Kaiserlich und Koeniglich Wiener Zeitung 2/1908

[Borys]

July 1908
Prag was getting ready for the double Wittelsbach-Habsburg wedding. Windows washed, houses painted, pavement fixed ... the big day, the 20th, was almost there.

Pola was also reading itself for the arrival of foreign dignitaries. It was not yet clear whether the Iberian Emperor - who grew up but 100 miles away - would come by sea or by rail. However, the exotic American ruler, the Hereditary President was confirmed as coming by sea. After a greeting at Pola, the combined Colombian-Habsburg party was to proceed across the bay to Fiume, and from there to Budapest. To observe the muster of the Hunyadi Janos Korps.

[Borys]

July 1908
Kriegsministerium

- Is this move necessary?
- Yes, your Majesty. With the Janos Hunyadi Korps scheduled to sail over there in August, after enough transports come back from NOI, we MUST have some standing units. Just in case. At least the Armeekorps. To shield mobilisation of the Heimwehr. Even though we cannot re-arm them yet, they can be issued a few specimens for familiarisation.
- What about the Kavalleriekorps? Are you suggesting they do not mobilise?
- Yes. Still not enough horses. Even with the imports from the Rittermark, Gra Colombia, and Orange, the Landwehr cavalry is some two or three years from being able to take the field.

[Borys]

July 1908
The romour mill is buzzing - the reigns of Muscovy are again the hands of a woman!
What will Her Majesty The Emperor of the All Russia, Ksenia Alexandrovna Romanova, turn out to be?

[Borys]

July 7th, outside of Niuw Amsterdam

- Now, Svetozar, don't you start getting ideas of grandeur! - General-Maior Karol von Czartoryski laughed.
- You've still got a long way to go to be Ceasar!

The South Slav growled half-amiably at the Polish aristocrat, with brother married to daugher of Stefan Karl of Habsburg-Teschen, and descendent of Giediminas himself.

This was an allusion to both Svetozar Boreovic's vanity, and his exposition on the Expeditionary Force's situation. The original plan was to use the freshly arrived light infantry of the AFL to hold the outside perimeter against the Australian cavalry. Freed from this duty, the heavy infantry of the two Armee Korps would then take the city by storm. The planned day for the push and ultimately the assault was July the 8th. However, it was not to be. More and more Australian Cavalary was arriving from the South-West. Often fighting on foot, as their horses were uselless from the hard trek from the Firanjee border, they atacked the rear of the besieging forces. Especially that the permiter was to extensive as to be held.
Not only the Australian soldiers fought wisely and well on the "outside", on the inside the militia - old men and boys with single shot rifles - often held out against shelling which should break the will to fight of regular infantry. And their marksmenship was unexpctedely good. What unnerved the Austrlian irregulars were bayonet charges. But that was blooddy business, unless preceeded by heavy shelling. And with replacement depots half way around the world away, bloody business be avoided unless absolutely necessary.   
But for the shelling there had to be shells, and the beaches and roads were still clogged, with movement of stores a herculean, tortoise pace effort.
The bold and cunning attacks of the Australians made Boreovic order a move back of the outer perimeter. And stiffening it, at least for the time being, while it was still so far flung, by the Czech-Polish and Hungarian troops, not only the AFL. In the meantime the inner perimeter was to shuffle forward, blasting defenders with 15cm howitzers and then taking the position over weak opposition. No adventuring into the bush beyond. A bite&chew tactic, somebody called it.

All in all, no assault for the time being, but it was a "besiege and be besieged" situation.

All in all it was strongly reminiscent of Caesar's siege of Alesia, where he forced the forces of  Vercingetorix to surrender. Which Svetorzar did not shy from alluding to ...

Czartoryski wondered whther the Polish idiom - the Cossak grabbed the Tartar by the neck, while the Tartar has the Cossak by the throat - described the stuation even better, without any rarified classicist references ...

[Borys]

Early July 1908, on the outside perimeter

In no-mans land two men meet, out of earshot of their escorts. One is dressed in not very clean uniform of captain of Duke of Adelaide Dragoons, the other is in European civilian clothing.

- I am very happy, your Grace, that you agreed to this parley

[Borys]

July 1908
Stefan was reading the paper, seeking trivia to occupy his mind. To keep it from thinking about Mithlond, Niuw Amsterdam, Hungarians demanding a port on the Black Sea, and .... A short story from the latest session of the Reichstag caught his eye. But not his fancy. Some well intentioned twit had wasted 3 hours of the parliaments time by describing how absinthe was the perdition of mankind, and that is should be banned. If not, surely Austria will be populated by imbeciles within 2 generations, and be ungulfed by the Brown Peril. The Kasier shrugged - "nobody is forcing that stuff down anybody's throat". The speaker probably was the lanzespitz (spearhead) of those Dire Days to come - although not necessarily of the Brown Peril. Any such motion was sure to get the Imperial Veto - as banning booze or such like has only one effect to be expected with 100% accuracy - corruption of the Police.

[Borys]

late July, early August 1908

After the elation of the Royal Weddings at Prag, the news from the Mithlond Congress were like a fart in good company. And confusing, too. So was there peace, or not? Austria-Hungary and Brandenburg signed, and the other Allies did not? Was Przewalski up to the task? And Nederlanden sold NOI to the Swiss? When will the troops come Home? Or will they? How will other countires react to the the NOI sale? Questions and confusion ...

[Borys]

late July, early August

The two Armeekorps and the AFL in North Australia were packing up and leaving. There was a general feeling of bewilderment. What was going on? One day they were preparing to storm Niuw Amsterdam, with the Nederlanders at their side, the next day the war is over, and the Dutch are hissing and snarling at them, calling them "traitors"? They were on the verge of military vicyory and "this"? What it some sort of stab-in-the-back? Trust Civilians to mess things up! A good thing that this year's election will be last where non-Citizens will be permited to take part.

[Borys]

August 1908
The Beach Bums were slowly leaving North Australia. Chielfy on Austrian chartared ships, with some assistance given by Iberian mercantile interests. The destination - Homelands.

On the other side of the continent the Hags lifted the AFL troops, including the still untrained but already veteran Maoris, to Brandenburg. There they rested and reorganised. The Hags ran a Brandenburg-Tasmania shuttle service, bringing over the Brandenburgers as well.

The almost forgotten Halb-Brigade on Iberian Chagos was lifted by sea to Parana.

[Borys]

August 1908
The fleet was also moving back to its old - or new - but nonetheless peacetime stations.

The coastal battleship SMS Sankt Sava - rather unexpectdely fighting a war 24 years after comissioning, and under its third flag - was taking small hops towards its new station - Parana. She was accompanied by the Panzerkreuzer SMS Budapest

The 4 GTBs from Catanduanes were gifted to Iberia.

The old battleships SMS Jan Sobieski and SMS Tegetthoff returned to the Med.

The 3 River class cruisers on the Parana station were reinforced by 3 of the Province class Avizos.

The remaining Province class Avizos are assigned to the Arabian Station at Aden.

The Graz class cruisers revert to their training duties.

The schlachteschwader also returned to Europe, for various minor reparrs and refits after the fighting.

The tenders - SMHS Kugelschreiber went to Europe, while the larger vessel - SMHS Schruebkce - went to Parana.

[Borys]

August - September 1908
Peace found the Schlachtgeschwadr on the high seas between Australia and Brandenburg. They steamed to Neu Weisswasserfahr for recoaling. They they received orders relayed by the Habsburg Embassy to the DKB court.
The small squadron sailed to Pago-Pago to inspect the site which was to be a KuKK base of sorts. And from there a leisurely cruise across the Pacific to Darien.
After the customary pleasantries to the Colombian flag the warships sailed through "el Canal" - and all - from the Despoiler of the Azores to the lowest powder monkey - were impressed by this feat of engineering.

In the Carribean the ships were given a week's rest. With much merriment and intermingling with Colombians of both sexes. Some of the Colombian officers were conversant in German, even if sometimes with a charming Schweitz tint.

The Vize Admiral agreed to the SMS Frankreich giving a display of its shooting, helping with the fire of the SMS Innsbrueck by having stripes painted on its turrets. And old ACM slops was duely dispatched at 10000 yards, with the Colombians marveling at the speed with which the Habsburger gunners found the range.

From Colombia the warships sailed east.

[Borys]

September Vienna
Succumbing to pressure from Hungarian agricultural interests, the Imperial and Royal Government instructed the Minister-Enovy at Bukarescht to sign an agreement with the Rumanians. The commercial accord, apart from the usual blah-blah, obliged the Dual-Monarchy to invest, on an annual basis, 40 million crowns in Rumania. This money was to be spent on upgrading the railroad from Kronstadt to Bukarescht  and from there to the port of Burgas. This also included the construction of a railroad bridge over the Danube and expansion of harbour facilities at the railhead.

[Borys]

September Vienna

The results of the Parliamentary and Presidential elections in the Far North, in Baltikum, alieviated fears that Scandinavia will become the new Red Menace.
In late spring the hotheaded, temperamental Scandinavians had run amock, with a miltary putsch narrowly failing. This had made pundits fear a resurgence of not yet stamped out Reds. However, the Konservatives and Peasants had a solid majority, with the suspect Liberals the Opposition. The freshly legalised Socialisten were a fringe party.

[Borys]

December 1908

Proclamation to AFL troops - in not so good Castilian and Catalan.

"Soldiers! You have fulfilled your Oath! You have completed your Six years of Service with Honour and Dedication. You are now Subjects of the Habsburg Empire.
You are free to return to your Fatherland - the Emperor-King of Iberia has granted you Amnesty. Unless guilty of Despicable Acts during the Civil War, no presecution awaits you in your Community. And Iberian Army has Open Arms to you.
You have in front of you Other Paths to take.
You can continue your Service with the Foreign Free Willed Legion. Officer positions now to you are open. And after Six more years - Citizenship.
Or you can settle in the Archduchy of Parana, on 100 acres of land gifted by the Emperor Stefan.
Viva le Meurte to You, Good Soldier!"

______________________________________________
Note to the New People:
The Foreign Volunteer Legion was initially created from POWs from the Spanish Civil war, who had a choice between death/torture or volunteering for Habsburg service. With assurance not to be used against their former comrades, but to be sent to colonies. I estimate that from the original 40,000 at least some 30,000 should still be around. No idea how much will stay. Nonetheless, Iberia is likely to gain junior officer/NCO cadres for at least one corps. And the AFL will be weakened for a year or two, as it stands to lose 25% of its strenght overnight (i.e. 1stQ1909). Having 40,000 thousand Spanish speakers on hand DOES NOT mean the War Minstry will use one to write the proclamation :)