The Anglian Machine

[Great Anglia]

The following is for internal documents/memos/etc of Great Anglia as it pushes on.

Contingency Plans New Wurld
-Classified Level 1-

War Plan Kigela

With ████████ secured, the possibility of successful armed invasion of █████████ has increased significantly. Currently analysis of the strength of ██████ armed forces suggests that quick coastal seizures are easily possible. Significant jungle warfare is expected beyond coastal regions. However most population centers lie within these regions. Majority capitulation of the nation expected within six to eight months. Continued resistance should be dealt with using bombing campaigns in the jungles north of the urban hubs. Major infantry assaults should only be conducted after air assaults.

Native ████████ conscripts should be used first with █████ descendant conscripts second after the first’s expenditure. Anglian units should provide support and push deeper into ██████ territory after other units have been expended.

War Plan Beech

Support from █████████ must be secured before this plan is put into effect. Island of █████ is considered to be highly vulnerable, however the entity known as the “███████ State” is still seen as an unknown variable. █████ provides little value in conquest before the island of ██████. Current defense analysis shows significant defense vulnerabilities on the island of ████ in the south. Previous administration did not make defensive preparations in this location. █████████ army is currently deployed to multiple locations making ground landing possible, however significant naval forces would need to be deployed to push ████████ navy out of position.

Current analysis shows two possibilities. Securing the island of █████████ would provide an easy point for invasion and would meet little resistance. However the time needed to setup the infrastructure on the island for military operations would give too much warning to the ████████. Possible allies include the nations of the organization called “TRIDENT”, Tagmatium, █████████, and Gallambria.

Recommended option would be to bypass █████████ and directly attack ████. Analysts believe time to take ████ would be within one week. With a beachhead and naval facilities left intact direct invasion of the island of ██████ could be immediate. Invasion through “█████” would be the path of least resistance. Once a beachhead is established on ██████ capitulation is predicted within two to three months.  Extreme measures would be authorized for ████, █████, and ████. New ██████ should be spared from additional damages.

War Plan Myrtle

██████████ is seen as the greatest naval threat in the region. Direct confrontation is not recommended, however analysts believe that a direct naval war with the ██████████ Navy would result in the majority destruction of their ocean forces within three to four weeks with aggressive efforts. However military analysts believe that ██████████ would receive immediate reinforcements from the Kingdom of █████ and eventual reinforcements from “TRIDENT”. Quick action would be required to crush the ██████████ and █████ navies before TRIDENT reinforcements arrive.

Invasion forces should ignore the ██████████ mainland and take the ██████████ Adlantic Territories. Anglian naval dominance should be used to strangle ██████████ of resources. Mainland invasion should be delayed six months to a year to ensure ██████████ is out of usable resources. Capitulation is expected within nine months to one year with high casualties.

Protectorate of Bashan has been estimated to fall within two to three weeks without support from its mainland.

After collapse of ██████████, ███████ ██████████ will be cut from all outside supplies. The nation should fall to Anglian attack after five to six weeks.

War Plan Oleaceae

The last of ███████ ██████ will be especially difficult to bring under Anglian control. Naval dominance will be paramount. Suverina will be critical in attacking the █████████. Probable allies include TRIDENT, Seylos, and ███████ ████████. ██████ naval forces will be of no consequence to head off from assisting █████████. Suverinan, Anglian, and OCA forces will make an initial push to the north. Anglian Navy is expected to overwhelm █████████ navy within three to four weeks. Naval invasions should occur throughout █████████ northern coast.

████████ outpost of “Zharr” is considered non essential. It contains no useable resources for the empire and is considered contaminated. Containment is recommended as well as blockade. ████████ fleet is split between multiple locations and can be easily destroyed in contained efforts. The land of ███████ ████████ is considered low priority. Containment and continued bombing should be pursued. Annexation is not considered a high priority as the barbarian population would be unfit for the Anglian Empire.

War Plan Pine

After the annexation of █████ and the containment of the ██████████ navy, forces should be moved to the ██████ lands. The █████ territory of ███ ██-████ will be easily neutralized. Majority of TRIDENT forces should have been dealt with by this point. ████████ forces will have been depleted defending their allies. ██████ lands should be heavily secured for military buildup with direct invasion occurring three to four weeks after ████████ annexation. TRIDENT ally of ██████ would be considered little risk. Invasion from the east would be preferred supported by naval invasion of the ████████ southern coast. Capitulation estimated at one to two months.

[Great Anglia]

King Creighton III stood before the balcony, staring out at the crowds before him. It was tradition for the Anglian monarch to deliver a New Year's speech, but none had ever delivered one in circumstances that he now faced. He grasped the rails of the balcony and stared out over the scene. The war had invigorated Anglia, an action that could never be taken back. But an action that he did not desire to step back from. In a short time he had transformed Anglia from a reclusive power, akin to Adaptus, to an international powerhouse, holding more influence and military capability than any other country on the planet. He knew the economy, and most importantly the budget, was buckling under this rapid expansion, but he was convinced the rapid gains made so far more than justified this stance.

Creighton raised his arms, leaning into the microphone that had been placed with him.

“Anglians, and all Europans. Today I address you within a movement that has truly begun to rebuild Europa since the collapse. Our continent had fallen so far into the darkness, most of our countries fall deeply below their prime. Economic stagnation, nations crumbled, and disasters uncontained. But we have defeated the perception that Europa is dying, that we had lost all of our purpose. There was a time when Europa reigned supreme! It is with Anglia and our steadfast allies in the OCA that we have pushed back against the concept of New Wurld supremacy. Still there are those in Europa who doubt our cause, but soon we are sure they will see how dedicated we can be to the true restoration of Europa.

Within the short time-frame of our incredible alliance, trade and industry have flourished again. Anglian trade spreads unfettered through the globe, and Azanian cities have begun their transformation back to their former glory, and most certainly beyond. Our connections in the New Wurld grow daily, our swift victory in Fearranteth had proven our strength. Even the Argic Dolch have come back to Europa to reclaim their lost glory. Every continent has our influence, and it will only grow over time.

But to Anglians especially, you may ask where we are going from here? What do we do of the Anglian diaspora across the globe? We can only try to convince them to come back into the fold, to experience the strength of our nation to protect them and help them grow. The benefits of Anglia far outweigh any alternative, but should they choose not to stand with us, we give but one warning. Do not stand in our way in building this better wurld.

To all of you, we enter this new year stronger than ever. It will not be long before Europa stand taller than all the rest of the wurld.”

The crowd erupted into cheers. Creighton took his moment to wave back at the cheering crowd before stepping back into the royal palace. He was met by his council, mostly made up of beaten yes men, except for his Minister of War, whom he had selected for his strength above else. As he approached, he could see the scowl on his face.

"You disapprove of the timing, Everett?" Creighton said, waving the rest of the council to follow as Minister Everett Rayne took his place by his side.

"Yes your Majesty. Our infiltration and conquest of the New Wurld is planned as a surprise, this almost sounds like an advertisement for our intentions."

Creighton glanced at him as they continued walking, "The speech was not for the peoples of the New Wurld, but for our own. I don't want cracks showing. They need to know the journey is far from over."

"I can only hope this journey is not marred by scaring the Tagmatines, the Haru, or Orioni? The Seylosians now have more than enough confirmation of our intentions with Dolchland, not to mention the rest of Argis. Even offhandedly threatening Gallambria before they stand alone can be a mistake..."

"Remember your place, Minister..." Creighton said, looking at him with cold eyes.

Minister Rayne stood his ground, though, "My place is to tell you the things the rest of your council to too afraid to even think. You know I am behind you, Your Majesty, but I don't want our hand revealed too early if we can help it."

The group approached the elevator leading down to the lower levels of the palace, while stepping in Creighton sighed and nodded, "This speech can be written off internationally as internal propaganda, and we'll keep the projection as such. You are correct, Minister. But eventually the time will come."

[Great Anglia]

For the past several months, Anglia had been running ships from Europa to Dolchland. At first, it was fairly innocuous, but as time stretched on, it gained the attention of all the local powers. It wasn’t normal for Dolchland to have such extensive trade relations with the outside wurld. At first, in Seylos, they had explored the possibility that Dolchland might have begun the process of opening up, but upon further inspection it became clear that these ships only seemed to originate from the OCA nations of Europa. The Seylosians had known for some time that the Dolch were being courted by the Anglians, but it wasn’t until some time later that they had begun actively investigating all this new merchant activity. Now, it was all too common.

“I wouldn’t be worried, they do this all the time these days,” The captain of the freighter Amarachi said, taking the moment to light a cigarette. He handed his binoculars to the Anglian military officer that had joined them.

“Every time?” Lieutenant Howland asked, raising the binoculars, looking out at the ship that was tailing them.

“Well, not every bloody time, but enough to let us know they are there,” the captain said, letting out some smoke. “Friendly bunch for stalking us all the time, though.”

Howland brought up the binoculars again to take a closer look at the ship tailing them. It flew a Seylosian flag, making no attempt to distance itself from the freighter. Of course, in true Seylosian fashion, they also made no attempt to show any aggressive action against the ship as it made its destination towards Dolchland.

Things had changed in Dolchland over the past year. The offer of Anglian support could not be ignored by the Emperor any longer. The divided states of Dolchland had been a growing problem for some time now, but now with the infusion of Anglian military supplies, the Imperial Military could not be questioned as the dominant force inside Dolchland. Of course, it was another matter entirely to push that power outside Dolchland. It was one thing to have a massive military on paper, but it was another to make it a true fighting force. Local powers throughout Southeastern Argis still held significant amounts of military assets, and even though the Seylosian military was quite small, their ground forces were not only more technologically advanced, but they possessed the most combat experienced military in the region at the moment. Still, though, the Dolch were willing to sacrifice more and devote more resources to a true military build-up than the Seylosians would ever be. They may never be able to match their naval might, but the Dolch armies could be the most powerful in Argis.

But for the moment, the status quo was clear. Seylosian ships would watch freighters make their way to Dolchland, while those sailors waited anxiously to see if this would be the first time those warships would try and stop them.

[Great Anglia]

"It's a shame," Creighton said, sipping whisky as he looked at the large map that made up the east wall of his office. The map had writing and symbols all over it showing Anglian movements throughout the wurld as they ramped up their operations, "Argis is so weak right now, it would be such an easy target while they are busy squabbling amongst themselves."

Everett Rayne, his Minister of War, as well as his Minister of Trade, Chace Durant who had joined them for the informal meeting. They were both sitting in some of the plush chairs that made up the King's office. It was filled with all sorts of wurldy treasures and beautiful Victorian era furniture. If it wasn't the seat of power for the most influential country on Eurth, it would have almost felt like the warm home office of an old explorer.

"Speed is not of the essence right now. There has been no indication of any particular movement to bring the Argics together now, and short of our own provocations I don't foresee anything of that nature occurring." Rayne replied taking a sip of his own gin.

"The Seylosians are always doing some sort of friend making out there."

Rayne huffed, "Because Your Majesty, that's what Seylosians do. Peace, love, and happiness. And of course incessant meddling as the police of Argis. If they weren't doing it I'd be more concerned."

"Yes I suppose so, still we should take some measures to reduce some of that 'love and happiness'. Regardless, Minister Durant, I'd like you to update me on the supply situation to Dolchland."

Durant straightened himself after hearing his name called. It wasn't usual for him to be called to such inner circle meetings, despite being on the Ministerial Council. Still, he was sure to make a good name for himself today.

"Of course Your Majesty," Durant replied, "Deliveries to the Dolch have continued on plan. We've also been able to secure some trade agreements with them in order to tie their economy more closely to ours. For awhile the 'humanitarian' shipments have actually been just that, however we had already begun the process of switching out these with weapons shipments bound for the Emperor of the Dolch."

Creighton turned to face the two men, "I was surprised to see it, but it seems like Emperor Johannes is far more competent than I first took him for."

"The political situation there is... weird to put it bluntly," Durant said, "When we first approached them we weren't even dealing with defined ministerial staff. There are forty states within their empire, which had made agreements with the Emperor quite the mess. I can say though so far things have changed quite rapidly after his first shipments of weapons. His Imperial government seems to be exercising much more control over their trade sectors."

"I'd say so," Rayne said, "From everything we've been monitoring over there he's taken radical steps to start imposing Imperial control over the country. He's essentially tossed out his old military and has been gathering experienced soldiers and mercenaries from across Argis and beyond to fill out the new leadership ranks of his 'Imperial Army'."

"Yes, Your Majesty, it does seem like he has been able to expand his control fast. In terms of trade, agreements we had made with the other states over the years have been slowly folding into the greater Imperial agreement we have. It has made things less convoluted."

Creighton nodded, glancing again over at the map on the wall, "Then I suppose it won't be long now until the rest of Argis figures out what is happening. The Dolch won't be able to keep these internal events secret forever. But if Johannes only needed a few weapons shipments and some extra money to make the changes he has already made, he will most certainly be more dangerous than we expected."

[Great Anglia]

For the first time in many years, the Imperial Palace in Schlammburg was filled with activity again. The Imperial government had been in a state of decay for decades as power had slowly slipped to the various states of Dolchland. It was only a few years ago that the Diet had elected Emperor Heinrich Johannes von Augsburg to the throne. At the time, though, it was considered little more than a titular honor to receive the Emperorship, but Heinrich had much more ambitious plans than that.

In 2017 his uncle, Friedrich Johannes von Ausburg, had simply given up the throne. What made it worse is it didn't even come as a shock to the rest of the country to see an emperor abdicate to head off to retirement. While the rest of the country seemed indifferent, Heinrich was enraged. He had grown tired of seeing the weakness of his family and was disturbed to see that they had let it fall to such a low. Still, he knew the only way to right this wrong was to play the good nephew and endear himself to the leaders of the Diet. It took time, but he was chosen as the next emperor, and took his place on the throne as soon as he could. Immediately, he had begun the political game to gain as many allies as he could. Luckily, his power base in Habstria afforded him more resources than being the Emperor did.

After years and years of politics, finally an opportunity he could never have dreamed of came knocking. In its quest for power, Great Anglia had stepped up its presence across the wurld, and had turned its eyes towards Dolchland. When the first diplomatic meetings occurred, it became clear what they really wanted: a native counterbalance to Seylos in the region. With the North Adlantic Union growing, and deepening ties between Seylos, Delamaria, and Fravina, Anglia needed an ally in the region to give it a way in. Of course, with desperation breeds opportunity, and the Anglians were quick to target the dying empire.

Heinrich was no fool, though, and understood exactly what the Anglians were after. He knew they cared little for helping Dolchland, but he couldn't pass up the opportunity to leverage their enormous resources to rebuild the Empire once again. With this new backing, he stepped up the timeline of his plan and became far more aggressive, as he knew that the Anglians would always be a safety net to make sure their new "puppet" would stay afloat. He was able to secure a much-needed alliance with the Kingdom of Macklenover, and through more dubious means had managed to secure the ascension of his own puppet in the form of Ernest II of Bessen-Katzenelm. It didn't take long though for his rivals in Panedonia to get wind of his plans. They hadn't expected an Ausburg Emperor to pull these types of power moves, and despite their initial shock, they tried to push back against him.

Now the two sides were locked in a struggle, trying to use their influence to gain the allegiance of the myriad of small states that made up Dolchland. It was clear though that Heinrich had the advantage. With Anglian money and arms pouring into Habstria it made keeping up with them that much more difficult. What made matters even worse for the Panedonian side was Heinrich's most recent announcement. In his capacity as Emperor, he had declared the "Great Industrial Revival", opening almost unlimited Imperial funds, thanks to Anglian subsidies, up to facilitate desperately needed industrial modernization across the country. And most horrifically to the Panedonians, even declaring a more open international attitude to finally make trade happen again. It was clear that if the Panedonians and their allies were to be victorious, they would need to make their move quickly before the Emperor could gain any more power.

[Great Anglia]

“He has crossed the line,” Friedrich VII, King of Panedonia, said looking at the communique that had been sent to him through his contact in the Imperial government, “The Ausburgs cannot be allowed this level of power.”

He was referring, of course to the new legislation that had been pushed through the Imperial Diet which had freed millions in Imperial funds to rebuild the Dolch industrial base. For years Dolchland had been experiencing a significant decline, as there existed little central governance in the system. With the alliance between the Anglians and the Imperial Government however, those fortunes had changed, as Anglian funds poured into the country to build a strong ally in the region.

“These funds are available to us as well as any other…” Minister Blau stated before being cut off.

“It doesn’t matter if they gave us billions in free aid Minister, they are undermining the status quo, something MY family has spent generations building.” Friedrich snapped, glaring at his Minister of Finance.”They’ve crossed the line, it’s time we act against these fools.”

Blau gave a respective nod of his head, “Of course your Majesty.”

Blau made his exit while bowing while exiting King Friedrich’s office, more officials filling in as the King got more worked up about conflict with the Ausburgs. He finally turned around as he exited the room and walked down the halls of the palace until he had reached his own office.

For quite some time, Blau had seen the writing on the wall. Panedonia’s power had been ailing for the past few years, and despite his herculean efforts at stabilizing the Dolch kingdom’s finances, his king had continued to be frivolous with his spending. But most of all, for the first time Blau actually saw a cause that he liked, an actual Emperor to lead a revival of the Dolch Empire. In fact the Imperial Government had been completely surprised when it was he himself who had contacted them offering his services. Given his position though, a meeting with the Emperor himself had been arranged during a routine visit to Imperial Schlammburg to discuss imperial tithes.

Their meeting was brief, but he had become convinced. Emperor Heinrich was the one to build a new, stronger empire. Strong enough to push away the meddlesome Seylosians, strong enough to reclaim what they had lost in Argis, and maybe even strong enough to grow beyond her historical boundaries.

Sitting down in his office he opened up a drawer which contained a cell phone which had been given specially for contact with the imperial government. He sent a quick single message with it and then put it back in the drawer. He got up leaving his things behind, walking out of his office thankful to never have to step back in there again.

[Great Anglia]

They later called it the Quiet War. The conflict had been brief  but it had permanently set the Dolch people on the path of Empire from that point forward.

For his help, Minister Blau of Panedonia would take his place as the Minister of Finance for the Imperium. Normally The Emperor would have had the man killed, but when they had both met, he was impressed by the man’s desire for a truly unified Dolchland. A real Dolch Empire. He would need allies such as these as he built Dolchland to its real potential.

After Blau’s call, Emperor Heinrich gave his orders. The Imperial City in Schlammburg would be immediately evacuated of all military and important government personnel. He knew it was too vulnerable and to risk damage to it would mean nothing in the long run. He had the upper hand, knowing the Panedonian alliance planned on attacking at any moment. It was time for the Imperial Army and Navy to prove the efficacy of his reforms.

From Habstria the majority of the Dolch Imperial Fleet set sail, carrying two thousand marines and containing dozens of ships. It made good speed rounding the south of the peninsula, so much so that it alerted the Seylosian Dolch Surface Fleet, which quickly organized itself to repel a potential attack on Ceris. Confusing the Seylosians however, the fleet did not continue south as they had expected, instead rounding the south of Dolchland and heading north.

In Panedonia, Friedrich VII celebrated what he thought was his upper hand. A decisive first strike against the Imperials who threatened the status quo of the country. He ordered his forces to march into Imperial Schlammburg and seize the district, but more important, seize the Emperor and prevent him from issuing orders to his military. His jubilation quickly turned to confusion, however, as within hours, his forces had reported no contact with any military units within the city. Thinking perhaps the Emperor had simply fled the district, he ordered a rapid general offensive to the west to crush the Habstrians before they could mount any sort of defense.

It was as he gave that order that he was presented with the horror of the situation. Before he could order his general advance, the Imperials had already launched a quick strike into Panedonian allied lands, seizing several influential cities in his allies lands before they even knew what hit them. In Wuveria, confused soldiers simply let Imperial units walk into their cities before they even received their orders to attack, and when the orders came, most simply laid down their arms, and the others joined the Imperials. The surprise caught even the Order of the Dagger off guard, which watched in awe as the vastly superior Imperial Navy sailed past their islands towards the Panedonian coast. Unable to challenge the Imperial Navy, their ships simply sat in port as the Imperials made haste to the southern coast of Panedonia.

What Friedrich VII didn’t realize is that there was little desire to even fight the Imperials. For the first time, a leader had given them a shot at renewed glory, or at the very least a way to escape this terrible decline. Friedrich himself had inspired little love during his reign, and when his militia units met the Imperial Marines landing in Panedonia, they paused for a moment, then declared their intention to help the true leader of Dolchland. Loyal Panedonian units were out of place, occupying Imperial Schlammburg and pushing west to counter Imperial movements. With no defense from his militias, and more importantly, not warning the Panedonian government, it took only a little more than a day to reach the south edge of the city of Schlammburg. Imperial units rushed to the Royal Palace in the city, and with only a minor firefight managed to capture the city, but most importantly King Friedrich himself.

—--------------

Friedrich sat in his office, confined there after the Imperial Marines had seized the palace complex. He was enraged, he could not believe the betrayal that he had suffered. Were there no Dolch left who understood the way of things? Suddenly he could hear the door handle jostle, and it opened to reveal who only but the Emperor himself. Friedrich gave him a look of disgust as he entered the room.

“I’m surprised you risked coming with your forces here. Have you come to gloat?”

“Gloat? Of course not,” Heinrich said, taking a seat next to the defeated King. “Well… perhaps a little. It isn’t every day that you defeat your enemy by firing… what was it again, General?”

A military officer had followed the Emperor in, standing rigidly next to him, “I believe the final tally by Imperial Army logistics was four hundred and thirty-two bullets.”

“Four hundred and thirty-two.” Heinrich repeated, “It doesn’t seem like your forces put up much of a fight.”

“I was betrayed,” Heinrich snapped.

Friedrich laughed, “Yes! Yes, you were, Heinrich. By apparently almost everyone. That’s close to being called a revolution.”

Heinrich stood up, his anger unconstrained, “You will pay for the Friedrich, I swear!”

The Emperor’s face went stone-cold, “I doubt it. In fact, you’ll be supporting me.”

“Why the f*ck would I do that?”

“Because if you don’t, you’re going to die,” Friedrich said, his expression the same, “I’ve known you since we were children. You’re a coward, Heinrich, and you’ll play the game if it lets you survive.”

The Emperor stood up, looking at the disgraced king who remained silent, “You’re right to say the King of Panedonia was betrayed. And if it wasn’t for the intervention of the Imperial military, your attackers would have overthrown you. The Imperial government is grateful for your continued support and would never leave an ally such as yourself undefended… and unwatched.”

—------------------

After the Emperor had made his return to Imperial Schlammburg he was quick to set up a speech to be heard by all Dolch. On the balcony of the Imperial Palace, facing the square that dominated the district, Heinrich took his place behind a podium and microphone. In front of the palace were tens of thousands of onlookers, confused as to what had just happened. He raised both of his hands briefly before speaking into the microphone.

“Dolchland has avoided a terrible fate today. One where agents of chaos were defeated before they could break apart our great nation again! The King of Panedonia, our own King Heinrich, was the subject of a conspiracy that sought to remove him from power. But the relationship between Habstria and Panedonia is more than any conspirators could hope to defeat. When alerted, I immediately instructed the Imperial Armed Forces to intervene, moving troops across the country to secure cities from this plot. Many of you were part of the conspirators armies without even realizing it! It shows true dedication to the Empire that when faced with the truth, our people did not fight against the Empire but instead joined arms the moment they were enlightened.”

The Emperor took a pause as applause rocked the crowd, putting his hands up again to calm them down.

“We do not know exactly who caused this potential crisis yet. But we are positive that foreign actors have made their way into our esteemed institutions to sow discontent throughout our great nation. All the Kings of Dolchland have agreed, it is time the Imperial Government takes a more direct role in everything in Dolchland. Our country under a unified government is more important than ever to push away the enemies of our nation, and reclaim our birthright in Argis! But Dolchland is not alone in this struggle. Today, just before coming to speak to you all, I have signed a treaty of Friendship and Alliance with our great friends in the nation of Great Anglia. They, too, have had to struggle with foreign sabotage from Argis and beyond, and there can be no better partner for us in the future. Today is the day that we will always call ourselves the Dolch Empire!”

And the Empire erupted in celebration.

[Seylos]

On the morning of October 13th, the Dolch military was in a frenzy. A series of orders had been sent to all branches of the military to prepare for what they had all been anxious for. War.

The Dolch Navy pulled half of its ships from the Dolch Sea, though not all, and began to congregate on the east coast of the country. In the port town of Erfurt, just east of Schlammburg, the empire had gathered three division of the Imperial Army. Though only one division would make any crossing at first, the Imperial Navy was prepared to ferry as much troops as possible as quickly as they could over to Iwenland. Their intelligence had already spotted the massing of Seylosian ships at the eastern mouth of the Dolch Sea, and it wasn't long after that they had spotted the Seylosian troop transports that were making their way to Iwenland. The Dolch knew there was nothing that could be done to prevent the deployment of Seylosian soldiers to Iwenland, but they had no choice but to move up their timetable as to be sure that the Seylosians couldn't reach Iwenland's west coast before they could make their landing. The situation had become slightly more complicated as King Aidan had followed through with his plan, the Dolch Sea was blocked in the east by the Seylosian Royal Navy, and undoubtedly the Delamarians would not be keen to allow Anglian supplies from the north of Iwenland.

As for Iwenland's part, they had tried to prepare the best they could, but with such little time to build a larger military, they were woefully short on manpower they could throw at any front line. They had instead made the decision to only post three battalions worth of troops to the west to act as more of a delaying force. When the buildup was spotted from Iwenland, the call went out. Evacuation orders were sent up all across the west coast, urging people to leave their homes immediately. Cars and buses were jamming the roads leading away from Goudstratdam and Straatport, and trains were completely full.  For now all they could do was hope that the people's of Argis would come to their aid.

The Empire was hardly finished, they had also directed four more divisions to be spread out across the @DPR Velaherian border and had sent out a simple demand. Territorial concessions, or war. There didn't need to be a complicated diplomatic discussion, still though they wouldn't launch any attacks immediately. As far as the Dolch were concerned Velaharia was a wayward part of the Empire. And so was Stedoria, or for that matter any place that spoke Dolch. An additional set of demands made their way to @Stedoria as well, demanding that Stedoria remove any influence from Gadutea immediately, or it would be forced to do so in a military operation to ensure the "Dolch integrity" of the nation. And they would do so with the other half of their fleet they had moved to their west coast.

And last but not least, a single message to Seylos. Remove the blockade of the Dolch Sea, or there will be war.

[Great Anglia]

It had been some time since Admiral Sheridan Cartwright had been to Godstone. Most of his duties had taken him outside the city, dealing with not only the build-up to the war, but now the continuing hostilities. At sixty-five, he had served in the Great Anglian Imperial Navy for over forty years. He had got his first command in 2000 on an old frigate, and through what he believed was some combination of divine intervention and extraordinary luck he had achieved a sort of legendary status rare for officers in the military. In reality, he had been a combination of two things: a sort of old school sense of honor, and most importantly, an incredibly clean record. Anglia of course did intentionally gallivant around the wurld perpetrating war crimes, but imperial ambition always creates such incidents. It was always much easier for the government to put forward their most "gentlemanly" officers forward, and of course his near perfect combat record gained him many friends in the Anglian court.

His reputation had allowed him the luxury of existing both within and slightly outside the generally cut-throat system that dominated Anglian military politics. His general popularity with the people tended to insulate him from some of the more intense machinations that occurred within the Imperial Navy. And he tried his best to avoid open political conflict with the many other admirals who felt that had something to prove. He had no doubt in his mind that the Imperial Navy was the best navy to sail the seas, but what had always held it back from being the ocean's true undisputed master was its fractured command. It wasn't unusual for flag officers to bend and twist their orders to achieve some sort of personal gain, and worst of all, political assignments that could be gained from military glory. Perhaps that is why the king had made one of his most controversial decisions to date, in naming Cartwright "Grand Admiral", the commander of all Anglian fleets. The King clearly had his uses for the current competitive system, but at the end of the day knew he needed an officer who had no use for the game being played.

Unfortunately for Cartwright, this meant his days of living outside the system were mostly over. To say it had been a chore to get the officers in line was an incredible understatement, but over the past two years he had managed to improve the system. At least enough to present a mostly united front against the enemy. Still, as usual, frustrating incidents did occur.

Upon his arrival in the Imperial Palace, he was taken to a large reception hall on the ground floor. Dozens of officers and their staff had been gathered for an announcement from the King about their strategy as the war continued on. No doubt, the pressures from TRIDENT operations in Bashan, the Dolch faltering in Argis, and the recent Haru declaration of war was beginning to make even the most arrogant amongst them feel nervous. Still, the situation did not feel hopeless yet.

Accompanying him were four of his captains, each in command of the carriers that made up the Imperial 4th Fleet. Despite being given the Grand Admiral title, he had made sure to retain command of the 4th. Each officer was hand-picked specifically by himself and the personnel assigned to the fleet, both sailor and soldier, had been filtered specifically from ranks for less… ambitious and more professional behavior. In the 90s he had been able to visit several Seylosian naval bases when the two nations had been trying on some form of reconciliation; and while he found the Seylosian Royal Navy quite laughable in many aspects, he was impressed with their system of recruitment. He had made sure to borrow some of their ideas for filling out the 4th, under the guise of building an "elite" naval force.

It wasn't long before his party had been approached by one of the other admiral's, Ormond Howe, a particularly ambitious individual, took the opportunity to infuriate Cartwright whenever he could.

"Ah, Grand Admiral Cartwright, the situation was truly to be one of import if your skills are needed here instead of at your own command." Howe said, a smug expression on his face.

"His Majesty send me where I am needed, and I go nowhere else. An important lesson for many of our officers to learn it appears," Cartwright replied, he stepped slight to his left and extended his arm out to one of his officers, "Lord Admiral, I believe you remember the fine Captain Barnes, I've recently placed him in command of the INS Forthright after her captain had to have an early retirement."

In Cartwright's case it was actually true, the former captain of the Forthwright did in fact retire after a recent battle with poor health. Though in most cases throughout the Imperial Navy, an early retirement had more sinister connotations. Just like he had hoped, though, his introduction had wiped the smug look right off Howe's face.

"An interesting choice, Admiral. I believe I removed him from command due to very serious questions about his competence. His… actions… almost cost me a carrier," Howe replied.

Cartwright noticed the flash of frustration on Captain Barnes' face, but kept his attention on Howe with a smile, "The combat records seem to disagree with that assessment, Lord Admiral. I was surprised to see his task force was sent to Anatea on such a blind mission. The fact he was able to save so many ships from destruction from not only an Anatean air attack but a Seylosian ambush was impressive to me."

"An ambush he should have seen coming, with all due respect," Howe said, anger starting to show on his face.

"As I recall, his admiral did see an ambush coming, just… from the wrong direction. A shame, he had received such faulty intelligence from his superiors."

How let out a grunt and turned to walk away, "Take your chances on whomever you wish, Grand Admiral. Far be it from me to question the decisions of His Majesty's chosen."

Cartwright couldn't help but take some satisfaction from the exchange as Howe stormed away. He turned to face all his officers, "Such an onerous little man. Keep your wits about you, all of these people are like sharks in the water. Don't let them take you off guard. We have a long night ahead of us before the King arrives."