Session Two: The Gears of War
UK Report, 1911-April 1913
A lot had happened, politically, economically and militarily, since the Imperial General Staff gave their reports to Parliament in late 1910. Most importantly, these changes had been happening under the guidance of the Imperial General Staff with full support from Parliament, who were keen to ensure the British Empire were prepared for the major war everyone knew was coming.
The Royal Navy
The Royal Navy had been given the go-ahead to expand the fleet of Capital Ships to an enormous size: the strategic focus of the Fleet shifted from cruisers and destroyers, suitable for policing the Empire, to Battleships and Battlecruisers, suitable for smashing the German High Seas Fleet if it became bold enough to challenge the might of the Royal Navy.
A new command was formed for the purpose: Battleship Command. Serving as the HQ formation for the newly formed North Sea Fleet, the Command expanded rapidly through the 2 years and continued to expand.
From an initial 18 Battleships, a further 12 were added and the Destroyer escorts totally modernised. The drydocks of Britain were alive with shipbuilding, as more than a dozen additional Battleships were in the works with even more planned: the Admiralty knew the Germans sought to challenge Britain's command of the sea, and were building to ensure the German High Seas Fleet wouldn't even come
close to rivalling the Royal Navy.
A smaller order of new Battlecruisers were also placed down. These ultra-modern Battlecruisers were armed with the latest high-power engines, providing the North Sea Fleet with a powerful fast action squadron, and with more and more modern Royal Navy Battleships coming out of drydock every year, German Dreadnoughts would find themselves seriously outnumbered.
The British Army
The British Army had opened up a furious recruitment campaign, aimed at attracting young, fit males to serve. The results were astounding: the Army's size increased from 146,000 to 829,000 in the 2 years. New regiments, depots, officer schools and training grounds sprung up the length and breadth of the country to accomodate the vast influx of new recruits. Training continued forwards excellently, with Army-level operations becoming a core part of the British Army training schedule: formations of over a hundred thousand troops became well-oiled machines, a scale unthinkable just 5 years ago.
Across the Empire, the best of these units were deployed as Independent Divisions, tasked with defending British colonies and striking at German ones when the war began. Reinforcements stood ready to sail should these elite troops find German resistance heavier than expected.
In Africa, 2 Divisions lined up near the deserted German colonies in the area. The colonies were devoid of worthwhile resources, so it came as no surprise that the Germans were unwilling to waste troops defending them.
Britain's youngest Dominion, South Africa, had prepared an Army of its own, drawing on the experience and tutelage of retired British Army officers. The army of 7 Divisions was tasked by the Imperial General Staff with securing the southernmost German possessions in Africa.
A single Division was stationed in China, across from the German garrison in the area, to capture Qingdao. Japan, increasingly friendly to the Entente, may even enter the war and provide backup to the British forces there.
* * *
All was not well, however. In 1910 the War Ministry commissioned a secret committee to investigate ways to revolutionise land warfare. Machine guns, artillery and barbed wire all threatened to render mobile warfare a thing of the past, with armies staring at each other across vast entrenched fortification networks. Any effort to advance the lines would surely come at immense cost in human lives and in war material.
The answer was the Tank: an armoured all-terrain vehicle equipped with machine gun and cannon, off of which bullets would simply bounce. Trenches and barbed wire would simply be crushed under its tracks, and only direct hits from artillery would be sufficient to knock one out.
The Landship Committee was formed to invent such a device, and before the year was out told the Minister of War that the technology simply didn't exist to create these weapons. The research and initial work were about to be put away for a later date until an urgent dispatch from a British spy in the German War Ministry was received:
GERMAN MILITARY COMMENCING DESIGN ON ARMOURED VEHICLES STOP
INITIAL TESTS SHOW MECHANICAL DIFFICULTIES BUT UNSTOPPABLE BY INFANTRY STOP
Even though the technology was 7 or 8 years ahead of its time, the British Army quickly concluded that production of these machines was of the utmost importance to match German efforts. The project was placed at the highest priority and received pretty much anything it asked for.
By 1913 production models were ready, and the British Army began production of its first Armoured Divisions.
The Ottoman Empire Shrinks
In 1912 the Ottoman Empire went through two wars: against Italy and the Balkan League. It lost them both.
Italy annexed the Libyan province of the Ottoman Empire, removing a front from the defence of Egypt, unless Italy sided with the Central Powers.
Almost all of the European possessions of the Ottoman Empire were lost to the Balkan League. Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria made huge territorial gains at Ottoman expense. Albania also successfully revolted and claimed independence.
A weakened Ottoman Empire was favourable to the British. It made Egypt easier to defend, and perhaps opened up possible additional fronts for the Ottoman Empire if they attempted to retake these lands from their newest owners.
* * *
Next Session
The 28th of October, 6-9pm UK time. We'll for sure reach the war in that session. The battle lines are being drawn, plans set in motion. I've only covered my own buildup and deployments, my allies have been equally as active.
I'm not worried about the CP guys reading this. If Germany is building Battleships I'm confident that I'm vastly outpacing him, or that he's badly sacrificing his Army to keep up with me, which only grants my Russian and French allies an advantage in the coming ground war. Naval warfare is my primary strength as a HoI3 player, so even against an equal High Seas Fleet I;m confident I'll be up to the task of defeating it in action.
Note about the Libyan/Balkan Wars: The OE player was obliged to lose them by the House Rules. He didn't even deploy troops to fight.
Comments and suggestions are welcomed!