If they will not meet us on the open sea (a Trent TL)
- Thread starter Saphroneth
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Saphroneth
Banned
He does need a replacement navy.Ahhhhh Japanese honour at work
Wonder what it would be called, though... Ushi Maru sounds plausible, as after all the bull is an animal of the Japanese/Chinese zodiac.
More to the point however, how does this affect Japanese development? OTL they were very close to the UK and preferred to purchase UK ships, until they were capable of building their own large ships in the early 1910's. ITTL, I would expect that Zodiac to be carefully inspected and the technical revolution in Japan to start as a result of her purchase.....
The Emperor still gets to choose the name, right?
Maybe just go with Kōtetsu again...
Maybe just go with Kōtetsu again...
Saphroneth
Banned
They didn't get the kind of tech boost you mention from inspecting any of their many purchases OTL (like the Kotetsu or Kanrin Maru or Kaiten), or rather their OTL progress wouldn't be hugely boosted by having one more ship I think.
Funny thing, though. The domain of Japan with the closest relationship with Britain OTL - even before the Meiji - was Satsuma domain. The one which was bombarded twice in OTL (and once TTL).
Saphroneth
Banned
Oh, yeah, and there is no HMS Zodiac. Like the OTL Admirals, they're named for their theme.
12 August 1863
Saphroneth
Banned
12 August
A patrol of one British cavalry troop some miles north of Charleston is ambushed by the entire 2nd South Carolina regiment, who were behind a hedge. The storm of musket balls kills or injures several of the men before they can react, as well as unhorsing a number of the survivors.
Three men are immediately detached to carry news back to Charleston, and the rest of the troop endeavours to rescue their injured or unhorsed survivors - an instinct which, while admirable, results in further casualties.
This small skirmish serves as the catalyst for a battalion-scale engagement at Hanahan, where the 41st (Welsh) regiment of foot runs into the 2nd SC and bloodies them. The 41st (Cleburne's old regiment, as it happens) are still armed with the Enfield rifle-musket rather than the Snider, and their fire is slow and accurate as their 4th and 6th companies advance in skirmish order - resulting in a retreat by the 2nd SC, falling back on the main force.
This in turn results in a general concentration order going out to South Carolina troops (and volunteers from other states), instructing them to concentrate on Summerville in case of a more general British advance. Embrasures are established.
Meanwhile, in Mexico, a major blow to the Republican faction occurs when a battalion of the French Foreign Legion captures Batopilas (a centre of silver production). Several counterattacks are mounted over the course of the day by what eventually becomes a full Republican division, resulting in very heavy casualties for the Legion, but they are still in possession of the town when their relief force arrives in the middle of a thunderstorm.
These dramatic events form a not inconsiderable part of the historiography of the Foreign Legion. In particular, no fewer than a hundred and thirty legionnaires become Francais par la sang verse over the course of the day (and subsequently survive to claim the citizenship in question).
A patrol of one British cavalry troop some miles north of Charleston is ambushed by the entire 2nd South Carolina regiment, who were behind a hedge. The storm of musket balls kills or injures several of the men before they can react, as well as unhorsing a number of the survivors.
Three men are immediately detached to carry news back to Charleston, and the rest of the troop endeavours to rescue their injured or unhorsed survivors - an instinct which, while admirable, results in further casualties.
This small skirmish serves as the catalyst for a battalion-scale engagement at Hanahan, where the 41st (Welsh) regiment of foot runs into the 2nd SC and bloodies them. The 41st (Cleburne's old regiment, as it happens) are still armed with the Enfield rifle-musket rather than the Snider, and their fire is slow and accurate as their 4th and 6th companies advance in skirmish order - resulting in a retreat by the 2nd SC, falling back on the main force.
This in turn results in a general concentration order going out to South Carolina troops (and volunteers from other states), instructing them to concentrate on Summerville in case of a more general British advance. Embrasures are established.
Meanwhile, in Mexico, a major blow to the Republican faction occurs when a battalion of the French Foreign Legion captures Batopilas (a centre of silver production). Several counterattacks are mounted over the course of the day by what eventually becomes a full Republican division, resulting in very heavy casualties for the Legion, but they are still in possession of the town when their relief force arrives in the middle of a thunderstorm.
These dramatic events form a not inconsiderable part of the historiography of the Foreign Legion. In particular, no fewer than a hundred and thirty legionnaires become Francais par la sang verse over the course of the day (and subsequently survive to claim the citizenship in question).
Saphroneth
Banned
He was at this battle, though not in command. He's also still alive - things weren't quite so bad for the Legion this time as they were only outnumbered 10:1 instead of nearly 50:1.
Will the unit in question get the battle honor UN CONTRE DIX?
(This was put on the standards and regimental badge of the French 84th Infantry Regiment for their stand against the Austrians at the Battle of Graz.)
Saphroneth
Banned
Ah, thanks.
It's quite possible, actually - I'm not sure quite how large the Foreign Legion was at this time (though I was sure they had at least one battalion) but it's possible the entire FFL would get the battle honour, it's certainly going to form a major part of their historiography.
The 1er Regiment Legion etrangere has the battle honor "Camerone", so I guess it would get UN CONTRE DIX.
Saphroneth
Banned
"Camerone" seems to be pretty much shorthand for "there were more of them than we had bullets".
The next update is intended to look once more at current British doctrine, and of course the Carolinan way of trying to deal with it.
The next update is intended to look once more at current British doctrine, and of course the Carolinan way of trying to deal with it.
There is (almost) always a counter to an enemy using new tactics and/or equipment - the problem is finding that counter before it's too late, which I'm not sure the Carolinians have time for...
Saphroneth
Banned
What tends to be the case, I think, is that an army has a doctrine which defines the kind of engagement it expects to fight.
British doctrine is pretty clear - their expected engagement with an enemy rifle force is one conducted by a cloud of skirmishers, with supports behind them, and the main line behind that.
The basic tactical problem for the Carolinans is that this skirmisher cloud is (when advancing to contact) over half a mile ahead of the British main line, thus making it very hard to actually hurt the main line badly enough to repel them. Also, that the Carolinan doctrine is an outgrowth of Confederate doctrine in general, which in the late war evolved enough to focus on using skirmishers at range as an addition to the main attack but didn't get a great deal past that.
British doctrine is pretty clear - their expected engagement with an enemy rifle force is one conducted by a cloud of skirmishers, with supports behind them, and the main line behind that.
The basic tactical problem for the Carolinans is that this skirmisher cloud is (when advancing to contact) over half a mile ahead of the British main line, thus making it very hard to actually hurt the main line badly enough to repel them. Also, that the Carolinan doctrine is an outgrowth of Confederate doctrine in general, which in the late war evolved enough to focus on using skirmishers at range as an addition to the main attack but didn't get a great deal past that.
13 August 1863
Saphroneth
Banned
13 August
A skirmish develops between the fourth company of the 64th Regiment of Foot and a similarly sized force of volunteer infantry from Tennessee. The engagement is initially small and fought between two stone walls about fifty yards apart, but as both sides call for reinforcement and the sound of firing draws more men in the situation takes on something of the character of a meeting engagement.
Relatively few British infantrymen are actually on the firing line by mid-morning - the British doctrine evolved as a consequence of experiences in the Crimea places a particular emphasis on skirmishers, and indeed each 10-company battalion is only using two companies actually on the firing line itself. (Their supports a few hundred yards further back are the same again, and the balance is in the main line which is so far back as to make difficult rifle targets. The main line also contains the Armstrong batteries.)
By contrast the Carolinan force has considerably more men in their skirmish line, which consists of most of their rifle-trained force plus several complete regiments. The balance of weight of fire is much in the southern favour, though the balance of hits is much more even.
As the battle wears on towards noon, however, a major difference between the two systems starts to become apparent. When fighting Union artillery and riflemen in the late war, most Confederate commanders found it was more than adequate for your own main line to be about 1,000 yards away from the enemy main line - this made it so that Parrott rifles were unable to effectively hit targets without multiple ranging shots, and also gave sufficient distance that Napoleon (12pdr) smoothbore fire had to be case shot to be effective at all (owing to the boost given by the burster charge) while rendering infantry rifle fire ineffective. As such the distance between the main line and the thick Carolinan skirmish line is about five hundred yards, with the main line concentrating beyond that to deliver the kind of concentrated attack that was found to harm the enemy's morale.
The British forces, however, are a completely different beast. Their support line is at extreme rifle range from the Carolinan main line (and lying down to minimize artillery effect), and their best men firing with sights set at 900 yards are scoring the occasional hit... and the British main line is about 1,400 yards from the Carolinan main line, which is too long for rifle fire but is roughly half the range at which the 12-lber Armstrong gun was tested (and found able to reliably hit a 9-foot target)
The primary difficulty quickly turns out to be spotting fall-of-shot for the British guns, rather than any real problem with Carolinan counter battery fire or actually hitting the target (this problem is due to the multiple guns firing on the same target, causing confusion, and due to the flatness of the terrain - the gun-wheels are only about five feet off the level which the skirmishers are standing) and within half an hour the majority of the Carolinan guns are either neutralized or withdrawing behind some form of hard cover.
By the time this has been achieved, however, the Carolinan main attack is ready to go in. This consists of three large brigades, all with high morale (partly as none of these men have faced a British enemy yet) and the entirety of the Carolinan cavalry, which has managed to successfully use the cover of woods to reach towards the British flank. The basic concept of this attack is essentially Napoleonic - three columns to advance under the protection of their skirmishers, with cavalry coming in on the flank - and is intended to catch the British in an envelopment where they cannot react in all directions and thus will be forced to fall back (and be pursued by the cavalry).
This works up to a point.
The first indication that things are not going according to plan comes when the columns are approaching the area of the 'empty battlefield' (the area where the skirmishers are fighting). It is at this point that they come under artillery fire - slow and deliberate, as ammunition is not unlimited, but quite accurate and causing the middle column in particular to begin to spread out and lose cohesion. Casualties occur, but as with the old Napoleonic columns they assimilate skirmishers and keep going.
Next is that the British skirmishers withdraw in good order and by fire-and-movement - in most places this is almost like completely holding fire due to the need to stay away from the columns, but the skirmishers of the 11th foot on the right flank are armed with the Snider and manage to keep up a galling fire as they fall back on their supports.
A third, and much more serious, problem comes on the left flank - the Carolinan cavalry is shot to pieces in short order by the similarly Snider-armed support echelon of the 67th Foot, taking over a hundred casualties in two minutes and essentially disintegrating under the unaccustomed weight of fire at what is still a long range.
Finally, the whole of the British front line (roughly three and a half companies per battalion with the skirmishers consolidated into the reserve line, as opposed to the six companies per battalion making up the main line) begins volleying fire.
The burst of intense fire, particularly from the battalions armed with the Snider (which fire five times as fast), drives both the right and left flank brigades to ground quickly. The central brigade (facing mainly conventional Enfields rather than the Snider) pushes a little closer, before coming apart under heavy shrapnel fire.
By the time the attackers fall back they have taken very heavy casualties, especially compared to the number they inflicted on the British. The British losses amount to about one battalion combining killed or wounded, with nearly half of these coming from a surprise action midway through the battle where four hundred Indian braves swam the Ashley river and attacked a supply dump. (The noise and clamour of the main engagement hindered the British reaction to this sneak attack, and the logistics troops were distinctly not front-line combatants - while the Indians carried Springfield rifles across the river in oilskins and made good use of them.)
A skirmish develops between the fourth company of the 64th Regiment of Foot and a similarly sized force of volunteer infantry from Tennessee. The engagement is initially small and fought between two stone walls about fifty yards apart, but as both sides call for reinforcement and the sound of firing draws more men in the situation takes on something of the character of a meeting engagement.
Relatively few British infantrymen are actually on the firing line by mid-morning - the British doctrine evolved as a consequence of experiences in the Crimea places a particular emphasis on skirmishers, and indeed each 10-company battalion is only using two companies actually on the firing line itself. (Their supports a few hundred yards further back are the same again, and the balance is in the main line which is so far back as to make difficult rifle targets. The main line also contains the Armstrong batteries.)
By contrast the Carolinan force has considerably more men in their skirmish line, which consists of most of their rifle-trained force plus several complete regiments. The balance of weight of fire is much in the southern favour, though the balance of hits is much more even.
As the battle wears on towards noon, however, a major difference between the two systems starts to become apparent. When fighting Union artillery and riflemen in the late war, most Confederate commanders found it was more than adequate for your own main line to be about 1,000 yards away from the enemy main line - this made it so that Parrott rifles were unable to effectively hit targets without multiple ranging shots, and also gave sufficient distance that Napoleon (12pdr) smoothbore fire had to be case shot to be effective at all (owing to the boost given by the burster charge) while rendering infantry rifle fire ineffective. As such the distance between the main line and the thick Carolinan skirmish line is about five hundred yards, with the main line concentrating beyond that to deliver the kind of concentrated attack that was found to harm the enemy's morale.
The British forces, however, are a completely different beast. Their support line is at extreme rifle range from the Carolinan main line (and lying down to minimize artillery effect), and their best men firing with sights set at 900 yards are scoring the occasional hit... and the British main line is about 1,400 yards from the Carolinan main line, which is too long for rifle fire but is roughly half the range at which the 12-lber Armstrong gun was tested (and found able to reliably hit a 9-foot target)
The primary difficulty quickly turns out to be spotting fall-of-shot for the British guns, rather than any real problem with Carolinan counter battery fire or actually hitting the target (this problem is due to the multiple guns firing on the same target, causing confusion, and due to the flatness of the terrain - the gun-wheels are only about five feet off the level which the skirmishers are standing) and within half an hour the majority of the Carolinan guns are either neutralized or withdrawing behind some form of hard cover.
By the time this has been achieved, however, the Carolinan main attack is ready to go in. This consists of three large brigades, all with high morale (partly as none of these men have faced a British enemy yet) and the entirety of the Carolinan cavalry, which has managed to successfully use the cover of woods to reach towards the British flank. The basic concept of this attack is essentially Napoleonic - three columns to advance under the protection of their skirmishers, with cavalry coming in on the flank - and is intended to catch the British in an envelopment where they cannot react in all directions and thus will be forced to fall back (and be pursued by the cavalry).
This works up to a point.
The first indication that things are not going according to plan comes when the columns are approaching the area of the 'empty battlefield' (the area where the skirmishers are fighting). It is at this point that they come under artillery fire - slow and deliberate, as ammunition is not unlimited, but quite accurate and causing the middle column in particular to begin to spread out and lose cohesion. Casualties occur, but as with the old Napoleonic columns they assimilate skirmishers and keep going.
Next is that the British skirmishers withdraw in good order and by fire-and-movement - in most places this is almost like completely holding fire due to the need to stay away from the columns, but the skirmishers of the 11th foot on the right flank are armed with the Snider and manage to keep up a galling fire as they fall back on their supports.
A third, and much more serious, problem comes on the left flank - the Carolinan cavalry is shot to pieces in short order by the similarly Snider-armed support echelon of the 67th Foot, taking over a hundred casualties in two minutes and essentially disintegrating under the unaccustomed weight of fire at what is still a long range.
Finally, the whole of the British front line (roughly three and a half companies per battalion with the skirmishers consolidated into the reserve line, as opposed to the six companies per battalion making up the main line) begins volleying fire.
The burst of intense fire, particularly from the battalions armed with the Snider (which fire five times as fast), drives both the right and left flank brigades to ground quickly. The central brigade (facing mainly conventional Enfields rather than the Snider) pushes a little closer, before coming apart under heavy shrapnel fire.
By the time the attackers fall back they have taken very heavy casualties, especially compared to the number they inflicted on the British. The British losses amount to about one battalion combining killed or wounded, with nearly half of these coming from a surprise action midway through the battle where four hundred Indian braves swam the Ashley river and attacked a supply dump. (The noise and clamour of the main engagement hindered the British reaction to this sneak attack, and the logistics troops were distinctly not front-line combatants - while the Indians carried Springfield rifles across the river in oilskins and made good use of them.)
Saphroneth
Banned
For what it's worth, an attack like this going in against an American formation of this size would have been quite enough to defeat them, make them backpedal at least, even if the American formation was quite good and on the ball.
By contrast, this UK formation has actually handled its weapons comparatively badly compared to their capabilities. The skirmishers could probably have given the attacking Confederate columns the "Pickett" treatment even with how outnumbered they were, and the artillery is the kind of thing that in the Franco-Prussian War was able to destroy French forces from so far off that the Prussian commander had to determine if he was on target by looking at the French formation for signs of disruption!
Training and equipment quality is incredibly important, and the Carolinans (plus volunteers) don't have nearly enough of it.
By contrast, this UK formation has actually handled its weapons comparatively badly compared to their capabilities. The skirmishers could probably have given the attacking Confederate columns the "Pickett" treatment even with how outnumbered they were, and the artillery is the kind of thing that in the Franco-Prussian War was able to destroy French forces from so far off that the Prussian commander had to determine if he was on target by looking at the French formation for signs of disruption!
Training and equipment quality is incredibly important, and the Carolinans (plus volunteers) don't have nearly enough of it.
14 August 1863
Saphroneth
Banned
14 August
The Emperor of Japan stays quiet about the Kyoto affair, neither confirming nor denying that he ordered the attack. This is taken as proof that the attack was indeed ordered - if Iemochi's leaked assertion was a lie then it would be a point of honour - by a substantial fraction of the populace.
Some consider this means Iemochi failed, while others consider that he did very well with the command he was given. The general sense is that the whole affair was probably something that should be chalked up to experience.
Alexander II of Russia issues a decree to the army, directing them to secure control of Lithuania and crush the resistance there before moving against Poland. This is a calculated move, and one which is intended to cut losses - recent battles have shown the Polish uprising taking on more of a national character and indeed by this point their army is becoming worryingly professional (while their artillery is becoming very dangerous indeed).
Lithuania, still at the level of scythes and elderly muskets rather than modern rifled small arms and artillery, is an easier prospect.
The 58th Foot is ambushed in South Carolina by a large group of militiamen and sharpshooters, assisted by one cannon concealed in a farmhouse. The ambush takes the 58th by surprise, and they lose a few dozen men killed and more wounded. Notably, the militia commander (a Charlestonian and quite a fire-eater) orders the retreat before the British regiment has fully recovered from the surprise; this is one reason the casualties on his side are as light as they are.
Also on this date, the Melbourne departs Charleston with a large number of passengers - mostly former slaves. This is part of a deliberate policy by Stopfort, partly enacted because otherwise his supply ships would be sailing home in ballast.
Napoleon III of France asks his advisors to look into the plausibility of a breech-loading rifle of similar capability to the British Snider, as (for now) a purely preventative measure.
The Emperor of Japan stays quiet about the Kyoto affair, neither confirming nor denying that he ordered the attack. This is taken as proof that the attack was indeed ordered - if Iemochi's leaked assertion was a lie then it would be a point of honour - by a substantial fraction of the populace.
Some consider this means Iemochi failed, while others consider that he did very well with the command he was given. The general sense is that the whole affair was probably something that should be chalked up to experience.
Alexander II of Russia issues a decree to the army, directing them to secure control of Lithuania and crush the resistance there before moving against Poland. This is a calculated move, and one which is intended to cut losses - recent battles have shown the Polish uprising taking on more of a national character and indeed by this point their army is becoming worryingly professional (while their artillery is becoming very dangerous indeed).
Lithuania, still at the level of scythes and elderly muskets rather than modern rifled small arms and artillery, is an easier prospect.
The 58th Foot is ambushed in South Carolina by a large group of militiamen and sharpshooters, assisted by one cannon concealed in a farmhouse. The ambush takes the 58th by surprise, and they lose a few dozen men killed and more wounded. Notably, the militia commander (a Charlestonian and quite a fire-eater) orders the retreat before the British regiment has fully recovered from the surprise; this is one reason the casualties on his side are as light as they are.
Also on this date, the Melbourne departs Charleston with a large number of passengers - mostly former slaves. This is part of a deliberate policy by Stopfort, partly enacted because otherwise his supply ships would be sailing home in ballast.
Napoleon III of France asks his advisors to look into the plausibility of a breech-loading rifle of similar capability to the British Snider, as (for now) a purely preventative measure.