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#1942
May 16th, 2012, 04:10 AM
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Happy and Glorious
continued April 1st to April 30th 1946 Vietnam The French pursued the Viet Minh into the rural areas. There were minor skimishes in which the French lost 19 killed. Apporoximately 112 Viet Minh were counted dead. By the end of the month the final British troops had left Vietnam and Laos. A few troops remained in Cambodia. Thailand Thailand produced a new democratic constitution. The British began to withdraw their troops. Indonesia An attempt by the Dutch to capture the Sukarno government failed as Sukarno was tipped off by sympathizers in Jakarta. With the exception of Sumatra there were no British troops left in the Dutch East Indies. Iran Jafar Pishevari the new President of the Azerbaijan Republic wanted the Russians to supply his supporters with arms. Iranians who didn't want a socialist republic were mobilizing against his regime. In the south of Iran more British and Indian troops arrived in the Abadan area. Japan Emperor Hirohito had not stepped down on March 1st as he had originally promised. Also the Americans were starting to use him as an anti communist bulwark. TBC 
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#1943
May 16th, 2012, 04:19 AM
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I like how you created the atmosphere of sliding into conflict, despite the efforts of everyone to avoid it. Really nice work.
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#1944
May 16th, 2012, 07:55 AM
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Happy and Glorious
continued April 1st to April 30th 1946 USSR Stalin read the reports that confirmed that the number of US divisions in Europe had fallen to 12 and that many of their troops were fresh draftees with no combat experience. He also noticed that the Americans had 700 tanks operational but that only 40 of these were Pershings the rest being Shermans. No problem for the T34s T34/85s and Josef Stalin IS 2, IS 3 and IS 4s. The British had 8 divsions but Churchill was under enormous domestic pressure to reduce this number. The British troops contained a higher proportion of war veterans and the 2 armoured divisions plus other armoured units gave them 195 Centurions, 657 Comets, 102 Churchills and 32 Black Prince heavy tanks. These were roughly comparable to the Red Army. In storage throughout Germany and Holland Montgomery had ordered a lot of equipment to be kept in readiness for a possible war. CIGS Brooke had also worked on Churchill's various war scenarios and so as a result the British army had kept over 315 Cromwell, 125 Churchill, 205 Comet and 38 Sherman Firefly tanks in extended readiness on the European mainland. This didn't include those inthe UK. There were also 18 Tiger II tanks, 97 Panthers and 119 self propelled guns plus spare parts kept by the British. If 'Operation Unthinkable' took place they would be given to German veterans until Allied equipment arrived for them. Stalin knew about the German weapons but didn't know about the secret British arms dumps for the tanks and war surplus artillery. By April 1946 the Russians had actually demobilized a little. Labour was scarce and although they were using large numbers of German, Japanese, Romanian and Hungarian POWs plus political prisoners it wasn't enough. There were 78 divisions in Germany, 38 In Poland, 29 in Hungary, 15 in Romania and 14 in Yugoslavia. In addition there were 85 more divisions in European Russia. In the East he had 42 and in the Caucasus and Central Asia another 30. In total he still had 7.8 million troops in the army. He also counted 12,800 T34 and T34/85s, 2,200 Stalin tanks, 2,500 older types and 4,800 Self Propelled guns. Stalin was now going into paranoid mode again and had dimissed Zhukov replacing him with Vasily Sokolovsky. Stalin now wanted scenarios for attacking the West in a war of self defense. He was especially concerned about rapid thrusts in order to seize as much as possible before the Atom Bombs caused heavy casualties. Vatutin suggested a two pronged attack. One from Hungary and the other across the north German plain. The Hungary assault would aim for Vienna and Trieste. The northern thrust would go for Hamburg (cutting off Denmark) and then the Rhine in the low countries. He figured the Americans would not drop the A bomb once they reach Allied territory but would use it in Germany. The Russians had already repaired the railway network and supplies weren't considered a problem by April 1946. From Stalin's point of view the world was ganging up on him. The Poles were being difficult. The British were dividing Yugoslavia and pressuring the Iranians to cause trouble for him. The Americans were being more friendly to the Japanese Emperor, no longer talking about dismantling the Imperial Empires and giving huge loans to Churchill. The Allies were also apparently maintaining Germany's strength. Worst of all was the feeling that the Americans were not sharing the A bomb and were trying to keep it for themselves in the hope of intimidating the Soviet Union on the cheap. The fact that the Americans had not said anything all that bad was overlooked. TBC
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#1946
May 16th, 2012, 10:22 AM
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Cue ominous version of the Volga Boatmen....
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The Whale Has Wings, a shiny new Fleet Air Arm in WW2. Timelines go better with Whales... http://www.astrodragon.co.uk/Books/TheWhaleHasWings.htm
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#1947
May 16th, 2012, 10:45 AM
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#1948
May 16th, 2012, 01:27 PM
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It is because Iranian Azerbaijan is about 800 km far from sea and it has a land border with Soviet Union. And guns from HMS Revenge have at most 35 km range. Even Abadan is too far.  Seapower, same as landpower, has it's limitations.
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"And remember, Mr Churchill, that in the next war the Italians will be on our side". "Well, that's only fair. We had them last time". Last edited by abc123; May 16th, 2012 at 01:28 PM.. Reason: .
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#1949
May 16th, 2012, 02:27 PM
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Though what does the transport net (mostly rail, I guess) from the USSR into Persia look like?
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#1950
May 16th, 2012, 03:56 PM
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About transport network, IMO there are some pretty good roads leading from Gulf to Soviet Union, made for Land Lease assistance to Soviet Union.
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"And remember, Mr Churchill, that in the next war the Italians will be on our side". "Well, that's only fair. We had them last time".
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#1952
May 17th, 2012, 10:21 AM
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#1953
May 17th, 2012, 10:24 AM
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#1954
May 17th, 2012, 11:16 AM
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Happy and Glorious
continued May 1st to May 30th 1946 UK Churchill arrived home and informed Parliament that he had saved Britain from bankruptcy. The House of Commons applauded. One newspaper claimed that he had won a second Battle of Britain in Washington. Taking advantage of this Churchill decided to push his anti Communist agenda on a reluctant population. Most people in Britain still had positive images of the USSR although this had diminished a lot since it's peak in 1942. The Communists however had turned back to gaining power through agitation and more especially strike action. 1946 had been plagued by strikes and the government had been forced to use troops on more than one occassion. The unions had agitated for the repeal of the anti union legislation passed after the General Strike. To the Conservatives the politicized strikes simply confirmed that the old legislation was vital. HMS Audacious was now fully in service. Churchill decided to send her to the Carribean and show the flag in those waters. As another sign of the return of normal life the cricket season began. Also in May a huge victory parade took place in London. As well as being a celebration of the great victory it was also a show of strength. Centurion tanks led the way (even though they played no part in the war) while overhead Meteors, Vampires and Lincoln bombers flew over the capital. The King took the salute as Churchill, Sinclair and Attlee stood behind him. As well as British there were troops from throughout the empire. Churchill also talked about creating a new Alliance in Europe. The perceived success of the restoration of the European powers to South East Asia was taken as a sign that the same could be done within Europe itself. France A new Fourth Republic constitution came into force but the instability that plagued pre war France continued. The only continuity was the desire to hold on to its empire. Yugoslavia Tito met Stalin in Moscow and asked for tanks and planes to help him reunite his country. Stalin was cautious. If there was going to be a war in Europe he wanted to be the one who started it not Tito. He agreed to supply artillery and AA guns but refused to supply aircraft and in the end agreed to supply 114 T34 tanks. In 'Western Yugoslavia' Subasic asked the British and Americans for loans and weapons. The Americans were still unconvinced but Churchill agreed to transfer 54 Spitfires, 19 Beaufighters, 4 Ansons and 14 Mosquitoes as well as 72 Cromwell tanks from war surplus stock. There were two border incidents in which Tito's artillery shelled police stations. More ominously there were communist demonstrations in Zagreb and Ljubljana on May day in the days afterwards. In Zagreb people held up banners saying 'down with the Ustase'. 'Death to Nazis' and pictures of Subasic in a Hitler moustache and a swastika on his forehead. Tito called for an end to Ustase rule on Yugolsave soil. In a speech in Belgrade he accused the West trying to divide Yugoslavia in order to make it weak. He also accused Churchill of forgetting about the debt his country owed to the sacrifices made by the warriors of socialism in the struggle against Hitler. "Has the old man forgotten so quickly?" he quipped. TBC
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#1955
May 17th, 2012, 12:05 PM
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Damn you and your Foreshadowing! Great stuff though.
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#1956
May 17th, 2012, 12:57 PM
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You can't say that because Russians were incompetent. If you could somehow put Germans in their place, then it would be intresting...
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"And remember, Mr Churchill, that in the next war the Italians will be on our side". "Well, that's only fair. We had them last time".
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#1957
May 17th, 2012, 03:28 PM
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Happy and Glorious
continued May 1st to May 30th 1946 Iran The Shah of Iran felt like a prisoner. Trapped between the Russians, the British and his own people he packed hs suitcases and thought about Switzerland. The he thought about his father Reza and how he had taken the country by force and imposed his will on Iran until the British and the Russians kicked him out in 1941. He decided to stay. The problem was the Russians and their plan to carve off a slice of his country. He wrote a letter to the UN calling for both the Russians and the British to leave his country. In the Persian Gulf the British replaced the Renown with the Hood. Syria The French had agreed to withdraw from Lebanon but had decided to stay in Syria. Protests in Damascus were crushed by the French. The authorities reported 9 deaths. Palestine Churchill had been a Zionist supporter for years but his enthusiasm had waned as the activities of Jewish armed gangs resulted in the deaths of British soldiers. He had made it clear that the pre war policy of restricting Jewish immigration would continue. Vietnam The Viet Minh ambushed and wiped out a police patrol north of Hanoi. They also attacked a French owned plantation. During the course of the month 2 Frenchmen, 11 Indochinese policemen, 9 civilians and 4 Viet Minh were killed. Malaya The British created the Malay Union. The local sultans surrendered most of their powers (except religious) to the British crown. The British also gave citizenship to all inhabitants of Malaya born before the fall of Singapoer in 1942. This had angered the Malays as it mean that many Chinese and Indians would have equal status. The British however, were not too sympathetic as many of the leading Malays had collaborated with the Japanese. The British had now reduced their forces in the country to 55,000 men. Indonesia Dutch forces located the government of Sukarno and they attacked with 3 battalions. They were shocked by the strength of the resistance which they had believed was on the brink of collapse. Within 2 days the Dutch estimated that they faced 9,000 fighters. The Dutch airforce was still not back on it's feet and was using Spitfires and P47s. After 5 days the Dutch are forced to call in reinforcements. By the time they captured the camp they found that Sukarno had escaped again. The fighting cost the Dutch 38 killed and 103 wounded. The Indonesians had lost 249 killed and 654 captured plus 111 civilians. TBC Last edited by Devolved; May 17th, 2012 at 05:35 PM..
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#1958
May 17th, 2012, 05:59 PM
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Happy and Glorious
continued June 1st to June 30th 1946 UK BBC television resumed service for the first time since 1939. This was accompanied by the introduction of the TV licence too. A de Haviland Vampire jet with delta wings fitted as per the advice of Alexander lippisch (one of the designers of the Me 163 who had been assigned to De Havilland) took to the sky. The plane flew but was not satisfactory. A new type of aircraft would be necessary. In the meantime the company worked on a stop gap plane that would eventually lead to the Venom. Meanwhile the protoype of the Supermarine Attacker flew for the first time. Poland Poland secured a small loan from the USA. The Russians protested and said that the money would be used to buy arms. The Russians were now forcibily deporting Polish families from the territories it had annexed. Yugoslavia The number of border incidents escalated. The Western Yugoslavs began to retaliate. During the month of June 42 people were killed. A bomb attack on a Communist Party office in Sarajevo was blamed on the Western Yugoslavs. An RAF Mosquito reconaisssance plane was attacked by a Russian Yak 9 over the Adriatic. The Mosquito escaped. TBC
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#1959
May 18th, 2012, 03:11 AM
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You're certainly keeping us guessing about the way this is going. I can't decide if there's going to be a cold war or a hot one.
If we eventually get to a cold war, the much less clearly defined boundary between east and west may make plenty of room for espionage. I imagine such places as Bulgaria, Poland, and Yugoslavia will all be hotbeds of intrigue. Regards R
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#1960
May 18th, 2012, 03:51 AM
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