[2] Process the surrendered prisoners more efficiently - gather equipment, arms and identities etc.
[4] Mop up any isolated groups still fighting, can be ignored but creates small no go zones - adds an extra casualty dice if selected.
[1] Try to prevent looting and general lawlessness in the city from locals and your troops - orders to prevent mass robbery, revenge killings etc. Chance of adding an extra casualty dice.
[3] Assign more troops to guard the docks and captured ships.
By all means continue with the Hard Man making Hard Decisions routine. I'm not especially impressed.
Oh, some civilians are already resisting? Well fuck all of 'em, let's add some fuel to the fire and make things worse.
Oh, the Federation are assholes? Let's give them a propaganda windfall. Maybe there's a nun or two we can shoot in the process.
There is no direct military utility to seizing those supplies. Any soldier saved by doing that won't be available soon enough to actually matter. It might very well have some favorable morale impact, but there's no indication whatsoever that available supplies are actually inadequate. The political costs are likely to be significant for the future of the occupation, and Rudolf as an aristocrat would take a broader view. If we were just voting on what was most immediately expedient for the soldiers under his command, we'd have let Raeder fire on the Federation warships; and we'd likely have started a war with Zenobia along the way. We'd also have cut a deal with the Darcsen Hunters because hell it's not like they fall under his remit of concern.
And yeah considering how the brutality of the Soviet "liberation" of Eastern Europe undermined the legitimacy of the client-states they set up, and how that contrasted with Western Germany and Japan; and considering how German behavior in Belgium played a huge role in making the US increasingly sympathetic to the Entente until it joined WWI and doomed the Central Powers; considering also the huge diversion of German and Japanese forces to deal with partisan warfare because of the brutal occupation policies in WWII; yeah there's no "karma" but being a huge asshole does, in fact, carry its own consequences.
Stop with the condescension at least. The mere fact you are equating raiding hospitals to secure medicine for wounded soldiers as a brutal oppressive regime is just fucking false equivalency. "Quick, let's get some ether so little Jimmy's gut shot doesn't cause him to die of shock" is apparently just as bad depopulating the countryside and massacring villages. I'm not suggesting pointless brutality, I'm arguing that seizing needed medical supplies for our wounded and dying isn't pointless brutality.
I don't care about the big picture, because the big picture isn't our responsibility, maintaining and operating this brigade is. Now, trying to be magnanimous victors is all well and good up until it starts negatively affecting our men, and to completely deny them more extensive medical aid for nebulous reasons that don't concern our men and our unit is the definition of negatively affecting our men. I'm done with this argument, neither of us are balking, and neither of us are willing to go into this without treating the other with disdain.
I fear we're going to end up being the type of leader that's a nightmare for NCO's and grunts all across the world. Somebody who's so stuck in the political gameplan and his career that his own troops will suffer for it, as is obviously already the case, what with not waiting for reinforcements.
And honestly, does anybody here think that the troops wont notice the hospitals going untouched if certain medical supplies run out or there just aren't enough for our own wounded? That's some straight out of the military academy thinking right there. They might not be officers, but if they're not blind, especially as they're already going to be helping prevent lawlessness from setting in, which means guarding said hospitals. The rumor mill will be churning full stop about how they could have used that stuff to help their own.
[5] Process the surrendered prisoners more efficiently - gather equipment, arms and identities etc.
[3] Mop up any isolated groups still fighting, can be ignored but creates small no go zones - adds an extra casualty dice if selected.
[1] Try to prevent looting and general lawlessness in the city from locals and your troops - orders to prevent mass robbery, revenge killings etc. Chance of adding an extra casualty dice.
[2] Confiscate medical supplies from hospitals and clinics for prompt treatment your wounded - reduces casualty dice from final tally.
[4] Assign more troops to guard the docks and captured ships.
[5] Process the surrendered prisoners more efficiently - gather equipment, arms and identities etc.
[3] Mop up any isolated groups still fighting, can be ignored but creates small no go zones - adds an extra casualty dice if selected.
[1] Try to prevent looting and general lawlessness in the city from locals and your troops - orders to prevent mass robbery, revenge killings etc. Chance of adding an extra casualty dice.
[2] Confiscate medical supplies from hospitals and clinics for prompt treatment your wounded - reduces casualty dice from final tally.
[4] Assign more troops to guard the docks and captured ships.
There is nothing about the extant supplies being inadequate. You are making that up to justify an illegal and abusive action on the explicit grounds of "fuck everything that isn't our brigade."
"Confiscate medical supplies from hospitals and clinics for prompt treatment your wounded - reduces casualty dice from final tally."
This indicates that there is a delay in the treatment for our wounded. Now, I can think of a few reasons for this. One, we don't enough supplies to go around and need to wait for more supplies to arrive, our supplies aren't of good enough quality to do all that needs to be done or we don't have the personnel for adequate treatment of all our casualties.
The first and/or second are most likely and the last one is probably true as well, simply because there are never enough medics when you need to treat a lot of people.
I'm not making up shit, just using my head, so get off your high horse. There's no reason additional medical supplies would actually help our soldiers survive better if we'd have adequate enough supplies, both in quantity and quality, to make sure all our troops get the treatment they deserve.
To be honest I'm a little surprised at the passion of the debate.
You aren't going to be running the city for an extended period of time. Just for a few days until other parts of the army arrive. Like you aren't going to have the time to steal all the medicine in the city even if you wanted to. Maybe I should've made this clearer, added in the word "some" medical supplies.
Note the language of some of the options, for example "Try to prevent looting". You don't have the numbers to stop it completely but you can make an effort to try etc. In the same vein you're not expecting anyone to sabotage the captured ships, just prevent people bolting with them etc.
The effect of most of these options should be pretty moderate, with some minor mechanical effects and fluff that affects interaction with other characters.
To be honest I'm a little surprised at the passion of the debate.
You aren't going to be running the city for an extended period of time. Just for a few days until other parts of the army arrive. Like you aren't going to have the time to steal all the medicine in the city even if you wanted to. Maybe I should've made this clearer, added in the word "some" medical supplies.
Note the language of some of the options, for example "Try to prevent looting". You don't have the numbers to stop it completely but you can make an effort to try etc. In the same vein you're not expecting anyone to sabotage the captured ships, just prevent people bolting with them etc.
The effect of most of these options should be pretty moderate, with some minor mechanical effects and fluff that affects interaction with other characters.
[2] Process the surrendered prisoners more efficiently - gather equipment, arms and identities etc.
[4] Mop up any isolated groups still fighting, can be ignored but creates small no go zones - adds an extra casualty dice if selected.
[1] Try to prevent looting and general lawlessness in the city from locals and your troops - orders to prevent mass robbery, revenge killings etc. Chance of adding an extra casualty dice.
[3] Assign more troops to guard the docks and captured ships.
Lets not take any action that will create additional unrest.
[2] Process the surrendered prisoners more efficiently - gather equipment, arms and identities etc.
[4] Mop up any isolated groups still fighting, can be ignored but creates small no go zones - adds an extra casualty dice if selected.
[1] Try to prevent looting and general lawlessness in the city from locals and your troops - orders to prevent mass robbery, revenge killings etc. Chance of adding an extra casualty dice.
[3] Assign more troops to guard the docks and captured ships.
I think this is the best plan for our current situation.
[5] Process the surrendered prisoners more efficiently - gather equipment, arms and identities etc.
[3] Mop up any isolated groups still fighting, can be ignored but creates small no go zones - adds an extra casualty dice if selected.
[1] Try to prevent looting and general lawlessness in the city from locals and your troops - orders to prevent mass robbery, revenge killings etc. Chance of adding an extra casualty dice.
[2] Confiscate medical supplies from hospitals and clinics for prompt treatment your wounded - reduces casualty dice from final tally.
[4] Assign more troops to guard the docks and captured ships.
[5] Process the surrendered prisoners more efficiently - gather equipment, arms and identities etc.
[3] Mop up any isolated groups still fighting, can be ignored but creates small no go zones - adds an extra casualty dice if selected.
[1] Try to prevent looting and general lawlessness in the city from locals and your troops - orders to prevent mass robbery, revenge killings etc. Chance of adding an extra casualty dice.
[2] Confiscate medical supplies from hospitals and clinics for prompt treatment your wounded - reduces casualty dice from final tally.
[4] Assign more troops to guard the docks and captured ships.
A good portion of the city lies in ruins after the fighting ends. However now is not to time to rest. Much still needs to be done. Over the following day, you set about restoring order. You set up a temporary headquarters in one of the government buildings. With a declaration of martial law and broad sweeps you do your best to restore order to the city, flushing out any remaining resistance and stopping any banditry. For the most part you succeed despite a severe shortage of manpower. A remarkable feat considering the fierce fighting that had occurred. Everything did not perfectly well however.
There were three separate instances where you had to directly intervene to prevent your nominal local allies to causing problems (not counting those you did not oversee). Including one rather ugly incident involving prisoners. That was fortunately prevented, what was not prevented was incidents involving your own soldiers. It wasn't even deliberate! It wasn't your fault a couple dozen men suffocated and or were crushed when their whole unit were locked up inside a warehouse. You don't even know why they were in that habitation in the first place. They were republicans anyway so not a big loss. Stuff ups aside, your men manage to prevent an incident where some local dockhands tried to scuttle some of the seized ships.
The final butchers bill is high, from the some of your units were hit particularly hard especially Mueller's men. This was partially offset by the surplus of supplies you had on hand but it was still rough. The highest you had taken in the whole campaign.
While you were administering the city, another notable incident occurred. A Gallian businessman approached a little nervously and asked for protection for his goods. Citing that fact that his country is currently neutral he would like to avoid any unpleasantness that might occur under a regime in Merovia. Of course, he understands these things come at a cost and is willing to offer some… incentive. These range from a variety of personal goods such as his wireless, a highly ornamented sidearm, an armoured car or plain old cash. He even offers you his darcsen secretary/maid with a shifty look. What a silly idea. As if you would sully yourself so.
You are not technically at war with Gallia yet. Despite that fact that your reasonably sure the higher ups are planning something to bring that recalcitrant duchy back into the fold. You're reasonably sure there's not much he can do to stop you if you decide to requisition things. Besides, might as well get paid for something you're already doing.
Take one:
[] Take the money
[] Take the wireless
[] Take the armoured car
[] Take the darcsen
[] Take the filigree revolver
Take more than one:
[] Pick.
Screw that, what can he do? Confiscate everything:
[] Take it all.
***
Within the week, the rest of the army arrive. You get stunned looks from many of the aides serving General Hall. Many had simply expected you to besiege the city or wait for reinforcements. Instead you had captured a great deal of sensitive data and equipment in a daring move that secured the city. Hall almost looks like he's about the reprimand you for taking such a risky move but he stays quiet because it worked. Even that critic Baumann is silent. You get honours normally reserved for a victorious general, pride of place at every meeting, the best accommodation, the best food. You try not to think about the bodies that bought you this.
***
For this great victory, you are going to granted a Hero of the Empire, Third class. It comes with a shiny platinum medal, silvery as a Valkyria's hair. Apart from personal accolades your division received nine citations for valour. Three posthumous.
***
The following few weeks is full of tedium as various preparations are made. The ships you captured were refurbished and new ones obtained from the imperial port of Odessa. You also attended a pretty boring flag raising event where the rightful rulers were reinstalled. Bloody prig didn't even show up, sent his aunt instead to act as a regent. She smiled at you at least.
You get a few letters as well; one from your step-sister which you throw in the back without reading. Your half-sister is nothing if not persistent. You hope your step-sister enjoyed the Novan scented candles you got her. You hope she wasn't too scared by the spider that must have crawled into the package and died, seriously the Post these days has totally gone to the dogs. Dumb plum rock.
You get a more pleasant from your benefactor congratulating you for your achievements. You can smell the lavender perfume on the flimsy page and are lost in pleasurable thoughts. You wonder how many of these types of letters she sends out.
***
Another piece of good news is that more men have recovered from their injuries. You have also received some platoons to reinforce your depleted numbers.
Eventually the dullness ends as you are summoned for another meeting that is deadly serious. You find out the purpose for capturing those ships. It is both good and bad.
"Operation Culverin is an ambitious plan to break the stalemate at Baku," Hall drones. How so? Baku was quite a way north east. The lines were static last you heard with over a million men combined fighting on both sides.
"High Command has decided in its wisdom to land this army far behind enemy lines to divert enemy forces," He can't mean…
"An advance guard will meet up with a contingent of naval infantry from Odessa en route to establish a beachhead for the rest of the army. Make no mistake, this will be a very risky endeavour."
The plan:
You're not sure whether to be happy or appalled. On one hand a high stakes gambit, on the other hand, relying on the navy to come through. Which was never a good idea. The Ametrine incident was one of the reasons the war began. You are still unsure if the official reason of sabotage was true or if it was just plain incompetence at play.
"What about the Federation Navy sir?" Colonel Azgle asks.
"Our intelligence has told us that only light elements remain in the Gulf. It will be no match for the Novan fleet and will be cleared out in short order," Hall answered after a pause.
"Why would they move out their battleships?" You ask a little confused.
"Our analysts expect they want to reinforce the Western Front which is currently under considerable pressure," answered Hall.
"Never mind why, they left themselves open so it's time to make them pay," Baumann says harshly.
"Field Marshal Keitel will assist however he can," Mainly with costly frontal assaults to distract the feds you're guessing. "But cannot risk too much given that he is outnumbered by over one hundred thousand."
"The closest forces to the landing site will be those of General Erasmus Chainy", you see Hall grimace. "But he will be over 300 miles away and have dense fortifications in his way. Expect little in support until the main army arrives by sea.
"The main elements of the Federation military in this theatre have arrayed themselves around the strategic Talarist city of Baku. Their objective is transparent; to defend the strategic ragnite fields there at all cost. We plan to bypass them and their fortifications and create maximum disruption." More than half a million angry federation soldiers will be between you and friendly lines. "We must break this statement and secure victory", the good general still looks a little unsure of himself as he finishes speaking. Well, you're the hero of the hour, what will you do?
[] Volunteer to be on the first wave.
[] Stay silent.
AN: There was supposed to be a short non-combat mini-arc here. But for the sake of keeping things interesting I moved it on.
It was a surprise to see this come up again, but a welcome one.
I don't think the brigade or its commander are suited for a shock assault role going in the first wave. A balanced unit should be held back for exploitation or to salvage a withdrawal.
As far as shaking down the merchant I'd suggest limiting it to one item of military use lest we encourage... unsavory impulses. The wireless or the armored car (for personal transport in occupied territory) are probably the most useful and least objectionable. Honestly I'd lean toward the car since one wireless isn't likely to make much difference, and it fits in with aristocratic sensibilities.
[x] Stay silent.
-If pressed/asked/needled about our reasons, explain how our unit is ill prepared for immediate redeployment (by boat no less) due to reorganization and resupply after an urban conflict.
A part of me worries a bit about letting somebody else take the lead in the amphibious assault, even if I'd prefer we not be first into the grinder. If whoever ends up leading the first wave fails to take enough initiative and land, we might end up landing in a pocket that we'll be hard pressed to break out of.
Of course, if we do volunteer, that'll get back to our own troops and they'll probably peg us as an even bigger glory hound who's willing to sacrifice his men for such gains.
As for the goods, I'd say the radio has the highest value. A personal set, outside of what we'd normally have could be useful if something happened to what we'd usually use. Perhaps we could even acquire a second radio operator that we could detach to positions of importance if the need arises. Improve our CnC a bit.
The armored car would be my second pick. Never hurts to improve your odds of survival and battlefield mobility.
No idea about the maid. Does she need to be rescued? Will she be safer with us? What would we even do with her in a war, especially given her ethnicity? And finally, what kind of rumors would taking her on lead to? Risky business all around for us and her. Probably should talk to her beforehand, but I'm not really confident that Rudolf could pull off such a conversation. Or that it would even be in character for him to try..
Okay had to re-acquaint myself with things a bit. The Heavy Foot Brigade is actually weighted toward shock, but even so Rudolf himself is probably still better as a set-piece commander operating with an established front. We did drive him on through Merovia at a pretty fair pace, albeit we had some advantages here like the integral artillery support and the limited number of defenders. I'm still inclined to leave the landing to the specialized Naval Infantry and whatever foolhardy or hard-driving commander is willing to put his shock troops on the line. The brigade as a whole will still be a highly useful reserve given its experience, and can expect to play a key role if the battle stalemates or if a genuine breakout occurs.
As far as the loot well, an extra wireless would be useful but maybe the High Command can be convinced to prioritize CNC equipment (and integral artillery) with dispatches and experience. And Rudolf is kind of a little vain. The armored car would be a good status symbol. But it might also save his life if he winds up in a billet in occupied territory, and we aren't likely to acquire one in any other way.
I only kept the thread watched due to the fond memories, it paid off.
I like that the hidden text shows that Rudolf does have a conscience under that aristocratic veneer and the casualties his ambition called for are bothering him.
As such I am very much in favor of staying silent on the sea assault. I have a feeling that Baumann will volunteer (he is hungry for prestige after his performance this campaign and he cares little for his men's well-being).
As for the Merchant hmm, I'll bank on something here: The Darcsen is secretary correct? Wanna bet she can use a wireless? Might gain a useful aide de camp.
We can always use more aides.
[X] Take the wireless
- [X] Ask the Darcsen Maid if she would rather serve a master less sheepish.
Looks like our total real losses for the Merovia Campaign were 507 men (though there may be a few more wounded left to come).
So about ~10.5% losses in total. Not bad given the pace we drove and who we faced, I have a feeling this next campaign will be a real grinder though. Despite likely having the element of Strategic surprise, we will still be facing Regulars of the Federation Army, with all the training, equipment and support that means.
Soon our Brigade will get to experience the "joy" of tank assaults, artillery barrages and coordinated assaults.
On the plus side, depending on how badly our fellows do and how well we do ourselves, Rudolf might end this campaign as a Brevet General. If only because everyone was killed or wounded.
