Looks like Don Storm isn't happy at all about Churchill's blatant act of aggression and general warmongering. I can't see IFANZ joining with the British in this war. I think IFANZ will either be nuetral or join the war being allied to the German-American alliance.
A New Balance
- Thread starter Jim Smitty
- Start date
Admiral Halsey
Banned
it was hinted at earlier that Germany had something in the works to at least get a neutral IF.
Looks like the Feds may very well break the ties that bind them to a deranged Empire, leaving them rather alone at the bottom of the Pacific. How the far larger IJN reacts will be telling to any declaration of neutrality.
Admiral Halsey
Banned
You know when the war is over I'm thinking about making this into a Hearts of Iron mod.
Here hoping for the Darkest Hours version like with Kaserreich.
Jim, do you mind if a write some bios for the main leaders of TTL's version of WWII?
Admiral Halsey
Banned
Either Darkest hour or 4. Most likely DH unless the next patch for 4 greatly improves the AI. Though i've only messed around with 4 when it comes to modding so if DH is more difficult then 4 on that front I may be stuck with doing it for 4.
If you run them by me first, and I reserve the write to edit as needed, sure go ahead.
I have 4 but my two main computers I have at the moment don't have DH. But that said, I still have it one of my hard drives. So either way I'm looking forward to this if you do it.
Forgotten Weapon You Tube Channel is damn good channel for finding odd weapons for TLs. I think I found another weapon for this TL because of this channel.
At a minimum the IFANZ is going to be neutral. Not only have the British started a war expecting the IFANZ do join in without the slightest bit of discussion or consultation but they have done so in a fashion that guarantees the USA will want to curbstomp the British in any peace settlement. IFANZ does not want to be dragged along with this. IMHO staying neutral will be want they want now, and some under the table assurances from the USA that, if in retaliation for IFANZ neutrality the British give the green light to the Japanese to "deal" with IFANZ and grab territory, the USA will help IFANZ (and the quid pro quo would be at that point the IFANZ formally joins in with the USA).
The Fate of the Kingdom Pt II
Sydney
Kirribilli House
January 30 1939, 0829 Local Time
Prime Minister Donald Storm was waiting for the American Ambassador Keith Johnson and the German Ambassador Graf Wilhelm von Seelow. It was a meeting that was going to change the course of history of the Imperial Federation of Australia and New Zealand. Yet this needed to done. His aid came in, “Sir both the American and German Ambassadors are here to see you.”
“Very well send them in.” Donald was thankful that they were both able to get here around the same time. It would save him from having to make this speech a second time. And he knew both nations would be highly annoyed with the British after what they had done. Between the British carrier assault on the US East Coast and a 400 plane bomber raid on Wilhelmshaven all without a former declaration of war both nations had the right to be pissed with the British at the moment.
The two ambassadors came in the office. Their years of service in their nation’s diplomatic corp hid the rage that both men were feeling at the moment. Don stood up, “Gentlemen.” He said as he offered each one his hand. They both shook the hand of the Imperial Federation’s Prime Minister. After that Don spoke again, “If you will take your seats we can get started.”
At that all three men took their seats. “Gentlemen, let me state that the Imperial Federation had no idea that the British would stoop so low as to attack two different Great Powers without a former declaration of war nor were we aware that the British were planning any such attacks.”
There were nods all around. Unknown to the two ambassadors in the treaty between the British and Imperial Federation that saw King Arthur being crown king of the Imperial Federation the Feds had made sure that they had language in it that plainly stated they would be consulted before any wars were declared. The British had failed to live up to their end of the deal and that was giving Don his out. Don kept going, “Yet the reason I have called you here today, its more important. The Imperial Federation will be announcing officially later today that we will be neutral in this war between your nations and the British Empire. We have no wish for bloodshed between our nation and yours.”
Both ambassadors knew there had to be more. The Keith was looking at Wilhelm and nodded as his signal for him to take the lead on this. It had been a German plan to bring the Federales[1] into the fold of their plan to counter Churchill’s ass. Some in the War and Navy Department still saw the Imperial Federation as the next Canada, but they were in the minority. Most saw that a neutral or even better allied Federation was to the benefit of the US. “Donald, what kind of relationship do you plan to have with London after this?”
“As I said we are neutral in this war. We plan to maintain relations with the British, but we have no wish of following them into this madness. We will trade with any nation so long as they offer a fair price for our products. Our military exchanges with the British through will be coming to an end.” Don knew that wasn’t something he was going to do but the British would do it for him to so their displeasure with his move to take the Imperial Federation out of the war. They had been assigned to take the key American bases of Franklin and New Caledonia along with clear out the German held colonies and American held territories south of the equator. But that wasn’t happening, and that left an open question of how the Japanese would react to this? As the reports were starting to filler in that they have invaded French Indochina and the Southern Philippines.
[1] American slang for the Feds. Credit to LRB for this one.
Kirribilli House
January 30 1939, 0829 Local Time
Prime Minister Donald Storm was waiting for the American Ambassador Keith Johnson and the German Ambassador Graf Wilhelm von Seelow. It was a meeting that was going to change the course of history of the Imperial Federation of Australia and New Zealand. Yet this needed to done. His aid came in, “Sir both the American and German Ambassadors are here to see you.”
“Very well send them in.” Donald was thankful that they were both able to get here around the same time. It would save him from having to make this speech a second time. And he knew both nations would be highly annoyed with the British after what they had done. Between the British carrier assault on the US East Coast and a 400 plane bomber raid on Wilhelmshaven all without a former declaration of war both nations had the right to be pissed with the British at the moment.
The two ambassadors came in the office. Their years of service in their nation’s diplomatic corp hid the rage that both men were feeling at the moment. Don stood up, “Gentlemen.” He said as he offered each one his hand. They both shook the hand of the Imperial Federation’s Prime Minister. After that Don spoke again, “If you will take your seats we can get started.”
At that all three men took their seats. “Gentlemen, let me state that the Imperial Federation had no idea that the British would stoop so low as to attack two different Great Powers without a former declaration of war nor were we aware that the British were planning any such attacks.”
There were nods all around. Unknown to the two ambassadors in the treaty between the British and Imperial Federation that saw King Arthur being crown king of the Imperial Federation the Feds had made sure that they had language in it that plainly stated they would be consulted before any wars were declared. The British had failed to live up to their end of the deal and that was giving Don his out. Don kept going, “Yet the reason I have called you here today, its more important. The Imperial Federation will be announcing officially later today that we will be neutral in this war between your nations and the British Empire. We have no wish for bloodshed between our nation and yours.”
Both ambassadors knew there had to be more. The Keith was looking at Wilhelm and nodded as his signal for him to take the lead on this. It had been a German plan to bring the Federales[1] into the fold of their plan to counter Churchill’s ass. Some in the War and Navy Department still saw the Imperial Federation as the next Canada, but they were in the minority. Most saw that a neutral or even better allied Federation was to the benefit of the US. “Donald, what kind of relationship do you plan to have with London after this?”
“As I said we are neutral in this war. We plan to maintain relations with the British, but we have no wish of following them into this madness. We will trade with any nation so long as they offer a fair price for our products. Our military exchanges with the British through will be coming to an end.” Don knew that wasn’t something he was going to do but the British would do it for him to so their displeasure with his move to take the Imperial Federation out of the war. They had been assigned to take the key American bases of Franklin and New Caledonia along with clear out the German held colonies and American held territories south of the equator. But that wasn’t happening, and that left an open question of how the Japanese would react to this? As the reports were starting to filler in that they have invaded French Indochina and the Southern Philippines.
[1] American slang for the Feds. Credit to LRB for this one.
Great update Jim and I'm looking forward to reading how the Feds continue to thread the needle between the two competing power blocs.
Special Italian Operations
Italian Submarine CC-3
Austro Hungarian Naval Base Trieste
January 30 1939, 0124 local time
The Italian CC class of midget submarines that have entered the Italian submarine’s elite special operation unit. The Regia Marina had learned many hard lessons during the Great War. And given the poor strategic position of Italy with the current alliance system, the Regia Marina knew they would have to early victories if they were to keep Italy from folding under major naval pressure from the British, Austro-Hungarian, and Greek threats they faced. This was where the 10th Squadrone Sottomarino came in.
Even through the 10th Squadrone Sottomarino sounded like a standard submarine squadron within the Regia Marina, the name was just a cover for its true operations. It was the elite unit within the Regia Marina. They specialized in midget submarine and frogmen operations designed to attack hostile navies in their home ports. It wasn’t an easy task but it was one of the things the Italians were pushing to try and even the edge and give Italy a fighting chance. Since the start of the whole crisis in Europe the Italians have been positioning the mother submarines of the 10th Squadrone Sottomarino for attacks on Trieste and Alexandria to happen within hours of each other. These attacks were planned to take part with the planned invasion of Malta in the opening hours of the war. Yet the British unprovoked and declared attacks against the Americans and Germans had forced the Italians to speed up their plans.
The CC Class was the latest midget submarine class to enter service with the 10th Squadrone Sottomarino. They were manned by a crew of four with only an endurance of about two days before they had to return the mother submarine to recharge the batteries and take on more air. But the CC Class wasn’t armed with torpedoes. No, they were armed with a pair of mines that carried a total 1,000 kilograms of explosives each. The idea was simply to get these mines under the capital ships of either the Austro-Hungarians, British, or Greeks and destroy their ships with pressure wave created by 2,000 kilograms of explosives go off all at once.
For the crew of CC-3 they were one of four submarines trying to break into the harbor of Trieste and attack the Battleline of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. They wanted control of the Adriatic Sea so they allow the Italian Battleline to defend Italy from the Royal Navy. The only way they could do that is if they sunk the Austro-Hungarian Battleline. There was only one problem the Austro-Hungarian Navy had 13 Colossus Battleships and there were only four CC Class midget submarines. Even through all four of the planned eight that were to be built were bring 8,000 kilograms to play with it wasn’t enough. But it would take the Austro-Hungarian Navy out of the game for a while.
The crew of the CC-3 should had been more tired than what they were. It must had been does pills that they had been issued before the start of the mission. Yet the diver had just reentered the sub after cutting the last anti-torpedo net around the battleline that was guarding this part of the harbor. They started their motors and started off at 3 knots. It took a little while before they got where they wanted to be. Slowly they put themselves on the harbor floor. Once there the commander of the CC-3 pulled the last remaining safety on the pair of mines they were carrying. Once that safety was pulled the timer on both mines started and gave the CC-3 five hours to get away. Then they dropped the mines and felt the submarine raise up as it was dropping 2,000 kilograms of ballast at once. Thankfully they didn’t contact the ship they were under. But it was close. At that the CC-3 started back out of the harbor which they had snuck into.
0613 local time
The crew of the SMS Wien was getting ready to put to sea along with the rest of the fleet. It seemed that their Italian foes had started a war with the British. Even with the hell that was going on with the mass munity of the Common Army and to a lesser degree the Imperial-Royal Landwehr the navy was still firmly under the control of the government of the Austria Hungary. They were getting ready to put to sea to cut a path through the Italian Fleet so the British could send help as they were promising to. With for the crew of the SMS Wien 0614 was the last moment many of them were alive and very few survived passed 0616.
Austro Hungarian Naval Base Trieste
January 30 1939, 0124 local time
The Italian CC class of midget submarines that have entered the Italian submarine’s elite special operation unit. The Regia Marina had learned many hard lessons during the Great War. And given the poor strategic position of Italy with the current alliance system, the Regia Marina knew they would have to early victories if they were to keep Italy from folding under major naval pressure from the British, Austro-Hungarian, and Greek threats they faced. This was where the 10th Squadrone Sottomarino came in.
Even through the 10th Squadrone Sottomarino sounded like a standard submarine squadron within the Regia Marina, the name was just a cover for its true operations. It was the elite unit within the Regia Marina. They specialized in midget submarine and frogmen operations designed to attack hostile navies in their home ports. It wasn’t an easy task but it was one of the things the Italians were pushing to try and even the edge and give Italy a fighting chance. Since the start of the whole crisis in Europe the Italians have been positioning the mother submarines of the 10th Squadrone Sottomarino for attacks on Trieste and Alexandria to happen within hours of each other. These attacks were planned to take part with the planned invasion of Malta in the opening hours of the war. Yet the British unprovoked and declared attacks against the Americans and Germans had forced the Italians to speed up their plans.
The CC Class was the latest midget submarine class to enter service with the 10th Squadrone Sottomarino. They were manned by a crew of four with only an endurance of about two days before they had to return the mother submarine to recharge the batteries and take on more air. But the CC Class wasn’t armed with torpedoes. No, they were armed with a pair of mines that carried a total 1,000 kilograms of explosives each. The idea was simply to get these mines under the capital ships of either the Austro-Hungarians, British, or Greeks and destroy their ships with pressure wave created by 2,000 kilograms of explosives go off all at once.
For the crew of CC-3 they were one of four submarines trying to break into the harbor of Trieste and attack the Battleline of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. They wanted control of the Adriatic Sea so they allow the Italian Battleline to defend Italy from the Royal Navy. The only way they could do that is if they sunk the Austro-Hungarian Battleline. There was only one problem the Austro-Hungarian Navy had 13 Colossus Battleships and there were only four CC Class midget submarines. Even through all four of the planned eight that were to be built were bring 8,000 kilograms to play with it wasn’t enough. But it would take the Austro-Hungarian Navy out of the game for a while.
The crew of the CC-3 should had been more tired than what they were. It must had been does pills that they had been issued before the start of the mission. Yet the diver had just reentered the sub after cutting the last anti-torpedo net around the battleline that was guarding this part of the harbor. They started their motors and started off at 3 knots. It took a little while before they got where they wanted to be. Slowly they put themselves on the harbor floor. Once there the commander of the CC-3 pulled the last remaining safety on the pair of mines they were carrying. Once that safety was pulled the timer on both mines started and gave the CC-3 five hours to get away. Then they dropped the mines and felt the submarine raise up as it was dropping 2,000 kilograms of ballast at once. Thankfully they didn’t contact the ship they were under. But it was close. At that the CC-3 started back out of the harbor which they had snuck into.
0613 local time
The crew of the SMS Wien was getting ready to put to sea along with the rest of the fleet. It seemed that their Italian foes had started a war with the British. Even with the hell that was going on with the mass munity of the Common Army and to a lesser degree the Imperial-Royal Landwehr the navy was still firmly under the control of the government of the Austria Hungary. They were getting ready to put to sea to cut a path through the Italian Fleet so the British could send help as they were promising to. With for the crew of the SMS Wien 0614 was the last moment many of them were alive and very few survived passed 0616.
Well, Regia Marina drawn the first blood in the Adriatic and in the mediterrean as Alexandria seem already been hit (basically ITTL version of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_Alexandria_(1941) ) and Malta will be hit very very soon...if not immediately.
Seem that the overall italian plan is to being snecky and hit hard, hit fast and not let the enemy get up as she is the clear underdog in this conflict...well at least it's a much more though and reasonable plan than OTL and frankly with the general italian strategic sitation is very sound as she can't hallow her enemies to regroup and strike back.
At least the other flank will be covered by the Marine Imperiale...even if after the (hopefull) success of the 10th, the French staff will request their use against the mother of all mediterrean objective aka Gibraltar.
Speaking of that zone of operation, the Balearic Islands will be a very important place for the Spanish war effort as bombers and ships can use the place to attack objective in South France and Italy.
Seem that the overall italian plan is to being snecky and hit hard, hit fast and not let the enemy get up as she is the clear underdog in this conflict...well at least it's a much more though and reasonable plan than OTL and frankly with the general italian strategic sitation is very sound as she can't hallow her enemies to regroup and strike back.
At least the other flank will be covered by the Marine Imperiale...even if after the (hopefull) success of the 10th, the French staff will request their use against the mother of all mediterrean objective aka Gibraltar.
Speaking of that zone of operation, the Balearic Islands will be a very important place for the Spanish war effort as bombers and ships can use the place to attack objective in South France and Italy.
It's a world war...things of this kind are never swift; except probably for A-H as i don't really see her exist for much longer than a year (and i'm very optimistic)
The Italians are doing their best to get some depth - now the Adriatic is contested not a highway for A-H. If they can take Malta, and I expect they have heavily fortified Lampedusa, they will have gone a long way towards cutting the Med in half. Given the mess that A-H land forces have become, the Alps should contain a land threat pretty well. If their plans come off, the plans of their opponents to reduce Italy to irrelevance or force it out of the war will come to naught - and the Italians are doing well so far.