Alright here's a list of all the discords you can find me on if you want to chat to me about this project in particular, while I recommend you join them all I am fine with you picking and choosing one or the other. Though without further ado...
I think Speer is being ambigious about the location of the "border" because he's not willing to end the world over the Northern Syria, but is willing to take it if we allow him to. It costs him nothing to remain silent on the issue until we either backdown or call his bluff, at which point he can define Turkish border to exist wherever it happens to be convenient for him.
We could first send a message through Japan or Switzerland (or both) and inform Speer of our willingness to let Turkey go, if he is willing to do the same with Northern Syria. After that, publically declare our intent to liberate the areas under Turkish occupation and try to force Speer into deciding whether he is wiling to die for the sake of giving Turks more territory or not.
If Germany openly threatens us with nuclear war over Northern Syria we can backdown, but as long as they refuse to commit to it we should liberate the area.
The backing down options are if Speer is willing to end the world over Northern Syria. Otherwise we present a hard front and only back down if Speer threatens to flip the table. We don't open up negotiations with it. It can be reworded though to make that clearer. If you want to do that yourself fee free to.
Okay revisted the plan. I dropped attacking Libya, only bombing it for fun. It's tougher on Germany and Turkey, and uses the Swiss as a proxy too. Dropped the diplomatic recognition of Germany and occupies Northern Syria in the event they reject all talks of Turkish withdrawal.
[X] Plan Testing the Waters 1.1
-[X] General Strategy
--[X] Bomb Libyan oil wells within range of Egyptian airfields.
--[X] Reach out to Gamma Israel. Voscom can provide nuclear protection and economic aid, but Israel must grant Palestinians citizenship, right of return to refugees, and return stolen land.
-[X] Nuclear Threat from Germany
--[X]Use Beta Japan as a proxy to pass along messages to Beta Germany, tell Speer that we will not push into Turkey, however we do not recognize Northern Syria and Assyria/Mosul as Turkish territory. It is illegally occupied by Turkey and we demand that Turkey withdraw from it
--[X] At the same time contact Beta Germany through their embassy in Beta Switzerland from our own embassy.
--[X] We don't want nuclear war, make that clear
--[X] That said, put strategic bombers and aircraft in range of Beta and Gamma Germany on stand by.
--[X] RIVA-INFOR volunteers will continue pushing into Northern Syria, alongside local revolutionaries, but will not push into Turkey proper. Voscom aircraft will continue hitting Turkish positions in Northern Syria.
--[X] If Beta Germany refuses a Turkish withdrawal, we demand that the occupied territory be turned into a demilitarized zone. Only suggest that if the initial demand is turned down. Don't open with it.
---[X] If Beta Germany refuses that, occupy Northern Syria and call their bluff.
[X] Internal Developments
-[X] Keep Nasser and his clique in the decision making loop. Defer to them if any deal reached is acceptable.
--[X] Work with Nasser to establish an United Arab Republic, along socialist lines. It must not fragment into infighting, outside interference, or revisionism. Invite existing Arab socialist republics to participate in the UAR.
--[X] Provide humanitarian aid to areas safely under Nasserist control.
-[X] Get Gamma Moscow on the phone. We need the Weimar Pact included.
--[X] Suggest possible unification between Alpha and Gamma Turkey but do not push it. If Gamma Moscow is against it, drop the idea.
Voting is open. I'm just refining my plan proposal and getting feedback from people. Feel free to make your own, or write up edits to mine. Just label it something else.
We had 24 hours to formulate a plan from the time of the update being posted. There was no voting until that time had passed. The time has passed. It's been more than 24 hours since the last update. If voting isn't open yet, then that's fine. More time to work out the finer details of a plan.
Okay revisted the plan. I dropped attacking Libya, only bombing it for fun. It's tougher on Germany and Turkey, and uses the Swiss as a proxy too. Dropped the diplomatic recognition of Germany and occupies Northern Syria in the event they reject all talks of Turkish withdrawal.
[X] Plan Testing the Waters 1.1
-[X] General Strategy
--[X] Bomb Libyan oil wells within range of Egyptian airfields.
--[X] Reach out to Gamma Israel. Voscom can provide nuclear protection and economic aid, but Israel must grant Palestinians citizenship, right of return to refugees, and return stolen land.
-[X] Nuclear Threat from Germany
--[X]Use Beta Japan as a proxy to pass along messages to Beta Germany, tell Speer that we will not push into Turkey, however we do not recognize Northern Syria and Assyria/Mosul as Turkish territory. It is illegally occupied by Turkey and we demand that Turkey withdraw from it
--[X] At the same time contact Beta Germany through their embassy in Beta Switzerland from our own embassy.
--[X] We don't want nuclear war, make that clear
--[X] That said, put strategic bombers and aircraft in range of Beta and Gamma Germany on stand by.
--[X] RIVA-INFOR volunteers will continue pushing into Northern Syria, alongside local revolutionaries, but will not push into Turkey proper. Voscom aircraft will continue hitting Turkish positions in Northern Syria.
--[X] If Beta Germany refuses a Turkish withdrawal, we demand that the occupied territory be turned into a demilitarized zone. Only suggest that if the initial demand is turned down. Don't open with it.
---[X] If Beta Germany refuses that, occupy Northern Syria and call their bluff.
[X] Internal Developments
-[X] Keep Nasser and his clique in the decision making loop. Defer to them if any deal reached is acceptable.
--[X] Work with Nasser to establish an United Arab Republic, along socialist lines. It must not fragment into infighting, outside interference, or revisionism. Invite existing Arab socialist republics to participate in the UAR.
--[X] Provide humanitarian aid to areas safely under Nasserist control.
-[X] Get Gamma Moscow on the phone. We need the Weimar Pact included.
--[X] Suggest possible unification between Alpha and Gamma Turkey but do not push it. If Gamma Moscow is against it, drop the idea.
Anyway I think the time for arguments have given way to the time for you all to start voting on the fate of Assyria and Kurdistan. This is a very important decision that will have long lasting impacts on the Beta Middle East, and also on the relations between the Zollverein and the Communist International and how bold the Zollverein will act towards the Communist bloc from now on. For now, the other blocs can but hold their breaths while they hope that a decision that doesn't set the world on fire is reached. Everyone of course, has their sympathies towards one side or the other, but the Levantine Crisis has the world glued to its screens.
Admittedly the prospect of nukes has made it hard for me to think of a plan. I don't want to give in to Germany as soon as they start throwing a fit over us winning, but I don't want nuclear war. I like this plan for now. I think it covers our bases and is fair.
Libya: bomb oil infrastructure where possible and make plans for a long insurgency to undermine Italian rule
Northwestern Syria: Make it clear through diplomatic contacts in Switzerland that we won't touch Turkey proper but will retake all of Syria, meanwhile exploit hostilities between betaJapan and the EINPAK and play on the former's fears of Turkish defection to the EINPAK. If Germany still tries to push forward even on just Syria then we strategically negotiate for an armistice and use that as leverage in west africa talks.
UAR: work with the local socialists to begin reconstruction across the Arab world and if they desire start negotiations on its possible entry into VOSCOM.
Weimar Pact: begin talks with them and Gamma Turkyie on its plans and strategy for the future.
Libya: bomb oil infrastructure where possible and make plans for a long insurgency to undermine Italian rule
Northwestern Syria: Make it clear through diplomatic contacts in Switzerland that we won't touch Turkey proper but will retake all of Syria, meanwhile exploit hostilities between betaJapan and the EINPAK and play on the former's fears of Turkish defection to the EINPAK. If Germany still tries to push forward even on just Syria then we strategically negotiate for an armistice and use that as leverage in west africa talks.
UAR: work with the local socialists to begin reconstruction across the Arab world and if they desire start negotiations on its possible entry into VOSCOM.
Weimar Pact: begin talks with them and Gamma Turkyie on its plans and strategy for the future.
Much as I'd like to push into Anatolia and re-enact 1945, I wouldn't want to push the Fuhrer, with a deep-seated inferiority complex and all eyes in both EINPAKs on him, into pressing the button. The "Grey Territory" in question, on the other hand, offers him an out to save face.
The German nuclear threat had the world holding its breath. The Beta and Delta third reichs had the largest nuclear arsenal of the four worlds, enough to bring about the end of human civilisation several times over each. The Nazis were well aware that they were at a manpower disadvantage versus their rivals, so they compensated for it with the sheer capacity for mass destruction to ensure that if the teutonic steel of the Wehrmacht was not enough to defend the Fatherland, the radioactive majesty of its nuclear weapons would ensure that Deutschland's dominion would not be directly imperilled.
Lyndon Baines Johnson, Svetlana Bukharina, Mikhail Suslov*, Zhang Chunqiao**, Lakshmi Saghal,and Jane Fonda, the "big six" of the communist bloc along with rising stars such as (Delta) Che Guevara of the Pan-American Socialist Confederation and Felix Moumie of the Pan-African Socialist Association would fly to Tokyo to speak with Albert Speer and Joseph Goebbels in talks to be mediated by the presence of the Japanese Prime Minister. These were to be sure, tense talks, and the presence of so many Comintern bigwigs was clearly meant to impress a feeling of numerical inferiority upon the Zollverein's duumvirate.
Goebbels was clearly old and not getting any younger. Already a gaunt man who looked older than his years, he was now a monster whose hair and wrinkles mostly kept at bay by plastic surgery to present a greater degree of youth than the seventy five year old man actually had. A moustache had been grown, to help hide the creases on his lips, and ever since he started balding he covered his head with a peaked cap at all times. In his uniform like garb it gave him the air of a tinpot despot, Medals for his "service" to the rich bedecked his right breast, service ribbons on the left for his "accomplishments".
Those scrambled egg style old epaulettes only further adding to the image of someone who wanted to come off as a giant. When he entered the room, the security personnel in the growing Association of Independent Nations headquarters in Kyoto that was meant to serve as a bridge between the KdN and the UN did their best to pretend to not react, grey helmed guards returning to their posts in silence while Goebbels' entourage and flunkies orbited like moons around Jupiter, seamlessly seating himself in a chair while the great despot helped himself to a glass of water, glaring daggers at Johnson in particular after trying his best to make a show of ignoring "inferiors" such as Moumie, Chunqiao, Suslov, Bukharina, or Fonda.
Ezekiel DeLeon, now a veteran of more than a decade of service in this department but looking no older than he did when the first worldmerges happened, leaned in to whisper into Johnson's ear, though making sure that Fonda was able to hear so that the head woman of the metropolis accord was kept in the loop.
"Are you sure it's this one we want to make ties with?" He asked, his purple coloured eyes and incredibly fair coloured hair getting a brief bit of attention from Goebbels before an aiden whispered a sentence into the Fuhrer's ears that included the term "Juden" that caused Joseph to make a face.
"Haven't gotten the memo eh? We've dropped that plank. We're not giving Fritz a convenient place to leash his spies to just yet comrade." Johnson replied while Goebbels was likely getting an earful of last-minute updates from his own subordinates.
Suslov, ever the theorist in chief, couldn't help but get his own piece in.
"So long as we are not given leave for comintern affiliated organisations to operate within the boundaries of the hitlerite reich, there is no point in giving their diplomats a home in the borders of the worker's states." He added, Ezekiel breathing something of a sigh of relief while Bukharina furiously worked through her notes, pen just about flying over her paper as an awkward air settled over the most important talks in a long while. Heads of state and government from all five blocs were present here, and no amount of aloe vera water was going to diminish the sense of tension that felt like it would explode at the tiniest provocation.
Certainly with people like Goebbels, RFK, Pierre Mauroy, Anthony Crosland of Gamma Britain, Prince Taiyohito***, Emperor Umberto of Italy (clearly a snub by the Italians if Muti couldn't bother to show up himself), Lee Teng-Hui, Jacques Delors of Gamma France, Chiang Wei-Kuo of Delta China, and Hubert Humphrey to name but a few. A who's who of people in geopolitics with the barest hint of clout on the global stage, most of them nuclear powers or ones who definitely were nuclear power heads but pretended they weren't for convenience's sake like Shimon Perez.
All of that was interrupted by the arrival of one more person. Speer, last of the great powers to enter the room, was on the other hand was somewhat younger. He also hid his baldness, but kept himself clean-shaven, wanting to look slick and efficient with a more minimalist uniform style suit. Less showy in the hopes that the understatement would make him look more easy going, less insecure as he told his Hugo Boss personal tailor. It was likely he had used cosmetic surgery to look as young or at least as virile as he could manage, and it was likely his hair was dyed to hide the growing greyness. But he entered the room with an unmistakable menace. He was fashionably late, almost as if to show that he could show up whenever he wanted. Probably did in fact, do that for that reason.
"Trying to run down the clock on the thousand year reich I see." Johnson muttered under his breath with barely concealed disdain for the "human face of National Socialism" as heliked to call himself. Or as LBJ liked to say, the human face of a bipedal weasel.
"And so I believe we now have leave to begin our discussions." Zentaro was as ever, quick to try and wrangle a heated discussion in the hopes of getting people moving along.
The initial hours of the conference covered a great deal of fluff and nonsense as one set of issues or the other were brought up in the hopes of kicking the can of the present nuclear question down the road for as long as possible. To perhaps avoid a confrontation between the most fanatically anti-communist powers in the worlds and said communist powers. More than a few attempts at facilitating talks between the Comintern and Zollverein had descended into shouting and racial slurs given that the NSDAP had no bridges left to burn with any communist movement. But when the can had run out of road to tumble down, there was no avoiding the inevitable.
"Now, with the matter of your incursions into the territories of the Republic of Turkiye, B." Speer said, seeking to immediately command the negotiations with a smug look on his face that Johnson wanted to slap right off.
"The People of the Reich have felt that your military advances have greatly imperilled the world system, with your bold advances upon Italian spheres of interest and the overthrow of countless legitimate governments in the region in the name of Bolshevism. The chaos inflicted on the economy and the region can be laid principally, on a foreign funded and supplied communist agenda that seeks to undermine the stability of the world for its own aims. Now, we are, in our generoisty, willing to accede to the existence of bolshevik regimes but the gates of the Bosporus are a bridge too far." He said, speaking relatively quickly but forcefully to make himself seem authoritative and deny others a chance to interrupt him.
"The people of the arab world have decided to rise on their own, we merely sought to aid them in an act of solidarity and humanitarianism. If a regime loses so much faith in its people that they feel the need to take arms against them, then it stands that this regime has no legitimacy." Chunqiao said in unaccented English, the preferred language of international discussion by writ of it being the most common second language to be found.
"That is not in contention, the matter is the threat to the territorial integrity of the Turkiye of that timeline." Goebbels declared, unwilling to let Speer run this particular rodeo.
"Where was this energy when you were supporting terrorists in Lahore?" Fonda asked. An escalation, the calling into question of the matter of precedent, and international law was in essence, a very long chain of precedence and gentleman's agreements to do things one way or another. Certainly genuinely enforcing such law was a nonstarter if nobody was interested in paying it any mind, which was something that happened more often than not.
"A distraction dragged up from past actions, irrelevant to the present situation." Speer countered, already set on reasserting himself in the discussion before the moderator, a nondescript Japanese woman, banged the gavel to put a stop to the incendiary remarks before they could really get started.
"With the declaration of a nuclear threat, it is unwise to allow tempers to flare. Please, try to retain restraint in the present situation." Zentaro said, his English more than a touch accented but his eyes nervously looking at the map of the four worlds, almost visualising the rising of mushroom clouds in his mind's eye.
"Agreed, we are in the business of ensuring that five thousand years of recorded human civilisation do not end in this year of nineteen seventy three. Nobody here wants their legacy to be one of begetting Armageddon." Johnson declared, seeing the chance to posture and pouncing on it with the hungry claws of a sabertooth tiger spotting a particularly juicy bison's neck.
"What we are requesting is the respect of the sovereignty of Turkiye, something that should be a simple request." More posturing on Speer's part, an effort to make the Comintern look unreasonable for not agreeing to demands that Speer kept close to his chest so he could claim a win no matter what.
"Would the Fuhrer of the Greater Germanic Reich be so kind as to designate on a map where Turkiye begins and ends?" Johnson said with a smug look on his face as he felt confident in having caught Speer in the vice of his jaws.
"The boundaries of a nation are not a fixed concept." Goebbels countered, a well-practiced Nazi dodge regarding this particular topic.
"Well I say you've gone and "unfixed" the nations of Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine out of existence." Edna Lott, President of (Beta) Brazil, was a young woman in a "den of crocodiles" as her father often described the field of politics, but her tongue was as sharp as her father's even on her worst day, and scoring points with dings against the image of Nazi Germany were a quick way to earn popularity in her incarnation of the jolly green giant of South America.
There were laughs, but the Japanese waved them off. "This is a place of serious discussion, not stand up comedy. Refrain from inappropriate humour." The Delta Japanese Prince chided her.
"They're going to try and stall to avoid answering the question of borders in any way that would deny their claim to eastern Europe." Ezekiel whispered to the American heads.
"We should push on them then. Don't give them an inch, if we can create a precedent for intervening in Eastern Europe now..." Fonda said, Johnson shaking his head.
"Don't get your hopes up too high comrade, we're playing with fire here. Best to go for the pre-war borders." He replied.
"A demilitarised zone may allow for some...flexibility perhaps?" Bukharina proposed, to thenodding of the gathered heads.
"We are willing to discuss the possibility of a demilitarised zone in the name of peace." Johnson declared, checkmate; a compromising offer that would give time to prepare and consolidate as well as keep the Turkish army from getting too close to the boundaries of the Socialist United Arab Republics.
The discussions would carry on from this tangent for a while, before Admiral Gorhskov, doing his best to avoid looking too out of breath, slipped into the room and got the ears of the gathered communist leaders.
"Admiral...what brings you to Kyoto?" Bukharina asked, clearly confused by the presence of a military official in diplomatic affairs while he offered a salute and caught his breath.
"Comrades, the Italians have used tactical nuclear weapons on Saladin Base and the Carrier Petersburg."
Johnson's face paled as he looked towards Emperor Umberto who seemed to almost jump out of his seat when an aide told him what was likely the same news...so that was why Muti wasn't present at the meeting. Umberto may have been a largely empty suit to be pushed around by the Grand Council of Fascism as they pleased, but he'd have never authorised a nuclear strike in retaliation to nuisance raids on Libya.
A sharp, imposing looking gentleman in the blackshirted Uniform of the Italian Fascist Party's Paramilitary unit, a toady of the Grand Council who didn't even deign to take off his peaked cap as he opened a sealed letter upon being permitted to enter with fresh information that pertained to ongoing discussions, a proclamation straight from Rome itself.
"The Empire of Italy has authorised massive retaliation against the Bolshevik attempts to disrupt our economic activity with a show of the ultimate power at the disposal of the people of her nation. The duce and the grand council, who speak for the proud nation of the sons of the river Tiber; have done this to show Pyongyang that we will not be pressured or bullied by its cowardly and unprovoked aggression, and if they seek to press any farther, our submarines have missiles ready for the cities of the Communist bloc that will fire within minutes of receiving orders. The Provinces of Libya are an integral part of Italy and its Empire, and all attacks upon it shall receive the retaliation that strikes on our fatherland warrant, and should the Nazi Regime in Deutschstadt and Germania seek to exploit this situation for their own gain, they will find that Roman Steel has not dulled since their forefathers were gutted by gladius and spatha in ages long past, as the Nazi submarine pack that had sought to intercept the horn of Africa trade route had discovered. And should the cowards of the Entente and the ICA seek to test our mettle; they will meet the same arm and hand."
Each word he spoke struck like the thunderbolts of Jupiter, his unflinching expression making it deadly clear that he was absolutely serious. Tactical nuclear weapons had been used in anger thrice; twice against Communist forces, once against Nazi troops. In a single moment all effort at calming down tension in the room evaporated. DEFCON ratings had crossed over to the dreaded digit of One; readiness for immediate mobilisation and action; the final step before 0; general nuclear exchange.
Umberto, defeated, sighed and slinked into his chair while Johnson seemed about ready to go in and force-feed the Blackshirt prick who delivered this pronunciamento a nuke of his own. He only barely restrained himself from leaping out of his seat as sweat started to drip down his forehead. He had miscalculated...a show of force against Italy's primary colony shouldn't have...no he told himself.
In his timeline the only usage of nuclear weapons was tactical, this would of course, give the Italians the idea they could use this force without immediate escalation. He had banked so much on the fact that the strategic usage of nuclear weapons in the New Order's Timeline would keep them from the ultimate sanction. But the foe had clearly been reading their manuals too.
He was backed into a corner and like any rattlesnake in Texas he had to give his threat display to let them know he wasn't about to take this sitting down.
"You are crossing lines that nobody can step back from, you do understand?" Johnson said.
"Attacks against our sovereign territory will be met with all tools at our disposal. Cease your operations against Italy's territory and there will be no further action. Continue and this ends in your annihilation." The official said simply, plainly, and bluntly, without even the slightest hint of flinching.
And ultimately...with the SUAR already secured and an advantageous demilitarised zone accomplished...it was only sensible to back down on this particular issue. However much it burned the ears of the gathered communist leaders, they had to bow out of this confrontation. There would be no liberation for Italy's formal colonies coming anytime soon.
TO BE CONTINUED
*Replacing Zhdanov due to him being cut, although balancing the various factions of the USSR. Mikhail Suslov is the man of compromise within the Gamma-Delta USSR, working to placate both the Tukhachevskist left and the Yagodite right under a platform of Orthodox Bolshevism and a "realisation of the Lenin programme". He's often butted heads with some of the more radical cultural programmes the comintern proposes, but ultimately remains steadfast in his commitment to internationalism.
**State Chairman of the Repubic, rather than First Commissar of the Central Committee; a position held by Madame Gong Peng. An ally of former Comintern Premier Mao Zedong and an advocate of militant internationalism and cultural radicalism, has found his star rising in the Communist Bloc as the Socialist Republic of Zhungguonese Jianyi (Or Socialist Republic of Chinese Soviets/Councils if you insist on exonyms) increasingly rises in relative power and prominence in the Communist bloc thanks to its industrialisation, modernisation, and the consolidation of Socialist aligned territories from the other three rump red Chinas.
***Fictional prince of delta Japan born after the PoD and the man behind the scenes in Concordist Japan following the legacy of Yasuhito consolidating power around the Chrysanthemum throne, or rather the eldest non-ruling member of the Chrysanthemum dynasty. Taiyohito is a young, energetic, handsome, seemingly brilliant, and zealous man who sees the world merges not as threats to the Empire of the Rising Sun; but opportunities for the Sun to rise ever higher until its rays burn all it touches. His name is formed from the kanji for "sun" and "benevolence" and roughly means "solar benevolence".
Scheduled vote count started by Spartakrod on Oct 15, 2022 at 4:47 AM, finished with 12 posts and 11 votes.
This is big, very very big. Muti snapped first, which makes him a target, he called out the commintern, commonwealth, and ICA while dropping nukes on our people. There is no way we walk away from this without an advanced agreement with the other non-fascist powers to suicide this guy with two bullets in the back of the head.
discord.gg
