Evangeline Anovilis

Paper with smileyface on sent back. Lengthy wording bothersome.

This is stupid. And that may not be a question, but it's still my opinion on this. This is a splendid way to ensure we'll have drawn-out community debates over every issue. If you'd apply a system like this to the European War, that war would be still unresolved and not getting anywhere, because if it had not been for GM interventions, people would not even give each other a minimum of information, we'd be arguing whether stuff is feasable in the way it was done and space autocannons would still be a thing. Representative democracy is good for the shouting and whining masses of this community.

Given that over the weekend I'll be busy preparing for my stay in Spain this month, and as no word was up to now heard from MGL, I'm going to already now deposit here a request for an auto on Monday, should MGL not post. GMs can review that on Sunday, when it's officially been a week.

And an astonishing logistical and organisational feat.

If this simplistic logic would be true, CNRP would be flourishing, given he left a good while ago. I'm not sure that RPs will ever move together again. The underlying issue, in my opinion, is that when Mogar made analogies of this being the French Revolution of CNRP, he was kind of correct. But like the French Revolution, not all that came of it was great, the end of it is merely more of the pre-revolutionary state, just less bad. And the damage is done, the box is opened, as new ideas roam around. The French Revolution introduced Europe to ideas of liberalism and nationalism that were suppressed for decades thereafter by the established powers, but would not go away for centuries and vastly outlast the old system. In CNRP, ever since RP2 was founded, we now have new notions in the community that have not been present before, such as that it is possible to split the RP, or that it is possible to just outright kick people out of an RP. These are both, in my opinion, dangerous ideas, because they added hardly anything positive to the RP and just led to estrangement within the community. Fundamentally, a reunion of RPs would require the "landed nobility" to give up some priviledges, while the "broad masses" would need to find ways of resolving disputes that do not go as far as just secceeding or banning people. So, we'd need to resolve grievances as a community, instead of just dabbling around and taking the easy way out. That would mean however acknowledging that the other side has some actual issues with the way we behave, it would require a civilised culture of debate and the willingness of people to actually make stands in a constructive manner. I already pointed out to you on IRC, there were times in the past, where such had been possible and kind of worked, when the community actually came together and addressed the issues that were then present in the GM system, leading to the current elected GM system. We didn't split then. We didn't debate at length the kicking of people then. And even now, there are ways to reform the system through democratic process. And it isn't that hard to establish majorities for legitimate grievances, if one can articulate them properly.

Greetings, First off, please excuse if my thread lacks a bit in eloquency, for I am feeling a bit unwell at the time of writing this. However, I still want to discuss an issue that has for some time now been plaguing CNRP. Which is the way our community has approached the idea of reform since the creation of CNRP2. I think that hardly anyone can say that the situation has really improved since or has been great since, and this despite several attempts at reform. I think that to understand the reason why up to now any and all reform attempts pretty much failed to really improve the situation, it is necessary to understand the grievances that exist (and should be taken serious), the measures that have been taken and the way these measures were taken. There have been two waves of reforms in CNRP since the creation of CNRP2. The first of these was the early scaling back of some empires and the establishment of custom cultures/custom continents. It was thought to address a perceived lack of interesting land, but it was implemented in a manner that quite simply seems set up to fail (which is why I opposed it from the beginning), given that it first of all was not even implemented universally to the same degree. I would say, there are four large countries in the RP, that actually took up large swaths of map space. These would be Russia, Tianxia, Athens and the American Commonwealth. In Tianxia, the land reform meant the return to the borders of Qing China, plus some islands, freeing up pretty much everything beyond. In Athens, we at least see the freeing up of protectorates. Russia I think most people can somewhat excuse, given it is three people sharing a country that spans most of Russia, not just one person hoarding it all. And the MGL in the American Commonwealth did nothing at all. The impression one gets from looking at this isn't so much reform, than just giving a bit in to calm a bad consciousness, but to whomever looks on from afar won't feel that much comes of it. Additionally, experiments like Pasirung or oher continents do not take off, mostly because it is a rather roundabout way to solve the issue, by not freeing up interesting land, but by trying to make other land interesting. The greatest legacy of this reform really just is Melech going off-map and that it made the war between MGL and me possible, given before, Triyun held most of the potential staging grounds and tried to mediate. The second attempt at reform was a bit more serious an endeavour, and I think it grasps more what actual grievances are and what we should try to address. The second reform introduced a troop floor and reformed modifiers somewhat, in order to make smaller people matter more. This reform sadly came a bit late, but it is, in my opinion the step in the right direction. The issue smaller people have with CNRP is not so much that there's no interesting land (it is an issue, but not the main issue), but that there is just not much that allows smaller people to matter. In this sense, the second reform was certainly helping the issue, however, I think it did not go far enough. I think the main appeal of RPs like CNRP2 (in its prime days) and CNRPA for newer and especially for smaller people is not so much the lack of legal precedent (a matter most don't understand, else it would be there), that there's a clause to kick people (which hardly ever gets used and most often becomes just a big controversy) or who RPs (except for a select few, but the majority seems to not mind the more controversial members of either side), but it is the idea that everyone kind of matters, at least somewhat. Which not really is the feeling you get from CNRP. I think what ought to be considered is that a nation in CNRP2 could be between around 50,000 soldiers and 950,000 soldiers, I think CNRPA made it up to 850,000 soldiers, but I'm not going to look up these details. That's quite a dfference between lower limit and upper limit. However, you get a bit more generous civilians x10 multiplier, which allows for people to reach a decent number quite quickly. People thus tend to be more inbetween 200,000 and 850,000, so the largest are about four times the size of the smallest. Meanwhile, if we look at CNRP, the floor is at 200,000 and the upper limit is nonexistent. Troop numbers are calculated with a civilians x8 multiplier, which makes for generally smaller army sizes. But in combination wth the lack of upper limit, you can find nations like Vicidalia, which had a humble 260,000 or so soldiers, in a world with Tianxia, somewhere at 2.5-3 million. The largest nation thus outclasses smaller nations by a factor of around 10. And taking this into account, it should become quite apparant as to why people feel they matter not too much. Because such a comparison is utterly crushing. There is of course a case to make, that it was already in the past possible to get by with a smaller army. If I take as example first Faraway, it had 450,000 soldiers or so, which isn't too high. But it still was overall not unimportant. Or at least I did not feel unimportant, because my actions and opinions at least went into a decision-making process of the three-way coalition with Tanis and MGL, that had some say in North America and in some ways was stronger than MGL is now on his own. So, even with smaller numbers, if you can find friends and establish proper ties, numbers add up and become considerable enough to be of importance in great power struggles. And similarly, just because you are surrounded by giants doesn't mean you are unimportant. Japan with its one million isn't too small, but it is still not too much compared to Tianxia and Russia, yet I wouldn't say Japan doesn't matter. I do not feel too threatened by my neighbours. But I think overall, we should also consider what CNRP2 has taught us, and to me, that is that even 850,000 is a good number to achieve security (unless the world goes down in OOC intrigue, but there I could've had uncapped numbers and it'd be the same). I personally think, it would be sensible to establish the troop counts of nations in a way that may not necessarily equalise them, but make them more equal to at least the degree that 4-5 small nations can achieve at least numerical parity with the largest nation. So, an upper limit in soldier count around a million or so at most [pre-conversions], if the lower limits are not heightened. Of course, this would considerably weaken the ability of larger nations to defend themselves or to dominate, however, it would not rule out that a diplomatically well-versed nation can keep being a respected power. It would however also not rule out that an isolated large state be taken out by a coalition of smaller states. Similar to how it is in other RPs. At the same time, I do however hasten to add, that I personally will at no time advocate any limitations on mergers or cooperation between people, beyond what already exists, for the simple reason that I think mergers and coaltions are something to be encouraged, not discouraged. The issue is, we should try to achieve greater parity between people, not nations and if people actually cooperate and work together to push an agenda or defend their interests, such should not be penalised. Because that is the utmost form of cooperative political RP you'll get, where a group of people will need to discuss their objectives and get them through a collective decision-making process. Overall, I think that by implementing limits on soldier and ship numbers (aircraft already are kind of capped), there's more chance for smaller people to have an impact on world politics and the balance of power, which in turn will lead to improved competition and via this hopefully also to an end to stagnation as we know it. This should open the door for smaller people, so that these nations have more of a chance to achieve something if they put enough ambition and wit into it. Naturally, I do however also hold that it must be kept in mind that what we can do (and should do) is make a more level playing ground, and it is then up for people to actually taking advantage of it and take an initiative and put wit into it, if they want to be successful... or to leave it be, if they still feel like they got no chance. Because as it is, there is a hurdle in numerical terms, which we should try to fix, a hurdle in the techscale to 2025, which however, for all cursing and complaining, is manageable (we could raise the lower limit to 2000 though) and a difference in skills, which we cannot fix and which I think we could pretty much all live with. Except of course the few of us who steadfastedly refuse to ever work together, but that's something that goes beyond rules and is just the personal issues of a few people. Feel free to discuss, for I do consider this an official debate thread with possible poll at the end.

That's citing rules. Not an actual ruling on the case in question.

If I may interject... The link provided pretty much states 7 were built in serial production, before the project was halted and these were later used (though with the tailhook removed). You can read that out of your own quote. The portion highlighted further states, it was outdated by 1942, which isn't an issue for an RP that goes to 1940. The aircraft itself is thus working, was used by troops, was in production (albeit only in limited number) and was actually competitive (the T-2 version was used up to 1944). However, there are two issues that do exist, which make fielding the Bf 109T an issue for the rules. Firstly, you need to use the Graf Zeppelin-class carrier for it, a ship that never was fully completed. As can be read in above-mentioned link, the Bf 109T lacks foldable wings and thus is hard to be used on any other carrier, which normally had smaller elevators for aircraft with foldable wings. Second, and this would come from this link: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_Bf_109#Bf_109_T I don't blame anyone for not understanding the German source, though I can tell you that it says the aircraft were constructed between April 8th and June 29th 1941, which kind of is outside the technological timeframe of the RP. you can ask people who understand German to confirm it. Most likely Google translate would do even. So, overall, it is not that the aircraft is impractical, it just lacks a carrier and it is not fieldable within techscale limitations.

Confidential In cooperation with the TRDI, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has presented two new armoured fighting vehicles to the Japanese military for possible introduction. Type 17 Armoured Fighting Vehicle The Type 17 AFV has been developed from the chassis of the Maneuver Combat Vehicle and has been offered to the Nihongun. The Type 17 AFV is a versatile 8x8 wheeled vehicle of around 22 tons which is deemed a good addition to the current tracked Type 87 IFV. The Type 17 offers protection and mobility similar to the existing Maneuver Combat Vehicle, but is considerably lighter and is supposed to act as basis for several variants, including variants armed with 30 mm autocannon, 40 mm grenade launcher or 120 mm mortar. Every variant will include a top-mounted 12.7 mm heavy machine gun and a co-axial 7.62 mm machine gun for defense of the vehicle. Mitsubishi did present the mock-up to the Ministries of Defense and the Navy, but it is yet to be decided whether this project is being pursued further. Potential variants with other armaments, such as a SPAAG and a SPG have not yet been developed, though Mitsubishi has deemed it feasable, if the military wanted such a family of vehicles. Type 41 Expeditionary Light Tank The project of the Type 41 ELT has been proposed to the Japanese military as a potential future combat vehicle for expeditionary forces. The Type 41 is based on the M41 Walker Bulldog light tank, of which Japan has a fair few, however, with several upgrades to make it a more competitive platform. The TRDI proposes the installation of the planned LHVGS as main gun, which would allow the Type 41 ELT to take on most armoured vehicles that are not modern MBTs. Additionally, the installations of IR-optical targetting and sighting systems, a more powerful and efficient engine and applique non-explosive reactive armour is considered. This could give the tank the necessary protection to withstand most small and medium caliber fie from modern IFVs. One main selling point, which TRDI advertises, is that the Type 41 ELT would be handily air-transportable by the Kawasaki C-2 and newly constructed vehicles could even apply further modifications to the hull to improve the protection level without significant weight increases. This project too awaits approval by the military.

Well, there'll always be a possibility of contesting last-minute, be it wth a period of three days or thirty days. So shortening isn't really that sensible. If it frustrates you, well, don't let it get to you. It's an RP and while it can be frustrating, just prepare a decent strategy and wipe the other fleet out. Ends the contest, gives prestige, even helps with frustration.

Thanks, but I rather safe myself the drama that inevitably will ensue, because last two times people told me it was fine to join, I was removed from the RP or people removed themselves from the RP. Accomodating others is fine, but I like my RP without getting insults and complaints thrown at me every instance I so much as dare to not just back down. Not to mention that if I look at how people reacted to PD just being remotely decent at defending himself, the moment I'd get into any conflict, complaints about me being Triyun's pawn will be in this thread and on IRC. As much as I think there are decent fellows and that it'd be fun to RP with these, I prefer to not risk one more round of OOC squabbles and vitriol, the likes of which I experienced in CNRP2.

Well, thank you for your kind words and I do hold you in not that bad a regard either, all things considered. Which kind of was why I felt slight disappointment reading these lines. Because that the barriers to entry were put into place to keep certain people out doesn't take a genius to see, however, I'm pretty sure that after the obvious Triyun and Centurius, my name ranks pretty high on the list of people whom the CNRPA community wanted to keep out from the very start. So, yeah, it is hard to not feel adressed if you might not be the main reason, but among the reasons this barrier exists.

While I never expected to be seen favourably by the CNRPA community, it is still great to see that seemingly we aren't even going to look for more neutral terms anymore to adress us, but we just resort to name-calling.

OOC: Auto-advance approved here. IC: Confidential Full surprise seemed to have been achieved, as the island of Unalaska fell to the Japanese troops without much issue. The few local Commonwealth security forces were rounded up and taken prisoner. Only about half a dozen Commonwealth soldiers on the island lost their lives during the defence, as they were overwhelmed. Lt. Gen. Hasebe Kozo, commander of the Kaiheitai, immediatly ordered engineers of the Naval Land Forces to be sent in the second wave, to fix the island's infrastructure and the captured airfield, as well as to prepare the island for its function as bridgehead for further operations. Hasebe himself had as a young soldier taken part in the offensive in South America and had even been involved in the Alberta crisis. The events back in the day had left him filled with resentment for the American empires, which were stagnant and arrogant towards Japan and while he was now older and more experienced, he still had often stood out in his contempt for diplomacy with the Commonwealth. His assignment to this mission was no coincidence. As the first wave of carrier aircraft had fulfilled its mission, it gradually withdrew, to be replaced by fresh wings of F-4 fighters, while the F-5s were rearmed and kept in reserve for potential scrambling in the future. The lighter auxiliary carriers withdrew their aircraft from the scene completely and made themselves ready to join forces with the battle fleet. While it was not expected that the Commonwealth would mount much of a counter-attack, Nishi preferred to have some aviation forces seperate from the main carrier fleet and as the battle line would be employed soon, some added aviation would be helpful. Operation Yukihime II Following the capture of Unalaska, further operations would be conducted, aiming for continental Alaska. While a number of soldiers remained on Unalaska to prepare the island to serve as an operational basis, two further landings were planned and prepared. One was a simple operation by around 100 soldiers, to land on Unimak, to capture the large, but mostly uninhabited and unused island. For this, a task force consisting of amphibious warfare ship Rebun, heavy destroyers Suzuya and Kumano, as well as guided missile destroyers Kakehashi, Mitsuishi and Tokoro was created. as before with Unalaska, once again, the heavy destroyers prepared the field, by launching their reconnaissance UAVs to scout the situation, preparing their guns for suppressive fire, while Rebun dispatched one landing craft carrying the company of Kaiheitai. Not much resistance was expected to be put up here. Potentially stiffer resistance was expected from the other landing, which thus got more fleet units assigned. A considerably larger task force, with battleships Mutsu and Dewa and battlecruisers Myōkō, Chōkai, Ibuki and Asahi as main surface force, accompanying the amphibious warfare ships Teuri and Matsumae and escorted by the six guided missile destroyers of V. and V. Destroyer Squadrons were ordered to take Bethel. For this, the four auxiliary carriers Mihō, Shuhō, Kōhō and Yuhō were to give air cover. As the fleet approached the continent, the carriers sent their wings of F-4 multirole fighters in the air, as well as half a dozen Neptune III carrier-borne reconaissance UAVs. Flying in a dispersed formation, these aircraft would mostly be tasked with scouting the situation, as well as report the position of any anti-ship assets. Should any such or any anti-air missile batteries be found, their position was reported back to the fleet, where the battleships awaited orders to engage with long-range low observable land-attack cruise missiles from stand-off ranges. Only once it seemed clear, the fleet would approach to within around 20 km range off the coast, to conduct the landing. While the aircraft and UAVs were on watch against enemy aircraft, the battleships and battlecruisers dispatched their own Neptune II UAVs, in order to notify the fleet of any approaching enemy missiles that may have been overlooked. Naturally, the approach to within 20 km would potentially expose the fleet to land-based artillery fire, but it was deemed unlikely for any field artillery piece to do significant damage to the armoured warships, while their main batteries were more than adequate to engage sudden targets. The landing itself was set up to occur in several waves. The first landing force would consist again, out of slightly over 1,200 Kaiheitai to secure a beachhead, before a second wave of about the same number followed. Once these had been successfully landed, an additional force of around 3,500 Kaigun Rikusentai (Naval Land Forces) would be send as reinforcements, these last troops being transported onboard the six capital surface combattants. While the Naval infantry conducted its landings, Admiral Nishi prepared already the next move. The three Air Fleets of the Japanese Navy, escorted by the four Kongō-class battlecruisers left their position near the Tianxia Aleuts to approach a position about 300 km Southeast of Kodiak. Meanwhile, at Paramushiru, the remaining Naval Land Forces, together with their heavier equipment was loaded onto transport ships, to be transferred to Unalaska. Additionally, while it was deemed too early to risk it, the First General Army was ordered to be prepared for embarkment and transports were organised to transfer them to the Americas. While both these movements were expected to take several days, several batteries of SAM-5 and SAM-7 of the Navy were airlifted by Kawasaki C-2s from Asahikawa to Dutch Harbour. Due to the extreme distance, it was expected to take about 30 flights per battery to be transferred. While this was already planned for and some aviation fuel had been brought with the fleet logistics, an added four tankers with fuel for ships and aircraftwere scheduled to be dispatched from Ōminato Naval Base to Unalaska.

Thanks.

Confidential Due to the expected escalation of fighting in the Americas, the Ministry of the Navy has expanded the 7th Naval Construction Plan by one additional battleship and 24 additional destroyer escorts, to be constructed in two patches of 12. Additionally, the Project 203 battleships and the Project 270 destroyer escort have teceived their rough design criteria. The Project 203 battleships, of which there will be three, are to be less ambitious than the Akitsushima-class and more in line with preceeding Shinano-class battleships. They are thus supposed to weigh considerable less and be smaller than the Akitsushima and have around 250-270 metres length with 70,000-80,000 tons of displacement. Like before, these ships are to follow a more conventional hybrid BBGN style and will combine strong gun and missile armament, as well as strong active and passive defences to contribute to the Japanese battleline. The Project 203-class is expected to carry at least 320 VLS cells, just like other Japanese battleships, though provisions for more could be made. For the moment, it is however deemed sufficient to only carry 320 cells, to avoid unnecessarily compromising deck armour protection and exposing explosive materials that could become hazardous if the ship comes under enemy fire. The gun armament is to consist this time only out of three turrets, not the usual four, however turrets are to be triple turrets to cary an overall nine main battery guns, instead of the usual eight. The main battery guns are supposed to be 460 mm/50 caliber naval rifles, just like with the Shinano-class and it is highly likely to fit into triple turrets, given past experiences in WWII with the Yamato-class, which carried similar caliber in such configuration. The choice for three turrets instead of four is a departure from the formerly concept of spreading guns to avoid enemy fire easily knocking out greater parts of the main battery by destroying a turret or causing issues by penetrating a turret and exploding ordnance for three guns instead of four, and instead applying concepts learned from the construction of the Kongō-class battlecruisers. The reduction of turrets will allow for a reduction in the overall amount of the ship's length that will require full-strength citadel armour and will thus allow for the better application of an all-or-nothing concept, thereby increasing efficiency of the armour carried. Additionally, it is expected that the reduction in number of turrets will free up additional deck space, which can be used to increase the reconnaissance aviation capabilities or number of missile cells if necessary. Secondary battery armament will consist most likely out of a mixture of 127 mm and 76 mm dual-purpose guns, to defend the ship against smaller vessels and aerial threats. CIWS protection will be in form of the ONA M1 35 mm gun, which is supposed to be be used in great number. A possible M2 improved CIWS might be employed instead. Armour thickness of the side-belt is supposed to be at 450 mm maximum, as a result of the new armour concept, theoretically allowing critical sections of the Project 203-class to be armoured similarly to the Akitsushima-class. Like all battleships, the class is to receive the standardised set of sensoric and fire control systems for capital surface combattants and employ nuclear propulsion to keep up with the remainder of the battleline. Redundancy in systems and structure are to be employed to allow the ship to sustain extensive damage in a fleet battle without catastrophic loss. The Project 270 destroyer escort is to be better equipped than current destroyer escorts of the Matsu-class and derrivates. The class will weigh not much more than current destroyer escorts, but is to carry a typical Type 10 76 mm/62 caliber rapid-firing gun and 2 CIWS for self-protection. ASuW capabilities will be the same as with the Matsu-class, with 8 Type 90 SSMs. The ASW capabilities too will be similar, with two triple launchers for lightweight torpedoes. Unlike the Matsu-class, the Project 270-class is not to employ its ASROC missiles in a rotary launcher, but rather in Type 10 VLS, of which it will have 16 cells. These will allow the carrying of 8 ASROC, as well as several surface-to-air missiles. In addition to these new orders, the Ministry of the Navy is exploring the possibility of increasing the fleet of light destroyers further, in case war breaks out with the American Commonwealth. Lastly, the Ministry has decided to no longer give submarines names besides type indication and serial number, due to the number of submarines planned to be fielded. The current names for 8 submarines are withdrawn.

Given that MGL has up to now not responded to armed action and it has been about a week, can I get an autoadvance? For the record, I sent him an ingame message with link and asking him to respond, just in case the topic would get buried.

I'm uninvolved, just reading this thread because I expect some hilarity to ensue... And I'm manufacturing the damn system, so I know that it can't do that. Well, ok, I don't. But you'd not know and we're not going to work on the presumption I do. your personal statement is not an authorative source and shouldn't be counted as one really. Not say C-RAM doesn't exist, but proving your point should be done the proper way with third-party accounts. And I for my part think Triyun isn't involved, else you'd be screwed already by now. Give PD some credit for using his own brain and knowledge. Both of which are stationary, thus not usable in the manner specified.

Highly classified The Technical Research & Development Institute (TRDI), at the request of the Japanese Army and in cooperation with Japan Steel Works has started the development of the Lightweight High Velocity Gun System (LHVGS). The LHVGS is planned as an improved high-velocity counterpart to existing 76 mm guns in service with the MCV-76, as well as a lightweight field gun alongside the Type 5 128 mm field gun. The development is deemed to be quite feasable and aims at the integration of modern material science and ETC propellant technology to produce a gun system and suitable ammunition for towed artillery, as well as vehicle mounted guns. Additionally, it is hoped that a suitable chassis be found to carry the LHVGS, for which the Army has provided to TRDI reserve M41 light tanks for testing purposes. It is prognosed that the LHVGS, despite its small caliber, could potentially have enough force to damage or destroy most modern armoured fighting vehicles, though it would struggle somewhat against heavily armoured MBTs. The integration of the LHVGS is seen as in line with the concept of "Light Firepower" embraced by the Japanese Army in the wake of Veltier reforms. Classified In line with the National Mobilisation Act, an increased budget for the acquisation of ammunition and spare parts has been approved, given the absolute need of the nation to win its struggle with the American Commonwealth. Depending on the course of events, further measures to increase the armaments production might be introduced, as well as measures for social control during the conflict. The 7th Naval Construction Plan also has been approved for funding, increasing the size of the Japanese Navy. While there are still one Yūkaku-class fleet carrier and six Akizuki-class light destroyers to be finished from the 5th Naval Construction Plan and two new battleships, four new heavy destroyers, six new light destroyers and twenty new attack submarines from the 6th Naval Construction Plan, the 7th Naval Construction Plan adds two new battlecruisers, two new Rebun-class amphibious warfare ships, six new heavy destroyers and no less than twelve new light destroyers of two new classes. A possible 8th Naval Construction Plan has been drawn up, although the Diet has voiced its concerns, given that already the 6th and 7th plan are going to cause an extreme hike in sovereign debt that will weigh heavy on the nation's finances. An 8th Naval Construction Plan escalating these numbers even further would most likely require the reality of a full-on war.

Highly confidential For some time now, the Japanese Navy had prepared for the eventuality of conflict with the American Commonwealth. The Commonwealth's occupation of Alaska had caused much consternation and ended the idea that Tianxia would continue as a reliable barrier and mediator in the struggle between the Commonwealth and the Empire. While Minister of Foreign Affairs Nakamichi had went to Washington, in order to discuss matters and find a compromise, the Naval Staff had already early on assumed that no solution could be found and would eventually be proven right. Nakamichi returned with empty hands. The Commonwealth had been trying to strongarm Japan and conduct diplomacy only after arranging the facts on the ground to give them a position of strength. Further diplomacy was futile, as long as Japan had not reasserted itself and corrected the situation in its favour. So Minister of the Navy Date. And the hawks had won. It had become less a debate on whether to strike, than on when to strike, for more time meant more preparations. But at the same time, the Commonwealth would be able to conduct preparations too, militarily, as well as diplomatically. Such was not deemed acceptable. [hr] Operation Yukihime The National Diet had given Akiyama a carte blanche to deal with the Commonwealth issue and Akiyama gave Date pretty much a free hand in conducting operations against the Commonwealth. Not too confident in her military decision-making, Akiyama rather entrusted the matter to the Navy. The result was the enactment of a plan that had been prepared over the last few months, as a modification of earlier plans for dealing with a conflict with the Commonwealth. Given Date Seiranko accredited the Commonwealth with extreme belligerence and a tendency to underestimate the Japanese, operations would need to assume that the Commonwealth commit fully, that a limited scenario was unlikely and a diplomatic solution was pretty much not going to happen. Resulting from such a train of thought was that the Naval Staff committed the entire Combined Fleet to Operation Yukihime. This however did not mean the Rengō Kantai was going to gather in one location. Without prior announcement, the first offensive operations started at 4 am AKST in the morning on what would otherwise be a calm day in January. About 300 kilometres off the Alaskan coast, submarine Ha-2 surfaced, having reached the position after a long silent trip. Immediatly after surfacing, the submarine opened its VLS cells and one after another, 160 low-observable long-range land-attack cruise missiles would streak into the still dark sky, targetting road and railway bridges along the highway and railway connecting Alaska to the Canadian protectorate (~40), as well as air base logistics at bases such as Elmendorf to reduce most of all the storage facilities of aviation fuel and weaponry. Once Ha-2 had expended its missiles, the submarine again slowly submerged and vanished under the waves to head for Yokosuka Naval Base, in order to be rearmed. The remaining force of nuclear submarines however continued to lurk in the Northeastern Pacific. Meanwhile, under the command of Admiral Nishi Tatsuo, the surface fleet commenced its own operations further to the west. From a safe distance, about a hundred kilometres southeast of Atka, the eleven carriers of the three Japanese air fleets started to launch dozens of F-4 and F-5 carrier fighters. Flying in dispersed groups at different altitudes and taking slightly different approaches to prevent appearing as a large mass of aircraft, the overall 90 F-5 multirole fighters and 68 F-4 air superiority fighters aimed for Unalaska. The island, as the one island in the Aleuts that was not part of Tianxia, but of the Alaskan territory, would be engaged by parts of the Second Fleet, I. Destroyer Squadron, VII. Destroyer Squadron and IX. Destroyer Squadron, as well as amphibious warfare ships Rebun and Okushiri. While most destroyers mostly were tasked with guarding the ships during their approach, heavy destroyers Suzuya and Kumano launched a total of 8 Fuji Neptune II reconnaissance UAVs to scout the island discreetly and to locate any approaching threats to the fleet in advance, before the two heavy destroyers closed in on the island to give cover and gunfire support to the landing operation conducted by the two amphibious warfare ships. While it was not expected that the Commonwealth would commit heavily to the defense of the island or conduct counter-attacks at this stage, both due to the timing of the operation and the relative remoteness of the island, precautions still would be great. A total of eight landing craft mechanised (LCM) would be dispatched, carrying about 1,200 Kaiheitai and their equipment to the shore, to occupy the island. To secure the success of the landing, Suzuya and Kumano would use their long-range 155 mm/62 caliber 2nd Year Type naval rifles, to first shell communications infrastructure, before taking shots at any military installations, always standing ready to fire at any artillery or missile emplacements located by the UAVs or overflying aircraft with their high-resolution IR sensors. With four guns per ship, it was most likely enough to subdue any such defenses of the island through rapid and precise gunfire. The covering aircraft were responsible both for reconnaissance, as well as warding off any enemy air and missile attacks, while the F-5's would utilise their internally carried 125 kg precision bombs to take out the airfield of Dutch Harbour, as well as any anti-air installations. While the small destroyer task force dealt with this landing, most of the battle fleet that comprised First Fleet, with its battleships and battlecruisers stayed near the Aleutian islands, approaching only slowly, though ready to join into the action in case it was needed. Their time would come later, once Unalaska was taken. The remainder of Second Fleet and eight Chidori-class fast attack craft had been stationed about 100 km southwest of Umnak island, together with the logistics ships. Third Fleet meanwhile was stationed in Paramushiru, to join in for later operations. Submarines Ro-8 to Ro-23, operating from Paramushiru were also tasked with assisting the operations of the fleet from underneath the surface. As the first stage of Operation Yukihime was left to the Kaiheitai, due to the easier coordination between marine infantry and naval forces, a further 30,000 Naval Land Forces (Kaigun Rikusentai) had been stationed in Chishima and the First General Army with 15 divisions was to be ready in Hokkaido for reinforcements as necessary. Armed forces throughout the Japanese Empire and its protectorates would see a raise in readiness, as enemy attacks against Japan were deemed a possibility. Especially the Japanese Air Force was to increase the number of patrol flights, in order to prevent enemy attacks against the Home Islands. Additionally, a dozen Kawasaki B-1B and B-1E strategic stealth bomber aircraft took off from Hokkaido, to be ready in later stages. Given, it was expected that the American Commonwealth would try reinforce the Pacific Fleet with naval assets from other theatres, agents of the Naval Intelligence Bureau had already taken position at Panama, the Magellan Strait and Cape Horn. Under the guise of being business agents, they would mostly keep an eye on the traffic around these waterways and report any fleet transitions to Tokyo. Additionally, about four nuclear attack submarines had been dispatched to both the Panama canal and the Cape to trail and possibly ambush transitioning assets. [hr] Around 10 am EST, when it was deemed that the Operation was in full force, Ambassador Tanaka Shiro submitted to the Commonwealth's government the following communique. Edit: Added clarifications on time.

Had Konoe intervened still in order to argue against escalating tensions further with the American Commonwealth, the mood in Tokyo changed drastically soon thereafter. Both in public and in the leading circles, sentiment turned against the Commonwealth and its policies towards Japan. Reason for these changes were most of all two. In general, the return and reported failure of Nakamichi's mission to Washington, with its report on how it had been impossible to achieve any deescalatory measures of value undermined the position of those arguing for dialogue and it fanned the anger over perceived arrogance. The second event was the national conservative land-slide victory, which not only solidified the influence of Ministers, such as Date and Nakamichi (who had become thoroughly disillusioned with the Commonwealth), but also reduced the restrictions in place for these elites to act. Akiyama thus was quite confident in her position, both in the country and in the party, to finally make a move, a decisive one, and confront the American Commonwealth. Using the moment's momentum, the Prime Minister called for a closed session of the National Diet, in order to adress the results of the Nakamichi mission and the Alaskan issue. And despite the concerns of the liberal opposition, a National Conservative-Progressive coalition eventually prevailed, approving not solely the funding of the 7th Naval Construction Plan, but also approving measures towards national mobilisation and the "Alaska Resolution", giving Prime Minister Akiyama free hand in using the national military to secure Japanese interests in Alaska. Reactions varied strongly, with the Liberal Party and the Greens despairing at the carte blanche that had been passed with a resounding majority, while Minister of the Navy Date Seiranko would later send an encrypted telegram to the Japanese embassy in Pune, reading...

Confidential The Kongō-class battlecruisers are the second class of battlecruisers commissioned by the Nihon Kaigun. Although slightly larger than their predecessors, the new battlecruisers are the product of plans developed over a decade ago and thus the new ships still fail to match the capabilities of American cruisers, as is often asked for. Still, the Kongō-class is a capable ship that inherited many proven features and is expected to serve the Japanese nation well. Armament-wise, the Kongō-class carries the same Type 4 360 mm/50 caliber naval rifle as the Myōkō-class, as the Ministry of the Navy has deemed the gun appropriate for the cruiser force. These guns provide a fair balance between heavy firepower, weight and speed, with a maximum range of 35-40 km (depending on ammunition type) at 45° elevation (which is the highest elevation possible) and a rate of fire at up to 3 rpm. Additionally, the Kongō-class carries a large secondary battery of Type 10 76 mm/62 caliber rapid-firing dual purpose guns, which have been deemed of greater usefulness to the ship than the old Type 1 127 mm/62 caliber dual purpose gun, which is still installed on most smaller ships. The new battlecruisers also, in contrast to their predecessors, utilise a deck-mounted reloadable quintuple launcher for torpedoes, instead of hull-integrated torpedo tubes. The Kongō-class is supposed to carry the Type 06 heavyweight torpedo, with 5 stored in the launcher and 15 more in the torpedo magazine. For self-defense, the ship relies on the four-barreled 35 mm M1 CIWS developed by the Ōminato Naval Arsenal, as well as the 76 mm secondary battery. Armour protection of the ships is remarkable, despite being classed as battlecruisers. The ships posess great amounts of armour protection, which is of even greater efficiency due to being applied in an "all-or-nothing" concept, concentrating the armour at vital points and relatively neglecting non-critical areas of the ship. The armour belt thus has a stark variation in thickness from 350 mm at the center to 110 mm in the forward and aft-section, tapering down to negligible protection at the extreme ends of the ship. Deck armour comes in form of an armoured deck at up to 150 mm thickness, with a second 50 mm thick deck underneath and 20 cm of spaced armour inbetween. Underwater protection comes in form of multiple torpedo bulkheads. The ship, similar to all capital surface combattants of the Japanese Navy, is designed to withstand great amounts of punishment without sinking. The four ships have been introduced as the last of the early plan ships, mostly due to modifications in the secondary armament. Data on the ships is however deemed mostly confidential, especially given their typical armament with the nation's most modern missiles and torpedoes. The four ships will carry the four traditional names of Kongō, Haruna, Kirishima and Hiei and are organised in Cruiser Divisions III and IV.

When the map is being updated, please mark South America as empty, given that all states there are inactive. As it stands, MGL is the sole state native to the Americas that is "active".

Public "The Association of Faraway People in Faraway Exile wants to point out that the Faraway predecessor state Quebec had fusion power at a time when the Commonwealth was still a few states at the East Coast. We thus demand this statement to be corrected, so as to reflect the truth that the American Commonwealth is only the latest North American state to have achieved viable fusion power, not the first one." -Helena de Grenville, Chairwoman of the AFPFE Private "Once more the Commonwealth shows its arrogance and ignorance towards the achievements of the Canadian neighbours. But what was to be expected?", Helena pondered, as she frowned upon the statement made by the Commonwealth media.

NHK special - Akiyama restores conservative majority! Despite much criticism for the government's high spending level, it seems Prime Minister Akiyama Kagami and the National Conservatives are again back in power. With 274 out of 480 seats, they hold a comfortable majority in the House of Representatives now, which together with their already existing majority in the House of Councillors paves the way for a conservative government under Prime Minister Akiyama. If the National Conservatives are to follow their promises, the next term might see stark increases in public debt, in order to fulfill vows to restructure the economy, rebuild Korea and increase the national defense budget to improve the country's armed forces. Indeed, this last point might be the one of the main objectives of the new cabinet, following a rather inconclusive round of negotiations with the american Commonwealth regarding Trans-Pacific cooperation and demilitarising Alaska. Some analysts say, this last minute surprise added a few percentage points, given that the National Conservatives are widely regarded as the party most connected to the armed forces, particularly the Japanese Navy. The Japan Stock Exchange even noted a slight increase in ratings of steel manufacturing businesses and the country's leading ship-building enterprises (e.g. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries), as a rumoured 7th Naval Construction Plan would now be sure to be approved. However, already prior to the disclosure of the trans-Pacific meeting, analysts saw Akiyama's victory on the horizon, given the strong support the party itself enjoys in the countryside, among the industry and given the immense foreign policy triumph of Akiyama in Korea, which has vastly increased the Prime Minister's personal approval rating. As Akiyama has stated she will end the coalition with the Democratic Party, cabinet reshuffling is sure to occur. Election results in detail Minshutō 81 seats Kokumin Hoshutō 274 seats Jiyūtō 21 seats Midori no Nippon 55 seats Shin Shimpotō 42 seats Independent: 7 seats