ATST Snippet #4

If you pay attention to the formatting you can see that the first two paras are inside Wind Song's head.

Randomiser wrote:

runsforcelery wrote:Type alert! Typo alert! That was supposed to be "And one that isn't out of sequence!"

I was so busy checking the snippet for formatting that I didn't proof that one sentence intro.

For reference here's another

ATST wrote:"and that allowed Rainbow Waters to pull his right flank in closer, building an even deeper and better defended defensive zone between the Allies and the Holy Langhorne Cabal,"

Also also the text seems unclear who is doing what and who is being addressed in this sequence with regard to Zhyngbau and Rungwyn. I.e. the names or ranks seem mixed up.

ATST wrote:' It was possible, he conceded, that Rungwyn had a point.

And perhaps you should have looked first yourself before you began spouting opinions, Medyng. How often has Uncle Taychau suggested that to you? It doesn’t always follow that something which looks irresistible truly is.

“I believe you may have a point, Lord of Foot,” he said as he straightened his back. “I propose we go and take a closer look.”

“But not too precipitously, My Lord,” Zhyngbau put in. Wind Song looked at him, and the captain of horse shrugged.'

Wow!

Another great snippet, Thank you so much RFC!

OTOH, another typo might be the population figures from when RFC shared them with us in that long ago post, IIRC; the Harchong Empire had 194 M, the Temple Lands at 89 M, and the Border States st 102 M, for 385 M; almost half again the 267 M cited in the textev here, unless 2/3 of the Harchong Empire's population is in the south.

Granted they were never textev, so I'm willing to be quite happy with these new hard numbers, or what ever is in the hard copy.

However, if the Union's rate of artillery production averaged about 2 per day for the war's four years, and the Go4 has more than 20 times the population, it would explain why they're presently producing at almost 12 times the Union's average rate, on their way to truly massive numbers, if they can afford it.

Excellent points Don!

Abandoning the offensive to the allies because of their superior maneuverability is bloody dangerous, ie it leans toward ultimate strategic defeat.

While 3 M men might easily cover 2000 miles of trenches, at almost a man per yard, while having at least twice the firepower Lee had at Petersburg, the distance and travel constraints mean someone could punch a 200 mile hole in such a line and the counterattacks would be too late to stop the penetration from wrecking the canal or forward supply dumps causing the flanks of the penetration to crumble.

But then RW may want to preserve the [his] MH for vital Harchong Empire post-war needs, not the jihad's current ones, which is very Harchong of him, because he's taking a much longer view than the Go4.

OTOH, he may merely be hoping to exhaust the allied armies this summer, before unleashing a truly massive blow the next summer ['99].

Or that's what he may be telling the Go4, if Clyntahn lets him get away with it.

Of course it may provoke Green Valley into a great amphibious 'Hail Mary pass' avoiding RW completely to suddenly land near the Zion River, etc, etc.

L

n7axw wrote:Just thinking....

Rainbow Waters is making a big mistake here although given his situation a very understandable one. He is trying to make a virtue out of his lack if mobility by forting up.

Agile allied armies can march rings around him and I wouldn't be surprised if by spring the Alliance isn't able to field over 1.5 million men, particularly as the rate the Protector is able to stand up new regiments continues to increase with the ever more abundant supply of weapons both coming from Charis and locally produced.

I think that it was Confederate General Nathan B. Forrest who is credited with the comment that the winner in a battle is the one "who gets there firstest with the mostest." That is the essence of Rainbow Waters' problem. As badly as his army is spread out, even given the size if his forces, there is no way that he can bring enough men to bear on all of the possible places the allies can strike. This has huge implications, not only for his logistics, but also for the danger that he will find segments of his army cut off and defeated in detail. That, of course, is the vulnerability of any strategy built around a static defense.

Another thought, the odds against the allies population wise have decreased from over 10 to 1 after Darcos Sound to about 1.5 to 1 currently. Just one way to measure progress.

Don

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Thank you very much for this Snippet RFC. I was amused by this seeming typo:

allowed Rainbow Waters to pull his right flank in closer, building an even deeper and better defended defensive zone between the Allies and the Holy Langhorne Cabal, the lynchpin of the Church’s northern logistics .

Since I am sure that without the Go4 Cabal, there would be no logistics or even war to worry about and definitely. Rainbow Waters goal, whether he knows it or not, is to defend the Go4.

So, Wind Song is a cunning general in as much as a defensive general is likely to be. I'm wondering where RFC is drawing inspiration from in writing this character. Does he see Wind Song as a von Moltke, Walter Model, Albert Kesselring, James Longstreet? I'd hate to think he'd turn into a Moa or Stallin/Zhukov in that if he's able to break out of the Border States he'd just Human Wave his way into and through the RoS.

3 Million men in the MH order of battle. 3 Million to do what and where?
Sure, they can get new boom-sticks, rockets, artillery--hell, they can even be accurate--where can he put all that weight and those huge behemoths given the terrain of the Border States? Nevermind where can they realistically put all those people. Unless they're not that far into the Mountains of Light and are in the foothills still.
Also, is the MH deployed in formal forts or are they deploying like the French and Germans did are Verdun and WW1's trench warfare? If that's the case, so long as Green Valley has a couple forces in place and presents a concave before the MH's line, he can simply wait them out. Yes, yes, time's a wasting before the Temple activates and who/whatever wakes up underneath. Still got a couple years though which is more than the CoGA has. Plus, Zhaspar doesn't want to wait, if he see that huge army just standing still, he'll over rule the other members of the Go4 and order Song Wind to attack.
Sure, GV will be hurt, but he retains the freedom of maneuver and can set up a defense in depth that will gut the MH.

ChronicRder wrote:Also, is the MH deployed in formal forts or are they deploying like the French and Germans did are Verdun and WW1's trench warfare?

They didn't have:

- Machineguns&magazine rifles
- Radio&telegraph
- Aerial scouting

Dilandu wrote:

ChronicRder wrote:Also, is the MH deployed in formal forts or are they deploying like the French and Germans did are Verdun and WW1's trench warfare?

They didn't have:

- Machineguns&magazine rifles
- Radio&telegraph
- Aerial scouting

They're using Sempahores like a telegraph. The EoC definitely does have aerial surveillance (even if it is unofficial as far as the masses are concerned) via the SNARCs. And they don't have machine guns or magazine rifles YET!!! If memory serves, even that is under development and will likely hit the Allied fronts within the year or two.
But I was asking if they were using trench warfare or just had a strong of fortresses they were manning. Do they have some combo of the two? I don't know, hence the question.

But, you're absolutely right, so compare it to Mukden or the Ulm campaign. Given the breakneck rate of advancement on Safehold, I thought Verdun would be a more realistic comparison.

Siddarmark should be able to raise an army of at least 50,000 from the over half a million people saved from the camps once they are brought back to good health and trained, say in about 6 months.

6L6 wrote:Siddarmark should be able to raise an army of at least 50,000 from the over half a million people saved from the camps once they are brought back to good health and trained, say in about 6 months.

I hope they can raise at least that many. Then, I'd love to see them be sent South to finish off Dohlar, if they're still a problem, or open up another front in Harchong itself.

At this point what does either the Harchong Navy or NoG have that can intercept a fleet that tries to land troops on West Haven? Do they have troops/forts that are even staged to counter such a move?

ChronicRder wrote:
At this point what does either the Harchong Navy or NoG have that can intercept a fleet that tries to land troops on West Haven? Do they have troops/forts that are even staged to counter such a move?

Hm. Mines?

The Charisians already basically tell Church everything they need to know about landmines. It wouldn't really be hard for Church to comprehend the idea of naval mines as well (the way to battlefield rockets was much more complicated)

Sure, but that's not the problem. Wind Song thinks Rungwyn may have a point then apparently addresses him as 'Lord of Foot' when he is only a Captain of Horse. Following that Zhyngbau apparently makes a point and is then described as a 'Captain of Horse' when he is actually a Lord of Foot.

Louis R wrote:If you pay attention to the formatting you can see that the first two paras are inside Wind Song's head.

ATST wrote:' It was possible, he conceded, that Rungwyn had a point.

And perhaps you should have looked first yourself before you began spouting opinions, Medyng. How often has Uncle Taychau suggested that to you? It doesn’t always follow that something which looks irresistible truly is.

“I believe you may have a point, Lord of Foot,” he said as he straightened his back. “I propose we go and take a closer look.”

“But not too precipitously, My Lord,” Zhyngbau put in. Wind Song looked at him, and the captain of horse shrugged.'