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A lot of things would go into massive Spoiler territory, but suffice it to say that the immigration into the US from Europe and anywhere in the non-commie world is near zero ITTL. Most of that goes Empire or Canada.

As for attacking Canada, what you said is true, at least until the early 1980s. As per OTL then is the time when defensive firepower is great enough to cancel out superior American numbers, and as said, we have after mobilization a massive Allied Army in Canada. A lot of them will bring these metal things that have those strange long tubes in front that have a 120mm hole and rifling in them.

As for the torpedo attack, the Ganges was supposed to be de-commed after this cruise to free her name for the new ships.
 
I am talking late 1980s and how it would have been in the 1990s and beyond. I suggest you really read TLW (link via PM if desired) for a realistic take on that.

Anyway, re Canada, you should bear three things in mind:

1) This isn't OTL. This Canadian Army never went through the disastrous cuts of the 60s and 70s, is larger to begin with (thanks to a larger population, no Quebec conscription crisis and a bigger economy) and has been preparing for this war since the 1930s. I haven't worked out the actual size of the post-war Canadian Army, but we're talking at least six Divisions peace-time here. (Yes, seems like a lot, but the Bundeswehr peace-time strength in 1989 was twice that, and Canada has near 50 million population here by 1990. The refugees after the Civil war the Americans had were a flood, and all that post-war emigration that went to the US IOTL goes to Canada instead. That, co-ed military by 1986 and a healthy desire by everyone to defend their country makes it possible.)

2) As was the case with NATO in Germany substantial Allied forces and Equipment are already pre-positioned in Canada. TTL's variant of REFORGER (Return of Forces to Germany) is in place since the 1950s. Germany for example would, if mobilized have close to a million men in the field, as per OTL, only on the other side of the Atlantic. The logistics of all this would be very similar to OTL, only going in the other direction and without the Reuben James* defending them.

*yes, that is an RSR reference.

3) What you are saying pre-supposes strategic and tactical surprise which my scenario doesn't. When I say "This or that would/might happen" I am always pre-supposing the Allies have at least two to three weeks of warning to mobilize. And frankly, between Recon Sats, SR-71 (Avro 730, featured in one of my side stories.) and god knows what else people have come up with OTL and that is therefore legitimate for me to use I can't see the necessary buildup or troop movements remaining secret. The Canadians alone will be watching like hawks for this. Trust me, Canada won't allow itself to be caught unaware.

i like your version of reality a whole lot better than the real deal.
 
Second that, AAO just seems much more interesting then OTL.

Trek, I do belive you have turned me into somewhat of an anglophile with AAO. :D

Glad to have you aboard, good Sir!
 
Chapter 282​

The two Divisions of British Paratroopers and the eighteen Commonwealth Division, the fourteen Divisions of the Romanian Army in this area and almost three-hundred tactical Aircraft of all sorts and sizes did their best to hold back the tide of two Axis Army Corps.

The ANZACs and the Canadians down in the lowlands fought their counterparts in a pitched battle that had the Allied troops at a disadvantage of numbers but advantage of position, helped by masses of Allied and Romanian Artillery while the bulk of the Romanian Army was either in the mountains to the west or down south, where the Romanians were exchanging Oil for British guns and cast-off Cromwells. The actual status of the former minor Axis nations was not-quite Allied just yet, and co-belligerents were not due the best Britain had to offer.

In the Western mountains towards the Hungarian border the Romanian Mountain troops were fighting side by side with the Romanian Mountain Troops. The 6th Airborne was holding several mountain roads and passes that commanded these mountains, the 1st to the south and the 11th Romanian Mountain Division to the north. Opposition consisted at the moment mostly of the 120th Soviet Motor-Rifle Division that had the 115th Independent Heavy Tank Brigade attached. The British Army might have done away with Heavy Tanks long ago and the Wehrmacht and Red Army were in the process of doing it, but so far no one had told the 115th and the 101st Airborne Regiment was looking at three KV-1mod.42, supported by dismounted Infantry, coming at them and so far no one had developed an air-droppable 17 pounder.

What Colonel McAuliffe did have at his disposal was not much. The PIATs had difficulties penetrating even the side armour of a KV-1, but they had still been deployed, and the Heavy Mortars of the Paras were flapping out their rounds already. Theoretically he could call on several batteries of Romanian Skoda 105mm guns through Division, but this was not the fastest way out there and the pieces were older than most of his men. He stood in his log-bunker CP and looked at the advancing Soviets, smoking his last cigar and cursing the Soviets for sending these Tanks, the MoD for failing to give the Paras decent Anti-Tank weapons and the politicians that had started this war in general.

The position of the paras was however very well camouflaged and Soviet counter-battery fire was falling almost a hundred yards short, down the hill from the actual British position where the old, long since given up trenches were torn up. He watched as a mortar round glanced off the frontal armour of a Tank and he wished that the Boffins back home would soon manage to make a folding variant of the newer, heavy PIAT launchers that the normal Infantry was being issued with. His Anti-Tank troop would do their best but farm boys and shop keepers would be hard pressed to keep these steel monsters at bay.

He picked up the receiver of the wireless tied into the Regimental net. The Regiment was deployed in a long ark covering the road that they were charged with defending and his companies were in a strong position in spite of it all.

“Eagle Six Actual to all Eagle Stations, hold your fire until they're within six-hundred yards.” he said, “Eagle Nine,” (the AT Troop) “You are to fire with the rest of that, make them count.”

Acknowledgements came through and the men went about their work. Discipline was held, but as soon as the Soviets crossed the invisible line hell was unleashed on them. The mortars switched from high-exlosive to shrapnel rounds that exploded on impact but expended most of their force into turning their casings into hundreds of sharp metal splinters that began to cut down Infantry. The four Company snipers and their spotters were somewhere out there too and added their fire to the carnage of mortars, machine guns and accurate platoon rifle fire.

McAuliffe knew that the Reds that had taken over America were issuing semi-automatic rifles to their men, but like the rest of his own command he was trained after the British fashion and had spent almost a decade now in the British Army and he was pleased with the discipline that his men displayed as they coolly and calmly fired their guns into the advancing Soviets that began to bleed heavily for their efforts.

There, the first PIAT projectile flashed towards one of the KV-1s and bounced harmlessly off the frontal armour, soon joined by four more. The Tanks stopped and fired their guns at suspected British positions, but luckily they had no clear ideas so far, the Soviets just as the British having difficulties with making Infantry and Tanks communicate under fire, the Soviets even more so as the KV-1s still lacked wireless sets, as Stalin was unwilling to allow the development of the Heavies and intended to use them up at the front.

Another salvo from the PIATs, unfortunately this one reduced as Soviet Artillery now began to fall on the actual positions of the Paras, one having killed a PIAT team already.

Now however luck favoured the Paras for once as one of the PIAT rounds struck the tracks of one KV at an angle, smashing both the tracks and penetrating the thinner armour at this spot, detonating on the inside and killing all but the Commander.

The battle hung in the balance. The Soviets couldn't advance because the British fire and mortars held down the Infantry, whereas the British couldn't defeat the attack as the surviving Tanks steadied the Infantry enough that normal mortar and gunfire could not force them to retreat.

“Any word on the flyboys?” McAuliffe asked his wireless team.

“None, Sir.” was the reply they all gave him. The Colonel merely grunted. A general offensive by the Axis in Romania was under way and 21st Army Group Command in Bucharest had assigned the priority to air support to the two Allied Armies that were fighting farther east, and with good reason. What air support there was in this area was up north where the 11th Mountain and the rest of 6 Brigade were under heavy pressure.

McAuliffe still called Division again for some support, he would need it soon if things kept up.

He watched as several more PIAT rounds were fired.

The Soviets advanced again, drawing ever closer to the British position. Now however the flaw of Soviet Heavy Tank doctrine began to tell. As their British counterparts had before being re-tasked as Assault Guns, Soviet Heavy Tank Brigades were meant to advance with their Infantry compatriots and support them up forward. While this strengthened the Infantry, this also made the Heavy Tanks more and more vulnerable the closer they got to the enemy AT weapons.

Another KV-1 went up in flames as the side armour of the turret was penetrated by a PIAT fired at almost point-blank range and the ready ammunition exploded.

The last remaining KV-1 however broke through the British line and came straight towards the Command post, and just as McAuliffe was about to vacate the premises a PIAT round fired by an almost suicidally brave gunner who was promptly killed for his efforts hit the tank in the engine compartment, setting it afire even before the Soviet Heavy Tank came to a halt.

Over the next few minutes the Soviet attack fell to pieces and as McAuliffe watched the remnants of the Soviet attack force fell back. Time to relocate.

Even as he supervised the withdrawal of his men to a new position a few hundred yards down the road he could not help but hear the melody and lyrics of the Regimental Quick March float before his inner ear and mind...

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.

Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
While God is marching on.

He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,
He is Wisdom to the mighty, He is Succour to the brave,
So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of Time His slave,
Our God is marching on.

Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Our God is marching on.

[1]

~**---**~​

The Battle for Romania was hard fought but overall the day went to the Allies. Axis forces outnumbered them, but the British, Canadians, ANZACs and Romanians had advantage of position and were far closer to their supply bases. 1st Canadian Army was faced with Soviet-German Forces three times their number, as were the ANZACs, but both Allied Armies were bolstered by large numbers of Romanian Infantry who all of a sudden fought much harder and with more tenacity than they had during the few times these Armies had so far faced Allied troops and mutual respect was earned. Even so, the situation in the sector of the Canadians was such that Army Command had to request the release of a Romanian Armoured Regiment, thus creating the strange experience of allowing everyone to see Panzer IVs with hastily applied British-style roundels in Romanian national colours supporting Tanks that bore the Maple Leaf in a counter-attack, shared with the world through pictures and Newsreels.

The Romanian General Staff was wary to deploy it's Tank formations. General Crear, officially merely here to advise the Romanians and to see 'that his troops were properly used' was well aware that the stocks of spare parts, ammunition and replacement vehicles for these units were limited. It had been decided that the other units equipping with Allied Tanks were out of action for the rest of the year at least anyway, so these units were robbed of their vehicles, spares and ammunition to keep the Regiment going. This meant robbing peter to pay paul, but the Romanian Armoured Corps was small and the Germans had never delivered the number of vehicles and spares the Romanians had wanted in the first place. Hopes were high that this would be different with the British, as the Romanian and Hungarian Embassies in London were directed to inquire into the licence production of spare parts and ammunition for the Cromwells and the 17 pounder, in fact both hoped to eventually buy the Comet for their own Armies.

In Hungary the battle was much more evenly balanced, at least in the mountains, but General Slim's 9th Army was, supported by I Hungarian Army not going to attack into the flank of the bulge the Germans had created. While this decision was often critizized after the war, Slim understood that his six Divisions (five and a half, really, as the King's Jewish Legion was still under strength) weren't enough and the Hungarian Tanks were considered to be so obsolete or short of spares that it was decided that throwing these units against Panthers and T-34/85 would have been almost criminally negligent.

All things considered the Allies had the advantage. Each day they managed to hold on shortened the time span between now and the end of the campaign season and if the Allies and Co-Belligerents managed to hold on until winter then all was won as then Field Marshal Alexander would be able to shift support around as needed and prepare for 1943.

One would then also have the time to get the former Axis Armies up to speed and with luck they could be integrated into the vast Allied host which would boost both raw Allied strength of men and ease the supply situation, Romanian Oil and the fuel made from it being the chief factor in this. Anything that would make Allied Victory easier had to be considered.


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Comments, questions, rotten tomatoes?


[1] I know it's just the third stanza with the chorus and then the fourth, but I think that this part of the Battle Hymn of the Republic fits best. It is of course banned in the UAPR. The Regimental motto of the 101st is “let us die to make men free”, but unfortunately my Latin is sorely lacking, so if anyone could help me with that...
 
In the Western mountains towards the Hungarian border the Romanian Mountain troops were fighting side by side with the Romanian Mountain Troops.

You don't say? :D

---

Loved this update. Always great to see the Commonwealth in action. Here's hoping that the cooperation between the Canucks and Romanians, as well as having Crerar (which one?) advising them, will lead to a bit of friendship between the two - I've always had a bit of a fondness for the Romanians.

P.S. I've heard that the Germans think of Vlad Țepeș (the Impaler) in a decidedly negative light. I suppose Dracula doesn't really have a great rep here, either, but to the Romanians he's a national hero, celebrated for fighting the Ottomans as they advanced into Europe. Just a note on a subject I'm interested in!

Notes:

1. Apparantly the Brits haven't figured out the best tactic yet: put the Canadians and Australians together. Unstoppable combination! Evidence: Battles of Amiens and Kapyong. ;)
2. Once the Allies start marching into Mother Russia, things are going to suck for everyone involved. Their deployed units are stretched thin as they are, and the Dominions don't have enough manpower to reinforce forever...
3. I'd like to see Guy Simonds - OTL he was the de facto commander of the 2nd Canadian Corps in WWII, and one of the best commanders on the field. Besides, he was a French Canadian, and we need representation for all involved parties, amirite?
 
If the Axis still have troops in the Balkans they may find themselves in a very nasty situation.

P.S. I've heard that the Germans think of Vlad Țepeș (the Impaler) in a decidedly negative light. I suppose Dracula doesn't really have a great rep here, either, but to the Romanians he's a national hero, celebrated for fighting the Ottomans as they advanced into Europe. Just a note on a subject I'm interested in!

IIRC, Tepes was quite hard with the German cities and the German tradesmen there hated the prince with all their guts.
 
The translator I used came up with "Moriamur facere liberos" for the 101st motto. Dunno if that helps
 
trekaddict

Good update. Going to be bloody but sounds like the allies will hold. Given that winter and the chance to get reserves in from other areas will make things a lot more secure. Also the possession of the Carpathian highlands would make it arguably a better starting point for future offensives than the Alps, where there is a lot of rough terrain to fight through. An advance toward the Baltic through Poland would be risky as making a potential salient but could really isolate Hitler's empire from the Soviets. [Albeit that the latter is still pretty damn large and powerful].

ViperhawkZ

I picked up that as well about Romanian/Hungarian co-operation.;) Still politics and even more warfare makes for strange bedfellows. Not to mention that having switched sides neither power wants either Nazis or Soviets overrunning their homelands.:eek: Time for them later to have their separate conflict [diplomatic or military] over their borders.

As you say Vlad is a hero in Romania but his actually actions and his reputation would make others less doubtful about him. Even before Mr Stoker's book.;)

In terms of Russia, if there is a deep invasion, which would need very large manpower pools then cough India, cough China [which might well have changed sides by then] cough liberated Europe. Won't solve all the problems or necessarily all work but are options that would be useful to consider. Also, broadening the recruiting pool in India might well be favoured by reformers there as it would undermine the caste system somewhat.

Steve
 
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ViperhawkZ The Allies are banking a lot on General Winter. Alexander hopes that the break allows him to get his front in order and to make the former Axis nations worth the effort it'll take to supply them.

It is Harry Crear. Normally he'd be commanding the 1st Canadian Army (Canada's primary Field Formation) but Freyberg (overall commander of the 21st Army Group) wanted someone he trusted down south to keep an eye on the Romanians until the whole situation was sorted out.

To your Notes:

1) The Allies have found this already, hence why these two Armies were pulled out of the line and not, say, the 8th British.

2) The Dominions won't have to reinforce forever. I'm keeping my cards close to my chest right now, but I can say that the solution to this problem will have to do with superior mobility. :D

3) Simonds is atm the de facto Commander of the 1st Canadian Army, being Crear's Second in Command, despite being somewhat junior. He earned the early promotion in the battles along the Gustav Line and later in Austria.



Kurt_Steiner The only troops still nominally loyal to the Axis are a few nationalist Militias in Yugoslavia.

As for the Count, most of my knowledge is actually from literature....



stevep Thankee.

The Allied Grand Strategy is to knock out Germany first. The primary mission of the Allies still is the liberation of Europe and to do that one needs to go through Germany as the French down south are clearly not getting anywhere. You do have a good point there though.

The Romanian/Hungarian borders are left to the countries concerned to sort out. The only stipulation the British are making is that they stay peaceful (i.e. don't fight each other) and that the conflict doesn't impede the war effort against the Axis overly much.

As for the Invasion of Russia, I can't say much yet, but let's just say there is a reason the Cavalry is on the southern Flank. :D

Manpower wise, the Chinese and the Japanese are already holding down a majority of the Red Army as they are still at war with the Soviets and Germans (albeit the Germans don't have anything in the East) so are doing that part nicely. As for India, what you proposed is already happening. Many, many moons ago the Soldier whom I am using in the Far East as my PBI character had to run for his life once when a few hardliners protested against the reforms and that protest turned violent.
 
I wonder how many captured or damaged Pz IVs there are around Europe for the Romanians to loot for spares? Surely there must be large numbers in Italy lying around making the place look untidy?
 
I wonder how many captured or damaged Pz IVs there are around Europe for the Romanians to loot for spares? Surely there must be large numbers in Italy lying around making the place look untidy?


There are quite many, but these stocks won't last forever either, and it's yet another type of vehicles, and ammo for the 75s they carry is in very short supply. The Romanians and Hungarians could probably produce some more but nowhere near what two-three Divisions in combat would need.

Edit: At the same time the Allies are drowning in surplus Cromwells, and those fired the same ammo as the Comets and the towed 17 pounders.
 
I wonder how many captured or damaged Pz IVs there are around Europe for the Romanians to loot for spares? Surely there must be large numbers in Italy lying around making the place look untidy?

the germans had a huge problem with the number of minor fiddly model changes they had. no guarantee two tanks in the same platoon could interchange parts much less from months old versions.
the search for perfection is the mortal enemy of "good enough".
 
the search for perfection is the mortal enemy of "good enough".
The best is the enemy of the good as many people have put it. ;)

Keeping the Romanians using Pz IVs has many advantages; 1. Saves your good stuff for allies who are less fair weather. 2. Post war they are buggered as there will be no other Pz spares so are less of a worry. 3. What the hell else are you going to do with the bits?

Not that it matters, treks Britain does love to give good stuff to allies of questionable value for no payment. Damned if I know why. :p
 
The former minor Axis aren't getting the best kit, far from it. THey get these old Cromwells that would either be converted into APCs/various specialist vehicles or be scrapped outright. These just happen to have the same 17 pounder gun. That they hope to buy the Comet doesn't mean they'll get any before the Centurion enters service.
 
Chapter 283​

The small north-western Town of Pine Valley had suffered much from the Civil War and the subsequent economic downturn on the West Coast. Fishing had virtually disappeared as the Revolutionary Government had taken over most of the small boats to intercept the refugee convoys that had left Seattle towards Canada throughout the siege that had marked the final death of the United States and the proximity of the town to Seattle had turned it into a forward command post of first the remnants of the US 9th Infantry Division and parts of the Washington National Guard and later the People's Army, the fighting where it had changed hands destroying most of the buildings.

Now however things were looking up. For one the new coastal Railroad was going through the town and the branch lines from the Northern and eastern Districts of Pacifica fed into the mainline near here, making Pine Valley an important railroad junction, with all the economic perks that brought. The Mountain Warfare School at Fort Teller to the East of Seattle had a few facilities here too, mainly the selection course was run in the woods to the North-East, whereas at Fort Teller itself those that passed selection would train there. At least officially. What use 1st Mountain Division would be in the Pacific war was a common cause of hushed discussion in the APA commands along the Coast, but most people knew better than to discuss this openly.

Still, the West Coast was an armed military camp and unlike many other towns with one Pine Valley would benefit from this even if the war were to end tomorrow. Right now a group of Officers was meeting in the back room of an administration office, all very official and sanctioned by Washington, but out of a desire to keep it quiet none of the men was in Uniform.

All the services were represented and the subject of their discussion was the upcoming British tour of the west coast, due to start in a few days. So the unresolved issue was that it was still not clear just what the British were meant to see. For example the Navy demanded that the Repair Yards at Puget Sound be left out, only to be told by the Air Force that if the Canadians were even half competent they knew exactly what was going on their already. The Air Force flat out refused to let the British anywhere near Compton Field where the three XB-32/41 Prototypes were undergoing final testing before the concept entered series production.

35d15fe8.jpg

XB-32/41 #3[1]

The Army on the other hand was reluctant to let the British see the School at Fort Teller, but when it was pointed out that the British Mountain and Winter Warfare training was unlikely to be very different and that if anything it would directly and indirectly hasten the defeat of Imperial Japan.

“It's bad enough we have to let the Imperialists into our country anyway.” Army said. Like all of the men around the table he had risen to high rank during the Revolution and the Civil War, but even for these standards his political Zeal was high. He had advocated open intervention when the Canadians had brutally crushed the Quebec uprising and he had counselled the loudest against any co-operative agreements with the British. The others around the table hated the personification of old Imperialism almost as much as him, but Navy and Air Force had a professional background that Army lacked, they had been members of the Old Services and they still benefited from the institutional memory of the last World War where working together with the British and the French had been one of the keys to victory. This time the common enemy weren't the Germans but rather the Japanese, but the basic principle applied.


“Well, all that helps us speed victory. If that means we have to make good friends with the Imperialists for a while then so be it.” Navy said and Air Force nodded in agreement.

“That still doesn't mean we have to show them our secrets. You should understand that!” Army said, looking at Navy.

Navy was professional enough to force himself to an honest statement. “Between them the Allied Navies outnumber us significantly. The second run of People's Republic Class Carriers[2] won't be ready before the end of the year and until then the British Pacific Fleet is the only significant Carrier Force in the Pacific, and in spit of breaking even with the Japanese and outnumbering us severely they keep building. Only yesterday they have announced the launch of yet another Implacable Class Carrier. I doubt they have much to learn from us at this time, except maybe in Carrier aircraft.”

The American People's Navy was lucky in that the drawings, plans and prototypes of the old Grumman Company had fallen into the hands of the People relatively undamaged, which allowed them to build the F-4C/41 and the TB-5/41[3] in great numbers and the latter was deemed superior to the British Swordfish and Barracuda bombers.

“Still.” Army insisted.

“We won't have to show them our Tank Arsenal at Frisco, do we?” Air Force replied to that.

What the others didn't know and what Army would never publicly admit to anyone outside the Central committee was that the M4 was ridiculously inferior to the latest British models if the American spies in Canada were to be believed. If anything keeping the British from finding that out for as long as possible was a better reason from keeping them out of the arsenal that was refitting the models coming from the factories in the east. Even America's main Anti-Tank gun was a copy of a model the British had stopped using months ago. He was still convinced that in any standup fight the APA would take Canada before the British could hope to react, but the disparity in technology still made Army very uncomfortable.

And he had to admit, Navy knew what he was talking about.

“They will need to be shown one of our embarkation centres, preferrably the one up in Seattle. We have to show them that we are doing at least as much in this war as they do.” Air Force said, referring to recent British movements in Burma.

Navy agreed. The others were probably not yet aware of this, but his Intelligence people had estimated that the British would likely make a move in the Dutch East Indies once the Monsoon season was over. There was little hard Intelligence that reached America from Australia but the head of his Intelligence arm had worked on the planning staff of CinCUSFLEET before his defection and could be trusted to know the area well. The man was an opportunist and had to be watched closely, but his professional expertise was beyond question.

“Agreed.” Army said after thinking things over. After all, his command ran these camps and even the Navy's vaunted Marines went through these Army Camps.

He did admit that there was a good reason for making the British welcome. The old US Embassy at Grosvenor Square might be in the hands of the counter-revolutionary exiles and there was little point in trying to get the building back, but good relations with the British would make the task of defeating the Japanese easier. Every ship, plane or artillery piece that the British sent to the Pacific was one hard pressed American factories would not have to supply. At the same time the American High Command was well aware that for the British the Pacific was a secondary theatre for the British, beyond South-East Asia and the Allied Colonies there at least.

Coaxing the Allies (and thus chiefly the British and French) into making more commitments for Asia was worth a lot.

At the same time the appaling weakness of especially the APN on the West Coast needed to be concealed at all costs, not so much from the British Military as the global public at large, the British Press was ridiculously free in what it wrote.[4] If the fact that literally every operational American Carrier was in the Pacific filtered through to the Japanese the consequences were going to be hard to figure out, but certainly not good. At least for the remainder of 1942 and a significant chunk of 1943 the Japanese had to be kept busy.

The British were raiding various Japanese Pacific holdings, going out of Darwin in Australia and stopping to top up fuel at the small base at Rabaul,[5] and that was certain to provoke a Japanese response soon.

Army and Navy both hoped that this would be before the impending American attack on Midway, as it would draw the Japanese Carriers south, far away from any American Task Force.

“Well, what will we show them then?”

~**---**~

The conference was over and Army walked past the sentries and out into a slightly rainy north-western day. If he was to be perfectly honest, he liked this type of weather, the world and the mighty trees surrounding the town seemed to be cleaner and fresher than usual and in spite of his office-bound occupation Navy liked to see green when looking out of the window.

“Comrade Admiral?”

It was a young woman in her early twenties, wearing the Army-style uniform of the Defence Militia and his 'personal' driver. It was good not to be otherwise shackled down.

Now however work was to be done, and so the car, a stretched, hard-top enclosed variant of the already iconic Jeep, made it's way towards the nearby coastline, the rank insignia on the bonnet and on the flags flying from the same making sure that there would be no delay.

The Admiral could have chosen to go by plane or train, but the secrecy of his task required him to endure the two hours in the back of a vehicle that had not been designed for comfort but rather for utility. The supply of civilian cars in running order was short in the UAPR so the Admiral didn't mind. Some ten kilometres south of Seattle the car diverted from the main highway north onto a gravel road that was not yet paved.

The bumpy road ended at a wide bay that had not seen a human hand in decades before the war.

Now the narrow pebble beach was lined with Nissen huts, barbed wire fences and a few normal barracks that housed the various Offices. The Admiral wasn't visiting this small base for the first time, but it had been two months since he had been here last and the almost explosive growth of the camp still amazed him. His driver was led to the enlisted mess and would be fed and watered there, whereas the Admiral was led to the Office of the base commander. The reason for this secrecy was part of the attack on Midway for the American Navy was testing and training landing craft and tactics here. It was all the legacy of the revolution and the Civil War. While there was indeed considerable institutional knowledge within the American military, the United States Marine Corps had on the large remained loyalist and a lot of expertise and equipment had been lost and needed to be regained the hard way, and training the new Marines was essential.

The Admiral personally supervised the planning and the preparations for the Operation and he staked a lot on it's success. For this reason the frequent visits were necessary.

“Comrade General,” he said to the Marine, “I gather we have the units we need?”

“That we do, Comrade.” the Marine replied and gestured to a poster on the wall of his Office. “1st and 2nd Division have moved to their embarkation ports, all we need now is a few days to embark the men and load the equipment.”

The General was an old Marine, promoted for his loyalty to the Revolution and he was pleased that this new Marine Corps no longer had to contend with hand-me-down equipment from the Army.

“Good,” the Admiral said, nodding in satisfaction, “then we can proceed. You have done a good job, Comrade General.”

The General wished that he could go out with 'his' boys but a stiff left leg prevented him from serving in the assault Divisions. Soon America would go on the offensive and show the world that free men could fight. Soon Imperial Japan would feel the might of the free workers of America while Imperial Britain would be taught that they did not have the monopoly on military success.





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Comments, questions, rotten Tomatoes?

[1] Butterflies lead to the B-29 project never going anywhere. Lacking any alternatives the Americans throw all they have at the B-32, thus making it work.

[2] Essex Class.

[3] The TBF Avenger.

[4] Of course in America press censorship goes way beyond a D-Notice and DORA.

[5] I would in Arsenal of Democracy at least. :)
 
[1] Butterflies lead to the B-29 project never going anywhere. Lacking any alternatives the Americans throw all they have at the B-32, thus making it work

A pity. Does that mean that we may ever see the Washington B.1 with the RAF under another name?
 
Hehe, those silly 'Mericans. There hasn't been a single Communist country in history with a competent surface fleet. And Soviet subs weren't terribly interesting either, unless Sean Connery was involved.
 
Kurt_Steiner Nope. No Washington in RAF service.

ViperhawkZ That's probably because none of the OTL Commie nations had anything like the British or American Naval tradition. Mind you, the American Navy will follow the development of the rest of the country.
 
Communist Marines. That's probably not going to go well is it? Many of the vital skills you need (like improvisation and independent thinking) are probably the same ones the Central Committee is keenest to see stamped out.