Part 116: Pole to Pole

1

Hello and welcome to the Civ Battle Royale! Your narrator for this part is ScottishMongol, infrequent writer of OC and now your proud war correspondent. Total War continues to ravage the Cylinder, and it’s only a matter of who can remain alive the longest! Coiot‘s Note: It is quite a touching gesture by the last great Boer scientist to take up the mantra of ShadeofBorg. We can only hope his mission succeeds! This week‘s OC is brought to you by EvilEggplant.

2

Here we can see the map from Part 115. Pedro has almost succeeded in Operation Anaconda, his master plan to encircle Vietnam.

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This map shows both the Great Powers and the various puppet states they have propped up, with leaders taken from the ranks of local collaborators. These states may be seen as traitors by their countrymen, but they are heroes and allies of those who ensure their existence.

4

Brazil is of course the top of the Power Rankings once again. As the world’s sole hyperpower, they have multiple fronts that they can attend to at their leisure. Let’s see which ones they’ve decided to focus on.

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We open with the North American Front, home of the last conflict Brazil was engaged with before the outbreak of Total War. Brazilian soldiers continue to make gains, opening this latest offensive by taking Sarnia and Taloyoak. The occupation is brutal - curfews are established, rationing is implemented, and everywhere informants are trying to sniff out dissent. A local collaborator is found to oversee martial law.

6

Here we see the Inuit’s provisional capital of Nattfaravik. From this frigid toehold on Greenland, Ekeuhnick and a cabal of generals and government officials direct their troops to defend the remaining bits of the Inuit heartland which remain free. The locals are joined by masses of panicked refugees, while soldiers fill the streets.

7

Across the pond, Icelandic forces have been completely ousted from the British Isles. Brazilian soldiers plant their boots on the stony beaches of the North Sea and look with hungry eyes on islands across the water. In the city of Waterford, Icelandic resistance fighters are unceremoniously shoveled into a mass grave.

08

Action in the North Sea! Gustavus, smelling blood in the water, seems to have sent a task force to opportunistically snipe some of Ingolfur’s island holdings. Time will tell if he succeeds. We can also see Tonsberg, one of the cities located directly on the front lines.

09

Further east, Brazilian troops assault Orebro, while from his own provisional capital at Linkoping, Gustavus directs a counterassault. Unlike Ekeuhnick’s chaotic headquarters, Swedish High Command is run with military efficiency. However, with every bad report, Gustavus flies into one of his famous rages.

10

This part of the Sibirian front is relatively empty of troops. Presumably Pedro has yet to turn his attention to it - he can certainly spare the troops, but Kuchum Khan cannot. In Kouvola, soldiers and citizens alike huddle in their houses and wait for the next bombing run by the Sibirian air force. The Finns who survived the multiple conquests of their city scrounge for food amid the rubble.

11

Now, here is where the main fighting against Sibir is taking place. A Brazilian division is making a stab right at Qashliq, perhaps hoping for a decapitation strike, but Kuchum’s forces are strong here and their chances of success aren’t high. The Brazilian soldiers may know they are the forlorn hope, but they bravely huddle down under massed fire from the Sibirian infantry.

12

Brazilian forces enter Lhasa. Home for centuries to an ancient order of peaceful monks, venerating their immortal master Songstan Gampo, now the ring of heavy boots echoes through the marble corridors, and machine gun nests are set up on the elegant balconies. There is no need for executions to keep the populace in line - the monks, having lived a simple lifestyle for so long, no longer know how to fight.

13

The noose is tightening on Vietnam. “Operation Anaconda” was a success, leading to the complete encirclement of the Trung Sister’s faltering country. With Lahore retaken and Rangoon providing a foothold on the eastern shore of the Bay of Bengal, the invasion of Vietnam’s heartland can begin.

14

Southeast Asia is in a bad state, repeated naval raids having ground down many of these once-pleasant port cities. Already we can see a Brazilian naval landing taking place near My Son, while Henry Parkes oversees a naval buildup in the straits between Medan and Geelong.

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The Trung Sisters attempt to break free of the Brazilian encirclement, retaking Hoi An and capturing Caloocan. It seems that Olongapo is completely undefended. The ancient, far-flung former colony of the Blackfoot is now a hollowed-out shell, ready to be taken by the conquering Brazilians.

16

The Vietnamese heartland is home to glittering cityscapes and busy centers of industry. This is the home front, where veritable armies of engineers labor day and night to sustain the automated factories that fuel the war effort. Rationing is not yet universal, but with the war ravaging the fringes of the Vietnamese mainland, many fear this will be the case. Holographic propaganda posters are everywhere, the faces of the Trung Sisters urging the people on to victory.

17

In Central Asia, Sibir is putting up a stiff resistance, and Brazilian forces advance slowly across a landscape of shattered citadels and burned-out settlements. Most of these cities are under military occupation, with civilian government suspended for the time being - this close to the front, one cannot take chances.

18

Hue persists as an exclave, completely surrounded by Brazilian forces but doggedly holding out. A few dug-in military units, supported by the valiant civilians, fortify every building on the outskirts of the city proper, and wait for the next charge of Brazilian units. They intend to make the invaders pay a high price for every street and city square.

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In the age of Total War, even a seemingly peaceful part of the world is not untouched. Here, fishing boat captains are punished harshly if they fall below government-mandated quotas. The armies on the frontlines and the workers in the cities demand vast quantities of food - so the governments of Brazil and Australia quietly hush up frightened reports of falling fish populations.

20

Jokuskai, once the capital of Yakutia, is now the headquarters of Sibir’s Eastern Front. While the Great Wall of Yakutia cannot stop planes or hovertanks, it helps to establish a line of checkpoints, ensuring that no spies can make their way to the military command, where strategists come up with war plans to push back the Brazilians.

21

The Inuit’s Asian holdings stand strong, despite the losses further east and west. Some pilots engage in high-speed dogfights with Korean fighters, but otherwise combat has not broken out in this region - instead, Inuit civilians are subject to the same quotas and rations as their counterparts in Sibir, Brazil, and Vietnam.

22

Pedro has not turned his eyes to the East Pacific yet. Ironically, ethnic Hawaiians in Honolulu and Waipahu now see each other as enemies, having been indoctrinated by their conquerors over the years. The Hawaiian-Brazilians will be more than happy when the Australian puppets in Honolulu are made to take a long walk off a short pier.

23

The stalemate continues in the South Pacific. There is some naval buildup in territorial waters, but even Coff’s Harbor, undefended except for a small air detachment, is left alone. Fortress ‘Straya holds out against the Brazilian menace.

24

There is, however bloodshed between Australia and Brazil happening here at the bottom of the world. This spit of frozen land, home to some miserable stip mines, has seen a few tentative exchanges of fire. Brazil would doubtlessly love these cities as a base from which to launch attacks on Australia from another direction.

25

Brazilian troops take another city, marching down the streets in a flamboyant military parade, while hollow-eyed Inuit civilians watch, shephered into place by gun-toting military police drawn from the ranks of local collaborators. Even before the countryside can be cleared of Inuit resistance, local leadership is put up against the wall, along with any who openly resist the Brazilian occupation. Pedro takes no chances.

26

The scattered remnants of Henry Morgan’s pirates beg for mercy, but Pedro has none to spare. There will be no escape from the clutches of the Brazilian Empire, and no enemies will survive to threaten the peace once total victory is achieved.

27

We finally get a good look at the Tonsberg-Stavanger-Birka Line, the first line of defense for Gustavus’ people. The Brazilians march on, throwing themselves against the fortifications, but Gustavus’ strategic mind ensures the defenders have the advantage here.

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In Central Asia, fresh Brazilian troops are marched to the front. Many of these new troops were recruited and trained in Africa, the Middle East or India - they might not have set foot in the Americans, their grandparents might have been from a different nationality, but they are Brazilians all the same.

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Here we see where these new soldiers are destined. Some will be sent into the hellish urban combat around Hue, the hero city. Footage of the brave defenders contesting every inch of ground will be broadcast throughout Vietnam, to inspire the rest of the country.

30

Other Brazilian soldiers will march further north to Tyokhtyur. The city has has fallen, and with it the first city in the former Yakutian heartlands. Only minor civilian casualties are sustained during the taking of the city, with Brazilians sparing the local ethnic Yakuts to act as their puppet rulers.

31

Brazil takes Kauthara, and with it a toehold on the Indochinese subcontinent. The rest of the region is strongly defended by Vietnamese troops, although the massive Brazilian army approaching by sea from India may challenge. Crammed together in troop transports, the recruits from the Brazilian Raj clutch their weapons and listen to the waves lapping against the hull.

32

As expected, Brazil takes Olongapo. The beaches where Blackfoot tourists once vacationed are now strewn with the battered hulks of landing craft and the tattered corpses of those who died in the assaults. Their uniforms are so faded that it is hard to tell which side they once belonged to - they’ve all turned a faded shade of green.

33

Just as a Korean fleet is poised to take Sanirajak, Brazilian troops land in the city and take it from under their noses. Despite the revolts in the street, the Brazilian special forces dig in and wait for reinforcements. Pedro desperately wants the Aleutians as a supply chain between North America and Asia, and this will be the western anchor of that chain.

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Alaska is the largest untouched stretch of Inuit heartland. Beautiful landscapes, thriving communities, and strong centers of high-tech industry will all be devastated by the encroaching Brazilians as the tide of war sweeps over this land.

35

Another city falls to Brazilian soldiers. Behind them stretches a thousand miles of burnt-out countryside and deep snows. Already made worse by the nuclear winter, the snow is also filled with particles from burning cities and factories. The pollution seeps into the very air and water. Hopefully when this is over Pedro will dedicate himself to cleaning up the wrecked ecosystem.

36

Another far more dire casualty of the war is Oshawa, the capture of which means that Ekeuhnick’s provisional capital is now cut off from the rest of his holdings. Though still able to give orders by radio, the immortal leader of the Inuit is in a vulnerable position. He orders a helicopter be made ready at all times to evacuate him in the event that the city falls.

37

Here we see the city itself, threatened by Icelandic forces. The populace is growing more panicked in the streets - not only are rations cut, but periodic shelling by the Icelanders is racking up civilian casualties. Ekeuhnick can only look at the columns of smoke in his city with sadness in his eyes.

38

The success of the TSB Line is being proven, much to Gustavus’ satisfaction. Even though Brazilian troops may attempt to pass the line, the cities’ garrisons are able to flank them, rendering them harmless by the time they reach secondary cities such as Begen or Skara.

39

A massive Brazilian offensive has won some serious gains in this part of the world. The naval buildup in the Geelong Straits has been brushed aside by a Brazilian task force. My Son has been taken, followed by Orange. There has been no greuling island-hopping campaign here, simply brutal efficiency. And of course, Surabaya has been nuked completely off the map.

40

The Philippines has been mostly reunited by Brazilian troops. Under the control of a Filipino puppet government, these islands will remain a launch point both for attacks on the Vietnamese mainland and on the outer islands of Australia.

41

Brazil takes Kyoto, and soldiers make the quick jump from there to the Korean peninsula. Battling across a wasted landscape of charred rubble, they aim for Seoul. Just as in the Philippines, Brazil is propping up Japanese collaborators as their pliable “local allies”.

42

Here we see some Brazilian troops behind enemy lines. Raiding the outskirts of Hanoi, these special forces are sabotaging roads and bridges, bombing factories, and assassinating local leaders in an attempt to soften the city in preparation for the main assault.

43

Tianjin looks ready to fall. Workers struggle to shore up the defences, artillery fires into the masses of enemy troops, and Vietnamese infantry dig in for the final assault. There are no nearby reinforcements, so once they fall, the city does as well.

44

Tyokhtyur has been retaken by Sibiran forces, and the Yakutian collaborators are purged. So few of the original inhabitants of the city remain, but they have learned to keep their heads down, to not speak anything that can be taken as treason, and to huddle in their basements when the bombs start to fall. Sticking your neck out here just gets you killed.

45

There has been some sporadic fighting here in the far northeast of Asia. Here the descendants of Inuit colonists listen to the news broadcasts speaking gravely of how the motherland is under the boot of foreign invaders, and how their immortal leader remains in North America, defying the giant of the south. Soldier and worker alike are filled with pride and a desire to defend their homeland.

46

They passed with barely a sound. Finally, a team of Brazilian special forces finished off the last bastion of the Boer state. But as they entered the inner sanctum, the body they found - more machine than man at that point - was already dead. Paul Kruger, the mechanical colossus who once stood astride almost half the world, had his mind uploaded to the Babylonian Submarine, to join the other defeated leaders.

47

Aracaju falls to Brazil. Despite the efforts of Brazilian occupation forces and their local “allies”, the Inuit still resist, with rioting, bombings of supply depots, and even assassinations. The Brazilians will push on however, on to the rest of Alaska. Pedro envisions his North American troops linking up with the Asian command one way or another.

48

Two more Inuit cities fall. The Inuit have no shortage of soldiers willing to die for their homes, but the Brazilians simply have more - the entire population of South America is at Pedro’s disposal.

49

Sibir’s Western Front starts to crack against an onslaught of Brazilian infantry. Other nations may rely on planes or ships, but Brazil has some of the most populous regions on the planet from which to draw a seemingly bottomless pool of manpower. Kuchum Khan oversees this front directly, as it is within spitting distance of his capital.

50

Speaking of, Shahrisabz falls, allowing the Brazilians to establish forward redoubts directly on the outskirts of Qashliq. Sibirian soldiers mount a counterattack, but the Brazilians have dug in and are turning the Sibirian’s own settlements into field fortifications. Notably, Shahrisabz has seen very few purges. While some resist the Brazilian occupation, it seems the city is full of Brazilian sympathizers.

51

Tyokhtyur taken again by Brazilians. This time there are no parades, no “spontaneous” celebrations by grateful Yakuts. The promise of self-rule has already turned to ash in their mouths, so they can only look with hollow eyes as hardened soldiers take up command posts on street corners and in bombed-out buildings.

52

The resistance on Yokohama, funded by covert Australian aid, works to hinder the Brazilian war effort by sabotaging fishing ships and assassinating local overseers. While they can do little in the grand scheme of things, they are confident that every little bit helps in bringing down the Brazilian giant.

53

We get another look at the irradiated crater that used to be Surabaya. Radiation drifts downwind, poisoning the land and deterring any attempt at resettlement - there aren’t even any troops stationed here. Medan looks ready to fall, but the Australian air force is keeping up a tenacious bombing campaign, hitting cities as far as Jakarta. The battle for Fortress ‘Straya will be fought in the air.

54

Brazilian forces assault Vietnam’s western flank. The fighting here will involve amphibious landings against fortified positions, followed by urban combat. This may be some of the toughest fighting yet, as the region is well-defended, and the Trung Sisters will not want to give up these cities without a fight, but if Pedro can take even one of these cities he can funnel troops from the Brazilian Raj to the beachhead at Kauthara.

55

Another Inuit city falls to Brazil. Notably, the Inuit Navy is remarkably sparse in these waters, which bodes well for the campaign ahead - island hopping between spits of ice and snow would be bad enough without having to worry about your transport being sunk by a naval bombardment. If there are any Inuit fleets remaining, they’re probably stationed in Asia.

56

Granville falls, and it looks like Oshawa remains firmly in Brazilian hands despite efforts by local resistance. In fact, it looks like the Icelandic Resistance is active in several cities on this front, striking from the shadows in an attempt to undermine the Brazilian invaders. It doesn’t seem like they will succeed, as the unstoppable war machine slowly grinds their once-great empire into slush.

57

The noose tightens again on Ekeuhnick. As Icelandic forces close in and Brazil gains a foothold on the west coast of Greenland, he steps into his chopper. Amid strategists and advisors carrying briefcases of sensitive documents, Ekeuhnick shuts his ears to the pleas of civilians who will miss the last chopper out of Nattfaravik.

58

As one leader leaves Greenland, another arrives, as Ingolfur Arnarsson steps off the boat onto the docks of Borgarnes. He is surrounded by generals and admirals, and he looks around grimly at the chaotic port city. He had hoped for Greenland to be the last bastion for his nation, but Pedro’s soldiers have already established a foothold on the island.

59

Of course, Reykjavik has fallen. There were very few civilian casualties during the taking of the city - perhaps Ingolfur abandoned it, hoping to relocate to a more defensive position, or perhaps he was forced to flee by a popular uprising in favor of Brazil. There must certainly be lots of people around the world looking at the purges enacted by the conquering Brazilians, now weighing their options and deciding that it would be better to be a live on their knees than die on their feet.

60

The Tonsberg-Stavanger-Birka Line has fallen. All at once, Brazilian troops advance north, but Gustavus is prepared. He has used the sacrifice of these three cities to prepare the second line of defense. If he is going to die, he will make Pedro pay for every inch of snow. Let his soldiers paint the snows of Scandinavia pink with their frozen blood. The Lion of the North will roar even in the face of death.

61

The Brazilians take Beaumont. A massive Sibirian army has been mobilized in the north, and doubtless resistance around Qashliq will be thick, but Kuchum Khan has left a huge gap in the middle of his front. A deadly mistake, as Pedro’s army now has direct access to Sbir’s core. Perhaps with some swift maneuvering he contain this “Brazilian Bulge”.

62

Zaranj and Rasht are being fiercely contested. In Sibirian High Command Kuchum Khan is well aware of the attempted pincer movement by Pedro which would pose a direct threat to his capital. He orders more troops brought to the Western Front, directed away from the east if necessary.

63

In Jokuskai, Eastern Command receives the orders. Brazilian forces remain in control of Tyokhtyur, and while the Yakutian heartland is filled with workers, there are far fewer soldiers. However, they dare not disobey Kuchum’s orders, so the generals can only plan to go on the defensive as troops are diverted to the Western Front.

64

An few Inuit submarine battle groups lurk under the pack ice at the roof of the world. These “Arctic Wolf Packs” pose a threat to Brazil’s battleships designated to guard the troop transports. Dodging icebergs and floes, the enemy navies play a deadly game of hide and seek.

65

Tianjin has fallen, and the Brazilian vanguard advances deep into Vietnamese territory. While deep behind enemy lines, these special forces are already doing damage to Vietnamese industry and threatening the very core of Vietnam. The army around Saigon mobilizes to confront them.

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We end this report by returning to the bottom of the world. Tamworth has fallen. Australia only has three Antarctic cities left. To the northeast is a massive Brazilian fleet, doubtless on the way to seize these outlying colonies...and use them as a springboard for the invasion of Fortress ‘Straya. From the top of the world to the bottom, the Total War continues. Whose intellect will prevail? Who will make the next great blunder? Tune in next time on the Civ Battle Royale!

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Part 116: Pole to Pole – mk2

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