I've also noticed that no one particular side seems to be dominating like the way the Axis did in the first half of the war and then the Allies dominated in the second half.
A New Balance
- Thread starter Jim Smitty
- Start date
Communist Portugal and Fascist Britian are on the same side of the alliance balance but its really a non factor
Speaking of Spain and Portugal, what ever happened to the Spanish and Portuguese Royal families after their deposition? Where did they go into exile?
The Spanish royal family wasn't that lucky and were caught by the communists and hung. The Portuguese royal family was in Switzerland after making their escape when the war started.
Any living heir to Spanish throne? It would probably be a cousin or something of the last monarch.
Also, who were the last monarchs of Spain and Portugal?
Honestly I haven't given that much thought. However you do have a Napoleon on the French throne.
Battle of the Balearic Sea Part II
Soviet Spain[1]
Balearic Sea
August 24 1939
The Soviet Spain was the pride of the Soviet Spanish Fleet. However, that wasn’t saying much. Even through she was the largest ship within the Soviet Spanish Fleet and was called a battleship, in any other navy she would be classified as a heavy cruiser[2]. This however was what the limits were of the Soviet Spanish shipbuilding industry at the moment. Well that was with the Soviet Spanish being under the tutelage of the Italians and the Russians or as they liked to call themselves the Soviets. Since the war started the Russians had to withdraw their support as they were unable to send people or supplies to the Soviet Spanish expect via submarine[3]. And you weren’t bringing in the parts needed to build battleships or cruisers into Iberian Peninsula like that. As to the Italians they were at war with them. Those Italians that had the bad luck to be trapped in Soviet Spain when the war broke out were now working in the La Zarza Mines.
With the limits of what the Soviet Spanish could do with their limited naval industry and with the British being less than willing to help, the Soviet Spanish had to be careful with their heavy units. This was because it was questionable if they could repair their light cruiser[4] never mind their battleships and aircraft carriers. However, the Soviet Sahara class was not joining this sortie of the Soviet Spanish Fleet today. Those ships were known as widowmakers. Not because of the ships themselves, it was because the Soviet Spanish Naval Air Arm didn’t have the skills needed to land aircraft on them. Only 9 pilots have become carrier rated in the whole of the Soviet Spanish Navy, 48 others had died trying. Of those 9 that have become carrier rated, 2 have died after being rated. With the war being on the brass had put on hold the plans to field those carriers as they had more pressing needs at the moment.
Madrid knew that there had been a large French naval force heading to the Balearic Islands. As such they felt they had no choice but to send in their fleet which they had put time and money into building up to defend those islands. The captain of the flagship of the fleet believed this to be a mistake. Madrid however doesn’t make mistakes. Those that do make mistakes or questions Madrid would end up in Soviet Guinea[5] working on the cocoa and coffee farms there. No the captain of the Soviet Spain wouldn’t even wish that on his worse foe. So here he was leading his ship into what he believed to be a trap but he hadn’t climbed his way from being a no rank seaman prior to revolution in Spain to commanding one of the only two battleships in the Soviet Spanish Fleet without making someone else pay. He may lose everything but he was going to make the French pay for their actions.
[1] 15,590 tons displacement, Diesel Engines, 25 knots, 6 x 280 mm L/52s in Triple Turrets, 8 x 152 mm L/57s in Single Turrets, 4 x 75 mm AA Guns, 6 x 553 mm torpedo tubes in triple mounts*
*IMO this would be a great coastal defense ship or convoy escort, anything else however it’s a losing proposition for the Spanish, only don’t tell the Spanish that.
[2] Since the breaking of the naval treaties, nations have been drifting higher on CA gun size from the 8.3 inch/210 mm size set for in the naval treaties.
[3] The Germans do have some supply submarines running in raw rubber and other critical resources but it’s a drop in the bucket of what Germany needs.
[4] 5,900 tons displacement, oil fired boilers, turbine driven 29 knots, 9 x 8 152 mm L/57 in Triple Turrets (Superfiring, forward), 4 x 75 mm AA Guns, 12 x 533 torpedo tubes in triple mounts
Balearic Sea
August 24 1939
The Soviet Spain was the pride of the Soviet Spanish Fleet. However, that wasn’t saying much. Even through she was the largest ship within the Soviet Spanish Fleet and was called a battleship, in any other navy she would be classified as a heavy cruiser[2]. This however was what the limits were of the Soviet Spanish shipbuilding industry at the moment. Well that was with the Soviet Spanish being under the tutelage of the Italians and the Russians or as they liked to call themselves the Soviets. Since the war started the Russians had to withdraw their support as they were unable to send people or supplies to the Soviet Spanish expect via submarine[3]. And you weren’t bringing in the parts needed to build battleships or cruisers into Iberian Peninsula like that. As to the Italians they were at war with them. Those Italians that had the bad luck to be trapped in Soviet Spain when the war broke out were now working in the La Zarza Mines.
With the limits of what the Soviet Spanish could do with their limited naval industry and with the British being less than willing to help, the Soviet Spanish had to be careful with their heavy units. This was because it was questionable if they could repair their light cruiser[4] never mind their battleships and aircraft carriers. However, the Soviet Sahara class was not joining this sortie of the Soviet Spanish Fleet today. Those ships were known as widowmakers. Not because of the ships themselves, it was because the Soviet Spanish Naval Air Arm didn’t have the skills needed to land aircraft on them. Only 9 pilots have become carrier rated in the whole of the Soviet Spanish Navy, 48 others had died trying. Of those 9 that have become carrier rated, 2 have died after being rated. With the war being on the brass had put on hold the plans to field those carriers as they had more pressing needs at the moment.
Madrid knew that there had been a large French naval force heading to the Balearic Islands. As such they felt they had no choice but to send in their fleet which they had put time and money into building up to defend those islands. The captain of the flagship of the fleet believed this to be a mistake. Madrid however doesn’t make mistakes. Those that do make mistakes or questions Madrid would end up in Soviet Guinea[5] working on the cocoa and coffee farms there. No the captain of the Soviet Spain wouldn’t even wish that on his worse foe. So here he was leading his ship into what he believed to be a trap but he hadn’t climbed his way from being a no rank seaman prior to revolution in Spain to commanding one of the only two battleships in the Soviet Spanish Fleet without making someone else pay. He may lose everything but he was going to make the French pay for their actions.
[1] 15,590 tons displacement, Diesel Engines, 25 knots, 6 x 280 mm L/52s in Triple Turrets, 8 x 152 mm L/57s in Single Turrets, 4 x 75 mm AA Guns, 6 x 553 mm torpedo tubes in triple mounts*
*IMO this would be a great coastal defense ship or convoy escort, anything else however it’s a losing proposition for the Spanish, only don’t tell the Spanish that.
[2] Since the breaking of the naval treaties, nations have been drifting higher on CA gun size from the 8.3 inch/210 mm size set for in the naval treaties.
[3] The Germans do have some supply submarines running in raw rubber and other critical resources but it’s a drop in the bucket of what Germany needs.
[4] 5,900 tons displacement, oil fired boilers, turbine driven 29 knots, 9 x 8 152 mm L/57 in Triple Turrets (Superfiring, forward), 4 x 75 mm AA Guns, 12 x 533 torpedo tubes in triple mounts
Battle of the Balearic Sea Part III
NGI Napoleon[1]
Balearic Sea
August 24 1939
Vice-Amiral Anais Nicole was standing in the CIC of the Napoleon. Following its humiliating defeat in the First World War and following the cluster of the French Civil War, the French started a radical break with many military ideas the held before the path that led their defeat and civil war. They could no longer afford to be complacent with military thinking nor stupidity in their military thinking. In the aftermath of their civil war they had sent officers to the United States who the French desperately wanted to improve relations with and be their ally. They also sent officers to Germany as the Germans wanted to improve relations with Paris. Even through relations had improved with the Americans, Washington was cold on signing an alliance with Paris. With the understanding they couldn’t defeat the Germans the French decided on signing an alliance with Berlin.
Nicole was a rare breed of officer even for the French Navy. He was a graduate from École Navale and served in the First World War on the armored cruiser Léon Gambetta only to be on that ship when it sunk following the Battle of the Ligurian Sea following the Italian switch in the war. After being fished out of the water, he had sent the rest of the war in an Italian PW camp. Following his release, he was quickly thrusted into the opening stages of the French Civil War. He threw his lot in with the Monarchist as everything else just seemed too radical for Nicole. He fought with the 3rd Régiment d'Infanterie Navale during most of the war, and was awarded the highest honor in the nation when he was presented the Légion d'honneur for his actions in civil war. Following that he had been assigned to study in America where he became a graduate from the US Naval War College. He then returned to France and took command of the Light Cruiser Glorie which he did as a plankowner. Following that he was posted to Germany and graduated from their Naval War College as well and returned to France to take command of the Battleship Paris. After that tour he became a flag officer who was known as a forward thinking officer. Now he was in command of the most advance battle squadron in the French Navy.
It was why he was in the CIC of his flag ship instead standing on the bridge right now. This was the nerve center of this battlegroup and being on the bridge didn’t allow him to take advantage of this. Currently his ships were still over the horizon from the Spanish fleet he was trying to sink. If only just still over the horizon. “Distance to the Spanish?” Nicole asked.
“23 kilometers sir!” Came the answer from the German rating manning the radar unit that had been hurried to be fitted to his flag ship.
Nicole thought about it for a second. He didn’t have to worry about crossing the T as he would have if he was in the command of the older Republican battleships. It was one of the wonderful things about the improvement in French naval design since the end of the civil war. “Open fire.” He knew he was still at the extreme ranges for his 340 mm guns on his ship. The 380 mm guns on the Davout had further range, but their crew had been hurried through the pre-commissioning phase to take part of this operation. So it would still be at one hell of a distance for them.
Yet he knew that his 340 mm guns were over kill for the Spanish Battleships he was facing. Soon after the war started the Italians informed the French, Germans, and the Americans what they knew of both the Spanish and Russian ships and how. That did cause a major stir with their allies however that information was damn useful now. Those Spanish battleships didn’t have the armor needed to stop his guns. Further with his radar distancing he had enough fate in his gun crews to start putting rounds into the Spanish. One of the guns in the forward turret opened fire with a dye round. Even through they were using radar for ranging, the dye was a fail safe if the radar failed in the battle.
After waiting for the 340 mm shell travelled the just over 23 kilometers to its target all eight guns on the Napoleon opened fire with AP rounds. They were quickly joined by the guns on the Nay and Davout. Those ships were pulling range information from Napoleon along with taking their own range information they could pull from their own equipment. However the French had been training their gunnery crews to high standards. Granted not the same standards as the Germans or even the Americans, but they were well trained. It took only seven salvos before the Soviet Spain was bracketed by the French.
When the first 340 mm AP shell stuck the Soviet Spain the deck armor was so weak on the Spanish Battleship that the shell when through the armored deck and a number of decks below that only finally going off deep in the bowls of the ship. It wrecked a number of key systems in the ship along with starting fires in the forward sections of the ship. This was where the poor damage control training of the RSE sailors came into its own. Granted the training of all RSE sailors were poor, but damage control training was borderline negligence on the part of the Spanish. The fires started by this single shell started to spread.
More shells from the French fleet quickly following turning the pride of the Soviet Spanish Fleet into a flaming wreck. The Spanish tried to get away however the French wouldn’t allow the Spanish break contact. They kept to being over the horizon for the most part but some times they broke the horizon to being seen by the Spanish. The Spanish did start firing their 280 mm guns however they never came close to striking back against their tormentors. The Spanish lacked the radar the French had and the Italians by designed had refused to give the communist the best rangefinder gear instead giving them only slightly improved designs of 1910 equipment. Given the lack of gunnery training made the odds of the Spanish hitting a moving target just above nil.
Within 2 hours both Spanish battleships, and a pair of light cruisers had fallen to Davy Jones’ Locker. However Nicole broke contact after two hours as he still had to cover the landings on Menorca from possibly of the British crashing the party. He needed to save ammo for that. If not for that he most likely could had bagged the last light cruiser of the Spanish Navy along with the 8 destroyers that had sailed with the Spanish Fleet.
Balearic Sea
August 24 1939
Vice-Amiral Anais Nicole was standing in the CIC of the Napoleon. Following its humiliating defeat in the First World War and following the cluster of the French Civil War, the French started a radical break with many military ideas the held before the path that led their defeat and civil war. They could no longer afford to be complacent with military thinking nor stupidity in their military thinking. In the aftermath of their civil war they had sent officers to the United States who the French desperately wanted to improve relations with and be their ally. They also sent officers to Germany as the Germans wanted to improve relations with Paris. Even through relations had improved with the Americans, Washington was cold on signing an alliance with Paris. With the understanding they couldn’t defeat the Germans the French decided on signing an alliance with Berlin.
Nicole was a rare breed of officer even for the French Navy. He was a graduate from École Navale and served in the First World War on the armored cruiser Léon Gambetta only to be on that ship when it sunk following the Battle of the Ligurian Sea following the Italian switch in the war. After being fished out of the water, he had sent the rest of the war in an Italian PW camp. Following his release, he was quickly thrusted into the opening stages of the French Civil War. He threw his lot in with the Monarchist as everything else just seemed too radical for Nicole. He fought with the 3rd Régiment d'Infanterie Navale during most of the war, and was awarded the highest honor in the nation when he was presented the Légion d'honneur for his actions in civil war. Following that he had been assigned to study in America where he became a graduate from the US Naval War College. He then returned to France and took command of the Light Cruiser Glorie which he did as a plankowner. Following that he was posted to Germany and graduated from their Naval War College as well and returned to France to take command of the Battleship Paris. After that tour he became a flag officer who was known as a forward thinking officer. Now he was in command of the most advance battle squadron in the French Navy.
It was why he was in the CIC of his flag ship instead standing on the bridge right now. This was the nerve center of this battlegroup and being on the bridge didn’t allow him to take advantage of this. Currently his ships were still over the horizon from the Spanish fleet he was trying to sink. If only just still over the horizon. “Distance to the Spanish?” Nicole asked.
“23 kilometers sir!” Came the answer from the German rating manning the radar unit that had been hurried to be fitted to his flag ship.
Nicole thought about it for a second. He didn’t have to worry about crossing the T as he would have if he was in the command of the older Republican battleships. It was one of the wonderful things about the improvement in French naval design since the end of the civil war. “Open fire.” He knew he was still at the extreme ranges for his 340 mm guns on his ship. The 380 mm guns on the Davout had further range, but their crew had been hurried through the pre-commissioning phase to take part of this operation. So it would still be at one hell of a distance for them.
Yet he knew that his 340 mm guns were over kill for the Spanish Battleships he was facing. Soon after the war started the Italians informed the French, Germans, and the Americans what they knew of both the Spanish and Russian ships and how. That did cause a major stir with their allies however that information was damn useful now. Those Spanish battleships didn’t have the armor needed to stop his guns. Further with his radar distancing he had enough fate in his gun crews to start putting rounds into the Spanish. One of the guns in the forward turret opened fire with a dye round. Even through they were using radar for ranging, the dye was a fail safe if the radar failed in the battle.
After waiting for the 340 mm shell travelled the just over 23 kilometers to its target all eight guns on the Napoleon opened fire with AP rounds. They were quickly joined by the guns on the Nay and Davout. Those ships were pulling range information from Napoleon along with taking their own range information they could pull from their own equipment. However the French had been training their gunnery crews to high standards. Granted not the same standards as the Germans or even the Americans, but they were well trained. It took only seven salvos before the Soviet Spain was bracketed by the French.
When the first 340 mm AP shell stuck the Soviet Spain the deck armor was so weak on the Spanish Battleship that the shell when through the armored deck and a number of decks below that only finally going off deep in the bowls of the ship. It wrecked a number of key systems in the ship along with starting fires in the forward sections of the ship. This was where the poor damage control training of the RSE sailors came into its own. Granted the training of all RSE sailors were poor, but damage control training was borderline negligence on the part of the Spanish. The fires started by this single shell started to spread.
More shells from the French fleet quickly following turning the pride of the Soviet Spanish Fleet into a flaming wreck. The Spanish tried to get away however the French wouldn’t allow the Spanish break contact. They kept to being over the horizon for the most part but some times they broke the horizon to being seen by the Spanish. The Spanish did start firing their 280 mm guns however they never came close to striking back against their tormentors. The Spanish lacked the radar the French had and the Italians by designed had refused to give the communist the best rangefinder gear instead giving them only slightly improved designs of 1910 equipment. Given the lack of gunnery training made the odds of the Spanish hitting a moving target just above nil.
Within 2 hours both Spanish battleships, and a pair of light cruisers had fallen to Davy Jones’ Locker. However Nicole broke contact after two hours as he still had to cover the landings on Menorca from possibly of the British crashing the party. He needed to save ammo for that. If not for that he most likely could had bagged the last light cruiser of the Spanish Navy along with the 8 destroyers that had sailed with the Spanish Fleet.
Yes, and with the threat of Britain they would probably look for a more defensive stance at least until the US (or other American powers) enter the European Theater.
Let the Dogs Slip
French Air Field, Near Marseille
Briefing Area for 201e Escadron de Bombardiers
August 26 1939
For the crews of the 201e Escadron de Bombardiers they knew something was up as the filled into the briefing room for today’s mission. As they were walking in they noticed that their planes have been taxied further out than normal. Further the ordnance crews were wearing rubber suits with self contained breathing apparatus. They knew the only thing that warranted such actions was the use of gas, but the question was what was the target and why. France had a touchy history with gas given how it had been used against them during the First World War. So for the call to be made to use gas something bad had to happen, the question was what.
The wing commander was standing in front of the squadron having flown in to this air field with the wing hack aircraft. “Morning.” The wing commander said to start this briefing. “Today, your squadron along with other squadrons will be avenging the fallen soldiers of France. Two days ago, the brave sons of France attempted to invade the island of Menorca. The godless communist however decided to counterattack our troops with gas.”
After a few gasp as many knew friends and family who served in the army. The Spanish had known before hand that Menorca would have to be attacked and had been slowly building up its defenses over the years. What the Spanish were willing to do to keep a hold of the island came as a nasty surprise to the French soldiers storming the beaches at Menorca two days ago that the Spanish sighted the landing beaches and hit it hard with chemical shells along with high explosive ones. Throw the gas attacks in without the training the US had in landing operations caused the operation to falter. By 5 in the afternoon the commander gave the order to end the landing operations and try to save those still on Menorca. Menorca however had been a bloodbath for the French with over 2,000 dead, 1,500 more wounded and 500 still missing. Spanish losses are believed to be just above nil.
The wing commander left out what he didn’t know but it was a speech to get his crews up in arms. “Today your squadron along with the rest of the wing will be returning the favor to the blasted Spanish. Your payload will be a full load of cyanogen chloride and your target will be Menorca!” Some of the pilots did the math quickly in their heads and saw that was just over 70,000 kilograms of cyanogen chloride. The other 20,000 kilograms was bomb casings and other things to make the bombs work.
After putting out the target, the wing commander was outlining the mission along with abort protocols. This was because abort protocols were different than normal missions today. This was primary because of how nasty cyanogen chloride was. The stuff was known to destroy any gas mask out there and still poison you. If they had to abort before they dropped their loads they were to ditch their aircraft into the Med and jump out long before the aircraft when into the drink. This was because with the water of the wrong ph could make cyanogen chloride even worse than it already was before it broke up and became harmless. No aircraft was to try to make it back to base with ordnance still on board.
With the briefing wrapped up the crews started to make their way to their aircraft as the ordnance crews were finished loading the aircraft. All told 60 bombers and 95 fighters were taking part in this mission in one of the biggest aerial assaults to date performed by the French. However, like their German allies they wanted to make it clear, don’t fuck with chemical weapons. However unlike the Germans the French were using something far more deadly than the Germans had.
Briefing Area for 201e Escadron de Bombardiers
August 26 1939
For the crews of the 201e Escadron de Bombardiers they knew something was up as the filled into the briefing room for today’s mission. As they were walking in they noticed that their planes have been taxied further out than normal. Further the ordnance crews were wearing rubber suits with self contained breathing apparatus. They knew the only thing that warranted such actions was the use of gas, but the question was what was the target and why. France had a touchy history with gas given how it had been used against them during the First World War. So for the call to be made to use gas something bad had to happen, the question was what.
The wing commander was standing in front of the squadron having flown in to this air field with the wing hack aircraft. “Morning.” The wing commander said to start this briefing. “Today, your squadron along with other squadrons will be avenging the fallen soldiers of France. Two days ago, the brave sons of France attempted to invade the island of Menorca. The godless communist however decided to counterattack our troops with gas.”
After a few gasp as many knew friends and family who served in the army. The Spanish had known before hand that Menorca would have to be attacked and had been slowly building up its defenses over the years. What the Spanish were willing to do to keep a hold of the island came as a nasty surprise to the French soldiers storming the beaches at Menorca two days ago that the Spanish sighted the landing beaches and hit it hard with chemical shells along with high explosive ones. Throw the gas attacks in without the training the US had in landing operations caused the operation to falter. By 5 in the afternoon the commander gave the order to end the landing operations and try to save those still on Menorca. Menorca however had been a bloodbath for the French with over 2,000 dead, 1,500 more wounded and 500 still missing. Spanish losses are believed to be just above nil.
The wing commander left out what he didn’t know but it was a speech to get his crews up in arms. “Today your squadron along with the rest of the wing will be returning the favor to the blasted Spanish. Your payload will be a full load of cyanogen chloride and your target will be Menorca!” Some of the pilots did the math quickly in their heads and saw that was just over 70,000 kilograms of cyanogen chloride. The other 20,000 kilograms was bomb casings and other things to make the bombs work.
After putting out the target, the wing commander was outlining the mission along with abort protocols. This was because abort protocols were different than normal missions today. This was primary because of how nasty cyanogen chloride was. The stuff was known to destroy any gas mask out there and still poison you. If they had to abort before they dropped their loads they were to ditch their aircraft into the Med and jump out long before the aircraft when into the drink. This was because with the water of the wrong ph could make cyanogen chloride even worse than it already was before it broke up and became harmless. No aircraft was to try to make it back to base with ordnance still on board.
With the briefing wrapped up the crews started to make their way to their aircraft as the ordnance crews were finished loading the aircraft. All told 60 bombers and 95 fighters were taking part in this mission in one of the biggest aerial assaults to date performed by the French. However, like their German allies they wanted to make it clear, don’t fuck with chemical weapons. However unlike the Germans the French were using something far more deadly than the Germans had.
Black Flag
Near Amman
Forward Edge of Battle
September 1 1939
Plan for the worse, and hope for the best. It was the saying that guided British actions in southern Mesopotamia and Palestine in the aftermath of the First World War as it was being called now. The British had a larger empire than their army could maintain control of, even at the insane levels the CEP kept the British Army at. Given the position of the geo-politics of the Middle East, the British started recruiting Arabs in their new colonies in these areas to build up their ability to hang on to these areas. This was together with the promise of independence by the year of 1965 barring no revolts between then and now. It when without saying that independence came with a lot of strings attached to it. However, it was enough of a promise by British that many young Arabs decided to join the British colonial army being built up in either Mesopotamia and Palestine.
The British under the CEP was hoping that indirect rule would in the long run be cheaper than the direct rule they were performing in these Middle Eastern Colonies, their only gains from the war 20 years prior. The lands did have some value but the ability to effectually control these lands was questionable at best in the 1920s. Further with the Ottomans going down the path of revanchism and with the alliance map meant the British ability to defend them from the Ottomans. So it was with this in mind that the British formed the Arab Forces to help defend their new colonies along with training officers that would be able to brought on board for after independence if their leaders got too independent with their thinking.
As time marched on the value of the Southern Mesopotamia Colony increased as oil was found around Basra in the early 30s. However, with the growing arms race around the world meant the British couldn’t renege on their promises to the Arabs. However it helped matters that Assyrians and other Christian groups in the region had fled[1] the area in the meantime. The British for the most part looked the other way as Muslim Arabs acted against these minorities only acting when they when too far and it got into the press. And when it did get into the press the British simply told the Arabs to lay off for a bit and let things die down and they did. Then it would start up again.
Even through the British were using the Arab Force as the defense force for this part of the empire, they never really trusted the large bulk of the Arabs joining Arab Force. It was why they equipped with older gear. Incase they decided to revolt the British Army would have better weapons, but against the Ottomans it was good enough. The British Army and the senior Arab officers of Arab Force were counting on the Ottomans still being fairly incompetent at performing large scale military operations. However, as Kut and Karbala had proven the Ottomans weren’t incompetent anymore and with the Ottoman Turks being brave as all hell meant it was a deadly mix. Even more feared than the Ottoman Turk units was the units of Ottoman Christian and Jewish soldiers[2]. Those units were feared by the men of Arab Force and for good reason.
For the members of the Arab Force they were scared shitless as they were facing the XVII Corp[3] which was the bulk of the front line units within the Ottoman Army that believed in either Jewish or Christian gods, not Allah. Granted a large number of its senior officer were Ottoman Turks but at the battalion level down many were either Christian and Jewish. All of their AFVs were flying a black flag. The Christian and Jewish units of XVII Corp were known for giving no quarter to the Arab Forces the British were using to defend this part of their empire. Hell even British captured by XVII forces weren’t always given quarter. Most were old enough to remember why they had left their home lands and they wanted payback and by the gallon.
With XVII Corp finishing the encirclement of Amman yesterday the 6th Infantry Division and 3rd Armored Regiment of the Arab Force dug in to Amman hell bent to hold on. They knew surrender would only lead to their deaths. Through they believed in Allah they were in no hurry to meet him. They were hoping that a counterattack by those forces that escaped the Amman pocket before it was closed would break open the pocket they were in.
For XVII all it meant was they get to shell the city for a few days before they assaulted it. And they were known for the liberal and sometimes questionable use of artillery.
[1] Those that fled the Middle East all together generally ended up in South America, take your pick of nation. They were all looking for people to move to their nation. A lucky few however made it to the US, South Africa, or the Imperial Federation, but they were generally rich to start with and pay the needed bribes to get in. Most fled north into the Ottoman Empire however. Arabs in the Ottoman Empire fled south into British Colonies.
[2] Honestly, I need to do a whole update, most likely a series of updates on how the Ottoman Empire moved on its region axis in the aftermath of WWI. However by 1939 the Ottomans had both Jewish and Christian front line units.
[3] Two full divisions, with supporting units, so it’s on the small side for a corp
Forward Edge of Battle
September 1 1939
Plan for the worse, and hope for the best. It was the saying that guided British actions in southern Mesopotamia and Palestine in the aftermath of the First World War as it was being called now. The British had a larger empire than their army could maintain control of, even at the insane levels the CEP kept the British Army at. Given the position of the geo-politics of the Middle East, the British started recruiting Arabs in their new colonies in these areas to build up their ability to hang on to these areas. This was together with the promise of independence by the year of 1965 barring no revolts between then and now. It when without saying that independence came with a lot of strings attached to it. However, it was enough of a promise by British that many young Arabs decided to join the British colonial army being built up in either Mesopotamia and Palestine.
The British under the CEP was hoping that indirect rule would in the long run be cheaper than the direct rule they were performing in these Middle Eastern Colonies, their only gains from the war 20 years prior. The lands did have some value but the ability to effectually control these lands was questionable at best in the 1920s. Further with the Ottomans going down the path of revanchism and with the alliance map meant the British ability to defend them from the Ottomans. So it was with this in mind that the British formed the Arab Forces to help defend their new colonies along with training officers that would be able to brought on board for after independence if their leaders got too independent with their thinking.
As time marched on the value of the Southern Mesopotamia Colony increased as oil was found around Basra in the early 30s. However, with the growing arms race around the world meant the British couldn’t renege on their promises to the Arabs. However it helped matters that Assyrians and other Christian groups in the region had fled[1] the area in the meantime. The British for the most part looked the other way as Muslim Arabs acted against these minorities only acting when they when too far and it got into the press. And when it did get into the press the British simply told the Arabs to lay off for a bit and let things die down and they did. Then it would start up again.
Even through the British were using the Arab Force as the defense force for this part of the empire, they never really trusted the large bulk of the Arabs joining Arab Force. It was why they equipped with older gear. Incase they decided to revolt the British Army would have better weapons, but against the Ottomans it was good enough. The British Army and the senior Arab officers of Arab Force were counting on the Ottomans still being fairly incompetent at performing large scale military operations. However, as Kut and Karbala had proven the Ottomans weren’t incompetent anymore and with the Ottoman Turks being brave as all hell meant it was a deadly mix. Even more feared than the Ottoman Turk units was the units of Ottoman Christian and Jewish soldiers[2]. Those units were feared by the men of Arab Force and for good reason.
For the members of the Arab Force they were scared shitless as they were facing the XVII Corp[3] which was the bulk of the front line units within the Ottoman Army that believed in either Jewish or Christian gods, not Allah. Granted a large number of its senior officer were Ottoman Turks but at the battalion level down many were either Christian and Jewish. All of their AFVs were flying a black flag. The Christian and Jewish units of XVII Corp were known for giving no quarter to the Arab Forces the British were using to defend this part of their empire. Hell even British captured by XVII forces weren’t always given quarter. Most were old enough to remember why they had left their home lands and they wanted payback and by the gallon.
With XVII Corp finishing the encirclement of Amman yesterday the 6th Infantry Division and 3rd Armored Regiment of the Arab Force dug in to Amman hell bent to hold on. They knew surrender would only lead to their deaths. Through they believed in Allah they were in no hurry to meet him. They were hoping that a counterattack by those forces that escaped the Amman pocket before it was closed would break open the pocket they were in.
For XVII all it meant was they get to shell the city for a few days before they assaulted it. And they were known for the liberal and sometimes questionable use of artillery.
[1] Those that fled the Middle East all together generally ended up in South America, take your pick of nation. They were all looking for people to move to their nation. A lucky few however made it to the US, South Africa, or the Imperial Federation, but they were generally rich to start with and pay the needed bribes to get in. Most fled north into the Ottoman Empire however. Arabs in the Ottoman Empire fled south into British Colonies.
[2] Honestly, I need to do a whole update, most likely a series of updates on how the Ottoman Empire moved on its region axis in the aftermath of WWI. However by 1939 the Ottomans had both Jewish and Christian front line units.
[3] Two full divisions, with supporting units, so it’s on the small side for a corp