Song of a Century- (Pt 3.Khitan Image-Heavy Megacampaign)

[Nikolai]

At least Russia is not as vast as historically.

 

[CaptainAlvious]

Two updates in a row so far? You’re really spoiling us @dragoon9105 , not that I’m complaining.

That’s quite the escalation in just the first few weeks of the war, tho I wouldn’t call it a full one when the Kingdom of America, India, Pegu Empire and Shun dynasty have yet to join, bonus points if the Central Asian Khitan join in on the fun too.

At least Russia is not as vast as historically.

I suppose so, tho Persia is still big and scary even if their not as powerful as they were decades ago.

My Loyalty is to The Republic, TO , DEMOCRACY!

Bohemians detected on Khitan soil, ENGAGE WITH DEADLY FORCE!

Here’s another WW1 song I think you guys will like, it’s from Sabaton’s Great War album which makes it even more appropriate.
Been awhile since I’ve shared some Sabaton songs, hope you guys like it and listen to it as you read this update.

 

[Donkey Cactus]

if cathay loses people will be pissed off with the republic then the monarchy comes back and we strike harder and retake our birthright properly this time

 

[CaptainAlvious]

if cathay loses people will be pissed off with the republic then the monarchy comes back and we strike harder and retake our birthright properly this time

For once, I actually see the logic you’re trying to go for. It’s still utter madness and treason tho .
I think a better way to achieve monarchist restoration is to orchestrate a coup and have Juiliana lead us to victory in this war. Certainly much better than to leave Cathay’s fates to perfidious Bohemia.

 

[zenphoenix]

if cathay loses people will be pissed off with the republic then the monarchy comes back and we strike harder and retake our birthright properly this time

How desperate are you to call everyone else a traitor? That must mean you're a traitor trying to frame someone else.

 

[Donkey Cactus]

For once, I actually see the logic you’re trying to go for. It’s still utter madness and treason tho .
I think a better way to achieve monarchist restoration is to orchestrate a coup and have Juiliana lead us to victory in this war. Certainly much better than to leave Cathay’s fates to perfidious Bohemia.

you're right a coup would be much better and faster and we can just put the traitors in the trenches it just works

 

[TheAnguishedOne]

And so the scope of the war grows even bigger. Better odds, but less potential loot.

 

[TWR97]

Looks like the Weltrieg truly has turned int a world war of epic proportions. Foolish of Russia to enter the war this early though, especially since they don't have this much territory compared to our timeline. Having watched the Great War documentary by Indy Niedall, something tells me that fortress mentioned in the update will be important in that specific front.

 

[Donkey Cactus]

other than wwi is it just me or would european zunism have bits of gnostic religions in there or not?

 

[CaptainAlvious]

other than wwi is it just me or would european zunism have bits of gnostic religions in there or not?

Probably, I mean a big part of Zunism in this world (except for Persia’s kind of zunism) is that it’s very open to syncretism, to the point that Zunism across separate regions is almost completely different to zunism elsewhere. For example, Zunism in Europe has more in common with Christianity than Zunism in North Africa, which is basically Islamic in all but name, that’s one example. I imagine somewhere in the world, there’s a branch of zunism that’s completely gonistic

 

[Idhrendur]

That is a lot of foes in Europe.

 

[Donkey Cactus]

That is a lot of foes in Europe.

honestly i think cathay's worse off than germany in our timeline and as such will have a coup and have to peace out with the central powers

 

[dragoon9105]

Chapter 23: Betrayal

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Newspapers in London now had read "Britannia Marches to War" while in the Americas fighting had already started. The Russian Emperor has declared for the Central powers and Scandinavia, frustrated over a lack of promised demands has walked out of Talks to join the Republican League.

The War itself, in all its horror and glory was about to explode on the European stage.

​

The Khitan Empire was Encircled. To the East Lied the vast and effectively endless Bohemian and Russian Territories, The Italians lay to the Southeast highly militant and prepared for war. To the South Finally lay Aquitaine, a former territory of the Empire pulled into the Spanish and Italian spheres of Influence.

With the Latins and Spanish working over logistics and marching troops into the region there was at least a distinct opportunity to lessen the potential disaster of a two front war provided the Army act accordingly.

Plan Tiger 3, was rushed into Motion by William Lyons war Cabinet, Detailing a massive push by the Khitan Regular army as deep into Occcitan territory as possible. The Goals of the campaign being the seizure of the Garrone and Rhone Rivers effectively given the Khitan Republic a Natural border in which to plot further advances south to the Pyrennes or campaigns over the Elbe in Germania.

On August 16th 1905, Khitan Troops marched over the border and into Aquitaine from the Atlantic to the Alps. The Occitan Army was quickly overwhelmed and repulsed back to defensive positions. The British Expedtionary Forces commanded by General Robert Huxley had marched down the Rhone river to meet the Italians in the rough burgundian terrain.

By the End of the Month, the British however found thier army split in two on each side of the river, with at least half of the BEF caught between the Rhone and the encroaching italians with almost six times thier number. With little options the BEF hunkered down and begun to dig trenches as the Italians seeing the potential for being cut off from their Spanish allies through everything possible at the forming Burgundian front.

​

By September the Scandinavian President after talks with the Russian and Bohemian Emperors officially declared war on the Khitan and British Empires, citing that her demands in China, Africa and control of the Kiel Canal being as its reasons.
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The Entry of Scandinavia came with the Invasion of Holstien from the North, with nearly 100 Scandinavian divisions pouring south into a Killing ground north of the Canal. In Response the Anglo-Khitan rushed to send aid through every available means to Holstein by land and sea. As a result the Understaffed North Sea Fleet was caught on convoy protection duties East of Jylland by the Combined Norse-Bohemian war fleets coming through the Straights.

For Four Days the North Sea Fleet held against overwhelming odds, Inflicting six hits for every one suffered. By the time British Reinforcements had arrived from Norfolk the KMS Princess Catherine had been scuttled, the KMS Morgan had suffered several major superstructure hits and the KMS Khatun Xaio, the Flagship had run out of ammunition for her main armaments and had been forced to serve as a hospital and rescue ship in addition to being a command vessel. Half a Dozen other ships had either been critically damaged or Sunk, but the Scandinavian and Bohemian fleets found themselves far worse with estimated losses including nearly Six Battleships as well as the Scandinavian Dreadnought SRS 'Thunderer' which had found itself targeted relatively early on during the battle.
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In China, Region Governor Andrew Shaw had mad a controversial decision, after losing several key victories north of the Yangzte River, he had ordered a General retreat to positions far further south near Hong Kong and Macau and at the Pearl River and its tributaries. The Japanese had the advantage of numbers and Scandinavian Garrisons in the region that had ultimately caused any effort to hold the Yangzte to be wasted.

The Pacific Navy however held strong from its bases on Formosa, Disrupting Japanese shipping to the Philippines with fighting efficiency. ANZAC garrisons also were being recruited for the eventual invasions of Guinea and for the Defend of Malaya which many pessiments were expecting would fall before proper resources could be allocated eastward for defense.

The Japanese Navy Arm, which had to contend with the Americans near Hawaii and the Khitan in the South China Sea effectively was boxed in to defend the Japanese Home Islands. While a Naval invasion was considered unfeasible, the possible bombardment of the Japanese coastline was considered unacceptable by the Emperor and Military Government as it would make the Imperial party look weak and thus vulnerable to democratic or communist revolutionaries while the army was deployed in China.

​

in Arabia, the British and Khitan armies had signed with the Arabs the so called 'Arab reclamation Treaty' which promised the Italian held colonies in the Arabian peninsula to be returned to the Kingdom. With treaty in Hand the Arabian army marched into Yemen and Oman against the Numerically superior Italian colonial garrisons to seize or sabotage as much territory and infrastructure as possible. Vague assurances from the British and Greeks that Aid would arrive in the form of Regular troops were made but ultimately at this time both the British and Khitan Empires were looking more to the defense of their own colonies.

​

By Mid Fall Plan 'Tiger' had been a rousing success at least on Paper. The Central front of Aquitaine had completely collapsed leaving hostile troops pushed back south of the Garonne river or in Burgundy.

At Bordaeux the Occitan army stood in force. The Khitan troops had made several crossings but had quickly found themselves pinned against the river by heavy artillery bombardment. The Occitan army meanwhile had dug into civilian areas and had begun evacuating the city. The Plan ultimately was to fight for every city block possible, though the Khitan army had vastly underestimated the Occitan Army and found themselves stuck on the beach, unable to advance.
​

In Burgundy the Situation was far, far. The uneven terrain of the Provential alps had led to a chaotic dissaray of advancements across the Line. For Weeks the Italians had been preparing positions all throughout the region unsure of where the main Khitan Thrust would come. Meanwhile the Anglo-Khitan leadership were unsure of where thier own troops were within the region and soon the entire province at turned into a chaotic killing ground with fortified and prepared italian positions making mincemeat out of the Anglo-Khitan forces.

With Reports of combat as far east as Turin and no sensible battle line to speak of a retreat order was given to reassemble just southeast of Lyon but the orders either did not recieve the stranded troops or simple were unable to be carried out. The Italians meanwhile began to understand the situation first and quickly set about fortifying passes northwards using machine guns and artillery to kill thousands.​

​

With Humiliation Mounting and unease growing in the war Department the orders had come in for the Successful Northern front to produce a victory before winter. Plans were set in motion for the Capture of the Jylland Penninsula with the hopes that a fast aggressive campaign with the help of shore bombardment could quickly lead to the taking of the region and thus closing of the Danish Straights to enemy shipping.

A General attack order was given across the Kiel Line, into Scandinavian territory into the prepared machine guns and bunkers at the Slesvig-Hussam Line. The Assault would stall after three days as Artillery fire from the Fortress at Nordstrand had made any possible assault on the Western side of the line all but impossible. Naval support ultimately was sorely needed but the Fleet of the Atlantic was still busy hunting commerce raiders in the North Sea.

Needing a victory before the first snows fell, the assaults were ordered to continue until the Line fell, at any cost of Men. Scandinavia's front in the war needed to be removed as soon as possible. With another 100 Thousand Men commited to the Narrow Assault Line and additional artillery and Naval resources brought to bear a 20 Mile Stretch in Denmark had become the most important front of the war, host to Thousands of casualties as more men were funneled into what was infamously being named 'The Scandinavian Woodchipper'
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By Mid Novermber nearly 100,000 Men Lay dead and the Scandinavians retreated to a secondary line between Flensburg and Octholm only a few Miles to the North where trenches and still drying concrete fortifications were being prepared.

The Burgundian disaster had ultimately been covered up by a far worse incident. By December the Wartime session of the Government had declared the temporary bans on unpatriotic material in the press, blocking further reports of future campaigns, with several papers blaming 'enemy spies' for the disasters at burgundy and Nordstrand and as an excuse for the temporary wartime press ban.

​

However it was not only the Khitan army feeling the Pressure. With successes mounting in Aquitaine and the italian army stuck digging into burgundy, initiatives came from the Italians to push the fortifications taken during the early was in the Swiss Alps and Southern Germany around Bern. The Italians had arrived in force but the British, expecting to wait for Khitan reinforcements from the North had dug in with machineguns.

All along the front the Italians probed in force and were repelled each time, taking thousands in Casualties while the main thrust hirt the British forces in Baden. Poor communication at ultimately doomed the British thrust where it was finally pushed back across the Rhine but only after inflicting 3 to 1 kill ratios on the oncoming Italians.
​

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In the Mediterranean the Central Powers had decided to weigh thier sufficient Naval advantage at the beckoning of the Italians and Bohemians who were fighting for the Suez in North Africa. The Spanish who together the Italians held the largest Mediterranean Fleet had decided to land troops at the port of Cysus near Symrna on the Anatolian Coast. the Hope being that the Ionian Islands could be easily swept up and potentially the Dardanelles could be threatened. Similar Landings near Rhodes and on Crete supported this theory but in all cases save the Cretan Invasion the Greeks had rallied to meet the invaders in force. Still the Spanish doggedly fought on to hold their Beachheads convinced that keeping as many troops off the eastern European or African fronts as possible would help the war effort in some way.

For the Soldiers on the ground however the campaign was a complete quagmire with Greek artillery raining death day and night and any attempted breakouts were silenced by the overwhelming sounds of machine gun fire and the sounds of men dying.

By the End of 1905 the Spanish Invasions of the Ionian Isles were abandoned, with most divisions left intact only containing single digit fractions of their original strength.

The End of the Year brought other more unfortunate news however. The First major peace deal had been struct, not Europe, but in the often forgotten Asian Theatre of the War.

The Japanese were on the March, and with little resistance in thier Path, they were winning victory after Victory.

With front lines growing blood and slow moving in europe the pressure was on to break through before successes in Asia ultimately turned to Success, in Europe.

 

[dragoon9105]

You see Machine Gun Nests have a preset kill number...

At least Russia is not as vast as historically.

Right, unfortunately, there is all of Germany in the way to this Russia

Two updates in a row so far? You’re really spoiling us @dragoon9105 , not that I’m complaining.

That’s quite the escalation in just the first few weeks of the war, tho I wouldn’t call it a full one when the Kingdom of America, India, Pegu Empire and Shun dynasty have yet to join, bonus points if the Central Asian Khitan join in on the fun too.

I suppose so, tho Persia is still big and scary even if their not as powerful as they were decades ago.

Bohemians detected on Khitan soil, ENGAGE WITH DEADLY FORCE!

The Greeks have one Job, not Die and keep Persia and Japan off my back while I fight in Europe with the Brits. If the Greeks cant handle that then they deserve to loose.

Also the Central Asian Khitan state of Khotan is in the war, Aligned with the Central Powers. You can see it hiding in the maps just off the eastern edge.

And you might want to break out The Price of a Mile for the coming parts.

if cathay loses people will be pissed off with the republic then the monarchy comes back and we strike harder and retake our birthright properly this time

For once, I actually see the logic you’re trying to go for. It’s still utter madness and treason tho .
I think a better way to achieve monarchist restoration is to orchestrate a coup and have Juiliana lead us to victory in this war. Certainly much better than to leave Cathay’s fates to perfidious Bohemia.

Not much use in a Coup if there's nobody left to lead. Dont worry I'm sure the disasters at Burgundy and Holstien wont repeat themselves The War is going extremely well citizen, Carry On

And so the scope of the war grows even bigger. Better odds, but less potential loot.

Looks like the Weltrieg truly has turned int a world war of epic proportions. Foolish of Russia to enter the war this early though, especially since they don't have this much territory compared to our timeline. Having watched the Great War documentary by Indy Niedall, something tells me that fortress mentioned in the update will be important in that specific front.

The Great War (And Subsequent now WW2 and Interwar Documentarys) They are doing are Great. Pulling the Wars apart week by week really does give better sense of how the wars were fought and the mentality of the world during that time as opposed to the grandiose "Everything about the war in an hour or two" (Or in Youtubes cased (WWX in 5-15 minutes) types that honestly now feel overly simplified in comparison.

I'd also recommend Hero's and Generals The Cold War series but its fairly newish so i'm saving judgement for when the immediate interwar period sum ups have ended.

Probably, I mean a big part of Zunism in this world (except for Persia’s kind of zunism) is that it’s very open to syncretism, to the point that Zunism across separate regions is almost completely different to zunism elsewhere. For example, Zunism in Europe has more in common with Christianity than Zunism in North Africa, which is basically Islamic in all but name, that’s one example. I imagine somewhere in the world, there’s a branch of zunism that’s completely gonistic

Pretty Much this, European Zunism is a Syncreticised mix of Pagan and Christian traditions (With some carryover from the East). In the Middle East is much more muslim influence, and in Asia is it very confuscion. Since its very decentralized however the religious diversity once seen in the middle east is probably back at least unofficially outside of Theocratic states like Persia. I could see a completely Gnostic Zunism existing somewhere in the Greek or Arab nations or in the Zunist Third of India, which I'm sure wont cause any problems going forward on the subcontinent.

That is a lot of foes in Europe.

Ehh, Whats another in the Face of the Half the World, not much I say

 

[CaptainAlvious]

I see Scandinavia has decided to pull OTL WW1 Italy and decided to switch allegiances. Quite unfornatate, but at least the US hasn't decided to join the war against Cathay, we've still got that going for us. Then again, I probally just jinxed it now.

No matter, when, or rather if given the dire state of this war, Cathay emeges triuphant, prefideous Bohemia or treacherous Scandinavia will get their just deserts, hopefully anyway.

And you might want to break out The Price of a Mile for the coming parts.

First of all, I love the irony that this update was posted at the same time I was listening to Sabton's Angels Calling, this couldn't have been more well timed than that.
Since I was just listening to it, I'll play it here, its too good to pass up!

Anyways, I could do that, but I'm pretty sure we already used that song for the Khitan-Chinese war in EU4. As for songs outside of Sabaton, Metallica and Iron Maiden have some WW1 songs we could play, how does that sound?

Also, I thought the Heavenly Kingdom was a Scandinavian puppet before, was there something that happened that I missed? I don't know how it lift the Scandinavian sphere for it to be at war with it, that's pretty odd.

 

[Donkey Cactus]

You see Machine Gun Nests have a preset kill number...



Right, unfortunately, there is all of Germany in the way to this Russia



The Greeks have one Job, not Die and keep Persia and Japan off my back while I fight in Europe with the Brits. If the Greeks cant handle that then they deserve to loose.

Also the Central Asian Khitan state of Khotan is in the war, Aligned with the Central Powers. You can see it hiding in the maps just off the eastern edge.

And you might want to break out The Price of a Mile for the coming parts.





Not much use in a Coup if there's nobody left to lead. Dont worry I'm sure the disasters at Burgundy and Holstien wont repeat themselves The War is going extremely well citizen, Carry On





The Great War (And Subsequent now WW2 and Interwar Documentarys) They are doing are Great. Pulling the Wars apart week by week really does give better sense of how the wars were fought and the mentality of the world during that time as opposed to the grandiose "Everything about the war in an hour or two" (Or in Youtubes cased (WWX in 5-15 minutes) types that honestly now feel overly simplified in comparison.

I'd also recommend Hero's and Generals The Cold War series but its fairly newish so i'm saving judgement for when the immediate interwar period sum ups have ended.



Pretty Much this, European Zunism is a Syncreticised mix of Pagan and Christian traditions (With some carryover from the East). In the Middle East is much more muslim influence, and in Asia is it very confuscion. Since its very decentralized however the religious diversity once seen in the middle east is probably back at least unofficially outside of Theocratic states like Persia. I could see a completely Gnostic Zunism existing somewhere in the Greek or Arab nations or in the Zunist Third of India, which I'm sure wont cause any problems going forward on the subcontinent.



Ehh, Whats another in the Face of the Half the World, not much I say

you can't just expect to win a war with a majority of europe against you you gotta work to try and win

 

[TWR97]

Blasted Scandinavians, they will pay for this treachery once the tide turns against them, there shall be reckoning for this

With that said good luck trying to fight this coalition to a standstill though, your only hope now is if the Greeks and the Arabs provide a heavy distraction while you consolidate the armies.

 

[Donkey Cactus]

Blasted Scandinavians, they will pay for this treachery once the tide turns against them, there shall be reckoning for this

With that said good luck trying to fight this coalition to a standstill though, your only hope now is if the Greeks and the Arabs provide a heavy distraction while you consolidate the armies.

when and doubt nuke the poles and flee the planet entirely

 

[TheAnguishedOne]

Scandinavia and Arabia, my my my. At this rate, there won't be any neutral major powers before the war is over.

 

[Nikolai]

Scandinavia and Arabia, my my my. At this rate, there won't be any neutral major powers before the war is over.

A true world war!