The Golden Eagle, A Napoleonic France after the Peace of Vienna

[Kaiser of Brazil]

The Jewish Question I

((Russian Concentration Camp))
​

For both the Russians and the Franks, the Jews were one of the most dangerous enemies of the nation, always manipulating from behind. With Freemason orders, bank clans, and greedy capitalist trustees and monopolies being controlled by Jews to decide the fate of nations, bringing the downfall of millions and holding their nations from taking their place in the Sun. It was a belief that was mainstream across Europe, but that the Ultranationalists took to their extreme. For the Franks, the Jews were part of a conspiracy that divided the Frankish people into the French and the Germanic cultures, being separated because Charlemagne and his Empire were deemed "Too powerful" by the World Jewlery and a threat to their plans. So, uniting with ancient monarchies that were rivals to the Empire, they caused hostility between the descendants of Charlemagne and fractured the Empire, taking power in the resulting vacuum, and splitting the Frankish people into the Germans and French, indoctrinating them for a thousand years to hate one another, causing wars and preventing anyone from becoming strong enough to unite them. One example was Napoleon, the Franks claim that Napoleon I desired to reunite the Frankish Empire with a superstate to rule over the rest of Europe, and together with the British house of Hannover, the Romanov, the Habsburgs, and the Bourbon, organized 6 coalitions to defeat Napoleon, with the Napoleonic State being defeated in 1916 with the fall of Paris. They then planned for the further division of the French, for they were breaking free of the Franco-German divide (due to the "Rhineland Experiment" where the Franks claimed that the reunion of French and Germans ended up creating the most prosperous region of Europe), into Occitania, Franciens, and Brittons (which actually had some basis in the speeches of radicals in the Great War peace talks). And just when that was about to happen, Charles Maurras rallied the French to free themselves of the Jewish indoctrination, with Maurras killed by a Jewish-Hohenzollern agent, his legacy was taken by Delacroix, that started a war of reunification to restore Charlemagne's Empire and finally rid Europe of the Monarcho-Jewish conspiracy, one way or another.

((Frankish anti-semitism, which became very popular to the right-wing after the Dreyfus afair under the reign of Napoleon IV))

((Russian anti-semitic post))
​

Russian Anti-Semitism had another element: The Orthodox doctrine that the Jews were blamed for the crucifixion of Christ. And that would grow to become the pogroms made by Nicholas II, a series of massacres against the Jewish population of Russia, especially in Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine. After the fall of Tsarism and the rise of Savinkovism, the Jews were also related to Pelletism, claiming that Martov was a secret Jew and that the Destruction of Petrograd was sent by God to destroy both the Tsarist autocrats, and the Jewish Bolsheviks of the Petrograd Soviet that were planning a revolt to create a Pelletist regime called "Soviet Union" (One of the alleged proofs, was Trotsky, a Jew that led Red Guard paramilitaries and was right-hand man of the Soviet leader Lenin).

Savinkov started first, in the 1920s, hundreds of thousands of Jews were sent to Concentration camps in Siberia and ordered to work to death in the cold wasteland. Other millions around Russia were put in Ghettos in cities, in what was essentially a large-scale house arrest. But the Franks would be the ones to innovate, using the SE units, all Jews of the country were accounted for and forced to wear a symbol: the Star of David. It was ordered that they used it wherever they went, initially the consequences were economic, with some businesses refusing service, or others increasing prices, the population also boycotting Jewish businesses. But in 1935, it was officialized with the Nantes laws, taking citizenship rights away from the Jewish population, and similarly to Russia, rounding them in Ghettos. But when the Mediterranean War started, they were sent to work camps made around all country. And it would soon get worse as the war dragged on...

((Frankish Jewish badge, with the word "Jew" written))​

 

[Kaiser of Brazil]

Back to the Rhine

"If our soldiers get stuck in that cursed river again, I will personally shoot you." -Edouard Delacroix to General Charles de Gaulle, 1941
​

Operation Austerlitz was a success beyond expectations of all but Delacroix, by the 10th of April, one day after the Kaiser's demise, Frankish troops were pushing into the Saarland and Limburg. But with Rudolf's death, Regent Hitler now had free hand to save the Vaterland, he ordered a general retreat to the old fortifications of the Rhineland, keeping a small number of 540,000 troops under General Walter Model to delay the enemy. 2 weeks later, the Battle for the Rhineland would begin, with the Franks utterly refusing to be struck on the river again after the Great War. General Leclerq warned de Gaulle that the supply lines were overextended due to the rapid conquest of the West Bank of the Rhine, de Gaulle shared his worries but was pressured by the Emperor to not stop at the river under any circumstances. The First crossing attempt happened in Baden, between the 25th and 28th of April, when the 3rd Corps under General François attempted to cross into South Germany, the result was a brutal bloodbath: Of the 276,000 Germans, 54,000 fell as casualties, and of the 435,000 Franks, over 122,000 fell, with no crossing achieved.

Similar offensives happened during most of the month of May, all of them failed. It seemed like the Rhine would be a stalemate again. But the Franks had another option this time, and between May and June of 1941, over 760,000 men attacked the undermanned Italian front of Germany. General von Schleicher was caught by surprise by an army outnumbering him 3:1, his troops held the best they could, but the Frankish heavy tanks and artillery made the obsolete defenses useless. Venice would fall on the 12th of June, and Trieste on the 30th, the collapsing Southern Front forced Hitler to reallocate 14 divisions (560,000) to halt the Frankish advance in the city of Fiume and in the Alps.

On the Eastern Front, the Russian defeat in Lithuania didn't stop the invasion of the center and south of Poland, with the cities of Lublin and Lviv falling to the attacks of Marshal Tukhachevsky and the rising star General Zhukov, but Manstein was preparing to stop the Russians on the gates of Warsaw.

((Marshal Tukhachevsky, called "The Slavic Napoleon"))

((The "Iron General" Georgy Zhukov, Russian rising star))​

 

[Whiteshore]

"If our soldiers get stuck in that cursed river again, I will personally shoot you." -Edouard Delacroix to General Charles de Gaulle, 1941

This will probably be occuring soon, if the fight continues like this.

 

[Kaiser of Brazil]

The Vozhd's Circle

((Yuri Makarov, Minister of Industry))

((Ivan Konev, Marshal and Minister of Security))
​

As the war raged on the Polish plains and the Russian army reached the gates of Warsaw, a similarly chaotic struggle was happening inside the Kremlin for the ear of the Vozhd. The Totalitarian nature of the Russian State encouraged internal struggles and competition between his government members. From his children's romantic lives to the lives of millions of citizens across the Motherland, all were affected directly by decisions of the ministers that were as worried about their personal careers as to destroy the other's, all while securing their own cliques and preparing themselves for the inevitable Power Struggle once the Vozhd followed the fate of all men in the end.

Savinkov married in 1901, with a woman called Maria Alexandra Yuzupov (no relation with Felix Yusupov), with whom he had 5 children: Dimitri (1902), Vasily (1905), Yekaterina (1907), Stella, and Pavel (1914), each one would enter a struggle with one another to prepare for their father's death.

Dimitri formed a clique inside the party bureaucracy, being one of the creators of the youth wing of the party. He was appointed Minister of Agriculture and used his position to make himself new allies, becoming increasingly influential with the war, since he controlled the food supply to the Army.

Vasily on the other hand is quoted saying, "The Power of the politicians come from the Military", he joined the Army, becoming Major General by the time of the Second Great War. His influence would only grow with time as he became a Friend of General Rokossovsky and Marshal Timoshenko. He also proposed to instal political commissars in the army to ensure loyalty to the Party.

Pavel decided to align himself with shadier forces, he became the Right-Hand man of Ivan Konev, the feared Minister of Security. He had the loyalty of the most hardline party members, including the Combat Squads, the armed wing of the party responsible for running the Gulag camp system. Konev hoped to use him as a possible puppet to rule Russia after Savinkov's death.

There was also his daughters, who compensated their lack of access to official government positions with beauty and scheming.

Yekaterina was known as one of the most beautiful women of all Russia, an object of desire during the Party celebrations by the many men of the High positions of the Circle. She used that in devious ways, using of seduction to manipulate the upper echelons of the party and create her own web of intrigue.

The younger one, Stella, was less of a schemer and more of an Aviator, being fascinated with airplanes since a young age. But doesn't mean she was out of the game, not only she became the Poster girl to the Air Force, but was also married with one of the most powerful men of Russia: Georgy Zhukov, Marshal of the Army, and commander of the 3rd Polish Front (The Invasion force composed by over 2 million men invading Galicia and Southern Poland). Zhukov was one of the favorites to be successor of Savinkov, especially thanks to his more moderate and nationalist policies, being called an Ideal compromise. If that happened, Stella would be the most powerful woman in Russia.

Meanwhile, the ministers of Russia competed amongst themselves for influence, and the only thing preventing them from destroying one another was Boris Savinkov, the main contestants of the Struggle were:

Party Secretary: Ivan Ilyn
Minister of Agriculture: Dimitri Savinkov
Minister of Industry: Yuri Makarov
Minister of War: Vasily Chuikov
Minister of Public Enlightenment: Kirill Lunkin
Minister of Security: Ivan Konev

Ilyn was the second man, behind only Savinkov himself, in Savinkovism, being Savinkov's mentor in creating the Ultranationalist ideology that took over Russia. He was also the Chief Secretary of the Kremlin, accumulating influence by controlling the access to the Vozhd office.

Makarov was one of the richest men in Russia, owning a Military-Industrial complex. He was appointed minister of industry in 1935, and since then, the Russian industry was expanded threefold, especially the Military sector, while the Railway mileage expanded in almost 400%. Needless to say, he was an incredibly influential man with near unlimited resources... as long as the Germans stay away from Russia's industrial centers.

Chuikov was the second in the army behind the Vozhd, he was a popular hero of the Civil War, while also entering in conflict with the Minister of Industry about the authority over Military factories. This inter-ministry rivalry was common as the borders about their authorities were never clarified, with the Ministry of Public Enlightenment considering the Ministry of Education as subservient to their orders as an example. Chuikov supported Vasily's ambitions, as he believed that he would be an useful puppet of the Generals, while Zhukov would be only a puppet of Stella.

Lunkin was one of the Vozhd's most devout followers, and he wanted to spread that devotion to all Russia. He created a personality cult to Savinkov, but that ended up clashing with the Vozhd's own ideas: Boris wanted a cult for the Motherland, or to the office of the Vozhd, but Lunkin made a personality cult to him and his family, it was no surprise that Lunkin planned to support one of the Vozhd's children, no one knew who, but many could see his eyes every time he saw Yekaterina during the balls in the Winter palace.

Konev was a black sheep, while the party members (especially Lunkin) always spoke of Anti-German, Anti-Muslim, and Anti-Semitic rethoric, he acted on it. Making a Grand plan to rid Russia of non-orthodox and non-Slavic peoples, using his Combat Squads to deport millions to Siberian "Gulags", concentration camps of forced labor. In other cases, they were sent to "Labor Factories" around the nation, forced to work in miserable 16 hours every day under terrible conditions. Konev was responsible for the deportation of Chechens and Volga Germans to certain death in Winter with no right to warm clothing, he planned for the Azeris and Kazanians next. Konev planned for the mass migration of Russians to Central Asia, with a brutal scheme of the travel and land being "paid" by killing a certain quota of Muslims (which several million Russians were enthusiastic on doing thanks to the years of propaganda). He had control of the military wing of the party in the Combat Squads, he had the military prestige of a war hero and Marshal, and already had a Puppet pretender: Pavel Savinkov.

The Russian State was covered a net of intrigue, separated in several rival Cliques held together only by the Charisma and Willpower of one man, and one can only fear what would happen to the Mother Russia once that man was gone.

And the Germans planned to speed it up.

 

[Israel_Dan the Man]

So it will just be a repeat of WW1. Russia collapses and France loses.

 

[Kaiser of Brazil]

So it will just be a repeat of WW1. Russia collapses and France loses.

Why do you think that way ?

 

[Israel_Dan the Man]

Why do you think that way ?

Because Germany is going to kill the leader of Russia and cause a civil war between his children.

 

[Kaiser of Brazil]

Because Germany is going to kill the leader of Russia and cause a civil war between his children.

Err... no... of course not... *burns the future chapters behind*

 

[Israel_Dan the Man]

Err... no... of course not... *burns the future chapters behind*

Look, I have no problem with it, I was just pointing out a similarity I noticed. I am an Israeli, so I'm not rooting for France and Russia. I apologize for any inconvenience.

 

[Kaiser of Brazil]

Look, I have no problem with it, I was just pointing out a similarity I noticed. I am an Israeli, so I'm not rooting for France and Russia. I apologize for any inconvenience.

I'm joking, now, I can't say who will win the war, and must be especially hard for you as this war is two heavily anti-Semitic countries against literally Hitler.

 

[Israel_Dan the Man]

I'm joking, now, I can't say who will win the war, and must be especially hard for you as this war is two heavily anti-Semitic countries against literally Hitler.

Irony is cruel.

 

[TickTock The Witch's Dead]

Anything else happening in Latin America besides Brazil? Surely the developments there are going to concern the other nations.

 

[Kaiser of Brazil]

Blood over the Vistula

((Polish-Lithuanian Militias setting up a MG position))
​

The Russian advance seemed unstoppable, on the 20th of August, Siedlice fell and the road to Warsaw was open. Over 670,000 Russian troops of the First Polish Front led by Marshal Tukhachevsky were advancing to the "Paris of the East", on the very end of their overextended supply lines. Marshal Manstein and Marshal Sikorski entrenched the troops on the West of the Vistula, planning to halt the Russian advance right there, otherwise the entire Commonwealth would be lost. 380,000 Polish and 160,000 Germans were sent to the city in a desperate attempt to halt the Savinkovist wave. General Walter Model was put in command of the city defenses, he was called from the Western Front after the Frankish advance was stalled on the Rhine, being considered one of the best defensive tacticians of the Empire.

((Walter Model, considered responsible for delaying the Frankish advance long enough to form a defensive line on the Rhine, saving the Reich from immediate danger))

((Marshal Tukhachevsky))​

The Russians reached the outskirts of the city on the 30th of August, engaging in the beggining of a brutal urban warfare to the Vistula. The new Russian T-34 tank and the KV-1 were shown to be amazing against the German Panzer IIs and IIIs, but easy prey of the German Panzerfaust Anti-Tank weapons in urban warfare. The Russians had to fight building by building, desperate Polish and German troops fought to the last man inside apartamento buildings, in some cases they rig charges in buildings in a lady effort to bring as many Russians down as they could when defeat was assured. The desperate Polish defense would be registered by foreign journalists that were witnesses of Russian atrocities against civilians, with both sides pouring more and more troops in the meatgrinder, the Russians only reached the Vistula on the 27th of September, only to find that the Germans and Poles fortified the river in a way not seen in the West yet, with fortifications comparable to the Rhine.

((Russian troops in a trench on the ruins of the city))
​

Tukhachevsky was decided to win the battle and the war right then and there, calling in over 600,000 men from reserves and stripping the flanks to the minimum, believing that the Germans would do the same to hold Warsaw. He was wrong, and was warned by Zhukov of German formations amassing on Plock, but Tukhachevsky ignored them, believing that Rokossovsky's forces could hold the Northern front. The Germans conscripted the locals and transferred over 200,000 reservists to Warsaw, the Russians did not care about casualties to cross a river differently from the Franks. Eventually after weeks of Stalemate, A Russian division crossed the Vistula and created a bridgehead, pouring over a million troops into German lines, overwhelming the defenders. On the 25th of September, the Germans and poles retreated to the city again, fighting building by building, room by room, disabled tanks were used as bunkers to hold the streets as avenues were similar to the trenches of the previous war. Even if they weren't allowed the formula of Sarin and Tabun gases by the Franks, doesn't mean the Russians didn't have other stockpiles, bombarding buildings with Mustard Gas and Chlorine Gas, while using Molotov Cocktails to burn those inside alive. The Germans also had their weapon, an insecticide developed by IG Farben (German chemical corporation) called Zyklon B, a powerful poison that could kill a human by destroying its respiratory system in a few minutes. They were thrown at closed buildings (especially basements) where Russian prisioneers were executed by being stuck inside and asphyxiated to death.

Over the skies, the Germans BF-109 and FW-190, fought against the Russian Yak-1 and I-16. Over a thousand planes of each side fought while the German Ju-87 "Stuka" bombarded the Russian columns, its siren was known to have caused PTSD to Russian soldiers. No side could get full air superiority, and the wreckage of crashed planes were used as cover, crashing pilots did last-ditch efforts to kill the enemy by crashing on enemy-held buildings, and surviving pilots joined the infantry on the ground. There were several stories about crashed pilots attempting to go back to the lines, one of them was used in the Babelsberg Studios, owned by Joseph Goebbels, to create the War movie "Behind the Lines". It described the tale of the flying ace Walter von Linz that crashed his BF-109 on the East of the Vistula and had to survive Russian patrols, one famous movie scene was when the aviator crossed the Vistula to German lines under Crossfire in a makeshift boat.

((Artistic image of the Ju-87 "Stuka"))
​

On the 1st of November of 1941, the Winter arrived in Warsaw, one of the coldest in recorded history, with both sides being unprepared (as both sides didn't expect the battle to last that long). Hypothermia was killing at the thousands, while even the Vistula was frozen in December, with the snow colored red. On the 6th of November, the Russians were on the Western suburbs of the city, pushing the last holdouts of the German and Polish troops, but that's exactly what Manstein wanted.

On the 9th of November, over 1,200 Panzers and 600,000 troops struck on the Russian flanks, launching operation Dagger by the newly promoted Panzer commander Erwin Rommel. The weakened Russian flanks were crushed on both sides, with the Germans retaking Siedlce and surrounding over 700,000 troops including Marshal Tukhachevsky himself in the city of Warsaw. General Rokossovsky attempted a breakthrough in December, but the strong German defenses prevented the opening from being opened. The Russian Air Force attempted to supply the Russian forces but the transports were shot down by the powerful Flak 88 AA guns that were also used as Anti-Tank. There was no way to save the Russian troops in Warsaw, but Savinkov ordered them to fight to the end to keep as many German forces distracted.

((General Erwin Rommel))
​

On the Christmas of 1941, the Germans and Poles took the East side of the Vistula, and on the 3rd of January of 1942, Marshal Rokossovsky put a 7.62mm in his head, just after announcing the Russian surrender, preferring to not be taken prisioneer by the Germans. With that, 230,000 Russian troops surrendered, ending the battle of Warsaw (or the ruins of it), the city of Warsaw was completely destroyed after half an year of battle, and millions of refugees fled the city.

The Reichspakt forces had a total strength of about 1,320,000 troops, losing 742,000.

The Russians had a total of 1,760,000, losing 1,224,000, including 240,000 prisioneers and Marshal Tukhachevsky.

The battle marked a turning point, halting the Russian advance on the East, giving the Commonwealth and the German Reich at least one extra year until the Russians fully recovered from the loses of that battle and could threaten the City again... if one could call a city of ruins a city.

​

 

[Kaiser of Brazil]

Casualties of the War so far (1942) (including prisioneers)

Franks: 477,000
Russia: 2,123,000
Germany: 2,188,000
Poland-Lithuania: 673,000

 

[Legault]

Can you add the population of the different state and the size of their armies please?
Also how many Piedmontese and Rhenish soldiers joined the french army?

 

[Kaiser of Brazil]

The Fox of the Pampas II

(

)
​

In 1934, the Governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Getúlio Dornelles Vargas, was invited by the Emperor to save the country. It was a Herculean test, one that 5 men before him failed to solve, he was given a blank cheque by the Emperor to use whatever means necessary to save the nation, but he would soon discover that it would set up his own downfall.

Upon assuming the Government as President of the Council of Ministers on the 31st of January of 1934, Vargas saw why the ones before him failed to work with the Parliament: It was a political calamity. Of the 500 seats of the House, 1/4th was controlled by the Pelletists, and another 1/4th was Integralist. The rest was divided between the traditional Conservative and Liberal Parties, that could not work together to approve a budget since Mangabeira was shot. It was also election time for a new house, and Getúlio had to work to prevent any of the radicals from getting into power. Vargas was a Liberal by name, but no one could quite place him in the traditional spectrum: He was a Social Liberal, talking about female suffrage and secularism, also he was a borderline Pelletist on Labor relations, supporting a large number of regulations and laws for the workers, while also as Nationalistic as a Integralist, and supporting Industrialization like the Conservatives. Vargas was a perfect compromise in which he was able to both please and anger all sides of the spectrum.

He started his work by the Coffee issue. Coffee was the main agricultural export of Brazil, with the country controlling over 60% of the world market. But the world crisis meant that the demand of the product had fallen to unsustainable levels, bringing the prices down and the economy with it. Previous governments attempted to ignore the problem, knowing that touching it would be touching the powerful "Coffee Group", the São Paulo coffee barons that ruled the local politics and had the congressmen of the richest and most populous state of the Empire as puppets. It is said that Mangabeira was about to propose a plan to seize coffee from the barons and burn it to increase the prices, and that resulted in his assassination. But Vargas could not let those men bring the country to ruin, and had a plan, Getúlio Vargas always have a plan.

By using the massive coffee stockpile, Vargas negotiated a loan from President Garner, paying not with money but in cheap coffee. With the money of the loan of the Federal Government, Vargas purchased all the excess coffee of the Barons and burned it, massive clouds of burned coffee could be seen from kilometers away. This way, the coffee prices skyrocketed worldwide, and the Imperial coffers were being filled again. But now Vargas had to deal with the Urban Industry, and he decided to both help Industrialization, become a hero of the common man, and cripple the Pelletists in one swift stroke.

((Burning coffee on the Port of Santos))​

Getúlio believed in Corporativism, a Savinkovist idea that the State had to mediate the labor relations. This theory also supported that Pelletism should be discredited by making the State become the protector of the working class instead of leaving it to Pelletist syndicates. In 1935, Vargas had a victory he badly needed on the congress, with the communists and Integralists losing a few seats to the two mainstream parties, it was a sign that the Brazilians were becoming more moderate. He then introduced the "National Labor Legislation", introducing minimum wage, a 10-hour limit of workhours, prohibiting Child labor below 14 years, and introducing paid leave and vacations. Vargas received the full attack of the Conservatives, especially of Washington Luís, governor of São Paulo that denounced it as a Pelletist takeover that would bankrupt the rising Industrial sector, he even threatened rebellion to "Protect the Emperor". But even with opposition of Conservatives and some Liberals, Vargas was surprised by the unlikely alliance with the Integralists, believing in a Organic State, the Integralists believed that the welfare of the workers had to be assured in a corporate economy. With the Pelletist-Integralist-Liberal support, Vargas passed the law on the 1st of May, a fitting date for it.

Washington Luis was proven wrong, the minimum wage, paid vacations, and reduced workhours actually helped the economy. The internal market boomed with the Brazilian workers spending the new higher wages, with the reduced work journey allowing them more time to spend it. The commercial sector was running back to life and bringing the industry with it, adding the end of the coffee problem, the 3 sectors of the economy were back to life and Brazil started leaving the crisis. Now, Vargas had to deal with the political situation, the improving economy didn't bring the radicals out of the streets, for that Vargas created a new law, the "National Security Law".

(Battle of the Sé Square, a clash of Integralist and Pelletist militias on the Center of São Paulo, 11 dead including a civilian)​

The National Security Law was created to fight the paramilitaries, creating the "Crimes against the State". It allowed the prision of those calling for the overthrow of the Constitutional Order, especifically the Pelletist militias. Believing themselves to be protected by the Emperor, the Integralists gave a critical support in passing it on congress against the Communists and a large number of Liberals. But Vargas was touching a Hornet's nest, and he would discover that they can strike back.

 

[TickTock The Witch's Dead]

I wonder how the rest of Latin America is affected.

 

[Kaiser of Brazil]

The Empire Strikes Back

​

When the Russians got the First Polish Front, known also as Central Front, almost anihilated in Warsaw, the German and Polish forces would start a massive counterattack against the weakened Russian center, retaking Bialystok and pushing to the gates of Lublin. To prevent a total collapse of the center, the newly promoted Marshal Zhukov would take control of the Two Polish fronts, transferring forces from the South and North to save the center, by the end of the Winter, the Frontline seemed stabilized.

((Frontline: Red (November 1st 1941) and Green (March 1942)))
​

The German High command saw the Kielce salient as an opportunity, noticing the Russian forces massing in the North of the salient to launch an attack to the German forces West of Lublin, what they didn't expect was that the Germans would strike first. Under the command of General Guderian in the North and Rommel in the south, the plan was for two pincer movements to meet up in Rzeszów, surrounding the bulk of the Russian offensive assets in Kielce. The "Operation Panther" would be launched on April 13th 1942, while Zhukov planned to strike the German salient on the West of Lublin on the 25th of April.

Operation Panther would be launched first, the Germans had amassed 1300 Panzers and 790,000 men in the pincers, planning to cut off the Russians. The operation started with short and precise artillery bombardments of the Russian weak spots, followed by the attack of Aerial close air support like the Stukas, and a attack by the new German Panzer VI "Tiger", a War Truck invulnerable to the feared T-34 turret, considered the pinnacle of German engineering. The Russians weren't expecting a German offensive, believing that instead they would keep attacking Lublin as the bombardments of the city had been intensified, as result Zhukov ordered a retreat before the Germans surrounded the Russian armor in Kielce. He was able to save 70% of the Russian troops before the Germans closed in and the rest ended up captured by the Reichspakt, while a victory, Operation "Panther" was far from the Tide-turning offensive that Hitler expected, capturing only 110,000 troops and 320 tanks, most of them outdated models.

On the West, while the Franks were careful to not use harsh measures against their "Germanic Brothers", the Germans launched bombing raids over Northern France, some included mustard gas on civilian areas. Delacroix was boiling in rage, he wanted the German Empire extinct but couldn't break the Stalemate over the Alps or the Rhine, so he planned to open a new front against the Germans. Ever since the referendum in Romandie, Switzerland was struck by an increased agitation by its Germanic population, with a large minority wanting unification with either Germany or the Franks. When the Frankish Empire took down Mussolini's regime and pushed back to the Rhineland, the voices increased and became louder. Eventually a referendum on Swiss independence was held due to the pressure of the Franks, and on the 8th of May of 1942, under accusations of rigging, it passed with 73% of the votes. Before the results were even launched on the voting day, Frankish troops crossed the border and operated the polling booths, ensuring the passing of the referendum for integration of the Swiss Federation in the Frankish Empire.

The surprise annexation of Switzerland caught the German High command unprepared, Frankish troops crossed the Alps welcomed as liberators by the Germans of Switzerland, and struck the flanks of both the Rhineland and Alps armies. Freiburg and Ravensburg were quick to fall, and the German armies had to quickly reorganize themselves to stop the breakthrough, eventually the Franks would be halted at Karlsruhe and Stuttgart, with the Advance into Bavaria stopped in the battle of Ulm by General Hermann Balck, a rising Star of the German Army.

((General Hermann Balck))
​

As the summer of 1942 arrived, both sides prepared their offensives, the Russians under Zhukov prepared to retake the initiative, the Germans attempted to both keep the Initiative on the East and to push back the Franks in South Germany, and the Franks planned to advance into Bavaria and Austria, all while espionage of both sides were about to have fruits...

 

[Kaiser of Brazil]

Espionage

​

The Summer of 1942, with the Frankish surprise advance halted in Ulm, a century-old rivalry between the North and the South of Germany was reignited. The South of Germany was integrated by force into the North German Federation, thanks to the Bohemian uprising and the civil war between Austria and Bavaria inside the South German Federation, and they resented the Berlin domination, only accepting it at the time due to their shared hatred of Napoleonic France. But now, the New Frankish regime desired unification, and they were incredibly generous to the Germans in occupied territories, keeping occupation at very lenient rates and having a separate PoW camp for Germans that could only be comparable to an hotel. Not just that but they also shared the Catholic faith, in opposition to the Protestant northerners, Bavarians and Austrians became increasingly resistant to the German Imperial drafts after the Breakthrough in Switzerland, indeed there were many fleeing to join the Frankish forces. Of a total of 4,670,000 Frankish troops across the front, about 1,120,000 were German volunteers from both the Rhineland, Switzerland, and South Germany.

In special, there were the Czechs, they rebelled against the South German Federation because of the Northern promises of Independence after the war, when they were betrayed, there was a significant resentment, in 1915 just before Russia left the War, the Czech resistance movement prepared an uprising to be launched on the 31st of January, when was expected that Russian troops would be arriving in Krakow. That never materialized due to the destruction of Petrograd and the peace treaty, but now, with the Franks at the gates of Bavaria and the Russians stabilizing the front, they had their chance once again.

Hungary, the Kingdom of the many minorities was a powderkeg, the Slovaks, Bosniaks, Serbians, Romanians, Croats, and several others held tight by Budapest. The Kingdom was held together only by the strength of the Army, but with the Franks advancing into Pola and Fiume, and with the army split between Galicia and Slovenia, it seemed like the powderkeg was about to explode. The Croat resistance was led by the Ustashe, an Ultranationalist movement commanded by Ante Pavelic.

​

The Croats and Czechs were armed by the Russian State, informed that the signal to start their rise was when the Axis troops took the cities of Krakow and Munich, a Czech uprising would be able to successfully link both the allies and seal Germany from its Hungarian ally. That could mean the downfall of the Reich, but the Germans also had their plans, reminding themselves that ever since 1813, the French luck was linked to Russia's leadership. Reinhard Heydrich was selected to become head of the German intelligence agency called GESTAPO (State Secret Police), and he planned to knock out Russia from the war, using a commando team led by Otto Skorzeny, to kill the Russian Vozhd Boris Savinkov and let the whole "Inner Circle" kill one another in a succession war.

((Otto Skorzeny, Elite Commando of the GESTAPO))
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On the 15th of June of 1942, the attempt was made, the GESTAPO operatives infiltrated themselves inside the Kremlin, the government building in Moscow. And when the Vozhd was in firing range of the Commando, a pigeon pooped in the face of Skorzeny, in reflex that caused him to miss the Vozhd in a fatal area and just grazed his left shoulder. Savinkov's guards rushed in the room and prevented Skorzeny from getting a second chance, he managed to escape but had his first failed mission because of a pigeon. Savinkov would redouble his security to prevent that from happening again, closing the opening for Skorzeny... for now.

Still, the Russians couldn't launch an offensive to Krakow, that prevented the uprisings... for now.

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[Kaiser of Brazil]

Albion Sails On

((Battle of Cebu Island, the largest Naval battle of the Philippines))
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The British Empire started to recover from the surprise attack by the Japanese forces in Indochina and the Philippines, while the East Asia fleet under Admiral Tovey regrouped in Jakarta, away from the Japanese fleet on the South China Sea. While the Japanese hit the British navy hard, they were not crippled, Tobey planned an counter attack to relieve the Philippines, using reinforcements from Australasia. On the 18th of October of 1941, the British fleet left the harbor, going to Singapore and then attacking the Japanese fleet on the 23rd on the coast of Cebu Island, starting a 3-day battle of supremacy between the two fleets, both sides pouring reinforcements in a attrition battle.

The British had 3 Aircraft carriers, 7 battleships, 4 Battlecruisers, 17 Cruisers, 26 destroyers, and 6 Swordfishes.

The Japanese had 4 Aircraft Carriers, 6 Battleships, 4 Battlecruisers, 18 Cruisers, 19 Destroyers, and 4 Swordfishes.

The forces were pretty evenly matched, each side sent waves after waves of naval planes to attack. While the British Spitfires and Hurricanes were less agile than the Japanese A6M2 "Zero", they were more armored than the fragile light Japanese counterpart. One of the most epic parts of the battle, forever registered in the book and latter movie "Blood in the Paradise", was the battle of the Japanese "IJN Yamato" Super-heavy Steelship and the British ships "HMS Hood" and "HMS Nelson", the confrontation ended with the Hood sunk and both the Nelson and Yamato retreating due to the heavy damages. One other incident in the battle was when a desperate crew of a Japanese Patrol Boat stuffed it with explosives and rammed it in the "HMS Jamaica" a light cruiser that was hit by the "world's largest torpedo" and was sunk in the battle. Other incidents were registered in the diary of Captain Edward Towson, commander of one of the G-3 class heavy Battlecruisers "HMS King George VI" that survived the 3 days of battle and spectated several acts of desperation of the Japanese, including the infamous "Kamikazes", suicidal pilots that threw their bomb-filled planes on the decks of British ships.

On the 26th of October, both fleets couldn't afford more damage, retreating back to Formosa and Singapore. The British lost 1 Aircraft Carrier, 3 Battleships, 3 Battlecruisers (1 of them was scuttled in the way back due to damage in the engines), 6 Cruisers, 11 Destroyers and 3 submarines. The Japanese lost 2 Aircraft Carriers, 2 Battleships, 1 Battlecruiser, 10 Cruisers, 13 Destroyers, and 1 Submarine. The bloody draw was a strategic victory to the British that halted the air support from the carriers to the Philippines, which slowed the Japanese advance. The resistance on the Archipelago was shattered on the aftermath of the Manila attack, and to fill the vacuum, the General in charge of the Mindanao Garrison, Rodrigo Hernandez, declared himself head of the resistance and President of the Republic of Phillipines, due to the vacuum caused by the death of the Royal family in Manila. Hernandez tried to regroup the Army, but there was nothing that could be done to prevent the fall of Luzón island. The Resistance Army fortified the remaining islands, especially the forests that became dominated by guerrillas that the Japanese never fully pacified in the center of Luzón and other islands that the Japanese had hop one by one, fighting the local Philippino armies.

((IJN Akagi sinking on the 3rd Day))

((General Hernandez, leader of the resistance force))
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In Europe, the navy entered in full Military Industry, using the resources of the Empire to produce new ships sent to the Pacific. But as 1942 arrived, debates were held on whether the Union Jack should join the war, French Swordfishes sunk several British ships heading to Germany, and the threat of a Ultranationalist dominance on the Continent became real after the invasion on South Germany, and if the Franks could infringe the Swiss neutrality, what stopped them from going after Britain next ? And what was the difference between the Franks and the old Napoleonic threat ? How couldn't a French State with the combined resources of old Napoleonic France plus the German Empire be a threat even worse than Napoleon I and Napoleon V, especially with the Russians as allies ? No, Britain could not allow the French to have a change to get a "Revanché" on them.

The fire to the powderkeg happened on the 14th of September of 1942, when a routine police patrol found Irish smugglers in Belfast smuggling in full crates of Frankish rifles and ammunition, with further investigation, a raid happened on the secret headquarters of the Irish Republican Army 2 days later, finding documents from the Frankish government linking them with several IRA leaders. The British demanded explanations, but what was even worse was that Delacroix didn't even attempt to hide it, instead he made a speech denouncing British domination over the Celtic lands (Which was ironical due to his conquest of Britanny) to the face of the British delegation. The reaction of Winston Churchill was as expected, accusing the Franks of not only sinking British ships, but also of attempting to incite a rebellion on the Emerald Island. On the 27th of September of 1942, Britain declared war on the Frankish Empire.