For King and Country

I'm quite glad everyone liked how I handled the situation with the Russians. Game wise I kept getting these damn offers from Moscow even though our relations were about as low as they can get in game terms, and even though I kept turning 'em down, they kept asking. I just couldn't pass up the chance to express what I wanted to do game wise in the AAR.


Next update will be up very shortly... like right after his post, eh?

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR​

While the only open warfare being waged around the globe was taking place in mainland China, the dark ominous clouds of war were gathering over Europe and despite the desires of the majority of the population not to experience the horror and waste of a second Great War, many were preparing to do so rather than sacrifice their values… or their countries.

The first week of February was extremely rocky for the Kingdom of Albania, and for the rest of the countries that found themselves on the east coast of the Adriatic Sea.

February first saw Albania’s government unable to amass the funds required to make the interest payments on loans Albania had received from the Society for the Economic Development of Albania. The Society was an Italian government run enterprise that had the blatant goal of increasing Albanian dependence on Italy. The inability of King Zog’s government to make its payment was used as a pretext by the Italians to transform the Albanian dependence into Albanian subservience to Rome. Dispatching his Foreign Minister and son-in-law, Galeazzo Ciano, Count of Cortellazzo, Mussolini offered that in lieu of payment, if Albania would offer certain concessions to Italy, the payments would be deferred for one year.

In the meeting between Count Ciano and King Zog, the requested concessions were made in a manner that made it clear that Italy would not take no for an answer and came across more as the dictates of a conquering nation than as the requests of an ally. The Albanians were to place the control of the Gendarmerie in the hands of Rome, join Italy in a customs union that was more favorable to the Italians than Albania, allow Albania’s sugar, telegraph, and electrical monopolies to be controlled from Rome and not Tirana, and finally, that Italian history and language become required teaching in all levels of Albania’s education system.



Outraged at the affront proposed to his Kingdom, King Zog refused the Italian demands and responded in such away that would prove to be harsh to Albania in the short-term but was hoped to provide long-term security. The national budget was ordered slashed by thirty percent, followed by the immediate dismissal and removal from the country of all Italian military advisers. In a move to diminish the influence of that Italians upon the Albanian population, Zog also ordered the nationalization of the Roman Catholic schools that had up to that time been run by Italy.

Anticipating such a reaction from King Zog, Count Ciano had come prepared and in the days following the meeting held many meetings with various factions within the Albanian government, seeking support for Italy’s demands. The coin of the realm for the Count’s campaign was large amounts of money as well as assurances of further compensation in the way of land and position if the King was persuaded to accept Italy’s requests.

This campaign of the Count’s was widespread not only in the distances he covered but also in how deep he was able to penetrate into King Zog’s government, a government that was mostly made up of family or clients of Zog’s from before the Great War. Aware of Count Ciano’s activities, the King had members of his own personal guard follow the Count and report as to who within the country was accepting. On February sixth, the Count’s campaign came to an end when King Zog was provided with proof that his own Foreign Minister was accepting large amounts of cash and titles to estates in Italy from the Italian.

King Zog emphatically ordered the expulsion of Count Ciano as well as all but a skeleton staff from the Italian Embassy in Tirana. He also ordered the closing of all Italian consulates and missions within Albania, the temporary nationalization of all businesses not owned by Albanians, and most traumatically for the Albanian Foreign Ministry, the arrest and execution of said minister. Knowing that his actions would have severe repercussions, King Zog also sent out envoys to Yugoslavia’s Prince Paul and Greece’s 4th of August Regime of General Ioannis Metaxas seeking support for his defiance against Italy and Mussolini. Despite the threat, both countries received the envoys and began talks with Albania.

The news of Count Ciano’s expulsion and Albania’s subsequent moves were received with displeasure in Rome, as could be expected, and the lights of the Foreign Ministry and Defense Ministry were seen to be on late into the night as a response was prepared.

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the globe from the Adriatic, the Japanese onslaught continued in China, and events became quite worrisome to the European powers that still had concerns in the Far East.


In a bold move, the Japanese 5th Army, after being reinforced following the capture of Chengdu, split its forces into two equally sized commands, each equal to the size of the entire 5th Army prior to the Battle for Chengdu. The Northern 5th Army, as its name suggests, marched north and then east heading first for the Chinese Communists and planning on heading east toward the Yellow Sea after destroying the Communists. The Southern 5th Army chased after the remnants of the Kuomintang and heading in the general direction of Hong Kong and the South China Sea. By March 1, both armies had achieved another series of victories, the northern march only five hundred miles from Chinese Communist leader Mao Tse-tung’s headquarters in the northwest of China, while the southern march had reached a point in the southern highlands of China that left them only five hundred miles from Hong Kong and Macao.


Not clear on the intentions of the Japanese, the Imperial General Staff began issuing orders for the increased defenses of Hong Kong, and while most of the specifics were kept very secret, the one aspect that was unable to remain hidden was the sudden increase in vast amounts of supplies that began arriving in the Crown Colony. While the War Ministry made preparations for the defense of Hong Kong that it was prayed would not be required, the Foreign Ministry was busy with somewhat clandestine conferences. These meetings began the political ground work for cooperation for the defense of the British Far East, French Indochina, Dutch Indonesia and tiny Portuguese Macao. Plans that again were prayed would not be required to be implemented.







Up next: The dominoes keep falling...

Time for some replies to all your recent replies!

stnylan - Yes indeedy, things just keep piling up one right after the other, and the general feel of the average man on the street is that unless someone does something about it, the Fascists or Communists are going to get the whole world involved in another war! As for diplomatic insults, I tell you, from some of my readings whilst still on college (and the ones for fun) the British Foreign Service has got the art of diplomacy (the art of telling someone to go to Hell in such a way that one actually looks forward to the trip ) perfected! You are so right about "the finger"!

Mooses - thank you kindly, sir! As for how the Empire will react to Italy's aspirations of Adriatic expansion, stay tuned!

Vann - Thanks. As for the Soviet cannon fodder, ah, troops... Who needs numbers when you have quality?

Cloudyvortex - Quite right! Although I fear Paris is less concerned with the Adriatic and staying out of a war while they shore up their "Empire". As for the U.S., again, quite right!

prussiablue - Didya like that? Eden, remember, was schooled in the Mother of all Parliaments, so he does know how to slap someone down, eh?

Lord E - Thanks much, my friend!

Maximilliano - Let me just say this, the Empire's current monarch and Privy Council are not going to shed any tears about any Communist problems, eh?

VILenin Just you wait and see how things fall apart, my friend. Oh, actually, relations with Japan are not all that bad right about now. I mean the two Empires are not really chums, and the Brits are very concerned about Japan's dreams of its "Sphere", but they're not glaring at each other over bayonets. At least not yet.

Storey - You are so right about Uncle Joe... there is no telling what thougths will escape that scary little mind of his!

GhostWriter - Trust me, my friend, if the Winter War fires off, the Finns will not be solely content with keeping the Soviets out of Finland. Zog was a very interesting fellow in RL. I actually barely tweaked his personality for this TL, 'cause the man did have some great big brass ones! The IJA at this point is got the terrain of southern China as well as an adverse population in their path to the South China Sea. And that means what? Well, that they are not yet on the verge of attacking Hong Kong.

El Pip - Trust me, the Empire will not back down from any action that would cause harm to the Communists! That's all I'm gonna say.

Jape - Thanks much!

Lucidor - As am I, as am I.

GeneralPaisley - Thank you. Now, now, now, we can't have the Empire looking/playing like an agressor state, eh? That would spoil the image of the Empire being the good guys!

Sir Humps - I am to please, sir, I am to please.

Daan - Welcome, sir! As for the Aussies... stay tuned. I can't give to many secrets away, I might get in trouble, eh?




Okay, now comes the bad news... I just found out that I'm getting sent to my company's Home Office near Chicago for a week. I fly out tonight and won't be back until next week. Blah! So, while I'm supposed to be clearing my desk of pending stuffage, I'm also going to try and get an update in, so keep your fingers crossed. Also, anybody wanna volunteer to help my wife watch over our three sons, Chaos, Havoc and Mayhem? (Joking! I wouldn't want to be blamed with anyone being driven to drink to get through the day! )

As Promised!

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE​

Windsor Castle
London
March 11, 1939


“Good morning, Gentleman,” the King announced as he took his seat at the head of the table. “Although from the headline on the front page of The Times, it does not sound like it is a good morning. Anthony, please, fill me in.”

Placing his tea cup back down, the Foreign Secretary looked at the rest of the Privy Council and said gloomily, “As The Times report puts it succinctly, Czechoslovakia is dead. Late yesterday afternoon, in a meeting in the Foreign Affairs office in Vienna, Germany, Italy, and Hungary announced the results of what the press of those three countries are calling, the Vienna Arbitrage.”

“Forgive my ignorance,” Oswald Mosley said as Eden paused, “but what is Hungary doing with Germany and Italy?”

Taking a breath to hide the annoyance he felt toward not only the question but also the questioner, Sir Anthony wondered to himself why he had his staff create the diplomatic summary reports if Mosley did not take the time to read them. Turning his head to look down the table to the offending speaker, he answered, “As you recall, in the eighteen years ago this month, the National Assembly of Hungary re-established the Kingdom of Hungary, elected not to recall Charles IV of Hungary from exile and instead proclaimed former Austro-Hungarian Admiral Miklós Horthy as Regent for an indefinite period of time. To steal a line, Horthy is ‘The Admiral without a fleet, in a country without a coastline, and a Regent for a Kingdom without a King.’ At the beginning of the decade, Horthy, who is a staunch conservative and borderline fascist, appointed several pro-Nazi officials in cabinet positions and began forming bonds with Nazi Germany in the hope of retrieving the Hungarian lands lost through the Versailles treaty.”


“Ah, I see. Thank you, Sir Anthony,” Mosley replied with the grace have a shade of embarrassment cross his face.

“As both the Foreign Office and the IIO predicted following the Munich Dictate,” Eden continued after a brief nod toward Mosley, “Hitler was not satisfied with only the Sudetenland and began manipulating issues within the remains of Czechoslovakia. Not being in a position to disagree, the three countries met in Vienna with what was left of the Czech government and arbitrarily carved up the rest of Czechoslovakia.”

“And how did der Führer and Il Duce* cut the pie,” King George asked with sarcasm tingeing the titles of the two leaders.

“Carpathian Ruthenia and Subcarpathia were ceded to Hungary,” the Foreign Secretary said, “land which was taken away from Hungary by the 1920 Treaty of Trianon. The areas west of the Carpathia area and centered around the city of Bratislava will become the new nation of Slovakia.”

“Without a doubt, a puppet nation firmly at the beck and call of Berlin. And the rest, Anthony,” Churchill asked bleakly.

“The rest, as you can no doubt imagine,” Eden replied just as bleakly, “will be absorbed into Hitler’s Großdeutschland.”

In the wake of the sudden chilly silence that descended upon the room following the Foreign Secretary’s final words, the sound of the King drumming his fingers on the table top echoed around the room that had seen its share of such announcements down through the years. While King George gazed into the air directly before his eyes and continued his faint drumming, the other members of the Privy Council began looking about themselves ill at ease. The faint drumming of the King’s fingers ceased, snapping the attention of every man in the room back to their monarch. “Gentlemen, have you no comments? Have you no recommendations for your Sovereign? What and how is the Empire to respond to this fiasco that the Continent has allowed itself to stumble into?”

“Your Majesty,” Churchill grumped, “with respect, the ways the Empire responds, is dependent upon what course of action you wish to pursue as well as what your subjects will be willing to endure.”

“Winston, you must not have slept very much recently,” the King chided with a smile. Looking around the room the King jerked the assembled men into an even more heightened sense of attention when he continued using the royal plural.

“This We already know. What has happened has happened due to Our failing to heed the warnings staring Us in the face. We wish such further activities not to occur again. So what options and plans do you, Our royal Privy Council,” the added to the rest of the room, “have available to assure that wish?”

Nodding his head in respect, Churchill replied, "Your Majesty, there are two courses of action currently available. They are very simple but will become more complex as we travel down either path they provide. The first is the most direct but also the most dangerous and is to respond to aggression with aggression.”

“Meaning war,” King George said clearly not ready to commit to taking a walk down the dark descending path to Hell on earth. “And the other?”

“Diplomacy, Your Majesty,” Eden replied with a faint gleam in his eye.

“What,” Mosley exploded from the other end of the room, clearly not being privy to all that went on with the Privy Council. “Isn’t that what has gotten the Germans what they’ve wanted thus far?”

“This is true,” Sir Anthony replied to both Mosley’s voiced and the King’s unvoiced questions. “However, up to know we have engaged in diplomacy with the Germans. I suggest we pursue diplomacy against the Germans.”

“Explain a bit, Anthony,” King George commanded while his mind clearly started examining possibilities his Foreign Secretary’s words provided.

“It’s very simple, actually, Your Majesty,” Eden clarified. “Instead of having talks with Hitler trying to dissuade him away from an action, we send your diplomats to the as yet uncompromised nations on the Continent and begin pursing alliances with those countries.”

“Basically laying a ring of oil around Germany and threatening to set it afire if Hitler tries to step over it,” the British monarch said thoughtfully.

“Precisely, Your Majesty.”

“Do we have an accurate accounting of whom to pursue?”

Leaning forward from his lounging position in the seat to his brother’s right, Prince George answered as if he had been prepared for the occasion, “In the east, which is the danger zone at this point, the unaligned are in the south: Yugoslavia, Albania, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece. In the north east there is Poland, and the Baltic Republics of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The nations in the west are Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.”

Glancing between his younger brother and his Foreign Secretary and hiding his amusement at the planning the two conducted in preparation, the King asked, “And the Swiss?”

“Honestly, Your Majesty,” Eden answered simply, “With Switzerland’s history of neutrality over the centuries, we had not even considered approaching them.”

“Well, give them a go,” the King said with a shrug of his shoulders. “That would give Adolph a bit of a pause to find the mountain fastness of the Swiss against him… or at least we could hope. With whom of the aforementioned have you already begun speaking?”

Realizing that the plan he and Prince George had already begun to pursue without the King’s permission had been deduced by the monarch, the Foreign Secretary hid a brief gulp of air and answered without missing a beat. “We have been having discussions with the Belgians and the Dutch since the signing of our treaties the end of last year, Your Majesty. Also, the ambassadors in the Balkans have been sending out feelers the last several weeks.”

“Who seems most likely to come aboard our little ship of national friendship,” the King inquired with dark sarcasm.

“Well, Your Majesty,” Eden replied after a moment of mental calculation, “the only ones that we may have difficulties with would be the Swiss and the Baltic Republics.”

“Very well,” King George announced, “make it official practice, and send out the notices to Our embassies in the targeted countries.”

Turning his head to look at his brother, the Empire’s chief spy, the King asked without pausing, “George, would Anthony’s diplomats have any chance at pulling any of Germany’s friends away and brining them to our side?”


Leaning back in his chair, the Duke of Kent held his left elbow with his right hand while he rubbed his chin with his left hand, the reckoning of intelligence reports clearing racing through his mind. “We can straight away forgo even sending diplomats to Slovakia,” he said after several seconds, “Bratislava will clearly only do as told by Berlin. We may have some room to work with if we approach Regent Horthy the right way, but there’s no assurance either way. Italy… Italy might just be the one most susceptible, however, with the contentions between the Dagos and the Empire, it could be as difficult or worse than making an attempt with Slovakia.”

“So you are saying that there’s no chance, then,” the King stated.

“Nay,” Prince George replied with mock indignation. Leaning forward he continued speaking, including the entire room, “There’s always a chance, Your Majesty, the possibility of it happening is only measured in its degrees of difficulty!”

Smiling as he slapped his brother on the arm as the other men chuckled at the Prince’s humor, the King looked at his Foreign Secretary, “Might as well have your lads and lasses start sending feelers out to Il Duce’s* boys and the Hungarians as well, Anthony.”

“And the Slovakians, Your Majesty?”

“Only if gain a foothold with Horthy.” Eying the rest of his Privy Council the King asked, “Anyone else have any recommendations?”

“Not to be a doomsayer, Your Majesty,” the War Minister said with a reluctant sigh, "but even though the French are sending even more troops to strengthen the Maginot Line, I believe we should request another round of staff conferences with them and make the attempt to create some offensive minded plans.”

“Really? I thought that the General Staff had sworn off the French after the last round of talks,” King George said with an arched eyebrow of skepticism.

“’Tis true, Your Majesty,” Cooper replied with another sigh, “However, to steal Prince George’s phrase, while the degree of difficulty is high when dealing with the French these days, there is always the chance.”

“Very well, Duff, make it so. Anyone have anything else? Very good then, let’s remove ourselves from here and partake of lunch.”




* - Il Duce, for those who don’t already know, is Italian for Leader




Up next (in about a week ): recruitment issues.