Operation Cyclone 1

8/19/2019 Operation Cyclone 1

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Q A Dystopian Wars Campaign Guide Copyright © Spartan Games 2013

Welcome, seasoned commanders to the third Dystopian Wars Campaign Guide! Afer the transormation o the tranquilCaribbean into a major warzone, and the explosion o the WorldWar into Belgium and the British Isles, our attention now turnsto the vastness o the Pacific Ocean, and the impact o the greatconflict upon this region o the Dystopian world.

Unlike the battlefields o northern Europe, the Pacific theatre isan area o vast contrasts. Great fleets sought to locate and strikeone another across the immense, trackless waters. Yet the battleson land, mostly confined to small island chains or narrow sliceso mainland Asia, saw clashes as erocious as any in Belgium orthe British Isles.

Te operations in the Asia-Pacific region saw several key eventsthat would influence the course o the wider war. Te earliest andmost important was the official ending o the so-called ‘NorthernWar ’ which had existed in spirit i not reality between the

Federated States of America and the Russian Coalition sincethe accidental attack on a Russian naval flotilla by Americanorces in 1869.

Although events elsewhere had precluded the slide into generalwar between the two powers, relations had remained tense in thetheatre. Only the potential o the Empire of the Blazing Sun asboth a threat and a target, combined with intense mediation bythe Kingdom of Britannia, allied to both powers, had preventedan escalation.

Te second major event was the entry into the war o the greatChinese Federation, with the Russian Coalition their primary

target. For the Blazing Sun, ull Chinese commitment wouldhelp a great deal in reducing the Russian threat to their homeislands, allowing them to pursue other objectives elsewhere.

FEDERATED STATES OF AMERICATHE REPUBLIC STRIKES BACK

It had been an American objective to launch a large offensiveacross the vast Pacific since the nation’s declaration o war uponthe Empire of the Blazing Sun back in 1868. While PresidentAdams’ public motivation had been to act in support o theKingdom of Britannia, he and his government also had lessaltruistic intentions. Action against the Blazing Sun offered the

chance to win a significant prize – the nominally independentkingdom o Hawai’i, home to one o the largest and finest deep-water harbours in the world on Oahu Island.

Te Empire of the Blazing Sun had long maintained anagreement with the Hawaiians to use the great harbour as a keystaging post, the outermost eastern stronghold o their Pacificdominion. But with Oahu in their hands, American orces coulddominate the Pacific

However, several events had conspired to prevent that venturetaking place. Te first had been the accidental engagementbetween American and Russian naval orces off Alaska – theso-called ‘Bering Incident ’ o summer 1869. A flotilla o the 18th Federated Fleet had been engaged in Operation Midnight Sun,scouting out avourable routes or the planned offensive againstHawai’i and the neighbouring Midway Atoll.

Unortunately, the flotilla ran into bad weather just south o theAleutian Islands, territory o the Russian Coalition. Amid thisconusion they encountered a Russian Far East Fleet taskorcesailing out o Archangelsk-Novy.

Ironically, as the American intelligence services later learned,the Russians had an almost identical objective to the Americans.However, with both sides trying to maintain a low profile andexpecting to run into hostile orces at any time, both fleetcommanders chose to shoot first, ask questions later. Te actualengagement was very short, but still long enough to causesignificant diplomatic and physical damage.

Dystopian Wars Campaign Guide

PART 1

Operations in the pacific and east indies - october 1871 to february 1872PACIFIC CYCLONE



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Although never officially declared by either side, the NorthernWar was not entirely bloodless, as rogue elements ought severalskirmishes in what was then a thinly-held region or bothpowers. Relations had been so icy that the FSA chies o staff hadrealigned the bulk o American orces in the west northwards todeal with any possible Russian reprisals.

Te early part o 1871 had also seen a much more serious eventor the FSA military command. A joint Blazing Sun - Prussianoffensive came crashing into the Caribbean. Te fierce clashesthat had ensued had demanded a rebalancing o Americanorces. Te Caribbean situation, though contained, remained arunning sore or the FSA military.

Surprisingly, Hawai’i had not been employed by the BlazingSun as a staging post or the orces sent across the Pacific priorto their Caribbean assault. Te FSA intelligence services couldonly surmise that this had been to avoid any premature enemydetection o orce build-ups.

Although this had meant that there had been no increase in theHawaiian garrison, continued delays to H. Matthew Godwin’sPanama crossing zone project meant that the Americans still

lacked a means or rapid cross-ocean transer o surace orces.Tis was urther complicated by the Caribbean conflict and theloss o the Falkland Islands by the Britannians. Te only optionlef had been to delay action until resh independent orces hadbeen built up in Caliornia.

However, by late 1871, not only had this build-up gone betterthan either Adams or his senior commanders thought possible,diplomatic relations with the Russians had thawed considerably.Te Prussian assault on FSA territory had given both powersa common enemy. Although neither truly trusted the other,the normalising o relations between them was simply a verypractical idea.

THE EMPIRE OF THE BLAZING SUNBAITING THE BEAR

In Edo, the Empress Shinzua and her Council o Seven had beendeliberating on the means by which they could urther aid theirallies. Honour demanded that the Prussian intervention in theCaribbean, which had ultimately proven vital to the continuedBlazing Sun occupation o territory there, be repaid.

Te attack on Britannia by the French had urther aided instabilising the situation in south-east Asia. However, with thePrussian Empire now beset on two ronts by the Russians, the

Empress elt that some means had to be ound o striking at thesar’s Asiatic territories.

Surprisingly, it was the normally cautious High General Shinjiakeda o the Army o the Shield who suggested a plan, alimited offensive against three key targets, within easy reacho the Japanese home islands. Tese were the southern KurilIslands, Sakhalin, and most significantly the major fleet base oVladivostok.

With the bulk o Russian orces engaged in Europe, the HighGeneral o the Shield maintained that this would both easepressure on the Prussians by creating a threat the sar could not

ignore, while also making retribution very difficult to achievedue to the immense distances involved, and the avourablegeographical position o the Blazing Sun heartlands. akeda

likened this to “ placing a oot on the throat o a sleeping man,and gently shifing one’s weight – not enough to provoke a savageresponse, merely to make him squirm and struggle .”

Te Empress and her Council agreed in principle. However,High General Kojima stated that the Blazing Sun could notcarry such an operation o this scale alone. Deensive measuresagainst any aggressive moves by the FSA had to be maintained,especially around Hawai’i.

o some degree, this installation would soon benefit romoutside help, rom a most unusual quarter - a fleet rom theLeague of Italian States, allies o the Prussian Empire and anImperial Bond partner, was en route rom South America, havingresupplied in Chile.

Tere were mixed eelings on the Council about thisdevelopment. Unlike the Prussians, the Italians had a reputationor politicking and sel-interest, and the Blazing Sun had had ewdealings with them. Nonetheless, the Empress and her advisorswere pragmatic; any assistance was appreciated, no matter howdubious the source.

However, a single Italian flotilla would not alter the balance opower closer to the Asian coast. For that, a ar more powerul

ally was required; the Chinese Federation. Te Council knewHis Celestial Majesty had not orgiven the Russians or theirattack on the Federation in the 1830s and 40s, and the Federationalready supplied considerable economic aid to the Blazing Sun.

By December o 1871, the Empress and her court had indeedmanaged to secure Chinese support or operations in the YellowSea and around the Korean Peninsula against the Russians.Although negotiations had been ongoing since mid-1870, andby the middle period o 1871, the Blazing Sun position had beengreatly strengthened by their success against the Americans inthe Atlantic.

With the possibility o war between the FSA and the Russiansseeming more unlikely with each passing month since the BeringIncident, the cautious Guangxhu Emperor noted that his realm



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might in uture be placed at risk o urther Russian aggression.However, direct military alliance demanded the Emperorsacrifice a key asset to avoid potentially serious disputes with theBlazing Sun. Tat asset was the ugitive Blazing Sun General Oni.

ONI’S ODYSSEY

Since early 1869, the Emperor had played host to Oni and theremnants o his army, hiding them rom the Blazing Sun’s searchteams. Tey had been a great asset in the early modernisation othe Chinese orces.

However, with Chinese-Blazing Sun relations growing closer,the Emperor realised that Oni would soon become a politicalnightmare. Knowing that any discovery o his deception by theBlazing Sun might damage his reputation, the Emperor advisedOni that he would have to find another sanctuary.

However, he agreed to provide Oni with a flotilla to carry theremainder o his army. Te dissident General was disappointed,but unsurprised. He had no quarrel with the Chinese who hadprovided vital shelter, and knew that with the political tideturning, the Chinese Federation was no longer a sae sanctuary.He led his remaining ollowers south once more, taking a shipunder cover o darkness and heading south. Te Emperoradvised him to head or Free Australia, but had no idea i Oniwould heed his words.

Te departure o the last Wani renegades was a huge relie orthe Celestial Court. Unortunately, it did leave the Chinesearmies without the crack troops they had come to rely on or anyaggressive military requirements. But the Emperor consideredit a air swap. He was confident his armies were now in a muchbetter position, and the Blazing Sun’s official military couldprovide ar more significant aid than a smattering o renegadesrom its ranks.

And so Oni remained at large, but the Chinese-Blazing Sun pactremained strong. However, unbeknownst to the High Generals,the sar had his own plans in hand or the Pacific, which wasdestined not only to collide head-on with their own, but alsocompound their problems with the Americans.

THE RUSSIAN COALITIONTHE END OF THE NORTHERN WAR

sar Vladimir’s ambitions had always been ocused on attainingRussian Coalition dominance in the west, humbling thePrussianEmpire and Ottoman Dominions in the process, beore turninghis ull attention eastwards. However, he had never neglected hiseastern borders, realising that his long rontier with the ChineseFederation, together with the Federation’s links with the BlazingSun, meant that the risk o an attack here was growing.

While he could do little about the situation on his land borders,other than ensuring that the garrisons in key areas were keptwell-manned and supplied, the cities o Vladivostok andPetropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, with their vital links to the AlaskaOblast, were potentially much more vulnerable to a Blazing Sunattack.

Such action required as much security as possible, so in October

1871, the sar sent an extraordinary message to Adams throughthe Britannian ambassador in Washington: American warshipswould be permitted undisturbed passage through Russian

waters around Alaska, provided that they did not engage inactions that could be interpreted as aggressive towards Russianassets. Furthermore, no aggressive patrols would be mounted byRussian warships near the FSA’s Pacific north-western coast.

Vladimir added one urther caveat – that neither the Britannianor American governments were to make this message generallyknown. His hope was that the Imperial Bond would believe thathigher tension still existed between two o the partners o theGrand Coalition, which would in turn influence Blazing Sundeensive dispositions.

However, he made no proposal o a ormal agreement or militaryco-operation, as the Russians had made with the Britannians,having no desire to lock his empire into too many treaties. Forthe Americans, surprise was total – suddenly, at a stroke, theNorthern War was over. Some FSA commanders, includingAdmiral Hilton, Federal Navy commander-in-chie, suspected aruse, but Adams, assured by the Britannians, decided to take theRussian monarch at his word.

Although he did not instruct Marshal Gorshkov, commander-in-chie o Far Eastern orces, to move any additional reinorcements

to the area, the sar did decide to tighten up discipline amongthe ront-line commanders by dispatching a substantial ‘morale’team rom his Oprichnina political guards. In time, this decisionwould have a dramatic effect on the Russian situation in the FarEast, but not the one the sar intended.

PACIFIC CYCLONE

While also dismissing the possibility o a ormal treaty with theRussians, President Adams considered the unortunate Beringmatter resolved. Soon afer receiving the Russian assurance,he ordered the Federal Navy and Air Force to reactivatepreparations or the long-delayed American Pacific offensive –

Operation Cyclone.

It would not just be the Empire of the Blazing Sun who wouldend up on the receiving end o the FSA’s wrath. Ever since themysterious and devastating attack in June 1871 on GuantanamoBay in Cuba, American authorities had been investigated whocould have perpetrated the night time raid.

Te assault had crippled the deences located there, allowing theBlazing Sun Sword Army 8th Division orces to land on the islandagainst little opposition and triggering a gruelling conflict thathad cost both sides dearly.

Investigations o the area afer the evacuation o Blazing Sunorces had turned up a number o damning clues, the mostcompelling o which was a thin coating o Sturginium dustpresent on the remains o some structures that had been attackedby weapons described as ‘blue-green light beams’. Inevitably,suspicion had allen rapidly upon the Covenant of Antarctica.

Te Americans had submitted a ormal complaint in August1871 to the Covenant’s one remaining oreign embassy, in thecity o Canberra in Free Australia. Fully aware that they wouldnot get any response, the FSA State Department also used theopportunity to plant agents o the Staverton Security Companyin Canberra. What they gleaned between August and their secret

crossing o the border into Britannian-ruled Royal Australia was highly significant.



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Shortly afer the end o the major fighting in the Caribbean, astrange new island, reportedly o a similar size to Puerto Ricoand almost entirely snowbound despite the local climate hadbeen reported some six hundred miles south o the Cook Islands.

Tis landmass had apparently been occupied and installationsset up on it. Warships and other craf o unamiliar configurationhad been sighted nearby. Stranger, the island’s location was in anarea o the Pacific previously noted as totally empty. Rumours inCanberra spoke o mercenary contingents under contract to theCovenant preparing to sail to the region.

Back in Washington, the FSA chies o staff made the assumptionthat the strange island was indeed a new Covenant asset – and apotentially perect target or a punitive reprisal raid. Te Cyclone plans were revised to allow or such an operation, which wasnamed Operation High Jump.

THE COVENANT OF ANTARCTICAPIERCING THE VEIL

Te American assumptions about the odd island were more

accurate than they even realised, other than that its appearancewas the deliberate doing o the Covenant. Scout units rom theAntarctican ‘Vigilance’ continental deence orces had in actdiscovered the island in the July o 1871, beore anyone else hadbecome aware o it at all. What astounded Lords Sturgeon andLeonidas were the circumstances in which the island had beenspotted in the first place; the scout aircraf crews had watchedthe island appear rom thin air!

Sturgeon had ordered the immediate ormation and dispatcho an expeditionary fleet to claim and occupy this bizarre place,dubbed ‘Hooke’s Reach’. Te fleet, travelling part o the way byteleportation rom the Newton Pinnacle ‘Static’ teleportationarrays, would convey a large research team, as well as severallarge preabricated ortifications to begin investigating this oddnew landmass.

War Master Schneider had already activated orces o the 5th War Fleet ‘Cogent Paradigm’ in preparation or a special missionto the north. Tis was named Operation Mistweaver , aimedat acquiring technology developed by Markov or his Russianmasters. Schneider had determined that the best target or sucha raid was the Russian Far East Fleet, which had undergonesignificant modification, but whose remote bases offered the bestchance o a clean getaway or the raiders.

However, ‘Cogent Paradigm’s’ prime mission remained thedeence o Hooke’s Reach against outside aggressors. Te effecto the American protest to the Covenant told Sturgeon and hisadvisors in no uncertain terms that at least one great powerwas now actively out or retribution against them, and whileAntarctica itsel might be beyond the means o any outside orceto assault successully, Hooke’s Reach certainly was not.

And so, in the dying days o 1871, all the great powers set theirplans in motion, as a great cyclone swept over the vast waters othe Pacific.

Documents

Operation Cyclone 1