I wasn't in the chair in the first place because I'm not the traitor
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Are you talking about the troll fight between you and Zen or the actual World War these updates focus on?
Chapter 26: Drowning in Mud
Chapter 26: Drowning in the Mud
Day after day, week after week the Battle Raged on in Southern France. From the Atlantic coast to the Alps, Khitan and British Troops clashed with the Spanish, Occitans and Italians for mere kilometers each day as the Khitan Empire pressed down on her enemies with her demographic and industrial might before the winter of 1906.
All the While entire armies had become bogged down in mud soaked trenches as the Summer offenses turned to Fall advances and Still the Occitan Line had yet to break, and millions now laid dead on both sides.
However, The Southern Arm of the Army of the Rhone under command of robert butler rather than attempt a retreat instead dug in, taking italian trenches and fortifications in hopes to hold out until reinforcements could break through the Spanish Lines.
With the occidental Capital fallen and reinforcements expected in Burgundy, the order came in from Spanish High Command. Crush the Khitan Pocket stretching from Nice in the South to Turin Province in the North at all costs.
Through July and August the Army of the Rhone would come under siege from the Spanish but continued to doggedly hold until finally a lack of supplies and an exhausted army forced General Butler to call a retreat of the Northern half of his army to Turin, ever more miles away from Help but fortified at least.
Command however on both sides had been deafened from the causalities that had become all to common across the front. While Antwerp would not hear or be able to report about the outstanding defense of Turin until learning about the disaster from intelligence leaks the Italians and Spanish marched on, laying siege to Turin while all across their Northern Flank under the command of the new Southern Fieldmarshal, the Butcher of Bordeaux Jacques Vanahorst
All Across Germany forests had been blasted away by artillery and lines of trenches and fortifications had resulted a quagmire of blood, mud and disease as major victories in the hills surrounding Bohemia were undone weeks later by similar amounts of effort from the opposing side.
A common misconception about the War in the East is that it was static and thus unmoving but this would be incorrect, Land and lines would move, but such movements was often impermanent as neither nation was willing to commit millions of men to a killing ground over a few hills or forest while more important fronts such as in the Balkan Peninsula and Southern France still existed.
However, Khitan troops from Africa and Malaya were expected to arrive by Spring of 1907 meaning that a turning point in Asia was coming close as the Vast Khitan Empire had begun to wake to defend itself.
With Fall approaching by the day, the August Offensive of 1906 Began in Aquitaine to surprisingly little fanfare at home. 1906 Was an Election year as the declaration of war had resulting in the Khitan Elections of 1905 being postponed until it was clear if the Khitan Capital was in any immediate danger or absentee votes would need to be held.
This would of course be an unpopular decision to start with, especially as the war at home turned into a political tool for the various parties within the Khitan Government. Labour in particular saw the war as an abomination brought on by Jingoist thinking, rampant military spending and blatant imperialist policies of a conservative cabinet and that the Khitan Republic had a duty to see a negotiated peace on its terms but not to overextend in demands or military affairs. The Liberals were more neutral on the war, favoring it and the Ideals of overthrowing the Monarchies in Bohemia, Spain and Japan while simultaneously denouncing the conservative appointed military leadership which had led to disastrous causalities across all of the fronts.
William Lyon's the acting President once again ran for re-election but this time on what was being called a Coalition Ticket, as the Conservative party, as the dominant party within the Republic demanded that for the duration of the wars a grand coalition be formed of all major parties to ensure the war be seen through without hindrance for the sake of the Country.
This Coalition ticket fell apart almost instantly when the Socialists abandoned broke their own Coalition with the Conservatives, a Final straw in a series of perceived slights. The Liberals similarly saw no need to lose a chance to Oust Lyons who had become a symbol of everything despised about the New Conservative movement, promising protections with one hand and holding an expensive bludgeon with the other.
However this left the Government in an awkward place considering the result of the presidential election which was anything but clear.
President William Lyons, Conservative Incumbent of the 1906 Election
However, Lyons was a reliable and consistent factor in government, Capable of mending ties where there was otherwise apathy or even hostilities. In the context for the immediate aftermath of the revolution it had been Lyon's that truly forged a Republic from the disorganized mess of the Post Revolutionary Empire, formalizing and legitimizing many democratic processes for the first time and pulling the conservative party away from its monarchist loyalties to a focus on Moral Conservationism focusing on Social Welfare and economic and importantly religious protections and traditional values in a rapidly advancing world. Still even with a censored press, Military Funerals were something difficult to repress fully and at least in the Public eye, he was a respected but now foolishly stubborn captain, steering a ship into disaster in hopes of finding his last victory.
Charles Rackam, Liberal Candidate of 1906
In Rackam's own 'Thesis upon the Ideal Capitalist Society' he acknowledged that while not ideal, a modern Capitalism government was required to provide opportunities for its Peoples, and thus would need colonies and that native peoples within those colonies had 'Proven they do not wish to engage in a capitalist society as potential captains of industry', making their economic and political exploitation, justified. Effectively the growing Social Selection movement but a traditional Khitan Liberal flavor.
Outside of his Market Liberal credentials themselves being a liability outside of traditional liberal areas, Rackam had not seen a day of military service in his entire life, dodging draft registration at an early age due to his wealthy upbringing. Instead Rackam claimed to be the right man to steer the ship at war on the promise of the skill to appoint worthy veterans to key positions and on his own genealogy of all things, as Rackam was descended from a famous Khitan Privateer through his father's line.
Needless to say even in traditional liberal circles this gaff would ultimately backfire tremendously.
(Socialist Candidate, Walter Weiss/Waverly)
Weiss However had capitalized on the issue. With Decades of experience in and out of Antwerp, Weiss had pulled every single political connection he had to ensure the Coalition he orchestrated had fallen through. He began meeting with prominent conservative and liberal leaning military officials and did something not yet seen before on a grand scale, giving speeches with Radio.
From Antwerp to Cape to Singapore, Weiss's speeches reached across the Empire demanding a new Path forward. When his Liberal opponent Charles Rackam gaffed he ensured that every corner of the empire was aware of the blunder and whenever the Troops had won a great victory he nothing but praise for the men affield.
When the Votes were tallied, Weiss had won a razor thin victory against his once political friend turned Rival William Lyons to a shocked and stunned nation. The Blame of course landed squarely at Charles Rackam who many thought scared away Social Liberals with his talk of genealogy and Low Imperialism. The Socialists however were of mixed stance as Weiss was a political ally, he had never truly been aligned with the movement and now he was to represent the party moving forward, a Pragmatist and Opportunist leading a party of revolutionaries.
Once in power, Weiss wasted no time reorganizing his military chiefs of staff in a completely different style, in what was called 'The Fake Revolution' by his critics. Officers that had shown promise on the field were pulled from the dangerous and fickle trenches and given leadership positions while generals such as Grenfell were dismissed from office or otherwise put in backwater or do nothing positions within the staff.
Politically he wasted no time coalitioning with the humiliated conservative party and later even offered the Liberals a say in his cabinet shortly after in what would come to be known as the Tricolor Coalition, where all the moderate elements of government were formed into one singular coalition while the Monarchist Imperial party as well as the Anarchists and Communists were left out.
When the Snows finally broke in the Balkans come spring, the Greek Empire would be well and truly surrounded on all sides, Italy needed to be broken and it needed to be broken quickly.
When the Spring Thaws came, Jacques Vanahorst wired personally that his troops had set foot on Spanish soil for the first time in the war, and that Turin had been retaken in the Name of the Republic. The Italians and Spanish nearly outnumbered three to one in Southern France were taken aback by a massive assault that had ultimately pushed thier fronts past the breaking points.
Meanwhile the Bohemians and Italians pressed hard in on Greece while Scandinavian, Russian and Japanese troops pushed on her Caucasian front. 1907 had arrived, and the fronts were now moving but the Bloodletting was worse than ever. Another 100,000 Causalities across Turin, 40,000 in Toulouse, 60,000 in Bern and a whopping 150,000 across the Alpine front in the first two weeks of March alone. The Losses were simply unsustainable Longterm.
Meanwhile the Bohemians and Italians pressed hard in on Greece while Scandinavian, Russian and Japanese troops pushed on her Caucasian front. 1907 had arrived, and the fronts were now moving but the Bloodletting was worse than ever. Another 100,000 Causalities across Turin, 40,000 in Toulouse, 60,000 in Bern and a whopping 150,000 across the Alpine front in the first two weeks of March alone. The Losses were simply unsustainable Longterm.
At first this would come in the form of armored tractors but eventually Automobile Manufacturer Renard-Delora RD for short would produce the RD-7, the First Mass produced tank of the war, featuring a fully rotating machine gun turret, and armored tracks and hull capable of shrugging off similar caliber weaponry. Months later the British would produce their own variant in the Armstrong Land Battleship and Finally the Bohemians with a Ferdinand Class Landship. All the Same in Purpose, to cease the Drowning in the Mud, and end the war as fast as possible.
The War was still in the air. And the world had now begun to holds its breath on which nation would finally break first.
Here here, One war ends.
ANOTHER CONTINUES
I figured It'd be good world building, especially considering the stage of the war we are at.
Unfortunately millions will die on both sides as each Nation now sees the Road to victory, if only they knew the cost.
ANOTHER CONTINUES
Great update dragoon, as usual. I love the world building for the nations involved in the war, down to describing the uniforms and what the soldiers eat. Feels very much like an actual WW1 history book, In a good way.
Well, you know what’s coming; here’s another mood setting song to read this update to.
I figured It'd be good world building, especially considering the stage of the war we are at.
Unfortunately millions will die on both sides as each Nation now sees the Road to victory, if only they knew the cost.
Well, tanks ought to help things along. Of course, if you keep doing excellent in Africa then that'll be one less front to be worrying about.