Into the Storm...

[swamphen]

Given the timing*, and that they came out of the harbour**, they were assumed Swiss until proven otherwise. And Swiss are shot first asked questions never...

(* MK has not seized Taipei yet; ** AFAIK aboard Scharnhorst.)

[Borys]

FOR COMPLETNESS POSTED IN THREE THREADS

Letter from Kaiser Stefan to Principe de Asturias Jaime, dated 3rd November.

Dear Jaime,
Events are pressing me to ask you to make up your mind about the AFL Halb Brigade I wrote you about. And quickly, over the next few days. I repeat my offer of reinforcing Iberian forces in the Chagos Archipelago.
Habsurg experience with Orange makes me expect the worst from them. Nor do I fully trust the Dutch.
The Foreign Legion will be put under Iberian command, and intructed to shoot any non Iberian forces landing on the island - without asking questions. It will be removed the moment Iberia judges their presence unnecessary.
How is your Father's health? The news reaching us at Vienna ...
God Bless
Stefan

[Borys]

November 9th, morning

The Kampfgeschwader came into range of the DKB trasmitter at Vogeldreck, and started to receive messages relayed by the Brandenburgers.  After decoding them the SMS Frankreich started blinking commands at the troopships. These raised more steam and effortlessly pulled away from the warships, cruising at close to their maximum  - 21 knots. The warships slogged behind at 10 knots.

When the warships arrived at the DKB island 24 hour later, slowing down even further as to arrive after dawn, the troopships at Bon Jesus were already reading themslves for a high speed run back to Aden.

On the Iberian island - whose garrison just grew from 40 to 4040 men, the men in black berrets were already hard at work. Setting up camps, clearing low growth to improve lanes of fire, etc.

The very same set of cables roduced some activity elsewhere.

In Aden the 8th Halb Brigade was given 24h leave, sure sign of redeployment or similar "major" event.

[Borys]

10th November, Aden
To the SMS Kronschdat crew's surprise, they started taking on provisions for a long sea voyage.
And the 80 mines were mind boggling, to say the least ...

[Borys]

KuK Kriegsmarine OdeB November 11th - 20th

Medittereanean Fleet - Malta and Pola:
LS Jan Sobieski (reduced effectiveness)
LS Frankreich (reduced effectiveness)

KK SMS Dragon 1899
KK SMS Schutze 1899
KK SMS Hajduk 1900
KK SMS Pandur 1900

1st Flottille - Adriatic, 2nd Flottille - Malta;

The big ships alternate between Pola and Malta, training crews and showing the flag, the smaller cruisers and TBs patrol home waters, Strait of Sicily. Will impound any encountered NS merchant.

Atlantische Geschwader - Paranagua/Desterro,
PK SMS Budapest - (reduced effectiveness, limited to 10 knots) - some steaming off Parana coast
KK SMS Drava - on route to Tierra del Fuego
KK SMS Sava
KK SMS Vag
KK SMS Maros - on route to Deception Island
The cruisers patrol the Parana-Maio-Alhucema route

The 2nd Minensuchen Skvadron has been ordered to the NOI. They will get there in some 40 days (should be reaching Africa by now).

Arabische Geschwader - Aden
PK SMS Kronstadt (reduced effectiveness) - steaming flat out (9 knots) towards Vogeldreck - ETA 19th November
5th Halbflottille - Aden local defense
KA SMS Bukovina
KA SMS Erdely
KA SMS Galizien
KA SMS Kleinpolen

The colonial avisos will patrol Arabian Sea, to Chagos Islands, Dar es Salaam. Normal anti-piracy operations, catching any NS merchants still around, escorting mini-convoys (2-4 merchants) carrying military equipment for Firanj.
ADDED LATER:
Pola-Firanj sealift takes 60 days - first transports will arrive 1st-10th December


Ostasiatische Geschwader - Viraca
SMS kLS Sankt Vaclav
SMS kLS Sankt Sava
6th Halbflottille
8th Halbflottille (ex DKB)
most of 6th and 8th Halbflottille "MIA" - remanents (3 TBs) combined into "ersatz TB Halbflottille Viraka"
1st  Minensuchen Skvadron – Viraca

Patrolling waters around Viraca, guarding minefields, anti invasion readiness

SMHS Kugelschreiber - at Canton

Kampfgeschwader - sailing from Vogeldreck to Soerabaya - ETA 21st November
LS SMS Frankreich
PK SMS Inssbruck
RK SMS Uhlan - detached, patrollong seas between Soerabaya and Niu Amsterdam
RK SMS Jaeger
RK SMS Graenzer
RK SMS Hussar

SMHS Xantype and Salome - making round trip Bon Jesus-Aden-Vogeldreck, picking up AFL Halb-Brigade at Aden, ETA at Vogeldreck - 20th November

SMHS Elspeth Bathory and Lucrecia Borgia - after dumping 6211 Swiss POWs on beach near Phoenix, new Switzerland, steamed fast to Maoria - ETA 20th November


Donau Flottille - all at Budapest
SMS Afrodite
SMS Hera
S1-S12

[Desertfox]

Ah Borys, something was going to happen at the DKB Chagos way before the 9th. The German wireless might not even be in operation.

[P3D]

If only NS had a single ship that could get there in time...

[Desertfox]

Actually I had, a few actually, 6 warships and a mercenary...

[Borys]

Ahoj!
OK - I FREEZE FRAME on the 6th - now do whatever you were planning with the mods. I will (re)act accordingly.
Borys

[Desertfox]

Phoenix Daily Star, November 3rd

Blockade? A blockade must be effective to be legal, however the Germans abandoned their blockade of Port Moresby as soon as they got wiff of Swiss Naval Forces. Where oh where is the mighty German High Seas Fleet? German papers might mock the Swiss High Seas Fleet, but where is their own? Maybe we should call it the Coastal Seas Fleet! They have yet to show their face on the high seas while the Swiss have meet the enemy on his side of the field and defeated him. At this very moment Swiss Marines are besieging the great German Base of Rabaul? And where is the 'High' Seas Fleet? So far the only view Swiss forces have had of 'mighty' Shamhorse has been the tail end, yup the tail.

Again we ask, Where oh Where is the 'High' Seas Fleet?

[swamphen]

At Neue Heligoland - Festung Heligoland under construction - light guns operational, one twin 350mm operational under duress. (Second twin 350mm not yet operable.)

10,000 man garrison.

Meanwhile, the Hochseeflotte is relieving Rabaul - KM OrBats delayed pending outcome of battle.
(And the Swissmen on Rabaul had better look up! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a...)

[Desertfox]

Manzo?

[Walter]

Manzo?

Quite possible. After all, you made him lose his way in The Great MacRobertson Air Race over in Wesworld... :)
As if him terrorizing the Wesworld isn't enough... ;D

[Borys]

5th November Viraca

At first light
The SMS Sankt Sava and the SMS Sankt Vaclav, flying the Schwarz-Gelb and the new fangled Red-White-Red/Green banners sailed to the south. Omniously for some, they were making the same course as the "Dissapeared Flotille" of a fortnight before.

Some officers were whispering that von Tempelhoff was wrong in depriving the island of the protection of heavy vessels. Others murmurred that old age was getting to him, and he wanted to "go out in a blaze of Glory". Another group linked this sortie to his remorse over the loss of Fregattenleutnant Csepely Sandor and the Seven Torpedo Boats.
Whatever reasons were guiding him, the almost 80 year old Rear Admiral himself took command of the two ex-Riddermark, ex-CSA vessels. Leaving as Acting-Gouvernour his deputy, Ingeniur Heinz Rollmops, kindly released by Iberia for this pupose from his previous post as Intendiente-Mor de los Ferrocarilles Pilipinas.

In the first rays of the sun the M-2 returned from its nightly patrol around the island. It passed the M-3 which was taking another 12 mines to reinforce minefield V3.

Grunting under the weight, groups of AFL soldiers left their camps. They were setting up caches of ammunition and food in the wooded hills in the island's interior. In case of invasion no need to bring up from Viraka. Also, it was a good way to "keep the buys fit" and to have them "acquantied with the terrain".

[swamphen]

Kriegsmarine OoB 7 November
(Active vessels only)

*Hochseeflotte (Neue Brandenburg, Neue Kiel)
*Neueguineaflotte (Lae, Rabaul)
GK Blücher
KK Vineta
KK Ariadne
KK Gazelle
KK Thetis
GTB S90 to S94
TB S86-S89
UB U-1
--HSF defensive units.

SK Scharnhorst
--Operation SHANGRI-LA.

ML Nautilus
--Minelaying in harm's way.

SK Paderborn-Delbrück
SS Kaiser Freidrich III
SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse
KK Frauenlob
KK Agir
KK Heimdall
KK Undine
GTB S95 to S99
--Rabaul Relief Force.

KK Niobe
Kb Tiger
Kb Luchs
FKb Tsetse
FKb Stechmücken
FKb Bremsen
FKb Wollschweber
--NGF defensive units.

*Indischerflotte (Dar-es-Salaam, Mombasa, Goa, Vogeldreck)
PzK Arminius
KK Amazone
KK Medusa
GTB T100, T102, T103, T113, T114
Kb Iltis
Kb Jaguar
--DOA defensive units.

GK Roon
GK Yorck
GTB T101
--Special Indian Ocean Attack Fleet (Dutch command).

*Goa Squadron (Goa)
KK Arkona
GTB T115
--D! Fence!   D! Fence!

*Chagos Squadron (Vögeldreck)
PzK Freya (en route from AKF)
GTB T109
--D!! Fence!!   D!! Fence!!

*Afrikaflotte (Dodoma)
PzK Herta
TB S80-S81
GKb Delfin
GKb Möwe
GKb Lowe
Gkb Panther
FKb Kocherfligen
FKb Schmetterlinge
FKb Großlibellen
FKb Kleinlibellen
--Keeping a sharp eye on New Zion, just in case they really have sold their souls to the Swiss...

*Atlantikflotte (Pôrto Alegre)
GK Prinz Heinrich
--Rider of the South Atlantic storms.

*Amerikaflotte (Valparaiso)
PzK Friedrich Karl
--Defending the mandate.

PzK Prinz Adalbert
--Defending Easter Island.

*Antarkticflotte (Neue Kiel)
--Administrative command only.