WesWorld

Quoted

Originally posted by Hrolf Hakonson
Actually, the German forces in Lithuania are equipped with the new Mauser Karabiner 31 rifles, in 7mm x 40, so ammunition commonality is as difficult as ever. The good news is that German forces have their full complement of 7.92mm x 57 MG-33s, mortars, 75mm infantry guns, 20mm AA cannon, etc, and though we hope they won't need them, taper bore AT rifles.

Bah! Though at least the MG ammo is the same.

The Turks and perhaps the Belgians are also using the 8mm Mauser, though.

Colonel Zhechev moved to join, the Bulgarian corporal who was calling to him.
"Yes? What is it?" Zhechev asked hidding his puzzlement behind a front of calm. Something must be up, if they are requesting me, Zhechev thought with a trace of worry.

"The Lieutenant asks that you come to the gate at once, there is trouble." The corporal responded, gasping out the words as he tried to catch his breath, having run all the way.

"Very, well. Return to your assigned post, then." Zhechev remarked as he walked quickly from the surgery, and weaved his way through the cluttered mass of buildings that served as the Field Hospital. The place had once been a catholic convent, a baronial palace, and God alone knew what else in its time, the result architecturally was a castelled maze of out buildings, ceillers, halls, towers, keeps and high walls.

Zhechev found Lieutenant Lieutenant Aleksander Sofiyanski, at his command post in one of the towers that overlooked the imposing fortified gate, that was the place's main entrance. Sofiayanski had arrived a few hours ago, commanding a detachment from the 99th Bulgarian Infantry Battalion. The young, energetic lieutenant had quickly posted his men at critical points to control access into or out of the Field Hospital, also had under his authority a detachment of Civil Watch Corps troops, giving him a total force of about 150 soldiers to guard the Roumanian and British Red Cross volunteers and their patients.

Zhechev, found Sofiayanski at the parapet, and scanned the scene briefly below. A mass of men was moving through the alleyways of the surrounding buildings and was approaching the gate. Zhechev and Sofiayanski exchanged glances, neither liked the look of this: those men were armed.

"Lieutenant, can we identify those people?" Zhechev asked, as he reached for his field glasses to examine their incoming guests. Sofiayanski nodded before replying.
"Yes, Colonel. You can make out the blue arm bands, and sashes they are wearing? Those fellows are Letowska's people. The people supporting Lt. General Waclaw, wear white arm bands and/or sashes as field signs."

"Hm. Rifles, carbines, a few pistols... all I see at the moment, no machineguns light or heavy in evidence. I sincerely hope these idiots have not intention of storming this field hospital."

"We'd make them pay for it if they did, I have over a dozen machine guns posted on the walls, plus some extra insurance either side of the gate itself." Sofiayanski responded confidently, although his expression was tight with worry. Zhechev nodded, although seeing off any attack by the approaching soldiers wouldn't be too hard, it would commit the League of Nations troops to fighting the Letowska regime's troops.

Colonel Zhechev, turned from the parapet and moved to leave the tower. Sofiayanski paused in his survey of the situation before asking what, the Colonel was doing. Zhechev smilled sardonically before he answered the younger man.
"I'm going to the gate to greet our visitors, the Tsar expects us to show proper decorum and curtesy at all times, Lieutenant."

Sofiayanski blinked, but before he could form a response, Zhechev disappeared down the steps. It only took, Zhechev a few minutes to decend the tower and arrive at the gate. Zhechev called out to an advance party ahead of the main mass of approaching Letowska troops, startled they stopping in mid step, and looked about. Zhechev appeared out of a cleverly hidden sally port set into the wall. He saluted the man who appeared by his bearing to be the leader of the party, and introduced himself.

"Colonel Rafail Zhechev, Royal Bulgarian Army, sir. What can I do for you?" The man in question was obviously as taken aback as Sofiayanski had been. Zhechev fought to keep a smile off his lips, as he watched the main's shocked expression - he clearly thought, Zhechev, was out of his mind. By his rank insignia, he was a major. Zhechev waited patiently for him to pull himself together and respond.

Excellent, excellent! I see Lieutenant Sofiyanski is in the thick of it, too!

I'm privately hoping that dear General Letowska ends up facedown in a ditch, somewhere. I don't like that fellow - he's problematical.

"Who the hell are you?!" The man finally managed. Zhechev raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"I believe I just made that clear, Major -?" Zhechev remarked calmly. He carefully gauged the men before, him. They were dirty, bloodstained and ragged - the fighting had not been going well for either side in this uprising, and for the look of these men was steadily getting worse, may of them were wounded to some degree.

"You in charge, here?" The major finally asked. Zhechev shuck his head.
"No. That would be Lieutenant Sofiayanski and Sir Robert Brooke, they are in charge of the Hospital security force and the field hospital respectively. I am merely an envoy."

"You, can envoy this to that Sofiayanski fellow. We are taking over this hospital, we need it for our wounded. If there are any Rebels in the wards he will also hand them over to us." The major snapped, he clearly expected to be obeyed. Zhechev however had not the slightest intention of obliging him. The field hospital had maintained a careful neutrality up til now, if you were wound regardless if you were Letowska, Waclaw or civilian you were treats fairly and according to one's medical needs. The combatants were as a matter of course, disarmed before they could enter the hospital grounds, and when possible kept in separate wards to avoid any difficulties. These Self-Defense men, seemed bent on ending that particular impartial arrangement.

Zhechev also had a pretty good idea of what would happen to the wounded Waclaw rebels if they fell into the hand of Letowska's men. He had been to Edyekes and elsewhere, and seen their handiwork.

"A Colonel does not take orders from a major." Zhechev responded with icy coolness.
"I will not relay any message, ment to jeopordize the neutrality or safety of this hospital and its occupants - patients and medical staff alike. Sir Robert Brooke and his medical staff are answerable to the International Red Cross. Lieutenant Sofiayanski is responsible only to General Orbay. Not to you, and certainly not to your Marshal Letowska." The Wilno major gaped at Zhechev for a moment in stupified surprise, which was rapidly replaced by congested, red faced fury. The carbine in his hands, snapped up, the barrel lining up with Zhechev's throat.

A single, loud, searing shot rang out. Zhechev blinked, watched mildly surprised as the major stared back at him with the same stupified expression as before, only this time he had a third eye - right in the middle of his forehead!

I take it the Royal Bulgarian Army would be happy to personally and very unoffically roll his - Marshal Aleksy Letowska's - body in that ditch and kick leaves over it?

Quoted

Originally posted by Agent148
I take it the Royal Bulgarian Army would be happy to personally and very unoffically roll his - Marshal Aleksy Letowska's - body in that ditch and kick leaves over it?

It is not official Bulgarian policy to assassinate or remove leaders of foreign regimes, regardless of how distasteful they may be. The Bulgarian government would merely regard the old dear marshal as a snake living in a neighbor's kitchen, and would not shed any tears over his, ah, departure.

However: the participation of the Bulgarian Army in Lithuania is predicated on the need for neutrality, and whacking foreign heads-of-state - albeit quite unrecognized heads of state - is rather bad for foreign relations.

The Bulgarian politicians would view Letowska as someone the Lithuanians or Polish would need to deal with. If the League of Nations instituted war-crimes tribunals, and issued a warrant for Letowska's arrest - THEN the Bulgarians would participate in slapping him down.

...and if a staff car tries to rush through a LoN task force barrier without stopping, and a certain occupant happens to get hit by gunfire? Official statement: "Oops." They're not looking for a fight, they just want to do their jobs and go home at closing time.

Hmmmm. Definitely starting to look like Lithuania might be where the Stuka gets it's trial by fire..... Luckily, things are close to but not over it's range from East Prussia.

Quoted

On the other hand, it was possible to provide the League of Nations troops with some sort of air support via reconnaissance flights, or air supply mission if necessary or even allow strike missions by Dutch, Russian or German air units,

The potential need was foreseen, thus the presence of a Dutch Air Services unit attached. The perceived prestige of lending prompt aid in this matter outweigh the internal Dutch political squabbling between Govt. and Queen. With notice, G.1A jachtkruisers (F/B), FA_10 divebombers, F.36A Arend airliners, DC-2 cargo transports would all be available to lend support. The Arend airliners can carry cargo and fly off mud strips- its what they were designed for. Additional troops would depend on who was asked for them.

Quoted

In Vaskes were the following units or elements thereof:

Whoa, nice summary. I had not realized the force had grown so much. Good for the League.
2nd Royal Guard Dragoons is a pretty heavy unit, that hospital will be safe Might want to 2nd the AC company's PA-IVs to the mobile brigade.

Quoted

The Turks and perhaps the Belgians are also using the 8mm Mauser, though.

No, here the Belgians are using the 7.65mm Wuttemberg. The Dutch use the 7.92mm x 57 mauser though, having ditched the 6.5mm 25 years ago.

Quoted

"Understood, General Orbay. Do you want me to make a special effort to contact the Mobile Brigade?" Lieutenant-Général Daufresne de la Chevalerie asked making sure of his exact assignment. Orbay nodded.

Go Belgium, go Belgium, go...
Damn, I forgot to send the 110th Cheerleading battalion.

Though I believe I already provided equipment lists, I can again if needed. The PA-IV is :
PA-IV Armored Car
specifications

5 crew members
Length: 5.94 meters
Width: 2.08 meters
Height: 2.69 meters
Weight: 7.7 tons
Armour: 5-6mm
Main armament: 1x 37L40 in hull, 2x 7.92mm MG in turret
Engine: 100hp

Dual Controls, 4 wheel steering, run flat tires.

Quoted

Originally posted by Kaiser Kirk

Quoted

The Turks and perhaps the Belgians are also using the 8mm Mauser, though.

No, here the Belgians are using the 7.65mm Wuttemberg.

Well, I...

*um*

*Googles*

Okay, I give up, you've beaten me. I haven't heard of it, nor did I find it on Google... is that a Wesworld invention?

Sorry, didn't mean for you to go digging.
I've played with it before, by having the Belgians refer to Mauser as Wurttemberg instead of German.

The Kingdom of Wurttemberg is where Mauser was originally established.

It took Zhechev a moment to realize the Wilno major had been shot through the head, likely by one of Lieutenant Sofiayanski's sharpshooters up on the wall or one of the towers that loomed over him and the Self Defense men. Zhechev realized he had a split second to act, he did. Zhechev suddenly grabbed the dying major by his cross-belt straps with one hand and haulled the man towards himself, his other hand, flipped the cover off his holster, and withdrew the Mauser C/96 pistol it contained.

The startled Self-Defense men abruptly recovered their wits as they realized their commander has just been shot dead in front of them. Rifles and carbines, suddenly raised and tracked in Zhechev's direction. Zhechev didn't wait, he swung up his pistol and fired. Three rapid shots killed two men, and wounded a third. Bullets thudded into the Wilno major's corpse, Zhechev tossed aside his grisly improvised shield and ran full tilt for the sally port, more gun shots followed him, bullets impacting into the ground around him, and the wall ahead of him.

The sally port door snapped open, Zhechev dived through it to clear it's threshold - bullets wizzed around him, several passing through his clothes or nicking him - before the men who had opened it, slammed it shut again. He heard bullets rattle off the reinforced door like so much hail off a tin roof. Zhechev heard Sofiayanski shout from the top of the gate at the top of his lungs.

"OPEN FIRE!!!"

Well thats torn it , Zhechev thought mildly. A fusilade of Bulgarian rifle and machinegun fire slanted down from the parapets, slammed into the milling Wilno Self-Defense troops.

Men screamed and fell, some ran in panicked flight, others stood gapping in shocked bewilderment, while still others returned fire. Here and there, along the walls, a Bulgarian soldier was forced to duck or cried out as he was struck by the ragged Self-Defense troops volley.

Zhechev, ran for the nearest stairs up the wall, pistol in hand. Sofiayanski met him as he mounted the final steps up to the parapet. The two officers turned together and ducked behind cover as they looked to examine the situation.

The first wave of Self-Defense men had fallen back under the Bulgarian infantry's galling fire, but second wave of troops had been commanded by somebody with some sense. The Wilno soldiers were firing from hastily prepared cover, barricades were being improvised between the buildings surrounding the Field Hospital, which didn't bode well. Zhechev spotted troops filtering between some of the buildings, awkwardly hauling by hand tripod mounted machine guns. The Self-Defense men were getting serioius about this, they intended to assault the League of Nations position, even though it would bring the wrath of the League of Nations down on their heads.

"Lieutenant Sofiayanski, consider it offical - we're about to be besieged by the Wilno Republic." Zhechev remarked. Sofiayanski nodded, but still looked a bit surprised by it all.
"They must be stupid--" He began to remark in returne. Zhechev shrugged, as he gave some targetting directions to the nearest Bulgarian light machinegun team.
"Stupid or desperate, it doesn't matter which, Lieutenant, we're going to be attacked, and attacked very likely in some strength. I'd advise you to appraise, the Field Headquarters of out current status, and warn them - they may be come under attack as well, if they aren't already."

Ha hm! Excellent as always! (I got my Lithuania Fix tonight, huzzah!)

Sounds like we need some more mortars to shoot at those pesky barricades... Still, the British discovered at the Battle of Doiran that when Bulgarian soldiers dig into a position, they tend to do it very well - the Brits shelled the grud out of the Bulgarian positions - 30,000 tons of shells and bombs in a single evening - and then expected to waltz through... They ended up getting beaten. BADLY. (One Bulgarian division and change against four British and two Greek divisions... the Bulgarians didn't get nicknamed the "Prussia of the Balkans" for nothing.)

October 14th, 1935:

The situation in Vaskes which started in confusion has escalated in the past few days. Bitter fighting between the Letowska and Waclaw factions has spread throughout the Wilno provisional capital. League of Nations troops attempts to contain the fighting seem to have failed completely.

Fragmentary reports indicate, that the Wilno Task Force has come under attack, although by which faction isn't yet clear, all attempts at communications with the WTF Field Headquarters have singularly failed in the last day - telephone and telegraphy lines seem to have been cut, and radio signals are being interfered with by the powerful transmitter of the Radio Wilno station. Further reports indicate that road blocks have been thrown up around Vaskes, to block movement into or out of the area. Reportedly these roadblocks have been established by elements of the Wilno National Self-Defense Battalion.

Lieutenant-Général Raoul Daufresne de la Chevalerie, has been reported to have won free of the fighting said to be engulfing Vaskes, after battling his way through the roadblocks and several ambushes, with the assistance of several Turkish armoured cars. Lieutenant-Général Daufresne de la Chevalerie is further reported to have set up a temporary WTF headquarters, and begun rallying all League of Nations troops, to mount a relief operation.

Quoted

Originally posted by Brockpaine
Ha hm! Excellent as always! (I got my Lithuania Fix tonight, huzzah!)

Sounds like we need some more mortars to shoot at those pesky barricades...

...buy Belgian...

Good stuff 148, thank you.

Lieutenant-Général Raoul Daufresne de la Chevalerie snarled down at the maps before him. Vaskes had turned into a confused maelstrom, contact had been effectively lost with General Orbay's HQ and there was only fragmentary contact with some of the units now trapped inside the Wilno capital.

Daufresne de la Chevalerie's fist hit the table so hard that things resting upon it bounced and shuddered. Ladyga was a small hamlet, hardly rating the name village in the middle of nowhere. Still it was asride a well travelled spiderweb of roads, that made it a major rural communications hub, so it made a serviceable temporary headquarters. On the up side, he'd managed to contact most of the troops in the countryside and the Civil Watch Corps, he'd also gotten word from the Mobile Brigade, which was speading at this very minute to join him.

Daufresne de la Chevalerie counted himself fortunate that he'd managed to put together a small but efficient staff from League of Nations officers and Civil Watch Corps men that he'd found here and there after escaping Vaskes. Now all he had to do was get the Task Force organized into relief columns as quickly as possible. Reports had filtered in that sporadic skirmishing was begining between units of the Wilno National Self-Defense Battalions elements in the countryside, and the Civil Defense Corps.

Further, the Civil Defense Corps was striking back, with increasing ferocity, the attitude of the two forces bordering on that of a blood feud. Which was hardly surprising, when anyone stopped to think about it, Daufresne de la Chevalerie thought absently.

That however was not a promising development, which might not auger well for the relief mission's chances of success, particularly if the Wilno Army - which Daufresne de la Chevalerie now had definite word, was moving towards Vaskes, although extremely slowly - tried to interefere with it.

For the most part, the skirmishing between the CWC and the WNSD troops was inconclusive, both sides giving as good as they got. That would change when the LoN Mobile Brigade arrived in Ladyga. in the meantime, Daufresne de la Chevalerie had contented himself with authorising the individual Civil Watch Corps battalion commanders near Vaskes to use their own judgement and try to push on to Vaskes as best they could.

The recently arrived Dutch cavalry, the 2nd Royal Guard Dragoons, had given Daufresne de la Chevalerie a pleasant surprise, by moving out of Vilnius on their commander's own incentive. Their last ETA had put them some hours distance from Ladyga, and they brought with them some fresh intelligence from Lithuanian sources, which might help, him make sense of the situation.

Messy, with potential to get even messier. It's October, going to start getting cold both fighters and civilians.

Reports, such as they are, are read avidly in the the War Ministry of the Netherlands, the Defense Ministry of Belgium, and the palace in Den Hague.

Leutnant Horst Dorner and Feldwebel Ernst Thayer, walked quickly to their specially modified Focke-Wulf FW 187 mount, which was being wheeled out of it's dispersal pen. Both the Luftwaffe pilot and observer were surprised and a bit nervous about their assignment. Their commanding officer, Colonel Bolkart had without warning called them into his office, and told them that they would be making an urgent recon flight.

Dorner was informed in confidence, that his was one of three such flights, the order had come from on high, was to be conducted with all dispatch. Two other pilots, Leutnant Zwieg, and Leutnant Lippmann, where to recon, Adomas and Amantas respectively. Dorner found his assignment was to recon Vaskes.

Vaskes, like the of two towns, of course was in Lithuania. Which presented rather particular problems, the least of which being the town was reported to have become a warzone! Dorner thought as he checked his maps for the hundredth time. There was also the small detail, that the Lithuanian Republic would not welcome a German military aircraft flying through their air space. Which could quite possiblely result in his, and Thayer's untimely demise. True, the Lithuanians had few aircraft that could catch a FW 187, or match it's firepower, but that didn't mean a bit of ill intentioned flak couldn't be directed their way. Then again, Dorner reflected, they would be laden down with photographic camera equipement and wouldn't be as fast or nimble as usual.

Leutnant Dorner boarded his plane with a sense of forboding. He and Thayer went through the flight checks and pre-take off procedure with professional attention, but their minds were on other things. It was really a matter of going through the motions. Within a few minutes, the FW 187 was in the air, and turning towards the Lithuanian border.

They had only been flying for what seemed a few minutes, and the Lithuanian border was just in sight, when Thayer's voice intruded into Dorner's thoughts.

"Leutnant. 12 o' clock, just above us, fighters approaching."

Dorner snapped his eyes to where Thayer had indicated. Yes, he could just make out four fast moving specks, rapidly materializing into the form of Dewoitine fighter aircraft of the Lithuanian Military Aviation Service. The Lithuanian border ticked by, the four Lithuanian planes, painted a light grey, with black edged silver Lithuanian crosses marking their hulls, swung around to meet them.

[Just a note: the WW Fw-187 is a single-seater. Specs on it can be found here: http://wesworld.jk-clan.de/thread.php?threadid=5056&sid= ]

Oops! Right have to subsitute a BFW Bf-110, then

What Bf-110s Germany currently uses are used as attack aircraft and torpedo bombers (the pilots are starting to complain about the torpedoes breaking up when dropped at 250 kts), not recon, and aren't in East Prussia, while Luftflotte II in East Prussia HAS been getting a couple of Fw-187s ready for recon missions, just in case things went south for the LoN force.