The Silver Knight, a Lithuania Timeline
- Thread starter Augenis
- Start date
I'd take it national stereotypes of French and Chinese ITTL are similar to national stereotypes of Brits and Japanese IOTL.
Just PM @Augenis and see if he approves of your idea for a guest update.
Children of the Mountains
Children of the mountains: Circassia
The flag of Circassia. The twelve stars symbolize the twelve tribes of Adygheker while the three crossed arrows symbolize their unity and will to fight
While Circassia, or Adyghe xeky as the region is called by the Circassians or the Adygekher as they refer to themselves, has an extremely rich history spanning over 3000 years, the beginning of the modern Circassian state is considered to be in the 13th century, when the region was overrun by the Mongol Empire. After this event the territory became firstly a part of the Mongol Empire, and later on the Golden Horde. This situation changed as Lithuanians and their allies defeated the Golden Horde and installed the Christian khan Tokhtamysh. The Horde didn’t last long after this.
As the Golden horde crumbled Circassia changed hands several times, finally slowly falling under the influence and control of the Ottoman Empire completely in the 16th century. This process was extremely slow and costly compared to other conquests of the Sultanate however, as the Adygekher fought tooth and nail against the invaders, with some estimates claiming that tens if not hundreds of thousands of Ottoman soldiers were slain before the region was subjugated. But considering the profit and prestige that owning such a territory would bring to the Ottomans, it was deemed an acceptable sacrifice for there was one resource found only in this region – Circassian beauties.
It is unknown how such an idea started, but ever since the 14th century Adygekher women were constantly mentioned as the most attractive females on the planet. For example in several Ottoman texts these women are described having „green eyes and long, dark blond hair, pale skin of translucent white colour, thin waist, slender body structure, and very good-looking hands and feet.” Possessing “a fair and rosy-cheeked face with a form of ravishing loveliness, large and lustrous eyes, and every belonging that might go to make up a Venus.”
In European sources they are described in the same manner, if not more generous than the Middle Eastern texts "The daughter of a Circassian was a dazzling beauty with the complexion of a German blonde. Besides, she possessed a sharp intellect” and "the most graceful and the most sensual-looking creatures I ever saw".
There are even texts of African origin, again, claiming the same ideal of Circassian beauty and even superiority as can be seen in this excerpt: “This natural superiority was the cause of a good deal of ill-will and envy. One Circassian woman, favoured with an aristocratic appearance, was avoided and even hated by the chocolate-coloured Abyssinian women through no fault of hers, but simply because she looked majestic.” They are sometimes even described as of being of a "hateful race of blue-eyed cats."
What’s interesting is that even men of Circassian origin are described as extremely attractive in several sources, with descriptions such as "the Chiefs are two remarkable looking men. Their imposing bearing, their romantic dress... and their natural dignity of men, stamp them as very superior... Raven haired, black-bearded, broad-browed, with wide springing eyebrows of sooty black... these bronzed and armed children of the mountains tend to put us out of love with our own specimens of men”.
This idea, and as some would even describe, a cult of Circassian beauty, led to the birth of Adygekher slave trade, as many Muslim nobles and monarchs wished to acquire some of these “otherworldly” beings. It was precisely the possible profit from this trade that lead to the Ottoman takeover of the region.
And profit the Sultonate did. Thousands were abducted and sold into slavery or forced into servitude. Entire villages were depopulated and population of the region fell drastically.
Of course, some Adygeh noble families were able to profit out of this situation. They began marrying their daughters to various Ottoman nobles and sending their sons to serve them. Thru these means they were able to establish bases of power and slowly become the highly influential in the Empire. Several members of these families are even claimed to have been advisors of the Sultans themselves.
Many of them even moved to Anatolia and brought massive amounts of their people with them, creating Adygekher exclaves where a unique blend of Turkish and Circassian culture, formed. Many of these islands of Adygekher culture survived up till the beginning of the 20th century, though due to several reasons none of them remain to this day.
It was during this time that Islam began spreading through the previously Christian population. Though as later events would show neither of these religions were able to supplement the previous religions completely and a percentage of the Adygheker population are followers of the Christian faith up to today.
Of course while some nobles were able to use this cult of beauty for their own advantage, as mentioned previously, most of the Adygekher population had nothing but hatred towards the Sultanate. Many had lost their close ones to the slave trade and despised the sultanate. This resulted several minor rebellions, all of which were put down with extreme force. But after the Four Year War, during which the province was overran by Crimean Tatar regiments from Lithuania, Circassia was able to break away and become an independent state for the first time.
However during this period Circassia didn’t become a fully unified nation. While the local rulers were able to cooperate together, there wasn’t any sort of singular leadership of the territories, each warlord or noble ruling their own realm independently. It is unknown what prevented the unification of the region, though a lack of a powerful leader and the difficult terrain of the region are often mentioned.
Of course, this left Circassia very vulnerable. And while for some time the complicated situation in the region protected the Adygekher nation from conquest, this didn’t last forever. And the leadership of Lithuania, attempting to evade a possible two front conflict with the Ottoman Empire, which was currently busy in central Asia, decided to take over the territory.
In 1744 Lithuanian armies marched into the Adygekher territories. By 1745, after nine months of conflict, complete victory over the state was claimed. This however was not true, as Circassian resistance continued to fight the Lithuanian forces for decades. In some ways, it was a repeat of the Teutonic attempts to conquer Lithuania - the locals, while outnumbered and equipped with weaker weapons, employed the environment to their advantage to successfully resist the occupants for a long time.
It was during these years of resistance that a figure, which is now regarded as the national hero of Circassia, rose to prominence between the rebellious Adygekher – Hadji Hayder Hassan. Even though he was but a second son of a minor Adygekher chieftain Hadji was able to unite his desperate people and lead a brutal guerrilla campaign against the Lithuanian forces. Not much is known about this figure besides the engagements he participated in, and what is known is considered to be mostly folk tales.
An art piece depicting Hadji Hayder Hassan raising one of the first versions of the Circassian flags.
It is unknown exactly when Hadji died, but it’s considered that it was somewhere between 1767-1769 as during these years the Adygekher resistance started slowly crumbling and dying down. By 1785 Lithuanian armies had decisively defeated the rebels, though armed resistance never truly ended. It was during these final years that the Lithuanian forces made several quite peculiar discoveries.
In several quite remote locations, mostly high in the mountains, what seemed to be shrines were found. It is unknown to what power these structures were dedicated, but one thing was clear. These shrines weren’t built to honour Allah, these were built to honour the old, pagan deities of the region. Of course, the structures were quickly demolished, but as we know from today, these primordial faiths were quite potent between the Adygekher people.
From 1745 to 1914 Circassia remained under the control of the Lithuanian Empire. Differently from several other regions it didn’t receive any autonomy; in fact due to the strategic importance Lithuanian control was heavily enforced. The Adygekher became secondary people in their own homeland. Education was only available in imperial languages. If one wished to attain any sort influence and power, they had to be deemed trustworthy by the imperial authorities, convert to the orthodox faith and of course speak the imperial languages.
This led to quite the interesting outcome. While some abandoned the Circassian language and culture, instead embracing the imperial one, others began fighting back ferociously. And not only directly, as was described previously, but thru other means. The Adygekher were hardy folk, and they weren’t going to give up their language and culture easily.
Many, various and quite interesting were the attempts by Circassians to ensure the survival of their culture. The most well-known of these was the Txilh ša-n, also known as “Book smuggling”. The creation of this highly peculiar way of cultural preservation is credited to a Muslim Imam Kustan Ogli Ismael, who was the first to write down the Circassian language in 1740.
It was Kustan who was able to organize establishments of printing houses in the Ayghe exclaves inside the Ottoman Empire. He is also instrumental in the establishment of various book smuggler groups and the distribution of the literature they had brought.
Of course in reality everything was not so easy. Printing machines were hard to come by in the Ottoman Empire, not to mention the danger that the book smugglers faced as they were forced to travel thru the most dangerous parts of the Caucasus Mountains to evade Lithuanian forces. There was also the problem in the fact that there simply weren’t texts in the Circassian language to begin with and thus many new works had to be translated and written. Not to mention the fact that as Adygekher language was only recently written down, many didn’t truly knew how to read and write in it.
This literature was distributed across Circassia with the help of Muslim and the few, but slowly increasing in numbers again, Pagan and several pro-Circassian Christian religious figures. But these spiritual leaders weren’t only distributing literature, as that would be useless in its own right. They themselves, having learnt the written Adygekher script established numerous secret schools across the region teaching the script and of course selling and/or giving out Circassian literature.
The Adygeh Txilh ša-n, together with the increasing population, led to something which would determine the future of the region – the creation of Circassian national identity. It was a long process, caused by the increased contact between various Adygekher settlements, cooperative resistance and the efforts to preserve the native culture.
And while of course, as mentioned previously, many between the ranks of nobility abandoned their old culture, many more remained, especially between the slowly forming class of Circassian intellectuals. These were the people who wrote the greatest works of the Adygekher literature and they were the ones who finished the creation of the national identity of their folk.
Generation after generation of Adygekher grew up, reading these nationalistic and patriotic works and being inspired by them to do great things. Some would join the “zhy zewen”, the so called “eternal fight” as the unending, if extremely minor, guerrilla resistance against the Lithuanians was called. Others would continue smuggling books. Others would create patriotic works of art. Others would simply create families and bring up the next generation. There was one thing which united all of these groups: a hope for a free Circassia.
And then the Great War started. Lithuania, of course, was a part of this conflict. With this conflict hopes of many Adygekher rose up as their freedom seemed so close. And it truly was.
With the Lithuanian Empire beginning to collapse in 1914 Circassians dreams were soon to become truth. As Visegradian armies, supported by various forces fighting for East Slavic independence plunged into the territories of the Empire, igniting a massive Russian rebellion the Adygekher took their chance. A massive popular revolt occurred, quickly overpowering the light Lithuanian garrisons.
Of course Lithuania wasn’t going to give up so easily and sent several expeditions to put down the rebellion. But the Adygekher rebels, now armed with proper weaponry and lead and supported by those who chose the path of “zhy zewen” would bog down and destroy each of these forces in the Caucasus.
But defending wasn’t the only thing that Circassians did. Emboldened by their successes they surged forwards, carving themselves an access to the Black Sea and thus ensuring capability to hold contact with the greater world. However, while the so called „march to the sea“ was a success, luck didn‘t follow the takeover of mixed Adygekher-Volgak territories to the north from the current borders. Here the Circassian army was stopped and even pushed back by the forces of Volga Russia. This Volgak push was of course stopped later on, but not without territorial concessions. The entire north-east third of the new Circassian state was lost to the Volgaks before a cease-fire was signed in 1917.
Circassia in 1917.
The failures to retake the entirety of Adygekher territories did not slow down the work performed by the first institution of Circassian government - The Apéré Hasé, this so-called in Adygehker language first council, was elected 1916 and continued their work until 1918.
And there was a lot work to be done. Circassia faced many problems. The country was extremely agrarian, only the capital of Psəxwāba contained several factories, and even then, these were mostly small complexes owned by local Lithuanian and Ruthenian magnates. The system of education was also in a horrible shape, with barely an yinstitutions of education present in the region. That‘s not even mentioning the highly influential Lithuanian and Ruthenian minorities in the region which controlled almost a third of the land.
But a bigger challenge to the new state appeared soon. As the Unitarians took over the Ottoman Empire and began enacting their policies, many Adygher who still resided in the Anatolia began fleeing towards the newly established Circassian state in an effort to evade persecution by the new government.
It was these refugees who both improved and worsened the already critical situation in Circassia. Of course the newly established and poor nation had close to no resources to take care of hundreds of thousands of refugees. But it was precisely these refugees that allowed the new nation to survive. Many of them were highly educated and skilled in various fields and wealthy which did help the new state greatly.
In 1917, using the human and monetary resources now available to them, the Apéré Hasé began several great reforms. They started with education, establishing numerous schools and other institutions of learning across Circassia. Secondly, a process of industrialisation was begun, using resources which were found by excavation teams hired by the Apéré Hasé itself. A currency was also, established, called the dyšʺ. Entire new settlements were also erected, to house the refugee populace.
But while these and countless other reforms were highly beneficial to the new Circassian state, they also had negative consequences. By the time that the Apéré Hasé ended their term and a new Hasé was elected the government apparatus of the country had become highly dependent on the resources provided by the âtӏonéré – the Adygheker noble families which had escaped from Anatolia. With time this control slowly increased, until the official government of Circassia were nothing but pawns of the nobility.
It was due to this situation that the government of Circassia was forced to make several questionable decisions. One of these was the declaration of Islam as the official religion of Circassia. This was followed by several discriminatory laws towards the non-muslim Adygheker, which comprised over a third of the population. Several changes towards both the constitution and the system of law were enacted to heavily favour the âtӏonéré.
As the time went on the situation only worsened as while the political front and various parties began to crumble to do these changes and increasing ideological difference, the grip of the nobility increased more and more.
Slowly more and more of the population became disillusioned with their leadership, especially in the ranks of the military and the peasant born intellectuals. But as long as the programs to advance Circassia and the military were funded, they were able to somehow bear it.
And then in 1934 it was announced that funding for several programs and the military shall be cut. Pensions for the veterans of Circassian wars of independence were also to be reduced. This was the breaking point for the Circassian army. As most of their ranks were comprised by those who followed the ancient religions for the last decade they faced discrimination by the government their actions allowed to create. And now they were going to cut funding them? To them the saviours of Circassia and the ones who are ready to die defending their motherland? To those who fought and bled for its independence?
Led by the Marshal of Circassian armed forces himself – Askerbiy Tlebsu the army took over the governmental institutions and captured a huge number of most important members of the âtӏonéré. Surprisingly to many, several more patriotic noble families aligned themselves with the rebels during this revolt.
Askerbiy Tlebsu
Askerbiy announced that democracy had failed Circassia, that the previous government didn’t fulfil their promises to the Adygheker people and thus her, as a true leader shall replace them and bring prosperity to Adyghe Xeki. He gave himself the tittle of Uašʺo – supreme leader and started creating a new government from military personnel, his friends and those who supported their revolt.
The new dictatorial government quickly changed changd several of the laws and reversed many decisions made by the previous leadership. Islam wasn't the national religion anymore and all the laws which allowed discrimination towards Christians and the believers or ancient faiths were changed and/or removed. Every citizen was also made equal in the eyes of the law.
Various former programs were also continued, but on quite the smaller scale as the available monetary resources were quite diminished due to the new leadership.
Of course the new government also faced several dire problems. Of course after losing power the âtӏonéré became extremely uncooperative with the new government and sometimes even openly rebellious. There were also countless pro-republican or even Unitarian groups which began openly protesting and attempting to fight against the new dictatorial regime. For some time it looked like that a civil war would break out, but what occurred next changed the political climate completely.
In 1935 the leadership of the Crimean khanate approached the Circassian government with a proposal to create an alliance. While there were some disagreements over the Crimean Tatar inhabited territories, these were quickly solved and the two states became allies.
With the help of his Crimean allies Askerbiy spent the next few years consolidating his power. In 1936 the žʹao, the shadows, a highly militarized police, loyal only to Uašʺo himself was created. They began tracking people belonging to the anti-dictatorial movements and those who were considered disloyal and influential enough to cause problems to the regime. When these individuals were considered to become too dangerous to the regime they would be “removed” from society.
In 1937 the previously disorganized Circassian native religions were reorganized into the Adige Xabze. A defined system of beliefs, deities and traditions were created and the previously chaotic faith was reformed into a modern religion. Of course the highest spiritual leaders of this faith were all subordinates or allies of Askerbiy.
A shrine dedicated to Theghwiychu, protector of people.
Many businesses and corporations previously belonging to various nobles and businessmen were nationalised to provide the governmental institutions with monetary resources and allow them to exert control over the internal market.
With Crimean help the industrialisation of Circassia began speeding up again allowing the nation to become more economically and militarily powerful as countless factories were built. More mines were also constructed providing the process with more than enough resources.
While Circassia was able to create and produce their own equipment before, this usually led to sub-optimal results due to the lack of necessary faculties. After the alliance was created, this changed. Crimea began supplying their ally with weapons and helping them produce their own. This equipment allowed the Circassian army to become quite the well-equipped and modern force, though due to a relatively minor presence of landships or transports, they never reached the level of their Crimean counterparts.
As the years went on and both Circassia and Crimea began to prepare for a war against first Krajina and then Volga Russia the nation became even further militaristic. Pro war propaganda became more and more common. Greater and greater amounts of the population went through military training and more and more weapons were produced to equip them.
In 1948 the first national census took place. The population numbers were quite staggering in comparison to how desolate the region was during the last census in 1750. Over 7 million people lived in Circassia. Almost 92 percent of the population were ethnically Adygheker, with the remaining 8 being Lithuanian, Volgak or Ruthenian. Somewhere around 59 percent were Muslim, 28 were believers of the Adige Xabze, with the remaining population being either Christian or atheist.
The Circassia army was expanded even further after this, reaching 300 000 men. This was done in preparation for the planned upcoming conflict between Crimea and Krajina. This conflict happening from 1949 to 1955 was called the Crimean war and it would become a defining event in Circassian history.
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Chapter 104: Besiege
Part 104: Besiege (Jul-Dec 1957)
130 thousand soldiers were incapacitated on the very first day of the offensive, and while the kill count lowered somewhat in the days that followed after, it would still end up as one of the, if not the most deadly military operation in world history. The gigantic mass of the offensive and the surprising tactical nuclear strikes gave India the initial advantage, but the Chinese were able to recuperate after the capture of Nanning, the capital of Guangxi, successfully pushing back a few smaller scale offensives alongside the coast of the South China Sea. Still, Xiao Xuegang and the Chinese government were well aware of just how threatening the situation is - and knowing that this was about the time when the United States formed and began considering an ultimatum towards the Commonwealth, you can imagine that the Chinese mission to Rome was pressing for war against Indian for a good reason. As August rolled around, and then September following it, Chinese positions in Guangxi were turning more and more fragile however, despite the enthusiastic and fierce opposition they put up against the combined arms Indian offensive. It may sound weird, but Chinese manpower reserves were depleting - or, at least, their reserves of trained volunteer manpower. Incapacitated veterans were being replaced by fresh conscripts from China, who, while motivated, were certainly not as effective, thus the beginning of autumn saw the Shun lose ground across the whole front. It should be noted that India, which had army personnel counting in the millions for years before the war, did not suffer from this problem, at least not yet. The most notable piece of land lost to the Unitarians was the Leizhou Peninsula, a critical connection between the mainland and Hainan. This was followed by successful, although extremely costly Indian pushes towards Maoming and then Yangjiang, a bit to the east.
However, though it can be said that India won the Battle for Guangxi, the offensive failed to capture two critical objectives laid out by the general staff. The Pearl River Delta was in no danger of being taken by the Unitarians, and Indian field generals decided to take no risks trying to push further across Guangdong - at this point, after three months of life-or-death battle, forced marches and hundreds of thousands of casualties, the Indian armies were getting close to mutiny (luckily for them, the Chinese were just as exhausted). Finally, the island of Hainan remained EASA-controlled like a thorn in India's side. Indian attempts to land on the island were thwarted with hastily erected coastal fortifications and Chinese naval operations, thus the Unitarians opted to just besiege the island, hoping to starve it away. Hainan had some local food production to stay alive for at least a while, however, and the mainland organized a supply airlift for help, and thus the governor of the island declared his intention to stay barricaded here until the war is won - even nuclear bombs, which Hainan had already suffered before, were no longer a threat to their morale. To India, the existence of this Chinese forward naval and air base was triggering, but there was little they could do about it.
A calm day during the Battle for Guangxi. Chinese soldiers read the news about the US declaration of war on India
The United States declaration of war on the Commonwealth on September 7th came as a sign of relief for the distraught of the EASA - the light in the black came quite literally during their darkest hour. All of Borneo was lost to Indian troops. The Battle of the South China Sea was tipping towards the Unitarian side. The invasion of Guangxi was only stopped with hundreds of thousands of Chinese boys lost. Tibet was collapsing. Four EASA members were already fully occupied, with a fifth coming soon. However, the initial high wore off as quickly as someone raised the question of "uh, how exactly are a bunch of distant Westerners going to help us any more than they already do now?". Outside of some French islands, New France ports in northern South Vespucia and some British colonial holdouts, the Western members of the US had no way of projecting power in the Pacific, which is where the absolute majority of the fighting took place. Transporting troops to China across the gigantic Pacific Ocean was not a good idea, either, not with Indian submarine packs running around.
Knowing the potential answer to the parable, the foreign ministry of France contacted the Popular Union of East Africa. The oddest duck in the Commonwealth lineup, East Africa was a member of India's alliance and was at war with EASA like any other members of their faction, having even sent a 5000 men large expeditionary corps to die in Guangxi - but the possibility of war right at their home was a much more difficult dilemma to answer. The monarchist Unitarian state had always held revanchist tendencies towards the French colonies around them, hoping to unite all of East Africa under their unitarian wing, but following India's lead and entering a war with France would mean entering a war with all of the United States, a war which Gebeyehu predicted to be an ultimately losing one. The French had no desire to embark on a yet another manpower draining campaign in the Ethiopian Highlands while their allies were in danger, either - and when both sides do not seek to enter war with each other, you have an agreement. In their case, it was the secret Gondor Agreement in late September of 1957. East Africa would cease all military actions against the United States (despite officially being in war as a member of the Commonwealth), and the US would do the same to them, as an unofficial non-aggression pact of sorts. What was the catch? To compensate for gaining East Africa's unofficial neutrality, the Director of France, Henri Simon, promised Gebeyehu granting democratic self-determination for the peoples of East Africa on whether they want to join the Popular Union, become independent or remain as French colonies and protectorates. You can immediately tell how this could turn problematic in the future, but in the end, Gebeyehu, placing the survival of his nation as a priority (and secretly hoping for a blood-draining quagmire in India to weaken the French), was placated by the terms.
With their back secure, the French would begin to turn Mogadishu into what it was set out to be in this war - the trampoline for a US invasion of the Hindustan Peninsula. Billions of livres would end up pumped into improving the city's infrastructure, ports, defenses, airbases and the surrounding areas under a strict government-organized plan, lifting the city up from poverty and into one of the most powerful naval bases in the world metaphorically overnight. Nouvelle-Lyon also received significant improvements as a secondary, backup port in case Mogadishu's capacity is not enough or it is captured, though it being surrounded by East Africa from three sides made its position precarious.
Mogadishu residents gather to inspect the most recently constructed naval supplies depot
In December of 1957, the Indians were still reeling from the impact of the Battle of Guangxi and shifting their forces towards trying to subdue China, believing that French efforts to upgrade Mogadishu will take a while and thus gives them a window of opportunity to weaken the Chinese. The US knew that, and in what was a surprising move for almost everyone involved, Director Henri Simon and Prime Minister Volker Braun approved the plan pushed by the commander of France's Marine corps, General Damien Robillard, to surprise the Indians with an attack on Ceylon. At the time, French Somalia held the African Unit of French Marines, 6000 soldiers strong, as well as the fairly recently shipped German 3rd and Italian 31st Infantry Divisions, supported by roughly 700 aircraft, the French Mediterranean Fleet and sufficient transports for sending 15 thousand soldiers - a fairly formidable force for an operation, if it wasn't done almost completely on the fly with only a few weeks of hasty preparation. Still, General Robillard told himself and everyone else that such a chance only comes once in a lifetime, and one of his quotes to his troops ended up immortalized: "If we fail, we sink 10 thousand youngsters to the sea. If we succeed, we win the war. I'm betting on these odds."
Almost everything could have gone wrong with what was dubbed as Operation Sea Horse (Operation Hippocampes) - the Indians might have caught the plans and sent sufficient naval power to thwart it. There could have been a storm in the Arabian Sea postponing the operations. Stray Indian bombers could have taken down at least a few of the overmanned transport ships. They could have run out of supplies or high command support for the mission. Ceylon itself could have defeated the invaders somehow, heck. However, none of this happened, and on the bright warm day of December 16th, French, German and Italian troops poured on the shores of the tropical island and former French colony, subduing the undermanned local Indian garrison, composed on fresh conscripts, in a matter of days. Many of the air wings staffed in Ceylon ended up destroyed on land, before they had a chance to take off, and within a matter of days, the island fell under complete US military occupation (outside of a few isolated mountain areas). The speed and success of the operation surprised both the Indians and the French themselves, who expected it to turn into a bloodier quagmire.
Still, even if Operation Sea Horse succeeded, there was nothing telling that a similar heap of luck could be repeated for the actually important mainland.
The world in December of 1957
(For simplicity, US occupied territory will be shown in German light blue)
Unless I'm reading the map wrong, I think you forgot to mark Lhasa as being captured by India.
I'm impressed that Sea Horse worked seeing as any other marine animal themed military campaigns don't 
Overall, I don't think India will enjoy Habesha betrayal. Are any African cities within Nuclear firing range by India?
Overall, I don't think India will enjoy Habesha betrayal. Are any African cities within Nuclear firing range by India?
Operation Sea Horse is going to make for some terrific War Video games at some point.
What about the other island chains in the Indian Ocean? Taking those away in an island hoping campaign will limit the ability of India to defend itself from invasion or harass convoys.
Also Ceylon alone might have just swung the conflict in the Pacific. India didn't really have to worry about protecting its coastline prior to Ceylon and now it has quite possibly one of the longest coastlines in the world to defend from invasion. Even for the the amount of tonnage the Indian Navy has, that's a tall stretch, while continuing support for offensives into the Pacific and the South China Sea.
If I were running the US I would go for either a knock out strike or death by a thousand cuts. An invasion with the aim of taking out key government areas and infrastructure, or a massive bombing campaign using Ceylon airfields, followed by invasions.
EDIT:
On another note, what is the situations like in India regard resources and manufacturing? Even with a Total War Economy I'd expect to start seeing the strain by now.
Also with the whole of the US devoted to seeing India lose, what's the espionage situation looking like? As united the US is in defeating India, the individual members are going to want to position their own influence in the country. Things like supporting Partisan movements in Iran or other territories, or political revolutionaries within India.
On the subject, what are India's efforts in this area against China looking like? Are they attempting to use local cells in China and the Commonwealth to start their own revolutionary movements?
What about the other island chains in the Indian Ocean? Taking those away in an island hoping campaign will limit the ability of India to defend itself from invasion or harass convoys.
Also Ceylon alone might have just swung the conflict in the Pacific. India didn't really have to worry about protecting its coastline prior to Ceylon and now it has quite possibly one of the longest coastlines in the world to defend from invasion. Even for the the amount of tonnage the Indian Navy has, that's a tall stretch, while continuing support for offensives into the Pacific and the South China Sea.
If I were running the US I would go for either a knock out strike or death by a thousand cuts. An invasion with the aim of taking out key government areas and infrastructure, or a massive bombing campaign using Ceylon airfields, followed by invasions.
EDIT:
On another note, what is the situations like in India regard resources and manufacturing? Even with a Total War Economy I'd expect to start seeing the strain by now.
Also with the whole of the US devoted to seeing India lose, what's the espionage situation looking like? As united the US is in defeating India, the individual members are going to want to position their own influence in the country. Things like supporting Partisan movements in Iran or other territories, or political revolutionaries within India.
On the subject, what are India's efforts in this area against China looking like? Are they attempting to use local cells in China and the Commonwealth to start their own revolutionary movements?
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I can only imagine how weird China's population pyramid is going to look after all this is over.
Remember those Tamil rebels in Aankhein guest update, anyone?
I'm almost done with a guest post that references this in particular. Stay tuned!
This seems increasingly likely the more I consider that India's a little too big for a postwar-German-style total occupation.
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