Rebuilding the Great Empire - Timurids AAR (Death and Taxes MOD)

blklizard

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• May 5, 2014

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• #221

Chapter 135

The Mongol Messenger​

December 15, 1874​

A32​

Modena Annexed! Paris Occupied!

The capital city of Modena has fallen and the nation itself was annexed into the Mughals. The siege was a difficult one without the support of ships and the defenders were fierce. It was true determination of the attackers that made the victory possible. The annexation also struck fear in the Italian nations, many of whom became hesitant to declare war on the Mughals. The soldiers that were sieging the city would get a few days of rest before they were mobilized back to the front lines in France.

The Mughals siege of the capital city of Modena has lasted for nearly three years. The outer wall was the most heavily defended. The walls were exceptionally reinforced and were only outdone by the fortresses built by Lithuanians in former Lithuania. With cannons that could rival the ones Mughals use, it was obvious that the Italians weren't going down without a fight. The cannons can be reloaded relatively quickly and they were accurate enough to be extremely devastating to a large mass of charging men. To make things more difficult, the outer walls were surrounded by moats that were almost as wide as the walls themselves. To successfully make a breach, one must first charge and survive the first few volleys of cannon fire. Next, the soldiers must, under heavy Italian Infantry fire, fill in the moat with nearby dirt. The process would be slow and the number of casualties were estimated to be extremely high. The defenders were fierce as well. They have sworn to die on the walls rather than retreat or surrender. There were an estimated four thousand soldiers as the garrison. Three quarter of them were at the outer walls while the remainder were situated at the inner walls. The extra fortification provided plenty of cover for the garrison which made the bombardments a lot less effective. In addition, the defenders had designs similar to arrowslits that made it possible for their men to shoot at their enemies while being behind cover.

One of the main reasons why the city held out that long was due to their naval supply route still operational. While the cannons did make it tougher for ships to enter and leave the port, the Italians still got some supplies. At the early stage of the siege, there were still plenty of food for the soldiers and the citizens. As the siege transitioned over to its middle stage, supplies were growing more scarce as fewer ships were able to deliver supplies into the city. People were forced to have rations while the soldiers were still guaranteed a full meal. By this time, the Mughals cannons had been focusing fire at a few areas of the outer walls and the walls were beginning to collapse under pressure. The defenders were beginning to worry as they saw their fortification slowly breaking under the enemy's cannon fire. With the Mughals yet to launch any assaults, the defenders has yet to enjoy any minor victories to boost their morale. Things only went downhill more for the Italians as the siege entered its final stages.

The Mughals soldiers manning cannons that were targeting the ships entering the port were becoming more experienced with each Italian delivery. They began to learn the most effective way of immobilizing the enemy ships and thus stopping more ships in their race to the safety of the port. As a result, the supplies within the city dropped so low that most citizens struggled to have a single meal a day. The food for the garrison was rationed as well and things looked bleak for the defenders. The soldiers manning the outer walls, having been starved for days, no longer had the will to fight. They surrender on the fifth of December and the Mughals got past the outer walls. The garrisons on the inner walls still weren't willing to surrender and the Mughals decided to launch an assault. The Italian defenders, weakened from hunger and thirst, could barely raise their weapons, let alone aim them. The gate was breached within an hour and the Mughals infantry stormed into the palace. All the defenders were captured and the ruler was forced to surrender under the terms of annexation.

The Mughals soldiers should have been celebrating their victory but what awaited them inside the city was a cruel sight. There was one account written by a soldier:

War is cruel. We just entered the city after nearly three years of siege. What awaited us was a city of the dead. There were corpses littered everywhere that we can guess were the result of starvation. The corpses weren't the most grueling sights. We've seen corpses from battles and got used to them. No, what was disgusting was the state of the corpses. We first thought that the city was overrun with rats and they have been feeding on the feast. When we entered deeper into the city, we realized that we were wrong. The living inhabitants were the ones eating the corpses. In order to survive, they were forced to eat their own family members. This just gave a whole new meaning of survival of the fittest. The fit ones must eat the weaker ones to survive. I will never forget about what I saw today. Not now, not ever.

The French capital, Paris, has been occupied by Saxony soldiers. It was originally believed that the capture of the capital would result in a long siege. However, the French monarch has turned tail and run. The garrison, abandoned by their ruler, has lost heart to fight. It only took six days before the Saxony officers negotiated a surrender with the French garrison in Paris. The French capital may have fallen but the resistance within the nation was still strong. Despite not having a large standing army, there were still plenty of French militias using guerilla tactics to halt the advances of Mughals and Saxony troops. Until the capture of the French ruler, there might not be a chance of a peace deal between the two nations. As for the French monarch, he was last reported to be making his way north to escape by ship to the newly formed nation of Ireland.



CONTINUED ON A33

 

blklizard

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• May 7, 2014

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• #222

Chapter 136

The Mongol Messenger​

November 15, 1886​

A33​

Expanding Revolutionary Frontier​

The Mughals continue her expansion into Western Europe as her ideas began to spread into rest of Europe. The people living under a monarchy had enough of the oppressive rule and began to rebel against the government in hopes of a better life. A rapid change was spreading across Europe and not a single nation could avoid it. The wars that would soon engulf nearly all of Europe became a clash of between the old ways under Monarchy and the new ideas brought forth by the Mughals Republic. The Mughals discovered that her war with France would be only the beginning as the entire Western Europe would soon be fighting to preserve their traditions. To bring freedom and equality to all those in Europe, the Mughals would continue her campaign in Western Europe where blood would be spilled and sacrifices would be made. In the end, we, the Mughals, will come out on top.

The French has finally been defeated and their southern provinces, along with their lone provinces in northern Germany and Scandinavia, were ceded to the Mughals. The war has been a long one with both sides suffering a considerate number of casualties. Since the capture of Paris, there was a race to find and capture the French Monarch who abandoned his capital to save his own hide. After heading north, the French Monarch narrowly avoided capture and escaped to Great Britain (Ireland denied him entry). With the absence of the French monarch, the French had to form a temporary government to discuss a peace deal with the Mughals. More than three quarters of France was occupied and the war had drained the French treasury. A peace deal must be achieved quickly before France itself collapse under its growing debt and massive unrest. Despite the urgency of forming a temporary government, the internal struggles within France made the process slow and painful. It wasn't until the September of 1886 that the French temporary government was established and peace talks took place between the two nations. Previously, the Mughals had hoped to take as little territory as possible to prove their lack of ambitions in taking lands from others. However, the long occupation under the Mughals had convinced many people under French rule that the Mughals governed with fairness and equality. By the time the peace talks began, many provinces requested to join the Mughals in hopes of being governed by more capable people. When the peace deal was agreed upon, twenty one French provinces would be transferred over to Mughals control. Of the twenty one provinces, nineteen became a part of the Mughals under the request of the local inhabitants.

With the new ideas spreading, small nations in Western Europe weren't spared. The people began to fight for a better tomorrow and called themselves the revolutionaries. The revolutionaries took up arms and attempted to overthrow their government. The clashes were bloody as the streets were stained with the blood of soldiers and innocent people. In some areas, the revolutionaries were defeated and their leaders executed. In other places, the two sides fought on and a stalemate would take place. Four such places were Mainz, Alsace, Baden and Flanders. Neither sides had an upper edge and the clashes would become the war of attrition. The revolutionaries knew that they would eventually lose and needed aid from elsewhere. There were republics in Western Europe but their leaders, like the monarchs, were corrupt. With no other choice, the revolutionaries requested aid from the Mughals months before the peace deal with France.

When the Doge heard about the request, he was hesitant at first. The revolutionaries not only requested funds and supplies but also reinforcements. Sending funds and supplies were fine but sending troops into a foreign land was an act of war. The war with France was still raging on and the Doge wasn't sure if his nation can take on the burden of new wars. When writing to the generals situated in Vienna, the Doge ordered them to make decisions on their own discretion. Unknown to the Doge, many divisions were freed up from the French campaign since the arrival of Saxony reinforcements. The divisions were garrisoned in the region which meant that they were ready for action the moment the orders were sent. Without any hesitation, the generals sent orders to the officer/generals leading the divisions to change course to one of the four nations.

The arrival of the Mughals troops immediately had an impact on the revolutions. The Mughals troops were able to enter city walls with little resistance and cities fell quickly one by one. Despite minor resistance, the Mughals troops did, in more than one occasion, had to fight grueling battles that cost many lives. What was truly unbelievable was how the revolutionaries, when victory was also within their grasp, turned on the Mughals soldiers. Those vile so called revolutionaries actually believed that our Doge wanted to compete with them for the lands. However, the conflict they began would soon get out of hand and the Mughals troops had no choice other than putting down the revolutionaries. Next, the nations were either annexed and cut down in size as the Mughals officers reestablished order in those cities. More territory would become part of the Mughals but many more territories were still under the oppressive rule of monarchs. The Mughals troops would continue their march forward to bring freedom and equality to the rest of Western Europe.



CONTINUED ON B1

 

Last edited: May 14, 2014

todesfall

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• May 11, 2014

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• #223

wow!
You're just taking down everyone.
any chance on a world map?

 

blklizard

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• May 11, 2014

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• #224

todesfall said:

wow!
You're just taking down everyone.
any chance on a world map?

Click to expand...

There are still many wars to be fought before the game ends. I'll be focusing more on battles so the pace of the AAR will slow down. Here's the map you wanted (It's quite a mess in some areas):

Chapter 137

Mughals Arsenal (1889) [Part I]

Welcome all to the Mughals Arsenal. Here, you will see the latest weapons available to the Mughals army, navy and airforce at a certain year (1889 in this issue). We won't go into detail as we don't want our enemies to know too much of our secrets. (This is different from what I use to write. If you have any feedback or comments, feel free to tell me.)

Infantry/Cavalry

Rifle:

The rifle was the standard weapon for the Mughals infantry. With this weapon being relatively light weight and a lot less burdensome than many other weapons, an infantry can move across the battlefield quickly for positioning or for a direct assault. With a large emphasis on mobility, the Mughals made sure that they had a weapon that suited their fighting style. Since rifles were invented, the Mughals military had mass produced this weapon to replace the muskets that once dominated the battlefield. First, the magazine design in the rifle has made reloading a quicker and easier. Secondly, the rifle also provided better range and accuracy compared to its predecessors. Not only was the Mughals infantry able to fire more shots but it was guaranteed that more of their shots would hit the enemy. In addition, this weapon also gave rise to a specific role in the army: snipers. Under the skilled eyes of a sniper (with the aid of optical sight later on), a Mughals sniper could kill enemy soldiers far away with deadly accuracy. While their numbers were few, the Mughals snipers did earn a reputation on the battlefield which struck fear in the enemy. When cavalry still made up a major portion of the Mughals army, they were also issued rifles. Despite having great mobility, the fact that cavalrymen were moving meant that they lacked the accuracy that made infantry so dangerous. To make matters worse, new invention also further reduced the effectiveness of cavalry as the Mughals learned in the final stages of war against France. By 1889, the Mughals only had a small group of veteran cavalrymen active in the army. These cavalry had accuracy that rivaled their infantry counterpart while capable of creating disruption in the enemy lines.

Handgun/Pistol:

The pistols manufactured in Mughals were clip-loaded automatics. Unlike rifles, pistols were produced in limited numbers and were reserved only to officers or those with enough wealth and influence. The reason these weapons weren't mass produced was the fact that the Mughals adopted the idea that pistols were only reserved for the higher classes. In close quarters, a pistol could outperform a rifle and, with more clips in its magazine than a rifle, often decided the life and death of a Mughals officer. However, the effectiveness of a pistol was greatly reduced on the battlefield where its range and accuracy proved to be an issue. The few cavalrymen that were still in service in 1889 were all issued a pistol as well. They would be disrupting the enemy's rear and, should their horses die and got left behind, the extra weapon meant they could kill a few more enemies before dying. It was rumored that a soldier, facing no escape and possible capture, preferred suicide by a pistol as it was more reliable.

Machine Gun:

This weapon required a small crew to operate. The machine gun was quite heavy and therefore lacked the mobility to be moved across the battlefield. The fact that it wasn't very mobile meant that the weapon was usually stuck in a defensive role but it has proven to be greatly excel in its role. The weapon was usually positioned on a tripod and needed only two men to operate once it was set up (one to fire and the other to reload). One major flaw of the machine gun was that it overheated quickly which rendered it inoperable. Despite the many efforts to use water cooled or air cooled methods to maintain its temperature, the machine gun could still overheat rather quickly and greatly reducing its effectiveness in battle. Overheating has not been the only problem to arise. Machine guns has jammed up and required minutes or even hours before they could be repaired. To make up for the flaws, the Mughals infantry has group several machine guns together to maintain steady pressure at a location where constant fire was needed. At the time, it was estimated that a working machine gun had an output that rivaled a hundred or so rifles.

Grenade:

The Mughals produced two kinds of grenades: one detonated on impact while the other kind had a fuse timer. Mughals soldier preferred the fuse timer grenades as the other kind had a potential to be accidentally detonated in the heat of battle. Grenades didn't play a large part in battles outside cities since their range was very limited. A soldier had to get very close to the enemy in order to throw their grenades which, with the machine guns and rifles shooting back, proved to be a very difficult task. In a city setting, grenades were widely used as the soldiers needed to fight in the streets to control a block at a time. In 1889, every soldier within the Mughals army was issued two grenades while bombing squad, with the sole purpose of forcing a breach in enemy lines, were issued up to twenty grenades.

Anti-tank Weapon:

With intelligence reporting the French constructing vehicles they called tanks. These vehicles would be heavily armored and had the purpose to supporting infantry under heavy enemy fire. The Mughals were unsure how powerful these tanks would be but they weren't taking the chance of overlooking the situation. In response, the Mughals created their first anti-tank gun. The gun would provide support at a distance with a powerful gun that launched projectiles fast enough to penetrate the armor of tanks. The guns weren't extremely accurate but, with the French tanks being slow and clumsy, they should accomplish their goals.

Bayonet:

Despite the many advances in ranged weapons, the Mughals still trained their infantry in hand to hand combat. Instead of arming every soldier with a sword, the soldiers would be armed with bayonets which they can fit onto their rifles. The bayonets had a simple design of sharp blades that can be quickly attached to the head of the rifle. The blades were both light and strong which made them easy to carry around in the heat of battle. Every soldier was expected to take good care of his bayonet and failure to do so would result in punishment. In addition, every soldier was required to pass the bayonet test before he can begin his service. The Mughals had strict training for bayonets because they viewed hand to hand combat equally important as shooting capabilities. Officers saw the training as another way of improving the survivability of the soldiers.

 

evankonst

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Dec 25, 2012

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• May 11, 2014

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• #225

Airforse!?!?!?!?! Jesus christ!!!

 

blklizard

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• May 12, 2014

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• #226

evankonst said:

Airforse!?!?!?!?! Jesus christ!!!

Click to expand...

Well, we are entering world war era and I decided to push some technological advance forward a few decades . Be assured that I won't be bring in stealth aircraft or anything too modern.

Chapter 138

Mughals Arsenal (1889) [Part II]

Tanks/Artillery

Mortar/Howitzer:

The mortar became a new preference for the Mughals following their development of trench warfare. The Mughals have always favored mobility which made cannons and other types of artillery unalluring. One of the main advantages for the mortar was its mobility across the battlefield due to it light weight design. Instead of slowing the entire force down, mortars could be packed up like rifles, though heavier, and could be used in relatively large numbers. From the safety of trenches, the mortars would deliver a devastating blow to the enemy. The mortar would also be the Mughals' answer to the cannons which the major European powers favor. In addition, the mortars was a solution to enemy soldiers that were holed up in a defensive position. The Mughals have realized the potential of powerful weapons like mortars on the battlefield which was why they resurrected a century old design in the upcoming wars.

Aviation

Reconnaissance Planes:

In the Steppe, the Mughals began a series of secret tests that would transform warfare forever. The Mughals were always fascinated by the birds that fly above them. Over the centuries, many models of planes, in an attempt to replicate birds, were made but none worked. In the mid-nineteenth century, the Mughals made a breakthrough with a prototype plane that stayed in the air for roughly thirty seconds. The Mughals would continue to improve upon the model but the funds dropped as the nation began further expansion in Europe. The plane didn't appear to have any value in warfare which was why the funds in its research was lowered. In 1880, a few Mughals generals realized that potential of planes as a way of gathering information of the enemy. Sending scouts had been the deciding factor in many Mughals victories but it was a dangerous job that could go wrong too easily. With the new invention of cameras, one person on the plane could take pictures of the enemy's position and report it back to base. Thus, more funds were put into development of stabler planes that could stay in the air much longer. In 1889, five planes, capable of staying in the air for an average of thirty minutes, were built purely for reconnaissance. Before mass producing the model, the generals hoped to see its performance in actual battle.

Navy

Pre-dreadnought Battleship:

Pre-dreadnought battleships were the newest ships available in the world. With the exception of Great Britain, no other nation began the development of these ships. The Mughals would be the second nation to begin construction but, with only a few shipyards in Europe, the construction of the ship would be slow and painful. Unlike the ironclads that preceded them, the pre-dreadnoughts no longer relied on masts while carrying heavy guns on turrets. The improvements in heavy guns also removed the need of using rams as a way of sinking enemy ships. In addition, the pre-dreadnoughts had a secondary battery which targeted less armored targets. Like the ironclads, torpedoes were also part of the armaments of these new and improved battleships. For protection, pre-dreadnoughts began to utilize considerate amount of steel armor with its main focus on critical areas like the engines and boilers. The engine of the pre-dreadnought, being an improvement over the engine used by the ironclad, made the new battleship faster with a top speeds between sixteen and eighteen knots. BY 1889, it was rumored that Great Britain had a design for better battleships known as dreadnoughts. While the Mughals engineers were working hard to catch up to the British, the few pre-dreadnoughts that were completed would still serve a purpose in the war with France.

I apologize for this short update. There was some time conflict which forced me to split a single AAR into two separate parts. For the next update, we will be talking about the war with France .

 

blklizard

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• May 14, 2014

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• #227

Chapter 139

The Mongol Messenger​

February 10, 1889​

B1​

New War Against France​

The French wanted revenge for their humiliating defeat in the previous war by declaring a new war only months after the truce between the two nations ended. With soldiers massed up, the French declared war in an attempt to reclaim their southern territories. Both Spain and Great Britain chose to not get involved in the war which meant France was alone. Despite not having other European great powers backing them, the French believed they had the soldiers and resources to take on the Mughals whose control over Europe still appeared weak. The Mughals, anticipating this act of aggression, were ready to meet the French on the battlefield. Many Mughals soldiers were positioned along the border and, when the truce between the two nations ended, they were ordered to be vigilant for any signs of French soldiers. The French didn't waste time mobilizing their troops the moment they declared war and the two great nations would clash once again. The Doge hoped that, when the war concludes, France would forever lose their status as a great power in the world.

The French government didn't hide their hate towards the Mughals. They actually viewed the us as the aggressors in our last war when we were clearly the liberators fighting to free the citizens under their rule. The French government has oppressed their minorities and we entered the war as liberators. However, the French government didn't see it that way and instead called our great leaders bloodthirsty monsters eager for more land and power. During the truce that guaranteed peace between the two nations, France has, instead of rebuilding their cities and infrastructures, focused much of their resources in rebuilding her army. The only infrastructure that were rebuilt were the roads that would benefit faster mobilization of the French soldiers. As for the army, the French government spared no expense to build from the bottom up. Their previous veteran soldiers had either died or surrendered in the previous war which meant that France relied on training new recruits. With world renowned training techniques, the French were able to build up an impressive army that our soldiers would be foolish to underestimate. Not only did the French aimed for quality over quantity but they also made many military breakthroughs they hoped would give them a much needed edge. The French, like our politicians, knew that another defeat like their last one would spell the end of the domination France enjoyed in Europe.

According to Mughals intelligence, it was known that the French made heavily armored vehicles called tanks. The idea of tanks was made possible when the new French generals tried to find the solution to protecting their soldiers from Mughals infantry fire. Many breakthroughs were made to the automobile and the French generals decided to utilize the design in their tanks. The tanks would advance forward into the enemy while, with it heavily armored sides, provided cover for the soldiers within. With a line of these tanks, French infantry can march behind them until they were close enough to fire back while under cover. The French felt the tanks could shift the battles in their favor as they begin their push southwards to occupy their former territories. Believing that the Mughals had no countermeasures, the French declared war with confidence. However, the Mughals have made some countermeasures that, while results were yet to be seen in actual battle, could potentially shift the war in their favor. Overall, the French didn't learn their lesson from the previous war and wanted more bloodshed. Despite many efforts of our diplomats, the war was, in the end, unavoidable. The war would be a test to see whether or not the French tanks will indeed be the deciding factor in the final outcome of the war.

Since the last war, the French found themselves in a less than ideal situation. Losing their southern territories had weakened France but, as the declaration of the war proved, France still could fight back. France shared three separate borders with the Mughals and their forces were spread out more. In the Netherlands territory, the Mughals acquired a few provinces from Burgundy and a small force garrisoned the area to maintain order. East of France, the Mughals acquired new territories after aiding the revolutionaries. The people of those territories, with improved lives since the arrival of the Mughals, had already completely submitted to their new rulers. Thus, the local Mughals forces could be positioned along the border with France to prevent any sneak attacks. The Southern France region has yet to be fully integrated into Mughals. While most wanted to be a part of the Mughals, there were still oppositions in the region and convincing those parties has been slow. A large Mughals force would be situated in the region to not only maintain order but also responding to possible French invasion. When the French declared war, their forces mobilized with such speed that they nearly caught the Mughals off guard.

The French were focusing their main forces in Southern France where their main war target reside in. France hoped to use the war to reclaim their southern territories to reestablish their control over the region. With the new territory, they would further strengthen their army and push the Mughals, through a series of wars, out of Europe. With the main forces of both sides either in or heading towards Southern France, the battles that would decide the war were expected to take place in this region. Not taking any chances, both sides put their best soldiers and leaders on the battlefield in hopes to getting any edge they can in the war. Of course, the French couldn't leave their flanks open. The French had a small detachment sent to invade the Netherlands region where they expected a quick victory. The garrisons positioned in the Netherlands were reported to be few in numbers and, with no reinforcements, would likely break under pressure. As for France's eastern flank, the French also sent a relatively massive force to protect their eastern flank. Like the Netherlands region, the French expected a quickly victory in the east and their soldiers could quickly reinforce their forces in the south.

The French declared war thinking that they made all the necessary preparations. We, the citizens of Mughals, will show them the might of our great army. They will soon regret their decision to fight the greatest nation in the world. Even when we are outnumbered, we will continue to fight. Even when we have our backs to the wall, we will make them fear us by fighting back even harder. This will be the war the scourge of Europe gets reduced to a minor power in the region. Their bloodthirsty nature will bring about their destruction. When this war ends, Europe will be freed from the control of this monster of a nation. By then, the other European nations would thank us for our victory. They will see a brighter future for Europe once France cease to be a great power.


CONTINUED ON B2

 

todesfall

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• May 16, 2014

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• #228

HOLY CRAP YOU'RE BIG.
Good job!
Quick question. Is it possible to remain as Timurids without Mughalizing?

 

blklizard

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• May 17, 2014

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• #229

todesfall said:

HOLY CRAP YOU'RE BIG.
Good job!
Quick question. Is it possible to remain as Timurids without Mughalizing?

Click to expand...

Thanks! Yes, it's possible to remain as the Timurids while still westernizing. It just suited my AAR better to become the Mughals.

Chapter 140

Battle of Arras (part I)

Mughals Major General Melvin Guillotin commanded a garrison of eight thousand men in Arras. Moments after the declaration of war, Guillotin received reports that a French force numbering twenty five thousand was making its way to his city. It was estimated that the French soldiers needed at most three weeks before they arrive at the Arras city gates. The city defenses couldn't possibly hold out for too long against concentrated fire from French cannons which made defending the city a less than ideal situation. In addition, the area, being cut off from the rest of Mughals, meant that they couldn't expect any reinforcements to arrive anytime soon. Therefore, the major general checked his maps to build up a new fortification where he could turn the battle in his favor. After a quick meeting, Guillotin ordered his troops to build up fortification outside the city along a river a few kilometers from the city. The terrains surrounding the river and the many chokepoints made this location an ideal defensive position for the Mughals garrison that was vastly outnumbered.

For fortification, Guillotin decided to utilize the trench tactic that was gaining popularity in Mughals at the time. Trenches were effectively deep, narrow holes that stretched over a large distance. Not all terrains were suited for this tactic but the terrain that Guillotin picked was perfect. The dirt and mud made digging downwards easier than rocky terrains but the diggers must be careful not to redirect some of the river water into the trenches. If water began rushing in, the trench would no longer serve their purpose. The purpose of trenches was to provide cover for the soldiers while still allowing them to fire back at their enemies. Since the creation of machine guns and mortars, trench warfare became a very popular concept for the Mughals as they become very effective killing machines. The Battle of Arras would be the first battlefield upon which trench warfare would be seen in action so some were still doubtful of the effectiveness of this new style. Without wasting any time, the major general ordered his troops to begin digging the trenches in hopes of finishing the fortification before the arrival of the French. Guillotin could only hope that trenches would give his men a chance to win.

The river was split in half by a relatively narrow strip of land. Guillotin planned to dig one trench line (Trench A) in the strip of land and dig the second trench line (Trench B) behind it. The two trenches would have enough distance between them so that the French, should they capture the Trench A, couldn't use it for cover when they fight the Mughals soldiers in Trench B. To get across the river, the French must cross bridges that were the only means of river crossing in the vicinity. The river was treacherous and many people died building the bridges as they were swept downstream. If the French hoped to keep their losses to a minimal, it would be wise if they chose to cross the bridges instead. The bridges would be primary focus of the defenders as the enemy would be funneled through and lose their advantage with numbers. Thus, the trench lines were extended long enough to cover all the bridges. There were some people that criticized Guillotin for not destroying the bridges to cut off the French forces from advancing. Guillotin responded that, should this way be cut off, the French would find other ways to cross the river. This may delay them but they will get across sooner or later. It was a more viable choice to let the French come while they, the defenders, decide upon the battlefield. Silencing his critics, the trenches were constructed and they took a week to dig out. Guillotin needed help from the inhabitants of the city to finish the trenches in time and, luckily for him, the weather stayed nice long enough for the trenches to be finished. If rain had been in the forecast, the progress with the digging would be a lot slower. Meanwhile, the French began marching into Mughals territory with no resistance and they were closing in on Guillotin's defensive position.

The river wasn't the only obstacle that stood in the way of the French. A forest also stood between the French and the Mughals. There were trails in the forest but few uses them fearing they could get lost. The forest would help disorientate the enemy once they began splitting and Guillotin hoped that the French would lose their coordination as a whole once they entered the forest. If the French lacked proper coordination, they would be less effective in breaking through the Mughals trench line. In addition, the rough terrain in the forest area also meant that the French tanks would have a hard time entering the battlefield. There was only one path in the northern section of the forest that the tanks were able to traverse through. The combination of the forest and river crossing would be deadly for the French. The forest would slow down the French advance considerably while the river crossing would guarantee the French heavy losses. Ideally, the French force would be halted but, being outnumbered, Guillotin didn't have the confidence.

Once the trenches were dug out, Guillotin immediately ordered his troops into position. The eight thousand soldiers would be split in half with each half heading towards one trench. The four thousand men would then be split roughly into three groups with each group covering one of the bridges. While the majority of the men were positioned at the chokepoints, small detachments, usually a few dozen men, would patrol the remainder of the trenches to report any other crossings attempted by the enemy. Given that the French tanks were likely traversing through the northern section of the forest, Guillotin ordered all of his anti-tank guns to be positioned in the northern section of his Trench B. The anti-tank guns, with their range, could fire effectively while remain under cover from enemy fire. As for the mortar teams, Guillotin ordered them to position themselves in Trench A while having a clear escape route to Trench B. Should the enemy break through the first trench, the Mughals will need to mortars to provide effective support in their second line of defense if they hoped to have a chance to holding their ground.

On February 25th, the French forces have just reached the forest. As expected, they began to split up in their attempt to spread out their forces while maintaining encirclement of their enemies. Guillotin has stored enough supplies to last his men for a month while having patrols guard the supply route. The Mughals soldiers have been living in the trenches for a week and the rain has made conditions quite horrid. Some sections of the trenches were filled with water and rendering the section off limits. The trenches also didn't provide much cover from the rain and all the soldiers were soaked to the bone. The narrowness of the trenches also made fires difficult to maintain which forced many soldiers to eat their food cold. At night, the chilly conditions made sleep impossible for most soldiers. Guillotine actually feared that, before the French even engaged his forces, his men would already be too ill and exhausted to go on. Still, they were determined to hold the attackers off. Each soldier made their final preparations before they come in contact with the French and their morale, despite the conditions, was high. The first battle between the Mughals and French in the war would take place only a week later.

 

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• May 19, 2014

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• #230

Chapter 141

Battle of Arras (part 2)


French Forces Composition

Notable Commanders and Leaders:

Lieutenant General Edgar Marot (5th Army Corps)
Major General Edgard Lagoutte (2nd Division)
Major General Octave Maille (5th Division)
Brigadier General Narcisse Poirel (5th Regiment)
Brigadier General Christopher Belot (6th Regiment)

Strength:

5th Army Corps (25 thousand men)

-2nd Division (15 thousand men)
--4th Regiment (5 thousand infantry)
--5th Regiment (5 thousand infantry)
--6th Regiment (5 thousand cavalry)

-5th Division (10 thousand men)
--13th Regiment (5 thousand infantry)
--14th Regiment (5 thousand infantry)

History:

The French 5th Army Corps was a small detachment sent to Netherlands in an attempt to liberate the region from Mughals control. The French received reports that the region was only garrisoned by a few thousand men with no chance of reinforcements. Considering the location, there was little strategic value of capturing the region other than a confidence boost. The French military leader saw an easy victory in the Netherlands. The 25 thousand men sent to the Netherlands consisted of some of the newest recruits in the French army. With limited training prior to battle, there were doubts about the effectiveness of this group overall in actual combat. To further emphasis the French's overconfidence in the capture of the region, the Lieutenant General, Edgar Marot, was, to put it simply, rather incompetent on the battlefield. Edgar came from a wealth noble family with lots of power and wealth. The Marot family wasn't spared from the bloodshed in the previous war and Edgar joined the military for revenge. However, Edgar merely used his wealth and influence in bribing the instructors and high military officials until he reached the position of Lieutenant General. With no education or actual experience in the art of war, Edgar actually managed to persuade his superiors to send him alone to the Netherlands.

The 5th Army Corps, compared to others, was underequipped. For the 13th and 14th regiments, there were still soldiers armed with muskets that were considered outdated for the era. In addition, there were many rifles, estimates say roughly five thousand, were defective models that somehow made it to the soldiers. During training, those rifles could jam up without a single shot fired. Before the rifles could be traded in for functioning ones, the soldiers were ordered to march into battle. In addition to the rifles problems, the French soldiers were also low on grenades. It was rumored that there was a single grenade for every fifty soldiers. Compared to the Mughals garrison where each soldier had at least two, this number was very low. Without proper training using grenades, the French forces in Netherlands weren't expected to be too effective with their limited number of grenades. The only bright side of the armaments available to this army corps was their tanks. Edgar, while incompetent, has made a wise decision in using his wealth in purchasing ten tanks. The tanks were of the best quality produced in factories and they were the envy of many other army corps that didn't even have a single tank at their disposal.

 

Last edited: May 21, 2014

blklizard

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• May 21, 2014

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• #231

Chapter 142

Battle of Arras (part 3)

Lieutenant General Marot decided to lead the 5th French division with Major General Maille through the most northern path through the forest. The path, according to scouts, was the most accessible for the tanks Marot brought to his battle and he wished to travel with them. The path Marot picked was supposed to be the shortest path to the river but, with the slow speeds of the tanks, the 5th French division was expected to arrive at the front lines at roughly the same time as the other division. Two tanks would lead the way as they clear the path ahead of them. The remainder eight tanks would all be in the rear where Marot would be at. Marot, thinking that the Mughals has probably already abandoned their post in Arras, saw no need to scout further ahead. The 5th French division would mobilize steadily forward and Marot expected his men to set up camp once they reach the river. Despite the many pleading from Maille to proceed with caution, Marot refused to listen to his officer who he viewed as inferior. Instead, Marot ordered Maille to travel with the two tanks in the front. Maille was expected to scout out the way for his division and couldn't bother Marot with mundane issues.

Maille, fearing an ambush at the river, purposely led his men down the wrong path at a fork. This action not only delayed their progress to the front lines but, theoretically, they would meet up with the 6th French regiment. With cavalry of the 6th French regiment leading the way, Maille had more confidence in lessening his losses in an ambush. However, the 6th French regiment, under Brigadier General Christopher Belot, got lost and failed to meet up with Maille. With eagerness to arrive at the battleground first, Belot ordered his cavalrymen to move swiftly through the forest. At a fork, Belot made the mistake of picking the wrong path and his men began heading south. Because he was traveling so quickly, Belot missed going down a path that would have otherwise resulted in him meeting up with 4th French Regiment. Instead, the 6th French regiment moved swiftly westwards and , following another turn, they moved further south. By the time this regiment exited the forest, they were very far from the battlefield and completely separated from the other regiments. To make matters worse, Belot lost his map during his short trip in the forest and he had no idea how to meet up with rest of the forces. Unsure how to meet up with the main force, Belot made the decision of abandoning his post and head back to Paris.

The 4th French Regiment, under the command of Major General Edgard Lagoutte, was supposed to fight its battle at the middle bridge crossing. Lagoutte wasn't too confident in his ability to command his regiment to victory and believed safety in numbers. Secretly, he discussed with Brigadier General Narcisse Poirel, leader of the 5th French Regiment, about joining forces in the forest and move towards the south bridge crossing. With two regiments under his command, Lagoute believed that he had enough men to break through any defenses the Mughals set up, assuming that any Mughals stayed behind to fight the French. With ten thousand men under his disposal, the Major General thought he himself could defeat the Mughals garrison alone even if the Mughals were at its full strength. However, he believed he could only do so with two regiments. Thus, he sent scouts along the path that would join the two regiments and ordered them to keep him up to date with the progress of the other regiment. As expected, the two regiments did meet up in the forest and exited the forest together between the middle bridge crossing and the southern bridge crossing. They then made their way to the southern bridge crossing where Lagoutte saw as an easy victory.

The forest has actually achieved a great deal more for the Mughals Major General Guillotin than he first expected. The French 6th Regiment, consisting of all the cavalry in the two divisions, was turned back before the battle event began. Cavalry had a potential to be very dangerous in the battle. At some of the crossings, the river wasn't that deep and cavalrymen could make it across without a bridge. Had the French had access to their cavalry, they could potentially use their cavalry to cross the river and charge over the trenches. Once behind enemy lines, the cavalry men could create disruption amongst the defenders while the French infantry close the gap before they engage the Mughals. When Belot made the decision to retreat, he, at the very least, guaranteed that the battle of Arras would be a bloody one with his sides suffering more casualties than necessary. For the Mughals, they didn't know Belot retreated back into French territory. The Mughals scouts never picked up the position of the French cavalry which were reported to have came with the two divisions. Interestingly enough, the absence of the cavalry did rattle Guillotin who posted more patrols along the trench fearing a sneak attack from the French cavalry when they least expected it.

The French tanks, as expected, would travel the northern path in the forest. When the French forces changed course from the northern path, the Mughals scouts were confused and immediately reported their findings to Guillotin. The change of direction for the tanks meant a problem for Guilltotin who has focused all his anti-tank guns in the north. Fearing that his enemy anticipated his move, Guillotin ordered his anti-tank crew to be ready to reposition if necessary. The anti-tank guns weren't very mobile and repositioning them required time. If the French had managed to outmaneuver the Mughals, their tanks could turn the tide of the battle themselves. Meanwhile, more scouts were sent out the pinpoint the exact location of the tanks. Luckily for the scouts, the tanks were loud vehicles that made tracking them at a distance easy. Guillotin, nervous about how the situation would develop, impatiently waited for the reports of his scouts. When the French tanks exited the forest slightly southwards of their original exit, Guillotin breathe a sigh of relief. The French tanks continued making their way north to the northern bridge crossing where the Mughals anti-tank guns waited. As for the merge of the French 4th Regiment and 5th Regiment, it was also a huge tactical mistake. With the narrow bridges, the large numbers actually become a disadvantage for the French while the middle bridge crossing, not being threatened by the French, could be lightly guarded as the Mughals forces could divide themselves up to reinforce the north and south. Had the two regiments remained on course, they could more easily put through the otherwise thinner Mughals trench lines.

 

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• May 22, 2014

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• #232

Chapter 143

Battle of Arras (part 4)

In the north, the French forces has set up their camp across the river from the Mughals. Eager for battle, the French would be engaging the Mughals at the bridge crossing moments after the camp was set up. The Mughals have assigned two battalions, roughly five hundred men each, at the choke point. The Mughals scouts, seeing the lack of enemy forces in the middle crossing, have already reported back to Trench B. Guillotin ordered two battalions in the middle crossing to leave with one reinforcing the north and one reinforcing the south. In front of the bridge, the Mughals positioned several machine guns at their trench line and any unfortunate soldier to get in range would be brutally shot down. Meanwhile, the infantry have all positioned themselves with a clear line of sight across the river and waited patiently for their enemy to advance. The mortar teams, making their final checks of their ammunition and angling, wait patiently for the signal to fire. It was said that the northern section of Trench A was so silent that one only heard the sound of the rushing river and the march of the French soldiers. The defense of Arras relied on these men and they knew it. Soon, blood would be dyeing the river red.

The French Lieutenant General Marot was surprised to see the Mughals setting up defenses at the river. As this was the first time he encountered the Mughals trench tactic, Marot joked that the enemy has done him a favor and dug their own graves. He also mistaken his enemy's silence for fear because he was sure the enemy must be shaking in their boots seeing the powerful French army before them. Seeing no need to personally take part in the battle, Marot ordered Maille to take charge of the 14th French Regiment. His order for Maille was to take the first trench within the first hour. Maille, falsely believing that the Mughals would offer little resistance, accepted the order unhesitantly. Spreading his forces out into several ranks on his side of the riverbank, Maille directed his troops to travel down two paths in an orderly fashion. One group would move across the bridge towards the enemy while the other group travel along a route where the river crossing appeared to be shallow and join the other group at the second bridge. Feeling no need to hurry, Maille ordered his men to march steadily towards the enemy to prove the courage of French soldiers under enemy fire. The French soldiers would begin their march and, the moment the first man stepped onto the bridge, the Battle of Arras has begun.

The Mughals officers waited until the French soldiers stepped onto the first bridge before giving the signal to fire. Unknown to the French, the Mughals rifles have sufficient range to shoot at the French soldiers across the river. The first volley from the Mughals infantry killed the first ranks of the French soldiers waiting for their turn to cross the river. Maille was mortally wounded in that first volley as well. The volley and the injured officer had an negative impact on the French soldiers as they began to panic. Those that were heading along the second route began to run and, with many miscalculating the depth of the river at point A (see map), were swept away. The soldiers behind them suddenly lost their courage to advance and began to retreat to join the others on the riverbank. As for the French soldiers crossing the bridge, they no long had the discipline that was instilled in them. These men began to charge across the bridge hoping to run through unharmed but they were mowed down by the Mughals machine guns as soon as they got into the open. Under heavy fire, the French soldiers continued their charge forward but none could survive the machine gun fire which was so effective at the choke point. Meanwhile, Mughals mortars were firing shots in the midst of the French which resulted in further casualties. There were estimates that, in the first five minutes of the battle, the 14th French Regiment casualty reached four hundred men. The remaining officers, unsure how to proceed, ordered their men to retreat to the forest.

Marot was enjoying his wine when he was told about the first engagement. He was angered by the performance of his men and ordered the officers killed. He saw that he needed to take charge of the battle personally if he hoped for a swift victory. Marot made his way out of his camp and ordered one of his tanks to lead the charge. Several infantry would follow behind the tank and, while under cover, fire back at the Mughals. Marot was so sure of himself that he was prepared to get on his horse to ride across the battlefield once the enemy was eliminated. The tank made its slow progress forward and began its progress across the first bridge. Several rifles were fired but, as expected, none were able to get through the thick armor. The French soldiers, feeling safe with the cover, began firing back at the Mughals. However, these soldiers were the unfortunate ones to get defective rifles and they failed to fire any shots. On their way back to the forest, they were all shot down by Mughals snipers. Marot merely sent more men to follow the tank and a few more went in. These men were some of the more experienced soldiers and their shots did result in some Mughals casualties. By then, the tank was across the first bridge and was making its way to the second bridge. Marot was laughing at the Mughals' hopelessness in stopping his tanks. He was asking his officer to pour him a wine when a series of projectiles were shot in from the distance. One of the projectile hit the tank and the vehicle stopped moving. Few seconds later, the tank burst into flames and it became nothing more than a burnt wreck.

Marot was shocked by his tank's destruction. He thought that his tank must be defective until his officers pointed out that a projectile landed on it and pierced its armor. Moments after they saw their rifles unable to pierce the armor of the tank, the Mughals sent word back to Trench B where the anti-tank guns were waiting. The anti-tank crew immediately went to work in aiming their guns in the rough area. They patiently waited until they were given signal from Trench A. When they fired, the echo of the guns reached the southern bridge crossing where the soldiers knew that the battle has begun. While most of the shots missed their mark, one did hit and that French tank was rendered useless. The Mughals considered this a great success as they saw the burnt wreck that was once a French tank. The wreck both aided and hindered the Mughals. First, the wreck, still weighing tons, became a roadblock that prevented Marot from using his other tanks. However, the wreck also served as a cover for the French infantry where they could fire back at the Mughals. In a sense, the destruction of the tank stopped the French ultimate weapon in its tracks but failed to win the battle for the Mughals.

 

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• May 26, 2014

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• #233

Chapter 144

Battle of Arras (part 5)


Soon after the first French tank was destroyed in the north, the two sides at the southern crossing finally engaged in battle. The southern crossing was interesting because it had two paths leading up to the bridge which was the only way across the river. The French officers had a simple plan of dividing their infantry in half with each half marching along one path and have them meet at the bridge where they would cross together. The Mughals machine guns were positioned in front of the bridge and the French was mowed down before any of them could cross the bridge. Meanwhile, the Mughals infantry used their rifles to pick off the French soldiers trying to the reach the bridge. French casualties were high but their officers believed that they could eventually break through the enemy lines. Thus, wave after wave of French infantry were sent to their deaths and their bodies littered the two paths leading to the bridge. As more men began to pile into, more bodies would fall into the river and be swept downstream. The river water at the southern crossing was dyed a dark red but the French casualties would continue to soar. Believing that the Mughals would run out of ammunition soon, the French continued to press the attack into the choke point. One of the young French officers situated in the rear wrote in his journal:

"It was god awful. I don't know what our superiors are thinking. They were throwing living French men to their deaths. There was no way we can breach the Mughals trench line when they were so well defended. The choke point was an excellent location for these Mughals. Their machine gun was a deadly killing machine here. Our men fell one after another and you can just hear the machine guns firing rounds after rounds. Such a deadly weapon and our officers thought that, by sending our men forward, we can eventually defeat it. I joined the French army to see victory. This was not what I signed up for. I saw bodies of our men everywhere along the river. In some place, their bodies piled so high that our men could use the mount as cover from enemy fire. The river water was clear but, after passing through our crossing, turned a dark red that look no different from the blood bleeding from our soldiers. Still, our men were sent in. Can our superiors not see the deaths? Can they not realize that, if we win, the price we pay is too high? Of course, I can only hope we win. Our forces were making no advances here as the Mughals successfully held us at bay. My regiment was supposed to head for the middle crossing. Why did we abandon that plan? Our numbers were useless here at this choke point. By this time tomorrow, I'm afraid that the bodies of our men would clog up the river for good. Maybe the flood that would result from the clog would force the Mughals out of their trenches. Did I mention that there's another Mughals trench behind the one we see now?

The northern crossing wasn't faring any better for the French. Since the destruction of the French tank, Marot refused to send anymore tanks forward. Instead, he ordered his men line up across the riverbanks and open fire at the enemy. There were two flaws with his plan. First, his men had little to no cover along the riverbanks while the enemy had plenty with their trench. Secondly, the French had many defective or outdated weapons that were effectively useless in the battle. The muskets some of the French soldiers carried had extremely low accuracy at the distance the two sides were fighting at. The Mughals rifles were some of the best rifles of its time and the Mughals were able to decimate the French rank after ranks. Still, Marot, refusing to listen to his officers, ordered his men to continue the formation. After a while, the bodies of the dead French soldiers did form some cover for the French but they were still outmatched. The Mughals soldiers were too well trained and too well equipped. The longer the battle went, the less likely for the French to pull out a victory. Several hours since the first gunshot, the 5th French Division has lost a quarter of its men. Marot, frustrated with the progress of his battle, decided to retreat with his tanks and few loyal officers. He explained that he would return with reinforcements once he reached Paris.

With Marot gone, the remaining French soldiers lost heart. It wasn't long before many French officers began their own retreat. Eventually, the French abandoned their position in the northern crossing. The Mughals, seeing the French retreating, believed that they were regrouping to mount another attack. Fearing that the French would strike at the middle crossing, Guillotin ordered a quarter of the soldiers at the northern crossing to prepare themselves to reinforce the middle if they were needed. The Mughals waited and waited but the French forces never materialized. A few bold Mughals scouts decided to venture into the forest and, when they returned, they reported that there was no trace of the French soldiers. By this time, the French forces at the southern crossing has suffered a heavy casualties and the French officers, realizing that they couldn't break through, decided to retreat as well. The Mughals waited patiently for another push from the French but, as the hours passed, there were still no sign of the enemy. More scouts were sent out but they returned without any news. Unsure what has taken place, Guillotin ordered his men to remain alert while they continued to hold their position.

Two days passed before the Mughals realized that the French weren't coming back. The French abandoned their supplies at their camps behind the forest and those unfortunate enough to be captured confirmed the French retreat. The Mughals captured all the supplies and carried them to the city where it would be stored up. Guillotin, still unsure whether this was a trick or not, ordered his men to remain in position but the soldiers were more lax than before. Guillotin was determined to not be the one to lose the Mughals territories in Netherlands which explained why he remained within the trench till the end of the war. When it became apparent that the French may not be launching another offensive, Guillotin gave permission to his men to have shifts in the city where they can rest up. At the end of the Battle of Arras, the Mughals suffered few hundred or so casualties which was much lower than Guillotin first expected. As for the French, they suffered roughly eight thousand casualties. In addition, around three thousand were missing during their hasty retreat back into French territory. It was a incredible victory that the Mughals didn't think they could pull off with so little casualties. The trench tactic and anti-tank weapons were the key reasons for the Mughals' victory in the Battle of Arras.

 

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• May 27, 2014

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• #234

Chapter 145

World War I Begins!


On 17 February 1889, the French declared war on the Mughals. With a rebuilt army and an economy geared for war, the French felt they were ready to take on the Mughals and retake their former territories in the south. Other major European nations like Great Britain, Spain and Saxony chose to remain neutral as they waited for the situation to develop.

On 19 February 1889, the French 5th Army Corps engaged the Mughals defenders who established trench lines outside Arras. Disastrous leadership and poor quality equipment resulted in a full rout by the French forces following a few hours of fighting.

On 20 February 1889, the French Fourth and Fifth Armies began their advance into the Mughals territory bordering France's east flank. The strategic importance of the region didn't go unnoticed by either side and the French hoped to a swift victory so their forces can reinforce the armies advancing southwards into former Southern France. The Mughals, with anticipation of the war, have already positioned the Mughals Fourth and Seventh Armies. The two sides would meet at Arlon and Bar-le-Duc where future battles would take place. The objective of both sides differed greatly in the future battles. The French needed a swift victory so they would put more pressure in the south while the Mughals simply needed to hold their line to lock down two French armies. No rifles were fired that day with both sides carefully analyzing the enemy for weaknesses.

On 22 February 1889, the French First, Second and Third Armies marched into former Southern France where they engaged the Mughals Fifth Army. The French forces had six hundred thousand men deployed while the Mughals only had two hundred thousand men deployed. Miscommunication for the Mughals meant two hundred thousand soldiers (Mughals Second Army) failed to arrive at the front lines when the French engaged Mughals forces. To cover the trench lines that stretch across the length of the border, the Mughals forces were spread relatively thin. The French hoped to exploit this major weakness by breaking through the defensive lines of the Mughals with overwhelming numbers. The French forces made three major pushes and, after a day, they managed to overwhelm the Mughals defenders. The Mughals defenders were in disarray as their trench lines were breached and, to make matters worse, they were being encircled by French forces rushing to cut off their retreat. The Mughals were in full retreat to return to the safety of their cities.

On 23 February 1889, the Mughals 2nd and 7th Army Corps were surrounded by French troops. The trapped soldiers dug new trenches and continued to resist despite facing overwhelming numbers and having low amount of supplies. The other three Army Corps managed to escape the encirclement but their losses were high. Not including the Mughals soldiers trapped, the Mughals have already lost fifty thousand men in their retreat with another ten thousand missing. The Mughals army in former Southern France lost a third of their men in the first two days and, should the two Army Corps be wiped out, they would have lost three quarter of their men. The routed soldiers quickly regrouped before making their ways to three cities: Moulins, Limoges and Bergerac. The officers leading these men hoped to meet with the the Second Army and organize a second line of defense. The French generals set up minor defenses few kilometers into Mughals territory as they aimed to wipe out the two Mughals Army Corps before advancing further.

On 24 February 1889, the Mughals and the French had a minor naval engagement in the English Channel. Two Mughals pre-dreadnought battleships were patrolling the waters when six French Ironclad warships engaged in battle. The Mughals battleships not only had superior leadership but they were also superior in every way. All six French Ironclads were sunk and the two Mughals ships sailed to a nearby Mughals port for minor repairs.

On 26 February 1889, the two trapped Mughals Army Corps were wiped out without any survivors. The French forces began to make their progress to the Mughals' second line of defenses. Meanwhile, Spain has declared war on the Mughals. The Spanish saw the destruction of the Mughals Army Corps as a sign of Mughals' lack of control in the region. With the Mughals forces focusing on holding off the French, their rear was wide open for the Spanish. By getting military access through Navarra, Spanish troops poured into the weakly defended Mughals territories and made plenty of progress into the former Southern France. The Mughals soldiers that were positioned at the second line of defenses were forced to abandon their position and retreat to the Savoy region to avoid being sandwiched in the middle.

On 27 February 1889, Burgundy and Lorraine declared war on the Mughals. The two nations have enjoyed good relations with France and, upon request, agreed to assist the French in removing Mughals presence in the region. Saxony, a long standing ally of the Mughals, entered the war soon after. Saxony could no longer stay out of the war while her ally was attacked from all sides in Europe. The German armies were mobilized immediately as they rushed to aid the Mughals in both northern France and former Southern France. The entry of Saxony did have consequences as well. Great Britain has long feared the rapidly developing nation of Saxony. The British, hoping to keep Saxony in check, warned that they will declare war if Saxony use aggression towards other nations. When Saxony declared war, Great Britain didn't hesitate in declaring war on both the Mughals and Saxony. With Great Britain's entry, her allies (Canada, Portugal and Brittany) all joined in the fight against the Mughals and Saxony. The war was no longer contained in Europe following the entries of the new nations. The Mughals suddenly found herself fighting a multiple front war. The Doge, seeing the urgency of the situation, quickly assembled his generals to respond to the dire situation. Many Mughals reserves were mobilized as the Mughals, like many other major nations, prepared for the first world war.


Note: I've been debating about the style for the war and I've came up with this. I admit this first bit isn't all that exciting or well written but I will try my best to make the later entries better. Any suggestions or advice are welcome! Thank you!

 

Last edited: Jun 2, 2014

blklizard

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• May 29, 2014

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• #235

Chapter 146

War Update: March of 1889

On 1 March 1889, Great Britain launched her assault on Scandinavia. Scandinavia had a huge importance for the Mughals in Europe. Ever since the Mughals controlled much of Scandinavia, the Mughals saw the importance of the territory in future European wars. The former Sweden territory was rich in iron ore. Iron ore was not only vital to weapons manufacturing but also vital to the new ship building industry that was growing in Scandinavia. To make the steel armor that made battleships so deadly at its time, high grade iron ore was needed and these were found in Scandinavia. The Mughals also struck trade agreements with Saxony which saw a portion of the iron ore mined shipped to the German nation as well. With an iron ore supply so close, the Mughals also began their ship building industries. Many shipyards were built across Scandinavia as the Mughals were attempting to overtake the British in naval dominance. In addition, the Scandinavians were working hard to create new designs for battleships to fight against the British dreadnought battleships. The British saw it necessary to occupy the region for two main strategic reasons. First, the Mughals would lack the shipyards necessary to produce a large enough navy to fight against Great Britain and Spain in Europe. Lots of resources were invested in the construction of the shipyards and losing them would have a huge impact on the Mughals. Thus, the Mughals could no longer control the seas which meant half the war was won. Secondly, acquiring the iron ore would help strengthen the British in their fight while weakening their enemy. Both the Mughals and Saxony were reliant on the iron ores to sustain themselves during the war.

On 5 March 1889, Spanish Armada arrived off the coast of Egypt. The objective of the Spanish was the newly built Suez Canal that linked Europe and Eastern Asia. The Mughals built the canal so they have greater control over the Mediterranean. Originally, the Mughals hoped to build up a new fleet in India and send the fleet to Europe through the canal. However, most of the resources were spent on shipbuilding in Scandinavia which meant that the navy meant to be built in India never materialized. The Spanish saw the canal as the key to their victory. With the canal under their control, the Spanish could sail their Spanish Armada all the way to India in a much shorter time. With the Mughals focusing most of their forces in Europe, it was believed that Mughals India was vulnerable to an attack. A swift victory in Egypt could result in an invasion of the heart of Mughals before the Mughals could even respond. The Spanish believed that, if they could catch the Mughals in disarray, they could win the war by occupying the Mughals capital in Delhi.

On 6 March 1889, Saxony troops launched their invasion on Burgundy's Netherlands territories. The Saxony forces hoped to quickly occupy the region to not only reinforce the Mughals garrison but to also open another front in Northern France. News of French victory in former Southern France reached the Saxony officers and they knew it was imperative to slow down the French advance until the Mughals could begin their own counteroffensive. It wasn't clear, at the time, whether the local Mughals garrison held off the French forces in the Netherlands which was why they needed to strike quickly against their enemy. Meanwhile, an equally large force was sent to reinforce the Mughals troops in Alsace-Lorraine. Reports from the German Intelligence stated that Burgundy and Lorraine forces were heading to the region to reinforce the French forces there.

On 7 March 1889, Burgundy and Lorraine forces reinforced the French troops in Alsace-Lorraine. Little progress was made in the region as the Mughals defensive positions made it extremely hard to breach. In addition, the arrival of the Germans only made a swift victory more difficult. With the forces in former Southern France making huge progress, the generals in Alsace-Lorraine were ordered to speed up their assault so they can join the other forces in pushing eastwards. One thing to note was that there was still distrust between the French officers and the officers of the reinforcements. Burgundy and Lorraine force refused to be under the command of French forces which made coordination between the allies very difficult.

On 13 March 1889, Saxony troops occupied all of Burgundy territory in the Netherlands. Most of the Burgundy forces were sent to Alsace-Lorraine and thus the region was left wide open. Most of the Burgundy garrisons surrendered upon seeing the German forces and Saxony suffered very minor casualties. While a small detachment was sent to the Mughals territory, the main force began an offensive on France itself. The French was reported to be closing in on the Savoy region and had every intention of liberating Italian provinces from Mughals control. Intelligence reported that the route towards the French capital was lightly defended. The Germans, hoping to slow down the French progress in the south by forcing them to redirect men in the defense of their capital, began their advance towards Paris.

On 20 March 1889, the surviving Mughals troops, originally stationed in former Southern France, retreated to the Savoy region. Despite being worn out and demoralized, the Mughals soldiers were still willing to set up defenses to continue their fight against their enemies. Former Southern France has been completely occupied by the France and Spain while their forces continued to advance forward. Two Mughals armies joined forces with the Mughals troops in the Savoy region as they prepared to halt the French and Spanish offensive. Despite the reinforcements, the Mughals were still vastly outnumbered and faced very unfavorable odds. A small force of Germans was expected to reinforce the defenders but the officers were doubtful if they could halt the enemy advance.

On 29 March 1889, British forces managed to secure a beachhead in the province of Bergenshus. The Mughals resisted fiercely but their forces in Bergenshus were overwhelmed. The local Mughals forces were forced to retreat to their cities. Mughals resistance in other locations proved to be heavier and the British saw that they couldn't break through in a short time. To take advantage of the beachhead, British forces began gathering at the location to begin their offensive into Scandinavia. The Mughals forces in the region responded by repositioning their only army stationed in Scandinavia several kilometers from the beachhead in an attempt to stall the British advance until reinforcements can arrive from Russia.

 

Last edited: Jun 6, 2014

blklizard

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• Jun 1, 2014

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• #236

Chapter 147

Bergenshus Landing


Location: Bergenshus, Mughals
Result: Minor British Victory
Territorial Changes: One British beachhead established in Bergenshus

Belligerents:
-Great Britain (GB) // -Mughals (MUG)
-France (FRA)

Commanders and leaders:
-Vice Admiral Alec Hyson (GB) // -Brigadier General Önnert Anderson (MUG)
-Major General Jackson Wingfield (GB) // -Brigadier General Leif Dahlman (MUG)
-Brigadier General Duncan Lyne (GB)
-Brigadier General Bryce Luxon (GB)
-Brigadier General Bailey Vise (GB)
-Brigadier General Travon Ray (FRA)
-Brigadier General Erick Hodgen (GB)

Strength:
-26,000 // -10,000

Casualties and losses:
-2600 to 3000 casualties // -1400 to 1500 casualties

Bergen Beach

Bergen Beach was one of the three sectors of the British invasion of Mughals Scandinavia on 27 March 1889. Bergen Beach is the beach bordering the Norwegian city of Bergen in Scandinavia and is 3 miles long. Landings here were necessary to capture the city of Bergen, home to one of Mughals' largest shipyards. Capturing the city could, on the one hand, effectively cripple the shipbuilding industry in Scandinavia. On the other hand, the city could be easily reinforced by British troops which makes the location ideal for launching a new offensive on the Mughals. Taking Bergen was to be the responsibility of the British Ninth Division troops with sea transport and naval support by the British Royal Navy.

On 27 March 1889, the British Ninth Division, joined by the British 230th Regiment and the French 15th Regiment, were to assault the entire beach. The Ninth Division would be striking right through the middle while the two additional regiments would attack the western half and the eastern half respectively. The initial assault waves were meant to gauge the defenses along the beach for the weakest point where the British would strike at with their main forces.

The primary objective at Bergen beach was to secure a beachhead of 2 miles depth to provide a safe landing zone for troops. The beachhead would serve as the location to launch offensives on Bergen and other major Mughals industrial cities in Scandinavia. Opposing the landing was the Scandinavia's 1st and 2nd Militia Regiments. The men in the two regiments, while never experiencing any actual combat prior to the battle, went through similar training as a regular infantry and were equally well armed. The Mughals saw the threats near Scandinavia and thought it was imperative to train local forces to halt invading troops. When Great Britain declared war, militia units across Scandinavia were mobilized to defensive positions hoping to hold off the enemy. The Mughals were deployed in strongpoints along the coast of Bergen Beach. The Mughals strategy was based on delaying the enemy with minimal casualties. Against overwhelming numbers and naval bombardment, the inexperienced militia units weren't expected to hold out for too long. Once the enemy has broke through, the militia units were expected to retreat to the city which served as their secondary line of defense. The British predicted a quick victory with casualties in a hundred or so.

Expecting little resistance, the initial wave of British landing crafts arrived onto the beach without the support of naval bombardment. The unexpectedly strong defenses inflicted heavy casualties on the landing British troops. Under heavy fire, the survivors tried to move forward but they were pinned down. Realizing that the defenders were more dangerous than expected, naval bombardments were ordered upon the areas where the Mughals fire was concentrated. The second wave of British landing crafts arrived onto the beach and met less resistance. However, the Mughals still valiantly fought on despite being under heavy bombardment. As more troops landed onto the beach, the survivors began to made their way across the beach. While some men were shot down, the British and French soldiers continued their push forward until they were within throwing range of the Mughals trench lines. Following a few grenades thrown into the trenches, the defenders seemed to stop resisting. The British officers assumed that the Mughals were preparing their surrender but their enemy was actually retreating to the city walls. The British and French soldiers occupied the trench lines and, to their surprise, not a single Mughals corpse or weapon was left behind for them. The Mughals, despite being under heavy fire, were calm enough to leave nothing behind for their enemy. On 29 March, British troops had almost complete control over Bergen Beach. With other sectors meeting heavier resistance, there haven't been any other beachhead secured. Hoping to minimize casualties, all British forces and her allies were redeployed to Bergen Beach where they would launch their offensive over land. In response, the sole Mughals army in Scandinavia, the Mughals Eighth Army, was redeployed to Bergen to halt the advance of the enemy until reinforcements could arrive from Russia.

 

blklizard

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• Jun 13, 2014

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• #237

Chapter 148

Battle of Paris


Location: Paris, France
Date: 22 March 1889 - 28 April 1889 (1 month and 1 week)
Result: Decisive German Victory
Territorial Changes: Paris Occupied by Saxony Forces

Belligerents:
-France (FRA) // -Saxony (SAX)

Commanders and leaders:
-Lieutenant General Luc Paulet (FRA) // -General Niclas Huber (SAX)

Units involved:
-31st Army Corps (FRA) // -Fourth Army (SAX)

Strength:
-40,000 // -200,000

Casualties and losses:
-23,000 to 27,000 casualties // -5,000 to 5,300 casualties


Prelude

The Saxony Fourth Army was ordered to attack the Netherlands region before making a push towards the French capital, Paris. German intelligence reported that Northern France was lightly defended and a concentrated attack could easily overwhelm the French forces in the region. While a small detachment was sent to reinforce the Mughals garrisons in the Netherlands, the main force, under the command of Niclas Huber, made a direct route to Paris. However, the Fourth Army was racing against the clock. News of the southern front breaking under pressure has reached the army and the general knew it was imperative that his forces capture Paris as soon as possible so his men could reinforce the other fronts.

The Saxony Fourth Army met little resistance on its way to Paris. The German general expected a quick end to the war once the French Monarch was captured. Unknown to the Germans, the French Monarch and his subjects already began their escape to the new world and left behind a single Army Corps as a ruse to fool the Germans into thinking the French Monarch was still in Paris. As a result, the Germans merely encircled the city and failed to send scouting parties to search out the whereabouts of the French Monarch. The French Army Corps, despite being heavily outnumbered, was still willing to fight the Germans down to the last man. As soon as the encirclement of Paris was complete, the general ordered the assault of the city walls to begin.

Attack on Outer Wall

General Huber ordered his cannons to be placed at a nearby hill with direct line of fire. The cannons were pounding the walls furiously while the first wave of German infantry was sent out. The bombardment from the cannons have been fierce and they, surprisingly, provide excellent cover fire for the German infantry. The first wave suffered small casualties and many arrived outside the walls where they had some cover. The German infantry immediately took out a new kind of explosives called dynamite. They set up a small pile of the dynamite at the base of the wall before backing off to a safe distance. The dynamites were set off and the walls were breached. The French infantry guarding the walls were stunned by the large explosion and didn't realize that Germany soldiers were pouring in through the breach until it was too late. The French soldiers tried their best but the German soldiers were better trained and better equipped. Merely two hours into the battle, the outer walls have been occupied by the Germans and their focus was on the second wall.

Attack on Second Wall

The attack on the second wall was slightly more difficult. Proper placement of cannons was made impossible with the narrow streets and buildings everywhere. In addition, the streets acted like choke points and the French machine guns were mowing down soldiers trying to get to the wall. Luckily, the buildings did provide some cover for the German soldiers. The local population were also, surprisingly, not hostile towards the Germans. There were even situations where the civilians offered to provide German snipers the roof of their homes to fire upon the defenders. Another advantage for the Germans was that the French Army Corps had only a few machine guns which meant only a tiny section of the streets were heavily defended. The Germans eventually found a few weak spots in the French defense and exploited them. Just as they did with the outer wall, a few brave German soldiers got to the wall and set off explosives. Unlike the outer wall, the French resisted more against the German soldiers pouring in through the breaches. The French soldiers even repositioned their machine guns to be directed at the breaches. The Germans suffered more casualties at the second wall but, with numbers by their side, they eventually crushed the defenders at the second wall as well a day after the siege began. Only the inner wall stood between the Germans and the French palace.

Attack on Inner Wall

The inner walls was the last line of defense and the French Lieutenant General Luc Paulet ensure that it would be the toughest to breach. Not only was the wall surrounded by a wide moat but half of the soldiers in the Army Corps were manning the walls. In addition, the walls covered a much smaller area which meant the French defenses were more concentrated. For the Germans, finding ways to cross the moat was the first priority. Their cannons were ineffective this deep in the city and dynamites couldn't be used unless someone could get close to the walls. The Germans made a few attempts to fill in the moats but, under heavy fire from French infantry, the attempts all failed. It take a few weeks before one of the German engineers came up with an ingenious plan. The city of Paris have sewers underneath that covered much of the city. If enough explosives were used at the right locations, the Germans could redirect the water in the moat through the sewers. Once the water was out of the way, dynamites could be placed beneath the foundation of the walls and the walls would collapse under their own weight. The Germans were quick to utilize the plan and, after a few trial and errors, they managed to empty the moats of the water inside. Once the sewers were safe to enter again, German infantry entered the sewers and arrive inside the ditches that once held the moat. Piles of dynamite were placed and the walls collapsed with new breaches formed. By then, makeshift ladders were made that were placed across the ditches to provide Germany infantry a way to get across. The German infantry, under heavy fire, charged through the breaches and began pushing the defenders back. With the last line of defense gone, the French soldiers were the only ones standing between the Germans and the palace.

The End of the Battle

When the last line of defense failed, the French Lieutenant General committed suicide and an estimated ten thousand French soldiers surrendered. For the Germans, they lost a single regiment in the entire siege which was small compared to the estimated twenty five thousand casualties for the French. The German soldiers scoured the entire palace but it became clear that the French Monarch has already escaped. Paris has fallen under German control but the war was far from over. General Huber managed to capture Paris in one month and a week. The victory would have been significant had the French Monarch been captured by the Germans too. Instead, the Germans found themselves in a tough situation. An enormous enemy force was heading towards Savoy and their victory was expected to be relatively swift. The two sides were bogged down in the Alsace-Lorraine region and the Fourth Army couldn't risk reinforcing the forces there while leaving their rear exposed to possible attacks from soldiers positioned in Northern France. Instead, the Germans were forced to focus in Northern France until they completely occupy the region. Once they had complete occupation, they would need to look at the situation before planning their next move.


Note: I apologize for the lack of updates. I'm been trying a few different ways of writing this update but I just couldn't find the one I really like. This was the best I could come up with. I hope to write a new update for this AAR soon to make up for the delay.

 

blklizard

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• Jun 17, 2014

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• #238

Chapter 149

Operation Sandstorm


Location: Egypt
Date: 5 March 1889 - 15 July 1889 (4 month, 1 week and 3 days)
Result: Decisive Spanish Victory
Territorial Changes: Northern Egypt Occupied by Spanish Forces

Belligerents:
-Spain (ESP) // -Mughals (MUG)

Commanders and leaders:
-General Rio Montes (ESP)

//

-Major General Boutros Mahmoud (MUG)
-Major General Hosni Al-Sadat (MUG)
-Major General Shadi Batrawi (MUG)

Units involved:
-Second Army (ESP)

//

-Egyptian 1st Division (MUG)
-Egyptian 2nd Division (MUG)
-Egyptian 3rd Division (MUG)

Strength:
-200,000 // -30,000

Casualties and losses:
-45,000 to 50,000 casualties // -30,000 casualties


Spanish Intentions

Spain, like every other nations in the war, hoped for a quick victory. The Spanish generals knew that the Mughals couldn't be defeated until their capital was occupied. Attacking the Mughals territories in Europe won't have large enough of an impact to force a peace from the powerful Muslim nation. Therefore, the Spanish generals decided to strike at the heart of the Mughals Empire by attacking India. However, the route to India was long and perilous if Spanish fleets had to circle around Africa. Instead, the Mughals newest Suez Canal was exactly what the Spanish needed to reach India quickly. The Suez Canal connected the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea and cut down the travel time dramatically. The Spanish believed that, if the Suez Canal was captured, they would have already won half the war.

Spanish Preparations

Spanish Intelligence reported that the Mughals defenses at Egypt was very weak. There were only three divisions in the region and they were located at: Port Fuad, Alexandria and Cairo. The Spanish Monarch assigned the Spanish Second Army to attack Egypt with the hope of a very quick victory. Before war was even declared, the Second Army was massed among Spanish Eastern Coast ready to move out immediately. The Second Army was to be transported by a small fleet of transport ship with enough supplies to last them at least three months. The Spanish Armada was prepared to escort the Spanish transport ships and, at the Egyptian coast, provide bombardments over the enemy forces. The strategy the Spanish Monarch and Spanish Generals agreed on involved focusing their main forces attacking Alexandria once they have captured Port Fuad. The force attacking Alexandria would then turn their attention of Cairo while a small detachment would strike at Suez with intentions to capture the Suez Canal. Once the objectives were captured, small detachments would be sent throughout Egypt to put down any small resistances in the area.

Mughals Preparations

The Mughals weren't expecting the Spanish to join the war, let alone a bold plan to capture the Suez Canal. The Mughals believed that, should the enemy attempt to strike at Egypt, they would have plenty of time to react. Three divisions were positioned at the three key cities in Northern Egypt to hold off any small forces until reinforcements could arrive from the south. The Mughals Eighth Army was also positioned in the region with half in southern Egypt and the other half in the Arabian Peninsula. If the situation demanded it, the Mughals Ninth Army, situated in Ethiopia, could reinforce the Eighth Army.

The Invasion
Phase 1

On 5 March 1889, the Spanish Armada and transport fleet arrived off the coast of Egypt without alerting the Mughals. The Spanish Battleships were then positioned carefully outside Port Fuad so every single battleship had a line of fire on the city. Once the ships were in place, the battleships let loose their guns and the bombardment hit the unsuspecting city with fury. The surprise was complete as the initial bombardments brought about chaos to the defenders and civilians who struggled to understand the situation. Few more bombardments later, the defenders were able to better coordinate their men in an effort to fend off the attackers. Despite taking the Mughals by surprise, the bombardments were poorly coordinated and the losses for the defenders were minimal. However, the bombardments did buy the transport ships enough time so that, when the cannons along the walls began firing back, nearly all the transport ships managed to reach the beach safely. When the Spanish transport ships reached the beaches, the soldiers trying to get onto the beach were mowed down by the heavy fire from the Mughals soldiers. The Mughals were entrenched in their positions and they fought with ferocity to halt the Spanish advance. The enemy fire halted all Spanish advances as the Spanish soldiers were sitting ducks the moment they exited the ships. The Spanish Second Army, upon meeting heavy resistance, was halted in its tracks and the Spanish general, furious by the fierce resistance, sent orders to the Spanish Armada to concentrate fire on the entrenched Mughals soldiers. Following a few concentrated fire on the trenches, fewer Mughals soldiers were resisting against their attackers. The Spanish soldiers began a new wave of attack and they met less resistance this time. While the Spanish Second Army was suffering casualties, they have managed to capture key points along the beaches until they got a complete foothold of the beach with some control over the port. With the new foothold, the Spanish troops were able to utilize their advantage in numbers better and the Mughals defenders, seeing their advantages outside the city were lost, retreated back to the city as their final line of defense. The Spanish Armada, upon seeing the army making progress on land, was spread out to blockade the entire Egyptian coast to prevent any reinforcements arriving from the northwest.

On 6 March 1889, the city of Port Fuad was completely encircled by the Spanish Second Army. The heavy casualties (estimations were around three thousand) the Mughals suffered at the initial attack has weakened the city defenses. The Spanish, while suffering around the same number of casualties (estimations were around four thousand), were virtually unaffected by their losses. The Spanish general ordered his troops to mount a frontal assault on the city despite the opposition within his ranks. Spanish soldiers were sent in waves after waves with the support of cannons in the rear. The first few waves were ineffective but, with the defenders losing men quickly, the Spanish took fewer casualties and more soldiers managed to reach the walls. With makeshift ladders, the Spanish soldiers began to scale the walls and the Mughals retreated into the city to continue their resistance. The Spanish soldiers, seeing no more Mughals soldiers on the walls, assumed that they have won the siege. The city gates were opened with the main Spanish army marching in. The initial ranks of Spanish soldiers were in for a surprise when shots were fired into their ranks out of nowhere. The Spanish General was wounded as well and he ordered his soldiers to find the hidden Mughals soldiers. Initially, the Spanish soldiers only killed Mughals soldiers they found. However, the increasing casualties from the sweeps across the city were making the Spanish soldiers more desperate. The civilians inside the city were soon captured in large groups and, if they didn't provide locations of Mughals soldiers, they were executed en masse. The civilians, like the soldiers of Mughals, continued their resistance against the invaders and many innocent people lost their lives in the conflict. Seeing no result from capturing civilians, the Spanish troops began setting the city on fire. The Spanish General saw no importance of the city and would prefer to see it burn down to the ground. The fires raged throughout the city for many days and, by the time the Spanish controlled the city, nothing was left except for the charred buildings and bodies that littered the entire city. Except for the city walls that still stood strong, the city that was once known as Port Fuad was gone. The victory in Port Fuad has opened the path to Suez for the Spanish. In addition, the Spanish could also begin an offensive on Alexandria before they proceed to assault Cairo. All ten thousand Mughals soldiers perished while the Spanish suffered fifteen thousand casualties.

Phase 2

On 23 March 1889, the Spanish Second Army headed for Alexandria with a small detachment, the Spanish 44th Regiment, heading to Suez which had a very small garrison numbered at two hundred men. The 44th Regiment arrived in Suez first to find the city already abandoned by the Mughals. The city officials knew that men at Port Fuad couldn't hold out for long and evacuated all the civilians and soldiers to the Arabian Peninsula. The city of Suez fell on the 25th of March and the Suez Canal was completely under control of the Spanish on the 26th. Meanwhile, the main force sent to Alexandria began their siege on the 28th. Learning from earlier mistakes in Fort Fuad, the battleships bombarded strategic defensive locations along the city's eastern walls while the Spanish soldiers were sent waves after waves. The bombardments achieved their intended purpose and the defenders were unable to defend the eastern walls. Breaches were made in the walls and the defenders set up new defensive lines behind the breaches. The machine guns were well placed and any Spanish soldiers trying to enter through the breaches were mowed down mercilessly. Despite their best efforts, the battleships had trouble uprooting the entrenched Mughals defenders guarding the breaches.

When the eastern breaches didn't enable the Spanish a swift victory, the Spanish General ordered his main troops to attack from the south and, with naval support, the Mughals were forced to back into the city as well. Unknown to the Mughals, the assault on the southern wall was a distraction as a large force traveled secretly by boat to the north and scaled the walls without detection. The north wall was lightly defended and the Spanish quickly overwhelmed the garrison there. Repositioning quickly, the Spanish soldiers got behind the defensive lines set up near the breaches and opened fire on the Mughals. The men outside the city then charged in and, following pressure from both sides, the defensive lines collapsed and the survivors retreated to the inner walls. Because the Mughals suffered too many casualties while defending the outer walls, they were unable to hold out for too long in the inner walls. Every Mughals soldiers died fighting and all ten thousand perished. The Spanish suffered an estimated ten thousand casualties. The Spanish Second Army captured Alexandria on 20 May 1889 and the Spanish General, feeling confident in his soldiers, decided to give them a week of rest before proceeding forward to Cairo.

Phase 3

The Spanish Second Army began their siege of Cairo on 29 May 1889. The last remaining Mughals division in Northern Egypt has spent a week in strengthening their defenses for their final stand. Unlike Alexandria and Port Fuad, Cairo was heavily defended with well-built walls that didn't breach easily under cannon fire. The Spanish, believing that they could create breaches easily, utilized the same tactics they used in the previous two sieges. The waves after waves of Spanish soldiers were sitting duck at the base of the walls and the Mughals were merciless. The city walls refused to break and the Spanish General was forced to stop sending waves after waves of men to their death. It took a few weeks before small breaches were finally made. New waves of Spanish soldiers were sent in and, this time, they were entering through the breaches as the constant cannon fire has severely weakened the defenders. The Mughals chose to continue their fight on the outer wall despite the breach and they were holding their own with well positioned machine guns. The city walls still held strong in many locations and the Spanish soldiers were limited to only a few breaches. The constant bombardment and the exhaustion eventually took a toll on the defenders as they were losing more men each day. On 28 June 1889, the last Mughals soldier fell on the outer wall and Cairo belonged to the Spanish. The siege has cost the Spanish an estimated twenty thousand men which was their largest casualty in Egypt since the war started.

Outcome

The victory in Cairo meant that Spanish had complete control over Northern Egypt and the Suez Canal. There were estimates that the Spanish lost up to fifty thousand men in the operation which was a quarter of their total fighting force. The Spanish General and his officers didn't expect such a massive loss in taking Northern Egypt and they suspected that Southern Egypt would cost a lot less men. The Spanish Second Army would proceed to, after controlling Northern Egypt on 15 July 1889, capture the rest of Egypt before moving further south to occupy more Mughals territory. The goal for Spain as to control the Red Sea and begin their invasion of India as soon as possible.

 

blklizard

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• Jun 22, 2014

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• #239

Chapter 150

Battle of Cuneo


Location: Cuneo, Mughals
Date: 25 March 1889 - 5 July 1889 (3 month, 1 week and 3 days)
Result: Decisive Spanish Victory
Territorial Changes: Savoy Region Occupied by Spanish Forces

Belligerents:
-Spain (ESP) // -Mughals (MUG)
-France (FRA) // -Saxony (SAX)

Commanders and leaders:
-General Rodrigo Martin (ESP)
-General Navarro Custodio (ESP)
-General Felipe Zamarron (ESP)
-General Jérôme Michelet (FRA)
-General Adelphe Henry (FRA)
-General Sylvestre Bussiere (FRA)

//

-General Charlot Millard (MUG)
-General Zeno Nardin (MUG)
-Lieutenant General Erhard Schiele (SAX)

Units involved:
-First Army (ESP)
-Third Army (ESP)
-Fourth Army (ESP)
-First Army (FRA)
-Second Army (FRA)
-Third Army (FRA)

//

-Second Army (MUG)
-Fifth Army (MUG)
-26th Army Corps (SAX)

Strength:
-1,160,000 // -300,000

Casualties and losses:
-405,000 to 450,000 casualties // -300,000 casualties

Prelude

Following the disastrous defeat in Former Southern France, the Mughals Second and Fifth Army retreated to Cuneo where they set up their final defenses hoping to cut off the enemy. The French and Spanish have joined forces and were closing in on the location quickly. Should Cuneo fall, the Savoy region would fall and it would result in Spanish and French troops gaining access to Northern Italy. In addition, the Mughals would be in a dire situation as their control over Western Europe would be greatly weakened. The Mughals Fifth Army suffered heavy casualties and had only about sixty thousand men when they arrived in Cuneo. Even with the reinforcement of the Second Army and the Saxony Army Corps, the defenders were outnumbered, according to Mughals intelligence, at least four to one. The city of Cuneo wasn't very well fortified as well. The city only had one set of city walls and a small garrison. To make it more difficult for the enemy, a trench line was dug out around the city wall. The defenders were told that no reinforcements were expected to come to their aid and that they were the last obstacle standing between the enemy and rest of Mughals.

Attack on Trench Line

Before the French and Spanish troops arrived before Cuneo, the Mughals have finished digging out the trench that surrounded the city. A third of the total Mughals fighting force were positioned in the trenches when the enemy was spotted. These Mughals were well armed and they intended to take as many of the enemy with them. The soldiers knew they couldn't survive the attack but they didn't falter in their determination to continue the fight. The Spanish troops arrived at Cuneo first as they met the least resistance along the way. The Spanish Generals, seeing that they vastly outnumbered their enemy, decided to utilize human wave attack as their method of breaking through the enemy defenses. The generals believed that, with a large mass of soldiers charging at the enemy, the defenders would panic and rout. To the general's surprise, the Mughals not only didn't panic but they fought with more determination. Waves after waves of Spanish soldiers were sent in while the Mughals defenders in the trenches cut down their enemy one wave after another. The casualties for the Spanish armies were rising rapidly and, what was originally believed to be a quick engagement, was dragging on for several hours. The Spanish generals were forced to pull back their troops to lick their wounds. The first engagement resulted in a casualty estimated at around three thousand for the Spanish Army while only a hundred or so for the Mughals.

Two days after the engagement, French reinforcements poured in and the two combined forces reached roughly one million two hundred thousand men. The generals of both sides met to discuss their best method of attack against the entrenched soldiers. The generals decided that a direct assault was too costly and severely weakened them. Instead, they needed to advance slowly and use cannon bombardment to inch closer to the trench lines until they were close enough to charge. There was a problem with the plan as most of the cannons were still in the rear being transferred to the front lines. There were only a few cannons available to both the Spanish and the French which meant that their progress in eliminating the enemy would be slow. Starting on the day the French troops arrived, bombardments onto the trench line were constant and small waves were sent. The combination constant cannon bombardment and wave after wave of harassment eventually wore down the Mughals defenders. When the trench line was taken, not a single Mughals soldier survived the ordeal while the Spanish and French armies suffered roughly the same number of casualties in total. For the Spanish and French Generals, the cost for taking the trenches seemed very high. They expected the casualties to overwhelm the defenders on the walls to be much lower with the all the cannons successfully transferred to the battlefield.

Attack on City Walls

When the defenders received news that the enemy has assembled their entire artillery force, they knew constant bombardments would be utilized to break down the walls. The Mughals generals knew that positioning their soldiers on the walls would be suicidal with the bombardments and, instead, used straws to imitate soldiers and placed them on walls to imitate garrison soldiers on the wall. The Spanish and French Generals, fooled by the display, ordered their cannons to fire and enjoyed seeing the walls being blasted apart with enemy soldiers blown to bits. Meanwhile, the Mughals soldiers and Saxony soldiers were positioned throughout the city with relatively large numbers garrisoned at key choke points. Under the cover of the buildings, the defenders could fire back at the enemy while they had limited protection from cannon fire. The Spanish and French Generals waited until there were multiple breaches before ordering their main force to move in.

The main force, while closing in on the city walls, slowed down as they expected heavy resistance. To their surprise, there were no Mughals or Saxony soldiers firing down on them. The minutes stretched to hours and the soldiers eventually realized that no Mughals or Saxony soldiers were manning the walls. Feeling confident that the enemy has been eliminated, the soldiers ventured into the breaches without any caution. They were making their ways down the streets in celebrations when the defenders opened fire. Spanish and French soldiers were cut down in masses and, during the confusion, they were unable to retaliate effectively. The news of the heavy losses quickly reached the generals and they were shocked the defenders continued resisting. Because the walls were in terrible shape following the bombardments, the Spanish and French soldiers couldn't use the walls as a way of shooting down on their enemy. The soldiers were forced to enter through the breaches and, while under heavy enemy fire, make it to cover. When the losses were rising rapidly and little progress was achieved, the French Generals ordered cannons to fire at the civilian sectors despite opposition from the Spanish Generals. The cannons did weaken the outer defenses and some progress were made.

The French General continued to order bombardment onto civilian sectors and both military and civilian casualties within the city rose quickly. The Mughals generals, seeing civilians hurt in the conflict, decided to order their soldiers to make a final charge at the enemy. The Mughals and Saxony soldiers charged at the enemy with cries that was said to shake the entire city. The French and Spanish soldiers, unprepared for the counterattack, actually routed in the face of their enemy. While the French soldiers kept running for their lives, the Spanish soldier eventually recovered and fought their enemy within the city. The charge has been costly for both sides as the casualties for either sides were high. The Mughals and Saxony forces no longer have the forces needed to slow down the enemy advances and the Spanish soldiers took advantage. Bit by bit, the city was occupied by Spanish soldiers and the defenders were slowly encircled at the city center. The survivors fought valiantly but they were outnumbered. They all fell in battle with no survivor reported to be captured by the Spanish.

The End of the Battle

The city of Cuneo fell to the Spanish on May 29, 1889 and rest of Savoy would follow in the next few days. The battle for Cuneo was, at the start, believed to be a swift victory with low casualties for the Spanish and French. As the battle was drawn out to more than two months, the casualty of the attackers risen considerably and, to the surprise of the attacker, their losses were higher than the defenders. Despite outnumbering the enemy nearly four to one, the defenders suffered three hundred thousand casualties while the attackers suffered more than four hundred thousand casualties. A Spanish General said that, should his armies continue taking a similar beating for every engagement with the Mughals, he would no longer have an army to command soon. After occupying Savoy, the Spanish and French generals had different agendas. The French saw it imperative that they aid their forces in the Alsace-Lorraine region while the Spanish chose to turn their attention to Italy where the Mughals lack defenders to effectively hold back any attacks. The two sides went their separate ways and they agreed to meet in Berlin when Saxony does fall.

 

Last edited: Aug 11, 2014

blklizard

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• Jul 1, 2014

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• #240

Chapter 151

Operation White Shark


Location: Scandinavia, Mughals
Date: 1 March 1889 - 16 October 1889 (7 months,2 weeks and 1 day)
Result: Decisive British Victory
Territorial Changes: Scandinavia Occupied by British Forces

Belligerents:
-Great Britain (GB) // -Mughals (MUG)
-France (FRA)

Commanders and leaders:
-General Reed Dewing (GB)
-General Ernesto Lones (GB)
-General Roland Rutty (GB)
-General Josh Royston (GB)
-General Hugo Ganter (GB)
-Lieutenant General Libert Noblet (FRA)

//

-General Hindrik Hansson (MUG)
-Major General Emanuel Hjertsson (MUG)
-Major General Faltin Björk (MUG)
-Brigadier General Önnert Anderson (MUG)
-Brigadier General Leif Dahlman (MUG)
-Brigadier General Ingemar Lindgren (MUG)

Units involved:
-First Army (GB)
-Sixth Army (GB)
-Seventh Army (GB)
-Eighth Army (GB)
-Ninth Army (GB)
-2nd Army Corps (FRA)

//

-Sixth Army (MUG)
-Scandinavia 1st Militia Regiment (MUG)
-Scandinavia 2nd Militia Regiment (MUG)
-Scandinavia 3rd Militia Regiment (MUG)

Strength:
-1,037,000 // -215,000

Casualties and losses:
-43,100 to 48,000 casualties // -31,400 - 31,500 casualties

British Intentions

Great Britain was the most ambitious of all the European nations fighting against the Mughals. The British Monarch wanted to expand his influence in the war and chose Scandinavia as his first target. Rich with resources and excellent location for industrialization, Scandinavia would serve to expand the British Empire greatly. In addition, the region would also give the British a foothold on mainland Europe which they can use to launch attack on the rest of Europe. The British felt that the war was their opportunity to become the dominant European power in the world. France and Spain have remained powerful and have been a thorn in their side. Great Britain hoped, by the conclusion of the war, France and Spain would be severely weakened while Great Britain grow stronger with the acquisition of Scandinavia and parts of Northern Germany.

British Preparations

When war was declared between France and the Mughals, Great Britain was already preparing for war. The royal navy was positioned in The Channel while soldiers were waiting on the eastern coast of the British Isles. The British Monarch spared no expenses in arming his men with the best weaponry available. Many of the British ships were the new and improved dreadnoughts that were rumored to be exceptionally dangerous on the seas. There were more than enough transport ships to ship the men over to Scandinavia which was believed to be lightly guarded. British intelligence reported that the Mughals only had their Sixth Army protecting Scandinavia which, considering the size of the region, was a foolish move. The British Generals prepared five field armies for the invasion of Scandinavia they nicknamed as Operation White Shark. The British, on the day of the war, would be striking at three locations along the Scandinavian west coast.

Mughals Preparations

The Mughals believed that, like the Spanish, Great Britain wouldn't join the war. Great Britain and France had never gotten along and the fact that they would help each other was unthinkable. With the main Mughals forces deployed in the war against France, there was little thought put in the defenses of Scandinavia which was believed to be safe from the enemy. The French didn't have the naval might to challenge the Mughals for control of Scandinavia and Spain, should they enter the war, will struggle in keeping their men supplied during their campaign in Scandinavia. The Sixth Mughals Army was positioned in Scandinavia to deal with occasional uprisings but the general was never told to prepare for actual battle. The soldiers in the Sixth Army weren't trained as vigorously as the Field Armies sent to Former Southern France but the soldiers were native to Scandinavia which meant they knew the local terrain well. When the war was declared by Great Britain, the general and his officers were shocked by the development of the war. They could only wait for the landing forces of Great Britain before making their move.

The Invasion
Phase 1

British forces first attempted to make a beachhead for future assaults. There were three locations that were targeted and Bergen Beach was the first to fall (refer to Bergenshus Landing). While a majority of British transport ships made their way towards Bergen beach to launch an assault on Bergen, some transport ships were ordered further north where British forces attempted to capture the port of Narvik.

Phase 2

On 2 April 1889, British forces began launching their attack on Bergen. The British chose to wait until their reinforcements arrived and the choice proved to be a costly one. The delayed attack meant the Mughals Sixth Army was able to arrive at Bergen in time to reinforce the garrisons. When they launched their attack, the British had four hundred thousand men at their disposal. The British General ordered a few waves of soldiers out to test the defenses of the city and they were all mowed down quickly. Seeing fierce resistance, the British dreadnoughts opened fire on the city and, for several days, the city was constantly bombarded. The British hoped the bombardments would shatter the morale of their enemy and result in a quick victory with acceptable losses. When the bombardments ended, the walls were in bad conditions but they still stood tall. British infantry began their charge at the wall again but they met similar resistance. Unknown to the British, Bergen city walls were specifically built to protect the soldiers from constant bombardment. However, the drawback for the protection was that Mughals soldiers had to stay under cover with no chance of returning fire. Had the British infantry been attacking while the Mughals soldiers were under cover, the situation would have been a lot more different. The two sides headed into a stalemate with neither sides having many options. The British needed to occupy Bergen before their soldier lose heart as the British public weren't too eager to join a war and a defeat would have devastating effect on the morale of the soldiers and the support of people back home. The Mughals hoped their food supplies could last long enough until the British forces retreated because they weren't as well prepared as the British.

Phase 3

On 17 April 1889, the port of Narvik was captured by British forces. Once the city of Narvik was captured, British forces would have another entry point into Scandinavia and that would result in the encirclement of the Mughals Sixth Army in Bergen. Standing between the British and their goal was the Scandinavia 3rd Militia Regiment. The leader leading the regiment was a youngster called Brigadier General Ingemar Lindgren. Ingemar was only thirteen when he became an officer in the Mughals army. With natural leadership capabilities and charisma, Ingemar was well liked by everyone. When the British launched attack on the port of Narvik, Ingemar was chosen to lead the Militia Regiment to fight off the British. At first, the British forces made little progress on capturing the port as the Mughals controlled key strategic positions along the port that halted all enemy advances. When the dreadnoughts opened fire, Ingemar was wise enough to order his men to retreat to Narvik before too many casualties took place. Unlike Bergen, this regiment would have no reinforcements to aid it in its defense against the enemy. Ingemar tried to hold out against the enemy the best he could but his number quickly dwindled. When he had a thousand men left, the people of Narvik managed to persuade him to abandon the city and meet up with other Mughals forces. They told Ingemar that he was needed one day to push back the British and liberate the land. Ingemar left with a thousand or so men under his command and they escaped the city without detection. On 22 April 1889, the city of Narvik was captured by British forces and, to Ingemar's horror, the city was set on fire and its citizens were massacred. The British then proceeded to direct their forces southwards to begin their encirclement.

Phase 4

A week after the capture of Narvik, General Hindrik Hansson reluctantly ordered the retreat of his men from Bergen to Russia. Everyone knew that, should the Field Army be encircled, the Sixth Army would be decimated. The officers of the 1st and 2nd Scandinavia Militia Regiments vowed that they will hold off the enemy at Bergen Beach for at least a week to delay their advances. General Hansson and his officers said their farewells to the brave men and began their journey to Russia. The Sixth Army must trek eastwards through Scandinavia before they arrive at Sea of Åland. The Sixth Army must then cross the dangerous strait and they had reasons to believe the British dreadnoughts have already began their blockade of the strait. As promised, the two Militia Regiments were able to hold off the attackers for another two weeks before they were overwhelmed. The city of Bergen avoided the same fate as Narvik because it was a valuable city in shipbuilding. The extra delay meant British forces that landed on Bergen beach had no chance of catching up to the Sixth Army. However, the British Army has managed to land in Gothenburg where they were only days away from intercepting the Mughals Sixth Army. General Hansson received the news and believed that his army was doomed but two Major Generals, Emanuel Hjertsson and Faltin Björk, volunteered to stay behind to hold off the enemy. The two Major Generals took a total of seventeen thousand five hundred men with them to intercept the British Ninth Army while ordering two thousand five hundred men to cover the rear of the Sixth Army should the British managed to get past the two divisions quickly. The two Major Generals chose a choke point and they managed to fool the British General that the entire Sixth Army was making her final stand by attacking the enemy fiercely. The British Ninth Army merely encircled the two divisions until help arrived. The Sixth Army would arrive before the Sea of Åland and discover that British ships weren't blockading the strait. It would appear that Denmark has denied the British access through their waters and Great Britain couldn't risk forcing the issue without Spain responding with a declaration of war. It was unknown why Denmark chose to aid the Mughals but it was believed that the Danish still had ties with the people living in Mughals Scandinavia and the burning of Narvik had the Danish people outraged. The Sixth Army managed to cross the strait into Finland and, eventually, into Russia where they would prepare new defenses to fight against the British.

Outcome

The retreat of the Mughals Sixth Army meant that British could take over Scandinavia unopposed. By 31 July 1889, Western Scandinavia was under British control. On 16 October 1889, all of Scandinavia was under British control and the British Monarchy didn't waste any time in investing in the development of the industries in his newly occupied region. The monarch firmly believed that Scandinavia belonged to him and that Mughals couldn't hope to retake it. However, the British Monarch got more ambitious and wanted Western Russia under his control as well as Northern Germany. By mobilizing more troops, the British Monarch wanted the regions under his control within two years after the occupation of Scandinavia. As for the Mughals, they learned from their mistakes and mobilized three Field Armies to Russia to hold back the advances of their enemy. Meanwhile, the Sixth Army was situated in Vyborg where they bolstered the defenses greatly with new recruitment and better fortifications.