You are in charge of the Southern Country, divided along the red line. A few years prior, the South won its independence in a civil war, on account of ethnic nationalism (North was/is a different tribe).
Your overall population is 5 million to the North's 7 million. In general the South is more poorly developed than the North, with one exception: it housed the historic arsenal in the Southwestern hill country.
The North has a standing army of ~70,000 and the South has one of ~55,000 combat troops. However, the hills which divided the plateau of the South served as a good place to set up defensive lines in the civil war.
At the moment, your arsenal consists of a combination of "Lebels" and "Hotchkiss Guns." Your artillery mainly consists of a combination of 1913 105mm cannons and 1913 150mm howitzers. The tank, of a design similar to the FT-17 for knocking out machine gun nests was also developed.
How do you prepare for a war which you expect in the next decade? Plans can be as simple has "camo smocks" or as detailed as showing the creating an actual war plan with brigade movements on the map.
Note map scale is such that each hex has a distance of 6mi/10km between parallel sides.
Genocide the Jewish population in your country and put their money in your coffers
Get something less shitty than Lebels
>>29507532
Eh kinda this.
Also, what autistic game is that OP?
>>29507574
It's Hexographer, a free java tool for creating hex maps.
i am assuming that the river in the center is running south to north. in that case poison the fuck out of the river and eliminate what i assume are there crops/farmland
and is that there capital between the fork of the river?
sail from the sea up river and blocade there seat of power
now surrounded by undrinkable water and dead farmland they are forced to surrender
>>29507696
And you are left with a poisoned shithole, and crucified by the league of nations, as this country is small and shitty enough for them to actually matter.
0/10
Get a decent airforce, bomb the fuck out of them.
Don't prepare. Wait for them to invade and send human waves at them. Political commissars kill deserters on sight.
>>29507266
What's the industry and technology look like in the south?
What manufacturing processes do we have?
I start by manufacturing AT guns, lots of AT guns as I assume we would only fight a defensive war. If a tank was already developed continue to allow tank development.
Get started on an airforce. Maybe found your own skunkworks for advanced versions of already produced designs and you would be pretty set.
>>29507266
I'd probably open weapons trials for a self loading rifles/mono-wing aircraft design/tank trials. Also mandatory military service for all 18-20 year old men, and general training (basically like Switzerland). Trials for camouflage and different uniform concepts. Either barrow the money or hopefully use the profits of state services/industries to build up shipyards/factories and mass infrastructure aka autobahn and railways. Stockpiles of all possible strategic resources. Maximize strategy designed around a war of attrition or defensive in utilizing terrain to the maximum. Minefields/fortifications etc.. Also maximize state ideology for ultra-nationalism to minimize fifth columns and create a more unity of people. Hire experienced officers from any conflict zones around the world to make up for lack of military pedigree.
>>29507266
Create a National Militia, open new gun trial. extensive training for the army. Do we have any air force? Create new tanks. Get spies in the enemy country. A possible amphibious assault, using assault boats. A second and third line of defensive lines. Highways and railroads. Any valuable resources that could help in the war should be stockpiled. Promote communist propaganda and vilify The National socialist north
>>29508699
>amphibious assault
They'll just be arrested on the beach
What should we replace Lebels in 8mm Lebel with?
>>29509061
Mosin Nagant
>>29507266
Lets make a platform of like 6 of those those Renault tanks or the bigger mk-1 xbox huge brit tanks and then mount 150mm howitzers and a load of machine guns on it.
And then use it as a mobile firebase.
Alternatively just do the same thing with a shitton of armored trains.
>>29509084
What about a clean slate 6mm round?
>>29509061
>>29507266
Replace Lebels with Gewehr 98.
Replace Hotchkiss with MG34, MG34 was first tested in 1929 and introduced in 1934. So possible early adopter.
Gewehr 98 and MG34 utilize same ammunition so ammo logistics are now easier.
10 man squads 2 mg34s per squad bounding overwatch the fuck out of the enemy.
>>29509190
>Using German weapons
If that couldn't save them in world war 2. What makes you think that could save you.
>>29509222
Admittedly, they did better than the French.
Methinks it is time to call up England, get our hands on some vickers, SMLEs, and hopefully a few old dreadnoughts.
>>29509222
The MG34 would be the best man portable MG available in the 1930s. The Gewehr 98 is not my preference, however for poor country with limited industrialization having a MG and rifle share the same ammo is a large boon.
>>29507266
I attack the North.
North pummels the shit out of me and burns my crops down.
I spend the next century and a half resenting Northerners and their war of Northern aggression
>>29507266
I'd start by fortifying those two fortresses on the border. While we build up our army a little bit. The only thing we can do in this situation is defend seeing as we're at a huge disadvantage.
How much artillery do we actually have anyways?
>>29507725
He poisons it at the border so it all flows into enemy territory and not his dumbass
>>29507266
Set up some industry in the town on the river just south of the border, crank out a good amount of riverboats that can be used as MG/mortar platforms, plus plenty of troop transports. On the early days of war, bypass the North's middle fortress from the East Fort, aim to capture the northerner's city on the river, with support from the river fleet. Once the city is captured, starve out the middle fortress. The North's far west fortress is insignificant, as even if it bypasses our nearby fortification, it will have to cross a river we control to have any impact on the war. Once we control most of the front, we can advance up the river with our superior waterborne forces and straight on up to the capital city, which is surrounded by two forks of the river, from which we can mortar the entirety at our leisure from safety.
>>29509295
~500 105mm guns
~300 150mm guns
>>29508395
c.1914 tooling with reasonably modern manufacturing.
Trouble manufacturing engines, that was done in North. However, you do have the artillery-producing factory and a good deal of small-arms technical know-how.
Send agents and revolutionaries across the border who preach peace, gay marriage, individual hating ideas, hatred of inequality, and other deviant forms of freedom. Target the schools and youth.
Build my economy and increase outside influence. When they attack I simply broker peace using outside influence merging the two countries but retaining independence and the ethnic divide vowing to work together.
Eventually the north dies from the inside as it's population goes SJW.
Hell, if we have the only arsenal then a slow push ought to bleed them dry of ammo. Bombard theyre forts and push beyond the border. Then surge when theyre showing less resistance due to ammo shortage.
>>29509271
This.
If the north is still using Hotchkiss guns then they will be badly outclassed by the MG34.
>>29507266
Set up solid defences, flank them from the east and north vs sea, launching guerrilla ops in their country. Create an insurgency, spread their forces and then piece-by-piece push the border north. When they reinforce / push back, launch more insurgent attacks.
>>29507266
>how do you prepare for war?
I wouldn't worry about it.
>>29507266
I would structure my military on the forces that feature in WW1 in 1918. Its the easiest to acquire knowledge about and bring in outside officers to train us about.
My motto would be "firepower kills". I'd base my artillery tactics of on those of Colonel Georg Burchmuller. He would be our inspiration for how to fight the war. It will be a war of material. We have the artillery factory and the small arms capability. Using French ammunition is a bonus. The French certainly won't be shy about selling us surplus ammo to prop up their anemic arms industry (budget cutbacks/post-great depression issues). The key won't be machine guns but artillery.
My map:
Blue Line: Main line of resistance. Trenches, strong points and defense in-depth ala Great War. I would allocate 40,000 men and 200 105 mm and all 300 150 mm guns to this front. That makes roughly 166 men per kilometer. This would be held by a continuous trench line with strong points to fall back on should a break in the trench occur.
Behind that line, I'd station 9,500 men on the eastern side of the river with 100 105 mm guns. This would be my strategic reserve with which to plug any gaps that emerge or to feed into the meat grinder.
Green Line: Flank line, lower priority for men. This would not be a continuous trench system but instead a series of strong points. 5,500 men and 200 105 artillery pieces. Thats roughly 50 men per kilometer of land. In-front of and inbetween the strongpoints would be lots of mines. I'm talking devil's gardens or Soviets at Kursk tier level of mines.
Red Line: Reserve line. All surviving forces to the west of the river would fall back to the southern defense line. All forces surviving forces east of the river would pull back to the capital. We would siege in the capital and supply it via the coast from the south of the country. At this point, we'd sue for an armistice or outside intervention.
>>29509387
Build more artillery, including mortars and a huge pile of ammunation so we don't need to conserve any when we really need them.
Develop proper system for artillery targetting to increase the effectivenes.
Conscription if we don't already have it.
>>29509735
For our build up to the war I would push a program of child bearing. We need kids as fast as possible. I'd also introduce mandatory conscription. 55,000 men for my above plan is just to hold the line as a screen while we mobilize. An army of at least 250,000 men. We'd also need at least 1,500 artillery pieces. Preferably of the 150 mm variety. We'd need to stockpile 150 mm artillery ammo pre-war as well.
To economize on manpower, I'd use the 10-15 year olds that results as a product of my children having campaign to man my artillery. Not as gun layers or any technical job but ammunition carriers. They can help load the shells freeing up real men for the frontline.
I'd also force mandatory conscription of both men and women for the war factories. Those men not eligible for frontline service or now eligible for work in the arsenals.
I'd also work on laying railways between the North and South under the guise of commercial ties. These railways will be what I use to run ammunition to the front and to assist in mobilization.
As well, I'd set up a strategic resources reserve and begin stockpiling things I need for construction.
Of my 250,000 men, only 150,000 would be allocated to defense. All surviving professional troops would shift to the west side of the river along with 50,000 men (total 105,000 men west of river). The rest of my manpower would be directed at an attack along the orange sector in the map. Our primary objectives would be to capture both forts. I don't intend on holding ours in the opening stages. 100,000 would man the blue line east of the river, the other 50,000 would launch the attack with the support of 1,500 150 mm artillery pieces. I assume we will eat up our shell supply within the first month of the war. If our offensive does not force peace of some sort, I'd dig and consolidate my gains while sueing for outside arbitration. The longer the war, the more costly for us.
>>29509785
>using children as ammo carriers
Those shells are heavy as fuck, can they really be expected to last through a month long war?
>>29509806
I was thinking of using the young ones to drive shit like donkeys or horses to move the shell from the train to the artillery piece. The 14-15 years old should be able to load an artillery shell into a gun. I should have elaborated better.
I forgot that I want a ratio of 1 anti-tank gun for every 10 artillery pieces build or 150 anti-tank guns along the front in a specialize anti-brigade. I'd rely more on mines to disable the tanks than at-guns. Those are tubes I'd rather use to shell the enemy.
>>29509785
>250,000 men
That's almost five times what we started with. I don't see how we can maintain a force of that size, conscription or not. That would be every man from 15-50, plus there would be zero morale among our defending troops. Tribal rivalries or not, Most of these men are going to have crops to tend, families to come home to, and the like. God forbid the North throws some wretched thing like gas at us and decimates our entire male population and dooms us to a total collapse.
>>29509835
We have 5 million people total right? Mandatory conscription introduced over 10 years. It's not unrealistic to grow a military like that gradually over time. I was basing my army numbers off what the French/Germans mobilized in the beginning of WW1. They mobilized 10% and 8% of their population total. We're coming in under that at 305,000 and 6%.
We have gas masks for gas and other horrors.
As we are a poor country, the war has to be limited. No more than a month but with rapid mobilization. 2 weeks to mobilize, two weeks to attack.
Plus I gave us an immediate plan for defensive action in my first post as our defensive scheme if you want to keep it only our initial starting forces.
>>29507266
The answer is a wholesale spraying of plague bearing fleas, deliberate syphilitic infection of "working" women to be released back into the general population, lacing the northern water supply with cholera and anthrax, as well as dead dropping smallpox bearing foodstuffs for the unsuspecting northerners to find.
All 30s technology.
Either the dumbest idea ever or the smartest idea ever, make half of my armed forces "die" in a false flag, as a attempt to conscript more civilians, tell the troops that they are going on a top secret assignment and for years make massive underground, tunnels right near the boarder, and when the war starts hold most of the troops on the tunnels and set up a defenceless line 35 km back from the boarder and make it look like they enemy caught us by surprise and when they send all their military forces and they reach our new defensive line move our troops out of the tunes and rush to their capital, this will leave most of their forces engaging our troops while most of our troops freely move on their capital, because we have troops behind their lines we can cut all their susply lines and force them to fight a war on 2 fronts.
This could work, it would require a lot of preparation and a decent amount of conscripts caused by the false flag
>>29507266
Replace the Lebels with...almost anything else.
Buy Vickers 6-tons.
>>29510524
If you inflict 50% losses in a false flag attack, even if you've not actually killed anyone, and then conscript, your conscripts are going to have even shittier morale than normal conscripts because you just up and told them half the fucking army just died. That's not gonna be reassuring in the slightest.
If you want to start preparing the people to be an effective army without making a massive army, start instituting mandatory service. Only a couple years, but then you'll be able to draft large numbers of troops that aren't absolutely green when the shit comes down. Mandate one or two years of service before the age of 24, and you'll be able to pull up a large reserve of people who know how to aim a rifle and follow orders.
Focus the logistical side on acquisition of a more modern rifle and machinegun immediately. Considering our smaller size, it'd be best to try and get them both sharing the same cartridge. If we have the resources to get newer artillery, then that'd be good, otherwise I'd focus on stockpiling the existing guns and preparing proper sighting tools and training for their crews. I'm not sure our manufacturing situation, it might be that FT-17's are all we can really produce. I'd bother our allies to see about purchasing some heavier machines, or at least getting a hold of a decent design for an anti tank rifle or launcher.
My big concern would be anticipating a first strike from the North. If I'm not mistaken, that's our capital, just sixty or so kilometers behind the defensive lines. If we can blunt that first attack, or see it and strike first, we should be able to push around their defensive line from east, capturing the town near the lake. If we hit that fast enough, we'd encircle the defenders on the east side of the river, and if the western forces want to help the pocket, they'd have to assault over the river, or withdraw father north to cross up there. In that time, we should be able to pressure the pocket.
>>29509558
How do you stop the SJW flowing back south?
>>29510682
You don't. You just rise back into power and take the whole thing by force at once through charisma and vision unifying the people who are sick of what the country has become while purging the weak deviant SJW's.
It worked for Hitler.
>>29510682
build a wall?
>>29507266
Begin mandatory 4 year military service for all men ages 18-25 and reserves for ages 25-40. This should build up my forces in the high hundreds of thousands, perhaps between 6 and 800,000. Plant fast growing trees, bush, and dense vegetation along the border to impede invading armies and to give good positions for guerrilla warfare. Have regiment (2-4000 men) of "rangers" trained for guerrilla war and have them stationed in defensive positions throughout the "Hedge" as we will call it. Have engineers and inventors work on compacting and renovating the Hotchkiss into an automatic rifle chambered in a smaller 7mm cartridge and convert all Lebels into a semiautomatic version for standard issue. Additionally invest in upgrading all tanks to the later Renault R35 levels of technology. Develop a small but powerful navy to better invade the enemy by sea to capture their capital while the bulk of their forces are held at the Hedge. Use navy to blockade ports and control the sea, reducing their access to foreign support and resources, and as such damaging their economy and morale.
Begin pouring cash into developing industry and manufacture to mass produce weapons and artillery for my armies. Sell war bonds for revenue and increase nationalism to win the people's support for the war. Employ civilians in work on building defensive bunkers, fortresses, and outposts in the plateaus hills and along the border and coast to help boost economy and to garner further support. Also use civilians to build railways and roads connecting defensive positions to major manufacturers to create efficient supply lines. Move the capital further south near the old armory and turn the old capital into a massive fortress-city.
>>29510824
Correction, 300,000 troops. Forgot to take into account 50/50 male to female population split
>>29510834
Also on second thought, deploy another regiment to the Hedge to further reinforce it.
>>29509356
This kills the country
>>29507266
To begin, I impose compulsory military service for all between 17-25 years, with a 1 to 3 years term. Encourage the creation of shooting clubs through the country. Thus, if a war occurs, I will already have a good portion of the population with the minimum of training and experience required to fill in the army's ranks. I also start to encourage women's to participate in the military and work force, because if shit hits the fan, I will need everybody.
Send some of officers to other countries and conflicts to study and learn the latest researches in the military field.
And so, I begin a long term process of modernization of my military forces, totally focused on the saying that "The best defense is always the offensive".
I sell my Lebels and hotchkiss to other poor countries, to get some money with it.
I would start to arm my forces with Gewehr 98 and vz. 24, as their main rifles, and MG34 and ZB vz. 26 for machine guns. MP18, MP34 and MP35 submachine guns would be bought for the shock troops. If possible, I would try to get the licence to produce those guns in my country, and so, create your own homemade versions.
The main focus of the ground forces will be mobility and shock, so I would put a whole new deal of importance on my armored forces. BT-7, T-26 and Vickers Mark E would form the bulk of my armored forces. t-37/38 light tanks and so armored cars would be sent as support for motorized infantry units.
Create a Air Force and a Navy small Air Force. Get some some old cargo ships to make improvised cheap aircraft carriers. And study the creation of specialized forces, as paratroopers and marines.
Instead of fixed positions and trenches, the protection of my border will be carried out more by mobile patrol groups. Spies are to be sent for the other nation to map their positions and barracks, roads, possible alternative paths, study their landscape and organize underground guerrilla groups.
>>29511184
When the war broke out, instead of defending, the focus would be in quickly block the enemy attack and go all out into their country. Armored battalions and shock infantry brigades would come pushing first, with infantry division coming soon after. The air force and navy will be responsible for destroying their northern counterparts, before they can act. In the case of the Air force, more precisely, destroying the enemy planes still on the ground and bombing their air bases, to give the ground forces free reign.
The underground guerrilla units have the task of crippling the enemy logistic, like sabotage, undermining roads, hit and run attack in enemy convoys and etc.
Instead of trying to take the enemy strongholds, attacking forces would only flank them and let the reserve forces, just behind, besiege the fortresses while the our air force continues to point them.
The whole objective of this kind of campaign is to seize a great portion of land in small time to force the Northern nation into a ceasefire, negotiate the land back in exchange for a peace treaty, and them, destroying everything, like burning farms, exploding bridges and factories, bombing the roads and etc, before give their land back. This way they will spend the whole new decade in rebuilding part of their nation before thinking in attacking us again.
>>29507266
Assuming this takes place in the 1920's
>build defenses maginot line style in said mountains
>strengthen cavalry while lowkey developing early prototypes of cruiser tanks
>maintain professional volunteer army until the threat of war is imminent, once mobilization occurs conscription goes into effect
>train officers so that theyre our most valuable asset in the field
>send said officers as advisors to conflicts in eastern europe (3 Baltic independence wars, Polish-Soviet War)
>issue the BHP as standard issue
>put plans into effect to swap the lebels for modern Enfields/M1903s/Mausers, whichevers cheaper
>buy Chauchats, eventually to be replaced with Dutch/Polish BAR's
>start developing raiding stormtrooper (volunteer) units, equipped with MP18's and cavalry model carbines
>assuming since we have a fuckton of french surplus, we have french helmets/uniforms
>keep the adrian helmet, develop our own homegrown uniforms/camos
>olive drab swag, stormtroopers get camo
>develop airforce immedietly, if they have more troops we'll have more planes
>buy surplus SPADs/Fokkers
>if economy permits, try to have one of the most modern airforces in the world
As far as the economy goes, industrialize but keep the agricultural as the backbone, idk mayne this is all from the top of my head
Also sidnt include anything to so with the navy because small coastline and i know fuckall about interwar naval anything
Going to make a writeup of Northern forces and their positions c.1931, this is before any conscription measures either you or they would take at this point.
Thoughts on semi-autos? Or just make like the Japanese and scale down the Hotchkiss into a LMG
>>29507266
How the fuck do these two countries, with huge coastlines, not have a single port?
>>29512497
They have ports. The Northern capital is a port located up the river. The Southern capital has a nearby port town not depicted on the coast due to being essentially port facilities and a canal to the city.
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Bullets are cheap, it has low recoil to simplify training, and a low-drag steelcore 75gr can reach out to reasonably LMG distances
Pre war planning is to establish some junior marksmanship and drill clubs, to get the kids good and nationalistic at a young age and start them off with some ingrained training. At the same time run some junior nursing program to keep the girls busy and build a solid supply of medical personnel that can help keep the men alive and possibly lead to some world-class medical services later on after the war.
Judging by the equipment, we're backed by the French, which sucks. Of course if we were related in some way to the Germans, we would have lost the civil war. Asides from advice to "build a bigger wall" they will be mostly useless. If we have a good diplomatic corps, perhaps we can get some more modern armored vehicles or planes from them, I'm sure they could use the money to offset the building of their impregnable defenses. I think we'll still need to rely on horses for the forseeable decade, I don't think we've got the modern infrastructure to build/utilize/maintain a major armored force, we'll have to concentrate the tanks into a single unit and keep it light and maneuverable.
Shown here are the initial battle positions I'd expect to take. In blue is the main battle line, with double-lines indicating positions in strength and dotted lines being patrolled/fortified outpost territory. Triangles represent concentrations of 150mm artillery, with the 105 guns being scattered more evenly among the forces for mixed bombardment/AT duty.
The Purple lines represent fall-back positions should something go wrong. The West line is mostly prepared already, arty emplaced and everything, as I expect that flank to be the most vulnerable. The East line is the point for an orderly retreat if we are outnumbered and pressed hard, where we can hold the line and plan for a counter-offensive to relieve the pressure.
The major city on the river has its own defenses, as well as a substantial river navy that should be able to maintain control over any crossings in our territory.
