Hi MWadwell,
Given most of those people are serfs or slaves, I suspect most are going to be praying to have the alliance forces pass nearby so they can be freed and follow them.
Imagine Sherman's march on steroids, since the distance to Zion is over a dozen times as far, while I expect the armies to be much bigger as the modern RSA grows in strength.
Depending on when the 11 M96 rifle lines come on line, the EoC could produce some 250-300,000 by November '97, another 460,000 in '98, plus some 40,000 trapdoor versions if they have only one line operating for 200 days [to June-early July?], enough to reequip the whole of the ICA in theater, NTM the marines with the trapdoors, including the 50+K that left at the end of September; enabling them all to turn over their early Mahnfrayns to the RSA, which combined with likely captures from the IHA plus indigenous production could mean the RSA approaches having around a million men armed with rifles by the end of the year.
Since the AoJ had a third of its infantry armed with smooth-bore muskets, and the other third with arbalests, while 47% of Dohlar's infantry firearms were also smooth-bores adds another ~55,000 other projectile weapons, the total might actually exceed a million armed men.
We still don't know how the RSA is provided with field artillery, but the captured and ex-ICA cannon should help in comparison with the ICA, even only a couple 12-pounders per day over the last year would permit every new division to have at least a battalion on the ICA standard, the captured making it two.
Nonetheless such figures ought to eliminate the last of the internal TL opposition, while enabling the best armed to join the ICA in advancing into neighboring territory.
Meanwhile the Go4 will be trying to create and arm new armies after the IHA's are blunted and beaten, if not destroyed.
Humans being so variegated, there may be some serfs that prefer to remain serfs to freedom as the alliances insists, but I'll bet the vast majority will eagerly support the alliance, and being the 'sons of Martha' more than the 'sons of Mary' are probably far more knowledgeable about the local terrain than the minute aristocracy that might be the remaining opposition since most supporters of the temple will understandably flee, to easily frustrate nearly all guerrilla or partisan operations.
There may be some TL clergy remaining behind that would be more effective, but how long that remains so with SNARC sensors to ferret out serious problems if there aren't HumInt sources makes that a minor problem.
Given the Levelers described in MTaT, the various Border States could be threatened with their own rebellions that have avoided being used by the inquisition again.
Disarmed by Magwair, the nobles etc will have little choice but to flee.
The same goes for Dohlar and Silkiah, where the elimination of the local army or police encourages those with grievances to finally act on them.
The temple lands have serfs too, whatever they're called, do any doubt after seeing how corrupt the Knights of the Temple Lands are, that many if not most (though perhaps a smaller fraction than the BS etc) won't join the liberating alliance?
Compared to most invading armies, the liberating alliance will have far less worries regarding partisan type activities.
The current goal is finding out what's in the basement.
Hopefully HFQ will deal with that.
See how positive I am?
L
MWadwell wrote:octavian30 wrote:**quote="Larry"**
that while such a strategy can and should allow Siddermark to stabilize and regain much of it's territory and bring control to much of the Dohlar and even neutrality in Silkah. I don't think it can allow much room against the Desnarian or South Harchongese empires. Nor will it be effect against the border states or the rest of the main continent. There is simply too much land and too many people to wade through in these areas. At that point the EOC is overextended and vulnerable to supply line strikes as well as rear area partisan attacks and defeat in detail counter attacks by numerically superior (and equipped with improving weapons tech) AOG forces. EOC can only advance to the point that there is friendly territory behind it and contested or enemy land before it. At that point, even with better weapons and training it's forces must stop and assume a defensive stance.
Larry**/quote**
On the contrary with their huge intel advantage the EOC should continue to advance into enemy territory taking the war to them and destroying an neutralizing the ability of the church to make war at all.
Unlike Hitler's and Napoleon's attacks on Russia the EOC can maintain supply and support along the coasts. Once the Desnarians are rounded up and Eastshire envelops Aivastyn and forces that army's surrender while the same happens in the north to Guarnak then next target should be the Harchong army - currently strung out along the the Holy Langhorne Canal.
Strikes at each end of this line by both EOC field armies at the start of spring should result in the complete disintagration of the Harchong army
I agree with Larry - until the alliance put together by the Temple start to disintergrate, there is a limit to what the EOC can achieve.
First point, it is a
battle army - not an army of
occupation. It's manpower is too small to
occupy large populations (in the hundreds of millions), and
still maintain a force on the front line.
So taking (and holding) large tracts of population/land is out. (Of course, taking and holding individual cities, towns, fords, canal locks, etc is O.K.)
The next point, is that the EOC intel coverage is "spotty". While snarcs can be placed everywhere, they are only as useful as what they are tasked to do (remember the surprise generated when wagons started blowing up, and the amount of missing gunpowder was discovered?) While missing an army is different to missing an individual, I just want to point out that the EOC isn't "All Seeing".
The last point, is that not all intel can be used. Not all EOC commanders are in the inner circle, and even those that are cannot always act on what they know, without
some justification (i.e. hunches only work so often, and friends of Sensei's can only pop up so often before questions start to be asked about them).
I agree that the EOC has a huge advantage in training, equipment, doctrine, etc - but there are limits to what it can do.
And conquoring the rest of the planet might be one of them....
