I'm at work posting this, so no graphics, but I wanted to get this posted as this week is gonna be very busy. Also Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to everyone.
The Battle of London would rage throughout most of the Civil War. The capital of the nation and its largest city, London was a fiercely contested battleground. Both sides knew that total control of the capital would give major international credibility to said side as well as striking a blow to the morale of the opposing forces. Whereas the Loyalists hoped securing the capital would undermine the W.U.B’s claim to be the legitimate government of the country, Carr and his inner circle believed that securing control of London might be enough to finally convince the Palma Pact to intervene directly on their behalf. The early months of the fighting in London were confused, as elsewhere, but by mid 1923 it was clear where the division lay. The Loyalists had secured most of the key administrative centres in Westminster and central London during Operation Camelot. They eventually expanded this control to include all of west London and most of the area south of the river. The WUB (here originally led by the Solidarists) had, drawing on their urban support, secured the dockyards, most of the east city and the north. By the time the situation stabilised the frontline ran through the heart of the city, running through Aldgate and Liverpool Street. A plucky group of Loyalists had occupied the Tower of London in the early days. The Tower had been reinforced and renovated during the months before the election as civil strife threatened London, and it now represented a major stronghold for the loyalist government. Effectively surrounded by WUB forces, the lack of heavy weapons and artillery possessed by the Collectivists in the early months and Loyalist control of the river (providing gunship support and the ability to reinforce by boat) meant it did not fall to storm.
The street fighting in London was some of the most bitter and bloody in the Civil War. Only in some of the more fanatical urban battles of the 1930s did the world again see anything like it. The biggest casualty of the Battle was London itself. The city would be devastated by the fighting. Historic monuments would be ravaged. St. Pauls was destroyed in the early months and Tower Bridge was blown up to prevent either side being outflanked. The Houses of Parliament were behind the front line for most of the fighting but as Collectivist forces began upping their weaponry by 1924, the Parliament as well as Buckingham Palace would be well within range for bombardment. The City, the financial heart of London (and indeed the world) was transformed into a battleground. Elements of the Army which defected to the WUB and Collectivist militias soon mastered the art of defending. Ruined buildings were turned into fortresses and snipers became endemic. The Oxford government brought over expert sharpshooters from the colonies, whilst Collectivist snipers got their experience on the job. The best Collec snipers became nightmares for the Loyalists, whilst the worst were killed in turn. After the victory at Sheffield, Carr ordered a new offensive in London to capitalise on the successes of WUB forces elsewhere. As the city burned, a major Collec push began along the Southbank, its target was Waterloo station. Taking this would deny the use of the major transportation hub to the Loyalists and outflank the defenders. The push began in late August 1924 and broke through early on through the frontline on Borough High Street (now much widened with buildings on either side reduced to rubble). Loyalist air support was called in to bomb areas of east London, but it was of minimal good. Most WUB command and control centres were by now underground and skirmishing in the nascent London underground train system was common. The Thames had been mined by Collecs, but the areas that were clear were home to Loyalist destroyers which were able to harass the Collectivist attack. The HMS Halifax, a Loyalist destroyer, was blown up in the river on the night of the 4th of October by a commando team of Collectivists in small attack boats. The assault however would be a failure. The attack soon bogged down east of Blackfriars Road, still somewhat short of the station. A large Loyalist counterattack supported by a drive from just south of London through Clapham, rolled back the Collectivists to positions behind where they started from. This was the last major offensive by the WUB in London. The Collecs changed tactics, seeking now to dig and fortify their holdings. The WUB believed, with some truth, that it was the Loyalists that needed to drive them our rather than the other way round. With their defences strengthened in London, the WUB sought to win the war elsewhere. For the Cameron regime in Oxford, the question was how to drive the Collectivists out of the rest of the capital. But for now the attentions of both sides would turn elsewhere.
Both sides entered 1925 planning offensives. The “Loyalist” government were deciding between three different options. One was a move east to crush the Solidarist pocket in East Anglia, the second an assault north along the east side of the Pennines to close the so-called “Durham Gap” and connect with Loyalist forces in Northumberland and Scotland and the third was an assault southwest from Hereford to Cardiff, linking up with the Welsh Loyalists and cutting off the southern Collectivist forces. The East Anglia option was discounted. Though there were credible gains to be made it was feared that moving a large amount of Loyalist offensive capability to the east would leave them exposed along their long western frontier. Whereas moves in the north and in the southwest would keep the majority of Loyalist forces facing the Collectivist heartland in the stretch between Bristol and Manchester. In the end it was decided to go for the northern route. Cardiff and Pembrokeshire could be reinforced and maintained by Loyalist control of the seas, and linking up with the northern force would then allow Loyalist forces to swing southwest and threaten the Collectivist bases in Manchester and the north. The Collectivists were also planning an offensive. Having written off an assault on Oxford and with actions near the coast undermined by the Royal Navy, the WUB government outlined a plan to secure the Midlands. Striking southeast from newly conquered Sheffield and simultaneously northeast from Birmingham, the plan was for the two arms to join at Nottingham, cutting off and encircling around 70,000 Loyalist troops in and around Derby and Stafford. And, if all went well, use this as a springboard for a drive east to link up with the Solidarists, severing Loyalist territory in England.
Cameron and the Oxford government set the date for their offensive to begin on February 27th 1925. New regiments, as well as large quantities of heavy guns and cataphracts were moved north, and soon began massing around York. Whilst reinforcements were shipped up the coast and begin assembling in Newcastle, to prepare for the drive south. The RAF repositioned its dive bombers and fighter aircraft to the Yorkshire airfields in preparation to support the drive north. Carr and the Collectivists meanwhile were preparing for Operation Talon which was scheduled for March 1st. Divisions of newly produced Collectivist cataphracts were soon gathering in the West Midlands and northern Derbyshire. Collectivist infiltrators and advance parties were soon slipping through the frontier. These advanced groups caught sight of the Loyalist troop movements and reported back. Collectivist intelligence believed these reports were exaggerated and that any troop movements to the north were minor reinforcements, they believed the main Loyalist forces to be focused in the south around Oxford and London and the rest scattered throughout Scotland, Ireland and Wales.
The Loyalist assault began at 06:00 hours on the 27th. A large artillery barrage pounded Collectivist positions as the RAF struck from overhead hitting WUB positions and the few airfields they still possessed. This was followed by a ground assault. Cataphracts and infantry moved forward together on a broad front. The town of Northallerton was seized that day and the offensive ground on. On the 28th the troops in Newcastle moved south in their own, smaller, offensive. Durham was bombed from the air, as the Royal Navy harassed coastal Collectivist positions. The news of the attack drifted into the WUB commanders throughout the 27th and the 28th, but they failed to determine the size of the offensive. What they did infer was that with large elements of the RAF focused in North Yorkshire, there was less air cover in the middle of the country. Operation Talon went ahead at 07:30 on the morning of the 1st of March. This attack rocked the Loyalists whose offensive troops were in the north and whose intelligence did not believe that the WUB was ready for another major attack so soon after the Battle of Sheffield and the intensified fighting in London. The two offensives would both advance in tandem. Both driving forward relentlessly. But it was the Loyalists who soon began refocusing on the defensive. Fearing that the success in the north would be rendered pointless if their territory was severed, the Loyalists began refocusing reinforcements and aircraft to defend against the WUB assault. Though Durham still fell in late May, thus completing the operation, any hope of a wheeled drive south was dashed as troops were reallocated to stem the Collectivist advance in the centre of the country. The Collectivists for their part took Derby, but were unable to close the gap as Loyalist reinforcements repositioned themselves. Despite this the Loyalists withdrew from Stafford, fearing encirclement. Though the Collectivists had made great gains in the Midlands as well as the capture of Hereford in the south in June, their gains were offset by the losses in the northeast. Both sides would now regroup and battle at each other with little gain for the next several months. It was stalemate.
In October however sensing a superiority in numbers and armoured vehicles, the WUB began preparing for a massive new assault on Oxford. As the Collectivist armies began assembling in and around Birmingham, the first waves of Imperial reinforcements began making landfall in Plymouth. One way or another, the war was soon to enter a new and dangerous phase.
Stalemate
British Civil War: Part IV
(1922-1927)
British Civil War: Part IV
(1922-1927)
The Battle of London would rage throughout most of the Civil War. The capital of the nation and its largest city, London was a fiercely contested battleground. Both sides knew that total control of the capital would give major international credibility to said side as well as striking a blow to the morale of the opposing forces. Whereas the Loyalists hoped securing the capital would undermine the W.U.B’s claim to be the legitimate government of the country, Carr and his inner circle believed that securing control of London might be enough to finally convince the Palma Pact to intervene directly on their behalf. The early months of the fighting in London were confused, as elsewhere, but by mid 1923 it was clear where the division lay. The Loyalists had secured most of the key administrative centres in Westminster and central London during Operation Camelot. They eventually expanded this control to include all of west London and most of the area south of the river. The WUB (here originally led by the Solidarists) had, drawing on their urban support, secured the dockyards, most of the east city and the north. By the time the situation stabilised the frontline ran through the heart of the city, running through Aldgate and Liverpool Street. A plucky group of Loyalists had occupied the Tower of London in the early days. The Tower had been reinforced and renovated during the months before the election as civil strife threatened London, and it now represented a major stronghold for the loyalist government. Effectively surrounded by WUB forces, the lack of heavy weapons and artillery possessed by the Collectivists in the early months and Loyalist control of the river (providing gunship support and the ability to reinforce by boat) meant it did not fall to storm.
The street fighting in London was some of the most bitter and bloody in the Civil War. Only in some of the more fanatical urban battles of the 1930s did the world again see anything like it. The biggest casualty of the Battle was London itself. The city would be devastated by the fighting. Historic monuments would be ravaged. St. Pauls was destroyed in the early months and Tower Bridge was blown up to prevent either side being outflanked. The Houses of Parliament were behind the front line for most of the fighting but as Collectivist forces began upping their weaponry by 1924, the Parliament as well as Buckingham Palace would be well within range for bombardment. The City, the financial heart of London (and indeed the world) was transformed into a battleground. Elements of the Army which defected to the WUB and Collectivist militias soon mastered the art of defending. Ruined buildings were turned into fortresses and snipers became endemic. The Oxford government brought over expert sharpshooters from the colonies, whilst Collectivist snipers got their experience on the job. The best Collec snipers became nightmares for the Loyalists, whilst the worst were killed in turn. After the victory at Sheffield, Carr ordered a new offensive in London to capitalise on the successes of WUB forces elsewhere. As the city burned, a major Collec push began along the Southbank, its target was Waterloo station. Taking this would deny the use of the major transportation hub to the Loyalists and outflank the defenders. The push began in late August 1924 and broke through early on through the frontline on Borough High Street (now much widened with buildings on either side reduced to rubble). Loyalist air support was called in to bomb areas of east London, but it was of minimal good. Most WUB command and control centres were by now underground and skirmishing in the nascent London underground train system was common. The Thames had been mined by Collecs, but the areas that were clear were home to Loyalist destroyers which were able to harass the Collectivist attack. The HMS Halifax, a Loyalist destroyer, was blown up in the river on the night of the 4th of October by a commando team of Collectivists in small attack boats. The assault however would be a failure. The attack soon bogged down east of Blackfriars Road, still somewhat short of the station. A large Loyalist counterattack supported by a drive from just south of London through Clapham, rolled back the Collectivists to positions behind where they started from. This was the last major offensive by the WUB in London. The Collecs changed tactics, seeking now to dig and fortify their holdings. The WUB believed, with some truth, that it was the Loyalists that needed to drive them our rather than the other way round. With their defences strengthened in London, the WUB sought to win the war elsewhere. For the Cameron regime in Oxford, the question was how to drive the Collectivists out of the rest of the capital. But for now the attentions of both sides would turn elsewhere.
Both sides entered 1925 planning offensives. The “Loyalist” government were deciding between three different options. One was a move east to crush the Solidarist pocket in East Anglia, the second an assault north along the east side of the Pennines to close the so-called “Durham Gap” and connect with Loyalist forces in Northumberland and Scotland and the third was an assault southwest from Hereford to Cardiff, linking up with the Welsh Loyalists and cutting off the southern Collectivist forces. The East Anglia option was discounted. Though there were credible gains to be made it was feared that moving a large amount of Loyalist offensive capability to the east would leave them exposed along their long western frontier. Whereas moves in the north and in the southwest would keep the majority of Loyalist forces facing the Collectivist heartland in the stretch between Bristol and Manchester. In the end it was decided to go for the northern route. Cardiff and Pembrokeshire could be reinforced and maintained by Loyalist control of the seas, and linking up with the northern force would then allow Loyalist forces to swing southwest and threaten the Collectivist bases in Manchester and the north. The Collectivists were also planning an offensive. Having written off an assault on Oxford and with actions near the coast undermined by the Royal Navy, the WUB government outlined a plan to secure the Midlands. Striking southeast from newly conquered Sheffield and simultaneously northeast from Birmingham, the plan was for the two arms to join at Nottingham, cutting off and encircling around 70,000 Loyalist troops in and around Derby and Stafford. And, if all went well, use this as a springboard for a drive east to link up with the Solidarists, severing Loyalist territory in England.
Cameron and the Oxford government set the date for their offensive to begin on February 27th 1925. New regiments, as well as large quantities of heavy guns and cataphracts were moved north, and soon began massing around York. Whilst reinforcements were shipped up the coast and begin assembling in Newcastle, to prepare for the drive south. The RAF repositioned its dive bombers and fighter aircraft to the Yorkshire airfields in preparation to support the drive north. Carr and the Collectivists meanwhile were preparing for Operation Talon which was scheduled for March 1st. Divisions of newly produced Collectivist cataphracts were soon gathering in the West Midlands and northern Derbyshire. Collectivist infiltrators and advance parties were soon slipping through the frontier. These advanced groups caught sight of the Loyalist troop movements and reported back. Collectivist intelligence believed these reports were exaggerated and that any troop movements to the north were minor reinforcements, they believed the main Loyalist forces to be focused in the south around Oxford and London and the rest scattered throughout Scotland, Ireland and Wales.
The Loyalist assault began at 06:00 hours on the 27th. A large artillery barrage pounded Collectivist positions as the RAF struck from overhead hitting WUB positions and the few airfields they still possessed. This was followed by a ground assault. Cataphracts and infantry moved forward together on a broad front. The town of Northallerton was seized that day and the offensive ground on. On the 28th the troops in Newcastle moved south in their own, smaller, offensive. Durham was bombed from the air, as the Royal Navy harassed coastal Collectivist positions. The news of the attack drifted into the WUB commanders throughout the 27th and the 28th, but they failed to determine the size of the offensive. What they did infer was that with large elements of the RAF focused in North Yorkshire, there was less air cover in the middle of the country. Operation Talon went ahead at 07:30 on the morning of the 1st of March. This attack rocked the Loyalists whose offensive troops were in the north and whose intelligence did not believe that the WUB was ready for another major attack so soon after the Battle of Sheffield and the intensified fighting in London. The two offensives would both advance in tandem. Both driving forward relentlessly. But it was the Loyalists who soon began refocusing on the defensive. Fearing that the success in the north would be rendered pointless if their territory was severed, the Loyalists began refocusing reinforcements and aircraft to defend against the WUB assault. Though Durham still fell in late May, thus completing the operation, any hope of a wheeled drive south was dashed as troops were reallocated to stem the Collectivist advance in the centre of the country. The Collectivists for their part took Derby, but were unable to close the gap as Loyalist reinforcements repositioned themselves. Despite this the Loyalists withdrew from Stafford, fearing encirclement. Though the Collectivists had made great gains in the Midlands as well as the capture of Hereford in the south in June, their gains were offset by the losses in the northeast. Both sides would now regroup and battle at each other with little gain for the next several months. It was stalemate.
In October however sensing a superiority in numbers and armoured vehicles, the WUB began preparing for a massive new assault on Oxford. As the Collectivist armies began assembling in and around Birmingham, the first waves of Imperial reinforcements began making landfall in Plymouth. One way or another, the war was soon to enter a new and dangerous phase.
