The Channel Pact - Germany&UK Coop AAR

“Signal all ships, full speed ahead. The fleet sails into battle!” Grand Admiral Burrough yelled towards his navigators, as a first wave of US carrier-based bombers smacked the carriers in the side. Luckily, the Gibraltar-Class was heavily armoured and sturdy, and no vital damage was done. At cruise speed, the Atlantic Command steamed towards the 2nd Fleet on the horizon, with only one goal
“Men, whatever you do” Burrough adressed the entire fleet through his radio “Sink. The. Enterprise.”
Confidently, the carriers blew their mist horns like trumpets of war, signaling to the USN that the centuries-old Royal Navy was a force to be reckoned with. The battle of the Grand Banks would the be first mayor encounter between US and British fleets in the Atlantic, and Burrough was not intending to make it into a defeat. He was a veteran Grand Admiral, a Member of the Council of the Admiralty, and this day would not be his undoing. In the distance, swarms of aircraft began taking off from the USN Carriers, describing circles around the fleet like wasps, waiting to form up and strike at the British. Burrough grabbed his telephone
“It’s going to get hot! Launch the Vampires!”
On the deck, Burrough could distinctly hear his voice echoing, as all captains repeated his orders “Launch the Vampires! Launch the Vampris! Launch the Vampires!” Hundreds of RN sailors raised their fists as the mighty warplanes dislodged themselves from the flight decks, bursting into the air at incredible speeds as thunderous roars bellowed forth from their jet engines. At neckbreaking speeds the air fleets engaged eachother, creating a massive zone of dogfighting inbetween the two fleets. Burroughs radio clicked to life again

“HMS Yorkshire. We are ready to fire, I repeat, ready to fire” From the bridge of the Kilamanjaro, Burrough could clearly see the British battleships flanking the carrier fleet aiming their enormous cannons, simply waiting for his command to unleash hell.
“Wait for it” Patiently, Burrough observed as a squadron of US destroyers surged forth, attempting to lure off British bombers and infiltrate within the Atlantic Command to wreak short-range havoc. Patiently, he waited untill the destroyers closed, and remembered what he had been thought at the Naval Academy “The right pressure at the right time.”
“That’s it. Pulverise them.”
“Aye sir!”
Within seconds, thunderous bangs began to shake the air as British battleships opened their bombardment, spitting fire at regular intervals. Much of the shells missed target, but some managed to hit close enoguh to the advancing destroyers to capsize them under the pressure, tearing the advance fleet apart.
“Great work! Keep up the pressure!”

By now, US Battleships responded with an equally destructive bombardment, as explosive shells crashed into the carriers, piercing through their armoured flight decks and causing internal fires when they hit the hangars hidden deep within the ship. Regularly, US bombers dove down from the sky to attempt to single out British Carriers, but were often forced aside by advancing De Haviland Vampires. In the air, the RAF’s superior speed proved a great trump against the USAF and soon burning wreck after wreck was being hurled down from the skies, sent crashing into the oceans at dazzling velocities. Explosions and bombardments began tearing ship armour apart, igniting many fires within the massive warboats while engineers and other personnel ran from location to location attempting to put out the fires. A second salvo of US bombardment had hit two carriers in the bow, seriously damaging the vital ships.

“This is the HMS Cairo! It’s looking bad here, if someone doesn’t take those B’s off our heads we’re screwed. INCOMING!” The radio shortly buzzed as a second bombardment rippled the air around the Cairo, blowing off a large part of the front flight deck.
“JEZUS CHRIST! All aircraft in the air, all aircraft in the air NOW!”
On the Cairo, the remaining Havilands ignited their jet engines, their roaring adding to the already deafening orchestra of war. Almost immediately after departure, they were intercepted by a low-flying US fighter force, after which both sides began a dangerously low-altitude dogfight. Both Burrough and the captain of the Cairo observed the swirling circus of death as it bent to the left, US pilots clearly in control. The sky roared again as the Yorkshire unleashed yet another thundering salvo which crashed down upon the 2nd Fleet with a series of spectacular explosions. Immediately, the US returned fire again, this time missing the Cairo by roughly a yard, towers of erupting water towering above the carrier’s deck.
“BURROUGH, DO SOMETHING! One more frontal blast and we’re toast!”
Burrough grabbed his radio “Got that, Cairo. I’m sending out the tanks.”
Burrough flicked a switch, setting him to the channel of the CVL’s in the fleet
“Light Carriers, it’s getting hot out here. I want you to deploy all remaining aircraft and order them to engage, and then to attract US battleship salvos away from our carriers. Understood?”
“HMS Vengeance here. It’ll get done. Let’s get these Yankee bastards!”
With more mist horns and roaring, the Light Carriers surged forward and began evasive manoevuring to distract US battleship fire. Still, the Vengeance and the Magnificent continued to take heavy blows, pushing the ships to the brink.

“This is Bomber Squadron 7, we just whacked a Sub trying to sneak past!” Another radio message yelled, as in the distance Burrough could see an underwater explosion signaling the end of a squadron of USN submarines. At this point, explosion after explosion was tearing away at the heavily-armoured Light Carriers, who were soaking up much more damage than they were capable of.
“This is the Vengeance! *krrrr* *krrrrrrr* It’s looking ba*krrrrrr* We’re taking hits! *krrrrrr* “. Burrough reached for his radio and responded “Vengeance, keep your position, copy? Keep your position! Our bombers are almost in ran...”
“WE CAN’T! *krrrrrr* hull integrity diminished *krrr* once more blow and we’re... BOMBERS!”
A squadrons of torpedo bombers had lowered themselves from the clouds sneaking in and surprising the British fleets by dropping an array of deadly torpedoes against the Light Carriers, tearing apart their hulls as the ships began to sink with a series of violent explosions.
“BLOODY HELL!” Burrough slammed his fist into the table and yelled towards the men on his bridge “WHERE THE HELL IS OUR AIR SUPPORT!?”
“Sir, we don’t know”
“Goddamn! We’ve got Light Carriers in the line of fire, and I want them relieved NOW. It’s getting too hot. All bombers on the Enterprise!”
The radioman passed on the message, and soon entire squadrons of British warplanes rushed forward, evading and breaking through the defensive line with their superior speed and closing in on the Enterprise fast.
“Take that thing down, and let’s get the hell out of here!” Burrough yelled to the air commander
“Yes sir. All pilots, engage. Bombs hot, Bombs hot!”
With an elegant artifice, the squadron split in half as fighters warded off USAF Interceptors, while the bombers began a rapid climb into the air. After their highest point had been reached, the bombers looped and launched downwards, their noses pointed directly at the carrier. The radio came to life again, as the air commander adressed his wingmen
“All wings, get ready. Go in fast, go in hard. I want this carrier down after one run, just one, okay?”
The bombers dove straight through the massive dogfight above the Enterprise, as dozens of Mustangs attempted to chase them off and protect the carrier. Several Vampires were hit and destroyed in the dive, but most of them managed to evade both the chasing fighters and AA guns opening fire from the ships below.
“Now, let’s see if these Mustangs can keep up with our Vamps. All wings, unload and take a run for it!”
With amazing accuracy, the British bombers pulled up, raining armour-piercing bombs and torpedoes down upon the Enterprise’s flight deck causing massive damage, blowing craters into the metal of the ship. Following them were the chasing P-51’s, who were incapable of performing such steep turns at this altitude and slamming into the flight deck helplessly with more spectacular eruptions of exploding metal.
“Is she sinking?”
All eyes focused on the heavily burning Entreprise, which seemed still in the fight.
“Goddamned!” Burrough exclaimed “Another run! Bomb it ag...” Before he had finished his sentence, a final cataclysmic explosion shredded the massive carrier in two, as all radio channels filled with cheers and laughter while the USS Enterprise went up in flames. Mission complete.
“All ships” Burrough gasped for air, out of breath by the sudden surprise “Full turn, cruise speed. We’re getting the hell out of here!"

The decisive battle had been short but claimed many lives on both sides. While the RN lost over 7 capital-class ships, the US were stripped of an important Battleship and, more importantly, their ship-of-the-fleet, the USS Entreprise. After the battle, it soon became clear that Grand Admiral Nimitz had survived the explosion, as he was commanding another ship at the time. Nimitz vowed to take revenge against the British Empire, sooner or later, and stated “The Atlantic is American – American and no other.”​

The Great Two marched again. Leading combined armies of British and German desert warfare specialists, Pact forces marched East and West while heavy fighting enveloped the Australian continent. Over 80.000 Pact soldiers were fighting 35.000 Australians and over 70.000 Alliance of the Free expeditionary forces, who struggled heavily, especially as they depended on Australia as a forward base against the RN in the Pacific. In the meantime, British and German aircraft landed on Darwin and began to organise a coordinated air strategy against Australia and the AOF.


Intelligence soon pointed out that there was a large US force stationed on Australia, counting well into 100 divisions


In the East, Rommel opened with a surprise attack on Townsville. Urban fighting in and around the city was extremely intense, but in the end Pact offensives had managed to break the resolve of US troops, who retreated southwards, allowing Reichswehr divisions to close an encirclement in Northern-Australia.


Later that week, German and British divisions sealed the fate of Northwest-Australia, where remaining AOF defenders surrendered to the Pact, while surviving Australian divisions fled southwards.


In the meantime, Rommel’s forces dashed southwards into the vast Outback of Australia, determined to catch the defenders in Brisbane off-guard


The provinces around Brisbane saw heavy fighting as Rommel’s force attempt to close the trap around the city, with support from British carriers. Britain’s naval power projection capacity proved a major obstacle for AOF defenders, who saw themselves constantly under fire from British carrier-based aircraft. With Vian patrolling the outer rims of Micronesia and US fleets tangled up in the Atlantic, the AOF had no chance of breaking British naval superiority around the island, and were helpless in the matter.


Back in England, the latest reinforcements to the Royal Navy were completed. Immediately after the commissioning of the IX-type carriers, De Nil ordered a systematic recall of all aged fleets, as the British began scrapping their older carriers and replacing them with newer and more modern types. Among the aged carriers listed for scrapping was the famous HMS Illustrious, which was welcomed in Portsmouth for her last docking with national festivities. Two weeks later, the veteran crew of the Illustrious was moved to the 9.CV, which was promptly inaugurated as the new HMS Illustrious.


The IX-type carrier would be the last class to be constructed before the anticipated Sovereign-Class, the first nuclear-powered carriers in the world.​

Around the Niger Delta, Canadian and British aircraft duked it out for control of the skies above Sao Tome, one of the last US bastions near Pact-controlled territory. AOF forces defended it as fiercely as the Pact did Newfoundland, however, and the fortified island was far from collapsing.


In the South-West of Australia, British Royal Marines landed a surprise offensive from the sea. Australian defenders in Dunsborough quickly found themselves flanked, and within the day the ‘Rapid Deployment 47th’ Corps had wrestled control of yet another front for the AOF. In Canberra, the Americans offered Australian Prime Minister Forde to seek refuge in the USA, but the head of Australia refused, stating “My place is here – I will fight and die proudly with my countrymen, and never run away in shame”. Back in the US, the Prime Minister’s speech was widely propagated as an example of devotion to the AOF cause. While governmental propaganda began to fill the streets in America, Pact sympathy was slowly growing in the US, as widespread poverty and corruption combined with the slow decline of democracy began to take it’s toll on the people’s morale. Due to the enormous war effort, many high-standing capitalists had grown decadently rich on the war profits, while corporations gained more and more influence in US politics, offering the government good trade deals in exchance for political power.



In Coff’s Harbour, AOF defenders managed to fend off the invading Reichswehr. AOF expeditionary forces, led by US generals continued their fierce battle, successfully using their home field advantage against the Pact invaders.


British forces responded by sending in RAF corps to bomb the defending armies. The Australian Air Force stood no chance against the superior and more modern British fighters, and was quickly defeated, leaving the Pact in control of the skies and seas of Australia.


On the ground, however, AOF forces began using clever tactics to confuse British bombers, evading bombardments and concealing their tanks in the bushy area around Brisbane. Pact and AOF soldiers fought a war much alike the one they had fought three years earlier in Africa: Rommel and Montgomery led large tank columns across the vast plains, where speed and superior firepower decided the outcome of the battle. In the battles of the outback of Australia, British and German desert warfare expertise came in handy, as both Rommel and Montgomery managed to pull of some spectacular victories in the Australian deserts.
​