XI - Arise!
Arise!
"Should I ever be a soldier,
'Neath the Red Flag I would fight;
Should the gun I ever shoulder,
It's to crush the tyrant's might…"
At the start of the civil war, despite the Royal Navy's initial loyalty to the Royalists, there was growing discontent amongst the ship's crews. During the Great War, they would fight a series of inconclusive battles and skirmishes against the other major powers. The largest part of the navy however, was the Home Fleet, which was stationed just off the coast of Albion, meant to deter any attempt by the Axis to break their naval blockade. Despite being successful at this task, the only battle it fought was a tactical defeat for the Albians, losing a disproportionate number of battlecruisers and battleships turning back the combined Reicher-Slavonian fleet. Morale would take a blow after the battle, and the poor and unappetising rations that the sailors were fed would combine to create fertile ground for the labourist agitators that were conscripted into the navy. After the outbreak of civil war, it would be divided between the senior officers, who generally supported the coup, and the enlisted sailors. The Royalist Junta was aware of this, and hesitated to send the ships of the Home Fleet out on patrol, fearing mutiny. As such, the fleet would sit in port for months as the war progressed, rations slowly dwindling, and the occasional bit of news coming in about the war's progress, and morale continued to drop as many sailors heard of fierce fighting in their hometowns. In secret, many of them would begin to form sailors' councils, preparing for an uprising.
Eventually though, the Royalist army became bogged down in the streets of Avoncaster, and as it was near the coast, it was decided to use the big guns of the battleships to provide fire support for the advancing soldiers. On the 17th of December, the order was given for the Home Fleet to sortie out. Rumours began to spread through the fleet, and many sailors did not want to fire on an Albian city, and the councils decided that now was the time to start a mutiny. So on the morning of the 18th, the Saturnalia Uprising began. Enlisted sailors and junior officers, as well as some of the more sympathetic captains armed themselves, killing their commanding officers, and took control over the capital ships and the naval base by nightfall. The red flag flew over the ships of the Home Fleet, and they would pledge their allegiance to the labourists.
Simultaneously, the Royalist forces were facing massive desertions from many soldiers who either didn't sympathise with their cause, or were simply tired of fighting. They had also alienated large sections of the rural population thanks to their policy of forced food requisitioning to feed their army. Large-scale agrarian uprisings, led by the anarchists, would take control of large portions of northeast Thedeland, linking up with the Reds in Jorvik. The Royalists were forced to divert large numbers of soldiers to contain the uprising, and the Avoncaster offensive ground to a halt by the New Year.
The Home Fleet would be ordered to sortie out again, although this time to sweep the channel clean of Royalist vessels. The job would be fairly easy, as the remaining Royalist fleet, which had been diverted from elsewhere to escort the cross-channel transports, fled before the might of dozens of battleships. With the channel now under Red control, the rebel soldiers would begin to be evacuated from the continent. With new reinforcements arriving, and the defection of the Home Fleet, morale in the Red Army would improve greatly. In late February, the Reds would launch a major counterattack, managing to encircle large numbers of Royalist soldiers in Avoncaster, and driving the rest of their forces far from the city.
The Royalists, still smarting from the blow, would find themselves in an increasingly desperate situation after their failed attempt to take the city. The morale of their troops was low after the defeat. Their most loyal, reliable units had been decimated by the counterattack, and their place was taken by many forcibly re-conscripted soldiers and teenage boys. Discontent was also building behind their lines, as the food situation continued to get worse in the cities, and the brutal repression and the restarting of conscription began. Red Army operatives would sneak behind enemy lines, helping to coordinate the disparate partisans, sabotaging railways, telegraph lines, and providing intelligence to the Reds. In Rhydon, the working-class districts were a hotbed of resistance, with the workers there arming themselves with stolen and improvised weapons, forming the underground "Rhydon Army."
At the end of March, after the Saturnalia uprising, and suffering a series of defeats by the Red Army, the junta would begin a purge of officers and politicians that he suspected of disloyalty and sabotage. It was also around this time that Queen Emily would stop making public appearances, and rumours began to spread that the young queen had been executed after resisting the demands of the junta (This was untrue, she had escaped, and was hiding in the working-class districts). The support of the middle classes for the junta had always been tenuous, but after months of increasing deprivation, conscription, and repression, the purges would be the last straw, causing their support for the Royalists to collapse. The Royalists would mount one last offensive in late April, in a desperate attempt to retake the initiative, but it would fail thanks to the low morale of their soldiers, and the increasing strength of the Red Army, letting the Reds make the next move.
"Should I ever be a soldier,
'Neath the Red Flag I would fight;
Should the gun I ever shoulder,
It's to crush the tyrant's might…"
- Should I Ever Be A Soldier
At the start of the civil war, despite the Royal Navy's initial loyalty to the Royalists, there was growing discontent amongst the ship's crews. During the Great War, they would fight a series of inconclusive battles and skirmishes against the other major powers. The largest part of the navy however, was the Home Fleet, which was stationed just off the coast of Albion, meant to deter any attempt by the Axis to break their naval blockade. Despite being successful at this task, the only battle it fought was a tactical defeat for the Albians, losing a disproportionate number of battlecruisers and battleships turning back the combined Reicher-Slavonian fleet. Morale would take a blow after the battle, and the poor and unappetising rations that the sailors were fed would combine to create fertile ground for the labourist agitators that were conscripted into the navy. After the outbreak of civil war, it would be divided between the senior officers, who generally supported the coup, and the enlisted sailors. The Royalist Junta was aware of this, and hesitated to send the ships of the Home Fleet out on patrol, fearing mutiny. As such, the fleet would sit in port for months as the war progressed, rations slowly dwindling, and the occasional bit of news coming in about the war's progress, and morale continued to drop as many sailors heard of fierce fighting in their hometowns. In secret, many of them would begin to form sailors' councils, preparing for an uprising.
Eventually though, the Royalist army became bogged down in the streets of Avoncaster, and as it was near the coast, it was decided to use the big guns of the battleships to provide fire support for the advancing soldiers. On the 17th of December, the order was given for the Home Fleet to sortie out. Rumours began to spread through the fleet, and many sailors did not want to fire on an Albian city, and the councils decided that now was the time to start a mutiny. So on the morning of the 18th, the Saturnalia Uprising began. Enlisted sailors and junior officers, as well as some of the more sympathetic captains armed themselves, killing their commanding officers, and took control over the capital ships and the naval base by nightfall. The red flag flew over the ships of the Home Fleet, and they would pledge their allegiance to the labourists.
Simultaneously, the Royalist forces were facing massive desertions from many soldiers who either didn't sympathise with their cause, or were simply tired of fighting. They had also alienated large sections of the rural population thanks to their policy of forced food requisitioning to feed their army. Large-scale agrarian uprisings, led by the anarchists, would take control of large portions of northeast Thedeland, linking up with the Reds in Jorvik. The Royalists were forced to divert large numbers of soldiers to contain the uprising, and the Avoncaster offensive ground to a halt by the New Year.
The Home Fleet would be ordered to sortie out again, although this time to sweep the channel clean of Royalist vessels. The job would be fairly easy, as the remaining Royalist fleet, which had been diverted from elsewhere to escort the cross-channel transports, fled before the might of dozens of battleships. With the channel now under Red control, the rebel soldiers would begin to be evacuated from the continent. With new reinforcements arriving, and the defection of the Home Fleet, morale in the Red Army would improve greatly. In late February, the Reds would launch a major counterattack, managing to encircle large numbers of Royalist soldiers in Avoncaster, and driving the rest of their forces far from the city.
The Royalists, still smarting from the blow, would find themselves in an increasingly desperate situation after their failed attempt to take the city. The morale of their troops was low after the defeat. Their most loyal, reliable units had been decimated by the counterattack, and their place was taken by many forcibly re-conscripted soldiers and teenage boys. Discontent was also building behind their lines, as the food situation continued to get worse in the cities, and the brutal repression and the restarting of conscription began. Red Army operatives would sneak behind enemy lines, helping to coordinate the disparate partisans, sabotaging railways, telegraph lines, and providing intelligence to the Reds. In Rhydon, the working-class districts were a hotbed of resistance, with the workers there arming themselves with stolen and improvised weapons, forming the underground "Rhydon Army."
At the end of March, after the Saturnalia uprising, and suffering a series of defeats by the Red Army, the junta would begin a purge of officers and politicians that he suspected of disloyalty and sabotage. It was also around this time that Queen Emily would stop making public appearances, and rumours began to spread that the young queen had been executed after resisting the demands of the junta (This was untrue, she had escaped, and was hiding in the working-class districts). The support of the middle classes for the junta had always been tenuous, but after months of increasing deprivation, conscription, and repression, the purges would be the last straw, causing their support for the Royalists to collapse. The Royalists would mount one last offensive in late April, in a desperate attempt to retake the initiative, but it would fail thanks to the low morale of their soldiers, and the increasing strength of the Red Army, letting the Reds make the next move.