"Rhodesian Caesar" -- Rhodesia, Kaiserreich

Chapter One: The Jewel of Africa

My first action is to move my lobby slider one tick to the left. This also gives me the option to show you my cabinet and my sliders at game start.



My second action is to get an industry drive going -- we're not going to be blasting any Mittelafrikaner heads unless we build up some industry, after all... I earmark four factories to go up in Salisbury before we move on to anything else.



Then I leave the deputies in charge, jump in the vehicle with my rifle and retire for Wankie for some target practice while the factories go up...



My trip does not last long, however; a message comes from Salisbury regarding the Fascist parties:



Of course I ban them; what of the progress on the factories? I ask... Still going up? On with the hunting, then...



Soon after, I discover that a large amount of my produced rare materials are being lost through overstocking -- I therefore move to trade them to Canada (in a stupidly one-sided trade in their favour) so that it can at least be used to improve our relations... but they evidently see through this ruse, cancelling the deal after two days.

The first factory goes up on 29 December 1936; meanwhile all hell has broken out in Russia, with the government there fighting both the Soviets and the Siberians...

Then nothing much happens as far as I'm concerned until October 1938, when South Africa claims Mozambique and declares war! I instantly ally with SA and use my accumulated supplies and cash to buy a couple of their infantry divisions, which march straight into Mozambique unopposed...



A CHALLENGER APPEARS!



To be continued..?

The___King said:

Rhodesians never die!

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katzen-kratzen said:

Ian Smith would be proud!

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"R" is for the regiments who fight the winning fight;
"H" is for the home fires that the folks are keeping bright;
"O" is for the other ranks and officers as well;
"D" is for the die-hards who will even fight in hell;
"E" is for the enemy who just won't ever win;
"S" is for the spirit of our men that won't grow dim;
"I" is for the independence that we have to share; and
"A" is for the arms that we will always have to bear; and
The first word in "Rhodesian" is "Rhodes"...
That's a name that everybody knows!
And it may be as Rhodesian as our flag of white and green,
But the last word in "Rhodesian" is "Ian"!



Thanks for the kind words, another update coming over the weekend!

Panzergruppe said:

I never read AAR's, but this looks interesting. You born in Rhodesia? If so, my hat is off to you.

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I'm afraid I'm too young to have been born in Rhodesia myself; I was born in London, though I did later make the migration back to "Zimbabwe"... (sigh). Then they refused to extend my work permit (I wonder why $$$$$) and I had to leave again. I used to be all progressive and say "Zimbabwe", but not after that.

Chapter One and a half: Meanwhile...

While Rhodesian police parade through Beira...



... off-duty Rhodesian and South African troops crowd around the radio to listen to the Springboks-Rhodesia exhibition rugby game being played in Salisbury.



It's unfortunate for them that they have to make do with radio commentary.



Despite his country going through war both on and off the rugby field, Prime Minister jpoc finds more pressing matters.

jamhaw said:

Shame about the Fascist parties event, you would think we would have deleted that by now or at least changed it to national-populist.

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A good point.

Chapter Two: An army marches on its stomach

A year into the war, and Prime Minister jpoc has managed to tear himself away from his most attention-grabbing constituents for long enough to add three Rhodesian cavalry divisions to his armed forces... The Rhodesian and South African expeditionary force encamped at Beira has only one thing in mind, of course.



Meanwhile, Prime Minister jpoc puts plans into motion to improve the railway between Salisbury and the newly-conquered coastal territory of Beira.



A severe beer shortage develops at the front, but it's business as usual at Joint Operational Command.



Their Castle supply gone, the combined Rhodesian-South African force sobers up and realises that the Portuguese may have some beer left.



No contest.



No beer.



To be continued...

Timmie0307 said:

Modern Weapons for 1939 Rhodesian infantry nice update!

Tim

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Well spotted.

Chapter Two and a half: Radio One Salisbury World News, 2 April 1940

Good evening, listeners, this is Hendrik van der Lecq with the Radio One Salisbury World News at 7.



Tuesday, 2 April 1940, Salisbury: Marvellous news from the Mozambican front. At lunchtime today, troops from the 1st and 2nd Rhodesian Light Infantry divisions marched into Ulonge.



Also today, the Rhodesian African Rifles announced that a Shona man from Sinoia has become the first African trooper to pass officer training. Captain Edson Kamuteyani, a former school teacher, takes up his commission in the RAR later this week.



In world news, today was a big day in all of the world's ongoing conflicts. Radio One Salisbury understands that Paris remains under German occupation in what some are labelling the "Second World War". British, French and Italian syndicalists find themselves fighting against both those loyal to the legal British monarchy -- presently exiled in Canada -- but also against the newly-syndicalist German Empire and her allies. How fortunate we are that responsibilty for Rhodesia lies within Rhodesia!



In the ongoing Spanish Civil War, the three-way stalemate between the crown, the Carlists, based in the north, and the Catalan-dominated syndicalists continues.



In Russia, royal forces have pushed the Soviets far back towards Petrograd, and hope for a swift resolution. Our source in Moscow labelled the mood as "confident and jubilant".



And finally, two major events in the American War today. Pacific States air command has been criticised for the bombing of syndicalist partisans in Wyoming earlier today, while troops loyal to the Washington government have today made significant strides into the American south, taking the key coastal city of Houston this morning.



That is the Radio One Salisbury World News, on Tuesday 2 April 1940, and this has been Hendrik van der Lecq reading it. Thank you for listening.

Chapter Three: The Liberation of Mozambique

The Rhodesians, their resolve made stronger than ever by the stone cold sobriety brought on by the lack of chibooli, push on into Mozambique.



Out of supply, the Portuguese garrison had already disintegrated when the Rhodesians reached Porto Amelia on 15 April 1941.



After ripping the town apart to find the Portuguese lager stash, the tired troopies take a well-earned break.



A plan is drawn up between Joint Operational Command and the Mozambican colonial leaders: The decision is made to complicate Portugal's situation by declaring Mozambique's independence. Geopolitically this is a brilliant ploy, transforming the inital South African aggression into a war for Mozambique's freedom and independence. Sufficiently convinced (and really with no choice), a group of local Mozambican officials issues the declaration from Lourenco Marques on 6 May 1941, adding a third prong to the post-colonial pitchfork prodding uncomfortably into the Mittelafrikaans underbelly. Beira and the surrounding corridor remains Rhodesian, splitting Mozambique in two; for some Mozambicans, this leaves a slight bitterness.



Elsewhere, France has fallen to the Germans, who have split it up into a Kingdom and various Grand Duchies...



... and despite having defeated Bolshevism, the Tsar's work is never done. Siberians, Cossacks, Turkmens, Ottomans and more all have a bone to pick with the Russians, it would appear.



To be continued...