UPDATE.

 I have managed some modelling time over the past couple of weeks although as the weather warms up I am being directed more towards the large list of jobs outstanding in the garden. In addition there are still a few jobs to be done inside following last years upgrades to our kitchen and bathrooms. I will fight a rearguard action just as long as it keeps raining however. In addition with lockdown easing now on the horizon there will no doubt be a requirement for a substantial increase in social activity.  This may be good at limiting the time available to work but more likely will result in additional pressure to get things done before lockdown goes away !!!!!!

Since my last update I have managed to complete two more upgrades adding another 246 soldiers to the armies. In addition another batch of 288 is well advanced. The final batch of GS wagons however has not been progressed at all.

I think the next big high light of my year will be a haircut in mid April. After the first lockdown resulted in a right mop of unruly hair which drove me mad, I decided to let my wife trim my hair this time. This she has done rather well however the time is fast approaching where a trim is insufficient so roll on mid April. How strange it is that when we have nothing much to worry about the smallest things become important. !!!!!!

BOOK REVIEW. MARCHING TO THE DRUMS.

 

The second of my Christmas present books this is another collection of eyewitness accounts by British soldiers of all ranks during the Victorian era.  The original accounts were first published in the Royal Magazine between 1905 and 1911 and were the result of interviews by staff writers from the magazine with old soldiers, some very old indeed.

The accounts include actions from the Crimea to the South African war and everything in between.  The series was commissioned to provide the public of the day with an insight into the life of the British soldier.  It must be remembered that these accounts were written soon after the Boar War which had ignited a great interest by the public in all things military. As such the accounts are written in language calculated to stir the blood and admiration of the reader. However in my opinion that does not detract at all from the value of the accounts.

Although there may not be a great deal of historically new material in the book, the exploits of these old soldiers are well worth reading in the context of gaining a greater appreciation  and understanding of the life of a British imperial soldier in the hey day of empire. An interesting book.

IMAGI-NATIONS. PART 36.

UNION RETRENCHMENT.

 

Following the withdrawal from Iran in March 1886 the UNION army and government entered a long period of review into the future of UNION foreign and military policy. Over the rest of the year and into early 1887 the discussions continued, even involving informal conversations with allies like Mexico and  Britain. Eventually in March 1887 the UNION government announced a new foreign policy whereby the UNION renounced the option of a first strike against any potential adversary. Instead the UNION would adopt the concept of massive retaliation only in the event of an attack on the UNION or any ally with whom it had a defensive alliance such as Mexico.

Concurrent with this new policy the UNION army initiated a number of significant organisation changes which cumulatively amounted to a substantial increase in the size of the army. All nine UNION armies increased in size to around 70,000 each. This made the UNION army by far the largest regular volunteer army in Tian. With the sole exception of Britain, all other nations used conscripts to flesh out a cadre of regulars. Although China and Russia could in theory deploy armies approaching 1 million strong with Germany having mobilised forces approaching 500,000, no other army in Tian had anything like the firepower of the UNION army or came close to its technical or logistical standards. In addition the UNION had 10th reserve army, formed entirely from reservists, available in emergencies as well as many thousands of other reservists to provide reinforcements to the regular armies.

The UNION economy was by 1887 the strongest in Tian. The UNION could and did manufacture every product needed by the nation. Nothing was imported other than raw materials from Mexico  and to a lessor extent Canada and Ukraine and all these imports were made solely to support those nations economies. The national policy of not exporting to foreign nations was maintained and when products were needed to support allies like Mexico or friendly nations like Ukraine, those products were purchased from other allies.

Elsewhere in Tian General Suleiman in Iran had seized power early in 1887 from the religious leaders previously in control and was leading the nation towards a more secular way of life. The religious governments in Iraq and Syria had become very unpopular and changes were in the air led by regular army generals. The new military leaders, while delivering a form of dictatorship, seemed to recognise that the way forward for their people was to improve relations with other nations and open their societies to a more modern way of life. Especially in the case of Iran this new attitude suggested a better relationship with Mexico could be beneficial and therefore very tentative approaches had been made to that country in an effort to seek a new understanding.

China had continued to rebuild their armies following the disastrous war with the UNION. Much progress had been made and Chinese thoughts were turning to how the devastated far south of the country could be recovered from UNION domination. Although China had little appetite for another war with the UNION, it was clear that conflict would probably be the only way to recover the lost territories. How to win such a conflict now became the primary mission for Chinese strategists.

In Ukraine the government, although in theory subject to Russia, had adopted a strategy of friendship and trade with the UNION and now had virtually no contact with Russia. In fact many Ukrainian politicians thought becoming part of the UNION was the way forward. Although Russia felt more secure with a demilitarised Ukraine between it and the UNION, it still expected to have substantial influence over Ukraine and was becoming frustrated with that nations increasing ties with the UNION. Many in Russia now believed that the UNION wanted to annex Ukraine. Such a move would put UNION troops on the border with Russia, a quite unacceptable situation. Russian strategic needs suggested an effort be made to reimpose Russian influence on Ukraine by means of enhanced military patrols, permitted under the terms of the treaty with the UNION, to pressure Ukraine to remain close to Russia. The only alternative was invasion of Ukraine and the inevitable war with the UNION that would result. Such a war would be unwinnable without a strong ally. Russian diplomats were instructed to seek such an ally, just in case.

In Germany the rebuilding of the army had been completed and it could now field half a million well equipped troops. German thoughts began to turn increasingly towards their lost territories in the east of the old Federation.  Even with such a formidable army, German politicians knew it would be unwise to attack the UNION alone. The French had made clear they were uninterested in recovering their share of the old Federation. therefore German diplomats were instructed to seek a new ally, just in case.

UPDATE.

I have just experienced the highlight of 2021 so far. Despite not being in the top priority groups I have now had my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. Clearly in our area vaccination progress has been sufficiently good to enable roll-out into the less vulnerable sectors of society. I am very pleased about that to say the least. With no side effects I now look forward to a second dose in early May.

On the modelling front I have had more time recently to play. I really have no idea how some weeks deliver more play time than others as our routine has been basically the same throughout lockdown. Anyway I have completed the first of the 46 new upgrades comprising 288 new soldiers. These will bring some 6 infantry battalions up to the new organisational structure.  In addition I am well advanced on the next two batches which cover enhancements to three QM transport battalions totaling another 246 new soldiers. The final set of GS wagons were completed as previously mentioned and painting in now well in hand.

At some point in time I will update the various battalion organisation posts to reflect the new structures.

BOOK REVIEW. THE PHANTOM BRIGADE OR THE CONTEMPTIBLE ADVENTURERS.

This is the first review of my new Christmas present books. I bought 9 books in total from Naval Military Press and had two before Christmas, reviewed already, and had seven others as presents from various family members. 

The author was a regular soldier in the British Army in 1914 and this book is a detailed account of his service between mobilisation on 4th August until, seriously wounded, he arrived back in Southampton on 3rd September 1914. It is quite extraordinary just how much life can be packed into just one month. This book illustrates just that. It was clearly one of the highlights of the authors life and he recounts in amazing detail everything he experienced. 

The book gives a fantastic insight into the first month of the war from a soldiers perspective including mobilisation, embarking, landing in France, the French people, marching and so on  until actual combat was experienced almost at the end of the book. 

A very highly recommended book both generally but also to get a real appreciation of the first month of the war from a soldiers perspective.

IMAGI-NATIONS. PART 35.

SYRIA ATTACKS AND THE UNION WITHDRAWS.

During the advance of 5th UNION army into Iran, the 6th army had taken up blocking positions due west of the main road to Tehran about 200 miles north of the border. The army faced due west and was positioned to block any attempt by Syria to attack the UNION forces from the flank. On 5th January 1886 UNION cavalry patrolling to the east located a substantial Syrian force moving rapidly east towards the main UNION positions. In the afternoon of 6th January the leading elements of the Syrian army located the UNION front line and launched an immediate assault.

Having been warned by the cavalry of the impending arrival of the Syrians the UNION army was well prepared and initiated a massive artillery bombardment on the advancing Syrians. Syrian forces were deployed into the attack as they arrived , consequentially the Syrian assault took the form of a series of human waves. As each wave moved forward it was met with a devastating artillery barrage. By dusk no Syrian soldier had got closer than 500 yards to the UNION front line and the majority lay dead or wounded across a mile wide battlefield.

Next morning the Syrians launched a more coordinated series of attacks but once again these were broken up by very heavy UNION artillery fire. By the end of the day the Syrians were in full retreat. UNION casualties were 27 wounded only. Subsequent battlefield clearance operations by UNION medical and Pioneer details buried over 14,000 Syrians and treated another 3000 wounded most of whom could not be saved and were just given morphine and left to die. Other than UNION cavalry who briefly followed the retreating Syrians, no attempt was made to pursue the Syrians. Another Arab nation had learned the folly of attacking the UNION army.

As the 5th army continued its withdrawal from Iran the 6th army covered the retreat so that by 2nd March all UNION troops had left Iranian territory. The scorched earth policy had been carried out efficiently in Iran. All buildings, trees, crops, bridges and wells had been destroyed and all domestic animals had been captured and removed by Mexican cowboys. The civilian population had been cleared from the southern part of the country and was now crowded into the area between Tehran and the Iraqi border in conditions of starvation and destitution. Tehran itself was a smoldering, uninhabitable shambles.

The UNION armies crossed the border back into Mexico and quickly entrained for their home bases leaving only the regular UNION garrison forces to monitor the border by means of cavalry patrols into southern Iran to ensure the area remained clear. Although the UNION army had secured another great victory and had again proven its power, the success of the campaign was over shadowed by the massacre of Iranian civilians on 19th December 1885. Not only had this event caused serious doubts to be expressed by the UNION's allies but more importantly, the people of the UNION were asking why war with other nations apparently required the brutal destruction of the civilian population of those countries. For the first time ever the nation's admiration of the army was being challenged. A rethink of the UNION army's strategic approach to war was needed.

In the meantime with the total breakdown of the Iranian government, the appalling defeat of the army and the desperate condition of the civilian population, the Iranian people became violently opposed to the old religious led regime. The only ray of hope for the future lay with the small but disciplined regular forces commanded by General Suleiman.