World War Burst - Timid Little Girls

In the winter of '27-'28, tensions between the burgeoning naval powers of Albaea and Novgoraad reached a boiling point when Novgoraadi diplomats attempted to pressure the neutral nation of Cimbria into conceding the port of Wadden as a base for GFN warships. This would grant them a warm-water port on their western coast (the only other available port, Varnik, is located too far to the north, and freezes over during the winter months).

On February 23rd 1928, the Far West Fleet made port at Wadden despite Cimbrian protest, claiming use of the base by fait accompli. In response, Albaea issued the Declaration of Intervention, authorizing the military to dislodge Novgoraadi forces "by any means necessary." Neither the occupation of Wadden nor the Declaration of Intervention involved discussion with Cimbrian officials.

The Imperial Albaean Navy deployed immediately, and on March 15th met the bulk of the Far West Fleet in a decisive engagement just outside of the Cimbrian Straits. The Novgoraadi fleet was forced to retreat back to Wadden after losing 2 battleships, 4 cruisers or heavy cruisers, and numerous smaller craft. This allowed the landing of Albaean Marines in southern Cimbria, from whence they began a slow but steady push north toward Wadden.

With enemy troops closing in by land, the remains of the Far West Fleet attempted to break the naval encirclement around Wadden on May 5th under cover of night and make for Varnik. The attempt was discovered, and after losing the cruisers Prince Dvankopp and Bavonette was aborted. The Fleet would remain stranded in Wadden until the city fell to siege on November 21st, when it was scuttled to prevent the ships from falling into Albaean hands.

Peace negotiations saw a formal end to the conflict one week later, on November 28th, 1928. Among the concessions forced on Novgoraad was the acceptance of Cimbria as part of Albaea's sphere of influence, leading to de facto suzerainty. Celebrated as a great victory in tiny Albaea and a national embarrassment for Novgoraad's ruling elite, the tense political situation remaining after the war had direct consequence in the lead-up to Albaea's latter conflicts with both Gaulia and Novgoraad.

In the 19th century, the historical nation of Gaulia functioned under a weak central government that delegated the majority of policy decisions to the regional rulers of its various ethnic states. These local governors tended to be drawn from the leading noble houses of the state, and were functionally a modern development of the feudal government that had ruled Gaulia's peasantry for the last millennium.

This began to change in the early 1900s, as the central government in Leon appointed its own military leaders to consolidate regional militias. By the 1920s, this had led to strong state-based regional armies under a professional, well-educated officer corps. The generals of these regional armies subverted and in some cases took over control of the local governments, establishing themselves as strongmen in the state.

This was the case in the northern border state of Sachs, where the warlord was Field Marshal Otto Merovin. The son of a Sachsen noble family, Merovin immediately began strengthening his army (ostensibly the Gaulian Northern Field Army) with local recruits to make it a more ethnically-homogenous force.

On April 9th, 1933, just under five years after Albaea assumed control of Cimbria to the north, Merovin began was ordered back to Leon by the Gaulian government. He refused to obey this order, and the initial military response was easily repelled by his own forces, who bore more loyalty to him than to the central government. During the conflict that followed, Albaea supplied Merovin's forces with arms and military advisors.

The Gaulian government recalled the rest of its army, and began a much more coordinated advance in late Fall of 1933. Though technologically backward, the central forces numbered nearly a two million men under arms, outnumbering Merovin's forces nearly 6 to 1. Sachsen forces also did not have access to enough ammunition and supplies, and relied increasingly on Albaean support. Albaean troops were deployed starting in the winter of 1933, initially in small numbers, but gradually increasing until the majority of the forces fighting on behalf of Sachs were Alb.

In the Spring of 1934, Otto Merovin was killed while visiting the front when his transport aircraft was shot down, presumably by Gaulian fighters. This led to the Albaean supreme commander, General Gordon Archdale, taking control of the remaining Sachsen military forces and appointing his own Emergency Council to govern the region as a whole. With Albaean control established, the Sachsen Revolution quickly became an open war between Albaea and Gaulia.

At dawn on June 12th, 1935, the nation of Novgoraad entered the war with a surprise attack on the Albaean port at Wadden. Consisting of three squadrons of torpedo- and dive-bombers, the attack crippled the Albaean Navy's Third Fleet, sinking or severely damaging the battleships Iron Duke, Bellerophon, and Warspite, along with 5 cruisers and a dozen or so smaller vessels. In addition, the refueling and dry-dock facilities at Wadden were heavily damaged, and the number of wrecks rendered the harbor essentially unusable for several months.

The same afternoon, a formal Declaration of Hostilities was issued to Foreign Minister Babcock through the Novoraadi embassy. Among the listed 'provocations' were Albaean expansionism in Gaulia and the perception of their intervention in Sachsen as an attempt to secure hegemony over the continent, as well as the continued occupation of Cimbria (which under the Emergency Act had democratic elections suspended indefinitely). Other causes of the war that were not listed include Novgoraadi territorial ambitions, revanchism following the military disasters of 1928, and the psychological need for a victory after the setbacks the Grand Army of Novgoraad suffered on the Eastern Front.

The immediate effect of the raid was to greatly decrease the Albaean Navy's ability to conduct fleet actions against the Novgoraadi Far West, as well as limiting their ability to execute ASW patrols. The Novgoraadi Navy began pre-positioning of submarines a week before the Declaration, putting supply shipments and troop transfers to Sachsen at immediate risk of torpedo attack.

Shortly afterward, Gaulia and Novgoraad formalized their alliance against Albaea, allowing GAN forces to move into northern Gaulia to support action against Albaean troops deployed in Sachsen. This allowed them to reverse previous Albaean gains and in some cases advance into Sachsen territory. Up through the end of the year, Albaean ground forces found themselves fighting a defensive war to hold on to their foothold on the continent.

During the 1910s, following a rapid period of industrial and societal development, the Kingdom of Hispalia was one of the few 'true' monarchies remaining on the continent. However, progressive ideals had gained significant traction, especially among the urban poor and young intellectuals. In 1918, an extensive campaign of protests and marches convinced the liberal-minded King Alfonso V to voluntarily establish the Hispalian Parliament, a bicameral legislative body whose two houses ostensibly represented both the interests of the landed elite and the working poor. This event, known as the White Revolution (for the color of the protesters' banners) was praised in the developed world as a bloodless transition to democracy.

Only five years later, in 1923, public outrage was once again building. The Upper House of Parliament, whose members were elected only by the landowners, had spent most of its existence vetoing various reform legislation. After the Parliament narrowly struck down a bill aimed at incentivizing the sale of land to the peasantry, a march on the Palace turned violent when protesters clashed with palatial guard units.

Acting quickly, generals from the Hispalian Army used the event as an excuse to carry out a coup, deploying troops throughout the capital in the name of "restoring peace and safety" to the streets. Though they succeeded in detaining most of the MPs, as well as the King and his immediate family, they failed to arrest union organizers and Worker's Party leaders, who quickly rallied the lower classes of other large cities to rise up against the coup forces.

The resultant fighting was fierce and bloody, and ended with each individual city aligning more or less at random between the pro- and counter-revolutionaries. In the countryside, the political situation was even more disjointed, as many peasants were generally traditionalists despite their class, while others were strongly influenced by Agrarian Communalist thinkers. The result was widespread purges of any local opposition, accounting for thousands of deaths in the first weeks of the civil war. By the winter lull in the fighting, Hispalia resembled a patchwork quilt of opposing factions, with no clear front lines and no distinction between civilians and combatants.

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Initially developed in 1926 as a medium cargo and passenger transport, the VV-91 was adapted as a medium bomber following the start of the 1928 Novgo-Albaean War, entering service just months after the end of that conflict. Despite being an out-dated design by Novgoraad's entry into the World War in 1935, the aircraft saw widespread service among strategic bomber wings, where it was valued for its reliability and long range. Heavily protected for its time, the VV-91 mounted four defensive turrets (spine, belly, and over each wing), and could carry a full load of 2,000 kg of bombs or 2 torpedoes.

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Dramatis Personae

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Currently under cover as a mere lieutenant in charge of teaching Military History, Major Westfield is the commanding officer of Cheswhick Flight and incidentally the highest-ranking officer in the school. After his promotion to major for "conspicuous gallantry in the line of duty" during the 1928 Novgo-Albaean War, Lucas Westfield was transferred to the newly-formed Imperial Albaean Air Force, where he served as a liaison with the Research Branch until the Declaration of Hostilities in 1935.

Plot Summary

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The glorious Empire of Albaea is poised on the brink of total war against the vicious Novgoraadi horde. In this time of crisis, three young patriots step into the breach, vowing not to let a single bomb fall on their beloved Bougnetsport!

They are:
Joslyn Parnocus! The sultry Maiden of Iron! Her will is as unbreakable as solid steel!
Caitlin O'Connell! The bewitching Wizard of Words! Her mind is as sharp as razor-wire!
Elsa the Extraordinary! The sexy Jester of Fire! Her burning grasp will leave you breathless!

The brave young girls of Cheswhick Flight, under the strict discipline of the dashing Major Westfield, take to the skies in spectacular aerial combat! Casting doubts aside, they throw themselves at the enemy without an ounce of fear!

The eyes of a grateful nation watch as her heroes do battle!
God Save the Empress! God Save the Albaean Empire!

=Paid for by the Office of the Director General, Department of War=

Timid Little Girls

Cute girls doing cute things.

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