NationStates Jolt Archive

(Already in my news thread, but I thought it'd probably need an entire thread dedicated to it, and possibly to a wider north African conflict)

In a possible attempt to open up a new front against fascism following the fall of France, and at once to distract enemy attention from Britain, WoS, and The Trucial States, Walmingtonian imperial troops this evening crossed through a stretch of the Western Sahara and into the former French possesion.

It is hoped by commanders that Walmington's forces can secure Morocco and other lands before fascist forces move in force through Africa, especially the French holdings.

Thus far in the order of eight thousand of some initial fourteen thousand effectives, and further thousands of support personel are said to have passed over the southern borders. Scores of light, cruiser, and marching tanks and hundreds of other vechicles make up parts of the force, which is travelling with close fighter cover from bases in Western Sahara.

Vessels deployed towards warships in French colonies

From ports in the west African territories a fleet has put to sea. It's mission is to ensure that French warships do not fall into German or Ercolanian hands. Six submarines, two II Class destroyers, the battlecruiser Alexandra, heavy cruiser Deepdale, and light cruisers Brighton and Pelagin are to join British vessels in requesting the surrender of French ships at port in Morocco.

(ooc:If anyone (significantly DK) objects to the way this is being done, don't hesitate to comment. I would think DK might be almost pleased, in fact, as this ties up several cruisers that might otherwise swamp his two raiders breaking out through the channel ;) I'm not sure what's considered to be happening to former French colonies following the nation's capitulation, or what resistance we'll encounter. The Walmingtonians are hoping to be met by friendly French loyalists, but are quite prepared to fight, of course, for the..er..greater good. I suppose I shall have to hear from Axis-type players?)

http://mailer.fsu.edu/~akirk/tanks/GreatBritain/GB-Mark3LightTanksAdvancingOnTobruk-1.jpg

And they're off! Light Cavalry and Fighting tanks race past advancing infantry.

http://mailer.fsu.edu/~akirk/tanks/aus/Vickers-Medium-A-1.jpg

Some tankers are more keen than others!

Morocco secure in allied hands!

After some significant delays during which Walmingtonian imperial forces were unsure whether the French garrisons in Morocco would fire on them, progress has been made. The French colonies entered by Walmingtonian forces are to be allowed continued self government without hindrance from Great Walmington for so long as they continue to reject Nazi puppet authority from German occupied France.

French garrisons in Africa tend to be relatively light, hardly surprising considering that their home nation was invaded, and so French forces are not expected to move on with the Walmingtoners. They will be largely responsible for the anti-fascist defence of their own lands. However, Great Walmington intends to lend what assistance it may, possibly supplying the free French -now cut off from their homeland- with new armaments as the war progresses.

Next stop: Libya!

Having passed on into French Algeria and Tunisia -with their important petrolium reserves- the Walmingtonian force of over forty thousand effectives stands close to Libya's western borders.

(ooc:Erm.. so.. Libya would be Italian.. but.. in our little world where Ercolana is apparently out in the Atlantic and holds east African and west..Gallagan colonies, I'm not sure what becomes of Libya. Is it German held? Italian as a vassal of Germany? Would it be a good idea for WoS to rush in now before Germany turns up? Argh!)

(ooc2:I want to appoint a Walmingtonian supreme commander of allied (WoS and free French) forces, so that I can say just exactly what the French are or are not doing, but I just can't see them submiting that authority as long as they still have an officer amongst them. They are French, after all. Don't want to be too unrealistic ;) )

(ooc: its upto Der. If he wants to play Italy he can. If he wants me to, I will, despite my busy-ness.

ooc:yeah, you do seem to have a lot going on. I suppose I could play Italian forces in north Africa- I'll have to read up a bit on what they might be like, but it shouldn't be too hard.
If anyone sees me being absurd they can call me on it (y'know, if I say "The Walmingtonian officer raised his fists..and the Italians neither fled nor surrendered" someone should point out that they absolutely would have :wink: [ducks mellons])

ooc:yeah, you do seem to have a lot going on. I suppose I could play Italian forces in north Africa- I'll have to read up a bit on what they might be like, but it shouldn't be too hard.
If anyone sees me being absurd they can call me on it (y'know, if I say "The Walmingtonian officer raised his fists..and the Italians neither fled nor surrendered" someone should point out that they absolutely would have :wink: [ducks mellons])

*puts melon down and setups Meatball Cannon "Now thatsa spicy meetaball!!"*

Eastern Algeria

Since the movement eastwards of what has become WoS III Corps, General Percival Weisel had become Field Marshal Weisel, and his 42,000 Walmingtonian effectives had been enjoying hospitality of a fashion at the expense of their Free French hosts, who would soon be repaid in Walmingtonian made arms.

Reinforcements were on their way from Walmington by the thousand, but the process of re-tooling the armies for African warfare after they'd been expected to fight Jerry in France was not a five minute affair.

For now the 42,000 Walmingtonian soldiers gazed across the border into Libya. Between them and some fifty-thousand British troops in Egypt lay under arms close to a fith of a million Italians and Libyans, and several hundred aircraft.

Finally something happens. The British RAF bombs fuel dumps in Libya, and targets Tobruk. Weisel follows suit with a twenty aircraft raid on Tripoli itself. The eight Musca appeared and struck their targets before the Italians knew what was happening, but three old Barrow light bombers were shot down, the Musca's responding by taking out two Italian fighters.

It is believed that damage was moderatelly high considering the small scale of the attack.

The Italians have already reacted against the allies by bombing Alexandria.

(i am south africa just incase u get that far)

ooc:Well, it is thousands upon thousands of miles away, but regardless, most of it has been Walmingtonian since the seventeen hundreds.

Italians attack British Sudan, bomb Alexandria again

Apparently still viewing the little Walmingtonian III Corps as of secondary importance, Italian forces in Africa have launched attacks against the British. Several small outposts have reportedly been taken by vast Italian forces.

Still larger Italian forces appear to be massing on the Libya/Egypt border (ooc:Since much of the Horn or there about is Ercolanan in our world, I'm supposing that Italy and Britain aren't fighting in Abyssinia and Somaliland. And whatever happened to The Trucial States?), and a major invasion of Egypt looks to be coming.

The British are fighting back with air raids and naval bombardment of Italian ports in Libya. Prime Minister Mainwaring of WoS is authorising further deployments to north Africa, primarily in much needed aircraft and maritime assets.

The fate of north Africa may be decided in the impending duels.

Ercolanan Forces, based just north of Somalia are moving into to aid the Italian forces already in battle.

- will sort out a better post in a bit.

(ooc:S**t!
Well, I suppose you'll be fighting British Sudanese. The would be shipping in Indian troops about now, but..Britain missed out on Gallaga. Erk! [pushes Cal. to put more pressure on Erco. forces east :) ])

Naval Group III Corps joins British in bombardments

The naval group dispatched at the fall of France to assist the British in seeking surrender of French warships in the colonies, its grizzly duty complete (ooc:though presumably with WoS co-operation reaching free French colonies before Axis forces did, in this world, much of the French fleet would still be in Free French hands, rather than sunk. Something else for DK to worry about, perhaps?), has been re-named "Naval Group III Corps" and assigned new duties.

The task force, lead by the battlecruiser HMWS Alexandra, is now co-operating with British forces in the Med. to bombard Italian ports in Libya.

British reports of Ercolanan movement south have lead III Corps' Field Marshal Weisel to seek authorisation to move up the drive into Libya. Great Walmington appears likely to agree, but holds that III Corps' position on the Libyan border gives her more time to play with than have the Ercolanans, on the far side of the vast British Sudan.

III Corps is to wait until either A: her reinforcements arrive, or B: the Ercolanans move in force into the Sudan.

NG III Corps core composition:
(reinforcement likely at a later date)

Aircraft Carriers: HMWS Sparrow (still undergoing final fittings)
Battle Cruisers: HMWS Alexandra
Heavy Cruisers: HMWS Deepdale
Light Cruisers: HMWS Brighton, HMWS Pelagin
Destroyers: HMWS Magical HMWS Quixotic
Submarines: HMuWS 1, HMuWS 2, HMuWS 4, HMuWS 5, HMuWS 6, HMuWS 7

40,000 Trucial Troops have Crossed the Palestine-Egypt border and will race across the Sinai peninsular to aid British troops fighting at El Alamein (I presume?)

Bomber aircraft transfered from WoS will be relocated to Alexandria to target enemy troops in Libya as well as hostile ships in the area.

(hurrah! And if we get throught Libya we'll transport even more armaments via land. We're still outnumbered here, of course, but hopefully between The Trucials and British you can hold off Ercolana coming up through the Sudan, while we take on the largely inept Italians ;) ..we're going to get bombed a lot.)

Operation: Scipio

90,000 Troops of the Ercolanan Foreign Legion have begun to advance across Sudan. They have approximately 200 of the new Carro Pesante P26/40 as well as a few hundred M13's and M15's, making this the largest armored deployment in Ercolana's history.

They are supported by 100 Piaggio P 108's taking off from Italian Airfields to the south and several squadrons of Macchi Mc.205 Veltros.

The true highlight of this operation is that all these men are hardened regulars armed with the finest weapons available, including B-33 rifles, M23 machine guns, mortars of all sizes, and the "Martello" Rocket Launchers.

Logisitc lines remain sketchy at best but a large effort is being made to ensure the men will get water and oil as the drive moves foward.

Im interested. Can i join?

Er, are you going after all the French African colonies, because I hold formely French territory such as Mayotte in the Indian Ocean.

Er, are you going after all the French African colonies, because I hold formely French territory such as Mayotte in the Indian Ocean.

This is WWII tech.

Yeah, these possesions were held lonnng before Haverton came along :)

Im interested. Can i join?

Okay with me.

(hes a good friend of mine...very good rper too, I think we should let him in.)

Aye, if we can find a place for him. Where about? What aims/allegiances/enemies? And such and such.

Aye, if we can find a place for him. Where about? What aims/allegiances/enemies? And such and such.

Well hes Asian...Knows a lot about Asian history, specificly Chinese. Whats the situation in the Pacific like?

Hm, I have relatively little influence there.. there was a brief flurry from Wabu thingi wanting to be Japan, but.. I don't think that was going anywhere good. I think he claimed to have invaded China, but hadn't really put anything into it, so as far as I'm concerned there's a lot of space left.
[bes quiet and waits for Ian/Cal input, nodding a hello to Islandia]

ooc: any IC posts?

EI... OOC thread is here (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=72532), we can hack out who's gonna be what there. we have harv? trying to get in too, and an island something too. so it's growing, whether it's growing out of control is something to discuss.

are you the anti-terrorism trainer or is the West Islandia??? lol so many similiar names around... in fact... are you an alter ego of WI?

With Italian forces crossing into Egypt and an Ercolanan army attacking into the Sudan, the defenders are seriously outnumbered. The Trucial States' force is surely a welcome reinforcement to the stretched British, but the Walmingtonian powers that be have little faith in the Trucials, who tend to be seen as something of a second-rate power. After all, we aren't palming Barrows and CCMkIs off on them for nothing..

Still, maybe the British can whip them into shape enough to stop a few Italians. (It's just a shame that the Italians outnumber the British and Trucial armies almost two to one)

III Corps was still showing less numerical strength than Great Walmington might have felt ideal, but Field Marshal Weisel was sure that a quick thrust into Libya could break through minimal Italian defences remaining in the west.

Their best armour, he insisted, (ooc: okay, so the difference between the best and worst of Italian armour in Libya at the time might not be huge :) ) was attacking Egypt, and most of their not insignifican air-power was busy with British and Trucial bombing raids out of Alexandria.

Of course they were aware of some level of Walmingtonian activity in Free French Africa, but that would just leave us more prisoners, and enable us to knock a larger portion of their force out of the war, wouldn't it?...

Libya-

The Muscas' opened the advance, straffing a few gun emplacements not far from the border near the coast. III Corps' few 28 and 12 pounder artillery pieces followed up minutes later, as Barrow bombers which had taken off with the Muscas' continued on against a near-by airbase, destroying several aircraft on the ground.

The relatively light fighter cover which made it off the ground was swept upon by a rag-tag assortment of Musca, Nexus, Wren, "Highwayman", as well as Gladiator biplanes, though not before one Barrow was successfully intercepted, and another downed by AA fire.

Perhaps those airmen who escaped the lost aircraft would be fortunate enough to be rescued by the advancing III Corps before the Italians could capture and relocate them.

Weisel reaches Tripoli!

III Corps sudden eastward dash across Libya following the opening of Italy's Egyptian assault against the British has gone very well indeed, say sources at the front.

In the fall of Zuwarah much of Italy's local air-power was knocked out on the ground as fast Walmingtonian Musca swept down on an unsuspecting foe.

Italian fighters eventually reacting from around Tripoli took a bite out of Walmington's fliers, Gladiator biplane and "Highwayman" 2-seater fighters fared especially poorly, while Wren and Nexus held their own, only for Musca to once again save the day. The versitile twin-engine aircraft tore chuncks out of enemy aircraft with their unprecidented concentration of fire, while Musca in trouble simply out-ran any danger.

The penetrating of modest border defences, fall of Zuwarah and subsiquent drive towards Tripoli resulted in 860+ Italian dead, an estimated one to two thousand wounded, and 1,274 captured. 47 Italian aircraft were shot down or destroyed on the ground.

Walmington lost 174 soldiers dead, and 253 wounded, as well as 13 aircraft shot down. A handful of armoured vehicles were lost on both sides, though the Italians had little to loose, and it is rumored that most of Walmington's "losses" are accounted for by MkII Cavalry Cruisers which broke-down.

Italian naval activity is said to have been surprisingly light- shore-based WoS and British aircraft have been on the wing, but with little to do. It appears that Italy is unwilling to throw her fleet into action where air-superiority is so contested. With increasing shore-based support, and their Sparrow Class carrier, Naval Group III Corps is moving up the coast to support III Corps's attack on Tripoli.

III Corps advance has begun to slow as resistance grows on the final approach to Tripoli. Casualties are expected to rise in coming days. The range and speed of the Musca, along with Walmington's apparently near-total armour superiority are hoped sufficient to ensure victory.

Further east, Italian progress was also initially good against the British, but it appears that their only moderately mechanised forces are hesitating in the face of stiff British resistance, and no doubt with worrying reports coming from the west.

Progress of Ercolanan forces into the British Sudan is uncertain. Great Walmington only hopes that the desert will not be kind.

(edit:ooc:this post and the one following seem somehow to be reversed. I posted this one after the following one, but.. yeah.. the forum is a pile of stinking porcupine mess. The one begining "Thankful of Berlin's apparent disinterest.." ought to be read first.)

Weisel was settling into his new field headquaters at Tripoli, assessing casualty reports.

16 Walmingtonians captured, and since liberated.
4 bombers and 2 fighters shot down, most by ground-based AA fire- 9 airmen killed.
14 Cavalry Cruisers knocked out by anti-tank fire, 6 more on mines, and 8 broken-down- 3 Marching Tanks knocked out by mines, 17 tankers killed, 24 wounded.
7 other armoured vehicles and 5 softskin vehicles knocked out- 8 men killed, 6 wounded.
81 infantry killed and 79 wounded.
115 dead and 109 wounded over-all.
Not a bad tally at all!

1,400 more Italians had been captured, and 611 killed.

Outside the city itself, a young officer stood atop a small rise, peering through field glasses. Lt.Sykes observed over two thousand Italians escaping east.

"Shouldn't we be after 'em, Desmond?"
"Nah, stuff it! I'm goin' the mess, they've got beer in! Forget chasing a couple of faders across the ruddy desert! The Waf'll probably get 'em."

But the Royal Walmingtonian Air Force hadn't had time to relocate its aircraft to Tripoli- the range from bases a step back was potentially too great, and those planes on the sole carrier off-shore were dedicated to defending the Naval Group as well as the newly captured city until such time as the relocation was complete. The Italians would have all night to go on unmolested.

Weisel had just received a communiqué from Great Walmington. He was to "proceed with all possible haste" -Operation Re-vere was "looking probable", and Walmington wanted Italy reeling and north Africa sewn up before forces had to be transfered out.

The contemplative Mr.Sykes would not have been encouraged were he privvy to such articles. The young Lt. was already worried by the tatics used by Weisel to take Tripoli- he almsot wished they'd taken a bit more of a knock so that the old methods might be re-evaluated before III Corps came up against a serious Italian force, or worse yet uncle Jerry or cousing Erco. "Proceeding with all possible haste" would make a rethink even less likely, and a disaster all the more possible.

Thankful of Berlin's apparent disinterest in the north African theatre, and concerned for the endurance of that favorable circumstance, Field Marshal Weisel's III Corps last week engaged in a major offensive against Italian defences at Tripoli.

The majority of III Corps initial 40,000+ effective strength was thrown against Tripoli, while Barrow and Musca kept up bombing and straffing runs, with the relatively long range Nexus fighters of the RWAF flying constant cover.

Weisel had wanted to take Tripoli before the Italian forces, concentrated against Egypt, could disengage from the British. It had been understood that the British would keep the Italians busy for as long as possible, but with the Ercolanan advance out of the Horn, British forces are increasingly keen to allow an Italian withdrawal- III Corps's time could be running out.

The Field Marshal, realising this, began his assault. Walmingtonian air-power continued to dominate as an artillery barrage kicked in. Walmington's field artillery again proved quite accurate and quick firing, but the pieces are relatively few and light- it was feared that strong Italian positions would escape. This was rectified in some degree by the 8" guns of HMWS Deepdale and mighty 12" guns of HMWS Alexandra, which reduced many defences.

III Corps had naval gunfire, local air superiority, weight of numbers, and vastly superior armour in terms of both quality and quantity, but Walmingtonian tactics are far from honed by modern combat.

As in the last Iansislian civil war, Cavalry Cruisers were sent dashing forward to scout enemy positions and to perhaps catch elements of local enemy forces off guard and cause early shock damage. Several lightly armoured cruisers were knocked out by Italian anti-tank fire, and others ran into minefields- mines! A dirty and cowardly tactic in Walmington's book!

In an attempt to avoid gunfire from static positions, crews of several CCMkII tanks removed the regulators from their engines, and achieved speeds purportedly well over 35mph. While this was impressive, and did in some places allow tanks to dash through the enemy perimeter, it also caused a number of breakdowns. It was feared that several crews were captured behind enemy lines, with their over-heated tanks intact.

Having deployed his spearhead scouts, Weisel ordered the first major advance.. despite the fact that those scouts had hardly reported anything encouraging. III Corps did a fairly comprehensive job of scouting enemy positions, but failed to adapt their tactics according to the findings.

ITMkI Turtle and MkII Terrapin trundled forwards, infantry marching erect and uniformly behind, with scattered support vehicles such as the Baby Carriage amongst them. The artillery barrage re-started, walking fire ahead of the advance as if Walmington was trying to apologise for missing the Great War.

The fact that Italian forces were not (generally) heavily entrenched meant that in this case the tactic seemed justified. Outnumbered defenders were scattered by concentrated artillery fire and aerial bombing, only to be swept up by Infantry Tanks, invulnerable to their light anti-tank fire.

Tripoli inevitably surrendered to Field Marshal Weisel, leading to the liberation of sixteen Walmingtonian tankers.

http://mailer.fsu.edu/~akirk/tanks/India/Ind-Bren-1feb1942.jpg Imperial (Ceyloban) infantry charge with STMkI "Baby Carriages" in support

http://mailer.fsu.edu/~akirk/tanks/GreatBritain/GB-CruiserMarkV-CovenanterAMRA-Mark1c.jpg
Lancer tanks are amongst those which are being adapted to multiple roles in the absence of serious enemy armoured resistance- clearing the mines on the advance into Tripoli was a major task

ooc: Am I facing any nations in Sudan, or are they just NPC.

(For WoS: DK generally spoke for the British previously while he tangled with them in the Atlantic. The Trucial States sent 40,000 men across the Sinai, but I haven't heard much from him since. Do we know if his nation is still active? The British I think have maybe a bit over 50,000 men in the region, but then they don't have to send forces to India in this reality, so it could be more. But they're pretty much NPC, aye.. Erco, WoS, and The Trucial States are I believe the only NS nations in north Africa)

OOC- Sorry I haven't popped into here before now; I've been watching a couple threads a little too closely, it seems..... Looks like it's time to bite off more than I can chew!

IC- Troop movements by the Wehrmacht and SS Panzer divisions in southern Europe, coupled with the sailing of a number of U-boats bound for the Mediterranean, seem strong indicators that Germany intends to make a show of force in the North African theater within the next six months. Early reports from Allied agents in the Reich suggest as many as 10 divisions are destined for North Africa, under the command of Field Marshall Erwin Rommel. The so-called "Afrika Corps" is a highly modern and mechanized force subordinated to the Fifth Panzer Army, and also contains detachments from the Luftwaffe's parachute and glider troops. The formation of Air Fleet V, utilizing airfields in southern Italy (and Agrigento, if he allows it), will help cover the transfer of these troops in light of the Kriegsmarine's lack of power in the Mediterranean.

The Alexandria Fleet continues to support the Walmingtonian offensive; the Arc Royal will soon be back from operations west of Gibralter to provide much-needed air cover to the advance. Aircraft from the island of Malta have also launched attacks at Axis forces in their area of operation.

Walmingtonian commanders were growing increasingly tired of relying on second hand British intelligence. Was SOE so much better than SOW? Was Walmington not brave enough? Clever enough? Were we really in this war? Close to a thousand Walmingtonians had died so far, and the nation was responsible for several thousand Italian prisoners of war- it felt like there was a war on.

Colonial SOW operatives in Asia weren't getting out much informaton. It was known that several had infiltrated both Ercolanan and Chiang Maian territory, but no one even seemed sure how many were still alive, loyal, and active.

Efforts were under way for the reversal of Walmington's relatively ignorant position, however. Near Kenilworth in green, if chilly, Kentonshire, Walmingtonian and British scientists worked side by side on a project of potentially geat importance.

After the fall of France Walmington had been glad to accept a variety of refugees from the continent and from Britain, which seemed to be facing invasion. Now that invasion seemed unlikely, much had been returned- the British embassy in Great Walmington had shipped back most of the national treasures hurried out, and many continental escapees had gone east in the hope of returning to the continent as freedom fighters in some capacity. Many scientists and other great minds however had remained to work on a certain enigma.

Maybe it would seem to some a shame that Walmington required British, and even Polish help on even this pursuit, but hey, they didn't know about it as yet. Those who did were rather too excited by the fiendishly complicated machine they were helping to construct. A machine which rather over-shadowed the battered little German clatterbox-like device sat across the room.

Kenilworth House might soon house Walmington's own wartime wonder- we can't let Jerry's super-weapons dictate proceedings now, can we?

North Africa gets hot!

..Walmington's best journalists, it appears, may have received their call-up papers and downed pens, leaving "some idiot" to concoct titles for Weisel's most news-worthy/friendly reports.

Figuratively though, as well as literally, the headline was fairly accurate. One of III Corps major advance scouting arms had come under heavy air attack, and astoundingly enough, it seemed that the Italians were behind it.

Many in Tripoli were inclined at first to joke, that was at least until they heard that four Spotter Gun-Car MkIIIs had been knocked out, along with two trucks, a MkII Cavalry Cruiser, and a new Stockley Land-Rover. One of the responding Nexus fighters had also been shot down, and though they had taken four Italian aircraft with them, eleven Walmingtonians were dead, and more than two dozen injured.

It appeared that the Italians really were trying to disengage from British forces in Egypt and to turn back against III Corps.

Great Walmington all the while continued to press for a speedy resolution to the North African situation.

Young Lt.Sykes glib observation pointed out withdrawl as the best means to that rather generally defined end.

Advance elements of the Fifth Panzer Army's Afrika Korps sailed from ports on the Mediterranean, bound for Italian held ports in North Africa. At the same time, the Luftwaffe reinforced Italian defenders with over 1000 parachute and glider troops in an effort to hold back the Allied land advance. The fate of these advance forces is uncertain, as little news comes back from the frontlines. Field Marshall Rommel hopes to have at least two divisions in the field by the end of the month, with the other eight divisions following in rapid order. Luftwaffe pilots also began attacks of Allied shipping in the Med from airbases in Italy and a few Greek islands captured earlier in the month.
West of Gibralter, U-boats continue to exact a heavy toll on Allied traffic. Recent developments in Allied ASW techniques have lessened the effectiveness of the feared U-boatwaffe, but new refinements in the Type-VII promise to even the playing field.

Two mid-sized ships lost in the Atlantic

The Standard ran once again with the same headline. U-boat attacks had claimed a couple more Walmy vessels, but the approach of Iansislian warships promised to boulster security in future!

In truth, of course, the situation was rather different. Last month those "two mid-sized ships" had somehow accounted for well over 20,000 tons of lost merchant shipping. This month the "two mid-sized ships" were an impressive 56,720 tons.

Thankfully the public tended to think in terms of ships and men lost, not tonnage, for they should otherwise surely have wondered if perhaps there was small-print reading twenty-three ships of all other sizes also lost, or some such.

Losses this month had shifted- last month much had gone down en route to Canada and Latin America- this month charting losses drew a big arrow, starting south east of WoS, and finishing just inside the Med, pointed towards III Corps.

Regardless, news of both the Iansislian approach and the long-awaited launch of two new classes of warship was met by good cheer.

Those III Class destroyers (also called "Falcon Class") had been sat half-finished in dry-dock since a few weeks after the declaration on Germany (ooc:on about the 7th of Sept. RL, I think! This war's moving in real time, isn' it? Heh. Longest NS war ever?), as no one was sure if we really needed fast destroyers anymore. This was thanks to the second new class of completed examples, the Gull Class corvette resulting from observation of Calarcan shipyards.

-and besides, almost everyone in Walmington prefered cruisers!
(ooc:Will post 'new' (they've been sat on my word pad for a month) vessels in my armaments thread if I haven't already)


Field Marshal Weisel was pleased when he received a major weekly dispatch from Great Walmington. When Lt.Skyes heard about it he broke into a merry jig, much to the alarm of his comrades.
III Corps was going to get a lot bigger. She was going to get more tanks (especially Lancers and Terrapins), and she was going to get more aircraft- not just Barrows and "Highwaymen", either! Further, the RWN was finally starting to look like a viable navy of British descent, as Eden and Kentonshire Class vessels were laid down in shipyards across the kingdom. Vollombo's shipyard too was starting to look like a viable agent, and was about to put to sea its Sparrow Class light carrier.

It looked like this most modern of wars would be increasingly fought in one of the world's most ancient and bloodied theatres- the Mediterranean.

Proud citizens of the Reich flocked to ports on the Mediterranian to see off the soldiers of the 5th SS Panzer Division, bound for the North African theater. The newest SS Panzer division, fresh from joint training missions in Italy, and will be one of the first divisions to follow the Fallschimjager regiments sent into combat earlier in the month.
The divisions commander, Gen. Fritz Tillerman, is one of the youngest generals in the history of the Reich. He and many of the soldiers of the division served in the Wehrmacht and other SS divisions during the French campaign, and have been equipped with the best weapons in the world.

III Corps's advance out of Tripoli had begun well, the men bolstered somewhat by talk of major reinforcement- it felt like Walmington's proud army was at last about to apply itself to winning the war.

The optimism didn't last too long, as reports of German mobilisation coincided with sighting by spotter units of German forces. Weisel halted and dug in, not realising that what lay ahead was merely a thousand or so paratroopers and the few thousand Italians who had escaped Tripoli.

It would be some time before it was made clear to him that the main German force had not yet arrived. Efforts would be made to damage the Germans en route, but only time would tell whether Weisel's delay would prove costly.

Naval Group III Corps operating off the Libyan coast within range of fighter and ASW aircraft cover was quite prepared to attack German shipping into the limited Axis-held coastline (Western Libya and everything beyond is Walmingtonian/Free French, while Egypt is British, so there's only central and eastern Libya in Italian hands) , but the flotilla was fairly small. A reinforcement was headed in from the Atlantic, but probably had more Mediterranean water to cover than did the Germans.

Naval Group III Corps-
Aircraft Carriers: HMWS Sparrow
Battle Cruisers: HMWS Alexandra
Heavy Cruisers: HMWS Deepdale
Light Cruisers: HMWS Brighton, HMWS Pelagin
Destroyers: HMWS Magical HMWS Quixotic
Submarines: HMuWS 1, HMuWS 2, HMuWS 4, HMuWS 5, HMuWS 6, HMuWS 7


Joining NGIIICorps from the Atlantic-
Battle Cruisers: HMWS Brixton
Destroyers: HMWS Stockshire, HMWS Southshire, and HMWS Hare
Submarines: HMuWS 8, HmuWS 9

Great Walmington is calling for Iansislian assistance in escorting its troop transports and supply convoys into Morocco and Tunisia, as now most of the nation's naval fighting strength is commited.

-This seems as good a time as any to point out that traditionally (I think I glossed over this in the past, but..who remembers that eh?) Walmington's military pride has been the army. This is presumably owing to the fact of their good relations with their British cousins, who had been usually happy to deter maritime threats against Walmington, and to the nation's long term technological.. dilly-dallying, which excluded serious gains in the aviation sector.

WoS's naval capability was focused around a huge merchant fleet with limited defensive capability -most technological efforts revolved around the IT sector (which until recently was always listed as one of our largest).. that manifesting itself in radar and radio research to the end of spotting trouble coming, and screaming for British help. A major consideration in the design of many merchantmen was in troop deployment- many of Walmington's transport vessels, usually involved in shipping copper from the Cape and tea from Ceyloba, are well suited to carrying the army to any area of concern. The vessels tend to be quite small -usually under 2,000ts- but relatively fast by merchant standards, in the hope that an army could be quickly transported by an armada of fast little ships, and that loss of a few would not hamper the operation. Generally the opposition was in the form of a Ceyloban prince, or African tribesmen, so deploying impressive ranks of infantry was expected to be an uncontested and ..influential action.

After the Great War, which Walmington bravely dodged, it began to dawn on the nation that really, a fighting navy and an airforce might be important next time around. As a result the wealthy island-dwelling global power has a young and small fleet of warships- the almost total lack of light cruisers especially is proving a pain, as we should very much like to deploy some to the Med. WoS still considers submarines and even mines a tad underhanded, and has scrapped plans for expansion of the 22 boat submarine force, and only deploys some limited minefields in defensive roles: an enemy won't hit a Walmingtonian mine while leaving his own port.

The airforce now is, as has been seen by unfortunate Italian and German pilots, something quite new. Co-operation with Iansisle and Calarca has transformed the RWAF, and the DAMkI and DAMkI* Musca are perhaps the most feared aircraft in extensive service, while the still experimental JFMkI Cricket holds the world speed record (unless anyone's gone supersonic and not crashed?). This is an airforce of contrast, however, as many imperial outposts far from present action are still guarded largely by biplanes such as the British Gloster Gladiator!

The army is quite small in peace-time, a fact reflected in the deployment of just 125,000 men to Britain when it looked certain that Walmington's greatest ally would be invaded by a military that had crushed France in a matter of weeks, and also in the small size of III Corps. The reserve however is relatively massive. When Walmington in the past deployed its small regular forces to deal with disturbances in the empire, the home islands were exposed without a strong navy. Thus the reserve was activated in force enough to cripple any invader, whose invasion would probably not be contested until reaching the beaches.

Presently there are some effective 100,000+ regulars training in Canada, 42,000 in III Corps, 20,000-odd in the rest of the empire, and near 75,000 in WoS and Britain. Each imperial nation also fields a small native-staffed army, those in Waynesia and the Cape being largest, while Ceyloba's princes are expected to raise their own additional regiments against invasion. Small numbers of imperial troops also suppliment WoS regular outfits- hundreds of Ceylobans trained by Walmington are fighting with III Corps.
The army's tactics are questionable. Having missed the Great War, Walmington lacks some experience. However, fighting the Cape wars (think Zulu and Boer) did lead to the creation of commando units attached to the SOW (Special Operations Wing). Again, this branch of the military is one of contrasts. One is likely to see thousands of well dressed infantrymen marching in ranks with bayonets fixed, following an artillery barrage, while commando squads sneak about in the shadows sabotaging rail lines and so forth.

The word was flashed to the Admiralty in Ianapalis that Walmington would appreciate help in guarding its convoys, and the word came back almost at once: Iansisle would support the creation of an "Allied Naval Command, Atlantic Theater" (ANCAT) under the command of a Walmingtonish Admiral. Commodore Martin Hansfield's Iansislean Expeditionary Fleet, one of the most modern formations in the Royal Iansislean Navy, would be placed under ANCAT's jurisdiction. A copy of orders to that effect were flashed to Commodore Hansfield's flag aboard HIMS Behemoth.

Unfortunately, but for the marines aboard Hansfield's ships, the Iansisleans had naught to spare for the ground campaign in North Africa. Imperial influence had always been assured by the Royal Iansislean Army Corps, a mere 40,000 effectives strong in peacetime. Most of these were deployed overseas at all times, largely in Galla-China or Borneo, with Mindanao (and of late Dianatran) getting what was left over. Because of the Ministry of War's continued favor of the navy (and flying corps) over the army, the RIAC also found itself poorly equipped to fight a modern war. The lack of effective indirect fire howitzers, heavy machine guns, tanks, modern armored cars, and several other critical machines of war testified undoubtably to this. However, Iansislean generals remained convinced of the superiority of the M74B rifle over 'lousy Hun arms and the feeble efforts of the Chiang-man', and were frankly skeptical of the effectiveness of the new Walmingtonish armor arriving in Nusheld and Iansisle.

Of course, as soon as war broke out, thousands upon thousands of volunteers ran to join any branch of the service they could in a fit of patriotic (and, in most cases, probably drunken) glory. Most were diverted into the RIAC, who soon found their logistical, officer, and training systems hopelessly swamped by the new recruits. Although there are currently some 250,000 men 'under arms', and most of them training in Dianatran (the High Command's thinking: "It's hot in Gallaga. It's hot in Dianatran. I'm sure training in a mid-latitude desert will prepare them for war in a equatorial grassland"), only perhaps the 35,000 already serving in various places throughout South-East Asia and another 5,000 on the Effitian border had any hope of being really ready for combat any time soon.

There was of course also the East Gallaga Company's sepoy army, but a Ministry of War official had been right when he described it as "all brawn and no brain." Of the 20,000 men the EGC had east of the Irrawaddy River, only perhaps a thousand were still under the EGC's effective command. The rest had simply 'melted away' in the face of the oncoming Chiang Mai offensive. Supreme General Sir Ian O'Bannon (the goat of First Augsburg) could sleep safely at night knowing that the Chiangese had not yet run up against 'real' opposition, like the RIAC regulars from the King's V Rifles deployed in defense of St. Walburg, but few men-on-the-scene convinced themselves that 500 Iansislean soldiers would act as anything more than a trip wire against the modern Asiatic force.

Long awaited reports from the Fallschimjager regiments in North Africa have finally filtered back to the German High Command. The German airborne forces and their Italian comerades have suffered heavy losses at the hands of Allied armor, against which the lightly armed force had only limited capability. The Axis forces did manage to knock out some of the older Allied tanks with a new innovation carried by German paratroopers, the Panzerfaust anti-tank rocket. A lightweight, disposable weapon designed for the fast-moving forces of the Wehrmacht and airborne troopers, it has proven highly effective against the tanks of Britain and Walmington. However, the weapons were not available in large enough numbers to turn the battle in favor of the Axis.
The arrival of the 2nd Panzer Division in Lybia will doubtless be a welcome respite for the mauled paratroopers holding against the Allies.

OOC
WoS, remember there are some Calarcian Corvettes, destroyers and cruisers deploying to protect lines of supply from Gallaga to WoS itself, this should allow you to spread your own navy stronger in the north Atlantic and Med. The numbers of ships are somewhere buried bacy in the liberty thread, but offhand it's 2 flottillas of Corvettes, one squadron of destroyers and one squadron each of light and heavy cruisers, tho it might be two each of destroyers and light Crs. Have a look. I split some of the fastest ships off near the cape to speed ahead to catch the Scheer, so the rest must be close to WoS.
/OOC

(Heh, it's spread already. Almost everything is either A)At Ceyloba, B)Off Egypt/Libya, C)Headed for Libya, or D)Undergoing repair.

There's about eight corvettes and a destroyer on escort duty :? )

(And don't forget, of course, about Commodore Hansfield's squadron. It's been placed under Walmingtonish command. He's got the battleship Behemoth, the MAFD Galloquoi, the heavy cruisers Dianatran and Noropia, and the destroyers Gorilla, Zebra, Gazelle, Arabian Oryx, Heroic, and Intrepid.

Anyone interested in where the Deutschland got off to can check this out. (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=93065&highlight=) Let me know if anyone has some ships in that area.
Oh, one more thing. Most of the land-based combat for my army is going to be under my new puppet, DarknessUponUS (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_nation/nation=darknessuponus). I even made a new reigon and invited one of my friends to come play! He probably won't do too much though; he's a bit over our tech level (slightly ahead-of-present day).

The port city of Drakkar (yeah.... I made that up..) was the scene of much activity as the ships carrying the troops and vehicles of the 2nd Panzer Division arrived just after midnight. The dockworkers threw themselves wholeheartedly into unloading the materials that the Axis defenders west of the city desparately needed.
Panzer Mk. IV's were lined up in the streets outside the dock, their engines idling in the chill morning. Their crews made preparations to get their columns underway as soon as the first companies of panzergrenadiers were ready. Ammunition and supplies were brought out and distributed, and at first light, three infantry companies and 27 tanks left the city bound for the frontlines.

(Just a reminder: This is actually DK; I'm posting the ground campaign as this nation. Hope no one gets lost with this!)

(Just a reminder: This is actually DK; I'm posting the ground campaign as this nation. Hope no one gets lost with this!)

(*Is instantly confused, and decides to throw self off cliff rather than try and understand the D.K. - D.U.U thing*)

Ok, here goes again. My forces are divided up as follows.
Der Kriegsmarine= all things naval.
DarknessUponUS= all things land and air.

(I'm just doing this to keep them more separated for me. Naval engagements will be under DK, and land and air engagements will be under DUU. I hope that helps you out some.)

(Don't worry man, I got it. I was just giving you a hard time. ;))

Argh! Why must my time be hard! Oh, the humanity!
(Thanks. I have a hard time telling what's serious and what's not when it's all typed out. Go figure. :roll: )

So.... Where's WoS. Is he gonna make a move or what?

(Ah, sorry.. I was out uhm, drinking, yesterday. Where exactly is Drakkar then?)

Walmington's merchant shipping losses had hit the 100,000 ton mark, rising significantly as vast convoys poured men and equipment into north Africa. The new corvettes had reported their first U-boat kill- it was believed to have been a German vessel rather than Ercolanan, and had just claimed a 720+ ton ship carrying spare parts (for lighting equipment, mostly) to III Corps.

The increasing level of escort granted the supply lanes to North Africa looked like stemming the tide of loss there, and the Admiralty was actually somewhat relieved to hear that raider Deutschland had escaped far south. There had been a strong lobby for the deployment of Hansfield's expeditionary fleet in the pursuit of said raider, lest she deliver havoc to other less protected sea lanes. Now it seemed less risky than before to send Hansfield into the Mediterranean theatre.

Admiral Eric Longworth had been appointed head of ANCAT, and just about the first thing he wanted to do was to get the Ians involved in the fight. With Jerry stepping in to help Italy and Erco, the British and Walmingtonians were feeling a bit exposed. Longworth requested information on the marine detachment available in the expeditionary force, and was considering attaching them to a Walmingtonian unit in III Corps. It almost seemed a little.. dark, but he wanted to make sure that Walmington's allies got a taste for the war, and got it first hand. And hey, if the Ians got involved in a modern European outfit with its armoured support, maybe it'd do them some good.

(Of course in truth WoS army tactics aren't likely any better than Iansislian, but the fact that we have tanks makes us think we're super dooper modern)

A convoy due to sail for Sfax in Tunisia was going to be carrying -amongst other things- four Armadillo tanks (those four being all that was yet ready for action- and in truth their trials aren't over and they'll likely break down in the desert) intended to boost moral, win some local superiority, and "put the wind up Jerry". Hansfield was to escort the nine involved transports, and once on hand in the Med it was hoped that his marines would put ashore, and his ships then be detached for operation against incoming Axis supplies from Europe. HMWS Brixton and its escorts would assist, along with Sparrow.

The main purpose of these attachments was defensive- three destroyers and a few squadrons of fighters and ASW aircraft should when coupled with Hansfield's force, it was assumed, provide sufficient protection from U-boat and land-based aircraft.

(I'll do something later about the situation on land, but I need to get some tea and complete my recovery ;) )

Norweigan agents reporting to the Allied intelligence services have reported that the German battleship Tirpitz, the battlecruisers Rammstein and Gneisenau, the carrier Peter Strasser, and several other surface units are showing intentions of putting to sea in the very near future. Unconfirmed reports say that the battle group is destined for the Mediterranean and the Allied supply lines to North Africa. The impact that such a force would have on the balance of power in the African theater makes the possibility, while remote, something that must be considered in strategic planning for the Allies.

(Ah, sorry.. I was out uhm, drinking, yesterday. Where exactly is Drakkar then?)

OOC- I dunno. Far enough away from the front that you couldn't take it in a single day, I guess. Any closer than that would be TOO risky for me.

IC- The advance columns of the 2nd Panzer Divisions made good time in the flat expanses between Drakkar and the battle lines manned by exhausted Axis troops. Word had spread to the defenders that replacements were on the way up, and morale was rising as men came to the realization that they were not, in fact, going to be left to die in the desert. The general feeling among the defenders was that the Allies would have a suprise next time they decided to come poking around.

"Patrol's a while coming back." Lt.Sykes' face bore a distant expression befiting the desert expanse across which he gazed.

The dawn patrol was indeed late. Sunrise was all but over, and not a word had been received from the unit of two Spotter Gun Cars and one Stockley Landrover.

In fact one of the Gun Cars -that bearing a .55" and .303" machinegun- had been struck by a shell from the 50mm gun boasted by a Panzer III they never expected to encounter

The dawn patrol had underestimated the size and reach of Axis forces, being unaware of the arrival of reinforcements to the area. They thought to have bypassed most of the small force opposing III Corps, and suffered for the mistake. The second Gun Car made a good account of itself, 20mm cannon blazing, it almost seemed that they might cover the retreat of the Landrover, and its threeman crew- two Privates, and the distinguished Sergeant Major Sergeant. It was in vain, however, as a lucky or else highly skilled shot from a Panzerfaust at distance disabled the Gun Car. There after, despite the initial reaching of one private for his Tripoli Pattern machine carbine, the Landrover's surrender was ordered by the Sgt. Major when a German halftrack drew near.

Sgt.Major Sergeant was the highest ranking Walmingtonian yet lost to the army, and by the time III Corps realised what had happened, aerial reconnaissance detailing the German reinforcement had Weisel supposing that things would get a lot worse yet.

A tank battle, eh? Lets see what Jerry steel is made of..

It was perhaps best that the Field Marshal did not share that thought out-loud, for young Mr.Sykes would almost certainly have earned himself a reprimand for suggesting that maybe the answer was ..iron and carbon, sir.

(ooc: excuse me if there are no PzIII on hand. I assumed that PzIV would presently be supplementing rather than fully replacing the previous model- either way, the Spotter didn't have much chance against anything more than a PzI..or six Italian divisions. I think that I read of your introduction of the Panzerfaust. And as for the half-track- well I just like German halftracks and Sergeant wants a ride ;)
I think I'll now update one of my other threads with a bit about the organisation of Walmingtonian forces so that one can see what III Corps is operating with.)

If Commodore Hansfield was a little wary about disembarking his marines for extended duty in North Africa, Lieutenant Colonel Philip Foster was positively terrified. He may have been as woefully ignorant of modern warfare as any other Iansislean field commander, but he understood enough to know that the Huns and the Walmies had big metal boxes to hide in while they advanced on the enemy and that he certainly didn’t!

This caused him to wonder how much his small force, only about 500 marines (a third of whom were drawn from Behemoth herself) would really make amongst the massive formations of German, British, Italian, and Walmingtonian troops operating on the front. That got him to thinking: the R.I.M.C. was really more used to operating against large hordes of natives, not professional, European-style regulars! The fact that the marines had no modern field equipment beyond their M74B rifles, sidearms, and a handful of V-3 light machine guns did little to ease the man’s mind. After all, their training was for being put ashore, subduing any immediate (and usually spear-armed) threat, followed by the temporary policing of local villages until regular R.I.A.C. troops could arrive. Sure, there were plenty of examples from the Corps’ history (the drive on Veritas, where marines had acted as a spearhead for the army’s inland advance, being one example that jumped to mind), but this was different!

Hansfield’s anticipation was a little differently rooted. While he was generally seen as a rising star by the Admiralty, an objective outside observer would probably realize that Hansfield was only slightly less reactionary than the rest of the ever-conservative Royal Iansislean Navy. In fact, the commodore was more worried about what should happen if (in some tragically unforeseen circumstance, Behemoth and her consorts should need their marines. No doubt, they’d put them ashore with III Corps only to find that ... well, he couldn’t think of an example, but that’s why it would be unforeseen!

The naval part of the operation did much more to put his mind at ease. After all, submersible ... dohickies weren’t really a threat, regardless of what he had learned attempting to escort a ‘Colt’ to Walmington. But they hadn’t had hydrophones or depth charges back then, and just had a single heavy cruiser and some outdated destroyers - what u-boat commander in his right mind would dare challenge the full might of a modernized Royal Iansislean Navy battle squadron!?

The reports about the possible movement of German heavy units preparing to make for his area of operations were fairly troubling. However, Hansfield was convinced that Behemoth was pound-for-pound easily a match for even the newest German battleships, and he was probably right. The Ercolanian and Italian efforts he’d most likely run up against first were certainly of no consequence, he thought. After all, how could a country that had only been unified for seventy years hope to provide a challenge for the R.I.N.?

Satisfied in his delusional confidence, Hanfield awaited his sailing orders.

OOC- Indeed, the Panzer Mk. IV will not be replacing the earlier model already on hand, because the High Command feels that they cannot be spared at the present. Besides, this is the only active land theater the Wehrmacht is engaged in; there's really nowhere else to send them right now. And you're correct about the Panzerfaust; first introduced by the Fallshirmjager, they're now showing up in ever-increasing numbers on the battlefield. They should prove more than a match for anything on the battlefield (except for your blasted Armadillos. I still don't know what I'm gonna do about those...)

IC- By the end of the third day in Africa, the 2nd Division had largely made its presence known to the Allied forces, engaging several British and Walmingtonian units who probed a little too close to the line. Of course, by now every Tommy and Wally in North Africa knew that the Germany had put one of their crack Panzer divisions into action on the front, and there were more on the way. A less known fact was that the advance elements of the 5th SS Panzer Division had begun arriving in Drakkar, and were bringing the city under a distinctly Nazi influence...

As men and materials continued to arrive in Drakkar, the 5th SS Panzer Division prepared to make for the frontline. The order that had come down from Field Marshall Rommel's office was simple.
In two days, the 2nd Panzer Division would make its move, attacking the center of the Allied battle line. Rommel believed that the superior guns and armor of the Panzer Mk IV, combined with the reputation of the division, would convince the British and Walmingtonian defenders that the attack was the beginning of a major offensive, and would focus the majority of their effort and attention there. In reality, the 5th SS Panzer Division would sweep around the southern flank of the British 4th Army and drive toward the nearest seaport. The Allies would fall back, desparate to escape the closing noose, and the 2nd Division would be able to destroy them during their retreat. Then it would be a small matter to reclaim Tripoli and the whole of the North African theater.
The plan was flawless, but as Rommel and his officers well knew, no plan ever survived the first shots fired. It would still remain to be seen if Walmington or Britain would fold under the pressure.

As daylight faded from the skies south of Spain, U-214 sat quietly at periscope depth, her engines stopped. Capt. Welch's boat had spent much of the day submerged, hiding from Allied aircraft and destroyers. Now, as the day ended, he was ready to make his way through the Strait and into the Mediterranean to engage in the Kriegsmarine's campaign in North Africa. Heavy fleet units had been promised, but other things had to be considered first; the problems with just getting them out of the North Sea were bad enough. But to lead them into the Med, with only one enterance in use.... unless Rommel could take the Suez and provide the capital ships with an exit if the British Home Fleet came looking for a fight, it would be suicide. So this was the solution; 25 Type-VII U-boats had been tasked with disrupting the Allies fleet actions in the Mediterranean.
And so here Capt. Welch sat, mere miles away from the Strait of Gibralter, ready to sail strait into the lion's den. In an effort to increase the survivability of the submarines dispached, Fleet Command had ordered that they be fitted with a prototype device called a schnorkel which would allow them to run their diesel engines at near-periscope depth, at least in relatively calm seas. Capt. Welch was somewhat skeptical of the value of an unproven device, and had no intention of betting his life on it. He would make the crossing on the surface, as soon as the sun had fully set and the new moon had risen. In the meantime, he and the rest of the crew sat anxiously in the cramped U-boat, counting the seconds before dark.

(That's the western battle-line then? Pretty much just WoS III Corps to your west, with the Free French behind them, and the possibility of a tiny handfull of Iansislian marines putting ashore. East -Egypt- being the location of British forces. I assume they wouldn't be in any hurry to ship forces into Libya considering that they've only recently seen 192,000 Italians begin to rethink their attack, and that there's 90,000 Ercolanans coming up through the Sudan. Eesh, the allies are divided in two and outnumbered probably three to one already.)

Weisel was begining to echo some of the concern frantically expressed by some of his officers (Lt.Sykes in particular). Major reinforcement was arriving in Tunisia and Morocco.. quite why some of it was that far away even the Field Marshal wasn't sure.

The best news perhaps was that air support was improving. Though many squadrons were still based far back from the front, the long range fighters were available- all be it on something of a delay thanks to the distances involved. The long range fighters, in Walmington's case, are also the best, of course. Musca and Nexus, rather than the more plentiful if modest Wren, would provide the initial boost to III Corps mediocre air cover. These long range aircraft were proving useful in gathering information even before serious battle was joined.

Weisel alarmed many of his officers by refusing to put major pressure on Great Walmington with regards to hurrying the pace of reinforcement. Weisel instead gave voice to an opinion recently formed by himself in favour of maintaining a degree of naval freedom at all costs. Naval Group III Corps must be kept operational along the Libyan coast. Another carrier would be nice too, he said, but Great Walmington informed him that the under-construction Phoenicia would be some time in coming.

Many officers were puzzled by having noticed the Field Marshal's habit of refering to the forty-odd thousand men of III Corps as Walmington's "First Desert Army". What was the second, and why wasn't it here?

Behind III Corps on the roads back to Tripoli and beyond airstrips were being prepared, gunpits dug, and tank-traps placed (stand-alone minefields remained absent- mines were only laid amongst and around more visible defences, as Walmington still regarded the silent unmanned fields quite a cowardly device of desperation).

(Oh good Lord, technology annoys me. A Walmy clatter-box wouldn't break-down like this. [waits and waits and waits for his PC to do something] Sorry if this post is another mess. I am scourging my own face as you read.)

OOC- Actually, the final objective for this offensive is the Suez Canal, which will be invaluable for the Kriegsmarine, so we're going...... east, I guess. God, I'm so confused. I thought the Italians were west of us! I dunno; whatever would be more entertaining.

IC- The day before the offensive found the 2nd Panzer Division gathering its forces near the center of the British line. The Afrika Corps had managed to get 25 Panzer Mk IV's and over 40 Mk III's to the front in time to move on the 4th Army's positions west of Drakkar. (Does that seem small? I have no idea what the British have over there...) The command staff had worried a bit that the German armor would find itself outnumbered by British tanks after the initial shock of the attack wore off and the enemy began to react, but by that time the tanks of the 5th SS Panzers would be in position to attack the exposed flanks of the enemy. With any luck, the resulting confusion would be more than enough to carry the day for the 2nd Division.
The one major shortcoming of Rommel's plan was a general lack of air cover. The Luftwaffe's Air Fleet V would be operating at the upper end of its range, coming out of airfields in Sicily and southern Italy. The Bf-109's which made up the bulk of the fighter force wouldn't even be able to support the strike bombers once they reached the African coast. Airfields were under construction in the territory still held by the Axis troops, but would not be in use in time to be of any use for the current offensive. Much was being placed on the speed and power of the first blow, and that the British would be unable to scramble enough air cover to stop the attack before they hit the front lines. It was a dangerous gamble, to be sure.
The troops of both divisions spent much of the night cleaning their weapons and rehearsing their roles in the coming battle.

ooc: Am I facing any real opposition in Sudan?

ooc: Am I facing any real opposition in Sudan?

I'm sure the Brits aren't just gonna roll over for you, but as far as who's gonna control them, I'm not sure... maybe WoS could? I get kinda nervous when I'm controlling both sides of the battle, because I keep thinking someone is gonna jump in and say "AH! You're favoring yourself!"
Of course I am, fewel; I'm playing both sides...

(I would, but I think I'm doing far too many NS things already.
Erm.. I don't know much about British Sudanese forces. You (Erco) massively outnumber them, that's for sure. I expect they'd be serious trouble for the Italians, but assuming that Erco makes a better soldier/division/army I think the end result -stubborn as the British may be- is all but a for-gone conclusion unless Britain or her allies can get major reinforcements in quickly.

I suppose that further north, if DK's driving east, he's facing most of 50,000 Britishers in Egypt- I know that IRL Rommel was always badly wanting for tanks compared to the British who always seemed to have three for every one of his.. but DK's not fighting the Soviet Union.
One source that's not directly relevent considering how vastly different this situation is to that in reality reads "the 8th Army outnumbered the combined Axis force (118,000 men to 113,000), had 680 tanks (with 500 in reserve or in supply) to Rommels 390 and 1000 British planes confronted 320 Axis aircraft"
Of course this is after the Italians have taken a lumping and Rommel's doing his damndest to recover a bad situation. And these are British tanks (Crusaders in the main, likely) No match for PzIV.. but a Hurricane with four cannon, a bomb, and a load of rockets... and then you've got 88mm guns, I expect. Oh wait, the British will have Matilda II's as well.. all but invulnerable to anything but the 88mm and later long-barrel 75s (dunno if your PzIVs are still using the initial short 75s)

The Italians as yet I suppose are what WoS is about to face, if you're going east of them into Egypt.

Between Germany and Erco I'd say Egypt is in trouble, and even if they are only Italian forces, WoS still has near 190,000 of them to get through before we can help. Say, no one's planning to invade WoS are they? I need to free up a few hundred thousand men, I think. Heh.

Not me. I don't plan on invading Britain either, unless I can budge the 4th Army out of Egypt. Jumping the Channel would be one thing, but an amphibious invasion of Greater Walmington? Forget it. Not with the Royal Navy sitting that close by.

(Yeah. This thing's going to end with the allies' fighting for months/years to get into Europe from the south without Soviet help, and thus simply running out of men/machines/stomach, or else with Germany finally feeling the economic and industrial pressure of that resulting isolation. Heh, it'll be such a wussy end, eventually. "Eh..so..we don't think we're going to loose.. you?" "Nah, us either." "Uhm..so.. see you next war?" "Cool. See yer." [fin])


(Oh.. I'd make an IC post, but after dental anaesthetic washed down with strong ale on no sleep...and with my ability to makenosense..)

(I would, but I think I'm doing far too many NS things already.

ooc: try fighting 20 of DT's closest allies while being attacked at home, and also having an entire fleet and Marine force deployed in another war completely unrelated. Add this WWII thread with Ercolana, and you get my schedule over the last week or so.... :P

(Oh dear...do I owe you guys an IC post? I've been feeling a bit under the weather of late, and haven't quite gotten about to it. I'll try and work on something and have it up...soon .. .hopefully ;))

Well, as good as that is for my plans of world domination, hope you feel better soon. :roll:

How's about you, WoS? I'll give you a chance to post anything you need to before I open up this thing.

http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2203598#2203598

my little spin off for the battle of Egypt...

(Hm, well.. just to tie everything together-)
WoS has a reasonably highly mechanised and growing force (presently under 50,000) in north west/central Libya facing 190,000 Italians in north east/central Libya.. on the east side of the Italian force are the Germans facing British Egypt with over 50,000 British defenders, who are also facing 90,000 Ercolanans coming up through the Sudan. The Britishers' Arab Trucial allies seem to have melted away. The Axis heavily outnumber the UK/WoS allies on the ground.
At the moment the UK/WoS forces have a resonable degree of naval dominance on the north African coast, and the air cover situation is not too bad, with large British air wings in Egypt, and bases in Malta and the Middle East and powerful WoS long-range fighters in Free French territory, and a light carrier off the coast.
Presumably, with no Asian holdings to worry about, the British will be seeking to insert significant reinforcement into Egypt from Britain and perhaps the Middle East (I'm not too clear on the situation there).
WoS continues to build up its ah, strategic reserve behind the front lines, and Iansisle and Calarca assist in maintaining naval superiority.

"It looks grim right now, but I shouldn't want to be Johnny Axis in the long run!" -Sir John Le Mesurier.

Shortly before sunset, German artillery begins shelling British positions on the eastern battle line. Just enough light remains for the FO's to quickly sight the barrage on prominent strongpoints before darkness falls. Rommel's attack calls for the 2nd Panzer Division's artillery to pound the British the entire night, when the Luftwaffe's bombers will launch a more precise strike. The relative lack of a fighter presence in North Africa will necessitate an very short-lived airstrike, it is hoped the artillery will break the British line. Any bombers that linger over the battle too long will surely be lost.

As the sun rose over the African desert, the German artillery fell silent. All along the battle line, the hellish roar died away untill the only sound left was the wind sweeping across the sands. The British, having been pounded incessantly through the night, huddled in their foxholes. They knew an attack must surely follow so massive a bombardment.
The Panzers of the 2nd Division roared to life, and the advance began. Soldiers scurried behind the tanks, hoping they would protect them from anything the British decided to throw their way. Overhead, the outlines of a few formations of Luftwaffe bombers could be seen, heading toward the more stubborn British fortifications. Their pilots were nervous, and understandably so; they were flying in totally unescorted, with only their defensive guns to protect them from the British fighters that patrolled the sands.
The first engagements were fought here, in the skies above the desert. Luftwaffe and RAF pilots clashed above the heads of the soldiers, locked in their own deadly struggle. The bomber crews of Air Fleet V paid a heavy price, losing over 35% of their planes to skillful British pilots. However, they suceeded in knocking out several hardened positions and a number of targets that posed a deadly threat to the 2nd Panzer Divisions advance. British artillery, carefully placed to smash the Axis advance, was now either destroyed, or forced into much poorer positions further away from the lines.
The army was not without its own losses. The British had no intentions of letting the Germans march strait through without a fight, and inflicted serious damage to the leading units in the 2nd Panzer Division. The Germans lost 9 tanks in the first day of the offensive, out of a scant 53 available. However, the new Panzer Mk IV proved its worth against the much lighter British tanks; their guns and armor were ill-met with the challenge of fighting the newest tank in the Wehrmacht's arsenal.
And all the while, the 5th SS Panzers sped along the southern flank of the British line, opposed only by a few scouts and skirmishers. The British units in their path resisted gallantly, but their numbers were too few, and they were too far from the lines to expect any support.
By the end of the first day, the British were trying to determine exactly how many troops Rommel had thrown against them, and desparately moving men to stop the 5th SS Division's rush on their flank. The 2nd Panzer Division retired from the battle as the sun set, having lost better than 300 men and quite a few tanks. The German artillery again took over the offensive, blasting the British for hours into the night before ceasing fire. They would need their ammunition in the next day's battle, for Rommel intended to break the British line in one massive blow.

Near Sirte, Libya, III Corps position

Scarcely had word reached Weisel's command tent of the German barrage on the British far to his east, than it was made clear that Italy was at least so well informed.

"Well if what you're saying is true, Colls, what I don't see is why the Brits don't just bomb Jerry's guns twice as bad as what he's giving th.. eh up.. what's that?"
"What's what, Sykie?"
"That queer whistlin' sound.. blimey! Cover!"

Pressed up against the face of a low dune, Lt.Sykes and his comrade in arms Cpl. Colin Gorman continued their chatter as dirt and sand showered down after an Italian shell burst near by.

"How the hell did they get so close? I thought we had Muscas out?"
"Look, they're coming from further south- no where near the coast like wise old Weasel thought."
"Rat bastard! You'll get us all killed!" Yelled loose-cannon Sykes, almost seeming to miss the value of Gorman's cheap pun.

III Corps's fighters scrambled some precious minutes later, as Italian aircraft began to appear in the distance.
"Don't just stand their gawping at the fireworks, get those kites up!"

Night on the Med was starless, with only the faintest sliver of moon to provide light through the thin clouds that hung overhead. Perfect weather, thought Capt. Welch as U-214 glided up the Lybian coast. Behind her, U-177 and U-86 were just barely visable less than 200 yards away. The three boats had met up the day before and were now patroling the African coast, looking for a fight. Allied fleet units were supposedly heavy in the area, but so far the small wolfpack had seen nothing it could attack. There had been one small convoy that had passed by U-214 the previous night, but it had been too heavily guarded to risk attacking. Now, the crews of the three U-boats anxiously scanned the darkness, hoping for something..... anything.
The forward lookout on U-86 spotted what might have been a group of ships off to the northeast of the group. The limited visability made it difficult to spot anything, but the U-boats could often get quite close before having to worry about getting spotted. U-86's captain ordered his boat in for a closer look, to find out if what lurked just out of sight might be worth attacking.

The British carrier Arc Royal cruised slowly through her patrol area, her escorts hugging her closely in the pitch-blackness. Once dawn had broken, her captain had been ordered to sail for Egypt and lend what support he could to the British defense. Several of the carriers aircraft were currently heading to the Walmingtonian airfields on the continent to try and hold back the Italians and Ercolnians threatening to push up from the south. The Arc Royal's captain would like to have made better time, but the unusually dark night and the blackout condition of the ships operating in the battle area made caution necissary to aviod any accidents. Besides, he thought, If I can't see a bloody thing, it's not likely anyone can see me either...

But someone did see the Arc Royal. U-86's captain radioed his message to the other boats, and the wolfpack sped toward their target. A British aircraft carrier was well worth the risk.

The second day's fighting began much the same as the first had, with artillery opening up on the British shortly before dawn. The men of the 2nd Panzer Division, still stinging from their losses the day before, advanced on the British under cover of their artillery guns, led by the now battle-proven Panzer Mk. IV's. Again, losses were somewhat stiffer than expected; the British were proving to be a very determined opponent.
To the south, the tanks of the 5th SS Panzers launched a sudden assault against the flank of the British 4th Army. True to form, the Waffen SS carried the fight strait to the enemy, seemingly indifferent to the casualties the British inflicted. Many in the High Command thought the soldiers of the Waffen SS reckless, even foolhardy, but none doubted their ability on the battlefield, where speed and violence of action were sometimes the deciding factor in the heat of battle. Today that would prove true, as the tanks and stormtroopers pressed forward, threatening to pierce the British lines. Reinforcements were rushed to the scene of the battle, but because of the limited transportation available, they arrived with agonizing slowness. The British were forced to fall back to secondary positions, allowing the SS to sieze a number of weapons and supplies. In the process, they took extremely heavy losses; over 500 men killed, and many wounded. The division also lost 14 Panzers in the day's fighting.
In the port of Drakkar, more elements from the 5th Panzer Army were arriving daily. Airfields were also being constructed to allow the Luftwaffe to exercise a stronger presence in the theater.

III Corps front lines -on the first day of the German offensive against the British- suddenly found themselves pounded by Savoia Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero tri-engine bombers of the Italian Regia Aeronautica, as well as the assortment of light and medium artillery guns that had so unexpectedly opened-up.

Casualties were already mounting by the time significant flak went up. The airstrips were quickly sought out by incoming fighters, which straffed the unprepared Walmingtonians as they dashed for their aircraft.

The return from patrol of several flights of Musca provided the first serious resistance, swooping in on the Italian fliers, eating their Fiat G.50 Freccia fighters alive. Though they were able to beat off most of the Italian fighters, the returning patrol aircraft were low on fuel, and could not cover the air fields for long, nor could they engage the bombers pounding III Corps's positions.

Lt.Sykes and company could do little but watch as the Musca's came in to land, and more Italian aircraft buzzed into view. The patrols had bought time for the bulk of survivng fighters to lift off, at least. The Wrens finished off what intrepid or confused Freccia's remained, and had barely begun to engage waves of incoming bombers when Italy's last air asset showed up.

Sykes found himself taking to an unmanned Camel gun pivot, spitting up .303 fire at Macchi MC.202 Folgore fighters as they raced towards the now out-classed Wrens.

As Wrens went down, Musca and Nexus came back up, and the battle raged on.

On the ground, III Corps artillery began to respond, but the Italians had better intelligence on static WoS positions than the Walmy gunners had on their attackers, and the exchange appeard to be less than even.

Weisel called up his tankers, with instructions to "charge them (the Italian guns) down!", and the Lancers came on quickly, dashing towards the Italian positions, their low profiles presenting difficult targets.

(Oh, heck..where was I? Someone, erm, distracted me somewhat [collects thoughts] Erm.. oh, there's a war on, right..)

As the Lancers began to hit the softer sand between the two sides, their progress slowed greatly, the narrow tracks proving less than ideal on soft ground. A couple broke down in the heat and with the pace of the battle.

It wasn't as bad as it may sound- the 49mm HV guns began to find a few targets, and when the Marching Tanks showed up in force, the Italians had no answer beyond a handfull of 75mm guns turned to the anti-tank role. Even these were not sufficient to reliably disable Terrapins at range, and worse yet, there were a small number of Tortoise marching tanks scattered amongst the Terrapins and Turtles. These monsters didn't seem phased by 75mm hits on their six inch frontal armour.

True, most of the Tortise were armed with relatively low velocity 60mm 6pdrs, but when the Italian tankettes -often machinegun armed- and light tanks showed up, their armour proved utterly useless, as did their guns. The Walmingtonian tankers swept aside their Italian opposites, and began to take a toll on forward artillery positions, until Weisel, fearing that they would become cut-off, halted the thrust while infantry regrouped.

This came not a moment too soon, as it turned out, for masses of Italian infantry were following up the bomber and artillery attacks. The old Turtle tanks would really come into their own against poorly supported infantry and their few thin-skinned tankettes and other vehicles.

The battle had been on all morning, and by now the Libyan sun was exhausting both sides.

ooc: Be afraid, new Heavy Tank about to enter production

mwhahahaha :twisted:

OOC- Sorry, but nothing tonight. I'm WAY too tired to do any un-necissary thinking...

(Ahh, it's not just me then. -feeling awful- wouldn't want to ruin this by posting for posting's sake.. er.. this excluded.)

*figures he may as well throw a token post out too*

(Many apologies...finals are coming up for me*, and I've been finding less time to devote to NS too. And I'm sorry to hear about your...er...awful-feeling, WoS.

* well, that's the official excuse, anyhow. Members of the Ministry of Iansislean Out of Characterness theorize that The Creator may also be waiting on the results of another RP before setting his Grand Plan™ in motion.)

ooc: Wow, I thought I was the only one. I just have been finding the energy to do anything more than piecemeal posts hard to muster. So much school work, and not enough sleep, I suppose.

Field Marshall Rommel sat at his desk in the 2nd Panzer Division's command post, reviewing the charts and maps spread before him. The positions of the men and tanks of the growing Afrika Corps were neatly outlined in red, with the best guesses as to the British forces locations in blue and green. So far, the attack had gone quite well; while Rommel regreted the heavy losses, particularly in the 5th SS Panzers, he knew that all future operations in the North African theater would depend on the capture of the Suez Canal. With it, the Kriegsmarine would have access to the Indian Ocean, and shipyards in Austria and the Balklans (spelling?) would be able to step up their production without having to worry about how their ships would ever make the open seas. Plus it would allow oil from Allied fields in Arabia to be shipped to Italy for refining, fueling the Axis war machine.
Rommel leaned back in his chair and rubbed his face. The second day of the offensive was ending much as the first had, with the Brits reeling but still refusing to break. Tomorrow Rommel intended to send the 5th SS Panzer Division far around the British flank and cut them off completely. They would have no choice but to surrender.

Near Sirte, Libya

The morning after Italy's surprise attack on III Corps both sides counted their losses, while receiving reports of continued German pressure on the British in Egypt.

Weisel couldn't leave his allies there to be surrounded as Erco pressed north, and his Italian opposite would surely not want to loose what remained of his momentum.

Smoke rose from points across the entirety of the battlefield as converted CCMkII recovery vehicles and assorted trucks dragged wrecked aircraft, Walmy and Italian, from III Corps's airstrips.

At one end of the Walmy line Italian artillery had continued a light barrage through most of the night. It was here, near Lt.Sykes position, that the Italians had come closest to breaking III Corps, after guns and bombers took a heavy toll. 864 of the regiment's 2,100 men had been killed or injured- by far the worst casualty rate in any Walmingtonian unit in the war so far.

More than that, fourteen Cavalry Cruisers had broken down or been knocked out, along with two Marching Tanks, seventeen lost guns, a Musca shot down as it came in to land, three Nexus, and fourteen Wren. With other infantry and support losses, 1,287 Walmingtonians were killed or wounded, making the first day of Sirte one of the bloodiest in Walmingtonian military history.

The early evening had begun to show the first signs of weakness in the Italian attack, however, as Weisel's reasonably competent marshalling of his superior armoured assets yielded major gains. Most of the Italians' limited armour had been destroyed by WoS tankers, and that which broke away and headed for unarmoured sections of III Corps's line was met by 49mm anti-tank fire -more than sufficient against the Italian tanks- and even by the Leech Grenades carried by many infantrymen.

Of course these successes raised the possibility of Walmy over-confidence in their anti-tank capability- the 49mm gun would have to hit a PzIV from point blank range to do much damage at all, and a Leech Grenade's potential was more limited than many would realise.

Marching Tank crewmen at least doubted that these weapons would much worry them should the be found in enemy hands, but who in the Walmingtonian command actually listened to lowly tankers anyway? They were mostly wartime additions to the military, and miners and quaint country farmers and shopkeeps at that.

News of the brutal punishment handed out to the Italians reached the headquarters of the 296th Panzergrenadiers, who were beginning to arrive in Drakkar on the second day of the offensive. Within hours of their division commanders arrival in Africa, new orders were being handed to him to hurry to the relief of the outmatched Italian Army west of the port. Two tank companies of the 5th SS Panzers and a number of newly arrived Fw-190's were similarly tasked, with limited enthusiasm. Troops began moving to the western battle line shortly after dawn on the third day. Luftwaffe fighter pilots began their combat patrols shortly before that, hoping to sweep any Walmy scouts away from the ground forces. Still, some feared they would only end up meeting the Italians as they retreated before the obviously superior Walmingtonians.

In the early morning hours, the British aircraft carrier Arc Royal is rocked by a pair of explosions as torpedoes from U-86 slam into her port side. One of her escorts, the heavy cruiser HMS Steadfast is struck by a pair of torpedoes from U-214. The remaining ships (namely HMS Repulse, a pair of light cruisers, and 4 destroyers)move in to aid the stricken ships while the destroyers hunt the attacking U-boats. U-214 endures 5 hours and over 470 depth charges before the dire situation aboard Arc Royal calls away the destroyers. HMS Steadfast sinks within 30 minutes of the attack, with a loss of 67 men; HMS Arc Royal is towed to Tripoli, where she begins emergency repairs for the journey back to her home port in England. All three U-boats eventually escape; U-214 is forced to return to Brest for repairs, but the other boats return to their patrols, and their exploits are much celebrated by the other U-boat crews in the Mediterranean, who have had little success against the Allies.

Somewhere in North Africa

They hadn’t been ashore fifteen minutes, and already Lieutenant Colonel Foster was knee-deep in a migraine. Five hundred Iansislean marines, all of whom had either ever never seen combat or only had it against a few hundred spear-waving natives, were milling about the dusty grounds while officers and sergeants tried to whip them into some sort of marching order. They seemed eager to get into the line of battle, as indicated by several ethnic slurs variously directed at Germans, Ercolanians, and Italians (and one poor misguided chap against the Chiangese), but not quite sure how to do it. Frankly, even though Foster knew just under a quarter of his men were brand new to the King’s service, they should be putting up better shows of themselves.

After quite some time, Foster’s officers managed to get the marines lined up. They certainly didn’t look like the crack anti-native warfare squad they were supposed to be, and Foster realized with a sudden shock that even his officers were raw, green newcomers. Slowly, he walked up to a baby-faced captain, who certainly didn’t look to be a heavy cruiser’s marine complement’s leader. The young boy gave his colonel a parade-ground perfect salute. Foster returned it, but slowly. “Are your men ready to march, marine?”

“S-sir!” was the trembling reply. Foster waited a moment. “Y-yes, sir!”

“The Noropia must be proud, captain,” said Foster after a moment’s hesitation. At last, he turned to address the entire assembled group. “All right, gentlemen. I know that this sort of thing probably wasn’t what most of you were expecting when we shipped out, but it’s the duty that’s fallen to us. And I expect every man of you to do Iansisle proud.” He nodded at last.

“Men, let’s move out.”

Without a ship of any sort to move them, most of the marines seemed confused as to how Foster intended them to carry out that order. After another moment of awkward silence. Foster decided he had best clarify. “March!”

Nusheld, Gallaga

“Jus’ how long do they intend t’ keep us here in this damn sauna?” asked Private Poore, tapping his pipe clear while sitting in a steaming tent.

“Dunno. Until that next division comes in from the ‘wealth, they say. ‘Course, I think the officers know fer sure. They’re jus’ not telling us!” answered his tentmate, who was laying with his shirt off and his hat over his eyes.

“Ol’ man Brian says we’re shipping out to Burma.”

“Burma? I heard Punjab,” replied his roommate again, pushing his bush hat up.

“No way! They’ve already got the Fourth Corps up in Delhi - there’s no way we’re goin’ to Punjab.”

“I think High Command’s jus’ given up on Burma. I hear they’re getting ready to fall back on Whistle’s Station, then evacuate to Nusheld all together. Why’d they ship us there? And why’s Fifth Corps assembling down in Fort Ash, then?”

“For chrissake, Ollie, I dunno what we’re up to. I’m going to sleep.” And Private Poore’s roommate drew his hat over his eyes again.

ooc: Not meaning to derail the flow now that things are hotting up again, but .. populations. Military size. I am wondering. If we are to go by our listed NS populations, and this is all out world war.. Walmington's going to be easily able to call up tens of millions without going to the extreme that Britain did IRL.. but then WoS isn't the biggest nation involved, even.. perhaps I should consider WoS to have a certain population ..more realistic. (easy enough for DK as he could go by German's population, I suppose.. what, fifty or sixty million at the time?). On the one hand I think of Walmington as Britain's little brother, but on the other I've increasingly played them as something of an economic and industrial power-house. Maybe I should consider WoS's population to be five or ten percent of that listed.. at least until we leave WWII behind.

I brought this up because it's about time for III Corps's reinforcements to start showing up, and I'm trying to figure out if there should be twenty thousand of them, or four million.

On another note, I really like our flag this morning.
Heh, woo, fevers do fun things!

(Myself, I vote for ignoring NS population equations, at least for the duration of the war. I've always listed Iansisle's population at "somewhere between three hundred million and 1.4 billion", simply because I don't really like the über-populations you get in NS.

Anyway, I don't really suppose it matters for Iansisle...no matter how giganterific its population, proper utilization will always be a problem. I haven't RPed it yet, since there's really been no need, but once manpower becomes a problem, you'll see press gangs roaming about, rather than an organized draft of any sort. Damn it, it's the Iansislean way! ;)

Er, did I say anything in that post? I can't remember.)

ooc:Heh, I like it. I can almost believe all these nations as if they're part of history class. "Now class, what were the main causes for the collapse of the Shieldian empire, and how were these factors different from those that lead to Ceyloban independence?"
Okay.. I'm.. going to adopt either forty-odd or eighty-odd million as the standard WWII WoS population.. I just need to think about the specifics for a bit. Over tea. Tea will help.

(Heh. We should have a story of the history of our empires being taught.)

ooc: I've comtemplated that with Ercolana. 43,800,000 - 44,026,000 was Italy's population throughout the duration of the war. I think I'll go on similar lines, or perhaps even smaller than that.

I'd never even thought about that. I guess I just figured that everyone could come up with a resonable number of troops without too much trouble. I'll have to see if I can figure out how much I have to work with here... I know I'm spending way more than Germany did during the war.

Advance elements of the 296th Panzergrenadiers began running into retreating Italians and German paratroops as they neared the front. Those who could be convinced to return to the battle with the German reinforcements did so; the rest continued on toward Drakkar, on foot and in a few scattered vehicles.
The 296th's commander, Obrest Peter Hauptmann, had been a school teacher before the war began in 1939. He was generally well-liked by his men and had proven to be a resourceful commander in Poland and France. Now he and his troops moved toward the western battle line, knowing that their job would be a most difficult one. The Walmingtonian forces seemed bent on breaking through the Italian lines to threaten the 2nd Panzer Division's rear and one of the last Axis ports in North Africa. It had fallen to Hauptmann and the 296th to ensure that did not happen, and they had accepted it without question. Hauptmann knew that if the Afrika Corps was pushed out, the Allies would use it as a jumping-off point for an invasion of Italy and eventually the Reich itself. Tomorrow, or perhaps the next day, his men would meet the Wallys for the first time in North Africa.

(For now I've decided to settle on using 5% of the listed as a guide to the Walmingtonian war-time population.. thus we're presently almost the same as Italy in 1939.. slightly larger than France, and slightly smaller than the UK. So.. there.
I'm vaguely figuring out a few other things to go along with that- number of personnel ready for action, readied per year, steel production, and so on. Just because I want to, not because I expect everyone else to :) Presently steel production, by the way, is catching up to that of the USSR at the begining of the war (having passed 17,000,000 tons) though hopefully Walmy steel is stronger stuff (perhaps not quite Iansislian though)
IC post..em..later)

III Corps had fully expected there to be a second day of battle at Sirte, during which Weisel meant to encircle as large a portion of the Italian force as was possible.
As the Field Marshal's aerial scouts returned, however, Weisel was quite annoyed to hear that the Italians were leaving -most had left, in fact. There was merely a small rear-guard remaining, presently exchanging limited fire with forward elements of the III Corps line.

"Dash it all, they've escaped again!"

True, III Corps had secured way point after waypoint, liberated Tripoli and Sirte from Fascist domination, but they had failed to knock even one full division out of action completely. And now the Italians, having survived by the skin of their teeth, were meeting up with significant German forces, and turning back around.

Very well. Walmington was about to meet the war head-on, but III Corps wasn't going to do it alone.

Naval Group III Corps's few submarines were being employed with increasing aggression, as were the aircraft flying from HMS Sparrow, in co-operation with planes based in Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, the Middle East and Malta. Surely the Axis couldn't maintain a deployment on close to the Allied scale while so cut off. Everything would have to get across the Med under that level of air assault, or else be brought up all the way through the British Sudan, from the Ercolanan Horn.

Lt.Sykes wondered what had become of the Calarcan offensive against Karachi. If that sort of pressure could be kept up, North Africa would be as good as won. Without it?

Without it Walmington should simply have to slug it out with the Axis, and arriving from the west at long last, General Square's VII Corps; eighty-thousand of the best equiped and longest-trained troops Walmington had to offer.

VII Corps's infantrymen were armed with SMLE No1 MkIII* rifles -less clumsy and of faster action compared to Walmington's own CAFMIR rifles- .40" Tripoli Pattern machine-carbines -superior to the Fox used by III Corps. Their armoured units -though relatively few compared to highly mechanised III Corps- were furnished with entirely newer tanks, no CCMkII or MTMkI supplimented their Lancers and Terrapins. The mighty Armadillos delivered to Tunisia under Iansislian escort heaved themselves along with VII Corps, "impervious to all German anti-tank guns, and capable of defeating all German tank armour".

It was just a shame they were so very few. Only four were on the move under their own power, with several others awaiting deployment.

It was expected that VII Corps would become part of III Corps on arrival at Sirte, or wherever the two forces should meet, and that Weisel should assume over-all command of what would be one of the largest assembled armies in Walmingtonian history.

OOC- God, I feel so out of my element on land. I have no idea what would be a reasonable number of men or materials to put into Africa. Advice from anyone would be great.

IC- The amount of war materials pouring into North Africa from Europe had reached truly impressive levels, but it would never overtake the Allies if confined to just the port at Drakkar. Rommel's eyes had already turned east, toward Alexandria and the Suez Canal. The 8th Panzer Division was turned toward the British lines, despite the fact that they had only 33 tanks ready for action out of a promised 150. Aircraft operating from the improvised airfields in the Axis held territory had begun raids of the Allied positions in the east, at the expense of the western front. It was Rommel's intent to smash the British and sieze Alexandria before turning to the III Corps in the west. With the reports of the U-boat victories against the Alexandria Fleet, and emminent sorties by the Kriegsmarine into the open ocean, the Allies would be split between the defense of Africa and their vital supply chains, which would find themselves threatened by German capital ships for the first time. But the plan needed to be decisive, and quickly; a drawn out battle would drain too much of Germany's precious resources.
In the west, the Italians, bolstered by German armor and troops, began planning a counter-offensive.

Just some info on what the Kriegsmarine has in the works. (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2351059#2351059)

Bump, in hopes some of the concerned parties have something to ad.

The 8th Panzer Division, of which the 296th Panzergrenadiers were a part of, began taking positions abandoned by the Italians and German paratroops along the battle line. No one could blame them for their withdrawl; hopelessly outmatched in terms of equipment and woefully supplied, there had been little else they could do.
Hauptmann placed the majority of his men in the remains of what once might have been a church or temple (Or whatever the damn Moors call them, he thought). The others took positions throughout the shelled out ruins of whatever nameless village had the misfortune to be in the midst of the battle. The retreating Italians had said the Wallys were right on their asses, but there was nothing. Once a watch was established, the men began to sleep in turns, while others kept a sharp eye out for the forces that would soon be coming.

Still marching towards Sirte, Lieutenant Colonel Foster received official word that his scratch force had been named ‘the King’s I Marine Division’ and that he marched with the full support of the First Sea Lord. Somehow, however, that was less than encouraging in his current situation.

The Iansislean marines were already experiencing a host of unforeseen problems. The foremost among these, especially in the minds of the men, was the fact that marines were supposed to operate primarily aboard ship and in tropical colonies. Thus, while their olive-green battle dress, while certainly camouflaged enough against battleship gray and jungle green, stood out like a sore thumb against the barren deserts of North Africa. Some men had removed their shirts, assuming that their bare skin provided better cover from the enemy, but the intense sunburn those idiots had gotten convinced the rest that maybe that wasn’t such a brilliant idea.

Another was the limited ammunition and lack of support. Marines were supposed to operate within sight of their home ship at all times, and it would appear that extended battles well inland were not what they had been prepared for. Most wore light, non-restrictive packs that only carried a bare amount of rations, some extremely basic gear, and about ten fifteen round magazines for their guns. While their Walmingtonian counterparts had been generous about the food and water situations, it was clear that the Walmy CAMFIR’s, while using a common .303 ammunition, had completely uncompatible magazines.

Foster was already beginning to wish for the good old days where he was a marine, and not trudging across some endless desert like a common army-man to confront a well equipped and determined foe!

OOC- I don't know about well-equipped. As I think I stated earlier, the 8th Panzer Division has a total of about 30 tanks ready for action. The Division is assigned over 150, so that makes for a rather sharp drop in performance. As for small arms and other basic supplies, there should be enough to last untill supply lines are established; should being the key word. These troops were rushed to the front, practically from the moment they set foot in Africa, to stem the assault from the Wally tanks and infantry, which the Italians and German paratroopers could not stop. If they get cut off by a swift, determined attack, they're going to be in bad shape, and in a hurry.

(ooc:Sorry about neglecting this a little -I seem to keep finding other things needing attention, God knows how -I've managed to not-end-up-watching first the Return of the King, then my friends' band, in the space of two days.. and still I'm falling behind on assorted threads. ..I suspect Dr.Who is stealing my time again, that crafty old goat.. I'll get him yet. -narrows eyes-)

Just west of Sirte a DAMkI* Musca -the newer sort with its monsterous Calarcan 3,500hp engines booming- made its way back north east towards the hastily established base outside the town.

III Corps's fliers had taken to putting on patrols south, circling a wide perimiter around the army corps lest the Axis show up unannounced a second time.. only with Panzers.

"..'ow the 'eck can you talk about tea in this heat, Alg'?"

The pilot laughed and made to explain himself, only to be interrupted once again by his navigator, "Eh up, what's that lot about? They're coming up from behind- must be VII Corps scouts."

"They don't look like ours..'ang on, we're going in for a little look-see."

With that the Musca's over-patrolled under-fought pilot went flat out, pushing past 480mph as he began a rather aggressive looking, sweeping dive over the Iansislian column.


Not so many miles behind a VII Corps advance scout commander thought he spotted an aircraft dropping fast behind a dune. Presently one of his lieutenants would sight the Ians in the distance, and suggest racing them to Sirte- which seemed to the other men a tad unfair from their Spotter Gun-Car vantage points, and to the commander like a stupid idea, as they'd only run out of fuel and have to wait for the main columns to catch-up.

Somewhat east of Sirte, five Bf-109E's from Jagdgeschwader 27 plodded along their patrol route. Already they had overflown the columns of tanks and vehicles carrying the 8th Panzer Division west to meet the Walmingtonian army. The pilots kept their eyes peeled for any sign of enemy aircraft hoping to attack the ground forces moving below; so far, things had been relatively quiet. Soon they would be back at their makeshift airfield, drinking bad coffee and playing cards untill their next patrol started. Most were starting to feel the monotony of their work setting in. From everything they'd heard, the pilots of Jagdgeschwader 19, stationed along the eastern line, were having a much better time of it, where the RAF had a significant presence. So far, all was quiet on the western front...

... So far, all was quiet on the western front...

(*slaps forehead* Oh man, that was bad enough, I coulda cracked it! ;))

Marines dove out of the way, screaming and making a general fuss as the Walmingtonish flyer swooped over. Fortunately, though it may be an omen of bad things to come, none thought of shooting at the craft, just running away.

After it had passed without shooting at them, they seemed to realize as a group that it was actually an allied scout, and panic turned to relief. Many waved up at it as officers took roll call and tracked down a few errant marines. At last, the entire procession was ready to continue - but just then, the VII Corps scouts rumbled into sight behind them. General panic seemed about to ensue again when some bright young enlisted man pointed out that they were coming from behind them....and that they hadn't been fired upon yet.

Lieutenant-Colonel Foster decided that it may be best to join up with the Walmies, and perhaps save themselves from any more false alarms. The scout cars were fairly intimidating to an unmechanized unit with nothing heavier than a few .303 water-cooled machine guns, but everyone had seen Shell-Westertons before. The slightly less than 500 marines, still recovering from their bouts of terror, waited at ease as the scout cars drew closer.

West of Sirte

Meeting the "Mar-Ians" was a reconnaissance platoon lead by one Sgt.Taylor. Two SGC MkIIIs; one mounting .55" and coaxial .303" machineguns and the other a 20mm cannon; and a desert pink Stockley Landrover, or Sunny.

Taylor insisted that the main forward VII Corps columnwasn't much more than two miles behind, and that if everyone stopped-up for some tea, they'd probably catch up.

..Unless they too stopped for tea, which in all honesty was quite likely.

East of Sirte

"..Christ, Jerry's better mechanised than the last lot." Daniel Jacob, navigator aboard one of a pair of patroling Nexus observed of the 8th Panzers seen moments earlier, in contrast to III Corps's recent Italian opposition.

The lead aircraft had just radioed word back to Weisel's forces when its wingman, Jacobs still distracted by the recently sighted Panzers, was licked by cannon fire.

The heavy rounds dispensed by the 109Es left the navigator without hope, and sent the surprised pilot into an uncontrolled and steep bank, smoke trailing from the starboard wing.

It was a few seconds before the lead fighter's navigator noticed the absence of the wingman, and a few more before the pilot's instinct to fight back was surpressed by the realisation of just how badly outnumbered and outgunned he was.

Demanding that his navigator report the condition of the second Nexus, the pilot made use of his aircraft's 26mph speed advantage over the 109E to break for III Corps lines.

The navigator never saw the single chute which flagged the second pilot's escape from his failing aircraft.

It was a while since Walmington had come off worse in an air to air confrontation, no matter how small, but it would serve as a reminder of the serious nature of their closing foe.

OOC- 109E's are going to constitute the bulk of your aerial opponents, at least from my side. The Fw-190 is still developing at its parent aero-firm, and to be honest I fancy the 109 more myself. Damn short range though....
Well, off for a little CS and to plot my next move!

ooc: Hm, well, I can't complain about a lack of Fw-190s! Over all the 109 is going to prove problem enough, especially since the 109E is a moderatelly impressive version, I think. Our Wrens can probably match it for handling and such, but they're slower and lightly armed. They'll have a hard time of it. For now the Wrens are not in the action much as they don't go on long-range patrols, that being left to Musca and Nexus, which are both faster and of longer range. Nexus can out range and out run 109, pretty much match it for firepower, but probably looses any manouverability edge Wren might have. I expect Nexus and 109 pilots could have a few close duels.
If only we had more Musca. 109 pilots must dread those buggers showing up- even if you can turn inside them, they're so much faster that they'll be gone before you can take advantage, and back on your tail before you know it. They've got the range to keep it up all day, too.

...Sadly they (the MkIs anyway) make up half of our bomber force in the area (and no one wants to fly Barrows into action anymore), and the MkI*'s engines are in short supply, so there'll never be enough of them.

I ..am rambling again. Right. Time to put the kettle on, methinks.

WoS forces will get moving again once VII and III Corps join up. The assumption is that once this is achieved, we'll roll right on to Alexandria.. or maybe Cape Caseyr.
..but if General Square and Field Marshal Weisel have anything to do with it, we could be here for decades.

Oh, and probably the Axis will try to stop us, blah blah.. :)

OOC- Most of the big aero-firms are busy trying to build up something that I know, from a historical standpoint, they are going to need to be anything more than a nuisance to Britain and WoS; a strategic bomber command. If you thought the Battle of Britain was bad in RL, just wait untill the Luftwaffe equivalent of the B-24 makes a showing!
As for the much-lauded Muscas of the WoS air force; while the Bf-109 might be a poor match in an even engagement, I'm sure all those great features on your fighters don't come without an equally impressive price tag attached. The 109 may be slipping toward obsolescence, but it's cheap enough to mass-produce no matter how strapped the economy gets, and if anyone decides to try their hand at high-altitude bombing, it will prove more than a match for the current fighter escorts.
I just hope I don't have to someday EAT those words!
IC- Rommel's rush eastward had apparently run into a bit of a complication; namely, dogged resistance by the bloodied 4th Army, still clinging to strongpoints here and there. The losses, not to mention the time it cost to flush out the British, were becoming severe; some had openly voiced the concern that the British might be able to hold them off, at least long enough for III Corps in the west to break the Italians and attack their only port. Rommel had simply shook his head and ordered the drive east to continue; if the 5th Panzer Army captured the Suez, there would be no need for the port of Drakkar anyway.
The leading elements of the SS Panzer Division were drawing nearer to Alexandria, around which the British had desparately erected some last-ditch defenses. Already the defenders could hear the rumble of artillery fire over the horizon....

ooc:Yeah as I say, the Wren is still WoS's most abundant fighter.
I was supposed to make a post to-day announcing the disbanding of Pertwee's tiny bomber command, which presently consists of a hundred odd ancient Barrow, most having been transfered to friendly ..backwards states, and forty Stockley Oak heavy bombers. Muscas have pretty much been the beneficiaries of all efforts that would otherwise have gone into building, say, the 800+ Oaks to rival Britain's Lancasters. In truth we could probably have hundreds of Musca, except that we've been holding off and putting a lot into the jet programme.. for little useful result- unless Axis bombers appear in force over Great Walmington it is unlikely that WoS jets will engage for years.
I'm now turning to a new fighter to replace the Wren, but I'm really short on inspiration.. at this rate it looks like the RAF is going to have to give the means to design and build Mustangs to Walmington instead of America.. Still, we might regret abandoning the bombers :? (I thought that since you're not pressing Britain so hard, you've probably not accidentally bombed London yet, and there have only really been two incidents ever of civilians being carpet bombed- Guernica and ..er..y'know..when Chiang Mai bombed the Ians in Asia.. so bomber warfare has slipped from the Walmy mind rather)
But hey, if any friendly nations are all sorted for fighters and have a design they never needed, do feel free to forward it to RWAF Fighter Command, 17 The Blue Square, Great Walmington...

Erm.. I'll do another post back on topic, right.

Near Sirte, III Corps Field Command HQ

The return of half of the latest Nexus patrol had hastened III Corps mobilisation, previously carried out with no great haste. The Italians, they supposed, would only have run away again by the time the force got moving. There was no point rushing.

Until now, of course.

Field Marhsal Weisel, finally surfacing from his command tent after hours attempting to share information with the approaching General Square and his VII Corps, made a bee-line for his MTMkII*C Terrapin command tank. VII Corps were just hours away, and they'd picked up the Ians, for what good that'd do either nation. It was time to get a move on, Weisel fancied tea with the British, in Alexandria.

Forty-two thousand III Corps infantrymen; Walmingtonian, Ceyloban, Mauritanian, Togolese, and a platoon of Sao Tomeans; marched east, several hundred pieces of armour amongst them, and Musca/Nexus scouts dashing on overhead.

Their armour of course was not of such quality as followed in VII Corps, but its crews had seen action at Tripoli and Sirte, and were ready for more after an extended break. All manner of Baby Carriage (think Brengun/Universal carrier) conversions rolled about, mainly amongst Ceyloban units. While colonial troops walked along behind MTMkI Turtles with their thick armour but light .55" armament, most WoS outfits had Terrapin ahead of them; tanks superior to the PzIII and anything Italy had on hand, but hardly prepared for the PzIV's firepower. CCMkII as seen in Iansislian service were retained by few WoS formations except III Corps, which hadn't the time to fully replace them before charging east.

VII Corps was some miles behind, but its 80,000 soldiers were supported by Terrapins in place of Turtles, near impervious Tortoises instead of Terrapins, CCMkIII Lancers inplace of CCMkIIs, and a handfull of Field Supremacy MkI Armadillos.

It continued to escape notice that only the few Armadillos could beat the firepower of the PzIV, and that Walmington's Cavalry Cruisers were uniformly outclassed by said tank.

(ooc:Oh, I forgot to add before- most of the heavy bombers WoS has are stationed on the west coast, or else in Canada anyway..
Anyhoo.. I'm anticipating the realisation of my cavalry cruisers' inferiority.. want to get the MkIVs and the Royal Tortoise out there :D
(of course I'll regret that when it prompts the introduction of Tigers or something worse, but..oh well))

Merry Christmas

(Ergh, I know I owe y'all a post on this thread...land forces sure are a lot more confusing to me than naval ones! Anyhow, if I were to try and crank one out tonight, it'd just end up being lousy. I think I'll just add a couple more posts to the Christmas thread and call it a night.

Oh, and merry christmas to all who celebrate it!)

"If I had some mistletoe, I'd kiss you."
"If I had some mistle-foot, it'd be up your ass."

Ah, the holidays...
Actually, I plan on leveling London to the ground once I get a strategic bomber command thrown together, and get the planes built to fly in it. Let the He-111's and Ju-88's take out the RAF airfields; SBC is gonna take the fight to the people!
With similar failed results, I'm sure...

The troops of the 8th Panzer Division, and the remaining soldiers of the 5th and 14th Fallschirmjager Brigades began digging themselves in as best they could east of the Walmingtonian lines. Rommel had ordered that they advance no farther untill at least some form of reserves could be brought closer to their position; the threat of the division being surrounded and cut off was too great to risk so far from friendly territory. Foxholes and bunkers were hastily constructed from available materials, and artillery was placed in the pitch dark. Machinegunners busied themselves with clearing their fields of fire and sighting in their MG-34's. All available anti-tank weapons were hurried to the frontline. The Wallys were on the way, that much was clear. They would find themselves on the receiving end of a proper German greeting when they arrived.

If they arrived......
Just kidding. Happy New Year to everyone, by the way. You're all going down in 2004!

Looks like the Allies can breathe easy again. (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2515660#2515660)

This looks like a pretty interesting RP...

As some of you may know, Roycelandia runs along British Imperial lines and still carries WWII designed equipment, so I'd be interested in joining in as part of the development of our history, if that's OK with everyone in this RP at the moment...

It's up to everyone else; I'm going to bed.

ooc: Are you aware that this is just one part of a much wider RP months old (parts are on hold due to extended absences from key parties) pitting the allied forces of Walmington on Sea and her empire (former situated in the north Atlantic south of Iceland, latter in western and southern Africa and Sri Lanka), Iansisle and her empire (former in the north Pacific, latter throughout south east Asia and India, or Gallaga as we call it), and Calarca and her empire (former in New Zealand, latter in amongst Iansisle's), with Britain and Canada up against Der Kriegsmarine/DarknessUponUs (Germany), Ercolana and her empire (former mid Atlantic, latter the Horn of Africa and Pakistan-ish), and Chiang Mai (in south east Asia), with Italy? Man, that was the longest and most poorly constructed sentence since.. [tries to make a Mandela joke]

Uhm, and it actually is in a WWII time period, really. There's no modern tech, of course.

I think we really need a policy on new people, eh? Someone new seems to be interested every week, and half of them don't stay. Fronts all over the world have failed to materialise, and Walmington's probably going bankrupt shipping her armies about to counter threats that don't exist anymore by the time we make landfall.

Oh well, until there's some more discussion on the matter I'll just get back to winning the North African war.. in a minute.

Edit:Warning! WoS starts rambling about manpower statistics and deployment in this universe and the real second world war! Warning!

Actually we could do to figure out in vague terms what forces folk have and what they're doing.. I was looking for real life precidents during the war, and assuming WoS to have a population around 47-49 million, I think that eventually the Walmingtonian army will reach something between two and three million personnel, though I'm not sure if that'll be taking colonial soliders into account. (Colonial forces, except perhaps a couple of white-majority Cape and Waynesian regiments, are never going to be full strength, highly trained, or properly equipped, for the record)

That is assuming that Walmington maintains a relatively small navy.. if I ever get around to really boosting our cruiser force the army will be reduced somewhat. Of course this is far more than would normally be in the army.. ten times more even, but I belive Britain ended up with about 2.9 million men under arms by 1945 (and a crippled economy to boot). Germany had 3 million men much earlier in the war, with 3.3million on the eastern front in '41.

Anyway.. I'm really getting off on a tangent again, sorry. Right now I suppose the army is about half the size we finally aim for, and that Norbray and various colonial territories are crawling with tens of thousands of teenagers learning how the hell to make a CAFMIR rifle plant its .303 round anywhere near the intended target. So we've anywhere between 1 and 1.5 million men to play with.. (I'm going to have to start placing stories about the strains on the home front, evidently) about 10% of that is in North Africa now. Germany may have 3.5 million men already, though at least they have to police occupied Europe.. ooh.. little chart I found, not sure that it is 100% reliable, but..
German Occupational Forces, 1939-1940: Balkans- 200,000; Belgium 100,000; Denmark 40,000; France 500,000; Holland 100,000; Norway 150,000. Roughly 1.1 million forces tied up in occupation, though the Russian situation here may free up some from Norway and such, I dunno. And it still leaves more than 2 million Germans free anyway :shock:

So now I have to wonder about where those troops might go. Yay.

At 0500 hours Walmingtonain seasonal festivities ceased, and an entirely different sort moved in to replace them. Two squadrons of Musca thundered down upon the 8th Panzers and the 5th and 14th Fallschirmjagers, .55" machineguns strafing and rockets rushing Axis artillery positions. Behind them three squadrons comprising some thirty-six MFMkIII* Nexus closed in at greater altitude, hoping to swoop down upon responding German aircover.

The Walmingtonian pilots continued to pray that their speed coupled with the altitude they hoped to hold over the enemy would compensate for the inferior manouverability their large long-range fighters were beginning to show.

On the ground a Ceyloban battalion had made best progress, conscripts waking to the sound of the Muscas dashing on. The Ceylobans' pace -with which most WoS units could not contend- was symbolic of the work ethic now displayed as they laboured to deploy their tankette-mounted 3" fieldguns and howitzers on and behind a low rise a few thousand yeards from the first German positions of which they had been informed.

Weisel would probably later curse the soft-headed colonials for engaging and drawing the Germans into a fight before the bulk of his unweildy force was in position.

OOC- Um... I truely have no idea what would be a reasonable number of troops to have in the field. Maybe you could gicve me an idea?

IC- Luftwaffe fighter pilots were quickly scrambled to deal with the Walmingtonian threat. However short on tanks the 8th Panzer Division had found itself, Jagdgeschwader 27 had found itself with more than enough aircraft. Heinkel bombers and Stukas took to the skies along with the fighter pilots, intending to give back to Walmington some of what it was handing out.
Axis and Allied fighter pilots met in the first large aerial battle in North Africa. Fifty-two Bf-109's clashed with Walmy Muscas and Nexus; soon the skies were too crowded to easily tell who was who. While the fighters kept the Allies tied up as best they could, the Luftwaffe bombers began striking Allied positions along the battle line. Losses began mounting, but the pilots knew they had a mission to perform, and they did not flee.
On the ground, Wehrmacht artillery returned fire on the Allies. Today the Ceylobans learned just how effective the German Pak-88's were, especially at a few thousand yards range. While the troops hiding behind the ridges were safe from their murderous fire, those on and in front of the ridge were not. Troops on both sides could do little during these first terrifying moments of the battle could do little but cower in what cover was available, waiting to see if they would live or die.
(At this point in the battle, we'll put German losses at 9 tanks, 15 109's, 14 Ju-87's, 7 He-111's, and 76 casualties {dead or wounded}. That sound reasonable?)

I'd still be interested in joining on the Allied side, just using WWII era equipment (which won't be hard).

Roycelandia's history is full of references to WWII, so the RP benefits would be most useful...

I'd still be interested in joining on the Allied side, just using WWII era equipment (which won't be hard).

Roycelandia's history is full of references to WWII, so the RP benefits would be most useful...

Walmy, it's your call.

Grr...wish I wasn't so tired right now. Erm, I guess that the marines are doing their absolute best to show up the Ceylobians by being as cowardly in the face of the enemies as they possibly can without actually retreating all the way to the ships ;)

Bump. WoS, if you get a chance, I think you're up next.

OOC:Indeed, I really meant to do this early last night.. "when I get back from the pub" ..late the next afternoon :oops:
I think.. as for the numbers of troops.. in reality the North African theatre never really got more than a couple of hundred thousand Axis troops at the height of the conflict, but that was because three million of them were headbutting the crap out of Soviet bullets and cleverly smothering evil mud and snow with their summer-clothed bodies at the time.
It really depends what else you're planning and how central North Africa is to your plans (or how high on the list of undesirables Walmingtonians fall), but in theory you could probably spare half a million Italians, three or four million Germans and a few thousand other nationals like Romanians and such.. I don't really know how we consider Russia in this reality, are they a nothing, or just a neutral? Perhaps its, "as many as you can get there with allied naval command and RAF/RWAF aircraft trying to stop you".

Gosh, that was no help at all, was it?

IC:

The attack looked good for all of two minutes as fast Walmy long-range fighters swept down on grounded and newly rising German fighters, taking out many before they had speed or altitude enough to fight back. Once aloft in numbers and tangled up at close range with the RWAF however the 109s' superior manouverability began to show, and Walmingtonian fliers actually began to lament the replacement of their MFMkII Wrens.

On the ground the early advantage appeared to have been much less significant, with only a few Ceyloban units opening fire before the German defence was reasonably co-ordinated. It appeared that the German gunners had taken time to mark their ranges up to the low rise upon which advance III Corps units sat. As the Ceylobans strained to make out important targets 88mm shells seemed to re-shape the whole face of the rise, and the howitzers behind the feature were only spared for so long as it took German divebombers to get behind them.

The bulk of III Corps ground force was arriving in streams behind the Ceylobans, only to find the colonial battalion all but wiped out. The main force was less than delighted to see German bombers appearing in the sky, and CCMkIIAAS Sentinels were put to their first use, wildly spraying 20mm cannon fire into the air and likely failing to hit a thing.

III Corps masses obediently maintained their basic formations and pressed on towards the Germans, the sprawling 125,000 man force fanning-out painfully slowly in an effort to engulf the Axis forward positions.

Having passed on the Great War some might say that Walmingtonian soldiers have a lot to learn. On cresting the rise infantry did break into a trot rather than a true march, and they kept close to their marching tanks, while mortar teams halted behind the rise and began walking light shells towards the Germans, though it soon became apparent that accurate fire at such ranges was little more than a fantasy.
Cavalry cruisers hurtled forwards at top speed, hoping to pierce and disrupt German lines, and taking a thrashing against Jerry's 88mms in the process. This did at least seem to be initially distracting many German guns from the less pressing advance of the infantry and their slower, heavier tanks, and it wasn't long before 3"/18pdr guns were begining to establish themselves behind the advance. By now slower Wren fighters and the obsolescent Barrow light bombers they escorted were closing, the 38 fighters peeling off to engage German bombers that were breaking III Corps's advance while the 24 Barrow came in dangerously low so as to accurately target German positions.

While Field Marshal Weisel frantically proclaimed that the ruddy colonials had ruined the whole war effort, General Square dared to consider that they may have arrived in sufficent time and strength to stagger the Germans before it was too late.

Strewn across the battlefield, through which Walmingtonians trotted for so far as the eye could see, lay the remains of a dozen or more cavalry cruisers, 3 marching tanks (which had as likely broken down as been knocked out), 17 Nexus fighters, 4 Musca, 15 assorted mobile guns and support tankettes, 109 Ceyloban conscripts, and 24 Walmingtonian volunteers. As the Barrows moved in they'd be sure to fall in some numbers if Jerry had any flak guns he wasn't firing at tanks, and if not there'd be an awful lot more cruisers knocked out before long.

Marching directly at the enemy and engaging him en masse at close range seemed like the way to go for Walmington.. the lack of a German lightening war waged on the offence against III Corps made General Square at least feel that his foe had delayed too long and was now playing Walmy rules.

(I'm sort of thinking.. with missing the horrors of the first really industrialised war, Walmingtonians aren't afraid of scenes likely imprinted on the psyches of many other combatant powers, and may press on obvlivious for some time where continental or British forces might break apparently facing another Somme or such.. of course the flip-side of that may be that we have to ..go through a Sommealike to gain anything of this morbid mental advantage, and war-weariness may actually be quicker to set in with WoS.)

OOC- Well, let's get this stuff out of the way first.
1) Russia's role in this war... hmmmm. I guess unless someone could convince the Russians that they would have a good reason to join the war, I suppose they would hold to the Non-Agression Pact they had with Germany. After all, they ended up with half of Poland, Finland, and some other Scandinavian holdings. I totally forgot about the invasion of Norway in RL; I suppose we'll have to play that out sometime after this.
2)My ground troops don't have a lot in the way of AA guns; certainly no flak guns. Most of the air cover was to come from fighters, not flak. That said, some MG-34's would be used in an AA role, but between the bombers and the infantry, most of the machineguns are going to be pointed at the ground rather than the sky. I suppose your bombers would have as much luck as my own, and you can let me know how well that is.
3)As for your tanks, the cavalry cruisers are going to have a hard time of it up against the Panzer's long-barreled 75's. I suppose you would have significantly more tanks than I do, so it'll probably even out there as well. I meant to ask earlier; what do you have for anti-armor for your troops? Some form of domestic bazooka, or are you still using the old anti-tank rifles from WWI? I went into this expecting to be at a disadvantage tank-wise, at least at first; there are a lot of panzerfausts floating around on the lines. Those marching tanks though... that could be a problem.

IC- The 14th Fallschirmjager took the Walmy attack right on the nose, losing the majority of the German casualties that first day. Doggedly hanging onto their positions untill the range had closed to mere meters, they were finally pushed back to their secondary positions by determined III Corps soldiers, who promptly claimed the positions as their own. German artillery fire, called in by the fleeing paratroopers, quickly ended any celebration as the Walmy troops dove for cover.
Elsewhere on the line, III Corps met with mixed results. Cavalry cruisers initially showed some success against the 246th Panzergrenadiers, who had expected to move their armor up later that morning. While they were able to knock out a number of the light vehicles with their panzerfausts, they were eventually forced to fall back as the cruisers drew nearer. III Corps troops, taking pot shots at fleeing German troops, suddenly found themselves the target of a newly arrived flight of Stukas; bombs and 20mm cannon fire began raining down from above. The cruisers, unable to take cover, took the brunt of the attack, and their thin armor did little to protect their crews. Stripped of their armor support, the attack floundered, and 246th was able to retake their positions with help from their Panzers.
III Corps had shown the Germans that they meant business, but had been unable to gain a decisive victory. The first day ended with small victories on both sides; the Germans had lost ground, but had managed to hold off a determined attack, at least for one day. More troops would be arriving during the night, and the battle would begin again tomorrow.

(If I'm taking too many liberties here, just let me know.)

ooc: We're rather short on the personal anti-tank weaponry front. .55" anti-tank rifles exist, useless against PzIV and only good against PzIII at such close ranges as to certainly doom the rifle crew. Most of the infantry's anti-tank weaponry may be found in their Leech Grenades, cousins of the horribly unpopular British sticky bomb. It is heavier than the early British weapon, more akin to the later Gammon bomb, but still a pain to use as it can become stuck to clothing and..well, it's designed to hold several pounds of explosives on the side of a tank, so you can imagine what happens when it gets caught on your trousers..
Erm, anyway, in theory it can at least damage any current German tank, though a PzIV won't be much phased by a Leech on the frontal armour, but it's more a defensive weapon than offensive- short range and good for dropping out of trees or windows on to halftracks or the tops of light/medium tanks, but not so good for pitching across the desert at a battle tank hundreds of yards away. Then we've got light 49mm/6pdr high-velocity anti-tank guns good against anything except those infernal PzIVs.
We're going to have to ..shamelessly copy your Panzerfaust or something, unless anyone else has a bright idea..

Right, rather than force out another post now I'm off for some tea. Give me a kick if I forget about this for ages again ;)

Oh no you don't! I won't let you forget about this again.
Seriously though, don't worry if this isn't a very active thread. Trying to track the day-to-day tide of the campaign would be too much for anyone; just post when you get a chance.

This engagement was the first large scale Walmingtonian military action in twenty years (excepting for the route of a few unsuspecting Italians to the west) and arguably the first time since Queen Mavis took it upon herself to engage the Spanish empire in its youth that WoS commanders had faced equally or even better armed and trained opponents.

The Cavalry Cruisers, despite heavy losses, initially did what they were supposed to. Scores of the nippy little tanks dislodged Axis forces from their forward positions and, anticipating a route as in western Libya and every training exercise the crews had experienced, they pressed on along with some armoured cars in the hopes of cutting down fleeing Germans.

By the time it dawned on Walmy tankers that Jerry wasn't so much fleeing as falling back the secondary defences half of the cruisers were barely even within sight of their support. Now insanely close to German anti-tank guns and in amongst the little-appreciated Panzerfausts III Corps CCMkIIs took a severe beating, and Spotter Gun Cars became stranded in soft sand, and were taken apart even by Mauser fire at close range.

CCMkIII Lancers thrown into the mix fared a little better at first. They presented exceptionally low profiles and well sloped armour, while their high velocity 6prd guns were at least worthy of consideration by the enemy. They had little defence however when Stukas swept down on them. A few put up token .303" fire, but as many commanders who dared man their AA guns were killed by Axis rifle fire.

At the end of the day Weisel considered the battle thus far a minor Walmingtonian victory- after all, he had taken ground! He was disappointed to have been stopped, but assumed that the next day would only bring more progress.

General Square meanwhile hadn't time for such reflection, being as he was consumed by efforts to break-out forward units suffering terrible casualties. Considering that they Ceylobans had got them into this mess, Square relegated them to largely secondary duties. Their tankettes would tow damaged or broken-down tanks off the field under German fire, and they'd do it by morning!

III Corps command tent that night saw some significant argument, much over-heard by the ever more despondent Lt.Sykes. Weisel was unwilling or unable to accept that the Germans weren't ready to break, and wanted to start the next day with another bomber run and armoured advance, despite the serious depletion of his cruiser force. Square, his second in command, couldn't understand why they shouldn't wait for the guns of Naval Group III Corps, after all it was deployed expressly to support their land-war. Jerry could either sit tight and be reduced by long range naval bombardment or else retreat out of range, and frankly why shouldn't we let him flee deeper into the desert and further from his ports?

Sykes wondered why on earth we couldn't attack what few ports the Axis held in North Africa, given the size of British, Walmingtonian, Iansislian, and Calarcan fleets in the area.

Combined operations really were a headache to Walmy commanders, who were struggling to accept even that fighters were needed over III Corps rather than off fighting.. fighters. God forbid they should be forced to add allied forces and naval assets into the mix as well.

The 8th Panzer Division didn't know it, but Rommel was using them to fight a holding action in the west untill the bulk of his 5th Panzer Army could take Alexandria and the Suez. They were just buying time with their lives against a long shot that the eastern front would crumble. The Germans were desparately over-extended in North Africa; untill fresh troops and materials could arrive. The threat posed by Allied naval forces could only be countered by a handfull of U-boats that had either slipped past Gibralter or been shipped by rail to Axis ports on the northern Mediterranian. Rommel needed, desparately needed the Kriegsmarine to break out of the North Sea and draw some of the pressure off him. But all the reports he'd received said they wouldn't sail untill either Bismarck or Tirpitz could put to sea; by then, it may be too late to save his effort here. If the Allies had any idea how vulnerable his position was, they could ensure a victory here by simply keeping the fleet pent up in the north. The U-boats, while certainly playing a part in Allied planning, couldn't hold back the Allies alone. They needed surface support, or they would just be fighting a losing battle.
On the eastern battle line, the battered troops dug in deeper, ready for the battle that would come. Replacements for the losses suffered that day were arriving, but the division remained critically short of armor. Aircraft were also moving closer to the front line, based in improvised airfields hastily scraped from the desert sand. Luftwaffe commanders had decided to compensate for the 109's short range by moving them closer to the battle; dangerously close, according to the pilots who were putting their lives on the line there.
In the east, preparations were being made for another lightning strike against the British defenders still refusing to break and run.

East of Sirte III Corps and the 8th Panzers were still knocking each other back and forth. The Walmingtonians hoped to have overwhelmed the Axis forces by now, but the German soldiers were more experienced than most of their rivals, their guns and tanks were unexpectedly powerful, and their aircraft weren't so badly outclassed as had been hoped.

Weisel and Square held that they were making inroads, but all the while their losses mounted. This fact hadn't quite sunk in to Walmingtonian minds anywhere as yet.

Swallow Bank House, Great Walmington

"..soft underbe.. come in, Wilson, do."

Mainwaring's account of his meeting with his British equal was cut short by the Deputy PM's late arrival. Wilson settled in beside Field Marshal Sir John Le Mesurier, theoretical Commander-in-Chief of Walmingtonian ground forces in the broad Atlantic theatre. The politician gave a nod and a quiet how-do-you-do? to the Field Marshal, and to Air Marshal Pertwee and Admiral Longworth. This would be the worst day for a bombing on Walmington Street!

"Gentlemen." The PM finally re-started. "Operation Minos."

During the silence that followed everyone else tried to decide whether that was supposed to mean something, and Wilson prepared his best, "Oh, well of course!"

Mainwaring eventually elaborated (of course). He'd been talking with Winston (cue a roll of Wilson's eyes), and thought it was about time that the insufferable pressure on both nations' forces in North Africa be let off.

Minos was going to be a primarily Walmingtonian show, but the British would play supporting roles from Malta. And we finally had something for ANCAT to do.

"It'd be nice if we could get further allied help on this of course, but beginnings must end at some time and there was no use waiting around." Noted Mainwaring.

In the days following the meeting at Swallow Bank allied shipping into Algeria and Tunisia continued to increase, as did incoming flights, primarily of the Acorn light transport/utility/observation/light bomber aircraft.

Reserve forces in the Free French territories built up as radio traffic and requisition orders began to reference VIII Corps. The handful of Iansislian marines with III Corps were quietly plucked from the fray and pulled back to re-group and rest- they were told by one since reprimanded Documentary Engineer that they'd be back on their ship soon enough.

A General Beck organised his new army corps in Tunisia- towards twenty-five thousand fighting men and what looked an armada of transport and ground attack aircraft mustered west of the Libyan battle lines.

Elements of Naval Group III Corps were now strung-out from near the front almost as far west as Tunis.

Whatever Beck's VIII Corps was, it happened to contain the highest concentration of commandos that SOW had ever gathered.

(i hate you, Mr. server!)

The battle had been relatively easy on Iansisle's first marines division, but the men still hoped they would also be Iansisle's last marines division. Though they had proven cowardly enough in battle to avoid more than a single bullet would, taken by one Corporal Herbertson in the arm, many more had fallen to sunstroke, heat exhaustion, sand inhalation, various pieces of the local flora and fauna, and perhaps even a few cases of the clap, on the occasion should they be fortunate enough to be near a town large enough to make that a problem.

Hansfield's squadron eagerly awaited their marines back, or at least Hansfield did, though the new orders weren't so hotly anticipated.

OOC, Iansisle, I'm lmao right now. The clap. Genious. I never saw it coming.

Oh, one more thing; can you tell me anything about Operation Minos, just from the British point of view? Just TG me anything you think I should know. Or even just to satisfy my own curiousity, I guess.

Sorry to run so suddenly, but I just found out about this today. (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2700759#2700759)