Circumference

1437 AH | Shòulíng Republic

Some signs of progress?

While the previous year was near total chaos politically, not all was completely bleak in the Republic. One branch of the nation that was actually making modest progress, but progress nontheless, was the Federal Army. Due to consistent government gridlock as well as financial difficulties, many in the army began showing concerns about the lack of payments to regular soldiers. The General Staff often expressed concerns, writing directly to the government that political infighting was hampering the militaries efforts to maintain social order amidst public upheaval. Many in the officer staff began taking sides between the ruling SLMZ party and the Radicals, which sparked into rumors that the military would begin an insurrection. That would be a step too far for both sides as the insurrection risked full on civil war. And if the Republic fell into civil war, it could very well spell the end of the nation.

Throughout mid-1436, several proposals were put forward by the General Staff to the ruling government while other areas of the military also began negotiating with the Radical People's Party. Numerous agreements were put into place, which began giving the Federal Army more and more autonomy to act somewhat autonomously, with the exception being that both parties would be forced to come to an agreement about funding for training, maintenance, salary and equipment. With the agreements in place, the Chief of General Staff, one Field Marshall Yin Yimu began a program with what resources the military had to further increase the modernization of the army. After a short period of negotiations with the Lukowian aircraft company Kalisz Zakłady Lotnicze for an order of new aircraft. Due to political reasons as well as financial pressure, the technical detachment led by General Tang Yu couldn't procure top of the line aircraft, but did manage to conclude a deal that still strengthened the Federal Air Force, concluding the deal to purchase 64 examples of the KZL M.7 fighters with a modified engine to increase power, as well as 36 examples of the newer KZL M.11 fighters, fitted with Lukowia's domestically-produced engine. Under General Tang Yu, many in the Federal Air Force became fascinated with the idea of a domestic Shouling aviation industry, which soon led to a small group forming within the SFAFs technical department that focused on researching up to date aircraft technical advancements. While the idea was quite popular, resources made that becoming a reality impossible at the current moment.

The Army and Navy also saw some progress, though not as many new acquisitions as the Air Force. Due to the ongoing financial issues, military maneuvers were few and far between, and foreign attaches that were present often cited the SFA as unmotivated and woefully outdated tactically, citing that despite the acquisition of new equipment (such as the not!Vickers Six-Ton light tanks), the SFA showed it was still not accustomed to new weaponry and were incapable of utilizing it well within their formations. This was even more apparent in July 1436 when, after over an entire year, the SFA finally engaged in new military exercises and maneuvers in the east of the country, in the shallow flat basin in East Shouling, where they used their licensed light tank, the Furao QGC34 "Bái Lóng" (a licensed version of the Vickers Six-Ton using a Carnolian engine, suspension and 37mm main gun). However, results were lackluster as while maneuvers were more precise and generals showed more vigor in their orders, the SFA was still largely disorganized and communication between their armored units and infantry were reported as "incoherrent" and "muddled". The formation of the 1st Mechanized Division, the only modern division using automotive equipment and vehicle transport, was criticized for being inefficient and lacked much of the modern equipment needed for it to be combat-effective. With the reports of the military exercise returning to the General Staff in August, it was compiled into a dossier to be sent to the Ministry of Defense to organize a new program for the coming years, highlighting the need for new troop and officer training regiments, proposed agreements with foreign officers to help improve the SFA general staff, purchase of new equipment and experimentation of new tactics and strategies to better utilize the new inventories of the SFA. It was also reported that the production of Shoulings licensed light tank had also ceased after only 80 tanks have been produced in nearly two years as the financial losses of the economic downturn caused the Furao Arsenal to close down and production on the tank as well as numerous artillery pieces to cease, dealing a major blow to the equipment supply for the SFA heading into 1437.

The SFN (the Navy) saw the least attention. The Republic unfortunately inherited the largely neglectful nature of naval matters, citing it as a low-priority, instead shifting focus more towards their ground forces. But while the government still saw little need to invest in the navy, the Naval Affairs Department under the Ministry of Defense showed different feelings, especially with the increase in junior officers entering into the navy. The biggest talking point was the state of the two of SFNs most prized possessions, the Liánbāng-class dreadnought battleships. The two behemoths were a sore spot between the "Old Guard" and the new generation of naval officers, who routinely argued over the value of keeping either ships in service. The "Old Guard" held firm belief that modern naval battles were fought with honor and sheer firepower, while the new generation pointed out critical flaws combining the doctrine with the two battleships. Due to the monumental task of even getting both ships built, several critical shortcuts had to be made to make both ships viable. It took nearly 8 years to complete both ships, and even upon entering service, they both lacked critical equipment needed to stand toe to toe with contemporary battleships. The main battery of 12 inch guns had poor range and were seen as weaker in performance against other vessels. Additionally, the ships were slow, difficult to maneuver, have shown several reliability issues and lacked modern electronic equipment such as fire-control systems, and still relied on old steam turbines and boilers for propulsion. With many officers of the "Old Guard" beginning to leave their posts and heading into retirement, the shift in doctrine thinking began to shift. Through almost 8 months of intense deliberation, it was finally decided that both of the Liánbāng-class dreadnought battleships would be sold for scrap, citing that the costs needed to make them compatible with modern naval standards were simply too high to bring any strategic benefit. Numerous scrappers were contacted in CRMF Carnolia, Kiberia (Okruzhennsyia) and Verdezia for the sale of the two ships.

During the process of negotiating over the two battleships, matters also turned to the future of the SFN. The branch had, proportionally to its needs, the lowest budget of all three branches, which left little in the way of being able to develop the SFN into a formidable navy to challenge the Republic's enemies head on. Many new officers were trained in CRMF Carnolia and Verdezia, bringing with them ideas of the "Jeune École" naval concept, which emphasized a focus on smaller vessels to combat big battleships as well as placing heavy emphasis on commerce raiding tactics. Led by Commodore Shao Rong, he sent a commission to Kiberia (Okruzzhensyia) as well as Verdezia, outlining their requests for companies to design them a series of ships that would be built for the SFN. The commission outlined the need for two primary destroyer classes, two ocean going torpedo boat classes as well as a brand new submarine class, with construction of all these ships (with the exception of the submarine class) being split between companies from either of those countries and domestic Shouling companies. They outlined the time table to begin in around 1437 and for the planned warships to all be put in service by the end of 1439.

Republika Łukowii - 1436 AH

The Year In Review

1436 had not been a quiet year for Łukowia. It had not been a catastrophic one either, which by the standards of a nation permanently situated between competing pressures and historical grievances was itself a kind of achievement. What it had been was a year of consolidation; of programs reaching completion, of decisions made in previous years producing their results, of the country discovering in concrete terms what its ambitions were actually worth when measured against reality.

The Military

The clearest successes of 1436 belonged to the armed forces. The M.12 had entered service before year's end, twenty examples delivered to frontline units and flying alongside the M.11s that were still flown. Export conversations with foreign buyers had begun, building on the Sveynland precedent. At Novaski, the Tipo 32-12-B2 production line was feeding KZL's output reliably while the 14 cylinder radial program continued its development with the productive unpredictability that had become the facility's defining characteristic. The M.13 existed on drawing boards, waiting for the engine that would eventually justify it.

On the ground the Szybki Niszczyciel-1's full order of sixty had been delivered and the new tank hunter unit was working up with a doctrine still being written partly from the manual and partly from experience. The 2nd Armoured Division had completed its H.60 transition, the Sveynish tanks absorbed into the division's training cycle with a smoothness that had relieved everyone involved. The armoured train conversion program had begun in Mitove, four reactivated platforms being rebuilt as mobile anti-air batteries around the new 75mm armata przeciwlotnicza wz.36 entering production in early 1437.

The year's most uncomfortable procurement had been eight Carnolian locomotives purchased because no better option existed on the required timeline. The manufacturer plates on Łukowian rolling stock had generated the parliamentary commentary that everyone involved had anticipated. The locomotives ran on schedule regardless.

The Civilian Picture

The three new railway lines had opened and were carrying freight and passengers with the quiet competence of infrastructure that had been needed for some time. The easternre-gauging project had reached completion, closing an inefficiency built into Łukowia's network since independence. The country moved goods more efficiently than it had twelve months prior, which was the point.

The northeastern housing project had delivered enough completed units to produce measurable results, the oligarchic development foundations co-administered with the government providing the capital and receiving the legitimacy that Kovalevsky had promised them it would. The Okruzhenn Flu had not resolved itself, it had followed the summer roads into central Łukowia, the lockdown measures in the northeast producing containment without resolution, the popular name for the illness proving impossible to dislodge from common usage and carrying its implications with it into every conversation about the communities it had hit hardest. The health ministry called the situation manageable. The provincial administrators called it exhausting. Both were accurate.

The Shòulíng opportunity had moved from conversation to early action, the first commercial contacts established and the Małsil machinery project identified as the most viable entry point into a market whose appetite for affordable agricultural equipment was, by any estimate, considerable. The initial estimates suggested it would be a profitable year and market.

To the New Year

1437 was neither a great new year nor a continuation of a catastrophic one, it was simply coming and going. The situation both in and out of Łukowia was still maintaining its monotonous development. Some places having famines, some rebels while others fought for other means. It was the same chaos that had engulfed the world since eternity, and would do so for the future.

However, this did not mean new plans were not drawn. The next phase of the public housing fund was planned, this time to be directed towards the south and southeast, where the mining industry was seeing an increase in its job market as a result of the expansions to both the railways and the industry itself, which in turn had resulted in a surge of people flooding the region that now needed a place to put their heads under.

Likewise the northeast was also seeing an increase in numbers resulting from the same railway expansions, that had exponentially increased volume of produce that could be moved out of the region before they rotted and hence also increasing the hands needed to meet that demand. One region that did not see such increase was central Łukowia, where the already metropolitan region could meet the demand for increased workforce without much fanfare.

1436 Recap
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1436 for Sveynland was a busy year with military developments, domestic political tensions, and a new coalition government attempting to appease the population.

Politics/People
- On-and-off Conservative protests about increasing military budget, creating a new defense bill, and opposing the forming Sveynish welfare state

- 1937 budget saw an increase in social programs, foreign affairs, and industrial development spending. Small decrease in defense spending.

- Government allowed small amounts of privatization for Okruzhennsiya (Kiberia) companies. Received various amounts of controversy by the Sveynish population.

- Government initiated a new railway project to expand the connective system eastward toward the end of the year. Currently underway as of June 1437.

- The Sveynish Canvass Institute was formed. A scientific polling joint-stock company founded by Otto Brandt in August of 1436.

Military
- HSeMS Hjalmar of the Hjalmar-class battlecruiser was launched and begun sea trials. The ship features a standard displacement of about 25,000 tonnes, three twin 280 mm (11 in) guns, and 230 mm (9 in) belt armor.

- H-60, domestically known as the Skogvoll m/35, light tank redesigns continued with prototypes beginning production. Trials still ongoing expected to finish in 1437.

- HSeMS Hökstad, of the Solberg-class aircraft cruiser (Sveynish design of the HSwMS Gotland), was commissioned in mid 1436

Republika Łukowii - 1437 AH

Wings and Tracks - The Summer Orders

The procurement decisions of summer 1437 did not arrive as a single announcement but one after another consecutively, each one a consequence of assessments made through the preceding months of training, evaluation, and the kind of institutional learning that only comes from actually using equipment rather than planning to use it.

The Ground

The Szybki Niszczyciel-1 had spent the months since the first unit's formation doing what the military had designed it to do in peacetime; training, exercising, and generating the accumulated experience that turns a collection of vehicles and crews into something that functions as a coherent fighting force. The doctrine that had been described as still being written when the unit formed had, by summer, been written sufficiently to be evaluated, and the evaluation had returned results that satisfied the relevant commands across the board.

The vehicle performed within its design parameters in the roles envisioned for it. The crews had developed the working patterns that made the three man arrangement function despite its compromises. The attachment exercises conducted alongside tank division elements had produced enough data to confirm that the independent unit with flexible attachment concept was viable in practice rather than just on paper. None of this was revolutionary. All of it was necessary, and the military's procurement office had drawn the logical conclusion.

An order for 120 additional Szybki Niszczyciel-1s was placed with Łonan Engineering Works, to be delivered by the end of the year to allow two new units to be formed and worked up on the same model as the first by the following summer. The identical complement was a deliberate choice; the first unit's structure had proven itself and there was no compelling reason to redesign what was functioning, particularly when the doctrine now existed to be handed to the new units rather than developed from scratch. Łonan's production facility, which had absorbed the lessons of the first sixty vehicle run, was in a better position to deliver the expanded order efficiently than it had been when the original contract was signed.

Three units of Szybki Niszczyciel-1s, once the new formations were fully worked up, would give the army a tank hunting capability that could be distributed across its operational formations with genuine flexibility. The doctrine was still young but it was growing each passing day.

The Air

KZL's production floor in the summer of 1437 looked different from what it had been eighteen months earlier, and the difference was not merely one of volume. The facility that had been proving the M.12 concept through evaluation trials was now a functioning multi-line production operation running two aircraft types simultaneously.

The M.12 line was now running at a capacity of twenty aircraft per month, a figure that had taken longer to reach than the optimistic early projections had suggested and that the production managers had consequently learned to trust more than those projections. The B.23 light bomber line ran alongside it with it being in service long enough that its production presented no surprises.

Into this established line came the summer's orders.

The Łukowian air force placed a request for 45 M.12s, expanding the frontline fighter fleet that had begun with the initial twenty delivered at year's end. Planned to enlarge the fleet, while also serving as an opportunity to delegate the older planes still in service to either training purposes or to be fully retired from active service.

Alongside the domestic order came confirmation of something that the export conversations begun after the M.12's acceptance had been working toward. Sveynland, which had purchased M.11s and operated them with sufficient satisfaction to return as a customer, placed an order for fifteen M.12s. The number was modest but it was still an opportunity to establish a foundation for future sales. To that reason the decision was made to fulfill the Sveynish needs first within a month then to turn towards making the domestic orders.

The B.23 order of 20, processed alongside the fighter requests, was made to adress a branch that was long ignored, with only 42 planes the Lukowian bomber fleet was one of smallest forces among the armed forces. The B.23 had been in service for a long time however it had proved itself to be a reliable workhorse that would have to do until a newer version of light bomber was developed or the decision to purchase was made.

At full production across both lines, KZL was looking at a three month window to complete the combined orders; 60 M.12s between the domestic and Sveynland requests, 20 B.23s alongside them. The production managers had run the numbers and confirmed the timeline was achievable without compromising either line's quality standards, which was the answer the procurement office had needed before signing the contracts.

The M.13 remained on its testing bed at the edge of the facility, its development proceeding with the patience that Iosifich's radial engine program required and that KZL's main production lines could not afford. It would wait. The orders in front of it would not.

On top of the orders, the armed forces engineering department had requested the development and testing of larger aircraft with twin or even triple engine configurations with further ranges and possibly bigger payload capacities. What the departmant wanted was a bomber fleet and a heavy fighter escort that could follow it into the enemy's heartland to see their mission to completion.

But almost everyone knew that Lukowia did not possess the capabilities to produce such aircraft in numbers...

Carnolian Republic | 1437

Preparation

Since taking over Carnolia, it had been a busy few years for the Regierungsrat. Headed by former Imperial Carnolian Army officer, Laurin Radnitz, under a firm ultranationalist authoritarian dictatorship, with the help of the council and the state party, the FNR (Front zur nationalen Rettung; National Salvation Front), virtually transformed Carnolia over the past 4 years. The country has been battered and humiliated by the victors of the Boreal War, left to rot under mountains of rising debt, a traumatized society, diminished power on the continent as well as a government that couldn't function even if God intervened. With chaos spilling in every direction and the onslaught of the Great Depression, the country nearly tore itself apart.

The FNR was instrumental in shaping the political landscape of today. Under previous President Benjamin Vogelstein, Radnitz was made Chancellor and his second in command, former ICA officer Florentin Bain, made Minister of Internal Affairs, enacted a state of emergency in 1433 after the Crimson Night, a workers rebellion in the capital city of Poel. Throughout the year, using significant loopholes in the constitution, the pair slowly dissolved the need for the Nationalparlament as well as eliminated rival political leaders behind the scenes, one of which included the head of the SA (Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei; Socialist Workers Party) (NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE BROWNSHIRTS IRL!!) Florian Winkler in 1434. After Vogelstein's death in February 1434, Radnitz cemented himself as dictator of Carnolia, appointing Bain as chancellor. The new Regierungsrat (National Council) was established as the new supreme authority of the state and Radnitz instituted Operation Contrast, a mass purge of all left-leaning officials and military officers not completely subservient to the FNR and the leadership of Radnitz, culminating in over 200 people being killed in socialist persecutions over the course of the four days Operation Contrast was underway.

From 1434 to the present day, Radnitz transformed Carnolian society. Enacting policies to strengthen the cult of personality around his reign, he instituted discriminatory policies that prioritized the wellbeing of the "common Carnolian", establishing restrictive policies against state religious establishments as well as foreign nationals within the state, particularly the Otherlings, which were heavily discriminated against, many being restricted from working in certain high-level fields, attending government or educational establishments and even voting. Thousands of Otherlings began fleeing Carnolia in underground escape routes called the "Franchised Railway", where many sympathetic to Otherling causes helped relocated a significant portion of the Otherling population within Carnolia. Many others found their homes forcefully taken away from them and relocated to less well-off areas of cities, in designated zones where undesireable people were sent to live, against the agenda of the FRN.

Starting in 1436, Carnolia also began to further engage in international politics, with both good and bad intentions. With principles like "Wohnen", Radnitz's Carnolia sought to expand its realm to accommodate for future peoples of the nation. For that, it looked East, particularly towards Nourita. Catching wind of both not!fascist and not!communist struggles against the ruling government there, Radnitz had the head of the Rechtschaffene Wache (Righteous Guard), the Carnolian military police and underground intelligence agency, Viktor Kehrer, tasked with creating contacts with the leading not!fascist coalition in Nourita, dispatching agents to make contacts with the leadership of the coalition and establish ties, potentially promising backing in funding and weaponry to increase not!fascist activity within the nation. Radnitz's plan was to create a pro-Carnolian government in Nourita, hoping to create a chess piece heavily in favor of Carnolia on the continent, making it a critical building block in building future hegemony of Carnolians on the central continent. Additionally, Carnolia also began showing good faith to its other neighbours, Lukowia, by signing a beneficial economic agreement that would see the Nationale Eisenbahngesellschaft AG sell strong cargo and passenger locomotives for the Lukowian Railway. Additionally, ties were also strengthened with Shouling, a behemoth from Estria, where Carnolian businesses began establishing strong bases of economic activity within the large Shouling market, engaging in many high-profile and high-skill industries such as shipbuilding, high quality steelworks and shipbuilding.

One chess piece to move was also Carnolia's ties to Aberllyn. They were the key figures in ensuring nearly a decade and a half of economic turmoil and social chaos within Carnolia. And no doubt both nations had strained relations following Radnitz's rise to power. However, in a surprising twist of events, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, under Minister Joachim Wegmann, proposed talks that would cool off tensions between the two countries, establish stable trade relations as well as start building diplomatic ties that could be acted upon on the world stage. Additionally, Carnolia began offering several manufactured goods such as appliances, engineering and electrical equipment and refined resources to other smaller parties in Euralia, particularly nations such as Sveynland, Polingo, Lukowia and Verdezia in exchange for importation of raw resources. In mid-1437, both Carnolia and Verdezia made a major step together, meeting in the city of Amersmond to sign what was locally known as the Amersmond Memorandum, but internationally known as the Pact of Friendship, signed by Carnolian foreign minister Joachim Wegmann and Verdezian foreign minister Salvador García, it solidified a military, economic and political alliance between Carnolia and Verdezia.