A House of Cards (An alternative KR-MDS AAR)

[Asalto]

I'm just twisting the chances of a coup within the limits of plausabilty...

I can see you're also using lots of RL politicians. That Johnson about which is Corbyn ranting so much in last update, that's not supposed to be Boris Johnson, right? He probably stayed in North America in your universe anyway. Or did his multinational background bring him into Syndicalist waters like it happened to Mosley in KR scenario?

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

I've used Corbyn and Johnson, IIRC, but, other than that, they are the only RL politicians. About Johnson's background, I ghaven't paid too much attention to it. I just needed to play a role, and he was at hand...

 

[Asalto]

I've used Corbyn and Johnson, IIRC, but, other than that, they are the only RL politicians. About Johnson's background, I ghaven't paid too much attention to it. I just needed to play a role, and he was at hand...

Well, if some people were stuck in diffrent kind of state in alternate universe, it might be quite possible to have them following political path that is most mainstream in that universe. Funny thing is that BoJo has some blue blood (even in relation to the House of Hanover), but he still could blur the ancestry in favor of good career (Chief of the Executive Council of Greater London Commune?). I wonder what are other chaps from RL politics doing too. Did their ancestors managed to move to Canada, or was David Cameron still Johnson's schoolmate? Osborne and Farage could work in some cooperative community bank while Brown, Blair, Salmond and Sturgeon would surely fight for political influence in Scottish Autonomy.

 

[El Pip]

I can see you're also using lots of RL politicians. That Johnson about which is Corbyn ranting so much in last update, that's not supposed to be Boris Johnson, right? He probably stayed in North America in your universe anyway. Or did his multinational background bring him into Syndicalist waters like it happened to Mosley in KR scenario?

It does say it was Alan Johnson, ex-postman to the stars, which does make a lot more sense.

 

[Asalto]

It does say it was Alan Johnson, ex-postman to the stars, which does make a lot more sense.

My bad, I thought it was famous Boris of London. Really makes much more sense this way.

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

April 22nd, 2005, London and Rome

From London, the coup extended to the Military Districts created by the Syndicalist reorganization of the Armed Forces back in the 1970s were essential or this success. The level of influence and organization of the plotters in each of the districts varied, and as the day events developed and the confusing news began to spread through th ecountry, the reaction of the Military Regions varied quite a lot. Having deployed most of their strength to take over Londo, the plotters also managed to secure the support of Military District I (London), II (Aldershot), IV (Liverpool), VI (Manchester), IX (Inverness) and XI (Endinburg), with Military District XI (Chesptow) saw a small civil war as several officers attempted to declare for Corbyn.

On the other side, Corbyn was not more successful in gaining over districts in the first hours, only securing Military District III (Exeter), VII (Bristol), X (Leicester) and XVII (Plymouth). The rest of the Military Districts adopt a tentative “wait and see” strategy, although in virtually all of them the troops of the Ministry of Interior were arrested, ran away or forced into hiding.

A key element is the British Army on the Rhine, where the commanders in the field were trying to get things back into normal. Then, seconded by General Wagner and General Lindemann, Field Marshal Chevallier send them a message stating his new position of Supreme Commander . Alas, Chevallier mostly receives non-committals or outright refusals from fellow commanders. General James Blackcock, CO of the Second Army, refused to believe that Tucker was dead. However, Chevallier was able to coordinate with the few Military Districts already behind the coup, and successfully orders General Phillips, CO of the First Army, to commence an immediate withdrawal south, thus forcing Blackock to do so to avoid an encirclement.

In Italy there was a particularly successful coup, as General Guiseppe Fabre and Colonel Alberto della Marmora took immediate action after hearing what was going on in Paris and London. Amazingly, the officers of the Red Shirts surrendered with no complains and most of the government was arrested while attempting to resist. A takeover of the rest of Italy seemed unlikely at best, though, as the troops in the North of the Country, commanded from Turin were put on alert. Naples on the other hand, saw a most unexpected outcome. General Achille Starace followed the cup orders with caution. However, the local commander of the Red Shirts, General Ettore Muti reacted faster, sending men to capture Starace. Fighting eruped through Naples during most of the afternoon and night, as Muti's forces are slowly defeated by the putschists. However, by morning, as he victory of the putschits is almost on the verge to take place, the arrival of French troops escaped from Sicily turned the balance into the Syndicalist side. However, the French Commander, General Abel Douay, doubtful about who is who and who is the traitor and who the loyalist, ordered the arrest of both Starace and Muti, who are courtmartialled by a kangaroo court and executed that very morning. Then, Douay informed Paris that the south of Italy was French-held territory.

Meanwhile, a massive Canadian and US amphibian force began to mass in Iceland...

 

[Asalto]

SyNdiEz are doing pretty good job in destroying themselves on their own...

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

Well, Syndiez are used to have someone tellng them what to do. They are awfully good at that, but not so much as acting on their own...

 

[Asalto]

Well, Syndiez are used to have someone tellng them what to do. They are awfully good at that, but not so much as acting on their own...

That's true. I also like how realistically you had depicted the internal collapse of Syndicalist military chain of command, it really resembles modern coups and civil wars in the 3rd World. You even included neutral units who haven't picked their side yet into rebel-loyalist fight like it happens in reality as well.

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

In that "planning" of the coup I've been following the models of coup d'etat since the 1930s all around the world, as for the failed revolutions in Eastern Europe. So, if it looks realistic, it's because I've tried to remain in that field a bit.

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

April 23nd, 2005, Washington

In the first hours of April 23 a bemused Canadian Prime Minister Francis Urquhart visited US president George Clooney in the White House. The fact was that Clooney was not completely persuaded that the seas lanes were safe enough for the landing invasoin fleet, as in the last week twelve enemy submarines had been sunk in exchange for five destroyers and frigates of the Entente.

However, while for Urquhart those losses told that the Syndicalist submarines fleets had to be on the ropes, Clooney was doubtful about how damaged where the enemy naval forces, even more if in that week 19 merchant ships had been sunk by enemy bombers armed with anti-ship missiles, putting a great strain on Allied logistics. To take care of this probolem several carrier groups had been redeployed and some bombers had been shot down since then. However, the problem was still to be solved.

For that simple reason Clooney pressed to reinforce the air base at the Azores and to use the island as a "natural" air carrier. Urquhart, who didn't bother about that, agreed, but he then pressed for a direct attack against the British isles and suggested, for that, the codenamed "Twin Tiger operation".

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

April 23rd, 2005, Madrid

In spite of being the only place apart from Britain that the coup had succeded, Spain was, tettering on the edge of civil war. With the arrest of the government and his loyals going more or less smoothly and with Field Marshal Enric Querol and General Saavedra teaming up, the situation looked decent enough until men from Dueñas’s units rose in Madrid.

The news almost sparked a potentially disastrous conflict, as Dueñas and his men were well-known loyalists. As news from Europe continued to flood in, something unexpeced startles Querol. General Pablo Rojo and others "supposed to-be" loyalists inform Querol that they are going to refrain from interfereing with the current events. Then Querol contacted Dueñas, managing to agree to meet. Despite the heavy mutual mistrust, Dueñas keeps in line with Rojo et al, stressing that his loyalty rests with Spain, and he has moved to protect the city from any mad reaction by fanatic Syndicalists. Furthermore, he promised Querol that he would not interfere with his plans... provided that he doesn't plan to surrender to the enemy... which was what Querol was actually planning to do.

A Spanish civil war had been only barely avoided.

However, part of the garrison in Pamplona refuses to acknowledge Querol's authority. Before long, street fights erupt in the city for the next two hours until Querol troos defeat the "mutineers" at the cost of a few dozen dead.

On the other side of the frontlines, the Kaiser and his generals were planning of the next phase of attacks to break out from the beachhead on the Rhine once the weather would improve and the armies would be ready to the future operations to free Belgium. Encouraged by the announcements of Coulais nd Tucker’s death – which by this point were being widely celebrated across Entente countries –, Friederich Wilhelm remained cautious and doubtful about the reports of the dwindling French strength. It was therefore a surprise when a group of British officers carrying a white flag reach the Russo-german frontlines, on behalf of the new government in London, bringing a proposal for a negotiated ceasefire.

 

[Asalto]

Considering the strength of foes and crumbling state of Syndicalists states, why should anti-Syndie forces even contemplate any kind of just peace offer with ''pacifist moderates''? They are just Syndie oportunists, why not fully crush them and re-establish real conservative regimes in place? Then we could also have nice Cold War situation between Canadian Commonwealth bloc and Russo-German powerhouse of Eurasia.

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

it could be... but... The Germans are not in the mood to have France going out unscathed from having invaded them... And they are tired of having a Cold War with the Syndie Block since 1919. So, you can bet how Berlin is going to act.

Peter IV of Russia is not going to accept anything less that democratic states replacing the old totalitarian states, so the putschists need to prove their good will a lot to the Tsar, hoping that he might persuade the Kaiser.

Clooney may love peace, but he wants to be sure that he's not going to have to deal with the same trouble in Europe (or anywhere) in the future. However, he's also looking at Japan and its worrying attitude, so he may change his mind, if the need arises.

Urquhart is not going to accept anything but unconditional surrender and the return to the British Isles (something is very keen on and busy working on it), so perhaps Farringon is going to find himself in a peculiar situation...

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

April 22nd, 2005, London

Around the early hours of April 22, a small plane lands in Biggin Hill and its occupants race to London. The main figure is General Henry Treshman, who had made barely escaped form the Front as General Matthews, CO of the Third Army, refused to join the coup and ordered Treshman's execution for treachery. Helped by some fewllow conspirators, Thresman managed to fly back to London to inform of the chaotic situation on the front.

Meanwhile, former politicians that were removed from their posts by the new government because they were deemed "too Syndicalist minded" situation joined the coup, as Charles Gordon, the former mayor of Liverpool. As the new Cabinet continued to attempt to rally front commanders to its side – with little success -, General Francis Oliver became increasingly worried by this failure and by the inhability to prevent the defeat of the coup in Paris. Noticing this, Farrington had some of his men to be close to Oliver at all moments, fearing that the General might attempt to defect to the enemy.

While several of the Military Regions out of reach and Henry Henderson organising the countercoup from Birmingham, the putschists feared that the civil war was imminent. General Beckett ordered several of those units closer to the capital are ordered to converge to aid in the fight with the troops still loyal to Henderson. With Treshman taking the lead at the frontlines and succeeding in pushing back the SF, the situation improves somewhat, and the new government began to plan a way to eliminate Henderson before he was able to gather too much support. General Hobart and Neame depart from London to the south and west of the country to gather Reserve Army and Home Guard units to take down the enemy redoubts in the North.

While bothj Beckett and Henderson worried about what would do the Commander of the Reserve Armoured units, General William Godwin-Austen, the units under his command remain in position and make no move at all as Godwin-Austen had only ordered them to stay in alert. To Godwin-Austen’s annoyance, radio reports were constantly switching as the situation remained confusing. In the end, Godwin-Austen took a decision: he ordered any messenger from Henderson to be arrested, but does not attempt to answer calls from Beckett either, with the excuse of the communication breakdown.

Meanwhile, some fighter bombers of the RAF begin to overfly Godwin-Austen's units.

​

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

April 22nd, 2005, Paris

After visiting the frontline, Marais fortified its rule over France. With the support of the Armed Forces, he moved then to Lyon to be received by Chef de District Gendrau, the man that held true absolute power in the area. However, Gendrau has less forces forces available to him than expected. Meawnhile, General Francoise Magnin, seeing that the coup is over, changed side and joined Marais. And furthermore, some of the inactive Reserve units began to fall in line as well.

As Marais was told that half of Scotland, most of Wales and half of the Middlands have joined the coup, while there is chaos and combats in Liverpool, he began to fear that everything was told, even if he was pretty sure that he had France within his grasp, even if he did not know the whereabouts of General Huppert, who is in disastrous situatoin, as large portions of the the Security Ministry were on Marias side and had deserted him. Even if he had combat ready units in Britanny and, more importantly, in Tolouse, the only way for Huppert to gather the necessary forces to control the country and get rid of Marais is to have his loyal Generals on his side. Thus, while Marais ignores that Huppert is plotting to depose him, the general tried to establish contact with key officers to ask about their support in the crisis. However, while some report that the cannot move from the front in that chaotic situation, most of them simply refuse to talk with Huppert and stress that they will not follow him in any way.

By the early afternoon Huppert feels that his end is close unless he moves fast. With the limited resources at hand, he began to plan a desperate action while ordering, at the same time, a plane to be prepared. If things went wrong, he would fly to Tolouse to regroup and counter-attack. Then, as he knows about the presence of Marais in Lyon, Huppert felt that he could settle the score for once and all. To do so, he contacted the 25th Special Battalion outside Paris, which was still loyal to him.

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

April 22nd, 2005, Paris

As Marais worked hard to to solidify the armed forces behind him as soon as possible and to keep the allies under his thumb, he began to worry about the lack of news from Huppert. Aided by the progressive restoration of communication lines, Marais managed to get the field commanders joining his side, as well as the last regional commands in France. Confident about his sitaution, Marais began to make lists of a potential government.

Thus he resolved to contact the loyalist Sindicalist in England to find a way to put an end to the Beckett Government, and decidesdto return to Paris, now safe after the arrest of all the unloyal or suspected personnel in the area. After a delay to make a successful call to General Godwin-Austen, Marais boarded with most of his staff an armed convoy to Paris (choosing against an arrival by plane due to the enemy attacks and some kind of mistrust of Marais to the pilots after the suicide atack).

Meawnhile, in London the Beckett government tried to contact both Ottawa and Berlin while recovering from the surprise of General James Blackcock, CO of the Second Army, making.an initial overture to the Germans. That persuaded Beckett not waste a minute and having messages sent to Berlin through Sweden and Switzerland. However, Berlin did not answer Beckett's messages.

Meawnhile, Beckett, worried about the ambiguous stance of General Frederic Forbes, commander of the Home Guard, ordered his detention and wasted no time to find a replacement for him: General Francis Oliver became the acting commander of the Home Guard.

On his part, Godwin-Austen was close to reach a decision. While Marais was pressing him hard to side with him and to ride with the tanks to London, Godwin-Austen got news from the new government's increasing control over the Home Guard and the chaos that threatened to engulf the front. Thus, he finally sprang into action, and marched to London with the armoured forces. under his command

 

[El Pip]

I hope Godwin-Austen lives up to the proud traditions of his illustrious ancestors and makes the right decision. It seems promising he will, but who can tell in the turmoil of revolution, coup and counter-coup?

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

If G-A fails to do the right choice but creates enough mayhem to help the Entente to free the Isles, there would be no problem. If it is not so, you can bet that Mr. Urquhart has an special place in hell for him

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

April 22nd-23rd, 2005, Paris

Huppert, faced with a situation that only grew worse for him as April 22th ended, assembled two companies of the 25th Special Battalion. Their desperate and almost suicidal mission was to kill Marais. Once this plan was set off, he boarded a plane and departed to Mila where he was warmly welcomed by General Charles Francoise, self-styled "Protector of North Italy".

The men entrusted with the assassination attempt soon fragmented into on several platoons, and they were quite busy trying to reach Paris through varied means, with different grades of success. Some were caught and arrested by Army units, and others simply deserted and run away. Jut one platoon, led by the brash and daring Lt. Guillaume Valeur, arrived to the intended position which had been leaked to Huppert by an inner informer within Marais' entourage.

As the convoy carrying Marais was arriving to its destination, Valeur's men attacked. While most of the attackers end up dead in the ambush attempt (Valeur among them), they fullfilled their misson, killing Marais and several members of the cabinet.

The third coup d'etat in France since the beginning of the war had been a complete success.