This scenario is supposed to be played from the RED side only.

Downloaded from Firedrake.org, filename EMDEN.

EMDEN

1.0 BACKGROUND

1.1 The following is a quote from Grolier's Encyclopedia:

>> In late August [1914] the fast German light cruiser Emden, under Capt. Karl von Muller, sailed from the China Sea into the Indian Ocean where it harassed British shipping, taking 21 prizes and destroying ships and cargo valued at more than $10 million. [That's nearly quarter of a billion dollars in today's inflated currencies!] On September 22 the Emden bombarded Madras, India. The end of its gallant cruise came on November 9 when it was sunk in a hard-fought action with the Australian cruiser Sydney at the Cocos Islands. <<

1.2 Most of Von Muller's operations were conducted east of the Indian subcontinent. Even more remarkable than the success of these operations was the way Von Muller conducted them. He rapidly became a media celebrity (if not a hero) the world over. He scrupulously observed international law (unlike his U-boat colleagues a few years hence), firing only on legitimate targets. He treated his prisoners with utmost courtesy. To many, on all sides, he was a Gallant Knight from the age of Chivalry. When his ship was finally driven onto a reef, and his crew and he captured, the Australians allowed Von Muller and his officers to keep their swords as they were escorted into captivity for the duration of the war.

1.3 HOWARD'S HUNT takes place in the Western part of the Indian Ocean, under vastly different circumstances than faced by Von Muller in 1914. That scenario evolved, however, from my study of what Von Muller actually did accomplish. He did what no one at the time had seriously considered possible. With just a light cruiser, he drove nearly all merchant shipping from an entire ocean. Well, half of one, anyway.

1.4 So why didn't I call HOWARD'S HUNT the EMDEN scenario? For two reasons. This scenario IS actually a part of HOWARD'S HUNT. More about that in a moment. So, in a sense, I do call that scenario EMDEN. The other reason is that I wanted to focus attention on what was the really unexpected aspect of Capt. Kline's strategy. And I wanted to do that in a tribute of sorts to Capt. Karl von Muller. So, a salute! to Capt Muller.

1.5 I do not plan to do more scenarios from the Alternate History I've introduced in these scenarios. At least not for Harpoon 1! The complete set, in more or less chronological order, are THE MONGOOSE AND THE COBRA, SO IT'S WAR YOU WANT!, HOWARD'S HUNT & EMDEN, CAT'S PAW, SHARKS IN THE CUSTARD, and SEA LION. So what happens afterward? Or before? A number of folks have noted that there are precious few "science fiction" or any other genre stories examining the premise of these scenarios... Germany winning WW1.

1.51 Wilson hosted the Peace Conference of 1918 in Washington DC. The resulting Triple Treaties avoided one of the biggest errors of the Treaties of Versailles and St. Germain. The notion of nationhood or statehood based on ethnic factors was never given validity. The map of the world looked much as it had in 1914; the lines just moved a bit. The Germans softened the terms of Brest-Litovsk, and actually aided in the restoral of the Romanovs following the short Russian Civil War. In 1917, they had loosed Lenin on Kerensky. In 1919, they helped to hunt him down. No Communism. It did surface briefly in France in the early '20s, though. No Poland. No Czechoslavakia. No Yugoslavia. Etc. A real League of Nations. A second sort of Dreyfuss affair in France led to a pogrom against Jews and the temporary triumph of the Royalists there. No Irish Free State, just a bloody civil war.

1.52 Pauling and Oppenheimer both went to Europe in 1925 (true in both Histories). After returning briefly to the US and to Cal Tech, they return to the University of Berlin and team with the Einsteins. Others join them. The British steal the secret of Atomic Power in 1947 and explode the first "bomb" in 1949. The Germans follow suit six months later. The world comes close to war, but no one is ready. The Americans and then the French build their own bombs the following year. Protectionism. The Immigration Conventions. The Depression of the Century. A spate of Liberation Wars in the colonies of the Empires. Rearmament in Europe. The China Question.

1.53 Charles Lindbergh returns from Germany in 1939 (true in both Histories). With the support of the Fords and others, he founds Comet Enterprises. Thirty years later, the first commercial attempt to send a rocket to the moon fails. Lindbergh's Folly. Ten years later, Comet Enterprises succeeds. His son decrees a "new frontier" has opened to Americans.

1.54 And so on. Superficially, the World is a much different place. But is it really? Maybe someone like Larry or Tom could give me a hand in telling the whole story? What do you think?


2.0 SITUATION REPORT

2.1 Back to the scenario! Capt. Kline's flagship, the IRON CROSS, was at sea when the word from Wilhelmshaven arrived advising him that the Empires were at War. (See HOWARD'S HUNT.) A routine training mission. She had just crossed the Equator, sixty-two degrees East of Greenwich. 

2.11 A little geography. The Laccadive and Maldive Islands extend southward from roughly the latitude of Cochin on India's west coast, past the Equator, to a group of islands including one called Diego Garcia. At that latitude, but roughly a thousand miles to the west, lie another group of islands, the Seychelles, home today of such notables as Arthur C. Clarke. Another thousand miles, southward again, and you arrive at Reunion. Reunion is the most important French Naval facility in the Indian Ocean basin, serving much the same role as Ras Karma (actually SOCOTRA Naval station) does for the Germans.

2.2 Back to the IRON CROSS. It was steaming southward, just south of the Equator, roughly five hundred miles west of the Maldives. Kline had been using this part of the Ocean for some time now for his training missions. About as secluded a place as you can imagine. Well outside normal shipping lanes. And outside of normal air traffic routes. It was literally the middle of nowhere.

2.3 Or it should have been. The IRON CROSS had been sailing under emcon (emissions control) for the last thirty hours. RADARs and SONARs were on standby; communications were RONA: receive only, no acknowledge. Even the tight beam Ka-band uplink satellite channel was silent. No one knew FOR SURE where the IRON CROSS was, exactly.

2.4 On this particular voyage, the IRON CROSS was under the command of Cmdr. Wilhelm Souchon. Souchon's great uncle, his uncle, and his father had all served with distinction in the German Navy. Tradition and responsibility weighed heavily on this young officer's soul. All the more so now, since things were so obviously amiss. He was sorely tempted, indeed, to break emcon. As it turned out, the decision was simple.

2.5 Souchon received an urgent message as he paced his cabin, trying to make some sort of sense out of what his men had been seeing. JULY 2ND ... RAS KARMA SENDS ... WAR ALERT ... ALL POSSIBLE SPEED ... RENDEZVOUS 65E/10N ... Damn! he said, and then raced past the startled ensign that had brought him the encrypted message, down the long corridor, down a deck, to the signals cabin. Skipping protocol, he burst inside, brushing aside two startled ratings, sitting himself at the ciphers desk. "Activate the sat link!" he shouted as he quickly began to key his message to Kline ... JULY 2ND ... SOUCHON SENDS ... HOSTILE AIRCRAFT TRANSITING CURRENT POSITION ... VISUAL IDENT ... TRANSPORTS ... MAKING 500 KNOTS NORTH SOUTH... REQUEST PERMISSION TO ENGAGE ...

2.6 Kline immediately appreciated the import of what Souchon requested. It had never been done before, but damn! it might work! He gave his go ahead...


3.0 ORDERS

3.1 BLUE ORDERS: n/a This is a RED side only scenario.

3.2 RED ORDERS: Destroy as many air transports (represented as Starlifters) as possible.


4.0 RESTRICTIONS

none

5. TACTICAL NOTES

5.1 You have some tough choices to make. The starlifters will only be able to detect the IRON CROSS if they get a visual sighting on it. You may want to run that risk, however, and save your missiles for other purposes.

5.2 The IRON CROSS carries some nice guns with excellent optical sights. Of course, their range is a bit restricted. If you get within range, AND YOU KEEP YOUR BLINKING RADARS OFF, the IRON CROSS will engage with guns and not SAMs. Of course, you don't have to keep your "eyes" closed all the time. It may not hurt at all to see what is in the vicinity every now and then!

5.3 Your ship also carries two sorts of helo. One of them can actually engage the starlifters. Of course, it is a bit slower, so it will have to be in the right place at the right time. But that is what a good commander is all about, eh?

5.4 HArI O does have some naval assets in the vicinity. Remember, this scenario is coincident with HOWARD'S HUNT. He is going to start looking for you with a passion, especially if a starlifter gets a sighting and lives to tell about it! The only good news is that you really are in the middle of nowhere. So you are pretty much out of range of any British or French war planes. He is going to come after you with those ships when he comes.

5.5 Which brings me to your other helo. It won't be able to help you spot any starlifters, but it is pretty good at picking things out on the surface of the ocean. And even attacking, if you are so inclined.

6.0 VICTORY CONDITIONS

6.1 BLUE MINVIC: sinking your ship

6.2 BLUE TOVIC: none

6.3 RED MINVIC: downing 15 aircraft

6.4 RED TOVIC: downing 24 aircraft


7.0 DISCUSSION

7.1 This scenario is really different. I hope you enjoy it. Let me advise you, though, that a normally friendly critic of mine has already played this one and muttered, what's the point?

7.11 Is >>friendly critic<< an oxymoron? 

7.12 Dale, this was an experiment. I have never seen a scenario like this one. It has challenges all of its own. You need to down a lot of aircraft. And to you have to worry about being discovered. If you're not discovered, well, maybe it does it get boring... So you're good. Not everyone is as clever. And would the Brits really be THAT dumb?

7.13 In the "story," the one from which this scenario is extracted, the British DO figure out something is seriously amiss; but that takes several hours.  And it takes a couple more for them to "correct" the situation. Remember, Diego Garcia and that other base are not really there. Those aircraft are sourcing from and destined for a much more distant set of Bases. And they are proceeding under radio silence. All the better to mask their movement, it was thought. Still, I take your point... But, if you want a "fight," advertise your position, and see what happens!

7.2 Be wary of HArI O's warships. Not everyone is a Dale Mossman! Remember, they are not your objective in this scenario. But don't be afraid to engage them either. Done properly, you can defeat them if necessary. Just remember, they are NOT your objective. Those air lifters are!

7.3 One word of warning about Diego Garcia. Don't get too close! Unfortunately, it has Patriots built in. These can ruin a helo pilot's day! And the Brits don't have them! Not in this history, anyway!

7.4 And one piece of insight. The transports are flying eight different flight paths. Connect the dots, so to speak, and then get your boat on a line!

7.5 I could have done a lot of nasty things in this scenario, but I didn't, honest! Have fun with the basic theme: a solo ship against a bunch of unarmed aircraft.


<from the work shop and temporal stores
 of Cobalt Shiva, 73577,1755>

(c) 1993 Cobalt Shiva
