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Updated 2005-11-01
1942 in Pete's Alternate Draka Timeline
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1942 (The Second Great War)
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January 1942
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[Map uses OTL 1917 boundaries outside Europe, slightly modified 1922 in Europe.] |
- Situation in January 1942: The Balkans are still a confused battleground, but Italy is wavering. Germany and Russia are still pressuring the Domination in European Turkey and Greece, but the seesaw there has gone on for months, and Russia is now facing two other Drakan invasions. Britain is reeling from being ejected from the European continent again, and has effectively hamstrung itself into no responsive offensive actions for the foreseeable future. The U.S. and Britain aren't as close as before, and America has still not yet been drawn into the war. Japan has grabbed eastern China, Indo-China, and two oil-producing enclaves on Borneo, and is pushing the British out of southern Asia while avoiding conflict with the U.S. Germany has annexed Sweden and kicked Britain out of Norway, although the "Battle of Britain" is again in Britain's favor.
- January and February 1942: Tirane falls again to the Domination in early January, and the Drakans continue marching up the Adriatic coast. As the German salient bisecting Greece is exposed north of the Greek border, the Germans hurriedly reinforce their western flank, but the Italians pull back even faster. Drakan heavy naval and amphibious transport units are moved back to the Black Sea, threatening the Crimea and the Rumanian beaches near Constanta, which the Russians reinforce with even more green troops. The Italians and Russians are deficient in capital ships in the Mediterranean and Black Seas respectively, and air power has proved deadly to battleships without air cover or supporting anti-aircraft guns on lesser vessels.
A report to Parliament on the confiscated Irish armaments reveals that the Domination was behind the initial success of the Irish Republic, enraging the British. British naval commanders in India propose a raid on the Domination's oil production and transport facilities in the Persian Gulf, evading the non-aggression pact's language. The PM and War Council authorize it, hoping to provoke a Domination riposte on land that the ground commanders in India and Afghanistan assure London they can now easily defeat with all the troops that have been brought in over the past months, especially with the new Domination border positions in what was Asian Russia.
The Japanese finally bring the Brunei petroleum complex back up to useful production levels, evict the last organized British and Dutch colonial forces from Borneo, and begin air and naval reconnaissance patrols covering wider areas of British and British-protected territory. Small-scale clashes occur all over the western Pacific and southwestern Asia, obscuring the Japanese intent to move on Singapore and Bangkok next.
- March 1942: The Domination starts several late-winter attacks on the Russians, taking the offensive out of European Turkey first, then southern Georgia 2 weeks later, and east of the Caspian at the end of the month. The Drakans make slow progress on all fronts, and the Germans hurriedly reinforce the eastern flank of the Greek salient too in anticipation of a Russian collapse.
The first use in combat of Drakan aircraft carriers is in a surprise raid on Sevastopol, aimed at destroying that part of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. The Drakan first strike at dawn is composed of carrier-based fighters and bombers attacking the Russian airfields. It is soon followed by a second smaller wave of carrier aircraft sent from bases in Hyrcania (Turkey) that "stage" through the carriers to extend their range, which attack the ships now that the local defending aircraft are down and the closest airfields unusable. [Thanks to David Weber for describing this in a Starfire battle, and Air Strategos J. Gatens for helping to develop the concept. The second wave is "extra" carrier aircraft and pilots trained up a bit early for the next batch of carriers. The prototype carrier is also positioned halfway across the Black Sea from the others, in case of emergency enroute.] A courageous Russian naval sortie against the carriers runs into a minefield laid by Drakan patrol boats the night before, and retreats to Odessa. The Russian air counterattack does succeed in heavily damaging two Drakan carriers caught recovering and refueling planes, before the Drakans withdraw for the day. A similar operation against Odessa a week later practically wipes out the Russian Black Sea fleet. But one Drakan carrier is sunk and two more heavily damaged as the Russian air counterattack comes from a large mass of aircraft stationed out of range of the first Drakan strike that day, a ploy designed by Russian Air General V. Rosidroog after careful analysis of the Sevastopol raid. Replacement Drakan carriers soon arrive, but doctrine is now in flux after faults in the carrier tactics and design were exposed by the Russian responses.
The Royal Navy masses a fleet at sea to attack the Persian Gulf, but must sail far from land to avoid detection by the Domination or Japan. The Japanese Navy enters the Java Sea and eastern Indian Ocean as the Royal Navy pulls back.
- April 1942: A coordinated Russian and German counterattack pushes the Domination much of the way back to European Turkey. But the Drakans finally make their landing on the Rumanian coast, coordinated with a thrust east from Serbia, and several airborne drops blocking German retreat routes from the Greek salient. Over 220,000 Germans and Russians are trapped in the "Strumica Pocket" under increasing Domination pressure. The Drakan forces east of the Caspian Sea sweep across Kazhakstan and inch along the Afghan border. There are minor border incidents as the Drakans crush Russian forces, but the Domination is careful to not press attacks against the defenders of Afghanistan in respect for the non-aggression pact with the British. Many Russians at the border surrender to the British so they can be passed east and released to other Russians who have not yet been reached by the Domination advance, but some accept internment by the British.
Preparations begin in Tunisia for an amphibious invasion of Italy; the Italians further fortify Sicily and the mainland side of the Straits of Messina.
Japanese reinforcements begin to appear in Manchuria and China facing the inexperienced Russians now manning the border. The Japanese enclaves on the Malay Peninsula are slowly expanded over the next two months. The British officers and local troops facing them don't have the same stubborn ferocity, but they're learning.
The British fleet approaching the Persian Gulf escapes detection until it enters gun range of the Drakan forts at the Strait of Hormuz. A vicious attrition begins as the task force battles its way up the Gulf destroying shore facilities while being swarmed by all the forces the Drakans can bring to bear. After almost half the British ships are sunk or lose mobility in 27 hours of continuous battle, the British attempt to withdraw but are trapped before the Strait of Hormuz by vast quantities of crude oil and refined petroleum deliberately pumped into the sea and set ablaze. Only a destroyer squadron detached to harass Drakan shipping in the Arabian Sea ever returns to a British port. The Strategos responsible for the victory is personally congratulated by the Archon, and then detached to the Conservation Directorate to fix the ecological disaster she created. The British public's impotent rage increases even further at this latest loss. The official Domination response is to taunt the British for a "significant error in navigation" and not break the non-aggression pact. Although there is popular support for breaking the pact and declaring war on the Domination, the peace supporters in Parliament decry the naval operation and rally support for taking the war to Germany first.
Construction begins on expanding the German autobahn and railroad networks into the conquered territories, both to give more of the conquered population something to do and speed movement of German forces and supplies.
- May 1942: A breakout and relief effort mostly succeeds, and 130,000 men escape the Strumica Pocket before the Drakans completely crush it. Russia pulls back to the Danube in Rumania, attempting to shorten their lines, and the Drakans pursue. Italian resistance in the Balkans collapses, and the Germans make a fighting withdrawal to the Danube in their sector as well. The Germans are having the best results against the Drakans overall, and the Domination is noticeably loath to attack their forces when less-capable Italians or Russians are nearby that can be defeated to flank the Germans instead.
The XXII Armored Legion reaches the shore of Lake Balkhash after a march of over 500 kilometers from their winter position in Tashkent. Other Drakan units east of the Caspian Sea are marching along the Caspian coast, charging across the deserts and high plains towards the southern tip of the Urals, and rolling up the southern Russian border towards China. Russian units and officers, trained for either border garrisons or European attrition warfare, are not prepared for the Domination's war of maneuver across these vast spaces.
Progress is slow through the Caucasus, even with the long massive buildup of Domination forces in southern Georgia. Flanking amphibious invasions onto the east shore of the Black Sea, and from Baku to the northwestern coast of the Caspian, finally allow the Caucasus to be breached.
Italian air raids on Malta have been weakening for months, but the Drakans begin deploying improved Eagle fighters that sweep the skies clean. A group of Drakan carriers sends an airstrike to the Italian port of Brindisi, but the concentration of naval and coastal anti-aircraft guns is too heavy for a decisive blow even without Italian aircraft in the fray. Plans are made to lure the Italian fleet and aircraft out for a decisive engagement at sea.
Russia approaches Germany with demands for greater military assistance, pointing to the old non-aggression pact and the current difficulties faced by the Continental Pact in the Balkans, avoiding mention of the vast territories Russia has lost to the Domination east of the Black Sea. Germany agrees to provide military hardware, but in exchange for the Russian sector of Poland. Since some see the disaster should Germany break the Continental Pact and attack, Russia backs down and settles for technical support and production licenses to build selected German equipment, which is granted for a token payment. Similar Italian demands for assistance are dismissed as whining, and Rossalino returns from a meeting in Berlin a shadow of his former self. The Italian press, never under the firm control of the Militarists, begins to express the fears of the Italian people: they have been abandoned by the Continental Pact, only the Italian Navy can prevent invasion from the sea, and only the threat of German attack keeps the Domination from pouring into northern Italy past Trieste. Popular confidence in the Navy and Air Force rises, while that in the Army lowers. Morale within those forces soon changes to mirror popular opinion.
The War Council issues an order to all British ground and air forces in India and Afghanistan against initiating any attacks on the Domination. Several small groups of Muslim soldiers on the Afghan border have occasionally crossed the border to commit jihad and find paradise, but without follow-up or support were wiped out by the Drakans. The blind eye cast on this phenomenon by both sides gives British planners an idea: a commando raid that must look like another Muslim attack. If successful in temporarily overrunning a Domination outpost, it can be thoroughly searched, and then the commandoes will retreat and blow it up without arousing undue suspicion from the Drakans as anything more than a successful Muslim incursion. But there seems to be no target both small and important enough to risk attacking this way; a unit is assembled and trained and then waits for months.
- June 1942: All the forces in the Balkans pause to consolidate their new positions; the Drakans are apparently willing to stop at the Danube for now while still pressing towards Trieste. The Drakan Navy is now freed from supplying western Greece by sea. The Domination begins secret talks with Germany regarding the 1939 non-aggression pact. Janissaries charge into Trieste, looting and the Italian counterattack heavily damage the city. The Italian Army's morale plummets when the Citizen Legions come up and rally the Janissaries into advancing again. The Italian homeland has been violated, and nothing the Italian Army does seems to be able to stop the Drakans; they seem to respect only the Germans.
Russian war industry is disrupted as German designs are ordered into immediate production. Many Russian armaments factories immediately begin retooling to produce German designs, with the assistance of German engineers. The spare parts stockpiles for the old equipment are soon exhausted as parts are shipped out to the field.
The XXII Armored Legion is replaced in the front lines, and brought up to full establishment at the new Drakan forward base in Kazakhstan. There it joins with the Archonal Guard (the elite Drakan armored unit) and large numbers of Drakan aircraft (fighters, bombers, supply drop and airborne transport) modified for longer range. They begin training for a deep penetration into hostile territory while cut off from normal ground supply.
Half the Drakan carriers are deployed into the Indian Ocean to patrol against the Royal Navy, the others remain in the Mediterranean. While scrupulously maintaining a cease-fire on land, both the Domination and Britain now seem willing to fight at sea.
Pleas to reinforce Singapore aren't heeded in time, as the Japanese strike and grab it and then Bangkok during operations that secure the Malayan peninsula and most of the important points on the coast of the Gulf of Siam. The King of Siam flees to the interior and begins coordinating resistance with his remaining forces and British troops brought in from India.
- July 1942: The expected Drakan invasion of Sicily appears to begin, albeit with less air support than expected. The Italian navy sorties to help repulse the invasion, with the air forces making a maximum effort on the transports heading over from Tunisia. But the Drakans have put together a deception to lure out the Italians; the few real transports are empty and each tows several dummy ships. The Domination Navy and Air Corps pounce on the Italians, disregarding the losses to the transport fleet. The Eagle IIs are still superior, and the Drakan Navy pursues the remnants of the Italian Navy back to coastal gun range of the ports of Brindisi and Messina. Only the fastest ships escape, and there are stories in the Italian press of crews throwing all kinds of equipment, including live ammunition, overboard to have enough speed to outrun the Drakans.
When the real invasion fleet is sent over 3 days later, the feeble Italian air response is quickly knocked down, and no naval response appears at all. The naval minefields and beach obstacles cause the only trouble. Several transports and landing craft loaded with Janissaries are lost before the Drakans can clear paths through these layers of defenses. The landings themselves are anti-climactic, with Italian morale shattered, and Sicily is rather quickly secured. In fact, so quickly that no plans were made for a follow-up invasion of the mainland so soon. Many fishing boats attempt to flee Sicily, but only a few make it past both the Drakan Navy and the trigger-happy Italian coastal guns. The refugees' tales told of rape, looting and pillage cause panic in the mainland populace.
The Italian Navy hurts the Drakan Navy, but doesn't know it: several teams of divers using torpedo-like vehicles infiltrate Alexandria harbor and succeed in capsizing the Drakan flagship "Afrika" with charges slung below the keel. All the divers are captured though, and the Drakans manage to conceal the news from the outside world. After the delivery submarine hears an explosion, but no divers return, and no news leaks out of the Domination, the Italian Navy eventually abandons their "midget submarine" effort.
Germany increases the pressure on the Drakan lines along the Danube, and deploys additional forces to Hungary and southern Austria bordering Italy and the shrinking Italian holdings in Slovenia. The Drakan advance after Trieste is extremely cautious; they want to give the impression of an irresistible force and guard against a German attack on either the Drakan flank or the Italians. A Drakan thrust over the Danube towards Ploesti fails to gain a solid bridgehead; the Air Corps bombs the complex heavily afterward to again shut down production.
The Archonal Guard and XXII Armored Legion begin an armored thrust to the north, east of the Urals, towards somewhere between Chelyabinsk and Omsk. Even though a Russian force soon cuts in behind them, the Drakans continue marching and deliberately isolate their own units as they proceed. The Guard and accompanying XXII Armored have been massively re-equipped for self-sufficiency on the march, and maintain a concentric formation protecting the valuable supply vehicles in the center. Long-range bombers and supply drops keep the way clear and satisfy emergency needs. Russian prisoners are slaughtered and their bodies left behind, although few Russians dare to surrender to the Drakans as their practices have become widely known. Overall Russian unit effectiveness stays relatively high, although the pipeline of equipment and spare parts is about to temporarily run dry.
Another Indian pacifist movement arises, reacting to the "armed camp" mentality of the heavily fortified borders, and troop and arms movements towards China and Siam. The Hindu-dominated Council of Rajahs votes to withdraw from the British Commonwealth and declare neutrality. A British officer who temporarily takes control of the Council Chamber is disavowed, and the British Governor begins to negotiate some way to retain British interests in the region without provoking further pacifist reaction. British public opinion hits new heights of impotent rage, and all forces facing the Domination are forbidden to attack until the situation is resolved; the Royal Navy is withdrawn from aggressive patrols against the Domination in the Indian Ocean.
The German long-term schedule for the invasion of Britain now calls for freezing the design of the anti-aircraft barges, and beginning their production at the same facilities on the Channel that were used for the landing craft. Due to the relatively low level of British air action against Germany so far, little innovation has occurred in anti-aircraft guns thus far in the war, so the design is easy and production is mostly a matter of ordering quantities from the German manufacturers. However, concealing the barges is a massive problem, which is solved by making the barges operational once constructed! This is expected to draw a British reaction, but is the best way to test their effectiveness while concealing their ultimate purpose.
Portugal is worried about the buildup of Spanish forces on their border, but Britain refuses to supply more than a token presence before open conflict begins. Spanish rhetoric begins to refer to Portugal as "our British lapdog neighbors."
[Italian "midget submarine" incident is based on OTL attack on British ships in Alexandria.]
- August 1942: Russian forces attempting to block the Archonal Guard finally realize that the objective is the Trans-Siberian Railroad, although the Drakan airborne drop on the railway itself comes as a tactical surprise. The Guard and XXII Armored link up with the airborne and block the railway east of the Urals. Russia is effectively split in two, as the Trans-Siberian Railroad and parallel roads are the only modern ground transport corridor in the area. The Drakans round up all Russians in the vicinity and press them into service as forced labor for airfields and fortifications.
The effect of drawing off forces to blunt the Drakan thrust to the railway becomes obvious, as Domination forces link up west of Astrakhan to complete encirclement of the Caspian Sea. The change to production of German designs begins to bear bitter fruit for the Russians, as the new equipment is rushed to the front lines without training or sufficient spare parts, just as spare parts for the old Russian designs start to run out. Russian front-line units use the improved German designs in the same manner as the old Russian ones, in the absence of updated training or doctrine, and the spare parts problems begin to reduce the effectiveness of both old and new equipment.
Germany talks Russia into giving it all the Balkan territories, promising to take over fighting against the Domination in the region. Russia is eager to reduce its commitments in this manner, as little was gained by entering the Balkans; it was mostly to prevent other powers from gaining an advantage. An inkling penetrates the Socialist leadership that several major blunders have been made, but nothing can be done now.
Italy has only isolated units and negligible territory left in the Balkans, and no apparent leverage with Germany anymore. After the Sicily debacle, Rossalino is hustled out of office by a cabal of senior officers; they agree to promise Germany whatever it will take to prevent conquest by the Domination. Italian counterattacks against the invading Drakans in the north fail to significantly alter the slow and methodical pace of the advance. The Domination struggles to set up an invasion of the Italian mainland, and continues the slow advance after taking Trieste. It hopes to spring into action if Germany makes an aggressive move on Italy.
A second try over the Danube, hoping to circle behind Bucharest and seize Ploesti with airborne support, is cut off by the Germans and annihilated. Germany gambles and offers the Domination a cease-fire at the current boundaries, pending adjustments towards the old non-aggression pact lines. The gambit is accepted, and negotiations begin in earnest.
The careful Drakan advance along the Afghan border reaches the western edge of China, held by the mountain fortresses of border warlords hanging on to power after the death of the Emperor. The advance continues as the Drakans apply massive aerial bombardment to the fortresses, pausing only to install border garrisons to deter the British, and slowing over the next months as the weather worsens. As the last direct contact with Russia is lost, Britain begins debate on the Indian Question and supporting Russia against the Domination through convoys to Murmansk and Vladivostok. But the Continental Pact still exists to bind Russia to Germany, and is more important to Russia than the British Commonwealth for now. The first German anti-aircraft barges begin appearing at Channel ports, and are initially very effective against British bombers. However, new tactics are soon developed to deal with them, and the barges are soon drawing more fire than the rest of the port they are intended to protect.
- September 1942: The effect of cutting the Trans-Siberian Railroad is to initially draw massive Russian forces towards the Archonal Guard positions from both sides, although their attacks are poorly coordinated.
Taking advantage of the inexperienced Russians in the Siberian border garrisons, and the Russian government's attention on points further west, Japan repudiates the Continental Pact and begins a surprise general offensive along the Manchurian border, strikes the Pacific Fleet in Vladivostok, and makes several landings along the Pacific coast below the Amur River. Many Russians flee along the Trans-Siberian Railroad or towards Yakutsk. After the last trains leave, most of the remaining civilians attempt to follow by any means possible, including walking. Russian resistance continues only above the Amur east of Manchuria, and the Japanese send in the most experienced armored units to circle around behind to quickly isolate them before winter sets in.
Fearing another offensive by the Germans, the Domination negotiates with Germany. Although the Domination almost walks out over the issue of Ploesti, Germany insists on retaining it, and makes cessation of further air attacks on it a condition of the negotiations. A cease-fire takes effect along the Danube, leaving Albania, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Greece to the Domination, and everything north of the Danube to Germany. Germany wants a halt on Drakan advances into Italy past Austria, but the Domination refuses. Further secret clauses allocate European Russia west of the Don, Volga, Kama and Pechora Rivers to Germany, and the rest to the Domination.
Negotiations with the Indian Council of Rajahs produce a modus vivendi where Britain will continue to administer the entire region for the Council, including defense. However, the Council insists on separately negotiating a cease-fire and peace treaty with the Domination. In the interest of removing a threat on their flank, the Domination agrees to negotiate but drags out the proceedings and is contemptuous of the Council and their British advisors. Only threats of cancelling the cease-fire, which seems to be the only thing they agree on, keep all parties at the table.
Re-tasking the Luftwaffe to begin protecting the Channel ports proves difficult, as most new aircraft production is going into replacing bomber losses suffered in the nightly bombing campaign over England. After pulling many fighter aircraft from the previously active front in the Balkans, the Luftwaffe is finally able to significantly oppose the British bombers and fighters making daylight attacks on the Channel ports and anti-aircraft barges. The air campaign in western Europe begins turning back into the Battle of Britain.
- October 1942: The Domination deploys the first microwave electrodetector system, an automatic tail warning system for tactical aircraft. A test installation on a ship as a range finder for naval guns has low range in sea spray conditions, so the less-accurate long-wavelength naval systems are retained. The prime usages are in dirigibles for aircraft detection and control, and in ground stations in low-humidity or high altitude areas.
Betrayed by the German cease-fire, Italy and Russia break the Continental Pact. Italy arranges a cease-fire with the Domination as well, at the price of accepting the loss of Trieste, Sardinia and Sicily. Russia is too heavily committed against the Domination though, and organized fighting continues against the Georgian–Kazakh invasions. In eastern Siberia, the isolated Russian troops begin fortifying in settlements for the winter, although rear-guard actions against the Japanese limit their advance west to less than 40 kilometers per day. After the first snows fall in eastern Siberia, many Russian refugees surrender to the Japanese pursuing along the Trans-Siberian Railroad. The Japanese either use them as forced labor to repair the railway and parallel roads, send them in death marches back east, or massacre them along the tracks. The advance slows as the weather worsens.
The Drakan response on the Afghan and Indian border is to continue fortification without overt conflict, keep pushing along the Chinese frontier and into the western interior, while dragging out peace negotiations with the Council of Rajahs and their British "advisors."
The Royal Navy is called in to raid several Channel ports after the influx of German fighters beats off several British air raids. Improved coordination schemes and the beginnings of a German integrated air defense system are put in place after several incidents where the Luftwaffe loses planes to the anti-aircraft barges. Naval bombardment against Dunkerque and several other ports reveals warehouses stacked with strange metal forms, informs the British that the anti-aircraft barges can be attacked even more effectively by long-range naval gunfire, and confirms that the Luftwaffe has little capability against surface ships. Germany rushes several anti-ship concepts into operational testing with the Luftwaffe.
- November 1942: Although several ships are lost to Luftwaffe attacks, including the first use of a "glide bomb," the Royal Navy and Air Force press home attacks on many Channel ports, decisively smashing the German invasion fleet in storage and associated shipyards without even knowing exactly what they're destroying. German planners abandon the idea of an amphibious invasion of Britain, and recommend an increased Luftwaffe anti-shipping capability and construction of the "Atlantic Wall" to prevent the British from committing their own amphibious invasion.
Germany begins settling in for the winter at the current boundaries, which includes France, the Low Countries, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, western Poland, Austria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, most of Hungary, most of Rumania, and northern Slovenia. Finland begins negotiations for a defensive pact with Germany, and plans to regain their lost territory from Russia while the giant is hurting elsewhere. Russia still holds eastern Poland, the Baltic States, and a slice of Finland, but has been pushed out of the Balkans and is practically split near Chelyabinsk. Japanese and Domination incursions have grabbed eastern Siberia, Georgia, Kazahkstan and points south including the entire Caspian Sea. While the heartland of Russia endures, the eastern and southern periphery has been lost since only isolated units remain behind Domination lines, and the Japanese are leaving nobody behind as they advance.
The Domination transfers naval and air forces to Morocco in preparation for attacks on Gibraltar, and notifies Spain that a joint attack is now possible. Spain suspects the Domination knows of Spanish plans to attack Portugal as well, and doesn't care. But the Drakans are quietly transferring ground troops to Morocco as well, and have plans for both Spain and Portugal. The British response to the Domination buildup is to try to widen the scope of the Indian cease-fire, but the Drakans won't budge.
- December 1942: A British commando raid on one of the first Drakan microwave electrodetector ground stations built at the Afghan border succeeds in capturing a damaged resonant cavity magnetron device, then destroying the entire installation to conceal the theft. The minor setback in Indian peace negotiations is eventually smoothed over.
Requirements are issued for the Atlantic Wall, but construction has a lower priority than expanding the autobahn network across German-held Europe, and winter prevents most construction activities.
A spell of bitterly cold weather in the north of Russia quickly draws down Russian oil stockpiles already reduced by the destruction at Maikop and cutting of the Trans-Siberian Railroad. An appeal to the general population for a massive Russian winter counter-offensive proves to be the final blunder of the Socialist Monarchy. Although the stirring call to "rise and march" in a speech by the Prime Counsellor is retracted the next day, the damage is done. Inexperienced but fanatical mobs using German or Russian equipment (with few spare parts) operating under doctrines of mass frontal attack are easy prey for the Domination forces still advancing deeper into Russia. The only setbacks experienced by the Domination are when their own equipment breaks under the continual strain, or ammunition runs out. The winter months are a confused muddle, with Domination units and supply lines advancing whenever they can against a disorganized rabble without central direction or supply. The Tsar, Georgiy II, disgustedly withdraws to a dacha near Tula (south of Moscow) with his family and the ceremonial Tartar Guards cavalry unit, waiting for a call to take full command that the fragmented Socialist leadership never agrees to issue.
Near the end of the year, the Domination makes a last-minute offer to buy Gibraltar from Britain, but this contradicts the "never surrender" rhetoric spouted earlier by the peace supporters and the offer is refused with much bombast. Spain then launches a general invasion of Portugal along with artillery attacks on Gibraltar. The Domination cooperates with Spain by providing heavy air bombardment of Gibraltar and naval interception of fleeing British ships, with the first combat use of a contact nerve agent to wipe out many unprotected defenders in the fortress and harbor. The Spanish push into Portugal is initially successful, but the advance slows down as a stubborn defense with modern British and American weapons is a match for the numerically superior Spaniards using equipment unchanged since 1937. Britain hurriedly puts together another BEF, to avoid losing their last shred of credibility along with their only ally in Europe. Although Gibraltar isn't that important strategically, losing it would be another blow to British morale.
The Indian cease-fire holds on the insistence of the Council of Rajahs, but Britain now declares war on the Domination elsewhere. Unfortunately, that boils down to Spain or another naval adventure using non-Indian troops, but the War Council fails to realize this before several British convoys already travelling around Africa are intercepted with all ships either sunk or captured.
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