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But yeah, Bordeaux was a big mistake on my part.
The Italians were in Agen and Bordeaux was undefended so I was like "well, the Germans must be about to obliterate the Commune north of Bordeaux so if I don't nip in now then it's going to be too late to get the city". And then La Rochelle was undefended so I nabbed that. But I was expecting the Germans at any minute so I didn't want to leave Bordeaux even though the Italians in Agen were getting pummelled because I thought I could break out in Tulle and join up with Bordeaux from there. And then it was too late and I lost a precious division
The Italians were in Agen and Bordeaux was undefended so I was like "well, the Germans must be about to obliterate the Commune north of Bordeaux so if I don't nip in now then it's going to be too late to get the city". And then La Rochelle was undefended so I nabbed that. But I was expecting the Germans at any minute so I didn't want to leave Bordeaux even though the Italians in Agen were getting pummelled because I thought I could break out in Tulle and join up with Bordeaux from there. And then it was too late and I lost a precious division
The Death of the Commune
Though the loss of what became known as the Ten Thousand would cause heads to roll at all levels in the officer corps - most of them being scapegoats for failures at the highest level - D’Esperey, in overall command of the ‘Liberation’ force, was not one of those who would lose his position.
This was because, despite being the one who had failed to see the risks of his orders for the cavalry to hold Bordeaux, he was the victor of Lyon, and therefore protected by his popularity with the public. But, more importantly, he had not hesitated following the fall of Bordeaux. With Lyon captured he was now free to bring the First Army to bear elsewhere and began to draw up plans to recapture Bordeaux - plans that convinced both the Emperor and De Gaulle that he was worth keeping in place.
D’Esperey began by moving the First Army to Clemont Ferrand to fill a substantial gap in the front line. A chance to resume the offensive then presented itself when the Foreign Legionnaires holding Toulouse came under an attack on four sides by the Communards.
D’Esperey immediately launched a counter-attack on Tulle, striking at the flanks of the Communard troops taking part in the attack on Toulouse.
The attack was a resounding success and the Communards were forced to retreat.
With the Commune struggling to reform their frontline, the Legionnaires, who had endured a gruelling two weeks of constant combat, were finally able to throw back the attack on Toulouse.
The Imperial forces then continued with their counter-offensive, with the First Army and the Foreign Legion launching an offensive against the back-footed Communard soldiers in Perigeux, winning a swift victory and continuing with what was now most definitely a breakout.
With the Communards scattered before them, and joint Italian and Imperial forces keeping the pressure on the Communards in the south, the victorious First Army found the road to Bordeaux now open to them.
However, the Communards rallied quickly and, in a last ditch effort, managed to rally four divisions to defend the city. However, the exhausted and hungry troops of the Commune proved no match for the overwhelming strength that the Empire brought to bear.
By early March the city was in Imperial hands and the desperate scramble to beat the Germans to as much French territory as possible had begun.
By mid-March, the Imperial soldiers had, barely, pipped the Germans to the port city of La Rochelle and finally sealed the border between the French and German Empires. All that remained now was the large pocket of Communard troops trapped in the Pyrenees between Imperial and Spanish forces - with another pocket of Communards trapped in Brittany.
The pocket in Brittany was rapidly crushed by the Wehrmarcht and, on the 25th of March, the remnants of the Commune’s governing CGT (many of the leading figures of the Commune having already fled to the Union of Britain) formerly surrendered to the German Empire. The Second Weltkrieg was over in mainland Europe and now would come the negotiations between the Catholic League and the Mitteleuropa to determine the fate of France.
The consequences of these momentous negotiations would reverberate throughout the remainder of the twentieth century.
Though the loss of what became known as the Ten Thousand would cause heads to roll at all levels in the officer corps - most of them being scapegoats for failures at the highest level - D’Esperey, in overall command of the ‘Liberation’ force, was not one of those who would lose his position.
This was because, despite being the one who had failed to see the risks of his orders for the cavalry to hold Bordeaux, he was the victor of Lyon, and therefore protected by his popularity with the public. But, more importantly, he had not hesitated following the fall of Bordeaux. With Lyon captured he was now free to bring the First Army to bear elsewhere and began to draw up plans to recapture Bordeaux - plans that convinced both the Emperor and De Gaulle that he was worth keeping in place.
D’Esperey began by moving the First Army to Clemont Ferrand to fill a substantial gap in the front line. A chance to resume the offensive then presented itself when the Foreign Legionnaires holding Toulouse came under an attack on four sides by the Communards.
D’Esperey immediately launched a counter-attack on Tulle, striking at the flanks of the Communard troops taking part in the attack on Toulouse.
The attack was a resounding success and the Communards were forced to retreat.
With the Commune struggling to reform their frontline, the Legionnaires, who had endured a gruelling two weeks of constant combat, were finally able to throw back the attack on Toulouse.
The Imperial forces then continued with their counter-offensive, with the First Army and the Foreign Legion launching an offensive against the back-footed Communard soldiers in Perigeux, winning a swift victory and continuing with what was now most definitely a breakout.
With the Communards scattered before them, and joint Italian and Imperial forces keeping the pressure on the Communards in the south, the victorious First Army found the road to Bordeaux now open to them.
However, the Communards rallied quickly and, in a last ditch effort, managed to rally four divisions to defend the city. However, the exhausted and hungry troops of the Commune proved no match for the overwhelming strength that the Empire brought to bear.
By early March the city was in Imperial hands and the desperate scramble to beat the Germans to as much French territory as possible had begun.
By mid-March, the Imperial soldiers had, barely, pipped the Germans to the port city of La Rochelle and finally sealed the border between the French and German Empires. All that remained now was the large pocket of Communard troops trapped in the Pyrenees between Imperial and Spanish forces - with another pocket of Communards trapped in Brittany.
The pocket in Brittany was rapidly crushed by the Wehrmarcht and, on the 25th of March, the remnants of the Commune’s governing CGT (many of the leading figures of the Commune having already fled to the Union of Britain) formerly surrendered to the German Empire. The Second Weltkrieg was over in mainland Europe and now would come the negotiations between the Catholic League and the Mitteleuropa to determine the fate of France.
The consequences of these momentous negotiations would reverberate throughout the remainder of the twentieth century.
Sorry for the delay in posting this latest update. I've been rather busy I'm afraid.
I say it's still time to suck up to Germany just to punch them in the back, Hey, it's worth a shot.
Well, when invading France I knew that Germany was always going to end up with most of the country. So I operated on the plan of getting enough strategic locations to be able to have enough of a strong hand that I could realistically mod in some sort of treaty which at least gave the French Empire an area roughly equivalent to Occitania.
That's why taking both Lyon and Bordeaux were so important - Lyon has 20 IC and Bordeaux is the historic capital of France whenever Paris has been unavailable (for one reason and another).
The next update will be covering the partitioning negotiations. Now, this is where I'd like to ask you all a question. Which outcome of the negotiations do you recommend? The main options I see are a partitioning, and some sort of cold war between the Catholic League and the Mitteleuropa, or France completely changing sides in order to regain the entirety of France. But which one do you think would be most historically accurate?
I have to confess that I've mainly already made up my mind - but it's not 100% made up
That's why taking both Lyon and Bordeaux were so important - Lyon has 20 IC and Bordeaux is the historic capital of France whenever Paris has been unavailable (for one reason and another).
The next update will be covering the partitioning negotiations. Now, this is where I'd like to ask you all a question. Which outcome of the negotiations do you recommend? The main options I see are a partitioning, and some sort of cold war between the Catholic League and the Mitteleuropa, or France completely changing sides in order to regain the entirety of France. But which one do you think would be most historically accurate?
I have to confess that I've mainly already made up my mind - but it's not 100% made up
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I think it's more plausible that France switches sides to gain the entire country.
Only if it get something substantial back of course. I don't think it would be worth it for them to keep it for themselves. Revolts would be rampant, I'm sure.
Well, the normal German options are to partition France into Normandy, Brittany, Occitania and a French rump state (with a German as King) or to have a French puppet state with a German as King or to continue the occupation or to give France to NF in exchange for an alliance. But they normally choose the first.
You could always have some sort of organization that would rebel in the North...I don't know the exact Kaiserreich canon, but I can imagine that many sympathizers still live in the North that either would migrate to the South. I think it depends on what you have to offer Germany. What is going on in the rest of the world? Is Russia friendly or hostile towards Germany? What about the USA etc. It would be okay to switch sides or even bring the Catholic bloc into the camp of Germany...but a cold war is also interesting
i think the partition is more plausible. germans are probably fed up with the french and would most likely prefer to cripple france so no wars would be necessary in the near future. besides you don't have much to offer in exchange for the whole french territory.
on the other hand catholic bloc vs. mitteleuropa might be impossible to win unless you get some new allies. i think if you managed to get austria to join you or if there's a war mitteleuropa vs russia you might have some chances.
on the other hand catholic bloc vs. mitteleuropa might be impossible to win unless you get some new allies. i think if you managed to get austria to join you or if there's a war mitteleuropa vs russia you might have some chances.
Hmm, well I think I'll write an update and then, if you guys think it's implausible then I'll either change it or come up with two different save game scenarios so that people can explore two different paths for themselves
What about France flips to Mittleeurope, but Flanders-Wollonien gets West Flanders, and France loses cores on Mittleeurope territory and Romandy. Maybe they keep cores on Corsica and Savoy.
I think that the Empereur should ask officially the Kaiser to get France back. But I think the german have nothing to gain from an alliance with the Empire, except if the want to fight the Entente, which would promptly take all her colonies. So Organising a rump french kingdom with a german prince, (or a Bourbon to fight the bonapartist and try to make carlist change their alliance) with all France except Occitania like you said would be the most realist idea I think. And a Bourbon against Bonaparte would rock!
Well, even though you're probably already set for what you prefer, i'd say that it seems most likely that Germany wouldn't give the French Empire it's proper territories back. Firstly, I doubt the Germans would deal with a parvenu dynasty such as the Bonaparte's. After all, it was Napoleon who embarassed the Prussians severely when he took hold in Paris. Secondly, Germany would probably be worried about the new French Empire raising questions about a certain set of territories on the Rhein. Thirdly, the French Empire has already dropped one alliance, if they drop out of another, it just proves to the Germans that the French can't be trusted to run their own foreign policy.
Lastly, I think a Catholic Alliance/Mitteleuropan cold war would be far more interesting IMO. Perhaps an Occitain Wall instead of one in Berlin?
Lastly, I think a Catholic Alliance/Mitteleuropan cold war would be far more interesting IMO. Perhaps an Occitain Wall instead of one in Berlin?
Dammit you guys. There I was, the entire AAR played through all the way up to the third world war, a French Empire in the ascendant and everything hunky dory, and then you go and spoil it all by being so convincing that you change my mind. Totally not cool dudes
But yeah, my reasoning behind the Germans giving France back in exchange for the french empire joining the mitteleuropa was as follows:
Austria was showing signs of being willing to join the Catholic league. A divided France would mean a cold war and another rival power bloc to worry about at the same time that Germany was still fighting the British. Also, Germany had a large catholic minority and its eastern european allies were catholic countries so tension with a powerful Catholic League could prove massively destabilising to Germany's alliances. Additionally, any King they imposed on their French puppet state would cause resentment at having a german foisted on them and would see decades of constant unrest if they had a rival french state - one actually ruled by Frenchmen - sharing a land border with their puppet. On the other hand, giving France back to a fellow monarchy, in exchange for it renouncing its territorial ambitions, would help preserve stability and the old order in europe as well as rendering the Catholic League toothless while dealing with the French threat once and for all. An additional motivator could be the increasingly senile Kaiser being suddenly taken with the idea of an alliance of the two emperor's as a way of preserving his legacy (OTL Kaiser Willhelm II often got seized with a passion for a particular idea - even though he rarely stuck with them for long or bothered to handle the detail of them).
So that was the option I was going to go for - with the added bonus that it's an option already coded into KR instead of requiring custom events.
But, if you guys still think that that isn't as plausible as partitioning then I'll go and start writing some custom events
But yeah, my reasoning behind the Germans giving France back in exchange for the french empire joining the mitteleuropa was as follows:
Austria was showing signs of being willing to join the Catholic league. A divided France would mean a cold war and another rival power bloc to worry about at the same time that Germany was still fighting the British. Also, Germany had a large catholic minority and its eastern european allies were catholic countries so tension with a powerful Catholic League could prove massively destabilising to Germany's alliances. Additionally, any King they imposed on their French puppet state would cause resentment at having a german foisted on them and would see decades of constant unrest if they had a rival french state - one actually ruled by Frenchmen - sharing a land border with their puppet. On the other hand, giving France back to a fellow monarchy, in exchange for it renouncing its territorial ambitions, would help preserve stability and the old order in europe as well as rendering the Catholic League toothless while dealing with the French threat once and for all. An additional motivator could be the increasingly senile Kaiser being suddenly taken with the idea of an alliance of the two emperor's as a way of preserving his legacy (OTL Kaiser Willhelm II often got seized with a passion for a particular idea - even though he rarely stuck with them for long or bothered to handle the detail of them).
So that was the option I was going to go for - with the added bonus that it's an option already coded into KR instead of requiring custom events.
But, if you guys still think that that isn't as plausible as partitioning then I'll go and start writing some custom events
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Nah, your idea sounds fine. Still, a shame you have to deal with the devil though.
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