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Interlude the Fourth

Project Jericho, the Algerian Desert, 1941

Fabien Lebeau sighed in contentment at the cool air wafting through his new office from the air conditioner. And to think that only a few months ago he had been sweltering in the heat like a pig!

Fortunately, that had all changed when Commandant Vauban had finally done the decent thing and died, wine sodden, while sleeping in his office. And, though Lebeau had faced a few awkward questions about why it had taken three hours to realise that the Commandant was dead instead of drunk, very few in the top brass had seemed that bothered.

Indeed, as Lebeau had discovered, the top brass had been becoming increasingly concerned over the state of affairs at the facility with scientific squabbles and petty feuds disrupting the research while Commandant Vauban had seemed content to do nothing other than shuffle paperwork and accomplish with wine what the Germans had failed to do in the First Weltkrieg.

In many ways, mused Fabien, Vauban's failures had been a blessing in disguise. For the top brass had been wary about widening the circle of those who knew about the facility and had therefore alighted upon Lebeau to be Vauban's successor. And not just his successor either for, as Fabien's superiors had bluntly explained to him, they were of the conclusion that the project needed a firm military hand to drive the civilian scientists to producing the results demanded of them.

So Fabien was now Colonel Lebeau , three ranks higher and in charge of the entirety of Project Jericho!

It had been hard to adjust at first, reflected Fabien, for the scientists were very different to manage than soldiers, but at least Docteur Joliot-Curie had been of great assistance in helping Fabien to understand what Project Jericho entailed.

And, though he struggled when the talk turned to 'isotopes' and 'neutrons', Fabien was confident that he now understood the full potential of Jericho. By splitting the atom itself, France could harness the vast amounts of energy produced, both as unimaginable weapons of war and, as Joliot-Curie and his wife Irène were keen to emphasise, as a source of clean energy that could provide untold prosperity. Not only that, either, but also to develop powerful rockets to allow the ultimate goal of an atomique bomb to be delivered right to the heart of the enemy's homeland without any possibility of them defending against it. These twin projects, Fabien was certain, would surely bring about the full and final restoration of the might of France.

But, he thought to himself, none of that would ever come to pass if he was not around to shepherd the scientists into some semblance of order and focus. The rocket scientists and engineers were alright as far as Fabien was concerned - as long as he kept them supplied with fuel, metal and machine tools they were perfectly happy to keep on sending things either whizzing up into the air or making them blow up on the test ground (though he suspected that the latter was not intentional) - but the physicists and chemists were a different matter entirely.

Almost every day they came to him with new demands for exotic materials and equipment, which usually meant Fabien having to spend an hour struggling to comprehend their complicated explanations in order to understand what the material or equipment actually was! Still though, he filed the paperwork and requisitioned the supplies, no matter how outlandish they were - there were some advantages to a near unlimited budget, he mused - and the materials and equipment were delivered in due course and the scientists put them to use.

But worse than that was the standard administration of running a facility of what was approaching two thousand people - of dealing with food and sanitation and power and accommodation. Today, for example, Fabien had in front of him a form requesting five hundred boxes of chalk - meant, no doubt, for the rooms where the physicists and chemists scribbled furiously on blackboards before arguing spectacularly and rubbing it all off again.

There was no way that he would have been able to handle this all by himself, of course. In fact, one of the compensations of his new duties had been to have two dozen military administrators shipped over from France and installed in Lebeau's new headquarters, a set of freshly erected buildings with blessed air conditioning to keep the heat of Algeria at bay. And with his new buildings and staff and refuge from the heat, Fabien prided himself on having breathed new purpose into the project - a new sense of focus that was already producing results.

He still remembered the completion, just four months ago, of something called an "isotope separator" and the start of production of two new "transuranium" elements needed to produce an atomique bomb. Of course, Fabien knew that he had only the faintest grasp of what the elements were needed for but the reaction of the scientists and their detailed writings on it had been more than enough to allow him to provide the ministry with a glowing report on the progress of the project.

More importantly, he also knew that he had won gratitude at the highest level with his spur of the moment decision to overrule the Joliot-Curies' suggested names of Neptunium and Plutonium for the new elements in favour of Napoleonium and Bonapartium. Indeed, a carefully worded letter from Fabien's friend Leblanc had revealed that the Emperor had been highly pleased with the news.

And, just a few days ago, the scientists had finished refining something called 'atomique fuel analysis' - an accomplishment which would no doubt allow Fabien to right another good report to his superiors.

But, that being said, Fabien really could not be bothered to deal with orders for chalk right now. Instead, he passed it on to his secretary to sign on his behalf and left the office. When confronted with paperwork, Fabien found, the best solution was often a surprise inspection of the guard posts.
 
The above is a long winded way of letting you all know that research into nuclear fuel analysis was completed on 1 November 1941 and that France's atomic bomb project is progressing nicely.
 
The above is a long winded way of letting you all know that research into nuclear fuel analysis was completed on 1 November 1941 and that France's atomic bomb project is progressing nicely.
Wow..... I wonder what this means for this AAR and the empire of france. Whatever happens, I know that it will be exiting :) Keep up the good work.
 
Demand the North, your words are backed by nuclear fission!

Well France doesn't actually have a nuke yet you know :p But yes, that is definitely on my shopping list of things for the nuclear armed Napoleons to do :D
 
Not only that, either, but also to develop powerful rockets to allow the ultimate goal of an atomique bomb to be delivered right to the heart of the enemy's homeland without any possibility of them defending against it.

This sentence was worded ambiguously enough for me to entertain the idea of a French Project ORION
 
This sentence was worded ambiguously enough for me to entertain the idea of a French Project ORION

Well at present the rocket program is viewed as a means of developing a bomb delivery system for both conventional and atomic weapons which can bypass the overwhelming aerial superiority of the UoB and Germany (I checked the intelligence reports - they've got nearly sixty air units each!). As for a French project Orion - well, that will depend on who wins the third world war ;)
 
Lovely update.:)
 
The Campaign in the Levant

Following the Egyptian surrender, theoretically the entirety of the Levant (the Sinai and the modern-day region of Palestine) were under French control. In reality, however, the remaining Axis nations of Persia and Hashemite Arabia were still at war with the French Empire and a Persian army 350,000 men strong had taken up defensive positions on the east bank of the Suez Canal, cutting the Levant off from the rest of the empire.

screensave142.jpg

As the French forces in Port Said lacked the numbers to successfully cross the canal, General Nogues commanding the entire French Foreign Legion (some 150,000 men) volunteered his forces for an amphibious landing in the Sinai to cut the Persian army’s lines of supply and to trap them in a pincer movement from east and west.

screensave143.jpg

Though the plan was immediately put into action, it became a disaster. The Legionnaires had spent months fighting in the Egyptian desert and were shipped out to the Sinai without a chance to regroup or properly prepare for the landings.

No sooner had the Legionnaires disembarked from the landing craft and begun to set up defensive positions they came under attack from a Persian corps seven divisions strong which had been sent east by their commanders in order to prevent the Persians at the Canal from being encircled.

screensave144.jpg

Outnumbered and disorganised, the Legionnaires were forced to fall back in the face of the ferocious assault on their hastily made defensive positions, and began a long and costly retreat north to Gaza.

screensave145.jpg

The newly reinforced French forces at Port Said responded with an attack on the reduced Persian forces on the east bank of the Canal in an attempt to draw back the corps currently pursuing the Legionnaires.

However, the Persians did not call off their pursuit of the retreating Foreign Legion, harassing them every step of their retreat north and brushing aside an attempted rear-guard action at Gaza.

screensave147.jpg

With the Foreign Legion in tatters - low on ammunition and supplies and burdened by a large number of wounded - a daring plan was conceived to save Nogue and his Legionnaires.

The elite Imperial Guard were landed at Tel Aviv where they rapidly established defensive positions around the city - when the Legionnaires arrived at Tel Aviv they would be able to take refuge behind the Guard’s pre-prepared defences and finally bring to an end their long retreat.

screensave148.jpg

The plan proved a resounding success with Nogue reaching the city just ahead of the Persians who, encountering Guardsmen heavily entrenched in their defensive positions, were forced to retreat after suffering heavy casualties amongst their vanguard.

screensave150.jpg

With the Legionnaires now able to resupply and take care of their wounded, Nogue’s men took up the defence of Tel Aviv, freeing up the Imperial Guard to rapidly push east to Jerusalem, entering the holy city just in time to secure it against an Arabian attack.

screensave151.jpg

As church bells were rang throughout the League in celebration of the “liberation” of Jerusalem and the site of the Crucifixion, the campaign in the Levant began to turn against the Axis in the west as well with the French forces in Port Said making slow but steady progress across the Canal.

screensave153.jpg

Sensing another opportunity, the French made a second amphibious landing in the Sinai, where two French divisions successfully cut the Persians in the Canal zone off from the Arabians attempting to hold off a French offensive in southern Palestine.

screensave155.jpg

With no means of escape or resupply it was only a matter of time until the Persian army at the canal was defeated. Several fierce days of fighting ensued as the Persians attempted to escape the pocket they found themselves in but the French lines held. Then, on the dawn of the 14th of January, a French push from the west succeeded in smashing through the Persian lines and forcing the surrender of 120,000 men - a quarter of the Persia’s army.

screensave156.jpg

However, despite these military successes, neither Napoleon IV or De Gaulle were happy with the state of the empire’s armed forces. Despite the massive expansion of French industry, both the French navy and army lagged behind other League nations. It was to this end that the Emperor signed a bill to fund the laying down of eight new battle cruisers as a prelude to a massive expansion of the French navy to make it one capable of challenging the might of Britain’s Republican Navy.

screensave159.jpg

This was accompanied with a major shift in French military doctrine to match the theories of mobility and flexible attacks favoured by De Gaulle himself. With the creation of a new corps of mobile infantry under General Mer, France would now be in a position to test the effectiveness of these new tactics.

screensave160.jpg

But new doctrines and new methods of waging war would have little impact on the campaign in the Levant where the battles continued to be fought by conventional infantry regiments, slogging their way through the terrain of Palestine as the Foreign Legion pushed north to the port of Akko and the victorious Imperial Guard seized Eilat and succeeded in surrounding the remnants of the Persian army in Gaza.

screensave166.jpg

By the end of January Gaza had fallen to the French with 100,000 Persians being taken prisoner - concluding the destruction of the mighty Persian force which had held the east bank of the Suez just a month ago. With the Levant now utterly under French control and the destruction or capture of nearly half of the Axis powers military forces, the way was now open for the invasion of Arabia.

screensave171.jpg
 
In honour of the best Olympic opening ceremony ever, of me getting a shiny new phone and because I felt like it, I am pleased to present you with an extra special bonus update :p

Now go and vote for Vive L'Empereur! Pleeeeeease :)
 
Hooray for bonus posts! Just for that, I'll root for England to get a few golds.
 
Hooray for bonus posts! Just for that, I'll root for England to get a few golds.

Yay! Your support is gratefully received :) Though I should point out that there is no England team in the Olympics, just Team GB :p
 
Ah, I gotcha. Still, even though Britannia no longer rules the world, may she rule the track.
 
Ah, I gotcha. Still, even though Britannia no longer rules the world, may she rule the track.

Hoping to beat Usain Bolt might be being a tad optimistic...
 
Hey Antoine, as you wrote you eventually will upload the events etc?

that would be great and i'm sure a lot of people would honor that :)
I'm very excited to play some games as france with your events :D
 
Hey Antoine, as you wrote you eventually will upload the events etc?

that would be great and i'm sure a lot of people would honor that :)
I'm very excited to play some games as france with your events :D

I'm very sorry for the delay in uploading them - I've been trying to find them all but I'm afraid it looks like I must have deleted some of them :( As a proviso, let me warn you of the problems with these events: first of all, I stole the event IDs from various places so you'll need to either find unused event IDs or find events belonging to dead countries in your game and use their IDs for my events. Secondly, the building of the Occitan Wall and Austria choosing to ally with the Catholic League and the event adding claims (but not cores) on the Sudan and Libya are missing.

You'll also need to find the event releasing the German puppet french state and edit it to remove the tech teams and ministers activated by National France leaders defecting. Other than that, you should be all set and only the Occitan Wall really needs an event - and you can make one quite easily by copying the one the Canadians use to fortify the border with the CSA if it wins the civil war.

Enjoy :)

Code:
#####################################
###### Treaty of Bordeaux
######################################


event = {
id = 911000
picture = "constitutional"
country = VIC

trigger = {
	control = { province = 68 data = VIC } # Bordeaux
        }
}

name = "The Treaty of Bordeaux"
desc = "After negotiations between the victorious nations of the Mitteleuropa 

and of the Catholic League an agreement over the future of France has been 

reached. The Treaty of Bordeaux will see the return to the French Empire the 

entirety of southern France. However, the Germans have refused to return the 

lands of northern France which are rightfully ours!"

date = { day = 10 month = march year = 1940 }
offset = 1



deathdate = { day = 1 month = december year = 1963 }

action_a = {
	name = "Sooner or later we'll take it back!"
        command = { type = capital which = 68 } #Bordeaux
	command = { type = supplies value = -250 } #Moving back and removing 

Syndicalist influences and propaganda shouldn't be cheap
	command = { type = money value = -100 }
	command = { type = addcore which = 37 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 38 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 39 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 40 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 78 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 41 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 42 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 43 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 44 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 45 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 46 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 47 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 48 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 55 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 53 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 50 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 49 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 51 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 52 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 56 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 101 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 103 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 100 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 102 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 99 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 54 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 95 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 97 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 98 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 88 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 64 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 63 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 66 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 60 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 57 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 58 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 59 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 62 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 70 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 69 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 68 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 67 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 83 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 84 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 75 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 73 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 72 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 61 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 65 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 90 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 86 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 89 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 93 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 82 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 79 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 80 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 76 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 77 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 71 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 81 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 92 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 85 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 74 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 96 }
  command = { type = addcore which = 106 }
  command = { type = removecore which = 733 }
	command = { type = waketeam which = 6632 }
	command = { type = waketeam which = 6633 }
	command = { type = waketeam which = 6634 }
	command = { type = waketeam which = 6635 }
	command = { type = waketeam which = 6636 }
	command = { type = waketeam which = 6637 }
	command = { type = waketeam which = 6638 }
	command = { type = waketeam which = 6639 }
	command = { type = waketeam which = 6640 }
        command = { type = sleepevent which = 89930002 }
        command = { type = trigger which = 89930002 }
	command = { type = sleepevent which = 999800 }
	command = { type = sleepevent which = 999801 }
	}
}

event = {
id = 911002
picture = "constitutional"
country = GER

name = "The Treaty of Bordeaux"
desc = "In accordance with the treaty of Bordeaux we are required to hand 

over southern France to the upstart Napoleons."

action_a = {
	name = "They had better watch their step!"
	command = { type = dissent value = 2 }
        command = { type = secedeprovince which = VIC value = 72 } #French 

Empire
        command = { type = secedeprovince which = VIC value = 73 }
        command = { type = secedeprovince which = VIC value = 74 }
	command = { type = secedeprovince which = VIC value = 65 }
        command = { type = secedeprovince which = VIC value = 90 }
        command = { type = secedeprovince which = VIC value = 92 }
        command = { type = secedeprovince which = VIC value = 93 }
        command = { type = secedeprovince which = VIC value = 80 }
        command = { type = secedeprovince which = VIC value = 83 }
        command = { type = secedeprovince which = VIC value = 84 }
        command = { type = secedeprovince which = VIC value = 72 }
        command = { type = secedeprovince which = ITA value = 91 } #Italy 

gets Chamberey back
	}
}


event = {
	id = 911003
	country = VIC
	picture= "gerarmedfor"
	name= "Forces armees francaises"
	desc= "Now we have returned to metropolitan France it is time to 

build a military worthy of Napoleon. Fortunately the French people are 

rallying to their rightful Emperor and the vanquished Communards have left 

plenty of equipment behind which we can use."

        

action_a = {
name = "Vive l'Empereur!"

        command = { type = ai which = "kaiserreich/Neutral-France.ai" }
	command = { type = add_corps which = "Ier Corps d'Armée" value = land 

where = 68 }
	command = { type = add_division which = "1ère Division d'Infanterie" 

value = infantry when = 10 }
	command = { type = add_division which = "2ème Division d'Infanterie" 

value = infantry when = 10 }
	command = { type = add_division which = "3ème Division d'Infanterie" 

value = infantry when = 10 }

	command = { type = add_corps which = "IIe Corps d'Armée" value = land 

where =  }
	command = { type = add_division which = "1ère Div. Légère de 

Cavalerie" value = cavalry when = 10 }
	command = { type = add_division which = "2ème Div. Légère de 

Cavalerie" value = cavalry when = 10 }

	command = { type = add_corps which = "Ier Corps de Garde" value = 

land where = 58 }
	command = { type = add_division which = "1ère Garde Impériale" value 

= infantry when = 10 }
	command = { type = add_division which = "2ème Garde Impériale" value 

= infantry when = 10 }
	command = { type = add_division which = "3ème Garde Impériale" value 

= infantry when = 10 }

        command = { type = add_division value = interceptor when = 9 }
        command = { type = add_division value = transport when = 1 }
        command = { type = add_division value = light_cruiser when = 3 }
        command = { type = add_division value = destroyer when = 4 }
        command = { type = add_division value = destroyer when = 4 }
        command = { type = manpowerpool value = 500 }
        command = { type = transport_pool which = U08 value = 40 }
	command = { type = escort_pool which = U08 value = 10 }        
}
}


#IRELAND
#Occitan Wall


event = {
id = 911005
random = no
country = U10

trigger = {
	flag = ne_nationalism
	flag = ne_beacon
	}
	 
name = "Establishing the Underground Railroad"

desc = "The many liberal politicans around New England have begun work on 

legislation that will establish a 20th Century version of the Underground 

Railroad. A way for refugees from the CSA, AUS and MacArthur's America to 

escape and reach New England or Canada. Among the possible immediate benefits 

to this would be more volunteers for New England's tiny Military."
style = 2

date = { day = 1 month = January year = 1937 }
offset = 30
deathdate = {day = 30 month = december year = 1963 }

action_a = {
	name = "Do it"
	ai_chance = 67
	command = { type = dissent value = -1 }
	command = { type = money value = -150 }
	command = { type = supplies value = -500 }
	command = { type = setflag which = french_underground_railroad }
	}
action_b = {
	name = "We don't want to start trouble"
	ai_chance = 33
	command = { type = dissent value = 1 }
	command = { type = domestic which = political_left value = -1 }
	command = { type = domestic which = defense_lobby value = -3 }
	command = { type = domestic which = interventionism value = -3 }
	}
}

## Refugees from Occupied France

event = {
id = 911006
random = no
country = U10

trigger = {
	flag = french_underground_railroad
	exists = FRA
}
	 
name = "Refugees from North France"

desc = "The Railway is a success, refugees from occupied territory are 

fleeing to our empire in droves. Many are industrialists and skilled 

labourers from factories turned over to Germany as reparations. This could 

benefit our own industrial expansion."
style = 2

date = { day = 1 month = January year = 1937 }
offset = 30
deathdate = { day = 30 month = december year = 1963 }

action_a = {
	name = "Excellent!"
	command = { type = money value = 300 }
	command = { type = industrial_modifier which = total value = 3 }
	command = { type = relative_manpower value = 5 }
	command = { type = construct which = IC where = 1789 value = 2 }
	command = { type = construct which = IC where = -4 value = 1 }
	}
}
 
P.S.

In due course I'll be creating an event to force the Italian Federation to give back Corsica, Chambery and Nice. When I've done it I'll upload that one as well.
 
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