others were knocked out by HMG and cannon fire they took from the side as they advanced.

More dangerous were the Russian Renault tanks. They were able to more easily move over the marsh, and had heavier armor. Unfortunately, they were still vulnerable to both HMG fire and cannon fire. Their threat description hadn't included protection against the .5t(15mm) HMGs that the Manchu Army utilized. The round had originally been designed for use in anti-tank rifles, and their performance was an overmatch for the light armor on the tanks. Dozens died in the assault.

The most dangerous in terms of firepower was the massive Mendeleev tanks, mounting 120mm naval cannon. Unfortunately, they could only shoot in the direction that they were moving, and by the time they could range on the fortifications, many had been hit in the side.

The Manchu Army Air Corps was also in the act, with 3 squadrons of J-2s and 3 of Q-2s. This appoximately equalled the Soviet Air Force in the region, but was superior in both fighter strength, and light bombers. The fighters and light bombers were also individually superior to the opposition, being faster and/or more heavily armed

However, as in the north, only 12 companies were manning the line at the point of breakthrough. It happened even quicker, right before nightfall. Before the attack had begun, however, dug in corps had already started shifting their reserves to reinforce Line Yi behind the breakthrough. One of the mobile reserve corps had already begun shifting reinforce Yi, and would be there before the Soviets could manage the march to the line, under artillery fire the entire time. It would be a hard slog to make the 60 miles to Hailar, 3 hard days march from the breakthrough location.

--

Elsewhere in Manchuria
Companies had formed up and were being issued materiel prior to necessary (and abbreviated) refresher training. The Army Air Corps was rapidly expanding, having over doubled it's strength in the past 3 months, with many of their pilots still requiring more training. A greater number would join in this quarter, and that number was projected to accelerate in July. New infantry corps were being raised, to defend the homeland. A number of destroyers had been ordered, to bulk out the fleet with light combatants.

Results:
Soviets breakthrough line Yat in two locations. Attackers severly reduced in numbers in NW front, not so severly reduced in Western front. Manchu Army has contained the breakthroughs at Line Yi. Facing at the north, is both divisions of the Chinese Corps, as well as a division from each of the Manchu Army Corps dug in, and a third infantry corps has joined the rapidly growing maze of trenches. Total is approximately 125 thousand troops. 70 tanks: 40 light, 30 medium plus an unspecified number of Chinese tanks also are supporting the defense. The reinforced Corps is still uncommitted. In a bit less than 2 weeks, the reserves stationed there will be reinforced by an additional 4 Manchurian infantry corps. 6 Chinese divisions will be turning up even faster. All have been prepared for gas warfare.

In the Western front, the Soviets are stopped ahead of line Yi. Only a single Manchu division was on the line, it's now supported by an additional division from it's own corps, another Manchu Army infantry corps, and will soon be reinforced by a reinforced infantry Corps. An additional reinforced Corps is being shuttled from the south by rail, and should reach the line of defense in a day. By daybreak, 137 thousand men are at the front, supported by 262 tanks and numerous artillery pieces. Similarly, less than 2 weeks will net an additional 4 Manchurian infantry Corps, and 6 Chinese divisions will be joining the defending forces shortly at the Western front.


Additional reinforcements being called up and built.

OOC note: according to my declared borders (and the Treaty of Nerchinsk), there is no river Amur. No section of the Heilongjiang is shared in control with the Soviets. Additionally, there is no town of Skovorodino, or Soviet controlled town of Zeya. In fact, part of the left bank of the Shilka is also mine.

Air Force officers resign to fight in Manchuria

In a shocking scene today 24 Air Force officers led by Colonel Augusto Silva marched into parliament and resigned their commissions. Silva then made a speech condemning communist aggression and said he and his men would be going to Manchuria to "fight the Reds." Silva got a standing ovation from members of the conservative party and a measure quickly passed allowing Silva and his "Band of 24" to suspend their commissions instead of resign them. In fact, the officers would still receive pay.

Besides the Band of 24, many civilian pilots have petitioned Silva to let them join his unit. All in all some 60 pilots have volunteered to go Manchuria. Parliament is also debating whether to let non commissioned pilots volunteer to fight in Manchuria as well. The move is very controversial, as the air force is in the process of training hundreds of new pilots and aircrew after recent expansion.

"So now a war that is rallying the communists and anticommunists has started." Ras Tafari only a distant relative to the Sultan's Ethiopian heritage, but he happened to be the Master of the Sultan's Envoys (foreign minister). "Both sides of the conflict are seeing a large number of volunteers from foreign nations. We suspect that around 200 dervishes have jumped the border to assist the Russians, most likely due to Shepistan and the Grand Dominion supporting Manchuria. We are continuing to investigate that rumor though. And the Military has a request to send observers including two recon airplanes."
"Fine craft a request to Russia and Mancuria... actually include Mongolia they would also be close enough for the bombers to observe wouldn't they? Have we upped the monitoring of suspect dissidents?" the Sultan said as he sat before his best advisers.
"Of course"
"And how else does this war effect us?"
"The Shepistani Republic has declared the entire sea off limits to communist shipping. They even seemed to have sunken a Dutch vessel. We suspect that the Dutch will increase their military readiness along their Somalian territory. We are increasing the cavalry patrols on the border just in case."

Results: less than 200 cavalrymen leave for Russia, They are armed with Fusil Gras'.
Request sent to Russia, Manchuria and Mongolia to post observers and aircraft near the conflict, with recognized neutrality for the observers.

Soviet-Manchurian war. North-Eastern Front.

The Manchurian mines were still posing a problem for the Soviet Union, but the Manchurians' resistance infuriated Tukhachevsky enough to greenlight one of the ideas that Uborevich privately mentioned to him during a conversation.

- They want to play tough, these slit-eyes, - the Marshall roared as he stepped into the front headquarters at Nerchinsk. - Mine warfare! What a perfect cause of war! But they shall know that it was only a taste of things to come!

- We have prepared everything, comrade, - duly reported one of the officers. - The cargo arrived.

Two large fully loaded cargo trains arrived at the former Soviet-Manchurian border, shores of Amur, near the Shilka mouth - both were formerly serving on the Baltic railway, which was evident by the markings. The land now secured by Soviet divisions was to be used in a new phase of unrestricted mine warfare against Manchuria. The trains did not bring supplies for the divisions, however. They brought presents for the Manchurians - literally thousands of floating river mines, which the soldiers rolled on small makeshift wooden roads to the piers, and then into the waters of Amur. These thousands of mines would be dispersed in intervals of several hours between each new batch. The fact that Amur went downstream was favouring the attacker - the float mines would destroy any ships heading upwards, Manchurian bridges and infrastructure on Amur.

Result: the Soviet Union dumps huge shitloads of floating mines brought from the Baltic fleet into Amur, using it's stream as a natural offensive weapon. And continues mine warfare in the following days as well. Anything sailing down, as well as Manchurian bridges on the Amur, will be destroyed utterly, complicating Manchurian transport issues with their already maximally strained transport infrastructure.

Soviet-Manchurian war. SNS Commune, vinicity of Mogocha

One of the returning M-24 recon plane noticed a Manchurian fighter squadron following them.
- Hey, Boris, - noted the shooter, - You know, I guess I see Manchurians.
Boris Chukhnovskiy shrugged and shouted back.
- Kolya, I think they went in too deep.

The SNS Commune was escorted by three light Buryat class monitors of the Shilka flotilla, each of them armed with four anti-air machine guns. The SNS Commune itself opened fire from 37-mm anti-air guns. The air was filled with fire, while the M-24 went down and landed on the waters of the Shilka.

- Still, we lost already half of the entire unit - one full squadron of excellent pilots! - Kolya noted, looking on the attempts of the Manchu fighter above to evade flak, - The Manchurian fighters attack us regardless of rifle and machine gun fire coming from below, and have no fear of venturing beyond the frontline and hunting us down. With their superior speed, they kill us easily. Why this reconaissance mission was not given adequate air support? And all for what - for a land advance that can't secure the airfields? Our two machine guns are hardly a good defence from the slit-eyes' speedy machines!

The thoughs of Boris were the same. Grim thoughts. The Commune's squadron lost half of it's strength in the first days of the battle. They had little to counter the Manchurians with, if they were operating close to their territory - no artillery support from below. Still detecting airplanes in this era was hard. The Commune's pilots learned, after the harsh lesson of these few days, to fly out carefully at times when no aerial activity is reported by the advancing Soviet troops, and fly close to the troops on the ground.

- There are hardly many airfields here, thanks to the terrain. That's why we actually use the good old Commune. Still the Soviet command considers prudent to send reinforcements, - said Boris. - They are now assembling them, don't worry.

Kolya raised his eyes to the sky. One Manchurian fighter took a hit from ground fire and fell down; their squadron retreated.

- Reinforcements will never replace fallen comrades. Replacements of the planes lost are nothing next to the people, - he reminded.

Soviet-Manchurian war. South-Western Front.

The engineers' regiments attached to each infantry division, as well as additional detachments of engineers, paved the way to pass over the marshes - the claims of Manchurian propaganda that "over a mile of marshes" bogged down the entire Soviet advancing force of a hundred thousand men was just preposterous. The Russian Renault tanks with reinforced 22mm towers, as opposed to their serial production French FT-17 cousins, were not well protected from the side. They were also vulnerable to heavier Manchurian field artillery and, of course, other Manchurian tanks. However, the concentration of forces on the front was simply too great for Manchuria to handle.

The Soviet artillery, of which there were almost a thousand pieces, including several hundred large caliber ones, simply subdued any fire from the other shore with an extremely heavy barrage. That barrage secured the works of the engineers to prepare the crossing. Manchu infantry could not fire against advancing units when it was itself under heavy artillery fire - the claims of "Manchu infantry" destroying any tanks were preposterous bourgeois slander. The territory was well-surveyed by the Soviet Union, which was long preparing for such a conflict; it knew where would be optimal to conduct a crossing. Of course, dozens of machines were still lost, as any crossing, especially a crossing under fire, is a very dangerous enterprise; however, it was not nearly close to the extent the Manchurians claimed.

The crews of Mendeleev tanks, which were the last to cross the river, after the Manchurian forces were already routed, had no problems with any "hits", likewise contrary to Manchurian propaganda. Their 100 mm armor on all sides was simply invulnerable to the fire of Manchurian small arms, and thus pockets of infantry surviving the passing of Soviet forces could hardly hope to injure these armored beasts. Moreover, the turret-mounted machine gun could fire in any direction, making short work of infantry that would try to assault the tank. Being surrounded by infantry that was meant to protect the tank and clear it's way, the Mendeleev gun platforms went forth steadily. More went out of action due to technical breakdowns and gear issues than to Manchurian fire, although some fell victim to direct fire of the enormous 240-mm Manchu guns.

And no planes of the Soviet air forces attacked the Manchurian positions at night - because night-time operations were explicitly forbidden by the rules of the offensive. It was but another tall tale of the Manchurian propaganda.

The single large fortress and a few small bunkers that the Manchurians built up here were no panacea. Their defensive lines had been constructed for years. And they were meant to operate in cold climate of the Far East, so they had smoke pipes. It was these smoke pipes that the Soviet Union ordered the soldiers to throw grenades into. Any soldiers who managed to slip behind the forts while those were distracted by heavy artillery fire quickly found a way to stuff a grenade into the forts' heating systems, many of which were primitive heating ovens, thanks to the age of their construction dating back to the Russo-Manchurian war. [Note: IRL tactics of the Soviet Union during the 1929 Sungari and Dalainor offensives, they threw grenades into forts' smoke pipes - and in the 1945 Manchurian offensive]

Hardly anything could claim to have held against hundreds of heavy artillery pieces, and especially those which were engaged in direct fire from armored platforms like Mendeleev tanks. Hailar was to fall no matter the Manchurian resistance, that were the orders of the Soviet command - and the RKKA would do best to secure this goal. The Soviet Union swiftly moved another three standing infantry divisions from nearby areas into the breach. Now, with the breach and crossing of defence line Yat secured, the initial forces commited to the breakthrough went onward to Hailar.

The Soviet cavalry corps was finally released from behind the armored and infantry divisions, and assaulted the Manchurians at the spearhead of the attack. The cavalry units went forward to surround any cadre or reservist Manchu regiments that stood ahead of the Soviet advance.

General assault overview map:


The Soviet Union also threw into the fight the infantry divisions mobilized since February. These thirty divisions were separated in the following way - ten divisions were sent to reinforce the border along rivers Argun and Shilka, whereas another ten infantry divisions were started to be deployed to the North front, and another ten infantry divisions to the South front. Each passing day, the Soviet presence in each front would be increased by 12800 men - each day a train with a full rifle division would arrive at the border and new soldiers would be thrown into the fray. The Manchurians had to destroy a division each day to prevent the Soviet force augmentation.

On M-Day +10, the combined strength of the South Front would reach 13 infantry divisions, 2 experimental tank formations, and 4 cavalry divisions, for a total of around 230 000 men, and the strength of the Northern Front would reach 250 000 men in 18 infantry, 4 cavalry divisions and a ship flotilla.

To fill the gap in the reserves, the Soviet government transferred three standing infantry divisions from Omsk and other cities of the Siberian Krai to Chita. The entire forces left in the Trans-Baikal region to defend the Soviet Manchurian front would number 25 divisions or 320 000 men - and they, too, could be used to initiate an offensive. In fact, all divisions positioned on the border already started shelling the Manchurian border on the entire front length with their field artillery.

Also, the USSR initiated transfers of it's air units to the frontline. A two-day "great flight" would be commenced from Leningrad - 46 Fokker D.XI fighters of the 2nd Red Banner Fighter Squadron, and another ten M-24 planes from the Krasniy Baltiets squadron in Leningrad will move to the East to reinforce the Northern Front which turned out to be lacking support aviation.

Meanwhile, in Moscow, the decision to commit to total mobilization was pondered.

Baltic Sea

Three Dutch Steamers moved across the water toward the soviet union. Each Dutch steamer was filled with arms and ammunition for the Soviets and the International Brigades. Following the steamer transports were two commandeered passenger ships, containing roughly 5000 volunteers between the two.


Results: The Union sends arms, three steamers full, and 5000 volunteers to the Soviet Union for the war against Manchuria.

[OOC: I'll need your input here. AT least to tell me if it is acceptable.]

Moscow
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

The steam powered Guerra Automobile Sedan scarcely made a sound as it drove through the streets of Moscow, inside the only thing you could hear was the muffled wind and wheel noise. Looking outside the Brazilian ambassador to the USSR, João Tomás Batista e Silva, felt slightly dismayed at having to drive around in this armoured behemoth, as if he was afraid of the soviet people. Of course the danger was always that capitalist infiltrators might try something...

Not that he really sat around thinking too much, even while driven around he was still working, making small pencil comments in the latest sheaf of reports. It was the usual small matters, complaints from minor sugar co-ops regarding Soviet import practises, a request for introductions from a group of Brazilian artist, that sort of thing. Still it was all part of his responsibility, so he did his best to properly annotate each case and give a brief recommendation. His staff could take care of the details.

Up ahead rose the onion domes of the Kremlin and the tall towers still topped by double-headed eagles. Not for the last time João Silva shook his head and muttered about inefficiencies, but it was too minor a matter to bring it up with Chicherin. Instead he went back to his documents and didn't stop before they reached the first ring of security around the Kremlin, then he slipped them into a briefcase and leaned back, waiting for his chauffeur to clear up any security matters.

The bells of the Spasskaya tower had just started playing the Internationale when the Guerra Automobile Sedan drove on. João Silva sat still like a stone statue until the car reached the Senate building. One of the Kremlin guards approached the car, but the poor fellow was quite confused as João Silva opened the door himself and got out.

"Comrade Ambassador..." the guard began.

João Silva half grunted, then an imp got into him and quite deadpan he said, "Comrade Ambassador will see Comrade People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs if Comrade Guard will enthusiastically show him the way through Comrade Senate Building."

"Yes Comrade Ambassador!"

On the way through the Senate building João Silva mentally went through what he wanted to say. Even now, after all these years, he still felt slightly ill at ease in his role. Somehow the suit he wore didn't quite seem to fit, though of course it did, being tailor made and all. Not that his worries showed on his face, even on a good day his old and weatherworn face was hard to read. After all he was a lumberjack and a papermill worker, or he had been all those years ago, and that sort of life left its mark on your face.

Still his thoughts and worries didn't make him neglect his surroundings, the moment he entered Chicherin's office he nodded and then offered out his hand, "Georgy Vasilyevich good to see you!"

They shook hands and Chicherin returned the compliment, "João Silva, the pleasure is all mine."

Once they'd seated themselves João Silva commented, "By the way my new staff members want to know if Moscow is always this chilly!"

"They should be glad they didn't arrive in the winter time, eh?"

After a brief chuckle at that small joke João Silva broke in, "Before we get down to serious business I have a small request... the Great Leader wants the embassy to promote cultural issues. We have organised an event, one of Heitor Villa-Lobos latest works will premiere there." Though he hid it João Silva found the request a little distasteful, almost ridiculous really, but duty was duty, and there were people who cared about culture, "It would be ... nice if you and some other prominent guests would attend."

"I always appreciate Brazilian music, particularly the operas of Antônio Carlos Gomes," Chicherin replied politely, "I will ensure that I set off time to attend."

"Good, much obliged for that," João Silva said, before swallowing a little, and then moving on, "My government is appalled by these acts of Manchurian aggression and promises to send what aid we can afford. We will also send some volunteers and an observer corps, though I think the latter will be the most useful one. As far as I know the Bolivarian Union and the Congo are making similar plans."

"The Soviet Union welcomes international help," noted Chicherin, "The Soviet government is certain that it would be able to support any volunteers arriving to the Trans-Baikal region for support. The people, in the spirit of solidarity, will be accepted in either Sebastopol or Leningrad, whenever they arrive."

"We would have done more but the Chilatines are starting to act in a very erratic fashion," João Silva said, frowning ever so slightly, "The capitalist powers seem to have suddenly lost all their reason. This Freedom Conference was bad enough, filled with bigots and reactionaries. We hoped Operation Coffin Maker would calm them down a bit, but no. There are credible reports that the Chilatines have asked the Cisplatine Republic to renounce its non-aggression treaty with us!" He made a vaguely dismissive gesture, "Of course it's not your concern, but you see that we all have troubles at home."

Chicherin took the news with displeasure. "They press another nation to renounce a non-aggression treaty? Well, that is very concerning. In fact, this once again proves that the so-called 'diplomacy' and 'law' are concepts that have nothing to do with bourgeois imperialism. In any case, the Soviet Union would be glad to extend its hand of support. In fact, the Soviet Union is actively seeking ports, and I mean friendly ports, which could accommodate a squadron of warships that could include several carriers and battleships... The socialist movement of the world should embolden ties, and in the spirit of international brotherhood create mobile naval forces capable of acting in all oceans of the world, at any time. The bourgeois are easily uniting in their alliances against us. We shouldn't allow them to put wedges in the international brotherhood".

João Silva nodded, "We must talk more about the naval co-operation, as I've said before we are not against such an idea, in principle or in practise. Even now we've got a planned naval exercise with the Congolese, as a show of strength against capitalist aggression. With luck we'll be able to call the South Atlantic the Red Sea for a while. Meanwhile your battleship, Slava, is most welcome to visit both there and Rio de Janeiro."

RESULT
- FSR of Brazil sends reinforcements to the USSR consisting of: 1 Division of Revolutionary Guard; 1 Brigade of Mechanized Artillery; 1 MSE Motorized Special Purpose Brigade; 1 Brigade of Marines; 1 Division of Cavalry. Total strength of 74 000.

- Volunteers are also dispatched though in fairly limited numbers (unsure really).

- Brazilian embassy arranges an exposition of Brazilian culture, both contemporary and traditional. Expect orchestral performances (see above), capoeira, cachaça, and erva-mate!

KTW Factory Complex
Suez City, Egypt



Viewed from the outside the bulk of KTW Plant 1 on the outskirts of Suez resembled a fortress more than a factory. Built on a hill overlooking the ancient port-city below the complex of factories was surrounded by heavy walls crowned with barbed wire and thick steel gates flanked by watchtowers. Their purpose was twofold: the fortifications would keep enemy saboteurs out, and the secrets of Count Schenk's weapons laboratories in, but the psychological impact of the towering red-bricked walls and soot-spewing smokestacks wasn't lost on the Count. This was a place where modernity was born, and in that sense the walls, towers and guards served to defend this place of progress against the frequently overwhelmingly conservative sentiments of the Sultanate's population as well.

Within the walls of the complex huge halls lined concrete-paved roads, containing smelters, forges, workshops, and assembly lines. An on-site coal-stoked energy factory generated an abundance of electricity to the factories and laboratories where new designs, materials and chemicals were developed. An industrial railway served to provide the factories with the raw materials it needed. Thousands of people from the city below came to work at the plant each day, causing the air came alive with the noise of pneumatic rivet hammers, steam engines and hydraulic steel presses, and the flickering blue light of arch-welders.

KTW Plant 1 was given over entirely to the production of weapons of war. By itself it produced nearly a quarter of the Sultanate's armored war machines, from the venerable Medium Mark C rhomboid tank and the dashingly modern Medium Mark II to loved by the Sultan's cavalry to the Imad ad-Din super-heavy tank. Weighing in at 75 tons the ad-Din was treated more like a warship than a tank.



Initially intended simply as a proof of concept by its European engineers rumor on the factory floors had it that the Sultan himself was so enamored with the concept of these massive hulks of moving metal that he'd pushed for their serialized production even over the objections of his generals, who by and large preferred smaller, faster moving tanks that fitted more with their established cavalry doctrines. Eventually they had had grudgingly accepted the monstrous tank in active service – if one cherished one's health one did not, after all, contradict the Sultan - but so far no-one had found an actual role for it, barring perhaps its use as a slow-moving artillery piece.

But there was more produced at KTW than tanks alone. The highly successful 'Grebe' fighter was produced here as well.



The most proliferate fighter aircraft in the Sultanate Air Corps, it was a best-selling product that managed to out-compete the D.XIV produced by KMW's main rival, Alexandria-based Siddiqui Mechanical Industries. In fact, SMI was more than just a friendly competitor – the naked rivalry between KMW and SMI's respective owners, the German exile Siegfried Schenk and the Egyptian Sheik Abdeh Helali, was the stuff of legends on the factory floors. Few would speak of it openly, for if the overseers noticed such idle gossip a worker would surely be fired, but many suspected that the German Count had had a hand in the 'accident' that had ruined one of Siddiqui's factories in Alexandria. After all, why else would there be twice as many guards on the factory walls than usual? And why else would the Count be perpetually flanked by bodyguards?

These considerations were enough to make many of the Egyptian workers nervous – after all, were a similar 'accident' to befall this particular factory, they were likely to find themselves in the line of fire – but they would come to work regardless. Plant 1 was by far the biggest employer in Suez, the work here paid better and working conditions at the efficiently managed complex were far better than in many other places. And besides, working in a place that manufactured the weapons of the Sultan was a job that would make most patriotic Egyptians proud – the propaganda dispersed by the Sultanate's government had made sure of that.

Despite this and the discouragement of Red sympathies by that same government there were some few dozen workers at Plant 1 who would not show up for work this week. They would join laborers from Cairo, Port Said, Sharm el-Sheik and others from Ashkelon and the industrial cities of the Yishuv in forming a number of pan-Arabian communist volunteer brigades, which would set out by train to the Soviet Union. Most of the volunteers were young, brash and idealistic, the very 'reddest' of the communist sympathizers in the Sultanate, and the secret police was happy to let them go: these same people were the most likely to start a communist insurrection against the Sultan, so by letting them go the Sultanate rid itself of a potential problem without firing a shot. The number of Egyptian volunteers would number in the low thousands, perhaps enough to start a single brigade, and many of them brought their own guns, though to which extent those Egyptian weapons would be compatible with Soviet logistics remained to be seen.

In sharp contrast there were no sympathizers for the Manchus to be found in Egypt, or if there were they knew better than to express themselves publicly. Support for foreign monarchs was highly suspect in the Sultanate, plus the Manchu Kingdom was simply too far away to have garnered much attention in the insular Arab world. At least the Soviets had an appealing internationalist ideology going for them; all the Manchus had was the claim to a 'mandate from heaven'. If Allah had extended a mandate to anyone on Earth – which itself was a concept that bordered on the sacrilegious – surely that person could not have been a heathen infidel. Indeed if such a mandate existed, the Egyptian mindset demanded that it must rest with the Sultan, who after all was the leader of the Islamic community and the successor to the prophet of God. Since neither the Sultan nor the Caliph had spoken out in favor of either of the combatant parties, it was unlikely that the conflict would garner much interest in Egypt beyond that small scattering of communist sympathizers, now train-bound for Damascus, the Soviet Union, and the war...

Socialist Party Offices, Troutdale, Oregon


"We have an obligation to our fellow workers to aid them in fighting the Manchurian menace! I propose we immediately encourage any member who has military training to travel to Russia to aid the war!"
"That is exactly what the capitalist-appeasing Liberals and the reactionary Tories want us to do, you fool! They want us to go to Russia so that they can smear us as tools of foreign powers and keep us from getting the support of the workers here! I will not support this attempt to undermine the Socialist Party's chances to bring Cascadia closer to achieving its potential as a worker-run state! We must focus our efforts here! If you wish to aid the Soviet Union, let us work with those who wish to liberate the innocent natives of Celebes from the Manchurians!"
There was some assent, though not entirely.


Summary
The Cascadian Socialists are somewhat divided on the issue of supporting volunteers. Though some individuals may go, the Party itself has not yet proposed the sending of volunteers and many of its leadership wish to focus on domestic issues, including supporting the call in some quarters for Cascadia to seize Celebes.
It needn't be said that volunteers to Manchuria would be non-existent, even our anti-Communists are still patriots and bristle at the humiliation of Manchuria's successful manipulations that drove Cascadia off the island of Celebes.

Berliner Zeitung

The new German airforce

Contrary to our previous report, the German airforce has apparently selected the Dornier DO-H only as the newest Naval mainstay fighter. Still, production orders for 15 fighter have been signed. These and other facts were disclosed today by Generalleutnant Hermann von der Lieth-Thomsen, Commander of the German airforce.

The German Navy would also enter the new Arado Flugzeugwerke Torpedo Bomber for carrier service, which can double as both a torpedo bomber and a tactical bomber. The specifications are: Two crew, maximum speed 125 mph at 6,000 ft, 900nm range, 14000ft service ceiling and 10 hours endurance. The armament is composed of 1x forward firing and 1 rear-mounted 7.7mm Machine gun. It can carry 1,500 lbs of bombs or 1 torpedo. Orders for 15 planes have been placed.

The Navy expects both designs to serve for a long time.

Meanwhile, the German airforce has accepted the Gotha G XI as the new mainstay bomber. It carries a crew of 3, has a maximum speed of 135 mph, an endurance of 8 hours, a range of 800 kmh and carries 2000lbs of bombs. It is armed with three machine guns and has a sercive ceiling of 26000 feet. It is expected to augment the current Gotha VII bombers in service. Germany plans to procure an indetermined amount of planes.

The biggest new order however was for the Fokkers consortium. This company was responsible for the development of the two newest German fighters, the Fokker DXIII and Fokker DXIV. The german airforce has decided to procure both designs to supplement the existing Fokker DXI. Rumours say that the DXIV was a more modern design, but the DXIII had a superior rate of climb, which caused the german government to purchase it as well as the better gun platform, the DXIII. Both units will also serve as reconnaissance aircraft.

Numbers for all types ordered by the Luftstreitkräft have not been revealed, but as both Fokker and Gothaer Wagenfabrik have recently expanded their production centers, they are rumored to be very high. The chancellery declined to comment on whether this was decided due to the ongoing war in Eastern Asia.


Nassau class battleships to be placed in reserve
The german Navy has announced that the four Nassau class battleships will be placed in reserve. Rheinland and Posen will be placed in reserve today. As Nassau and Westfalen are currently on deployment in the Indian Ocean, their stations will be taken over by battleships Ostfriesland and Thüringen. The navy announced that their 11inch guns are clearly no longer enough to stand in the line of battle and with the signing of the new British-German Naval Treaty, the Hochseeflotte could afford to lose four battleships. Their crews will be retraining and then be used to crew the new Bismarck class battleships, which are currently fitting out. There is no word yet on what is going to happen to the four ships, but a source told the Berliner Zeitung that Germany would not recommission them unless a war would break out or if some other developments necessitated the reactivation of those ships.

The Nassau class Battleships were the first of Germany's dreadnoughts and were widely lauded for their armor, but heavily critizised for their engines and their inefficient gun layout. Although a refit in 1920 solved the engine problems by installing new oil-burning engines and turbines, the inefficient gun layout remained.



Berlin, Reichskanzlei

Reichskanzler Sänger studied the latest reports. Now it looked as if trouble was brewing from the most unlikely spot - the German/Scandinavian border. According to the reports, Scandinavia was mobilizing several hundreds of thousands of men. This was most troublesome to the Chancellor. after the war of 1864, Germany had taken steps to ensure that an attack from Scandinavia would be delayed several weeks, if not months, by the fortresses built, but Sänger also knew that a complete attack would eventually push through them. The theory was that by then Germany had fully mobilized.

Still, it paid to be prepared for anything. Soon, a communique was delivered to the Scandinavian ambassador.

From the German Empire to the Scandinavian Republic

Your Excellencies,
Germany is most disturbed by your recent military built up and would like to enquire about the purpose of it.
Signed,
Sänger, Reichskanzler

Germany also ordered the mobilization of nine reservist divisions near the Scandinavian border in order to prepare itself against a possible assault.


Results:
- Germany introduces new planes
- Germany mobilizes 135000 men to bolster border defences with Scandinavia after hearing reports about a tremendous military build up.
- Germany announces plan to place the entire Nassau class in reserve at the end of May

somewhat unreal time, not long after the Soviet declaration of war

The Madagascar Tribune

Prime Minister Randriana's office today formally condemned the Soviet assault on Manchuria, calling it a clear case of aggression on the part of the USSR. Although the Prime Minister was not available to answer questions due to being on a tour of the outlying islands, he did issue a written statement to the press via telegraph:

"The government of Kingdom of Madagascar formally condemns what is clearly a war of imperialism on the part of the USSR. Although Manchuria's mining of the Shilka river is technically and act of war, it was abundantly clear well beforehand that the Soviets were determined to attack one way or another, due to incidents of alleged Manchurian aggression that were in fact so obviously staged by the Soviets to fabricate a casus belli against Manchuria that we are astounded they would expect them to fool anyone. Contrary to the lofty ideals Soviet Propaganda would have us believe drives their assault, their war effort is clearly motivated by revanchism and imperialist territorial ambition. We also condemn any other nation which contributes material and personnel aid to the Soviet war effort, and any such nation with whom we have diplomatic representation will have that representation withdrawn. We may also consider the freezing of trade and assets in the future. We will not send direct material aid or volunteers to Manchuria, however citizens who wish to fight for Manchuria may travel there on their own resources, and military officers who do so will need to resign their commissions.

While we will proceed with our prior plans to extend recognition of sovereignty to the Communist nations of the world is spite of this aggression, we will not be extending diplomatic representation to the USSR or any other nation whose government provides aid to their war effort. Furthermore, despite our recognition of their sovereignty as the legal successor of the Russian Empire, we intend to refer to the entity that calls itself the "Union of Soviet Socialist Republics" as the "Soviet Empire" in all our government's official statements, communiques and documents, and will encourage other nations to do the same"

The opposition Liberals denounced the response as too weak, saying that Madagascar's own experience with communism demands that the nation send armed volunteer units to Manchuria to fight Soviet aggression, and repeated their condemnation the plan of extending recognition to communists: A few even went as far as to claim Madigascar should follow the example of Shepistan and actively destroy Communist shipping on the high seas. Government officials countered the call for volunteers by stating that without a complete logistical tail, such "volunteers" might actually prove to be more of a burden to Manchuria, and the Merina Army is ill equipped for expeditionary warfare. Meanwhile the Navy would have no role in what is almost entirely a land conflict, except through the illegal interdiction of shipping.

Nonetheless, Liberal politicians and buisness executives have initiated "volunteer drives", and have so far managed to assemble a battalion's worth of volunteers from around the country, including several dozen former military officers. Given the lack of support by the government, they hope to coordinate with the Grand Dominion's effort, in which their members would travel there, then integrate with that country's own "volunteer" brigades, and travel with them to Manchuria. In a rare public statement, the Workers Liberation Front urged it's members to travel to Russia to join the Soviet crusade to "liberate the oppressed masses" of Manchuria. How many volunteers the WLF will be able to muster remains unknown, however it is expected to be less than what is being sent in aid of the Manchurians.

Results:
-Madagascar condemns Soviet war effort against Manchuria, and withdraws or refuses to grant diplomatic representation to any nation participating in the Soviet war effort: Asset freeze also threatened.
-Recognition of sovereignty granted to Communist and Socialist countries, though diplomatic representation withheld from nations participating in the Manchurian war on Soviet side, and Madagascar will officially refer to the USSR as the "Soviet Empire".
-Volunteers line up to fight on both sides of the Manchurian war: Pro-Manchurian side seeks to coordinate with Grand Dominion "volunteer" efforts given lack of direct aid from Madagascar's government.

The Niislel Khüree Swift Horseman

Travel Restrictions

Due to Mongolia bordering two warring neighbors, Mongolia is restricting movement of Mongolian citizens to the Soviet Union, Manchuria, and China in order to prevent mass volunteer regiments of Mongolian citizens from joining either respective side. Trade continues as normal with all three nations though, and the Great Khural has said that Mongolia will accept refugees from Manchuria or the USSR without hesitation.

Thanas wrote:

From the German Empire to the Scandinavian Republic

Your Excellencies,
Germany is most disturbed by your recent military built up and would like to enquire about the purpose of it.
Signed,
Sänger, Reichskanzler

From the Nordic Empire to the German Empire

Herr Sänger,

We offer our sincerest apologies for alarming you and the German people. Our buildup is merely a defensive measure - with Soviet aggression at a peak, we fear the Bolsheviks in Russia or Holland will attack us for resources to fuel their foolhardy crusade. We have no designs on the territory of the Reich. In fact, we hope to become closer to Germany, given our shared Nordic heritage. Once again, you have our sincerest apologies.

Signed,
Christian X, King of Denmark and Emperor of the Nordic People

PS: Your confusion over our name is understandable - many name changes have been paired to proposals for reform, and their number is truly staggering. We are, however, legally the Nordic Empire and will remain so unless overcome by Bolsheviks from within or without. We are understanding on this occasion, but would prefer accuracy in future.

Unreal Time at the Freedom Conference

Shinn Langley Soryu wrote:"Freedom" Conference
Buenos Aires, Chilitina
Unreal Time
"Before you answer the Prime Minister's question, 'Baron' Ungern von Sternberg," Rizal interjected as he stood up, "I have a few questions of my own for you. Are you mentally ill? Are you honestly so deluded that you can't get your own religious slurs straight? You look like someone who would keep a copy of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion in his personal library, assuming you even have a personal library to begin with. You of all people would be intimately familiar with the stereotype that Jews control all of the world's major banks. How can the Jews collectively be Communists if they are also supposedly in control of all the major capitalist institutions? Such goals are mutually exclusive and self-defeating. Also, in all of my studies, I have never encountered even a single shred of evidence to corroborate your claim that the surname Dzhugashvili translates as 'Jew's son' in the Georgian language. Even if you are not insane, you are still incredibly dishonest and malicious, and your continued presence here will only prove to be detrimental to the future proceedings of this conference.. You have made a fool of both yourself and your nation by appearing before the rest of us here, and I can only hope that the rest of your comrades can successfully undo the damage you have dealt to Mongolia's image."

Roman chuckled at the former president and gave him the most smug smile he could.

"Isn't it obvious? The Jews are trying to control the world through one scheme or another, be it Bolshevism or control of the world banks. Hell, they work together, for the bankers push everyone toward the Bolsheviks, if they can manage, and if that fails, then through their control of the banks, they exercise their tyranny! However, it would seem most nations these days have the sense to keep the Hebrew out of the bank, but they aren't looking for that snake in the grass, the Jewish Bolshevik! By simply concentrating on Communism in general, they will fail, for the Jewish Bolshevik is what the problem is!" And so Roman continued until forcibly restrained by the rest of the Mongolian delegates. The following week, after being confined to his hotel room, Roman Ungern von Sternberg was sent back to Mongolia...

Haifa Docks
Next Morning







Captain Renato Montefiore was every bit the postcard picture of the "daring aviator". Born in 1898, he'd been fascinated with flight from an early age. His original dream had been to join the Regia Aeronautica of Italy, but his family had moved to the Yishuv during one of the many European "war scares" that had stitched such tension across the continent. Their move had been prescient, for it was just a year later that Germany and Italy had their war, and the old Montefiore house had actually been damaged by an errant shell --fired by who, no one ever knew, as both sides blamed each other.

That had cemented the Montefiore family in the Yishuv, and cemented their loyalty to the community as well.

And so young Renato had pushed for a flying club to be formed among the Yishuv, and a "young aviation pioneers junior kite and glider club" had been formed at Mount Carmel. Funded partially by wealthy European dilettentes that lived in the Yishuv, the clubs got some funding from the Yishuv Council as well, since they saw the obvious benefit in a future aviation program for the Jewish community.

Renato had been among the first eager branch of cadets, taught by pilot instructors hired from England, France, Germany and Italy, many of whom were veterans of the various conflicts that had been fought. The Yishuv had purchased a number of Bristol Type 14 F.2B Mk II biplanes, tough, powerful aircraft that Renato favored; and as many Fokker E.III's, which he found less so. The machines had been part of various defense build-ups for a vast European war that was expected but never happened, and then hastily sold off as surplus before too much taxpayer outrage could be directed against the governments that had ordered the buildups.

The young Cadet Montefiore had proven to be an excellent pilot, and quickly rose in ranks to become Group Captain Montefiore, a squadron leader, and a well-respected, good-natured leader as well as a pilot. Wavy black hair, piercing brown eyes, a pencil-thin mustache and an athletic physique, Captain Montefiore took to wearing his leather flyer's coat and boots as much as possible, with his scarf prominently displayed and his leather flying helmet in a satchel-- ready to fly whenever the prospect presented itself.

Which was why he was so disappointed to find that he was not flying to Portugal, not even as a passenger on a liner; but rather, going by ship.

Still, he had the opportunity to go, and so he took it, and he'd also had the opportunity to see his sister --and her two friends-- before going. His sister Yulia had graduated from the University in Rome, where she'd taken journalism, and she'd brought with her a friend her age (a very alluring friend, at that) who's father was the garrison commander at Tel-Aviv, giving Renato the hope that he might have a reason to find her again. He couldn't remember what she had studied, only that it was unusual.

The other woman had been in her forties, still attractive, but disturbingly predatory in her glances towards Renato. Her foot had found its way out of her shoe and up his leg during the dinner, much to the amusement of the young Miss Shaham.

Renato had been unable to peel Madame Sarfatti away from his side long enough to speak sotto voce with Na'ama Shaham, but from her body language she hadn't been too interested in him beyond amused flirtation, anyway. Still, he figured he'd be in Tel-Aviv with his report on the autogyros soon enough, and that would put him in proximity to her father, who could, in turn, put him in proximity to her.

Meanwhile, he clutched his satchel, his coat draped over his shoulder and a young Arab boy handling his baggage cart for a few Egyptian Pounds in return. Caprain Montefiore did not know how long he was going to be in Portugal, so he took along a trunk and two bags, packing light from his perspective, and waited for the call to board the French liner that was to take him to Lisbon before making its way on to London and then back.

He also noted the dark, brooding presence of the German-built Dresden-class Light Cruiser INS Herzl, chuffing smoke serenly from its stacks, as it quietly waited for the liner to board and cast off. The two ships were going to travel together as far as Malta, at least, a security measure that the Yishuv Council insisted on now that there were not only war scares but Communist agitators to worry about.

The horns for boarding hooted across the harbor, and Renato went aboard, paid his boy to deliver his luggage to his cabin, and prepared for his journey. It would take just under a week to reach his destination, so he decided to take a tour of the ship and get to know it.

After all, who knew what lovely ladies might be aboard as well..?








Results:
Captain Renato Montefiore on his way to Portugal to be part of the autogyro project.
Yishuv Council is trying to provide escorts for ships with majority Yishuv passengers, mostly a feel-good measure.

*** *** *** *** *** ***

Yishuv Council
+ General Staff Meeting








"The German construction battalion has arrived and begun survey work," Defense Minister David Ben-Gurion said. "We have the blessing from the Sultan, who reserves the right for base inspections --to be expected. What we want, gentlemen, is for the Germans to be as interested in the security of the Med as we are. War has erupted in the Far East, and as much as we'd like to say that this has nothing to do with us, the truth is, it might.

"As we all know, the Suez Canal is close, very close, and on the other side of the Arabian penninsula are colonies of both the Dominion and Shepistan."

"But the Dominion and Shepistan aren't the combatants in the Far East," Ze'ev Jabotinsky pointed out.
"True," Ben-Gurion said, "But they are getting involved, with Communist agitation within their borders, seas closed to Communist shipping, and so on. I have been talking with the Prime Minister, and our Garrison commanders, and we fear one of two scenarios." He flipped back the cover of a large map, one with large arrows drawn on it. One set of arrows, labelled "attack plan alef", went up the Red Sea toward sthe Suez Canal; the other set of arrows, labeled "attack plan bet", had arrows crossing the Arabian penninsula towards the Suez Canal.

"Fairly obvious, gentlemen. The biggest strategic asset in the area is the Suez Canal. Secondary objectives would include the oil fields in the Sinai Peninsula, but they would merely be icing on the cake, as our American friends would say, after seizing the Canal.

"The two obvious routes of advance are over land and over sea. There are advantages and disadvantages to both."
"Excuse me, David," Arik Shaham asked. "What is the scenario here?"
"The scenario is-- anti-Communist forces, either Dominionite, Shepistani, or third parties allowed to use their colonies as staging areas, attempting to raid the Canal and damage it, maybe sink a ship in it to deny Soviet access to it." Colonel Shaham nodded, taking notes. He found it difficult to imagine the Dominion or Sheppos to be that crazy-- it would easily bring the Sultanate into war for certain, and probably several other Mediterranean countries as well.

"The overall notion would be," Ben-Gurion continued, "Would be to start a war, which would give either the Sheppos or the Dominites an excuse to stage a land grab across the Arabian Penninsula."

Well, I suppose that would make sense, Shaham had to agree. He could see that happening.

"The problem is, if either the Dominion or Shepistan staged enough troops in their respective colonies to carry out an overland strike, as seen here in 'plan bet', the other side will notice, assume it is a strike on themselves, and attack. The other option is 'plan alef', which would be a naval assault on the Canal up the Red Sea. The Dominion is ideally poised for such a strike. A naval strike has the advantage of being planned far away from prying eyes, and sprung as a surprise. No troop build-up to easily observe.

"The thing is this: a naval strike has the least probability for success, since this is precisely what the Sultanate Navy is expecting. It would be a suicide assault that might achieve temporary success in blocking the Canal, but the Sultanate will quickly clear out the Canal and declare war. The overland attack meets less resistance, especially with Sultanate supply lines stretched across miles of desert, but it will be noticed by their arch-enemies, and once the attack begins, the Sultan will have time to consolidate forces closer to Egyptian supply bases-- while the invaders will be stretched thin in pressing the attack."

"The thing that concerns us the most," the Prime Minister spoke up, "Is an overland assault. An invader will reach us before reaching Egypt proper. Therefore, we need to be ready to stand and defend the area with the Egyptian forces. One of the reasons the Sultan likes the aidea of a autonomous zone for the Yishuv is that we raise our own armies, see to our own development, and the Diwan does not have to devote much effort to running the area. That said, we need to be ready to pitch in and help fight in case anyone threatens the canal or the oilfields.

"So, in that light, I have authorized the purchase of new Gewehr-98 rifles from the Germans, as well as MG-15 machineguns. We also have local businesses contracting to help the Germans build a base in Tel-Aviv, along the municipal borders with Yaffo."

"Gewehr-98s?" Colonel Shaham asked, "Why not the pattern-1922 rifles offered by the Egyptians?"
"We don't want to get involved in the KMW-SMI dispute," Ben-Gurion said. "If we buy from one, we become targets of subterfuge from the other. But the Prime Minister is going to announce another major purchase, as well."

"Yes, David, thank you," Prime Minister Ben-Zvi said, "The Germans recently offered two Scharnhorst-class cruisers for sale. Originally, I was not going to put in a bid. But with the eruption of the Far East War, I have decided to put in a purchase for them."

"Prime Minister--!" the Colonel said, stunned.
"Arik, I know," the Prime Minister said, "We can barely afford the ships we have. But we have one heavy battlecruiser, and one light cruiser, and two torpedo boats. When any one of these ships are down for maintenance, which happens a lot, it means that a quarter of our navy is out of the picture at any given time. We cannot field a credible deterrent nor are we much help to the Sultanate this way. We're going to move the Herzl to Eilat, and one of the Scharnhorst-class ships, when they get here, as well."

"That means a major expansion of Eilat dock facilities," Colonel Shaham said.
"That means the construction of credible ones in the first place, really," David Ben-Gurion said. "When the new ships get here, they'll be part of the Mediterranean squadron while we get the docks built and the crews trained. We're thinking, after that, of sending them on a round-the-world tour --politics depending, of course-- to stir more Jews to realize that the Yishuv is a credible community that can protect them. They can either immigrate or send donations to help support our works here."

"And meanwhile, we'll build the docks in Eilat," Shaham said. "Very well, but we cannot support Eilat as an oblast. We need to connect Eilat to trade up here, and that means we need a road, or better yet, a railroad, linking the interior."

"We'll get one built," Ze'ev Jabotinsky assured. "It will take time, of course, but we will get an interior railroad built. Internal trade and security depend on it."

"Speaking of internal security," Ben-Gurion said, "Arik, is your son ready to go to Ashkelon?"
"Yes, Minister," Arik said, "Most of the hard-core agitators have already left to form volunteer brigades, but there are still a number left that want to hear Trotsky speak."
"The word of this has gotten out," Prime-Minister Ben-Zvi said. "People from Europe and elsewhere are coming to see him. I support the Socialist cause, but we can't let people go crazy. I think if folks get stirred up and want to fight, we should encourage them to leave as well. Better than having them here, where they might think that they can best serve some cause through sabotage or something else."

"Especially if having a loud and vocal Communist enclave here means attracting the attention of rabidly anti-Communist forces elsewhere," Colonel Shaham said, pointing towards the map with the invasion routes on it. "And encourage something like this."

"Precisely," Ben-Zvi said. "We are sending a message to the Sultanate that we will have security in place, and your son as an agent to identify the major provocateurs for questioning."
"The Diwan will also have their army on alert as well," Ben-Gurion said. "We need to be cautious. The Dominionite battlecruiser Williamsburg has asked permission for a port-of-call visit here, ostensibly to visit the holy sites. We have granted permission, after all there is no reason to deny them.. but we nee dot be careful, and ready in case someone provokes something related to Trotsky."

"Making our job even more difficult will be that we need to provide security for him," Shaham said. "The last thing we need in this situation is for someone to take a pot-shot at a major figure in the Communist movement."
"Between our security and the Sultanate, we'll have the area locked down tight," Ben-Gurion assured.

"Anything else?" Colonel Shaham asked. "We have a very full plate."
"Our Air Force representative is off to Portugal," Ben-Gurion said. "Captain Montefiore, in fact, boarded this morning. Once he returns, we'll see about upgrading our Air Force. If the autogyro and helicopter concepts seem promising, we'll invest in them."

"Are there plans to expand the Air Force any?" Colonel Shaham asked.
"We need to phase out the Fokker E.III's, eventually," Ben-Gurion said. "The Bristols are still quite useful multi-role aircraft, but the Fokkers need to be replaced at some point. But that is for the future. We're going to look into multi-role planes like the Fairey Flycatcher, for example-- things that can be used as floatplanes as well, for reconnaissance in the Mediterranean. But it will be awhile before we are looking into that. The Fokkers will do until then."

"Very well, then," the Colonel said.
"Any further concerns, Colonel?" Prime Minister Ben-Zvi asked, smiling.
"None, sir," Arik Shaham replied.




The following message was sent to the Sultanate:

To: Sheik Maryam Abdul-Ati
Liaison for Internal Affairs of Palestine-Yishuv Autonomous Region
From: Yishuv Governing Council, Tel-Aviv

The Sultanate of Egypt is officially notified that the Yishuv Governing Council is aware of the potential for trouble involved with the Leon Trotsky visit, and that we are taking all prudent security measures. However, the quiet alert of the Army of the Sultanate is welcome news. Yishuv agents will be present to identify any agitators, and Yishuv security will be on hand to maintain order.

A few weeks ago, this would not have been such an alarming situation. But now, with war in the Far East, and Communism's role in said war prominent, we too are taking this event with a great deal of concern. We are especially attentive to the life and well-being of Mister Trotsky himself, since it would clearly be a cause for alarm if he were harmed in any way.

The Yishuv, as always, stands grateful to the Sultan for his wise leadership and creation of the autonomous zone in which we live; and we seek to do what we can to secure the holy lands for our shared prosperity.

Results:
Major strategic meeting for Yishuv Council and military staff.
Yishuv has determined that any likely scenario involving them will be something to do with the Suez Canal.
Leaders agree that the most likely means to disrupt Canal will be either by sea or by overland route.
Yishuv will prepare to aid Sultanate in both scenarios, but overland invasion is more the Yishuv's concern.
New infantry weapons will be purchased; new ships will be purchased.
Eventually, Air Force will be upgraded as well.

*** *** *** *** *** ***

Tel-Aviv, that evening
The Manhattan Club









"Since when are you all political?" Tammy asked, already slurring her words. Next to her, Sarah Goldblum frowned, both concerned and embarrassed by her friend's drunkenness. Andy Gardener wasn't her usual cheerful self, mooning over Emil, who'd left for Berlin just a few days before. She'd received a letter saying he'd have to remain in Berlin for at least two weeks, but that on the other hand, it looked promising that he'd be sent back to the Yishuv to oversee operations.

"I'm not 'all political'," Benny said with a smile, "I'm just curious. Everyone's all stirred up about 'commies this' and 'commies that'; I just wanna hear what the guy has to say."
"Well, it's all nonsense," Sarah Goldblum said. "All this rot about international revolution. If they gave damn about the workers, like they claim to, then they'd turn all this energy to make jobs for them, or something."

"There, see?" Benny said with a wave towards Sarah, "I'm interested in hearing the argument, is all."

"Well, I can give you the argument," Sarah said with a dismissive wave. "You've got a bunch of frustrated workers who want to use their employers as a bank, that's what it is. Except instead of money, they want to withdraw, I don't know, couches to lounge on for tea every hour, or something, and they want the business to pay them if they miss a day because they got the sniffles."

"Come on, doll," Benny said, "It'll be fun. It'll be interesting. The guy's a big cheese in the Communist movement."
"Ohh, I dunno," Tammy said, "It sounds all dreary. The Commy-nists are the ones stirrin' up all that trouble out in China somewheres, in't they?"
"They started a war with Manchuria," Sarah said.

"But that's not what this is about," Benny said. "They want to talk about worker's rights and people being exploited. I'm not sayin' I believe it, I'm just sayin' it's interesting."
"Honey, you wanna go listen to some guy speechify, you go for it," Tammy said, "I'll stay right here. Lemmee know when yer done, okay?"

"I'll go," Andy said.
"Say what?" Tammy asked.
Andy held up the flyer that Emil gave her before he went to Berlin. "It's this guy, Leon Trotsky, right?" She ignored Tammy's giggle at the name. She'd already described Benney's interest in the rally as "a bad case of the Trotskies".

"Yeah, that's the guy," Benny said. "You mean it? Ya wanna go?"
"I got nothin' here," Andy said, "It'll be a couple weeks 'fore Emil gets back from Berlin, so why not? I gots time to kill."
"Ya mind?" Benny asked Tammy. The two had been sort of "an item" since becoming snugglepups and a petting party the week before, but the relationship was like a yo-yo: close in hand at one minute, at the end of its rope the next.

Tammy waved her hand dismissively. "I don't care," she said, "Do whatcha want, but if you touch her, you'll answer to me an' Emil both."
"Benny's a gentleman," Andy said quickly before Benny had a chance to reply. "Right Benny?"
"Not one little hair on her head will be out of place," Benny said. "We'll go this weekend, then, and be back that night, okay?"

"Sounds good," Andy said, feeling a little surprised. Sarah rolled her eyes, and Tammy ordered another drink, and the evening continued.









Results:
Benny Wilensky curious about the Communist rally, wants to go.
Andy Gardener also curious, makes arrangements to go with Benny to see Leon Trotsky.

***

The Anti-Communist Propagandizer

The Utter Destruction of Communism

By August Riesemüller

Frequent readers of this newspaper may recall the courageous manner in which the Shepistani minister spoke up against the horde of Communists that infested the nobly named Freedom Conference. What should have been a unified front against Bolshevism became nothing more than a kaffeeklatsch for Communist apologists.

Now however I can tell you that at least one nation understands that words will never be enough to fight Communism. You need real force to do so! That is precisely what Lord Maximillian Sheppard, the sovereign of Shepistan, has realised. Shepistan didn't stop at declaring the Shepistani Sea to be barred from all Socialist and Communist pirates. No, they carried it out in practise.

I am sure that many of you may have heard rumours about the scuffle in the Shepistani Sea between the Dutch and the Shepistani, well now it is time to hear the truth. At noon on the 15th of May the S.F.S. Edward spotted a Dutch tramp freighter moving through the restricted area. At once they called for it to surrender and be taken as a prize to Williamsville. Instead of surrendering the Dutch freighter decided to run for it, at a very respectable clip I might add.

Already the more perceptive reader might ask questions such as why an honest freighter would try to run away from the law as it were? Why was there a Dutch freighter moving through these waters in the first place? After all the Dutch have no legitimate reason to go there. The answer of course is that they were carrying armaments for those heathen rascals the Hindu-Communist Rebels of India.

Faced with this escape attempt the S.F.S. Edward increased its own speed and slowly drew nearer, but with no sign of the Dutch vessel slowing down they decided to open fire. Prudence alone dictated this when dealing with such committed criminals, after all gunrunning ships often carry with them teams of military advisers. That is Communist brigands who go ashore to teach the local Communists how to be even better at murdering civilians and disrupting the economy.

Upon being struck with a 14 inch shell the Dutch tramp freighter exploded with surprising force, collaborating evidence that they were indeed moving weapons. With such obvious evidence of their piratical activities the Captain of the S.F.S. Edward wisely decided to save the courts the bother of a trial and instead executed the rascals on the spot!

[Insert a drawing of burning tramp freighter with a single lifeboat moving away from it. In the distance is a battleship obviously shooting at the life-boat, as the sailors aboard it are trying to shield themselves with their arms or duck down into the boat. A pirate flag is seen dangling from the tail of the lifeboat.]

There have been some unwise protests about this action. Some of these pbjections are little more than Communist propaganda, but others are caused either by ignorance or by sloppy thinking. After all Communism can hardly be seen as a criminal matter, the Communists have entire countries at their disposal! So to all those who call out for International Law I can only say this inter armas silent leges. Only by temporarily putting aside the niceties of law as it applies to Communists can we ever hope to defeat them!

[Insert a picture of one of the bereaved families in the Netherlands. It includes a young wife, a blonde haired boy, and a little girl holding a doll.]

Some people look at this picture and start to talk about the loss of the family, how the children will suffer, and so forth. This may be true, but the suffering caused to them is nothing compared to the suffering that their Communist gun-runner parents would have caused if they had succeeded in their mission.

When a nation has come to accept Communism then that nation must be brought to heel! In such a noble Crusade there can be no mercy, no restraint, when dealing with this plague. We must harden our hearts and remember that whatever suffering we may inflict is nothing compared to that which will follow if let this disease of communism be unchallenged.

The Communists count on your basic humanity to seduce you, they put up images of orphaned, of workers living in horrid conditions, and of many other things that I'm sure you know. Yet we must shrug off this propaganda and realise that in a war children are orphaned or even killed. We must look upon the worker and realise that his conditions cannot be improved upon, not without throwing our society into anarchy. Even in the Communist States the workers lot is no better than in Free Countries, indeed it is often worse since they are not allowed to work as long and as hard as they can in our countries. Thus the economy suffers and they are hurt even more in the long run.

In short we must look upon the cold hard facts and not let ourselves be tricked or seduced by the emotional blandishments of the Communists.

So as for the Communists I only say this

Nor oath nor pact Achilles plights with thee:
Such pacts as lambs and rabid wolves combine,
Such leagues as men and furious lions join,
To such I call the gods!

May God grant that the S.F.S. Edward's actions was but the first of many bold strokes to drive back Communism.

Portland, Federal District
2 June 1925


It was a sunny, summer day that the Cascadian President was being forced to avoid, having agreed to attend a meeting with the National General Staff at the War Department's offices further up the street from the Presidential Residence. He found himself in a room with Secretary (of War) Dale, CNO Charles O'Connor, and Army Chief of Staff Leonard Samuels, along with various planning officers. Maps of the Pacific were upon the wall, showing the scheduled locations of various Cascadian military assets. Prominent was the marker for the 1st Battle Group, situated as it was at Pearl Harbor and not the worn hole over San Francisco it used to occupy. A silent reminder of the situation in the world.

First was a briefing on the status of the front in Manchuria and the progress of the Soviet advance. Once these updates had been given to him, another matter quickly came up. "The situation in the Far East is reinforcing the lack of Darwin and the problem it poses us," O'Connor noted. "With Darwin we could position elements of Australia Fleet within close range of the East Indies and be prepared for any contingency. Darwin, connected by rail to the Australian states' industries, would also be far better as a fleet base than Koror or Pangkal."
"Admiral, these are arguments I remember well from my time in uniform," Stephen answered irritably, quite aware of what his men wanted.
"Then I shouldn't need to remind you, sir, that we have only three full months left before the beginning of the wet season," O'Connor noted. "And the Shepistanis, while being brutish, have given us a unique opportunity."
"You want me to open war on the Low Countries and seize Darwin," the President remarked matter-of-factly.
"It would barely be a war," Samuels scoffed. "We needn't even fully mobilize. A partial mobilization in Australia, in conjunction with the four reserve divisions there we've already activated there, should be enough to overrun the Dutch holdings, and Australia Fleet can blockade them effectively to deny reinforcement and supply. And thanks to the Sheppos the Dutch logistic situation is particularly difficult."
"And the fact that just a few weeks ago I warned other governments not to use the Soviet-Manchurian War as an opportunity to jump for their own territorial gains? Putting aside the hypocrisy of attacking the Dutch over Darwin after that statement, it would leave our warning a bit unsupported if we're busy fighting the Dutch."
"Mister President, seriously, it will not take the entire Navy to take Darwin...."

For another few minutes O'Connor, Samuels, and some of their junior officers laid out the plans. The two Australian Guard divisions on station would be reinforced by three divisions with another division and mobilized forces to act as operation reserves, other mobilized forces to man the coastal forts. The attack would primarily take place along the road to Darwin, with the reservist forces also making hard marches through the bush to attack Dutch military outposts and begin an investment of Darwin to prevent outlying Dutch units from reinforcing defenses in the city. Aided by an armored brigade and the full power of the Australian Guard Corps' attached artillery, it was believed the city would not be able to hold out for long. Additionally, the 4th and 7th Guards and 3rd Marine Brigade would act to sieze Banda Aceh and Bakahueni on Sumatra, depriving the Dutch of two of their East Indian ports. If needed, divisions from North America could be called in, but Samuels and his planners regarded this as unlikely.
"There's also Bali, of course. I think that Congressman Gandhi would be especially supportive if you were to make its liberation from the Dutch a war aim."
Stephen rubbed his head at that. Mohandas Gandhi was one of the many thousands of Hindus from India that had fled to Cascadia, and other countries, after the brutal repressions followin the 1915 uprisings in the Subcontinent. Having himself been brutally beaten and left limped by the Grand Dominion's security apparatus, he had risen to political prominence in the Liberal Party as their dominant Hindu representative, representing the Hindu-majority population at Iron City, Cooksland and oft-times advocating more hawkish stances toward the Grand Dominion over Indian Ocean matters though he had never once advocated supporting Hindu seperatism and revolutionary groups in Congress, no matter how much those groups tended to admire him and quote him. Whether this was just Gandhi keeping such connections private or a genuine acceptance of his advocacy of the "new Hindu homeland" in the lesser-populated reaches of Australia was something still left to speculation. As Samuels remarked, the prospect of freeing Balinese Hindus from the atheist Low Countries regime would undoubtedly appeal to the man.

In reply, he sarcastically remarked, "Why don't we just go bring Ambassadors Loret and von Spee in, hand them knives, and let's get to work cutting up the entire Low Countries Union? Obviously you're ready to commence that part."
"Mister President..."
"Shh..." He raised a hand. "Gentlemen, I am well aware that we have to settle this eventually. Perhaps we should have settled it 10 years ago when Hammer had overxtended his forces. I honestly hope to do it on my watch. And I hope to do it peacefully."
"I'm sure the Manchurians can tell you, Mister President, that Communists do not believe in peaceful resolution," Samuels retorted spitefully.
"Maybe or maybe not, but being a Communist does not automatically make one stupid and unable to read a map! And anyone who can do so knows that Darwin is indefensible against a concentrated attack from our forces. They hold it as an old matter of pride, as the outcome of their promises to the old defunct East Indies Company, and I refuse to think they're so stupid that they think they can defend it from us or retake it if we seize it. That is why I will try to remove them peacefully first, by giving them a way to withdraw from a position they cannot seriously hold in a way that saves them face internally."
"Mister President, we may never get a better time than now, before the Dutch have found alternatives to trying to slip ships past the Shepistanis...."
"I've heard the arguments. Barring something major occurring that mandates we take Darwin immediately to protect Australia and Sumatra, I am not authorizing your attack preparations. Besides, gentlemen, there is always next year..."
He had something of a smirk on his face at saying that, while it made them frown in turn. He found that... enjoyable.

Oh, he could end up approving what they wanted... if there was no alternative. If the Dutch became obstinate, if they continued to insist on some physical control and authority over the area, it would be unacceptable. But he would work with them on things, whether it be guaranteeing rights to the Dutch and Dutch East Indian populations of the era, permitting them their own state with a semi-autonomy arrangement like that enjoyed by Hawaii, it would be offered sincerely. The important thing was completing the overdue unification of Australia, after all, not indulging in a war of expansionism.

Summary:
Cascadian President rejects proposal from military chiefs to exploit Shepistani closing of the Arab Sea to Communist nations' shipping to seize Darwin while Dutch logistics are in disarray. Offer to Dutch involving guaranteeing specific rights to settlers in Darwin upon transfer to Cascadian government and authority reiterated through Ambassador Palmkoek and Cascadian representation in Europe.

Lascaris wrote: "The last one to sprout that argument was the pope claiming any promises made to schismatics and infidels were of no consequence. As a catholic I'm certain you know all too well how much or a success this was for the catholic church. [1] We keep our word when we give it no matter to whom we give it.

As to the rest of your argument, the Soviets actions in Manchuria are no different than the Tsarist actions in Manchuria back in 1904. If anything they are an exact copy of them. I also note that for all your anti-communism Brazil according to our intelligence remains one of the prime customers of Argentine beef and grain. [2] Would you care to elaborate how your export of ardent anticommunism ties to the volume of trade you have with them?

"Chilitina does not wish to harm the Brazilian populace, a populace which is practically enslaved by a small clique of communist elites. Starving the masses of Brazil would do nothing lessen the threat of communist aggression, in fact it would likely make the Reds more desperate. Such side conversations, alas, take us away from the facts. Spain is willing to confront communists. You think they are your friends. Unless Cisplatina is willing to change its stance on Brazil, you can expect no support whatsoever from Chilitina over Uruguay. These are the facts. Once you accept them we can continue this conversation. If you don't I'll bid you ado."

Lima

They are at it again, Mr. President.

De la Torre gingerly parted the drapes to his office and peeked outside.

They were holding signs saying

Solidarity with our
Soviet Brothers and Sisters

and also a strange sign saying

KILL SHEPPOS
NOT HIPPOS

Hmm. Probably referring to the incident at the zoo.
He could hear distant chants of "No Justice, No Peace."

"Down to five hundred today, sir," continued his aide.

"Good. The Communist Party has made its decision. No volunteers are to be sent to the Soviet Union."

"We've closed the borders to anyone travelling for the purposes of joining in the war. Border services report that they estimate two hundred people have slipped through to Brazil."

"Joining the Soviets?"

"Who else?"

Indeed, thought de la Torre. The rich never put their money where their mouths are - they have to pay poorer people to do their bidding.

He turned to his Minister of International Trade.
"What of this Sheppistani blockade?"

"It could be serious, Mr. President. I recommend we withdraw all merchant shipping from Middle-Eastern routes, as well as Africa's Eastern coast."

"We've already warned as many steamers as possible about the Sheppistani telegram. Do you really want to pull out of those areas?"

"Our trade is minimal in those locations. It's a safer bet to withdraw them."

"Indeed. Our lives are more important than our cargo. Withdraw all the shipping that you can, and inform all civilian shipping that their safety cannot be guaranteed in the Sheppistani exclusion zone. It's going to hurt our trade numbers for next quarter, however."

His aide spoke up again,
"What of the protestors, Mr. President?"

"They want to help out, do they? A few days ago, they could have raised a division. Now, a brigade. But their efforts will be necessary on the home front. Inform the Ministry of Defense that we will raise a special volunteer brigade for the defense of the motherland next quarter."
And let's hope it's not necessary.

Interlude: Class Enemies. May, 1925.

It was a cold windy morning in Chita. The guards' convoy led several thousand men out of the city's prison through the streets. In their former lives, they were various people. Some were nobility. Others were foreign soldiers captured by the Soviet Union in it's fight against intervention and the war with Poland. Some were actually prisoners taken by the Russian Empire - they still have not seen release. And some were common criminals - caught for theft, shoplifting, bribery, stealing, robbery, murder and a multitude of other sins.

A total of around thirty thousand prisoners at Chita today left their barracks. And here, they were separated. The foreign prisoners of war were put into one column - the "class enemies" and common criminals into two other groups.

A Soviet official, hugging his trenchcoat, rose to a small podium in front of the prisoners.

- Hereby I declare the latest decree of the Supreme Soviet. Those of the class enemies who have been condemned by the Revolutionary Tribunals in 1917-1918 to imprisonment here, are now offered forgiveness. However, like any forgiveness, it has a price. That price is labour. Special construction regiments will be formed, and those of you who volunteer to enlist will be sent to accomplish construction works on the front with Manchuria. Not to fight, but to work. Class enemies like you cannot be trusted with fighting for the Revolution, after all.

- As for those of you who are mere criminal scum, the disease of our society, for you the price of forgiveness is blood. Special penal regiments armed with incendiary cocktails and grenades are now being formed at Nerchinsk. Those who volunteer and survive their first fight, will have their crime against the socialist Motherland pardoned.

- Finally, those of you who are Polish prisoners. The Soviet government has arranged for your return to Poland. Your internment is no longer warranted, and your train is leaving today.

The groups moved according to the directions shown by their guards. Some of them had freedom awaiting them. Some had sweat awaiting them. Some had a bloodbath awating them.

Official communique to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

The People's Commisariat for International Affairs would like to inform you that the Soviet Union would now dispatch a train with several thousand released Polish prisoners of war through the Soviet-Polish border. We would like the Polish side to arrange their arrival and all matters related. The prisoners will be arriving at the border in around ten days.

People's Commisar for International Affairs, G.V. Chicherin

Dalian, Kingdom of Manchuria

"Okay, everyone off the boat! Move! Move!"

The cargo manifest of the Grand Dominion-flagged freighter SS Edelweiss included 75mm and 105mm artillery shells, medical supplies, small arms...and over 3,000 volunteers. As Selvaria and the others waited around and watched as the other goods were being offloaded, Maximilian, Radi, and Berthold were busy meeting with several officers from the Dominion 57th Light Cavalry who had been assigned by the Manchurians to help supervise other foreign volunteers...

"According to your roster, you have a total of 3,161 personnel," one of the Dominionite officers, Captain Matthew King, said. "How many of them have formal military training?"

"Approximately 500-600, including Mr. Jaeger and Mr. Gregor," Maximilian replied. "Their names have been annotated in the roster, if you need to look it over again. As for everyone else, the best we could do for them on such short notice was a few basic drills and some cursory instruction on proper firearms usage. Perhaps you would be of assistance in helping finish their training."

"I...see," Captain King said as he flipped through the pages of the personnel roster he was holding, taking note of those who had been marked as having military experience. "As you know, Mr. von Reginrave, my unit has been detached from front-line duty to assist in training other foreign volunteers coming through here, so don't worry. Your people are in capable hands. Now, did you bring your own weapons, or do we have to supply some for you?"

"We managed to procure some arms from Germany, though we are fully aware that they may cause logistical problems further down the line due to the ammunition they use," Maximilian replied; while Radi and Berthold were able to procure weapons from civilian sources and through contacts in the German Army, the best they could do on short notice were surplus Gewehr 98s, Lugers, and "Red 9" Mauser C96s, along with substantial quantities of the antiquated Gewehr 88. "There are also some American, British, Cascadian, and SAU weapons listed on the manifest, though not as many as the German materiel."

Captain King handed off the personnel roster to one of his aides and took a copy of the cargo manifest. "Let's see, Webley revolvers, Colt semiautomatics, Thompsons, Springfields, BARs..." he murmured to himself as he checked the manifest before looking up at Maximilian and speaking up. "At least the Colts and Thompsons can make use of existing Manchurian ammunition stocks. On that note, you shouldn't have any problems with your Gewehrs either; the standard Manchurian medium machine gun also takes 7.92mm, so you can also make use of Manchurian ammo for those."

"Excellent. When do you start training my volunteers?"

"First thing tomorrow morning. Like I said, don't worry. We'll make true soldiers out of them yet, and before they know it, they'll be on the front lines helping fight the good fight against those damn Commie bastards."

"They will not let you down, I promise," Maximilian exclaimed proudly.

---

RESULTS

The 1st Union Volunteer Brigade (Manchuria) finally arrives in theater, though it will take time for them to fully be combat-ready.

The Same Darkened Room
Warsaw, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Those clever bastards Pilsudski thought as he stared with narrowed eyes at the dispatch from the Soviet Union. The government had assumed the Communists had kept prisoners, technically in violation of the cease-fire that had ended the last war, but returning them now gave the government a tricky political hot potato to juggle. Of course the survivors would be welcomed back with open arms, but it would coincidentally remove the ability for the Commonwealth to ratchet up the alert level along the border until they were safely returned to friendly territory. The Communists were indeed smarter than most people in Warsaw, in the government included, gave them credit for, but then again if they were dumb Polish forces would be sitting in Kiev and Minsk right now and the Communists wouldn't be a global menace.

Czechmate wrote:

From the Nordic Empire to the German Empire

Herr Sänger,

We offer our sincerest apologies for alarming you and the German people. Our buildup is merely a defensive measure - with Soviet aggression at a peak, we fear the Bolsheviks in Russia or Holland will attack us for resources to fuel their foolhardy crusade. We have no designs on the territory of the Reich. In fact, we hope to become closer to Germany, given our shared Nordic heritage. Once again, you have our sincerest apologies.

Signed,
Christian X, King of Denmark and Emperor of the Nordic People

PS: Your confusion over our name is understandable - many name changes have been paired to proposals for reform, and their number is truly staggering. We are, however, legally the Nordic Empire and will remain so unless overcome by Bolsheviks from within or without. We are understanding on this occasion, but would prefer accuracy in future.

From the German Empire to the Nordic Empire

Your Imperial Majesty,

Germany understands the need for protection against the threat of communism. Germany however will continue to regard the northern buildup with the utmost apprehension and might relocate further forces on the border to match your buildup.

We too wish to be closer to the Nordic Empire, given our shared heritage.

Signed,
His Excellency, Reichskanzler Dr. mult. Johannes Sänger
PS: Your confusion about my title is understandable. I am, however, the Reichskanzler of the German Empire and will remain so for as long as I have the support of his Imperial Majesty Wilhelm II. and the support of the public. The German Empire is understanding on this occasion, but would prefer accuracy in future.

(OOC: )

Thanas wrote:Message from the German Empire to the Sultanate of Egypt

Your excellencies,

should you so require, the German fleet currently stationed at Dar-es-Salaam would be available to station Egyption officers onboard and help with the efforts to control the canal or search vessels of the belligerent nations for mines and other explosives onboard that can potentially damage the canal and deny Manchuria reinforcements from Europe.

Signed,
For the German Navy

Großadmiral Reinhard Scheer, Commander in Chief of the Navy
Generaladmiral Franz von Hipper, Commander of the Hochseeflotte
Admiral Ludwig von Reuter, Commander of the Scouting Groups
Vize-Admiral Wilhelm Souchon, Commander of German Pacific Forces

Message from the Sultanate of Egypt to the German Empire

Your excellencies,

The Sultan of Egypt deeply appreciates your offer of assistance and recognition of the potential vulnerability of the Suez Canal, one of the most important waterways in the world. However it is the opinion of myself, the naval staff and the board of directors of the Universal Suez Ship Canal Company that the Sultanate at this time does not require the help you so generously offered.

Signed,
In name of the Sultan,

Mehemet el-Majid Azeb
Admiral of the sea of the Sultan of Egypt