WesWorld

April 2

Azeri Border Guards units reported gunfire coming from the Persian side of the Astara River on the night of April 1-2. Azeri forces immediately went on highest alert and bunkered down in the border defenses, but at dawn all Azeri units reporting no attempt by the Persians to cross the border. One Azeri soldier, however, was killed by friendly fire when he attempted to relieve himself in the river, and was shot as he made his way back to the defenses. Despite official reports some Azeri civilians began fleeing the border region, and remaining civilians started looting. Azeri President Mammed Amin Rasulzade ordered additional military units moved towards the border regions to prevent the looters.

Azeri Army Chief of Staff Suleyman bey Sulkevich accused the Persian government of trying to manufacture an incident to cause a SATSUMA intervention in Azerbaijan. "Persia has already clearly shown their aspirations for empire in the region of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Arabia! They now cast their eye towards Azerbaijan, but we shall not roll over for them." The general also quoted President Rasulzade's statement from 1920, saying: "The flag once raised shall never fall!"

The general's speech has been quoted widely in the streets, and in an impromptu rally in the capital city of Ganja, hundreds chanted "We shall not roll over", writing it on signs to display to the Western press.

Azerbaijan repeats its call for Persia to join them in immediate discussions hosted by Russia to relieve tension in the region.

Quoted

Originally posted by Brockpaine

Azeri Army Chief of Staff Suleyman bey Sulkevich accused the Persian government of trying to manufacture an incident to cause a SATSUMA intervention in Azerbaijan. "Persia has already clearly shown their aspirations for empire in the region of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Arabia! They now cast their eye towards Azerbaijan, but we shall not roll over for them." The general also quoted President Rasulzade's statement from 1920, saying: "The flag once raised shall never fall!"

OOC : Would you believe the Dutch government is not surprised that Bahrat seeks to expand its Empire through its new puppet?

Heh, I'm just waiting for the fireworks to start after you called Persia an Indian puppet!

Should hopefully be a nice show. Do we get calls of Indrisa now, to match Turklantis?

Quoted

Originally posted by thesmilingassassin
Heh, I'm just waiting for the fireworks to start after you called Persia an Indian puppet!

1. It *was* ooc
2. Nation disbands army, invites occupation by neighboring power, keeps selected gendarme forces to maintain control... I may *know* that it is not the case, but appearance wise it smells like a coup and occupation.
3. I am pretty sure I've said that before with no fireworks, so you are likely to be disappointed.

If we want fireworks, we need to send in the Smoking Filipinos.

Quoted

Originally posted by TheCanadian
Should hopefully be a nice show. Do we get calls of Indrisa now, to match Turklantis?

Nah, wait until Persia cedes Teheran to India and then declare its undying love and is ready to die for Asir

Quoted

Originally posted by Vukovlad

Quoted

Originally posted by TheCanadian
Should hopefully be a nice show. Do we get calls of Indrisa now, to match Turklantis?

Nah, wait until Persia cedes Teheran to India and then declare its undying love and is ready to die for Asir

LOL

You mean Shi'ites and Sunni's getting along?!! The horror...

But India's pulling out and away from Asir. The calls of death to the imperialist monkeys doesn't ring quite as true when you are an imperialist monkey yourself.

Now you know why the French have been less receptive of late!

May 1
The Armenian Air Force reports that one of its Polikarpov I-5 biplanes crashed in southern Armenia following a midair collision with an unidentified Persian aircraft. The Armenian pilot successfully bailed out, but his plane was completely destroyed following impact with the ground.

The pilot, who's name has not been released, immediately claimed that he spotted a Persian aircraft flying slowly in Armenian airspace. Thinking that the Persian pilot was lost, the Armenian aircraft closed and came alongside, attempting to signal the Persian plane with hand signs. When the Persian spotter manned a ring-mounted machine gun and turned it in the direction of the Armenian plane, the pilot attempted to dive under the Persian to avoid being fired on. Simultaneously the Persian plane also dove, and the two aircraft fouled their wings.

Upon breaking contact the Armenian pilot noticed his starboard wings were about to experience complete structural failure, and he attempted to coax his Polikarpov towards flat terrain in order to permit salvage of the aircraft. However, the starboard wings collapsed and the plane fell from the sky, with the pilot narrowly escaping death. The pilot broke an ankle on landing, but a local herder noticed the parachute and loaned the pilot a horse in exchange for the pilot's goggles and Nagant pistol.

Armenia expresses its dissatisfaction with the Persian plane's behavior, and claims that the Persian plane was "definitely in Armenian space". The Defense Minister noted that Persian planes have irregularly strayed into Armenian air zones, particularly near the Azeri-Persian border, but no official response has been made to Armenian protests. Unofficially, Persian officials have derided Armenian claims.

Press release by the Commander of the 2nd Scout-Bomber Wing:

" It is our sad duty to report that Observer Davood Akradi have died performing his duty to Shah and the Empire.
While in a Bristol 93B Boarhound II flying a routine border patrol the crew observed an unknown fighter approaching rapidly, as no Persian fighters were supposed to be in the area Akradi armed the rear machine gun. As the Boarhound was clearly out gunned the pilot attempted to dive to escape the foreign fighter rammed it and instantly killed 2nd lieutenant Akradi while the pilot successfully bailed out of the aircraft and upon landing with help ofloyal citizens was able to reach a police post. Local forces has begun to search for the wreck of the fighter responsibly for this tragedy. The Embassy in Yerevan has issued a strongly worded protest of this intrusion of Persian Air space and the total disregard for human life shown by the Armenian pilot."

May 3
The Armenian Air Ministry expresses its shock and dismay at the Persian government for its strongly worded protest about the aircraft collision on May 1. According to reliable witnesses on the ground and the testimony of the pilot, the Air Minister emphatically stated that the collision happened "six or seven kilometers" north of the Armenian border. The Armenian Air Minister expressed sorrow that a Persian officer was apparently killed, but said that no Armenian was responsible for his death. "It is shameful that what may have been a tragic and misguided accident is being used by the Persian government to raise tensions between our nations."

May 4
The Armenian government expressed its continued outrage after, three days after a midair collision between aircraft, another Persian plane was spotted over Armenian airspace, and was seen by a large number of individuals in the town of Kapan, more than twenty miles north of the border.

The Armenian government ordered the army to "expect daily a Persian invasion". The Armenian foreign secretary said that Persia's continued intransigence to discuss the serious matters with neighboring Azerbaijan and Persia's utter disdain for Armenian sovereignty "has shown their intentions clearly to the world."

May 5
The government of Azerbaijan has seized upon the Armenian Airplane Collision as yet another example of "SATSUMA's thirst for dominance in Caucasian and Middle Eastern regions. Even now," said President Rasulzade said to reporters, "Azerbaijan continues to call for discussions, hosted by a third party, to discuss and resolve our differences. But from the Persians what do you hear? SILENCE! Silence, and nothing else."

Azeri Army Chief of Staff Suleyman bey Sulkevich commented following the president's interview: "Though Persia is apparently peopled by deafs and mutes, we see the bloodthirsty grin upon their faces, and it says enough."

May 10
Another tense standoff occurred today on the Caspian Sea, as four torpedo boats recently purchased from Turkey steamed south to join the Azeri Navy. The torpedo boat Bazarduzu Dagi and the two gunboats sailed north in force, rendezvousing shortly after the new torpedo boats entered the Caspian via the Volga-Don Canal system. While returning south, the seven Azeri vessels were shadowed by a Persian gunship of the Arak-class. Captain Mahmed Suleymanov sounded battle stations from his flagship, the Bazarduzu Dagi, and exhorted the commanding officers not to give the Persians cause to manufacture another incident.

The Azeri ships continued southward without difficulty, although Suleymanov reported that the Persian ship had approached closely enough to show that she too was at battle stations, her turrets trained on the Azeri flagship. Suleymanov pointed out afterwards that the four newly acquired torpedo boats would not have been capable of participating in any engagement had it broken out: they were not carrying torpedoes because of their passage through the Russian river system, and their available gun ammunition was described as "minimal". Upon their arrival in Lankaran, the Azeri Navy immediately rearmed the torpedo boats in the event of further Persian aggression.

Captain Suleymanov indicated that due to the threat of Persian warships, all Azeri nautical patrols have been largely abandoned unless backed with the force of the entire Gunboat Squadron. "Had Persia wanted to open Azerbaijan's coast to the smugglers they claim to hunt, they could not have hit upon a better strategy."

May 11

The Turkish President, Mustafa Kemel issued a statement with reguards to the current tentions between Azerbaijan and Persia.

"It is my hope that both nations find a way to ease the tention between them. It would be most unfortunate if a conflict were to occur within a border state of Russia and Turkey due to the possibility of these two nations being drawn into the fray.

The result would be most likely disasterous for both nations which is why it is imperitive that these two parties begin discussions aimed at easing tentions."

May 12

The Turkish army and airforce have steped up patrols along the border with Persia aimed at aserting its soveriegnty and making sure the borders are well recognised.

May 14th

In the absence of any third party to mediate talks between the Persians and the Azeri's Turkey has volunteered to host talks aimed at easing tentions between the two nations.

May 29
The crew of the Azeri riverine gunboat Arpachay, a vessel of 48 tons, had no idea what had happened until their gunboat slammed into a sandbank at around five knots. The Arpachay was new, and so was her commander: a mere ensign with two years' seniority and not enough experience to know the tricks of the river yet.

Though Arpachay's crew immediately backed the engines down full, it was no use; and her skipper radioed for help from her sister boats, twenty miles upriver. That was when a burst of machine-gun fire swept across the deck, and a Persian voice demanded their surrender.

Had the ensign known what he was facing, he might have chosen to fire back; but in the darkness he believed the Persian bluff of artillery. Two men out of the eighteen on deck were hit, and one, the communications officer, fell overboard and disappeared in the darkness. Thus, the crew surrendered and came ashore under the watchful eye of the Persian patrol. The gunboat's two engineers, however, were singled out, as they were not wearing their uniforms, having not had the time to change before being taken captive.

May 30
Azeri patrols found the body of Petty Officer Arvid Hashim, the communications officer from the gunboat Arpachay, washed ashore on the Azeri side of the river, dead from a bullet wound in the back of his head. Azeri officials immediately proclaimed Hashim as a national martyr, and said that he had "probably been executed" by Persian soldiers. With no news of the rest of Arpachay's crew, the Azeri press initially reported that the Persians had captured then executed all eighteen crewmen of the gunboat.

Meanwhile, the river gunboats Kur and Aras, sister ships of the captured Arpachay, arrived on the scene of the Azeri vessel's capture. The Persians fired flares almost directly overhead the two gunboats to demonstrate their artillery was dialed in on the spot; thus overmatched the two Azeri vessels retired upriver without firing a shot.

The Azeri government merely commented that they will avenge the capture of the ship and the execution (1) of her crew.

--------------------

(1) With one body found having a bullet wound in the back of the head, incorrect conclusions were drawn about the events which occurred. Azerbaijan doesn't yet know precisely what happened: only that the gunboat signaled a request for assistance to get off a sandbar, and then they find a body.

May 31
Orders to the Azeri Air Force: "Destroy the Arpachay".

Rules of engagement:
- Thou shalt not drop bombs on Persian forces at all cost.
- Thou shalt not engage Persian aircraft unless engaged first.

Under a heavy fighter escort of twenty-four Avia B.534 biplanes, twelve Polikarpov R-5 light bombers were tasked with the destruction of the gunboat. The lead four-ship section dropped rows of magnesium flares to mark the target, then dumped leaflets over the Persian forces present as they returned to Azeri airspace. The second and third sections of bombers carefully targeted the ship in order to avoid their bombs falling onto nearby Persian forces.

Though the Persians fired at the planes with great volumes of small-arms fire, only one Azeri plane - a B.534 - was hit, probably by the crew of the Jarahi, and it limped back to base trailing smoke; however, following their rules of engagement the Azeris did not fire on the Persian warships.

The Arpachay, despite being stationary, received only one direct bomb hit, with most of the bombs falling short into the river - the Azeri pilots, despite being under fire, maintained their discipline and followed orders to the letter. The lone bomb hit struck the gunboat's stern and started a fire in the vessel's fuel tanks, which rapidly burned the ship to the waterline.

Azerbaijan has no word of Persian casualties, but pilots saw Persian infantry scattering away from the boat prior to the first bombing runs.

June 1
Azerbaijan announces it's "inexpressible relief" at the survival of the majority of the crew of the Arpachay, and thanked the Persian government for the repatriation of most of them - noting that both of the gunboat's engineers are still being held as "spies". The Azeri government addressed the issue as "ridiculous" and said "Only Persian could interpret two engineers in their bedclothes as spies." (1)

(1) Probably not true. After all, there's Iberia/Mexico... the Dutch and Indians...

I'm soon to have little time for dealing with such nonsense!

(See the Meeting Place)