The Silver Knight, a Lithuania Timeline

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Chapter 106: Primo Victoria
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    • Augenis

    Augenis

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    Part 106: Primo Victoria (Jul-Nov 1958)
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    The summer monsoon season was over, and the poor rainy weather in East Asia with it, which meant that the recovered Indian forces could begin executing an offensive which, in their eyes, was going to put a nail to the Chinese performance in the war before the Western Allies could attempt a landing in mainland India - Operation Ajatashatru. The target of the invasion was the Pearl River Delta, one of the most densely populated city agglomerations in the planet, centered around the city of Guangzhou. For a long time, Guangzhou, being the port closest to Western colonies in New Zealand and Indochina, had been China's window to the West, which resulted in the area becoming a powerful and important port complex, as well as a metropolitan industrial area, accounting for a sizable portion of the Empire's GDP and military equipment production. Much of the industry had been evacuated from the agglomeration and relocated to cities further north, but much remained, which made the Pearl River Delta into a primary objective of the Indian Army, so much so that Amrit Ahuya even released a statement, declaring that "a victory in Guangzhou will determine the fate of the war itself". Of course, it should be stated that the Chinese were very much aware of the military buildup and preparations - so when Operation Ajatashatru began in mid July, it soon developed into the largest single battle in human history, the Battle of the Delta, or Battle of Zhujiang.

    The Battle of the Delta can be split up into four different phases, each one taking place after the other. Phase 1 took place from the beginning of Operation Ajatashatru up to roughly early August, and was marked by significant Indian gain in ground. The initial offensive may have been foreseen by the Chinese, but the sheer mass of the attack carried severe psychological impact - after all, the attack involved one and a half million personnel, 7 thousand landships, the bulk of the Indian Air Force and even some shore bombardment from the Navy. The only thing that was missing was tactical nuclear bombardment - this was thanks to nominal, though very fragile Western and Chinese air dominance during the battle, as well as Indian fears of losing a yet another nuclear-armed bomber to enemy fighters. In the relatively hilly and mountainous area leading up to the Delta, a number of Chinese divisions ended up encircled and destroyed in pockets, and, even though veterans such as the 2nd Landship Corps successfully retreated east, by August 1st, the situation appeared grim for the Chinese. Defenses were running thin, Unitarian landship spearheads were seizing town after town in their drive to the east, Guangzhou appeared doomed to fall. An emergency meeting of the Council of Ministers and Empress Chunhua on August 1st was unsure on the response. Chancellor Xiao Xuegang demanded all available units to be sent to Guangzhou to prevent the city and its surroundings from being captured, but his cabinet did not share the same enthusiasm. Many believed that the Battle of the Delta would turn into a slaughterfest, a manpower drain, one which China would be unable to win - so the better solution would be to sacrifice the city and instead focus on a more defensible line to the north.

    Eventually, thanks to the Empress's intervention, Xuegang's plan prevailed. The Chinese accepted the glove thrown at them, and thus, Phase 2 of the battle was initiated. At this point, the front line became stationary, as the majority of the fighting took place within the city of Guangzhou - which turned into an attritional nightmare for both sides. Urban warfare took place here through August and September, with entire divisions sometimes fighting for the control of a single city block. Both sides bombarded the town liberally and without mercy, scarring it for years to come. All that was needed was a nuclear strike to finish the job, but, fortunately, that didn't happen... For two months, despite hundreds of thousands of losses, the front line remained static, barely changing. The Indians obviously had a bit of an advantage, having a bigger pool of cannon fodder to draw from. Even the Chinese themselves could tell that this was turning into a manpower sink, and they cannot win one.

    Under this troublesome situation, the Council of Ministers approved a daring plan to abuse a few weaknesses in the Unitarian front line. The determination in taking the Delta meant that the Indian offensive gained a bit of tunnel vision - focusing all their efforts, reinforcements and manpower on the meat grinder, while staffing the rest of the front with reserve and understrength divisions. After all, to the north of Guangzhou was a mountain range and the Pearl River, the Chinese couldn't dare to strike into an area which was naturally impenetrable... Except this was where the Chinese were now ready to focus all of their might, in an armored offensive spearheaded by the 2nd Landship Corps, as an attempt to encircle the Indian soldiers in Guangzhou. The Chinese counter-offensive began on September 20th, suddenly striking the Indian line in Yunfu and Zhaoqing, inflicting severe losses on the Unitarian forces in a matter of hours and beginning their drive south, towards the sea. The Indians quickly realized what the plan was, and began pulling back a few armies from Guangzhou to stop the armored offensive, which, when the 2nd Landship Corps gained sufficient momentum, turned into a full scale evacuation to avoid the encirclement of over a million soldiers. Fierce battles took place in Xinxing, Heshan and Jiangmen, while to the east, Chinese infantry pushed back their opponents from Guangzhou and into Foshan, a few dozen miles to the west, which was the place where the decisive encirclement of the battle took place. Four Indian armies, a total of 300 thousand soldiers, were cut off from supply lines and the sea, and after a few weeks of resistance both within the pocket and outside of it, the last of the Indians in Foshan surrendered.

    The victory in Foshan gave the Chinese a sudden surge of morale and enthusiasm, and hoping to use this to their advantage, the Chinese field commanders ordered a push to the west - but this is where the Chinese slammed into a brick wall. Despite losing four armies, the Indians were nowhere near capitulation, while the Chinese military was thoroughly drained of manpower, equipment and organization. It was a victory, but a Pyrrhic one. After losing two hundred thousand soldiers to the "October Offensives", the battered Chinese stopped and dug in, and, surprisingly, so did the Indians, putting the battle to an end, and setting the front line roughly 20 miles to the east from its original position. Almost three million soldiers were killed, wounded or captured in the most brutal battle in human history, one which the Chinese won, but at a high cost.

    The Indians definitely knew that. Despite nominally losing, they had the upper hand in the end. A resumption of the Battle of the Delta could have resulted in success - however, the Indians did not go for it. Why? Because of something terrifying to the south.

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    Indians push forward in Guangzhou during the Battle of the Delta
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    Meteorological observations made by French synoptics in Ceylon determined that the winter monsoon will be an average one - not too harsh, but certainly not a pleasant period for military operation. With that in mind, the United States began putting down the final touches for the planned Operation Spring Thaw, a landing on the Indian subcontinent. 1958 was a busy year for both Ceylon and the heartlands of the Western allies - and not all of the changes happening resonated well with the public. For example, Vespucia opted to enact conscription for the first time since the War of Independence, which prompted draft dodging and conscription riots among its unenthusiastic populace. Still, military preparations largely continued without major breaks, and by July, over three hundred thousand soldiers were amassed on the island, though a number of problems still had to be solved. For example, the language issue - after all, this was seven nations cooperating, each one bringing a language of their own. After a few debates and a lot of French anger, German was picked as the language of communication for the armies of the United Nations, and German courses were hastily organized for military officers of the other nations who weren't already fluent. A German commander, General Franz Berlinger, also became the supreme commander of the armies designated for executing Operation Spring Thaw.

    French and German armies made up the majority of the forces designated for the invasion, though all of the seven nations participating brought something of their own to the table.

    The Western allies did not rush to land as soon as possible, however, which went completely in contradiction to the pleads of China, which only grew more intense during the summer and autumn. And it's easy to see why - does the absolute largest battle in human history taking place right under their nose ring a bell? China put their faith in the West to divert the Indian forces in the Southeast Asian Front, allowing them to gain just a bit of an easier breath and recover. The Chinese demands to open a second front grew so aggressive that their representative in the United States, Chan Kongsang, even went as far as to declare that "if we don't see Western troops in Hindustan by 1959, China will collapse by 1960". A bit of an exaggeration, but it had a lot of truth in it. A general desire to free the peoples oppressed under the Commonwealth was an another major drive for a landing. Hoping to put foot on the ground before the winter monsoon arrives, the United States approved a set date for Operation Spring Thaw on October 1st, 1958.

    October 1st would turn out to be a fair day, more or less. Outside of some clouds and a bit of light rain over the Deccan, it was perfect for the largest amphibious landing in human history.

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    Landing spots of Allied forces during Operation Spring Thaw
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    The original plan to land in Orissa was scrapped in favor of a landing in Tamil Nadu, for a variety of reasons. Although Orissa would be closer to the primary target in Lucknow, this would also mean that the region is more heavily defended; Tamil Nadu was closer to the primary US bases of Ceylon and Mogadishu, thus could be more swiftly supplied and staffed with Allied infantry armies; and finally, the US expected support and help from the local Tamil minority, which, though severely neutered by Indian denationalization and oppression, was still a sizable presence in the region. The first packed transport ships reached the sandy shores of Deccan on the morning of October 1st, and met little resistance. Much of Indian coastal fortifications had been completely destroyed by a massive aerial assault the night prior, with a total of 8 thousand aircraft participating in the raids. This also meant that the communications in the region were practically destroyed, preventing the Indians from mobilizing their "civilian defense" units in time to counter the landings. The Allied navies held firm control of the seas, making sure that not even a single transport is sunk by Indian surface ships or submarine packs.

    Ervadi was invaded by a combination of French and Italian troops - 3 infantry divisions and 1 landship one, and easily secured their landing area, finding more problems in the urge of their soldiers to commit a little bit of sightseeing, in the form of visiting the local Islamic shrine, the burial of a shaheed, than in the Indian military. The landing in Athiyuthu saw the dispatched French and Italian Marines fight off an Indian coastal garrison, mostly concentrated in the narrow cape to the south, which was seized on the 2nd. The German landing in Thondi also ended anticlimactically - the Germans landed to find the town mostly deserted, most of its inhabitants having fled inland to save themselves from the constant bombardment. The biggest battle took place in the landing at Manamelkudi, a resort town with a sizable Indian "civilian defense" garrison, attacked by Lithuanian, Vespucian and composite Eastern European (Hungarian, Romanian, Polish, Bohemian) forces. The Lithuanians employed a military vehicle which hadn't seen much use since the War of the Danube - the military glide, putting their experienced Glider Corps to use in order to secure a number of strategic locations within the town in preparation for the main landing. After two days of street and resort warfare, the Lithuanians and their allies came out victorious, securing a perimeter around the town and pushing the Unitarian forces out. After a few more days, the four landings joined forces, creating a single front in the southeastern parts of Tamil Nadu. Up to 300 thousand soldiers were involved in the initial landings, with many more pouring in once the situation had been secured.

    The news of the success of Operation Spring Thaw were the worst fears of the Indian government come to reality. A second front had been opened, the Western Allies were now firmly in the war and will not leave until this massive landing is destroyed. But how do you destroy it?.. The need to pull back forces to close the gap in this new front was what forced the Indian high command to cancel a second shot at the Battle of the Delta. However, diverting forces to a front a few thousand kilometers away takes time, and this precious time was not left unused by the United States.

    October came bearing two bad news for the Commonwealth. The first being the fall of Nijasure, the capital of Tamil Nadu, to Allied forces on the 11th - striking right into the pride of the nation. The seond news weren't known to the Commonwealth, bit were important regardless - the Tianjin Project reported that they had successfully reverse engineered the Indian nuclear bomb, even putting some considerable improvements to the design, including a core of hydrogen isotopes to incite nuclear fusion and thus dramatically strengthen the power of the explosion - the dawn of the thermonuclear bomb. They dubbed the first specimen "Revenge", for lack of a better name - as the Project reported, it took them a week to finally decide on a name which wouldn't shame them later on. Improved or not, the United States was now armed with a nuclear weapon. The question is how and where to use it, if use it at all.

    Nuclear armament... landing in Tamil Nadu... It wasn't hard for the US to start believing that the war is now over. But no, the war is only beginning.

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    The world in November of 1958    ​
     
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    • LostInNewDelhi

    LostInNewDelhi

    Augenis said:
    victory at Foshan
    Click to expand...


    Also, it looks like it will take China a decade or two at a minimum to recover from the damage of the war. I can't imagine that it will be able to project power outside its borders very well in the meantime, which leaves the future of the EASA a little uncertain.
     
    fluttersky

    fluttersky

    This kinda reminds me of the war in The Years of Rice and Salt...

    Also would just like to say... I'd be really interested in seeing different possible endings of this war. Reading about the US-victory and the India-victory would both fascinating.
     
    KarneeKarnay

    KarneeKarnay

    IB4 Delhi nuked!

    If it weren't for the liberal use of Nukes by India before hand, I would have expected some debate on whether to use them, but not ITL.

    I wonder where they will use it? What is the most important strategic value in India? The capital makes a statement, but would it have the best effect? China could certainly do with some good news.
     
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