Odyssey of Fritz, the Turncoat Prince

[Alt History Buff]

Chapter 566

November, 1894

North America

By astonishing coincidence, several of the larger Indian reservations and national forests would prove to be nesting grounds for the passenger pigeon. As the pigeons were hunted nearly to extinction, these preserves would be among the reasons why the birds survived. Later historians would point out that the pigeons may have already been extinct by 1800 had it not been the restriction of slavery. In the 18th and 19th centuries, much of the protein given to slaves would be passenger pigeons collected cheaply by the hundreds of thousands. Had slavery been expanded as recommended by some of the slave states, it was likely that the additional demand for cheap, low-quality protein would have been the death of the species.

As it was, the Natural Preservation Act would act to protect endangered species like the Buffalo, the Passenger Pigeon and others.

Naples

The Kingdom of Naples would be renamed the "Kingdom of Italy" as it now comprised most of the Italian Peninsula as well as the islands of Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Malta, etc. The King of Spain, Portugal, Italy, etc didn't appear to notice the effect on Tuscany and even upon Gaul (namely the Piedmont Kingdom). They were not amused by the King of Spain's apparent pronouncement that he also spoke for all Italians.

As it was, even the Italians under his nominal command would grow to resent the House of Bourbon's rule. The northeastern segments of Italy which had been wrested from the collapsing Habsburgs were very different from the southerners and the attempt to centralize the most of the Peninsula would go badly, not least due to the communication lag. The regional Spanish governors of Rome, Venice and other cities would retain effective control.

The Italians would rise up again and again, particularly in the north, but the haphazard nature of the rebellions would prevent any immediate success.

Hungary

The new King of Hungary had originally been placed upon the throne on the assumption he would be a reformer. However, he would do little to nothing to alienate the oligarchy of nobles whom had selected him. Resentful Hungarians and Transylvanians would condemn him as no less a tyrant than the Habsburg Emperor.

Bohemia

Though the Bohemian Diet was more representative, that nation would soon see a great deal of ethnic strife by the Germans of the west and Slovaks of the east.

 

[Alt History Buff]

Chapter 567

March, 1895

Italian Peninsula

Though the Spanish Bourbon rule over Italy was hardly popular, the truth was that the "King of Italy" actually made several key structural improvements that were already great improvements over the former system. For one, intra-Italian relations were eased as trade barriers within Spanish Bourbon Italy were dropped. Indeed, historically the largest trading partner for the former Habsburg Italy and Papal States was the rest of Italy. Now, the tax levies that most of the Italian states had enacted would make procuring even basic goods across borders almost prohibitively expensive for oppressed peasants. Seeing customs barriers fall in most of Italy while lowered dramatically against the Spanish and Portuguese realms would make a huge difference.

Italians were granted a freedom of movement for the first time since before feudalism rose after the fall of Rome. Taxes were lowered in some areas (particularly the Papal States) and old hindrances on labor limitations (guilds) were abolished. While the Spanish Bourbons were not exactly known for their progressive policies, the other current and former crowned heads of Italy were truly loathsome. Economic, legal and other types of progress would continue along as the Spanish King would consolidate his power over Italy.

It would do little to endear the Italians to him as the King made no effort to encourage democracy...and much effort to halt it.

Manhattan

The Census was complete and, once again, they showed a marked increase in population for America. Almost a fifth of the 95 million Americas would speak a language other than English as a first language. Spanish was the most common of these tongues, representing 8 million people of the 19 million non-English as a first language speakers. Approximately 5 million were along the "American Main" from the Moskito Coast Territory to Orinoco Province. Here Spanish would remain dominant for the foreseeable future. Even new immigrants to these lands tended to learn Spanish before English. The British, Poles, Ethiopians and others would enrichen the cultural stew while absorbing many traits of the Latins.

Another 3 million or so Spanish-speakers existed throughout America, mostly the along the American southwestern states that had been taken from the former colony of New Spain. Unlike along the Main, these were not in the majority and these were slowly being linguistically assimilated. There was also a modest but steady stream of migrants to America whom spoke Spanish a first language. Managua, Nicaragua, Zacatecas, Aztlan and Spain were the largest contributors. The former two most often ended up along the Main while the latter three tended to migrate to the "North" American Provinces.

After Spanish, the most common tongues spoken in America were German, Gaelic, Russian, Portuguese, Italian, French, Yiddish, Hebrew, Polish.,Lebanese, Coptic, Ethiopian and others. Within each of these languages, there tended to be sub-dialects (the assorted Italian dialects, for example). The largest city in America by some accounts was Brooklyn (Provided one did not count outlying neighborhoods in Boston or Philadelphia). If one counted the "Greater New York Harbor" region, this was without question the greatest city in America.

Brooklyn was a city with enormous German neighborhoods that mixed with Italian and Irish. Queens was known for her Russian, Polish, Jewish, Coptic, Lebanese and other peoples. The Bronx tended towards smaller neighborhoods with greater diversity. Native born "Americans", of course, lived in all cities but constituted a majority only in Manhattan and Georgetown (across the Hudson in New Jersey).

 

[Alt History Buff]

Chapter 568

September, 1895

South Sumatra

In the aftermath of an absolutely vicious counterattack by the Maratha-led forces of the north, the southern portions of Sumatra would fall back into the hills of the large island. The coastal towns and villages would fall to the forces of the Peshwa and their northern Sumatran allies. Had the assorted Kings, Chiefs and Sultans of the south made peace, it was likely that the carnage would have ended. However, several refused and the Maratha Army would come down hard upon the Sunni leaders of the island...and their people...in what would turn out to be a long and bloody war that the Peshwa would regret involving his nation. Though the Emperor had a vast population at his disposal, the cost of the war over the coming decades would hinder the development of the subcontinent.

Beijing

The Emperor's Generals and Admirals had spent the past year preparing for invasion and seemed still many months away. The Nipponese islands had, in the past, been tributary to the Middle Kingdom. However, long ago, the Chinese Emperors had lost any semblance of authority. The last attempt was made by the Mongol Emperors which resulted in the invasion force being annihilated by a severe typhoon.

They would not shame the Emperor by failing in such a way in 1896, when His Imperial Majesty pronounced would be acceptable by him to invade.

The Chinese Empire was vast. Not all of the realms of the Emperor were directly governed. Some, like Chosin, were tributary states which bore their own Kings. They were granted autonomy provided they knew their place. The peoples to the south like the Viets, the Khmer, the Siamese, the Burmese, etc did not have such a defined role but certainly knew to stay in their place. The new nation arising from the proselytizing of the hill country west of Bengal and East of Burma with the word of Mani would form an alliance with the Mandarin Emperor, whom was a Manicheaist himself.

But the ancient defeat of the Chinese Empire under Kublai Khan would rankle the Chinese even to this day. The Admirals would have a more pragmatic reason: the Nipponese islands were strategically significant as they mirrored the coast of China. Given the advances in naval technology over the past century, it was possible that perhaps a foreign power like the Maratha Empire may seek to control the islands. This was unacceptable.

The Nipponese islands would return to due submission under Chinese terms. The Emperor would allow the little Kingling of the Nipponese to retain his throne, provided he learned his place.

Carig (formerly Santiago), Filipino Empire

The Philippines, also known as the Filipino Empire, was an Empire without an Emperor. Based around the old Spanish Colonial Capital of Santiago (now renamed Carig after the original name of the precursor village), the Philippines would claim islands to the south like Borneo, Sulawesi and Guinea. This was not done via conquest as much as immigration. Under Dutch, Spanish and United East India Company ownership, the valuable portions of these islands were settled with Filipino migrants to work the fields. Almost entirely Catholic, they would exist uneasily for centuries with the Muslims that populated the coasts of these lands prior to the arrival of Europeans. The majority of these island's native populations were, in fact, animists or practitioners of some native religion. Dominating the hinterlands, most of these people would not be aware of the outside world and couldn't care less what the Muslim or Christian newcomers did.

By 1895, the Filipino Catholics outnumbered the Muslims settlers from the Indian Ocean and their converts. However, this was a patchwork quilt of dominance, with some "Sultans" still claiming large swathes of land in the claimed Filipino Empire.

Seeking to control predominantly Muslim south Sulawesi, the Filipino government would send an army under Emilio Aguinaldo to destroy the south Sulawesi sultanate. The northern tribes of Sulawesi had converted to Christianity or remained largely animist and provide soldiers and guides to the Filipino army.

 

[Alt History Buff]

Chapter 569

March, 1896

Eastern China

Song Go was among the oldest active duty Admirals in the Chinese Imperial Navy. Despite his advanced years (68), he was hardly hidebound. For the past several decades, Go had been among the most supportive of the Admiralty in reforming both the structure and advancing the technology of the navy. Go had visited Europe several times in the past twenty years with assorted naval engineers to study the latest design innovations which apparently came easy to the petty states of that far off continent. He'd been welcomed as something of a curiosity in Britain, the Dutch Republic, Russia and other barbarian nations and admitted a grudging respect for the savages.

They simply innovated better than China. Railroads, telegraphs, telephones and other technologies had been born in Europe (and America)...not in China. That actually was hard to swallow for a man as proud of his nation as any other. Unlike many of the other sailors, soldiers and engineers, Go was not a Manichaeist. That new religion now dominated the military and bureaucratic castes of China. However, Go found the dogma tiresome compared to old-fashioned Chinese Buddhism. Surprisingly this did not affect his career overly much.

For the past several years, China had been burdened by internal unrest as structural changes to the economy, several terrible natural disasters (like the floods of the great rivers) and the invasion of western ideas like this absurd concept of democracy had permeated Chinese "intellectuals". As best the Admiral could tell, the "intellectuals" deemed whom reached such a title by themselves. Few had ever served the Emperor in any meaningful way from military service to bureaucracy to commerce to farming. "Intellectuals" were basically parasites whom expected others to do their work for them...and be thanked for dispensing wisdom.

Admiral Go would shrug off these people as a threat as overthrowing the Government would probably demand something resembling WORK and that did not seem likely from these fools. it would require them getting off their asses and doing something.

In the meantime, Go would return to his task of rebuilding the Chinese Imperial Navy with the new steam (and now diesel) technology. Dozens of warships with ever more powerful weapons bristling upon their decks. The Admiral was not certain at all that individual Chinese warships were a match for European counterparts but they were about 10,000 miles away.

Through the Spring of 1896, the forces of China massed along the eastern ports. Dozens of warships, hundreds of transports and tens of thousands of men lined up along the docks. Such activity was impossible for even the hermits of Nippon to miss. Yet no obvious response appeared in the making.

Maybe they thought the same typhoon which wiped out the last Chinese fleet so many centuries ago.

Apparently, the Nipponese failed to grasp that steam and diesel ships were of a different class than those obsolete and frail wooden sailing ships.

Manhattan

President Thompson's term of office was nearing completion. Already, like his predecessors for over a century, the President was becoming increasingly marginalized as a Lame Duck while even members of his own party ignored Thompson in the race to succeed him. Still, he had no particular regrets. Unlike his predecessor, Thompson had enjoyed good economic times and much of his term had been dedicated to incremental change rather than transformative legislation. For the past decades, there had been a steady transportation in terms of banking regulations, anti-trust laws, civil service reform, etc.

Thompson would follow his Nationalist and Provincial predecessors by keeping a powerful navy competitive with the best of Europe. Only Russia and possibly Gaul had mightier navies. Britain was probably close to America and, while the Spanish/Portuguese/Italian navy was nominally larger, it was at least a full generation behind. The Spanish Bourbons could legitimately be challenged at sea by such naval minnows as the Kingdom of Greece, the Dutch Republic and the Ghanan Confederacy. No one in the Western world particularly trembled at the thought of a Spanish reinvasion of their former colonies. The "Kingdom" of Germany, meaning the collection of northeastern Protestant German states under the House of Hohenzollern, was reportedly considering forming a navy but the President couldn't imagine why. Who would they fight at sea? Germany had little to no naval tradition.

With few nations likely to threaten American interests, sometimes it was difficult to pass reasonable appropriations through Congress. As a compromise, Thompson had been willing to let the army wither a bit down to 36,000 men. As the UAP took up most of North America and a not inconsequential amount of South America, 36,000 seems a petty amount. But even this modest sized army led to questions why it needed to exist. It was impossible to imagine any nation invading America.

The Gallic Empire via Quebec? The Andean Republic? Aztlan?

Hardly. Against such foes, even 36,000 seemed more than enough. At the moment, the greatest threat to America was the few remaining plains tribes that had not accepted the reservation system. The actual amount of Indians resisting was...perhaps a few hundred....across hundreds of thousands of square miles.

Thompson had followed a path of neutrality and it had worked throughout his Presidency. Fortunately, America had not been dragged into the odd battles fought around the world. But wars were in the offing that may extend beyond Germany or Sumatra.

But that would be the problem of Thompson's successor.

Another year and Thompson would be back in Nova Scotia writing his memoirs.

 

[MorningDew]

If I may make a prediction, the Chinese invasion of Nippon will not go as expected. The only reason they wouldn't be in full-blown panic mode is either they don't expect that the invasion force China is building to be for them (Possible, but they are the pretty obvious target. The next closest target, the Philippines, is developed enough to resist pretty much anything up to an all-out attack, so there really is only one logical target in the scenario), OR they are hiding their true capabilities. They were already "opened" by the East India company some decades back, so they definitely know by now that they are not invincible to foreign intervention/invasion, and should be decently developed themselves by now if the otl mindset was any indication (when Japan was opened otl, it started a crisis between the conservatives and reformers who realized that their isolation was unsustainable. When the reformers won, they poured in a lot of money and industrialized quickly BECAUSE they didn't want to end up as the next colony. The reforming faction won ittl too, as the EIC allowed the emperor to take back ownership of the country from the shogun). Unless they have been completely ignoring the mainland, which I find hard to believe (even an underdeveloped nation would have a spying network), Japan is probably gearing up to resist the invasion.

Really though, considering that all the reports of "the backward isles" have come from the Chinese perspective (not from America, Europe, or even any other countries in Asia), and that we have heard almost nothing from the Japanese themselves for quite some time, the conclusion seems obvious to me that Japan is not what it seems.

Even if the Chinese have superior numbers, the attacking side has a significant disadvantage in a naval invasion scenario. The larger an army the bigger its supply lines are and unless the Chinese set sail from Busan (which probably means marching their troops through Korea, which the Japanese can't possibly ignore), they have to travel far enough that even inferior Japanese ships will be able to wreak havoc on their supply lines.

Furthermore, despite the remarkable development in China, this invasion is already causing the system to strain along with floods and other mishaps. (I think that's what you were trying to show?)

And that's not even counting things like Kyushu Pirates, and the fact that all of the large population centers are on the Pacific side of the country. Unless the Chinese can invade directly into Kanto they will have to invade through a land rife with dense hilly forests and easily defendable mountain passes. It's almost like British India and Afghanistan otl in a way.

 

[MorningDew]

Just realized something: For a maritime empire, Carig is about as inland as you can get on Luzon. Why not stick with Manilla?

 

[Alt History Buff]

Just realized something: For a maritime empire, Carig is about as inland as you can get on Luzon. Why not stick with Manilla?

I think you caught me in something. I thought Carig was an early name for Manila but just looked it up and think I may have actually gotten for an early Spanish name for Santiago, Puebla de Carig. I'll have to go back and correct either by changing the capital to Santiago or changing the name of the capital back to Manila. Thanks.

 

[Alt History Buff]

If I may make a prediction, the Chinese invasion of Nippon will not go as expected. The only reason they wouldn't be in full-blown panic mode is either they don't expect that the invasion force China is building to be for them (Possible, but they are the pretty obvious target. The next closest target, the Philippines, is developed enough to resist pretty much anything up to an all-out attack, so there really is only one logical target in the scenario), OR they are hiding their true capabilities. They were already "opened" by the East India company some decades back, so they definitely know by now that they are not invincible to foreign intervention/invasion, and should be decently developed themselves by now if the otl mindset was any indication (when Japan was opened otl, it started a crisis between the conservatives and reformers who realized that their isolation was unsustainable. When the reformers won, they poured in a lot of money and industrialized quickly BECAUSE they didn't want to end up as the next colony. The reforming faction won ittl too, as the EIC allowed the emperor to take back ownership of the country from the shogun). Unless they have been completely ignoring the mainland, which I find hard to believe (even an underdeveloped nation would have a spying network), Japan is probably gearing up to resist the invasion.

Really though, considering that all the reports of "the backward isles" have come from the Chinese perspective (not from America, Europe, or even any other countries in Asia), and that we have heard almost nothing from the Japanese themselves for quite some time, the conclusion seems obvious to me that Japan is not what it seems.

Even if the Chinese have superior numbers, the attacking side has a significant disadvantage in a naval invasion scenario. The larger an army the bigger its supply lines are and unless the Chinese set sail from Busan (which probably means marching their troops through Korea, which the Japanese can't possibly ignore), they have to travel far enough that even inferior Japanese ships will be able to wreak havoc on their supply lines.

Furthermore, despite the remarkable development in China, this invasion is already causing the system to strain along with floods and other mishaps. (I think that's what you were trying to show?)

And that's not even counting things like Kyushu Pirates, and the fact that all of the large population centers are on the Pacific side of the country. Unless the Chinese can invade directly into Kanto they will have to invade through a land rife with dense hilly forests and easily defendable mountain passes. It's almost like British India and Afghanistan otl in a way.

I would agree that the "Reformist" faction of the Emperor won the battle against the shogunate much as it did in the past. However, there would be less impetus to follow thru as there, by this was on obvious threat of European colonialism. China continued to develop but politically became more introverted and it seemed less likely that the post United East India Company Marathas would ever intervene in Nippon.

Therefore, I'm not sure if Nippon would continue their reforms and modernization without any immediate threat. Certainly, China, having gotten out from underneath the Opium epidemic, would not be overly interested in Nippon during the mid to late 19th century. By the time the threat from China emerged, it would likely be too late.

I agree that a conquest of Nippon, even with an assumed domination of the seas, would be very difficult at any point. I like your comparison of the landscape to Afghanistan. It is quite apt.

Thanks for reading.

I'm probably going to start wrapping up this TL in the next week or two as I usually get bored by the start of the 20th century and run out of ideas anyway. The way this TL seems to be playing out is that several demographic and geographic entities (America, Russia, China and the Maratha Empire) would be unassailable from external threats while Europe, Africa and South America may have a series of wars that would not extend to "World Wars".

I suspect the 20th Century would be far more peaceful in this TL than OTL.

Thanks again.

 

[Alt History Buff]

Chapter 570

June, 1896

Calumet, Wabash

For the first time, a major party held its convention in the "west". The bustling port city of Calumet, Wabash sat at the southern tip of Lake Michigan would host the Nationalist Convention. Candidates like Garret Hobart of New Jersey, Deputy President William McKinley of Wabash, Mark Hanna of Seneca and others contested the primary. Several more would throw their hats in the ring as well.

In the end, the capable but dull William McKinley was chosen as the Candidate with Mark Hanna of Seneca willing to play second fiddle as Deputy President.

Not to be outdone, the Provincial Party would hold their convention a week later even further west (well, northwest) in Potawatomi, Illinois. Among their candidates was the young William Jennings Bryan of Nebraska, Richard Bland of Missouri, Grover Cleveland of New York and Robert Pattison of Pennsylvania.

Eventually, the party settled upon Richard Bland as the Presidential Candidate with Robert Pattison Deputy President.

Throughout the summer, the Nationalists were considered the favorites as the six year term of President Thompson had been prosperous and quiet.

Western Nippon

Despite their recent policy of introversion, the Nipponese Empire was not unprepared for invasion. Trade still existed in the Chosin Sea (called the Sea of Japan or Sea of Nippon by the Nipponese) and the Nipponese Government would have to be blind not to see hundreds of ships and tens of thousands of soldiers and material consolidating in the eastern Chinese ports and southern Chosin (Busan).

The Chinese were eager to renew the tributary status of Nippon to the Middle Kingdom and truthfully did not desire a full conquest. If the Nipponese offered due obedience to the truth Emperor, all would be forgiven and the Nipponese would be granted a large measure of autonomy comparable to Chosin. Even the Nipponese Emperor would be able to keep his title.

Wasn't that fair?

However, the luck of the Nipponese would see a repeat of the famous Kamikaze wind that devastated the Chinese fleet in the last invasion. Fortunately for the Chinese, the fleet had only begun to depart port and most ships made it back to the safety of the harbors under steam power. So vicious was the storm that, had the fleet been of wood and sail and been caught out at sea....well, few would have REACHED Nippon.

As it was, the storm caused enough damage and confusion that it was at least six weeks before the Chinese could reorganize and sail. This time, they would reach Nippon without incident. Indeed, despite being spied by several Nipponese ships, the bulk of the army of 30,000 men would be able to reach shore even before the Emperor had been informed of the invasion (though he was certainly expecting it by now).

With little resistance, the Chinese Army was able to transfer all men and material to shore on Western Honshu before the Nipponese could even think about forming a counter-attack. The Nipponese Navy, considerably weaker than China's powerful fleet, didn't even make an appearance and most ships remained at anchor in Eastern Nippon.

Northern Africa

The Maghreb states of North Africa (Morocco, Angiers, Tunis, etc) had been devastated by half a century or more of European occupation. Only Morocco, with good relations with Europe due to lack of support for the piracy of the Barbary Era, would avoid this fate. The old Moorish and Ottoman states fell along with the coastal cities. Though they would be retaken one by one, the new governments that eventually arose after the retreat of the European and American forces would not be Arab in character but Berber. This was solidified as the school systems encouraged Berber languages as the "official language" rather than Arabic. By the turn of the 20th Century, more people in North Africa spoke Berber languages than Arabic and this trend would continue for the 20th Century.

This was similar to other nations whom, deliberately or by happenstance, severely alter the spoken languages of their realms. Erse would replaced English in Ireland and the unique Rheinish dialect became more prominent in the Rhineland. Both "Upper" (southern Germany under the Habsburgs) and "Lower" (northern Germany under the Hohenzollerns) or "High" and "Low" German would become entrenched in their respective realms. Even the old dominance of French, literally the "Lingua Franca" of Europe, would become less and less used as the Gallis Kingdoms would utilize their own local dialects like Piedmontese, Occitan, Flemish, Alsacian, Breton and others were taught in the assorted Kingdoms under the House of Stuart-Bourbon as first languages. Even English received a great boost in America as immigrants were more easily absorbed as children.

The later 19th Century had been one of consolidation for the Maghreb. New Kingdoms eventually managed to bring city and country together as one nation.

It also meant expansion in the only way that these nations possibly could now that the old era of piracy was over. The Kingdoms marched south into the Sahara, annexing on paper huge quantities of land...mostly with few habitants and little immediate value. Morocco, which expanded south along the coast of western Africa, probably believed they had gained the most though even these "gains" were difficult to quantify. The natives of the Sahara bore more resemblance to the ruddy southern Africans than the olive-complexioned Berbers of the north. These people were ancient traders whose ancestors thousands of years ago had roamed a more temperate Sahara desert.

Though the benefits were nominal to the point of non-existent, the addition of these lands would raise the profile of the assorted Maghreb countries even as Europe outpaced them in technology.

 

[Alt History Buff]

Map of World, 1896

 

[Alt History Buff]

Chapter 571

November, 1896

Manhattan

President Thompson would remain in Manhattan throughout the election of 1896. Largely a forgotten man as the rest of the nation voted on the next regime, Thompson would be astounded at the result. He'd assumed the election was virtually guaranteed to his Nationalist Party. However, Governor Bland of Missouri would embark upon a whistle-stop tour of the nation, particularly swing Provinces, as would his Deputy Presidential Candidate, Robert Pattison of New Jersey. The Nationalist Candidates McKinley and Hanna would follow the old tried and tested strategy of letting operatives control the election. Throughout the fall of 1896, the active campaigning would lead to victory in key battleground Provinces which would swing the election over to the Provincial Party.

President-elect Bland would give a speech in his home town which featured a photograph of Bland holding up a newspaper proclaiming "McKinley defeats Bland!" as the headline, a big grin on his face. The newspaper editor had been so sure of a Nationalist victory that he had thousands of copies printed. While local legend held that the papers were sold on the streets, they were, in fact, never distributed as the editor had the good sense to hold off. However, a sympathetic employee at the paper managed to grab a few copies and have them delivered to the President-elect. Many of these copies would go on to be collector's items and Bland would keep a framed copy of the headline in his office for the rest of his life.

Southern Honshu

While the invasion itself did not prompt an immediate plea for a negotiated settlement from the Nipponese, the Chinese Army had yet to suffer a significant reversal. By November, the initial 35,000 Chinese troops advanced in several directions from their point of invasion along the southwest coast of Honshu. They were soon joined by another 15,000 soldiers and were able to consolidate their beachhead and expanded towards Hiroshima in the extreme south and Osaka and Kyoto of the east.

It was not the defenders that posed the worst of the problems for the invaders but the land itself. There were few adequate roads for an army to traverse and even a march of a few dozens miles proved immensely difficult. The Chinese Generals were accustomed to a vast nation and assumed a comparatively tiny state like Nippon would prove easier to travel. However, Nippon lacked the huge navigable rivers and extensive rail system of China. The topography of Nippon varied between "hilly" and "mountainous" and even modest journeys proved difficult even in the absence of major resistance.

It took the Nipponese Emperor a great deal of time to consolidate his own forces of 30,000 men. Many of these were Samurai whom had spent the past decades begging the Emperor not to abolish their caste. While the Emperor agreed to allow the Boshi (Samurai) to continue as the martial caste (though loyal to the Emperor rather than the individual nobles) and carry swords in public, their right to execute peasants whom showed them disrespect was removed. These concessions would slow the Nipponese adaption of new technology like breech-loading rifles. Most of the ancient arquebus had been retired but the predominant weapons of the time for the infantry was a muzzle-loader that would have been retired half a century before in Europe or America....or China. If anything, the artillery was even more obsolete.

The Nipponese Army was in transition. Now longer waves of Boshi on foot or horseback charging forth with sword in hand but lines of muskets dominated the battlefield. However, as the Boshi remained so prevalent politically, there was a disproportionate number of "officers", effectively Boshi in a new role, that flanked the musket-men. In some Regiments, there were as many "officers" waving swords as lesser born musket-men. This greatly reduced the effectiveness of both the volleys and the massed charges.

Unsurprisingly, the Chinese decimated the Nipponese forces on anything resembling a fixed battle. The nature of Boshi-training and thought would prevent an effective use of partisan tactics as Boshi considered such action dishonorable and better applied to brigands than soldiers. As a result, the Chinese broke the back of the Nipponese Army and marched on towards the cities of southern Honshu (mostly on the Pacific coastline).

However, all was not lost for the defenders. While the army proved incapable, the peasants were more than willing to launch a campaign of partisan resistance, one which would be perfectly suited for the rugged terrain of Nippon.

Western Europe

Though the two nations had been enemies for centuries, Britain and the Gallic Kingdoms found much common ground these days. Neither desired any particular involvement in Germany and wanted to solidify their command of the west. King Francis and Prime Minister Gladstone would lead an assortment of other western European nations into a defensive pact which would eventually include Ireland, The Scandinavian Crown, Flanders, the Rhineland, the Dutch Republic and much of the petty states of the German Confederation.

While there was some concern in Gaul about Spanish Bourbon expansion in Italy, this was not considered a likely flashpoint for war. Much more disconcerting was the antipathy between the Protestant Hohenzollern "Kingdom" of Germany in northeast Germany and the Catholic Habsburg "Empire" of Germany in the south. This rivalry brought both religious and Dynastic concerns to Central Europe.

Both Britain and Gaul desired to strike a balance of power between the two German states in hopes of preventing the rise of a unified rival. Both Saxony had quietly gravitated towards an alliance with the Habsburgs for fear of Hohenzollern aggression. Two-thirds of the German people were Protestant and the Hohenzollerns coveted predominantly Protestant Saxony which had absorbed the Sudetenland in the revolution of the past decade. The Wettin King of Saxony broke his with people whose radicals favored a single Protestant German state. He knew that only the Hohenzollerns would rule such a nation, not himself. Thus he acted against the general feeling of his people just as many of the Princes of the German Confederation allied with the Western Alliance when German Nationalists within their borders sought a closer relationship with Hohenzollern Germany.

It seemed a war was brewing...and possibly revolution if the smaller Protestant German states were not careful.

Anatolia and the Levant

Arkady Suvorov was named after his illustrious great-grandfather whom had ruled the Holy Lands for so very long. With the retirement of his father, the Czar felt it wise to retain the Suvorov governorship of the Holy Lands for another generation. Fortyish, Suvorov had been born in Jerusalem but educated in Moscow before returning to the Holy Lands to act as aid to his father.

Among his first duties was reviewing the new census. Its conclusions were shocking. By 1895, there were more Russians (and Russian-"type" peoples like Ruthenians and Georgians) in the Holy Lands (not including Anatolia) than ethnic Arabs. There were as many Christians as Muslims. Indeed, the Jews were a close third in the region.

By 1896, non-Jewish "European-descended people" like Russians, Poles, Greeks, Georgians, etc made up 43% of the population in Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Kurdistan and Arabia. Native Middle Eastern or African Christians (including Ethiopians, Copts, Armenians, Assyrians, Arameans, etc) would bring the number to 49%.

Jews (Rabbinical and Frankist as well as some obscure sects like Samaratins) made up about 16% of the population.

Assorted forms classified loosely as "Islam" - Sunni, Shia, Baha'i, Bab, Alawite, Druze, Alevi, Sufi, etc made up most of the rest with the odd number of Hindus, Manichaeists, Zoroastrians, Mandaens, Nephites, etc making up the fringes of the population.

This, of course, was not universal. Muslims made up the large majority in Kurdistan, Mesopotamia and a smaller majority in Arabia (not including the independent Hijaz) while they were the definitive minority in Anatolia and the Levant.

As the population of Russia burgeoned and migration to the Near East continued, Suvorov suspected that someday the Russians would outnumber the rest of the peoples of the Near East combined. By 1896, nearly 400,000 Russians or other Europeans would migrate to the Near East each year (though 100,000 to 150,000 Christians or Jews would leave for America annually from this region as well).

The total population of the "Near East" including Georgia, Armenia, Assyria, Kurdistan, Anatolia-Trabizond, the Levant, Arabia (not including the Hejaz) and Mesopotamia had grown to 12,000,000.

 

[Alt History Buff]

Chapter 572

April, 1897

Eastern Hungary

Though the new King of Hungary would attempt to make common cause with the Romanian population of Transylvania, the Orthodox Romanians would continue to agitate for unification with Wallachia or Moldavia or both. Arguably the greatest hindrance thus far had not been the Hungarian Army but the dispute between the respective Kings of Wallachia and Moldavia as to which would claim the lands. The Transylvanian peasants would grow irritated enough with their second-class status to revolt on their own.

By summer of 1897, the Transylvanians would be up in arms. However, not all of Transylvania would rise up as one. A large enclave of Hungarians lived in far eastern Transylvania separated by the Orthodox Romanians. There were pockets of Germans as well whom would be just as happy to remain neutral. They were not to be given the chance.

The Hungarian King, though still anxiously watching his border with Austria, would summon the Hungarian army to action and ordered it marched east into Transylvania.

Northern Siberia

Centuries ago, Russian explorers crossed the vast distances of Siberia, founded cities like Yakutsk, Irkutsk and Tomsk and reached the Pacific. However, the Russian population was always low in the eastern half of the Empire and, when the Chinese Empire severed the southern routes making transport all but impossible. Over the past Century, the Russian cities would wither. The Emperor largely allowed the Russians to depart peacefully but many would remain where they were, hoping that the Czar would return. This never occurred. To the surprise of the hundreds of thousands of Russians whom remained in Siberia, the Chinese Emperor largely....ignored them. A few tax collectors would arrive now and again, more for tribute than any expectation of significant revenues. Only a handful of fortifications were raised or adapted by the Chinese Army. One or two would have served the purpose of ending Russian encroachment should the Czar take the initiative. However, the Czar had more important places to concentrate his forces, namely the Near East, the European border or along the borders of the Turkic lands.

The Russians, now down to perhaps 100,000 souls in Siberia, would remain, hoping to be ignored. For generations, they were. However, the advisors or the Emperor would pronounce in 1896 that these Russians should be evicted for fear of some sort...rebellion. Patriotism and nationalism was the order of the day in China and the tolerant attitudes of the past would come to an end.

Fearing that dumping the Russians across the Russian border would cause problems, the Chinese would order most remaining Russians in Eastern Siberia sailed down the Rivers ot the ports and ordered to board ships bound for America. Over 50,000 would be ejected via the Pacific, mainly to the American Northwest from Alaska down to Borealia. Many thousands would not make it as Chinese ships bound for America were commandeered for the invasion of Nippon and the Russians dumped on the island they called Sakhalin. Sakhalin had been claimed variously by Nippon and China over the last thousand years. The native Ainu were often forced to pay some sort of tribute but were just as often left along on their territories of Sakhalin, the Kurils and Hokkaido.

Ironically, these actions would bring the Americans, whom had largely seldom been seen in East Asia since the collapse of the United East India Company and the deliberate closing of China's borders to unauthorized visitors. The first Russians arrived in a pitiable state along the west coast, thus prompting the American Navy to make a demonstration along the Northern Pacific and deliver a message of protest to the Emperor. Granted, the terminology was less about the offenses against the Russians as it was summarily dumping them on America's shores but the message got across.

Unfortunately, the Chinese opted to ignore it.

Kyoto

Though the invasion soon bogged down in the hills, the army would reach Kyoto, the ancient imperial capital. A massive battle would take place outside the city walls. The Chinese would crush the remnants of the Imperial Nipponese Army and the Emperor himself would flee north to the city of Edo.

 

[Alt History Buff]

Chapter 573

October, 1897

Edo

The destruction of the Nipponese Army outside the Imperial Capital of Kyoto would also see Osaka and the old Shogunate Capital of Edo fall...and largely be destroyed. The Chinese Generals thought that this would break the spirit of the Nipponese people. In truth, it would galvanize their resistance. The remnants of the old Boshi would swarm south from Honshu as well as the outer islands and lead the peasants in rebellion. The rugged and mountainous terrain was perfectly suited for partisan warfare and the supply lines of the Chinese Army was threatened on a regular basis.

Sumatra

The troubles of the Chinese Empire would be echoed in Sumatra, where the Maratha Emperor was attempting to establish his authority. Northern Sumatra was a mix of Hindu, Christian, Manichaean, Buddhist, etc and begged the Peshwa for help. For the past several years, Maratha forces would aid the northerners against the Southern Kingdoms and Sultanates, eventually extending their hold over most of the island. However, resistance would continue in the hills for the next several years, continuing a major expense to the Peshwa's exchequer and incalculable hardship upon the Muslims of southern Sumatra. By 1897, most semblances of government had fallen and, like so many other regions over the past century, would collapse into anarchy where warlords would rule as far as their weapons would hold sway. In retaliation for this "resistance", entire cities would be destroyed, crops would not be harvested and huge numbers of Sumatrans would perish.

The Peshwa would set a precedent by leaving the Indian subcontinent for the first time and visit his soldiers in Sumatra. This would at least temporarily improve morale and bring focus to the situation on the large island. Tens of thousands of Indians would start to immigrate every month, mainly to the northern portions but would eventually move to the Maratha-controlled southern coast. Muslim violence against these interlopers would bring even more reprisals by the army, continuing a vicious cycle of death.

Among other things, the Peshwa would formally extend the policy of creating "Royal Parks" from the confiscated personal property of suppressed enemies on the subcontinent. His father and grandfather, while consolidating their power, would evict Rajas and Princes and others from their positions and keep their personal property while ruling their realms directly. These old hunting preserves would form the future national parks. The Peshwa's father had banned hunting in most of these parks, thus preserving the large population of tigers, elephants and other fauna which the European minority brought by the extant but no longer sovereign United East India Company had hunted nearly to extinction in some areas.

The Peshwa would create several similar "reserves" in Sumatra, both norther and southern. Later historians would credit this action with preserving the Orangutan, Tiger, Rhino and Elephant.

Indeed, he was so impressed with the Sumatran Rhino that he opted to bring several dozen to one of his reservations on the subcontinent. In the far north, the Indian Rhino roamed but no Rhinos existed in the south as long as anyone could remember. This would soon change.

Manhattan

President Bland would meet a particularly promising General named George Frederick Buonaparte Hohenzollern. As the name implied, was the fourth-generation scion of the American House of Hohenzollern whose mother was a grand-niece of General de Buonaparte (most of the family had dropped the "de" long ago). His lovely young wife was Theodosia Burr Alston, an heiress to the great Alston fortune and the great, great-granddaughter of President Aaron Burr. His godfather was George Washington IV.

Unfortunately, the forty-year-old General had not the opportunity to prove himself in combat beyond some border skirmishes against Santa Cruz in his youth and a pitched battle against the last of the "free" Plains Indians. However, he had also served on one of the Custer exploratory expeditions in the Amazon as well as leading one himself to the South Pole. For this, the man would be made General by forty, an almost unprecedented accomplishment in the largely peacetime professional army.

But Hohenzollern would not take kindly to Bland's ham-fisted attempt to convince him to endorse the Provincial Party, even the offer of a Congressional Seat in a safe district or the post of Secretary of War. For the moment, Hohenzollern was happy with his young wife and serving the light duties in the War Office.

 

[Alt History Buff]

Map of World, 1897

 

[Alt History Buff]

Chapter 574

January, 1898

Honshu

The Chinese invasion of Nippon had ground to a halt as the initial 35,000 soldiers, despite emerging victorious in all major battles. The constant rural insurrection forced much of the Army to scatter about the mountainous countryside, reducing their ability to march forward. The Generals begged the Emperor in Beijing for more troops as the conquest of Nippon was proving ever more difficult.

Hokkaido

Over the centuries, both China and Nippon had claimed Hokkaido and islands to the north. However, neither found much to hold their interest for long. The native tribes like the Ainu would occasionally intermarry with the Nipponese or Chinese settlers or merchants. However, the Ainu and other native cultures were resilient and often ignored whomever nominally controlled their homes.

When the Chinese began to evict the Russians from Siberia, many would actually be ushered east, towards the Pacific with the intent of shipping them off to America. It was unclear why the Emperor or his advisors elected to do this. The Russians descending from those whom had first crossed into central or eastern Siberia had proven relatively docile and certainly not numerically a threat to China. Yet, at some point, the purge began with little explanation.

As the crisis in Nippon escalated, the Chinese vessels intended to carry off the 150,000 Russians in eastern Siberia would, one by one, be reallocated to the war effort. Many of these Russians were summarily dumped on Sakhalin or Hokkaido. The Russians whom reached the American Pacific Coastal cities would decry this treatment and speak of people being left to starve on the islands. This was somewhat exaggerated as some merciful Chinese officials would provide food and shelter until transport could be arranged. However, the eastern power evicting Europeans in such a manner forced American hands. The President would order the Pacific fleet to sail upon a "fact-finding" mission along with several dozen transports to help the thousands of Russians stranded on these islands.

Fortunately, the American and Chinese fleets did not meet at sea or there may have been a confrontation. However, the American presence was noted. One ship, the UAP battleship Idaho, was dispatched to the primary Chinese port serving Beijing. From there, the American emissaries filed a protest for this treatment of the Russians and demanded to know why the Chinese had focused upon the quiet Russian minority in the north (where China had expressed little interest in settlement or development thus far).

The Chinese official retorted that America only cared when Europeans were involved. After trading insults, the American emissaries returned to the Idaho and sailed sullenly east. However, Admiral Mahan would determine to make a detour. He ordered his fleet (minus the transports carrying 5000 of the Russians to Yerba Buena) to the Nipponese port city of Iwaki, still unconquered by the Chinese. The Emperor of Nippon personally met the American representatives and begged for aid. This was well beyond Mahan's orders but he agreed to pass along the request to his government as well as a full report.

The more Mahan learned of the east, the more he was concerned with the growth of Chinese power. If the Chinese controlled the Nipponese islands, it would effectively grant permanent dominion over the western pacific in perpetuity. It was impossible to imagine America projecting power thousands of miles from their nearest port.

While Mahan doubted America was prepared to intervene in Nippon, there were other avenues to resist this Chinese expansion.

At it happened, while the main American fleet was sailing across the Pacific, an ugly event was taking place. Several American transports sailing unaccompanied would sail into Sakhalin's main harbor looking to carry off thousands additional Russians. However, the local Chinese commander would contemptuously ordered them away and even fired a few "warning" shots. By sheer happenstance, one of the shots hit the old coal-ship's powder store and set the vessel aflame. The other American ships (and several nearby Chinese transports) would manage to carry off all but four of the American sailors. Somewhat chagrined by his actions, the governor would allow the other ships to pick up their loads of refugees and sail off without further incident.

Within two months, the "atrocity" would enrage much of the American population.

Meanwhile, the Chinese officials would contemptuously refer to the American armada as the "White Fleet" and dismiss them as barbarians squeaking at the doors of the Middle Kingdom.

Southern Africa, Ethiopian Empire

Over the course of decades, the Christian population of eastern Africa would migrate in large numbers south towards what they hoped to be rinderpest and tsetse free lands. Eventually, the Ethiopians, Sucuma, Kikuyu and other northeastern tribes would seek open lands. Open land they found but the disease that struck livestock and people just followed them south. Eventually, many of these peoples would settle in the growing cities of the southern tip of Africa, giving up their pastoral heritage.

Fortunately, the worst of the epidemics began to die off in Ethiopia and other regions by the end of the 19th century. However, for much of eastern Africa, the land was permanently altered. Untold generations of intensive grazing had leveled much of eastern Africa's forests under the hooves of millions of cattle, horses and other domesticated beasts. As these animals died of Rinderpest and Sleeping Sickness (the animal version), the forests reclaimed much of the savannah. Animals which had previously been banished from the region for lack of their preferred diet (trees and shrubs) would return. Elephants, Giraffes and other "high-grazers" arrived with the growth huge stands of trees as well as animals which preferred the shrub. Naturally, their predators would follow.

In two generations, the very terrain of Africa would change dramatically and it would not be one capable of supporting intensive human settlement. Vast swathes of the continent had been abandoned by humans and ceded back to the animals.

Eastern Hungary (AKA, Transylvania)

Though it would take over a year of war, the Hungarian Army would manage to crush most of the Transylvanian resistance. However, the methods used to pacify the population would outrage the citizenry of both Moldavia and Wallachia that the two independent Romanian Kings would set aside their arguments and jointly declare war upon the Hungarians to...belatedly...aid their Transylvanian brethren.

 

[Alt History Buff]

Chapter 575

May, 1898

Hokkaido

Though still under disputed claim, the residents of Hokkaido would be happy with their relative autonomy as neither China nor Nippon had found any real use for the island as well as the islands to the north. They peace would be disrupted as waves of Chinese ships swept through the narrow straights between Hokkaido and northern Honshu. Most of these were warships intent upon doing damage to the coastal cities of northeastern Nippon...and occasional transports carrying off the odd white people that came from somewhere to the interior of Asia.

For the most part, the Ainu and other natives ignored this activity as it hardly pertained to them.

Then, American ships started to arrive. Then more. And then some more.

Beijing

The Emperor's advisors would...belatedly...inform them of the American petition. But the request had been made with such intemperance months ago that the bureaucrats refused to pass it on. The Emperor was livid. Despite being shielded somewhat by his exalted status, he was keenly interested in technological advances and all his engineers admitted that China's steam-ships were behind the west.

Why would the damned diplomats risk annoying the foreigners?

In truth, the Emperor did not believe America was a threat of any type, at least not a direct one. They were white foreigners, after all. But the Europeans had long supplied the Maratha Empire with weapons and the south Asians may yet prove difficult in border lands like Tibet, Manichistan and the islands of the South China Sea. Even Buddhist nations like Burma, Siam, Kampuchea and the lands of the Viets may someday gravitate towards Pune rather than Beijing.

The Emperor would have been happy to provide pensions to the widows and families of the dead sailors. In truth, the Emperor was annoyed with his governor in Hokkaido and would happily have recalled him. He WANTED the damned Russians removed. Sinking that damned American ship would only prolong the process.

By this point, the Emperor couldn't even remember WHY the Russians were being removed. He'd agreed to the policy. What difference would a hundred thousands or so people in an Empire of hundreds of millions? But the whole affair was wasting resources and potentially could cause border disputes with two nations that may cause problems for the Empire.

He already had enough in Nippon. What was expected to be a short campaign was already stretching into years and half of Honshu hadn't even fallen yet, much less the outer islands. 35,000 men had already expanded into 55,000. Granted, a huge nation like China could afford the wages but the expenses were starting to add up. The Emperor was beginning to wonder if the whole Nippon affair was worth the effort.

Eastern Hungary (Transylvania)

With unexpected speed, the Hungarian occupation force was defeated by the onslaught of the Wallachia and Moldavian forces. Most of Transylvania was "liberated" by the end of summer. The Hungarian exclave in far eastern Transylvania and the German pockets would perhaps think differently but the defeat of the Hungarian Army was unquestioned.

Now the two rival Kings would turn towards one another to seek the answer of a greater question:

Who would rule in Transylvania?

Manhattan

President Bland was uncertain of what the hell he was looking at. The bread resembled that used in street kebabs. But the oddly colored mounds of...well, it could only be called "goop" smelled odd. His host, the energetic Ibrahim...something or other....(Quarashi?) had opened Manhattan's first Ethiopian restaurant and Bland was given a table of honor. No chair, apparently they ate on the floor. Who were these people?

Anyway, the bread was good enough and the goop was basically a half dozen varieties of smelly hommous. There were some kinds of vegetables that the President choked down as well. He sat patiently (on the floor) for the meat entrée...only to keep on waiting. Apparently, smearing goop on bread was considered high cuisine in Ethiopia.

President Bland suspected that there were a lot of skinny people in that country.

It hadn't been his idea to patronize the restaurant but his advisors insisted that he attempt to court assorted ethnicities which normally supported the Nationalists. This apparently included the Ethiopians. The fact that he'd hadn't seen more than a dozen of the musty-complexioned people in his lifetime didn't appear to matter to his aides. They insisted that there were more in South Georgia and other Provinces which didn't vote for him. The last election had been close and the Provincial Party was hardly poised to retain the Presidency in four years. Bland went along but was already getting tired of spending his Presidency preparing for someone else's.

 

[Libandlearn]

I just wanted to say I really appreciate and enjoy reading your timeline. Especially because of you having 19th century immigration include large amounts of groups which were not primary sources in OTL, namely the Copts and now the Ethiopians.

 

[Alt History Buff]

I just wanted to say I really appreciate and enjoy reading your timeline. Especially because of you having 19th century immigration include large amounts of groups which were not primary sources in OTL, namely the Copts and now the Ethiopians.

Thank you much for the kind comments. I'm probably wrapping up this TL shortly as I'm running out of ideas and have less interest in the 20th century anyway.

 

[MorningDew]

Thank you much for the kind comments. I'm probably wrapping up this TL shortly as I'm running out of ideas and have less interest in the 20th century anyway.

What sort of tl are you planning to do next?

 

[Alt History Buff]

Chapter 576

November, 1898

Cuba

Though, like much of the Spanish Habsburg Empire (including their Portuguese and Italian domains), the islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico and other small islands of the West Indies would see a significant improvement in governance over the past decades, this did not mean that the Spanish had encouraged democracy. Improved trade policies, a lighter hand in the legal system and infrastructure advances would demonstrably bring an affluence to the region which previous Spanish citizens had been denied. Yet, discontent continued to arise with an openness that Catalonia or Sicily or the European regions of the Spanish Bourbon Kingdoms would not dare (or even perhaps WANT) to show.

Hokkaido

Admiral Mahan was less than comfortable than his assignment, not least because his mission was vague to say the least.

Keep the peace with China?

How could one do this if he was openly delivering arms to the Nipponese?

Protect the Europeans of China?

How the hell could he do that? Most of those remaining were hundreds to thousands of miles inland. Those that had been forced to the coast had largely already been carried away by Chinese or American ships.

And since when does America get involved in the internal affairs of other nations? Europeans kill one another wholesale. Why should the fact they were being killed by Asiatics matter?

What DID matter is that the American Pacific Squadron was now perched off of the coast of Hokkaido to protect a bunch of white people that were no longer there...and probably hadn't been in terrible danger even before. Few of the Russians claimed they had been murdered en masse as some sensationalist newspapers would claim. For the most part, they would complain of lost property. In honest moments, several would claim that they had actually lived better under the Chinese Emperor than the Czar.

Now, as a "show of force", the American fleet hovered off of an island for which their nation had made no claim and no semblance of a supply line. All to "protest" the death of four men at the hands of a Chinese governor whom almost certainly acted without direction from his government. Mahan was quite certain of this.

So was this all about pride? America prospered by staying neutral in all the madness which so commonly afflicted other nations. Was this the future? Would America send men to fight in some future war between the Germans or between China and the Marathas or even less likely places.

Mahan had great discretion in this assignment. Thus, he would order his fleet home having "demonstrated America's will" (whatever that meant), extracted an agreement from the terrified Chinese governor of Hokkaido to aide any Russians passing through and determined to depart without further incident.

Unfortunately, the Chinese fleet would arrive the day prior to the American departure. Without any particular fanfare, Admiral Go would steam forward in his flagship and row over to Mahan's vessel, the Idaho. Fortunately, Admiral Go had with him three translators. Between them, he was able to get his message across.

Go Home.

This Mahan would have been happy to do but could not be seen so weak as to cave in to threats. Had the Admiral phrased his message a bit more...diplomatically, there may have been some face-saving compromise. But Admiral Go had his own orders from the Emperor himself. GET RID OF THE AMERICANS.

The Emperor was a reasonable man. He was not a war-monger or an ideologue. But the news of America distributing modern weapons (like the Winchester 1895 breechloading service rifle) would enrage him. What kind of people would hide behind the mask of neutrality rather than face an enemy head on?

In the end, two Admirals would face off despite no declaration of war or any desire to actually fight.