[X] Plan Diplomacy and FEIS Roundup
-[X] [Reinforcements] Send more troops to San Miguel and start an attack on the compound.
-[X] [Estrada] Go to the radio station of San Reina. They are vital to spread your propaganda. (1 Point)
-[X] [Estrada] Receive Seneca Coronado in the palace. He has contacts that could help your economy. (1 Point)
-[X] [Estrada] Summon any ambassadors that are in the capital. You need to get your message out to the world to build legitimacy abroad. (1 Point)
We have the Silver Tongued trait. Best to spread it around and try to talk to as many people as possible. I see no reason to go after FEIS in person when the presidente's time is more valuable elsewhere.
We have a limited capacity to replace our military hardware and sieges are often very expensive even with a overwhelming advantage. The General will want to direct efforts there to limit both the casualties on our own forces, and to limit the damage done to the locals. It can go horrifically wrong even with a victory, and we'll want the victory to be as decisive as possible since El Presidente's legitimacy is mainly cemented by military force. If the military's performance is seen as lacking in any way, the new regime loses its credibility.
We'll also want to preserve as much of our strength as possible for guarding against foreign incursions and the guerillas who may or may not be sponsored by one of the cold war superpowers.
If we're not going to lead the attack and put that expert war score to good use, it would be better to maintain the siege and starve the enemy out, and use those actions for something else like guarding against the guerillas who we have a history of fighting the military and won't sit idle while their enemies cement themselves as the new regime, and contacting educated people to lead the new government. This way, we can avoid the risk of the military underperforming while also freeing up more actions for something else. We can attack at a later date when we're better prepared.
These guys aren't soldiers; they're secret police. They have some handguns, maybe some rifles. A proper military that's not trying to capture them alive or anything will roll right over them with basically zero effort.
They're the Secret Police who've been in favour for years and years now, are likely prepared for if not successful in their coup, willing to fight us street by street in their own compound and ready to obliterate any evidence that's actually in there if it looks like we'll win. We probably have the combined firepower to level the compound building by building if we focus up, but anything we would want- evidence, money, blackmail, contacts- wouldn't survive it if we do so.
They're also near certainly better armed than that.
These guys aren't soldiers; they're secret police. They have some handguns, maybe some rifles. A proper military that's not trying to capture them alive or anything will roll right over them with basically zero effort.
The FEIS are secret police and the palace guard, holed up in San Miguel which is a Prison Colony.
While I don't think they have anything like tanks, modern sieges are inherently difficult even against an underarmed opponent and as the former Presidente's palace guard, they probably do have some competent and well-equipped infantrymen with them. Every building is a fortress, and unless we want to demolish the place with artillery, we're going to need to clear it building by building with infantry. That's very casualty prone, but it's our only viable option since we want to seize whatever documents they have and free the political prisoners inside to further gather support for the General's regime.
For that, we'll absolutely want direct oversight from Estrada to ensure this siege goes as smoothly as possible.
[X] Plan: Face the FEIS
-[X] [Reinforcements] Reinforce the garrison at Huizanola to deter the guerrillas further.
-[X] [Estrada] Go to the radio station of San Reina. They are vital to spread your propaganda. (1 Point)
-[X] [Estrada] There is nothing to talk about with FEIS. Lead the assault on San Miguel in person. (2 Points)
Right now, the new regime faces 3 main threats, and any plan we propose should at least address them.
First are the FEIS, who are holed up in their stronghold. They are the least threatening of our current problems, and we can likely just starve them out. However, we made a campaign promise to deliver them to justice swiftly, and the prison colony they're holed up in likely has valuable documents and political prisoners. That makes it our most pressing priority as freeing popular political prisoners would be a massive source of support from different factions, and the documents they have can further help us identify any security risks within our ranks while also serving as evidence for the inevitable trial we'll give whoever we capture alive from the FEIS.
Second are the Costa Gris protests who have kept the military in the outskirts of the city and may be planning on seceding from the regime entirely. Going in there using the military to break the protest is not a good idea. It'll be seen as oppressive and rightly so. As such, we have to convince the populace there that the current regime has their interests in mind. By hitting the FEIS, collecting evidence of their crimes, and releasing beloved political prisoners, we can hit two birds with one stone here. First we eliminate the FEIS, and second we gain the confidence of the people of Costa Gris. Our actions will speak much louder than any of our words, especially to a people who are tired of leaders who talk the talk but can't ever deliver on their promises. If we can capture the ringleader, all the better.
Finally, the main contender to the current regime are the mountain guerillas. ERPA are a threat we have no way to deal with quickly unlike the other 2. The chances of them remaining quiet however, is very small considering they've been fighting the military since their inception. As such, keeping our border with them garrisoned is essential just in case they plan to do something to steal El Presidente's thunder. Once we've dealt with the other two and gained the support of the lowlands, we can start approaching ERPA diplomatically while the new regime's popularity is still high and fresh. That should hopefully give the regime an advantageous position during peace negotiations, and if they refuse, then they're the ones who'll look like warmongers.
Guerillas and insurgencies live and die by the support of the people they fight for, and if we can sap that support, their movement will eventually weaken and be less of a threat to El Presidente.
Not quite. They fought FEIS since their inception, starting out with specifically murdering FEIS members, but generally trying not to pick fights with the military. That is until a year ago when Veraga sent you to the mountains to finally deal with them. Though that was still a very restrained conflict, likely in part because quite a few of ERPAs members are military defectors. People are hesitant to shoot at former comrades.
Not quite. They fought FEIS since their inception, starting out with specifically murdering FEIS members, but generally trying not to pick fights with the military. That is until a year ago when Veraga sent you to the mountains to finally deal with them. Though that was still a very restrained conflict, likely in part because quite a few of ERPAs members are military defectors. People are hesitant to shoot at former comrades.
Finding peace might actually be a lot more possible than I thought if ERPA have military defectors with them, and since we all hate the FEIS, getting Antontierra and his surviving cronies to face trial would be an excellent way to define the regime's relationship with ERPA.
Finding peace might actually be a lot more possible than I thought if ERPA have military defectors with them, and since we all hate the FEIS, getting Antontierra and his surviving cronies to face trial would be an excellent way to define the regime's relationship with ERPA.
Whoops. I got the names mixed up. I didn't realize there was an information post for people and groups of note.
Considering this new information and that we actually have somewhat positive relations with ERPA, I'm thinking the reinforcements to Huizanola might be a mistake and could be seen as overly aggressive as a preparation to attack ERPA.
Then again, that may be too late. We gave up the mountains but took Huizanola which is an important route for supplies for the ERPA considering it's the crossroads between the coast the interior. If ERPA have foreign support, any smuggled weapons will likely pass through here. Velasquez himself is an agitator and charismatic to boot, so I have no doubt he could convince his troops to shoot at the military if he feels it necessary to do. We have, essentially, occupied one of their lifelines with troops already and that's a bad look.
I think we can convince them that we're not out to get ERPA by chasing after the FEIS, and any reinforcements to Huizanola are just insurance just in case. Hopefully, our actions against the FEIS can convince them of that.
I like the points made here. To many issues and not enough time. I don't think the guerrillas will do anything but let's not temp fate. Also by wiping out the FEIS now and going on the radio we can gain a lot of short term popularity boost to help calm the crowds.
[X] Plan: Face the FEIS
-[X] [Reinforcements] Reinforce the garrison at Huizanola to deter the guerrillas further.
-[X] [Estrada] Go to the radio station of San Reina. They are vital to spread your propaganda. (1 Point)
-[X] [Estrada] There is nothing to talk about with FEIS. Lead the assault on San Miguel in person. (2 Points)
[X] Plan: Face the FEIS
-[X] [Reinforcements] Reinforce the garrison at Huizanola to deter the guerrillas further.
-[X] [Estrada] Go to the radio station of San Reina. They are vital to spread your propaganda. (1 Point)
-[X] [Estrada] There is nothing to talk about with FEIS. Lead the assault on San Miguel in person. (2 Points)
Adhoc vote count started by Just Some Guy on Oct 26, 2022 at 1:45 PM, finished with 32 posts and 19 votes.
[X] Plan: Face the FEIS -[X] [Reinforcements] Reinforce the garrison at Huizanola to deter the guerrillas further.
-[X] [Estrada] Go to the radio station of San Reina. They are vital to spread your propaganda. (1 Point)
-[X] [Estrada] There is nothing to talk about with FEIS. Lead the assault on San Miguel in person. (2 Points)
[X] Plan Diplomacy and FEIS Roundup
-[X] [Reinforcements] Send more troops to San Miguel and start an attack on the compound.
-[X] [Estrada] Go to the radio station of San Reina. They are vital to spread your propaganda. (1 Point)
-[X] [Estrada] Receive Seneca Coronado in the palace. He has contacts that could help your economy. (1 Point) -[X] [Estrada] Summon any ambassadors that are in the capital. You need to get your message out to the world to build legitimacy abroad. (1 Point)
[X] Plan: Pragmatic President -[X] [Reinforcements] Reinforce the garrison at Huizanola to deter the guerrillas further. -[X] [Estrada] Summon any ambassadors that are in the capital. You need to get your message out to the world to build legitimacy abroad. (1 Point) -[X] [Estrada] Personally go to Costa Gris and speak with the people there. You might be able to defuse the situation better than your soldiers can. (2 Points)
There was only one radio station in Atontierra. In the past, there had also been a station in Puerto Novo and another broadcasting from a small village half-way between San Reina and Costa Gris, but now only the one in San Reina was left. People had said things about that the tyrant Vergara hadn't liked and so FEIS had 'investigated' and found that it would be better to close down the stations and send most of the staff to San Miguel for 're-education through labour'.
Given that, the reception that General Estrada got on his first visit to the offices of the "Voice of Atontierra" were rather mixed. Some feared that it was their turn to be cracked down on, just this time for having aided the regime of Vergara instead of criticising it. A few others were more hopeful. Denouncing FEIS had to mean that the new Presidente was also above using methods like they did, right?
It was not them who had to greet Estrada though. Most of the staff could keep themselves busy or watch the proceedings from afar while fretting over what it might mean. The one receiving their new leader was not even the owner of the station. Given the news from Blanco Brilla, he was probably either on his way out of the country or already in military custody. No. There was just one person in the entire station that had real power and influence.
To the casual observer, Guido Macias looked nothing out of the ordinary. The rail thin man's clothes and hair were almost aggressively neat, but that wouldn't have him look out of place among business owner or bankers. What singled him out was the fervour in his voice that made you believe that whatever he was talking about right now was the single most important thing in the world, no matter what it was. The listeners loved that about him. A few had feared it. Without him, the station would have been nothing and everyone knew that.
Given his sway over the population, many of his colleagues had assumed that Macias would try to assert itself against the yet shaky control of the General, but when the new Presidente stepped out of the jeep and towards the waiting radio host, the exact opposite happened. "It is a pleasure to receive the Hero of Luzon in our station," he said, his hand outstretched as Estrada came closer. "We all here know that you must be very busy right now and thus what an honour your visit is."
"I appreciate the warm welcome," Estrada replied while shaking his hand. "It has been a while since I've heard the title your predecessor gave me."
As he spoke, Macias beckoned the General to follow him and led the small group into the building. "We were under order to not mention it. Preferably we wouldn't even mention you at all. You can imagine how awkward it became to talk about events in recent months when we had to report great victories but couldn't even say who was fighting. However, now that we are no longer being gagged, I will gladly refer to you by this title and the others that you earned in the war."
"Calling me Presidente Estrada should be fine," the man replied as they walked through the hallways of the small radio station. A few employees kept dodging into side rooms whenever the group approached them as the radio host led them onwards with purpose. "Where are you bringing us anyway? We already passed both your and the owners office."
"Why, to the recording room of course! The country is buzzing with people trying to discern what your next actions will be ever since we played your speech on the radio, and I assumed you would wish to address them once more. Our reporters have gathered plenty of questions already."
It was strange to Estrada just how helpful the man was, but for all that he tried to find some hidden motive or malice, Macias seemed to actually mean it. Before they even entered the recording room he got handed a list of questions and was asked to pick the ones he would like to answer with the radio host occasionally asking for details how the new Presidente wanted to slant his answers. It felt almost like a setup and yet the impromptu interview went just as smooth and pleasant as the preparations promised.
They were talking about the Generals speech at first, especially the promises he had made and if he was willing to share any details. Of course, the land reform was barely more than a vague idea at this point, so they instead spent more time talking about what the justice would look like for Vergara's helpers, especially among FEIS. Old tales of military tribunals in the Pacific were shared and from there the topic drifted, as planned, towards Estradas actions and heroic deeds during the war. Some old propaganda was corrected, other lines repeated verbatim.
From there it went on to a talk about the situation in the country. "San Miguel will be dealt with," was Estrada's only statement about the secret and police and Macias merely replied that the people were looking forward to that. The other two ongoing sources of unrest, the crowd in Costa Gris and the ERPA guerrillas were also addressed, though with far less martial tones.
For Costa Gris, the matter was spoken about as some spontaneous uprising against FEIS, even though the reporter in the city had heard that they were trying to set up their own counter-government. The Presidente started off with expressing his sorrow at the loss of life inflicted by the police firing upon the crowd and that now that they were no longer a threat to the people, that the citizens of Costa Gris should return to their homes and daily lives.
As agreed, the radio host prodded if there would be any persecutions for the unrest, which Estrada denied, stating that peace and order would hardly be served by such. Likewise, the General implied a willingness to talk with the leaders of the ERPA to settle the conflict, though his talk about returning government control to the mountains sounded a bit too much like Veraga's old speeches, leading to a bit of backtracking.
Overall though, all that had listened to the broadcast and were close enough to give comment assured the new Presidente that it had gone well and he left the radio station with a promise by Macias that as long as he was the host of the radio, the Voice of Atontierra would also be the Voice of Presidente.
FEIS: 2 (Warfare) - 1 (Paramilitary) + 1 (Back to the Wall) = 2 dice -> 22 = 4
Result: Total Victory
Long ago, San Miguel had been a catholic mission, erected with the goal of Christianising the savages of the New World. It was a lie of course. What the colonial governor of the time was truly interested in was gathering slaves to dig for gold in the hills. It had been abandoned shortly after the mine was played out and almost forgotten. Until Anton Corradini arrived in Atontierra and took an interest in the old mission. Not long after, it became the main base of FEIS with the secret police taking over the rebuilt mission buildings, while the first task of the new slaves of San Miguel was to erect wooden barracks for themselves.
It was not a fortress. It was barely a camp. Watchtowers and barbed wire were meant to keep prisoners in, not attackers out. When they heard the speech of the new Presidente, FEIS had tried to fortify the compound as best as they could, placing sandbags across the roads and hauling machine guns onto the watchtowers, but it changed nothing about the outcome.
Only two hours after his interview, the General had arrived near San Miguel. Another hour later, he was within the compound. To call what lay in between a battle would have been an insult to the Atontierran army. The plan was simple. Two roads were leading into the camp and by these two roads, the army advanced.
Tanks had led the attack, taking out machine guns with ease. Somehow the secret police had gotten their hands on some kind of anti-tank weapon, but the leading Sherman took only a glancing blow and took out the attacker with a high-explosive shell before he could try again. The fight was over in minutes with members of FEIS hastily trying to retreat and getting cut apart by machine gun fire during the attempt. For all that they had terrorized civilians for years, they stood no chance against opponents that were armed and ready to fight them.
And yet there was no celebration as soldiers moved towards the mission. It was burning and so were the ruins of the barracks. Bodies were strewn everywhere and only a few of them wore police uniforms. Much like in San Reina, FEIS had decided to cover their tracks. They burned their documents. They burned their buildings. And they shot all the witnesses. Worst of all, there was no sign of the secret police's leadership. Corradini and his officers were gone without a trace and those that fought and died or surrendered to the army were just the rank and file. Vicious, but ultimately meaningless thugs.
Only hours later did General Estrada learn what had happened. For the last ten years, Corradini had used the prisoners FEIS had made as slave labour to dig bunkers in the old gold mine. His plan, from what the lesser members of his group had pieced together, was to survive a nuclear war between the US and the Soviet Union by hiding there and to then re-emerge and rebuild society as he deemed fit. The details of this plan were hard to ascertain with the documents burned, but one story from the captured FEIS members was wilder and more disgusting than the one before.
Unfortunately, he had also planned for an attack on San Miguel. Escape tunnels had been dug, leading deeper into he jungle, and Corradini and his inner circle had escaped hours ago. They had to leave behind weapons, ammo and a sizeable amount of gold bars, but while the money would be a boon to the treasury, Estrada would have happily traded it for the FEIS director. Nothing could be done about that for the moment though, leaving only one question to answer.
How to deal with the crimes committed by FEIS?
[] Try to keep things quiet. Enemies might try to pin this massacre on the new government.
Lowers chance of the massacre becoming part of a smear campaign against Estrada, but the cover-up in of itself could become a major scandal if exposed.
[] Be open about this and spread what you can piece together about FEIS crimes within Atontierra.
The people of Atontierra gain 1 Revolutionary Fervor. Crimes well known within the country and somewhat known abroad.
[] Formulate a press release for international audiences. The whole world should know about the crimes of the old regime.
The people of Atontierra gain 2 Revolutionary Fervor. Atontierra gains 1 Notoriety. Crimes well known within the country and major foreign countries.
AN: Not much time to write this week. This should originally end with a turn-vote, but I don't want to let you wait even longer and the matter of how to deal with the aftermath of the San Miguel massacre might have warranted a full vote on its own.
[X] Formulate a press release for international audiences. The whole world should know about the crimes of the old regime.
A country that does not reckon with its past cannot build a future, this is especially true when it comes to things like a secret police. The only way to break the power of people who might be aligned with the old order (and make no mistake there are still such people and most of them in high places) is to blow the whole thing wide open.
We are going to need a secret service going forward, but no one with any vision beyond their own personal power needs a secret police. It will be good to make doubly sure that no one FIS affiliated crawls in there.
