August Wind

[lukedalton]

With or without the British, the French will implement Plan XVII and they will start their offensive with the same result of OTL; the lack of warfare in Belgium can be a way to compensate for the absence of British troops at least in the very immediate but when the French offensive fail and the German counterattack it will be sufficient to save Paris?

In general the biggest consequence of UK neutrality it's no blockade of Germany, so they can import more than OTL and the mediterrean being a constested zone unlike the Entente lake of OTL; big change even for the Ottoman if they enter the fight (as it's seem) against Russia, they will not be saddled by other front.

 

[cortz#9]

Subscribed.

 

[Jim Smitty]

Leon Gambetta, August 5 1914

The French captains of the three strong squadron knew as soon as they spotted the Goeben they were in deep shit. They had main guns were 7.4 inch in their bore where the Goeben had 11 inch main guns and they knew they were badly outgunned. They also knew that the Goeben was faster than they were. However they were Frenchmen and they were going to defend the ships forming up in the harbor to move XIX Corp to Toulon. They were already giving orders for their crew to run to their battle stations. They were also screening for the squadron of pre-dreadnoughts under the command Contre-Amiral Emile Paul Amable Guepratte to come to help them defend their assigned port.

As the French crews when about running to their battle stations the squadron commander was ordering his ships into action. Knowing he was out gunned and slower he decided that retreating was not a good idea. So he ordered his ships to attack. He ordered Julies Ferry and Victor Hugo to the north as he took his flagship the Leon Gambetta to the south. The only edge he had in this was numbers and he was going to try and force the Goeben to split fire between the two elements in his squadron. He also said a silence prayer for Guepratte’s Squadron to get here as quickly as possible because his armor couldn’t stop the 11inch shells of the Goeben.

SMS Goeben

Souchon watched as the French squadron broke off into two elements and charged in. Brave Souchon thought. Stupid but brave. “Bring us north to face the northern element. Have all turrets but Bruno Turret focus on the northern element. Bruno is to fire on the southern element. All guns may fire when in range of their targets.”

Orders when out and the weapon officers on the ship started dialing the range in. Turret Anton had the honor of firing the first shots of the war for the Imperial German Navy against hostile warships when she opened up with her 11 inch guns at a range of 18,000 yards. This was still well outside the range of the 7.4 inch guns of the French ships by a few thousand yards. The officers on the Goeben were working together and had single out the French cruiser Jules Ferry first. With the German standards of gunnery being some of the highest in the world at the time it didn’t take long before the Jules Ferry was bracketed by the 11 inch shells of the Goeben.

All the while the French were desperate in their efforts to close the range and return fire against the Goeben. As they were closing the distance to their horror they were learning that the Goeben could fire three shells a minute to the two their main guns could manage. Then came the first hit of the battle about 7 minutes after the battle had commenced. The 11 inch shell of the Goeben went through 6 inches of armor of the Jules Ferry like it wasn’t even there and went off inside the ship with deadly outcomes.

The French in the Victor Hugo had just entered range as the second 11 inch shell stuck her sister ship the Jules Ferry and open up with her forward main guns. However they fell nowhere near their foe in their first salvo. As the Victor Hugo fired on the Jules Ferry was falling behind due to the damage she was taking at the hands of the German ship.

It was an uneven contest. The Jules Ferry became the first French warship sunk in this yet unnamed war after 32 minutes of battle with the Germans. The Victor Hugo which had become the primary target after the Germans figured the Jules Ferry was good as dead about 16 minutes into the battle, was down by the head some 49 minutes into the battle and losing speed. However it wasn’t a totally one side affair. The Victor Hugo had score a few hits on the Goeben as had the Leon Gambetta. However they had failed to get through the thicker belt of the Goeben. They had caused damage to the upper decks, but it was survivable damage.

The Leon Gambetta had pressed the most of the French and had closed the range enough they launched a torpedo attack at the range of 8,000 yards about an hour into the battle. The Goeben was able to dodge the torpedoes but had lost a lot of its speed in the process slowing down to 8 knots by the time the turn was finished. However after the torpedo attack by the Leon Gambetta she decided to retire as Guepratte’s Squadron was still hours away and the one edge she had at the start of the attack was now gone with the Jules Ferry having slipped under the waves and the Victor Hugo not being far behind now with her being on fire from bow to stern.

On the Goeben, Souchon also decided to retire from the day. The Goeben was running short on coal after the high speed moves of the battle and had used up a sizable part of her ammo stories. She still had to reach Pola or Constantinople. With the fact the French had to be calling in other ships in he believe it was a good idea to put some distance between himself and the current battle. But it had been a good day for the German Navy as one French armored cruiser had been sunk and another was sinking. With breaking off from the battle Souchon also signaled Breslau to link back up with him as they headed back east instead of west.

 

[Admiral Halsey]

Surprised he didn't stick around and wreak some more havoc for even just another half-hour.

 

[cortz#9]

Some nice naval action there.

 

[sarahz]

London August 2 1914

Foreign Security Sir Edward Grey looked at the dispatch in disbelief. The three German Armies that had massing on the German-Belgian frontier were packing up and going to somewhere else in Germany. But where were they going? The east perhaps? But to Sir Grey it still didn’t make any since. It was an open secret for years that when war came to Europe that Germany would march through Belgium to out flank the French in the opening days of the war. Now at the moment war have arrived Germany was throwing out her plans and flying by the seat of her pants which was very un-German like.

It also destroyed the years of work Sir Grey and the other Francophobes in parliament. The thought of ties to the continent would deeply unpopular with the British public. Prime Minister Asquith knew of the unofficial work of the Francophiles in his cabinet and had done nothing to stop it. Asquith himself didn’t want war and had made it clear he wouldn’t take a divided nation into war. However Grey had an answer, The Treaty of London signed in 1839. In the treaty the British had with French, Prussians, and Dutch had agreed that if Belgium was invaded they were bounded to come to the aid of Belgium. The German Empire had taken over the role of Prussia in 1871.

With the open secret of Germany planning on invading Belgium to defeat, Grey had planned on marching into parliament and saying the British were duty bound to come to the defense of Belgium. All of the planning of the Francophile block was depended on a German invasion of Belgium. With even Kaiser Wilhelm going so far to tell King Albert of Belgium he should stand aside when the German invasion came if he wished to remain in power. With such threats it seem to be full proof way to get the British Empire when war came to Europe.

Everything leading up to the dispatch Grey now held in his hands pointed to the Germans would come crashing through Belgium like the Huns. As the July Crisis unfolded the German Armies started massing on the German-Belgian frontier which all pointed to a German invasion. However now it seemed that be wrong with three German Armies moving back into Germany to points unknown. He wonder what Prince Lichnowsky who Grey had met with yesterday had spent back to Germany to get the Kaiser to change his mind about the invasion of Belgium. Lichnowsky was known to be a member of the German noble class that favorer peace to war, but what could he had said to get Germany to call off its planned invasion.

However whatever Lichnowsky had said, if had left Grey holding the bag. Without a German invasion the British couldn’t find a casus belli for war with the German Empire for the foreseeable future and Grey knew it. Everyone in the British Isles would turn their focus back on the Irish Home Rule Bill which was threating to lead the British down the path to civil war. Ulster was hell bended to stay out of this home rule bill and it was pointing to it was willing to use force to do so.

As Grey put down the dispatch he stood up and looked out the window in his office. Across Europe the lights were going out and would not be turned back on for a long time. The British Empire the most powerful nation on the face the Earth was going to be forced to watch from the sidelines as he could not find a way to stop Germany from destroying the cornerstone of British Foreign Policy which was to make sure no one nation in Europe from taking control of Europe. As the lights were going out, Grey wondered if the Sun was also setting on British Foreign Policy as well.

<*>

I had this idea for a long time, but how just now decided to do something with it. I got the idea by the e-book Gray Tide in the East by Andrew Heller. He uses the Kaiser’s order to halt the invasion of Luxembourg and Belgium as his POD, which I have done as well. Even through his book was a good read I had a number of disagreements with his butterflies. Even more so with his two follow on works that came out after his first. In August Wind I plan to go down the road which I think would been travelled instead of the one Mister Heller took in his book. However this is Alternate History and everyone is entitled to their own thoughts. These are mine.

Should I keep on? Your thoughts?

good but one quibble it is SIr Edward not Sir Grey.

 

[Jim Smitty]

Surprised he didn't stick around and wreak some more havoc for even just another half-hour.

He is a long way from a friendly port and is short on coal. He doesn't know where the rest of the French fleet is. He used up a 1/4 of his ammo in that battle. And his ship is in need of a refit. Attacking with all that is brave or dumb. Only time will tell which.

 

[stubear1012]

I am surprised that he did not shell the harbor

I understand that he is low on fuel and needs a refit. I am still surprised that based on his orders, he did not shell the transports in the harbor. Not stopping those troops from arriving in France may come back to haunt him.

Please keep posting, I am very interested in seeing how this works out.

Stubear1012

 

[abc123]

good but one quibble it is SIr Edward not Sir Grey.

Also, Foreign Secretary, not Security...

 

[Jim Smitty]

HMS Dublin August 6 1914

Captain John Kelly was currently on the hunt for the SMS Goeben. Even through the British weren’t at war at the moment the Admiralty wanted to know where the Goeben was. Even through Asquith and his government has fallen and he was trying to form a new one the Admiralty believed that sooner or later the British would have to tip the scales in Europe once more like they had before. The guiding light of British Foreign Policy has always been to make sure no one power on the Continent could be Master of Europe. For generations it had been against the French to make sure this never came to pass, but now a new power had risen in Central Europe and the German Empire needed to be checked.

Even with Asquith trying to form a new ministry before passing it off to Law and his conservatives the Admiralty was trying to aid the French anyway it could short of starting a war with the German Empire. The admirals who were at the moment running the Admiralty didn’t want to have to go to Whitehall and tell Asquith who was still at the moment the Prime Minister that they started a war. They all had careers they wanted to keep and knighthoods to earn and starting a war was a good way to end all of that. At the moment the orders for all of the ships currently taking a part in the hunt for Goeben and Breslau that unless they were being fired on by them they were not to fire on the Germans. But once they were found they were to send telegraph messages in the clear of their location every hour to Admiral Milne.

With these orders Captain Kelly and the Dublin were on the hunt for the Germans. HMS Dublin had briefly spotted the Goeben on the fourth but had lost them a short time after making contact. The orders he had had prompted Kelly to post double look outs on his ship as he was off the Cape San Vito which was near Italian Territorial Waters and the port of Messina. They knew that a few German flag merchant ships were in port there and that Goeben by try to make Messina to take on coal before moving on to Pola.

However Admiral Milne believed that was unlikely and he had his flagship HMS Indomitable and the two other battlecruisers of the British Mediterranean Fleet near the Balearic Islands. They were really the only ships in the Mediterranean Fleet that would be able to take on the Goeben if the British when to war with all the other ships in the squadron being slower and undergunned when put up against the Goeben. This was based on the idea the Goeben would try break out of the Mediterranean and link up with the Hochseeflotte. However Milne was wrong.

One of the lookouts called out as the dawn light was just starting to come over the horizon, “Smoke off starboard!”

With that the officer of the watch started to give orders to bring his ship in closer to get a visual id of the ship in question as they could only make out the black smoke of the burning coal. The Dublin herself was a crossroads of naval technology with a mix coal/oil fuel system, but when she was really going she would give off the large smoke clouds, but at her current speed it wasn’t as bad as the ship they were closing in on.

As the Dublin was closing in on the unknown contact Captain Kelly who had been in his stateroom had made his way to the bridge to see for himself if this was the Goeben. It still look some time for the Dublin to close the distance enough to see where the large stack of smoke was coming from. Kelly who was looking through one of the quartermaster’s glasses, “Send out the location. We found her!”

 

[Admiral Halsey]

And the chase is on!

 

[Jim Smitty]

French Battleship Suffren August 8 1914

Contre-Amiral Emile Paul Amable Guepratte was standing on the bridge of his flagship at the moment. He was in command of one of the three French naval squadrons around Sicily at the moment. Through the British the French knew that the Goeben and Breslau had docked in Messina on the morning of the sixth. With that information Amiral Augustin Boue de Lapeyrere had sent out coded orders in hopes they could trap and destroy the Goeben. Lapeyrere had taken what everyone was thinking was the smart money area and was steaming in the Tyrrhenian Sea near the Straits of Messina. Lapeyrere had a powerful force with him in the form four strong Courbet Class Dreadnoughts and four destroyers. Those were the only Dreadnoughts in the whole French Navy.

Even through Guepratte agreed with Lapeyrere that the smart money was that Souchon would sail north and break for the Straits of Gibraltar and the open Altanic, Lapeyrere had moved two other squadrons into the Ionian Sea to cover it in case Souchon decided to turn south and take a long way to the Straits of Gibraltar. Guepratte and his squadron was the further east of the squadrons. He was also in position to intercept the Austro-Hungarian Navy just in case they decided to leave Pola to help the Goeben and Breslau escape or make it make to Pola. Guepratte’s squadron was three battleships and four destroyers strong. Beside the Suffren he had the two strong Reublique class with him. The destroyers were the older Rochefortais Class but still able ships.

Then there was the British Mediterranean Fleet. When Guepratte thought about it made him mad. The British had made promises to France. When the moment came for the British to honor those promises the British reneged on those promises and had left the French to face the full onslaught of the Prussian War Machine once more. True the British were helping Guepratte and the French hunt for the Goeben and Breslau but would they do more? He doubt it. The British were all talk but unwilling to back up that talk with meanifull actions.

Guepratte was snapped out of his thoughts when one of his officers called up, “Smoke off the port bow!”

At the Guepratte quickly picked up the quartermaster’s glass and looked at the direction of smoke and knew he could be in the deep end of shit pool soon if those ships were who they were at the moment. “Signal the squadron! Come to heading two-five-niner. All head flank!”

SMS Viribus Unitis

Admiral Anton Haus was taking the most advance part of the Royal Austro Hungarian Navy out to save their German allies. Haus had been given orders on the 5th to sail from Pola and assist Konteradmiral Souchon and his small squadron return to Pola. In this fleet were three of the four Tegetthoff Class Dreadnoughts with the fourth still being worked at Fiume. Supporting the three Tegetthoff Class Dreadnoughts were two of the Radetzky class semi-Dreadnoughts. Both of the light cruisers currently in commission in the Austro-Hungarian Navy and 12 destroyers.

Haus’s order were to stay well clear of the British Royal Navy. The Duel Monarchy had no wish to drag the British into this war and were willing to do what it had to do make sure they stayed the fuck out of this war even if that meant withdrawing its fleet back to Pola. But with the British staying out and the work of the foreign office had promoted this sortie. They knew Souchon had received enough coal at Messina to make it back to Pola. With the fact the Italians were still refusing to honor their commitment to the Triple Alliance they were forcing Souchon out of Messina before he had enough coal to return to Kiel. But Italy would still play a role so neither Germany nor Austria Hungary would push plus a victory over the French Navy might push Italy into honoring its commitment to the Triple Alliance. So Haus had been given his orders to help Souchon to get back to Pola.

Seeing the smoke over the horizon Haus gave orders to his fleet to find out who this smoke belong to and if it was the French, he knew he would be leading the Austro-Hungarian Navy in its first major battle since 1866.

 

[Jim Smitty]

SMS Goeben August 8 1914

Konteradmiral Souchon was looking at the message that had come his counterpart in the Austro-Hungarian Navy, Admiral Haus. It seems that Haus was investigating smoke over the horizon that was about 110 kilometers away from his location. Putting the message into his pocket, Souchon when to the map table and looked at it. In his mind he started to draw lines and doing math to figure out where the two would meet. His choice could change the course of the war and he knew it. He knew the British were still neutral at the moment but they were looking for him just like the French were. If it was the British things might go bad and bring the British into the war. However if it was the French, between him and Haus he could possibly trap and destroy a French squadron.

During to Captain Richard Ackermann the commanding officer of the Goeben, “Richard bring us to a new course. All head Flank.” Souchon pointed it out to Ackermann on the map table. The risk was high Souchon knew, but the reward was also high as well. It was go big or go home for Souchon.

French Battleship Suffren

Contre-Amiral Guepratte knew he was in deep shit at the moment. He had made out the ensign on the ships that were chasing him, it was the Naval Ensign of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. They were slowly chasing his squadron down. They were the quicker of the two. If he had to make a guess they were doing at least 20 knots. This was faster than what his squadron could do. His flagship the Suffren was the slowest of the three battleships and could only reach 17 knots. Her engines weren’t designed to maintain that speed either. In a few hours he would be forced to slow her even more or risk destroying his flagship himself.

At the moment through he was still doing fairly well. The Austro-Hungarians hadn’t closed the distance enough to open fire. Besides no one had ever tried to fire at these speeds before either. So he was hoping his luck would hold and the Austro-Hungarians would hold their fire as well. He knew the other French Squadron which was taking part of the hunt for the Goeben was steaming to aid him but they were still three hours away.

Then one of the lookouts on the bridge scream out, “Smoke off the port bow!”

Guepratte looked where the smoke was coming from. He tried to remain calm but failed, “Oh, Merde!” He knew the squadron based around half of the Danton Class were no were close enough to the point he could be making out their smoke yet. He also knew of the British general locations in the area and knew they shouldn’t be coming from that direction. That could mean only one thing they had found the Goeben.

HMS Defence

Rear Admiral Sir Ernest Troubridge stood on the bridge of his flagship. He was in command of the British Cruiser Squadron in the Mediterranean Fleet. Like the rest of the British Mediterranean Fleet he was hunting for the German Mittelmeer-Division of the Imperial German Navy. His orders were to follow them but not to engage them as the British were not yet in this war. Troubridge knew however to engage the Goeben with his squadron it would be the same as pulling his service revolver out and putting it to his head and pulling the trigger. He had seen naval combat during the Russo-Japanese War and knew what modern naval ordnance could do, so he was more than willing to follow those orders to the letter.

When HMS Dublin had spotted the Goeben pulling into Messina on the 5th Admiral Milne reorganized his search for the Germans. Milne moved his battlecruisers into the Tyrrhenian Sea to cover what was seen as the smart money with the Goeben and Breslau breaking for the Straits of Gibraltar and open water. Milne had order Troubridge to take his squadron into the Ionian Sea to cover a possible break to the south to either Pola or Constantinople.

Then one of his look outs called out, “Smoke sir!”

Seeing the smoke with the Quartermaster’s glass Troubridge spoke up, “Make for the smoke. All head flank.”

French Battleship Suffren

Contre-Amiral Guepratte knew this was most likely the end, but he wasn’t going quietly into the night. He was watching as his destroyers were turning about and attacking the Austro Hungarians. He was taking his battleships straight for the Goeben. He knew that he didn’t have a chance in hell of making out of this with his ships still above the water but at least he could make them bleed. Just as the Austro Hungarian destroyers and his own were mixing it up one of the look outs called out, “Smoke of the fantail!”

Guepratte first thought was, ‘What now?’ However he watched the destroyers mixing it up at the time being. It was odd to think such small craft could be so deadly but their torpedoes could bring down the Austro Hungarian Battleships if one of them hit in the right place. However the Austro Hungarians outnumbered his own destroyers by a margin of three to one. The Austro Hungarian destroyers also had larger guns and were faster. The destroyers of Austro Hungarian fleet were working together in groups and breaking up his torpedo attack.

It was all over in 15 minutes, and all four of his destroyers were either dead in the water or sinking. But it hadn’t been all one sided. Two of the Austro Hungarian destroyers had crashed into each other during the battle and were now sinking themselves. It looked like three others were limping along. But his destroyers had been lost. Then the same lookout who called out the third smoke column called out again, “Sir it’s the British behind us!”

SMS Viribus Unitis

Admiral Haus put down the quartermaster’s glass as saw the British Naval Ensign on this new group of ships. He knew his orders. “Captain, signal the fleet. We are to break off the chase of the French. We are to make best possible speed to Pola. Let Souchon know as well.”

SMS Goeben

Souchon watched as the French ships were withdrawing behind the British cruisers. The French were using the British as a shield. Smart was Souchon’s thought on the matter. He had no wish to bring the British into the war against Germany so he had given the order to retire with the Austro Hungarian Fleet and was currently trying to get into formation with his allies as he was making his way to what would be his home base for the foreseeable future.

 

[ennobee]

Nice idea on the Germans not marching through Belgium. However, England, France and Russia were bound by treaty to assist each other militarily in case of an attack on any of them, so any German attack on France would trigger a declaration of war from England.

(In fact, the main reason that there was a 'world war' in the first place was that after the assassination of the archduke in Sarajevo, Austro-Hungaria declared war on Serbia, which forced Russia - bound by their promises to Serbia - to declare war on Austro-Hungaria, which forced Germany and Turkey -bound by their treaty with Austro-Hungaria- to declare war on Russia... which forced France and England - bound by their treaty of mutual assistance - to declare war on Russia's new enemies...)

Hence, their would be a state of war between England and Germany. Albeit England could drag their feet on sending troups to France - probably not more than a choice contingent of experts and a honor regiment or two - and have a 'phoney war' with Germany which would mostly consist out of both parties shadowing each others fleet until one nervous sailor would fire the first shot.

The biggest change would be that a Belguim - like the Netherlands - would stay neutral and there would be much less anti-German politics in post-war Belgium, which could defuse some of the 'All the world is against us' sentiment in 1920's-1930's Germany and delay the rise of the Nazi party at least for a couple of years.

 

[Jim Smitty]

Nice idea on the Germans not marching through Belgium. However, England, France and Russia were bound by treaty to assist each other militarily in case of an attack on any of them, so any German attack on France would trigger a declaration of war from England.

(In fact, the main reason that there was a 'world war' in the first place was that after the assassination of the archduke in Sarajevo, Austro-Hungaria declared war on Serbia, which forced Russia - bound by their promises to Serbia - to declare war on Austro-Hungaria, which forced Germany and Turkey -bound by their treaty with Austro-Hungaria- to declare war on Russia... which forced France and England - bound by their treaty of mutual assistance - to declare war on Russia's new enemies...)

Hence, their would be a state of war between England and Germany. Albeit England could drag their feet on sending troups to France - probably not more than a choice contingent of experts and a honor regiment or two - and have a 'phoney war' with Germany which would mostly consist out of both parties shadowing each others fleet until one nervous sailor would fire the first shot.

The biggest change would be that a Belguim - like the Netherlands - would stay neutral and there would be much less anti-German politics in post-war Belgium, which could defuse some of the 'All the world is against us' sentiment in 1920's-1930's Germany and delay the rise of the Nazi party at least for a couple of years.

The British weren't bound to any in Europe besides the Belgians via the Treaty of London 1839. Their agreements with the French were unofficial and based off the idea the Germans would smash through Belgium to outflank the heavily defended Franco-German frontier. Honestly it was a sound bet as Germany talked about it and the Kaiser told the Belgians point blank it would happen. With out Belgium being attack the British were left without a CB that could unite the nation and holding the bag.

Outside Belgium the only other nation the British are really tied to are the Japanese. The Japanese are smarter than that and I have an update planned that will not only hint to what they will do but so the real POD in this.

 

[Jim Smitty]

Berlin August 15 1914

Generaloberst Paul von Hindenburg was back in his uniform as he was making way through Leipziger Straße 5. He had been brought out retirement at the start of the war, but had yet to be assigned a field command. Hindenburg at first didn’t believe he would get one and was just being recalled as part of the mobilization. However when he was given order to report before Generalobast Helmuth von Moltke the Younger late last night he began to wonder if this would be changing. As he wonder about what his future in the army would be he also took a moment to think about the war be might be facing. The British were still on the sidelines at the moment. It was an open question through if they would keep setting this war out or join in with the Entente.

They would have that answer in the next few weeks. A snap shot election was being held in the United Kingdom after meetings between the Liberals and Tories fell apart over who would take over what ministry. The Liberals were running David Lloyd George as their party leader after the fall of Asquith who got caught on the wrong side of the issue within the Liberal Party. George was running on honoring the treaties the British sign and not entering the war unless attacked or so obligated by treaty. Law and the Tories were running on a pro-war campaign. At the moment from what Hindenburg had read on the subject it could go either way. But then again that newspaper was a few days old when he read it yesterday.

As he was nearing the office he had to visit he saw a fellow officer who like Hindenburg had been brought back to active service after retirement a few years early. Generalfeldmarschall Colmar von der Goltz was like Hindenburg and was wondering what he was doing here. They didn’t have to wait all that long however. Oblerst Max Hoffemann came and got them and showed them both into the office of the German Chiefs of Staff.

There was the normal greetings that when on when officers of such rank were in the same room, the man who called for this meeting got straight down the business. Helmuth started, “As you have guess the Schlieffen Plan was put on ice at the last second by the Kaiser.”

Goltz spoke first, “Still meddling in military affairs.” It wasn’t a question but a statement of fact.

“Yes.” Helmuth answered without a second thought. “He has order a last moment change of plans. He has order me to move a sizable part of the army to fight the Russians in the east and state on the defensive on the frontier with France. As per his orders I’m sending the 1st, 2nd, and 9th Armies to the east to fight the Russians with the 3rd forming the reserve. However there are some problems that are currently in these plans and others areas that need your services.”

That caused both men to raise an eye brow. Helmuth when on. “The commander of the 8th Army, Prittwitz has put forward a plan that would have his army retreat to the River Vistula till those three armies are in a position to launch a counterattack. This is simply put unacceptable. Paul you are taking over the 8th Army. Oblerst Hoffemann will bring you up to speed on what is going on with the 8th Army during the train trip to your HQ. There you will meet your chief of staff Ludendorff who is currently acting commander of the 8th.

Colmar, the task we have for you is different. We need to get the Turks in this war in on our side. I want you to go to Turkey and work with whoever you have to but we need the Turks here to help us. We also need an idea of how much aid we will have to pump into the Turks to make them last.” The three men talked some details about Germany’s new focus on the Eastern Front before breaking the meeting and going about with the task they all had to perform for the Empire.

 

[Jim Smitty]

Wow nothing on Germany shifting her army to the east?

 

[lukedalton]

It was more or less an expected move, without the invasion of Belgium (due to a last minute decision) a direct attack on France it's not possible as the German brass need to basically create a plan (and the logistic line) from scratch.

With UK for now in the sideline and in the middle of an election campaign between pro-war and 'isolationist' the diplomatic world will be in chaos, many will want to wait were finally the Empire will stand before taking a decision but at the same time the interventionist in many nation will feel that this is the moment to declare war as without the big guy there is the change to achieve their objective (whatever they are).

 

[matzeskatze]

Nice reading!

But I have a theoretical question. How would the British populace react if the RN is clearly trying to manouver them into a shooting war? Like the manouver the Med Squadron pulled of.
Because Imo if the shooting there had already started, who would be to blame for RN losses? The already emboiled war parties, or the "missmanagement" of the interventionalists that brought forth the losses?

 

[Athelstane]

Yeah I talked to him as well when he was on CF.net. That was one thing I didn't like in the the first book as it seemed the British did nothing to help the French and British which seems very unlikely.

For one thing, there's simply no way that a British government of either major party would permit the High Sees Fleet to enter the English Channel.