WesWorld

Gonna have to do installments as well, it seems.

4 April

With the revolutionary fleet largely destroyed, elements of the Bharatiya Nau Sena are starting to head home. Yesterday, the battleship Jahangir and her escorts began steaming home, their fire support missions completed. Rear-Admiral Fadil Epp told reporters that, “We have done our duty and helped our friends suppress a vile uprising. Now it is time to return home to our families.”

It’s expected that the aircraft carrier Urumi and her escorts will remain on station for another few weeks, though at this point the carrier’s mission is largely one of reconnaissance and scouting in support. Of late, the carrier has been mainly looking for civilian vessels that may be attempting to move rebel forces between islands, and then directing smaller surface vessels to intercept and investigate those vessels. The reduced tempo of operations comes as a relief to the carrier, which has reportedly lost about a dozen aircraft to various causes in the past two and a half months.

6 April

The Rana and a team from several government departments are in Copenhagen as the Contracting Powers in the Cleito Treaty discuss possible modifications to the treaty. Sources within the palace tell AWNR that the topic of Germany’s status is expected to be the most controversial one.

[OOC: that source summarizes what I was thinking before we got started.]

9 April

A botched raid on a revolutionary stronghold on southern Luzon has left at least fifteen Indian commandos and several sailors dead. The raiders were being transported by MTB to make a night attack against the base, but were apparently detected and engaged with a large volume of small arms and light artillery fire. One torpedo boat sank after being repeated raked by machine gun fire; two others were damaged.

11 April

The last operational MAS believed to be in revolutionary hands has been sunk after an evening engagement with three Indian MTBs. One of those boats was also sunk in the encounter.

16 April

Construction is underway on two different vessels that will help protect Indian shipping for years to come. The seaplane carrier Gaudhi Sagar was laid down earlier this month at Chennai, while the patrol sloop Nanda Devi began construction at Sittwe.

Admiral Kashiram Paswan told AWNR, “These vessels will fill a significant gap in our capabilities, that of aerial surveillance over our more distal trade routes. As we learned from the Panay incident, the Indian Ocean is a vast expanse, and it is far more effective to survey it with aircraft than with large surface combatants that have more crucial tasks to undertake.”

The Navy is currently planning to build two of the seaplane carriers and four of the patrol sloops, equally spread across 1929 and 1930. “Both designs have generated foreign interest, with our South African allies having licenced them for local construction of variants, and we have also concluded a deal to construct a modified Gaudhi Sagar for another ally”, Admiral Paswan observed.

18 April

Talks continue at Copenhagen, with a number of issues arising. The Indian delegation has been fairly busy working on consensus-building in many cases, and has initiated several long discussions. Apparently the German question is largely resolved, but talks are being held up as the matter of warship sales has come to dominate much of the recent meetings.

Meanwhile, the Imperial Palace reported that the Rana and her delegation were expected to make a side trip to Berlin to meet with senior German officials after the negotiations wrapped up.

22 April

The aircraft carrier Sulu has been turned over to the Filipino Navy, following a solemn and fairly low-key ceremony earlier today. A half-sister to the Urumi, the ship will be crewed by the complement of the battlecruiser Presidente Malvar, now reverted back to the RN vessel Princess Royal.

Several dozen protestors were present outside the Chennai yards, but their demonstration was reported to be peaceful and not illegal.

23 April

The Fourth Deccan Highlanders have taken the surrender of about three thousand revolutionary soldiers east of Quezon City, following a demanding campaign of skirmishes in the mountains there. The revolutionaries were said to have fought gamely, but found themselves running short on ammunition and other critical supplies. A few hardcore revolutionaries are thought to still be fighting, but for now, large-scale combat in northern Luzon appears to be at an end.

A spokesman for the Army said that the prisoners would be detained until the legitimate government had an opportunity to determine their status and future.

Q2 - May and June

8 May

A number of Indian companies have been awarded sole-source contracts to help rebuild the Philippines. The announcements were made yesterday in Manila.

One of the big winners is Matondkar and Matondkar Engineering Company, which will be busy repairing and rebuilding twenty-eight road and rail bridges destroyed on Luzon. Yuvraj Matondkar said that the contract will keep his company busy: “There is certainly a rush to complete them all as quickly as possible; it is conceivable that we may sub-contract some of the work out to our peers. We’ll be talking with these firms and dispatching an assessment team at the earliest opportunity.”

Other projects awarded to Indian companies includes repairs to roads, to port facilities at Dagupan and Iba, home building in Angeles, and work on a steel mill at Quezon.

15 May

The Indian Army has issued mobilization orders for the Thirty-Eighth Field Force and its subordinate units. Field Marshal Satyanrayana told AWNR, “These units will be replacing our existing forces in the Philippines over the coming weeks, and will work with Filipino forces to ensure a peaceful and stable transition back to normalcy.”

The Field Force includes infantry divisions - the Eighth, the Krokodil, and the Khanjar Nau Raajaa [Dagger of the King - I think], all stationed in the Puri area. They are expected to be deployed by mid June, and could be away for as long as a year.

23 May

The Indian Navy says that it has been invited to send a team of observers to the USN Fleet Problem taking place later in the year.

“We haven’t decided yet what the composition of the mission will be”, stated Admiral Kashiram Paswan, “But we will certainly be in attendence. We are very pleased to be invited, and expect that we will have an opportunity to educate as well as be educated.

[OOC: Actually, Canis and I know what the composition will be, but that’s so he can deal with any storyline stuff he has planned.]

28 May

The Raj and Rana are grandparents once more. Prince Brashkar and Princess Urmila welcomed their son Irfan into the world on the 26th. Reports indicate Irfan was delivered several days late, and that his large size made for a long and difficult delivery for his mother. She remains under medical care but is expected to be up and about within the next few days.

Irfan now becomes third in line to the throne, bumping his two year old cousin Rajiv Sunil to fourth.

6 June

With organized resistence from revolutionary forces seemingly at an end, the Indian Army has released preliminary casualty figures. “We estimate our losses on the ground at three thousand three hundred seventy dead and five thousand eight hundred twenty wounded, out of fifty-three thousand men, including those replacing earlier casualties”, said Field Marshal Satyanarayana.

Over half of the casualties were sustained by the Marmorat Division during the battle for Angeles. Casualties to the Fourth Deccan Highlanders and The Rana’s Own Loyal Matchlockmen were substantially lower.

“The liberation of the Philippines has come at a great cost to its friends, but that is what friendship is about: doing what a friend needs, even if it hurts”, the Field Marshal commented.

15 June

“Captain! Meerut is reporting two unidentified aircraft bearing oh-four -oh, height two thousand, range fifteen kilometers.”

Satish Dravid, captain of the aircraft carrier Urumi, scrunched his bushy eyebrows together. “Configuration?”, he asked.

“Didn’t say, Sir”, the radioman replied.

“Sound for Action Stations”, he ordered after a moment’s consideration. “I’ll be on the port wing - listen for my orders.” A few steps brought him outside, on the narrow platform aft of the bridge, above Urumi’s flight deck. He began scanning the sky with his field glasses as he thought through his options.

So the aircraft were coming from his port quarter...meaning a turn to starboard would have him running ahead of the aircraft a bit longer, whereas a turn to port would force them to come to their port, perhaps throwing off their aim. “Helm, standby to execute an emergency turn to port, await my order to execute. Comm, raise signal flags stating the same to all escorts.” He heard the orders passed along, and received the acknowledgements a few seconds later.

“Captain? Air Group reports that our fighters are climbing but won’t be able to attack in time.”

“Tell them to stay out of the way and attack once the mystery aircraft are clear of our flak.”

“Got ‘em!”, the lookout called. Dravid lowered his glasses, and stepped behind the man. Noting the angle and direction of the lookout’s glasses, he raised his own. A few seconds later, he caught them, two elongated specks. “I think they’re twin-engined”, the lookout added.

“Land-based bombers, for sure”, Dravid commented.

Wisps of smoke drifted away from the cruiser Trincomalee, off Urumi’s port beam. The faint crack of her 10.5 cm guns reached his ears a few seconds later. “Guns - engage when ready. Mind our escorts.” Another acknowledgement, but the guns stayed mute despite training and raising their barrels.

Land-based bombers, presumably those awful A.24 crates, could hurt Urumi if they managed to hit her. From two thousand meters up, against a moving target, the odds of that happening weren’t so good. But the thought still made him uneasy as he watched distant gray blooms appear in the sky, well away from the incoming aircraft: Trincomalee’s time-fuzed flak.

The aircraft were more clearly defined and much closer when Urumi’s port-side guns fired in unison. After the initial salvo, the guns fired independently, his ears telling him that the aft guns were a bit quicker than the forward pair.

Finally, the bombers seemed close enough to him. “Helm, emergency port turn, execute!” Almost immediately, the carrier started to tilt to port as she answered the rudders. He lost the aircraft, but they were now visible to the naked eye, so he caught them with the glasses quickly. Tiny specks drew clear of the bombers as he did so.

“Bombs incoming!”, the lookout shouted over the sudden clatter of the 3.5 cm guns. Dravid lowered his glasses and waited. Geysers sprouted in the carrier’s wake, and then off her starboard quarter. The bombers had started to turn just before they dropped their bombs, but now were banking to port, accepting the prolonged exposure to flak in exchange for a quicker route back to their base.

“Helm, resume heading after completing the turn”, he called out. “Comm, signal the same to our escorts”, he added as he returned to the bridge. Arriving at the voice tubes, he called down, “Damage Control, Bridge. Report.”

Several seconds later, a tinny voice rasped back, “Bridge, Damage Control. No reports of damage or injuries, Sir.”

“Thank you.” He moved to a different pipe. “Air Group, Bridge. Report.”

“Two fighters poised to attack, Sir. Stand by.”

Two minutes later, the last air attack launched by the Revolution concluded with the fiery deaths of six of its aviators.

21 June

South African naval forces have departed the Red Sea. The Indian cruiser Kalyan and three smaller warships arrived at As Salif yesterday to resume their mission of patrolling the Asir Mandate’s coast.

Rahul Pathan, governor of the Mandate, praised the South African contingent. “Very professional and quick to adapt. I think we are in good hands with them as our allies, and thank them for coming to our assistance.”

The governor noted that despite concerns raised by politicians in nearby states, there was no conflict between the RSAN and the people of Asir. “The South Africans showed their respect and consideration up front, and the people returned it. The rescue of several fisherman from a sinking boat in March cemented that relationship.”

Quoted

However the most important reason is this. Before 1930 fleet exercises showed that CAPs could always be scabbled in time to meet an incoming air attack which was then visually sited by destroyers. By 1936 the increase in performance of aircraft made this impossibly so. RDF was in the early stages of development but to be honest no one knew of its true potential as an early warning device. The designers quite rightly stuck to what they knew and they knew CAPs would never be scambled in time to meet incoming air attacks.

Chances are the bombers would be shot down before the attack over the carrier, or whilst on their predictable level-bombing run.

How large is India's standing army? Massive?

Chances are...but in this case, they were splashed afterward, sitting ducks for some unhappy Marut pilots. Could be this is a little opportunity for some thinking about CAP operations.

From the General Information thread in the Indian encyclopedia:

Quoted

The Standing Army has a standing strength of 3.2 million, of which about half are combatants. There is a National Reserve of about 4.4 million, and a “National Cadre” estimated at eight million, collectively making India amongst the largest land powers in the world.

Loaning the Philippines a corps-sized Field Force is not a huge burden for India.

Why do I want to see the Indian Forces in white and black uniforms (armor) marching through the streets of Manila?

I don't know. Why do you?

I think its the huge numbers of troops that is doing it.

Perhaps, but I'm not sure that the entire Field Force will be deployed at any one time. I'm still working that part out.

Anyway, Indian numbers should decrease steadily as the Filipino ground forces rebuild themselves.

Quoted

Originally posted by Ithekro
Why do I want to see the Indian Forces in white and black uniforms (armor) marching through the streets of Manila?

I think he means black uniforms, white armour, identical height, and poor marksmanship.

:x

Listening to some themes for Return of the Jedi probably had something to do with it as well.

Hopefully the Indians will be impressed at the 'USN Fleet Problem' this year. Chile's role in it and the units involved are yet to be deturmined.

Hmm, and I was thinking of thousands of penguins....

That just reminds me of that awefull Tim Burton horror movie.... err hero/action movie, Batman 2. Just strap a missle to their backs!