raunchel
Commander
Posts: 1,795 
Likes: 1,182
|
Post by raunchel on Dec 3, 2018 15:53:52 GMT
Battlecruiser Geloof, October 22, 1914Dearest Jakoba, Your mother is very sorry for not having written you, but she is feeling unwell under the weather. You know how this time of the year always is bad for her, and now you are gone as well. I have to spend my time with the fleet, leaving her all alone in the house. She is considering living with Aunt Noor for a little while, and naturally, I have encouraged her to do so, even if it means her being in Breda. It appears that there has been a major engagement at the very beginning of the war. Admiral Wolters struck at what he had been informed was the foremost enemy naval base, a city named New York. In the night, he moved his forward squadrons up within firing range, and just before the first lights of dawn, marine detachments began their assault on known enemy fortresses. At the same time, a squadron of older battleships steamed forward and put any position that opened fire under bombardment. As soon as enemy guns were silenced, this squadron advanced on the enemy harbour and opened fire on any remaining battery as well as any warships that could be seen. There have been losses suffered by this operation, but as these ships are older, that isn’t something to be concerned with. What is relevant is that this forced the enemy fleet to sortie. They did this by pieces as their ships already were under fire, and in a disorganized fashion, they approached our ships. In their face, our ships withdrew, drawing the enemy into a pursuit. At this moment, admiral Wolters ordered the main battleline forward and a battle began. As he outnumbered and outgunned the enemy, the gun battle quickly developed to our advantage and the enemy was forced to withdraw, leaving at least two of their modern battleships behind as well as several other ships, all in flames or with heavy lists. He wrote that one battleship has exploded after a hit by the Herberg van twee Oceanen. The moment of disorganization in the retreat was seized upon, and Wolters ordered a mass charge of his destroyers and cruisers, which exploited a seeming lack of enemy light forces. Because of the smoke from burning ships, this attack sunk at least three of their battleships. There was an underwater minefield, but it appears that it was meant to be activated from the fortress that had been stormed. Following this, admiral Wolters demanded the surrender of the city as he steamed his fleet closer, firing on any position that still offered resistance. What we know was sent early in the evening, when the fighting still continued and are eagerly awaiting further reports. Our own losses aren’t known, admiral Wolters wisely decided not to send his full report by radio or wire, but given the circumstances of the battle, they won’t be overly mild. The marines will have suffered heavily in their landings, and the older battleships will have suffered badly as well. I however am confident that the main force of our American fleet remains intact and that the North Americans will be asking for terms soon enough. Here, we can only pray for such glory. The situation remains tense and our enemies only become more restless. The English are busying themselves laying mines at their coasts, in a feeble attempt to dissuade us should they force our hand to war. We have been given orders to not provoke them, and naturally, we obey them. It however is proving more and more difficult to restrain the men in the face of the blatant English aggression. Your loving father, Johan Rots Berlin, October 25, 1914Dear Father, Hearing about Mother’s illness fills me with so many regrets. I should never have left her like this. It’s not my place to answer the call of the nation. I will write her at once and will pray for her good health. The battle of New York, as it’s being called here, is quite a topic. People know little about it, but I’ve been told that the German naval ministry is deeply worried about what happened and is looking into reinforcing the protection of their fleet’s bases. I assured them that we have no intention of going to war with them, but still they seem nervous. Lieutenant van der Bilt said that he had faced accusations of dishonesty on the part of our fleet, but he explained that it is a perfectly valid tactical approach to strike at enemy bases. I have also found out about another engagement, around an area they call Hampton Roads. It seems that a few cruisers took coastal targets under fire before withdrawing in the face of a small enemy fleet, leading them right into what is presumed to be waiting submarines or mines. The Germans believe that at least one battleship was sunk in this action. We organized a little meeting with the Colombian and Mexican ambassadors. Mr de Beistegui seems to be a little calmer now, and he has been assured that we will do our utmost to restore peace to the hemisphere. He asked if we could inform him of any further plans, but of course, he was told that such things aren’t up to the diplomatic service. The Colombian representative was truly elated, and he asked when the North Americans would sue for peace. Uncle Sytze assured him that he expected that to happen soon enough. It seems that there now also are issues with the Greeks, who are demanding the return of our part of Crete, even though our nation liberated it from the Turk. Unfortunately, this isn’t being seen like it is, and the Greeks demand it. I’ve heard that even the local population is ready to betray us. The Hague has instructed us to remain silent about it, and assures us that troops are being sent to keep the area quiet after some demonstrations have led to the use of force. By sheer chance, I’ve also encountered Mrs Gerard again. Of course, we’re not meant to meet given the situation between our nations, but the invitations had already been sent before the declaration of war, leading to these difficulties. She appeared to be in a state of mourning, and naturally, I asked her what had happened. To my surprise, she actually lashed out at me, calling me a treacherous weasel and several other things that I can’t bring myself to repeat in writing. I however understand why she is so distraught; it appears that one of her sons has been killed by our attacks. He wasn’t a soldier or sailor, but it appears that he was in the part of the city that we put under fire in order to force the enemy fleet to battle. The mere thought of what it must have been like for those poor people horrifies me, but I comfort myself with the thought that it was necessary for the preservation of our republic. Another rather shocking moment came when I found myself with an English newspaper. It already was a little old, but I try to keep myself informed about what they write. They had printed the photographs that I had arranged to be made of when we delivered the declaration of war and claimed that this was the ‘face of Dutch treachery’. The sight truly shocked me, and I fear that this is how people will see me. I never meant any kind of treachery, and now these people accuse me of such horrible things. Your faithful daughter, Jakoba Nice update raunchel I do have one question, in war you might think that any letter send is being read by censor to make sure no vital information is send, also how long does it take for a letter to arrive, i doubt Johan Rots is able to send letters regularly due to being on a warship. Thanks, there would indeed be a censor, but Jakoba is basically using the diplomatic mail and cable. Johan also doesn't encounter a lot of censorship because of his rank. When she writes others such as her brother things will of course be vastly different. It really is horrible privilege speaking (writing?) The letters take roughly three days to get there. Johannes currently either is nearby on the North Sea, or, most of the time, he's in port, but stays on his flagship. The Dutch for some very strange reason don't believe in not being prepared when there is a threat of war. I based the time the mail takes on what it takes for my letters to reach my parents and vice versa. |
|
lordroel
Administrator
Member is Online
Posts: 67,683 
Likes: 49,079
|
Post by lordroel on Dec 3, 2018 15:57:24 GMT
Battlecruiser Geloof, October 22, 1914Dearest Jakoba, Your mother is very sorry for not having written you, but she is feeling unwell under the weather. You know how this time of the year always is bad for her, and now you are gone as well. I have to spend my time with the fleet, leaving her all alone in the house. She is considering living with Aunt Noor for a little while, and naturally, I have encouraged her to do so, even if it means her being in Breda. It appears that there has been a major engagement at the very beginning of the war. Admiral Wolters struck at what he had been informed was the foremost enemy naval base, a city named New York. In the night, he moved his forward squadrons up within firing range, and just before the first lights of dawn, marine detachments began their assault on known enemy fortresses. At the same time, a squadron of older battleships steamed forward and put any position that opened fire under bombardment. As soon as enemy guns were silenced, this squadron advanced on the enemy harbour and opened fire on any remaining battery as well as any warships that could be seen. There have been losses suffered by this operation, but as these ships are older, that isn’t something to be concerned with. What is relevant is that this forced the enemy fleet to sortie. They did this by pieces as their ships already were under fire, and in a disorganized fashion, they approached our ships. In their face, our ships withdrew, drawing the enemy into a pursuit. At this moment, admiral Wolters ordered the main battleline forward and a battle began. As he outnumbered and outgunned the enemy, the gun battle quickly developed to our advantage and the enemy was forced to withdraw, leaving at least two of their modern battleships behind as well as several other ships, all in flames or with heavy lists. He wrote that one battleship has exploded after a hit by the Herberg van twee Oceanen. The moment of disorganization in the retreat was seized upon, and Wolters ordered a mass charge of his destroyers and cruisers, which exploited a seeming lack of enemy light forces. Because of the smoke from burning ships, this attack sunk at least three of their battleships. There was an underwater minefield, but it appears that it was meant to be activated from the fortress that had been stormed. Following this, admiral Wolters demanded the surrender of the city as he steamed his fleet closer, firing on any position that still offered resistance. What we know was sent early in the evening, when the fighting still continued and are eagerly awaiting further reports. Our own losses aren’t known, admiral Wolters wisely decided not to send his full report by radio or wire, but given the circumstances of the battle, they won’t be overly mild. The marines will have suffered heavily in their landings, and the older battleships will have suffered badly as well. I however am confident that the main force of our American fleet remains intact and that the North Americans will be asking for terms soon enough. Here, we can only pray for such glory. The situation remains tense and our enemies only become more restless. The English are busying themselves laying mines at their coasts, in a feeble attempt to dissuade us should they force our hand to war. We have been given orders to not provoke them, and naturally, we obey them. It however is proving more and more difficult to restrain the men in the face of the blatant English aggression. Your loving father, Johan Rots Berlin, October 25, 1914Dear Father, Hearing about Mother’s illness fills me with so many regrets. I should never have left her like this. It’s not my place to answer the call of the nation. I will write her at once and will pray for her good health. The battle of New York, as it’s being called here, is quite a topic. People know little about it, but I’ve been told that the German naval ministry is deeply worried about what happened and is looking into reinforcing the protection of their fleet’s bases. I assured them that we have no intention of going to war with them, but still they seem nervous. Lieutenant van der Bilt said that he had faced accusations of dishonesty on the part of our fleet, but he explained that it is a perfectly valid tactical approach to strike at enemy bases. I have also found out about another engagement, around an area they call Hampton Roads. It seems that a few cruisers took coastal targets under fire before withdrawing in the face of a small enemy fleet, leading them right into what is presumed to be waiting submarines or mines. The Germans believe that at least one battleship was sunk in this action. We organized a little meeting with the Colombian and Mexican ambassadors. Mr de Beistegui seems to be a little calmer now, and he has been assured that we will do our utmost to restore peace to the hemisphere. He asked if we could inform him of any further plans, but of course, he was told that such things aren’t up to the diplomatic service. The Colombian representative was truly elated, and he asked when the North Americans would sue for peace. Uncle Sytze assured him that he expected that to happen soon enough. It seems that there now also are issues with the Greeks, who are demanding the return of our part of Crete, even though our nation liberated it from the Turk. Unfortunately, this isn’t being seen like it is, and the Greeks demand it. I’ve heard that even the local population is ready to betray us. The Hague has instructed us to remain silent about it, and assures us that troops are being sent to keep the area quiet after some demonstrations have led to the use of force. By sheer chance, I’ve also encountered Mrs Gerard again. Of course, we’re not meant to meet given the situation between our nations, but the invitations had already been sent before the declaration of war, leading to these difficulties. She appeared to be in a state of mourning, and naturally, I asked her what had happened. To my surprise, she actually lashed out at me, calling me a treacherous weasel and several other things that I can’t bring myself to repeat in writing. I however understand why she is so distraught; it appears that one of her sons has been killed by our attacks. He wasn’t a soldier or sailor, but it appears that he was in the part of the city that we put under fire in order to force the enemy fleet to battle. The mere thought of what it must have been like for those poor people horrifies me, but I comfort myself with the thought that it was necessary for the preservation of our republic. Another rather shocking moment came when I found myself with an English newspaper. It already was a little old, but I try to keep myself informed about what they write. They had printed the photographs that I had arranged to be made of when we delivered the declaration of war and claimed that this was the ‘face of Dutch treachery’. The sight truly shocked me, and I fear that this is how people will see me. I never meant any kind of treachery, and now these people accuse me of such horrible things. Your faithful daughter, Jakoba We can assume that the Battle of New York means that for the first time in 102 years a enemy has set foot on United States grounds if i am correct. |
|
raunchel
Commander
Posts: 1,795
Likes: 1,182
|
Post by raunchel on Dec 3, 2018 15:57:31 GMT
Battlecruiser Geloof, October 22, 1914Dearest Jakoba, Your mother is very sorry for not having written you, but she is feeling unwell under the weather. You know how this time of the year always is bad for her, and now you are gone as well. I have to spend my time with the fleet, leaving her all alone in the house. She is considering living with Aunt Noor for a little while, and naturally, I have encouraged her to do so, even if it means her being in Breda. It appears that there has been a major engagement at the very beginning of the war. Admiral Wolters struck at what he had been informed was the foremost enemy naval base, a city named New York. In the night, he moved his forward squadrons up within firing range, and just before the first lights of dawn, marine detachments began their assault on known enemy fortresses. At the same time, a squadron of older battleships steamed forward and put any position that opened fire under bombardment. As soon as enemy guns were silenced, this squadron advanced on the enemy harbour and opened fire on any remaining battery as well as any warships that could be seen. There have been losses suffered by this operation, but as these ships are older, that isn’t something to be concerned with. What is relevant is that this forced the enemy fleet to sortie. They did this by pieces as their ships already were under fire, and in a disorganized fashion, they approached our ships. In their face, our ships withdrew, drawing the enemy into a pursuit. At this moment, admiral Wolters ordered the main battleline forward and a battle began. As he outnumbered and outgunned the enemy, the gun battle quickly developed to our advantage and the enemy was forced to withdraw, leaving at least two of their modern battleships behind as well as several other ships, all in flames or with heavy lists. He wrote that one battleship has exploded after a hit by the Herberg van twee Oceanen. The moment of disorganization in the retreat was seized upon, and Wolters ordered a mass charge of his destroyers and cruisers, which exploited a seeming lack of enemy light forces. Because of the smoke from burning ships, this attack sunk at least three of their battleships. There was an underwater minefield, but it appears that it was meant to be activated from the fortress that had been stormed. Following this, admiral Wolters demanded the surrender of the city as he steamed his fleet closer, firing on any position that still offered resistance. What we know was sent early in the evening, when the fighting still continued and are eagerly awaiting further reports. Our own losses aren’t known, admiral Wolters wisely decided not to send his full report by radio or wire, but given the circumstances of the battle, they won’t be overly mild. The marines will have suffered heavily in their landings, and the older battleships will have suffered badly as well. I however am confident that the main force of our American fleet remains intact and that the North Americans will be asking for terms soon enough. Here, we can only pray for such glory. The situation remains tense and our enemies only become more restless. The English are busying themselves laying mines at their coasts, in a feeble attempt to dissuade us should they force our hand to war. We have been given orders to not provoke them, and naturally, we obey them. It however is proving more and more difficult to restrain the men in the face of the blatant English aggression. Your loving father, Johan Rots Berlin, October 25, 1914Dear Father, Hearing about Mother’s illness fills me with so many regrets. I should never have left her like this. It’s not my place to answer the call of the nation. I will write her at once and will pray for her good health. The battle of New York, as it’s being called here, is quite a topic. People know little about it, but I’ve been told that the German naval ministry is deeply worried about what happened and is looking into reinforcing the protection of their fleet’s bases. I assured them that we have no intention of going to war with them, but still they seem nervous. Lieutenant van der Bilt said that he had faced accusations of dishonesty on the part of our fleet, but he explained that it is a perfectly valid tactical approach to strike at enemy bases. I have also found out about another engagement, around an area they call Hampton Roads. It seems that a few cruisers took coastal targets under fire before withdrawing in the face of a small enemy fleet, leading them right into what is presumed to be waiting submarines or mines. The Germans believe that at least one battleship was sunk in this action. We organized a little meeting with the Colombian and Mexican ambassadors. Mr de Beistegui seems to be a little calmer now, and he has been assured that we will do our utmost to restore peace to the hemisphere. He asked if we could inform him of any further plans, but of course, he was told that such things aren’t up to the diplomatic service. The Colombian representative was truly elated, and he asked when the North Americans would sue for peace. Uncle Sytze assured him that he expected that to happen soon enough. It seems that there now also are issues with the Greeks, who are demanding the return of our part of Crete, even though our nation liberated it from the Turk. Unfortunately, this isn’t being seen like it is, and the Greeks demand it. I’ve heard that even the local population is ready to betray us. The Hague has instructed us to remain silent about it, and assures us that troops are being sent to keep the area quiet after some demonstrations have led to the use of force. By sheer chance, I’ve also encountered Mrs Gerard again. Of course, we’re not meant to meet given the situation between our nations, but the invitations had already been sent before the declaration of war, leading to these difficulties. She appeared to be in a state of mourning, and naturally, I asked her what had happened. To my surprise, she actually lashed out at me, calling me a treacherous weasel and several other things that I can’t bring myself to repeat in writing. I however understand why she is so distraught; it appears that one of her sons has been killed by our attacks. He wasn’t a soldier or sailor, but it appears that he was in the part of the city that we put under fire in order to force the enemy fleet to battle. The mere thought of what it must have been like for those poor people horrifies me, but I comfort myself with the thought that it was necessary for the preservation of our republic. Another rather shocking moment came when I found myself with an English newspaper. It already was a little old, but I try to keep myself informed about what they write. They had printed the photographs that I had arranged to be made of when we delivered the declaration of war and claimed that this was the ‘face of Dutch treachery’. The sight truly shocked me, and I fear that this is how people will see me. I never meant any kind of treachery, and now these people accuse me of such horrible things. Your faithful daughter, Jakoba Naturally, Dutch naval power is far superior to whatever the Americans could bring to the Battle. Was there ever any doubt that Our great country would come out on top? We had a few advantages there. The Americans had an incredibly top-heavy fleet, had downright awful gunnery and readiness, and really didn't have any institutional preparation for anything like this. Added to that, they didn't even know that they were at war yet (the cable had only just arrived in Washington, where it was very early in the morning. It was in time for official purposes, but not in time to get the fortresses properly readied or to have any serious readiness in the fleet. |
|
raunchel
Commander
Posts: 1,795
Likes: 1,182
|
Post by raunchel on Dec 3, 2018 15:58:41 GMT
Battlecruiser Geloof, October 22, 1914Dearest Jakoba, Your mother is very sorry for not having written you, but she is feeling unwell under the weather. You know how this time of the year always is bad for her, and now you are gone as well. I have to spend my time with the fleet, leaving her all alone in the house. She is considering living with Aunt Noor for a little while, and naturally, I have encouraged her to do so, even if it means her being in Breda. It appears that there has been a major engagement at the very beginning of the war. Admiral Wolters struck at what he had been informed was the foremost enemy naval base, a city named New York. In the night, he moved his forward squadrons up within firing range, and just before the first lights of dawn, marine detachments began their assault on known enemy fortresses. At the same time, a squadron of older battleships steamed forward and put any position that opened fire under bombardment. As soon as enemy guns were silenced, this squadron advanced on the enemy harbour and opened fire on any remaining battery as well as any warships that could be seen. There have been losses suffered by this operation, but as these ships are older, that isn’t something to be concerned with. What is relevant is that this forced the enemy fleet to sortie. They did this by pieces as their ships already were under fire, and in a disorganized fashion, they approached our ships. In their face, our ships withdrew, drawing the enemy into a pursuit. At this moment, admiral Wolters ordered the main battleline forward and a battle began. As he outnumbered and outgunned the enemy, the gun battle quickly developed to our advantage and the enemy was forced to withdraw, leaving at least two of their modern battleships behind as well as several other ships, all in flames or with heavy lists. He wrote that one battleship has exploded after a hit by the Herberg van twee Oceanen. The moment of disorganization in the retreat was seized upon, and Wolters ordered a mass charge of his destroyers and cruisers, which exploited a seeming lack of enemy light forces. Because of the smoke from burning ships, this attack sunk at least three of their battleships. There was an underwater minefield, but it appears that it was meant to be activated from the fortress that had been stormed. Following this, admiral Wolters demanded the surrender of the city as he steamed his fleet closer, firing on any position that still offered resistance. What we know was sent early in the evening, when the fighting still continued and are eagerly awaiting further reports. Our own losses aren’t known, admiral Wolters wisely decided not to send his full report by radio or wire, but given the circumstances of the battle, they won’t be overly mild. The marines will have suffered heavily in their landings, and the older battleships will have suffered badly as well. I however am confident that the main force of our American fleet remains intact and that the North Americans will be asking for terms soon enough. Here, we can only pray for such glory. The situation remains tense and our enemies only become more restless. The English are busying themselves laying mines at their coasts, in a feeble attempt to dissuade us should they force our hand to war. We have been given orders to not provoke them, and naturally, we obey them. It however is proving more and more difficult to restrain the men in the face of the blatant English aggression. Your loving father, Johan Rots Berlin, October 25, 1914Dear Father, Hearing about Mother’s illness fills me with so many regrets. I should never have left her like this. It’s not my place to answer the call of the nation. I will write her at once and will pray for her good health. The battle of New York, as it’s being called here, is quite a topic. People know little about it, but I’ve been told that the German naval ministry is deeply worried about what happened and is looking into reinforcing the protection of their fleet’s bases. I assured them that we have no intention of going to war with them, but still they seem nervous. Lieutenant van der Bilt said that he had faced accusations of dishonesty on the part of our fleet, but he explained that it is a perfectly valid tactical approach to strike at enemy bases. I have also found out about another engagement, around an area they call Hampton Roads. It seems that a few cruisers took coastal targets under fire before withdrawing in the face of a small enemy fleet, leading them right into what is presumed to be waiting submarines or mines. The Germans believe that at least one battleship was sunk in this action. We organized a little meeting with the Colombian and Mexican ambassadors. Mr de Beistegui seems to be a little calmer now, and he has been assured that we will do our utmost to restore peace to the hemisphere. He asked if we could inform him of any further plans, but of course, he was told that such things aren’t up to the diplomatic service. The Colombian representative was truly elated, and he asked when the North Americans would sue for peace. Uncle Sytze assured him that he expected that to happen soon enough. It seems that there now also are issues with the Greeks, who are demanding the return of our part of Crete, even though our nation liberated it from the Turk. Unfortunately, this isn’t being seen like it is, and the Greeks demand it. I’ve heard that even the local population is ready to betray us. The Hague has instructed us to remain silent about it, and assures us that troops are being sent to keep the area quiet after some demonstrations have led to the use of force. By sheer chance, I’ve also encountered Mrs Gerard again. Of course, we’re not meant to meet given the situation between our nations, but the invitations had already been sent before the declaration of war, leading to these difficulties. She appeared to be in a state of mourning, and naturally, I asked her what had happened. To my surprise, she actually lashed out at me, calling me a treacherous weasel and several other things that I can’t bring myself to repeat in writing. I however understand why she is so distraught; it appears that one of her sons has been killed by our attacks. He wasn’t a soldier or sailor, but it appears that he was in the part of the city that we put under fire in order to force the enemy fleet to battle. The mere thought of what it must have been like for those poor people horrifies me, but I comfort myself with the thought that it was necessary for the preservation of our republic. Another rather shocking moment came when I found myself with an English newspaper. It already was a little old, but I try to keep myself informed about what they write. They had printed the photographs that I had arranged to be made of when we delivered the declaration of war and claimed that this was the ‘face of Dutch treachery’. The sight truly shocked me, and I fear that this is how people will see me. I never meant any kind of treachery, and now these people accuse me of such horrible things. Your faithful daughter, Jakoba We can assume that the Battle of New York means that for the first time in 102 years a enemy has set foot on United States grounds if i am correct. Stop being such a ninja! And yes, this is the first time in more than a century that the Americans have suffered hostile action in their own homeland. And its's been very long indeed since they suffered such a blow. |
|
lordroel
Administrator
Member is Online
Posts: 67,683
Likes: 49,079
|
Post by lordroel on Dec 3, 2018 16:04:11 GMT
We can assume that the Battle of New York means that for the first time in 102 years a enemy has set foot on United States grounds if i am correct. Stop being such a ninja! And yes, this is the first time in more than a century that the Americans have suffered hostile action in their own homeland. And its's been very long indeed since they suffered such a blow. Is there anything left of the American fleet and will the Republic go to Hawaii and invade it ore are they do busy fighting the Japanese. And sorry for being a ninja, not my intention, just happens. |
|
stevep
Fleet admiral
Posts: 24,763
Likes: 13,151
|
Post by stevep on Dec 3, 2018 16:06:38 GMT
Battlecruiser Geloof, October 22, 1914Dearest Jakoba, Your mother is very sorry for not having written you, but she is feeling unwell under the weather. You know how this time of the year always is bad for her, and now you are gone as well. I have to spend my time with the fleet, leaving her all alone in the house. She is considering living with Aunt Noor for a little while, and naturally, I have encouraged her to do so, even if it means her being in Breda. It appears that there has been a major engagement at the very beginning of the war. Admiral Wolters struck at what he had been informed was the foremost enemy naval base, a city named New York. In the night, he moved his forward squadrons up within firing range, and just before the first lights of dawn, marine detachments began their assault on known enemy fortresses. At the same time, a squadron of older battleships steamed forward and put any position that opened fire under bombardment. As soon as enemy guns were silenced, this squadron advanced on the enemy harbour and opened fire on any remaining battery as well as any warships that could be seen. There have been losses suffered by this operation, but as these ships are older, that isn’t something to be concerned with. What is relevant is that this forced the enemy fleet to sortie. They did this by pieces as their ships already were under fire, and in a disorganized fashion, they approached our ships. In their face, our ships withdrew, drawing the enemy into a pursuit. At this moment, admiral Wolters ordered the main battleline forward and a battle began. As he outnumbered and outgunned the enemy, the gun battle quickly developed to our advantage and the enemy was forced to withdraw, leaving at least two of their modern battleships behind as well as several other ships, all in flames or with heavy lists. He wrote that one battleship has exploded after a hit by the Herberg van twee Oceanen. The moment of disorganization in the retreat was seized upon, and Wolters ordered a mass charge of his destroyers and cruisers, which exploited a seeming lack of enemy light forces. Because of the smoke from burning ships, this attack sunk at least three of their battleships. There was an underwater minefield, but it appears that it was meant to be activated from the fortress that had been stormed. Following this, admiral Wolters demanded the surrender of the city as he steamed his fleet closer, firing on any position that still offered resistance. What we know was sent early in the evening, when the fighting still continued and are eagerly awaiting further reports. Our own losses aren’t known, admiral Wolters wisely decided not to send his full report by radio or wire, but given the circumstances of the battle, they won’t be overly mild. The marines will have suffered heavily in their landings, and the older battleships will have suffered badly as well. I however am confident that the main force of our American fleet remains intact and that the North Americans will be asking for terms soon enough. Here, we can only pray for such glory. The situation remains tense and our enemies only become more restless. The English are busying themselves laying mines at their coasts, in a feeble attempt to dissuade us should they force our hand to war. We have been given orders to not provoke them, and naturally, we obey them. It however is proving more and more difficult to restrain the men in the face of the blatant English aggression. Your loving father, Johan Rots Berlin, October 25, 1914Dear Father, Hearing about Mother’s illness fills me with so many regrets. I should never have left her like this. It’s not my place to answer the call of the nation. I will write her at once and will pray for her good health. The battle of New York, as it’s being called here, is quite a topic. People know little about it, but I’ve been told that the German naval ministry is deeply worried about what happened and is looking into reinforcing the protection of their fleet’s bases. I assured them that we have no intention of going to war with them, but still they seem nervous. Lieutenant van der Bilt said that he had faced accusations of dishonesty on the part of our fleet, but he explained that it is a perfectly valid tactical approach to strike at enemy bases. I have also found out about another engagement, around an area they call Hampton Roads. It seems that a few cruisers took coastal targets under fire before withdrawing in the face of a small enemy fleet, leading them right into what is presumed to be waiting submarines or mines. The Germans believe that at least one battleship was sunk in this action. We organized a little meeting with the Colombian and Mexican ambassadors. Mr de Beistegui seems to be a little calmer now, and he has been assured that we will do our utmost to restore peace to the hemisphere. He asked if we could inform him of any further plans, but of course, he was told that such things aren’t up to the diplomatic service. The Colombian representative was truly elated, and he asked when the North Americans would sue for peace. Uncle Sytze assured him that he expected that to happen soon enough. It seems that there now also are issues with the Greeks, who are demanding the return of our part of Crete, even though our nation liberated it from the Turk. Unfortunately, this isn’t being seen like it is, and the Greeks demand it. I’ve heard that even the local population is ready to betray us. The Hague has instructed us to remain silent about it, and assures us that troops are being sent to keep the area quiet after some demonstrations have led to the use of force. By sheer chance, I’ve also encountered Mrs Gerard again. Of course, we’re not meant to meet given the situation between our nations, but the invitations had already been sent before the declaration of war, leading to these difficulties. She appeared to be in a state of mourning, and naturally, I asked her what had happened. To my surprise, she actually lashed out at me, calling me a treacherous weasel and several other things that I can’t bring myself to repeat in writing. I however understand why she is so distraught; it appears that one of her sons has been killed by our attacks. He wasn’t a soldier or sailor, but it appears that he was in the part of the city that we put under fire in order to force the enemy fleet to battle. The mere thought of what it must have been like for those poor people horrifies me, but I comfort myself with the thought that it was necessary for the preservation of our republic. Another rather shocking moment came when I found myself with an English newspaper. It already was a little old, but I try to keep myself informed about what they write. They had printed the photographs that I had arranged to be made of when we delivered the declaration of war and claimed that this was the ‘face of Dutch treachery’. The sight truly shocked me, and I fear that this is how people will see me. I never meant any kind of treachery, and now these people accuse me of such horrible things. Your faithful daughter, Jakoba Nice update raunchel I do have one question, in war you might think that any letter send is being read by censor to make sure no vital information is send, also how long does it take for a letter to arrive, i doubt Johan Rots is able to send letters regularly due to being on a warship.
That is a good point on how much info is present and possibly how much is accurate. Given the confused nature of the battle with the most lethal attack being by light units with torpedoes as the US fleet retreated losses may not be as heavy as being reported. Its a general factor in warfare that initial combat reports are often over-stated, although it does sound like the USN has been hit hard. They would have suffered from a lack of decent light units as Johan mentioned and that would be a problem given their a lot less experienced than the Dutch, and caught largely by surprise.
I can't see the US being willing to come to terms. especially since I suspect the Dutch terms would be pretty draconian. Not yet at least and depending on the status of the Dutch overseas republics but I would expect their still got a smaller economic and industrial base than the US. Best hope for the US is if the Dutch become too over-confident and end up trying to invade the continental US, which is very likely to end badly for them because if the home advantage the US would have.
Sounds like the Dutch will also attack Britain at some point as Johan sounds so gung-ho about a further conflict. However it could come from an accident if the Dutch try sailing just outside British territorial waters again as given their attack on the US the RN could well have orders to intercept in such cases to prevent a surprise attack. Also if the Dutch try to carve off part of China as their exclusive economic zone that would be likely to cause clashes with Britain and possibly other powers. Britain will also be making at least contingency plans for war with the Dutch, especially with the important key routes to the Indian and Pacific Oceans being cut/threatened. I think regaining Aden/Yemen would be an important issue in the event of a war as the canal gives us a fairly short route to the Indian Ocean while going around the Cape will be pretty much impossible with the Dutch in charge of both S Africa and so much of S America.
Jakoba seems to be very naive not to expect a strong reaction from Mrs Gerard if she was in mourning. True she didn't know about the sneak attack being planned but should realise that she would receive blame for her roll in it.
It looks there's going to be a very nasty time ahead for just about everybody.  |
|
|
|
Post by eurowatch on Dec 3, 2018 16:38:07 GMT
Naturally, Dutch naval power is far superior to whatever the Americans could bring to the Battle. Was there ever any doubt that Our great country would come out on top? We had a few advantages there. The Americans had an incredibly top-heavy fleet, had downright awful gunnery and readiness, and really didn't have any institutional preparation for anything like this. Added to that, they didn't even know that they were at war yet (the cable had only just arrived in Washington, where it was very early in the morning. It was in time for official purposes, but not in time to get the fortresses properly readied or to have any serious readiness in the fleet. So New York essentially got caught With their pants Down. They are not going to like seeing themselves being emberassed by that. |
|
raunchel
Commander
Posts: 1,795
Likes: 1,182
|
Post by raunchel on Dec 3, 2018 16:51:49 GMT
Stop being such a ninja! And yes, this is the first time in more than a century that the Americans have suffered hostile action in their own homeland. And its's been very long indeed since they suffered such a blow. Is there anything left of the American fleet and will the Republic go to Hawaii and invade it ore are they do busy fighting the Japanese. And sorry for being a ninja, not my intention, just happens. There will be more detail about the American fleet in later updates, but basically, the Pacific Fleet remains partially intact in the northwest, and elements of the Atlantic fleet remain in Boston and Philadelphia (and some other ports), but those are mostly the pre-dreadnoughts and a few lighter ships. Most of the more modern ships were in New York, so that has really hurt. Concerning your ninja-ism, there is a reason why Japan has to be attacked! Nice update raunchel I do have one question, in war you might think that any letter send is being read by censor to make sure no vital information is send, also how long does it take for a letter to arrive, i doubt Johan Rots is able to send letters regularly due to being on a warship. That is a good point on how much info is present and possibly how much is accurate. Given the confused nature of the battle with the most lethal attack being by light units with torpedoes as the US fleet retreated losses may not be as heavy as being reported. Its a general factor in warfare that initial combat reports are often over-stated, although it does sound like the USN has been hit hard. They would have suffered from a lack of decent light units as Johan mentioned and that would be a problem given their a lot less experienced than the Dutch, and caught largely by surprise.
I can't see the US being willing to come to terms. especially since I suspect the Dutch terms would be pretty draconian. Not yet at least and depending on the status of the Dutch overseas republics but I would expect their still got a smaller economic and industrial base than the US. Best hope for the US is if the Dutch become too over-confident and end up trying to invade the continental US, which is very likely to end badly for them because if the home advantage the US would have. Sounds like the Dutch will also attack Britain at some point as Johan sounds so gung-ho about a further conflict. However it could come from an accident if the Dutch try sailing just outside British territorial waters again as given their attack on the US the RN could well have orders to intercept in such cases to prevent a surprise attack. Also if the Dutch try to carve off part of China as their exclusive economic zone that would be likely to cause clashes with Britain and possibly other powers. Britain will also be making at least contingency plans for war with the Dutch, especially with the important key routes to the Indian and Pacific Oceans being cut/threatened. I think regaining Aden/Yemen would be an important issue in the event of a war as the canal gives us a fairly short route to the Indian Ocean while going around the Cape will be pretty much impossible with the Dutch in charge of both S Africa and so much of S America.
Jakoba seems to be very naive not to expect a strong reaction from Mrs Gerard if she was in mourning. True she didn't know about the sneak attack being planned but should realise that she would receive blame for her roll in it. It looks there's going to be a very nasty time ahead for just about everybody. The intitial information indeed is a bit inaccurate, as will lots of other things. That's what lets me get away with not being a complete expert! The battle indeed would have been chaotic, but especially so from the American perspective. They basically got woken up by gunfire and marines storming their fortresses. Wilson is in a situation where he can't possibly sue for peace. His presidency would be over and his reputation would basically become 'the guy who lost us our first major war', it's just something that's not possible. At the same time, midterm elections are coming up, and there isn't enough of a squeeze on the American people yet to get squeezed enough to give them any desire to make peace. They would instead be seriously angry and I wouldn't want to be the senator or congresswoman to propose giving up. It would be political suicide. There is a good reason why democracies can be incredibly tenacious in war. The Dutch indeed can't defeat the US by going at them on land. They don't have the manpower for such a thing, and their logistics would be a mess. They might have a chance if it would be the sole focus of their whole empire, but there has never been an empire with that kind of luxury. War with the British indeed is very much possible. Both sides are being stirred up by their own jingoism and the leadership of both knows that the other is the foremost threat to their position. At the same time, there are a lot of points of friction between the two of them and there is more and more distrust. At the same time, sailors and the like also are nervous and are getting whipped up. All it takes is one idiot to pull the trigger somewhere, and before long, the governments lose their ability to maintain control of the situation. Jakoba indeed isn't very aware of how others behave when they're mourning. She isn't from such an extreme background as I am in that regard, where children aren't allowed to cry at their own parent's funeral, but some cultural aspects are the same in that regard. She can't really deal with that kind of situation. Added to that, she wants to seem like a certain kind of person, she is afraid of the real her becoming known. And I promise, there will be plenty of unpleasantness to come. But one day, somewhere, peace will break out. |
|
raunchel
Commander
Posts: 1,795
Likes: 1,182
|
Post by raunchel on Dec 3, 2018 16:52:39 GMT
We had a few advantages there. The Americans had an incredibly top-heavy fleet, had downright awful gunnery and readiness, and really didn't have any institutional preparation for anything like this. Added to that, they didn't even know that they were at war yet (the cable had only just arrived in Washington, where it was very early in the morning. It was in time for official purposes, but not in time to get the fortresses properly readied or to have any serious readiness in the fleet. So New York essentially got caught With their pants Down. They are not going to like seeing themselves being emberassed by that. Quite a few careers will be very much over after this yes. |
|
stevep
Fleet admiral
Posts: 24,763
Likes: 13,151
|
Post by stevep on Dec 4, 2018 0:01:38 GMT
Is there anything left of the American fleet and will the Republic go to Hawaii and invade it ore are they do busy fighting the Japanese. And sorry for being a ninja, not my intention, just happens. There will be more detail about the American fleet in later updates, but basically, the Pacific Fleet remains partially intact in the northwest, and elements of the Atlantic fleet remain in Boston and Philadelphia (and some other ports), but those are mostly the pre-dreadnoughts and a few lighter ships. Most of the more modern ships were in New York, so that has really hurt. Concerning your ninja-ism, there is a reason why Japan has to be attacked! That is a good point on how much info is present and possibly how much is accurate. Given the confused nature of the battle with the most lethal attack being by light units with torpedoes as the US fleet retreated losses may not be as heavy as being reported. Its a general factor in warfare that initial combat reports are often over-stated, although it does sound like the USN has been hit hard. They would have suffered from a lack of decent light units as Johan mentioned and that would be a problem given their a lot less experienced than the Dutch, and caught largely by surprise.
I can't see the US being willing to come to terms. especially since I suspect the Dutch terms would be pretty draconian. Not yet at least and depending on the status of the Dutch overseas republics but I would expect their still got a smaller economic and industrial base than the US. Best hope for the US is if the Dutch become too over-confident and end up trying to invade the continental US, which is very likely to end badly for them because if the home advantage the US would have. Sounds like the Dutch will also attack Britain at some point as Johan sounds so gung-ho about a further conflict. However it could come from an accident if the Dutch try sailing just outside British territorial waters again as given their attack on the US the RN could well have orders to intercept in such cases to prevent a surprise attack. Also if the Dutch try to carve off part of China as their exclusive economic zone that would be likely to cause clashes with Britain and possibly other powers. Britain will also be making at least contingency plans for war with the Dutch, especially with the important key routes to the Indian and Pacific Oceans being cut/threatened. I think regaining Aden/Yemen would be an important issue in the event of a war as the canal gives us a fairly short route to the Indian Ocean while going around the Cape will be pretty much impossible with the Dutch in charge of both S Africa and so much of S America.
Jakoba seems to be very naive not to expect a strong reaction from Mrs Gerard if she was in mourning. True she didn't know about the sneak attack being planned but should realise that she would receive blame for her roll in it. It looks there's going to be a very nasty time ahead for just about everybody. The intitial information indeed is a bit inaccurate, as will lots of other things. That's what lets me get away with not being a complete expert! The battle indeed would have been chaotic, but especially so from the American perspective. They basically got woken up by gunfire and marines storming their fortresses. Wilson is in a situation where he can't possibly sue for peace. His presidency would be over and his reputation would basically become 'the guy who lost us our first major war', it's just something that's not possible. At the same time, midterm elections are coming up, and there isn't enough of a squeeze on the American people yet to get squeezed enough to give them any desire to make peace. They would instead be seriously angry and I wouldn't want to be the senator or congresswoman to propose giving up. It would be political suicide. There is a good reason why democracies can be incredibly tenacious in war. The Dutch indeed can't defeat the US by going at them on land. They don't have the manpower for such a thing, and their logistics would be a mess. They might have a chance if it would be the sole focus of their whole empire, but there has never been an empire with that kind of luxury. War with the British indeed is very much possible. Both sides are being stirred up by their own jingoism and the leadership of both knows that the other is the foremost threat to their position. At the same time, there are a lot of points of friction between the two of them and there is more and more distrust. At the same time, sailors and the like also are nervous and are getting whipped up. All it takes is one idiot to pull the trigger somewhere, and before long, the governments lose their ability to maintain control of the situation. Jakoba indeed isn't very aware of how others behave when they're mourning. She isn't from such an extreme background as I am in that regard, where children aren't allowed to cry at their own parent's funeral, but some cultural aspects are the same in that regard. She can't really deal with that kind of situation. Added to that, she wants to seem like a certain kind of person, she is afraid of the real her becoming known. And I promise, there will be plenty of unpleasantness to come. But one day, somewhere, peace will break out.
Ouch that sounds bad for the US, especially since a couple of their primary military shipywards are in New York so it could not only screw up their current forces but also a good bit of their new construction. Possibly they can switch tactics and concentrate on lighter forces raiding and doing sea denial as much as possible, raiding light cruisers, as their heavy ones are pretty slow and subs, as it would take a few years to build a new fleet.
If the attack on New York was literally the day the declaration of war occurred the US will be very angry as they will see it as a sneak attack. It is just over a century since Washington was occupied by British troops and some public buildings burnt so it will be a considerable blow to their pride. They will be unable to do a lot for quite a time as they have neither an army nor now much of a navy for offensive action but I think they will be too proud and angry to consider any peace terms, especially the sort TTL's Dutch are likely to propose.
Agree that war with Britain is very likely as the Dutch as so belligerent and will be feeling so confident after this success. Also Britain has seen a lot of economic disruption already and has a lot of business with the US so there are likely to be problems there if trade is disrupted. [Although some could probably be rerouted via Canada. Just a thought as it might be a bit late now but Canada might reconsider the issue to paying for another 3 Queen Elisabeth class ships - although they might think army spending would be more important in those circumstances.
It sounds like this TTL's 1914 conflicts are going to be more like WWII in scope than WWI. Fear that its going to be a long time before there's going to be a secure peace and a hell of a lot of death and destruction.
Must admit that sounds like a fairly grim culture to me. Far beyond the traditional British stiff upper lip.
Steve
|
|
raunchel
Commander
Posts: 1,795
Likes: 1,182
|
Post by raunchel on Dec 4, 2018 16:00:59 GMT
There will be more detail about the American fleet in later updates, but basically, the Pacific Fleet remains partially intact in the northwest, and elements of the Atlantic fleet remain in Boston and Philadelphia (and some other ports), but those are mostly the pre-dreadnoughts and a few lighter ships. Most of the more modern ships were in New York, so that has really hurt. Concerning your ninja-ism, there is a reason why Japan has to be attacked! The intitial information indeed is a bit inaccurate, as will lots of other things. That's what lets me get away with not being a complete expert! The battle indeed would have been chaotic, but especially so from the American perspective. They basically got woken up by gunfire and marines storming their fortresses. Wilson is in a situation where he can't possibly sue for peace. His presidency would be over and his reputation would basically become 'the guy who lost us our first major war', it's just something that's not possible. At the same time, midterm elections are coming up, and there isn't enough of a squeeze on the American people yet to get squeezed enough to give them any desire to make peace. They would instead be seriously angry and I wouldn't want to be the senator or congresswoman to propose giving up. It would be political suicide. There is a good reason why democracies can be incredibly tenacious in war. The Dutch indeed can't defeat the US by going at them on land. They don't have the manpower for such a thing, and their logistics would be a mess. They might have a chance if it would be the sole focus of their whole empire, but there has never been an empire with that kind of luxury. War with the British indeed is very much possible. Both sides are being stirred up by their own jingoism and the leadership of both knows that the other is the foremost threat to their position. At the same time, there are a lot of points of friction between the two of them and there is more and more distrust. At the same time, sailors and the like also are nervous and are getting whipped up. All it takes is one idiot to pull the trigger somewhere, and before long, the governments lose their ability to maintain control of the situation. Jakoba indeed isn't very aware of how others behave when they're mourning. She isn't from such an extreme background as I am in that regard, where children aren't allowed to cry at their own parent's funeral, but some cultural aspects are the same in that regard. She can't really deal with that kind of situation. Added to that, she wants to seem like a certain kind of person, she is afraid of the real her becoming known. And I promise, there will be plenty of unpleasantness to come. But one day, somewhere, peace will break out.
Ouch that sounds bad for the US, especially since a couple of their primary military shipywards are in New York so it could not only screw up their current forces but also a good bit of their new construction. Possibly they can switch tactics and concentrate on lighter forces raiding and doing sea denial as much as possible, raiding light cruisers, as their heavy ones are pretty slow and subs, as it would take a few years to build a new fleet.
If the attack on New York was literally the day the declaration of war occurred the US will be very angry as they will see it as a sneak attack. It is just over a century since Washington was occupied by British troops and some public buildings burnt so it will be a considerable blow to their pride. They will be unable to do a lot for quite a time as they have neither an army nor now much of a navy for offensive action but I think they will be too proud and angry to consider any peace terms, especially the sort TTL's Dutch are likely to propose.
Agree that war with Britain is very likely as the Dutch as so belligerent and will be feeling so confident after this success. Also Britain has seen a lot of economic disruption already and has a lot of business with the US so there are likely to be problems there if trade is disrupted. [Although some could probably be rerouted via Canada. Just a thought as it might be a bit late now but Canada might reconsider the issue to paying for another 3 Queen Elisabeth class ships - although they might think army spending would be more important in those circumstances.
It sounds like this TTL's 1914 conflicts are going to be more like WWII in scope than WWI. Fear that its going to be a long time before there's going to be a secure peace and a hell of a lot of death and destruction.
Must admit that sounds like a fairly grim culture to me. Far beyond the traditional British stiff upper lip.
Steve
It indeed is pretty bad for the Americans. They lost a fair bit of their shipbuilding capacity and ships under construction. One of them, USS Oklahoma, had been launched a few months earlier and is going to be towed off to be finished as a Dutch battleship. At this time, they will really go all-in on construction. They have also taken ARA Moreno which was almost finished at this time. Switching to light forces would probably be the best option at this time, but they still have some battleships left and as an institution, they were incredibly Mahanian. The attack on New York took place less than one and a half hour after the delivery fo the declaration of war. Basically, Wilson was just gathering the cabinet to talk about it and what to do when they were informed that their cities were under attack. War with Britain is very much possible. They are very direct rivals and both are being encouraged by nationalist sentiments. Trade has indeed suffered quite some blows, especially the most important trade of all: food. More than half of the UK's food was imported, with most of it coming from the Americas. Of all that, only Canada is left now. Other than that, their important sources were in Australia and New Zealand, but those can't produce nearly enough. The circles I grew up in have a reputation for being a little grim yes. But that comes with the religious views. |
|
raunchel
Commander
Posts: 1,795
Likes: 1,182
|
Post by raunchel on Dec 4, 2018 16:06:24 GMT
Battlecruiser Geloof, October 28, 1914
Dearest Jakoba,
Admiral Wolters’ report has finally arrived and a national day of celebration has been declared in honour of his victory. He has destroyed the main strength of the North American fleet and took several of their battleships and sunk the others. He has also taken many more prizes, although a list of damages to neutral ships was also prepared, in order to pay reparations to their owners.
In total, the enemy fleet has lost six modern battleships in this attack, along with 5 older ones and 11 destroyers. Of their losses, three battleships were taken, although one had to be scuttled due to damage. Two however are being brought home. Two of the older battleships, two submarines, 4 destroyers, two old cruisers, and a plethora of other ships have been captured. The city has been made to surrender, and local shipyards and industries have been demolished. Furthermore, two unfinished battleships have also been taken. Curiously enough, one of them wasn’t even a North American ship, but one belonging to a nation called Argentine.
Our own losses are damage to the Noorderlicht and two of the older battleships. Another older battleship has been sunk along with a cruiser and three destroyers. Other ships have suffered damage in varying degrees. Rear admiral Kleisterlee has fallen in battle at the head of his division.
The marines have suffered very heavy losses however, not only in storming enemy fortresses, but also in the streets of the cities. It seems that many civilians took up arms in order to resist. They should see themselves as fortunate that admiral Wolters didn’t order the complete destruction of the city and its population in retaliation.
Wolters also reported several other engagements. One was already described by you, at this more southern port, but he has also led part of his fleet further north, in order to strike at a city named Boston. The enemy warships there however fled north and he could only destroy a few of them and shell the naval yards before withdrawing to New York to replenish stocks. He however could tow an unfinished battleship with him, which is to be studied and finished if it can be brought home.
Throughout the Carribean, a squadron of light cruisers under rear admiral van Bergen has been unleashed to engage North American shipping and to further disrupt their operations. Tidings such as these should fill every Dutchman with a deep pride in our martial prowess.
Please, don’t let such horrible things bring you off your balance. It seems only logical to me that Mrs Gerard was deeply affected by her son’s death. Many peoples lack the moral backbone that defines our great nation and they frequently also don’t have the faith that allows us to be grateful for such things.
The English are by their nature a slanderous people, as we have been demonstrated time and time again. I fear that they are the same in this world, strengthening me in my conviction that they are responsible for that underhanded attack on us. Please, pay them no heed. Everything you did was in perfect accordance with all laws and conventions, and you shouldn’t blame yourself.
And don’t worry about the Greeks. From what I know they are weak and are directly opposed by the Turk. Should the need come, the Turk will ally with us and we will teach those degenerates a lesson they won’t quickly forget.
Your loving father,
Johan Rots
Berlin, November 1, 1914
Dear Father,
Thank you so much for writing me about what has happened in the Americas. We received reports from The Hague, but those naturally are far too technical for someone such as me. In order to honour the victory, I hosted a small celebration, inviting our allies. The number of allies has increased, much to my happiness. It seems that Cuba has also declared war on the North Americans, which should give us some useful bases.
We have also clarified to the Germans that they ought to consider the coast of these United States of America to be under blockade, and that we will sink or capture any ship within two hundred miles of North American shores. They didn’t seem to be too happy about this, but I told them that we had little choice in the matter and that I hoped that peace would soon be the norm again.
I have also spoken to the emperor again, he was very curious about Battle of New York, and I told him a little. Not about our own losses of course, but I did say that we have captured their flagship. He expressed some worries about the city, given that there are many people there of German descent, and I explained to him that unfortunately, we were forced to fight there, mostly by armed civilians. When he asked what he did about that, the answer unfortunately was simple. Anyone out of uniform who raised arms against us was shot, or, if captured, hung.
This rather shocked him, so I asked what he would order to have done with any French civilians who would shoot at his men. To that, he nodded in agreement and understanding. We also discussed our aims in this war. Of course, I couldn’t share everything, but I said that we intended to disarm them of larger warships, would take their pacific islands, give Panama to Colombia, remove them from the Carribean and Mexico, and of course, would demand an indemnity for the cost of this war. I also mentioned that we might establish some advantageous trade treaties.
In return, he asked me about territorial gains at the cost of the North American mainland. I denied that we have any such ambitions as we don’t require any of those territories for our security. At that, he seemed to frown, and I naturally asked him, purely theoretical of course, what he would have demanded for Germany. He said that he would want to expand his colonial empire and attempt to gain an indemnity. He however didn’t have anything ready in his mind, so I presume that they’re not planning on getting us to join them that way.
Uncle Sytze remains ill, there is little in the way of improvement in that regard, but he can fortunately do the basics of his duties. He has been meeting with representatives of the Turk, but naturally, I couldn’t be present. We have been meeting more frequently with representatives from multiple nations in the Caribbean and the Americas. They all appear to be trying to win our favour, although I presume that most of their contact is with our people in Nieuw-Holland.
Fortunately, I have been able to achieve something at least. Together with some notable ladies in the city, I have started a fund to care for the orphans and widows that are created by this war. I hope that you can forgive me for donating part of my allowance to this as well.
But what matters the most to me is how Mother is doing. She hasn’t written me in days, and I’m so worried. I almost decided to head back home, but I can’t forget my duties.
Your faithful daughter,
Jakoba
|
|
lordroel
Administrator
Member is Online
Posts: 67,683
Likes: 49,079
|
Post by lordroel on Dec 4, 2018 16:06:33 GMT
Ouch that sounds bad for the US, especially since a couple of their primary military shipywards are in New York so it could not only screw up their current forces but also a good bit of their new construction. Possibly they can switch tactics and concentrate on lighter forces raiding and doing sea denial as much as possible, raiding light cruisers, as their heavy ones are pretty slow and subs, as it would take a few years to build a new fleet. If the attack on New York was literally the day the declaration of war occurred the US will be very angry as they will see it as a sneak attack. It is just over a century since Washington was occupied by British troops and some public buildings burnt so it will be a considerable blow to their pride. They will be unable to do a lot for quite a time as they have neither an army nor now much of a navy for offensive action but I think they will be too proud and angry to consider any peace terms, especially the sort TTL's Dutch are likely to propose. Agree that war with Britain is very likely as the Dutch as so belligerent and will be feeling so confident after this success. Also Britain has seen a lot of economic disruption already and has a lot of business with the US so there are likely to be problems there if trade is disrupted. [Although some could probably be rerouted via Canada. Just a thought as it might be a bit late now but Canada might reconsider the issue to paying for another 3 Queen Elisabeth class ships - although they might think army spending would be more important in those circumstances. It sounds like this TTL's 1914 conflicts are going to be more like WWII in scope than WWI. Fear that its going to be a long time before there's going to be a secure peace and a hell of a lot of death and destruction. Must admit that sounds like a fairly grim culture to me. Far beyond the traditional British stiff upper lip. Steve
It indeed is pretty bad for the Americans. They lost a fair bit of their shipbuilding capacity and ships under construction. One of them, USS Oklahoma, had been launched a few months earlier and is going to be towed off to be finished as a Dutch battleship. At this time, they will really go all-in on construction. They have also taken ARA Moreno which was almost finished at this time. Switching to light forces would probably be the best option at this time, but they still have some battleships left and as an institution, they were incredibly Mahanian. The attack on New York took place less than one and a half hour after the delivery fo the declaration of war. Basically, Wilson was just gathering the cabinet to talk about it and what to do when they were informed that their cities were under attack. War with Britain is very much possible. They are very direct rivals and both are being encouraged by nationalist sentiments. Trade has indeed suffered quite some blows, especially the most important trade of all: food. More than half of the UK's food was imported, with most of it coming from the Americas. Of all that, only Canada is left now. Other than that, their important sources were in Australia and New Zealand, but those can't produce nearly enough. The circles I grew up in have a reputation for being a little grim yes. But that comes with the religious views. I do wonder if the British learn from seeing the Republic kicking american in battle and wisely try to avoid war ore that they feel confidant that they are stronger than the Republic in terms of naval power and feel confidant that any battle with them will be a British victory. |
|
raunchel
Commander
Posts: 1,795
Likes: 1,182
|
Post by raunchel on Dec 4, 2018 16:15:12 GMT
It indeed is pretty bad for the Americans. They lost a fair bit of their shipbuilding capacity and ships under construction. One of them, USS Oklahoma, had been launched a few months earlier and is going to be towed off to be finished as a Dutch battleship. At this time, they will really go all-in on construction. They have also taken ARA Moreno which was almost finished at this time. Switching to light forces would probably be the best option at this time, but they still have some battleships left and as an institution, they were incredibly Mahanian. The attack on New York took place less than one and a half hour after the delivery fo the declaration of war. Basically, Wilson was just gathering the cabinet to talk about it and what to do when they were informed that their cities were under attack. War with Britain is very much possible. They are very direct rivals and both are being encouraged by nationalist sentiments. Trade has indeed suffered quite some blows, especially the most important trade of all: food. More than half of the UK's food was imported, with most of it coming from the Americas. Of all that, only Canada is left now. Other than that, their important sources were in Australia and New Zealand, but those can't produce nearly enough. The circles I grew up in have a reputation for being a little grim yes. But that comes with the religious views. I do wonder if the British learn from seeing the Republic kicking american in battle and wisely try to avoid war ore that they feel confidant that they are stronger than the Republic in terms of naval power and feel confidant that any battle with them will be a British victory. In the end, they will see what they want to see. They see a naval power that beats on the Americans with seeming impunity. But then again, the Americans don't have their proud traditions and lack sufficient training standards. They of course also don't draw from the right kind of people for their leadership. It won't be helping in terms of confidence (they now have proof that they're not dealing with complete incompetents), but at the same time, these were only a second-rate power. |
|
stevep
Fleet admiral
Posts: 24,763
Likes: 13,151
|
Post by stevep on Dec 4, 2018 22:52:41 GMT
Ouch that sounds bad for the US, especially since a couple of their primary military shipywards are in New York so it could not only screw up their current forces but also a good bit of their new construction. Possibly they can switch tactics and concentrate on lighter forces raiding and doing sea denial as much as possible, raiding light cruisers, as their heavy ones are pretty slow and subs, as it would take a few years to build a new fleet.
If the attack on New York was literally the day the declaration of war occurred the US will be very angry as they will see it as a sneak attack. It is just over a century since Washington was occupied by British troops and some public buildings burnt so it will be a considerable blow to their pride. They will be unable to do a lot for quite a time as they have neither an army nor now much of a navy for offensive action but I think they will be too proud and angry to consider any peace terms, especially the sort TTL's Dutch are likely to propose.
Agree that war with Britain is very likely as the Dutch as so belligerent and will be feeling so confident after this success. Also Britain has seen a lot of economic disruption already and has a lot of business with the US so there are likely to be problems there if trade is disrupted. [Although some could probably be rerouted via Canada. Just a thought as it might be a bit late now but Canada might reconsider the issue to paying for another 3 Queen Elisabeth class ships - although they might think army spending would be more important in those circumstances.
It sounds like this TTL's 1914 conflicts are going to be more like WWII in scope than WWI. Fear that its going to be a long time before there's going to be a secure peace and a hell of a lot of death and destruction.
Must admit that sounds like a fairly grim culture to me. Far beyond the traditional British stiff upper lip.
Steve
It indeed is pretty bad for the Americans. They lost a fair bit of their shipbuilding capacity and ships under construction. One of them, USS Oklahoma, had been launched a few months earlier and is going to be towed off to be finished as a Dutch battleship. At this time, they will really go all-in on construction. They have also taken ARA Moreno which was almost finished at this time. Switching to light forces would probably be the best option at this time, but they still have some battleships left and as an institution, they were incredibly Mahanian. The attack on New York took place less than one and a half hour after the delivery fo the declaration of war. Basically, Wilson was just gathering the cabinet to talk about it and what to do when they were informed that their cities were under attack. War with Britain is very much possible. They are very direct rivals and both are being encouraged by nationalist sentiments. Trade has indeed suffered quite some blows, especially the most important trade of all: food. More than half of the UK's food was imported, with most of it coming from the Americas. Of all that, only Canada is left now. Other than that, their important sources were in Australia and New Zealand, but those can't produce nearly enough. The circles I grew up in have a reputation for being a little grim yes. But that comes with the religious views.
I suspect that while that might have worked in the 1660's its not too practical now. Both because the US is likely to be able to do some sabotage, if only scuttling it in shallow water while the problems of finishing off a foreign design is going to be difficult with no plans and incomparable standards. For instance if their world has developed a widely accepted version of SI standards their unlikely to match this world and the US use imperial anyway so you would have to make just about every fitting by hand and it would probably be a pig to operate and maintain. The Dutch can probably, depending on how long their able to hold the shipyard smash it up enough to make it uneconomical to repair and complete.
Also if they did try and tow it away its going to make whatever tows it vulnerable to subs especially.
Forgot about that. Argentina has gone and some of the tropical producers. Possibly even worse ANZ and rubber from Malaya would be threatened in a war given the Dutch now have the key British colonies along the way. The US is still a valid source of goods, especially while Britain is at peace as their agricultural production hasn't seen any real impact and they will want to sell as much as possible because they will need all the funds they can get their hands on. Might need to be re-routed through Canada and the St Lawrence and could be some nasty clashes in the Atlantic if/when [and I feel it will be when] Britain and the Dutch are at war.
I would also say with all the losses, the chaos on the continent, tension with the new Dutch and what's just happened to the US Britain will be seeking to be on pretty high alert. There will be a determination not to be caught napping as the US was. Which with the homelands so close and the Dutch not accepting how threatening their being makes the chances of war by accident much greater. Probably at least some reserves are being called up and plans made for especially defending India and 'liberating' Ceylon and Aden to reopen a safe route to India and ANZ.
My sympathy's on that last point.
Sorry about the late reply but been rather busy elsewhere today.
|
|
