Autumn, 1896.As the war continues, many people on the islands near or where the fighting is have gotten used to the issues of supply, the noise, and in some cases the enemy occupying the land or even direct fighting. A sizable number have left for safer islands, but many have taken their chances, what with the fear that the ship they get on will simply get caught up in the war. Still, it has certainly given a good deal of information to both nations as to their capabilities in fighting and how far they can push production to the war effort. War weariness isn't much of an issue yet, as patriotic and/or ideological fervor is still high, but it's starting to falter as the realities of war start hitting the soldiers of Magna and the production quota's rise higher for Veenlandic workers. Both nations economies are just starting to have issues with maintaining a war footing for a while along with the obvious disruptions the war has taken. However chances are unless something major happens the war will continue for years. But this isn't an issue to either side so far...
The Western portion of the Ocantroval ArchipelagoIn the west, things go as they usually do, with a number of raiding ships from Magna Mongadizafra causing problems for the ships supplying the forces of Veenland. And it seemed like it wouldn't be much different from before. for a week...Then a sizable Veenlandic force arrived and temporarily caused issues for the leader of the raiders, Eginardo Marino. Yet, this was fine. The enemy fleet was focused on simply taking the waters near the island and they could have them. All Eginardo cared about was the convoys. At least, that was his mind set for a while. It wasn't until a brief dock to resupply the ships coal stocks did he swiftly realize he needed to do something. For reports of a large convoy of ships passing far byond the area they should to supply the forces on Veenland was reported. And it was escorted by the enemy fleet. Eginardo made the correct assumptiuon that this was a landing fleet, and once he and his small fleet was ready, he tried finding this force and tailing it, luckily able to do so until it started to become sunset, when he made his move, aiming to send ships under the cover of the night to find the convoy, fire the flares, and destroy as many transports as possible before running away. It was the only way his fleet would have a chance, and he knew that it was likely vital that the landing, wherever it was headed, was stopped.
So, Eginardo's force sailed to catch up with the convoy and it's escort, and once a visual was at least partially made, he gave the order to fire the flares, and after open fire properly. The Veenlandic force was caught by surprise, but was quick to respond. And though it took a minute for a few ships to properly find their assailant, it took many more for others in other parts of the convoy. Eginardo focused heavily on the transports and this was something that was to pay off to an extent, as it only took a few good hits to cripple a transport compared to the actually armed and armored escorts. However, it did leave his forces open to fire. Luckily, only part of the convoy engaged, and the Zeerovers weren't that much of a threat, relatively speaking...Well, up until Cassius took a torpedo from one of them. After reigning hell on the convoy for five minutes, something quite bad happened to his force. The Lourens van Vilet, a ship thought sunk by the Magna navy, spotted them and managed to get close in the darkness. And then fired at close range, getting a good few hits with it's main guns on the Labienus while her secondary's fired near constantly and slammed into the various ships of the raiding fleet. Feeling daring, and wanting revenge, Eginardo ordered a final charge from the ships that could and sailed within torpedo range of the larger ship before launching torpedoes at it, and after running away, hit heavily by fire on their exit, yet hearing two loud explosions as they left.
Throughout the night, both sides worked tirelessly to ensure their damaged ships wouldn't sink, though some were bound to go down, yet survivors were able to be picked up, and on both sides no major losses of warship personnel were had. The Veenlandic Marines however took a horrible mauling, and with the convoy so badly damaged with a number of ships sinking and hundreds of casualties from the attack, the landing was called off. After this though, the waters in the west were peaceful, and both sides able to get supplies where they needed to. Though in what would be known as the Second Battle of the Naros Strait, the Workers navy claimed all four of the attacking ships,
the Lepidus, Brutus, Labienus, and Cassius, as having sunk. The survivors from the Mongadizafrain Navy meanwhile claim a crippling blow to the marine forces of Veenland along with
the Lourens van Vilet as being sunk for real this time
Lepidus Class Light Cruisers
Lepidus
Brutus
Labienus
Cassius
Zeerover Class Speciale Kruisers
Zeerover
Pirat
Avonturier
Compromise Class Speciaal Verdedigingsschips
The Union
Herman Van Veen
Lourens van Vilet
Hendrik-Jan Dangremond
Just like the last few months, the Magna navy continues to hold uncontested control over the central islands, further starving the Veenlandic forces on the island of supply. And taking advantage of this, the Magna army and the Marines start to make pushes to Kerkenduin. While the workers army holds harshly and causes problems for the majority, the fact that the Magna forces have munitions for their larger guns on the ground while Veenland doesn't. And the proper line of resistance is much harder to hold as any defenses are blasted by Magna artillery with little munitions to give Veenlandic counter battery fire. Even so, the pushes forward are harsh and costly, but they are still pushes forward. And so long as things continue this way, all will be fine for Magna in the center.
The Eastern portion of the Ocantroval ArchipelagoThe East much like the west once more meets a fleet of Magna ships dedicated to the support of their forces on the ground. This time however, they have brought in their battleships for some real fire support. Very swiftly it becomes apparent however that this will not be some sort of milk run for the forces of Magna, as the Workers Navy is out in force. Both forces also just so happen to have orders to engage the enemy if possible, making a battle all but ensured. However, before one actually occurs, there is quite a lot of back and forth actions on both side to try and draw the enemy out into an advantageous position, at least for a few days before Mattia Cason, commander of the Magna forces, grew tired and ordered a full and proper attack, and in this ensuring the battle would happen in contested waters rather than in one nations waters.
Both sides actually roughly knew what they were getting into, knowing from intelligence reports from shore spotters and civilian shipping at least partially the numbers of ships and of what class. However it was enough for Piet Bisschop to know he had a major heavy firepower advantage and Mattia Cason to know he had a major advantage in light ships. Both knew what the priority target for Veenland's fleet should be, the Speciaal Verdedigingsschip's, yet Piet was mixed as to what to focus on with Magna's forces. As on one hand, their battleships were capable of punching through his capital ships armor. Yet, they were slow, and easily could be dispatched by a few Zeerover's once crippled, unlike the Lepidus class which could outrun even the Zeerover. So, he decided upon an action that would prove to take Mattia by surprise. Before the battle he would give an order to prioritize the destruction of the enemy Lepidus class ships to all ships, with a special addition that for the Speciaal Verdedigingsschip's to have an equal number fire at the enemy battleships while all others aim for the Lepidus class.
Once both sides got close enough to see each other, some maneuvering was attempted by both sides, ultimately resulting in little advantage for either once the guns started firing. Early on, the advantage went to Magna, who's accuracy especially with their battleships was far more accurate than that of the Veenlandic ships, at least compared to the ones aiming for the Zeerover's. The two who were actually aiming for the Magna battleships were roughly equal. Eventually though, combat closed and the Zeerover's superior firepower was able to shine, yet this came at a cost, as the Zeerover's and the secondary's from the SVS's sent a hail of fire to the closing Lepidus ships, though this would prove to be a bit of a surprise to Cason. Despite this however, the Lepidus did well, especially given the extra firepower it had, able to knock out a number of secondary guns and cause a fair bit of super structure damage to the Gustaaf ten Donkelaar and Rogier van Beulingen. Even so, the battle continued to be mostly inconclusive outside of the Bibulus getting extremely unlucky and having two ten inch shells rip through the engine space and put them dead in the water. However, Piet Bisschop believed getting in closer in this situation would be to his advantage, not knowing the enemy had their own torpedoes now. Even so, this proved to be a good move, as the Lucullus was taken by surprise by a torpedo that hit it from a bit over three thousand yards.
However, before she sank, Lucullus and the other three Lepidus class ships in range returned fire with their own torpedoes, aiming for the enemies capital ships. And they certainly scored, with the Gustaaf ten Donkelaar and Reinout van Diermen taking one each and the Rogier van Beulingen taking two in a second pass. However, in order to do this the Lipedus class had to turn, and while they secured their shots, the ships got shot up extensively to do so, before trying to pull back at a decent range. Taking advantage of the enemies weakness and damage, Piet Bisschop ordered the Zeerover class to try and give a run on the enemy battleships which stayed a bit back. Something that would be executed swiftly. Of course, it was an obvious move, and Mattia Cason ordered his escorts to do whatever it took to stop the Zeerovers, but with the damage taken only the Horatius could do much of anything. And despite managing to do a major amount of damage to the Onderneming and forcing her away where she was further pounded by a shell from the Pompey Magnus, the other two were able to get their torpedoes away, and while the Pompey managed to dodge one, she hit another, while the Macrus Antonius got hit in the aft near the screws. Similar to the last major battle, both sides were exhausted, low on ammo, and started to withdraw, yet the Magna ships would get one last bit of revenge as a few lucky shells from the Marcus Antonius struck the Reinout van Diermen and caused extensive damage and caused her to burn extensively, the order to abandon ship given mere minutes before the magazine went off and the ship rolled over and swiftly sunk.
The return to home ports would be further complicated and made worse for both sides as the various ships had to deal with a storm, making matters worse for the badly damaged ships and surely sending a number to the bottom. After the battle of the Bloemblaadje islands, both sides ground forces were undisturbed by the navies, allowing the Veenlandic forces to push further and retake a number of key places in Echtwaar. Though curiously, both sides claimed victory in the naval battle. The Workers navy claims a hard fought and glorious victory for the working class with
the Marcus Antonius as having properly been put down to rest at the bottom with the Pompey Magnus herself along with her escorts Clodius, Bibulus, Virgil, and Lucullus. The Mongadizafrain Navy likewise claim victory over the socialists, stating that
the Reinout van Diermen, Gustaaf ten Donkelaar and Rogier van Beulingen had sunk, crippling the Veenlandic navy's Speciaal Verdedigingsschip fleet by decapitating it's new additions, along with the Onderneming as a bonus cherry on top.Pompey Magnus Class Battleships
Pompey Magnus
Marcus Antonius
Lepidus Class Light Cruisers
Virgil
Bibulus
Lucullus
Horatius
Clodius
Zeerover Class Speciale Kruisers
Geest van het brengen van unionisme naar de massa door hun spullen af te nemen
Onderneming
Rancune
Compromise Class Speciaal Verdedigingsschips
Eldert Schimmelpennink
Reinout van Diermen
Gustaaf ten Donkelaar
Rogier van Beulingen
The Battle of Adwa occurs in Ethiopia, where a force of 20,000 Italians are defeated harshly with two Italian generals killed and another captured. Henri Becquerel and Marie Curie discover radioactivity. Gold is discovered in Yukon. Samuel Pierpont Langley flies his unpiloted Number 5 aircraft using a catapult launch from a boat on the Potomac River. The aircraft travels almost three quarters of a mile, ten times further than any previous heavier-than-air flying machine. And Nicholas the second is crowned Tzar of Russia.
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