The Pearl of the Orient

Quanto

Well, now I need to get back up to 20ish IC can gain back that second tech slot so I can speed up researching naval doctrines; 5 IC per new IC is a bit pricy. Just like a good budding naval power my land research and tech is lacking and the airforce is just lucky i'm researching air doctrines to support my CAGs.

Codeblue

There will be character development sooner or later when I get a chance to plot it out. By then daily updates might become problematic as the scope of this AAR balloons to fit the vastness of the Pacific.

As I was playing the game to ease the boredom of another Anthro class (thanks be to laptops) my game crashed and my save file was corrupted. One could interpret this as justice served for ignoring my professor's "enlightening lecture" on cave paintings and their relationship to coming of age ceremonies.

As I finish writing this short, short update I have created a special start up eug. file for the 1938 scenario that includes my latest buildup and all achieved techs (my last save was Nov. of 38’ in the initial game file) and will be playing from there; the global set up is similar enough to the conditions of the previous save except for the fact the Japan hasn’t pushed as far into China as in my 36’ game (hard to believe but I guess the AI got lucky or something.)

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Entr'acte


Late September brought the second round of elections for the National Assembly. The Nacionalistas maintained a clear lead in all polls leading up to Election Day. But Quezon was too cautious of a man to allow his plans to be derailed by a sudden electoral shift. Campaigning and the usual voting graft continued well into Election Day. The results showed a Nacionalista shut-out in the National Assembly and considerable gains in provincial elections. The National Assembly, now devoid of opposition members, sped through the Administration’s new air and army estimates for 1939. The last three years had seen the two standing divisions of the Commonwealth Army used to evaluate new weaponry and tactics. Now plans were set into motion to raise the additional 10 divisions of infantry and 2 of armor mandated by previous legislation and to upgrade the aircraft of the Army Air Corps. Modest improvements in industrial capacity over the past two years had brought up production estimates (IC is now at 17) and convinced the government to devote the year 1940 to improvements and subsidization to Filipino industry.

But as soon as the new Assembly had decided upon these policies, the Moros of the South rose in rebellion against their Catholic masters…

Naval Bombers? We'll see if I have enough time from now till 1942. The action is starting to heat up in Europe, it's August 30th 1939 now and Poland's about to be turned into the Heer's new parade ground. The Chinese and Japanese seem to be settling down and doing nothing. The next update will cover the Moro Rebellion and comprise October 1938 to August 1939. It will introduce several key characters that i'll be following in future updates. I've covered around 4 game years in a scant 4 posts and since military build up has been covered to death already each update after the next one will comprise 1 to 3 in-game months of play; I have much more now to write about that's happening in-game after all.

Nope, i'm just working off an eug file I made for the 1938 scenario. And since this is realtively early on in the AAR, as far as action goes, the story won't suffer.

Hannibal Barca2

As you command.

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Padre Manuel's War: Part I - October 1938 to September 1939

Islam came to the islands on the winds of trade. Starting in the 12th century merchants from Arabia and India spread the faith throughout the lands of the Malay people. Only the arrival of the Spaniards in the 16th and 17th centuries spared the Philippines from being assimilated into ‘dar al-Islam’. Although the north and the majority of the islands were of the Catholic persuasion, the southern island of Mindanao and islands of the Sulu Sea remained for the most part Muslim well into the 19th century. Waves of immigration from Luzon diluted the Muslim presence in Mindanao to the point where an absolute Catholic majority was established by the early 20th century. But religious strength did not equate to territorial control.


The Spanish and Americans never exercised effective control over the Filipino Muslim communities. These ‘Moros’, a term taken from the Moorish invaders of Christian Iberia, were fiercely independent and practically ungovernable. Shortly after the end of the Spanish-American War, the U.S. Army attempted to establish civilian government in Moro dominated areas but resistance to their and to the US imposed Bates Treaty sparked a 12 year war between various authority groups in Minanado. The Bates Treaty stipulated that Sultan Jamalul Kiram II, nominally a vassal of the King of Spain until the end of the Spanish-American War, would be given control over the lands of the Moros in exchange for recognition of US sovereignty over all of Mindanao. Unfortunately, the United States had not counted on the fact that the Sultan’s pretensions did not align with his power in relation to the native Datus, the tribal leaders of Mindanao.

Moro warriors, though lacking firearms, achieved early success agains the US Army due to careful use of terrain and hallucinogenic drugs which made their warriors diposed to attacking with berserker fury even when critically wounded. Only the adoption of the Caliber .45, M1911 Pistol as an effective sidearm with enough stopping power to take down a warrior at close range ended the effectiveness of Moro ambushes. The failure of disarmament programs to take weapons out of the hands of Moro fights led the US Government decided to cut their losses, install civilian governments in the cities and leave the countryside alone. Afterall, as long as the Moros left US fruit platations alone they could care less about the Moros governing themsleves. This situation worked well enough during the Philippines’ tenure as a US Insular Territory but the government of the Commonwealth decided to abrogate that unwritten agreement between the US and the Moros and establish direct rule. Moro autonomy ran counter to the ruling ideology of centeralization espoused by the Commonwealth. And as an added carrot, the material resources of Mindanao were too great to leave unexploited.

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Cagayan de Misamis, September 1, 1939

The Moro Rebellion was by now 10 months old and rapidly spiraling out of control. Philippine Constabulary and Catholic Militia recruited from native townships had proven to be of no match against the Moros. Fighting engulfed the countryside and major cities along the coast were subjected to siege. To the regret of the Quezon Administration a spirit of Nationalism had spread through the once disunited Moros. Now fueled by irredentism, revanchism, and the entire host of ‘-isms’ that tugged on the heartstrings of a people fighting for a nation-state of their own, the Moros became a credible threat to Quezon's aspirations of national unity. The Administration accepted the sobering need to deploy the Army during peacetime. In retrospect it was a a foritutious decision. Within a month of the arrival of the I. Corps, the sieges afflicting coastal cities were relived and the Moros forced back into their mountain top strongholds. The Home Fleet arrived in the Sulu Sea and used the Moro ‘Insurgency’ as an excuse to destroy once and for all Malay piracy. Pirate lairs along the the sea and even into British Malaya were razed to the ground in accordiance with the 'International Law of the Sea', not that any party in particular protested. Carrier based airpower and the deployment of two new Heavy Cruisers of the ‘Corona de España’ class (Basic Heavy Cruiser) cowed the pirates of the region into submission and generous subsidies and recruitment into the Navy gave the Commonwealth a pool of skilled seamen to call upon in times of trouble.

The city of Cagayan de Misamis in northern Mindanao was the center of operations for the Commonwealth’s Southern Theatre Command. The Quezon’s Administration continued insistence in labeling the insurgency as an internal matter provoked discontent in the Roosevelt Administration. US Fruit producers were being threatened by the violence but the Commonwealth government refused to give into pressure to ask for American intervention and used the insurgency as an opportunity to evaluate the combat effectiveness of the Philippine Army. But as the Army prepared for a new offensive against the Moros news flooded the radio waves that would have a leave a chill in the souls of democratically minded Filipinos as they clustered around their radio receivers.

“… this is Radio Manila with an update from our London bureau. On August 30, London time, reports came in of German forces approaching the Polish Corridor with the avowed intention of capturing the Free City of Danzig. We can confirm… that indeed German forces have crossed the border into Poland. We repeat, German Army has moved into Poland. The British Government has announced its intentions to fulfill its treaty obligations and has sent an ultimatum to the Reichstag to withdraw its troops from Polish soil. We will continue to update our listeners as we receive more news. For those of you who are just tuning in it is my duty to report that Germany has declared war on Poland…”

War was not unusual to the Filipino citizen; they only had to look across the pond to China to see an example of conflict. But a second global war was quite unexpected. A scant 20 years had passed since 1919 and Europeans already had committed themselves to cutting open barely scabbed over wounds. ‘Could the war spill over into the Pacific?’ was the thought on every Filipinos mind. The Japanese had always eyed the resources monopolized by the Dutch, British, and French and had always looked for an excuse to take those lands and their valuable labor while the ‘White Imperialists’ were busy killing each other. Some misguided souls even looked forward to Japanese ‘liberation’ and it was to these souls that the Japanese deluded themselves into thinking that they represented the majority view. ‘Asia for the Asiatics’ and the idea of a ‘Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere’ were all common place points held sacrosanct by Japanese public opinion. And only through Japanese arms could all the peoples of the ‘four corners of the Earth’ come under the righteous guidance of their Emperor, descendent of the Divine Sun; and who better to ‘reward’ with the yoke of Japanese rule first than their fellow brothers and sisters of the East?

Quezon knew that the Moro War had to be ended within the year. Another war, a more important war was coming and he would have to marshal all the powers available to him to combat it. Making his ideas known to his General Staff, he left them to ponder how to subdue the Moro or at least quiet him for the time being.

Spacehusky

Nope, my handiness with modifying the game falls apart when adding into partisan effects, partisan armies, and editing in-game saves (I think my efforts trying to fix my previous save when it crapped out damaged the file even more). The Moro Rebellion story is just something to fill up my time till I get real action effecting the PI.

Hannibal Barca2

We'll see.

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Padre Manuel's War: Part II - September - November 1939

Philippine Constabulary troops had been issued 'new' M1903 Springfield Rifle's by the Commonwealth Government to replace their old M1899 Constabulary Carbines. The M1899 was a licensed version of the Krag-Jørgensen Rifle designed in the year 1886. The M1899 had the bad habit of rusting up in tropical climates, a trait which the newly issued M1903 shared. But the adopting the M1903 was deemed cost effective; the US was phasing in M1 'Garand' rifles and ammunition for M1899s could be purchased at rockbottom prices. The M1899 had a faster rate of fire than the M1899 but its action was not as smooth as the M1899's which brought loud complaints from Constabulary and Militiamen to whom the rifle was issued too. This combined with the rust related issues reduced the effectiveness of Commonwealth forces early in the rebellion. Only a stroke of luck would spare the regular army from being issued with antiquated weaponry.


Field Marshal of the Commonwealth, Douglas MacArthur in one of his moments of clarity demanded that regular forces be issued the M1 Garand so that its effectiveness could be evaluated in the field. Quezon was convinced that it would be prudent to allow the US to evaluate new service rifle that they would be using in the Pacific should war with Japan break out. Initial shortages in weapons were overcome by the Commonwealth purchasing a license to build the weapon in the Government owned 'National Arsenal'. The M1 would be issued to all regular service troops assigned to Mindanao and select groups of Constabulary; Militia would have to be content with M1903 that had their barrels lacquered to protect them from rust. The scene now shifted to those down range, it would be on their backs, not the political hacks in Manila that the fate of the war would be decided.


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The boondocks, 70 miles inland from Cagayan de Misamis, Northern Mindanao

"So did you hear about that chap from Company D who got carried off by a Golden Eagle? I mean the thing was huge and..." Months of being in the field encouraged tall tales and in rare cases insanity but none the less Lieutenant Borbón wouldn't tolerate it in his platoon. "The Philippine Eagle is large yes but at most it'll only carry off monkeys; not humans. If you're going to tell a bloody tall-tale at least grant it some narrative fidelity... yesterday you mentioned a Brown Bear carrying off that same private from Company D. I can understand that you gents are treating Mindanao as some foreign land that you can write home about, but it is not foreign enough to possess flora and fauna native only to the Americas and Eurasia. In any case, let's stay sharp chaps! Keep up the scan! You never know when the Moros will be popping out from the hillside and to fall upon us!"

Luis Álvarez Borbón y Zúñiga, Lieutenant in the Commonwealth Army, was a descendant in the male line of King Felipe V of Spain. Rather bad asset management, extravagance and backing the wrong side in the Carlist Wars had ensured his ancestors being exiled to the Captaincy-General of the Philippine Islands in the 1840s. None the less, the family established itself as one of the more respectable beacons of colonial society. Though backing Aguinaldo's rebels and siding against the Americans in 1898 had cost the family its lands and fortune. All that remained in their possession was their honor and reputation intact; something that still carried weight in the post-Spanish era. That reputation and the help of connected relatives allowed Luis the necessary funds to spend his college days in Iberia. He signed up for courses at the University of Salamanca but saw his term cut short by the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. On his 18th birthday he volunteered for Republican Army and was baptized by fire during the November 1936 Siege of Madrid. Serving on the Staff of General José Miaja Menant he witnessed first hand the dangers of allowing politicians, in this case Communists, from meddling with affairs on the field. Though the Nationalists were repulsed that November, Luis came away with a deep seated hatred of the Communists and Soviet Advisers that were a hurdle to the Republican Command's attempt at controlling the militia; which constituted 90% of the defenders of Madrid.

Whatever his misgivings were about the Republican cause Luis did find some like minded souls during his service. He made friends with Major and later General Vicente Rojo Lluch whose cool composure and professionalism under fire from Nationalists and Communists alike earned him Luis' profound admiration. The Catholicism and Conservatism both men shared were common among most professional officers in the Republican Army; though their gap in age was great, Luis and Vicente shared the same political views and thoughts about the direction of the conflict. When Vicente was promoted to General and given the task of moving the Republican Government to Valencia he asked Luis to join him in his staff. Luis used General Rojo as an example of a what a model officer should constitute and via his efforts at adopting the methods of General Rojo, gained a reputation for combining a sense of honor with the pragmatism that comes with duty.

As the war began to turn against the Republicans in 1939, Luis was given the task of taking command of a mixed Brigade of Internationals for the purpose of marching them Alicante for evacuation. After accepting promotion to Major from General Miaja himself and parting words of advice from General Rojo not take a gamble as he and waste an entire army in one go; the lessons of the Ebro campaign would never be far from Luis' mind. Having bid farewell to Spain, he traveled back to the Philippines a wiser and more skilled man.

Upon arriving back in Manila he received word that the Commonwealth Army was recruiting officers for the growing campaign in Mindanao. With impeccable credentials Luis Borbón was accepted into the Commonwealth Army at the rank of Lieutenant and given a platoon command in the I. Corps. It was a step down from his rating as a Major in the Republican Army but Luis did not complain. Instead he rather enjoyed the thought of less paperwork and more action in the field. A notion he would have to take back upon landing in Mindanao.

His platoon was mixed; regulars and militia. You could tell the regulars apart from the militiamen on the basis of their stride. Militia simply walked, regulars paced themselves to avoid blisters and the other effects of sore feet. But technique did not help one bit in the flats and the monotony was beginning to get to the men. So it could be viewed as a blessing that Lieutanant Borbón’s platoon was bumrushed by Moros as they crossed a rather rickety bridge over the Rio Grande de Mindanao. Borbón’s 4 squads of 9 men each, totaling 36 infantry, had been caught by surprised by around 200 Moros covered in Rattan body armor, ‘Kris’ long daggers, farming implements, and the occasional colonial era flintlock rifle. Though Borbón ordered his men to hold ground and continue firing 2 squads, which constituted the militia element began to fall-back towards the ‘safety’ of the bridge; the end from which the platoon came from seemed devoid of insurgents. It fool’s deliverance and as Borbón correctly guessed insurgents emerged from the water to cut them down. Seven militiamen met their end this way and the rest quickly rejoined Borbón and the rest of his men holding off the Moros.

“Men! don’t waste your shots! Aim for the head! The head!” Borbón had read and witnessed the Moro’s absolute tenacity in battle; even wounded they continued to charge headlong into the ranks of their enemies. The long range of the Commonwealth rifles enable the platoon to hold the enemy at bay but the heat of the moment was causing some men to become sloppy in their shooting. “Private Jurado! Have some purpose when you select your target. Let me give you an example.” Without hesitation Borbón ejected the empty clip of his M1911 pistol, grabbed a new clip from his kit, reloaded, and took aim at the head of a warrior who had his breastplate decorated with US Morgan Silver Dollars and fired; all in one clean, precise action. The Moro fell right then and there; his head transformed into a pile of goo. Luis repeated this action seven times, each shot killing one Moro cleanly. “Keep it up! They’ll run off eventually!”

The Moros had numbers on their side and this eight minute engagement was beginning to take its toll on the Commonwealth fighters. As long as they have enough ammunition they could keep the enemy at bay. Once the fighting turned hand to hand the situation would become grim. Bayonnets would be no match for the Kris, expertly wielded by Moro fighters who had ancestral memory on their side. But as luck would have it Borbón’s platoon was not the only Commonwealth force patrolling this stretch of road. The sounds of a Vickers-Maxim QF 2.95 inch mountain gun raining death on the Moros who held the side from which Borbón’s platoon came from enbolded the Commonwealth troops. Having heard gunfire in front of them, 3 platoons of mixed militia and regulars had rushed to the banks of the Rio Grande de Mindanao to act as a relief force. They were led by a Lieutenant by whose uniform indicated he came from the Ilocos Volunteer Group, that and Ilocos Militiamen were notorious for their steadiness in the line of fire. Now thoroughly overwhelmed the Moros evaporated into the countryside, having lost around 80 men to the Commonwealth.

After the bodies on both sides had been given proper burial and all valuables accounted for Lieutenant Borbón approached the Lieutenant who led the relief column to thank him for his efforts.

“Comrade, that was mighty fine work. And it is a pleasure to meet you; I am Lieutenant Luis Álvarez Borbón y Zúñiga, I. Corps. It’s hard to believe but I fought in Spain during the Civil War and those Falangists and Moroccan Scouts were tame compared to the average Moro warrior! But of course forgive my manners and my boasting! May I have the pleasure of knowing your name and command so that I may congratulate you on a splendid fight?”

“The feeling is mutual good sir. I am a Lieutenant in the Volunteer Militia. My name is Ferdinand Edralín Marcos, native of Ilocos Norte, and I have never, never in my short stint as a militiaman witnessed Commonwealth troops hold their own against such great odds! Once again Sir, it is a pleasure to meet such a distinguished war hero! And one at such a young age!”