NationStates Jolt Archive

Srinagar, Kashmir

"My lord, it is seven o'clock."

Parak Singh was not a man known to sleep late, so when his majordomo walks in to find the Prince fast asleep at breakfast time, he is quite surprised.

"My lord?"

The imposing figure under the covers begins to stir, suddenly realizing the time. In one powerful motion, Parak throws the sheets aside and jumps out of bed.

"It is what time, Ibrahim?! Seven? Why didn't you wake me earlier?" asks Parak as he rushes around the room, collecting his outfit for the day; a western-style business suit, old and out of style, but relatively sharp just the same.

"But lord, you told me to wake you at seven..."

"Never mind what I told you! Use some initiative, man! We must be in Delhi before lunchtime! Go and find that itinerary, I'll read it on the plane...and the Morning Times."

"Right away, my lord."

The Prince dresses in record time, especially considering his lack of familiarity with the suit, and manages to forget such an important piece as the tie. But nobody is keen on reminding him in his obviously annoyed state and the various functionaries and courtiers are careful to stay out of his way during his brief time in the palace this particular morning.

Less than an hour after rising, the Prince of Kashmir is on his way to the city airstrip in his motorcade, sitting in the back of the Royal Limousine.

"Did you remember the Times?"

"Of course, my lord. And the itinerary. Upon arrival you will be taken by limousine to City Hall, where you will be greeted by the Prime Minister along with the other heads of state and served lunch at twelve thirty. After lunch a press conference will be held, during which you are expected to name your representative at the Indian Union. That...that will conclude the event."

"Seems easy enough. But that bastard Shareef will be there, won't he? I'd like to get my hands around his neck, that snake. If it wasn't for him, I would control the whole thing. Kashmir, Gilgit, Ladakh, Jammu...my father was guaranteed it."

"Yes, lord."

Aboard an old and probably unsafe Handley-Page Hastings, Parak Singh flies to Delhi. He isn't the only one. Mustafa Shareef, President of North Pakistan, also makes his way east aboard his own Il-18. His transport is, per order of Singh, 'escorted' by no fewer than eight J-7s, almost the whole of his jet fighter fleet, all of them toting missiles and communicating to Shareef, "If I really wanted to kill you, I could." Shareef's airplane, on the other hand, was packed with paratroops, ostensibly bodyguards but really meant to cause as much trouble as possible if the Kashmiris shot down his plane. Each one carries the ubiquitous Sten Gun, a weapon seen all across India, as well as a satchel of explosives.

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

A CAP of MiG-21s turns Singh's J-7s back at the North Hindustan border, and Shareef's Il-18 joins the row of Devons from the Indian Commonwealth or Hindustan proper, the Rajasthani Sultan's Nord Noratlas, the Bihari Preston, and tiny Sikkim's Y-8.

Over two hundred of the Commonwealth's Paras search through each of the aircraft, their Owens identifying them as belonging to Mumbai, and their commander, Major Lester Manley, has a heart attack when Shareef arrives.

"Leftenant, surround that Il-18! You men, come with me!"

Once Shareef is safely away in his limo, his bodyguards are surrounded and the Paras occupy themselves with searching them and disassembling their Stens.

The Biharis had also brought a surprise, namely several armed Koreans, and Singh was later found to have several hundred kilos of hashish in his Hastings. But when one considers that the Paras were ready for firefights at the airfield, or bomb-filled diplomatic transports, things had gone remarkably smoothly. Only the Kalhistani envoy had died en route, supposedly in a car crash, a comendable result considering that most of the heads of state present would not hesitate to kill the rest if they weren't in such a public setting. Only the Commonwealthers and the Rajasthani sultan display a terribly serene air, the Sultan because he probably has more than blood circulating around in his veins and the Commonwealthers because their Commonwealth tends not to be so amazingly confrontational as the rest of 'Free' India.

Delhi

"Fellow Indian heads of state, I welcome you to the first convention of the Indian National Union!"

At long last, it is proclaimed. The picture being beamed around the Subcontinent is a surprising one. At the center is Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, flanked by two of Mumbai's men. To the right of that is Sultan Walid Al-Haji of Rajasthan, and on the opposite side Rajeev Dorje of Sikkim. After that is Premier Rahman of Bihar on the right, Shareef on the left, and Singh back on the right. None of them look happy except for Walid, who quick observers will notice sleeping during the fleeting moments that the cameras put him into view, buyt everyone knows (or thinks) that it is progress...

(A big Indian tag)

The Roycelandian Government, maintaining a rather lucrative and useful colony at Goa, is paying very close attention to all this...

Gilgit Polo Ground, North Pakistan

There are some customs and traditions that not even the Indian Union summit takes precedence over, and the Sahandur Polo Tournament is without a doubt one of these. On the face of it, Shandur Top looks like an unlikely place to hold a Polo tournament, rising some twelve thousand feet above sea level. But every July, the great rivals Gilgit and Chitral face each other on this highest polo ground in a test of horsemanship and sporting skill. And if coach Hafiz Omar has anything to say about it, Gilgit will come out the better.

Gilgit's level of determination is reflected by the very fact that, while Chitral players are probably inside, protected from the winter cold, the Gilgit team is out training in the dead of winter. "Never mind the cold," says Omar, "work up a sweat and you'll be thankful for it." Few of the players harbor any such sentiments, though, the temperature being even a few degrees colder than normal for January in the mountains. "Let your desire for victory keep you warm!"

Chitral's previous come-from-behind victory had left Gilgit smarting, and nobody wanted a repeat of that upset, so the team is mostly willing to ignore the brutal conditions if it means beating their arch-rivals. Only a handful of spectators had bothered to turn out to watch the practice, and most of those had already left.

The only indication that there is anything else going on outside of Gilgit comes from a Chinese-made radio tuned to the BBC, occasionally reporting on the Indian Union conference.

Peshawar

With President Shareef away, very little gets done in North Pakistan's capital city, Peshawar. The capital would have been Islamabad, if the Indian Commonwealth (Hindustan proper) hadn't captured it during one particularly harsh bit of border warring in 1976, and even Peshawar is too close for most governmental officials, being well within range of even the most plodding Mumbai Union Air Defense Force planes like the Strikemaster.

Peshawar itself is quite an interesting place, interesting or frightening depending on one's outlook. It is nothing short of the capital of the Indian arms trade, with a shop on every street corner turning out the simple and prevalent Sten or to a lesser extent Ak-47s and Lee-Enfield rifles. Less-public workshops assemble RPGs and recoilless rifles, sometimes even landmines and AT-3 antitank missiles. Opium trafficking is also a major component of the local economy, and the city's proximity to Afghanistan's poppy growers helps that greatly.

One might be inclined to think that a ruthless and unquestioning police force would have a positive affect when it comes to reducing crime rates, but in reality the police force across North Pakistan, not just in Peshawar, is dominated by the major opium and arms cartels, who sick the constabulary on competitors.

In short, the whole state of affairs is not good, and isn't helped by relations (or lack thereof) with Kashmir...

tag

OCC: Feel free to jump in and contact one of these seven governments at any time, but right now I'm trying to just introduce the rest of the Indias.

IC:

Palace Of Winds, Jaipur

"So then, he leaned over to me and said, hey man, that wasn't an elephant, that was the queen consort!"
"Brilliant, Arjun! Brilliant! Manservant, bring me another brick!"

The courtyard of the Palace of Winds, Jaipur's ancient palace and residence of the Sultan Walid Al-Haji, is filled with courtiers and the occasional common Jaipurite. An old, ornate clock made in London shows the time as 2:56 AM, about the time when palace life is at its fever pitch, and a pianist plays the Charleston off to one side. Walid himself sits on his golden throne, a solid gold chair covered in silk and other ridiculously expensive materials, his Royal Hookah in front of him on its cart. His guest tonight, Admiral Arjun Paradip, commander-in chief of the Rajasthani military, occupies himself with his own allotment of Hashish while joking with the Sultan.

"Manservant! Manservant! Where is my yacht! Oh, forget this! My subjects, Homicide!"

Walid produces a raquet ball and whips it at one of the palace walls as a crowd assembles, all of them under the influence of various narcotics. They try to dodge the flying ball, tripping and flailing as it bounces back and fourth and the pianist churns out jazz tunes at a furious rate. For any visiting foreign dignitaries, it is an entertaining sight.

To say that the Opium and Hashish trades are integral parts of the Rajasthani economy would be an understatement. The first Sultan, Faisal Bin-Hamid, was an avid user of the stuff and his nephew Walid is no different. Cocaine in the morning, heroin at lunch, and Opium or Hashish in the evening is the Royal Routine, and therefore much of his ministers' time is spent negotiating deals with the sultan's various dealers. And in perhaps the only country where the use of mind-altering substances is not only condoned but official policy, Rajasthanis themselves are actively encouraged to 'do their part,' so to speak, growing poppies and working in the innumerable processing plants scattered nationwide. Conditions for the common person are mostly awful, and revolts are nearly constant, but North Hindustan has for whatever reason taken a liking to the stoned sultanate, so its small military is maintained.

Ganganagar

A finger-four of G.91Rs races low over the desert, napalm bombs hanging from their underwing hardpoints. Quite inconveniently, some Khalistani separatists had crossed the border and waylaid a train, and are now engaged in a firefight with a troupe of border guards.

On the ground it is a rather comical scene. The border guards, in truth unarmed, had arrived by helicopter, which crashed nearby upon landing. The Khalistanis were armed only with pistols and fled when they saw the helicopter, so by now they had crossed the border again. With the train moving back towards Sikar, the aging G.91s are left with no target and eventually drop their napalm cannisters in the desert. One particularly bored pilot even strafes the train, catching one of the cars afire and prompting the border guards to make obscene gestures at him, but given the nature of the government bureaucracy he is unlikely to be punished in any way.

An uber-interested tag...now these seem like Indians I quite like. Mayhap I can get a diplomatic mission organized on the morrow.

The Roycelandian Government has sent a couple of (well armed) delegates to Peshawar and Ganganagar, which have been described in a classified internal memo as "Exactly the sort of place we can make a lot of money from without anyone asking too many awkward questions".

Indeed, Arms and Narcotics are cornerstones of the Roycelandian Economy (Narcotics on a lesser scale, however), and the Ganganagar region sounds like it's ideal for some Roycelandian development assistance.

Meanwhile, a formal diplomatic mission has been sent to Kashmir, with a view to establishing relations with "The most civilised" of the seven Indian governments...

Baghdad liked Mustafa Shareef. He was sufficiently autocratic, sufficiently Arab-minded and sufficiently corrupt to be a friend of UE. In Peshawar, there was an increasing population of Elias citizens, both in the form of government officials, whether they be spooks, diplomats or both, and private citizens hoping to profit from the various local industries. Shipments of new and used examples of Muhannad combat rifles became increasingly common, as did the use of Elias dinars by vendors and buyers alike. Nebulous and well connected indivudals would also be trying to get in on the profts of the trade in opiates. Whilst even possesion of such a narcotic in UE would be a capital offence, providing it didn't touch UE soverign territory, the law could not touch them.

Military attaches dispatched from Baghdad seek meetings with counterparts in North Pakistan, planning to make sales pitches for Elias produced defence systems and give some friendly advice on how best to subdue the recalcitrant Kashmiris.

Jaipur

Arriving at the airport of Rajasthan’s capital were two military-cargo issue Airbus-300’s, huge cavernous planes designed to carry a lot. They were loaded with gifts, for His Most Christian Majesty wished a delegation to the Palace of Winds. He wished it, and it arrived.

The delegation was led by Clarisse Fatale, a noted Ordu du Saint-Louis Special Agent and the sister of top agent Sophie Fatale (secretly in Yugo Slavia). Behind the ravishing Frenchwoman was a delegation of some thirty eight members of the Ministry of State, and even a few attaches from the Ministry of War. They were of course all put to shame by the ravishing Fatale, Fatale Deux if you will. In her silk dress and powdered face, highlighted with rouge and touched by her gentle giggles, the words rang true: by her gait she revealed she was, in truth, a goddess. The Ministries had become quite savvy under Louis-Auguste’s personal incorporation of power, and now used only the best.

So the wigs and coats from Versailles proceeded to be welcomed by the Palace of Winds. They brought two items of singular worth. The first was a new portrait of His Majesty Louis-Auguste, done at a sitting specifically for the Sultan himself…no more personal gift, of course, could be exchanged between royals.

His Most Christian Majesty Louis-Auguste (http://worldroots.com/brigitte/gifs2/louis16france.jpg)

The second gift was also for the Sultan, though it would take some time to wheel it out of the cargo plane. It was a Renault A-3, “Le Aristocrat Trois”, the most luxurious car made in the Kingdom, designed for only a tiny fraction of the population (cheaper models were the S-1 thru S-9, the so called “Le Serf” models, economical designs for the Holy Leagues vast commoner population). The A-3 was a wonder of modern engineering. Since Honda had become partners with Renault, the French Firms (owned of course by le Comte d’Provence, the Kings younger brother) quality had gone up exponentially. They were now poised to become the lead auto-manufacturer in Western Europe. The A-3 was the ultimate statement of Restoration luxury. With the body design of a sleek Rolls Royce, it in fact had a aluminum block V-12 engine, replete with two turbo-charger units. The inside was a masterpiece of leather and teak hardwood, and the audio and safety systems were out of this world. It seated four. No doubt the sporty Sultan would appreciate this kind gesture.

So it was the French settled into Jaipur, waiting for an invitation to the Sultans swinging court. The French wished to become full friends with the Sultan, a man Louis-Auguste already liked. Indeed, the youngest brother of the Royal Family, le Duc d’Aquitaine, regarded by most as the families ‘playboy’ and indeed greatly responsible for starting the troubles with his sex tape, was reportedly itching to vacation in Jaipur along with his entourage. On the trade side of things the French wished to buy drugs and sell arms and heavy machinery. The Royal Algeria Company, a joint venture owned by Louis-Auguste and Louis I of Algeria, had it in mind to buy drugs cheaply from the Pakistani state and sell it at greatly inflated prices to the Algerian natives. Two Birds would be killed with one stone: The Algerians would be made more dependant and pacified on France than ever, and the Bourbon’s would rake in even more cash for their palaces, fetes, and lovers. Needless to say, for the better more refined drugs, the Sultan could find no better market than the French Aristocracy. Why, even mightily Serene Jillesepone, Queen of France and Daughter of the Tsar, had taken to ‘powdering her nose’ in the lush golden chambers of Versailles. Louis-Auguste was famous for his concoction “Lamottes Drops”, which was in reality a mixture of fortified wine, laudanum, and just a touch of Coca powder for flavor.

And Versailles made it clear that it would not hesitate to sell the Rajasthan arms, either small, canons-missiles, or armored vehicles and jet planes. In addition, the Sultan would be informed that if he deigned, the radiant garden and Chateau of Versailles was open for him to visit, as a guest of honor, as a guest of the Most Christian King. Surely no Prince of Potentate could call himself that without first walking down the Hall of Mirrors, and receiving his due acclaim.

North Pakistan

Shareef, back from the taxing Indian Union meeting, greets Elians with a level of entheusiasm and friendliness almost alien to the man. If not already enamered with the President's diplomatically likeable qualities, Elians will find themselves entertained with stories of his military exploits against Kashmir and to a lesser extent against The Indian Commonwealth. While the ICADF 'Hunter' he shot down while a fighter pilot was actually a Vickers Viking, the President has an innate storytelling ability and could probably make money as a writer if he wasn't President of North Pakistan.

The Elians are immediately invited to take a trip to the nearby army base to 'try out' the new Muhannads. Mustafa Shareef picks one up eagerly and empties an entire magazine at a distant rifle target on full auto. "Yes, these will do," he says. He is even happier when he learns that the assault rifles are only the beginning. What does North Pakistan need? Oh, where does one start? First of all, SAMs. With the ICADF widening the already immense technology and numerical gap with Shareef's NPAF, he could use something to stem the near-constant raids on his airbases around Peshawar. Second, artillery. Vital in mountain warfare, Shareef hardly has enough as is. He'd like something relatively light and portable, perhaps able to be carried underslung by an Mi-8. Speaking of Mi-8s, helicopters. The Alouette IIs can only hold on for a little bit longer and there aren't nearly enough Mi-8s.

The list goes on.

Elians getting involved in the Indian underworld find that there are mountains of money to be had, and most opium and arms moguls are extremely receptive to foreign investment. But the downside is that the illicit trades are very dangerous, with people being killed daily and the police constantly hungry for ever-larger bribes. They shouldn't be surprised if attacked on the street by gunmen or stopped and arrested by policemen, and mail bombs are apt to find their way anywhere.

Kashmir

When it comes to Roycelandian diplomatic overtures Parak Singh is just as receptive as his arch-rival Mustafa Shareef is to the Elians. It might be a bit soon to classify Kashmir as the most civilized of the seven non-Bedgellen Indian Union members, since little Sikkim is also a highly ordered principality with all the trappings of the Raj (although greatly smaller and poorer), but it is without a doubt the most worthwhile from a Roycelandian perspective. In Kashmir, Roycelandia will find a boundless market for arms, especially Lee-Enfield derivatives. The Roycelandians are also given a hundred kilos of poppies to take back to Goa, "as a gesture of goodwill."

Rajasthan

The French are met at the Palace of Winds by a man dressed only in his underwear and a fez, howling hysterically and running circles around the delegation. His aides introduce him as Sultan Walid Al-Haji, in a severely inebriated state. The Frenchmen are invited inside and each given a small pile of the white dust, and one of the Sultan's ministers initiates negotiations.

Yes, the Rajasthanis would be more than happy to sell to France, but they'd best keep it under wraps or else the North Hindustanis are apt to cut off support and the Commonwealthers apt to bomb Rajasthan to bits. The drug trade is taboo already, and France is an object of extreme dislike on the part of the Indian Commonwealth, something which they won't hesitate to violently react to. But otherwise, France represents perhaps the best business opportunity ever to befall the Sultanate. A palace functionary is sent to hang the portrait of Louis-Auguste in the Sultan's bedroom and several crates of hashish are brought straight from the Royal Storerooms.

The G.91s returning from their sortie over Ganganagar start to make a strafing run on the A300s, but are frantically called-off by the control tower and land quickly, hoping to dodge any possible reprimand. They narrowly miss the Sultan, now racing wildly across the airfield on a bicycle, before he is caught by functionaries and carried back to the French delegation.

After a very cold shower, Walid Al-Haji comes to greet the French himself. "Greetings my esteemed friends! What a beautiful car you've brought me!"

While pushing fifty years and hardly athletic, the Sultan has a taste for adventure, albeit stoned adventure. Rajasthanis on the road later that night best watch out, since the Sultan doesn't see any reason why he shouldn't drive while high.


Far south, across the Indian Commonwealth border, Parliament is in uproar. The powerful air defense radar network, so valuable against the Bedgellens, had detected the approach of the three Airbus-300s headed to Jaipur from the North, presumably flying via Iran to south-west China and then down through Kashmir and North Hindustan. For Rajasthan to host a French delegation is largely regarded as nothing short of treason against the very people of the Indian subcontinent, and while some say that Rajasthan has the right to do what it wants with regards to international relations, most are extremely upset. However, it will take some prodding to provoke the Indian Commonwealth to take serious action.

An airstrike against Jaipur's airport is approved, and a squadron of Springers takes off from an airfield in Punjab laden with AT.50 missiles and runway-cratering bombs.

OOC- hey, I would have sold some Alouette II's...

OOC- hey, I would have sold some Alouette II's...

Well, I suppose, but every aerospace company in non-Gelatian India churns out Alouette IIs and Alouette IIIs like nothing else, they being wildly popular with both civil and military operators. Not to mention, the market for 'gently used' surplus examples is simply massive.

The North Pakistanis want Mi-8s because of their high load-carrying capacity. Granted, the Artouse-powered Alouette II is a superb high-altitude performer, but you try and fit a section of infantrymen on one and tell me how it turns out for you.

Peshawar

Trade and military attaches from the newly opened Elias Embassy to North Pakistan are delighted at Shareef's enquiries and seek to answer him quickly. Firstly, on the matter of helicopters, Shareef's government is reminded that Elias Aerospace produce a very wide range of military helicopters that are arguably the finest in the world (see AMW Defence thread for details) and that his choice really depended on budget. If new helicopters were not in North Pakistan's price range, UE could offer some of its huge stockpile of retired Mi-17s and Mi-24s, and for slightly more money, upgrade their avionics to more modern standards.

As far as Surface to Air Missiles are concerned, again, it would have to depend on how deep the Republic's pockets went. UE produces an indigenous version of the Russian designed Igla in both a man-portable and also a vehicle mounted configuration. If something larger is required, then there is the highly expensive and long range Fire Arrow which offers theatre level defence against SRBMs, cruise missiles and aircraft or the intermediate range Fire Lance tactical system (radar, launcher vehicles etc can be tracked or wheeled) which offers defence up to ranges of approximately 25nm.

With regards to artillery, UE would be willing to supply up to several hundred Soviet era D-30 122mm Howitzers at a very low price indeed. Unfortunately, the newly introduced light gun used by the Elias Army is a licensed built version of the British RO L118 and therefore cannot be legally exported.

The final part of the deal would hopefully attract Shareef's interest even more. If North Pakistan was to set aside territory and an appropriate base facility that could be used by the Elias Army as a mountain training area (currently lacking), Baghdad would in return supply certain defence equipments at heavily discounted prices or in some cases, at no charge.

***
As far as the trade in illicit substances, the involvement of UE based companies in these ventures is nothing new. Solomon Zubeida, an extremely wealthy and adventurous arms dealer, not to mention a childhood friend of the President had been running smuggling operations through Afghanistan and Waziristan for several decades, although primarily importing weapons to the tribal areas rather than exporting narcotics. Overall, UE individuals have built up quite a network of connections and loyalties in these highly feral regions where central government has little or no control.

Peshawar

Still giddy from his introduction to the Muhannad (several of which he immediately requisitions for personal use), President Shareef readily agrees to let the Elians establish a base in North Pakistan. If nothing else, he will later rationalize, it will make the Kashmiris think twice about attacking him. How they intend to get to North Pakistan from United Elias with large numbers of troops is beyond him, since the Indian Commonwealth would probably not let them through, and the Indian Subcontinent's coastline is entirely covered by either Beth Gellert or the Indian Commonwealth. A passage through China would be quick and easy, but Shareef doesn't know the status of Sino-Elian relations.

On the subject of weapons, Shareef says that he would be very interested in two dozen Mi-17s and mabye three dozen Mi-24s, to completely replace the Alouette II and III. Besides that, the D-30 is an appealing piece of equipment, and Shareef tells the Elians that he'd like about one hundred. "Parak can sit on that," he says to them, "and he'd better like it!"

As for SAMs, the Fire Lance seems like exactly what Shareef is looking for, and while he'd rather have the Fire Arrow, even with nearly a hundred percent of the government budget going to the military it doesn't seem like he could afford a useful number. Shareef also asks for 50 Elian-produced Igla launchers to replace the hodgepodge of Chinese and Russian missiles in service, many inoperable.

tag

Soviets to pay reparations

From 1947 to 1989 the Indian sub-continent was a perpetual war zone with one overwhelmingly dominant success story amongst the myriad national entities. Beth Gellert, be it as the '47-'82 Principality or the '82-'89 Sopworth Commonwealth, achieved territorial gains at the expense of every neighbour its borders reached during four decades of post-independence conflict.

Late gains such as the annexation of all Chhatisgarh, India's most mineral-rich state -part of which was considered the traditional heart of Beth Gellert-along with the rejoining of Sri Lanka to the mainland, made certain of the new Commonwealth's superior position in the Indian Ocean. Hardly less well provided with natural resources, Jharkhand, after being damaged by Principality raids over the years, was courted by the revolutionary Commonwealth until it too joined the Igovian state.

Today, a session of the Commonwealth Final Senate in Portmeirion, Raipur, at the heart of Chhatisgarh, confirmed the passing of a resolution to, "...restore, unto persons living who have suffered such losses, the value of work misdirected or misappropriated by deliberate action leading to our current and relative position of prosperity and civilisation".

This, essentially, meant that the Igovian Soviet Commonwealth was recognising that its high standards of living and the ability of its empowered residents to influence global conditions resulted from a sort of theft conducted in living memory. It also was indicated that this theft was not designed to produce the results it had in Beth Gellert -revolution, prosperity in equality, liberty- and that the possibility existed for righting wrongs in a practical and progressive fashion.

Igovians, by and large, were not inspired by thoughts of justice, and certainly had no time for heredity or ethnicity in guilt, but things had happened in living memory, during the working lives of those still working, that were of a criminal sort deserving revolutionary confrontation. Rather than accept that extra-Commonwealth neighbours in India would be right to wage corrective revolutionary war on the Soviets, Beth Gellert's people had resolved to, essentially, dissipate the revolution from above.

Igovian treasuries included riches seized from the capitalists in 1982 and 1989, more built up out of habit by the First Commonwealth's command economy, and much smaller monetary profits stockpiled by generally disinterested Second and Third Commonwealths. The number of billions in dollar-value of various foreign currencies was not widely known, exactly.

It was from these vaults that Portmeirion intended to transfer what remained to remember the value of working hours lost in untold millions, which could have developed other Indian states and extracted resources taken with the revolution as if they were property of the feet that chanced to be atop them in 1982.

Some fifteen billion dollars had been the first payment allotted for delivery to the Indian National Union, the national entity perhaps most trusted by Igovians warey of corruption and regression persisting across the sub-continent. Commonwealth Professional Civil Servants were assigned to observe the use of this wealth before further plans were concluded to increase several fold the value of reparation.

Other communities in India were in line for future reparation, but the Igovian populace was evidently refusing to make such payments to governments that themselves continued to steal and to hold-back progress and liberation. There was every chance that popular revolutionary movements, including many recognised internationally as terrorist organisations, would receive billions of dollars in reparation, or, it was being suggested, in aid to see their revolutions completed before reparation would be of any use!

Strange days, indeed. Beth Gellert was in funny mood after declaring the Third Commonwealth, which in many respects tilted it towards anarchism while at once revitalising militancy and far-reaching community spirit. The Militia Auxiliary was actually being used, with millions dusting off defence facilities to wipe-out smuggling, theft, personal crimes, religion, as people started to care once again; communities were getting together and starting public works without waiting for a much reduced government to do it for them; youngsters were heading off to join revolutionary movements around the sub-continent as Geletians especially fostered the idea of such warrior service to world revolution as a rite of passage; and people would get out of bed one day and wander into Gujarat or Goa just to say hello, or to test the limits of anti stupidity legislation. It was, in the words of one 'Gelgali' (fellow with a particular mix of race) university professor, a new face-to-the-sun spirit. Most peculiar.

Indians on the west side of the border recieve the news very well. Such a move on the Igovians' part is unexpected to say the least, since Mumbai's diplomats had stopped asking for reparations long ago, and even then they didn't expect to be successful. Fifteen billion USQ is a lump sum the likes of which Mumbai hasn't seen in quite a while, and the Igovians can rest assured that Parliament will use it very well.

On the top of the funding list is the National Railroad, namely the lines in Balochistan and northern Punjab that haven't yet been converted to broad gauge. After that is the usual program of hospital-building and public health concerns. Nobody is going to say that Parliament won't find a use for fifteen billion dollars.

Given the very friendly nature of Igovian-INU relations in modern times, reparation payments are hardly necessary, and most Indians view the Indo-Bedgellen war as a winning fight, but it hardly hurts the Soviet Commonwealth's popular standing. Not to mention, "Igovian generosity" all but decides the INA's tank acquisition program in favor of a mixed bag of MT-2s and MT-3s, even with the Spyrian competitor having just recently submitted its bid.


The North Hindustani government, from its seat in Delhi, expects to be the next recipient of Igovian reparations. While the Prime Minister is a staunch capitalist and no small number of MPs can be counted as in the pocket of the drugs and arms cartels, the situation in North Hindustan compares quite favorably to that of Kashmir and North Pakistan. At least, say many Unioners, there's a handful of democratic institutions there compared to the zero in most of the rest of the subcontinent. Of course, the Igovians might find the Bundelkhand seperatists of the BMM party favorable alternatives, with their Maoist-influenced policies, and there's a wide selection of revolutionary groups to choose from after that. CPI guerrillas on the Nepalese border, rival KSP borders from Bihar, and even Strainist armed elements exist in the country along with the most formidable separatist group; the Shiromani Akali Dal parties.

Of all the North Hindustani separatist groups, the various Khalistani and Punjabi separatists are deemed the most agreeable, since decades of cross-border involvement from Union Punjab had managed to implant a bit of the FRETLIN and Polisario spirit. Not to mention, many of the Akali Dal's factions advocate either an east Punjab closely allied to, if not unified wit, the Indian National Union.


Bihar, still smarting over the loss of Jharkhand and what it sees as Igovian abandonment, is unlikely to take any money unless Sopworth tells the Premier to do so. While not a particularly oppressive state, no worse than Lybia, Bihar has been at odds with the Chivo Commonwealth since its inception.


Little Sikkim, on the far side of West Bengal, stands to gain immeasurably from even a small infusion of cash. While still ruled by a single monarch, he is quite agreeable and is taking steps towards democracy. It is widely hoped that this small slice of India, barely touched by the Indo-Bedgellen war but touched none the less, will be able to benefit from reparations.


Meanwhile, to the Northwest, North Pakistan and Kashmir remain locked in perpetual conflict. Either one of the region's autocratic rulers, Mustafa Shareef or Parak Singh, is apt to spend every penny of any reparation money on defense equipment with which to fight eachother. These two nations are also probably the least needy when it comes to Igovian money. Shareef's government in Peshawar has recently discovered the benefits of cozying-up to Baghdad and Singh continues to draw from his various Chinese and now possibly Roycelandian benefactors. Also, unlike the rest of the subcontinent, these two states were granted autonomy by the same document that gave the remainder of would-be Pakistan and non-Gelatian majority India to the Indian National Union. They have, since about 1967, fought amongst themselves for reasons quite apart from the rest of the subcontinent, Bedgellen troops never reaching them, and the INU able to commit only a minimum of forces.


Nobody is about to suggest that Rajasthan get any money. If corruption is what the Igovians are afraid of, Sultan Walid Al-Haji couldn't be a more perfect embodiment of the idea. The entire government treasury is subject to being used to fund the Sultan's addictions to a number of different drugs and his taste for exotic automobiles, the bulk of which have been wrecked in crashes. Walid also recently opened the country as a vacation spot for equally corrupt and unsavory Frenchmen with equal tastes for whiskey, white lines, and women.

Bihar

As one of the Bihar People's Liberation Army Air Force's HS-748s buzzes over the outskirts of Patna on its way to Kathmandu, Biharis on the ground mumble and curse. The Andover's passengers, CPI (Maoist) party high-ups headed to meet with the ruling CPN (Maoist) in Nepal, certainly aren't the worst leaders in the world. But then again, there are some real crackpots out there.

The day-to-day existence of most Biharis is a largely miserable affair, the most of them living under corrugated tin roofs. Ever since the southern portion of Bihar unified with Beth Gellert as Jharkhand, Patna's plans for using that area's mineral resources to generate jobs and money have gone up in smoke, and so far the Central Committee has yet to come up with a replacement solution. Therefore, with no international backers except Maoist Nepal, itself in hardly secure financial straits, Patna is closer to the bottom of its national coffers than to the top.

One economic activity that Bihar can still hold its own in is agriculture, being crisscrossed by a number of major rivers, most notably the Ganges. But even then, farming techniques are archaic and the work is back-breaking, and malnourishment is widespread. Added into the mix is a wide variety of largely preventable diseases, all but irradicated in the rest of the Subcontinent but still prevalent in Bihar. Life expectancy is low and indeed Biharis can't expect very much during that life.

To date, there have been no less than twenty rebellions, major and minor, against the central government in Patna in as many years. The first revolution, against the Gelatian military dictator Eowa Pybba, was indeed popularly supported and swept the CPI (Maoist) into power, a responsibility that they were by no means ready to accept. So over two decades, the economic situation in Bihar had remained largely the same. At least the Central Committee cares at all, unlike Pybba who didn't concern himself at all over the matter, but without anyone mildly experienced in economics and lacking a notable international backer since 1989, things can't possibly be looking up anytime soon. But the government really doesn't have much to worry about, since even Igovian-inspired revolutionaries have been consistently unable to unify Bihar's 82 million against the government. Often, the majority, still deeply suspicious of Gelatians as a race, reject anything coming from that country offhand.

So Patna's residents continue to slog about their business much as they have, in the monsoon drizzle or the midsummer heat, amongst the hustle and bustle of an overcrowded city such as Patna.

Parliament Consents To Deposition Resolve

In a surprisingly blatant gesture of hostility towards the Sultanate of Rajasthan, Parliament has recently given its consent to the Deposition Resolve, written by Gujaratis, Maharashtrans, Sindhis and Punjabis living on the border with Rajasthan, which allows irregular forces in those provinces to conduct cross-border raids and incite insurrection in Rajasthan. Rajasthan, part of the area of India originally ceded to the Indian National Union in 1947, is without a doubt the nucleus of organized crime and opium smuggling on the Indian Subcontinent and is "long overdue" for "liberation," according to one Enfield-brandishing irregular. While it is really quite unlikely that the poorly-equipped provincial irregulars will be able to effect a successful takeover of Rajasthan, support is believed to be on the up for a full-scale military expedition to depose Walid Al-Haji once and for all...

OCC: Come to think of it, this might be a bit, shall we say, hasty. So if anyone has any objections to Parliament beating-up the Sultan, please voice them.

My only objection is that there aren't any Roycelandians helping the Indians beat up the Sultan... ;-)

OCC: Indeed, the INU isn't all it says it is. Should Roycelandia control all the Caribbean? No. Should the INU control all of India? Yes. The Rajasthan operation, methinks, will be something of a long-term affair, something that a lot of Indians in the INU aren't terribly keen to deal with.

IC:

Kishangarh, Rajasthan

The job of Rajasthani Border Policeman is a thankless one on most days, and downright dangerous the rest of the time. Usually armed only with a truncheon and occasionally a Webley or Nagant revolver, the Royal Rajasthani Border Police Service has the responsibility of keeping arms and narcotics smugglers out of the Sultanate, an impossible task even with the best of training and equipment. The fact that the Sultan is dependant on those exact elements for his continued rule doesn't help things.

And of all his nights at the border post, Constable Daljeet Vishakramsinge is in for one of the more trying ones.

Already he had been visited by a nondescript man from across the border and handed a significant amount of Elian Dinars in exchange for turning a blind eye to certain goings-on planned for the near future. Daljeet was more than happy to consent, hardly a lover of the Sultan himself, but since that time things had become a bit more complicated. A section of Royal Army regulars had been helicoptered-in and set up a Vickers MG on a building which inconveniently overlooked a particular section of the border berm.

Daljeet isn't the only one who noticed the Regulars' arrival, though.

"Cigarette, Seargent?"
"No, thankyou, leftenant. I don't smoke."

The scene is an awkward one in the guard bunker that evening.

"Worried, Seargent? Don't be. The Sikhs are hardly likely to surge across the border this second, now are they?"
"No, leftenant. Just a bit apprehensive, that's all."
"Well, well. Nothing wrong with that, eh?"

As the clock ticks ever closer to midnight, Daljeet nods off. The Leftenant, on the other hand, is awake to hear the cries of alarm sounded as a parachute flare arcs across the sky. At that very moment, the far side of the berm erupts in weapons fire.

Around two thousand Punjabi irregulars, the most of them armed with the ubiquitous Lee-Enfield and the remainder with Stens, descend on Kishangarh in the dead of night, and with relatively well-practiced order they lay down a blanket of .303 fire while more of their number surge across the rather poorly-protected border.

"Let's go, lads! To the town!"

The Kishangarh attack isn't even the start of what is entirely an offensive on the part of the Punjabi provincial assembly aimed at capturing Rajasthani territory up to the Rajasthan Canal...

...Indeed it isn't even a major part! All across the Rajasthani border, towns like Kishangarh find themselves suddenly switching hands, invaded by bands of Punjabis, Sindhis, and Gujaratis. While the Punjabis, under the overall command of Brigadier Davlat Wickramsinghe, make raids on Birsilpur, Kishangarh, Tanot, and Sarkai Tala, Sindhi irregulars seize Dhanna, Munaba, and succeed in breeching the Rajasthani border fences and berms in front of Shahgarh. Gujarati irregulars themselves, supported heavily by elements of the 17th Light Infantry Division, make raids on Bakhasar and Sanchor, and succeed in capturing the rail line through and slightly northeast of Abu Road.

It is hardly a well-planned assault, at least on the strategic level, but rather a resolve on the part of irregular units to make their move as soon as the opportunity presented itself. What is very odd about the whole affair is that the irregular units, meant to guard against foreign invasion, are the first to cross the border.

This is not to say that the irregular units are operating independently of Parliament's 'authority,' but rather that the somewhat unexpected nature of the whole operation necessitates the use of what units are available. In fact, it is so sudden that the irregular units operate without air support because nobody bothered to increase the alert status of the Springer squadrons so soon after the Deposition Resolve was consented to.

Firefights occur in places, but overall Rajasthani resistance is weak, for several reasons. First among them is the fact that the Sultan is an exceedingly bad ruler and has little care for his subjects. To say that they would be glad to be rid of him would be an understatement. Second, nearly the whole of what could be called the Sultan's proffessional army is deployed to the northeast, around Jaipur and the border with Kashmiri Punjab. The Sultan's generals are quite correct to suppose that deploying too far south would allow the INA to cut through its lines of supply, and by keeping close to North Hindustan the army is able to resupply easily.

In terms of territorial gain, the first night's work succeeds in capturing a number of under-populated, and as far as the Sultan is concerned, irrelevant, border towns within artillery range in the south, and a thin band of border desert in the west. The only INA divisions in a position from which they could attack Rajasthan presently are the 1st Armored Division, in Sindh, the 9th Dragoons in Madhya Pradesh, and the 17th Light Infantry in Gujarat. Thunder Run might have been one thing, but taking-over a country of 50 million, without a massive technological superiority, with three divisions, is simply not going to happen. What the INA does intend to do, though, is make significant inroads into the under-defended Thar Desert and south.

To this end, a number of columns cross the border with Punjab. Made up mainly of the venerable ACV India Pattern Mk.7 armored cars, with numerous Ferrets and ASC Mk.8s present as well, they make for the Rajasthan Canal and hope to establish the INA in the western border regions.


But regardless, the Sultan puts out a call for support. North Hindustani support is going to come regardless of the course of events, as Delhi wants to unify Rajasthan with itself, but Walid Al-Haji is also hoping to recieve mercenaries and defense equipment from his new ally France.

IF and when the Strathdonian Govenrment become aware of the Hindustani actions (i know they are now the INU but the govenrment can be a bit slow) they offer all the moral support they can for the Unions quest to brign peace stability and prosperity to the rest of the subconinent, normally they would only be too delighted offer soem tangable support but with world war 3 about to kick off along all of the Strathdonia borders, they hope thier Indian freinds will understand.

By daybreak, the events of that evening are probably all over the news. And if the Sultan isn't necessarily concerned, his advisors are.

A communique is shot off to Versailles, written in an extremely humble and pleading tone, which promises the French that Rajasthan will 'gladly consent' to becoming a Bourbon protectorate if Louis-Auguste supports the Sultan against the Indian National Union.

On the face of it, the outcome looks rather decided. The INU, 319 million people and a 350,000-man standing army, decides to invade Rajasthan, with its 56 million disenfranchised and oppressed citizens and 100,000-man conscript army. Even in Jaipur, most people couldn't be bothered to lift a finger for the Sultan's well-being, and the Thar Desert nomads plan to participate actively in INA operations.

But the only troops in position to react immediately are the border irregulars, and while the most of them are fairly well-disciplined and army veterans, they lack equipment and support. Should the Sultan's generals direct a tank-supported assault on the border towns held by the irregulars, they would be hard-pressed to hold onto their gains. That is why most irregular units are eager to hand over their positions to INA troops as soon as possible.

Moreover, the INA itself is hardly in a position to mount an immediate attack, even across the border. Most of the INA is deployed along the coast or the North Hindustani frontier, leaving only the few light infantry divisions in Punjab free to mount assaults into the Thar Desert.

Another surprising thing is that, when it comes to tanks, the Royal Rajasthani Army actually has a technological advantage. With Igovian vehicles still on delivery, and Centurions being packed for shipping to Strathdonia, the only battle tank type still in INA service is the 75/105mm-gunned T-55. The Rajasthanis have 36 T-90S MBTs, along with significant stocks of 9K120 gun-fired ATGWs and all the spare parts, ERA blocks, and APFSDS rounds necessary to keep them operational for the forseeable future.

The most fearsome antitank weaponry deployed in Rajasthan by the INA at present is the SPG-9 recoilless rifle, examples of which are mounted on the ASC Mk.8, and it can't penetrate the frontal armor of a T-90 by a long shot. A very small number of AT.18 posts are in service with irregular units, but so far none have found their way into the Rajasthan assault.

OCC: Does anyone want to jump in and RP Rajasthan? I asked Nova Gaul but there might still be room for mercenary actions, and we could really use a North Hindustan as well.

North Pakistan

Baghdad had wasted no time in delivering Shareef the armaments he had agreed to purchase. A fleet of An-124 and An-225 transporters had been flying sorties between the two countries endlessly, bringing in a total of 3 Fire Lance batteries (each with 6 launchers and associated radars), 108 D-30 Howitzers, 50 Igla-UE MANPADs, 24 Mi-17s and 36 Mi-24s. However, to make sure that this equipment was absorbed successfully, several hundred technical advisors accompanied them. Not only would they train officers and men to operate these equipments but also generally assist in improving the quality of North Pakistan's military tactics and organisation.

Meanwhile, with Shareef's approval, the Elias military was moving into North Pakistan itself. A special forces base had been established at a remote location in Waziristan. With barracks for just a few hundred soldiers, its task was to prepare the elite Elias Commando units for warfare in these barren mountains. Due to its distance from any significant settlements, it was anyone's guess what exactly was going on, and any rumours of Elias helicopters slipping across the Afghan border in the dead of night would have been fiercely denied. To support this effort, an air contingent had been deployed to Kohat Air Base near Peshawar. With two squadrons of EA-160 multirole fighters, 2 A-50 AEW aircraft, 2 Il-78 Tankers and 2 EA-06 SIGINT aircraft, it was also designed to deter any air attacks from Kashmir.

Even more sinister, was the influx of a very nebulous group of operatives from the Federal Intelligence Bureau’s Jihaz al Khas (Special Apparatus) section. Their presence, known to few inside the Elias Embassy in Peshawar, never mind anyone in North Pakistan’s government was designed to ensure that firstly Shareef stayed in power and secondly that he remained loyal to Baghdad. They would monitor government communiqués with other countries, conduct surveillance on senior officials and keep an eye on possible dissidents. If a particular individual was deemed to be a cause for concern for any reason, the possibility of him meeting with an untimely accident or being blown up/gunned down in connection with some dubious transaction or simply by random bandits was probable.

Two French spy satellites now intently focused on Rajasthan, as this movement presented a major change in the course of French Sub-continental policy.

His Most Christian Majesty Louis-Auguste instructed Mlle. Fatale and her cadre of French envoys, of course ODSL operatives, to secure the Sultan’s person immediately, outlining an elaborate security plan. They were armed to the teeth, and their priority was to keep His Excellency alive. At least half a dozen French transports had already arrived at the capital, and it was advised that the Sultan ought to have some things packed just in case.

Arriving from France on an A510 ODSE High Speed Military Aircraft at the Rajasthan capital was Monsieur le Baron de Furren, Colonel of His Majesty’s 4th Royal Swiss Regiment. Brother in law to le Merechal de Saxe himself, Chairman of the General Staff, he was a superb and well-connected tactician. He traveled with a team of forty three staff officers, whose task it was to attaché to the Rajasthani High Command, and advises them as to the dire situation, and get them into shape to mount a solid defense.

The Sultan would get a direct phone call from M. de Maurepas, His Majesty’s Prime Minister.

“The Most Christian King stands ready to help, but what can he do other than secure you safely in Versailles? Monseigneur le Sultan, gather your strength, obdure. My sources indicate you are receiving support from Baghdad, this is good. Let us get in touch with Depkezia, and perhaps a staging base can be set up, in either case it will be months before I can get men on the ground to your location. Obdure, mon ami. May God and His Angels defend your throne.

((More to come, have a lot to do, but this shows the Louis-Auguste wont throw the Sultan to the wolves.))

By the second day of Mumbai's "invasion," the IAF is finally able to make a showing, and quite a showing it makes. The Jaguars of Nos. 2 and 5 squadrons are the first to appear in Rajasthani skies, and they streak across the border at about sunrise. Unwilling to risk unnecessary losses over Jaipur to any possible French MANPADs, the decision is made to attack the airport and its Airbus visitors with AT.50 stand-off missiles. From 20 kilometers away from the target, each one of the 25 Jaguars looses four of the missiles against airport facilities, namely the dispersal areas and suspected AAA emplacements. It is very much hoped that some of the French transports will be hit, since such a large conflagration on an already small airport would no doubt be disastrous.

The Jaguar fliers of Nos. 2 and 5 squadrons are doubtless some of the better attack pilots in the world, certainly on the very high end of experience, having seen action in the Malacca War and Sino-Nepalese War. With R-73Is on overwing pylons and powerful jamming pods, they don't have much to fear from either Rajasthani G.91s or what few SAMs still exist in operable condition, but it is never good to take chances. The hazardous and dirty work of cratering the runway is the providence of the high-flying F(J).9TGR.1 and its laser-guided bombs, and on the heels of the Jaguars comes No.17 squadron in the precision attack role.

Taking advantage of the confusion ideally caused by the Jaguars, No.17 squadron hopes to come in above the airfield and drop LGBs on the runway intersection.

Relatively few Springers are on hand, the majority of those being deployed elsewhere, but before long F(J).9FGA.1s from Punjab and Maharasthra can be seen rocketing off their poorly-paved or dirt fighter strips with R-73I and R-77I missiles hanging from their wings. While there are only around 30 single-seat F(J).9s on hand at this time, a combination of superior pilot experience and training, superior GCI, and superior missile technology more or less ensures that nothing unfriendly will enter Rajasthani airspace without the IAF having its say.

All the while, more squadrons, particularly of Springers, whose air-to-air capability is deemed sufficient to deal with North Pakistani Mirages, are moved into airbases closer to the action and prepared for strikes on the Jodhpur and Jaisalmer airports.


It doesn't take long for the INA to assemble a sizeable force on the border, even if this consists mainly of Light Infantry divisions, thanks to the extensive national rail network. Already, the 17th begins to push north from Abu Road along the railway with the objective of seizing Bali by the end of tomorrow, and elements of other divisions, notably the 4th Dragoons and 23rd Light Infantry, cross the border and make good progress north.

The main punch, however, is to take place from Madhya Pradesh, which will see INA units spearheaded by the 9th Dragoons cross the Chambal roughly level with Sawai and drive strait for Jaipur.

In the meantime, Punjabi irregulars, now transported by several mechanized companies detached from the still-organizing 19th Light Infantry, find themselves at the Rajasthan Canal, in the middle of the Thar Desert. The some 10,000 men in Davlat Wickramsinghe's column, a mixture of Punjabi irregulars and 19th Division vehicle crews, will likely make for the railhead at Bikaner while intermittent cross-border raids in the vicinity of Ganganagar occupy the Rajasthani Army units deployed there to counter Sikh rebels from Punjab.

The INA's invasion so far is nothing that a determined effort can't curtail, but the fact remains that the IAF has a massive advantage in the air and to attack incursions in the south and west would be to subtract units from the defense of the capital from INA heavy units.

Helicopter squadrons also start flying operations, at first in the medical and logistical support capacities, but it isn't long before a plan is drawn up to lift some 3,000 troops of the Sindhi 22nd Division to Sam aboard 20 Mi-8s, supported by a squadron of Navy attack-configured Hawks. This will hopefully put a brigade-sized unit in striking distance of Jaisalmer and open the way for the rest of 22nd and 1st Division to capture that city.

North Pakistan

Baghdad had wasted no time in delivering Shareef the armaments he had agreed to purchase. A fleet of An-124 and An-225 transporters had been flying sorties between the two countries endlessly, bringing in a total of 3 Fire Lance batteries (each with 6 launchers and associated radars), 108 D-30 Howitzers, 50 Igla-UE MANPADs, 24 Mi-17s and 36 Mi-24s. However, to make sure that this equipment was absorbed successfully, several hundred technical advisors accompanied them. Not only would they train officers and men to operate these equipments but also generally assist in improving the quality of North Pakistan's military tactics and organisation.

Meanwhile, with Shareef's approval, the Elias military was moving into North Pakistan itself. A special forces base had been established at a remote location in Waziristan. With barracks for just a few hundred soldiers, its task was to prepare the elite Elias Commando units for warfare in these barren mountains. Due to its distance from any significant settlements, it was anyone's guess what exactly was going on, and any rumours of Elias helicopters slipping across the Afghan border in the dead of night would have been fiercely denied. To support this effort, an air contingent had been deployed to Kohat Air Base near Peshawar. With two squadrons of EA-160 multirole fighters, 2 A-50 AEW aircraft, 2 Il-78 Tankers and 2 EA-06 SIGINT aircraft, it was also designed to deter any air attacks from Kashmir.

Even more sinister, was the influx of a very nebulous group of operatives from the Federal Intelligence Bureau’s Jihaz al Khas (Special Apparatus) section. Their presence, known to few inside the Elias Embassy in Peshawar, never mind anyone in North Pakistan’s government was designed to ensure that firstly Shareef stayed in power and secondly that he remained loyal to Baghdad. They would monitor government communiqués with other countries, conduct surveillance on senior officials and keep an eye on possible dissidents. If a particular individual was deemed to be a cause for concern for any reason, the possibility of him meeting with an untimely accident or being blown up/gunned down in connection with some dubious transaction or simply by random bandits was probable.

Shareef is absolutely delighted in the level of Elian support, and even goes so far as to treat Baghdad's diplomats to a relatively common but still relatively exciting Air Force display. It is made quite public that the lead Su-25 in the display is being flown by none other than Shareef himself, an ex-fighter pilot, and he is eager to show off air combat manouvers learned while undergoing training in the USSR.

Elian military units moving into the country are given a very warm welcome by the President and his government, as well as assurances that they will turn a blind eye to essentially anything that they do. The Commandos will probably, though, find that they aren't the only ones making secret incursions into Afghanistan, and that North Pakistani Para-Commandos also enjoy skirting the border.

Technical advisors will find the North Pakistani military in fairly good shape, usually coming out on top of the Kashmiris even without the benefit of a steady stream of Russian spare parts. The influx of helicopters comes at just the right time, as Parak Singh's airforce is losing overworked and undermaintained Alouette IIIs on almost a weekly basis. "If we can get these up and running sooner rather than later," Shareef comments to an Elian diplomat, "mabye we can try for Siachen by the end of the year."

When it comes to threats against Shareef's person and government, top of the list is the Kashmiri Special Branch, which probably has more than a few agents in North Pakistan at any time. A close second are of course the opium and arms barons, who, it is widely believed, have the power to do more or less whatever they want. In Waziristan in particular, these groups hold a frightening amount of power and participate actively in fighting across the border in Afghanistan. A small Maoist following exists, but it isn't nearly popular and Shareef does a good job of keeping it down himself. The obligatory Indian National Unioners and Igovians slink around Peshawar, Gilgit, and Muzzafrabad, attempting to spread their ideas, but like the Maoists such people are targeted with ruthless efficiency by the North Pakistani Interior Police.

IRAF Goa, Goa

One of the Imperial Roycelandian Air Force's largest bases was at Goa, on the west coast of India. Goa was also home to a very large Imperial Navy base (other major Naval Bases being Port Royal, Mombasa, Port Sudan, and others), and, not surprisingly, a fairl large Imperial Guard barracks.

Goa was unusual in that the Colonial Guard detachment there was rather small... maybe 1,000 active personnel, and most of them were on Customs and Border duties. The Imperial Guard were the most numerous in the Colony, providing defence and doing all sorts of other things that most people knew better than to as about.

So the arrival or the SS Snider, with another 400 troops, was greeted with some interest, as it meant something was going on.

More interestingly, Aeroplane watchers would note that IRAF Goa suddenly seemed to have acquired an entire squadron of Harrier Jump Jets, Jetfire fighter jets, and even two squadrons of IAe Spitfire turboprop Fighter/Bombers. Finally, half a dozen AH-4 Zulu Attack Helicopters have been sighted at the base, along with another half-dozen DC-3R transports.

Something is clearly going on, although no-one in the Imperial Government is saying what...

(Tag. I don't suppose there's any maps of the region? I'm having trouble keeping straight who's who and where to my southeastish! So many dictators, such a short attention span.)

OCC: North Pakistan: Pakistani provinces of F.A.T.A, Northwest Frontier Province, Northern Areas, Azad Kashmir

Kashmir: Indian provinces of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab

North Hindustan: Indian provinces of Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi

Bihar: Indian province of Bihar

Sikkim: Indian province of Sikkim

Rajasthan: Indian province of Rajasthan

Indian National Union: Indian & Pakistani provinces of Balochistan, Sindh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Islamabad Capital Territory, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli

Beth Gellert: Indian provinces of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Lakshadweep, Maldives (?), Sri Lanka (Victoria & Salvador)

It is indeed confusing, since we've got at least ten nations on the Indian Subcontinent, so I hope this has helped you out a little bit at least.

Not forgetting the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, of course!

I think that the Maldives are independent. For now (Brown tried to capture the Lakshadweep/Laccadive/Parmis Islands back in the day, inciting Soviet intervention and the first in a long line of defeats for the Nicobarese Marines, and the intention had been to hop on to the Maldives, so, you never know, we might try again).

ISAN would be complaining more, in this thread, but we seem to have created our own problems at home :)

Not forgetting the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, of course!

I think that the Maldives are independent. For now (Brown tried to capture the Lakshadweep/Laccadive/Parmis Islands back in the day, inciting Soviet intervention and the first in a long line of defeats for the Nicobarese Marines, and the intention had been to hop on to the Maldives, so, you never know, we might try again).

ISAN would be complaining more, in this thread, but we seem to have created our own problems at home :)

OCC: Of course not!

I left Nepal and Buhtan off the list too, so don't feel left out. Sort of the nations that would constitute the continental Republic of India in RL. I'll write up a full list sometime else.

Maldives independent? Fine by me. Anything that can make for some intrigue, eh? :)

OOC: LRR, I think I speak for many when I say that...well, I have no idea where Uttar Pradesh and the like are. (besides the fact that they're in India) An actual map would really be nice.

((Ok, Im gonna be playing Rajasthan a bit I guess, although I will be using French advisors as a sort of cameo I guess…but please do not mis-interpret, direct French intervention is not a foregone conclusion at this point.))

Jaipur

The Sultan was hurriedly guided to deep bunkers under the Palace of Winds, closely escorted by his cadre of supporters and French advisors. Complete control of Rajasthan’s military had been turned over to now titled le Merechal de Furren, who set about getting His Excellency’s General Staff in hurried order. A working High Command was set up under the Palace of Winds, and translators barked orders as some sort of defense was hobbled together. Air raid sirens echoed throughout the city, and sporadic AA fire and bomb impacts shattered the afternoon. The Sultan’s personal security was now guaranteed by the ODSL special agents in Rajasthan led by Mlle. Fatale, who would either see the Sultan a victor or in the Riviera someplace. Rajasthani Military infrastructure was maintained, by the French now spoke with the Sultans blessing…which would be in good stead in the Holy League appeared dues ex machine en masse.

Jaipur’s airport was indeed hard hit, with one French transport aircraft being immolated, and the runway torn to shreds. However, the high speed French jet and the remaining Airbus had been managed to get secured in a protected hanger before the barrage, it after recent Hindustani efforts being rather expected. Even now the jet was being prepped in case the Sultan decided to view the war from Paris rather than India. Ever since the arrival of French attaches, the Sultans regime had been inexorably preparing for some sort of conflict, albeit one anticipated smaller than this. As a result, when the Hindustani Air Force came in after the initial assault, they would be met with an effort that would indeed inform Hindustani High Command that French tacticians were now running the Sultan’s efforts.

The Hindustani aircraft would met a coordinated, although light at times, AA fire coming from the airport and various points around the city. Once the Hindustani forces had completed their attack role, the sole twelve 12 G.91R Fighter-Bombers of the RAF would descend from a fighter umbrella to engage in aerial combat (their skill would show they were piloted by French ringers. The remaining RAF, some ten 10 Fouga Magister Trainers/Light Attackers, were taken into the countryside outside Jaipur and hidden under camouflage nets, grass runways were ordered to be built.

Le Merechal de Furren decreed an emergency mobilization of the Royal Army, calling up some 140,000 men. However, only 40,000 of these men could be counted on to fight, and only 100,000 could be mobilized. Therefore the Rajasthani High Command decided to trade space for time, concentrating on a massive defense of Jaipur combined with partisan warfare abroad. A perimeter would be created around Jaipur, from Bharatpur in the East, Kota in the South, Ajmer in the West and Sikar in the North. With almost the entire munitions of the Royal Army in Jaipur anyway, the centralized defense made the best sense. Armored vehicles were camouflaged and brought by rail or road as priority into the “Iron Leaguer of Jaipur” to be hidden until the High Command found sure footing.

Therefore the roads all over Rajasthan were choked with refugees as people made their way to Jaipur, young men to fight and civilians to hide in the being built bunkers. The 40,000, dubbed the ‘Tiger Corps’ and placed under the Sultan’s charismatic cousin General Singh himself, was put in charge of defending Jaipur. Every body in the city was conscripted to aid in constructing the defenses. Trenches were dug, pill boxes made, block-houses raised, supply depots sunk, and heavy AA emplacement and mortar/artillery lines constructed. The remaining 100,000 troops would be equipped as soon as they arrived at post, with a week being estimated before the Royal Army could launch any major effort. However, it would take the Hindustani’s at least that long to reach the perimeter. Camps sprang up all over Eastern Rajasthan, with men in the reserves flocking to receive a coat, a gun, perhaps a set of boots, and maybe some training. Yet there were not a few French advisors already residing in Rajasthan to begin with, soon a semblance of some military force soon fermented.

In this flurry of activity, while the media was still online, the Sultan appeared in a glorious military uniform (supplied by the French) and exhorted his people to defend themselves bitterly to the end, and called on the Tsar to intercede and move down in force to prevent a Progressive crusade. His Most Christian majesty had already publicly declared his support for the Sultan, hence the Cordon Bleu of the Ordu du Saint-Esprit that His Excellency now wore on his splendid uniform.

He called on the para-military state police, which would soon be could outside the “Iron Leaguer of Jaipur”, to raid their weapons lockers and form roving bands to strike the Hindustani supply columns. Using Alouette helicopters some French advisors even managed to link up with these cut off police troops, and set about organizing defense of rail lines and town centers. Sporadic gunfire rattled off all over the country, as gangs of vigilantes were armed by French-inspired plans and turned to attack in any way the advancing forces to give the Regular Army an iota of time.

It would be a war, if none had been declared yet. Versailles already stated it would raise an army to fight in Rajasthan, and it called on the Holy League to stand united again a common foe. His Most Christian Majesty Louis-Auguste would bide his time, and then swoop down like an avenging angel. Monsieur de Maurepas, Prime Minister to Louis-Auguste, was at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, having an emergency conference with the tsars boyars.

Indian Ocean

If no war was declared, however, His Majesty was furious over the slaughter of French subjects on the transport craft during the Hindustani strike, a surprise attack.

On personal orders from the King himself, it was decided turnout was fair play.

Therefore RN-12 and RN-84, two Nantes class attack subs based out of Ft. St. Martin in New Caledonia, laid in wait for six fat Hindustani freighters to make their way back to Mumbai, loaded with goods traded in the Lyong. The French commodore, an old salt, made sure the vessels were Hindustani before he gave the order to attack.

Without warning, without signal, the French subs unleashed almost their entire compliment of torpedoes on the hapless transport ships, continuing to fire long after the ships were smoldering wreckage.

Then the subs went deep and away, without a trace.

Noumea, New Caledonia

New additions to the French Pacific Fleet arrived in New Caledonia that day, bought from the French Kingdom’s close ally the Roycelandian Empire. The hodgepodge fleet included two dreadnaughts, 4 frigates, and 6 destroyers…adding to the newer French model ships 3 light cruisers, 3 frigates, 3 submarines, and 1 battleship. Thus the French would be able to maintain the size of their Atlantic Fleet while still increasing the Pacific Fleet’s numbers.

Le Merechal de la Tour du Pin, First Admiral of the French Pacific Fleet, set about organizing this hodge podge force, staffing the Roycelandian vessels with freshly conscripted Royal Algerian Navy sailors. With the arrival of another Wing of ODSE Mirage-2000’s and several squadrons of Dassault-Rafales at Ft. St. Martin, the French Pacific Command was digging in, a reflection of the troubles in India.

OOC: Ten Nations on the Subcontinent? I thought there were four, maybe five...

Beth Gellert
Indian National Union (When people in Roycelandia talk about "India", this is usually who they're referring to)
Roycelandian Goa (or simply Goa, for short)
Pondicherry(?)
Andaman & Nicobar

OOC: It should be noted that much of the Russian populace will not be very eager to defend a man likely to have been responsible for supplying the former Mafiya with much of its drug supply. They'll go along, of course, but it certainly won't be an eager effort.

OCC: Nepal, Bhutan, Beth Gellert, Kashmir, North Pakistan, North Hindustan, Bihar, etc. etc. etc.

IC:

The G.91Rs over Jaipur will no doubt find themselves entirely outclassed by the faster, higher-flying, and indeed more rugged and manouverable F(J).9s. Even the Jaguars could massacre the old G.91s. With the benefit of OTH radars and data-sharing pods (well, on the part of the F(J).9TGR.1s at least), No.17 squadron is informed of the airborne Ginas well away from the target and with plenty of time to plan accordingly. The IAF pilots, futrthermore, might know a bit more about their craft than the Frenchmen. They hadn't started out their careers shredding hapless MiG-21s over Lavrageria or Algeria, but rather tangling with J-10s and Gripens in major conflict.

But equipped only with a laser designator in the nose, the planes of No.17 squadron are ordered to turn around. No sense risking losses to the Ginas when air combat would necessitate the LGBs being jettisoned anyhow. So while the Frenchmen can't claim any IAF planes as kills yet, they do succeed in forcing the scrubbing of the runway attack mission and offer the Sultan a window of opportunity to escape, one which he is quite likely to take.

That window, however, is quite brief as the first F(J).9FGA.1s are scrambled to intercept the Ginas. With their lower weight and large compliment of missiles, the approximately twenty fighters heading to clear the airspace over Jaipur are quite a bit more dangerous than the strike variants, each one with only its twin ADENs and R-73I AAMs. One of the FGA.1s has a camera pod mounted in place of an external fuel tank and it is sent to fly post-strike analysis on Jaipur airport.

The opening round in the air is somewhat less than what the IAF expected, but a day without losses is a day to be thankful for. And nobody doubts that, once the next strike wave gets airborne, the Rajasthanis will have something to think about.

Springers and Jaguars, in the meantime, sit on their airstrips while armorers load cannon shells and missiles, and wait for the commencement of the IAF's main series of attacks on the Rajasthani capital. Like all IAF operations, the bombing is to target strictly military facilities, namely the airport.

Sirohi

The first of 17th Division enters the center of town in the late afternoon, after moving perhaps excessively slowly north from Abu Town. Ferret scout cars and Scorpion light tanks from the scout battalion, supported by companies of infantry, keep an eye out for any possible threats, since the inside of a lightly-armored Ferret or Scorpion is not a good place to be in urban warfare. Fortunately for the 17th and its irregular support, resistance has been scattered to non-existant in their operational area, and by now Abu Town, Abu Road, Sanchor, and Bhinmal have all been taken with barely a shot fired. Sirohi seems quite ready to join the list as well.

Few expected the invasion to meet much trouble this early on, and the events witnessed so far reinforce this idea, especially in the more populous southeast. Indeed, many Rajasthanis greet the INA soldiers with open arms, the older ones being able to recall when Rajasthan was split from the INU by the Igovians. Some are a bit bitter at the tardiness of the Indian annexation, while others are downright opposed to it, but public opinion is all in all pro-Mumbai.

Once it has been deemed clear by the scout battalions, the 17th passes through Sirohi as quickly as possible, leaving behind a medical section and a scout section. Their next stop is Bali, up the road from Sirohi, and there it is expected the 17th will stop. So in the south, there isn't much in the way of supply lines to be attacking, especially as the area closer to the border becomes innundated with follow-up formations, most notably the 23rd division.

Rajasthan-Gujarat Border

East of the 17th, the 4th Dragoons cross the Rajasthani border about 30 kilometers west of Dungarpur, making for Udaipur and its airstrip. It is widely expected that Udaipur will represent a considerably more challenging situation than Bali, necessitating the use of a heavier Dragoon division, but it moves forward at the same steady pace as the 17th. Gazelles fly out in front of the armored formations, looking for any trouble on the way, and peek behind the relatively mountainous and tree'd terrain.

Unlike the 17th, the 4th Dragoons encounters land mines laid on the road to Udaipur, as well as sporadic sniper fire.

Shri Mohangarh

"Bren up front! Quickly! Keep your heads down, everybody!"

Almost three thousand Sindhi and Punjabi irregulars slink through the low brush to the southwest of the small town of Shri Mohangarh, on the edge of the Thar Desert. Several RPG and mortar teams from 19th Light Infantry tag along, ready to provide support in case there are more RRA soldiers in the town than expected, but the Brigadier on the ground with the irregular force doesn't anticipate serious resistance.

The irregulars move through the brush quietly and quickly, and the head of the advance reaches the outskirts before long. Brens and SMLEs sweep this way and that, watching for trouble, and the Brigadier knocks on a door, looking for directions. A worried-looking old man pokes his head out of the window and tells the brigadier that there are some RRA troops about. "You'll find them in the customs house," he says, "It will be easy enough to find."

Sam

In stark contrast to the seizure of Shri Mohangarh is the seizure of Sam. A gaggle of 20 Mi-8s, flanked by two pairs of rocket-armed Gazelles and overflown by No.340 squadron NAS's Hawks, ambles towards the town and whatever bewildered defenders it might contain. As the Hawks loiter at a higher altitude, and the Gazelles sweep up and down the terrain in a search for targets, the Mi-8s set down on the rocky desert floor and disgorge a total of 440 men from the 22nd division, the first part of one brigade's worth scheduled to be helicoptered-in.

First priority is to secure the landing zone, and the first battalion gets right to it. Brens and L1A1s at the ready, the infantrymen scope out positions and dig shallow pits for their FN-MAGs, the town within spitting distance across the rocky and arid landscape. Ideally, like Shri Mohangarh, it is minimally-defended or undefended, but in the event that it isn't, the infantrymen are quite prepared.

The navy Hawks continue to loiter while the Gazelles reconnoiter the edge of the town. The plan is to wait for at least the third landing before moving on the town, since by that time close to half the brigade will be on the ground, and that won't be for perhaps another 30 to 45 minutes, so whatever poor Rajasthanis decide to resist the operation by force have that long to prepare.


Mumbai

When six freighters registered to INU ports all send out frantic mayday signals from several hundred kilometers off Sumatra, the Coast Guard is bewildered. Firstly, because all ships in question have excellent safety and maintainance records, and secondly, because no adverse weather was reported in the vicinity, it doesn't take long to conclude that the cause of the loss was foul play.

INS Calcutta a Type 12M frigate, and INS Mahabaleshwar, a Chhattisgarh class patrol ship, are soon on the scene of the sinking and start to pluck survivors from the water. Subsequent questioning reveals to the crew that the ships blew up due to something, and a quick look at the cargo register filed away in Mumbai reveals that no especially volatile chemicals were on board. The conclusion, then, is that "the damned Frogs did it."

Anyone looking for a justification for Mumbai's invasion of Rajasthan will find themselves confronted by a treaty, one of the INU's favorites, dated 1947 and signed by Lord Mountbatten, among others. It cedes Rajasthan to the Indian National Union, along with Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal, and to date the only one of those provinces to be acknowledged as soveriegn to itself is West Bengal. So as far as Mumbai is concerned, and indeed as far as international law is concerned, Rajasthan is the soveriegn territory of the Indian National Union, and Sultan Walid Al-Haji and his government constitutes a foreign invader. Should the French choose to help this guy, says Parliament, they should bloody well watch out.

Aiding such a shiftless and dirty character as Walid Al-Haji (the last name despite his being a Hindu) will probably be tough to justify with the rest of the world, especially since such large amounts of narcotics and arms pass unchallenged through Rajasthan daily, finding their way throughout India and Southeast Asia. The Rajasthani populace at large won't lift a finger for the Sultan's benefit unless forced to do so at gunpoint, and even then will make a scene over it. France, Mumbai says, is only going to delay the inevitable and make it a lot more bloody than it needs to be.

OOC- well done...you'll have to give me a bit of time to respond, life got busy as its wont to do. Plus, mon ami, you just sent out some copious verbage hm? Best of everything, by tommorrow morning something should be up.

Testing, testing, the latest development of the Indian map. No Bhutan or Nepal, but the former's up there cradled by West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, and Arunachal Pradesh; and the latter resting on the other side of Sikkim and across to Uttranchal, if anyone was wondering.

I've wondered if there's any confusion over North Hindustan, which, unless I misread, includes Arunachal Pradesh rather than Uttranchal.

Most notably, Pakistan doesn't exactly.. fit, but that's because, in order to get the Indian states and Pakistani provinces on reasonably clear maps that could be recoloured without too much trouble I had to use two maps. They're not exactly to scale (despite a few half-arsed attempts at resizing) but you can see where they fit together, hey?

The various greys indicate NPC nations, so far as I'm aware.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v148/Chivtv/NS1/ind-map-3.jpg

Oh, it still has a few Beddgelen city names marked, but that's just because it used to be a map of only part of India, and was... mine, rather than the sub-continent's. I've just patched it all together, tonight. Well, maybe it'll be better once I post a map of all Asia to put it in context, but I hope it's of some visual aid, none the less.

OCC: Hm, yes, it is Uttaranchal. I must have got my names mixed up. Arunachal Pradesh is NPC.

Samarqand didn't know what to make of the Indian conflict. India had a lot of conflicts, the President thought. Depkazia was resolved that, for now, North Pakistan was a positive force, Kasmir negative. The INU was viewed with some negativity, too, and Chokareff felt that it rather got, "in the way of my ocean". Rajasthan, then, was in a position to be considered, well, good. North Hindustan was just a head scratcher, and the Premier was contemplating a mission in which a Depkazi official would be sent to poke people with a stick in order to gague the qualities of the nation. For now, agents and diplomats continued to trickle out across the sub-continent in hopes of learning enough to satisfy the Premier.

Still, if Edmund was going to be the great icon he felt oblidged to provide for modern Depkazia, there were immediate issues in need of resolution.

Registan Square...

"...so I told the quail to wash its feet, I don't want flu tracked all over my lake."
"Very wise, sir."

President Chokareff appeared relaxed, one boot, with its remarkably high heel and curled tip, protruding from behind the desk at which he was evidently quite slouched. He dabbed his ring finger repeatedly into a small vessel on the desktop, licking every few minutes a little of what was recovered in this way. It came from the eastern mountains of which he was so fond, and in the clouds of which his head may now be found. He became very talkative when taking his greatness medicine, and, usually, ended up more than usually confrontational.

"Right! That's it!" he exploded after a silence of perhaps twelve minutes in which he'd finished off the mercury-based compound and cleaned his teeth with a human fingerbone and what appeared to be part of a scorpion.

"The Northern Alliance will launch a campaign in their west, because we'll stop giving them things and start bombing them if they don't, and you will hurry up and get the mountain brigades to Peak Karl Marx!"

The Premier's last change of tone widened the eyes of his hapless aides, who hadn't heard a word of mountain brigades until now, and several of whom didn't even know where to find the referenced mountain. But it would be done, anyway. In coming days, Depkazi intermediaries would put pressure on various Afghani groups to launch new operations against Kabul's forces in the central and western north of Afghanistan, while Depkazi infantry, cavalry, and camelry massed in the Pamir mountains along with Mi-2 helicopters, An-2 biplanes, and a very small number of light vehicles.

OCC: I wonder if I should make a new thread for the Rajasthan invasion?

IC:

North Pakistan

Chokareff isn't the only one interested in meddling in Afghanistan, and Shareef is quick to order his own airforce to conduct strikes on Kabul.

The North Pakistan has a great deal of experience in Afghanistan, its involvement in that country's internal affairs beginning in the late-1950s, and under Mustafa Shareef's rule that level of involvement has only increased. Peshawar has hardly fostered stability in its western neighbor, at first supporting the Soviets, then helping the Taliban into power, and now in favor of the UIF, but Shareef has stayed with the UIF for a comfortably long time.

But the UIF is not supported just on a whim. It offers North Pakistan an ability to annoy the Kabul government and pressure it into giving up the Wakhan corridor. It also provides him a venue in which the Elians can be shown just how much North Pakistanis disapprove of Islamic extremism.

OOC- well done...you'll have to give me a bit of time to respond, life got busy as its wont to do. Plus, mon ami, you just sent out some copious verbage hm? Best of everything, by tommorrow morning something should be up.

OCC: Tomorrow morning my posterior...

The Pakistani airstrikes on Kabul find Chokareff -who is currently arranging a referendum on whether his name in western script ought to be changed to Tchokareff- in gleeful satisfaction. The Depkazi premier, having just retitled his country The Gold Desert and Silver Peaks [of Depkazia], was said to have clapped his hands together once and grinned widely on hearing of the attack, which he made sure was presented locally and to rebel contacts in Afghanistan as part of a united effort of which they really wanted to be a part, or else.

With fresh Northern Alliance offensives coinciding with Pakistani air attacks on the capital, Depkazia started its first significant military action since independence from the USSR, raining rockets and artillery shells on sites in Afghanistan's Badakhshan province as mountain troops and cavalry and camelry crossed into the Wakhan Corridor.

Skirted by helicopter and jet fighter patrols in the western end of the corridor, this certainly looked like a case of over-kill as Depkazi troops advanced often into relatively friendly territory controlled by Samarqand-backed rebels, with every chance of good ties being ruined by the President's sudden decision to remove the corridor from Afghanistan.

Already more than ten Depkazis had died, in a helicopter crash, a rockfall, an apparent land-mine detonation, and a possible case of friendly fire.

Gilgit

The Gilgit military airfield, hardly idle at any time, suddenly finds itself hosting no fewer than 30 of Shareef's new Elian-built Mi-17s and Mi-24s. Along with the helicopters come two thousand North Pakistani infantrymen, and it isn't long before the Mi-24s can be seen on the runway, lined up for takeoff. As is usually the case with the Hinds, they make a run down the tarmac before lurching into the air, their one-off performance characteristics brutally apparent to the pilots inside. Although poor in the hover and sluggish in the turn, nothing changes the fact that the Mi-24's flight crew commands a fearsome array of armament. While the ranges and altitudes involved curtail the Hind's poor handling even further, and give cause for two of its four stub wing pylons to be reserved for drop tanks, each one of the helicopters carries a pair of 57mm rocket launchers and four AT-2 missiles. It is a dangerous mix for anyone in the helicopters' way.

One by one, the Hinds climb and start north towards the Wakhan corridor. Close behind come the Mi-17s, each one with 25 infantrymen, similarly furnished with drop tanks and 57mm rocket launchers, which also take off down the runway and climb to meet the Hinds. The gaggle of helicopters, unbeknownst to anyone outside of the North Pakistani government or military, is headed for the town of Sarhadd in the Wakhan Corridor.

Afghan-North Pakistani Border

Depakzi soldiers aren't the only ones moving into the Wakhan Corridor, as Afghanis across the border will soon find out. Although the Hindu-Kush range is not widely held to be an ideal ground for the use of tanks, it doesn't stop Shareef from ordering a mechanized brigade up from Gilgit. It is relatively easy going up to Darasan, the brigade's BMP-1s, T-34/85s, and ASU-57s furnished with relatively good roads, but past then the formation is forced to pick its way through the mountains. Several infiltration teams of SSG commandos are deployed more effectively, though, and slip across the border soon after being flown out to Wasam.

Baghdad had paid relatively little attention as Afghanistan had slid under the control of the Taliban. Whilst the regime was certainly disliked, its presence had never been considered particularly threatening. Through the 1980s UE had been extremely generous in its support for the Anti-Soviet resistance and because of this maintained its extensive tribal connections and loyalties that it could eventually draw upon if it wanted to force a change in regime. When that moment came however, it would be Muhammad Yaqub Shah, the heir apparent to the Afghan throne and recognised by Baghdad as the legitimate Head of State, who would be favoured as Afghanistan’s future leader. Having lived for the past three decades, which was most of his life, in comfortable exile within UE he was an urbane, charismatic man who garnered much respect in Baghdad’s high social circles. However, he was far from a warrior, and whilst he was ready to takeover his rightful realm, it was more out of a sense of duty than genuine enthusiasm.

In recent weeks, UE had heightened its intelligence gathering efforts in Afghanistan and reaffirmed old contacts to try and create more unified opposition, particularly in the Southern Pashtun areas. With North Pakistan and Depkazia mounting offensives against the Afghan Emirate, it seemed an opportune moment to attempt to destabilise the regime and try and bring about a revolution from within. Teams of Special Forces operating from bases across the border in North Pakistan had begun to once again supply weapons and training to friendly guerrillas.


Kandahar

Kandahar, the nation’s second city, was a Taliban stronghold and therefore toppling the regime’s local control would be no easy task, but a necessary one to break the hold of the Taliban in the South. A loose alliance had been formed of local opposition groups and tribesmen whereby an offensive would be launched against the city. Numbering several thousand, these casual groups of hill warriors had been supplied with small arms and rocket propelled grenades and had been given basic instructions on their use. Many were veterans of the Soviet campaign, and many more were young, moderate minded Muslims who wanted to enjoy the freedoms they had been told their brethren in UE enjoyed. To set this off however, one obstacle had to be removed, Mullah Abdul Razaq, the ruthless Interior Minister, who was according to an informant in Kabul flying south to Kandahar after an emergency meeting, to takeover command of the city’s militia during this crisis.

A twelve man special forces team from Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Special Reconnaissance Brigade had been ‘in country’ for just over two weeks. Having been inserted by helicopter from North Pakistan, they had linked up with agents working for the Federal Intelligence Bureau and their various tribal connections. Unlike their shady counterparts of the FIB however, they were dressed not in local or tribal dress but military fatigues and carried Special Forces issue equipment. It was military policy that its personnel should always act in the capacity of soldiers rather than spies, the latter being left to other agencies.

Lieutenant Abdul Haitham and his men had orders to eliminate or capture Razaq. Indigenous informants in both Kabul and Kandahar could not confirm when exactly he would be arriving but that it would be on an An-32 landing at Kandahar Airport. They had considered simply using a shoulder fired air defence missile to shoot down the transport but that had been deemed risky given that they would have no idea whether the Interior Minister would be aboard and that it would not give them an opportunity to capture him alive. The favoured option was to attack his military motorcade somewhere in the middle of the 15 mile stretch of road between the airport and the city thereby delaying reinforcements, hopefully giving them enough time to retreat out of the area after they had completed the objective.

They had been in position for nearly two days when, in the mid-afternoon, the team heard the whine of ageing Russian turboprops overhead. Quickly they spread out to their pre-arranged ambush positions, with the closest men just a hundred or so yards from the road.

The team sniper was lying prone, adjusting his scope, as the first vehicle came into view. As they had expected, there were three vehicles, a pair of UAZ 4x4s, the first open with a pintle-mounted machinegun and the second enclosed, sporting little Taliban flags, in which the target would be sitting. The third vehicle was a soft skinned Toyota truck no doubt containing members of the Taliban militia. As the lead UAZ approached he fed a fresh round into his British-made AWM rifle. He watched carefully, waiting for the vehicle to pass the point that they had decided on. Then he gently squeezed the trigger sending a .338 bullet through the head of the gunner on the open jeep with surgical precision. The sniper quickly worked the bolt feeding another round into the chamber and he snapped off another shot, which pierced the windscreen, killing the driver, just as the lifeless body of the gunner slumped onto the floor of the vehicle. The Taliban soldier in the first UAZ’s passenger seat then leapt out to take cover on the side of the road but was struck by another shot before he reached it.

The convoy had been forced to a halt. Immediately another member of the team broke cover to aim his Shipon, disposable rocket launcher at the now stationary truck. The rocket took seconds to cover the short distance and a blast of heat and smoke confirmed it had been destroyed. Then the soldier dropped the tube and brought his Muhannad assault rifle to his shoulder and dashed forward towards the road.

As soon as the rest of the squad had seen the truck go up in flames; they knew it was time to storm the remaining UAV and hopefully capture their quarry alive. As six soldiers dashed forward a pair of Minimi gunners kept covering fire on any survivors from the last two vehicles. Rushing forward with their assault rifles set on automatic, straight for the UAZ they quickly gunned down the two men in the front seats who were trying to reach for their weapons. Lieutenant Haitham himself was the first to actually reach the vehicle and peered into the backseat, all the time looking down the sights of his weapon. This was where a perfectly executed operation failed. Razaq was not there. Furious, he raced around checking each of the bodies, none of which bore any resemblance to the Interior Minister.

Then there was a high pitched whine followed by a crump as a mortar shell shook the road, cratering it just a hundred feet from their position. The team took cover, the six men on the road itself road thrusting themselves under the shot up vehicles as several more shells reverberated across the rocky landscape. Within seconds, two of the team had taken shrapnel injuries.

The team sniper, still providing over watch on the road in both directions then spotted additional vehicles coming from the direction of the airport. There were at least fifteen of them, mostly soft-skinned trucks filled with troops and 4x4 pickups armed with 12.7mm machineguns. It became clear that they had been setup and as was not uncommon in this part of the world, one of their indigenous contacts had either turned voluntarily or been broken by Taliban interrogators.

As the mortar bombardment continued, the Lieutenant ordered the men to clear the road and start retreating southward up a ridge. Carrying the wounded, they hurried as the incoming troops neared their position. Breaking radio silence to contact their operations base in North Pakistan they were told that the closest available air support would take a minimum of forty minutes to arrive and that was forty minutes they certainly did not have. Harassed by mortar fire, and the vehicle mounted heavy machineguns, two more of the team received injuries, slowing the team further. Meanwhile, approximately sixty Taliban troops had begun to dismount their trucks and chase the men up the hillside.

No longer able to outrun their pursuers the team made a last effort to turn and fight. Several minutes after a fierce gun battle had ensued; three of the Special Forces had been killed. Lieutenant Haitham then radioed his commanding officer and obtained permission to surrender his team. Before they did so however, they made sure to quickly destroy any maps or documents they carried and their communications equipment. The offensive on Kandahar would have to be put on hold.

hey Im back! Have somthing up tonight, already slogging away at it!

It was well-known that during the Soviet invasion in the mid-80s, the Roycelandians were firmly on the side of the Mujahadeen... or rather, on the side of whoever wasn't the Soviets.

Initially this had simply taken the form of supplying the Afghanis with Lee-Enfield rifles, Vickers machine guns, and billions of rounds of .303 British ammunition.

The thing was, since Roycelandia had just had suffered an embarrasing defeat at the hands of "Spear-chucking Natives" (the Lusakans), and had only just managed to extricate themselves from Vietnam a year or two before that (having managed to ensure that Vietnam had been quite literally bombed back to the Stone Age and generally completely levelled in the process), the Roycelandian Public wanted a lot of Media-Friendly images of the Mujahadeen and Roycelandian Troops beating the crap out of the Commies. And they got them.

With enough Combat-hardened troops, there were enough willing to go to Afghanistan to fight against the Commies, and train the Mujahadeen, and nightly there was footage of Soviet tanks burning, Soviet being shot at, and stuff blowing up. It was, in short, a Good War, and a specatacular victory- and a great start to the reign of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Royce I.

Contacts had been made, and there were still a handful of Foreign Legion and Special Operation Command personnel in Afghanistan who'd never gone home. Now, discreetly, the channels were being re-opened. The Infidel are coming again, and your friends in Roycelandia are here to help, they said...

Jaipur

In his bunker deep beneath the earth, the Sultan of Rajasthan was undergoing a transformation. French praise, good drugs, and a penchant for gloire led Parak Singh to believe not only was victory possible, but he was destined to be a great figure of history.

He was to bring the Restoration, that inverse of Revolution but an ideology every bit as powerful, to India. He had a dedicated core of French military advisors surrounding him. He had time before the enemy reached his capital, to prepare a ‘total war’ and pick at the Hindustanis as they progressed.

Therefore, to promote this new ideology but lacking innovative text, ‘little white books’ were distributed to the people, its production was made a priority of the direly threatened regime. It was an amalgamation of Mao’s quotes (abridged and improved), French Restoration monarchist theory, and spiritual guides based on syncretism between Catholicism and Hinduism. It focused on the life of the Sultan, the lowly servant of his people, who had been content to lead them in a blessed reign of peace, but was prepared to marshal them in war since belligerence threatened the masses. There were pictures of him working in the field, visiting a tractor factory, eating rice with peasants, hosting vast and glorious state pomposities at the palace, and armed and prepared to fight in stance. Communist theory would be high jacked by monarchist need, and made to fit a reactionary model of mobilizing the peasant masses, a delightfully perverse twist of reverse psychology Marxism.

The idea of course originated in Versailles, and the House of Bourbon was eager to see if the new political weapon invented would suit His Most Christian Majesty’s plans for Christ’s service on earth. Great care was paid now to call royalist forces ‘whites’, as opposed to the ‘reds’ they were fighting.

Thousands were given to the masses in Jaipur, and by the second day of printing they were trickling out the countryside. In no time at all, it was hoped the Hindustanis would find some, and realize the depth of peasant mobilization that was planned. Jaipur itself was becoming an armed camp, with whole shanty towns being wiped out to build sand back nests, blockhouses, artillery positions, trench works, and machine gun posts. Civilians were being evacuated in small numbers as needed, but the majority were staying, and being indoctrinated in that weird doctrine of the Little White Book, which although obtuse was just what was needed to stir a mass movement of the people, in some hope of halting the Hindustani advance, which so far had gone unchecked.

The aircraft landed after the dogfight, and were secured in reinforced concrete hangers. By this time, the AA grid, after being basically set up by some hundred French assistants and operated with French electronics, had been erected. Some 50 AAA batteries and a bakers dozen of SAM sites would challenge any further aerial assault…the entire nations AA capability had been transferred to concentrate solely on Jaipur.

The Sultan issued a call for an army of “one million doughty Rajasthani’s” to rise up, and defend the right. Supplying that army was another matter, but hot bodies could not hurt. The camps previously set up were now turning out thousands of men who, although they could not march too well yet, knew how to shoot a gun, having been lucky enough to get a gun in the first place.

The Sultan then, in splendid military attire, held a Conference with General Singh, his cousin and Chief of Staff, and his core of top notch French military attaches. He would stay, set an example, and fight it out to the end. Le Merechal de Furren, the chief French advisor, congratulated the Sultan warmly and promised that if he could hold out, which the French advisors would dutifully assist in, Holy League assistance would soon arrive. Having evacuated the main forces to the Iron Leaguer round Jaipur, consisting of a triangle vis-à-vis the major cities of Bharatpur in the East, Kota in the South, Ajmer in the West and Sikar in the North, the Sultan ordered that irregular troops, already armed and trained would begin offering resistance. It began in Sirohi:

Sirohi

The city was garrisoned with the 3rd Royal Irregular Volunteer Regiment, which was responsible for policing that whole Western section of the Sultanate. They were armed with light machine guns and pistols, and a number of light to medium mortars, but were far more trained than the conscript levies begin throw together presently farther to the East. As well, recently arrived was Monsieur Lieutenant Christophe Jagier of His Most Christian Majesty’s Army, sent to advise the Sultan’s men in throwing up some sort of token resistance. There were 3,200 men in the Regiment, and as a paramilitary force it did not have a service attaches.

So it was that as the Hindustanis made a good distance into the town, mortar fire opened up. A united front of fire coalesced, which would not doubt surprise the Hindustani’s a bit. As the defense sprang to life, the Rajasthani’s created panic by forcing an evacuation of the towns population in the middle of the firefight, using the chaos to ignite the easily flammable city’s outskirts with paraffin. Within four minutes, the city’s seizure went from an easy take to a nightmare. Major Najeet, the Regiment CO, and Monsieur Jagier (in uniform with sword and all) set up their command in the squat concrete compound that was the police headquarters, and set about repelling the reds.

As the Hindustanis advanced, and found dead Rajasthani soldiers, they would find copies of the Little White Book, well read…

Versailles

Monsieur de Maurepas, Prime Minister to His Most Christian Majesty, issued a sharp ultimatum to the Hindustani government in Louis-Auguste’s name:

The invasion of Rajasthan was an illegal act, inexcusable. If Hindustani forces did not cease their invasion and agree to attend an internal summit on the matter, hosted by Roycelandia, then the Kingdom of France would initiate a merchant marine warfare campaign against the Hindustani fleet in the Pacific, until such time as they were satisfied the Hindustani economy had been gouged.

No responsibility was taken for the six merchant ships already sunk by secret French submarines, but the simple fact they had been was viewed as more than enough to give the Progressive Indians food for thought.

Sirohi

Indeed, the Rajasthani resistance takes the 17th by surprise. INA infantrymen take cover as mortar bombs begin to explode in front of them, and one unsuspecting Ferret is blown up by a direct hit. Its crew is killed instantly, and another two infantrymen near it die from shrapnel. The casualties in the column, some 25 in all, are rushed back towards the border as the division withdraws. It was probably stupid, many think, to go through the town anyway, and now the Rajasthani irregulars had managed to take experienced, well-trained INU troops by surprise. It was an embarrassment to say the least and a costly one at that, especially considering that elsewhere combat-related injuries had amounted to all of five Irregulars who recieved cuts while struggling through barbed wire.

But even as the Rajasthanis force the 17th to withdraw, wary of more "unnecessary" losses, the division doesn't lose its efficiency and coordination. Armored vehicles turn around with well-practiced calm as the Gazelles covering the advance set about finding the mortar teams. At the rear of the 17th Division's advance column, sappers work to douse the flames and civilians are helped away from the burning buildings. Sirohi isn't a large city, but its residences are hardly safe and fireproof and most in the 17th wouldn't like to be caught in the middle of the conflagration.

The division's commanders recover quickly from the surprise bombardment, and as troops return to the road a new strategy is devised. Mobile elements of the 17th are ordered to bypass the town and secure the road to Bali, thus cutting-off Sirohi's line of communication with commanders in Jaipur. It isn't long before lead elements of the motorized infantry battalions arrive north of the town, now marked by steadily rising columns of smoke. The plan is to encircle the city and then crush its defenders with the 23rd division, moving north at a glacial pace presently. Is it overkill, taking 3,200 irregulars with over 30,000 well-armed and well-trained regulars? Probably, but as is the case with most INA operations they want to keep casualties- on both sides -to an absolute minimum. It would be much better to intimidate the Rajasthanis into surrendering than fight them in the burning town. And if they don't surrender, they can be crushed by superior force of arms.

Although the main body of troops is withdrawn, reconaissance elements, this time without vehicles save the relatively quiet and fast Ferret, continue to probe into the city, in an attempt to discover major points of resistance. A radio broadcast also calls on Sirohi's defenders to lay down their arms, promising them proper treatment, and appealing to the hopelessness of their situation.

Troops coming across the Little White Book are at first astounded. It is was widely believed that Walid Al-Haji could read or write, so the fact that he has come up with a whole book, no doubt white in honor of his favorite things to inhale, is a complete shock. They are passed back along the lines of communication for analysis.

The fact remains, though, that the Northern advance is hardly the main thrust. Granted, Mumbai would like it to arrive in the Jaipur area so that the INU can choose from at least two axes of attack and keep the Rajasthanis guessing, but over 100,000 troops are currently in the process of assembling on the other side of the Chambal.

Near Jaisalmer

The quick assaults on Sam and Shri Mohangarh completed, the force of irregulars and light infantry advances on Jaisalmer across the desert. Like most of the southern and western towns, Jaisalmer is not expected to pose a great challenge, even to the camel and helicopter-borne forces deployed to take it. However, if Jaipur deployed any troops out to protect it they would probably, think the troops, be protecting its airstrip. Not a very big airstrip, but an airstrip none the less, Jaisalmer is intended to serve as a forward operating base for the IAF's support helicopters once captured. It is very much hoped that this can be done with no casualties on either side, so as usual the town is scoured from the air and from the desert for any sign of resistance. No.340 squadron's Hawks in the air along with a sizable contingent of Gazelles, if the defenders do prove difficult to dislodge if indeed there are any to be dislodging, the troops on the ground can count on signficant support.

The 22nd Light Infantry, with part of a brigade already part of the assault, drives straight across the desert towards Jaisalmer from the border. If Jaisalmer is indeed taken with few or no casualties, it will be the furthest any regular INA unit has penetrated into Rajasthan so far, although that is more a result of extreme, perhaps unnecessary, caution than any logistical troubles.

On the Road to Bikaner, Approximately 60km Southeast Of The Rajasthan Canal

If the regular army hadn't got very far, the situation is very different for the numerous mixed parties of Irregulars and supporting crews. Davlat Wickramsinghe in particular has already bridged the Rajasthan Canal and is bearing down on Bikaner with some 10,000 troops, an advance of over 100 kilometers in the first two days.

Riding out in the very front is the Brigadier himself, in a command-configured ACV-IP. The column is surprisingly well-mechanized, on a collection of old-model Mahindra trucks and surplus jeeps, and a sizable amount of ASCs and a Cromwell squadron provide heavy support. With the town in view, two batteries of 25-pounder howitzers are unlimbered and ranged while a small reconaissance detachment on camelback moves in for a closer look. Brigadier Wickramsinghe intends to capture the railhead at Bikaner in order to establish an alternate third axis of attack against the Jaipur area. Being a large town, though, it is not deemed implausible that it is well-defended, and moreover it is quite close to the Jaipur defensive pocket. The plan after the 19th division arrives, though, is to move north and liberate the border with Kashmiri Punjab.

It would be ideal for Bikaner to fall without a fight, because Wickramsinghe's column isn't really equipped to handle a major engagement so far from its supply dumps. Still, though, he has tanks, artillery, and plenty of machine guns. His Cromwells assemble into formation while more reconaissance parties are sent to flank the city and block the railway to Sikar.

Gwalior

By now, it must be fairly obvious to the Rajasthanis as to where the main thrust of the INA's advance is coming from. In many ways, it is really the only viable option, the largest single portion of the INA being deployed along the North Hindustani frontier. Despite the sizable advance coming up from the south, the divisions assembled in Madhya Pradesh outnumber them by two to one, and include all but one of the INA's armored divisions. The proximity to Beth Gellert also allows the units to re-equip with the new (well, Igovian surplus but new to the INA) MT-2 and MT-3 tanks. It is quite an improvement over the initial projections, which were run on the INA going into the operation with only Irregular tank detachments and their Cromwells and T-55/75s.

The city of Gwalior is soon established as the Northern Front's supply depot, having the largest system of railyards and the best airfield in the immediate area. Gwalior, being located so close to an often hostile North Hindustan, is already well-protected from air attack, so not much more is done in that direction, although a few extra pillboxes are constructed. Oddly enough, Gwalior's defenses include several 6" naval turrets removed from the decomissioned Mysore, Delhi, and Babur, as well as two of the dual 15" mounts formerly intended for the monitors Miyako Jima and Sulawesi, which were cancelled. Not even the long-range 15" guns can reach the border with Rajasthan or North Pakistan, but they do considerably outrange any conventional artillery in either nation and could easily help break-up any cross-border raid.

Batteries of 105mm towed guns and 130mm SPHs are brought up into firing position along the Chambal. Hidden by copious amounts of camoflauge netting and good placement on the part of the artillerists, they are zeroed in on known points of resistance across the river, but no rolling barrage or blatant pounding is expected out of concern for the Rajasthani civillians in the area. After all, it is difficult to justify the liberation of Rajasthan if the INA's effort costs the lives of more than a few Rajasthanis. It has also always been the view of INA artillerists that they would do better to use what has always been a small amount of guns with prescision.

The advance columns are readied as well. Initial crossings will probably be made by Marines on OT-62s, followed by the sappers with pontoon and vehicle-deployed bridges. First priority is to clear-out the Rajasthani defenders with infantrymen, well-supported by the IAF and artillery, and then bring up heavier units for the push on the more heavily-defended region around Jaipur. Aerial and sattelite reconaissance of the area continues around the clock, mostly done by high-flying F(J).9s with camera pods, but also, for the first time, by the INA's very primitive UAVs.

Mumbai

Versailles' ultimatium is at once made public and rejected, Parliament firm in its resolve not to do anything for the French. It is made quite clear that, in Mumbai's view and according to international law set down in the 1947 India treaty, Rajasthan is the soveriegn territory of the Indian National Union and its current head of state, the criminal Walid Al-Haji, has no right to rule. Mumbai also promises to go to the Quinntonians and British if France continues to threaten attacks on vessels registered in the INU. It is criminality of the highest order, they say, and for the West to let it go unpunished is negligence and hipocracy. It is the view of very many Unioners that Louis-Auguste is something of a second Leopold II, a view reinforced by his very Leopold-esque statement on the Zimbabwe Crisis. If he or any of his agents were to set foot in the Union, they say, they would be shot many times.

When copies of Walid Al-Haji's book reach the capital, they too are laughed-down. Since the Sultan most likely cannot read or write, and even if he can probably doesn't know who Mao was, it is not hard to detect a Bourbon hand in the piece. It is not deemed much of a threat, since only babies and the extremely well-connected in Rajasthan haven't felt the sting of the Sultan's total lack of interest in the well-being of the nation. To win over a people broken by poverty, crime, and famine and give them cause to defend their former oppressor is a mammoth task and one that the French will be hard-pressed to accomplish. On the border, for instance, where both Rajasthanis and Unioners have mingled for years, public favor was almost completely for Mumbai, and the French-inspired burning of Sirohi won't give the Sultan any PR points. Nearer the capital, where Union ideas haven't really penetrated, public support is bound to be less strong, and therefore great care must be taken to minimize the civillian loss of life, but for the Sultan to inspire a peasant's revolt against what was the very face of anti-colonialism is going to be tough.

LRR, NG: Shall I setup a new thread for the events in Afghanistan so they don't get tangled up too much with the Rajasthan issue? Its just it is likely to become quite a significant RP in itself.

LRR, NG: Shall I setup a new thread for the events in Afghanistan so they don't get tangled up too much with the Rajasthan issue? Its just it is likely to become quite a significant RP in itself.

OCC: Yeah that would be a good idea UE. Start it whenever you are ready.

LRR, NG: Shall I setup a new thread for the events in Afghanistan so they don't get tangled up too much with the Rajasthan issue? Its just it is likely to become quite a significant RP in itself.

It is done:

http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=471616

Indian Ocean, One Hundred Miles West of Palawan

As war raged in Rajasthan a Hindustani freighter was bogged down with cargo, or was it passengers? It chugged along back to its homeland, its crew working well together…they were socialists.

And then two Mirage-2000’s swooped down out of the clouds, and flew by, so close the passengers could see the waving French pilots. They made several passes, loud and booming, fairly touching the freighter.

Inside the lead planes cockpit, the pilot received the signal “You have permission to deploy the weapon.”

Then the French jets would disappear for a minute, and one screaming Trition ASM plunged directly into the superstructure of the freighter. In seconds the sea was littered with oil, flames, and wreckage. The vessel began to loose steering. It was then the Hindustanis saw the French pilots again, still waving, and made several strafing passes on the quickly sinking vessel.

They made one more pass, waved one more time, and were gone.

If Hindustan threatened a French ally, and refused to attend a conference, the bright steel of His Most Christian Majesty would cut through the Hindustani navy like sardines.

Mumbai

When the stricken freighter radios in with an SOS, any doubt as to French actions and intentions are erased. There is immediate talk of sueing Versailles for the cost of damaged and destroyed goods, and telegrams are fired off to London, Port Royal, and Washington D.C. in short order. Parliament will try diplomacy, but failing that nobody should be surprised if it looks across its eastern border for a more immediate solution.

Versailles is accused, in no uncertain terms, of cowardice, barbarity, and piracy, and Parliament goes on to say that if such acts continue it won't hesitate to take decisive action. After all, the fact of the matter is that Versailles is breaking every maritime law to support a ruler who could only be described as a drug lord and madman.

Already, a pair of Type 12M frigates are ordered to the South China Sea in order to watch international shipping. Should the French mount any further attacks against Union or other shipping in international waters, the IN won't stand idly by.

Parliament also draws up a naval expansion program, which while extremely ambitious and also extremely unlikely given the present budgetary situation, is a step towards a truly capable navy none the less.

When news filters into the Indian Soviet Commonwealth, coming hardly a breath after the populace learned the facts of their aircrews' fate after the Coral Sea and of French espionage and the assassination of the Yugoslav interim prime minister, well, more rounds of rifle ammunition are loosed into the air across southern India and the east coast than probably exist in the bloated inventories of the French imperialist army.

This is, what, the third confirmed case of French state piracy in the Pacific and surrounding waters? Along with the umpteenth killing of a statesman, the systematic torture of Beddgelen POWs, and the deployment to the independent and troubled Philippines of a force larger than the British army, not to mention the support of sub-continental dictatorship, indescriminate bombardment and invasion of a promising young democracy in Europe, the division and repression of Algeria, well, GSIC was in danger of running out of resources just by building computers large enough to store the list of charges against the French crown.

Commonwealthers wrote, E-mailed, phoned, and shouted to INU neighbours to press on and smash the mad raj of the sultan, and many armaments workers (and those further along the chain in mining, power generation, and metals) hung on for extra hours or minutes after their agreed shifts to boost availability of supplies should they be required at minimal cost increase. The Soviets were having trouble, though, deciding how the Commonwealth itself should respond directly to sickening trends in Asia and afield.

The Foreign Office had thus far been careful not to take sides in the Indian dispute. There was simply too much history there. Whilst Rajasthan had always been cordial in the post-colonial era, the same could be said for the INU and it was likely that the UK would simply wait for the victor before deciding who to be more favourable towards.

However, the government was now forced into a difficult position. With the BBC and the major broadsheets all reporting attacks of civilian traffic by French aircraft, there had been a major outcry. Prime Minister Chaffin was furious. Spending a good part of his time in office mending Anglo-French relations and trying to get Restoration France to be more moderate, he was now back to square one. At Prime Minister's Questions a Liberal MP demanded a condemnation of the French terming them, 'Imperalist bullies who's tactics reflect a disregard for human life that is almost medieval'. Unwilling to be drawn into it the Prime Minister replied, "I do not think it is proper to comment on an alleged attack where the precise details are not known at this time. However, the United Kingdom obviously would denounce any intentional attack on civilians by any state engaged in armed conflict."

Later, Lord Bambury the Foreign Secretary, releases a written statement describing that the United Kingdom was deeply displeased with the French and that unless an apology was issued, the pilots in question subject to military justice and compensation paid, the French would permanently compromise cross-Channel relations.

LRR: How exactly does the INU feel towards North Pakistan and UE for that matter?

((Pardon the redundancy, I posted on two threads idem, but I decided that it was in fact a propos))

Versailles

Everyone knew something was afoot when His Most Christian Majesty informed M. Lebel, the King’s valet, that he would not take his usual morning hunt in the symmetrical forests abutting the palace proper.

Instead, an Emergency Secret State Council, the third time one had been called since the Restoration itself and the first under Louis-Auguste was convened. The Prime Minister, the Ministers of War and State, the Tsar’s emissary Count Falkenstein, the Queen, and the Princes of the Blood were all in attendance. At its conclusion, a news conference was called and set for noon. All major networks would no doubt set up shop in the Hall of Mirrors, where a Throne had been erected so the King could address the masses.

And so he did, dressed in cloth of gold and wearing the state crown.

It began with the major domo rapping his staff upon the marble floor. As one, the King’s elite Garde Suisse snapped to attention, and a lone trumpet rang the call.

“Oyez! Oyez! Messieurs et Mesdames, His Most Christian Majesty Louis-Auguste, King of France, Defender of the Faith!

The curtains were then pulled back, and the King spoke.

“We have been accused of piracy in attempting to quell an illegal invasion, We therefore disregard any such accusations and invite states wishing Our apologies to instead consider their own reasoning. The Indian Union has been given warnings, and We have demonstrated Our ability to affect her merchant-marine; yet this is proving insufficient. Unless the Indian Union halts its illegal invasion within twenty-four hours, from this moment, a state of war shall exist between Us and the Indian Union until such time as they abandon their illegal invasion. We have dispatched Our Brother, Monseigneur le Duc de Normandie, with force of arms to Asia, to now solidly establish resistance against unchecked progressive machinations. Think not that this is New Caledonia…We are mightily prepared, and have dispatched Our arms with thoughts of confidence and victory.”

“We shall aid no African nation now, and British accusations only hamper Our earnest desire to see amity between Our Two Kingdoms….however, slander and alliance with aggressive powers can only serve to hurt what necessarily should be a natural friendship. Let Elizabeth, who has been suffocated by her own ill-advice, now attempt Her African Mission in solitude, with assurances that both We and His Imperial Highness the Tsar, Our Closest Brother, will offer no succor.”

“We heartily congratulate President Aznar and His Imperial Excellency Royce I, Our Dear Friend, on standing up against ferocious, demonic, and barbaric resistance in the Philippines, and offer them now direct and compelling aid to secure Roycelandian hopes and Filipino desires.”

“And Our Brother, Emperor Bao Dai IV, is to be congratulated: We have just been informed that the Parliament of Cambodia, in accordance with the wishes of its native peoples, have invited Bao Dai IV and his government-in-exile to reside in that most excellent of countries. We say proudly now: France has abandoned her children for far too long, and We, with the strength of the Restoration to back Us, shall now return to aid Indochine and uplift her most excellent people from the despair they have suffered for half a century now.”

Palawan

Rebel troubles disturbing the other Filipino islands were absent on Palawan for mainly one reason: the fact that a massive and potent French army occupied it, and had swept it from top to bottom.

At Ft. St. Paul Monseigneur le Duc de Normandie, Supreme Commander of the French Eastern High Command, dug in and organized. With such a massive military force in a state of readiness, speculation could only be rife…

The only thing that was known is that numerous Roycelandian and Tsarist delegates had now set up shop in the increasingly Francophone Jilleseponia.

Rajasthan

News that His Most Christian Majesty had drawn a sword sharply inspired the Rajasthani defenders, as did the fact that a massive, literally gargantuan, French army had been located to the Asian theatre, and was both vicious and well supplied.

In Sirohi, the defenders fight like the dickens. With their French advisor and a Major who is a loyalist and as charismatic as a Rajasthani soldier can be, the 3rd Irregulars dug in and turned the town into a battlefield, making the Indian Union pay for every inch, thus was the plan revealed: with hope of Holy League aid now, the Sultan would fight for every inch, in hopes of forestalling the INU advance while turning the Leaguer round Jaipur into a real fortress.

Bikaner also was a garrisoned town, although the troops there were neither the stalwart regulars under General Singh or the confused paramilitaries fighting in Sirohi. They were the Third Peoples Army: ten thousand strong, armed with obsolete weapons, but they were the first group of true believers in the Little White Book, so the Sultan would allow them the privilege to be the first to display their courage. For this purpose, he even gave them a few howitzers and anti-tank weapons that had otherwise been strictly reserved for the defence of the Iron Leaguer of Jaipur.

South East Asia

And so the stage was set round the lands of the Orient: Roycelandian troops hacking it out in the Phillipines trying to uphold an increasingly desperate Aznar Government, the Progressive Bloc openly conducting a general war on smaller Indian neighbors, and now with the might of Most Christian King entering the fray…

Sirohi

The INA's lines of communication buzz with the news from Mumbai; the gloves are off. A cautious, slow, methodical advance is no longer possible given the international situation, and INA commanders begin to engage the Rajasthanis aggresively and decisively when found.

In Sirohi, the Rajasthani irregulars are more or less denied an opportunity to use their command of the urban slumscape when the 17th bypasses the city. If the Rajasthani loyalists want to fight the INA, they will have to come out into the open, and the 17th is more than content to allow the 3rd to burn itself in the fire that it started. Eventually, the town will have to be cleared, but 3,200 Rajasthani irregulars stuck within the folds of the 10,000-strong 17th and the 10,000-strong 23rd are not deemed likely to pose a major threat to the soundness of the southern front, a second option anyway.

With elements of the 17th firmly in place around Sirohi, the 23rd division makes good time north, overrunning Sheoganj and Bali without the dallying-about exhibited in Sirohi. Any loyalist troops in those two towns face a massive front of vehicles and artillery support, as well as significant popular opposition. It probably becomes clear that the ultimate gole of the northern thrust is Jodhpur, and some 40,000 INA and UIC troops are headed in two columns to capture it.

Udaipur

Udaipur, the objective for the 4th division, and a town that should have been captured days ago, is seized in much the same manner as Sheoganj and Bali. While scout helicopters loliter over the low-built slums and slightly taller central district, scout elements, followed closely by the heavier troops, advance through the town with excellent coordination, careful to be in constant radio and near-constant visual contact with the other groups. In the meantime, a second group moves to cut the town off from any possible support from Jaipur, bypassing Udaipur's main residential areas and on the lookout for anything suspicious. Gazelles and Ferrets scout ahead of the columns, ready to designate points of resistance for artillery and airstrikes.

Once Udaipur is captured, the 4th will expand its holdings southeast, to the point where it holds the north and east shores of Dhebar Lake, and then stay there, providing a solid logistical base for the INA's efforts in the south.

Bikaner

Ten thousand men is a hard thing to hide, and when Wickramsinghe's scouts return, wounded and surprised, he knows that it won't be an easy effort. The so-called Canal Column had well and truly lost the element of surprise but can still boast complete superiority in air support and mechanization. Depending on how the Brigadier employs these advantages, he could end up taking the town rather more easily than otherwise.

One thing is quite clear: the defenders of Bikaner, while numerically imposing, are unproffessional, most likely without military experience, and armed with no particularly threatening weaponry. Granted, the scouts hadn't stumbled upon evidence of artillery or antitank weapons, but then Wickramsinghe's column boasts several 25-pounder batteries and plenty of SPG-9 teams, probably more than enough to counter the Third People's Army.

Once he assesses the situation, Wickramsinghe decides to send a squadron of his ACV-IPs and two companies of infantry to block the railway before anything else. They take off across the desert, intercepting the rail line some ten kilometers away from the outskirts of Bikaner, and take up position. This move, Wickramsinghe figures, will make it extremely difficult for the Bikaner defenders to recieve supplies, since trains will have to run a dangerous gauntlet, between the IAF Springers and Jaguars and the INA armored cars.

Next, he orders his Cromwell squadron and a sizable portion of his force southeast, to cut the road to Jodhpur, while the remainder (some 3,000) stays behind on the northern section of road. Wickramsinghe's northern force, though, consists of low-profile scout cars, one of the 25-pounder batteries, and camel-mounted irregulars. They are quickly hidden under camoflauge netting and behind dunes, invisible to observers in the town, while the southern force moves across the desert within easy view of the town. Occasional sniper fire is kept up from Wickramsinghe's position but the main body of the column moves to the south.

On The Right Bank of the Chambal

The Jaipur offensive starts off with a bang, as infantrymen with 51mm knee mortars fire smoke rounds into the river and marines drive their OT-62s out of well-camoflauged positions. Covered in leafy tree limbs, camoflauge netting, and marines, and bristling with machine guns, they hit the water with a splash and start to swim across. Overhead, rockets fired from R.122 vehicles arc towards their targets; fortified positions within the "Iron Leaguer of Jaipur," and the INA's M-46/T-55 hybrids prepare for fire missions against the Rajasthani defenders up to 25 kilometers from the four planned crossing points. Immediate fire support is provided by mortar teams with M.82s, currently hidden inside fairly deep pits covered with foliage and camoflauge netting, and further inland Mk.6 105mm howitzers and R.130s sit ready for counterbattery work.

No.2 squadron and No.5 squadron's Jaguars make another showing as well, both units making for Jaipur airport with stand-off AT.50s and overwing R-73Is in case any Ginas are airborne. They attack aircraft dispersal areas and antiaircraft positions again, but stay well outside the range and altitude of probable Rajasthani air defenses in Jaipur. For the dirtier close-support work, Springers sit ready for action on their dirt forward airstrips with fin-stabilized rocket pods, AT.40s, and R-73Is hanging from their wing and fuselage hardpoints.

No.17 squadron's F(J).9TGR.1s are also to be found airborne, and they too mount a second attack against Jaipur, attempting again to crater the runway with laser-guided bombs as the AT.50s cause havoc below. They too are on the lookout for airborne Ginas and fly at above Mach 1, making it impossible for anything but a diving or front-closing G.91R to execute a firing pass.

Well below the jet operations, a sizable helicopter manouver also gets underway. Gazelles can be found right above the first advance elements like usual, scouring the terrain for hostile positions, ready to call in Springer strikes or take on trouble with their own AT.40s or fin-stabilized rockets. The Dhruv also sees its combat debut, with No.131 squadron taking off from Gwalior with about four companies of infantry. Mi-8s, the mainstay of the INA's helicopter force, load up and prepare to land troops once suitable pieces of terrain are in Union hands.

As the marines cross, assault boats slide into the river as well, and several battalions of infantrymen paddle across to help the marines secure a bridgehead. Right behind them come the engineer units, who waste little time in preparing to launch pontoon bridges across the Chambal.

Jaipur

“I understand, Your Highness…yes Monsieur le Duc, I will prepare something right away. You needn’t fear. Yes, I will, thank you.”

The Sultan put down the phone, and regarded his Chief of Staff General Singh and the French military attaché, le Merechal de Ferren, who was responsible for the several hundred French volunteers making Rajasthan’s resistance possible.

“The King’s brother said that Louis-Auguste wants me to launch an offensive, now, to prevent the INU from deploying to the Philippines without fighting a two front war…we will. In Bikaner, we will attack! But most of all, we will use whatever air power we have left to surprise the INU pigs on the Chambal! Send out the orders at once! We will either triumph, or retire to Versailles!”

Later that day, as French engineered SAM missiles and AAA screamed above the airport as it was bombed again, only to have forced labor repair the airstrip yet again (INU aircraft were in too much of a hurry it seemed to stay about for long and face the full brunt of Jaipur’s Air Defense Grid), the Sultan spoke in public to the masses from the balcony of the Palace of Winds, war and fire screaming overhead. Indeed, there were only a paltry few jets even left at the airport, but the Sultans private liner and the French planes were some, stashed away in concrete hangers. It was even dubbed ‘good’ by the Sultan that the Hindustani’s kept attacking the airport, which he believed tied down their aircraft from other ‘pursuits’.

The State Media, which so far had still be running at optimal capacity, broadcast the Sultan’s call for total war. He waved a sword about as he spoke frantically, and it was in that hour that perhaps the Sultan of Rajasthan found a sort of charisma, fueled by cocaine to be sure, but enough to inspire a nation.

“The people of Rajasthan laugh at the idea of surrender, our eyes sparkle now as we gird ourselves for war. We will accept no compromise, admit no defeat, give not one inch of the Motherlands soil, until every Hindustani dog has been whipped and cast into the pit. They must fight us in our own lands, inch by inch, and they will die, inch by inch! Attack them whenever you can, kill them all, and save our people! I will fight to the last, my dear children, fight beside me, and redeem the name of Rajasthan, though it is in peril!”

Sirohi

The Irregular troops make no attempt to break out, having plenty of supplies and a good position. They are content to bog down good INU troops as long as possible…

Bikaner

Fired by the Sultan’s call for a total war, the first major organized counter-offensive takes place as the infantry and armor races towards the vital rail line. As soon as the rail line is in sight, they would notice trench works that must have been hurriedly dug, and then feel the thud of six heavy howitzers open up. Guided by French attaches as well, the First Regiment of the Third Peoples Army, 1,800 strong, opened up in one rolling wave of fire (a noticeable Restored French tactic ;) ) as the Indians barreled down on them. Several flashes lit the gray morning as TOW missiles zipped out towards the Indian position.

Chaos ensued as the cannons fired, guns blazed, and TOW missiles zipped around the advancing Hindustani troops. Once the Indians had been forced to a halt by the momentum of the hidden defense-turned-charge, 1st Regiment Assault teams A and B, four hundred strong, armed with Tsarist surplus AK-47’s, slowly advance against the Indians, intent on getting close to prevent effective INU air support. The fire may not have been too accurate, but the sheer volume of it qualified the first Rajasthani counter-offensive.

While the rail way became a center of hot combat, Colonel Paatel, Commander of the Third People’s Army, ordered positions in Bikaner proper to open fire as soon as targets presented themselves. The cannons were in heavy burms, as were the machine guns. Paraffin was prepared in Bikaner as well, in anticipation of the Hindustani assault, and the civilian population was prepared to sortie out in the same fashion as Sirohi should the INU attempt to invest the town.

The Chambal River

The INU would find the Chambal easy to cross during the day, their shells just meant a more deficited budget for the war costs of the belligerent Hindustani militarists. And so, as they cross well and set up shop to build their bridges, setting up no doubt flood lights to work, they would not be expecting much…having not encountered one shot in opposition. Now that was odd, especially as this thrust threatened the Iron Leaguer of Jaipur itself, which housed General Singh’s Tiger Corps; which was currently camouflaged with its armor and elite, stalwart, French trained 40,000 regular heavy infantry.

Now, when the French had arrived all those months ago to befriend the Sultan, they brought more than portraits and sports cars. They also brought a few weapons. One of these, just recently off the production line of the Royal Arsenal in Lille, was Un Grand Chaud, ‘A Great Warmth’, coined UGC-I by the Royal Arsenal for record keeping purposes. It was a phosphorus compound, which incinerated rather than burning like napalm. Designed for jungle use, it would nevertheless be effective for the mission intended. Many would dub it a NBC weapon, as it was basically a heavy, far-hotter burning chemicalized version of a traditional FAB. But that was academic, the Sultan needed something to give the Indians food for thought, and that would do nicely.

At 3 A.M., as the INU engineers worked industriously on their pontoon bridges and INU troop formations lined the banks of both river sides, the remaining G.91 R’s of the RAF, 14 aircraft which had been hidden in the countryside and which used forced-labor constructed ‘rural runways’ made their attack. Each was loaded with six UGC-I bombs. They had been saved, the aircraft, for this one sortie at maximum efficiency. And so it went.

The INU troops would at first hear the whine of jet engines coming in fast at low altitude, perhaps at first believing them to be friendly craft (a perfectly logical assumption). However, as the jets, which cruised just below peak speed, came close, their particular engine noise would give them away and panic, or at least alarm, would introduce itself among the INU troops…

And that is when the world got its first look at UGC-I. Like suns in the night, white hot balls of the chemicalized phosphorus bloomed along the river, causing men to simply disappear where they stood and creating such a heat that steam of lethal temperatures soon created a deadly, hellish fog. The river itself boiled, and for several square miles around the intense plumes of heat made it difficult to even breath. Napalm was red, like fire. UGC-I was simply blinding white heat and light. On some parts of the riverbank, sand lumped together, if not becoming outright glass. All in all, there would be eighty-four suns that dotted the INU Chambal River crossing. Necessarily, the G.91’s would have a tricky time returning home, but they had accomplished their mission, the most glorious assault in the history of the Rajasthani air force…even though the pilots were Algerian volunteers, with several Frenchmen in with the lot.

A single camera crew, standing in a well concealed position along the river, would catch the video of the magnificent bombardment. The video would shock the reds, and inspire the whites. Indeed, the Sultan ordered it to be replayed again and again, to show how the Hindustani troops were vulnerable to the Rajasthani people. Soon Rajasthani State Media had given the video to the RNN, and the RNN ran with the story:

“Sultan of Rajasthan mounts major counter-offensive against illegal Indian National Union Invasion---Massive air strike strikes fear into the heart of the communist beasts, and the Chambal becomes a steamy, red, pool of blood!”

Jaipur

High over the city, No.17 squadron makes another appearance. This time, nothing is left to chance, with No.400 squadron of the HAuxADF flying escort with a mixture of R-73Is and the new anti-radiation variant of the ever popular AT.50 PGM. If they had arrived minutes earlier, none of the Ginas now headed towards the Chambal probably would have been able to fight their way very far from their home base, but as it were they stumble onto a rare window of opportunity when no IAF airplanes, not even Jaguars or Springers, are in a position to intercept them. The Air Traffic Controller at Gwalior responsible for the deadly lapse will probably not hold the post much longer, but then again wartime operations put a strain on even the best-trained.

Flying well above the Rajasthani AAA umbrella and probably safe from most if not all the airport's SAMs (assuming, though, that the Rajasthanis are limited to IR or laser-guided MANPADS and completely outdated and largely unoperational SA-2s, many of which would have been blown up by the first Jaguar strike), the IAF fighters make their attack. From each of No.17 squadron's ten F(J).9TGR.1s, two 500kg laser-guided bombs plummet towards the Jaipur airstrip, TIALD pods directing their course. Approximately half the bombs are directed to impact along the length of the airport tarmac, while the other half are bound for the hardened aircraft shelters and dispersal areas. It is, thanks to the IAF's formidable GCI system, quite clear that the G.91s are no longer flying from Jaipur, and as of yet the SRAAC's Fouga Magisters haven't been accounted for, but to destroy Jaipur airport is to deny the Sultan a quick way to leave the country and a quick avenue for the delivery of supplies.

The Palace of Winds also finds itself on the recieving end of one of the IAF's favorite pieces of equipment, used to good effect in the Sino-Nepalese and Malacca Wars, the Land Eagle PGM. It boasts a range just long enough to allow the launch aircraft, in this case a quartet of Jaguars, to remain inside Union airspace throughout the operation. All in all, four of the missiles and their 260kg warheads speed towards the Palace at just below Mach 1. The Palace of Winds, being a rather isolated and large structure, is not thought of as easy to miss, and even if the Sultan has got some jamming equipment in his house the Land Eagle still stands a good chance of burning through it.

Sirohi

The 17th division sets right to work in isolating the city, and launches constant probing attacks inward to see just where the Irregular defenses begin. No doubt Sirohi will be taken, and when it is woe be to the men who tried to incinerate it and its inhabitants, but exactly when that will be is up for dispute. With the assault on Jodhpur so far going quite smoothly, it is decided to consolidate the southern line roughly level to Udaipur, and get a feel for the southern extent of the Jaipur pocket before proceeding.

Southeastern Rajasthan

With the 17th, 22nd, 23rd, and supporting UIC regiments advancing at a healthy pace on their ultimate objective, Jodhpur, UIC units in the eastern portion of Madhya Pradesh are given the green light to seize border towns in their area. Nimbahera, Chittaurgarh, and Begun are all attacked by Irregular units, generally some 3,500 strong and mostly supported by 25-pounder batteries and armored cars. Located literally within spitting distance of the Union frontier, they are not expected to pose much of a problem, but like always the Irregulars are sure to deploy a reconaissance screen lest they be caught unawares. Several very elderly Austers and Lysanders, not even part of the HAuxADF, are pressed into military service and circle over the border.

Bikaner

The Rajasthanis around the rail line do in fact take Wickramsinghe's scout squadron by surprise, particularly with their TOW missiles. Embarrassingly enough, the best the Canal Column can boast is the SPG-9, an unguided recoilless rifle. Rajasthani rifle fire pings harmlessly off the armored sides of the ACV-IPs and the infantry companies, after taking initial losses, find cover and begin to deliver accurate, long-range fire with their SMLEs and FN-FALs. However, when the first TOW impacts an ACV-IP, and as Rajasthani artillery finds the range, it becomes clear that the game is up. Of the eight ACV-IPs in the squadron, four are destroyed rather quickly and the rest pop smoke to cover the withdrawl of the 180-some infantrymen towards their motor transport. If the Rajasthani fire is heavy, the reconaissance squadron can also dish out some of its own, and the twin VGOs atop each of the ACV-IPs try to keep Rajasthani heads down while the squadron pulls back.

Frantic radio calls don't take long to reach Wickramsinghe's command post, and the Brigadier swings into action. A squadron of HAuxADF Springers is scrambled from the Punjab, and with the multitude of muzzle flashes it isn't difficult to pinpoint the Rajasthanis' position. The rest of the 19th division, presently bridging the Rajasthan Canal, is given advance warning and asked to speed-up its advance across the desert. Its arrival, probably no more than a day away, will add another 8,000 men to Wickramsinghe's force, plus a reconaissance section of HAuxADF Alouette IIIs.

The southern armored column, headed by Wickramsinghe's Cromwell section, is advised to use extreme caution in conducting its advance. While it already has a broad reconaissance screen out ahead of it, nobody wants the force's only tanks to stumble upon a TOW ambush. But now that Wickramsinghe knows where such a large force of Rajasthanis is located, he can go about defeating it. First of all, he needs to destroy their artillery, a task that will hopefully be accomplished by the incoming Springers. He also needs to prompt the rest of the Rajasthani defense to show itself. Wickramsinghe is banking on the assumption that, by keeping his own section of 3,000, a credible fighting force in its own right but not nearly enough to take the town, out of sight, he might be able to convince the Rajasthanis that the much larger, tank-supported portion is the whole of the force and get them to attack it, thus opening the way for the 19th division and his section to rush in from an unexpected direction.

Camel-mounted scouts keep the corridor through the desert and back to the Punjab under constant watch, and limit the number of Rajasthani observers around to report back on the Canal Column's actions. This is helped greatly by their choice of weaponry. Instead of the short-range AK-47, the men of Wickramsinghe's Canal Column and the 19th division nearly exclusively carry either the SMLE or FN-FAL, both of which outrange the Kalashnikov by a significant margin. The irregulars especially have, in large part, excellent aim, honed by a life in the desert, and are capable of delivering accurate fire at very long range.

The Chambal River

While some Ginas had managed to get through and drop their dastardly ordnance, incinerating many unlucky Unioners, the Rajasthanis are not afforded the luxury of an unprepared or careless INA. The engineers do indeed use lights as they work to secure pontoon bridges by night, but where there are engineers AAA and SAMs are sure to follow. Unlike, for instance, the Estenlandic army in Lavrageria, the INA has in its basic unit structure provision for light AAA guns, the likes of which have largely been discarded by Western armies. In fact, as they near their targets, the Ginas are hurt greatly by their choice to fly at low altitude. 14.5mm KPVs, 20mm Polstens, and to a lesser extent 40mm Bofors L/70s are all on hand to oppose the Ginas, and are given ample warning by the GCI radar network. The guns are joined by many Javelin MANPADs and quite a few Rapiers, since while they are deployed in Union territory their 30+km acquisition range and ~8km firing range give plenty of time to hit the Ginas.

Jaipur

The airport’s runway was a smoking wreck after the Hindustani assault, which had also managed to knock out one of the several reinforced hangers housing one of the three French commercial jets. After the AA fire settled down, labor gangs were put to work fixing it again. After all, the Sultan didn’t have to pay them, and the materials needed to repair the runway were far cheaper then those used to destroy it. Within an hour after the assault, thousands of conscripted workers slaved away with trowels and concrete mixed in baskets to rebuild what was destroyed by expensive ordinance.

The Palace of Winds was another matter. The Sultan had concluded early in the campaign, indeed at the outset, that the Palace would be a prime target. Therefore, hundreds of women, children, and elderly men were moved en masse into the Palace, on the pretext of offering luxurious housing to ‘destitute’ subjects. He himself was housed in a bunker complex far beneath the Palace proper with his high command. So when the Indian missiles struck home, aside from contributing to the Palace’s de-beautification, they killed a total of 612 Rajasthani civilians. Within no time, the State Media had shipped the news off to Versailles, which distributed news of the Hindustani’s less-than-Progressive modus belli to the worlds various news cartels. After the strike, hundreds more were moved in. And, of course, the damaged sections of the Palace were rebuilt beginning as soon as the fires had been put out.

Which gave the Sultan another idea: the runway of the airport, after being slavishly rebuilt, was turned into a makeshift refugee camp.

Bikaner

It became clear that Bikaner would be no easy nut to crack.

The 1st Regiment, following the assault, evacuated its artillery to burms protecting the city proper. The troopers, however, along with numerous light mortars, stayed in their trenches. Hindustani close air support, aka helicopters, would find it very unpleasant to target said trenches: missiles would only be able to transfer a minute amount of their capability against tightly dug pits, and they would face a huge amount of light AA fire, such as hand held missiles and such.

With hundreds dead after the impromptu assault, Colonel Paatel consolidated his troops. If the INU army wished to take Bikaner and the rail lines, they would have to do so on the ground.

The Chambal River

Only 7 of the 14 G.91 R’s survived the attack and managed to land, all together, back at Jaipur…of course, that’s only after they moved the refugees off the runway. Nevertheless, all said and done, the attack was considered a success.

Jaipur

While the Sultan's hundreds of human shields might work on western news networks, they don't fool many Unioners. Attacks on the Palace of Winds and Jaipur airport are called-off, but the Jaguars and TGR.1s are replaced by a CAP of F(J).9FGA.1s. Anything coming out of Jaipur will have to run the gauntlet of IAF fighters, supported by a highly effective and battle-proven GCI network, and the likelihood of any Ginas surviving another sortie is quite low. It is not difficult to discredit the Sultan's propaganda. First of all, he never notified anyone of the presence of noncombatants at his residence. Human shields don't count if nobody knows about them. Mumbai had been half-expecting this kind of thing, after all, and it is the only reason why ten times that number of missiles weren't thrown into the air.

Reconaissance-configured F(J).9s make constant passes over the Rajasthani capital, keeping the sattelite-deficient INA quite well informed as to the city's state of being. The strike on Jaipur's airport is clearly successful, the IAF putting many craters right down its length, and most jet airliners will be hard-pressed to make use of what is probably a rather crude repair job.

Bikaner

The Springers arrive over Bikaner not a moment too late. With the Rajasthani trench works quite visible from the air, the IAF wastes no time in making its attack, and the twenty strike planes swoop in with cluster bombs and folding-fin rockets while 25-pounder howitzers bombard the retreating Rajasthani guns. The amount of light AAA fire directed at the Springers is indeed impressive, but unlike, for instance, the Mirage-2000, the Springer is an extremely tough mount. As the INU found out the hard way, it is almost impossible to hurt one with anything below a 20mm weapon and even then they can absorb extraordinary amounts of damage before going down. The Rajasthanis, like the Unioners before them, will probably grow to hate the Springer by the campaign's end, and for good reason.

It will hardly be the last the Rajasthanis see of that particular Springer unit, it being located just a short trip across the border in the Punjab. As the aircraft peel away, some with more holes in them than others but none out of action as of yet, they head back to base to refuel and re-arm for another round of strikes on the town.

The 19th division's imminent approach is signaled by the appearance on the horizon of several Alouette IIIs/Chetaks, gun pods and FFARs hanging from weapons pylons. So armed, they are not likely to be used in direct attacks against the Rajasthani positions, but rather as artillery spotters and scouts, keeping an eye out for ambushes and plotting the position of muzzle flashes. It is never smart to put helicopters, especially the elderly Alouettes, in a position where they are constantly dodging AAA and MANPADs, so Wickramsinghe doesn't intend to. They will stay a safe distance from the defenders, out of the range of their guns and MANPADs, while still close enough for a good view.

The Chambal Front

The Ginas had cost the INA over a thousand men killed, but the defenders had their revenge. Seven of the Rajasthani fighters down and most of the others probably damaged, it didn't turn out all too badly in the end. Downed pilots are in for a tough time, especially once they are discovered to be Frenchmen. Granted, they aren't in to be stuck with red-hot pokers or tortured in Devil's Island fashion, but they shouldn't look forward to anything more than a prison cell until the whole Rajasthan business is sorted out.

In the wake of the night attack, a CAP is established and maintained over the river, by IAF Springers and Jaguars. They aren't fighters per se, but are fast and manouverable enough to stay out of the Ginas' gun range and pack at least two short-range missiles in addition to a useful load of bombs and FFARs.

As tanks are ferried across the river aboard barges and the bridgeheads well and truly consolidated, reconaissance screens push out into the countryside, intent on finding the Rajasthani defenders and marking them for a severe pounding by newly-repositioned R.122s. They are told, though, to be very careful. If Rajasthan's rather feared T-90s are anywhere, they are probably tucked away in some fold of the earth not far away, waiting for some clumsy INA column to come passing by. The INA is not about to give the Rajasthanis that opportunity, and scout units in their Ferret armored cars and FV101 light tanks scour the countryside. Gazelles do their part in the air, ready to offer on-the-spot fire support and themselves reconnoitering the area. Before the INA makes its advance on Jaipur, it intends to know the battlefield very well and isn't about to be caught off-guard.

Tanks and armored vehicles begin to appear in significant amounts on the other side of the Chambal by the second day of the crossing, among them some of the brand-new Igovian MT-3s, set to lead the advance towards Jaipur. They are a welcome addition to the Chambal Front, since initial projections had the INA driving through to Jaipur with nothing but T-55/75s, and are easily a match for the Rajasthani T-90s.

Bridgeheads are linked-up by heliborne troops and marines in their OT-62s, and the Chambal Front prepares to move inland. The 130mm SPGs are by now repositioned on the other side of the river, ready to pummel offending artillery or mortars, and many, though not all, the towed 105mm guns are shuttled across and established by the second day of the crossing. All in all, the INA controls, in varying degrees, the entire length of the Chambal from Dhaulpur south, as it runs along the border with Madhya Pradesh, but the real concentration of forces is roughly level with Gangapur.

The Chambal Front includes the 1st Armored Division, with 17,500 troops, the 2nd Armored Division, with 16,500, and the 4th, 5th, 7th, and 10th Dragoons Divisions, each with 20,000 troops, some 112,000 total. All the involved divisions have by now put at least part of their combat strength across the river.

bump

If nobody posts, I swear I'll take Jaipur tomorrow.

Don't think I wont! *Runs around like a madman, brandishes 2x4 with a nail driven into the end*

OCC: Eh, does anyone object if I RP Rajasthan as having been taken-over? The guerilla war phase hasn't started yet, and I think I will need somebody else to play the Rajasthani role, since NG has a full plate.

OCC: I said I'd do it!

IC:

Jaipur

It doesn't take long for news of the Sultan's departure to reach the general population, and it is a similarly short span of time before the capital's streets erupt in a collective demonstration of anger at the Sultan and his institutions of state. Windows are smashed and police stations are burned down, often with their occupants inside, and a crowd doesn't take long to assemble in front of the Palace of Winds. Well over a quarter million of Jaipur's two million citizens turn up and shoot at the Palace's remaining guards with arms distributed to them by the Sultan and his French allies, in the incorrect belief that the Sultan's sudden reversal of his policies would inspire Rajasthanis to support his continued rule. Molotov cocktails are tossed inside the palace grounds once the guards retreat from the battlements and rioters begin to scale the Zenana, with its many easy-to-reach prominences. Inside, Sultan loyalists frantically look for a way out of what appears to be a deathtrap, and many choose a mad break for one of the Sultan's old forts in the city, but these plans are dashed once a gaggle of Dhruvs appears on the horizon, moving fast below a formation of Springers.

Reconaissance elements of the Chambal Front enter the city at about the same time, cautious as usual, but it soon becomes clear that the Sultan has well and truly been ousted. Cheerful crowds line the streets as Ferrets and Scorpions from the 1st Armored Division advance towards the Palace of Winds, Gazelles sweeping overhead for trouble.

Sanganer Airport (Jaipur International)

The first of No.152 squadron's 20 Twin Pioneers lands on a relatively undamaged section of Sanganer Airport soon after the heliborne assault force appears in Jaipur's skies. Landing in the space of a few hundred meters, the aircraft disgorge a total of 320 infantrymen who quickly secure the airport facilities and the surviving Ginas. What few Royal Army troops remain to guard the airport are either killed outright or taken prisoner, and the INA is treated to another grand reception on the part of the Rajasthanis held by the Sultan as human shields.

Elements of the 7th Dragoons reach the airport about an hour later, after picking through a Royalist minefield, and solidify the INA's position on the outskirts of the city. Food and medical aid is distributed to the Sultan's human shields and a portion of the division prepares to move into Jaipur itself, with the aim of taking Jaigarh Fort.

East and South of Jaipur

The bulk of the Chambal Front is still well east of the capital, though, and involved in fairly low-level fighting with the Royal Army units that still bother to resist the INA's rather sure victory. Using the 1st and 2nd Armored Divisions, supported by the INA's large corps of artillery and the IAF, the Chambal Front smashed the supposed Iron Leaguer of Jaipur at several points, surrounding and destroying Royalist positions with relative ease. A handful of armored vehicles were lost to mines, ATGWs, and T-90s, but all told it was a bloody massacre for the Royal Army.

Instead of moving-on to the capital, most of the Chambal Front occupies itself with mopping-up Rajasthani resistance and collecting prisoners. One thing that Mumbai definately does not want is a large, well-armed Royalist insurrection and a triumphant entry into Jaipur is considered secondary. Guns are smashed and stores of ammunition blown up wherever they are found. As the INA half-suspected already, the Royal Army had turned out to be something of a paper tiger, and for all the vitality that the French supposedly injected into it, the Rajasthani infantryman could not compete with the Unioner infantryman.

Bikaner

Davlat Wickramsinghe's Canal Column is still locked in battle with Bikaner's fanatical defenders when Jaipur is finally taken. The quickly-built trench system didn't quite hold up in the face of accurate and heavy artillery fire and airstrikes, nor did the Rajasthani howitzers, so it did not take that much effort to secure the railway. However, once driven from the trenches, Bikaner's garrison retreated into Junagarh Fort. Sweeping machine gun and artillery fire failed to destroy all the Royalist troops in their mad flight across the desert to safety, and even though barely two hundred survived, those two hundred managed to burn down a good portion of the city and hole-up in the old fort.

Four centuries old, Junagarh Fort has already been reduced to a pile of rubble by the Canal Column's 25-pounder howitzers and Cromwell tanks, and its destruction shows no signs of stopping. As the INA has on more than one occasion found out, even ancient forts can present far more formidable obstacles than their appearance suggests, and Wickramsinghe doesn't want to send troops into the position until he is sure that it is productive to do so.

Sirohi

The capture of Sirohi goes fairly smoothly, with the 17th Light Infantry fighting a short, violent engagement with its few thousand defenders. Supported by armored cars and light tanks, the 17th blasts its way into the heart of the city's defense, making full use of every firepower advantage granted them, and like Royal Army units everywhere, they prove vastly inferior to the INA in terms of leadership and training. The citizens of Sirohi, in large part furious over the burning of their town, follow close behind the 17th's advance and brutalize any Royal Army soldier they find. At the Rajasthani blockhouse, heavy MG fire forces lead units to find cover, but not for long. Hardened MG emplacements are demolished by an FV101 and the last few Royal Army troops emerge from the wreckage with their hands above their heads. Among them is a Frenchman, one of the Sultan's military advisors, and the Unioners take particular joy in breaking his sword.

Ganganagar

Irregulars, aided by Sikh rebels from across the border in Punjab, take Ganganagar in the far northwest of Rajasthan with barely any trouble. The column, mostly on camelback, makes a grand entrance and even forms up into a proper marching order behind a squadron of Humber armored cars. Ganganagar is the only place in Rajasthan where a victory parade is conducted, and its customs house is draped in the Indian Tricolour before the Unioners even enter the town.

Ajmer

For the fifth time in a month, the people of Ajmer province are assembled in Ajmer City for the District Planning Council. Nearly a million people congregate in no fewer than ten locations, each one in radio contact with the others, with the purpose of forming a district government and coming up with a working constitution. With INA troops outside, and the IAuxADF present in force overhead, the councils get underway just after noon, and Ajmeris hardly hold back from expressing their opinions, from the Hindu nationalist to the Maoist. Newly-legalized political parties are out in force, and not surprisingly the Indian National Congress Party of Rajasthan, a revival of the very movement that won the Union its independence, attracts the majority of participants, many of them women, with its usually popular Seven Points.

The councils go on through the night and into the morning, finally splitting-up at about three, having made relatively little progress except for confirmation of the INC(R)'s preeminence.

Similar assemblies, no more organized than the ones in Ajmer, occurr all over Rajasthan on almost a daily basis in once place or another, per the provisions of Parliament's re-incoropration plan. It is hardly the most efficient method of going about it, since it has been nearly a month with at least one council a week in every district and negligible progress has been made, but the free and open nature of the District Planning Councils has so far kept politically-motivated violence fairly low. At least in Ajmer District, anyway.

Mumbai's plan is to set up a functional government in each of Rajasthan's 32 Districts individually before attempting to set up a provincial government, in the hopes that it will keep undesirable politicians and movements isolated. So far, it has been working. The INC's traditional rivals; the center-right Bharatiya Janata Party and the Hindu extremist Hindustan National Front, are shoved out of the way by the INC in all but a few Districts as many of those party's leaders are arrested or beaten-up for complicity with the Sultan.

In Ajmer City, with the INC clearly, if not firmly, in control and sympathies mainly with Mumbai, the District's first crop of civil servants begin to make improvements to public services and the railway.

Jaipur

The provincial capital of Jaipur, former home of the Sultan and the early grave of many of his ministers, is the scene of the fiercest political struggles, with the Mumbai-backed INC(R) barely ahead of a coalition of Hindu nationalist and restoration parties led by Ranjit Haram, formerly the head of the Rajasthani Department of Public Works. Cars are burned and party leaders shot against a backround of still-crippling poverty and violent crime, and even under INA administration Jaipur remains the heroin capital of India.

If any District looks ready to fall to Mumbai's enemies, it is Jaipur.

Sanganer Airport

North Hindustan and the INU are not the best of friends, and never have been. It is questionable as to if they ever will be. And with one of Delhi's former proxy states now in Mumbai's hands, the North Hindustani government isn't about to take it sitting down.

Foreign Minister Jawarchand Goyal flies into Sanganer Airport, newly repaired, aboard one of his government's HS-125s, followed all the way from the border by a squadron of IAF Jaguars. The small jet comes to a stop after a rather bumpy landing and is directed into a protected shelter formerly occupied by a Rajasthani G.91. There, Goyal is met by a group of Army officers and Parliamentarians led by Mhuktar Abbas from Balochistan. As the band strikes up Jana Gana Mana, and the INA officers snap to attention, Abbas steps foreward to meet Goyal at the foot of his airplane's folding staircase.

"I've been looking foreward to meeting you, Mr. Goyal. I hope you found our airport facilities adequate," begins Abbas.

"As have I, Parliamentarian Abbas. A wonderful city you've taken, I understand."

"Wonderful indeed, Mr. Goyal. I would arrange for you to tour the Hawa Mahal but I'm afraid the people of Rajasthan have put it to what they consider a better use. Nahaar Garh Fort is another story, though. Come this way, we have a car waiting."

A Hindustan Ambassador, member of the only family of cars ever produced in the Indian National Union, drives up to the shelter, escorted by no fewer than four Ferrets, and the two diplomats climb into the back with an INA colonel. It is an unusually cramped accomodation, with Abbas and Goyal literally shoulder-to-shoulder, and things are made no better by the reckless driving of both the armored cars and the small Ambassador. Abbas's driver screeches to a stop in front of Jaipur's new city hall, formerly a Rajasthani Army barracks, and the car's occupants pile out onto the sidewalk.

"Right this way, Mr. Goyal," says Abbas as they enter a concrete tunnel leading into the front of the building. "I'm afraid we can't spare a room, so we'll have to talk on the roof."

Goyal, unflappable, nods as if it doesn't matter, and a few minutes later they emerge on the roof. A finely-crafted table, taken right out of the Sultan's bedroom, waits under a beautifully embroidered canopy, and a flock of functionaries congregates at the punch bowl.

"I'm afraid my government has prepared an ultimatum for you, Mr. Abbas..."

"I am not empowered to make any decisions regarding my nation's foreign policy, Mr. Goyal. My most sincere apologies, but such things must be put before Parliament. I am, however, authorized to recieve your proposal."

"Very well, then. Let me be frank wit you, Mr. Abbas. My government is both prepared to recognize Mumbai's authority over Rajasthan and ready to submit Sultan Walid Al-Haji to your custody in exchange for right of deposit at Indian Ocean ports and a promise that Mumbai will not seek to recover any more territory through military means."

Goyal lays a stack of papers on the table, which are quickly packed-away by a functionary. Another functionary approaches Abbas, who chooses that moment to conclude the incredibly short meeting.

"If that's all there is, I'm afraid I must be off. I will convey your proposal to Parliament. It was a pleasure to meet you, minister Goyal, and I hope we have an opportunity to meet some time in the future."

"The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Abbas."

Rajasthan

As is made quite clear by the flat-out refusal of Jaipur, Nagaur, Churu, Jhunjunun, Alwar, Bharatpur, and Bikaner districts to accept re-incorporation, a point reinforced by the INC(R)'s surprising lack of success in district elections and policy referenda, not all of Rajasthan is quite as excited about being back under Mumbai's wing as Parliament would have liked. One would be hard-pressed to find a defender for the Sultan's regime, but a dislike of the Sultan's corruption and stupidity doesn't translate into a hearty endorsement of the INC's and INC(R)'s Seven Points Manifesto. Rajasthanis, it appears, are in many areas simply not about to accept worker self-management, gender equality, the council system, or secularism.

Despite Parliament's best efforts, and despite the best efforts of the Army of the Chambal, 5,402 men less what it started with four months earlier, Rajasthan doesn't appear likely to work.

Parliament Votes to Commission Second Monitor

Citing the relative success of the IN's first Monitor, INS Timor, Parliament has opted to finish the fourth Zanzibar-class vessel, INS Miyako Jima[/b], currently being used as a depot ship at the navy base in Diu. While slow, difficult to manouver, and range-handicapped, the Zanzibar class of monitors is the only type of "big gun" ship that the IN can afford to develop and operate, and given the right circumstances it could probably do a fair bit of damage with its 15" foreward turret and its QF Mk. N5 6" automatics facing aft. It might seem odd, given the pressing need for a more mobile fleet, that the MoD is pursuing such a solidly defensive asset, but there is no telling just where it will end up. Monitors being so well suited to landing support operations, with their low draft and stability, a second one might just end up being useful after all, should Plan 22 end up happening.

It is also quite possible that INS [i]Sulawesi, after being restored to combat condition, will be offered for export. Customers could include the ANP, Strathdonia, Neo-Anarchos, or Sujava, but currently the vessel is slated for service with the IN.

The Miyako Jima won't be significantly different from the Timor, the former being equipped with 14.5mm KPV machine guns for point defense instead of the 20mm Polstens.

IN commanders are also toying with the idea of a smaller type of monitor, perhaps equipped with a singe 15" or 12" gun, the likes of which would be much easier and much cheaper to build, but the fact that gun duels remain unlikely in this age of the anti-ship missile makes such proposals not likely to be followed-through.