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1956: Ishmael Leblin
1. Leblin began distributing this picture to IAF officers in 1956, for some reason.
There wasn't nearly enough time to do all this before late October, which was mysteriously dogeared in Leblin's calendar, but the IDF did its best. Tankers were schooled in the use of the AMX-13 and the Centurion on the few available training models, fighter pilots were hurriedly sent up in jet trainers, and infantrymen familiarized with the FN FAL. Hasty wargames were held and a few rushed changes were made to the embroynic Israeli logistical system.
[+2 Quality]
2. Tractors produced under license from foreign parts at hastily assembled Israeli final assembly plants, 1956.
[+3 Business Faction Wealth, +1 National Wealth, -1 Unemployment]
3. Crates full of baby chickens produced by Israeli communal farms in their first year of operation.
[No effect.]
"Factories for the people?"
--------------
((Nemesis' turn.))
Policies/disasters currently active:
Government:
1. Income Tax, economic policy: Every turn, -Debt equal to 10% of State Power, -Approval equal to half of the same, economic effects subject to change
2. House Construction, economic/social policy: Every turn, +Debt equal to 5% of State Power, +National Wealth, -Inequality equal to half of the same.
3. Reparations From Germany, economic/diplomatic policy: Every turn, -10 Debt, +1 National Wealth, -2 Approval. To be removed in 1964.
4. Public Education, social policy: Every turn, +Debt, +Education equal to 5% of State Power.
Nemesis:
1. Black Market, economic/diplomatic disaster: Every turn, +Crime, +Corruption, +International Hostility, -State Power, +Trade Relations equal to 3% of Crime. Also generates funds for the Nemesis.
Extra: Military Bloat, military disaster: Every turn, +4 Debt, +1 Military Quality, -1 National Wealth.
Static Modifiers:
1. Corruption: reduces State Power and National Wealth by 3% of Corruption, rounded up, every turn. It also has a chance, equal to corruption, of increasing Debt or decreasing Approval by 5% of Corruption every turn.
2. Health: has a chance of causing a pandemic each turn equal to (100-Health)/5%. Pandemics have various effects. They're never good.
3. Education: reduces Unemployment and increases National Wealth by 3% of Education every turn. Education also has a chance, equal to Education/5 as a %, of creating a technological breakthrough every turn. Breakthroughs have positive effects.
4. Inequality: reduces Approval by 3% of Inequality every turn. Inequality has a chance equal to Inequality/5 as a % to cause riots each turn. These increase crime and have other negative effects.
5. Unemployment and Inflation: both erode Approval by 3% every turn, and may trigger a Winter of Discontent, which will erode social stats.
6. International Hostility: May trigger economic sanctions.
7. Trade Relations: reduce Inflation and raises Unemployment and National Wealth by 3% of Trade Relations every turn.
8. National Optimism: Raise Approval by 3 or 4 (even chance, so an average of 3.5) every turn.
2. Health: has a chance of causing a pandemic each turn equal to (100-Health)/5%. Pandemics have various effects. They're never good.
3. Education: reduces Unemployment and increases National Wealth by 3% of Education every turn. Education also has a chance, equal to Education/5 as a %, of creating a technological breakthrough every turn. Breakthroughs have positive effects.
4. Inequality: reduces Approval by 3% of Inequality every turn. Inequality has a chance equal to Inequality/5 as a % to cause riots each turn. These increase crime and have other negative effects.
5. Unemployment and Inflation: both erode Approval by 3% every turn, and may trigger a Winter of Discontent, which will erode social stats.
6. International Hostility: May trigger economic sanctions.
7. Trade Relations: reduce Inflation and raises Unemployment and National Wealth by 3% of Trade Relations every turn.
8. National Optimism: Raise Approval by 3 or 4 (even chance, so an average of 3.5) every turn.
Stats
# of government Orders/turn: 3
# of government Policy Slots: 4
Political
-Approval: 56
-Corruption: 16
-State Power: 37
Social
-Health: 46
-Education: 65
-Inequality: 46
-Crime: 13
Economic
-National Wealth: 64
-Debt: 48
-Unemployment: 12
-Inflation: N/A
Military
-Quality: 69
-Quantity: 50
-Military Loyalty: 80
-Clout: 1
[Military Strength = Quality * Quantity/100, rounded up, btw]
Diplomatic
-International Hostility: 87
-Trade Relations: 33
-Foreign Influence: 20
Business:
-Wealth: 19
-Clout: 0
Labor Unions:
-Unionization: 30
-Clout: 0
# of government Policy Slots: 4
Political
-Approval: 56
-Corruption: 16
-State Power: 37
Social
-Health: 46
-Education: 65
-Inequality: 46
-Crime: 13
Economic
-National Wealth: 64
-Debt: 48
-Unemployment: 12
-Inflation: N/A
Military
-Quality: 69
-Quantity: 50
-Military Loyalty: 80
-Clout: 1
[Military Strength = Quality * Quantity/100, rounded up, btw]
Diplomatic
-International Hostility: 87
-Trade Relations: 33
-Foreign Influence: 20
Business:
-Wealth: 19
-Clout: 0
Labor Unions:
-Unionization: 30
-Clout: 0
Constitution:
Government Type: Parliamentary Republic
Title of Leader: Prime Minister (IC chosen by an apolitical President)
Name of Nation: State of Israel
Election Process: Vote by party; coalition of parties with a majority of the vote chooses the Prime Minister
Ballots: Public
Leader Term: 4 years
Supply Limit: 3 votes
Term Limit: None
Removal Process Mid-Term: No confidence by majority vote
If Leader Dies/Is Removed: New elections
Necessary Majority to Amend Constitution: Bare majority [Constitution is not codified]
Opposition Parties Allowed: Yes
Can Purge/Kill Players: No
Government Must Reveal Orders: Yes
Title of Leader: Prime Minister (IC chosen by an apolitical President)
Name of Nation: State of Israel
Election Process: Vote by party; coalition of parties with a majority of the vote chooses the Prime Minister
Ballots: Public
Leader Term: 4 years
Supply Limit: 3 votes
Term Limit: None
Removal Process Mid-Term: No confidence by majority vote
If Leader Dies/Is Removed: New elections
Necessary Majority to Amend Constitution: Bare majority [Constitution is not codified]
Opposition Parties Allowed: Yes
Can Purge/Kill Players: No
Government Must Reveal Orders: Yes
Nemesis Stats:
1 order per turn
1 disaster slot
1 disaster slot
1956: Nemesis
1. Several captured spies are executed by the Mossad.
In the summer of 1956, the Mossad captured and executed several spies attempting to infiltrate the Israeli military. Mossad investigations indicated that the spies were attempting to bribe their way into the War Department and obtain classified information about the size, strength, organization, disposition, and war plans of the IDF, then pass then on to foreign states, including Egypt and Soviet Union. The Mossad reported that no classified strategic information actually made its way out of the country in consequence of this conspiracy; the conspiracy was discovered almost immediately when IDF officers reported attempts to bribe them.
All of the spies executed were Jewish Israelis, some immigrants and some native-born. Nevertheless, the Mossad repeatedly referred to them as "spies" rather than "traitors," possibly for legal reasons. Nothing about their superiors was discovered by the Mossad during their de-briefing. Mossad reports indicated that they were not politically active and did affiliate the conspirators with any particular political party.
[As far as is known, order failed due to high military loyalty and low corruption.]
"Nasser and Khrushchev remain oblivious to our plans."
--------------
((With the Nemesis' turn over, we now head into the Suez Crisis, which is a special event that will likely have multiple updates and possibly one vote affiliated with it. Ishmael Leblin [Caspoi] will make most of the decisions during the crisis.))
Policies/disasters currently active:
Government:
1. Income Tax, economic policy: Every turn, -Debt equal to 10% of State Power, -Approval equal to half of the same, economic effects subject to change
2. House Construction, economic/social policy: Every turn, +Debt equal to 5% of State Power, +National Wealth, -Inequality equal to half of the same.
3. Reparations From Germany, economic/diplomatic policy: Every turn, -10 Debt, +1 National Wealth, -2 Approval. To be removed in 1964.
4. Public Education, social policy: Every turn, +Debt, +Education equal to 5% of State Power.
Nemesis:
1. Black Market, economic/diplomatic disaster: Every turn, +Crime, +Corruption, +International Hostility, -State Power, +Trade Relations equal to 3% of Crime. Also generates funds for the Nemesis.
Extra: Military Bloat, military disaster: Every turn, +4 Debt, +1 Military Quality, -1 National Wealth.
Static Modifiers:
1. Corruption: reduces State Power and National Wealth by 3% of Corruption, rounded up, every turn. It also has a chance, equal to corruption, of increasing Debt or decreasing Approval by 5% of Corruption every turn.
2. Health: has a chance of causing a pandemic each turn equal to (100-Health)/5%. Pandemics have various effects. They're never good.
3. Education: reduces Unemployment and increases National Wealth by 3% of Education every turn. Education also has a chance, equal to Education/5 as a %, of creating a technological breakthrough every turn. Breakthroughs have positive effects.
4. Inequality: reduces Approval by 3% of Inequality every turn. Inequality has a chance equal to Inequality/5 as a % to cause riots each turn. These increase crime and have other negative effects.
5. Unemployment and Inflation: both erode Approval by 3% every turn, and may trigger a Winter of Discontent, which will erode social stats.
6. International Hostility: May trigger economic sanctions.
7. Trade Relations: reduce Inflation and raises Unemployment and National Wealth by 3% of Trade Relations every turn.
8. National Optimism: Raise Approval by 3 or 4 (even chance, so an average of 3.5) every turn.
2. Health: has a chance of causing a pandemic each turn equal to (100-Health)/5%. Pandemics have various effects. They're never good.
3. Education: reduces Unemployment and increases National Wealth by 3% of Education every turn. Education also has a chance, equal to Education/5 as a %, of creating a technological breakthrough every turn. Breakthroughs have positive effects.
4. Inequality: reduces Approval by 3% of Inequality every turn. Inequality has a chance equal to Inequality/5 as a % to cause riots each turn. These increase crime and have other negative effects.
5. Unemployment and Inflation: both erode Approval by 3% every turn, and may trigger a Winter of Discontent, which will erode social stats.
6. International Hostility: May trigger economic sanctions.
7. Trade Relations: reduce Inflation and raises Unemployment and National Wealth by 3% of Trade Relations every turn.
8. National Optimism: Raise Approval by 3 or 4 (even chance, so an average of 3.5) every turn.
Stats
# of government Orders/turn: 3
# of government Policy Slots: 4
Political
-Approval: 56
-Corruption: 16
-State Power: 37
Social
-Health: 46
-Education: 65
-Inequality: 46
-Crime: 13
Economic
-National Wealth: 64
-Debt: 48
-Unemployment: 12
-Inflation: N/A
Military
-Quality: 69
-Quantity: 50
-Military Loyalty: 80
-Clout: 1
[Military Strength = Quality * Quantity/100, rounded up, btw]
Diplomatic
-International Hostility: 87
-Trade Relations: 33
-Foreign Influence: 20
Business:
-Wealth: 19
-Clout: 0
Labor Unions:
-Unionization: 30
-Clout: 0
# of government Policy Slots: 4
Political
-Approval: 56
-Corruption: 16
-State Power: 37
Social
-Health: 46
-Education: 65
-Inequality: 46
-Crime: 13
Economic
-National Wealth: 64
-Debt: 48
-Unemployment: 12
-Inflation: N/A
Military
-Quality: 69
-Quantity: 50
-Military Loyalty: 80
-Clout: 1
[Military Strength = Quality * Quantity/100, rounded up, btw]
Diplomatic
-International Hostility: 87
-Trade Relations: 33
-Foreign Influence: 20
Business:
-Wealth: 19
-Clout: 0
Labor Unions:
-Unionization: 30
-Clout: 0
Constitution:
Government Type: Parliamentary Republic
Title of Leader: Prime Minister (IC chosen by an apolitical President)
Name of Nation: State of Israel
Election Process: Vote by party; coalition of parties with a majority of the vote chooses the Prime Minister
Ballots: Public
Leader Term: 4 years
Supply Limit: 3 votes
Term Limit: None
Removal Process Mid-Term: No confidence by majority vote
If Leader Dies/Is Removed: New elections
Necessary Majority to Amend Constitution: Bare majority [Constitution is not codified]
Opposition Parties Allowed: Yes
Can Purge/Kill Players: No
Government Must Reveal Orders: Yes
Title of Leader: Prime Minister (IC chosen by an apolitical President)
Name of Nation: State of Israel
Election Process: Vote by party; coalition of parties with a majority of the vote chooses the Prime Minister
Ballots: Public
Leader Term: 4 years
Supply Limit: 3 votes
Term Limit: None
Removal Process Mid-Term: No confidence by majority vote
If Leader Dies/Is Removed: New elections
Necessary Majority to Amend Constitution: Bare majority [Constitution is not codified]
Opposition Parties Allowed: Yes
Can Purge/Kill Players: No
Government Must Reveal Orders: Yes
Nemesis Stats:
1 order per turn
1 disaster slot
1 disaster slot
Suez Crisis, Part 1: Protocol of Sèvres
1. Anthony Eden, UK PM, 1956. Eden would play a key role in the Suez Crisis.
1956 would prove to be a prominent year in the Israeli history books - it was the first time since the War of Independence that Israel would go to war.
It began in the summer of 1956. Nasser, aligning himself ever-closer with the Soviets, had become increasingly dissatisfied with the British presence on the peninsula, particularly the crowning achievement of British engineering and colonial power in the region: the Suez Canal. Nasser had repudiated the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936 in 1951, and in 1954 badgered the English into withdrawing their troops. Anthony Eden (British PM as of 1955) was shocked by Nasser's swerve towards anti-Western policies, as he had regarded his policies as highly successful in cultivating Arab support for the British in the Middle East. On July 26th, 1956, Nasser went even further, nationalizing the Suez Canal Company, which had been jointly owned by the British government and French private investors. Moreover, 75% of the UK's oil, and millions of tons of shipping, were moved through the canal. Britain and France were outraged. Their subsequent efforts to compel Nasser to return the canal without resorting to force failed.
2. Egyptians remove a statue of French diplomat De Lesseps, one of key players in the construction of the Suez Canal.
During his visit to Europe that summer, Israeli Prime Minister Ishmael Leblin attended a secret meeting in a small French village outside Paris called Sèvres. There, the British, French, and Israeli governments plotted a joint attack on Egypt. The Anglo-French proposal initially called for Israel to invade the Sinai, advancing as far as the canal and seizing the east bank. Then, an Anglo-French task force would land at Port Said and take the west bank of the canal, putting the canal in Allied hands. The British and French would have their canal back, and the Suez and the Straits of Tiran would be open to Israeli shipping, reducing Israel's trade isolation. Eden and Mollet (represented at the meeting by their foreign ministers, Selwyn Lloyd and Christian Pineau, respectively) also wanted to see Nasser gone - the French accused Nasser of supporting militants in Algeria, while the British were outraged at him for his nationalistic policies. However, they were vague on whether or not the original plan would oust him.
Leblin disagreed with this plan. He believed the invasion should be conducted entirely by Israel, with diplomatic and material support from the British and French. Leblin's position shocked both the British and French delegations; the IDF was only a quarter the size of the Egyptian armed forces, and conducting the invasion alone seemed risky in the extreme. However, Leblin said that an Anglo-French invasion would draw allegations of imperialism and backfire. He insisted he be allowed to conduct the invasion alone, capture the Sinai and the Suez, and hand the canal to the British and French governments after the war.
3. Soviet arms purchased by Egypt via Czechoslovakia. Israeli generals were concerned about Nasser's military buildup.
The British and French governments were skeptical that the tiny IDF would have the power to defeat Egypt alone. When pressed, Leblin admitted that it seemed unlikely he could seize Cairo and oust Nasser. He also admitted that the IDF would be hard-pressed to seize and hold the west bank of the Suez. However, Leblin insisted that holding the east bank alone would be enough for him to force Nasser to surrender control of the Suez. With the east bank alone, Leblin insisted he could stop all traffic through the canal, and Nasser would be force to cede control of the canal.
Again, the Anglo-French delegation was skeptical. They believed that Nasser would block the canal before he agreed to surrender it to their administration. A compromise was reached. Leblin would seize the Sinai and advance to the east bank of the Suez. The British and French would propose that the canal be handed over to them under the pretense of peacekeeping. If Nasser did not comply within a week, the British and French would seize Port Said and the west bank. This proposal would leave Israel fighting the Egyptians for weeks without British or French air or naval support, (though both countries had agreed to guarantee shipments of arms to Israel throughout the conflict regardless). However, it also guaranteed the British and French would regain control of the canal, at least theoretically - and to the western powers, that was the whole point.
4. Diagram depicting the original warplan for the Anglo-French-Israeli invasion. Leblin rejected the plan.
The protocol was signed; Leblin signed for Israel. When he returned to Israel, Leblin chose not to inform the Knesset or bring the protocol to a vote. After all, this was a secret protocol. He couldn't have a bunch of squabbling elected officials fouling it up somehow, could he? After the war, when the existence of the protocol became known, the Knesset and the Israeli public would be outraged that Leblin had refused to inform them before plunging Israel into a secret war.
[-5 Approval, -5 Military Loyalty]
And in October of 1956, the IDF lined up its mechanized divisions along the Egyptian border...
"Sèvres? Never heard of it. And, if anyone asks, neither have you."
--------------
((Leblin has elected not to bring the Protocol of Sèvres to a vote, meaning Israel will attack Egypt without parliamentary authorization. There won't be a vote and we'll move immediately to the fighting phase of the conflict.))
Policies/disasters currently active:
Government:
1. Income Tax, economic policy: Every turn, -Debt equal to 10% of State Power, -Approval equal to half of the same, economic effects subject to change
2. House Construction, economic/social policy: Every turn, +Debt equal to 5% of State Power, +National Wealth, -Inequality equal to half of the same.
3. Reparations From Germany, economic/diplomatic policy: Every turn, -10 Debt, +1 National Wealth, -2 Approval. To be removed in 1964.
4. Public Education, social policy: Every turn, +Debt, +Education equal to 5% of State Power.
Nemesis:
1. Black Market, economic/diplomatic disaster: Every turn, +Crime, +Corruption, +International Hostility, -State Power, +Trade Relations equal to 3% of Crime. Also generates funds for the Nemesis.
Extra: Military Bloat, military disaster: Every turn, +4 Debt, +1 Military Quality, -1 National Wealth.
Static Modifiers:
1. Corruption: reduces State Power and National Wealth by 3% of Corruption, rounded up, every turn. It also has a chance, equal to corruption, of increasing Debt or decreasing Approval by 5% of Corruption every turn.
2. Health: has a chance of causing a pandemic each turn equal to (100-Health)/5%. Pandemics have various effects. They're never good.
3. Education: reduces Unemployment and increases National Wealth by 3% of Education every turn. Education also has a chance, equal to Education/5 as a %, of creating a technological breakthrough every turn. Breakthroughs have positive effects.
4. Inequality: reduces Approval by 3% of Inequality every turn. Inequality has a chance equal to Inequality/5 as a % to cause riots each turn. These increase crime and have other negative effects.
5. Unemployment and Inflation: both erode Approval by 3% every turn, and may trigger a Winter of Discontent, which will erode social stats.
6. International Hostility: May trigger economic sanctions.
7. Trade Relations: reduce Inflation and raises Unemployment and National Wealth by 3% of Trade Relations every turn.
8. National Optimism: Raise Approval by 3 or 4 (even chance, so an average of 3.5) every turn.
2. Health: has a chance of causing a pandemic each turn equal to (100-Health)/5%. Pandemics have various effects. They're never good.
3. Education: reduces Unemployment and increases National Wealth by 3% of Education every turn. Education also has a chance, equal to Education/5 as a %, of creating a technological breakthrough every turn. Breakthroughs have positive effects.
4. Inequality: reduces Approval by 3% of Inequality every turn. Inequality has a chance equal to Inequality/5 as a % to cause riots each turn. These increase crime and have other negative effects.
5. Unemployment and Inflation: both erode Approval by 3% every turn, and may trigger a Winter of Discontent, which will erode social stats.
6. International Hostility: May trigger economic sanctions.
7. Trade Relations: reduce Inflation and raises Unemployment and National Wealth by 3% of Trade Relations every turn.
8. National Optimism: Raise Approval by 3 or 4 (even chance, so an average of 3.5) every turn.
Stats
# of government Orders/turn: 3
# of government Policy Slots: 4
Political
-Approval: 51
-Corruption: 16
-State Power: 37
Social
-Health: 46
-Education: 65
-Inequality: 46
-Crime: 13
Economic
-National Wealth: 64
-Debt: 48
-Unemployment: 12
-Inflation: N/A
Military
-Quality: 69
-Quantity: 50
-Military Loyalty: 75
-Clout: 1
[Military Strength = Quality * Quantity/100, rounded up, btw]
Diplomatic
-International Hostility: 87
-Trade Relations: 33
-Foreign Influence: 20
Business:
-Wealth: 19
-Clout: 0
Labor Unions:
-Unionization: 30
-Clout: 0
# of government Policy Slots: 4
Political
-Approval: 51
-Corruption: 16
-State Power: 37
Social
-Health: 46
-Education: 65
-Inequality: 46
-Crime: 13
Economic
-National Wealth: 64
-Debt: 48
-Unemployment: 12
-Inflation: N/A
Military
-Quality: 69
-Quantity: 50
-Military Loyalty: 75
-Clout: 1
[Military Strength = Quality * Quantity/100, rounded up, btw]
Diplomatic
-International Hostility: 87
-Trade Relations: 33
-Foreign Influence: 20
Business:
-Wealth: 19
-Clout: 0
Labor Unions:
-Unionization: 30
-Clout: 0
Constitution:
Government Type: Parliamentary Republic
Title of Leader: Prime Minister (IC chosen by an apolitical President)
Name of Nation: State of Israel
Election Process: Vote by party; coalition of parties with a majority of the vote chooses the Prime Minister
Ballots: Public
Leader Term: 4 years
Supply Limit: 3 votes
Term Limit: None
Removal Process Mid-Term: No confidence by majority vote
If Leader Dies/Is Removed: New elections
Necessary Majority to Amend Constitution: Bare majority [Constitution is not codified]
Opposition Parties Allowed: Yes
Can Purge/Kill Players: No
Government Must Reveal Orders: Yes
Title of Leader: Prime Minister (IC chosen by an apolitical President)
Name of Nation: State of Israel
Election Process: Vote by party; coalition of parties with a majority of the vote chooses the Prime Minister
Ballots: Public
Leader Term: 4 years
Supply Limit: 3 votes
Term Limit: None
Removal Process Mid-Term: No confidence by majority vote
If Leader Dies/Is Removed: New elections
Necessary Majority to Amend Constitution: Bare majority [Constitution is not codified]
Opposition Parties Allowed: Yes
Can Purge/Kill Players: No
Government Must Reveal Orders: Yes
Nemesis Stats:
1 order per turn
1 disaster slot
1 disaster slot
Suez Crisis, Part 2: Invasion of the Sinai
1. Tanks and other vehicles destroyed in the Sinai.
The Protocol of Sèvres fixed the 29th of October as the date of the Israeli invasion of the Sinai. Originally, the plan had called for Britain and France to follow up by beginning their own attack on Port Said the next day, also offering the IDF air and naval support. However, Leblin had rejected this plan in favor of a war fought solely by the Israelis - he would advance to the bank of the Suez Canal alone, and would probably have to hold there for at least a week. How this plan advantaged Israel was unclear, but it presented massive liabilities: without Anglo-French air superiority, the Israeli Air Force could be seriously outmatched. Israel's navy was nonexistent. Intervention by the other Arab League states, including Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan was possible. Even Soviet intervention was conceivable. And, of course, the Egyptian Army was at least four times the size of the Israeli Army.
Leblin chose to attack the Sinai with eleven brigades (55,000 of the 85,000 man IDF), leaving the balance behind in Israel to guard against possible Syrian or Jordanian aggression. His plan called for the war to open with a pre-emptive strike by the IAF against Egyptian air fields, while his mechanized units would use what basically amounted to blitzkrieg tactics in the Sinai, breaking through enemy lines and encircling Egyptian units while the infantry followed up. Curiously, his plan called for the use of paratroopers, which was difficult because he didn't have any. Meanwhile, Leblin intended to justify the war as a pre-emptive strike against Nasser who had been building up for an attack against Israel (at least, according to Leblin).
2. The Soviet T-34, the standard Egyptian tank by 1956.
In fact, Nasser had not been building up for an attack against Israel, and his forces in the Sinai were meager. Egyptian Sinai troops were thought to number under 20,000 and were mostly confined to the Gaza Strip and Rafah, with smaller units scattered throughout the Sinai (for example at Abu Uwayulah and Sharm el-Sheikh). Most Israeli officers believed that fighting their way through the Sinai would be extremely easy.
On the evening of the 28th of October, the Israeli Air Force opened hostilities by attacking Egyptian air fields in an attempt to neutralize the Egyptian air force before it could be put into action. The attack failed as IAF pilots mostly were unable to find their targets due to weather and confusion; many IAF pilots were still unfamiliar with the jets they had only obtained that year. The Egyptian Air Force would remain active for the rest of the conflict.
3. Israeli infantry near the Milta Pass.
Fortunately for the Israelis, the ground campaign went better. In the early morning of the 29th, Israeli armored brigades sprinted into the Sinai, quickly encircling Rafah and Gaza and seizing major road junctions. One was peeled off for Sharm-el-Sheikh while the other four raced to the Suez Canal. Infantry brigades pulled up from the rear and assaulted Egyptian positions. Weaknesses in Israeli doctrine became obvious immediately: there was a crippling shortage of tanks and no artillery. Egyptian aircraft harrassed Israeli columns. Israeli logistics was poor, and Israeli military doctrine proved to be almost schizophrenic - the armored divisions had been trained in blitzkrieg, but the infantry in urban and ambush warfare. Meanwhile, the IAF still mostly used the venerable Spitfire, which was virtually powerless to intercept Egyptian Mig-15s and Meteors, and also proved poor in close air support roles.
However, for all the IDF's naked weaknesses, the Egyptian army was weaker still. In fact, the Egyptian army in the Sinai was practically falling apart. Incompetence among the Egyptian officer corps was so gross as to defy belief; incidents of baffling misjudgments and even naked cowardice by Egyptian officers were common. Egyptian forces seemed totally immobile in the face of the Israeli advance and shocked and dazed by repeated Israeli assaults. The Soviet T-34-85 was also severely out of date. It could defeat the Patton (still in use by one Israeli armored brigade), but it was outmatched even by the light French AMX-13, and the Israelis discovered that the T-34 was almost completely powerless against the heavier British Centurion. Egyptian leadership and strategy was also beneath contempt at all levels.
4. Israeli troops digging in near the Parker Memorial.
Egyptian forces in Gaza and Rafah were surrounded and surrendered after a few days of fighting. Though the Egyptian defense of Gaza was savage, it was nevertheless completely overwhelmed. Sharm el-Sheikh surrendered to Israel by the 4th of November. Israel reached the east bank of the Suez by the sixth day of fighting (November 3rd), and by the 6th, the Sinai was completely under Israeli control. Israeli casualties were light with roughly a hundred dead and 500 wounded. Roughly 20,000 Egyptians had been killed or captured.
French and British ships ran weapons and supplies to Haifa, but otherwise, a large Anglo-French task force conspicuously loitering off of Cyprus remained uninvolved. The UN met in emergency session on the 30th of October to address the invasion. Leblin's justifications fell on deaf ears. French and British pressure utterly failed to stop the UN from adopting a resolution demanding Israel withdraw its troops from the Sinai. The attacked was condemned by the United States; the Soviet Union threatened intervention on behalf of Egypt; the Arab League met in emergency conference; the whole world saw Israel's attack on the Sinai as naked and completely unjustified aggression against Egypt.
[+10 International Hostility]
"Sèvres? Never heard of it. And, if anyone asks, neither have you."
--------------
((Leblin has elected not to bring the Protocol of Sèvres to a vote, meaning Israel will attack Egypt without parliamentary authorization. There won't be a vote and we'll move immediately to the fighting phase of the conflict.))
Policies/disasters currently active:
Government:
1. Income Tax, economic policy: Every turn, -Debt equal to 10% of State Power, -Approval equal to half of the same, economic effects subject to change
2. House Construction, economic/social policy: Every turn, +Debt equal to 5% of State Power, +National Wealth, -Inequality equal to half of the same.
3. Reparations From Germany, economic/diplomatic policy: Every turn, -10 Debt, +1 National Wealth, -2 Approval. To be removed in 1964.
4. Public Education, social policy: Every turn, +Debt, +Education equal to 5% of State Power.
Nemesis:
1. Black Market, economic/diplomatic disaster: Every turn, +Crime, +Corruption, +International Hostility, -State Power, +Trade Relations equal to 3% of Crime. Also generates funds for the Nemesis.
Extra: Military Bloat, military disaster: Every turn, +4 Debt, +1 Military Quality, -1 National Wealth.
Static Modifiers:
1. Corruption: reduces State Power and National Wealth by 3% of Corruption, rounded up, every turn. It also has a chance, equal to corruption, of increasing Debt or decreasing Approval by 5% of Corruption every turn.
2. Health: has a chance of causing a pandemic each turn equal to (100-Health)/5%. Pandemics have various effects. They're never good.
3. Education: reduces Unemployment and increases National Wealth by 3% of Education every turn. Education also has a chance, equal to Education/5 as a %, of creating a technological breakthrough every turn. Breakthroughs have positive effects.
4. Inequality: reduces Approval by 3% of Inequality every turn. Inequality has a chance equal to Inequality/5 as a % to cause riots each turn. These increase crime and have other negative effects.
5. Unemployment and Inflation: both erode Approval by 3% every turn, and may trigger a Winter of Discontent, which will erode social stats.
6. International Hostility: May trigger economic sanctions.
7. Trade Relations: reduce Inflation and raises Unemployment and National Wealth by 3% of Trade Relations every turn.
8. National Optimism: Raise Approval by 3 or 4 (even chance, so an average of 3.5) every turn.
2. Health: has a chance of causing a pandemic each turn equal to (100-Health)/5%. Pandemics have various effects. They're never good.
3. Education: reduces Unemployment and increases National Wealth by 3% of Education every turn. Education also has a chance, equal to Education/5 as a %, of creating a technological breakthrough every turn. Breakthroughs have positive effects.
4. Inequality: reduces Approval by 3% of Inequality every turn. Inequality has a chance equal to Inequality/5 as a % to cause riots each turn. These increase crime and have other negative effects.
5. Unemployment and Inflation: both erode Approval by 3% every turn, and may trigger a Winter of Discontent, which will erode social stats.
6. International Hostility: May trigger economic sanctions.
7. Trade Relations: reduce Inflation and raises Unemployment and National Wealth by 3% of Trade Relations every turn.
8. National Optimism: Raise Approval by 3 or 4 (even chance, so an average of 3.5) every turn.
Stats
# of government Orders/turn: 3
# of government Policy Slots: 4
Political
-Approval: 51
-Corruption: 16
-State Power: 37
Social
-Health: 46
-Education: 65
-Inequality: 46
-Crime: 13
Economic
-National Wealth: 64
-Debt: 48
-Unemployment: 12
-Inflation: N/A
Military
-Quality: 69
-Quantity: 50
-Military Loyalty: 75
-Clout: 1
[Military Strength = Quality * Quantity/100, rounded up, btw]
Diplomatic
-International Hostility: 97
-Trade Relations: 33
-Foreign Influence: 20
Business:
-Wealth: 19
-Clout: 0
Labor Unions:
-Unionization: 30
-Clout: 0
# of government Policy Slots: 4
Political
-Approval: 51
-Corruption: 16
-State Power: 37
Social
-Health: 46
-Education: 65
-Inequality: 46
-Crime: 13
Economic
-National Wealth: 64
-Debt: 48
-Unemployment: 12
-Inflation: N/A
Military
-Quality: 69
-Quantity: 50
-Military Loyalty: 75
-Clout: 1
[Military Strength = Quality * Quantity/100, rounded up, btw]
Diplomatic
-International Hostility: 97
-Trade Relations: 33
-Foreign Influence: 20
Business:
-Wealth: 19
-Clout: 0
Labor Unions:
-Unionization: 30
-Clout: 0
Constitution:
Government Type: Parliamentary Republic
Title of Leader: Prime Minister (IC chosen by an apolitical President)
Name of Nation: State of Israel
Election Process: Vote by party; coalition of parties with a majority of the vote chooses the Prime Minister
Ballots: Public
Leader Term: 4 years
Supply Limit: 3 votes
Term Limit: None
Removal Process Mid-Term: No confidence by majority vote
If Leader Dies/Is Removed: New elections
Necessary Majority to Amend Constitution: Bare majority [Constitution is not codified]
Opposition Parties Allowed: Yes
Can Purge/Kill Players: No
Government Must Reveal Orders: Yes
Title of Leader: Prime Minister (IC chosen by an apolitical President)
Name of Nation: State of Israel
Election Process: Vote by party; coalition of parties with a majority of the vote chooses the Prime Minister
Ballots: Public
Leader Term: 4 years
Supply Limit: 3 votes
Term Limit: None
Removal Process Mid-Term: No confidence by majority vote
If Leader Dies/Is Removed: New elections
Necessary Majority to Amend Constitution: Bare majority [Constitution is not codified]
Opposition Parties Allowed: Yes
Can Purge/Kill Players: No
Government Must Reveal Orders: Yes
Nemesis Stats:
1 order per turn
1 disaster slot
1 disaster slot
Suez Crisis, Part 3: Forces Align Against Israel
1. Israeli troops seize coastal defense batteries along the Straits of Tiran.
As might have been foreseen, Nasser said no. Most expected him to say no immediately; he actually mulled the proposal over for about a day, but the delay didn't matter much one way or the other. Nasser believed he could re-take the Sinai and reopen the canal if fighting Israel alone. Since the British and French had not yet invaded, and wouldn't for another six days (until, if all went to plan, the 14th of November), Nasser thought Israel was without allies in the campaign.
2. King Hussein inspects a Jordanian army unit.
Unbeknownst to Leblin, Nasser had in fact secured Jordanian and Syrian commitments to attack Israel on the 31st of October/1st of November. The Jordanian army was tiny at just 22,000 men, but extremely well equipped and organized. It had, until March of 1956, been commanded by British generals (when King Hussein had expelled the British), and the Israelis had considered Jordanian troops to be the most effective and dangerous during the 1948 War of Independence. It used state-of-the-art British weapons and aircraft, and committed to attack Israel despite British diplomatic appeals not to. Jordanian troops were also incredibly angry with Israel and had a bone to pick with Leblin for his policies of indiscriminately massacring Jordanian villagers.
3. Then President Shukri al-Quwatli of Syria shakes hands with Nasser. King Saud is in the background.
The rest of the Arab League refused Nasser's calls for assistance. The Iraqis had their arms twisted by the British, the Lebanese were apathetic, and the Saudis wanted the Suez open and hated the Hashemites so much that they refused to do anything that might help Jordan, though they briefly toyed with the idea of blocking the Straits of Tiran from the Saudi side. (The Saudis had concluded a defense agreement with Egypt and Syria in March aimed at stopping Israel; however, the Saudis essentially dishonored the agreement in November. The Syrians respected the pact.)
4. Egyptian Army men and vehicles prepare for a counterattack against Israel in November, 1956.
They were wrong. The biggest threat to Israel was the Soviet Union. When Bulganin had written his blustering letter threatening a nuclear attack, Leblin had interpretted it as a bluff. Leblin was right, to a point - no one knew it at the time, but the Soviets only had four working ICBMs and they weren't about to waste them bombing Tel Aviv. However, the Soviets were extremely committed to toppling western dominance in the Middle East, and they were willing to back it up with more than just threats. There was no overland route from the Soviet Union to Israel, but the Soviets put detached a task force from the Black Sea Fleet and sent it to the Mediterranean with the intent of blockading Israel. American U-2s spotted Soviet aircraft moving fighter jets and VDV regiments into Syria on November 5th, just as Israeli troops were consolidating their positions on the eastern bank of the Suez. The Americans passed on photographs of Soviet forces moving into Syria, hoping to convince Israel to pull back from the Sinai. However, by the time Israel became aware of the scope of Soviet involvement, it was too late to change plans.
Mossad sources informed Israel a counterattack was coming involving both Syria and Jordan, but failed to inform the IDF and the cabinet of all the specifics. Nasser and his allies plotted a counterattack against Israel to begin on November the 10th, several days after Israel secured the east bank of the canal...
"Russians? In Syria? How ridiculous. That would never happen."
--------------
((Adamgerd sent special orders for his character this turn; he phrased them such that a public vote would normally have been required, but I decided I didn't want to stop in the middle of the Suez updates for a vote. His orders will appear in the next update.))
Policies/disasters currently active:
Government:
1. Income Tax, economic policy: Every turn, -Debt equal to 10% of State Power, -Approval equal to half of the same, economic effects subject to change
2. House Construction, economic/social policy: Every turn, +Debt equal to 5% of State Power, +National Wealth, -Inequality equal to half of the same.
3. Reparations From Germany, economic/diplomatic policy: Every turn, -10 Debt, +1 National Wealth, -2 Approval. To be removed in 1964.
4. Public Education, social policy: Every turn, +Debt, +Education equal to 5% of State Power.
Nemesis:
1. Black Market, economic/diplomatic disaster: Every turn, +Crime, +Corruption, +International Hostility, -State Power, +Trade Relations equal to 3% of Crime. Also generates funds for the Nemesis.
Extra: Military Bloat, military disaster: Every turn, +4 Debt, +1 Military Quality, -1 National Wealth.
Static Modifiers:
1. Corruption: reduces State Power and National Wealth by 3% of Corruption, rounded up, every turn. It also has a chance, equal to corruption, of increasing Debt or decreasing Approval by 5% of Corruption every turn.
2. Health: has a chance of causing a pandemic each turn equal to (100-Health)/5%. Pandemics have various effects. They're never good.
3. Education: reduces Unemployment and increases National Wealth by 3% of Education every turn. Education also has a chance, equal to Education/5 as a %, of creating a technological breakthrough every turn. Breakthroughs have positive effects.
4. Inequality: reduces Approval by 3% of Inequality every turn. Inequality has a chance equal to Inequality/5 as a % to cause riots each turn. These increase crime and have other negative effects.
5. Unemployment and Inflation: both erode Approval by 3% every turn, and may trigger a Winter of Discontent, which will erode social stats.
6. International Hostility: May trigger economic sanctions.
7. Trade Relations: reduce Inflation and raises Unemployment and National Wealth by 3% of Trade Relations every turn.
8. National Optimism: Raise Approval by 3 or 4 (even chance, so an average of 3.5) every turn.
2. Health: has a chance of causing a pandemic each turn equal to (100-Health)/5%. Pandemics have various effects. They're never good.
3. Education: reduces Unemployment and increases National Wealth by 3% of Education every turn. Education also has a chance, equal to Education/5 as a %, of creating a technological breakthrough every turn. Breakthroughs have positive effects.
4. Inequality: reduces Approval by 3% of Inequality every turn. Inequality has a chance equal to Inequality/5 as a % to cause riots each turn. These increase crime and have other negative effects.
5. Unemployment and Inflation: both erode Approval by 3% every turn, and may trigger a Winter of Discontent, which will erode social stats.
6. International Hostility: May trigger economic sanctions.
7. Trade Relations: reduce Inflation and raises Unemployment and National Wealth by 3% of Trade Relations every turn.
8. National Optimism: Raise Approval by 3 or 4 (even chance, so an average of 3.5) every turn.
Stats
# of government Orders/turn: 3
# of government Policy Slots: 4
Political
-Approval: 51
-Corruption: 16
-State Power: 37
Social
-Health: 46
-Education: 65
-Inequality: 46
-Crime: 13
Economic
-National Wealth: 64
-Debt: 48
-Unemployment: 12
-Inflation: N/A
Military
-Quality: 69
-Quantity: 50
-Military Loyalty: 75
-Clout: 1
[Military Strength = Quality * Quantity/100, rounded up, btw]
Diplomatic
-International Hostility: 97
-Trade Relations: 33
-Foreign Influence: 20
Business:
-Wealth: 19
-Clout: 0
Labor Unions:
-Unionization: 30
-Clout: 0
# of government Policy Slots: 4
Political
-Approval: 51
-Corruption: 16
-State Power: 37
Social
-Health: 46
-Education: 65
-Inequality: 46
-Crime: 13
Economic
-National Wealth: 64
-Debt: 48
-Unemployment: 12
-Inflation: N/A
Military
-Quality: 69
-Quantity: 50
-Military Loyalty: 75
-Clout: 1
[Military Strength = Quality * Quantity/100, rounded up, btw]
Diplomatic
-International Hostility: 97
-Trade Relations: 33
-Foreign Influence: 20
Business:
-Wealth: 19
-Clout: 0
Labor Unions:
-Unionization: 30
-Clout: 0
Constitution:
Government Type: Parliamentary Republic
Title of Leader: Prime Minister (IC chosen by an apolitical President)
Name of Nation: State of Israel
Election Process: Vote by party; coalition of parties with a majority of the vote chooses the Prime Minister
Ballots: Public
Leader Term: 4 years
Supply Limit: 3 votes
Term Limit: None
Removal Process Mid-Term: No confidence by majority vote
If Leader Dies/Is Removed: New elections
Necessary Majority to Amend Constitution: Bare majority [Constitution is not codified]
Opposition Parties Allowed: Yes
Can Purge/Kill Players: No
Government Must Reveal Orders: Yes
Title of Leader: Prime Minister (IC chosen by an apolitical President)
Name of Nation: State of Israel
Election Process: Vote by party; coalition of parties with a majority of the vote chooses the Prime Minister
Ballots: Public
Leader Term: 4 years
Supply Limit: 3 votes
Term Limit: None
Removal Process Mid-Term: No confidence by majority vote
If Leader Dies/Is Removed: New elections
Necessary Majority to Amend Constitution: Bare majority [Constitution is not codified]
Opposition Parties Allowed: Yes
Can Purge/Kill Players: No
Government Must Reveal Orders: Yes
Nemesis Stats:
1 order per turn
1 disaster slot
1 disaster slot
Suez Crisis, Part 4: Nasser's Counterattack
1. Israeli jets over Egypt in 1956.
Nasser has lost the Sinai but was utterly unwilling to leave it in Israeli hands. Nasser and his allies plotted an attack against Israel along three axes: Egyptians would attack from the South through the Sinai, the Jordanians from the east through the West Bank, and the Syrians from the north through the Golan Heights. Unbeknownst to Israel, a detachment from the Soviet Black Sea fleet was steaming for the Mediterranean via the Bosphorus; Soviet aircraft and VDVs also arrived in southern Syria under radio silence and extreme secrecy.
Meanwhile, the British and French had flinched in the face of Bulganin's nuclear threats, which they took more seriously than Leblin had. Eden dithered in London while Guy Mollet, on a state visit to Bonn, confidentially told West German Chancellor Adenauer that Paris might be flattened by a Soviet missile at any moment. The Anglo-French force missed its deadline to send an ultimatum to Nasser. This made the Israeli attack look even less like a conspiracy with the British and French, but left the IDF extremely exposed as enemies encircled Israel.
2. Abraham Hayim. In 1956, he traveled to New York to try to convince the US and UN to support Israel.
On the 8th, Herut Knesset member Abraham Hayim travelled to the United States and the United Nations to try to appeal for international support. He emphasized Egypt's repudiation of international treaties and obstruction of the Suez Canal, which was supposed to be open to all shipping, to Israeli vessels. He received a lukewarm reception and he didn't say much that Leblin had already said. Even the US was skeptical of his message; it certainly did nothing to sway the opinions of the Arab League or the Soviet Union.
[-1 International Hostility]
Nasser and his allies opened their counterattack on Israel on three axes on November 10th (though by this date, neither the Soviet Black Sea task force had not yet arrived). The largest theater was by far the Sinai, where Nasser's Egyptian 3rd Army attacked across the Sinai into Israeli positions on the west bank. Nasser's troops numbered 100,000 - by contrast, the Israelis had just 55,000 men on the east bank. Additionally, a limited number of Soviet bombers and aircrew joined the substantial Egyptian air force for the attack. (The Soviets denied involvement, claiming they were Egyptian aircraft and crew.) And, as Leblin had discovered, Israel had little artillery.
3. Egyptian guns and weaponry take up position on the west bank of the Suez Canal.
However, the Israeli defenders on the east bank had substantial advantages. They'd had four days, in some cases up to a week, to dig in to strong defensive positions and there were few bridges across the canal. Nasser's attack was poorly planned by incompetent officers, and the weather played to Israeli advantage. Nasser's men began to build pontoon and Bailey bridges across the canal under fire, locating gaps they'd found in the Israeli line. However, despite Soviet air support, Nasser's attack quickly turned into an Egyptian rout. His assault troops became confused, disorganized, and surrendered, even under light Israeli fire, and those who tried to cross via his pontoon bridges were cut to shreds. Israeli divers in the canal used cleverly planted mines to destroy Egyptian bridges and isolate Egyptian troops attempting to cross. In may cases, Egyptian bridges simply collapsed of their own accord. It quickly turned into a massive Egyptian defeat. Israel estimate 20,000 Egyptian dead or captured for just a few hundred Israeli dead, and regarded the Egyptians as a laughable, spent force.
On the western front, the Israelis treated the Jordanians as much more dangerous - if the Jordanians advanced just a few miles from their positions in Jerusalem, they could cut Israel in half. The Jordanians, however, only committed two brigades to their attack against Israel. Leblin had left 30,000 troops (6 brigades) in Israel and another 6 reserve brigades were rapidly mobilizing, though that would be the limits of Israel's rapid mobilization. The Israelis decided to commit half of their units to the Jordanian border and half to the Syrian border, meaning they outnumbered the Jordanians.
4. Israelis and Jordanians fight around Ammunition Hill.
The Jordanians attacked north of Jerusalem, intending to drive a wedge between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, deploying armored units. Jordanian aircraft proved difficult for the overstretched IAF to intercept. The Jordanians advanced five miles into Israeli territory before Israeli regulars stopped them near Lod, on the southeastern outskirts of Tel Aviv. Jordanian columns also advanced well into the old city of Jerusalem before Israeli infantry, using the ambush tactics they'd been trained for, halted their advance. Israeli casualties against the Jordanians were roughly 1,500 dead and thousands wounded - far higher than on the Egyptian front against much greater numbers of Egyptian soldiers.
Meanwhile, the Syrians attacked via the Golan Heights into the rugged northern hills, north of Galilee. The rough terrain represented an obstacle for a good army; the Israelis almost regarded the disorganized Syrian army as a joke. Two Syrian divisions - about 20,000 men in reality - marched into the Israeli lines, were cut to ribbons, and almost immediately disintegrated in confusion, with most surrendering or routing on the first day. Israeli commanders acted without orders to advance into the Golan Heights, seizing Syria defensive positions in the area to shore up their own defenses.
5. Israeli recon units.
However, Israeli commanders in the Golan Heights, chuckling at massive Syrian incompetence, were in for a nasty shock - on November 12th, they were attacked by three divisions of battle-hardened Soviet VDV paratroopers that they hadn't even known were there, backed by substantial Soviet air power. Israeli commanders initially were utterly shocked by the sudden appearance of Soviet forces and the numerically superior Soviet forces broke Israeli lines. Then, on the night of the 13th, Israeli resistance stiffened. Fierce fighting in the Golan Heights would continue for more than a week; at one point, Soviet paratroopers came within two hundred yards of breaking out of the Golan Heights and into northern Israel. Israeli commanders reported ruinous casualties, with one Israeli infantry commander calling it, "the nearest run thing [he'd] ever seen." Three Israeli brigades were essentially shattered in the fighting, but they had fought back almost 30,000 Soviet paratroopers.
6. Soviet paratroopers embarking on the way to Syria.
Then, the Soviets poured in another 30,000. The Israelis sent every available reservist in to try to prevent a rout; fighting was ongoing on the 20th of November, when the conflict entered a new phase. Throughout, the Soviets insisted the obviously Soviet paratroopers must be Syrians, and that Israeli reports were wrong.
--------------
((Part 5 incoming shortly.))
Policies/disasters currently active:
Government:
1. Income Tax, economic policy: Every turn, -Debt equal to 10% of State Power, -Approval equal to half of the same, economic effects subject to change
2. House Construction, economic/social policy: Every turn, +Debt equal to 5% of State Power, +National Wealth, -Inequality equal to half of the same.
3. Reparations From Germany, economic/diplomatic policy: Every turn, -10 Debt, +1 National Wealth, -2 Approval. To be removed in 1964.
4. Public Education, social policy: Every turn, +Debt, +Education equal to 5% of State Power.
Nemesis:
1. Black Market, economic/diplomatic disaster: Every turn, +Crime, +Corruption, +International Hostility, -State Power, +Trade Relations equal to 3% of Crime. Also generates funds for the Nemesis.
Extra: Military Bloat, military disaster: Every turn, +4 Debt, +1 Military Quality, -1 National Wealth.
Static Modifiers:
1. Corruption: reduces State Power and National Wealth by 3% of Corruption, rounded up, every turn. It also has a chance, equal to corruption, of increasing Debt or decreasing Approval by 5% of Corruption every turn.
2. Health: has a chance of causing a pandemic each turn equal to (100-Health)/5%. Pandemics have various effects. They're never good.
3. Education: reduces Unemployment and increases National Wealth by 3% of Education every turn. Education also has a chance, equal to Education/5 as a %, of creating a technological breakthrough every turn. Breakthroughs have positive effects.
4. Inequality: reduces Approval by 3% of Inequality every turn. Inequality has a chance equal to Inequality/5 as a % to cause riots each turn. These increase crime and have other negative effects.
5. Unemployment and Inflation: both erode Approval by 3% every turn, and may trigger a Winter of Discontent, which will erode social stats.
6. International Hostility: May trigger economic sanctions.
7. Trade Relations: reduce Inflation and raises Unemployment and National Wealth by 3% of Trade Relations every turn.
8. National Optimism: Raise Approval by 3 or 4 (even chance, so an average of 3.5) every turn.
2. Health: has a chance of causing a pandemic each turn equal to (100-Health)/5%. Pandemics have various effects. They're never good.
3. Education: reduces Unemployment and increases National Wealth by 3% of Education every turn. Education also has a chance, equal to Education/5 as a %, of creating a technological breakthrough every turn. Breakthroughs have positive effects.
4. Inequality: reduces Approval by 3% of Inequality every turn. Inequality has a chance equal to Inequality/5 as a % to cause riots each turn. These increase crime and have other negative effects.
5. Unemployment and Inflation: both erode Approval by 3% every turn, and may trigger a Winter of Discontent, which will erode social stats.
6. International Hostility: May trigger economic sanctions.
7. Trade Relations: reduce Inflation and raises Unemployment and National Wealth by 3% of Trade Relations every turn.
8. National Optimism: Raise Approval by 3 or 4 (even chance, so an average of 3.5) every turn.
Stats
# of government Orders/turn: 3
# of government Policy Slots: 4
Political
-Approval: 51
-Corruption: 16
-State Power: 37
Social
-Health: 46
-Education: 65
-Inequality: 46
-Crime: 13
Economic
-National Wealth: 64
-Debt: 48
-Unemployment: 12
-Inflation: N/A
Military
-Quality: 69
-Quantity: 50
-Military Loyalty: 75
-Clout: 1
[Military Strength = Quality * Quantity/100, rounded up, btw]
Diplomatic
-International Hostility: 96
-Trade Relations: 33
-Foreign Influence: 20
Business:
-Wealth: 19
-Clout: 0
Labor Unions:
-Unionization: 30
-Clout: 0
# of government Policy Slots: 4
Political
-Approval: 51
-Corruption: 16
-State Power: 37
Social
-Health: 46
-Education: 65
-Inequality: 46
-Crime: 13
Economic
-National Wealth: 64
-Debt: 48
-Unemployment: 12
-Inflation: N/A
Military
-Quality: 69
-Quantity: 50
-Military Loyalty: 75
-Clout: 1
[Military Strength = Quality * Quantity/100, rounded up, btw]
Diplomatic
-International Hostility: 96
-Trade Relations: 33
-Foreign Influence: 20
Business:
-Wealth: 19
-Clout: 0
Labor Unions:
-Unionization: 30
-Clout: 0
Constitution:
Government Type: Parliamentary Republic
Title of Leader: Prime Minister (IC chosen by an apolitical President)
Name of Nation: State of Israel
Election Process: Vote by party; coalition of parties with a majority of the vote chooses the Prime Minister
Ballots: Public
Leader Term: 4 years
Supply Limit: 3 votes
Term Limit: None
Removal Process Mid-Term: No confidence by majority vote
If Leader Dies/Is Removed: New elections
Necessary Majority to Amend Constitution: Bare majority [Constitution is not codified]
Opposition Parties Allowed: Yes
Can Purge/Kill Players: No
Government Must Reveal Orders: Yes
Title of Leader: Prime Minister (IC chosen by an apolitical President)
Name of Nation: State of Israel
Election Process: Vote by party; coalition of parties with a majority of the vote chooses the Prime Minister
Ballots: Public
Leader Term: 4 years
Supply Limit: 3 votes
Term Limit: None
Removal Process Mid-Term: No confidence by majority vote
If Leader Dies/Is Removed: New elections
Necessary Majority to Amend Constitution: Bare majority [Constitution is not codified]
Opposition Parties Allowed: Yes
Can Purge/Kill Players: No
Government Must Reveal Orders: Yes
Nemesis Stats:
1 order per turn
1 disaster slot
1 disaster slot
Adrian Wiechoczek made a speech again:
As much as I am disappointed by enraising international hostilities and starting war without parliament vote, I am sure that right now it's only matter of work. The state will need taxes as normal, aswell as production given by industries. It only shows that we need invest in our labour class production as much as possible. Zentrum party states that we will try to expand our party's industrial capacity and pays taxes loyally to the state. Without both, Israel would be in dire need.
As much as I am disappointed by enraising international hostilities and starting war without parliament vote, I am sure that right now it's only matter of work. The state will need taxes as normal, aswell as production given by industries. It only shows that we need invest in our labour class production as much as possible. Zentrum party states that we will try to expand our party's industrial capacity and pays taxes loyally to the state. Without both, Israel would be in dire need.
Abraham Hayim
"Citizens of the world! You see the Soviet Propaganda! They send troops to aid the enemy! Not only that, but they lie about sending them! To the world: Look at the area with your planes and tell me what you see! We can send some of their uniforms and dog tags back if you want? Is Israel not a sovereign state?! DO WE NOT HAVE THE RIGHT OF EVERY OTHER COUNTRY?! The Egyptians violated the 1948 armistice by their own government! The Strait of Tiran and Suez Canal were closed to Israel in violation of the armistice and the principle of free navigation! We have been deemed unworthy of our earned and deserved rights! They do not even recognize our right to exist! We have to fight to survive. To live. To have our rightful rights. Jews and Israeli Citizens abroad! Do you want the extinction of Israel? Do you want to relearn "Next year in Palestine" No next year in Palestine! This is the year of Palestine! There will be no next year in Israel Volunteer in Israel for medical, civilian or military service! Fight for the right of Jews to have a state! For the state to be treated as it should be with full rights!
Citizens of Israel! You are some of the greatest and brightest people in the world! Israel won once before against incredible odds! We gained our own independence by crushing the overwhelming arab forces one by one! We can do this again! Let us repeat the miracle for the glory of Israel! We must protect our rights as a sovereign nation! No matter if you are israeli arabs, jews or christians, you are all Israeli citizens! Once again Israel has been deemed unworthy of the rights it not only earned but deserves by it's very nature! We have taken arms in defense of this indivisible right! We are beset by all sides! The dastardly Soviets lie about not helping us! They think to threaten us with the threat of missiles, nuclear or conventional! Clearly, they are insane if they think their threat will work! Do they not know the Story of Samson?! Do they not know what it means to be an Israeli?! We have suffered millennia of persecution! For our children and grand children, let us end the persecution here and if they think we who sacrificed ourselves in Samson will surrender to their threat, they are wrong! We are once again beset by all sides who wish, scream for our destruction and the killing of every last jew and Arab Israeli (who they call traitors) here! We cannot let them win for that would mean the extinction of all Jews and Arab who are here!
I have full faith in our army and people to put aside petty differences like the last time we were attacked and unite as a people as a nation! We have once won against seemingly impossible odds! We can win again! Let us perform another miracle and win against this fragile coalition! We have something the enemy doesn't! Morale For we are fighting for our very country's independence! They want nothing less than to annihilate the state of Israel! There can be no surrender to such an enemy! There will be no second chances for us! This is the war of a life time, the impossible task set to us by God/Allah, himself and who are we to question him?! I have full faith in our army to fight with the best of their ability against the worst of odds! Defeat here means not only the end of Israel, but the end of it's inhabitants! We will not surrender or withdraw any longer! If the enemy thinks that we will surrender to the arabs, who want the destruction of our state, so be it! NOT ONE STEP BACK! We will fight where we stand for we have been asked to do the impossible and we will do so as we did once before! Whether you join the military or work in factories, YOU are doing your rightful service to the state of Israel in this dark times!
There can be no surrender for the surrender means the end of our state! Let us fight for the Truth, for Justice to the death if need be! Once we have rebelled against the romans and rather than surrender, we have brought down the temple! If we lose, let us fight till Jerusalem and Tel Aviv are ruins, till we die in battle for if we surrender, we will die anyway by the arab occupiers! But we need not talk of defeat for as we won the war of indolence, I have full faith in the Israeli people to win once again in our second war of independence, in our war for our rightful rights as a nation! They have already managed to fight back against 30,000 paratroopers! We will fight for our rights for we deserve them and it is our right to get them!"
Suez Crisis, Part 5: The Anglo-French Task Force
1. A bombed out Israeli Patton tank.
By November 20th, Israel had won victories in every front. The 55,000-strong Israeli force in the Sinai had repelled an attack by the Egyptian 3rd Army, twice its size, while three Israeli brigades had checked a Jordanian advance just ten miles from Tel Aviv. 15,000 Israeli troops in the Golan Heights had turned back three Soviet airborne divisions, though the effort had left the Israeli defenders completely shattered. Israeli reservists were rushing into the Golan Heights to try to check a second Soviet attack.
Yet, loathe as Leblin was to admit it, the IDF had been stretched to the breaking point. The Jordanians could break through in the east at any moment, and Soviet manpower and equipment was bottomless - they would grind down Israeli defenses in the Golan Heights eventually, and once they broke out of the Golan Heights, their advance would become impossible to contain. Meanwhile, Nasser had still more troops on the Egyptian front. Soviet attempts to bomb Tel Aviv had been detected and interdicted by the IAF, but the IAF too would eventually be ground down by the Soviets - the Israeli supply of jets was severely limited. Worse still, Leblin was conscious of the risk posed by the Soviet navy. The Soviet task force (which Leblin was not actually sure existed yet) could easily blockade Israel and cut Israeli supplies of fuel, ammunition, and weapons, or bombard Tel Aviv, or land additional troops in Syria or even in Haifa. Roughly 30,000 reservists had mobilized, but no more reserves were coming for at least a month, maybe two - Leblin had relied on a professional standing army rather than a large bank of reserves. Israel was out of troops.
2. Israeli Dassault jets were the only jets the IAF had available.
Leblin ordered 4 brigades (20,000 men) shuffled from the Sinai to the Jordanian and Golan fronts as an effort to prop them up, but was aware this just wasn't enough. If the Soviets wanted to overrun Israel, they would do it, and the only way he could stop them was with Western help.
In desperation, Dan Crawcour, a Herut deputy[1] traveled to Turkey to try to convince the Turks to close the Bosphorus Straits to Soviet traffic. This was truly a last resort measure. The incredibly complicated and meticulously negotiated Montreux Convention of 1936 gave the Soviets the right to use the Straits. The Turkish Straits Crisis had only ended a few years ago with assurances to the Soviets that they would be allowed to use the waterway; closing it now would invite a war, maybe a world war. Moreover, there really wasn't anything in it for the Turks. Crawcour offered to pay the Turks to close the Straits. They said no.
[Failure. The Turks do not close the Straits.]
3. The Turkish Straits. Israel asked the Turks to close them to Soviet ships.
That left Leblin with the allies he'd started with: the British and the French. Playing up the menace of the Soviet Union but playing down the risk of nuclear war, Leblin pleaded with them for help. The British and French had hesitated after Bulganin's letter and the extent of Soviet involvement became clear, but they hadn't actually given up on the campaign. They still wanted the Suez back and still intended to issue their ultimatum. By the 12th of November, it had become obvious that Nasser's counterattack had failed and the Israelis would hold the east bank. On the 12th, the British and French governments made a joint proposal agreed upon in the Protocol of Sevres. The British and French governments, posing as neutral parties, proposed that they would take control of the Suez Canal as "peacekeepers" to "separate" the two combatants and thereby end the war. Israel would withdraw from the Sinai in favor of more peacekeepers and guarantees on the use of the canal. Their proposal implicitly threatened Nasser. He was given a week to respond, despite Leblin's pleas for the ultimatum period to be cut down to a day.
To Leblin's significant surprise, and perhaps the surprise of the British and French themselves, they got the UN General Assembly to endorse the proposal. Fighting had become so confused, and the sense of impending crisis so severe, that the UN was willing to hand the canal back to Anglo-French administration just to end the fighting and head off a possible world war. Leblin's incredibly risky plan for Israel to fight the war on its own, to give the British-French proposal credibility, had paid off.
4. Nasser's incompetent Field Marshal, Abdel Hakim Amer, sacked on November 18th, 1956.
However, Nasser was having none of it. He and his cabinet, humiliated by the defeat of the 3rd Army in its incompetent attempts to cross the canal, debated surrendering the canal right up until the deadline, when Nasser put his foot down. On the 18th, he declared that Egypt would fight for the canal to the last man, sacked his incompetent Fiedl Marshal, Abdel Hakim Amer, sent an official rejection of the Anglo-French ultimatum, and ordered the Egyptian 1st Army - which theoretically guarded Cairo - to launch a new attack against Israeli positions on the east bank.
By the 19th, Anglo-French aircraft started bombing Egyptian positions, well before Nasser began his attack. The Egyptian Air Force was knocked out of the sky. However, weather and political hand-wringing in London delayed the actual invasion of Port Said.
On the 20th, a Soviet naval task force passed through the Bosphorus Straits, steaming for Israel. Now, Leblin had a real problem. The Israeli Navy was just one destroyer and a few corvettes; they didn't have a prayer of repelling the Soviet task force, which could easily cut Israeli supply lines, bombard Tel Aviv, or affect a landing. However, there was an even more powerful task force - the Anglo-French fleet loitering off Cyprus, with seven aircraft carriers, could easily chase off or crush the Soviet task force. Israeli generals suggested Leblin should ask the Anglo-French to confront the Soviet task force, though this would delay the landing at Port Said. Leblin refused. The Anglo-French allies were already showing jitters about confronting the Soviets, he said, and he had weakened Israeli forces on the Suez. He needed the British and French to get into Egypt.
5. Three British Aircraft Carriers lined up as part of the Suez task force, 1956.
However, it was now late November, and Mediterranean winter storms delayed the Anglo-French assault on Port Said for 3 days - until the 22nd. On the 20th, Nasser mounted a second counterattack into the Sinai. His army now faced organizational problems; Nasser had difficulty getting his troops to the west bank of the canal at all - they had come under air attack from the British and French, and his army had simply never been that well organized to begin with. Nasser launched a second counterattack. Unlike the first, his army managed to bridge the Suez in several places much more effectively, but Israeli troops shifted internal lines of defense to stop him. An Israeli commander commented "the battle went about as [they] had been expected it." Israel troops suffered their heaviest casualties yet fighting the Egyptians, with hundreds of dead, but constrained the Egyptian breakout. The Egyptians were thought to have suffered thousands of fatalities and casualties, but retreated in good order with none captured. Egyptian bridges were bombed by the Anglo-French and eventually sunk.
Meanwhile, Leblin had decided the Jordanian incursion into Israeli territory was intolerable and launched a new attack against the Jordanians - he wanted to drive the Jordanians all the way back to the Jordan river. Israeli forces in the salient were reinforced by 10,000 troops, including an armored brigade, from the Sinai, while Jordanian troops were reinforced by reserves from the Jordanian army. Israeli commanders were confident when they launched the attack; however, just as they had during the 1948 War of Independence, Jordanian commanders predicted where the assault would come and held firm. Although the Israelis nearly achieved a breakthrough, Israeli tanks and soldiers were repelled with heavy casualties. Jordanian and Soviet air power played a crucial role in the battle, smashing Israeli tanks to smithereens. The Israelis clawed backed a few miles, but were left short of the West Bank, much less the Jordan river. Both sides had thousands of dead and wounded. The Jordanians continued to hold parts of the Old City and what had been Israel, which Leblin regarded as an intolerable humiliation.
6. Soviet Mig-19 fighter-bombers, which bombed Israeli reinforcements on their way to the Golan Heights.
In the north, as the Soviet task force staged off the Syrian coast, the Soviet VDVs continued to grind their way through the Golan Heights. The two brigades Leblin had dispatched from the Sinai to Golan never arrived. Soviet Mig-19s intercepted the columns on the road and bombed them to bits, causing hundreds of casualties and destroying dozens of tanks and other vehicles. Leblin's original three regular brigades had been shattered by weeks of fighting and had to withdraw. He was left with 30,000 reservists to face 30,000 elite Soviet VDVs on the Golan front. Barely, by the skin of their teeth, Leblin's reservists hung on the Heights, though they were practically pushed back to the Israeli border. The problem was - as Israeli commanders knew - the Soviets would just keep coming, and Israel was out of troops. Something had to change or Israel would lose the war in the Heights.
Then, on the 22nd, British and French paratroopers jumped into Port Said.
[1] ((DragonOfAtlantis))
--------------
((This update included special orders sent by DragonOfAtlantis. The next update will concern the Battle of Port Said, the west bank of the canal, and mission of the Soviet naval task force.))
Policies/disasters currently active:
Government:
1. Income Tax, economic policy: Every turn, -Debt equal to 10% of State Power, -Approval equal to half of the same, economic effects subject to change
2. House Construction, economic/social policy: Every turn, +Debt equal to 5% of State Power, +National Wealth, -Inequality equal to half of the same.
3. Reparations From Germany, economic/diplomatic policy: Every turn, -10 Debt, +1 National Wealth, -2 Approval. To be removed in 1964.
4. Public Education, social policy: Every turn, +Debt, +Education equal to 5% of State Power.
Nemesis:
1. Black Market, economic/diplomatic disaster: Every turn, +Crime, +Corruption, +International Hostility, -State Power, +Trade Relations equal to 3% of Crime. Also generates funds for the Nemesis.
Extra: Military Bloat, military disaster: Every turn, +4 Debt, +1 Military Quality, -1 National Wealth.
Static Modifiers:
1. Corruption: reduces State Power and National Wealth by 3% of Corruption, rounded up, every turn. It also has a chance, equal to corruption, of increasing Debt or decreasing Approval by 5% of Corruption every turn.
2. Health: has a chance of causing a pandemic each turn equal to (100-Health)/5%. Pandemics have various effects. They're never good.
3. Education: reduces Unemployment and increases National Wealth by 3% of Education every turn. Education also has a chance, equal to Education/5 as a %, of creating a technological breakthrough every turn. Breakthroughs have positive effects.
4. Inequality: reduces Approval by 3% of Inequality every turn. Inequality has a chance equal to Inequality/5 as a % to cause riots each turn. These increase crime and have other negative effects.
5. Unemployment and Inflation: both erode Approval by 3% every turn, and may trigger a Winter of Discontent, which will erode social stats.
6. International Hostility: May trigger economic sanctions.
7. Trade Relations: reduce Inflation and raises Unemployment and National Wealth by 3% of Trade Relations every turn.
8. National Optimism: Raise Approval by 3 or 4 (even chance, so an average of 3.5) every turn.
2. Health: has a chance of causing a pandemic each turn equal to (100-Health)/5%. Pandemics have various effects. They're never good.
3. Education: reduces Unemployment and increases National Wealth by 3% of Education every turn. Education also has a chance, equal to Education/5 as a %, of creating a technological breakthrough every turn. Breakthroughs have positive effects.
4. Inequality: reduces Approval by 3% of Inequality every turn. Inequality has a chance equal to Inequality/5 as a % to cause riots each turn. These increase crime and have other negative effects.
5. Unemployment and Inflation: both erode Approval by 3% every turn, and may trigger a Winter of Discontent, which will erode social stats.
6. International Hostility: May trigger economic sanctions.
7. Trade Relations: reduce Inflation and raises Unemployment and National Wealth by 3% of Trade Relations every turn.
8. National Optimism: Raise Approval by 3 or 4 (even chance, so an average of 3.5) every turn.
Stats
# of government Orders/turn: 3
# of government Policy Slots: 4
Political
-Approval: 51
-Corruption: 16
-State Power: 37
Social
-Health: 46
-Education: 65
-Inequality: 46
-Crime: 13
Economic
-National Wealth: 64
-Debt: 48
-Unemployment: 12
-Inflation: N/A
Military
-Quality: 69
-Quantity: 50
-Military Loyalty: 75
-Clout: 1
[Military Strength = Quality * Quantity/100, rounded up, btw]
Diplomatic
-International Hostility: 96
-Trade Relations: 33
-Foreign Influence: 20
Business:
-Wealth: 19
-Clout: 0
Labor Unions:
-Unionization: 30
-Clout: 0
# of government Policy Slots: 4
Political
-Approval: 51
-Corruption: 16
-State Power: 37
Social
-Health: 46
-Education: 65
-Inequality: 46
-Crime: 13
Economic
-National Wealth: 64
-Debt: 48
-Unemployment: 12
-Inflation: N/A
Military
-Quality: 69
-Quantity: 50
-Military Loyalty: 75
-Clout: 1
[Military Strength = Quality * Quantity/100, rounded up, btw]
Diplomatic
-International Hostility: 96
-Trade Relations: 33
-Foreign Influence: 20
Business:
-Wealth: 19
-Clout: 0
Labor Unions:
-Unionization: 30
-Clout: 0
Constitution:
Government Type: Parliamentary Republic
Title of Leader: Prime Minister (IC chosen by an apolitical President)
Name of Nation: State of Israel
Election Process: Vote by party; coalition of parties with a majority of the vote chooses the Prime Minister
Ballots: Public
Leader Term: 4 years
Supply Limit: 3 votes
Term Limit: None
Removal Process Mid-Term: No confidence by majority vote
If Leader Dies/Is Removed: New elections
Necessary Majority to Amend Constitution: Bare majority [Constitution is not codified]
Opposition Parties Allowed: Yes
Can Purge/Kill Players: No
Government Must Reveal Orders: Yes
Title of Leader: Prime Minister (IC chosen by an apolitical President)
Name of Nation: State of Israel
Election Process: Vote by party; coalition of parties with a majority of the vote chooses the Prime Minister
Ballots: Public
Leader Term: 4 years
Supply Limit: 3 votes
Term Limit: None
Removal Process Mid-Term: No confidence by majority vote
If Leader Dies/Is Removed: New elections
Necessary Majority to Amend Constitution: Bare majority [Constitution is not codified]
Opposition Parties Allowed: Yes
Can Purge/Kill Players: No
Government Must Reveal Orders: Yes
Nemesis Stats:
1 order per turn
1 disaster slot
1 disaster slot
Suez Crisis, Part 6: Port Said
1. British troops come ashore at Port Said.
With the weather finally working to their advantage, British and French paratroopers jumped into Port Said on November 22nd and 23rd, and secured El Gamil airfield, and areas in and around Port Said. A massive bombing campaign had mostly neutralized the Egyptian air force, which had harrassed Israeli troops to mixed effect for weeks. Nasser's now-fired Field Marshal Abdel Hakim Amer hadn't bothered to reinforce Port Said even though he knew the attack was coming; in a master-stroke of incompetence, Amer's battle plan had been for Egyptian forces to defeat Israel in the Sinai, then turn around and come back to fight the European allies. Nasser had countermanded Amer's orders on the 19th and started to send units to Port Said, but bombing had disrupted his troop movements. Thus, Port Said was lightly defended when the British and French airborne units jumped.
Nevertheless, there was heavy fighting as the Anglo-French troops fought their way through the city. British Royal Marines came ashore on the 23rd to reinforce them. Nasser ordered Egyptian troops to wear civilian clothes and handed out weapons to the civilian population, baffling the British. The French, by contrast responded brutally, executing prisoners and firing indiscriminately. Their ruthless tactics won them military victories, as they killed a hundred Egyptians at Port Fouad without losing a man, but would haunt them diplomatically. Meanwhile, Eden urged British troops not to kill civilians.
2. British tanks advance into Port Said.
Despite fierce Egyptian resistance, political waffling, and poor leadership of the Anglo-French forces, the Egyptians were totally overwhelmed. By the morning of the 24th, Port Said was in Franco-British hands and Egyptian forces in the city were either dead or had surrendered; the British were breaking out to the south and advancing quickly with an armored thrust. However, word of the invasion had also reached the British public. Protests erupted in the streets of London, crowds tried to storm #10 Downing Street, and Parliament nearly came to blows over the issue. The UN had not authorized the invasion, and despite Leblin's elaborate attempts to conceal collusion between Israel, France, and the UK, it still seemed like an imperialistic invasion to the British public. However, the question was, would the Europeans hang on in the face of the Soviet menace against Israel? Or would they back out of the war?
While this question was unanswered, the Soviet naval task force had finished staging off the coast of Syria, then, brushing aside the Israeli navy, ruthlessly bombarded Haifa and Tel Aviv. Damage to the cities themselves were fortunately very light, but the Soviets trashed the port facilities in both cities, interrupting the flow of supplies into Israel. The Soviet task force then took up position around the ports, conducting more raids, preventing repairs, and essentially enforcing a blockade. Although Leblin had contrived to have British and French ships run supplies into and out of Israel, his plan had a flaw: if the Soviets destroyed Israel's ports and kept them closed, the supplies would stop flowing regardless of who was carrying them.
3. French paratroopers carrying recoilless rifles.
As all this happened, Abraham Hayim flew to Europe basically to try to keep Britain and France in the war. He showed photographs of Soviet troops fighting in the Golan Heights and asked for diplomatic cover. Weirdly, one of his requests was a ceasefire. Hayim was of the opinion a ceasefire would give the Israelis time to regroup; he hadn't considered that it would also give the Soviets time to shuttle more troops into Syria and, more to the point, the Anglo-French forces could use it as an opportunity to leave.
The UN had in fact already declared a ceasefire, though it had been ignored. Hayim asked for a second ceasefire. The UN declared it, but they attached stipulations. They wanted British-French withdrawal from the Suez, Soviet withdrawal from Syria, Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai, an arms embargo, the Suez Canal reopened (presumably under Egyptian administration), and a return of all troops from all sides to their ceasefire lines. Leblin had not been aware Hayim had requested a ceasefire and was furious when he found out. Leblin rejected the ceasefire and denounced Hayim for going behind the Israeli government's back. Hayim justified himself by saying he had only wanted a temporary ceasefire. Leblin made a statement that he started the war because he had uncovered evidence of a plot against Israel by the Arab states (this was a lie; he hadn't), and he demanded better security guarantees. The UN gave him none.
4. Nasser speaking out against the invasion in Rashid.
The Soviets, despite officially endorsing the ceasefire, weren't respecting it either. In fact, American U-2 photographs showed the Soviets were actually moving more troops into Syria. With building evidence of Soviet involvement in hand, Hayim and Leblin begged the French and British to stay in the war. Basically everything came down to this single point - Israel could no longer fight the war alone. The Soviets would overrun Israel even if Nasser and the Jordanians respected the ceasefire. In London, the Eden cabinet debated staying in the war or ducking out while anti-war protesters fought the police right outside #10. With Leblin fearful that the Eden cabinet would buckle, word arrived that the British had reached a surprising decision. Not only would the British stay in the war, they had decided they would send more troops.
The reasons for this reversal of fortune were complicated. In the United States, the anti-imperialist Eisenhower administration had insisted the British withdraw, backing the ceasefire and pressing Eden to give up the fight. However, after U-2 photographs showed an increasing Soviet buildup in Syria, anti-Communist sentiment in the US and fears of a Soviet invasion of the Middle East had forced a change of opinion. Eisenhower reversed his stance and informed Eden he now supported the invasion. In fact, the Eisenhower administration was now contemplating sending the US 6th Fleet, aircraft, supplies, and US marines to beat back the Red Menace. Thus emboldened, the British doubled down on their commitment to the war. They prepared to dispatch more troops to Egypt. The French were more lukewarm about sending more troops, since they were also fighting Algeria, but stood with the British and maintained their commitment to the attack.
.jpg/500px-International_Diplomacy_(cropped).jpg)
5. Eisenhower, right, and Harold MacMillan, left.
This was a jawdropping turn of good luck for Leblin, since further waffling by the western allies would have been a death sentence for Israel. However, with the exception of the US 6th Fleet, which was extremely nearby, it would probably be days or weeks until more help arrived. Meanwhile, the Soviets looked like they were ready to attempt another offensive into the Golan Heights...
--------------
((Boy, did you all ever get lucky on this one. This turn featured special orders from Adamgerd. Part 7 probably won't be up for 24 hours, since I need to take a break.))
Policies/disasters currently active:
Government:
1. Income Tax, economic policy: Every turn, -Debt equal to 10% of State Power, -Approval equal to half of the same, economic effects subject to change
2. House Construction, economic/social policy: Every turn, +Debt equal to 5% of State Power, +National Wealth, -Inequality equal to half of the same.
3. Reparations From Germany, economic/diplomatic policy: Every turn, -10 Debt, +1 National Wealth, -2 Approval. To be removed in 1964.
4. Public Education, social policy: Every turn, +Debt, +Education equal to 5% of State Power.
Nemesis:
1. Black Market, economic/diplomatic disaster: Every turn, +Crime, +Corruption, +International Hostility, -State Power, +Trade Relations equal to 3% of Crime. Also generates funds for the Nemesis.
Extra: Military Bloat, military disaster: Every turn, +4 Debt, +1 Military Quality, -1 National Wealth.
Static Modifiers:
1. Corruption: reduces State Power and National Wealth by 3% of Corruption, rounded up, every turn. It also has a chance, equal to corruption, of increasing Debt or decreasing Approval by 5% of Corruption every turn.
2. Health: has a chance of causing a pandemic each turn equal to (100-Health)/5%. Pandemics have various effects. They're never good.
3. Education: reduces Unemployment and increases National Wealth by 3% of Education every turn. Education also has a chance, equal to Education/5 as a %, of creating a technological breakthrough every turn. Breakthroughs have positive effects.
4. Inequality: reduces Approval by 3% of Inequality every turn. Inequality has a chance equal to Inequality/5 as a % to cause riots each turn. These increase crime and have other negative effects.
5. Unemployment and Inflation: both erode Approval by 3% every turn, and may trigger a Winter of Discontent, which will erode social stats.
6. International Hostility: May trigger economic sanctions.
7. Trade Relations: reduce Inflation and raises Unemployment and National Wealth by 3% of Trade Relations every turn.
8. National Optimism: Raise Approval by 3 or 4 (even chance, so an average of 3.5) every turn.
2. Health: has a chance of causing a pandemic each turn equal to (100-Health)/5%. Pandemics have various effects. They're never good.
3. Education: reduces Unemployment and increases National Wealth by 3% of Education every turn. Education also has a chance, equal to Education/5 as a %, of creating a technological breakthrough every turn. Breakthroughs have positive effects.
4. Inequality: reduces Approval by 3% of Inequality every turn. Inequality has a chance equal to Inequality/5 as a % to cause riots each turn. These increase crime and have other negative effects.
5. Unemployment and Inflation: both erode Approval by 3% every turn, and may trigger a Winter of Discontent, which will erode social stats.
6. International Hostility: May trigger economic sanctions.
7. Trade Relations: reduce Inflation and raises Unemployment and National Wealth by 3% of Trade Relations every turn.
8. National Optimism: Raise Approval by 3 or 4 (even chance, so an average of 3.5) every turn.
Stats
# of government Orders/turn: 3
# of government Policy Slots: 4
Political
-Approval: 51
-Corruption: 16
-State Power: 37
Social
-Health: 46
-Education: 65
-Inequality: 46
-Crime: 13
Economic
-National Wealth: 64
-Debt: 48
-Unemployment: 12
-Inflation: N/A
Military
-Quality: 69
-Quantity: 50
-Military Loyalty: 75
-Clout: 1
[Military Strength = Quality * Quantity/100, rounded up, btw]
Diplomatic
-International Hostility: 96
-Trade Relations: 33
-Foreign Influence: 20
Business:
-Wealth: 19
-Clout: 0
Labor Unions:
-Unionization: 30
-Clout: 0
# of government Policy Slots: 4
Political
-Approval: 51
-Corruption: 16
-State Power: 37
Social
-Health: 46
-Education: 65
-Inequality: 46
-Crime: 13
Economic
-National Wealth: 64
-Debt: 48
-Unemployment: 12
-Inflation: N/A
Military
-Quality: 69
-Quantity: 50
-Military Loyalty: 75
-Clout: 1
[Military Strength = Quality * Quantity/100, rounded up, btw]
Diplomatic
-International Hostility: 96
-Trade Relations: 33
-Foreign Influence: 20
Business:
-Wealth: 19
-Clout: 0
Labor Unions:
-Unionization: 30
-Clout: 0
Constitution:
Government Type: Parliamentary Republic
Title of Leader: Prime Minister (IC chosen by an apolitical President)
Name of Nation: State of Israel
Election Process: Vote by party; coalition of parties with a majority of the vote chooses the Prime Minister
Ballots: Public
Leader Term: 4 years
Supply Limit: 3 votes
Term Limit: None
Removal Process Mid-Term: No confidence by majority vote
If Leader Dies/Is Removed: New elections
Necessary Majority to Amend Constitution: Bare majority [Constitution is not codified]
Opposition Parties Allowed: Yes
Can Purge/Kill Players: No
Government Must Reveal Orders: Yes
Title of Leader: Prime Minister (IC chosen by an apolitical President)
Name of Nation: State of Israel
Election Process: Vote by party; coalition of parties with a majority of the vote chooses the Prime Minister
Ballots: Public
Leader Term: 4 years
Supply Limit: 3 votes
Term Limit: None
Removal Process Mid-Term: No confidence by majority vote
If Leader Dies/Is Removed: New elections
Necessary Majority to Amend Constitution: Bare majority [Constitution is not codified]
Opposition Parties Allowed: Yes
Can Purge/Kill Players: No
Government Must Reveal Orders: Yes
Nemesis Stats:
1 order per turn
1 disaster slot
1 disaster slot
Suez Crisis, Part 7: End Phase
1. Israeli children hide in a bomb shelter in Galilee.
Extremely poor leadership slowed the British advance to a crawl, as Eden remained maddeningly vague about what his objectives in Egypt were - for example, British commanders continued to be unclear whether or not they were meant to be taking Cairo. Fierce resistance from the 1st and 3rd Egyptian armies, which had acquitted themselves so badly in the assaults on Israeli positions, also surprised the British and French during their breakout from Port Said. However, Anglo-French forces, despite being numerically inferior, ground their way down the west bank of the canal.
2. British paratroopers escort an Egyptian prisoner.
Elsewhere in the world, Foreign Minister John Abrams had been dispatched to Turkey and Iran, with the hopes of winning diplomatic and military support. His suggestion that Turkey might join the war sounded ludicrous to most; they had already rejected Hayim's envoy. The Turks proved surprisingly receptive to Abrams' pleas for diplomatic support, but refused to provide military assistance of any kind. He was even more successful with the Iranians, who after, the coup of 1953, were extremely pro-Western. Shah Pahlavi was willing to help militarily, but it was unclear how the Iranians could enter the war - attacking the Soviets directly was obviously suicidal, the Iranian air force was tiny, and the Iranian navy was too. A squadron of Iranian fighter pilots was dispatched to Israel, and an Iranian destroyer was dispatched to the southern gulf to provide nominal support.
Meanwhile, the Soviets, reinforced by troops brought in by ship, were preparing for another ground attack across the Golan Heights. Leblin requested the Allies - the British, the French, the Americans, someone - drive off the Soviet task force, which was intermittently bombarding Israeli ports and landing troops in Syria. No one immediately did this; in fact, the British and French basically sent Leblin a message saying they refused to directly confront the Soviets unless the Americans were in on it too. The American 6th Fleet was in the region, but stayed well clear of the Soviet task force, apparently deliberately. Additionally, no allied planes (other than the Iranians) arrived to combat the Soviet air force, which had virtually completely destroyed the IAF. Leblin's advisors presumed Washington was weighing the possibility of nuclear war if they directly engaged the Soviets.
_during_Suez_Crisis_1956.JPG/500px-Plotting_board_of_USS_Randolph_(CVA-15)_during_Suez_Crisis_1956.JPG)
3. Plotting board on the USS Randolf, as the United States tracked the fighting.
This failure to drive off the Soviet ships did Leblin no favors. The Soviets launched another attack on the Golan Heights, which was defended by an ever-decreasing number of Israeli reservists, who were exhausted, depleted, and running low on supplies, and dug into Syrian-built defenses that were increasingly being pounded into dust by Soviet air power. They also got an extremely unwelcome shock when the non-mechanized paratroopers they had been fighting were abruptly replaced by fresh Soviet shock troops backed by hundreds of tanks, thousands of armored vehicles, self-propelled guns, air support, helicopters, and field artillery. Israeli intelligence hastily identified the newly arrived Soviet formation as elements of the 8th Soviet Tank Army, shuttled in from Europe by ship, and equipped with the state-of-the-art T-55 tank. Israeli defenders in the Golan Heights had just 19 anti-tank guns and zero working tanks and no air support, and were running out of supplies. The idea that Israeli defenders could hold the Heights was almost ludicrous.
As it happened, they couldn't. The ferocity of the depleted Israeli defenders in the face of the armored assault stunned the Soviet officers, who took heavy casualties and lost dozens of tanks fighting their way through the Golan Heights, but the thing was simply impossible. Israeli soldiers concealed AT guns in hidden bunkers in strong positions, or fabricated impromptu mines made out of scrap metal and dynamite, or threw sticky bombs and Molotov cocktails at the advancing Soviet tanks, but, quite simply, Soviet strength in Syria had become overwhelming. Israeli defenders, shattered, retreated, managing to avoid being surrounded on the way out. Casualty reports that would eventually reach Leblin's desk would indicate 13,000 Israelis had died in the Golan Heights alone from November 10th to November 30th. For comparison, just 6,400 Israelis had died in the entire Arab-Israeli war.
4. IDF soldiers are reviewed by senior officers.
Leblin had poured 55,000 soldiers into the Golan Heights overall - 42,000 were still alive, but they were totally shattered, and the bitter end to the heroic defense of the Golan Heights had damaged morale. Nearly every man was a casualty. Israel's entire ammunition supply was near exhausted. Leblin, ironically, had to start routing supplies through Gaza and Port Said; they arrived in sluggish bundles. With the Soviets on Israel's doorstep, though, the Israelis had no choice - they had to collect their desperate, remaining forces and try to contain the Soviet breakout. Israeli intelligence now estimated Soviet strength in Syria at 80,000-90,000 troops, and the Soviets had now drawn the Israelis onto a broader front where they could bring their full force to bear. Israeli commanders grimly gave Leblin an estimate: there was a 0% chance they could successfully defend Israel by themselves.
And yet, again, they nearly managed it. Israeli troops held in the plains and foothills of Galilee for almost two weeks. Soviet commanders had run low on fuel and ammunition themselves due to their overstretched supply lines and crept forward, with Israeli defenders knocking out tanks and bleeding the Soviets for every inch. However, as before, the thing was simply impossible. After weeks of bloody fighting, the Soviet steamroller ran them over. Again, Israeli defenders managed to withdraw before the Soviets encircled them. Haifa fell on the 10th of December.
5. IDF defenders in a staged photograph.
Leblin received reports of another 8,000 fatalities, and visited the front himself on the 14th of December. One of his aides would write:
"There was not a soldier there uninjured. Every man along the line was walking wounded; down to the truck drivers and quartermasters, they all had bloody bandages wrapped around their heads or arms or legs... Some carried a crutch in one hand and a rifle in the other. Many had taken Syrian or Soviet weapons because they had run out of ammunition for their FN FALs... There are none but heroes left on that line, and they are fighting to their last ounce of strength, but it is not enough. The Soviets are simply too strong."
The Soviets chased them south. The next battle would be for Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
--------------
((Sorry, I'll add pictures later. I'm kind of busy today. Part 8 later.))
Policies/disasters currently active:
Government:
1. Income Tax, economic policy: Every turn, -Debt equal to 10% of State Power, -Approval equal to half of the same, economic effects subject to change
2. House Construction, economic/social policy: Every turn, +Debt equal to 5% of State Power, +National Wealth, -Inequality equal to half of the same.
3. Reparations From Germany, economic/diplomatic policy: Every turn, -10 Debt, +1 National Wealth, -2 Approval. To be removed in 1964.
4. Public Education, social policy: Every turn, +Debt, +Education equal to 5% of State Power.
Nemesis:
1. Black Market, economic/diplomatic disaster: Every turn, +Crime, +Corruption, +International Hostility, -State Power, +Trade Relations equal to 3% of Crime. Also generates funds for the Nemesis.
Extra: Military Bloat, military disaster: Every turn, +4 Debt, +1 Military Quality, -1 National Wealth.
Static Modifiers:
1. Corruption: reduces State Power and National Wealth by 3% of Corruption, rounded up, every turn. It also has a chance, equal to corruption, of increasing Debt or decreasing Approval by 5% of Corruption every turn.
2. Health: has a chance of causing a pandemic each turn equal to (100-Health)/5%. Pandemics have various effects. They're never good.
3. Education: reduces Unemployment and increases National Wealth by 3% of Education every turn. Education also has a chance, equal to Education/5 as a %, of creating a technological breakthrough every turn. Breakthroughs have positive effects.
4. Inequality: reduces Approval by 3% of Inequality every turn. Inequality has a chance equal to Inequality/5 as a % to cause riots each turn. These increase crime and have other negative effects.
5. Unemployment and Inflation: both erode Approval by 3% every turn, and may trigger a Winter of Discontent, which will erode social stats.
6. International Hostility: May trigger economic sanctions.
7. Trade Relations: reduce Inflation and raises Unemployment and National Wealth by 3% of Trade Relations every turn.
8. National Optimism: Raise Approval by 3 or 4 (even chance, so an average of 3.5) every turn.
2. Health: has a chance of causing a pandemic each turn equal to (100-Health)/5%. Pandemics have various effects. They're never good.
3. Education: reduces Unemployment and increases National Wealth by 3% of Education every turn. Education also has a chance, equal to Education/5 as a %, of creating a technological breakthrough every turn. Breakthroughs have positive effects.
4. Inequality: reduces Approval by 3% of Inequality every turn. Inequality has a chance equal to Inequality/5 as a % to cause riots each turn. These increase crime and have other negative effects.
5. Unemployment and Inflation: both erode Approval by 3% every turn, and may trigger a Winter of Discontent, which will erode social stats.
6. International Hostility: May trigger economic sanctions.
7. Trade Relations: reduce Inflation and raises Unemployment and National Wealth by 3% of Trade Relations every turn.
8. National Optimism: Raise Approval by 3 or 4 (even chance, so an average of 3.5) every turn.
Stats
# of government Orders/turn: 3
# of government Policy Slots: 4
Political
-Approval: 51
-Corruption: 16
-State Power: 37
Social
-Health: 46
-Education: 65
-Inequality: 46
-Crime: 13
Economic
-National Wealth: 64
-Debt: 48
-Unemployment: 12
-Inflation: N/A
Military
-Quality: 69
-Quantity: 50
-Military Loyalty: 75
-Clout: 1
[Military Strength = Quality * Quantity/100, rounded up, btw]
Diplomatic
-International Hostility: 96
-Trade Relations: 33
-Foreign Influence: 20
Business:
-Wealth: 19
-Clout: 0
Labor Unions:
-Unionization: 30
-Clout: 0
# of government Policy Slots: 4
Political
-Approval: 51
-Corruption: 16
-State Power: 37
Social
-Health: 46
-Education: 65
-Inequality: 46
-Crime: 13
Economic
-National Wealth: 64
-Debt: 48
-Unemployment: 12
-Inflation: N/A
Military
-Quality: 69
-Quantity: 50
-Military Loyalty: 75
-Clout: 1
[Military Strength = Quality * Quantity/100, rounded up, btw]
Diplomatic
-International Hostility: 96
-Trade Relations: 33
-Foreign Influence: 20
Business:
-Wealth: 19
-Clout: 0
Labor Unions:
-Unionization: 30
-Clout: 0
Constitution:
Government Type: Parliamentary Republic
Title of Leader: Prime Minister (IC chosen by an apolitical President)
Name of Nation: State of Israel
Election Process: Vote by party; coalition of parties with a majority of the vote chooses the Prime Minister
Ballots: Public
Leader Term: 4 years
Supply Limit: 3 votes
Term Limit: None
Removal Process Mid-Term: No confidence by majority vote
If Leader Dies/Is Removed: New elections
Necessary Majority to Amend Constitution: Bare majority [Constitution is not codified]
Opposition Parties Allowed: Yes
Can Purge/Kill Players: No
Government Must Reveal Orders: Yes
Title of Leader: Prime Minister (IC chosen by an apolitical President)
Name of Nation: State of Israel
Election Process: Vote by party; coalition of parties with a majority of the vote chooses the Prime Minister
Ballots: Public
Leader Term: 4 years
Supply Limit: 3 votes
Term Limit: None
Removal Process Mid-Term: No confidence by majority vote
If Leader Dies/Is Removed: New elections
Necessary Majority to Amend Constitution: Bare majority [Constitution is not codified]
Opposition Parties Allowed: Yes
Can Purge/Kill Players: No
Government Must Reveal Orders: Yes
Nemesis Stats:
1 order per turn
1 disaster slot
1 disaster slot
Last edited:
Suez Crisis, Part 8: Leblin's Addresses
1. Israeli soldiers withdraw from the Sinai to participate in the defense of Tel Aviv.
As the Soviets closed in from the north, Leblin was understandably furious. He had believed support against the Soviets from the western allies was on the way, and sent an angry letter to the British, French, and the Americans essentially demanding direct intervention of allied troops, ships, and aircraft against the Soviets. (He conveniently forgot that it was he who had originally proposed Israel fight the war alone because he was convinced the British and French would chicken out, but who remembered that at this point? How had the war even started? Something about a canal? But saying the war was being fought over the Suez Canal was like saying the Second World War was fought over a railroad through Danzig.)
2. Ambulances are brought in by ship to accommodate the huge number of Israeli wounded.
Leblin made two speeches as part of his efforts to save the Jewish state. Of the Western Allies, he said:
To the Israeli people, he said:
3. Children assembling artillery shells outside of an Israeli bunker.
Leblin recalled Israeli soldiers from the Sinai to defend Tel Aviv; as far as he was concerned, the British and French could capture the canal on their own now. These reinforcements never arrived; Soviet bombers chewed them up in the Negev, halting their progress.
So Leblin was left with a handful of battered brigades and regulars to defend Tel Aviv, and whatever irregulars and final reservists he could scrape together on short notice, who hand answered his call to defend Israel...
--------------
((Sorry, I just got an important phone call and I have to leave that update on that cliffhanger note. I didn't plan it that way; my apologies.))
Policies/disasters currently active:
Government:
1. Income Tax, economic policy: Every turn, -Debt equal to 10% of State Power, -Approval equal to half of the same, economic effects subject to change
2. House Construction, economic/social policy: Every turn, +Debt equal to 5% of State Power, +National Wealth, -Inequality equal to half of the same.
3. Reparations From Germany, economic/diplomatic policy: Every turn, -10 Debt, +1 National Wealth, -2 Approval. To be removed in 1964.
4. Public Education, social policy: Every turn, +Debt, +Education equal to 5% of State Power.
Nemesis:
1. Black Market, economic/diplomatic disaster: Every turn, +Crime, +Corruption, +International Hostility, -State Power, +Trade Relations equal to 3% of Crime. Also generates funds for the Nemesis.
Extra: Military Bloat, military disaster: Every turn, +4 Debt, +1 Military Quality, -1 National Wealth.
Static Modifiers:
1. Corruption: reduces State Power and National Wealth by 3% of Corruption, rounded up, every turn. It also has a chance, equal to corruption, of increasing Debt or decreasing Approval by 5% of Corruption every turn.
2. Health: has a chance of causing a pandemic each turn equal to (100-Health)/5%. Pandemics have various effects. They're never good.
3. Education: reduces Unemployment and increases National Wealth by 3% of Education every turn. Education also has a chance, equal to Education/5 as a %, of creating a technological breakthrough every turn. Breakthroughs have positive effects.
4. Inequality: reduces Approval by 3% of Inequality every turn. Inequality has a chance equal to Inequality/5 as a % to cause riots each turn. These increase crime and have other negative effects.
5. Unemployment and Inflation: both erode Approval by 3% every turn, and may trigger a Winter of Discontent, which will erode social stats.
6. International Hostility: May trigger economic sanctions.
7. Trade Relations: reduce Inflation and raises Unemployment and National Wealth by 3% of Trade Relations every turn.
8. National Optimism: Raise Approval by 3 or 4 (even chance, so an average of 3.5) every turn.
2. Health: has a chance of causing a pandemic each turn equal to (100-Health)/5%. Pandemics have various effects. They're never good.
3. Education: reduces Unemployment and increases National Wealth by 3% of Education every turn. Education also has a chance, equal to Education/5 as a %, of creating a technological breakthrough every turn. Breakthroughs have positive effects.
4. Inequality: reduces Approval by 3% of Inequality every turn. Inequality has a chance equal to Inequality/5 as a % to cause riots each turn. These increase crime and have other negative effects.
5. Unemployment and Inflation: both erode Approval by 3% every turn, and may trigger a Winter of Discontent, which will erode social stats.
6. International Hostility: May trigger economic sanctions.
7. Trade Relations: reduce Inflation and raises Unemployment and National Wealth by 3% of Trade Relations every turn.
8. National Optimism: Raise Approval by 3 or 4 (even chance, so an average of 3.5) every turn.
Stats
# of government Orders/turn: 3
# of government Policy Slots: 4
Political
-Approval: 51
-Corruption: 16
-State Power: 37
Social
-Health: 46
-Education: 65
-Inequality: 46
-Crime: 13
Economic
-National Wealth: 64
-Debt: 48
-Unemployment: 12
-Inflation: N/A
Military
-Quality: 69
-Quantity: 50
-Military Loyalty: 75
-Clout: 1
[Military Strength = Quality * Quantity/100, rounded up, btw]
Diplomatic
-International Hostility: 96
-Trade Relations: 33
-Foreign Influence: 20
Business:
-Wealth: 19
-Clout: 0
Labor Unions:
-Unionization: 30
-Clout: 0
# of government Policy Slots: 4
Political
-Approval: 51
-Corruption: 16
-State Power: 37
Social
-Health: 46
-Education: 65
-Inequality: 46
-Crime: 13
Economic
-National Wealth: 64
-Debt: 48
-Unemployment: 12
-Inflation: N/A
Military
-Quality: 69
-Quantity: 50
-Military Loyalty: 75
-Clout: 1
[Military Strength = Quality * Quantity/100, rounded up, btw]
Diplomatic
-International Hostility: 96
-Trade Relations: 33
-Foreign Influence: 20
Business:
-Wealth: 19
-Clout: 0
Labor Unions:
-Unionization: 30
-Clout: 0
Constitution:
Government Type: Parliamentary Republic
Title of Leader: Prime Minister (IC chosen by an apolitical President)
Name of Nation: State of Israel
Election Process: Vote by party; coalition of parties with a majority of the vote chooses the Prime Minister
Ballots: Public
Leader Term: 4 years
Supply Limit: 3 votes
Term Limit: None
Removal Process Mid-Term: No confidence by majority vote
If Leader Dies/Is Removed: New elections
Necessary Majority to Amend Constitution: Bare majority [Constitution is not codified]
Opposition Parties Allowed: Yes
Can Purge/Kill Players: No
Government Must Reveal Orders: Yes
Title of Leader: Prime Minister (IC chosen by an apolitical President)
Name of Nation: State of Israel
Election Process: Vote by party; coalition of parties with a majority of the vote chooses the Prime Minister
Ballots: Public
Leader Term: 4 years
Supply Limit: 3 votes
Term Limit: None
Removal Process Mid-Term: No confidence by majority vote
If Leader Dies/Is Removed: New elections
Necessary Majority to Amend Constitution: Bare majority [Constitution is not codified]
Opposition Parties Allowed: Yes
Can Purge/Kill Players: No
Government Must Reveal Orders: Yes
Nemesis Stats:
1 order per turn
1 disaster slot
1 disaster slot
Suez Crisis, Part 9: The Final Blow
1. Soviet tanks prepare for action against Israel.
By the 14th of December, the war was in sixth week. The state of the war was dire for Israel: a diminished and shattered collection of Israeli defenders were digging in to defend Tel Aviv, though weapons, supplies, and ammunition were running extremely scarce. Leblin had put out a call for a general mobilization to defend the city, though Israeli generals knew that the battle was hopeless. If the Soviets wanted to take Tel Aviv, they could. It was just a matter of how long it would be. IDF intelligence estimated the Soviets would be on the city's doorstep by the 17th.
Leblin and the IDF had ceased to pay attention to the southern front, since the British and French had essentially refused to fight the Soviets directly without American support. After the Israeli withdrawal, British forces had taken the east bank of the canal. Large pockets of Egyptian troops had been surrounded and surrendered, but the Anglo-French allies had not entered Cairo; it seemed like the Nasser regime would survive, albeit beaten and humiliated. The Suez Canal was entirely in Anglo-French hands. Though Nasser continued to order counterattacks by his remaining forces, none broke through; the Egyptian front seemed like it had been decided.
_Suez_1956.jpg/500px-Sea_Hawks_800_NAS_armed_on_HMS_Albion_(R07)_Suez_1956.jpg)
2. British aircraft on their carriers, pictured here not helping Israel.
The issue was now the northern front. The Israeli opinion was that the western allies, the British, the French, and certainly the United States, could defeat the Soviet invasion effort if only they had the wherewithal to fight. Leblin decisively condemned them all for cowardice. To him, the matter was simple. They had to help him or the Middle East would turn red and Israel would be destroyed. To the NATO powers, the issue was more complicated. In the European and American halls of power, the question was: would directly attacking the Soviets start World War III? Leblin seemed confident it wouldn't, but how did he know?
The British had a relatively small army and few nuclear weapons; the French had none. They had refused to confront the Soviets alone. Thus, the question came down to the US. Eisenhower and his administration had worked hard to de-escalate the Cold War; they had hastily ended the Korean War and tried to ease tensions in Europe. (On the other hand, they had overthrown the government of Iran.) Eisenhower's White House also feared political fallout from sending the US into a new war. However, Eisenhower (a Republican) was handily re-elected on November 6th, 1956, in the middle of the fighting, somewhat freeing his hand. At the same time, the Democratic congress urged him to act to defend Israel. Since the Soviets had no over-land route into Israel, cutting their supply lines seemed like it could be done quickly and easily. On the other hand, Khrushchev and Bulganin had loudly boasted of their vast nuclear ballistic missile arsenal and Eisenhower regarded Khrushchev as quick to fight when confronted.
3. The powerful American 6th Fleet, underway in the Mediterranean.
Eisenhower decided he was not willing to confront Khrushchev on the ground, but decided they could risk a confrontation at sea, where the Soviet Union was weak. He sent the Soviets an ultimatum to withdraw their troops. They refused. In early December, another ultimatum was sent directly to the Soviet Black Sea task force - withdraw or be destroyed. Acting on orders from Moscow, they too refused. The day before Haifa fell, the US 6th Fleet sank the Soviet Black Sea force, though lines of communication to Israel were now so overstretched that the Israelis were not immediately aware of it. Radio bulletins gradually made the IDF aware of the developing crisis.
In Moscow, Khrushchev was furious. He contemplated nuclear war, but there was a problem - he didn't actually have all these missiles he'd been boasting about. Instead, he ordered Warsaw Pact forces mobilized and prepared to fight. Almost 1.3 million Soviet and Pact troops were readied for combat in the GDR, Poland, and Czechoslovakia, while another 600,000 were organized Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania. The Soviets prepared to pour in another 1.25 mn men from the Soviet Union itself. In West Germany, almost 800,000 NATO troops were placed on alert. The British and French home armies were called up. Half a million Turkish troops moved to cover literally every one of their borders; something similar happened in Yugoslavia. The world held its breath.
4. American tankers in the Fulda Gap observe Soviet troop movements.
On the 14th, as Israeli defenders dug in around Tel Aviv, Khrushchev ordered Field Marshal Zhukov - the Soviet Defense Minister - to prepare for an attack on NATO in two days, and World War III very nearly ended. However, the war never came. By the end of the 15th, Khrushchev countermanded his orders. Zhukov had talked him out of it. Ironically, the reason was simple: all the Soviets' best troops were in Israel. The remainder were in Budapest, quelling the Hungarian Revolution. Zhukov considered all remaining Pact forces in the west to be in a poor state of readiness, and both Zhukov and Khrushchev knew that in reality, they did not have enough nuclear weapons to win the nuclear war that Bulganin had threatened in his October letter. The Soviets flinched. There was no World War III.
But the Americans didn't want to poke the proverbial bear in the eye by directly fighting the Soviets any more than that. Yet, it was, in a way, enough. Without their ships, the Soviets had their supply lines cut; they couldn't fly in enough materiel to Syria by air, particularly since their air force was now massing for a nuclear air war across Europe. Diplomatic efforts, however, failed to actually stop the fighting in Israel. The Soviets attacked Tel Aviv on the 17th, as the IDF had expected, and this time, IDF resistance crumpled. The Soviets took the city in a matter of days. The Israeli government fled the burnt city as Soviet T-55s crashed through the streets. Jerusalem essentially surrendered the next day to try to protect its vast cultural heritage - its few defenders were obviously totally unable to stop the Soviets anyway, when they were already bogged down against the Jordanians.
The war, it seemed, was lost. Leblin and his government fled Tel Aviv for Beersheva, the last city in Israel (excepting those captured in the war) - just 22,000 people.
5. Soviet troops fight through the rubble of Tel Aviv, 1956.
That's when something very weird happened. The Soviet advance stopped, thirty miles short of driving the Israelis out of their own country, having failed to finish off the Israelis. Part of the reason was that the Soviet column turned to fight the Jordanians, who they had, in almost a black comedy fashion, engaged as they swept into Israel. Part of the reason was that the Soviets had, equally ironically, run out of gas in the Middle East, and Israel was now littered with abandoned T-55s and trucks. Part of the reason was the weather. But the most compelling reason was that the Eisenhower administration, realizing Khrushchev was bluffing with his threat to start World War III, twisted the Soviets' arm. They - finally - threatened to totally crush the remaining Soviet forces in Israel with troops and air power unless Khrushchev withdrew them, which would spare him humiliation.
The Soviets, themselves now out of fuel and ammunition, withdrew by air, leaving most of their equipment behind. A ceasefire was signed on the 31st of December. The Israeli government returned to Tel Aviv. Israel was intact, but shattered and blanketed with Jewish heroes and martyrs. The next year, the Soviets withdrew from Syria completely under Turkish and American pressure. The Sinai was placed under UN peacekeeping forces; the Egyptian, Jordanian, Israeli, and Syrian armies had all been totally destroyed. The Israeli nation was in ruins. Nasser too was left in power, humiliated and furious.
6. Discarded tank and artillery shells in central Israel.
It may have been some small consolation to Leblin, though, to know that the British and French had taken and kept the Suez. They re-opened it to Israeli sea traffic, though that somehow no longer seemed very important. The only good news was that with the Suez and Sinai separating them, it did not seem likely the Israelis and Egyptians would come to blows again.
The war was over. For Israel, it had been like a world war. Fatality estimates were well over 30,000. Israel was a nation of under two million. Israel's ports were trashed, its cities bloodstained and crumbling, its military destroyed, and its best fighting men and officers dead on the field.
[Stat penalties to be assessed later.]
--------------
((Although he hasn't read this update yet, Caspoi expressed the opinion that we should end this game here. He says he fails to see how we'll dig out of this, and I think he - and possibly others - are just tired of the campaign. I agree with him. Thoughts on this?))
Policies/disasters currently active:
Government:
1. Income Tax, economic policy: Every turn, -Debt equal to 10% of State Power, -Approval equal to half of the same, economic effects subject to change
2. House Construction, economic/social policy: Every turn, +Debt equal to 5% of State Power, +National Wealth, -Inequality equal to half of the same.
3. Reparations From Germany, economic/diplomatic policy: Every turn, -10 Debt, +1 National Wealth, -2 Approval. To be removed in 1964.
4. Public Education, social policy: Every turn, +Debt, +Education equal to 5% of State Power.
Nemesis:
1. Black Market, economic/diplomatic disaster: Every turn, +Crime, +Corruption, +International Hostility, -State Power, +Trade Relations equal to 3% of Crime. Also generates funds for the Nemesis.
Extra: Military Bloat, military disaster: Every turn, +4 Debt, +1 Military Quality, -1 National Wealth.
Static Modifiers:
1. Corruption: reduces State Power and National Wealth by 3% of Corruption, rounded up, every turn. It also has a chance, equal to corruption, of increasing Debt or decreasing Approval by 5% of Corruption every turn.
2. Health: has a chance of causing a pandemic each turn equal to (100-Health)/5%. Pandemics have various effects. They're never good.
3. Education: reduces Unemployment and increases National Wealth by 3% of Education every turn. Education also has a chance, equal to Education/5 as a %, of creating a technological breakthrough every turn. Breakthroughs have positive effects.
4. Inequality: reduces Approval by 3% of Inequality every turn. Inequality has a chance equal to Inequality/5 as a % to cause riots each turn. These increase crime and have other negative effects.
5. Unemployment and Inflation: both erode Approval by 3% every turn, and may trigger a Winter of Discontent, which will erode social stats.
6. International Hostility: May trigger economic sanctions.
7. Trade Relations: reduce Inflation and raises Unemployment and National Wealth by 3% of Trade Relations every turn.
8. National Optimism: Raise Approval by 3 or 4 (even chance, so an average of 3.5) every turn.
2. Health: has a chance of causing a pandemic each turn equal to (100-Health)/5%. Pandemics have various effects. They're never good.
3. Education: reduces Unemployment and increases National Wealth by 3% of Education every turn. Education also has a chance, equal to Education/5 as a %, of creating a technological breakthrough every turn. Breakthroughs have positive effects.
4. Inequality: reduces Approval by 3% of Inequality every turn. Inequality has a chance equal to Inequality/5 as a % to cause riots each turn. These increase crime and have other negative effects.
5. Unemployment and Inflation: both erode Approval by 3% every turn, and may trigger a Winter of Discontent, which will erode social stats.
6. International Hostility: May trigger economic sanctions.
7. Trade Relations: reduce Inflation and raises Unemployment and National Wealth by 3% of Trade Relations every turn.
8. National Optimism: Raise Approval by 3 or 4 (even chance, so an average of 3.5) every turn.
Stats
# of government Orders/turn: 3
# of government Policy Slots: 4
Political
-Approval: 51
-Corruption: 16
-State Power: 37
Social
-Health: 46
-Education: 65
-Inequality: 46
-Crime: 13
Economic
-National Wealth: 64
-Debt: 48
-Unemployment: 12
-Inflation: N/A
Military
-Quality: 69
-Quantity: 50
-Military Loyalty: 75
-Clout: 1
[Military Strength = Quality * Quantity/100, rounded up, btw]
Diplomatic
-International Hostility: 96
-Trade Relations: 33
-Foreign Influence: 20
Business:
-Wealth: 19
-Clout: 0
Labor Unions:
-Unionization: 30
-Clout: 0
# of government Policy Slots: 4
Political
-Approval: 51
-Corruption: 16
-State Power: 37
Social
-Health: 46
-Education: 65
-Inequality: 46
-Crime: 13
Economic
-National Wealth: 64
-Debt: 48
-Unemployment: 12
-Inflation: N/A
Military
-Quality: 69
-Quantity: 50
-Military Loyalty: 75
-Clout: 1
[Military Strength = Quality * Quantity/100, rounded up, btw]
Diplomatic
-International Hostility: 96
-Trade Relations: 33
-Foreign Influence: 20
Business:
-Wealth: 19
-Clout: 0
Labor Unions:
-Unionization: 30
-Clout: 0
Constitution:
Government Type: Parliamentary Republic
Title of Leader: Prime Minister (IC chosen by an apolitical President)
Name of Nation: State of Israel
Election Process: Vote by party; coalition of parties with a majority of the vote chooses the Prime Minister
Ballots: Public
Leader Term: 4 years
Supply Limit: 3 votes
Term Limit: None
Removal Process Mid-Term: No confidence by majority vote
If Leader Dies/Is Removed: New elections
Necessary Majority to Amend Constitution: Bare majority [Constitution is not codified]
Opposition Parties Allowed: Yes
Can Purge/Kill Players: No
Government Must Reveal Orders: Yes
Title of Leader: Prime Minister (IC chosen by an apolitical President)
Name of Nation: State of Israel
Election Process: Vote by party; coalition of parties with a majority of the vote chooses the Prime Minister
Ballots: Public
Leader Term: 4 years
Supply Limit: 3 votes
Term Limit: None
Removal Process Mid-Term: No confidence by majority vote
If Leader Dies/Is Removed: New elections
Necessary Majority to Amend Constitution: Bare majority [Constitution is not codified]
Opposition Parties Allowed: Yes
Can Purge/Kill Players: No
Government Must Reveal Orders: Yes
Nemesis Stats:
1 order per turn
1 disaster slot
1 disaster slot
I at least vote for for us ending the campaign, I don't know if I made some mistake during this war that I still can't see (and this may seem arrogant but I don't think that I really did, I did the best I could when all options were bad quite often, and still managed to hold out despite the fact that it seemed that the Soviet Union, and the Soviet Union alone, were willing to escalate the war) or if I was just really unlucky but this did take away most of my wish to play the game, turn after turn of things going bad even as Israel tried the best it could proved really stressful, and has taken away most of my wish to countinue the campaign. The conspiracy can have this victory if they want it, not that I really think that they deserved it considering how baadly they did most of the time, only getting of one actually detrimental order this whole game. But I feel like ending it, it is not the end of the world, there are other campaigns that we can play after all and seeing how this last part should have ended in defeat it is just as well.
