The Silver Knight, a Lithuania Timeline
- Thread starter Augenis
- Start date
Perhaps something establishing their tightly knit relationship with China.
Also, I noticed that I need this flag for the mod, so, for those who are interested, the current flag of the Confederation of Unitarian States:
The blue, of course, represents the Unitarian ideology and ideal, while the, um, star-on-a-stick in the middle represents the unity and strength of the "liberated and fused" European peoples, strong enough to reach the stars.
And, of course, the great Büyülü Kiz corps and their mysterious powers.
You know, the more I think of it, and in tandem with the foreshadowing in that one chapter... the Revivalists aren't going anywhere, are they?
I really do hope they go somewhere, though. I know that they picked a bad first opponent and that they don't have any alternate front to expand on or even allies but... I guess I just don't want to the Revivalists to be discount Nazis that can't even match the ephemeral conquests of the OTL version :/
Oh, no, I meant that they're surviving beyond the Second World War. The prophesy I believe had Revivalist troops attacking anima sure; that doesn't sound like losing to me, and the democracies of the world have no reason to fight the Revivalists over the Unitarians.
Turkey is the Union.
Japan is the Union of Japan.
Visegrad is the Confederation of Unitarian States.
No, as it's a Lithuanian ideology and all extremists have been purged after 7/7.
Chapter 88: Winter War
Part 88: Winter War (Nov 1939-Feb 1940)
In the Lithuanian-Russian War, the winter of 1939-40 was marked by a Lithuanian offensive, Operation Jogaila, along the Volga river, with their goal being to reach Nizhny Novgorod and put an end to this conflict. Working under the pretenses that the Russian army was near capitulation and it's combat capacity will soon collapse, the general staff mobilized the 3rd Army for this operation. However, this campaign ended up as the first of many times when the Lithuanians underestimated their opponent and overestimated themselves - the 3rd Army, which had just participated in the Battle for Tver, was exhausted and disorganized, while the Russians brought in fresh reserves from the country. What followed was a series of bloody battles across snow-covered fields, forests and icy rivers which ended up in the first major Lithuanian defeat of the war. The 3rd Army made minor gains, capturing a new towns and getting closer to Vladimir, but at a high cost. The cold and wet winter was a horror show for Lithuanian military equipment - wooden gliders were completely useless and bicycles would wear down and break in days. Meanwhile, the Russians, equipped with sturdy winter clothing and equipment sent from the Volga, fared considerably better. The morale difference between the two forces also cannot be underestimated.
With the failure of Operation Jogaila, the front stayed static for the rest of winter, both forces now gearing themselves for the battles of the next year. The war of momentum and movement was gone, the Bludgeon doctrine has been discarded for now, and much more blood will have to be shed.
Russian machine gunners near the town of Moskva
Soldiers of the 17th Lithuanian Infantry Division in Vitebsk
An another front which has settled down is the War of the Danube - although, in this war, the calm before the storm happened not just because of the weather, but because of the need for all sides to reorganize domestically. The government of the Confederation of Unitarian States spent the winter establishing control over territories it had occupied, drawing new administrative boundaries and introducing Unitarianization - disestablishing religious and former Visegradian authorities and applying the laws of the CUS instead. The government of Gregor Samsa had to face internal challenges, too - while a meeting of the Unitarian Congress in January of 1939, a year after the establishment of the state, endorsed his government yet again, he faced harsh criticism from the growing Kovesian faction within the Congress. Gyorgy Koves was rapidly establishing himself as a leader of the far blue wing of the rebellion, the paramilitary and loyal military units collectively known as the Titanium Guards were under his personal discretion, and while Samsa was well aware of the dangers this rivalry presented, he did not take any immediate action to not undermine the strength of the CUS. Germania saw some struggles in maintaining it's alliance, too - although it was less domestic problems and more trying to keep all of the Visegrad remnants aligned to them in line. An aura of giving up, bolstered by constant Unitarian propaganda, rose across Visegradian remnants, and many began to believe that surrendering to the Unitarians and hoping for the best is better than ending up as a protectorate of the Germans. To prevent any such traitorous attitudes, Augustina Sternberg ordered the German military authorities to maintain order and shift from relying on Royalist forces to the more reliable Bohemian, Hungarian and Polish nationalists, who were perceived as less likely to surrender and compromise with the CUS. This idea was supported by the fact that nationalist Poland was perhaps the most stable of the numerous participants in the conflict, and while both the Unitarians and the Coalition fought internal troubles, the Poles were establishing the government and necessary institutions of the nation, transforming it from a loose nationalist rebellion to an organized state, which culminated in the declaration of independence of the Republic of Poland in early February.
However, none of this truly stole the spotlight across the planet like one event on January 11th, 1940 did.
While tensions continued to mount in all of Asia, few people expected an outright war to break out, at least not soon. Neither did the East Asia fleet of the Republic of France, stationed in the port of De-Foix at the very tip of the Malay Peninsula. The fleet had been reinforced with ships from the homeland, just in case, but for much of the crews here, this was more of a long vacation near the equator rather than a military mission. What they didn't know was that the composition and details of the fleet were being carefully scouted and spied on, aircraft was being prepared in bases in Aceh and within the naval task force in the Karimata Strait. The dry season was good for such military maneuvers.
The Battle of De-Foix started on the 11th with a sudden three wave combined Indian and Acehi air and naval assault on the French naval base. Early scout warnings of a Unitarian force approaching were dismissed by the local command as aggressive posturing in the face of mounting tensions, and thus they paid the price - the majority of the French fleet and aircraft within the base ended up destroyed and up to 2500 people were killed, most of them servicemen. The Indian Marine Corps in Aceh was soon put into action, and using the window of opportunity given to them by the navy and air force to land across the west coast of the Malay Peninsula, defeating the unprepared and tiny colonial garrisons there within days.
On the 12th, hours after the news of the attack on De-Foix arrived to Paris, the government of Theophile Clerisseau were presented with an Indian declaration of war, followed by the rest of their alliance in the next couple of days. The Commonwealth soon gave the green light to aligned underground organizations in Ethiopia and in French Indochina, igniting rebellions against French domination there. A new country has been brought to the way by force.
Indian landships in De-Foix, February 1940
The sudden Unitarian attack on France came as a shock and as a surprise to all nations across the world - the Unitarians weren't even done with Germania yet, and yet they are mounting a new enemy on their shoulders?.. Most nations across Europe and Asia lodged protests against this unprovoked attack, especially China - which, while well aware of the ongoing breach in their sphere of influence, also knew that it's hands were tied. There was no official document for the Chinese government to point to for a pretext to intervene in this conflict - the Saigon Talks were a discussion and not yet an official alliance. The Chinese public was against a preemptive declaration of war, too - the idea was that since the Unitarians are busy with Germania and France, there is no chance that the Commonwealth could be stupid enough to draw a third superpower against them.
For now, the government of Yang Long had to recognize that they have been outsmarted, sit down and watch how the events unfold.
Or hope for their own Battle of De-Foix.
The world in March 1940
If this happens, the Japanese Unitarians have just signed their death warrant (although as Nagai is a total lunatic who claims descent from the Emperors of the Southern Court, I wouldn't be surprised).