Very interesting, good job Ugly! I may need to check out these Novels, and the mod.
-
We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
Great job so far on the AAR. Keep it up. I had to scratch my head on the immediate staff changes. Sometimes I try to make sure my staff mostly TL191 proof. Hopefully HMS might give us more from the books.
I don't care if the leaders and staff are incompetant I'm used to it IRL. Oops.
FREEDOM!!!
I don't care if the leaders and staff are incompetant I'm used to it IRL. Oops.
FREEDOM!!!
Chapter 7: Spanish Civil War and the Quiet Times
Soon after the start of the Spanish Civil War, the CSA government welcomed the de facto ambassador from the Nationalist side. This welcoming proclaimed the CSA's recognition of the legitamacy of Franco's government, and shortly thereafter the CSA issued a formal stating saying it regarded "Republican" Spain, as it was known in the press, as being in a state of rebellion against the true government in Spain. But the Spanish ambassador was after more than a formal state recognition. They Nationalists needed help. Britain and France had already declared for Nationalist Spain and sent supplies and volunteers, but Germany had done the same for the "Republicans". Although the German Empire had no great love for communists, it came to recognize, under no small amount of US pressure, that having too many nationalistic governments around the world would be a bad thing for the US-German hegemony that had dominated world affairs since the end of the Great War. It sent the "Republicans" vast amounts of military aid, which the "Republicans" greatly needed. It soon became apparent that the two sides in the SCW had very opposite problems. The communists seemed to have an abundance of troops willing to fight, but they were drastically short of arms and material. The nationalists had an abundance of military goods (thanks in large part to France and Britains continual support through the land border with France) but only a small, albeit well trained, army.
It was because of this that Jake Featherston realized he could kill two birds with one stone. After the burning of Durango, tensions between the Mexican citizens (not necessarily the government, as they were greatful to not be hanging from a lamp post in Mexico City) and the remaining CSA soldiers were running dangerously high. Not even a week after the crushing of the armed resistance, the Mexican government began pleading for Featherstone to withdraw his troops from their country. Featherstone knew he couldn't bring the divisions home without provoking a war with the US. But now he had an answer. It would turn out to be Franco's lucky day. The Spanish ambassador had come asking for arms and ammunition. He left with two heavily armed divisions.
The agreement
Who owns what in Spain? (This picture should have been in diplomatic mode. Sorry readers.)
The press in the US was livid when pictures of what appeared to be CSA troops began being leaked out of Spain. The CSA denied any official military involvement, but did admit that it was "engaged in an extensive humanitarian effort to help out the displaced victims of this tragic conflict."
Meanwhile, CSA military high command was busy processing realtime information sent back from Patton and Maximillian (leaders of the CSA troops in Spain) and busy analyzing the successes and failures of the operations in Mexico. One apparent and glaring failure was Patton's supply situation in western Mexico. Supply problems had hampered his effectiveness from the beginning of operations. It was only because of his hard-nosed style and relentless driving of the men under his command that he was able to accomplish what he had. But NBF3 had also orchestrated some successes as well. His agressive campaigned had been executed quite well by his men, and his opinion that speed was tantamount was being proven correct. Also under anlayses was the success that Sanguily had using his cavalry to cut off retreating enemy troops. Why fight the enemy twice if you don't have to? Breidster's thoroughness often had him fighting the same enemy time after time. But by far, the most important lesson learned was that by coordinating ground and air efforts, victory against overwhelming odds could be achieved. After action reports revealed that only in a few battles were the CSA troops actually numerically superior to their enemies. But close air support had allowed the organization of the enemy troops to be disrupted to the point that numbers became more of a hinderance than a help. The use of aircraft to destorying retreating enemy troops was also valuable. The fledgling CSA air force would prove these tactics again in the SCW.
Meanwhile, the Featherston's "4 year plan" was going according to schedule. New factories were coming online daily and with his plans for military build up having to be put on hold, he poured all of this additional capacity into building even more. The supply problems in the MCW had convinced him that the industry of Chihuahua and Sonora could no longer be overlooked. For far to long, everyone in "CSA Proper" had regarded these two territories as vast expanses of desert that were only part of the CSA to allow for a Pacific port. But the military had convinced Featherstone otherwise. The industrialization of California and the backwardness of his country convinced him of the necessity of developing the industrial and infrastructure base of these western states.
The CSA government also continued to invest heavily in its research and development efforts of both military and non-military ventures. Improved Machine Tools were perfected in the summer of '36, and shortly thereafter the CSA's spy program paid benefits by securing the schematics for an improved air transport plane. In response to the supply problems in the MCW, General Motors worked out a new and efficient way to provide logistical support and repairs. The CCC developed a sleaker and faster single pilot airplane that was designed specifically to out maneuver larger aircraft. Shortly after this, the Langley Reserach Facility would announce that it had made a new crop duster that would make the "dive dusting" technique 500% more efficient. While the CSA maintained the strictness military non-intervention policy in regards to the SCW, the Austo-Hungarian newspaper The Daily Austrian noted with no small amount of skepticism that soon after these technological announcements were made, that planes looking, in their words, "remarkably similar" to these were being flown against the Republican forces in Spain. Soon after that article was published and distributed through the Entente-aligned world, that the Richmond Register started a three-article series on the need to prevent other countries from maliciously modifying CSA civilian aircraft designs for military uses.
Success of Operation Cowboy
The year of 1936 ended with the CSA furiously building industry, working to expand its fledgling spy network, and feverishly working on developing new and improved military technology. It also found CSA diplomats hard at work trying to hammer out in secret the terms for a new alliance with Great Britain and France. All sides seemed to believe that this would be necessary for revenge, but the exact details were yet to be ironed out. The year was not without setbacks for the CSA, as it found out that the US was in tune to its spying efforts. It also showed Featherston that the US was not yet willing to let the CSA start violating treaty obligations. This bother Featherston more than the spy leak, as it would force him to put off his planes for full scale resumption of military build-up. The USA was forcing him to waste precious time. And time was not on his side.
The CSA at the beginning of 1937
Next Update: Operation Cowboy
Soon after the start of the Spanish Civil War, the CSA government welcomed the de facto ambassador from the Nationalist side. This welcoming proclaimed the CSA's recognition of the legitamacy of Franco's government, and shortly thereafter the CSA issued a formal stating saying it regarded "Republican" Spain, as it was known in the press, as being in a state of rebellion against the true government in Spain. But the Spanish ambassador was after more than a formal state recognition. They Nationalists needed help. Britain and France had already declared for Nationalist Spain and sent supplies and volunteers, but Germany had done the same for the "Republicans". Although the German Empire had no great love for communists, it came to recognize, under no small amount of US pressure, that having too many nationalistic governments around the world would be a bad thing for the US-German hegemony that had dominated world affairs since the end of the Great War. It sent the "Republicans" vast amounts of military aid, which the "Republicans" greatly needed. It soon became apparent that the two sides in the SCW had very opposite problems. The communists seemed to have an abundance of troops willing to fight, but they were drastically short of arms and material. The nationalists had an abundance of military goods (thanks in large part to France and Britains continual support through the land border with France) but only a small, albeit well trained, army.
It was because of this that Jake Featherston realized he could kill two birds with one stone. After the burning of Durango, tensions between the Mexican citizens (not necessarily the government, as they were greatful to not be hanging from a lamp post in Mexico City) and the remaining CSA soldiers were running dangerously high. Not even a week after the crushing of the armed resistance, the Mexican government began pleading for Featherstone to withdraw his troops from their country. Featherstone knew he couldn't bring the divisions home without provoking a war with the US. But now he had an answer. It would turn out to be Franco's lucky day. The Spanish ambassador had come asking for arms and ammunition. He left with two heavily armed divisions.
The agreement
Who owns what in Spain? (This picture should have been in diplomatic mode. Sorry readers.)
The press in the US was livid when pictures of what appeared to be CSA troops began being leaked out of Spain. The CSA denied any official military involvement, but did admit that it was "engaged in an extensive humanitarian effort to help out the displaced victims of this tragic conflict."
Meanwhile, CSA military high command was busy processing realtime information sent back from Patton and Maximillian (leaders of the CSA troops in Spain) and busy analyzing the successes and failures of the operations in Mexico. One apparent and glaring failure was Patton's supply situation in western Mexico. Supply problems had hampered his effectiveness from the beginning of operations. It was only because of his hard-nosed style and relentless driving of the men under his command that he was able to accomplish what he had. But NBF3 had also orchestrated some successes as well. His agressive campaigned had been executed quite well by his men, and his opinion that speed was tantamount was being proven correct. Also under anlayses was the success that Sanguily had using his cavalry to cut off retreating enemy troops. Why fight the enemy twice if you don't have to? Breidster's thoroughness often had him fighting the same enemy time after time. But by far, the most important lesson learned was that by coordinating ground and air efforts, victory against overwhelming odds could be achieved. After action reports revealed that only in a few battles were the CSA troops actually numerically superior to their enemies. But close air support had allowed the organization of the enemy troops to be disrupted to the point that numbers became more of a hinderance than a help. The use of aircraft to destorying retreating enemy troops was also valuable. The fledgling CSA air force would prove these tactics again in the SCW.
Meanwhile, the Featherston's "4 year plan" was going according to schedule. New factories were coming online daily and with his plans for military build up having to be put on hold, he poured all of this additional capacity into building even more. The supply problems in the MCW had convinced him that the industry of Chihuahua and Sonora could no longer be overlooked. For far to long, everyone in "CSA Proper" had regarded these two territories as vast expanses of desert that were only part of the CSA to allow for a Pacific port. But the military had convinced Featherstone otherwise. The industrialization of California and the backwardness of his country convinced him of the necessity of developing the industrial and infrastructure base of these western states.
The CSA government also continued to invest heavily in its research and development efforts of both military and non-military ventures. Improved Machine Tools were perfected in the summer of '36, and shortly thereafter the CSA's spy program paid benefits by securing the schematics for an improved air transport plane. In response to the supply problems in the MCW, General Motors worked out a new and efficient way to provide logistical support and repairs. The CCC developed a sleaker and faster single pilot airplane that was designed specifically to out maneuver larger aircraft. Shortly after this, the Langley Reserach Facility would announce that it had made a new crop duster that would make the "dive dusting" technique 500% more efficient. While the CSA maintained the strictness military non-intervention policy in regards to the SCW, the Austo-Hungarian newspaper The Daily Austrian noted with no small amount of skepticism that soon after these technological announcements were made, that planes looking, in their words, "remarkably similar" to these were being flown against the Republican forces in Spain. Soon after that article was published and distributed through the Entente-aligned world, that the Richmond Register started a three-article series on the need to prevent other countries from maliciously modifying CSA civilian aircraft designs for military uses.
Success of Operation Cowboy
The year of 1936 ended with the CSA furiously building industry, working to expand its fledgling spy network, and feverishly working on developing new and improved military technology. It also found CSA diplomats hard at work trying to hammer out in secret the terms for a new alliance with Great Britain and France. All sides seemed to believe that this would be necessary for revenge, but the exact details were yet to be ironed out. The year was not without setbacks for the CSA, as it found out that the US was in tune to its spying efforts. It also showed Featherston that the US was not yet willing to let the CSA start violating treaty obligations. This bother Featherston more than the spy leak, as it would force him to put off his planes for full scale resumption of military build-up. The USA was forcing him to waste precious time. And time was not on his side.
The CSA at the beginning of 1937
Next Update: Operation Cowboy
Last edited:
HMS Enterprize said:You are doing wonders for my PR!
I am hoping to get enough people playing to do a multiplayer game. So its shamelessly selfish PR.
The 'cover' cannot hold very much longer, I think. Oh, the appearances might continue to a while, but the extent now that this confidence trick will work is now entirely dependent on how blind the USA et al want to be.
stnylan said:
The USA is shall we say, very...'self-absorbed' in this timeline...the memory of WW1 has never really gone away.
The large majority of the US population in this timeline is very isolationist, and it would take probably nothing short of CSA troops marching over the Ohio to awaken them. As I have noted in the stories, the socialist congress members and the socialist media in the North are the ones leading the charge against JF right now. But as you can see they aren't getting much traction. Even after the exposition of CSA troops in both Mexico and Spain, the congress merely voted to increase their standing army by two divisions. Germany and Austro-Hungary are also lethargic. As HMS pointed out, the memory of the Great War still lingers in their minds, and they are willing to do most anything to avert widespread warfare from happening again. But as we shall see, Britain, France, and the CSA are not about to let the humilitation suffered by the Great War loss to go unavenged. The real question is just how prepared with the Central Powers be when the time comes.
That was basically my impression - the only reason the CSA can continue now as they are is because there are none so blind as those that won't see.
Operation Cowboy
Clarence Potter, head of the Confederate Intelligence Agency (CIA), paced anxiously around his office. Word had trickled in from his field agents in the North that a CSA expatriate working for Boeing was willing to sneak out a new aircraft design and deliver it to the CSA government. After the Asset was thoroughly checked out and everything seemed to be legit, Potter began to assemble together a team and plan to retrieve these documents. Tonight was the night that the trade-off would be executed. Potter was understandably nervous. This was his agency's first big test, and everyone was watching to see if this new agency that the president had poured millions of Cofederate dollars into would, in fact, prove useful. To say that the agency, and Potter, had a few doubters was an understatement. It seemed that even Jake Featherston was skeptical that Potter could make this happen. The Confederacy had had spies in the North since the South first broke away, but this was the first time that full-scale espionage missions were being carried out. But Potter was confident. He had hand picked this team, and the plan was as perfect as any plan could be that involved undercover agents operating inside enemy territory.
A week ago, Potter had brought his team together to go over the plan and officially launch the operation. It was to be code named Operation Cowboy. The main field agent was to be a young man who had joined the agency soon after it was founded. Sam Dunn was a tall, lanky kid from Virginia. He played basketball in college and joined the Army when he graduated. His mountain country accent could pass perfectly for either Kentucky or Western Virginia, making him a good candidate to train for undercover work in the North. His unassuming demanor and overall friendliness made him perfect for undercover work. In short, he was forgettable. He was the type of person that you don't remember after meeting them, an excellent quality for a spy. Sam was to go in under the code name "Jesse James". Once inside the North, he would make his way to Chicago, where he would meet up with three CSA operatives; Deputy Tom, Deputy Dick, and Deputy Harry, who would provide him with the details of the hand-off and provide security. The asset from Boeing was code named "Farmer John" and the papers were to be referred to as the "Damsel in Distress". Potter took the code name "Marshall Dillon", and the CSA headquarters was "The Ranch". On the night of the hand-off, after meeting up with "Farmer John", he was to then rendevous with "The Old Field Hand" who would take him out of Chicago and to Washington D.C., where the local spy network, the "Sheriff Department" would get back over the Potomac and into CSA territory. It all seemed easy enough.
But the North's spy agency wasn't asleep at the wheel either. They had an inkling that something was going down, but Potter was unsure of what or how much they knew. It seemed there would only be one way to find out. Potter could only hold his breath that the "Noble Savage" did not make an appearance tonight. But, ever the sly one, Potter had constructed this plan in such a way that if the North was able to figure the plot out, then events would unfold that would enable the double cross to be detected and for "Jesse" to make it out safely.
Hotel Ritz - Chicago:
Sam, or Jesse, as he was known waited patiently at the bar in the upscale Hotel Ritz in downtown Chicago. He knew he had been clock watching all night, but he tried to take yet another discrete look at his watch.
9:45 PM. Almost time he thought.
About ten minutes later, a man wearing a black pin striped suit with pink pinstripes strolled up to the bar next to him and asked for a Scotch on the Rocks. Jesse stole a quick look at him. The man carried a newspaper in his right hand. Jesse did a quick take around the bar. Nobody seemed out of the ordinary. He then left the bar and joined the man with the pinstripe suit at a table.
"The corn is tall this time of the year", Jesse said.
"Yes, but the rain is ruining my crops", replied the man in the pinstriped suit.
"So far so good", thought Jesse. The clothes checked out, the drink checked out, the newspaper in the right hand checked out, and the sign/counter sign exchanged checked out. It's show time.
Jesse used his foot to gently push his briefcase over to the assets side of the table.
"Hopefully that will help you salvage your corn."
The man in the suit slid the newspaper across the table to Jesse. "I think you will like the wheat report in Section B."
Sam stole a quick glance inside the newspaper. "Yes,I like it very much indeed. Well thankyou Farmer John, I hope next years harvest is as good as this years."
The man stood up. "Hopefully, but with these things you never know." And with that, the man turned and hurried out of the hotel.
Sam leisurely finished his glass of club soda, carefully tucked the newspaper under his arm, got up, through a couple of American dollars on the table as a tip, and calmly walked out of the Hotel. He then proceeded to go south on 5th street. After walking a few blocks, Sam began to feel the presence of someone behind him. His stomach knotted. Sam began a quick mental check of his situation, he remembered the .45 tucked in his belt behind him, and the knife hidden just up his left sleeve. Suddenly, the apparition behind him spoke.
"Hello, Jesse. I am The Old Field Hand you have been waiting on."
Sam turned to find a 40ish white man, wearing a long overcoat and waterproof boots. Sma smiled. "Yes, this is all going according to plan", he thought.
"Follow me", said the man in the trenchcoat and took off on a side street. Sam immediately followed the man. The man quickly mad a left turn and then a right, leading down a dark alley way. The man stopped about halfway into the alley, just infront of a fire escape ladder on the side of the building, and turned around. Almost reflexively, Sam unsheathed the knife from its holder and drove it hard up under the man's chin, the tip of the knife coming to rest just outside of the man's skull. Blood ran out of the man's mouth, as he crumpled silently to the ground.
Sam then shed his own overcoat and used a rag to wipe the blood off of his hands. He laid them both ontop of the man's body and pushed it over against the building. With any lucky, any passerbyers would think it was just a passed out drunk, and keep walking. Sam then backtracked to 5th street and kept going south to the train station.
Once at the train station, he walked up the counter and purchased his ticket. One way to D.C. The teller told him the train was just starting to board and would be leaving in approximately 10 minutes. "Good", Sam thought, "just enough time to send the telegram." Sam walked to the telegraph operators booth and paid him $5 to send a telegram to Richmond. He then walked over to the train to board. The trainman checked his ticket, and cleared him to board. Sam was about to top the final step on the steps when something painted on the train caught his eye. He smiled as he launched himself over the last step. He had to hand it to his boss. "Potter", he thought, "you are one clever son of a bitch."
Once on board the train, Sam sat himself in the dining car. He was starving, and the meal would make the train ride go faster. "Hell", he thought, "maybe I can even get me some sleep." The bus boy came over to take his order.
"Welcome to The Old Field Hand, Mister, Union Pacific's newest non-stop train servicing Chicago to D.C. What would you like to eat?"
Sam smiled again. "I will have a steak sandwich and some homestyle French Fries. And for drink, give me a Martini. Shaken, not stirred."
Meanwhile...back at The Ranch:
Potter was still pacing when the knock came at the door. His assistant opened it and in burst a runner from the telegraph's office. Potter dismissed the runner and opened the Telegraph.
Marshall Dillion,
I have met up with Farmer John and rescued the Damsel in Distress. The Noble Savage has been civilized.
Jesse James
Potter breathed a huge sigh of relief and the room erupted with applause. Operation Cowboy was a success. They had the plans!
Clarence Potter, head of the Confederate Intelligence Agency (CIA), paced anxiously around his office. Word had trickled in from his field agents in the North that a CSA expatriate working for Boeing was willing to sneak out a new aircraft design and deliver it to the CSA government. After the Asset was thoroughly checked out and everything seemed to be legit, Potter began to assemble together a team and plan to retrieve these documents. Tonight was the night that the trade-off would be executed. Potter was understandably nervous. This was his agency's first big test, and everyone was watching to see if this new agency that the president had poured millions of Cofederate dollars into would, in fact, prove useful. To say that the agency, and Potter, had a few doubters was an understatement. It seemed that even Jake Featherston was skeptical that Potter could make this happen. The Confederacy had had spies in the North since the South first broke away, but this was the first time that full-scale espionage missions were being carried out. But Potter was confident. He had hand picked this team, and the plan was as perfect as any plan could be that involved undercover agents operating inside enemy territory.
A week ago, Potter had brought his team together to go over the plan and officially launch the operation. It was to be code named Operation Cowboy. The main field agent was to be a young man who had joined the agency soon after it was founded. Sam Dunn was a tall, lanky kid from Virginia. He played basketball in college and joined the Army when he graduated. His mountain country accent could pass perfectly for either Kentucky or Western Virginia, making him a good candidate to train for undercover work in the North. His unassuming demanor and overall friendliness made him perfect for undercover work. In short, he was forgettable. He was the type of person that you don't remember after meeting them, an excellent quality for a spy. Sam was to go in under the code name "Jesse James". Once inside the North, he would make his way to Chicago, where he would meet up with three CSA operatives; Deputy Tom, Deputy Dick, and Deputy Harry, who would provide him with the details of the hand-off and provide security. The asset from Boeing was code named "Farmer John" and the papers were to be referred to as the "Damsel in Distress". Potter took the code name "Marshall Dillon", and the CSA headquarters was "The Ranch". On the night of the hand-off, after meeting up with "Farmer John", he was to then rendevous with "The Old Field Hand" who would take him out of Chicago and to Washington D.C., where the local spy network, the "Sheriff Department" would get back over the Potomac and into CSA territory. It all seemed easy enough.
But the North's spy agency wasn't asleep at the wheel either. They had an inkling that something was going down, but Potter was unsure of what or how much they knew. It seemed there would only be one way to find out. Potter could only hold his breath that the "Noble Savage" did not make an appearance tonight. But, ever the sly one, Potter had constructed this plan in such a way that if the North was able to figure the plot out, then events would unfold that would enable the double cross to be detected and for "Jesse" to make it out safely.
Hotel Ritz - Chicago:
Sam, or Jesse, as he was known waited patiently at the bar in the upscale Hotel Ritz in downtown Chicago. He knew he had been clock watching all night, but he tried to take yet another discrete look at his watch.
9:45 PM. Almost time he thought.
About ten minutes later, a man wearing a black pin striped suit with pink pinstripes strolled up to the bar next to him and asked for a Scotch on the Rocks. Jesse stole a quick look at him. The man carried a newspaper in his right hand. Jesse did a quick take around the bar. Nobody seemed out of the ordinary. He then left the bar and joined the man with the pinstripe suit at a table.
"The corn is tall this time of the year", Jesse said.
"Yes, but the rain is ruining my crops", replied the man in the pinstriped suit.
"So far so good", thought Jesse. The clothes checked out, the drink checked out, the newspaper in the right hand checked out, and the sign/counter sign exchanged checked out. It's show time.
Jesse used his foot to gently push his briefcase over to the assets side of the table.
"Hopefully that will help you salvage your corn."
The man in the suit slid the newspaper across the table to Jesse. "I think you will like the wheat report in Section B."
Sam stole a quick glance inside the newspaper. "Yes,I like it very much indeed. Well thankyou Farmer John, I hope next years harvest is as good as this years."
The man stood up. "Hopefully, but with these things you never know." And with that, the man turned and hurried out of the hotel.
Sam leisurely finished his glass of club soda, carefully tucked the newspaper under his arm, got up, through a couple of American dollars on the table as a tip, and calmly walked out of the Hotel. He then proceeded to go south on 5th street. After walking a few blocks, Sam began to feel the presence of someone behind him. His stomach knotted. Sam began a quick mental check of his situation, he remembered the .45 tucked in his belt behind him, and the knife hidden just up his left sleeve. Suddenly, the apparition behind him spoke.
"Hello, Jesse. I am The Old Field Hand you have been waiting on."
Sam turned to find a 40ish white man, wearing a long overcoat and waterproof boots. Sma smiled. "Yes, this is all going according to plan", he thought.
"Follow me", said the man in the trenchcoat and took off on a side street. Sam immediately followed the man. The man quickly mad a left turn and then a right, leading down a dark alley way. The man stopped about halfway into the alley, just infront of a fire escape ladder on the side of the building, and turned around. Almost reflexively, Sam unsheathed the knife from its holder and drove it hard up under the man's chin, the tip of the knife coming to rest just outside of the man's skull. Blood ran out of the man's mouth, as he crumpled silently to the ground.
Sam then shed his own overcoat and used a rag to wipe the blood off of his hands. He laid them both ontop of the man's body and pushed it over against the building. With any lucky, any passerbyers would think it was just a passed out drunk, and keep walking. Sam then backtracked to 5th street and kept going south to the train station.
Once at the train station, he walked up the counter and purchased his ticket. One way to D.C. The teller told him the train was just starting to board and would be leaving in approximately 10 minutes. "Good", Sam thought, "just enough time to send the telegram." Sam walked to the telegraph operators booth and paid him $5 to send a telegram to Richmond. He then walked over to the train to board. The trainman checked his ticket, and cleared him to board. Sam was about to top the final step on the steps when something painted on the train caught his eye. He smiled as he launched himself over the last step. He had to hand it to his boss. "Potter", he thought, "you are one clever son of a bitch."
Once on board the train, Sam sat himself in the dining car. He was starving, and the meal would make the train ride go faster. "Hell", he thought, "maybe I can even get me some sleep." The bus boy came over to take his order.
"Welcome to The Old Field Hand, Mister, Union Pacific's newest non-stop train servicing Chicago to D.C. What would you like to eat?"
Sam smiled again. "I will have a steak sandwich and some homestyle French Fries. And for drink, give me a Martini. Shaken, not stirred."
Meanwhile...back at The Ranch:
Potter was still pacing when the knock came at the door. His assistant opened it and in burst a runner from the telegraph's office. Potter dismissed the runner and opened the Telegraph.
Marshall Dillion,
I have met up with Farmer John and rescued the Damsel in Distress. The Noble Savage has been civilized.
Jesse James
Potter breathed a huge sigh of relief and the room erupted with applause. Operation Cowboy was a success. They had the plans!
Chapter 8: Anybody got a light? I have a treaty to burn!
At the beginning of 1937, the CSA was knee deep in a full blown industrialization program. Mid-January saw a slew of new factories come online and many more undertake further expansion efforts. But what worried Jake Featherston the most was the paltry amount of men of military service age. NBF3 estimated that there were only about 250,000 men able to be induced into the military in the event that they were needed. By contrast, the CIA estimates that the US has more than triple that at its disposal. Given that this situation was could only get worse as time went on, the CSA began to prepare its battle plan for the imminent war with the US with this overshadowing fact in mind. It was readily apparent that not only would the CSA need to win the upcoming war quickly, but it would have to have a military force that was on the cutting edge of technology and tactics.
Fortunately, this was one area that Featherston felt confident that he could have the advantage. The CSA was expanding its factory base to allow for the mass production of tanks (I know they are called barrels in the book, but here I will depart from standard Settling Accounts nomenclature) and aircraft. The grants from the government were helping to steer private companies towards developing new weapons of warfare. Part of these funds included the purchasing of new technology for early combat testing in Spain. This was one area that was a boon to the CSA. The precious few divisions that he did at his disposal were slowly being rotated in and out of Spain, so that all of the CSA divisions could gain valuable battlefield experience. It also provided a fertile ground for the further refinement of new tactics and doctrines. Many old army and airforce doctrines were being abandoned or refined and new ones were being developed.
But time was the real enemy to the CSA. It had to start building up its military forces or there would never be enough time to fully prepare for the upcoming war with the US. The question that plagued the CSA government was how to violate the treaty, without violating the treaty? In the end, Featherston knew it would be impossible. But tensions had eased by March of '37 to the point that the CSA military thought it could start rearming itself, albeit in baby steps. Again, as before, the CSA began a full court press in the diplomatic circles, to prep that nations for the eventual US response. But on the 7th of March, the CSA committed its first flagrant violation of the Great War treaty by ordering the construction of AA batteries around the country.
It has begun:
In the end, it was a clever move by the CSA. AA batteries could in no way be interpreted as an offensive weapon. They posed no threat to any nation, unless that nation was attacking the Confederate States. The US, as expected, lodged a protest and this time Germany and Austro-Hungary backed the US in the international scene, but Britain and France, as well as many neutral unaligned nations felt that a nation trying to protect itself, especially after the war on its southern border, could not be condemned for building defensive weapons. The US populace, struggling to pull itself out of the deep depression, was less than concerned about what its southern neighbor was doing. There were simply too many people that were to worried about whether or not they would go bankrupt to worry about whether or not the Rebs were building stationary artillery pieces. The socialists and their media lapdogs tried to stir up public sentiment, but it was a losing proposition. Even in congress there were just too many people that remembered the awful bloodshed of the Great War all too clearly. To them, and a great many people in the US, anything short of the CSA invading their country was not worth starting another war over.
This was the CSA's first major accomplishment in its quest to rearm, and it was, by far, the most important. It became clear to the leading CSA officials that it just might be possible to build up its military without sparking a premature war. It just needed to be handled discretely.
In May, the CIA scored its second big victory in its war for continual funding. It managed to sneak out of Germany blueprints and schematics for something called a Nuclear Reactor. The treasure from Operation Chernobyl was not something that as immediately deemed useful, but many of the leading physicists in the CSA took an acute interest in it. If nothing else, it shored up domestic support for the continuance of Potter's spy program.
Operation Chernobyl:
Meanwhile, overseas the SCW continued to drag on, costing countless Spanish lives and displacing millions of innocent civilians. There was hope, however, as it seemed that the Nationalists had finally gained an upper hand in the conflict, no small thanks to the tireless and purely benevolent efforts of the CSA military. The Nationalists had managed to push the communist forces back into the north-east corner of Spain. Unfortunately, this was some of the worst country to wage battle in, so the war ground on.
SCW - May '37
Soon after this graphic was created, the province of Oveido fell to the Nationalists. Now, since the communists lacked control of an Atlantic port, it was next to impossible for the American aid to get to Republican Spain. The British, controlling Gibraltar, refused to let ships carrying military supplies through to Spain. The British government issued a statement saying that "it could not allow any goods passage through the strait that would just serve to prolong the conflict and increase the suffering of an already war ravage peoples." Now the only supplies coming to the Republicans were those that managed to slip through the blockades that the Nationalists had setup blocking Spain's eastern ports. It was only a matter of time. The CSA began slowly drawing down its "humanitarian relief efforts" in Spain.
In June, the CIA scored its thrid major victory in less than a year, when it successfully pulled off Operation Big Guns. This provided some valuable insites into the state of the Japanese military. It also sent the CIA's internal prestige to all-time highs and ensured Potter's efforts many years of generous funding. Potter knew how lucky they had been to have three major successes within the year, but it would take the CSA nearly four more years to realize the full potential of the spy networks that Potter had been strenuously cultivating.
Operation Big Guns:
The next big ripple on the international scene in 1937 came at the beginning of July. It seemed that the already heightened tensions between Japan and China finally boiled over when a couple of Japanese soldiers were killed in a border incident. The reaction from Japan was as immediate as it was severe.
Now they've gone and done it...
Japan had never been truly beaten in the Great War. The American's and British had signed a truce with the Japanese to end hostilities, rather than face many years of bloody naval and island campaigns. But since they had not been beaten, Japan had its army and more important its navy come through intact and had avoided the harsh punishments imposed upon the Entente powers. Japan's immediate imperial expansions had been stopped, and Japan was content to lay low for awhile, giving it time to consolidate its Great War gains. But the US knew this would not last forever, and many in the US feared that Japan threatened its Pacific interests. Japan, not the CSA, was seen as the biggest threat to the security of the US. It was this in mind that the US offered assistance to the Chinese. However, China was still bitter over the treaty between the US and Japan, which effectively marked China as a country in the Japanese sphere of influence. This betrayal was not forgotten by the Chinese, and would complicate Chinese-American relations for many years to come.
You only love us when its convenient for you:
Japan held the initiative in the China-Japanese war from the beginning and never let go. Chinese forces were sent reeling out of northern China, and in a desperate attempt to get back on its feet, China offered to make peace with all of the warring factions, if they would join the fight against the Japanese aggressors. The warlords agreed to this proposal, all with the secret anticipation that once the Japanese were defeated they could resume their infighting for control of the Chinese mainland.
The CSA, meanwhile, had turned its attention to its navy. Many in the Department of the Navy felt that the widespread submarine tactics of the last war were a complete failure. While not everyone shared this opinion, this anti-submarine camp had the support of one of only two people who's opinion realy mattered and that was Secretary of Navy, Edward Borne. Under his guidance, the navy began to move away from its policy of making submarine warfare the major naval focus, to one that more closely mirrored the English and French doctrine of naval fighting. While none of the CSA's naval leaders were particularly skilled in this new approach, the CSA began an exchange program with both Britain and France, whereby its naval leaders could be sent to these countries for tuturship in the newly implemented Fleet-in-Being doctrine.
The end of the year saw the CSA finishing its second round of industrial expansion, and the success of yet another spy mission against the US. Operation OPEC had managed to steal blue prints for a new and modern oil refinery. Featherston was a believer in the CIA, but he always wondered where Potter came up with the names for these spy missions. What the hell does OPEC mean? Oh well. Featherston had bigger fish to fry. With the successful construction and deployement of AA defenses and with the second round of factory expansion complete, Jake knew it was time to move into phase three. He met with the board of the CCC and they agreed to start manufacturing large quantities of crop dusters that were specially designed to hold weapons, with only minor modifications necessary. These planes had served well in the SCW as ground support aircraft, and Featherston was gambling that he could manufacture several thousands of these without causing a flabble.
The Confederate Air Force is Reborn:
The beginning of the year had seen the CSA in a state of worry. But by the end of it, Featherston had managed to get his country back on track for a crash course with the US. He had manage to build air defenses against the inevitable Yankee air raids in the upcoming war and managed to start building his airforce all without provoking the ire of the US. It seemed his diplomats were on the verge of being able to hammer out an alliance with Britain and France, and he had seen success with his army in Spain. Yes, he thought, we just MIGHT be able to pull this off.
Next Update: Burn Baby Burn!
At the beginning of 1937, the CSA was knee deep in a full blown industrialization program. Mid-January saw a slew of new factories come online and many more undertake further expansion efforts. But what worried Jake Featherston the most was the paltry amount of men of military service age. NBF3 estimated that there were only about 250,000 men able to be induced into the military in the event that they were needed. By contrast, the CIA estimates that the US has more than triple that at its disposal. Given that this situation was could only get worse as time went on, the CSA began to prepare its battle plan for the imminent war with the US with this overshadowing fact in mind. It was readily apparent that not only would the CSA need to win the upcoming war quickly, but it would have to have a military force that was on the cutting edge of technology and tactics.
Fortunately, this was one area that Featherston felt confident that he could have the advantage. The CSA was expanding its factory base to allow for the mass production of tanks (I know they are called barrels in the book, but here I will depart from standard Settling Accounts nomenclature) and aircraft. The grants from the government were helping to steer private companies towards developing new weapons of warfare. Part of these funds included the purchasing of new technology for early combat testing in Spain. This was one area that was a boon to the CSA. The precious few divisions that he did at his disposal were slowly being rotated in and out of Spain, so that all of the CSA divisions could gain valuable battlefield experience. It also provided a fertile ground for the further refinement of new tactics and doctrines. Many old army and airforce doctrines were being abandoned or refined and new ones were being developed.
But time was the real enemy to the CSA. It had to start building up its military forces or there would never be enough time to fully prepare for the upcoming war with the US. The question that plagued the CSA government was how to violate the treaty, without violating the treaty? In the end, Featherston knew it would be impossible. But tensions had eased by March of '37 to the point that the CSA military thought it could start rearming itself, albeit in baby steps. Again, as before, the CSA began a full court press in the diplomatic circles, to prep that nations for the eventual US response. But on the 7th of March, the CSA committed its first flagrant violation of the Great War treaty by ordering the construction of AA batteries around the country.
It has begun:
In the end, it was a clever move by the CSA. AA batteries could in no way be interpreted as an offensive weapon. They posed no threat to any nation, unless that nation was attacking the Confederate States. The US, as expected, lodged a protest and this time Germany and Austro-Hungary backed the US in the international scene, but Britain and France, as well as many neutral unaligned nations felt that a nation trying to protect itself, especially after the war on its southern border, could not be condemned for building defensive weapons. The US populace, struggling to pull itself out of the deep depression, was less than concerned about what its southern neighbor was doing. There were simply too many people that were to worried about whether or not they would go bankrupt to worry about whether or not the Rebs were building stationary artillery pieces. The socialists and their media lapdogs tried to stir up public sentiment, but it was a losing proposition. Even in congress there were just too many people that remembered the awful bloodshed of the Great War all too clearly. To them, and a great many people in the US, anything short of the CSA invading their country was not worth starting another war over.
This was the CSA's first major accomplishment in its quest to rearm, and it was, by far, the most important. It became clear to the leading CSA officials that it just might be possible to build up its military without sparking a premature war. It just needed to be handled discretely.
In May, the CIA scored its second big victory in its war for continual funding. It managed to sneak out of Germany blueprints and schematics for something called a Nuclear Reactor. The treasure from Operation Chernobyl was not something that as immediately deemed useful, but many of the leading physicists in the CSA took an acute interest in it. If nothing else, it shored up domestic support for the continuance of Potter's spy program.
Operation Chernobyl:
Meanwhile, overseas the SCW continued to drag on, costing countless Spanish lives and displacing millions of innocent civilians. There was hope, however, as it seemed that the Nationalists had finally gained an upper hand in the conflict, no small thanks to the tireless and purely benevolent efforts of the CSA military. The Nationalists had managed to push the communist forces back into the north-east corner of Spain. Unfortunately, this was some of the worst country to wage battle in, so the war ground on.
SCW - May '37
Soon after this graphic was created, the province of Oveido fell to the Nationalists. Now, since the communists lacked control of an Atlantic port, it was next to impossible for the American aid to get to Republican Spain. The British, controlling Gibraltar, refused to let ships carrying military supplies through to Spain. The British government issued a statement saying that "it could not allow any goods passage through the strait that would just serve to prolong the conflict and increase the suffering of an already war ravage peoples." Now the only supplies coming to the Republicans were those that managed to slip through the blockades that the Nationalists had setup blocking Spain's eastern ports. It was only a matter of time. The CSA began slowly drawing down its "humanitarian relief efforts" in Spain.
In June, the CIA scored its thrid major victory in less than a year, when it successfully pulled off Operation Big Guns. This provided some valuable insites into the state of the Japanese military. It also sent the CIA's internal prestige to all-time highs and ensured Potter's efforts many years of generous funding. Potter knew how lucky they had been to have three major successes within the year, but it would take the CSA nearly four more years to realize the full potential of the spy networks that Potter had been strenuously cultivating.
Operation Big Guns:
The next big ripple on the international scene in 1937 came at the beginning of July. It seemed that the already heightened tensions between Japan and China finally boiled over when a couple of Japanese soldiers were killed in a border incident. The reaction from Japan was as immediate as it was severe.
Now they've gone and done it...
Japan had never been truly beaten in the Great War. The American's and British had signed a truce with the Japanese to end hostilities, rather than face many years of bloody naval and island campaigns. But since they had not been beaten, Japan had its army and more important its navy come through intact and had avoided the harsh punishments imposed upon the Entente powers. Japan's immediate imperial expansions had been stopped, and Japan was content to lay low for awhile, giving it time to consolidate its Great War gains. But the US knew this would not last forever, and many in the US feared that Japan threatened its Pacific interests. Japan, not the CSA, was seen as the biggest threat to the security of the US. It was this in mind that the US offered assistance to the Chinese. However, China was still bitter over the treaty between the US and Japan, which effectively marked China as a country in the Japanese sphere of influence. This betrayal was not forgotten by the Chinese, and would complicate Chinese-American relations for many years to come.
You only love us when its convenient for you:
Japan held the initiative in the China-Japanese war from the beginning and never let go. Chinese forces were sent reeling out of northern China, and in a desperate attempt to get back on its feet, China offered to make peace with all of the warring factions, if they would join the fight against the Japanese aggressors. The warlords agreed to this proposal, all with the secret anticipation that once the Japanese were defeated they could resume their infighting for control of the Chinese mainland.
The CSA, meanwhile, had turned its attention to its navy. Many in the Department of the Navy felt that the widespread submarine tactics of the last war were a complete failure. While not everyone shared this opinion, this anti-submarine camp had the support of one of only two people who's opinion realy mattered and that was Secretary of Navy, Edward Borne. Under his guidance, the navy began to move away from its policy of making submarine warfare the major naval focus, to one that more closely mirrored the English and French doctrine of naval fighting. While none of the CSA's naval leaders were particularly skilled in this new approach, the CSA began an exchange program with both Britain and France, whereby its naval leaders could be sent to these countries for tuturship in the newly implemented Fleet-in-Being doctrine.
The end of the year saw the CSA finishing its second round of industrial expansion, and the success of yet another spy mission against the US. Operation OPEC had managed to steal blue prints for a new and modern oil refinery. Featherston was a believer in the CIA, but he always wondered where Potter came up with the names for these spy missions. What the hell does OPEC mean? Oh well. Featherston had bigger fish to fry. With the successful construction and deployement of AA defenses and with the second round of factory expansion complete, Jake knew it was time to move into phase three. He met with the board of the CCC and they agreed to start manufacturing large quantities of crop dusters that were specially designed to hold weapons, with only minor modifications necessary. These planes had served well in the SCW as ground support aircraft, and Featherston was gambling that he could manufacture several thousands of these without causing a flabble.
The Confederate Air Force is Reborn:
The beginning of the year had seen the CSA in a state of worry. But by the end of it, Featherston had managed to get his country back on track for a crash course with the US. He had manage to build air defenses against the inevitable Yankee air raids in the upcoming war and managed to start building his airforce all without provoking the ire of the US. It seemed his diplomats were on the verge of being able to hammer out an alliance with Britain and France, and he had seen success with his army in Spain. Yes, he thought, we just MIGHT be able to pull this off.
Next Update: Burn Baby Burn!