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On a Knife's Edge, a Post Weltkrieg 2 Kaiserreich Japan Game
- Thread starter Jakarta
- Start date
christopher_sni
Active member
Do we have any news on an update?
1973 Results, Turn 25
New Plans
[X] The identity of your party is warmly received and quickly adopted as the party's guiding light (You rolled an 18)
Tsuyoi Hito, Tsuyoi Kuni is now a motto for the Shakai Taishuto. It will be a motto that will bring sustainability to the party and present a much more coherent set of ideologies and policies that the party ascribes to. You can only hope that this set of ideals outlined in the new party ideology will win over voters in the future.
[X] Warcrime acknowledgment bill goes without much kerfuffle in both the Diet and the Council (You rolled a 19)
This is a surprising development, but at the same time, it's unsurprising. The war crime acknowledgment law is almost always going to be a guaranteed pass. The public sentiment is with the legislators on this one.
What is unexpected is the amount of support and the extent of the bill that was passed. It not only acknowledges that crimes that occurred in the early Imperial era, but also in the subsequent years up to 1949. It also includes revisions to the school curriculum to better reflect the not-so-proud parts of Japanese history. And it passed with a comfortable majority, quite an unexpected development.
Perhaps the opposition members have seen the public sentiment and decided to save their skin.
[X] Chaos in the Diet as the bill to redefine the role of the military gets reduced in scope and complexity (You rolled a 5)
The original bill was supposed to be extremely extensive, with exact proportionality of prison sentences for military personnel who willingly executes an illegal order, but, much unfortunately. The Rikken Minseito manages to scale down a lot of the more ambitious proposals by the Shakai Taishuto. Only lowering it down to the bare minimum.
While it is still illegal to comply with an order that violates human rights, and there will be a lengthy prison sentence. Orders that 'conflict with the conscience of the soldier' has been pretty much scrapped from the bill. And you hope that there won't be scandals in the future that will necessitate such a reform.
[X] TKK Formation received with much fanfare and celebration across the CPS (You rolled a 14)
Every single police agency in the Co-Prosperity Sphere sent representatives to the opening of the new office of the TKK in Fukuoka. It was honestly quite surprising how receptive everyone was when the proposal was sent out to police departments throughout the Sphere. Perhaps every other sphere country was struggling with the same international crime issue as we are, and are silently anticipating our response to the issue.
All's well that ends well I guess.
Existing Plans
[X] The MBT project is still deadlocked with the Koreans and Indians. Prototype rollout delayed to 1976 (You rolled a 5)
Well. We did agree on the same armor, and the Koreans and us both agreed to use hydropneumatic suspension for our Tanks (the Indians insisted on a Torsion bar suspension, so we are making 2 prototypes instead of 1), but the outline of the turret and what should be inside the turret is causing headaches once more.
The Koreans are insistent on having every single piece of ammunition on the turret. Crew safety is above everything else, while it would improve the ability to store ammunition and to secure it. It does make the tank larger than we're comfortable with. We insisted on 2 ammo storage sites, one behind the turret and one on the front hull, that would allow us to have a lower profile, but it does require us to have 2 blowout panels. Something our high command is comfortable doing. While the Indians wanted to have all of the ammunition stored on the hull and engineer a blowout panel specifically to prevent the crew from burning if the ammo rack was hit.
It's a little bit of a mess all things considered.
[X] The identity of your party is warmly received and quickly adopted as the party's guiding light (You rolled an 18)
Tsuyoi Hito, Tsuyoi Kuni is now a motto for the Shakai Taishuto. It will be a motto that will bring sustainability to the party and present a much more coherent set of ideologies and policies that the party ascribes to. You can only hope that this set of ideals outlined in the new party ideology will win over voters in the future.
[X] Warcrime acknowledgment bill goes without much kerfuffle in both the Diet and the Council (You rolled a 19)
This is a surprising development, but at the same time, it's unsurprising. The war crime acknowledgment law is almost always going to be a guaranteed pass. The public sentiment is with the legislators on this one.
What is unexpected is the amount of support and the extent of the bill that was passed. It not only acknowledges that crimes that occurred in the early Imperial era, but also in the subsequent years up to 1949. It also includes revisions to the school curriculum to better reflect the not-so-proud parts of Japanese history. And it passed with a comfortable majority, quite an unexpected development.
Perhaps the opposition members have seen the public sentiment and decided to save their skin.
[X] Chaos in the Diet as the bill to redefine the role of the military gets reduced in scope and complexity (You rolled a 5)
The original bill was supposed to be extremely extensive, with exact proportionality of prison sentences for military personnel who willingly executes an illegal order, but, much unfortunately. The Rikken Minseito manages to scale down a lot of the more ambitious proposals by the Shakai Taishuto. Only lowering it down to the bare minimum.
While it is still illegal to comply with an order that violates human rights, and there will be a lengthy prison sentence. Orders that 'conflict with the conscience of the soldier' has been pretty much scrapped from the bill. And you hope that there won't be scandals in the future that will necessitate such a reform.
[X] TKK Formation received with much fanfare and celebration across the CPS (You rolled a 14)
Every single police agency in the Co-Prosperity Sphere sent representatives to the opening of the new office of the TKK in Fukuoka. It was honestly quite surprising how receptive everyone was when the proposal was sent out to police departments throughout the Sphere. Perhaps every other sphere country was struggling with the same international crime issue as we are, and are silently anticipating our response to the issue.
All's well that ends well I guess.
Existing Plans
[X] The MBT project is still deadlocked with the Koreans and Indians. Prototype rollout delayed to 1976 (You rolled a 5)
Well. We did agree on the same armor, and the Koreans and us both agreed to use hydropneumatic suspension for our Tanks (the Indians insisted on a Torsion bar suspension, so we are making 2 prototypes instead of 1), but the outline of the turret and what should be inside the turret is causing headaches once more.
The Koreans are insistent on having every single piece of ammunition on the turret. Crew safety is above everything else, while it would improve the ability to store ammunition and to secure it. It does make the tank larger than we're comfortable with. We insisted on 2 ammo storage sites, one behind the turret and one on the front hull, that would allow us to have a lower profile, but it does require us to have 2 blowout panels. Something our high command is comfortable doing. While the Indians wanted to have all of the ammunition stored on the hull and engineer a blowout panel specifically to prevent the crew from burning if the ammo rack was hit.
It's a little bit of a mess all things considered.
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1970s teaser
christopher_sni
Active member
What is going on with Port Klang and Tanjung Priok and our Space Program?
For the Space Program. JAXA is about to send a couple of follow-up missions this year, and they are planning a potential moonbase if the funding's there.
As for the port expansions. it's... going, the premans are proving to be a pretty tough nut to crack.
Where is Suharto when you need him smh
Oh, hello! Are you interested in participating in this Quest?
Sure I'd like to.
Besides, I've been lurking here since the liberal minseito is still in power lol
christopher_sni
Active member
We would be happy to have you with us.
Japanese Special Forces
Ever since 1945. The special forces of Japan have been significantly diversified to fill various niches needed for the safety of the country, while generally divided into the Army, Navy and Air Forces. Even these branches have specialized units trained for specific tasks like infiltration or counterterrorism. Mostly headquartered in Tokyo at the Special Operations HQ, some units are also headquartered in different locations like Narashino or Takao.
Let's take a look at them.
Thank you to @bluepencil for the artwork for the unit insignias.
Let's take a look at them.
Royal Japanese Rangers
HQ: Tokyo Special Forces HQ
The Royal Japanese Rangers is an elite Japanese Army unit. Tasked with conducting infiltration, sabotage, and general battlefield spec ops mission that can help the regular Japanese infantry do their job better. They can theoretically be used as line infantry but that is not their primary purpose. Unsurprisingly their training is hard and Ranger units are a dime a dozen in the Royal Japanese Army. Their motto is "Paving the Way".
The Royal Japanese Rangers is an elite Japanese Army unit. Tasked with conducting infiltration, sabotage, and general battlefield spec ops mission that can help the regular Japanese infantry do their job better. They can theoretically be used as line infantry but that is not their primary purpose. Unsurprisingly their training is hard and Ranger units are a dime a dozen in the Royal Japanese Army. Their motto is "Paving the Way".
Royal Japanese Mountaineers
HQ: Camp Takigahara
Royal Japanese Mountaineers are specialist mountain infantry. Trained in warfare on elevated areas, these are the largest of the special forces due to Japan's mountainous nature and the need to have specialist mountain infantry. Technically tasked with all the duties a regular infantry unit would have, but adapted to mountainous terrains. Japanese mountaineers are notable because their training regiment is especially harsh among the mountaineer regiments across the world. Their motto is "No peak is too high".
Royal Japanese Mountaineers are specialist mountain infantry. Trained in warfare on elevated areas, these are the largest of the special forces due to Japan's mountainous nature and the need to have specialist mountain infantry. Technically tasked with all the duties a regular infantry unit would have, but adapted to mountainous terrains. Japanese mountaineers are notable because their training regiment is especially harsh among the mountaineer regiments across the world. Their motto is "No peak is too high".
Central Readiness Force
HQ: Tokyo Special Forces HQ
The Central Readiness Force. Or the CRF, is Japan's dedicated counterterrorist and counterinsurgency force. Tasked with dispatching terrorists or insurgents should they threaten Japan's security. Mostly based in Japan proper due to their nature, but can theoretically deploy into other theatres of operations should there be a hostage crisis in some foreign country and Japanese nationals are involved in it. The CRF possesses the 'highest quality' gear out of all the RJA special forces branch, since their task mostly involves CQC and building clearing, or potentially dealing with threats without support. Their motto is "Only the best, nothing less".
The Central Readiness Force. Or the CRF, is Japan's dedicated counterterrorist and counterinsurgency force. Tasked with dispatching terrorists or insurgents should they threaten Japan's security. Mostly based in Japan proper due to their nature, but can theoretically deploy into other theatres of operations should there be a hostage crisis in some foreign country and Japanese nationals are involved in it. The CRF possesses the 'highest quality' gear out of all the RJA special forces branch, since their task mostly involves CQC and building clearing, or potentially dealing with threats without support. Their motto is "Only the best, nothing less".
Rikusentai Force Recon
HQ: Camp Takao
Rikusentai Force Recon is the main specialist spec ops branch of the Marines. Or Special Naval Landing Forces if you want to be all formal about it. They are tasked with Reconnaissance, Infiltration, Sabotage, Assassination of prominent officers or individuals, and obviously, deep Recon to provide the intel necessary for a Marine landing at a beach or a city. Typically consisting of the best Rikusentai servicemembers, Force Recon members are vetted very deeply for their loyalty. A coup attempt in 1961 was barely stopped by members of the Rikusentai, so they have a reputation of loyalty to maintain for Japan. Their motto after 1961 is "Loyal to the end."
Rikusentai Force Recon is the main specialist spec ops branch of the Marines. Or Special Naval Landing Forces if you want to be all formal about it. They are tasked with Reconnaissance, Infiltration, Sabotage, Assassination of prominent officers or individuals, and obviously, deep Recon to provide the intel necessary for a Marine landing at a beach or a city. Typically consisting of the best Rikusentai servicemembers, Force Recon members are vetted very deeply for their loyalty. A coup attempt in 1961 was barely stopped by members of the Rikusentai, so they have a reputation of loyalty to maintain for Japan. Their motto after 1961 is "Loyal to the end."
UDT/SEALS
HQ: Tokyo Special Forces HQ
The UDT/SEALS units are, as their name implies, probably the best of the best special forces the Royal Japanese Navy has at the moment. Highly trained, and capable of doing all the tasks you might think a team with that name can do. By far one of the best special forces units in Japan. The SEALS typically compete with the CRF, Rangers, and Pararescue Jumpers on their athletic ability, it's a sort of friendly rivalry between the branches to test who are the most elite units of them all. Their motto is "Duty, Loyalty, Camaraderie."
The UDT/SEALS units are, as their name implies, probably the best of the best special forces the Royal Japanese Navy has at the moment. Highly trained, and capable of doing all the tasks you might think a team with that name can do. By far one of the best special forces units in Japan. The SEALS typically compete with the CRF, Rangers, and Pararescue Jumpers on their athletic ability, it's a sort of friendly rivalry between the branches to test who are the most elite units of them all. Their motto is "Duty, Loyalty, Camaraderie."
Japanese Airborne
HQ: Camp Narashino
The Japanese Airborne. Or Kutei, are specialist infantry designed to para drop into enemy lines, do disruptive activities in the rearguard, and eventually either get evacuated or break out into friendly troop lines should the worst happen. Tasked with mainly para drop action, they are also tasked with guarding Japanese airbases as well, either from enemy attack or infiltration, or safeguarding a newly captured airfield from enemy attack. Generally considered one of the best 'regular' infantry units in the special forces alongside the Rangers and Mountaineers. The Japanese Airborne are one of the few infantry units the Royal Japanese Air Force possesses. Their motto is "The bravest shall endure."
The Japanese Airborne. Or Kutei, are specialist infantry designed to para drop into enemy lines, do disruptive activities in the rearguard, and eventually either get evacuated or break out into friendly troop lines should the worst happen. Tasked with mainly para drop action, they are also tasked with guarding Japanese airbases as well, either from enemy attack or infiltration, or safeguarding a newly captured airfield from enemy attack. Generally considered one of the best 'regular' infantry units in the special forces alongside the Rangers and Mountaineers. The Japanese Airborne are one of the few infantry units the Royal Japanese Air Force possesses. Their motto is "The bravest shall endure."
Pararescue Jumpers and Combat Controllers
HQ: Tokyo Special Forces HQ
The Pararescue Jumpers and Combat Controllers technically fall under the same arm of Air Force spec ops, but they execute widely different tasks form each other. Pararescue Jumpers are Airborne medevac units that are tasked to insert into highly contested areas, stabilize and evacuate wounded soldiers from the air, while Combat Controllers are usually soldiers embedded into squads as specialist coordinators of Air Support and Air Force traffic in the area, capable of speaking the lingo of the Airmen flying in their fighter jets to either direct their bombs at a certain coordinate, a smoked area, a laser designated area, or direct aircraft to a certain direction in case there is no air traffic controller around. Both of them face grueling training in accordance with their mission, with the Combat Controllers and Pararescue Jumpers branching off into different specialized training after that. Pararescue Jumpers' motto is "The helping hand.", while Combat Controllers' motto is "Last out."
The Pararescue Jumpers and Combat Controllers technically fall under the same arm of Air Force spec ops, but they execute widely different tasks form each other. Pararescue Jumpers are Airborne medevac units that are tasked to insert into highly contested areas, stabilize and evacuate wounded soldiers from the air, while Combat Controllers are usually soldiers embedded into squads as specialist coordinators of Air Support and Air Force traffic in the area, capable of speaking the lingo of the Airmen flying in their fighter jets to either direct their bombs at a certain coordinate, a smoked area, a laser designated area, or direct aircraft to a certain direction in case there is no air traffic controller around. Both of them face grueling training in accordance with their mission, with the Combat Controllers and Pararescue Jumpers branching off into different specialized training after that. Pararescue Jumpers' motto is "The helping hand.", while Combat Controllers' motto is "Last out."
Thank you to @bluepencil for the artwork for the unit insignias.
christopher_sni
Active member
Will we have any updates on the situation in Syndicalist Europe or Union America? What about Africa or Latin America?
World Events, 1973
January:
- A Japanese spy plane was nearly shot down by French anti-air defense systems while flying at high speed over the French mainland.
- Kaguya 2, the 2nd Japanese moon mission, finally lands on the moon. The astronauts collected valuable samples of moon rock and other materials before returning to Earth.
- Talks of a space station to serve as a 'waystation' between the Earth and the moon for future Japanese moon missions.
- European Socialist Union members signed a 'letter of intent' for further integrating their economies into the Union itself, with future potential for fully integrating politically being discussed in Brussels. Where the meeting took place.
- Irish elections. Liam Tosgrave becomes the new Taoiseach.
- Comet Kohoutek was discovered.
- The Mitsubishi F-1 and F-2 was unveiled to the public after months of classified flights over Northern Sakhalin.
- A Value Added Tax (VAT) was introduced in Siam.
- A law revoking the Lese-Majeste provisions in Siamese law was introduced, sparking intense debate in the Siamese Parliament.
- Pioneer 1, an American satellite, was launched by NASA. It's mission is to explore the Solar System.
- Germany forms it's first formal Counterterrorist Unit, the GSG-9. This is formed after years of debate concerning the militarization of police in a Socialist Germany.
- Japan registers 7% economic growth in it's first quarter, an unexpectedly high number considering the country's status as a developed country.
- Japan reaches 100% sustainability for it's food production for the first time. This means that the Japanese agriculture industry could feed the entire nation in the event all agricultural imports are cut off from the country.
- Australia is considering changing its flag after White nativists are adapting the flag to protest immigrants and nonwhite Australians migrating to the country.
- In conjunction. New Zealand is also considering changing its flag to suit the times, considering they are no longer a British dominion anymore.
- Russia, China, and India announced the development of a new type of fighter with swing wings. the company Mikoyan Gurevich will be responsible for most of the work, however.
- Japan passes a bill acknowledging the war crimes it has committed in years past, with the Emperor signing promptly the day after it was passed. The most visceral reaction comes from Korea and China, with crowds of people crying and celebrating that Japan is turning over a new leaf.
- France recognizes the first ever 'white collar' union into the Bourse Générale du Travail. The union represents clerks and white-collar workers in the Paris region.
- This is quickly followed by the Iberian Federation, the Union of Britain, and the Socialist Republic of Italy including white-collar unions into the political structure. Potentially redefining Syndicalist politics for years to come.
- A bill that was supposed to be an extensive code of conduct for the Japanese military got significantly toned down after an uproar from the Rikken Minseito. Nonetheless, it does provide a series of guidelines and accompanying punishments for war crimes if committed by Japanese servicemembers.
- Members of the Batavian Commune, the Wallonian Commune, France, Britain, Iberia, Germany, the Helvetic Commune, and Italy, signed a joint agreement to completely eliminate all trade barriers with each other.
- The American Union State signs a trade agreement with Mexico, allowing border towns in Northern Mexico to make products and export them for no tariff to America. Cities like Juarez, Tijuana, and Nogales experienced an economic boom, as American businesses flooded into the region for cheap labour costs.
- Discussions for potential immigration reform are active in Japan, as lawmakers started noticing a potential labour shortage a couple of years in the future.
- In a massive conference in Tokyo, members of the Shakai Taishuto agreed to adopt a guiding philosophy and mission statement. Roughly translated to 'Strong People, Strong Nation.' The party will commit itself to building a populace that is wealthy and have high disposable income.
- A French naval station is being built in Valparaiso, Chile. This is an attempt by the European Syndicalist power to power project into the Pacific.
- A road network that connects northern and southern Japanese Papua will be constructed next year. For decades northern and southern Papua has never been connected, and this road network will cut through the jungles and mountains to facilitate better economic activity throughout the island.
- In an incident that shocked France. Parisian police arrested an Algerian man in the subway for groping a woman in rush hour, emerging details including the fact that the man was in a different train car outraged the nation.
- British carriers docked in Brazil for the first time. The first time a Union of Britain warship ever visited South America.
- Concerns over the Ozone layer began surfacing as French, British, American, and Japanese scientists realize the impact of CFCs on the earth's atmosphere.
- Calls for a climate summit to address the 'CFC problem' began ringing out in the scientific community across the world. In France and Britain at least, their concerns are being discussed widely among the public.
- The Metroliner service extends to the Midwest. Creating a line that connects Indianapolis, Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Cleveland with a high-speed train service. The train they used was an electric version of the UAC Turbotrain.
- Plans for a Hokkaido and Kyushu Shinkansen were drafted for the first time. With the San'yo and Tohoku Shinkansen almost finished, the JNR is thinking of expanding in all directions. With the hope of taking a train that can go from Kagoshima all the way to Sapporo with minimal transfers.
- Traffic jams in London have reached untenable levels after multiple major accidents across the motorways entering and exiting the city have created a temporary, but massive gridlock. People are getting out of their cars and waiting for days until the traffic clears.
- Major financial and analytical firms agreed that Japan is set to grow by 6.3-6.5% for this year. A major achievement considering Japan generally grows by 5-6% annually.
- Installation of platform screen doors begins for the Yamanote line in Tokyo.
- JICA has surpassed MITI in the amount of capital they manage for projects. A massive milestone considering how MITI is responsible for coordinating major projects by Zaibatsus. JICA surpassing MITI has indicated how much foreign investment is a national priority for Japan.
- Siam signs a trade agreement with all their Southeast Asian neighbors to significantly reduce (but not eliminate) trade barriers, paving the way for further economic integration for the region.
christopher_sni
Active member
What are our relations in South America? What countries are friendly with us or trade with us?
The only countries in South America that are not Socialist are Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru-Bolivia. There are countries like Costa Rica and Panama (France owns the Canal zone BTW) that are also non-socialist, but they are very small and their economic systems have been heavily influenced by the Syndicalist model. These are relatively small economies, have great potential in the future, but are stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Allying with a country as far away as Japan is unthinkable for them, the distance between Asia and South America is so distant that they fear in the event of a hot war reinforcements would not arrive in time to save them. Instead, they are cooperating heavily with America, thinking they are more reliable allies due to distance, and the significantly changed political landscape after the 2nd Weltkrieg. They do some trade with the CPS, but not enough to warrant any interest.
Syndicalist Europe is currently doing two things, busy integrating itself into the ESU, and dealing with deindustrialization. While Academics within the Socialist West have realized that the rest of the Syndicalist world (namely South America and Africa) could do things Europe couldn't. The trend has started becoming incredibly prevalent as cheap manufacturing products from Africa and South America started arriving in the store shelves of Western Supermarkets. The European manufacturing industry could not compete and governments across Europe has recognized this problem immediately. Some are trying to implement trade restrictions to preserve their industry, while some are busy reorienting themselves to more white-collar administrative jobs. France and the SRI are busy trying to conceptualize white-collar unions, while Britain, Germany, the low countries, and Iberia are busy protecting their industries while slowly changing their economies to more service-oriented economies. The Balkans, Northern, and Eastern European socialist states are not affected by this much, but are noticing how the western powers are reacting.
The American Union State is busy trying to create good relations with Mexico especially. With the Sphere in Cuba and the Socialists to the North. The only remaining country not overly hostile to America is Mexico, there are border towns in Mexico that are busy doing manufacturing jobs and exporting their products to America, and there are the Americans are also creating a sort of sphere of influence in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru-Bolivia, the only other non-Socialist states in South America. In general, America is hunkering down and trying to get friends in order to make sure they are not alone should push comes to shove anywhere in the world.
The Norwegian Missile Crisis
Your day started off uneventfully, with a warm cup of tea and a bunch of documentation to review, but only half an hour into your job several of your top-level advisors came rushing in, their faces flustered as if they saw some ghost or apparition. "Madame Prime Minister." One of them said. "We have a situation developing in Norway. Would you please come with us to the briefing room?"
You know something's not right, no advisor worth their salt would just come barging in, usually, they would knock first and you would typically answer, but for them to be barging in like this indicated something very wrong has happened. You quickly nodded and went to the briefing room. A secure room meant for classified discussions on the most sensitive subjects a Prime Minister ought to hear. While this usually revolves around Military and Intelligence matters, sometimes political maneuvering can be discussed if the matter is of sufficient importance.
Inside the briefing room, you see your top military generals, the ones in charge of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Landing Forces all standing in front of you, each of them wearing grim expressions on their faces as they saw you opening the door. "Tell me what's going on," you asked them.
"Madame. It seems that the French and British have stationed several nuclear weapons on the Norwegian island of Svalbard, ships and transport aircraft have been converging in the city of Longyearbyen and our spy planes have detected both military forces constructing nuclear weapons facilities there, perhaps as a way to more easily reach Japan should something happens."
They then give you pictures the spy plane took, and it's clear that there are trucks, nuclear missiles, and other sorts of military installations being built on the Arctic island. You then asked why this matters, in response, they showed you a map with a North Pole projection and ran a line from Svalbard to the Home Islands. Everything then made sense. You realize the sudden gravity of the situation and asked them what we should do next.
"We are not sure Prime Minister, this is perhaps a reaction to us placing IRBM's in the Caspian, near Fort Alexandrovsky. A measure meant to delay the enemy should their advances break our first line of defenses in the Volga. Perhaps they might be spooked and went on with this as retaliation. We could theoretically impose a blockade with our submarines, but that would run the risk of triggering an open conflict between us and the Syndicalists, something even Paris and London don't desire. We could use aircraft to drop leaflets, and do mock bombing runs, but that also runs the risk of getting our planes shot down, and possibly inflaming tensions with Paris and London."
"Nonetheless, this is a major issue Prime Minister. I do not think that the French and British are aware that we know this, so we should perhaps contact them diplomatically on this matter. We will try to ensure the press doesn't get a hold of this matter. But something with this level of gravitas will leak one way or another."
"Nonetheless, what do you want to do first Prime Minister, something like this could not go unanswered."
[ ] Write In
You know something's not right, no advisor worth their salt would just come barging in, usually, they would knock first and you would typically answer, but for them to be barging in like this indicated something very wrong has happened. You quickly nodded and went to the briefing room. A secure room meant for classified discussions on the most sensitive subjects a Prime Minister ought to hear. While this usually revolves around Military and Intelligence matters, sometimes political maneuvering can be discussed if the matter is of sufficient importance.
Inside the briefing room, you see your top military generals, the ones in charge of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Landing Forces all standing in front of you, each of them wearing grim expressions on their faces as they saw you opening the door. "Tell me what's going on," you asked them.
"Madame. It seems that the French and British have stationed several nuclear weapons on the Norwegian island of Svalbard, ships and transport aircraft have been converging in the city of Longyearbyen and our spy planes have detected both military forces constructing nuclear weapons facilities there, perhaps as a way to more easily reach Japan should something happens."
They then give you pictures the spy plane took, and it's clear that there are trucks, nuclear missiles, and other sorts of military installations being built on the Arctic island. You then asked why this matters, in response, they showed you a map with a North Pole projection and ran a line from Svalbard to the Home Islands. Everything then made sense. You realize the sudden gravity of the situation and asked them what we should do next.
"We are not sure Prime Minister, this is perhaps a reaction to us placing IRBM's in the Caspian, near Fort Alexandrovsky. A measure meant to delay the enemy should their advances break our first line of defenses in the Volga. Perhaps they might be spooked and went on with this as retaliation. We could theoretically impose a blockade with our submarines, but that would run the risk of triggering an open conflict between us and the Syndicalists, something even Paris and London don't desire. We could use aircraft to drop leaflets, and do mock bombing runs, but that also runs the risk of getting our planes shot down, and possibly inflaming tensions with Paris and London."
"Nonetheless, this is a major issue Prime Minister. I do not think that the French and British are aware that we know this, so we should perhaps contact them diplomatically on this matter. We will try to ensure the press doesn't get a hold of this matter. But something with this level of gravitas will leak one way or another."
"Nonetheless, what do you want to do first Prime Minister, something like this could not go unanswered."
[ ] Write In
christopher_sni
Active member
Do we have any idea how many strategic nuclear weapons the CPS, Union State and the Syndicalists have?
The CPS, Union State, and Syndicalists have similar nuclear weaponry, Air Launched missiles and bombs, Land-based IRBMs, tactical nuclear missiles, and ICBMs, and Submarine-launched ICBMs.
We all know that the Syndicalists have recently developed Solid Fueled ICBMs, and the designs from Spy Plane photographs indicate that the design of the rockets in Svalbard is similar to those newly developed ICBMs. Even if it is false, and they are using the slower-to-prepare, liquid-fueled ICBMs. It is not wise to test the Syndicalists' resolve in this most inopportune time.
The Syndicalists have roughly 500 nuclear weapons of various types, 1/3rd of them seem to be in land-based ICBMs. We also have 500, with a roughly similar mixture, while the Union State is roughly estimated to be 500, but we are not exactly sure how many nuclear weapons they have.
We have submarines, missile silos, and nuclear bombers ready and willing to fire off nuclear weaponry at your request of course, should the situation demands it.
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christopher_sni
Active member
[X] We shall publicly and formally protest the construction of this base and offer a meeting between CPS, AUS and Syndicalist representatives to discuss the spread of nuclear weapons.
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Rufus Shinra
Well-known member
As a matter of OTL historical perspective, one of the results of nuclear brinkmanship was a renewed interest towards game theory, since it appeared ever more clearly that the game being played had a hefty penalty for mutual loss yet no clear path towards winning without some modicum of cooperation from the opponent. Thus came a renewed focus on some of the parameters considered key to foster said cooperation: enduring and reliable communication channels, continuous communication and cooperation activity (no matter how small), institutional acceptance of the possibility of communication errors or misjudgement from the other side.
Historically, this came through the establishment of backchannels allowing more continuous exchanges, discussion between non-political echelons such as high-ranking officers, scientists, engineers, artists, etc., but also things such as magazines (Amerika, published in USSR by the US' Department of State and Russian Life, published in the US by the USSR). In addition, the famous Red Phone (a telex, actually) comes to mind and other tools of direct and indirect diplomacy, plus eventually a more structured analysis on the stability of deterrence and the usefuleness of some weapons compared to their destabilisation potential (orbital-based nuclear weapons, for instance, have such a short reaction time that launch on warning becomes the rational mindset, with terminal consequences in case of an error of judgement, thus the mutually-agreed ban on such).
In short: communicate often with the other side, keep engaging the other side with no clear end in view for the programs, accept and forgive genuine mistakes from the other side, foster an environment where erring on the side of caution is not perceived as a major risk.
Duck from the High Castle, signing off for now. ;-)
Historically, this came through the establishment of backchannels allowing more continuous exchanges, discussion between non-political echelons such as high-ranking officers, scientists, engineers, artists, etc., but also things such as magazines (Amerika, published in USSR by the US' Department of State and Russian Life, published in the US by the USSR). In addition, the famous Red Phone (a telex, actually) comes to mind and other tools of direct and indirect diplomacy, plus eventually a more structured analysis on the stability of deterrence and the usefuleness of some weapons compared to their destabilisation potential (orbital-based nuclear weapons, for instance, have such a short reaction time that launch on warning becomes the rational mindset, with terminal consequences in case of an error of judgement, thus the mutually-agreed ban on such).
In short: communicate often with the other side, keep engaging the other side with no clear end in view for the programs, accept and forgive genuine mistakes from the other side, foster an environment where erring on the side of caution is not perceived as a major risk.
Duck from the High Castle, signing off for now. ;-)
[X] We shall publicly and formally protest the construction of this base and offer a meeting between CPS and Syndicalist representatives to discuss the spread of nuclear weapons.
Although I also like to suggest to bring the AUS to be included and to moderate the talk as a relatively neutral third party and another great power with nuclear capabilities.
Although I also like to suggest to bring the AUS to be included and to moderate the talk as a relatively neutral third party and another great power with nuclear capabilities.