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Dystopian Wars Campaign Guide PA CI CIFI FIC C CY C Y CLO CLONE NE PART 1 O p e r a t i o n s i n t h e p ac ac i f i c a n d e a s t i n d i e s - o c t o b e r 1 8 7 1 t o f e b r u a ry ry 1 8 7 2
Welcome, seasoned commanders to the third Dystopian Wars Campaign Guide! Aer the transormation o the tranquil Caribbean into a major warzone, and the explosion o the World World War into Belgium and the British Isles, our attention now turns to the vastness o the Pacic Ocean, and the impact o the great conict upon this region o the t he Dystopian world.
Te Empire of the Blazing Sun had long maintained an agreement with the Hawaiians to use the great harbour as a key staging post, the outermost eastern stronghold o their Pacic dominion. But with Oahu in their hands, American orces could dominate the Pacic However, several events had conspired to prevent that venture taking place. Te rst had been the accidental engagement between American and Russian naval orces of Alaska – the so-called ‘Bering ‘Bering Incident ’ o summer 1869. A otilla o the 18th Federated Fleet had been engaged in Operation Midnight Sun, scouting out avourable routes or the planned ofensive against Hawai’ii and the neighbouring Midway Atoll. Hawai’
Unlike the battleelds o northern Europe, the Pacic theatre is an area o vast contrasts. Great eets sought to locate and strike one another across the immense, trackless t rackless waters. Yet Yet the battles on land, mostly conned to small island chains or narrow slices o mainland Asia, saw clashes as erocious as any in Belgium or the British Isles. Te operations in the Asia-Pacic region saw several key events that would inuence the course o the wider war. Te earliest and most important was the ocial ending o the so-called ‘Northern War ’ which had existed in spirit i not reality between the Federated States of America and the Russian Coalition since the accidental attack on a Russian naval otilla by American orces in 1869.
Unortunately, the otilla ran into bad weather just south o the Aleutian Islands, territory o the Russian Coalition. Amid this conusion they encountered a Russian Far East Fleet taskorce sailing out o Archangelsk-Novy. Ironically, as the American intelligence services later learned, the Russians had an almost identical objective to the Americans. However, with both sides trying to maintain a low prole and expecting to run into hostile orces at any time, both eet commanders chose to shoot rst, ask questions later. Te actual engagement was very short, but still long enough to cause signicant diplomatic and physical damage.
Although events elsewhere had precluded the slide into general war between the two powers, relations had remained tense in the theatre. Only the potential o the Empire of the Blazing Sun as both a threat and a target, combined with intense mediation by the Kingdom of Britannia , allied to both powers, had prevented an escalation. Te second major event was the entry into the war o the great Chinese Federation, with the Russian Coalition their primary target. For the Blazing Sun, ull Chinese commitment would help a great deal in reducing the Russian threat to their home islands, allowing them to pursue other objectives elsewhere.
FEDERATED STATES STATES OF AMERICA A MERICA THE REPUBLIC STRIKES BACK It had been an American objective to launch a large ofensive across the vast Pacic since the nation nation’’s declaration o war upon the Empire of the Blazing Sun back in 1868. While President Adams’ public motivation had been to act in support o the Kingdom of Britannia , he and his government also had less altruistic intentions. Action against the Blazing Sun ofered the chance to win a signicant prize – the nominally independent kingdom o Hawai’i, home to one o the largest and nest deepwater harbours in the world on Oahu Island.
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Although never ocially declared by either side, the Northern War was not entirely bloodless, as rogue elements ought several skirmishes in what was then a thinly-held region or both powers. Relations had been so icy that the FSA chies o staf had realigned the bulk o American orces in the west northwards to deal with any possible Russian reprisals.
likened this to “ placing a oot on the throat o a sleeping man, and gently shifing one’s weight – not enough to provoke a savage response, merely to make him squirm and struggle .” Te Empress and her Council agreed in principle. However, High General Kojima stated that the Blazing Sun could not carry such an operation o this scale alone. Deensive measures against any aggressive moves by the FSA had to be maintained, especially around Hawai’i.
Te early part o 1871 had also seen a much more serious event or the FSA military command. A joint Blazing Sun - Prussian ofensive came crashing into the Caribbean. Te erce clashes that had ensued had demanded a rebalancing o American orces. Te Caribbean situation, though contained, remained a running sore or the FSA military.
o some degree, this installation would soon benet rom outside help, rom a most unusual quarter - a eet rom the League of Italian States , allies o the Prussian Empire and an Imperial Bond partner, was en route rom South America, having resupplied in Chile.
Surprisingly, Hawai’i had not been employed by the Blazing Sun as a staging post or the orces sent across the Pacic prior to their Caribbean assault. Te FSA intelligence services could only surmise that this had been to avoid any premature enemy detection o orce build-ups.
Tere were mixed eelings on the Council about this development. Unlike the Prussians, the Italians had a reputation or politicking and sel-interest, and the Blazing Sun had had ew dealings with them. Nonetheless, the Empress and her advisors were pragmatic; any assistance was appreciated, no matter how dubious the source.
Although this had meant that there had been no increase in the Hawaiian garrison, continued delays to H. Matthew Godwin’s Panama crossing zone project meant that the Americans still lacked a means or rapid cross-ocean transer o surace orces. Tis was urther complicated by the Caribbean conict and the loss o the Falkland Islands by the Britannians. Te only option le had been to delay action until resh independent orces had been built up in Caliornia. However, by late 1871, not only had this build-up gone better than either Adams or his senior commanders thought possible, diplomatic relations with the Russians had thawed considerably. Te Prussian assault on FSA territory had given both powers a common enemy. Although neither truly trusted the other, the normalising o relations between them was simply a very practical idea.
THE EMPIRE OF THE BLAZING SUN BAITING THE BEAR In Edo, the Empress Shinzua and her Council o Seven had been deliberating on the means by which they could urther aid their allies. Honour demanded that the Prussian intervention in the Caribbean, which had ultimately proven vital to the continued Blazing Sun occupation o territory there, be repaid. Te attack on Britannia by the French had urther aided in stabilising the situation in south-east Asia. However, with the Prussian Empire now beset on two ronts by the Russians, the Empress elt that some means had to be ound o striking at the sar’s Asiatic territories.
However, a single Italian otilla would not alter the balance o power closer to the Asian coast. For that, a ar more powerul ally was required; the Chinese Federation. Te Council knew His Celestial Majesty had not orgiven the Russians or their attack on the Federation in the 1830s and 40s, and the Federation already supplied considerable economic aid to t he Blazing Sun.
Surprisingly, it was the normally cautious High General Shinji akeda o the Army o the Shield who suggested a plan, a limited ofensive against three key targets, within easy reach o the Japanese home islands. Tese were the southern Kuril Islands, Sakhalin, and most signicantly the major eet base o Vladivostok.
By December o 1871, the Empress and her court had indeed managed to secure Chinese support or operations in the Yellow Sea and around the Korean Peninsula against the Russians. Although negotiations had been ongoing since mid-1870, and by the middle period o 1871, the Blazing Sun position had been greatly strengthened by their success against the Americans in the Atlantic.
With the bulk o Russian orces engaged in Europe, the High General o the Shield maintained that this would both ease pressure on the Prussians by creating a threat t he sar could not ignore, while also making retribution very dicult to achieve due to the immense distances involved, and the avourable geographical position o the Blazing Sun heartlands. akeda
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With the possibility o war between the FSA and the Russians seeming more unlikely with each passing month since the Bering Incident, the cautious Guangxhu Emperor noted that his realm
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might in uture be placed at risk o urther Russian aggression. However, direct military alliance demanded the Emperor sacrice a key asset to avoid potentially serious disputes with the Blazing Sun. Tat asset was the ugitive Blazing Sun General Oni.
waters around Alaska, provided that they did not engage in actions that could be interpreted as aggressive towards Russian assets. Furthermore, no aggressive patrols would b e mounted by Russian warships near the FSA’s Pacic north-western coast.
ONI’S ODYSSEY
Vladimir added one urther caveat – that neither the Britannian or American governments were to make this message generally known. His hope was that the Imperial Bond would believe that higher tension still existed between two o the partners o the Grand Coalition, which would in turn inuence Blazing Sun deensive dispositions.
Since early 1869, the Emperor had played host to Oni and the remnants o his army, hiding them rom the Blazing Sun’s search teams. Tey had been a great asset in the early modernisation o the Chinese orces.
However, he made no proposal o a ormal agreement or military co-operation, as the Russians had made with the Britannians, having no desire to lock his empire into too many treaties. For the Americans, surprise was total – suddenly, at a stroke, the Northern War was over. Some FSA commanders, including Admiral Hilton, Federal Navy commander-in-chie, suspected a ruse, but Adams, assured by the Britannians, decided to t ake the Russian monarch at his word.
However, with Chinese-Blazing Sun relations growing closer, the Emperor realised that Oni would soon become a political nightmare. Knowing that any discovery o his deception by the Blazing Sun might damage his reputation, the Emperor advised Oni that he would have to nd another sanctuary. However, he agreed to provide Oni with a otilla to carry the remainder o his army. Te dissident General was disappointed, but unsurprised. He had no quarrel with the Chinese who had provided vital shelter, and knew that with the political tide turning, the Chinese Federation was no longer a sae sanctuary. He led his remaining ollowers south once more, taking a ship under cover o darkness and heading south. Te Emperor advised him to head or Free Australia, but had no idea i Oni would heed his words.
Although he did not instruct Marshal Gorshkov, commander-inchie o Far Eastern orces, to move any additional reinorcements to the area, the sar did decide to tighten up discipline among the ront-line commanders by dispatching a substantial ‘morale’ team rom his Oprichnina political guards. In time, this decision would have a dramatic efect on the Russian situation in the Far East, but not the one the sar intended.
Te departure o the last Wani renegades was a huge relie or the Celestial Court. Unortunately, it did leave the Chinese armies without the crack troops they had come to rely on or any aggressive military requirements. But the Emperor considered it a air swap. He was condent his armies were now in a much better position, and the Blazing Sun’s ocial military could provide ar more signicant aid than a smattering o renegades rom its ranks.
PACIFIC CYCLONE While also dismissing the possibility o a ormal treaty with the Russians, President Adams considered the unortunate Bering matter resolved. Soon aer receiving the Russian assurance, he ordered the Federal Navy and Air Force to reactivate preparations or the long-delayed American Pacic ofensive – Operation Cyclone.
And so Oni remained at large, but the Chinese-Blazing Sun pact remained strong. However, unbeknownst to the High Generals, the sar had his own plans in hand or the Pacic, which was destined not only to collide head-on with their own, but also compound their problems with the Americans.
It would not just be the Empire of the Blazing Sun who would end up on the receiving end o the FSA’s wrath. Ever since the mysterious and devastating attack in June 187 1 on Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, American authorities had been investigated who could have perpetrated the night time raid.
THE RUSSIAN COALITION THE END OF THE NORTHERN WAR
Te assault had crippled the deences located there, allowing the Blazing Sun Sword Army 8 th Division orces to land on the island against little opposition and triggering a gruelling conict that had cost both sides dearly.
sar Vladimir’s ambitions had always been ocused on attaining RussianCoalition dominance in the west, humbling the Prussian Empire and Ottoman Dominions in the process, beore turning his ull attention eastwards. However, he had never neglected his eastern borders, realising that his long rontier with the Chinese Federation, together with the Federation’s links with the Blazing Sun, meant that the risk o an attack here was growing.
Investigations o the area aer the evacuation o Blazing Sun orces had turned up a number o damning clues, the most compelling o which was a thin coating o Sturginium dust present on the remains o some structures that had bee n attacked by weapons described as ‘blue-green light beams’. Inevitably, suspicion had allen rapidly upon the Covenant of Antarctica .
While he could do little about the situation on his land borders, other than ensuring that the garrisons in key areas were kept well-manned and supplied, the cities o Vladivostok and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, with their vital links to the Alaska Oblast, were potentially much more vulnerable to a Blazing Sun attack.
Te Americans had submitted a ormal complaint in August 1871 to the Covenant’s one remaining oreign embassy, in the city o Canberra in Free Australia. Fully aware that they would not get any response, the FSA State Department also used the opportunity to plant agents o the Staverton Security Company in Canberra. What they gleaned between August and their secret crossing o the border into Britannian-ruled Royal Australia was highly signicant.
Such action required as much security as possible, so i n October 1871, the sar sent an extraordinary message to Adams through the Britannian ambassador in Washington: American warships would be permitted undisturbed passage through Russian
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Shortly aer the end o the major ghting in the Caribbean, a strange new island, reportedly o a similar size to Puerto Rico and almost entirely snowbound despite the local climate had been reported some six hundred miles south o the Cook Islands.
Sturgeon had ordered the immediate ormation and dispatch o an expeditionary eet to claim and occupy this bizarre place, dubbed ‘Hooke’s Reach’. Te eet, travelling part o the way by teleportation rom the Newton Pinnacle ‘Static’ teleportation arrays, would convey a large research team, as well as several large preabricated ortications to begin investigating this odd new landmass.
Tis landmass had apparently been occupied and installations set up on it. Warships and other cra o unamiliar conguration had been sighted nearby. Stranger, the island’s location was in an area o the Pacic previously noted as totally empty. Rumours in Canberra spoke o mercenary contingents under contract to the Covenant preparing to sail to the region.
War Master Schneider had already activated orces o the 5th War Fleet ‘Cogent Paradigm’ in preparation or a special mission to the north. Tis was named Operation Mistweaver , aimed at acquiring technology developed by Markov or his Russian masters. Schneider had determined that the best target or such a raid was the Russian Far East Fleet, which had undergone signicant modication, but whose remote bases ofered the best chance o a clean getaway or the raiders.
Back in Washington, the FSA chies o staf made the assumption that the strange island was indeed a new Covenant asset – and a potentially perect target or a punitive reprisal raid. Te Cyclone plans were revised to allow or such an operation, which was named Operation High Jump.
However, ‘Cogent Paradigm’s’ prime mission remained the deence o Hooke’s Reach against outside aggressors. Te efect o the American protest to the Covenant told Sturgeon and his advisors in no uncertain terms that at least one great power was now actively out or retribution against them, and while Antarctica itsel might be beyond the means o any outside orce to assault successully, Hooke’s Reach certainly was not.
THE COVENANT OF ANTARCTICA PIERCING THE VEIL Te American assumptions about the odd island were more accurate than they even realised, other than that its appearance was the deliberate doing o the Covenant. Scout units rom the Antarctican ‘Vigilance’ continental deence orces had in act discovered the island in the July o 1871, beore anyone else had become aware o it at all. What astounded Lords Sturgeon and Leonidas were the circumstances in which the island had been spotted in the rst place; the scout aircra crews had watched the island appear rom thin air!
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And so, in the dying days o 1871, all the great powers set their plans in motion, as a great cyclone swept over the vast waters o the Pacic.
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