The French Channel Fleet had remained in port through the entire war until it finally emerged in February, 1926. It was seen as a move of desperation -- France realized it was being strangled by the blockade and mounting losses of ships. They felt they had a chance to turn the tables and break the blockade with regional superiority.
But this location became a magnet for most of the Siamese naval units in the Atlantic theatre. By "sailing to the sound of the guns" as they could, they essentially created the same sort of rolling battle as had been seen elsewhere -- engage, fight, withdraw when weakened and be replaced by others.
In March the first Telephone and Electic Gear factories came on line at home. This spurred the waiting Dreadnought hulls into life, and production began in earnest. It would still be months, however, before the first were ready. Not in time, surely, to be used in this war.
In their stead stood the Cruisers. Siamese and French cruisers had begun yet another battle off the southern shores of West Africa, along the Gold Coast. When exhausted, some of the Siamese fleet sheltered in Dutch Sekondi while other fresh vessels fought on. The French were suffering terribly, and some ships were already near to sinking.
In April, the most powerful Siamese allies -- other than the Dutch, who had made peace earlier -- signed truces with France. But this was of no consequence, as these allies had contributed little in the war, so far.
In terms of research, Siam had recently finished researching and deploying bolt-action rifles. Now Market Structures became the focus, which would have significant economic and educational impact once the discoveries came on line (this probably should have been researched earlier, but again there's always a short-term vs. long-term tradeoff).
The French were trapped, and they knew it. Their gambit in the English Channel had become another losing battle, their ships overwhelmed and increasingly battered. Her warscore, which at one point had reached 13%, had dropped to only 5%.
The French, seeing no way out of their constant decline, accepted Siam's humiliating terms. They had failed in their war -- failed to contain Siam's growing power, and failed to dominate either on land or the high seas. France was embarrassed by her showing.
Released from war, Siam turned to new ways to make her power known. Steam Turbines would soon be developed to automate her factories and drive her ships. It would take time to shed her Badboy -- having risen to 42 points. Was it even worth trying?
Siam remained in that odd 4th ranking -- far ahead of the lower powers, but seemingly too far from 3rd to have a realistic shot at it with only 10 years left in the game. France had not been terribly hurt by her defeat. Neither had the Ottomans, for that matter, though it had moved her down to 7th from 6th and ruined her chance at attaining 5th.
Siam had become the first country in the world to begin producing Telephones. But it was a race she just barely won -- the inventor Sunidark Prakashbangboom beat out British Thomas Eddington by mere weeks -- and within 6 months the United Kingdom overtook Siamese production of telephones by orders of magnitude.
In the colonial race, by 1927, though, Siam was surging ahead. The Ottoman expansion to the south had been cut off on two frontiers in Africa already, and a further cordon was beginning to stretch west.
By mid-1927 the first Siamese Dreadnought was launched (again, presumably just ahead of the first British). It was somewhat cheering to still be catching glimpses of US Navy ships boasting full sail! The British Royal Navy still had some of these too (Siam as well, but they stayed at home for picket duty, as mentioned in a previous update).
Here's a look at all of Siam's factories in 1928:
Most of the high-tech factories are still being upgraded, but I get the impression other countries are not very far ahead in that respect. Some of our formerly profitable factories are as popular now as buggy whip shops. But others are doing quite well. We still try to keep ahead of the curve, having a new factory or expansion ready when new workers show up. I use subsidies only sparingly -- particularly, though, for the new high-tech factories whose production I want to foster.
Below you can see our master production chart. Siam is among the top 5 producers of most of these goods -- the top producer of a great many. Fabric and shipping come to mind. Glass maybe.
As a brief sidelight, Peru may be the new badboy target!
Actually, they may have had CBs for those. But two new conquests, literally within a week of one another, added vast tracts of land to Peru's South American empire. It's starting to remind me of Sforza!!! (my EU3 game)
And... We have a new CB against the Ottomans!
Hmm.... This may be the first really useable CB I've gotten all game. What to do?